The Amazon and the Moneylender: Episode 11, Part 2:
Kodachi and Mousse, devil-hunters?
-------------------------------------------------------
"You have done well, my good Sasuke," Kuno smiled
as he flipped through the pictures. "Finally, we have
proof of the evil Saotome's mistreatment of the
pig-tailed goddess."
"I assume this means that you two will cease lying
low," Kuno turned to the feminine voice and raised an
eyebrow. She stood in a corner, her face hidden in
shadow.
"The great Tatewaki Kuno has no need to 'lie low',"
the samurai insisted. "But we thank you for your aid
in our surveillance of the evil Saotome."
"I'll send the chief your regards," the girl
smiled. "And she'll send you her bill."
"Have no fear, once I recover my fortune, she shall
be paid for her services!" the samurai struck a heroic
pose. "Such is the word of Tatewaki Kuno the Blue
Thunder! Come Sasuke! We must make plans!"
"As you wish master," the ninja bowed as he
followed Kuno out of the warehouse. Behind them the
girl stepped out of the shadows and smiled evilly. The
light glinted off two horns emerging from her
forehead. She was almost sorry to see him go, there
were times that his "surveillance" had been quite
pleasurable actually. Giving the lecherous samurai
proof of how irresistable he was had certainly been
easy enough. The collected evidence would certainly be
of use later.
"This will show that bitch," the girl smiled. "I'm
twice as smart as Sayuri and Yuka, hell, I'll bet I'm
smarter than her." She sat down as that feeling of
dizziness came over her again. That had been getting
worse, much worse over the past week or so. One of her
friends had said something about her looking pale too.
She ignored the feeling, again and stood up,
grabbing the hat to hide her horns. She hadn't figured
out where those had come from, they had come about the
same time she had decided to show up Nabiki. All she
really knew was that hiding them would be a necessity,
that and staying out of the sight of Nabiki and any
martial artist. As Kuno left for whatever it was he
was planning to do, the girl walked, stumbling at
times, away from the samurai's hiding place.
~I've almost used this one up.~ She stopped and
looked about as she heard the voice. ~Too bad I was
already kicked out of the samurai once.~
"Now I'm hearing things too," she shook it off.
Looking up she saw some of her so-called "friends"
eating lunch and gossiping. Probably about her, about
how she was such a loser. Well soon they'd see what a
loser she was. She nearly growled in pleasure at the
thought. That's when things started darkening around
her.
"Hey, look something's wrong with Mura!" One of the
girls called out. The three of them stood up at once
and rushed to where their friend was dropping, behind
some bushes. They didn't notice the giggling beach
ball leave her head and drift upward and away.
"Somebody call a doctor!"
The oni floated on the air currents, looking for
another ripe target. Not another one of those
schoolgirls though. There had been two many close
calls with getting discovered in that group. The next
thing after he was discovered would be another round
with Ranma Saotome and his companions. That had gone
badly enough the first time, he didn't want a second
time really.
~What do we have here?~ The oni stopped and hid in
the folds of the tree watching a dark haired girl
sparring with a bespectacled young man. It seemed more
like a training session than a full out spar actually.
The girl's style was on the verge of an artistic
nature, usable if not overly efficient in full combat.
That wasn't what attracted the oni's attention to her,
however. ~She's completely open.~
The oni smiled, well smiled wider anyway, and
considered the possibilities. A host that he didn't
just direct, a host that he controlled! A host that
had no way of fighting back against him. Most
importantly, a host that it would be impossible to
just kick him out of by hitting them. This was a
wonderous discovery. He noted a flash of chi as she
turned and then frowned, or at least adopted a less
silly smile. Now all it had to do was get that amulet
from around her throat.
~Well, I have a solution for that.~ He giggled
madly as he drifted down and popped into Mousse's head
as the two leaped past each other in an attempt to
reposition.
As usual with martial artists, and that damn
schoolgirl for some reason, the oni found himself
having to work to break into the young man's mind. It
took a full second during which Mousse looked blankly
into space and tried to locate the hostile spirit in
his head. The oni found the martial artist's
subconscious before the man's active defenses could
find him and effect a real fight.
A low evil chuckle escaped Mousse as he turned to
face Kodachi.
"Kodachi, did you know how beautiful you are," he
asked. "I can hardly�"
*THWAP*
"I'm over here, Baka," Kodachi snapped angrily.
Then she blinked as the giggling beach ball left
Mousse's head and floated away. "What by the heavens
is that?"
~Damn it, now he's an unusable choice as well.~ The
oni snarled, though in its current state the sound
came out a giggle. He had perhaps another day to get
that "Kodachi" girl to take off that amulet, after
that her chi flow would heal and she'd be like anybody
else.
Mousse got back up in time to catch the silly image
of the oni drifting away. He considered the evil
thoughts that had just been running through his head,
and a story he had heard about a possessed Kasumi. It
did not take him long to figure out what had occurred.
Then he remembered what Dr. Tofu said about the state
of Kodachi's mental defenses, making her a ripe
target.
"This is going to be fun," Mousse sighed.
"It would be convenient for someone to, inform me
as to the nature of that�object" Kodachi noted. Mousse
walked into his trailer and came out with a book
apparently written in Chinese.
"That's a pretty neck�urk!" the oni floated out of
the now unconscious bystander. Kodachi regarded the
man under the training potty curiously.
"This demon dares to press a claim on my�" Kodachi
looked at the amulet, losing her illusions hadn't done
much to alter her mode of speech as it turned out.
Meanwhile, she still had a headache, which was only
manageable because said amulet kept her free-flowing
thoughts under control. She was moderately irritated.
"Hmm�this could cause complications."
"Are you certain you want to try this," Ranma asked
as he piled up the wood.
"You're always saying I could use more speed,"
Akane responded.
"Hey!" the pouting Ranko shouted from the side.
"You're teaching her the Amaguriken!"
"Yeah, so?" Ranma asked, eyeing the girl carefully.
He had a suspicion about her.
"How do you know it!?!"
"Can you say anything quietly?" Akane asked. Ranko
returned to pouting.
"Do you know the Amaguriken?" Ranma asked with an
arched eyebrow.
"Well," Ranko sounded embarrassed, as if admitting
to something she shouldn't know. "Yes�"
"How about the Baksai Tenketsu or the Hiryu Shoten
Ha?" Ranko stared at him open mouthed.
"I've�seen them," she admitted. "How do you know
about them?"
"He's mastered the Hiryu Shoten Ha," Akane
explained, now similarly suspicious of the girl.
Ranko's jaw dropped. "And a friend of ours uses the
Baksai Tenketsu often enough, he's off somewhere
teaching it to his girl friend right now." Ranko face
faulted.
"Akane, would you mind sparring Ranko for a
moment?" Ranma asked.
"Sure, why not," Akane shrugged.
"Why would I want to spar her," Ranko snapped,
crossing her arms.
"Definitely a Saotome," Akane noted dryly.
"Huh?" both responded in confused chorus.
"Definitely." Ranma took a moment to work out
whether that was an insult or not. Ranko decided to
forgo working it out and just assumed it was.
"Okay, you want a fight? You got it!" She stood up
and moved to the center of the vacant lot, Ranma beat
her there.
"You're half-me right?" Ranma asked quietly noting
Akane stalking up behind him nervously.
"So you keep saying," Ranko grumbled.
"Okay, then we're blood relations, and Akane's my
fiancee," Ranma noted. "That makes her family to you
as well�got it?" The flash of understanding behind
Ranko's eyes had Ranma convinced of his suspicion, but
he wanted further proof.
"Yeah, yeah, friendly match," Ranko grumbled.
"What are you two whispering about?"
"He's making sure I don't give you the Kiss of
Death if by some miracle you happen to beat me."
"Ah ha!" Ranma and Akane pointed at the red head
and then stared at each other, blinking.
"What did I say?"
Nabiki set down the phone and glowered at the wall.
The information was sketchy, but it certainly
explained a few things. Most glaring was just how Kuno
had managed to stay hidden from her eyes all this
time. He hadn't avoided her eyes, one of her eyes had
turned blind for some reason or another. She wouldn't
judge on that matter for the moment, considering
Nerima there was always the chance of extenuating
circumstances. Besides the girl's condition was
critical, and, though her minions were unable to get
any specific information, that indicated that she
perhaps didn't hide the samurai out of choice. The
only reason they knew Kuno was involved were some
fevered mutterings from the girl before the ambulance
arrived.
"Things are still out of control," she sighed, and
picked up the phone again.
"Nekohanten, how may I help you?"
"Hello Cologne," Nabiki said. There was a long
silence. "Is Kodachi or Mousse there?"
"This is the part-timer's day off, Tendo," Cologne
answered warily.
"If you or Shampoo see them before I do, perhaps
you could warn her that her brother is back," Nabiki
requested tightly.
"Is that all you called for?"
~Hell no, I'm not about to let anything slip to
anyone else.~ Nabiki thought. "Yes. I have no wish to
be annoyed with another surprise from that psychotic.
Ukyou was plenty."
"I see," Cologne didn't believe her, but that was
to be expected. "I shall try to pass the message
along." The line disconnected and Nabiki slowly set
the phone back in the cradle. She didn't bother to
call Ukyou and Ryouga, they were out of town, and out
of reach. She had people looking for Kodachi already,
both Kunos really, but she would consider herself very
lucky if anyone saw Kuno before he made his move.
"Two hours until Shampoo's lunch," she noted
irritably. "He'll have done something by then." She
started to limp towards the door, Ranma and Akane were
at the vacant lot with Ranko. It was on the way from
where Mura had been found, and those were Kuno's three
main targets. Chances were he'd show up there soon.
"Where are you going?" Nabiki released a sigh of
frustration. She turned to face her older sister.
"Kuno's back," she answered simply. "I'm going off
to tell Ranma and Akane."
"You are going to stay right here and get some
rest," Nabiki did not need to here the phrase: ~Where
I can keep an eye on you.~ It was perfectly obvious.
"Why not ask one of your girlfriends to deliver the
message?"
"Funny joke, sis�"
"Joke?" Nabiki narrowed her eyes and then slumped.
Nabiki turned back to face the door and walk toward
it. "Nabiki, get back�"
"Talking now would be a bad idea," Nabiki
whispered, before opening the door, and walking
outside.
"Why did she get upset like that�" Kasumi blanched
as she realized her earlier choice of words. "Oh my,
that was certainly�thoughtless."
Ranko stared blankly up at the sky, trying to
figure out what had just happened. The black-haired
girl's moves were rather raw and easy to predict.
Akane had a tendency toward doing maneuvers technique
perfect, with very little blending. So it wasn't like
she couldn't see her coming, the problem was that
Akane was a lot faster and stronger than she had
expected. A LOT faster and stronger. Finally, Ranko
settled on attempting the Amaguriken to win, but Akane
didn't show up where Ranko thought she'd show up. At
least that's what she assumed happened, setting into
the Amaguriken stance was the last thing she
remembered before she found herself thrown against the
fence.
Ranma meanwhile had been clinically watching the
entire match. Mostly Ranko, Akane's fighting style he
knew almost as well as he knew his own and Ryouga's.
Superficially Ranko fought with the same style of
fighting he did. On the other she kept breaking the
loose stance and lazy-seeming motions with hard,
direct straight-line motions. Standard, basic, amazon
style, very basic. At the end she had dropped into the
raw stance for the Amaguriken, which would have
virtually screamed what was coming to anyone who'd
lived in Nerima the past year or so.
"Should have noticed that right off," Ranma shook
his head, it probably wouldn't take much work to fix
the problem. Then again, this was probably a product
of her mixed up memories, then the poorly combined
styles could be very ingrained.
"Hey, I won!" Akane shouted, catching her breath.
She must have gotten more out of the fight with Kurumi
and Natsume than she had assumed, or, more likely,
that recent fight with Ken.
"Don't get too cocky Akane," Ranma interrupted.
"You still telegraph like anything, and you're
fighting a girl with a memory that makes as much sense
as a little kid's painting." Ranma looked back to the
two girls in time to prepare for flight.
"BAKA!!" Ranma cringed as they chorused their
displeasure.
"STOP!" They all turned to see Nabiki rushing over
on her crutches.
"Uh�Nabiki," Akane started, confused. "What's the
problem?"
"Kuno's been spotted," Nabiki explained quickly.
"This is getting very tiresome," Kodachi said as
she thwapped the most recent possession victim. "Is
that contraption of yours almost ready?" She shifted
the unfortunate off to the pile of recoverees and
prepared for the next one.
"Yes, I got it!" he shouted. He then brandished the
box in his hands. "All we have to do is catch him
coming out of the next victim and get him in this
box."
"Will these charms work on a Shinto demon?" Kodachi
wondered.
"It should," Mousse said doubtfully. Another
formerly average person sporting horns appeared. "Use
the ribbon!"
"Do you not believe that I can figure that out for
myself?" Kodachi asked calmly as her ribbon whipped
out and pulled in the oni-possessed person. "Why
aren't you doing any of the fighting?"
"You need the work." Kodachi arched an eyebrow and
rubbed her head, she couldn't wait for her chi flow to
heal itself so all these memories and the accompanying
headaches would leave. Well, she hoped the memories
didn't leave, she just hoped they returned where they
belonged. If they left again she'd be left with
those�delusions.
"I want that necklace, it's so COOL!!!" the horned
teenager declared.
"Ready?" Kodachi asked, Mousse nodded. The gymnast
struck the other kid on the head and then waited for
the oni to pop out. As it did, Mousse and Kodachi
looked up, and up and up and a rather large, red
monster. It looked sort of a like a brain with huge
arms, stubby legs, big horns, and large bulging eyes.
Oh yeah, teeth, lots of sharp, pointy, white teeth in
a huge gaping mouth.
"Uh�.not ready for that," Mousse swallowed.
"Now, I shall have that girl's body as a vessel for
spreading chaos and evil, and you cannot stop me! Try
and fight me if you will, it shall do you no good."
Kodachi and Mousse blinked and used the Saotome school
of anything goes final technique. The oni watched
confused as the dust clouds departed. "Hey where do
you think you're going!"
=====
"Caffeinated Kender? What's that, a berserk spell?" -
Tribble, Kender Warrior of the Celestial Kingdom
Signed
He of Too Many Names (Thrythlind/Thryth/Luke/Hyperbole/Pika/Pooka)
http://members.aol.com/thrythlind/snake.html
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Send online invitations with Yahoo! Invites.
http://invites.yahoo.com