Ranma Programmed

Warning: This fanfic is going to be rated
mature. Really really mature. Akane lovers
should not approach this fanfic, you will
be scarred. Hell, almost every Ranma char.
suffers badly. DARK FIC!

Ranma Programmed

Chapter 1
Downloading...

Another Ranma Crossover

Disclaimer: These are not my characters, and
I apologize in advance for what
I'm about to do to them.

*************

"Ugh...what the hell happened? And why's my head fuzzy?"

"Ah, that's the sleeping gas we gave you wearing off. No need to
worry about side effects, there aren't any."

At these words, Ranma Saotome, the grea-*test*-('") martial artist of his
generation, realized that something was not right. Looking up from
his...desk?.. He searched for the source of the voice he heard, and
he was not disappointed.

Standing behind a desk in what Ranma had quickly understood was a
classroom, was the ugliest man he had ever had the displeasure to have
seen. He had a pair of thick greasy lips that would have looked better
off as two strips of liver, and it seemed as if his face had been
molded from clay, but melted before it could set. Ranma had to
concentrate to keep from vomiting. Standing to his sides were soldiers
with heavy artillery, wearing white coats that hung past their knees.
Stitched onto the lapel was the word 'Ashram', a word he had never heard
before, causing Ranma to wonder if maybe there had been a military attack
or something.

At their feet there were a pile of bags that looked like they had been
packed to bursting. He also noticed that he wasn't the only one seated
at a desk. Hearing what he figured was the sound of people waking up,
he addressed Mr. Ugly,

"What is this? Who the hell are you?"

"Ah yes, Ranma Saotome was it? Do not worry Mr. Saotome, as soon as
all the others awake, I will explain all. Trust me, it will be a
very enlightening experience."

Muttering a little under his breath, he glanced around again at the
desks surrounding him. As his fellow 'students' groggily woke up, he
realized that he recognized them all,

There was Daisuke and Hiroshi somehow seated next to each other as
usual. He saw Gosunkugi seated in a desk over in the corner. *guess
even asleep, he's too creepy to be around people* And..was that Kuno?
Why the hell is he even here? And Mousse, seated beside...Shampoo?
Ranma was getting confused and wondered, not for the first time, just
what exactly was going on.

Continuing his desktop search, he spotted Ucchan, blinking sleepy eyes
at him, and he instinctively flinched at the scream and/or blow that
Akane would bestow on him. Seeing that he wasn't deaf or kissing floor,
he looked around for his fiance. When he saw her awake and trying to
awaken her nearest desk mates, Yuka and Sayuri, he didn't know whether
to be happy or scared, because he didn't know if she was in danger by
being here. His danger sense was screaming at him, but that could be
because almost all of his enemies were locked up in here with him.

There was Ryouga, bleary eyed, and on his right Mikado Sanzenin? He
doesn't even go to school here! Looking around, sure enough, he spotted
his other half, Azusa, currently trying to tear out Akari's pink hair,
that she had just named Antoine.

In fact several people were here that didn't belong in the same class
as him. Such as *brrr*Kodachi, or even NABIKI? And hovering near Ucchan
were Konatsu and Tsubasa, who for once wasn't in a disguise. In the
desk to his left was Sasuke, who had a dazed look that Ranma thought
wasn't sleepiness, but bewilderment. There was the head cheerleader Ai,
Konjou trying to stare at everybody. And lastly, seated directly behind
him and radiating nervousness, was his almost fiancee Kaori something
or other.

It was while he was looking at all the people sharing the room with him
that he noticed something. They were all wearing the same metal collar.
Fingering his neck he felt what he knew was a collar identical to the
others'. Now Ranma knew something was wrong, now if only he knew what.

Ranma, contrary to what his fiance might say, was not stupid, and he
knew that he and his friends were in a shitload of trouble, and since
acting hastly could get them all...he didn't want to think the word,
but his instincts told him he was right...killed, He would have to
wait til the ugly guy explained what was going on. He knew he wasn't
going to like what he had to say, but it was the only way to find out
just what was going on.

Promising to himself that he would protect his friends from whatever
may come, he snuck a quick peek at Akane again, only to see her staring
right back at him, a look of questioning in her eyes. He tried to
convey assurance with his, but he must not have succeeded, because her
eyes started to widen and her lower lip began to tremble ever so slightly
before she got herself under control.

Seeing this, Ranma cursed himself for scaring Akane, no matter how
accidently. Preparing to rise up to go comfort her, he stopped when
he heard a short cough from the front. Looking in that direction, he
spotted the ugly man staring at him, with a strange gleam in his eye.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Good students do not get out of
their seats without permission."

Ranma just stared at him, expression blank.

Mr. Ugly smiled at him, and, noticing that everyone was awake and
looking at him, began to speak,

"I'm glad to see you all paying attention, I was told this would be
a good class, and we shall soon see, just how good you are." He pauses
to smile cruelly at his class, "Now for those of you who aren't very
bright or who haven't watched t.v. for the past year, I have good news!
You are all going to be on our most popular show, The Program!"

The class as they say, went nucking futz.

Amidst all the cheering and excited whispering, Ranma noticed that one
other person besides his self was not participating. Looking at Nabiki,
he saw her face pale at hearing these words, and glancing quickly
towards him, Ranma saw stark terror screaming from her brown eyes, which
served to frighten Ranma more than anything else could. For Nabiki to
let her mask slip so suddenly and fully, something bad was happening,
and for the umpteenth time, Ranma wished he knew what the hell was
going on, and what could possibly be bad about being on t.v.

"Wow, you people must be very busy to not have been able to watch
t.v in so long a time. I'm assuming that that's why your faces seem
so cheerful. Or maybe you ARE all just idiots, eitherway, let me
explain why you were chosen."

Mr. Ugly looks around the classroom. He pauses on Nabiki's face,

"Ah, well it seems you at least are well abreast of what's going on
aren't you Miss Tendo? I'd expect no less from you, with your file.
Maybe your cleverness will once again serve you well, and maybe not.
There is of course, other people here as clever as you, and in this
mode of competition, much more experienced."

Upon saying this he looked straight at Ranma

"Case in point, Saotome-san, you were the only other person not
celebrating like an idiot, why? Do you also watch television?
No, I don't think so, busy fellow like you, no I think you just,
how do you say...sensed that this isn't a joyous time. And you
would be right."

By this point, the others had settled down, and were listening to what
Mr. Ugly was saying.

"First of all, from now on, I will be known as sensei. I have no other
name for you, if I or my associates hear you referring to me otherwise
you will be punished. Is that understood?"

A chorus of 'Hai Sensei' answered him.

"Good. Now you 22 students were chosen for a special episode of The
Program. Usually we take a single class and have them compete. But
lately, we've been losing ratings, because the students have stopped,
well, stopped trying, actually. So we've decided to gather the best of
the best in an all-star game!"

The cheering begins anew, students clapping each other on the backout
catcalls. Only two people notice one of the soldiers
twitch before Sensei touches his hand, shaking his head. Raising his
hands, he motioned them to silence.

"Let's try to be civilized until I finish explaining the game to you,
then you can do whatever you want. I promise."

This last was said with a smile so blatantly false, Ranma wanted to
call him on it, but he wisely *yes wisely* held his tongue.

"Now as I was saying, we've tried to capture the brainiest, strongest,
and the cleverest students within the Nerima District. Of course,
since we believe in equality at all times, a few ordinary people were
brought in as well to prove their mettle against the known greats. I'll
leave it to you to figure out who's who, if you still feel like it
when I'm done."

This was said with another insincere grin, but as Ranma saw Mr.Ugly's
foot caress one of the bags at his feet, he knew with a sickening
certainty that they would soon get to see him smile for real.

"Now, the moment you've all been waiting for! I will explain the rules
of the game, for those of you who don't know," he leers at Nabiki, who
still hasn't gotten over her shock, so she just stares dully back.
Looking slightly disappointed, he resumes his speech, "The goal of
this con-*test*-('") is simply this...stay alive. That's it."

As he pauses yet again to let them soak this up, the room, boisterous
only minutes ago is eerily quiet, as if they were holding a wake.
Several people shiver as if they all had the same thought. Then they
all stared horrifyingly at the soldiers. Well mostly, the martial
artist quadrant just looked grimly at them, as if they were prepared
to fight till they were no longer able.

Ranma's eyes widened as he studied the soldiers. It would be so easy
to assume with the rest that the threat came from the soldiers. And it
did, to a point, but Ranma knew there was something else, something
that he knew from looking into Mr.Ugly's eyes that he was dying to
tell them. He wished he could go talk to Nabiki, she at least knew what
was going on. He just couldn't protect Aka...anybody if he didn't know
what to protect them from.

Sensei smiled disarmingly, "No, you are quite mistaken. These soldiers
are not here to kill you, they are here to enforce discipline. No, you
will be hunting each other." His eyes seem to sparkle as he says this
and he looks as close to attractive as he's ever going to get. I'ts
obvious that he gets off on this.

"WHAT?"

Sensei's hand smacks the table as he glares at the class, all traces
of a smile gone.

"No speaking out of turn! The next one to act unaccordingly will be
punished. Never forget that this is a classroom. And for you martial
artists, I'm sure that you could knock me unconcious before my men
can take you out," Sensei smirks, "Before you attempt that though, I
would suggest that you check your necks. You will find a collar there
that is set to explode automatically if you attempt to remove it or
attack me. Of course, the soldiers are not included, but if you attack
one, I just might decide to remove your head from your body. And just
in case anyone doubts my sincerity..."

Sensei motions towards the door, and 2 soldiers step into the classroom
hefting what appears to be a black body bag. Placing the bag on the
desk, the soldiers about face and leave the room. Sensei walks to the
bag and moving to make sure not to be in the class' line of sight, he
unzips the bag, pulling it away from its contents. Sayuri screams, Kuno
grimaces, and the group as a whole gasps.

Hinako-sensei's child form stares lifelessly at them from one bulging
eye. Her face obviously purple from strangling, is already starting to
pale, her bloated tongue hanging listlessly out of what remained of her
mouth, sans several teeth. The morbid question on everyone's mind is,
'If they strangled her, why did they do the rest?' This is a good
question because Hinako's body has been seemingly ripped apart at the
seams, her arms dangle loosly, only connected by a few straps of skin
and meat.

"She seemed to have a problem with the thought of you all participating
in the game. So I got to convince her personally. One of the perks of
the job."

As Sensei moves more of the bag out of the way, they see that their
former teacher had been split open, filleted like a fish. Ranma, who
had seen enough to last him a lifetime, opted instead to stare at Mr.
Ugly, detailing everything about the bastard, vowing to pay him back
for what he had done.

"That reminds me, some of you shouldn't expect to be welcomed home by
loved ones if you're the one who survives. Seems some more people
needed to be convinced to let you participate,"

He steps in front of Ranma,

"Your father was one of them, unfotunately he was too dangerous to be
convinced, so we just got to shoot him, but I bet that you don't care
about that do you? I just wish that you had a mother so that I could
have convinced her, in my very special way."

Ranma, who had been quietly picturing himself ripping Ugly's face apart
felt himself start on the inside, and fought to keep his face straight.
Since Ugly's eyes didn't change, he knew he had succeeded.

Moving on Ugly stopped in front of Akane, and Ranma tensed, prepared
to take his chances with the bomb if he tried anything. But he only seemed
to be waiting for something.

"Tendo-san, " seeing that he now had both Tendo's attention he continued
"You are also one of the unlucky number." Seeing their eyes widen in
apprehension, Sensei couldn't help but beam, this was what it was all
for, forget the game, this crushing of the hopes and dreams was where
the real entertainment was.

Sighing very unconvincingly, he spread his thick lips, "Unfortunately,
your father could not be swayed, so he received the same treatment as
your fiancee's father. Sadly for you, but luckily for me, your sister
is in no way dangerous."

Sensei grins now, a sickly lecherous grin, devoid of any human warmth.

"But do not worry, she's alive and well, I...convinced...her to see
things our way. When you get home, If either of you do get home, take
it easy on her, she won't be able to do much work around the house
ever again."

As Sensei, walked on to the next desk, he exulted in the power he held
over them. Seeing the Tendo girls, crying so freely, even the cold
hearted one, well, it WARMED his heart. And so what if he had lied?
It still bothered him how he had been forbidden from enjoying the
elder Tendo's charms, but he knew better than to argue, he could easily
become a con-*test*-('")ant in one of the games. At least he had been able to
enjoy one luscious woman. Which reminds me...

"Ah yes, and last but certainly not least, Daisuke and Hiroshi! I bet
you two thought growing up orphans would help you here. Well I'm
sorry to say, that everyone has family, even you two."

Sensei looks into their eyes and sees the shock and pain there, and
behind one pair he sees rage barely contained, rage that the wrong, or
should he say, right words would surely let out.

"That's right, a Miss Rue Ahiru, yes? Now she was a prize, pure as the
driven snow. I would have liked to have used her some more, I mean
I took her before I had even asked if she had a problem with you being
here. Ah what a lay, too bad she suffocated on the gag I put in her
mouth, although when I found out in the middle, that didn't stop me
from finishing right in the little whore's mouth, after I removed the
gag of course."

And then he smiled, a smile of pure joy, a smile that spoke of truth.

A smile that was too much for Daisuke. Screaming in inarticulate rage,
alternating into despair, he leaped from his desk and charged towards
Sensei, clawed hands reaching out to steal the air from the asshole's
throat. He was so focused on his hate, that he didn't even notice the
gun until it had collided with his cheek.

If he were anymore coherant Daisuke might have been able to dodge to
the side, to preserve his life a little while longer. Unfortunately,
Daisuke wasn't even near coherancy at this point. Continuing to snarl
gutteral words at Sensei, he didn't even blink as Sensei pulled the
trigger, blowing his cheek away and tearing out of the side of his neck,
barely missing his spine.

"No getting out of your seats students."

As he was falling backwards, the class, which hadn't even reacted yet,
finally caught on and instead of pandemonium, everyone sat face front
staring at the blackboard, trying to ignore the gaping hole in Daisuke's
face as he lay on the floor bleeding. Well almost everyone did.

"DAISUKE! NO!"

Hiroshi, unmindful of the risk, ran to his best friend's side, wondering
how things could have gotten so badly for them. First Rue-chan, and
now Dai-chan. Collapsing to his knees, he tried to make sense of what
he saw, but without success. All he saw was chaos, and he couldn't cope.

As a dark cloud began to settle over him, he felt a searing pain in his
right leg. Screaming he looked down to see a very fresh bullet hole in
the right leg of his school uniform. Looking up he saw the barrel of a
gun pointing at him now, and behind it, the ecstatic face of Sensei.
If he had bothered to look further down, he would have noticed that
Sensei had a raging hard-on.

"No getting out of your desk, young man."

"But we have to help him! Can't you help him? You can't just leave
him like this!"

"You're right, I can't. I should make sure he's actually dead."

With that he points the gun point blank at Daisuke's forehead, who only
weakly looks up and mumbles something that could have been a final act
of rebellion, before the contents of his skull decorate the tile floor, wetly
glistening.

"NO!"

Looking down at the doll that used to be his best friend, the person
that he had been through everything with, the orphanage, the bullies,
everything. His next coherant thought was how now, Dai-chan would never
get to first base with a girl. Seeing his best friend laying like that,
the fire gone from his eyes, caused something in him to snap. Looking
at Sensei with hatred burning in his every pore, he stood up, favoring
his left leg, and moved as if to attack Sensei, ignoring the guns in
Sensei's and the soldier's hands trained on him.

He never even saw it coming.

The entire class respectfully and tactfully facefaulted upon seeing
Ranma deliver a spinning back kick to Hiroshi head, sending him crashing
to the floor, dazed.

Raising his hands, Ranma faced the soldiers' guns with a condecending
smirk. Showcasing just how confident he was, he subtly shifted his
shoulders as if he was ignoring the guns as he addressed Ugly.

"How much trouble do you think you're in?"

***********

2 minutes ago:

Ranma had just watched a friend of his get shot, and knew that this
wasn't some prince come to battle him, that if he lost here, he wouldn't
get to train and come back again. But what upset him even more, was
that if others adhered to the 'game', more of his friends wouldn't
make it out of here either. Something had to be done.

"DAISUKE! NO!"

And he would have to figure it out fast. As he heard the exchange
between Ugly and Hiroshi, he had an inkling as to how to ward off
bloodshed in the very recent future. Giving silent thanks to Nabiki
for getting him to think logically and coolly, he prepared his strategy.

Unfortunately, while he was busy thanking Nabiki in his head, he missed
Daisuke finally buying the farm. Cursing to himself, and knowing what
was coming next, he tensed himself, readying his body to attack one of
his friends to save him. When he saw Hiroshi stand up and take a step
towards Ugly and his gang. he was airborne, delivering a back kick to
Hiroshi's head, knocking him to the floor dazed.

Looking at all the guns pointed at him, Ranma couldn't help but smirk.
What with all the people out to kill him in his life, he had learned
to control any semblance of fear. Too bad they didn't know that.

Putting himself in a position to show them just how little he cared
about their guns, he directed his attention to Ugly, his mind working
at a million miles per second. He had to get this right or they were
fucked, because this bastard had no self control. Making sure his
Nabiki Smirk ™ was still on, he addressed the ugly bastard,

"How much trouble do you think you're in?"

*************

"What!?"

"I said, how much trouble do you think you're in? I mean your really
screwing over your employers here, if I were them I'd be pissed at
you."

"What are you talking about?" a angry, but curious Ugly Man wanted to
know.

"Well, from what you told me, we're here to be on television right?
Now, I really don't watch t.v., but I do know that the god of your
bosses is the ratings. Am I right?"

"Yeah, what's your point?" asked an impatient Ugly as hell Man

Ranma noticed this and made a point of not speeding up. Nabiki's Rules
for the Sell number one, never let the mark think he's intimidating
you. With his smirk even larger now, due to Ugly's growing irritation,
Ranma continued.

"As I was saying...according to you, we were brought in to boost your
lagging ratings, in short, pulling your bacon out of the fire. But you
are screwing this up."

"How so?" growled Revolting Dude

Ranma makes a show of looking around.

"Do you see or maybe have hidden cameras around? Any type of recording
device?"

"Of course not, we don't tape inside the school, it's a safe house."

"Well there you go. You just cost your viewers 1 kill. How do you think
your bosses are gonna feel about that? Not too happy I bet. Do they
like deduct the amount from your fee? Or do you just end up on the
wrong side of a desk much like this one?"

From the grimace on his grotesque face, Ranma knew he had him, forcing
down a triumphant cry, Ranma continued.

"So I think it would be better on all our parts if you just explained
the rules to us and let us get on with it, instead of trying to goad
us so you can get off on killing. You're not here to kill, we are."

With that, Ranma put his hands down, and stared directly into Ugly's
eyes without flinching, a hard task considering, nodded and then, after
dragging Hiroshi to his desk and placing him in it, walked back to his
desk and sat down, ignoring the incredulous, considering, and fearful
looks sent his way. Although he did look towards Nabiki, giving her a
wink, which served to make her gape open mouthed like a fish.

Grinning to himself, he turned to face Akane, who looked at him as if
she had never seen him before. Seeing him looking back at her, she
jumped and quickly faced forward, almost as if she were afraid...of him.
Sighing Ranma knew that, first chance he got, he would have to explain
to her that he had no intention of killing anyone. Although it bothered
him that she could even consider him capable of such a thing. I mean
Nabiki knew better, and we don't even get along that well!

**********

After all that had happened, you would think that maybe everyone would
understand that it would be best not to invite attention to yourself.
Well, maybe that would work, if your last name wasn't Kuno.

Noticing an upraised hand, Sensei called upon them

"HO HO HO HO HO! Sensei! Would you be so kind as to tell me just what
type of atrocious act you placed upon MY father?

"Why none my dear. When I asked permission to escort you onto this
show, he seemed overjoyed. Pity, I would have liked to persuade him,
I have a hunch that it would have been quite the experience."

Kodachi glared sullengly at Sensei, before dismissnig him with an
upturned nose. Sensei merely smiled and looked around the room again.
Seeing the other Kuno's hand also raised he called upon him, actually
curious as to whether the tales about him were true.

They were.

"Sensei, verily I say unto you, that this con-*test*-('") thou hast created
is truly a sight to behold. Tis truly a matter of the strongest
surviving and the weak serving the strong. Alas, a grevious error
has been done to cause this most esteemed con-*test*-('") to lose its aura
of perfection."

*blink blink*

"Um right, what error is this"

"I regret to inform you, that with the loss of my fellow combatant,
thine con-*test*-('") will begin without equality, because there tis one more
girl than boy here. Perhaps we should postpone this battle of champions
until such a time as we can find a replacement for the brave Daisuke."

"Or maybe I could just kill one of the girls and even it up again."
Sensei deadpanned.

"No no, tis quite alright, I rescind my statement."

A visibly startled Kuno settles back into his seat.

Once again, Unfortunately, Kuno's remarks and Sensei's rebuttal were
enough to shake Sayuri out of her stupor. As all the events of the day
finally began to add up inside of her and demand payment, she began
to sob, quietly at first, but then in escalating pitch, unable to stop.

And when I say unable, I mean unable because she was trying her damnest
to quit. Unsurprisingly, wailing is not considered proper behavior for
the classroom.

Finally, sick and tired of having to listen to Sayuri bitch and moan,
Sensei decided to shut her up for good. pulling a narrow knife from
his hip pocket, he hefted it in his hand, preparing to throw it at
the annoying girl.

Sayuri saw none of this through her haze of tears, but she knew it was
coming. Desperately, she prayed for salvation, any way of saving her
life. As usually is the case with such prayers, it was honored in the
worse possible way.

"SAYURI! PLEASE, STOP CRYING!"

Sayuri, who hadn't even seriously thought her prayers would be answered,
also didn't think about how they would be carried out. If she had, she
would like to think that she would have rather died than...than to have
HER take her place. But she didn't, so we'll never know.

Sayuri froze and she felt her tears freeze in time as she hiccuped in
horror. That was all she had time for before she heard a small *thunk*
and then a sound eerily similar to a head hitting a desk, hard. Quickly
and fearfully wiping her eyes, she looked over to where her best friend
was. Operative word being was, because Yuka had left the building, the
island, this plane of existence.

One of her eyes had been impaled with a silver knife, and the other
chocolate brown one was open and staring at her. She tried to tell
herself that it was an accident, that she hadn't gotten herself killed
to save her, that she had just forgotten Sensei's number one rule. She
tried to tell herself that, but she couldn't, because everytime she
looked, there it was, that smile, that kind, gentle smile that she
saved only for her, promising to always be there for her. Looking at
that quirk of the lips, she felt as if her throat had closed up.

Knowing that the woman that she loved had given her life for hers was
too much to bear, but now she couldn't even cry anymore. Yuka had given
up her life in exchange for hers, and now *she* could never just give it up,
The price was too high. Looking into her love's eye one last time, she
promised Yuka and herself that she wouldn't just surrender to her fate.
If she was to die, than she would show that her life would not come
cheap.

"Well, I guess we're even now huh? Heh." stated Sensei sparing a quick
glance towards Ranma before turning his face back to his las-*test*-('") gruesome
masterpiece.

Looking up she saw the eyes of the man who had submitted them to this
hell. Seeing the sparkle in his eyes as he roamed his eyes over her
beloved's body she steeled herself with another double promise. She
would see this bastard dead before she was done. No matter what the
cost.

Sayuri heard someone clear their throat in a threatening manner, and
wondered who would dare to take a chance like that after all that
happened. Her question was answered when she saw the perpertrator,
Ranma Saotome, golden boy. Perversely, she wondered why the great
Ranma could save Hiroshi, but not her Yuka.

Thinking along those lines, she thought of several unkind things to do
to him, but then he looked directly at her, and when she saw the pain
tightly reined in so as not to show to Sensei, she understood. Every
name she had called him in her head, he was doing the same to himself.
Ranma the protector, how he must be suffering. She felt strangely
relieved to know that she wasn't the only person hurting, and thankful
that Ranma had considered her worth the risk of being discovered caring
for his rivals.

Looking back to the front, Ranma spoke in a bored tone,

"If you're quite done, could we get on with it? I'm getting a cramp."

Hearing these words gave us all a jolt of something that we had thought
we had lost, hope. Ranma was here, Ranma never lost. If there was a
way out, he would be able to find it. With him, we can just escape the
island. Besides, the transmitters on these collars can only go so far,
once we leave the island, we'll probably be home free.

With these thoughts swirling in our heads, we all paid attention to
Sensei, almost giddy with renewed energy, just waiting to get out so
that we could begin to plan our escape.

Almost as if he knew our thoughts, he shook his finger at us and began
to speak in what we assumed was his lecturing voice, but sounding like
a bullfrog's mating call...he kinda looked like one too. A good deal
uglier though.

"The Rules of The Program are as follows.

Number 1. the last one alive wins.

Number 2. someone must die every 24 hours, no exceptions. If this
fails to happen all of your collars activate. So no using
'pack solidarity'

Number 3. The Coast Guard has explicit orders to shoot to kill anyone
swimming away from the island."

Almost everyone in the classroom looks crestfallen, and would have sunk
back into deep despair, except that they saw that Ranma hadn't even
flinched at the news, which had to mean that he had a plan that hadn't
been proven impossible. The classroom breathed freely again.

"Number 4.The island is devided into 40 grids, randomly we will activate
any and all collars in a chosen grid, you will receive 5 min.
prior notice so be prepared to flee at a moments notice.

Number 5.Do not, I repeat Do not attempt to remove your collars, you
will only wind up dead.

Number 6.This school is a safe zone, hold on, before your faces light
up know this, you can use it only once a day, and only for
an hour. Abuse this and you will be punished. Today's a free
day so don't fret. Also as long as you are on school grounds,
you are a student.

Number 7.Everyone starts out with the pocketknife you will find in
the front side pocket of your regulation jeans, in all of your
bags which I will pass out shortly, is a special grab bag
weapon. you will have no way of knowing what weapon you'll
be getting. However, if you get a powerful weapon such as
an automatic weapon, you will be missing an essential piece,
such as a clip. The missing piece will be found in the bag
of one of your competitors. So don't throw away your pocket
knives yet.

Number 8.If you somehow manage to get lucky and avoid the Coast Guard
you should know that there is a transmission ring around the
island, if you happen to pass it above or below water, your
collars will activate.

That is all, I will call your names and you will come up here and pick
up your bags, please be quick about it, we've wasted enough time right
now as it is."

All eyes swiftly turn to look at Ranma, only to be dismayed as they see
him glowing a faint green, a sure sign of depression. The sight of a
depressed Ranma forced many people to re-evaluate their strategies, by
which I mean they actually started thinking about one.

Ugly Man began calling roll and Ranma, catching both their eyes,
motioned Akane and Nabiki to stay behind and wait for him. He then
motioned the same to Ryouga, who nodded, before motioning to
Akari and Ukyou. They tried to do the same to Shampoo and Mousse,
but either didn't see or chose not to see.

Everyone else was living in their own little worlds and when they grabbed
their bags they left without looking back. Sayuri went to get her bag,
and as she reached down to pick it up, she saw Yuka's bag. Eyes wide
and brimming, she ran her hands along the bag before righting herself
and leaving the room, chin up. Although something about that was off,
but Ranma couldn't say why.

Next was Hiroshi, who walked towards the front with wild eyes that
tried to stare in every direction. Looking at the bag that was to be
Daisuke's, he grimaced, and gave forth an odd sound that was like a
mix between a sob and a growl. Turning stiffly, he marched outside.

Akane and Nabiki, held each other as they retrieved their bags, looking
back towards Ranma to make sure he was still there.

Ukyou and Akari left together, they didn't even bother to try and stay
and chat. They just walked outside after reaffirming where they were
suposed to wait.

Tsubasa and Konatsu soon followed Ukyou.

Mikado and Asuza, noticeably pale, grabbed their things and left, with
Asuza not even trying to name her bag.

The Kunos got their stuff and left. No one knows where and no one cares.

No one noticed when either Gosunkugi or Kaoru left.

Sasuke and Masami left together, appropriate for lackeys.

Shampoo and Mousse barely looked their way as they headed towards their
bags. Though there was a strange look shining in their eyes that Ranma
was afraid he recognized.

Finally, Ranma and Ryouga were the last to be called, heading towards
the front, they noticed Ugly Sensei waiting for them with an eager
smile on his face.

"Now boys, don't disappoint us okay? as I'm sure you've guessed, you
two are the stars, as is the heated rivalry between you. Show the
world who the better man is."

They just stared at him until he glanced away, and then they picked up
their bags as they headed towards the door, and towards whatever passed
for the future in this place.

*************

Hallway:

Ranma and Ryouga glance at each either before looking to the right of the door
where they saw the girls waiting.(well Ryouga looked left but, corrected himself
for once) Nabiki was holding Akane in her arms, he cleared his throat, and Akane
flinched and refused to look at him. Sighing Ranma looked at Nabiki, and as Ranma
locked eyes with her he noticed that she had managed to partially slip her mask back
on, of which Ranma was terribly grateful. While an emotional Nabiki would be nice
on occasion, this was not one of them, they would need their wits about them if
they were going to figure out how to beat this game.

Ryouga, after looking to see Akane being held by Nabiki, went straight to Akari
and put his arms around her, too disturbed by the look in her eyes to be
embarrased about it. She threw her arms around him and buried her face in his
chest. She didn't even have to speak to convey the fear she was experiencing.
With a pained look on his face, Ryouga just held her, humming softly, knowing
instinctivly that speech wasn't what she needed right now.

Ukyo watched as Ranma looked at Nabiki and Akane, knowing that he was
really looking at Akane. She also saw Ryouga look at Akane, but he instead
walked over to Akari and wrapped his arms around her, being strong for her.
She sighed despairingly to herself, in a situation like this, she knew she was
at best, a secondar concern for Ranma. Akane would always come first.

Tsubasa was torn, he knew that his Ukyou had told him that she would kill
him if he came near her, but he also saw how alone she was, and how no one
was giving her comfort. Konatsu was staying respectfully away from her, but
dammit, she didn't need respect, she needed solace, and she would get it, even
if she didn't want it from him.

Ukyo was so busy feeling sorry for herself and her plight, that at first she
didn't even register the arm that had draped around her, pulling her close.
When she finally realized she was being held, she jerked her eyes to where
Akane was, but Ranma was still there, looking at the sisters with a thoughtful
expression. Therefore, Ranma could not be holding her. Confused, she looked
up into the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen.

Blinking, she focused on the rest of the face, and blanched. TSUBASA was
holding her? She was about to pull away, when she actually looked at his face.
Gone was the strange fanaticism he usually wore. In its place was a look of deep
concern, for her. Knowing that she shouldn't, but unable to stop herself beacuse
she needed someone, she felt herself lean into his embrace and close her eyes,
not noticing the look of pain that crossed Konatsu's face.

No one held, consoled, considered , or even looked at Konatsu.

After he figured that evryone had gotten as close to normal as they were likely
to get in this situation, Ranma moved so that he was facing all of them.

"Ok, now that we're all here, we need to discuss what we're going to do, and how
to keep more people from getting killed."

At this Nabiki looks around guiltily and speaks up, " Sorry Ranma, but my first
priority is to my sister and I. I suggest that we worry about how to get ourselves
safely away before we start trying to protect everyone. You have to prioritize."

Ranma looks at Nabiki steadily, "I know that, that's why I only asked a few
people to meet here, Those I felt had the best chances for survival,and
some sentimental reasons," Ranma's eyes glance at Akane and move over
to Akari's, still huddled into Ryouga, "I'm not a fool Nabiki."

At this Nabiki's eyes widen and she nods, "I see you're not."

Noticing that Akane still hasn't looked up, Ranma sighs yet again,

"Akane, you can't act like this, not now."

A muffled reply answered him.

Ranma looked at his fiance and steeled himself, Akane still didn't
understand and it looked like he was going to be the one to make
sure he did.

"Akane, do you want to die?"

At these casually spoken words everyone flinched, but Akane's
head flew up, as she stared at Ranma with shock, and not a little
fear.

"Wh..What?"

Bending down to look her in the eye, he spoke in a softer tone.

"I'm asking because right now, whether you like it or not, there
are people walking around right now who would have no
problem killing you as soon as they get the chance."

Akane's only reply was a vehement head shaking, physically
showing how little she believed that people that she knew
would seriously consider killing her. After all, she was well
liked.

"Really? So you think everyone here would rather die than
kill you? Wow, that's really surprising. Surprising that you
really believe it. Look, at it this way, if someone doesn't die
everyday we all die, and you think people wouldn't kill you
to spare themselves and the people they care about? And
people say I'm arrogant."

By this time Akane was starting to cry again and Ranma
hurried to get to the point before he felt more like a heel.
Nabiki's rules couldn't work against tears, at least not when
Ranma was using them.

"Look Akane, I'm sorry, but I'm only trying to show that you
can't just give up and hide away. That's what they want, for
us to not fight back. Why do you think they killed Daisuke
and Yuka? Not just because he has a temper, but also so that
we'd be afraid to stand up to him, them. I'm sure that he had a
quota, and I know why he didn't just kill me when I insulted
him. He had filled up his already. In fact I wouldn't even be
surprised to find out that they always do this. I could ask
Nabiki but I don't think I need to. I mean 22 students? That
number just doesn't seem right. But you can't let them win,
you have to fight. You have to be strong and survive while
we figure out how to get out of this mess. Can you do that?"

At Akane's tearful nod, he smiled at her before standing up
fully and looking at those gathered before him.

"I want you all to look at the people here with you now. These
are your friends. Everyone else is a potential enemy, some of
them might be okay, but you have no idea of knowing.
Therefore, keep the trust to a bare minimum, and stay away
from Daisuke and Sayuri...I'm serious, they are dangerous.
I can't tell you why, but I can sense it. That brings me to my
next point, obey your instincts. If they tell you to run, run.
If they tell you to duck, duck. Listen to your gut at all times
even if it makes no sense to you, even if the only danger
comes from someone who's a friend, ecspecially if it's a
friend. You can always apologize if you wronged someone,
you can't if you're dead though. So obey your instincts
for as long as we're here."

This was what Ryouga had been waiting for, and he voiced
the question that he knew to be on everyone's mind.

"Speaking of that, how long do we even have before we have
to escape? At the least, we'll have 24 hours, if we depend on
any more, it'll mean that we're dependent on people getting
killed, and...well...that's just feels wrong."

Ranma looked at the Lost Boy for a few seconds before looking
away, acknowledging Ryouga's point. It was at this impasse
that Nabiki spoke up again.

"We know that Ryouga, but what choice do we have? We can't
blindly charge and not planning this out fully could be just
as bad. Besides, I'm pretty sure some of the others are dead
already."

At the looks she was receiving, she tried not to flinch as she
stared back.

"Look," Ranma drew all attention back to himself, "This is all
a non issue because at the moment we have no choice but
to wait, unless one of you have a plan on how to get out of
here without ending up dead?"

At the silence that followed, Ranma nodded and made of show
of opening his bag to roam through its contents. Looking up he
motioned for the others to follow suit.

Each bag contained the same items, weapons notwithstanding,
3 changes of clothing, strangely enough they were their street
clothes and not a school uniform. There was also a extensive
first aid kit that took up most of the bag. Four bottles of water
and six bentos were also pulled out.

That left only one or two things in the nearly empty bags. With
a great deal of apprehension they all gazed into the bottom of
their bags.

Reactions varied.

Ranma blinked, looked up, looked back inside the bag and blinked
again. Ukyo looked and sounded incredulous. Konatsu shook his
head slightly. Ryouga was chuckling to himself, looking rather
relieved. Akari gave a slight scream and closed her bag quickly,
looking fearfully at the group gathered around her. Nabiki looked,
and snorted in disbelief. Tsubasa joined Ranma in a blinking con-*test*-('"),
although with less reason. And Akane, after looking in her back felt
her eyes widen as a mental image rose up, she then quietly closed the
bag, and set it away from her.

Noticing that the expressions on everyone's faces varied strongly, he
decided that telling everyone what they had would be both beneficial
and a sound tactic. Plus it would satisfy his curiosity.

"Okay, so what did everyone get? Ukyo, let's start with you."

Ukyo looked disgusted, "I got a rock, that's right, a stinkin' rock. Now
stop staring at me ya jackass, ask the next person."

"Um...right. Well, Tsubasa.? And let's, remember, when one person's
done it's the next one's turn."

Tsubasa cleared his throat, "Well, it seems that I got a pick axe." He
raises it above his head for emphasis.

Konatsu says, "I got a boomera..."

"A freaking rock, I can't believe it,"interrupted Ukyo, "Who's next?"

"That would be me," answered Ryouga, "And I got a set of brass
knuckles, so I don't have to worry about having a dangerous
weapon."

"Um...I...I got a...a gun" This was spoken in a fearful whisper by
Akari.

Everyone was thankful that, because it was a gun, it would be
missing bullets, because a gun in this frightened girl's hands was
a death wish waiting to be granted.

Nabiki snorted, "I got mace, yeah, that'll help me." She then begins
to mutter about superpowered martial artists and impervious idiots.

Akane looks at her bag, " I got a baseball bat," and then she shuts
up completely.

Ranma shivered, he had just gotten a mental image he could have
lived without.

"Well,"Ranma paused, "I kind of understand the joke with mine but
wow," pauses again, "I got 2 million yen."

After everyone picked themselves off the floor, they looked incredulously
at Ranma, but as was to be expected, Nabiki recovered first and asked
the obvious question.

"What!?"

"Yeah, I guess someone took the saying 'money is a weapon' way too
seriously. So I guess I could pay people not to try to kill us."

Nabiki smirked, "Yeah, until they figure out that if they kill you, they
get all your money and supplies."

"Point" Ranma ceded, then he addressed everyone, "anything else in
anyone's bag?"

At this Konatsu cleared his throat, and he was actually being listened
to. "I seem to have a bundle of arrows in mine."

"Okay, so we know someone's walking around with a bow that won't
work."

Ukyo shakes her head, "Can't be, bags are too small, probably just a
crossbow."

No one else claimed to have anything extra in theirs.

"Okay, so what's the what? Do we stay in here until tomorrow, or do
we head outside right now, and try to access the situation and how
the others have adapted?"

Everyone turned to stare with some surprise at Tsubasa, who had
asked an intelligent question.

"What?"

Ranma was the only one who didn't hit the floor. Repeating Tsubasa's
question, he suggested they put it to a vote. After adding up the tally
Ranma and his group, (consisting of Ryouga and, strangely enough,
Tsubasa) saw that they were in the minority and that they were going
to be spending the remainder of the day being students.

Sighing to himself, Ranma walked swiftly as he explored the building.
So far he had only seen a few empty classrroms and a computer room.
Nothing to write home about, and nothing to raise ones hopes for a
chance at escape.

Ranma was rather happy that they had decided to split up to explore
the school. Now he didn't have to cover up his grief and guilt. He
wondered how the others would feel about him if they knew that he
had all but handed his fellow classmates to the Grim Reaper.

Earlier, Ranma had manifested a green aura, commonly associated
with depression,and it was this aura that had caused many of those
that had shared the classroom with him, to decide to take their
chances on the outside.

Well, the truth was, Ranma had known what would happen, and he
had made a hard decision. He had a plan for getting off the island
safely. Unfortunately, he needed time, time he wouldn't have had
if the other students weren't to participate in the 'game'. Ranma's
mouth quirked in an almost smile as he thought of how cheap
this Program valued human life.

Well, Ranma knew that life was precious, he just adhered to the idea
that 'my life is more precious than yours', something he never would
have attributed to himself. But now he knew that his life and those of his
friends were worth more than he was willing to pay.

So he had deceived everyone a little bit. The aura was easy. All he had
to do was let some of the depression he was already feeling seep out
of him. Of greater concern was keeping his depression to a minimum,
he hadn't wanted to start a riot.

So Ranma had deliberately set things up so that people he ordinarily
would have considered friends, if not close, to try to kill each other so
that he could have enough time to escape with his life and his friends'.
Oh yeah, he was feeling guilty and he didn't really want to stop. Cause
only inhuman bastards like Ugly didn't feel guilt. As he was berating
himself for being evil, heartless, and even more cold hearted than Nabiki
had ever been accused of, (Like most everyone, he didn't notice the
inconsintincy of his self directed insults.) he realized that he was near
the front doors of the school.

Thinking to himself that he should try to work through his guilt by
practicing some of his more taxing katas in the courtyard, he began
to walk towards the double doors. He figured that he would be okay
because the grounds were part of the school, and if anyone tried to
throw something at him front a distance or shoot at him, that his
reflexes were quick eneough to dodge anything that came from
beyond the grounds of the school

Upon opening the doors and stepping outside, Ranma realized
that maybe doing katas weren't such a good idea, and that maybe
the safe house only extended to the school itself.

His first clue was the majorly dead form of Ai, laying face up
in the dirt, her torso and legs riddled with what appeared to be
throwing stars,a deep gash across her neck. Her glassy eyes
stared up at the sky

His second clue was the faint rustle of clothing he heard above and
behind him. Barely turning around in time, he came face to face with
Gosunkugi, who had tears streaming down his face, and who wore
a strange rictus of a smile on his face.

"G...Gosunkugi?" asked an incredulous, and not very frightened
Ranma. (hey, would YOU be scared of Gosunkugi?)

"Ranma, prepare to die." No exclamation, no anger, just that odd
little smile, and suddel'y several shuriken were flying towards
him. Leaping over them he tried to talk to Gosunkugi.

"Hey, Gos, come on, do you really want to do this? I never thought
you were so easy to lead."

"Ha! As if you or anyone else ever thinks of me! You think I don't
notice how I'm always ignored? Well Ai has paid for turning her
back on me, and you'll pay too. You'll pay for all the times you ever
ignored or humiliated me!"

"Well, damn, even I don't have that much money, and I just got a
nice little windfall." Ranma deadpanned.

Screaming inarticulately, (jeez, that happens a lot) Gosunkugi increased
the tempo of his throwing as Ranma hopped around insulting
Gosunkugi. He was having so much well-needed fun that he just
immersed himself in pissing off Gos, to the point of forgetting
about everything else.

Including Ai.

"Look Gos, you know you'll never come close to tagging me, so why
don't you just...gah!"

This was said as Ranma, martial artist extraordinaire, tripped over the
rigor mortis eligible corpse of the late Ai. Taking advantage of the brief
clumsiness of his hated foe, Gosunkugi let loose a volley of stars, all
but one hitting. But what do they say about one sometimes being
enough?

The one shuriken had struck Ranma's left foot, almost completely
pinning it to the ground. Grimacing, Ranma Reached down to try
and work either the shuriken or his foot out, Ranma noticed a dark
shadow passing over him. Looking up, Ranma saw Gosunkugi
standing over him, smiling, and with his arm raised.

Looking into Gosunkugi's eyes, Ranma saw his death broadcasted
there. With a gasp, Ranma tried to wrench himself to the left a half
second after Gosunkugi's hand came forward.

And a volley of shuriken flew towards him.

****************
Author's notes:

Whoo...Sunava...now that
was intense to write. For
reals, during the yuka scene
I cried for like 15 min. I
couldn't even look at my
computer. *sigh*And it's only
going to get worse. By the way
what mental image was going
through Ranma and Akane's minds?
And you figure out the anime nods?
For those of you who don't know,
this is a crossover/fusion with
Battle Royale with a few tweakings.
So if you, gentle reader, have
a favorite character, resign
yourself to the fact that they
will probably die, painfully,
slowly, and cursing you with
their dying breath. However,
rest assured that at least one
person has to survive! And don't think
that you already know who's going
to survive because you don't, this
could be like psycho before I'm done.
So think of this like a lottery! But
instead of winning money, you could
win the luxury of not seeing your fave
char. get gutted like a fish! Gah! writing
this depresses me to death, but
it's like I have no choice.
Really, I wrote this in almost one
sitting simply because whatever
took hold over me wouldn't let me go.
I just read Battle Royale a few
days ago and I was compelled to
write this. I am very frightened
and seeking a gypsy to lift whatever
curse I am under. Also, Jouhou by Suitei
Shoujo rocks! Hell, I've got a new
anime compilation cd and it f ' in
kicks ass! It helps to get my writin'
mojo flowing like lava (shizuma).
been churning them out like butter
lately, bless you DNAngel, and bless
you too Hikaru no Go. Oh, are you
still here? I thought you'd be
gone by now. No life eh? I know
the feeling. Anyhoo, e-mail me to
let me know what I'm doing wrong
and/or right. Critiques are always
welcome! Flames will be punished!
ja ne!

-Kuonji Ranma

kuonji_ranma@hotmail.com

www.geocities.com/kuonji_ranma

E's otherwise
DNAngel
Scrapped princess
Rizelmine
Princess Tutu
Last Exile
Dear Boys
Hikaru no Go
Gundam Seed
Limeiro Senkitan
Ashita no Nadja
Cinderella Boy
Full Moon o Sagashite