With a titanic roar of pain, due most likely to the 
instantaneous, stereo pulverization of its rib cage, the 
troll-like demon collapsed to the ground. It lay there, 
unmoving, for several moments before finally beginning to 
dissolve into a fetid, black mist.

Ryouga, who was standing to one side of the demon with his 
hands outstretched in a sort of pushing posture, relaxed 
his stance a bit and tore a bandanna from his brow, using 
it to cover his nose and mouth. "Phew, I hate that part..."

"No kidding. Why can't these dang things find a more 
pleasant way to die?" Muttered Ranma, who was standing to 
the other side of the rapidly dispersing cloud, searching 
through the inner pockets of his black suit-coat, hoping to 
find something to dampen the stench.

"If there's any pleasant aspect about demons, I've yet to 
find it." 

Ranma and Ryouga nearly jumped out of their suits as 
Mousse, wearing an identical black suit and a matching 
trench coat, seemed to appear out of nowhere right behind 
them. "Here, I think I have something..." Mousse rooted 
around inside the trench coat until he found a small 
aerosol can, which he began to spray liberally around the 
area.

"Geeze Mousse, don't do that!" Snapped Ryouga as he hastily 
adjusted his coat, which had gotten rather rumpled when he 
and Ranma had Ki-blasted the demon.

"Mousse? Oh no... don't tell me _she's_ with you." Ranma looked 
frantically around the park, scanning the gaping crowd of 
onlookers for signs of Mousse's partner. 

"Shampoo had to run to the store for supplies, but she'll 
be here soon." 

Ranma and Ryouga looked at the crowd that had gathered to 
watch them slay the demon. When Ranma turned back to 
Mousse, there was an urgent, pleading look in his eyes. 
"Mousse, you and Shampoo can handle cleanup here, can't 
you?"

"What? That's not standard procedure..."

"Pleeeease! I won't ask for anything ever again! I just 
wanna be gone before Shampoo gets here."

"Well..." Mousse took on a thoughtful look for a minute or 
two; although he had already made up his mind to get 
Saotome out of the way before his beloved arrived, he 
didn't want to seem over eager. "Okay, but this is the last 
time I pull your fat out of the fire. There's a incident on 
the other side of town. Looks like Gosunkugi is out of 
juvie and summoning up brain-damaged demons again..."

"Feh, that nuisance is hardly worth the trouble." Ryouga 
scoffed. 

"Still, it _is_ our job."

Ryouga nodded in resignation to Ranma, then both boys 
turned and began leaping off in the direction of a certain 
amateur voodoonista's house. Once they were gone, Mousse 
turned to examine the crowd. Although his eyesight wasn't 
the best, his hearing was quite acute, and he could pick 
out several of the more interesting conversations coursing 
through the crowds of onlookers. 


"...did'ja see that thing? Big as a house..."

"...weird. I wonder if they're filming a movie..."

"...think I've seen that pigtailed boy at school before..."

"...fangs, I tell you! And where did he get all of those 
bandannas..."

"...damn martial artists. The town was quieter before..."


Mousse shook his head. *That sentiment cannot be allowed to 
persist. I hope Shampoo gets here soon, before this turns 
ugly...*

And, like the devil and tax collectors, Shampoo quite 
coincidentally took that obvious opportunity to make her 
entrance. Bounding off the top of a passing bus, wearing a 
smart-looking black dress-coat, skirt, and tie, and a white 
blouse, Shampoo surveyed the field, as if looking for 
someone.

"Mousse, where is Ai ren?" 

"Ranma and Ryouga had to leave in a hurry. But never mind 
that now; we've got to take care of this crowd." Mousse 
said hastily, waving towards the increasingly vocal and 
inquisitive civilians. 

"Stupid Mousse. Should make Ai ren and pig boy stay clean 
up mess they make." Shampoo bopped Mousse upside the head 
once to fully convey her displeasure, then turned towards 
the crowd. "Fine. Let's get over with."

Mousse nodded and began waving to the crowd. "You all! Come 
over here, so we can clear up any misunderstandings about 
what just happened here!" As the crowd began to gather, 
Mousse looked around to see if he could find any 
stragglers. Satisfied that all the witnesses had been 
gathered, he reached into his trench coat and pulled out a 
small silver cylinder. He flipped it open, revealing a 
small red light and several buttons. "Now then, if you'll 
all just look here, everything will be explained."

As the crowd watched, Mousse pressed the top button, and a 
flash of red light washed over them. Then, while they were 
rubbing their eyes, Shampoo dashed trough the crowd 
applying the Xai-Feng-Xiao shiatsu technique with blazing 
speed. In a tornado of soap bubbles and flashing red 
lights, the "Nerima Park Incident" was no more...




Martial (Artists)
in
Black

Defending Toukyou from the Supernatural Scum of the 
Universes.