Once his stomach was empty, Ranma staggered away from the building, wandering more or less blindly through the streets. The only sure direction he had was away. Away from the fixed buildings, away from Ladybug and Chat Noir, and away from the monster he'd let himself become in a single act.

He clearly remembered everything he'd done as Frenzy. He remembered how it felt to have blown up a building, not even caring if there were people inside, just reveling in how powerful he felt. He thought back to how he'd toyed with Ladybug and Chat Noir, treating the fight like some kind of game.

Not that it needed to be taken seriously. They were pathetic.

Just throwing away everything it meant to be a martial artist, using all that power for some sick, twisted pleasure. What sort of monster was he?

What this broken world made you to be.

Ranma paused as he realized the slightly different tenor to what he'd heard in his mind, not quite his own thoughts. He staggered to a halt. Great, now I'm going-

You're not going crazy, Ranma.

Forgive me if I don't take the word of the voice in my head on that score!

…okay, to be fair, I should have said you aren't going any crazier than you were before you came to Paris. Then again, I wouldn't be here if that had been a good example of sanity. And you wouldn't be here either, for that matter.

Not being very convincing here.

Well if you'd just find somewhere to sit and meditate, we could do this face to face. It'd be a lot easier for you to hear me out that way.

…fine. But stop talking until I do. …why am I ordering around the voice in my head?

When there was no immediate response, Ranma sighed and continued to make his way forward. Now having a specific plan in mind, he made his way to the nearest park. It happened to have a fountain in it built against a stone wall. He could duck behind the fountain and be completely hidden from anyone glancing around casually. It was actually one of his preferred squatting points, since it gave him fresh water to drink and a ready supply of change to collect with the Chestnut Fist without getting wet when he woke up each morning. He was just careful not to let the water from the fountain splash him.

Much to his relief, he encountered no one on his way there, and safely tucked himself behind the water when no one was looking. He started to put himself towards meditation, only to find the techniques unlocked by becoming Frenzy still there in his mind. Seeing a way to be even safer, he slipped into the Umisenken before slipping into meditation.

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In his mind, Ranma found himself face to face with Frenzy. "So, talking to myself is supposed to convince me I'm not crazy?"

"Magic," Frenzy countered adroitly as it casually approached.

Ranma started to respond snippily, but stopped himself. There was something…off about Frenzy. He seemed…too short. "What are you? Are you the Akuma in the tanto? I told Hawk Moth the deal was he stayed out of my head."

"I'm not the Akuma," Frenzy replied. "At least, not entirely. I am here like this because you accepted the Akuma, but the Akuma did not create me."

"And why should I take your word for that?" Ranma insisted, mentally shifting into a defensive stance to attempt to expel this thing from his mind.

"Because who can you trust…" As Frenzy spoke, the black shadowy covering peeled back, revealing a redheaded, blue eyed girl with a pigtail. "…if you can't trust yourself?"

"T…the hell?" Ranma demanded as he scrambled back from what he saw. When the figure took no more action, he started to move forward to examine the figure, only to stop as the suit pulled back further. He quickly saw that this was himself in his cursed form…but not entirely.

She had cat ears, claws, and tail. Her stomach was unnaturally shrunken. She wore not a stitch of clothing, but her body was covered in bruises and scars, and her teeth had been broken into points. As the suit pulled completely away, chains latched onto her, seeming to pull her off in different directions. The largest chain had panda coloration.

"What…happened to you?" Ranma asked worriedly, his own natural compassion coming to the fore.

The figure chuckled humorously. "You already know," she responded sadly. She wiggled her ears and tail. "The Neko Ken." She gestured to her shrunken stomach. "Scrounging for every mouthful." She gestured from scar to scar, and then to the broken teeth. "Each and every wound from the training, and no one hearing your pain." She cupped her breasts, drawing attention to the hand shaped bruises there. "The Jusenkyo Curse…and all the pain that brought from guys who chased you and the girls – your friends – who treated it as a toy or a game." She gestured to the chains. "The obligations you were given, that you never chose nor accepted. The endless lectures from the Panda, about what was honorable." She looked Ranma right in the eye. "I'm every bit of pain, and rage, and sorrow you've ever experienced. Your hate, your fear, your loneliness. I am the darkness you kept inside, bottled up because 'guys don't cry' and 'I am not weak'. I am the broken side of you, hidden where even you didn't realize how badly you had been damaged…until you finally gave into a bit of self-preservation selfishness and got on that plane. I am the part of you Hawk Moth sensed that led the Akuma to you."

"Is…is this supposed to make me feel better?" Ranma asked softly.

"No," the figure replied. "It's supposed to make you see reason. I am a part of you, the part that was in control when you accepted the Akuma and became Frenzy. I'm the part of you that you let out when you stop caring, because your caring heart has been worn down too far."

"So every time I unsheathe the tanto-"

"You will finally put yourself first,"she stated firmly. "You will look out at the world, and tell everyone that from now on, you look out for yourself. It's not wrong to look after yourself first after all this time."

"What do you want?" Ranma asked, but not with hostility.

She gestured to her body. "I want nothing else to be added to me." She slowly walked towards Ranma, the shadowy suit pouring up her body, breaking the chains as it did so. The more of her was covered by the suit, the healthier she looked. "I want you to heal. I want you…" The suit completely covered her. "…to accept me," Frenzy concluded.

Ranma was silent for a long time. Eventually, he voiced a single thought. "Hawk Moth's just using me," he stated. "He'll just be another chain on you, another wound, once we give him the Miraculouses."

Frenzy grinned wickedly, reaching behind Ranma and taking hold of a chain around his neck, weighted so heavily it weighed down his entire form. Gently lifting it up, the whisper was offered. "Who says we have to give him the Ultimate Power? The deal was to bring them back, so the Ultimate Power could be unleashed. He never specifically said we had to give them to him."

Ranma stared into the eyes of the monster he had made inside his own soul, crafted of everything he had been put through since the day he had been taken from his mother. Reflected back, he saw the only being in the whole world he knew would never betray him, never turn on him, and never leave him alone…

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Standing up behind the fountain, Ranma held up the sheathed tanto. "Pops never seemed to think anything wrong with taking what he wanted," he murmured as he unsheathed the blade. As the suit covered him and slowly transformed him into Frenzy, he grinned. "Time I took his more useful lessons to heart. I am what he made me to be, after all…"