Later that evening, the girls held a council of war in Nabiki’s room. The door was sealed, the window shuttered, and Nabiki was putting the last seal on the window. “There we go.”
Akane looked over the bits of paper skeptically. “And that will stop anyone from listening in?”
Nabiki shrugged. “At the very least, we’ll know if they try.”
“Good enough,” Ranma grumbled. “Can we get on with it?”
Kasumi was seated at Nabiki’s desk. Akane was leaning against the far wall, arms crossed and a dark look on her face she could have learned from Ranma. Nabiki walked over to her bed and lounged on it. ‘Ranko’ took the opportunity to snuggle up to Nabiki. Akane watched Nabiki shift in response to the unseen girl and shook her head. “Right. Do we believe Cologne?”
“Yes,” Kasumi said instantly.
Ranma frowned as Nabiki and Akane’s doubts vanished. “Um, are you sure?”
Kasumi smiled and looked serenely at Ranma.
“Right,” Ranma drawled. “Dumb question.”
“Kasumi taught me everything I know about reading people,” Nabiki said, stroking Ranma idly. “So we take Cologne at her word. What do we do about it?”
“Well, you’re the magic expert,” Ranma pointed out. “You tell us.”
Nabiki scrunched her face unhappily. “Magic isn’t that clear cut. Cologne called it a curse, but it could as easily be a simple spell to keep the rain off. Or it could really be a curse designed to make someone die of thirst.” Reactions to that thought were predictably negative. “Yeah. Point is, if I don’t know what kind of spell it is, I can’t break it.”
“So first we need to find out what kind of spell it is,” Akane concluded.
Nabiki nodded. “I’ll ask Tofu and Nodoka in the morning. But I wouldn’t get your hopes up. Even if I find out exactly how this was done, the old woman is clearly a Master.”
“But you said you were powerful!” Ranma objected.
“Who can hit harder, you or someone twice as strong with no training?”
“Me,” Ranma said easily.
Beat.
“Oh,” she mumbled.
“Right,” Nabiki drawled. “Now, if you want to find out what shattered spell fragments can do inside you…” she trailed off as Ranma felt sick at the prospect. She had no idea what Nabiki was talking about, but it did not sound pleasant.
Akane glanced at the air Nabiki was holding. “What about your fight with Mousse?”
Kasumi frowned disapprovingly. “What about school?”
Ranma laughed weakly. “What about a lot of things. I lived like this for a day a while back, remember? I don’t wanna go through that again.”
Nabiki shrugged. “Well, no school tomorrow, so we have time.”
Ranma thought that over and shrugged. “Okay then. Well, the fight with Mousse needs to get taken care of first. I can’t just step aside.”
“What if you took over Nabiki’s body again?” Kasumi offered.
Akane blanched. “Kasumi! You think Nabiki should let herself be used like that?”
“Wouldn’t work anyway,” Nabiki cut them off. “That would just raise questions about Ranma, Ranko, and me.”
“Well, the school knows Ranma and ‘Ranko’ are linked,” Akane tried. “Maybe she could fight him as-is?”
“Wouldn’t be a fair fight,” Ranma sighed. “It would be as bad as running away.”
“What about forfeiting?” Nabiki offered.
Beat.
“I know, I know, not an option.” She sighed. Martial artists could be so inflexible.
“So what are you going to do?” Akane asked, trying to forget Nabiki’s strange ideas.
Nabiki threw down yet another book of hexes and stormed out of her room to the kitchen. Kasumi was there, cleaning up from lunch.
Kasumi looked up and smiled sadly. “No luck?”
“None,” Nabiki groused, making herself some tea. “Auntie’s book has a few curses involving water, but none of them fit this one.” That was more help than Tofu had been, although the good doctor had recommended against countercurses with so many unknowns.
Kasumi sighed. “At least we talked Auntie down from declaring a blood feud.”
Nabiki shuddered slightly. “And I thought Ranma got his unthinking aggression from Genma.”
The sisters were silent for a long moment. “So how’s she doing?” Nabiki asked.
“Can’t you tell?”
Nabiki shrugged. “I know how she’s feeling, but that’s not a lot to go on.”
“Well, you’d have to ask Akane.”
Nabiki nodded and headed into the backyard. Ranma was there, running a slow kata. Akane was sitting nearby, watching the apparently empty air. As Nabiki looked on, Akane blinked and focused on Ranma’s movements. Nabiki waited a few seconds and Akane was still following the motions. “So she’s getting the hang of it.”
“Huh?” asked Ranma, not missing a step but turning her face. “Oh, hi Nabs.”
Akane blinked and shook her head. “Until you distract her like that, yeah.”
Nabiki winced. “Sorry, Ranma.”
“Don’t worry about it,” the nude redhead replied. “Bein’ visible when no one’s looking isn’t exactly useful.”
“Can’t argue with that,” Nabiki murmured. Ranma was getting back into focus, it seemed, because Akane was watching her. Nabiki made a silent exit.
If Ranma could practice that hard all day, she could read a few more books trying to find an answer.
Finally the time for the fight came around. The chosen arena, the school field, had been equipped with a ring and a ramen cart was serving the spectators. Mousse and Ranma had yet to show up; so far only Akane had arrived from the direction of the Tendo household.
The shorthaired girl frowned as she looked over the ramen cart. She didn’t recognize the men and women working behind it, but they were clearly Chinese and the women moved the same way Shampoo did. The way they held their weight, the way they bent, the way they walked…all were clues to the trained eye. Clearly, more than three Amazons had moved into Nerima.
“Where is the groom?”
Akane jumped from the voice at her elbow. “Cologne!”
The old woman scowled at Akane. “Stop watching our warriors and pay attention to your surroundings.”
Akane glared back. “Ranma will be here soon. If he isn’t already.”
“Oh ho,” Cologne cackled. “You cannot see spirits then? The rumors of your sister’s great power must be nothing but talk, then.”
“Nabiki can see her, and so can Kasumi!” Akane snapped.
“Oh really?” Cologne asked. The eldest sister is Awakened too? Perhaps just a Seer. Interesting in either case. “And how does the groom plan to fight his honorable battle?”
“Saotome Ranma! You have come!”
Akane looked towards the voice, briefly wondering how Ranma had…no, Mousse had grabbed one of the ramen men…and now the women were sending the visually challenged offender into the ring. It was probably for the best, but there were probably better ways than a high kick to the face.
As the Blind Wonder got his bearings back, the calm rumble of chatter around them faded. A figure was approaching the ring.
Nabiki climbed up onto the ring and faced Mouse. “I bring the compliments of Saotome Ranma,” she announced. “He regrets being unable to face you today.”
“You what?” Mousse asked, stunned. “He WHAT!?” His head whipped around. “Where are you, coward!?”
“Right here,” came a soprano the school was getting familiar with. It came from Nabiki’s left.
Mousse whipped around in a vain attempt at spotting the speaker. “You are not Saotome!”
“My name is Ranko. I am cursed to take Ranma’s place.” Ranma watched the man twist about with some amusement. “I cannot call Ranma back, and as long as that is so he cannot face you.”
Cologne gave Akane a flat look. “Your sister’s idea?”
“Something like that.”
Mousse frowned and tried to process that. He knew the man he chased from the village was a victim of Jusenkyo. Shampoo had found Ranma on her search for that man. And the fat one had talked of having a son. So then, Ranma was the man’s son, and this was his curse. ‘Ranko’ was simply a lie to save face. So be it; it was not his place to reveal the secrets of a fellow warrior. “Your curse is locked?”
Ranma nodded uselessly. “It is.”
Nabiki coughed. “The fight will have to be postponed until this problem can be solved.”
“No,” Mousse snapped. It was one thing to hide the nature of a curse, quite another to use the lie to escape battle. “I will accept ‘Ranko’ as my opponent in his stead.”
Ranma and Nabiki shared looks. “You don’t stand a chance, Mousse,” Ranma said calmly.
Mousse smirked. “We shall see.” He flung out an arm and an absurd number of chains flew from his sleeve.
Nabiki screamed in a way she would utterly deny later and jumped off the side of the ring.
Ranma merely stood there as the chains flew threw her. “Nice aim. But your tricks won’t work on me.”
“Tricks!?” Mousse raged, reaching into his sleeve.
A sleeve that didn’t stop Ranma’s eyes at all. “The egg bombs won’t work either. Or the blades in your sleeves,” she continued as his hand moved to another hidden weapon. Or the ones in your feet. Here.” She floated over and grabbed his wrist, through the sleeve and at least four deadly weapons.
Mousse opened his mouth to ask how this was possible when he felt the grip change. Next thing he knew his arm was twisted painfully behind his back. “How?” he bit out.
Ranma sighed. There was nothing gained from such a victory. “I told you you couldn’t beat me,” she said softly. “Challenge Ranma when he can come back. You can finish your fight then.”
Mousse snarled and kicked out behind him blindly. He felt his foot connect with flesh (of close enough anyway) and the pressure on his arm ended. He jumped away and turned, rethinking his situation. Whatever Ranma says, this is part of him. My Shampoo wants me to beat him at his best, and this is it.
Nabiki came up to Akane and Cologne. “This didn’t go according to plan.”
“Nice scream,” Akane said with a choked laugh.
“That wasn’t a scream,” Nabiki muttered. “It was a battlecry.”
“You were thinking Mousse would drop his challenge?” Cologne asked.
“Something like that.”
“Not happen,” came a familiar voice behind them. “Mousse stubborn like brick wall.”
“Shampoo,” Nabiki greeted coldly. “Here to try and kill me again?”
“No need kill Nabiki,” Shampoo said with a smile. “Airen need marry Shampoo, have Great Grandmother make man again. Shampoo not lose.”
Nabiki smiled evilly. “Unless I break the spell first.”
Shampoo laughed. “Nabiki no break without curserock.”
Nabiki backed off and added that to what she knew. Silently she cursed Shampoo’s poor language skills; there were a number of things that could even mean.
Meanwhile, the fight was going on…such as it was. Ranma had figured out that Mousse was as determined to fight as she was and stopped holding back. But, she still couldn’t build up the force to deliver a knockout. Without gravity, traction, or speed all she had were the muscles in her arms. And they were not enough.
She was getting desperate; Mousse was getting delirious from the beating she had given him. For his own sake, this needed to stop. Mousse threw another stream of chains, and Ranma reacted. She dodged to one side, grabbed the closest chain, planted her foot in the tarp, and spun her full weight around that pivot point. Mousse went flying out of the ring and hit the grassy hillside. He did not rise again.
At which point Ranma’s brain caught up with her and she realized she was standing on solid ground, people were staring at her, and she was still as naked as ever. She shrieked and promptly dove through the ring, only to encounter solid ground again, on her head. She promptly sank through the nonliving material.
“It would seem the groom has learned to materialize,” Cologne observed calmly as shocked silence reigned.
Gosunkugi stood up and turned away. The fight was over; there was nothing more to be learned here. “So, Saotome’s curse is locked…” he mumbled to himself. He wasn’t sure how, but he knew that was some important information.
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(Posted Mon, 05 Apr 2010 02:08)
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