On Thu, 9 Apr 1998, Mercutio wrote:

 Chapter 10 - Things Fall Apart

Mercutio: "... the center cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned..."

Mackie: What is he DOING?

Gos: Completing the quote. Gotta love Yeats.

Heheh. Someone caught the title source. You forgot the last two lines,
though:

 The best lack all conviction, while the worst
 Are full of passionate intensity.

The sleep vanished.  
"Kasumi? Kasumi, what is it? What's..."  
The frozen, sick mask on her sister's face twitched. "Get 
your clothes on, Akane. We may not have much time." 

Mercutio: At least something finally got through the damn 'Happy
happy Kasumi' mask. That alone almost makes it worth it.

In our continutity, Mrs. Tendo died in a car crash. (Yes, I know it's a
fanfic tradition for it to be from an incurable disease. ;) That's what
probably shocked Kasumi into oblivious mode; the second occurance is
knocking her briefly out.

 Kasumi didn't break her stride. "There's been an accident,
 Akane. Nabiki and Ranma are in the hospital."

Mercutio: GUH!?! When did RANMA get hurt? This is weird.

That's one of them new-fangled plot twists.

 "Suture."

 "Is that Jazz?"

 "Benny Goodman, yeah."

Mercutio: Paramedics in Japan are allowed to listen to Jazz while
preforming resuciation?

Mackie: Remind me to emigrate sometime soon.

Well, paramedics not. But it's standard practice in US hospitals for
doctors to listen to music of their choice during surgery. Why? Because
it's been proven that they perform better and stress less with a good tune
backing them. Strange but true.

I myself have been put under with the last sound I heard being
Metallica... perhaps not something to inspire confidence, I admit.

 "Sponge."

 "Punctured synamic flow. Careful."

 "She's convulsing, hold her down."

Gos: Huh. Maybe Nabiki ISN'T dead. Hmmm.

Mercutio: You sound real concerned.

Gos: I'm more worried about that Hikaru guy Ranma beat up last
Chapter, and whether or not he was supposed to be me.

No, Hikaru isn't Gos. We needed a name and picked it, completely unaware
that it would be a point of confusion. For that matter, I wish I had heard
of Mariko the Combat Cheerleader before sticking Mariko Hibiki with the
same name.

 He unhappily tucked his hands in his pockets. "I'm afraid that
 this is a tragedy without a villain, Mr. Tendo. Only victims and
 a hero, and him too late to help much."

Mercutio: Ah-AH!!! Now what's THAT suposed to mean? Would'nt
be a metaphor for this story by any chance, would it?

That's irony. Slightly rusty.

 He shook his head. "No, listen. We... me and Nabiki... we
 had a talk, and it ended badly. She went storming off, and I
 went after her, and she quickened her pace and then..." He
 trailed off, unable to look her in the eyes. "I'm supposed to be a
 martial artist, and I hesitated. I didn't jump soon enough. And
 now..."

Mercutio: Interesting how he's able to tell the absolute truth about
what happened, and yet give no indications that he might've been
the one who pushed her.

Unless, of course, the thought to push her would never have crossed his
mind at all... well hey, we can't help it that you lot are so suspicious.
;)

"Why did you leave last night?" There. She had asked it.  
 Last night she had gone over and over the question, trying to 
figure out why, why... did he not see her as attractive? Was she
only a friend? Did he find her repulsive? 

Mackie: Her sisters hovering at death's door, she'd just been
traumatized, her boyfriend is injured, and out of all things in the
world, she asks why they didn't do the ecchi the previous
evening?

Gos: Could it be that Mackie is growing some sensibility?

Mercutio: Maybe...

Mackie: DAMN!!! I LIKE this chick!

Mercutio: ...not.

She's sixteen, healthy and active, and almost got lucky last night. Give
her a break. ;) Besides, anything to take her mind off Nabiki, ne?

 feeling that he wouldn't lose any sleep over it either. No, he
 said it was a matter of honor. That was something else Ukyou
 could understand and respect. Honor wasn't always easy or
 pleasant or even good, but without it you got people like
 Genma.

Mercutio: Actually, I think Genma is coming off rather well in this
story. He appears to have gained a sense of honor, duty, and
responsibility because of what happened to Ranma.

Gos: We agreed that was the whole neko-ken thing that scarred
him like this, didn't we?

Mercutio: Well, maybe. There's growing doubt about that. And
considering who the authors are... ya' ever read "Poison?"

Gos: Oh... ick. You think...

Mercutio: It's a possibility.

*whapwhapwhap*

You labor under a misconception, sir. There have been two fics written by
the name of Poison. One was done by author and artist Adrian Wong, and
dealt with Genma, er, well, yes, ick. The second was done by Susan, and
dealt with Akane and Ranma. 

 catch him. This wasn't much of a solution. She knew Akane
 would insist on going with him, and both of them would spend
 the rest of their lives moving from place to place, always
 wondering when their enemies would catch up... No, this wasn't
 an option at all. She didn't think Ranma would be able to deal
 with it for long before he snapped.

Mecutio: BEFORE he snapped? That ship has sailed, sister.

I think Ukyou's 'snapped' is a bit less subtle. Something like juggling
severed heads while singing 'The Girl from Ipaenima".
 

 The two clung to each other, and the clock ticked, and
 after a time their breathing slowed into the shallow rhythms
 of sleep.

Mercutio: I'm noticing a definite shift in the Kasumi charachter.
In earlier Chapters, she was coming off just as nutty as Ranma,
and in fact reffered to Ranma as a complete psychopath. Here,
however, she's acting more like the Kasumi from "Thy Inward Love."
That's really, really odd.

Story Reason: Accident has shocked reality back into Kasumi.

Real Reason: We needed Kasumi as support for Akane in this chapter, and
the portrayal of Kasumi in early IMBS is something neither of us is happy
with.

 She chose her next words carefully, as much for her own
 benefit as for his. "Nabiki killed herself, Ranchan. What were
 you going to do, just let her try to send you to your death time
 and time again? Let her kidnap Akane again, or worse? You
 gave her more than she gave you, and when the time came you
 put your life at risk to save her."

Mercutio: Dammit! For NINE, count'em, NINE chapters, this was a
simple, clear cut story: Ranma is a nutball. Ranma is evil. Everything
will be cool if Akane finally realizes this and then Ranma dies. But did
that happen? NOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Now they have to inject some
HUMANITY into the guy, and we all have to wonder if he's lying like a
or if there's hope for him.

Gos: It's referred to as a 'plot twist.'

Mercutio: There's twisting the plot, and then there's making pretzels with
it.

Well, actually... it's been a bone of contention as to whether or not
Ranma is a villain with likeable qualities or a dark hero. 

 Ranma's smile broadened, and actually reached his eyes
 for the first time. "I really don't know what it was like before
 I had her to focus on, y'know, Ucchan? I didn't even know her a
 few months ago, and now she's my direction in life. She'll be
 ready, soon."

Gos: Uh-oh. I do NOT like the sound of that.

He could mean something completely innocent by it. ;) Sure.

 do make it... that's the end. If we ever return to Japan, we'll be
 arrested, convicted, and probably go to prison for years. And if
 we settle in another country, well, there's always extradition
 and Interpol."

Mercutio: How did he get THAT? It would simply be Akane's word
against their's. If they ditch the weapon, the Tendo's have no case.
All they to do is go "No, it wasn't us. Maybe another one of his
enemies...?" and stick by it. There probably wouldn't even be a trial
for lack of evidence; nobody can PROVE that Mariko ever even
owned a gun.

Well... Ukyou knows, and Hikaru, and both of the Hibikis would flunk a lie
detector test miserably. And they have motive. So there's a good chance
that they'd at least be picked up.

Besides, if Mariko simply blows Ranma's head off in Chapter 11, what fun
is that? ;)

-ML