Disclaimer: The following is a fan-written fiction, the views and opinions in this story are not intended to be viewed as those of the author. Ranma 1/2, Urusei Yatsura, Inuyasha, and Five Pound Gospel are the creations of Rumiko Takahashi, property of their respective rights holders and publishers. Please support the official releases.

CW: This story will contain violence, strong language, sexual humor and situations, drug use, Moroboshi Ataru, and Happosai. You've been warned.

|The Bitch is Back|

Admitting defeat was hard.

Admitting fault in defeat was even harder.

Kuno Kodachi's pride, damaged by her failure to respect the former Vice Principal's position and what havoc it could wreak, was saved by Nabiki's suggestion to take advantage of the former Vice Principal's acquisition–but not easily so. The opportunities that having Mendō Shūtaro on her side were not lost to her… but they came precisely at the cost of having Mendō Shūtaro on her side.

The setback and the blatant assault on her school by such vulgar men as the Sickle Gang had seared her and worn through to get beneath her skin. Now she was in the office of her father, the former principal, pacing back and forth across the room while speaking loudly.

"It is an outrage, an OUTRAGE! That I must bear host to the family of my enemy."

A woman's voice with a Slavic accent replied, coming from a smart phone lying on Kodachi's desk. "Is it not a simple matter of throwing him out? It is your school, after all."

"Official matters pertaining to students in the Special Administration District require officials licensed and recognized by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. The building I own, the faculty I can remove from their positions as I see fit–but all student records can only be accessed legally by employees of the Japanese government!"

"Hmm." The woman on the phone pondered this. "What an awkward arrangement."

"There is a reason that there is a prohibition on new students enrolling here," Kodachi replied, "The only schools taking on new students are the wealthy private schools such as Kolkhoz and St. Hebereke."

"So, you are stuck with Mr. Mendō until you can find someone who can remove him. He seems amenable to the arrangement, from what you have told me."

Kodachi let out a sharp, caustic laugh. "That is because he is cut from the same cloth as Moroboshi Ataru! I could feel the eye he wasn't covering up as a fashion statement all over my legs and hips the moment he saw me. The man is after one thing and one thing only."

"As I understand it, this should be a windfall for you. The brother of one of your rivals, under your influence. Why does this upset you?"

Pausing, Kodachi grimaced and turned away from the phone. "To be truthful, it is the fact that I had fallen into such an easy trap set by my own ego that infuriates me. There is little satisfaction in having such an asset, knowing that I am only 'making do.'"

She closed her eyes. "Doctor, the fear that dominates me is that I am seconds away from making another grave error just to salvage my wounded pride, and that from there I will slip and descend into an unmanageable state."

There was a silence from the phone, before the doctor addressed on the other end replied. "Do you believe that you may do something to hurt Mendō, or attempt to drive him out?"

Kodachi took a deep breath. "No. In the end Mendō Shūtaro is a rube and flirt who wants to be surrounded by pretty girls, and at the very least presents an exterior that is attractive to most young women. That Moroboshi isn't here to peel away that veneer with his antics makes him less of a threat to anyone. In all honesty, the biggest worry I should have is that Ryōko may start showing up here to amuse herself with her 'plaything.'"

After a hum of understanding, the woman on the other end of the line responded. "Kodachi, I would like for you to take a moment and think about where you are right now. Yes, you were angry earlier today and almost lost your composure… but now that it is behind you, you're reflecting on what happened and more importantly recognizing it."

Kodachi stopped. "Well… of course I am…"

"This is another good sign of progress. You're aware and in control of your emotions and impulses, you have come quite a way from when we first met."

"Hm…" Kodachi stared at the phone with upraised eyebrows.

"From here you must continue the course and keep working to refine that control; some days will be better than others, and some worse. But reflection and recognition are key to achieving resolution. Remember what we discussed in previous sessions, and what you need to do in case you're feeling overwhelmed or in risk of falling off."

"I will do that," Kodachi vowed, "Thank you for taking this time to speak with me Dr. Praskovia; especially with so much work you must be doing otherwise."

With a chuckle, the doctor replied. "Oh, compared to what I have to deal with out here, speaking with you is joy. Please, do not hesitate to call me if you have any questions or concerns about what we've discussed or your medication–and if you cannot reach me for whatever reason, you have the direct line to Mizuho."

Kodachi glanced towards the door. "Speaking of things that have to be dealt with, I will have to cut this call short." She walked over and picked up her phone. "Take care of yourself, Doctor."

"And you too, Kodachi," the woman on the other end of the line said before the call ended.

Not an instant later, the door was roughly shoved open by Mendo Shutaro in a fit of flamboyance. There was a moment where nothing happened, he stood head posed with nose pointed purposefully to the air. The next, he swept a hand through hish air and made to speak before she could get parse down the profanity laden remonstration for barging in without permission.

"Kuno Kodachi-sama, it has come to my attention there are things happening here at Furinkan and the surrounding area that I have no knowledge of!" Mendō was loud, brash and filled with bombast, the opposite of the grim, wounded boy who drug himself here like a samurai off the fields of Sekigahara.

Nabiki finally caught up. "Hey, sorry, I didn't want to give things away without permission." She didn't look quite contrite, but that might be the death glare she was giving him.

"It is fine." Kodachi said, looking at Mendō who seemed to wait to be addressed. "And what is it you want to know, Mendō Shutaro? And then, pray tell, what is it that you would do?"

"If there is a threat to the students here, I would throw my very body on the line against the enemies that wish to harm them so!" Mendō was in rare form, pulling a copy of Date Masamune's helm to place upon his head. "I will storm forth to defend this castle that has given me refuge so!"

Kodachi cringed internally, having grown up with someone so close to this kind of delusion. Externally, she merely quirked an eyebrow and gave a halfhearted expression. "Is that truly so?" This was said past him to Nabiki.

"However he thinks he can," Nabiki said, rolling her eyes because the melodrama the richest boy on Earth was spouting did nothing but cause contempt to radiate from within. "There were developments I meant to come inform you over, but he was skulking about and overheard."

Kodachi decided to see what would happen if Mendō knew. "Go on, we shall both listen and then we shall decide what our parts should be."

Nabiki, now knowing that she wasn't to blame anymore that Mendō found out, rolled with the punches and spoke. "We found the hideout of the guys making trouble after dark. Calling themselves the Sickle Gang, they operate out of a bar in Taian."

"Sickle Gang, hm?" Mendō gave a haughty huff.

"You ever hear of them?" Nabiki had a hunch, but she had to ask.

"Sadly not, but now that I know their name, I shall endeavor to erase it," Mendō boldly proclaimed.

"And you would do what?" Kodachi prompted.

Mendō pulled out the sheathed katana he bought to school with him, posing with it like he was Vergil from Devil May Cry, the good ones. "I will teach them that a sickle has no place crossing with a sword!"

Nabiki weighed letting him run off and getting smacked down, but for other plans, she had to let go of seeing him find out what he was getting into. "Are you sure about that: These guys dress like a bunch of leather pervs."

Sweat beaded on Mendō's brow. "Come again?"

"Yeah, they're not interested in women in the slightest. The place they were holed up in was a gay bar." Nabiki explained, savoring watching the color drain from Mendō's face.

"I… I see." Mendō's mind whirled as he tried to reclaim the momentum he had.

Kodachi, satisfied he was once more in his place as a weak-willed worm, moved things in a new direction. "There are forces better equipped to deal with them, Mendō Shutaro."

"My sister and the girl who put Tatewaki on the shelf will easily take care of things once they catch these jerks," Nabiki added.

Being reminded again that THE Kuno Tatewaki was never going to be seen on these streets again, Mendō calmed himself. "Then perhaps there is something else I can do."

Nabiki leapt ahead of Kodachi on this point. "The school needs a makeover, but too many people want to drag their feet. While other things have been secured, the most pressing issue is renovating this dump as soon as possible."

"The Kuno name and fortune can open many doors, but mobilizing the construction force necessary to do this job in a timely fashion is sadly beyond its reach," Kodachi lamented, throwing a bone towards the dog who looked like a boy before her.

With gusto that was nearly stomach churning, Mendō dropped down to a knee before Kodachi. "Consider it done yesterday. I will whip all the necessary funds and laymen needed before the day is out. Allow me to give wings to the beauty this school shall possess to be worthy of you."

Nabiki refrained from gagging. "Make sure you have them start with the girls' locker room. No one knows why the showers are broken and every request to fix them has been denied or ignored. Not even offers to fix them for free helped."

"There will be plenty of girls who will be happy to have the showers working," Kodachi added.

"Of course." Mendō kept his head bowed. "After that, we can plan how to properly transform this building."

"The old principal was a cheapskate, hence why it looked so plain outside of the clock tower," Nabiki said, to explain things. "Some people have to squeeze a yen until it cries."

Mendō raised his head, looking directly at Kodachi. "Such concerns are of the past."

Kodachi and Nabiki both shared a look. As gratifying as it was to see there was no way Mendō could be a pawn in his sister's schemes, it brought little comfort because he looked so pathetic in his desperation for approval.

Still, a free school renovation just could not be passed up.

Wind blew through the Nerima Special Administration District in the growing evening darkness, as Anya Rozhdestvensky ambled on her cane towards the Moon Parlor Café, her blue eyes lifeless from the fury that filled her heart. Beside her, an unmarked van crept around the corner and rolled to a stop at the foot of the steps that led her to the front door.

Glancing at the tinted windows of the van, Anya made her way up the stairs, every step slow and deliberate, before she reached and found the slightly ajar entrance to Suzuki's club. Tightening her grip on the head of her cane, the old Russian walked to the doors and opened them to walk inside.

She did not expect to find the entire establishment already trashed. Nor did she expect to find those responsible still trashing it–students from Butsumetsu High School, overturning the decorations, tables, and everything like they were looking for something.

Anya's eyebrows rose, before she looked to her left and found an annoyed looking Katie seated in the one intact booth in the joint with Akane, Sōban, and Curly. Katie was eating a sloppily prepared parfait, overseeing the ransacking with Curly and Soban, while Akane–watching the door–reacted with surprise at Anya's arrival.

"Senpai, isn't that Anya-san?" Akane asked.

Katie looked over and she stood up, fear flashed across her features. "Uh… hey Sasha. What are you doing here?"

Anya walked over, looking at the rampage, and stopped in front of the booth. "I'm curious to know that as well… but I'm certain we're here for the same reasons."

Curly looked at the scary-looking foreign woman and balked a bit. "Um… hi?"

Sōban looked at her, like he recognized her from somewhere, and nudged Curly. "Show some respect."

Calming down, Katie folded her arms. "We came here to ask the ace of this place some questions… but it seems he ain't show up. And since we don't like him all too much, we decided that we're gonna trash this joint to put him out of business for a while."

Anya smiled with pride in her eyes. "A young lady after my own heart. I came here to do the same on more permanent terms. But if this is a matter you wish to settle, I'll keep my nose out of it."

Akane was curious. "What did he do to you?"

Anya looked at the other girl. "I run more than a karaoke bar. Many of the host clubs here that don't threaten guests with violence to buy more drinks are mine. Since word has gotten around that Suzuki is the one behind the harassment of all manner of host, I thought I'd come and teach him a lesson in manners."

Katie paled. "Huh, so you were here for that. That fool was really shaking down normal Host Clubs, too?"

"Regrettably," Anya answered.

Letting out a whistle, Katie shook her head. "Yeah, that man is too dumb to live. I'll be sure to kick him in the head a few more times if we can find him."

She gestured around. "Don't get why this place wouldn't be open though, it's a friday night and everything."

Anya nodded assent. "That is troubling, Friday and Saturday nights are a mandatory open for any place that wants to balance the books."

Curly, looking back and forth between Katie and Anya, spoke up. "Hey uh, Katie. Mind askin' the lady here if she knows anythin'?"

Both Akane and Sōban nodded in agreement, and Katie obliged the curious Anya. "This ain't the first spot we shook down today, Sasha. We were over at Ikemen Teitoku earlier, looking for another idiot who bit off more than he could chew."

In response, Anya puzzled over that. "Interesting… I believe anyone there would know not to be too noisy. What's going on?"

Katie agreed. "Yeah, they would, and for good reason–they're the base for this bunch of weirdos called the Sickle Gang. Or at least they were… that idiot gone went there and all we know is that it did not go well."

She pulled out the clue they had to Ucchan's presence in the club, a single spatula.

Anya nodded again. "Sickle Gang, hmm? I've heard rumors about them… mostly from old, tattooed men long released from their familial obligations. Very much a menace a decade ago, when I moved here, and everything was chaos."

"Is your memory any better than big guy's, here?" Katie asked as she gestured to Sōban. "Because the big reason we came lookin' for Suzuki is to find out where else those fools could be hidin'."

Anya mulled it over. "Their options would be gone quite a bit given the walls… so they may have found someplace new to hide."

Akane spoke up. "Is there anything at all you can think of?"

The old woman nodded. "Yes, one thing I remember well of that gang's story, was their conflict with a martial artist."

Katie agreed. "This Happo whatever guy, right?"

"Correct. He ran a dojo in Furinkan that was abandoned after he died. Not long after that, the land and all the buildings on it was bought up and demolished to make way for a school." She hummed. "Your school, I believe."

Akane groaned. "That doesn't help us!"

Katie stopped her. "Hol' up, maybe it does."

"How?" Akane, Curly, and Sōban asked.

"That Kawasaki guy was lyin' his ass off about Kamaitachi doing this because he likes Suzuki. They're lookin' for somethin'," Katie replied, "Somethin' that they were willin' to bend over forwards for a guy like Suzuki in order to find it."

Curly was surprised. "How'd you figure he was lyin'?"

Katie hooked a thumb at herself. "Trade secret, but I was feelin' him out when I was askin' my questions. I know when people lie and when they tell the truth–and while he gave me some true answers, he gave one big whopper of a lie: why Kamaitachi was helping them."

Curly laughed. "So it wasn't because Kamaitachi liked him?"

"Nope," Katie responded, "But as sure as the crow flies… he was being dead honest about Kamaitachi wantin' to take somethin' from him. It explains how they were yesterday when they were real gung ho about fighting Ryūnosuke–until Suzuki got angry. They got real amenable after that."

Akane understood. "Aside from Ryūnosuke, they haven't attacked girls either, when they used to never hold back."

Katie looked around. "Anyway. Call it a long shot, but I think they're after somethin' related to that old guy's dojo…"

Thinking about the dojo's description from Anya, Akane realized something. "Wait, wait, wait…"

"Hm?" Katie asked. "What is it?"

"There might be clues at my dojo," Akane revealed.

Katie tilted her head. "… How?"

"Because Suzuki was a student of my father's, that's why," Akane revealed. "And that dojo Anya-san is talking about… sounds like the old dojo my father trained in."

Anya was surprised. "My… are you sure?"

"Mostly, why?" Akane asked her in turn.

Anya gave Akane a firm look, before shaking her head. "Nevermind. If this is all true then you have some looking to do, yes?" She turned towards the door. "Once again, as this is your business, I'll leave you to resolve it. My security will be unhappy to know they will not get to bust any skulls… but they're being paid overtime so I doubt they will mind."

As she reached the door, Katie called after her. "Say, do you want this place when we're done with it?"

With a hum, Anya replied. "Actually? Yes. Try not to cause any fire or water damage and I will be by in the morning to buy it out from the building management."

Katie saluted Anya. "Yes, Capitan."

"Don't call me that," Anya sniped as she left.

Turning to her kouhai and allies, Katie nodded. "Let's wrap it up and call it a night. We don't want it gettin' too dark. Akaneko, it okay if I crash at your place tonight?"

Akane nodded. "Kasumi will be thrilled."

Katie's face turned a bit red, but she quickly played through it. "All right then."

Curly got up and called to his fellow delinquents. "Hey you bums! We're headed back!"

As the student delinquents of Butsumetsu High School acquiesced and began leaving, Curly turned to the Furinkan girls. "You gals be careful, okay?"

"We sure will," Katie promised. "You have yourselves a safe night…"

Through a dense, pitch-dark forest of tall bamboo lit only by fireflies, Madame Kamenbell and Kamaitachi walked down a narrow path. Behind them, HG, RG, and several Sickle Gang Members followed in double file lines, sharing Kamaitachi's wonder at their surroundings.

"… I can't believe there's something like this here…" The Madame's right-hand man said in quiet disbelief as he reached out and allowed a firefly to briefly land on his fingertip.

"Be very careful, despite being through here many times, there are still traps and tricks that I have not made safe," Madame Kamenbell advised.

Kamaitachi swatted away the firefly when the threat of insidious devices reared its head. "Traps?"

"The owner of this forest was once principal of Furinkan High School, and he was a man with one singular desire: to torment and humiliate the students at his high school," Madame Kamenbell explained. "And he spared no expense in the endeavor."

Kamaitachi made a face at that. "Why?"

"Because degenerates are beholden to twisted desires," Madame Kamenbell replied.

A weak voice called from the middle of the procession. "You are… seriously one to talk…"

Kamaitachi glanced back and bored a hateful glare into Suzuki, who was bound hog-tied and carried between HG and RG. "Speaking is a privilege, don't lose it."

"Pay him no mind, he is simply a child," Madame Kamenbell said.

The group crossed a small wooden bridge over a creek and stepped onto the tatami mats of a kabuki rendition of a Shogun's war council. At the very center of the room was a table with a diorama of the entirety of the Nerima Ward. Sweeping dramatically around the table to its head, Madame Kamenbell fell to his knees on the cushion there, and gestured to the map with both hands.

"Besides… we need to hear what he has to say."

One by one, Kamaitachi, HG, RG, and the rest of the Sickle Gang members present gathered around the table. As Suzuki was forced down to sit at the table, Madame Kamenbell produced a cigarette that Kamaitachi reverently lit for him. Taking a drag of it, he blew out curling wisps of smoke before looking at the young man.

"Now then, the Fox Temple."

Sweat formed on Suzuki's forehead as Kamaitachi flipped closed the lighter. He looked down at the map, then up at Madame Kamenbell again. "What about it?"

"You know where it is, do you not?" Madame Kamenbell asked.

"… What if I don't?" Suzuki asked.

Madame Kamenbell leaned forward. "They will never find your body."

The affable, chummy air around the returned leader of the Sickle Gang had vanished, replaced with malice unseen even when he had cut down Ukyo. Chills raked through Suzuki, following the trails of his veins, and lancing through his heart like spears of ice.

Kamaitachi leaned over as well. "Considering how you'd die? I think you'd appreciate that, so they wouldn't have to see it."

Suzuki lowered his head, in fear for his life. "All right… you made your point. So… you know how this school sits on where an old dojo used to be, right?"

Madame Kamenbell perked up. "Yes, the Founding School of Indiscriminate Grappling, headed by that hideous troll obsessed with disgusting things."

"Everything from the old school was torn down except for one thing, an old fox statue in the back of the school with its right paw raised…" Suzuki continued.

Madame Kamenbell looked ready to wail. "… Yes, I have seen it. For years I've agonized over its meaning. Tell me, Suzuki-kun! What secret does it hold?"

Suzuki looked at the men surrounding him, fearing what could become of him, before explaining. "In the direction the paw is pointing… walk a hundred steps and you'll find the true location of the Fox Temple."

Madame Kamenbell crushed his cigarette and bellowed out a plume of smoke as he rose from the table. "I KNEW IT!" He roared. "All this time, the statue pointed the way! A hundred paces… a hundred steps from the fox statue to destiny–!"

He stopped when he recalled his prior life as a cog in society's machine, and how he would walk along the school's grounds, trying to decipher the fox statue's secrets. His eyes grew wide behind his mask, as he remembered exactly where the statue was pointed.

"… Impossible…" He breathed.

Kamaitachi was worried. "Madame…?"

"It was so close, and yet so far. If I had simply obliged the women of this school, then… then…" Madame Kamenbell stopped, then bowed his head. "No, there is no time to dwell. Kamaitachi!"

Kamaitachi held out his right hand, then looped it around to hold it straight up in front of him, the salute of the Sickle Gang. "Yes, Madame Kamenbell?"

"Those girls, and the men from Butsumetsu. They will not be a simple matter to deal with." With great melodrama, Madame Kamenbell turned to him. "The beautiful world we've dreamt of is in our grasp! We will need as much manpower as we can muster, from any men we can muster."

Kamaitachi understood. "I shall begin initiations immediately. There are plenty of young men who yearn to be free from their shame… I will need many masks.

Madame Kamenbell pointed forward. "Then go! Reap through the night and gather an army of beauty that will sweep aside the world's hideousness!"

Suzuki chose this moment to speak up. "Hold on a minute!"

Madame Kamenbell and Kamaitachi both turned to look at him.

"What's this all about?" The Pick Up Martial Artist demanded. "What's so important about a paved over temple?!"

In an instant Madame Kamenbell loomed over Suzuki–his hand resting on his face–all of his mania from a moment before gone, replaced by a stillness that thrummed with anticipation. "My beautiful Suzuki," he said to the once more terrified young man, "Within the temple lies a spring… and from this spring flows the water of destiny."

"… And…?" Suzuki asked.

Madame Kamenbell nodded. "Water with the power to transform all that it touches… into a man."

Suzuki let that roll over in his head for a few. "What."

Madame Kamenbell pulled away. "And with this water… we will change the world forever. It will become what it always should've been."

He reached up, cupping his own cheeks as he lifted his chin up and sighed longingly.

"… A truly beautiful place, a world of only men."

Suzuki stared at Madame Kamenbell, then at Kamaitachi–who was glowing at the idea of this world–and then at the other Sickle Gang Members surrounding him… likewise enraptured. Looking back at the leader of the Sickle gang, he felt a wave of many emotions, but the first and strongest of them was fear as Madame Kamenbell slowly turned towards him.

"And you… Suzuki, my dear, beautiful man…" Every word ratcheted Suzuki's fear higher, as Madame Kamenbell reached for him. "… You will be one of its heralds."

|The Lonely Wolf, The Prideful Tiger and the Genius Girl|

As Shampoo came at Ranma, the cursed boy who happened to be a girl right now got the full sense that she was not someone who either learned lessons or understood how to think through a situation. To wit, despite being knocked out in a single kick and unable to really do more than sending the redhead fleeing, the girl continued to attack and attack.

Firmly asserting once more that the panda who was also his parent was an idiot, the time for running was over.

The kick that just nearly decapitated the Amazon caused an explosion of air that sounded like the growl of an annoyed jungle cat. Perhaps it had grown tired of the chase and wanted to be left alone. The idiot, as if such a thing–

"Hiya!" Shampoo's thought train promptly derailed as a second, faster and harder kick nearly got her. Luckily, she was gifted enough to know when a strike should be blocked and when to dodge, or else both of her trusted maces would be powder right now.

Not satisfied, Ranma torqued around and unleashed a right corkscrew punch that launched a spiraling bullet of air right for Shampoo's just recovering body.

"Hmph!" The way the rain exploded towards her alerted Shampoo to the nature of the attack. She took the left mace just under its head and used the sphere to block the blow, before closing in on her prey at high speed. "You die!"

"I'm still tired of you always saying that!" Ranma warned, as the pair fell into a series of blows that missed by razor thin margins.

The running battle crossed the rooftops of densely packed slums, raced up and down the sides of buildings, and criss-crossed streetlights, vehicle tops, and busy intersections. Startled onlookers, their smartphone and dashboard cameras, and their city-run closed-circuit counterparts could only catch the barest glimpses of the melee. Swipes and smears of purple, red, green and yellow burned into lenses and memories as the air thundered and rain scattered with every clash, over mixed bickering in two different languages.

Full disclosure: Were circumstances different, if nothing was at stake, Saotome Ranma would be having the time of his life against someone who fought with such refreshing abandon. As things were, he was agitated out of his mind that this girl who only knew his name and some variant of kill was only reinforcing how much he wanted to just be cured of his malady and never come back to this place–to hell with how many strong martial artists were here!

In the center of a crowded street full of nice cars and pedestrians in expensive clothes from different countries and worlds, Ranma landed and slid across the wet pavement backward until he came to the stop in the middle of a crosswalk. In front of him, Shampoo crashed down into a hard landing, attacking the ground to drive all over her speed into the pavement as force and cracking it.

"Stop running," Shampoo commanded.

Ranma rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, you know other words. That's nice."

Shampoo bristled. "Fuck you."

She threw one of the hammers straight at Ranma's head, the weapon becoming like a missile. It crashed into his outstretched hand, stopping the weapon that had such force behind it the red sleeve of his shirt was pushed up to his shoulder. With the lightness of a sparrow Shampoo vaulted up the end of the hammer, went up over Ranma, and swung down on his head.

The young man in a girl's body's high kick met the other mallet–though he had intended to hit her significantly harder head.

This annoyed him so much. After only one fight, Shampoo had learned to keep her face out of the reach of his limbs–she was already the best fight he'd ever had! "Why do you gotta keep takin' the fun outta this?!"

Shampoo swung herself around the upraised handle of her blocked mallet and dove at Ranma, but her punch only put a hole in the striped asphalt of the crosswalk. She looked up in time to see Ranma perched upon the traffic light to her right, before in the next instant he came down with a flying kick aimed at putting her out.

With all her might and speed she accelerated upward in a leap to the traffic light arm directly above the crosswalk, catching it to swing like an Olympic uneven bars gymnast and stand atop the rain-slick metal.

Ranma prepared to leap up, when he heard the alarming sound of metal shearing through metal as Shampoo became a blur running across the length of the arm–leaving it to fall towards him. Quickly side-hopping away from the falling pieces of metal, Ranma landed just in time to see the glint of brighter steel out the corner of his eye and he weaved under the two bladed sword, or jian, Shampoo wielded with a wild fervor.

The slippery pavement made sliding his feet and spacing his legs to duck and dip around Shampoo's thrusts of the blade simple. Ranma slipped and shuffled without even lifting his feet off the ground, opening the distance between him and Shampoo. Backward he fled and forward she charged, windmilling his arms and moving his head like he was headbanging at a speed metal show to avoid getting any of those parts pierced or shorn off by the blade.

Undaunted by his fancy footwork, Shampoo accelerated, closing the gap between them.

Tilting his head left, he avoided Shampoo's strike. "Your next words are: 'Ranma, you die!'"

"Ranma!"

He bowed his head down, the blade passing left to right over his head.

"You!"

He tilted his head back, lifting his chin enough for the blade to pass under it right to left. Her already red vision going white-hot, Shampoo expertly brought her blade back and lashed out at him at high speed to cut him into messy chunks.

"Die!"

Ranma grabbed the hood of a car stopped as the driver gaped at the wild fight coming towards him, and vaulted over it. He was halfway across the hood, however, when Shampoo stabbed into the hood of the car and pulled herself across it to kick him in the stomach and send him across the intersection.

It was a surprise; she finally hit him.

As Ranma recovered, he lamented Shampoo's error. That kick was never going to do anything, he was already moving backward!

Shampoo was already whirling through the air, a perfect quintuple axle she used to build momentum for bringing her sword down and splitting him in two as soon as he stopped his landing.

It was faster than Ranma expected, impressively so. He could see in every new movement and attack, she was getting closer, forcing herself to find different ways to bridge the gap.

Shame that her only thought was killing him. If Shampoo had a chance to think about anything else, like how to actually win? He'd be worried.

In that perfect moment the blade came down, before Ranma could sidestep and counter attack, a black blur dashed between them and the sword disappeared from Shampoo's grip. Startled, Ranma jumped back as Shampoo landed and scrambled backward from him in similar surprise.

Both turned and stared at the new interloper, and gave a start at the large and fearsome looking black wolf that now clenched Shampoo's jian in its teeth. Growling, the wolf snapped his jaws to adjust the blade, clamping them down on the handle before looking pointedly at Shampoo.

"Who wolf?" Shampoo asked, before looking at Ranma. "Your wolf?!"

"It's not mine at all!" Ranma snapped back before he looked carefully at the wolf, wondering why it had intervened and what beef it had with Shampoo for jumping in like this. As he analyzed it, taking the time to inwardly applaud its dramatic timing, he noticed a detail that stood out.

"Wait a minute…" He said as he recognized the yellow and black bandanna around its neck. "… Hold up, it can't be…"

The wolf noticed Ranma's stare and shook his body like he was shedding the pouring rain. In the process it revealed more of the bandanna, as if the beast wanted Ranma to confirm what he was looking at.

"… R-Ryōga…?" At his murmur, the wolf growled in affirmative and stepped closer, challenging Shampoo.

Ranma felt a little indignant. "I fell into the girl spring but somehow you end up getting a way cooler curse?!" He paused. "Wait, what are you even doing here, did you follow me to China?!"

The wolf abruptly turned his head and nodded to Ranma affirmative.

Ranma tilted his head to one side in complete confusion. "… How?"

When the wolf just shrugged his shoulders, Ranma let out a groan. "Of course. That would be my luck… I swear, do I look like Moroboshi to the universe or somethin'?"

Shampoo glared at the wolf, as she calmly drew a second jian from the back of her collar. "Obstacles in Shampoo way die."

The wolf tightened its jaws on the sword and charged Shampoo. Reaching her, he swung the sword with enough speed that she had to move even faster to block it. The wolf's strength caught her off guard, as the asphalt cracked and split beneath her feet.

Ranma was struck. "Ryōga's… defendin' me? Even after Pops dragged me from my duel, and the couple times I beat him to lunch?"

As Shampoo and the wolf continued to lock blades. Ranma rubbed his chin as he tried to figure it out. "Huh… could it be that since our duel was interrupted, he's not allowing anyone else to kill me? Or maybe… being a wolf is really cool, and he likes his curse so much that he's now my ally against Shampoo?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever, as long as Shampoo has someone else to look at, I can knock her out and be on my way back to jusenk–"

Slithering in like Randy Orton with a panda fursona, Genma came up behind Ranma outta nowhere and smashed him over the head with a piece of the broken traffic light Shampoo had cut up before. Caught completely off-guard, that brother in a sister's body was gone in an instant.

The loud clang alerted Shampoo to Genma, but her surprise allowed the wolf to parry her blade and shove her back. Looking back, the wolf could already see Genma-panda fleeing down the street towards the docks–the unconscious Ranma dangling off his shoulder.

With an affirming glint in his eyes, the wolf turned his attention back to Shampoo when he heard her enraged scream as she attempted to launch herself past him and reengage her pursuit. Leaping into action, the wolf accelerated ahead of her then rounded back and swung at her with his stolen sword. Shampoo's blade lashed out and blocked his blade, the clang echoing over the falling rain.

Recoiling back, Shampoo screamed. "DIE, OBSTACLE!"

Howling, the wolf galloped towards Shampoo and leaped to clash with her again.

As the sound of savage combat and approaching sirens filled the air, Genma-panda kept running–damn the gasping onlookers at the sight of a real live panda with a girl over his shoulder. With his son unconscious this was the sole chance he had to get out of the country with him and back to their home.

Hopefully the freighter he knew would take them that way had extra chains and rope.

And that's a wrap for Volume 6. See you soon in Volume 7.