The Fighter
Part 2: The thrill of battle
Dan smiled as he walked out of the Cat Caf� a slow and easy stroll, he
looked towards Mousse with the same gaze he had given Akane and then
turned towards Shampoo. The Chinese boy noticed this and frowned.
"What are you looking at?" he snarled angrily stepping between the
martial artist and the door.
"An interesting challenge, you practice martial arts?" the boy smiled
cheerfully and returned his gaze at the boy once again.
"Yea, what of it?" snarled Mousse as he shifted a quick glance towards
Shampoo and noticed she had not yet noticed the confrontation.
"What is your name?" asked Dan casually.
"Mousse, I am the man who is to be Shampoo's groom," replied the boy
nodding towards the Chinese girl.
"She is very beautiful, the best of luck my friend," said the boy as he
pat the young man on his shoulder. Mousse jumped back defensively with
several weapons shooting from his sleeves. He gasped when he realized
that the boy was not entangled in his web of ropes and chains. Quickly
jumping on top of a near by table he frowned and glanced around the
restaurant.
Cologne and Shampoo emerged from the kitchen and watched with quizzical
looks appearing on their faces. "Great Grandmother, what going on?" asked
the girl.
"It appears Mousse has been challenged," said the woman calmly as she
shifted her gaze towards the ceiling and smiled. "Well, I have not seen
that technique in some time."
Shampoo frowned when she realized the boy was standing on the ceiling
just over Mousse's head. Her scowl deepened when she realized he was not
holding on with any part of his body. He calmly walked over a few feet
and flipped back onto the floor in front of the boy performing a spinning
back kick that took Mousse in the chest as he landed.
"I'm pleased you have chosen to accept my challenge," he said with a
deadly calm in his voice. Mousse roared in anger and threw another volley
of weapons towards him. He sidestepped and rushed forward punching the
boy in the neck and chest quickly sending him reeling back into the wall.
Surprisingly it was undamaged.
Mousse staggered to his feet and smiled. "Karate? An inferior art, I
will defeat you!" he rushed towards him with various blades appearing
from his hands as he slashed a complicated web of slices that sent the
boy staggering back out of his reach. The Chinese martial artist lunged
forward intending to stab him in the chest. Dan reacted quickly rolling
between the boy's legs through his robes; he righted himself in an
instant performing several quick jabs to the boy's back.
Mousse's face turned into a mask of shocked pain as he was forced to
drop his swords and fell to his knees. Dan quickly pivoted into a knee
strike just below the boy's neck sending him sprawling to the ground.
Mousse managed to stagger to his feet despite the blow and turned slowly
around to face his opponent.
"You're good," he managed after a moment of quick breaths.
Dan smirked and raised his fists in anticipation of the next attack.
Mousse responded with another volley of throwing weapons and Dan jumped
into the air. The Chinese boy gasped again, as his opponent seemed to
fall towards the wall and broke out into a run along the side of the
restaurant wall just ahead of the wide spread of weapons that impaled the
wall at his feet. Finally he jumped from the wall as he neared the boy on
his right side and performed a flying sidekick that took him across the
face. Mousse was sent crashing into a table and rose again with an angry
snarl.
The boy had already started his next attack, as Mousse punched his arm
out in an attempt to throw even more weapons at him he quickly snagged
his arm and jumped over his head twisting in midair slamming his feet
into the boy's back and jerking back on his arm. Mousse felt his elbow
snap apart and screamed in pain and rage as Dan finished his attack and
hooked his leg around the boy's neck squeezing tightly and cutting off
his breath. They remained that way for a moment until Mousse slumped down
limply in his grasp. He stepped away from he boy and turned towards the
exit of the restaurant. The Chinese boy staggered to his feet again
glaring daggers at his back as he used his good arm to reach into his
robes. Dan merely shot his leg back without looking at the boy and kicked
him in the face sending him to the floor finally.
He smiled appreciatively and bowed to him, "It was an excellent fight my
friend, I look forward to another battle." He calmly turned away and
tossed a small roll of money towards the old woman. "That should cover my
tab and the damages, good day."
"Tell me, where did you learn to shift your center that way?" she asked
calmly.
He turned with a friendly smile on his face and gave her another
appraising look. "My grandfather taught me the basics before he died, the
rest I figured out on my own."
"An interesting technique, I have never seen it used so effectively,"
she said with a dangerous shine appearing in her eyes.
"Thank you, It has it's uses," said the boy as he left the building.
Cologne smiled to herself and pocketed the money, she turned towards
where Shampoo had been and frowned. The girl was gone. "Foolish girl, I
hope she doesn't do anything rash."
Dan walked towards the small hotel he had been staying at since his
arrival and smiled to himself. "I'm gonna have to pick up a street fight
to make some more money soon." He casually strolled through Nerima with a
smirk on his face as he turned into an alleyway that was a short cut to
the hotel. He frowned suddenly when he heard a noise from behind him.
"What do you want?" he asked calmly.
"Why you fight Mousse?" asked the Chinese girl from the restaurant as
she emerged from her hiding place behind a trashcan.
"He was the strongest fighter in there besides that old woman, even I'm
not fool enough to challenge her," he replied with a shrug.
"Shampoo much stronger than Mousse," snapped the girl indignantly.
"Really? I don't see it, but if you'd like to try your luck..." he
stepped back and smiled at her. "Hopefully your claim is true, I haven't
had a battle that good in years."
The girl smiled and charged forward punching at him. He sidestepped
easily and kicked her in the gut sending her sprawling onto the ground as
she passed him with a shocked look on her face. Without a moments
hesitation he performed an axe kick that slammed into the base of her
neck. She bounced against the ground and jumped onto her feet in a kick
that should have hit him in the face, but he simply shifted his shoulders
back and dodged it while reaching out with his hand and grabbing her leg
swiftly. His free hand once again jumped into action and slammed into her
kneecap separating the joint. Shampoo was far from finished though; she
latched onto his leg and bit him hard on his calf causing him to grunt in
pain. A quick push from his knee ended that quickly as he jabbed her in
the stomach and threw her away from him.
She staggered to her feet and shifted back avoiding a kick aimed at her
forehead barely in time. Unfortunately it was followed by a jab that took
her across the jaw. He spun around using the momentum from the punch to
spin a kick into the back of her neck that sent her headfirst into a
brick wall. She rolled onto her side again only to find his fist touching
her nose lightly.
"You're not nearly as good as that boy, I suggest you train harder,"
replied the boy with a smirk appearing on his face.
"You lie!" snarled Shampoo angrily. "Shampoo always beat Mousse!"
"He must be taking it easy on you then," he replied with a shrug as he
turned away and walked towards his destination again.
He looked back one last time and saw the girl was watching him with a
strange fear in her eyes. He sighed heavily, walked back to her side, and
lifted her onto his shoulder.
"What you doing?!" screamed the girl in shock.
"Well, I can't just leave you in an alleyway like this can I? Your
defenseless too anyone who happens to wander by," he said with a shrug as
he started back towards the Caf� again.
Cologne hung her head as the boy entered the doorway and put the fuming
Shampoo on a chair before walking out again without a word. She was
screaming a rather violent combination of Japanese and Mandarin
obscenities at him with a huge blush on her face. The old woman hobbled
over to her side and put her hand over her mouth.
"Well, granddaughter it seems you have another suitor."
Shampoo fell deathly silent and stared at her in shock, she shot a quick
angry glare at the old woman and frowned. "He no defeat Ranma yet!"
"True, but don't count on him defeating him easily. This boy is unlike
anyone Ranma has faced till now," she hopped away on her staff towards
the kitchen.
"What?" said Shampoo looking confused. "Ranma defeat much stronger
opponent than him!" snapped the girl bitterly.
"True Great Granddaughter, but still..." the old woman left Shampoo to
her thoughts.
Ranma stalked through the streets of Nerima with a scowl on his face as
his travel pack rested heavily on his shoulders. He turned a familiar
corner and found himself staring at the restaurant section of his
neighborhood. Snorting casually he saw that the Cat Caf� was closer. He
walked towards the entrance and frowned as he neared it, stepping into
the building and sucked in a quick breath, the place was a mess.
He stepped back as he saw Mousse look up and push his glasses further
onto his nose with a disgusted snort. "What happened here?" he noticed
the boy had a sling on his shoulder and was moving sluggishly across the
floor. Cologne emerged from the kitchen with Shampoo in tow, the girl
looked ashamed and was using a pair of crutches.
"Son in law, it seems we have a new adversary," said the old woman
cheerfully.
Shampoo rushed forward as fast as the injuries would allow and collapsed
in his arms in tears. "Man come and defeat Shampoo! Ranma defeat him
yes?"
The boy burned with anger again as he surveyed the damage done. "Who?"
it was all he could say.
"A boy who uses an unusually effective form of Karate, a very brutal
style Son in law, it would be wise to use caution," Cologne lit her pipe
calmly and smiled at him. "He also has the ability to control his center,
giving him more maneuverability than even you can hope to match."
Ranma snarled as he pushed Shampoo gently away from him. "How long ago?"
"It was no less than half an hour ago Son in law, be cautious," said the
old woman calmly as she tapped Mousse slightly causing him to fall over.
"Who said you could take a break, you've got to fix all the damage you
caused! Don't worry about the cost, I'll take it out of your pay."
"But, he paid for the damages!" retorted the boy in shock.
"He paid for the damages he caused, unfortunately for you he didn't
cause any." Mousse hung his head and grumbled as he started to scrub at
the tables again.
Ranma turned on his heels and dashed out the door heading towards the
Ucchan with worry written across his features.
Akane stood up cautiously, most of her bruises where nothing but faint
marks now, but still it was painful to move around much. She was
determined to continue her training though and struggled onto the floor
before lifting several weights from the corner and moving them violently
up and down over her head. She stopped suddenly and remembered his words.
"You've got to learn to control your temper." She looked at her weights
and began to move them rhythmically up and down in slow controlled
motions. The pain was intense, but she had to be ready when he came back.
Dan lay casually back on his bed relaxing and finding his center in a
moment. His thoughts wandered as he began to meditate, into his past.
"Grandfather, why do I meditate so much?" asked the boy looking up at
the older man.
"You must understand boy, to find true strength one must condition both
mind and body," said the aged voice from behind him. Dan opened his eyes
and saw the strong looking old man standing in front of him. The boy was
seated in the lotus position and shifting uncomfortably around. He was
only seven years old and had begun training his grandfather's style of
Karate only the year before. Unfortunately the old man would die the
following year, it would only strengthen his resolve to learn the art.
The old man continued speaking only Japanese to the boy since the day he
was born despite his parents request that he wait until he was older
before teaching him. "You will understand one day, your greatest weapon
is not your body, but your mind. It will only show you this if you train
hard and push your limits."
His mother and father were European-American, the adopted daughter of
the Japanese immigrant. The boy nodded at the old man's wisdom and
continued to meditate with him on the floor of his home.
A few years later his parents started to get worried when he became a
social recluse. He focused all of his free time on the art in memory of
the old man and pushed himself beyond his limits more than one time
causing many visits to hospitals. The boy had a strange violent streak in
him that disrupted his performance at school, he often picked fights with
much larger and older students. It was no surprise to find him home early
with bruises and cuts all over him. Unfortunately, the other students
were worse off than he was most of the time. He was expelled from several
schools and forced into therapy by his parents.
"Why do you fight?" asked the counselor. He was an older man with
balding hair and a large gut that seemed to rest against his desk.
"So I don't end up like you," replied the boy honestly. "I want to be
the best, I must have a challenge,"
The man was taken back by his comment and ignored it. "Why not find
challenge in your school work, your grades seem fine?" the man brought
fourth his best fake smile.
"I have found perfect Zen, no one not even you can steal that away from
me," said the boy simply.
One year after they finally gave up on the counselor, his parents
enrolled him in a martial arts class at the local Tai kwon do school. He
was eleven years old at the time and hated every moment of it.
He stood in the starched uniform uncomfortable within the confines of
the class as the teachers acted like over paid cheerleaders as they poked
and prodded at the overweight students.
He felt bile rise into his throat as he waded his way through the class.
"A desecration of the art," he snapped angrily. One of the black belts
turned to face him. He was a man easily ten years older than himself.
"What did you say punk?" he said in disgust glaring down at Dan.
"I said this is a desecration of the art!" he shouted angrily at the
whole room. "Look at this, my grandfather is rolling over in his grave
because I'm a part of this!" he turned to face the teachers at the head
of the room who were staring at him in shock. "If even one of you can
show me that you have anything to teach me I'll stay!"
One of the students in the back of the class laughed crudely at him as
he turned towards the door. The black belt in question grabbed the boy by
his shoulder and spun him around sending him to the ground. Without
thinking about it for an instant he rolled to his feet and jumped at the
man's neck sending his knee into his windpipe, and slamming him into the
ground hard as he flipped over and stepped on his face spinning on the
ball of his heel, tearing at the tissue beneath his skin. The man
screamed in agony and passed out. The whole room stared at him in shock
as he walked out the door and tore the patches indicating the school off
of his uniform as he went. He never returned home.
Six years had passed since that time and he had spent his life searching
for a worthy opponent, he had not been defeated since that day and lived
his life on the road desperately searching for a way or path to follow.
Only the fight had called him, his interest never wavered, he was almost
hoping to find another way of life, but it never came as the perfect
feeling of battle entrapped him again and again. He rolled onto his side
and stared at the wall ending his meditation. "Somehow, that's just the
way I want it," he said to himself with a small smile.
TBC...
Next time Ranma continues his search for Dan at the Ucchan, while Akane
grows in her determination to face the boy again. Cologne and Shampoo
join in the hunt in the hope that Ranma will defeat him and free Shampoo
from her obligation. Also our wandering martial artist has a run in with
a few more familiar martial artist. Will he be able to defeat them as
well?