7 months after the aborted Wedding
Ranma slowly trudged towards the dojo. He was pissed, he was depressed, he was a little scared and a lot desperate. He would have though that after the near wedding things would have settled down. After all it should have been clear that he had made a choice. But the others didn’t agree.
The fathers berated him for not getting rid of the other fiancées. Like it was his fault that they were there. His mother only wanted him to give her grandchildren. Akane had been nice for a little while, and then she became jealous again and sent him into LEO, often. She just never seemed to trust anything he said. Whatever love he had had for her was slowly bled away with each blow. Ukyo had gone out of her way to keep reminding him that she was his ‘cute’ fiancée, even though he ignored her for the most part. He didn’t really expect the Kunos to change. At least one good thing was Cologne canceling the Kiss of Marriage (she admitted the Zoid Battle with Saffron had been very helpful in that decision), not that Shampoo stopped coming on to him. Unfortunately that meant that Moose constantly attacked him to “prove to Shampoo who was better”. The pressure had been building up. Everyone had a breaking point and Ranma was near his.
The only reason he hadn’t blown up was the battle with Saffron. Just the thought of the quadruple charged particle cannons sent shivers down his spine. He had almost lost here. As it was his Lightening Saixs had been in repairs for 6 months. But the truly scary thing was what he felt during the battle.
A thirst for blood.
He wanted to see Saffron bleed. To see him scream as his legs were ripped off… The feelings were so alien to him, so primal. After he had come back to Japan he had looked into every meditation technique to control that primal thirst.
That control was slipping.
He needs to get away. He needs to get a hold of these feelings. With that in mind he walked into the dojo. So preoccupied was he, that he did not notice the golf club swinging towards his head.
Ranma slowly opened his eyes. And looked into the face of a bold priest. Little details started to filter in like, Akane in a white dress next to him. The Priest mumbling something. A fight in the background.
“Whas goin’ on?” He was a little confused.
Before anyone could answer he was hit in the back with something, and flew into the wall. Shaking the dizziness and the stars out of his eyes he looked around….. and groaned. It was the first attempted wedding all over again. At least this time Shampoo and Ukyo weren’t using bombs. As he watched the dust cloud of participants his anger boiled to the surface. They were doing it again. They were trying to dictate his life without caring about what he wanted. He fought to keep his rage under control.
Just then Tatewaki Kuno did the worst thing he could. He charged Ranma with his boken. “Insolent cur. For this second attempt in enslaving Akane, feel the heavenly wrath of the Iron Swordsman.” Ranma’s rage snapped and flowed through his body like a cold flame. Kuno slashed downwards at a target that did something unexpected. Ranma caught the wooden sword his hands, side stepped, twisted the blade and effortlessly disarmed Kuno. Then he sent the boken where no boken should ever go.
Kuno's scream got everyone’s attention. The sight of Kuno with the boken sunk deep into his backside caused people to freeze in horror. “Be careful of splinters sempai,” Ranma spat.
“Ranma,” Akane shrieked.
Ranma ignored her and looked at the former combatants calmly. “Who’s next,” he whispered that was heard through out hte dojo, his eyes emotionless. Ryouga, for once a non-participant thanks to Akari standing beside him, gaped. Ukyo, Shampoo, Moose and Kodachi flinched back in fear. This was a Ranma that they had never seen. His eyes burned with a hate colder than the artic wind. And worse they knew he would not hesitate to kill them. They slowly started to back away towards the door.
“Get lost,” was the next whisper. The group broke and ran.
Soun snapped out of his daze as Ranma strode towards the door. “Excellent Son,” he proclaimed happily. “Now we can get on with the wedding!”
“Indeed Tendo! I knew my son would make the right choice eventually.” Genma slapped his friend's back.
“No.” Again it was a whisper.
“Now see here Ranma….”
“Boy you will do…”
“No.”
“RANMA!! YOU WILL…” Soun’s demon head floated over Ranma.
“INSOLENT BOY…” Genma reached out for his son’s shirt.
They were met with Ranma’s version of a demon head. A huge lion like head, with flaming red eyes, a flowing mane of black and sharp teeth the length of a forearm.
“I. SAID. I. AM. NOT. MARRYING. HER.”
Soun and Genma soiled their pants and passed out.
As Ranma turned to walk away, he heard a soft voice. “Why Ranma? I though we could be happy together,” Akane voice trembled. “I though you love…”
“Used to love, Akane.” Ranma slowly turned to look at her with sad eyes. “You managed to beat it out of me.”
“I’m sorry Ranma,” Akane said close to tears. “Please … I .. I love you.”
Ranma looked at her for a moment and briefly something glowed in his eyes. Then it was gone. “I’m sorry Akane. An old woman I knew long ago said, “Marriage needs more than love. It needs trust and faith”. It is too late for us. You have no trust in me and I've lost my faith in you. I’m sorry for disrupting your life.” With that he turned to leave again.
“Ranma. There is still the matter of family honor involved. And that dictates that you marry Akane,” said Nodoka, frowning slightly, clutching her wrapped Katana.
Ranma glance at her briefly. “Please, what family honor….”
“Ranma! That is enough. As your mother I command….”
Ranma snorted. “Like you ever were my mother.”
“Wha… wha what? Of course I’m your moth…”
“Well you never acted like any mother I’ve ever met,” Ranma yelled. “All you wanted was grandchildren. Not me.”
“That’s not true..”
“You didn’t care about how I felt. Didn’t care what happened to me as long as you got grandchildren!!” Ranma’s eyes glistened with unshed tears. “YOU NEVER CARED!!!”
“No Ranma listen to me…,” Nodoka said desperately.
“For all I know you could just be a whore Genma hired to impersonate my mother!!” There was a collective gasp at that. Nodoka fell back as if struck, too shocked to do anything.
Ranma paused at the doorway. “Tell the fat fool that he has no son. I am now Ranma. Also tell him that Windbreaker is registered to me now.” Without another word he was gone.
“F@$*ing hell…”
“You said it Kasumi.”
An hour later, outside the city, a silver and dark blue Lighting Saixs looped off to the east.
3 and a half years later
Ranma ran the required diagnostics tests quickly. He had learnt his lesson. He still shuddered when he remembered the time he forgotten to do so. Windbreaker had collapsed at a crucial point in the battle, which had resulted in his team’s defeat. And they had been so close to breaking out of class-C too. With Windbreaker out of commission for 3 months, it had been a struggle to stay where they were and not sink in the ranks.
His Lightening Saixs, growled and he could almost sense its impatience. Sometimes he really believed Zoids were alive.
“Hmmm what this? Did Keiichi add a few new weapons,” he mumbles as he looked at the display.
Weapons Available:
1. Strike Laser Claws
2. Electrical Particle Blades
3. Twin 20mm Blaster Cannon
“Well... Electrical Particle Blades.. Wonder where he got them? Then again knowing Kaetaro he probably built them somehow,” Ranma chuckled. Mechanics like Keiichi Morisato were far and few.
Once all systems were green Ranma leaned back waiting for their arrival at the battle zone. He wondered about the old crowd. In a strange way he missed them. They say you never know what you have until you lose it. And he lost a lot. It was too late to do anything about it now. Besides he liked it out here in the Badlands. Here no one care about your past, weather you have a last name or not, only the Zoid battles matter.
Out here he was free.
“We’re there. Good luck guys,” came Keiichi’s voice over the net. The cargo bay door started to open. Ranma smirked as he moved Windbreaker behind a Shadow Fox. This was it. This was what he lived for.
It was time to battle.
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(Posted Fri, 23 Apr 2004 12:30)
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