The Characters of Ranma 1/2 are Rumiko Takahashi's. Hopefully, she'll
forgive us for what we're doing.

To flame or not to flame, that is the question.

Ranma vs. Ranma! 
The Battle For Akane's Soul!
By She-Hulk and Kahm (brobinso@neocomm.net)
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Part 12


Nerima General Hospital.....
	

	Ryoga groaned as Ukyo shot him a quick glance and grinned. She slapped her
cards to the table and sang out, "Gin! I win again!"

	They hadn't been playing long, but it was enough for him to realize that
Ukyo was a card shark.

	He gathered the cards and began to shuffle as Ukyo counted. "You now owe
me 504,230 yen!"

	Ryoga smiled weakly. "Can I give you an IOU?" She laughed and crumpled up
the paper. "This one's on me."

	He dealt again. They both jumped when the screaming started next door.

	"What do you mean he's in love with Her?!! He's mine! That pathetic little
tomboy can't possibly interest him! I'll kill her! How dare she take my
Ranma! She probably brainwashed him with her horrible cooking! Sasuke! Go
and kill Akane Tendo, Right Now!" They heard muffled words as someone tried
to calm Kodachi down. "I will not calm down! I am perfectly calm! Ranma is
mine! What are you waiting for, Sasuke? I want her head!"

	This continued until a doctor came and sedated her again. They could hear
a low conversation from the hallway.

	"Yes. I highly recommend it. It has a wonderful reputation and I think
that's what she needs. I'll make the arrangements."

	"No. I shall make the arrangements, though I confess it pains me to do so.
To send my sister to such a place seems a betrayal. Perhaps I shall send
Sasuke with her to make sure she doesn't esc- er..leave before `tis best."
Kuno's voice was both worried and relieved.

	A few moments later he knocked at Ukyo's door. "Salutations my friends. I
apologize for the altercation you were forced to endure. I am afraid that
Kodachi can not reconcile the loss of her love to her rival." 

	Ryoga frowned in concern, "She was making some pretty awful threats, even
for Kodachi. What if she goes after Akane?"

	"The doctor suggests a place of healing in a land far away. I have
consented to this."

	Ryoga was still unsure. "Where?"

	Kuno swung his arms wide. "Switzerland!"

	Ryoga was shaking his head, "That's a bit close, don't you think?" Kuno
and Ukyo just stared at him. "Well it seemed close to me."
	


	Tofu gave a little exclamation, getting everyone's attention. "I think I
may have found something. It says here that creatures of the dark thrive in
that element, unless.... They were created from light based objects." He
waited for the cries of excitement. They never came. He looked up. Everyone
was staring at him blankly. Dr. Tofu sighed deeply.

	A hand touched his shoulder and Kasumi beamed at him. "I see. The form of
the evil is decided by the means it uses to reach our world." Tofu's heart
melted. She continued, addressing the group. "If the creature had come into
this world, say by a fire ceremony, then that creature would be weak
against water. See?" 

	Everyone nodded. "But how does that help us?" Akane spoke hesitantly.

	Dr. Tofu cleared his throat. "Hmm. A reflection is the refraction of light
against a smooth or mirrored surface. There must be light to reflect. The
demon attacked all of the girls during the day, though Shampoo was the
least hurt. It was dark in that alley and the sun was setting. I think the
demon is weakened by the dark. That would explain why it didn't attack
Akane, but merely frightened her. It couldn't hurt her, but it could invade
her dreams."

	Akane shivered and moved closer to Ranma. He smiled down at her and
wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

	"But how do we kill it?" Mousse gestured toward the window. "If it grows
weaker at night is it vulnerable to attack? Or is it just harder to find?"

	"We could try trapping it in a box, then warding it." Cologne spoke for
the first time.

	Ranma laughed harshly, "Oh yeah. We'll just ask it nicely to jump in our
box. I'm sure it won't mind." He shook his head and considered the people
surrounding him. "This thing can fight exactly like me. It is me! Now I've
beaten most of the fighters in this town, except for Dr. Tofu and Cologne.
What we need is a plan. A good one. I don't want  anyone getting hurt
by....me, again."

	Akane squeezed his hand. She heard his words and what he was really
saying. Ranma was feeling terribly guilty for what had happened. Even
though it wasn't his fault, he couldn't get past the fact that it was his
reflection that had hurt those girls. "Ranma, it could just as easily have
been me stepping in front of that mirror."

	He kissed her forehead and pulled her close, but he didn't speak.

	Kasumi spoke up. "The demon heals very rapidly. It would take a great deal
to subdue it long enough to seal it inside."

	They discussed and discarded several plans, before finding one that
everyone agreed on. Soun and Genma were sent to retrieve Ryoga and Kuno.
The others began to assemble what was needed and to prepare.



	Ranma watched the slowly descending sun and cursed it. Another day had
passed and he was still no closer. He looked back at the Tendo house.
<Would they return tonight?> He smiled at the thought of revisiting Akane
in her dreams again. This time he'd do more than frighten her. He would
destroy her mind.

	A slight movement caught his attention and he turned to stare in
amazement. Akane. 

	Akane entered the front gates and went into the Dojo. Ranma shook his head
in disbelief and followed.

	Through the window he could see her. She was removing a shinai from a
rack. He laughed softly to himself. That would be no help to her. He
climbed through the window and came up behind her. Ranma reached out and
touched her hair. She turned and he gasped.

	Nabiki grinned, "Surprise!" She thrust the shinai into his crotch with a
vicious twist and leapt away from him. Ranma screamed and doubled over. As
he tried to regain his feet, Ryoga attacked. 

	He let every bit of the rage and despair he had felt upon finding Ukyo
gather inside the energy ball between his hands. With a cry of release he
struck. "SHICHIHOUKOUDAN!!" 

	The blast knocked Ranma across the Dojo, out through the wall and halfway
through the garden wall. He lay stunned. Mousse stood over him and smiled.

	Ranma opened his eyes in time to see a extremely large safe crush him. 

	It took him a while to crawl out from under that. Kuno was waiting.

	"Turn Hell-hound!" The katana was nothing more than quick flashes of light
as it sliced Ranma. Shoulder. Thigh. Stomach. Throat. Back. Arm. Face. A
thousand cuts and stabs had Ranma falling backwards. He landed in the box
that had been created just for him.

	The real Ranma began to nail the box shut. Cologne and Dr. Tofu began to
cast the wards that would seal the demon inside for eternity.

	Inside the box the demon howled, a horrible eerie sound that made everyone
pause. Which was what it was supposed to do. A fist splintered through the
top of the crate and Ranma grabbed it, trying to shove it back inside.

	It grabbed him, by the throat, and broke the rest of the way out. Ranma
tried to break it's hold, but the demon would not let go. Consciousness
slipped away as he felt darkness overtake him.

	The demon laughed wildly and tossed Ranma's lifeless body away. He turned
to face the others. "You are dead."

	Akane knelt at Ranma's side. "R-Ranma?" <He's....gone?> The snap that
occurred deep within her was audible to everyone. Soun pulled Nabiki and
Kasumi back, away from Akane. "But Father...?" 

	Soun shook his head and motioned them to silence. He had lived in fear of
the day when something like this would happen. Akane trained very hard, but
it was only when she was truly angry did her skill even begin to reach it's
peak.

	The aura that was beginning to burn around her was like molten lava. It
swirled and built searching for a target.  A living sea of rage. He was now
afraid that he was to be witness to the most powerful and dangerous form of
martial arts.

	He motioned the others to join them, away from the demon and Akane. 

	Akane felt the huge rush of energy and let it gather within her.

	She welcomed it.

	Called it. 

	Demanded it.

	Ancient power swelled from a hidden place. Her history. Her birthright.
Her blood thirst.

	Akane's eyesight began to fade as the rage consumed her and a dark, bloody
haze covered her eyes. Rational thought was discarded.  Akane joyfully gave
control to her anger, feeling all of her hard won restraints falling away.
Reason dissipated with the return of forgotten things. Akane was no more.
There was now only vengeance. And death. Death rose and turned to face the
demon.