mabli@idirect.com

What Must Be Done Part 2

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Mark Ferrer



Disclaimer: All rights are reserved to their respective owners. Only the
original characters are mine. Don't sue me, please. (I'm saving up for a
DVD player.)

Note: I honestly can't tell if I've taken some liberties with some/all
of the characters. Sorry, I couldn't help it.
Thoughts are in <>
Normal dialogue is in "quotes"

Author's Notes: I got a lot of critisism. Now, let's see if it was
constructive by writing this next chapter. If this one sucks as much as
the last one, I leave it to the fact that I'm an idiot.

Last Chaper: A Masked Man arranges it for Mousse to be taken back to
China to teach him new skills to defeat any of his enemies. He has not
shown why he is doing all this. He and Mousse were having a talk and his
mask fell off.

***************************************************************************

     For the next few minutes, Mousse stared at the person in front of
him. He blocked out all the new visions slamming into his mind and
looked straight ahead. He didn't think it was possible, but it seemed
that it was. In front of him was a man, obviously middle-aged with grey
hair that made him seem distinguished. He had Chinese features and his
hair was down to his back. He was looking at himself.

     The new images bombarding his mind broke through and he struggled
to bring back the image in front of him. He screamed as his mind
painfully told him that there was way too much information streaming in.
Slowly, the images slowed and he saw only an older version of himself in
front of him.

     He gently shook the other Mousse, who promply put a hand to his
face. The Older Mousse no longer felt the mask on and saw Younger
Mousse's shocked expression. "So now you know." he said, putting on his
glasses. "I assume you want to know the whole story now?" he asked, at
the still gawking teenager. "Okay, here goes."

     "Two years from now, you take the chance of leaving Ranma alone
with Shampoo and leave to train with our old master in hopes of finally
learning a new technique that might beat Ranma. It was as if fate was
guiding you... er, us because at the time, old master was willing to
teach anyone who beat him his techniques before he passed on."

**     "Why do you want to learn these techniques?" an old man said.
Mousse sized up his opponent and said, "To win the hand of the woman I
love." The old man's brow twiched. "You mean if you beat her, you get to
marry her, correct?" <How did he know?> Mousse thought. "Yes. And you
promise that you teach me your techniques?" "Try your best." the old man
said, getting into an attack position."  **

     "The old man could have beat me in a heart beat, but he wanted to
have a little fun and see how long I withstood his irritating attacks. I
was lucky there was no one else to see what had happened. He kept giving
me soft punches and kicks until they wore me down. That was the most
embarrasing fight of my life. He waited me out while I threw everything
I had at him. I even tried the Hidden Weapons final technique but they
were countered easily. The only thing that kept me going was my love for
Shampoo. He had never seen such determination. I guess I was lucky that
he didn't meat Ranma yet, huh?" he paused. Younger Mousse nodded as
Older Mousse continued his story. "He agreed to teach me his techniques
on the grounds that when I finish my objective, I allow him to wipe my
memory clean of it with that special shampoo. I learned them all and
went back to Japan to challenge Ranma and Shampoo. Beating Ranma was
very easy. When Cologne saw the techniques I was using, she called off
the fight and made Shampoo marry me... Damn I was a fool." Older Mousse
grimaced. "The whole time, I expected Shampoo to be happy but it turned
out she was completely devoted to Ranma. We were married in China for
only a week before I found out her true feelings about it. The Mind's
eye allows you to see everything and I saw Shampoo and Cologne talking.
She was ready to kill herself but Cologne wanted us to have children so
I could teach the tribe, thus making us the most powerful people in the
world. When I found this out, I went back to the old master to erase my
memory and found that he had died days earlier from cancer. I asked
anyone in the village who could do it but they were all honour bound by
Cologne to never do anything that might jeopardize me passing the
techniques on. The only solution I could think of was to somehow change
everything so that Shampoo would never experience such sadness and here
I am."

     Younger Mousse looked thoughtfully for a minute and asked, "Why are
you teaching me these techniques then?" Older Mousse sighed and said, "I
know how stubborn you are. I am you. Even if I tell you what to do, you
probably wouldn't understand. Another reason is that the old man wanted
his techniques passed on. I am honour bound to hold the vow."

     Older Mousse looked at Younger Mousse and prayed he wasn't making
the biggest mistake of his life. He had a sinking feeling though that he
had. Younger Mousse looked up at the sky and then used the Mind's eye to
look in on Shampoo. She was waiting tables at the Nekohanten. <Maybe
he's right...> he thought. <No! I have to beat Saotome. Then everything
will be alright...>

     "What about my cure of the duck and the Mind's eye?" Younger Mousse
asked. "Since I was shown to be such a powerful fighter, the tribe
pitched in an helped me and Shampoo find cures. The only cure they could
find was for me. As for the Mind's eye, Cologne had an eye all along.
She had it in a pendant. I had to wear that damned thing for a whole
year before it transfered completely from the pendant to myself."

    Both of them sat quietly, Younger Mousse trying to put in order what
was happening and the older one hoping for the best that things would
end up different from his timeline. A piercing sound made both of them
look around for the source of the noise. Older Mousse took out a small
crystal from an arm band and said, "This is what brought me here and
keeps me from being erased from existence. It's made from the same
material as the Magic Mirror which Cologne had given to Happosai. I
don't have much time left. The farther I get from my orignal timeline,
the less time I have. The final technique I need to teach you is how to
teleport. All you have to do is think of a place, bring your Black Hole
there and step through it. Just be sure that your thoughts never waver
or you may teleport to places you do not want to be in."

     "Shouldn't you stay and keep track of my training?" the teenager
asked. "Like I said, there's not much time." the older one said,
"Mousse, I want you to promise me that you won't make the same mistakes
I did and that you'll pass those techniques along." With that, the Older
Mousse started fading away. "Remember, if you force yourself on Shampoo,
she'll be the one who pays." the older one said before fading
completely. The crystal in his hand fell softly onto the grass, it's
time travelling properties allowing it to stay in the new timeline.

     Mousse picked up the crystal and held it tight. <I'm sorry but I'm
going to beat Ranma and take him away from Shampoo.> With that he
entered his void and teleported back to what he hoped would be Nerima.

     Mousse found himself walking down a drugstore down the bathing
supplies aisle. <I've really got to focus.> he thought. He opened up the
void once more and tried to think of Nerima.

     He now found himself walking down a city street. It didn't look
like Nerima. "I hope I'm at least close to it." he said, looking for the
wearer of the red Chinese shirt who always stood in his way. He saw a
blur of red and ran towards the source of it. A redhead was running away
from him followed by a girl in a skimpy black battlesuit. The girl in
the black battlesuit shouted, "Akagiyama Missiles!" and a barrage of
missiles flew towards the redhead. They all missed their mark and caused
lots of damage to the city street. <This is not Nerima.> he thought,
opening the void again and teleporting.

     He now found himself standing in front of a fireball. He thought of
his training and formed a barrier to protect himself. He watched as the
flames were blocked a few foot from his face. The fire subsided and he
saw an angry looking girl with black hair. She was dressed in a skimpy
type of high school uniform. "Get out of the way!" she yelled. He turned
an saw what could only be described as a monster readying to punch him.
He quickly raised his hands forward and tried a ki blast. The monster's
fist hit Mousse shield while Mousse's blast tore through the chest of
the hulking monster. <I'm outta here!> thought Mousse stepping back
through his void. Five girls looked at each other in disbelief. A guy
came out of nowhere and blasted away the monster they were fighting and
disappeared as quickly as he appeared. "That guy reminds me of an old
boyfriend." a tall girl with brown hair said dreamily. The others
facefaulted.

     Mousse stood in his world and concentrated on the picture of
Nerima. <No way I'm going to chance it again.> he thought fiercely. He
concentrated on the front of the Nekohanten and opened the void in front
of him. "This better work." he said.

     Mousse now found himself where had wanted to be all along. The sun
was starting to set. He saw a blur of purple and followed it
instinctively. <Ranma must be going home now.> he thought, running
slightly behind Shampoo as to not be noticed. <I wonder how I did that
ki blast from before though. Probably has something to do with the new
techniques.>

****************************************************************************

      Ranma and Akane were walking home from school on their usual route
when a familiar figure glomped onto Ranma. "Ranma happy see Shampoo"
Shampoo asked, in her normal, bubbly self. Ranma glanced over to a
fuming mad Akane who malleted Ranma to the sky. "What you do that for?"
the irate Amazon asked. Akane was about to answer when Ranma was dropped
right between them. "Pervert-girl getting weaker." Shampoo teased. <What
the heck's going on?> Akane thought, <he couldn't have come back this
quickly!>

      Ranma got up into a battle stance and said, "Who did that?"

      From behind a corner, Mousse appeared. "Today, I shall win Shampoo
from you and marry her."

      "You'll never beat me Mousse." Ranma said confidently. He glanced
back at Akane who looked ready to mallet him again. "Ranma, you can
fight for Shampoo all you want. It's not as if I care. I'll see you at
home." she said through clenched teeth. Ranma turned back to Mousse and
asked, "How about the vacant lot?" "Let's go then." said Mousse, taking
the lead.

      Ranma and Mousse stood facing each other. The only current
spectators were Shampoo and Cologne. "I fight for the right to marry
Shampoo." Mousse announced. "Shampoo, if Ranma wins, he has no claims on
you. But to risk his chance to marry you would mean he knows something
that can put him on equal footing with the son-in-law." Cologne
whispered to Shampoo.

      Mousse took out a staff and threw it to Ranma. "Might as well help
you out a bit Saotome." he said confidently. Ranma caught it and broke
it on his knee. "I do not need any help to beat you Mousse." he said.
"Let's see." Mousse said, charging at Ranma with lengths of chain coming
from his now invisible void. Ranma dodged easily enough and tried the
amaguriken on Mousse. He hit the Chinese boy a couple time before he
felt his fist hit something between him and his opponent. <What the..>
he was forced to dodge another set of chains came from Mousse. Ranma
couldn't believe that Mousse still hadn't retrieved the chains from
before and was already trying to get him with another set. Mousse
stopped attacking, and waited for Ranma to finish dealing with the
another set of chains. He looked around and saw his limp chains on the
grass. He also noticed that there was a growing set of bystanders
watching the fight. He didn't notice Ranma coming up to him and attack
with another amaguriken, which once again hit the barrier he formed
around himself. "What the heck are you doing Mousse?" Ranma asked,
frustrated by the fact that he couldn't hit Mousse. "Watch this." Mousse
said simply as he moved the limp chains on the grass with his thoughts.
Ranma faced the mass of chains, which were moving about like metallic
snakes. They took turns attacking Ranma, who dodged them easily but when
they started to attack at the same time he couldn't help but take some
hits. Mousse tired of this game and bid them to return to the void.
Ranma rubbed his elbow and turned back to Mousse. "That was a cheap
trick Mousse." he said slowly, "I think I'll have to go all out on you."
"By all means, try Saotome." Mousse said confidently. Ranma came in
close and let loose another amaguriken, which was once again blocked by
some object that he couldn't see. Mousse took a set of shurikens and
threw them at Ranma. This time, when Ranma tried to dodge, Mousse guided
them right to him. They were about to hit Ranma when a bonbori knocked
them out of the air. "What are you doing Shampoo?" Mousse asked,
confused by her actions. "You no hurt Ranma. I no let you." she said
confidently. Mousse looked into her eyes. They were near tears. <She
doesn't want this. Why didn't I listen to myself?> he thought. From the
corner of his eye, he saw a flash of light and his barrier was struck by
Ranma's Moko Takabisha. Ranma's smile turned into a confused frown when
he saw that Mousse hadn't even been touched. "Stay out of this!" Mousse
shouted, throwing a ball of ki the size of a fist at Ranma. Ranma simply
moved his head to dodge it. "That's the biggest you can make?" he said
confidently. Suddenly, he was thrown back by the shockwave of the blast.
He got up and looked at the hole caused by the blast. There was a black
spot on the gras 20 feet in diameter. <How did he do that?> Ranma
thought. Mousse turned his attention back on Shampoo. "Shampoo, if I win
against Ranma, would you marry me?" Mousse asked pleadingly. Shampoo
shook her head and said, "No Mousse. I never marry you. Even if Mousse
do beat Ranma." Mousse looked at Ranma, who was charging at him. He
raised his hands and pushed Ramna away using telekinesis. Ranma was
thrown back to the wall, where he stuck for a second then slid down.
"Ranma, I forfeit the match. I don't want to win." Mousse said. He
turned back to Shampoo and said, "I love you more than I can say. I do
not wish to see you so sad because of me. You should know that he could
never love you as much as he love Akane." With that, he stepped back
into his void.

     "Shampoo go check on Ranma." Shampoo said worriedly. Cologne looked
at the damage to the lot caused by the two fighters. <So, Mousse has
finally given up on Shampoo. Those techniques... There must be some way
for the Amazons to have that power. If son-in-law were to learn them, he
would be a worthy husband for Shampoo.> The old crone looked at the
crowd. They still hadn't vacated the area. They were all shocked by the
fact that it looked like Ranma had been beaten by Mousse, supposedly one
of the weakest fighters in Nerima. Cologne pogoed to where Ranma was
lying in Shampoo's arms. She smiled and said, "Shampoo is still yours
son-in-law." Ranma got up shakily and said, "Do you know any counters to
Mousse's new moves?" "The only way to ever beat Mousse is to learn the
same techniques." Ranma sighed and walked home. <What do I do if I ever
have to fight him for real?> he thought.

***************************************************************************

     Mousse looked at the world within his void. "What good are these
powers if I can't even use them to do anything! I'm just stuck like I
was before I learned anything." he shouted to the countryside. The wind
blew, blowing his hair and robes around as if in sympathy for his
situation. "Shampoo truly loves Ranma but she will be devastated when he
realizes his feelings for Akane..." Mousse looked around his world. <A
world at my command yet I still can't find happiness.> He gathered his
ki and fired a depression blast straight up into the sky. He slumped to
the ground, exhaused by the blast. <I wonder why I can do ki blasts now.
I always tried but it never worked.> He wondered if it had to do with
his new power and technique. With that, he fell asleep.

****************************************************************************

     Ranma was at the Tendo's living room as Kasumi was tending to his
wounds. He had many cuts from the fights with the chains and his hands
were numb from punching Mousse's barrier. Kasumi packed up the first aid
kit and went back to the kitchen. Ranma looked at his bandages when
Nabiki came in and sat in front of the TV to watch the business section
of the news. "So Ranma, I heard you almost got beat up by Mousse today.
Any truth to the rumor?" she asked, looking at the TV. Ranma flinched as
if he was punched and said, "I won. He gave up." "But Ranma, you were
down and he just gave up. I wouldn't call that a true win." she said,
looking back at the injured martial artist who had flinched again. "You
didn't have to fight you know." Akane said, walking into the room, "If
you just swallowed your pride and let him beat you, you could have
gotten rid of Shampoo completely." Ranma was about to respond when Soun
barged into the living room and said, "I hear you've been fighting over
Shampoo again. What do you have to say for yourself?" Genma-panda was
standing beside him waving a sign that said, "Explain, boy!" Ranma stood
up and said, "All that matters is that I was the one who won." "With the
prize being Shampoo." Nabiki said dryly, looking back to the TV. With a
defeated sigh, Ranma left for his room. <I had to win for the honour of
the Saotome school.> he thought.

****************************************************************************

     Mousse woke up to a gentle rain falling from the sky. His world was
dark and it looked as if the light rain was a precursor to the rains to
come. He materialized the entryway and stepped outside. It was another
clear morning in Nerima. The void had opened up in the shopping district
of Nerima. He was wandering around, still confused as to what he should
do. He knew that Shampoo had no feelings of love for him but he didn't
want her spending any more of her life waiting for Ranma to make his
decision. He was so engrossed in thought that he didn't notice someone
was speaking to him until they tapped him on the shoulder.

     "You seem very sad for someone around here." she said. Mousse
looked around and saw that he was in a small park near the edge of the
shopping district. Everyone looked happy and carefree while he stuck out
like a sore thumb. He looked back to the person who talked to him. She
was a middle-aged woman with dark red hair. She wearing a traditional
looking kimono and carrying a long, wrapped bundle. "I'm in a real
bind." he answered meekly, "I don't have any idea how to solve my
problem." Nodoka looked thoughtfully for a moment and said, "Maybe I can
help you out. I don't have anything better to do." Mousse sighed and
said, "I want to show a girl that the guy she likes doesn't like her and
never will because the guy is in love with another girl yet isn't
willing to show it because of his pride." Nodoka smiled and said, "Your
whole story is summed up in one sentence? I have a feeling that you have
some interest in the girl who you're trying to show that the guy doesn't
love her, correct?" Mousse nodded. "Ah to be young again..." Nodoka said
wistfully. "I think the only way to solve the problem is to get the
young man to profess his love to the one he truly loves. Do that and
everything should work out." she said. <That might actually work.>
Mousse thought, "Thank you. I will try your suggestion. My name is
Mousse." "My name's Nodoka Saotome. I wish you luck." she said, walking
off. <Saotome?!> Mousse thought, <I think I need more information if I'm
going to pull off this plan.>

****************************************************************************

     Mousse walked up to the gates of the Tendo Dojo. So many times, he
had just barged in. This time, he was actually going to knock. After
knocking, he was greeted by Kasumi. "Hello, you're one of Ranma's
friends aren't you?" Mousse nodded, surprised at Kasumi's hospitality.
He remebered all the damage he'd caused before to the Tendo house and
grounds. "Would you like me to get him for you?" she asked. Mousse shook
his head and said, "I didn't come to meet with him today. I've come to
speak with Nabiki." Kasumi's face looked surprised for a second but
quickly turned back to the normal smile she always wore. "Please come in
then." she said, opening the door. She walked him in to the house and
called Nabiki down. "She'll be down in a minute. It was nice to meet you
Mousse." she said, leaving for the kitchen once again.

     Nabiki came down to see who had come to visit her. She was
surprised to see Mousse fidgeting at the bottom of the stairs. <What
could be going on?> she thought. "What can I help you with Mousse?" she
said, almost matching her older sister's sweetness. Mousse looked around
and said, "This isn't the best place for us to talk business. Would you
mind if we went somewhere else?" Nabiki nodded and called out to the
rest in the house that she was leaving and coming back later.

     The two walked down the streets of Nerima. Nabiki leading Mousse to
the shopping district, more precisely, the restaurants. "This is
probably your strangest request yet but here goes." Mousse started, "I
need you to tell me everything you know about Ranma and his family. Tell
me as much information possible." Nabiki's face of seemingly perpetual
calm betrayed the emotion of total surprise for a second. She regained
her composure and said, "That kind of info doesn't come cheap. There's a
lot to tell." She opened her hand face up waiting for payment. Mousse
took something from his void and placed it in her hand. She almost
fainted at what Mousse put in there. In her hand was roughly a ping-pong
ball sized lump of what looked to be gold. "What's this?" she asked.
"It's gold." Mousse said simply. "I'm afraid that I'll have to look up
it's authenticity before I can tell you anything." she said, leading him
towards the jeweler's shop. "I expected that." Mousse answered. <Man, I
hope I was able to make the gold well enough.> he thought.

****************************************************************************

      The chime of a bell informed the jeweler that he had customers. He
came out from the back of his store and saw a couple come in. "Hello,
what can I do for you two? A engagement ring perhaps?" he said kindly.
The two looked at each other briefly. The young woman took out something
from her hand and placed it on the counter. "I'd like to know the
quality of this nugget." she said calmly. The man took out a jeweler's
eyepiece and examined it carefully. "This nugget is easily 23 karats.
I'll give you 25 thousand yen for it." he said thoughtfully. Nabiki's
eyes widened and agreed took the nugget. "I'll let you now." she said,
dragging out Mousse.

      When they were outside, Nabiki asked the question on the top of
her mind. "Where the heck did you get this?" she said, pointing to the
nugget. Mousse looked unsure and said, "I... uh... remember when we all
went to Togenkyo Island? Well, I stumbled in on a treasure vault. I took
a couple things. They won't miss a thing." <I'll buy that for now
Mousse. Who cares as long as it's real.> she thought, looked at the
nugget and the panicking martial artist. She put it carefully in her
pocket and said, "So, where do you want me to begin?"

End Part 2

Author's Notes: Thanks to all your critisism, I was inspired to make
this one as soon as possible. Just don't expect part 3 to come out so
soon. I need to get my life back for a while. I just know I'm really
gonna get it for making the Older Mousse go by so fast. The fact that
everything's moving so fast is that I like things fast and furious. I'll
try my best to slow it down. Don't forget to tell me the good, the bad
and the ugly of this fic at mabli@idirect.com


?????- the reaction of anyone who is told the storyline of Ranma 1/2 for
the first time.