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PART XVI
Shadow Puppets.
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PS - I apologise in advance about the fact that I suck at writing fight scenes. 

"CHARGE!!!"
Cologne once again dodged the postbox, which once again, crashed into the wall. It lay there for a moment before climbing to
its feet. The old woman's eyes widened slightly. "Not bad. Not bad indeed. You may not be the most skilled of warriors, but
you have an obnoxiously high level of endurance."
"So I can marry Shampoo, right?" Tsubasa asked again.
Cologne thought for a moment. She could tell that it was obviously a love potion that had gotten the two together, but she
was getting heartily sick of all the fiance chasing. Shampoo adored Tsubasa, Tsubasa adored Shampoo and once they got to
China, she could always get some shampoo 114 and make them believe that they'd always been in love, just in case the potion
wore off. 
Ah.... She could almost smell the air of China already... clean and refreshing .... With undertones of rotting vegetables.
With a small frown, she sniffed a little harder. "What's that smell?" 
The source of the strange smell was revealed a moment later as Mousse slowly walked into the restaurant, covered in garbage. 
"What happened to you?!" Cologne asked in slight concern. After all, the boy was still an Amazon. 
Mousse shook his head a little. "I don't want to talk about it," he mumbled. "I'm going to take a bath, OK?"
This was very strange. Mousse had entered, not glomped anything, not declared his love to the furniture and not gone
ballistic at Tsubasa. *Ah yes, Tsubasa.* The old lady turned to he boy. "I have made my decision."
"Yes, honoured Elder?" Tsubasa asked hopefully. He had been carefully warned by Shampoo about respect for the old lady and
had bitten off the urge to refer to ghouls and mummies. A point in his favour.
Cologne smiled. "Call me ... Great-Grandmother... Son-in-Law."
Shampoo had obviously been listening at the door. She charged through it (And by this, I mean she charged through the actual
door, and not the doorframe) and glomped Tsubasa happily. "Aiya! Shampoo so very, very happy! We go back China..."
"China?" Tsubasa thought about it for a second as Shampoo continued. 
"Go back China, get married, make lots of babies!" That made up his mind.
"AFTER you're married!" Cologne reminded the pair as they left the room, hand in hand. She sighed. *I guess I'm just a
hopeless romantic at heart.* Unfortunately, she had far more pressing matters to deal with - such as how to get Tsubasa,
Shampoo and Mousse to China without Mousse attempting to rip Tsubasa into tiny shreds. Nothing came to mind.
Ah well. She'd just have to leave him to make his own way back.

Mousse continued to fume as he soaked in the tub. *Girlyboy... HA!* He was twice... no, TEN times the man Hibiki was. How
dare that dizzy idiot call him that?!!
He sighed and toyed with his hair. OK, so maybe she wasn't a dizzy idiot. But she was definitely lucky. He'd launched a
flying kick at her, and at the last moment she had the utmost luck to slip over! He'd gone sailing over her head and straight
into a garbage cart. And she'd started _laughing_ at him! If he hadn't had the unfortunate luck to fall out of the cart and
into a puddle, she'd have been laughing on the other side of her face. 
Mousse didn't usually fight girls. But she'd REALLY irked him.
Nobody called Mousse more of a girl than Hibiki and got away with it.

Ukyo looked pleadingly at Ranma. "PLEASE just change the terms, that's all I'm asking. You can still fight him."
Ranma was torn for a moment. Then Merdith's dark spell took over and he shook his head again. "I said no, Ucchan, and I mean
no. A warrior doesn't go back on his word, you know that. Besides, the higher the stakes, the greater the motivation." He
made a face. "I finally figured out that's how Nabiki always wins at Monopoly." He gave her an arrogant grin. "Besides, why
are ya all worried about him?"
Ukyo sighed and looked at the floor. Her hair fell over her face. "He's always been alone, hasn't he? Even when he could find
his own house he was still alone." She lifted up her face slightly. "All his friends are here, in Nerima. All the friends
he's ever had." She gazed imploringly at her oldest friend. "After a lifetime of loneliness, are you going to take away the
first friends he's had in years?"
Ranma looked at her in amazement. "You _ARE_ worried about him!"
Ukyo flushed. "I am NOT! It's just... I've spent most of my life alone too. And I know I'd be really upset if I was never
able to see my friends again."
Ranma looked bored. "He's a big boy. He'll be fine. And who knows, he might be really lucky and win." He leaned over and
patted on the shoulder. "And if he doesn't, well, you get rid of one freeloading, unwanted fiance."
Ukyo stiffened. "Maybe I happen to like having freeloading, unwanted fiances, you ever think of that?" She stood up, her gaze
stony. "I liked the last one well enough, didn't I? And somehow, he still manages to keep control of my life." With that, she
stalked out of the Dojo, leaving Ranma sitting behind her, stunned into silence.
As soon as she was outside, Ukyo leaned against the wall of the Dojo and tried to gather her jumbled thoughts into focus.
She'd actually said that she liked having that idiot jackass Ryoga around. It was true. She really did like having him around
in the restaurant. But what had Ryoga meant by saying "I'm going to lose anyway, it's a universal law?" If he lost then that
meant she'd never see him again. *I _DO_ like my unwanted, freeloading, idiotic jackass of a fiance* she silently admitted.
Not as much as she liked her wanted-but-ex fiance, Ranma Saotome, she quickly reminded herself. Even though she'd sort-of
chosen Ryoga at the moment. *ONLY at the moment* she reminded herself sternly. She still loved Ranchan... *Speaking of which,
I'd better emphasise the fact that I'm still interested, before he thinks that I don't want him anymore.* 
Although, Ranma hadn't ever really treated her as more than a friend... kind of like the way Akane treated Ryoga, except
Ranma _knew_ she loved him and Akane hadn't the faintest idea that Ryoga loved her.
*poof*
A little devil appeared on her shoulder. "You know Ranma just likes you as a friend."
She frowned. "Shut up, you."
"He never even hugged you or anything, not like Ryoga did today."
"You shut that up, Right Now," Ukyo spluttered. She forced the disturbingly pleasing memory out of her head.
*poof*
A little angel appeared on her other shoulder. "Uh... why are you here?" it asked the devil. 
"Isn't thinking about two guys at the same time a bad thing?" the devil asked, evidently confused. 
The angel shrugged. "I didn't think it counted if she was trying to reach a good outcome." 
"Would you two knock it off?!" Ukyo hissed. "I don't know why you're even doing this. Ranma-honey's the only one for me!
The devil shook its head and sighed. "Ah, to hell with this. Let's just go consult the handbook." 
*poof*
*poof*
Ukyo shook her head. "That was very strange." She massaged her skull. "Very, very strange."
Akane appeared around the corner. "Ukyo! Hi! What are you doing here?"
"I came to talk to Ranchan about his rematch with Ryoga." She wisely decided not to mention what was at stake. Akane was far
too likely to use her mass weaponry on her fiance and scream a lot. Which really wouldn't help much.
"Ranma wants a rematch?!" Akane looked shocked. "Is he crazy?!!"
Ukyo shrugged. "Why? How close was the fight?" They walked down the corridor towards Akane's room and stopped outside the
door. 
"Come on in, I'll tell you all the details. And," she added, eyes twinkling. "I got a few magazines today with some great
pictures of Magical Guy Makoto."
Ukyo immediately responded. "Now you have my attention!" she said with a grin. "If there was one guy who had a chance of
stealing my heart away from Ranchan, it would have to be him," she gushed merrily, picking up a magazine.
"A little star struck, are we, Ukyo?" Akane teased.
Ukyo bopped her over the head with the mag. "Hey! It's not like I'm a lovesick teen from Osaka or something! It's a little
different when you've actually been rescued by the guy."
Akane nodded. "I know how you mean. So how many times has he rescued you now?"
"About six. And his sister's rescued me twice." Ukyo flicked through the pages and came to a stop on one. "It's strange.
Those two always seem to work so close to each other, but you never see both at the same time. I wonder why."
Akane frowned. "Really? There has to be a photo of the two of them together somewhere." She began leafing through one too.
"See if you can find one."
A few minutes later they gave up. "Ah, well. It's not like it matters." Akane picked up a mag with a large glossy photo of
Magical Girl Ryoko, a slight scowl on her face. 
Ukyo spotted it. "What's up?"
"Huh? Oh, it's nothing really." She sighed and put the magazine down. "Ranma thinks she's kawaii."
Ukyo shrugged. "It's not like _he's_ gonna need rescuing from _her_!" 
Akane laughed a little. "He'd probably end up rescuing her." The smile was suddenly replaced by a frown. "And she'd fall for
him and he'd fall for her and I'd have no-one."
"There's always Makoto."
Akane laughed again and this time the smile remained. "Hey, what does Ryoga think of the new magical girl?"
Ukyo smiled. "He said she's really pretty but he prefers brown hair to black." She deliberately left out the part where he'd
mentioned liking long haired girls. *Because we have to make another Akane and Ranma splitup plan,* she quickly decided. *We
haven't done that for ages. Wouldn't be right for Akane to think that he didn't like her because she had short hair.* She
leaned against the window and looked out at the sunset. "Isn't it pretty out tonight..."
"Yeah." Akane pressed her nose against the glass and squinted down at the lawn. She frowned. "Is that baka Ranma fighting
with his father again? Daddy told them not to until the walls were fixed." She pulled out her transdimensional mallet. "We'd
better go stop them before any more damage gets done." Ukyo nodded slowly, a large sweatdrop appearing on her forehead as she
wondered how the mallet was supposed to prevent damage.

Merdith watched with nothing short of horror on her face as the binding spell cast by Skuld held long enough for Ryoga to
pull himself out of the shadows. "Can't we just talk about this?" she pleaded gently, trying to cast her spell over his mind.
"No. We can't. We can end it now." Ryoga raised his wand before adding "And I don't like to play with the prey." That was all
the demons were, parasites preying on human emotions and sometimes even human flesh. He felt no joy in his work and didn't
like to prolong it.
The next thing he knew, he was being slammed in the back of the head. Stars flashed before his eyes. *Must be an
accomplice....* he thought, trying his hardest to remain conscious. He wondered why the words "Ranma, you jerk!" were
bouncing through his head. Maybe he'd ended up in Ranma's body again. *Yuck!* That had been horrible just once. 
Next thing he knew, he was being held tightly. "Akane, you idiot!" a voice (far too) near his ear yelled. "You just whacked
out Magical Guy Makoto!"
*It can't be...* He forced his eyes open and looked up. "Ucch.." he caught himself. "Uh.. Ukyo?"
Ukyo almost dropped him instantly. "Oh, I'm sorry! Are you all right? Did she hit you hard?"
"Not too hard..." Ryoga managed, before closing his eyes and wincing at the pain in his head. "OK, so that _was_ pretty
hard." He groaned and snuggled back into Ukyo arms. *If she ever finds out it's you, she'd going to kill you very slowly for
this,* a small voice warned him. Ryoga ignored it. His head hurt, the spell was catching up to him and he was just so very
comfortable...
"WAKE UP YOU MORON!!!!!"
Ryoga jumped to his feet, startled by the concealed Mini-Skuld's shriek. "Where did she go?" he asked carefully. 
"She slipped off when Akane and Ukyo made their dramatic appearance," she reported. "Keep a sharp eye out and try to get
those two back to some sort of safety." 
"Then what?"
"Put your mask back on straight, it's slipping."
"What's going on?" Ukyo asked nervously. "Who are you talking to?"
"I have a radio link with my sister," Ryoga lied quickly. He looked around the darkening garden, searching for any sudden
movements. Something flickered in the corner of his vision and he whipped around. "Hiyaa!"
Ranma flinched and found himself pinned to the wall by an icicle that speared the fabric of his shirt. "Hey! Take it easy!"
He pulled the icicle out and advanced. "I'm Akane's fiance, not some demon hell bent on destruction."
Ryoga remained on guard. "Sure? It got in through you, in any case."
"Hey, you!" Skuld hissed at him. "Stay on guard!"
Akane unconsciously moved closer to Ranma. "What's happening?"
"Ranma, get them out of here," Ryoga quietly ordered. "Now, before..."
"Makoto!" 
He sensed, rather than saw the attack coming. Without even pausing to think, he grabbed Ukyo and jumped onto the roof as the
ground behind him folded in on itself. Then twisted in midair to launch a quick series of attacks at Merdith. Ukyo screamed
in surprise. "Are you all right?! You're not hurt, are you?" Ryoga asked in concern, mistaking her scream for one of pain.
"I-I'm fine," Ukyo gulped. She tightened her grip around his waist and buried her head into his tuxedo. "J-just a little
surprised, that's all."
"Y-you d-d-don't have to hug me..." Ryoga stuttered, trying to pull away. How was he supposed to concentrate under these
circumstances?! Sure, it was nice and all, but exceedingly distracting... luckily for them, Merdith was too injured to use
the distraction against them.
After a moment, Ukyo regained her shy, star-struck instincts and let him go, blushing a deep shade of red. "I-I-I'm sorry!
I-I didn't mean to d-do that..."
"It's OK, I don't mind," Ryoga quickly protested. The two of them stood in silence for a little while, unsure of what to say.
Finally, Mini-Skuld lost patience and whipped out her long handled mallet - which somehow managed to stay at normal size -
and visible, despite the fact that she was still concealed - and whacked Ryoga over the head with it. "GET A GRIP AND FINISH
IT!!!"
"OW! Jeez! Why does everybody in this town seem to get some sick satisfaction from pounding me with blunt objects?!?!" Ryoga
grumbled. 
"Well, the demon's weakened, one more attack should do it," Mini-Skuld informed him, ignoring his complaint. 
"The demon's still around?" Ukyo enquired.
Ryoga nodded. "But don't worry. I won't let her hurt you - I mean anyone," he quickly corrected himself. Then paused.
"Akane!" He began slowly torturing himself in his mind. *How could I...*
"Ranchan!" Ukyo covered her mouth with her hands. *I can't believe I...*
Mini-Skuld quickly brought them up to date. "They're fine. Ranma saved Akane and they're inside the Dojo resting."
Ryoga and Ukyo heaved small sighs of relief. "You'd better start making your way home too," Ryoga told the chef. "It's
dangerous for you to stay here." He smiled shyly. "I'd hate for you to get hurt."
Ukyo blushed and stammered for a few moments before settling to give him a big smile and jumping off the roof. Ryoga looked
at the spot she'd departed from for a few moments. *Wow... when she's not angry, she can be so nice! Almost...cute, even!*
"Umm... excuse me?!" a timid voice began behind him.
"AAAAAAA! DEATH!" Mini-Skuld screamed - directly in his ear.
"No! My name's Magical Girl Pretty Sammy!" Pretty Sammy squeaked. "I wanted to thank you and your sister for saving my life
at that restaurant, that's all!" She stared at the ground for a second before working up the courage to add "I was also
hoping, if it's not too much trouble, if I could have your autograph, please."
"... Uh... do you have a pen?"
*WHAM*WHAM*
"Finish the demon before it escapes!" Mini-Skuld hissed again, the mallet disappearing again. 
Merdith decided she didn't like that plan one little bit. Not one. With a banshee howl, she launched herself at them. Ryoga
very calmly grabbed Pretty Sammy around the waist and leapt high into the air before launching a final attack at the demon
without bothering to call the name out because I can't be bothered to think of one. Landing in the garden and placing the
girl on the floor, they both turned to survey the damage done to the local area.
Think demolition zone.
Think hotel sliding off a cliff.
Think "Danger - Arms Testing Ground."
Mix them all together and get Akane, Ayeka and C-Ko to finish it off. 
Done that? Congratulations! You now have what remains of the local precinct! (Luckily, the Dojo is somehow still standing.)
Now picture avalanche.
+ Dam burst.
+ Flood plain.
All equals Soun Tendo.
Ryoga, Pretty Sammy and Mini-Skuld sweatdropped. "I think this is time for a tactical military order," Mini-Skuld advised.
"RETREAT!"

End Part XVI
Final song - Dance Into The Light
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Member 30 of SSoAGMA, Deadly Everyday Object Weaponary Technique, Dragon Warrior Style
Mousse no miku; Generally dangerous English otaku; Supporter of cliched pairs;
Member of the Chan club; WoS; SCG; COURT; SOotCiP;CotMHW - Launderer of the Robes of Death;
Head Castrator of the Hotnit Feminisation Project; Keeper of the Moneybags for the Hotnit Fan Club;
4th Gen. EOE; Image Consultant For "That Guy"; #WASHU#;AKPReSS, Gen. Div.; SLAP;
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Coming soon to list near you.. the legendary 50 foot sig of Team Chan !