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Ch 10 - Vindication

	"It will be best if Akane takes blood from both of you,"
Nodoka instructed.

	They sat alone in the guest room. Both Kasumi and Nodoka
were wearing loose kimonos while Nabiki was wearing a short
nightgown since she had been resting in bed most of the day.

	"Are you feeling up to it?" she asked Nabiki.

	Nabiki opened her robe at the waist to show her abdomen.
Akane blushed a little since it showed that she wasn't wearing
anything under the nighty, but it *did* show that there was not
even a scar left of the wound that had almost cost her life the
night before.

	Kasumi began to pull at the belt of her kimono, as well.
Rather shamefacedly, Akane realized that the three other women
were looking at her expectantly.

	Suppressing a shudder, Akane bent over and slid her
school dress up, over her head. Rather than undo the buttons,
she did the same to her blouse, and began to pull at the clasp
of her bra.

	Blushing furiously, she realized that Nabiki and Kasumi
had both already completely disrobed. Unashamedly, Nabiki was
sitting on the floor with her legs splayed to one side. Kasumi
knelt in a traditional receiving pose, but Akane couldn't help
but be horribly embarrassed by the situation and her sisters'
nudity.

	Having removed her bra, Akane firmly decided that even if
she did get blood on them that she was *not* taking off her
panties.

	"Okay..." she declared in a quiet voice. "I'm ready."

* * *

	"Ucchan? You seen Akane?"

	The girl, dressed in her boy's school uniform shook her
head.

	"Is something wrong, Ranchan?"

	"She never went to home-ec class," Ranma explained. "It's
not like Akane to just take off outta school like that..."

	"And the Tokyo Slasher is still in the paper," Ukyou
finished.

	Ranma nodded concernedly. "I can't find anyone who saw
her leave. And... I've heard rumors that there may be two
'slashers' now."

	"We had PE together after lunch, and we both saw her in
math," Ukyou thought out loud. "Waitasec... Wasn't Nabiki gone
today? Maybe Akane went to fill in as Nurse's aid last period."

	"Already checked. Damnitt..."

	"Calm-down, Ran-chan. Maybe she went on a date with
Ryouga? Hmmm..." Ukyou didn't really understood why that made
Ranma glare so fiercely. "Listen, sugar," She volunteered. "I'm
certain that there's nothing wrong, but why don't you go check
some of the usual places... and suspects, and I'll run over to
the dojo, ne? If Nabiki's sick then she probably just went home
to check on her sister, right?"

	Ranma nodded, and started off in the direction of the
shopping district.

	"Ran-chan!" Ukyou called out to stop him.

	Ranma turned around, already perched on the stone wall at
the edge of the school grounds.

	Ukyou dug into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small,
black rectangular object. She shook it, once, causing the
device to flip open. Ranma recognized it as one of the cheap
cell phones that had been selling near Ucchan's.

	"I got this to keep Konatsu out of trouble at the
restaraunt," she explained, tossing it up to Ranma. "I'll call
you from the dojo if Akane's there."

	Ranma nodded and pocketed the phone. "Thanks!"

	In only a few minutes, Ranma made his way over the
rooftops to the shopping district. He dropped to the ground in
front of the Nekohanten, but a quick peek inside told him that
Akane wasn't there, and Shampoo, Mousse and Cologne were so
busy with the after-school rush that they would certainly not
have time to be tending to a kidnapee.

	Just to be on the safe side, however, he took a peek in
all the windows.

	He only stopped for a second to poke his head into
Ucchan's and continued on his way.

	The Kunou mansion provided its own special problems.
After several minutes of dodging ridiculous traps, Ranma sought
out Sasuke, who was doing gardening work in the greenhouse
behind the mansion.

	He dropped to the ground next to the diminutive ninja,
causing the man to squeal in fright.

	"Hey! Calm down, damnitt!"

	"Sorry... Ranma-san..." Sasuke heaved, still trembling.

	"Hey, man, You seen Akane?" Ranma asked seriously.

	Beginning to calm, Sasuke shook his head. "Should I
have?"

	Ranma shrugged. "She went missing from school this
afternoon. You been readin' the papers?"

	"There's a murderer about," Sasuke confirmed.

	"Yeah. So you know anything?"

	"I've not seen Akane-sama today. Do you think she's in
trouble?"

	"Kodachi or Kunou plannin' anything you know of?"

	The ninja shook his head emphaticly, and pointed to the
front of the grounds. "The young master and mistress should be
home shortly, if you care to ask them yourself. They do get
carried away from time to time.

	"Carried away," Ranma guffawed. "Yeah." With that he
sprang into the trees above the ninja and made his way back to
the front gates.

	He hid out for several minutes, waiting for the pair to
show.

	Kunou walked in first, rattling off both sides of a
battle scene out of 'Hamlet' to himself.

	Ranma shook his head. No threat there.

	A few seconds later, Kodachi stormed in through the
gates. Her hair had a big splotch of mud in it, and she was
muttering about 'impertinent freshmen', so Ranma could only
assume that she had nothing to do with Akane's absence either.

	Careful not to attract the girl's attention, Ranma sprung
from the tree to the top of a nearby house, and began running.

* * *

	"Is Akane here?" Ukyou asked.

	It was kind of eerie the way everyone in the house just
stopped to stare at her when she asked that.

	"She's not feeling well," Kasumi answered. "She's laying
down right now."

	Was there something different about her, Ukyou wondered.
Had she changed her hair style?

	"Oh... Can I see her? Ran-chan's kinda worried, and I
said I'd check up on her and...

	The glance that Kasumi and Nabiki exchanged was kind of
disturbing. Ukyou felt, rather than heard her question taper
off into nothing.

	"She's sleeping, Ukyou," Nabiki informed her. "Why don't
you come back later?"

	"Yes," Kasumi agreed. "I'm certain that she'll be feeling
better if you come back this evening.

	Ukyou grimaced. Something was *definitely wrong here*.
"Why won't you let me see her? Is something wrong? I told Ran-
chan that I'd check up on her and I ain't gonna leave until I
find out what's--"

	"Ffffoooorrrggggeeettttt...." Nabiki commanded.

	"Hmm... Oh..."

	Ukyou wondered why Nabiki was staring into her eyes.
Also, when had she come to the dojo?

	"Thank you for the okonomiyaki, Ukyou!" Kasumi exclaimed.
Ukyou wondered why she was glaring at Nabiki while she said it.

	"Uhh... yeah. Anytime!" Ukyou answered embarassedly. She
had been on a delivery? Was that it? Must be. "Tell Ran-chan I
came by," she requested.

	She turned, and was about to leave when she heard a
footfall on the step. It was Akane, with Ranma's mother
standing a few feet behind her. There was something wrong. The
girl was looking pretty pale.

	"Akane," Ukyou greeted her. "You doin' okay, Sugar? You
catch Nabiki's cold?"

	Akane looked at her in confusion for a second, but then
nodded weakly.

	"If you get to feelin' better, why don't you bring Ran-
chan and come by Ucchan's for some okonomiyaki later," Ukyou
offered. "See ya!"

* * *

	Ranma perched top of a department store watching people
go by. He had looked at all of the places that Akane was likely
to be, and hadn't seen her in one.

	Worse, Ukyou hadn't called yet. Cursing himself for not
thinking of it before he left the school grounds, Ranma pulled
the phone out of his pocket and began to try to puzzle out how
to turn it on.

	Just as soon as he got it to turn on, however, he noticed
someone waving to him.

	It was a girl... about Akane's height, but with long red
hair, about the same shade as his when he was a girl. She had a
slender body and a pretty face, and was made up in strong, yet
tasteful makeup. She wore a long, conservative dress, and held
her hands together demurely.

	"Hey," Ranma greeted her, jumping from the building's
rain gutter to the street. "Watcha need?"

	"You seek a girl," the redhead answered in a tone that
was more statement than question.

	"Yeah, my... innazuke's gone missing."

	The girl pointed behind Ranma, to the naked girders of a
construction project. "There," she intoned.

	Ranma turned to see the unfinished building. "There? You
saw Akane?"

	He turned back, only to find the redhead gone.

	Hissing through his teeth, but not knowing what else to
do, Ranma took off for the building.

	He knew something was wrong the second he walked onto the
site. There were no workers present, but there were several
long lines in the that ran into the rapidly darkening depths of
the building.

	Two of them resolved occasionally into petite shoe
prints.

	Was it Akane? Ranma's heart began to pound. Whoever it
was, she was struggling... and being dragged backwards.

	"Son-of-a-bitch..."

	Growling, Ranma ran, following the tracks.

	They led through the girders and into a closed off
portion in the center of the building. Hearing a feminine grunt
from inside, Ranma leapt through the open doorway.

	What he saw very nearly made his heart stop.

	There was a black-haired young girl... no older than
thirteen or fourteen, being held on the floor by her face. As
she struggled to get free, her clothes were being torn away
from her body by long, cruel white claws.

	There was no mistaking the rotten meat smell, nor the
appearance of her attacker.

	"Not gonna happen," Ranma hissed in anger.

	The Ravener, dull-eyed and greasy, just like the one he
had fought before, raised its hideous claws to slash at the
girl's belly.

	"Die, mother-fucker!!!" Ranma shouted, throwing his whole
body into a flying kick.

	Much to his surprise, he caught the monster unawares. His
foot impacted the side of the thing's face, sending it flying
into the black depths of the room.

	Not pausing to catch his breath, Ranma scooped the girl
up into his arms and began to run.

	As he reached the edge of the construction site, he
turned to see the ravener running from the building, directly
toward him.

	Ranma realized that it was not him that the monster was
after.

	"Run!" he instructed the girl, setting her down. "Call
the cops! I'll hold him off as long as I can!"

	The screaming girl took off, and confirming Ranma's
dreadful theory, the ravener turned to pursue her.

	"Get back here!" Ranma commanded, throwing himself into
another kick at the monster.

	Before his foot could impact the beast's head again, it
turned, and held one cruel claw out to him.

	Ranma was thrown backwards, into the building.

	The ravener could not see him land. It halted its pursuit
for a second to turn toward the building.

	Seeing no action, the ravener turned back, trying to see
where its prey had gone.

	"Hey, Ugly!!" A feminine voice cried out from the
building.

	Ranma strode out. She was wet and muddy, but had a wicked
gleam in her eye.

	The ravener turned slowly to face the girl. It brought
its claws up in a threatening stance.

	"C'mon you son-of-a-bitch!" Ranma screamed, leaping to
the top of a nearby pile of I-beams. "You want virgin meat?
Come get me, you ugly bastard!"

	Ranma heard a low growl erupt from the monster's throat,
and shuddered as it began to lope towards her.

	"Bloody hell..."

	She jumped as the ravener reached the beams, kicking the
top one over as she leapt. Clanging, the beam tumbled down the
pile and caught the ravener across the knees, snapping both its
legs backwards like dry twigs.

	Ranma chuckled out loud from her new vantage on top of
one of the construction sheds.

	"How you like that, ugly? Kinda hard to walk with--
kuso!"

	The monster pulled itself out from under the beam with
its claws, and struggled into a standing position. Ranma could
clearly hear the leg bones snapping back into place as the
thing began to limp over to the construction shed.

	"God, what does it take to stop you?"

	Knowing it was useless, Ranma grabbed an empty bucket
that had been sitting on the roof and hurled it at the ravener.
Seeing the monster bat it away as she leapt again, Ranma
desperately tried to figure out some strategy to use against
it.

	Feeling, rather than hearing or seeing it coming, Ranma
dodged to one side as she landed. An invisible force blast like
the one that caught her in Midori and Hisawa's apartment
slammed into the girder next to her. Not stopping to look,
Ranma could hear the girder groan behind her.

	Another force blast caught Ranma in the side. She was
whipped around violently and tossed to the ground.

	By the time her vision cleared enough for her to see, the
ravener was standing right on top of her.

	"Damnitt..." Ranma hissed, rolling out from under the
thing. Snarling, it made an animalistic lunge at her. Just
barely avoiding it, Ranma leapt to her feet and tried to run.

	The monster swiped at her, tearing five stinging gashes
in her back.

	Ranma managed to leap away, cringing at the pain.

	"Oh... you're gonna die now... ouch..."

	Gathering all her rage at being scratched, all her
sureness and anger, Ranma put her hands together and screamed.

	"MOUKO TAKABISHA," she yelled, letting the bluish ball of
fire leap from her body. "Eat that, you son-of-a-bitch!"

	She leapt away again, her eyes on the ki blast as it tore
across the construction yard.

	The blast slammed directly into the monster's chest,
throwing it back several feet. As it picked itself off the
ground, Ranma realized that the monster was actually smoldering
from the attack.

	"You stay down... no, don't you dare get back up.
Damnitt!"

	Ranma sprinted away from the monster, trying to find
something... anything to stop it with. Remembering her mother's
words about the ravener's indestructable nature, Ranma began to
lose hope of beating the thing.

	Knowing that doom lay in getting too close to the hideous
beast, Ranma resorted to throwing things at the monster to
distract it. Bricks, two by fours, power tools... all were
simply batted away or splintered by those disgusting claws.

	Growing desperate, Ranma tried another kick.

	The monster lunged past the kick and grabbed for Ranma's shirt, rather 
than her body. Its actions made it obvious that it had plans for her before 
it killed her.

	Ranma rolled with the punch, and leapt back out of the
monster's reach, her face still stinging with the punch. She
reeled at the disgusting feeling of it. It was clammy, and
cold, like a corpse. It had a cold burning...

	"Nah... wouldn't work in reverse..." Ranma breathed. Or
would it?

	At this point she had nothing else to try, so Ranma began
to run in circles around the monster.

	She could see that she was confusing it, staying just out
of reach, but near enough to catch. In seconds, she had the
monster lumbering around in a spiral with her.

	In her path, Ranma spied a bucket of nails. Almost as an
afterthought, instead of stepping over it, Ranma kicked the
bucket of nails up, over the monster's head.

	"Let's see if this'll work..." Ranma whispered, again
gathering all of her rage and hot feelings. Feeling the air
resistance gathering around her, Ranma drove a punch into the
air. "HIRYUU SHOUTEN HA!!!!"

	At first, Ranma thought that it wasn't going to work.
Then, however, the ground exploded around the ravener.

	Rather than a convective tornado of energy, the backwards
Hiryuu Shouten Ha had produced a whirlpool. It was sucking the
loose dirt off the ground into the center of the implosion,
concealing the ravener's struggling form. As well, the bucket
of nails Ranma had kicked up, up-ended, and was feeding sixteen
penny shrapnel into the attack as well.

	Ranma could feel the swirling vortex pulling at her,
dragging her in. She fell over backwards, and did her best to
scrabble away from the dreadful current.

	She scrambled over to a nearby pole, and clutched on to
it for dear life.

	Finally, the air settled, and Ranma turned to see the
results of her attack.

	The dust was just settling around the center of the
implosion, and there was a limp figure lying on the ground in
the middle of it.

	"Please be dead..." Ranma pleaded under her breath.

	The figure began to struggle, and push itself to its
feet.

	"GYAHH!" Ranma screamed.

	The ravener lurched to its feet. It was badly injured by
the attack, but not dead by any means. The nails and other
debris had embedded into its face and body, and it was oozing a
nasty black ichor from dozens of different wounds. Still, even
though one of its arms hung loosely at its side, attached by
little more than a strip of gooey black flesh, the ravener came
for Ranma.

	Exhausted and panting from her effort, Ranma began to jog
away from the wounded beast. Her back was on fire, and she was
running out of ideas.

	She almost ran head on into the floating I-beam. Looking
up, she could see that it was suspended about face level from a
nearby crane. She guessed that it was supposed to be used as a
girder higher up in the building, and had been left hanging
when the construction workers left for the day.

	The ravener's arm *had* very nearly been torn from its
body. And Nabiki *had* pulled that one guy's dick clean off his
body!

	With a mean expression, Ranma grabbed hold of the I-beam
and began to pull.

	The ravener was still lurching up behind her, but Ranma
risked pulling back on the beam as far as she could. When she
was just about to lose her grip on the heavy beam, she began to
push forward. She was running by the bottom of the arc.

	A quick glance behind her revealed that the ravener had
almost reached her.

	She hopped up onto the beam and, holding onto the thick
steel cable, rode it to the top of the other end of the arc.

	She swung right past the ravener.

	"C'mon... she pleaded, leaning into the backswing. As the
beam started to descend again, she leaned hard to one side,
trying to steer the beam.

	*SCHWIK*

	Ranma winced at the sound as the edge of the beam caught
the ravener in the neck. Its nail-studded head popped off,
propelled by the beam in a long arc, spewing black goo all the
while.

	"YES!!!" Ranma shouted in exhausted glee.

	The head bounced once off a stack of bricks and landed on
the ground with a wet thump.

	"YATTA!! Die die die die, you nasty bastard!"

	Still riding the beam, Ranma felt it swing back again.
She was quite surprised to see the ravener's body still groping
blindly in the air for her.

	"I don't believe it!!!!"

	Grabbing the crane's cable and pushing down on the beam
hard with her feet, she managed to change its angle.

	It was a feat of strength and endurance, but Ranma
managed to aim the beam so that it caught the ravener's body
square in the gut on the downswing.

	With an explosion of black gore, it punched through the
ravener, picking it up off the ground. Ranma kicked at the
beam, forcing it to slide out of the loop of steel cable
holding it aloft. Shimmying up the cable, Ranma was quite
satisfied to see the beam, and what was left of the ravener's
body slide into the same stack of bricks near its disembodied
head.

	In three pieces, with bits and pieces and black goo
strewn all around it, the ravener had finally quit moving.

	Seeing a gas can near the crane, Ranma ran over and
uncapped it. Avoiding stepping in any of the black goo, she
liberally poured diesel all over the monster and the pile of
bricks. Then, using a rock to scrape a spark off the steel
beam, she watched the fiend burn.

- To be continued...
* * *
Chris Jones - guilty@arn.net
The Ranma 1/2 Gallery - http://cyberwheel.simplenet.com/ranma

It's 1999. Do you know what your children are?