Ok, here is part 9, the revised version that I proof read mainly because
Misa-chan (if I can call you that) is too busy to do it for me and Mike
keeps harassing me for it. Oh yeah, I mailed all the previous parts to
ftp-add@ranma.net well, except for the side story.
Chinese Samurai
By Jack Ji
Part IX: Bandanna vs. Disk
I had just spent the early morning telling Dan all that had
happened. I told him about Ranma, his engagements, whom he's
engaged to and a lot of stuff I've observed. Some points were hard to
explain, such as Kuno because I didn't know too much about him.
Other times it was things like Happosai that I had a hard time to explain.
Mike finally woke up to eat. He didn't seem surprised that I
wasn't still lying in my bedroom and said, "Good morning." Then
again, not much could surprise him.
<So, tell me more about this Ryouga guy,> Dan turned back
to me.
<Well, I don't know that much about him,> I replied. <All I do
know is that he knows the `breaking point,' the technique that shatters
rocks, and how to do a ki blast.>
<And how did you find that out?>
<Well, he attacked me with it.>
<He what?!>
I looked around to make sure no one was eavesdropping and
whispered in Dan's ear, <He went to Jusenkyo and has this curse; he
fell into Spring of Drowned Pig. I thought that he was a mad pig and
tried to hack him with my katana after a date with Shampoo.>
<Date with Shampoo?> he nudged me in the ribs. <Tell me
more about that.>
<Later,> I gave him a smirk, <if you're lucky. Anyway, when
he's a pig, he's Akane's pet, P-Chan. I don't think she knows that P-
Chan is Ryouga, though, so don't tell her.>
<OK, so you made a little mistake, why did he try to kill you
with a ki blast?>
<How am I supposed to know? I guess he over reacts easily.
Well, you'll know him when you see him. He wears a yellow and black
bandanna, carries a big backpack and a bamboo umbrella. Oh, he
supposedly has a VERY bad sense of direction.>
<Uh, just how did he hit you with a ki blast so easily?>
<He kinda caught me by surprise.>
<You mean he ambushed you?!> Dan jumped up.
<Well, he made a big hole in the roof and jumped down to
attack me. Hey, calm down,> I motioned him to sit down.
He finally sat down, <That's so dishonorable. This guy must
be one hell of a jerk. If I ever meet him...>
<Yeah, well, knowing his sense of direction, he'll be lucky if
he ever makes it back to Tokyo.>
I saw a hint of anger in his eye, <Well, he dishonorably
attacked a Horseman and by our agreement, he must be dealt with. I've
only heard a little bit about this guy and I don't like him already. I claim
first shot at him when we get him.>
<Uh, I think you're taking this a little too far, Dan.>
<You really think I am?>
<Just a tab bit, Dan.>
<Oh, OK, then. Maybe I'll take it easy on him.>
Mike sat down with some food, <So, what have you two been
doing?>
<Oh, just chatting,> I replied.
******
I sat down to a nice and unusually peaceful morning at Tendo
Training Hall. It was mid-morning and the only people up were Kasumi,
Happosai, Michael, Dan and me.
I sat down on the porch with a glass of orange juice to enjoy
the morning sun and the chirping birds. I always hated waking up early,
but when I do, I'm really glad that did to see the waking day. I felt so
happy and relaxed; not a worry in the world.
My moment of joy was suddenly ruined by an extremely
wicked and somewhat nauseating laugh, "HohaHAHAhohahohO." A
black rose petal fell in my glass of orange juice and turned it black. I
looked up and saw hundreds of black rose petals falling down from the
sky.
<Hey, Jack,> Dan walked up to me. <Did you smell something
strange. Something like a snake or a lizard?>
<Uh, nope,> I replied, wondering what he meant by smelling a
snake or lizard. <I only see these black rose petals fall from the sky.>
<Black rose petals?> he grabbed one out of the air.
The laughing came closer to us. The rose petals started to stop
falling. I stood up to dump my blackened juice down the drain when a
young lady, around my age, dropped down from the last of the falling
petals. She had a black rose, stem and all, in her mouth and was
wearing a black leotard.
"Oh, my Ranma-sama, where are you?" she peeked around,
looking for Ranma. "I heard you got rid of that nasty little Shampoo so
I'm here to celebrate."
<What did she say?> Dan looked at me. <Do you also hear
something strange. I can't describe it.>
<She's looking for Ranma,> I replied to him. I then turned to
face her, "If you're looking for Ranma, uh, he's busy right now." It was
only a half lie since he was sleeping.
"And I even brought Mr. Turtle to celebrate our happiness
with us," she had an evil grin on her face.
"Turtle? Yeah, OK. Um, just who are you?" I asked.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Silly me, I forgot to introduce myself.
I am Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose."
"Kuno? Are you related to Kuno?" I asked.
"Why, yes, I am his younger sister. And who might you be?"
"I'm Jack Ji, and this is my friend, Dan."
<Do you feel that eerie feeling that I'm feeling?> he ignored
me and kept talking about feeling something strange.
"You're the one who eliminated that gruesome Shampoo,"
she gave me a sadistic smile. She tossed me a black rose, "Here, a token
of my gratitude. HOHOHOHOHOHO."
"Why does everyone think I eliminated Sham-" I stopped to
catch the rose. "Uh, thanks, I think." I examined the rose a little more
carefully. It felt like a regular rose and looked like a regular rose but just
black. I then sniffed it.
That was a major mistake on my part. A poof of powder
exploded from the rose. I inhaled most of it and started to feel very
tired, yet happy. I felt light headed. The only thing I could think of to do
was fall asleep. I looked at the laughing girl and saw 8 of her, moving in
a circle. I dropped the rose, flopped to the ground and fell asleep.
******
<Ahh! Jack!> Dan immediately went over to the sleeping
body. He tried to revive him, <Hey, you alright?>
"Forget trying to wake him. HAHAHAHAHA," Kodachi went
on with her hideous laugh. "He'll be out for hours."
Dan turned back to her and pulled out a few of his razor sharp
disks from his back pocket, "You... You, uh, hurt Jack. Uh, now you,
uh..."
"What's wrong, deary? Is your gaijin Japanese not good
enough? HAHAHAHOHOHO!"
Dan couldn't stand it anymore. Kodachi knocked out Jack
with a drugged rose and, mainly due to the Four Horsemen Agreement
he signed, he felt he had to avenge what happened to him, <I don't
know who you are, but you attacked one Horseman, so now you got to
deal with another!>
He didn't care if she couldn't understand him. After all, he
couldn't understand most of what she said.
Dan threw the disks in his hand at her. They flew with
precision toward Kodachi's body, each aimed at a vital spot. Dan
hoped he could end this quickly.
In a quick snap, Mr. Turtle jumped out of nowhere and
chomped the disks to pieces with his teeth.
Dan saw the alligator. He didn't care if its name didn't make
sense. He could smell its scent; he could feel it's aura. A primal feeling
went throughout his body. He felt an urge to jump on the alligator and
destroy it with his bare hands. He didn't just feel an urge to do so, he
needed to do it.
He didn't know it, but the alligator bite from his encounter at
the portal did have an effect on him. Anyone that the alligator bites, will
be able to feel, smell and hear the presence of an alligator many meters
away. As soon as they see one, they'll have an uncontrollable urge to
wrestle it down.
Dan stared into Mr. Turtle's eye's. Mr. Turtle stared back into
Dan's eyes and saw the burning flames. It sensed what Dan needed to
do, what he was going to do.
<Alligator! Must kill!> Dan jumped toward the alligator with
the savage instinct burning inside him.
******
"HOHOHOHOHAHAHA!" Kodachi laughed on at Dan. The
wicked Kuno knew that Mr. Turtle would rip Dan to shreds. She
thought he was a fool to not run away when he saw it. However, it did
shock her a little that he was brave enough to jump right at her pet
without much hesitation.
She turned to the sleeping Jack, "Such a waste that that bimbo
Shampoo should have him." A list of devious and sadistic ideas went
through her head while examining the helpless Jack.
She picked up the rose that laid beside Jack. She twirled it
around on his forehead. Slowly, she moved the black rose down from
his forehead to his nose then his chin down to his neck and finally
reaching his pant's zipper.
"HOHAHAHAHAHA! No one will notice," she threw the rose
away so she could begin her dirty work.
Fortunately for Jack, Mike stepped outside to wonder who was
making that sinister laugh. He saw Dan and Mr. Turtle wrestling, "Uh...
Why does Dan have an alligator in a head lock?" He then saw what
Kodachi was about to do to Jack, "Hey, what are you doing to Jack?"
"HAHAHAHAHAHA! Would you care to join us?" Kodachi
winked at him.
Mike didn't answer; he just blinked back at her. He didn't
know HOW to answer such a disgusting question.
Kodachi moved away from Jack, "Don't be afraid," she
moved toward Mike. "I won't bite, hard anyway. HAHAHAHAHA!"
"Get away from me," Mike backed away into the dojo. She
still slowly walked toward him. He pulled out his staff, which had been
the size of a toothpick and in his pant pocket, and extended it to keep
Kodachi away from him.
"Oh, you want to play with toys, do you?" Kodachi pulled out
her ribbon. "I have LOTS of toys you can play with."
Again, Mike didn't reply because he didn't know how to make
one. He did the only thing that he could think of to protect himself,
"Get away from me!" He lunged in with a swing down toward her.
Kodachi quickly zipped out a gymnastics club out of nowhere
and deflected the attempted attack. In an even quicker motion, she
jabbed his shoulder with a club in her other hand, pushing him back.
"Agh! That hurt!" Mike clenched his staff with one hand while
rubbing the hit with the other. She hit a very vulnerable spot because
Mike had broke his collar bone only a few months before. He stared
back at her without any expression on his face. He had made a mistake
in being too careless. He had to be more careful because of her tricks.
He held the staff in a defensive position and circled Kodachi,
patiently waiting for her to strike first. He decided to use his aikido
training to use her attacks against her.
It worked. Kodachi tried to disarm him with her ribbon. In a
quick snap, she wrapped the long metal staff with her ribbon and pulled
it toward her. Unfortunately, Mike expected that and added to the
velocity of her pull with a push. With the added force, the butt of the
staff hit her square on the lower lip, drawing blood and chipping a few
teeth.
Kodachi was disoriented and stumbled back a bit. Mike took
this chance to grab his weapon. He went into an ukemi roll and grabbed
the six foot staff from the tangled mess of ribbon.
Quickly he tripped her from behind with the staff. She fell
down like she slipped on ice and hit pretty hard on the floor. Mike
switched his hand position so that one end pointed down at the floor.
He thrust down at Kodachi, who was lying flat on her back.
Kodachi saw the staff coming towards her, right between the
eyes. She could sense the pain it would make if she didn't get out of the
way. She saw it in slow motion, coming closer, bit by bit.
Finally, she came back to her senses and rolled out of the way.
Mike thrust all the way through and made hole in the wooden floor. He
moved over to try to put a hole in Kodachi's body but she rolled away
again as he only made another hole in the wooden floor of the dojo.
They kept doing this several times until Kodachi rolled to the doorway
and did a gymnastics roll down the steps to take the fight outside.
Mike quickly followed, only to be hit square on the nose by a
very hard, but soft looking ball. His eyes watered as he felt warm blood
oozing down his nose. He lost his balance as a ribbon wrapped around
his right leg and tripped him. He felt a sharp pain in his leg. The razors
on the ribbon cut through his jeans, deep into his calf muscles.
Kodachi lifted him up with the ribbon. She twirled him around
in the air, "Round and round you go. Where you'll stop, nobody
knows! HAHAHAHAHAHA!" She released the ribbon and let him fly.
Mike flew through the air away from the dojo. He felt the air
push against his face and hair. He felt the air push less and less as he
knew that the inevitable was about to happen; he began to fall.
Using his aikido training, he landed softly with a roll. He didn't
have a scratch on him from the fall. He finished the roll by getting to his
feet but pain coming from his lower leg reminded him of the cut he had
as he tried to stand.
He turned to where Kodachi was laughing from a distance and
saw a small ring flying towards him. It looked so small and harmless
from such a distance. It started to get bigger and bigger as it came closer
to him. He was mesmerized by it.
The glare of the striped hula hoop snapped him out of his
trance. *WHACK* He barely managed to parry the fly ring with his
staff. The hoop landed next to his feet and cut part of his already
shredded jeans bottom.
Kodachi was amazed, "H-how? My ring should have cut that
pole!" She didn't know that a weapons such as a razor edged hoop
could not cut something as magical as the Monkey King's staff.
"I must have a such a dexterous device," she twirled the
ribbon around the staff again. This time, Mike wasn't going to let go.
She tugged with all her might, but he just stepped forward to prevent
her from pulling the staff away.
With a quick jerk, Mike pulled on his staff and leaned back at
the same time, pulling Kodachi forward. Immediately, Kodachi let go of
her ribbon and did a flip on her hands to prevent falling. In a graceful
finish, she stood up and did a little bow, as if she were in competition.
Mike took this opportunity to charge in, staff pointed at
Kodachi's head. With ease, Kodachi pulled out a club and parried it.
Mike then swung across only to have her dodge the attack. They went
on non-stop with their exchange of strikes and dodges all over the yard,
carefully avoiding Mr. Turtle and Dan, for several minutes.
Kodachi swung down at Mike's feet with her hula hoop, trying
to amputate them. He spotted this a mile away and merely hopped out
of the way, with the help with his staff.
"Extend to 16 feet!" Mike commanded the staff as he was
jumping away from the attack at his feet. The staff extended to the
length it was commanded. He then used his pole vault training to hop
over Kodachi's head as she pondered what he was doing.
Mike landed behind Kodachi, feet first, as the pole shrank
down again. As Kodachi turned around to face him, he tapped her on
the side of her neck, "So, you like drugging people to sleep?" Her body
began to go limp as she started to doze off from his sleep pressure point
that Dr. Tofu taught him.
"Now, GET AWAY FROM ME!" Mike shouted as he thrust
the staff into Kodachi's abdomen. He extended the staff and pushed
her into orbit. Within a fraction of a second, she was just a snoring
speck in the sky.
Mike took one good look at the sky and shrank his staff back
to the size of a tooth pick. With a sigh of relief, he turned to the dojo,
forgetting all about what Dan was doing, so that he could bandage his
wounded leg and take Jack to his room.
******
Dan charged towards Mr. Turtle without fear. The savage
instinct circulated throughout his body. He grabbed out several disks
and threw them at it while he jumped up.
Mr. Turtle shifted and whacked all the disks with its tail. The
disks couldn't penetrate the hard, scaly tail. It then set his attention on
Dan, who was in the air, about to jump on its back. It moved a bit to try
to chomp him in its jaws only to taste razor sharp disks and blood from
its cut gums.
It groaned in pain and tried to spit out the disks that Dan threw
from above. With a hard thump, he landed on Mr. Turtle's back. Like a
man gone mad, Dan tried to punch the scaly back with his bare hands,
cutting them and breaking fingernails. He didn't care, he only felt the
rage inside him burning. I took out a disk and tried to use them like a
knife. He only ended up scratching its back and cutting up his hands.
Mr. Turtle quickly swiped the pesky fly off its back with its
tail. Dan landed hard on the ground but quickly got back up and threw a
few more disks at it. While it swatted the projectiles with its tail, Dan
jumped up again and put it in a headlock.
Dan held on, even though Mr. Turtle shook with all its might
to shake him off. It was just like a rodeo. He futilely pounded on its
head, not caring about the pain in his fists. Dan wished he had his tonfa
out to use. He had gone mad almost.
Mr. Turtle tried to wipe him off with its tail again but couldn't
reach. The only thing it could do was roll over. It flipped on its back,
squishing Dan and forcing him to let go. It did one more flip to get back
on its feet.
Dan still laid there, recovering from the sudden pressure on his
chest. Mr. Turtle's attempt to crush him with his jaws forced him to roll
away and onto his feet.
Mr. Turtle tried to bite him once more but Dan caught its jaws,
one hand on top and the other on bottom, and held them open. He
started spinning in a circle and, with help of centripetal force, lifted him
off the air higher and higher. After about a minute of spinning, Dan and
Mr. Turtle both started to get dizzy so Dan let go. Mr Turtle went flying
into the sky, <See you later, alligator.>
Dan heaved a long sigh. He couldn't believe he just did that.
He had no idea why he did it either. He just knew he had to. Slowly, he
walked back into the dojo.
******
Happosai had ironed his stolen panties for most of the
morning. He stopped, however, when Kodachi showed up. He didn't
have much of an interest in her, but rather, an interest on how well Mike
fought with his gift.
He was pleased at how well Mike used his staff, yet, surprised
that he used a pressure point on her to make her fall asleep. Observing
that he knew how to use pressure points, Happosai got one of his
unusual non-perverse ideas.
"Hey, there, sonny!" Happosai greeted Mike as he limped in
the dojo with Jack's sleeping body.
"Oh, hi, Happosai," he didn't feel like dealing with him right
after what he went through. Besides, he had to get Jack's heavy body to
his room.
"I saw you fightin' out there," he tapped his pipe. "You
weren't half-bad."
"Yeah, thank you," he kept going to the guest room.
"Now stop for a second to listen to an old man. I saw you use
a pressure point on her. So, I thought I'd give you this." He handed
Mike a scroll.
"Uh, thank you, sir," Mike accepted it just so Happosai would
stop bothering him.
"No problem," Happosai went back to ironing his stolen
undergarments. Mike didn't even hear him as he walked away to put
Jack away in his room.
******
I awoke and opened my eyes. I was in my room. I had the
strangest dream that Dan had come back from the dead and some lady
named "Kodachi" who called herself the Black Rose came looking for
Ranma.
I looked outside. The sun was setting. My clock read 6:58. I sat
up, only to find I had one major hangover. I slowly got up and walked
outside to see if Kasumi had finished dinner.
When I turned the corner into the living room, I saw Dan and
Mike, bandaged up, sitting with Hanny in the middle of a conversation.
I then realized that what happened wasn't a dream.
<How can you be so insensible?> Hanny asked Dan. <I mean,
I understand why Mike had to defend himself, but you just ran up to an
alligator!>
<I don't know why I did it!> Dan argued. <I just had to!>
"Oh my," Kasumi stepped out of the kitchen. "Looks like
you're up from your little nap. Dinner is almost ready."
<So you're finally up,> Hanny greeted me. <And you say that
_I_ sleep too much!>
<Hey, stuff it,> I sat down next with them. <That Kodachi
person must have drugged that rose bomb.>
<Must have because you've been out for almost 10 hours
now,> Dan stated. <You wouldn't believe how much trouble that
Kodachi and her alligator were.>
<Alligator?> I asked.
<Yeah, well, she calls her pet alligator `Mr. Turtle,'> Mike
answered. <I got rid of Kodachi but she cut my leg. I can't stand the
pain; it hurts so much.> Mike did not have a high threshold of pain.
<And I had this uncontrollable urge to just destroy the damn
alligator with my bare hands,> Dan looked extremely ashamed. <I can't
believe I lost all control over myself.>
For some reason, I didn't feel surprised that my friends had to
do when they did. After staying in Nerima for this long, it seemed
normal.
"Is he FINALLY up?!" Ranma-chan hollered. A very angry
Ranma-chan stomped out of her room. "Well, it's about time you woke
up! This is all your fault!" She grabbed my collar.
"What is my fault?" I brushed her hands off me.
"This!" Ranma-chan grabbed a tea kettle. I could see the steam
come out of it. She poured the warm water over her head. "See? I can't
change back into a guy no more!"
<What'd he say?> Dan whispered into Mike's ear.
"Oh, that's right," I snapped my fingers. "When I passed out,
uh, the first time, it was right after I bottled up your cursed chi. Huh,
apparently I didn't do it right."
"Of course you didn't do it right, baka gaijin!" Ranma-chan
kept yelling at me. "Now I'm stuck as a girl!"
I gave her a look of disapproval, "Look, just give me the bottle
and I'll open it up. Then you'll have your guy chi again, OK?"
"Uh... There's a little problem," she looked away.
"Problem?" I rolled my eyes.
"Yes, there is one small problem," Nabiki appeared from
behind me. "Ranma here, the think-before-you-move man, threw the
bottle out the window in frustration. Anyway, I'm out of here."
"Well, we'll just have to go and look for it tomorrow
morning," I sighed. "Oh, yeah, did you try to open it yourself?"
Ranma-chan threw her hands in the air, "Of course I did, but it
wouldn't open. I ain't no idiot, ya know!"
"Look," I said slowly, "I'm the only one who can open it
because I'm the one who put the chi in the bottle. So, just be patient
and we'll find the bottle soon." My stomach rumbled, reminding that I
slept through lunch, "Man, I'm hungry."
"Dinner's ready!" Kasumi called out. Soun and Saotome-
panda zipped right out of their game of Go to the dinner table,
expecting another lovely Kasumi made dinner. "Akane helped me in
the kitchen."
"What?!" Soun, Genma and Ranma-chan's jaw dropped.
"Why didn't you warn us earlier?" Ranma-chan demanded.
Akane stepped out of the kitchen, which had some smoke
coming out of it, "Shut up, Ranma."
"What? What's going on?" Hanny asked.
"Listen, if you want to live, don't eat any of Akane's
cooking!" Ranma-chan warned. "If you die, I won't be able to turn into
a guy again!"
Akane elbowed Ranma-chan right on the head, "I said shut
up!" She turned to me and smiled, "I made some American food for
you four because of Dan's arrival. I hope you like it. I might not be very
good because it's my first time making American food."
"Sounds good to me," I smiled back at her. "I haven't had any
good old American food since I got out of school."
"Great," Hanny didn't seem too happy. "More American
food. What is it? Pizza? Spaghetti? BBQ?"
"I made some hamburgers, something called mash potatoes
and salad," Akane replied.
"Well, you better get in there," I looked at the kitchen. "I can't
wait to eat!"
"Great!" Akane went back to cooking.
"Are you sure you want to eat her cooking?" Ranma-chan
whispered in my ear.
"Why not? It can't hurt?" I answered.
Akane walked out of the kitchen and set down a very colorful
and abstract center piece on the table. She then distributed the plates to
everyone, "Eat up!"
"Eat up what?" I blinked at her.
She looked a little upset, "The salad!"
I took another look at the center piece. I took a closer look to
find that it WAS a salad, "Oh, I'm sorry. I thought that was...
something else. Ha ha ha!"
I put a little of the salad on my plate. The cabbage looked like
it was burned. There were little chunks of wood in it. The tomatoes
were unevenly cut. I took a bite, and almost puked.
She must have tried to make her own thousand island salad
dressing. I could taste the spoiled mayonnaise that she used. I also
could taste that she didn't use enough ketchup. I gulped down the bite,
"D-delicious!"
"Wonderful! I knew you'd like it," she went back into the
kitchen.
I looked around, Ranma-chan, Soun and Genma were looking
at me strangely. Soun spoke up, "You have survived! You are truly
strong!"
Ranma-chan gave me an I-told-you-so look, "So, still think her
cooking is harmless?"
"Hey, so she might have messed up on the salad," I argued. "It
can't be THAT bad, can it?"
"So, from you expression," Mike said, "it doesn't seem to
taste very good."
"Want to try for yourself?" I frowned at him.
"No, that's OK," he replied. "I don't want to."
Hanny was poking the salad with his chopsticks, as if it were
alive, "I'm definitely not going to touch this stuff!"
Akane walked out with a big plate with a pile of something on
it and set it down next to the salad, "Here's the hamburgers. I didn't
want you getting sick so I made sure they were well done. Oh, I hope
you like your buns toasted." She went back into the kitchen.
The buns were burned, as if she put them in the microwave to
warm them. The meat were also burned to a crisp. Now, I always like
my burgers well done and a little crispy on the edges, but it looked like
she made the entire thing crispy!"
I handed Dan a hamburger, <Here, Dan, you get to taste test
it.>
He looked disgusted, <I don't want to do this, but I'm going to
do it because I'm a Horsemen.> He gave me more of his honorable talk.
It was so strange because he was so irresponsible before his plane trip. I
supposed that the martial arts training straighten him up.
He took a bite. I heard the teeth grind up the burger. It
sounded like the grinding of rocks. He then swallowed it, <Not bad. A
little on the burned side but still edible. Even though, I'd put a little
ketchup, mayo, mustard, onions, pickles and some tomatoes on it to
make it better. *COUGH* Uh, water, please.>
"He likes it!" I cheered and handed him a glass of water.
Soun, Ranma-chan and Genma looked surprised, "You mean
it's safe to eat it?!"
"Well, if you put a few things on it, yes," I nodded.
Immediately Soun, Ranma-chan and Genma piled their plates with the
burned burgers.
Akane walked out with a punch bowl in her arms, "OK, here's
the mashed potatoes. I'll be out with the gravy in just a sec!"
"Is this what mashed potatoes is suppose to look like?"
Ranma-chan asked.
"Ah... No," Mike answered. "It's suppose to be white." I took
a peek at the bowl. It was mostly white, except for the potato skins in it.
I picked up the spoon to get a good scoop of it. When I lifted it up, I got
half the bowl of the mashed potatoes stuck on it.
<Are you really that hungry?> Genma-panda wrote on a sign.
"No, but I think Mike is," I shook off a little of the mashed
potatoes on his plate and put the rest back into the bowl.
<Hey, I didn't say I wanted any," Mike whined. <I'm not
going to eat it.> I sighed, knowing that nothing could change his mind
now.
Dan got in his face, <Are you a Horseman or not? Just do it!>
He gave him some of his Horseman honor persuasion.
<Fine, but I'm not going to like it,> Mike took a spoonful in
his mouth. It looked like he was chewing bubble gum, "Very chewy,
but it's not the worst mashed potatoes I've eaten. It needs some gravy."
Ranma-chan seemed amazed, "Looks like it's safer to eat that
tomboy's American cookin' than her regular cookin'. There may be
hope for that macho chick yet!"
Akane pounded Ranma-chan's head with a metal pot, "I heard
that, baka!" She then set the pot on the table, "This is the gravy. I'll be
back as soon as I help Kasumi clean up the kitchen. Enjoy!"
"Wonder how her gravy is," I lifted up the lid. A strong scent
overwhelmed my senses. My eyes started to water and my nose began
to stuff up. It smelled familiar, "Acetic acid!"
"ACID?!" Everyone, except Dan, backed away from the table.
<What?> Dan looked at everyone.
I looked at everyone's scared expression and laughed at them,
"Don't you know anything about chemistry? Acetic acid is the
scientific name for vinegar!"
Everyone calmed down, "Oh."
Dan's nose wiggled, <Do I smell vinegar from that pot?>
<Yeah, she must have put vinegar in there,> I nodded. <Better
do without the gravy for tonight.>
Akane and Kasumi came out of the kitchen and sat down with
us. Akane looked at the table carefully, "Why hasn't anyone eaten any
salad or touched the gravy?"
"Because those are toxic!" Ranma-chan shouted, only to get a
punch right between the eyes.
"Oh, Akane, we just ate so many hamburgers that we didn't
leave any room for salad and your mashed potatoes were so good, we
didn't need any gravy," I lied to her.
"That's great!" Akane was ecstatic. "You mean you actually
liked it?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess you could say so," I nodded.
"That's good. I can save the leftovers for tomorrow!"
Everyone's face faulted, except for the ever-smiling Kasumi,
after hearing that. I didn't look forward to eating any leftover cooking
of Akane's after I found out what type of cook she is.
******
I slid the door shut to my room and changed into my sleeping
attire. I put on my headphones and plugged them into my CD player to
listen to some Aerosmith so Hanny won't whine about how loud I jam
my CD's.
I always liked to listen to some music before going to bed so I
could relax. I had been doing this just about every night while in the
dojo since I moved in.
I quickly slipped in my futon and hit the play button on my
CD player. It started to play the first track.
Something was wrong. There was some sort of rod in my
futon. I wiggled the thing out and into my hands, "What the hell is
this?"
I hit the stop button. I looked at what was in my hands. It was
a scroll. I unrolled it, "Ack! Must be Happosai's porno!" I quickly
rolled it back up.
"All right! Who put this sick scroll in my room?" I shouted out
the door. I did NOT enjoy people sneaking such things in my room.
"Shut up! I'm trying to get some sleep," Hanny replied back
from his darkened room.
The door to Mike's room slid open as Mike stepped out, "It
was me. I left it in your room after Happosai gave it to me. I took one
look at it and knew you'd like it."
I crossed my arms, "Why would you think I'd like this? It's a
horrible drawing!"
Mike took the scroll from me to unroll it and show it to me,
"What are you talking about? This is a very detailed diagram."
"Diagram?" I took a better look at it. It was true. It wasn't
Happosai's porno after all. On the contrary, it was a diagram of the
upper body of the human female. There were five little dots on each of
the breasts and some writing on the bottom.
Mike handed me the scroll, "Do you see now? It's a scroll
describing a pressure point. Happosai gave it to me after he saw me put
Kodachi to sleep. I don't like these too much so I gave it to you."
I rolled the scroll up again, "Uh, thanks, Mike! I'll take good
care of it. Good night now!"
"Good night," he stepped back into his room. I tapped the
scroll in my hand as I walked back into my room. I decided to do a little
more reading and less music listening that night.
I sat down on my futon to examine the scroll. It was very
interesting. It stated that this was an ancient paralysis technique
developed to control the village women. All a person had to do was
execute the proper pressure points on the victim's right breast with all
five fingers on the left hand. That alone doesn't do anything. However,
if the victim swings back her arm to slap the attacker, she will become
paralyzed but fully conscious of it.
The undo the paralysis, the attacker merely has to apply the
same pressure points but on the left breast with their right hand.
I looked at the scroll as I practiced doing the motion of it in the
air. As I grabbed the air, I felt the scroll's information imprint itself in
my mind. It was as if it made a carbon copy and stuffed it in my head.
I rolled up the scroll and set it aside. It was getting late and I
needed some sleep. With a yawn, I switched off the lights and lied
down on my futon for a quiet night's rest.
******
Mike slowly walked down the empty street to have a nice quiet
lunch at Nekohanten. The pain in his leg only slowed him down more.
He was on his daily lunch break, which he used to either eat at
Ucchan's or Nekohanten.
It had been another routine day at the clinic. Everyday, Mike
would assist Dr. Tofu, sweep floors and clean up. Kasumi would also
come in just about everyday to return borrowed books along with a
small edible gift. He had lost all the excitement in his job except for
maybe using pressure points on patients.
Mike turned the corner and entered the empty restaurant. The
only person in it was Shampoo, who was busy wiping tables and faced
away from him. He quietly walked in, not making a sound nor knowing
that he was being so stealthy.
He tapped Shampoo on the shoulder, "Hey, Shampoo,
where's Jack?"
Shampoo turned around, "Welco- Oh, is you. Shampoo no
hear you coming in." She didn't want to deal with Mike so she went
back to clearing the table of dishes, "Shampoo too busy now. No
bother her."
Mike scratched his head, "You don't look too busy."
Shampoo had had enough of him, "No bothering Shampoo!"
She slapped him silly and threw him across the room."
The kitchen door opened up as Jack walked out, "Hey, did I
heard Mike come in? Whoa!" Mike flew right at him.
Jack quickly stepped out of the doorway and braced himself to
catch Mike. In an semi-embrace, Jack caught Mike and gently fell back,
"Get off of me!"
******
Mike got off of me, "I am getting beat up a lot lately." He had
a busted up lower lip and a bleeding nose. I grabbed a napkin to clot the
bleeding.
I turned to Shampoo and frowned, "Did you do this,
Shampoo-chan?" I was furious! How could she attack one of my
friends out of the blue!? I wanted to wipe the floor with her face!
She finished clearing a table and acted like nothing had
happened, "He bothering Shampoo. Shampoo tell him stop but he no
listen." This only angered me further. It was almost an uncontrollable
anger. I felt the fire burning inside of me.
"That's not true," Mike argued calmly. "I was only looking for
Jack."
I helped Mike get to a seat, "Wait here. I'll be right back." I
turned to Shampoo and said, sternly, "I want to have a little talk with
you, Shampoo."
She just stood there and looked almost heart-broken. I looked
into her big eyes. She looked like she was in a daze. For a few seconds,
she just stood there holding a wiping rag. I guess not saying the extra
"chan" hit her pretty hard but then again, she did seem a little more
emotional and touchy lately.
Finally, she snapped out of her trance, "Shampoo c-coming."
She set down the rag and wiped a small tear from her eye. I began to
wonder what really was going on with her.
I walked into the kitchen with Shampoo following me. I turned
around, "What is wrong with you? Are you just in a bad enough mood
to attack one of my friends?"
She looked down at the floor and burst into tears, "Shampoo
sorry... No excuse for this." All the anger left me at that moment. I
couldn't explain it, but somehow Shampoo always makes me get in a
happier mood.
"HOW DARE YOU MAKE SHAMPOO CRY!" Mousse
charged at me, only to run right into a wall. He dropped to the floor, out
cold.
I lifted up her chin to face her eye to eye, "Look, uh, don't cry.
I mean, I didn't mean to make you cry... Uh, it was just a slip of my
tongue. I just wanted to know why you hit Mike."
Her frown turned into a smile, "Mike like stupid Ukyou."
My eyes widened, "That's it?! It's because Mike has a crush
on Ukyou?"
She nodded, "Shampoo no like foolish Ukyou." It made sense.
She and Ukyou had been fighting over Ranma for so long that they
went passed the point of no return. There was no chance that they were
ever going to be friends.
"Hey, aren't you too strong of an Amazon to cry over such a
little thing?" I smiled at her.
"Shampoo thought groom no like her anymore," she glomped
onto me. "Groom not mad?"
I shook my head, "Of course I'm not. How could anyone be
mad at someone as sweet as you? C'mon, let's buck up and go back
outside. I think there's customers waiting to be served by the best
waitress in Tokyo." I gave her a small kiss on the cheek.
"OK," she returned my kiss with a long passionate one on my
lips. I felt a trickle of blood run down my nose. I wiped it away with my
hand and blushed.
I didn't know what was going on inside her mind, but she was
acting very strange. She did things out of the blue and was so touchy
about everything. I thought it was just PMS.
As I watched Shampoo walk outside, I heaved a sigh. I felt so,
so strange. I never felt this happy before. These was an indescribable
joy in my heart and in my soul when I thought of Shampoo. Was it
love? Is this what love feels like? Am I in love with this Amazon that I
had met only weeks ago?
I shrugged off the thought when Mousse grabbed onto my leg,
"Yo-you m-must d-die."
"Oh, drop it, Mousse," I shook him off my leg.
******
Heading back towards Tendo Training Hall, Dan Myrick held
two brown bags full of groceries. He, unlike the other three Horsemen,
didn't have a job anything to do all day. He moved his keyboard tonfa
aside so he wouldn't trip over it. He had a strange feelings that he
would need it today.
He had been very, very bored. The only thing he could think of
was to practice his martial arts all day but he didn't really want to do
that EVERYDAY. So, instead, he decided to help Kasumi around the
house. Today, she sent him to do some shopping for her.
A young man, carrying a heavy backpack with an umbrella on
top and wearing a yellow and back bandanna, stopped Dan, "Excuse
me. Do you happen to know what city this is?"
Dan hesitated to translate what he said in his head, "Uh...
Sorry, uh, Japanese not good. Slower, please."
The young man repeated what he said slower, "What city is
this?"
Dan understood this time, "Ah! This Tokyo."
"What?! I'm back in the city already?" he looked shocked. He
didn't plan to come back in the city just yet. He still planned to train a
little more. "Ah, love does guide you well. Do you happen to know
where Tendo Training Hall is?"
Dan only caught "where" and "Tendo Training Hall" but that
was enough for him to understand, "Yes, I go there now."
"You mean, you're going there too?" he asked. "Please, let me
follow you."
"I go to Tendo Training Hall now," Dan didn't understand the
question. He continued towards his destination.
"Does that mean yes?" the young man followed him.
"Yes?" Dan asked. He only understand the last word the
young man said.
"Great, thank you so much," he shook his hand.
Dan didn't think much of it. He just kept walking and let the
young man follow him. He felt he was doing a good deed helping this
lost boy. He didn't say a word to him because of the language barrier.
The young boy broke the silence, "My name is Ryouga Hibiki.
What is yours?"
Dan stopped dead in his tracks. The name rang through his
head over and over again. He had heard that name before, the name of
such a dishonorable person to him. He felt the need to take this chance
right now to avenge what happened to Jack. Ryouga attacked Jack by
surprise. Not only did he attack a Horseman, but he did it by surprise.
That, he thought, was one of the most dishonorable deeds he could
think of.
Dan put down the bags and said, "My name is Dan Myrick.
You attacked a Horseman. Prepare to die." He begged Mike how to say
such phrases. After much kissing-up, Mike finally gave in and taught
him how to say them.
"What is that suppose to mean?" Ryouga drew his umbrella.
"And when did your Japanese get better."
Dan didn't answer because he was too busy swinging down at
Ryouga with his keyboard. Ryouga parried the blow with a rising block
with his umbrella.
Ryouga tried to sweep Dan's feet but missed when Dan did a
quick back flip. Without even thinking, both boys threw out their
projectile weapons.
Yellow bandanna's mixed in aerial combat with black
computer disks. Each bandanna and disk picked one another out and
targeted each other. In a matter of seconds, shreds of bandanna and
pieces of disks were all over the street.
"What the-" both boys thought. They both stared down at the
debris, amazed at what just happened.
"DIE!!!" Dan yelled a battle cry and ran tonfa first at Ryouga,
who answered the cry with one of his own and charged in also.
Umbrella met keyboard in a grid lock.
"You have no honor," Dan said another phrase that Mike had
taught him, while pressing his keyboard tonfa against Ryouga's
umbrella.
"What is this about?" Ryouga also pressed his weapon hard
against Dan's weapon. He gritted his teeth as he overpowered Dan. He
fell back from the giant push, a little out of breath.
"Uh, you, uh, fight Jack," Dan hadn't asked Mike how to say
"You attacked Jack by surprise."
"So, you are one of Jack's friends!" Ryouga pulled out a
bunch of bandanna's. "If you are his friend, then you are my enemy.
DIE!" He threw them out.
Dan jumped high in the air and onto a roof while throwing
more disks out to counter the bandanna's. Ryouga joined him on the
roof as they began a melee.
They fought of nearly an hour, jumping from roof to roof,
from telephone pole to pole. Back and forth they went without resting.
Each would get a small hit on each other but nothing more.
"Now I've got you!" Ryouga threw the umbrella at the
unsuspecting Dan.
"Huh? Oof!" Dan got the tip of the umbrella right in the gut
and fell off the roof onto the street. He laid there on his back, semi-
conscious of what was about to happen.
"DIE!" Ryouga jumped down and aimed a jump kick right at
Dan's head. Dan moved out of the way and onto his feet as Ryouga's
foot made a big crater in the pavement. As he turned around, Dan used
the momentum to get a good hit on Ryouga's ribs with his tonfa.
"Oh my, hello there, Ryouga and Dan," Kasumi said. "Are
you boys having fun?"
Both boys looked up at her and then to the sign next to the
door. They had fought all the way to Tendo Training Hall. Each boy
dropped their fighting stances.
"I have reached my destination so I shall not fight you, for
now," Ryouga said.
"We shall fight another time," Dan repeated another phrase
Mike taught him.
"I'm so glad," Kasumi smiled. "Did you get the groceries?"
Dan smacked his head, "Sorry, I leave them on street. I go get
now." Dan walked back towards the supermarket.
Ryouga walked in, "Can I get a first-aid kit, Kasumi?"
"Why, of course, Ryouga," Kasumi smiled. "Have a seat and
I'll get it for you."
End Part IX
Finished 7/5
Author's Notes: Well, I wanted to have Dan and Ryouga not get along
well and I think I've done a pretty good job. Now, I know many of you
thought I was going to stop writing but I decided to finish it the way I
originally planned it.
So, this is a pretty short part but I didn't want to have another 80k part!
I decided to keep it around 50k or so... Anyway, I don't have much to
say right now.
So, what do you think of my fight scenes? I kinda wanted to personify
the disks and the bandanna's but I really couldn't think of any other
way to do it. Well, that's because I wrote that part right after I saw
Independence Day. ^_^
Preview of part X: Broken hearts or how about a feud?
______________________________________________________________________________
Member of the #ShAS#: Shampoo Appreciation Society - Our favorite femaline!
jackji@efn.org - Jack Ji - http://www.efn.org/~jackji