Chapter Six.  We're rackin' them up now...

This is a work of fiction by a fan for fans.  Ranma and cast belong to
Rumiko Takahashi.  All other characters belong to me. ^^;;

Enjoy (I hope)!
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Chapter Six

	Akane blinked here eyes.  She felt a great deal lighter than she
was used to.  Am I flying, she thought to herself.
	"No, you're not flying," a voice said.
	Akane turned her head to see what appeared to be something
humanoid sitting in front of a terminal.  His face was the only thing lit
by the blue-white light of a monitor.  Strangely enough, he looked like
he, and the rest of his surroundings, were mounted on a wall.  What is
this place, Akane asked herself.
	"You're in Hell," the humanoid said.
	"What's going on?" Akane asked out loud.
	"You're in Hell.  You're dead, or at least your soul's been
separated from your physical body.  You can get up now, by the way."
	For some reason being told she was dead didn't seem to bother her.
She didn't have much of a recollection of what had happened, only that she
was here.  She tried thinking back a ways, but it gave her a headache.
She shook her head a little, clearing the cobwebs.  She felt at peace, as
if she'd woken from a restful sleep.
	"You might feel better if you walked around a bit," the voice
said.
	Akane straightened herself up, almost hitting her head on the
inside of a large ring around her.  She'd been reclining, or rather
floating in a large tube-like structure.  It looked like something out of
a movie.  There was a dull hum coming from the rings that were spaced
around her feet and shoulders.  Small red lights flashed like tiny beacons
along the inside of the rings.  Hesitantly, she took steps outside of the
structure, finding herself supported by something invisible.  It felt as
if she was being held in place at the time.  As she left the rings, she
suddenly felt her weight return abruptly.  She stumbled, but steady hands
caught her.  She looked up to see a rugged, roguish face looking back at
her.  
	"Who are you?" Akane asked as she stood up.
	"My name's Darian."
	Akane flinched slightly as lights blinked on, suddenly blinding
her.
	"Sorry about that."
	"That's okay," Akane said.  She blinked away the tears as her eyes
adjusted to the light.
	She saw herself in a gigantic room with nearly a thousand small
computer terminals, like the one she saw Darian sitting by.  Every single
one was empty.  Each terminal was surrounded by four sets of the tube-like
ring structures.  There were multiple double-doors leading outside as far
as Akane could tell.  She looked back to Darian.
	"Where did you say this was?" she asked again.
	"This is Hell.  Well, this is what people would consider Hell.
It's more a place rather than a state of being.  It's hard to describe.
If my wife were here, she'd be able to tell you about it better," he said
as he walked back to the terminal.
	Akane looked at Darian curiously.  He didn't seem horribly well
muscled like Ranma.  In fact, he was the most normal looking person she'd
seen.  It looked like he exercised every so often, since she didn't see
any unsightly flab on him.  His rather roguish face was framed by neatly
kept, short sandy-blonde hair.  He wore small round spectacles quite
similar to Genma's, but these sat on the bridge of his nose rather than
sliding down to the tip of his nose.  Darian was wearing loose-fitting
black pants, looking almost like something a military man would wear, but
black.  A grey silk shirt covered by a black vest completed the ensemble.
	"Is something wrong?" he asked.  It snapped Akane out of her
reverie.
	"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
	"That's alright.  Did I look familiar?"
	"No, it's just that- well- I'm sorry.  It's just that you look so
normal," Akane said sheepishly.
	Darian laughed.  It made Akane feel more comfortable.
	"I'm one of the least normal people here.  I just look normal,"
Darian said with a chuckle.
	"So this is Hell?"
	"Yes, it is.  Different people call it different things.  I knew
about this place as Hell when I was alive."
	"Excuse me?  You're dead?"
	"No, I'm just not alive in the same way I was before.  You aren't
either, but it's different from me."
	Akane raised an eyebrow.
	"What do you mean?"
	"Well, in about ten seconds, you're going to remember everything.
You see, you're not in your body at the moment.  You're just a floating
spirit.  You just died, but there've been complications, so I'm trying to
figure out what's going on," Darian said as he typed away at the terminal.
	Akane shook her head is disbelief, then it hit her.  It was like
she had been running as fast as she could and then hit a brick wall.  It
felt as if the wind had been knocked out of her.  Her head hurt, she
couldn't breathe and a loud ringing filled her ears.  Akane clutched at
her head as she crumpled to the floor.
	"Holy shit," Darian cursed as he ran to her side.  Darian lifted
Akane as she started to go limp.
	"What's going on?" Akane managed to say weakly.  Her mind was
swirling with panic, fear, and the urge to cry.  
	"I tried to stabilize your soul with a generic body program.  It
didn't work, but I don't know why.  I think something's very wrong with
you, but I can't know until Haruko comes back."
	"Death," Akane mumbled.
	"Yeah, I'm kind of married to her," Darian managed with a sheepish
grin.  He helped her to the closest set of rings.  Akane allowed herself
to be shuttled inside.  As soon as the red lights started blinking around
her, she felt the roaring die down.  It was quickly replaced by an
encroaching blackness.  She tried to fight it.
	"Don't do anything rash, Akane.  Just let yourself fall asleep."
	Akane slowly let herself go, doing what Darian told her.
	"But how did you know my name?" Akane said in a whisper before the
darkness enveloped her completely.

	"What happened?!  Tell me exactly what happened!"
	Ranma simply stared ahead at the blank wall of the dojo, unmoving.
Kasumi gently pried her father's fingers from their grip on Ranma's
shoulders.  Soun was hysterical beyond tears.  She gently pulled him away
from Ranma's near catatonic form seated against a wall.  She looked back
to Faith and Andrew working feverishly on her sister.  According to
Nabiki, Andrew had suddenly appeared in the dojo, in the blink of an eye.
In his arms he was carrying a nearly disemboweled Akane, spilling blood
everywhere.  Nabiki had screamed in horror, sending everyone running into
the dojo.  Soun had fainted instantly, as did Nodoka.  Genma paled at the
sight.  Kasumi hadn't arrived, taking the chance to call Dr. Tofu.  By the
time she'd arrived, Akane was on a bench, her mouth agape, and eyes rolled
back into her skull.  Her face was pale, her lips purple and unmoving.
Kasumi nearly vomited at the sight.  She'd hurried to Nabiki's side,
cradling her until she'd calmed down.  They both needed something to hold
onto.  Faith and Andrew had worked on her sister until Tofu arrived.  Tofu
had immediately set to work helping the two.  Once Angela arrived with an
unconscious Ranma, her father woke.  Hell broke loose again as he started
shaking Ranma into consciousness, screaming at him the entire time.  Once
the words "Akane is dead" reached his ears, Ranma simply went ballistic.
Ranma rushed to her side, despite Andrew's attempts to keep him away.
	"You're lying!" he shouted, tears threatening to form.  "She can't
be dead!"
	Once he caught sight of her bloody form, his jaw dropped.  He
started taking in labored breaths.  Small whimpering noises came from his
throat.
	"Is she dead?  She can't be, can she?  Please say she isn't," he
finally managed to say, the fear in his eyes.
	Tofu finally immobilized him temporarily with a poke at the right
pressure point.
	"Is she going to die?" Nabiki asked in a whisper.  Faith didn't
answer.  She was too busy applying salves, chanting arcane words and
pouring small amounts of liquids into Akane's mouth.  Andrew stepped away
from the mess, blood staining his hakama, his hands and chest, and his
face.  He slowly shook his head.
	"I'm sorry, Nabiki.  I don't know.  Her body is dead, but we've
forced it to regenerate the damaged areas."
	"And what about the rest of her?" Kasumi asked.
	"I don't know.  We tried to keep her soul from fleeing the body,
but I'm afraid it was gone before I arrived.  We're trying our best to
bring it back to her."
	Kasumi simply nodded.  Nabiki sank to her knees.  Soun started
crying.  Andrew looked to his wife as he heard her stop moving.  She
simply exhaled slowly and wiped a tear from her eye.  She looked to her
husband and regretfully shook her head slowly.  Dr. Tofu simply folded his
hands in his lap and closed his eyes.
	"Akane's dead?"
	Everyone's eyes turned to Ranma.  He sat in the position he was in
Dr. Tofu immobilized him.  Nobody was surprised that he was moving, but
the look of sickness and pallor disturbed them.
	"Is she really dead?" he asked in a hoarse whisper.
	Andrew looked away.
	Ranma slowly, painfully rose from his position and crawled to his
fiances body.  It looked like Ken.  She was still, her body unmoving.
Nothing radiated life from her body, yet she looked as if she were simply
sleeping.  
	A single tear escaped Ranma's eyes.  It trickled down his cheek
and splashed on Akane's folded hands.
	"I couldn't do anything about it," he mumbled.
	"You couldn't do anything to stop him," Faith said quietly.  She
looked to her sister.
	"It was decided the minute she accepted," Angela replied quietly.
	"Accepted what?!" Soun asked hysterically.
	"She became one of us."
	Soun turned to see Haruko standing in the doorway to the dojo.
Ukyou was standing by her side, looking disheveled.
	"Haruko, what's going on?"
	Haruko stepped once into the dojo, ushering Ukyou inside.  A high
pitched whistle caught her ear.  She stopped in midstep and her right arm
whirled around, a folded fan jumping into her hand.  She whirled and
struck once, hitting an arrow, with a scroll tied to it, to the ground.
She bent down, untied the scroll and picked it up.
	"I assume you're speaking about Akane," she said as she unraveled
the scroll.
	"Yes," Faith replied.
	"She's caught in a precarious position.  It is a much worse
situation than Ken.  Ken's soul is still trapped in his body, in a state
of chaos.  Akane's soul has already departed her body and is in my realm
now.  I can't tell you anything more."
	Ranma stared at Haruko in shock.
	"You can bring her back, right?"
	Haruko shook her head.
	"I can't just bring people back like that."
	"But didn't Judas kill her?" Andrew asked.
	Angela shook her head.
	"I used as much power as I could to keep her lifeline from
unraveling quickly.  Judas dealt her a mortal blow, but I kept her from
dying until she reached this dojo."
	Haruko stopped and looked at Angela with concern.
	"Then her soul has no mark.  There is no mark for Darian to know
she hasn't been claimed."	
	"So?" Angela asked.  "Judas didn't get her soul."
	"Can't you put her body and soul together again?" Ranma asked
frantically.
	"But her body was never prepared for death.  You've prepared her
body for life again. I can't take the body to Hell this way.  If I can't
prepare the body for departure to the underworld, the body can't come with
me; and her soul will be destroyed if we can't unite them again."
	Ranma's heart sank into a dark hole.
	"She's dead?  Why can't you do anything about it?"
	"I can do something, but not to Akane directly.  Unless I break
some very important rules, I can't do anything to Akane directly.  I can
think of a few options, the easiest being to exchange one soul for
another, but I don't see any that would match her condition so soon."
	"What do you mean?  I thought you told me one was as good as
another," Ukyou said quietly.
	"In essence that's the truth, but it's more than that.  To make
the exchange the conditions of death must match as well.  A young girl
near the same age must be murdered in order for Akane's soul to be
exchanged.  Most importantly, the person must die before their lifeline is
through.  It would have to be a premature death to ensure that Akane's
lifeline would be under Faith's influence."
	"And the same goes for Ken?" Ukyou asked sadly.
	"Yes.  An Avatar will have to die prematurely in order for an
exchange to take place," Haruko said as she finally looked over the
scroll.
	Ukyou looked to Ranma and saw in his eyes the same feeling she
harbored in her heart - hopelessness.  She walked over to his side and sat
next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
	"Ranma," she said, "I know how you feel.  If you need to talk,
I'll be here."
	Ranma simply looked at Ukyou taking her hand in his.  Ukyou
shivered at how cold it was.  
	"I'm sure Haruko will find a way to make things right.  She
promised me that everything would turn out for the best, and I'm sure
she'll do the same for you."
	Ranma smiled wanly.  They both turned to look at Haruko, who's
eyes went wide after reading the scroll.  With a gasp, she dropped the
scroll onto the ground.  Haruko shook her head and stepped backwards.  She
fell to her knees as her hands covered her mouth.  She managed a quiet
moan before becoming silent.  Faith hurried to her sister's side.
	"Haruko, what's wrong?  What was the scroll about?"
	Andrew picked up the scroll, a frown crossing his face as his brow
furrowed.
	"No," Haruko whispered.  "The lives of so many people, oh, Faith
can't you see it?"
	Faith closed here eyes, but opened them in shock when she saw the
long shadow cast over the lifelines of a hundred thousand people.
	"What's going on?" Nabiki asked.
	"War.  Judas has declared war on the three Norns.  He's chosen
Nerima as the battlefield.  It isn't a battle he will win, but that's not
what he's looking for."
	"What's going to happen?" Kasumi asked, her voice shaking in fear.
	"Many people will die.  Innocent people will be slaughtered.
Judas doesn't want a war so much as an excuse to raze this city to the
ground.  He knows that by declaring war, there's nothing to prevent him
from slaughtering everything and everyone here."
	"Oh my."
	"That's not even the half of it," Andrew said grimly.  "There are
no rules in war, Kasumi, none at all.  That's why war is hell.  Now, Judas
just brought hell to your doorstep."

	Judas looked back over the vast expanse of Nerima, a sick grin
plastered on his face.  He looked like a child that had been given free
reign in a candy store.  Everything was legal, nothing was considered
hands-off.  It was prefect for the plan.
	"You've begun, Judas?"
	"Of course."
	Cassius chuckled.
	"And on time, for once in your life," he said.
	Judas growled.
	"You do what you want, but I get to do the raping and pillaging."
	"Of course, Judas.  That's what you're so good at, isn't it?"
	"It's what I do."
	"Of course it is," Cassius replied casually.  "Now remember, I've
taken a little look into the future with that wonderful thing called
clairvoyance, and there are a few things that you need to remember."
	Judas eyed his brother suspiciously.
	"How do you know that it's going to happen the way you see it?
You're not Fate."
	"No, I'm not Fate.  I can't see every future or change the future
like she can, but I can do just as good.  I can make things up to then
work the way I want it to work so that it all happens the way I see it.
Got it?"
	"I guess so.  So what you want me to do?"
	"Find the boy called Hibiki Ryouga."
	"I don't speak Japanese you bastard!  How do you expect me to find
him?"	
	"You'll find him.  When you do, you'll find a way to talk to him,"
Cassius replied with a dismissive wave of his hand.
	"Should I just keep him hostage?"
	"No!  Of course not!  He's going to be a key part of our plan.  Be
nice to him.  Try to get him to join your clan."
	"Is he good at fighting?"
	"Of course he is.  He's our trump card.  Keep an eye out for him
and make sure you tell him everything I told you."
	"Sure thing."
	"Good."
	"Anything else I should know about?"
	Cassius shook his head with a chuckle.
	"As the colloquialism goes, 'give 'em hell, brother.'"
	Judas grinned and turned around.  Cassius looked over his
shoulder.  A horde of Judas's best warriors was assembled behind him,
milling about the rooftops.
	"Hear me!  Before the sun rises tomorrow, a thousand souls should
be within my grasp!" he cried.
	A hand settled on his shoulder.
	"And the first to bring back five hundred gets to see me naked!" a
voice behind him shouted.  A giant roar came from the crowd of warriors as
they immediately began to disperse.
	Judas turned to see Sin looking at him coyly.  She looked slightly
harried.
	"Your meeting not go well with the girl?" he asked.
	"Nope.  Haruko was there.  I managed to delay them a bit."
	Judas smiled as Sin enveloped him in a sultry kiss.  Judas's hands
began wandering over Sin's body, eliciting a low moan from her.  Cassius
coughed conspicuously.
	"Must you two carry on with your animal mating behavior in front
of me?"
	Judas broke the kiss, much to Sin's apparent displeasure.
	"Business is business, Judas.  There will be plenty of time for
play later."
	Judas rolled his eyes.
	Sin trailed a finger from Judas's lips, over his chestplate and
stomach before settled on his groin.
	"We'll have plenty of time for 'play' later," she said with a
feral grin and a wink.
	Judas replied with a swat at her shapely rear.  Sin squealed
playfully and giggled as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, swinging from
her whip on occasion.
	"And how goes it with Vice?"
	Cassius looked at his brother.
	"She will be here when the time comes," he said with a smile.
	Judas looked back over the city as the sun set over the skyline
bathing everything in a blood red glow.
	"The blood of a hundred thousand people will bathe the streets to
christen a new era, Cassius.  It will be glorious."
	Cassius looked once at his brother out of the corner of his eyes
and looked back to the city.  Innocent people, blissfully unaware of their
fate would soon discover a new meaning to the phrase, "hell on Earth."  A
slow smile spread across his face.


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Ethan Tsai
1 N. College Street
Northfield, MN 55057

TSAIE@Gridley.ACNS.Carleton.edu
http://public.carleton.edu/~tsaie/ethan.html