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LeeKing Productions Presents:

Interview With the Wild Stallion
	by Khyron Kingkiller



"So you are the one hunting the Wild Stallion." A faint but powerful voice
fills my ear. Bound to a chair, blindfolded, gagged and abducted off the
streets, I can only nod faintly. If I was to be harmed I would be dead by
now, but I'm not and I think I know why. 

My blindfold is removed and as I open my eyes I see the man I've been
hunting for years. Ranma. 

"Disappointed?" he smiles, it's actually a warm smile. Strange that the
legendary Ranma would posses an almost boyish smile. Of course he IS still
a boy and I find all that more incredible. I'm facing a man would could
kill me in an eyeblink with one hand and he looks too young to shave.

"Here, let me help you with that." Gently, he removes my gag but my mouth's
so dry I couldn't speak if I wanted to. Years of searching and I freeze
now.

"I've heard you've been hunting for me. Why?" The smile is gone. The voice
is cold. Now I'm sure I'm facing the Wild Stallion. A man whose ability and
violence is legend. 

"I wanted to know about you...I want to interview you."

"Interview?" He seems shocked. Then he laughs. Laughs hard. I don't think
he believes what I just said.

"Lady, I've been hounded by the police, chased by maniacs and killers but
none of them chased me as hard or as foolishly as you have and all you want
to do is INTERVIEW me?" He tries unsuccessfully to stifle the laughter for
a few minutes while I watch on, hoping against hope that he'll agree to my
mad request. It was the only way I could think of to see him.

I sit there in for several tense moments. I can barely see him since he
looms in the shadows. I know he's thinking about my request. 

"Why?" He asks again but his voice is no longer cold. Merely curious.  

Why? I don't really know. But I give him the answer I thought of long ago.

"You are a legend among those who are outsiders in society. Many whisper
your name in fear and respect. The Wild Stallion. I came here to see for
myself just what sort of man Ranma is."

He is silent. For a moment I'm afraid he'll simply send me away and warn me
never to return. 
 
"What the hell, you've gone through so much trouble to see me so I guess it
would be a shame if I don't grant you a little interview." He sits in a
chair somewhere in the shadows and my heart sings. "But of course you know
that everything I'm telling you could be a lie? A totally fabricated story
like all the others out in the streets just to maintain the legend of
Ranma? A man who could claw his way out of a steel cage? Slash his enemies
without even touching them? Disappear from sight? Break through a concrete
cell with just one finger? The Yakuza's dark prince?"

I smile. "Well I'll have to use my discretion then won't I?"

He smiles his boyish smile in return and I know I'm about to hear the life
story of Ranma. He reaches for my bonds and his fingers turn deadly, the
rope is torn apart as he clawed them away. I 'm forcefully reminded that
even though he was young, he was still the Wild Stallion.

"Tell me everything you remember. We'll start from your childhood."

"I don't remember much of my childhood except that it was mostly
unpleasant. Sure there were good points about it but since I had to travel
a lot and never got a chance to settle down I didn't get to have much of a
childhood."

"My most vivid and clear memory of my childhood was its end. I'm not sure
how old I was when I was thrown into a filthy pit filled with starved cats
while I was tied up in something made of fish. The little monsters wanted
nothing more than to eat my flesh. I was trapped there for hours or
was it days? Couldn't tell, was too busy trying to get the cats off of me."

"Oh my god, who did that to you!" 

"A man I sent to the hospital as soon as I clawed my way out. Funny, I'm
not sure if I should thank the man or kill him. He taught me the most
fundamental and basic principle of all things."

"Who was the man?"

Silence. 

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Was he your father?"

"I SAID I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!!!"

He's angry, eyes glint dangerously in the shadow but a heartbeat later the
anger is gone. Replaced by grief.

"Look, I'm sorry but I don't want to talk about those matters. They're very
personal."

"I-I understand." The violence that surfaced scares me, the cause of the
violence scares me even more. What made you the man you are Ranma? A few
moments later, he's talking again.

"Power. Power is everything. That's what I learned and that's what made me
grow up. I was no longer a child when I knew that. Knew just how powerless
I was, alone against the world."

"Didn't you have family or..."

He stares at me and I shut up. Clearly a taboo subject for now.

"Then I set out to acquire power. I was driven by a need to be better than
everyone at everything since I believed it would make me more powerful,
especially at fighting. It was something I excelled at. I could tell I
would
be great if I was given a chance so I joined....my society. I had to prove
my sincerity though." 

He shows me a hand, turning it around so I see what looks like old scars.

"I had to stab a knife through my own hand."

I stare in shock. He stabbed his own hand?!

"Didn't that hurt?" Stupid question, left my lips before I could think.

He smiles sardonically. "It hurt so much I wanted to cry."

"It was all worth it though. I impressed my boss and he took me under his
wing. I became what I am today because of him. I was happy. I had money. I
had respect. I had power. I had everything I wanted and more."

"So you're happy?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You have no intention at all of giving up this life?"

"You can't `give up' in this line of work. You can retire but most of us
don't get a chance to do that and the enemies you get are still out there
even if you're retired. Its either your in and you fight to be No. 1 or
someone's gonna bury you alive. What I am is mostly inactive for now, can't
retire till I've got enough to set myself up for good. If I'm not moving
it's a sign of weakness and some hotshot would probably take a shot at my
place as the best. Just as I did to the one before me and he before him.
The best I can hope for is that he doesn't decide to kill me just to make a
point."

"Kill you?!"

"Hey it happens sometimes. If the new kid can kill me then it shows that
he's got what it take to succeed in this literally cut throat world. I
don't pull my punches and neither do my enemies."

"Have you ever killed anyone?"

He says nothing and I realize I once again overstepped the boundaries.

"I've done some bad things in life, some of them I regret and others I
don't. I hope you'll understand if I choose not to answer your question." 

"I understand."

I try to think of something else to say. Something else to ask.

"So what are your plans for the future?"

"Oh, same as everyone I guess. Get a job, find a girl, settle down. Of
course seeing that I've all ready got a job all I've got to do is find a
girl, or two, or three or four."

I'm surprised that that didn't surprise me. He is very handsome. 

"My you're certainly quite a ladies man but isn't that illegal? Marrying
four women?"

He gives me a look and I blush.  

"Not exactly marry. More like have an agreement with. Very few in my
business actually marry. My boss's boss was married once but his wife got
killed in a disagreement with a rival society. I don't want any of my
lovers to face that kind of danger."

"Please tell me more about your world." I hesitate, would he tell me or
have I scared him off.

He hesitates then he takes something from his pocket and tosses it into my
lap. I pick it up and see that it is a card. A card with a beautiful design
of a dark horse rearing up on hind legs on one side and stylish kanji on
the other side. The kanji spelled out his name : Wild Stallion.
Strange, why do I feel sleepy all of the sudden? 

"That card was the girls' idea. One thought of it, another came up with the
design and the third did the kanji while the fourth put the finishing
touch..."

I almost topple out of my seat if it hadn't been for Ranma catching me. 

"A contact tranquilizer. I'm immune to it but most people aren't.
Goodnight."

I try to keep my eyes open but felt so sleepy...

************************************************************

When I wake again I realize I'm in a bed. I get up and see that I'm in a
fine room somewhere. King sized bed, lush burgundy carpeting, picture
window of downtown Tokyo. My first guess is a five star hotel. There's a
card and an envelope besides me. I open the envelope, careful not to touch
the card. 

	{Sorry about last night but I said all that I was willing to say and I
will reveal no more. May you find your happiness. 

PS, Keep the card as a token and don't worry, this one is harmless.
	
				Ranma}

So that was it. I found my son only to lose him again.

Nodoka Saotome rose to greet the sunrise as she mussed over what she
learned of her son. He was a man among men. That she was sure of now. The
question was what does she do now?

The sun rose well past the horizon before she answered herself. Nothing.
Absolutely nothing. Her son had managed to carve out a place for himself
and was doing well and quite happy. She would just get in his way.

With a heavy heart, Nadoka turned from the bright glare of the sun, and
returned to the comfort of the shadows. Unaware of a figure watching her on
the roof tops of another building.

"Goodbye, mother." The man turned away and walked to his own shadows. 


The End. 










====
 "Death is lighter than a feather, Duty heavier than a mountain."
                                              -Borderland Saying