The story so far:

* A new enemy called 'Nemesis' has appeared to challenge Ranma and
  company for the right to exist, taking a form bearing a striking
  resemblance to Kodachi. This being, released by the Cult of Orochi,
  has but one goal: wipe out humanity on behalf of the kami.
* An enigmantic entity known as 'Seiryu' inhabits Ukyo's body. Said
  entity has been steadily-training Ukyo to become a counterforce to
  that of Nemesis.
* Kuno is locked in a death duel with his Orochi counterpart.
* Mousse has been killed, stabbed in the back by Shampoo.
* The gang confronts Nemesis.

  This part's shorter than usual, but....

---------------------------------------------------
Death of the Great Phoenix

  Tatewaki Kuno deflected the first swing with his sword, then the
next with his wooden sheath, dancing about back in forth in the same
manner for who knows how long. Clash, playing on the offensive,
forced the swordsman back, only to be forced back in turn when
Tatewaki initiated his own attack.
  "You are a match well worthy of Kuno," Tatewaki said in admiration.
"Sporting this battle may be, I tire of it."
  "Of course," Clash agreed. "You, too, are a worthy match, both
before and after our brief respite."
  "Perchance you suggest another?" asked Tatewaki, deflecting yet
another attack.
  "If you are willing," replied the Orochi swordsman. Clash ceased in
his furious attack, lowering his blades to the ground and stepping
back. Kuno did likewise.
  "Even if we say we do not hold back," Clash started, "I feel that
you yet still hold something more back."
  "As do you," Tatewaki noted in agreement. "We could battle on
for ages, if need be, and we would still refuse to fight fully
against such worthy opponents."
  "Unfortunately, we do not have that luxury," Clash pointed out. "I
am bound to finish this, as are you. We stand in each other's way."
  "Yet we fail to gain an advantage over the other."
  "I am losing the will to fight," admitted the Orochi swordsman.
"I wish it could be as in the old days; a challenge could go on for
many suns and moons, a battle lasting from dawn to dusk each day. But
I cannot afford such a luxury, not today."
  Tatewaki nodded.
  "We must finish this," concluded Clash. "No more holding back; it
is either you or I that shall perish this day."
  Without further words, the silent swordsmen raised their blades once
more.
  Tatewaki Kuno, master of the Phoenix Sword, willed both his blade
and its sheath to flames. In turn, both burst to light in great, red
chi flames, dancing about as if they were a real fire.
  Clash thrust his sword into the ground. With his supernatural
force, a crack ran through the ground, running quickly between Kuno's
legs. In an unnatural fashion, the ground split open, a chasm forming
before Tatewaki's very eyes.
  Not about to be undone so quickly, the Kuno swordsman leaped to the
right, facing the Orochi swordsman's free left arm blade, mindful
to pay little attention to the increasingly-widening chasm.
  "If you are not careful," Clash warned, "I could create enough
holes that there would be no more room to stand!" He pulled his sword
out from the ground in time to meet Tatewaki's slashes.
  "Defiler of Nature!" spat Tatewaki. "We will finish this like men!"
  Clash winced with each swing of Tatewaki's flaming blades, a
terrible reminder of his previous encounter with the technique. "Dare
you insult a servant of Earth with such garbage?!" he railed. "Fire
means little to the greatest of all elements!"
  Despite his brash, bold words, the Orochi swordsman was being
forced back by Tatewaki's vigorous attacks. Clash found even less
openings than before, being put on the defensive without being given
a chance to strike back.
  Without thinking, Tatewaki hammered at his opponent, the Phoenix
Sword's flaming energies coursing through him, threatening to explode
in all its glory. Instinctively, he willed several flaming blades
into existence, a total of twelve, circling around Tatewaki, throwing
blows of their own by themselves, as if the Kuno swordsman had grown
extra arms.
  "I will not hold back!" Clash shouted. "I will NOT lose!"
  Without ceremony, the one-armed swordsman stomped the ground,
creating a shaking that nearly threw Tatewaki off balance in the
process.
  "What manner of technique is this?!" demanded Tatewaki in surprise.
  "Mother Earth, open your arms!" Clash cried, stomping the ground
twice.
  Sparing a momentary glance over his shoulder, Tatewaki realized
that the chasm Clash created earlier was getting wider. And it was
heading his way.
  Turning back to the Orochi swordsman, he cried, "Are you mad!?
You intend to risk yourself for victory?!"
  "Sword alone cannot defeat you," Clash replied, panting. "The
Earth welcomes me... a calling denied over three hundred years ago.
It is fitting that my final battle shall be a glorious death... it
shall also be fitting that you die as well. I avenge my wife, and
my honor!"
  Anger coursing through his body, Tatewaki's phoenix blades merged
into his person. Clash flinched, as the fires of the blades burst
about the Kuno swordsman.
  "If death is what the fates have in store for me," Tatewaki
decided, "then you shall not have the satisfaction of destroying me!"
  Snarling in anger, Clash threw himself into Tatewaki's midsection,
just as the chasm mouth opened up behind him. In surprise, Tatewaki
lost hold over his sword and sheath, being sent backward into the
dark pit.
  Clash laughed in triumph as the two fell toward the darkness. "I
will have victory in death!! You cannot rob me of anything, anymore!"
  Tatewaki's form glowed with greater intensity than before. "And
you, my enemy, will never have that satisfaction!" Grabbing Clash
tightly, he shouted, "Phoenix fire ultimate attack: Southern Cross!"
  Many times before Tatewaki Kuno felt the phoenix flames try to
consume him; all those times Tatewaki Kuno defeated the growing
conflagration waiting to happen. This time, however, he lost all
care, all feeling, and let himself go. He would never let the taste
of victory reach Clash's lips.
  Because, Tatewaki thought, in the end, Tatewaki Kuno always wins.
  As the two swordsmen, in their death lock, continued to fall into
the darkness, flames erupted, washing over both men in devastating
brilliance.
  Where there was darkness before, there was only the light.

  As soon as Shampoo and Akane entered that very chamber, with the
unconscious Headmaster Kuno in tow, a great, flaming column burst
from the fresh chasm.
  "What was that?" Shampoo shouted, confused.
  Just as sudden as the fire column appeared, it disappeared. Akane
scanned the room. "Kuno's... gone," she whispered.
  Removing the principal's arm from around her, Akane ran to the
rim of the chasm that was not there before.
  "What you doing?" asked Shampoo.
  Akane stared down at the dark pit. "This wasn't here before...."
  A glint caught her eye.
  With a steady hand, Akane picked up a sword, fallen uselessly to
the ground in the shadows. She studied the blade carefully, as if
it would give her some hint of what happened.
  Sparing one last glance at the chasm, Akane announced, "He's gone."
  "Fight with the one-armed man?" Shampoo asked.
  Akane nodded, thrusting the sword into the ground. "I guess this
is what he really wanted.... Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on
him all those times before." Shaking her head, she ran back to
Shampoo. "But we can't think about the dead right now, we've still
got a ways to go."
  The Chinese Amazon nodded in agreement, trying her best not to
think of Mousse, who was surely dead by now.
  Together, the two girls resumed their trek with their burden.

  "There will be no heroics today," Nemesis stated simply, arms
folded, as three of Kodachi's tear projectiles washed over a field of
force surrounding her. "There will be no future for humans as you."
  She ducked under overhead kicks courtesy of Ryoga, stepped aside
from wild swings from Ukyo's stabbing weapon, and stood perfectly
still to catch Kodachi's ribbon lashes with her arm. Nemesis pulled
the gymnast toward her with a mighty tug, but released her grip on
the ribbon when Ranma edged a little too close. Turning around to
greet the young Saotome, Nemesis threw her right arm out, throwing
a bolt of force into his gut.
  "Four against one is hardly fair," she mock-whined in amusement.
  Almost as an afterthought, Nemesis threw several more chi bolts
in Ranma's direction, amused that he had enough energy left in him
to actually dodge them.
  At that moment, Ukyo thrust her sai, aiming for Nemesis' heart,
but in the blink of an eye the enemy was no longer there. The chef
girl yelled out in surprise as her target reappeared behind her
suddenly, jabbing a punch in the back of her head.
  "When will humans ever learn?" the spirit wondered. "You humans
were much more amusing yesterday. Where did you go?"
  Regrouping, the four martial artists, standing side-by-side, faced
Nemesis, sweat threatening to blur their visions.
  "You know," Ranma huffed, "she's a LOT stronger than before."
  "She's only toying with us, is all," Ukyo pointed out. "She could
easily get rid of us if she wanted to."
  "Then why is she holding back?" asked Kodachi. Could it be...?
  "I say we all attack at once," suggested Ryoga.
  "I don't know, she probably can beat that, too," Ranma replied.
  "Got any bags of tricks, anyone?" Ukyo asked the other three.
  "She'll never fall for the Hiryu Shoten Ha, that's for sure," Ranma
said. "It doesn't get better than that."
  "I don't think I can use the Shishi Hokodan, either," added Ryoga.
"I'm... well... not in the mood?"
  "You saw what she did to my attacks," Kodachi said in frustration.
"Nothing will get through her unless she wants it to."
  "I figured as much," agreed the okonomiyaki chef. Not unlike what I
just did before.... The concept, at least, was the same.
  "If we concentrate on one point of the barrier," Ukyo suggested,
"we MAY be able to break through!"
  "Tell me, dear," the young Kuno said sarcastically, "have you been
watching ancient videos of 'Super Dimensional For....'"
  "Better than nothin', I guess," Ranma said, interrupting Kodachi.
Turning to Ryoga, he asked, "Ready?"
  Ryoga cracked his knuckles. "Let's do it!!"
  Both Ryoga and Ranma charged at Nemesis, who stood, arms folded, as
a stone statue, apparently unconcerned, and perhaps, a bit bored. She
watched with the same bored look as both martial artists pummeled the
force barrier she had erected earlier in the battle. A foolish
gesture, the spirit thought.
  Suddenly, Ukyo's sai plunged through the barrier, catching Nemesis
by surprise. At the last minute, the woman managed to realign her
barrier, catching the sai merely millimeters from her heart.
  However, that soon proved a terrible mistake, as Kodachi threw
several volleys from the Ribbon of Tears, the pink projectiles passing
where the barrier once was.
  "As I said," Kodachi remarked, casting a dirty look at Ranma.
  Nemesis shrieked in anger, the sticky tears binding her arms to her
body.
  "Get her, NOW!" shouted Ranma, throwing a fist.
  "Do not be so vain as to believe you have me!!" warned Nemesis,
teleporting at the last second to avoid Ranma's attack.
  The possessed Lady Kuno reappeared over the energy font, dunking
herself in feet first. In mere seconds, as soon as the strange
liquid reached her arms, the sticky tears dissolved into nothingness.
  "She's over there!" Ryoga shouted, pointing at the energy font.
Raising his finger, he cried, "Bakusai Tenketsu!!"
  But the moment the font shattered under Ryoga's attack, Nemesis had
once again vanished, allowing the strange liquid to spill into the
ceremony chamber unhindered.
  "Where is she!?" cried Kodachi, her eyes darting around in panic.
  "I thought you humans merely children," the voice of Nemesis
said with a snarl, the point of origin indeterminable. "I thought I
would savor the moment... but you have all proved to be much more
powerful than I gave you credit for."
  "Show yourself!" demanded Ukyo.
  "Not only will I destroy you all, I will destroy everything you
hold dear," continued the disembodied voice. "I will do it all,
starting with...."
  Ranma screamed in surprise as Nemesis reappeared before him.
  "YOU!!!!" Nemesis finished, raising her right arm, fingers
outstretched, as if it were a claw.
  Time slowed to a crawl as the young Saotome's eyes followed the
hand arc toward him.
  For a moment, he thought of Akane....
  And, in the split second it took, the hand became a chi-created
claw. The nature spirit cried, "Justice Death Claw!!"
  Ranma did not even have time to scream.
  Nemesis' death claw ripping open his chest in one swipe, a rain
of blood and innards bursting outward.

  "Almost there," Shampoo announced, spotting the light at the end
of the dark tunnel.
  Without warning, Akane, on the other side of the unconscious Kuno,
tripped, stumbling to her knees. The sudden shift in weight brought
Shampoo down as well, yelling out in surprise.
  "What wrong?" the Chinese Amazon asked.
  Akane shook her head, rubbing her temples, as if they were sore.
"Something's... happened."

  "RANMA!!!" shouted three voices in unison.
  Ranma's torn form barely struck the hard surface that was the
ground when Ryoga, Ukyo, and Kodachi ran to him. Nemesis, frozen as
if a statue, stood towering, a mocking grin on her face, her right
arm out, as if she were still in mid-slash.
  Blood leaked from the torn flesh in the martial artist's stomach,
soaking with the torn rims of his torn shirt. Ranma stared up at
the ceiling, struggling to grasp the sensation of an open chest.
  "Too slow," taunted Nemesis, "and far too arrogant, of you." She
folded her arms, taking a step back, as if surveying her handiwork.
"This is the fate of those who dare challenge me."
  Ukyo bent over Ranma's body, grabbing his left hand with both of
her own. "Dummy," she said, a hint of sadness in her voice, "don't
you die! Don't you give up now!!"
  Kodachi shook her head. "It's useless," she declared, eyeing the
sai Ukyo held in her hand.
  "Damn it all!" Ryoga muttered. He shot a glance back at the
opponent, whose arms were still folded, as if waiting. "I don't see
how we'll beat her if she can do this to Ranma."
  "Just... do it, P-ch..." Ranma replied, struggling to speak over
harsh, labored breaths.
  "Ranchan...." Ukyo whispered.
  "A...Akaa... Akane...." the dying Saotome babbled, his eyes rolling
in delusional agony.
  Ryoga turned to the okonomiyaki chef with determination in his eyes.
"Kodachi's right, there's nothing we can do for him but end it...."
  "No!" protested Ukyo, slapping the Eternally Lost Boy across the
face with her free hand.
  Kodachi stared at her with worried eyes. "B...but he is in pain!"
  "What do you care?!" the chef girl snapped. "He's dying! Shouldn't
YOU be HAPPY about that?! I, for one, will NOT give up on him!!"
  "Death is his only release!" Kodachi pointed out. "Do I relish in
another's suffering? No. Do I care to watch someone in pain? No. My
dear, the act of dying and death certainly are not the same! There is
NO way to save him now. Why do you insist on prolonging his suffering?"
  "Kodachi..." Ryoga said, trying to find the right words.
  "If you are truly his friend," she added, "then you will release him
from his pain!! Will you or will you not do it?"
  Staring back down at Ranma, then back at the sai she held in her
hand, Ukyo made her decision. Putting the weapon back into the folds
of her mantle, she declared, "I'm taking Ranma out of here. Don't try
to stop me."
  "W...wait a minute!" Ryoga protested in panic. "What are WE supposed
to do about HER?!" he cried, jabbing a thumb back at the frozen,
statue-like Nemesis. He reached out to grab Ukyo's arm, but something
bit him in the back of the neck, forcing him to cry out in pain.
  "Are you sure YOU are not in pain?" Kodachi asked Ryoga, eyeing the
Eternally Lost Boy curiously.
  Rubbing the back of his neck, he replied, "It's nothing."
  Turning to the okonomiyaki chef, the Kuno girl said, "Do your work
swiftly!"
  Ukyo slid her arms under Ranma, who had since ceased babbling and
continued his labored breathing. Lifting with all her strength, the
chef girl was careful to position her dying friend in what she thought
was comfortable. "Don't worry," she assured Ryoga. "Just keep
fighting.... I'll be back... one way or another."
  Quietly, the okonomiyaki chef exited the ceremony chamber with her
burden, leaving Kodachi and Ryoga behind with Nemesis.
  "Why is it," wondered Nemesis, "that whenever one of you is disposed
of, another soon follows?"
  "Good question," Kodachi said, twirling her magic ribbon over her
head. "Let us hope it will be the last time!"
  Silently, she hoped the old wizard was wrong about the numbers.
  "Are you two ready to die?" Nemesis taunted, seemingly uncaring. "I
can defeat you either together, or one at a time; your pick."
  Ryoga and Kodachi glanced at each other, wordlessly deciding.
Actions spoke louder than words.
  Running her ribbon between her index and middle fingers, Kodachi
summoned the courage she needed to fight. While it would not come,
and her skin curled with goose bumps, she grit her teeth, focusing
herself, preparing herself for the beyond.
  Cracking his knuckles, spreading his feet apart, Ryoga crossed his
arms across his chest, lowering his head. He allowed his thoughts to
sink, as they have done so many times before... but this time, at
the same time, he was gathering those very emotions into a focus. It
may not be enough, but....
  NO! he thought. I can't think like that! It WON'T be enough!
  Throwing his arms outward, he cried, "Shishi... HOKODAN!!!"
  Together, the two martial artists, against all odds, attacked.

  "Just what is that girl planning on doing?" Warmage wondered, his
attention swirling throughout Lady Kuno's head, watching Nemesis do
what he... she... whatever, did best.
  "She has a plan, no doubt," answered Lady Kuno. "I am certain it
has nothing to do with the suggestion my daughter put to her."
  "She'd better not do something drastic!" the Orochi assassin yelled
out, worry betrayed in his voice.
  "Oh, so you DO have an interest in her?"
  "What is it to you, woman?!"
  "Nothing at all! I happen to notice that you always protest with
the demon whenever it would strike her! Am I wrong, Ashinzo?"
  "Don't call me that!"
  Smirking, Lady Kuno laughed. We'll see who's in control.

----------------------------------------------------------
If you're [un]lucky, you earn a place in my .sig!

* "[Y]ou're lamer than your signature and screen name indicate."--Chris 
Davies
* "There was a recent case where a fanfic author put together his work with 
only another fanfic serving as his primary resource.  *I* started writing 
fanfiction that way, and consequently I never grew attached to this whole 
idea of remaining true to the original.  I call it "correction."--Reverend 
Prez

--Razorclaw X
Author: "The Wheel of Fire", "The World's Worst Ranma Fanfic!", "The 
Geometry of Shattered Souls", "The Balance of Power".
"I sold my soul to buy a copy of the dubbed 'Ukyo Can Cook'"
"Decepticons Forever!"


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