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<Matthew.P.Katinas@rose-hulman.edu>
Enjoy!
The FFML Refugee List
Since none of my other stories are going anywhere at the moment, I've
finally gotten around to starting on a much needed project... a complete
rewrite of my Ranma fanfics. This is much more than just a revision, as
you'll see from the rewritten prologue. I'm updating the style and
fixing up a few plot points as I go along. Since I'll be sending the
chapters in as I rewrite them, I will hopefully be able to take
advantage of suggested changes this time around and apply them
throughout the story (so there will only be one chapter 4 this time
around). In other words, C&C is welcome and encouraged! (According to
the people I've replied to, I'm getting a lot better at managing my
depression, so you have nothing to fear. I won't bite.)
A few notes, since there's been some recent talk about the issue: I am
still using the anime continuity for this story arc, but I am not using
the typical stereotyped psycho-bitch Akane that many readers seem to
have associated with the anime. (Yes, the prologue may seem to suggest
otherwise, but bear with me on this.) I have placed an order for the
first 17 volumes of the Ranma manga so that I can catch up with the
Ranmascan project, and once I've read all of the manga, I'll trust
myself to base fanfiction on it such that I won't be violating any
deeply held beliefs. Until then, I'm working with what I know of the
anime, which now extends nearly to the end of season 5. I hope that fans
of the manga will still read the stories, but please don't fault me for
the differences.
Having said that... the rewritten prologue follows.
Ranma came to without even realizing it. He had no idea how long he
had been unconscious, but he had been out for some time; that, at least,
was certain. He remembered being taken prisoner, but he didn't know how
he had come to be strapped to a wall. The last thing he could recall was
a bright flash, and then... He tried to open his eyes to see where he
was, but found that they were already open. Yet he saw nothing but total
darkness. Could that flash have blinded him? The mere possibility drove
him to panic, and he thrashed as best he could against his bonds.
However, the metal straps refused to yield to his strength, remaining
securely fastened about his ankles, his waist and wrists, and his neck.
Not that he had much strength to offer, at the moment; he felt tired and
weak, as if the energy had been drained from his body. He wouldn't put
such an act past his captor, in any case.
'Akane, this is all your fault!' he thought bitterly. 'You're the
one who trapped me in this freakish body, and then you sent that demon
after me, when I was only trying to rescue you and the other girls!' He
raised his head from the wall as best he could, relieving the pressure
on his aching pigtail. 'I swear, when I finally find you... if you're
not already dead, I'll kill you!'
"You're awake," a deep voice announced matter-of-factly from the
darkness.
Ranma tried to reply, but the words refused to come out, and he
merely grunted.
"Ranma Saotome, the time has come to make your choice."
Ranma cleared his parched throat. "What choice?" His voice sounded
strangled, even though the band around his neck offered ample breathing
room. He'd gotten used to his new voice in the few days since the final
transformation, but it sounded more strained than ever.
"Akane," said the voice, seemingly unconcerned about Ranma's
condition. Light flooded Ranma's vision, and he quickly shut his eyes,
relieved that he had not in fact lost his sense of sight. He let his
eyes adjust to the brightness before opening them again. The light
source turned out, disappointingly enough, to be an ordinary ceiling
lamp, hanging from some unseen point in the darkness. Yet Ranma's eyes
were glued to the object it illuminated: a tall vertical table to which
the unconscious Akane Tendo had been bound at the ankles, waist, and
neck by large steel bands. Seeing her reminded Ranma of his burning for
vengeance, but it quickly subsided as he realized that she had already
received the same fate as he had, minus one Jusenkyo curse-based mishap.
Actually, she had probably been through worse, judging from the
condition of her clothes.
"Shampoo," continued the voice, as Ranma's mind continued to reflect
on Akane's fate. A second light turned on to Akane's left, illuminating
a second table - third, if he counted the one to which he assumed he was
strapped - which held the Amazon prisoner. She, too, appeared to be
unharmed, except for the spots of mud dotting her from head to toe and a
few tears in her clothing.
"Ukyo," said the voice, and the third light shone down on the
okonomiyaki chef, strapped to yet another table. Ranma's heart fluttered
at the sight. Even though the revelation of Akane and Shampoo had
assured him that Ukyo was safe, seeing her brought back the terror of
three nights before, when she had been kidnapped. He'd never expected to
see her again, but there she was... and aside from the mud and the fact
that she was unconscious, she seemed to be in perfect health. And even
before he saw her, he knew that the fourth victim would be just fine.
"Kodachi," finished the voice. The light came on as expected, but
the predictable sight of Kodachi Kuno strapped to the fourth table still
shocked Ranma. The leotard she wore had the same mud stains and tears as
the other girls' clothes, but she seemed to be in worse shape than the
others. Her feet, particularly, appeared to have been burned, and her
face looked worn and haggard. Ranma couldn't imagine what had happened
to her, though. Perhaps it was only the shadow cast by the bun of hair
atop her head that made her face look darker than usual. Then again, she
might not have been wearing makeup when she was taken from her bedroom
in the middle of the night...
"Each of these women cares for you very deeply," the voice cut in.
"Each one of them has called you her fiance."
"So?" retorted Ranma, his voice a bit stronger than before.
"You also have feelings for each one of them, despite the way you
act toward them. It is time for you to stop denying those feelings and
decide which one you will wed."
"Is that what this is all about?" asked Ranma. "That's why you
kidnapped me, and all of them?"
"Your philandering has caused a great deal of trouble for many
people, Ranma Saotome. Because you do not take your engagements
seriously, all four of these girls must suffer for their false hopes.
And as they suffer, those close to them suffer as well."
"They'll suffer even more if I choose one of them," argued Ranma.
"Then they won't even have their hopes. Just broken hearts."
"Their suffering will be brief," replied the voice. "I will make
sure of that."
"What do you -" The loud whine of machinery starting up at the far
end of the room cut Ranma off. It was followed by a low hum, like the
sound of an elevator descending. Ranma leaned forward in his bonds,
peering into the darkness, but he couldn't see anything. "What's that?"
The voice failed to answer, but Ranma's curiosity was sated anyway
as four sharp points entered the cones of light above the heads of his
fiancees. The thin shafts holding the spearheads descended until the
spikes were barely touching the heads of the four girls.
"What are those for?" asked Ranma.
"You have never taken the choice seriously," said the voice, with
just a hint of anger. "Every time you are faced with the choice, you
avoid it, knowing that you can change your mind at any time. Well, this
time, the choice will be final. You will choose one of the four to
become your true fiancee. That one will be released unharmed. And just
to prevent you from going back on your word, the other three will die."
Ranma's entire body jerked involuntarily, arrested quickly by the
metal straps. "You can't do that!" he protested. "It ain't fair!"
"You stringing them along isn't fair," countered the voice. "I am
the one holding you prisoner. I have the privilege of deciding what is
fair."
"Just you wait until I get out of these things!" shouted Ranma,
straining against his bonds as if expecting his determination to break
them. "I'm gonna make you pay!"
"You don't have the strength to break them," said the voice, clearly
amused. "I made sure of that. Those straps are made of a material far
stronger than anything humans can create, and I have the only key that
can open them."
A plan began to form in Ranma's mind. If he could buy himself some
time, he might be able to turn the situation to his advantage. He
smirked. "You're going to keep me here until I choose, right? So, what
if I don't choose? What are you gonna do then, huh?"
"You will choose," replied the voice. The tip of a spike pressed
against Ranma's scalp. "You have five minutes. If you haven't made your
decision by that time, then all four of them will die, and you will join
them."
Ranma swallowed. Five minutes wasn't much time, and there wasn't
much he could do while unable to move. No chance of escaping, then. He
had to go along with his captor and make his choice. But how could he
choose only one of them, knowing that the others would never smile
again, never laugh, never try another crazy yet somehow sweet scheme to
win his love...
Akane would seem to be the obvious choice. She'd never tried
anything crazy to win his love, the way the others had. He had been
living with her for nearly a year now, and cared about her more than
he'd ever cared about anyone in his entire life. She had to care about
him, too; she'd helped him out of dangerous situations many times
before, often putting her own life at risk to do it. But after the
events of the past few days, he doubted she'd ever want to talk to him
again, let alone agree to marry him. Not only had they spent most of
that time pissed off at each other, but to top it off, she'd found
herself a new boyfriend. If Ranma chose her, she'd go right back to him
anyway. Besides, wasn't this entire situation her fault? Hadn't Ranma
just threatened to kill her if her ever saw her alive again? Sure, he
didn't really MEAN it, but when three of them were going to die no
matter what he did... could he let Akane be one of the ones to die?
And then there was Shampoo. Slightly bossy, very forward, and the
in-laws would be no treat, not to mention the problem of her cursed form
being the very creature he feared most. But it was Ranma's own fault she
was engaged to him in the first place. He'd been the one who'd beaten
her in combat, forcing her to marry him by her tribe's law. He wasn't
quite sure of her real feelings for him, but she'd been there for him
when he'd needed her, helping him search for a cure to his curse and
protecting him somewhat from Cologne's more harmful schemes. He'd
dragged her into his life, and she had fallen for him... could he really
condemn her to death?
And what about Ukyo? She had been promised his hand in marriage long
before he'd met any of the other girls, only to be left behind; and he
could only imagine the suffering that had caused her. To drive her to
dress as a boy, it must have been a scarring loss for her. Then she'd
found him again, determined to make him suffer as she had... and
instead, she too had fallen victim to his charm. Unlike the other girls,
though, Ranma enjoyed being in Ukyo's company as a friend. Maybe that
friendship would become love, given enough time together, free of the
distraction of the other girls trying to tear him away from her. He
could think of worse ways to live the rest of his days. And even
ignoring the issue of marriage, there was still the question of whether
he could leave her to die. He'd already lost her once, recently, and the
despair had nearly torn him apart. Could he doom her again, this time to
certain death?
And as for Kodachi... well, that narrowed the choices to three.
"Time is running out..." warned the voice. Ranma let his head hang.
There was no way to make a decision like this. He cared too much about
all of them to let any of them die. Each one had her own problems, true;
but each one also had her own strengths, her own abilities, her own
personality... her own life, in which he had no right to interfere...
and yet he had, whether by his own choice or not, and now three of them
would suffer for it. But which three? Nearly five minutes gone, and all
he'd managed to do was think himself in a circle! He didn't have time to
think any more! He had to make a decision... had to choose... had to
watch three girls who loved him die because of that love...
What had he done to deserve this?
Ranma 1/2: A Deadly Choice
--------------------------------------------------------------------
REESE: Okay, we've got to think of a really dirty nickname for that girl
who's been bugging you and spread it around school... what was her name
again?
DEWEY: Regina Tucker.
REESE: (pause) We'll think of something.
FORCHE: Hey! Far out!
NIGHTCRAWLER: I swear, that homey's lingo is so whack!
ZETA: It's a 20th century illumination-providing device known as a light
bulb. Apparently, it caused a great deal of trouble near the end of the
century.
RO: Why is that?
ZETA: Nobody could agree on how many people it took to change one.
My webpage: http://www.rose-hulman.edu/~katinamp
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Sir Desaix, member # 116 of the Knights of the True Fiancee
anime fanfics available at
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