Chapter 9: Black and Blue
Unknown location, Unknown country
September 20th, 2008
4:34 P.M
Ranma wavered back to the world in a scream of black and piercing white. His eyes burned with the intensity, the singular pain of this, this horrible white shaft of pure pain that completely took over his entire being. Then his vision improved and noticeably subtle shadows began to form. They moved and bounced and exploded in dark pinwheels of movement, straining Ranma's eyes
Then, the darkness came once again
Hours later
Ranma awoke with a start and suddenly wish he hadn't. His eyes had opened to an explosion of color and light and awakened him. The only problem was, Ranma was looking at what he believed at the time to be the ugliest face in the world, full of scars and two blank, staring eyes. The rest was, thankfully, hidden by a large swath of black silk
The world was silent. The man, however, was not. His face took on a demonic appearance and began spitting out words of some kind that Ranma could not hear. The man moved away, back to another man who was holding an AK-47 steadily in his direction. Minutes later, Ranma's ears began to ring and the sound gradually came back
The man was instantly upon him. He began to speak in thickly accented English
"We know who you are. You are American spy, sent to save the minister! There is no escape! Tell us everything!"
Ranma began laughing, crazily, faster and louder, until his lungs cried for air even as he laughed. The man eventually slapped him across the face
"What is so funny?!" the man yelled out
"You-you sound like such an idiot!" Ranma gasped out and continued laughing
The man slapped him again and again until Ranma's eyesight went red
September 22, 2008
Once again, Ranma awoke. His body felt stiff and uncooperative. He saw that he was tightly bound to a metal chair. His arms were tied behind him, so were his legs. However, his captors had made one fatal mistake, which was apparent immediately. They had failed to actually tie his hands up, a definite advantage for him
Soon enough, the man in the black face-cover returned
"You will tell me everything!!" He shouted
"What, no 'Good morning dear, how was your evening'"? Ranma shot back
The man slapped him back
"We need counseling dear! You keep hitting me!" Ranma cracked
Laughter echoed all the way down the hallway. The man blushed in anger and ran out
Ranma had won his first victory against his captors
September 27th, 2008
Ranma was a mass of beaten skin and bruises. His captors had kept us a constant barrage of questioning, then a round of beating or torture, followed by more questioning. Bit by bit, however, Ranma had been able to loosen the knots around his hands. He was now able to slip one of his hands out completely. In the next hour or so when another guard came, Ranma would escape!
Soon enough, the guard came
"Hey, I'm really thirsty, man, can I get a drink?" Ranma croaked out
The guard shuffled in, grumbling something about prisoners and water supply. It was the last thing he said. Ranma grabbed him by the neck and snapped it. The guard's body slipped down onto the floor but Ranma. In one swift movement, Ranma grabbed his knife and cut the rope. He was free from the chair, but not the entire facility. In fact, he didn't even know where he was. But he would have to start somewhere and there was no time like the present!
Ranma creaked the door open slowly; just enough to stick his head out and gaze around. The hallway was clear! He slipped out of the room and padded down the hall. Soon enough, there came the sounds of raucous laughter and play echoed through the enclosed space
"And then she says to the bartender, that's not a chicken, that's hummus!" a voice said
Deep booming laughter followed this statement. Ranma didn't laugh. Redding had already told him this one and frankly, it wasn't that funny. He continued down the hallway, checking at every corner. Security seemed rather lax at the moment, thank god. Ranma passed by an open door, but not before glancing in and seeing exactly what he didn't want to see; the president's body was crumpled in a bathtub of water, his body badly burned, the blackened skin nearly falling off the charred bone. The terrorists had shoved him into the bathtub and electrocuted him until he died of the burns. It was a painful and horrible death. There was nothing Ranma could do for him anymore, not even show his respects. He had to get out of here now!
Ranma again went down the hallway. He could almost see a bright light at the end of the tunnel! Yes! It was true! There was indeed an exit! Running wildly now, Ranma burst out into a blazing sun that blinded his vision for a few seconds. He tripped over a rock and was sent wildly tumbling over the hot desert sand over and over. Finally, his descent stopped, his vision returned, and he saw for the first time that he was actually in a mountain range. The cave was on a small plateau above him, a dark sodden hole of blackness. Ranma quickly picked himself up and hurried down into the shadow of a small mountain looming over him, to begin scouting the territory ahead.
He was in luck. There was a small village only two clicks ahead of him and yes, there were indeed cars for use. When night fell, he thought wildly, he would escape from this dreaded hell hole! Finally!
Hours later
Night had finally fallen on the small town and Ranma came down from his rocky perch to get a car. The night scene was not exactly buzzing, thank goodness. He was able to safely approach a vehicle with no problems. The sedan itself was in pretty good condition, with only a little bit of the paint rusting off and the windows not too chipped or with too many bullet holes. The door was unlocked for some reason, but Ranma didn't stop to count his blessing. He quickly opened the door and climbed in, ripped out a panel and proceeded to hotwire the car. It started with a dry cough that escalated into a roar as the car's engine found the fuel it needed to start. Stepping on the gas hurriedly, Ranma shot away like a bullet, straining the engine as fast as it could go. The car bounced up and down the dirt road like a bug as the speedometer registered 70 miles per hour and increasing as fast as it could go
The night surrounded the dark sedan, the headlights cutting the night like a sword. The landscape perfectly molded, shadows upon shadows upon shadows in a perfect circle, a natural poetry that begun many years ago and would never end
Of course, Ranma didn't notice any of this as he sped by as fast as the little car could go. He was only worried with getting onto one of the highways and running into a U.S patrol. With any luck, he shouldn't have to wait for too long
Two hours later
Suddenly, Ranma woke up from his doze and realized he was heading smack dab for a concrete wall at a speed way too fast for such collisions. He spun the steering wheel and narrowly avoided the deadly thing, only to find himself face to face with a Humvee, thickly painted
There was a sickening crunch and then darkness
Wow, talk about a cliffhanger, huh? I have to admit, the last chapter did end unexpectedly, even for me! And I'm the Author! I know this isn't the longest chapter, but I'm taking a little time off of Splinter Ranma to work on my OTHER fanfic. That one hasn't had any of my attention lately. For fans of it, get ready!
