(Scene: A darkened room. Lights slowly come on to reveal a small, 
cluttered dorm room with TV and VCR in front, a worn couch and 
coffeetable in back. Seated on the couch are our hosts Noriko and Raphael.)

Raphael: Didn't expect to see us back so soon, eh? Welcome to Mystery C&C 
Theater 1/2!

Noriko: Tonight we're going to be looking at part 15 of Hearts of Ice, 
written by Krista Perry. 

Raphael: I think we're reaching the end of this series. It's been a great 
trip so far, and this one should be good. Maybe it'll even finish it off!

Noriko: This isn't like Zen-san's Bitter End, is it? I mean, it was good, 
but I really don't think I can take another fic like that. That was _so_ 
depressing...

Raphael: No, I don't think it's like that. Not yet, at least. I think you'll 
like this one. But let's get the tape rolling, shall we? (pushes "play" 
on the remote)

10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...

Well, after another wonderful bout with the flu and several work
disasters, I'm finally finished with Part 15 of Hearts of Ice. 
Hope it's worth the wait!

Raphael: Yeah, I've been waiting for this volume to be released...

Noriko: Shh! I can't hear!

I would really appreciate any C&C on this one, since this part
has some actual (drumroll please) BATTLE SCENES in it!  I've
never written battle scenes before, so if I've totally blundered
it, I would appreciate any suggestions for improvement.  I also
promise that I will do my darndest to respond to any and all
comments I receive, be they C&C, flames, or death threats. ^_^

Raphael: Ooooh! Battle Scenes! I love a good action sequence... (Noriko 
suppresses a sigh of exasperation)

What has happened before: A heck of a lot.  Check out the Hearts
of Ice web page for previous installments at:

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Towers/1519/hearts.html

Noriko: You know, we probably should have rented the previous tapes 
before trying out this one. I mean, I haven't seen any of this particular 
series yet...

Raphael: Don't worry about it. You'll pick it up as we go along. But 
yeah, we can go get the other ones later.

------------------------------------------------
Hearts of Ice
Part 15:  Into the Demon's Lair
by Krista Perry
------------------------------------------------

<snip>

     "If this place is so terrible," she said, glaring at the
god, "then how am I supposed to walk in there and find the
Shadowcat in the first place?  And if you're so sure the
Shadowcat can defeat me, why should I even try?"

     Susa-no-o raised an eyebrow at her.  "Does that mean you're
giving up?" he asked quietly.  "You're just going to let the
Shadowcat keep Ranma?"

Raphael: That Susa-no-o guy is really annoying! I mean, he _knows_ that 
Akane isn't going to give up, but he keeps teasing her! What a jerk!

Noriko: I think Krista-san meant to portray him that way. I mean, from 
what I remember from Literature class, Susa-no-o was supposed to be a 
completely irrascible deity. And this seems just like him.

Raphael: That doesn't mean he's not a jerk.

Noriko: Fine. He _can_ be a jerk; are you happy now?

     Akane took it hesitantly and examined it.  It was simple in
its design, the teeth about two inches long and two inches
across, the smooth, rounded spine devoid of carvings or symbols
of any kind.  "What is this?" she asked.

     "It's a hair comb.  Duh."

Raphael: (snorts) Heh heh heh! Just what I would have said. I love it.

Noriko: Weren't you calling him a jerk just a minute ago? Hm? 

Raphael: .....

     **But... you can see me, right?** asked Akane as he looked
right into her face.

     Susa-no-o raised an eyebrow. **Well of course.  It's my
comb, after all.**

     Akane sighed. **Great.  So I can see me, and you can see me,
and I'm supposed to believe it when you tell me I'm invisible.**

Raphael: Heh heh heh. I just _love_ this little exchange of banter 
between Susa-no-o and Akane. 

Noriko: (smiles a bit) Well... You're right; it _is_ pretty funny. Nicely 
done, Krista-san.

     Akane's eyes widened.  "You--" She closed her mouth and grit
her teeth around the instinctive urge to talk verbally.  **You
want me to just walk into the Gaki realm, defeat the Shadowcat,
and walk out... _right under their noses?!_**

     Susa-no-o grinned, pleased.  **Yup.**

     It was insane.  It would get her killed.  Susa-no-o was
insane.  The whole *idea* was insane.

     And so, apparently, was she.  

     She smiled grimly. **Let's do it, then.**

Raphael: (clenches fists in excitement) All right! Kick some demon butt, 
Akane! 

Noriko: You know, we should _definitely_ rent the rest of this series 
when this is done. I think I'd really like to see them. 

     Akane shivered. It was so unsettling, having a conversation
inside her head.  Let's see, hearing voices...  Violent
tendencies...  Slices up the occasional demon with glowing
sword...  Yes, doctor, I recommend the highest dosage of
medication and a nice padded cell.


     **I always _do_ go straight,** she replied, grimacing at her
train of thought.  **And I always end up someplace different. 
How are you going to control where I end up this time?**

Noriko: There's an extra carriage return between those two paragraphs.

Raphael: Now _that's_ a new one on me. Trying to add to your repertoire 
of really minor nitpicks, huh? (tries to evade the popcorn thrown in his 
direction)

     She walked through the mists in silence, her apprehension
building with each step, the feeling of evil thickening around
her until it became hard to breath.

Noriko: I think it should be "breathe", not "breath."

     **This was a stupid idea,** she said, fighting back the
rising panic in her chest. **What on earth was I thinking,
listening to you?**

     **You were thinking of Ranma.  Of Masakazu.**

Raphael: Touche. (Noriko nods)

     Akane swallowed hard, unsheathing her katana with one hand,
and brushing a long dark strand of hair from her eyes, tucking it
behind her ear nervously. **Okay.  Here goes nothing...**

Raphael: I hope they can't see her katana. 

Noriko: I'm sure they can't. I mean, it's not like they see an empty set 
of clothes walking around, is it?

     The thought of Ranma cleared Akane's mind a little; calmed
her.  His face in her mind gave her an anchor against the hostile
inner turbulence that was sweeping her away, and she forced her
chest to expand against the smothering tightness, taking a deep
breath. **That,** she replied shakily, ** is because he's a
stupid, macho jerk who throws himself into danger without a
thought of caution or his own safety.  But I get your point.**

Noriko: That semicolon should be a comma. 

     A rock outcropping, jutting above the writhing hoard.  If
she could leap to it...

Noriko: Shouldn't it be spelled "horde?" I think "hoard" is a verb. 

Raphael: Geez! Aren't you paying attention to the fic? Look at all those 
demons! (shivers) Hope Akane goes okay...

     Focus.  Jump.  Land.  Yes.  Don't mind that the smallest
slip will send you plummeting into a veritable sea of burning,
bristling skin and venom-oozing claws and teeth.  Just leap
casually over to that twisted pillar of rock... to another...
There's the edge of the sea, right over there...  It's not so bad
from up here, you can actually see where all these demons end. 
Then you just walk across that nightmarish plane beyond this mass
and track down the Shadowcat...  Don't think about how, when
you're through, you have to come back through this.  No, just
focus on Ranma.  He's depending on you, even if he doesn't
consciously know it...

Raphael: Whew. That's pretty intense. Nicely done. (Noriko is too 
transfixed on the action to comment)

     Akane leaped again...

     ...and in mid leap, she saw something out of the corner of
her eye... a sudden feeling of nausea flooded her stomach, bile
rising in her throat as fresh waves of inexplicable horror
rippled across her skin...  She landed on an outcropping of
stone, gasping as she nearly slipped...

(Noriko and Raphael simultaneously gasp in surprise)

     Frantically she regained her footing, sending loose gravel
falling into the writhing masses below.  Suppressing a shudder,
she lowered herself to one knee on the uneven, narrow surface of
the craggy rock formation to steady herself, gasping, forcing air
into her compressed lungs...

Raphael & Noriko: Whew. 

Noriko: That was a close one. (Raphael wipes the sweat off his palms)

     The Soul Gaki...

     **I thought you said he wouldn't be able to see me!**

     **He can't see you.  But the Soul Gaki is not your average
demon.  He's a high-ranking evil god.  He can't see you, but he
can sense you right enough, apparently.**

Raphael: (struck by this development) Oh, crap. 

Noriko: Run, Akane! Run!

     A blinding flash of pulsing blue steel, and the offending
limb lay severed on the ground. Droplets of sickly green ichor
splattered against Akane's face and arms from the bleeding stump
of the demon's arm.  Her eyes bulged, staring between her katana
and the clawed arm as if unable to believe what she had just
done.

Raphael: Yes! Slice 'em up, Akane! 

     **Oh yeah.   Way to go,** said Susa-no-o. **Might as well
just yank the comb out of your hair and let the entire population
of the Gaki domain get a good look at you.**

     **Shut up!**

Noriko: You were saying?

Raphael: Oh, be quiet. Run, Akane!

     ...move, move, oh gods don't let them *touch* you... weave
in and out... ignore the stench and the heat of their putrid
bodies and their slavering gaping mouths and burning eyes all
around you because, after all, they can't see you, and there are
so many of them that when you accidentally brush against them in
your zigzag flight they don't even notice, even though *you*
notice because the touch of their hoary skin burns with dark ki
and sends your flesh crawling up your back, and you clench your
teeth against the terrified sobs that want to burst out but can't
because then they would hear you...

Noriko: (shivers) Wow... that's a very vivid passage. I almost feel like 
I'm there, fighting and running for my life...

Raphael: (smiles evilly) That can be arranged, you know. I _still_ have 
to write the last chapter of "Scoop..."

Noriko: You wouldn't dare! And besides, that's incredibly stupid! How 
would you incorporate _that_ into the story?

Raphael: (throws hands up in submission) Just kidding, just kidding! But 
really, Krista, that was really good. Kudos.

     Akane blinked dazedly as her pinpoint concentration relaxed
enough to register Susa-no-o's voice in her mind. 

     **What?** she asked stupidly, still running, still trying to
get away...

     Susa-no-o sighed.  **I think you lost him.  You've been
running non-stop for over fifteen minutes.**

Raphael: Whew. I thought for a moment she wasn't gonna make it. 

Noriko: (puts a hand to her heart) I think I could use a breather in the 
action right about now...

     Akane's eyes began to water uncontrollably.  **I... I'm
gonna throw up.**

Raphael: (grinning) Heh heh heh.

Noriko: (exasperated) Just what _is_ it with you males and scatalogical 
humor? Have you no sympathy? That was a good line, though, Krista-san. A 
very natural reaction to incredible amounts of exertion and adrenalin.

     **Feeling better yet?**

     Akane scowled fiercely as Susa-no-o's voice broke into the
stubborn mental silence she had maintained since breaking free of
the demon hoards.

Noriko: Like before, I think the word is "hordes."

     **Come on, Akane, tell me.  If you don't tell me, I'll start
reciting some of my haiku, and then you'll _really_ be sorry. 
Just ask my wife.  She takes off whenever I get the urge to sit
down with my ink and paper.**

     Akane blinked in surprise. **You're... married?**

Raphael: No doubt. He's _married_?

     **Hmph.  You remember the story of how I rescued the girl
from the Orochi, don't you?  Well, I married her and we started
our own little family.**

Raphael: So it was Susa-no-o who married the Kushinada princess? I wonder 
if he knows Momiji...

Noriko: You have to try to cross-over _everything_, don't you?

     Akane sighed heavily. **Look, will you just leave me alone? 
I don't really feel like having this conversation right now.**
     **So you see... it was my fault.  I set the precedent for
everything that was to follow.  And then, even when I knew deep
down how much Ranma meant to me, I could never say it because...
I was a coward.  And I know that Ranma could be a macho jerk
sometimes, but most of the time it was because he was responding
to my outrageous temper or my jealousy... or just being scared of
his curse all over again...

Raphael: Hmmm... Interesting. I had always figured it was all Akane's 
fault. After all, she was mean to him first. 

Noriko: True, but she _did_ have a problem dealing with boys then. I 
think Akane's being a bit hard on herself, even if some of her points are 
valid ones. But I guess it's the natural thing to do, given the 
circumstances.

     Akane cracked a smile, even as her brown eyes glistened.
**You're starting to sound like Masakazu.**

     Susa-no-o laughed softly. **Do I?  Well, you know what they
say about 'birds of a feather.'  And remember, just because *I'm*
the one who said it, doesn't make it less true.**

Raphael: Nice pun.

Noriko: The rest of the line was pretty nice, too. See? Susa-no-o isn't 
always a jerk; he just sometimes comes off a little rough. 

     She looked up at the dark, colorless sky, blinking at the
tears that trickled from the corners of her brown eyes, trying to
gain a semblance of control. **Oh, I don't know.  Everything.  I
guess you said it yourself.  I'm a woman.  I'm almost twenty-two
years old.  But Ranma... he's still only seventeen.  Seventeen
seems so long ago for me...  I've changed, so much has happened
to me here that I can't help but wonder...  If I ever make it
back, will Ranma...  I mean, will he..?  Will I..?**

Raphael: That's a good question. What's Ranma gonna do when she finally 
gets back, and she's some five years older than him?

Noriko: I think... I think he's not going to care too much, given all 
that he's gone through. It'll be really interesting, though, to see how 
Krista-san is going to deal with this issue when it comes up.

     "Yes," she whispered noiselessly.

     **Good.** Susa-no-o's voice was grave. **Because we're
there.**

Noriko: Uh-oh...

Raphael: The moment we've all been waiting for...

     **No problem.  Your battle ki will light up the cave for
you.**

     Akane snorted silently. **Yeah, for me, and for every other
thing that might be in there.**

     **Wrong.** Susa-no-o's voice was insufferably smug. **My
comb hides every aspect of your presence, _including_ your ki.  I
mean, come on, if it couldn't mask your ki, half those demons by
the border would have torn you apart in seconds.   I guess you
didn't realize that, during your fifteen minute dash, you were
lit up like a neon sign, eh?**

Raphael: Eh? If it could light up the cave for Akane to see, shouldn't 
the others be able to see it? I mean, the light has to bounce back off 
the surface to return to Akane's eyes...

Noriko: Remember, the demons couldn't see Akane's clothes or sword, so 
the comb could just as well hide Akane's ki as well. I mean, the comb hid 
Akane's scent, too. 

Raphael: Yeah, but the light from Akane's ki has to interact with the 
cave surface, right? When Akane physically touched the demons, she could 
feel them and so could they. So, if her ki-light was enough to light the 
cave, it would be physically interacting with her surroundings, so...

Noriko: (obviously exasperated) Look, it's magic, okay? Who says that 
ki-light has to behave like real light? Or that magic has to make 
physical sense? Good grief. Such a tiny point, and you have to beat it 
into the ground like any good engineer. Honestly!

Raphael: (indignant) Hey!

     **Anyway,** Susa-no-o soothed, **you don't need to worry
about walking into that dark cave, because you'll be able to see. 
And the Shadowcat... well, it will be able to see too, but only
because it can see in the dark anyway.  It won't be able to see
you, your ki, or the light it casts, so relax.**

Noriko: (smugly) See?

Raphael: (grumbles)

     **I see,** said Akane, struggling to hold her temper in
check, **And when, exactly, were you planning to give me this
little piece of extremely vital information?**

Noriko: That comma at the end of "struggling to hold..." should probably 
be a period. 

     It was absolutely quiet, with not even her footfalls
sounding against the ground.  

Noriko: (frowns slightly) That sentence seems a bit awkward to me. Maybe 
it could read like, "It was absolutely quiet; even Akane's footfalls were 
silent against the ground." Or something like that.

     **You know,** she said, just for the comforting sound of her
own mental voice. **The last time I was in a cave like this, it
was in the mortal plane.  The Cave of Lost Love.  Ranma and I
went together.  It was supposed to be really romantic, but it was
just creepy, full of ghosts and spirits... I suppose they were
meant to send you clinging to your boyfriend's arm... and it
worked a little, I guess, but Ranma and I ended up arguing as
usual...**  Akane bit her lip thoughtfully. **Although... now
that I think back, Ryoga and Ukyo seemed to get more out of it
than we did...  Strange, that nothing ever happened between them
after that.**

     Susa-no-o's chuckle echoed in her head. **Akane, it's
amazing how, with all you've learned, you can still be so dense
sometimes.**

Raphael: Ooooh. So is Krista implying that Ukyo and Ryoga are...

Noriko: I wonder how Susa-no-o knew about Ryoga and Ukyo. I mean, he only 
had her memories to go by, right?

     ...and saw two yellow cat eyes, the size of dinner plates,
glowing in the thick blackness about thirty meters from her, the
huge narrowed orbs catching the dim light of her aura.  The eyes
were moving, scanning briefly in her direction, and then
disappeared again into the darkness as they slowly turned from
her, unseeing...

Raphael: Whew. That was close. I thought Akane was a goner that time.

     Akane swallowed again, trying to get some moisture into her
throat.  Okay, so it was big.  And telepathic.  And if it stayed
outside her aura's radius, she could only see it's eyes when it
looked in her direction...

Noriko: That should read "its," not "it's." 

     **Who are you?** The Shadowcat repeated. **I know you're
here.  I've known you were here since you stood at the mouth of
my domain.** Akane saw the flash of it's eyes in the blackness as
its gaze wandered in her direction again.

     She began to move towards it silently, katana held at the
ready... *Prepare to die, demon,* she thought grimly. 

Raphael: No! Don't think! He'll hear you!

     **Could it be that you want me to guess?** The Shadowcat's
tone was unnervingly calm.  **Is that why you're so silent?  Very
well then...**

Raphael: (confused) Huh? He didn't hear that? But Akane can hear him...

Noriko: I think it's like a telephone. With Akane and Susa-no-o, their 
connection is like a two-way connection where both can receive and 
transmit. The Shadowcat is more like a speaker: he can send, but not 
receive. And thank goodness for that. 

     *Aughh,* she thought. *Here it comes; the taunting... 
Focus... don't listen...*

Noriko: That semicolon should probably be either a colon or a comma. 

Raphael: Geez. This is pretty tense.

     The Shadowcat, hearing the sword cleave through the air,
tried to leap away from Akane's presence...

     ... and screeched in agony as a searing pain lanced through
its right flank, down towards its chest...

     Its right foreleg fell, neatly severed, to the ground.

     **All right, Akane!!** yelled Susa-no-o in her head.

Raphael: Yesss!! Get 'im, Akane! 

Noriko: Kill him now!

Raphael: (looks at Noriko quizzically) Boy, you're kinda vicious; you 
know that?

Noriko: (embarassed) Well... It's just that from what I could tell, the 
Shadowcat's been torturing Ranma for quite some time. This is just what 
he deserves, I guess. 

     The leg began to twitch towards the Shadowcat, the severed
end moving towards the bleeding stump...

     The two parts touched... and began to fuse together.  The
Shadowcat extended the claws of its once-severed limb.

     Akane's eyes widened in fear.  What was going on?!  No way
could a demon pull itself together so fast.  This wasn't supposed
to happen..!

     **Now,** snarled the Shadowcat fiercely, as it pushed its
pulsing body to all four legs, **I'm _mad_.**

Raphael: Oh, crap. This is bad. (Noriko grips her notepad tighter)

     Well, almost anything.  He had yet to grow desperate enough
to beg help from Cologne, who had returned to the Nekohanten and
was openly gloating over their troubles after discovering that
her plan to trap Ranma as Shampoo's groom had completely failed.

     Still, he was almost ready to set out on a search for Master
Happosai, who had been last seen drooling after a touring women's
wrestling team, to see if the ancient letch knew of any way to
reverse what had been done to Ranma.

Noriko: This is good. It's good to see that Mr. Saotome does care about 
his son, after all, and that passage did a good job illustrating that. 

Raphael: Hmph. I _still_ don't think Mr. Saotome gives a darn about Ranma.

Noriko: That was in Bitter End; this is Hearts of Ice, remember? Besides, 
look at the evidence. How can you say that Mr. Saotome doesn't care about 
him?

     Ukyo began to sob, still holding Ranma's delicate, slack
hand.  "No..."

     Nabiki looked on, feeling angry, horrified, utterly
helpless.  "There has to be something we can do to stop this."

     "Pray," said Tofu, not taking his eyes from Ranma's still
form, "that the demon stops draining him before..."

     He didn't need to say anything else.  They understood.

     And they all prayed.

Raphael: Oh, _crap_. I forgot about that little detail of the Nekoken...

Noriko: I hope he pulls through all right...

     Cracking...

     As she lifted her head groggily, ignoring the pain in her
shoulder, in her leg... the ivory comb fell from her braided
hair, clattering to the ground in two pieces...

     Akane felt Susa-no-o's silent presence vanish from her mind.

Raphael: Oh, *_crap_*. 

(Noriko grips her notepad even tighter)

     Akane froze, her eyes widening in horrified understanding...

     Ranma...

     **Do you want to kill him?  If you somehow manage to stick
me with that little knife of yours a few more times, he *will*
die.  Even now, he is already unconscious from the drain I have
exacted from him.  His breathing is shallow, his heart is
slowing...  He can't take much more.**

Raphael: Oh, Geez. This gets worse and worse...

Noriko: (very worried) It looks almost like Akane's fighting a losing 
battle, doesn't it? Come on, Akane, hang in there...

     And Akane's brown eyes sparked and narrowed.  As the
Shadowcat descended on her, she screamed out in grief and fury,
bringing up her sword with both hands, flashing out with all her
remaining strength in a bright arc...

     The Shadowcat's snarl was abruptly silenced as its massive
head flew from its shoulders.  The demon's huge cat body
collapsed bonelessly onto Akane, its dark ki burning her skin,
filling her lungs, the ichor spilling from its stump of neck
splattering against her skin...

Raphael: Yes! Heal _that_, Shadowcat! 

Noriko: (still worried) Will it be enough, though? What if he drains 
Ranma dry trying to heal himself?

     She looked over to where the Shadowcat's head rested on its
side, the long, rough tongue lolling from its open mouth.

     The malevolent light of life in the demon's eyes flickered
briefly, then extinguished.

Noriko: Whew. That was close.

Raphael: So, he's dead, huh? No way...

     Slowly, so slowly, the body began to move towards the
severed head.  But this time, there was no bright flare of red
energy.  Just the normal, twitching movements of a piece of dead
demon, trying to reach its other half.

     Akane looked at the revolting sight, her brown eyes glazed
with numbness and pain...

Noriko: Eww. 

Raphael: (a bit sickened) I think I could have done without seeing that. 
Ugh. Nicely done, though.

     Akane blinked slowly through the pain.   "Ranma... is he..?"

     **He's fine, Akane.  He's going to be all right.  You saved
him.**

     Akane closed her eyes and smiled.  "Good," she whispered. 
She was so tired.  "Not for... nothing... then."

     Her battle aura flickered out.  

     Darkness.  

Noriko: Oh, no... after all this...? (wipes a tear threatening to fall 
from her eyes)

Raphael: She wouldn't...

     Akane felt a slight tingle emenate from the crown of her
head, where the comb pierced her thick dark hair, and spread
across her body...

Noriko: (quietly) I think that should be "emanate..."

     *Ah,* she thought, right before the stars faded from her
mind's eye as darkness of a different kind, different from the
Shadowcat's cave, different from the night sky above, claimed
her. 

     *...familiar...*

Noriko: Is she...?

Raphael: I don't know...

     Oh *gods.* How long was he... like that?  And why could he
remember everything that happened to him now, when he never could
before..?

     **Remember...**

     Physical sensation slowly began to return.  Ranma was
suddenly aware of light pressing against his closed eyelids; of
quiet sobbing sounding close to his ear.

Noriko: (shivers) Wow... that scene with the memories suddenly flooding 
back into him was _very_ powerful. Very, _very_ nicely done, Krista-san. 
Kudos to you.

Raphael: No kidding. (shivers as well) Even _I_ got a shiver down my 
spine while I was watching that scene...

     "Still alive," Yuki-onna whispered.  Her frost blue eyes
glistened as the icy tears of grief turned to icy tears of joy. 
"Still alive..."

     She stood, carefully holding Akane's limp form in her arms,
not careing about the blood that stained her flowing silken
robes, and began to walk quickly back to her home.

     "Ah, my little Akane-chan, you've finally returned to me..."

Raphael: Oh, _crap_. Out of the frying pan and into the fire...

Noriko: (confused) Hm? What's wrong?

Raphael: Oh, yeah, you haven't seen the other episodes yet... I'll let 
you watch them later. Just know that the Snow Woman is _bad_ news.

--------------------

End of Part 15

Raphael: NOOOOOOOO!! Don't end _NOW_! NOOOO!!

Noriko: (hands trembling slightly in frustration) Does she do this every 
time? (Raphael nods shakily)

Next time: The (I hope) thrilling Conclusion to Hearts of Ice.

Raphael: I think the "I hope" should follow the word "Conclusion." I 
mean, as cool as this series is, I don't think I can take any more 
cliffhangers like that. Geez! You want to get lynched or something?

Noriko: Be nice! The cliffhangers keep you waiting for more, don't they? 

Author's notes:
Well?  What do you think?  More?  Less?  Where?  Was it intense
enough?  Not intense enough?  Help! ^_^

Raphael: What do I think? I'll say what I always say: Get back to writing 
this thing or I'll have to do something drastic! Rrrrr...

Noriko: Honestly! Krista-san, this chapter was wonderfully exciting. The 
tension was done very well, and the battle scenes were detailed and vivid 
without becoming tiresome. Kudos, Krista-san. 

Raphael: I agree. An exciting read. Just get back to writing the next 
part, or...

Woo-hoo!  I'm almost done!  (No, *really!*) ^_-

(tape ends)

Raphael: Whew. I always love a good, exciting action episode...

Noriko: That _was_ pretty exciting, wasn't it? (a bit embarassed) Um, is 
there a video store around here?

Raphael: Well, there's one relatively close by that has pretty good rates. 
Why?

Noriko: (even more embarassed) I'd... I'd like to see the other parts of 
this series. You know, the ones I missed.

Raphael: (incredulous) You want to Mystery C&C them?

Noriko: No, no, they've already been out for a while, I understand. I 
don't think it would do that much good. I just... I just want to watch 
them. You know, just to see them.

Raphael: (regards Noriko briefly) Well... all right. Just a couple for 
now, though. You understand there's fourteen other volumes before this one...

Noriko: Yes, of course. I have to get back at a decent hour, you know. 
Thanks. (turns to camera) On behalf of Mystery C&C Theater 1/2, good night.

Raphael: Good night... (camera fades to black)


End C&C


Heh... I swore I wouldn't do this again, but here it is. Another episode. 
Krista, I hope you didn't mind me using this sort of format to C&C. o_o 
Thanks for reading, all!

---
Raphael See