Chapter 4: Revenge

Ranma lay on the hospital bed in one of the clinic's empty rooms listening to the rain outside. He had left the Tendo residence in an effort to get some sleep. The problem was that his Mom and the Tendos were not there, which meant some of the local crazies (specifically Shampoo and Ukyo) had seen this as a great opportunity to stake out the house. They were not attempting to break in, but were rapping on various windows and doors in an attempt to make him come out to talk to them about his "feelings". This was despite the fact that he had yelled at the top of his lungs that he had *nothing* to say to them and the only "feelings" he had for them was annoyance! Thank heavens Kodachi and Tatewaki were out of town, or he'd probably have them as well. After two hours of this, he admitted to himself that he could either retreat or beat the crap out of them. Despite the regular sparring he did with Akane, he was still reluctant to hit girls (at least until they struck first anyway), so he grabbed the keys Tofu had left with him and snuck out through the rain to the clinic.

There were no patients in the Clinic this evening, so the nurse's had gone home and everything was dead quiet. Had there been someone here, Ranma would have just let them know he was using the clinic as a hiding place – they would have accepted that readily enough (so long as he wasn't hiding with Akane – there were limits, not that he (or Akane) would have pushed them). The Doc was away at a "medical conference", but had given Ranma a key in case the young martial artist needed a private retreat for any reason.

"What else do I have to say to them?" he wondered. "Which part of 'I don't love you' is unclear? I pretty sure the words 'We are never getting married, ever!' or 'Go away!' should say I'm not interested. Are they just so sure of themselves that I won't be able to resist them if they are persistent? Maybe the issue is I haven't told them I love Akane. Of course, I'm afraid that they will immediately attack Akane then. Akane can probably take them now, even if they attack together, but I'd rather Akane not have to deal with this at all."

He also wanted to know how the word got out that he would be alone. He hadn't even told Hiroshi or Daisuke (otherwise they would have tried to talk him into hosting a party). He supposed Yuka and Sayuri knew, but the two were with Akane at a young women's spa retreat and they certainly wouldn't have told any of the Fiancée Brigade. As much as Nabiki enjoyed busting his chops, she had long ago stopped causing Ranma this kind of trouble. Besides, Nabiki was with the three girls at the retreat too, and she would never create such chaos unless she could watch it. His Mom didn't talk to anyone but the Tendo sisters (she was the Chaperone on the trip since Kasumi had to visit a friend up on Hokkaido), so she wasn't the leak. Kasumi kept everyone's secrets, so she wasn't the leak either.

His best guess was Soun (who happened to be on the west coast for a training seminar). His father-in-law-to-be was sometimes careless and occasionally spoke to Genma. After all, Genma worked for the Department of Public Works too, but not directly for Soun (more like three levels down in another section). Ranma wished Soun had broken all ties with Genma, but the two men had a lot of history together and it was hard to just ignore something like that (something Ranma understood very well). Ranma knew they still played Shogi every Wednesday night in a bar downtown. Ranma was also sure Kasumi knew, but neither Ranma nor Kasumi chose to take Soun to task for his weekly game. As long as Soun stood firm with not letting Genma come near the dojo (or Nodoka's medicines more to the point), that was good enough.

That was the one thing Ranma could not forgive his father. Ranma had been abused by Genma all his life under the guise of training, but nobody was allowed to touch Nodoka. Ranma's Mom was trying so hard to make-up for the past. She was taking her medicines religiously. She had stopped carrying the sword even though Ranma knew it caused her distress. She also stopped carrying the damn contract around as well, saying that Ranma had nothing to fear from it – she was the sole judge and she had passed judgment. On his 20th birthday, the contract was to be destroyed and that was that. Nodoka had also asked Doctor Tofu to explain to Ranma exactly what an obsessive-compulsive disorder was, so the lad knew what his Mom was dealing with – she figured this would further free Ranma in case she had a relapse. Ranma knew this exposure of weakness had cost her.

It was interesting to watch his Mom now though. She was still the same woman, but she seemed happier now. There was no longer a cloud hanging over her head and she was less self-absorbed. She had always liked the Tendo sisters and adored Akane especially, but now she was determined to "mother" them all including Kasumi. This occasionally caused eyes to roll (and laughter from whichever two sisters were not being targeted at the time), but the three sisters took it all with good humor. Nodoka was careful not to overstep bounds and never contradicted Kasumi. She also knew the sisters well enough when to back off and made a point of not trying to replace Kimiko and not intruding on the special bonds between the three. But otherwise, she played the role of "Auntie" to the hilt and was obviously having a lot of fun with it.

Of course, her son was her favorite target, regardless of which gender Ranma showed up in, but Ranma always enjoyed being the center of attention, so this didn't bother him much (even if the sisters were laughing at him). He was getting use to the maternal hugs, and survived the "facts of life" talk with minimal embarrassment (he got the lecture twice – once for each side). His mother had some excellent advice on surviving certain days on the calendar (not everything that worked for Kasumi and Akane worked for Ranko). Not everything was perfect – Nodoka felt she should hound Ranma about his school grades. Ranma was happy with passing, but Nodoka wanted him to aim a little higher. His Mom pestered him more than Akane did on the subject. But, all-in-all, Ranma was happy to have a functioning mother in his life.

Of course, with things being so good, he was getting paranoid. Life didn't usually work so well for him. Everyone in the dojo was happy with him: Akane was happy with their relationship, his Mom was happy with his behavior, Kasumi was happy with his level of responsibility, the Doc was happy with his study progress, and Mr. Tendo ("Call me 'Soun' lad") was happy that Ranma was committed to the dojo (and Akane – but he didn't push that right now). Even Nabiki was happy with her verbal sparring partner. So were those outside the dojo who were important to him (Ryoga, his school friends, Mousse, Konatsu, Shizuka, and Hideo). Granted, Ranma was working on trying to make people happy, but the fact that it was working (and they were trying to reciprocate) kept surprising him – he kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Oh well, he might as well enjoy it while it lasted. Then again, not everything was perfect. He still had two idiot suitors present ("C'mon – I mean even Cologne has thrown in the towel! She let's Mousse spar at the dojo now!"). He also had a steady stream of love letters arriving from both Kuno's which was driving him nuts. All the letters mentioned that their uncle was telling preposterous lies about Ranma/Ranko and Akane. They insisted Toshio Kuno was going so far as to intercept the mail and fill it with more lies – the Kuno uncle had contacted both Akane and Ranma formally (through a lawyer and overnight delivery) and told them exactly what he was saying, asking the young couple to back up the truth in any manner possible. Ranma and Akane had started by scrawling short polite messages ("I'm sorry, but I don't love you", "Ranko is an alias, I am Ranma", etc.) on the love letters and sending them back. Toshio had been sending checks to cover postage and gift certificates for night's out for putting up with the nonsense. However, as the letters continued, both teenagers were getting short tempered about the whole thing – Ranma was now writing "GO AWAY!" while Akane was mailing back copies of legal documents defining stalking and criminal punishments applicable. The letters from Toshio were turning into pleas for patience – the Uncle had gone so far as to settle the Dojo lawsuit favorably, but even he admitted that he was going to have to take away mail privileges very shortly.

Ranma continued to listen to the soft sound of the rain. He no longer disliked the rain as much as he use to. While he was not ecstatic to be a shape-shifter for the rest of his life, he was getting use to the idea, so much so that he was no longer unhappy about it either. At least his other form was pretty and athletic. Most importantly, his other half was human (which put him ahead of a lot of the Jusenkyo crowd). Mastering the art of switching clothes during the shape change also helped (and that fact that his family and friends treated him the same no matter which shape he wore). Truth be known, he no longer disliked the rain at all. He had many happy memories of sitting on the back porch with Akane watching the rain fall. Depending on how the wind was blowing, he might have been male or female but he was always happy to be with Akane.

This caused him to reflect on his Tomboy. She had only left with the others early this morning, but he easily missed her more than his Mom and the others combined. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen!" he thought to himself. It bothered him a lot not to have her near. This was the first separation for any real length of time since the events at Jusendo (he suppressed a shudder here). He knew a couple had to normally spend some time apart, so when she told him about the Women's Spa Retreat, he encouraged her to go saying he would miss her, but it was only for a few days; he wasn't going anywhere. Still, the fact that he couldn't check up on her ate at him. "I'm being stupid," he told himself. "Mom's there to watch her; so is Nabiki. And it's not like she can't defend herself. I know where the Fiancée Brigade is, so it's not like they are going to cause her any issues." Then he smirked to himself. "Ah, I'm just missing my 'Good Night' kiss. That's what's wrong with me." Still, the rationalizations didn't help the urge to hold her and keep her safe…

Finally, the soft noise of the rain was starting to work on Ranma. It was peaceful. Slowly, that peace stole over him once more, allowing him to drift off into sleep. His last thought as sleep claimed him was hoping that his Tomboy would sleep well too.

Genma watched Ranma slowly settle into sleep. So far, things were going exactly to plan. He had leaked to Shampoo and Ukyo that Ranma was in the dojo alone tonight, knowing that they would drive him out. He had figured that Ranma would either go to the canal bridge or seek shelter elsewhere depending on the weather. Given the rain, Genma guessed that Ranma would go to the Clinic and that Ranma would have keys. He also figured the lad would not intrude on Tofu's living space without permission, but would set himself up in one of the empty rooms. Genma had been in the Clinic about an hour and a half before Ranma and had made sure to oil the hinges on all the doors and to find out where the squeaky boards were. The part-time panda now crept into the room, wrapped in the Umisen-Ken. Slowly, he crept up to Ranma's bed and uncorked the potion. This would be perfect.

Carefully, he poured the potion on his son, and watched as the boy began to glow. He was not surprised to see that Ranko was now in the bed, but she seemed to be turning fitfully, as if in some pain. The girl's head began turning back and forth, in side-to-side motions. She seemed to be gasping in pain too. Then a growling sound started to emanate from her throat. Her back arched and her mouth popped open. As Genma watched, the girl's teeth began to lengthen and thicken (especially the canines), startling him. Ranko's eyes now popped open, the blue orbs showing pain and confusion. Slowly, the pupils began to narrow and lengthen and the irises grew, until two azure cat-eyes stared unseeing at Genma.

Ranma's father began to back away slowly from the bed. Ranko convulsed, flipping and rolling over onto her stomach, so that her head was now closest to the door. The eyes were closed in pain again. A shadow seemed to rise from her skin, engulfing her clothes and enclosing the girl in a dark blue-black shape. The shape began to thicken, hiding the girl within it. Genma watched as paws buried hands, and cat ears appeared on the head. In pain, the shape stretched and seemed to grow. With horror, Genma noted that the head had changed and was now sporting a powerful muzzle with those huge teeth. A tail sprouted from the backside, and the legs thickened, becoming hugely muscled. The paws were tremendous. Finally, the shape rose from the bed and burst out with a brilliant blue aura. The great cat opened two vivid blue eyes and stared at Genma. A low growl began to emanate from the creature's chest. It was extremely obvious that the great jungle cat was not fooled by the Umisen-Ken.

"Oh my god…" Genma said as the cat stepped off the bed towards him and the growl became a snarl. It was not Genma's imagination that the great cat seemed to grow even larger upon hearing his words… (1)

The local police precinct was in chaos. It had started with an alarm at the Ono Clinic. The officers arriving on the scene had found the front doors smashed open from the inside. There were now two officers guarding it until Mrs. Shimizu and her husband could make it secure again. Then reports began circulating about some sort of gaki screaming its head off all over town. People reported the shouts of terror, but could never see anything and were afraid. There were also reports of the shadows coming alive and a cold mysterious wind that would spring out of nowhere. No one was hurt, and very little actual damage seem to occur (a few small items blown over), but it was definitely freaking out the populace. Finally, there were large explosions sounding throughout the district, but there were only sounds – no light and no damage.

"What the hell is going on?" Sergeant Imia muttered to himself as he stood in the squad room. He had been woken by the Inspector and ordered to man the station. The Inspector was out and about, trying to get a handle on the situation. The Inspector had reported getting caught in two windstorms and hearing an explosion, but couldn't locate a source. All of a sudden, there was a "BOOM" sounding from three blocks over. "Takata!" Imia yelled. "Grab two men and go find out what that was!" As the three men ran out the door, Imia was grimly grateful that there were no cowards on his staff…

Cologne was up on her roof trying to track the disturbance. She had ordered Mousse to drag Shampoo back to the restaurant. When he returned, he had Ukyo with him as well. The Elder ordered all three to hide in the basement until sunrise. The teenagers did so without complaint – they had seen the fear on Genma Saotome's face as he tore by them. They had also felt the Anger hiding in the shadows slip by them. Mousse had felt a terrible Power pass close to him, but the two young women felt something additional – a warning to stay away or they would be next.

Cologne shuddered as she heard more screaming. It sounded like the damned being tortured in hell. Although he didn't deserve it, she began to pray for the soul of Genma Saotome…

Sometime around 3AM, a wind began to blow through Nerima and seemed to carry the screams, explosions, and the atmosphere of fear away to the north. The shadows no longer moved of their own accord, and the cold gusts of wind stopped completely. People stopped talking about a gaki and sought their beds. Cologne stayed up on the roof and kept praying.

The morning rounds were underway at Wako General Hospital. Everyone was buzzing about the man who was admitted just after sunrise. The worst they ever seen some had said. Others called it a miracle that the patient had survived. The local police were trying to identify the car crash the man was reportedly in, but they had their doubts that the story the patient told was true – anyone who looked like that after a car crash should have been dead. Besides, those cuts looked more like rune carvings rather than random slashes caused by a collision with a truck carrying glass. Also, the story didn't explain all the puncture wounds and the fact that some of the skin on the patient was half-flayed. The doctors believed the man was part of some crazy cult – all the slashes were deep enough to cause maximum pain, but shallow enough not to be lethal. How else had none of the major arteries been hit? The patient denied the accusations though and insisted that the police should be looking for a truck missing its load of plate glass.

Genma sat wrapped completely in bandages. The pain medications the doctors gave him worked to some extent – so long as he didn't move. He had refused the sleep medicines though. The doctors had stitched up what they could, wrapped the half-flayed skin, set the broken bones, and then had to leave him be. Genma knew he would heal quickly enough (it would only take a week or so; he was who he was), but he also knew the pain would never completely go away. That's what the c-c-cats had promised him – all eighty-seven of them that his child had vomited up explosively, one at a time. Each c-c-cat had arrived with a booming noise, a blast of cold air, glowing eyes, and a vendetta. One-by-one, they had inflicted their punishment with bites and claws. Genma couldn't even defend himself – his hands passed right through the ghostly apparitions (he had actually broken a number of his own bones in his efforts to strike at the cats). Once the animal was satisfied with the punishment, it returned to the glowing p-p-panther and merged with the great c-c-cat. Then another c-c-cat would shoot from the p-p-panther's mouth and Genma would face his next tormentor.

"This is what you did to your son!" the c-c-cats cried. "Even now, there is no justice. We can only punish you once, but you threw him in the pit four times! The child that you tortured has forbidden your death, even though you killed us! But you will remember us, each and every one of us. We will carve our names into your soul, and whenever you sleep, we will be there in the back of your mind, crying for the lives you took from us. Every time you see a cat, you will remember us," they promised.

And so it was done. Genma sighed; he finally understood what Ranma had gone through. Genma now was terrified of c-c-cats just like his son. He had all the downsides of C-C-Cat Fu and none of the upside – no c-c-cat would ever share its spirit with him. To top it off, he was a marked man – any c-c-cat that did see him immediately attacked. He also feared sleep, knowing that the dreams would be waiting for him.

"Damn it!" he thought. "Why is everything conspiring against me?"

Footnotes:

(1) The Cat Fist Perfected was introduced in "Brothers", Chapter 11. This version of the Cat Fist occurs when every one of the cat spirits sharing Ranma's spirit merge with Ranma's psyche, something that happens only if all the spirits agree on a common goal.