Ranma 1/2 used without permission
C&Cis, as always, welcome and appreciated


        For those of you who haven't read the revised version of Crimson
Dawn 7 I just put out, please note that Nabiki opted to keep her suspicions
about Ranma to herself rather than tell everyone about it. With that said,
on with the fic. ^_^


=================================

        //AH! Man, that hurts!\\ Ranma thought as he doffed his cloak and
dogi. The clothing lay in a pile on the rough surface of Tokyo Genreal
Hospital's roof as Ranma forced his mind to ignore the pain his body was
feeling. As he traversed the rooftops on his way back to the hospital, the
pain from his injuries had been muted. He knew he had been hurt, but could
not feel it. After removing the cloak, however, the pain returned with a
vengenace, almost taking his breath away.
        The cold wind blew through his Chinese blouse and pants like a
ginsu, numbing his skin with it's icy chill. His breath came out in clouds
of white steam, drfiting upward before being carried off by the moving air.
        //Gotta get off this roof,\\ Ranma thought as he stuffed the outfit
back in the ventilation shaft. Replacing the grate, he rose to his feet and
made his way to the door leading into the depths of the hospital. The pain
in his ribs was still bad, but at least manageable. It wouldn't slow him
down much, perhaps he could slip it past Akane.

        "Looks like you had a rough night," came an ancient, scratchy voice
from behind him. Ranma jumped in surprise, taking in an involuntary gasp of
cold air as he spun around to face the speaker.
        "Do ya HAVE to sneak up on people like that?" Ranma asked
indignantly as he stared at Cologne. The wizened matriarch simply remained
in place, balancing effortlessly on the tip of her staff as she eyed him
dispassionately.
        "It is one of the perks that comes with all my years," Cologne
replied in a flat tone. Ranma stood his ground, his eyes locked on hers. He
didn't know what the old ghoul wanted with him, nor did he care. All he
wanted to do was get back to Akane.
        "It looks like you have a couple of ribs broken, son-in-law,"
Cologne said in that same tone, as though she couldn't care less about his
injuries. "It must have been one rough fight."
        "It ain't none of your business," Ranma snarled. "I'm goin' in. I'm
freezing my ass up here."
        "It is now," Cologne said, her voice going from flat to almost
arctic in the space of a second. Her white mane billowed slightly in the
breeze as she reached into her green tunic. Withdrawing her hand, she
produced a jade vial from the folds of the fabric.
        //Oh, hell,\\ Ranma thought as his eyes fell on the emerald
container. His heart nearly froze in his chest, his mind spiralling
uncontrollably into a wild panic. Cologne just stood there, staring at him
with a neutral expression on her wrinkled face.

        "I know what this is, son-in-law," Cologne said, her voice still
cold as the air around them. "Where did you get it?" She could see from the
boy's face that his mind was in total chaos, Ranma simply wasn't very
skilled at hiding his thoughts and feelings. Emotionally, he was an open
book for anyone to read.
        Ordinarily, Cologne would have preferred not to use such a direct
approach as this. The truth never stayed hidden forever, eventually finding
its way back to the surface. Sometimes it took a while; months, years, or
even centuries, but it always came out in the end.
        However, Cologne wasn't sure they had any such time. Here, Ranma had
somehow gotten his hands on a substance Cologne had seen only once before in
her entire life, back when she had just begun to blossom into womanhood.

        Cologne had once contracted the same unfortunate disease that had
been eating away at Akane. It was known as consumption back then, but the
result was the same, Cologne had been dying before she had the chance to live.
        Had it not been for Fei Quan, the disease would have consumed her.
Fei Quan had been Cologne's mentor, a friend and teacher whom Cologne had
loved dearly. She'd had a vial of the Crimson Dawn, which she said she
bought from a travelling merchant many years before. Joketsuzoku's clerics
had not been able to reverse or even slow the progress of the tumors, and so
Fei Quan had begged on hands and knees to use Crimson Dawn.
        The Council had refused. While Crimson Dawn's healing powers were
incredible, even greater than the springs at Ryuugenzawa, nothing was known
of possible side-effects. The ancient texts which related to the mystical
substance had been badly ravaged by time and the elements, and much of the
legend was lost forever.
        Cologne never really knew just what had pushed Fei Quan to defy the
Council that night. Perhaps it was love, or a mix of other emotions, but Fei
Quan had given Cologne the Crimson Dawn.
        Cologne's honor was untainted, having not known the decision of the
Council not to use the Crimson Dawn. Fei Quan, however, had been punished
severely. Stripped of all rank and posessions, disowned by her family and
her tribe, Fei Quan had been executed in the forests surrounding
Joketsuzoku, her body left to rot and her spirit to wander the Mortal Plane.
        As far as Cologne's miraculous recovery went, the Council had
explained that the cleric's efforts had finally paid off, and that the young
girl was fortunate indeed. It was a thin veil over the truth, but nobody in
the villiage would ever question it out loud. There were many things that
the council did not share with the warriors and workers, artifacts and
spells that they felt were best left buried. Crimson Dawn was one of them,
as Cologne soon learned as her preparation for a seat on the council began.
To this day, she still felt the side-effects of Crimson Dawn, changes that
her mind, body, and soul went through that still haunted her after three
centuries.

        "It ain't none a your business!" Ranma shouted as Cologne wrapped up
her trip down memory's pot-hole ridden lane. "Now lemme alone!"
        Cologne opened her mouth to reply when a feeling of cold washed over
her, chilling her down to the blood. It was a presence she knew, having met
him a few times before. But why was he...
        "Nova Blast!" came the shout from the darkness barely a second
before the angry red shaft of energy lanced down towards Ranma.

======================================

        //Now this looks interesting,\\ Nabiki thought as she stared at
Ranma and Cologne's face off. The chill air stabbed mercilessly through the
jeans she wore, her sweater not faring much better.
        After having managed to extract herself from the crowd below, citing
the need for a visit to the bathroom, she had gone over her train of thought
about Ranma's recent behaivior and nearly busted out laughing. Ranma, the
caped avenger? It was sheer lunacy! 
        Crouched behind a large piece of machinery whose purpose Nabiki
could not divine, she had sat in wait for Ranma to return. Nabiki had wanted
to catch Ranma at his most vulnerable, removing the weird cloak, and grill
him. She'd had it all planned out and was confident that he would crack.
After all, he wasn't the best liar on earth.
        Cologne's almost gravelly voice had caught her as much off-guard as
it had Ranma. As she stared at the two, her ears strained to make out
Cologne's exact words. Ranma's shouted reply that it wasn't her business
reached her loud and clear, giving Nabiki cause to believe that Cologne was
probably asking about Ranma's whereabouts.
        It was entirely possible that Nabiki could learn what she wanted to
without having to approach Ranma at all. Perhaps if she just let Cologne do
the all the hard work, she could end up with the rewards. Idly, Nabiki
wondered if Cologne knew she was there. It was very likely, perhaps she
didn't care that Nabiki was watching, or that she wanted her to see what was
about to happen.

        "Nova Blast!" The shout made Nabiki's heart stop for a moment, the
red blast lancing the darkness as it streaked toward Ranma. Ranma leapt
backward, though his timing looked a little off. The blast detonated on
impact with the roof, the concussive force flinging Ranma through the air
like a limp ragdoll. Nabiki watched as Ranma hit the roof hard on his back,
a short cry of pain bursting from his throat.
        //I don't think this is a good thing,\\ Nabiki thought as she looked
at the black-clad man who had appeared from out of the darkness.

========================================

        //What now?\\ Ranma groused as he rose to his feet. The pain in his
ribs, which had been bad before, was now almost unbearable as it stabbed
into him again and again savagely. The agony made his vision blur as tears
welled involuntarily in his eyes. Ranma shook his head violently in an
attempt to regain his focus, whoever this was had managed to get the drop on
him and Ranma could not afford to let him press the advantage.
        The darkened roof almost reluctantly came back into focus as Ranma
fought to ignore the screaming from his ribs. He saw a figure in black
standing in the glow of the pale moonlight, a cloak billowing gently in the
breeze. Ranma could almost feel a pair of intense eyes boring into him,
shock numbing his pain as he realized just who was standing before him.
        "Aw, not you again!" he shouted at the shadowy form.
        "You were expecting maybe Bela Lugosi?" the form replied in his icy
voice as he approached.
        Ranma assumed a stance, feet about shoulder-width apart and arms
bent at the elbows with his fists perpendicular and on each side of his
face. The stance strongly resembled the traditional boxer's crouch, and
provided Ranma with a good amount of stability. He'd need every trick in the
book to fight this guy again, especially in his injured condition.

        Karasu eyed his prey critically as he began his approach. He had
underestimated this mortal once, and would not do it again.
        //Odd...\\ he thought as he shifted his vision to a more ephemeral
band. The mortal, whose name was revealed to be Ranma, began to glow a
bright shade of blue tinged with streaks of pink. A Jusenkou curse, alright,
with the blue aura. The threads of pink indicated his particular affliction,
the Nyanniichuan. Jusenkyou was the only trace of magic Ranma posessed. No
other magical auras, no artifacts, nothing. However, the injuries were the
same ones Karasu had inflicted on the man with the cloak. The smell was the
same as well. No doubt about it, this was indeed the same man.
        "Karasu!" Cologne shouted from behind him. "What are you doing?"
        "Honored Elder," Karasu said without taking his eyes off of Ranma,
"I warn you, do not stand in my way."
        "Why are you pursuing Ranma?" Cologne asked.
        "Do not concern yourself with that," Karasu replied in a tone that
said that the discussion was over.
        "C'mon, then," Ranma said in a weak voice. Karasu watched as the
mortal struggled to remain conscious despite the pain that had to be lancing
through him. He had to admit, the boy had spirit if not good common sense.
        "Son-in-law!" Cologne shouted, "Enough!"

        Karasu didn't bother to wonder why Cologne called this boy
"son-in-law". Ranma had begun to charge, his ki flaring to life, visible
even when Karasu stopped using mystical senses. The red glow was charged
with anger that bordered on rage. Karasu allowed a small smile to cross his
lips as he prepared the spell. This one would be it, the boy would give him
no more trouble.
        The boy closed the distance much faster than Karasu expected, but he
was still ready. The first blow struck the cloak a millisecond after Karasu
disappeared from beneath it's folds.

        //What the?\\ Ranma thought in shock as the cloak wrapped around him
like a living thing, intent on crushing him. The silken fabric enclosed him
immediately, pinning his arms and legs in it's suffocating grip.
        "MMRRPHH!" Ranma howled in agony as the tendrils of electricity
surged through him. Every nerve in his body flared to life with intense pain, 
instantly shattering his focus as a tortured scream ripped from his lungs.
        His lungs began to burn from the lack of air, the cloak cutting off
any oxygen. The pain seemed never to end, attacking him without mercy as the
seconds stretched into infinity. As suddenly as it began, the pain ceased,
the cloak disappearing from around him. Ranma collapsed to the rough surface
of the roof, his lungs gulping air desperately as his nerves continued to
fire pain signals in overwhelming numbers to his brain.

===============================

        "Oh, my God..." Nabiki whispered as the cloak wrapped about Ranma's
body. Her blood ran cold at the sound of Ranma's agonized scream, even
muffled it sounded excruciating.
        Her eyes widened as the cloak hoisted Ranma into the air, blue
electricity crakcling around it's black surface. As she witnessed Ranma's
plight, and the fact that Cologne was doing nothing to help, Nabiki knew
that Ranma was going to die.
        But how could she help? If he was powerful enough to take out Ranma,
what could she do? Cologne was simply standing there watching, not even
lifting a finger to aid him.
        //I can't fight,\\ Nabiki thought, fighitng to keep the fear at bay,
//but I know a bunch of people who can.\\ Looking to her left, she found a
clear path to the door leading to the stairwell. Screwing up her courage,
she made a break for the entryway, praying to all the Kami that the guy with
the ponytail wouldn't notice her.

        Nabiki almost let out a sigh of relief when she closed the metal
door behind her. Not stopping for breath, she barreled down the steps, the
sounds of her feet slapping the steps echoing loudly in the tight, shadowed
space.
        She hoped she wouldn't accidentally twist her ankle on her way down.
Tumbling down a flight or two of stairs wasn't an appealing prospect. After
all, how could she let the others know what was happening on the roof if she
was laying in a twisted heap at the bottom of a flight of steps with a
broken neck?
        Nabiki forced herself to slow a little as she descended the steps.
After what seemed like forever, she found herself before the door that
granted access to the floor where everyone waited for her return from the
bathroom.

==================================

        "Nabiki?" Akane asked, disturbed by the look of fear on her older
sister's face. Her breath came in heavy gasps as if she had been running,
her her face red. "What's wrong?"
        "It's...Ranma," Nabiki said between gulps of air.
        "What's wrong?!" Akane asked, fear in her voice. Everyone's heads
had turned to face Nabiki, expressions of intent interest laced with anxiety
on their faces.
        "There was this guy," Nabiki said, "Who just came from out of
nowhere on the roof and started attacking Ranma."
        "So what else is new?" Ukyo asked, concerned. Ranma getting in a
fight wasn't news, but why would Nabiki look and sound so concerned about it?
        "Ranma's losing!" she exclaimed. "And Cologne isn't doing a thing to
help!!"
        "Great Grandmother here?!" Shampoo said in disbelief.
        "Yeah, and if we don't move, that Karasu guy will finish Ranma for
good!"
        "KARASU!?" Shampoo and Mousse exchanged nervous glances before the
former leapt to her feet and charged down the corridor. Mousse followed
suit, with Akane rushing after them, overtaking the blind boy. The rest
followed behind them, their feet thundering on the cold tile floor.

======================================

        Karasu hoisted the semi-conscious mortal into the air by a fistful
of his red Chinese shirt. The mortal's wounds were serious, untreated even
fatal, but he would live. Lord Enma wanted this one. Badly.
        "Karasu!" Cologne exclaimed, her tone one of a woman used to getting
her own way, "What is the meaning of this?!"
        "Lord Enma wishes to see this one," Karasu replied in his usual
arctic tone.
        "Why? What has he done?"
        "This mortal has been found harvesting souls," Karasu said, casting
a glare in Cologne's direction.
        "Don't be a fool!" Cologne shouted, a hint of anger creeping into
her voice. "This boy no more knows how to harvest souls than any other!"
        "Be that as it may," Karasu said, "I have found him involved, and I
must take him before Lord Enma. I assure you, he will recieve a fair trial."
        "As fair as a god can be," Cologne said sarcastically. She knew full
well how fair the gods could be, which wasn't very.

======================================

        //Well, now,\\ the old man thought as he observed the unfolding
drama on the roof. The darkness covered him like a lover, a thing almost
alive. At least it seemed that way in the shadow realms, the space between
the planes.
        The old man had come, intending to send the boy on one more errand
before ending their relationship. He had more than enough energy stored over
the millenia, the final stone being just a mild case of overkill.

        //Ah, there they are.\\ The image of the Mortal Plane showed a group
of people bursting out from the door to the interior of the hospital. He had
been wondering how long it would take that Nabiki to get them up there. His
eyes locked on Akane, who stood just in front of the other two girls who
layed claim to Ranma's heart.
        A malicious grin split his tanned and weathered face as he gazed at
the girl with the short black hair. He knew full well just what else the
Crimson Dawn could do to her, and also how those side-effects could be
manipulated and multiplied. He needed only a few more souls to fill the soul
stone to capacity, and using her would be a deliciously ironic way to do it.

==========================================

        "Put him down!" Akane shouted at the man in black. Seeing Ranma
hanging limply from the stranger's grasp caused her heart to freeze in her
chest, fear sinking its talons into her as her fiancee dangled in the air.
        "I am afraid I cannot do that," the shadowy form replied as he
turned his gaze on her. Akane nearly took a step back as her eyes locked
with his, looking for all the world like shards of ice colder than any on
the face of the earth.
        "I said PUT HIM DOWN!" Akane screamed again, the cold fear within
her rapidly giving way to rage. The cold in the air seemed to disappear as
the anger spread its glorious heat throughout her veins. 
        "Shampoo no let you take Ranma!"
        "Yeah, if you want Ran-chan, you gotta go through us!" Akane herad
the voices of Shampoo and Ukyo distantly. They were outside her focus, along
with the rest of the world. Ranma, and the man who held him, were all that
she acknowledged.
        "Oridnarily, I would love to oblige you," he said, "but I have more
important matters to attend to than humiliating a bunch of children."

        "Indeed you do!" Everyone looked about hurriedly, the sudden
appearance of the strange voice startling to all. From out of the shadows
stepped an old man, the darkness warping and twisting around him as he
appeared. Karasu fixed his gaze on the new arrival, the warped space rapidly
returning to it's normal state.
        //Stepping through the Shadow Plane?\\ he thought in surprise, an
alien sense of anxiety threatening to creep through him. Not even Karasu
could travel through the Shadow Plane at will.
        "You," he said, a hint of anger sliding into his voice. So, this boy
wasn't solely responsible after all. "You're the one harvesting souls."
        "You are correct, sir," The old man said in a mocking voice. His
brown trenchcoat billowed slightly in the breeze, a worn fedora in his left
hand. 

        "Who are you?" Akane asked, the sudden appearance of the strange old
man jarring her out of her anger induced state. She couldn't fathom why, but
his presence was oddly disturbing to her.
        "I, dear girl, am your reason for living," the old man replied as
his eyes locked with Akane's. She felt an electric jolt rip down her spine,
nearly snatching her breath from her lungs. What was happening?
        "What the hell are you talking about?" Soun snarled.
        "Ask the boy that Karasu just pulped," the old man said with a
sneer.  "He can explain everything. Once he regains consciousness, that is."
        "Buster, you better start makin' some sense," Ukyo said, warning
clear in her voice.
        "But of course, dear child," the old man said, his sadistic sneer
firmly in place. "Perhaps this will explain!"
        Without warning, an intense wave of agony ripped through Akane's
body. Every muscle tightened at once, the torment quickly overriding her
conscious thought. Akane's stiomach cramped violently as the pain spread
through her like fire.
        Deep within herself, Akane was aware of what was happening.
Something was wrong, she knew, something terribly wrong. The world outside
disappeared, and her body felt as though it was being torn apart. She fought
desperately to regain control, to find the center of calm that would allow
her to weather this hellish storm.
        As she struggled, Akane felt another presence stirring within the
confines of her mind. The pain became augmented by sheer terror as she felt
the alien presence grow and approach ever nearer.
       Despite all her valiant struggles, the presence enclosed her. Akane
could feel her will slipping away, her own self being absorbed into
something far greater. The dark entity invaded her very soul, it's cold
tendrils smashing through her defenses easily as it melded with Akane on a
spiritual level. Soon after, Akane Tendo was no more, and would never be again.

===================================

        Well, that's part 8! I sincerely hope you all enjoy this