Insertion

Part 19: Flames of Defeat!

by Sean D'Anna

=====

Mousse strolled into the Cat Cafe and stopped cold in the doorway.


Shampoo and Cologne both paused and looked at him as he posed and
curled his lip. "Hey big momma, The King, has returned."

Cologne was frozen in shock as the boy walked up to an equally
surprised Shampoo. "Hey, baby. Wanna go somewhere and get to know each
other?" He grabbed her shoulder as he said this.

"Mousse?" said the girl dumbly.

The boy was looking at his reflection in a painting and combing
his hair. "Man I'm pretty. So how about it babe?"

Cologne snapped to life suddenly. She charged forward and poked
Mousse with her staff. "Hateful being! What do you think you're
doing?"

The boy stood up and ran a comb through his hair again. "Hey!
Watch the hair!"

"Mousse, I'll ask you once more...what are you doing?" said the
woman carefully.

"I'm gonna defeat Ranma Saotome, and win the heart of this pretty
lady!" said Mousse. He then posed again and pointed at her. "Hoo ha!"

"Shampoo, turn away from Mousse," said Cologne with a heavy sigh.

The girl did so, and Mousse arched his eyebrow. "Huh?"

Cologne turned her back on him as well. "You have learned
forbidden techniques Mousse. I hear by cast you out of the village
forever."

"Duh?" muttered Mousse as his jaw dropped.

"You must leave now," said the old woman firmly.

"But...I...I'll forget about the stupid techniques!" cried the boy
in desperation. "You can't do this to me! Please! I'll never wear big
jewelry or sequence again!"

"It is too late Mousse, the fact that you hold any knowledge at
all of these techniques is enough. The King is the eternal enemy of
our tribe. The chaos he wrought upon us when he came to China is still
remembered as out darkest hour."

"The King?" stammered Mousse in horror.

"Yes, he used his charms to overpower the entire village. Anyone
under the age of twenty was helpless against him. For a male to hold
that much power over a woman, it is too dangerous. You are now cast
out forever Mousse, never lay eyes on Shampoo again."

"But...I...NOOOOOOOO!!" cried the boy as he rushed out the door
and into the street clutching his head.

"Aiya! Poor Mousse," said Shampoo as she turned back around.

"Perhaps it is for the best child. He is dead to us now, you are
to treat him as nothing more than a ghost from this day forward."

The young amazon nodded her head and started to go back to her
work again. She was moving a little slower now though, and seemed
preoccupied.

+++++++++++++

Ranma Saotome sat at the table in the Tendo home. That in itself
wasn't unusual, the fact that Nabiki was sitting next to him, watching
him carefully was.

He paused and glanced at her for a moment. "What?"

"Nothing," she said with a small frown on her face.

"You've been acting weird," he muttered.

"So have you," she replied calmly. "Since the day you came here."

"So what? I'm an unusual guy," he replied with a small shrug as he
stood up and walked up to his room and left her there.

"A little to unusual," she muttered as she watched him go.

+++++++++++

"What?" Pluto looked up at Serenity and scowled.

"I said, you're neglecting your wifely duties," said the Queen
with a serious looking frown.

"I haven't! I've appeared with that oaf at every state dinner
and..." she started as she pointed at the man.

He was calmly eating a large leg of meat at a nearby table and
ignoring the situation.

"But you haven't produced any children," said the Queen with a
sour frown. "You need an heir."

"I'm immortal! What would I need with..." started the woman.

"If something should happen to you, then we will need a
replacement," said Serenity with a cool smirk.

"You! You put her up to this didn't you?" snarled Pluto as she
turned towards Genaku.

"What makes ya think I desire a child?" he replied with a small
shrug. "I've no use for this union. My opinion isn't relevant though."

"He is correct, this is a matter of diplomacy as much as anything
else," said Serenity calmly. "Pluto will need an ambassador one day,
those scientist you've been sending aren't cutting it."

"But...how can I...I won't let that thing touch me!" snarled Pluto
as she pointed towards Genaku again.

The man blinked and snorted in reply. He then continued to eat.

"That is a part of your duty as a wife," insisted Serenity.

Pluto stared at Genaku in horror. He was still eating like the
barbarian he was. He was a far cry from attractive, brutish, large,
and covered in scars from his many battles. He was far from fat, but
bulky to ridiculous levels, to say nothing of his wild red hair and
beard. As far as Pluto was concerned, he was as close to a cave man as
you could get without actually being one.

As if to prove the point, the man gave a loud belch and resumed
his eating, pausing a moment later to lift half his rear up and let
out another, more repulsive emission.

Pluto felt her entire face turn red and a sick look crossed her
face. "You must be joking."

"I am not. There is nothing wrong with Genaku, the Senshi of
Saturn seems to like him," replied Serenity.

"So let her have him! I will not, and cannot be the mother of his
child. Even if you threaten me with death!"

Serenity sighed and rested her head in her palm. This wasn't going
as well as she had hoped. She had thought that they were secretly
involved, and just couldn't produce. In fact, she expected embarrassed
sputtering and avoidance of the topic from the both of them.

Genaku stood up from the table and wiped his mouth off with his
arm before letting loose another loud belch. "In any case, 'tis a moot
point," he said with a small chuckle.

"What do you mean?" said Serenity coolly.

"'Tis simple your highness. Like all the others involved with the
game, I am sterile. No heir will ever be produced from me loins."

Serenity blinked and stared at him. "You never told me that."

"You did na ask," he replied with a small shrug. "I must give you
mah leave. Inspections and all that."

Serenity merely sat on her throne and watched him go. Pluto looked
up at her and held her breath. Her face began to turn blue as she
fumed angrily. "That...that...BASTARD!"

++++++++++++

"Interesting," said Carrot as they seemed to jerk back to reality
suddenly.

"Whoa. Pluto was pissed," commented Ranma.

"What a horrible man!" said Pissant.

"We seemed to be enjoying that though," commented Dan.

"In any case, this goes a long way towards explaining why Pluto
hates us," agreed Carrot.

"Really? Doesn't seem any worse than anything else Ranma did to
her," pointed out Dan.

"Hey! It wasn't me!" snapped the pigtailed boy in retort.

"Yeah, it was," said Carrot calmly.

"Come on, let's go to the office. Nabiki is starting to creep me
out," said Dan as he looked over and saw the girl watching their room
with a pair of binoculars from the bushes.

"Wonder what she's on about?" muttered Carrot.

"Maybe she likes us?" said Pissant cheerfully.

"Well, there was the other night, but she doesn't seem to be
acting like she does," commented Carrot with a small frown.

"She seems suspicious of something," pointed out Dan.

"About what though? There's a lot of things she may have stumbled
onto," pointed out Carrot.

"We'll deal with it when it comes up," said Dan with a small sigh.
He closed the curtain in their room and smirked at her before he did
so.

++++++++++++

"Damn, that bastard," grumbled Nabiki as she stood up from her
hiding spot and lowered the binoculars. The boy had looked directly at
her as he shut the curtains. "I know he's up to something, but what?"

+++++++++++

"Hey Akane," said Ranma as he strolled by her office and noticed
her leaning back in her chair with a book in her hands. "What's up?"

"Three more sightings of that Okii Atama character," she said
calmly.

Ranma nodded, manage to find him again.

"We stopped trying, he's too fast. Usually gone by the time we get
there too," replied the girl with a small shrug.

"Right, any reports in lately?" he picked up one of the tabloid
newspapers on her desk and frowned. "Fire that heals the soul?"

"You read those things?" she muttered in disgust.

"Best investigative reporting on the planet," replied the boy
calmly. "We should look into this. Seems some sort of spiritual healer
is healing injuries with magical power."

"What's wrong with that?" said the girl with a small frown.

"Once healed, the cured are reported as being weak for several
days. As if drained by something."

"You saw that too did you?" commented Jadeite as he walked into
the room.

"Yeah. Actually helping people, while stealing their energy. A
brilliant way to disguise an energy gathering operation."

"Kinda wish I'd thought of it," muttered the general with a small
frown.

"Not something your average youma would think of either," said
Ranma with a small frown.

"You're right about that," said Jadeite with a small frown. "We've
been replaced it seems."

"By who, or what?" said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes.

"That guy apparently," said Jadeite as he pointed at a photograph
of a young man in his twenties. He was thin and gangly, with a shock
of red hair. The man was dressed in a suit and tie, and was putting
his hand on the forehead of an unfortunate man in a wheelchair. This
was taking place in front of a small crowd of worshipers.

"This is an American practice, faith healers," said Ranma.

"Seems harmless," said Akane as she glanced up at the two.

"Come on Akane," said Ranma as he motioned for her to follow.

"Huh? Where are we going?" muttered the girl in confusion as she
went after him.

"Juban," replied the boy with a smirk on his face. "I think I need
to have my soul healed."

Nephrite met them in the hallway and held out a belt buckle to
Ranma. "Here, it's fixed. It might be good for one or two attacks from
Pluto, but not more than that. The other Senshi aren't using magic
strong enough to get through though."

"That's good to know," replied the boy with a small nod.

++++++++++++

"And with only a small donation, you too can help us spread the
word of Jesus across the entire world! His healing power fills my
soul, and I feel revived!"

"Praise Jesus!" cried a few members of the large crowd inside the
auditorium. Several worshipers passed out in fevers of devotion, or so
they thought.

The young reverend smirked to himself as he saw the crystal flame
on top of the large ornamented cross that hung from the wall behind
him suddenly flare with more energy. It was subtle, and looked like
nothing more than a fancy light bulb.

"Tonight, we will honor our lord and savior once again! With your
help, we can truly serve him as his loyal servants!" He strolled
across the stage dramatically waving his arms about.

The worshipers raised their hands into the air and broke into song
suddenly as the organ player nearby began to play.

"I want you to touch the screen if you're watching at home. Feel
that weakening in your knees? That's the power of the lord descending
upon you! He strengthens your souls! Can you feel it!" He raised his
hand and pointed it out while bowing his head and closing his eyes.

In the back of the room, Ranma Saotome smirked to himself. "Very
clever."

"Wow, he's good," commented Akane in awe.

"Very good," agreed Ranma. "We've got to stop him."

"What? But..." Akane looked around, it was a far cry from the
traditional religions of Japan, but didn't seem to be hurting anyone.
In fact, earlier he had actually healed three people. The injuries
were genuine too, this was more than a mere scam.

"He's a Youma," said Ranma calmly.

"Don't be stupid! He's helped those people. You saw them," said
the girl with a scowl on her face.

"A perfect cover, the energy to do that is nothing compared to the
energy he's gathered in that crystal up there," said the boy as he
nodded towards the cross.

"So, we attack them?" said Akane as she noticed the crystal.

"On national television? With a crowd full of people? Don't be
silly. We should wait until the show is over," said the boy as he
moved towards the door.

+++++++++++

Outside the pair waited in a small cafe near to the large
auditorium. Ranma had a newspaper in his hands and was glaring at one
story in particular.

"Is something wrong?" asked Akane.

"Yes," replied the boy as he lay the pages down on the table.

"Mysterious disappearances in Juban! Police baffled! Six young
girls have vanished!"

"You don't think that has anything to do with..." gasped Akane.

"Most likely," confirmed the boy with a small frown.

++++++++++

"Reverend, my mother is very sick..." said the young girl who
stood in front of a small dressing room. "I was hoping you could
maybe..." She was pretty, somewhere between sixteen and seventeen
years old, with long green hair. Her dress was modest, but it was
clear it hid a very nice figure.

"What is it child?" said the young man as he turned away from his
dresser and looked at her for a moment with a strange smile on his
face. "Tell me your name."

"Miaka..." said the girl shyly. A blush crossed her face as the
man looked at her gently and grabbed her shoulder. He pulled her
inside the room and closed the door.

"Shameful," muttered one of the women who worked on the spectacle.

"He has the power of the lord in him," said another of the women.

"Still. I don't understand how he could fall to such base
temptation," said the woman as she turned away from the scene.

"He's just a man, everyone has a weakness," replied the other
woman as she followed her companion.

+++++++++

Inside the dressing room the man sat across from the girl and
watched her hungrily. "Tell me child. What is it you want?"

"My mother, she's sick. She's been in the hospital, and can't come
here. She watches your show, and I've seen you heal people. Could
you..." The girl was very nervous, but the man's gentle tone seemed to
calm her.

"Of course I could my child," said the man as he brushed her face.
"However, there is a price to pay."

"What?" she muttered as she looked up at him fearfully.

"The power inside me, it hungers for things. Certain beastly
desires, it is required for my healing touch to continue. If you would
help me feed this desire, I could help your mother." He smiled at her
for a moment, moving her hair out of her face.

She jumped up in shock and stepped away from him. "But...you are a
man of the lord! I couldn't..."

"I am a servant of the one who will one day rule this world," said
the man with a small nod. "However, I require such things in order to
continue my service to the almighty."

The girl looked up at him fearfully and nodded her head. He turned
his back on her and she slowly started to remove her shirt, pulling it
off of her shoulder slowly. She swallowed and closed her eyes, tears
forming there. "Forgive me mother..."

The red-haired man merely stared forward at the wall, his grin no
longer human. It was wide, and almost split his face in half. Sharp
teeth lined his jaws and he flicked off the light in the room before
turning around to face the girl again. "Don't worry. It only hurts for
a moment."

"What?" said the fear filled voice.

Outside the dressing room, no one heard the screams, the building
now vacated completely.

+++++++++++++

"We're going in," said Ranma calmly as he stood in front of the
doors.

"All right," muttered Akane nervously as she stood behind him.

+++++++++

The building was completely silent as they strolled through the
rows of seats. Not a single soul was left inside the entire building.

"Stay close," said Ranma calmly as he strolled up onto the stage
and glanced around. It was dark, but a few windows still let in light
from outside.

"Right," said Akane firmly. The nervous edge was gone from her
voice now. She glanced around and looked up at the crystal. "It's not
glowing anymore."

"He's probably got the energy with him, if he's even still here.
He may have returned to the Negaverse to deliver it." He strolled
behind one of the curtains and into a hallway that led into the
backstage area of the building.

"What's this?" said Akane as she looked at a few rows of doors.

"Dressing rooms," replied the boy with a small frown.

"Should we check them out?" said Akane as she reached for one of
the door handles.

"Yup," said Ranma as he turned towards one of them and reared his
leg back. He paused when something caught his attention. "What is
that?"

"Huh?" said Akane as she looked at where he was staring.

"A puddle?" she walked over and knelt down beside it. "This looks
like..." Her eyes grew wide as she staggered back in horror.

"Blood," said Ranma as he narrowed his eyes and turned towards the
door it was coming from.

Akane drew the tiny weapon from her coat and pointed it at the
door. Ranma glanced at her and nodded before kicking it in.

A figure slowly stood up and turned to face them. "The service is
over."

"We aren't here to pray," replied Ranma calmly. "We're here to put
a stop to this operation youma."

"Oh? Well, if it isn't the new Genaku! I've so wanted to meet
you," said the shadowy figure as he stepped towards the door and
paused as he noticed the weapons that were trained on him.

"Well, I'm glad to give you the pleasure. Come on out and we'll
talk," said Ranma with a slight tensing in his voice.

The light came on inside the room and a blood-soaked man with red
hair stood grinning at them evilly. The remains of a young girl were
sprawled out across the ground, her chest was open and most of her
innards were gone.

Akane stepped back and lowered her weapon in shocked horror. She
wanted to scream, but the panic was so much that she couldn't.

The man had tears in his eyes as he looked at them sadly. "I have
sinned!"

"Shit!" barked Ranma as he shot a single blast into the thing's
chest and jumped away. He grabbed Akane by her arm and pulled her down
the hall towards the auditorium.

"Ouch," muttered the man as he stood up and noticed the large hole
in the front of his suit. His chest was unharmed though and he
chuckled as he stood up.

Ranma spun around to face the Youma once he reached the stage, a
dark scowl on his face as he prepared to fight. "Akane, stay back for
now. If you get a clear shot, take it, but don't get between us no
matter what happens."

"Right," said the girl as she moved into the seating area and took
cover.

The red-haired youma walked out calmly and glared at Ranma for a
moment. "Well, now what?"

"Who are you? I don't recognize you," said the boy coldly.

"I am called Takibi," said the youma. "You are Genaku McTome are
you not?"

"I was," said Ranma with a smirk forming on his face. "I go by
Ranma these days."

"Well, Ranma. Are you prepared to die?" said the thing as it
narrowed its eyes at him.

"Not today," replied the boy as a glow began to form around his
body.

The Youma lord merely smirked, his entire body burst into flames.
"Come then, let's see if you can escape my power."

Ranma charged forward faster than Akane could see. He appeared
behind the thing and punched it in the center of its back. Or it
appeared that way, Ranma's fist passed right through the thing and he
stopped with a shocked look on his face.

"What the hell?"

"Got ya," replied the Youma from behind him. Ranma was kicked
away, the flames dissipating as they came into contact with his
protective shield.

Ranma staggered to his feet and wavered for a moment.
"He's...strong..."

Akane jumped up from behind her seat and leveled her weapon at the
thing. Without bothering to speak, she screamed and fired the tiny
weapon.

The Youma was taken by surprise and flew into the air, the
remainder of his shirt flew apart as he sailed through the back wall
of the auditorium.

Unfortunately, Akane was also lifted off of her feet and thrown
back into the seats. She landed roughly, and passed out as her head
hit the arm of one of the chairs.

Ranma rushed forward to press the momentary advantage, blasting
into the thing as it staggered out of the hole in the wall and
clutched its forehead. "HAAA!"

The youma was forced back, its arms becoming a blur as it blocked
every strike with relative ease. "You'll have to do better than that.
I have the power of the almighty on my side."

"Right, the almighty Metallia?" commented Ranma with a dark frown.

"You are a sharp one," replied the youma coolly.

"Let's see your almighty bitch deal with this! Kaio Ken special!
Katsutenshin Amaguriken!"

The youma gasped in shock as visible shockwaves became apparent in
the air around the boy's hands. He barely had time to notice it as his
entire body exploded with pain suddenly. He was thrown into a wall
again and it crumbled around him.

Ranma fell to his knees breathing roughly. His knuckles were
bleeding and his hands were badly bruised. "Take...that..." he gasped.

"Raaaahhhhh!" cried the Youma as he stood up and wiped his chin.
"That really hurt!" he snarled angrily.

"It was supposed to hurt," replied Ranma as he narrowed his eyes
at the thing. He knew he was in trouble, there was no way he could
pull off that attack again. The thing wasn't all that badly damaged
either, other than a few bruises and a busted lip, it seemed fine. "No
fair! When I come up with a new attack, you're supposed to be
defeated!"

The youma lord stood up, his hair billowing about as the flames
surrounding his body suddenly flared up. "You'll die for that!"

"No!" gasped Ranma as a ball of fire formed in the thing's palms.
He started to move away, but it was to fast. He screamed in agony as
his shield gave out and his entire body was engulfed in flames. He
jumped off the edge of the stage and rolled around on the ground for a
moment.

"Impressive, no one has ever survived that attack before," said
the Youma Lord as he looked down and saw that Ranma was relatively
unharmed. He looked a little scorched, but even his suit was still
mostly intact.

Ranma opened his eyes, an angry scowl on his face as he looked up
at the youma. "Hello?" he muttered out loud. "Damn, everyone's out but
me..."

"Who are you talking too?" asked the youma with a slight smirk on
his face.

"No one, don't worry about it. We're going to do this my way now,"
replied the boy as he looked up at the youma and smirked. He reached
behind his back and pulled out two sleek looking firearms.

The youma blinked and cocked his head. "You should know those
things can't kill me."

"Killing you isn't the plan. I'm gonna beat the shit out of you
with em," replied Ranma as he leveled one of the weapons on the thing
and shot it in the chest. The youma was lifted off his feet and sent
sprawling across the ground.

"Damn you!" it cried as it started to get up.

Ranma jumped back onto the stage and fired another shot, forcing
the thing to lie on its back again.

"What are you trying to do?" snarled the thing as it tried to get
up again.

Ranma smirked, and fired a shot into the thing's crotch.

It sat upright with its eyes growing wide suddenly.

"Bye bye," said the boy as he fired a shot at point blank rage in
its face. The youma was sent sliding across the stage and slammed into
a wall with its head. The stone cracked, but held this time. Ranma
walked up calmly as the thing groaned and rolled over onto its back.

"You realize I'm going to destroy you for this," snarled the
thing.

Ranma said nothing, but started to fire off shots one after
another into the thing as it lay on the ground. It screamed in pain
with each blast, but they still did nothing more than pound a few
bruises into place.

Finally Ranma stopped firing and looked down at the thing for a
moment.

"Out of ammo?" snarled the thing as it started to rise.

"No. This is pointless though, I'm not going to beat you today. I
can stop your little operation though," said the boy with a small
shrug as he replaced his weapons.

"How are you going to do that?" snapped the red-haired youma as it
finally stood up and leaned against the wall.

"I already have," replied the boy as he jumped off the stage and
started running up the aisle. He paused long enough to pick up Akane's
unconscious form, and then bolted for the doors at a full sprint.

"What?" muttered the youma as he staggered towards them. His head
was clouded though and he fumbled to his knees. When he bent forward
to stand up again, his eyes caught a small silver object on the
ground. "What? That's a..." Then everything went red.

+++++++++++++

"Ranma?" muttered Akane as she sat up and saw the boy staring at a
large vacant lot with what looked like tears in his eyes.

"That was so cool," muttered Ranma as he clenched his fist in
front of his face.

"Huh?" muttered the girl as she looked around. She was sitting on
a park bench just outside of the auditorium. Or rather, where the
auditorium used to be.

"It's gone!" gasped the girl as her eyes went wide.

"Shhh! Anti matter explosion," replied the boy as he put his
finger over her lips. "Vaporizes any matter it comes in contact with.
No debris, no mess, and easily contained."

"How are we going to explain this?" stammered Akane as she looked
up at the vacant lot again.

"Hey! What happened to that building?" said Ranma as he walked
over to a nearby yakitori vendor.

"Huh? Oh, that. It was demolished last week," replied the man with
a small shrug. "Musta been old or something."

Ranma turned to face her and pulled his neuralizer out of his
front pocket a little to show it to her.

"Oh," she muttered flatly. "Can we go home now?"

"Not much else we can do here," replied the boy with a small
shrug.

Akane was strangely silent as they walked towards someplace where
they could teleport away without being seen. "What the hell have I
gotten myself into?" She pulled the Noisy Cricket out of her pocket
and looked at it for a moment. "Can I really handle this?"

Ranma put on his shades as they rounded the corner and moved into
an alleyway. He seemed to be having the time of his life. "Ready?"

"I think I am," she said with a small nod.

Ranma blinked, not realizing that she was answering a completely
different question.

++++++++++++

TBC...

Next Time: Mousse meets Okii Atama, and gets himself a job? O_o`