Note: Things start getting a bit rough here, but that just means the
dawn is approaching... right? C&C will be greatly appreaciated, mounted
on the wall and placed lovingly someplace visble where it'll remind any
would be son-in-law that daddy's little girl is packing. Flames will be
forced to wear novelty sunglasses, party hats and a shirt with something
innane and moronic about rather large Johnsons. Yes, you can MST it too
if you like ^_^

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and the character there in belong first and
foremost to its creator, Rumiko Takahashi, secondly to its Japanese
publishers Shokgakukan who brought it out there, third to Viz
Communications who brought it here and finally, to the numerous fans
both home and abroad whose love and devotion have made it grow. Me? I'm
just a Parrot.


OtakuNXS presents...


    The glass reflected the early afternoon sun as it made its final
approach over the city skyline. Mr. Yoshimitsu always kept it spotless,
and his customers had always enjoyed the view. They'd sit in quiet
booths and share the strangely exotic sunsets to be had in a major
metropolitan area. Smog would invite the last lingering beams of light
to a bizarre sort of waltz about the spectrum.

    His large window, a little thicker than perhaps city code would
warrant, kept everything out, leaving just the serenity of a dinless
city. For just a moment, you could forget the fumes, the noise, the
hectic ticking away of countless digitized task masters, and remember
that magical glitter of multi-colored lights and boundless spectacle
that had drawn so many to the big city in the first place.


        A Mad Bad Bishonen Lad Production...


    A flash of blue, followed by a crackle of red, illuminated the glass
for just a second. Moments later, a thunderous shock wave sent the whole
frame trembling, making the various reflections dance about in odd zigs
and zags. Mr. Yoshimitsu watched from a hundred or so yards away, as his
splendid window reflected its last serene view, before suddenly being
replaced by a young man's body hurtling toward, and then through it.
Ryouga continued on his current trajectory, slammed through a few booths
and finally came to a rather abrupt ending, crash-landing against and
into the bar.

    The human wrecking ball gingerly felt the back of his head, feeling
a warm sticky substance whose aroma threatened to empty his gut.

    Gods, he hated sake.


                Suicide Blast 4


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    Lieutenant Hiromi was not having a good day. He had experienced some
really fine days since joining the force, wonderful times spent skimming
newspapers, cutting out interesting articles, munching on the odd
strawberry bun and pouring tea for his sempai. The basic elements for a
good day were just missing: the paper, the food, unsatisfied grumblings
of an old man, and the all-important assurance that you were doing the
right thing. And just where the hell was the old man? He could
definitely use the advice, or at the least some sour commentary about
how evacuation and emergency procedures just weren't as good as they
used to be.

    He certainly wasn't the highest ranked police official on the scene,
but most of them saw this as his baby, a chance for the new kid to earn
himself some advancement, or blow his career entirely. Besides, none of
them wanted this sort of responsibility; there was a reason why certain
kinds of disturbances warranted their own code. Some things were just
better to leave to those involved. The Lieutenant didn't seem to think
that way, very naive, yet almost... noble. Still, it was his neck that
was ultimately being risked, one way or the other.

    The rest of the citizens listened intently to the policeman's
requests, stepped behind the barricade and watched the show. Most of
them had lived here all of their lives, and while the pyro-techniques
had never been quite this overt, they had survived Mino-Tarous and
Ancient Chinese secrets before. They could certainly handle this. It was
sort of cute the way the officer seemed to be so nervous about all this.
They smiled at him in a patronizing fashion, and did as asked... so long
as it didn't interrupt their view.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    Ryouga tried to mentally hold the currently swaying universe in
place and take stock of his surroundings. A bar apparently, or an
incredibly well stocked restaurant. Not a bad view, give or take the
broken glass. Outside looked like a battlefield, perfectly appropriate
of course. Cars had been flipped over or were burning merrily, while
telephone poles bent at odd angles and craters pocketing the street.
Still, most of the surrounding buildings were relatively intact, give or
take a few obvious exceptions.

    This was mostly thanks to Ryouga who was still leading this
particular ballroom blitz. After the fast food joint had exploded, he
had tried to keep the battles on the pavement and out of the homes and
businesses of the Nerima residents.

    People had a tendency to get trapped in buildings, looking after
some newly acquired material possession or misplaced cat. Sometimes,
they simply refused to go, out of some wretched nobility that turned
them into captains, neighbors into rats and crumbling apartments into
sinking ships. You might have sounded the alarm, sent hundred of men
searching, come out with confidence as you hurry the inhabitants toward
the shelters when, without fail, some woman would cry out, "Where's
Achiko? ACHIKO!"

    Besides, while the surrounding police officials might be unsure as
to their duties, most rescue workers had no problems figuring where
their responsibilities lay. Already they were busily at work, bringing
stretchers, searching for unfortunate victims, and lugging about massive
fire hoses. He didn't want to see anyone else get hurt in this whole
ungodly mess, but he also wasn't about to let it end that easily,
tripping in some over-sized garden hose's path.

    This was the end of everything, the fights, the pain, the love...
the life. He'd be damned if he was going out on such an anti-climatic
note. He was going out with a bang, even if it killed him.

    Ryouga smiled to himself, he had never appreciated irony before, one
doesn't find much to love in one's tormentors. Still, it was kind of
amusing. Vaguely, he wondered where Ukyo's tanto had wandered off to. By
all dramatic conventions, it should be sticking rather painfully in his
back. He must have lost it during the battle. The sound of crunching
glass told him his time out was just about over.

    Let's see... leg's caught, certainly not enough to stop his movement
but it'd slow him down a bit. Maybe a quarter of a second. It'd only
take Ranma an eighth of a second to take advantage. Of course, the guy
might just pull it off, ending the misery in one punch. But that wasn't
really dramatic enough; besides, knowing his luck, it'd probably just
knock him out.

    Nope, if you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself.

    "Heh, Ranma, we need to be more careful. The okonomiyaki shop, the
Wc Donald's, and now a bar? Why pretty soon, Nerima isn't gonna have
anything to do on Saturday night." He smiled wryly at his opponent
through the shattered remains of countless daily wipings and untold
bottles of Windex, Extra-Strength. Ranma was little more than a dark red
shadow, engulfed in a torrent of crimson energy.

    "Then come outside and fight. We'll find somewhere else ta play."
Ranma's voice held bitterness and pain.

    They had been going at it for nearly a half hour now and he was very
much on autopilot. His skin itched and flaked, revealing newer, younger
flesh underneath, bright red from flush and nearness of blood. It
throbbed as adrenaline continued to pump about his system, damping his
tattered shirt where sheared epidermis brought muscle and vessels too
close to the surface.

    The whole damn thing had gone wrong, from the very first move. The
Hiryuu Shoten Ha was an epilogue, not a prelude. If done right, well,
the fight was generally over... and it had most certainly been done
right. The move needed anger, fueled itself on flaming passions, and
Ranma had supplied more rage then he had thought existed in the entire
world.

    By all rights, the fight should be over...

    By all rights, he shouldn't even be alive...

    "Can we hit the arcade next? There's an annoying Sailor V that I'd
love to bang the hell out of." Ryouga's right hand searched blindly
behind him, finally being rewarded with an unbroken bottle. Perfect, it
felt just heavy enough to be full. The left hand busied itself with what
was most likely someone's discarded beer cap.

    Now then, if he was just a bit closer.

    Ranma swayed just a bit, eyes losing focus for just a second... he
wanted to go home, he wanted to go to bed... he wanted to curl up and
die.

    Ukyo....

    Ranma's eyes refocused, fists clenched and the pain in his body fled
to a safer area, burrowing a fox hole into his heart.

    "A trip to the morgue is more likely. Don't worry, though." He spat
out the last and stepped forward. "We got enough ambulances and body
bags out here to make sure you don't lose your way."

    "Really?" Ryouga sneered, arm shooting forward and launching the
bottle of Wild Turkey. It made a rather hurried elliptical flight toward
its target, spinning as it went. Of course, it was nothing Ranma
couldn't dodge. If only the youth had seen the bottle cap as it smashed
through the container, going several times its speed.

    Shards and alcohol stung eyes and dug into his all too tender flesh.
Joining the assault, a hammer blow capable of punching out a steam
roller rammed its way to Ranma's stomach, knocking out wind and forcing
bile to spill on Ryouga's shoulder. Opening his fist, the lost boy
grabbed a handful of shirt and gut and hefted the pigtailed martial
artist.

    "Awww, man, Ranma... I gotta get this thing cleaned now." Ryouga
shook his head, bringing his captive closer to him. "What's the matter
with you? Can't you even handle a little berserker frenzy without
screwing it up? I'm the monster, the big bad guy ready to snatch Akane
from you with the latest and greatest technique of the week. Don't 'cha
get it? Get it together man, or you are going to die!"

    Ranma looked at Ryouga, gazing weakly into the abyss, staring back
emotionlessly at him. The chill of his opponent's aura burned through
his clothing with a freezing intensity he had only ever encountered
while fighting Saffron. But even that was nothing compared to the empty
bleakness inside the lost boy's silent orbs. He slowly began to go numb
all over, his aura dimming to flicker on azure wisps of frost.

    He was just so very tired... and cold. I'm sorry, Ukyo.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    "Ranma's going to lose, isn't he?" Mousse looked to Cologne, holding
onto a terrified Akane. They had leapt up on a nearby rooftop to get a
better view and not impair the various rescue workers and vehicles that
now darted the streets. Evacuated refugees from the evening's activities
crowded and milled about, catching what snippets they could of the
unfolding drama.

    They had paid for their front row tickets with interrupted lives and
endangered property, and they'd be damned if they weren't going to get
their money's worth. Their own personal usher helped them find seating
as he shouted out orders through a megaphone. Meanwhile, the Amazon
matriarch shook her head grimly, from the vantage point of the box
seats.

    "The boy's still feeling the explosion, and he's lost all his
reasoning and control. A cruel reversal, and one from which I don't know
if he'll recover."

    "Ukyo... oh, Ukyo..." Akane moaned.

    "Is in the hands of professionals, they'll do what they have to do,"
Cologne chided.

     Akane's face brightened for just a moment, her voice still wavering
but she at least seemed to be recovering from the shock. "Then, she
might be... be all right?"

     Cologne sighed, "I wouldn't get my hopes up, Child." Looking at the
young woman's features as they started to buckle, she scolded herself
before continuing in a lighter tone. "But I will tell you this. He did
not use his new... toy on her."

    There wouldn't have been enough left to bury, she thought bitterly.

    "He's not moving, Elder. Ranma's going to die." Mousse stated, only
the blur of a small bladed object giving any hint to his feelings on the
matter. He ignored Cologne's withering stare.

    "Your wr-wrong. Ranma's going to win, he- he's just got to." Akane
reached out to her belief, held onto it with both hands and slowly
pulled herself to her feet. "Ran- Ranma doesn't lose."

    Cologne risked a small smile, then she turned to the battle below.
Her heart sank as she watched Ranma's aura slowly... burn itself out, as
Ryouga's continued to chill the world around him. Mousse was right, it
was over.

    "Look at him, Child, he's hardly even fit to defend himself, let
alone fight back. The boy's been training all this time in subdual
techniques and finding absurd secret maneuvers. And now that the battle
is at hand, he's tossed all that training to the side and gone feral.
Ryouga turned all that anger on its head. Who knew the boy had it in
him?"


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    "I'm the ultimate evil. Ryouga, crusher of dreams, ender of
engagements and murderer of femboys everywhere." The lost boy slapped
Ranma with his open hand, his fingers leaving thin strips of red on the
young man's face.

    Ranma's tried to keep his eye's open, as dark red ichor stung them
and his left lid began to swell, getting heavier and heavier. "Go to
hell... Ryouga..." he coughed, his breath crystalizing before his eyes.

    "Humph, if you'd only cooperate." Ryouga scowled. He slammed Ranma
into a nearby wall, embedding the young man deep into its concrete
confines.

    Ranma barely felt it, probably not a good thing he thought sleepily.
What was it you weren't supposed to do when you were freezing? He
couldn't quite remember, but he could hardly make himself care.

    Oh no you don't, Ranma. Ryouga brought his other head and closed it
around his opponent's throat, squeezing until he felt bones start to
buckle. It worked, somewhat...

    Hands grabbed Ryouga's and eyes flashed opened, but there was no
strength in his grip, no fury in his glare. Just a reflex action really.


    "Hah, mister bad guy Ryouga, I'm Ranma. Beater of defenseless farm
animals, stealer of hearts' desires and the hero of this story!" Ryouga
eased up on Ranma's throat, waiting for a response.

    Ranma remained silent.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    Cologne gritted her teeth and twisted her gnarled hands about her
cane. "I underestimated him, and overestimated son-in-law.  Ranma's
defeat... his blood... is on my hands."

    Mousse stood there, face impassive, blade moving faster and faster.

    "Why didn't he let me help him?" Akane shook here head, tears
stinging her face, obscuring her vision. Her ears, however, were
perfectly fine, and what they didn't hear... was Ranma. "He always
pushes me away, he never lets anyone help him, Ryouga was my friend
too." She paused, then continued in an voice so much smaller then
before. "so was Ukyo. I could have... I could have...."

    "What could you have done?" Cologne looked to Akane, voice hardening
and wrinkled features scowling. "Talk to Ryouga? He'd have laughed.
Would you have hit him with something heavy, and call him a fool? It
would have broken. Help Ranma in attacking him? He'd have tossed you
aside as if you didn't exist. Listen to me, Child, had you been there
you would have not survived that explosion. Then what would have become
of Ranma, hmmm? Listen to me, you give him purpos...."

    Akane rubbed away more tears as she turned to face Cologne. The
matriarch's brain had finally caught up with her mouth and she was
having a hard time proceeding. It was very much akin to tutoring heresy
to the Devil, or lingerie theft to Happosai.

    Sighing, she continued on. "Purpose, you give the boy purpose. He
fights for you, eats for you, wakes up in the morning because you happen
to exist. He lives for you, Akane Tendo... never forget that. Without
you, I'm afraid he just might fade away. Keep the faith, Child; it's
stronger then you think."

    Mousse made a lunge for the small knife he had just dropped and
barely succeeded in regaining his balance before plunging off the ledge.
"Elder?" he squeaked, eyes wide and actually pointed in the correct
direction.

    "Oh, shut up." Cologne harumphed. "Bah, enough of this foolishness.
There is little more you can do for him, besides hope. I, on the other
hand, am not quite done with this day." Turning to the battlefield, her
face hardened and she began to summon... power.

    Hope was all well and good, but it required patience, and Cologne
had lost hers.

...oooOOO( )( )( )


    "Yes, Captain, I want the area of safety enlarged. Yes, the whole
block if I have to, though the district might not be enough." The
Lieutenant crouched behind a squad car, radio in hand. The explosions
from the two-man war had quieted down considerably in the past hour or
so, but he had learned a few things about storms and what they thought
of dramatic timing. "Look, do you like okonomiyaki? Yeah? Ever eat at
Uuchan? Yeah, that's the one, yeah, she's mighty cute... it's not there
anymore, understand me, Captain?"

    "Ummm, mister officer, sir?"

    Hiromi looked up to see two young men standing before him. They had
a nervous fidget that his patrolman's intuition automatically picked up
on. Still, he shook the notion out of his head; he didn't feel like
hearing some shoplifting or anime piracy confession just that moment.
"Look, I'm sort of busy, guys. If you've got a statement, see one of
those officers over there. The ones eating all the strawberries out of
my lunch."

    "Well, we sorta thought we could lend you a hand. You see, my name's
Daisuke, and the guy currently hiding behind me, is Hiroshi. We're
kinda, friends with one of the guys out there. Sort of season ticket
holders to the madness you might say." The black-haired young boy smiled
weakly but it didn't reach his eyes.

    "Ryouga or the kid with the pigtail?"

    "Pigtail, sir," Hiroshi coughed up.

    "I hate to tell you this, but he's losing... badly."


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    "Wha-what does that matter? I'm the ultimate evil, mister bad guy,
and I will win, because good is... is dumb." Ryouga's brows furrowed,
something wasn't, wasn't working out quite the way he had planned.

    Ranma didn't look so good, he wasn't responding at all now and his
skin had lost most of its color, well, give or take the bluish hue his
lips were becoming. Was he? No, he was still breathing, shallow and
tinged with frost, but he was breathing. Faking it, that's what it was,
it MUST be. He was trying to trick Ryouga into letting his guard down,
any second he'd pop his eyes open, say something and... well, he'd
certainly say something at least.

    He wasn't going to fall for it. Ranma's pulse sure was getting slow,
no, not going to happen... some kinda ninja trick or something. He'd
trained himself to do this, yeah, thought he could fool poor dumb,
stupid Ryouga too...

    "Psh, I am the good guy, I have great hair... I have... I have....
Damnit! Come on Ranma... do something!" Hibiki let go of Ranma's shirt
and throat, allowing his body to slowly slide out of the wall and into
the air, bringing both of his hands together into a single hammer.
Saotome seemed to float for just a second before gravity reasserted its
hold on its errant child.

    Ryouga slammed both fists into the back of the young man's head,
ramming him face first into the concrete below.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    Akane let out a small, shrill cry, biting deep into her lip and
covering her face within the general safety of the darkness between her
palms. It just wasn't possible, Ranma couldn't be losing, he never lost.
But, there was all that blo- NO! He wasn't going to lose, she just had
to keep believing that. What was it Cologne had said? Keep the faith? It
didn't make any sense of course. He was down, she had seen that last
hit... and yet, faith wasn't supposed to make sense... it didn't really
work when it made sense.

    Suddenly, she knew. She knew Ranma was going to be okay, she knew he
was going to win this fight, she knew that together they would find a
way. She knew, and the knowing warmed her, body and soul. It crept about
her innards, it did funny things with her tummy, it did loops about her
brain. She was almost giddy. Oh, if only he could feel this, he must be
so... cold.

    She wasn't sure how, but she could feel his chill, feel him giving
up to the numbness, letting himself drift away. There had to be a way,
someway to share this warmth with him.

    Of course, it was all perfectly silly. There was so much distance
between them. She could no more share the warmth as feel his submission
to the cold. But, then, prayers were kind of silly too... and they hae
to reach out much further. Maybe, it wasn't that strange. Why, in a
world of aqua-transexuals, it was positively mundane.

    She slowly opened her eyes, determined to make it work, no matter
what. Her belief was so much more than solid now. It was a force, a
glowing warmth that radiated throughout her. Whatever it took, she would
give it, even if it meant her life, she would MAKE this work.

    She watched Cologne raise a single withered hand toward the battle
field, ancient locks of hair beginning to dance about her head as a
faint silver aura encircled her outstretched arm.

    "Mousse, on my command, you're to get Son-i... Ranma as far away
from this area as possible."

    The Chinese martial artist nodded and readied to leap, giving Akane
what he believed was a reassuring smile. She looked to the pair,
confusion contorting her face until understanding finally dawned. "No!"

    Akane stepped in front of the ever-brighter glowing elder and
stretched out her own hands, defensively. "Ranma wouldn't want that,
we... we have to believe in him!"

    "Move, Child. I am not going to let that fiancee of yours waste his
life on my error of judgment. I'm going to do what I should have done
from the start." Cologne affixed the young girl with her sternest stare.
A gaze that had worked when no bull whip could when it came to keeping
young, stubborn, Amazonian warriors in line... and for the first time in
nearly a century, it was failing. "Mousse! Move Akane."

    Mousse would have had an easier time moving a sizable bump on the
Earth's crust toward a Muslim prophet. Still, inch by inch, he began to
drag her away. For her part, she didn't even look toward him, just kept
her own eyes focused on Cologne. Finally, she smiled. "You do believe in
Ranma, don't you?"

    Cologne closed her hand and looked this young girl, no, young woman
over with sudden interest. "And just how much do you believe in him?"

    Akane's grin suddenly widened, "When my head tells me to stop, I
believe in him with my heart, when my heart's had enough, I believe in
him with my toes."

    "Interesting, do you know that you're glowing?" Cologne asked,
off-handedly.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    Ryouga stood there, waiting. He just knew Ranma was going to get up,
any second now. Sure was an awful lot of blood... must have broken a
third of the bones in his body. But you didn't need things like blood
and bone if you were angry enough, come on... get angry. "Damn you! Get
up!"

    Lifting Ranma's head, Ryouga examined his suddenly immobile foe. "I
can't believe this. Can't you ever help me out, even once? Just one time
in this god-forsaken eternity, can't you be a bit more cooperative?"
Letting go of the young man's pigtail, he stood up and turned, disgusted
and, suddenly, unsure.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    "Wha...?" Akane looked at her hands. A faint golden aura radiated
from her palms and spun about her whole body. "Ho- how?"

    "I don't know, Child; you're the one doing it."

    "Is it kind of a golden color?" Mousse called over his shoulder.

    Akane and Cologne turned to the scene Mousse was alluding to. Ranma
was indeed glowing, a similar aura of gold alighting his body... and he
was starting to move. His fiancee smiled, before placing a hand to her
head. She suddenly felt quite dizzy.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    "Tell me, does your friend always glow like that?"

    "Depends on the technique. What color?" Daisuke took the pair of
binoculars offered by the officer. "Ummmm, never seen that one before."

    "Something's going to go boom, isn't it?" Hiromi sighed.

    Hiroshi nodded. "Most likely."

    The Lieutenant cursed. Standing, the officer began ordering that the
barricade be moved back, shouting warnings with his bull horn.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    Ranma felt power, pouring into him and diffusing about his system.
There was a source, somewhere... nearby, and it was life and purpose,
all wrapped into one. He drank it in, slowly rising, feeling almost
light headed. It was like hot cocoa on a frosty afternoon. But not too
hot, that mythical perfect temperature that somehow only a mother can
achieve. The young man could feel it working throughout his body,
knitting bone, stanching wound and revitalizing spirit.

    And, most importantly... it was so very warm.

    Lost in his thoughts, Ryouga remained oblivious to the rebirth
behind him. He muttered curses and shook his head ruefully. "Man, I've
seen you get more pissed about being kissed by a skater. Hell, Ukyo in a
pine box means this little to you? What do I have to do?" He never
noticed Ranma stand, nor the sudden intensity that plagued the young
man's face.

    The golden glow began to take on an auburn hue, rage slowly building
up momentum, doing odd things with the earlier warmth. Suddenly, the
energy was not so much succor as fuel, a means to a very messy end.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    Dizziness turned to nausea and the world suddenly began spinning on
some strange axis of its own design. Akane found herself on the ground,
supporting herself with her arms, which quivered underneath her. She
coughed up her morning meal and something... something red. Her stomach
seemed to require more from her though as it shrank in on itself and a
sickening heat radiated throughout her skin. Stars danced about her
skull and her lungs were having a hard time keeping up with her newfound
demand for oxygen.

    No, she thought, something had gone wrong, terribly, terribly wrong.

    "Akane?" Mousse leapt to her side, confused he looked to the Elder
for assistance only to find her engrossed in the battle below.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    "Ki- kill Akane?" Ryouga whispered. The words somehow spoke louder
then any damning action he had yet to commit; they filled his mouth with
fecal remains and his mind recoiled in self-loathing.

    "NOOOOOO!" Ranma screamed, a throat-wrenching, ear-splitting, cry as
his soul languished in a pit of misery and rage. When his lungs simply
proved not large enough to support it, anger took up the slack.
Suddenly, the amber aura flared, and exploded into a wave of burning
flames. The golden aura now no longer retained even a trace of its
former life-giving sustenance... now, it was simply gasoline.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    Mousse cried out in pain as Akane slumped in his hands. His skin was
seared where his flesh contacted her own. Using his robes as makeshift
hot pads, he gently laid her on the ground. "Elder, she's burning to the
touch."

    Cologne turned and mentally found even more words useful in cursing
herself, many of which were unpronounceable by a human tongue. Kneeling
down beside the young girl, she placed her palm over Akane's head.
"Something... didn't work the way it should have." Reaching into a small
pouch on her side, she brought out a few herbs and began tending to
Akane.

    Mousse had never heard the matriarch sound so tired.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    Ryouga turned in time to see Ranma flying toward him, less lined in
scarlet battle aura as simply on fire. Spinning, he sidestepped his
opponent's right hand, though losing a good bit of balance in the
process. This left him open when the enraged martial artist corkscrewed
in midair and landed a crushing blow on Hibiki's left shoulder with his
other arm, scalding flesh and pulverizing bone.

     The lost boy hit the ground with his knees, sinking into the
asphalt below, arms flailing wildly. Suddenly, both hands were caught in
a grip like steel, fresh from the forge. Ranma exerted more pressure
than Ryouga had ever thought possible, knuckles cracking and bone
straining against his skin, which sizzled and hissed underneath his
adversary's blistering heat.

    Now it was Ryouga's turn to stare into the abyss. Hell loomed dark
and wide in Ranma's eyes. Lakes of fire burned merrily while embers
drifted about and a soul screamed in silence. Somewhere, in the very
back of all that madness, just barely visible, the lost boy's light
winked at him, from inside Saotome's iris. Everything had gone wrong,
his light had abandoned him, his egress was now someone else's. He had
succeeded in creating the necessary monster, but not within himself.

    "You ARE a monster!" Ranma spat, slamming his forehead in meaty
contact with Ryouga. Blood and spit mixed together and began to boil as
both young men's skulls shuddered from the impact.

    He had been abandoned.

    "I should have killed you long ago!" Another shriek and the two
young men's heads contacted with one another, sending waves of pain
through the pair. Something internal in Ryouga's head made a strange
squelching sound and he could find his gorge rising.

    He was going to die, but without the light to guide him, he'd never
find his way out, trapped, in just one more dark and lonely place.

    "You're NEVER going to come..." Ranma's breath sent waves of
sickening humidity toward Ryouga's face, then he slowly reared back,
"...near Akane, EVER!" The impact drowned out all the rest of the
anguish, dulling his senses like some sort of anesthetic.

    He knew his body was starting to succumb to the onslaught, knew he
was slowly sinking into shock. It would probably take about one more
impact... and then it'd be over. He'd be alone, in the darkness,
forever. Maybe it was for the best, this is really what he wanted after
all. Maybe, after what he had done, he didn't deserve the light anymore.

    Ranma looked down at the broken body before him. There was no
telling his blood from Ryouga's anymore. His opponent would never get
up, not after one more hit, that's all it'd take now. One final blow,
and the lost boy's skull would break, ending... everything. He let go of
the youth's right hand, and slowly, painfully, closed it into a fist.

    For just a moment, he was mesmerized by his own flames, watching
them jump about his hand. He could feel something wasn't quite right,
why was he doing this again? Who was this guy on the ground, why did he
have to die again? There was a name on his lips, what was it?

   "Akane?"


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    Ryouga abandoned his body, left the realm of the living, leaving it
up to Ranma to bring it to a final conclusion. He walked through
nothingness, an endless journey, just now begun, but somehow, already
eons old. He was already forgetting where he had come from, nor could he
remember his intended destination. It really didn't matter, with no
place to start and nowhere to end, if he got there or not.

    Then, softly, blowing in like a foreign wind bringing with it the
whispers of worlds far away and civilizations long past... a name
brushed past his weary mind. "Akane"

    Turning, he saw a young girl, running towards him. Why her smile
meant so much to him, he couldn't say... how her very presence seemed to
fill the emptiness was another mystery as well. Suddenly, his heart
hurt, which he felt was rather unfair. You weren't supposed to feel pain
here, absence of joy meant absence of agony... didn't it? Tentatively,
his stomach all knotted up, he raised his hands to catch her in an
embrace.

    She ran through him, his existence seemingly little more than a
triviality.

    "Ranma," the young woman cried out. Ryouga looked behind him to see
another newcomer in his world of nothing. He seemed oddly familiar, like
some sort of landmark in a troubled life. A person to score oneself by,
a place for beginnings and some place to return to when the destination
proved especially elusive. Of course, none of this explained why he was
currently on fire.

    The girl sped up, running toward the welcoming embrace of the young
man. He smiled, a tearful, smile, and held her tightly. The girl burst
into flames, burning, boiling, vaporizing, till nothing but embers
marked that she had ever existed. Shaking his head sadly, the youth
looked to Ryouga, and then turned away, disappearing into the ever
present darkness.

    Ryouga screamed, hitting the ground in something similar to a
prayer, though more easily associated with begging. Tears streamed down
his face in deep, burning rivers of salt and anguish. He reached out for
support, but knew he'd find none. There was nothing here, just him and
the ever present black. Then why had he grabbed ahold of... something?

    Looking up, Ryouga saw what he had was a handful of velvet, a solid
shadow of some sort. Pay no attention to whatever's behind the
curtain... hah! Standing, he began to pull, tearing away at the very
scenery, onyx fabric being torn from the very background. Suddenly,
light spilled through the seams, blinding him with its radiance. Tossing
the sheets of night behind him, he blinked a few times, and focused on
the light itself.

    It was blue, it spun about to some unheard pantomime, it was
familiar, it was egress... and, most importantly, it was HIS!

    There is only ever room for one paladin and one monster, and he'd be
damned if anyone else was going to switch roles with him now. He reached
out with his right hand, and slowly began to close it around the massive
sphere of dancing light.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    Ranma knew something wasn't quite right. He was no longer sure who
or what he was, less sure of why he should even care, but he was quite
positive that his left hand should not have some sort of blue light
squeezing its way between his and the other boy's fingers. A primitive
impulse started ringing klaxons and warning bells about his cranium.
This is not good, they said, kill him now! Hurry!

    He brought his fist back.

    Ryouga smiled, and the fragment of light between his and Ranma's
hands began to glow, spinning and scattering the flames about them. Fire
began to wilt as wind current and raw power snuffed them out all along
Saotome's left arm. "Only one monster per story, Ranma, and I'm afraid
the part has already been cast!"

    Suddenly, Ranma was less concerned with getting his punch in, and
more focused on simply letting go of Ryouga's hand. His efforts were
less than successful. The lost boy laughed as he squeezed just a bit
harder and intensified the glowing orb that danced merrily between them.
The air currents picked up, around the pair of them. A bandanna tore off
and took flight as black follicles whipped about wildly.

    Ryouga was no longer holding Ranma up by his own strength; the force
of the globe was enough, and the other boy suddenly felt like some
doomed forgotten fragment of autumn, caught up in winter's worst. His
flames died out, flaring just a moment before disappearing completely,
as a small explosion separated the two.

    Ranma's left arm didn't even seem to be there, though a visual
inspection said otherwise. It was like having held onto a firecracker,
just a nanosecond longer then was prescribed. The fire gone, he suddenly
found himself to be self aware... confused, but now once again in
control. "Wha...?"

    Shaking his head, Ryouga smiled, a simple, malice free smile that
seemed to sum up a lifetime of apologies, thank yous and I forgive yous.
"Here it comes, Ranma. You've got one shot, dodge the blast, and then
put me down. The Jisatsu Bakuha will take care of the rest." Carefully,
he aimed the still frolicking blue ball just above his target's head.
After all, only the monster was supposed to die. Akane needed her
Paladin.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    "The fever must have broken; she's cool to the touch, Elder." Mousse
smiled.

    Cologne felt Akane's head, and nodded, but... something was still
amiss. Maybe it was the odd silence that pervaded even with the renewed
sounds of combat down below. She place a hand just over the young girl's
mouth and paused. "Yes, it would be a very good sign, if she were
breathing."

    The Amazonian matriarch felt Akane's throat for a pulse, giving it
just a bit longer than perhaps she should. Carefully, she raised the
young girl's neck, knowing that there was little chance of causing
further injury when there had been no actual trauma. After clearing away
what bile remained in the young girl's mouth, she looked to the
bespectacled warrior. "Your lungs are larger than mine."

    Mousse nodded, face suddenly pale, but at least not quite as blue as
Akane's.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    "I hope you have a bunch of kids, Ranma. If- if one's a girl... a
real girl, I hear Akari's a wonderful name." Blood crusted on his face,
a left arm that no longer seemed to want to work, and second and first
degree burns covering most of his body, the lost boy never looked
happier.

    The miniature azure sun in his palm crested on a wave of energy as
it increased in size and intensity, now about the size of a baseball.
Bits of clothing and small trickles of blood took flight as its force
magnified, slowly forcing even Ryouga back.

    It must be taking some extra power since this is my big finale,
Ryouga thought. Better point it upwards when I actually fire the thing,
I can hardly hold it anymore.

     Ranma steadied himself, as best he could, gravel and various bodily
fluids suddenly taking flight in the wake of Ryouga's homemade
hurricane. Footing was getting harder, and if his eyes weren't deceiving
him, that little blinding fragment of soul was getting bigger. The guy
was saying something to him, but he couldn't hear, the sudden changes in
air pressure having long since popped his ears.

    A quick glance behind him confirmed that their audience had only
grown as the battle waged on. Their forward momentum during the quieter
moments of the fight had put them all in danger. He was uncertain what
all had transpired since this whole bloody mess had begun, but he was
sure about one thing. He didn't want that... thing... going off anywhere
around all these people.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    "No! No! No! Damnit, doesn't anyone understand the word roadblock?"
Hiromi grabbed his radio and bullhorn at the same time. "There's a
civilian vehicle out here, Sergeant; do you have enough brain power to
even formulate an answer as to why?"

    Daisuke watched the cab slowly turn toward them, and, most
importantly, toward ground zero. "Oh man."

    Hiroshi simply stared, mesmerized.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    "Hah, freakin' uniform ain't going to tell me what to do. See,
what'd I tell ya? There's always a back way in. Heck, all this
evacuation mumbo jumbo just makes things that much easier." The taxi
driver turned and smiled to his passenger. "Just a bit farther, all
right?"

    Akari smiled. "Thank you."

    "No problem. Humph, damn pot holes, you'd think in a modern city
like...." Having just turned into the main street, the driver paused.
"What the...?"

    "Is something wrong?"

    "Just a sec, you wait here." Parking the cab, he got out of the car
and adjusted his hat, trying to get a better look at his surroundings. A
few smashed shops, tons of debris strewn about, and he'd be damned if
those weren't the biggest pot holes he'd ever seen. Of course, that was
nothing compared to the sight just up ahead. A massive crowd was trying
its best to both back away and get a good view of two young men. One of
them... was glowing.


...oooOOO( )( )( )


    Bending down low to escape some of the wind shear, and
concentrating  what strength he had remaining in his legs, Ranma did
what any hero, or any  fool, would have done in a similar situation.

    He lunged...

    ...and everything went white...

...oooOOO( )( )( ) (BOOM!!!)


To be continued of course

Ending song: "M.A.S.H." Theme song, "Suicide Is Painless"

Cause Suicide is painless,
It brings so many changes
And I can take or leave it if I please...

Paraphrased Neitzsche "...the thought of suicide is a great comfort, it
has kept many a man company through many a long night."

Special thanks to all my prereaders: Gary Kleppe, Andrew M. Petalik,
Cindy Toler, Deuce, K-chan, Nuitari, Ronny Hedin, Zen, Switch and a very
special thanks to the newest member of suggestive parrotal guidence,
Freemage.