Money in the Bank, Ranma Style!
by rkOujirou

Author's note: This is just a random brawl that was inspired by the Money in the Bank Ladder Match that the WWE holds every year at Wrestlemania. Purely for fun, and to give myself a short breather from my other story, "A Midsummer Night's Beauty." Enjoy.

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ is not my idea, it was created by a very talented manga artist named Rumiko Takahashi. Just so you know.

The air was filled with excitement in the Furinkan High School gymnasium as the hundreds of students attending the school gathered for a one of a kind event featuring four confident women all competing for a prize involving the target of their affections, Ranma Saotome, who looked annoyed as he sat in the front row of the bleachers surrounding a four-sided ring.

"Man, I can't believe I gotta do this..." Ranma grumbled to himself.

The ring in the middle of the gymnasium was the standard ring commonly used for rhythmic gymnastics competitions at the school. It had four corner posts and three nylon ring ropes stretched between them. There were two unusual things that stood out to the growing audience though. The first was that there were four 8-foot fiberglass ladders folded up and laying on the mat outside the ring, one on each side. And the second was the black, metal briefcase that was suspended 12 feet above the ring from a cord hanging from the ceiling.

With the last students beginning to file into the gymnasium, Ranma turned and looked as a cheerful Nabiki Tendo sat down next to him with a large wad of money and a notepad in her hands.

"Isn't this fun, Ranma? Thank you so much for agreeing to do this," Nabiki said to him with a sinister smile.

"Agreein' to do this?" the pigtailed boy asked with a scowl on his face. "That's funny, I thought this was blackmail."

"Please, blackmail is such a harsh word," Nabiki replied innocently. "You know I said to pay me back the money you owe me by the due date, and so here we are. You should be happy that you'll have me repaid after this is over. I'm going to make a nice profit off of this."

Ranma looked down at the stack of bills that Nabiki had collected by taking bets from all of the students. "How d'ya figure that?"

"Simple. Almost everyone's betting on Akane because she's the only one they know well," the middle Tendo sister told him. "And, let's face it, she doesn't stand a chance. Shampoo is clearly the favorite to win."

Ringing a bell outside the ring three times to grab everyone's attention, a female Furinkan student with brown hair tied into a ponytail behind her head climbed between the ropes and entered the ring, raising a shiny, silver microphone to her mouth as she walked into the middle of the four girls glaring back and forth at each other.

"Boys and girls, it's now time to begin this event, organized by our own Nabiki Tendo!" the girl announced to a round of applause and whistles from everyone in attendance. "The following contest is our first ever Anything-Goes Money in the Bank Ladder Match!"

After allowing the cheers to die down for a moment, the announcer continued her pre-match explanation. "The rules for this match are simple. Outside the ring are four ladders. To win the match, one of the contestants must climb a ladder and retrieve the briefcase hanging above the ring. And I stress, you MUST climb a ladder to get the briefcase. Taking it down in any other way will get you disqualified. To the winner will go the contents of the briefcase, which is a contract, signed by our own Ranma Saotome and valid for up to one year, that states he will spend one entire day with the winner and will agree to do anything that they ask of him during that time!"

Ranma cringed as the male members of the audience, which included Tatewaki Kuno, Ryouga Hibiki, and Mousse, began yelling and throwing small objects at him out of jealousy.

"Ranma, you'd better hope Shampoo doesn't win!" Mousse shouted at him from nearby.

Ryouga, who was also nearby, had a different opinion as he stood up. "Forget that! The one you'd better hope loses is Akane!"

"I ain't doin' this because I want to! Lay off!" Ranma snarled back at them.

While Ranma continued to verbally tangle with some of the other members of the crowd, the announcer cleared her throat to get everyone's attention once again. "Now that we've gone over the rules, let's meet our contestants! First, hailing from the village of Joketsuzoku in China, she currently works at the Cat Café restaurant. Let's hear it for the lovely Amazon wrecking ball, Shampoo!"

Responding to a spattering of cheers and whistles from people who'd bet on her to win, Shampoo, who was wearing a pink and blue battle outfit and holding a mace in each hand, raised her arms and waived to the crowd before blowing a kiss to her fiancée in the front row.

"You no worry, Ranma! Shampoo win this no problem!" she yelled out to him.

Nabiki chuckled to herself as she nudged the pigtailed boy with her elbow. "Aren't you just so lucky?"

"Yeah, real lucky," Ranma muttered as he continued to stare up into the ring.

"Our next contestant, currently attending St. Hebereke School for Girls, is the captain of the St. Hebereke Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics team," the announcer continued. "She is graceful, she is cunning, she is Kodachi "The Black Rose" Kuno!"

Kodachi, who was clad in a black leotard with the sparkling, violet design of a rose around her abdomen, placed her hands on her hips and looked angrily into the crowd as a number of boos rained down on her. Standing next to a gym bag full of her gymnastics tools, she pulled out a green ribbon and pointed it out into the bleachers.

"How dare you boo a figure of beauty such as myself?!" she shouted at them. "You'll have no choice but to cheer me when I emerge from this contest as the victor! And then, for one whole day, Ranma darling will be all mine!"

Outside the ring, Ranma shuddered at the thought of Kodachi winning the match. "Please, I can deal with the other three, but not her..."

"I wouldn't mind. She got the least amount of bets, and her odds aren't too outlandish," Nabiki said with a greedy smile. "The fewer I have to pay off, the more money for me."

In the third row of bleachers, an emotional Tatewaki Kuno stood up and cheered his sister on. "Kodachi, I shall once again cheer for you! Win!"

"Why, brother dear, you're so kind!" Kodachi cried out, clutching her ribbon to her chest. While her brother was cheering her on, it was only because he didn't want to see Akane earn a day with his rival by winning. Nonetheless, support was support, and Kodachi appreciated it.

Inside the ring, the announcer next pointed at the woman to her left. "The next combatant is one of our own, currently attending Furinkan High School! She is the owner of Ucchan's Okonomiyaki and one hell of a cook! Let's hear it for Ukyou Kuonji!"

While many people hadn't known her for very long and hadn't bet on her to win, Ukyou, who was wearing her usual blue top and black pants with an arsenal of small spatulas and the large one strapped to her back at her disposal, was given a rousing ovation because of her status as a student at the school. Waiving to the crowd, she then turned and winked at her longtime friend sitting in the front row. "That day with Ran-chan is mine! Count on it!"

Ukyou might have been Ranma's preference to win this match, he thought to himself, simply because he actually got along with her and trusted her not to do anything funny. He might end up regretting it at some point though, he realized. There was no telling what even she might have planned if given a day with him.

"And finally," the announcer said, to which most everyone in attendance stood and began cheering, "she is a well-known force here at Furinkan High School, and a member of the Tendo School of Anything-Goes Martial Arts! There's nary a male student enrolled here that hasn't felt her wrath at one point or another. You know her! You love her! You may very well fear her! She is Akane Tendo!"

Despite the roaring applause for Akane, who dressed in her white martial arts gi for the match, she looked embarrassed as she glared outside the ring at Ranma.

"I'm not doing this because I want to spend time with you, got it?! I'm just doing it to prove I can beat them!" she yelled at him.

Ranma, annoyed by the declaration, stuck his tongue out at her in response. "Like I'd want to spend time with a tomboy like you! Do whatever ya want!"

"What was that?!" Akane snarled back at him.

While Shampoo, Kodachi, Ukyou, and Akane looked around at each other, the announcer left the ring and sat at a wooden table on the mat, sticking the microphone into a small stand so that she could give the play-by-play call of the match. Once the competitors signaled that they were ready and the crowd called for the action to begin, the announcer grabbed her bell and rang it three times with a hammer, signaling the official start of the match.

"And here we go!" the announcer shouted with enthusiasm.

Immediately, Shampoo found herself being rushed by both Akane and Ukyou. After removing the unusually large spatula from her back, Ukyou swung it at the Amazon's face, but she raised her mace into the air and blocked it. From her right, Shampoo then saw Akane's fist heading for her and raised her other mace to defend against the incoming punch. While she successfully blocked Akane's attack, she took her eyes off of Ukyou long enough that the okonomiyaki chef could spin around and swing her spatula at her again, this time striking Shampoo in the face and knocking her over the top ring rope and to the outside. The opening exchange received a round of applause from the excited crowd.

"An early display of teamwork from Kuonji and Tendo to take out Shampoo! Oh, but wait-!"

As Ukyou and Akane both turned around, they were the unfortunate recipients of a blast of powder to the eyes courtesy of the underhanded tactics of Kodachi Kuno. With both of her opponents blinded, Kodachi snapped her ribbon against the two of them with ferocity to the point that they both had to retreat through the ropes and out of the ring.

"Ooohohoho! This is an easy victory!" the Black Rose boasted, sliding out of the opposite side of the ring. Acting quickly, she picked up the folded ladder and slid it under the bottom rope and into the ring.

While all of her opponents were still recuperating on the outside, Kodachi hopped back into the ring and propped up the ladder underneath the briefcase. A torrent of jeers coming from most of the onlookers, including Ranma, Kodachi was well on her way to winning the match as she scaled the rungs of the ladder one-by-one. But as she neared the top and reached her hand out for the briefcase, another folded up ladder flew in from outside the ring and smashed into her ribs, causing her to fall eight feet before slamming down onto the ring mat.

"Oh, my! What a vicious shot taken by the Black Rose!"

With the audience roaring and Kodachi rolling out of the ring in obvious pain, Shampoo, who'd tossed the ladder at her, hopped over the top rope and hurried over to the ladder that her opponent had been climbing. She was only able to make it up a couple of rungs, however, when she saw Akane roll into the ring and begin scaling the other side of the ladder.

Ascending to the top of the ladder while Shampoo did the same, Akane, her face still white from the powder Kodachi had temporarily blinded her with, grabbed the Amazon by the shoulders and tried shoving her off.

"I am not letting you win this!" Akane said with determination.

Seeing one of Shampoo's maces flying at her from one side, Akane had no choice but to duck as it whizzed by her, narrowly missing her head.

"Then you just try and stop Shampoo!" her Amazon adversary snapped back at her.

The youngest Tendo daughter tried punching Shampoo, but the lavender-haired woman was far too quick. Akane found herself ducking Shampoo's mace swings before her punches could even reach her. After a number of failed attacks, Akane decided to stay low, allowing Shampoo the opportunity to reach up for the briefcase. Just grabbing hold of the briefcase wasn't sufficient though, as its handle was latched onto the cord hanging from above. To get the briefcase down, one of the girls would have to first undo that latch, and that required them to reach even higher. While Shampoo stretched her arm out and grabbed for the latch, Akane reached forward through the ladder rungs and shoved Shampoo's feet out from under her. With her footing gone, Shampoo slipped down and slammed her chin on the top of the ladder before managing to grab hold of it again.

"Oh! That looked like it hurt! A crafty move by Furinkan's Tendo!"

Much to the delight of the crowd, Akane began scaling the ladder again and made her own move for the coveted briefcase. Shampoo would have none of it though. Swinging one of her maces forward, the Amazon struck Akane in the side with a vicious hit, causing her to cry out in agony as she grabbed her ribs.

While Akane and Shampoo continued their exchange, neither noticed the okonomiyaki chef standing at the base of their ladder. Back in the picture after letting her vision clear up, Ukyou tipped the ladder over, forcing Shampoo and Akane to jump off as it fell to the mat. Focusing her attention on Shampoo for the moment, Ukyou swung her spatula at her, but Shampoo parried it and struck her in the chest with one of her maces. While Ukyou backed off, Shampoo swung one mace at Akane, but she moved aside and thrust her fist toward Shampoo's face. Still as quick as lightning, Shampoo dodged Akane's punch and slammed her other mace into Akane's side again.

While Akane jumped back and fell to her knees in pain, Shampoo barely had time to react as Ukyou's spatula entered her view again. As the over-sized cooking utensil neared her face, Shampoo leaped back and landed on top of one of the ring ropes, showing a great display of balance.

"You no can catch Shampoo, Spatula Girl!" she taunted.

Shampoo's eyes widened with surprise as a ribbon suddenly wrapped around her from behind, constricting her arms and leaving her unable to use her maces. Turning around and looking outside the ring, Shampoo saw Kodachi hunched over and holding her ribs with one hand and the ribbon in the other as she stood next to a folded up ladder on the ground.

That momentary lapse in focus was exactly what Ukyou wanted. Charging forward, Ukyou dove into the Amazon and knocked her off of the ring rope. As the two of them fell to the floor, Ukyou speared Shampoo onto the ladder on the ground, causing her to scream in pain as her maces fell from her hands. The horrible sound of Shampoo's body crashing down into the ladder was enough to draw a gasp out of everyone in attendance as they all turned their heads to look away from the carnage.

"Oh my god! Shampoo may be broken in half! What an amazing attack by Kuonji!"

Ukyou wasn't finished with Shampoo though. While the lavender-haired woman rolled off of the ladder, Ukyou slammed her spatula into her back, drawing another cry from both she and the audience. Again and again Ukyou drove her spatula into Shampoo's back until she was finally satisfied with herself.

As she turned around, Ukyou noticed that Kodachi was slowly climbing back onto the ring apron. She was glad that the Black Rose had helped incapacitate Shampoo, but there were no allies in this match. Reaching back, Ukyou slammed her spatula into Kodachi's back, causing her to drop the the ground again in pain as the crowd gave the okonomiyaki chef a standing ovation for her show of dominance.

In the first row of the bleachers, Ranma's jaw was hanging open as he found himself amazed by the chaos he was witnessing. "Man...this is just brutal..."

"Everyone's having a great time watching it though," Nabiki said with a sly grin. "And to think, they're all doing it just to spend one day with you."

Ranma wasn't sure if he should feel honored or guilty for that at this point, but even he was now anxious to see who would come out on top.

With Shampoo and Kodachi now lying at her feet, Ukyou quickly climbed back into the ring to go for the briefcase. She wasn't alone though. As she stood up, she found herself staring over at a heavily breathing Akane who was wielding the folded up ladder Shampoo had tossed into the ring earlier like a weapon. The crowd stood on its feet as they witnessed an intense staredown between their two Furinkan High representatives.

"It looks like we're going to have a good ol' fashioned duel between Tendo and Kuonji, folks! Strap yourselves in, because here we go!"

Both of them bellowing battle cries as they ran at each other, Akane swung the ladder forcefully while Ukyou swung her spatula, the two of them clashing with a loud clang in the middle of the ring. They then reached their respective weapons back and slammed them together once more, again resulting in a draw. Dueling chants of "A-ka-ne" and "Ku-on-ji" began filling the arena as the crowd watched the two tiring warriors face off. As the two of them slammed their weapons together one last time and both fell to a knee, Ukyou pulled a bag of flour from her top and tossed it into her opponent's face. Akane began coughing immediately as the flour bomb exploded into a white cloud of dust, blinding her again.

While Akane was disoriented, Ukyou hopped onto the ladder her opponent was wielding and began running along it. As Ukyou neared, she swung her foot at Akane's forehead, but by sheer luck the youngest Tendo daughter caught a glimpse of the kick and tilted her head to the side. When Ukyou's foot missed its target, she found herself off balance and fell from the ladder to the outside of the ring.

The crowd cheered loudly as Akane found herself the lone woman in the ring. Realizing she was by herself as her vision started to clear, she promptly set up the ladder she'd been holding and began scaling it. She couldn't believe she was about to do this. With each rung she climbed her spirit rose. She was actually going to beat all of them, she thought to herself. Once she got to the top, Akane reached up to undo the latch, but quickly rescinded her hand when a small spatula flew from out of nowhere and struck her, putting a gash in one of her fingers.

"Kuonji is still stirring! Akane was literally inches from winning the contest!"

As the audience voiced its disappointment at how close Akane had come to being the victor, Ukyou rolled back into the ring and began climbing up the other side of the ladder. Staring furiously at Akane once she reached the top, Ukyou reached her large spatula over her head and slammed it down into her classmate's face.

"No you DON'T!" Ukyou yelled, watching as Akane slid down the ladder and fell to her knees.

Gasping for air as she stood tall atop the ladder, Ukyou looked up at the briefcase and began feeling around for the latch. Finally grabbing hold of it, she felt assured that she'd won. She soon realized, however, that her ladder was tipping backwards. Down on the mat, Akane was giving everything she had to hoist her end of the ladder into the air. With the ladder continuing to fall, Ukyou tried to land on the top rope, but her foot slipped, causing her to straddle the rope as she fell. Many of the men in the audience didn't understand her pain, but the women did, cringing as they looked on.

"Ohhh, no! That was not the landing Kuonji wanted! I think I felt that one!"

The okonomiyaki chef grabbed at her groin and fell to the mat outside the ring, leaving Akane all by herself again as she set the ladder in position. With Ukyou once again out of the picture, Akane made her way up the rungs of the ladder with renewed determination. This time she was going to get it, she thought. This time she was going to win! The crowd behind her as she made it to the top of the ladder, Akane again reached up and began to undo the latch. She was just a moment too slow though. Seemingly out of nowhere, a green ribbon wrapped around her neck and yanked her face down into the top of the ladder. Another collective expression of disappointment came from the bleachers as Akane fell from the ladder and landed on the mat, a trickle of blood beginning to run from her forehead after smashing it on the ladder.

"Tendo was SO close, but it looks like Kuno is revived and ready to go again!"

Still sore from the attacks she'd taken earlier, Kodachi slid under the bottom rope and back into the ring. Grabbing something from her bag, the Black Rose rushed over to the disoriented Akane and began relentlessly slamming clubs into her face.

"Attack of a Thousand Clubs!" the gymnast yelled out.

Unable to bear the assault, Akane fell through the ring ropes and collapsed to the mat outside the ring. Twirling around in the ring to a chorus of boos, Kodachi laughed arrogantly and took a bow for taking out the youngest Tendo daughter.

"I cannot bear this any longer!" Tatewaki Kuno suddenly cried out, leaping down from the bleachers and running over to his fallen love. "Akane Tendo, please, no more of this! I do not wish for your injuries to become worse!"

While Kodachi began to scale the ladder in the middle of the ring, Akane started to shake off the attacks and stared angrily at her upperclassman.

"Leave me alone!" Akane screamed, picking Kuno up and heaving him toward the ring.

Kodachi had reached the top of the ladder and was about to grab the briefcase when she was suddenly struck by the body of her brother, falling to the mat again as the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High sailed off into the crowd.

"What a twist! Akane used Kodachi's own brother to steal the victory from her!"

"What do you think you're doing, brother?!" Kodachi shouted at him venomously.

Having successfully bought herself some time, Akane slowly crawled back into the ring and set up the ladder that was lying on the mat, beginning to climb it while Kodachi started to make her way back up her own ladder again. The audience was on its feet as the two beaten and bruised ladies scaled the ladders toward the prized briefcase. Kodachi wasn't going to back down, but neither was Akane. As they neared the top, both of them ignored each other and tried to reach for the briefcase, but they were both stopped in their tracks when a pair of maces flew in from outside the ring and struck each of them in their sides, forcing them to slide down their ladders and grab at their ribs in pain.

"Can you believe this?! It looks like Shampoo is revived after the assault from Kuonji earlier!"

Her back still incredibly sore after Ukyou's assault, Shampoo slid a third ladder into the ring and followed it inside. Setting up the ladder next to the other two, she was breathing heavily as she slowly began to scale it. The combined attacks of the others had taken a lot out of her, but she wasn't out of the match yet. She wanted that day with Ranma more than anything.

Realizing that Shampoo was getting closer to the top of her ladder, both Akane and Kodachi put the pain running through their bodies in the back of their minds and began climbing their own ladders again. The crowd looked on in anticipation as all three of them inched closer and closer to the briefcase. They were tired and sore, but they couldn't allow themselves to lose. This wasn't just a competition for a day with Ranma anymore, it was a competition for pride.

With Akane, Kodachi, and Shampoo reaching the top of their ladders at the same time, Shampoo reached up for the briefcase only to take a shot from one of Kodachi's clubs to her chest. Kodachi then attempted to grab the briefcase, but Akane struck her in the shoulder with her fist. Reaching up for the case herself, Akane was stopped when Shampoo grabbed her head and slammed it into the top of her ladder.

"This is incredible! All three of these girls are giving it their all to get that briefcase! Who is going to win it?!"

While the three others continued to duke it out atop the ladders, a grimacing Ukyou Kuonji popped up from outside the ring and slid the fourth ladder under the bottom rope. Still clutching at her groin area, Ukyou slid into the ring and set her ladder up next to the other three. With the other girls looking back and forth at each other in surprise, the audience roared as Ukyou scaled her ladder and swiped her spatula at the others, forcing them to duck to avoid being knocked down.

"And now Kuonji is in the mix again! All four women are standing on ladders with that briefcase within their grasps! What is going to happen here?!"

Leaving herself off balance for just a moment after swinging her weapon, Ukyou found herself the victim of a sharp chop across the chest from Shampoo's arm. Surprised by the sudden blow, Ukyou lost her grip and fell down to the mat, slamming into it with a thud.

Distracted as she watched Ukyou fall, the agile Kodachi was elbowed in the throat by Akane and sent flying from her ladder to the mat as well. While Kodachi grasped at her throat, coughing as she tried to catch her breath, Akane and Shampoo glared at one another from atop their ladders.

"Look at the faces of Shampoo and Tendo, folks! Have you ever seen such intensity?!"

Up in the bleachers, Ryouga had seen enough of this match. "Arrrrgh! I can't let Akane win this!"

Ryouga was about to head toward the ring, but he suddenly felt himself being drenched with a large amount of cold water courtesy of Mousse.

"You'll do nothing of the sort! The one that needs to be stopped is Shampoo!" Mousse yelled, dropping his empty bucket to the ground as Ryouga changed into a small, black piglet.

While the piglet growled at him and began trotting toward the ring anyway, Mousse found himself the recipient of some angry stares from students around Ryouga that he'd drenched.

"Oh, umm...sorry about that," Mousse said to them, but his apology wasn't convincing enough for the soaked bystanders, who grabbed him by his robe and proceeded to give him a thorough beating.

Inside the ring, Akane and Shampoo continued to stand atop their ladders, not taking their eyes off of one another.

"I guess it's just you and me, huh?" Akane said.

"Is good way to end," Shampoo replied with a smirk.

"It sure is," Akane said in agreement, then turning and looking behind Shampoo with a shocked expression on her face. "Hey, who's that girl Ranma's kissing?!"

While Shampoo and even some of the audience members spun around and looked in Ranma's direction, Akane slammed her fist into Shampoo's cheek and knocked her off of the ladder and down to the mat.

"What a clever move by Tendo! By distracting Shampoo, she may have just won this match!"

"It's mine!" Akane cried out as she reached for the briefcase.

As Akane undid the latch, however, a black piglet shot off from the top rope and sprung into her, knocking her off of the ladder and clinging onto her face to keep her down on the mat. The crowd couldn't believe what they were seeing. A piglet, of all things, had stolen the victory from Akane when she was so close.

"Whew, that was close," a relieved Nabiki said as she looked on.

"P-P-chan?! What are you doing here?! Stop, please!" Akane pleaded as she tried to pry the piglet off of her.

"Was that a piglet that just came into the ring?! How unfortunate for Tendo! And look, we've got two competitors climbing up the ladders again!"

The two that the announcer mentioned were Ukyou Kuonji and Shampoo, each of whom began scaling a different ladder. Ukyou was slightly more aware of her surroundings at this point after having had a little more time to recover from her latest blow than the Amazon, but Shampoo wasn't down and out by any means.

Up in the bleachers, Mousse slowly made his way to his feet with his clothes torn and his glasses cracked. His vision was screwed up, but he couldn't mistake the lavender hair of one of the women climbing toward the briefcase.

"Forgive me, Shampoo, but I can't let you win this!" Mousse cried out, tossing a mess of chains toward the ring.

Unfortunately for a certain okonomiyaki chef, the cracks in Mousse's glasses had thrown his aim off considerably. Ukyou watched in dismay as the chains wrapped around her, constricting her completely as she fell down to the mat again.

"Wh-what do you think you're doing, you idiot?!" Ukyou screamed at him.

Laughing at her fortune as beads of sweat dripped down her cheeks, Shampoo began climbing toward the briefcase all by herself. "Mousse have use after all!"

The crowd began yelling out for someone, anyone to stop the skilled Amazon as they watched her climb the rungs of the ladder, and those cries, as fate would have it, would be answered. Shampoo gasped as she suddenly felt someone grab her by the hips. At the base of the ladder, Akane had her hands wrapped around Shampoo's waist and was glaring up at her with a look of sheer determination in her eyes.

"I said...I'm not letting you win this!" Akane yelled, heaving Shampoo over her head and over the top rope.

"Tendo has cleared the ring again! Can she win the match?!"

The audience cheered as Akane stood in the ring by herself, but she couldn't help watching as Shampoo sailed into the hands of none other than Ranma in the first row of the bleachers.

Dazed as she looked into her fiancée's eyes, Shampoo smiled lovingly and wrapped him in a tight embrace. "Aiyaa, Ranma catch Shampoo!"

"H-hey...!" Ranma began to say, but just then an angry look from Akane caught his eye.

"What do you two think you're doing?!" Akane snarled, hopping through the ring ropes and storming over to them.

Akane had completely forgotten about the match as she grabbed hold of Shampoo and tried to pry her off of Ranma. The lovestruck Amazon didn't want to let go though, forcing her to spend even more time trying to pull them apart.

"Why are you two always doing this?!" the youngest Tendo daughter shouted angrily.

Most everyone in the crowd had their eyes locked on what was happening in the first row of the bleachers, so when they suddenly heard the bell ring three times they had no idea what had happened. One glance at the ring told the tale though. As everyone turned and looked toward the briefcase, they were all surprised at what they saw.

"Oh my god, no..." Ranma said, his face turning pale as he stared up into the ring in disbelief.

As Shampoo and Akane turned back toward the ring, they saw Kodachi in a state of pure bliss as she clutched the black briefcase to her chest atop one of the ladders. Holding a ribbon in one hand and the briefcase in the other, she threw her arms into the air and laughed joyously before the silent and shocked crowd.

"I don't believe it! While Kuonji was indisposed and Shampoo and Tendo were outside the ring with Saotome, Kuno climbed to the top of a ladder and claimed the briefcase for herself! What an opportunist! Ladies and gentlemen, Kodachi "The Black Rose" Kuno is your winner!"

"Perfect! Way to go, Kodachi!" Nabiki cheered, clearly happy about the money she'd won from the students' bets. "I'll have to pay off the couple that bet on her, but I still get to keep most of the cash. Thank you so much, Ranma. Do enjoy your time together."

While most of the crowd cursed about losing the money they'd put down on Akane, Kodachi hopped down from the ladder and to the outside of the ring before her darling Ranma. All of the pain she'd endured during the match seemed to wash away with the joy of winning the brutal contest, and now she held in her hands a contract that allowed her one full day with the man she loved.

"Ranma darling," Kodachi said with a sparkle in her eye, "I promise, I will plan the most special, romantic day ever for the two of us! I simply cannot wait! How wonderful this is! Until then, my darling, I bid you adieu! Oohohoho!"

As Kodachi disappeared in a flurry of black rose petals, Shampoo and Akane glared at each other angrily.

"This all Akane's fault!" Shampoo yelled.

"My fault?! You're the one that came out here and started flirting in the middle of the match!" Akane snarled back at her.

"It's both of your faults!" Ukyou shouted from the ring mat, her body still wrapped in Mousse's chains. "Now someone come get me out of this!"

"Well, it was a fantastic match, folks, but in the end, Kodachi "The Black Rose" Kuno emerged as Miss Money in the Bank! Thank you all for coming, and I hope we get to see another match like this in the future! Oh, and good luck, Saotome!"

While Shampoo and Akane continued their argument over who was at fault in front of him, Ranma slowly stood up and began stumbling out of the gymnasium with an expression of pure dread on his face.

"Why...why me...?"

The End