Ranma 1/2: A Crossed Curse Conundrum free porn video

Shampoo grunted as she shifted one of the enormous cardboard boxes to the side. A fine cloud of dust kicked up into her face, and she let out a heavy cough. "So dusty!" she managed between wheezes, fanning the cloud away with her hand. "Great-grandmother, must clean attic now?" "I've told you before, Shampoo," Cologne answered from her perch atop her walking staff. The elderly Amazon hopped over, her staff making a loud clunk-clunk-clunk sound on the wooden floorboards. "A clean house is a happy house, and that means the ENTIRE house." "But is so much!" Shampoo whined. "All the more reason to do it NOW instead of letting it pile up," Cologne said, dropping off her staff at her descendant's feet. She looked up at the younger girl with narrow eyes. "And neither of us are leaving until it's done, Shampoo!" Shampoo pouted and threw her fist out in temper, striking one of the towering piles... and causing it to fall on top of her with a crash, spilling their contents over the floor. Cologne sighed and rolled her eyes. With a grunt, Shampoo shoved the boxes off her and sat up. Great, even more mess... she surveyed the damage, when a glint of something in amongst the junk caught her eye. Reaching in, she grasped and pulled out a beautiful brooch. The elaborate gold framework was without a doubt of Chinese origin, and embedded in the centre was a shining blue gem. "Wow, pretty!" Shampoo held the brooch up to the light, admiring it before pulling herself free of the mess. "Great-grandmother! Look what Shampoo found!" "Hm?" The elder hopped onto her staff again to reach Shampoo's level and inspected the brooch. "Ah, yes... the M?iti?o H?de B?osh?. I had wondered where that had gotten." "M?iti?o H?de B?osh??" Shampoo echoed, looking at it. "Mean All Rivers Gem, yes? Why that name?" "I'm glad you asked," Cologne turned away, eyes closed in reminiscence. "It was a treasure of the Musk Dynasty hundreds of years ago, the famous clan who used the Jusenkyo waters to turn animals into human brides. The gemstone in the middle, in fact, was created from crystalised water taken from every one of Jusenkyo's springs. Legend says that one of the Musk Dynasty's kings granted his wife the brooch as a gift, only to accidentally spill his drink on it. In a flash, his wife had returned to her animal form while the king had become a woman! Like when two rivers intersect and split again, each carrying water from the other to a different location, the M?iti?o H?de B?osh? had the ability to exchange the curse of any Jusenkyo spring between two people when it came in contact with water." "Wow..." Shampoo's eyes were wide as she looked from her grandmother to the gem in her hand. "Indeed, this caused the Dynasty to consider the gem a threat to their way of life, and they hid it away. It was found by my grandmother years ago, who then passed it onto me." She opened her eyes and turned back to her granddaughter. "I hope you're not getting any ideas... Shampoo?" Said granddaughter was already gone. "...that girl..." Cologne seethed, slamming her cane on the ground in anger. And was promptly buried as another pile of boxes tipped over on top of her. * * * * * "Ranma, prepare to die!" "Not this again..." Ranma groaned. He ducked just in time to dodge a fist, letting it harmlessly fly over his head. He quickly brought his arm up to block the following kick, retaliating with his own punch which his attacker likewise blocked. "Jeez, Ryoga, can't I even walk home from school in peace?" "You shut your mouth!" Ryoga growled back, baring his fangs. "I heard all about what happened today! How dare you peep on Akane after gym class!" "Oh for the love of..." He leaned back to dodge Ryoga's fist again, before kicking him hard in the stomach to force him back. "Like I said to her, I wasn't peeping! I was stopping that dirty old man!" "I don't want to hear your excuses!" Ryoga lunged forward, extending his finger. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" He drove his finger into the concrete at Ranma's feet, causing it to explode like a bomb had gone off underneath. Rock shrapnel flew in all directions, but the majority was focused on Ryoga's opponent. In response, Ranma tensed his body and his fists shot forward in a blur, fast enough that any onlooker might mistake him as having ten or more arms. The stone shards were smashed and deflected, flying in every which way. Ryoga threw his arms up to protect his face and eyes, his Bakusai Tenketsu training letting him endure the rest that struck his body. "Kach? Tenshin Amaguriken," Ranma said smugly. His rival scowled, which only made Ranma's smirk widen. "So, ready to give up, or do I gotta-" "Nihao, Ranma!" The pigtailed boy's speech was cut short as a bicycle wheel landed on his head. The bike's owner smiled, somehow leaning over the handlebars to face her airen without tipping the whole thing over. "Shampoo have something to show you!" Ranma let out a groan. Figures, it never rains but it pours. Ryoga just looked on; not that it wasn't fun to see Ranma suffer his other fiancees, but now wasn't the time. So he cleared his throat. "Hm?" Shampoo glanced over and smiled. "Hiya, pig-boy!" "Hey Shampoo." Ryoga waved. "Listen, can you give us a minute? We're kind of in the middle of something-" "Oh, wait your turn! Shampoo be quick!" She hopped off her bike, allowing Ranma to toss it aside. "Wait my... but I was here first!" Ryoga yelled. "Ranma, look this!" Shampoo ignored him, instead holding up the brooch. "You like, yes? Is M?iti?o H?de B?osh?, is special brooch that-" "Yeah, yeah, it's real pretty," Ranma said with an eyeroll, lightly pushing her out of the way. "You can tell me all about it later, but I'm busy right now." "But airen!" Her pleas fell on deaf ears as Ranma rushed forward and continued his fight with Ryoga. Shampoo huffed and pouted. The two men traded blow after blow. A punch was met with a block which was followed by a kick which led to a dodge, the sound of fist meeting fist filling the streets of Nerima. It was almost enough to drown out their bickering. But not quite. "I can't believe Akane is engaged to a scumbag like you!" "I can't believe you even managed to find me! What, were you trying to get to Honolulu or somethin'?" "I just followed the smell of your perversion, you jerk!" "That doesn't even make sense!" "You don't make sense!" "Lost boy!" "Ingrate!" "Dumbass!" "Crossdresser!" "Pig!" Splash. In an instant, the two macho martial artists were replaced by a short but shapely redheaded girl and an adorable black piglet. Shampoo chuckled to herself as she tossed the now-empty water bucket over her shoulder. "Shampoo!" Ranma whined in his higher-pitched voice as he spun around. "What the heck did you do that for!?" "Pay attention, silly Ranma!" she said, holding up the brooch. "This brooch important! Can fix Jusenkyo-" "Who's throwing buckets around?" a random voice called right before said bucket came flying back, nailing Shampoo in the back of the head. She fell forward, the blue gem flying from her hands and into the air. Ranma yelped and stumbled back to avoid the Chinese Amazon, tripping over his own feet and landing in the puddle of water Shampoo had tossed over them. Ryoga oinked and hopped onto Ranma's chest, squealing something in pig-talk that likely translated to "this isn't over, Ranma!" Just as Ranma was prepared to retort, the brooch fell back down to earth and landed in their puddle. A blinding blue flash filled the streets, and it felt like the world had been turned upside down before it faded. "Urgh... what... what just happened...?" A female voice, one deeper than either Ranma's or Shampoo's, asked. The owner of the voice slowly stood up; a woman with a buxom and curvy yet athletically toned physique, standing nude in the streets. Her face was home to wide eyes and delicate, pretty features. Her short hair was a deep red colour, tied back by a leopard-patterned headband. "I'm human again? But... my voice..." Ryoga glanced down. And immediately his face went as red as his hair. "What... what the HECK!? I-I'm a girl! How did... why am I... what... what happened!?" A few little snorts from the pile of clothing at his feet answered that. A little black piglet pulled itself free from the red shirt, a long braided pigtail extending from its otherwise bare head. It looked up at Ryoga, and realisation dawned across its face before it hopped up and down, letting out several very indignant oinks. Ryoga looked down at the furious little porker and slowly the pieces began to fit together. "No way... Ranma?" he asked. "But how...?" His eyes fell on the brooch. Finally everything clicked into place and he grinned. Ranma noticed his grin and followed his gaze, and a look of panic came over his little piggy face as they reached the same conclusion. Instantly Ranma leapt forward, but Ryoga's human arms and legs were longer. He effortlessly snatched Ranma out of the air by his pig tail (not his pigtail), eliciting several distressed oinks and squeals while he picked his prize up. "Sorry, Ranma!" he said with a grin, dangling his rival in front of his face. "But I don't really fancy going back to being a pig right now. You understand, don't you, R-chan~?" Ranma answered by biting Ryoga's nose. "OW!" Ryoga recoiled, dainty hand flying up to his cute face. Ranma let out an oinky laugh, making Ryoga snarl. "Why you little...!" Ryoga pulled the arm holding Ranma back as far as he could, before rocketing it forwards as hard as he could. Ranma could only let out a distressed squeal as he was launched through the air, over several rooftops into who the heck knows where. "Lousy little..." Ryoga grumbled, quickly checking his nose. No bleeding at least, that was good. Well, now he just had to- "What a haul! What a haul!" an all-too familiar voice called out, as the all-too familiar owner of that voice hopped out from around a corner. With a bag of frilly underthings slung over his shoulder and a disturbingly excited grin, Happosai was about to continue on when he caught something out the corner of his eye. Long, shapely legs. Wide, curvy hips. A flat, toned tummy. Firm and perky breasts. And a gorgeous head of hair in that familiar shade he adored so much. Ryoga barely had time to cover himself before the centenarian had clamped onto his midsection like a leech, face buried in his cleavage. "Why, Ranma, what a surprise seeing you here~! And your girls, too~!" he sang out cheerfully. "Don't tell me you knew I was coming and this was a gift for little old me? Why, you shouldn't hav-" POW! Happosai's head hit the concrete hard enough to crack it. "Get your paws off me, you filthy old codger!" Ryoga yelled furiously, his face practically the same colour as his hair. "Owwww...!" Happosai sat up, nursing the large new swelling on his head. "Ranma, you...! ...wait a minute." He narrowed his eyes, glaring at Ryoga. "You're not Ranma. Then that means-" BAM! He was once again cut off, this time by a large wooden mallet landing right on his still tender bump. The mallet's wielder huffed and picked the elderly martial artist up by the scruff of his neck. "That should teach you, you little pervert!" she huffed, only to finally notice Ryoga. Ryoga, by contrast, had noticed her almost immediately, but was too frozen in panic to run. Oh god no, he thought to himself. Not her. Anyone but her. Not here. Anywhere but here. Not like this. ANYTHING but THIS. Akane gave Ryoga's naked body a quick once over, her face quickly glowing in embarrassment. But rather than exploding in fury like he was expecting, her angry expression gave way to one of sympathy. She dropped Happosai and immediately rushed over to Ryoga. "Oh my gosh, miss!" she said to him, as he just stared blankly. "Did that old man do this to you?" "...uh..." Ryoga glanced from Akane to Happosai, who's eyes were still spinning. "...uh..." "I'm so sorry about him!" Akane said quickly. Before Ryoga could react, she grabbed his hand and began to pull him down the street. "Come with me, my house isn't far from here. We'll get you something to wear, okay?" "...uh...!" Ryoga panicked, but once again couldn't gather his thoughts quick enough before Akane led him away. * * * * * Cologne considered herself a lot of things. Wise, intelligent, experienced. She'd witnessed plenty in her long, long lifetime, so she liked to think she was fairly unflappable by now. Yet even she had to admit a pig crashing onto the table during her tea break was a new one. "Mousse!" she yelled, brow furrowed as she eyed the now-shattered window. "Get the dustpan and brush, quick!" "On it!" the short-sighted Amazon called from the back room. "And you," she focused her attention on the pig, poking it in the snout. "Get out of here, before I put you on the menu!" The pig let out an annoyed and squeak and grabbed her tea, yanking it from her hands and splashing it over its head. In an instant, Cologne found herself face-to-face with a very angry and very naked Ranma. "Old woman," he said through gritted teeth. The height of the table was the only thing preserving his modesty. "We need to talk." "...ah. Son-in-law. What a pleasant surprise," Cologne replied, expertly hiding her shock that Ranma had apparently acquired a new curse. "Shampoo showed me somethin'," Ranma said in a dangerously calm voice. "A brooch that, wouldn't you know it, can swap Jusenkyo curses." "...indeed." Oh boy. Ranma narrowed his eyes. "Spill it." Cologne let out a heavy sigh. Behind her, Mousse was already sweeping up the broken glass. "Fine, fine. Years ago..." * * * * * "And there we go!" Akane said cheerfully. "What do you think?" Ryoga just stared, wide-eyed and red-cheeked, at his reflection. Akane had caught him naked, pulled him into her home and now he stood dressed in her clothes. The only reason she was so okay with this was that he was currently a woman and she didn't recognise him; he wasn't sure if that was better or worse. When he had looked and seen his female appearance in the mirror for the first time, he had to admit he was blown away. He did NOT expect to make such an attractive girl. "She" was fairly similar to Ranma's girl form, being smaller and significantly more slender than his male form aside from his newfound curves. His red-headed reflection was currently wearing a pair of pink overalls with "China" across the chest in red, along with an orange t-shirt. "How does it fit?" Akane's asked. He gulped and looked back at her. "I-It fits... great!" he said with faux-enthusiasm. It didn't, actually, but he wasn't about to tell her how tight it was in the bust or how baggy it was in the hips. Hell, he was still reeling from how Akane (Akane!) had helped him into one of her bras. If she ever found out, she'd absolutely murder him! Assuming he didn't die of shame first. Before their discussion could go any further, a knock came at the door before Kasumi stepped in. "Akane," she said in her gentle voice. "Bad news. It seems there is a problem with the bath again." "Again?" Akane frowned. "But we just got it fixed!" "I know. Father has contacted the plumber, but they won't be here until tomorrow." Akane made a noise of disappointment, but Ryoga breathed a sigh of relief. If the hot water revealed his true form in front of her... "Well, it can't be helped," Akane spoke up, turning to Ryoga with a smile. "We'll just need to use the public bathhouse." "What!?" Ryoga's eyes shot to the size of saucers. That was worse! There would be... people around! "Come on, I'll go get what we need!" Akane grabbed Ryoga's hand, dragging him behind her. "Wait! Wait, wait, wait wait wait...!" he yelled, but Akane ignored him. Kasumi watched the pair leave with her usual demure smile on her face. "What a nice friend Akane has made," she said to herself before turning to return to her housework. * * * * * "Lousy Akane..." grumbled Happosai as he staggered into the dojo. "Picking on a poor, defenseless old man..." "Having trouble, master?" a voice caught the old martial artist's ears, and he turned to face the speaker. Akane's and Ranma's fathers knelt at their usual spot across from one another with a shogi board between them, the former looking at him with a smirk on his face while the latter made a move on the board. "Soun!" Happosai spat indignantly. "You should learn to control your daughter! Look what she did to me!" He gestured towards the nasty bump on his head. "I'll have a talk with her," he said, making a mental note to congratulate Akane in private. He moved one of his game pieces. "Your move, Genma." Genma cringed. He carefully considered his options, hesitantly moved his piece, then turned to Happosai. "What did you do this time, anyway?" he asked, as Soun made another move and took one of Genma's pieces. "How dare you accuse me, Saotome!?" the tiny master demanded. Genma ignored him in favour of making his next move. "I did nothing more than add to my collection, admire that boy Ryoga's body, and-" "Did you say Ryoga?" Soun asked, swiping another of Genma's pieces. "I wasn't aware you were attracted to men." Without taking his eyes off the game, he ducked down to allow the hall table to fly past his head. "Obviously I'm not, you idiot!" Happosai hissed. "He was a girl at the time! No doubt the work of the M?iti?o H?de B?osh?, and here I thought it was lost forever..." "M?iti?o H?de B?osh??" Genma turned to face his master again, ignoring Soun claiming another piece. "The All Rivers Gem? I thought that was just a legend?" "Hardly!" Happosai chuckled to himself. "Used to be one of the Musk's greatest treasures. No idea why it resurfaced now." Soun rolled his eyes while he made his move, before shifting to face Happosai. "Regardless, master, perhaps you'd be best going to bed and sleeping off that head injury, hm?" "Don't patronise me, Tendo!" Happosai snarled, before he turned and stormed off to his bed to sleep off his head injury. Chuckling and shaking his head, he turned back to his shogi opponent. "Your move, Genma-" He stopped when he noticed Genma was gone. As were all of Soun's pieces. * * * * * Ryoga didn't know what to do. He didn't dare look left, he didn't dare look right, he didn't even look down. Instead, he kept his eyes straight ahead, focused exclusively on the bucket that was quickly filling with cold water. Akane had completely failed to listen to him (and even if she did, he didn't exactly have a convincing excuse), so here he was. In the women's baths. Surrounded by nude women. Naked. He fought back a shiver as he upturned the bucket over his head, the cold water rinsing away the lathered soap. This he could deal with. But the bath itself was the problem. The second the hot water touched him, all those women would find out he wasn't exactly what he looked like. If that happened, he was a dead man! "Hey, are you okay?" He turned in the direction of Akane's voice and immediately wished he hadn't. She was seated beside him, her body completely bare and exposed. Damn it, in literally any other situation this would be a dream come true! "I-I'm fine, I'm fine!" he lied, doing his absolute best to keep his eyes on her face and not... other things. "I dunno, you're pretty flushed. You sure you don't have a fever, Miss..." She paused. "...sorry, all this time I completely forgot to ask your name!" "I'm Ryo-" Wait, shit! The hell was he doing, he couldn't give his real name! Come on, Ryoga, come up with something! What was the name Ranma went by when he was pretending to be a girl? "-ko! My name's Ryoko!" Akane smiled. "That's a nice name, Ryoko!" She stood. "Alright, ready to get in?" "Uh..." Damn, damn, damn! "Sure just... first I need to..." Think, Ryoga, think! Just come up with an excuse, any excuse will do! "...I have to use the little girl's room!" ...maybe not that one. "Oh?" Akane blushed a bit herself at that, but gave a nod. "Well, I think I saw a restroom over there when we came in, want me to-" "I'll find it!" Ryoga didn't give her a chance to finish before he was gone, practically sprinting out of the bath area. "...wow," Akane muttered to herself. "She must really need to go." As soon as he was alone in the hall, Ryoga pressed his back against the wall with a heavy sigh. "Damn it all," he grumbled. He never would have thought things could be worse than being a pig, but he'd finally gotten rid of that blasted curse only to get another one, and it was STILL getting in the way between him and Akane! He let out a groan. "Can this get any worse?" "Ryoga..." Oh hell. Ryoga instantly dropped to the floor, milliseconds before Ranma's fist collided with the wall hard enough to crack it. The womanly boy rolled aside, rising into his fighting stance. "You know, I was wondering where you got to," he said with a smirk. "Having fun pigging out, R-chan?" "Laugh it up, lost boy," Ranma said as he cracked his knuckles. "Now hand over the M?iti?o H?de B?osh?!" "The what?" Ryoga raised an eyebrow, but instead of an answer Ranma responded by lunging forward with a kick. "Don't play dumb, Ryoga!" he snapped as Ryoga side-stepped his kick. "That brooch Shampoo had that switched our curses! Give it here!" A punch was thrown, one Ryoga effortlessly blocked, only to step back and dodge a punch aimed at his face. He responded with a kick that Ranma blocked, the latter returning with an elbow strike. Ryoga grabbed Ranma's arm, looking him in the eyes. "Why do you want it so bad?" he asked, before swinging his leg at Ranma's midsection, an attack that was dodged with a backflip. "Don't tell me you actually WANT to be a girl?" "Use your head for once, pig-brain!" Ranma aimed a sweep at Ryoga's legs, which was dodged with a jump. "That brooch can cure our curses, Einstein! We just need to trade with someone that doesn't have one!" "Oh come on, that's... that's..." Ryoga paused, before his eyes began to sparkle. "...that's genius! Why didn't I think of that!?" BAM. Ranma's fist slammed into Ryoga's face, which in turn slammed Ryoga's head into the wall. "Because you're stupid," Ranma said smugly. As the two cursed martial artists fought out in the hall, a third could be found in the women's changing room. With a handkerchief tied under his nose, Genma was putting his Umisenken skills to good use, rummaging through the cubbies holding the ladies' belongings. He was lucky no one was around; a middle-aged man snooping through the girls' unmentionables might have been a bit suspect otherwise. "Aha!" He pulled his hand from what must've been Ryoga's belongings, grasping his blue and gold prize. "Next stop, No-More-Pandaville!" A wall crashing down cut his celebration short. Ranma came flying in, slamming into the stocked cubbies and scattering them around the room. "Cheap shot..." Ranma snarled, standing up and glaring at the smug naked girl. "This time, I'll-" "Hey!" Ryoga cut him off, and Ranma turned to see what he was yelling at. His father stood off to the side, the M?iti?o H?de B?osh? in his hands. Genma looked at it, then at the younger duo... and booked it. "Get back here!" Ranma yelled as the two gave chase. Genma quickly ducked out of the bathhouse, much to the owners' shock, only for his finely tuned martial artist's ears to detect the sound of metal cutting through the air. He followed his instincts and ducked, as three swords on chains flew over his head and narrowly missed Ranma and Ryoga behind him. The three froze and let their eyes follow the chains to the swords' source. Stood atop a building across the street, glasses shining menacingly, a long-haired man looked down at the trio. "So, that's the M?iti?o H?de B?osh?, huh?" Mousse asked. With a flick of his wrist the swords retracted into his sleeves. "Great, just one after another today, isn't it?" Ranma asked bitterly. "Get lost, Mousse, this doesn't concern you! Shampoo gave ME that brooch!" "Don't be greedy, Ranma!" Genma growled. "Any GOOD son would give this kind of treasure to his father, I raised you better!" "Raised him better...? You STOLE that from ME!" Ryoga reached to snatch it from Genma's hands, but Genma longer arms raised it out of the girlified boy's grasp. "Finders keepers, Ryoga!" he yelled. Unfortunately, a hook on a chain yanked it from Genma's fingers while he was distracted, straight into Mousse's waiting hands. "Finders keepers indeed!" the male Amazon chuckled to himself. He didn't have long to celebrate, as the structure he stood on suddenly began to rock. He looked down, only to find a certain redhead was repeatedly stabbing his fingers into the building's foundations. "Bakusai Tenketsu!" he announced with a smirk as the corner of the building finally caved in, sending Mousse tumbling to the ground. He held out his hand to catch the falling brooch... only for Ranma to grab it just before it landed in his palm. "Yoink!" He laughed, starting to sprint away. "Catch me if you ca-" BAM. He ran head-first into Genma's outstretched arm, effectively clothes-lining himself and dropping to the ground, while his father grabbed the brooch. "Don't mind if I do!" Before he could run, however, he found his way blocked by two more youngsters. One was in a fighting stance, the other had multiple blades at the ready. A groan came from behind him as Ranma stood, rubbing his jaw, and entered his own stance. Each one had a frown on their face and determination in their eyes. "Hand..." "...it..." "...over." Genma's brow furrowed, and he carefully considered his options. The obvious choice was to surrender the brooch and let the three fight over it. He'd get out unscathed, and being a panda sometimes wasn't THAT bad, was it? If he wanted the M?iti?o H?de B?osh?, he'd have to fight off three martial artists, each one a fraction of his age. The path of least resistance was definitely the smartest option. ...but that wasn't the Anything Goes Martial Arts way. His grip on the brooch tightened. For once, Genma steeled himself, entering his own stance as a menacing glare came over his glasses. "Come and get it." * * * * * Shampoo sighed heavily, leaning against the side of the bath. What a day. Her great-grandmother utterly chewed her out for abandoning her to clean the attic, and she was even angrier when she found Shampoo lost the brooch. Well, at least now she could relax and let the warm water wash her worries away... Smash. Several of the girls in the bathhouse scattered as something came flying through the window. Glass tinkled on the ground before the object landed. Shampoo peered over, curious. In the centre of the room laid a plastic training toilet. Complete with little ducky head. "Mousse?" Shampoo asked aloud. From outside the broken window, voices could be heard. Very familiar voices. In an instant, Shampoo was out of the water and booking it to the changing room. Of course! "Stupid boys! Give Shampoo brooch back!" She sprinted past a certain dark-haired girl, perking her up. "Shampoo?" Akane asked, but the Chinese girl was already gone. She glanced up at the window. Ryoko had been gone a long time... surely not... * * * * * The battle between the four cursed martial artists was a sight to behold. Fists and legs struck out, every blow either dodged, blocked, or landed, with the occasional bladed or blunt weapon thrown courtesy of Mousse. Ranma's fist lashed out, only to collide with Ryoga's forearm in an expert block. The M?iti?o H?de B?osh? shone in Ryoga's fingers as he returned fire with a punch of his own. While the two were focused on each other, a chain swept out and yanked their legs from under them and sent them tumbling down. Mousse swung his arms, a flail for each of his downed opponents whipping from his sleeves. Ranma and Ryoga quickly rolled out of the way, but the sudden attack forced the latter to drop the brooch. Mousse moved swiftly, snatching up his prize, but Ranma was just as fast and grabbed his wrist. "Give it!" "Like hell!" Their bickering was cut short as Genma lunged forward, clasping the backs of their heads and slamming them together. The two keeled over while Genma grabbed the brooch. But before he could celebrate, a shadow fell over him and he looked up to see Ryoga wielding an enormous jizo statue over his head. Even if he was currently in a much daintier body than he was used to, it was clear the eternal lost boy had lost none of his prodigious strength when he bent his knees and hurled the stone guardian at him. Welp, he promised to seal this away, but desperate times called for desperate measures. Bracing himself, Genma threw his hands forward to catch the statue. Before the weight of it could crush him, he pulled them in two different directions while he slammed one foot against it. The kick caused a crack just deep enough for the pull to rip it apart. "Yamasenken: M?ko Kaimon Ha!" he yelled triumphantly as the statue fragments landed on either side of him, but he now had the naked girl charging at him to deal with. Ryoga threw punch after punch at the older man, who blocked and dodged each one as best he could. He was so focused on Genma he didn't notice a whistling sound until Genma dropped his head and a large iron ball slammed directly into Ryoga's face, sending him flying back and down and alleyway. "Nice try!" Genma laughed as he made another run for it. Ranma growled and grabbed the chain that connected the iron ball to Mousse's sleeve. "Oh no you don't!" He yelled, tugging on the sleeve and yanking Mousse off his feet. The male Amazon could only cry out as Ranma swirled him above his head, using the iron ball for leverage and hurled Mousse at his escaping father. One martial artist collided with the other, the M?iti?o H?de B?osh? sent flying and Ranma sprinted to catch it. Sadly his fingers were just a fraction of an inch too far when Mousse released one of his bombs, enshrouding the area in a vision-obscuring smokescreen. Meanwhile, in the alley Ryoga whimpered as he clutched his pretty face, a large bruise forming where Mousse's iron ball had hit him. Normally he could handle much harder hits than that, but for some reason he was still reeling from this one. Was this what Ranma had meant when he said his girl form was weaker but faster? Was Ryoga's pain tolerance lower in this form? Not to mention he'd noticed his balance was off thanks to... certain things. With a groan he slowly sat up, at the very least thankful nothing was broken. Male or female, he was still a martial artist after all. But Genma, Mousse and especially Ranma were able to easily match him at the best of times. In an unfamiliar body like this, he had no hope against any of the other three. He had to find some hot water and return to normal... Out the corner of his eye, he noticed a burst drainage pipe leaking rainwater everywhere. He must have damaged it when he flew past it... and then an idea came to him. Maybe he was looking at this the wrong way... "Scythes of Sorrow!" Mousse's voice called out. A curved blade swung out of the smog at Ranma's head; he let out a yelp and bend backwards at the last second so that the blade just managed to nick his fringe. More and more of the blade's swung out, forcing Ranma to dodge and sway as best he could. With the smokescreen he couldn't see where Mousse was attacking from, so he relied on his martial artist's instincts to carry his body and dodge each attack as it came. The sound of the sickles cutting through the air was the only other signal that a swing was coming, and Mousse lashed out in a twirling, dance-like motion as he followed Ranma's movements. He knew that every strike was only just a little off from being a decisive blow; his zeal for taking his hated rival's head off unwittingly signalled to Ranma where he was by the sheer burning aura he was giving off. He ended his attack with a sweep of his arms, sending the scythes sailing through the fog at the first shadow he saw... only for the deep-voiced "Aiyee!" to confirm the shadow was actually his target's father. Ranma had leapt into the air at the last second, soaring above the cloud of smoke that consumed the street and turned in the air. "Let's see how you like this! Hiry? Sh?ten Ha!" Ranma plummetted straight down, fist aimed downward. Realising the trap they'd been led into, both Mousse and Genma leapt back as far and as fast as they could manage. Ranma's fist missed either of them and slammed directly into the centre of their clouded arena, a swirling tempest of ki exploding from the point of contact and blowing the smokescreen away. Even though neither Mousse nor Genma got a direct hit, the sheer power of the technique still launched both of them clean off their feet. And with the smokescreen gone, the three of them finally saw the M?iti?o H?de B?osh? glinting in the gutter, and they all pounced at it. "Mine!" "Mine!" "MINE!" By the time Ryoga rejoined the fight, he was carrying several buckets with him. His three opponents were all still hustling against one another, pulling and shoving one another away in a big mass of childish violence over the brooch. A cacophony of sharp insults and biting comments sang out with each combatant yelling over the other. They were completely focused on each other and their prize to notice anyone nearby. Perfect. Grabbing the biggest and heaviest of the buckets, Ryoga threw it forwards and send a wave of water at the three bickering martial artists. As luck would have it, Ranma spotted the motion and with headbutt to Genma and a gut punch to Mousse, forced them to release the M?iti?o H?de B?osh?. He leapt back just in time and with a splash the bespectled boy and stout man disappeared, leaving in their place a bespectacled duck and a stout panda. With a huff, Genma raised a sign: Cheap shot. "Quack, quack!" concurred Mousse. Ranma landed a short distance away, the M?iti?o H?de B?osh? still in his hands as he faced Ryoga. "So this is what you're reduced to, huh Ryoga?" he asked with a smug smirk. "You know, in all the years we've fought I don't think you've ever actually taken advantage of our curses before." "That's only because you never had a curse that made you helpless before like I did," Ryoga replied, balancing one of his water buckets on his finger. "Ready to know what it's like to-" He was cut off when Ranma through a punch at his face mid-monologue. He should've seen that coming. Thankfully his reflexes were as sharp as ever, and he ducked the blow just in time, tossing the bucket he had at Ranma with the same motion. The Anything Goes heir quickly somersaulted to the side, avoiding the spray of water and lunged with a sliding kick. Ryoga hopped over him, grabbing another bucket when he landed and throwing it again. Another dodge from Ranma, another attack, another dodge, another bucket. "You can't keep this up, Ryoga, you'll run out of buckets eventually!" "Then I guess I'll just have to make sure I hit you before then!" The two were so caught up in their little waterfight that neither one noticed the two women who arrived. Having taken a moment to get dressed, Shampoo and Akane ran over to the two fighting martial artists. "Ranma, you jerk!" Akane yelled, not that Ranma heard her. "What the heck do you think you're doing fighting Ryoko like that!?" When Ranma didn't respond, she noticed the blue gem he was holding, and in temper she slapped it out of his hands and into the air. "Are you listening to me!?" "Wha... Akane!" Ranma snapped. "Shampoo brooch!" Shampoo gasped. She made a leap into the fray, prepared to reclaim her belongings and smacked Ryoga's last bucket into the air. "Give Shampoo! Now!" "Shampoo!" Ryoga yelled indignantly. Ranma however smirked, not intending on letting this chance up. "Thanks, Shampoo, now get outta the way!" He grinned, pushing Akane to one side. Though he'd lost grip of the M?iti?o H?de B?osh?, seeing his rival's best weapon being sabotaged had given him a surge of confidence at winning, and he focused every ounce of that into his palms as he held them out. From Ranma's hands, golden ki exploded out in a magnificent burst of energy. Ryoga looked up, and as he saw the energy blast approaching he felt his own hope disappear. Every depressing and disappointing memory came rushing back, but like Ranma he responded by holding his own hands, focusing the despair those memories brought and fired his own reddish blast forward. "M?ko Takabisha!" "Shishi H?k?dan!" As the two ki techniques were launched, the streets were bathed in gold and red light. But what goes up must come down, and too late did anyone notice both the bucket of water and the jewel they were fighting over fall right in the path of both attacks. A blinding blue flash filled the street, completely subsuming the gold and red lights of Ranma and Ryoga's ki. And as their attacks collided and explosions rang out, one other sound could be heard behind them. Crack. * * * * * "Come on, come on..." Ranma grumbled to himself. Everyone had gathered in the Tendo dojo, and Ranma was curled in the corner as he tried to figure out which of all the identical blue shards fit against the other identical blue shards he'd already gotten into place. "Aiya, Shampoo in big, big trouble now!" the Chinese girl wailed at his side. "When great-grandmother find out, Shampoo be cleaning attic for life!" "Don't cry, my dear Shampoo!" Mousse placed his hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. In an instant Shampoo's tears dried just long enough to grab Mousse and shove his head through one of the dojo's walls, before she instantly resumed sobbing. "Well, consider this a lesson, boy," Genma said, arms folded and kneeling by the shoji board with Soun. "If you focus on one thing to the point you're blind to everything else, it's all bound to end in tears." Soun rolled his eyes as he took another of Genma's pieces. "If I can just... get... this..." Ranma didn't respond to anyone. He was much too focused on his current task. Slowly, carefully, he placed another tiny fragment against the other tiny fragments in the slowly- but-surely growing pile, then... "Drinks, everyone!" Kasumi entered with a tray of ice cold beverages, only to trip on the rug. She caught herself but the drinks weren't so lucky, flying off the tray and spilling over the room's occupants. The pigtailed duck stared as the gem shards were scattered, and he finally burst into a tantrum of screaming quacks. The pink-furred panda just kept weeping even as she held up a sign, though one written in Mandarin rather than Japanese: Not fair! It's not fair! The bespectacled cat groaned as he fell out the hole in the wall, splaying out on the ground. Soun fought his hardest not to laugh at the middle-aged woman sitting across from him. Genma gave him a dirty look. "Not a word, Tendo," he said darkly. At the other side of the room, Akane rolled her eyes. "Morons. All of you." She looked down at the little piglet sat on her lap and couldn't help but smile. "Except for you, P-chan! Isn't that right?" Ryoga looked up at her, smiling, and gave a few happy oinks. Maybe he didn't get to cure his curse... but at least he could still be close to Akane. And in the end, he couldn't ask for much more than that.