Pride Comes Before The Fall

A Ranma ½ Fanfiction

By Snafu the Great

Snafu's Legal BS Disclaimer: All characters and events are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. After reading several fanfics in which Ranma is disowned, betrayed and stabbed in the back, I decided to take the idea into a different direction, in which Ranma declares war on those who abandoned him. This is a revenge fic. It is also a very, very dark fanfic. There is major character bashing inside (Kasumi included), as well as several character deaths, so you have been warned, and don't flame me.

Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall - Proverbs 16:18

Prologue

Nerima Ward General Hospital.

Inside a waiting room, five persons – the one man and the four women – sat in anticipation in front of the operating rooms. Compared to the person who was inside the operating rooms, the five had gotten off incredibly light.

Three hours had passed since the Tendous and Saotomes had passed judgement on one of their own.

Three hours had passed since they were nearly killed at the hands of an enraged Ranma Saotome, the end result of trying to preserve their own honor. In preserving their honor by forsaking Ranma, the former Saotome had nearly killed them all in a fit of rage.

With the exception of Kasumi, each member of the Tendou and Saotome family had numerous levels of injuries. Soun's nose was broken and was bandaged. Nabiki's lip was busted from where Ranma had slapped her. Akane had numerous welts and bruises from head to toe. Nodoka also had a busted lip, her hair now cut short as a result of her disowned son's near-murderous antics.

But Genma had the worst of it.

Ranma had nearly killed Genma with the Saotome katana, which was why he was in surgery.

It had all started with a rematch from the Dragon Prince. Then outside interference from both Ryouga Hibiki and Mousse had given Herb the opportunity to lock in Ranma's curse with the Ladle and to KO the haughty Saotome.

By the time Ranma had regained consciousness, Ryouga had already notified the Tendous and Ranma's parents about what had happened, while Mousse did the same with Cologne and Shampoo.

Then all hell broke lose when they passed sentence on Ranma...


Tendou Dojo, hours earlier.

"YOU LOST?!" Genma bellowed to his son, now daughter.

Apparently, the news of Ranma's rematch against Herb had became known to the Tendous, as well as Ranma's parents. What they didn't expect was the fact that Ranma had lost to Herb, thanks to outside interference from his two rivals, and ended up getting his curse locked.

Ranma was facing judgment from the senior members of the Nerima martial arts hierarchy.

"It wasn't my fault!" Ranma had objected. "I had the entire match under control until Mousse and Ryouga showed up! They distracted me long enough for Herb to splash me with the ladle, and for those two idiots to jump me from behind."

"It doesn't matter!" Genma bellowed. "A true martial artist is aware of their surroundings! You are a disgrace!"

"Like I haven't heard that before, old man," Ranma muttered. She was already formulating a plan on how to track down Herb, beat the shit out of him and get his curse unlocked.

Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen.

"Looks like the pledge to unite the schools is finished, Tendou," Genma said.

Soun Tendou nodded. "Indeed, Saotome. Ranma is of no use to us now."

"WHAT?! After all the times I've saved your hide, your family, and your home you dare call me useless!?" Ranma bellowed at the older man.

"Don't you dare talk to my father that way you pervert!" Akane shouted.

"Shut the fuck up, you tomboy," Ranma snapped, her patience wearing incredibly thin. "I wasn't talking to you."

"You are no son of mine!" Genma shouted once again. "I want you gone!"

Nodoka nodded. "I agree. As head of the Saotome clan, I hearby cast you from the clan. The Tendou-Saotome pact is hearby nullified."

Soun nodded again. "I also agree." He turned to Ranma. "Leave my home, you dishonorable ronin and never come back here again."

This wasn't looking good for Ranma. Hoping she still had some allies within the Tendous, she turned to Nabiki. "Nabiki?"

Nabiki kept her cool expression. "Sorry, Saotome. Or should I say, Ranma. You're finished. You're no good to me with your curse locked."

Ranma stepped back in shock. With all of the cash that Nabiki has made off of her, Nabiki would at least support her. That was not the case. In a final effort, Ranma turned to Kasumi. "Kasumi?!"

Kasumi shook her head. "I am sorry, Ranma-chan. But the others do have a point. You have to leave."

"You heard her, you bastard," Akane snarled. "We don't want you here anymore! I'm glad that I don't have to marry a sex-changing freak like you!"

In an instant, Genma tossed Ranma's pack at her feet. "You are no child of mine! Get out!" he shouted.

Nodoka nodded. "My son died in battle. You are nothing but a tramp sharing the same name as my dead child. You are no longer welcome here. You show your face here, you will be forced to commit seppuku."

Cologne also put her two cents in. "The Kiss of Death has been reinstated. You are no longer welcome in the village. You show your face there, you will die, Ranma."

"Get out of my house, you freak!" Akane shouted. "We don't want you here anymore!"

"I finally won, Ranma!" Ryouga shouted triumphantly. "You will pay for the hell you have put me through!"

It was at that moment that something inside Ranma had snapped. Two years of fights and the madness had finally reached a deadly breaking point.

In an instant, Ranma's aura flared outward. Instead of its usual blue color, the color of confidence, it was instead blood red.

The color of unleashed primal rage.

Genma, Nodoka, Soun and Cologne each wondered if they had pushed the cursed martial artist over the edge.

"Damn you..." she whispered. Then she set her eyes on Genma. "DAMN YOU!"

Then all hell broke loose.

Without uttering the words, Ranma unleashed a red-tinted Mokou Takabisha upon Genma and Nodoka. Genma managed to push his wife out of the way, but was unable to block the incoming blast. To Genma, it was as if he was struck by a freight train. Had Nodoka been struck by the ki blast, it would have killed her outright.

A swift kick to Nodoka's midsection incapacitated the Saotome matriarch. In an instant, the Saotome honor blade was in Ranma's hands, unsheathed.

Kasumi and Nabiki rushed to the side, out of harms' way as Soun, Akane, Ryouga and the three Joketsuzoku charged at Ranma.

Cologne reached Ranma first, staff poised to strike Ranma in a shiatsu pressure point. Much to her surprise, she was sent back to the Nekohanten via the Hiryushoutenha.

'Impossible!' was the thought going on in Cologne's mind as she was ejected from the Tendou home. 'She performed the move without the spiral!'

Back in the house, Ranma had reached Genma. The fat martial artist tried to run, but several slashes to his legs stopped him in his tracks.

Nodoka had recovered and had grabbed Ranma from behind. "Ranma! Stop this now!" she commanded.

Ranma's response was to snap her head back, catching Nodoka in the face, forcing her to release her now ronin-ized daughter. One backhand to the elder woman sent her to the ground. To add insult to injury, Ranma brought down the katana onto Nodoka's hair, severing the bun.

"Die, Ranma!"

"Shampoo KILL!"

Shampoo and Mousse were not an issue, since Ranma splashed them with cold water, triggering their curses, and punted them both into the direction of the Nekohanten, surprisingly Ranma's rage overriding his chronic fear of cats.

"PREPARE TO DIE, YOU HONORLESS BITCH!" Ryouga screamed, umbrella at the ready, while Akane came in at his right.

Ranma slashed at Ryouga's umbrella, cutting it in two before unleashing a barrage of vacuum blades at the lost boy, which sent him crashing into the perimeter wall.

Soun reached Ranma. With vicious force, Ranma slammed the sword handle into the Tendou patriarch's face, breaking his nose. He was knocked out with a even more vicious blow to the jaw.

"HOW DARE YOU HURT MY FATHER!" Akane shouted as she brought the mallet to bear...

...only to have Ranma neatly slice the heavy mallet head off of the handle. Gripping the katana's scabbard with her free hand, Ranma proceeded to vent out her frustrations on Akane, using the scabbard to beat her within an inch of her life. Nabiki and Kasumi watched helplessly as Ranma brutalized their younger sister without mercy, payback for all the times Akane had malleted her.

When Nabiki made a move for the phone, Ranma kicked the mallet head up and punted it towards Nabiki. She barely dodged the blow, but it destroyed the phone.

Pointing the bloody katana at the Ice Queen, Ranma said in a cold voice, "Don't move, Tendou. You and your sister watch. You move, you and your family will pay...in blood."

To show that she was serious, Ranma slapped Nabiki square across the face, sending her back to Kasumi.

With Akane down for the moment, Ranma turned her attention back to her former father. Blood was seeping from his injuries as he tried to scramble back from his former child, who was now intent on killing him and possibly everyone inside the house.

"Ranma...please..." Genma pleaded, holding up one bloodied hand in an attempt to stave off his offspring. "Show mercy...I don't wanna die!"

"You should have thought about that earlier, old man. Kacchu Tenshin Amaguriken revised...DEADLY TEMPEST!" Ranma screamed as she unleashed five hundred small vaccuum ki bolts at her former father. The attack met its mark, sending Genma to the wall and slashing at his body repeatedly.

Genma collapsed to the floor. Blood had stained his gi, turning it red. He couldn't stand, since Ranma's attack had slashed the tendons in his legs. His body felt numb and he was feeling lightheaded from the blood loss.

Ranma was prepared to liberate Genma's head from his fat body. She raised the katana over her head, preparing to deliver the coup de grace. "If I can't practice the Art...THEN NEITHER WILL YOU! DIE, GENMA!" Ranma declared as she brought the katana down.

"Shishi Hokoudan!"

The green ball of depressing ki had struck Ranma from behind. Distracted by Ryouga, Akane made her move. Summoning another mallet, she sent Ranma flying out of the compound and out of sight.

Once things had calmed down, ambulances were called for both Soun and Genma.


"Nodoka Saotome?"

Nodoka stood up from her seat as the surgeon approached. "Yes? How is my husband?"

"He'll live," the surgeon replied. "But there was too much damage on his spinal nerves and several of his tendons. You said that he was a martial artist?"

Nodoka nodded.

"He will be able to walk, but with a cane or a staff, but he won't be able to practice the Art again. I'm sorry."


Genma Saotome was lucky to be alive...although his survival came at a cost.

Nodoka looked at her husband. With the exception of his face, he was bandaged from head to toe, unconscious from the sedatives that was pumped into his system, otherwise, he would be in unbearable pain.

Her husband was crippled for life and she had disowned her cursed son. Honor demanded that Ranma should marry Akane, but the pact to unite the schools was no longer in effect, given the circumstances. What Nodoka did not know was that in preserving her own personal honor by abandoning Ranma, she had destroyed her family.

And that decision will come to haunt her, as well as Genma and the Tendous for the rest of their days.