My apologies to Orlean, but Hotmail doesn't want to work properly right now, so I'll have to take the less direct approach.

C&C

Wai! My favorite word!... um... phrase?... whatever!

> She quickly begins going on about what's happened and how I'm going to > make a full recovery, and so on. Evidently, there were eight other > survivors, all taken into custody for questioning. I'm expected to answer > some questions once I can talk. She wanders off on some tangent, checking my > clipboard.

Have the police determined whether he is one of the terrists yet?

They haven't completely ruled him out, and I can say that Ryoga will spend some time in jail.
Of course, that doesn't neccissarilly mean he'll be arrested...

> I let my mind wander back to what I saw. Ranma, at the end of the tunnel? > Saotome as God...

Nah, just your gaurdian angle.

Ryoga: Wasn't that 45 degrees?
Voice Over guy: He said Angel.
Ryoga: I've got one of those?
VOg: According to some people.
Ryoga: Has he been on a coffee break all my life or what?

> Well, that would explain a lot. Like how everything in the > world seems to happen to me... How that damn Ranma gets all the breaks, and > ruins my life without even trying... > It's the nurse's scream that brings me out of my musings. Evidently, I > managed to crush part of my cast. Stupid Saotome...

Just out of curiosity, which part?

Seeing as how it's supposed to be a full body cast, I'd go with one of the hand covers. Most likely, the right hand.

> Ranma chuckles, although not with that usual sense of pride. "Yeah... > who'da guessed it? The Invincible Saotome, stopped by one measly little > piece of steel."

I take it that all of the others survived then? Or is Ryouga special?

Some survived, some didn't. All will be revealed in the next chapter...
MWAHAHA*hack**cough-cough**wheeze*...

> I get up, doing my best not to dance, although I can't keep out that > hysterical laugh. I won! Ranma can't get in my way anymore! I can ask Akane > out! I can find a cure! I CAN GET MY NOODLE BREAD!

First things first.

Indeed.

> Then he seems to give up. He slumps forward, his fist relaxing, "Ryoga, > look. I know ya hate me.

Actualy they get along a lot better later in the series.

True, but there really isn't anything to date this one. True, they've met Tarou and the chibi teacher, but Ryoga never really forgives Ranma.

> "Of course, P-chan. Haven't you been paying attention?" He leans away > from the punch, frowning at me, "I don't wanna say this twice." > For some reason, I don't try to kill him again there. Maybe because I'm > busy strangling down a scream of frustration.

Or maby your growing up?

Ranma: Nah. P-chan will always be a widdle piggy, won't 'cha?
Ryoga: DIE!!

> I look back on my life. I grew up without my parents for most of it... > just Checkers and me in that house. I didn't have too many friends, and the > teachers were always telling me that I could never make it to anything on > time, that I would always be late. > The truth hits me like a ton of bricks. > I'm... alone?

This seems a bit OOC here. From what I've read series Ryouga knows >that he is alone. It's a large part of the reason he's so depressed all of the time.

True, but there's a marked differance between the loneliness he usually shows and this one. To me, Ryoga always seemed to be someone who felt like he lost all his friends. Here, he finds out that he never had any to begin with.

> But what about Akane? About... about... what was her name... Ukyo! They > like me! We're friends... > Friends. > She thinks of me as a friend. > Love can bloom from friendship, can't it?

Having watched this happen to friends of mine I would have to say yes. But it is less likely.

Far too often, I've seen friendships torn apart by love. I still don't see why it's considered a virtue when it's destroyed so many.

> "Why me?" > "'Cause yer the best they've got. You've felt alone before Ryoga. Y' know > what can help, an' what just make it worse." Is Saotome actually > complementing me?

In a backhanded sort of way.

Ryoga*rubbing his chin*: Why'd you do that?
Ranma: Dunno. Just wanted ta see if you're payin' attention.

Good chapter. I like it better than the first one. Something about >the way that you handeled Ryouga's stream of conciseness kept putting me off. Also I sometimes had trouble telling what should be in quotes. This chapter seems to be much better in that respect.

Well, this time I had some great help. And the first chapter was largely a rewrite of a third-person perspective, so somethings didn't quite mesh.

Incidentaly, is Ranma dead for good or will he come back at some point?

Ranma is dead. Dead for good. But, he still gets half a chapter.

Orlean

Lone Wolf
"Hm... a "Ranma dies" story, a heavy-handed story... all I need now is the completed self-insert, and a Revenge-fic, and I'm set."
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