CRASH & BURN by Ryoko Saotome (Part Four) "KUNO?!" Before Ryoga could ask what he was doing there--hell, before they could ask *how* he knew where everyone was!--a very happy cry came from the living room: "Tatchi!!!!" With only that warning, Tsubasa bounded into the foyer and power-glomped the kedonist, damn near knocking the older boy over in his enthusiasm. "Where the hell have you *been*?!" he demanded, hanging onto Kuno's arm as if he expected the older boy to vanish into thin air. "You *told* me you would be at the Nekohanten!" "Um, excuse us?" Ranma called meekly as he peeked around the corner, as were Ukyou, Akane, and Mousse. "What, exactly, do you mean, Tsu-chan?" It was about this time that Tsubasa realized everyone in the room, with the exception of Mousse and Ryoga, had seen the 'fight' earlier and quickly dropped Kuno's arm and flushed a bright red. "Er... ah... ano...." "Aww... Ucchan, don't you think they make a cute couple?" Akane asked the other girl mischievously. Ukyou grinned and nodded enthusiastically in reply. Tsubasa's only response was to blush an even brighter shade of red and stammer some more. "Knock it off, you two," Ryoga scolded the two girls before turning his attention back to Kuno. "Ranma *does* have a point, though." Kuno blinked at the group before shaking his head. "I overheard the--*ahem*-- conversation that Shampoo--" "Lavender-haired, violet eyed *shrew*," Ranma grumbled under his breath; Mousse clamped one hand over his mouth to shut him up for a second. "--had with Ukyou and Akane earlier," Kuno continued as if he'd never been interrupted. "Since it seemed there might be a confrontation, I decided to follow and make sure nothing untoward happened to anyone." Everyone blinked in confusion. "Ano... could you maybe explain that in plain Japanese?" Ukyou asked hesitantly. The translation came from Tsubasa: "He tailed us to make sure that Shampoo didn't do anything violent." "Oh." After a few minutes of silence, Ranma asked, "Why, exactly?" "He was looking out for his boyfriend," Akane said suddenly, shooting a look at Tsubasa. He blushed in response and looked over at a wall. The girl grinned. "I'm right, aren't I?" "Is Nabiki looking for another spy?" Kuno mumbled under his breath. Ranma heard him and snickered. "I thought you hated boys, Tsu-chan," he sing-songed. Mousse smacked him lightly on the back of the head. "Behave," he chided. "Everyone's entitled to change their mind. If that wasn't the case, I'd still be chasing what's'erface all over Nerima and declaring undying love." "I didn't come here to discuss my love life," Tatewaki interrupted, and ignoring the stares he got for his statement. "I came here to help decide what to do about the girl." "Well, we all agree that *something* has to be done to stop her," Ryoga said, still trying to comprehend the idea of Tsubasa and Kuno being a couple. "The question is, what?" "KILL HER!!" Ranma declared loudly. "TIE HER UP, FEED HER TO PIRANHAS, AND *KILL HER*!!!" Everyone sweatdropped. "Erm, Ranma?" Tsubasa said quietly. "Isn't that a *bit* excessive?" "Nope," the pigtailed boy grinned. He had a lot of other ideas involving painful death for the lavender-haired Amazon. He projected some of the more creative ways to his lovers, who both paled slightly. "Ugh, not even Shamps deserves *that*," Mousse shuddered. Being forced to listen to "... Baby One More Time" in a continuous loop was a fate he wouldn't wish upon his worst enemy. Akane shook her head. "I don't *want* to know, I don't *care* to know...." "I thought that we were going to take a *non*-violent approach," Ukyou said, glaring at the pigtailed boy (who was currently being held down by Mousse). "That's no fun," Ranma grumbled. Mousse leaned down and whispered something to the other boy, which caused him to brighten suddenly. "Y'promise?" "As soon as we take care of this problem, yes." Ryoga shuddered as Ranma smiled brightly and glanced over at him before giggling. <~Mousse...~> <~Yesss?~> <~... never mind, I have the feeling I don't wanna know.~> "Okay!" Tsubasa spoke up, finally managing to overcome his embarrassment at being found out. "Now that we know what we're *NOT* going to do to her"--here he glanced at Ranma, who was busy thinking about whatever it was Mousse promised him, and shook his head--"what *are* we going to do about her?" "Actually, the piranha idea has merit..." Kuno said thoughtfully after a moment. "Tatchi no baka," Akane mumbled as the others began snickering. "I was thinking something along the lines of hitting her over the head with a sledgehammer and shipping her back to China in a doggie bag." "Kami-sama, Akane, just how damn hard are you planning on hitting her?!" Ukyou shouted, eyes wide. Akane just smiled sweetly in response. *DING DONG* "What the fuck?!" "RYOGA!!" six voices chorused, a bit shocked at the Lost Boy's annoyed exclamation. "I feel like I'm living in a damned bus station," the Lost Boy grumbled as he rose to answer the door yet again. Ranma stopped him, a dark look crossing his features. "I think it's for me," he said quietly, then he stood and walked towards the door. Mousse glanced out the window and blanched. "Oh, shit..." His voice was barely a whisper. "I don't believe her nerve..." The room fell silent. From the foyer they could all hear a cool feminine voice: "Nihoa, Ranma." ~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~ "What the hell are *you* doing here?" Ranma growled, leaning against the doorframe and crossing his arms. It was taking all of his willpower to not just knock the bitch into next week. Shampoo smirked. "Why, Ranma! One would think you *weren't* happy to see me!" "What. Do. You. Want?" he repeated, annoyance in his tone. The Amazon girl merely smirked again and tossed her lavender hair. "You already know." Ranma took one step towards Shampoo, pulling the door closed behind him so that the others couldn't hear his next words. "You'll have to go through me first," he hissed, quiet fury in his tone. "And even if you kill me, I very much doubt Ryoga will let you anywhere near Mousse without a fight." "That doesn't matter at all," she said, her own tone threatening. "After I get *you* out of the picture, Pig Boy will be a cinch. Swine like him are all the same--take away their one true strength, and they're *nothing*." Ranma cracked his knuckles. "*What* did you call Ryoga?" Shampoo smiled menacingly. "You heard me." That was the last straw. Ranma's aura began to glow red, and he quickly blocked off his thoughts from his lovers--if he failed, he didn't want either one of them to suffer with him--but not before sending them both a very brief message. "Park. Now." "But of course, 'dear airen'." ~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~ Four of the six people in the living room hadn't heard any part of the conversation from the time Ranma stepped outside; two were able to feel his anger rising but didn't 'hear' anything being said. Then, even that connection was blocked, and Ryoga and Mousse exchanged a worried glance. "Is he... just going to fight her... *alone*?" Tsubasa finally asked softly, sliding off the arm of the chair into Kuno's lap. The older youth responded by wrapping his arms around the other boy and pulling him close. Akane and Ukyou looked at each other, then shifted their gazes to the other boys in the room. Ryoga looked pale, and Mousse shivered slightly. "I think," Mousse said softly, "he is." "NANI?!" "Has he lost his mind?!" "There's no way in *hell* she's going to make this a fair fight!" "He could be killed!" Ryoga didn't speak. His mind was still reeling from the last message he'd received from Ranma just before the link was severed: <~If anything happens to me... just remember I love you both with all my heart and soul.~> To the Lost Boy--and, he was quite certain, to Mousse as well--it sounded as if Ranma didn't expect to survive the encounter. ~ When you feel all alone And the world has turned its back on you ~ <~Ryoga?~> The 'tone' was soft and almost frightened. <~Hai, Mousse-chan?~> <~I'm going after them.~> "No!" he shouted, startling the others in the room. "If you go out there, then what's to stop her from just going after you? I can't allow that!" "Damn it, Ryoga, I *know* the risk!" Mousse shouted back. Even now he could hear the fear in the other boy's voice. "But I'm a warrior. I can't just *sit* here knowing that one of the people I can't possibly live without may be about to die and not do a damn thing about it!" He took a breath to calm himself slightly, then continued in a more subdued tone, "I can't lose him, Ryo-chan. I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least *try*." ~ Give me a moment please To tame your wild wild heart ~ Ryoga lowered his eyes. The Amazon was right. He wasn't happy about Ranma's brash decision either, and he couldn't stand the thought of a life without the pigtailed boy. He looked up at Mousse, saw the same fear and determination in those blue-grey eyes that he *knew* was in his own, and smiled slightly. "Then we both go," he said finally. "You're crazy!" Ukyou declared, finally catching up with the conversation. "I'm coming with you," Kuno said, standing (Tsubasa had noticed his shift of weight and stood seconds earlier) and moving towards the two boys. "Saotome could very well be in over his head, and will need all the help he can get." "Translation: he wants a piece of the bitch, too," Tsubasa supplied helpfully, linking arms with Kuno. "And frankly, so do I. No one treats *my* friends this way!" "I've been wanting to pound her ever since I met her," Akane joined in, pulling her mallet-sama out of hammer space. "Maybe Ran-chan will let me take a whack at her!" "I've changed my mind. You're *all* crazy!" Ukyou groaned before pulling out her battle spatula. "And I must be, too, for going along with this! So, any idea where they may have gone?" Ryoga took a deep breath and closed his eyes, focusing all his attention on Ranma's whereabouts. It was a talent he hadn't employed since the night they found Mousse at the slave camps almost a year ago, and he was desperately hoping he remembered how to lock onto the other boy. Mousse thought. The Lost Boy's eyes flew open suddenly, and he turned to the group watching him expectantly. "They're at the park." "Then that's where we've gotta be." On some unspoken signal, the group rushed out the door and headed towards what would probably be the final confrontation... one that someone wouldn't be walking away from.... ~~^~~^^~~^~~^^~~^~~ Ranma barely had time to turn around to face Shampoo before the lavender-haired Amazon struck him with a surprise ki attack. The ground around him ceased to exist, and it was only due to the fact that he moved so fast that he even managed to elude 'ground zero'. Ranma thought as he continued to dodge her blasts. He wasn't exactly trying to not fight--he was ready to pound her into the dirt first chance he got--but he needed to observe her for a moment and find an opening. She knew all his techniques, and she wasn't about to let him gain any ground. The second Ranma's foot hit the ground, Shampoo unleashed another unknown ki attack as she tried to catch him off-guard. However, even the best-trained martial artist makes mistakes--and Shampoo was just as human as anyone else. Every time she unleashed an attack, she left herself open for a physical assault. Ranma noticed this, and the next time she let loose a ki blast, he was ready for her. He dodged the blast gracefully, landing right next to the lavender-haired beauty. "What the hell--?" she started to say, only to be cut off as Ranma *finally* got to hit her. He was fairly pissed off, too--it was hard to forget that she had ruined someone's life when he saw that person every day--and as a result he knocked her back a good hundred feet. Shampoo shakily stood, bringing one hand to her mouth to wipe away the blood that was beginning to flow from the wound--she had bitten her lip when he punched her, and would probably require quite a few stitches. She glared at the pigtailed martial artist. "So, you want to get physical, ne?" she growled. Ranma sneered back. "Shamps, I've been wanting to get physical since I found out you were involved with Mousse's suffering." The two combatants glared at one another, sizing up the other's strengths and weaknesses, then attacked as one. Shampoo didn't let up one bit once she got her rhythm set; neither did Ranma. Punches were thrown and blocked effectively; kicks were countered almost instantly. If anyone was unaware of the seriousness behind the battle, they would have appeared to be moving as one. No one can keep up a strenuous pace forever, though. Shampoo found an opening and launched repeated kicks and punches in a flurry of motion. Ranma, caught off-guard, could do nothing more than block as much of the attack as he could. The Amazon wasn't going down easy, and she had every intention of killing her opponent. As Ranma hit the ground, struggling to regain his footing, the remaining six teens arrived. Ryoga's eyes narrowed as he saw the damage that had been done to his younger lover and turned to glare at Shampoo. "I dare you," he said coldly as the female warrior moved in to finish off her opponent, "to even *move* one step closer to him." Shampoo paused. The menace in the Lost Boy's tone was not lost on her, and she moved one step away from the pigtailed boy. As she stepped back, a flurry of chains suddenly wrapped themselves around her and spun her away from Ranma. They released her, and just before she hit the ground, she thought she saw Mousse and Tsubasa rush over to the fallen warrior's side. Akane, Ukyou, and Kuno surrounded the girl before she even had the chance to pick herself up off the ground. And, judging from the fact that *all* had their weapons drawn, she wasn't going to be able to talk her way out of this mess. <~Mousse, how is he?~> Ryoga asked, worry for his love overriding his anger at Shampoo--for the moment. Mousse drew the smaller youth into his arms and quickly evaluated his injuries. <~A few broken bones, some cuts and scratches, burn marks from some sort of ki attack, and he's unconscious. I'm getting him out of here.~> Leaving him to his task, Ryoga turned and stalked over to where the three teens were 'keeping an eye on' Shampoo. He nearly smiled--the three looked ready to attack if she even sneezed wrong!--but his amusement died when he looked into her cold violet eyes and saw no remorse for her actions. If anything, she looked *proud*. Akane stepped aside and let the Lost Boy into the circle. He crouched down next to the girl and glared at her. When he spoke, the look in Shampoo's eyes went from arrogant to worried to downright fearful. "If I *ever* see you anywhere near Ranma or Mousse again," he said slowly, his eyes conveying just how serious he was, "I will kill you. No fancy fights, no weapons, no battles. I will simply kill you the way I killed *them*." She didn't need to ask who he meant by 'them'--she had read about the destruction of the compound, and had no doubt that Ryoga had been responsible for the whole thing. "Get up," he said, "and get out of my sight." Shampoo wasted no time in obeying the command, despite the fact that a boken and a battle spatula were thisclose to her neck, and it seemed neither teen would feel any remorse for her untimely demise. The group turned, and she couldn't resist just attacking once more--how *dare* that pig try to tell an Amazon what she could and could not do! The blast came without warning. The only warning she had was the blue-grey aura that flickered briefly around Ryoga before she heard his words: "SHISHI HOKODAN!" The light from the blast was blinding, and Ukyou, Akane, and Kuno had to shield their eyes. When the glare finally died, there was no sign of Shampoo remaining. The only thing that marked where she had stood was a large, burned- out crater and a bit of smoke rising from Ryoga. PART FOUR OWARI