[Episode 146739] [Episode 146739]She woke up with a cry of anguish, gasping for breath and her body tense, trying desperately to get away from the fire. That devouring fire that seemed to consume all and...
Ukyo blinked her eyes as the pain was suddenly gone, as were the flames that tortured her so. What she saw both relieved and struck her painfully.
She was in her closet, keeping watch of her room for any attacks, and must've fallen asleep sometime during the night.
As sleep left her, and the dream she just had entered her conscious mind, the chef stood up and rushed to her bathroom to retch violently. There on all fours, violently sick, Ukyo felt despair claim her. This was the worse nightmare by far since Ranma reappeared and it was taking a toll on her. She had lost a lot of weight and now had permanent bags under her eyes, the result of many sleepless nights and eating barely enough to stay alive.
Ukyo coughed the last of the vile from her mouth and sat back, leaning heavily against the cold tile of the wall, as silent tears of hatred escaped her eyes. Why couldn't that bastard stay dead and leave her alone? The world was a better place without Saotome Ranma and his betrayals, worse than even Genma's own, and yet he had to return. "You just have to make things difficult, Ranchan," she growled to herself and clenched a fist in front of her face.
Seeing that fist, however, reminded her of how she helped bring him down. Through deceit and betrayal, things he unknowingly excelled at.
Ukyo dropped her arm and hugged her legs, resting her forehead on her knees. Now... Now Ranma would be ready for them, strike when they least expected it as he did with Tofu. And she was powerless against the might of the greatest martial artist she knew of.
Just like in her nightmare, Ranma would beat down her defenses with little effort and then he would destroy her.
She didn't know when it started, neither did she care, but Ukyo sobbed for close to an hour in utter helplessness. Even running to hide would do no good. He somehow managed to find Nabiki in jail, even if Nabiki had nothing to do with his murder, and sprung Kodachi out of that damn asylum, a place Kuno kept secret from everyone
No. All she could do was wait and hope Ranma would be overconfident, as usual, so she could strike a killing blow again.
Standing up on shaky legs Ukyo went to the sink and washed her face. She looked up and grimaced upon seeing her own face reflected back at her. She certainly had seen better days.
It was then she saw something on the mirror that made her already pale complexion to pale even further. She turned very slowly, almost afraid to confirm what her eyes told her, and to her horror found that she wasn't seeing things.
There...
On the wall...
The same indentation she made with her battle spatula during the dream when she thought Ranma was behind her. "No..." A broken whisper escaped her lips as she rushed for the closet, where she left her weapon.
"A rather clumsy tool," Kodachi's haughty voice was heard as the Black Rose emerged from the closet, seemingly appearing out of the shadows, holding the chef's weapon of choice.
Before Ukyo could say a word the doll on her bed sat up, only to reveal it wasn't her doll at all. "And a gymnastics ribbon isn't?" Mara asked with a raised eyebrow and turned to regard Ukyo, who was already rushing out of the room.
The chef nearly stumbled when she saw the bloody handprints on the hall, handprints that were her own, and jumped down the stairs. She was going to break out through one of the windows, to avoid Ranma.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, however, she realized there would be no escaping for her. Sitting on one of the booths was Saotome Ranma. "I'll have a special, Uchan," he said. His voice was not the same one she remembered, though. It was a cold and menacing tone of voice that he used.
"Surely my cooking is better than this harridan's, Ranma-sama," Kodachi's voice was heard from behind and Ukyo turned to see both her and Mara already down the stairs, unlike in her dream when they stepped down agonizingly slow.
When the chef made a break for one of the windows Mara snapped her fingers. "We'll be having none of that, girl." The floorboards parted once again, hellfire erupting from the hole.
Ukyo backpedaled frantically upon seeing the flames, their devouring hunger all too vivid a memory for the chef to try a repeat performance.
With her venue of escape cut off Ranma finally stood up and walked slowly towards his former friend. Ukyo tried a very skillful attack to Ranma's throat when he was close enough. She might as well have remained still for all the good it did to her. Faster than she could see Ranma batted her feeble attack away and kicked her in the gut. The chef found herself puking her guts out once again, this time with a mixture of blood, as she coughed violently. She didn't even realize when she curled up in a fetal position, but when she looked up Ranma was staring dispassionately at her.
Ranma had never been a large man. He was rather short and lean, in fact, but in Ukyo's eyes his looming figure over her was huge.
The pigtailed demon reined in his anger as Ukyo recovered her breathing. "Why, Ukyo?"
The heaving woman didn't have to be a genius to know what he was referring to. "You can't figure it out?" She asked in contempt.
Ranma's eyes narrowed dangerously, making her fidget in place. Those usually beautiful blue eyes were so cold right now, like twin chips of ice. "Who helped you?" He was quickly losing his patience again, wanting nothing more than to rip her apart, but he first needed to know who to go after next.
"Go to hell!" Ukyo spat, knowing she was dead anyway. Strangely enough that only made her bitter and angry, emotions that clouded her fear.
Ranma's eyes burned, but before he could do anything Mara interjected. "Then let Kodachi have her fun, Ranma," the demoness said as she sat down and crossed her legs, making herself comfortable for what would be quite the show. She only wished she could have a drink to fully enjoy it.
Ukyo felt her resolve weaken upon seeing the look of anticipation and glee on Kuno Kodachi's eyes. It didn't help that she was leering at the chef like only insane murderers could.
"Wait!" Ukyo cried desperately as Ranma retreated and Kodachi advanced, taking out her ribbon. "It was Nodoka! It was all her idea!"
Ranma shook his head just as Kodachi lashed out. Did Ukyo think he was that stupid. He went to the kitchen to prepare himself something to eat. As Ukyo's screams of pain filled the restaurant the pigtailed demon debated between adding fish or pork to his okonomiyaki.
Mara, on the other hand, continued to marvel at the sheer potential Kodachi had for Nifelheim. True, Ranma was far stronger and more skilled, but his wife was a hundred times more vicious and evil.
...
... Was that a nipple that flew past her just now?
Oh yes, such delicious potential!
Five minutes later Ranma walked back to his wife's side, still licking his fingers, and studied Kodachi's work. He had to admit, grudgingly, that she was better at inflicting pain than he could ever hope to be. Ukyo's bloodied body was barely recognizable, yet the chef was still alive and conscious. Her throat had just failed her with all that screaming.
The pigtailed demon crouched next to Ukyo and whispered softly to her. "We can keep the game up as long as you want, Ukyo. Now who killed my mother and then convinced you to kill me?"
Ukyo's eyes widened at that. He knew?!
That was all the reaction Ranma needed out of her. "Who was it? Tell me or we'll torture you for eternity." He didn't say, however, that she would be tortured for eternity anyway. A fact Mara applauded to herself, it seemed like she was finally rubbing off on her husband.
Wait a minute... Did she just think of Ranma as her husband?!! "I think I'm going to be sick..." she muttered to herself.
Ranma and Kodachi ignored their spouse and kept their attention focused on Ukyo who, in her final show of defiance, spat blood in Ranma's face and reached for her bandolier.
The pigtailed demon barely had time to dodge out of the way of the throwing spatula, out of reflex mostly, as did Kodachi. They were about to kill the chef when a sudden hissing sound caught their attention and both turned to see the now damaged gas pipe.
---
On a roof a couple of blocks away Urd sat in boredom in a very comfy couch, stargazing and wondering how much longer it would take to have that girl killed. She didn't like the thought of what the demons were doing, but she had no say in the matter. It was part of Ranma's contract. She was just here to make sure they didn't hurt any innocents this time around.
How hard could that be?
...
.......
Just then two entire blocks blew up, answering her silent question. The last conscious thought she had before the explosion reached her was that she was going to get hell from both Hild and Kami-sama for this.
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(Posted Mon, 15 Aug 2005 03:08)
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