Ranma 1/2/??????
Shadow of Nerima
Note: This story takes place four years after the conclusion of Ranma
1/2. It also takes a while for it to get to the fusion part, well to a
part you readers might realize what it is. Give it a little time and I'm
sure you'll be impressed.
Part 1 The insanity.
Kodachi Kuno walked down the dark corridor under her home. The tunnel
twisted and turned through the darkness. She smiled to herself as Sasuke
jumped away from a large rat nearly dropping the torch he carried almost
ceremonially through the darkness behind her lighting the way. She paused
and unlocked a heavy wooden door that led into her laboratory. "Sasuke,
lights," she commanded. The ninja flipped a large switch and backed away
as the overhead lights came on revealing rows of tables and bottles that
lined the walls of the almost dungeon like room. That was in fact what it
had once been.
He silently moved over to a corner and picked up one of the magazines
that littered the floor around his seat. This was not an unusual practice
for him these days. His mistress cackled quietly to herself as she mixed
the chemicals together almost randomly. He sighed and relaxed waiting
patiently for the long hours to pass.
"That witch, I'll make her pay for what she stole from me!" said Kodachi
to herself as she worked. She was referring to Akane Saotome of course, a
name she had never uttered out loud. She had plotted many nights in the
dark recesses of her cavern. Never having the nerve to do what she really
wanted to, the consequences were just to great, she would lose the very
thing she sought to gain by destroying her. Still, the passion burned on
greater than ever within her dark heart as she worked many sleepless
nights.
The fruits of her labors sat in jars along the wall, poisons more lethal
and dangerous than any known to man. Poisons only she knew of. A
terrorist would give his manhood in order to see what her laboratory
contained if he knew the potential of some of the vials. She giggled
madly to herself at the mere thought of it. Something creaked slightly
over her head and she glanced up, quickly dismissing it she continued to
work.
Sasuke heard the sound as well and looked up from his magazine, he
frowned slightly as a few pieces of dirt crumbled from the ceiling over
his mistress's head. "What in the?"
It happened in a flash, before either of them could react. The long
fluorescent light overhead swung down as one of the supports snapped and
pulled away from the ceiling. It swung in a wide arc shattering bottles
of chemicals as it smashed across the top of the lab table missing
Kodachi by mere inches. She screamed and backed away as a strange purple
cloud began to hiss from the puddle that slowly formed at her feet
enveloping her completely in a matter of seconds. She coughed violently
and tried to back away only finding herself further inside the vaporous
chemicals.
"Mistress Kodachi!" screamed Sasuke as he jumped to his feet and pulled
an emergency gas mask from the wall nearby. He placed it over his head
and dove into the cloud in search of his master. "Mistress please!" He
paused as a figure stood upright inside the cloud and placed a hand
against its head. The ninja moved slightly closer struggling to make out
the shape through the cloud. "Mistress?"
The horrible laughter started, it was horrible, but familiar and the
ninja relaxed. "Are you all right Mistress?"
"Ho ho ho ho ho ho!" laughed the girl as she staggered out of the cloud
completely. "I'm fine Sasuke, in fact I just had a wonderful idea!" She
remained in the shadows for a moment giggling madly to herself. "A
wonderful idea indeed."
As she stepped into the light Sasuke jumped back with a look of complete
terror on his face. He jerked the mask away and backed into the wall as
the smoke had mostly cleared away now. It wouldn't have mattered to him
if it had at this point. "Mistress?"
Kodachi smiled, even more than she had already been smiling. "The reign
of the Black Rose shall once again take the world by storm. If I can't
kill her..." she paused and sat down at a table smiling darkly to
herself. "Come Sasuke, we have much to do. Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!"
The frightened ninja merely swallowed and nodded his head.
Ranma Saotome stood looking at the stone tablet that rested at the foot
of the coffin in silence. He was dressed in a black suit with Akane
crying silently on his arm. He pulled her close and kissed her head as he
looked into the casket.
Akane looked up at him. "She didn't even come, I kind of expected her to
be here."
Ranma nodded silently as he watched the coffin was closed finally. "Why
here?" he found himself thinking. "Why not China, did she really come to
think of this place as home instead?" His private thoughts were
interrupted as Akane broke into another fit of sobs. She pressed her body
against his, her swollen belly pushing softly against his hip.
He placed his hand on her stomach gently and offered a comforting smile.
"We'll make it all right Akane."
The woman nodded slowly and could not bring herself to look at the
casket again. She could not believe Cologne was gone.
Ranma stared at the plot for a long moment and sighed. She had chosen to
be cremated here, not buried in her village. Somehow over the short time
she had lived here this place had become home. He knew that it was in no
small part due to him. "You know, she was a pain in the ass until the
very end Akane."
His wife looked up at him with a look of complete shock and disgust. She
pushed herself away from him slightly, but he held her close to him.
"I'll really miss her," he finished causing Akane to relax. There were a
good number of people at the funeral. Students from Furinkan that
attended the school while Akane and Ranma were there, as well as many
friends she had made in her business. Her great grand daughter and Mousse
were absent, the pair had vanished into Tokyo almost two years ago; just
after the wedding.
Nabiki and Kasumi stood next to their sister with Soun at their side.
Ranma's father and mother were opposite them grieving respectfully. They
had no love for the woman, but knew she had a special place in their
child's heart. Nodoka was ill and sat in a wheelchair, she had contracted
a rare disease and Ranma fully expected to attend another funeral in the
near future. His world was slowly falling apart around him.
Genma had a somber look on his face as he pushed her away, she was
beautiful still; but frail and quiet. The Saotome's had returned to their
rebuilt home leaving Ranma at the dojo with his wife. He smiled softly at
them acknowledging them before they left. Genma returned the nod, but
Nodoka merely stared forward blankly, the Katana still wrapped up and
firmly grasped in her hands.
A few moments passed and Ranma led Akane away, he placed his arm around
her and kissed her gently. "I don't know what I'd do without you now."
She clutched him again and walked slowly out of the small chapel where
the services had been held. "It's a beautiful day," she commented noting
the weather.
Ranma glanced back over his shoulder one last time. "I wish it would
rain."
Nabiki pulled up next to them in a silver sports car, it was a four-seat
car, Kasumi, Tofu, and her father sat in the back. "Can I give you two a
ride?"
"No, I think we'll walk. It isn't that far," said Akane with a weak
smile.
"All right, just don't strain yourself," said the girl as she drove off
slowly.
"Maybe we should have," said Ranma as he placed his hand on her belly
again.
"Ranma, I'm not made of glass," said Akane sternly. "It's too late
anyway, lets go."
A few moments later they walked through the streets of Nerima slowly
making their way towards the Dojo. Ranma stopped and looked at the Cat
Caf� wistfully for a moment with Akane. "So many memories Akane."
She nodded and smiled lightly. "Come on, let's go home."
He nodded and allowed himself to be pulled along, the sun started to set
in the distance behind them. The streets were sparsely populated with
commuters as they slowly made their way towards their homes. Ranma looked
at his wife once again and paused as she stopped cold in her tracks and
stared straight ahead. He looked up and saw a man in a black leather
jacket in front of them with his hand in his pocket. He motioned into the
alley and smiled. Ranma's face grew hard as he glanced around and saw no
one nearby looking at them. He pulled Akane with him and moved into the
shadows.
"Your money, all of it," said the man firmly.
Akane growled but Ranma put his hand on her stomach and pushed her back
lightly; reminding her of the risk in the situation. One he wasn't
willing to take. "All right, just take it." He tossed his wallet over to
the man with Akane's purse.
The man caught them one handed and smirked. Ranma found himself unable
to move as Akane rushed forward hoping to take advantage of the man's
distraction.
The assailant didn't waist a moment, Ranma felt his blood run cold as
the gun inside his pocket gave a clean report. His eyes went wide with
shock as Akane fell forward with a look of surprise in her eyes. He
managed to catch her in his arms. "NO!" His gaze went up to the man as he
vanished into the streets. "I'll kill you!" He could not chase him
though, he pulled Akane into his arms and sobbed. "You fool! It wasn't
worth this!"
"S-sorry," she managed with a small smile.
"How badly are you hurt?" he asked her as he lifted her up into his arms
and rushed out of the alley shoving a few pedestrians out of his way.
"It doesn't feel too bad," she managed weakly.
"Somebody call an ambulance!" he screamed at the few people who walked
by silently as if nothing was going on. "Damn it! My wife has been shot!"
They continued to walk away ignoring him, actually giving the space he
occupied a wide berth.
Ranma froze as someone walked by close to him, a woman in a business
suit. He would never remember her face, but the words would haunt him for
the rest of his life. "S'not my problem." She hadn't spoken to him
directly, she seemed to be saying it to herself. He looked around in
horror and finally noticed a pay phone nearby. He glanced down at Akane
again and saw her eyes were still open, "Hang on Akane!... Akane?
AKANE!!"
Soun Tendo sat in the emergency room with his son in law pacing back and
fourth nervously. His face was remarkably calm. He simply sat silently
and watched the wall while Ranma moved back and fourth through the room
jumping around nervously while the other patients milled about around
him.
A few moments later a doctor appeared from the door and the two men's
eyes met immediately. Ranma didn't need to hear what he had to say. He
simply rushed out of the room into the street. Nearby Nabiki and Kasumi
fell into each other's arms sobbing. Soun merely looked at them numbly
and said nothing. The doctor approached him and placed his hand on his
shoulder, "I'm sorry Mr. Tendo, if she had been brought in just a few
minutes sooner..." He turned away from the family and allowed them to
grieve for a moment.
Sinzuki Koshiro sat at his desk. The back of a huge leather chair rose
into the air behind him and he smiled as his secretary brought in a
package. "What do you have for me?"
"The woman said it was a gift for you," said the woman calmly.
Koshiro smiled. He was in his early thirties and quite handsome, his
activities remained secret for the most part, hidden under the veil of
his legitimate business. He flicked on the security camera and smiled at
the sight that met him. It was a woman with long legs dressed in a black
business suit, a veil covered her face and long flowing purple hair hung
in a ponytail behind her head. She waited patiently in the room just
outside his office. "Well, what do we have here?"
He pulled a small penknife out of his pocket and ripped open the lid to
the package. He pulled out the package and frowned slightly. It was a
jack in the box, he cranked the handle in morbid curiosity and smiled
slightly when a skull jumped from inside the box. "Cute, let's find out
what she wants."
The secretary turned towards the door only to find the woman standing
inside the room already. "I want you dead of course; I hope you don't
mind I let myself in, I heard my song playing."
"You have one sick sense of humor lady," commented Koshiro flatly as he
placed his hand on the gun under his table. He could make out a smile
beneath the black lace veil the woman wore.
"I think it's artistic really," she commented as the box on his desk
started to hiss as a greenish gas escaped a hidden nozzle inside. Koshiro
coughed violently as he was unable to react quick enough to the gas. His
secretary backed away gagging as she felt her tongue swell up and block
her windpipe. He struggled to stand and fell to the floor shaking
violently as she struggled to breathe and fell in front of his desk. The
woman walked over to her and kicked her over face up and frowned at the
painful expression on her face. "I'll have to do something about that."
She pulled a pink highlighter from the dead man's desk and kneeled down
next to her for a moment. "There, much better; she was pretty, too bad."
She walked over to the desk and pressed the button. "Yes Mr. Koshiro?"
said the receptionist at the desk. "Arrange a meeting with the board of
directors, you've just been promoted to secretary."
"Sir?" said the woman in shock. "Yes sir!"
Hours later on the rooftops of Tokyo, a beautiful figure silhouetted by
the moonlight stood atop a large building, her lavender hair blew in the
wind behind her put up in a ponytail. She smiled to herself as she
pressed a button on the belt that rested against her hips tightly. She
was dressed in a black bodysuit with several large pockets along the
legs. She looked over the edge and smiled as she put on a vest and tapped
the headset that rested on top of her head. She pulled down her night
vision goggles and jumped down off the edge of the tower stopping a few
feet below as the line holding her up stopped. Pressing another button
she lowered herself slowly along the side of the building and stopped a
few stories below. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a small
glasscutter and carefully cut out a small section of window. She smiled
to herself as she noticed there was no security system in place.
Carefully removing the round piece of glass she slid it out skillfully
and placed it into one of the vest pockets. The woman gave a small
satisfied laugh as she reached inside the window and pulled at the latch
before sliding the whole widow aside. Skillfully she pushed herself
inside and crawled across the floor adjusting the goggles to the darkness
inside revealing several lines of light that crossed the doorways. She
almost laughed out loud as she rushed forward without a sound and jumped
through a hole in the pattern stopping inside a darkened hallway.
"Well, what have we here?" she thought as she slid along the wall and
noticed a glass door. Inside was an art gallery, several expensive
statues and assorted jewelry were encased in several protected stands
inside.
She pulled a small electronic device out of her pocket and slid it into
the keypad security system. Moments later the door opened without a
sound.
She moved quickly across the room and pulled out a compact in front of
another keypad on the wall, it was a touch screen system. Delicately she
powdered down the keys and smiled as several fingerprints became visible.
She dialed the number and smirked as the beams of light around her
vanished in an instant remaining only around the exhibits themselves.
It took less than five minutes to clean out the jewelry and a small cat
statue that had caught her eye. She moved back towards the door and
smiled as she closed it behind herself and moved back to the window she
had entered from. Within a split second she strapped on the vest again
moving quickly and not bothering to muffle the clicks as she closed the
clasps shut again. She backed out of the window and used the line to
climb up the side of the building manually. Technology was good, but
there was no point in getting out of shape.
She tightened her gear and patted the pockets before jumping across the
a nearby building that was a few stories lower than the one she was
standing on. She smiled to herself and removed the body suit revealing
bright and very sheer undergarments. She smirked as she pulled a dark
blue evening gown from the bag waiting for her and placed her gear inside
of it. Once dressed she walked towards the door to the roof and opened it
easily.
A man with long dark hair stood waiting for her. "Well?"
"You worry too much Mousse, it was clean," she replied.
"I still don't see why we're doing this," muttered the man
half-heartedly as he accepted the bag and sighed.
"Japan owes me, I lost my honor because of this place. I can never
return home, so I'm going to take it out of their pockets," snapped
Shampoo bitterly as she pushed by him.
He sighed and hung his head. "Yes Shampoo, enjoy the party."
She nodded and smirked at him. "I'll enjoy it even more when I come back
here tomorrow night."
Mousse found himself smiling despite himself at her words. "Just be
careful my love."
She rolled her eyes at this and stomped away. "Stupid Mousse, Shampoo
rather marry cabbage!"
She walked into the building and was met with the sounds of a party
inside. Mousse's smile fell as he walked down the stairs he glanced up at
the door and made his way down to the bottom floor where he could dispose
of the merchandise in the trunk of the car.
A fat businessman smiled as Shampoo as she walked back into the party.
"Well, you sure took long enough! How long does it take a woman to powder
her nose anyway?" he laughed. The men around him joined in the joke she
seemed to miss.
"Long enough to bleed you dry tomorrow night you fat bastard," she
thought to herself. "Oh, Kaneda-samma you so funny!" she replied out loud
in her usual pidgin speech. She brushed up against his arm and turned on
her bubbly charm as the men merely enjoyed watching her, no matter what
came out of her mouth. She noticed several of the women there with her
giving her dirty looks and ignored them as she took a glass of champagne
from a waiter that passed by.
The board of directors at Hisima corp. sat watching the woman who sat at
the head of the table silently. She smiled at them from beneath her veil
and waved her hand around. "Hello gentlemen. I am here to tell you about
my hostile take over of your Organization." She stopped and waited for
their reply.
Finally one of the men spoke up. "Who the hell are you? Is this some
sort of sick joke?"
"Yes it is in fact, a very sick joke. Unfortunately, the joke is on
you," she replied with an insane giggle. With a flick of her wrist she
pressed several buttons on the table.
All of the men present jerked back in their chairs shaking violently,
many of them foamed at the mouth, while others began to smoke, a few of
them even did both. A single man sat untouched by the carnage and he
curled up in his seat screaming in terror and waiting for his own death.
The woman slapped him on the shoulder laughing maddly. "You don't get
more hostile than this!"
She pressed the buttons again and the men stopped moving suddenly, most
of them falling on the table, a few sat rigid in their places still
smoldering. "What a lovely smell," commented the woman. She turned
towards the man and smiled wider at him. "I'll bet you're wondering why
you aren't dead?"
He blinked and nodded at her dumbly, tears flowing freely from his eyes.
A look of complete and total fear was etched into his features.
"To be perfectly honest, your switch broke," she replied indicating the
failed switch. "I'm kind of glad though, I need someone to help...
convince the organizations I'm in charge now. I also don't want to deal
with those bothersome legal businesses. You'll be in charge of that, is
that all right?"
The man nodded dumbly and shrank further back into his chair. "Who are
you?"
The woman smiled at him and winked. "You can call me Black Rose, or
master whichever you prefer."
A figure emerged from the shadows and walked up to her side. "Mistress,
you said I could handle the legitimate business!"
"Calm down Sasuke, I have a special job for you," replied the woman.
"You're going to make sure he doesn't screw this up."
"Oh, thank you mistress!" said the red and black clad ninja. The look in
his eyes told the man that he would take any opportunity to get rid of
him gladly.
Six months had passed by since Akane's death. Ranma sat silently in his
room while Soun merely watched the Sakura petals fall to the ground
outside quietly. The boy had not emerged from his room for anything but
food, and not even for that much until after the first month had passed.
He turned slowly and saw that Genma had left again, his wife's condition
had worsened and he spent much of his time at the hospital now; simply
sitting with her. The elder Saotome spent the rest of his time sitting
with his old friend on the porch, neither really noticing the other much.
Occasionally Nabiki or Kasumi would drop by. Kasumi would cook dinner
and Nabiki would fuss about the financial situation they had put her in.
The dojo was in shambles, Ranma was crushed and probably already dead to
the world forever. Soun merely existed, his daughter was his only source
of income and nothing had been used or repaired since his youngest had
died.
Often Ranma would come down and sit staring at Akane's place at the
table with him, memories of the past obviously playing through his head
as he watched the space emotionlessly.
Almost on cue Ranma staggered down, his body somehow didn't seem wasted
away at all. He still looked dead, but was surprisingly healthy despite
it all. From what Soun could see the only place he found any comfort
anymore was in the art. He would lose himself for hours in the worn out
dojo, going through katas long into the night at times. He never spoke,
neither of them did.
Both men ignored it when the door opened and a tentative voice cried out
to them. "Ranchan?" Ukyo Kuonji walked into the room and gasped when she
saw them staring at the spot again. Neither of them looked up to her. "I
have some bad news..."
"Father couldn't tell me himself?" replied the man without looking up at
her.
"He can't take seeing you like this anymore Ranma, neither can I.
This...this is the last time you'll see me. I'm leaving Nerima, for
good."
Ranma merely nodded and continued to stare at the empty spot silently.
"Ranma, I want you to come outside, for me please! Just say goodbye like
you mean it," she fell to the ground next to him and sobbed into his arm.
He slowly turned his head and looked at her. "All right," he stood up
and walked to the door. "For you, I'll say goodbye." He stood by the door
and shoved her outside closing it with finality in her face as she turned
around in shock. "Goodbye."
"Ranchan?" whispered Ukyo as she turned away with tears in her eyes. She
walked out of the yard and fell to her knees in the middle of the
sidewalk.
"Miss Rose," said the man as he entered her office quietly. It
overlooked the building where the previous president, Shinzuki Koshiro
had once ruled his empire from. He liked to think of himself as modest by
using the second tallest building in his empire to run his business from.
"Yes Winston?" said the woman cheerfully as she tended to the small rose
garden that sat in the windowsill of the office.
The man frowned, his name was Yamada, but she had insisted on calling
him that for some strange reason. Her long purple hair flowed down her
back and the shadows hid any clear view of her face. "The reports are
here, our earnings are up thirty percent. Also the police are going to
'crack down' on the heroin sales again. We've given them a large shipment
of low-grade product to catch some publicity for them and get them off of
our main operations for a while. It should satisfy them."
Kodachi frowned slightly, or attempted to. "I don't like crack downs
Winston, it's bad for business."
"Yes ma'am, but there isn't much we can do about them but get rid of a
few of our low producing sites. It cleans out the weak, and the police
make themselves look good. It works out for all of us in the end, even
though they are unaware of it," answered the man diplomatically.
"Low producing? Any business that is profitable will hurt us if we lose
it," she said raising her eyebrow slightly.
"What do you suggest we do Ma'am?"
"I've got a fun idea! Let's give them something else to chase after!
Ooh, it will be such fun!" said the woman cheerfully; she started to
laugh again, a sound he had begun to dread in the last few months.
Nothing good ever came from a laugh like that. "Ho ho ho ho ho ho ho!"
Ranma sat staring at the knife on his dresser; he was covered in sweat
from his exorcises still. He picked it up in his hand and flipped it over
a few times, a practice he had grown used to since that day. He gently
pressed it against his wrist and pulled away, in morbid fascination he
watched the line of blood grow there and slowly ooze its way down the
sides of his wrist. "Just a little more pressure." He thought to himself.
He paused and looked out the window at the evening sky. The sun was
setting on the horizon and he watched it sink slowly behind the buildings
and streets. It had been so long since he'd seen a sunset. He stood up
and walked up to the window.
Ukyo's voice floated into his mind. "Do it for me!" He looked at the
knife and jabbed it into the table. Without pausing to acknowledge Soun
he walked down the stairs and out of the house into the street. Kasumi
met him at the door and put her hand up to her mouth as he brushed by
her.
"Oh my! Ranma, are you going out?" He simply looked at her and continued
to walk. A small smile formed on his face for a split second as he
noticed the tears of joy form in her eyes.
Daisuke walked through the streets of Tokyo, he twirled a baton in his
hands as he cheerfully passed by several scantily clad women on the
street corner. Tipping his hat to them he moved over to the squad car
parked on the corner. "Did they have coffee?" said a voice as he felt
someone tug on his jacket tearing his attention away from the girls.
"Huh? No, the machine is down, I bought you a soda instead," he reached
into his pocket and handed the can to Hiroshi who sat inside the car
waiting patiently.
"D'ya remember that murder here a few months ago?" said the man in the
car as he pointed at the office building.
"You mean the one where that weirdo drew on the bodies faces?" replied
his partner.
"Yea, weird. I hear that still isn't closed," said the man as he sipped
his drink.
"You'd think they caught a freak like that by now," noted Daisuke
absently. He paused and looked over to an alleyway. "What the hell?"
Hiroshi climbed out of the car and sighed. "What's up?"
He noticed his partner standing over a bum lying on the ground in the
alley. "Hey buddy, you can't sleep here."
Hiroshi snorted and kicked the man over. "Hey, can't you hea..." He
almost screamed and dropped his can on the ground at what he saw.
Ranma stood in the park watching the people go by lazily. Lovers leaned
into each other's arms, and people mulled about their business in the
darkness. Officially the park had closed hours ago. Those seeking
privacy, or trying to invade it largely ignored the rule. He simply sat
there silently taking in the sights around him.
He frowned as noise floated to him from a nearby patch of shrubbery. He
sighed at the muffled sound and started to stand up and walk away.
"No please!" said a voice.
He froze and slowly turned to look. "And the wallet too."
"No!" he thought to himself desperately. The woman's words floated into
his head again as the unforgettable sound of a gun cocking seemed to
drown out any other sound around him.
"S'not my problem."
He didn't even think beyond that, a mad rage filled him that he quickly
struggled to control. He slowly and deliberately stepped through the
foliage and stared the gunman down. He was dressed in a leather jacket
and wearing sunglasses, a typical punk; but far to large to be confused
with the man who had killed his wife. None of that mattered, only the
pain of six months rage welled up inside of him. He simply watched as the
man turned to face him with his cocky grin fading away.
"Who the hell are you? Hell, hand over your wallet too buddy," he
pointed his gun at Ranma and gasped as a hand suddenly appeared on his
hand crushing his grip on the gun and breaking all of the bones that got
in the way.
Ranma felt himself smiling as he stared directly into his eyes through
the sunglasses and saw the fear burning inside of them. "That... was a
mistake." He exploded with power and rage as he slammed his fists
repeatedly into the unwary punk sending him to the ground, but managing
to land a hundred blows before he even hit. He looked down and noticed
the gun was still in his hand, and what was left of the punk's hand. He
pointed it at him and smiled darkly as he placed his finger on the
trigger.
"What are you doing?" screamed the woman as she rushed into her
frightened boyfriend's arms.
"You pity this man? He was going to kill you a moment ago," replied
Ranma as he looked up at her in confusion. Then he realized what he had
said, "You're right, I can't kill him..." He tossed the weapon away in
disgust and kicked the boy on the ground again for good measure. "No
matter what, I can't kill, never again."
"Again?" whispered the boyfriend in shock as he looked down at his
attacker. The man standing in front of them looked haggard, unshaven and
obviously under more stress than he could ever experience. "Are you all
right man?"
Ranma looked up at him and smiled. "I am now, you'd better go."
The pair nodded and scurried away. Ranma watched them and sighed as he
fell to the ground and rubbed at his face with his palms at the
conflicting emotions that rushed to him and threatened to take him over.
Later tat night he found himself staring at the window again wistfully
and thoughtful. It had been a long time since he had anything that even
resembled a coherent thought, now he was flooded. His mind pounded and
threatened to overload with information and feelings. "What should I do?
What do I feel? Akane, help me!"
At that moment something came through the window and slammed into his
face sending him sprawling across the ground in confusion. "What the?"
His eyes moved up to the darkest corner of the room where two red dots
stared at him from the shadows. "What is this?" His eyes slowly adjusted
as the creature shrieked and fluttered it's wings as it hung from a small
hook that had once held a plant hanging from the ceiling. It had died
months ago, and now there was nothing, nothing but a tiny bat.
Ranma stood watching the creature in fascination for a long moment. He
became aware of himself and his surroundings. He hadn't bathed in a
months, he was dirty and tired. His room was a squalid mess of filth that
had collected over the past six months and he was everything Akane never
wanted him to be. He fell to his knees in shocked disgust at what he had
become. The bat shrieked again and fluttered out the window and he
watched it disappear into the moonlight in fascination.
"Akane, for you I will become a man once again. For you, I will seek
justice," he paused for a moment and continued to look out into the
moonlight. "I swear it."
Kodachi Kuno sat behind her desk reading the paper and giggling to
herself. The headline had sent her into hysterics. "Twenty dead from
tainted Heroine. New epidemic, or sabotage?"
She giggled even harder as she read. Sasuke sat quietly by her side and
Winston shuffled uncomfortably in front of her desk.
"Ma'am. This isn't good, our business could be destroyed!" he pleaded
with her. She ignored him completely and continued to read.
She pulled the veil away from her face again and threw it across the
room. "Well I don't need that anymore, it's time for my coming out
party!" she chimed cheerfully as she tossed her violet hair behind her
shoulders. Her twisted smile, with blood red lips that curved into an
unnatural grin widened even more as another fit of giggles over took her.
She stared at Winston with her yellow eyes and turned on the desk light
revealing a pale white complexion. "Epidemic? Sabotage? Wait till they
get a load of me. HO HO HO HO HO HO HO HO!"
She lifted the paper up and revealed a photo of a grinning corpse. To the
side was a bar with her first murders, each had a smile drawn on their
face with a marker. Above it were the words. "Connection?"
TBC...
This is by far, one of the best dark fics I've ever written. It's my
answer to all the Batman Ranma fusions I've seen lately. Every one of
them has Bruce Wane somehow related to him. I thought to myself... Why?
It isn't really necessary is it? I also realized that for it to really
work, I needed to destroy him completely.
And so this was born. Cool huh?
One thing I'm interested in hearing about is when you figured out it was
a Ranma/Batman cross over. I want to know what gave it away.
Next time: Kodachi comes to see Ranma; a match made in hell, the real
Batman stuff starts to happen as well. This one will definitely be going
on the RAAC soon.
C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com
Url: Http://www.geocites.com/misatira/