Ranma was torn.
He didn't really want to have anything to do with the game - half because he thought a matchmaking game would be hopelessly girly, half because he knew he was really, really bad at card games and didn't want to waste time on it. On the other hand, the prospect of just going back inside and putting the cards in storage somewhere didn't sit right either. He felt kinda silly, standing alone in the middle of the yard while staring at a deck of playing cards he wasn't going to play with, and was still shaken from having omnipotence given and taken so soon
He was about to put Akane back in the deck while he figured out what to do when a familiar shout stayed his hand.
"Ranma! Don't you dare put me back in that deck!"
Ranma looked at Akane's card again, and saw that the art had changed. Before, she had a smile that Ranma would almost call cute. Now, she was pouting and fuming angrily. She wasn't moving, though.
"Akane! Can you hear me? Are you all right?"
No response.
This terrified Ranma. At first, he assumed there was a way to undo this. When he heard Akane's voice, he thought this was confirmed - if she could still speak, her soul was still there, and so were the souls of the others, right? The whole episode would be just another wacky adventure they'd go through and come out of. But when the card failed to respond, he panicked and dropped the card, thinking that the voice was just his mind playing tricks on him. Were they really gone?
"Ranma! Pick me up, and be more careful!" ordered the card that landed face-down on the grass below.
Ranma obeyed, dumbfounded. He was too tired to come up with theories on what was going on, which was a shame because his first guess would probably have been correct. I bet you've guessed it, too. If so, it will come as no surprise that Akane's picture had changed again, but was still static. She was still clearly annoyed, but also scared and confused. Instead of putting the card back in the deck, Ranma absentmindedly put the card in his pocket and started to walk inside.
"Okay, this works. I think I've got it figured out now. We can't move or talk when we're being looked at, or in the deck," said a muffled Akane. "Ranma, I want you to take me out of your pocket, and hold my card face-down in your hand to test this."
Ranma continued to walk inside to a comfortable table to sit down.
"Ranma... why aren't you doing it? Do it! Do it!"
"Geez, relax, I was just going inside," said Ranma. He picked out Akane's card and put it face-down on the table.
(Posted Fri, 19 Jan 2007 05:08)
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