R1/2 -- Chris Collins (artc@mastnet.net)

	Sorry about saying chapter 8 was the last chapter when I'm now clearly
making another because.... (OLD VOICE: *whispering harshly* Just be quiet
so we can finish this thing before Ukyou and Shampoo get back.) Oh...
yeah... right....

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              |       An Iron Dagger Production        |
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              |        Written and Directed by:        |
              |        Christopher Lee Collins         |
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              |    Based on Characters Created by:     |
              |            Rumiko Takahashi            |
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              |       Ranma Saotome and Miko Lee       |
              |                  in:                   |
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              -----------===================------------
              |             NYANNIICHUAN:              |
              |           Very Tragic Story            |
              |                Part IX                 |
              |        "As Fate Would Have It"         |
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	"Let me go!  Let go!  They're gonna kill him!  Can't you see that he needs
my help?!"  Miko struggled against the samurai's hold with every ounce of
strength she had, but she simply wasn't strong enough to break free, and
her captor had pinned her arms to the sides so she couldn't use her needle
to sew anything--and something about his aura wouldn't allow her to stab
him.  All she could do was yell and scream and watch her guardian get
thrown around by the Emperor's jester.

	Reikiba wasn't even paying attention to her.  He was too busy yelling at
Miss Cat and Mister Bird for fussing at each other.  "Hey you two!  Cut
that out!  You're upsetting Miss Lee!"  The crow was flying around
Twilight's head, cawwing bitterly as she swiped at it with her paws; in
return, it tactically beat its wings at her face when it came in range.

	"Oh?"  Miko raised her eyebrows and eased up her struggle when, a few
seconds later, her guardian drove the jester into the ground.  Then she
gasped and pushed against the samurai again when one of the Emperor's
masked guards came at him from the side, but she settled down again when
her guardian avoided him and slammed him into the ground; she even flinched
and muttered, "ouch" in sympathy of the guard.  Then she gasped once again,
albeit minorly, when the other guard tried to skewer her champion, who just
kicked him back for his trouble; then, regaining his footing, the warrior
brought his swords up only to have her guardian reduce them to dust.

	Miko turned away and pouted innocently, almost ashamed to have
underestimated her guardian.  After a few seconds delay, she muttered to no
one, "Oh," at a loss for anything else to say.  Then, after another few
seconds, she smiled and giggled, content with thinking about what an
impressive (and agile) husband he wound make, and crooned into her
shoulder, blushing.

	A sudden sonic boom tore her from her introspection and made her look
everywhere at once.  Then she gasped and turned away when she finally
noticed the heated aerial fight between the Emperor and the dark-robed man.
 Then her eyes flew wide in surprise when she brought her attention to what
Twilight and the crow were doing.  _Ack!  What's going on???_

	The shimmercat was sitting on her haunches, a bright, irridescent aura of
orange flame coating her body, as she flailed at the crow with what almost
appeared like two torches.  The bird, emanating an aura of darkness that
made it seem three times its original size, was zipping around in front of
the cat like quicksilver, screaming and slapping back with its spindly,
ghostlike talons. (Neither animal seemed to have noticed the loud boom.)
Furthermore, the small area to which they confined their skirmish was
scorched as if by a campfire left ablaze too long before it was put
out--the grass wasn't actually on fire, just sizzling.

	Miko bit her lower lip in consternation and leaned more toward the
samurai.  She had never seen Twilight do anything like that before, and
never expected to--aside from Twilight's odd color, Miko always thought the
cat was just a different species of tiger.

	Reikiba scolded, "Stop it!  You two are acting like children! (OLD VOICE:
From what planet?) (NOTE: Shhh!) Further aggression won't solve anything!"
Still maintaining his hold on Miko, he took a threatening step toward the
two and snapped, "Don't make me come over there!"

	Miko blinked her eyes several times to make sure she was seeing things
correctly--to make sure she was actually seeing a flaming cat chasing a
shadow of a bird.  And even when she confirmed that her eyes were working
properly, she had to shake her head.  It was too confusing to understand.
She started to call out to Twilight, to make sure that it still was
Twilight, but she wasn't particularly sure that she wanted the shimmercat
near her right now, so her voice refused to even form a syllable.

	She squinted her eyes shut and shivered.  What was going on?  Everything
was happening so fast!  She didn't want to be in the middle of all of this!
 With the possibility of her own death so near, she didn't know how much
more she could take!  After several hesitant seconds, with the noises of
fighting hovering in the air, she opened her eyes and glanced back at her
guardian.  Then she actually felt her heart stop, and her throat
constricted too much to release a gasp.

	He was down on one knee, and he looked hurt!  _By the gods, what
happened?_  The Emperor's jester was standing in front of him, laughing!
She wished she could tell what they were saying!

	Too panicked to move, she held her breath when they suddenly charged at
each other, something inside her telling the battle would be decided in
this blow.  So she gasped painfully in surprise (and relief) when the
jester was hurled into a nearby tree with seeming ease.  And he dropped
something--it must have been the phoenix statue.  And her guardian picked
it up!  And he was hurrying back!

	Miko closed her eyes to fight off a sudden flood of joyous tears and let
out the deep sigh she was holding; she leaned into the samurai, her limbs
suddenly feeling like putty, her head feeling terribly light, as tension
escaped her body in a rush.  The fighting sounds around her became as
insubstantial as running water--because none of it mattered.

	He'd done it.  Her guardian had saved her again.  And he was alright.  Now
they could be together again, and this time she wouldn't let him go.  She
could see it now:

	He's rushing back to her, calling her name, holding the statue high to
herald his victory.  While the samurai is turning to see what's going on,
she'd find the strength to break free, then she'd rush down the hill to
meet him, her arms outstretched in anticipation and her face streaked with
tears.

	Her guardian would meet her halfway up, embrace her furiously, and kiss
her passionately, and aggressively, just like she'd wanted him to do before
he left her side.  And she'd wrap her arms around him and respond with like
fervor.

	Then, still lip-locked, her guardian would lower her to the grass, not too
roughly but not too gently, falling atop her, nestling his body erotically
between her legs.  Then, she'd tilt her head upward and pull his face down
upon her throat, moaning, "Never leave me again."  He'd glide hot breath
across her neck, then breathe into her ear, "You got it, Miko."

	Then he'd kiss her expose flesh, sending shivers down her spine, and he'd
reach under her blouse and cup her breast.  Ooh, that felt good.  Then,
slowly inching her blouse up, he'd....

	"Miss Lee?  Are you alright?"

	"!"  Miko started and opened her eyes to see the samurai looking down at
her, worry marked across his face.  She flinched at his nearness, then
turned to see Twilight and the crow sitting side-by-side, both looking at
her curiously, almost dumbly.

	The samurai brought one hand up to scratch his head, leaving the other to
hold her up, explaining, "You must have fainted when I wasn't looking.
When I noticed that your body had gone limp, I turned to find you slumped
and drooling a bit. *short nervous laugh* I guess I must have been holding
you too tightly.  Sorry."

	Blushing, Miko got one arm free and brought it up to wipe her mouth, then
said while turning back to see why her guardian was being delayed, "Uh,
that's... o-kay...."

	"Hn!!"  Her eyes flew wide when she saw her guardian kneeling on the
ground with his hand on another girl's shoulder.  A NAKED girl....  Then
her eyes flashed in fear and anger and jealousy as, just a second later,
the girl jumped forward into his embrace and buried her head in his chest!

	"NO!"  Miko's aura instantly flared and she threw herself forward,
shouting, "He's mine!"  Reikiba gasped in surprise to see her glowing and
just barely regained an his previous hold before she could get away from him.

	"Wha...!  Ack!  M-Miss Lee?!  Calm down!"  Miko pushed forward, flailing
her free arm forward and kicking her heels against his shins (to no avail),
crying, "No!  She can't have him!  He's mine!"

		

	Fang rolled out of the way just as the dark wizard descended with
razor-sharp, metal talons on his feet.  As the talons sunk into the earth
in the spot fang was just a split-second ago, the dark man clasped his
wrists and gasped, "Thank the heavens that you are alright.  I was worried
that you may have had a concussion (brain injury)."  (NOTE: He didn't say
"after I hit you".)

	Fang wiped a thin stream of blood from the side of his mouth with his
forearm and growled, "You are still mocking me!  Will you not take me more
seriously?!"

	The dark man stroked his beard in amusement and stepped off of his metal
talons.  "Was I not serious enough?  I have drawn first blood."  The dark
man studied Fang's angry, determined expression and sighed, "You are a very
brave and skilled opponent.  Why not leave things at that?"

	Fang spat, "NO!  I WILL prove myself better than ANY man, even if I die
trying!"

	The dark man chuckled softly, "Very well.  That is you're decision.  But
can you prove yourself better than the fourteen-year-old girl who defeated
me?"

	"WHAT!?!"  Fang's eyes flew psychotically wide and his aura flared wildly,
almost tripled in intensity.  The dark man looked slightly embarrassed,
then sidestepped in time to miss a concentrated bolt of fire aimed at his
stomach.

	!Whoosh! "Whoa!"  The dark man jumped into the air as his opponent
released another concentrated bolt in his direction, laughing, "Was it
something I said?!"

	When the dark man reached his previous height of forty feet, he glanced
back in the distance and noticed that the bolts his adversary had fired
were turning up and around, tranforming into miniature phoenixes.  "Eh?"
He raised his eyebrows and looked down to see the Emperor soaring up toward
him in a blaze of fire, roaring his battle charge (which went alot like:
"RRRRROOOOAAARRRR!!!!!!).

	The dark man quickly shot upward with the Emperor in hot pursuit (no pun
intended), and the two phoenixes swooped upward alongside their creator
like fighter jets, leaving a trail of flame behind them.

	When the dark man rose another hundred feet, looking more like a black
wisp than a man, he U-turned and rocketed downward to his previous height.
The phoenixes broke formation, looping outward, and rocketed straight for
the wizard.  Fang just kept ascending, although slowing.

	The dark man, seeing that they wouldn't leave him alone, threw up an air
shield and braced for impact.  A split-second later--!!BOOM!!--the
phoenixes collided from either direction with a thunderous explosion, but
instead of discipating, they melded with his shield and turned it into a
swirling prison of liquid fire.

	Fang descended to his prisoner's level, laughing sinisterly.  But he just
as soon cursed and threw his arms forward when the fiery bubble suddenly
inverted and hurled itself at him, leaving the dark man hovering in its
place, unscathed.

	Instead of dodging, the Emperor let the sphere strike him--he seemed to
partially absorb, making his aura flare out like the wings of a bird.  Then
he swung his arms outward, smashing the sphere into dozens and dozens of
tiny fireballs and scattering them back at his adversary like guided missiles.

	The dark man simultaneously releasing his own wisps of chi energy, like
fist-sized soap bubbles, to intercept and destroy the fireballs, bellowing
enthusiastically, "This is the most entertainment I've had in five hundred
years!  You are indeed a worthy opponent!"

	"SILENCE!"  Fang swooped his arms upward and the remaining fireballs shot
upward and rained down on the wizard like a meteor shower.

	The dark man fanned his arms out over his head, creating an umbrella of
air, on which the fireballs merely fizzled out on contact.  Then, his arms
still outstretched, he tilted the dome forward just as Fang released two
jets of fire from his fists.  The air shield quickly became visible--a
thin, convex wall that swirled like molten glass being blown--as the dark
man rushed forward, slamming it into the Emperor.

	Fang was knocked back--AGAIN!--still clutching the undamaged shield of
air, which seemed to now have the consistency of LEAD.  He stared forward,
brow furrowed, and sneered at the dark wizard.  And in his usual
condescending manner, the dark man claped his wrists under his robe and
chuckled, "That was a very cleaver attack.  I did not think you had it in
you."

	Fang growled and heaved the invisible shield at the dark mockingbird, who
just held up a hand and stopped it in mid-air; then, with a flick of the
wrist, it dissolved back into the air.  The dark man rolled his eyes and
sighed sarcastically, "Now that was mature."

	"Shut up! (very informal)"  Fang clenched his fists, each glowing with a
reddish aura.

	The dark man slowly shook his head and clicked his tongue in
disappointment.  "What childish behavior.  After such a rigorous workout
(duel), you let your temper get the better of you.  From Miko that I can
escuse, but from the so-called leader of an empire...."

	Fang looked very surprised, and confused, to hear Miko's name.  But when
he came to the simple conclusion that Miko must have been the refered young
girl who had defeated him, he laughed, "You were defeated by the daughter
of a lowly rice farmer!"

	The dark man seemed slightly annoyed.  He raised an eybrow and grumbled,
"Five hundred years ago, that RICE FARMER would have eviscerated you for
making such a statement."  Fang suddenly stopped laughing and raised his
own eyebrows.

	The dark man smiled and shrugged, then sighed, "But that is in the past
now."  He unhooked his hands, brought one up to stroke his beard, and mused
aloud, more to himself, "I should have known that someone of his
descendence would prove a match for me. *chuckle* She certainly has great
potential."  (The last statement was said in such a way that suggested Fang
didn't.)

	Fang glanced contemptably over his shoulder at the hill Miko was on; the
redhead was leaning into the embrace of a tall man wearing a dark brown
samurai robe, and she seemed to be dazed or unconscious (and drooling?).
Fang spat sourly, "THAT insignificant whelp is to be your new apprentice?!"
 He turned and thrust his arms in her direction, ready to permanently take
her off the dark man's short list of candidates, but a pair of chains
quickly snaked around his arms and directed them upward before he could
charge his blast.

	The dark man narrowed his eyes and almost hissed, "I cannot allow you to
do that.  She is not to die by your hand."  He blinked wearily and sighed,
"It was careless of me to mention her in the first place."

	Fang narrowed his eyes as well.  "I see you have made your final decision."

	The dark man raised his eyebrows.  "I already had."  Then, before Fang
could react, he yanked the chains and sent his adversary over his head.

	Fang melted the chains and caught his balance on the opposite side, his
fiery aura blazing.  He growled, "Then if I cannot have the honor of
studying under you...,"  He threw his fists at his enemy and launched a
massive stream of fire, concluding, "...then I will gain the glory of
destroying you!"

	The dark man quickly erected a large air shield--a hollow half-sphere
nearly twice his size in which he stood.  The flames pounded into the
shield head-on, quickly washing over the shield's entire surface with
searing heat and force, but the dark-robed man didn't seem to mind.  As
long as he concentrated, the shield would hold, and he didn't have to
endure the rising heat any longer than it took for Ranma to retrieve the
phoenix statue.  So, while the Emperor popped a blood vessel, the dark
wizard just folded his arms and waited.

	And he didn't have long to wait, just a few seconds, before he heard that
familiar voice calling, "Yo!  Dark Guy!"  He glanced over his shoulder and
smiled to see Ranma toss the statue into the air.  It was heading straight
for him.  Impatiently, the dark man lashed out a chain and grabbed the
statue, then pulled it to his hand.

	Then the shield dissolved and the flames overran him.