Here is the (hopefully) final revision of the first two chapters. I
found some glaring errors (hey, we can't all be perfect), as well as
some things that could have been done better.
Special thanks to Jorge Pratt, who's been my most helpful pre-reader.
^_^
On with the show...
The Eternal Lost Lurker (squn29a@prodigy.com)
Well, this had been suggested once, and I rejected the idea at the
time...but now, I've got an idea for it. So, I'm going to rewrite my
longest fanfic to date, "Her".
This story is going to be re-written two different ways. The first
version follows. It is a crossover.
The second version of the story will be a straight Ranma fic, and
will come soon enough.
This starts out fairly dark, but it isn't going to stay that way.
Continuity notes: The crossover material I use is an alternate
reality of that particular series.
*begin*
The thin, cool mist he'd encountered at every step of his journey
so far suddenly thickened. He had to tread more carefully as
visibility was reduced to nil. Ahead of him, he heard the sound of
water dripping. He continued onward.
A little farther down the trail, he heard faint voices. Straining
to hear, he could make out two: one was laughing cruelly. The other
was...a girl crying?
Gritting his teeth, he strode into the mist, unmindful of the
trail. The mist began to part, and a spectacle from hell unfolded
before him.
Tied to a roughly hewn wooden stake was a young girl, with long,
braided red hair. She was filthy, naked, covered with welts and
bruises, and crying. Dark rings circled her watery auburn eyes.
Her tormentor stood before her, his posture arrogant and his
laughter cold and mocking. Beside the tormentor sat a rack of torture
implements...all quite obviously recently used.
Suddenly, he found himself no longer able to move. Rooted to his
spot on the trail, he could only watch in horror as the cruel man
raped his young prisoner. Her screams rent deep gashes in his soul.
He struggled to no avail against the paralysis which had taken him.
Her tormentor then turned to face him. An arrogant sneer darkened
the all too familiar features...the ones he saw in the mirror every
day.
Saotome Ranma awoke screaming.
Ranma 1/2
"ONNA" Red Side vs. Yellow Side
Red Side: Honou no Onna
Legal:
Ranma 1/2 copyright Takahashi Rumiko, Shogakukan, Weekly Shonen, VIZ
Communications.
Magic Knight RayEarth copyright CLAMP
Anything else used, I'll deal with in the author's notes at the end.
^_^
Chapter One: Zankoku no Yume
Genma lazily whapped Ranma over the head with a sign that said
"Shut up, boy" before rolling over and going back to sleep. The
Tendou family came charging into the room, Akane at the head of the
pack. "Ranma!"
Ranma rubbed his head. His hand came away drenched in sweat. "Kuso.
.." he gasped, breathing raggedly.
"Ara! Ranma-kun, are you alright?" Kasumi knelt beside his futon.
Akane knelt on the other side.
Ranma took a moment to compose himself, then softly said, "Yeah...
I'm okay. Just...just a bad dream." Assuming his usual cavalier
demeanor, he said, in a still somewhat shaky voice. "Ah, it ain't
nothin'. I musta just ate too much of your cookin' last night Akane.
"
Akane's expression went from concerned, to embarrassed, to
outraged. "RANMA NO BAKA!" she screamed. Reaching into hammerspace,
the girl sometimes known as Mallet no Miko (^_^!!) performed her
favorite ritual: bashing Ranma through the floor.
"I...ite...." Ranma mumbled. Akane snorted derisively, and stalked
out of the room.
"Ara..." Kasumi said. Then she started. "Ara! I need to finish
making breakfast!" With that, she hurried daintily from the room.
Nabiki clucked her tongue at Ranma. "Good one Saotome," she
snickered, and made her way back to her own room.
Soun just bawled for a few minutes, staring at the new hole in his
house.
Genma slept on unperturbed.
A few minutes later, Ranma staggered into the bathroom. "Oh man...
I feel like hell..." Stepping in front of the mirror, he groaned. His
reflection revealed a respectable amount of stubble, bleary eyes,
dissheveled hair, and bags under his eyes. "Oh man...I look like hell
too," he muttered. Stripping off his tank top, but leaving his boxers
on, he picked up a washbucket, and filled it with cold water. Bracing
himself, he dumped it over his head. "BBbbrrrr....cold..." Shaking
off the excess droplets, Ranma-chan was about to commence with the
morning toilette, when her gaze locked on her reflection.
Slowly, the image in the mirror changed. No longer was she looking
at her drowsy, damp, bleary face. She was now staring into watery
auburn eyes which gazed back at her from a bleeding, tear-streaked,
bruised face. The girl in the mirror was covered in welts and bruises
and grime. Her eyes held a pleading in them. Ranma-chan could do
little more than stare back at her.
Until the girl in the mirror spoke.
<Help me. Please...help me. Rescue me. Set me free. Please. Help
me.>
With a shriek, Ranma-chan leapt away from the mirror.
Once again, the rest of the household tore into the room. Akane
looked worried again, but slightly annoyed. Kasumi looked genuinely
concerned. Soun was bawling again. Genma wore no expression. Nabiki
smirked.
"Really, Ranma. Twice in one morning?" Nabiki chided.
"That...the mirror...girl...my dream..."
Akane frowned. "Ranma...what are you talking about?"
Ranma-chan pointed at the mirror...and froze. All it revealed was
her own panicked visage.
She blinked. "What in the...?"
Kasumi prompted, "Ranma? Are you alright?"
Ranma-chan stepped back shakily from the mirror. "Ah...yeah. I
think so. Yeah."
With that, the Tendous and Genma retreated from the bathroom.
Akane glanced back at Ranma-chan with worry evident on her face,
before closing the door behind her.
***Interlude: China***
:Be careful down there, daughter. It's dangerous.:
:I'm alright, Father. Don't worry about me.:
Plum searched the small crevice at the base of the cliff
overlooking the west side of Jyusenkyou. Her father had spotted
something down there, and she was the only one small enough to check
it out.
:There doesn't seem to be anything down here, Father...:
Suddenly, a bright red light flared from the corner of the crevice.
Plum frowned, and made her way over to it.
:How odd...:
Wedged between two rocks was a slightly dingy white gauntlet with
a red jewel set into the back of the handguard. As she examined it,
the jewel begin pulsing brightly. With a shriek, Plum dropped it.
:Daughter! Are you alright?:
:Yes, Father. It just startled me. What is it?:
:I don't know, Daughter. I have seen nothing of this sort before.
:
The jewel abruptly stopped flashing. Plum picked up the gauntlet
and examined it more closely, frowning. She could have sworn it was
dirty a minute ago; now, it was pristine white. It also seemed a
slight bit larger. :This thing is too strange,: Plum commented.
Tucking it into the knapsack slung over her shoulder, she made her
way out of the crevice.
Chapter 2: The Fiery Pigtailed One
"Ranma? Are you sure you're feeling alright?"
Ranma was walking, not on the fence as usual, but on the sidewalk.
He was gazing down at the ground. There seemed to be a tangible aura
of despair from him. "I'm fine Akane."
"No, Ranma...you're not. Has it got something to do with that
dream?"
Ranma's head snapped up, and he glared at Akane. "Ah, what would
YOU know about it? Just...forget it. Don't bring it up again, alright?
"
Akane smirked. "Fine then, Ranma! See if I care!"
Ranma sighed. After a moment, he murmured softly, "Akane...I'm
sorry."
Akane did a double take. Ranma? Apologizing? "Ranma...?"
Ranma sighed, and began, "It's just....you got no idea..."
Akane stopped walking, and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Ranma..
.tell me."
Ranma took a deep breath. As he was about to speak...
...Benshou-san, a local who had a bad habit of dumping water out
of his window, did exactly that. Right on Ranma's head.
"Sorry about that!" he called, before shutting his window.
Akane watched Ranma-chan expectantly. She wasn't sure if the
slight redhead would continue her story or grumble about the
unfairness of it all. Instead, she just sighed, and said, "We're
gonna be late to class."
With the discussion effectively ended, the two girls continued
toward Fuurinkan.
Ryouga grunted. This wasn't one of his worst days. Not one of the
best, but it could be worse. At least he was back in Nerima. He knew
that for a fact; he'd just seen Ukyou leave her shop, and was
following her to the school.
Of course, things weren't incredibly good either. At the moment he
was stuck in pig form...and he'd somehow managed to misplace his
favorite bandana. How the thing came off, he had no idea. At least he
had his spare, the solid yellow one he'd worn the day IT happened.
Up ahead, he saw Akane, and Ranma. Akane was a plus. Ranma was a
definite minus.
Oh well, he'd come this far. Might as well reunite with his
beloved...
"Buii! Bukii!"
Akane turned to the source of the sound, and her eyes lit up with
joy. "Look Ranma! It's P-chan! P-chan, c'mere baby!"
P-chan trotted happily up to Akane. Ranma-chan looked on with mild
amusement. As Akane swept P-chan into her arms, she noticed something
different. "Ranma, look! P-chan's got a new bandana! I wonder where
he got it?"
Ranma-chan noticed this, and for a moment, her eyes lit up as well.
"Oh, kawaii!" she enthused in a rather bubbly voice. P-chan's eyes
widened. Akane glanced at Ranma in mild shock. "Uhh...Ranma? Are you
sure you're feeling okay?"
Whatever it was, it had passed. "Yeah Akane, I'm fine. Why do you
ask?"
"Well...it's just, you were acting kinda weird there for a second.
"
Ranma-chan blinked, then shrugged. "Eh, let's forget about it and
get to school. I don't wanna have another run-in with Hinako-sensei
this mornin'."
As the group approached the gates of Fuurinkan, they were greeted
by Kunou. As usual, he wielded his bokken. Upon seeing them, his eyes
sparkled, and he launched into one of his patented rants.
"Ah, on this beautiful and clear day, fortune doth indeed favor
the noble scion of the house of Kunou..."
"Well, y'know what they say...fortune favors the foolish," Ranma-
chan interjected. Akane snickered.
Kunou paused in his rant, and shot a somewhat amused glance at
Ranma-chan before continuing. "And so the fiery pigtailed one indeed
doth make jest at her love. From the lips of any other, the taunt
would garner a severe thrashing. However, fair goddess, from thine
lips it is not a barb, but an invitation to do honorable battle for
the honor of DATING with me!" With that, Kunou launched himself at
Ranma-chan, bokken slicing the air before him.
Ranma-chan did a series of backflips, placing herself out of the
range of Kunou's striking pattern. Akane expected this to be the
moment in which Ranma downed Kunou with one kick. However, something
most unexpected happened.
Ranma-chan's eyes glazed over. When she came back into focus, her
eyes widened and she shrieked as Kunou's bokken almost tore her gut
open. Diving wildly to the side, she sprang back to her feet. She
seemed to be concentrating on something. Then, after a moment, she
looked down at her left hand, as if something were missing. As
Kunou's sword began raking towards her again, she rolled several feet
to the side. Springing up once again, she raised her right hand over
her head, palm up.
"What's that idiot doing?" Akane wondered quietly. P-chan, from
his vantage point in her arms, was wondering the same thing. As much
as he disliked Ranma, he knew this fight should have been over before
it started.
Suddenly, something FLARED above Ranma-chan's right hand.
Expression fierce, she shouted, "HONOU NO.....YAAAAAAA!!!" and
brought the raised arm down, pointing straight at Kunou.
Several narrow streaks of bright flame erupted from Ranma-chan's
hand. Kunou's eyes widened, and he frantically tried to parry the
fire with his bokken. The wooden sword was immediately incinerated by
the flaming projectiles. One slammed into Kunou and knocked him
across the courtyard, into the wall of the building.
Akane and P-chan stared at this spectacle with wide eyes. "What on
earth...?" Akane wondered aloud. P-chan bweed softly. If Ranma had a
new attack like that...
Suddenly, Ranma-chan began blinking rapidly. She stared at her
hand, then at the pile of smoldering ashes marking what once had been
Kunou's bokken. Then her gaze traveled to the slightly blackened
Kunou himself.
Akane rushed over to her. "Ranma?"
Ranma blinked a few times, then said, in a somewhat hoarse voice,
"Yeah?"
"What....what did you just do?"
Ranma shook her head. "I...I don't know. I...can't remember."
Nabiki grumbled irritably as she hauled Kunou's carcass to Tofuu-
sensei's clinic. "Idiot...both this one and Ranma...what the hell was
that all about anyway?"
Kunou groaned once in response.
Dragging Kunou through the entrance, she was greeted by a rather
concerned Tofuu. "What happened to him?" Tofuu-sensei asked, nodding
at the unconscious kendoist.
"Ranma happened to him, what else?" Nabiki smirked. "But this was
different than usual."
Tofuu-sensei raised an eyebrow. "How so?" As they talked, they
began lifting Kunou onto an examination table.
"Well," Nabiki frowned thoughtfully, "Ranma hit him with some kind
of fire blast."
"You mean a ki-blast," Tofuu-sensei corrected as he examined the
burns on Kunou's chest.
Nabiki shook her head. "No, sensei. I know a ki blast when I see
one...hey, living around here you sure see enough of them, right?
This was FIRE."
Tofuu-sensei frowned, and began probing the burns. "Well, these
burns will heal...but you're right. A ki blast wouldn't leave burns
like these." Frowning, he picked up the phone.
"Who are you calling, sensei?" Nabiki asked.
Without responding, Tofuu began speaking into the phone. "Shampoo?
This is Ono Tofuu. Could you please send your great-grandmother down
to my clinic? It's urgent. Thanks."
Nabiki stared incredulously at the doctor. "What on earth do you
want with that old Amazon?"
Tofuu frowned, and sighed. "There's something about these burns...
I'm not sure what to make of them."
That took Nabiki by surprise. "A problem you can't fix?"
Tofuu slumped into a chair. "You have to remember, Nabiki...I may
be good at handling a lot of the more...unusual situations that show
up around here, but I'm still fairly young and inexperienced. Cologne
is over five times as old as I am...and experienced with magic."
Nabiki's eyes widened. "You're saying that what happened to Kunou
was magic?"
Tofuu frowned pensively. "I'm not sure. That's why I want to get
her opinion on it."
Ranma was unusually quiet at lunch. Akane was worried. Ryouga was
too...he was watching Ranma closely.
Ukyou walked over and sat down with them. "Ranchan? I heard about
what happened with Kunou this morning."
"I don't want to talk about it," Ranma said.
Ukyou shot a glance at Akane, who sighed. "He's been like this all
day."
Suddenly, water rained down on the group, and a lecherous old
voice called out, "Ranma-chan! Come let an old man comfort himself in
your bosom!"
Happousai attempted to glomp Ranma, only to be flattened by a
spatula. "Leave Ranchan alone. He's had a rough day."
"But...but I only wanted to comfort the sweet young thing!"
Happousai protested.
Suddenly, Ranma-chan stood. Hatred smouldered in her eyes. In a
dead quiet voice, she said, "Why can't you sick, evil people just
leave me alone?"
Everyone stared at her in shock. An intangible wind was stirring
her clothing and her pigtail. Akane and Ukyou backed away nervously.
Happousai examined her curiously.
"But Ranma-chan...I only wanted..."
"Who is Ranma?" she asked. "If that's some sick word for what you
people treat me like...tying me up....doing...doing..." she shuddered
visibly. Everyone was staring at her strangely now. With a scowl, and
with undisguised hatred smoldering in her eyes, which seemed to have
turned a dark shade of crimson, she snarled, "NO MORE! I'm not taking
ANY MORE!" She extended her cupped hands in front of her, and a small,
angry red nexus of energy formed between them.
Ukyou gaped in shock. Akane yelled, "EVERYONE GET DOWN!"
Happousai could only stare like a deer caught in the headlights.
<Masaka...what on earth is...this...power?>
Sparks danced along Ranma-chan's hands, fueling the energy between
her palms, expanding it, making it brighter. Then, without warning,
she brought her hands to her side, and with a shout of "SCARLET
LIGHTNING!", she released a white-hot ball of energy, surrounded by
an angry red corona. It tore into Happousai before the old pervert
could react.
Happousai was slammed across the courtyard and through the fence.
He lay out in the street, clothing and what little hair he had left
on fire. A long scorched gouge marked the passage of the fire blast,
grass still smoldering in places. Ranma-chan trembled, then slumped
to the ground. Ukyou and Akane rushed over to her, while everyone
else backed away nervously.
"Ranma!" "Ranchan!"
Ranma-chan was unconcious.
***Interlude: China***
:It lasted much longer this time, Father.:
The Guide and Plum were standing over a small table, on which
rested the white gauntlet. The gem in the handguard pulsed one last
time, and then went dark again.
:What do you suppose this thing is, Father?:
:I have no idea. I've asked one of the elder Niichieju to take a
look at it.:
There was a knock on the door. Plum opened the door, and a tall,
leathery old woman with graying yet dark hair stepped into the
cottage.
:Show me this item.:
The Guide presented the gauntlet to her. She examined it
thoughtfully, frowning.
:This object...has tremendous magical power.:
:Elder, what is it?:
The woman shook her head. :I do not know.: After a pause, during
which she continued to examine the gauntlet, she nodded decisivly.
:Keeper of the cursed springs...I would ask of you to send this
object to Japan.:
:Japan?: The Guide was puzzled thoroughly.
The elder nodded, her expression impatient, as though it should be
obvious. :I would have the eldest of our tribe, Khu Lon, examine this
artifact. She will more be able to discern its origin and its purpose
than I or any other in the village would.:
The Guide nodded. :Very well then. It shall be done.:
The elder removed a few gold coins from the sash around her waist.
:Use these coins to insure that the package will be delivered
immediately. To the modern world, they are worth enough to buy many
luxuries. You will be able to have the object delivered very swiftly.
:
The Guide nodded and took both the coins and the item. :As you
wish, Elder. Thank you for coming.:
:It is I who would thank you for bringing this object to our
attention. Such powerful magic as this is not something I would care
to have lying around without knowing what its purpose is.:
With that, the Elder departed for her village, and the Guide and
Plum departed for the nearest town with delivery services.
____
------------------------------------------------------------
"If it looks like a duck, and walks like a duck, and quacks like a
duck...pour hot water on it."
Ryodachi Kouma
"The Eternal Lost Lurker"
squn29a@prodigy.com
http://pages.prodigy.com/EtLostLurker