David Hsu /*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/* This story, as the credit says, is written by Albert Tanone. His address is albert.tanone@inferno.iquest.com. Please direct all flames, comments, and criticisms to him. I'm merely posting this for him until his usenet access is fixed. /*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/* The Cursed Cure Prologue A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic written by Albert Pascal Tanone (Any copyrighted materials in this story belong to their respective) ( owners. ) It all started when both Genma and Soun stayed up too late playing Go. Both men came up with another innovative idea to bring Akane and Ranma closer together (who originally suggested the seeds of the idea was not clear although it is rather clear that Ryoga was the inspiration of the idea when he stumbled back into the Tendou dojo that night) . "Ottosan... What is it now?" Akane was getting annoyed. It was always like this. Either fathers would suddenly get a bright idea in bringing both Ranma and herself together and they would hold a family meeting, which of course included Ranma and his father. Soun stared proudly at his daughter and smiled then gave Genma a glance that said: _Now we've done it. Our families will truly be united at last!_ Genma replied with a solemn nod. Everyone was seated around the dinner table, Genma sitting opposite of Soun. Ranma was sitting to Genma's right and next to Ranma's was Akane, who sat between him and Soun. Ranma sat there scowling, resting his head on his hand. Nabiki sat to Genma's left and between Soun and Nabiki sat Kasumi. Ryoga, on the other hand, positioned himself between Nabiki and Kasumi but not inside the family circle. He had been smirking all morning long and it was obvious to Ranma that Ryoga knew what was about to happen, more reason for Ranma to scowl. Soun started to speak. "Both Genma and I believed that Ranma should go on a journey with Ryoga so that he may clear his mind and set his priorities straight." Ranma exploded at Genma. "OYAJI! You're not happy unless you order around my life, right? First you force me to marry this, " Ranma stole a glance at Akane, "--this kawaiikune girl!" Akane hit Ranma with a huge interdimensional wooden mallet, giving him a bump on the head but he kept talking. "Well, I ain't going on no journey with a guy who's got no sense of direction!" "Ranma, you still haven't learned anything, have you? This is your chance to leave us for a while." Genma spoke calmly. Ranma didn't believe it. There's got to be a catch somewhere. As if reading his mind, Genma replied, "No catch. Just come back in a year." A heated debate ensued, but Soun and Genma won and Ranma was to leave with Ryoga the next day. The somewhat twisted psychological reasoning behind the idea was that separating both Akane and Ranma will make each one miss the other one and thus, advance the relationship between them. The rest of the evening went uneventfully. Maybe Ranma did realize that there were some merits in the idea. On this journey, he could pursue his martial arts studies without the presence of that dumb father of his or that kawaiikune girl. _I'm gonna miss her_, he thought. Then he shook his head violently. _What the hell?_ _It sure would be quiet without her around though.._ He continued packing. Ranma and Akane also got together much better during dinner that night, a solid proof to both fathers that their plan was working. The subconscious truth that hid in both Ranma's and Akane's mind was that they both wanted to remember something pleasant between them. Ranma's subsconscious wanted something pleasant to return to while Akane's subsconscious wish was for someone pleasant to return from a long journey. Both Ranma and Ryoga left the next day. Since neither one of them had a particular destination in mind, Ranma decided to let Ryoga lead him, to get both of them lost in Japan. In the Tendou dojo, dinner went quietly that night. Without Ranma to provoke Akane, however, she practiced much more forcefully during the day, unleashing whatever anger she had on the dummy. Before Ranma left, she could blame everything on Ranma. Now, there was no scapegoat. She did miss Ranma! Then she cocked her ears. There were footsteps coming toward them. An uninvited guest had entered their house. She stood up. "A-Akane, what is it?" Soun asked, alarmed at her daughter's behavior. "Sssh.." She put a finger over her mouth. Soun and Genma also stood up after hearing the footsteps. "I don't think it's a thief," said Soun after a few seconds. "The footsteps are slow and whoever it is is not slow trying to be cautious.." "Let's just wait and see," Genma replied. The person finally made it to the living room. To everyone's surprise, it was Cologne, miraculously carrying Ranma, but it wasn't quite the Ranma they all saw this morning. His hollow eyes and sunken cheeks betrayed the properly trained body that they knew so well. His graying hair had lost the pony tail. His clothes were ripped here and there while patches of dried blood covered some of his clothing and his face. "Ra-Ranma!" Akane ran toward him. She may have used him for a scapegoat everyday, but when he looked like this, her true feelings surfaced. Soun immediately cried after seeing his son-in-law in such a state while Genma looked fearful. "Don't touch him," Cologne told Akane, firm but gentle. She followed her orders and sat back down, still shocked in seeing Ranma like that. Nabiki and Kasumi were no less shocked than anyone else, they just didn't show it (especially Kasumi). Akane pulled out an extra futon and placed in the living room and Cologne laid Ranma on it. "What happened here? And where's Ryoga?" Genma asked. "This is what happened," Cologne pulled out a piece of parchment and handed it to Soun and Genma but Akane snatched it away. She read the title outloud, "Technique of Life Doubling." She looked up, confused. "WHAT!?" Genma and Soun exclaimed in unison and snatched the parchment from Akane. Both their faces turned white and whiter as they read the parchment. "Life Doubling?" Nabiki asked. Kasumi had gone to the kitchen to prepare hot tea and other hot foods for Ranma. "This is not the Ranma that you saw this morning," Cologne started after both men had finished reading the parchment (apparently everyone knew about Ranma leaving; Ukyou, Shampoo, Kodachi, and others showed up in this morning to give their good-byes to Ranma and Ryoga). Their faces were so white that for a few seconds, it hurt the eyes of those who looked at them. "This Ranma here is Ranma from twenty-seven years in the future." "TWENTY-SEVEN YEARS?!" Akane, Soun, and Genma yelled. "He killed himself and also sent sent himself twenty-seven years into the future," Cologne continued only to be interrupted by another question yelled in unison again. "KILLED HIMSELF?!" "Please, stop interrupting me and allow me to continue. Time is of the essence here. Sometimes in the next few weeks or the next few months, Ranma will attempt to kill himself and at the same time, produce a double of himself and will send it into the future. Obviously, the preparation for this technique nearly killed his life before he used the technique and as a result, he is now walking a thin line." "Are you familiar with this technique?" Soun asked Cologne. "I've heard of this technique, yes. I also know that many people have not survived the preparation. It's amazing that Ranma, who was so young and inexperienced was even successful in completing the technique. VERY amazing." Akane grimaced at Cologne's use of the word "was" when referring to the young Ranma. While both Genma and Soun continued talking to Cologne, a tear escaped from her eyes. _Ranma no baka! What did you do that for? If you die, if you die--_ she started sobbing. Soun turned around and comforted his daughter. "Now, now, Akane. I'm sure he will be allright. If he was strong enough to actually use the technique, I'm sure he still have enough power left to live." Akane was speechless and cried even harder, burrying her head in her father's chest. Genma looked at her with pity then looked at Ranma, his own son. _This is both his and Soun's fault. Maybe if they hadn't tried to improve the relationship between Akane and Ranma, none of this would happen. Or maybe it was not related. But it just might . . ._ "Is there a way we can help him?" Genma asked. Cologne was about to answer when Shampoo came in. "Here things you want, grandma!" She was carrying a basket full of leaves, jars, and other assortments. She did not look like her cheerful self, she looked rather grim tonight. A few minutes after Shampoo, Ukyou came rushing in and stopped dead in her tracks when she saw Ranma. She was walking toward him only to blocked by Cologne's staff. Ukyou backed away and sat next to Akane, who had pulled herself away from her father but is still sobbing quietly. "Bring me both hot and cold water," Cologne asked. Genma quickly fetched a bucket of cold water from the pond while Soun stole the water Kasumi was boiling for the tea. "Observe," Cologne said as she grabbed the bucket of cold water and emptied it onto Ranma, surprising everyone even more. Genma quickly reached her, "YOU'RE GOING TO KILL HIM! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING??!" Cologne swiped at him and he sat back down. Then they noticed that he did not change into a girl but rather, into a much healthier Ranma. The younger Ranma however, somewhat resembled the current Ranma in that there were few strands of white hair. Cologne then poured the hot water on Ranma and he changed back into the dying Ranma. Everyone gasped. "He-he-he didn't change into a girl!" Ukyou stuttered. "Ranma is cured?" Nabiki asked. Kasumi, who couldn't be surprised by anything, uttered one word. "Amazing..." "Ranma cured," Shampoo added with a mix of disbelief under her breath. There was a pause of disbelief in the room when Akane suddenly said, "I know what Ranma was trying to do!" Everyone turned and looked at her. "He killed himself to cure his curse!" Akane added. "Don't you see??" She asked. "She is right. From what I can deduce, Ranma killed himself in a Jhusenkyo pool and went into the future so that he could jump into the pool cursed by his own death. What he did not realize was that he did not drown to death but rather, he used this technique to kill himself. Thus, when the weak Ranma in the future jumped into the same pool, though it cured him, it also drained his life even more." Cologne explained to everyone else. -------------------- There, so it ends the beginning of the story. I know there are probably many mistakes in the story (including grammatical errors since this is only my sixth year in the US and I guess I'm *still* learning the language). Please notify me of any errors that you'd like to point out (especially discontinuity with the Ranma universe and romaji spellings), please e-mail it to me at albert.tanone@inferno.iquest.com. Flames, criticisms, and comments in general are also welcomed! BTW- if you think you can come up with a better title, please tell me! The current title is the result of fast-thinking (I really wanna go to sleep right now..) and I'm not sure I really like it. Thanks! ..Pascal