Prelude 3.

	The little she-bitch would die. She had decided that the moment she'd
found Crystal, broken and beaten, in the alley behind the arcade. From where
she had knelt beside her, she could still hear the faint sounds of cheering and
laughter as Dave and Anna hammered it out against C-55s and Bu-12bs on two
BGC-DOOMS while Lenore and Angela screamed insults at one another with as
little real animosity as usual and the others milled about, waiting for other
games to be free and all keeping an eye out for one another. It was useless to
try overtly to watch their leader's back; she was as likely to flatten anyone
who suggested she couldn't cope with anything that came her way, especially
now. Crystal's helpless whimpering had stopped as she'd reached a hand to her
cheek, then the blue eyes had opened to look up at her. For a moment they'd
regarded one another, her own gaze frigid with the promise of revenge for this.
Then she was on her feet, flying back towards the arcade, screaming for the
others.
	That had been a mere ten minutes before. She had not waited for the
ambulance; she couldn't afford to wait. She had headed straight for Faegan's,
hoping to reach the drug-hole before they realised the mistake they'd made in
pushing her this far and went to ground for the duration.
	She had been lucky. Gema and the goon-squad were still there, probably
waiting for Harrison to call to let them know what she and the others were
doing after he'd finished with Crystal. She'd found that idea amusing. Harrison
would never talk again. Lenore and Andrew should be just about finished with
him by now, just about.
	It had been easy. All she needed was to remember little, fiery
Crystal's helpless broken form and that she was dealing with drug-trafficking,
gutter-licking filth and she didn't have to hold anything back. She had smashed
the first of the hired help, a Viet she thought, into the brick-work of the
club's entrance with such force that the impact had shattered his spine like
kindling. Kicking the semi-automatic from the hand of another with a snap that
smashed his wrist to pulp, she leapt, flipped and landed, slamming the third
bodily through the plate-glass door, flicking out the stiletto even as she
followed, driving the fine blade to the hilt through his spinal chord just
below the neck before wrenching it free and diving over him, already running
before his body had tumbled to a stop. She was through the club and out into
the darker passages behind almost before the panic had begun. Then there was
the dimly lit stairway and the voices from the room at the smaller passage's
farther end. Sprinting for the closed door, she had slammed it open, leapt
through and hurled the blade into the throat of the first of Gema's personal
guard even as he looked up, turning only to smash the other over a table and
through the window on the room's farther side before she was beside Gema,
another blade already at her throat.
	"Lock the door." She snarled softly.
	The little she-cat ducked, trying desperately to twist towards her, a
knife in her hand. Dropping her own blade, she slammed her to the table and
slapped the knife to the farther side of the room. Something cracked and Gema
screamed. She ignored her, pivoting to the door in time to flick her last blade
through the left eye of the gunman in the doorway.
	"You should have used that." She said calmly as she retrieved his
weapon and the tiny knife, pitched the dying body from the room and slammed and
locked the door.
	"Now then, where were we?" She inquired, moving to Gema's groaning
form, pausing to retrieve her other blades and re-sheathe them before dragging
the dealer-hit-girl up by her hair.
	There was a crash at the door, then another and a moment later it burst
inwards. She smiled as three blades flew and three men screamed and fell. Then
the fourth entered with a pistol in his hand.
	"Put that down." He snarled quietly, jerking a finger at the last blade
she held to Gema's throat.
	"We'll go together, your little pay-mistress and I." She said calmly,
her eyes never leaving his face, her own expression utterly devoid of fear.
	"If that's how you want it. Doesn't matter to--."
	The knife slashed his jugular before he'd finished, embedding itself in
the door-jam behind him. He screamed, a thin gurgling sound, even as she
whirled, pausing only to crack Gema's neck with a quick twist of her hand.
	"You f*ing bish." Came a gurgling slur from behind her.
	In the midst of her leap to the window she half turned, in time to see
the man, blood pulsing between his fingers as he clutched uselessly at his
neck, stagger up, the pistol still in his hand. Her feet hit the sill and she
hurled herself forwards, somersaulting towards the alley below. Then there was
a crack from behind her and the world exploded in reds and yellows, even as she
plunged towards, then through the street to fall, choking back a scream of
shock, into the oblivion beyond.

--------------------
Notes:
	Not much to say about this, save that it's not some Priss alternative
or substitute :-) and somehow I don't think they're going to get along very
well, at least at first.
	I've had absolutely no first-hand experience of this end of society and
am drawing entirely from what I've read or seen/heard on TV/radio.  I am also
not exactly happy with the fight.  There needs to be more emphasis on the fact
that the girl so outclasses her opponents as to have everything over before
they properly realise she's there.  Her main advantage is her Ranma-like speed
and almost unimaginable savagery when dealing with a perceived enemy.  She is
most definitely *not* like the Ranma characters.  She will kill without a
moment's hesitation and abandon any sense of fair play in an instant if she
considers an enemy to be dishonourable.  Oh, and yes, she and Ranma will
certainly fight although I really don't want a victor (neither would be willing
to forgive the other in that case I imagine); such is not the purpose of this.
Besides, I no next to nothing concerning the complexities of martial techniques
and would probably make a travesty of a good fight scene.  However, if anyone
else is willing to give me a hand when the time comes ...  A good brawl with
Kei, Priss, A-ko, B-ko, Mari or either version of Makoto/Lita however may be
very much another matter.