mabli@idirect.com

A Different Brand Of Mousse part 9
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'm not made of money
you know.)

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 []
Chinese in {}

Last chapter: Skuld goes to the Nekohanten to begin the process of curing
Mousse of Urd's curse. Mousse's engagement to the Tendo girls has been
dissolved by Happosai but still offers him the chance to join at any time.
Urged by Ranma, who has just been taught a new way of collecting ki, the
campers are on their way back to Nerima. And as Skuld was preparing to
tell Mousse about the real reason she had come, Urd came in via computer
screen.

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

     <Okay, a girl coming through a computer screen. That's new, to these
parts at least.> thought Mousse, watching Urd adjust her clothes from
having to squeeze through the small laptop's screen.

     "Are you going to be okay? Do you feel like fainting?" asked Urd. She
was already feeling the effects of being too close in proxmimity to
Mousse. <I'm going to need some alcohol soon.>

     "Actually, I've been desensitized to this kind of thing. So, what's
your story, the real story." asked Mousse, taking up a chair. 

     "As I was saying before _she_ came in," Skuld said, jerking her thumb
at her older sister, "do you believe in gods?"

     "I've come up with the belief that anything is entirely possible, so
I guess I shouldn't scoff at the idea of there being gods. So, I guess my
answer is yes." Mousse thought for a minute, <Don't tell me these two
are...>

     Urd, feeling slightly tired already, sat in a chair father away from
Mousse than Skuld. She then said, "Well, meet Skuld, the goddess of the
future and I am the goddess of the love." she finished in a flourish that
blew her hair and clothes in what could only be described as a beautiful
pose. Mousse briefly wondered where the wind came from, seeing as the wind
outside was rather still.

     "Don't believe her. She's actually the goddess of the past."
whispered Skuld conspiritorically.

     "I heard that _little_ sister. So, Moussie, ya got any sake 'round
here?" Urd asked, looking for any clues of her power source.

     A void opened up and out came two sake bottles and a small cup. Urd
ignored the cup and drank from one bottle.

     "Back to the story." Skuld said, snapping Mousse out of his wonder as
he saw Urd chugging down the bottle's contents. "A couple hundred years
ago, Urd screwed up big time," a small pause to dodge a flung bottle cap,
"and cursed someone with the 'spell of unrequited love'. It turns out that
the way she had cast it made the spell continue onto the next lives of the
soul. And surprise surprise, the current cursee is you. You understand?"

     "Hmm. Pretty deep. Earlier you asked about some people named 'Falcon'
and 'Malcolm'. They're players in the only dream I ever have. Do you know
anything about them?" Mousse asked. His eyes kept wandering to the white
haired goddess who now had the red blush that came with drunkeness. <She
drinks that stuff like water...>

     "I know about that." Urd jumped in as soon as she saw Mousse look
over to her. "When I was young, I fell in love with a mortal named
Malcolm. That Falcon guy was an assassin who killed him. I just took
revenge."

     Mousse nodded and looked to Skuld, "Okay. So what does this spell
do?"

     "Well, as the name goes, the spell of unrequited love makes you fall
in love with any girl who has the spirit to be able to be able to reject
you forever. You are made totally loyal to her and she is made to never
fall in love with you. And any other girls would be able to stand being
with you but never fall in love with you. Meaning that you'll be alone for
your entire life." Skuld said the last few words as she truly thought
about her words. <What a sad life he and his previous lives must have
had.>

     "So, because of this spell, I haven't been in control of my own
destiny. And... I may still have a chance with Shampoo." he said
hopefully.

     Skuld turned to her laptop and activated the programs she would need.
"That is, if this works. You see, the only way to take this curse off you
is for the spell caster to use an Ultimate Magic Circle of Warding but
then Urd has had her licence restricted so that's out the door. Besides,
being in close contact with you drains her power."

     "More sake!" shouted a by now drunk Urd.

     "Should I?" Mousse asked Skuld.

     "Yeah. It's her source of power." she said, watching Urd chug down
more sake. She turned back to Mousse, "I've written a program that allows
you to merely tell the life story of your previous lives up to the first
person who was cursed. When we get to that last person, we could finally
lift the spell. Unfortunately, we'll still need Urd around to be the one
to put you into a hypnotic trance to allow your previous lives to pass
on."

     "Payment in alcohol?" mused Mousse.

     Looking to her older sister, Skuld smiled and said, "Yeah, you could
say that."

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

     It had taken them most of the day but they were finally back in
Nerima. Ranma at the front, full of energy, urging the others on.

     "How about this? I got get Mousse and you guys go to the empty lot."
Ranma said excitedly. Not waiting for a response, he left a dustcloud in
his wake on his way to the Nekohanten.

     "Cologne, is this some sort of side effect to my son's new training?"
asked Genma.

     "Yes. It seems my son-in-law is still of the energy high that comes
with it. Ah well, maybe it'll help him in the coming fight." mused
Cologne. "Come along Shampoo, let's check on the restaurant."

     "Remind me to never give Ranchan coffee anytime soon." Ukyo whispered
to Akane.

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

     Ranma peered into the the windows of the now closed Nekohanten. He
vaguely saw three figures still in the restaurant. Mousse's robed
silohouette was rather unmistakeable through the dirty window. Another
figure standing at about the same height as Mousse seemed to be standing
on less than stable legs. A shorter form seemed to be ignoring the
staggering one and talking directly to Mousse.

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

     "So Mousse, is there anywhere around where we could find some
privacy?" Skuld asked.

     Mousse thought for a moment before saying, "Well, this is Nerima.
Privacy is rather hard to find in these parts. Maybe-"

     Mousse stopped and looked towards the sound that distracted him.
Skuld followed his gaze and saw someone in red trying to peer into the
darkened restaurant.

     "Hey Mousse! Open up. Let's fight now." Ranma called, his voice
slightly quieter than a yell.

     "There's what I said about privacy." Mousse announced to the two
goddesses. The door opened and Ranma let himself in.

     He only came in a couple steps before saying, "I've got you now
Mousse. Meet me in the vacant lot in five minutes." He left as soon as he
spoke his peace.

     "I guess curing me is going to have to wait a bit. How do you guys
feel about watching a fight? Free of charge." Mousse asked.

     "Can I place bets?" Urd asked from out of nowhere.

     Mousse smiled and said, "As long as there's a fight in Nerima, you
can be sure there's someone to take bets." He closed his eyes and turned
off the stove and bid the flying objects to stop. "When you guys are ready
to go, we'll leave." he said, heading towards the back of the restaurant.

     The two goddesses looked at each other and shrugged. Skuld turned
away and packed her laptop into her bag.

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

     "It sure is a nice day for a walk, isn't it Ryoga?" asked Akari,
enjoying the warm sun and the company; a pig the size of a large man and a
man who turned into a pig.

     Ryoga sighed inwardly, <Where the hell am I now!> "Yes. It sure is a
nice day." he answered, somehow managing to conceal his growing
depression. With that, he turned his attention back to the map in his
hands.

     The two walked on in silence, both knowing they've had that same
conversation at least a dozen times already.

     "I must admit, it is a nice day. Especially when you consider how
much it rains in Nerima." said a new voice.

     <If the pig said that...> Ryoga turned to the source of the voice.

     Mousse was walking beside them, polishing his glasses. Ryoga noticed
they weren't his usual bottlethick types. It was one of those thin
wireframes. "Hello Ryoga, and Miss Unryuu."

     "Hey, when'd you get new glasses?" came Ryoga's obvious question.

     Mousse placed them on his face and said, "You've been out of the loop
for a while haven't you? Well, I've found a cure for my sight and my
curse. Before you say anything, it turns out every curse has a different
cure so don't even bother."

     Ryoga's shoulders slumped at the news.

     "As for the glasses, I guess I got too used to wearing glasses all my
life. The lenses in these things don't have any magnification at all." he
said, pointing to his spectacles.

     "Uh-huh." Ryoga managed to get out. <Wearing glasses when he doesn't
need to?> "So, why are you here anyway?"

     "I've come to take you to the fight. You guys are way off track."
Mousse said, a smile coming to his lips.

     Ryoga crumpled up the map and threw it away. "That thing was at least
5 years old anyway. So you ready to go Akari?"

     "Where to?" she asked, obviously not quite knowledgeable in the
strangeness of the Nerima crew.

     "Watch this Akari. I still can't understand how but I think it takes
you to another place." Ryoga said, looking towards Mousse.

     With a little magician's flair, Mousse formed a swirling black void.
"Just step in and you'll go straight there. Oh, and Akari, could you
please hold Ryoga's hand. Don't want him getting lost, now would we?"

     Ryoga bristled at the jab but relaxed when Akari took his hand. One
look at her, combined with the contact made him laugh uncomfortably. Akari
smiled back and her giant pit rode into the void.

     Mousse followed them in smirking at the whole thing.

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

     It was nearing sunset by the time both fighters were ready. Mousse
had been gathering everyone who would be influenced by the outcome of the
fight. Near the front row were the fiancees, Ryoga, Kuno, the Tendos and
hidden in the crowd somewhere, Nodoka.

     "Have you taken any time to decide who you care about the most?"
Mousse asked quietly, hoping the crowd didn't hear.

     "Don't need to. I'll win." Ranma said, cracking his knuckles.

     "Oh well." <Damn, guess I'll have to do something about that.> Mousse
frowned inwardly.

     "So, you got any new magic tricks to show me?" Ranma asked, still
maintaining a non-aggressive stance.

     There was a slight twitching of Mousse's eyebrow. "No magic here."
<He's really confident today.>

     "Okay Mousse, your move." Ranma said, stepping into a loose stance.

     Mousse seemed to think about something and then smiled. Ranma kept
his poker face but inside he was thinking, <This could be trouble.>

     "Saotome. How's this for a magic trick?" shouted Mousse.

     Both teens were standing a good twenty feet apart. Imagine Ranma's
confusion when Mousse did a single standing punch at that distance.

     "What the-" the rest of Ranma's words were stopped by the feeling of
a fist hit him in the gut, sending him flying onto his back.

     "That worked pretty well." Mousse mused.

     Ranma's mind reeled at what just happened. There was a couple second
delay between Mousse's punch before he felt something hit him.

     <Air maybe?> he thought. <If he can control that, then...>

     Ranma jumped up and yelled out, "Hey! That's not fair!"

     Moussed nodded. "Yes. It isn't. What's the good of beating you so
easily. Okay, let's get back to basics."

     Mousse took out twin billy clubs. No sence taking any chances of
cutting up someone loved by so many. <But beating him with blunt objects
is just fine.> Mousse smirked.

     <Yeah. Back to basics. Me winning.> thought Ranma, a smirk playing on
his face. Since the first stand off, he had been subtlely collecting
energy to launch at Mousse. Ranma lifted his hands to fire off the ball of
ki when he felt one of the wooden sticks graze his head. The shock was
almost enough to make him lost control of the ki surging within him. He
rolled with the blow and saw Mousse coming to a stop, his robes just now
coming to a stop. <Wasn't Mousse just over there? Where'd he get that
speed?>

     Mousse straightened up and said, "Sorry. Just seeing if it actually
worked. This time for real." With that, he jumped high, aiming to land on
Ranma. The pigtailed boy rolled away and immediately got into a ready
stance. With Mousse still falling towards him, he cupped his hands to
release the ki he had collected around him. Almost instinctively, Mousse
countered with his own ki blast. The opposing energies struck each other
with such force, it blew both fighters back. The shockwave knocked
Mousse's clubs from his hands and sent him flying. Ranma was pushed back
but managed to stay on his feet. Even the crowd felt the force of the
blast, some girls had to fight to keep their skirts down and most of the
guys keeping hold of their bet stubs.

     Mousse picked himself up and tried vainly to establish his bearings.
The ground they were fighting on was rather hard and dry so a large
dustcloud was the final result of the combined blasts. Even with the
Mind's Eye, he could barely see ahead of him. He was just about to take
out another set of blunt weapons when a red blur came from nowhere and
nearly hit him with a jumpkick. Ranma landed and started throwing random
punches and kicks everywhere. Some of them hit Mousse, who countered with
kicks and punches of his own plus a couple blunt throwing weapons. Almost
instinctively, Ranma dodged Mousse's attacks. A lucky kick grazed him in
the thigh and he reacted with a flurry of punches near Amaguriken speed.

     <Damn! I can't see a thing.> Mousse thought as he vainly blocked
Ranma's punches. <Not that I'm not used to it.> Retreating slightly, he
formed a telekinetic barrier around him and expanded it out into a wide
diameter, dissipating the dustcloud and pushing Ranma towards the front of
the crowd. With the dustcloud gone, he whipped out his chains to retrieve
his billy clubs and stood at the ready.

     Ranma looked up at the faces looking down at him. He didn't have any
major injuries but he was getting tired of ending up on the ground all the
time. <Time to end this.> he thought grimly, brushing dirt off his
clothes. Ranma began gathering energy again, much faster than he had
before because of his proximity to the crowd, and jumped up. He started
walking calmly to his opponent, who held his billy clubs at the ready.

     And ready he was. Mousse ran, not aided by telekinesis, his billy
clubs almost flying. <Even Ranma would have a hard time with this.> he
smiled inwardly as he yelled out a gutteral yell.

     Ranma came to a stop and waited until Mousse was almost at arms
length. He put his arms up and yelled, "Lightning Storm!"

     Mousse barely had time to react. A quick snap of his head to the left
let him dodge the first energy ball but the rest came in like the
technique's name. He brought his weapons up to block those hitting his
body but Ranma aimed some of the ki blasts at his hands, making him lose
his weapons yet again. The burning sensation all over his body triggered
an instinctive reaction. He held up his arm and all the balls stopped in
place. One had even stopped just inches from Ranma's hands.

     The crowd had mixed reactions to the new development. There was
Mousse, panting heavily and his clothes singed, blown back about 5 meters
away from Ranma. Who in turn had a look of pure shock as he stood at one
end of the string of orbs floating in the air. He turned his head to look
at Cologne who looked as shocked as he was. The setting sun and the
glowing orbs made for a surreal scene that was finally broken by Mousse.

     "That's a good technique Saotome. Of course, most Chinese Amazon
techniques are. You had be there for a while." The slight break in the
fighting gave him a chance to recover from the hot ki balls. "Let's up the
ante a bit more." He raised his right hand to the sky and the ki balls
arranged themselves to form a giant 3D square just fitting in the vacant
lot. Each ball floated about a one and a half meters from another. The
arena was now lit with a yellow hue instead of the primarily red and
orange sunset.

     "Don't worry. Everything's fair. We're both suseptible to these
things." Mousse pointed to one and a bo-staff came to hand.

     <The Saotome School prides itself in spatial orientation. Ranma
should be fine.> Genma thought, adjusting his glasses. <Still, that Mousse
boy has a lot of tricks up his sleeve.>

     "You're just making things easier for me." taunted Ranma. He took a
few quick steps and launched a suicide kick at Mousse. The 5 meter
distance between them gave Mouse plenty of preparation for the attack. He
sidestepped to the left. Seeing his opponent's move, Ranma punched Mousse
in the gut as he passed by. Unfortunately, he didn't see where he would be
landing and hit one of the floating ki balls. The contact seemingly
detonated it and sent him flying into another one. In total, Ranma was
bounced three times before landing in an unoccupied spot.

     While Ranma bounced, Mousse thought, <Strange. Maybe my telekinesis
is amplifying the power?> Seeing his opponent stand at the ready, Mousse
charged in, thrusting his staff at him. Ranma grabbed the wooden stick and
swung Mousse into one of the conveniently placed balls. Mousse bounced
around twice before landing in a heap.

     "What? You can dish it out but you can't take it?" Ranma teased. He
broke Mousse's staff on his knee and discarded them. One part of the
broken staff hit one of the lower energy balls and blasted Ranma right
into the glowing orb beside him.

     <Damn! Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.> thought Mousse.

     Hearing two explosions, he saw Ranma struggling up off the ground.
<What happened? Maybe... yes, that'll work.>

     Mousse stood up and threw two shurikens at ki balls near Ranma. The
pig-tailed boy was caught in the explosions and dropped his guard to
recover. Mousse rushed in with a pair of bonbori at the hapless pigtailed
boy. Unfortunately, only one of the his two weapons made contact as the
dusty lot came into play yet again.

     <Oh man. Not again.> thought Ranma, nursing his side and squinting
his eyes to see through the dustcloud. He thought of waving his arms to
ward off some of the dust but the spiritual landmines were too much of a
risk.

     Seeing that Ranma was still stuck in the dustcloud, Mousse got down
on his knees to rest. <Okay, the good points: I've lasted with Ranma
pretty long without fainting, my speed has indeed increased since I don't
have any more weapons on myself, and of course, Ranma has no idea what I
could do. Bad: I don't think I could last much longer in this place.> He
looks up at the glowing cube of ki balls. <There's still quite a number
left.>

     His vision clearing, Ranma took his hand from his side and assumed a
defensive position. The pain from Mousse's bonbori attack was lessening
but it still made it's presence known. <What can I do now? Wait! With all
these ki balls around, I should be able to gather ki quickly and fire a
lot off at Mousse.>

     "Here we go again." Mousse jumped up onto his feet and held the two
bonbori ready. He eyed his opponent carefully. <Ranma showed no signs of
injury and... some of the ki balls around him seemed to be dimming. What
could->

     "Lightning storm!" Ranma shouted, cupping his hands, releasing the
energy balls at his opponent. As if the vacant lot wasn't already lit up
enough, Ranma shot his ki balls, right at Mousse. The chinese boy was able
to dodge using his telekinesis aided jumps and dashes. Ranma's sniper-like
aim wasn't allowing him to do much else.

     <Damn! Times like this I wish I spent more time to learning to fly.>
Mousse was using every ounce of speed to avoid Ranma's attack.
Unfortunately, his telekinetic dash was only good for straight lines. He
hadn't mastered curves yet and trying so would cause him to stumble.

     "You've gotten faster Mousse." said Ranma, not realizing he probably
wasn't being heard through the blasts rocking the lot. Mousse hid behind
some floating ki balls and Ranma let up the barrage to save energy.
Ranma's face lit up at a new idea to jump into his mind. He resumed
blasting away at where Mousse was, knowing that even if he missed, the
explosion could set off the ki balls around him.

     Mousse crouched on one knee, trying to think of a new plan. His
bonbori were dust after he tried blocking some of the ki blasts. Around
him was a barrier of chains, protecting him from the blasts. "Think of
something!" he shouted to himself. His thoughts raced to an unlikely
source of information. He bid this chain barrier to open, but still shield
him from the blasts. This made him look like an angel with metallic wings.

     Using telekinesis, he jumped high over the glowing cube. Ranma gave a
pause before aiming at Mousse. He was still going strong, using the energy
from the balls around him. At the apex of Mousse's jump, some of the upper
ki balls gathered in his hand and formed into a basketball sized ki blast.
When he started descending, he let the glowing ball off. The kickback held
him aloft and he repeated the process.

     Now it was Ranma's turn to dodge. Doing a better job than Mousse,
anticipating the shots, he managed to get away from his opponent's blasts.
But the power he felt was still enough to force him to come in contact
with some of the still floating energy balls.

     In the air, Mousse had now retracted his chain barrier and was merely
hovering to see what had become of Ranma. By now, Mousse side of the arena
was nearly empty of ki balls. He gathered the remaining balls from the
entire lot and held them aloft to his left and right. Below, Ranma looked
around and waved the dust around to get a better view. His face clearly
lit up when he saw no more ki balls around him. He panned the area looking
for his opponent.

     "Ranma!" Mousse called out. "Lightning storm!" The individual blasts
to his left and right sped to the boy on the ground. Now that there was no
need to worry about hitting any floating ki balls, Ranma dodged any way he
wanted. None of the blasts hit him but some were close enough for him to
feel the shockwave.

     As soon as he ran out of ki balls, two voids engulfed Mousse's feet.
They receeded away, leaving spiked sandals. He stopped hovering and
manuvered himself to land Ranma.

     The pig-tailed boy saw the move coming from a mile away. He stepped
back a bit and readied himself for the counterattack. When Mousse missed,
Ranma kicked him hard enough to knock him off his metallic sandaled feet.
Mousse, still reeling, was at Ranma's hands until he teleported via black
hole.

     "Where-" Ranma never even had a chance to duck as the ex-duck came
out from a black hole with a jump kick. Ranma landed on his back, coughing
because the wind had been knocked out of him. He looked around for Mousse
and found he was alone on the vacant lot. From the sidelines, someone
shouted something and he rolled away. A metallic thud landed where he had
just been. One of Mousse's gigantic wrecking balls left a huge dent in the
ground. Only the top quarter of the steel ball was visible.

     "Come out and fight fair Mousse!" Ranma called out to the sky.
Ranma's ear itched, something was coming. Make that a lot.
He ducked, rolled and jumped out of the way of various throwing weapons.
Knives, shurikens, hammers, axes and a couple rubber ducky's. Ranma stood
panting, waiting for Mousse's next attack.

     A black hole opened up and Mousse stepped through. In his left hand
was an egg carton and his right was cocked back, egg in hand. The
situation seemed rather strange actually. Two warriors at a stand-off
because of a couple eggs.

     "Remember these Ranma?" Mousse asked calmly, holding the egg in his
hand as if he was inspecting it.

     "Yup. But now I know what to do." Ranma said confidently.

     "Wha-" Mousse got out before Ranma rushed in with his trademarked
speed. Using one hand to do the amaguriken and the other to steal Mousse's
eggs, Ranma once again disarmed the Master of Hidden Weapons.

     Seeing that Mousse was dazed, Ranma jumped up and threw six of the
remaining eleven eggs. Mousse still had one in his hand. Mousse gained his
bearings as the six eggs landed all around him, instantly starting fires.
The heat distorted the image of Ranma, even though he was using the Mind's
eye to see. On the other side of the circle of fire, Ranma was smirking as
if he had won.

     "Not yet." said Mousse. Using traditional magician showmanship, with
a wave of his arm, the fires were put out with a rush of wind that
seemingly came out of nowhere.

     Ranma then threw the last five eggs but they were all whisked away by
Mousse using the same technique. They all landed behind Mousse, making for
an unique image for Ranma. Standing before him was Mousse, the fires
behind him made only his silohouette visible and the heat waves blowing
Mousse's hair forward.

     "Ranma. You will lose this fight." stated Mousse. Without giving
Ranma a chance to react, he let out a telekinetic punch metres away. Still
at that distance, he followed up with what looked like a weaponless kata
that hit Ranma every time.

     Ranma struggled to get up onto his feet. "I thought you weren't going
to do that anymore."

     "I'm sorry but I must win this fight." said Mousse. A black hole
opened up behind Mousse and lived up to it's name. Ranma struggled to keep
himself away but he and other loose articles were sucked into the void.
Finally, Ranma lost all traction and was flying towards Mousse; who then
dashed with a punch. Ranma landed on his back again, breathing hard.
Looking up at the sky, the moon was shining brightly. Then Mousse stepped
into that light.

     "Do you yield?" Mousse asked.

     "Never." Ranma croaked out. <Just wait until I get my second wind.>

     "Ranma!" called out a voice from the crowd. All eyes turned to the
source.

     "Ranma, prove to me you are a man amongst men." said Nodoka, throwing
the Saotome katana to her son.

     Not really knowing what was happening, Ranma caught the sheathed
blade instinctively. <Mom?>

     Mousse gave a low bow to Nodoka, who gave him a smaller one in
return. Mousse reached into his void and pulled out a shining european
styled sword.

     "Let's call this round two."

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

     <What the heck is going on?> thought Ranma. <Why'd mom give this to
me? All pops ever did was teach me how to disarmament. What am I supposed
to do, learn it by myself?

     <So that's Mrs. Saotome's plan, pretty good.> Mousse thought. He
looked again to the Saotome matriarch and noticed that though she had a
calm countenance, there seemed to be a hint of pride. He turned his eyes
back onto his opponent, who seemed to be holding the sword in reverence,
almost as if touching the weapon was a sin.

     <I might be killed by this sword.> Ranma thought grimly. <I might as
well see what this thing can do.> He finally unsheathed the sword and
threw the scabbard near the crowd. He held the sword at the ready, from
his point of view, Mousse was being split in half by it.

     "Here we go again." Mousse's words were heard only by him. He held
his sword cocked back and parallel to the ground.

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

     The two fighters stood still, as if waiting for the perfect moment to
strike. The crowd was on edge after seeing the incredible feats of the two
martial artists. Most were surprised with how quickly Mousse gained the
power to hold his own against Ranma. The big question was where Mousse
learned his new skills. People might doubt his story but with the 'normal'
happenings in Nerima, some just might believe. The other question people
had running through their minds was how it was going to end. It's a well
known fact that Mousse was the best with almost every weapon he had. It's
also known that Ranma hardly used weapons in his fights. What would happen
now that Ranma was being forced to use a sword?

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

     "These guys amazing." Skuld quietly. In a louder voice, she asked,
"Hey Urd, are you sure they're not gods?"

     "You're asking me?" Urd asked with mock incredulousness. "The little
girl who says she knows everything and I know nothing is asking me a
question?"

     Steam was coming out of Skuld's ears as she reached back for her
trademark weapon. As soon as she touched the handle, the mallet was on its
way to its intended target...

     ...who was still rather drunk and stumbled back, out of the way.
Skuld's hammer cracked the concrete under most of the ground. Just a few
people noticed yet more damage being done to their neighbourhood but just
chalked it up to residual damage caused by the fight.

     Skuld vainly tried pulling her hammer out of the ground when Urd
placed her left foot on the head and leaned in close, "This is where your
age catches up with you little sister. If you had paid more attention to
the ancient texts rather than the future yet to come, you'd know that
these kinds of feats come from people who train themselves to do it.
Either that or they were born or given these powers." With that, Urd rose
and went back to watching the fight.

     With Urd stepping off her hammer, Skuld managed to yank it out with a
'pop'. Placing it back into it's holster, she mumbled, "She doesn't have
to make such a big deal about it." It was strange though, most of the day,
Urd was suffering from a major lack of energy. Now here she was cheering
the two fighters on with energy to spare.

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

     The two fighters ran straight towards each other, Mousse thrusting
his sword straight out while Ranma raised his sword in preparation for a
diagonal right-to-left slash.

     When the two met, their swords locked for a second before they both
readied themselves to strike again, this time locking enough for Mousse to
ask, "I hope you're not basing your attacks from what you've seen from
Kuno."

     This seemed to confuse Ranma for a second and Mousse took advantage
of it. He pushed Ranma away and while the boy was stumbling, Mousse rushed
in to slash Ranma in the mid-section.

     The crowd let out a collective gasp as Ranma fell. Mousse took the
time to examine his sword. <Everyone probably thinks Ranma's dead by now.>
Mousse smirked to himself.

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

     Pain.

     But the wrong kind of pain...?

     Ranma had been on the receiving end of a lot of attacks but this one
was strange. He'd felt the bite of sharpened steel before but this time,
it wasn't felt as much as the impact of the hit. He planted his sword into
the ground and examined where Mousse's sword struck. Yes, it felt like a
blunt object hit him. He looked down at his stomach and saw a trail of
blood and darkening bruises. Nothing lethal.

     "You're a valuable commodity here Ranma. I could be in trouble if
you're damaged too much." said Mousse sarcastically.

     Ranma pulled his sword out of the ground and tried charging in a way
he'd never seen Kuno do, knowing that anything Kuno could do, Mousse could
counter. The chinese boy parried the thrust and aimed to stab at his
opponent. Ranma's reflexes saved him again but Mousse was still coming,
his other hand cocked back ready to punch.

     Mousse couldn't help but smirk as his fist met Ranma's face. Ranma
stumbled back as Mousse explained what happened, "Just because you're
using a weapon doesn't mean you always have to attack with it."

     <What do you expect from someone who's never really used a sword
before.> Ranma thought angrily. His words weren't spoken aloud in case his
mother thought that his rebuttal sounded more like a whine. He simply
gathered his thoughts on how to use the weapons he was wielding. Kuno's
weakness was that without his sword, he's practically useless. <There's
too much focus on the sword than on my opponent.> he thought, looking at
his weapon. Unsure of himself, he let go of the sword with his left and
held it poised with his right. 'One arm, one inch.' <Hey where did that
come from?> he asked himself.

     Seeing his opponent was ready, Mousse jumped high, preparing to
deliver a straight vertical slice. Ranma rolled forward and found himself
under Mousse, who was still descending where he had been. Seizing the
opportunity, he jumped up with an uppercut slice.

     With the Mind's Eye, Mousse saw it coming a mile away. He pivoted in
mid-air to meet Ranma's sword. His left hand took hold of Ranma's sword
hand and his other sliced Ranma again in the mid-section. He did this with
enough force to send the other falling down fast and keep him up in the
air seconds longer.

     Ranma shrugged off his landing as best he could and took one of his
usual stances, slightly modified to allow a sword in play. And idea came
to mind.

     "Katch Tenshin Amaguriken!" shouted Ranma, thrusting his sword in a
random order. At the first words of the attack and the first signs of it
with the Mind's Eye, Mousse was already backpedalling out of range. Ranma
ran forward, still attacking while Mousse frantically thought of a way to
counter the move.

     And he saw it. The Mind's Eye provided what would invisible
disadvantage in a fight. Ranma was starting to lose his grip.
Theoretically, it was a bad turn of events with the sword possibly heading
straight towards him.

     However...

     Using every ounce of speed and luck he could muster, Mousse swung his
sword to deflect another thrust. Ranma's sword flew off out of reach.
There was a slight pause between the two but Mousse gained his wits better
and held his sword at Ranma's throat. Seeing the sword pointed at him and
still shocked from what had happened, Ranma stumbled and fell on his rear.

     Mousse looked around at the crowd watching the fight. It was eerily
quiet. <So, this is how it ends, huh?> he mused.

     Ranma was on the ground, quickly thinking of a way to get out of
harm's way.

     "This is the end Saotome." Mousse said, holding his sword above his
opponent's throat. "Give up."

     "Never." Ranma answered quietly.

     "Does your pride matter so much to you?" Mousse asked, slightly
confused. "You've beaten me many times already but I have always bounced
back. Surely the great Ranma Saotome can do the same? ...Or do you just
want them all to yourself?"

     A tensing of the eyebrows was Mousse's warning of a response from
Ranma. At an almost impossible speed, his sword was kicked from his hand
and two fists hitting him with the Amaguriken. Ranma jumped off Mousse to
flip back near where his sword lay on its side.

     <I'll have to finish this quickly.> Mousse thought. He could almost
feel his energy draining away. Looking through his normal eyes, the view
was even blurrier than usual, no doubt dizziness. But the Mind's Eye was
still providing him with a crystal clear picture. Ranma at a ready
position, katana still on the ground a metre or so in front of him.

     "So, no more swords?" Mousse asked, in a voice he hoped didn't reveal
too much of his present state.

     "Actually, I wanna try it some more. I think I'm getting the hang of
it." Ranma said arrogantly. With that, he rolled forward, grabbing his
sword in the same motion. Springing out of the roll, he thrust out, aiming
at a non-lethal spot. Mousse silently called for his sword. He knew it
wouldn't be able to reach his hand in time so he made it parry Ranma's
attack on the way.

     Ranma was deflected, his thrust now taking him straight towards the
ground. Instinctively, he tucked the sword behind his left hip as if he
had resheathed it. He then flipped and used his feet to propel him back at
Mousse, the soil breaking under his feet.

     With his sword in front of him and Ranma passing beside him, Mousse
pulled his sword out of the ground, turned and swung in the same motion.
Suddenly, Ranma was coming straight at him. He wouldn't be able to do
anything at the speeds they were at so all he could do was grit his teeth
at the pain he knew he would receive.

     Ranma saw it. Mousse wouldn't be able to block in time. His upward
slash would now strike Mousse on the forearm. <I never wanted his.> Ranma
thought, not believing how the fight took them to this point.

     CRACK!!! "AAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!"

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

     The crowd winced at the cry of pain. Many had covered their eyes the
second they saw what exactly was happening. A sword landed just a couple
feet from the crowd, sticking in the ground and leaning slightly. Some had
expected a hand still attached to the weapon but seeing none, they looked
back to the two rivals.

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

     The pain was almost enough to make Mousse black out, but somehow, he
stayed conscious. He saw things as if he was just a passenger in his own
body. He clutched his broken arm close to his body when an almost
instictive idea came to mind. He held his right hand out and pieces of
wood and cloth came to him via void. The pieces of wood telekinetically
floated next to his broken forearm and the cloth tightened strongly to the
broken limb.

     A evil looking grin came to Mousse's lips when he saw Ranma's shock.
Wasting no time, he brought his sword to his left hand and charged Ranma.
Using his left arm, his style was wildly different, as if he switched to a
completely different style of fighting. His low gutteral yell was what
snapped Ranma out of his shock.

     <Damn, he's like a different person now.> Ranma thought, desperately
blocking all of Mousse's attacks. His eyes shone with a rage usually
unseen from the Chinese boy.

     <That'll work then.> thought Ranma, leading Mousse into the impending
circle. There was more than enough hot and cold energy to make a sizable
tornado. Ranma also switched his sword to his left to prepare for the
punch with his right.

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

     <Dammit, why is he just dodging? And why did he switch hands?>
thought Mousse, Ranma just slipping past his attacks. He was going almost
all out, using his speed without overextending himself. His rage seemed to
be powering everything he was doing.

     Finally at the centre of the circle, Ranma yelled, "Hiryuu Shoten
Ha!!"

     Ranma's words broke through Mousse's rage and time seemed to slow. He
felt himself lift off the ground. At the height of about five feet off the
ground, he saw Ranma's smirk, seeing his technique work.

     <No. I can do something about this.> Mousse thought. He whipped his
arms downward and chains came from his sleeves to anchor him to the
ground. He reeled himself down on the ground and let go of the chains,
which still stuck to the ground but the ends waving about in the tornado.
Mousse was now on the ground due to telekinesis. He got on bended knee and
willed for his sword to come.

     Ranma and Mousse were less than 10 feet apart, both watching each
other with rapt attention. Since he had thrown the punch, Ranma had backed
away to avoid being sucked into the funnel. Mousse's clothes and hair were
being blown upwards, buffetted by the wind. Ranma could only wonder
whatever happened to the martial artist he used to have no difficulty
defeating.

     <I can counter this. I have to.> Mousse thought. The tornado made it
hard to breathe and he'd been there for almost a minute now. He let his
anger flare and a yellow battle aura surrounded him and the winds, adding
to the maelstrom around him. Ranma backed away even further to avoid being
sucked in. Even the crowd was holding onto all loose articles.

     Slowly, then speeding up, the tornado left Mousse and proceeded to
engulf Ranma in the winds. Having no means to hold onto the ground, he was
sucked into the air. Mousse stood and readied to ride the winds to attack
Ranma within the tornado. The Mind's Eye gave him the location of Ranma,
at the top of the tornado and beginning to descend.

     Mousse jogged to the centre of the tornado and jumped up. His Mind's
Eye locked on his opponent. Ranma looked down, something was coming up? A
predominantly white with areas of black and blue spot became his Chinese
opponent. His sword held with the left, he was readying his parry. Ranma,
hoping that the winds and gravity would give him victory, readied his own.

     The crowd had a hard time seeing what was going on but they heard a
tremendous clang, obviously two two swords meeting each other. In the
void, Ranma and Mousse had come to a complete stop in the centre of the
whirlwind, only their hair and clothing moving in the breeze. Seeing the
lull in activity, both struck at the same time. Ranma with a punch and
Mousse with a kick. Both attacks missed but now their positions in the
tornado were reversed, swords still locked with Mousse at a higher
altitude. Mousse broke away and sent Ranma away with telekinesis. Ranma
resumed the speed he had been at but managed to flip himself in time to
avoid landing on his head.

     Seeing Ranma emerge with no new injuries, the crowd collectively
sighed. But then tensed up again knowing that it would mean that Mousse
was the one who was hurt. The ki generated tornado was dissipated,
revealing Mousse high in the air. Not sure if his right arm would be able
to throw ki, he channeled it to his sword, and swung arced energy at
Ranma. Their sole purpose was distraction, all were aimed around where
Ranma stood. Ranma in turn stood ready, ignoring the heat he felt from the
explosions. He knew Mousse was readying another attack and merely trying
to distract him.

     Mousse saw his distraction not working and went straight to his plan.
A vertical slash with all his strength. He briefly wondered with his sword
would still be of use after his fight. Ranma held his sword, wondering how
to counter an overhead attack like what Mousse was doing. He switched his
hold on his sword so that he held in in his right with the blade end along
his forearm. To get a bit more strength into the swing, he placed his left
on the bottom of the handle. A lever action swing with the force of a jump
uppercut might just be enough to counter the move.

     At what he thought was the best time to strike, Ranma jumped to meet
Mousse. Sparks flew at the contact and Mousse dodged to the side to avoid
being struck with his own sword as it flew out of his hand. The sword
flipped in a way that prevented him from being cut. Obviously, his right
hand was needed in the swing but it was incapacitated at the moment. With
no swords to lock with, Mousse's momentum sent him into Ranma. His
shoulder hitting Ranma in the side and sending both crashing to the
ground. 

     With Ranma to soften the blow, Mousse was the first to get up and
roll away. His right arm didn't receive any more damage due to the shield
he put up around it. Still, he instinctively clutched it to his side.
Ranma was slowly getting up, using his sword to support himself.

     <I can't take much more of this.> Mousse thought tiredly. When Ranma
stood at the ready, Mousse's sword flew to Ranma's throat, stopping just
inches from his windpipe. Multiple sword appeared all around Ranma,
cutting off all venues of escape.

     "Just quit Ranma. One more loss isn't the end of the world." Mousse
said, hardly believing how hoarse his voice sounded.

     Ranma stood stock still, the swords around him going in circles like
a powertool around the wood to be cut. "Ranma Saotome doesn't throw in the
towel."

     <My son.> thought Nodoka proudly. <Such will.> "Ranma lost."

     All eyes looked to the redhead in the kimono. "Ranma, at the
beginning of the fight, Mousse said he was going to hold back. In a fight
to the death, you can't hold back. So, in this fight you've lost. Not to
mention your position right now." She walked towards her son. A slight nod
to Mousse made the revolving swords disappear. Ranma stood as he had been,
ready to attack, never letting his guard down. Nodoka offered her hand and
took the Saotome katana from Ranma. In one smooth motion, she resheathed
it in it's highly polished sheath.

     A cool wind blew through the lot, cooling down both fighters and
signalling to the crowd that the fight was finally over.

     "Ranma. As warriors honor dictates, you must carry out my wishes."
Mousse said, his voice a hoarse whisper. Though at that volume, the crowd
heard his words.

     Ranma grit his teeth and said, "I... I... I just can't. I don't want
it to be like this."

     Mousse coughed to clear his throat. "This has gone far too long. Make
your choice now." he demanded.

     Ranma stood still with indecision. Mousse bowed his head and a ball
of energy gathered in his hand. It split into three balls which sped off
to the crowd.

     Ranma looked to where each ball was going to. He tried to run but
found himself paralyzed. "Only time to save one. Who will it be?" Mousse
said, dead serious.

     Ranma struggled to move but he was being held fast. "How can I do
anything if I can't move?" he yelled to an unwavering Mousse.

     Seconds later, he felt the force holding him back disappear. A quick
glance at Mousse and then he ran, hoping to intercept the projectiles in
time.

     The crowd saw where the energy balls were headed. People panicked and
ran for cover. The only ones who stayed were Akane, Ukyo and Shampoo, due
to the fact that they couldn't move.

     Ryoga looked at Akari, who had taken cover behind Katsunnishiki.
"I'll be right back Akari." He turned and went to save the other woman he
loved. Unfortunately, he too hit a solid invisible wall. <Mousse, if
Akane's hurt, I'll make you pay.> he grimaced.

     Ranma was using a speed usually only seen in his girl form. <This is
going to be close.>

     Mousse started gathering the weapons he'd dropped during the fights
while Ranma was still running. He heard a shout of 'RANMA!' from the three
girls. Which was quickly followed by an, "AKANE! NO!"

     Mousse smirked and turned to the scene. Ranma stood in front of
Akane, his hands held up to block something. Mousse let go of the
telekinetic hold on the three girls.

     Ranma opened one eye, then the other. "I'm okay?"

     "Smoke and mirrors." Mousse said, picking up the last of his weapons
off the ground.

     "Hey, what gives?" Ukyo asked.

     "What happen?" asked Shampoo.

     Ryoga stumbled forward, the invisible wall not being there to absorb
the power of his punch.

     Mousse walked over to the other four teenagers and said, "Forced
choice scenario. I've forced Ranma to make the final choice. He likes
Akane most of all."

     "WHAT?" screamed Ukyo and Shampoo.

     "Try getting out of this one Ranma." Mousse said, ignoring the girls.
"The terms of our agreement was that if I won, Ranma would have to choose,
who he likes best and that's that. No changing his mind."

     "What if Ranchan just picked her randomly?" Ukyo asked, desperately
trying to stay in the race.

     Mousse looked around and said, "From the looks of it, Ranma would
have had an easier time rescuing you or Shampoo. He went an extra few feet
to save Akane." Mousse turned his gaze to Ukyo, "Strange isn't it?"

     "Now our two houses can be joined!" was heard in the background,
being said by the Anything Goes patriarchs.

     Mousse sighed and said, "The fiancee business is finally finished."
He turned and said, "Time to go get this arm looked at."

     "Wait right there." Cologne jumped in front of him and looked at him
with a gaze the could kill a non-Neriman.

     "You've interfered in our ancient law. That merits a strict penalty."
Mousse gulped audibly. Cologne continued, "On the other hand, you've
beaten Shampoo's fiancee. If you want Shampoo, you must defeat her in
battle."

     The Mind's Eye was showing Mousse that Shampoo was already in a fight
stance. "No Cologne. I will not fight her."

     The old crone's eyebrows furrowed, "After sixteen years of the chase,
you're giving up?"

     Mousse closed his eyes, remembering what his future self had told
him. "It's better this way."

     "This does change things greatly." Cologne mused. "Shampoo now has no
hold on Ranma. And you yourself have refused to follow up the second
clause. Such disrespect to the future Matriarch. And on top of that,
you've interfered with her chance to have Ranma." Cologne looked Mousse in
the eyes. "Such actions are not those of a true Amazon. Therefore, you are
no longer an Amazon. The name of Mu Tsu will be erased from our history
books and our minds."

     Cologne left silently, Shampoo following close behind.

     Mousse had expected exile but complete erasure of his identity was
not. But then, it would be better for his family, not having an exiled son
somewhere in the world. Not that he had a family anymore. He sighed
deeply, trying to put his frustrations past him when he felt a tap on his
shoulder.

     Nodoka bowed and said, "I can't thank you enough. You've given me my
son and ended his fiancee troubles. My family and I believe the Tendo
family is in debt to you."

     Mousse looked past her and saw that Genma, Soun, Nabiki and Kasumi
were all bowing to him. The rest of the players in the game were rather
busy at the moment. Mousse looked at them speechless.

     Suddenly, Genma was at his right, leaning on him slightly. "How about
if we adopt you? Ya know, teach me and the boy a couple tricks and we give
you a family."

     Nodoka brought her hand to the hilt of the sword and Genma was back
to his place, beside Soun.

     "Adoption. That's not a bad idea." Nodoka mused aloud. "How about it
Mousse? We'll be your new family."

     "You can still choose from Kasumi and Nabiki!" called out Soun, who
was promptly malleted by Nabiki. (who got the mallet from Kasumi.)

     "Uh, I don't know... It's a really nice offer but... wouldn't I be an
intrusion?" Mousse said lamely.

     "We'll manage. Don't worry." said Nodoka. "It's the best we could do
for someone who's done so much."

     Mousse sized up the 'family' in front of him. A couple seconds later,
he smirked and said, "Thanks but I kinda need some time alone for now. No
offense or anything."

     Nodoka bowed and said, "You'll always be welcomed by this family."

     "Thank you." Mousse said, bowing lower than Nodoka. He left the scene
with a void that would take him to Dr. Tofu's.

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

     "Typical man. Leaving behind what matters most." Urd said, watching
Mousse leave through void.

     "What do you mean?" Skuld asked.

     "Me of course, the Goddess of Love." Urd said, not resisting to add
flourish to her words.

     "C'mon, he's probably back at the restaurant." said Skuld taking the
lead.

     Urd followed her silently, thinking to herself, <But what was that
power I sensed before?>

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

     The empty lot now existed like it had been for years. 

     Empty. 

     A pick-up truck slowly came to a stop on it's sidewalk. The three men
in the truck stumbled out of the rusty vehicle.

     The oldest one clapped his hand to the man on his right. "Think of it
as hazard pay. Nerima Parks and Recreation pays well. You'll like it
here."


End part 9

Author's notes: Well, finally done! I really want C&C for this part. This
is the first time I've done a full-fledged fight scene. This the first
story I didn't write in chronological order so tell me if there's any
continuity errors.