Hi everyone! Due to all the great suggestions I got the last time I posted
this chapter to the ffml, I dumped my old story completely and rewrote the
chapter. It turned out much better this time! So for those of you who
have read Ch 2 already, read this one too, because it's completely different.
I'm mainly looking for C&C on a per chapter baisis. Hearing "It's great."
is fine, but personally I'd like a more detailed breakdown of what you
readers did and didn't like.
IE:
Chapter 2:
1. I liked....
2. I didn't like...
etc.
It makes it a bit easier to pinpoint areas that need work.
C&C can be send to abrown@imag.net, flames can be cast into the pit of Hell
where they belong :).
Don't bother posting to the ffml because I don't subscribe, I just post.
In return, if there's anything anyone wants me to read, I'll be glad to
have a look and tell you what I think. I just didn't like the upteen
million messages i had on my email. I forgot to check my email one day and
the amount of mail crashed my mail server! :)
Gargoyles is owned by Disney (I think), and Ranma is owned by Rumiko
Takahashi. Characters are used without permission for no profit whatsoever.
I have to warn you readers that while *I* don't think this is a lemon (I
tried real hard for it not to be) it contains scenes which may disturb some
sensitive readers out there. If you ppl think it classifies as a lemon
after reading it, then tell me and I'll gladly change the specifiations.
Consider yourself warned.
Anyway enough about me, here's the story! (Trumpet Fanfair)
Chapter 2: Introductions
Patricia polled her way through the mists bordered Avalon and the real
world. As she travelled, she could feel the waters change from the ocean's
waves to more calm waters, indicating a stream or a lake. Then the pull of
the current changed. Small points of light shone through the mist as it
thinned. Suddenly, the mist dissapated, and Patricia found herself on a
small river bordered on either side by sloping concrete walls. A little
further down the river was a bridge. Hiding the boat underneath the bridge,
she climbed the walls and examined her surroudings.
Patricia gaped. There were row upon row of large houses. In the far
distance she could see pinpoints of lights from streetlamps and other
buildings. Jumping up, she caught the wind and explored. She could not
believe the number of houses! How did they manage to feed themselves?
There were no farms or orchards anywhere that she could see, nor were there
any storehouses. And yet, with all these people, this place was cleaner than
any city that she had heard of. Not even Princess Katherine's description
of London were this grand!
Eventually she landed on a building and contemplated her situation.
Here she was, a lone gargoyle in the world of humans. Fascinating unknowns
waiting for her to discover. Untold knowledge, an entire world to explore.
She was, perhaps, about to embark on the greatest adventure of her life.
Patricia fell to her knees and wept in dispair.
"That stupid baka!" declared Akane to no one in particular. "Why does
he have to be so mean? The idea of a date was a dumb idea anyway!"
After the aborted wedding, Soun and Genma decided that the two
reluctant engagees should try start over again. To further such ends, they
'requested' in no uncertain terms that she and Ranma go on a date together.
Nabiki had suggested a dinner date over the movies, since Ranma's and Akane's
tastes varied widely, and there would have been a battle royal over which
movie to watch even before the date had begun.
The date had gone well, for the most part. Somehow they managed to
keep it a secret from the rest of Ranma's fiancees so there was no
inconvienent interruptions. The food was good, if a little expensive,
and they spent most dinner talking about innocent things like who liked who
at school, another martial arts technique that Ranma heard of from Happosai,
and different kinds of music they each liked. Ranma had said some
insensitive things, but through patience developed from experience and
calming techinques, Akane had managed to keep her temper.
The problems started on the way home.
"Ranma?" asked Akane.
"Yeah?"
"Have you ever...I mean, I was wondering...well...have you ever kissed
a girl?"
Ranma's eyes bugged out for a second before asking causiously, "Why
would you want to know that?"
Akane glowered at Ranma's attempt at evasion. "Don't worry, Ranma, I'm
not going to clobber you if you say yes."
Ranma gulped. "Well, there was that time with Shampoo."
"I think we can both agree that she was kissing you, not the other way
around." Her voice became menacing. "Or was I mistaken?"
"N-no! She was kissing me, defintely! Umm... hey, I kissed you during
that play of Romeo and Juliet."
"You sure didn't act like it!" She grinned. "I've received better
kisses from P-Chan," she teased.
"What?!" Ranma exploded. "You kissed P-Chan?!"
Akane was taken aback by Ranma's reaction. "So what, he's just a pig!
Owners kiss their pets all the time Ranma. I don't believe you so jealous of
a pig."
"But...but... aww forget it!" Ranma jammed his hands in his pockets.
The walked down the street, Ranma muttering sullenly to himself.
After a few moments Akane said, "You haven't answered my question."
"Yeah, yeah." Ranma had thought for a minute. "Y'know, I don't think
I ever have."
"And you call yourself manly when you haven't even kissed a girl?" she
teased.
"Yeah, well what do you know about kissing? You're such a tomboy, I
can't imagine anyone wanting to kiss you."
Akane's temper flared up and without she belted him into the atmosphere.
After that, Akane faced a lonely walk home.
When Akane reached the bridge going over the canal, she stopped and
rested her arms on the railing. Looking out over the canal, she reflected
on the situation. In retrospect, Ranma had taken her teasing comment too
seriously and reacted accordingly. [I suppose I owe him an apology. After
all this time, I guess I should know talking about stuff like that makes him
uncomfortable.] She sighed and stared up at the flickering stars.
"Well, well, well, what have we hear?"
Akane started and turned around. Behind her, ten teenages, probably
gang members by the identical designs on their jackets, had surrounded her
in a semi-circle. Most of them were men, but there was one woman with them
as well.
Akane backed up against the railing of the bridge. "Look, I'm not
looking for any trouble, so how about just letting me by?"
The leader, a tall, wiry man with enough gel in his medium length hair
to make it stand straight up on end, laughed. "Neither are we, baby, but
we are looking for some *fun*." Akane entered her 'ready' stance, prepared
for an attack. The leader giggled. "Oooooooh, aren't we the tough guy!"
The rest of the gang laughed. "Well, let's put it to you this way. You
let us have our fun and we'll be gentle. You make us hurt for our fun, and
we'll make *you* hurt too. Whadda ya say?"
Akane smiled grimly and rushed forward. She dealt a double punch to
his gut and roundhouse kick to his face before the others even knew she had
moved. She squawked in surprise when he blocked her follow-up kick and
pushed her back to the railing.
The leader straightened. His nose was bloody and his cheekbone had a
crumpled look to it. "YEAH!!" he roared. He took a deep breath through his
shattered nose and spit out blood. "That's the spirit girl! C'mon, try that
again!"
[Oh God,] Akane thought. [They're all on PCPs or something! I must
have broken both his nose and cheek and he didn't even feel it!]
The rest of the gang had taken out an assortment of knives, clubs, and
a couple of chains. The leader was still weaponless.
Akane leapt to the side, aiming for the only girl in the group. She
was armed with a switchblade. [If I can get through her, I can run home!]
Unfortnately, a length of chain wrapped around her arm and brought her up
short. She hit one thug with a snap kick in the head. Shifting her weight,
she turned and delivered a blow to another man in the neck. PCPs or no PCPs,
the still needed to breath. He dropped to the ground gasping for breath.
A jerk on the chain pulled her off balance. She desparately twisted
out of the way of a knife and struck the wielder on the back of the neck. He
stumbled forward and fell over the railing into the canal below. A baseball
bat caught her in the back and she fell to her knees. She shook off the
chain and rolled forward, dodging the next attack by the bat. Coming up
inside Chain's guard, she hit him with an uppercut followed by another
snap kick to his chest. She felt his ribs break and a collarbone give, but
he just swung a fist. Unable to block or dodge, she rolled with the blow,
falling against the leader. He grabbed her, picked her up and threw her
down onto the ground. She felt several muscles protest, but managed to
reach up and wrap her ankles around his neck and throw him down.
Akane flipped to her feet and tried to run, but the girl caught her
hair and threw her back into the fray. A big man caught her in a bear hug
and began to crush her ribs. She groaned, but boxed his ears and he let
go. Lifting a foot, she crushed his instep and he fell to one knee. Then
she punched him in the head, aiming for the temple. Her aim was true and
he fell, unconscious. Unfortunately, this extended single bout left her open
for other attacks. A crowbar hit her head. If it had not been for her
training and enhanced endurance, she would have been killed. Instead
she reeled and collapsed against the railing, blood pouring from a gash
in scalp. She stared up at the grinning leader as he came over to her.
"Well, looks like you were better than I thought. You took out three
of my guys. That's okay, we'll just make it that much harder on you."
"You touch me," Akane gasped, "And I'll make sure you'll wish you were
never born!"
The leader's grin grew wider. "Promises, promises." He reached out for
her and Akane tensed, ready for the next phase in the fight.
It took awhile for Patricia to get over her bout of dispair. Of course
hunger is a great motivater. She had not had anything to eat since the
night before last, and by now she was positivly ravenous. She had some
food on the boat, but she did not know how long that would last.
As she approached the bridge, she saw a large group of people on it.
She could see that there was a fight going on, mainly between one girl and
the rest of the others.
[I could be some sort of tribal thing,] thought Patricia, noting the
similarity between the gang memeber's clothes. Gargoyles usually did not
deal in politics, but a ten to one fight was wrong, no matter who was
fighting.
Patricia moved into a dive. With a roaring battle cry, she swooped down
upon the attackers. The stumbled back, surprised by her arrival, and she
took advantage of their surprise to knock one off the bridge into the
canal below. On the upward climb, she looked back to see their reaction.
Everyone was looked up at her with an incredulous look on their face,
including Akane.
[Stupid girl! I give her an opening and she throws it away! Looks like
I'll have to take this up close.] Again she swooped down, but this time she
landed, interposing herself between Akane and the gang. She spread her wings
impressivly and snarled again. Her eyes burned red. The gang took a step
away from her, but halted at the command of the leader.
"Leave her alone!" commanded Patricia.
A gang member armed with a crowbar ran in and swung it in an overhead
arc. Patricia merely blocked it with her forearm. The bar bent on impact.
The gang member had time to look at the bar in surprise before Patricia
grabbed him by his coat and threw him over the side of the bridge.
The rest of the gang looked at the leader nervously. He glared at
Patricia grimly and pulled an object from underneath his coat.
Akane's breath caught in her throat. "He's got gun!" she exclaimed
fearfully.
Patricia noted the fear in Akane's voice, but did know why she was
afraid. All he was holding was a small piece of metal. She saw the pipe
where something was suppose to exit it, but there was no sign of anything
like arrows or darts. "What's a gun?" she asked.
"This." The leader pulled the trigger.
*CRACK!*
Patricia fell to her knees as the bullet entered her thigh. Pain
rippled up and down the limb as she got back to her feet quickly. [Need
a barrier!] She gathered her powers about her, and readied a spell to form
a barrier between herself and the gang. She brought the power together
between her hands, and it coalesced into a ball of energy. The gang, this
time including the leader stepped back. Patricia opened her mouth and
chanted the spell...
Or at least she tried.
The words died in her throat, and the power with it. She was unable to
cast! Her eyes widened in panic, forgetting her current situation. [What
happend?! Why can't I cast?! Did Oberon do something to me?! What am I -]
*CRACK!*
Patricia fell back as the bullet entered her upper chest then exited
her upper back, tearing a hole in Patricia's wing and missing Akane by
inches. [Have to get out of here!] Ignoring the pain, she turned and swung
her tail at the leader, knocking the gun out of his hand. Picking up Akane,
she jumped onto the railing and out over the canal. She was slow to gain
altitude on account the damage to her wing.
*CRACK!*
She heard somthing buzz by her. What was hitting her? She could not
see anything, but something was hitting her nonetheless.
*CRACK!*
Something hit her wing, breaking the bone that formed the frame for the
wing. It collapsed and they both plummeted into the canal. It took them
a few moments to reach the shore, and by then the gang was nearly upon them.
"Run!" yelled Patricia to Akane.
"But -"
"Run! Get help! I'll hold them!" Akane continued to hesitate, but
Patricia grabbed her and threw her up the concrete wall and onto the street.
"Go, now!" Akane did the only thing she could do.
She ran.
Patricia turned and faced the gang, who had decided that Akane was no
longer worth going after. There were five of the original ten gang member
left. [I think I can take them, just as long as they don't-]
*CRACK!*
Patricia fell backwards as the bullet tore through the muscles
connecting the shoulder and the neck. She collapsed, falling on her back.
Almost immediatly the gang was upon her. She did her best to protect
herself from the blows they dealt her, but the effort was futile. After
a few minutes of kicks, punches, and baseball bat hits, they pulled back.
"What do we do with her?" Bat asked.
"What do you think we'll do, stupid? Look at her! She's a girl.
We can still have our fun!" said Leader.
Chain looked slightly repulsed. "But sempai, she's an animal."
Leader shook his head. "She can talk, she's mostly human, and she's
female. I'll bet she's a mutant, like in the X-Men."
Girl laughed. "Remember from the movie Total Recall? 'Ever fuck a
mute?'"
Leader grinned, a line of spittle running from the corner of his mouth.
"I never have, but after tonight, I'll never be able to say that again!" The
rest of the gang laughed.
Girl stuffed a sock in Patricia's mouth while the others stripped off
her clothes. Then they held her down while Leader prepared himself. He
lay down between her legs. With a jerk of his hips, he entered.
Patricia heaved beneath the five gang members, vainly trying to throw
them off. Her screams were muffled by the sock, her cries going unheard.
Their taunting laughs and crude jokes filled her ears. She felt him
finish deep inside her, and her muffled cries turned to quiet sobs. Then
another gang member took up the task.
Some part of her, a part separated from the madness being performed
upon her mind, body and soul, thought that if she were to die here, it
would be an honourable death. A death worthy of a gargoyle. Not as
a murderer, but as a gargoyle doing her duty.
For she would die protecting the life of another.
Akane ran, sobbing for breath ran through the streets of Nerima. It
took her a couple of minutes to calm down enough to actually look where she
was. After getting her bearings she decided that Ukyo was the closest.
It took her less than a minute to reach the restaurant. She began
hammering on the door, calling out, trying to wake Ukyo.
"Ukyo! Ukoy, wake up it's Akane! Please, wake up!" A light turned
on, and, after a wait that was too long for Akane's comfort, a sleepy eyed
Ukyo came down and opened the door. A clinical part of Akane's mind
noticed that Ukyo was wearing a robe that was much more frilly and feminin
than the clothes she wore during the day.
"Akane! What's wrong? Your head! What happened?"
"I was attacked by a bunch of people. They were going to r-rape me!
I fought them, but th-there were too many of them! But some...one helped!
She tried to escape with me but she was sh-shot! I was able to escape, but
she stayed behind to stop them! Y-you've got to help her!"
Ukyo got her combat spatula as well as her bandoleer. "Sure I'll help
you, Akane. Where are they?"
"I'll take you there."
"I think you should stay behind. You've taken quite a head blow."
Akane's resolve firmed. "No. She helped me, so I'm going to help her."
Ukyo shrugged. "Okay, so let's go already!"
It took them about five minutes to get back to the canal. When Ukyo
saw what was happening, she turned pale. "Akane, can you use these?" Ukyo
fingered her mini-spatulas.
"Ye-es," replied Akane hesitantly.
"Here." Ukyo gave Akane the bandoleer. "You cover me, and I'll clear
her of those creeps. To start things off, I want two in the back of the
rapist, okay?" Ukyo drew her combat spatula, and leapt into the group.
Two mini-spatulas hit Chain high in the back. They did not go deep
but they were an inconvience to say the least. Chain jumped up and tried
to grab them, which put him directly in line for Ukyo's attack. Her
spatula caught him right on the top of his head, and he fell over
unconscious.
The rest of the group was taken completely by surprise. Ukyo slammed
Bat up and into the concrete wall. He did not get back up. Knife pulled
out his weapon, but Ukyo broke his arm and flipped him into the canal.
Leader took two steps backward before a spatula embedded itself in his
side. He roared in rage and turned towards Akane, and Ukyo knocked him
into the bridge foundations.
Girl was walking backwards, stammering something about her not wanting
to participate and Leader having forced him into it. Ukyo snarled and
launched her up over the walls and onto the street. There she stayed, unable
to move due to severe back damage.
Akane jumped down from the bridge and moved over to Ukyo, who was
examining her.
"Do you know what she is?" asked Ukyo.
"No, and right now, I don't care. She needs to get to a doctor. We
can get her to Dr. Tofu's. He'll be able to help."
"I don't know, Akane. I doubt he as much exp-"
"Turn around bitches! I want to see your hands!"
Apparently, Leader had not been knocked unconscious. The two girls
turned their heads and saw that he was pointing the gun at them. Akane
covertly drew a spatula from the bandoleer. In one smooth motion she turned
and threw it. It flew across and embedded itself in the gun just as Leader
pulled the trigger.
*CRA-BOOM!*
The gun exploded, taking a good portion of his hand with it. He
screamed in pain and ran up the sloping wall and down the street. Ukyo
would have followed but Akane stopped her.
"We have to get her to Dr. Tofu, and I can't carry her alone. Let him
go."
Ukyo nodded. They picked up the Patricia, battered and bruised both
inside and out, and ran to Dr. Tofu's clinic.
Partway there Patricia woke up. Akane noticed and said, "Hi, I'm
Akane, and this is Ukyo. Thanks for helping me, and don't worry we're taking
you to a doctor. He'll be able to help you."
Patricia muttered something.
"What?" asked Akane.
"Patricia. My name's Patricia."
Akane smiled a weary, yet bright smile. "Pleased to meet you,
Patricia."
End of Chapter 2
Remember C&C can be sent to abrown@imag.net.
Zhai'helleva
(Wind to thy wings...)
Nighthawke