How long had it been since he fought someone other than Ranma?

Mousse had no idea. To be honest, the prospect of facing a new enemy was exciting and a little 
unnerving. Whenever he fought against Ranma, he had expectations as to what would happen 
since they had come to know each other so well. In this upcoming fight, where there were 
expectations, there's now uncertainty.  Mousse had no idea who this woman was, nor what her 
motivations were.

She couldn't have been an Amazon. He knew everyone his age that trained under his fighting 
style. But the only way she could know that particular art of fighting was if she were an Amazon. 
Then again, Elder Cologne had been known to teach outsiders Amazon fighting techniques, so 
such a thing was not unheard of. Still, one or two moves are one thing...but a whole style of 
fighting?

He sat on a mat in the back yard of the Nekohaten mentally preparing for his upcoming battle. 
He wasn't able to make much sense out things, though, regarding his opponent. Regardless of 
whether she was an Amazon or not, what reason could she have had to challenge him to a duel? 
As far as he knew, they never met before, so it couldn't have been any sort of grievance she had 
against him.

*Who would've guessed I'd run into someone here who also uses hidden weapon techniques.* 

She spoke as if she didn't sound as if she were seeking him, in particular, out. Just that she was 
shocked to see someone using a similar style. Could it be that the duel was nothing more than a 
test of his skills? If that were the case, it would be a load off. A fight to set you skill against the 
skill of your opponent just to see who's is better. Mousse hasn't been involved in anything like 
that since he moved from China. But this was where the uncertainty played games with his mind. 
He couldn't assume anything, so he had to be prepared for anything.

"Here you are boy," came a wizened voice behind him. He turned to find Cologne returning his 
gaze. "What are you doing out here? There are customers that need serving."

"I can't help you right now," Mousse said. "I must prepare for my duel."

"Duel?" she repeated. "So, you're going after son-in-law again?"

"No. It's someone I've never met before. And she challenged me."

Cologne raised her brow. Another newcomer, hmm? They always bring a level of excitement to 
the area, forcing the kids there to sharpen their skills. They've all been getting rather lax lately 
and it would do the boy some good. "Well, in that case then, I won't disturb you. Continue your 
preparation."

"I'm afraid the time for preparation is over." Mousse and Cologne looked to find the blond 
martial artist standing, perfectly balanced, on the fence that partitioned off their property. "The 
time has come for you to answer my challenge. Are you ready?"

Mousse stood to his feet and answered, "Yes, I am."

She smiled at him, "Good. I'll show you the way to our battlefield. Follow me." With that, she 
leapt out towards the center of the neighborhood, with Mousse following close behind.

Cologne narrowed her eyes. "That couldn't have been...could it?"




Dreamweaver Studios Presents

Ranma½

Legacy
 
Chapter 3




Ranma and Akane sat pensively in the living room. The rest of their family was there as well, 
with very stern looks on their faces. This certainly wasn't the way the couple expected them to 
react, after catching them admitting that they loved each other. Something was up and they 
weren't sure they were going to like it.

Kasumi took a deep breath and started things off, "Akane. It has been brought to my attention 
that you have gone through some...changes."

Akane jumped out of her seat, blushing furiously, "Wha-How did you know?" She turned to 
Ranma, with an accusatory look in her eyes.

"Hey! Don't look at me!" said Ranma, defensively. "I've been with you since yesterday, 
remember?"

"Actually," Nabiki piped in, raising her hand, "it was me. I was eavesdropping on you when you 
caught Happousai earlier." Akane sat back down in her seat, looking as though she was going to 
die of embarrassment.

Kasumi took another deep breath, and continued, "There's nothing to be embarrassed about, 
Akane. After all, it's...hereditary."

Akane's jaw dropped. "Y-you mean you...?" She looked back and forth between Kasumi and 
Nabiki, who were both nodding. "But...but how?"

Kasumi favored her youngest sister with a sad smile. "I'm afraid we've been keeping some very 
important information about our heritage a secret. You see...our mother was a demon. Which 
makes us half-demons." Akane was astonished, unable to say a word. She looked to her father 
for an explanation, or to, at least, hear that the whole thing was a really bad joke...she hoped it 
was a bad joke.

"It's true," Soun said, with a far away look in his eyes. "It all started many years ago..."

**Flashback**

A young Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome huddled next to a campfire, trying desperately to stay 
warm out in the bitterly cold night. It hadn't been long since they hiked up to this area under the 
direction of their devious master, Happousai, but it felt like forever. What was worse was the fact 
that they weren't that far from a mountain village which could've provided them with the 
comfort of hot food and a warm bed, but Happousai ordered they not enter.

"Tell me again why we're doing this again?" asked Soun, managing to get the words through his 
chattering teeth. 

"To become the world's greatest, most revered martial artists," Genma answered. "You've seen 
for yourself how powerful the Anything Goes style is. Once we master its techniques, we'd be 
unstoppable!"

"You do realize that our 'master' hasn't done anything to teach us about the art. We learned the 
basics for ourselves."

"Give the master some credit. All of our 'exercises' so far have made us stronger and faster than 
we've ever been before."

"You're right," Soun conceded. "That's because we had to get stronger to carry all of the stuff 
the master stole from all of the towns and villages we've visited until now. And we had to 
become faster to outrun all of the large mobs whom he stole from."

"The methods may be questionable, but you can't argue with the results." Soun shook his head. 
He couldn't believe his friend was still defending Happousai, even after all the abuse he heaped 
upon them. He had been saying that they needed to get away from him, but Genma had always 
talked him out of it. Soun sighed, resigning himself to the fact that they were going to be under 
the thumb of this tyrant for a long time.

Speaking of which, the mini-tyrant bounded out of the woods and came to rest between them. As 
always, he had two rather large sacks in tow, filled with ill-gotten goods. "Hiya, boys! How's the 
wilderness survival training going?"

"Oh, is that what it's called?" Happousai glared at Soun and the taller man backpedaled, "Erm, 
it's going fine, master. Just fine."

"Good, good. Just what I wanted to hear!" said Happousai, returning to his good cheer. "Lookie 
here, boys! It was quite a good haul tonight!" The diminutive master opened his sacks, showing 
off all of his stolen goods. Most were, of course, women's underclothes. There were also some 
valuable looking antiques thrown in, along with some food items.

Soun and Genma eyed the food hungrily. "Erm...master...may we?" begged Genma.

"The point of wilderness survival training was for you to capture your own food!" Happousai 
scolded. The two men didn't flinch, however. They continued staring at the food, drooling. 
"Bleh...okay. You can have the food. Just don't slobber on me."

The men grabbed the various items of food and gobbled them down as if they hadn't eaten 
anything in the last week...because they hadn't. With their bellies satisfied, they kicked back and 
winded down, getting ready to go to sleep. Genma stoked the fire, making sure it would stay 
burning for a few more hours, while Soun studied the antique pieces that Happousai...acquired.

"These pieces are incredible," he commented.

"You bet," Happousai boasted. "I'll bet they'll fetch a good amount of yen too."

"Where did you get them from?"

"A castle just beyond that village."

Genma looked up, "A castle? Oh! You mean the castle where that light is coming from?"

"Light???" Happousai looked up as well. Just beyond the village, resided an ancient castle that 
looked as though it belonged in the feudal period. Just above the castle in question, a small point 
of light propelled itself into the night sky. It would've gotten lost among the brightly shining 
stars had it not began growing in size. "Er, you know boys, I don't think this is the ideal camping 
spot. Let's get packed up and get out of here."

Soun looked at him, "Master?" 
 
"DON'T JUST SIT THERE!!! I SAID WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!!!" Happousai 
repacked all of his goodies, and slung the sacks on his students' backs. He, then, hopped on 
Soun's sack and commenced the Founding School of Anything Goes Martial Arts Speed 
Training. In other words, the running as fast as you can away from the angry mob who just had 
their stuff stolen. Only this time, there didn't appear to be an angry mob.

Happousai looked back into the sky to see if that point of light had been following them. 
Apparently, it wasn't. Probably stopped off at their old campsite. He wiped his brow, 
"Whew...we got away."

Suddenly, the path in front of them exploded, blowing all three backwards at least ten feet. When 
the smoke cleared, a beautiful woman appeared, floating just above the large crater she made. 
She wore an ornate, floral patterned kimono and sported short brown hair and deep, enchanting 
brown eyes. She also had a bright, angry glow about her.

"So," she started in a transfixing, soul piercing voice, "you are the ones who stole from me."

Happousai looked at her with big, puppy dog eyes, "Please, spare me, pretty lady! I'm just an 
innocent old man! It was these ruffians who robbed you!"

Soun and Genma glared at him, "MASTER!!"

"It matters not. As far as I'm concerned, you're all guilty." She raised her right hand and the 
energy that glowed around her body focused itself into a ball that rested there. "You will all 
pay."

"Sorry, toots, but Master Happousai of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts never pays for 
anything! HAPPOU FIRE BURST!" His coconut-like bombs exploded at her feet, where he 
threw them, causing the demon to avert her eyes. By the time she was able to see, the demon's 
prey were all nowhere to be found.

"Feh, this isn't over," she declared. "I WILL find you."

Only a few yards away, Happousai watched as the beautiful demon bathed herself in light and 
flew away. Once she was gone, he turned to look at his sacks full of goodies. "Heh! What a 
haul!!!"

Soun and Genma, meanwhile, were panting heavily, ecstatic to be alive. "I can't believe that the 
master would have the audacity to steal from a demon!" Genma whispered to his friend through 
gasps. "You're right, Tendo. We can't stay with him any longer." Soun gave him a pat on the 
shoulder. But they couldn't just escape. Sooner or later, he would find them. And he would, 
likely, bring misery to all he happened upon while he searched for them. No, more drastic 
measures would need to be taken. Thus began their plan to do away with their master.

**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**

One year had gone by since Soun and Genma had hatched their plan to get rid of their master 
Happousai. Six months had gone by since they carried out their plan. It appeared to have been a 
rousing success. Happousai had been known for his harrowing escapes from harm, but in his 
drunken state, there was no way he would've been able to escape that locked cave before the 
dynamite went off. 

Since that time, Soun and Genma started learning the finer workings of the Anything Goes style 
from books and scrolls written or co-written by Happousai. With those techniques, it wouldn't 
take long for them to realize their dreams of becoming the world's strongest martial artists. There 
were some skills, however, that looked far too dangerous to learn. They decided it was best to 
lock those skills away to make sure neither they nor anyone else could learn them. Unbeknownst 
to Soun at the time, Genma secretly stashed away the instructions for the Yamesenken, 
Umesenken and Nekoken for later use.

Tired, sore but happy, the friends sat in a pub located in a quiet village enjoying a couple of 
beers. Without a care for the world the two spoke about their plans for the future, initially, 
paying no mind to the extraordinarily lovely woman that just walked in.

"Hey, Saotome...what do you think about settling down? Getting married and starting a family?" 
asked Soun.

"Us? Families?" Genma thought for a moment. "I don't know if men like us are suited for 
families to tell the truth."

"Still, what do you think about it?"

Genma thought some more. "Well, sure. I've thought about it. I do think it would be nice, having 
a wife to share my life with...and a son to pass on what I've learned." He smiled at the cozy 
thought. "Heh. I wonder if Nodoka would ever consider such a thing with a guy like me?"

"Nodoka?" Soun wondered. "Who's that?"

"My girlfriend," beamed Genma.

Soun looked at him. "I thought Atsuko was your girlfriend?"

"Err...*cough* that's enough about me! Heheheh" went Genma, finding his seat rather hot all of 
a sudden. "How about you, Tendo?"

"It's been a dream of mine for quite some time, having a wife and children...maybe a boy and a 
girl! I could have a dojo right there at our house so I could work, teaching others. That way, I 
would never be far away from them."

Genma gave him a pat on the back, "It's a good dream, my friend."

"Heh, and that's all it is. Who am I kidding? I'm not going to get married. I don't even have 
ONE girlfriend right now." Genma coughed again. 

"Well, we could change that right now," Genma suggested. He looked around the pub until he 
spotted that extraordinarily lovely woman. "How about her?"

Soun looked over at the woman Genma pointed out, and then turned back to his friend, "I 
couldn't, Saotome! She's far too elegant and refined to have the time of day for me."

"Nonsense. You're just scared."

Soun crossed his arms. "Not at all." His bravado didn't stop his knees from shaking, though.

"C'mon, Tendo. We braved training from our evil master! If we could do that, talking to a 
woman should be nothing to worry about. Just walk up to her, ask if you could join her and strike 
up a conversation. Just get her with that Soun Tendo charm, and she'll be all yours."

"If you say so." Steeling himself and taking one last gulp of beer for luck, Soun stood up and 
walked, rather stiffly, to the lady. "Erm...excuse me. Would you mind if I joined you?"

The lady looked at him for a moment, checking him out. She raised her eyebrow for some reason 
and answered, "Why no. I would enjoy the company."

Whew. That's one hurdle he managed to get over. "Thank you. I saw you from across the room 
and I just had to meet you."

She gave him a smile, "Really? Looked to me like your friend nearly had to kick you out of your 
seat to get you over here."

Soun laughed nervously, "I guess that's true. I just thought you wouldn't give a guy like me the 
time of day."

"Normally, I wouldn't. But I just found something about you intriguing." He blushed and 
laughed nervously again. "You sound nervous. Don't worry. I don't bite." She raised her 
eyebrow again, "Not on the first date, anyway."

"*Ahem* Er...would you like a drink?"

"Sure. I was going to get their red lager."

"Beer?"

"Surprised?"

Soun rubbed the back of his head. "You just struck me as one of those high class types who 
would drink something fancier."

"Sometimes fancy gets boring," she said with a smile. Soun beckoned the waiter over and 
ordered two of their red lager beers. As he did so, the lady studied his features very closely. Once 
again, she raised her eyebrow. Once the waiter left, she said, "You know, we've spent all this 
time talking, and we haven't even introduced ourselves yet."

"Oh! I'm sorry. I don't know what happened to my manners tonight. My name is Soun."

"Nice to meet you Soun. My name is Moriko."

This time, he favored her with a smile, "Moriko...such a lovely name."

"Thank you. You know...I have a feeling that we met before."

Soun thought for a moment, trying to remember her face. "Hmm. No. I think I would remember 
someone like you."

"It took me a while," she said. "But I remember now. Though, I don't blame you if you forgot. 
After all, it was a year ago and it was dark out at the time. Here, I think this will refresh your 
memory." Scooting herself away from their table, Moriko stood to her feet and closed her eyes. 
Out of nowhere, a breeze picked up, whipping Soun's hair slightly. Gradually, Moriko's body 
began glowing. Soun's eyes bugged out so much; they nearly fell out of their sockets. "Finally," 
she said, with a slight echo to her voice, "we meet again."

It was at that moment when the waiter came back with their drinks, "Here you go."

Mariko's eyes lit up, like the rest of her. "Ah! Beer!" She took one of the mugs, put it to her head 
and chugged down as if it was water. Once the mug was empty, she placed it back on the table 
and daintily wiped her mouth with a napkin. "This proves that higher society doesn't have all the 
finer things in life. Now, for you-" She turned her attention back to Soun, only to find that he 
wasn't there anymore. She looked back to where he was seated originally and found that Genma 
was gone too. "You won't escape me this time!" She levitated a few inches off of the floor and 
began flying towards the exit. Before going through the door, she went back to her table and 
grabbed the other full mug. "Can't let this go to waste."

**	**

Outside the village, Soun and Genma ran. Once again, the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts 
Speed Training came in handy. Be that as it may, even with him gone now, it seemed they 
couldn't escape the mess Happousai created. Still, Soun had to give Genma a good whack on the 
head. "Of all the girls in that pub, you had to pick the one who was a demon and wanted to kill 
us!"

"How was I supposed to know?" countered Genma. "I couldn't recognize her either without her 
glowing and everything!"

Soun shook his head. "Still, it was a good thing she liked the drinks there, or else, we wouldn't 
have made it out of there."

Just like last time, before they could get too far away from the village, the path in front of them 
exploded, knocking them back. Once the smoke cleared, Moriko was there, floating just above 
the crater she made. "We really need to stop meeting like this."

Genma jumped to his feet and adopted a defensive posture. Soun stood up and looked at him, 
"What do you think you're doing, Saotome?" 

"What does it look like?" he asked. "We can't get away. Our only option now is to fight."

"We can't win this, Saotome. You know that. We don't know any of the more advanced skills in 
the art."

"In case you haven't noticed, we don't have any choice."

"Yes. We do." He turned, walking towards Moriko, stopping at the edge of the crater. 
"Surrender."

"WHAT?" went Genma and Moriko.

Genma went up to his friend and grabbed his shoulders. "I can't believe you just want us to 
surrender to her like that!"

"Not 'us'," Soun said, resolved. He addressed Moriko. "I know what our master did to you was 
wrong. We saw to it ourselves that he paid for all the wrong he's done."

"It doesn't matter," returned Moriko. "As I said before, I blame all of you for the theft of my 
belongings. I intend to make sure you all pay."

"I know. That's why I'm begging you for mercy."

Moriko raised her eyebrow, "Mercy?"

"Yes. Please allow my friend to return home. You can exact all of your vengeance on me."

"WHAT?" repeated Genma. "Tendo no! Don't do this!"

Soun looked at his friend, "She won't stop until we're all dead, otherwise. Saotome, my friend, 
you have someone waiting for you back home. You have a family to begin. I can't allow 
anything to happen to you. If doing this will ensure your future, then this is what I'll do."

Moriko floated in front of Soun and landed. "You would sacrifice yourself for your friend?"

Soun nodded, "I would."

She took a step back, brought her hand level with Soun's heart and focused her energies into a 
ball, intending to obliterate the man where he stood. Soun, for his part, kept his gaze fixed upon 
her, steady and unflinching. He stared death in the face with courage and conviction...far 
different than the man who, not long ago, was trembling merely speaking to her. Very intriguing, 
indeed.

Softening her gaze, Moriko closed her fist, dissipating the energy and lowered her hand. She 
couldn't bring herself to simply kill such a curiosity. Tilting her head to the side, she suggested, 
"I'll make you a deal. I will allow your friend to go on his way. And, instead of killing you, you 
will become my servant for one year. What do you say?"

Soun didn't have to ponder the suggestion long, "Okay, I'll do it. Just let me have a moment to 
say goodbye to my friend."

Moriko nodded, "Just a moment."

Soun turned back to Genma and his friend gave him a hug. "Tendo! Why? Why are you doing 
this?" Genma asked.

"I've already given my reasons, Saotome. She's already been more merciful than I thought. We 
shouldn't try to push our luck. So promise that you won't try to rescue me or anything, okay? 
Promise me that you will start your family and live well."

Tears began to stream down Genma's face. Reluctantly, he nodded in agreement. "I don't know 
how I can ever repay you for this! Ah! I know. You have my pledge that *when* your dreams 
come true and you have a family and dojo of your own, I shall give a child of mine to you, to 
marry a child of yours. I swear this upon my honor as a man and as your friend."

"S-Saotome..." stuttered Soun, getting misty himself.

"It's time," commanded Moriko. She walked over to Soun and put her hand on her shoulder. 
Both were enveloped in a bright light and disappeared, leaving Genma alone.

He looked up at the night sky, "Be well, my friend. I won't forget this."

**End Flashback**

"And that's how your mother and I met," Soun related. Ranma and Akane sat staring in awe at 
his story. "The year came and went with her giving me a lot of grueling tasks. Heh, there were 
times when she was so harsh I wished she HAD killed me that night. But somewhere along the 
line, we grew to love each other. When that year was finished and I was free to leave, I couldn't 
bring myself to. Nor did she relish the thought of having to go on without me. From that point 
on, we were inseparable.

"Not long after, we were married and Kasumi was born. Even though Kasumi was a half demon, 
she didn't show any signs of it. As far as we cold tell, she was a normal little girl. We moved 
here to Nerima to start the dojo while she was pregnant with Nabiki. Akane came into our 
household soon after. By all appearances, we were your typical family. However, when Kasumi 
turned seven years old, she began her change. She gained some amazing new abilities, but she 
didn't know what to make of it all. Fortunately, Moriko was able to train her properly so she 
wouldn't be a danger to herself or anyone else. It was the same for Nabiki. But when it was 
nearly time for Akane…Moriko died..." Soun trailed off, getting choked up.

"I'm wonderin'," began Ranma, "how exactly did she die? I mean it wasn't as if she could get 
sick or anything."  

Soun put his face in his hands, unable to answer. Kasumi gave his back a comforting rub and 
decided to answer for him, "She...she was killed."

Akane jumped out of her seat. She couldn't believe how much her family had kept from her, 
"KILLED? HOW? BY WHOM?"

"It was a rival of hers," Kasumi continued. "A demon named Arame. In a battle that took place 
just before mother was pregnant with Nabiki, she had tried to kill father. Mother saved his life by 
taking the blow for him. The attack was very insidious, however. It was as if it were eating her 
alive."

"With the help of some friends we had nearby," said Soun, who composed himself enough to 
pick up the story, "we sealed Arame in an ancient tree that had mysterious, mystical powers. 
With her gone, we thought everything was going to be okay after that. Moriko never let on 
exactly how badly hurt she was. I should have noticed it, though, since she used less and less of 
her power afterwards. It took a great deal of her strength to stave off the effects of Arame's 
attack. But every time she gave birth after that, she grew weaker and the aftereffects ravaged her 
body. After she had you, Akane, she couldn't fight the effects anymore. They finally killed her 
when you were six years old."

Akane collapsed back into her seat, dumbfounded. "I...I can't believe this. W-why haven't any of 
you told me this before?"

"We didn't think we should've burdened you with the truth," answered Kasumi. "As we said, my 
change and Nabiki's change happened when we were seven years old. Nabiki's change was less 
profound as my own. We think it was because mother was weaker when she gave birth to her. 
When mother died, we were worried since we would have to be the ones to train you after your 
transformation took place. But a year later, when the change was suppose to happen, it didn't."

"Mom was very weak when she gave birth to you, Akane," added Nabiki. "We thought it was 
possible that the change would take place later for you. But then the years passed and you never 
went through the change. Since it appeared you were, for all intents and purposes, fully human, 
and you went through your whole life believing you were fully human, we thought it better that 
you never knew otherwise."

The whole thing made Akane sick to her stomach. "I-I need to be alone!" With that, she jumped 
back to her feet and ran up to her room.

With his youngest daughter out of the room, Soun turned his attention to Ranma. "Son, you 
aren't going to let the truth about her heritage change things between you and Akane, are you?"

"Yeah, I mean think of things the way we think about it," said Nabiki. "As far as we're 
concerned, we're 100% human. All the extra stuff we come with is just that...*extra*."

Ranma crossed his arms, deep in thought. "I don't understand...if her change didn't take place 
when it was supposed to, what could've triggered it now?"

"I'm not sure, myself," admitted Kasumi. "Maybe something deep within her was triggered 
because of some external stimulus...extreme fear or something. But I've never known Akane to 
ever be that scared of anything." 

Ranma thought back to the previous day, 'I have...'

The eldest Tendo daughter walked over to Ranma and put her arm around him. "This is going to 
be a very trying time for Akane. I will do my best to train her, as mother trained me. But YOU 
are the one she's going to need, now more than ever. You will be there for her when she needs 
you, won't you?"

He didn't give it a second thought. "Of course I will."

Kasumi smiled at him, "Thank you."

**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**	**

The day was growing late. The clear, blue skies had streaks of bright orange running through 
them as the sun slowly sank in the western horizon. The coming night, however, wasn't 
promising to be a very quiet one. Clangs of metal on metal emerged from Nerima's central park 
as two weary warriors battled ferociously.

The duel had gone on for many hours, with the two combatants, so far, fighting to a draw. 
Mousse had to give the newcomer credit. She was very good. He wielded a dragon spear 
designed to resemble the famous Blue Dragon wielded by the Chinese legend, Guan Yu. He held 
the advantage in reach, as she wielded a scimitar, however, he was unable to break through her 
defenses.

The confusion Mousse had to the girls origins had only deepened as the battle wore on. Even 
though she clearly used the Hidden Weapons techniques to battle, her fighting style was 
remarkably different than the one his master taught. It was clear that she wasn't an Amazon from 
his tribe, but he didn't know of anyone else in the world that taught the Hidden Weapons 
technique. 

Dwelling on her origins would only serve to do him in, as it distracted him from the task at hand. 
She grabbed a few of those daggers from her sleeves and hurled them at him. Mouse aptly 
blocked every one with his spear. The daggers were merely a diversion, as she moved to slice 
through his midsection with her scimitar. He managed to block her attack as well with the spear, 
but its handle was cut in two. The girl continued through with her swing, making another attempt 
at his midsection. Mousse, however, jumped safely out of its path.

She pressed her advantage, ensuring he wouldn't get a reprieve or another weapon with which to 
defend himself. Mousse managed to expertly dodge every one of her swings. But she was 
pushing him back effectively. Soon, he'd have his back to the brick fence that surrounded the 
park. There was only one attack he could think of that he could pull off that would be quick and 
disorienting enough to get him out of his jam. 

He put his arms to his chest, and then shot them back outward, slinging at least twenty chains out 
of his sleeves. None of the chain's daggered edges struck his opponent. Instead, they embedded 
themselves all over; in the ground, on the trees and on the various park furnishings. When the 
last chain settled in place, they were set in a pattern akin to a spider's web, with his adversary 
caught in the center.

"How do you like that?" Mousse boomed proudly. "I call it my Binding Crow's Nest." She 
wasn't giving up, though. She struggled desperately to free herself from her predicament. 
Mousse reached into his volumous sleeve, pulled out a rapier and held the tip against her throat.

She looked at it, then at him and smiled. "Heh...well fought. I yield."

With her surrender, he put the rapier back in its mysterious binding within his sleeves. "Now, tell 
me," he demanded, "what was the meaning of this duel?"

The girl shrugged as best as she could under the circumstances. "There was no real meaning 
behind it. Like I said before, I was surprised to find another user of the Hidden Weapons 
techniques here in Japan. I just wanted to see how good you were."

So, his suspicions were correct. "Who are you? Where did you come from? How is it you know 
the Hidden Weapons techniques but have a fighting style so incredibly different?"

"Let me down and I'll happily explain everything to you." She smiled at him, and proceeded to 
say two words that promised to make Mousse's life a little more interesting, "...my husband."

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