"A piece of advice," said the cloaked man. "When you get into a fight, don't try to do the less possible harm to your opponents; you must take them out for good. People can underestimate you for your looks, but if you let them realize their mistake, they'll be very dangerous."
"Thanks for your advice, but I don't think..." Ranma started to say, but the cloaked figure turned and walked away without hearing her reply. She considered for a moment following him, but she decided against it. If he wanted to be alone, it would be rude to press him. Still, she couldn't stop wondering about that strange man on her way home.
****
The next day, at work, she overheard something that attracted her attention.
"Well, At least SOMEONE is doing something about the criminals," one of her coworkers had said aloud while reading the newspaper. "Sad that he is such a loonie. I mean, what kind of sicko goes over the streets dressed in a silly bat costume?"
Ranma stopped in her tracks, and turned towards him. "Excuse me, Reuben-san. What were you saying about a bat costume?"
"Ah, you don't know it yet? A couple of weeks ago, known criminals started to turn in battered on the streets. When the police arrested them, they all described a man in a scary bat costume. Heh, the press had even nicked him 'Batman'. Er... are you alright, miss?"
Ranma had paled at his coworker's statement, as that detail had caused her to realize what had been going on. "I'm- I just need to use the bathroom, Reuben-san. If you can excuse me..." With that, she turned away and almost fleed to the bathroom; the shock of the news hindering her self control.
"Heh, those foreigners can't stand a little of violence..."
****
At the bathroom, Ranma tried to calm herself, but she was finding it very hard. There were no doubt about the identity of this 'Batman'. Wayne's wound in the night she had seen the bat spirit, his mood... everything clicked into place. And she was scared spitless not for herself, but for Bruce Wayne.
He had helped her when she had needed it; convincing her that she could create a bright future for herself if she wanted to... but now she had seen that Bruce had been defeated by his inner demons, and had chosen a dark path for himself.
In other circumstances, she would have respected his decision. After all, it was his path to follow, but since a spirit was involved... she wasn't sure.
She had learned the hard way that spirits did what they wished without minding how they ruined the lives of others. A spirit had messed her entire self, to a point that she sometimes wondered if the original Ranma Saotome was dead. She couldn't allow a spirit to do the same to his friend!
Now the question was... how? She didn't know anything about that bat spirit yet. Perhaps even Bruce wasn't aware about what he were doing; she had heard about posessions, so she couldn't talk him about it yet. Perhaps...
(Posted Mon, 10 Jan 2005 18:34)
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