Part 3: The Eighth Orochi Assassin
"It is one of the blessings of old friends that you can afford to
be stupid with them."
-- Emerson, Journals
"All of life can be broken down into moments of transition or
moments of revelation. This had the feeling of both.... G'Quon
wrote, 'There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is
the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight
is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos and
despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the
death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender. The
future is all around us, waiting, in moments of transition, to be
born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that
future or where it will take us. We know only that it is always
born in pain.'"
-- G'Kar, Babylon 5
The evening many in Tokyo have been waiting for, and dreading at
the same time, was about to begin.
For over two weeks the band known as Doco made it known that
Shampoo, one of the five lead singers, was going to leave the group,
and, in consequence, the group was to disband completely.
The overcrowded seating in the amphitheater bolstered Nabiki's
happiness, for more people meant more money. And less time to actually
work at the nowhere job, she added tactfully.
The middle Tendo sister checked her wrist watch. A little over a
half an hour left before show time.
She made her way to the dressing room, where Shampoo, Ranma (in
girl form), Akane, and Kasumi were busy getting ready for the stage.
Bursting in, Nabiki shouted, "Alright, where's everybody else?!"
Putting on a leather jacket, Ranma answered, "How should I know?
Ryoga's missing, Mousse and those Kunos won't answer messages, and
Ukyo and Konatsu are probably still closing up their restaurant."
Shampoo leaned toward a mirror as she put on her lipstick. "Mousse
not coming. He still sulking."
"Well, that's terrific," Nabiki said, waving her arms in the air.
"How are we supposed to put on a show without a band? We can't give
everybody their money back!"
"That would be cheating the fans," Akane added. "Why don't the
others understand?"
"Because they're self-centered and stuck-up, that's why!" Ranma
answered harshly. "Besides, I'm GLAD Kuno isn't going to show up!"
"Fine, if that's the way it's going to be... I've got a back-up
plan," Nabiki announced, producing a compact disc from a vest
pocket.
Kasumi exclaimed, "Oh my! Is that what I think it is?"
"Yep!" confirmed Nabiki. "Karaoke CD."
"With that, we not need silly band!" concluded Shampoo.
Akane took the compact disc from her sister, and studied it
carefully. "I don't know... it's certainly not the best idea, but I
suppose it'll have to do."
While all five girls bantered back and forth, none took notice of
a single shadow, whose ear was pressed against the wall from the
outside. With the important information at hand, the shadow silently
crept away from the wall, leaving no trace of having been there.
Nabiki arranged for the lighting to shine only upon the five singers
at the front of the stage, and made sure that the stagehands kept
their mouths shut (with a little incentive, of course). Any profit,
to which the middle Tendo sister had no doubt of, would not go to the
ones who stood-up the band.
When it was time for the show to begin, Nabiki signaled for the
crew to start playing the karaoke compact disc.
* * * * *
Equal Romance (Doco Farewell Concert)
[(Akane) With just empty kindness,
(All) my heart is in pain.
Love is always loneliness
into your arms, ah.]
[Voices: SHIT!]
(All) Darlin'
Just For Me I'll be waiting. <shattered glass>
(Shampoo) I want to make your heart thrill. <shattered glass>
(All) Your fingertips lead to romance.
Our destiny is surely Fallin' Love.... <groaning>
[Voices: There! Go! I've got it!]
(Kasumi) Tonight, it's strange.....
* * * * *
Barely into the first verse, the lights flickered. At the same
moment, the music to which the five singers sang to stopped abruptly,
forcing a loud buzz through the amphitheater's speakers.
All at once, the audience roared in pain and anger.
Nabiki looked about in confusion. She shouted, "What's happening?!"
As if on cue, from the lights above the stage, three figures leaped
down from the great height. If they were any normal human being, they
should have been hurt when they landed on their feet, but these were
certainly not ordinary human beings: one wore a skin-tight leotard and
twirled a ribbon over her head, one folded his arms in the folds of
his sleeves, and the third had her hands on the weapon strapped to her
back.
"You!!!" cried Nabiki, as she recognized Kodachi, Mousse, and Ukyo.
"How dumb do you take us?!" demanded Kodachi.
"We were not ignorant of your intentions, Nabiki Tendo!" Mousse
added.
"How could you forget us?!" finished Ukyo.
"I don't know what you're talking about!!" insisted the middle
Tendo sister.
"Nabiki," Akane started, "what is this all about?"
"C'mon, Nabiki Tendo!" taunted Ukyo. "Tell your sister about the
'arrangement' you made for us! Tell them, that, in your greed,
'forgot' about us." Turning to Akane, the okonomiyaki chef explained,
"What is it that makes up this band? You five?" She shook her head.
"No! ALL of us make up this band!"
Kodachi pointed an accusing finger at Nabiki. "In the spirit of
'teamwork' and 'friendship,' we were never to appear at all tonight!
For that matter, we hardly exist!"
"Nabiki, is this true?" asked Kasumi.
"So what if none of you get credit for anything!" cried Nabiki
defiantly. "I, for one, didn't include you clowns in this band deal
for my health; it was for convenience alone! I merely lead you all
along with thoughts of teamwork; besides, Doco IS US."
"You never intended us to be in the band in the first place,"
Mousse said. "Back in the battle of the bands, you let us through
because we wouldn't get in your way otherwise! But now... now that
money is at stake, you took us out of the loop!"
"It's not the money we care about," explained Ukyo, "but the fact
that everything surrounding Doco is just five singers, nothing more!"
"Let me get this straight," Ranma said. "Are you telling me that
you guys've been working for free?"
"Can the money, Saotome!" screeched Ukyo. Turning back to Nabiki,
she cried, "YOUR only friend is money, pure and simple! To think,
all I've put into this band went to nothing! Time spent making good
'ol Nabiki Tendo rich, when I could have been working at my
restaurant! All I asked for was a little credit, but SOMEONE just had
to take it all!"
Mousse reached into his robes, and threw an object at Akane's
direction.
Akane stared down at the compact disc jewel case, a Doco CD. "What
is this?"
"Read the credits," suggested Mousse. Turning to Ranma, he snarled,
"Another time, Saotome."
Kodachi turned to her two comrades. "Let us depart! Our work here
is finished." Over her shoulder, the gymnast added, "Adieu, Ranma.
The next encounter will be our last!"
"I'll say," Ranma muttered under her breath.
Before turning to leave, Ukyo warned, "Nabiki Tendo, if I ever see
you again, you'd best be prepared to get turned into dog shit!"
Ignoring the departing trio, Akane flipped through the booklet
inserted in the jewel case. Flipping to the back, bewilderment filled
the youngest Tendo sister's eyes. "I don't see anything...."
Shampoo took a peek over Akane's shoulder. "Just our names."
Akane turned to Nabiki, confused. "I don't understand."
Nabiki shrugged. "Place the band into the group, and we've more
than ten people to deal with. Remove them, and there's only five.
It takes what would go to them out of the loop and gives it to me.
When I got the contracts from the Tokuyama Agency, I did a little
negotiating myself. What's so hard to understand about that?"
"Nabiki, you've lied and cheated them?" asked Kasumi. "That's not
very nice."
"Is that ALL?" muttered Ranma, slightly disgusted with Kasumi's
lack of emotion.
"Well, the Kunos didn't care; they've got money," Nabiki reasoned.
"As for Ryoga, Mousse, and Ukyo... they never asked." She shook her
head. "I was wondering how long it would take them to figure this one
out. Not that we ever needed them, anyway. They're not MY friends."
"How could you?!" yelled Akane in anger. "After all that's happened,
all the time we've worked together, I thought you've changed!"
"I change when it suits me," replied Nabiki smugly.
"Some of them were MY friends!" continued her sister.
"Oh, did you want me to play favorites with them?" taunted Nabiki.
Placing a hand over her breast, she explained, "I, for one, don't
play favorites; you should know that."
"Still dirty," complained Shampoo.
"Hell with that," Ranma yelled, gesturing toward the audience.
"What are we going to do about THEM?"
Damn, this is certainly not turning out as I expected.
Running through the dark, empty streets of Nerima, one lone man,
dressed in white, flowing robes similar to that of a Shinto priest
cursed his rotten luck. Though he did not fear being recognized by
anyone, Shifter pulled the hood of his robe over his head tightly,
unwilling to take any chances. No, there was no time to take any
unnecessary chances when Nemesis was concerned.
The ancient assassin headed for the business district, having
unsuccessfully entering the Tendo household. Shifter remembered the
location after over a year since being there last, but that hardly
did the wizard any good-- nobody was home. There were few other
places the assassin could think of to find someone... relevant.
If any of Warmage's spies saw me out here, they'd kill me, Shifter
thought. They'll never understand why... that is why they cannot
know.
Shifter came to a halt in the middle of the street, catching his
breath. His eyes focused on one of many places he knew he could try
to find help-- the Nekohatten.
Judging from the lack of lit lights, reasoned the assassin, the
business must be closed. Still, it can't hurt to try.
Forcing himself to relax, the Shinto wizard produced a feather fan
from his sleeves. Waving the fan about over his head, muttering a
series of arcane words, the man disappeared-- fan, robes, and all.
Actually, Shifter, true to his name, merely changed his shape-- to
that of a large, dark-furred rat.
The rat skittered across the street toward the closed restaurant.
With sharp claws, the tiny mammal began to scale the wall.
"That Ranma," Mousse complained, "is too unbearable to be allowed
to live!"
The three party crashers walked together, side by side, by
themselves in the dimly-lit streets of Nerima, completely devoid of
all signs of life.
"Oh, is that so?" returned Kodachi. "Pray tell, did you devise
this theory this very moment, or an eternity?"
"Knock it off, you two!" railed Ukyo, not bothering to hide her
anger. "Haven't we done enough for one night?"
Kodachi tapped her index finger against her ruby-red lips, as if
thinking over the chef's words. "I do not think so."
"There's subtlety when you see it," concluded Ukyo sarcastically,
shaking her head.
"If Nabiki Tendo and her buddies want to play the game with us,"
reasoned Mousse, "it's only fair we return the same! Especially since
Ranma's in on it. And... SHAMPOO!!!" Mousse spat away from the two
girls that were his companions as he mentioned the name. "Their day
of reckoning has come at last!"
"Don't take it TOO far," warned Ukyo, "or you might be next."
Both Kodachi and Mousse stopped in their tracks, staring at Ukyo
in puzzlement. Ukyo clamped her hands over her mouth, as if she said
something she was not supposed to say.
"Did mine ears hear correctly?" Kodachi asked rhetorically. "Bwaaa
ha-ha-ha-ha-hah!" The gymnast leaned closer toward Ukyo's embarrassed
face. "Something tells me that, somewhere inside of you, you still
care!"
If only I could get her to shut up, Ukyo mused silently.
"It doesn't matter," concluded Mousse. "She couldn't do it anyway."
"What?!" Ukyo exclaimed. "I could kill you if I meant it!"
"You couldn't kill anyone if your life depended on it!" returned
the Master of Hidden Weapons.
"I killed that assassin, didn't I?!" the chef countered.
"Oh."
Kodachi put herself between the two bickering teens. "If we must
fight, let us not do it amongst ourselves!"
"Since when did you start acting like your brother?" Ukyo asked
the other girl.
That caught Kodachi by surprise. Stepping back defensively, she
said, "I do not!"
"Yes you do!" the okonomiyaki chef insisted. "He was obsessed with
getting rid of Ranma, and now, so are you." She extended a finger,
ready to list off her points. "You get into other peoples' business
when one possible outcome suits you, and you think you're the best
at what you do."
Kodachi feigned surprise, raising her right palm to her lips. "Ah!
I am not the best?!"
The gymnast burst out laughing as she continued her walk. Both
Ukyo and Mousse followed behind.
"You forgot about the laugh," Mousse pointed out.
Ukyo shook her head. "Naw. Kuno got it from her."
"Speaking of which, where is that sword-totting maniac?" the
Chinese man asked.
The chef girl shrugged. "Last I heard, he's trying to figure out
what to do with himself."
"He's not the only one," Mousse muttered under his breath.
"What?"
"Nothing."
Almost before the two could stop, Ukyo and Mousse almost ran into
Kodachi, who stood still before them.
"Hey!" exclaimed Ukyo. "You could've warned us!"
"Silence!" Kodachi hissed.
Turning to Mousse, the Kuno girl said, "I believe you told us your
establishment was closed tonight?"
Mousse nodded.
Raising a pointing finger down the street, Kodachi said, "Then why
are the lights on?"
"What?" Mousse leaned forward, adjusting his glasses, as if it would
give him telescopic sight.
Sure enough, a few buildings down, was the Nekohatten. The store
sign was down, the door was closed, yet, the lights in the dining room
were on.
"The old hag's got guests?!" guessed the Chinese martial artist.
"Shit!" he spat, reaching for Mei-ling's gifts.
Mousse pushed his way past Kodachi, sprinting down the street toward
the restaurant that served as his home while in Japan.
"You think something's wrong?" Ukyo asked Kodachi.
"It is not just any guest," explained Kodachi. "Smell the delicate
air, Kuonji. Do you not detect the stench of familiarity?" Suddenly,
as if a jolt of electricity ran through her head, realization dawned
on the gymnast. "HIM!!!" she cried.
Kodachi burst into a sprint after Mousse.
"Hey, wait up!" Ukyo shouted, dashing behind.
"Damn," the male Ranma declared wearily, rubbing his sweating palms
against his shirt. "I thought we'd never get outta there!"
"I thought this was supposed to be FUN," complained Shampoo.
Tired and exhausted from the final concert fiasco, Ranma, Akane,
Shampoo, Kasumi, and Nabiki, trailed by Soun, Genma, and Nodoka,
headed toward the Tendo home for a much-needed quiet period.
Needless to say, the crowd was upset at the interruption made by
former band members Kodachi, Ukyo, and Mousse; it took a great deal
of coercing (and 'encouragement' on the part of the security teams)
to prevent an all-out riot. Nabiki guessed that the bulk of the
audience had no idea what was going on, but those close enough to
the stage may have heard the angry exchanges, which was definitely
not good for publicity, especially not for a farewell concert.
"You know," Akane started, "I think I know how the others feel,
but I don't think this was the way to... do it."
"What did you expect?" Nabiki replied cynically. "Good-for-
nothings like them can't do anything simple."
"That's not very nice," Kasumi pointed out again.
"Don't you ever say anything else?" asked the younger sister.
Kasumi stared at Nabiki with a clueless expression. She turned
away, bowing her head, as if in thought. Finally, the eldest Tendo
girl said, "You should apologize to them."
Nabiki shook her head in frustration. "I should be used to this
by now."
"Hey, YOU started it!" accused Ranma.
The middle sister stepped back in mock surprise. "Me?"
"Knock it off, you two!" Akane shouted, dragging her husband away
from her sister.
Behind the five youngsters, Nodoka made a conversation of her own
with Genma and Soun.
"They appear to be getting along fine now," Nodoka said with a
smile.
"Umm, yes," Soun replied, wishing his girls wouldn't fight amongst
themselves.
"Frankly, I, for one, am waiting for dinner!" Genma announced,
rubbing his stomach in emphasis.
"Do you suppose Ranma and Akane have spent their time together yet?"
Nodoka asked suddenly.
Both men stared at Nodoka in surprise.
"Ahhh...." muttered Soun, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Without
coming up with an answer, he burst out in tears. "Whaaaa-ha!" he
cried. "Kids these days! They grow up too quickly!"
"Really?!" Genma exclaimed, even more surprised.
"That's nice to hear," Nodoka said, nodding sagely. Ranma's mother
could barely contain her excitement herself. "Have they taken the
names I suggested to heart?"
Soun ignored the question, as if he could only hear himself.
"That is the last to be done if Ranma should become a real man,"
Nodoka said to nobody in particular. "Marriage only makes half a
man; a full man raises a family as well."
"Uh-huh," Genma replied, nodding without thinking. He ran his
tongue over his lips in anticipation.
"It'll be wonderful to have grandchildren, wouldn't it?" she asked
her husband.
"Yes, dear," he answered, his thoughts still on the coming dinner.
"I hope it's a boy!"
"Yes, dear."
"Ranma could raise him to be a man, too!"
"Yes, dear."
"Our ancestors would be proud!"
"Yes, dear."
"I'm proud!"
Had the five youngsters not stopped when they did, the exchange
would not have ended.
"Mom?" Ranma said.
"What is it?" Nodoka asked.
"Why are you crying?" Ranma knew the answer, but he would rather
hear it from his mother's mouth.
"Oh, nothing," she lied, reaching for a handkerchief.
"We're home," Ranma announced.
Genma rushed past the boy, saliva drooling from the rim of his lips.
"It's MINE!" he cried, rushing through the open gates to the Tendo
property lot.
Akane, Nabiki, and Shampoo, standing by the gate, watched Genma
rush past them, as if there was a race that had to be won.
"Why rush?" Shampoo asked nobody in particular. "Cook out here!"
A few moments later, they heard someone scream.
"Pop?!" Ranma exclaimed, recognizing the voice dripping with terror.
Without thinking, the young martial artist dashed through the gates,
heading straight for the wide-open front door to the Tendo house.
Without warning, a large, heavy object collided with Ranma, forcing
him to come to a stop forcefully.
Akane and Shampoo rushed to Ranma's side, throwing the terrified
Genma off him.
"Ranma!" Akane said. "Are you okay?"
"Man," Ranma said, rubbing his head, "Pop needs to lose some weight
next time he gets thrown at me."
"That was certainly not the intention, I assure you," someone said.
All heads turned toward the tall figure standing at the entrance of
the house. With only the moonlight to reveal his features, there was
not much to discern the man from the darkness around him. However, one
could make out the distinct dress-- the man wore long, flowing robes,
a white blotch against a black house.
"Who're you?!" demanded Ranma, getting to his feet.
"Step inside, Son-in-Law," commanded another voice.
"Great-grandmother!" Shampoo shouted in recognition.
"What is the meaning of this?" wondered Soun.
"There is much to discuss," explained Cologne, hopping on her
walking staff toward Ranma. "Everything has been building to this
moment, and it is time you understood the truth."
----------------------------------------------------------
This has been yet another exercise in interpretation.
"Decepticons FOREVER!!" --Ravage, former Decepticon
"If you go to Z'ha'dum, you will die." --Kosh, Babylon 5
"[Y]ou're lamer than your signature and screen name indicate."--Chris Davies
"The FFML exists to judge the writing, not the writers."--Richard Lawson
"There was a recent case where a fanfic author put together his work with
only another fanfic serving as his primary resource. *I* started writing
fanfiction that way, and consequently I never grew attached to this whole
idea of remaining true to the original. I call it "correction."--Reverend
Prez
--Razorclaw X
Author: "Wheel of Fire", "The World's Worst Ranma Fanfic!", "The Geometry of
Shattered Souls", "The Balance of Power".
"I sold my soul to buy a copy of the dubbed 'Ukyo Can Cook'"
"Pathetic authors beg for flames. Wait, that's me."
_______________________________________________________________
Get Free Email and Do More On The Web. Visit http://www.msn.com