Shadow of Nerima.
Part 5
The Rose has thorns.
Kodachi Kuno sat on top of a desk lazily with a stack of pages in her
hands; they were drawn out plans made with a crayon in an almost
childlike manner. "We'll start tonight," she said to the seven black
suited men standing around her in the room. "I want this to go off
without a hitch now, these people are causing too many problems."
"The cops? Are you nuts?" cried one of the men in terror.
Kodachi didn't speak; she simply pulled out a small handgun and shot him
without looking up from the plans. "Sasuke, log the complaint will you?"
"Yes Ma'am," replied the ninja cheerfully. The other men stood around
uncomfortably, not one of them daring to move without permission.
"Project P-chan begins at midnight tomorrow," said the woman lazily as
she stood up from her spot on the desk and moved to the seat behind it.
"You can leave now."
The men started to file out quickly, but Sasuke stopped them at the
door. He frowned at them and shook his finger. "You know how the meetings
end."
"Aw boss, do we have to?" whined one of the men.
The ninja nodded and blew a small tuning whistle. The men lined up in a
row and started to sing.
"I love you, you love me..."
Kodachi smiled even wider than normally as she watched the city move
below her cheerfully. Some how the song made her feel all warm and fuzzy
inside. One of the few pleasures she got that wasn't illegal, god knows
it should be. "It loses some of the flavor when you're allowed to do it,"
she thought privately. Still, the line of grown men, hit men no less,
singing that song made her snicker slightly.
Ranma moved along the rooftops of Tokyo and slid in and out of the
shadows fluidly. His mind worked as he felt the wind blow into his cape
and tug at his shoulders. Somehow swinging through the city made him feel
free. Rain fell all around him in a torrent as he moved through the city
gracefully. No one seemed to notice him as he passed above silently;
those who did simply discounted it as a fluke of the light. He knew why
though, he was something to be feared, a strange creature who sought only
vengeance for the oppressed.
Already he was a whispered rumor among the scum of the city, a phantom
that wasn't real to those who lived normal lives. Some story made up to
frighten small children. Somehow he found a tiny speck of pleasure in
that fact.
He paused on the top of a tall building landing on the clay tiles easily
and lightly. His cold blue eyes staring out at the city that now belonged
to him alone. A scream carried into the wind from below, someone in need
calling out to him. He paused for only a moment as another petty robbery
took place below him in the alley. Once again the shadow of vengeance
fell again, there was no time for pleasure now, only justice, only
revenge. This was the way of the bat, the path he had chosen.
The thugs stood staring at the thing that landed in front of them, a
withered old man lay on the ground in terror while they stood over him.
They were only two boys, around seventeen years old, both considerably
large. "What the hell?" cried one of them as he stepped back and dropped
the small knife in his hands.
His companion simply whimpered and fell as his legs gave out from sheer
terror. If not for the rain Ranma would have seen a large wet spot appear
on the front of his pants. The black clad demon strode forward and simply
shoved him aside leaving him quivering on the ground as he approached the
one still trying to run away.
He knew he could make it. There was no one who could out run him; he was
the fastest man in Tokyo as far as he was concerned. Running towards the
street he smirked as he realized that his poor friend would probably slow
the thing down. Once he hit the sidewalk he would vanish into the
streets, still ahead with the man's money, and he wouldn't have to split
it now. The light from a lamppost touched his feet and he knew he was
home free, until the back of his head exploded in pain. Moments later he
found himself lying on the ground as the world went black.
Ranma caught the boomerang in his hand as it returned to him and
frowned, he was becoming to reliant on the weapon he had only intended to
use as a way to disarm the street trash. He walked over and dragged the
boy by his feet before tying him up with his friend. He paused and
realized that the old man was still watching him in terror from his spot
on the alley floor. "Go home," he said simply as he tossed the wallet
back to him and pulled the boys over his shoulder. He vanished into the
shadows again taking his prisoners with him.
Shampoo stepped out of her room with a wry grin on her face as the rain
fell outside softly. She gave a soft yawn and stretched her arms out as
she walked. "Evening Mousse."
"You sleep too much," muttered the man halfheartedly.
"Just taking a cat nap," replied the girl lazily as she lounged on the
couch and turned on the television.
He snorted in reply and shook his head. She had probably meant that
literally, she tended to revert to her cursed form when she slept. They
had found she needed much less sleep when she did that for some reason.
The girl frowned and looked out the window impatiently. "Stupid Japanese
weather."
"You needed a break anyway," muttered Mousse as he handed her a cup of
coffee.
"I suppose so, but not tonight," she said with a small laugh as she
walked into the changing room.
He sighed and looked at her in confusion. "Where are you going?"
"Out, I've got it covered," said Shampoo as she emerged from the room a
few moments later. The poor man's jaw almost dropped to the floor as she
posed seductively at the doorframe. "What do you think?" She was dressed
in a black bodysuit of some sort with a mask that almost completely
covered her face. Her jaw was exposed and two small ear-like protrusions
jutted up from the top of the mask. Her hands were covered in long black
gloves that reached above her elbows. She also had a black utility belt
across her waist that carried most of her gear, and a whip.
"What the hell is that?" stammered the man in shocked confusion.
"Work clothes, I thought the cat would be appropriate," she replied
simply with a small shrug.
"Your obsessed," he said before turning away.
"Maybe, but I've got a few tricks up my sleeve now so to speak," she
told him as she flexed her hand revealing five small metal claws in the
gloves.
"I remember you saying you always wanted those in your human form,"
snorted the man lazily as he flicked a small switch revealing an opening
in the window. "If you get into trouble I won't be much help tonight."
"I can handle myself, besides you'd look stupid in a waterproof duck
costume," she said snidely.
"Like you look any better," he grumbled. She glared at him for a moment
and he blushed. "All right! You look really good, are you satisfied?"
"I knew you'd see it my way!" with that she vanished into the night.
"She's getting careless," said Mousse to himself. As much as he hated to
admit it, he knew it wasn't safe out there. That bat thing she tangled
with the other night was no pushover.
Ranma ignored the screams below him calmly as he stood on the roof of a
high rise building. He had been here the better part of twenty minutes
now and had every intention of putting in as much time as he needed.
"I'll ask you again, what do you know?"
"We don't know nothin! I swear!" screamed one of the thugs desperately.
"Really? You had an awful lot of this stuff on you," Ranma held up a
small packet of drugs for the men to see.
"All right! We was dealing a bit on the side! We don't know nothin
though!" cried the other one as he stared at the street below. It felt
like his heart would fall out of his mouth if he opened it any wider.
"Wrong answer." Ranma let up some of the slack on the rope and the men
screamed again. The second thug passed out again.
"You pussy! Wake up!" cried his companion in frustration. "You ain't
getting out of this that easy!"
"Why not? You left him didn't you?" said the Bat thing calmly as he
released a bit more slack. "I'm running out of rope you know."
"All right! I'll tell you what I know!" screamed the man. "It ain't
much! Some nut job killed some important Yakuza, got a lot of people
pissed off! He managed to keep his hold on their turf cause they're all
afraid of him! Rumor is he's the one who tainted the stuff a while back!"
"Give me a name," said Ranma as calmly as ever.
"Nobody knows!" the man screamed as the Batman released a bit more
slack. "No! I swear! He goes by the name Rose or somethin! Now pull me
up!"
"I said I wouldn't drop you, I never said I'd pull you back up," replied
Batman as he tied the rope off to a flagpole that sat on the corner of
the building and walked away along the ledge he had been hanging them off
of.
"Rose, I've got a name now at least," he muttered to himself as he
jumped off the roof and into the shadows again. The dawn would be coming
soon and he had to return home. "I've done enough for tonight."
Nabiki Tendo sat at home staring into the television while ignoring it
completely. Her apartment was large and spacious; various papers lay
strewn across the table in front of her as she sat back on the couch and
relaxed. It had been a week since her secretary had died. The menial
paperwork alone was enough to make her miss her. She had a small
emotional attachment as well, but that was not what was on her mind right
now. The man who was using her for sex was in his office with another
woman already. The disk was running in her dvd player at that moment. A
small anger flared in the back of her mind as she saw it. The man would
pay, just not yet. He had a nice back history she could play with. He
would probably never know the real reason behind her revenge, but at
least she would feel satisfied.
She stood up and stretched her arms and switched the television off. "I
can't take this." She grabbed her coat and walked towards the door.
Shampoo smiled as she worked, her new claws cutting through the glass
window quietly and easily. The fool had explained his security measures
to her at a party a few days ago while watching her body and plotting
ways to get her home with him. "In the end I suppose he did get me to
come over," she thought privately as she worked. The rain made navigating
the rooftops a little difficult, but her new outfit kept her completely
dry. She giggled to herself quietly as the circle of glass came out in
her palm; she reached in and opened the window after cutting the wire
that led to the silent alarm. It was a very outdated model, no alarm
would sound if it was cut and that made things much easier for her. The
man was a notoriously light spender on things like that, but he did have
good taste in art. She would pull in a nice sum tonight for sure.
Ranma stood over the figure working carefully below him; he had found
her while making his way to the rail system that would bring him back to
Nerima. She was cutting a small hole in the glass roof of a wealthy
businessman in the rain. He jumped down next to her and she paused.
"Who's there?" she asked calmly as she stood up to her full height and
glanced around.
"Breaking and entering is illegal you know, I'm sure you know that,"
said Batman as he stepped out of his place in the shadows.
The woman went on the defensive immediately. "You!" She reared back in a
familiar pose and Ranma raised his eyebrow slightly behind his mask.
"That's a new look for you isn't it?" he said calmly.
"I think it suits me," said Shampoo as she relaxed slightly and stepped
back a few steps. Batman immediately noticed her hand fall down to the
coil of leather on her waist.
"Don't bother, just come along quietly and you won't get hurt," said the
man coolly.
"You know that old line isn't going to work don't you? Why do you care
anyway? You're not the police." Shampoo crouched low and moved towards
the edge of the roof. She cursed when she backed into a fence that lined
the edge.
"No where to run, give it up," said the Batman.
Shampoo didn't hesitate after that, she charged forward and punched out
at him viciously. He dodged easily and fluidly around her strikes taking
care not to fall into the familiar pattern of his fighting style, it
wouldn't do to have Shampoo find out who he was. He ducked low under a
strike and she slashed at his cape leaving four distinct claw marks in
the cloth.
"Those are new," he thought to himself as she moved back again.
"He's too fast! I can't get a hit in, almost as fast as Ranma used to
be!" Shampoo slid her leg out for a more solid stance and frowned. "You
seem surprised? If you corner a cat you can get scratched."
"A catwoman? How appropriate for her," thought Ranma as he stepped
forward again intent on charging her, she was close to the edge again.
This time there was no fence to stop her.
"Goodbye!" screamed Shampoo as she jumped off the edge of the roof and
sailed across the street below only to land on a nearby roof. She spun
around and smiled as she saw the distance she had crossed. He had already
vanished into the shadows again.
"Looking for someone?" said a familiar voice from beside her.
The woman spun around angrily as she realized he was standing just above
her on an air conditioner. "You should get a new hobby!" Shampoo ducked
away as he jumped down and smiled as she realized he was still standing
in place. She spun around as she reached the edge of the roof again and
searched for him only to find he had disappeared again. "Damn it! How
does he do that?"
Her question was never answered; a cord of rope appeared around her body
pinning her upper arms against her sides. She cursed again as she saw the
boomerang wrap around the length of rope tightening the cord. She
struggled for a moment before she was pulled down to the gravel on the
roof by a hard tug. When she rolled over she saw him standing over her.
"Are you finished yet?" asked Batman coolly.
Shampoo smiled at him, "You forget that cats have claws." She slashed at
the rope and kicked back up on her feet forcing him to step back, in the
same motion she propelled herself over the ledge.
Ranma frowned as he looked over the edge and saw a window cleaner's
platform below, she had vanished again and he knew it would be pointless
to follow. The sun was starting to rise in the distance and he frowned,
without a word he jumped away.
Nabiki Tendo opened the door to the Tendo dojo and walked in quietly.
She had dealt with so much death in her life and there was nothing she
could do to stop any of it. She paused as she saw the game table sitting
out with a game of Go set out on it. It had been there since the last
time Genma had come over, that was about two months ago. She sighed as
she sat down at the table and ran old memories through her head. No one
was awake yet; her father would be up soon with the dawn and Ranma with
him. Surprisingly enough they kept the same schedule these days. She
paused when she noticed a light in one of the upstairs rooms. "Ranma?"
Quietly she walked up the stairs and slid open the door cautiously.
"Ranma? Are you awake?" She sucked in a surprised breath, not only
because he was gone, but also because of the room. It was covered in
newspaper clippings, crime stories and a few articles about the strange
bat thing that had been seen recently. She had always discounted those
stories, but had toyed with the idea of another Jusenkyo victim in Tokyo.
She stepped back towards the door and paused as she noticed the desk; it
was covered with strange looking objects. Something that looked like a
boomerang and a several tied up ropes and grappling hooks. "What's going
on here?" she asked out loud.
With a final step back she froze as she felt herself impact on something
behind her. It gave slightly and was still firm.
"I suppose you're going to want an explanation?" said a familiar voice.
Nabiki Tendo screamed at the top of her lungs.
Kodachi smiled as the men stood in front of her, every one of them was
dressed in a donut delivery uniform. "How cute you all look!"
"Yes Ma'am," agreed the men in an almost military fashion.
Sasuke stood next to them nodding. "The operation must be timed
perfectly. The time is midnight, I don't want any screw-ups and no one
jumps the gun. We don't want them warning the other stations." He smiled
and started to hand out donut boxes. "Don't eat them."
The men all laughed and Kodachi smirked. "Well, lets get started. You've
all got a long way to go tonight."
They filed out of the room leaving her alone with Sasuke. "Operation
P-chan is going according to plan mistress."
"Do the men know?" she said coolly with the permanent smile widening on
her face even more.
"Of course not, none of them has a clue of our real mission," replied
the ninja.
"Excellent, soon we will cripple the Tokyo police, and then the city
will be much more fun!" she giggled to herself for a moment before
calming down.
"They'll all be so busy enjoying those donuts that they'll never guess
what's really going on," said the woman cheerfully. With that said she
began to laugh again.
Sasuke merely nodded. "Team two will start at ten o'clock." She ignored
him and continued to laugh.
TBC...
Next time: Find out what Kodachi's evil plan is! Nabiki discovers the
shocking secret! And of course, more Shampoo!
C&C to: Carrotglace@juno.com
URL: Http.www.geocities.com/misatira/