[Ranma]: Mousse: Falling Down
Ranma 1/2 characters are copyright and intellectual property of Rumiko
Takahashi. They are used without permission, not for profit. This
is not REALLY the same as the movie Falling Down which will shortly be
apparent.
Mousse: Falling Down
A typical day in Nerima.
Our character: a not so typical Chinese martial artist from a tribe of
Amazons.
He's known all of his life he needed to be strong, to survive, to compete,
but there's always been one thing that's stood in his way. His love for
his purple haired goddess.
She's of the same tribe. But what she can't understand is the depth
of his love for her, a love that runs so deep that he can't harm her,
which is the one thing he must do in order to possess her.
This tension has remained. It has stretched the limits of the imagination
of men, how this man, so faithful, can be so completely ignored by the
object of his affections.
That is...until now. Today may have started as a typical day at the
Nekohanten, but one thing is for certain:
It won't end that way.
For today is the day when Mousse finally snaps. Before this day ends,
he'll
finally reach the depths of his soul and the limits to which he'll finally
go with
the strength he finds there.
And the madness that won't be far behind. Because Mousse is falling down.
"Order UP!" Cologne called from the kitchen. "Get your tail in here
Mousse!"
Mousse readjusted his glasses for the nth time that day, and wiped the
sweat
from his brow. Only 9 a.m. and the crush was already beginning today.
Saturdays were always hell, he thought. Not just because there were
exponentially more people here, but because once more he'd have to see his
love with another man.
Not just another man, that Ranma. Just as most of his life had been for
him, no matter how far he had pushed, he'd come up empty against
Saotome. The anger at knowing Saotome held more legitimate right to
Shampoo than he did always served as a focal point for rage, an emotion
Mousse was becoming intimately familiar with. Today was different,
the boiling rage that had lead him time and time again against Ranma
didn't
come. Instead there was a dull ache, that burned like an ember in his
soul.
"I SAID ORDER UP!" Cologne shouted from the kitchen. "Move it!"
"Yes, ma'am," Mousse muttered sullenly. He picked up the order and
hustled it out to the proper table as fast as he could.
When he had another minute to think, he wondered where Shampoo was. If
Cologne didn't miss her, that could only mean one thing: that she was
on another quest to gain Ranma as a husband. That bitch, he thought. He
then checked himself. How could he think something like that of the
woman he loved? This had to be the first time he'd ever gone so far.
Just then, Shampoo charged into the restaurant with her object of
conquest in tow.
Not that Ranma seemed to have come unwillingly. Ranma NEVER went against
his will, Mousse mused. He LET himself get swept along. This was the
sole
fact Mousse never could get past. Ranma didn't LOVE any of the women he
was affianced to, not even Akane as he repeatedly claimed. He just went
along with them. Played with them, with their hearts, took what he could
from them. The rage began to rise up in his chest again, and then died.
He'd tried before. Tried with all of his might, and it had all gone for
naught. He didn't deserve her, did he? He wasn't good enough, obviously,
or he would have her, right?
"Mousse! Bring ramen for Ranma!"
This was the limit he'd been reduced to, was it? He would serve the man
his love lusted for, and be expected to smile. Or entertain them
by rushing and failing to attack Ranma when Cologne would intervene, by
dousing him with water. The scene had repeated itself in real life,
almost
as often as it had repeated itself in his nightmares, over and over. The
faces of the people in the restaurant grinning at him horrifically, their
laughter, HER laughter ringing in his ears as he impotently flapped and
quacked about the room. His depression gave way to rage, which then
sank away again, burning its way down into what he thought of as his soul.
He composed himself and picked up the order of ramen and stiffly walked
the extent of the room.
He approached the corner in which Shampoo snuggled next to Ranma, anger
building within him. How could he simply watch this? The least deserving
of men, with what he desired most? He kept his anger contained, though,
and placed the ramen calmly on the table.
"Hey, thanks Mousse!" Ranma called to Mousse's retreating back.
"Hope you choke on it." Mousse muttered in Chinese.
Shampoo heard him. "What did you say?" she demanded.
He started to retort, but again forced the anger down. "I said, I hope
you
enjoy it," again in Chinese.
Shampoo retreated. "That's what Shampoo thought you said." she said
smugly
as she could in her broken Japanese. This had mostly passed Ranma by,
besides the fact that Mousse hadn't attacked him. Shampoo glomped back
onto
Ranma, with a glance in Mousse's direction, as if dismissing him. Once
more
Mousse forced himself to continue, without looking back.
"I'm taking a break," he snapped to Cologne.
"Worthless boy. You do more on break than you supposedly do on the job.
Why I continue to let you work here is beyond me."
Mousse ignored her abuse, despite the normal sting that the Amazon
chieftain's
words brought him. He continued on to the kitchen door, and was about to
step outside when Cologne hopped to the door beside him.
"One moment boy. You did not attack Ranma today. That's good. Because
I've
decided that should you even once more try to interfere with Shampoo
with regards to my son-in-law, or if your work suffers as a consequence of
your obsession, not only will you be out on you rear, but you will be
forever exiled from the tribe as well. Do you understand?"
Mousse stared at her, the new pain that he felt from her words sinking
into
his consciousness like daggers into flesh. Without trusting himself to
answer, he fled past her into the alleyway to think. Cologne closed the
door
behind him.
Mousse found himself alone with his thoughts, in the alleyway. The
turmoil
this new turn of events brought him moved his mind even further down the
spiral of despair that his world had become.
He thought back, far back to when he'd first fallen in love with Shampoo.
There had been no Ranma then, not even a shadow on the horizon. He hadn't
the heart to challenge her with his full skills; his art was too dangerous
to unleash it on the woman he loved. He just...couldn't. His mind fast-
forwarded to the time he'd first challenged Ranma. Of all of Ranma's
challengers, he'd come the closest to taking that pig down. But with more
than just Ranma to deal with, when he'd made the mistake of involving
Ranma's
innazuke, Ranma had also pushed his limits, and come up with more than
Mousse could produce.
That had kicked off a new bout of intensive training for Mousse. For
months
he'd done nothing besides work at the restaurant and train. Train like
never
before. Then every time he'd try to do something...
Shampoo. The fact that she would intervene on his account maddened Mousse
like nothing he'd never felt before. The fact that Cologne had already
accepted Ranma as son-in-law and heir to the leadership of the tribe and
TRAINED Ranma in Amazon techniques pushed him even farther. But what
truly galled Mousse, that brought anger upon anger, rage beyond rage was
Shampoo's behavior towards Ranma: the way she would practically PROSTITUTE
herself to that slime, was what pushed Mousse to continually attack Ranma
upon his entry to Nekohanten, even knowing what the end result would be.
His rage boiled within his veins. The time he'd taken outside to cool
down
had only succeeded in fanning the flames of that ember of rage within him
to a blaze.
"Mousse! Your break is over! Get your tailfeathers in here!"
It was Cologne calling him, but that's not what he heard. He heard only
the
voice of his chief tormentor now. He turned and walked slowly back into
the
restaurant. He saw her standing in the doorway as he approached, but did
not
increase his pace.
"Move it!" the diminutive demoness snapped at him. Here, where he'd once
seen the leader of his people, he could now only see a portion of the evil
that
infected the world he lived in. Some part of him still kept him in check.
He moved to pick up the orders that were ready to go and carefully moved
to
the appropriate tables.
He didn't speak; he needed all of his concentration to keep himself under
control. He wouldn't be humiliated today, just for this one time. He
almost
didn't notice when he approached the table at which Shampoo sat with that
THING she claimed to love. He also didn't notice a small rise in the
floor
of the restaurant.
Mousse stumbled and spilled a little of one bowl. He stopped to try and
set the bowls in more stable configurations, and his glasses slipped down
on his nose. Unfortunately that wasn't the only thing that slipped. He
heard
rather than saw the one bowl hit the floor and shatter.
He tried to set the rest of the bowls down so he could clean up some of
the
mess, but that wasn't his only concern. Part of the resulting splatter
had
gone in Shampoo's general direction and splashed on her foot.
"Stupid Mousse! Clumsy oaf!" she shouted at him.
"But..."
"Shampoo glad she not have to marry weakling like you. Not while she have
real man who can at least carry a BOWL without dropping!"
Things then began to move in slow motion. Mousse felt, rather than saw
himself push his glasses back up on his nose. But he could hear. And
he had heard all of the words Shampoo had said, as much as he could feel
the terrible pain inside him. But it didn't stop there. He heard the
rest of the patrons in the Nekohanten laughing. Laughing at him.
Laughing
at his misfortune, and for a split second he saw Shampoo laughing as well.
That was when the last shred of him broke. That last fuse that kept the
inferno within him in check blew, and suddenly everything stopped.
And when they started again, it wasn't with the same Mousse.
The change wasn't obvious though. He didn't charge and flail at those
around
him. He walked back to near where he'd pick up orders.
Cologne was waiting for him. "That's it duck boy. You're fired. Get out
of my restaurant."
Mousse stared at her with dead eyes. "I'll leave."
He walked calmly out the front door, for all the world like he was just
going on a stroll around the block.
A second passed. Then thirty. A minute.
Patrons of the Nekohanten resumed eating their meals and chatting with
friends. A crisis, it seemed had been averted.
And then the car flew through the window.
"Order up!" Mousse screamed as he heaved another car at the restaurant.
"Oh, I'm sorry! Did I get your order wrong? So sorry!"
After a third car had crashed into the hapless restaurant Mousse charged
inside, blades flashing from his sleeves.
"Oh Ranma darling! C'mon out and play!" Mousse called into the rubble.
"Mousse!"
Mousse turned his gaze to meet the blue eyes of Ranma. The other martial
artist stood out amidst the chaos as only one of a few who'd escaped the
aftermath of Mousse's first volley. "Oh, there you are!"
"Why are you doing this?"
"Why? WHY? How can YOU of all people ask me that?"
"I can't believe you'd go this far."
Mousse glanced around the wreckage. "This is only the start. C'mon
lover boy!"
"Mousse stop!" the trademark broken Japanese identified the speaker.
Mousse glared at the woman he had previously been helplessly, hopelessly
in love with.
"Why? Isn't this what you admire, bitch? This strength? Isn't this
part and parcel for it? Don't get in my way, woman!"
"This has gone far enough Mousse," Ranma stated. "I don't want to hurt
you..."
Mousse interrupted. "Then you're a fool. Because I very, very much want
to
harm you Saotome. And this time, you don't win."
On that cue the two sprang at each other. Mousse had the advantage from
the
start, for with his weapons Ranma had to keep farther away, even as he had
to
get in close to use any of his own attacks. The results of the fight were
predictable at first: Ranma's speed started to wear on the other artist,
even
as Ranma started to gain some small slashes, across his guard arm and
forward
leg. Even so, Mousse gained several hits from Ranma, and apparently was
beginning to tire.
Mousse suddenly pulled gigantic blades from his sleeves as he had near the
end
of their first fight. This time, instead of charging Ranma, he let the
other
artist charge him and attempt to break the blades as he had before. This
time, however, as Ranma broke the first blade, Mousse immediately pulled a
heavy
weight from his robes and landed a surprise blow on the pig-tailed boy,
stunning him. Mousse didn't let up. He slammed the weight into Ranma
twice
more, each time the sound of bone cracking was heard.
"That's it!" Mousse exulted. "I WIN Saotome!"
For good measure, Mousse kicked Ranma a few more times in the ribs, noting
that he was still breathing. For a moment, he considered the option of
ending Ranma's life, right then and there. Then he thought better.
Better
to let the undefeated live out the rest of his days knowing he'd been
beaten
and beaten soundly by one he'd dismissed. That was more fitting.
"You surprise me Mousse," a raspy voice called from the remains of the
kitchen.
"Good."
"I cannot let what you've done here go unpunished, however," Cologne
continued.
"Go ahead and try, crone."
Cologne hopped into view and began to circle Mousse, her form blurring
until
several Colognes were seen instead of just the one. Mousse whirled trying
to
keep up, but the old Amazon's speed was almost too much.
"Did you really think you were any match for me, duck boy?" she
croaked at him, taunting the man she'd so long kept down. Mousse began to
take painful knocks from the old warrior woman as she whirled around him.
Suddenly Mousse stood stock still and closed his eyes. "I was ready for
this you old sack of bones. Anti-Amazon final attack, phase one!
Whirling Dervish!"
Chains began to appear from out of Mousse's robes, but he didn't simply
swipe
at Cologne with them. Instead, Mousse began to spin, faster and faster,
the chains with their hooked and barbed ends hissing in the air as they
didn't strike directly at any of the Cologne-images. They struck at
ALL of them.
Cologne cried out in pain as Mousse felt the chains dig cruelly into her
flesh. The images dissipated, and the only one remaining had a hold of
the
chain Mousse had struck with. With a vicious yell, Cologne yanked on the
chain with all of her might, but once more Mousse had anticipated this and
his training had paid off. Whatever limb had held the chain inside his
robes let go and the Amazon chieftain staggered back, struggling to keep
her balance on top of her staff.
Mousse wasn't done though. Battered from the attacks of Cologne and Ranma
before her, his rage was in no way spent. This was HIS day to shine.
"Anti-Amazon attack phase two!" he announced, and charged at Cologne
while
she was still recovering. He aimed a kick at her, which she deftly
avoided by
moving closer into Mousse, preparing to counter-attack. Mousse, though,
had never intended the kick to land. Sets of three blades each sprang
out to his hands and he simultaneously swiped with both at the old woman.
Or so it appeared. At the last second, he changed the direction and
slashed
her staff beneath her, stepping back for a moment. For a split second
there
was no effect evident, and then Cologne's staff fell into nine distinct
pieces beneath her, sending the old woman to the ground.
"Very...good, boy. Perhaps you were worthy of Shampoo after all," she
wheezed, trying to get to her feet, and failing without the staff she'd
leaned on for years.
"Mousse!" a familiar voice called from behind him. Mousse turned slowly,
to find Shampoo helping Ranma to his feet.
"Still lusting after the pig-tailed wonder are we, hmmm?" Mousse
purred evilly.
Ranma pointed a shaky finger at Mousse. "This isn't over!" he grated as
loudly as he could.
Mousse began walking toward the two, an aura of coldness forming around
him. "That's where you're right Saotome," he stated quietly. "This
isn't over yet, is it? You need to say six little words before this can
end, and if I were you I'd start saying them now. Just say 'I relinquish
my claim to Shampoo' and then I won't have to hurt you anymore."
"Mousse not hurt Airen!" Shampoo said, belatedly catching on to what
all of this was about, only dimly aware of the fact that her
great-grandmother
lay still weakly attempting to stand, beyond Mousse.
Mousse grinned, a very, very strange look on his face, and laughed. "Can
you stop me? Do you really think that at this point I'll pull any
punches?
Come on then! Face the man that should by all rights be your 'Airen' !"
Shampoo readied her bonbori and charged at Mousse. She never got closer
than a few feet before three things happened.
The first was a double swipe of Mousse's chain weapons, relieving her of
both her maces so fast that an observer wouldn't have seen him move. Her
attack continued though, barehanded, and she found herself thoroughly
ensnared by six chains, relieving her of any mobility. The third was
Mousse
dashing her into one of the remaining walls of the restaurant. Shampoo
slumped, defeated.
Ranma still managed to stand. "Mousse, listen to me!"
Mousse turned to his sole remaining opponent. "Yes?"
"I never intended to get involved with Shampoo."
Mousse's gaze tightened. "Those weren't the words I asked for."
He started in on Ranma, but apparently Saotome wasn't completely out of it
yet. Ranma ducked in and unleashed his trademarked Chestnut fist attack.
Mousse staggered back, taking several blows to the head and chest. But
this moment had been a long time in coming and this was not the end of it.
"Anti-fiancee technique step one!" he yelled. "Everything but the
kitchen
sink!"
Reality gave this area a miss, as objects of all shapes and sizes began
flying with breakneck speed at Ranma. Their sheer volume seemed directly
counter to any know laws of physics, but the flurry continued, so fast
Ranma had to use his chestnut fist technique to block. Unfortunately for
him, Mousse's technique was aptly named. Ranma couldn't sustain the
chestnut fist speed long enough to counter ALL of the items Mousse was
flinging, faster and faster, until the last few, including a spare tire,
a car jack and a bowling ball made contact with Ranma, throwing him
into the wall, right next to Shampoo.
Mousse strode towards him, slowly, savoring every second as he advanced
on his adversary. Mousse bent down and lifted Ranma's chin so he could
look
directly into his eyes.
Blades sprung out to either side of Ranma's face, startling him but doing
no damage.
"Now Ranma. Look directly at me, and say those words I asked you, or your
beloved profile starts taking a beating you won't recover from. Go ahead,
resist! The rest of you fiancee problems would probably end there too."
"I..." Ranma croaked, gasping for breath. "I relinquish all rights
I had to Shampoo."
"Good. Now turn to her and tell her that."
Shampoo stirred, opened her eyes and saw the two of them there, Mousse
victorious over Ranma. "Ran..ma?"
"I'm sorry Shampoo. I break our engagement."
"Shampoo....understand."
Mousse straightened up and walked back to Cologne. The still prone crone
had been watching the tableau unfold before her in something akin to awe.
He bent down next to her. "You heard that, didn't you?"
"Yes. I did."
"That should be good enough, even by your twisted view of Amazon law."
That
was a statement, not a question.
Cologne sighed. "You win...future son-in-law."
Mousse grinned once more, colder than ever. "You assume I want her."
THAT surprised everyone save Ranma, who had passed out. Mousse strode
back
over to Ranma and began clearing a path to the door. He grabbed Ranma by
the pigtail and began dragging the downed martial artist to the door.
"Mousse? Where you take Ranma?" Shampoo asked weakly.
Mousse noted her new form of address for her now former fiancee.
"I'm just taking out the trash."
Mousse had time to think while he dragged the hapless Ranma through the
streets of Nerima. He earned more than a few strange looks from
passersby,
but then again this WAS Nerima, so they were more than used to strange
events.
Mousse's thoughts tumbled around in his head. He had won! From this
point on
he could set his own course, right after he finished up with Saotome.
He arrived at the Tendo dojo, outside which he could hear the normal daily
sounds of people talking and laughing.
He didn't wait. He walked up to the door, which was opened by Kasumi
after
he knocked. He said not a word to her as he dragged Ranma inside, still
by the ponytail, earning a simple "Oh, my" from stunned Kasumi.
He entered the main family room where Akane sat talking to Nabiki, and
Soun and Genma still played Shoji. He marched straight up to Genma, who
was in human form, and dropped Ranma.
"Consider the matter of your son's marriage to Shampoo...settled," he
growled.
He turned and began to walk back out the way he'd come without another
word.
Akane blocked his way.
"How could you do such a thing!" she shouted and from nowhere produced a
mallet, intent on smashing Mousse's head in. On any other day, she
might've
even succeeded.
Today however, as was becoming apparent, was not any other day. Mousse
brought his own mallet out from nowhere and parried the blow.
"Not bad, Akane-san. But not good enough. I did you a favor. Now he's
got one less fiancee. You should be grateful."
Soun, meanwhile, had grasped the implications of this and was weeping with
joy. "Hurray! Now Ranma can marry Akane without having to worry about
that horrid amazon!"
"If he lives, Daddy." Nabiki interjected, checking Ranma's pulse.
"Quiet girl. Can't you see this is a special occasion?"
Genma sat beside his son's body in shock. "You dropped the ball, son," he
said quietly to his battered son.
Meanwhile, Akane was still facing Mousse. His anger flared up again, and
without another word edgewise, he swept Akane out of the way with his
mallet,
none too gently. She fell, crawling towards where Ranma lay.
His way cleared, Mousse continued out the door. He wasn't far down the
street
when the first of the attacks he knew would be coming began.
Mousse had known somewhere in the depths of his subconscious that
defeating
Ranma would make him a target for the rest of his fiancees, and even
Ryouga,
who might simply take offense at someone else beating up Ranma, appeared
as a possible opponent.
Making certain Nabiki knew precisely who was responsible for this, was the
best way to ensure he could deal with these at once. He didn't care
anymore.
He couldn't be stopped.
Kodachi was first, always the first to pony up cash to Nabiki about news
like this. She wasn't even a challenge though, her rhythmic gymnastic
equipment fell around her as Mousse's actual weaponry cut them to shreds
and
then thrashed her soundly. He was fairly certain he'd heard bone snap as
he threw her about that last time, but no matter.
Kuno was next, informed by Sesuke, who'd monitored Kodachi's activity.
"Thou and I have always been the most alike, Mousse-kun." the kendoist
stated, as a preamble to his attack. "We've both always thirsted and
hungered
for the one we could not have. I cannot let what you've done to my sister
go unanswered, though."
Mousse's dead stare hardened. "I'm nothing like you. And I'm not looking
to escape anything."
The fight lasted a very brief period of time. Mousse only needed to go
head to head with Tatewaki for a few seconds before his precious bokken
lay in splinters on the ground. Kuno, without his sword, was next to
defenseless against Mousse's onslaught. He fell, his body next to his
sister's on the Nerima street, in the gutter.
"Mousse!" a strident voice called from up the street.
"Ryouga." Mousse acknowledged.
"You took what was mine, you scum. You've taken the victory I should have
had
over Saotome. The only thing that ever meant anything to me!"
As Ryouga began to build up his ki, Mousse simply waited and watched
his aura begin to glow bright as Ryouga channeled his despair.
Mousse continued to wait as the eternally lost boy prepared his final
attack.
"SHI CHI HOKODAN!" Ryouga screamed as the ki blast streamed down the
street
at Mousse.
But Mousse had other plans. "Special ki defense!" he cried when the
blast
closed in on him.
Ryouga's vision went blurry, as the drain on his energy began to take
effect.
He didn't see the blast hit Mousse, though it had to have...
A kick to the side of the head made Ryouga's world spin, tilt and
rearrange
itself, with his cheek pressed against the street. "How...?"
Mousse kicked him again, in the ribs this time. "I got out of the way, you
moron! Didn't anyone ever think of that before?"
Ryouga tried to croak something in response, but another few kicks from
Mousse took the fight completely from him.
"Stop it!" yet another voice called from behind him.
Mousse turned from the pile of bodies Kodachi, Tatewaki and now Ryouga
made on the street. Ukyo stood spatula at the ready.
"I'm not here to fight," she said in what she hoped was a reassuring
voice.
"Then you're in the wrong place," Mousse growled. Chains leaped out
at Ukyo, but she managed to block with her own weapon, the hooks leaving
dents in her spatula from the force of the impact.
"Stop this," Ukyo pleaded, again battering away Mousse's attacks, barely
keeping ahead of the Chinese boy.
"Why should I?" Mousse grated. "I'm invincible!" he screamed, and Ukyo
felt one of the hooks sink into her thigh, crippling her.
Mousse hauled her in by the hook, Ukyo crying out in pain. He pulled her
up
right in front of him, face to face.
"Don't you understand?" Ukyo gasped, through the pain. "You've won.
It's
over."
"It's not over!" Mousse yelled, throwing her back against a nearby fence.
"It's never over here! If it was over, when I defeated Ranma, would I
have
had to fight Kodachi? Or Kuno? Or that freak Ryouga?"
He swung at her again, but Ukyo had regained her footing and thrown a
flour
bomb, escaping to a safer distance.
"Then why are you fighting me? Or have you gotten to like the feeling of
causing others pain? Does their suffering make you feel better?"
He charged her again, but somehow she managed to stay enough ahead of him
to not take any more damage.
"How many more Mousse? How many more people must feel pain, so that you
can feel better? Does it end with me?" she dodged again. " Does it
ever end?"
"I have to take back my destiny!" Mousse screamed, nearly incoherently.
"At the cost of your future?"
Mousse paused for a second, her words finally sinking in. Mousse found
himself thinking, for the first time in hours, about what he was doing.
Who he'd hurt. The price he'd inflicted. He dropped his chains and fell
to his knees, sobbing.
Then there was a crash, and darkness.
"Sorry, honey, but I couldn't take any chances," Ukyo said to Mousse's
now
unconscious form on the street.
Mousse floated. There was darkness all around him, and suddenly the
sensation
of falling. He hit whatever ground there was and rolled, stopping inside
a circle of light.
"So," a figure beyond the light said. "You finally snapped. Good for
you,
friend!"
Mousse got to his feet and looked around, rather futilely as darkness
enveloping everything except for his little pool of light.
"I've gotta admit I didn't think you had it in you. Just, WHAM and all
of the sudden, bye-bye sanity, hello psychoville. Guess I owe me a
little apology then.
"But what really amazes me is you still thought you were the hero. Even
to
the last, where you sank those truly ugly hooks of yours into poor little
Ucchan, as she pleaded with you in the name of sanity. You are one
sick fuck, my friend. I'd like to think I had some small part of it."
"Who are you?" Mousse demanded, trying to regain his mental footing.
"'Who am I?'," the voice mimicked. "Maybe I'm the devil in the dark.
That
side of you that never forgives and never forgets, and would hold a
grudge to the end of time. Revenge, yeah, that's where the money is, boy;
that's the ticket."
"What do you want?"
"I've already got most of what I wanted. You've felt the rage now. It
made
you stronger, didn't it? Strong enough to take on all of them. So we're
both happy now, aren't we? You've got everything you wanted, I've got
everything I wanted. Almost. There is one small matter I need you to
deal with, however." The voice seemed to be closing in on him, almost
close enough to where Mousse could reach out and touch the speaker.
Another light appeared; this one was also occupied. Shampoo lay in it's
center, just as she'd been the last time he'd seen her.
"Where Mousse take Ranma?" she said, exactly as she had before.
"See how she still cares for him? Even in the darkest hour of his defeat,
she still clings to him," the voice taunted, almost right into his ear.
"That's not true!" Mousse protested. "She didn't call him Airen or
anything!"
"Poor, poor deluded Mousse. How long did it take you to realize that
there was no way she'd go for you the way things were? What gave you the
clue, boy? Better yet, who gave you the clue?"
"She's mine now," Mousse stated, rather shakily.
"Who are you trying to convince?" the Shampoo figure asked in Chinese.
"I love Ranma, not you, you stupid duck, and there'll be a time when you
aren't looking that I can go back to him."
"THAT would hurt you, wouldn't it Mousse?" the voice asked from the
darkness. "That might even drive you completely over the edge, to where
you leave no one in your path. Wouldn't that be a shame?"
Mousse whirled, trying to get a fix on the voice, but it continued to
elude
him.
"I would never hurt her," Mousse said. "I couldn't."
"Couldn't you?" the voice asked. A scene played out in the other light,
his dealing with Shampoo in the Nekohanten, the solid thunk as she hit
the wall. "Looks like you already did."
Mousse's head started to spin. "Who are you?"
"I already told you, or did you forget? You better get to know me pretty
well, 'cuz I'm thinking I like the new changes you've made. A little
song,
a little dance, Cologne's head on a lance, and Shampoo watching. That's
the stuff. You think you've won? Ranma will be back, as soon as he's out
of the hospital. You need me. You lose to him, and Shampoo will go
running
back to her Ranma darling's arms.
"Or maybe you've got something else in mind. There is, of course, one way
you can ensure that Shampoo stays yours forever, now isn't there? Could
you actually have the will to do it? Could you slide that blade of
yours past her throat, and watch her blood stain her beautiful hair?
Maybe
you could, boy. Red is such a lovely color, you know."
"No," Mousse whispered, watching in horror, as he saw the proposed
scene play out in front of him, even as he squeezed his eyes shut, he
could
still see his own form slice into Shampoo's flesh and laugh as her blood
poured out.
"NO!" he screamed as he rushed forward and grabbed his other self away.
"You need me," the voice hissed from his own face in front of him."You're
NOTHING without me."
"That's not true," Mousse rasped as he shook the form in front of him.
"I AM you!" the evil Mousse screamed.
"NO!" Mousse yelled out and suddenly...
He found himself back at the ruins of the Nekohanten, Shampoo wiping his
face.
"How did I..."
"Spatula-girl brought you back," Shampoo told him. The lump on the back
of
his head told him Ukyo had been responsible for his trip to dreamland.
The details of his dream came rushing back abruptly, and he suddenly felt
very, very afraid of himself and what he could be capable of. The day's
events, etched into his memory, spoke volumes toward what his
psychological
state was.
"I have to go," Mousse blurted.
"Go where?" Shampoo asked gently in Chinese.
"Away. I have to go away for a while and straighten things out for
myself."
"I'll go with you."
"NO!"
"Mousse, I don't understand what happened today, but you frightened me.
Not
just by what happened between you and the others, but by how you dealt
with
me. It made me realize just how badly I'd treated you, and how blind I'd
been."
Mousse stared at her and wondered at this abrupt change. For the first
time
he actually saw, not imagined, SAW regret in her eyes. What he'd dreamed
of
for the longest time. But then he remembered, felt the knife in his hand
slice into
her flesh, and he knew he had to get away.
"Wait for me."
Shampoo shook her head. "I don't understand."
"I have to go, and you can't be there. You're part of the reason I have
to
leave, so that I can sort things out for myself, once and for all. I just
ask that you wait for me, genuinely, not going back to Ranma, not finding
another husband like that desiccated relic downstairs would have you, just
waiting for me. That's not a marriage proposal. I don't want you chasing
after
me because I defeated you. I want to be with you because you love me, and
I
love you. But I can't do that until I get my own act together."
He took her hand. "Why don't you do the same?" he asked gently.
She hugged him then, and it was almost everything he'd hoped for. Almost.
But he couldn't stay there. He extricated himself from her arms and
walked
out. Just out, anywhere. He took nothing with him but the weapons he
still had
up his sleeves and walked out into the darkness.
Shampoo watched him go and thought back over what the day had been. He
was right, she mused. She needed to do some thinking of her own. Her
own thoughts, not the thoughts of a proper amazon, or what
great-grandmother
would want her to think, but her own thoughts. She'd wait. And maybe
she'd
come to some conclusion about how she felt.
And so our little play comes to an end. We've seen anger, violence,
madness, a little comedy, romance, and not just a little good natured
evil that lurks within the souls of all men, not to mention that which
lurks in the hearts of women. So what of it? Why tell such a story?
Some questions don't have answers, child. Just don't overlook others in
the
pursuit of your own goals, and catch your friends when they fall down.
Author's note:
This is an extremely ODD story, isn't it? I can't believe the turns it
took,
or really how long it got. Once more I'd like to cite the fact that
Mousse
is one of the most neglected characters in the series and never quite gets
the break he needs, and so stumbles on.
I'd like to thank my editor, John Harp, for once more slogging through the
morays of my mind that somehow find their ways to text.
The original concept for this story was much, much different from the
actual
finished product. This was originally going to be basically Mousse takes
on
everyone and wins. But I couldn't bring myself to leave it at that.
Not when I could leave my mark on basically everything at once, and reach
for something more. There are, of course, fics that address the
Mousse/Shampoo issue, and good ones too, but not to the extent I'd like,
which is made obvious in this story. Sometimes people snap, and if
they're
lucky they can pull themselves back together. But take what you want from
this story, if you view it with a discerning eye.
I'd like to apologize for the fight scenes in this work. They aren't bad,
I just despise writing them, because I think they probably detract from
the
content of a work and tend to obstruct what may be important insight,
although it's nearly impossible to write a Ranma fic, even a dark one,
without the obligatory fight or two. This one turned out to be a real
splutchfest didn't it?
Of course I took liberties with the characters' behaviors, but what writer
who uses characters of another creator's work doesn't? I'd like to think
that
I more or less colored within the lines on this one though...
As always, comments and criticisms are appreciated. Send to:
awa51669@jetson.uh.edu
Andrew Askew
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