Permanent part 8
Undoing past wrongs...
Ranma gasped as Mousse dropped the bag on the floor. He snarled at Ranma
as he shoved what was left of Shampoo at her face. Ranma went cold with
fear. "Look what you did to my beautiful Shampoo!" screamed Mousse. In
his hands was a scarred and weary looking cat. It mewled pitifully and
looked up at her. As its eyes met Ranma it burst to life and struggled to
be free of Mousses grip hissing and yowling angrily at the girl.
"Saotome are you well?" asked Kuno never taking his eyes off the
deranged hidden weapons artist.
"Cat," whispered Ranma as she backed away.
"You killed her, by dropping her into the cursed springs of Jusenkyo! By
village law she was seen as killed, to change her back would bring
disgrace to her name and family. Only as a living corpse trapped in that
body can she exist and still remain part of the tribe!! She is but an
honored memory now!!!" roared Mousse as he stalked towards the cowering
Ranma. Mousse gently placed the animal on the ground and pulled two long
swords from his robes. "For this you die Saotome."
Kuno stepped between them and frowned. "I still have need of him alive.
When our business is finished I will stand aside from this battle of
honor and love, not before," said Kuno angrily as he stepped between
them.
"Fool," laughed Mousse as he swung at Kuno with his sword. The kendoist
lunged back and sliced at the boy's weapons with his bokuten; he dodged
two other strikes and placed his own weapon at Mousse's throat. Mousse
stepped back and swiped at Kuno again this time striking his good hand.
Kuno cried out in pain and switched to his other clawed hand.
"You are weak," snorted Mousse as he raised his swords for the killing
blow.
Ranma was having problems of her own. Shampoo was yowling and stalking
her angrily. Ranma could see the hatred burning in her eyes and felt a
chill run down her spine. She felt her back hit against a wall and turned
to see she was backed into a corner. "No," she croaked. Shampoo simply
moved slowly towards her and growled.
Nabiki sat in the living room and frowned. She had been trying to read
for almost fifteen minutes now and the noise from the dojo was getting on
her nerves. "I've had enough of this!" she muttered as she stood and
stomped off.
"What was that about?" said Akane to Mr.P as they were distracted from
the soap opera on the television; the animal only shook his head. Akane
giggled and pet him causing the pig to squeal happily.
Soun watched the whole incident with mild interest, he turned to see the
panda roll its eyes and return to reading the paper. "I didn't see a
thing," muttered Soun to himself.
Mousse began to thrust his swords into the back of his opponent's head.
Kuno reacted quickly, he slashed up at Mousse with blinding speed and
struck him in the chin with his bokuten. Mousse was knocked up and back
into a wall and dropped his blades as he landed on the ground hard. "To
challenge Kuno with the sword is to surrender before you begin!" said the
kendoist smugly.
Mousse groaned and stood shakily. "Then perhaps I should use something
else." He waved his arms at Kuno and shot dozens of weapons at him
Kuno's arm became a blur of motion. Mousse stared at him hard and growled
as he realized he had grossly under estimated the kendoist's abilities.
Kuno looked at the mess of weapons on the ground and frowned. His blade
had been reduced to a stub from the impact of the attacks and he was in
trouble. Then he realized, "My arm is a weapon!" Some of the blows had
struck his hand and it was unharmed. It was covered in scales and if he
could avoid any direct blows to it he could still win. However, his
opponent was obviously skilled in the use of many weapons, he would still
need a sword. "My skills have increased ten fold," thought Kuno as he
stared at his arm for a moment while Mousse assessed him. He also felt
his back strain under the stress of his newly strengthened arm. He was
unsure of his new limits and that could be dangerous for him.
Mousse started to move forward again.
Ranma felt Shampoo's stare and cringed under her gaze as she stalked
ever closer to her at her maddening slow pace. She reached three feet
away and jumped onto the hapless girl. Ranma screamed as Shampoo dug her
claws into her neck and chest, finally, she felt a familiar comfort
surround her.
Nabiki threw the door to the dojo open and stared in shock at what was
going on. Weapons were strewn about and embedded in the walls. Kuno was
standing in the middle of the room with a longhaired boy with one eye and
glasses stalking towards him. He also looked...different. Ranma was
apparently being attacked by a cat and was losing badly, and all of them
were staring at her. She blurted out the first thing that came to her
mind. "Kuno-chan, what is that?" she said as she pointed at him.
Mousse jumped at Kuno with a knife drawn and tackled him to the floor.
Kuno yelled in pain as he landed on the floor. He felt as if he had
crushed his back. Mousse reached back and held the knife in the air
clumsily. His eyes were blood shot and unclear. Then something slammed
into his face and he was knocked off the boy. "Meow!" said a familiar
voice.
Mousse stood and glared at what had hit him. He fell to his knees as he
picked up the unconscious Shampoo from the ground. "NO!" he cried
desperately. He turned to face her attacker and was stunned to see Ranma
stalking him on her hands and knees. [What the-] he started to say in
Chinese when Ranma jumped at him. Then the world became a red blanket of
pain. He could remember nothing else.
Kuno stood and watched in disbelief as Ranma easily defeated his
opponent in one blow. She had not even struck Mousse, she simply swat at
him and scars appeared on his body and his clothing was shred. Kuno
gasped in awe. Neko-Ranma just sat on Mousse's defeated body and yowled
as she bat his head around maliciously but playfully.
"Gods," said Kuno. "Saotome are you all right?"
Ranma arched her back and hissed at Kuno threateningly. Kuno simply
backed away and laughed nervously.
"Kuno you had better leave; she might decide you look like dinner," said
Nabiki with a curious gaze at him and Ranma.
"What?" said Kuno in mild surprise.
"Look for yourself," said Nabiki as she led him to a conveniently nearby
mirror.
Kuno paled as he saw his reflection, he looked no different for the most
part, his arm was the only real difference in his appearance. His arm,
and the ten food wide wings that had appeared on his back. They were jet
black and immense. "Amazing." said Kuno with wide eyes as he flexed his
new muscles and moved the wings around clumsily.
"Watch it Kuno-chan" said Nabiki as she ducked out of the way of one of
them.
"Apologies, but we have more pressing matters to attend" said Kuno with
a hard gaze crossing his face.
A high pitched but obviously male scream came from the dojo. "Ranma NO!"
cried another voice.
Nabiki was the first to react. "Akane!" she gasped as she turned and ran
for the dojo, Kuno followed passing by her easily.
Akane entered the dojo and was staring at it in disbelief, she had never
seen it like it was now. It was almost completely destroyed. Near one
wall Ranma was playing with her attacker cheerfully. Mousse woke with a
start and Ranma bit his throat. He started screaming as he realized what
was happening. Ranma was playing with her food before she killed it. He
started screaming hysterically as he tried to break her light but firm
grip on his throat. Ranma increased the pressure and purred in delight at
her plaything's revival.
"Ranma NO!" she cried as she stepped towards the pair. Ranma dropped
Mousse and looked at her blankly. Akane froze and backed away in fear.
"My god," she thought; Ranma jumped towards her and she screamed.
Moments after the scream Kuno ran into the dojo and stopped cold Nabiki
was already staring in disbelief. Ranma was sitting on her lap and
purring loudly as she pet her. "Go hurry!" she whispered to Mousse as he
stood shakily and carefully cradled Shampoo in his arms.
Ranma eyed him as he stood and backed away. She was barely kept at bay
by Akane's petting and soothing. She wanted to play with her meal and
kill it, but she also wanted to stay and get pet. The decision was almost
too much to bear. Mousse backed away slowly and crept towards the door.
"Make any sudden movements and I won't be able to stop her," warned Akane
as she tried to grasp what was happening in her own mind. After Mousse
was out of sight Ranma settled down and went to sleep.
A few hours later...
Ranma sat down at the table and looked at her meal cautiously. The
others had said nothing of what had happened during the fight but she
knew well enough. She also could not deny that Akane had stopped her.
That meant trouble for her own assessment of their relationship. "What
was that?" asked Akane finally.
"Cat fist, a very powerful technique; also very unpleasant to learn,"
said Ranma quietly.
"Why didn't you attack Akane?" asked Nabiki. Soun looked at Ranma
cautiously, she was dangerous to his family at the moment and he could
not have that in his home.
"I don't attack people I like, I think I see them as other cats," said
Ranma quietly.
"Other cats?" asked Kasumi in mild surprise.
"Like?" thought Nabiki to herself, she quickly pushed it aside.
"Yes, basically the technique involves setting a fear of cats that is so
great that in order to escape it I become one mentally. I have no memory
of what happens when I'm like that," said Ranma as she sank deeper into
her cushion.
"Then you don't know what happened?" asked Akane relieved. Ranma simply
shook her head.
Soun relaxed, It was good that she got on so well with his daughters, he
may have had to ask her to leave. He did not want to do that, she had
been through so much.
"So, how much is it worth to keep this little phobia a secret?" asked
Nabiki coolly.
"Nabiki!" cried Akane in shock.
Nabiki smiled and took another bite of her meal. She felt it move around
in her mouth and she spit it back onto her plate.
"Oh my! Is something wrong Nabiki?" asked Kasumi in surprise. She
couldn't have someone dislike her meals. It wasn't proper.
Nabiki looked at her plate in disgust as it crawled with grubs and
worms, Maggots filled her rice bowl.
"How would you like to eat like that for the rest of your life?" asked
Ranma calmly with a dark look.
Akane looked at Nabiki in surprise. She could not see anything wrong
with her food, but she was turning green.
"You win," choked Nabiki.
"I thought so," smirked Ranma as Nabiki ran for the bathroom.
"Ranma what did you do?!" yelled Akane angrily.
"I changed her mind," said Ranma coolly as she finished her own meal.
TbC...
Next time: Ranma's apprentice.
Fear not Mousse will return. I have plans for him and Cologne.
I have mastered the Dramatic cut away! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!
CarrotGlace the evil lord of Fanfics!
C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com