====================== THE MORE THINGS CHANGE E P I L O G U E All Together Now ====================== The sun rose slowly, filtering through the windows. Within the bright white room, several people awakened to the new day... "Doctor! Doc!" "Painkillers! I need painkillers!" "Ow! It hurts!" "Get this cast off! I've got an itch!" "Where's the PILLS?!" A nurse quickly entered the room, looking angrily at the people. "Now listen up, you're disturbing the patients in the other room! Just wait a minute and the Doctor will be here soon." She cast an angry glare at the many figures, all trapped in their hospital beds due to one injury or another. They all were sporting casts in various body locations, and in some cases were in entire body casts. They had been in the hospital for two days now, with some not regaining consciousness until just yesterday night. Now, with all of them awake, the hospital staff was experiencing a nightmare. She shook her head in disbelief. The Nerima district always brought patients in, but the circumstances under which these people ended up were stupidly amazing. *** One figure in particular, restricted by a full body cast, groaned and woke up. He began to talk. "Ye gods! What pain is this that ails the mighty Blue Thunder!" "Oh no, he's awake." someone muttered. "It feels as if I had fought through the very depths of hell itself! What fiend has inflicted such pain upon my personage? Tatewaki Kunou shall have retribution!" "Shut up!" the person next to him yelled. "Brother dear, I think it would help alot if you'd just-" "None interrupts the soliloquies of the great and mighty Kunou!" "SHUT UP!" everyone in the room yelled. *** "Are you alright?" "BWEE!" "Oh... poor Katsunishiki. Does it still hurt?" "_bwee_" "I didn't get a clear view of the fight. Who'd you lose to?" *SNORT* "Oh, come on. You lost to somebody. You were knocked out when I ran to you! Oh, I guess I'll have to talk to somebody that saw the whole fight." Akari Unryuu sighed. So close to finding love, yet so far away... *** "So, doc," asked Ukyou, "how are the guys doing?" "Well, they've all suffered several degrees of burns, fractured bones from the force of the explosions, and multiple bruises." "So when will Ranma be able to leave the hospital?" asked Akane. "Ranma? Hm..." said the doctor, flipping through his files, "Saotome, right? He's recovering fast, really. Oughta be out in three weeks or more." "And how about Hibiki?" asked Ukyou. "Hibiki... Hibiki... hm.... ah, here it is. Three weeks also, maybe a few days less than that. Amazing, since he was in the middle of the whole mess." Akane and Ukyou thanked the doctor, left his office, and decided to make a little visit. *** = ON 'SOUL' OR 'PSYCHO' POWER AND IT'S VARIOUS SIDE EFFECTS = Soul Power, or in it's more notorious form, Psycho Power, is a legendary ability amongst martial artist circles. There is only one known practicioner of it today, the leader of the controversial Shadoloo organization. From ancient tomes of lore, it is said that the technique taps into the very energy of a person's soul. In times of strong emotion, the power will surge forth in an aura reflecting the nature of the person. It is said that this power is inherent in all, and merely requires an opening of consciousness for the energy to flow. It is this energy that is channeled into various attacks, including the now infamous Psycho Crusher technique. Blows inflicted by Soul Power are said to be surprisingly powerful, accompanied by a 'cold burn' of sorts. Soul Power also can be used as a healing technique. Just as antibodies develop resistance to certain bacteria, it is said that legendary practicioners of Soul Power, in the past, had become immune to extreme cold, heat, and in some cases, even ki projectiles. ( - from The Martial Artist Almanac, 1987) *** "Kill you, kill you, kill you..." Ryo muttered, staring directly at the person in the bed across from him. "L-Look, I said I was sorry, didn't I?" whined Gosunkugi. "I'll kill you, I'll-" *CLANG* "Leave him alone!" Ukyou yelled as she walked past Ryo's bedside. Ryo narrowed his eyes and glared at Ukyou as she passed by. He was in an entirely rotten mood, ever since he was suddenly stripped of his newfound powers by the idiot mage. She went over to Gosunkugi, who was at the moment cringing away from his psychotic twin nearby. "Hey, Gosunkugi, how's things?" "Oh, could be better. I wish they gave us more painkillers." "Hurts alot, does it?" she asked, brushing his hair back with her hand. "Yup." Gosunkugi blushed. He wasn't used to women brushing his hair back, or even touching him at all. "What'd you do to get Ryo over there so mad?" she asked, pointing at the person across from Gosunkugi. "Well, I, um, well, it's an embarrasing kinda thing." "C'mon, tell me." said Ukyou. "Well, I thought he was... a spirit that was imitating me and going nuts attacking people, so I tried some spells like purification, blessing, exorcisms, and banishment of evil type spells." "And?" "Well, I... aheh... with everything happening, I kinda panicked... and lost track of what spells do what... and... well..." "Apparently I took away that guy's powers." Ukyou looked over to Ryo. Gosunkugi was right. Ryo, who several days ago was almost always surrounded by a dark purple, blue, and blackish aura and had eyes that always glowed with those colors, now was normal. His aura was gone. His eyes were non-glowing. Even his hair was not quite as spiky as it was before. "Not only that, but Kunou too." "Kunou?" Ukyou asked. "What about Kunou?" "Oh. He was glowing like the other guy was." Ukyou shivered. A super-powered Kunou was not what the world needed. "And I think I put Happousai into a coma." "Don't worry, they deserved it." "Who is that guy anyways?" asked Gosunkugi. "Him? He's an old rival of Ryouga's." "Typical for our neighborhood, I guess. Who's those others? I've never seen them before." "Ryo's brother and sisters. Compared to him, they seem nicer." "One of them's been looking at Ryouga like she's in love with him." Ukyou tensed up. "Hey, you alright?" "Absolutely. Nothing wrong at all." "If you say so." "Well, I've gotta go see how the others are doing. Hope you get better soon. See ya!" She patted Gosunkugi on the head and walked off. *** Meanwhile... "Hey, Ranma, are you alright?" asked Akane. She bent down and kissed Ranma on the forehead. "This, you know, is your fault." "Hey, you're the one with a big mouth." Akane angrily replied. "If I wanted criticism, I'd talk to the rest of the people in this room. It's bad enough I'm stuck with them." "You only have yourself to blame." "Well, I have you." Akane smiled a bit. "To blame. OW!" Akane removed her fist from his face. "Shut up." "Look, your latent violent tomboy tendancies aren't exactly helping my situation, y'know. Ya want me to be stuck in here for a month? Hm, maybe if you bring that dinner in here, I'll be stuck in the hospital for two months. Geez..." Akane turned a dark shade of red. "So, that's the way you're gonna be, eh?" "Hey, wait a minute..." "FINE! I'M LEAVING!" Akane yelled, and stomped out of the room. "Aw geez." said Ranma. "Akane, wait!" Ranma grabbed his crutches and raced as best as he could to the door. "Akane! Wait up!" "Saotome," said Ryouga, "you just don't know when to shut up." "Saotome you fiend! How dare you slander against the noble Akane Tendou!" "Well, there they go again," sighed Ukyou. "Hey, Ryouga, how are you two?" Ukyou said, walking up to him. "I'm... doing okay." "Well, it looks like you won't be lonely around here, at least." Ukyou said, gesturing to the contingent of Kodachi, Tatewaki, Tsubasa, Ryo, Ryoko, Kyoko, Megane, and Gosunkugi. "Ask'em to get us different rooms, will ya?" asked Ryouga. "Sorry, the place is crowded. You're stuck together." Ryouga groaned. "Hey, how'd Ranchan end up with this bunch?" "I heard Akane booted him through the dojo roof, and he just happened to land in the area," said Ryouga. "I gotta head back to the restaurant. Anything you want next time I visit?" "Food, please," said Ryouga. "I can't stand this hospital food." Ukyou smiled. "Alright, see ya later," she said, mussing his hair a bit before leaving. As she closed the door behind her, Ukyou turned and nearly ran into Ranma and Akane. He was propped up against the wall, and the two of them were kissing rather passionately. As she stood there and watched, she felt a little jealously, but seemed to accept that this was the way things were going to be from now on. She didn't have to like it, but she wasn't hating it as much as before. Ukyou blushed, realizing that she'd been staring at the two for a while, then smirked. "Jeez, you two, get a room!" Akane and Ranma seperated suddenly, both looking very embarrased. "Er, ah, we were..." said Ranma. "Well, we..." said Akane. "Yeah, yeah, see ya later, you two crazy kids," said Ukyou as she walked off, snickering. *** "This is your fault." Megane flatly stated. "I'm not in the mood for this. Don't even start." said Ryo. "You just HAD to chase after Hibiki." "May I ask what _you_ were doing there?" said Ryo. "Ah... Ryoko, this is all your fault." "Hey!" *** Outside of the crowded room, several nurses were talking. "So, what happened to these guys?" "It was kinda muddled. I heard it had something to do with some martial artists..." "Isn't it always" someone added in. "...a mech, a gas main, that pervert Happousai, some bombs, a cargo truck full of gasoline, and a power line." "You're kidding." "That's what I heard. Say, what happened to Happousai anyways? He's not with this bunch." *** Ryo Muhoshin blinked, looking at the piece of mail he held in his hand. He'd received some mail, much to his surprise, from the Unorthodox Weaponry School of Martial Arts. That in itself was rather surprising to him. Either his travels were becoming famed, he guessed, or they were spying on him. That, however, wasn't the disturbing bit. The disturbing bit was what was in the letter. NOTICE: The Unorthodox Weaponry School of Martial Arts is, as of January 2, no longer an official organization. This is due to problems in the clerical and financial segmet of the UWSMA. Therefore, any sanctioned duties or contracts (protection services, target assignments, or otherwise) between the UWSMA and other parties are now dissolved and no longer officially supported by the UWSMA -Hiro Oguchi UWSMA, legal dept. In hindsight, perhaps it shouldn't have been a surprise. Quite a few within the UWSMA frowned upon the new objective of growing bigger, faster, and gaining recognition in the world. The Shaolin Monks never did that sort of thing, why should they? The fact that they hired an outsider, and a lawyer/accountant to boot, to oversee the financial matters and public relations wasn't comforting to quite a few either. It was an attempt to move the Unorthodox Weaponry School of Martial Arts into the modern era, and it backfired. Such is life. For Ryo, this event brought mixed emotions. The UWSMA had been much like a home to him. It was where he leared all his lessons on life, and had achieved great personal success. On the other hand, the various sensei were beginning to be a nuisance to him. Be damned what they say he should be, he always did what he wanted to do. Essentially, it was freedom at a price. Ryoko was slightly more sad. She tended to grow attached to places, and the UWSMA was very much her home. Granted, she didn't have many friends amongst them, but it was her comfortable niche in the world. Megane merely shrugged. Kyoko pouted for a while, but recoverd as soon as someone handed her the newspaper comic strips. *** Somewhere, deep underground, a small platoon of men in white medical coats marched, surrounding a medical bed on wheels. The bed contained a small figure, encased in a metal body cast. They wheeled into an elevator, where it went even further underground. They exited the elevator and went through a security barrier in a long hallway. They walked through a contingent of Shinto priests who were setting up all sorts of holy symbols and items. They went through a foot thick metal door and entered a room full of monitoring equipment, ki-dampeners, and security devices. A man with glasses and greying hair looked down at the entrapped figure. "This time, Happousai, you're not getting away." *** Despite their newfound love, Akane and Ranma still had a habit of fighting. They'd come to accept it as a part of their life, a sort of quirk. But unfortunately, it was incredibly annoying to everyone else, especially several weeks later, when... "Look, that's not what I meant!" protested Ranma. "So what exactly do you mean?!" Akane yelled. "Will you two stop?" asked Ryouga. "NURSE!!!" yelled Ryo. "Will you just listen to me just once, you stupid tomboy!" yelled Ranma. "Why should I, you insensitive jerk!" countered Akane. "Dammit, I can't get any sleep." muttered Megane. "Leave my darling Ranma alone!" yelled Kodachi. "You macho chick!" "Pervert!" "I'm warning you, Saotome, stop insulting her!" yelled Ryouga. "Hold thy foul tonge, fiend!" cursed Kuno. "Make the bad people go away," whimpered Ryoko. "Smite him, my love!" yelled Kunou. "Jerk!" yelled Akane. "Idiot!" Ranma shot back. *BONK* Akane hit Ranma on the head, although he could tell she held back a bit on the force of the blow. Anyone that knew their relationship well would see this as a sign of progress. These weren't those people. "And it begins." muttered Ryo, pulling a pillow over his head. "Please don't do this here, you guys?" whined Gosunkugi. "Akane Tendou, DIE!" Kodachi would have lashed out with her whip, but being in a hospital put a strain on her resources. She had to make do with what was available... "Put that toilet paper down!" Ryouga yelled. "You dare threaten a member of the Kunou lineage? I shall smite thee!" Kunou yelled. He looked around for his trusty bokken, but only found a broomstick. "Oh no." muttered Gosunkugi. He covered his head with the pillows. If anything, this last experience re-affirmed what he suspected he should do: quit trying to date anyone in Nerima at all. They were either too violent or attached to someone too violent. As the two young people violently in love continued bickering, they finally noticed the chaos erupting around them, with Kuno, Kodachi, Ryouga, and the others scrambling to and fro while attacks flew about. "What's their problem?" wondered Akane. Ranma shrugged. "Ya wanna go somewhere quiet? These guys..." *** The doctor sat in his office looking thoroughly worn out. He wasn't sure how much more he'd be able to put up with a certain group of patients. He would have loved to seperate them, but the hospital was suffering from overcrowding at the moment. The bickering seemed to have stopped amongst them, but the damage in terms of sheer irritation they caused the staff with their constant whining, bickering, and minor skirmishes was bad already. It was two weeks. Two long weeks until any of them would be ready to leave the hospital. "Doctor," a nurse said, popping her head into his doorway, "it's them again. They're wrecking the room and making more demands. I think some of them made their injuries worse." The walls shook for a moment. He heard an explosion in the distance. The doctor reached for his own medication. The nurse patted him on the back. "Have courage, doc." - the end -