"Faces of Life and Death"
-------
The day to destroy began wet and stressful. She was disgusted and upset with herself for spending so much time and reaping only disappointment. Part of her mind whispered softly 'this is a huge mistake,' but dripping and frustrated, Ranma thought back, 'Just this once, if it doesn't really happen, isn't it an unreal dream? A dream of vengeance and release is so attractive.'
Right about now, the old man jumped out their window, in a collision course for a typical morning spar. Without further analysis, Ranma followed her feelings.
"Kijin Ryu Dan!" The vacuum blade streaked toward the attacking Genma, and the useless glutton didn't dodge, perhaps out of disbelief.
Bleeding from the remains of his left arm, her wounded father cauterized it with ki, and fled. Having been at Mount Phoenix, the old panda knew folly as it crippled him.
Ranma duplicated Happosai's Umi-sen-ken-detector, but Genma cleanly escaped. Regretfully, she sighed. If anyone truly deserved death, the panda-man was a prime choice. Today was gonna be busy though.
A dash up to Kasumi's room, and the declaration of "Hey old letch, I'm wearing a bra just for you!" ended with the gnome going at her chest.
Ironically, killing Happosai by building and releasing a Hi Ryu Shoten Ha using both her breasts was remarkably easy. With the ki folding she had discovered as an offshoot of the forbidden techniques, the old leech went out like he'd want – splattered over a woman's body.
"AAHHHH! Why was that so damn EASY!" Howling the accusation skyward, Ranma reigned in massive frustration. 'He dismisses my life's work, my art with no trouble, but one stupid trick kills him?!! To think, Happosai actually had my respect!' A melancholy sigh came from Ranma's chest as she wiped off the bloody, dripping gore. Unable to win their honor duel, she now felt more unworthy.
When Ranma walked inside to the furo, no one barred her way.
After bathing, he went to Kuno's estate, and while Tatewaki was elsewhere, Kodachi proclaimed love with a spiked whip. Dodging, he used shiatsu to gift the pest with muteness and immobility, before snapping her neck with two fingers. Viewing her broken body and shocked facial expression, he felt incredibly guilty and disgusted with himself. The duty of a martial artist called for protecting the weak, not slaying those into S & M.
Heading home, Ramna accepted this day was a mistake, but he'd finish what he started.
When Soun discovered Ranma's return, he manifested the father of demon heads. The one armed Genma had gotten Soun angry and ran from the results; his normal behavior, really. The White Snake Reliable Fist, a move meant to exorcise possession, smacked the huge ki-projection in the middle of its grotesquely horned forehead. Curious at the result, he watched Tendo patriarch suffer an embolism from conflicting energies.
He made a mental note: 'Never do that for real.'
Kasumi and Nodoka fainted, and he backhanded Akane, causing her to drop the coffee table. She started crying on the floor. Tired of pampering Akane, and especially furious at how he was expected to obey her whims; Ranma's voice filled with venom. He raged at her:
"It's no less than you deserve for idolizing your mother's ghost and not facing reality. You can't move right, can't cook, and can't even be honest with yourself, much less me! Life doesn't stand still and wait for an attack Akane; it moves in and overwhelms!"
With a primal scream through her tears, the youngest Tendo rose and punted him into the sky towards the restaurant district.
The Cat Cafe was next. He felt like a bastard, and decided truth could be a suicide attack as well as liberation. Akane should never forgive him for those words. Not like it mattered.
Landing on his feet, he taunted duck-boy until the enraged weapons master came out to die.
One vacuum blade sliced both younger amazons in half, and Ranma grimaced; he hadn't wanted to kill another girl. Shampoo failed in saving Mousse.
The Old Ghoul shouted a weird Mandarin phrase, and rushed him. Blocking frantically, Ranma felt internal pains associated with Akane's cooking. Five heartbeats after she started, Cologne jumped away. Using senses honed from a year of high-level ki manipulation, he concluded the old ghoul hit the breaking points inside his body.
The process would be delayed and incredibly painful, and Ranma grimaced in agony as his bones vibrated. Using superior control, he embraced his aura, realigning his internal ki flows, negating the technique.
"You continue to surprise me Ranma, but can you survive this?" Speaking with curious sadness, Cologne circled her prey, and Ranma had trouble following her speed. When he jumped in the air to avoid the thousands of jagged stone splinters from the breaking points of the road, his upper chest cramped. He couldn't catch his breath.
Then Ranma understood. The Old Ghoul's ki infused the stones, and he'd inadvertently breathed the pulverized debris. Ranma found his internal aura useless; the air inside his chest wasn't really part of him. Smiling a terrible smile, the Amazon Matriarch caused a ki-burst, collapsing his lungs with energized road dust.
He fell face-first into the forsaken street. Slowly, Cologne efficiently broke his wrists, ankles, elbows, and kneecaps. Then, touching a dozen unfamiliar pressure points, she informed him his spine would be permanently paralyzed if he attempted to father children.
"Former son-in-law," stated the ancient Amazon in a ritualized, hypnotic tone, "you have resolved the kiss of death with honor, and I admit it was a good idea to also kill Mousse before he sought vengeance. The laws of my people are harsh, but Shampoo was my only great-grand daughter. If you had asked, I would have adopted you into our society, annulling her claim upon you. Never shall you know the joy of our Art again; I wish you long life, Ranma Saotome."
Cologne retreated into the Nekohaten. Shortly thereafter, an ambulance took Ranma away, but they drugged him into stupor, and he remembered little else.
'Sasuke's a moron, why did I ever listen to him?' Was his last coherent thought, but the reasons guiding his vengeance – Akane's selfishness, Happosai's dissipation, Genma's failure as a father, Soun's troublesome childishness, and the constant wearing annoyances of those who claimed to love/hate him, those followed down into his own Abyss.
-----
The next morning, she woke amidst the koi and smiled. While soaking wet, she went and hugged a sleeping, breathing, Nabiki, who woke up grouchy. The sloppy kiss on the groggy girl's left cheek made her eyebrows twitch as she realized who had crawled into her bed.
Highly amused at this reaffirmation of life, Ranma was puzzled when the middle Tendo removed her nightshirt, and began loudly moaning and grunting his name.
"Ranma!!" yelled Akane as she barged in, "Why are you in bed with my half naked sister, and why is a koi flapping on top of the covers?!"
Eyes glinting with revenge, Nabiki grinned evilly, and said, "Why Akane, Ranma was merely demonstrating the difference between a live animal and his tongue."
When she punted him into the horizon, he spread his arms and flew.
----
Roof hopping was the best way to travel, even while carrying a passenger.
"Oh ho hoho ho HO!" Laughed Kodachi as she lay in his arms, licking a peppermint-mocha confection. She was actually wearing a normal black blouse/skirt combo, and unarmed.
The gymnast had already become annoying, but Ranma felt he owed her at least an ice cream date. Picturing her corpse's traumatized expression, he glanced down at The Black Rose's exhilarated face. She grinned upwards and offered a lick.
Unthinkingly he accepted.
Kodachi laughed, causing him to flinch, and announced, "My Ramna-sama has seen fit to grant me an indirect kiss!" Then she smiled goofily, and stopped squirming, concentrating on the ice cream cone.
Ducking a spatula and dodging shuriken, he wondered how Ukyo and Shampoo had noticed. Glancing back, they looked upset.
As they jumped by Konatsu tying up Sasuke, Kodachi waved merrily at her minion.
"Unhand my twisted sister, Saotome!" Yelled Kuno from below.
"Tate-chan, you gave me permission, remember?"
"Ah, right, Dachi-chan. . . . . Saotome, your hands on aren't on her enough!"
As her brother fell behind, Kodachi commanded over the wind "Let's go back to my place Ranma-sama."
He took another lick and changed course for the Kuno mansion. Where was water when he wanted it? Then Ranma remembered his good buddy, Mr. Green Turtle, and brightened.
When they arrived at the Kuno rooftops though, Kodachi extracted herself from his arms, kissed him on the nose, and told him she expected his presence this coming Friday night. He blinked.
As Kodachi entered her house by windowsill, Shampoo and Ukyo arrived. . . .. . "For a second I thought this might be painless."
Seeing their expressions become angrier, if that was possible, Ranma fled.
'Oops, did I say that out loud?' Raced through his mind, as he bounced off Mr. Green Turtle's head. The girls weren't so lucky.
"Dodge this you four-timing jackass!" Ukyo defended against the alligator with a mighty heave.
Part of the projectile changed directions in mid-air, foiling his simple jumping evasion. "Yaah!" He knew exactly what the claws in his back meant: Mr Green Turtle had carried a passenger on its back. "Get it off! Get it off!" The cat that was Shampoo meowed spitefully. Her Airen had this one coming!
-----
"Hey Ucchan, we need to talk."
After school, he visited his cute fiancée's lair. Ukyo Kuonji remained his dearest friend. Their eyes met, and he watched her face: glaring with an expression mixing defiance, pride, and betrayal; she looked like a puppy that had destroyed a new pair of shoes after being smacked.
"Quiet Ucchan, quiet. Let me thank you first."
"Why?" Returned the chef, fearing the click of the released safety before the gunshot targeting her heart.
"Because Akane isn't ready to be married yet." His tone bespoke compassion and loss.
"I don't understand."
"Don't feel bad; I didn't either. Akane has a long road to travel, before she can fly beside me, instead of dragging us down. Tonight you and I are going to a cozy little restaurant called the 'First Taste of Spring;' invariably I'll be splashed and we'll end the date as two girls. Does this bother you?"
"Does this mean you finally see me as woman?"
"As long as you never forget I'm a man."
"Ranchan, despite what you think, or how I've acted in the past, that will never be a problem. When did you learn to speak real Japanese, anyway?"
Sheepishly, he told her "Hinako's been helping with er, en, enun," (a brief pause accompanied by a look of concentration) "Enunciation. wheh. I'll tell you at dinner tonight Ucchan, and long as you don't mind leaving your restaurant..."
"Like I've told your other girls before Ranchan -- I'm a woman first and an okonomiyaki chef second!" Ukyo struck a pose, forgetting she'd bound her chest today. "Besides, you aren't the only one busy. I had a little adventure of my own while you were away. The Ucchans actually hasn't been open a full day for about half a month."
"Er, right... See ya here in a couple hours. Formal dress, just so you know."
Slowly, with budding disbelief, Ranma discovered evenings spent with Ukyo never ended badly.
----
He stopped practicing the Perfect Scarlet Dewdrop; while he felt warm looking into Akane's eyes, his perceptions had changed. From talking to her unguarded heart, Ranma believed Akane could never trust him, because deep inside she lacked confidence in her ability as a wife.
While it didn't matter to him she was an angry, uncute, clumsy gorilla-girl who couldn't cook, swim, or dance, she felt those qualities meant much. She pushed him away because she had no inner peace, and no matter what his actions, Ranma knew he couldn't change that part of Akane, not in a mere day. Unless he changed that part, she would always dream dreams that did not include him at her side.
----
Returning to his vendetta against Happosai, he spent two weeks mastering control over the air inside his lungs. Cologne's crippling attack would never work on him again, and he could replicate it with a handful of sand. He adapted the cloud of ki Happosai used as a counter for the Way of the Silent Thief into the Gentle Stilling Breath technique. Thanks to Hinako-sensei's education, he knew it worked by stopping the alveoli of the lungs from absorbing oxygen, knocking the opponent unconscious.
Seeing its usefulness to his Art, Ranma began mastering biology. Akane, always upset when he questioned Hinako in the mornings, blushed deeply the week he understood the mechanics of human anatomy. The day she attended as girl, Ranma made damn sure to hit the tomboy's sleep point so she missed school. Ranma didn't feel like putting up with Akane's insecure violence when Hinako helped her find herself on the anatomy charts. Nabiki had laughed her ass off upon discovering Ranma's ignorance of the clitoris, a year or so of yesterdays past.
Extremely tired of Kasumi's beef bowl, Ranma began following his father's dream – eating the menus of every restaurant in Japan. Only, he shared them with Ukyo.
----
Another day, another evening spent relaxing with his best friend. He didn't think of these nights out as dates. After over an hour on trains, they arrived at a Cajun place in the 'little America' section of Tokyo.
Pointing to the picture of what they wanted, ignoring the English names beside the dishes, Ukyo began their conversation.
"So what have you been doing lately?" She had accepted his odd situation earlier; she always did. Spending time with Ukyo still included surprises.
"Advanced Algebra. Ugh. I hate most math, it's only useful for understanding physics."
"Only most? You think part of it isn't a useless headache? And since when do you understand physics?"
Thinking for a second, Ranma looked over at the wall, littered with dozens USA type posters. His attention fell on one of soldier standing on a submarine, waving the American flag with the ocean as a backdrop. By the 'March' title he thought it very military thanks to his limited English, not realizing it came from a calendar.
"The good part of math is geometry. Musubetsu Kakuto Ryu is all about the right angle of attack, and some of the shapes make interesting ki exercises. As for physics, you know they have equations for the right amount of force and motion? Hinako keeps telling me the advanced stuff gets used lots, like helping United States Marine Units swim faster by reducing water resistance in their clothing. So far though, it hasn't helped me."
"Why even bother?" Her tone indicated she wouldn't.
"Ukyo, you don't realize how soothing this experience has been for me. Whenever I want to, I can relax for a day and my form in the Art won't lapse. I can play practical jokes people would hold grudges for a lifetime over, and keep the memories forever. I can even hurt people, and they'll be fine tomorrow. It's like an infinite opportunity. If I don't learn this junk now, I'll avoid it the rest of my life, and be a lesser person for it."
"But still. . . . . ."
"Well what about it? What would you do with endless time? I've asked before, but you never really answered."
"Let me think a bit Ran-chan."
She was silent through their meal, and he respected that.
During his second desert of cherry cherry cheesecake, Ukyo spoke up:
"I would learn to cook more than just okonomiyaki, and while I'm at get rich somehow. I know I'd try 'til I seduced you. Hmm... I'd become a good enough martial artist that we could seriously spar. Definitely kill Genma. Figure out a way to happily marry you without crushing Akane or Shampoo, and make that jackass who calls himself my father switch my legal gender back to female. Finally, I'd learn magic."
"Magic?" Ranma stopped eating in surprise.
"You do realize how magic has totally sent our relationship down the toilet, right? If I knew enough to stop the weird shit, we could have a loving, stable relationship, Ran-chan!"
As Ukyo burbled on, Ranma decided she was absolutely right. Magic indeed ruined much of his life, usually by irresponsible usage. However, messing with it might break whatever strange mechanism kept him inside this day. He wasn't ready yet.
The rest of the evening flew by, and when escorting Ukyo back to her restaurant, she stopped Ranma-chan (run-away street cleaning machine) from leaving her at the doorstep. After a moment inside, she returned with hot water and triggered the curse.
"Ran-chan, have you kissed anyone yet, and meant it?"
He had been groped, kissed on the nose, and even shared indirect kisses, both over duct tape and ice cream. He'd saved Shampoo from the ghost cat with a kiss, but hadn't 'meant' it. While he had wanted to kiss Akane after Saffron, they never quite got around to it.
"No, I haven't."
"Are we gonna get interrupted if we do?"
Thinking hard, he answered honestly: "No."
"Will you?"
He did.
----
Drinking, he tried and abandoned. With low alcohol tolerance, it wasn't fun, and with the morning body resets, he couldn't raise his limit.
When he had exhausted Hinako-sensei's knowledge of anatomy and mathematics, Ranma began taking buses and trains to colleges and questioning professors. When he demonstrated advanced ki manipulation, they happily answered in exchange for future research help. None ever asked why he swore with the conditional "provided tomorrow truly is tomorrow."
----
When he challenged Happosai again and used Gentle Stilling Breath, the old letch created a bubble of his own ki around himself, demonstrating a counter-technique.
Then they fought in majestic battle. Ranma paralyzed his own nerves when the itching powder came out. The instant before they touched, he disintegrated the poisoned acupuncture needles by firing lances of ki from each nexus in his body. He had such a tight focus over his own battle energies, that the Happo-Go-En-Satsu no longer required a conscious effort to block. He had practiced enough meditation that the hunting call of the demons known as cats did not disrupt his focus.
After fifteen minutes, the grandmaster took a strange stance. "Musubetsu Kakuto Ryuu imitating the Chilling Lips of Death," said the wizened old man in a subdued voice. Then he swiped his hand through the air, and Ranma felt a conglomeration of ki he never dreamed possible. Screaming in agony, he felt immense pain and lost concentration. The fight finished quickly after.
Happosai's newest attack was extremely complicated, and Ranma suffered through multiple agonizing demonstrations. (The last one hurt so much; she killed Happosai the next day and went out with Soun and Genma in celebration.) Finally, when Ranma thought he understood its principles, mastery took a long time.
----
During this training, in a strange bout of nostalgia Ranma missed Shampoo and Kodachi. After a trip to the Kuno mansion, Ranma found he missed Shampoo, and truly forgave her for ruining his wedding. When Shampoo realized this, she returned to her old irritating behaviors. Then he'd had enough of her too.
He kept visiting Ukyo daily, though her initial insincere apology irked him. You shouldn't apologize for winning, or being yourself. Her unnecessary humiliation made him uncomfortable. At least Ucchan's sycophancy went away when he explained his presence meant she was already forgiven. He kissed her goodbye regularly now.
----
"Heya Ucchan," greeted Ranma, as he had dozens of times before.
He ignored her puffy eyes, and entered the restaurant despite the 'closed' sign. Konatsu, ever vigilant, snuck him in. Visiting in the mornings was different than the afternoon.
"I'm not going to apologize," apologized Ukyo, "it's just I want you to be happy..."
Holding her for five minutes while she cried herself out, Ranma started wondering how life with his best friend might be. Today, he concluded the situation no longer weirded him out.
Knowing now was the time she'd remain quiet, Ranma explained: "I forgave you a long time ago. I've been stuck repeating this day for years now. You don't believe me yet, but keep in mind how my life is, and the next words out of your mouth are going to be 'Wanna marry me and go at it then?' "
"Were not!" Ukyo retorted indignantly. "Though I wouldn't really mind that, I was going to say," at this point Ranma spoke with her, matching the contemplative tone, "The spatula swipes reverent / across the scrambled batter / that is our lives."
Snuggling closer, Ukyo admitted, "Ok, I believe you."
Walking over to a booth with Ukyo draped around him, Ranma positioned them more comfortably. "I finally understand it Ucchan! The technique I've been working on for months!"
"Um. . . . what technique Ranchan?" Her voice sounded curious, relaxed, happy.
"The Chilling Lips of Death."
"Oooh! Sounds kinky."
He laughed with her; having his best friend around eased his heart.
----
That night he took Ukyo to an upscale place in Tokyo called the Dancing Dragon, which cost about 400,000 yen. He'd found Nabiki's emergency stash long ago, and now stole it regularly, for it would return tomorrow.
He rented a black tux, and she wore a powdered blue baby doll dress matching the ribbon eternally present in her hair.
Their night could only be described as magical. The food was rich, the company wonderful, and Ukyo told him more about her life. He only asked a little every time they did something, this way she never lost her mystique.
"Why did you challenge the ocean so much on your quest for vengeance Ucchan? It seems silly; the sea doesn't change, endlessly grinding stones to sand."
She gave That Look, the same glare that appeared whenever he reminded her about the obsession she bore on her honor for ten long years. It transformed her into a samurai while remaining a woman, one of the things he had come to love about her. The steel in her soul.
"First it was for balance, and then for endurance. Finally it became a daily pledge, a reaffirmation of who I was, until at last, part of the sea entered my soul, and I didn't need to do it anymore." Her eyes looked reflective and terrible, and Ranma was reminded again of the faux girl who had tried decapitating him with a sharpened giant spatula.
"What do you mean?"
"I wasn't sure myself until last week. It's a private matter." Ukyo inclined her head, indicating the subject to be closed.
Ranma knew while he lingered in Jusendo, Ukyo had removed Tsubasa from her life, and her relationship with Konatsu changed. It involved Konatsu's sisters and a challenge, but he never pressed Ukyo, and didn't start now.
Noticing his curious look, Ukyo winked. "Let's just say, Ki-attacks don't work well on me because of my time with the Sea, and leave it at that, sugar."
"Can you show me?" He knew Ukyo wasn't skilled enough to use a pure Ki attack.
"Alright, Ranchan," she dared, rising from her dinner seat "dance with me with your aura flared."
They waltzed, tangoed, and did a kata like contortion Ukyo called the Lambada. The crowd thought they looked radiant, because when Ranma flared his battle aura with Ukyo in his arms, it flowed around her, doing no harm.
When lemon-lime Sprite splashed in the middle of a Sinatra song, the two girls continued without missing a step.
After two hours, Ukyo dragged Ranma-chan outside, and paid for a cab back to her restaurant. They kissed all way home, and with how Ucchan's chest poked, Ranma knew the other girl wouldn't want to stop.
The cab driver smiled, holding a handkerchief to his nose while monies exchanged hands. Only Ranma saw his lascivious wink and as the taxi sped off, for Ukyo physically carried the red-head up to her bedroom and deposited her on the futon.
"Doesn't it bother you we're both girls?" Ranma's curiosity didn't break the moment. In Akane-land, that was a clobber'n comment.
"You are Ranma Saotome, no matter what face you wear. And if you expect to have what comes between a man and a woman without giving me a wedding ring, you're doomed to disappointment."
Boneless, the chef unzipped her own dress, and tossed it casually in the corner, neatly covering a pile of her dirty underwear. 'Hey its not like I expected this to happen!' Ukyo told her libido. 'Shut up! Shut up! Let it happen already!' was her instinctive response.
After a brief moment of consideration, Ranma decided whatever happened tonight could happen, and began removing her tux.
---
Afterwards, they laid together, flesh to flesh, and Ucchan whispered in her ear. "Ranchan, what was the matter? You didn't, not once. Ten for me and none for you, I won't marry you if I can't make you happy!"
Feeling her best friend's warm tears, Ranma snuggled closer and didn't answer. Giving her cute fiancée joy felt right inside her heart, but Ucchan's point remained. If they couldn't connect intimately, what did it really mean? 'Perhaps I need time away,' thought Ranma.
Her mind spun in circles, always veering away from a logical explanation.
----
With Ukyo's selfless rejection, he threw himself into the art. He didn't understand his own physical and emotional responses, and could only hope the discipline of Musubetsu Kakuto Ryuu might bring clarity.
While working out a counter to the Chilling Lips of Death, Ranma made a breakthrough. He accidentally adapted the Gentle Stilling Breath choking technique to allow energy absorption from the environment. Rather than suppressing motion, he pulled the basis of motion away.
Amazed, Ranma found he could store this energy in a ki focus, to use as needed. To his chagrin, the process was time-consuming and not of immediate use, since his world reset daily. Abandoning foci, he concentrated on drawing ambient ki inward.
He was very close to challenging for mastership again. If he could power the Lips himself with an outside source, surely his version would beat Happosai's. With only the normal technique, Ranma thought the old perv's experience meant he'd lose, and the pain from a loss wasn't taken lightly.
The next week, she practiced incessantly; only switching forms to realize her gender was irrelevant. No school, only a quick meal in the morning and Kasumi's beef bowl at night. When Ranma's aura fountained thirty feet high, even his mother steered clear.
He named the technique 'Kissing the Face of Life.'
In perfecting his 'kiss,' Ranma emphasized speed. When facing Happosai, he hoped to take the gnome down before that one somber moment. The Chilling Lips of Death invariably left him in unimaginable pain, so he had stopped regular challenges. His non-training time had been spent in the company of Ukyo or college professors.
In the ninetieth hour of practice, came the unthinkable: Ranma Saotome miscalculated. Severely.
After speeding it up to her satisfaction, Ranma noticed she wasn't controlling the process. The ambient energies kept coming too fast! She converted everything into ki, but her body couldn't cope with the absorption rate. 'Focus, focus... I don't lose, not at the Art.'
Positive thinking didn't help.
Her aura expanded in discrete jumps, covering the Tendo yard, the Tendo compound, and then the entire neighborhood. She felt her father try the Shooting Star Cloth technique, but the tablecloth he used flash-burned away instantly. Expansion increased the area from which power was drawn, until finally Ranma noticed her skin smoldering. She hadn't actually died yet, just taken crippling injuries, and idly wondered about her strange existence.
Could she die? Permanently?
Like a release valve, she shot an energy blast into the air, hoping to rid herself of power, and it worked, stabilizing her aura's position. It wasn't enough. She felt people weakening from energy drain. Heedless of the consequences, her whole body became a surface blasting ki upwards, vaporizing her clothing. Ranma's nerves screamed. The reaction had propagated too far, and she couldn't force the miles of her aura to contact fast enough.
Someone dying inside the aura web used an emotion based ki attack, shattering her iffy control. With a silent, endless scream, the power released itself in a spectacular self-feeding explosion. The Nerima prefecture vanished in a devastating ki-bomb.
As she evaporated at ground zero, Ranma's last thought was 'Kissing the Face of Life meant courting Death.'
--end Faces of Life and Death—
Next: "The Illusion of the Abyss"