A Note From Kensu: What is this? Why did we do this? What is that stuff in the inside of Twinkies? This header will answer this question. 1>This is the result of a collabaration between four of the best known Ranma fanfic authors on the 'net;. Me, Kensu, who wrote Mamono Hunter Ranma 1/2 and Original Flavor. Stefan Gagne, who wrote such memorable fanfics as "Wicked Garden" and "Ministry of Confusion". The Legenedary John Walter Biles, who stunned the world with "Putting your heart in the right place" "Elseworlds" "Still Waters Run Deep" and many MANY others. And Roy Rim, who graced the world with the lemon-psychological thriller "Split Personalites" 2>Why did we do this? Kensu (me) thought up the fact that there has never been a Ranma 1/2 Halloween episode. Which isn't really that strange, but I thought that it was about time someone wrote one. After reading the Ninja High School 1995 Yearbook, I thought it would be nice to have some of the more famous Ranma 1/2 authors write a story based on Halloween. Thus, I sent out E-Mails. The only authors who never replied were Christian Gadekan and Karl Rim. Well, maybe next year. :) (Does anyone know Karl Rim's updated address?) 3>It's lard. No kidding, it's lard. OH NO, WE'RE GOING TO GET SUED! :) ] Ahh....I'm starting to have C++ flashbacks. :) Author's foreward: This story is NOT part of my Right Place/Furinkan Summer Continuity. It is part of a special collection of Halloween stories, and runs right out of manga/anime continuity. [Akane is sitting on the porch looking out at the backyard of the dojo. She is trying to put together a black cat paper statue, but it won't unfold right.] Akane: Stupid thing. Baah, why isn't this working? Why am I even trying? I hate Halloween anyway. Ranma: Because you're too clumsy to do it right. Akane: [angrily] Ranma.... Ranma: [warming to his rant] You are the clumsiest girl I've ever seen. Of course if you weren't such a tomboy, you might have had time to learn to be graceful. But instead you... Akane: [Screaming] RANMA NO BAKA! [She kicks Ranma into the pond, then starts picking up rocks and throwing them at him. Ranma-chan dodges desperately.] Ranma-chan: Whaddya get so angry for Akane? Akane: I HATE YOU, YOU MONSTER! [She runs off into the house.] Ranma-chan: What'd I say? Nabiki: [From just inside the house] Ranma, this isn't a good day to make fun of Akane. Or any of the rest of us. Ranma-chan: Why? Nabiki: This is the day we found out our mother was going to die...She died Halloween night. Ranma-chan: [big eyes] It...is? Nabiki: [testy] Yeah, you idiot. Don't you remember from last year? Ranma-chan: That was a year ago! Uh, no. Nabiki: Well, there isn't a person in this house who's going to want to put up with your usual rudeness, so you'd better be polite, or you'll regret it. Ranma-chan: I didn't know that she was thinking about that. I didn't think that... Nabiki: You never think. That's the problem. [Nabiki stalks off.] Ranma-chan: I didn't realize she was thinking about that. I didn't. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ Ranma 1/2 Halloween Special: Monster By John Biles Using characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi. The Monster done by by the same people who did the monsters for Dr. Who. This story is dedicated to the memory of my dear departed grandmother Zola Biles. May we not forget you as you never forgot us. God bless. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ [We see Akane up in her room, crying.] Akane: Ranma no baka! How can he be so cruel? How did I ever get such a monster for a fiancee? I never make fun of him like that! [A little angel appears on Akane shoulder. It looks like Akane with wings.] Akane-sama: Oh, then what do you call it when you call him a pervert and a hentai? Akane: He's always hanging around those women! And walking in on me when I'm nude in the bathroom! And he changes into a girl! Akane-sama: You've walked in on him too. And do you think he likes his curse? Akane: I..uh...That's different! When a girl sees a boy is different! Akane-sama: Why? Akane: It just is! Akane-sama: I think you're lying to yourself. Akane: I am not! He's an awful perverted hentai who is mean to me! I hate him! Akane-sama: You're doing it again. Akane: [Looks confused] Doing what? Akane-sama: Lying to yourself. Akane: I am not lying to myself! Akane-sama: Then why do you care what he says? Akane: Because...Because...I don't know why! Akane-sama: I think you do care about him! Akane: What do you know? I'm just imagining you anyway! Akane-sama: [mallets Akane] That feel imaginary? Akane: [rubs her head] I...felt that. Akane-sama: But anyway, I'm not here for that. Akane: Who are you? Akane-sama: Your guardian angel. The closet monster is coming for you on Halloween night. Akane: The what? Akane-sama: The monster that lives in your closet. Akane: There's no monster living in my closet! Akane-sama: It wants you...and it intends to have you. You've fed it all these years, and now it is ready to claim you. Akane: I still think I must be imagining this. [Akane-sama mallets Akane repeatedly.] Akane-sama: Maybe this will clear your mind. Akane: [irritated] Okay, I get the point! Akane-sama: Don't be afraid of it. You must face it or it will haunt you forever. Akane: [nervously] I..maybe...I should get help. Akane-sama: They can't fight your battles for you, Akane. It's up to you. Akane: I have to fight it...alone? Ranma-chan: You have to fight what alone? Akane: [turns to the window and sees Ranma.] The..uh...nothing. [Akane-sama is gone.] Ranma-chan: [very hesitantly] I...Akane, I'm so..I mean I..uh...I forgot. Akane: About what? Ranma-chan: [rubbing the back of her head] Your mother and all...I guess you'll be going to the graveyard on Halloween? Akane: Hai. Stupid Gaijin holiday. [Her eyes water.] All it does is...is... [She chokes back tears.] Ranma-chan: [nervously] I'll just go away now. [pauses] I didn't mean...to make you cry. [She leaps up to the roof.] Akane: I...did I imagine it all? ****************************************************************************** [Two days have passed. It is Halloween. The Tendos and Saotomes are at the graveyard where Mrs. Tendo is buried. They are all dressed in their best clothing.] Soun: [bawling his eyes out] My dear, dear, wife...How I miss you! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kasumi: [Shaky voice] We...We've done our best to keep the house as you left it, mother. Clean and tidy. We've all been eating well...Akane is engaged...oh, I think we told you last year. Nabiki keeps the records just like you did, mother. Nabiki: [putting flowers on the grave. Her voice is rigid.] It's hard keeping this family afloat. Especially with all the...guests...and damage. But I'm doing my best. And with father...[She glances over at Soun who is bawling.] Father is trying hard too. Akane: Mo..Mo..Mother. [She cries and lights a pair of candles on the grave] I miss you, mother. So much. [She kneels by the grave and sobs silently. Ranma looks on, wanting to speak, unsure what to say.] Not having you here...just makes me so angry. Why? Why did you have to die? [She pounds on the ground.] Why did we have to lose you? Genma: [stoically] You were a good wife to my dear friend and a good friend to my wife and I. I wish she could be here. She told me so many stories about when you were younger...together... Ranma: [thought] I have nothing to say. I never knew her. But everyone misses her so much. I guess she must have been a great woman. [Kunou walks up and kneels, placing a red rose and a black one on the pile of flowers.] Ranma: [suspicious] Kunou, what are you doing here? Kunou: [Icy voice] I too know what it is to mourn, Saotome. I too know what it is like to lose one's mother. Akane: Th..Thank you, Kunou. Kunou: Roses for rememberance. Red for me and black for my sister. Your mother was a good woman, Akane. Though we met but little, her I shall remember. As I remember... [Kunou falls silent.] Ranma: That you have to leave now? Kasumi: Hush, Ranma. Kunou: [Glares hard at Ranma] I will ignore you for Akane's sake. Know, Tendo Akane, that someone shares your grief, even if the insolent one does not. I shall pray for you and your mother. [He kneels.] Kasumi: That...That's sweet of you, Kunou. Ranma: What do you mean I don't share her grief? Kunou: [sharply] How can you mourn someone you have never known? Ranma: Uh... Kunou: [disgusted] Enough. [He ignores Ranma and prays.] Nabiki: [To Ranma] Can't you just be silent and let us mourn? Ranma: [thought] I didn't want to cause trouble. @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ [Everyone is back at the dojo eating quietly. No one has much of an appetite, except Ranma. There is a pumpkin centerpiece, and a few fake cobwebs scattered about. But it is pretty clear that no one was quite in the mood to decorate much.] Akane: [thought] Surely there won't be a real closet monster tonight. I must have imagined that. Ranma: [thought] Akane looks worried about something. [spoken] Yo, Akane. You worried about something? Akane: Nothing. Ranma: [a little concern in his voice] You just...never mind. Akane: I...Thank you, Ranma. [They half-smile weakly at each other.] Kasumi: I made some...some...I baked a cake. Soun: Just like ..like...WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ [Akane is in her room, getting ready for bed.] Akane: I wonder if...[looks at her closet.] Naah. I must be imagining things. There's no monster in my closet. I can't even think why I would imagine such a thing. [*Bink*. Angel on her shoulder.] Akane-sama: Because it's true. You put the monster there. Akane: What? Akane-sama: At 11:56 pm, the monster will appear. [Akane looks at the clock. It reads 11:53 pm.] Akane: ACK! Uh...I should get help. Akane-sama: Too late. [The closet begins to glow.] Akane: [grabs a mallet] Why is it after me? Akane-sama: I don't know. Why don't you tell me? Akane: What? Akane-sama: You should remember where it came from. Akane: I have no idea! Akane-sama: [looks at the clock] Hmm. 11:56 pm. Time for the monster. Akane: Shouldn't it come at midnight? Akane-sama: The monster didn't come at midnight the first time, either. Akane: Will you stop talking in riddles? Akane-sama: [blows a handful of dust in Akane's face] Remember... @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ [We see the same bedroom, ten years ago. Akane-chan is only six years old. She is in bed, clutching a teddy bear. Her father is tucking her in.] Akane-chan: Daddy. Soun: Yes, Akane-chan? Akane-chan: I wanna be a fighter just like you so I can beat up Death and get mommy back. Soun: [tears up] You can't fight death, Akane-chan. Death always wins in the end. Akane-chan: What if...Is anyone else gonna die? [clutches her teddy bear tighter] Why did mommy have to die? Soun: [starts to cry] A horrible disease took her away...I couldn't save her. We tried to fight it. It won. Akane-chan: I'll fight it, Daddy! I won't let it take you! I'm gonna be a great fighter! [Soun collapses crying.] Akane-chan: [stands on the bed] I'll kill it! I will! I'll stop the monster! [Akane-chan's closet glows. A tentacle flicks out of the closet.] Akane-chan: EEK! A MONSTER! [Soun turns and looks. The glow is gone. The tentacle is gone.] Soun: There's no monster, there, Akane-chan. Akane-chan: It must be afraid of you, daddy. Soun: I have to go tuck in your sisters. Akane-chan: [scared] Will it come back? Soun: There's no monster, Akane-chan. You're safe here. Akane-chan: Mommy thought she was safe too. Soun: [starts to cry again] So did I... [He staggers out the door crying. As soon as he leaves, the closet starts to glow.] Akane-chan: DADDY!!!!!! [There is only silence and an evil laugh from the closet.] @@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ [Akane opens her eyes wide.] Akane: [breathing hard] The monster...I thought...I must have imagined all that. Akane-sama: Well, now the monster has returned. Akane: The monster was there...every night for years. Why...why did it go away? Why did I forget it? [The closet begins to glow.] Akane-sama: 11:56 pm. It's coming for you... Akane: [faces the closet determinedly] I'm no little girl some stupid monster can push around! Come out and face me! [The closet erupts. A reddish mass of tentacles and teeth and claws and eyes erupts from the closet. Akane starts swatting desperately with her mallet.] Akane: [breathing hard] I'm a trained martial artist! You'd better back off! [The monster does not speak, but continues its attack in silence. Tentacles snake around Akane's legs and get broken off. Teeth snap at her and get smashed. Slowly she is forced to retreat along the top of the bed. It is forcing her implacably into the corner. No matter how much damage she does, it just keeps coming.] Akane: [angry] GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU STUPID MONSTER! I WON'T LET YOU TAKE ME! I WON'T! [Deep laughter.] Akane: [flailing wildly] DIE! DIE! DIE! I WON'T LOSE! I WON'T LOSE! Voice: I took your mother. Now I've come for you. And nothing can stop me. Rage all you want. I am the end of all things. AKANE: YOU'RE EVIL! EVIL! [She is now trapped in the corner.] Voice: All things come to me in time. I bring the peace of the end of futile striving. Akane: I DON'T WANT PEACE! I WANT TO LIVE! YOU TOOK MY MOTHER, YOU...YOU...! Voice: Embrace your destiny. Akane: EMBRACE THIS! [She leaps up onto a tentacle and leaps into the air, coming down with a massive mallet slam. Then she turns and leaps up to the window sill.] Akane: [bidas the monster] Nyaaah! Voice: As you like. [The tentacles surge and knock her out the window. She falls.] Akane: [thinking] Oh God, I'm going to die and crush my skull and break into a million bitty bits and... [*Splash!* Akane falls into the fish pond.] Akane: [thinking] Why am I still sinking? The pond isn't this deep? [looking down, she sees tentacles lashed round her leg pulling her down.] NO! I can't let it take me. [She lashes out with her legs, kicking desperately, and the tentacles tear loose. She swims to the surface.] Voice: [as Akane breaks the surface] Very tragic story. Young boy drown in pool 2000 years ago. Now anyone who fall in pool take body of young boy. Akane-kun: [looks at himself and realizes she...is now a he.] AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! Voice: [can now be seen to be the Jyusenkyo guide] Next time, maybe you let me finish story before fighting. Akane-kun: I've turned into a guy! Another voice: [snotty voice] You already were a tomboy. Big deal. Akane-kun: I am NOT a tomboy! [He looks around. He is treading water in the middle of one of the Jyusenkyo pools. His father is up on one of the poles looking down at her bawling.] Soun: My daughter! A tomboy! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! So unfeminine, unlike her mother! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! Akane-kun: [annoyed] Dad! You're the one who taught me martial arts! And how was I supposed to learn to be feminine, when you couldn't SAVE MY MOTHER! [She leaps and kicks the pole Soun is on. He topples and falls into a pool.] Father! [The pool surface bubbles. Then the bubbles stop.] Akane-kun: Father! [He clambers out of the pool he is in and races over to the other one. Guide: Very tragic story of giant one-eyed one horned flying purple people eater who drowned in that pool 33 years ago. Akane-kun: [big eyes] Uh oh. Soun-Monster: [rising out of the pool, 30 feet tall with wings, one eye, purple skin, claws, and one horn] You! You tried to kill me! Akane-kun: [devastated] No! It was an accident! I was angry! Soun-Monster: You're an evil child! You tried to drown me, and now I'm a monster! I'm going to have to kill you! Akane-kun: No! [starts to cry] No, I didn't mean to do it! Soun-Monster: Now you will die! Just like you killed your mother! [He lunges at Akane-kun who dodges. Akane-kun flees the valley with Soun-monster constantly slashing at her, missing only by inches.] Akane-kun: [crying] I didn't kill my mother! It was your fault! Soun-Monster: [bawling angrily] I couldn't save her! Why didn't you fight harder! You let them take her! [Akane-kun runs and runs. Finally, he falls down to his knees.] Akane-kun: [sobbing] I tried. I tried! I couldn't save her! [hits the ground with his fists] And now I'm being punished. Voices: Oh, what a cute guy. Maybe after the competition, I'll see if he's busy. Yeah, that's what you always say. Akane-kun: [looks around] Where am I? [Akane-kun is standing in the middle of the Amazon village. He sees the annual Amazon competition is going on. Shampoo has just finished demolishing her opponent.] Shampoo: You! Ugly Pervert girl! Miscellaneous Amazons: Girl? Akane-kun: You! This must be your fault! Shampoo: Ugly pervert girl who killed own mother and father! Die! [She leaps at Akane, bonbori in hand.] Akane-kun: I didn't kill my father! Shampoo: [swiping at Akane-kun, who blocks the blows] Just your mother? Akane-kun: I didn't kill Mommy! I tried to save her! I tried to fight them! Shampoo: [whaps Akane-kun in the head with one of her bonbori] But you lost, just like you always lose. Akane-kun: I don't always lose! I used to beat up every boy in my school before class! [knocks away one of Shampoo's bonbori with a kick] At the same time! Shampoo: [swings at Akane-kun's legs, but Akane-kun leaps up in the air] Akane is a violent pervert girl. Shampoo already know that. Akane-kun: [lashes out with a kick while still in the air, slamming Shampoo away from himself] I am not VIOLENT! [lands, rolls, and delivers a kick upward, knocking Shampoo into the air] I AM NOT VIOLENT! Shampoo: [still airborne, zooming out of sight] Shampoo wonder what Akane think violence is. Akane-kun: [watching Shampoo fly away] I...I...But you attacked me. [Shampoo crashes down far away. Tentacles erupt from the ground and swallow her up. Akane-kun gulps.] Akane-kun: Shampoo.... [Someone pours hot water on Akane-kun, who turns back into a girl. Akane turns and sees Kasumi.] Kasumi: No one made you fight her. Or get so angry. You chose to meet violence with violence. Akane: But how am I supposed to defend myself if I don't fight back? Am I just supposed to let people be cruel to me? [louder] What am I supposed to do when Ranma taunts me, and all the boys attack me, and people try to carry me off to make me marry them? Kasumi: An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. Akane: [rolling her eyes] So what, I should just roll over and die? Voice: Yes. [The tentacles erupt out of everything around her, closing in from all sides. They slide around Kasumi, ignoring her completely. Akane begins to flail away, shattering tentacles right and left.] Voice: Go ahead. Fight me. You can't win, but I suppose I could use a work out. [Akane fights frantically, but the tentacles keep coming. Kasumi begins to quietly walk away through the tentacles, which part for her.] Akane: [panicky] Why aren't they attacking you? Kasumi: I beat this monster long ago. No one can make you change but you. Akane: I don't understand! Kasumi: Love conquers hate. And rage. 'Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails.' *(footnote 1) The willow bends in the wind, where the oak shatters. Water flows around the rock, wearing it down day by day. Akane: [slashing wildly at the tentacles, which are starting to wrap around her legs] GIVE ME A STRAIGHT ANSWER! I'm fighting a man eating monster, not a rock or a tree! Kasumi: [as she fades into the mists] Are you? Akane: [confused] Then what is it? [silence] Kasumi! Dr. Tofu: [appearing out of the mists] Have you seen Kasumi-chan, Akane? Akane: [desperately] Help me, Dr. Tofu! Dr. Tofu: It's so foggy. Normally it's only like this when Kasumi is around. Akane: [ripping a tentacle in half] Do SOMETHING! Dr. Tofu: Just tell it to go away. Akane: [frantic] It won't listen to me! It wants to hurt me! I can't stop it! Dr. Tofu: There are some fights you must fight alone, Akane. Akane: [shouting] You're a doctor! Don't let me die! Don't let me die!!!!! Dr. Tofu: [standing admidst the tentacles, untouched by them] Even a doctor can't always prevent death, no matter how hard we try. Some things can't be stopped. We all die eventually. Akane: [keeps fighting] Don't you care about me at all? Dr. Tofu: [smiles] Of course I care, Akane-chan, but a doctor has to learn when to keep trying and when to let go, or his failures will drive him mad. And there are always failures. We can't always win. [pauses] I really need to find Kasumi-chan. Are you sure you haven't seen her? Akane: [struggling desperately] She left. I don't know where she is. Dr. Tofu: Thank you, Akane-chan. I shall search for her. [fades into the mists. Akane: DON'T LEAVE ME! HELP! [She fights on frantically, but the tentacles are winning. Suddenly, there are sounds of battle all around her.] Voice: We'll save you, Akane! [She sees a horde of people around her. Sentaro, Kunou, Toma, Kirin, the boys who used to attack her before school every day, all attacking the tentacles. Only one person is missing.] Akane: [thought] Where is Ranma? [The tentacles grow in number. It is clear that the monster is going to beat them all. Toma throws illusions of fire, but it ignores them. Two bokken wielding tentacles are thrashing Kunou. The tentacles grab Kirin's pickled vegetables and eat them all. Shinnosuke gets swept into a garbage can and dragged off. Miscellaneous high school students get dragged under by tentacles.] Voice: Guess I'll be full tonight. Akane: [fighting desperately] NO!!!!! [Soon, she is surrounded by a field of broken, shattered bodies. Her would be rescuers are unconcious.] Kunou: [struggling] Farewell, Tendo Akane. To die for you is my duty as a Samurai. If only we could have shared our love before my demise. [He is dragged under.] Akane-kun: [shrieks] NO! Voice: Well, I'll be back in a little bit. Eating this many people is a lot of work. Thanks for luring them all in so I could crush them, Akane. [The tentacles and people fade.] Akane: [collapses crying] They all died trying to save me. I'm not worth it. Dead! I couldn't save them. I can't save anyone. How can I be so weak? [She hears an owl hoot and looks up. She is in the graveyard in front of her mother's grave.] Akane: [crying] I'm sorry, mother. I tried to fight it. I couldn't save them. I couldn't save you. All I can do is get people killed. Ukyou: [perching on a nearby tombstone] Then why don't you just let me have Ranchan before he gets himself killed defending you? Akane: [angrily] He's my fiancee. Ukyou: You don't love him. I do. I say it every day. You've never said you loved him. When you were sane, anyway. Why don't you just go away before you get him killed? Akane: I'm not going to get him killed! Ukyou: [rolls her eyes] Like you just didn't kill everyone else who ever loved you? Akane: It wasn't my fault! It was the monster! Ukyou: What's the difference? You're a monster! Akane: [angrily] I'm not a monster! Ukyou: [angrily] You hurt and kill everyone who tries to say they love you! You killed your mother! You cursed your father! You didn't stop the monster from killing everyone else! You're a horrible monster who destroys everything you touch! [begging] Just let me have Ranchan, please. I love him, unlike you. Akane: [angrily] No, you can't have him! He's mine! Ukyou: [hefts her spatula] So you want to fight? You can't beat me! Akane: [thinking] She's right. [out loud] You think you're tough? I bet the monster would eat you too! I wish it would! Voice: Hmm. I don't normally do requests, but for this I'll make an exception. [Tentacles erupt out of the grave and grapple Ukyou, dragging her down into it.] Akane: [shocked] No! Voice: This is what you wanted. With Shampoo and Ukyou out of the way, who can take away your Ranma? Assuming he wants a baka tomboy like you. Ukyou: AAAAAHHHH!!!!! [fighting frantically, she is unable to stop the monster from dragging her into the ground to her waist] Akane: [paralyzed] Ukyou...no.... Voice: I'm sure he won't mind that you let his oldest friend die, either. No, of course not. Ukyou: [fighting desperately] I see you've decided to give up. But I'm gonna go down kicking and screaming! I beat my monster, why can't you? Akane: [staring helplessly] It's so strong. I can't fight it. It kills everyone I know. Everyone I like. Ukyou: [now only her head is showing] Don't just lie down and die! Akane: But...Kasumi said I couldn't win by fighting...It beat me everytime I fought before...And I can't run away from it forever... Ukyou: Not fighting doesn't mean lying down and dying or running away! Akane: [thought] I can't just let her die. Voice: Hmm. I wonder what kind of sauce to put on this one. Akane: I won't let you kill her! [She runs over and grabs Ukyou by the hair and pulls.] Ukyou: OWWWW!!!!! Akane: I can't reach anything else! [Ukyou struggles and gets one arm free. Akane pulls on that instead.] Voice: Hmm. Maybe I'll just take both of you. Tentacles erupt and grapple Akane. She ignores them and keeps pulling Ukyou up out of the grave. The tentacles begin to pull her down. Soon Ukyou is able to fight the tentacles again, but Akane is being pulled into the grave.] Akane: [thought] At least I was able to save someone. Ukyou: Akane! Akane: [as she is pulled under] Take good care of Ranma for me, Ukyou. [All is quiet as Akane is pulled through darkness.] Akane: [thought] At least I saved Ukyou. I couldn't save anyone else, but I saved someone. It's so nice just to relax. Voice: And Ranma will marry her instead of you. Akane: I beat you! You're not invincible! I saved someone from you! Voice: You're the one who told me to attack her. Akane: I did not! Voice: I always attack the people who hurt you, who make you unhappy. Akane: You hurt me! You make me unhappy! Voice: I am what you made me. You wanted to be strong. I am strong. No one can stop me but you. And you won't stop me. You like watching people get hurt. It lets you forget how much you hurt. Akane: I don't like hurting people! You're the one who likes hurting people! Voice: I've never touched a soul you didn't want to see in pain. Akane: That's not true! You attacked me too! Voice: So you did want all the others to suffer? Akane: NO! Voice: You just wanted yourself to suffer? Akane: Yes! I mean no! I mean...You just want to hurt me! Voice: Don't you deserve pain? Didn't you kill your mother? Didn't you break so many hearts? They only wanted to give you their love and you beat them up every day! Akane: They attacked me first! Voice: But you chose to just beat them up instead of dealing with it some other way. Oh, how I enjoyed that. Akane: No, I didn't like it. I didn't! Voice: I felt so powerful, being able to beat so many people at once! I was the best fighter in the school...and then...HE came. Akane: [faintly] Ranma... Voice: He was better than I was. So much better. And he just keeps getting better and better. He's invincible, unstoppable. And he hates you. So I had to crush him. Let him know every bad feature he has. Drag him down so he wouldn't be any better than me. Akane: [faintly] No. I don't want to hurt him. He's just so mean to me. I just get so angry. Voice: He deserves to be crushed! Just like all the rest! Akane: But I l..l...him. Voice: How can you when he's so mean to you? Calls you a tomboy? Clumsy? Uncute? [Akane can see she's being dragged towards two glowing eyes] Akane: [guilty voice] And I've called him names too. But I love him. And I...I hope he loves me. I don't want to hate him. I just let myself get so angry. If only I could tell him I love him.... Voice: You're too weak. I'm your strength. Without me, you're nothing. Nothing. Akane: Love isn't nothing. Voice: It can't win your battles! The last time you tried loving someone, they died! You were too weak to save them! Akane: [stronger] I...I couldn't save my mother. I was only five. She was sick. There was nothing I could do. Voice: You should have fought for her! Defeated Death! Akane: [straightening up, she faces the shadowy figure with glowing eyes in the darkness] I couldn't beat death. No one can beat death. I was a fool to make you. Voice: Don't say that! Akane: I don't need a monster. I'm not a little child any longer. My closet can't kill me; I don't have to be the strongest one there is; I just have to do the best I can. Voice: [weaker] No! Together we can crush your enemies! Show Shampoo who's boss! Get that wretched Kodachi away from Ranma! Akane: You just want to smash things. I can't afford to just break my toys when they don't work. I can't beat the world. Voice: [angrily] I'll kill you first! I won't let you let me die! [The tentacles begin to constrict Akane.] Akane: I have to learn that sometimes you don't have to fight back. You can just walk away, without running away. I don't know what you are...if you are me...or if I made you...or made you part of me, or what. But I don't need you anymore. I choose love. Voice: Love just gets you hurt! Gets me hurt! I don't want to be hurt! Akane: That's the risk I have to take. Voice: But if I love someone, they might die. They might hate me. How can we be sure if they'll even love us back? What if Ranma loves someone else? Akane: I guess I'll just have to find out. [She turns and starts to walk away. The tentacles lose their grip and start to crumble.] Voice: No! Don't let me die! I need you! Akane: But I don't need you. I won't let you rule me any more. [She bumps into a figure in the dark. It turns and in a dim glow, she sees Ranma.] Ranma: [angrily] Look where you're going, you clumsy tomboy! Voice: [faintly] Don't let him say that to you! Akane: [struggles with herself for a moment] I'm sorry, Ranma. It's so dark I couldn't see you. Ranma: I...uh...Yeah, I guess it is. I suppose I...shouldn't have yelled at you. Akane: [takes his hand] Let's go home, Ranma. Voice: [very faintly] No! Never forget! Never forgive! Ranma: You hear something, Akane? Akane: No, nothing at all. I'm ...I'm.... Ranma: Hmm? Akane: I'm so glad you're here. With me. I...L... Ranma: I wrecked your Halloween, made a mess of the visit to the grave. I just...I don't know how to ...I'm sorry. Akane: [steps closer to Ranma and whispers in his ear] I know. I'm sorry I yelled at you. [hesitantly] Do you...care about me, Ranma? [There is a bright light from one side.] Akane: [turns to look and sees Ranma by the door to her room, his hand on the lightswitch] Ranma? [She turns back to look at the Ranma in the closet. He is gone. Her pajamas are untorn. She is standing in the closet. Even Akane-sama is gone. The clock flashes 12:00 am.] I...Ranma. Ranma: [steps inside the room, looks and sees Akane in the closet] What are you doing in your closet? I heard banging noises and was wo...I thought you must have done something clumsy and hurt yourself or some junk. Akane: [thought] Don't get mad. Don't get mad. He...he started to say he was worried. [She steps out of the closet and walks over nervously to him.] Ranma: Uh...Akane? [He puts one hand behind his head.] I..uh..didn't really think you'd done anything clumsy. I just...uh...I mean banging in the middle of the night and all. And people try to kidnap you and err... Akane: I'm sorry I called you a monster the other day, Ranma. Ranma: I forgot about why you don't like Halloween. I...wish I could have said something meaningful like everyone else did...at the grave. Akane: You were there. You cared enough to come. That's meaningful to me. Ranma: [really nervously] I...uh...thanks...umm. Want me to let you sleep now? Akane: Not yet. Ranma: I...uh. What? [Akane twines her arms around Ranma's neck.] Ranma: I...uh...whadya do that for? Akane: Let me show you. [She pulls his head down and kisses him.] Ranma: [big eyes] Akane! Akane: [smiling] There's more where that came from. Ranma: I...you...kissed me! Akane: [blushes a little] I l..l.. you. Ranma: [even bigger eyes if possible] You...me? Akane: Hai, Ranma. Ranma: I l...l...l...you too. Akane: [smiling] Oh, Ranma... [They kiss. Unseen by them, Akane-sama is sitting on the window sill watching.] Akane-sama: Good luck, Akane. He's a good boy, even if he is a bit baka at times. Now how can I help the rest of my children? [shimmering, she transforms into a tiny Nabiki with wings] A mother's work is never done. [She flies off to one of the adjacent windows, smiling.] *1 First Corinthians 13 6-7 The End! For now :) Postscript: Whew! It's done, only one and a half months late! This story got delayed by my work on DnR 15...And School, and Work, and... Well, it's finally out. I hope you enjoyed this little trip inside Akane's head. Everyone has some degree of pent up anger...I know there are things that can set me off, and we all know how angry Akane gets. It's a monster we all have to deal with. Especial thanks to Jeff Hosmer for his many suggestions and help. -- John Walter Biles "Freed of my gaol and torment, I will rule the MA-History cosmos!"--Lord Foul Ph.D. Wannabe at U.Kansas "Big deal. I could do the same thing--if I ranma@falcon.cc.ukans.edu were as crazy as you."--Thomas Covenant, ch.19 gauntman@triol.dorm.umd.edu White Gold Wielder http://triol.dorm.umd.edu/~gauntman/index.html http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~ranma/wotindex.html "This was power, and it was not evil if she were not. The hunger which had dogged her days was only dark because she had feared it, denied it. It had two names, and one of them was life."--Chapter 20, White Gold Wielder