[Ranma/AMS] "Under The Hammer" (3/3) By Henry J. Cobb $Id: under_the_hammer_out3.txt,v 1.5 1996/12/28 13:45:16 hcobb Exp $ The Ranma 1/2 characters are the creation of Rumiko Takahashi. The AMS characters are the creation of Kosuke Fujishima. No infringement of their copyrights is intended. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- So Far: Ranma has paid the ultimate penalty for failure to appreciate Akane's cooking. Nabiki got Akane to pin the rap on Ryoga, for fear that she couldn't survive imprisonment. The Saotomes have followed their son, by their own hands. Akane is subject to berserk spasms where she attacks people using her Ki attacks, but hasn't killed anybody except Ranma, so far. P-chan has prevented Akane's suicide, but keeps a constant watch on her. Ranma has returned to "stay forever" with college sophomore Akane, by her wish. Akane's temper has gotten her thrown out of the sorority, and they now live at a temple. They have been visited by Keiichi Morisato, mourning his lost love. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "We will never say goodbye. When I go, this I know, we'll be together." -Helen Reddy "Nooooo...!" The cry cut through Akane sharper than any knife or banshee's wail. It was the scream of a woman who had lost her beloved forever. She knew it well. Was that my scream?, She thought, did I have the nightmare again tonight? Akane rolled over on her futon to face the door, as she heard footsteps running down the hall of the temple. It's Ranma, she thought, he's coming to hold me again and make it all better. Her door slid aside and a young woman in a nightrobe was outlined in the doorway. Her tear filled eyes switched from grief to rage as they focused on Akane. She brought her long-handled hammer down with a crash like thunder, on the spot where Akane's head had rested a moment before. Akane continued her roll and sprang to her feet, narrowly dodging another swing. P-chan leapt to attack the intruder's ankle, but she kicked him against the wall. She seemed to consider for a split second, then pulled back her hammer for a full swing against the pig. "Die pest!" "P-chan!" Akane yelled, as she dove to snatch him out of the way, right into the path of the swing. The hammer flew over Akane and crashed into the far wall. Akane looked up and saw that Ranma had pinned the strange woman's arms. No, he had his arms around her. "Stop it!" Ranma turned the woman to face him. "Now, what's the problem darling?" That last word hurt Akane more than any blow could, he had never called her that. The strange woman sobbed into Ranma's chest. "I had another dream Ranma. I saw -- if you stay with her, you'll be destroyed." As he lead the new arrival out of Akane's room, Ranma asked. "Akane, could you make some tea please?" They all gathered around the living room table. Ranma with his arm around that other woman. Akane and P-chan across from them. "Akane Tendo," Ranma announced, "this is my fiancee, Skuld, goddess of the future." "I'm you fiancee." Akane protested, but Skuld's glare cut her off. Now that she had more time to study Skuld, Akane saw that she wore a nightgown and fuzzy slippers under her nightrobe. She had long black hair that fell in disarray to her slender waist. Her almond eyes were highlighted by curious markings on her cheeks and forehead. She was a little shorter than Akane, with a trim athletic build, and she seemed to be about seventeen. Akane had to admit to herself that Skuld was clearly, undeniably, cute. Ranma broke into the silence. "Now Honeybunch, tell us what you saw." Skuld gazed down into her cup, she seemed to find what she was looking for there. "I had another of the special dreams. They keep getting easier for me. I asked it to take me to you, but all it showed me was her." She pointed an accusing finger at Akane. "Somehow she will destroy you utterly!" Skuld went back to soaking Ranma's nightshirt with her tears. Akane had had about enough of this. "Surely, you don't believe any of this? After all, it's only a dream." "Skuld's dreams are very special." Ranma assisted Skuld to her feet. "Let's sleep it off then work it out in the morning." As Ranma lead Skuld off with him, Akane protested. "Hey!" Skuld, looked up at Ranma, with a sly grin. "Can I trust you to behave yourself?" "Skuld has her own room here." Ranma looked at the two women. "I can get it ready in just a few minutes." Ranma turned to Skuld. "Then darling, you can try the dream again. And this time hold onto it, while I jump in to help you track it." Looking back at Akane, Ranma noticed the hurt in her eyes. "This is important stuff! Look, I swear to both of you, on my honor as a deity and a martial artist that I will not be doing the dirty with anybody on Heaven or Earth before I am married. Geeze, get your minds out of the gutter." Ranma shifted forms and Skuld removed her arms from her now female fiancee, but onna-Ranma kept an arm around the shoulders of the goddess. "And besides, Skuld isn't that kind of girl." The rest of the night passed without further incident. In the morning an impromptu demonstration was arranged in the temple yard. Ranma and Skuld faced each other in gis, she was holding her hammer. He attacked her with his full tenshin amaguriken speed. Skuld moved with only a fraction of Ranma's speed, but she always had a block or counterattack in place to hold him off. Most oddly of all, she didn't look at him, but rather her eyes followed ghosts Akane could not see. After several minutes they stopped. Neither had landed a blow on the other. Akane was impressed, few could withstand Ranma's attacks. "She reads your moves, like you read mine?" "Sort of, but I read your moves as you start to make them. Skuld's precognition lets her see the moves I might make. It's something she's just started to pick up, and she's still working on it." Ranma sat down next to the goddess and put his arms around her. "Sure, it's not as flashy as some of the others. But, it's a unique, practical talent. You're going get that class-one licence honey. I believe in you." Akane couldn't bear to look at Skuld's beaming face. This exactly the sort of support and encouragement that Ranma had never offered her. "Come on, let's get washed up." Ranma helped Skuld to her feet. "Then we'll talk this over at breakfast." Akane was tormented. "Ranma, you promised." "OK." He shifted, onna-Ranma tightened her belt. "No problem with two girls sharing a bath?" Skuld's flinch was a tiny, petty, guilty victory for Akane. At breakfast, Skuld's nauseated scowl was instantly replaced by eager appreciation of the repast Akane had prepared as Ranma looked up from his contemplation. "So Honey, what else did you see in your dream?" "Only that you would be gone soon," Skuld gave Akane a look usually reserved for poisonous vermin, about to be crushed under one's shoe. "And that she will be somehow responsible." "But, you didn't see the actual event, or the extent of Akane's involvement?" Skuld settled back on her knees. "No, I didn't. My concern for you drove me from my dreams." "You're so close Darling, if only you could foresee the sequence of events in enough detail to prevent the act... It would prove that your vision isn't just some parlor trick. You'd get that class-one licence for sure! Now, where does it happen?" Skuld closed her eyes and concentrated for a moment. "In or near this temple, I think." "Then this is the place to follow the trail." Skuld setup a skrying pool in a bowl in her room and set down to meditate. "How does she do that?" Akane asked Ranma, as they cleared away the dishes from breakfast. "In general, it's the same thing as your hammer." Ranma answered. "She concentrates her Ki energies to achieve an effect. Her power is very mysterious, and we don't know the exact details yet. She could possibly be ``talking'' with herself in the future." As Ranma and Akane returned to the living room, they suddenly noticed that they were being watched from the door. "Neat trick Ranma." Nabiki walked in and placed her hand on his shoulder. "When the girls from Akane's sorority said that she had been visited by our cousin Ranko, I'd thought she'd finally flipped, until they described you. Death hasn't cured you? Such a pity." Ranma moved Nabiki's hand to his chest, shifted forms then back. "In a way it has, but that doesn't really matter much any more." "Same old Ranma." Nabiki noted. "You two seem to be getting along well, considering... Should I tell father that the un-engagement is back on?" "Um" Akane started. "Please don't bother." Ranma cut in. "I've found somebody else, my involvement here is purely professional." Akane wished he hadn't said that so flatly. "And who is this goddess that's so much better than my sister?" "Um, well..." Akane searched for the right way to explain everything. "I see that this will take a bit. Ranma, may I speak with Akane alone?" "As you wish, Nabiki Tendo." Ranma bowed to the two sisters. "I have some paperwork to attend to, back at the office." Stepping outside, Ranma caught a sunbeam and vanished. "A mirror clone?" Nabiki ventured. "No, they don't shift forms." Akane replied. "You dunked Ryoga in the spring of drowned Ranma?" "There is no Ranmaniichuan. If there was, it would give only one of his/her forms and only when mixed with water, and I haven't seen Ryoga since that incident four years ago." "The way he vanishes... Maybe he's only as solid and real as your hammer?" Akane's eyes flew wide. "Am I that crazy? Am I so far gone that my hallucinations are wandering around on their own?" "Relax sis." Nabiki hugged Akane. "I'm sure that if you dreamed up a Ranma, it would be one that loved or beat you. Probably both. You simply don't have the heart to come up with one that's moved on." "I can always count on you to see the bright side of things. Did you drive here in your car?" "But of course." "If you've got a few hours, I need to do some shopping. We've got some unexpected company." "And who, if I might ask?" "Ranma's goddess, and no, she doesn't have a pigtail." "Speaking of that, how much do you think Kuno would pay for the information that Ranma is somehow alive?" "Which one? Tatewaki, Ukyou or Kodachi? I'd let this one be, sis. Let's go and I'll fill you in on the details." Akane felt alone, hugging P-chan to her, as Ranma and Skuld talked over dinner. "I keep getting so close. I almost see it and then it slips away." "Perhaps you're working against yourself darling." "What?" "When you see something, and you don't like the way it's heading, it convinces you to do something about it. Your conviction carries forwards into potential actions that wipe out the exact patterns you've been following, but don't remove the fundamental difficulty. Everytime your vision clears it causes you to shift it again." "Maybe. I don't know, but I know where to start. I'll go consult with Yggdrasil." After she left, Ranma and Akane talked. "You'll like Skuld when you get to know her better Akane, she's really a very sweet girl." "Except that she's a violent maniac." "Why does that remind me of somebody? She really is a lot like you. I think that's what attracted me to her in the first place." "Oh and what happened?" "I got to know her better." Ranma grinned and turned away. Three nights later, Akane couldn't sleep. She picked up P-chan and headed for the kitchen. She heard voices as she approached the front door. She crept closer, until she could make out what Ranma was saying. "I won't fall prey to the madness that consumed your sister. I cannot reverse the fact of my own death. I will never be a father, until I'm recycled. Spirits and mortals simply don't mix. What Akane needs is someone who loves her and can stay with her to be her husband and the father of her children. I have a candidate, but he must remain hidden for now. You and I will have forever darling. Why begrudge her a few months to get better?" Akane clutched P-chan tightly. How can he talk about me like that? Like some sort of pet. "But, she'll destroy you!" Skuld replied. "And you can't say how. Maybe you're too close to this one. Perhaps it's best to call off the engagement, while you pursue some other subject for your thesis? Something that doesn't hurt as much. How about hurricane path prediction? You've been making such progress in that area." "I couldn't stand to think that something had happened to you and I wasn't there to stop it." "Then it's your choice and your responsibility." The sounds of Skuld's sobs were muffled in Ranma's chest. Akane crept back to her room. The next morning neither Ranma or Akane talked about the visit. The training with Ranma continued and Akane's sleep became less troubled. A sharp pain. Akane groggily worked it out. There are pig teeth on my finger. P-chan is biting me, but why? Then she heard the sound of her door being carefully slid open. Akane threw her blankets at the door and rolled to the other side. "Ranma!" Skuld deflected the blanket with her hammer, then dodged into the room while blocking Ranma's punch. Ranma started to circle her. "Akane, I smell death-magic on her. Don't let her touch you." Akane backed away from the combatants, but they were at her door, leaving her no place to run. P-chan started circling Skuld, on the opposite side from Ranma. Skuld glanced over her shoulder at P-chan, then snapped back to Ranma. "There's something about that pig. You're planning something?" Ranma continued to probe at her defenses. "Oh, what? Now!" Ranma lunged forward. P-chan closed his eyes and concentrated, then rose as Ryouga. Skuld rolled out the way of Ryouga's punch, clearing the way to the door. Off balance, Skuld gave ground against Ranma's tenshin amaguriken attack. "Ryouga, take Akane and get lost!" Ranma shouted, not looking away from Skuld. "Skuld can't predict your random walk." "On our way." Ryouga took Akane's hand and pulled her from the room. "Ryouga?" Akane couldn't believe it. Ryouga paused at the door long enough to toss Akane her jacket and pull one of Ranma's cloaks over his nakedness. Then he hit the burglar alarm activation switch before dragging Akane out into the night. Several blocks later, Ryouga stopped by the side of a building. "Ryouga, why did you do it?" Akane whispered. "Why did you stay with me all these years? You told me to frame you. Why don't you hate me?" "I could never hate you Akane." Ryouga whispered back. "I love you. Before I lose my courage again --- If we survive this, will you marry me?" "I, I don't know." Akane replied. Ryouga seemed crushed, but then he set his jaw in determination as he took Akane's hand and started around the corner. A hammer smashed into the side of his head, throwing him back. "Ryouga!" Akane leapt forwards after him and took a ringing blow to the forehead. She fell on her back, stunned. Skuld pulled out a small black dagger and threw it at Akane, with a grin of triumph on her lips. Then turned her head and got it kicked back around with a snap. The dagger stuck in Akane's gut with a sharp pain that turned into a spreading chill and silence. She watched Ranma step through the glowing, fading sparks that Skuld had turned into. "Akane!" He shouted. His face was the last thing she saw, as the world dropped away. Akane blinked painfully at the light. {{Good to see that you're awake.}} "Ranma?" Akane rasped out. {{Don't bother talking, just think it.}} <> {{Yes.}} <> {{I'm stuck in your mind Akane. Sorry about this.}} <> {{Skuld used death magic on you. It severed your soul. I dove inside to patch you up, and I managed to weave your body and soul back together, but I'm tangled up inside.}} <> {{I think that the authorities have him, in the man-form.}} <> {{Assuming he survived, yes.}} <> {{Yes, last I saw.}} <> {{The Jusenkyou curses are a form of Ki, like your hammer. That's why we each got the curse that matched us. I've been teaching Ryouga how to control his transformation.}} <> {{When you're feeling a little better, I'll need your help to exorcise myself. I can't pull out in one piece, you're in the way.}} <> {{Don't worry, souls are never destroyed. I'll get reincarnated somewhere.}} <> {{As you wish.}} <> {{A full confession would free him, but it probably wouldn't get him what he wants.}} <> {{In a few days you'll be well enough to stand, on your way to a complete recovery. When you do, catch a sunbeam and I'll contact a friend of mine. He's the defense lawyer who's been practicing for the last case. This mess will be a breeze for him.}} Henry J. Cobb hcobb@slip.net http://www.io.com/~hcobb