Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ The Nightmare Saga: Warrior of Shadows ❯ Ryoga's Darkest Hour. ( Chapter 12 )

Chapter Twelve: Ryoga's Darkest Hour.

Ryoga didn't want to get lost so he sat down on the largest stone surrounding the Koi pond and waited for Ranma and Akane to finish their private conversation. He absentmindedly began poking holes in the rock as his mind recalled the events he had experienced just hours before. He ran over his battle with the Warrior over and over in his mind up until the point where he lost consciousness and visibly shuttered at what had almost come to be his fate. The part that irked him the most was that the couldn't think of any point in the battle that he could have gone back and redone to change the outcome. The simple naked truth was that he had been outgunned and outclassed.

{My strength wasn't enough.} This amazed him. He had fought stronger opponents before, such a Lime, Herb's personal guard, but his own strength had always risen up to a greater level to help him win in the end. The fact that he was trashed so easily scared him. This was one opponent his stubborn determination wouldn't save him from.

As he turned to face the closed screen door, he felt a little peeved that he had been thrown out of the discussion. He rightfully felt like a part of the situation! Hell, he had risked his life to save Ranma, so discussing the matter at hand without him felt like a slap in the face. Ranma was just trying to keep her to himself!

He heard them talking in subdued tones. {I wonder what their talking about?}

A Koi jumped out of the water then dove back into pool's clear depths. The little splash created ripples that Ryoga turned to gaze at. It had a hypnotic effect on the boy, temporarily soothing his mind. He stared into the moving water and reflected on the events of the past two years. They had been interesting to say the least, and had nearly come to an abrupt conclusion just hours ago.

A small shutter ran down his spine as he remembered how close he had come to getting his head crushed in. He was still suffering the effects of post battle induced stress. The near death experience was eating away at him inside and it would take a while for him to fully recover. His mind continued to dwell on the past and he went with the flow, thinking, thinking… falling deeper into himself…

He had been in training almost all of his life. He'd spent years perfecting his own variation of the art, often training in complete isolation from other people. How could he have lost not just once, but twice in one week! Being defeated in battle by Ranma was bad enough but when a mysterious person was trying to kill you... that added a whole new dimension to it!

He often shouted at Ranma, telling him how he wanted to kill him. Had he ever actually meant it? If he had beaten Ranma to within an inch of his life, would he actually throw that last, life ending-punch? He wasn't so sure anymore, not after having his life threatened in so brutal a fashion. It was long overtime he reevaluated himself, he decided with a nod. After this whole mess was settled, there would be plenty of time for such things.

He continued to wait patiently until he heard a shout and further commotion coming from inside the house. Silently, he crept forward and opened the screen door an inch, succumbing to his curiosity. In the span of thirty seconds his life came crashing down around him. Not fifteen minutes after Akane had discovered his horrible curse and a nightmare had been closed forever, a new one had come into existence! Ryoga felt faint and staggered back a few steps.

He listened on in stunned horror Akane brought her lips up to meet Ranma's as a small moment of passion consumed them. The darkness took him then him, shrouding him like a dark veil. He staggered backwards again, clutching his forehead in agony. He didn't even have any time to prepare for the situation, it just happened! Suddenly the world started to spin around him at a sickening rate. His head spun rapidly in tune, throwing off his balance.

{Akane loves Ranma! He's beaten me for her affections! How did this happen!? It can't be true…. It can't be true!!!} Ryoga's heart of glass shattered and fell into the darkness. His very soul tore itself in two and he screamed with inhuman agony.

The screen door slammed open as Ranma and Akane dashed out, fearing an attack on the Lost Boy. Instead, they saw him standing in the middle of the backyard with no trace of emotion present on his face. Black ki swirled around him, sparking with raw, unconstrained energy. The grass around him singed against the whisper of dark power and turned black instantly. Even the air itself felt heavier than usual.

"Ryoga, what's wrong!?" Akane tried to run towards him.

Ryoga's vacant gaze turned to look at them as if he had just noticed their existence for the first time. Staring at Akane, his face twisted horribly into a mask of pain. He clutched his head and screamed again, his mouth parting wide as tendrils of power whipped about his legs. The intense noise shot harmless traces of energy in all directions. A wild, almost tortured look appeared on his face and he knew he had to get away, far away from the object causing his pain. He had to run. He jumped over the large stone wall and disappeared down the street that lay before him.

{Damn, Ryoga must have been spyin' on us! I gotta' go after him! Who knows what he's liable to do when he's like this!} Clenching his fist, Ranma started to run towards the wall.

"Ranma, wait! I'll-"

"Akane, stay here! I have to go after Ryoga alone!" Ranma took a solid leap, hurtling over, and began tracking Ryoga.

"But Ranma, I..." It was far too late, Ranma had already gone, his impressive speed aiding him as he tore through the town.

Standing there by herself, Akane stared at the wall with a mixture of fear and confusion. {I hope you're ok, Ryoga. Oh, why was he so upset? I thought I had been overly kind after finding out about his curse. What hurt him so badly?} She fell to her knee's in concern.

Abruptly, the wind picked up and brushed across her face and hair, as if it were bringing a soothing relief to her worried mind. She sighed and stared up into the blue sky, clutching her hands to her chest. {Ranma, please bring him home safely!}

***

Emptiness conflicting with pain, endless suffering, no escape….

Ryoga ran down the street at a dead sprint. His mind dropped into a violent sea of despair and he no longer cared where he went. His entire world had been based on his love for Akane. But now that she loved Ranma, his purpose ceased to exist. The carefully constructed world around him tumbled and collapsed as his sanity was torn to shreds within the confines of his tattered heart. Tears of sorrow formed in his eyes, but he angrily wiped them away. That wasn't how a man was supposed to act.

His legs continued to carry him along without a clear purpose. He saw the entrance to Furinkan High as he passed it on the right. That was where his new life had truly began so long ago. But if he had known how things would turned up, he would have stayed home that day two years ago and forgotten about Ranma and his desire for revenge. He snarled in rage, it was the only thing he had left to cling to, all other thoughts and emotions had burnt out inside of his heart.

Suddenly, a seemingly brilliant idea occurred to Ryoga, one he hadn't thought about before, not even in the blackest part of his mind. Everything made sense to him at last, his destiny shone before him like a road leading to infinity. He had no choice other than to follow it! He backtracked his steps and jumped over the school's closed gate.

Ryoga had one last task to complete. He knew what he had to do.

***

"Ryoga!!!!" Ranma ran down the street, calling to his friend. Panic gripped him once again as he replayed the doomed look Ryoga had held on his face over and over again. He had never seen his rival in such a hopeless state before, not even after beating him in the worst of their battles. Ranma was scared for him. Ryoga had almost seemed.... insane.

{Where did you go Ryoga!?} Breezing past startled people on the streets, Ranma searched every alley, the water canal, every place he thought Ryoga could possibly be. Ranma had no doubts that he would find the tormented boy in time, his rival wasn't one for subtly.

After every search led to nothing, he paused in the middle of the street, to ponder his next move. By chance he happened to look across the street. As Furinkan's clock chimed off the hour.

{Why would he go to Furinkan?} Ranma hopped over the closed fence, calling out Ryoga's name again as puzzlement creased his face. His searching blue eyes glanced skywards, and he saw a figure standing on the roof overlooking the huge clock. It didn't take a genius to figure out was happening.

{Oh shit!!! He's going to....} Ranma dashed into the school, slamming open every door he crossed. Reaching the stairs, he leapt a flight at a time, pushing his speed to the limit. His trashed body screamed for him to rest, but he refused to give in!

{Please, please, please let me get there in time!!!}

***

Ryoga stood on top of Furinkan and took a deep, soothing breath, finally allowing the last of his rage to die away. The wind picked up sharply, rustling his unruly hair. He knew that what he was about to do should cause him to be afraid. But he felt nothing, so there was no fear or panic. All his emotions had gone away, leaving only a cold, dark hole in the place where his heart once beat.

His thoughts drifted to Akane and memories flash before him. He still remembered the night she had adopted him as her pet and how she had held him in the Tunnel of Lost Love, and that one time when Ukyo had once set up a date between Akane and himself only to have her plans unsettled as Ranma came crashing in, interfering as usual.

{Ranma...} Ryoga was sure that the thought of his rival would send him into a berserk rage. After all, wasn't it Ranma who had caused most of his problems? No, deep down he knew all along that Akane loved Ranma. He couldn't blame Ranma for that, it was his own fault that he hadn't confessed his feelings to her months ago. Now it was too late and the last bit of meaning his life had crumbled and died away. He knew what he was going to do, what he had to do. He felt no fear.

{Ranma, take care of Akane...} He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for the last time and leaned forward, letting himself fall as a sigh of finality escaped from his lips.