mabli@idirect.com A Different Brand Of Mousse part 7 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. (Can't go to school and go to court at the same time can I? I probably can but I don't want to find out.) 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 {} Author's Intro: Just keep reading. I did not post the wrong fic. What's happened before: Mousse meets the three Goddesses and Keiichi. Skuld made some interesting observations as to what's wrong with Mousse. It also turns out that Urd does know Mousse in some way. Ranma talks with Ukyo about the challenge and her thoughts on the other fiancees. ************************************************************************ The procession of Prince Malcolm slowly made it's way to the City of Alusia. The horses were tired from the distance involved in getting to the city and the men were engaged in small talk. The morale was high because the union of the two kingdoms had been thought of for many decades and it was finally coming to pass. Being in a beautiful forest in the fall also lightened the mood. Prince Malcolm rode beside his most trusted Royal guard, who everybody called 'Falcon'. "Well, it seems that your worries were for not. Our little band has repelled all attacks without a single casualty. What do you have to say about that old friend?" Falcon smiled and said, "We still aren't there yet my Prince. A bit of paranoia never hurt. It's kept you safe so far." Malcolm nodded and said, "True enough. Where would I be without you." Falcon thought. "What of the engagement? Are you still going through with it?" "Of course I'm going through with it. The happiness of thousands is of more importance than my own. Besides, if I didn't go through with it, Princess Diandra will have to marry my brother." Malcolm said. "Well, Phillip is rather mature for a twelve year old." Falcon joked. Malcolm laughed heartily and said, "I'd love to see Diandra's reaction if that actually happened. Phillip probably wouldn't mind at all." Falcon smiled a crocodile smile and thought, Suddenly, the soldier in front of the two fell down dead. An arrow lodged through his neck. At the sight of this, everybody drew out their swords and prepared for the attack. The attackers ran screaming out of the woods, wielding sword, battle axes and clubs. Arrows whizzed by, most hitting their mark. Malcolm hacked down two on his right before withdrawing to take in the fight. All his men were being swarmed by the attackers. They were not going to win this fight. "Prince!" Falcon cried out a couple meters from him. "Let's make a break for it!" Malcolm nodded and spurred his horse on towards Falcon. The two rode on for two minutes before they slowed down. "That's strange. Why aren't they following us?" asked Malcolm, looking back every now and then. Again, from out of the forest, people came out with weapons, this time not attacking but surrounding the two in a big circle. Malcolm raised his sword to the attackers. He would fight to the very end. Falcon dismounted and his horse trotted over to one of the attackers. He turned to Malcolm and said, "My Prince, would you allow me the honour of a duel to the death?" "Wh-what?! What's the meaning of this?!" asked Malcolm, turning his horse so he was facing Falcon. "Sometimes you are very dense. This is a duel. I'm going to use this sword and kill you." he said in a tone used on bad little children. Malcolm sized up his ex-friend for a moment then dismounted. "Who are you really?" he asked. "Why I'm Falcon..." he said matter-of-factly. "...of the Black Swords." He unsheathed a sword the prince had never seen him carry. The blade was as black as night. Falcon also unsheathed his other sword and held it up for everyone to see. The silver colour of the sword turned black. thought Malcolm. "Why are you doing all this?" he asked, staring at Falcon as he touched the black swords to his armor, also turning it black. "Rather simple really. You've got a very big price on your head. Enough for everyone," he said pointing to the men surrounding them, "to live well for at least till spring." Malcolm moved into a defensive position and said, "If I win, your men will still kill me, correct?" Falcon looked towards his men and grinned. "Of course they will. But fight me and your death will be quick, I assure you. They on the other hand..." he trailed off, letting his words hang. Malcolm looked around him and without warning, charged towards Falcon, swinging his sword wildly. Falcon side-stepped and allowed Malcolm to pass by him, hitting the prince on the head with the flat side of his right sword. "Perhaps, I should only use one sword against you." Falcon said confidently, sticking one of his ebony black swords into the ground. Malcolm turned to face his enemy again. He faked to the left and swung to the right, where his sword made contact with Falcon's. They locked for a moment before Falcon withdrew and slashed horizontally. The prince dodged and thrust for Falcon's heart. Falcon dodged again and slashed Malcolm in the side. Malcolm fell to the ground, clutching his side, trying to stop the bleeding. Falcon looked at the blood on his sword and said, "Perhaps if you weren't always sneaking off with that mysterious woman of yours, you would have learned to fight like a man." Malcolm staggered to his feet, using his sword to stand up. His vision was starting to darken. He charged for Falcon again, slower than the previous times to try and see where his opponent's sword would be coming from. He saw a flash from the corner of his eye and blocked the incoming sword. "Not bad." Falcon commented as they locked swords again. "But it's almost time for supper." with that, he drew out a small dagger from his belt and pierced the prince's heart. The prince staggered back, staring at the dagger lodged in his chest. Pain was registering but it was being blocked by a different emotion. Shock. It wasn't everyday you see a piece of metal stuck in your body. He walked back a couple more steps before falling on his back. Falcon gave a small bow to his fallen enemy and smiled, "All too easy." He turned to two of his men and said, "Get him ready to see King Eric." The men went up to the body and started moving him to one of the horses. One holding him by the arms, the other by the feet. Suddenly, a few meters from them, a bolt of lightning stuck, sending the two men sprawling and startling the others. Falcon looked at the blast site and saw nothing but blackened ground. He looked over to the body of the prince and saw a white haired girl crying over the body. His men were all too shaken up by being so close to the bolt so he decided to check out the situation for himself. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry." the girl cried over Malcolm's body. "I couldn't make it in time." Tears flowed freely and she sobbed, not caring about anything else but her dead lover. Falcon stared curiously at the girl crying over the body of his latest kill. He couldn't understand a word she said but he still asked, "Who are you?" The girl started a turned to the voice. Her look of sadness turned to quiet rage and she in his language, "You killed him for money?" "Yeah, so?" said Falcon disinterestedly. he thought to himself. The girl's voice turned low and dangerous. "You deserve to die... but that is too kind for someone like you..." Suddenly, a column of pure light surrounded the girl. It stretched from the ground to the sky and the once still wind now blew hard, coming from the girl. Falcon's men scattered like leaves but he stayed in pure awe. The girl chanted in an unknown language and before Falcon knew it, a glowing ball formed in her hands and was coming straight towards him. He reflexively dodged but somehow, it came back like a boomerang, hitting him in the back. The force of the impact was enough to knock him flat on his face. Falcon did a mental check to see if anything seemed wrong. Sensing nothing, he got up and said, "What was that? Some kind of joke?" The girl didn't answer him. She was kneeling over Malcolm's body again. "I'm sorry my love but that's the best the Goddess of Love can do. Until I see you in heaven." with that, she gave him a kiss on the lips and disappeared in a flash of light. Falcon smirked and said, "Well, that's that." ************************************************************************ Mousse looked up at the starry sky above him. He was looking out the window of a hut modeled to look like his older version's. He was wondering the significance of the dream he just had. All his life, that was the only dream that came to him. The events played back the same everytime. Mousse thought. During his stay in Japan, he had done research in the libraries during his breaks. One of the interesting facts that he found out was that there was a real Prince Malcolm and Phillip. Searching for the man named Falcon was practically pointless because he obviously belonged to a clan or guild of some sort. Secrecy would have prevented him from finding anything. he thought. He formed an image in his mind of the scenes that unfolded in his dream. He focused on the girl. She seemed so familiar for some reason. And what was with that beam of light? He was a magician by hobby and knew all about tricks and illusions. What happened in the dream could not have been an illusion. Coming down in a bolt of lightning pretty much proved that. The blast she threw at the man named 'Falcon'. What could it have been? His mind was absolutely sure that it wasn't a ki blast. He didn't know how he knew but he just did. His thoughts flashed back to what the girl said to the dead prince. He focused, trying to discern what she was saying to him. The words were too faint but he still tried. Frustrated, he got dressed in his usual robes and went out into the real world. He squinted from the mid-morning sun. The notebook his older self gave him had nothing about how to make the time in your void the same as the outside world. He looked around at his surroundings. It wasn't hard to tell that he was back in Nerima. The infamous panty thief was running away from a group of angry girls. They were running out the gate of Furinkan High on a straight course towards Mousse. Mousse thought, getting out of the way of the incoming mob. The mob usually consisted of girl during the weekdays but since it was the weekend, even more girls were chasing around Happosai. "What a haul! What a haul" the perverted master yelled triumphantly. "Get back here you old lecher!" came the battle cry of the running girls. The group passed by Mousse who smiled inwardly. Mousse instinctively closed his eyes and focused on Happosai. The girls in leading the pack barely had time to move out of the way as Happosai sped to a halt a few feet from them. The others behind them almost fell on Happosai but managed to stop in time. "Wha-what's going on?" on of the girls asked. A closer examination showed that Happosai was levitating off the ground. Mousse had stopped Happosai in between strides. "Get back! It might be some sort of trick." another girl said. "What did you girls do to me?!" Happosai asked. "I can't move. What's going on?" One of the braver girls took a practice swing at Happosai with a broomstick. The old pervert was sent flying into a brick wall. "OW!! Hey, this is unfair! Why can't I move? Someone help me!" the old pervert complained. "Hey! Just like t-ball!" the girl said. "Let's get our stuff first." one of the girls said. The girls retrieved their undergarments and then proceeded to smack the two foot senior to their hearts content. Mousse thought. ************************************************************************ The smell of okonomiyaki and ramen was still heavy in the air as all the campers gathered at a clearing in the forest. Genma and Cologne took turns teaching Ranma while the girls watched. "Hey Akane." Ukyo said out of the blue. "What do you think of Ranma's chances against Mousse?" "I haven't seen how Mousse fights but seeing how worried Ranma looks, I think that this will be are really close fight." Akane said. "You didn't answer my question. Who do you think will win?" Ukyo asked. "Ranma win of course." Shampoo said confidently. Ukyo looked at Shampoo and asked, "What about the rumours?" Akane looked concerned and said, "What rumours?" "You know about the fight Mousse and Ranma had before we all left for this trip right?" Ukyo asked Akane, who nodded slowly. "Well, after that fight, some of the witnesses came to the restaurant and told me what happened. Everyone said that Mousse could have beaten Ranma easily but just quit after a little talk with Shampoo. My customers couldn't remember what was said at that point." Ukyo turned to the Chinese girl and said, "So Shampoo, you mind telling us what happened during that fight?" Shampoo looked at the two girls and said, "Shampoo tell Mousse she no love him. He leave." "Then why would he still want to fight Ranma?" asked Akane, showing obvious signs of concern for her fiancee. "Maybe trying to keep airen from marrying Shampoo by killing him." Shampoo said coldly. "He would really do that would he?" said a panicking Akane. "Well, those weapons he's always throwing around don't look harmless Akane. That's got to be it." Ukyo reasoned. "Besides, why else would the old ghoul teach Ranma such advanced techniques if she didn't fear for his life." "I don't know why but I still can't completely believe Mousse would actually kill for something like that." Akane said disbelievingly. "Akane forget time Mousse try turn Akane into duck?" Shampoo said questioningly. "Hidden Weapons martial art is for killers and assassins." ************************************************************************ Last night in the Amazon's tent... {Great-grandmother, do you think that Ranma can beat Mousse?} Shampoo asked. Cologne looked into her grand-daughter's eyes and saw the small fire of hope that burned within her eyes. {If son-in-law masters these techniques, I'm sure he will.} Cologne lied, the words 'hope must never be extinguished' running through her mind. {Good night Great-grandmother.} she said softly, remembering the nightly ritual. Cologne answered with, {Good night great-granddaughter.} Cologne stared up at the ceiling, unable to find sleep quickly due to her troubled mind. she thought. ************************************************************************ "...and then I blasted that guy and returned to heaven." Urd finished her story. "Then why are you trying to find that guy from last night?" Skuld interrupted. Urd sighed and took chuged some sake. "I was just getting to that! The spell I put on that mortal is the most powerful spell the Goddess of Love can ever put on a person. It's the Spell of Unrequited Love. It makes the person only like one individual but that individual would forever spurn the other. It also prevents people of the opposite sex from falling in love with the person with the curse." "How could you possibly cast a spell like that?" Skuld asked. "You're a limited Goddess, that kind of spell must take enormous amounts of power to keep it together." Urd threw the sake lid at Skuld. "Stop interrupting! Anyway, when I cast that spell, I kinda screwed it up." Skuld thought, casually stretching to get the lid that missed her and readying it to throw at Urd. "I used too much power and the spell didn't vanish when the person died. Instead, it reincarnated the soul of the person and passed on the spell. It also gave that person a different personality from the previous person. Since then, I've been trying to find the latest incarnation of the guy I cast the spell on. It's hard because of the fact that the person is different each time. It's so hard that by the time I've found them they're already dead." "What do you mean?" Keiichi asked. "Well, humans don't survive too well without love in their lives. Usually, when I catch up to the person, they'd committed suicide or murder. There are still places in the world with the death penalty you know. Funny thing is that everytime I get to the body, Death is always a couple seconds behind me. One time he asked if I was trying to beat him to the punch or something." Urd said with a slight smile, remembering that incident. Urd took another swig from the bottle before saying, "Lately, Father has been getting suspicious as to why there's so much drain on the Yggdrassil, so I had to find an excuse to go to Earth. That was part of the reason I came down to help you two out in your relationship. Anyway, I need find that guy and lift the spell before Father finds out." Keiichi looked thoughtfully for a moment and said, "Last night, Skuld said something about that guy having a dirty looking aura. What could that mean?" "That means that all the personalities are still within that person. They haven't been able to reach Heaven." Belldandy answered. "Theoretically, you could call on one of those souls and be able to talk to them." The group grew silent for a moment when Urd asked, "So Belldandy, can you finally tell me where that guy is?" "Well, Mousse says that he lives in a place called Nerima. It's not very far from here. In fact, we're racing a local university there. Why don't we all go together?" Belldandy said. Urd looked like she was about to protest but said, "Might as well. I feel too tired to do much today. He probably drained me accidentally by being so close." With that, Urd finished off the bottle and headed off to the kitchen for more. "Well, when Urd screws up, she does it big time." Skuld said when Urd was out of earshot. "Skuld, that's not very nice." Belldandy chided. "So what do we do now?" Keiichi asked the remaining Goddesses. "Well, if I were you, I'd probably try to find Mousse right now and begin setting things up. I mean, it's not like you'll have time to do everything you need to lift the spell during the races." Skuld said matter-of-factly. "And if you try to do everything after the races, it'll be around the middle of the night when you're ready to lift the spell. Let's face it, the only way to get this done quickly is to send someone to tell him all about it and start getting everything ready..." Skuld trailed off when she saw the look on Keiichi and Belldandy's faces. "Skuld, you will help Urd out and go meet up with Mousse won't you?" Belldandy asked sweetly. Skuld sighed and said, "Okay older sister." ************************************************************************ End Part 7 Waste of space: A couple weeks ago (sometime between Sept. - Oct. 1998), someone on the FFML sent couple compatibility ratings for anime characters. They got the results from the site www.lovecalculator.com. You simply put the first names and the last names of the couple or couple to be. I've tried it out using Mu Tsu and here's what I got: Mu Tsu + Xian Pu = 1% (ouch!) Mu Tsu + Akane Tendo = 58% (What!? Well, they did work together in the Contrary Jewel episode...) Mu Tsu + Nabiki Tendo = 45% (the strange thing is that Nabiki's always a bit behind Kasumi... A bit of the Marsha-Jan situation here?) Mu Tsu + Kasumi Tendo = 46% (the Zu crew is already doing this one) Mu Tsu + Ukyo Kuonji = 63% (explains all the recent Ukyo+Mousse fics) Does this have any influence on 'Brand of Mousse'? You'll just have to read and find out. Also, does anyone know the Goddesses last names? This match up has nothing to do with anything with the fic but I just have to share it with the rest of the world: Mikado Sanzenin + Kasumi Tendo = 91% (Nabiki got 2 points less.)