(Scene: a darkened room. Lights slowly come on to reveal a messy dorm
room with the usual accomodations. Our usual hosts sit on the couch.)
Raphael: Welcome again to Mystery C&C Theater 1/2!
Noriko: Tonight we'll be going over the conclusion of Zen-san's fanfic
"Bitter End."
Raphael: All the parts previous have been building up to this one. This
should be good. (flexes his fingers briefly and glances at Noriko) You ready
for this?
Noriko: I... I think so. Yes, I am.
Raphael: Good. I have the feeling that a lot of things are gonna be
happening in this part.
Noriko: (with resolve) Let's do it. (Raphael nods in assent and pushes
"play" on the remote. As always, numbers count down to the fic.)
10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...
-----
Ryouga nodded miserably. "Yes... Ranma's fought for her, time and
again. No matter what the odds, if it was for Akane, he'd fight - and
he'd win. Every time, he'd win. And she loves him too. I know she
does."
"But that doesn't make sense! Why would she still do that to him if she
loves him?"
-----
Raphael: Doesn't make sense to me, too. How could anyone still believe
that Akane still loves Ranma when she does that to him?
Noriko: You're trying to make things too simple again. Remember the scene
in the hospital? Akane was _so_ sorry for what she had done. Remember,
with spousal abuse, the abuser more often than not really does loves
the other, as hard as it is to tell sometimes. Akane's that way, too.
-----
"Nothing?" asked Natsumi. She had been reading the chart at the foot of
the bed. "According to this, she damn near killed you!" She tapped the
clipboard in her hand for emphasis.
"I'm a little harder to kill than that."
-----
Raphael: A little. I suspect not by too much, though...
Noriko: I don't think _anyone_ has ever managed to damage Ranma this much
before. Akane must have been really merciless... (shudders from trying to
imagine the level of violence Akane had to have inflicted)
-----
Akane had recovered eventually. At least on the surface, she was a
normal schoolgirl - but she had become obsessed with the Art - with
learning to fight better - beneath that surface there seethed a mass of
raw emotion of tremendous power. Even Kasumi had not truly suspected its
intensity until Ranma had come into their lives, and had broken through
Akane's armour - and while it had let him in to her heart, it had also
let the turmoil out.
Kasumi looked sadly at her sleeping charge again. "You've certainly
gotten through to her, Ranma-kun...." she said softly, "but at what
price?" Gently, Kasumi changed the damp cloth that she had draped over
Ranma's forehead. Once she was satisfied that Ranma was still sleeping
peacefully, she settled back against the cabinets to rest, and to think.
The tears left silver trails along her face in the darkness as she wept.
-----
Raphael: I should have suspected as much. Akane's mother. It always comes
down to that, doesn't it?
Noriko: So this whole time, for almost twenty years, Akane's been
silently struggling with the notion that she could have prevented her
mother's death? It must be awful for her...
Raphael: But Ranma's getting through to her, right? Maybe she can finally
come to terms with her grief.
Noriko: Getting through to her, yes, but will she respond in the right
way? I think it all rests on Akane herself now. And I'm not sure she'll
be able to make the right choice when it comes down to it.
-----
Ranma had more or less resigned himself to the inevitability of losing
Akane. He didn't want to lose her - he loved her so much that he was not
sure that he could live without her. But he still had no idea how to get
her to let go of her anger. Everything he tried had only served to make
the problem worse, and so, he quit trying.
Kasumi and Nabiki were both trying to keep a closer eye on their younger
sister, and would manage to walk in at awkward moments, when Akane was
really starting to lose control. If their presence couldn't calm her, it
at least had the effect of giving her a boost in the control of her
temper. As a result, Ranma escaped the more severe beatings.
An anticipation hung over the neighbourhood like the calm before the
storm.
-----
Noriko: It looks like things are starting to go down once more...
Raphael: And at a much sharper rate than before. Ranma's given up
completely, hasn't he? And if Ranma gives up, what other hope is there?
-----
Ryouga looked at the ground for a moment then back up into Ranma's eyes.
"If...." he began. "If you change your mind, Akari and I will be in the
kissaten at the corner from eight until ten tonight. Meet us there."
"I can't. I'm sorry."
Ryouga released his grip on Ranma's wrist and turned to go. "We'll wait
for you... 'til ten o'clock," he said simply. He and Akari walked out
of the compound, arm in arm. Ranma smiled wistfully to himself as he
watched them go.
-----
Noriko: Wow. That was a very powerful dialogue there. (wipes her brow
briefly) It seems that everyone's telling Ranma the same thing: get out,
get out while you can. Do you think Ranma's going to eventually leave?
Raphael: It would certainly be the best thing for him right now.
Noriko: So desu. (realizes after a moment that her partner didn't answer
her question) But do you think Ranma's going to leave? (Raphael doesn't
respond)
-----
"I was just wondering if... I mean... would you like to join me for a
walk after dinner?"
"Ranma, it's winter. It'll be cold out."
"It's not that cold. And the sky is clear. We could go down to the
river and look up at the stars."
"I have a morning class tomorrow, Ranma. I have work to do. I don't
have time to waste walking around in the cold with you."
-----
Noriko: (sighs) That's it.
Raphael: What's it?
Noriko: I think I just watched the last vestige of Akane die...
-----
"You can't say it, can you? In all the time that I've lived here - in
all the time that we've been married - I've never heard you say it."
"Ranma...."
"There was a time that I thought you might... when we got married. You
*did* marry me after all. And we had some good times together. We
squabbled less... things were starting to get so much better...."
Ranma looked up, and there were tears in his eyes. He was making no
effort to stop them, weeping openly. Akane was shocked. "Ran...
Ranma... are you *crying*?"
"But it was all in my mind, wasn't it? You *can't* say it because it
isn't true." He choked back a sob. "Why? Why didn't you say
something? You could have been free. You didn't have to do what your
father wanted, if it was going to make you so unhappy!"
-----
Raphael: It's over, isn't it? There's just no hope anymore.
Noriko: I'm afraid it really looks that way... (wipes a tear)
-----
Ukyou had held her tongue for Ranma's sake. She had gone out of her way
to be civil - had said nothing that Akane might construe as hostile -
while all the time watching the Tendou woman destroy the man she loved.
But now; now there was no reason to hold back. Now, Akane HAD to be made
to see what she had been doing to Ranma, she HAD to be made to
understand. Ukyou's temper flared and the full force of her frustration
and agony burst forth.
-----
Noriko: That should be a comma rather than a semicolon.
-----
Akane stood, fists clenching in fury, jaw tight. Ukyou returned the
stare with a maddening calm. Finally, Akane spun on her heel and stalked
toward the door.
Not this time, Ukyou thought. "Akane!" Akane froze, still facing the
door. "Don't hurt him anymore. If you want to keep him, let him know
that you love him. If you hurt him again, you are going to regret it. I
promise you that. By all that's holy, I swear it."
Her back rigid, trembling in rage, Akane stomped out of the shop without
looking back. Ukyou watched her go. There was going to be trouble. She
could feel it. "At least she used the door this time," Ukyou muttered to
no one in particular.
-----
Raphael: Whew. Akane had _that_ coming from Ukyou for quite a while.
Noriko: Yeah, but... did it do any good? If anything, Akane's angrier
than ever. And if she decides that Ukyou's entirely at fault instead of
Ranma... I don't think Ukyou is as durable as Ranma is.
-----
Halfway home it hit her. Ukyou had challenged her - *and Ranma had not
moved to defend her*. It was true. She WAS losing Ranma. And it was all
Ukyou's fault. Ukyou's and Ranma's. The more Akane thought about it,
the angrier she got.
-----
Noriko: Oh, no...
Raphael: Have I already said this? This looks really, _really_, REALLY bad.
-----
Reflexively, Ranma's hands extended toward the practice target. His eyes
closed, and he cried out. "SHI SHI HOUKOU DAAAN!"
The discharge of energies tore through Ranma like lightning, setting his
nerves on fire. Every cell in his body felt as if it were aflame as the
blast leaped from him to the target, and beyond. A wall of sound rushed
back past Ranma as the raw Chi energy ripped matter apart, reducing it to
its simplest components.
Drained, Ranma sagged, oblivious to his surroundings, and the subtle
alterations that had just been made to the local topology.
The practice target, thirty cubic meters of steel reinforced concrete,
had ceased to exist. So had a tree, a four meter section of the compound
wall, the ashcans that had been behind it, and a major portion of the
sidewalk and street beyond. A trench, meters deep, was all that was left
of the intersection. Cold water fountained into the air from a ruptured
main, raining down on the courtyard where Ranma stood, drenching him, and
triggering the inevitable shift.
Ranma was blind to it all. Looking down at herself, she fell to her
knees, tears of frustration burning as they forced their way past
unwilling eyes. This body, this girl's body was no more than she
deserved - the final symbol of his... no... of *her* failure.
Ranma hauled herself to her feet again and staggered back towards the
house. The way things were going, she figured that she might as well
clean up and go help Kasumi in the kitchen. She doubted that she'd be
good for much else.
-----
Raphael: Whew. That was a _very_ powerful scene of the drastic change
Ranma's gone through. All his brash, brazen confidence has been
transformed to sheer, dark depression. Very nicely done.
Noriko: (an even sadder sigh) And Ranma, too, falls.
Raphael: Hm? What're you talking about?
Noriko: He's dead. Maybe not physically, but he's died inside. Just like
Akane.
-----
Spin. Slash. Feint. Stab. Akane's dance continued, the light flashing
off the polished blade.
-----
(a cold, cold gust blows through the room, chilling both Raphael and
Noriko to the bone)
Raphael: Geez! Tomorrow I'm gonna have to send in a work order to fix
that broken window. It's getting really drafty in here.
Noriko: Um, Raphael?
Raphael: (surprised) Hm?
Noriko: The broken window's in the front room. We're in the back room,
and the door's closed, too.
Raphael: Uh oh...
-----
Talk had failed. Prayer had failed. Common sense and reason had
failed. All other options had been exhausted. It was time to fight. One
way or another, Ukyou was resolved that the abuse would stop today.
After giving Konatsu some last minute instructions, Ukyou gathered her
bandoleer and her combat spatula, and headed for the door.
-----
Raphael: I should have seen this coming. This has been brewing a long,
long time.
Noriko: (fearfully) Someone, someone is going to get hurt. Badly. I just
know it.
-----
"Do I have to?" Ranma shrugged. "Nothing that I can say is going to
convince you of anything. Believe what you want."
"Dammit, Ranma, you could at least ACT like you were interested in our
marriage!" Akane was really starting to get angry.
Ranma turned towards her wife with an incredulous expression on her
face. "What... WHAT did you say?" she managed to gasp.
------
Raphael: (equally shocked) Where in the heck did THAT come from? Akane
has no business making an accusation like that!
Noriko: Wait! I think I see some life still in them!
Raphael: Yeah... just enough to wound each other some more before they
die again...
-----
"You're mad!" Ranma shot back. "I've tried everything that I could think
of to make you happy! I've kept every promise! I've begged. I've
pleaded. I've given you everything that I have; everything that I am.
What do I have to do to prove myself to you?
"Well, for starters, you could stay the hell away from Ukyou!"
Ranma had had enough. "NO! You've taken just about everything else from
me - what do I have left?" she asked bitterly. "I will NOT let you take
away my last friend!"
-----
Raphael: That's it! Sock it to her, Ranma!
Noriko: (shocked at her partner) That's no way to behave! But maybe if Ranma
puts his foot down, Akane will have to listen!
Raphael: Whatever happened to "Don't fight Akane?"
Noriko: Fighting is one thing. But Akane _has_ to hear his case just once!
-----
"You expect me to believe that?!" Akane snarled as a red haze crept
across her vision. This was intolerable - the two people most
responsible for all of her pain were ganging up on her again - her
husband and his mistress. A small part of her mind cried out that Ranma
just might be telling the truth; that he and Ukyou really were no more
than friends. She squelched that thought as the rest of her mind
conjured up images of Ranma and Ukyou together - laughing, talking,
having fun. All of the things that Ranma never did with her anymore.
"Just how stupid do you think I am?!" she cried.
Ranma belonged to HER, not to Ukyou! Akane felt her arms tense and the
rage surge through her like a flash flood. Rational thought was swept
away and she surrendered to the blackness, letting the torrent of fury
overwhelm her.
-----
Noriko: Zen-san, I'm afraid you did that scene a bit too well...
Raphael: I... I think things are gonna get ugly...
-----
"And just what is THAT supposed to mean?" Akane's voice was getting
shrill.
"Just that! No one ever comes by anymore because of the way we fight all
the time! It makes them uncomfortable. Don't you get it? They're AFRAID
of you! Ryouga, Kunou... Everybody! Hell, you even have KASUMI scared!"
Akane took a half step toward Ranma, prodding at her with the katana.
Ranma ducked to the side, avoiding the blade, and Akane moved to pursue.
Ukyou tried to scream, but succeeded only in uttering a strangled gasp.
-----
Raphael: Don't just stand there, throw something! Throw one of your
spatulas! Hit her from behind! Do something!
(Noriko simply stares at the screen in mute horror, afraid to keep
watching, but not daring to tear her eyes away from the screen)
-----
Ukyou felt as if she were paralyzed - time seemed to stand still. She
had known that Akane had grown more violent, but she was totally
unprepared for the brutal reality. The girl that stood before her now
was more like an animal than a thinking being. Ukyou's eyes were drawn
to the blade that Akane was waving, as the hammering of her own heart
fought for her attention - and lost.
-----
Raphael: Nooooo! Do something, dangit, DO SOMETHING!
(Noriko clenches her notepad, bending it in two)
-----
Akane swung the tip of her katana back towards Ranma, her eyes flashing
with ill suppressed fury. As she tightened her grip on the handle,
Akane's voice was like thunder in Ukyou's ears. "I warned you... I
warned you both! DIE, RANMA!"
Ukyou watched, horrified, as Akane thrust forward with the katana. Ranma
was too startled to even *try* to evade; the blade slid easily into her
abdomen just below the ribs, and out through her back. Ranma blinked, a
look of shocked surprise frozen on her bruised features. She fell to her
knees as the blade was withdrawn, its bright finish stained red with her
blood.
Ranma convulsed once, coughing up blood as the light faded from her eyes,
and, like a puppet whose strings had been cut, she dropped quietly to the
floor of the dojo.
-----
Noriko: (not daring to breathe) Is he... is he...
Raphael: I...
-----
Numbly, Ukyou looked down. The tip of Akane's katana protruded from her
own chest, spilling her blood and Ranma's to mix in a pool on the floor.
She tried to stand, but could not move her legs. She stared up
uncomprehendingly at Akane's hate filled expression.
"You want him?" Akane snarled. "Then join him in hell!"
Waves of agony swept through Ukyou as Akane withdrew the blade, twisting
it as she pulled it free. Ukyou swayed once and pitched forward onto the
lifeless body of her childhood friend.
The last sound that Kuonji Ukyou heard was Kasumi's terrified scream.
-----
Noriko: (looking positively ill) (softly) Gomen nasai... I... I think I'm
going to be sick...
Raphael: (stunned beyond coherency) I... he... Zen... Akane... killed....?
-----
Kasumi heard someone begin to scream. After what seemed an eternity but
could have been no more than a fraction of a second, she realized that
the voice was her own. Akane whirled at the sound and the heat of her
glare cut into Kasumi with searing force. The sounds of other people
running and shouting were drowned out as a roaring filled Kasumi's ears
and the world went black.
-----
Raphael: (angrily) You! YOU!! HOW COULD YOU, ZEN!!
Noriko: (barely choking back a sob of despair) It's... It's all over...
it had to end like this... like this... (doesn't even bother to wipe the
tears staining her cheeks)
-----
Any second now. Any second. She would be waking up. Why wasn't she
waking up? She was ready for this dream to be over now. She tried to
cry out, but a strangled whimper was all that could squeeze past the
tightness in her throat. Please, God, let me wake up... Tearing her gaze
from the gory scene before her, Akane looked down - to see the thick red
stains that covered her hands, and the front of her gi.
Akane screamed.
-----
Raphael: Zen, for once I wish you weren't such a good writer. You jerk.
Noriko: (quietly) Zen-san, why? Why? They were so happy together... so
happy...
-----
"Akane, you have to believe me. Ranma... Ukyou... they're both dead."
"NO! You're lying! He *can't* be dead... he's Ranma! No one can beat
him! No one!" Akane started to struggle - trying to break free of the
doctor's grip. "You can fix it!" she cried, "You can make it better!
Make the pain go away! Why won't you fix it? Why?!"
As Akane's cries pushed into full hysteria, Tofu applied pressure to a
set of key points on the back of her neck. Akane stiffened briefly and
then lapsed into unconsciousness. He lifted her and carried her out of
the dojo, and back into the house.
-----
Raphael: (sickened) Just when I thought nothing else would horrify me any
more...
Noriko: Akane's not going to deal with this very well, is she? Losing her
mother is one thing, but this...
-----
Kimiko was the last. Kneeling before the coffins, she laid a flower on
each, and took a deep breath. "I am an old and foolish woman." she
began. "I was very set in my ways, until the two of you came into my
life. I can't help but feel that this could have been avoided, if only
we had done more. If we had not almost driven you away. I hope that
your spirits can find the will to forgive me. And I bring you this
promise. Our group will never turn anyone away, nor give them cause to
feel unwelcome so long as I draw breath. We will not forget the lessons
that you have taught us."
After another moment of silent prayer, Kimiko got slowly to her feet and
walked out of the dojo to join the others.
-----
Noriko: <sniff, sniff...>
(Raphael silently fetches the Kleenex box for the last time. He is about
to offer the box to his partner when he notices that there's moisture on
his hand. He traces it for a while, and understands. Raphael takes a
Kleenex himself before offering the box to Noriko.)
Noriko: (blows nose) <honk>
Raphael: <honk>
Her despair was overwhelming - her sleep tortured by visions that woke
her screaming in the middle of the night. Daily she would beg to be
allowed to die, to pay for her crimes. But they would not release her.
Until one day, Tendou Akane was gone - retreated - banished into whatever
internal hell she had made for herself. She left only a shell behind -
a mindwiped doll. A girl who had no memory of her past, or sense of her
identity.
-----
Raphael: (subdued) And so it ends, huh?
Noriko: (nods sadly) She lost everything. She lost her mother, her
fiancee, her friends... and finally, herself. Everything.
-----
***** ## *** ## *****
***** ## *** ## *****
EPILOGUE
***** ## *** ## *****
<snip>
"I know how hard Ranma tried... Akane could be cold when she got mad,
which was, a *lot*. But at the same time, I could see how much she loved
him... how she cried after she had hurt him. She just could not or would
not stop."
-----
Noriko: (frowns, regaining control of her emotions) I think... I think
the last speech by Ryoga is a bit long. We already know just about
everything Ryoga says in that last speech, and it doesn't really offer
any real insights.
Raphael: (nods) Yeah. Sometimes a few simple but well-placed actions or
sentences can convey more power and emotion than any speech would.
Noriko: Why, that was a very perceptive statement, Raphael. I'm
impressed. Maybe there's hope for you, after all. (smiles, despite herself)
Raphael: (shrugs, embarassed) Well, I, uh...
-----
Ryouga stepped forward, and knelt before the gravemarkers. Gently, he
reached up to his head and drew off two of his bandannas. Laying one
across each grave, Ryouga murmured a short prayer and stood again. "Come
on," he said, his voice on the verge of breaking. "Let's go... let's go
home."
Two very sad people wandered off into the afternoon, each drawing
strength from the other... each supporting the other... each loving the
other - the way it *should* be... the way it should have been for Akane
and Ranma.
-----
Noriko: (shakes her head) I really don't like that last clause. It's a
bit too blatant, if you ask me.
Raphael: You might think of leaving it out altogether, ending simply with
"each loving the other..." Let the reader catch irony by himself. If he
doesn't get it, too bad.
-----
===== OWARI =====
-----
(Noriko makes a move to take the remote)
Raphael: (takes the remote away) Hey, not yet! We still have to watch the
credits!
Noriko: Oh, come on... (sits back down to watch)
-----
If you have read this far, Zen thanks you for your patience and your
persistence. Zen started out to write an Akane gets Ranma story as the
result of a promise made to Caroline Seawright - who sort of took
exception to Zen's 'Ukyou deserves Ranma' bias. Zen is afraid that bias
shows up in this story as well. Funny how that works.
-----
Raphael: (humorlessly) Yeah, funny, ain't it.
Noriko: Let Zen-san talk! (darkly) He's got a lot to explain for...
(sniffs) Do you smell okonomiyaki?
-----
Zen would like to thank his pre-readers, too. Richard Lawson, Sebastian
Weinberg, Nicholas Leifker, Sean Gaffney and Raphael See. Special thanks
to Mike "Cynewulf" Noakes, for extensive help with the fight/class
scenes.
-----
Raphael: Hey, look! There I am! I'm in the credits! (Noriko rolls her eyes)
-----
Part of the foreshadowing in this story was based on a Japanese custom.
Japanese people will almost NEVER give anything that cuts as a wedding
present, or to a friend. It is considered bad luck - as a symbol that
the marriage, or the friendship might be cut short. Nodoka's gift of her
katana to Akane was, in a sense, the kiss of death.
-----
Noriko: Ah. I was wondering what it was that was bothering me the whole
time about that scene.
-----
Zen is off to read something light and fluffy now... like maybe "Hamlet"
or "King Lear."
Ja ne-
Zen the Heretic- Ayanami@mindspring.com
-----
(tape ends)
(Noriko and Raphael sit on the couch for a few moments, stock still.
Finally, Raphael breaks the silence)
Raphael: So... what did you think?
Noriko: I... I guess I can't fault Zen-san too much. I mean, it was
really well written... I just wish I had never seen it. It's... it's a
bit too much for me.
Raphael: Tell me about it. I don't think I'll ever be able to look at
Ranma 1/2 the same way again.
Noriko: It's not just that; Zen-san gave us so much to hope for, so many
false glimmers and hopes. And then he goes and smashes them all into
little tiny pieces...
Raphael: It _was_ rather depressing, wasn't it? (tries to change the
subject) Well, that's the fic. I agree with Noriko, it _was_ well
written. Just too, too sad. I hope the next fanfic Zen puts out is a bit
cheerier than this one.
Noriko: (nods) So do I. I don't think I could take another one like this.
Raphael: Well, for those of you still with us, thanks for watching, and
good night!
Noriko: Good night.
Raphael: (as camera begins to fade to black) So, going home now?
Noriko: No, I think I'll just sit here a moment longer... Do you have
anymore hot chocolate?
end part six
And that's it for the very first attempt at Mystery C&C Theater.
Thank you and good night! (maybe I'll go watch some Sailor Moon now to
try and shock my system back to normal...)
---
Raphael See
"Marshmallows?"
"Yes, please..."