A M O K A Ranma ― fanfic by Pete Steele Disclaimers: 1) As you all probably know already, the characters in this fanfic (except for one J) are the creation and intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi, the rights to distribution and marketing of anything Ranma-related are held by lots of companies all over the world, none of which I am associated with or contacted before writing this. 2) This is the first fanfic of any kind I have ever written, and English is not my native language, so there will be a few mistakes and stuff that will probably remind you of really bad translations of Japanese video games. 3) As for the time frame of this little story, well, itīs supposed to take place sometimes during the end of the first or the beginning of the second season. One reason for this is that I havenīt had a chance to see more of the series yet. This means that most of the things that happened during the series, the movies and the OVAs will never happen. 4) I guess this could be considered a "dark" fiction. Thereīs death, and some characters might not be the way you know and love them. If you canīt handle this, please donīt read this little story. 5) Yes, Shampoo doesnīt speak funny in this story. Why? Because it would have harmed the story. But I definitely wanted to have her in here. Think of it as an alternate universe where she speaks perfect Japanese. 6) Please donīt write me that my English sucks or that I should burn in hell for ruining your favourite anime characters. For anything else, you can contact me via pete.steele@gmx.at. 7) Come on, without bad fanfics like this, you couldnīt appreciate the great work of other, more gifted authors. So, be grateful and send me some money. 8) No, Iīm not planning on running amok or killing myself. Even though I do lots of really stupid things all of the time and never learn, this would be too stupid even for me. Please donīt kill yourself, or other people. Thank you. Still awake? On with the story... A M O K "The mind is a wonderful thing to waste" - T-shirt slogan, Amsterdam, 1990s Ranma was sitting in the dining room at the Tendo dojo. "What will happen to this place now?" he asked himself. Surely nobody would want to live or work here anymore. They would probably tear the whole building down and open a park where it once stood, with a small memorial shrine maybe. As he was thinking, he was surprised that he was able to clearly think at all. "Is it like this, being completely insane? If Iīm insane, how can I realize that I am? Or maybe... just the fact that I have no regrets... that I donīt feel sorry... is enough to label me a madman. Do I really have no regrets?" Just to avoid thinking about what would happen next, he tried hard to remember what had happened earlier that morning. Actually, it all started a long time ago... but what he had done that morning was what finally changed his life forever. But he would have preferred if there hadnīt been a reason to change his life... at least not in this way. Getting the guns hadnīt been all that hard. Tokyo was a huge city; it was just a matter of meeting the right people. A friend of a friend knew somebody who had connections to the Yakuza and, more importantly, needed some cash quickly and didnīt ask too many questions. Ranma even had to rely on the gangsterīs advice regarding which guns to pick, since he hadnīt ever held a gun in his hand before. He decided to buy a pump-action shotgun and two handguns, a small .38 revolver and a big .44 semi-auto, as well as a box of ammo for each gun. All of Ranmaīs money was gone after that purchase, but he wouldnīt need it anymore. If he had been able to think clearly this morning, he could have thought of enough reasons to kill everybody in the house. Most of all his father, who had never in his whole life asked Ranma about what he wanted, who always pressed his own ideas and plans, no matter how stupid they were, on his only son. And the others... he could have come up with a reason why they had to die... if he had cared about things like that in his state of mind. Ranma would have considered all of this that fateful morning, but he had hardly slept for weeks, and if he had managed to sleep a little, he was tortured by nightmares that instantly woke him up. Now that all was said and done, he was feeling peaceful and felt that he could sleep forever. But first, he had to think clearly, now that he was able to, about what had happened and what would happen next. He was so lost in thought that he didnīt even notice the policeman that looked through the window after nobody answered the door. The officers couldnīt believe the girl that had come to the police station earlier and told them what happened. Even after she told them not to, they sent just one single officer to the Tendo house to check what was going on. When the officer looked through the window, however, he could see that the girl hadnīt been lying. He walked back to his car very slowly and asked for assistance. The chief was informed and, after long consideration, ordered a SWAT team. Some police cars arrived at the Tendosī place and began to block all the streets surrounding the house, being very careful not to let anybody get close to the dojo. It would take the Special Weapons And Tactics guys a few more minutes to get there, and the regular cops had been advised to stay away of the building, an order which most of them were glad to follow. While Tokyo was a large city with its crime problems, most of the guys on patrol never had witnessed something like this in their area. There have always been a lot of complaints about the Tendo family and their guests, and most of the officers patrolling this area had agreed that they were a bunch of lunatics, but not of the dangerous kind. This is why they couldnīt believe the hysteric girlīs story at first. Now the policemen werenīt thinking about all the crazy stories they had heard about the Tendos, however, as they were busy stopping cars and pedestrians and told them to wait or use another route to their destination. They were so busy that none of them noticed a little cat walking across the street and, through an open window, into the house nobody was allowed to enter. The cat walked up the stairs and into the bathroom. There she jumped into the tub and spend almost a minute trying to turn on the hot water with her little paws. After a few drops of water had trickled out of the faucet, a hand reached out to close it again. The naked girl got out of the tub and found a white bathrobe under the sink. She dressed and walked down the stairs, just as quickly and silent as she did before, in her other form. "Ranma?" She was surprised by her own fearlessness. --- Shampoo had been at the café when officer Katsura stormed in. Katsura-san was a friendly elderly man and good friends with her great-grandmother. He came to the Nekohanten almost every day, first to make sure that the old lady didnīt have any trouble with the occasional street thugs looking for a quick buck and later, after he had learned that she could protect herself well enough, for a quick breakfast and a chat with the old woman. They had become good friends, to the point where he talked openly about his work, even things that shouldnīt be told to outsiders. This morning, however, when he stopped by to pick up a cup of coffee, he seemed very upset and nervous and didnīt want to talk at all. Shampoo somehow had felt that something was wrong with Ranma, and the officer finally whispered what had happened earlier. The amazon rushed out of the café as fast as she could, followed by the sad and worried looks of Cologne. On the way, she found a bucket full of rainwater standing in front of a house and decided that using her cat-form would make it easier for her to get past the cops. --- "Shampoo?" She heard him respond with the voice of a stranger. In all the time she had known him, even if he was frustrated or sad, there always was a happy, careless undertone in his voice. It was gone now. "You shouldnīt be here. Itīs dangerous, you know? Because of me..." "Ranma..." Now was the point where Shampoo realized that she hadnīt thought about what to say to him at all. She also realized that saying something wrong could have grave consequences. But she had faith in her fiancée and also in herself to find the right words. "So you already know what happened here?" "I know what the police knows. But I wanted to hear it from you - an explanation, maybe..." "Iīm not sure there is an explanation. I just know that I felt I had to do what I did. Now Iīm not so sure anymore, but itīs too late. What else do you want to hear from me?" Shampoo walked over to where he was sitting motionless on the floor. She sat down opposite him. He did not try to avoid looking at her, he actually seemed glad that there was someone to talk to... and glad that it was her. "If you canīt tell me why... how about telling me what happened? But Iīm afraid we donīt have much time left, the police will be here any minute. And Iīm talking about the heavily armed, no nonsense kind of policemen. They probably wonīt try to talk to you, so maybe it would be better to go somewhere else?" "No, I belong right here. If you want to leave, I understand. Iīd actually advise you to, it could get dangerous around here." --- Officer Katsura had been sure that his nervousness would disappear once the SWAT team would arrive, but now that he had to open the barricades for the two black vans he didnīt feel any better. He had a really bad feeling about this. He knew that guy Ranma, he had met him at the café a few times and he had really liked him. He was such a friendly and energetic kid, much like he had been when he was young. Katsura was always amused about how Ranma used to quarrel with the old lady, even if he never really understood what they were talking about. He heard something about a curse once and that Cologne was supposed to have an antidote or something... maybe the boy was crazy all along. But this was not right; he knew the kid and they would not let him try to talk to him. Instead they sent in strangers who were definitely well trained in situations like this, maybe even in psychology. But they wouldnīt see Ranma as a nice kid in whose life something had gone terribly wrong, but instead as a danger to society that had to be removed. In fact, he was feeling even more nervous than before when he watched the policemen with bulletproof vests and submachine guns jump out of the cars. Yes, he definitely had a very bad feeling about this. He wished he were somewhere else. --- Despite the situation they were in, Shampoo smiled. "Now that you made me curious? No way. Iīll listen to your story. Maybe I canīt give you any good advice... maybe I wonīt even understand it, but I came here to talk to you, and thatīs what I will do." "Alright, fine." Ranma seemed much more relaxed now, and even felt that he could think clearly for the first time in weeks. "I killed my father. I had wanted to do this for a long time, but there has been some kind of fuse... some kind of switch inside my head that would prevent me from doing him any harm, or even thinking about it. A few weeks ago, that fuse must have blown... All the hatred I held back for so long finally took over. I began to hate the others too, even Kasumi... even... Akane...." "Why did you... why do you hate him so much?", Shampoo asked. "You know of all the crazy ītraining methodsī he always came up with. The neko-ken thing, the Jusenkyo incident... and believe me, there was much more you wouldnīt want to hear about. But the worst thing was that he would never let me live the life I wanted, he would always expect me to do everything his way. Thatīs much worse than all the physical injuries Iīve suffered from. I mean, I always wanted to be a great martial artist, and I think he has been pretty successful in training me, but... I never had a childhood. There was only training and travelling all the time. He even left my mother for that. Maybe he was actually thinking that it was all for my best, but he would never listen to what others had to say. Never..." "But wasnīt there any other way? Anything else to do? You could have left him and the Tendos, right?" Ranma thought about this for just a second, then answered, "And what should I have done after that? I couldnīt earn money with anything else but fighting, right? But I guess more than that it was my pride that prevented me from running away. I was always sure that I could pull this off, right to the end. I mean, letīs be honest, I could have arranged an īaccidentī or something, but I never thought of that either. I could never have harmed my father while I was... able to think clearly... while I still was myself." "And the others? How about Akane?" "Akane... I guess I once was in love with her. I really donīt know how she felt about me. There were times when I had the impression she really cared about me. Then there were times when I felt like her punching bag, like she only needed me to blame me for everything that went wrong in her life. I never knew whether that was just her personality, or if she enjoyed playing with my feelings. If we would have married, like our fathers had decided... I donīt know how that would have affected things... if that would have changed anything... but the bottom line is, it would never have worked. Just another broken marriage, maybe with children whoīd have to suffer from it." "And..." "Nabiki, she probably never cared about anyone else. She would have sold her soul for a few yen. Even my curse was not something she worried or cared about, just another business opportunity. Soun... he wasnīt a bad guy after all... but he could have changed my fatherīs mind. He was somebody my old man would listen to, but he never managed to tell him how wrong he was... maybe he didnīt even realize it. Kasumi, while I always liked her, well, everybody did... maybe she could have changed something, she could have talked to Soun or directly to Genma, maybe he would have listened. But she never said anything... maybe she was afraid... maybe she just didnīt see what was wrong, or maybe she thought it was none of her business..." A loud voice could be heard from the outside. "This is the police. We have this house surrounded. Lay down your weapons and come out through the front door slowly, with your hands in the air. If you cooperate, we will not harm you and you will be granted a fair trial." Shampoo looked at Ranma rather shocked, but he didnīt even seem to care. He kept talking to her in a calm, quiet voice. "But I still have not told you what happened, Shampoo. Well, I canīt remember. All I know is that Kasumi must have gotten away, because... well... her body isnīt here. Probably Akane attacked me when she saw the gun I was carrying. But... I donīt know... and Iīll never find out." "Ranma, did you hear the officer? You can still walk out there. Youīre young, and the circumstances in which you were raised... your situation... you could probably get away with a few years in jail... and you know Iīll be waiting for you..." Ranma tried to laugh, but as he slowly realized how far he had gone, as he began to understand, he saw that he would never laugh again. It was too late to blame anybody now, it was his life, and he had to take responsibility for everything he had done. "Or maybe... we could still get out of here... we could go to China... what do you think?" "No, Shampoo. Iīm sorry now that I never listened to your ideas... but this is not a good one. I know what I have to do now, and itīs neither running away nor going to jail." Shampoo understood and tried very hard to hold back her tears. "Ranma... I know what you are planning to do now... but please donīt. I donīt know if it makes any difference to you, but Iīm begging you... please donīt do it... for me." "Iīm not sure if you can believe me anymore... I couldnīt blame you if you donīt... but I really am thinking of you. You deserve better than a life on the run, or waiting for 20 years until a lunatic gets out of jail who will never find a job or a place to live. Even if my life is over, yours is just beginning... you are young, and beautiful... you are so full of love, I want you to share it with somebody else and forget about me." Shampoo was crying now. "Ranma, donīt talk like that. You know that I love you, and that I will never love anybody else. You know that I wouldnīt care if I had to wait for you until I am an old woman, or if we would have to live as nomads, as long as Iīd be with you." Ranma moved, for the first time in hours, and got a little closer to her. He wasnīt afraid anymore to show her that he was crying, too. "Donīt cry. I really donīt deserve it. Look, all this time you showed me your love and I never reacted. I was just annoyed at how you were following me around, when I should have returned your feelings, because... I have feelings for you... maybe I just never had the strength to stand up against my father, and I thought I would break his and Sounīs heart... but I broke yours." There was so much both still wanted to say, but Ranma was afraid that listening to Shampooīs trembling voice, to the things she had to say that he knew came from her heart, looking at her beautiful face and the tears rolling down her cheeks like accusations of all the things he had done wrong... that all this would stop him from finishing this, and he knew he would be sorry. He never wanted to feel sorry for anything anymore. He quickly got up and took the shotgun. He seemed cool now, almost emotionless, but he knew very well that the girl could see through this facade. Still, he didnīt like farewells and thought he could make it easier this way. "I told you to forget me, right? I think it will be easier if we stop talking now. You better stay right here. Youīre a hostage, and you will call for help as soon as Iīm gone, okay? Youīll be alright, I promise. Youīll be better off without me. Sayonara." Even though he was acting coldly, tears were still falling from his face. He was sorry that he would never be able to tell her those three words that he wanted to say, but he knew it would make it much harder for her. She respected his wish and didnīt say anything as he kicked open the door and stormed out with the shotgun in his hand. "I see something moving! Heīs coming out! He has a gun!" The men were not trained as killers; they were trained to aim for as little casualties as possible. During their long and hard training, they were told again and again that it was their job to protect innocents and their own lives. That everyone was innocent until proven guilty, and that it was not their job to judge anyone. This had been told to them so often that the policemen would think twice before firing their weapons even though they were also trained to hit exactly where they had to if they really had to use their guns. "Heīs firing at us!" "Down! Everybody cover!" "Fire at will!" Ranma didnīt have any experience with guns, but he was a natural with weapons of any kind even if he didnīt like to use them. He fired in the direction of the policemen, but made sure he woudnīt hit anybody. The bullets that came back at him, however, were aimed precisely, and they all hit the mark. He had never wondered what his last thoughts would be, and now that he felt life leaving his body, he decided not to think anything at all. He was used to pain, now he felt as if he was just falling asleep slowly... as if he had tried to stay awake for a long time and couldnīt do it any longer. He had actually forgotten about the two handguns, and he definitely wouldnīt have expected that Shampoo would grab them and run after him, firing both guns in the air. She fell right beneath him, and suddenly he was awake again as he realized that now he had to tell her what he wanted to earlier, and that he had to hurry up doing it. As Ranma opened his mouth, he finally lost the fight. He felt that the breath he took would be his last, and he realized how happy he was for being allowed to die with the most beautiful face on earth in front of him. He also knew that he didnīt have to say a thing, and unlike what he had planned, he did have one last thought... and it was exactly the same thing Shampoo thought when they both died, at exactly the same moment, in each otherīs arms.