Hi again, all! Here we are back again with Part 6
of our story. Thanks for all the C+C we've recieved thus
far--keep it coming! Since both of us are now fully
employed, the regular schedules should help keep chapters
coming at a fairly steady pace from now on, but we'll see
^_^;. And now, on with the show:

			--Paul & Kenny

_____________________________________________________________



		"Think no more of it. You are
		only a child who has evil
		counselors."
               --Richard I




     Taimatsu, The Pink Rose, reared back and with a delicate
flick of her wrist shot forth her ribbon towards Kodachi. It
approached at roughly the speed of sound. Kodachi, merely
backflipped away from Taimatsu's attack, countering with her hoop.
Taimatsu dodged, flipped and rolled out of it just in time to see
the blur of Kodachi's own ribbon driving towards her. She did not
even have time to gasp as it wrapped around her.

	Kodachi shook her head.

	"Tsk, tsk. Too, too bad, my little oneechan," she said to
Taimatsu. Her sister was frozen stiff, heart pounding rapidly
as the potentially lethal ribbon clung to her body.

	"If this ribbon was as razor-sharp as my real one," she continued,
"you would be dead by now, wouldn't you?" Kodachi's eyes narrowed, and
behind them glittered something very unpleasent.

	"Sorry, Taimatsu," Nodoka said. "You've been eliminated." She turned
to the Yellow Rose.  "All right, Kinako. You're next."

	"Righty-o!" Kinako enthused. She farily flew at her ebony-clad sister.
"Here I come to put you in your place, you black-wearing hyena!"

	"You're welcome to try, Kinako," Kodachi said coldly. "More than
welcome, indeed." Nodoka sighed wearily.

	"No, now, remember girls, this is practice," she said. "*Do* try not
to kill each other."

	The Roses were busy training for the impending battle against Saffron.
Instead of the Sentai Dojo they were at the Tendo training hall, where
most of the warriors Soun had hired were preparing. The army was getting
ready to depart for Mt. Phoenix in China, and Nodoka wanted to have her
daughter's fully prepared for war.

	"Mother." Kurotaisho, the Red Rose, turned to Nodoka. "Will you be
joining us?" she asked.

	Nodoka nodded. "I am your mother as well as your leader, Kuro-chan. I
must lead my daughters into victory.

	"And besides," she added slyly, "SOMEONE has to keep an eye on
Kodachi."

	"Hell yes!"

	"Ditto."

	"*Heard* that," agreed the other Roses.

	"MOTHER!" Kodachi protested, "What is THAT supposed to mean--"

	>WHOMP<

	Kinako was already on top of Kodachi, leaping over her to put
a hoop around her. Pulling her to the ground by her stomach, she
knocked the wind from her.

	"Gotcha!"  Kinako gloated. "Guess what, Black Rose?  You've been
bisected! HA!" Kinako removed the hoop from a fuming Kodachi. "DAMN,
I am good!!"

	"Maaaa!!  Kodachi got up and ran to Nodoka. "That wasn't *fair!* I
was distracted!!" Nodoka shook her head.

	"What have I always told you?" she scolded. "In battle, you cannot
*afford* to be distracted--by anything. You've been eliminated, Kodachi.
Kurotaisho, you're up next."

	Shitori, the White Rose, smiled to herself as she watched Kodachi
plod gloomily up the steps to join her sisters. She noticed Taimatsu with
a hand to her mouth, giggling at Kodachi's mistake.

	Turning back toward Kinako and Kurotaisho, Shitori's eyes suddenly
grew wide with shock as she noticed a visitor standing several feet from
the Tondo dojo.

	"Oh. . .my God."  she whispered.






    Soun dodged a sword thrust from Kuno Tatewaki III, then seized his
sword arm to throw him down upon the ground as the gathered warriors
watched on.

	"Ah, well played, Tendo-san," Kuno I applauded from the sidelines.

	"Not bad," a man wearing a garish costume and mask said. "I bet *I*
could do better, though."

	"Sounds like a challenge," a wild-haired samurai nearby said.

	"Indeed it does," Soun agreed as Kuno III returned to his place
beside his brothers. "Well, Jushin--I accept your challenge!"

	Jushin "Thunder" Liger smiled beneath his mask. After kippuping to
his feet, he said,
	"You're a good martial artist, Tendo-san, but let's see if you can
deal with a little. . .wrestling expertise."

	Nabiki was looking on, snacking on some potato chips as Soun and
Justin both bowed toward each other. She then noticed the dojo doors
sliding open, and at that instant, her heart skipped a beat.

	"K-Kasumi!" she said aloud.

	"What?!" Soun turned toward the doors to see his eldest daughter
standing before him, clad in her red and yellow leotard-like costume.

	With her hands behind her back, uncharacteristiclly blushing, Kasumi
spoke in a low voice.

	"Ohoyo, Father. I--I'm home."

	"Kasumi. . .you. . .you're here."  Soun stuttered. "You're half-naked,
but you're here!" He ran to her as if to give her a hug, then stopped
himself. "Why?"

	"I want to help you avenge Akane's death, father," Kasumi explained.
"Akane loved me. . .and believed in me. And I owe it to her to help you
defeat Saffron."

	"But, Kasumi. . ." Nabiki said as she approached her elder sister.
"You realize, don't you, that you'll be betraying the Yakuza? When they
find out--"

	"I know. They'll try to assassinate me," Kasumi finished. "But I don't
care. As long as Saffron pays for what he did, that's all that matters."

	Soun smiled. "Akane would've been ecstatic to see this! The Tendo
family together again--oh--oh, I'm so HAPPY! WAAAAAAAAAHHHH--"

	Soun broke down, crying a flood. Kasumi and Nabiki looked at him,
then at each other, then back at their father.

	"I forget how emotional he can get," Kasumi stated.

	"Yeah, that's our dad, all right!" both Nabiki and Kasumi laughed as
they embraced one another.

	"Thank you, Nabiki," Kasumi said.

	"For what?" asked Nabiki.

	"You convinced me to come here. You told me some things are more
important than money."

	"Yeah. Don't let it get around," she gazed at her feet for a moment
before once again meeting her sister's eyes. "Um, look. I was angry at
the time, and I said some things. . .I really didn't mean, you know?"

	"It's all right. It's true, you know. All true." Kasumi said quietly.
"I *am* a whore, but you're still my family. My *real* family." She smiled
warmly.  "Domo arigato oneechan, for everything." Kasumi looked towards
several of Soun's hired warriors.

	"Hey. . .those guys look cute! I think I made the right choice
coming here after all!"

	Nabiki shook her head with a fond smile.





	"An ounce of love is worth
	a pound of knowledge."

               --John Wesley



     Technique swung a roundhouse kick at Moonhowl, who jumped
away from the attack. Moonhowl attempted retaliation with a straight
punch, which Technique blocked. The half-wolf tried a roundhouse
kick of her own, but Technique seized her foot. Quickly, he acted,
delivering a kick to the side of Moonhowl's head, knocking her
down to the floor.

	As the Clansmen continued their sparring match in the HoloRoom,
Silver, Ku Lon and Shampoo watched on in the control balcony, Ku Lon
flinched a bit a Technique countered Moonhowl's jumping kick with a
high kick to the jaw, snapping her head back almost unnaturally.

	"Ouch!" she exclaimed, "That's gotta hurt!"

	Shampoo turned to Silver as he watched the battle between Moonhowl
and Technique.

	<A strange person,> she thought. Ku Lon said Silver was once an
Amazon warrior from two centuries ago: Shampoo didn't really know
about that, but suffice it to say, these Clansmen of Justice were quite
. . .unique.  <Silver is the leader of this team,> Shampoo surmised.
<Maybe *he* knows a lot about Michael.>

	"Silver?" Shampoo said, "Shampoo need help."

	Silver turned to the Chinese woman, staring at her with metallic
eyes that failed to express any emotion.

	"Yes, Shampoo?" Silver offered.  "What do you need?"

	"What you know about Michael?" she asked.

	"What do you wish to know about him?" replied Silver.

	"Well. . .he has family, yes?"

	"Yes, he does," said Silver.  "He is one of the children of
the international criminal mastermind known as Mr. Miles Bridewell. He
has three sisters: his twin Alison, and his other sisters, Tyra and
Lisa.  His father had him and his sisters all trained in hand-to-hand
combat so they could serve him as assassins. But there was dissension:
Lisa rebelled against her father, and the end result. . .proved to be
traumatic for all the Bridewell siblings."

	Turning back towards the one-on-one conflict, Silver tapped an
intercom button.

	"All right. That is it for today," he said.






	"A 'traumatic event,'" said Technique, amazement in his voice at his
leader's gift for understatement. "Yeah, I suppose you could call it
that."

	Shampoo gazed at her surroundings: the lights in Technique's room
were dimmed, and pictures of a young, dark-skinned girl were posted all
over the walls.

	"He brainwashed one of Michael's sisters--Tyra. I think. She's called
Shojotora, now. He had her kill Lisa--her own twin sister!"

	Technique pulled out an unignited laser sai, twirling it around
through the fingers of his left hand.

	"I know what it's like to lose a sibling, Shampoo. My sister Asia--"
Technique brushed his right hand against a large picture of the girl.
"If it was me in place of Michael--"

	The laser sai suddenly ignited, startling Shampoo.

	". . .I would take action. Sudden. Extreme. Permanent."

	Shampoo blinked twice. *Piku* *Piku.*


	"You. . .scare Shampoo," she said.







	"Michael?  Yeah, I heard he left home and became some hotshot
street fighter," WyldKatt said as she and Shampoo were walking down
the hallway. "Tried to save some Chinese girl from this baddie. But
he failed. HehEHeHEheHeOh MAN, did he fail!"

	WyldKatt's smile bared her chrome fangs.

	"The girl. . .blew up," she added. "Blood, guts, *bone* all over
the damn place!!" Shampoo was smiling nerviously in return; inside it
took every ouince of self-control she had to keep from breaking into
a run. Momentarily breaking out of her sociopathic glee, WyldKatt
turned towards her with an evil smile.

	". . .*Heart*-wrenching, don't'cha think?"

	Instantly, WyldKatt's hand shot out towards Shampoo, pressing
against her chest before she could stop her. "Still beating'. . .hmph!"
WyldKatt pulled back. "Lucky for you, you don't have to worry about
Michael breakin' your heart!"

	"You scare Shampoo more than man with dead sister," Shampoo
remarked.

	WyldKatt's pupils flickered with an unholy red light.

	"Good," she whispered. "Very, very good. . ."







	"Arsenal: I believe him to be a valued ally and an
extraordinary warrior," Lei Kung stated as he and Shampoo stood
outside the Forseti Tower. "I am more then honored to be his
fellow Clansman." The now-mortal Chinese thunder-god paused for a
moment. "May I ask you a question?"

	"Um, okay." Shampoo agreed, a bit unsure.

	"Do they still worship me here in China?"

	Suddenly, things got extremely weird.

	"Aaahhh. . .um, oh, *look* at the time! Shampoo, ah, must go now!
Shai Shen!"

	Shampoo quickly bolted back into the Forseti Tower.

	". . .I see," Lei Kung muttered.






	"So, um, what do you know about Shampoo?" Arsenal asked the twin
thirteen-year old Amazons. They were facinating, to say the least,
and very cute: one of them had hot pink hair and the other, dark blue.
"Anything, anything at all."

	"Well, Shampoo is great warrior!" The dark blue-haired girl said.

	"I already know that," said Arsenel. "I want to know her likes and
dislikes, that sort of thing."

	The two Chinese girls looked confused as they turned towards one
another.

	"Um, RanRan, you know what he talk about?" The pink-haired girl
asked her twin.

	"Well. . ." RanRan furrowed her chin. "She no like MOUSSE!"

	"Mousse?" Arsenel was confused. "You mean the stuff you put in your
hair?"

	Both girls burst into laughter.

	"Ha ha ha! Oh, LinLin, this male funny!" RanRan chuckled.
"You no put this Mousse in hair. Mousse is hidden weapons expect.
He silly male who no can take hint."

	"Mousse love Shampoo, but Shampoo no love Mousse! LinLin
continued. "But he always show up to try to date her." RanRan nodded.

	"Mousse stupid male," she hissed with contempt. "LinLin and RanRan
sometimes. . .practice on Mousse."

	"But Mousse no here right now," LinLin said as she picked up her bo
staff, and RanRan her tiger fork. "So if you no mind, we want to
practice on *you!*"

	"Say what?!" Arsenal backed up. "W-Wait a sec. I don't wanna fight
you girls!" He glanced around wildly for an exit.

	"We no fight! We practice!  Big difference!" RanRan Said. "But we
send condolences to Shampoo if we accidentally kill you!"


	>WHAM*BAM*pow*BIP!*NOOGIE--*<

	"Owie, owie, owie! OOOFF--!"


	HALF AN EXCRUCIATING HOUR LATER:
	"Well, I see LinLin and RanRan 'exercised' with you," Ku Lon said.

	Arsenal fell to his knees, more than several scrapes and bruises
newly adorning his person. "Yeah. . .right. Exercising. That's it. I'll
be okay. I'm really not hurt that badly (ow), But, I'm here for another
reason." Ku Lon nodded in anticipation.


	"I know. You want to know more about Shampoo, hm?"

	"Yes, ma'am," replied Arsenel. "I feel the only way for me to know
her better is to learn about her through the people in her life.
You're her great grandmother, so you must know a lot about her."

	"Ha ha, that I do, groom, that I do!"

	Arsenal stopped himself. "Um, 'groom?'"

	"Well, you ARE going to marry her, aren't you?" Her eyes narrowed.

	<"Danger, Will Robinson, danger,"> thought Arsenel.

	"I, um. . .well, I never really thought that far ahead in advance,"
he said tactfully.

	Ku Lon smiled. "Well, fortunately for you, I have!"

	"Uh, O.K., well, what do you know about Shampoo?" asked Arsenel.

	"Well, Shampoo has always been sweet--in her own way, of course," she
responded. "She's always had a child-like quality about her. Many find that
endearing."

	"Anything she particularly like?"

	"She adores the beauty of a butterfly--you should see her room!"
replied
the matriarch, eyes glittering. "She's been collecting different types of
butterflies since she was a child."

	". . .Y'know. . .she IS pretty nice," mused Arsenel. Ku Lon pounced.

	"So you HAVE taken a shine to her!"

	Arsenal nodded.  "She's. . .growing on me, I'll admit."

	"Enough for you to actually marry her?"

	"Maybe. . ."

	"Well, son-in-law, when the two of you go on that first date, make
sure it's a romantic one, all right?"

	"Romantic--gotcha"  Arsenal rose to his feet. "Thank you, ma'am. You
been a great help."

	Ku Lon nodded. "Happy to oblige."



     "Michael? Yeah, we're pretty tight,"  Rocker said to Shampoo.
The two were in the Tower's living room with Firestrike, Moonhowl, Roar
and Miracle. "Me, Brett and him. . .we're all good, y'know?"

	"Just as long as you no scare Shampoo like man with dead sister,
psycho woman, and man who thinks he is some sort of god," Shampoo remarked.

	"Technique, WyldKatt, and Lei Kung," Firestrike grinned as he paused
the video game he played.  "I don't blame you. Between you and me, Shampoo,
those three are a bit. . .off. Your turn Rocker."

	"Brett!" Miracle scolded as Rocker was handed the joystick by
Firestrike.
"That's not a nice thing to say about someone!"

	"Um--what is Michael like?" Shampoo asked, attempting to get things
back on track.
	"Well, let's see. . ." Moonhowl said as she stroked the back of
Warhunter. "His good-natured, Patient, always cool-headed. I don't think he's
ever gotten angry. Must be due to his martial arts training."

	"Don't think he's prepared for romance, though," Roar added.
"He trained so hard in his fighting style and he's fought the bad guys for
so long."

	"You probably should take it slow, Shampoo," Miracle advised.
"Give him time to thaw out, and in time, he'll probably be amenable."
Miracle winked at Shampoo, giving her a victory sign. "Good Luck!"

	"Oh, shai shei!" Shampoo said, bowing toward the Clansmen.
"All of you help Shampoo well. I never forget this!"  \Shampoo walked out
of the living room with a broad smile on her face.

	On her way out of the Foresti Tower, System suddenly appeared in front
of Shampoo, startling the Chinese Amazon.

	"AHHH!!" Shampoo shrieked. "System! What you try to do?  Give Shampoo
heart attack?"

	Conveniently, WyldKatt was walking by at the time. "Heyyy, good one,
girlfriend!" she giggled.

	Shampoo turned toward WyldKatt as she made her way up the east
staircase.

	"What she talking about??" Shampoo said annoyance. "All these heart
jokes
make Shampoo think Psycho woman try something!"

	"Shampoo," System asked for the Amazon's attention.

	"What?!" Shampoo shouted.

	"Um, I have a message from Michael."

	Shampoo's anger quickly faded. "Michael? What is it?  What he say??"

	"Michael Bridewell humbly requests your attendance in the Foresti
Tower's HoloRoom at 7:00 o'clock p.m. He also asks that you wear something
. . .nice."

	Shampoo's eyes grew wide as she clasped her hands in front of her,
taking a deep breath.

	". . .A date!"  Shampoo whispered as tears began to well up in her
eyes. "Michael want to date Shampoo! Oh--oh--oh--" Shampoo leapt up in
the air with utter joy.

	"--Oh, Shampoo so happy!!"
__________________________________________________________________

	Anime Goddess willing, Part 7 next week!



Paul Herring
Warrior Monk, Church Of The Black Rose
Keeper Of The Sacred Flame Of Phoenix
Artist Supreme, Clan Justice