L T:, =/8 The Battle For Akane's Soul! Written by: Brian D. Robinson And Jessica F. Mickles ____________________________________________________________________ It is night. Within this house sleeps the Tendo family. Footsteps can be heard taping softly across the darkness. A shadowy form stands before a door. The darkness enters. There it waits, watches, studies. With a whisper of silence came the words," Saotome. Ranma Saotome. Awaken." Ranma's eyes opened at the sound of his name. Scarcely daring to breathe, Ranma peered into the surrounding darkness. "Who is it? Who's there?" From the shadows emerged a familiar face. "Akane?!" Ranma sat up a bit. "Akane wh-". She stood before him dressed in a ivory wedding gown. Akane's bright face shown from the darkness. With a look of such pleasure and happiness, she smiled at him. Ranma sat all the way up now, staring at her. "What is it?" At the sound of his voice Akane's body shuddered as if in pain. A silent scream came from her pale lips. As she fell to the floor, a crimson stain appeared on the front of her dress. From a single drop it slowly spread, creeping over her collapsed form. Her voice echoed through Ranma's mind. "R-Ranma...please...d-don't." Sobs racked her body. Fear was now etched upon her face. The dress, now a bloody red, clung to Akane's body. "Stop...no...no more...don't ...hi-..." The last vestige of color drained from her face and her eyes focused on a point beyond time. Ranma couldn't move. Akane's body was nothing more than a cold and lifeless husk. "All that she was is now mine!" The words sliced through Ranma's mind like blades of black ice. Ranma's skin prickled at the wave of evil that washed over him. "Her body! Her soul!" Before Ranma's eyes, Akane's face began to wither, her eyes sinking into her skull. The skin began to melt from her body. The smell of burning flesh filled his nostrils. "Akane!" A strange golden light flickered from within the hollows of her eyes. Akane's voice burst into his mind. "HELP ME! RANMA! HELP ME! PLEASE!." The glimmer of light was snuffed out by the darkness and the voice was silent. Akane's skeletal form stood before him. To his horror, it began to dance around like a puppet. "Come to me. Come to me Saotome," the evil thing whispered. "Come to me in the name of LOVE!!!." As maniacal laughter echoed through the room, Ranma searched the darkness. His gaze was drawn to a corner that appeared , if possible, darker than the rest. A form slowly took shape from the shadows. Ranma stared incredulous. With eyes glowing like green fire, the figure stepped closer."Why so surprised Saotome?" Ranma's muscles refused to move. "Can't you feel it inside? Clawing at your very soul?" Ranma flinched as the shadow reached out and touched the side of his head. "To remember me by Saotome. May we meet again, In Hell!" With a wave of his hand Akane's remains fell and shattered into dust. "NO!!" Ranma screamed, throwing the covers off as he sat up. Breathing hard and covered with sweat, he leapt up and ran down the hall to Akane's room. Terrified of what he might find on the other side, Ranma turned the knob and pushed the door open. Akane mumbled softly and pulled the covers tighter around her. He slumped against the door frame, the frantic pounding in his chest beginning to slow. Watching the steady rise and fall of her breath, Ranma tried to shake an intense feeling of urgency. Man what a nightmare, he thought as he closed the door and headed to the bathroom. Must have been those cookies, you'd think I'd know better by now. But why was he still on edge? Ranma flipped on the bathroom light and reached for the faucet, his eyes straying to the mirror above the sink. His hand froze. There was a white streak in his hair. On the left side of his head. Where the evil had touched him. In his dream. In his dream! Cold water splashed into the basin as Ranma soaked a cloth and brushed at the streak. It didn't wash away. Frantic now, he plunged the cloth back into the water. Water soaked the front of his shirt, but he didn't notice the change in his body as she scrubbed her hair harder. With a frustrated groan she hurled the cloth away and stared at her reflection. Not a dream. "But that means that...no! I won't let it happen!" Ranma-chan raced back to her room. Akane awoke that morning, feeling a little restless. For some reason she awoke with Ranma on her mind. She sat up and stretched, watching the sunrise through her window. The smell of breakfast was in the air and Akane wasted no time in getting up. She was up and dressed in record time. As she passed Ranma's door she called out, "Better hurry Ranma or there won't be any left!" There was no answering taunt. "Ranma?" Akane frowned. Ranma always had to have the last word. Always. "Ranma, you jerk! You're going to be late for school!" She knocked on the door. It swung open silently. The room was empty. Completely empty. No Ranma. No furniture. No walls. No walls? Akane blinked and looked again. The room had disappeared into a lifeless void. As she stared blankly into nothingness she became aware of small points of light. Slowly the points seemed to grow. Not just growing but coming closer. No it wasn't moving she was. Horrified, Akane realized that she was being pulled toward the lights. As she was drawn nearer, she realized that the glowing points were eyes. Twisted laughter filled her mind. "Ahhhhh hah hah haaa. Akane Tendo!! Now you are mine!!! Shadowy hands reached out and embraced her. As she struggled futilely against her captor, she was engulfed in a wave of smothering darkness. Akane shot out of bed and fell to her knees. Gasping for breath and covered with sweat, she wildly scanned the room. "Just a dream. It's okay it was just a dream. Deep breath, come on Akane, calm down." She continued to speak out loud, to reassure herself that it was over. "Everybody has bad dreams. No big deal. It's over now. Probably ate too much desert or something." As the terror began to fade from her mind, Akane realized she was sitting on the floor by her bed. She laughed slightly, but there was little humor in the sound. Still shaken, she got up and looked out the window. Everything seemed all right. The morning sun was shining. The birds were singing. A soft breeze was blowing through the trees of mid-summer. She laughed again at herself and then walked to her bedroom door. Akane drew a deep breath and opened it. Grinning, she went to Ranma's room. The door was already open. She cautiously peered in. On the floor were two neatly made beds. Her laughter now was genuine. Akane went to the bathroom, her light tread muffled even more by the thick carpet. As she pushed open the door, she began to hum. Turning on the water in the bath tub, Akane began to undress. She turned to stick her tongue out at her reflection, then stopped. Unbelieving, she moved to stand in front of the mirror, her eyes wide with shock. For there, on the left side of her head was a streak of pure white. Akane screamed. The day before.... r. The darkness enters. There it waits, watches, studies. With a whisp:{ "/BG[n    yyyyyy Tk t!#::; :<=Times New Roman