Heavenly Intervention
Chapter 11
Night of the Festival: Fishing for memory!
Tetsuo frowned as he walked through the streets of Nerima's business section. It was late and a
lot of the shops were beginning to close up for the night. Normally The boy would have been
home and in bed already, but lately nobody seemed to even notice his existence. The 11 year old
Tendo kicked at a stone and grumbled to himself as he recalled how it was he managed to slip out
of the house without his mother noticing.
Earlier that night:
Tetsuo frowned as he came down the stairs to the main room. His mother was in the kitchen with
Kasumi discussing some boring adult things while preparing some chilled dishes for the next
morning. "Mom." Tetsuo called out, trying to get the older woman's attention.
Kimiko ignored him and continued her conversation with Kasumi. "... and if he persists then just
fall back on your martial arts training. You still have some skill from your father's earlier
teachings."
"Mom!" Tetsuo called out again, this time a little louder.
Again his mother ignored him. "That's certainly no way for a University professor to be acting. I
think you should certainly make a complaint to the school board."
"MOM!" Tetsuo yelled. Kimiko just shushed him and continued her conversation with Kasumi.
He then rolled his eyes and turned away. "Forget it."
Just as Tetsuo was about to climb back up the stairs to his room he turned and looked at the front
door then to his mother who was still conversing with his eldest sister. He shrugged and then
walked to the front hall, putting on his outdoor shoes and opening the door. "I'm going out for a
bit!" He called out.
Nothing.
"I'll be in the red light district if you need me!" He called again, hoping that a stern parental figure
would come storming out to stop him.
Nothing.
"I'll probably be kidnapped, sold into slavery and then raped, tortured, and killed!" He added.
Still nothing.
Tetsuo sighed and then left the house.
Tetsuo kicked another stone across the street and growled. "Stupid Akane!" he said. "Ever since
she came back everyone's been ignoring me! It's like I don't even exist!" He cried as tears started
to well up in his eyes. He sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "I wish I had power like her...
then they'd notice me."
"Power you're looking for lad?" Came an old voice from a nearby doorway. Not realizing that
he'd even been speaking out loud Tetsuo turned startled to see a wrinkly old man standing in the
doorway of one of the few shops that was still open.
"Wh... who are you?" Tetsuo asked in slight fear.
"The name's Mushibushi. I run this store here." He said motioning toward the large sign above.
Tetsuo looked confused as he read it. "An antiques store?" he enquired. "What's antiques got to
do with power?"
The old man laughed a high pitched almost sinister laugh. "Oh the power I offer you has nothing
to do with these antiques." He stated. "Why don't you come in young man? I think this might be
just what you're looking for."
Tetsuo, not knowing a whole lot better, and curious like any young boy, nodded and entered the
store with the man.
The inside of the store was stuffy, dark, and many a cobweb could be seen in the dusty old place.
It was quite obvious that the antiques dealer never cleaned it. "So what's this power thing you're
talking about?" Tetsuo asked the man.
The man gave that sinister laugh again and quickly darted behind a counter at the back of the
store. "It's simply called the 'Idol of Power'. It's an ancient myth about a magical idol infused
with the soul of a powerful sorcerer. No one has ever seen it, for no one knows where it is but...
It is guaranteed to imbue the owner of the idol with unimaginable power."
Tetsuo looked confused as he put down the ugly wooden mug he had just picked up to examine.
"So if no one knows where to find it how am I going to get this Idol?"
"I have a map." The man replied.
Tetsuo looked confused. "Well if you've had a map all this time why haven't you gone to look for
it yourself?"
Mushibushi paused and then chuckled. "What are you crazy kid? I'm old! Look at me! I can
barely climb the stairs let alone a mountain."
"Mountain?" Tetsuo inquired.
The old man smiled wide and then fled into a door behind the counter he was standing behind.
"Yes!" His voice called from the darkness of the room. "A mountain! Mt. Fuji to be exact!" He
then came out with an ancient looking scroll and unrolled it on the counter.
Eager to see what the man was talking about Tetsuo stepped up at the counter and peeked at the
scroll. "That's the Idol?" He asked pointing to an old slightly worn picture that was drawn on the
scroll.
Mushibushi nodded yes. "The idol is said to be located deep inside mount Fuji. There is a hidden
staircase near the center of the mountain that leads to an expansive cavern near the top. That is
where you'll find the Idol."
Tetsuo smiled. "Then I could be more powerful than Akane?"
The old man laughed that sinister laugh again. "The Idol is infused with the spirit of one of the
most powerful sorcerers of all time. I wouldn't be surprised at all if you became the most
powerful being on the planet."
Tetsuo smiled darkly. "Then no one could ignore me."
Mushibushi then rolled up the scroll and handed it to Tetsuo. "Good luck little one. I hope that
this map leads you in the right direction."
Tetsuo grabbed the map and then ran out the door. "Thanks mister!" he exclaimed as he began his
trek home, eager to start studying the map.
Mushibushi smiled as he watched the excited youth run out of his store. "Not much longer now."
He stated to himself with a sinister grin.
3 Nights later
Ranma blushed as he walked with an excited Akane through the bustling and busy festival. He
was wearing his green silk Chinese shirt and Akane was in a blue floral pattern kimono that she'd
borrowed from her mother. There were many vendors and games and a few rides and attractions
around the area and, had it not been for the awkward date that he was forced on with Akane,
Ranma would probably have been enjoying himself.
Damn! Ranma thought to himself as he fingered the bottle of shampoo in his pocket. I gotta
use that Xi Fang Hang Gou technique on her soon. Who knows how long before Akane's stuck
like this.
It was then that the pair heard the sound of someone crying. Ranma was content to just ignore it
for the moment as it wasn't his problem, but Akane decided to investigate. A moment later the
couple arrived at one of the vendors where a little boy was crying while holding a broken fish net.
"What's wrong?" Akane asked as she knelt down and put a comforting hand on the child's
shoulder.
The boy sniffled and held up the net. "My net keeps breaking and now I don't have any money."
At that moment Akane pepped up. "Don't worry. I'll win one for you." she said as she stood up.
The boy's mood instantly brightened. "Really?"
"Yup." Akane then looked towards the game that the boy was trying his luck at. It seemed simple
enough. There was a tank of goldfish and you got to keep any of them that you could catch with
the tiny hand net that was supplied upon payment without breaking it. She then looked up at the
shady vendor with the long scar on his cheek and smiled brightly. "I'd like to play." She stated.
The vendor smiled darkly and handed her a net. "300 yen. Catch them all and it's free."
Ranma sighed in boredom as he watched with his hands behind his head. "Hurry it up Akane." He
stated.
Akane just gave him a thumbs up. "I won't take too long." Akane then rolled up her sleeve and
grinned as she let the net fly towards the water. However the net broke immediately after it
touched the water. "Huh?" Akane muttered as she looked at it. She then looked up at the scarred
vendor with a frown. "These are defected."
The man chuckled. "What do you take me for? A petty crook? There's a trick to it. Just like any
other game."
Akane frowned. Then she smirked. "Okay. A trick eh? Give me another."
"Here you go." The man said with a pleasant smile as he handed her another of the nets.
Akane then breathed out and let the net fly again. This time however her hands were moving so
fast that the vendor could barely see them moving. Her hands continued to move at this lightning
fast speed and then moments later all of the goldfish were out of the tank and placed into a row of
water filled bowls.
Ranma gasped as he watched this. Her hands are moving at amaguriken speed! Oh no! he
thought ominously. She KNOWS the technique! She Know's the Katchu Tenshin Amaguriken!
The vendor's jaw hung open as he saw the girl's second try get all of the fish out. She had moved
so fast that she hadn't even gotten the net wet. I've got to do something. He thought to
himself. If I allow her to win that easily then I'll go bankrupt! The man then smirked as he
pulled up another tank from behind the stand and slammed it down in place of the goldfish tank.
"NOT SO FAST GIRLIE!" he shouted. "You've still gotta finish round TWO first!"
"Round two?" Akane said with a little bit of disbelief.
The vendor then motioned towards the new tank. "That's right girlie. You gotta catch all these
Piranha... bare handed. These Piranha are straight from the South American Amazon. These
babies could skeletonize a cow in seconds. Catch them all or give me back the goldfish!" He
stated with more than a little confidence, sure that he'd get the fish back.
Akane smiled. "Okay. You asked for it."
The little boy tugged on her shirt for a second. "I want a piranha too."
With Akane distracted Ranma decided to slip away. I gotta tell Uuchan He thought as he made
his way to the stand where Ukyo and Shampoo were selling okinomiyaki.
Akane smiled as she finished off the last of the piranha. She smiled at the vendor who was now
crying. "Thanks for the game mister. It was fun."
The little boy turned to Akane and smiled brightly. "Thank you so much big sister! Wait'll I show
my mom!" He stated just before running off with several fish filled bags.
Akane then turned towards where she last saw Ranma. But he was nowhere to be seen.
"Ranma?" She called out. Hoping to find her stubborn fiance. But he was nowhere within
earshot. "Where did he go?" She wondered out loud to herself.
Ukyo smiled as she cooked Okinomiyaki at amaguriken speed. The stand that they had opened at
the festival had a massive throng of customers bombarding their business. The attractive outfits
the two wore only further attracted customers. With Shampoo taking orders so fast Ukyo was
hard pressed to keep up with the massive amount of orders at first until she figured out the secret
to the amaguriken. Now she had no trouble as she cooked with a speed and efficiency that she
could only have dreamed of before meeting Shampoo. This amaguriken technique is amazing!
She thought to herself. There's no way Akane will be able to defend against the Xi Fang Hang
Gou now.
Just then Ukyo's revery was broken by a familiar voice. "Uuchan!" Ranma called out as he made
his way through the massive crowd to see his best friend and fiance.
Ukyo beamed with enthusiasm. "Ranchan!" she called out as she threw up another couple orders
to Shampoo who caught them and quickly handed them out to, eager to eat, customers. Ukyo's
face then fell as she saw Ranma's look of worry. "What's the matter honey?"
Ranma sighed and jumped behind the grill so that he could talk. "It's Akane."
Shampoo, who had noticed Ranma's arrival stopped in her work and also came behind the
counter. "What matter with Akane?" She asked worriedly.
Ranma looked distressed. "She knows the Amaguriken."
"WHAT?" Two surprised female voices nearly screamed.
Ranma nodded. "We were at a fish catching vendor and she caught them all using the
amaguriken! There's no mistaking it!"
"Aiyah!" Shampoo said. "How Akane learn amaguriken? Is ancient amazon secret technique.
Shampoo and great grandmother never show her before."
"I saw it with my own eyes." Ranma stated. "She definitely knew it."
Ukyo looked concerned. "Now how are we going to get the real Akane back?"
Shampoo gave a look of determination. "We still try plan."
Ranma looked confused. "But she knows it as well now. She'll be able to counter it."
"Shampoo no care! We still try." She stated. "Is worth shot."
Ukyo finished off the last order of Okinomiyaki and then pulled out a closed sign from behind the
counter after shutting off the grill. "Let's close up and go find Akane. Maybe we can surprise her
in the crowd." Ranma and Shampoo nodded and the three ran off in the crowd to find Akane.
"Damn there's so many people here." Ranma stated as they pushed through the crowds trying to
find the amnesiac girl. "We'll never find her like this."
"Maybe we should split up." Ukyo offered. "We could cover more ground."
"Good call." Ranma seconded. "We'll meet back at the okinomiyaki stand if we can't find her."
Shampoo and Ukyo nodded and then turned away to broaden the search.
A few minutes later Ranma caught a glimpse of Akane in the distance. "There she is." With that
Ranma pulled out a bottle of 249 herbal shampoo. "Here goes nothing."
Akane sighed as she continued her search for her fiance. "Where on earth did he go?" She
wondered. Just then Akane felt an imminent sense of danger and jumped out of the way just in
time as Ranma came out of a crowd of people lashing out with amaguriken speed. "Ranma?"
Akane asked. "What are you doing?" She then noticed the shampoo bottle in his hand. "What's
that for?" She asked.
Ranma just tensed up. "It's for your own good Akane." He said cryptically.
"What's for my own good? Ranma what's going on? Where did you go?" She demanded still a bit
angry from when he had taken off.
Ranma didn't say anything. He just leapt forward and attacked. "KATCHU TENSHIN
AMAGURIKEN!" He called out as he prepared to do an ultra fast Xi Fang Hang Gou technique.
"AAAH!" Akane screamed as she blocked the attack with her own amaguriken and leapt further
away. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU RANMA!" She angrily demanded.
"It's the only way to get your memory back Akane!" He called out as he again tried the
technique, which Akane easily countered with her own, sped up, blocks. "Just hold still and let me
wash your hair damn it!"
"NO! I like me the way I AM!" Akane then turned Ranma's attack into her own, grabbing one of
his amaguriken speed arms and throwing him into a nearby vendor before taking off into the
crowds.
Ranma crashed through the wooden stand and groaned as he stood up. "This is going to be a lot
harder than I thought." He muttered before giving chase once again after the older looking girl.
Ukyo stopped and turned around as she heard a familiar shrieking voice. That was Akane! She
thought. She then began heading in the direction that she heard it. Maybe Ran-chan got her.
Her hopes were shattered however when Akane burst through the crowd running towards her
with tears in her eyes. Ukyo stopped and pulled out her own bottle of 249 shampoo. "Looks like
it's my turn." She said to herself as she took up a stance.
Akane noticed Ukyo and stopped. "Uuchan... I..." She then noticed the exact same bottle of
shampoo in her hand. "Oh no. You too?" Akane then furrowed her brow in anger. "Why can't
you guys just let me be ME?" She demanded as her aura flared red.
"Because you're NOT you Akane." Ukyo stated. "The Akane I know is a tomboyish, know it all,
fighter. You're girly, whiney, and generally annoying like this." She stated.
"WHO'S ANNOYING?" Akane shrieked at her childhood friend.
Ukyo took that chance to leap forward and try to use the Xi Fang Hang Gou. Akane quickly
dodged her attempts, grabbed her arm and threw her away just as she had done with Ranma.
"AKANE!"
Akane then turned towards the voice that hailed her and glared with absolute hatred towards the
owner who stepped towards her. "Shampoo." She hissed. "This is all your fault. You're turning
all my friends and family against me just so you could satisfy your own perverted ways!"
Shampoo's face was calm and serious as she continued her advance on the girl. A crowd of
people began to form around the martial artists, eager to view the fighting spectacle. "Is not real
you." She said.
Akane wiped a tear from her eye. "That's not for you to decide!"
Ranma then burst through the crowd and stood next to Shampoo as Ukyo stood up from where
she had been thrown on the ground. "Uuchan!" He called. "You all right?"
Ukyo nodded. "Yeah. She just caught me off guard. I got careless."
Akane looked around herself and noticed all three of them had unwittingly surrounded her. Each
one of them had a bottle of shampoo with the label 249. She desperately looked for an escape.
She didn't want to fight. She didn't want to hurt anyone... but she also didn't want to go back to
the Akane that everyone else wanted back. It was wrong. It was sick! Akane leapt towards Ukyo
who was the slowest of her three opponents and she quickly grabbed her arm before she could use
the amaguriken and threw her towards Ranma.
"Gotcha!" Ranma called as he caught her, breaking her fall as best he could.
Akane then chose that moment to run again. She needed something to give her time to run away,
when she looked back she saw Shampoo chasing after her with a determined look upon her
delicate face. Akane frowned and then smiled as she noticed a man carrying a bucket of water.
The curse! She thought. She can't do anything to me as a cat! Akane grabbed the bucket and
turned suddenly to a surprised Shampoo. "I'm not changing back Shampoo! And that's final!"
With that final cry Akane let loose the contents of the bucket and Shampoo screamed. "AKANE
NO!"
Akane's smirk faded however as shampoo began to grow instead of shrink, her clothing tore
apart, her skin became scales, fingers became claws, and hair became thick fleshy tendrils.
She definitely didn't turn into a cat.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Akane screamed just as Ranma and Ukyo caught up.
Ranma and Ukyo looked surprised as well and the many ordinary people who were attending the
festival began to panic and run away in fear. "MONSTER!" People yelled as they frantically made
their ways towards the exits.
"Ran-chan what IS that?" Ukyo asked not quite sure if she should attack or run away.
The dragon-like creature wasted no time and tackled the flabbergasted Akane with a speed that
even she had trouble keeping track of. Ranma and Ukyo were about to help but then Ranma
stopped their trek as he noticed something. "Wait! Uuchan look!" He said, pointing towards the
creature.
Ukyo looked and gasped as she saw what it was that he was pointing at. It was a bottle of
shampoo #249 in the hands of the creature. "You mean... that's Shampoo!"
Ranma nodded. "Looks like she's got a new curse."
Ukyo looked confused as Shampoo emptied the contents of the bottle to the struggling Akane's
head and started washing with almost double amaguriken speed. "Ran-chan what do you mean
curse? What's going on here?"
Shampoo finally finished with the Xi Fang Hang Gou technique and stood up slowly. She walked
towards Ranma and in a very raspy almost evil sounding voice said. "Is done."
Ranma nodded and Ukyo hid slightly behind him in more than a little fear for the creature that
stood before her. "Is... is that you Shampoo?" She asked in a little bit of a mousy voice.
Shampoo nodded. "Take Akane home. Shampoo go get hot water."
Ukyo and Ranma nodded and then Shampoo spread her great wings and took off into the air.
Ukyo looked amazed and confused all at the same time. "How'd Shampoo turn into that thing?"
She asked her fiance.
Ranma smiled and walked over to Akane. "I'll tell you later. Lets get Akane home."
Akane groaned as she awoke. She immediately realized once she was awake that she was moving.
Upon opening her eyes she noticed Ranma carrying her. "What happened Ranma?" She asked,
confused as to why she was currently in his arms.
Ranma looked over to Ukyo who was walking beside him and smiled. "Hey. She's awake."
Ranma set Akane down and she stood up and stretched. "Did I just come back from some kind of
day spa or something? I feel pretty damn refreshed."
"Shampoo used a technique called the Xi Fang Hang Gou on you to restore your memories."
Ukyo stated.
Akane looked ecstatic. "Shampoo's back!" She asked excitedly.
Ranma chuckled. "Looks like you are too."
Akane then paused and thought about what Ranma had said. "Wait a minute. Why would she
have to use the Xi Fang Hang Gou on me?"
"You're familiar with it?" Ranma asked.
Akane nodded. "Yeah it's a mixture of herbal shampoo and pressure points to take away or
restore memory. But why would she have to use it on me?"
Ukyo looked a little bashful at that. "I hit you on the head when I was chasing after you at the
school and you kind of... changed."
Akane looked terrified all of a sudden. "Ch...changed? How exactly did I change?" She asked,
fearful of the answer.
"You got..." Ukyo started.
"Girly." Ranma finished. "Real girly."
Akane looked shocked and appalled at this news. "Oh no..." With that Akane took off down the
road towards the Tendo Dojo. Ranma and Ukyo followed close behind.
The moment Akane entered the house she ran up the stairs to her room and threw open the door.
Inside was posters of girly anime and handsome male idols, teddy bears, CD's with nothing but
girly pop music, pink bed sheets, and pretty much everything else that one would expect to see in
a really girly girl's room.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
TBC
Author's notes: Well it looks like I'm done another chapter of Heavenly Intervention. It only
took me 3 days to write it... and about a year to GET to writing it. That's what you get when you
go to college though I suppose. Can't do much about that. Anywho I'm back from my first year
of college and I've got a whole year off from school, so that time's going to be distributed
amongst three main categories. Work, Art, and Writing. Which means that all a y'all who like my
fanfiction can expect to see more soon.
Morden Night: