[Ranma][FanFic] Shampoo 1/2, Chapter 15

[DB Sommer]

Prologue

Shinya cleaned out the yak cage next. Oh what joy his job
had become,cleaning out animal pens for a living. This was
so beneath him. All he ever wanted to do was conquer the
world. At first he tried it as a criminal mastermind. They
said he was too stupid. So he tried doing it as a charismatic
leader. They said he had the charisma of a village idiot.

Deciding he had too much of a moral code to become a
politician, he traveled to America and attempted to go
through the ranks as a flunky by joining a henchmen
academy, but the Taskmaster said he had no talent to
even be that. So he went back home and took this job,
silently praying he'd be spilled with some toxic chemicals
or come across a magic artifact to
give him super powers.

He silently decided it was time for lunch, sat down, and
pulled out a thermos of soup. Just as he was about to
begin, the sloth in the cage he was next to began growling
and shaking its bars. "What you want boy?" The sloth became
more agitated and reached its paw forward towards the
thermos.

"Oh. You smell the food and are hungry." He began speaking
more slowly, as though talking to a child. "Sorry. That's
my dinner."

The sloth continued to reach forward, making odd gestures
with its paws.

Shinya moved farther away and sighed, "You're not allowed
to have hot liquids, though they didn't tell me why." He
snickered, "Maybe you're really some kind of weird sloth
they experimented on to give powers beyond that of an
average sloth."

The sloth nodded its head, causing Shinya to jump up. "By
the Kami! You do understand!" The sloth nodded again. "I
knew Dr. Moroeu was up to something. Does hot soup give you
your super powers?" The sloth considered this, then nodded
its head. "Well here you go." He handed it the soup,which
it promptly dumped on its head, triggering the change.

"WOW! You're a not a sloth, you're a genie," Shinya stated,
dumbfounded.

The naked pink haired girl curled her finger and motioned
for him. "Come closer and let me give you your wish."

He did as he was bade.

Ranma 1/2 Presents:
Shampoo 1/2
Chapter 15

Sins Of The Past III

All C+C is appreciated.
Azatlan has given Shampoo 1/2 a home at:
http://www.geocities.com/~azatlan/special-series/shampoo.html
Or you can email me at som...@nb.net for additional chapters or
whatever.

Standard Disclaimer:
I disclaim I own any of the Ranma 1/2 characters. They were
created by the Goddess Takahashi and whomever she sold the
rights to.

Don't own the Tenchi-Muyo people either.

An alternate universe:
What's gone on before (or what you really need to know to
enjoy this fic)

In the beginning, the Saotomes traveled to Jusenkyou to spar,
not realizing Shampoo and Mousse had already begun a
duel there. One mid-air collision and bath in Spring of
Drowned Young Man later we have a male Shampoo as well as a
female Ranma. (So Ranma-chan= female Ranma. Shampoo-kun=
male Shampoo. Enjoy.) Shampoo elected to travel to Japan
with Ranma and accidentally got engaged to Kasumi. Once
that was cleared up, Ranma became engaged to Akane.
On the first day of school water and confusion mixed leaving
everyone there believing Shampoo-kun is Ranma and Ranma-
chan is Shampoo. Eventually it was learned that if an
Amazon becomes male it is a crime by the tribal laws.
Cologne wants to cure Shampoo, or barring that, take her to
China for trial and execution. Mousse went to Jusenkyou and
is on his way back with a plan of his own, and Perfume, an
old rival of Shampoo's, managed to track her down and has
been trying to kill her to settle an old score. Twice they
fought. The first time Shampoo lost and revealed her curse.
Perfume tried to cure her to kill her but ended up getting
cursed with the Spring of Drowned Sloth instead and was
defeated by Shampoo, then thrown in a zoo to keep her out
of the way. During the fight it was revealed Shampoo
willingly maimed Perfume in the past, which alienated Ranma
from her. Now Perfume wants to settle things once and for
all...

Writer's note: <> Denotes Chinese
** indicates Panda "sign" language

Part 1
To The Finish

Kia looked down at the piece of paper once again, her hands
shaking in anticipation. The name on the paper matched the
sign on the side of the wall. Tendo Dojo. The private
detective had done his job well. Now, after
so many years of searching, she was finally going to meet
him. Taking one last deep breath to calm herself she
stepped forward and knocked on the door. After a few
moments it was opened by Nabiki, who looked over the
visitor and began sizing her up like a hungry tiger smelling
a piece of raw meat.

"Can I ask what business you have here?" Nabiki asked.

"I'm here to meet," the girl blushed, "Ranma Saotome."

Nabiki looked her over once again, as though evaluating
her, then shouted, "RANMA! FIANCEE!!!"

Kia heard an exasperated voice from within say, "Not
another one," then heard a splash of water. She was about
to ask Nabiki how she knew she was Ranma's fiancee when a
short, wet red haired girl came to the door.

"Hi there. I'm Ranma Saotome."

Kia looked downfallen. "I was looking for a boy named Ranma
Saotome." She should have known it was too easy. The
investigator made a mistake and located a girl that had the
same name.

"And you're engaged to him because of his father, Genma
right?" Ranma-chan asked.

The information was correct, leaving Kia nothing to do but
nod in response. Something very odd was going on here.

"Well you aren't the only one. Pop had a bad tendency to
engage his only child to anything on two feet and with a
plate of food. He never considered how women would feel
marrying someone like me." Ranma-chan undid her shirt just
enough to show off the top of her breasts. "I don't think
it would work out, y'know?"

Kia could do nothing but agree. She was not going to marry
a woman no matter what her father had agreed to, and she
had so looked forward to getting married. With a depressed
sigh she turned to depart when Ranma-chan spoke up.

"You look kind of upset. Would you like to get rid of some
of those frustrations by beating up Pop?" Ranma-chan
offered.

A wicked smile formed on Kia's lips. Now THAT would make
her feel better, and she let Ranma-chan know.

"Great! Follow me." Ranma-chan grinned then yelled into the
house. "POP! You have a visitor."

Ranma used the hot water to change himself back as he
looked at his father's burned carcass. "Serves you right
for engaging me to the inheritor of the School of Martial
Arts Firebreathing," Ranma reprimanded.

"A...A...A..." Genma mumbled.

"What are you trying to say Pop?"

"A...A...Aloe," he managed to get out.

"Forget it. You're on your own, old man," Ranma growled.

Nabiki looked on, mildly curious. "How many does that make
this month?" she asked Akane.

"Three," her sister answered.

"Mr. Saotome certainly met a lot of people desperate to
marry off their daughters." Kasumi added.

"You do realize Daddy falls under that category," Nabiki
said, "don't you Sis?"

"Oh. You're right," Kasumi realized.

Ranma's joy at his father's punishment became depression as
he picked himself up and headed out the door. "I'm going
for a walk."

The Tendo sisters observed Ranma's depressed form leave the
dojo and go outside. After several moments Shampoo peeked
her head from around a corner and scanned the room.

"He's gone," Nabiki said. "It's safe to come out now."

Shampoo came fully into the room with the same look of
depression Ranma had on earlier. "Shampoo go out now.
Bye bye." And headed out the door as well.

Nabiki shook her head. "This place is like a mausoleum
thanks to those two."

Kasumi began looking depressed too. "I hope whatever Ranma
did to her he apologizes for it soon."

"Wait a minute!" Akane suddenly became defensive. "Why are
you blaming Ranma?"

"That would probably be because he's usually to blame. You
do it most of the time." Nabiki interjected.

"Well Shampoo screws up just as much," Akane said. "I think
it's probably her fault."

It was Kasumi's turn to leap to the defense. "Oh no. I
doubt that. I'm certain it's all Ranma's fault. Shampoo
wouldn't do anything to hurt him."

"Well, he wouldn't do anything to hurt her either, and why
are you sticking a microphone in my face?" Akane asked as
she turned to Nabiki.

Nabiki smiled as she left the microphone right where it
was. "This is a first. You are coming to Ranma's defense
and blaming someone else. No one's going to believe it
unless I get it on tape."

"I am not that bad. I only blame Ranma when it's his
fault," Akane retorted.

"Which, if I recall correctly, would be all the time,"
Nabiki shot back.

Akane just through up her hands in disgust. She did not
blame Ranma for everything, and she was especially certain
that Shampoo must have done something, else she wouldn't
be depressed too.

The stewardesses looked down the aisle at the two unusual
occupants now seated in row A12. Both were veterans of the
airlines, having had to deal with two terrorist hijackings,
one minor mid-air collision, and a losing Super Bowl team.
Despite that the two passengers were by far the most
unusual they ever had.

"I'm kind of at a loss here. How should we treat them?" The
first stewardess asked her partner.

"I'm not sure. Do we have any bamboo or bananas?" her
partner responded.

Mousse-panda looked curiously at his seating companions. It
took him two adjustments to his glasses to realize the
person next to him had gone quiet because she had turned
into an animal at the same time he did, when they were
accidentally splashed with the cold water. Mousse-panda was
more than a little at a loss. What did one say to a gorilla
wearing a red headbanda nd carrying a goldfish in a bowl on
its lap?

*So, why did you decided to travel to Jusenkyou?* Mousse-
panda asked with his sign.

The gorilla grumbled something in reply.

"What did she say?" The blonde woman, the one that had
spilled the water and had been traveling with the now
changed woman, asked Mousse-panda.

*She said, "it was my stupid partner's idea."* Mousse-panda
translated.

"Could you ask her when she's going to get off of me?" The
blonde was currently underneath the irate gorilla, the four
hundred pounds of simian using the girl as an extra seat
cushion.

The gorilla grumbled again.

*She said you can ask her questions directly. She still
understands you. And her answer is whenever she gets
cured .*

"That might not happen too soon." The blond woman began to
sniffle as she was about to cry. The gorilla mumbled
something else and indicated something about the goldfish
in the fishbowl.

*She said that isn't going to work this time. She also
wants to know how you're going to explain to Ayeka about
what happened to her sister.*

The blonde looked upwards toward her partner. "Why should I
explain?"

The gorilla grumbled and Mousse-panda translated. *Because
it's your fault. You're the one that wanted to go to China
and take Sasami along.*

The blond considered this. "Ayeka might not take the news
too well. Are you going to protect me?" she asked the
gorilla.

The gorilla growled a bit longer this time. *If you mean
protect in the sense that she is going to help Ayeka kill
you, then the answer is yes. If you mean protect as in keep
you from harm, then the answer is no.*

"WAAAAAA!!! I didn't mean for any of this to happen." The
blonde began to cry in earnest. Somehow, the goldfish in
the bowl seemed to give a sad look towards her then gave
one to the gorilla. It took a while, but the gorilla's
scowl softened. She then grumbled for Mousse-panda to
translate once again.

*She said she'll try to help explain things, but only
because Sasami wants it that way.*

The blonde cheered up at that, then addressed the gorilla
directly. "You know, that curse isn't so bad."

The gorilla shot up an eyebrow at that one. She grunted
again as Mousse-panda held up his sign. *She wants to know
what that's supposed to mean, and so do I.*

"Well," the blonde said thoughtfully, "this will help us
with undercover work. We can disguise ourselves as circus
performers. See, it's actually a good thing you got that
curse. All we need is a cage to put you in."

The smile she gave her simian partner was the final straw
as the gorilla snapped. She gave the bowl to Mousse-panda
to hold and picked up the blonde, shaking her back and
forth like a rag doll while roaring and baring her teeth.

Mousse-panda translated once again. *She said "DIE
MIHOSHI!!!"* He observed Mihoshi's predicament and held up
another sign. *If you hadn't figured that out by now.*

One of the stewardess made the save by serving bananas and
bamboo. Hunger overtook Kiyone-gorilla as she dropped
Mihoshi and grabbed a couple of bananas. Mousse-panda did
likewise and snacked on some bamboo, pleased that there
were people in the world who had lives almost as screwed up
as his.

Ranma walked down the street to Uk-Chan's. Upon arriving
outside the restaurant he saw several trashcan-like objects
in various states of destruction, along with some oddly
shaped burn marks. Ukyou was currently working on cleaning
one out of the odd organic substance that was inside
the trashcans.

"What's going on Ucchan?"

She looked up from her work to spot Ranma. "Oh, you mean
the mess. Well, some old foes of Ryouga's dropped by. I
think he fought them back when he was traveling across time
and space. He called them Daleks or somesuch."

Ranma sadly shook his head. "I can't believe you're
encouraging him and his delusions. C'mon, going around the
universe in a police call box? That's the stupidest thing
I've ever heard."

"But Tsubasa backs up the story," Ukyou defended, "and you
know how well the two of them get along. Besides, how else
do you explain these things showing up?"

Ranma shrugged. If Ucchan wanted to believe it, fine. "What
are you doin' with them anyway?"

"I think they'll make good flowerpots. I'm having Ryouga
buy some plants."

"On his own?" Ranma asked.

"I didn't say it was a good idea. Besides, if he wanders
off too far all he has to do is change himself into a
bat." Ryouga seemed to be adjusting to his curse and used
his homing abilities with increasing frequency. Ukyou
had no complaints since that meant he was around longer.
She was about to return to cleaning when she remembered
something. "I got good news for you. Remember the jerk that
turns into a bull?"

"Could hardly forget him," Ranma responded. "Why?"

"He came by the restaurant today."

Ranma clenched his fist. "If he tries to hurt you
again..."

Ukyou cut him before he could begin his rant. "There was no
trouble. He didn't even recognize me without my school
uniform. Anyway, he came by for some okonomiyaki."

"And?" Ranma wondered where this was leading to.

"I gave him one of my special recipes."

"How special?" Ranma's curiosity was piqued.

"Very special. It's made with the strongest..."

Back at the Black Rose's Floral Shoppe Cologne and Kodachi
were in a deep conversation with one another when the sound
of a toilet flushing came to their attention. They saw
Tarou leave one of the restrooms with a look of
pure relief on his face. It didn't last long as the boy
suddenly gained a troubled look and rushed back into the
lavatory.

"Didn't he just do that ten minutes ago?" Cologne asked her
companion.

"And twenty minutes before that," Kodachi responded. "Each
time he was in there for quite a while."

Cologne looked at her suspiciously. "Did you..."

Kodachi gave her an innocent stare. "Moi? Of course not."
Cologne gave her an incredulous look. "Not that I'm beyond
such things. It simply hadn't occurred to me to do
something like that. It must be something he ate."
Kodachi smiled to herself. Tarou deserved whatever happened
to him.

"I didn't know they made industrial strength laxatives,"
Ranma commented.

Ukyou certainly made some interesting dishes for those that
managed to get on her bad side, making Ranma relieved that
she was an ally and not an enemy.

"He had it coming. Now, why did you come here?" Ukyou
asked.

"How do you know I'm here for something? Can't a guy visit
a friend without needing something?" Ranma's voice gave
away just how defensive he was.

Ukyou debated how long she would let him get away with the
attempted self-deception. Not long at all. "That look on
your face tells me you're here for something. There's nothing
wrong with that. I want you to come to me if you
need help." Ukyou indicated the two should go into Uk-
Chan's to make themselves comfortable. "So, what can I do
for you?"

"Well, I kinda want to ask your opinion on something,"
Ranma sighed, "When do you know if you can trust someone?"

Ukyou looked at Ranma incredulously and began to laugh, not
a deep humorous laugh but more like one of disbelief.
"You're asking me about when you can trust someone?"

Ranma got the feeling he was being laughed at. "What's so
funny?"

Ukyou discontinued her laugh and straightened up. "Ranchan,
I'm not the sort of person you should be asking about
trust. It's been years since I've been able to trust
anyone. After you left me I was very hurt. I put all my
faith in you and it seemed like, at the time, you abandoned
me. For years I put a wall around myself never letting
anyone in. I may have had acquaintances, but no real
friends. It wasn't just to keep my real sex secret, it was
also so I didn't run the risk of having someone hurt me
some more."

"But you have friends now," Ranma burst out. "Me and Akane
and even Ryouga. You're even getting along better with,"
his voice quieted some, "Shampoo."

"I'm just starting to trust people again. It takes time."

Ranma looked down at the floor. "I didn't realize how much
I screwed up your life. I'm sorry."

The conversation was taking a turn Ukyou didn't want it to
go down. "I forgave you a long time ago, and it's not like
it was your fault anyway."

Ukyou calmed him. "So don't go and get all depressed on
me now. Besides, I haven't seen you smile in weeks."

"I've smiled." He suddenly got defensive.

"No, you haven't. So, what happened between you and Shampoo?"

Ranma switched from defensiveness to nervousness. "W...what
do you mean?"

Ukyou seriously considered smacking him in the head with
her spatula. Just how dense did he think she was anyway?
"It's obvious. You two used to be inseparable, now you
won't even walk on the same street if you can help it.
Something must have happened between you guys. Are you
going to tell me what's wrong?"

"It's just that," he began, "I used to think I knew her,
but now... I'm not so sure. I don't know what to think."

"You might be judging her a bit harshly. Why don't you tell
me what she did?" Ukyou asked.

"I can't. If she wants to tell you fine, but I can't do
it."

Ukyou let out a sigh. If he wasn't going to open up to her
there was no chance Shampoo was going to, and that meant
her ability to help in this situation was limited. She had
to laugh at how much things had changed in the last few
weeks. If Ranma had come to her before, she would have told
him how much she approved of his treatment of Shampoo and
of how untrustworthy the Amazon was, trying to drive a
wedge between them. Now things were different. She
certainly did not trust Shampoo wholeheartedly,
but she was not going to blindly accuse the Amazon of
things she might not be responsible for. Ukyou's viewpoint
of the Shampoo had changed considerably. Maybe she was not
a backstabbing witch after all. Still, she might have hurt
Ranma, which put Shampoo on very shaky ground indeed, but
Ukyou was going to give her benefit of the doubt.

She had to smile at that. She was giving someone a chance
based on faith, even though Ukyou did not completely trust
the Amazon. Obviously the spatula wielding chef was
becoming a better person. Now if only a certain
someone felt the same way.

Ukyou turned back to the matter at hand. "Well then, I
can't really give you much advice. The best thing I can
tell you is, it's not wise to come to a decision without
understanding both sides of the problem. That's happened
to me, and you know the result."

Ranma returned her knowing stare with one of his own, then
began looking depressed again. Ukyou decided to give him a
little reassurance by walking up to Ranma and hugging him.
"No matter what happens, you'll always have 'good ole'
Ucchan' to back you up. So no long faces around me. Got
it?" He smiled and nodded his head. "Good." And with that
she gave him a light peck on the cheek, causing him to
blush. She smiled at him for a moment, enjoying his
embarrassment. "Hey pervert! Don't get too excited by
that," and gave him a playful hit in the stomach. Teasing
Ranma could be such fun. He seemed in much higher
spirits as he left the restaurant.

Ryouga managed to return to Uk-Chan's without resorting to
a transformation. Of course he was actually trying to find
the floral shop down the street at the time, but he could
use his home as a point of reference. Feeling a little
hungry after the fight and walking around in a big circle,
he decided to grab a bite to eat. He walked up to the
restaurant and was about to enter when he peeked around the
door. He quickly ducked back to see Ranma and Ukyou
embracing. Worse, he then saw Ukyou kissing Ranma. Ryouga,
with sorrow in his heart, quickly turned and ran up the
street, silently berating himself. He should have known. He
had been gone too long on his stupid quest and Ukyou had
fallen for someone else. Ranma of all people. Ryouga made
certain he was well out of eyesight of Uk-Chan's before he
began to walk more slowly, everyone giving the depressed
boy a wide berth.

What was there for him now? He had decided to give peace a
chance and look at what had happened to him. He was alone
again, as always. And it was all Ranma's fault. It was
always Ranma's fault!

Happosai read over the scroll the construction worker gave
him. The technique on it would not do the master any good,
he was just too much of a happy-go-lucky kind of guy. Too
bad. The Shi Shi Houkoudan sounded like such a promising
technique too. Just as he was about to crumple up the
paper he spotted Ryouga, still wallowing in his pit of
depression. The youth's presence brought a smile to the old
pervert's lips.

"You there!" Happosai grabbed Ryouga's attention. "You're
Ryouga Hibiki, aren't you?"

Ryouga looked at him suspiciously. "Yeah! So what?"

Happosai put on his wise old mentor act for Ryouga. "It's
my understanding you have some sort of grudge against
Ranma. Isn't that right?"

Happosai's timing couldn't have been better. Ryouga's
hatred was at an all time high. "You got that right. He's
taken everything from me my entire life!"

"Well it just so happens he's been giving me a difficult
time too. Why don't we team up together to teach that
worthless ingrate a lesson?"

Nothing could have pleased Ryouga more. "What do you want
me to do?"

Happosai smiled, he had the hook and the line. Now all he
needed was the sinker. "I'll teach you a new technique that
will take care of Ranma. All you have to do is promise me
you'll beat him."

That was no problem at all. He would have volunteered to
jump into a pit of molten lava if it meant getting revenge
on Ranma, so he quickly agreed.

Ranma traveled back to the dojo just as depressed as when
he left. Ukyou had given him a lot to think about. Maybe he
was judging Shampoo a bit harshly. He remembered the first
time Shampoo talked about Perfume, the pain in her voice
evident as she told the tale. It just seemed like she
overreacted. No, she had overreacted. There was no real
excuse for what she had done. Still, to alienate her the
way he had been seemed a bit harsh, not that she had tried
to get in his way the last few weeks. If only things
could go back to the way they were everyone would be so
much better off. If only he had not found out the truth.

He let out a sigh. It was not just what she had done to
Perfume that hurt him. There was also the fact that she had
lied to him. Maybe not directly, but by omission, which
amounted to the same thing. She had promised him no more
lies, and she had done it anyway. That hurt as much as
learning what Shampoo had done, maybe even more. It all
came down to trust. Once he became old enough he learned
what living with his father was really like. The old man
certainly could not be trusted. He was a liar and a thief,
swindling and cheating anyone he could to make life easier
for himself. Ranma still did not understand why he hadn't
turned out more like his father, the only role model he
ever had, but at least he was better than the old man. He
could take consolation in that.

So when he met Shampoo things changed for him. Ukyou was
not the only person who had not opened up to anyone in a
long time. It had been years since Ranma had hung around
anyone long enough to confide in them. His father had
really kept their feet in the road, and the longer they
journeyed the less time Ranma had to meet people. Then came
Jusenkyou, the curse, and Shampoo.

Shampoo had been a strange person to be around. Never in
his life had he met a girl that much into martial arts,
almost as much as him. Not only that, she was good too, not
to mention a little vicious. He still remembered the first
time they had sparred. It had started out easily
enough, but quickly escalated in intensity when Ranma
realized she was good enough to really press him. When
Shampoo realized she was starting to lose she went all out,
nearly crushing Ranma's skull with her bonbori. He had to
jump up into a tree and reassure her it was just a sparring
match. A difficult task given her command of Japanese at
that point. He still remembered the suspicious glare he
received when he successfully explained it to her. She had
seemed convinced he was up to something else.

It had not taken much longer after that when the two of
them where able to train without the suspicion. Shampoo's
language skills picked up a little bit and the two of them
could communicate well enough, and the Lord only
knew how much her presence had helped Ranma and his father.
Shampoo was actually able to talk with the locals and could
cook up a storm. He remembered showing her his gratitude at
being spared his father's awful cooking. Genma appreciated
it too, putting on close to ten pounds the fat man could not afford to
gain.

It was so much easier back then. Shampoo was as fascinated
by the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts as much as
Ranma was in the Amazon Techniques. The two of them spent
hours teaching one another their respective styles. They
were like children with new toys, always eager to try them
out on one another. More than a few bandages were used
because of their enthusiasm at learning a new technique or
pattern of attacks. That was when the first bonds of
friendship were formed, in the midst of sweat and blood.
Afterwards the duo got along well. Good enough to be called
friends. Good friends. Shampoo was probably the first real
friend Ranma had had in years.

And now that friendship may be over.

Ranma had no idea of what to do now. If only things could
go back to that simpler time. No fiancees coming out of the
woodwork. No enemies or old ghouls wanting to pound on
Ranma or capture Shampoo. Just journeying across the world
with only one goal in mind: learning martial arts. Now
everything was different, complicated, and miserable. Ranma
was learning one very important lesson in life. You can
never go back.

He entered the Tendo house just in time for dinner. A
Kasumi made meal fortunately. Shampoo was absent from the
table, as usual. Just as Ranma was about to dig in he
noticed everyone staring at something. Him.

He put his chopsticks down as his headache started, knowing
what was coming next. "What did I do now?" Everyone blamed
him for everything, except for the recent famine in Africa,
and that was only a matter of time.

Kasumi answered first, "Shampoo hasn't come back yet. We
thought you might know where she is."

"Haven't seen her all day," Ranma answered. "Maybe she lost
track of the time."

Genma cleared his throat. "Ranma. I have to ask you
something."

"Yeah Pop?"

Genma leaned in closer and began whispering. "I couldn't
help but notice some tension between you and Shampoo, and I
think I know what it is. I had a similar problem when I was
your age." Genma gained a serious look on his face,
surprising Ranma. "You are my son, so I have to ask this
question, and I want you to tell me the truth."

"What is it Pop?"

Genma stared deep into Ranma's eyes. "Did you sleep with her?"

"WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THAT?!!!" Ranma exploded on his
father. He picked him up by the collar of his gi and threw
him into the pond.

"Well, it would explain the tension between the two of
you," Genma said as he picked himself up out of the pond.
"I take it that's a no."

"Of course not! Don't be stupid! Neither of us is that kind
of a person!" Ranma fumed as he sat down against one of the
walls, suddenly losing his appetite. His father was
unaffected as he sat down at the dinner table and started
scarfing down food. Why was this affecting him this much?
He had forgiven Ukyou, even Ryouga for things they had
done. Why couldn't he do the same for Shampoo? Maybe it was
because he trusted her more, making the lies seem even
worse. The problem now was what to do about it. So lost in
thought was he that he did not sense the attack coming
until the last second. He moved away from the wall, too
late.

"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!!!" was the shout heard from the other
side of the wall directly behind Ranma. He got caught by
the edge of the shrapnel from the wall as it detonated,
then had the rest of the structure fall directly on
top of him, burying him underneath the rubble.

Akane could just make out a female form with a long two
handed weapon in her hands through the settling dust.
"Ukyou?" she called out, completely bewildered as to why
the chef had suddenly attacked Ranma. The figure ran
out of the dust cloud, weapon thrust forward. Akane could
see as she cleared the cloud it was clearly not Ukyou. The
attacker could be only one person, matching the description
Kasumi had given. Perfume.

"No more interference!" Perfume shouted out as she thrust
forward with her naginta, blade forward, at Akane.
Akane had almost no time to react as the blade of the
naginta came at her head. She barely managed to get out of
the way as the point passed where her skull was but a second
ago. Perfume brought the shaft of the polearm up
and smashed it into Akane's face three times in rapid
succession, knocking her out.

"No more delays!" Perfume grabbed the net that hung from
her belt and threw it over Genma and Soun, trapping them
even as Akane slumped to the floor.

"If anyone gets in my way, they die!" She grabbed the knife
from her weapon belt and threw it at Nabiki. She stared at
the weapon hurtling towards her head, transfixed. She
didn't even make an effort to get out of the way of
the hurled blade. At the last second the weapon was
snatched out of mid-air by a newcomer, Shampoo.

"Extortionist Girl should no make like deer caught in
headlights." Shampoo threw the knife at the ground between
Perfume's legs, then turned to Kasumi. "Make sure Ranma and
others is okay." She then shifted her attention back to
Perfume, much to the warrior's pleasure.

"I knew attacking them would flush you out." Perfume smiled
at Shampoo.

"Perfume, you no have honor anymore. You just a crazy,
violent girl!" Shampoo replied.

"And who made me that way Shampoo?" Perfume's rage began to
increase. "You did!"

"<Pray you didn't harm Ranma, Perfume, or I'll hurt you so
bad you'll beg me to do what happened to you three years
ago.>"

Even Perfume was a little taken aback by the deadly look in
Shampoo's eyes, but quickly recovered. "You think you can
intimidate me? That may have been possible three years ago,
but not today." Perfume observed Shampoo strap her sword on
her back and grab her two bonbori. She then walked into the
backyard waiting for Perfume to follow. She didn't have to
wait long.

Both girls lashed out at once, bonbori and naginta
clashing. After several exchanges with nothing to show,
Shampoo did something unexpected. Perfume brought her
naginta in high only to have it blocked by a bonbori.
Shampoo brought the other one up and threw it high into the
air. Perfume's eyes followed its airborne trajectory,
suspecting some kind of unorthodox attack. The maneuver was
a trick. Shampoo's hand, while still raised high
from the toss, gripped the hilt of her sword and brought it
out of its sheath and downward towards Perfume's head.
Perfume put two hands on her naginta for an overhand block.
The sword neatly sliced through the shaft of
the weapon, separating it into two pieces. Perfume looked
at it, stunned, as Shampoo backed off.

"YOU BITCH!!! This was my family's honor weapon. It was in
my clan for ten generations. How could you..."

"Oh dear," Shampoo cut her off, "Look what I've done now."

The calm way she said it made Perfume wonder what was going
on in the purple haired Amazon's mind. Was she sincere in
her apology? Not that it would do her any good. She scowled
at Shampoo for a moment until she realized her old friend
was not looking at the weapon, but at Perfume.
"What are you staring..." Perfume trailed off, having
looked down at herself to see exactly what Shampoo was
staring at. As soon as she bent her head down she knew what
the gaze was for. There was a vertical opening down the
middle of her outfit, between her breasts, a small line of
blood trickling down from the shallow cut Shampoo had made
when her sword went through the naginta.

Perfume calmed down and gave Shampoo a sober look. "This
time it's for real, isn't it?" Perfume asked softly.
Shampoo gave a short nod in response. The pink haired
Amazon tossed the pieces of her broken weapon to
the ground and drew her last weapons, a sword and single
bonbori. Both Amazons faced off, identical weapons in hand.
Their duel truly began.

Kasumi broke off her assessment of Ranma and Akane and
watched the fight between Shampoo and Perfume. It was
unlike anything Kasumi had seen before, even when the dojo
was full of students a million years ago. The Amazons
weren't fighting, they were dancing, each warrior moving in
an impossibly complex choreography of thrusts and parries.
The objects in their hands were not weapons, but extensions
of their limbs that moved with a fluid grace all their own.
No motion was wasted, no words spoken, even their
breathing was steady, not ragged. Despite what physical
differences there were between the two of them, they
appeared as mirror images in this dance, frequently using
the same attacks at the same time. Each combatant must
have been in a zone, for no mistakes were made by either
one of them. If there was any one thing that could be
called perfection, this was it. The event should have been
horrifying, but instead Kasumi found herself intoxicated by
the beauty of the duel. In some odd way, she never wanted
it to end as each of the girl's moves flowed from one into
another. She lost track of the time as she watched the
warriors continue this dance of death. It could have been
minutes or hours, Kasumi couldn't tell, mesmerized by
the fight.

As with all dances this one reached a climax. Shampoo left
her arm open for the briefest of moments, enough time for
Perfume to bring her bonbori on the arm, causing Shampoo to
release her grip on her own bonbori. Shampoo recovered,
bringing the hilt of her sword across Perfume's jaw then
lashing out with her foot, kicking Perfume's bonbori out of
her hand and over a wall. Perfume bought herself time to
reset by connecting with a powerful front kick that caught
Shampoo in the stomach, driving her backward. Both
women went into identical guard positions with their
swords.

Kasumi saw for the briefest of moments an identical look
that passed between the warriors. Not a look of hatred, nor
one of intensity, but one of a sadness from deep within the
soul. At that moment Kasumi understood what that look
meant. For all the hatred and wrongs that occurred between
the two of them. For all of the blood that had been
spilled. For all the misery they had done to one another.
Neither wanted to be here. They both knew it was wrong.
They should have been the best of friends, and for
whatever reason, that friendship had been lost. Now there
was a feeling of shared helplessness as the events had, at
last, reached an end.

Their last regret.

The women steeled themselves and allowed the fight to reach
a crescendo.

The swords played against one another, with a punch or kick
thrown in for good measure. Minor cuts formed on both
combatants, none of them acknowledged by the recipients as
they continued to swing away at one another. Perfume
switched her grip to her left hand in an effort to catch
Shampoo off guard. Both blades met high overhead, jockeying
for position.

Kasumi continued to watch until fascination turned into
dread. Shampoo lost her grip on her sword and it fell to the ground.

Perfume was amazed to feel the resistance of Shampoo's
sword disappear as her blade slipped from her hand and fell
towards the ground. It was over. Unarmed, Shampoo would not
last ten seconds. In the moment Perfume allowed herself to
savor her upcoming victory she felt the fight slip from her
own grasp. Shampoo's now free hand had almost instantly
gripped Perfume's own upraised wrist. Even as she grabbed
onto the wrist she pivoted her body underneath Perfume,
allowing Shampoo's left hand to also grab the wrist and
allowing her back next to Perfume's front. Too late Perfume
realized what had happened. Shampoo had gambled everything
by letting go of her sword in the hopes that Perfume would
hesitate for a split second, and thereby be able to disable
her weapon arm by breaking it over her shoulder.

As Shampoo completed her pivot Perfume realized she had one
of two choices. She could resist the attempted arm toss
Shampoo was going to apply, and have her arm broken in the
process, or she could go over with the throw and hope she
had enough velocity to pull her wrist free of the hold
Shampoo had on and come up swinging with the sword. If she
failed to free her arm, it was over. No choice really. As
Shampoo muscled her over Perfume attempted to leap over the
shoulder.

Perfume felt herself land on her back as she tried to rip
her wrist free of the hold it was in. There was no contest
as Shampoo held on and twisted, forcing the sword free of
Perfume's grasp and into her own. Shampoo spun
around and landed hard on Perfume's stomach, pinning her to
the ground by straddling her chest. Perfume stared up to
see Shampoo shift her grip on the sword so she could bring
it down with force into Perfume. The look of anger in
Shampoo's face told what was to come.

Fear did not claim Perfume in her final moments. She had
challenged Shampoo with the realization it might end this
way. Still, there was anger at failing in her task. She had
spent the last three years hell-bent on victory, not
defeat, and in the end Shampoo had beaten her in every way
possible. She had publicly humiliated her, forced her away
from her people and family, stripped her of her womanhood,
denied her revenge, and worst of all, betrayed her heart by
abandoning the friendship that she held so dear.

From Ranma's position he could only see Shampoo's back and
Perfume's legs and lower torso as Shampoo straddled her
opponents chest. The rest of the view was cut off. Ranma
saw the sword raised above Shampoo's head, then descend. He
tried yelling out for her to stop as he got to his feet, but the
words
seemed to catch in his throat as he realized
it was too late for him to do anything before the blade
would impact. He saw the sword thrust downward with one
powerful motion and noticed Shampoo's shoulders tense up
with power that one only summoned when expecting to meet
resistance. The sword disappeared from view in front of
Shampoo's body. It was the position of her arms that
indicated the thrust had at last stopped.

The arms were too low for Shampoo to have stopped short of
embedding it in Perfume.

Ranma got to his feet, a sick feeling in his gut. It was
his fault. He was the one that had pushed the purple haired
Amazon too far. Rejecting her presence. Refusing to listen
to the explanations of her actions. Treating her like a
discarded toy he no longer had interest in. Telling her
through actions, not words, that their friendship was over,
even though he really did not want it to be. He should have
said something. Why couldn't he have given her words of
consolation? Why couldn't he have been more open and
listened to Shampoo instead of acting as though he was the
only one that was hurt? It was so obvious now that she had
been in as much pain as he was over the whole matter with
Perfume. Earlier he had thought his feelings of
betrayal by Shampoo were because he considered her a
friend. What kind of friend was he to have abandoned her
when she needed him the most? The worst kind. The kind of
person others believed in. Relying on that friendship
only to have it turn out that he would not be there when
they needed him. He was the one who had betrayed her, not
the other way around.

He moved over to get a better view. He needed to see
Perfume, even in death. He stopped as he realized he could
see part of the fallen opponent's head. Perfume's hair had
fallen away from her face, allowing the world to see the
scar she had kept hidden. He stared at that scar, the root
of all the problems. It was then he noticed something out
of place. His attention was riveted at her face as he saw
it again. The dead girl blinked. Moving over another foot
he got a full view of Perfume's head. The sword was not
buried in it, but rather right next to it, over halfway
into the ground.

Ranma simply stood in shock at the sudden revelation.

Shampoo raised herself off of Perfume's chest and stood up
as she looked down at the confused Amazon. "I not kill you in
cold blood Perfume." She then lashed out with her foot,
catching the prone Amazon fully on the chin, knocking her
out. "But no one threatens my friends and gets away with
it."

She turned to see Ranma approaching her.

"I..." Ranma began, "I thought you, y'know..." he trailed
off.

Shampoo gave Ranma a hurt look. "Shampoo thought you knew
her better. I not kill someone like this." There was a time
when she might have done so, but those days had long since
passed. Ranma should have known. She wanted him to know.

"Yeah. I guess I did. I was just afraid 'cause of what's
been going on between us." Ranma suddenly felt awkward and
at a loss at how to continue, so his eyes wandered until he
found something that would change the subject, Perfume.
"What are we going to do with her?"

Shampoo looked down at Perfume's unconscious form. No anger
was left in her, just sadness and pity. "I not going to
kill her, but she going to keep coming back. Guess just
have to keep on fighting until she come to senses
or..." she trailed off, both of them understanding what she
meant. Or until one of the Amazons was dead.

The two of them just stood there, staring at one another,
each looking at the other expectantly, waiting for one of
them to speak. How long they would have remained like that
was unknown as a voice laced with contempt interrupted their stand
off.

"I might have known you'd be hanging all over her Saotome.
You enemy of women."

Both Shampoo and Ranma turned in annoyance at the newcomer.
Mousse.

"Go away stupid Mousse!" Shampoo growled.

"Yeah! Buzz off panda-boy," Ranma growled as well. There
had been more than enough excitement in one day for him.

"Oh, but I think you want me around, Shampoo, especially
today. Because at long last you'll see how much I love
you." Mousse smiled at a tree.

"Shampoo already know how much you love her and am not
impressed."

He turned to the direction of the voice. "You will be. You
see, I succeeded where that idiot Saotome failed, and it
was only my purity of heart that enabled me to get this
present for you," Mousse smirked at Ranma.

"And exactly what present would that be you blind goof?"
Ranma looked on, unimpressed. He was probably going to have
to beat up Mousse soon, if for no other reason than to get
him to shut up.

Mousse continued smirking at Ranma. "See here the result of
what true love can accomplish." He pulled out a glass vial
of water and held it high so everyone could see.

"Nyanniichuan."

Interlude
Three Devils
Japan
In the hills near the seacoast:

The man in midnight black robes and cowl walked into the
bamboo forest followed by his two resurrected minions. A
giant man apparently made of stone, dressed in simple green
pants and with a huge weapon that looked like a couple of
large swords stuck together at the hilts, and a beautiful
woman, dressed in a style of clothing dating back several
centuries and bearing a sword at her waist, walked
alongside each other, watching their leader intently.

"Who are we reviving this time my Lord?" The giant asked.

The man in black stopped and spoke. "The one who fell in
this forest lo these many years ago. One born in darkness,
never seeing the light, and who subsequently allowed
himself to wallow in the darkness to grow powerful."

A wind picked up within the tall growths.

"Sound made up for vision. In so many ways better than the
weakness sight holds. Yet it was sound which was his
undoing in the end."

A howl almost seemed to emanate from the forest as the wind
picked up. None of the three seemed to notice.

"He was one of the greatest swordsmen that ever lived. He
was as fast as the wind, and could blind others with his
light."

The large stone man detected a disturbance from off to his
left. Even as he turned the man in black reassured him.

"It is only your old friend, or what's left of him. His
spirit could not bring itself to leave the spot where he
had fallen at the hands of one that was smarter, if not
more skilled, than himself. But you would know better
than anyone the abilities of that individual, wouldn't
you?"

The stone man grumbled in anger as the man in black calmed
him.

"The man you want is long since dead. Dead and buried.
Perhaps when this is over you will be granted a boon and
his body can be resurrected for you to kill."

The stone giant smiled in response as the noise picked up.

"He is almost here. Give me the blade." The man in black
addressed the woman. She handed him the sword at her side.

The man held the blade extended in front of him by the
scabbard. "I offer you a chance to once again come back to
the land of the living. To serve me as you once did before,
though only through agents. I will ask you this but
once, do you accept?"

The wind picked up even more furiously as a ghostly specter
appeared from behind one of the shoots. It walked forward,
hesitated but a moment, then gripped the sword. As he
touched it a magic light emanated from the blade.
The energy came forth to fill the specter, giving it flesh
and a body it so desperately wanted for so many centuries.
It was identical to his original body, a slender yet
powerful form and long dark hair that flowed down his
shoulders. The swordsman, whose eyes remained closed,
accepted the blade from the man in black and affixed it to
his waist.

"Nice to see you again." the woman said. The stone giant
nodded his head in the newcomers direction.

The newcomer nodded his head in return and spoke to
the man in black. "I live but to serve you my lord."

"That is absolutely correct," he answered.

Part Two
Choices

All the Tendos and Genma had recovered enough to make their
way over to Ranma and Shampoo. Everyone looked in surprise
at Mousse as he held the vial up for the world to see.
Ranma was the first to break the silence.

"Listen to me closely Mousse," there was trepidation in
Ranma's voice. "Are you telling us you went to Jusenkyou?"

Mousse acknowledged the serious tone in Ranma's voice and
responded in kind. "Yes."

Ranma began to shake in nervous anticipation. "And that
water is from Jusenkyou?"

"Yes."

"Now here comes the important question." Ranma licked his
lips in nervous anticipation. "Did you bring any
Nanniichuan?"

"Of course not. Don't be a fool. Shampoo doesn't need
Nanniichuan."

Ranma could have slapped him. "Not for her stupid! For me!"

"Why would I want to get Nanniichuan for you?" Mousse
asked, confused.

"Because it's as much your fault as Pop's for me ending up
getting cursed, and I would have done almost anything to
get it. Instead, you greedy bastard, you used it just on
yourself."

Mousse hid a smile behind his sleeve. "The joke's on you
Saotome. I didn't use it either. I was so concerned about
Shampoo I forgot...all...about...my," his smile disappeared
as he realized the monumental mistake he had made. "NO! IT
ISN"T FAIR!!!" he began weeping and sobbing at the sky.

"He's so stupid he actually deserves his curse," Ranma said
as he shook his head. Shampoo, on the other hand, was
concerned about something else.

"Mousse. You sure that really Nyanniichuan?" Shampoo found
she was afraid of the answer.

Mousse came back to the situation at hand upon hearing
Shampoo's voice. His curse did not matter if he could cure
her. "Yes. I know it is."

Ranma turned to Shampoo. "You can't seriously be thinking
about trusting him. He's blind as a bat. No, scratch that,
he's even worse than Ryouga. He probably got water from the
Spring of Drowned Pervert or something."

"No I didn't!" Mousse burst out. "I realized there was an
offhand chance that I might accidentally take water from
the wrong spring, so I had the Jusenkyou Guide grab it for
me," he turned to Shampoo. "I wasn't going to
take any chances with your shot at regaining womanhood."

Nabiki broke in at this time. "How do you know the guide
grabbed the right stuff?"

"He gave me five vials of the water. I watched the entire
time and I know for a fact they all came from the same
spring." Mousse reassured her. "I used one of the vials on
a rabbit. It turned into a girl."

Nabiki looked at Shampoo. "Sounds legit. We can test it out
with one of the other vials if you want?" Shampoo nodded
her head in agreement, reluctant to leave her hands in a
Mousse chosen cure.

"Ummm. Actually, I lost the other three vials." Mousse said
sheepishly.

"How did that happen you jerk?" Ranma snapped.

"Ranma! Behave yourself!" Akane scolded, "He has a cure for
Shampoo."

"The trip back from China was fraught with great peril. My
life was in jeopardy many times." Mousse struck a dramatic
pose and looked boldly to the skies. "It was a miracle I
made it back with any water at all."

"Oh my! That was very nice of you to risk your life like
that. And the first thing that went through my mind was
that you had accidentally dropped them and they broke,"
Kasumi said.

A look of embarrassment crossed Mousse's face. That was
exactly what had happened. Fortunately he recovered before
anyone noticed. She had to be guessing. Had to have been.

Shampoo gazed softly at Mousse. She had to take the chance.
"Okay Mousse. Shampoo trust you. Give me the water."

Mousse covered the vial protectively. "Not so fast Shampoo.
This comes with a price."

A collective "WHAT?!!" nearly startled Mousse into dropping
the vial.

"You must be joking!" Shampoo burst out.

"You jerk! That's low, even for you," Ranma added.

"Don't play games," Akane reprimanded.

"Oh Mr. Mousse, this is really important. Why not just
give her the water? Please." Kasumi added a pleading look.

"It's nice to see someone has some business sense around
here," Nabiki chimed in. That had the effect of Kasumi
turning her head towards Nabiki and giving her a VERY
intense look. Surprisingly, Nabiki got the sudden
impulse to run away.

"This a serious matter Nabiki. I'm certain you meant to say
something else," Kasumi seemed to intensify the stare.
"Right?"

Nabiki recovered nicely. "Of course. I meant to say I would
be more than willing to pay whatever the price is. Don't
worry about paying it back." At that moment Nabiki would
have given everything she had to keep her sister
from burning holes in her with those eyes.

Kasumi's demeanor changed in a heartbeat as she gave a
pleasant smile.

"That's better. Thank you for offering to help."

"Right." Nabiki calmed down enough to stop sweating.

"You cannot pay me the price Nabiki Tendo," Mousse informed
her.

Nabiki took that as a personal insult. "I'll have you know
I have resources you can't begin to imagine. Trust me, I
can pull enough strings to get you your own banana republic
if you want." That was a bit of an exaggeration,
but she did have a lot of influence at her fingertips.

"The price isn't money." Mousse told them.

"What is it then?" Shampoo was becoming desperate to know.

"I will give you the Nyanniichuan to use on yourself with
one condition,"

Mousse felt himself losing courage, but found enough heart
to go forward with his plan, "You must marry me."

"NO WAY!!!" Everyone turned in surprise to the person who
delivered the outburst. Ranma. "There is no way I'll let
you blackmail her like that!"

"It's not your choice to make Saotome," Mousse snapped
back. "it's Shampoo's. And it's not blackmail either. Not
exactly anyway. I'm just helping her realize what's best
for her."

"She'd be better off with the curse than marrying you."
Ranma began to move forward. "I'll just take that from
you."

"RANMA STOP!!!" Ranma turned at the sound of Akane's
command. She continued, "That's a glass vial. If you guys
fight it might break."

"No it won't. I won't let it." Ranma began to move forward
again.

"Ranma, please stop," Kasumi said. "It's too great a risk."

Ranma halted and turned to Shampoo. "Trust me. I can get it
away from him without breaking it. You don't gotta' marry
him."

"Ranma," Akane said. "Mousse is right. It's not your
decision to make. This might be Shampoo's one chance at
breaking the curse, then she can go back home." Akane
looked at Shampoo, who returned the glance with an
expression of deep thought.

Ranma captured Shampoo's attention again. "Don't listen to
them. You gotta' have faith in me. I won't let you down. I
can get it from him."

"Don't flatter yourself Saotome. You can't beat me."
Mousse's jibe rankled Ranma. Just as he was about to retort
Akane got in his face.

"You and your damn ego! You think you can do anything. Well
I know how good you are and it isn't anywhere near enough
to keep from breaking that vial."

"This isn't about me you uncute tomboy!" Ranma snapped
back. "I don't want Shampoo to have this jerk force her
into doing something she doesn't want to do!"

"Stop poisoning her mind against me. I'm the only one for
her. I truly love her. I always have," Mousse stated
proudly.

"Yeah right! Forcing someone to marry you is something all
people with love in their hearts would do," Ranma growled.

Mousse sounded sad with his reply. "Sometimes you have to
make people do things for their own good."

"And who gave you the right to decide what's good for
her?" Ranma asked.

"Well who gave you the right to choose for her either
Ranma?" Akane interjected. "You're doing the same thing
Mousse is. You are trying to make her decision for her."

"How can you say that?" Ranma stared at her in disbelief.
"It is not the same thing. She's said hundreds of times she
isn't interested in him. And now she's been through a whole
lot of stuff lately that's probably affecting her judgment.
I just don't want her making any mistakes that she's going to regret."

"Are you sure you don't have any ulterior motives?" Akane
asked icily.

Ranma was totally confused. "What are you talking about?"

"I know what she's talking about Saotome," Mousse
interrupted. "She can see it as clearly in your eyes as I
can. She knows the real reason that you
don't want Shampoo to marry me and are so desperate to keep
us apart. You lust after Shampoo!"

Ranma's face began twitching in anger. "How many times do I
have to tell you I ain't interested in her that way? You're
just paranoid because you know she doesn't like you and
you're trying to convince yourself it's someone else that's
keeping her from you."

"That's a lie. I know she cares for me. It's you who's
trying to take her away. That's why she left China with you
instead of me!" Mousse shouted.

"She left you behind because she can't stand to be around
you! You are a selfish self- centered jerk that doesn't
care what she thinks, otherwise you would never have bugged
her all these years when she made it perfectly
clear she doesn't like you that way. And you sure as hell
shouldn't have dragged her to Jusenkyou!" Ranma shouted back.

"It's all a misunderstanding. Once I'm given a chance
she'll be able to see me for what I truly am and we'll be happy
together."

"She's been around you for ten years. She already knows
what you truly are and she ain't interested, so you can
forget it. Unlike you, I really do care about her and am
not going to let you force her into doing something
she's going to regret for the rest of her life." Ranma
balled up a fist. "Now we can do this the easy way or the
hard way. Hand over the water or I'll take it from you!"

"Now who's being self-centered? You just don't want her to
be with me and would sooner have her chance at being cured
ruined because you can't stand the idea she would leave you
for someone else." Mousse went into a defensive posture,
vial still in hand, as Ranma approached.

"Enough Ranma! I can speak for self." Shampoo held her arm
in front of him to keep him from advancing on Mousse, then
turned to the water bearing Amazon. "You give Shampoo water
to use on self so I can break my curse and we can marry.
That the deal, right?"

Mousse was practically jumping up and down in anticipation.
"Yes."

"Give Shampoo Nyanniichuan." She held out her hand in
anticipation.

"Here you go." Being in such joy Mousse was not thinking
clearly. Instead of walking over and handing it to her he
tossed it in the general direction
of the blur he thought was Shampoo.

"YOU IDIOT!!!" Everyone but Kasumi shouted as the throw
went high over Shampoo's head. All leaped for it save one.
It sailed over their collective hands, Ranma and Akane
actually colliding as they stretched out. The vial went
directly to the mistaken figure it was originally thrown
to, Kasumi. By remaining motionless she was in perfect
position to make the catch. She reacted in time, managing
to get both hands on it and bobbling it for a moment before
firmly grasping the vial, letting out a sigh of relief.

"You moron! You nearly spilled it!" Ranma shouted at
Mousse.

Mousse paled at the near accident, but allowed his joy to
overcome it. He was about to get married.

"Here you go Shampoo." Kasumi walked over and handed the
Nyanniichuan to the purple haired Amazon.

Ranma looked into her eyes. "You don't have to marry him.
Just use the water and we can think of something. I'll make him
change his mind later. Somehow."

"Don't fool yourself Ranma," Mousse smirked. "Shampoo
won't break her word, and I would sooner die than release her
from her promise."

Ranma gave him an evil glare and spoke softly. "Don't tempt
me Mousse. You have no idea how close you really are, so
don't tempt me."

Even Akane was taken aback by the intensity in Ranma. She
had never seen real hatred in his eyes until then, and it
was a sight she was never going to forget.

Shampoo placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder to relax him.
"Mousse right. I not break word."

The anger left Ranma as he gazed pleadingly at Shampoo. "Is
it really worth it? Is breaking your curse really worth
marrying him?" He grabbed her firmly by the shoulders, and
began openly pleading with her. "You don't have to give in to
this sick bastard! I swear to you we'll find another
way! I'll do it by myself if I have to. Don't go through with this."

Akane spoke up. "Ranma. Don't make this any harder for her
than it already is. She's made her choice." Akane
approached closer to the duo. "Now she won't have to worry
about being captured by her grandmother and be forced
to kill herself. She can go back home, make amends with
her family, and live with her people. She's going to be their
leader someday." She turned to Shampoo and addressed her.
"That's what you wanted, isn't it?" Shampoo
just stared at her as Akane looked to Ranma again and
continued. "She's going to be happy. Maybe Mousse won't be
so bad once he settles down. I mean, he's done some stupid
things, but he'd never actually try to hurt her."

"What do you call what he's doing now?" Ranma asked
bitterly.

Akane could not answer the question. Instead, she placed
her own hands on Ranma's and removed them from Shampoo.
"Let her go Ranma. Let her do what she has to." She gently
led Ranma a little bit away from Shampoo so the
Amazon had some space.

Shampoo looked everyone over. All present were edgy from
the tension, even Nabiki who usually tried to appear calm
and collected. Shampoo allowed her eyes to rest on Kasumi
for a moment. The eldest Tendo stared back and gave her a
hopeful smile. Shampoo then turned to Ranma and gave him a
wan smile. His shoulders slumped in defeat as he realized
he was not going to be able to convince her anymore. She
noticed that he was accomplishing what she thought would
have been impossible only a few days ago by looking even
worse than he had the last few weeks. Even she was a little
taken aback by the pain she felt in her heart at seeing him
that way.

She returned her attention to the large vial of water in
her hand. She stared at it closely, moving it back and
forth a little bit. There was enough in it to trigger one
change. Only one chance. She looked more closely at the
water. There was no way of being able to tell it from
normal water. No odd tint or particles in it. No aura of
magic or luminescence. Just plain and ordinary liquid in
appearance. An illusion those cursed springs projected to
lead the unwary into it's depths and forever change
them, like it had Shampoo. Even bearing the knowledge the
springs were dangerous she had still fallen for the
illusion, into the trap. Now she had a way out, but even if
she returned to a normal uncursed form the mark of
Jusenkyou would still have changed her forever. The change
would simply not be physical in nature anymore, it would be
emotional. Perhaps no one ever truly escaped the curse of
Jusenkyou.

She stared at the vial a little while longer. Time to use
it before something bad happened, like the water
evaporating or something. She removed the stopper from the
vial and allowed the air to come into contact
with the water. It did not evaporate as she predicted. This
was it. It was just like Akane said, the cure to all her
problems. Well, some of them anyway. The fatal ones. There
was only one thing left to do. She held the vial at arm's length
and...

tilted her wrist.

Everyone looked on in complete shock.

The movement allowed the water to fall downward, almost
in slow motion to Shampoo. It poured out in a steady stream
and struck true.

Everyone continued staring in shock, silence reigning
supreme. But the reign was eventually cut short by one of the
people present.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!!!" Mousse shouted out.

Shampoo gazed at him with the coldest stare she had ever
given, making even Mousse pause. "The deal was Shampoo
use magic water on self and marry Mousse. Well, I not use
water on self, so no have to get married."

Everyone was so wrapped up in the events that no one had
noticed the storm clouds which had formed overhead. Rain
started to pour down in a heavy deluge, changing all the
cursed people into their alternate forms.

Perfume felt the water hit her face and looked up to see
the rain falling. It took her a moment to get her bearings.
"What happened?" she asked out loud. Then it came back
to her. She had lost to Shampoo. The purple haired Amazon had
spared her life, but gave her a savage kick which had
knocked her out. The jaw still ached from that and would
for some time. She looked up to see the rain pouring on her
from above. "Well. If this doesn't make my humiliation
complete I don't know what would." Her self-pity abruptly
ended when she realized something was not occurring which
should have. Sitting bolt upright she took in her
surroundings. She remained where she had fallen after the
battle, with everyone having gathered around her and
staring.

"What's going on? How come I'm not changing?" Perfume asked
the bewildered crowd.

Ranma-chan looked at her, shock still evident on her face.
"Shampoo gave you her Nyanniichuan."

"What are you talking about?" Perfume asked. It seemed to
be true, as impossible as it sounded. Why would Shampoo do
something like that? She quickly scanned the spectators.
Explanations were needed. "Where's Shampoo?"

"She's right..." Ranma-chan trailed off. Shampoo was not w
where she was a moment ago. She turned just in time to see
Shampoo-kun jumping over the wall surrounding the dojo.
Just as he leaped out of sight a second figure quickly
followed. Perfume had stood up and chased after him the
moment her eyes saw Shampoo-kun fleeing.

"Oh my God! That crazy psycho is still after her!" Ranma-
chan tensed up and prepared to jump after the fleeing duo
when she sensed an attack. She barely managed to get
out of the way of an anvil that was thrown at her. "What
the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Mousse-panda held up a sign as tears mixed in with raindrops.
*This is all your fault Saotome. You've twisted her mind so
much she doesn't even want a cure.*

Ranma-chan gave Mousse-panda a deadly look. "Listen
real close because I will say this only once. I am going to
go help Shampoo. If you try to stop me ...will...hurt...you!"
The anger in Ranma's voice became more intense with
each word spoken.

*Wrong! Today is the day you die! Make peace with your
god! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU RANMA!!!* Mousse-panda
pulled out close to a hundred blades from his sleeves and
began spinning them around in an intricate pattern, like the
blades of a dozen spinning propellers. Both combatants
shouted and growled in fury at one another and leaped to
the attack.

Perfume observed Shampoo-kun flee into the top floor of an
abandoned building. She entered it cautiously, suspecting a
trap and keeping her senses alert until she spotted
Shampoo-kun standing in the middle of a room, staring at
the ground. Perfume entered as quietly as she could,
trying to keep from capturing Shampoo-kun's attention.

Shampoo-kun had left the others because he wanted to be
alone. Giving up the Nyanniichuan was harder than he
thought. But now there was no escaping it. No action came
without consequences. "Come on in Perfume. You not need to
sneak around."

So much for stealth. Perfume moved boldly into the room as
though she owned it and Shampoo-kun was an intruder. She
stopped just short of Shampoo-kun, waiting some kind of
attack. He just looked at her sadly.

"<Why did you do it?>" she asked.

"<You mean the Nyanniichuan?>"

"<Of course!>" Was Shampoo playing some kind of game?

"<I had to.>" Shampoo shrugged.

"<The hell you did! You had no reason to give me that. You
need it even more than I do.>" Perfume was forced to wonder
what was going on in Shampoo's mind. Nothing made sense
anymore.

"<Don't be so sure of that,>" he answered softly.

"<What do you mean?>" Perfume was getting tired of asking
questions. She wanted answers.

"<You would never have been cursed if it wasn't for me. You
only got your curse because you were trying to cure me.>"

"<Only so I could kill you,>" Perfume responded.

"<That doesn't matter. It was the right thing to do. You
didn't deserve what happened to you,>" Shampoo-kun said.

Perfume's voice dropped to just barely a whisper. "<Why are
you doing this?>"

"<I told you. Because it was the right thing to do.>"

Perfume's voice shot up. "<That's not what I mean! Why are
you trying to make it difficult to hate you?!>"

"<That's not what I'm trying to do...>" Shampoo-kun began
but was cut off.

"<Yes you are! You left me alive when I was trying to kill
you! The first time might have been because I didn't kill
you after our first clash, but there was no reason this
time. If anything, you should have killed me. It
certainly would have been called for. I almost murdered
some of your friends. And then you give me Nyanniichuan. I
don't care what you say, you had no real reason to give me
that. Too much is at stake. So why did you do it?>"

"<I told you. It was the right thing to do.>"

"<That's not an answer!>" Shampoo-kun was shocked to hear
his one time friend sound so distraught over this. "<I've
been trying to kill you. How can you keep from doing what
you know has to be done? Don't you realize I'm not going to
stop until one of us is dead?>"

"<I know,>" he answered softly.

"<Then why won't you do it?!>"

"<Because I don't hate you,>" he said, maintaining the soft
tone. He was not prepared for the response his answer
garnered.

"<THAT'S A LIE!!!>" Perfume screamed. "<I remember the duel
on the battletree! I remember the look in your eyes! You
did hate me! You do hate me!>"

Shampoo-kun felt like breaking down as a surge of emotion
coursed through him. "<Oh Perfume, I don't hate you. At
first I thought I did, but I just wasn't thinking straight
at the time. After you sent the challenge letter I was a
wreck. I didn't get any sleep for three days.>" Shampoo
kun's voice now sounded just as emotional as Perfume's.
"<Why couldn't you have told me to my face?>"

Perfume seemed a little taken aback, hesitating before
answering. <"That's the way I always did it. I always sent
a letter.>"

"<I was your friend, not some stranger. I deserved better
than that,>" The pain was evident in Shampoo-kun's voice.
"<You should have told me yourself. Instead I didn't know
what to think. It drove me crazy. I thought you betrayed
me.>"

Perfume became defensive. "<I never betrayed you. I told
you from the start what I wanted. You didn't listen.>"

Shampoo-kun sighed. "<I know that now, but I didn't realize
it until after the fight. If only you had told me
yourself...>"

Perfume became more defensive. "<Don't try blaming this on
me! You are the one responsible for everything that
happened between us.>"

"<I'm not trying to blame this on you.>"

"<Yes you are!>" she answered quickly. "<I can see it
happening now.>"

"<No I'm not. Why are you getting so defensive?>" Shampoo-
kun asked.

"<I am not getting defensive.>"

The tone contradicted the words, causing Shampoo-kun to
stop and wonder. An idea formed in her mind. "<Perfume. Why
were you there?>"

That confused Perfume. "<Why was I where?>"

"<The first day we became friends. When Cabinet tried to
ambush me. Why were you there?>"

"<I...I don't know what you mean?>" Perfume suddenly became
every evasive, causing Shampoo-kun to look at her
suspiciously. Something was not right. Perfume was hiding
something. And that was when the final pieces clicked
together.

"<Yes you do. Why were you there? Did you have some errand
to run? Was it coincidence? Were you going to smell the
flowers? Tell me!>" Shampoo-kun voice rose as he drew
closer, causing Perfume to back off.

"<I was...>" Perfume did not want to give the answer. She
knew why she was there but did not want to admit it.

Her hesitation confirmed what Shampoo-kun feared. "<You
knew, didn't you? You knew she was going to ambush me and
you never told me. It was all a set up.>"

"<It wasn't like that.>" Perfume tried to defend herself,
but Shampoo-kun brushed it off.

"<You really were just using me to find out my fighting
style.>" he began yelling at Perfume. "<You never cared
about me at all! Admit it! You helped me so you could get
close and learn my secrets! It was all a pack of lies!>"

"<NO! It wasn't like that! I really did care about you. We
were friends, I didn't lie.>"

"<I don't believe you!>" Shampoo-kun spat out venomously.
"<You never cared about anything I told you. I opened
myself up totally to you and you were just humoring me so
you could learn everything about me. I was such a fool. All
this time I've been blaming myself for everything and I
couldn't have been further from the truth.>"

"<Don't you dare try absolving yourself of guilt!>" Perfume
burst out. "<You maimed me. You started all this, not me.
I'm not to blame!>" Perfume's voice began to crack.

"<Then tell me I'm wrong. Tell me you weren't there to spy
on me. Tell me you didn't try to learn my fighting style,
>" Shampoo-kun demanded.

"<Stop it! Stop It! STOP IT!!!>" Perfume buried her head in
her hands as her voice began to crack even more. "<It's not
true. I'm not responsible. You are. I can't be...>"

Perfume didn't want to think about it. There wasn't any
need to. She knew the truth for all these years. But a
small part of her, the cold analytical part that helped
make her so good at what she did, asked why she was losing
control if she was right. One of the first things she had
learned when she read about battle tactics was to look at
yourself through your enemy's eyes. If Shampoo had been
behaving the way she was now, Perfume would have assumed it
was because she felt guilty about something. What did
Perfume really have to feel guilty about? And then it all
fit together. She felt guilty about everything.

She had been there to watch Shampoo fight. She had
overheard Cabinet making plans for an ambush and decided to
watch, hoping to learn Shampoo's fighting style. She had
not intended to help Shampoo out. It had been a sudden
impulse she had acted on, though she never did figure out
why. Then came the time she tried to tell Shampoo about the
challenge. She attempted to several times, but always
stopped at the last moment. Then she decided to send the
challenge letter instead. She had felt dirty doing it that
way, but she would not admit it to herself. Not then at
least. And finally there were her feelings when she waited
on the morning of the duel at the battletree. She tried
denying it to herself, but she knew what those feelings
were, the ones she had felt before the fight. That was the
reason she had fought so poorly. It was the feeling of
regret that cost her the match. She had believed becoming
the best was the driving force in her life, for anything
else to supplant that belief would have made her years
of training a lie. But it turned out she did value
something more, Shampoo's friendship, even if she could not
admit it to herself. She had subconsciously thrown the
fight because of her self inflicted guilt. Perfume was
responsible for poisoning the friendship.

She wanted to keep blaming Shampoo. She wanted to believe
the purple haired Amazon's hatred was what had broken the
friendship. But that hatred no longer existed, if it ever
did. Shampoo had spared her life, given her Nyanniichuan at
great personal sacrifice, and openly said she did not hate
Perfume. There was only one person that was keeping this
vendetta going. And maybe she was the one who had started
it too.

The sudden self awareness was more than she could handle.
Perfume began to break down and cry. "<It was my fault. Oh
god! All this time I blamed you and it was really my fault.
>" She felt more and more sorrow rise to her
chest. "<I can't take it!>" She tried to run but was
grabbed by Shampoo-kun before she had made it ten feet. He
spun the girl around and embraced her fiercely into his
chest.

"<Let me go! LET ME GO!!!>" Perfume tried extracting
herself by wriggling and screaming, but it was to no avail.
Tears traveled down Shampoo-kun face as he embraced Perfume
tightly and refused to let go. Eventually Perfume ceased
struggling and went limp in Shampoo-kun's grasp.

Shampoo-kun bent down and whispered into Perfume's ear.
"<You're wrong. It was my fault too. It was both of us. We
both did each other horrible wrongs. I should never have
hurt you, no matter the reason my dearest friend. I'm
sorry.>"

Perfume seemed to stiffen for a moment. "<You never
apologized before.>"

"<You left before I could, and then we fought so much I
never had a chance. So I am apologizing now. I'm sorry. I
would do anything to take back what I did to you. Anything,
>" Shampoo-kun told her, still crying.

Upon hearing those words Perfume let down her guard and
allowed years of pent up emotions loose as she returned
Shampoo-kun's embrace just as fiercely. "<I'm sorry too.>"
She continued crying as well. "<Oh, I've missed you so much
Shampoo! It's been so lonely where I've been. There's
been nobody these last few years. I've been all alone.>"

"<I've missed you too.>

They continued like that in silence for several minutes. As
the emotional tide passed the two composed themselves. Both
looked at each other, slightly embarrassed.

"<Look at us. Two proud Amazon warriors crying like little
children,>" Perfume smiled as she wiped her eyes.

Shampoo-kun wiped his eyes as well and looked around. "<I
don't think anyone spotted us, so we're safe.>" The two
laughed a little at that, then became more serious.

"<Where do we go from here Perfume?>" Shampoo asked.

She considered the question seriously. "<I don't know.
Things can't go back to the way they were. Too much has
happened between us for that to happen. What I do know is
this, my blood feud with you is over. Now and forever. I
will never try to hurt you for what occurred at the
battletree or what has happened over these last few weeks.
>"

She paused and thought some more. "<I suppose I will end my
self imposed exile and go home. I miss my family. Don't
worry though. Your secret is safe with me. I would sooner
die than reveal your curse. After all, I'm partially
responsible for losing your cure.>"

Shampoo-kun waved her off. "<I would do it again without
hesitation.>"

Perfume smiled warmly, "<You are too generous.>" A serious
look overtook her expression. "<Shampoo, if by some miracle
you find a cure and lead the village someday, I would
gladly follow you to the gates of Hell with a smile on my
face.>"

Shampoo-kun was a little in shock. Perfume had basically
said that he was the better warrior, despite her lifelong
desire to lead. It was a sign of acknowledging one's
superiority in the village hierarchy. Shampoo-kun moved
forward and gripped Perfume's forearms in a formalized
gesture of acceptance. Perfume responded by returning the
gesture. Shampoo-kun then added his part. "<I would ask for
no less than the best warrior to fight at my side to storm
those gates. I would accept no less than yourself if I
become leader.>"

The two embraced each other in a more reserved, but still
emotional embrace. They broke off and stared at one
another. Perfume broke the silence first.

"<You know something Shampoo?>"

"<What?>"

"<You are one godawfully handsome man. If you get too close
to the village you might find yourself set upon by some of
the warriors who might try to goad an 'outsider' male into
fighting them.>" Perfume smiled at the joke.

Shampoo-kun shook his head. "<I already have to deal with
that all the time here.>"

"<Oh you poor girl,>" Perfume said sympathetically. "<If I
figure out some way of breaking the curse I'll let you
know.> She turned to leave. "<So long Shampoo, but not
goodbye.>"

Shampoo-kun waved at the departing Amazon. "<So long. May
your journey be safe, and your path be true.>"

And with one final wave Perfume leaped out a window and off
into the streets. For the first time in her life she
actually felt some measure of peace. What she had done
today was the right thing to do. Now at long last
she was going home. A journey three years overdue.

Akane and Nabiki took in their surroundings. Bits and
pieces of every kind of weapon and object imaginable were
strewn about the yard, including one unconscious cursed
panda. Kasumi made certain that no permanent damage was
done to the transformed youth as he lay there. Dr. Tofu was
already on his way to check him out as well. Kasumi did not
want to take any chances.

Nabiki looked at Akane. "It's a good thing you calmed him
down. I'm not sure he would have stopped beating on Mousse,
not that he doesn't deserve a good thrashing."

"Yeah. I know." Akane shuddered a little. Both opponents
had fought with every move and weapon in their arsenals,
and only one came out on top. Ranma-chan had fought with a
viciousness Akane had never seen before. Ranma-chan most
likely would have made serious on her threat to Mousse and
would have hurt him badly if Akane had not physically
stopped the girl from continuing her assault, even after
Mousse had been beaten into unconsciousness. Even then
Akane had to remind Ranma-chan that Shampoo
might have been in danger to get her to break off the
attack and rush to her rescue. Akane had more faith.
Shampoo could handle herself. She had already beaten
Perfume once and could do it again if she had too. A good
thing for Perfume that she had left since Akane still owed
her one for the sneak attack earlier in the day. She
briefly considered going after Ranma-chan but stopped. Her
behavior made Akane a little cautious and she wanted to
make certain Mousse did not get out of hand if he
recovered. At least that was what she told herself. Akane
was not afraid of Ranma-chan.

Ranma-chan saw Perfume leave the building, alone. She
briefly considered following, but realized the only reason
she would have holed up in the building was if Shampoo was
there. And if she left alone, then Shampoo was still in the
structure. Ranma-chan took off as fast as she could and
leaped into the building, spotting Shampoo-kun as soon as
she entered. There were no new signs of injury on the
Amazon, but Ranma-chan rushed forward anyway.

"Are you all right? What's going on? Where did Perfume run
off to?" he ran off the series of questions too quickly to
get any answers.

"I okay. Perfume go home. She make peace with Shampoo and
won't bother us again." she examined Ranma-chan, noticing
several new wounds on the girl. "Is you okay Ranma?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Mousse can't hurt me. I'm more worried
about you." Ranma-chan took notice of some of the cuts
Shampoo-kun had received from his fight with Perfume. She
moved forward and cradled his arm where one of the wounds
was located. "That's a nasty scratch you got there."

Shampoo-kun did not miss the note of concern in her voice.
"You mean you care?"

Ranma-chan suddenly felt nervous. "Of course I do. Look,
I'm kind of," her voice quieted down a little until she
could force out the next word. "sorry about the way I've
been treating you lately." Her face showed the signs of
the struggle of coming up with the right words. "I should
have..."

Shampoo-kun gave a soft gaze and put his finger to Ranma-
chan's lips to silence her. "Shhhh. Shampoo understand. No
need to explain."

She quieted down as the smile Shampoo-kun gave told
everything she needed to know. All the events of the last
few weeks were forgotten in the way only two people that
care deeply for one another can overcome.

Ranma-chan smiled back. "Let's go home." She knew the
details of what occurred with Perfume could be given later.
For the first time in weeks all was right in the world, at
least for now.

Cologne detached herself from her hiding spot in the
shadows. Never in her three hundred years had she ever seen
anything like what had just happened. It all seemed so
impossible. Shampoo had somehow managed to turn an obsessed
enemy that sought her death at any price into a friend who
would now give her life for her. Not only that, but her
great granddaughter had sacrificed the solution to all her
problems for it. Cologne had not thought her capable of
that sort of sacrifice, yet she had done it before her
eyes.

It was too much to be mere coincidence. The longer Cologne
lived the less she believed there was such a thing. The
idea that Perfume just happened to show up and be defeated
just in time for the idiot Mousse to show up and
try to bribe Shampoo with the Nyanniichuan, then Shampoo
just happened to make the right gesture to give her the
means to avoid killing Perfume and made the pink haired
Amazon Shampoo's friend once again was all too much.
For Shampoo to have the cure in her hands and to have
circumstances convince her to give it away seemed
impossible, yet that was exactly what had happened.
Something was going on. Something Cologne did not
understand, though she had a feeling it had something to do
with the curse Shampoo had acquired. It would explain so
many things. Cologne was tired of being outmaneuvered by a
group of children that could flummox her at every turn.
Maybe it would be best to just let things play out and try
to keep Shampoo alive long enough to remove the curse so
they could go home. Yes. That might be the way to do it.
Let fate play out its hand while she crossed her fingers
and hoped for the best. If only it was not so damn
frustrating.

Epilogue

"Now remember boy. Depression is what fuels the Shi Shi
Houkoudan." Happosai informed his new student.

Ryouga concentrated in the way he was taught and formed the
chi flow in his mind. As depressed as he was it came easily
to him. Too easily for Happosai's tastes.

"Slow down boy. Don't do it all at once." A column of chi
energy came into existence above Ryouga's head as his
depression began coalescing, much to Happosai frustration.
"You have to learn to crawl before you can walk. Don't feed
so much into it."

Too late. The now huge column formed in the air and
collected, coming down as a large sphere. A perfect version
of the Shi Shi Houkoudan which happened to drop on one
person, Happosai. He barely had time to scream as
the blast hit him full force and left him embedded in a
huge crater on the ground.

"I've taught you all I can. G'night." And with that
Happosai collapsed.

"Perfect," Ryouga smirked. He had all he needed for revenge
now.

End notes:
Special thanks to:
Harold Ancell
Ryan Anderson
Kevin R Wible
Dr. Wade Tritschler