Chapter 3 of repost!
------------------------------ CUT HERE ------------------------------
wyrm@mail.utexas.edu
<<o-<o>-================-<o>-o>>
Nodoka awoke with a pounding headache. Groaning, she slowly sat up,
all the while resisting the pain that exploded in her head from rising too
fast. She shifted, but found herself bound. "Hello!" she called.
She heard a clanking of metal on metal, and then a screech. She winced
at the bright light that flooded the room. "Ah, awake at last, I see..."
said a voice that could be nothing but pure evil. Nodoka's eyes adjusted
to the light, and found herself facing a man with a self-satisfied smile
on his lips. "Good evening, Saotome-san," he greeted her, but the voice
didn't reassure her one bit.
At once screwing up her courage, Nodoka's face hardened into a defiant
scowl and snapped, "Who are you!? What do you want with me?!"
The man, dressed in a black turtleneck and jeans, slipped off his
shades and examined Nodoka. His prisoner repressed an involuntary shutter,
as she gazed into those evil, evil eyes. "I am Demo, Tzimisce elder. You,
on the other hand, are going to help me capture your son, Saotome Ranma."
"I'll never help you!" Nodoka spat.
Demo's smile got wider, but was no less menacing. It was so menacing
that it made Nodoka gasp with fright. This was probably because his fangs
gleamed in the light.
"Yes," he sighed. "That's what they all say..."
Tj/Wyrm presents
A GAC Production
<<o-<o>-================-<o>-o>>
H U N T R E S S
By Thomas R Jefferys
<<o-<o>-================-<o>-o>>
Is it really necessary I go through this again? :)
Takahashi-san possesseth the rights and lefts to ye old series and players
Ranma 1/2. White Wolf Game Studios owneth the World of Darkness and their
various critters, but ye is warned that I shall useth my own
interpretation. The following fic is my godden-dammen ficken. :)=
Note to ye of the Red Neck and thy pals... This ficken is dark, dark,
dark, goddamn it's dark! If ye trully not wishen thee to read this, hit ye
olde Delete key.
Oh, with Jon D. Farber as Arcady LaRouche
<<o-<o>-================-<o>-o>>
CHAPTER 3: Reunion
A trenchcoated man strutted through the streets, whistling an
unidentified and possibly nonexistent tune. An early-morning paper was
tucked underneath his arm. He figured that he had just enough time to read
it before sunrise, as his apartment was only a block away.
The man froze suddenly as he spotted a figure strolling down the
street his way. He narrowed his eyes and frowned, then approached the
other figure cautiously. At one sword-length from each other, the two
halted their progress. The figure, a tall man in a blazer seemed to stare
from behind those Shades of Utter Cool +3.
The one in the trenchcoat stated in grim tones, "In the end, there can
be only one!"
The other man frowned. "Shut up, Arcady!" he snapped. "This ain't
'Highlander: the Series', y'know!" The trenchcoated man, Arcady LaRouche,
grinned as he had gotten Palmer yet again with a coined phrase from one
movie that he was partial to. After all, he had the trenchcoat for it.
Palmer sighed. His good friend and fellow vampire certainly had his
moments, but other times he was just plain corny. Like at this moment. But
he snapped out of it; this was not the time rebuke Arcady for making
succotash. "I have urgent business to discuss with you."
"Can't this wait until evening?" Arcady asked.
Palmer shook his head.
"Okay, okay...Your haven or mine?"
Palmer hiked a thumb at Arcady's apartment building. "What do *you*
think, Brainiac!"
-- ---- --
"Okay, whatcha got?" asked Arcady as he threw his trenchcoat on the
coat hanger. He crossed to his comfy chair ("Don't even think about it,
Wyrm-sama...") and settled in as Palmer set himself on his couch.
Flipping open his briefcase, he produced several documents. "First,
there's your pet project, as it were." Arcady took the papers and started
leafing through them. "Apparently the Huntress has returned to Japan,
moving into the home of one Saotome Ranma, and a few hours later we get
intelligence that the Sabbat plan to Embrace Saotome-san."
"So Shampoo beat us to the punch again, eh?" Arcady asked with no
small amusement.
"So it seems. The woman's uncanny," Palmer frowned.
Arcady let out a chuckle. When Shampoo, dubbed "the Huntress," had
successfully pulled off a raid of a Tremere stronghold fifteen years ago
and made off with fifty of their most treasured thaumaturgical books, to
say that Arcady was impressed is a serious understatement, as is to say
that the Tremere were displeased.
"Anyway, what's so special about this Saotome fellow?" Arcady asked.
Palmer looked at him strangely, then answered, "You know how powerful
the Huntress is." Arcady nodded. "Well, Saotome-san is of the same ilk. A
few of our Verbena foresee that if Saotome-san is Embraced..." He trailed
off, looking a little afraid as he glanced up at Arcady.
"That we would have another 'Hunter' on our hands?" Arcady finished.
"Worse. Much worse. Whole worlds worse!" Palmer alluded darkly.
"Palmer..."
Palmer glanced back at the page, then back at Arcady. The Lasombra
blinked; Palmer, being a vampire like himself, always looked pale, but
Palmer had shifted past pale and had gone to sheet-white. "Saotome-san
would be at least -- I _do_ hope that this Verbena is wrong -- several
hundred times more powerful than Ms. Shampoo."
A dragonfly made its way lazily across the room.
Arcady was shock still. If he had been smoking a cigarette, it
would've long fallen out of his numb lips and set his comfy chair on fire,
consuming him in a roaring inferno. As he didn't smoke, he was not
consumed in a roaring inferno. This didn't prevent Arcady's jaw from
nearly dislocating as it dropped.
"You're kidding, right?" Palmer shook his head. "Shit! Ms. Shampoo's
power has already exceeded that of many of the small-fry elders and her
power hasn't stopped growing yet! And in only, what...twenty years!" The
Lasombra shuddered at the thought, "This Saotome Ranma could easily become
as powerful as a Methuselah!"
"Or more..." Palmer added ominously.
Another dragonfly made its way lazily across the room.
"I did _not_ need to know that!" Arcady murmured. /*What the hell
makes her so goddamn powerful? What would give _him_ that kind of power?*/
"No wonder that the Sabbat's after him."
"Yeah. One thing's for sure, pawns or no, we _cannot_ allow the Sabbat
to have such a powerful member."
"A-fucking-men!" Arcady agreed. He normally didn't swear in such a
sacrilegious way, but considering his stress, it was perfectly
understandable. "I'll get my stuff together first thing in the evening and
book the next flight to Japan."
"Agreed," Palmer nodded.
A third dragonfly buzzed across the room...before Arcady swatted it to
oblivion. "Damn dragonflies! The place is infested with them. The things
get in my clothes, chew up my books, crap on my rugs and get into the
food! They also make their nests in my shoes; if I'm not careful, things
can get pretty disgusting in the evening. I'm sure they're not normal
dragonflies either, seeing how they're here in _my_ apartment and not
buzzing around some swamp. Musta pissed off a Verbena somewhere.
"Other tenants get to have a nice, normal infestation of roaches. Do
you have any idea how hard it is getting an exterminator down to get rid
of an infestation of dragonflies? They either laugh, or give you the
number of a good psychologist! I mean, do I even look *remotely* like a
Malkavian?!"
Palmer smirked at Arcady's rant. "Not touching that one."
Arcady ignored him. "I'm near broke because I have to replace
everything every few months. No less than fifty important documents have
been *eaten* in past year alone, and now I'm in the Del'Roh's doghouse,
getting chicken-shit missions. And it's all because of these FUCKING
DRAGONFLIES!"
A few minutes of silence dragged by. Then Palmer interrupted the
silence by saying, "So you don't like them?" Arcady facefaulted. Glancing
at the clock, Palmer asked (after Arcady recovered), "Can I crash here
today? I'll never make it back to my haven before sunrise."
"Sure. You can take the couch. ...Oh, and watch out for the dragonfly
turds."
"GROSS!"
-====||====-
NERIMA DISTRICT
---------------
The lock made a satisfying click as its key turned in its cylinder.
Ukyou removed the key and dropped it into her fanny-pack along with the
rest of her key collection. "There, all locked up! Ready to go,
Hikaru-kun?"
A man, about a foot taller than her and bulging of an almost inhuman
mass of muscles, smiled and nodded. "Yep, I'm ready." He held an arm out
to Ukyou. "Shall I escort you to the Tendou Residence, m'lady?"
Ukyou giggled. "Hikaru-kun, you're hopeless romantic!" she teased as
she accepted the arm, looping her own around the elbow. Ukyou grinned
internally; Akane and the rest of the female population of Furinkan made a
big mistake in discounting Gosunkugi Hikaru so quickly. Not only was the
shy boy now a major hunk of beefcake, he was sweet and fun to be around.
/*Not to mention his performance in bed,*/ Ukyou added mentally with
an evil chuckle.
--]|--======--|[--
The door slammed smartly as Ranma threw it shut. "God-fucking-dammit!"
Ranma growled, roughly kicking his shoes off and stomped down the hallway
from the foyer. He collapsed onto the floor, pulling himself to the table.
Ranma sighed with frustration and worry.
Across the table, Akane gazed sadly at her husband. "No luck, huh,"
she asked softly. Ranma shook his head negative. Akane scooted around the
table, moving behind her husband and began massaging his shoulders.
"*mmmm* That feels good..." Ranma murmured as he basked in the
attention Akane was giving him. Akane gently kneaded his tired muscles,
massaging the tense feeling away. Ranma started nodding off...
Then the doorbell rang, and Ranma was suddenly without support.
"Woah!" he yelped, falling onto his back. "Hey!"
"That must be Ukyou and her fiance!" Akane declared as she ran for the
door.
"Ucchan?" Ranma asked to thin air, then flipped up onto his feet, and
made his own rush for the door. "Hey, Akane. Who is Ucchan's fiance?" he
asked.
Akane smiled. "Gosunkugi Hikaru!" she declared brightly.
Ranma looked at Akane for a long minute, then burst out in laughter.
"GOSUNKUGI!?!" Ranma guffawed. "You gotta be kidding me! No way is Ucchan
gonna be going out with that geek!" Akane's smile changed into one of her
'o/~ I know something you don't! o/~' smiles as her husband pulled the
door open...
...and found himself staring at the most massively muscled torso he'd
ever seen. Ranma stood with shock for a second, then slowly tilted his
head back to try to take a look at this guy's face. By the time he
acquired Gosunkugi Hikaru's face, he felt a crick manifest in his neck.
"Holy shit!" Ranma declared as Hikaru grinned at him.
Ukyou peeked out behind Hikaru and gave Ranma a bright grin. "Hi,
Ranchan! Like my choice in fiances?"
Ranma's brain restarted, and he looked at his long-time friend. A very
large sweatdrop collected on his scalp and dripped down. "Jeez, Ucchan.
You sure you can handle him?"
Ukyou blushed. "That's a rather personal question, Ranchan."
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!"
"I think I know what he's talking about," Hikaru interrupted. "And for
your information, Saotome, she can wipe the floor with me." Ukyou elbowed
him.
/*Ah.*/
Akane lead Hikaru and Ukyou to the main room. Tashimi's eyes were
glued to the TV, and didn't notice the two new guests enter, at least at
first.
"Tashimi-chan..." Akane called to her daughter, "...say hello to our
guests."
"Hello to our guests," Tashimi deadpanned, eyes still glued to the TV.
Akane frowned as Ukyou and Hikaru snickered. "You know what I mean,
young lady..."
"Okay, okay..." Tashimi sighed. As she turned, she began introducing
herself, but the greeting died as she got a look at Ukyou's fiance. "Oh,
wow! What a stud..." Tashimi breathed.
Hikaru smiled and introduced himself. "Hi. I'm Hikaru. Gosunkugi
Hikaru. And you are..."
"...all yours..." Tashimi sighed.
Hikaru blinked. /*Uh oh. I know that look...*/
"Hands off, honey! He's _my_ boyfriend," Ukyou interrupted with her
voice possessing a bit of menace. Immediately, Tashimi's hopes for a
romance were promptly quashed with an "Awww..." If there was one thing her
parents taught her, it was that others' fiances were strictly off-limits.
Composing herself, she stood and introduced herself. "I'm Saotome
Tashimi."
"Kuonji Ukyou..."
"Otousan's childhood friend? Best okonomiyaki cook in Japan?"
"Yep! That's me!" Ukyou grinned at the compliment. Apparently, Ranma
had told her daughter about her chosen profession.
Tashimi gained a smirk eerily like Nabiki's. "And the cute fiancee."
Ukyou blinked as Ranma tried to look innocent. "You know about that?"
Still smiling like her aunt, Tashimi raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't
everyone?" she asked rhetorically. "The exploits of you and the other
suitors trying to win my dad's hand are legend." Ukyou shifted
uncomfortably as her former fiance's kid scrutinized her.
The chef hemmed and hawed, grinning sheepishly, "Well... You must
understand... your father was so sweet, so strong, and so handsome, every
girl's dream back then--"
"--until, that is, you poured cold water on him," Tashimi snarked.
"Whereupon he became every man's dream!"
Ukyou and Hikaru erupted into laughter, as Tashimi won an indignant
glare from her father. "That's enough out of you, young lady," Ranma
ground out. "Go fetch Shampoo. I think she'll want to see you again."
Tashimi sighed and trotted out to find the guest room.
Ukyou raised her eyebrow. "Shampoo's here?" Ranma nodded. Ukyou
grinned. "How jolly! It'll be good to see her again!"
"Again?"
"Well, not long after Shampoo disappeared, we discovered each other on
this newsgroup, alt.swedish.chef.bork.bork.bork. We've been in regular
contact ever since, but I only met her in person once since she left.
She's aged well, but then that's only to be expected, if Cologne was any
indicator." Ukyou shrugged. "It's amazing how easily we connected once she
pulled out of the Great Ranma's Best Babe Contest."
Ranma nodded.
--]|--======--|[--
Tashimi knocked on the guest room door. "Shampoo-san? Can I come in?"
she called.
She was answered by a grunt of acknowledgement. Tashimi slid open the
door, and was greeted by the sound of tackity-tacking. Approaching
Shampoo, who was sitting crosslegged on her futon, she noticed that
Shampoo was typing on a portable computer with an intense look of
concentration on her face.
She looked over Shampoo's shoulder and saw lines of terse, braced code
flow out of the cruising insertion point. Tashimi blinked. "Shampoo-san?"
"Hang on a sec while I swap this out," Shampoo responded
automatically, her intense look never breaking. Finally, Shampoo typed the
last closing brace and, with a fluidity borne of years of practice, keyed
the escape sequence that saved her file to the microdrive. She then put
the portable into sleep mode and closed the lid down as she set it on the
floor.
She turned to Tashimi and asked her, "What is it, Tashimi-chan?"
"Ukyou and her fiance are here," Tashimi sighed when she said
'fiance'. "They'd like to see you again, and Mom is about to serve
dinner."
/*Hoooboy! Another meeting of the funny farm,*/ Shampoo thought wryly,
/*and I don't think I'm going to get away with the "I'm already full"
excuse again. Now I'll see if I can successfully fake eating.*/
--]|--======--|[--
"Hey, Chinese Hussy," Ukyou's words were on the surface insulting, but
had an undercurrent of good-natured ribbing. It was all in jest, of
course, a subtlety that the Amazon finally learned to recognize and
appreciate.
"Hello yourself, Stupid Spatula Girl," Shampoo smirked, returning the
favor.
"How's life been treating you?"
"Shitty. And you?" Shampoo said in her most cheerful voice. Ukyou
laughed, snatched the startled Amazon into a tight bear-hug. Shampoo
hesitated, and then returned the hug. "It's good to see you again..." she
whispered into Ukyou's ear.
"The feeling is mutual, sugar!" replied the okonomiyaki chef.
Despite their previous rivalry, or maybe because of it, Shampoo and
Ukyou became fast friends when their paths crossed again. Without the
Ranma Factor, the two former rivals had no reason to fight, and found that
they had many things in common. Ie, other than the fact that they were in
direct competition for the hand of their mutual love, they actually
(*gasp*) _liked_ each other.
Ukyou released the hug and pulled back. Her bright smile had faded
into a face of sympathy, with a similar change in her voice. "Mousse's
death still has you broken up, huh?" Shampoo nodded. "You never did tell
me how he died, though..."
Shampoo gave her a hard look. "And you'll never find out, if I have
any say in it!"
Ukyou retreated a step, her hands held up in surrender. "Okay, Okay!
No need to get hissy about it!" Lowering her hands and taking time to
think, Ukyou asked her next question. "Anyway, I take it you haven't
looked for a boyfriend yet."
"No."
Ukyou threw a reproachful look at her. "Listen, girl. You gotta just
put Mousse behind you and move on. While you're letting Mousse's death
drag you down, the best years of your life are passing you by," Ukyou
said. "I mean, I would have thought you wanted the guy dead, the way you
treated him."
Shampoo twitched, a fury of rage bursting forth. "DAMMIT, UKYOU!" she
snarled, "I DIDN'T HATE HIM! I JUST DIDN'T LOVE HIM THAT WAY!! THE
LOVE-BLIND FOOL COULDN'T SEE THAT!!!" Shampoo stopped, shaking and
struggling to control herself. "He was my best friend through childhood,
one of the few friends I had. My best friend..."
Recovering the composure lost during Shampoo's outburst, Ukyou
replied, "You baka, don't you see I'm trying to help you? Why won't you
tell me what's wrong?"
("...What's wrong?")
"Even for a former friend, don't you think that twenty years is a
little long?" Ukyou asked. "Jeez, you act like *you* killed Mousse."
Shampoo cringed. Ukyou noticed, and suddenly she gagged on her heart
as all the pieces fell into place. "You *did* kill Mousse, didn't you." It
was not a question. Shampoo looked up, her eyes shimmering, and dispelled
all of Ukyou's doubt. "Yelping 'yaki, no wonder you're so fucked up!"
Ukyou sighed.
("Shampoo? What's wrong?")
("NO!!!")
The Amazon clapped her hands over her ears, trying to silence her
memories. She felt a false Hunger, an artifact of remembering when she
almost...
(/*I will not give in...*/)
"Yes, that's why I'm so fucked up, Ukyou!" shouted Shampoo, as Ukyou
started from its abruptness.
("NO!!!")
Shampoo tore out of the room, as Ukyou gathered her wits again.
"Shampoo!" Ukyou shouted after the Amazon, but that mane of purple hair
and its owner had disappeared.
Shampoo rushed out from the Saotome home at a dead run, bouncing off
the veranda and over the koi pond. She slowed as she approached a tree on
the other side of the backyard. Her flight ended as her hand made contact
with the tree's rough bark, and Shampoo leaned upon her braced arm. For a
moment she seemed like a statue, then she bent her arm so that her forearm
formed a cushion on which she rested her head...
("Shampoo...")
NERIMA DISTRICT, 1991 AD
------------------------
"...Shampoo."
Shampoo turned to the voice, then smiled with the first real joy in
days. "Ranma! Airen, Nihao!" she squealed, rushing up to her love hugging
him tightly to herself. "Shampoo miss you! Ranma miss me too, yes?"
"Oh, for the love of..." Ranma grumbled, struggling in Shampoo's
strong embrace, "Shampoo, giddoffa me, will ya?"
Shampoo ignored him. She had been in a funk ever since recalling the
details of her first frenzied hunt for blood, especially the memory of
killing Mousse. Now she just wanted to hold her Airen.
A chilling shiver ran through Ranma, icing his bones. "BRRR! You're
cold, Shampoo! What did you do? Play in the refrigerator?" In the back of
his mind, he noted that it wasn't just Shampoo's frigid flesh that giving
him the creeps.
"Ranma, you prostituting Casanova unfaithful sexchanging freak! What
are you doing with your arms around that girl?!" snapped Akane.
"My arms AREN'T around her, you blind violent jealous hammer-happy
tomboy!" Ranma countered, even as his subconscious continued to warn him
that something was very wrong with Shampoo.
Absorbing the comforting warmth of his skin, Shampoo nuzzled without
thinking into Ranma's neck. /*He is so strong...*/ she thought wistfully,
listening intently to the flow of blood through his veins. /*Oh Ranma, you
smell so nice...*/ Shampoo sighed as she sniffed at his skin. The
still-alien Hunger stirred and grew from being so close to a vibrant
vessel, full of life and blood.
"What was that?! Would you care to repeat that?!" Akane growled,
summoning Bakadring.
"C'mon, Akane! Do I have to repeat every little thing I say?" Ranma
taunted. Even as he acted as a human electric blanket for Shampoo, his
danger sense screamed at him to GET THE HELL AWAY FROM SHAMPOO!!
\*So tender...so easy to bite into...*\ she thought, unaware of the
shift in the flavor of her desire. Instinctively, Shampoo's fangs
extended. She was heedless to the Hunger rising within her, unaware that
she was seeking the sonorous throbbing of Ranma's carotid artery.
\*There... Strike... Feed...*\ Shampoo's now primal thoughts
whispered. The Kindred opened her mouth wide and moved in to strike.
"NO!!!" Shampoo shrieked and threw herself back, her humanitas
wresting control from the Beast before she could strike. Her hand clamped
over her mouth, so that Ranma and Akane couldn't see her extended fangs.
Everything stilled for a moment, Shampoo in abhorrence, Ranma and Akane in
puzzled startlement.
"Shampoo? What's wrong?" Ranma asked, stepping closer. Shampoo
retreated a step to match. \*No! I MUST feed! I have no choice but to feed
from this human!*\ Shampoo's fearful stare switched momentarily to a
predatory gaze. /*NO! I will not give in...I must remain in control! I
will not feed from Ranma!*/ A pair of eyelids squeezed shut, hiding the
predator in Shampoo's eyes.
Shampoo finally overcame her urge, and retracted her fangs. Eyes
blinked open, revealing undisguised horror that actually made Ranma
retreat a step. "Sh-Shampoo sorry..." the Amazon girl managed to get out
before racing at a dead run out the door.
-=<oo>=-
Shampoo's eyes opened, dispelling her reminiscence. Someone else was
here, here in the yard. Who? Whoever it was, he was very good at covering
up his presence. Now who...?
Ranma. It had to be Ranma. His ki had a characteristic quality, and if
one knew how to read them, she could easily tell who it was. He was
standing a few yards behind her, halfway to the pond, she guessed.
"Why are you here, Ranma?" Shampoo asked suddenly.
Ranma was indeed standing exactly where Shampoo felt him. "I'm here
for the cure," he declared, "And I'm not going to leave until I get it."
Shampoo slowly turned her head to look him in the eye. Ranma shuddered
at that look, completely cold. It was like the incident with the reversal
jewel, except a thousand times more intense. She held the glare at him for
a moment, and then turned back around. "You're not going to get it from
me, Ranma," Shampoo stated matter-of-factly. "I told you...the cure is
much worse than the curse."
"Well, that's just fine and dandy with you, isn't it?" Ranma asked,
prodding. "After all, you've already been cured of being a cat. Face it,
Shampoo, you're being petty because you lost me twenty years ago."
Shampoo let out a small chuckle. "Don't flatter yourself, Ranma. I'm
the one that sent you the congratulations card." Shampoo shook her head,
still smiling to herself. "Still as egotistical as ever...thinks he's
fucking sliced bread. And in the end, still the child that I left behind
twenty years ago. I wonder why I ever fell for you."
Ignoring the barb, Ranma stepped closer to Shampoo. "Listen, I've been
living with this curse for twenty years. I've searched long and hard for a
cure. I even went back to Jyusenkyo. Nothing worked, Shampoo. Nothing. I
still change into a woman every time I get wet. And here you've found a
cure, and you're not willing to share it?"
Shampoo let out a full laugh. "Cure? CURE?! Ranma, I did NOT get
_cured_. I just exchanged one curse for another. Frankly, I would rather
turn into a cat." Letting out an exasperated sigh, Shampoo continued, "I
found, much to my misfortune, that there are much, MUCH worse curses than
Jyusenkyo. Including this one."
"And that is?"
"I can't tell you, Ranma. And believe me, you _don't_ want to know."
"Shampoo, I'LL decide whether or not the cure is right for me," Ranma
stated. Then he turned his back on her, crossing his arms and waited for
her response.
Shampoo stared at his back. She opened her mouth to try reasoning with
him again, but realizing the futility, stopped and hung her head defeated.
/*Damn it, he's not going to let up until I tell him, will he? Okay...*/
"Ranma?" Shampoo whispered.
Ranma turned back to her, grunting an acknowledgement.
"Do you truly want to know the cure for Jyusenkyo? No matter what it
may be?" she asked in a whisper.
Ranma's heart soared. Finally, Shampoo would tell him how to remove
the curse that had plagued him for two decades. "Yes," he answered,
eagerly.
Shampoo stood, turning toward Ranma. Her face was in shadows. Ranma
watched her intently, aching to know the cure. A bolt of lightning cracked
through the night sky, highlighting her face.
*CRACK-BOOM*
"Nice touch..." Shampoo commented to the sky. Ranma facefaulted.
Shampoo waited for Ranma to recover with a smile on her face, then
continued, suddenly somber again, "The secret cure..."
"Yes?"
"...for the Jyusenkyo curse..."
"Yes?"
*CRACK-AK-BOOM*
"...is death," Shampoo finished almost in a whisper. She turned her
back on him as she waited for what she said to sink in.
Ranma stared at Shampoo for a minute. "What...?" he whispered in
disbelief.
"You heard me."
Ranma swallowed. "Uh...Doncha mean 'near death'?"
"No," Shampoo replied. "Literal death."
Ranma felt his blood pressure rise. "Why you..." Clenching his fists
in anger, Ranma growled, "You bitch..."
Shampoo stiffened. Her voice was tight with carefully restrained
anger. "What?!"
"You said you'd tell me the cure!" Ranma exclaimed, almost shouting.
"Of all the selfish, petty things you've done, this is the worst!"
Shampoo turned to face him, her face held in a light scowl. "This is
for your own good, Ranma. I--"
"BULLSHIT!" Ranma snapped. "I think you know what you want. You want
me to come with you, steal me away from Akane and marry you!"
"That's not--"
"It won't work, Shampoo. I'm not going with you, so you might as well
tell me," Ranma said sternly, almost shouting. "Don't feed me that bull
about death being the cure. I know for a fact it ain't death, 'cuz you're
still alive!"
Shampoo winced.
"Tell me, Shampoo!"
Shampoo twisted away.
"Tell me!"
Shampoo cringed.
"Why did Jyusenkyo release you?!"
"Because I'm a *VAMPIRE*!!!" Shampoo shrieked, causing Ranma to start
a step from startlement.
A moment of silence passed between them as Shampoo realized what she
had done. Ranma knew her secret now; the iron curtain had fallen. With
that barrier down, there was nothing to prevent torrent of emotion.
Shampoo's face turned from fury to that of anguish, on the verge of
tears. "You don't know what it's like, Ranma...the constant hunger for
blood, replacing every human desire...a beast inside you urging you to
commit unspeakable evil...not knowing when you'll lose control and
frenzy...waking up with the empty husk of someone you once cared for in
your mouth...feeling your humanity slipping away day by day..."
Shampoo's voice quivered, her eyes shimmering. She tried to squeeze
the tears back, but a drop of dark liquid crawled down her cheek despite
her efforts. "...the knowledge that you are no longer human -- no longer
even living -- but a creature damned, and a mockery to all that is natural
and right...your body a corpse, your lungs unbreathing, your heart
unbeating, your flesh cold and pale as death...no pulse, no breath, no
warmth of flesh, no food, no drink, no sex, no children...not even the
escape of eternal rest...no true life, only this twisted perversion of
life...
"Oh, Ranma. I am in hell!" Shampoo whimpered wretchingly. Her legs
buckled under her as she buried her face in her hands, sobbing.
Ranma regained his balance, and looked down at the pitiful figure
beneath him, his mind raging. "You know Shampoo, this is low, even for
you. Now you're gonna tell me that the only way for you to get cured of
this vampirism," Ranma said caustically, "is for me to marry you. Only my
undying love can restore you, right?" Shampoo stopped crying, but did not
look up. "Come on, Shampoo. Prove to me you're a vampire. Turn into a bat
or something."
Shampoo stood slowly, her head still hanging down. When she spoke, her
voice wasn't it's normal lilting musical self. Rather, there was hard
steel, and barely controlled anger. "Proof? You want proof, Ranma? Here's
proof." She attacked.
Ranma was the best martial artist in the world, bar none. He has been
practicing for over thirty-three years, and is a nationally recognized
Grandmaster of Kempo-Karate, Aikido, and Musabetsu Kakuto Saotome-ryu.
He was beaten in less then a minute.
Ranma opened his eyes to see someone standing over and looking down at
him. As he realized his paralysis, his mind jolted at the memory of what
just happened. Shampoo knelt down and cradled his chest to her, leaning
his head on her shoulder. She turned to look at him, lightning
illuminating her fangs as she spoke. "Ranma, korosu." And the Beast began
to feed.
<<o-<o>-================-<o>-o>>
---------------------
## ## ## ## ####### ## ## AKA Tom Jefferys, Time Lord for Hire
## ## # # ## ## ### ### "Have TARDIS; Will Travel."
## # ## ### ##### ## # ## Wielder of ANVIL and SPAM!
### ### # ## ## ## ## [ Will code for food! ]
## ## ### ### ## ## ##_of_UT haunts <wyrm@mail.utexas.edu>
"Don't make deals with Dark Lords."
-- Wyrm's 34th Law (Inverse's Law)