Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Ranma ½ . They are the sole property of Rumiko Takahasi. Neither do I own the rights to Hellsing. Those characters are the property of Kohta Hirano. All characters used within are used without permission.
Chapter 1 - Risen
He was still cold, still hungry, but it was different somehow. Ranma was laying on his back, in what felt like a box of some sort. Well, it had felt almost like a bed at first, until he'd tried to move. He had six, perhaps eight inches of clearance above him and then he hit a padded surface. He had less that that to either side of him. If he wasn't so damn hungry he probably could have gone back to sleep. /rrrumble/ Well it seemed his gut was determined to make his mind up for him again.
Opening his eyes, he immediately realized there was either little or no light in here. When his eyes didn't adjust after several minutes, he slowly began to feed a small amount of ki into a small ball, to light the area. It was then that he realized where he was. He was in a coffin. With his free hand he pushed against the lid. There wasn't even a hint of movement. Panic began to fill him. I'm alive. They've BURIED me ALIVE. He began to scream for help, but somehow, he knew no one could hear him.
As his fear smothered his confidence, the tiny ball of light, wavered, and died, leaving him feeling even more alone and scared in the blackness of this place. With strength born of terror, he began to beat on the lid, until he heard the satisfying crunch of wood splintering beneath his fist. It was then he realized his mistake, if he was buried, there had to be dirt above him. In desperation, Ranma clawed at the lid, and the wet earth beyond, leaving his hands bloody and dirty. Inch by inch, foot by foot, he dug, scraped and pushed his way to the surface.
Had someone been looking from the surface, they would have seen the freshly dug grave, begin to sink in on itself, and then bulge until a hand burst forth from the wet soil of the Tendo yard. Clutching desperately, the hand would begin to pull loose dirt further into the hole until a dirty head and upper body forced it's way from the ground into the raining night. Coughing and spitting mud the dirt encrusted figure pulls itself from the ground and curls into a ball as the storm slowly washes, most of the mud from the prone shape. A flash of lightening reveals a very MALE Ranma clutching his stomach, and grimacing in pain, as he seems to sob and cry to himself.
It is then that he begins to vomit, not once or twice but wave upon wave of nausea, as though his body is trying evict his stomach and guts. As the trembling pulses of his abdomen still, a memory flashes into his mind of a dark street, lit only by a streetlamp above his head, and a woman of surreal beauty, with a hypnotic voice. What had she asked him, something about... dying? He'd only just considered defending himself when she'd struck. Faster than his mind could process, she'd covered the forty or so meters between them and then, pain, pain so intense it blinded and weakened him, and pleasure, pleasure so complete, so totally fulfilling, he didn't think even sex could compare. Everything after that was fuzzy or black, at least until he woke up in that coffin.
"I see you've awakened Ranma." The voice was vaguely familiar, female, and seemed to echo within itself. "I see I was not wrong about you. You would not have dug your way back into the world of the living if you did not have great strength of will. That you still have your mind is proof that you were a virgin when I kissed you."
Kissed? What was she talking about? If only I didn't hurt so bad
maybe I could roll over and see who in heck this is. And why am I
suddenly so afraid?
"You KNOW who I am Ranma, I am your new mother, your mistress, Pandora. Now rise up my child."
In agony and rage, Ranma stood and turned to face the voice, recognizing instantly the voice from and face as belonging to the woman from before. "What did you do to me?" choked out Ranma around his now dry heaves.
"I gave you the gifts of power, immortality, and freedom. The price was small, simply your life." Chided the woman before him standing dry in the rain. "If you doubt what I can teach you, come, strike me. If you can touch me, I will leave you to your eternity alone, for you will have no need of me. If not, you are subject to my will, until such time as I CHOOSE to release you. Are you, Amicable?"
"I'm not just gonna' touch you, I'm going to destroy you for whatever
it is you did to me."
"Good, your will and fighting spirit are undiminished. Come for me
Child."
Ranma began to swing, to strike, used his ki to increase speed power, and quell his stomach. But though Pandora never seemed to so much as move, his blows either never touched her or seemed to pass through her. Frantically he redoubled his efforts. I BEAT Saffron, I BEAT the Orochi, why can't I even seem to get close to her?
"Are you quite done warming up young one?"
"Warming," pant "Up?" pant
"Fine," sighed Pandora, "let us end this."
Again, in a movement far faster than Ranma had ever imagined possible, he was struck. Not with a bite to the neck, but an open palm strike to his chest that hurled him across the yard and through the outer wall, into the street. As the blow landed he felt more than hear the sickening crunch or ribs breaking. But how could she have hit him, she hadn't looked like she'd so much as moved since the fight began, not even to strike him.
Stepping through the new hole in the wall, Pandora slowly moved to the limp form of Ranma. She reached down and carelessly lifted Ranma from the ground by his shirt.
"Come. The she bitch and those who had the gall to call themselves parents will have heard us, and will shortly find your grave disturbed and defaced. No doubt they will surmise that some part of you still lives and come seeking you. We have much to do, and learn, and little time to prepare."
Between the bruise forming on his chest, the broken ribs, and his stomach again trying to move out of his body, the agony was simply too much for Ranma, and he fainted as the tall woman vanished with him into the darkness of the night.
In our next chapter, Ranma learns what it means to be undead, and Kuno makes the mistake of rubbing the newest of the undead wrong...
Authors Notes: In brief, no I have not borrowed from the Ricean vampires, though the name is consistent with one of the ancients there. In the Hellsing saga, each of the great immortals takes a name indicative of their personality. Alucard is Dracula turned from his old ways and so his name was reversed. Incognito remained hidden and unknown for centuries on end until he felt he could raise the demon god Set. And now we have Pandora. As for what she did, well, you'll just have to find out later.
Chapter 1 - Risen
He was still cold, still hungry, but it was different somehow. Ranma was laying on his back, in what felt like a box of some sort. Well, it had felt almost like a bed at first, until he'd tried to move. He had six, perhaps eight inches of clearance above him and then he hit a padded surface. He had less that that to either side of him. If he wasn't so damn hungry he probably could have gone back to sleep. /rrrumble/ Well it seemed his gut was determined to make his mind up for him again.
Opening his eyes, he immediately realized there was either little or no light in here. When his eyes didn't adjust after several minutes, he slowly began to feed a small amount of ki into a small ball, to light the area. It was then that he realized where he was. He was in a coffin. With his free hand he pushed against the lid. There wasn't even a hint of movement. Panic began to fill him. I'm alive. They've BURIED me ALIVE. He began to scream for help, but somehow, he knew no one could hear him.
As his fear smothered his confidence, the tiny ball of light, wavered, and died, leaving him feeling even more alone and scared in the blackness of this place. With strength born of terror, he began to beat on the lid, until he heard the satisfying crunch of wood splintering beneath his fist. It was then he realized his mistake, if he was buried, there had to be dirt above him. In desperation, Ranma clawed at the lid, and the wet earth beyond, leaving his hands bloody and dirty. Inch by inch, foot by foot, he dug, scraped and pushed his way to the surface.
Had someone been looking from the surface, they would have seen the freshly dug grave, begin to sink in on itself, and then bulge until a hand burst forth from the wet soil of the Tendo yard. Clutching desperately, the hand would begin to pull loose dirt further into the hole until a dirty head and upper body forced it's way from the ground into the raining night. Coughing and spitting mud the dirt encrusted figure pulls itself from the ground and curls into a ball as the storm slowly washes, most of the mud from the prone shape. A flash of lightening reveals a very MALE Ranma clutching his stomach, and grimacing in pain, as he seems to sob and cry to himself.
It is then that he begins to vomit, not once or twice but wave upon wave of nausea, as though his body is trying evict his stomach and guts. As the trembling pulses of his abdomen still, a memory flashes into his mind of a dark street, lit only by a streetlamp above his head, and a woman of surreal beauty, with a hypnotic voice. What had she asked him, something about... dying? He'd only just considered defending himself when she'd struck. Faster than his mind could process, she'd covered the forty or so meters between them and then, pain, pain so intense it blinded and weakened him, and pleasure, pleasure so complete, so totally fulfilling, he didn't think even sex could compare. Everything after that was fuzzy or black, at least until he woke up in that coffin.
"I see you've awakened Ranma." The voice was vaguely familiar, female, and seemed to echo within itself. "I see I was not wrong about you. You would not have dug your way back into the world of the living if you did not have great strength of will. That you still have your mind is proof that you were a virgin when I kissed you."
Kissed? What was she talking about? If only I didn't hurt so bad
maybe I could roll over and see who in heck this is. And why am I
suddenly so afraid?
"You KNOW who I am Ranma, I am your new mother, your mistress, Pandora. Now rise up my child."
In agony and rage, Ranma stood and turned to face the voice, recognizing instantly the voice from and face as belonging to the woman from before. "What did you do to me?" choked out Ranma around his now dry heaves.
"I gave you the gifts of power, immortality, and freedom. The price was small, simply your life." Chided the woman before him standing dry in the rain. "If you doubt what I can teach you, come, strike me. If you can touch me, I will leave you to your eternity alone, for you will have no need of me. If not, you are subject to my will, until such time as I CHOOSE to release you. Are you, Amicable?"
"I'm not just gonna' touch you, I'm going to destroy you for whatever
it is you did to me."
"Good, your will and fighting spirit are undiminished. Come for me
Child."
Ranma began to swing, to strike, used his ki to increase speed power, and quell his stomach. But though Pandora never seemed to so much as move, his blows either never touched her or seemed to pass through her. Frantically he redoubled his efforts. I BEAT Saffron, I BEAT the Orochi, why can't I even seem to get close to her?
"Are you quite done warming up young one?"
"Warming," pant "Up?" pant
"Fine," sighed Pandora, "let us end this."
Again, in a movement far faster than Ranma had ever imagined possible, he was struck. Not with a bite to the neck, but an open palm strike to his chest that hurled him across the yard and through the outer wall, into the street. As the blow landed he felt more than hear the sickening crunch or ribs breaking. But how could she have hit him, she hadn't looked like she'd so much as moved since the fight began, not even to strike him.
Stepping through the new hole in the wall, Pandora slowly moved to the limp form of Ranma. She reached down and carelessly lifted Ranma from the ground by his shirt.
"Come. The she bitch and those who had the gall to call themselves parents will have heard us, and will shortly find your grave disturbed and defaced. No doubt they will surmise that some part of you still lives and come seeking you. We have much to do, and learn, and little time to prepare."
Between the bruise forming on his chest, the broken ribs, and his stomach again trying to move out of his body, the agony was simply too much for Ranma, and he fainted as the tall woman vanished with him into the darkness of the night.
In our next chapter, Ranma learns what it means to be undead, and Kuno makes the mistake of rubbing the newest of the undead wrong...
Authors Notes: In brief, no I have not borrowed from the Ricean vampires, though the name is consistent with one of the ancients there. In the Hellsing saga, each of the great immortals takes a name indicative of their personality. Alucard is Dracula turned from his old ways and so his name was reversed. Incognito remained hidden and unknown for centuries on end until he felt he could raise the demon god Set. And now we have Pandora. As for what she did, well, you'll just have to find out later.