Liu-Sing stood atop the hill with his arms folded, the phoenix statue in
his right hand, and sighed as he watched his former highness practically
beg--in his own way, of course--for a chance to become the "Dark One"'s
apprentice.  It almost seemed comical, like the climactic scene of a
farcical play where the hero and villian simply must engage in a
rediculously long-winded conversation, except this particular conversation
seemed rather unusual for an epic performance.  Liu-Sing chuckled and
glanced upward as if he'd see some great playright peeking down from the
clouds--indeed, the playright (god) of this particular chapter in history
must have had a penchant for using every cliche known to man to write such
pointless dialog. (NOTE: Hey, he's making fun of me!  ;p ) It was a
humorous thought.

	When he looked back down, nearly bored, he gasped in mock-surprise as it
appeared the two were actually going to begin the fight.  His former
highness had snapped back into a phoenix stance (facing his opponent
sideways with his right knee drawn high in front of his waist and his left
fist raised high) and the dark man... well, he was just standing there with
his arms folded (a stance he sometimes used himself).  It appeared as
though they were attempting to stare each other down--another ploy which he
thought was practically useless before a fight.

	Suddenly, breaking the monotonous calm (inactivity), the dark man threw
his hands forward and several chains flew from his sleeves.  Fang quickly
swung his arms and raised leg in a wide arc and managed to gather all the
chains to his hands, then sent a fiery blue pulse of energy along the
lengths.  The dark man threw the chains to the side just as they melted
into the ground, then countered by releasing a volley of long, metal
spikes.  Fang swung his leg again and a trail of yellow flame from his foot
melted the projectiles; then he put his foot down, thrust his hands
forward, and sent a massive ball of similar fire in his opponent's
direction.  The dark man raised an air shield in time to block the blast,
but the force of impact and resultant explosion knocked him back several
feet, somewhat singed.

	Liu-Sing raised an eyebrow.  This fight could prove interesting after all.
 He hoped he could watch more of it before his own guest arrived.

		

	On the other side of the hill, Ranma peeked around a tree just long enough
to see Liu-Sing standing a few dozen yards and two trees away with his back
turned; Ranma's eyes widened when he spied the phoenix statue dangling from
his right hand.  Ducking back behind the tree, he half-smiled.  Soon it
would all be over.

	He wanted to just step out and directly challenge the clown to a fight.
It was the manly thing to do.  Anyway, he was still steamed about their
last fight--for scaring Miko and for playing so rough while he was in girl
form--and he wanted a formal rematch.  But, given the skill the clown had
shown earlier, a direct confrontation would take too long for his liking.

	Ranma let out a deep breath and lowered his head.  Honor and vengence
aside, it was more impotant, to Miko as well as himself, that he retrieve
the statue and get back to her as soon as possible.  Since he had left her
just a few minutes ago, his worry for her had only grown with every step.
If it weren't for the fact that he was so close to the object that would
supposedly save her life, he would have run back to her in an instant.

	Ranma clenched his teeth and winced.  What was he doing?  He SHOULD be
back with her!  He shouldn't have left when she tried to stop him--the hurt
look on her face was almost unbearable!  He should have stayed and
protected her himself like he had since they met.  He should....  No.
Second-guessing would only waste time, and he'd only make himself mad with
worry.  He should get the statue while he had the opportunity.  He had come
this far, so the sooner he claimed his boon, the sooner he could get back.

	So, after taking a deep breath and clearing his mind of all worries, he
crept from behind his cover and began tip-toeing toward his target, not
even crunching one blade of grass as he moved.  The clown was still
standing with his back turned, occupied with the fight that he heard was
starting below.

	But when he passed by the next tree, less than half-way to his destination
and several feet to the right, he froze in mid-step and held his breath as
he heard a soft, feminine groan.

	Sleeping under the tree, on the side that he was unable to see from his
previous vantage point, was a brown-haired girl with an empirial blue and
orange robe pulled to her shoulders like a blanket.  She grumbled softly
and blinked her eyes open, squinting at first as her eyes adjusted to the
direct sunlight shining down on her.  But when she realized that there was
an incredibly handsom man standing before her, her face lit up and she
excitedly sat up with her hands clasped in front of her chest, allowing the
robe to fall from her body.

	Ranma's eyes flew wide and he clenched his teeth to contain a nervous gasp
when he realized that she was completely naked (except for a bracelet
around her left wrist).  Luckily retaining his wits, he frantically waved
his arms in front of him when it appeared as though the girl were going to
call out to him.  She tilted her head in curiousity and furrowed her brow
questionably.  When Ranma pointed toward Liu-Sing with one hand and made a
shushing gesture with the other, the girl nodded in understanding, somewhat
worried.

	Ranma wiped a bead of sweat from his brow, then continued creeping toward
the clown--he didn't seem to have heard anything (hopefully not).  The girl
carefully gathered the robe around her to protect her from the sun, as well
as a sudden chill she felt, and followed the gorgeous hunk with her eyes as
he stalked the other gorgeous hunk.  There was going to be a fight--she
knew it--and she was going to be able to watch; the thought both frightened
her and filled her with awe.

	When Ranma had crept another dozen yards, and passed another tree over a
dozen yards to his left, Liu-Sing, his back still turned, chuckled, "Don't
tell me you were planning on just sneaking up behind me and taking the
statue from my hand."

	Ranma froze in mid-step again, then stood up straight and nervously
twiddled his thumbs.  "Well... um... yeah...."  Liu-Sing drooped his head
and groaned.

	"Hm?"  Ranma glanced over his shoulder as a masked imperial guard dropped
from each of the two trees he passed--the one by the first tree was only
wearing a pair of baggy blue and orange trousers, and the girl clutching
his robe shrieked and cringed when he suddenly appeared in front of her.
Each began sidestepping in a wide circle away from each other, attempting
to block off Ranma's escape, and each held a pair of butterfly swords ready
to attack.

	Ranma sighed and slumped his shoulders in regret.  Getting the statue was
going to be harder than he thought.  He hoped that Miko would be alright.

		

	Miko sat with her legs crossed and her head down and sighed heavily as she
slowly and carefully tended to the petals of the delicate rose she created.
 She had almost stepped on it after she dropped it--but luckily, she had
only hit it with her heel.  The damage was minor; with a little
rearranging, she'd have it perfect when her guardian spirit returned.

	She hardly even noticed what the former emperor and the midnight-robed
wizard were saying below--or if they were talking anymore.  She really
didn't care.  Her gaze remained focused on the fragile flower in her hands,
everything else tuned out, as she tried to recall happy memories of the
time she spent with her guardian--in either form.

	But every time she did, she would hear voices in the back of her mind,
mocking statements of her last conversation with the dark wizard, of how he
said she was meant to die; and the harder she tried to coax soothing
thoughts into her head, the more prominent the voices became, and the more
she ended up depressing herself.  So, to keep herself from breaking down in
tears or going out of her mind, she had quickly settled into a half-aware
trance, devoting all of her thoughts to repairing the rose, and assured
herself that they would be together again.

	She didn't notice the crow hopping around in the grass in front of her,
turning its head this way and that as it peered up into her face, which
despite her efforts, was still damp and somewhat puffy around the eyes.  It
whined pitifully, mourning the dilemma it knew she must have been going
through.  However, it cheered up when it shifted its gaze to the black rose
in her hands; but it just as quickly cocked its head in confusion when it
noticed that the flower was made of cheesecloth.

	And she didn't notice the whimpering, orange and blue striped jungle cat
approaching from behind until it had trotted up to her and started licking
the side of her face.  Even then, Miko did little more than glance in its
direction, curling her lips into a faint smile, as though her long-time
companion were just a figment in a dream.

	"Miss Cat?  Where are you going?  I think I found Miss Lee's tracks over
that way...."  When Reikiba had ascended the hill enough to see the redhead
sitting beside his feline searching partner, he paused and his eyes
brightened in surprised confusion, then he sprinted the rest of the way up
the hill until he was standing but a dozen feet from her.  He scratched the
back of his head and toned, "Miss Lee?"--surprised to finally find her, but
not sure if it was her or her twin, and also embarrassed that he would have
passed her by if it weren't for the oddly-colored cat.

	Again, Miko distantly glanced in his direction, but this time, something
clicked.  "Hn?"  Her eyebrows raised in curiosity, she turned and looked at
the jungle cat beside her, this time with sudden familiarity.  "Twilight?"
She threw her arms around the shimmercat's neck and pulled her close, happy
to have SOMETHING familiar to hold onto.  She glanced at Reikiba again and
asked, "What are you two doing here?"

	But Reikiba wasn't paying attention to her question.  Instead, he was
scratching his head and glancing around, blinking questioningly, at the two
battles going on: one just on the next hill and one STRANGE one over the
valley.  Miko's question completely forgotten, he asked, "What's going on?
Is this some sort of training excercise?"

	Miko sighed and rested her head on Twilight's neck, droning, "I really
don't care."

	Reikiba raised his eyebrows, further puzzled by her disinterest.  He
pointed in the direction of the battle on the next hill and asked, "But
isn't that one of your guardians?"

	"What?"  Miko jerked her head up, the mention of her guardian rending her
fully alert, and looked in the direction the samurai indicated.  Her eyes
flew wide when her eyes zoomed in on her protector, who was trapped in the
company of three other men: two masked warriors, each armed with a pair of
swords, one robed and the other topless, who slowly circled him like
sharks; and another wearing only harlequin-ish pants....  Oh no.  It was
the same clown that she met in the dungeon of the palace, the one who was
about to kill Salon and the Empress--and she was almost positive that it
was the same clown who grabbed her in the inn!  Her heart beat twice as
fast as she suddenly worried herself into a state of panic; she gasped,
"No!  He's surrounded!"

	"I've got to help him!"  Miko jumped up, dropping the rose once again, and
lept forward with the intent of running to the next hill, but Reikiba
quickly grabbed and restrained her, shouting, "No, Miss Lee, it's too
dangerous!"

	"You don't understand!  He needs my help!"  Miko squirmed in his grasp as
hard as she could, but he was just too strong--or she was too weak--and she
was only exhausting herself.

	Reikiba just held her in place, as if her struggling took no effort on his
part to contain, and calmly repremanded, a hint of his samurai nobility
showing, "I'm sure that your guardian is a sturdy warrior and knew what he
was getting himself into.  But whether this is a training excersise or not,
this is no place for a young girl to be running around.  Miss Cat and I are
here to protect you and we can't do that if....  Miss Cat?"

	Since Miko moved out of the way, Twilight had a clear view of the dark
wizard's crow, which was standing over the fallen cheesecloth rose, eyeing
from as many different angles as possible.  The shimmercat's eyes instantly
flared with an inner, red fire, and she bared her teeth at the black
nemesis from her past (NOTE: Since Doshin and the dark-robed man were once
friends in their old Order, their familiars would know each other as well.
And when the two colleagues became enemies, so did their familiars.
Anyway, cats eat birds.).

	The crow froze stiff, its blood running cold, when it heard the large cat
snarl.  It cheeped quizzically and ruffled its feathers a bit (shivering),
then looked up, its eyes twin saucers of fear, just as the shimmercat
pounced.  The bird brought its wings up like a shield just as the
quarter-ton monster dropped and snared it with her powerful forepaws.

	Twilight, her mouth wide, sank her head down to claim her prize, but
quickly snapped her head back and winced as if slapped.  Then a much
larger, two-dimensional, shadowy representation of the crow (almost three
times as big) flustered from beneath the shimmercat and hovered in the
air--like a crow-shaped hole in the air.

	Undaunted by her opponent's new size, Twilight extened her claws and
swiped at the black mass several times, but nothing seemed to connect.  The
shadowy bird, in turn, beat its long wings against the cat's face and paws,
which seemed to hit, yet only served to annoy her.

	Backing away, the bird let out a deep, hollow, angry twitter and returned
to its prefered solid size and form, then glared at the jungle cat through
narrowed, fiery eyes.  Twilight crouched down, ready to pounce.

	Miko, startled by Twilight's ferocity and the crow's supernatural display,
shied back into Reikiba's arms.  The samurai, allowing the redhead to use
him as a shield, spat at the two, "Don't play so rough!  You might hurt
someone!  You're already scaring Miss Lee!"

		

	The dark-robed wizard calmly got so his feet, apparently unshaken by the
Emperor's surprising opening attack, and dusted his robe off, which was
slightly smoking, and chided, "Naughty, naughty.  You were holding back
last time."

	The Emperor steadily retook his phoenix stance and growled, "Now will you
take me seriously?"

	The dark man bowed slightly.  "It seems that I must."  When he rose, he
thrust his hands forward, palms outward, releasing an enormous ball of blue
chi energy.

	The Emperor just watched, expressionless, not even flinching, as the
energy rapidly neared him, steadily decreasing in intensity until it was
only a warm gust of wind hitting its target.  The dark man looked downcast
at the chi-dampening grass and muttered, "Oops.  Silly me."

	Then, laughing at the practical joke happenstance had played on him, he
jumped high into the air.  The Emperor, looking a bit disappointed (in the
dark man's performance), immediately followed.

	They collided about forty feet over the valley and exchanged a quick
volley of a few hundred rapid punches, which were all countered
successfully by the other, before descending in their own individual arcs.
Then, only falling about ten feet, they jumped back towards each other to
exchange another few hundred punches, which were equally unsuccessful.

	Then, after passing each other one more time, the dark man spun around,
threw his arms out, and a few dozen small, spherical eggs spread out in his
opponent's direction.  The Emperor instantly put up a fire shield,
uncertain what the eggs would do.  They exploded against his shield with
little force, but she sky around around him was suddenly blackened by a
thick powder. (endama smoke bombs)

	The Emperor shielded his eyes with his arm and coughed violently, the
firewall being insufficient to stop to smoke from billowing on his flanks.
The firewall discipated and the Emperor tried to rise above the dark cloud,
but not before he was slammed in the back and thrown forward for a few
dozen yards.

	The dark man lectured, "You should watch your back more often.  It's a
tempting target."  Fang turned in time to see the dark man flying toward
him with a long quarterstaff aimed forward.  A hard slap with the left
deflected the butt of the staff, and he caught the other end when the dark
man swung it around.  The Emperor thrust his knee forward, but the dark
man, still holding the staff, backed out of range; the Emperor then thrust
his foot out at the wizard's chest, and was surprized when the dark man
dodged, broke his staff into two parts seperated by a long chain, and
ensnared his leg.  With a hard yank, the Emperor was thrown over the dark
man's head.

	Fang's fiery aura flared as he reoriented himself a few dozen yards away.
He turned with a roar to see the wizard, in one quick movent, snap the
staff into four more parts, then hurl it like a bola.  When the six-part
staff spun within range, Fang swung his arms high, hands blazing, and
sliced the weapon into three smoldering parts, which he tossed aside
impatiently.

	Laughing, the dark man threw a dozen metal spikes, which Fang melted in
mid-air.  After doing the same to a volley of chains, Fang shouted, "What's
wrong, Dark One?!  Running out of things to toss at me?!"

	The dark man flourished and answered jovially, "Not at all!"  He thrust
his hands forward and the sky exploded with thousands of bright flowers.
Fang flinched as shriveling lillies rained against his face.

	"Oops.  Wrong one.  How about this?"  Fang brought his hands up just as he
was assaulted by dozens of REAL eggs.  His fiery aura hard-boiled the first
barrage, and it felt as though he were being stoned.  Dropping his aura,
the second barrage of eggs covered him in a gooey mess that plastered
flowers all over his body.

	"And this, and this."  Fang started to fry the egg off his body just as a
large sack of flour exploded against his chest.  The Emperor coughed and
flailed his arms to clear his vision, shouting, "What is this?!"

	Fang was answered by a silver hand mirror between the eyes.  The dark man
sighed, "Oh darn.  And I was looking for that.  Ooh!  This looks nice!"

	Fang looked forward and shouted, "Just what the hell...!" and dodged as he
almost got a handbrush in the jaw.  In the split second he took his eyes
off the wizard to watch the brush go by, a decorated vase shattered over
his head.  Fang raised his hands in typical Takahashi warding just as a
porcelin duck training potty smashed into his face.  With a muffled gurgle,
he fell groundward.

	The dark man looked downward in confusion, then looked inside his billowy
sleeves, muttering, "Now how did that get in there?"