Numero 8.

Abandon all hope ye who read past the dotted line.

All Ranma 1/2 characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi.  Don't sue me.

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Chapter Eight

	Nodoka looked out from the doorway for the dojo with a mixture of
revulsion and sympathetic love for her soon.  She'd just seen him thrash a
woman within mere thousandths of an inch of killing her.  As it was, the
strange Japanese-speaking gaijin looked dead.  Her bruised, battered body
lay there unmoving.  The blood had stopped flowing from the cuts and her
face.  Now her son simply stood there staring at his hands as if they had
betrayed him.  He was bathed in an ominous red glow that sent shivers
through Nodoka's body.  The horror at his deed clashed deeply with the
feeling that she need to reach out to comfort her son, a man who looked so
repulsed by what he had done.
	She looked over at Genma, who looked downcast after Faith's
admonishment.  How could he say such things about her son, after all Ranma
had to put up with.  It was a wonder to her that Ranma turned out so well
after living the majority of his life with her pig-headed husband.
Sometimes it took all her patience to keep from lashing out at him, to
strike him down, spit on him, and scream at him for all the injustices he
did to her Ranma.
	Nodoka slowly took steps out to her son.
	"Ranma," she called softly.  He didn't move, rooted to the spot
where he was bathed in the blood of the sun.
	"Ranma dear, please let it go," she said quietly. 
	Ranma turned to look at her, his eyes wide with disbelief and
fear.  Nodoka quickly spanned the remaining distance with a few quick
steps to embrace her son.  Ranma simply stood there, limply acknowledging
her presence.
	"Ranma, please forgive yourself.  You can't do anything more than
hurt yourself now.  She can't do anything more to you, but if you keep
dwelling on this you'll only hurt yourself."
	Ranma looked up at her mother with fear.
	"But what if I lose control again?" he asked in a whisper.
	"Then you will have to live with it," Andrew said with a sigh.
"Ranma, I see in you the same things I saw in Ken when I met him.  You
must learn to allow your rage to give you power, but you must also learn
to harness it productively."
	Ranma stared at Andrew like an alien.
	"How can you tell me to let my feeling's take control?"
	"Ranma, listen to me," Andrew said sternly.  "I'm beginning to see
why Angela involved you.  The power you have is the same to the power that
Ken has.  Your emotions give you power and it is that power that you use
to destroy, or to heal.
	"You listen to your heart to give you direction, to give you
power, to give you that edge in any fight.  If you let your rage give you
that power, then you can win in almost any situation.  Let that rage
control you and you will lose in any situation.  You must learn to balance
your heart and mind."
	"But, how?!" Ranma asked.  "Ken obviously couldn't, or he wouldn't
be dead!"
	Andrew winced.
	"I-I-'m sorry," Ranma said.
	"Ken learned control once, and I know you can do the same.  Ken's
power came from many things besides his rage.  It also came from his hate,
Ranma.  His hate for his enemy and the loathing he had for what he had
become.  The only one who may teach you what you need to learn is Fate.
She alone is the mistress of all channeling warriors."
	"Channeling warriors?"
	"Yes, Ranma.  Your gift is that you derive your power from your
feelings of rage and confidence.  You take that which you feel and make
them your weapons."
	"But everyone-"
	"But not like you.  You have an endless supply of it.  I can
channel my anger to give me strength, but you, Ranma, you can take that
and give yourself superiority."
	Ranma blinked once.  He shook his head sadly.
	"I don't want to die like, Ken.  I don't want to lose control."
	"Then you will die."
	Nodoka whirled to see Angela standing to her side, a dark, serious
expression on her face.
	"How could you do this to my son?" she asked venomously.
	"Because it was the only way.  There will be two in this battle
amongst yourselves that will help determine the fate of your world.  Ranma
must master the skills that Ken mastered so long ago to give us the edge
over Judas and his army of blood," she said flatly.
	"Who is the other?" Ranma asked.
	"I don't know anymore.  Three lines crossed in my mind's eye.
Yours, Akane's, and one other.  I don't know the name, but I can see a
face.  I won't know a name until I can probe his mind."
	"And if I don't learn?"
	"Then you will die, and everyone here will die.  I've seen your
future, I've seen all your futures.  There is only one way for you to win,
and that is to master the art that Ken did."
	"And what is that?"
	"Being able to unleash your emotions and yet control them at the
same time."
	"I couldn't before."
	"You can, and you will.  You have no choice."
	"I'll die if I don't," Ranma said flatly.
	Angela looked away.  She locked gazes with Andrew, and then her
sisters.  They nodded to her.
	"What is it?" Ranma asked.
	"If you know something about my son, then tell us what it is?  Is
he going to die?"
	Angela turned to look at Nodoka and Ranma evenly.
	"To win, Ranma, you must die.  All your futures end with your
death, but hear me out.  Yes, you must die to win, but it is much more
than that.  You must die when it is your time to die, and live when it is
time for you to live."
	Nodoka stared at Angela in shock.
	"You're lying," she mumbled.
	Angela shook her head.
	"I'm not saying this to scare you into doing what I want, I am
saying this because it is the only way for you to understand."
	"Understand what?  That I'm going to die?!" Ranma shouted.
	"No, that there is only one way to do this, and you're going to
learn to do it the right way, beginning with your training."
	"Training?  That could take years!"
	"No it won't.  It's going to take less than a day, because that's
all the time we have before Judas wipes out this city and uses the souls
to create an army to flood this place.  He will take Ken's body and he
will make him into a monster that nobody will have control over.  No win
means no Ken, and no Ken means that this war isn't going to be limited to
Nerima.  It's going to be full blown and it will span a hundred thousand
realities."
	"But-" Ranma protested.
	"No buts!  This ends here and now, so you will either train and
succeed as a warrior, or you will stand back and cower in your corner, and
watch as everything in your life is taken away."
	"They already took her away from me," Ranma said flatly.
	"No, they didn't.  They merely put her a distance from you.  Win
and you win everything, Ranma.  You win your family back, you win your
life back, and most importantly, you can win Akane back.  Are you up to
the challenge, or do you want me to find a warrior that has more of a
backbone?"
	Ranma stiffened at the comment.  He left his mother's embrace.
	"What did you say?"
	"I'm asking if you have a backbone.  Akane certainly did.  She
died for you.  Are you good enough to die for her?"
	Nodoka was about to reach for her katana to strike Angela down
when Andrew stopped her.
	"Do not interfere.  This is important for Ranma," he said quietly.
The fierce look on his face cut through the red haze that Nodoka felt.
She stood back, worried for her son and what he would become.
	Ranma growled at her as he felt the same rage building up in his
body again.  He closed his eyes trying to fight it down.  He couldn't lose
control, not again.
	"Are you?  You haven't answered yet."
	"I did everything I could for Akane, how could you think
otherwise?" Ranma forced through his teeth.
	"Because I saw Andrew doing the dirty work, you just sat there on
your haunches watching her get slaughtered."
	"Shut up!  I did everything I could!"
	"Everything a coward could do!  You said you were ready for the
responsibility, so when are you going to prove it?"
	"I don't need to prove anything to you!"
	"But when are you going to prove it to yourself.  Take too much
time and you'll lose another.  Who's next?  Your mother?  Your father?
The other Tendos?  You lost Akane to your own stupidity.  How many more
are you going to let down?"
	Ranma's body started shaking.  He could feel the barely controlled
emotions of hate and anger fighting to break free.
	"I thought I saw a warrior spirit in you.  I was wrong.  I saw the
faade a scared boy put up to make him feel better about himself.  Now
Akane's paid the price.  How's that for a warrior?  You and your machismo
make me sick.  You're never going to be one tenth the warrior Ken was.  I
was a fool to let a fool convince me he was good enough," Angela said
coldly.  She grabbed at thin air, producing a coin.  She tossed it out to
him.  "Take it and buy yourself a spine.  You can use the change to get
yourself some diapers while you're at it."
	Ranma opened his eyes.  The glowed with an eerie blue light.  He
roared, launching himself into the Katchuu Tenshin Amiguriken.
	"So I see your parents have raised you to be a pup instead of a
pitbull," she said as she easily blocked each of the punches as they flew
at her.  She made the effort to show everyone she was yawning.
	Ranma roared louder and tried to move his hands faster.  He
couldn't.  They wouldn't move.  He looked at Angela in anger, his fists
caught in her hands.
	"I'm really disappointed in you, Ranma.  If Akane was here, what
would she think?"
	Ranma felt the feelings of rage finally break free.  With his eyes
closed, he could feel the power flowing through his system.  He felt
himself channeling it with his mind.  He wanted to strike down the woman
before him so badly, it hurt.  He could feel the energy channeling through
him at Angela, from his hands to hers, and to her body.
	"Ah, I see you're starting to understand!" Angela said in mock
surprise.  She watched the energy coursing through her body with a
detached air.  "The pup has teeth!"
	Angela simply swept Ranma's feet out from under him, catching him
by surprise.  She backed up a step and held both her hands out at him.
	"Impressive, but futile.  You couldn't hurt the grass in this yard
with such a feeble discharge.  Try this."
	Electricity course from Angela's hands, contacting Ranma on his
stomch, chest, and face.  He screamed in pain and writhed on the ground.
Pain assaulted him from every pore of his body.  The feelings of rage and
excruciating pain waged war in his mind.
	"Where's the warrior now?  I don't see one," Angela said flatly.
	Nodoka drew the katana.  She would have no more of this.  Ranma
was being hurt, and it was too much for her to bear.  Andrew's jo struck
down the blade.  
	"If you interfere, Ranma will not learn."
	"Learn what?  Pain?  I can't watch as this insane woman kills my
son!"
	"The pain is necessary."
	"No pain is necessary!" 
	"No pain, no gain, as the Americans say."
	Nodoka reached out and slapped Andrew once across the face.  It
sounded like a gunshot across the yard.  Andrew dabbed at the blood in the
corner of his mouth.
	"Saotome-san, if you interfere then all is lost.  Your son, Ranma
will destroy himself.  He has accepted the position in Angela's clan.  If
he fails this test, then he will ultimately fail himself," Andrew said
evenly.  He cast a glance at the prone boy on the ground.  "Look for
yourself.  He learns quickly."
	Nodoka stared as Ranma's eyes opened.  He slowly stopped writhing
and slowly, painfully, forced himself to crawl to Angela's feet.  There,
he clutched her ankles and shook violently.  The lightning from Angela
started to mix with the arcing energy from Ranma's own body.  Faith and
Haruko stepped out from the dojo.  Angela turned to them and stopped them
with a motion of her hand.  Her sisters nodded.
	"Are you a man or aren't you?" Angela asked Ranma one last time.
	Ranma cried out Akane's name as the energy ripped through him and
connected solidly with Angela.  She let out a short grunt and kept holding
her hands out at him.  Energy seemed to arc randomly, slowly moving
towards Angela until all of it was being channeled directly at her.  
	"Go on, Ranma let it all go, finish me off," Angela hissed through
grit teeth.  "Are you afraid?  Are you afraid of being a warrior, a man?
Have you got what it takes?""
	Ranma continued to scream incoherently, the light from the
lightning becoming brighter and brighter.  Nodoka could feel the air
rushing past her as the ensuing thunderclap filled her ears with a huge
roar.  She stumbled back and covered her ears.
	Ranma opened his eyes wide.  He looked at Angela, and through the
haze it looked as if she were on the ground in pain, convulsing from the
power.  He could feel the satisfaction of seeing her in so much pain.  He
could hear the voice in the back of his mind telling him to finish her
off.  It was strong, and it screamed to him repeatedly.  He would prove he
was a man.  He reached his hands out to throttle her.  He could feel his
hands close around her throat, slowly squeezing the life out of her.
There was a burst of more energy as he focused all his rage and hate on
the act.  She would die for abusing him.
	Then it hit him.  She would die, a single fleeting voice said in
his mind.  His hands slowly loosened themselves from her throat, the
feelings of rage draining.  Ranma couldn't do it.  It wouldn't be right,
it wasn't right at all.  He couldn't kill a woman no matter what she had
done to him, no matter what she said to him.  The anger and rage slowly
left him as he realized how close he had come to murdering someone.
	"You can let go of my ankle now," Angela's voice said.
	Ranma exhaled slowly and fell onto his back.  He heard footsteps
approach him.  Angela's face peered down at him.  She looked completely
unharmed.
	"You're okay," he said weakly.
	"Your powers don't hurt me.  My own warriors can't hurt me.  Well,
you did do a good job of strangling my ankle.  I guess you could be
proud," she said with a smirk.
	"But I was choking you.  I could feel it.  I could see it," he
murmured.
	"You were strangling my ankle, and I made you think it was my
neck."
	"But why?"
	"Because I wanted to try to make you lose control."
	"I did."
	"Not you didn't.  You let your rage flood your body.  Sometimes,
it feels like you've lost it.  I could see you in turmoil, but when it
mattered you could still think, even though I put thoughts in your mind.
You've taken an important step Ranma.  You've grown by that much beyond
what you were.  Stand up, like the man you are.  You've played the hero
before, now be one."
	"But-"
	"Think on it Ranma.  You just did what took Ken ten years to do.
Just think about it.  He was slow to learn, but quick to understand.  Just
because he could control it did not mean he could be its master.  Ken knew
that implicitly.  Allow your emotions and your rage to become your master,
rather than the opposite and you will have lost everything you learned
tonight.  I hope you understand as fast as he did."
	Ranma stared up at the sky as Angela walked off.
	"The last lesson is simple, but one you have to learn yourself.
Use your power to seek revenge rather than justice, and you will find that
you will only doom yourself to a never ending cycle of pain and misery."
	He watched as the stars blinked silently in the night sky.  Ranma
thought back to Akane and felt the stirrings of sadness and vengeance.
The stars glittered like jewels in the sky, but Ranma could only see them
as the tears he shed when he saw her.  The images of Akane flooded his
mind, and Ranma shed the tears of a grown man.

	Ukyou sat on the bench closest to Sin.  Andrew had brought her
body in, lying it on a table in the back of the dojo.  He wouldn't explain
why, only that he wanted to keep an eye on her.  
	"There's always something up her sleeve," he had said.
	Ukyou simply stared at the half naked for m lying on the bench
there.  It was eerie staring at the cold, seemingly lifeless face.  If her
chest wasn't slowly moving up and down, Ukyou never would have guessed
that Sin was still alive.  Then there was the blood on her body that
seemed to simply slowly disappear as it was reabsorbed by Sin's body.  The
only blood that wasn't being affected by the process seemed to be the dot
that Andrew had smeared on her forehead.  It was a sick, grotesque, yet
captivating sight.  Ukyou tore her gaze away from the body to gaze about
the dojo.  Andrew and Faith had brought in folding chairs and other items
from the house in an attempt to make the dojo more comfortable despite the
crowding from the bodies.  Ukyou could understand their trepidation about
having everyone in the house.  The only people in the house now were the
three Norns and Andrew.  Everyone else sat in the dojo, trying to keep
calm amidst to terrors going on outside.  The screams of the dying and the
wounded were now only heard in the background, as a small radio played
soft music.  Even the news was too grim to hear.  People were dying
randomly, and the body count was skyrocketing.
	"We can't just sit here," Nabiki complained.
	"We can't go outside either," Kasumi admonished.  "Faith was very
insistent about it, and I believe she is trying to do her best to keep us
safe.  I think it would be best if we stayed here."
	Genma sat sullenly in a corner of the dojo, trying to play a game
of shogi with Soun.
	"Why, in our youth we used to tackle demons with our bare hands,
right old friend?" he said.  Soun simply chuckled nervously.  Nodoka shot
her husband a withering glare.
	"Now is not a time to be speaking so foolishly, Genma," she said
sternly.  Nodoka turned back to Ranma, who she cradled in her arms.  It
seemed to give him comfort as he stared at Akane's body.  Andrew seemed to
have plans for Sin, especially after Ranma had beat her so soundly.  Ranma
shuddered at the memory.
	Suddenly Sin's body started moving.  Ukyou was the first to jump
back in surprise.
	"I-It's moving," she stammered as she jumped back a pace from the
body.  Everyone turned to see Sin's eyes flip open.  The dot of blood
seemed to fizzle and burn.  Ukyou took another step back.
	"What's going on?" Nodoka said as she turned to look at what the
commotion was about.  "Shouldn't someone go get Andrew or Faith?"
	Ukyou was about to reply when a groan and a growl came from Sin's
lips.  She was slowly and painfully reaching a hand towards her forehead.
	"P-Pa-Pain," Sin stammered through grit teeth.  Finally as her
hand reached the dot of blood on her forehead, she jerked her hand back in
pain, as if burned.  Sin struggled to a sitting position.  She glared at
the people around the room.  When her eyes settled on Ranma, they seemed
to ignite with a holy fire that sent chills down everyone's spine.
	"Tha-That bastard did this to me," she spat.  Ukyou backed up
another pace.  Andrew had said the dot would keep Sin at bay for a while,
and that the minute it disappeared he would be alerted, but Ukyou was
rapidly losing confidence.
	"D-Damn ward," Sin muttered as she shut her eyes tightly, hands
floating just above the dot of blood.  She seemed to be in tremendous
pain.
	The doors to the dojo flew open as Andrew and Faith burst in.
	"Ukyou, get out of there!  Everyone get back!  The ward's not
going to hold anymore!" Andrew shouted.
	Ukyou turned to bolt, as the dot of blood fizzled out of
existence.  Sin let loose a bashee scream.  Ukyou stumbled and fell,
trying in her panicked state to get away.  Nodoka quickly drew her katana
and Ranma shot forward to protect to protect his friend.  Sin pounced on
Ukyou on a flash, batting Nodoka out of the way.  Ranma brought a hand
back to strike Sin, but was thrown back as Sin's whip snaked out from
nowhere to wrap around his throat.  Ranma fell to the ground, struggling
as the leather coils wrapped around him.
	"You won't get so lucky with me this time, boy!" she snarled.
"You were lucky the first time, you won't be so lucky this time."
	Ukyou struggled to get Sin off of her.  Despite her lithe form,
Sin felt like a dead weight to Ukyou as she wrestled with the hand clamped
around her throat.  Sin looked down at Ukyou and a feline growl came from
her throat.  Ukyou saw fangs as Sin smiled down at her.
	"I've lost a great deal of blood from your friend there.  I'll
just have to take it back," Sin said in an amused voice.  Ukyou froze as
her gaze met Sin's.  It was as if her limbs had been pinned down to the
floor.  Ukyou's heart skipped a beat as Sin's mouth descended towards her.
	Just as Sin was about to clamp her teeth down on Ukyou's throat, a
bolt of lighting seemed to punch through Sin's chest.  Sin rolled
backwards from the impact, crying out in pain.  Ukyou stared, as a light
seemed to emanate from under her shirt.  Sin stared with mixed rage and
surprise at Ukyou.
	"Just what are you?!" she snarled.
	"Angela?" Faith asked as she searched the room for her sister.
	"What's going on?" Angela said, as she ran up behind her sister.
	Faith stared at her sister, then pointed towards Ukyou.
	"Oh my stars and garters," Angela mumbled.
	Ukyou stared dumbly as Ken's sword materialized in front of her.
There was a groan as everyone watched Ken's eyes flip open, an unholy blue
light coming from them.  The insignia of Doom flared with a piercing
brilliance that flooded the room.  The body slowly rose from its position
on the alter in the back of the dojo.  Sin stared dumbly as the body
slowly approached Ukyou and the sword.
	Ukyou shakily rose to her feet, her eyes alternating from the
sword to Ken's approaching body.  She stared in fear as the body simply
stopped before her and took the sword.  The minute his hand touched the
sword, the insignia on his armor dimmed.  An arc of energy seemed to jump
from Ukyou's chest to the sword's hilt.
	Sin snarled, reaching her hand out towards Ranma.  The whip
uncoiled as fast as it had ensnared Ranma.  Sin lashed out with the
cat-o-nine tails.  Ken's right hand moved at lightning speed to grab the
end of the whip, wrapping it around his forearm.  Before Sin could move, a
burst of holy energy shot through the length of the whip contacting her.
She screamed, reeling backwards from the pain.  A yank from Ken sent her
sprawling forwards towards him.  He caught her by the throat.  Sin gurgled
helplessly as he lifted her off the ground.  Ukyou and everyone else
watched in horror as Ken flooded her body with energy.  With a short
pushing motion, her blasted her backwards, through the wall, and into the
noise with a loud crash.
	"Good lord," Faith whispered.  "He's not alive, or I'd sense his
lifeline.  There's nothing in him, absolutely nothing."
	Ukyou put a shaking hand on Ken's shoulder.
	"Ken?  Is that you?  It's okay now, I'm okay," she said in a
trembling voice.
	The minute her words left her mouth, the light seemed to fade from
Ken's eyes, the link of energy between her chest and the sword flaring
once before disappearing.  Ken's body crumpled.  Ukyou moved to catch his
body with a cry.
	Faith and Angela rushed to the body, quickly taking it from
Ukyou's hands.  Ukyou simply collapsed onto a bench, stunned into silence.
She simply stared as Faith and Angela wordlessly put the body back onto
the alter.  The two women simply stared at Ukyou in wonder and frustration
once the body was in place.  Nodoka moved to sit next to Ukyou, and took a
trembling hand in hers.
	"I think you have some explaining to do, young lady," Nodoka said
simply. 


*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*	*
Ethan Tsai
1 N. College Street
Northfield, MN 55057

TSAIE@Gridley.ACNS.Carleton.edu
http://public.carleton.edu/~tsaie/ethan.html