This takes place after Duck and Peaches..., but don't worry, there shouldn't be too many spoilers. And there's probably a fic or two between them as well.

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and all its characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I'm only appropriating them for my own entertainment (and to compete in this fanfic contest) and hoping she doesn't get too upset by my use of her works.

It should be quite obvious that I don't speak Chinese and that most of the Chinese characters are named using a dictionary and the kind of names that appear in the few translated Jademan comics I have.

WEEKEND IN SINGAPORE OR THE RETURN OF LOO

* * * * * *

Cologne looked at the letter in her hands again and groaned (again).
"What's the matter, great-grandmother?", Shampoo asked.
"It's this message from home", Cologne replied. "It seems Ba Fu has had another of his visions..."
"Didn't they get him something to stop having those?"
"I guess the effect wore off. Anyway, the other Elders has decided that you and Mousse should go and deal with whatever the vision was about."
"WHAT? Why us? What is it we're supposed to do, anyway?"
"Well...they say it's because it's easier for you to go abroad since you're already there, but they seem to hint at the lack of intimacy for a young couple living with a months-old baby and a nosy old woman."
"Didn't you tell them Mousse and Hairspray moved out?"
"They are rather...selective...about what they remember when they want to. Now go and get Mousse, and I'll tell you what they want you to do."
* * * * * *
About twenty minutes later, Shampoo was standing outside Mousse's new apartment. She hadn't seen much of either Mousse or Hairspray since they moved, and she hadn't seen the apartment since themorning after the house-warming party two weeks ago. And she doubted _that_ was what it normally looked like.
He seemed to take an awful long time to answer the door. Visions of knocking down the door and catching Mousse in the act started flashing through her mind. Maybe one of his co-workers from the bar/nightclub... or maybe Ukyo (she hadn't forgotten that 'purple wig' comment)...or even Nabiki. That...that... She was interrupted by an unrobed Mousse opening the door.
"I'm sorry it took so long, but Hairspray just decided to have an accident on my robe."
"Naturally", Shampoo replied suspiciously, while discreetly trying to peer into the room to see if there was another cause for Mousse's state of undress.
"Please come inside...Could you keep an eye on Hairspray while I find some clean clothes."
"OK. You know, this isn't just a social visit."
"I guessed that. What's the occasion?"
"I don't know. Great-grandmother got a letter from the other Elders and they want us to do something. She'll tell us once we're back at the restaurant."
"Just a minute. I'll just get Hairspray ready."

* * * * * * "We're back!"
"Good. Sit down, and I'll tell you what this is all about...I just got a letter from the other elders. Ba Fu has had another vision and they want you two to go and deal with it, since you're already outside China. I guess it's possible that you made personal appearances in the vision too."
"Oh, joy."
"Did they bother to explain what the vision was."
"No, but apparently Ba Fu's brother is involved somehow and they seem to expect him to explain what's going on once you get to Singapore. Now go get packed, the plane leaves tonight."
"Tonight?! But I can't...I mean...what about Hairspray?"
"I've already asked Mrs. Saotome if she'll look after her while you're away. She should be around soon to pick her up. It'll only be a couple of days."
"But...but..."
"And don't worry. They promised to make sure Genma wouldn't try to teach her anything."
"And what happens when we get to Singapore?"
"I think one of Ba Fu's brother's students will come to pick you up."

* * * * * * Considerably later, at Changi airport in Singapore...

"Did you catch who great-grandmother said would pick us up?"
"No. Did she say anything?"
"Great! She just sent us here without any clue as to what is going on, where we're going or who'll meet us."
"The other Elders planned this, I'm sure some of them would remember to arrange things with Ba Fu's brother."
"You're right. So all we have to do is find somebody who looks like his waiting for somebody he doesn't know..."
Suddenly Shampoo spotted a young monk looking as indifferent as a bald man can while holding a large sign with various hair care products written on it.
"...something like that, maybe?"
Then he spotted them too.

"Mousse and Shampoo, I presume", the monk said.
"Uh...yes. And you're one of Ba Fu's brother's students, right?"
"Sort of. I'm An Shui. Pleased to meet you. We'll just have to wait for Ping to get back, then we'll drive you to the mansion."
"Mansion?"
"Well, not really a _mansion_ but..."
They were interrupted by the arrival of Ping. Presumably. It was possible that the pink-haired girl suddenly pouncing on them was just an even more complete stranger being overly friendly.
"Ooh, youmustbeShampooandMousseI'veheardsomuchaboutyouIamso happyIfinallygetto..."
"Calm down, Ping. Breathe, remember? And where did you 'hear so much about them'?"
"I can't just go up to some strangers and say 'Mousse and Shampoo, I presume. What makes you so darn special?'"
"I did."
"Actually, _I'm_ Shampoo. _He's_ Mousse. You can let go of us now."
"You never asked what makes us so darn special. We thought that Ba Fu's brother would tell us why we were sent here, once we meet him."
"I suppose so. He didn't tell me anything but to pick you two up at the airport. Now that everybody's here, let's go."

* * * * * *

"An Shui, you said that you were sort of Ba Fu's brother's student?", Mousse asked while they were driving. "Could you explain what you mean?"
"Well, basically it means..."
"He _does_ have a name, you know", Ping interrupted. "How would you like it if everybody referred to you as Shampoo's boyfriend?"
"HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND!!"
"Really? Can I have him?"
"NO!"/"Ping!!"
"Just kidding!" Them she added quietly. "Mostly."
"I'm sorry, but I never heard him called anything but Ba Fu's brother", Mousse said, trying to bring the conversation back to its original subject.
"I guessed as much", An Shui answered. "I think that's why he left the village."
"Uh...so what is his name then?"
"Loo."

* * * * * *

Loo turned out to be living in a house of the traditional square compound type in Chinatown. It was slightly larger than the Kuno mansion.

Loo himself met them at the entrance. He was clearly at least as old as Cologne and Happosai and must have been a giant in his younger days - despite being equally shrunk and mummified-looking, he was at least a foot taller.

"Ah, Mousse and Shampoo. I'm Loo, Ba Fu's brother. I trust you had a pleasant journey. Please come inside and I'll tell you why you're here."
"Is it just me or is he a little bit stressed?", Shampoo asked.
"He's been like this for the last month or so", Ping said. "I guess it has something to do why you were sent here."
"I'll show you your room so you can leave your bags first", An Shui said.
"Our room?! We have to share a room?!", Shampoo almost-shouted.
"Ah...uh, well...we got the impression that you were..."
"MOUSSE IS NOT MY BOYFRIEND!"
"Yes, you already told us that, but we didn't know that then and, as you can see, we don't have that much spare room here."
"Master Loo refuses to throw away or sell any of his old junk and he keeps getting more of it all the time", Ping added.
"I'll see if we can clear some space later, OK?"
"I guess so", Shampoo admitted.

* * * * * *

A few minutes later they gathered in what looked like it might have been a drawing-room half a ton of unsorted antique knick-knack ago. Three more persons joined Shampoo, Mousse, Loo, An Shui and Ping.

"I guess some introductions might be in order", Loo said. "Students, this is Shampoo, great-granddaughter of an old...friend from my home village, and her...friend... Mousse. Shampoo and Mousse, you'vealready met An Shui and Ping, the others are Jian Shih, Qi Lei and Er Fu."

Jian Shih was a handsome man, about Kasumi's age, with shoulder length blond hair and was about a head taller than Mousse and An Shui. Qi Lei and Er Fu were about the same age as Shampoo and Mousse. Qi Lei was a few inches taller than Mousse and more muscular than Ryoga. Er Fu was equally muscular but was shorter than Shampoo.

"And now to the matter at hand", Loo continued. "I was quite surprised when I got the message about my brother's vision, but I think I've worked out what is going on."
He made a dramatic pause just long enough for everybody to catch their breath before beginning their questions.
"I just found out that certain individuals and representatives of various groups, hostile to the Amazons in general or particular Amazons, recently started to arrive in Singapore", he continued.
"But why?"
"What groups?"
"Anybody we've actually heard of before?"
"Well, I haven't really kept up to date with their current membership, I assume it's changed since I was your age. Let's see...there's supposed to be a couple of guys from the Five Venoms school and Monster Society ...and someone from the Broken Hand, presumably...and whoever is the current Pirate King of Pagong...and the Infernal Rats and King Snake and the Western Branch...the Children of Perinzia...the Baleful Stars if they're still around...and the Distaff Musk."
"What? No Phoenix tribe?", Shampoo muttered.
"You Amazons sure seem to know how to piss people off", Er Fu noted.
"I don't think I've heard of any of those...", Mousse said. "Wait a minute! The Distaff Musk? But all the Musk are male, they hadn't even seen a woman until last year."
"How do you know about the Musk? Even Great-grandmother thought they were extinct!", Shampoo added.
"Tsk. There's a lot of things Cologne never knew about. Like the peep- hole in the bath-house", Loo answered. " And as for female Musk, have you ever seen any adult members of the Musk? The young men and women live in separate fortresses until they marry, and then go to live with the other adults in yet another fortress."

"OK, OK!", Ping said. "There's a lot of people around who's after the Amazons. So, what are they doing in Singapore?"
"I was coming to that", Loo said. "There's only one reason that I can think of. It all began a long time ago...just before the war with Japan, I think. My friends and I fought and sealed off a demon in a cavern under a temple ruin on one of the islands to the south..."
"Which one?"
"But why would they want to release the demon? And how would they know about it, anyway?"
"Since it was mostly Amazon's and their husbands-to-be who sealed it off, I guess it shouldn't be too hard to convince it to, at the very least, go there first. The Monster Society was founded by one of those Amazons and it's not impossible that another survivor went on to co-found the Broken Hand, so they would know about it. And I don't think the island has a name anymore, other than The Haunted Island or something like that. Nobody's lived on it for hundreds of years."
"What do we do now?", Mousse asked.
"We rest. I have some last minute research to do tomorrow. The day after that we go to the island."
"How do you know it won't be too late by then?", Shampoo asked.
"You don't know much about unsealing demons, do you?"

* * * * * *

"I think Ping is a little disappointed that she'll have to share her room with you."
"She clearly wanted to share with _you_. Of all of Ranma's traits to copy you had to pick the worst, didn't you?"
"It's not my fault that the irresistible Saotome charm has begun to rub of on me?"
"Yes it is. You didn't have to come running after us like that. And you really didn't have to join the circus afterwards..."
"Don't bring Tao Tao into this..."
"Hmpf!"
"I can't believe it! You're actually jealous! A girl we've just met looks at me and you start acting like I..."
"Womaniser."
"...Bimbo."
"_What_ did you call me?" "I couldn't ca..." WHACK! "Stop it!" WHACK! "I didn't..." WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!
"Well, now that we've cleared that up...Mousse don't you think that Loo seems to be acting a little odd? Mousse? Are you listening to me? Mousse! MOUSSE!" WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

"I guess you're right, Shampoo. Loo appears to have something else on his mind than the possible release of a demon."
"Maybe I should go and see if I can find something as a cat? This place is full of cat-sized hiding-places."
"But we don't know if they know about Jyusenkyo-curses, and it might be hard to get hot water discretely if needed. Actually, I'm pretty sure Loo knows about them. He seems to know everything."
"We're going to need to bring hot water to the island anyway. Let's see if we can get some hot water first, then I'll go snooping, OK?"

* * * * * *

The place was actually larger than Shampoo had thought at first. Most of the rooms was more organized than the drawing-room and the guest- room, at least the apparently unsorted junk was of similar types - weapons in one room, stuffed animals in another and so on. It was also strangely deserted, she had glimpsed Er Fu down a corridor and An Shui doing a form in a courtyard but nobody else. No servants, no other students, no pets. Nothing. She really had to keep an extra eye on Ping, to make sure she kept her hands off Mousse. There really should be servants in a house this size. And more importantly, keep Mousse's hands of Ping. Kuno's house was smaller and they had lots and lots of servants, didn't they? It wasn't as if she _cared_ what Mousse did, but somebody had to keep him out of trouble. Well, they _acted_ like they had a lot of servants even if you only ever saw Sasuke... Somebody's coming!

Shampoo-cat barely had time to hide behind a large sack apparently filled with old toys. The person entering the room was not one of the students Loo had introduced earlier, it was a tall, handsome young man with almost waist-length dark green hair. It would probably be a good idea to follow him. He was obviously either someone who shouldn't be there or someone she wasn't supposed to know about being there...and she simply _had_ to find out how he could even breathe without those pants tearing. Why couldn't the guys she knew dress like that?

She gingerly followed the man as he made his way through the cluttered rooms, making sure to stay out of his sight. It quickly became obvious that he didn't want to be discovered either, as he made some obvious detours to avoid meeting people. Eventually he made his way to what Shampoo had decided to call the small library. Somebody else was waiting for him.

It sounded as if there was three persons in there, including the stranger she'd followed. Two of the voices sounded familiar, but she couldn't quite place them and they were all speaking a dialect she couldn't understand. And there was this strange smell...She had to try to sneak in. It should be easy to hide behind a bookshelf or something...the voices seemed rather pre-occupied at the moment and the door wasn't closed properly. The smell became much stronger once she entered the room. A small table at the center of the room immediately drew her attention to the point of forgetting the people present. On it stood an ornate bowl, the smoke coming from it was obviously the source of the smell. This couldn't be good. The smell was obviously getting to her...those two other figures seemed to be wearing some kind of masks. She had to get out!

* * * * * *

"Shampoo? Shampoo!"
"Mousse? What happened? Where am I?...How did I turn back to human and why am I wearing your robe?"
"You were gone for too long, so I went looking for you. You were passed out in the pile of stuffed animals. What happened to you?"
"A stranger showed up. I followed him to one of the libraries, where he met two others. They sounded familiar but I couldn't place them or understand what they were saying. Then there was a bowl with strange- smelling smoke. I guess it knocked me out."
"Two people that sounded familiar? As in two of Loo's students or as in somebody we've met before?"
"I can only remember that I recognized the voices. I guess that smoke was getting to me."
"Should we tell Loo?"
"No, it might as well have been him. Let's just keep quiet about this..." "Hush! Somebody's coming."
Jian Shih suddenly appeared in the doorway.
"Ah, there you are! You weren't in your rooms so...am I interrupting something?".
"No, no. We just finished...uh...I mean...we didn't really...I know it looks like...", Mousse and Shampoo babbled, only strengthening the wrong impression.
"Sigh. I really don't need to know. It's just that Master Loo has some pretty dangerous things lying around, so it's not safe to run around here without knowing what's what. I'll show you the way back to your rooms."

* * * * * *

"It seems we have the whole day off, while Master Loo does his final research", An Shui noted at breakfast. "I got the impression that he wanted all of us out of the house and not back until tonight."
"Do you have any plans for today?", Ping asked Mousse and Shampoo (well, mostly Mousse). "How do you guys usually prepare for a possible fight with a demon?"
"Most of the big fights seem to involve trekking through the most inhospitable areas of China before the fight", Mousse answered. "Or somebody just showing up with no warning at all", Shampoo added.
"Sometimes somebody shows up without warning, kidnaps somebody and makes everybody else go on a trek through China to get them back."
"No preparation, then?", Jian Shih asked.
"Well, if Loo have any special anti-demon things somewhere it would be a good idea to go and dig them out", Mousse said.
"I think Master Loo will do that, but if he forgets I know where at least some of them are", An Shui said.
"I think the gang back home expects us to buy them gifts", Shampoo added. "At least you should get something for Mrs. Saotome for taking care of Hairspray."
"So, shopping and sight-seeing today?", Jian Shih noted.
"Well, since Loo wants us out of the house, we don't have much choice, do we?", Shampoo answered.

* * * * * *

The next morning they had to get up way too early in order to not draw too much attention. To Shampoo's relief, Ping's fighting outfit was rather similar to Shampoo's own, but in white and red. Jian Shih and Er Fu dressed in a style quite similar to Ranma, but added a long sword and two axes, respectively. Qi Lei apparently felt no need to dress up for the occasion. Neither did Loo.

"This is the plan", Loo said. "We'll reach the island in about two hours, then it should be about ten minutes before we get to the temple. There's an extensive system of caves connected to it and that's where the demon's sealed off. Once we've disposed of any eventual guards in the temple, we'll split up to search the caves. Mousse and Er Fu, Shampoo and Qi Lei..."
"Why split up? You're the one who sealed off the demon, right? It should be in the same place, shouldn't it?", Mousse asked.
"...Ah...uh...actually it was just severely weakened and sealed in the _caves_. It should still be mobile but too weak to do any serious harm. Now, let's continue, Jian Shih and An Shui, and myself and Ping."
"Is it really wise to split up?", Shampoo asked. "If we're looking for a demon in a cave filled with enemies, wouldn't it be safer to stick together?"
"We have a lot of tunnels to search, not enough time and we'd only get in each other's way, anyway."

* * * * * *

The temple ruin was quite overgrown and impossible to identify as belonging to any known culture. It appeared to be unguarded.

"I guess they're all down in the tunnels", Er Fu muttered.
"Yes. Everybody ready?", Loo asked.
Without waiting for any answers he tapped the base of a broken pillar and it shifted to reveal a winding staircase.
"Hmm. This wasn't here last time..."
"Really?", Shampoo asked.
"Well, it was in so bad condition that it was safer to climb down on a rope. That's why we left it here."
"In other words, somebody went through a lot of trouble to make this place more accessible", Jian Shih said.
"Just as well, I guess. I'm not as agile as I used to be."

It turned out that the room at the bottom of the stairs and the tunnels closest to it had been equipped with electric lighting.
"Curiouser and curiouser", An Shui said.
"Surprisingly clean and well-kept for a place that's been abandoned for over a century", Shampoo noted.
"Whatever", Loo said. "Mousse. Er Fu. You take that tunnel. An Shui and Jian Shih, that one. Shampoo and Qi Lei, that one. Ping and I'll take this one..."
"Wait a minute. I forgot to ask, is there any traps or something like that we should know about?", Mousse asked.
"Any traps? There wasn't any the last time I was here, but the others may have prepared some...and there's the hall of small gods."
"Hall of small gods?", Shampoo asked.
"I don't know if they're ghosts or spirits or weak and forgotten gods, but there's a cave here that's filled with them. At least that's what Pao Zhu said...I have no idea what they do, though. Let's go."

* * * * * *

The lighting in the tunnel ended shortly after the first bend.
"Hmm. If you where going to put lighting in a tunnel you were actually going to use, you'd put it all the way, right?", Mousse said, mostly to himself. "I think this is the wrong way."
"Maybe there's a secret door", Er Fu suggested. "And we have to find the demon too. I doubt _that_ keeps to the light."
"Right."
After a few minutes futile search, they continued down the tunnel.

"Er Fu, don't you think this looks a little too regular for a natural cave."
"Huh?"
"I'm no expert at caves, but I thought natural caves change size and fork and stuff, instead of just being an almost straight ten by ten corridor."
"Heh! Wanna bet there's some pointless monsters that attack on sight in the first room we come too? Maybe if you talk a little louder we'll attract some of the wandering monsters."
"Hush! There's a light up ahead."

* * * * * *

"I think this is the wrong way", Shampoo said. "If whoever put the lightsin the tunnels didn't think it was necessary to put lights here..."
"Maybe the lights aren't meant to light the way, but to frighten the demon or something", Qi Lei said. "Master Loo said that before you couldn't use the stairs and the demon was too weak to get out."
"So they repaired the stairs to help it get out and put in the lighting so it wouldn't escape at the wrong time..."
"So to find the demon we have to get further in. Great."
"Don't tell me you're afraid of the dark."

They continued in silence for a few minutes.
"Stop! Quiet! I think I heard something", Shampoo whispered.
"Wha..."
"There's somebody talking up ahead."
"I have pretty good hearing. I guess turning into a cat is rubbing off on me."
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKI...mmble mmble mmble"
"Great, now they know we're here. Let's go."

* * * * * *

The lights were clearly from a room rather than somebody else carrying a light around. Mousse and Er Fu switched off their own lights and silently crept towards it.

The tunnel opened up into a larger room, obviously occupied, judging by the sleeping-bags and backpacks scattered about it. The two most obvious occupants seemed totally oblivious to them - one was still in its sleeping-bag and the other was concentrated on her walkman and a book.

"OK, Er Fu. You take the..." Mousse was interrupted by Er Fu practically throwing him into the room.

The person in the sleeping-bag turned out to be a girl, who understandably, was rather upset by having a strange man throwing himself on top of her.

"He's all yours, girls!", Er Fu shouted and ran off.

"You must be that Amazon guy", the other girl said, while Mousse tried to extricate himself from the sleeping-bag and it's occupant (whose comments were rather unintelligible , fortunately).
She stood up, stretched and yawned. She had very long black hair and wasn't wearing much. It was leopard-patterned and in a style more likely to draw attention to what it was supposed to be covering than anything else.
"I'm Liquorice of the Musk dynasty. I get to keep you after I've beaten you, right?"
She attacked before he had a chance to answer.

* * * * * *

"There's no point in that", Qi Lei said. "You can't leave the island on your own and we're too far away for any of the others to come and help you."
He emphasized his point by punching a hole in the wall behind the space where Shampoo's head had been moments ago.
Shampoo retaliated by hitting him in the mouth with her flashlight and followed it up with a couple of kicks.

Qi Lei staggered back and dropped his flashlight. Everything went dark. He cursed loudly and Shampoo threw some more kicks in the general direction of the sound. A few of them connected, but not solidly.
Then Qi Lei grabbed the ankle of the kicking leg.
"Got you now!" She could almost hear his grin.
"Don't worry", he continued. "I won't hurt you too much..."
He started to twist her ankle. Shampoo interrupted him with a kick with her other leg and rolled away from him.
"You're only wasting time. I weigh more than twice as much as you, there's no chance a girl like you can defeat someone like me."
He dove in what he thought were Shampoo's direction, missing her by several feet. As he tried to get back to his feet, Shampoo kicked him in the throat. Hard. He made a strange gurgling sound but tried again. Shampoo kicked him in the face a few more times, this time he stayed down.
"No chance a girl like you can defeat someone like me, huh?"
Her foot hurt, _a lot_, and she was very happy that she couldn't see Qi Lei's face. He was still making that gurgling sound. Now she just had to get her flashlight working again...
Somebody applauded behind her.

"Oh my. How vicious. Can't say I blame you, though", a woman said. "And I'm impressed you're still able to stand on that foot."

* * * * * *

Mousse barely dodged Liquorice's first attack, more through luck than skill. She was fast, maybe as fast as Mint. And her friend would join them any second now. He had to think of a way to distract or incapacitate them quickly. They probably weren't as easily distracted as Mint and Lime. Probably not by the same things either. Liquorice would have caused a mental meltdown if they had seen her. Flasheggbombs? Then maybe tie them up or knock them out, if necessary.

Suddenly, Liquorice got a grip on his robe and threw him across the room. His weapons scattered all over it as part of the robe remained in her grasp.
"You're supposed to defeat him first!", the other girl shouted from her sleeping-bag.

This distracted Liquorice, giving Mousse a chance to recover. When the girl pounced again she was met with a fistful of flasheggbombs, followed by the sound of a rapidly departing Mousse.

"This is all your fault, Vanilla. If you hadn't distracted me I would have beaten him...You're just jealous because I got to fight him first."
"He threw himself over _me_, not you. That should tell you something. I was covered up and you were running around in your underwear as usual, and he still picked _me_!"
"You're nuts. Why would anybody pick an ironing-board impressionist like you, when there's somebody like _me_ around?"
"Taste, maybe?"
The sound of the escalating argument followed Mousse through the tunnels.

* * * * * *

Another figure, bringing a light, joined the woman, giving Shampoo a better look at her. She was looked like she was about Mrs. Saotome's age, had a hairstyle strongly resembling a bat's wings and wore a dark- colored traditional noblewoman's dress decorated with what looked like bats. There was something familiar about her face, but Shampoo couldn't place it. The other figure was the young man from Loo's house, now dressed more like an imperial officer from the Qing dynasty. In addition to a light, he'd brought a bucket...

"Now, Shampoo of Joketsuzoku, I've heard a lot about you", the woman said. "Maybe you could even be a challenge...Ba She."
The young man handed the light to the woman and faded from sight.
"So we're not going to take any chances."
The young man reappeared behind Shampoo, emptied the bucket over her and picked her up by the scruff of her neck.
"What do we do with her now, Ginger?", Ba She asked, while studying Shampoo-cat closer.
"Oh, you defeated her. I believe she's your according to Amazon law."
"Really? Cool!" His face was just a few inches from Shampoo's. His eyes were disturbingly snake-like.
"Hot water will turn her back to human."

Shampoo had heard enough and lashed out at Ba She's face with her claws. He screamed in pain and dropped her. A stream of invectives from Ginger followed Shampoo as she bolted through the tunnels.
Most of them were directed towards Ba She.

* * * * * *

It seemed the girls weren't to keen on following him. Or maybe they were very good at being stealthy. Anyway, he might just as well turn his flashlight back on. No point in knocking himself out by running into the walls.

The tunnels looked more like tunnels in a natural cave should now. Crazy girls behind him, _maybe_ a demon in front of him. Easy choice. With any luck, the tunnels turned back and connected with one of the other at the entrance.

Then he heard voices up ahead. The tunnel widened as the sound grew and the light from his flashlight grew dimmer. Soon, it disappeared completely leaving Mousse in complete darkness surrounded by disembodied voices.

"Make deal?", the voices tittered. "Give you things, fulfil dream. Girl? Many girls? Particular girl? Shampoo-cat-girl! Better eyes? See beautiful daughter's face clearly? Parentage? Tell you who father is? Where mother went? No longer be son of nameless wanderer and never-noticed girl? Tell where parents live now? Who they married? Be number one son, elder brother, not worthless-abandoned-nobody! Your wish, our command! For price!"

He tried to ignore the voices. There _had_ to be another way out. Something brushed against his legs...

* * * * * *

Her cat-form was only marginally better at handling the complete darkness of the tunnels, and her injured foot didn't help. At least it was easier to hide as a cat. She had to find Mousse before her opponents decided to start looking for her more seriously. Hopefully he hadn't lost his hot water. Maybe there was a reason for them not following her. The demon or that hall of small gods Loo had talked about, maybe?

Then she heard the voices. First as an indistinguishable murmur but growing and becoming more intelligible as she continued on. It felt as if there was somebody else nearby, in addition to the insubstantial whisperers that giggled in the darkness around her.

"Make deal? Make dream true? Get dreamed-of boy? Boys? Make all dreamed-of boys one boy! Lift curse? No more scare rightful husband! Look better? No more bouncy-cute-silly little girl, but elegant-sexy woman like in magazine! Fame? Power? Better fighter? Best fighter in world! Give Heaven's mandate! Become Empress of China! Mother of dynasty! Not just China! World! Universe! Your for asking! For price!"

Then she brushed against somebody's leg. There _was_ someone else in there...and that surprised yelp he let out sounded very familiar...Mousse! After a few moments she found him again and started tugging at the hem of his robe, while meowing to show that she wasn't the demon. Eventually, he picked her up. Soon the voices shrank back to a low murmur and the flashlight started to work again.

* * * * * *

"Shampoo? What happened?"
"Meow!"
"OK, OK. You want the hot water, right?"
"Meow!"
"Damn! I must have lost the bottle when the Musk girl tried to tear my clothes off."

"Meow! Meow meow. Meow?"

"Well, yes, but I don't have any water to heat and I don't think we have time to go and get some."

"Meow! Meow meow meow! MEOW!" SCRATCH! SCRATCH!

"Stop it! It's not as if I wanted her to! Stop it! I think she was misinformed about the beaten by outsider-rule."

"Hmpf. Meow."

Suddenly, two lights appeared from a corner.
"Splendid, Shampoo of Joketsuzoku", Ginger said. "You've lead us straight to your boyfriend."
"MEOW!"
"But...but you said she was _mine_!", Ba She whined.
"Obviously the girls and Er Fu didn't do their jobs properly. Just kill him and everything'll be alright."
"ALRIGHT!"
Ba She charged.

Mousse met him with a kick to the stomach. Ba She doubled up and just laid there whimpering.
"Sigh. Pathetic. City kids, you bust your ass to find the right balance between mind control potions and keeping them able to fight and they collapse after a simple kick", Ginger said. "I guess I'll have to do this myself."
She pulled two metal fans from her sleeves and attacked.

"Tell me something, boy", she said as she dodged Mousse's counter- attack. "Is that marriage rule still in use?"
"Uh...", Mousse answered, as he dodged in turn. "I _think_ that ruleonly covers outsider _males_ beating Amazon women..."
"Hah! Shows what you know!" She blocked his claws with her fans.
"...but I'm sure Cologne will make one up", Mousse continued, as he slashed at her again. "If you ask her nicely."
"Cologne?! Is that old witch still alive?" She side-stepped him and elbowed him in the back of his head. "I'd hoped she died years ago."
Mousse rolled out of the way of a stamp kick and retaliated with a sweep. Ginger dodged, but it gave Mousse the time to get back up. Which he did in time to get a kick to the stomach. There would have been more kicks but, as Ginger found out, it's hard to kick, or to be more exact, to keep your balance, while you have a cat using the leg you're standing on as scratching-post and chewing-toy. While she was distracted Mousse recovered and knocked her out with a couple of punches.

* * * * * *

They eventually made their way back to the entrance.
"Which way this time?"
"Meow!"
"You're right. It definitely looks as if Loo is behind all this. I wonder if all of his students are too..."
"Meow."
That looked like it was the right tunnel, well, at least the lights continued after the first bend. After a while it opened into a natural cave, containing a very unexpected object...

"A hot spring! Here?! Somebody obviously like you, Shampoo."
"Or maybe not", a voice said.
"Talking to yourself, Amazon?", another voice added.
Two men entered from a tunnel at the far end of the cave. They looked almost identical - maybe one was a little taller, or maybe the other was a little wider. They wore identical dark grey traditional Chinese clothes.
"It's about time we got something to do, isn't it, Elder Brother?", one said.
"I still think we should just have poisoned the hot spring, Younger Brother", the other answered. "And let nature take its course."
They attacked, moving as one.

As Mousse counterattacked there was a barely audible 'plop' and the men stopped in their tracks. And just stared. At the nude girl in the hot spring. A few moments they were both unconscious and Shampoo was in the process of borrowing their clothes.

"Are you OK, Shampoo?"
"I'm fine, I just hurt my foot a little while fighting Qi Lei. Now what was that about a Musk girl tearing your clothes off?"
"Later, OK? Now, which tunnel..."M
"Why not _now_?"
"It's no big thing, OK? It can wait."
"If it's not a big thing you can just tell me now so we can get on with what we're supposed to do...My guess would be that the tunnel these clowns were guarding is the right one."

* * * * * *

Several minutes and attempts at convincing Shampoo of the unspectacular truth later, they could hear voices ahead of them. As they crept forward the tunnel once again widened into a large cave, this one obviously some kind of temple. At the centre of the cave, a plain metal mask was hanging in the air.

Loo was pacing back and forth in front of it. Ping was lying tied up, and probably unconscious near the entrance of another tunnel. Ginger and the Musk girls (now fully dressed - Liquorice in a slightly larger piece of leopard-spotted fabric and Vanilla in a more traditional Chinese dress patterned with foxes) were standing to one side quietly discussing something. Most likely the girls' unsuccessful fight with Mousse. Ba She was lounging near yet another tunnel entrance.

"How did they get here?", Mousse whispered.
"You see all the other tunnels, don't you? ", Shampoo whispered back. "They've been here longer than we have, so they must know some shortcuts. What do we do now?"
"Maybe we should wait for An Shui and Jian Shih? Unless they too are involved in this, like Qi Lei and Er Fu."
"Ping obviously isn't, and Qi Lei expected the others to help me if they were within ear-shot...Here's what we'll do: Nobody's watching Ping so I'll go back and try to find the tunnel she's lying by. I'll free her and then we'll either sneak back here or attack depending on what's going on. And if Loo tries to do any funny stuff, you stop him. You still have some weapons left right?"
"More than enough...Be careful, Shampoo."

* * * * * *

"Where are the others", Loo muttered. "They should have been here by now."
"Qi Lei is out of action indefinitely. The girl crushed his throat", Ginger said. "I helped him as good as I could. I think he'll live, but he'll definitely need proper medical attention. The rest are still out looking for the Amazons and your so-called students, I guess."
"It's not like you actually need them for whatever you're going to do, is it?", Ba She added.
"No, but it will be much easier if I know where they are."

* * * * * *

Mousse watched quietly and tried to make sense of what was going on. That floating mask was obviously what all this was about...and Loo was planning to do something with it, probably nothing good. Then he heard steps behind him.
"That was fast, Sham..."
It wasn't Shampoo, it was a huge man in torn and dirty clothes, carrying An Shui and Jian Shih over his shoulders. He looked as surprised as Mousse.

Then _somebody_ sent Mousse flying into the temple. And into Vanilla again.
"Ah. Mousse. How nice of you to join us", Loo said as his henchmen and -women surrounded Mousse. "Girls, tie him up...sigh...no...just tie him up...

Ginger, please?"
A few invectives and threats of violence later, Vanilla and Liquorice had Mousse nicely if inexpertly tied up.
"And Hametsu?", Loo continued. "Good work, but could you turn visible now? You're making the girls nervous. Mo Guei?...Just put them with the girl over there."
Somebody muttered a barely audible "Yes" and an armless ninja materialized as the huge man lumbered over to Ping to dump his prisoners.

"Well, now that we're all here, Master Loo, maybe you could explain what's going on?", Mousse said. "Please?"
"Do you really expect me to explain everything like a cheap comic-book villain?", Loo said, grinning at him.
"It would be very nice of you. This far, everybody has said 'go there', 'I'm sure _he_ will explain' and so on. I would really, _really_ like to know what's actually going on."
"Actually, I've been wondering too...", Liquorice added.
"Of course you do", Loo interrupted angrily. "You want me to reveal everything so Shampoo can hear it and pass it on to Cologne and Soap and Towel and Perfume and everybody who laughed at me and didn't have a damn lunatic for a brother who got all the attention and they'll tell the British and they'll drag me away and...and...and...NEVER AGAIN!"
He grabbed the floating mask and put it on his face.

This kind of transformation sequence works much better in a visual medium and with a much younger, and female, subject.

The end result was a, presumably younger, Loo with a red metal mask covering his face and dressed in a costume that looked like it belonged on stage in a Peking Opera. One that featured gods and demons prominently. He literally glowed with power and floated a foot or so above the ground.

"Aaah. _Much_ better", he said in a completely different voice. "Now where were we?"
"Uh...You were about to reveal your plans?", Mousse tried.
"...No...no, that not it...there was something else I was going to do."

Before they could start offering suggestions they were interrupted by a small weasel-like man entering.
"Hehehehe, I got him! I got him!"
"Got who?", Ginger asked.
"The Amazon guy! See, I've got his head!", he said, holding up Er Fu's very surprised-looking head triumphantly.
"Sickle-boy, that not him, that Axe-boy. Our side", the armless Ninja said, stepping away from him.
"_The Amazon guy's_ over there", Ba She added, doing likewise while indicating the direction of the prisoners.
"Heheheheh...uhm, oops?", the newcomer said nervously as Loo turned towards him.
Realizing he couldn't talk his way out of the situation, the man dropped the head and pulled two sickles from his jacket.
Before he could do anything else, a beam shot from the mask's eyes, blowing a large hole through his chest.
"Now, let us proceed...wait, we are missing someone...where is the Amazon girl?"
"I'll go and look for her", Ginger said. "She can't be far."

* * * * * *

Shampoo had just reached the exit of another tunnel (she hadn't found the one exiting where Ping was held) as this happened. The first thing she saw was Loo killing the man with the sickles. This combined with Ginger going straight for _her_ tunnel lead Shampoo to decide to retreat and regroup.

She decided on one of the unlighted natural caves branching out from the tunnel, managed to find a suitably large crevice hidden behind some rocks and curled up to think.

OK. She was alone in a place that the bad guys knew much better than she did. They were now lead by what probably counted as a demon and definitively was out of her league. What to do? What _could_ she do? What would Ranma have done? Not run away in the first place. OK,what would somebody sensible, who planned ahead do? Her thoughts were broken by a sound near the entrance.

Peering from behind the rocks she could see Ginger's easily identified silhouette entering the cavern. From time to time she would stop and give series of quick, short, clicking yells before continuing.
"You can come out now, Shampoo of Joketsuzoku, I know you're there."
Shampoo tried vainly to keep her breath and heartbeats under control.
"Listen, the old man's gone nuts. You saw what he did to Liandao. Let's call a truce. We'll never get off this island if we don't cooperate. Loo'll kill us unless we work together...You can come out now, young lady. I know you're behind those rocks."
No point in hiding anymore. Shampoo warily left her hiding-place, prepared to attack the older woman if she tried anything.
"Why should I trust you?"
"I didn't say you should. I asked for a truce. You saw what he did to Liandao. As much as he deserved it, it's not the way a sane person treats his allies, especially not the Monster Society. And I'd rather not have to explain to the Musk royals that the next generation will have to be postponed..."
"What makes you think you'll survive to tell them?"
"Being dead won't help me getting out of giving a report. But I'd rather give it alive. And once he's finished here, he'll go after all the other Amazons."
"Then possibly the Musk. And the royals _really_ wouldn't want that, would they?"
"True. You're smarter than they say. Truce?"
"...OK. For now. First take me to the tunnel where you put Ping and the others."
"Fine. This way."

* * * * * *

As they reached the pile of prisoners (now including Mousse as well), it became clear that Loo was in the middle of a rant about power, revenge and the world conspiracy against him. And had been since Ginger left, as the henchpersons had a definitively numb and inattentive aura around them. However, just as they were freeing the last (Jian Shih), Loo turned towards them...

"Yes. Now everybody's here. Excellent. Let's proceed."
The mask seemed to smile as the eyes started to glow again. This time he missed and instead blocked the tunnel with rubble. The next victim was Hametsu before he had time to notice that it was now open season.

Mo Guei, despite his size, was faster and not only dodged one beam but got close enough to slam Loo into the ground and then toss him into a wall. An Shui followed this with a chi-blast. Then everybody pounced on Loo. He swatted them away.
"ENOUGH!"
He floated into the air, while his glow increased.

"This doesn't look good", Mousse noted.
"I think his powering up for something", Ginger said. "Now would be a good time to start running away."

At this point, the author would like to note that you get through tunnels much quicker when you're running away from something than when you're sneaking carefully through them trying to not be spotted before spotting the spotters.

* * * * * *

Just as they climbed out into the temple ruin, the ground started to shake and a not inconsiderable part of the island exploded. As they started to recover, they saw Loo floating up from the crater.

He roared and dived towards them.

Exactly what happened the next few moments were not quite clear. He started by taking revenge on Mo Guei and An Shui, but that was quickly done. A few strafing rounds later left the Musk and Loo's former students stunned (obviously left for later), leaving only the Amazons.

Loo hovered in the air before them, looking like he was trying to compose a suitable speech before killing them.
"Mousse, I have an idea", Shampoo whispered. "You stay here and distract him..."
She didn't get any further as Loo decided to skip the speech and dived at them. They ran.
"What ex..." DODGE "exactly do" DODGE "you have planned," DODGE "Shampoo?"
"Nothing" DODGE "exactly," DODGE "just an" DODGE "idea. Loo's"
DODGE "an Amazon" DODGE "and not a" DODGE "very good one"
DODGE "so..." DODGE
"HOW" BLAST "DID" BLAST "YOU" BLAST "FIND" BLAST
"OUT?" BLAST "COLOGNE" BLAST "TOLD" BLAST "YOU"
BLAST "DIDN'T" BLAST "SHE?" BLAST "SHE" BLAST "PUSHED" BLAST "ME" BLAST "IN" BLAST "AND" BLAST "SAID" BLAST "IT" BLAST "WAS" BLAST "AN" BLAST "ACCIDENT!!" BLAST
He was now focusing solely on Shampoo, who still managed to dodge.
Then Loo seemed to calm down for a moment, before diving forward andgrabbing Shampoo.
"But that doesn't matter anymore. Let me show you, cat-girl." He climbed higher in the air, carrying Shampoo, before diving head first towards the sea.

Water isn't as soft as it looks like. Especially if you hit it wrong. And, more importantly, if you dive head first in too shallow water, you're in very big trouble. Especially if you, despite the magic mask you wear, turn into a large water buffalo when coming in contact with water. Cats do much better, at least if the water buffalo lands first.

"Was that what you planned?"
"Meow meow meow"
"Well, you couldn't know he would turn into something like that or land at that angle. Rather anti-climactic, I think."
"Meow."
"Still, would it have killed him to aim a little further from the boat?"
"Meow meow!" SCRATCH! SCRATCH!
"You're right, _that_ was _very_ tasteless. Let's see if we can salvage some water-heating equipment from the wreck."

* * * * * *

"I think the part were we left our stuff survived", Vanilla said breaking the silence. "Let's go back and get them before we leave."
"Do you really think the tunnels are safe?", Liquorice asked. "What if they collapse?"
"We have to go get Qi Lei anyway", Ginger said.
"WHY?!", Shampoo, Vanilla and Liquorice screamed.
"We can't just leave him here."
"Why not?"
"Because _I_ said so. And he needs medical attention." Ginger glared at the girls.
"And those two guys in grey...the ones Shampoo 'borrowed' clothes from?", Mousse asked.
"The Kung brothers? They're like vermin. Very hard to kill. Besides I don't think that area is safe to enter, if it's even still there."

"I think the big question is '_how_ do we leave?'", Mousse said. "The boat's gone."
"How did _you_ get here?", Shampoo asked Ginger.
"Same boat as you. Loo was the one organizing this, you know."
"B-but, what was all this about?", Ping asked.
"No idea. Revenge, I suppose. Loo contacted us with a plan for taking revenge at the Amazons and the princess jumped at the idea and sent the girls, her father sent me as their chaperone. Nobody explained much to me either. And the girls know even less."
"So we're stuck here", Shampoo muttered.
"No, we'll _fly_ away", Jian Shih said.
"Yeah. Sure. Just like that."
"No. He's right. Look! Helicopters!", Ping said.
"How?...Why?", Mousse asked.
"An island blowing up like that is bound to get noticed."

* * * * * *

Several hours later, at Changi airport...
"Are they gone yet?", Mousse whispered, hiding under a pile of luggage.
"Don't you want to say good-bye to your fans? I thought you didn't mind the Saotome charm rubbing off on you?"
"Rubbing off, no. Transferring whole, yes. And he only has _one_ Chinese bimbo chasing him. Now, if they were more like, say, Ukyo or Nab..." WHACK! WHACK! WHACK!

THE END

NOTES
Well, this was mostly laying the ground for further fics, I suppose. Count the number of things that could lead to further fics!

Being sort of Loo's students means self-studies - An Shui got to read all the secret scrolls but had to figure out what they mean on his own.

I'm aware that the Square Compound is not necessarily the traditional type for Singapore, but according to the guidebook I used as reference (Footprint's Malaysia & Singapore Handbook 1997), there are supposed to a number of houses built according to traditional Chinese architectural design.

The war with Japan Loo is talking about is the Sino-Japanese war 1894- 95.

It is perfectly possible that Loo simply made some of the groups up on the spot.
According to the dictionary Pagong means turtle in Tagalog. cf. Tortuga Perinzia is a city described in Italo Calvino's The Invisible Cities. If one follows the book strictly it is presumably found somewhere in Asia, presumably in or near Mongol territory (the book's framework is a dialogue between Marco Polo and Kubilai Khan), but _I_ would place it in South America.

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