Disclaimer: Neither Gideon020 nor I own Ranma ½ or any related characters in any way, shape or form. The Realm of Dark Skies, and all attendant characters/concepts, is our mutual creation and thus legally ours. Note: set late 6th season of the anime, like all my works.
Author's Notes: I can't say I wasn't really expecting it, but I have to admit that the low number of reviews is a disappointment. Ah well. That was just the prologue; maybe as this story progresses… Anyway, from this chapter on, expect frequent gore/violence and occasional bouts of swearing. Oh, and by the way; all of the writing/numbers is actually in some arcane language that shifts to become the native language of whoever sees it.
Chapter 1: Welcome to Your Nightmare
Ranma groaned softly, it felt like every bone in his body was aching, and opened his eyes. Well, he tried to; a sudden flash of light lanced into his vulnerable orbs and sent a lance of pain ricocheting around his skull. Ranma instantly shut his eyes and clamped a hand over them, shielding them from the harsh brightness. After waiting a few seconds for the pain to clear, he deduced that he was lying down, and tried to get up. Unfortunately, it turned out he was lying on a rather narrow bed rather than his normal futon, which meant that he fell off of it when he tried to move, knocking over something that clattered onto the floor in the process. Ranma pushed himself off the floor with his hands and shook his head, taking this as opportunity to open his eyes and let them grow accustomed to the light in comparative shelter. For some reason, he felt strange… weak. Almost… drained. Finally, he stood up and surveyed where he found himself, stumbling slightly as he did so.
The sight was far from comforting, and very close to disconcerting. It looked like it had originally been some manner of hospital room, but it had quite clearly been torn apart. The bed upon which he had just been lying was soaked through with blood and other, less identifiable fluids, which prompted a grimace of disgust from Ranma. The walls were smeared with gore and covered with deep gashes, craters and holes, and there were several smashed pieces of machinery and equipment scattered about the place. Half the lights in the ceiling had evidently either burned out or been smashed, while the other half occasionally flickered on and off. Out of the corner of his eye, Ranma noticed some light was drifting through the window blinds (which were badly broken), and he walked over and opened them in order to find out exactly where he was. The blinds broke off and collapsed at Ranma's feet as he opened them, but Ranma didn't notice- he was too busy staring at what lay beyond the window.
The city that lay before him was unfamiliar, and would have been even if it hadn't been a warzone. Buildings existed in varying states of damage, from relatively intact (albeit with massive chunks blown out of them, presumably by explosives) to collapsed into mounds of rubble. Dozens of fires burned fiercely, evidently fuelled by oil and gas deposits, sending great clouds of smoke billowing into a sky already thick with black storm clouds. Eventually, the city gave way to a thick, almost primordial-looking forest, which stretched all the way up to a great mountain that loomed on the horizon. Ranma thought he could just barely make out the presence of some sort of facility built into the very mountain, but distance, the forest, the buildings and the smoke conspired together to prevent him from ascertaining. He shook his head and stepped back away from the window.
"What the hell happened to me? Where the hell am I? How did I end up in the middle of a warzone?" Ranma's voice echoed around the room, a small hint of confusion and desperation creeping into his words. Ranma recognized that and quickly bit off what he was about to say next, shaking his head with a mental admonishment to get a grip. He was Ranma Saotome; the abnormal was normal for him, the weird was mundane, the strange was boring. How could he call himself a practitioner of Saotome Anything-Goes Martial Arts if he let something unexpected get the advantage of him? Firmly in control of himself again, Ranma spoke, hoping to concrete his mental state.
"Okay, the first thing to do is to get out of here."
He quickly spotted the door, and walked over to it. Unfortunately, while there wasn't a lock, there wasn't anything even remotely resembling a door handle. Ranma tried pushing on it, but it was locked fast. Ranma eyed the door speculatively, and then took several long strides back before charging towards the door as hard and fast as he could. He angled his body so that the full force was concentrated in his shoulderblade, delivering an impact that could have felled a charging Ryoga. Instead of smashing his way to freedom, Ranma practically ricocheted off the surface with a howl of equal parts shock and pain- it felt like he'd almost fractured his shoulderblade! Gasping in shock, he rubbed the sore appendage in an attempt to sooth it before throwing a glare of equal parts hatred and surprise at the undented door.
"To open door, please enter access code."
Ranma started at that sudden burst of sound, before calming down as he figured that the blank, faintly feminine voice must have been some sort of automated process. Curious, he examined the side of the door to confirm that there was indeed a small pad beside it. As well as numbered buttons, ranging from zero to nine, there was also four large buttons above the numbered ones, each of which was engraved with an animal image. Ranma recognised a wolf, an eagle, a snake and –he shuddered instinctively– a cat. Ranma admitted he wasn't much of an expert with technology, but even he knew that there was little chance of him simply punching the right code in by accident. Even given how twisted his luck was. Instead, he started searching through the debris in search of a card or a note or something that might give him some clue as to how to get out of here.
"Nothing! Not a blasted thing! Now how the hell am I supposed to get out of he-AAARGH!"
Ranma screamed unwillingly as his eyes suddenly seemed to explode in white-hot, burning agony. He clapped his hands over them instinctively, the pain almost driving him to his knees before it vanished as suddenly and mysteriously as it occurred. He cautiously removed his hands and slowly opened his eyes, wondering for a split second if he did so if his vision had somehow been affected.
Through his eyes, the world was covered with mist; clouds of vapour and light in all colours and sizes floated and drifted gently, with what he considered the "real world" seemingly underlaid beneath them. Ranma's eyes fell upon the door, and to his astonishment he saw what looked like writing imprinted on the door's surface. He walked over to get a closer look, unconsciously memorising what he saw, and unthinkingly reached out a hand to touch the reddish-purple letters. His fingers were perhaps an inch away when the mists suddenly cleared from his eyes and they vanished. Ranma blinked in confusion, and then turned his attention to the keypad. It was a long shot, but it was worth a try.
Cat-745…
Wolf-908…
Eagle-176…
Snake-754…
"Access granted." Chimed the voice, and the door slid open with a soft hiss of hydraulics. Ranma smiled softly, shook his head in mild disbelief, and walked through, the door closing behind him.
If the ward where Ranma had regained consciousness was bad, then the hallway was even worse. The bloodstains from before were not only in greater quantity here, but also larger- and in some places, so fresh that they were still dripping. Doors and even whole walls had been torn down, revealing ransacked wards. The floor was scarred and battered, and there were even holes and obviously weak spots. As below, so above; there were also segments where the roof had been torn away, and as these spots tended to have still-live electrical cables dangling from them, Ranma avoided them as he carefully picked his way through the ruins. He started as a soft moan suddenly drifted through the air. When it repeated, Ranma instinctively started pursuing it; the compassionate side of his nature refused to let him ignore someone in such obvious pain, while the more ruthless side identified the sound with the possibility of finally getting some answers. Finally he came upon the source; a woman in a filthy, bloodstained nurse's uniform. She was sprawled on her front, partially raised off the ground with her arms and her head hanging low. As Ranma approached her, she wailed softly.
"Hey, are you alright? What happened here?" Ranma asked, gently reaching out and placing a hand on her shoulder. The nurse stiffened, and suddenly thrust herself to her feet, standing up straight with her back still to Ranma. Ranma tried to think of something to say, but his mind went slack as the nurse turned to face him. Roughly the entire lower half of the right side of her face had been torn off, revealing bloody, pus seeping wet musculature. She stared at him from a blood-clouded right eye, the left obliterated by a deep crater- like a gunshot wound. Slowly raised arms revealed deep, bloody bite marks, and the front of her uniform's waist had been shredded, as had the flesh beneath. Rubbery loops of intestine dangled forth, slick and shiny in the half-light. The creature's jaws opened; blood and drool spilling forth as she voiced a sibilant wail and lunged at Ranma. That snapped him to his senses, but not in time to avoid the powerful haymaker that collided with the side of his head. He staggered back, but caught himself, and quickly retaliated with one of his favourite techniques.
"Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!"
And that's when things went even more wrong for Ranma. Rather than the dazzling fast barrage of devastating blows he should have unleashed, Ranma found himself throwing punches that, while still impressive by normal standards, were slow as molasses and weak as a kid's compared to his previous attempts. Even more disconcerting, though they were still strong enough to viciously bruise flesh, his opponent showed no sign of pain, simply weathering the blows and retaliating as best she could. Scratching, grapping, punching, even biting, though Ranma fortunately escaped with torn clothing and relatively minor scratches. In desperation, he switched from simply punching to trying to target pressure points. Though he managed to strike various points that should have crippled his opponent, or at least distracted her with intense pain, she seemed impervious.
Throughout the fight, Ranma and his opponent had been moving, which added an extra element of hazard for Ranma. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as he felt a severed electrical cable whipping around behind him, and with his inhuman opponent advancing he quickly twisted and darted through a nearby ward door. Unfortunately for him, the creature suddenly lunged at him with surprising speed, and unfortunately for both of them the floor where they landed was too damaged to support them. They plunged through the floor into the chamber below, Ranma twisting so that his opponent took the brunt of the impact. He tricked to push off his opponent, but the sensation of feeling the cold jelly of human intestines beneath his fingers distracted him, which meant his landing was far from graceful.
In fact, he slammed into some sort of mobile tray –they had evidently landed in an operating theatre– loaded with implements, spilling them everywhere. As the hissing she-beast awkwardly raised herself off of the table, Ranma's hand instinctively thrust out, desperately searching for some manner of weapon. A sharp pain told him that he'd cut himself on a scalpel. Ignoring the pain, he traced the blade to find the handle, and gripped it tightly. Springing to his feet, he lunged towards the monster, burying it deeply as he could in her heart. An inhuman scream threatened to deafen him, and he abandoned the blade as she swiped at him to spring backwards. He managed to cover sufficient distance that he could see the plethora of sharp, pointy objects on the floor, and he scrabbled desperately for them. As the thing lunged towards him, he retaliated desperately, plunging them into neck, heart and skull. Despite this, still the creature shrieked and lashed out at him.
Finally, Ranma grabbed it and, having spotted a cluster of live wires lashing from the ceiling, evidently displaced when the floor had given way, he partially wheeled and half-pushed half-threw his opponent into them. It tripped and stumbled, getting itself thoroughly entangled in the deadly cables. The lights flared at the resultant power drain, and the creature screamed horribly as the hideous stink of burning flesh filled the air. Finally, the creature collapsed, a charred, smoking mess, and Ranma covered his mouth at the stench. He walked towards the door, stopping when he spotted something. Written neatly on the wall was a single sentence in what looked like permanent marker.
"These falling sequences are tedious, aren't they?"
Ranma blinked in confusion at that, when he suddenly felt the ground shift beneath his feet. Before he could react, the floor gave way again, plunging him downwards. Ranma lifted himself off the pile of debris and groaned as all the various wounds and injuries he'd accumulated began clamouring for attention now that his system wasn't flooded with adrenaline. Shaking his head in an attempt to clear it, he checked himself over. There weren't any real injuries, but his clothes were so damaged he was practically naked.
"Ah great, just great. Now where the hell am I supposed to find new clothes?"
It was then Ranma realised he'd fallen into a locker room and, grabbing a suitably sized and shaped piece of metal debris, he set to work prying open the lockers. The first one was empty, other than a few personal bits and pieces, of which the most interesting was an otherwise blank piece of paper bearing the message "Call now and indulge in the finest death metal crystal acetone country hip locking ecstasy books. All for 999 carrots or a pocket watch named Kyle". Finally, Ranma had the majority of the lockers opened –by which time the makeshift crowbar he'd been using was so battered and bent it was useless– and he began examining his choices of replacement clothes.
The first one contained an anorak, a brie-nylon shirt, a pair of white socks, plastic orthopaedic sandals, an Aertex vest and a cardigan. Ranma dismissed it with a shake of his head and a comment of "too nerdy."
The rest weren't much better, with Ranma delivering a running commentary of flaws as he examined them.
"Too girly. Too- eeurgh, what the hell is that? Too tight. Too loose. Too… oh, that is just sick and wrong. Too- hey, wait a minute, I think I just hit the jackpot! And some good-looking boots too."
Ranma's search had finally turned up a pair of black jeans, a grey short-sleeved shirt, a thick leather jacket, a pair of army boots and, to top it all off, a set of black, fingerless gloves. With his usual lack of modesty, Ranma stripped down to his underwear and quickly pulled on his new acquisitions, dusting them off and giving himself a final critical look over in a nearby (broken) mirror.
"I ain't gonna be winning any 'best dressed' awards, but they'll do."
Ignoring the gibberish scrawled in blood on the door ("Frog Blast The Vent Core and be quick about it, lunch is nearly alive again."), he opened it and stepped out as quickly and cautiously as possible. Spotting a sign pointing to a nearby stairwell, he quickly followed it; he had no idea if more of those things he'd just killed were wandering around, but he didn't want to take the chance. He resolutely ignored the disconcerting possibility that the entire city might be infested with those… things.
As such, Ranma was quite unpleasantly surprised when he finally exited the stairwell into the reception room and found no less than five of the walking corpses (what else could they be?) greedily devouring whatever titbits caught their fancy from a great mound of putrescent chunks of human corpses. Ranma reigned in his instinctive panic; the things looked both not too smart and quite preoccupied. If he was careful, he should be able to sneak past them. Keeping to the shadows, and training one wary eye on the feasting abominations, Ranma crept onward. He had just made it behind the front desk when one of the things suddenly straightened up, its head lolling around. Ranma ducked down behind the desk, remaining as still and silent as possible.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the corpse-thing grunted and resumed eating. Ranma stood up cautiously- and as he did so, he noticed something on the desk. It was a notebook, with jet-black covers and –this was the really strange part– Ranma's name on its front cover, written in fiery, faintly glowing kanji. Ranma instinctively snatched it up before darting silently down a corridor, hoping to put some distance between himself and those things. Just what were they anyway? As the thought came to him, he felt a strange sensation in the hand that held the black book. It was as though the book was… moving. Deeming himself safe enough, for the moment, Ranma flicked it open. At first glance, the book was completely blank. Then, before Ranma's disbelieving eyes, details began to appear. First, lines twisted and knotted together until a perfectly detailed sketch of one of the walking corpse things lay before him. Then, colour began to fill in the sketch. Finally, rows of neatly drawn kanji began appearing on the opposite page. Fascinated despite himself, Ranma began to read.
Cadaver
A simplistic form of undead, consisting of a basic reanimated human corpse. Cadavers, existing simply to kill and devour human prey, are most often utilised en masse where they are at their most useful. Their normal armament consists of their teeth and decaying fists, though some specimens may also tote makeshift weapons. Completely mindless, and with a relatively fragile skeletal structure, they are most easily destroyed through severing the spinal column or inflicting massive trauma to the brain.
Ranma cocked his head curiously as new kanji formed, this one having been written by an evidently less-skilled calligrapher.
That means cut their head off or shoot them in the head to kill them, Einstein.
As Ranma blinked, wondering if he'd just been insulted, he spotted something at the end of the corridor. It looked like a small child, clad in dark clothing including –Ranma was having trouble believing this– an old-fashioned cloak. Apparently recognising that Ranma had seen him, the child turned and fled down the corridor.
"Hey! Kid! Wait up! I need to talk to you!" Ranma called instinctively, and then swore under his breath before darting off in hot pursuit. He screeched to a halt, turning his head to try and figure out which way the kid had gone, before the 'ping' of a lift door opening caught his attention. Ranma grinned savagely and raced in the direction the sound had come from, dashing into the open lift before there was any chance of the doors closing.
"Ha! Caught- you?"
The lift was completely empty, other than Ranma. He blinked in confusion, and then spun around as the doors suddenly slammed shut behind him and the lift began to descend- apparently to the 1st floor of the four basement floors. Unable to intervene, Ranma simply settled back and waited, idly noting another scrawling besides the control panel, which went along the lines of "Vae Victus! I am the suffering of the conquered! I am the agony of life, I am...BATMAN!!!"
Finally, the lift doors opened and Ranma headed outwards. This hallway was just as battle-scarred as all the others had been, but a lot more Spartan. Ranma was confused for a few seconds, wondering what purpose this place must have served, then figured it must have been the Security floor, where the guards and the like must have spent their time until they had to go on duty. Ranma's train of thought was instantly derailed as he turned the corner and caught sight of the dark-clad kid from before, standing inside an office. The child traced its hand over the wall, causing the kanji for "looking beyond the physical can bring about a great Revelation", with the numbers 9, 8, 2, 0, 12, 30, and 1 below it, to appear before Ranma's eyes. Ranma didn't bother calling out, instead dashing inside. Much to his astonishment, the dark child vanished before his eyes, very much like a ghost. And that was when Ranma's control, already stretched so thin, finally snapped. With a hollow moan, he slid into a nearby battered chair, cradling his head in his hands.
"I can't take this any more- first nightmares, then Kuno zaps me here- wherever here is, then zombies and now a ghost? Just what the hell is going on? And what's happened to me? How did I get so weak?"
Ranma didn't know how long he sat there, utterly overwhelmed by the situation. Finally, he managed to regain some measure of self-control, enough that he manoeuvred himself into a meditative position- he hadn't done it in some time, but this would calm him down, give him a chance to think clearly. Breathing slowly and rhythmically, he tried to clear his mind of all distractions and thoughts. He could feel it working already, could feel the stress flowing from him. Wait… what was that feeling? A strange sensation in the back of his head, kind of like when you poked a loose tooth with your tongue. Actually, as he focused more of his attention on it, it was more like cradling an egg with your eyes blindfolded, a sort of soft-yet-firm rigidity of gentle curves. And then, as he mused over this thought, the egg broke. The resultant, replacement feeling could be most closely likened to having every last drop of blood being transmuted to liquid nitrogen, only pleasurable rather than painful. It was a sort of wave that swept with deceptive slowness from the top of Ranma's head to the very tips of his extremities… so, so very cold but also soft and sweet… blissful… even beautiful. Ranma's eyes shot open and he unconsciously voiced an ecstatic moan.
"Woah… that… what was that? It felt so… good…"
Ranma couldn't help but smile, all of his concerns and pains washed away by that single surge of pleasure and joy. In fact, he was so caught up with it he barely noticed when the black book he'd been carrying pulsed again. When he realised it, he lifted it up and opened it, flicking past the entry on the Cadaver to discover a new entry.
Spell-Seeds
Spell-seeds are a relatively new method of ascertaining and educating those who possess latent arcane talent. Essentially self-contained spells, spell-seeds appear as indestructible crystal prisms, in whose depths is contained a single elaborate symbol or icon, which determines the precise nature of the spell-seed.
The name comes from their method of utility; when a spell-seed comes into contact with a being that possesses the potential capacity for arcane magic, it emits energy tendrils that knit themselves to that individual's mana network. Once this initial step is completed, the prism itself is absorbed into the host's body, whereupon it begins ingraining the contained knowledge upon its master's psyche. This process is irrevocable, and attempting to disrupt it can have fatal consequences.
Locating a spell-seed can be done in two ways. Firstly, spell-seeds constantly emit a soft, chiming hum known as the "seed-song", which is only audible to those capable of using them. The seed-song is the primary method spell-seeds utilise to attract new hosts, as it tests them for curiosity, determination and –especially given that spell-seeds are often hidden in obscure or even dangerous locations– ingenuity.
Again, the final note was by the "rough" author.
Spell-seeds are designed to be simple to use; simply focus your mind on a target, and mentally invoke the spell-seed's name.
Ranma wondered why this entry would have appeared in conjunction with that sensation he'd just experienced. Unless… he quickly turned the page and grinned triumphantly, for a second entry had formed there.
Revelation
This unique spell-seed is of the Divination family and is used for scrying. Enabling the caster to temporarily see into the Hidden Realm, this grants them the power to detect things that have been distorted, modified or shielded- especially if they have been concealed by magic.
That means you can see through stuff like illusions and invisibility, in case you didn't get it.
Ranma thought back to that experience up in the ward he'd woken up in; could that thing with the mists been him unconsciously using this "spell-seed"? Well, it was worth a try. Standing up and closing his eyes, he focused on himself and mentally whispered 'Revelation'. A faint prickling in his eyes resulted, and when he opened them he was once again seeing those strange coloured mists as before. Recalling the message that ghost or whatever the hell it was had written, he looked around the room. On the opposite wall to the one the ghost had written upon was situated a safe that Ranma was positive he hadn't seen before. As he stared at it in indecision, the spell apparently wore off- and the safe promptly vanished behind a landscape of a nocturnal riverside. Smirking softly, Ranma recast the spell, and then twisted the dial in the same pattern of numbers that was written on the opposite wall. The door swung open gently, apparently removing the former cloak of illusion. Inside however was nothing more than two clips of pistol bullets (which Ranma picked up and, with a disdainful expression, slipt into a pocket of his jacket) and a single piece of paper, which Ranma instinctively picked up and read.
'The recent spate of tests has failed miserably. The new-type Cadaver was supposed to have been capable of resisting the kind of magic used by the Dagger Of Time and the forces of the Enemy, but it appears I was wrong. I have stored the corpse of the prototype in the morgue. The Dagger of Time remains embedded in the corpse in order to preserve it for future studies whilst I shore up the defences and prepare the spell. With any luck I can improve my forces and repel that abhorrent interloper from my realm.'
Below that was a signature, though it was thoroughly illegible to Ranma. He was just about to discard it when he noticed a final note scrawled below the signature, evidently a last-minute addition.
'I must also remember to make sure the Morgue Keys are stored in the B2 Storage Floor and disable the doors by shutting down the generator.'
"So… there's a weapon in the morgue eh? But I need to go down a level to get the keys before I can get it… and I can't get out of here until the generator's back on. Looks like I'm taking the elevator downstairs then."
Nodding his head in subconscious agreement, Ranma exited the office, stopping in front of the door when the black book surprised him by vibrating. When he examined it however, he found that the new entry was nothing more than a word-perfect replica of the note he'd just read. Exiting the door, he was startled by a sudden loud crash emanating from a nearby pair of cubicles. When two Cadavers, both wielding torn-off pipes as clubs, lurched out of the cubicles, Ranma quickly beat a hasty retreat to the elevator. Once again it opened and closed automatically, before descending further into the bowels of the hospital.
Ranma cautiously peered out of the opened elevator, which had brought him to the 4th basement floor. This was a single large chamber, devoted primarily to the massive electrical generator in front of him. As he stepped out of the elevator, he noticed two things. Firstly, there was a small nook, closed off by a fairly large crate. Secondly, there were no less than nine bodies scattered about the chamber. As Ranma picked his way through them, he noticed one of them, which was lying in front of an overturned table, had left behind a track of blood. Evidently, the man had fallen on the floor, but then crawled over to the table before dying. Curious, Ranma investigated, finding that the man's dying action had apparently been to write something in his own blood on the table's underside.
'Generator short-circuit explode… right order cables… 8, 4, 5, 1, 3, 2, 7, 6'
Ranma naturally found this more than a little confusing. Then he examined the generator, and it made a little more sense. There was a cluster of eight cables lying on the floor, each of which bore a Roman numeral. The generator had eight pairs of plugs, each of which was also labelled with a Roman numeral. Unfortunately, the pairs weren't straight up and down, so unless Ranma put the cables in just right, the generator would undoubtedly short-circuit and explode. With that thought firmly fixed in his head, Ranma took another look, a good, long one, at the sequence before setting the cables. The very last one affixed, Ranma, cringing despite himself, flicked the "On" switch. At once a loud hum filled the air, the dull lights suddenly glowing much brighter. Ranma didn't even notice this though, as his attention was fixed on two things. The first was that the elevator had just gone back upstairs. The second was that the corpses were moving. With fight definitely not an option, Ranma chose flight; leaping over the Cadavers as best he could, he dove for the shelter of the box-blocked nook.
Fortunately, Cadavers were as stupid as their entry said they were; they simply shambled aimlessly around the chamber, somehow avoiding bumping into each other, for three or so minutes. That was when the elevator returned and re-opened its doors with a 'bing-bong' that was the most pleasant sound Ranma had heard all day. He dove for it and was on his way up before the walking dead even realised he'd been there.
The 2nd basement level, the storage level, was apparently even more trashed than the other places Ranma had seen. Crates, boxes and packets of medical supplies had been torn open, their contents strewn about the place and smashed, crushed and generally wrecked. Ranma was suddenly glad he'd "appropriated" the boots he was wearing; even in top shape, he wasn't fond of the idea of walking bare-foot through broken glass and hypodermic syringe needles. He poked cautiously through the debris, and then noticed a strong metal cage blocked off one segment of the room. There was an open door, but Ranma didn't like the look of the bubbling, hissing puddle of goo in front of it. He walked over anyway, then noticed that there was a table still upright, with a variety of chemicals and still-intact equipment placed upon it. Most conveniently, there was a badly stained notebook besides the equipment, which Ranma picked up and began flicking through. Most of it was incomprehensible to him, but the final two pages had something of use.
'In my alchemical studies, I have discovered a variety of new formulas that have proven to be of great value to my lord. These include Nova 908SB, a powerful acid that only affects metal, and the Ultimate Nullifier, which is perfect for clearing up hazardous chemical spills. These are of less concern compared to my bio-alchemical elixirs, which have proven of great utility to the military. The first, my so-called "Regen Serum", is a toxic-looking dark green fluid that temporarily bestows incredible cellular regenerative properties upon the imbiber; even the most severe of wounds can be regenerated in a matter of seconds! Unfortunately, there is a side effect; the regenerative process causes intense pain, which invariably paralyses the user for up to 10 seconds. So far, I have been unable to counteract this unfortunate side-effect.'
'In contrast, my Universal Anti-Toxin (distinguishable by its dark blue colouration) has no such side effect. Both these elixirs have been mass-produced, and are dispensed in ready-use custom hypodermics. Unfortunately, my Reflex Booster and Bloodrage elixirs have proven much harder to replicate on an industrial scale. The Reflex Booster, which has a tarnished silver colouration, enables the user to process information with much greater speed, causing them to react with such inhuman speed that many users have likened it to having time slow down around them. The dark red Bloodrage is an adrenaline-based elixir, which bestows a more gradual form of cellular regeneration upon the user in addition to a temporary state of super-strength. I am still undecided whether the state of homicidal psychosis it induces should be considered a drawback or a bonus.'
'To create Nova 908SB, use Omni-Chem Formula 14 as base, and then mix with D-4 and X-T-C-90. To create Ultimate Nullifier, use AM0-98S as the base, then compound with D-4, X-T-C-90 and Omni-Chem Formula 14. Finally, stir resultant concoction with a rod of Magnesium; the rod will eventually dissolve into liquid, which should be allowed to mix into the fluid. A colour of bright crimson indicates that the Ultimate Nullifier is complete."
Ranma quickly looked over the equipment available; everything the notebook had listed was present. As a matter of fact, there was also a vial of Regen Serum amongst the equipment. Ranma picked it up and looked it over curiously, debating whether or not it would be worth it to use the stuff. Then, with a haphazard shrug, he injected it into his arm. Almost instantly, he regretted it. It was like every drop of blood in his veins had suddenly ignited, a white-hot fire that scoured his bones, seared his eyes and flash-boiled his brain. Ranma didn't scream- he was in too much pain to do something like that. All he could do was try to ride out the eruption of agony- which promptly disappeared as instantly as it had appeared. Sucking in deep lungfuls of air, Ranma let the syringe drop to the floor before examining his wounds. Like the note had said, they were all gone. Still, Ranma figured it'd be best if he avoided having to do that again.
Discarding that thought, Ranma began mixing together a beaker-full of Ultimate Nullifier. He mixed it together just as the note had said, just allowing the liquefying Magnesium rod to dissolve into the mixture before it began to bubble and turn red. Once it had become a brilliant crimson colour, Ranma gently picked it up and, standing at arm's length with his spare hand over his mouth and nose, poured it onto the mess on the floor. Instantly the goop began to froth and boil, dissolving into a harmless-looking mass of foam and bubbles as a beautiful sweet scent filled the air. The bubbles began to pop, and soon the floor was clear. Ranma began to walk forward, then stopped. He looked thoughtful for a second, then walked back and began mixing up a beaker of Nova 908SB.
"I just know this is gonna come in useful."
And he was right; the storage locker's door had evidently been welded shut. Tipping the acidic concoction over it dissolved it into a puddle of liquid, allowing Ranma to freely take the (faintly blood-spattered) morgue keys. That done, he walked back to the elevator, calmly waiting for it to take him down to B3- the only floor left to serve as the morgue. Frankly, this wasn't something Ranma was looking forward too; he'd seen enough gore and corpses scattered around already. When the door opened, he blinked in surprise. The room was the cleanest and, well, most normal place he'd seen yet, the only difference between this place and a normal hospital operating theatre (other than the numerous insane rantings and desperate prayers sketched onto every available surface with ink, paint and blood) being the flayed corpse with a dagger in its heart lying on the operating table.
Ranma walked up to it cautiously, keeping his eyes fixated firmly on the dagger, rather than its impromptu sheathe. Gently reaching out, he closed his hand around the hilt (leather wrapping reinforced with a covering of wire, with a handguard in the shape of a coiled snake biting its own tail he unconsciously noted) before giving it one sharp, strong yank. The sound of it tugging free, something that could vaguely be described as "shlclutch", was enough to send a shiver down Ranma's spine, though he quickly forgot his distress in favour of examining his new acquisition, turning his back on the corpse he'd pulled it from. Though not much of a weapon user, Ranma still had to admit that this was a beautifully crafted and perfectly balanced piece of work.
Appearance wise, it looked something like a large hunting knife- only by looking closer was Ranma able to ascertain that the blade was actually three thin blades, with a small gap between each one. Each blade was double edged, and the two outermost blades both had a small hook pointed outwards, evidently for damaging organs and joints. The pommel was an elaborately detailed miniature model of an hourglass. In fact… Ranma looked at it more closely and confirmed that, yes, there was indeed sand in the hourglass, and it did actually flow between the two bulbs.
"This thing looks way too fancy… ouch! Ooh, alright, so it is a weapon." Ranma mumbled to himself, sucking on his bleeding finger, sliced deeply just by touching the blade. Once the bleeding stopped, Ranma started walking towards the elevator- which promptly slammed shut as a hollow moan rang out behind him. Ranma rolled his eyes.
"Figures."
The skinned Cadaver slid off the table with surprising grace for a zombie, its skinless feet slapping on the tile and leaving bloody footprints. It threw back its head and howled at the ceiling before hunkering down on all fours and scrambling towards Ranma like some vile ape. The speed and ferocity of its attack almost threw Ranma off balance. Almost. Ranma waited until the last second, then leapt aside, slashing out with his new weapon as he did so and cutting a gash across the flesh of its ribs. The beast wailed and wheeled to face Ranma again, and he instantly noticed that it seemed to have gotten slightly slower. For several minutes they danced their fatal duet, Ranma evading lunges and powerful swipes and retaliating with blows from his dagger.
Ranma was pleased with how well he was doing –it had been years since his last knife-fighting lessons with Genma– and he was positive that his enemy was much slower now. Unfortunately, slowing it down seemed to be all he was doing; even stabbing it in the back of the neck hadn't done him any good, and the creature was still rampaging about the morgue. They were at opposite ends of the morgue, the creature somehow managing to glare hatefully at him despite lacking eyelids, before it hammered on its chest like a gorilla and charged again. This time, Ranma thought he heard something whispering in the back of his mind. Deciding to trust his instincts, he drew back his dagger into a striking position and waited.
He was aware of some energy, definitely not ki, trickling down his arm and into the blade, somehow aware that the blade was becoming filled with that energy. And the Cadaver was coming closer, and closer… it threw out its arms wide and hurtled towards him, evidently aiming to crush him in its bloody embrace. And that was when Ranma struck, ducking beneath its arms to power forward and drive his dagger deep into the creature's heart. In an instant, the creature's moment stopped entirely. In the exact same instant, a wave of silver erupted from the wound and enveloped the creature, turning it into a solid statue of a material that reminded Ranma of solidified moonlight. And then, without a sound, it dissolved into thin air.
Ranma blinked in astonishment, then shook his head slowly before walking towards the elevator. He was barely halfway there before he suddenly found his progress arrested as though he'd walked into a brick wall. Looking down, he round himself encaged within a circle painted on the floor, strange, eldritch-looking runes all along the inner edge. One by one, these runes suddenly lit up with an eerie light, and the very instant every single one of them was glowing lifted from the ground and began circling Ranma, encasing him in an otherworldly coruscating aura, but otherwise having no apparent effect. Then, all of a sudden, the light faded, the circle disappeared and Ranma could move again. After quickly checking himself over to prove that, yes, he was all right, Ranma started moving again.
And just as quickly stopped again. Ranma could feel a faint sort of tugging sensation coming from behind him. He turned and started in shock- his shadow was moving. Not moving as in slight, gentle movements either; it was thrashing and writhing like a drowning man clawing desperately for the surface. He was so shocked that he stopped fighting the tugging feeling, which was promptly replaced by two things. Firstly, a sort of draining sensation. Secondly, his shadow stopped thrashing around so violently, but began to crawl off the floor. By the time the tugging sensation returned, a second, perfectly identical Ranma Saotome was standing before the original. The newcomer didn't say anything, or even move, and when the real Ranma reached out a tentative hand to touch him, his hand went straight through him.
"What the hell? Some kind of illusion? Damn those feelings are getting annoying."
With minimal effort, Ranma blocked out both the sensations plaguing him, whereupon the false Ranma crumbled into nothingness. Curious, Ranma decided to investigate this strange new phenomenon, eventually deducing that the "fake Ranmas" were basically illusionary decoys, and that he could support a maximum of four without being drained of his strength. Finally, he decided to check the black book and see what it had to say about the things he'd just encountered. Looking them over, he smirked, and headed into the elevator.
Ranma unconsciously squeezed the hilt of the dagger of time as he strode out of the elevator; with the power on, the doors out of the place should be open. All that remained was taking care of the five Cadavers roaming the lobby, but with his new weapon they shouldn't be much problem. He cautiously slunk into the lobby- but other than the mound of body parts, there was nothing there. Cautiously, he slid through the shadows until he reached the doors. Through the glass, he could see the ruined streets of the desolated town- but they still looked more inviting than this place. Hope beginning to rise, he went for the doorhandle.
"Fuck!"
Normally, Ranma didn't swear. However, after all that running around and dodging monsters he'd just done, after solving all those stupid puzzles, how was he supposed to react to the fact that the door was locked? Whirling on his heel, he resigned himself to having to search for those damn keys. And that was when he spotted something glinting besides the mound of rotten meat. Disregarding the stench, Ranma dropped to one knee and grabbed the glinting object, holding it up to the light to reveal it was a set of keys with a tag reading "lobby". Ranma grinned widely.
"For once, I catch a break!"
And that was when the gunshot rang out and a bullet whistled past Ranma's head to smack into the corpse pile. Ranma leapt for shelter as several more gunshots rang out, before the one responsible finally lurched into view. It was yet another Cadaver, clad in the ripped, blood-soaked remnants of a guard's uniform and carrying a pistol and gore-encrusted nightstick. It howled like a rabid wolf and, apparently spotting Ranma as he looked out from behind a pillar, targeted and fired with considerable accuracy. Ranma was forced from cover and darted wildly across the floor, calling upon all of his remaining speed and agility to avoid being shot.
"How the fuck can he shoot that well? I thought these guys were supposed to be morons!" Ranma complained. Right about then, the Cadaver's clip evidently ran dry; prompting a snarl of fury as it clumsily ejected the clip and began to reload. This was Ranma's chance- he raced across the floor and reached the Cadaver just as it finished reloading. It lifted the gun in his direction, but Ranma slashed the dagger of time across its chest, the force knocking it back. It snarled and swung its nightstick, but the blow was clumsy and overbalanced, allowing Ranma to dodge it and slash his dagger across the Cadaver's throat, opening it up from ear to ear.
While this would have been fatal for a human, it was little more than a distraction for a walking corpse. As it flailed at Ranma with its gun-bearing hand, Ranma caught it and twisted the appendage savagely. A grisly crack split the air and the pistol clattered to the floor. Without even the slightest hesitation, Ranma thrust his opponent back, snatched the gun from the floor and, in a single movement, took aim and fired. Brain tissue and semi-clotted black blood spattered the glass windows of the door as Ranma's enemy reeled back before finally crumpling to the ground. Ranma looked first at it, then at the smoking gun in his hand, both times with a blank expression on his face. Finally, he walked up to the door, pushed the corpse aside, unlocked it and headed out into the dead streets, unknowing and uncaring of what he would find.
Okay, that's chapter 1 finished. Because of our schedule, each of the subsequent chapters should be at least as long as this one. Just for an added bonus, at the end of each chapter I'll include the "data files" from Ranma's black book. This chapter; Dagger of Time, Ritual Circle, Security Cadaver and Samurai Edge.
The Dagger of Time
A weapon sought by assassins since time immemorial, an extremely gifted –and psychotic– Chronomancer, who now lives on only through the existence of this weapon, crafted this legendary artefact. The blade is not only capable of cutting an opponent's flesh, but also their time stream. In fact, by concentrating their mana into the Dagger of Time, the wielder can utterly shred the time stream of their next victim, erasing them from existence. However, the delay required for the charging period means that this ability must be used with caution, as does the fact it only remains empowered for one attack. When enhanced with pure mana, the blade can also generate chronoplasmic doppelgangers, the effectiveness of which can be enhanced by further exposure
Focus on the weapon, and wipe the enemy out with one hit. It doesn't work on the bigger nasties though, so don't try it. You're a sitting duck while it's charging, and you only get one shot- so pick the right moment, or you're lunchmeat. Hit a ritual circle, and you get some free decoys- hit another, and they can start hitting back.
Ritual Circles
These miniature shrines are used to empower pre-enchanted weaponry, tapping into mana streams to elevate and transform the potential of magical weapons. These strange conduits still retain many mysteries, but their sheer power is unmatched, for it has been proven that exposure to a single ritual circle will empower every weapon that the user happens to be carrying. Other properties that have been proven are; that a given circle will only appear for a given individual once and that weapons can only draw power from a certain number of circles before being incapable of drawing anymore.
Ritual circles are extremely rare, sometimes spontaneously appearing after the death of particularly powerful magical beings, and other times manifesting in particular awkward, out-of-the-way or otherwise difficult to reach areas. However, they seem to react to concentrated amounts of enchanted weapons, which leads some to collect large stores of these weapons to draw ritual circles to them, a process referred to as "focus baiting". Despite the difficulties, one would be will advised to pursue all evidence of ritual circle presence, as they are an incredibly valuable asset.
Hit these things, and get your gear boosted. They're your best chance of getting out of this alive, so keep your eyes peeled!
Security Cadaver
A unique breed of Cadaver, initially created as a way of expanding the number of ranged troopers available to the militia. The project was destroyed whilst it was barely in its initial phases, so there are very few of these creatures scattered about. They are quite accurate shots, but are slow at reloading and their melee capabilities have suffered.
Your basic brain-muncher, only these guys are halfway decent shots. They're lousy in a scrap though, so get in their face before they pop a cap in your ass.
Samurai Edge
The most basic sidearm produced in the local factories, its customisability makes up for its default lack of firepower.
This popgun won't even scratch the bigger nasties you'll come across later, but there's plenty of ammo, it's got a good rate of fire, a decent-sized clip and you can fix it up if you can get the parts.