Author's notes as well as where to read earlier chapters follow the fic.
Please forgive any formating errors, this E-mailer is trying to kill me, I
swear ^_^;;
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is the creation of Rumiko Takahashi, the publication
of Shogakukan, with a translation by Viz and is the subject of fascination
by fans worldwide...
OtakuNXS presents...
Suicide Blast V
It danced...
Like a star going supernova, it danced, whirling about with the primordial
force within. Miniature solar flares streaked in blue and the whole of it
revolved around the axis between a young man's soul and his willingness to
die. It danced to the music of a foreshadow yet to be realized... and while
it danced, it waited...
DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!
That came from the young man...
Ryouga squirmed, fuming in mid air. The lost boy was tumbling forward, a
martial artist grappled firmly about his waist... a spinning, amber sphere
slipping from his grip. Of all the stupid, selfless, asinine, heroic,
moronic, honorable, self-destructive, noble, brainless... ARRGGGHHH!
Hell, he should have known... he should have KNOWN Ranma would do something
like this. It was virtually scripted, a tragically pre-ordained destiny that
the lost boy should have seen coming a mile away. Didn't Ryouga himself name
his adversary the Hero? Isn't this what they do? Bah, and what do little
piggies do?
They screw up.
It was all blown to hell now, or would soon be. He was falling, his right
hand was flailing, and soon, something new would be added to the cityscape.
Something monstrous and gluttonous like nothing Nerima had ever known... and
it wasn't going to go streaming up into the sky. It wasn't about to add a
nice little Ooh, Aah, festive touch to his passing, like New Year's
fireworks.
No, the damn thing was going to scream right through the center of downtown.
And after the Jisatsu ball run? It would go... boom.
A really, really... BIG boom.
To hell with that, he didn't have time for the odd piss and moan. Second
guessing was for idling the time away in purgatory; it had little place in
the here and now. Now was the moment of stupidity, the moment to try things
that didn't have a chance in hell of working, and hoping for the best.
Ryouga sighed, why was it always THAT time?
First though, he needed some breathing room.
He began by slowing his heart, his breath, his body... all in an effort to
expand and accelerate his mind. Ryouga had to out-think the thing, faster,
focus... concentrate... it was that perfect over-hyper state of mind that
gave you a chance to sidestep a punch traveling at Mach One. Say what you
want about Ryouga, or Ranma, or even Akane or Kuno. They might not catch a
clue if it was bandanna'd and sharing bed-sheets, but all of them could spot
and even count a hundred punches; even when they all appeared to the outside
world as a single strike.
A true martial artist could consider a hundred options offensively and
defensively in a matter of seconds. The good ones picked the most
advantageous and went with it in an instant. The special ones, like himself
and his opponent... could try them ALL out in that same instant.
Sharpening his senses and cranial instincts to their razor's edge, he
extended his perceptions to the very precipice of cause and effect. The
background thunder of hundreds of spectators and emergency vehicles hushed
to a muttering whisper, heard as though from a great distance. From his
perspective, his fall slowed, and gradually, with confident knowing strides,
his mind began to lap time itself. The world took on a odd hue, blurring at
the peripherals like a slow mo function on a double-headed vcr.
Blood paused in mid drip over his eyelid, the ground suddenly seemed a good
deal farther away, and something round and deadly slipped slowed it's own
personal lambada to something more waltz-like.
Focusing, Ryouga scanned the various pins being racked, before his little
bowling ball scattered them to the gutters. For the most part, it was an
empty street... a straight alley that extended a near half block before
ending in what looked to be a hotel of some sort... hopefully part of the
evacuation. A few cars, a few light poles, endless private and public
property... none of it would survive the preamble, let alone the event
itself.
And, there was a man. From this distance, Ryouga couldn't tell much about
him, other then the obvious. He was going to die. Further down, what looked
to be a taxi cab also sat dangerously close to ground zero... lights on,
motor probably running. There might be a passenger, there might not be... no
telling.
The line of red flowed in a single, thick, languorous line, the concrete got
closer and the globe of bright, cheery death... moved a centimeter more out
of his grip.
He tried squeezing, bringing his fingers together, snatching the orb before
it got a chance to loose itself. Ryouga might as well tried the same with
toothpaste. A toxic, explosive, shimmering toothpaste recommended by four
out of four horsemen of the Apocalypse. His efforts were rewarded with a few
wispy strands of power... before it slid gently, irrevocably, from his
grasp.
Crimson ooze stung his eye, hard impact with unforgiving ground rattled a
rib cage long since past the breaking point... and it... was free.
When it all came down to it, there was nothing more he could do. The lost
boy could mentally slow it, bring the whole thing down to a snail pace,
frantically try to outdo the future by gumming up the works of the present.
But the one thing he couldn't do, was stop it.
Suddenly, the world was moving at it's normal runaway freight train pace.
Both he and Ranma made a wet smacking sound as their sweat- and blood-soaked
bodies crumpled into a heap on the asphalt. Ryouga turned his head,
blinking the offending visceral from his eyes and roared in hoarse rage.
Nobody paid him any attention...
A star had been born... and all present bore witness. Hundreds of people
stood in wonder at the frenzied dancing panorama of light before them.
Released from the umbilical chord attaching it to Ryouga's soul, it
stretched out it's radiance, testing newly acquired limbs of raw force.
Though only about the size of a softball, a sphere of emptiness surrounded
it in a corona at least forty feet in diameter.
The street buckled underneath it, like some great weight had settled upon
it. An area of darkened sky, surrounded a luminous core of throbbing blue
and searing white. It was terrible, a great, terrible... thing. Later, some
in the crowd would SWEAR it had winked at them.
And then it began... to move...
A sonic boom heralded it, filling the emptiness it left behind. Glass
shattered, ear drums ruptured, spectators were flung back into one another
and two martial artists, closer then anyone else... took to the sky. Ranma
hit the ground face first, scraping a good bit of nose off in the process,
before his hands dug himself in and steadied his tumble.
Ryouga, on the other hand, was having none of it. His feet dug deep grooves
in the ground beneath him before he firmly planted one foot, and then
another. One step became two, then three, then forty, and then a thousand.
If his "child" wanted to race, then he'd learn it to respect its old man!
Wind, friction, sound and a thousand different laws of physics availed
themselves to stop both rumbling juggernauts. The blast responded by losing
a small sliver of its protective coating. Bits of energy that were displaced
hit the surrounding area with all the force of a shockwave.
Ryouga, being only human, paid for it in flesh. Sections of his exterior
cracked, peeled, and in places... stripped away. Round globules of red hit
the air in a free fall, suspended by the terrific speed. He didn't waste a
glance behind him; it would have been pointless anyway. At this speed,
everything else was frozen in time. It was just him... and his creation...
the rest of reality had lost its form and meaning.
<One breath, two breaths... listen... push, push, push, push, push...>
Ranma looked up, still a bit dazed, still a bit confused by the explosion...
unsure of anything beyond the sharp burning of the exposed meat on his face.
Raising his head, trying to find the source of that incessant ringing, he
caught a glimpse of the Suicide Blast as it rumbled through the street. Ah
hell, that last explosion wasn't it?
He was sorta hoping it was already over. Damn, he was tired. Well, not
really... honestly, excepting the stinging, hot sticky mass that was the
front of his head, he almost felt... well, rejuvenated. Still, his mind and
soul had enough excess baggage to last a lifetime. Though his body felt like
it could go a few hundred rounds with Tarou; mentally, he felt much more
like going a few rounds at whatever local bar they HADN'T destroyed in their
little pissing contest.
Sighing, he considered the scene before him. All around the orb there was
this great expanse of nothing. Anything that it approached was either tossed
to the side, or crushed by its lumbering form. It was like nothing else was
real, everything giving way, backing up to let the new creation of pain and
loss pass by.
Street lamps bent at the center, almost like they were bowing, and
everything glass shattered behind its wake... sparkling, sharp confetti
being tossed in some bizarre parade. Cars were flung through buildings and
hydrants bent inwardly, exploding under dual pressures as the water surged.
Everything celebrated its passage, as a great open gash wound its way down
the street.
Even atmosphere gave the thing right of way, shockwaves and air pressure
extending the damage. Wherever Ryouga's little toy had just been, there was
nothing left. There was just the vacuous hole that extended down the street.
It formed a perfect, silent emptiness... a vacuum.
And just as soon as it was formed, that same vacuum was instantly abhorred.
Shards of window, splinters of wood, hunks of metal, and a blinding cloud of
dust and grit suddenly swelled and began to fly as the air swirled forward
to fill the hole. It was like a comet, forming its own tail of leftovers as
it went along. And... did Ryouga just disappear into that... vortex?
Brain clicking into hyper warp, he brought the spinning torrents of reality
to a standstill and focused on Ryouga and the ball. It was an easy escape
for Ranma, his own little world he could access, away from his fianc�es and
most of his rivals. Here, birds paused in mid-flight, fathers in mid-idiocy
and tomboys in mid-gripe. He had to get some distance for himself, had to
think.
Sure hope Akane's okay. She'd have demanded a chance to watch, but then
Cologne would keep her out of harm's way. Heh, if she WAS anywhere around,
she'd have hit them both with a car or something by now.
Hey, just what the hell WAS Ryouga trying to do? If... if he wasn't
mistaken, it looked like the guy was trying... trying to outrun the damn
thing! Was that even possible?
What was the boy thinking? Hell, what was he EVER thinking? Was it one last
lemming-like rush, a sudden desire to have the best seats in the house at
his own demise? Ranma wondered, not for the first time since this whole
affair had begun, if it was really worth it. There are only so many bottles,
razor and hand guns you could snatch from the determined one's hands
before one of you is simply forced to deal with the inevitable. Sooner or
later, somebody died; from exhaustion if nothing else.
And then there was Ukyou.
Salt water mixed with exposed ridges lining Ranma's face, adding more to the
heated pain then the fragment of grit and glass ever could. Maybe the
bastard was right all along. Maybe he should have just killed the guy years
ago, put him out of both their miseries. Sure, he'd have never been able to
live with himself, but then, a certain okonamiyaki chef would never have
experienced that horrible sphere first hand.
Electric lines crackled and snapped, sending streams of hot, electrified
wires all about as wooden poles shattered. One of the poles that fell on top
of the orb was flung back and through a corn dog stand. He watched it all
happen, from impact to disintegration, all in glorious slow motion. Gone,
just like Uu-chans. Ranma watched it, then something began to tickle the
back of his mind.
Wait, WE blew up Uu-chans when I fell for my own blasted attack.
Come to think of it, there had been no evidence that Ryouga had used his own
personal tac nuke in the first place. The shop wouldn't have been
there! Come to think of it; neither would any real evidence of Ukyou's
existence. Did he just beat her?
No, couldn't have. Ukyou was a martial artist too. For Ryouga to do that,
there'd have been some sort of fight. Displaced tables, a few marks on the
lost boy when she connected. And when HE connected, Ranma knew damn well
what that could do to a human body.
Yet, she was still intact, and beautiful... what, had the lost boy done? He
had to know! A pair of hands sunk themselves deep into the earth below, a
scrambling, frantic crawl that began to gain impossible momentum.
Ranma smiled... he didn't know what the odds were on the race before him,
but he did know that the smart money... was on the wild horse with the
pigtail.
<One breath, two breaths, listen... push, push, push, push, push...>
Ryouga followed his guiding light. Though the tunnel did its best to extend
beyond his reach, he could see it looming larger and larger. There was no
longer any sound to be heard at all, and the last breath he had taken seemed
like hours ago. Pressures of every kind worked their evils on his body.
Organs did all sorts of odd squilling and burbling internally as bits and
pieces of his external shell were sheared.
Then, he hit the wall.
Not some metaphysical runner's wall of a body brought to the breaking point;
he had crashed through that particular obstacle ages ago. Nor was it a
simple brick and masonry affair. That would have melted like butter at his
approach. No, this was the rock hard candy coating of the sphere itself.
The closing of the vacuum behind had given him a bit of a push forward,
now... he had to find a way through. Around wasn't an option, any real
ceasing to his forward momentum and the opportunity would be lost. Anything
remotely resembling a slow down and the he'd never make up the stolen
ground. There was only one choice...
He had to jump it... he had to clear a good forty feet... and with enough
velocity to not get lapped while doing so. That would require an even faster
pace, and Ryouga was at his limit. There was just no way he was going to do
this with raw speed.
Ryouga flashed a fanged smirk... he didn't need speed, he had power.
The lost boy was probably one of the five strongest people on the planet,
give or take a bit of cold water change ups. Most Olympic weight lifters
would snap something rather dear to themselves trying to just heft his
umbrella and pack around. And for all that upper body power, it was nothing
compared to the piledrivers below them.
Lift with your legs, right? Also, while he was comprised of enough
musculature to bench press most family homes, Ryouga only weighed a little
over average for his height and build. All this added up to one thing...
when he really wanted to, this other white meat... COULD jump.
Jump, hell... if he put his mind, and legs to it... he could fly.
<one breath, two breaths, listen... push, push, push, push, push>
Ranma entered into the "comet tail", and was suddenly assaulted by something
small, round and traveling in the opposite direction. It hit his sternum
with all the force of a rubber bullet, and raising a welt and sending oxygen
fleeing from the young man's lungs. Looking down, he registered his
assailant where it had splattered upon contact.
Fresh, bright and scarlet, Ryouga's fresh blood made odd contrast with the
dried brown currently coating Ranma. He shook his head, and observed the
lost boy was creating his own little "tail" as it were. Bits of skin and
droplets of internal fluids blobbing about in the distance between them.
He had to be careful, at this speed, it was HIS velocity that counted,
magnifying mass by several times. But dodging wasn't much of an option; he'd
have to do a lot of that when he got closer to the blast itself, where the
glass shards had suddenly attained an all new level of lethality. And, when
every side step, ever turn, could turn a lead into a lap... he had to save
them up for when they were most needed.
Ranma crossed his arms in front of his body and face and pushed forward.
Bits of leftover Ryouga and Nerima, popped and splattered against his
forearms and legs. A few pieces of his own fleshy covering streaked and
tore, and openings made by splinters tore into wide gashes as the young man
began to catch up to his prey.
A line of glass, fragmented to almost sand-like quality, sparkled in the
distance, reaching out unmoving tendrils from the window pane it had
recently escaped. Silvery tentacles reached out from the ground and
surrounding buildings, all trying to grab ahold of him as he passed. He
ducked one, leapt another and exposed down to the bone when one caught his
left leg unawares.
But he never stopped.
He would heal, he told himself; he always did. Ryouga wasn't the only one
who could ignore physical pain. Any more than he was the only one that felt
internal anguish.
There he was, bare except what was left of his pants... his shoes having
long since flown off. The one Ranma had come in contact with had nearly
ended his run. His flesh shone oddly in reflection with the orb as he
approached, the crusted covering of rust like dried blood was gone...
stripped by his pace.
Then, the lost boy suddenly came up short, like he had hit something. Ranma
panicked, Ryouga was a big target to dodge at this speed, and he knew for
sure he didn't want to risk running head on into... that. No telling if
either would survive impact.
But Ryouga simply crouched, and leapt, flinging his own body over the
glowing orb. The buckled street snapped under the force, a massive hunk of
it sailing into the air, kicked up by his tremendous leap. Ranma smiled...
Without once breaking stride, he placed a foot on the flying fragment of
road work, and continued running. Finding footing on the leftover, still
hovering hunks of asphalt, he made his way over and beyond the blast. One
opponent outraced, now for Ryouga...
<One breath, two breaths, listen... push, push, push, push, push.>
Ryouga landed...
Both of his feet had sunk a good six inches into the street. His left knee
was not happy about the whole affair and complained with sharp jagged lances
of pain, the right one... simply blew out... messily. Not having time for
either agony or revulsion, Ryouga used the swelling left joint to stand.
Apparently, leaping at such velocities was not a good idea, something he'd
have to remember, should it ever come up in the few minutes he had
remaining.
That was assuming it was the chi blast that did him in and not all this
prologue.
It was about at this time that something awesome in force and unimaginable
in power slammed into the small of his back, flinging both arms to lay
against the side of the chi comet's head. For awhile, a brief struggle took
place as the ball tried to continue at its original speed and Ryouga tried
his best to keep from splitting in two and rolling off in nasty, gory halves
across the sphere's surface. Finally, the potholes at the young man's feet
gave way and he was pushed forward, digging two deep grooves within the
street.
No longer supersonic, but still with a definite forward momentum, the
Suicide Blast continued... a run away Mack truck, with Ryouga as a hood
ornament.
Damnit... he sighed, brain slowing, almost settling into a drowsy stupor,
I'm just not... strong enough. Still, he had slowed the thing down. Maybe
the guy up ahead, currently looking at him with wide, panicked eyes would
have enough time to run. Heavy, swollen lids began to close, a spinal column
began to make sounds like freshly chewed celery, and skin began to stretch
and buckle.
Ryouga wondered if there was anyone left to say goodbye to. Hiromi maybe?
Aka... no, don't go there. He almost chuckled, "Well, least I got a chance
to say goodbye to Ranma."
"Hell with that! You're not going anywhere till I get some answers... pal!"
The comet shuddered, as a new force came into direct opposition. Ryouga
looked down and saw Ranma digging in, bracing the lost boy with his
shoulder. Sweat began to glisten off the newcomer's body as muscles and
tendons did the impossible.
Suddenly, Ranma looked up, scowling with a torn face, and pieces of nose
hanging off at odd angles. "You gonna keep staring or are you gonna put a
back to it?"
Grunting, Ryouga allowed for a bit of slack, and then rammed backwards with
everything he had left. As though taken aback by the attack, the sphere
actually backed up a millimeter. Both martial artists leaned into it.
"Man you look like hell, Ranma. And try not to touch the damn thing; direct
contact and you'll just look worse." Ryouga grumped. "Hey, idiot in the taxi
cab uniform! You gonna run or what?"
Blinking, the older man took a few steps back, then turned to his cab. "All
right, just let me-"
"We don't have time for you to collect your damn fare, old man! Get out of
here!" Ranma cried, his footing slowly slipping as something that redefined
unstoppable began to regain ground. "And I figured as much, which is why I'm
bracing ya, instead of taking your head off like I should be doing!"
"But-" the taxi driver began. Ranma and Ryouga both affixed him with gazes
that had obviously spent a long, dark time, abyss watching. Something warm
and liquid traveled from nether regions to the man's leg.
"And I look like hell? Have you taken a look at yourself, pig boy? Whatever
it is you're doing to yourself, after all is said and done, you'll never be
kosher."
"A joke, how nice... wish I had time to think one up, but I seem to be kinda
busy, Ranma. Come to think of it, you're looking pretty buff, discounting
the face. Is that something to do with that new technique... you know, the
one where you go insane and start head butting with intent to kill?" Ryouga
sneered.
Ranma shoke his head, "Honestly, I not sure WHAT the hell that was, though I
got a few ideas. All I know is I'm feeling pumped. You want to hit Herb and
Lime, tag team style when we're done here?"
Ryouga looked down at Ranma; the sphere continued to rage behind them,
sliding them another foot closer to oblivion. He closed his eyes... and
began to laugh. He laughed as he hadn't for so long... laughed with tears
streaming down his face, laughed with a brain pleading desperately for
oxygen. Ranma watched him for awhile... and then.
"Ryo-" Ranma began.
"Uh, guys?" It was the cab driver.
"WHAT?" Ranma flared, his red aura returning with a vengeance, while Ryouga
simply shook his head.
Falling to his knees, the man cried out, "Please don't kill me! Look,
there's a girl in my cab. A sweet little thing. Mind if I get her, pretty
please?"
Ryouga sighed. "Yeah, but hurry." As if to emphasize the point, both he and
Ranma slid forward a full meter as the massive accumulated force behind
them, strained to continue its oblivious flight.
"Gotcha!"
Ryouga noticed his rival's face was already starting to look a bit better.
New skin, fresh and pink dotted areas that had been torn down to muscle
before. Come to think of it, he could almost move his left arm too. Of
course, neither would be anything close to one hundred percent in anything
less then a month. That almost made him crack another smile. A month, his
current lifespan measured in seconds, maybe minutes. Certainly nothing as
timely as a whole month.
Suddenly, Ranma's face twisted a bit, into a solemn, grim, unreadable mask.
"What did you do to Ukyou, Ryouga?"
"Wasn't it obvious?"
"Now is not the time!" Ranma spat, applying pressure in more specific ways,
causing Ryouga to wince slightly. "I know you didn't blast her and I'm
pretty sure you didn't beat her."
Ryouga sighed, "Does it really matter right now?"
"Matters to me."
"Fine. You're right, Ranma, I didn't blast her or beat her, and I didn't
bang her or boff her either." Ryouga smirked, cutting off quickly as Ranma
applied more pressure. "Getting angry again?"
"Ryouga..."
Ryouga conceded, "I bakusai tenketsu'd her."
"Bull!" Ranma cried. "The breaking point doesn't work on people, we both
KNOW that!"
"You would know best, I guess." Ryouga shrugged.
Ranma gritted his teeth, "How?"
"Oh for the love of... look, I've got something on a whole new scale of
nasty currently worming its way through my backside. And I don't know about
you, but I'm really... really tired. I don't plan on swapping
ground-breaking or even chef-breaking techniques with you and-"
Ranma raged, pushing forward, nearly setting the blast back with his own
push. Something right below the lungs, ruptured in Ryouga's body, and he
bent over, coughing up solid matter. "Is... She... Dead?"
The martial artist punctuated with a fist rammed into Ryouga's gut.
Ryouga coughed up something meaty and wet. "Very good, Ranma. There's the,"
he smiled, drippingly, "million dollar question. And here's your answer... "
Ryouga paused, just long enough for Ranma's eyes to narrow, and begin to
rear back his fist again.
"No."
Ranma's eyes began to produce more moisture, they opened wide and he looked
at Ryouga askance.
Ryouga threw back his head and laughed, this time, in a most uncomfortable
and pained fashion. "She's not dead. Girl was actually nice to me for once,
and such a good free meal. I was going to repay that with a crushed skull?
Oh no, little miss forgotten, unloved, bit character is going to wake up in
a day or so with a sore noggin and probably hating BOTH our guts."
The pigtailed martial artist slumped... his arms falling to his side...
working the whole thing out. "Then all of it... all of this, destruction...
I been trying to... kill you for nothing? All this carnage, Uu-chans blowing
to hell... "
"RANMA!" Ryouga shrieked, just before he collided into the young man. Sweat
flung from both youths and Ranma hit the ground. The sphere began to gain
momentum, and almost ran the fallen boy over.
Ranma quickly back-flipped out the way. Spinning, he brought both hands
underneath Ryouga's own and placed them on the "head" of the comet. Skin
peeled away and blood flew between his fingers. His face and Ryouga's almost
touched, and he shut his eyes, blinking away tears. "I... I was so ready
to.. stop believing in you. Aww man, I can't believe. Ryouga, I'm... I'm
sorry, man."
Ryouga looked down at Ranma in surprise, then in disgust, he shook his head
violently. "Damnit, Ranma, this isn't about you! When are you going to get
that in youre thick head? You were PLAYED, your emotions were manipulated,
and not by some prince with designs on our mutual female fetish, not by her
twisted sister, some psycho gymnast or a midget machiavellian master... or
even some pretty boy in hosiery. It was me, little ole, let's dress up and
watch him dance for his long lost love, Ryouga."
Switching his hands to support Ryouga at the shoulders, Ranma simply stood
there... head down... voice cracking. "So... so what do you want me to do?
What's this all about then, what do you want?"
Ryouga sighed, "I want? I want to die, damnit! Haven't I made that
abundantly clear? And I don't want people to have their hearts played with.
It turns people into... into me." More tears flowed, though where he had the
liquid left in his body, he didn't know. They streamed, first one, then the
other, rolling underneath his chin and pooling, to form a long drip from his
head to land on Ranma's face.
Ranma kept silent, listening.
"I hurt her, Ranma, as much as I loved her, and I'd have hurt Akane too. I
didn't mean to. It's all this training... and anger and... frustration. And
loneliness... god damn the loneliness." Ryouga shook his head, as though
gaining control of a spiraling fall. The ease in which he shifted out of it
spoke of long, hard, terrible practice. "I want you and Akane to have babies
and good times and love one another. You'd both better damn well stay
faithful and honest and... and... man, Ranma, I'm just tired. Can we get
this over with?"
"Is... is that what you really want, Ryouga?" Ranma's voice was robbed of
all strength and power. The words escaped his mouth with the air breathed.
No conviction shuttled them forward. But, maybe there was a hint of...
acceptance.
Ryouga just nodded, "Look, inside Uu-chan's safe is my pack. There are some
things in there, souvenirs, a bit of savings and some... rocks I found. It's
not much. But with a bit of cutting there, some selling at the right places,
there should be enough to help rebuild her shop. And after our little
tirade, she'll probably be the only eatery still standing on the block. Do
whatcha can with it... except for," he fidgeted a bit before continuing. "A
little china figurine. Can you get that to Akari?"
He couldn't believe it, couldn't believe what he was about to say, couldn't
believe the emptiness that loomed large and wide before him. Opening his
mouth, Ranma said...
"NO!"
Funny, he didn't remember getting hit with anything cold and thirst
quenching, come to think of it, he didn't remember actually saying anything
at all. Both Ranma and the lost boy turned, to the true source of the cry.
Ryouga simply let out a moan.
Akari stood there, her eyes oddly devoid of wetness. Her arms folded and her
jaw seemed set firm. "This is not going to happen, Ryouga. You are not going
to die today. I don't care what that thing is behind you. You are going to
live long enough to realize what a fool you are and beg me to love you
again. THAT is what you're going to do!"
"A.. Akari?" Ryouga stammered, suddenly feeling very aware of his lack of
dress, to say nothing of skin.
"Ryouga, is it just me, or do we bring out the kookiness in people?" Ranma
half smiled, half frowned.
"Akari, get the hell out of here! Damn it, Cab man, if I weren't pinned up
against this orb I'd-"
"She wouldn't listen, sir, I swear! Once she saw you, she leaped out of the
cab and stormed over."
"And I'm not leaving till you accept my terms." Akari asserted, sitting down
in the middle of the road for effect.
Ranma started trembling, then, he bit his bottom lip... but it wasn't
helping.
"Ranma, don't you dare!" Ryouga scowled.
Now it was Ranma's time to laugh, it started somewhere at giggle and climbed
it's way up the mirth evolutionary ladder to a guffaw. It was warm comfort
to his soul and mind. The laughter revitalized his spirit like that strange
glow had done to his body. "Looks like you're going to have to find a way to
stay alive, aren't you?"
"Shut up, Ranma! I... oh... man."
Ryouga felt it... felt it opening up deep within his gut, a clutching to his
heart, things on the inside, suddenly holding their breath. Turning, he
realized... the sphere was no longer trying to move forward. It was also no
longer a grating, screaming background to their little sound and fury
morality play. The thing was just... silent. Everyone turned to the quiet
little ball, no longer raging against existence itself.
The Jisatsu Bakuha... was finally ready... to go boom.
<That's enough, Mousse... she's gone>
"You sure about this, Ryouga?" Ranma asked, the eery silence pervading every
molecule of his being. "I betcha it's not going to do anything, it's
probably a dud," he lied.
"Put me down, damnit!" Akari yelled, from the vantage point of over Ranma's
shoulder.
Ryouga winced; she must be REALLY pissed. The girl didn't even think in
naughty words. "Yeah. We slowed it down to about halfway in the evacuated
zone. Assuming it doesn't wipe out the whole city, this should be fine.
Still, I gotta try."
"Why not let me give it a whirl, huh? I mean, I'm in a hell of a lot better
shape then you and I..."
"Have a life ahead of you, I don't. Female protests or not, nothing's going
to change that. Besides, you're the faster, you've got a shot at giving
those people some warning... and getting her the hell out of here."
The young man shook his head; it was a stupid idea, but like it or not,
Ryouga was right. It was the pig's turn. Making sure the cabbie had actually
gotten his vehicle started, he tried to say goodbye, it came out as a
squeak. The lost boy simply nodded... and then Ranma left, having little
time, or possibly none at all.
Finally, Ryouga was alone... with it.
The globe happily ticked away, though without benefit of a digital readout,
or anything indicating when things would go from bad, to hearse. Man, this
was a seriously stupid idea... couldn't even remotely be feasible... could
it? Ryouga placed a hand on the orb, no longer coated in it's wall of force,
and began to lift.
Stupid or not, it was rather simple. Ryouga planned on heaving the damn
thing as high up in the air as possible, and hoping for the best. Only...
only it wasn't budging.
Ryouga grunted with the effort, setting every still-working muscle in his
body in motion. He lifted with his legs and his back and even with his
arms... but still, it wouldn't move. Heaving and hoeing, sweat again began
to drip off the warrior in a deluge... but still, nothing.
"Move, damn you! MOVE!"
Suddenly, a wave of nausea did to Ryouga what he couldn't do to the ball. He
hit the ground with his knees, one of which oozed something yellow. His face
even with the sphere, he stared deep and long into its depths... and
suddenly understood.
Ranma wasn't far enough away... Hiromi and his evacuees weren't either.
Akari... probably not even Akane. How could one soul hold that much power?
That much rage? Maybe because they were all connected, maybe because
everyone felt like eating a bullet... sooner or later... and this... thing
took that as unspoken, only half felt wish...
...as a command.
That was when the misery hit. That was when the futility engulfed him. That
was when he found his soul, taking up housing in a truly dark and lonely
place. And that was when the orb took to the sky.
Ryouga cocked his head to the side, not comprehending. It was not until he
recognized his own inner calm... not til the ball paused in mid air... and
then began a slow fall back to earth that his eyes opened their widest.
.
.
.
Cologne wiped tears from the many interesting places they ended up when one
was as wrinkled and old as she. Walking away from a helpless young man, and
an ever so silent woman, she took in the battlefield, as it were. She
watched a shimmering, sparkling star shoot up... heaven bound. And then,
pause, before getting lost somewhere along the way, and ending up on the
path to hell.
"When you do give in to death's sweat embrace, do so with a glad heart...
welcoming the end to suffering. For when perfect misery and the great
oblivion meet... you will have a Perfect Suicide Blast." Cologne finished in
a whisper.
"What?" Mousse looked up from Akane's still form.
"We are all dead."
o
o
o
"He did it!" Akari squealed, then... regaining composure, she assured, "As I
knew he would."
Ranma turned, and watched the glimmering speck travel skyward. Behind him,
Hiromi made use of his megaphone, warning of what might happen if no
backward motion was forthcoming. Smiling, a simple bitter sweet smile, he
muttered, "Not bad, bacon breath."
"And... now it's coming back down."
The pigtailed martial artist opened his eyes and watched... knowing the fall
all too well. If the blasts were that much bigger then the bullet... oh man.
Mother, father... everyone...
Never letting the shrieking meteor out of his sight, he silently mouthed,
"Goodbye... Akane."
O
O
O
"Please," Ryouga pleaded, "don't do this!"
Ryouga looked up the sky, trying with sheer will to stop the ever closer
falling star. The end of the world as he knew it had FINALLY come, and he
most definitely did not feel fine. There was no way anyone he knew was going
to walk away from this. Would it take out the whole district? The city?
This just in today, Japan sinks into the ocean because a young boy couldn't
"take it" anymore.
Still, he wasn't giving up, maybe... maybe if he caught it... or maybe if he
shot it out of the air with a chi move or... or... SOMETHING. Ryouga wasn't
leaving till it was in deed all over. He'd die before that thing went off,
if he had to, he'd die just to stop it. Which of course made no sense the
instant he thought of it... being willing to die in exchange for peace is
what got him INTO this mess.
...
Could it be... that simple?
Slowly, he stood. He wasn't just willing to die to stop that thing. The lost
boy was willing to live. Ryouga was willing to suffer the consequences of
his actions. Ryouga was willing to go to sleep, wrapped in a blanket of
misery. Ryouga was willing to have Akari... hate him forever.
Above him, the chi made meteor continued it's unhalting decent... promising
an end to pain, to misery, to everything....
Below, a light breeze skittered about, playfully spinning a few bits of dirt
and concrete in the air, before deciding to have a go at the young man's
hair. Ryouga breathed the wind in, tasting the many bitter cold nights it
had brought about. It chilled his cheeks, and burned his lungs. But most of
all, it told him he was in fact... alive.
Ryouga smiled, now even willing to accept never-ending lonely travels,
through a dark and uncaring world... why? Because he was alive... and that
was enough.
Looking up, he watched the shimmering panorama of doom sizzle and squirm,
promising nothingness, something he had once been SO sure he wanted.
Raising his hand... Ryouga caught it...
The snow ball never had a chance in hell, melting in the warmth that was a
living, breathing... young man.
( )
"So, what'd he say?" Ranma asked, accepting a blanket and a mug of something
warm and tasty from a rather nervous emergency worker.
"He said he was going to go watch a few sunrises and figure out how to
apologize." Akari shrugged.
Ranma took a sip, trying not to notice the wide breadth everyone was giving
him, and then shook his head. "He's going to pay for that one, isn't he?"
"Very good. Why, you're almost half female, Ranma."
"Ouch, Akari... ouch." Ranma grumbled. "So, what were you in town for
anyway? I thought you had given up on shake n bake."
Akari stood there for a moment, studying her hands. "I... I came here to
make a terrible mistake, Ranma. And then I saw him. To be honest, I didn't
go out there to save Ryouga, I went there... to save myself."
"This have anything to do with him hurting you?"
"He mentioned that? Did he mention what we were doing at the time?"
Ranma noticed Akari was suddenly, once again much more interested in her
hands then his eyes. "No... and I'm not sure I want to know."
Akari just nodded, and then was silent.
"Hey, look, it's Mousse." Ranma smiled, happy for the distraction.
"Ranma... forgive me. I- I did everything I could." Mousse was on his
knees, like he was waiting for something. "I- I couldn't save her. Do what
you will to me, as repayment for our debt."
Ranma looked at Akari and then back to Mousse. "Hey, ducky, the norms are
watching us. Try and act like a super human, hokay?"
"Ranma, you don't understand-"
"What, you're acting like Akane died on you or something."
"Very astute, Ranma Saotome. But it is not the boy's fault. It was mine."
Cologne stepped forward. Behind, a group of solemn faced men carried a
litter... on which rested a young woman, face pale, lips, blue.
Ranma winced.
Cologne nodded, "We will be leaving for China as soon as I find Shampoo.
Then, we will trouble you no more."
"What? You're not going to offer Shampoo up with the sudden opening?"
He never saw the cane coming, and then he was on the ground.
"Feh, still fastest ghoul in the east."
"Come, Mousse, I believe the boy may be delirious with pain." Cologne
sighed, offering the Chinese martial artist a hand up. Though, at her
height, it was hardly an improvement.
Ranma leapt up, and smiled. "Before you go, thought you'd might like to see
something." The youth walked over to the stretcher and carefully, gently,
cupped one of her hands in his. "Wakey wakey, before they try burying you
and you find out where I hid the souffl�."
Slowly, surround his being, a golden aura sprang to existence. "Granted,
I've only FELT this attack, but I've got a pretty good mind for this sort of
thing. It's really just like the Mouko Takabisha, except it's based on
absolute and total confidence... in someone else." The golden glow spread
from his hands to Akane, and then encircled her as well.
Ranma's face took on a slightly blueish hue, the new skin that had regrown,
losing its pinkness. Akane on the other-hand, began to flush with color.
"Only thing is, you have to believe in them so much, you'd be willing to die
for em. And that's why you gotta be careful. Man, I don't know WHAT you
Chinese people are thinking when you come up with this crap."
Akane's eye's fluttered, "Ranm-?"
He kissed her before she could finish.
A few hours later
Humph, unbelievable what those pastry shops charged during a crisis. Back in
the old days, they'd have handed them out to an policeman just for doing his
duty. Looking around, he spotted his junior officer, talking to someone in
an alley. Upon closer inspection, he nearly dropped his newly acquired
pastry.
It was the kid... they talked for a bit, then, the young man had hugged the
lieutenant and leapt off. Hiromi looked around, probably acutely aware that
now wasn't the time to be seen with someone responsible for so much
devastation. He waited till the younger man was done and approaching his
car.
"There you are, Hiromi."
The lieutenant spun around, and was greeted by his sempai, who was reaching
into a white paper sack, fumbling around. Hiromi sighed, "And where were
you, old man?"
"Oh, around, around. Don't get your uniform in a bunch. Look, strawberry
buns." Beaming with pride, the older officer handed Hiromi one and began to
nibble on one himself. "I hear the higher-ups are real pleased with the way
you handled things. Not only did you avoid a slaughter, but you actually
arranged for quite a good show in the meantime. Very good PR, that."
"Good, I've got plans with that... PR."
"Really? A man shouldn't make plans, Lieutenant, much better to make a
pension. That's the trouble with you youngster... blah, and these aren't any
good either, certainly not the way they used to make them." Spitting a bit
of strawberry out, the officer settled against a squad car and sat down.
Hiromi smiled. "Taste fine to me." Munching, he watched the various police
officers and rescue workers milling about, cleaning up and helping those
hurt in the whole fiasco. Oh yes, sempai, I have some plans. First I'll need
to talk with this Tendo fellow, then... training.
It was time for the Nerima police department to take a hand in these
matters. Two men wanted to blast away at one another or some pint sized
antagonist wanted to snatch garters... that was all well and good. But NOT
on Hiromi's beat.
"Special Cadet Daisuke reporting. No sign of any further hostilities
forthcoming, SIR!"
Hiromi smiled, "Good work, cadet. And I'll get you those academy forms
tomorrow morning, first thing."
The old man snuffed. "New recruits?"
"Kinda, actually, I'm just going til I can get a uniform. See if it
impresses any of the girls. Nothing else seems to be working." Hiroshi
sighed, joining his friend. "Besides, some of those police chicks are pretty
cute."
"Now, now," Hiromi chided. "It's a man's life in the Nerimaian police force
and those aren't chicks, those are officers of the law."
"Yes sir!"
"Uh, sir, you think it's really all over?" Hiroshi asked, a little nervous.
"I mean, Ryouga's still around and...."
"Don't you worry about that. There's a saying about suicid-"
"More crap from those worthless books."
"Actually, this is one I heard from a very knowledgeable source. You can't
stop someone from dying... until they're ready to live." Hiromi finished.
"No good, doesn't sound profound enough. When I was younger, we had some
profound sayings, let me tell you. Course," the old man paused in mid-spiel.
"We had a higher grade of truth back then."
A few days later...
"You did WHAT to my restaurant?!?"
Weeks later...
Akari carried another bucket of slop and let it's thick, soggy contents
spill and fill the trough. It was getting harder and harder to do this. So
many new aches and pains were making themselves known. Absently, she patted
the rump of the nearest hog and made her way back to the house.
Good lord, pigs are fat, she thought... and suddenly her mood turned from
sweet to sour.
Tossing the bucket aside, she walked into the living room, and picked up a
duster. There was still so much left to do before she could have a nice sit
down. Well, might as well start with the bric-a-brac. Carefully, she began
removing figurines, setting them aside gently. First the cow girl, then the
dancer, then the peasant woman.
Peasant woman? Looking down, she rolled the figure around, trying to
remember. She knew all their stories, why couldn't she remember...
"It was that or another ballerina. But that's the one that made me think of
you." Ryouga shrugged.
Akari looked up, and carefully set the new figurine back in place.
"Ummm, you're father mentioned something about a ba-"
She kissed him before he could finish.
End of Suicide Blast.
The game of life is hard to play, my final card I'll some day lay, and
that's all that I have to say...
Except maybe this... suicide is never painless, it creates it's own "blast"
as friends and relatives scatter for cover, emotions forming shockwaves and
memories making for interesting debris.
Author's Notes: Thanks to Trebane and Ryouga-kun for housing these fics,
thanks to all four or five of my readers for waiting so damn long. Thanks to
Gary Kleppe, Switch, KaraOhki, Fido, K'thardin, WoLF and the various
prereaders that have seen me through all this. Thanks to Kun-chan and my
friends at the Church of Ryouga. Thanks to Karen Johnson and my mother, two
women without whom, I'd have never made it past my 19th birthday. Thank you
dear reader... C&C, MST, FLAMES and such, all appreciated.
The four preceding chapters of Suicide Blast can be found at
http://redrival.com/myrriden/ryouga/keener/index.html
or
http://www.fly.to/ryoga-kun