Chapter 4: The Strip Club

Ojima walked back into the bar following Shiran and Ranma. He immediately noticed that everyone not outside with the pepper victims was gathered around one table. He couldn't see one of the occupants, but even though the other was sitting down, he could tell the man was Olaf. The big man seemed to be concentrating on something. The group coming in the door managed to merge in with the standing group, allowing Ojima to see what was going on: Ryoga Hibiki was engaged in an arm wrestling competition against the giant. Immediately, the inspector could see Ryoga was at a terrible disadvantage. Olaf's larger size gave him much more leverage over the smaller man.

Ojima knew Ryoga was the strongest of the Tendo dojo crew, even if Ranma was the better fighter. He also knew the Ryoga surpassed most of Nerima in raw strength (and constitution) including even the Dojo Destroyer. Still there was something about Olaf that always gave the inspector pause. Ojima knew he wasn't human – at least not fully human. The inspector didn't consider this a bad thing; Tofu wasn't fully human either after all. But Ojima couldn't place what Olaf's other half was. Ogre was the best guess Ojima could hazard, but it didn't seem quite right.

"How'd this happen?" Tofu asked Wales.

"The usual," Wales replied. "We were showing off and someone talked Hibiki into a match. The lad won easily, so others tried. Hibiki kept winning though. Finally, Olaf sat down opposite the boy. There was no challenge or anything; no boasting or blustering. They just nodded at each other, joined hands, and haven't moved since."

Ojima looked at the two men. Both of them were etched in stone. "Are they all right?" he asked.

"We're fine, Ojima," Olaf called out. "Hold down the noise, we are trying to concentrate here."

Everyone watched for about five minutes without saying anything. Ojima didn't see anything change. Finally, sweat broke out on Ryoga's brow, and the joined hands moved ever so slightly in Olaf's favor. Ryoga fought back to even, but it was obvious Olaf was outlasting him. After another five minutes, Olaf slammed Ryoga hand down as the lad muttered loudly: "Ah, damn!"

Ryoga laid his head on the defeated arm in exhaustion. Olaf reached across and patted the lad's shoulder. "'Damn' is not a word you should be using. You fought a good fight. No man has lasted that long against me – ever."

"Maybe," Ryoga replied. "But that took a lot out of me. It'll be a week before I can try you again."

"Don't bother," the giant said gently. "You need to master your power first. Do that and we'll give it a try again. Still, you did really well and you deserve a small reward." Olaf reached out and tapped Ryoga's head.

Ryoga's eyes widened a little and he lifted his head. Straightening up, he flexed his hand and looked at it. "That feels much better," the young man said.

"Good. You'll be back to yourself in a few minutes," Olaf rumbled. He then stood up and addressed the room. "I think it's time to move on. There's been enough contests tonight, so we'll skip the Fight Club. Besides, I think most of you would rather drink anyway." There was some laughter at that comment. Olaf turned to Tofu. "What do you say, Boss?" the blond man asked. "Should we find a show and get some wine there?"

"No! More beer!" a few men yelled out.

"You heard them, Commander," Tofu laughed. "We need to find a show with beer, not sake."

Olaf turned to the bartender. "Do you know of a good place?" Olaf asked.

"There's a new place further up the block," the barkeep responded. "I've had a few patrons come in from the show and remark that it was all right. They do have some beer – Japanese and Canadian I've been told." Two of Olaf's men let off loud "whoop" cheers at that.

"Sounds like a place to try," Olaf agreed. "What's it called?"

"The Bluefin."

Once again, the troop marched through Kabukicho. Many were well along in their drinking, but all were surprisingly mobile. They were all chatting animatedly except for two of the disguised Kitsunes. "Maybe we should give this up?" Ayumu thought to his older brother.

Akio looked angrily at his younger brother. "Have you forgotten what Tofu did to us at the Test?" he asked.

"We lost, the others won," Ayumu thought. "Tofu was not the final judge anyway – and he is our friend when it comes right down to it."

Akio looked stumped for a moment, and then let out a sigh. "O.K., you're right - I'm a bit overly wound. I'm not used to working around humans, and it's getting to me."

"Besides, the boy, Ranma, gave Shiran a run for his money and I'd pay to see that again," Ayumu smirked.

Akio mentally chuckled. "O.K., I'll give you everything but the 'boy' part, but I'm not going to give up just yet. Still, stop me if I go overboard – no permanent damage to anyone, especially Tofu – or the 'boys'. And it's not like the rest of these idiots don't have a few redeeming qualities with the way they watch out for each other."

"Within limits," Ayumu laughed back. "They've also set each other up too – nothing serious, but they aren't beyond pulling pranks on each other either."

"Limits…" Akio pondered. "I wonder what the limits of the young men are? We are heading to a place where humans stress out their hormones, aren't we?" he asked Ayuma.

"So I believe," Ayuma answered.

"Maybe we can convince the lads they need a little less stress," Akio replied. Ayuma grinned a little at the thought in response. Then Akio asked his younger brother: "Ayumu? Have you found out anything about Yul's and Shiran's companion? I've never seen Jak before."

"Not yet," Ayumu answered. "My familiars haven't located his family yet. Judging from how Shiran and Yul treat him, he's at least their rank or higher."

"Well if he's higher, he isn't making them address him as 'Lord'," Akio noted.

"Yes, well Tofu, Shiran, and Yul don't make us address them as 'Lord' either," Ayumu replied.

Something in Ayumu's tone made Akio wonder if Ayumu was trying to rebuke his older brother…

Hideo walked a short distance behind the two Kitsune brothers, ostensibly looking at a small black notebook. Daran walked next to him and looked at the text that appeared. "That's a very interesting book," Daran noted in a quiet voice. "I don't suppose you'd consider selling it?"

"Sorry, not for sale. And it only picks up projected thoughts over very short distances," Hideo answered softly. "I've used it to foil some schemes Ranma and Ryoga cooked up to dodge class on occasion."

"Those two?" Daran seemed surprised. "They strike me as very conscientious students."

Hideo burst out laughing. "Man, have they got you fooled! They're teenagers! Don't get me wrong, they're good lads, but give them a choice between reciting arcane lessons or sneaking out to the latest action movie and what do you think they will choose?"

Daran grinned. "The same choice I would have made at their age. All right, I'm an idiot."

Hideo returned the grin. "Nah, you just forgot what it was like. Speaking of which…" he tapped a line in the little book.

"I'm on it," Daran answered.

Daran fell back to talk to Ranma, Ryoga, and Mousse. "Did anyone give you the lecture about drinking?" he asked.

"Is it a rite of passage in this group?" Ranma asked.

"Actually, yes," Daran answered. "All these mercenaries belong to Guilds – that includes the non-fighters like Mausu, Tofu, and me. You three are basically Guild apprentices as far as everyone is concerned. Mercs may have to face each other across the battlefield sometimes, but we tend to watch out for each other's apprentices. Rival Guilds have been known to join forces for all sorts of training, especially dealing with different circumstances – including how to conduct business when there's alcohol or other drugs on the table. In our line of work, it's important to keep your wits about you. Mercenaries like to bill themselves as heavy drinkers, but we are very careful to build up our tolerances and stay in control - always. And I'm sure this group will want to continue the tradition with you three…"

"Jacobs and a few others gave me the talk," Ranma answered.

"Othan talked to me," Mousse admitted.

"Banner went over everything with me," Ryoga said.

"Good, just checking," Daran replied. "You know we are heading for a rough burlesque show with strippers, right?"

"Yeah, we sort of figured – what other type of show starts this late?" Ranma tossed back.

"I'd sit towards the back of the group if I was you," Daran suggested. "It will keep you out of the limelight and allow you the freedom to ignore what you want. It would also be a good vantage to watch over Tofu."

Ryoga blushed a little, but answered with some bluster: "We've all seen naked ladies." Ranma settled for raising an eyebrow.

"Trust me on this one," Daran replied. "It's not just naked women. Some of the acts will simulate sex and the proximity to the audience might be a little close."

Both boys' eyebrows shot up and both their faces turned beet red. "O.K.!" the two said as one. "In the back!"

"I so want to see the sun set tomorrow," Ranma added.

"You and me both," Ryoga said.

Mousse watched their reactions with amusement and then busted their chops by saying: "Ah, to living the simple life."

"And what's stopping you from going up front?" Ranma threw back.

"Which part of the 'simple life' is confusing you?" Mousse said smartly. "One of these days, I might have a girlfriend. Nabiki's not above blackmailing a brother-in-law. I don't have to deny something that didn't happen."

"You three did watch the alcohol consumption in the bar, didn't you?" Daran laughed. Then he dropped his voice. "By the way, did you three have any luck this afternoon?" he asked.

Ranma smirked and handed him a sealed envelope. "Ask, and you shall receive," the shape-shifter quoted.

The Bluefin Club had a large main room with half-circle tables, all facing a curtained stage. The club had very low light emitted from a handful of neon bar lights, just enough to allow the waitresses (who were dressed decently enough) to move about the tables. There was a single candle on each table to help with the lighting. Menus were not provided, nor were they needed – there was no food and the waitress had the drink list memorized.

The Bachelor Party participants grabbed some tables along one side of the room – near an emergency door. Each table held five people. The more rambunctious of the men sat at the forward-most tables. Ranma and company sat in the back of the group as they had told Daran. Tofu was seated at a table close to the teenagers since he was of a more conservative bent than most of his fellows. Ojima, Hideo, and Mausu were with him. Daran was sitting with Akio, Ayumu, and two other mercenaries closer to the stage. Wales and Olaf were in the center of the pack.

"Is it my imagination, or has Akio cooled his jets?" Mousse said to his brothers. "He looks a little resigned.

"I don't think he's given up, but he has settled down. He may still pull something later," Ranma said.

"I see Olaf is expecting trouble though. He's put himself within reach of everyone," Ryoga noted.

"Speaking of which, what did he do to you?" Ranma asked. "You perked up pretty fast back at the bar."

"He pushed my own power back into me," Ryoga answered. "It's almost like he is an Earth Power."

"He's got a proper aura though," Mousse noted.

"Yeah, I never noticed anything before today either," Ryoga said. "But part of him is supernatural. Arm-wrestling with him was like moving a mountain."

"Hmm…" was all Ranma said.

A waitress came by and did a double-take at the trio. Then she chuckled at them and wagged her finger. "I don't know whether you three are very wise or very foolish, but what do you want to drink?"

"Just three beers," Ryoga requested.

"Three Canadian Bradors please," Ranma qualified.

"See?" she scolded Ryoga. "He was faster on the uptake than you were. Better catch up." She walked away after shaking her backside at them.

"I think she figured out we are underage," Mousse noted understatedly.

"What did you ask for?" Ryoga asked Ranma

"I don't know," Ranma admitted. "It was whatever the Doc just asked for."

Mousse shrugged. "We should be all right then," he said. "He's done all the hard drinking he's going to do."

The waitress returned with their bottled beers, but teased them a little more before she left. She tugged on Ranma's pigtail and then proceeded to fondle Mousse's long hair. "See, pig-tail?" she called to Ranma. "A girl likes to play with long hair, not have it all knotted up." Then she tapped Ryoga on the head and said: "You should let yours grow." With another shake of her rear she was gone again.

"Definite trouble," Mousse commented.

"I think she likes you, duck-boy," Ranma told his brother. "There you go. She's about Kasumi's age – nice and legal." Mousse let the comment go.

Soon after the lights dimmed. A live band played off the side of the stage and the Emcee came out from behind the curtains. He was dressed in a decent suit causing Tofu to comment: "Not a leisure suit? Maybe this will be all right after all."

The Emcee announced the first act, which turned out to be about fifteen women performing a floor show using gauzy almost see-through costumes and large fans. The fan dance routine was very Hollywood like, right until the end where the performers all held up their fans and it became apparent that the women were missing any sort of undergarments. The costumes were transparent enough that it was also apparent that all of them shaved – everywhere but the tops of their heads. There was a loud cheering from the audience. Ranma sank a little into his chair. Ryoga sank a lot into his chair. Mousse settled for holding his forehead in one hand. "We are such posers," Ranma mumbled.

"It gets worse," their waitress said brightly as she produced three water glasses and filled them. She had obviously decided that the three young men were her entertainment for the night. She had also undone a few buttons on her shirt to show a little more cleavage and got close enough to watch the trio's reactions. Ranma and Mousse were largely unaffected, but Ryoga did notice a little more. With a giggle, she left again to tend to her other customers.

"Speaking of posers," Mousse commented as she left them. Ranma just nodded his head. Ryoga was too busy blushing.

The next few acts were strip-tease dances followed by routines that amounted to dancing with wet T-shirts (and nothing else). Ranma found he could deal with each act easily enough if he meditated a little. Ryoga kept mumbling Akari's name over and over again. After having been caught off-guard by the first act, Mousse was better at acting unfazed for the most part, even commented that the wet T-shirts reminded him of how the women in the Amazon village would look during harvest time in the fall when everyone was working hard and sweating. "I'm guessing your birthday is in the summer along with most of the tribe," Ranma told Mousse.

"How did you know that?" Mousse asked.

"Never mind," Ranma replied.

Ryoga was counting something on nine fingers for a few moments. "Oh," he said quietly.

In between acts, their waitress would stop by to tease them, asking them if they needed their blood pressure checked, or maybe a little of the harder stuff (hopefully she was talking about the booze). In a weird way, her flirting helped. They actually looked forward to her return. It made things seem more like a battle of wills to the young men rather than just having their hormone levels overloaded constantly. "And she is pretty," Mousse added. Ranma let that one go, but Ryoga did a double-take at Mousse and then smiled slightly.

The act of two women pantomiming sex with each other got under Ranma's skin for some reason though. His face turned cherry red. "And I wonder what hides in your subconscious," Ryoga said, delighted that he could finally return a few volleys here. Actually, Ryoga knew quite well what lurked in Ranma's dreams – they had been linked for some time now. Unfortunately, Ranma also knew what lurked in Ryoga's mind. Sometimes mutually assured destruction worked quite well.

Shortly after a loud disco act where the two women kept losing pieces of their outfits, the Emcee called for a ten minute break and advised people to stock up on their drinks. He brought the house lights up too. The three young men each asked for another beer – not that that they were really consuming much. Hideo came over and sat down with them once the waitress walked away. "How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Stressed," Ranma replied in a short tone.

"In over my head," Ryoga answered.

"Admittedly, this was a bit more than I expected," Mousse said calmly.

Their teacher just nodded sympathetically. "Our bodies are very physical entities with animalistic qualities. They don't always want to follow our souls – we have to be the Masters and make them. But you three are doing well. For what it's worth, I spent a little time meditating during the last couple acts. I plan to spend a lot of time meditating during the next set."

"Oh god," Ranma moaned. "What's happening next?"

"If things follow as they usually do, the lap dances will start next," Hideo said.

"Is that what it sounds like?" Ryoga asked, his voice rising a bit.

"A little worse in this club," Hideo admitted. "I chatted with the bouncers to find out what the limits were. I've already passed the word to the group." His voice turned serious: "Listen to me. There's always some amount of buying lap dances for others and I'm afraid you'll be targets – the mercenaries will be curious to see how you handle yourselves. Just keep in mind, the women are people who will listen – they want happy customers. If you tell them 'Back off', they will - I'll be pointing at my wedding ring a lot. But don't be rude to them – keep in mind this is just a job they are paid to do. They are not trying to make you miserable; they actually want the opposite." All three teenagers nodded their heads, but looked worried and maybe a little scared. Even Mousse façade was starting to break. Hideo looked thoughtful for a second. "Actually, I think I know a way to keep these jokers off your backs," he said with a side nod at the rest of the group. "I'll be back." With that, he left them.

While they waited, Tofu was approached by a man in a stylish three-piece suit flanked by two large men, obviously bodyguards. "I want the table – Move!" he ordered the doctor.

Tofu looked up calmly at the three men. "My friends are in the restroom. We are using the table right now. I'm afraid you'll have to find another," he said in firm tones.

The other man leaned down and grab Tofu's shirt. "I said…" he started, which is as far as he got.

Tofu immediately gave a short jab punch which dropped the other man immediately. The doctor then spun out of his chair and slammed the heads of the two bodyguards together, dropping them as well.

"Why are we here?" Ryoga asked his table with a grumble.

Tofu grabbed all three men roughly and dragged them to the side door. One of the bouncers opened the door for him and he deposited the three unconscious men outside. Ono then gave the bouncer a 10000 yen note and returned to his table. Mousse got up and whispered something to Tofu, who then whispered something back.

When Mousse returned, Ranma asked him: "What did you tell him?"

"I told him that the lead man had been wearing a Triad ring. He said that he knew," Mousse answered.

"Oh. That's why we are here," Ryoga added.

"Yeah, well I don't think those men will wake up until long after we are gone anyway – Tofu hit a few pressure points before he dragged them away," Ranma commented.

As the Emcee gave a two minute warning, Hideo re-appeared. The mage handed each young man 7500 yen. "Here," he said. "This will cover the cost of the girl's time."

Ranma grabbed his arm. "What the hell are you talking about?" the shape-changer hissed. "My fiancée can literally spit fire! I'm too young to die!"

"Relax," Hideo smirked. "It will be fine. It's only one girl and she'll behave – you'll see. The last person she is with should give her the money though when she's done. Do it discretely. The other two owe the 7500 yen back to Tofu – he's paying for this." With that, he got up and went back to his table.

A minute or so later, the lights went down. "I'm going to die," Ryoga muttered in a low voice as twenty women strutted onto the stage wearing high and tight bikini bottoms and tank-tops that started low on their chests and barely covered to the bottom of their breasts.

"Not today, Sugar!" their waitress's voice sounded behind him. All three turned to see the young woman who has been serving them dressed similarly to the dancers on stage with two key differences: she was obviously wearing a bikini top under the short tank top and a set of shorts over the bikini bottoms (the bottoms were visible peeking out of the shorts' waistline). "Which one of you doesn't have a fiancée?" Ranma and Ryoga wordlessly pointed at Mousse before he could react. "Cool," she said. "I'm Takara." She shifted the table away from Mousse and hopped into his lap, taking him totally by surprise.

"Let's be clear, boys," she started brightly as she looped her arms casually about Mousse's neck. "I'm not an exotic dancer. I don't have the patience. I'm just earning a little extra cash as a decoy now that my shift is done." She batted her eyes at them. "Your hands don't go down my shorts or up my shirt, and my hands won't reach down your throat for your spleen. You can hold me about the waist, the shoulders, or even the stomach. Anywhere else and I'll be holding your gonads unattached to your body. Think you can handle those rules?" she finished in a perky voice.

The three young men looked dazedly at each other and then mentally shook themselves. Ranma leaned forward, picked up a full bottle of beer, and offered it to Takara, who accepted. Then Ranma raised his bottle to the young woman and said: "Takara, I'm Ranma; this is Ryoga; and this is Mousse. Let me just say that you are our kind of lady." The other two young men also raised their bottles to Takara and all four clinked the bottles together.

A/N: Next up - The Last Act