Shadow of Nerima
Part 3
Stalking the cat.
Kodachi Kuno sat quietly across from Ranma while he set down a cup of
tea in front of her. "Why are you here?" he asked impatiently.
"Why Ranma darling, I merely wish to offer my sincerest condolences on
the loss of the dear Akane Tendo. I cannot say I shall miss her much,
but she was my greatest rival.
Ranma looked at her passively; at least she was being fairly honest. "I
thank you." He paused, there was something bothering him. He gazed at her
for a moment trying to see her face through the veil she wore over her
face. "Is there something wrong?"
Kodachi coughed. "Why no Ranma dearest, I was just wondering what you
would do now that you are free from the grip of Akane Tendo?"
"Saotome, her name was Saotome," he corrected. "If you would not
acknowledge that while she lived at least give it to her in death."
"Ahem, yes, as you say Ranma darling. I did not come here to discus her,
but rather us and our future together." She moved closer to him and
sighed seductively, her maddening grin barely visible through the veil.
"I knew it," muttered the man half-heartedly.
"Come now Ranma darling, you knew it was only a matter of time before
this happened," purred the woman as she slid up beside him.
Her perfume filled his senses completely almost overpowering him. He
jumped back and away from her staggering on his feet. "What the hell?"
Struggling to keep his feet Ranma managed to prop himself up against a
door.
"Do you like it darling? It's my newest creation, guaranteed to make men
powerless against your charms," Kodachi gave a small giggle as she moved
closer to him, he backed away forcefully and jumped into the kitchen
collapsing to the floor for a moment before struggling to his feet again.
Kodachi watched this from the doorway.
He slowly and deliberately turned to face her. "Now you listen to me
Kodachi, Ranma Saotome may have cared for you in some small way in the
past, but as far as I'm concerned he died with his wife."
Kodachi felt the frown on her face before she realized she was getting
angry. "Is that so?"
"You aren't welcome in my home, get out now," he snapped at her through
his teeth.
"Surely you don't mean that Ranma darling! You're just upset about..."
she was cut off again.
"Get out now! I mean it Kodachi, get out of my house you psychopath!" he
struggled over to the sink and turned on the water splashing himself in
the face several times not caring about the change, or even considering
what Kodachi might do if he saw his female side in such a vulnerable
position. When he looked up the woman was gone.
Kodachi sat down inside her limo and glared at the window in front of
her angrily. Several muscular men surrounded her waiting on her hand and
foot as she eased back into the purple leather interior of the car.
"Sasuke, we are leaving."
The ninja nodded and noted the look on her face as she tore the veil
away revealing an angry snarl. "I will not have him push me away, Ranma
Saotome will be mine no matter what the cost!"
Sasuke nodded and rolled up the window that separated the drivers seat
from the passenger area with a smirk on his face. "As you wish mistress."
About an hour later the door to the long lime green limousine opened and
a purple cloud of smoke poured out as a figure fell face first onto the
ground outside. "Ah, much better," said a feminine voice through the gas.
A slender leg emerged from the violet shroud and stepped in the center of
the dead and grinning muscular figure that lay sprawled out across the
ground, a towel still clutched in his hand. "These Nubians are so
fragile."
Sasuke smiled as he jumped out of the front of the car and moved over to
her side, his red and black costume now jingled with the bells she had
asked him to place on it. His face was now painted black and white as
well. "We should hire some more mistress, those where the last of the
manservants."
"Really, such a pity," she commented as she strolled lazily towards the
doors of the warehouse they had parked in front of.
Inside they met almost complete darkness. A group of men walked towards
them with Winston in the lead. "Ah, hello mistress." He bowed deeply and
tried to keep a serious face despite the clown make up. At least she had
allowed him to dress in a suit again, despite the fact that it was bright
purple and pink.
"Perhaps I should have you dye your hair Winston?" Kodachi looked
thoughtful as she said this.
"If you say so," stammered the man with fear etched into his features.
"Leave him be Kodachi, we have business to discuss," said a new voice as
one of the men stepped forward from the shadows. He was dressed in a dark
green business suit with a fancy polished cane twirling in his hands. The
handle was a small brass open book; he stopped twirling and leaned
against it dramatically. "You are giving control of this organization to
me are you not?"
"Of course, it's to boring for me. I need something more artistic,
something more...more..." She struggled to find the right word.
"Fun?" offered the green suited man.
"Yes, that's it," she agreed whole-heartedly jumping up and down while
clapping her hands together.
"Foolish is the one, who makes a life of only joy, for in sadness there
is no comparison to the truth of joy," said the man with a smirk on his
face as he watched her cautiously.
She turned towards one of the lackeys standing in the shadows and nodded
towards the door. "Clean up that mess in the car will you?" The men
nodded and several of them scurried away. Without blinking she turned
back towards the figure in the shadows and smiled even wider.
"The heroin market is yours brother dear, I have no more use for it. I'm
thinking of taking up bank robbery actually; either that or mass murder,
I haven't decided yet," Kodachi actually looked thoughtful for a moment.
Tatewaki Kuno stepped forward and smiled again. "I wish you luck in all
your endeavors sister, but I want no tricks. Sign these to ensure that my
control will not be contested." He smiled warmly at her and looked
towards Winston. "After all, 'He who endeavors towards truth shall find
only half of that which he seeks'."
Kodachi blinked and shook her head. "I really have no idea what your
babbling about brother dear, but I will sign these papers for you if it
makes you feel better." She pulled out a pen and jabbed it in Sasuke's
arm pulling a lever on the side drawing his blood into the inkwell.
Snatching away the page she scribbled her name in it and smiled. "There
signed it in blood!"
"A meaningless gesture if it is not in one's own blood," muttered Kuno
as he turned away and flipped a green bolo hat onto his head. "We are
finished here sister, I take my leave of you. Come Winston, you work for
me now."
The man blinked and nodded dumbly. "Y-yessir."
"Who said anything about that?" snapped Kodachi with a flash of anger in
her face.
"It was in the contract you just signed sister dear," replied the man
with a small chuckle. "Think of it as compensation for the men you just
killed."
Several men burst through the doors of the warehouse laughing loudly and
clutching their throats as they fell to the ground in the final death
throes of the gas that filled Kodachi's car.
"Perhaps I made him a little too smart?" she said to Sasuke with a
casual smirk.
"Master Kuno does have an unusual new way of dealing with things," noted
the ninja calmly.
"Oh well, it's too late now! More fun for us! Come on Sasuke; let's go
rob a bank or something! I'll even let you throw the grenade this time!"
chimed Kodachi cheerfully.
"Oh, thank you Mistress!"
Hiroshi shoved the paper towards his partner across the desk and sighed
heavily. "Have you seen this?"
"No, what's up? More of those bum deaths?" muttered Daisuke as he
accepted the newspaper and sipped at his coffee.
"Yea, I wish. Something new decided to show up on our beat. You know all
those thugs we keep findin tied up all over town?"
"Yea, what of 'em?" muttered the man with a frown across his face as he
opened the page and nearly sprayed his drink across the table.
"Well, someone found out where they're coming from; seems the freaks
ain't lying about some kind of monster. It's really out there," he sighed
and sat back in his chair.
"Some kind of Batman?" muttered Daisuke as he looked at the shadowy
silhouette some amateur photographer had managed to get. "What do you
think? Some kind of Jusenkyo curse?"
"Could be, might just be some nut job in a costume too," Hiroshi
squeezed a stress doll in his hands lazily as he relaxed and tried to
work his mind. "Maybe we should visit Ranma and ask him about it, he
might know something?"
"I feel sorry for him if it's female and another fianc�e," joked
Daisuke.
"You know what he's like these days, most likely he won't even talk to
us," snorted his partner distastefully.
"Yea, I know, but if it involves Jusenkyo he might know something. I
wish that old woman was still around," Daisuke put his head down against
his desk in frustration.
The door directly behind them burst open causing both of them to jump to
their feet in shock. "What the hell are you two idiots still doing here!
Get to work!" screamed the attractive twenty something woman who glared
at him.
"Y-yes Ma'am!" cried the boys in unison as they scrambled for the door
out of the station.
Police Chief Sayuri slammed her office door shut and slumped down in her
chair. "Man, I'm glad I didn't marry that moron." It was more than she
could say for poor Yuka, the girl claimed to be happy, but she just knew
that idiot Daisuke was draining the life out of her.
Shampoo stood on the roof of another building and smirked to herself as
she carefully pried away the glass pane that hung above the large private
gallery of a very rich collector of all things artistic. She smiled to
herself as she dropped the rope into the room lazily. The man had claimed
his security system was unbeatable, bragged about it in front of her, and
told her exactly how to get through it. She smiled at the memory of the
conversation. It was almost too easy sometimes, just flash a little
cleavage and act like you don't have a brain cell in your head and the
rich fools fall to pieces in your hands.
She landed softly on the tile floor without a sound, carefully making
sure to only stay on the white tiles. Her suit was a very special
material; it would keep her body temperature down almost five degrees for
twenty minutes. More than enough to finish her job and avoid the
temperature sensors in the room. She smiled as she casually lifted the
glass case surrounding a heavily jeweled necklace and removed the jewelry
before placing it inside her pouch. Several other small trinkets followed
suit, along with a painting that caught her eye. It wasn't very large,
and the specially made briefcase she had with her folded it down neatly
without damaging the painting itself.
With her work finished she climbed out of the room and onto the roof.
With a smirk crossing her face again she paused and placed the glass pane
back into the slot she had taken it out of. It fit perfectly back into
place and masked her entrance beautifully. Idly she wondered if anyone
would know how she had gotten in. She stood upright and started to pull
at the edge of the hood that covered most of her face and head when she
realized she was not alone. "Mousse?"
"That's a nice painting, are you a collector?" asked the shadow that
loomed directly in front of her. Shampoo stepped back in complete terror
as the thing stepped forward. "I'm afraid I have to ask you to return
that and come with me," said the thing as something clicked from its
side. The familiar sound of cord being pulled from a compartment filled
her ears as she realized what was going on.
"He was right, this is one hell of a security system," she commented as
she jumped away just in time to avoid some kind of boomerang that sailed
past where she had been moments before with a line of rope attached to
it.
"Cute," muttered the thing calmly as it jumped forward fluidly with its
cape flapping freely behind it.
"You must be this 'Batman' I've read about," commented Shampoo as she
met the charge head on and slammed her feet into its chest flipping off
of it and landing a fair distance away.
It was obvious Batman wasn't expecting that and he staggered back for a
moment, but didn't fall down. He moved to face her again and sighed. "I
don't suppose you're willing to give up?"
Shampoo was leaning against a chimney and looking him up and down
calmly. "Impressive."
"You don't have time to admire me," snorted Batman as he slammed his
fist into her gut moving so quickly that she didn't have time to react
this time.
This caught Shampoo by surprise, she had thought herself to be the
superior martial artist in this situation, but the Batman had just proven
otherwise clearly. She had never been able to move that fast in her life.
She staggered back under the force of the blow and felt her hands being
pulled behind her back and bound tight with ropes as the thing took full
advantage of her stunned condition. "What? No! I can't be caught!"
Batman frowned as she started to struggle and pulled away from him, her
hands were still tied, but she had proven herself stronger than he had
anticipated. He pulled the rope still in his hands taught and stopped her
from moving forward easily. He paused as a flash of metal filled the air
severing the rope away. The woman fell to the ground and Batman jumped
forward not wasting a moment for surprise to sink in. He landed on her
back and drug her behind a chimney as several other projectiles sailed
past him.
"Looks like somebody wants you dead," he commented to her.
"Not me, just you. You'd better let me go or he'll get angry," warned
Shampoo casually.
Batman smiled underneath his mask and snorted. "I'll take my chances
thanks." He began to work on tying her up again this time strapping her
elbows together as well.
Shampoo moved quickly spinning in his grip and slamming her leg into the
side of his head. This time Batman dropped the rope and grabbed for her
head intending to knock her out with a pressure point attack. The woman
skillfully dodged out of the strike, but he was too fast. He managed to
get a grip on her head and she still pulled away losing her mask as she
rolled towards the edge of the roof.
Batman's eyes went wide as she stood up and kicked the edge of the roof
creating a metallic sounding clank somehow. She paused and looked at him
for a moment with her long violet hair blowing in the wind, with a
knowing smile she jumped off the edge of the building silently.
He rushed forward and cursed under his breath as he reached the edge of
the rooftop and looked down to see her hanging a few feet from the roof
by a bungee chord that was attached to the wall by the metal spike she
had kicked into place with her shoe. She kicked at the side of her shoe
again and released the chord landing roughly on the ground before
vanishing into the streets.
Ranma was about to follow when another flash of metal severed the chord
in his hands. He cursed again and jumped back into the shadows. After
several moments of searching he found a few throwing knives, but nothing
else. He wasn't really surprised by this though, not after what he had
seen.
"So now I know what happened to Shampoo, I'm willing to bet these belong
to Mousse," he commented out loud. In the end he simply gave up and went
out to find other prey for the evening. "There'll be other times."
"Well men, are you ready?" said Kodachi as she inspected the men who
stood around her dressed in black combat gear. They all had assault
rifles in their hands.
"Ma'am, could we have gas masks?" said one of the men with a small
twinge of fear in his voice as he looked at her.
Kodachi blinked and looked at the line of men. "I suppose you all want
gas masks too huh?" All present nodded in unison. Kodachi threw her hands
into the air and sighed. "Oh all right, be that way you big babies!"
The room, Sasuke included gave a collective sigh of relief. "That would
be for the best mistress, especially since you are the only one with an
immunity to the gas."
"Would have been much more fun without them," muttered Kodachi lazily.
"All right you pigs, we strike at dawn!" Kodachi spun a ridiculously
large gun with a boxing glove attached to the barrel on her finger and
placed it into the holster hanging on her hip. "Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho ho
ho!"
TBC...
I like the way this is coming out. You'll notice that I didn't try to
turn Ranma into a detective. It's a bit too much of a stretch for his
character. I also foreshadowed a little bit on the sequel to this, any
guesses on who the next major villain will be? Double bonus if you can
figure out what his 'new' name will be.
I'm thinking of doing an entire series of these, with a different
villain each time. I'm smarter than those movie guys are so I'll limit it
to one at a time for the most part. This should reach its conclusion in
about two or three parts more, then you'll see it on my page and the
RAAC.
Next time: Kodachi robs a bank, with a few little twists of course.
Also, Ranma gets some help, but not in the way that you're thinking.
C&C to: Carrotglace@juno.com