Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½™ or Sacrifice™ or any related characters, terms or concepts.
Author's Notes: okay, what's going on? Close to 1000 views to my last chapter and only two reviews? And be honest; how many of you figured out that it was Necro-Ranma who saved the Slayers from the Ragman?
Part 22: Confessions of a Mage- Since when are there two Ranmas?
It was a tired and weary band of adventurers that had limped, both physically and metaphorically, back to Filia's house. Of them all, Xellos and Ranma were the only ones who were uninjured.
Despite the fact the Ragman had almost succeeded in tearing him in half, Xellos, due to his Mazoku nature, was devoid of the considerable internal injuries an ordinary creature would have suffered- one advantage of having a physical form that was literally nothing more than a single mass of flesh, devoid of bones, organs or blood vessels. Once he'd gotten out of the Citadel, he could effortlessly repair the damage to his physical form.
Ranma, on the other hand, was uninjured entirely due to his skill, though one would be forgiven for thinking otherwise on first appearance. He was liberally drenched in blood, his arms and hands had left a trail of gore all the way back to Filia's, and the Slayers had decided it was better not to ask why his face and especially his mouth was dripping with blood, especially give the haunted, empty look in his eyes.
His eyes cleared a little as he watched the way Gourry moved, clearly indicative of massive bruises and at least one broken rib. Sighing softly to himself, he gestured towards Gourry, a thin streamer of bluish-green energy wafting from his hand to encircle Gourry, whose wounds healed instantly in its wake. Gourry stopped, blinked in confusion, and then turned towards Ranma, who responded with nothing more than a carefully cultured blank look. Gourry simply shrugged in return and kept walking. The others' injuries were much less severe, consisting mostly of bruises, scrapes and minor cuts. When they reached Filia's house they all went in, bar Ranma, who stayed outside.
"What are you doing out there?"
"Cleaning myself. Unless you want me dripping blood on your clean floors?"
"How can you do that? I mean, it isn't even raining."
The sky suddenly darkened; there was a loud thunderclap, and a massive downpour of rain gushed from the sky. After barely a minute, the storm stopped and Ranma came in, slightly damp but cleansed of gore. He half-turned towards Filia.
"That answer your question?"
Filia didn't bother to reply as Ranma walked over to a chair by the table and slouched into it, watching with disinterest as Lina, Zelgadis and Amelia formed a semi-circle formation before him, grim expressions on their faces. Resting his head in his hand, he waited patiently for several seconds and then opted to break the uneasy silence himself.
"So? What exactly did you want to talk about?"
"Lying. Specifically, you lying to us."
Though he didn't show it externally, internally Ranma was not pleased; they seemed to have found out his secret, a calculated risk of bringing them along to aid in fighting the Ragman. He had been found out, but he might as well go through the motions of drawing this out, if only to try and stave off the inevitable for a little longer.
"I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about; when did I lie to you?"
"Don't play dumb! You lied to us about where you came from; the Ragman told us everything. You aren't from any 'Hidden Lands', you're from some whole new world, some other dimension."
Lina partially stumbled over the unfamiliar word, and Ranma sighed, partially shaking his head in its resting position. Seeing no point in trying to deny it, he nodded once before confessing.
"Yes, it's true; Ryoga and I do indeed come from a different dimension. So what? What's your problem with that?"
"We don't have any problem with that, our problem is that you lied to us about it!"
"What was I supposed to do? Tell me; what would you have done in my situation, hmm? Basically, our homeland was need-to-know information, and you lot didn't need to know. So now what are you going to do?"
"Nothing. I mean, why would we want to do anything? Besides, we do kind of owe you for saving our lives."
Ranma blinked in confusion.
"I saved who when from the what now?"
"Don't play dumb, you saved us from the Ragman, remember? Then the place started collapsing and this portal opened up, that's when you told us to go through, because you were staying behind to find Ryoga. When the portal finished dumping us, you and Ryoga were standing right next to us."
Now Ranma looked really confused, and his confusion was actually genuine.
"I think you must be mistaken; when the Citadel started collapsing I was fighting my way through the Spawning Chamber when a portal opened up. I leapt through it and there I was outside with all of you."
Ranma decided to avoid mentioning that he had already passed through the Spawning Chamber and entered a treasury when the collapse began, as well as to keep quiet on the subject of the numerous magical treasures he had "liberated" and that were now nestling in a cluster of subspace pockets, their collective magical auras beginning to give him something that could be considered a spiritual stomach ache. After all; what they didn't know wouldn't hurt him, right? A part of him wanted this game of Twenty Questions over with so he could get a better look at his new loot, but another was wondering precisely what had happened when they'd been separated.
"I think you better start from the beginning; tell me everything that happened from the moment we got separated from each other in the Citadel…"
A while later, Ranma was nodding his head occasionally as he listened to the Slayers talk about what had happened after they'd gotten separated from him. They were all taking it in turns to do so, which was rather confusing. They'd talked about the ambushes, the Maggot Golem, the living torture chamber and all the other battles they'd fought until they reached the Ragman. Then they started on the battle with the Ragman. When they reached the part where the person they thought was Ranma had saved them, and described the spell he did so with, that was when Ranma snapped to attention.
"How could you have possibly mistaken that spell for one of mine?"
"Well, if you had told us what you were capable of in the first place. So what was it anyway?"
"Not having seen it myself I can only guess, but it sounds like the Doom's Gate spell. Very nasty."
"What does that do?"
"Oh, nothing much, just opens up a one-way portal straight to Oblivion that, if the caster is powerful enough, can be wide enough to swallow an entire city. It's one of the most powerful Necromancy spells, not the most powerful, but definitely more than a kick below the belt. And you thought it was me casting it? I wish."
"What do you mean?"
"There's a small fact of life about Magehood I really didn't want to have to educate you on; acquiring complete mastery of one discipline of magic forever prevents you from being able to learn any of the other disciplines. I could learn your styles of magic, if I had the mind to do so, but Necromancy, Sorcery, Geomancy and Mysticism are forever beyond my reach; in my hands, their spellbooks are about as magical as burnt waffles. But on to more important matters; this doppelganger- who is it, what is it, where did it come from and what in the infinite hells is it planning? Ah well, it's same-sex this time, so at least I don't have to worry about it trying to seduce me."
The Slayers and Ryoga all blinked at that final statement, then their heads rotated to face Ranma, who returned their questioning look with his own, personal, patented "blank but still definitely threatening" gaze.
"Forget it; that story goes with me to the grave."
Lina looked like she wanted to say something, but settled instead for stretching and cracking her neck.
"So now what do we do?"
"I recommend we take it easy and unwind; after what we've been through, we need to relax. This doppelganger can wait until we're all one hundred percent again. Me, personally, I intend to find some breath-mints, or maybe some mouthwash, and then take another bath."
"I got some of those, but what do you want them for?"
Asked Ryoga from his position on the floor, handing the aforementioned packet and bottle over. Rather than answer, Ranma crunched the entire batch of breath-mints down in one mouthful and then drained and swallowed the mouthwash in a single gulp. He eyed the bottle speculatively, then shrugged and ate it as well; heedless of the alarming way it crunched and splintered as he chewed. He gulped audibly and returned the stunned looks of the others with a blank look of his own.
"What was all that for?"
"You're better off not knowing. Let's just say that Mazoku is far from likely to become the next taste-sensation."
He spat a sliver of glass with such force that it embedded itself into the wall before turning and walking away, leaving a group who turned to eye Xellos, who was looking somewhat disconcerted, with speculative gazes. He shrugged and then teleported away, though none of them were particularly sure why he had followed them to Filia's in the first place. They then turned their attention to Ryoga, who shrugged in return and then stretched out flat on the floor, using his backpack as a pillow, muttering as he did so.
"Don't ask me what he was going on about. I don't know, and I don't want to know."
With nothing else to do, Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis and Amelia left to have lunch and maybe enjoy a public bath, whilst Filia decided to do the same here in the comfort of her home.
Several hours later, Ranma was finishing sorting through his assorted treasures in the guest room, lying on his stomach whilst he examined their magical auras in an attempt to decipher their various uses. Whenever he was successful, he applied a small note with the item's name and a brief on its activation and powers before placing it within a special subspace pocket he had created especially for that purpose. By now he was up to the final artefact; an incredibly rare Ultimate Annihilator Key, a mystical staff that was essentially the magical equivalent of a BFG9000. He'd just finished attaching the note to it when he stopped suddenly, his head shooting up and turning in the direction of the window.
"I hear you. It is time we met face-to-face."
Overwhelmed by the urge to answer this mystical summons, a call of a type he had heard only a few times before in Otherworld, Ranma leapt through the window and vanished into the horizon, so distracted that he actually left the UAK out in the open. As fate would have it, that was just the moment when Ryoga managed to find his way into the guest room.
"Ranma? Filia's made some lunch and she wanted to know if you wanted any. Ranma?"
Ryoga's eyes took in the empty room, the open window and the faint shadowy blur that was most likely Ranma disappearing into the forest.
"Now where the heck is he going? Hey, what's this? 'Ultimate Annihilator Key. To use simply point pronged end at enemy and press indicated jewel. Caution; do not point at self, friends or people whose lives are actually of use to you. If target survives, run for your life.' I wonder why he left this out? Or where he got it for that matter? Never mind, how does that saying go? Finder's keepers, losers' weepers? I'll make sure it's kept safe… still; I wonder where he's rushing off to? Maybe I better tell the others. Perhaps he's gone after that 'doppelganger'."
Hmm, Ryoga with an Omega-Grade Weapon of Mass Devastation… anyone else get a sudden ominous premonition of doom? Ranma certainly would have, had he not been so distracted by the Mage's Call echoing inside his brain. Within minutes of having received it he had traced it to a spot deep in the woods. Unsurprisingly, there was a group of Necromancer Minions waiting for him; though rather than trying to fight they chose instead to slink off into the undergrowth. When the Call stopped resounding inside his mind, he knew he had reached his goal. That doppelganger was here, he knew it. He spun as a strangely familiar laugh sounded behind him; how had he managed to avoid his senses?
"Because I am you, Ranma. I know you as well as I know myself, your thoughts are my thoughts, my deeds are yours… ah heck, you know how the spiel goes."
"So where did you come from? I think I would have remembered getting cloned."
"Cloned? Oh no Ranma, I am far more than a mere clone. I'd be quite willing to explain, if…"
"If what?"
"It's been so long since I had a real martial arts battle. I will tell you my story, if you can defeat me in combat. So what do you say?"
Ranma had the disconcerting sight of seeing his grin on another, virtually identical face. The face would have been completely identical to someone else, but Ranma knew his face –though calling him a narcissist would not have been a good move- and could see subtle differences. Maybe it was the strange glint to the eyes, seeming to speak of a fevered mind and twisted soul. Maybe it was the unhealthy pallor of the skin. Or maybe it was the razored teeth and seven-inch long prehensile tongue. But Ranma had to admit, he did like the sound of a chance to enjoy a "friendly" martial arts battle.
"No magic, right?"
"Right. Though Hybrid Techniques are valid. So, what do you say? You in?"
"You're going down clone-boy."
Ranma's eyes glowed as his focussed his aura and frost magic into his hands, his special "Soul Blade" technique allowing him to use this gathered energy to form a pair of solid-ice katanas within his grasp. Though Ranma had never formally trained with them –but since when has Ranma formally trained for anything?- he couldn't help but pick up a few things from Kuno who, though he might possess the IQ of an insect, was still a rather skilled swordsman. Coupled with the fact that these weapons were literally an extension of his self, Ranma could wield them with non-paralleled skill. He settled into a fighting stance as the Other smirked.
"Never figured you for a traditionalist."
Ranma blinked at that as the Other also settled into a fighting position. Before his disbelieving eyes black energy, mana and ki merged into a single substance, began to flow into the Other's hands, coalescing into the form of a war-scythe, its notched, razor-sharp blade heavily spattered with blood-stains, more of which oozed down the thorny black wood of the shaft. Ranma wondered at the way the Other was holding it, then he noticed that a second blade emerged from the bottom of shaft, facing in the opposite direction to the one above. The Other leered at Ranma, his mutilated tongue slithering out to taste the air.
"We fight!"
Ranma smirked back, muscles and sinews tensing to launch him like the living weapon of destruction he was right at the Other.
"Let's go."
In a blur of movement too fast for mere human eyes to follow the identical warriors shot towards each other, their blades clashing against each other with a brutal crescendo that resounded throughout the glade. The Other brought his scythe down in an eviscerating strike, only for Ranma to catch it with his own crossed katanas. In response, the Other brought the lower end of his scythe upward, twisting it around in an attempt to disembowel Ranma with the secondary blade. Ranma blocked it with his left katana and slashed out at the Other with his right, only for the Other to dodge and counter with a powerful kick aimed at Ranma's face, which succeeded in forcing the two apart.
Ranma grinned at the Other, who sneered in return before deliberately licking the blade of his scythe in an attempt to shock Ranma into making a mistake. A failed effort, but worth a shot. His expression not changing an inch, Ranma dissolved the two ice-katanas and formed a single two-handed katana with a blade of pure electricity. In return the Other split his scythe into a pair of kamas, each attached to its relevant wrist by a cluster of viciously barbed chains, which didn't actually loop around his wrists but actually grew into them. The pair then returned to the attack, the clash of metal on metal ringing into the air as, unbeknownst to either of them, the Other's minions encircled them.
Ryoga had finally managed to find his way back to Filia after about half an hour –and if you think that's extreme, remember that this is the guy who took several hours to find his way out of the Cat Café- and had told her about Ranma's disappearance and, with considerable reluctance, had shown her the magical doomsday device he'd found in Ranma's room. As a consequence, he, Filia, Lina, Gourry, Zelgadis and Amelia were all trailing after Ranma, though less from concern about him (or the doppelganger) and more on finding out where they could get UAKs.
It hadn't been easy trying to track Ranma down, but they'd managed it. They finally came to a clearing surrounded by creatures they thought they'd never see again, the sounds of savage battle coming from the clearing and mingling with cries coming from the watching monstrosities. The group prepared to be attacked but, though a few creatures did turn their heads in their direction, they were ignored in favour of whatever was happening in the clearing. Somewhat hurt, they shouldered their way through the crowd until they reached a tall, multi-armed abomination that was simultaneously smoking a cigar, accepting a myriad of goods and writing and handing out betting slips.
"All right freaks and ghouls, place yer bets and place 'em quick! This fight is getting red-hot, I tell ya, I ain't never seen two warriors go at it like this. C'mon people, place yer bets! The Stormlord with ice in his veins or our own malevolent overlord, which of them will stand triumphant over the others broken, bleeding corpse? I accept all known currencies and I'll give great bargains on unknown jink!"
The humans (and Chimera and Gold Dragon) looked at each other with confusion, then resumed forcing their way through the crowd until they could see what was going on. They stopped and stared at the sight of Ranma and his doppelganger fighting in the center of the clearing. As they watched, the Other knocked Ranma to the ground and straddled atop him, trying to force Ranma's electric katana down into Ranma's throat with his kamas.
"I am invincible!"
"You're a loony!"
Grunted Ranma in return, managing to draw his leg up between them and kicking the Other as hard as he could in the stomach, sending the Other flying backwards. In midair he flipped to land on his feet, recreating his scythe and laughing as Ranma himself jumped up and lunged towards him, their blades clashing against each other as Ryoga and the Slayers looked on in confusion, their eyes going from one to the other as they tried to figure out which was which. Ryoga settled for trying to discretely get a good shot with his UAK.
"How do we tell which one's which?"
"We can't. Guess I'll just have to kill them both."
"Ryoga!"
"Just kidding! Just kidding!"
Ryoga waved his hands in a desperate attempt to ward off the looming, hammer-wielding figure of Amelia. Locked in mutual combat, Ranma and the Other's eyes both moved in the direction of Ryoga and the Slayers before returning so they were staring deep into each other's eyes. They nodded as one, then broke apart, dissipating their weaponry back into their auras as the creatures surrounding them let out a chorus of groans of disappointment. Ignoring them, Ranma and the Other grinned and shook hands, pausing only for a few seconds as the Other barked orders at his minions in High Stygian. They ambled away, clustering around the bookie, as Ryoga and the Slayers approached.
"You found him I see, but who is he?"
"More to the point, where did this come from?"
Asked Lina, gesturing to the Ultimate Annihilator Key clutched in Ryoga's grip. A bad move, because quicker than anyone's eyes could see Ranma's hand shot out, whipped the UAK from Ryoga's hand and made it vanish into thin air. Ryoga gaped, then looked at Ranma with a look most identifiable as that of a little kid who's just had a prized, or at least considerably desired, item plucked from their grasp. Ranma ignored him, turning his attention to Lina, as the Other smirked at Ryoga's displeasure.
"Last question first; none of your business. First question last; I don't really know, he was just about to fill me in, weren't you?"
"Huh? Who, me? Oh, yeah, I guess so. For starters, I'm not a clone. I'm as much the original Ranma Saotome as you are."
"Wait, how is that possible?"
Asked Lina, the Other turning to her and smirking before shaking his head and returning his attention to Ranma.
"You know of parallel dimensions, do you not? You and I share the same basic reality, but our paths diverged at one key point. Can you guess what?"
"Otherworld."
"Yesss, Otherworld. Whereas you chose to follow Stratos and become an Elementalist, I chose a different path."
"And what was that path?"
Asked Gourry, not particularly disappointed when the others, including Ranma and the Other, facefaulted; even he recognized it was a pretty dumb question. Pulling himself back to his feet, the Other seemed to direct his words especially to Gourry.
"I chose to follow Charnel, god of strife, god of slaughter, god of death. From him, I learned to take strength from suffering, to nourish myself on pain and agony. I am Martial Artist, and I am Necromancer, and in both arts I am lethal."
"That said and done, why are you here? I sincerely doubt it was just to find me."
"Actually, it was just to find you."
The Other stood there and waited patiently for the others to pick themselves off the floor. Ranma shook his head in disbelief, looked the Other straight in the eye and then spoke a single word.
"Why?"
"Some time I ago, I experienced an… 'accident'… whilst travelling through my Altar. I ended up emerging from the Altar of another of our parallel selves; one who dedicated himself to James. We fought, initially, but once we calmed down we began to talk. It was most… enlightening. Since then, I have travelled to parallel dimensions twice more, meeting two more versions of us. One a Mystic, the other a Sorcerer."
"Why?"
"For one simple reason; companionship. You know as well as I that we are unique, alone in the cosmos. I have worked to forge a network of knowledge between us, so that we may communicate to each other and make use of our collective strengths. And tell me truly; does not a part of you find the idea of finally being able to talk to someone who truly understands you an attractive one?"
Ranma didn't speak, he simply nodded, at which the Other reached out his right hand, first two fingers extended and all others curled into the palm, and touched Ranma's forehead in a curiously formal gesture. As Ryoga and the Slayers watched, completely clueless as to what was happening, Ranma repeated the gesture. Their eyes closed for a few seconds, then opened as they stepped away from each other in perfect synchronicity. They bowed formally to each other, and then turned in the opposite direction to each other, the Other starting to walk away before calling over his shoulder to Ranma.
"So, we'll see you there?"
Ranma nodded and the Other disappeared in the same direction his creations had gone, leaving Ryoga and the Slayers more than a little confused.
"Okay, what the heck was all that about? What just happened?"
"Simply an invitation to join him and my 'other selves' at his home for a while. Speaking of home, you and I really should return to Nerima."
"So what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
Ranma and Ryoga blinked and then turned to Lina with identical looks of confusion on their faces.
"What? Was it something I said?"
"Why would you want to come with us?"
"Why not? We've explored a lot of this world and, frankly, blasting bandits is getting kinda old. So I thought we should come with you; it'll be fun to see a whole new world."
Ranma and Ryoga didn't speak, neither of them trusting themselves to do so, but their minds shared identical images of exactly what could happen if Lina and her friends showed up in Nerima. Slowly, Ranma shook his head.
"I really don't think that would be such a good idea… I'll tell you what though, we'll stop off in Dalara Peaks, and from there we'll see about slowly introducing you to our world. But first, who wants to come?"
After a few minutes of conversation, only Filia opted to remain behind, explaining that she had her shop, Gravos, Jilias and Val's egg to take care off. Ranma nodded and watched as she left before turning his attention to the others.
"Okay now, stand where I show you and don't move. Or speak. One tiny distraction on my part and we could end up scattered across the core of a sun. Get me Ryoga?"
Ryoga blushed as Ranma directed his attention to him. Duly warned, they gathered around Ranma as he began the invocation. Had anyone been there to see, they would have witnessed the group's image waver, fade and then disappear without a trace.
Okay, roughly four and a half thousands words, and absolutely nothing happens. So what sort of chaos do you think the Slayers could cause in Nerima? How would the Tendos and the Saotomes take if Ranma's "other selves" decided to pop in for a visit? Here's hoping that the next chapter comes off- though if people are as sick of this series as they seem to be I might not bother to write any more.