(continued from part 2):


Cinder did not wait long to make his intentions much
more clear for Akane, as he slammed her against the
wall a second time. "Tell me now!" he demanded angrily.
Nothing's working, she thought, feeling consciousness
slipping from her head. Kanna... you jerk....
Her hopes came true as Cinder suddenly released his
grip on her. Akane fell to the ground with a heavy
thud, watching as one good kick from Ryoga through the
door sent Cinder flying backward toward the yard gate.
"Akane!" he cried. "Are you alright?!"
Nodding quickly, she pointed toward the fire master.
"He's here!"
Ryoga snorted, cracking his knuckles. "I'll take
care of this. You go warn the others!"
The cloaked salamander jumped up to his feet in a
quick motion, raising his arms into a classic tiger
stance. Waving his forward arm as if beckoning Ryoga to
strike, he offered a lethal whisper, "Come on...."

Stretching out for a long moment, satisfied that her
majesty instilled enough awe and fear in her enemies,
Sypha bellowed, "Free... free at last!"
"N... no way!" the martial artist whispered to
herself in disbelief.
"The outcast of the Celestial Court!" Shizuka yelled.
"Not by choice, squishy!" the great dragon replied
angrily. "For fifteen-hundred years I've toiled my
existence as a human... for fifteen-hundred years I've
studied the black arts to find a way to release myself
from the accursed Musk magic! And now I have the power
necessary to wipe out my ancient enemies out forever!"
"And with all your power you couldn't remove
something THAT simple?!" the priestess of Genbu snorted
with contempt. "Or is it true that spells so powerful
should not be mixed together so rashly?"
"You should know better," the dragon replied slyly,
"than to mix magic, little girl."
"Herb's ancestry came from a dragon dunked in the
girl's spring," Ranma remembered. "You're THAT dragon?"
"The ultimate insult!" Sypha confirmed. "They locked
my form and shattered my pearl," she continued,
gesturing her head in the crystal ball's direction,
"and it's taken me this long to find the final
component, stolen along with several other Musk
treasures long ago...."
"The Dragon's Tear," she realized.
"...and thanks to those who've used it's power I was
able to pinpoint its exact location: here!"
Without thinking Ranma darted to where the Dragon's
Tear fell, and snatched it up quickly.
The ancient dragon found amusement in Ranma's
desperate act. "You can't run, squishy!" she bellowed,
aiming the palm of her free foreclaw at the martial
artist.
In an instant Ranma felt her body cease function, and
realized that Sypha somehow paralyzed her. She felt
herself going stiff all over, and felt the blood rush
out of all her limbs, all in the space of seconds. But
Ranma's sixth sense told her that the celestial dragon
was moving in her direction, and she imagined getting
squashed in the monster's gigantic claw.
Shizuka stood up defiantly, her eyes never leaving
the dragon's head. "Sypha Blade!" she cried. "Or is it
'Star Crusher' now?"
"So," the dragon purred, suddenly interested in the
priestess, "you've learned my name. I've always thought
'Star Crusher' suited me more, though; 'Sypha' is the
name the humans gave that form."
Ranma breathed a sigh of relief, then realized that
she couldn't breathe, either! No, no, stay calm, she
told herself. The only option open to the paralyzed
martial artist was to last on the oxygen left in her
chest.
The priestess of Genbu stood her ground, seemingly
building up hidden courage in the face of Star Crusher.
"I've trained myself to defeat you... I won't let you
go any further, dragon!"
"An empty threat!" Star Crusher said, at the verge of
laughter. "What can you do now to change things that
would be different than twelve years ago?"
"This!" she replied in defiance, whipping out a
talisman from her sleeve.
Although Ranma's paralysis prevented her from seeing
the priestess fully, her memory of a previous dream
told her what the priestess was up to.
"Shizuka, don't!!" she wanted to yell, but her voice
could not be heard.
"Deathclaw, AWAKEN!!" Shizuka yelled, the talisman
spontaneously bursting into flames in her fingers.
At that moment Ranma felt the paralysis losing hold
over her, and she fell to the ground, still clutching
the Dragon's Tear. She breathed heavily, struggling to
fill her lungs with the air denied her moments before,
just as a column of white light, similar to the one in
her dream, engulfed Shizuka completely. The light
forced both Ranma and Star Crusher to shield their eyes
from the brightness.
It was over in an instant, appearing and disappearing
like a camera's flash bulb. Where the priestess of
Genbu once stood there was a skeletal, ethereal
dragon in her place, one which the martial artist
wished she was unfamiliar with. Ranma felt a wave of
fear wash over her as the ghost dragon's aura took
effect-- the chilling air forced goosebumps to appear
and her teeth chattered in reflex. The monster spread
its wings out majestically, creating the illusion that
it was much larger than it actually was.
Just as in the dream, Ranma could make out Shizuka's
slumbering form, curled in an upright ball, suspended
in the center of Deathclaw's ribcage.
"You idiot," the martial artist whispered to herself
sadly. "Why?"

Cinder caught Ryoga's flying kick with a quick Aikido
overhead reversal, slamming the martial artist down on
the ground with machine-augmented force. But it took
more than a simple slam to take Ryoga Hibiki down, as
he quickly rolled back and was on his feet again. The
fire master lunged with his claws in a one-two motion,
forcing Ryoga to dodge the attacks instead of attack.
"You can't win!" the salamander hissed.
"I don't have to!" Ryoga shot back, looking for an
opening.
As Cinder continued his attack, a dark recess of his
mind twitched, realizing that something was very
wrong. Ryoga Hibiki, he knew, wasn't known for his
mental motor skills.... And Akane... she, too....
The viper got here first!
No, Ryoga Hibiki was a decoy; they knew I was after
Akane, if only for the information she held. I've no
time for this!
Jumping back, Cinder cleared Ryoga's attack range,
he hoped. Reaching for his waist beneath the folds of
his cloak, he yelled, "Hibiki! I've got a surprise for
you!"
Tensing himself in readiness, Ryoga shouted, "I don't
think so!"
Winding up his arm quickly, Cinder threw a small
tank of oxygen at the martial artist. "Catch!"
Instinctively, when Ryoga saw the can fly his arms
reached out to grab the tank, leaving Cinder the second
he needed to fire up his palm-mounted flame-thrower.

"Hmph," snorted Star Crusher. "A ghost dragon?!"
"The soul that fuels my existence is strong!" the
ghost dragon gloated with his deep, cavernous voice.
"I welcome and anticipate your own soul! I am not just
ANY dragon, I am known as Deathclaw, Marauder of
Souls!"
"You're no match for me!" the celestial dragon
replied in contempt. "Being locked away in eternal
slumber has dulled your wits, ancient Marauder!"
Ranma watched as Deathclaw made the first attack,
launching himself at Star Crusher with surprising
speed. She jumped in surprise when she felt something
tap her shoulder, but when Ranma turned he saw only a
familiar face.
"Ranma... the Dragon's Tear?" Hokuto asked with
urgency. "You have it."

Akane rounded the corner to the open door just in
time for the explosion that engulfed Ryoga Hibiki.
"RYOGA!!" she screamed.
When the burst of flame died out a moment later the
martial artist's blackened but whole body twitched on
the ground. He poked his head up toward Akane,
struggling to get up.
"S... sorry..." he muttered, as Cinder stepped over
him.
"Your trick will not work," the salamander said
threateningly, scraping his talons against each other.
"Now, we're going to have to do this the fast... and
painful way!"
But a hand grabbed Cinder's leg, stopping him in his
tracks. Ryoga held the fire master fast despite his own
pain.
"I... won't let you...."
"You're quite resilient!" praised the salamander.
"Very well then; get up!"
As Cinder turned his back to Akane Ryoga struggled to
get to his feet, seemingly drawing energy from his
surroundings. He stood up, holding the strength of
the earth behind him, and shaking off the pain of the
explosive attack.
A tingling feeling washed over the marital artist.
"Let's do it!"
Cinder leaped up in the air, rocketing upward quickly
with the boost of his heels, escaping Ryoga's furious
fist. "Now, I'll reward your insolence with the
ultimate attack!"
Ryoga took a step back as the cloaked salamander
glowed in hellish ki flames.
Spreading his arms out like great wings, the fire
master shouted, "Incomplete technique: Suzaku Sky
Dance!!"
Diving down with foreclaws first, the last thing
Ryoga saw was the serpent of the red lotus transforming
into the bird of legend.

"Shizuka and Deathclaw are buying you time to use
it!" Hokuto explained quickly, before Ranma could
respond.
Slowly, the martial artist glanced back into the air
at the clash of the titans, finding it difficult to
believe that the priestess of Genbu would risk all for
her. "Shizuka...."
"Ranma, there isn't time!" insisted the Shadow
Weaver. "Star Crusher is right; Deathclaw cannot win
this match. You have to use the Dragon's Tear NOW."
Silently, Ranma understood everything Hokuto said to
be right. She stared at the teardrop-shaped crystal
in her hand, holding it up for the rainfall to touch
the artifact.
"I can make your desires come true," the artifact
seemed to say. "You need only name it, and I will
fulfill it to the best of my ability."
A limited wishing mechanism, Ranma realized. It was
probably not nearly as powerful as the magic that the
Wishbringer held-- likely because of the fact that it
was merely a fragment of a much larger magic, but she
knew it was more than enough for what she wanted.
It's right here, Ranma thought to herself, after all
this time.... After everything that's happened, after
all the suffering and pain... I can finally get rid of
my curse....
A thought seized her, and she stared at Hokuto for a
long moment.
Suddenly embarrassed despite herself, Hokuto dug her
toes into the earth. "N... n'you don't have to... it's
what you've been waiting for...."
"Hokuto...." Ranma whispered.
Throwing aside her embarrassment, the Shadow Weaver
urged, "You have to do it, Ranma!"
Nodding quickly, making up her mind, the martial
artist replied, "You're right!"
Akane, she thought, watch for me!
Thrusting the Dragon's Tear up into the air, Ranma
made her request.


            *  *  *  *  *

Ryoga (VO):

"What's this? Is everybody freeing themselves from
their cursed forms but me? What is it that Ranma wished
for, and what are the consequences? What'll we do now
that Cinder has returned, more powerful than ever? How
can we beat his ultimate technique? 'Incomplete?!' It
hurts already!"
"Next time: Eve of the White Tiger. I'll find my
way there somehow...."



------------------------------------------------
Author's Notes

What did Ranma wish for?


Razorclaw X (spiceoflife@NOREPLYhotmail.com)
http://www.crosswinds.net/~slythe/ranma/ranff.html

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