Now that I'm back from vacation, I can finally get to this.

Used pretty much all of  the grammar comments, as always.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I can't believe you're wearing that thing."

$Shampoo: Why, what's wrong with wearing a pink fur trimmed, chrome
studded, yellow leather dominatrix outfit in public?

Hey, it works for me. :)

Still, she ended up doing as he bade by remaining silent as Jaddo
informed
the maitre d' that they had a reservation. The sharply dressed man
reacted
instantly to their names and personally escorted them to a table in the
back
where their companion waited for them, the maitre de informing them that
the

$Is it de or d'?  You've used both.

Oops. Anyone know the correct answer to that one? It's slipping my mind at
the moment.

When Shampoo was about six, she had once heard her mother use the term
'corpulent.' Upon inquiring and being informed of what the word met,
Shampoo
asked her why she did not simply use the term 'fat.' At the time, her
mother's explanation of 'there are some words that, while having similar
meanings, are more appropriate than others,' was met with confusion.

$Language is so fun.

Yep. Though I've found the above all too true in the course of my life. Some
words are more appropriate than others.

"No, no. I'm from England proper. And it's Welsh, not Whale. You damn
Aussies always seemed to get that confused. Comes from living on an
island
that thinks it's a continent."

$That's...  Beautiful.  Wow.

Thanks. Nice to know someone out there appreciates my weird sense of humor.
:)

The second figure was another Caucasian woman that was as ugly as the
first
was beautiful. She was very tall and built for power. Her blood-red gi,
that
had a stylized brown bear etched on the front, could do little to hide
her
muscular build.

$Hmm...  Her blood-red gi had a stylized brown bear etched
(embroderied?  sounds better to me)

Agree

...And saw her future husband and father of her children.

He was easily the most gorgeous man she had ever laid eyes upon. He was
another Caucasian,

$Oh, interesting.  None of the Japanese made the grade?

Not that year.

Jaddo gave a weak laugh at his friend's attempt at humor as he sat down
and
poured himself a glass of wine.

Beef smiled at Shampoo. "Can't you guess, you sweet little thing?"

It was in the smile, one of pride and arrogance, that Shampoo
understood.

$Heheh, cute.  I'd kinda figured that.

It was obvious, but it still had to be done. Can't have things going too
smoothly for Shampoo.

exact moment. The weight of it was too much for the young Amazon to bear
as
she erupted into tears and began hitting her head into the table.

"Why did you have to destroy my dreams like that?" Shampoo wailed.

$Doing the Tendo wail, eh?

Pretty much

A hard chortle from Beef made him wobble in his seat. "Hell, man, I'd
have
done some of them for nothing with how good-looking they were. And as
you
were wont to say, even ugly women need loving too.

$Good attitude.

Yep.

"And do they recoil in disgust when they see that their fantasy has
grown
even greater in size on them?" Jaddo asked.

Beef smirked. "Not all of them. Some like style over appearance."

$Austin Powers: But _how_?  Not the desire, I just can't see _how_ they
could do it!  I mean, the mechanics...

It does boggle the mind. And mentioning the movie, also makes me want to do
an UY/SM/EVA parody of them I have bubbling in my mind. 'Ataru Morobishi:
International Pervert of Mystery' just has that nice ring to it. And the fun
you can have with Usagi Evil just sets my nerves a tingling. ^_^

year of the greatest champion ever in the Arena history: the Year of the
Dragon, Jun Fan Li." Beef indicated the Chinese man in the picture. "His
handle was 'The Dragon.' Best fighter the Arena ever produced beyond any
doubt. Now he's a legendary action film star and probably worth even
more
than me. Heck, me and Wombat even got to be in one of his movies real
early
on. He could make a mean won ton noodle dish too, let me tell you.

$Aha, Beef shares the wonton passions, too, eh?

Ouch. You really are turning into Gary, aren't you?

"Oops. Always do that when I'm thinking of food," Beef sheepishly
admitted.
"We were dubbed the 'Six Pack' by the press, and the name stuck. Real
international cast too. You had me from England. Wombat from Australia.
The
blonde you see in the photo was Colt Remington.

$Yeesh, what a name.  Why are americans typically portrayed as
obssessive/compulsive gun nuts?

Err, not quite in this instance. One: Colt never used guns. Two: It's her
real name, and not a nickname. Her parents were just evil.

Beef looked at her incredulously. "What are you, blind? She looks like
she
hit every branch of the ugly tree on the way down, then climbed back up
for
seconds."

"Oh," Shampoo said, surprised. "I assumed you meant Colt."

$Err, how did she assume that?  Seems like a bit of a stretch, as it
flowed right along with his description of the russian.

Because she natrually assumes that since Beef was so handsome he must have
meant the beautiful girl instead of the ugly one. It's the stereotype, and
she assumed he was remincing out of order.

"Which shows she was perceptive," Jaddo mentioned.

"Not true. I was a very expensive slut," Beef said philosophically.

$Guy's got a point.

At least he's honest with what he is. ^_^

"I could have taken her again," Jaddo bragged.

"Not with your leg all messed up, you wouldn't have.

$Did she mess it up?  It's a bit comfusing.

It's explained later.

they were. A part of her wondered if she would end up the same, fighting
to
the death in a battle before the world and spoken in such respectful
tones
by strangers. As much honor as that could be, Shampoo found she
preferred
triumphing rather than suffering a much talked about, but ultimately
tragic,
fate.

$Yeah, really.

On the other hand, there are those that would very much prefer to go out in
a memorable blaze of glory that would be remembered for far longer than any
simple champion that would be all but forgotten in three decades or so.

"Is that how you got your limp?" Shampoo asked, a hint of awe in her
voice.

$Okay, but the way it was said before made it sound like Remmy did it,
or at least hurt it some.

Hmm. Didn't think it was that confusing. Will look it over.

even
if I can admit I lost to the better man. I did my best, there isn't the
slightest doubt in my mind. I understood a long time ago that there's
always
a bigger dog out there, no matter how good you get. Remember that."

$Unless, apparently, you're Ranma.  -_-

Nope. Ranma loses plenty of times. Luckily during those fights his
opponenets weren't playing for keeps.

Though
there was still something else about him that was nagging at her. Some
odd
part in his demeanor during his reflections of the past that didn't have
so
much to do with the fighting. It was something else, and it seemed to be
when he referred to his goals in the fight.

$Bah, probably a girl.

Perhaps.

"He does not have the authority to tell me what I can and cannot have. I
can
drink whatever I want and however much I want," Shampoo sniffed.

Jaddo gave her a sly look. "Yah. I hope you do. It'll be fun watching
you
lurch around drunk and hit on ugly guys.

$Drink till they're cute.

Or until you pass out. Beer goggles only distort reality so far before you
pass out.

The look of what would have been pure innocence on anyone else was the
only
confirmation Shampoo needed. She would have to watch her drinking, lest
she
imbibe too much and Jaddo make good on his threat. But one of these days
she
would have to get really and truly drunk, just to know what the
experience
was like.

$Awesome.  Incredibly fun.  One of the top ten ways I can imagine
spending an evening.

As long as it's someone else, and I'm able to laugh at them.  Why, yes,
I do enjoy the suffering of others.  Why do you ask?

I don't. I knew you were evil.

"Too true, my old friend." Beef agreed as he dug into his meal with
gusto
once again.

$Gusto, gusto...  Heh.  For the longest time I thought that that was
some sort of obscure Italian dish.

Heh. Maybe it was at one time.

There
wasn't a stitch out of place on the dress of red and orange that she had
purchased for this specific occasion. It had taken her over an hour to
get
her hair just right, but again, it was a masterpiece, making her look
older
than her sixteen years without trying to look older. Everything was just
as
it needed to be.

$Whoops.  Not quite.

Yep.

have
to show for her trouble would be a good roll in the sack. She would
still
come out ahead, but she wanted to go for the brass ring this time on the
merry-go-round of life.

$Although, she amended, the ring had _better_ not be brass.

Heh.

Shampoo smirked in satisfaction at the unconscious girl. "That's what
you
get for sucker punching me. I'd have gone easier on you if you left it
at
that, but you just had to spit on me. And, for your information, I don't
give a damn about that sleazy Snakebite."

$Nothing like a good grudge match to light a fire under the audience,
especially if they play it up.  She going to do a doubles?  And do we
see it next chapter?

Nope, though there will be a major fight in the next one. Just one more
prereader to go before I post it. Going to build up the Pink/Link Shampoo
rivalry a bit first. You'll see what I mean in the opening part.

the Englishman had said, the Italians had undoubtedly perfected the art
of
pasta.

$*sigh*  I know they cook good, but I've yet to find an Italian dish I
really like.

I'm like that with Greek food myself.

only
the briefest glance of locks of blonde hair before the figure was out of
sight again. Determined not to allow the mysterious figure to elude her,
Shampoo gave up any pretense of subtly following and ran all out before
the
girl was lost from sight.

$That's gotta be hell on the dress.

True. It's going to take a beating here, but not unrepairable damage.

Again Shampoo's instincts were on the mark as she turned to confront two
figures that had entered the alleyway while she had been busy cornering
her
prey. They both wore black cloaks with the hoods drawn up and close to
the
face, hiding the identity of both individuals. One was a woman and about
Shampoo's height. The other was a giant of a man, nearly the Northman's
height, and almost as massive.

$Sagat?

Fits his profile. Others have guesses that as well.

"Point taken," the man conceded. "Still, you might want to listen to
someone
who's gone to the lengths I have to attain vengeance; sometimes the cost
is
too high."

$Dan Hibiki?

Not familiar with that one, so I can safely say no.

"I was not drunk!" Again Shampoo winced from the pain.

"I didn't say that," Jaddo said with unusual softness. "What I'm saying
is,
it probably affected your perception of things. That's how a pair of
street
toughs took you out in a couple of shots, and why you think you saw
Colt."

$Funny, he didn't immediately strike me as a moron.  Of course, he's
got to disbelieve her for the story's purposes.

Well, consider the claim from his POV. There's no way even Colt could remain
unchanged after three decades. Shampoo was drinking and got thumped hard in
the head. The most likely scenario is she got her bells rung and is mistaken

"They probably got scared off by the group of kids that found you,"
Jaddo
said.

$I can't believe he would say that.

He is grasping here.

 Jaddo of all people should know

that is about as unlikely as finding an honest lawyer or a politician
who actually cares about something besides his own wallet.  Anyone good
enough to knock out Shampoo, and Jaddo knows she's a pretty good fiter
anyway, wouldn't be worried about a group of young theives.

True. He's not really sure what's going on in that regard, other than his
protege might have gotten lucky in getting away without ending up robbed or
worse,

"They weren't kids! They were little monsters."

$Two names, same thing.

Yeah. You'll not Jaddo is not surprised by their behavior later.

Jaddo shrugged. "Kids are like that. S'why I never had any."

Shampoo decided to let the matter drop. On the surface, what Jaddo said
made
sense, and she knew damn well there was no way she could change his mind
without evidence. Reluctantly, she admitted that had their positions
been
reversed, she would have probably been as skeptical as he was.

$But making up ridiculous statements like that?

You'd be surprised at what people that get a hard unexpected  thump to their
head believe when they come out of it. Of course, we the readers know
better. :)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Well, finally some other Ranma 1/2 characters (and various others from
anime) appear. And history repeats itself with Shampoo and the nature of
her
relationship with Pink and Link, proving that no matter how much some
things
change, some things remain the same. More on Hong Kong in the next
chapter,
which is coming along slowly. Will be a while before it sees the light
of
day.

$Or, in other words, pretty soon now, eh?

Depends on when JK can get to the chapter. I'm hoping soon, myself.

Well, that was a particularly good chapter.  I enjoyed it more than the
last several,

The story is developing subplots. Up to this point it's mostly been about
Shampoo (and to a lesser degree, Jaddo)  and had a very linear direction.
Now things get a bit compicated as Jaddo is also worked on and developed in
a little more detail.

 but I didn't like the final scene.  Jaddo seems... Off, I

guess.

Will look that over, but nothing is really coming to me at the moment.

 I am looking forward to the Pink and Link match, and I figure

we'll see Taro sometime in the future.

Yep. Definitely at somepoint.

Looking forward to it.

Hope to bring it to you soon. Thanks a lot for the C+C. As always is very
greatly appreciated.

D.B. Sommer

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