mabli@idirect.com

A Different Brand Of Mousse part 5

A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic by Mark Ferrer

Disclaimer: All rights are reserved to their respective owners. Only the
original characters are mine. Don't sue me, please. (I only have pennies
at the moment.)

Note: I honestly can't tell if I've taken some liberties with some/all
of the characters. Sorry, I couldn't help it.
Thoughts are in <>
Normal dialogue is in "quotes"
Text (panda sign/reading from written material) is in []

Author's Intro: Sorry for the delay in getting this part out. The short
and most truthful excuse was that I'm revising the previous versions. If
you want more excuses, head down to the bottom.

What's happened before: Due to some big screw ups, Genma and Soun agree
to Mousse's 'request' to become a Saotome. Mousse still doesn't know
that he'll become a Saotome if he wins. He also, out of the goodness of
his heart (or the author's) decides to help out Nodoka to find her son
and husband. Meanwhile, Ranma is inviting all his fiancees to the
training trip in the hopes that he might be able to choose. Nodoka has
chosen the wait and see attitude in seeing if Ranma and Genma should
commit seppuku, or has she?

****************************************************************************

     Ukyo looked up from her cooking to gaze at the beautiful sunset
before her. It silhouetted her fiancee and his dad as they went through
their katas. She couldn't help but sigh at the sight of Ranma. She
looked over to where Cologne and Shampoo sat, a small distance from the
Saotomes. Cologne seemed to be once again analyzing Ranma's moves,
hoping to find a way to improve her son-in-law. When Ukyo looked to her
rival, she noticed that Shampoo had on an expression of longing for
Ranma. Without even having to look at her portable grill, she flipped
the okonomiyaki with all the gracefullness of a swan. Her years of
training could allow her to cook at least 4 at the same time
blindfolded. She looked at the tents pitched up. Everyone had their own
tent for themselves. It had turned out that Genma had arranged it so
that there would be more people than tents. They had wanted Ranma and
Akane to share a tent. Fortunately, Ukyo and the Amazons had brought
extra tents to prevent that from happening. In fact, they now had three
extra tents in total. The two Saotomes bowed to each other and started
walking to their campsite, the two Amazons following close behind.

     Ukyo looked back at the okonomiyaki on her grill. It was perfect as
usual. She set it aside on a serving plate. She was about to pour more
batter on her grill when she saw thick smoke blow from behind her. It
took less than a second for the smell to hit her.

     "NO! DON'T BURN!!" said a frantic Akane, who was blowing, fanning
her burning food. She looked like very bad amateur rain-dancer in her
panic. Rain would've helped because the food seemed to be making the
fire larger and hotter.

     "How did I know somethin' like this was gonna happen?" asked a smug
Ranma. He held up a bucket and upended it on the mini-inferno.

     Akane crossed her arms and said, "I didn't need your help you know.
I had the situation in complete control." <What could've gone wrong?>
she asked herself.

     Ranma started imitating Akane's rain/fire dance while pretending to
fan and blow a fire. Akane attacked him with a flurry of punches and
kicks which were all dodged. Ranma smiled and said, "What's the point of
cooking anyway? We've got Ukyo and Shampoo to do it. On top of that, me
and pop can cook okay. Almost as bad as yours but we're still alive."

     "DIE RANMA!!" yelled Akane, throwing a barrage of punches and kicks
again at her fiancee.

     Ranma dodged them all, smiling all the while.

     "Spatula Girl sleeping already?" asked Shampoo.

     Ranma tried to look over at Ukyo's grill but his world blacked out
as Akane hit him with her trademark weapon.

     "Hmm, she appears to fainted from a very strong smoke bomb of some
sort. She smells of the gas." Cologne said knowingly. She looked over to
the batches of okonomiyaki Ukyo had put out. She took one and lifted it
to her nose. Her eyes seemed to water then she threw the okonomiyaki
away from her. "It seems we won't be having any okonomiyaki today."

     Akane knelt next to Ukyo and tried tapped her a couple times.
Ukyo's eyes fluttered then opened slowly.

     "Oh Ukyo, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for this to happen." Akane
said worriedly. Ukyo may have been her rival for Ranma but they were
still friends.

     Ukyo slowly sat up and said, "It's okay Akane. No harm done." She
looked over to where her cooked okonomiyaki were. The sauce had started
turning green. "What happened to my food?!"

****************************************************************************

     Nodoka walked quietly, carrying some groceries in her one arm and
the Saotome katana in the other. She had not said a thing since Mousse
had stopped telling her of Ranma's exploits. Meanwhile, Mousse was
following behind her, also carrying some grocery bags. He is using the
Mind's eye to check her expression. She seemed to be deep in thought.

     <Oh man. This was probably my worst idea yet.> he thought glumly.

     "Mousse." she said quietly.

     "Y-yes?" he answered unsurely.

     "Who do you think my son likes the best?" she said quietly.

     Mousse wasn't sure where the conversation was headed but answered,
"If anyone takes a good long look, it's obvious he likes Akane the best.
He does things to and for her that he wouldn't do to anyone else."

     Nodoka stopped and asked, "To her and for her?"

     "Well, a couple times, Akane was kidnapped. Ranma fought very hard
for her. I doubt that he would fight harder for any other person. On the
downside, he teases her about many things. In return, she often beats
him up. They clearly like each other, probably even love each other, but
then pride always gets in the way." Mousse said, confident in his
analysis.

     Nodoka continued walking and said, "What do you think about his
other 'fiancees'? Are they truly in love with my son?"

     "His fiancee, Ukyo has quickly turned hate into love. She has
resumed her position as Ranma's best friend from childhood. She's the
envy of the others because of how close she can get to Ranma at times."
Mousse said steadily.

     "You seem to have the talent for analysis. It must serve you well."
Nodoka interrupted.

     Mousse put smiled briefly and said, "That didn't help me very well
in fights with your son. He is an amazing fighter.

     It was Nodoka's turn to smile and she said, "Well, Genma was always
teaching him about martial arts. He just didn't know when to stop. At
least some good came of it." she paused and said, "What of the other
girl?"

     Mousse sighed as her remembered his older self's story from the
future. "The woman I love, Shampoo, has fallen completely in love with
him. In the beginning, I was sure she was merely following a very old
tradition, but I think after time, Ranma grew on her. I doubt that she
would be happy with any other man." Mousse said glumly.

     "It seems your talent has a price." Nodoka said kindly.

     Mousse nodded slowly and said, "It seems it does."

     Nodoka stopped once again and said, "Here we are."

     The Chinese boy looked around at his surroundings and saw that he
was on the very outskirts of Nerima, almost bordering in on another city
he didn't know the name of. Mousse brought in the groceries to the
Saotome house and looked around. It was slightly smaller than the Tendo
dojo. As expected, there was a dojo near the main house. Everything
looked well maintained. It had pictures of the family from the early
years. The small family looked so close and happy in comparison to the
present one.

     Nodoka set hers and Mousse's load onto the counter and asked,
"Mousse, what's your plan to make my son choose a fiancee?"

     Mousse looked unsure and said, "Well, I challenged him to a fight
at the end of the week. If I won, he would choose one. He values honour
greatly, so it should work out."

     Nodoka looked slightly worried and said, "Didn't you say my son is
a good fighter? How will you beat him if you said you couldn't beat him
before?"

     "I've learned some very powerful techniques. I'm sure I'll win. I
have to." he said steadily.

     "You won't do anything too bad, won't you?" Nodoka was clearly
worried.

     "Of course not, I don't want all his fiancees after me after all.
Well, I better go." Mousse said, walking towards the door.

     Nodoka walked him to it and said, "Thank you for helping me with
the groceries. And for telling me the truth about my son."

     "Oh, it was nothing." Mousse said. "I'm sure they would have told
you eventually."

     "I should have known though." Nodoka mused.

     Mousse smiled and said, "Don't worry, they've fooled a lot of
people like that. Goodbye Mrs. Saotome." He walked out the door
thinking, <I wonder if she's going to interfere with the fight?>

     "Goodbye Mousse. Good luck." Nodoka said. <I better come to that
fight to guard Ranma.> she thought.

****************************************************************************

     The campers sat around the campfire, eating raman. The Amazons had
cooked so much that Genma and Ranma didn't really have to steal from
each other but they still fought for any share of food there was. Ukyo
still looked upset about her okonomiyaki being ruined but her spirits
rose slightly when she tried the ramen. Akane was glaring daggers at
Ranma, who was ignoring her stare to concentrate on his father. The
Amazons talked quietly among themselves in Chinese. Genma was anxiously
trying to start up some small talk in between his attempted steals. He
was cycling through things they could possibly talk about but the only
thing he could come up with was that the moon looked very bright that
night.

     "So, ghoul, when are ya gonna teach me somethin' new? All we did
today was work on the same old amaguriken?" Ranma said, trying to think
of ways to beat Mousse.

     Cologne looked at Shampoo's fiancee and said, "The amaguriken is
one of the Chinese Amazon's most effective moves because it is so
flexible. You can use it with many other techniques to keep your
opponent off guard. So far, you know two variances on the amaguriken:
litterally picking chestnuts off a roasting fire and the Xia Fang Xiao
shitatsu attack. Didn't you ever think of combining other moves with it
son-in-law?"

     Ranma nodded his head and said, "Hey ghoul. Remember the last
fight? Mousse had some kinda barrier that prevented me from even
touching him. I need some way to get past that or any new technique will
be pointless."

     Cologne looked at the campfire and said, "Wherever Mousse learned
that move is a mystery to me. We can only hope he is feeling confident
and will try and fight you without it. If he keeps that barrier in
place, you will lose."

     All parties reflexively sighed together. No one there liked seeing
Ranma lose.

     "Great-grandmother. In last fight, Mousse throw stars at Ranma.
Ranma get out of way but Shampoo still have to save airen with bonbori.
It look like stars fly to Ranma with mind of own." Shampoo said more to
the group instead of to Cologne.

     Cologne sighed and said, "When I was very young, there was once a
woman. She trained in a very different art from everyone else in the
village. She called the art 'Invisible Fist.' It got that name because
she can attack her opponents with her mind alone. I believe telekinesis
is the word for it. In one instance, one of the males insulted her and
she killed him by crushing his skull in. She was probably one of the
most dangerous Amazons who ever lived. She lived in a hut near Jusenkyo
and wasn't seen very much. If she had had offspring, many elders guessed
that they would inherit her power..." Cologne paused to take a sip of
her tea. "In a couple years, no one had heard of her so some villagers
went to her house. All they found when they got there were bones on a
bed." Cologne smiled and said, "That story made the number of visitors
who every year become very low."

     Ranma looked at his father and said, "Hey pop. Doesn't this sound
kinda familiar?"

     All eyes turned to Genma. His countenance turned grim. "Before we
went to Jusenkyo, we were warned by some people not to go anywhere near
there or to Joketsuzoku. People told many stories to persuade us from
going but that one you just told nearly made us change our minds. The
way they ended the story sent shivers up my spine. They said that
whoever has the power of telekinesis must control it very carefully.
They said that she died by having a nightmare. She unconsciously used
her powers and accidentally killed herself."

     The entire group (except Cologne) looked slightly concerned as to
where the conversation was headed.

     "Great-grandmother. Mousse be okay?" Shampoo asked worriedly.

     Cologne looked at Shampoo and said, "Mousse doesn't dream when he's
asleep. At least that's what I think anyway."

     "How can you be so sure?" asked a curious Akane.

     Cologne looked at the girl and then said to the group, "The entire
time Mouse was growing up, he never talked about any dreams or
nightmares. I'm pretty sure he just didn't forget them because he has a
pretty good memory. Many in the village think his failure to dream could
be why he acts the way he does."

     "Hey old ghoul, what does dreaming have to do with anything?" Ranma
asked.

     "Foolish boy! Have you forgotten what I taught you?" shouted Genma.
"The dream allows the mind to ready itself for the new day. If you don't
dream, you carry on the previous day's burdens in your mind." Genma
preached. "Oh my son! How can you forget such an important part of your
training?!" the man shouted to the sky.

     Ranma silenced his father with a swift kick to the head. "So,
ghoul, is there anything you can still teach me tonight? There's enough
moonlight."

     "Patience future son-in-law, patience." she said teasingly.

****************************************************************************

     Mousse slowly walked away from the Saotome residence and towards
Nerima. His first thought was to go back to the Nekohanten but he
decided it wasn't such a good idea. He turned a corner and started
walking toward the bright lights of the district next to Nerima.
<Everything's set. Now I just have to waste a week. Maybe I should check
out this city, ever since I came to Japan, I've mostly stayed in
Nerima.> he thought. He looked at his wrist which he injured in his
attempt to fly. <I probably shouldn't try anything like that until the
fight's over or else I might put myself out of the fight.> He took in a
deep breath and sighed. It was loud enough to attract the attention of a
very drunken looking old man.

     "Hey bud. Don't be mopin' like that. Here, drink this, it'll make
ya feel better." the guy said, unsteadily offering a bottle to Mousse.

     "No thanks. I don't drink." Mousse said calmly.

     "Ya don't drink?! C'mon, everybody drinks." the man said, leaning
on Mousse slightly. "I know, ya don't like this brand. There's a bar
right there, let's find ya somethin' ta drink."

     Mousse was about to protest but decided to humour the man. <I'll
just slip out without him noticing.>

****************************************************************************

     Ranma stood eyes closed in the middle of an open field. All eyes
were on him as he channeled his ki to his hands. His eyes opened and he
shouted, "KATCHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN REVISED, LIGHTNING STORM!!!"

     His hands blurred as he practiced the move. At first, it was just
the normal amaguriken but soon, small balls of ki were coming from his
hands as he punched. He grinned and upped the speed even faster. Soon,
it looked like ki was being launched in a steady stream instead of just
small bursts. After a good five minutes, he slumped to the ground,
panting heavily. He was still grinning because he had mastered the move
in just the first try.

     "Very good son-in-law. I knew you would be able to master this move
in a short time but I didn't think you'd do it in 15 minutes." said
Cologne, who was pogoing to the martial artist.

     "Ranchan, that was great!" said Ukyo, helping Ranma up on his feet.

     "Airen, you beat Mousse for sure." Shampoo said, trying to put
herself between the two.

     Meanwhile, Genma and Akane walked slowly towards Ranma and the
others, studying the damage caused by Ranma's new attack as they went.
On the other side of the field, it looked as if someone had launched
multiple bombs at the defenseless trees.

     "Ranma my boy, you do me proud tonight." Genma said proudly to his
son, patting his son on the back.

     "Th-that was a-amazing Ranma." Akane said weakly, still stunned by
the destruction caused by the technique.

     "Ah, it was nothin'" Ranma said, right before falling asleep in
Shampoo and Ukyo's arms.

     Cologne smiled and said, "I guess that's enough for tonight."

****************************************************************************

     Mousse stood in the doorway of the bar, taking in the sight of it
all. The smoke was heavy and the few people there were dozing off from
drunkeness. The old man stood beside him, struggling to stand up.

     "C'mon, I know th' bartenda. Let's get ya some a th' good stuff."
said the old man, drunkenly walking to the bar, leaving Mousse by the
entrance.

     <Time to leave...> Mousse thought, walking towards the door.

     Suddenly he was glomped on hard from behind. He turned his head to
see a gorgeous, drunken foreigner who was giving him a bear hug. The
only thing that detracted from her beauty was the fact that she reeked
of alcohol.

     "I knew it wuz you. I coulda seen ya a mile away." she said,
bopping him playfully on the head.

     "Uh, do I know you?" Mousse said, trying to pry the woman off of
him. She loosened up due to the fact that she had fallen asleep in his
arms.

     "Hey kid!" the bartender called out. "Since you know her, get her
home."

     "But I don't-" Mousse protested.

     "I don't think so. She's been here all day, someone's probably
worried about her at home or something." the bartender said. "Come on
kid, do her a favour."

     Mousse shrugged and looked at the woman in his arms. She looked so
peaceful. <Oh well, at least it'll kill some time.>

****************************************************************************

End Part 5

Author's notes: In the great tradition of other Mousse fics, this fic
crossed over with Oh My Goddess! But don't worry, it won't be more of
the same. I think I've found a different storyline for the crossover the
likes of which I haven't seen. As always, C&C is always appreciated.
Send them to mabli@idirect.com. If you want the previous parts, you can
e-mail me. (I suggest you wait until I'm done revising though.)








Introducing a special insert!



Reasons why this fic was delayed (in no particular order):



857: I've been watching Rurouni Kenshin as close to 24/7 as possible.

-42: I've got tons of chicken pox spots on my hands, really slowing down
my typing speed. It's the strangest thing really, practically everyone
in my family seems to get the chicken pox much older than normal people.

1: I've been revising the entire series, very slowly.

53: And I quote: "In order to perform our annual building maintence,
power will be shut off between the hours of 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM." Of
course, there was some kind of screw up and the power outage lasted a
whole day.

0.073: My 'friends' have re-addicted me to Quake 2. I like it but I
still get the crap beat out of me! Game name: Marker (Wow, what an
imaginitive name. I wonder what his real name is?)
Weapon of choice: Rail gun. (If I could actually get to it before
someone else does!)

37: Glasses broke (NOOO!) Had to watch anime using a pair of binoculars.
Typing was a lot harder too.

609: I've gotten really lazy.

-58: "Come on, let's play." cooed a certain cyan-haired space pirate.

1/2: Saved the world on Monday, saved the solar system on Tuesday, saved
the universe on Wednesday. Celebrating for the rest of the week.

5: I think I'm starting to get carpal tunnel syndrome (correct
spelling?). Anyone out there know the first warning signs? With a flick
of my wrists, there's an audible cracking sound.

0.546: Stumbled on a busload of fanfics. The latest part of 'In Pursuit
Of Happiness' is out. (Junken Pow!)

93: Mikado Ichiban is a lot longer than I expected. Love the character
names by the way.

00: Totally bummed that I can't go to Anime North.

Well that's all the excuses I can come up with right now. You're welcome
to believe any of them.