Todd Harper brought up an interesing question about what would happen if 
Mousse beat Shampoo, and the marriage law applied to him.  Here's my 
answer as to what would happen.

Mousse's marriage challenge
(A _very_ short-fic)

These characters do not belong to me, yadda, yadda, yadda.
(Like any disclaimer could stop me from being sued.)

By: Matthew Campbell


	"This time I will defeat you Shampoo!" Mousse shouted, 
leaping into the air.  From his robes sprang an assortment of 
throwing clubs, aimed at the purple-haired amazon below.
	Remaining on the ground, Shampoo leaned to one side, 
allowing the blunt objects to miss by mere inches.  With an amused 
expression on her face, she taunted, "Mousse never learn.  Stupid 
blind boy no win when fight Amazon warrior!"
	Calculating where Mousse would land, she prepared to 
greet him with a fist to the face.  Unfortunately for her, Mousse 
shot out a chain at the last possible moment.  Anchoring it on a 
convenient building, he managed to alter his trajectory just enough 
to land behind Shampoo, rather than in front as she had intended.
	Had Mousse taken the time to pull another weapon from 
his robes, Shampoo would have had the chance to turn around and 
block or dodge.  Surprisingly, he chose to strike with his bare fist, 
managing to land an effective blow on the base of her skull.  While 
the blow momentarily staggered his opponent, Mousse took the 
chance to use his finishing blow.
	With a cry of, "Fist of White Swan", he slammed Shampoo 
over the head with a white potty.  She instantly lapsed to the 
ground, unconscious.
	Mousse began dancing about, laughing maniacally and 
pumping his arms.  "Shampoo is mine!  Shampoo is mine!  At long 
last, she will marry me!"
	After a few moments, Shampoo slowly sat up, scowling, 
and rubbed her head.  She calmly said, "Shampoo no marry you, 
Mousse."
	Mousse stopped his wild dancing and looked at her, a 
puzzled expression on his face.  "Shampoo, I defeated you in 
combat.  According to the law of our village, you must marry me."
	"Shampoo no care about law.  Is Ranma I love, not you.  
Don't care what law say."
	The happy expression had now completely faded from 
Mousse's face.  Looking pale, he choked out, "But it's the law.  
You have to obey!"
	Shampoo cocked her head to one side and stared off into 
space for a few seconds, as if considering this.  Finally, she began to 
smile a nasty smile.  "Who going to make me?"
	In desperation, Mousse appealed to the duel's witness, 
who had been silently observing the proceedings.  "Cologne, you 
tell her.  I defeated Shampoo and now she must marry me."
	It was difficult to tell under all the wrinkles, but it rather 
appeared as if Cologne were smirking.  "What can I say?  Laws are 
made to be broken. What's important is victory and success, not the 
letter of the law.  If Shampoo doesn't want to marry you, I'm not 
going to force her.  I'm here to help my great-granddaughter to be 
happy, not to enforce our customs."
	Turning back to Shampoo, Mousse threatened wildly, "I'll, 
I'll tell the village everyone will no how you have failed to obey our 
sacred laws.  You'll be exiled!"
	Shampoo wasn't exactly shaking in her shoes.  "Oh, will 
not!  At worst, get few challenges to prove still worthy Amazon.  
No big deal."
	She suddenly winced and clutched the back of her head. 
"Stupid Mousse hit pretty hard.  Shampoo go back to Nekohoten 
and lie down."  She walked over to her bicycle and leaped on, 
pedaling away.  Mousse noticed she didn't look back at him, not 
even once.
	Cologne said, "We'd best get back too, boy.  The dinner 
crowd will be coming in shortly.  Since you were the one to hurt 
Shampoo, you can pull a double-shift while she recovers."  She 
began hopping off on her cane, making surprisingly quick progress.
	Mousse just stood there, in the empty lot where the duel 
had been held.  For a long moment he just stood there and thought.  
Finally, he raised his face towards the heavens.
	"It's not fair!  It's noooooooot faaaaaiiiiiiiiiiiir!  Why?!"
	A gentle sprinkling of evening rain and a quick 
transformation were his only answers.

The End