mabli@idirect.com A Different Brand Of Mousse 2 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 saving up for a DVD player.) 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" Author's Intro: Around March (1998), I first thought of this idea of Mousse learning some kick-ass techniques. Then a while ago (November or December 1998), on the FFML, there was this whole discussion on Might vs. Right. Well, here's my point of view. Last Chapter: A Masked Man arranges it for Mousse to be taken back to China to teach him new skills to defeat any of his enemies. He has not shown why he is doing all this. He and Mousse were having a talk and his mask fell off. ************************************************************************ With great power comes great responsibility. - Uncle Ben, (Spiderman) Powers corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. - (I forgot. Sorry.) MORE POWER!!! - Tim Taylor (Home Improvement) For the next few minutes, Mousse stared at the person in front of him. He blocked out all the new visions slamming into his mind and looked straight ahead. He didn't think it was possible, but it seemed that it was. In front of him was a man, obviously middle-aged with grey hair that made him seem distinguished. He had Chinese features and his hair was down to his back. He was looking at himself, without needing his glasses. The shock overcame him and the new images bombarding his mind broke through. He struggled to bring back the image in front of him. He screamed as his mind painfully told him that there was way too much information streaming in. Slowly, the images slowed and he saw only an older version of himself in front of him. He gently shook the other Mousse, who promptly put a hand to his face. The Older Mousse no longer felt the mask on and saw Younger Mousse's shocked expression. "So now you know." he said, taking out glasses from thin air. "I assume you want to know the whole story now?" he asked, at the still gawking teenager. "Okay, here goes." "Two years from now, you take the chance of leaving Ranma alone with Shampoo and leave to train with our old master in hopes of finally learning a new technique that might beat Ranma. It was as if fate was guiding you... er, us because at the time, old master was willing to teach anyone who beat him his techniques before he passed on." ** "Why do you want to learn these techniques?" an old man said. Mousse sized up his opponent and said, "To win the hand of the woman I love." The old man's brow raised in question. "You mean if you beat her, you get to marry her, correct?" Mousse thought. "Yes. And you promise that you teach me your techniques?" "Try your best." the old man said, getting into an attack position." ** "The old man could have beat me in a heart beat, but he wanted to have a little fun and see how long I withstood his irritating attacks. I was lucky there was no one else to see what had happened. He kept giving me soft punches and kicks until they wore me down. That was the most embarrassing fight of my life. He waited me out while I threw everything I had at him. I even tried the Hidden Weapons final technique but they were countered easily. The only thing that kept me going was my love for Shampoo. He had never seen such determination. I guess I was lucky that he didn't meat Ranma yet, huh?" he paused. Younger Mousse nodded as Older Mousse continued his story. "He agreed to teach me his techniques on the grounds that when I finish my objective, I allow him to wipe my memory clean of it with that special shampoo. I learned them all and went back to Japan to challenge Ranma and Shampoo. Beating Ranma was very easy. When Cologne saw the techniques I was using, she called off the fight and made Shampoo marry me... Damn I was a fool." Older Mousse grimaced. The teenager looked at his counterpart with a confused look. "The whole time, I expected Shampoo to be happy but it turned out she was completely devoted to Ranma. We were married in China for only a week before I found out her true feelings about it. The Mind's eye allows you to see everything and I saw Shampoo and Cologne talking. She was ready to kill herself but Cologne wanted us to have children so I could teach the tribe, thus making us the most powerful people in the world. When I found this out, I went back to the old master to erase my memory and found that he had died days earlier from cancer. I asked anyone in the village who could do it but they were all honour bound by Cologne to never do anything that might jeopardize me passing the techniques on. The only solution I could think of was to somehow change everything so that Shampoo would never experience such sadness and here I am." Younger Mousse looked thoughtfully for a minute and asked, "Why are you teaching me these techniques then?" Older Mousse sighed and said, "I know how stubborn you are. I am you. Even if I tell you what to do, you probably wouldn't understand. Another reason is that the old man wanted his techniques passed on. I am honour bound to hold the vow." Older Mousse looked at Younger Mousse and prayed he wasn't making the biggest mistake of his life. He had a sinking feeling though that he had. Younger Mousse looked up at the sky and then used the Mind's eye to look in on Shampoo. She was waiting tables at the Nekohanten. he thought. "What about my cure of the duck and the Mind's eye?" Younger Mousse asked. "Since I was shown to be such a powerful fighter, the tribe pitched in an helped me and Shampoo find cures. The only cure they could find was for me. As for the Mind's eye, Cologne had an eye all along. She had it in a pendant. I had to wear that damned thing for a whole year before it transferred completely from the pendant to myself." Both of them sat quietly, Younger Mousse trying to put in order what was happening and the older one hoping for the best that things would end up different from his timeline. A piercing sound made both of them look around for the source of the noise. Older Mousse took out a small crystal from an arm band and said, "This is what brought me here and keeps me from being erased from existence. It's made from the same material as the Magic Mirror which Cologne had given to Happosai. I don't have much time left. You see, the farther I get from my original timeline, the less time I have. And judging from this," he said, raising the crystal up to the light, "I've got very little time. The final technique I need to teach you is how to teleport. It's pretty easy when you think about it, all you have to do is think of a place, bring your Black Hole there and step through it. Just be sure that your thoughts never waver or you may teleport to places you do not want to be in." "Shouldn't you stay and keep track of my training?" the teenager asked. The Older Mousse looked at the device and said, "I have about an hour left before I disappear." He looked at his younger self, "I guess I better help a bit. So, what do you want help with?" Younger Mousse thought carefully and said, "The barrier. I could probably learn all the other things you've taught me within time, but the barrier alone should be enough to beat Ranma." "Good idea. The barrier also helps with telekinesis anyway." said Older Mousse. "Get ready." The teenager concentrated and imagined an invisible barrier all around him. He gave the nod when he was ready. The man took out a bucket of water and threw the contents at his younger self, who promptly got drenched. "Well, at least you're not cursed anymore." said Older Mousse, smiling knowingly. ************************************************************************ Flashforward a while later... "I think you've got the basics now, Mousse." said Older Mousse, smiling proudly. "No. Just one more time." said Younger Mousse determinedly. He is now wearing a yellow rainjacket and the ground around him is extremely wet. Older Mousse sighed and threw yet more water at his younger self. The water flew towards the teen and stopped in mid-air. Both Mousses stared in amazement at the floating puddle of water. Suddenly, the water sped towards its thrower, drenching him. "What comes around and all that." commented Younger Mousse. Older Mousse wrings out his hair and smiles, "You've mastered the barrier and are on your way to mastering telekinesis. Just don't get cocky." With that, a void forms over Younger Mousse and a flood of water slams him, knocking him down. Younger Mousse lies face up, looking at the clouds go by. It doesn't matter that he's soaking wet. All he knows is that he'll finally be able to beat Ranma. Suddenly, a new train of thought pops into his head. He sits up and asks, "What's the future like?" "Have you ever heard of the possibility that no matter how small a change, the future will be completely changed? For example, if I cut one of these trees down. The ripples it causes in the fabric of space and time could affect things on the other side of the world." Older Mousse asked thoughtfully. "This is just a theory but it still scares the hell out of the people in charge from my time." "Wait a minute. Do you mean to tell me that the general public was told the people have the power to go back in time?" asked Younger Mousse, walking towards his counterpart. Older Mousse smiled and said, "One of the good things about the Mind's Eye is that you can see behind closed doors. It's amazing what governments are doing behind them." He took out his time travelling device and said, "The crystal is of unknown origin. It's what makes time travel possible. The other electronics help you choose your time and displays how much time you have left, which is about 5 minutes for me." "So I guess this is where we say goodbyes then." said Younger Mousse solemnly. "Mousse, I want you to promise me that you won't make the same mistakes I did and that you'll pass those techniques along. I know for a fact that you will fight Ranma, just remember; if you force yourself on Shampoo, she'll be the one who pays." said Older Mousse. "Does it really get that bad?" asked the teenager. "Unfortunately, yes." answered the man. He detached the time crystal from it's housing, causing his body to lapse in and out of reality. "A souvenir." he said, throwing the crystal to Younger Mousse. A pair of dark black sunglasses followed the crystal. "What's this for?" asked Younger Mousse. "Right now, you're relying completely on the Mind's Eye, so your natural eyes are looking all around. Doesn't look too good." answered the elder Mousse. "Bye Mousse. Try not to screw up too badly." With that, the Mousse from the future faded from existence. Mousse stared at where his older self had been. He put on the sunglasses and took out a mirror. The black shades were almost completely opaque but since he no longer really used his natural eyes, it didn't matter. He examined the crystal noticing how much it looked like a diamond. Hold it tightly in his hand he thought, With that he entered his void and teleported back to what he hoped would be Nerima. Mousse found himself walking down a drugstore down the bathing supplies aisle. he thought. He opened up the void once more and tried to think of Nerima. He now found himself walking down a city street. It didn't look like Nerima. "I hope I'm at least close to it." he said, looking for the wearer of the red Chinese shirt who always stood in his way. He saw a blur of red and ran towards the source of it. A redhead was running away from him followed by a girl in a skimpy black battlesuit. The girl in the black battlesuit shouted, "Akagiyama Missiles!" and a barrage of missiles flew towards the redhead. They all missed their mark and caused lots of damage to the city street. he thought, opening the void again and teleporting. He now found himself standing in front of a fireball. Instinctively, he formed a barrier to protect himself. He watched as the flames were blocked a few foot from his face. The fire subsided and he saw an angry looking girl with black hair. She was dressed in a skimpy type of high school uniform. "Get out of the way!" she yelled. He turned an saw what could only be described as a monster readying to punch him. He quickly raised his hands forward and tried a ki blast. The monster's fist hit Mousse shield while Mousse's blast tore through the chest of the hulking monster. thought Mousse stepping back through his void. Five girls looked at each other in disbelief. A guy came out of nowhere and blasted away the monster they were fighting and disappeared as quickly as he appeared. "That guy reminds me of an old boyfriend." a tall girl with brown hair said dreamily. The others facefaulted. Mousse stood in his world and concentrated on the picture of Nerima. he thought fiercely. He concentrated on the front of the Nekohanten and opened the void in front of him. "This better work." he said. Mousse now found himself where had wanted to be all along. The sun was starting to set. He saw a blur of purple and followed it instinctively. he thought, running slightly behind Shampoo as to not be noticed. ************************************************************************ Ranma and Akane were walking home from school on their usual route when a familiar figure glomped onto Ranma. "Ranma happy see Shampoo?" Shampoo asked, in her normal, bubbly self. Ranma glanced over to a fuming mad Akane who malleted Ranma to the sky. "What you do that for?" the irate Amazon asked. Akane was about to answer when Ranma was dropped right between them. "Pervert-girl getting weaker." Shampoo teased. Akane thought, Ranma got up into a battle stance and said, "Who did that?" From behind a corner, Mousse appeared. "Today, I shall win Shampoo from you and marry her." "You'll never beat me Mousse." Ranma said confidently. He glanced nervously back at Akane who looked ready to mallet him again. "Ranma, you can fight for Shampoo all you want. It's not as if I care. I'll see you at home." she said through clenched teeth. Ranma turned back to Mousse and asked, "How about the vacant lot?" "Let's go then." said Mousse, taking the lead. Shampoo thought evily. ************************************************************************ Ranma and Mousse stood facing each other. The only current spectators were Shampoo and Cologne. "I fight for the right to marry Shampoo." Mousse announced. "Shampoo, if Ranma wins, he has no claims on you. But to risk his chance to marry you would mean he knows something that can put him on equal footing with the son-in-law..." Cologne whispered to Shampoo. Mousse took out a staff and threw it to Ranma. "Might as well help you out a bit Saotome." he said confidently. Ranma caught it and broke it on his knee. "I do not need any help to beat you Mousse." he said. "Let's see." Mousse said, charging at Ranma with lengths of chain coming from his now invisible void. Ranma dodged easily enough and tried the Amaguriken on Mousse. He hit the Chinese boy a couple time before he felt his fist hit something between him and his opponent. he was forced to dodge another set of chains came from Mousse. Ranma couldn't believe that Mousse still hadn't retrieved the chains from before and was already trying to get him with another set. Mousse stopped attacking, and waited for Ranma to finish dealing with the another set of chains. He looked around and saw that there was a growing set of bystanders watching the fight and that Nabiki Tendo was there taking bets. he thought, looking at a pile of chains he had left on the ground. From out of nowhere Ranma coming up to him and attack with another Amaguriken, which once again hit the barrier he formed around himself. "What the heck are you doing Mousse?" Ranma asked, frustrated by the fact that he couldn't hit Mousse. "Watch this." Mousse said simply as he moved the limp chains on the grass with his thoughts. Ranma faced the mass of chains, which were moving about like metallic snakes. They took turns attacking Ranma, who dodged them easily but when they all started to attack at the same time he couldn't help but take some hits. Mousse tired of this game and bid them to return to the void. Ranma rubbed his elbow and turned back to his opponent. "That was a cheap trick Mousse." he said slowly. "I think I'll have to go all out on you." "By all means, try Saotome." Mousse said confidently. Ranma came in close and let loose another Amaguriken, which was once again blocked by some object that he couldn't see. Mousse took a set of shurikens and threw them at Ranma. This time, when Ranma tried to dodge, Mousse guided them right to him. They were about to hit Ranma when a bonbori knocked them out of the air. "What are you doing Shampoo?" Mousse asked, confused by her actions. "You no hurt Ranma. I no let you." she said confidently. Mousse looked into her eyes. They were near tears. he thought. From the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of light and his barrier was struck by Ranma's Moko Takabisha. Ranma's smile turned into a confused frown when he saw that Mousse hadn't even been touched. "Stay out of this!" Mousse shouted, throwing a ball of ki the size of a fist at Ranma. Ranma simply moved his head to dodge it. "That's the biggest you can make?" he said confidently. Suddenly, he was thrown back by the shockwave of the blast. He got up and looked at the hole caused by the blast. There was a black spot on the grass 20 feet in diameter. Ranma thought. Mousse turned his attention back on Shampoo. "Shampoo, if I win against Ranma, would you marry me?" Mousse asked pleadingly. Shampoo shook her head and said, "No Mousse. I never marry you. Even if Mousse do beat Ranma. Shampoo care for Ranma more than Shampoo honor." Mousse looked at Ranma, who was charging at him. He raised his hands and pushed Ranma away using telekinesis. Ranma was thrown back to the wall, where he stuck for a second then slid down. "Ranma, I forfeit the match. I don't want to win." Mousse said dejectedly. He turned back to Shampoo and said, "I love you more than I can say. I do not wish to see you so sad because of me. You should know that he could never love you as much as he loves Akane." Taking a final look at the girl he loved, he stepped back into his void. "Shampoo go check on Ranma." Shampoo said worriedly. Cologne looked at the damage to the lot caused by the two fighters. The old crone looked at the crowd. They still hadn't vacated the area. They were all shocked by the fact that it looked like Ranma had been beaten by Mousse, supposedly one of the weakest fighters in Nerima. She smirked when she saw people slowly snap out of their shock and go to Nabiki to claim their bets. Cologne pogoed to where Ranma was lying in Shampoo's arms. She smiled and said, "Shampoo is still yours son-in-law." Ranma got up shakily and said, "Do you know any counters to Mousse's new moves?" "The only way to ever beat Mousse is to learn the same techniques." Ranma sighed and walked home. he thought. ************************************************************************ Mousse looked at the world within his void. "What good are these powers if I can't even use them to do anything! I'm just stuck like I was before I learned anything." he shouted to the countryside. The wind blew, blowing his hair and robes around as if in sympathy for his situation. "Shampoo truly loves Ranma but she will be devastated when he realizes his feelings for Akane..." Mousse looked around his world. He gathered his ki and fired a depression blast straight up into the sky. He slumped to the ground, exhausted by the blast. He wondered if it had to do with his new power and technique. With that, he fell asleep. ************************************************************************ Ranma was at the Tendo's living room as Kasumi was tending to his wounds. He had many cuts from the fights with the chains and his hands were numb from punching Mousse's barrier. Kasumi packed up the first aid kit and went back to the kitchen. Ranma looked at his bandages when Nabiki came in and sat in front of the TV to watch the business portion of the news. "So Ranma, you got beat up by Mousse today. Is he getting better or are you getting worse?" she asked, looking at the TV. Ranma flinched as if he was punched and said, "I won. He gave up." "But Ranma, you were down and he just gave up. I wouldn't call that a true win." she said, looking back at the injured martial artist who had flinched again. "You didn't have to fight you know." Akane said, walking into the room. "If you just swallowed your pride and let him beat you, you could have gotten rid of Shampoo completely." Ranma was about to respond when Soun barged into the living room and said, "I hear you've been fighting over Shampoo again. What do you have to say for yourself?" Genma-panda was standing beside him waving a sign that said, "Explain, boy!" Ranma stood up and said, "All that matters is that I was the one who won." "With the prize being Shampoo." Nabiki said dryly, looking back to the TV. With a defeated sigh, Ranma left for his room. he thought. ************************************************************************ Mousse woke up to a gentle rain falling from the sky. His world was dark and it looked as if the light rain was a precursor to the rains to come. He materialized the entryway and stepped outside. It was another clear morning in Nerima. The void had opened up in the shopping district of Nerima. He was wandering around, still confused as to what he should do. He knew that Shampoo had no feelings of love for him but he didn't want her spending any more of her life waiting for Ranma to make his decision. He was so engrossed in thought that he didn't notice someone was speaking to him until they tapped him on the shoulder. "You seem very sad for someone around here." a kind sounding voice said. Mousse looked around and saw that he was in a small park near the edge of the shopping district. Everyone looked happy and carefree while he stuck out like a sore thumb. He looked back to the person who talked to him. She was a middle-aged woman with dark red hair. She wearing a traditional looking kimono and carrying a long, wrapped bundle. "I'm in a real bind." he answered meekly, "I don't have any idea how to solve my problem." The woman looked thoughtfully for a moment and said, "Maybe I can help you out. I don't have anything better to do." Mousse sighed and said, "I want to show a girl that the guy she likes doesn't like her and never will because the guy is in love with another girl yet isn't willing to show it because of his pride." The lady smiled and said, "Your whole story is summed up in one sentence? Hmm. Well, I have a feeling that you have some interest in the girl who you're trying to show that the guy doesn't love her, correct?" Mousse nodded. "Ah to be young again..." Nodoka said wistfully. "I think the only way to solve the problem is to get the young man to profess his love to the one he truly loves. Do that and everything should work out." she said. Mousse thought, "Thank you. I will try your suggestion. My name is Mousse." "My name's Nodoka Saotome. I wish you luck." she said, walking off. Mousse thought. ************************************************************************ Mousse walked up to the gates of the Tendo Dojo. So many times, he had just barged in. This time, he was actually going to knock. After knocking, he was greeted by Kasumi. "Hello, you're one of Ranma's friends aren't you?" Mousse nodded, surprised at Kasumi's hospitality. He remembered all the damage he'd caused before to the Tendo house and grounds. "Would you like me to get him for you?" she asked. Mousse shook his head and said, "I didn't come to meet with him today. I've come to speak with Nabiki." Kasumi's expression looked surprised for a a second but quickly turned back to the normal smile she always wore. "Please come in then." she said, opening the door. She walked him in to the house and called Nabiki down. "She'll be down in a minute. It was nice to meet you Mousse." she said, leaving for the kitchen once again. Nabiki came down to see who had come to visit her. She was surprised to see Mousse fidgeting at the bottom of the stairs. she thought. "What can I help you with Mousse?" she said, almost matching her older sister's sweetness. Mousse looked around and said, "This isn't the best place for us to talk business. Would you mind if we went somewhere else?" Nabiki nodded and called out to the rest in the house that she was leaving and coming back later. ************************************************************************ The two walked down the streets of Nerima. Nabiki leading Mousse to the shopping district, more precisely, the restaurants. "This is probably your strangest request yet but here goes." Mousse started, "I need you to tell me everything you know about Ranma and his family. Tell me as much information possible." Nabiki's face of seemingly perpetual calm betrayed the emotion of total surprise for a second. She regained her composure and said, "That kind of info doesn't come cheap. There's a lot to tell." She opened her hand face up waiting for payment. Mousse took something from his void and placed it in her hand. She almost fainted at what Mousse put in there. In her hand was roughly a ping-pong ball sized lump of what looked to be gold. "What's this?" she asked. "It's gold." Mousse said simply. "I'm afraid that I'll have to look up it's authenticity before I can tell you anything." she said, leading him towards the jeweler's shop. "I expected that." Mousse answered. he thought. ************************************************************************ The chime of a bell informed the jeweler that he had customers. He came out from the back of his store and saw a couple come in. "Hello, what can I do for you two? A engagement ring perhaps?" he said kindly. The two looked at each other briefly. Nabiki took out something from her hand and placed it on the counter. "I'd like to know the quality of this nugget." she said calmly. The man took out a jeweler's loupe and examined it carefully. "This nugget is easily 23 karats. I'll give you 25 thousand yen for it." he said thoughtfully. Nabiki's eyes widened and agreed took the nugget. "I'll let you know." she said, dragging out Mousse. When they were outside, Nabiki asked the question on the top of her mind. "Where the heck did you get this?" she said, pointing to the nugget. Mousse looked unsure and said, "I... uh... remember when we all went to Togenkyo Island? Well, I stumbled in on a treasure vault. I took a couple things. They won't miss a thing." she thought, looked at the nugget and the panicking martial artist. She put it carefully in her pocket, making sure it was there, "So, where do you want me to begin?" End Part 2 Author's Notes: A loupe is the eyepiece thingy that a jeweler puts on to examine his wares.