Okay, this is the first part of first chapter, of my Ranma/Mage crossover.  As most of you already know, I am 
not Rumiko Takahashi, and therefore, I do not own and of the Ranma Nibunnoichi characters.  Timothy Black is a 
character of my own creation, and as such, please feel free to use him in any manner you wish.  I would like 
to extend special thanks to Wyrm and Keener.  They know what for.

And away we go!

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

        She stood at a fork in her life.  She could choose one of two paths.  One lead directly to power, but 
she was unsure of the price.  The other was longer and harder, but would only cost her time and energy.  Power 
dangled enticinly infront of her, showing her images of wealth and servants, with her as ruler of all she 
surveyed.  Power was dangled infront of her, showing her pictures of people kneeling before her, prostrating 
themselves.  Living for her, working for her.  Killing for her.  Dying for her.

        A man appeared in the other doorway.  The woman looked at him, her gaze asking what he had to offer 
her.  The man reached behind himself and withdrew something.  It was small and cylindrical.  A flashlight.  
The woman scoffed at him, and turned back to the images of Power.

        The man turned on the flashlight, getting the woman's attention.  He shone the light over to the 
images of Power.

        The woman was unimpressed.  She began walking towards the doorway of Power.

        The man raised the beam of light a little higher.  Strings appeared, connecting the images to 
something unknown in blackness above.

        The woman faltered for a second, but continued to Power.  There were always strings attached.  
Everything had it's price.

        The man's light shone even higher, revealing who controlled the strings.

        The woman stopped dead in her tracks, horrified at what she saw.

        She saw herself, but not herself.  She saw the man that raped her laughing.  She saw Darkness smile 
and move to envelop her.

        Everything has it's price, the man said.

        The man flashed the light in her eyes.

        Are you willing to pay?

        A new scene played infront of her.  She saw herself being attacked by hundreds of people.  She saw 
herself laugh in contempt as she blasted them from the face of the earth.  In seconds, only two remained.  Her 
sister, and her sister's husband.

        The two stood defiantly against her, looking angry and sad.  She saw the husband speak, but could not 
make out the words.  She looked to his mouth, reading the words from there.

        You have to be stopped.  We can't let you continue.  Too many have died.  It ends here.

        The sister spoke as well.  The woman still could not hear the words, but concetrated on the mouth.

        I love you, Sister.  Forgive me.  The sister sprang forward to attack the woman.

        The woman screamed silently in pain as she saw herself lift an arm.  She mutely shouted at herself to 
stop as she watched herself point at the sister.

        She could not say anything when the fire leapt from her hands.

        She watched in horror as the flames melted the sister's flesh away.  She saw the blueblack hair fizzle 
and curl.  Tears of vitreous humor ran down her fleshless face, to be cooked on the superheated muscle of her 
cheeks.  Her chest was burned straight through to the bone, with all the organs apparently left unharmed.

        The woman closed her eyes, but the scene would not go away.  Are you willing to pay this price?

        What happened to the sister's body was only half of it.  The sister was still alive.  The woman looked 
down, and saw the still beating heart of her sister.  She looked over to see the husband staring down in 
morbid amazement, paralyzed by the sight of his wife.  The sisters melted eyes moved in their sockets to try 
and sight the husband.  Her mouth moved to try and form words, but her tounge was no longer there.

        The husband moved next to his wife, and cradled her head in his lap, and shut out the rest of the 
world.  He did not care anymore.

        The woman turned and ran away from the path of Power.  She ran to the man on the other path, and spoke 
to him, speaking as if she had never spoken before.

        "I don't want this power."

        The man smiled.  "You have always had this power.  Now, you will learn the responsibility to handle it 
correctly."

        The woman shook her head.  "I never want to see that again."

        "That, my dear child, is up to you."  The man handed the flashlight to the woman.

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

        Nabiki woke from the dream, her mouth gaping open and sweat pouring down her exposed back.  She was 
still in the hospital.  Ranma was asleep in a chair not more then six feet away from her.  Ryoga fell asleep 
sitting on the window sill, his head resting on his knees.  A katana was leaning against the wall beneath him. 
 Nabiki glanced at the clock by her bed.  2:32 am.  She sighed and lay back on the bed.  She looked at the 
sword under Ryoga.  Dr. Black had given it to him, after he had come in earlier that night.  Nabiki leaned 
back and thought about the gift.  About what it signified.  About what it really was.

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

	He asked Ranma to leave the room.  After much argument, the young pigtailed man left, and Nabiki was 
alone with Ryoga and Dr. Black.  The doctor stared for a moment at Ryoga, before whiping a katana out from 
under his coat.  Ryoga bounded back, taking up a ready posistion between the mage and Nabiki's bed, alert for 
any attacks against her.  Nabiki, for her part, lay there, still as death, with a blank expression on her 
face.

	Timothy drew back the sword, and swung it in a simple overhead arc at Ryoga.  Ryoga didn't even think 
as he clapped his hands together, catching the blade mere inches from his face.  With a flick of the wrist, 
the blade was sent flying out of Black's grasp.  Ryoga raised his right hand, and plucked the katana out of 
the air, bringing it to bear on the doctor.

	Timothy blinked once, and then smiled.  "You have chosen an adequate protector, Nabiki Tendo.  He is 
worthy to wield Yomakirimaru."  The doctor bowed to Ryoga, then turned to Nabiki.  "As for yourself, you 
understand that this is a journey, not just to get from point A to point B, but also to teach you.  You must 
never forget that, Nabiki Tendo.  This is going to be long, and hard.  And you will face challenges that you 
never thought you would have to face, but I have faith that you will succeed."

	Nabiki shook herself out of her daze.  Her mind digested every word Timothy had just spoken.  She 
raised the head of her bed to get a better look at the older man.  "Gee, not overly dramatic, are we?  And of 
course there isn't any pressure." Nabiki stated wryly.  She folded her arms against her chest.

	Timothy smiled mysteriously.  "Oh, Aaron is just going to adore you."  And with that sentiment, he 
turned and made his way to the door.

	"Wait.  What is this about the sword?  You weren't kidding about this magick thing earlier, were you?" 
Nabiki said.  Even though she did not raise her voice, it seemed to carry across the room.

	Everything was still.  It was as if the moment was frozen in time.  Then the slight rustling of Dr. 
Black's overcoat shattered the illusion, and time resumed.  "Nabiki, you are no longer in the world you knew. 
 This is a harsh world where you shouldn't believe anything you see, because it might be true.  The sword is 
nothing more then a mere magickal talisman to aid you in the days to come.  The real power will come from 
within you, gods willing."

	With that, Timothy Black, doctor, and mage of the Euthanatos tradition, walked out of the room.

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

	The guard at the hospital entrance looked down at the package he had purchased before beginning his 
shift that night.  The new DragonBall Z character for his son.  The guard thought how his son's face would 
light up when he saw this toy.  He stared at the plastic face looking out from the packaging.  The toy's face 
was locked in a perpetual scowl.  The guard mimiced the scowl for a moment, then chuckled to himself.  His son 
would be ecstatic.

	A knock on the door alerted the guard.  There was a lone woman standing outside in a nurse's uniform. 
 The guard rushed over, not even stopping to drop the toy, to let the woman in.

	"May I help you?" the guard asked politely as the woman entered the hospital.

	"No, thank you.  You already have."  With that, the woman reached into her purse and withdrew a knife. 
 She did it so smoothly that the guard didn't even know she had it out until is was halfway across his throat. 
 The woman finished the cut, and let the man fall to the floor.  She squinted her eyes and concentrated on the 
blood pooling underneath the man.  The blood started to make numbers on the floor.  When the woman had 
memerized the number, she released her hold on the blood, and let it pool normally.

	Before she left, she kissed the first two fingers on her left hand, and touched them to the man's 
forehead.  She walked away, leaving only the toy as a mute witness to her heinous act.

---------------------------------
 
JD
Paladin of the Holy Pair
Verbena Mage
No-Brand Hero

Kiss me, Wind, kiss me... 
Hold me, Sky, hold me tight... 
And protect us, always, 
until we overcome and break down the walls, 
until we touch down and seize our dreams, 
because we were born 
to be happy. 

-Asu e Touchdown