Darkscribes.org

A Fetid Encounter, by Thermopyle:

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Ranma limped home, beaten, exhausted, and burned over ninety-seven
percent of his body. Only his mouth was still going strong. "Stupid
tomboy. Stupid Ryouga. I can't believe they hit me towards some stupid
landed dragon. 'Run away!' Hitomi said. Bah! Dragons are nuthin'.
What a weird chick."

Ranma tripped, fell, and nearly bit his tongue off when his chin smashed
into the ground. With the other three percent vanquished, he quickly
passed out.

"Are you okay?" The voice came from far, far away. "Mister, are you
okay?" It was the squeaky voice of an annoying little girl. Gah.

Ranma opened his eyes, saw purple innocence, and screamed. The girl
fell backwards and landed on the sidewalk. Good. Sticking something
that cute into a mostly-dead person's face was just wrong. She quickly
sat up and did it again. Ranma flinched.

"Go 'way," he said. His tongue hurt, and it was hard to speak. "Go
play wit' your fiends an' let me die in piss."

"What?" She frowned, not understanding.

"Go 'way!"

"I don't have any friends," she said pathetically. The girl looked up
and down the street as though somebody was spying on her. "My name is
Hotaru Tomoe." The girl held out her hand, and Ranma stared at it.

"Go 'way!" Maybe if it started to rain, he would turn into a puddle and
float down the sewers and into the land of the leprechauns. Or maybe he
would just drown because he hurt too much to close his mouth. The sky
looked unfavorably sunny.

"Does that hurt?" Hotaru asked, poking his forehead.

Ranma vaguely remembered having his face stepped on earlier by a giant,
scaled foot. He screamed.

"Oh. Sorry," she said.

Hotaru touched his hands, arms, and legs, then tested each rib
carefully, and eventually stopped at his nose because his voice no
longer worked.

"Your nose doesn't hurt? That's weird. It looks broken." Hotaru
hummed. "Okay." She looked both ways again, then back at Ranma's nose.
Her hand started to glow purple, and his eyes went cross-eyed as he
tried to stare.

Suddenly, his nose didn't hurt anymore. Neither did his arms, legs,
ribs, face, or anything else. His tongue, most especially, no longer
seemed about to migrate to a vulture's thankful stomach. It was the
most amazing thing.

"Do you feel better now?" Hotaru asked. She had a shy little smile on
her face, but he could tell she felt scared.

Ranma sat up, and Hotaru moved forward expectantly. He opened his
mouth, and she got the happiest look on her face. It was scary.

"Freak!" he yelled, and she flinched back. "You freak! I can't believe
you did that! My god, I'm going to hell!"

Hotaru bit back a sob and ran away, tears streaming from her eyes. He
hoped she dove into traffic. "I shoulda let that dragon eat me," he
moaned.

A few hundred spectators suddenly surrounded Hotaru, glaring at her with
disgust and hatred. "Witch! Witch! Burn the witch!"

"Aaaaah!"

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The End