Once upon a time, there was a fanfic author.
He READ a lot more stories than he actually WROTE, though.
So, instead of geting a little work ethic, he got lazy and decided to
take the easy way out, and rag on others works instead.
So he recruited a couple of fictional charchters, snagged a movie
theatre, and grabbed some munchies.
And thus was born.......
LST1/2K: Lunatic Science Theatre 500.
Starring, in no particular order:
Mercutio: Bane of Tybalt, Lord of..... well, of nothing at the
moment. Just try and use your imaginations.
Hikaru Gosunkugi: Voodoo boy, obligatory Ranma cast member,
yadda. You know how it works. Oh, and don’t mention the candles,
he hates that.
Mackie Stingray: Hailing from the BGC universe, our token nod to
the hentais out there. Yes, he’s annoying. Deal.
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^_- I L L M E T B Y S T A R L I G H T ^_-
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by Susan Doenime and Mike Loader
Mercutio: Woo-hoo! Yah! Go Mike! Go Susan!
Based on characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi, and used
without knowledge or permission.
We ask that you obtain permission from us before printing, posting, or
storing this story in any form.
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Previous Chapters archived at: http://www.humbug.org.au/~wendigo/imbs.html
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Chapter 13 - The End of the Matter
Hikaru: We’re coming down to the end, now. What a long, strange trip
it’s been.
"Can't we sit down, have a beer, talk this over?"
"No."
"Okay then, Plan B. Let's just kill each other."
- Troy & Archer, FaceOff
Mercutio: Wow. An actual quote form pop culture. I’m surprised.
When the deal calls for a sacrifice
And you know you cannot die
For the edge, the best ones live on
For it all.
- Cats Laughing
Mackie: I think Mike has FAR too many CD’s on hand.
Hikaru: Agreed.
Mercutio: However, this DOES give us the oppurtunity to unveil a
brand-new fetaure of our MST crowd..... the Counter-Quotes! Behold!
“Do you have a plan?”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Do. You. Have. A. Plan?”
“It involves HITTING. Good ENOUGH?”
-Max Crandall and Bart Allen, Impulse #23
o// A simple prop, to occupy my time,o//
o// This one goes out to the one I love.o//
-R.E.M
Mercutio: You can interpret any bearing these have on the
Chapter (or the Authors) for yourself.
Ukyou awoke to darkness and dripping water.
Wincing, she raised a hand to rub the side of her head.
She had woken up in the cave, and then Mariko and Shan Pu had
been there, threatening, and then...
Her memory was unclear on what had happened. There
was a vivid image of a shriek of pain and a spurt of crimson,
but from who, or what... her mind was swimming, fogged.
Why was it so dark? Ah, her eyes were still closed.
Mackie: That WOULD explain it there, yes.
With an effort, she forced herself to sit up and look
around. The sight that greeted her was less than encouraging.
She was in a pit of some sort, with only a flickering
illumination at the top providing light. The walls were hewn of
rock, as was the distant ceiling, and an odd blackish dust
covered everything. Including the floor, which seemed to be
made of some sort of metal. Water dripped slowly from a
calcium formation on the cave roof, beating a steady rhythm.
In the distance, she could make out a low humming and
clanking.
Mercutio: Ah, standard Island Prison of Doom and Death #147-A.
How I’ve missed you.
Mackie: Hey, wasn’t this scene in Final Fantasy?
Hikaru: Which one?
Mackie: Take your pick.
Where the hell was she?
"Hello?" she called out, suddenly desperate for someone
to answer her. Even the presence of her captors would be
preferable to having been abandoned in a hole somewhere
beneath the earth, with no food and no light...
The light at the top of the pit moved closer, and a face
peered down over the edge. "Oh, good. You're awake."
Mariko. "Get me out of this hole, Hibiki. Now!"
Mercutio: Oh, yeah, like THAT’S going to work.
The other girl grinned, wagging a finger down at her.
"You're in no position to be making demands, Kuonji. No
position at all."
Ukyou's heart sank. "Look, what have I ever done to you?"
Mackie: Oh, THIS should be good.
"You? You're on Ranma's side." The eyes staring down at
her turned hard in the lamplight. "I _warned_ you, girl, that
first day we met. Don't hang around unless you want to fight.
Well, you hung around, and in doing so caused more than one
attack to be canceled, and due to that Nabiki died. So you've
indirectly caused the death of someone who I liked a great
deal. I've done almost nothing to you, by comparison. Count
your blessings."
"Yeah, you've only struck me on the head and tossed me in
a hole," Ukyou spat sourly. "You've been real kind."
"I'm afraid you didn't have a choice in the matter," Mariko
observed mildly. "And you still don't. So you might as well just
relax and wait; we'll turn you loose once Ranma's dead."
"I hope I'm here for a long time, then,"
"You might very well be," Mariko told her. "Personally, I
think Ranma would leave you to rot. But not in front of Akane;
not with the... means... we used to punctuate our little
message. No, he'll come, and then that's it. No more retreats,
no more running away. He dies or we die."
Hikaru: Uh-huh. And this is what, the fifth or sixth time she’s
declaimed that ultimatum from on high?
Mercutio: Well, considering this is the final Chapter and all.....
A cold feeling swept through Ukyou as she looked into
the eyes above her and saw that the other girl meant what she
said. After all the work, all the attempts at compromise...
"Let me speak to Tsen," she begged. "If I can just get him
to listen..."
Mackie: Yes, use your feminine wiles. Woo-hoo! “Oh Tsen, if you’ll
just help me out of this dank dark hole, I can make you it VERY
worth your while. Rooowr!”
Hikaru: That was a disturbingly surreal picture you painted, Mackie.
Mercutio: No kidding. Maybe we’re carrying the mocking of the
fic noir just a tad to far?
(The three ponder for a brief time.)
Mercutio:
Mackie: NAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Gos:
Mariko laughed. "I don't think you want to talk to Tsen
right now. I really don't."
"He'll listen to me..."
Mariko gave her a somewhat sad, level stare. "Our friend
Tsen is somewhat upset at the moment. He didn't tell me why,
but I'm guessing that the fact that I found you with your legs
spread and your pants down around your ankles has something
to do with it. Especially since what I saw down there didn't
exactly match the rest of you."
Mackie: So Ukyo’s a drag king. Big deal. She’s still hot.
Ukyou felt her cheeks redden. "You perverted little..."
Mackie: Why, thank you, Miss Kuonji. You’re very kind.
Mariko raised an eyebrow. "Hey, I wasn't the one
displaying her privates to anyone who happened to walk in. Nor
am I the one who misled people into thinking I was a boy." Her
expression darkened. "No, I wouldn't suggest talking to Tsen
right now. You don't know the half of it, and I really don't feel
like trying to explain it to you."
Ukyou looked away. She hadn't meant to... certainly she
had never thought what had happened would happen, it had all
been on the spur of the moment...
Mackie: Ah, casual sex. Gotta love it.
Mercutio: Shyeah, like you’d know.
Mackie: Shut up! This has been a relatively non-hentai fic so far!
Let me have my moment in the sun!
"He... what we did really upset him?" she asked, a bit of
regret creeping into her voice.
"Yeah. It did. If it'd been me in his position..." Mariko
shuddered, her gaze flicking over Ukyou. "Geh. I still don't like
him much, but I feel for the poor guy. That's not the sort of
thing I'd wish on anyone."
Mackie: You have no imagination, then.
"What?" Ukyou snapped, feeling guilty and insulted at the
same time. "Look, I know I'm not exactly a great beauty, but..."
"You're straight, right?"
"Yes," she stiffly responded. "Just because I wear men's
clothes doesn't..."
"Sleep with me, and I'll let you go."
Mackie: (sitting bolt upright) Hell-OH, Nurse!!!!!
Ukyou's mind locked up. "Wha... ex... excuse me?" she
choked.
"Well, how bout it? I've got some really neat toys we
could use..."
Hikaru: (sweatdropping) Sweet fancy Moses!
"I don't think so!" Ukyou snapped, her face as red as a
beet. "And if you even think of laying one sick finger on me,
I'll..."
"Relax," Mariko said, chuckling. "I like guys myself. Just
proving a point. If you wouldn't sleep with a girl to gain your
freedom, how d'ya think Tsen feels? He very definitely prefers
men. Much, much more so than you know."
Mackie: Oh, c’mon, loosen up! Cast away your inhibitions! It’s
freedom, baby, yeah!!
Mercutio: Okay, that’s enough perversity for now. Someone
fast-forward this thing!
^_-
Akane watched as Hikaru left, then slowly moved to sit
on a nearby bench. The brown package felt heavy in her hands.
With a sad smile, she tore open the end and shook it,
sending two objects tumbling down out of the wrappings and
into her lap. A sealed letter, with 'Read this First' scrawled
across it in a size impossible to miss. And a miniature tape
recorder, with a cassette still inside.
Mackie: Damn. My money was on video will. Oh well.
It probably had Nabiki's voice on it, she realized, throat
tightening a bit. Hesitantly, she opened the envelope, removing
a sheet of Nabiki's stationary.
//Akane,
I've asked Hikaru to give this to you in the event of
my death, so I'll assume that this is the circumstance
under which you're reading this. The tape is a private
message from myself to my little sister, between you
and me. That means you're to play it when you are alone,
and not in front of Kasumi, father, Ranma, or anyone else.
In fact, don't even let them know it exists. This isn't for
them.
Play it as soon as you have a moment alone.
Your Sister, Nabiki. //
It wasn't a will after all, then.
Mackie: A will would have been nice, though. Like, who gets her
collection of soft-core pornography photos? Inquiring minds want
to know!
Damn it, she thought, fighting to keep from crying. How
many times was she going to have to say goodbye to her
sister? Would she ever? So easy to tell Nabiki to go away and
die, and so hard to accept it when it happened...
Her finger touched the Play button of the minirecorder,
pushed slightly downward, and then eased and withdrew. A
park bench in the middle of the street was no place to have her
last talk with Nabiki.
Hikaru: Well, of course not. The plot device is completely USELESS
now. Later, OTOH...
She'd go home, make herself some tea,
and then lock herself in her room and listen.
Standing, she began to make her way home, suddenly
mindful of the quiet that filled the air. Before, it had seemed
only fitting; a new, clean slate to mark the new stage of her
life she had suddenly entered. Now... now it seemed somehow
ominous. As if the world were holding its breath over how that
new stage would end.
Mercutio: It would appear that the weather machines provided by
DramaMetaphor, Inc, are working excatly as planned.
And then she was home.
Remembering the letter's instructions, she tucked the
tape recorder into her jacket pocket. Not that she was likely to
be interrupted before she reached her room, but...
Mercutio: But there’s always the possibility Ranma will be there to
spirit her away to the denoument.
Akane opened the door, saw Ranma, and then saw the
expression on his face.
"What happened?" she asked, her heart sinking.
He wordlessly handed her a sheet of writing paper.
// Saotome,
We have Kuonji and Shan. If you want them back,
come alone to Gunkanjima. If you don't, you'll get them
back anyway. Over time.
Please accept these gifts as a token of our esteem
and resolve.
-Your Friends. //
"You're going to try to get them back."
Turning, he studied the note once again, frowning
slightly. "What's this 'Gunkanjima'?"
She frowned. "It's an island just outside the harbor. It
used to have a factory or something on it, but it's abandoned
now."
"Is there somewhere we can get a boat?"
"The fishermen will have a couple craft moored down by
the docks," she said after a moment's thought. "We could
probably 'borrow' one of them."
He chuckled. "Theft? I'm afraid I've led you into evil
ways, Tendo Akane."
Mercutio: Cueeeeeeeeee the irony!!!!!
"After seducing me, once a poor, demure, innocent girl,"
she said in mock dismay.
The chuckle became an actual laugh. "You? Demure?"
She punched him lightly in the side. "Are you saying I'm
not demure? I should break your face for that."
Hikaru: THERE’S the Akane we all know and stalk in an obsessive
manner!
Mackie: “We?”
Mercutio: Is there a frog in your pocket?
He punched back, not so lightly, and she yelped. "I'd like
to see you try."
She growled and launched a highkick, which he vaulted
back to avoid. "If you insist..."
His foot swept at her legs and she leapt upwards to avoid
it, twisting in midair as she did to strike at him. He
backpedaled, avoiding her attack, and then closed in as she
landed.
Mackie: I’d make the obvious foreplay joke, but...... oh wait, I just
did!
She sent a foot swinging into his torso and then he leapt
at her in a body tackle, bearing her to the floor beneath him.
For a short while she tried to flail at him, and then she
felt his hand pulling away her jogging pants.
"We should probably leave soon," she whispered, trying to
free her arm for another punch.
"Soon enough," he said quietly, forcing her legs apart.
"Soon enough."
Mackie: Ah, a quickie just before they go off to face death.
Mercutio: Ummmmm........ yeah. Somebody snip the coming plot
exposition about Gunknjima!
^_-
Mariko strolled up the rampart, the sea wind blowing her
trenchcoat in billowing folds around her. Smiling slightly, she
approached the two figures who sat on a heap of broken
stonework, scanning the horizon. "Anything?"
Koji nodded. "There's a small boat pulling close." He
pointed, and Mariko squinted where he indicated. Sure enough, a
small fisher craft was angling and tacking towards the rock of
Gunkanjima. And no legitimate fisherman had any reason to
head for the island.
Mercutio: Of course, theres all those illegitamate fisherman and
the drug smugglers, but that’s beside the point.
She nodded, satisfied. "Good. I was worried that they
might not show."
Mercutio: But then there wouldn’t be a story, now would there?
"Is the furnace ready?" Koji asked, idly tapping his
umbrella against the parapet. "It would make things a lot
easier if that works."
Mercutio: Ah, the heavily foreshadowed dethtrap. Gotta love it.
^_-
The tiny fishing vessel slipped quietly up to the decaying
concrete pier that thrust out from the island. On board, Akane
stared up at the walls with an uneasy feeling.
She was almost certain that they had been watched. And
now they were almost there, and soon they'd be fighting for
their lives in a place that looked like a cross between an
abandoned factory, Alcatraz, and Dracula's castle.
Mercutio: That’s the whole POINT. What, you think they’re going to
hold the final battle in a nice resort somewhere, huh?
With a bump, the boat slid against the dock. Ranma, in
the bow, grabbed a rope and nimbly hopped ashore, quickly
tying the vessel to a metal stanchion.
She climbed onto the dock, and glanced at him. "Ready?"
He nodded, expressionless. "Let's get Ukyou and get out of
here."
The dock led to a gate carved in the seawalls, which in
turn led to a winding, twisting staircase rising through the
heart of one of the towers. Warily, Ranma taking the lead, they
inched up it, expecting at any moment an attack or dropped
missile.
None came, and eventually they emerged into a street. At
least, Akane thought, it resembled a street. It was really just
a narrow corridor between the hulking dormitories, the sky
almost blocked out by the crumbling buildings.
One of the closer walls bore a message scrawled in
spraypaint, and she peered at it, trying to make it out.
How many decades could have passed
Since Hashima was left to rot;
Left to spoil, rot, disintegrate?
Life will never return to this island.
Hikaru: Apparently, one of the uneducated, lowbrow workers had
a poetic bent.
She shivered. Life had returned, but unwillingly and
briefly.
They came to the end of the narrow avenue and entered a
square of sorts. In the center stood a chipped stone pedestal, a
corroded statue of a miner standing headless on it at an
unnatural angle. Taped to its chest was a piece of paper.
Ranma carefully walked forward, read it, and then tore it
away. "It says that I'm supposed to follow the directions on
here, and that they'll meet me at the end of it. And that if you
come along, they'll start cutting bits off Ucchan."
Mercutio: Oh, THAT’S an original threat.
She nodded. "What do we do?"
He frowned, glancing around, his gaze briefly resting on
where the miner's rusting head leered up at them from a
gutter. "Look... this is some sorta trap. I'm gonna go where the
directions say, but I'm gonna keep my eyes open. You scout the
rest of this place out, see if you can find were they really
stashed Ucchan. This place is huge, but they've probably picked
a fairly significant building to hide her in; people are like
that." He studied the paper once more, and then handed it to
her. "If you find her, or if you give up, or if you see something I
should know about, come find me. Carefully. Like I said, this
whole thing reeks of a trap."
"And you're just going to walk into it?" she said, uneasy.
He smirked.
"Not just walk into it, no. Reverse it. If I can."
Mackie: Bum-bum-BUM.
^_-
Mariko watched as Akane started up a set of stairs, and
smiled. Good. They were splitting up.
Whistling, she tied a piece of red cloth to a strut hanging
out over the street, waved at a distant window, and jogged off.
Akane was heading for the old temple; she would meet her
there.
Mackie: Ah, the undercard matches prefacing the final bout. DAMN
this is cool.
^_-
He went down, passing through the burned-out ruins of
the old factory. A set of charred stairs, broad enough to
accomidate several people at once, led him into the bones of
Gunkanjima.
The stairs were carved roughly out of the rock, and some
fanciful artist had painted leaping flames on the ceiling and
walls. They were now marred by burn marks.
Down further, and the stairs ended in a tiny room. A
metal door, similar to that of a bank vault or submarine's
airlock, gaped open, leading into blackness.
Ranma ripped the door away, with some effort. It would
not be closed behind him to lock him in.
Warily, he stepped through the ruined portal.
Mercutio: The Portal of DEATH!!!!!
(Hikaru and Mackie stare)
Mercutio: Hey, it had to be said.
^_-
High above, in a mine shaft slightly above Jigoku-Kado,
Koji watched as a shadow passed the bottom of the air shaft
he had been watching. Someone was down there.
He turned to Tsen, and grinned.
Slowly, savoring the moment, he walked into the next
room over. There was a shaft there, a narrow, deep, scorched
chasm of red-black brick.
He struck a match. Picking up a bundle of oil-soaked
rags, he ignited it, and then dropped it down the shaft,
watched it plummet burning into the depths like a meteor.
Hikaru: That has GOT to be the world’s most impressive pilot
light.
"Goodbye, Saotome," he said quietly, tossing the match
after it. "Burn in Hell."
^_-
The tunnel shook. He stopped.
A distant roar...
Heat...
He ran.
Hikaru: Like the wind.
^_-
Coal dust and coal burst into flame at the heart of
Jigoku-Kado. Gases ignited. Flame poured down shafts,
furnaces belched tongues of fire.
Gears began to turn.
The vast and deadly machine of Jigoku-Kado was coming
back to fiery life after decades of cold slumber. And coming
back with a vengeance.
^_-
Koji stumbled as the building shook, grabbing at a
protruding piece of iron to keep his footing. "What the hell..?"
Mackie: In this situation, I believe a little music is called for.
o// That’s great, it starts with an earthquake o//
o// Birds and snakes and aeroplanes o//
o// Lenny Bruce is not afraid. o//
o//Eye of a hurricane o//
o// Listen to yourself churn o//
(At this point, Mercutio reaches over and switches off the CD
player before the guitar solo is reached.)
Mercutio: Mackie, we’ve warned you about playing R.E.M during
the fics.
Mackie: But It’s The End of the World as We Know It!!!
Hikaru: And I for one do NOT feel fine.
"Stupid, stupid!" Tsen hissed. "You just have to light
biggest, evilest machine I ever see, don't you? Stupid!" He
watched in fascinated horror as a chain began to move, an
ancient pulley system creaking into life. "You start up whole
damn island!"
A low rumbling built, began to peak. Koji stared at the
shaft, blinked, and then turned pale.
"Run!" he screamed, dashing for the exit. Tsen blinked,
shrugged, and hastily followed.
They cleared the room only seconds before a ball of
superheated flame burst from the shaft, incinerating most of
it.
A low rumble spread through the rocks. Jigoku-Kado was
waking up, and, as the former masters of the island had found,
served no-one in safety.
Mercutio: I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: this is SO Final
Fantasy.
^_-
He ran.
Mercutio: Yes, we’ve established this.
A tongue of fire burst from a protruding pipe, flooding
the tunnel with a blazing shower of sparks. Not breaking his
stride, he dashed through them, covering his face with his
hands.
A roar, and he vaulted into a side passage just as a rush
of flame turned the tunnel into an inferno. Coming up in a
stumbling run, he frantically began to climb a service ladder,
going ever higher.
Light, up ahead. He doubled his efforts, and then a low
roar and rush of hot air from below caused him to triple them.
He could feel it coming up after him. Not enough time to
climb the rest of the way...
Hikaru: Flame on!!!
Ranma jumped straight up, all his strength going into
propelling him into the air. The rush of hot air gave him a
boost, and he caught the top of the shaft, pulled, and hauled
himself over the edge in a frantic roll.
Scorched, blackened, but very much alive, Ranma stalked
slowly across the ruined factory floor.
^_-
Koji slowly began to swear. Around him, chains and gears
turned, machinery designed for some arcane purpose coming
back to life after decades of rust and silence. "I don't believe
it. I don't fucking believe it. No-one could have lived through
that."
Mercutio: Except perhaps an extremely competent martial artist
with years and years of experience.
Tsen gave a laconic shrug. "I told you so."
"Yeah, yeah. Okay, plan B. He still doesn't know where
Ukyou is, so we just shadow him until Mariko gets done taking
care of Akane. Then we..."
A horrible thought suddenly occured to Koji.
"No, no, no..." he groaned, slamming his fist into the wall.
"Oh shit..."
Tsen glanced at him in alarm. "What? What wrong?"
"We put Kuonji in that stalled ore elevator, right?"
Mackie: Oopsie.
^_-
Ukyou blinked. The metal floor was moving.
Moving upwards.
Towards the top of the pit.
Standing, she waited and watched. She had no idea why
her prison was about to become a lot less imprisoning, but she
wasn't about to let a chance to escape pass. Hanging around a
dirty pit wasn't her idea of a good time.
And damned if she was going to be bait for anyone.
Mercutio: Yes, we all know that’s AKANE’S job.
^_-
Akane felt the rumbling, and fought down a surge of
worry. Was there an earthquake? Was some sort of volcano
getting ready to erupt?
Pushing the fear aside, she stalked warily into the
temple. If some horrible natural disaster was going to happen,
it would happen whether she cowered in fear or not.
It had been beautiful once, she immediately guessed. The
benches, the altar, the statue of the Buddha, the high, arching
windows...
Mercutio: The imminent death waiting in the shadows....
Giving a polite bow to the wounded Buddha, she turned to
leave. And froze.
"Hello again, Akane," Mariko drawled, strolling in through
the broken doors, twirling her umbrella absently. "Welcome to
Club Med."
Mackie: Well, somebody has to say it.....
ROUND ONE!!!!! FIGHT!!!!!!
Akane nodded, resigned. "Hello, Mariko. Where's Ukyou?"
"Ukyou? She's on the island, safe. Don't worry about it."
"She?" Akane said, puzzled. What sort of game was the
Hibiki girl playing?
Mariko looked slightly embarrassed. "He, I mean. Slip of
the tongue. We'll let him go when this is all over, so don't
worry about that, either."
"Minus a finger or two, of course."
The other girl tsked and waggled a finger at her. "Now
Akane, I'm hurt, I truly am. That finger was Shan's, and the
person who hacked it off was Ukyou. I mean, jeez, I don't go
around cutting off people's digits for kicks."
"But you do break them for kicks," Akane replied evenly.
"I thought you might be moving on to new heights of sadism."
Mackie: Boy, if she’d been around during Marikos’ little
‘proposition’....
"What do you want, Mariko? If you're just here to talk,
I'm afraid I don't have the time for it."
An object was tossed at her, and she reflexively caught
it. It was a cel phone.
Puzzled, she glanced at the other girl. "What's this for?"
"That's to call someone to come pick you up off this rock.
When you wake up." Mariko smiled unpleasantly, and hefted her
umbrella. "Sorry about this, Akane."
Mercutio: Now there’s a waste of a perfectly good cel phone.
"Mariko, please." As she spoke, Akane slipped into a
fighting stance, gauging the other girl's likely route of attack.
"Don't do this."
"This is for your own good, Akane dear. Inasmuch as
getting knocked out for several hours is good, anyway. I'd lock
you in somewhere, but Tsen tells me that wouldn't be very
effective. So we do this the hard way." Her umbrella came up
into a fencer's stance, and she slowly advanced. "I wish it
were different, Akane, I really do. Maybe we could have been
friends."
Mackie: “Perhaps.... in... another life..... we.... could have been....
friends.”
Mercutio: Knock it off, Shatner-boy.
Akane sighed, and began to circle, arms moving up into a
defensive pattern. "I think we are friends. Despite all this."
Mariko chuckled. "Maybe so. But we're going to kill
Ranma, and that'll be the end of friendship." She lunged,
suddenly, sending Akane backpedaling in a flurry of thrusts.
"He's very likely dead already, if that rumbling was what I
think it was."
Fear shot through her. "What was it?" Akane snapped,
launching a spinning kick at the other girl. Mariko ducked under
it, only to be met by Akane's descending fist. Grunting, she
slammed upward with her umbrella, knocking Akane back
across the room.
"That was Koji flooding half the tunnels with fire,"
Mariko panted, straightening. "With Ranma in them. He's very
probably just a heap of ash right now."
Mercutio: Ah, but probable isn’t the same as likely.
"You're lying!" Akane snarled, jumping forward. But the
other girl's expression coupled with the fist that was seeming
to tighten around her heart told her that no, Mariko wasn't.
"DAMN YOU!" she shrieked, fury flooding through her,
breaking away the last of her calm resolve. "BAKUSAI TEN-
KETSU!"
Her finger hit the breaking point just at Mariko's feet,
and the temple floor exploded in a blizzard of rock shrapnel.
And then both of them were falling, weightless, and then
crashing into a rocky surface.
Mackie: That’s GOTTA hurt!!!!
Snarling, Akane lunged, grabbing the other girl and
throwing her against a wall. Mariko hit hard, winced, and
aimed an overhand slash at her foe, catching Akane in the left
shoulder. Akane staggered back, and Mariko slammed her
umbrella forward, sending it directly into Akane's stomach.
Akane leapt.
The umbrella caught her in her side, and then she was
crashing into Mariko with savage force, kicking and punching in
a flurry of savage, delibarate blows. The Hibiki girl reeled
backwards, her umbrella moving in a desperate attempt to
block.
Finally Mariko stumbled back, her umbrella jabbing and
thrusting to cover her withdrawal. The two girls slowly began
to circle each other, their movements no longer quite as fluid
as they had been.
Mercutio: Being mercilessly pummeled will do that to you.
"Now, why the hell aren't you lying on the ground in a
whimpering heap, Akane?" Mariko said conversationally,
feinting a lunge. "I'm sure that hit to your stomach musta hurt.
Been eating your wheaties lately?"
Hikaru: Wheaties, Bakusai training... such a fine line.
"You get to be the one to fall down today," Akane replied.
"Then, if Ranma isn't okay, I'm going to come back and break
your neck."
Mariko grinned at her raggedly. "I don't think so. You're
not the sort." Without warning she jumped, her umbrella
moving almost faster than the eye could track. "Too nice for
your own good, Akane, nice and blind! Now," the umbrella broke
through Akane's guard, slamming into her head, "STAY DOWN!"
Instead, Akane wavered, cried out in pain, and grabbed
Mariko with one hand. Then she turned, and threw the other girl
towards a boarded-up section of wall with almost inhuman
force.
Mackie: FINISH HER!!!!
With a crash, Mariko hit the boards head-on, breaking
them apart in a shower of splintering wood. And revealing the
gaping shaft behind them.
The umbrella plummeted into it as Mariko frantically
grabbed for the wall, teetering on the edge. Akane blinked in
alarm, sucked in her breath, and jumped towards the other girl,
hand extended to pull her back.
Mariko's hand closed around a protruding fragment of
broken board, and she began to turn.
The board snapped.
As if in slow motion, Akane watched Mariko's eyes widen
in terror, her mouth opening in the beginnings of a scream. And
then she vanished over the edge.
There was a long shriek, a bumping and clattering, and
then both faded into the distance. And then, far below, a
muffled, final thud.
Mackie: Gah.
Mercutio: Our score so far:
Team Ranma: 1
Team Hibiki: 0
Akane stared at the hole in horror, and slowly,
reluctantly approached the edge. It was very deep, and she
could not see the bottom.
She backed stumblingly away, numb. She hadn't meant
to... she hadn't known the shaft was behind the boards, she
hadn't meant for...
She hadn't meant to, but she had just killed someone,
hadn't she? Just killed her friend?
Mercutio: Let the guilt trip BEGIN!!!!
^_-
Koji followed the trail, muttering under his breath. Damn
Tsen for running off like that. How was he supposed to keep an
eye on Saotome when he had trouble even finding his own way
around this labyrinth?
Mercutio: Two words: homing device.
Damn it all...
He was in a commercial section of the abandoned city;
one located just under the surface. To be more specific, he was
cutting through the ruins of a barbershop, sparing an
occasional glance to the rusting shears and '70s-vintage movie
posters that still adorned the walls. Glass from a shattered
mirror crunched underfoot.
Mercutio: And if you look to the left, you can see a poster
advertising the original relaese of “The Seven Samurai.”
Staying alert, he strode out into the 'street', actually
just a corridor carved from the living rock. It must have been
like living in a cave, he thought absently, or a molehill.
A low, ghostly chuckle drew his attention, and he quickly
moved towards the sound of it, keeping his movements quiet
and rapid. It was coming from the crude facade of the old
bank...
Umbrella at the ready, he ducked inside.
Hikaru: Sure, walk INTO the trap. Oh, wait..... never mind.
The bank had been done in polished wood; the mainland
substance being an uncommon luxury for the treeless island.
Pillars of carved rock, the Mitsubishi logo etched into them,
held up a slightly vaulted ceiling. This had been the center of
the community's commercial life, and the owners had taken
care to show the power and grandeur of the corporation.
The wood was broken and rotten now, boards peeling
away from the walls like rotting skin. The teller's counter,
fake marble finish glinting, was pitted and scarred.
Mackie: Five minutes after publication of this story, Mitsubishi
filed a slander lawsuit.
More noise, from down a rear hall.
He crept down the corridor, adrenaline coursing through
him, senses straining. He didn't want to take on Ranma by
himself, but it would be even worse to lose him completely.
Hopefully Tsen would get back soon, or Mariko.. if they could
even find him...
He reached the end of the corridor, and stepped through a
huge, gaping, open door of some heavy material. Inside was an
enormous room, concrete walls devoid of ornamentation or
marks.
His gaze swept around it, taking in every shadowed
corner. No exits. Where the hell had Ranma...
Hikaru: Don’t look now, but HE’S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!!!!
He spun, a sinking feeling stabbing through him, just in
time to see the huge bank vault door slam shut.
There was a metallic thunk, as if a bolt had just been
slid into place. And then a low chuckle.
Koji ran to the door and pounded, pulled, frantically tried
to rip it free. It didn't budge.
^_-
Her fingers closed around the rim of the pit. Wheezing,
scrabbling for a firmer handhold, Ukyou pulled herself out.
After taking a second to catch her breath, she surveyed
the room. A tiny little rock-hewn chamber, with a flickering
lamp sitting atop a crate... and look, there was her spatula and
bandoleer, lying discarded in a corner. How convenient.
Mercutio: A little bit TOO convenient.
She quickly tossed the bandoleer over her shoulder,
listening as she did to the rumbling and clanking noises coming
from the open doorway to her left. Some sort of machinery, she
guessed... was she in a factory? A functioning mine? Near
Tokyo?
Ukyou shook her head irritably. There would be enough
time for speculation later. The business at hand was for her to
get out of wherever this was.
Mackie: Or to fight to the death. Whichever.
Moving at a low trot, she cautiously entered the next
chamber. It was like a giant alarm clock, she thought in mild
amazement, peering about. Enormous gears were rhythmically
turning in the very center of the room, propelled by shafts of
iron emerging from the walls. Metal boxes of some odd
function stood here and there, meshing with the gears in a
tangle of pipes and struts and flywheels. The entire assembly
creaked ominously, relentlessly turning and groaning away at
its mysterious task.
Mercutio: What’s so ‘mysterious’ about it? It’s an ore processing
facility, fr’gosh sakes.
She strode through the jumble, carefully keeping a good
distance from the turning and moving parts. This entire place
made her nervous...
"That far enough."
Shan, her hair dripping as if from a recent dousing,
slowly moved into her line of vision. Snarling, Ukyou's hand
tightened on her weapon.
"Get of of my way, lady," she hissed, raising her spatula
menacingly. "I still owe you for that wakeup you gave me."
Mercutio: Ouch. BIG mistake, gel.
Shan's eyes went wide with fury, and she stalked
forward, bonbori swinging in a slow, methodical pattern. "You
owe Shan, eh? You owe Shan? Yes, you do owe Shan, lying
Japanese bitch. I ki-" With a visible effort, the Amazon's face
moved into an impassive mask. "You drop weapon, and Shan tie
you up. Now."
"I don't think so," Ukyou said evenly, anger bubbling
inside her. "I think you're going to get out of my way, right
now, before I beat your hide black and blue. That's what I
think."
Shan's face contorted. "You think very stupidly, then. You
no go easy, then you go hard." The bonbori began to move faster
in their graceful dance, and Shan advanced...
Mackie: ROUND TWO!!!! FIGHT!!!!!!!
Mercutio: Mackie, that’s getting old REAL fast.
"TRAITOR!" Ukyou shouted, leaping forward, her spatula
scything down in a silver arc. A bonbori leapt up to meet and
parry it, and then Ukyou dodged as a backswing whistled by
her. "Liar! You promised to help him, you bitch!"
"You call me liar!" shrieked the Amazon, fires burning
under her eyes. "Whore! Liar shit whore! You LIE TO ME!" The
bonbori rose, slammed down, rose again, and Ukyou stumbled
back. Her spatula swung and cut, driven by rage and
desperation, parrying and slicing with all of her skill and
instinct.
For a long span of seconds they dueled, weapons rising
and falling, cutting and hacking at each other in a blind, red,
crazed fury. Shan came on, an almost berserk light in her eyes,
and Ukyou was slowly driven backwards. Not working, she
frantically thought, a sick, enraged feeling flowing through her
veins. Not working, Shan was going to wear her down unless
she did something fast...
Mercutio: Like resorting to childish name-calling?
"Honorless traitor!" she finally howled, suddenly leaping
at Shan with her spatula raised high, aiming a cut directly at
her stomach. "Oathbreaker!"
"YOU DIE!" screamed Shan, and then a bonbori smashed
into her chest with incredible force. Ukyou stumbled back, the
pain in her side telling her that she had probably fractured a
rib or something...
Her leg caught on something, a white-hot jet of agony
shot up her leg, and she tripped.
Mackie: Ah, the convenient ‘something.’ Bane of fighters
everywhere. Oh, and FINISH HER!!!!!!!!
Pain, pain, pain and she screamed and screamed and
screamed and an ashenfaced Shan raised her bonbori crying
pain make it stop she screamed and the bonbori swung down
Mercutio: Current score:
Team Ranma: 1
Team Hibiki: 1
^_^
Mackie: Uh-oh. We’ve moved from winks to smiles. That is
NEVER good.
She tossed the bonbori away, and walked slowly out.
Mercy. She had shown mercy.
Mercutio: “The quality of mercy is not strained.....”
Hikaru: You just HAD to quote Shakespeare eventually, didn’t
you?
Machines. Humming and whirring machines, spinning and
clanking and grinning, quivering with malevolent, inhuman
power. Leering at her.
Pace quickening, forcing her legs not to shake, Shan
strode down the corridor to the place where she had left the
thermos. Picking it up, she doused herself with cold water.
Mercy, Tsen thought silently.
Ranma would be waiting, somewhere out there. He had to
kill Ranma. That was all that was left. Kill Ranma and go home.
Maybe life would someday be even close to what it had been.
Maybe it would even be worth living again.
Machines, damn city, damn nation of machines!
Mackie: Hey, quit knocking the machines!
Mercutio: Shut up, tech-boy.
^_-
"Mariko? Tsen? Let me out of here! Hurry!"
Akane stared at the vault door, shuddering and vibrating
under the hail of blows from inside, and hastily left the bank.
The last thing she wanted to do was free the remaining Hibiki
sibling.
You should, a voice whispered. You should tell him what
you did. You should pay the price for it.
Mercutio: And then of course there’s the fact that he’ll suffocate
in a little while.
A slight whimper escaping her lips, she forced her mind
back towards following the trail. It was Ranma, it had to be
Ranma, who else would have locked Koji in...
The path led her along a long, dark way, through several
corridors with little or no light. She groped her way blindly
through these, idly wondering if her next step would be over an
open shaft, over one that would send her plummeting,
screaming into the bottomless depths just like Mariko...
Mackie: Welcome to Traumaville, baby.
Don't think about that, don't think about that, just find
Ranma...
She emerged into more brightly-lit tunnels, illumination
provided by vents in the ceilings and walls, and again turned
her attention to the trail. It led downward, through the mines,
past crumbling shafts and holes, past gaping chasms boarded
up with only a few rotting planks of wood, past abandoned
picks and shovels and hammers. Some of the shafts glowed, the
flames of Jigoku-Kado flickering in their depths, burning away
for the first time in years. A thin haze of smoke wafted up,
and the hysterical thought flashed through her mind that this
was the crawlspace in the roof of Hell. And, of course, down
she was going, down into the bowels of the inferno.
Mercutio: You don’t suppose Mike was channeling Dante during
this part, do you?
She emerged into a room, the interior of some great
engine of turning, moving parts, and drew to a stop.
Bending, she picked up the throwing spatula that lay at
her feet.
Mercutio: Oo. THIS won’t be fun.
It was bent, twisted, slightly flattened in odd places. It
had an oddly greasy feel to it, and she raised the hand that
gripped it up to the dim light that flickered from a downwards
shaft. The spatula fell to the floor, and she stared at the
streaks of crimson that it had left on her hand.
Slowly, fearfully, she cast her gaze about the room, and
noticed the splotch of red on one of the massive, turning
cogwheels. Akane walked towards it, her pace becoming faster
and faster, and circled around it.
A choking shriek burst out, echoing over the hum of the
machinery despite her attempt to stifle it. Gagging, repulsed,
she turned violently away and vomited, doubling over as bile
spattered against the metal and stone.
Mackie: Gee, now I feel kinda bad about the ‘Traumaville’ comment.
Ukyou must have fallen into the gears, she thought
numbly, tears streaming down her cheeks as she retched.
Fallen in and been crushed, oh god oh god oh god it wasn't fair...
Mercutio: This entire FIC isn’t fair.
Akane spun, suddenly realizing what she had been looking
at while vomiting. A discarded bonbori, the sphere stained
with blood and hair and bits of skull, lying in a corner.
Tsen. Or Shan.
Mackie: Or both.
Fury washed over her, and she howled, blindly punching
the nearest wall in a torrent of rage and grief. Of all the
people to die like that, of all of them... he had just been trying
to help a friend, he hadn't wanted anything except to help his
friend get better, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair... damn them,
damn them, he hadn't done ANYTHING!
Hikaru: I feel like I should say something significant here, but I
can’t think of a damn thing.
^_-
He emerged onto the catwalk, studied the factory floor
below.
Frowning, he knelt, studying the trail.
With a soundless yell, Tsen sprang at him from above, a
long knife glittering in one hand.
Mackie: ROUND THREE!!!!!! FIGHT!!!!
Mercutio: Do that again, and I’LL show you fight.
The serrated blade slashed across his side, opening a
long, shallow cut along his ribs. He lashed out, striking the
Chinese boy in the chest, and took a solid blow to his bad
shoulder in return.
Wincing slightly, he inched back, appraising the Amazon
as he did so. "Hello again, Joketsuzoku. You seem to keep losing
bits of yourself. Bad habit."
Mercutio: Ah. Trademarked “Villains witty banter.” yeah.
Tsen snarled, and threw the knife, hand reaching inside
his shirt as he did. Ranma darted to one side, easily avoiding
it, and allowed something to drop into his hand from his
sleeve. A rubber-sheathed bottle.
Mackie: Oo-oh. Mysterious bottles are NEVER good in Ranma
stories.
Tsen's hand emerged from his garment, and a trio of
throwing stars spun towards Ranma as the Chinese boy leaped
forward in a kick.
Twisting, Ranma flung his hand out, popping free the
stopper of the bottle and letting the contents splash outward
in a halo of steam.
Mercutio: Looks like Shan’s cover is blown.
A bladed star sliced into his left arm, and then Shan
crashed into him, dripping from the shower of warm water. His
hand clamped around her right wrist, and he smiled.
^_-
"I suspected this was the case."
From the blackness of a doorway, Akane emerged onto
the catwalk as Ranma casually pushed Shan against a wall.
Mackie: Well, SHE lost her fight pretty damn quickly, didn’t she?
"I suspected, but I wasn't sure. Not until you were
'kidnapped'. I really think you'd rather die than be taken alive,
and I doubted 'Tsen' would actually hold you. No, you had to be
the exact same person."
She watched as he picked up a long, cylinder-shaped
piece of machinery from the floor. "That makes it a lot easier,
really. I know exactly who to blame for Ukyou's death."
"She.. she fall in, I put her out of her..."
Mercutio: Well, THIS makes the whole mercy bit a lot more
sinister.
The metal object lashed out, pinning the Amazon's left
hand to the wall. His finger tightened around part of it...
There was a noise like a holepunch piercing construction
paper, and Shan screamed.
"I'll be. This riveter still works. Good craftsmanship, I
guess."
Mercutio: Damn that incredibly efficient Japanese industrial
complex!!!
Whistling, he walked across the floor, picked up a metal
spike, and pushed it into the appropriate slot. He strolled back,
grabbed Shan's other hand, stretched it out...
Akane opened her mouth. No noise came out. She wanted
to say something, to yell down to him, but nothing emerged.
She stood, helpless, vocal chords frozen.
Mercutio: Well well well. Looks like Akane will FINALLY get to
see psycho nut-job Ranma in action.
Shan screamed again, and Ranma stepped back, as if
admiring his work. Her arms stretched out on either side,
hands above her shoulders, making her look for all the world
like a steel-mill version of the crucifixion.
Mackie: Gee, no imagery THERE.
"I have to admit, you sure kept the letter of your
promise. I mean, about not attacking me, not while female.
Handy, that."
"Bastard," the Amazon choked, "Just kill... just kill and
get it over with..."
Mercutio: But what fun would THAT be?
"Oh, but Shan Pu, we've got so much to talk about! Like
how you took the last clean thing I had and crushed it into a
mangled, bloody pulp. Like how you murdered my friend." A
slight chuckle rose, and he rammed another rivet into the gun.
"Poor Ucchan. Should have stayed in my mind, back by the side
of the road when everything was good and happy. Shouldn't have
come into the pit. Now there's nothing left, nothing but what I
found afterwards..."
Mackie: Ah, ominous ranting. Gotta love THAT.
The rivet gun pushed into Shan's stomach, and a wet,
muffled thump echoed through the chamber, followed by
gurgling, choking shrieks of agony.
"Really, Shan, such carrying on."
Akane watched, transfixed.
Hikaru: It’s a lot like a car wreck; you don’t WANNA watch, but
you can’t help it.
Another rivet slid into the gun, and it slipped down
below the bloody hole in her belly, down to where her legs
began. Almost teasingly, he lifted her dress slightly, squinting.
The bubbling screams lifted higher, raw terror filling them.
"This will probably hurt. Hope you've got a tampon or two
handy."
Hikaru Oh, God. I feel SO horrible for laughing at that.
Mercutio: We all do. Don’t sweat it.
Another thump, and the trickle of blood spattering
against the floor became a steady stream.
Akane stared down, unable to think, unable to feel, and
then her eyes locked with Shan's.
"no.... work.... on... humans..."
Hikaru: And now her training is complete.
The sentence fell apart into the horrible, bubbling cries,
but the eyes stayed fixed on hers.
"Hmm? No, don't bother explaining. Playtime over, bitch."
Mackie: FINISH H...... no, no. Not even I’M that crass.
Shan's eyes stared into her own, bored into her, screamed
at her even as Ranma pushed the riveter into Shan's mouth.
They met Akane's gaze right up until his finger clenched and
the wall behind her was splattered with streams of red and
white and sticky grey.
Mercutio: Our...*ulp* final score...
Team Ranma: 2
Team Hibiki: 1
As if sensing something, Ranma turned around, glanced
up. His eyes widened in surprise.
She looked at him.
Then he shrugged, the crooked smile seeming to say well,
what did you expect?
Akane turned and fled. A low chuckle followed her,
drifting in the distance as she ran away into black tunnels.
Mercutio: Well, fineFREAKINGaly. Maybe NOW she gets it.
^_^
She ran, shrieking inside her head, ran and ran until
finally her feet stumbled and sent her crashing to the stone
floor. For a long time she simply lay there, a slight whimper
rising into the air from time to time.
He killed Shan. She replayed it over and over again, and
each time saw the same thing, saw the back of her head
explode in a shower of crimson and grey matter...
Mercutio: Uggh. We didn’t need to see that again.
But it wasn't that he had killed her.
No, it wasn't even that.
It was the look on his face.
He'd enjoyed it.
He'd enjoyed every second of it.
Mackie: Ding-ding! We HAVE comprehension, ladies and gents!!!
Which led to the question, what sort of person enjoyed
something like that? How could she fit that hard, unpleasant
fact into the person she'd fallen in love with?
Kuno's broken leg. Ryouga. Nabiki. A hundred hundred
things, and maybe he felt sorry about them, and maybe he
didn't, but that hard, stark fact still remained. That he'd
enjoyed it. Had he smiled like that as they made love? Had he
enjoyed the injuries he caused in their sparring, enjoyed them
as much as the lovemaking afterwards? Enjoyed them more?
Hikaru: It’s called sadism. Look it up.
God, god, how right had Nabiki been about him?
Nabiki...
Her hand slowly fished into her jacket pocket, withdrew
a somewhat battered minirecorder.
Mackie: Ah yes, the amazing minirecorder. Still intact AND in
perfect working order after having been hit with an umbrella,
taking several serious falls, and being landed on. That is one
durable piece of equipment.
Mercutio: Obviously made by DeusExMachina Enterprises.
Nothing of theirs EVER breaks, even under incredible stress.
Akane hesitated for a few seconds, and then pressed the
button. She had a feeling that her life was a thing now to be
measured in minutes, and she wanted to hear her sister again.
"Hi, Akane." It was Nabiki's voice, somewhat scratchy
from the recorder but definitely her. It hurt to hear.
"I'm going to assume that I'm dead, and that you're alone
as you play this. If one of these isn't the case, turn the tape
off now."
A short period of silence followed, broken only by the
thud of her heartbeat.
"Okay. Look, Akane, I'm not going to coddle you. I know
you're probably a bit out of it right now... well, maybe that's
just me being a bit egotistical." A soft chuckle drifted up from
the tape. "No, okay, I'll be honest. I know you don't like me
sometimes, but I also know that you love me."
Mercutio:
Mackie: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww........
Hikaru:
There was a short, embarrassed sound, and Akane smiled
slightly, tears trickling down her cheeks. She had known. That
was important, somehow.
"Anyway, I know you're probably upset. Lord only knows
what Daddy and Kasumi are like. I'll tell you exactly what
Ranma's like, though. Comforting, sad, maybe blaming himself
for what happened. For the accident."
Mercutio: Wow. Now THAT’S eerie.
Akane stared at the tape, the blood draining from her
cheeks.
"Yes, I know how I died. A car, perhaps, or a fall, or
drowning... something stupid, something accidental. It wasn't,
Akane. I'm making this tape, scared," and the calm voice of her
sister shook, here, "scared to death because I know how I'm
going to be murdered."
Mackie: This is a LOT like a Hitchcock movie.
A deep breath, almost like a sigh, drifted out of the
recorder.
"But Ranma does something by killing me, as he will if he
gets the whim and opportunity to. He removes any ulterior
motives I might have. I'm dead, Akane. Shit, it sounds weird to
say this... I'm dead. There will be no more deals, no more
scams. I have nothing to gain. I have no reason to lie. All that's
left is the fact that I'm your sister, and I love you."
Nabiki, she thought, crying silently. Oh Nabiki...
Hikaru: Now I feel kinda bad about the ‘ding-dong the witch is
dead’ comment.
"I worked with the Hibikis, Akane. They're really not bad
people. I made them promise to leave you and the rest of the
family alone, and in return I fed them information. Remember
'Azusa', at the Ichishi Building? That was me, in a padded suit
and wig. I drafted them into getting you out, although they
didn't need much persuading. As I said, they're basically good
people."
She had killed Mariko, killed her, no, don't think about
that...
Mackie: And we all LIKED Mariko, too.
"Since I'm dead," a nervous chuckle, "it probably means
that he found out about that. I'm sorry, Akane, but I had to do
it. I know you're in love with him, but he's killed me and he's
going to kill you, if you let him."
The tape was silent for a few seconds.
"Go to the Hibikis. See if you can get their protection; I'm
sure they'd give it in a heartbeat. Or take the cash you'll find in
the yellow tin in my dresser, and get as far away from Tokyo
as you can. Either way, you can't go on like you have. It's too
dangerous."
Mercutio: If this isn’t the quintessential “too little info, FAR too
late” thing, I don’t know WHAT is.
A teardrop splashed against the ashes covering the floor,
the liquid mixing with the grey char.
"I'm sorry, Akane. About all of this. And about what I've
done over the last few years, because maybe you'd have
believed me if I'd been someone worth believing in. We may
have words before you play this - I've felt a fight coming on
for weeks, now - and whatever gets said... I love you. This isn't
your fault, okay? None of it. You didn't kill me."
Mercutio: Unless you bring up the whle “Sins by Omission” thing.
Hikaru: Which we won’t.
A small sigh came from the tape. "Enough. Hopefully,
you'll never play this. Goodbye, Akane. Watch your back."
And then there was nothing.
Akane quietly turned off the recorder, and stared at the
walls. She didn't want to believe her sister. She didn't want to,
but she had no choice. Nabiki had no reason to lie, had been too
painfully honest... and Shan was dead, tortured to death by a
boy with a crooked smile.
Ranma had killed Nabiki.
She didn't know it for a fact. But she now believed him
capable of it.
Mercutio: At last, at LONG last, Akane finally gets a clue.
Hikaru: Welcome to the climax, follks.
Mackie: It just doesn’t get any darker than this.
^_-
The tower stairs were long and winding, and the only
way down to the concrete pier. He casually strolled into the
room at their top, and began to circle around towards the
stairwell.
He stopped as another figure stepped from a window
ledge, hands clasped before her.
"Ranma."
"Akane."
Mercutio: And so it begins.
They looked at each other for a long time, the shadows
and sunbeams dancing back and forth across the room from the
holes in the ceilings.
He shrugged, finally. "I'm leaving Nerima. You can still
come with me, if you like."
Mackie: Sure. She’s going to go be the psychotic killers sex toy.
Yeah. Right.
She slowly shook her head. A strange, almost pained
expression flickered across his face, and then he flashed her
the crooked smile.
"Ah well. Goodbye, then, Akane."
Again, she shook her head.
He frowned. Slowly, she opened her hand, revealing the
cel phone Mariko had tossed her. It fell to the ground, and she
brought her foot down on it, hard, shattering it.
He studied her, a hard look coming into his eyes. "You've
called someone."
Akane nodded. "The police will be here in a few minutes."
Mercutio: Well, I’ll be damned. I was starting to think that this
version of Nerima didn’t actually HAVE any cops.
"Well. I'd better leave, then. Again, goodbye."
He took a few steps forward. Akane did not move from
her position in his path, and he slowly came to a halt.
"You're going to try to stop me."
Mackie: Well DUUUUUHHHHH!!!!!!!!
She nodded. "You're not well, Ranma. You need this."
An incredulous laugh. "I need to go to prison?"
"Not prison," she said quietly. "A hospital."
His face paled, and he swallowed. "No. I won't. Never."
"You need to," she said, her eyes meeting his. "Ranma, you
have to."
"No," he replied, smiling tightly. "I can leave now. And I
will."
He took a step forward, and she slid into a fighting
stance. Ranma laughed, puzzled and incredulous.
Hikaru: He wouldn’t be, if he knew what she could do with that
mallet.
Mercutio: There IS no mallet in IMBS, remember?
Hikaru: Uh-oh. That ain’t good.
"What the hell do you think you're doing, Akane? I taught
you pretty well, but you couldn't beat me on my worst day. And
this is not my worst day."
"I know," she replied evenly. "But I can slow you down. I
can keep you from leaving until the police arrive."
He stared at her. She returned it, unblinking.
"I can end this quickly, you know." A Chinese knife
slipped into his hand. "There are other ways to end a fight
besides knocking you senseless."
Mercutio: Death n’ Dismemberment, the psychotics best friends.
"I know."
"Get out of my way, Akane. Now."
"No."
He leapt.
She met his attack, arms thrusting out in a flurry of
strikes and parries, one foot pivoting as she launched into a
spinkick. The knife sliced a long cut along one arm, and then it
went flying as she landed a chop on his wrist. Ignoring a blow
to her stomach, she awkwardly seized him and shoved him
back.
He began to circle, arms slowly moving, watching as the
blood trickled down her sleeve. "I will kill you, Akane. If you
think I won't, you're wrong."
"I know you can kill me."
Mackie: Would yet another ‘Duh’ be redundant at this point?
A blinding series of strikes, and she felt his foot come
within inches of snapping her neck. Summoning all the skill
and ability at her command, she pushed off the attack, broke
free. She had never reached such heights.
Ranma stared at her. "Shan taught you something. You
should have fallen down by now."
Mercutio: Thank you, Bakusai Ten-Ketsu.
"Yes."
He shrugged. "It figures that you'd be harder to kill than
Nabiki. You did know I killed Nabiki, didn't you? Shoved her out
into the middle of the street. Wham. She looked real funny,
flopping around like that."
"I believe you." Her voice was steady. "And why did you
jump after her?"
His smile slipped slightly, and then reappeared. "Alibi.
Had to look above suspicion, you know?"
Hikaru: And then there’s that little grain of doubt the author’s
needed to inject into your charachters hideousness, y’know?
"You could have just not told anyone you were there. Or
said that one of the Hibikis or Tsen pushed her. There were
much better ways than nearly killing yourself and hurting your
fighting potential at a point when so many people were trying
to kill you."
He chuckled. "Akane, are you trying to talk yourself into
believing I won't hurt you? Let me spell things out. I really
don't care one way or the other. It might be kinda fun to kill
you. The only thing you have that I wanted was that tight little
hole between your legs, and I've already had that."
Mackie: Dammit! Now the entire lemon section is tainted by evil
perversions of love and trust... wait a second. I love that stuff.
Never mind.
He launched a spinning kick at her, and sent her
staggering with a downwards punch when she dodged.
"Don't get me wrong, you're a reasonably good fuck.
Squirming and writhing around like that, thinking that it
actually meant something... not bad for a whore."
Mackie: Actualy, the word he’s looking for is ‘slut.’ A whore
demands payment.
Mercutio: Now THAT was uncalled for.
A hail of punches ripped through her defenses, a hand
clamped around her arm, twisting, spinning...
There was an obscene snapping sound and she crashed
into the wall, screaming in agony. She felt her nose break, and
could tell that something was seriously wrong with her left
arm as she fell to the floor. In the spinning room, she could
barely make out the unnatural angle of it, could see a small
splinter of white bone that had broken through the skin.
Another cry of pain ripped from her lips.
He turned away to leave, and then Akane did the hardest
thing she had ever done in her life. She stood up.
Slowly, her arm hanging limp and useless at her side,
blood running down her face, she moved into a fighting stance.
He stared at her in disbelief. "Are you a masochist or
something?"
Mercutio: We could answer that, but when it involves Akane, we’d
need ten minutes, a slide projector, and some charts.
"Ranma... you... need help." Blood trickled unheeded down
her cheeks over her mouth. "You need to..."
"What the fuck do you care what I need?"
"I love you."
Mercutio: I guess this is the part where the virtuos maidens love
causes the maniac to break down and agree to seek beneficial help,
He stared at her. "Haven't you heard a word I've been
saying? You're less than garbage to me, Akane. I'm going to kill
you. Get out of my way!"
Mercutio: Then again......
She shook her head, blood spattering her shirt. "Ranma,
let me help you. Please. I'll go with you to the hospital, I'll
help you, just go with them..."
"I CAN'T!" he screamed at her. "DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND? I
CAN'T! I CAN'T! I'VE TRIED, AND I CAN'T! GET OUT OF THE WAY!
DAMN YOU, DON'T MAKE ME DO THIS!"
"You don't have to."
"I don't have a choice," he grated, staring at her with a
desperate, barely-contained look. "Last warning, Akane. Get out
of my way or I'll kill you. It's your choice."
"No, Ranma. It's your choice. It's always been your
choice."
Mercutio: “I tire of waiting. MAKE YOUR CHOICE!!!”
Hikaru: You are NOT the Phantom of the Opera.
He looked at her.
She nodded, felt the blood drip from her nose and arm,
and waited to die.
For a few seconds he stared at her, and then Saotome
Ranma made his decision.
The control fell away. The carefully made ropes and
shackles fell loose, and a deep, feral, enraged fire lit in his
eyes.
Mercutio: Hello, Cat-Fist!!!!
He leapt for her, screaming, madness and fury and
bloodlust ripping across his face, teeth bared in an animal
snarl. He leapt, intent on killing, just a mindless creature of
hate and fear and desire to murder.
^_^
Mackie: AGAIN with the smiley....
It was a leap without the slightest amount of skill,
without the tiniest bit of Art. It was an animal's leap, a
crazed, wounded, maddened one.
Akane drew back her good hand and struck him as hard as
she could on the side of the head.
He landed, tearing at her with hands and teeth, and she
hit him again and again at the base of his skull, sending him
howling to his knees. It was almost painfully easy. His skill
had evaporated, the control he had built through the Art
deliberately released for the first time in years.
Mercutio: That’s quite the mental picture. Way different from the
other portrayals of the Neko-Ken shown over the years.
Hikaru: We stil don’t even know that it IS the Neko-Ken which
drove him mad.
Mercutio: Uh-huh. And what other alternatives do YOU have to
offer?
Hikaru: Touche.
Slowly, still clawing at her, he sank to the ground in a
boneless heap.
She understood, at the last, what he had done. He could no
more have let himself be captured and treated than a fish
could try to leave the water. In the end, there was just a
choice between killing her and escaping... or releasing his
control over his madness. And with it, his fighting ability. For
martial arts was, above all else, control. And Ranma had surely
known that better than anyone.
"Thank you," she said quietly. She didn't know if he could
be helped. She would try.
And the sound of a shotgun being pumped suddenly echoed
through the tower room.
Mercutio: Oh, DAMN!!!!!
Mackie: I thought for SURE she was dead.
Hikaru: I think we can safely say nobody saw THAT coming.
Akane slowly looked up. "Should I be relieved or afraid?"
"You can get out of my line of fire," Mariko said, holding
the umbrella in her one good arm. The other hung limp at her
side, combining with the bruises, lumps, and gashes to give her
the impression of being more dead than alive. "So I can kill
him. Or you can stay where you are, and I can kill both of you.
It's been a really bad day."
Mercutio: No KIDDING.
"It's over. The cops will be here any minute, and he's
going to go somewhere where he won't hurt anyone again. I saw
what Nabiki tried to tell me, Mariko. I know now."
The Hibiki girl smiled slightly. "Fine. So get out of the
way."
"No. Like I said, it's over. He's going to a hospital, so they
can try to make him better. I think he's going to be there for a
very long time. He won't be allowed to hurt anyone ever again,
and you have about five minutes until the police show up. Kill
him, and I'll tell them you murdered him in cold blood. Unless
you murder me too, of course. Well, _friend_?"
Mariko raised the umbrella, carefully aimed it. Then
lowered it in disgust.
Hikaru: Now that was easier than we would’ve thought.
"Oh, hell. Okay. But they'd damn well better hold onto him.
If he breaks out... feh, I'll decide later. I should just kill you
two right now, but jail doesn't really appeal to me. And I like
you too much."
Akane managed a weak chuckle. "Thanks. I think. Your
brother is down in the old bank vault, locked in; go get him out,
and I won't tell the police that you two were here. Hide in the
tunnels, and then after they leave you can sneak out."
Mackie: You think she means the fire-filled, impassable, impossible-to-hide-in-without-being-torched tunnels?
Mariko nodded, eying her speculatively. "You really found
out, huh?"
"He killed Nabiki, I think."
Mercutio: You THINK?
The other girl nodded. "I'll see you again, Akane. Count on
that."
With a twirl of her umbrella, she turned and vanished
down the tunnel. Akane looked down at the boy in the red shirt
sprawled before her, ran a hand gently along his forehead, and
waited as the sounds of boats and sirens grew nearer and
nearer.
-< End of Chapter 13 >-
Mercutio: Wow. I say it again: WOW.
Mackie: Now THAT, my friends, is how one does a darkfic. I think
Bitter End has a little competition here.
Hikaru: There was a lot less death than I expected.
Mercutio: True. And we still dont know the final fate of Nabiki.
Hikaru: Guess we’ll just have to read the previews.
Mercutio: Yep. Guess so.
-End LST1/2K-
