Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is owned by people other than me. I own nothing and
claim no rights to the show.
**C&C, public or private, is begged for. Since most of the fic is already
written, we prefer grammer help. If you have a burning desire to give other
C&C though, we will take it with a smile.**
Co-written by
Ashes2ashes: slayer0@Zoomnet.net
AsheRhyder: ashrhyder@yahoo.com
Rage
Chapter Two:
Ranma and Akane had barely taken three steps from the school entrance when
Ukyou, Shampoo, and Kodachi launched themselves at Ranma. The pig-tailed
martial artist winced as all three collided mid air, and then promptly began
to fight over him.
"Stay away from Shampoo husband!" The Amazon girl shouted, attacking
Kodachi with her bonbori.
"You should have learned by now silly wench, that my Ranma Darling will
never belong to anyone but Kodachi Kuno!" The psychotic gymnast laughed,
twirling her ribbon.
"Both of you hussies leave Ran-chan alone!" Ukyou screamed, batting both of
them away with her Mega Spatula.
"Thanks, Ucchan." Ranma breathed a sigh of relief. "I really didn't feel
like bothering with the three of you fighting today." Ukyou blushed bright
red.
"No problem, Ran-chan." She beamed.
"Excuse me," a tired voice asked from behind them. "Could you please direct
me to Furinkan High School?"
"Hey, Ryouga, welcome back." Ranma turned and smirked at the exhausted
nomad.
"Heh, "Thanks", Ranma." Ryouga scowled at his rival, bitterness written all
over his expression. "What are you doing in Yokohama?"
"JACKASS! THIS IS NERIMA!" Ukyou smashed him with her spatula, but he
didn't go flying. Instead, there was a nice clang, and a Ryouga-shaped dent
in her weapon.
Ryouga turned his dour glare on Ukyou.
"I really wish you wouldn't do that," he grumbled. The okonomiyaki chef
returned his scowl.
"You dented my spatula!"
"Ah huh." Ryouga dead panned. "Must be that time of the month." Ukyou
sent him flying.
Unfortunately, being not quite as used to uppercuts as Akane, Ukyou only
managed to send him a few feet . . . and right into the school's pool.
Briefly, Ranma entertained the idea of diving in after P-chan, but then
decided he really didn't feel like getting wet.
'If I go in after him, and come out with P-chan, she's bound to make the
connection. On the other hand, if I can get the girls outta here now, there
may still be time for him to scramble out of there with out revealing his
secret to Akane . . .'
"Hey, Akane, Ucchan, how about an after-school snack?" He grinned as
innocently as he could.
"Honestly, Ranma, are you ever not hungry?" Akane rolled her eyes.
Ranma thought for a moment, then grinned again. "Nope." Akane sighed.
"Ya know..." Ukyou glanced worriedly at the pool. "He's been under an
awfully long time . . . I hope he didn't hit his head . . ."
"Ryouga can swim, right?" the chef looked to Ranma expectantly.
"Yeah, sure he can." Ranma smiled weakly.
"Maybe we should go check on him . . ." Akane turned back towards the pool,
but Ranma grabbed her arm.
"NO! I mean uh, no need, Ryouga's a great swimmer, almost as good as I am."
"I dunno, Ran-chan, I never saw Ryouga even get near a pool before . . ."
Ukyou swiftly crossed the distance to the side of the pool.
A sudden splash sent her scurrying back as a near-tidal wave erupted from
the normally calm waters. A tall form rocketed from the pool, gaining at
least ten feet of air between himself and the surface before landing behind
her, facing Ranma and Akane.
The boy crouched low to the ground, balanced on all fours, and shook the
water from his lean form like a dog. A low growl built in the back of his
throat, and suddenly, he whipped his head up to face them. His eyes, now
sharply angled, glowed blood red.
"RRRRRRRRRRRANMA!" He growled. "PREPARE TO DIE!" He leapt forward . . .
just as Ranma woke up.
"GAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Call it premonition.
Call it a vision.
Hell, call it Akane's cooking last night. Still, Ranma had a sinking
feeling in his gut that what he saw in his dream was not totally untrue.
A sign bashed him from behind, knocking him out.
'Shut up Boy.' His father the panda sat his sign down and drifted back into
sleep.
---
It was a normal day in Nerima. The bright yellow sun shone over head as
little birds sung their happy songs in the trees. A light breeze blew in
from the north refreshing the people outside. Crazy bokken wielding
swordsman chased aqua-transsexual martial artists across school grounds.
Same old, same old, it was a normal day in Nerima.
"Saotome, I shall smite you!" Kuno held his bokken high over his head ready
to strike. "In the name of the moon . . . err . . . I mean, I shall smite
you and rescue the lovely pigtailed goddess!"
Ranma rubbed his temples. This guy never knew when to quit. Would he ever
stop? He suddenly had a horrible vision of an elderely Kuno and himself.
Kuno was hobbling over to him on a walker with his bokken held high. Ranma
shuddered.
"Saotome! I-" Kuno stopped for a moment to take a puff of his oxygen
tank--"I shall smite thee!"
"RANMA, PAY ATTENTION!" Akane smacked Ranma in the back of the head.
"Oh, heh, yeah." Ranma fell into a fighting stance ready to take down Kuno
the fastest way he could.
Step on his face.
"Ranma Saotome, prepare to die!"
Kuno crumpled to the ground as Ryouga landed on the swordsman's head
creating a nice kendo artist shaped crater in the ground.
"Hey, P-chan, you missed."
Ryouga jumped out of the crater and brushed off the little rock bits from
his cloths.
"Nah, I was aiming for him. I'm just so used to attacking you on sight . .
. I sometimes forget to modify the catch phrase." Ryouga rubbed the back of
his head and laughed nervously. He had been aiming for Ranma, old habits
were hard to break.
"And don't call me that," Ryouga added.
"Hey, Ryouga, welcome back." Ranma smirked at the exhausted nomad.
"Hey, thanks, Ranma." Ryouga scowled at his one time rival, bitterness
written all over his expression. "What are you doing in Yokohama?"
Ranma froze. This . . . this was just like his dream.
It was happening again. Ranma turned to his right and noticed Ukyou
standing next to him. She raised her spatula in the air.
"Jack--"
Ranma tackled Ukyou and fell to the ground in a heap, landing in a very
embarrassing position.
Ukyou blinked and looked at Ranma, blushing blood red.
"Ran-chan what are you--"
"YOU PERVERT!" two voices chorused from behind him. Steam rose off Akane
and Ryouga and each glowed an unearthly red.
"You jerk!"
"Didn't I tell you to take care of Akane?!"
Ranma shot up and waved his hands in front his face frantically.
"It's not what you think!"
Ranma looked back and forth to Akane and Ryouga and wandered from who his
doom would come from. He was really hoping for it to come from Ryouga. At
least then he wouldn't be kicked so far he'd miss dinner.
His wish came true as Ryouga launched himself into the air fist out held.
"Ranma Prepare to die! . . . AGAIN!"
'How can you really prepare for something like that?' Ranma thought as he
calmly dodged. Ryouga landed behind Ranma, creating another large crater.
He let out a feral war cry before throwing himself into a complicated
combination of twists, kicks, and punches. Most of the blows Ranma was able
to block, but Ryouga got lucky, and one of his left strikes caught Ranma in
the ribs, and threw him out towards the road.
"Ran-chan!" Ukyou cried, whipping out her Mega Spatula. "Ryouga, you
jackass!" She slammed him with her weapon, but this time, he landed next to
his rival. Of course, having to follow tradition, the lost boy's landing
created another crater.
"Sheesh. Women." Ranma muttered, crawling to his feet.
"Maybe if you were civil to them, they wouldn't punt you," Ryouga sneered.
"I seem to remember you getting smashed as well, P-chan." Ranma scoffed.
The lost boy growled, barring his fangs.
"Ranma . . . I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Ryouga spun on the ball of his right foot, bringing out his left in a deadly
kick that could have bashed Ranma's brains in, had the swift martial artist
not dodged.
"STAND STILL AND DIE, DAMN IT!" The short haired boy yelled, lashing out
with another kick from his right side.
"What's the matter, pork butt?" Ranma winced as a punch flew wild and
totally demolished a car. "You're acting like the old days . . . don't tell
me you've still got a thing for Akane?! Man, I thought you were over her!"
"SHUT UP!" Ryouga cried, swinging his body low to the ground for a sweep
that almost connected. "You have no right to treat your fianc� like that!
I may have no right to date Akane, but I can still protect her from jerks
like you!"
"Ryouga, calm down! Kami, you're really going to hurt someone!" The
pig-tailed martial artist blocked a direct punch from his opponent.
"Yeah, and it's going to be you!" he snarled.
At this point in time, when the action is the hottest, there is always a
twist of Murphy's law. In this case, it was the little old woman with poor
eyesight who tries to water her plants.
A bucket of cold water fell from the second story window of the old woman's
apartment, splashing Ranma and landing upside down on Ryouga's head.
"Awww, man, why the hell . . ." Ranma-chan looked down at her wet Chinese
shirt, then realized that Ryouga had also gotten wet. And he hadn't become
P-chan. A chill ran up and down her spine, only pausing to do the macarena
between her shoulder blades.
"Ryouga?" Ranma-chan called out. "Ryouga . . . are you okay?"
There was a faint sound from under the bucket, and she relaxed a little at
it.
"C'mere, lemme help," she approached, but stopped short as she sensed
danger.
SNIKT!
Blood dripped from Ryouga's hands as three claws shot from the top of both.
She screamed in surprise and jumped back, just as Akane and Ukyou arrived on
the scene. Those talons were used to decimate the bucket.
One of the claws cut too deep, though, leaving a gash across Ryouga's face
that bled . . . and healed, right before Ranma-chan's very eyes. Ryouga's
dark lashes parted, revealing ruby-red pools of blood lust.
"Stay back!" She yelled to Akane and Ukyou. "Something's wrong with
Ryouga!"
"What?" Akane stopped short, but Ukyou took another step forward.
"What's wrong with him?"
"I'm not sure," Ranma-chan replied. "But-- AHHHHH!"
In one swift movement, Ryouga had clawed six long gashes down her arms.
Blood raced down her wounded limbs, and down his claws. With an animalistic
growl, he licked away the crimson fluid .
"Where did those come from?!" Ukyou and Akane both moved to grab Ranma, but
Ryouga's attention snapped to them the instant they shifted stance. He
growled, muscles tensing to pounce, and was distracted only by his original
prey's attempt to kick him. In a flash, the red-eyed youth had torn through
the flesh of Ranma-chan's upper legs, as well, thoroughly disabling her.
"RANMA!" Akane screamed, ignoring the feral lost boy and starting once more
to move to her fiance's side.
"RAN-CHAN!" Ukyou screamed, also trying to approach.
"RANMA-HONEY!" A lecherous old voice cried out, drawing attention from all
four beings. A small form leapt like a bullet at the downed red-head, but
was intercepted mid-flight.
Ryouga's nostrils flared as he pinned the small pervert to the ground, his
claws on either side of the lecher's face, just nicking the skin.
"What the hell happened to you?!" Happosai sweated bullets as the glowing
red eyes scrutinized their new prey. The lost boy snarled loudly, barring
his infamous fangs. The ancient pervert had a feeling though, that today,
the bandanna wearing martial artist wouldn't hesitate to use them.
"Ryouga.... what's wrong with you?" Ranma-chan tried to stand, causing the
wild youth to spin, and his claws to slice neatly into Happosai's face. He
tasted the blood, then made a face of disgust, and batted the lecher into a
high earth orbit.
Ryouga circled Ranma-chan, his glinting red eyes narrow. To him, the hunt
was almost over. The prey could no longer run, and could not fight back.
Ranma struggled to stand upright, the loss of blood severely weakening her.
"Ranma, look out!" Akane yelled as the feral boy pounced. The scream
distracted him, causing him to fall off course, but he quickly adjusted his
stance so that he fell back on all fours. He growled, barring his fangs
once more, his claws digging furrows into the ground beneath him.
"Ryouga, stop this!" Ranma-chan shouted. "Why are you doing this? I thought
you liked Akane!" His comment went ignored, however, as the lost boy's
attention was focused on the other two girls. His whole body was tense as
he awaited the right moment to attack . . .
But Ukyou wasn't going to wait.
"JACKASS! CUT IT OUT!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, whipping her
spatula out in a giant arc that slammed into the side of his head. There
was a magnificent clang, as if someone had struck a huge bell, and Ryouga
staggered back, blinking. He glared at Ukyou, but slunk backwards, and
eventually disappeared into the shadows of a near by ally.
As he did, Akane raced over to Ranma, who had finally fallen, and tried to
use parts of her school uniform to tie off the wounds. She had Ukyou call
an ambulance while she attempted to stop the bleeding.