Disclaimer: Yeah right, as if I had anything to disclaim. Go read the fic.
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Chapter [14x4]/8:
Ranma ran over to the fallen figure of his fiancé, "Nabiki! Oh Kami!"
Nabiki lay on her back, arms splayed with one leg tucked back behind her. The blood pooling around her head detracted only slightly from the now limp bandanna hanging from an open wound that went from her forehead and down through her left eye and cheek. Ranma wasn't a doctor but could tell a mortal wound. There would be no way to stop her bleeding in time to keep her from bleeding out. She knelt down and cradled Nabiki's head, tears streaming down her face. Ranma couldn't explain the feeling of loss she was experiencing, she'd only known the girl a little over a week but suddenly realized how empty life would be without her. Suddenly Ranma felt Nabiki move in her arms. She was still alive!
Ranma knew she had to do something, anything to save the woman in his arms. She idly noted her antibodies hovering nearby as she focused on her sigil. It was a long shot but maybe, just maybe, it could do more than give her weird powers. She felt the sigil on her hand flare as before and nearly jumped in surprise when Mae leapt at Nabiki and surrounded her completely. The shadowy form stretched and shrank in places until there was a shadow Nabiki antibody that slowly phased through Ranma's arms. Ranma could suddenly feel Nabiki's life force as if it were her own and shuddered at how weak it was. She needed to get Nabiki to a doctor fast.
She looked up to see Akane in the crowd gawking at her like everyone else, "Akane, I'm taking Nabiki to Doctor Tofu. Can you meet me there?"
There was a dumb nod that Ranma took for agreement then refocused on Nabiki, "Nabiki... I need you to turn solid. Concentrate on being solid so I can take you to the doctor."
Carla wrapped herself around Ranma and after a few seconds she was able to pick up the wounded girl and fly into the air. Hesitating a second she looked down at Ryouga who was watching the whole episode in shock. Turning to Lori the last of the anitbodies she spoke, "Don't let him leave. But don't kill him, leave enough for the police to arrest." She turned and flew off as Lori gave Ryouga an evil smile and cracked her knuckles.
The door to Tofu's office practically blew off the hinges as Ranma came in.
"Doc! I need help! Nabiki's been hurt bad!" She screamed.
The couple of patients who had been waiting to see the doctor shrieked and ran out after seeing the ghost like forms that had just entered. The doctor came out from the back with a herbal prescription he had just filled and looked at the two forms in his waiting room.
"Nabiki? Wha... How?" The doctor was stunned.
Ranma pulled her antibody in, turning back to normal, "I'll Explain later. Nabiki's hurt."
The doctor gestured to one of the examination rooms and Ranma rushed in and placed his fiancé on one of the beds. Nabiki groaned mildly but remained semi-concious.
"You're Ranma? Nabiki's fiancé? I thought you were a boy. What happened?" The doctor asked as he assumed a professional tone and began his examination of the Tendo sister.
Ranma began to give a condensed version of what had happened in China and the fight that just occurred. The doctor looked up briefly when Ranma showed the sigil on her palm.
"Is it some kind of magic or Ki technique? No not ki, I can't sense it at all." The doctor mused as he gently probed Nabiki's face. There was no sign of injury on the antibody itself, "Ranma, can you remove it? I need to examine the wound itself."
Ranma tried a mental command but nothing happened, "It doesn't work. I don't think it's listening to me. Sometimes they do things on their own if they think it's better than what I had planned."
"So it thinks coming off of Nabiki isn't safe." The doctor hypothesized.
"Let me try something else." Ranma began, "Nabiki, can you pull the antibody in? Picture in your head, sucking it into a black ball in your stomach."
Nabiki turned her head in the direction of Ranma's voice, "R-Ranma?"
Ranma repeated herself and hoped that Nabiki was aware enough to listen. The short haired girl seemed to relax and the black oil slick seemed to soak into Nabiki's skin in patches until Nabiki was back to normal. Normal that is except for the large Midnight black streak on her face.
"This was the size of the head wound?" Doctor Tofu swore softly when Ranma nodded. He leaned in to examine it closer noting that the blackness melded perfectly with the edge of Nabiki's flesh, "Can you tell me how much blood was on the ground?"
Ranma described the pool of blood and the doctor estimated Nabiki had lost about four pints. He went to the nearby cooler and took out a bag of plasma and started a drip in her arm.
"Ranma, I'm not going to lie to you. Nabiki has lost a lot of blood. The fact she is still alive at all is a miracle. That sigil seems to be the only thing keeping the wound on her face closed. I hate to admit it but I doubt even a hospital could fix the damage if the wound was as deep as you described. At best they could save her life but there might be some brain damage. I would like to keep her here for observation and if necessary call an ambulance to get her to a hospital if she takes a turn for the worse."
Ranma nodded worriedly, "Uh Doc? These powers only work while I'm a girl. I'm afraid if I get splashed with hot water the antibody will disappear and Nabiki'll die."
Tofu frowned in thought, "Very well. Stay here and I'll keep anything hot out of the room."
Suddenly the missing antibody shot into the room through the wall and plunged into Ranma's chest. Ranma shook for a minute as she assimilated the last half hour of experiences. She saw Ryouga get a sound beating without being able to even put up a decent defense. He had finally been hauled off in a police car. The worst he'd suffered was some cracked ribs and a broken arm. Akane had finally chased Lori off while screaming about freaks and monsters and hurting her sister. Ranma realized that Akane had been hot on Lori's heels so that meant...
"RANMA!! You Bastard! What have you done with Nabiki?!" Came the scream from the lobby.
Akane stormed into the examination room glowing blue and promising death. Doctor Tofu stepped between Ranma and certain destruction.
"Akane, Calm down!" the doctor said.
"He caused Nabiki to get hurt! Then he absorbed her with some shadow demon or something! I knew there was something wrong with him when he came to our home. He uses black magic or something! I've seen his familiar. It's a Tanuki and he talks to it!" Akane was obviously babbling at this point as she tried to move past the good doctor.
"Akane! If it wasn't for Ranma, Nabiki would be dead!" The doctor shouted back in an uncharacteristic display of spinal column.
"Ughn! Akane? Kami, not so loud. I have a splitting headache." Came a voice of reason from the bed.
"Nabiki? You're all right!" Akane and Ranma both said in unison. They turned and glared at each other before rushing to either side of the bed.
"Ranma? Akane? What the hell happened? Last thing I remember was Ryouga trying to slice Ranma to ribbons with headbands." Nabiki sat up, a hand clasped over her left eye as in pain.
"I tried to stop all the bandannas from reaching the crowd but I guess I wasn't fast enough. You got hit pretty hard." Ranma said sadly.
"It was all your fault for fighting in the first place. You must have done something terrible to make Ryouga that mad." Akane accused.
"She's right, but for a different reason. I should have picked a more secluded spot for the challenge."
"Stop it, both of you. It was an accident. Besides I was too close trying some good photos of the fight. Anyway, I'm fine now right?" Nabiki looked up and took her hand away from her face.
There was the dark shimmering blackness running down the left side of Nabiki's face still visible but that wasn't what caused everyone to gasp.
Where was once Nabiki's left eye was now a night sky in miniature. Pure blackness with bright stars.
* * * * * * * * * *
Sarhda frowned and left the doctor's office. She floated invisibly down the road in thought. Why Ingra had felt these sigil bearers were a threat were beyond her. Yet here she was, on orders from the ruler of her House to maintain vigil over the Sigil Bearer known as Ranma Saotome. She didn't know what the big deal was. Even a mere Secundae as herself could take down that boy. At least she was fairly sure of that.
She laughed to herself, surely the First were getting old and weak if they were afraid of a mere boy! Maybe it was time for the Secundae to rise up and take their place as some of the others were beginning to talk about. After all the First had created this universe and all the little things that crawled through it. They shouldn't have anything to fear from their own creations!
She shrugged it off and decided to see to her secondary goal on this world. Her brother was somewhere nearby and she suspected his hand in this world's machinations.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ryouga shifted his cast moodily as he stared out of the bars of the holding cell he was in. He was being held on counts of assault, creating a public disturbance, destruction of public property, and possible manslaughter depending on what happened to the injured girl. The police had sent someone over to the local doctor to get statements and make assessments but hadn't reported back yet. He knew he could easily go right through the cinder block wall but didn't want the police after him more than they already were. If only that shadow demon hadn't attacked him he could have gotten lost and would have been arrested.
"DAMN YOU RANMA! This is all your fault!"
* * * * * * * * * *
Author's Rants:
I've been thinking as I write my outlines for this story, that I'll continue it as the Crossgen stories unfold, so will this story. As you can see I've just introduced a member of the First to antagonize our hero. As for other character types from crossgen, you can be assured that the Negation will appear at some point and maybe even a guest shot of Sam Rey. I might include references to the Atlanteans as their role in the sigils become more clear.
If you're not reading any Crossgen comics then you are seriously missing out. They have some of the most original entertaining stories I've ever read in a comic book (and that's saying a lot seeing as I work in a comic store). If you don't have a lot of money or just want to read the issues, go to www.comicsontheweb.com For two dollars a month you can read every single issue the company has printed on the internet. As it is, you can read the first issue of each title for free.
What are you doing still reading? Leave some feedback then go check it out!
* * * * * * * * * *
Chapter [14x4]/8:
Ranma ran over to the fallen figure of his fiancé, "Nabiki! Oh Kami!"
Nabiki lay on her back, arms splayed with one leg tucked back behind her. The blood pooling around her head detracted only slightly from the now limp bandanna hanging from an open wound that went from her forehead and down through her left eye and cheek. Ranma wasn't a doctor but could tell a mortal wound. There would be no way to stop her bleeding in time to keep her from bleeding out. She knelt down and cradled Nabiki's head, tears streaming down her face. Ranma couldn't explain the feeling of loss she was experiencing, she'd only known the girl a little over a week but suddenly realized how empty life would be without her. Suddenly Ranma felt Nabiki move in her arms. She was still alive!
Ranma knew she had to do something, anything to save the woman in his arms. She idly noted her antibodies hovering nearby as she focused on her sigil. It was a long shot but maybe, just maybe, it could do more than give her weird powers. She felt the sigil on her hand flare as before and nearly jumped in surprise when Mae leapt at Nabiki and surrounded her completely. The shadowy form stretched and shrank in places until there was a shadow Nabiki antibody that slowly phased through Ranma's arms. Ranma could suddenly feel Nabiki's life force as if it were her own and shuddered at how weak it was. She needed to get Nabiki to a doctor fast.
She looked up to see Akane in the crowd gawking at her like everyone else, "Akane, I'm taking Nabiki to Doctor Tofu. Can you meet me there?"
There was a dumb nod that Ranma took for agreement then refocused on Nabiki, "Nabiki... I need you to turn solid. Concentrate on being solid so I can take you to the doctor."
Carla wrapped herself around Ranma and after a few seconds she was able to pick up the wounded girl and fly into the air. Hesitating a second she looked down at Ryouga who was watching the whole episode in shock. Turning to Lori the last of the anitbodies she spoke, "Don't let him leave. But don't kill him, leave enough for the police to arrest." She turned and flew off as Lori gave Ryouga an evil smile and cracked her knuckles.
The door to Tofu's office practically blew off the hinges as Ranma came in.
"Doc! I need help! Nabiki's been hurt bad!" She screamed.
The couple of patients who had been waiting to see the doctor shrieked and ran out after seeing the ghost like forms that had just entered. The doctor came out from the back with a herbal prescription he had just filled and looked at the two forms in his waiting room.
"Nabiki? Wha... How?" The doctor was stunned.
Ranma pulled her antibody in, turning back to normal, "I'll Explain later. Nabiki's hurt."
The doctor gestured to one of the examination rooms and Ranma rushed in and placed his fiancé on one of the beds. Nabiki groaned mildly but remained semi-concious.
"You're Ranma? Nabiki's fiancé? I thought you were a boy. What happened?" The doctor asked as he assumed a professional tone and began his examination of the Tendo sister.
Ranma began to give a condensed version of what had happened in China and the fight that just occurred. The doctor looked up briefly when Ranma showed the sigil on her palm.
"Is it some kind of magic or Ki technique? No not ki, I can't sense it at all." The doctor mused as he gently probed Nabiki's face. There was no sign of injury on the antibody itself, "Ranma, can you remove it? I need to examine the wound itself."
Ranma tried a mental command but nothing happened, "It doesn't work. I don't think it's listening to me. Sometimes they do things on their own if they think it's better than what I had planned."
"So it thinks coming off of Nabiki isn't safe." The doctor hypothesized.
"Let me try something else." Ranma began, "Nabiki, can you pull the antibody in? Picture in your head, sucking it into a black ball in your stomach."
Nabiki turned her head in the direction of Ranma's voice, "R-Ranma?"
Ranma repeated herself and hoped that Nabiki was aware enough to listen. The short haired girl seemed to relax and the black oil slick seemed to soak into Nabiki's skin in patches until Nabiki was back to normal. Normal that is except for the large Midnight black streak on her face.
"This was the size of the head wound?" Doctor Tofu swore softly when Ranma nodded. He leaned in to examine it closer noting that the blackness melded perfectly with the edge of Nabiki's flesh, "Can you tell me how much blood was on the ground?"
Ranma described the pool of blood and the doctor estimated Nabiki had lost about four pints. He went to the nearby cooler and took out a bag of plasma and started a drip in her arm.
"Ranma, I'm not going to lie to you. Nabiki has lost a lot of blood. The fact she is still alive at all is a miracle. That sigil seems to be the only thing keeping the wound on her face closed. I hate to admit it but I doubt even a hospital could fix the damage if the wound was as deep as you described. At best they could save her life but there might be some brain damage. I would like to keep her here for observation and if necessary call an ambulance to get her to a hospital if she takes a turn for the worse."
Ranma nodded worriedly, "Uh Doc? These powers only work while I'm a girl. I'm afraid if I get splashed with hot water the antibody will disappear and Nabiki'll die."
Tofu frowned in thought, "Very well. Stay here and I'll keep anything hot out of the room."
Suddenly the missing antibody shot into the room through the wall and plunged into Ranma's chest. Ranma shook for a minute as she assimilated the last half hour of experiences. She saw Ryouga get a sound beating without being able to even put up a decent defense. He had finally been hauled off in a police car. The worst he'd suffered was some cracked ribs and a broken arm. Akane had finally chased Lori off while screaming about freaks and monsters and hurting her sister. Ranma realized that Akane had been hot on Lori's heels so that meant...
"RANMA!! You Bastard! What have you done with Nabiki?!" Came the scream from the lobby.
Akane stormed into the examination room glowing blue and promising death. Doctor Tofu stepped between Ranma and certain destruction.
"Akane, Calm down!" the doctor said.
"He caused Nabiki to get hurt! Then he absorbed her with some shadow demon or something! I knew there was something wrong with him when he came to our home. He uses black magic or something! I've seen his familiar. It's a Tanuki and he talks to it!" Akane was obviously babbling at this point as she tried to move past the good doctor.
"Akane! If it wasn't for Ranma, Nabiki would be dead!" The doctor shouted back in an uncharacteristic display of spinal column.
"Ughn! Akane? Kami, not so loud. I have a splitting headache." Came a voice of reason from the bed.
"Nabiki? You're all right!" Akane and Ranma both said in unison. They turned and glared at each other before rushing to either side of the bed.
"Ranma? Akane? What the hell happened? Last thing I remember was Ryouga trying to slice Ranma to ribbons with headbands." Nabiki sat up, a hand clasped over her left eye as in pain.
"I tried to stop all the bandannas from reaching the crowd but I guess I wasn't fast enough. You got hit pretty hard." Ranma said sadly.
"It was all your fault for fighting in the first place. You must have done something terrible to make Ryouga that mad." Akane accused.
"She's right, but for a different reason. I should have picked a more secluded spot for the challenge."
"Stop it, both of you. It was an accident. Besides I was too close trying some good photos of the fight. Anyway, I'm fine now right?" Nabiki looked up and took her hand away from her face.
There was the dark shimmering blackness running down the left side of Nabiki's face still visible but that wasn't what caused everyone to gasp.
Where was once Nabiki's left eye was now a night sky in miniature. Pure blackness with bright stars.
* * * * * * * * * *
Sarhda frowned and left the doctor's office. She floated invisibly down the road in thought. Why Ingra had felt these sigil bearers were a threat were beyond her. Yet here she was, on orders from the ruler of her House to maintain vigil over the Sigil Bearer known as Ranma Saotome. She didn't know what the big deal was. Even a mere Secundae as herself could take down that boy. At least she was fairly sure of that.
She laughed to herself, surely the First were getting old and weak if they were afraid of a mere boy! Maybe it was time for the Secundae to rise up and take their place as some of the others were beginning to talk about. After all the First had created this universe and all the little things that crawled through it. They shouldn't have anything to fear from their own creations!
She shrugged it off and decided to see to her secondary goal on this world. Her brother was somewhere nearby and she suspected his hand in this world's machinations.
* * * * * * * * * *
Ryouga shifted his cast moodily as he stared out of the bars of the holding cell he was in. He was being held on counts of assault, creating a public disturbance, destruction of public property, and possible manslaughter depending on what happened to the injured girl. The police had sent someone over to the local doctor to get statements and make assessments but hadn't reported back yet. He knew he could easily go right through the cinder block wall but didn't want the police after him more than they already were. If only that shadow demon hadn't attacked him he could have gotten lost and would have been arrested.
"DAMN YOU RANMA! This is all your fault!"
* * * * * * * * * *
Author's Rants:
I've been thinking as I write my outlines for this story, that I'll continue it as the Crossgen stories unfold, so will this story. As you can see I've just introduced a member of the First to antagonize our hero. As for other character types from crossgen, you can be assured that the Negation will appear at some point and maybe even a guest shot of Sam Rey. I might include references to the Atlanteans as their role in the sigils become more clear.
If you're not reading any Crossgen comics then you are seriously missing out. They have some of the most original entertaining stories I've ever read in a comic book (and that's saying a lot seeing as I work in a comic store). If you don't have a lot of money or just want to read the issues, go to www.comicsontheweb.com For two dollars a month you can read every single issue the company has printed on the internet. As it is, you can read the first issue of each title for free.
What are you doing still reading? Leave some feedback then go check it out!
