The Evil Within
By James Moore
The characters in this story are not mine, so there :-p
Chapter 5
Ranma was jogging through the rough, mountainous terrain at a reasonable pace (reasonable for him, which is about the speed of a cheetah running all out on flat terrain). He traveled about 5 miles outside Tokyo's city limits, to a clearing that he thought was a good distance from any civilization, in case something went wrong. Stopping near the middle, he reached out with his senses to make sure no one was near. Only a hiker 'bout a mile away. Satisfied that nothing could go wrong, Ranma took the pieces of the Medallion out of his pockets.
Ranma was nervous. Sure, he trusted the guide and he sure as hell trusted Akane, but every "cure" he had tried had done nothing but make problems for him and/or Akane. He really hoped that this would cure him; otherwise he would have to delay marrying Akane. He wanted her to have a full time husband, not a sex-changing freak husband/wife, depending on the weather. It wasn't that he cared what others thought, it was that he didn't want Akane to be embarrassed by his curse.
After saying a quick prayer to whatever Kami was listening, he looked down at the pieces. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself for whatever results he got. He put the two pieces together. As soon as he did that, a bright light flashed from the now-whole medallion. He closed his eyes and looked away to avoid going blind from the intense light. He could feel the medallion working on him. Even though it felt like he was being ripped in two, he felt like a great weight was being lifted from his shoulders (remember, he can "carry" A LOT, so thing about how much "a great weigh" is to him). But, as usual, it wouldn't last.
"RANMA, HOW DARE YOU MOVE AKARI'S HOUSE TO WHERE I CAN'T FIND IT!" Ranma turned to the sound, seeing a mad Ryoga running towards him, backpack still on. Ranma sighed. Ryoga still attacked him for completely absurd or absolutely no reason at all. Habit, I guess With his hands still holding the medallion, Ranma figured it would be better to just dodge until the medallion was done with its work.
"Ryoga, not now. I didn't move Akari's house." Ryoga leapt into the air, readying a punch to Ranma's face. "YES YOU DID, NOW PREPARE TO DIE!" Ranma tensed, getting ready to jump to the side. Right before he dodged, Ryoga was thrown back by an invisible force, but, as Luck, Fate, and Destiny (two gods and a goddess) would have it, the only water bottle flew from Ryoga's pack and hit Ranma, splashing him and turning him female. Anger rose in Ranma. He was about to attack Ryoga, intent on hurting him badly, when his body suddenly went stiff. He was suddenly bathed in a bright light, as he felt the separation working overtime. The only problem was, something had gone wrong.
"What Great-grandmother mean," asked a worried and confused Shampoo. Cologne looked at her. "If your description is correct, that medallion is one of the most dangerous things for a Jusenkyo cursed person to use. It is a danger to not only that person, but to the rest of the world." She gestured for Shampoo to take a seat at one of the tables, which she did. "It has no proper name, its name being lost in time. For a normal person, that medallion just collects the evil in that person and dispels it. For the Jusenkyo cursed, however, the curse itself is seen as an evil. Instead of the evil being dispelling, it possesses the persons other body. Now, with a fighter like Ranma, it wouldn't be a problem, just a stalemate. However, the magic of the medallion and of Jusenkyo mix and give the evil cursed body extra power. Some stories say of the cursed bodies having powers like the devil, and worse. Even if you, Moouse, or Ryoga used the medallion, your cursed possessed bodies would beat you. With an evil Ranma, he won't just beat you, he'll destroy you."
"I am sad to say this, but Ranma is probably dead. Since we are the strongest martial artists, we will have to try and stop his evil female form." Shampoo looked sadly at Cologne. "We die honorably?" Cologne was filled with sadness for her great-granddaughter. She wouldn't live to experience more of life. "Yes, Shampoo. We will die honorably in battle. Now, go get Moouse. We must prepare."
As soon as the magic stopped working, Ranma collapsed to the ground. He managed to stop from getting a face full of dirt by turning his head. When he hit the ground, a few strands of his hair fell into his view. Strands of red hair. RED? I'M A GIRL? HOW DID THIS HAPPEN! WHATS GOING ON? He felt too weak and sore to move. Just breathing hurt him. He heard footsteps, and a familiar looking shoe suddenly appeared in his vision. The footsteps stopped there. All he was able to see was that the shoe was attached to a familiar pair of pant legs. "I guess I should thank you two for setting me free," said a very familiar male voice, unfamiliarly laced with evil. Who is that? I know the voice, but it doesn't belong to anyone I've met The shoes suddenly went up to balance on only the balls of the feet, as the person squatted down. Ranma got to see who it was. The person wore an all too familiar shirt, and had an all too familiar braided hair. Attached to the hair was a face Ranma had known all his life. The person gave a wicked smile. "Hello, Ranma. I'm Ranma." And, with that, the evil Ranma smashed good Ranma's head into the ground, knocking him unconscious.
Evil Ranma stood up and looked at Ryoga. The evil grin he had got even eviler. "Since what you did is going to make him suffer, I think I'll make him suffer some more." Ryoga, who had seen everything, whimpered as Evil Ranma advanced on him.
Note: From now on, I will refer to Evil Ranma as Ranma and the real Ranma turned girl as Ranko.
It was night when Ranko jolted awake. She groaned at her body's screams of pain at the sudden movement and at the major headache he had. What the hell happened? And why am I so sore? Any other thoughts were stopped when she smelled cooked food. Slowly sitting up, she looked for the source of the smell. She found it was coming from something wrapped in one of Ryoga's bandanas that rested to top of his backpack. Ranko slowly went over to it. Some food'll help me feel better She was about to pick up the bandana when she noticed a piece of paper underneath the it, addressed to "Ranko" She withdrew it from underneath the bandana, opened it, and read it. It read:
"Dear Ranko,
Thank you for the body. I'll be sure to treat it well. I cooked some food and thought you might be hungry. Go ahead and try some. I may be evil, but I'm not low enough to poison it or anything like that."
Ranma's hunger got the better of him before he could continue reading. Picking the bandana up, he quickly untied it and opened it up. He stopped at what he saw. Inside were very small pieces of ham and the bones of a piglet. A thought occurred to Ranko. Where's Ryoga? She looked around and spotted the leftovers of a fire. She saw that the fuel for the fire had been clothes. A piece of clothing that wasn't burned was part of a yellow shirt. Suddenly, the only conclusion hit Ranko, as she lost her appetite. He cooked and ate Ryoga? That cannibal! He quickly snatched up the letter again.
"What's the matter, Ranko? Don't like ham? How about Ramen? Or okonomiyaki? Or would you prefer some "toxic waste"?
Sincerely,
Ranma"
Catching on to what Ranma was insinuating, Ranko panicked. He going to Shampoo, Ukyou, and Akane! I gotta go help them! She was about to take off, when she remembered Ryoga. Looking down at the pile in her lap, she suddenly noticed she was naked. Then she saw Pig Ryoga's skull. It was "looking" at her, some dried blood where his nose would have been. She couldn't help but chuckle at that. He never could stand the site of a naked woman Ranko then went and got some of Ryoga's clothes from his pack and put them on. Then she did a quick burial for Ryoga, praying for his soul. After that, she let anger and fear fill her. Anger at herself for being so weak. Anger at Ranma for what he did to Ryoga. And fear for the people he was going to hurt. She ran as fast as she could back to Nerima.
Ranko made it back to Nerima in less than 20 minutes. She went to the closest place she knew Ranma would go to, the Cat Café. She quickly ran inside, only to stop in horror and shock of what she saw. There was obvious evidence of a fight. chairs and tables were broken and there were holes in the wall. Embedded in the floor was duck Moouse, his neck bent at odd angles. Attached to the ceiling by her own walking stick, was Cologne, blood slowly dripping from the end of the stick. What really shocked Ranko was Shampoo. She was in cat form, a string tied to her tail, hanging her from Cologne's walking stick. She had been skinned alive. Very sloppily, by the looks of it. There were cuts all over the cat's body. That bastard. He took pleasure in killing her slowly. Then she realized something. If he did that to her, what would he do to the others? Ranko felt numb as she bolted out the door and ran straight to Ukyou's.
Arriving, a horrible smell caught Ranko's attention. It was coming from the restaurant. When she went inside, she barely restrained herself from bolting and loosing her lunch. On the grill used to cook okonomiyaki, was Ukyou. Or at least, the crisped, chopped up, shriveled up body of her. Her body was in pieces, but what disturbed Ranko the most was where her head was. Ukyou's giant spatula had been embedded into the floor, and her head stuck on the handle end, looking at the entrance. Ranko saw no signs of Konatsu, but figured it was best that she didn't know what happened to him. Not being able to stand the site any longer, Ranko sprinted out of the building and to the Tendo's.
When Ranko got there, she went inside as fast as she could to search for everyone. Afterwards, she wouldn't remember anything of going through the house, just where everyone was and what happened to them, like she was in a trance. Kasumi: Kitchen, multiple impalements with knives. Nabiki: Living Room, just a charred mark on the wall with yen around it. Mr. Tendo: Koi pool, drowned. Mom and Dad: Dining Room, both beheaded. But she would never forget Akane. Not finding her in the house, Ranko went straight for the dojo.
The dojo looked like it had a hurricane inside. The doors were knocked down and holes in them, the walls and ceiling had various training equipment embedded in them, and part of the ceiling had collapsed. There was no sign of Akane. Ranko was about to begin a frantic search for the girl she loved, when she faintly heard crying. It was coming from the dojo, from…UNDERNEATH THE COLLAPSED PIECE OF CEILING! Ranko dashed over and quickly lifted the piece up and tossed it aside. The site she saw tore her heart to pieces.
"AKANE!" The boy-turned-girl cradled the crying tomboy. The girl's body was a mess. Her gi was in shreds, barely keeping her decent. Her legs and an arm were bent at odd angles with broken bones. Ranko could feel multiple broken and fractured ribs. The girl's face was bloody. A broken nose, half torn off ear, one eye swollen shut, and a broken jaw. "Akane?" The redhead girl gently shook the other. Slowly, Akane's good eye opened. She tried to lift her arm and say something when she saw Ranko. "Shhh," Ranko said, "Be still. You'll be alright. Just hang on." Akane still kept trying to speak. Finally, she weakly managed to say, in a voice filled with sadness and pain, "Why, Ranma…Why did you attack me…I thought you loved me?" And with that, the girl's body went limp and her eyes closed.
"Akane?" Ranko gently shook her love, with no response. "Akane. Wake up." Tears came to her eyes as nothing changed. "AKANEEEEEEEEE. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" Ranko hugged the body to her and cried for her lost love. Then it finally hit her. Everyone I know and love is dead! All thanks to that BASTARD with MY BODY! DAMN HIM. Anger and frustration built in Ranko for not being there to save Akane, for not training her seriously, and for using that damned medallion in the first place. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" She screamed out her frustration, her body glowing with a golden aura. She didn't notice the tail that ripped the back of her pant or her hair flash between red and golden yellow.
Near a home in the forest east of West City, a reunion of certain fighters was being held. Suddenly, many heads turned in the direction of Tokyo, Japan as a familiar type of power was felt.
"Isn't that Saiyan energy?" nervously asked a small human with black hair.
"I thought we were the last Saiyans," said a tomboyish girl.
One of the older males shrugged his shoulders. "You never know. Come on. This'll be fun. Lets check it out." As all the other strong fighter agreed and launched into the air, Son Goku put two fingers to his forehead and disappeared.