___/\/\___
	  _(_@ @)_
	  \__\/__/
	At last.  At long last.  You have managed to scrimp and save up your
money and vacation time.  Four, miserable, long years of completely
slaving away at your desk, in a dead end job, only one step (and one
dollar and three cents removed ) from a burger flipping job.  All so
you could fulfill you child hood dream.  The vary same one that was
denied to by your parents.
	
	You are now at Disney Land.
	
	You've ridden the mountain, you've seen Pirate's of the Caribbean.
And now, you decide to indulge your curiosity about Japan by going
over to the International Section.  Passing throw Africa, Asia,
Russia, India,  and Grate Briton, you finally come to what looks like
okonomi-yaki yatai.  Perfect.  And there doesn't seem to be a line
here ether. (Any line with less than twenty people, you no longer
consider to be a long).  You only have to wait on one person.
	
	Your drag your girl friend (apply hot water if you are already a
girl) over to the line, and you wait to finally get a real taste from
the land of the Rising Sun, and wait for the customer before you to
finish ordering.  That's when you realize that he is a rather shadowy
figure warring a black spy cloak.  He is looking at an okonomi-yaki
that he is holding in his hand.
	
	His eye's are watering in distress as his face looks to be turning a
rather unhealthy shade of green.  One might of thought that it was
cooked by Akane.
	
	That's when he takes notice of you.  The look or relief is
unmistakable, since now he can stall sampling the okonomi-yaki.
	
	"Ah, fancy bumping into you here.  Ehem!  The Mouse Dances with the
Duck in the Castle?"
	
	"Excuse me? What did you say?" You reply.
	
	"Close enough.  Once again, we meet.  And it is truly good fortune
that you ran into me, Code Name D.  Master Fan-fic smuggler
extraordinar, because I have just gotten a hold of the next
installment of Ranma 1/2, Curse of the Ghost Dance.
	
	"Ah yes. As I recall, both Ranma and Tarry, now in there cursed
forms, were still trying to get back to the ranch because of a
premonition that they had that something bad was going to befall
there fiancées.
	
	"But they are already too late since this dark force already took
them hostage, using fog to hypnotize them into his power.  And to
prevent any one from rescuing them, he sent an army to of reanimated
soldiers to deal with both the Saotome School of Any Thing Goes
Marshal Arts, as well as the Clearwater School of Any Thing Goes
Indian Fighting.  Who were just barely able to escape with their
lives.
	
	"But Ryoga and Bob were not ambushed, and were both able to attack
the yet unknown dark force.  But the battle has turned against, and
it seems doubtful that they will even survive the battle."
	
	Code Name reaches into his spy cloak, and produces another manila
envelop that reads, "Ranma 1/2: The Curse of the Ghost Dance; Act 7:
The Clash of Armies.
	
	"Oh, and before I forget.  Ranma 1/2 was created and is owned by
Rumiko Takahashi."
	
	Suddenly, some one pushed their way throw the okonomi-yaki line, and
takes a sample for himself.  It's the Japanese Copyright Agent.
	
	"Moshi moshi " he says, and then he hungrily consumes the
okonomi-yaki.  The sight makes Code Name D rather queasy, and he
faints, tossing his own okonomi-yaki into the air as he falls flat on
his back.  The okonomi-yaki tumbles through the air, and then lands
on Code Name's face, face down, with a loud splat.
	
	+----------------------------------------------+ 
	|           Code Name D presents:              |
	+----------------------------------------------+
	|                 Ranma 1/2                    |
	|       The Curse of the Ghost Dance           |
	+----------------------------------------------+
	|                  Act VII                     |
	|            The Clash of Armies               |
	+----------------------------------------------+
	|         Based on the characters and          |
	|   situations created by Rumiko Takahashi     |
	+----------------------------------------------+
	
	Ryoga dashed madly, just as the Eagle's talons scraped his back.  It
has missed him with its first dive.  With a glaring, determined
stare, Ryoga, now in the form of a little black piglet, known as the
ever adorable P-Chan, turned, and re-spotted his winged slyer.
	
	The Eagle had already flown to an impressive altitude, just reaching
its zenith, when it dove for him again.
	
	Any normal little black pig would have squealed in terror, and fled
for it's life.  But even though Ryoga wore a form of a pig, his mind
was that of a sharp Marshal Artist.  In the years since his curse, he
has come to know this form, it's strengths, and limitations.  Even
now, he was not going to be a push over.
	
	But now, he was pitted against a starved bald eagle.  A beast who's
very design was built to slay and consume small animals.  With skills
and instances honed over billions of years, instead of the mere few
thousand of even the most ancient of human fighting disciplines.
	
	P-Chan coldly watches the eagle's rapid decent, its wings swept
back, its deadly talons extended, reaching for him.  And Ryoga waited.
	
	Suddenly, he dashed foreword, under the eagle's plunge.  It
steepened it's descent to persue, but was unaccustomed to it's meals
displaying such insight, courage, and cunning.  Its dive became too
steep.
	
	Ryoga continued to propel himself out from under the eagles attack,
then turned to watch it collide with the ground.  If Ryoga had a
mouth and a moment's pause, he might have smiled, but P-Chan posed
neither.  He charged forward, and assaulted the stunned eagle at
point blank range, biting and pummeling for all he was worth.
	
	A razor sharp beak snapped at him, vise like talons reached for him,
but P-Chan managed to stay just out of the eagle's grasp.
	
	It managed to recover to its talons, and hopped into the air, hoping
to drop on him.  Again, P-Chan was too quick and agile.  But he no
longer held the eagle on the ground.  Finally, it gave up such close
quarter fighting, and rose back into the air, and quickly reached its
apex.
	
	" behind, behind!"
	
	P-Chan turned around, just in time to see the second eagle was
nearly upon him.  He avoided to the side, but the eagle still persued.
	
	Bob the parrot landed upon the eagle's back, and began fiercely
attack  and biting with his beak, but only barley distracting until
the first eagle nearly descended onto him.  And yet, his senses told
him that the first eagle was nearly upon him, but could also pluck
Bob from the back of his own opponent.
	
	His mind raced, the edges of his cunning grasping at the thinnest of
possibilities.  Time ticked away.  Every thing that Ryoga conceived
of, ended with a vain self sacrifice.  Perhaps throwing himself into
the grasp of one of the eagle may give Bob a few more moment's time.
	
	The eagle was almost on him.  He decided, to trust Bob to his own
skills and cunning, and he would fend his own opponent, until the
inevitable.
	
	He took a small pebble into his mouth, and leapt at the eagle,
facing its talons head on.  Then he spat the pebble directly into the
eagle's eye.  It spun out of control, and collided into the ground
again.  This time, even harder than before.
	
	It screeched in pain, and limped with its wing.  His attack had
fared better than he dared dream.  But hope was still an impossible
grasp.
	
	Again, P-Chan charged, biting and pummeling the deadly bird of pray
as best he could.  But the talons and beak were still forcing him to
hedge his assault until it regained its balance, and worked to pounce
upon him.
	
	Behind him, he heard Bob squeal.  Was he final given to his fate?
	
	Not yet, his own bird merle managed to regain to it's feat, and back
into the air.  Then it attacked him instead of Bob, while his own
opponent attacked Bob.
	
	It took Ryoga an instant to see what had happened.  The eagles had
switched opponents.  But this was beyond their mental prowess.
	
	Then the dark malevolent laughter aground him gave him his answer as
to how.  The dark vestige had called the birds here in the first
place.  Now he was guiding them mentally.  Tutoring them.
	
	Bob was poor match for the eagle trapped on the ground with the
broken wig, and Ryoga was poor match for the eagle in the air.
	
	Already, his eagle had managed to get astride Bob, who was now
forced to dance about this sharp talons, while his new opponent dove
on him once more.
	
	He tried to dodge, to run under its dive, the eagle already
compensated.
	
	With a squeal, Ryoga finally committed himself to his finale breath,
and to drink in the agony of being rend limb from limb, flesh from
bone.
	
	Akane, please forgive me.  I've failed you.
	
	
	
	The talons plunged into his chest, it's wings fluttered about his
face.  Instinct and reflex kicked in as he tried to grapple with the
bird.  A hand had found it's way around its wing, and the other
latched onto a talon.
	And then it retreated.
	
	Ryoga stood up, and towered over the landscape.  NO, he was human
again.  The warm water that damped his close was evidence of his
rescue.
	
	"Back off you buzzard!", Bob said, just managing to wrestle his own
foe from his hair.
	
	It was then that he heard the sound of a horse naying defiantly, as
it galloped into the foggy realm.  Its rider was an elderly man,
probably in his forties or so, and was garbed in ordinarily home spun
cotton.  In one hand, he held what looked to be water cannons that
appeared to be made out of wood and leather.  The source of his
rescue.
	
	While his horse was still galloping, he jumped off, and came to a
defiant stance between him and Bob, and the black vestige that stood
at the top of the hill.  Ryoga noticed that Redd and Akane still
stood behind the dark vestige, still trapped within their trance.  It
looked as if Akane was still being caressed by the phantom Ranma,
completely oblivious to the battle raging around them.
	
	As he approached this foot of the hill, he said something in a
language that the pendants could not recognize.  But it was a
beautiful language that sounded like poetry and song, compared to the
hard contestants of his own, or the hissing and grunting of English.
	
	At his verbal command, an energy aura extended itself over his odd
looking water cannon, and it began to quickly morph into a long wood
staff with three eagle feathers tied to the end with a cord of
leather.  He then held his staff level to the ground, but in a manner
that was a poor fashion for ether defense or attack.
	
	So this was a Native American?  The race of people whom the
Europeans had displaced.  However, this man was not a member of a
concurred race, but seemed to be a living breathing embodiment of
everything that he had come to learn about America.
	
	Then he saw Bob take up a stand next to him.  His giant wrench held
before him as a shield.
	
	Ryoga grasped his own umbrella, (from the realm that it had been
displaced during his transformation as a pig) and readied it as well.
	
	During the whole display, the dark vestige's laughter had remained
constant.  From the point his sneaky rain dance attack was realized,
to this very moment, where the Indian now stood before him, his face
stern with determination.  But now, the sinister fog began to quiet.
	
	"Steal spirit, your rash actions turned out to have served the Ever
Seeking One well.  But go now, and I will deal with the Black Raven."
	
	"No way, Shaman, some one has to guard your back!", Bob said.
	
	"And I am not leaving Akane!", Ryoga said.
	
	Their defiance apparently triggered the dark vestige's humor again.
Then suddenly, it became silent, and a pare of blazing red eye's open
from within the black fog.
	
	"So, Shaman, you know my true form.  You know me as the Black Raven,
the same Black Raven that your father, and your grandfather, has
battled.  They now wonder the beyond, but I am still here.  Fitting
that my plan comes to florition, when you have no have to take your
task as my keeper," the Black Raven said.
	
	"After this day, Black Raven, you shall need no keeper.  I will
finally put you to rest.  Allow my actions to speak for Me." the
Shaman boldly said.
	
	With that, he razed his staff, and chant.  His poetry became
thunder, his singing became a grate echo.
	
	A great wind rose, and battled with the fog.  Ryoga and Bob found
that they had to lean into the fierce wind, lest they be blown away.
	
	The fog swelled about them, as blue lighting coursed throw the trees.
	
	The Black Raven roared with rage, clearly infuriated that some one
had delivered a serious attack against him.  He outstretched his
arms, to cast a spell of his own, but the wind attacked his fog armor.
	
	The black smoke was finally blown away, and the black leather clad
priest stood in the flesh again.  But whether his cover was striped
away, or that he abandoned it was difficult for Ryoga to tell.
Whichever, the Black Raven was now empowered to cast his own spell.
	
	The Shaman's posture changed.  He puled his staff closer to his
chest, and lowered himself to the ground.  At first, Ryoga thought he
was crouching, but inset, he was grabbing a hand full of soil.
	
	A black sphere appeared around the Shaman, but just as it solidified
into an opaque prison that appeared to be made of pure night, it
shattered, like a crystal ball that had been dropped, and a blinding
white light could be seen "leaking" from the cracks.  As the pieces
exploded away, the two shattered into smaller pieces, and then
smaller pieces still, until nothing was left.
	
	The Shaman's mysticly amplified voice chanted a finally phraise, and
the wind grew to a howling tornado.
	
	Ryoga and Bob could no longer stand against the wind, and found
protection behind a tree.  The wind was so great, that Ryoga could
see the tree bend under the wind's force.
	
	Then there was a white flash, and the wind, and the fog, were both
gone.
	
	"Huh?  What's going on? Why am I out here?"
	
	Ryoga grasped those words with a steal like grip.  Akane was a wake,
and so was Redd.
	
	"Akane Tendo, Redd Darenger, act for your freedom!", The Shaman
shouted, still embroiled in intense mystic combat with the Black
Raven.
	
	Ryoga's actions were instant, he charged for Akane.  Just exactly
what he would do when he reached her, he did not exactly know.  But
at least he would be in a better position to protect her.
	
	Unfortunately, he never got that far.
	
	He barely saw the attack from the corner of his eye in time to jump
free.  When he returned to his feet, he saw a dozen Indian warriors,
and Spanish Soldiers, were charging at him from the woods.
	
	"AKANE!", Ryoga shouted.
	
	She reached out to him, only to have another dozen solders step
infront of her.
	
	Ryoga was forced to retreat against their superior numbers, then
unexpectedly found that he backed into Bob, who apparently was
confronted with a similar situation.
	
	But Akane was now awake, and a force to be reckoned with.  With the
type of ferocity that only Akane could produce, she summoned her pan
dimensional hammer, and brought it down on top of the closest
offending warrior.  Driving it into the ground like a tent stake.
	
	Having found each other's backs, Ryoga was free to focus on those
before him.  His umbrella smashing aside, or out right lancing
opponent after opponent  Bob was also acting with equal fervor.
Unfortunately, they were so busy defending themselves against the
growing number of warriors, that they were unable to guard the
Shaman's back.
	
	The Shaman could no longer continue his assault against the Black
Raven, as he was forced to face his other foes.  He cast a new spell,
and rings of shredding energy whirled about him, like a glowing saw
blade made of blue lighting.
	
	But once the attack ended against the Black Raven, he took a few
steps away from the battle, and into a blotch of thick black fog that
was waiting for him.
	
	Their numbers were growing rapidly.  And then Ryoga realized that
there were no fallen bodies around him.  He was befalling them by the
dozens, but they simply got back up.  No mater how extreme their
injuries were.
	
	Half curious, he drew out his belt, and snapped it taunt in the air,
giving it a razor thin edge that was hard as steal.  He then lashed
out against the nearest soldier, and decapitated him, sending his
head rolling onto the ground.  But the body fell, only from the
impact.  It quickly clamored onto all fours, and began to fumble
around for its head.
	
	"Ghaaa!" Ryoga screamed.
	
	"You're not just whistling Dixie!" Bob said.
	
	"How can you possibly think about music at a time like this?!" Ryoga
snapped.  He no longer had a choice, and unleashed his full furry,
holding nothing back.  With frightening clarity, he saw the full
extent to the damage he could inflict upon a man.  He was rending the
enemy limb from limb, decapitating, disemboweling score upon score,
but each got up, and attacked again within a few minutes.  And still
more soldiers continued to poor in from the woods.
	
	Redd was in no position to offer resistance, being held firmly in
place by both arms by a Spanish Soldier.
	
	Akane, however, fought ferociously, but she was no match for such a
countless number, dozens upon dozens, all pilling on her, subduing
her with sheer mass.
	
	Once he realized that he again had the upper hand, the Black Raven
started to laugh once more.  Again, Ryoga found himself staring
directly at death.
	
	"Thou shall take grate pleasure in silencing your fiendish cackle,
black hearted cur."
	
	Both Bob and Ryoga turned, just in time to see the Saotome School of
Any Thing Goes Marshal Arts, and the Clearwater School of Any Thing
Goes Indian Fighting charge in there full number, into the growing
army of zombies like warriors.  It was something to be hold, as both
schools unleashed destructive power that he had never seen, nor dared
imagine.
	
	Kuno, who had taken the lead, some how excelled, wheeling his bokken
around him in with such speed that it almost looked as if he was
wielding a blue lighting bolt.  He was slaying them nearly as fast as
they could rise to meet him.
	
	At his side, was the beautiful form of Marry Lou, wielding twin
hatchets with terrible effect.
	
	Area was right behind them.  The giantess mighty arm felled dozens
of zombies with a signal sweep. A long whip whirled about her from
her other hand, slashing apart an attacker that stepped into range.
	
	The Cajun was also there.  His BBQ tongs in one hand, and his over
sized fork in the other, and still his ever wide handle bar mustache
on his face.  He sung merrily as tossed and gutted warriors to and
fro as if he was tossing a Ceasar Salad.
	
	"Well Ryoga," Bob said, "What are we waiting for?  An invitation?"
	
	Suddenly, Kuno jumped in before them, and bowed in a formal Japanese
greeting.  Then placed his fingers to his forehead.
	
	"Indeed, no amount of haste can excuse the dismissing of proper form
or true courtesy."  He reached under his kimono, and handed them each
in turn a white envelope with the Takahashi family seal.  "I invite
you to partake of this evening that has found itself upon us in most
dire of forms."
	
	That said, Kuno turned around, and glared down his nearest opponent,
and charged into the fray.
	
	Ryoga exchanged a glance with Bob, and then nodded as they both
jumped into the fray.
	
	The battle was ferocious, and for a while, Kuno's surprise attack
changed the odds.  But now, they were reverting back to the Black
Raven's favor as the numbers of soldiers continued to increase.
	
	Both school finally found themselves collapsed into a half circle,
attempting to just hold their own.  Between them, and Akane and Redd,
stood the vast portion of the Black Raven's unchallenged army.  Even
for such martial artists, reaching Akane was impossible, let alone
rescue.
	
	"Grrr, curs...", Kuno snapped, "Even battle with Ranma Saotome never
bellied to I such frustration.  At least he to I, share skill and
dispassion of equal.", Kuno waxed, "But nay the shame to be defeated
by mer number of heathen."
	
	It was then that Kuno found that his back was again pressed against
Marry Lou's.
	
	"I hear what your saying hansome.  I just keep'en cutting them down,
and they just'a keep getting back up.  I don't think we all can keep
this up much longer."
	
	"Nay, woman!  Your unspoken hint offends my ears greatly.  To think
that I, Kuno Takahashi , would even conceive of the option or retreat
a second time before the night, just truly laughable, if not an
insult."
	
	"Did Kuno just say to retreat?" Ukyou suddenly said.
	
	"Yay, fin to rone daway!" the Cajun said.
	
	"As a true leader, you speak with wisdom." The Shaman said.
	
	"What?" Kuno said as he realized every one was leaving him behind.
"Come back here you cowards!  I gave no such command as to retreat.
I will.. not.. stand..?!?!"  It was then that Kuno happened to look
back at the formidable army before him.  He swallowed hard as he
nervously held his bokken before him, and as the Spanish soldiers and
Indian warriors advanced on him, step by step.  He was in serous
trouble, and needed a brilliant idea to get out of this.
	
	"By the fates!  In the sky!" Kuno suddenly said, pointing his bokken
skyward.  All the warriors looked, and while their attention was
diverted, Kuno made a run for it.
	
	"After them," the Black Raven said from within his fog armor, " and
destroy them."
	
	With a deafening yell, the zombies charged after Kuno.
	
	< + + + >
	
	"NO!" Akane shouted, desperately trying to reach out from under the
pillar of solders that she found herself under.
	
	But deep down, Akane knew that they had no choice.  They had to
retreat, or be killed.  Never the less, to watch her companions being
pushed away through the arms and legs of her captors, it was still a
heart wrenching experience.
	
	"Don't leave me here!  Ranma wouldn't leave me here!"
	
	She forced her eye's closed, trying to squeeze off her tires of
desperation.
	
	Her heart sank even further, as she watch helplessly as the zombie
army gave chase.
	
	No, Ranma wouldn't leave her.  He would find a way.  He was too
stubborn, his ego too big, to even concede of being pushed back.
	
	But where was he?
	
	No!  You can't do this, Akane!  You can't pull the helpless maiden
routine this time.  You're a marshal artist too.  Don't take this
lying down!
	
	"Euuugg!", Akane growled.  It was a fearsome growl that she could
manage, and apparently, it was just enough.  She poured every ounce
of strength she had, into throwing off those who were piled on her,
and she began to inch her way to her feet.
	
	But there were just too many.  There was no way she could throw of
this much weight.  But this only made her all the more angrier, and
all the more desperate, and within minutes, her battle aura began to
flare around her.  Growing in strength.
	
	With a final scream, her battle aura exploded, throwing her captors
away from her, and allowing her to snap to her feet.
	
	But just as quickly, the Spanish and Indian zombies began to climb
back to there feet as well.
	
	The Black Raven howled at her defiance.
	
	"Stop her!  She will ruin my plans."
	
	Akane smiled knowingly, then began to close her fist, popping her
knuckles as she has seen Ranma do a thousand times.
	
	"Time to go to school, boys." Akane said.
	
	With a  lung bursting yell, the soldiers and warriors attack.  Akane
grabbed the nearest Warrior, and throw him into the path of the next.
She then began to toss, duck, and kick her attackers as they
attempted to dogpile her again.  It was like old times, before she
met Ranma.
	
	But there was a big difference.  The boys from school only wanted to
date her.  This was far more serous.  Plus, the vanquished kept
getting back up, and they were not getting tired.
	
	Suddenly, a wind blew through.  When Akane went to spot her next
target, she realized that she was standing in a pea soup of a fog,
barley able to see an arms length away.
	
	Then, all at once, a dozen soldiers and worriers came at her at
once, literally appearing from out of no where.  She had no reaction
time to anticipate.  Soon, she was once again buried under a pile of
men.  Unable to move, despite her struggling.
	
	She looked to her left, and saw that Redd was still bound the grip
of the enemy.  Then a shadow fell on her.  A dark patch of fog
drifted to stand before her, and hen the withered, black leather clad
Indian priest steeped foreword, a low, dark laugh echoed from his
throught.
	
	His withered and bony hand reached out, and touched her by the chin.
She struggled to slap it away, but was still firmly held.
	
	"You are one full of fight.  Too much so for a... girl.  Perhaps the
spirits had intended your gender to be otherwise.", the Black Crow.
	
	"What do you intend to do with us?", Akane said.
	
	The Black Crow's smile widened to display a rotten toothy grin, and
a hollow mouth that seemed to reach into infinity.
	
	"Why, nothing... that you're dear Ranma can prevent."
	
	"AKANE!!!"
	
	Suddenly, Akane and the Black Raven  turned towards the far edge of
the clearing.  Standing defiantly, his eye's slightly to the ground,
in total focus, was Ranma Saotome.
	
	"Let her go, monster!" Ranma shouted, "Or else!"
	
	The Black Raven chortled darkly.
	
	"Destroy it." the Black Raven ordered.
	
	There was a mighty cry from hundreds of Indian and Spanish soldiers
as a wave of arms fell down onto Ranma.
	
	Ranma's response, was to place his fingers together, and a sphere of
energy began to take form.  As the soldiers grew closer, more and
more of Ranma's ki energy was pored into the attack, finally parting
his fingers, and then his arms.
	
	Just as the spear tips reached him, Ranma let lose his attack with a
howling roar from the pits of his lungs, and there was a might
thunder clash as a blinding ball of energy enveloped all.
	
	Akane, still trapped within the grip of the Black Raven, raised an
arm to shelter her eyes from the glare if Ranma's attack.
	
	Before Ranma's first attack subsided, he exploded into action,
attacking those that survived his first blast.  He fought in a field
of blackened waste and charred bodies as a flurry of riffle shots and
spears flew, but none met their mark.  Ranma's hands, shaped as the
edge of a hatchet, flew as if propelled by lighting, striking one
after the other with deadly force.  His feat struck all around him,
behind him, before him.
	
	He fought madly, desperately, as number after growing number rose to
meet him.  Suddenly, he made a mistake, a warrior latched onto his
arm, and pinned his swing.  A soldier tacked his leg, and pinned him
in place.  Then, as if a dam had burst, a tidal wave of attackers
fell onto Ranma, pilling on him like liquid battle.
	
	"AKANE!!!!"
	
	Soldiers and Warriors suddenly flew away from Ranma, and he was on
the move again.  A fresh wave of combatants crashed against him, but
Ranma fought on.  Step by step, he began to approach the foot of the
hill.
	
	Ranma fought as if he was furry incarnate.  He wheeled Akane's name
as if it was his greatest weapon.  His blue eye's shimmered like
polished sword steel, never faltering for an instant.
	
	The whole resurrected army fell on him.  Spears, daggers, and
hatchets rang.  Again they fell over him, and again, there full
number to thrown away.
	
	Ranma's grip some how found a spear, and it became an invincible
shield and his deadly armor in one.  He took another signal step
foreword.
	
	Ranma's unchecked progress stole the Black Raven's laughter, and
ignited his rage.
	
	But still, Ranma continued to deify the odds, to deify reason, and
fought on.  Well surpassing the boundaries of human endurance,
enduring more pain, agony, and injury than any man could pray to fend
off.  And yet, he still pressed on, step after step.
	
	Akane's hart sang with pride.
	
	"Ranma!" she said, calling to him.
	
	Ranma's ears heard his name called out to him by his fiancée, and he
was hardened even further.
	
	Finally, he reached the foot of the hill.  His clothes were tattered
shreds.  A cut to his check and arm bled, spreading crimson across
his face and sleeve.
	
	A new wave of soldiers fell on him, halting his progress.  Hands,
feet, and spear tip flew about Ranma at a speed that was beyond that
of the eye.
	
	"AKANE!!!" Ranma cried out once more, becoming his battle cry.
	
	Then, by means yet unknown, something unusual began to happen.
Ranma began to cast away sparks.  Tiny white flares that erupted
between him and his foe.  There force grew, until Ranma was literally
striking down the enemy with lighting like power that was fueled by
his shear force of will.
	
	The soldiers pressed even harder against him, crashing against him
with near suicidal furry.
	
	Ranma razed his left foot, and set it back down onto the hill.
	
	"AAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
	
	The Black Raven bellowed with total rage.  In his anger, he tossed
Akane aside, allowing her to fall to the ground.
	
	But Akane was too stunned by Ranma's unbelievable display of power
and determination.  His steel blue eye met hers, and she suddenly
knew, that nothing was going to stop him, or harm her.  NOTHING!
	
	"Fool!  Do you think you can possible stand against the Black Raven!
Feel the full measure of my power, and parish!!"
	
	Ranma continued to battle against his relentless foe, even as he
took yet another step onto the hill.
	
	The Black Raven razed his arms, and shouted with thundering volume,
and commanded the night sky to reach out with lighting that crashed
around Ranma, and charring the ground that he stood on.  The Black
Raven then dropped his hands, and pointed at him as if he was
signaling the forces that he commanded, of that which he wanted
destroyed.
	
	There was another gouts of lighting, and it incinerated the spot
where Ranma stood.  But Ranma was no longer there, with impossible
speed, Ranma had leaped to another place, closing half the distance
up the hill.
	
	Within seconds, the attacking soldiers adjusted, and began to close
in on him.
	
	But the Black Raven was not finished.  He swept his arm across the
face of the hill where Ranma stood, and a mighty wind blasted across
the mound.
	
	At first, Ranma struggled, leaning into the wind, bracing his
footing into the hill side.  The soldiers, all though affected by the
wind as well, were still not faced with its full force, and began to
close in around Ranma once more.
	
	"Ranma!" Akane cried out.  her vision was bleared with tires of joy,
awe, and fear as her hair was whipped into her face the wind, forcing
her to desperately grasp at the clumps of grass on the hill to stay
anchored.
	
	"AKANE!!" Ranma shouted.  He then razed his spear into the air, and
drove the spire tip into the hill.  An anchor!
	
	With one hand firmly griping the now sturdy spear, Ranma began to
fend off the attacks of  the advancing soldiers.
	
	"At last Ranma Saotome!  You are doomed!" The Black Raven shouted
above the howl of the wind.  Then he razed his arms again, to summon
the forces of lighting that continued to gout over head.
	
	Ranma's cold, steel blue eyes spied the Black Raven's gesture.
	
	"Ranma!!", Akane shouted, reaching for him against the wind.
	
	Then everything slowed, as if to draw out Akane's pain of seeing
Ranma destroyed.
	
	"Noooooooooooooooo ! ! ! !"
	
	The Black Raven echoed with dark laughter, as a knife like edge
slowly protruded from the sky, waiting for the Black Raven's command.
	
	An Indian warrior bravely came to Ranma's side, preparing to fall a
hatchet against Ranma's side.
	
	Ranma's gaze flashed back into the battle around him, and captured
the hatchet, even as it fell.  With agonizing slowness, his free hand
reached over, and caught the hatchet mid swing, and instantly
arrested it from the warrior's grip.
	
	The Black Raven's hands began to fall, slowly bring to bear against
his enemy.
	
	Ranma's eye again locked back onto the Black Raven's form, as his
arm began to swing towards the priest, brining with it, his newly
captured hatchet.  An instant later, and it flew from grasp,  and
sailed unchallenged towards the Black Raven.
	
	The Black Raven's hands had nearly been drawn against Ranma, when
the hatchet dove straight and true into the Raven's chest, and
wedging itself in his sternum.  Out of reflex, he began to clutch at
the blade that pierced his body, and doing so, commanded the lighting
to their target.
	
	The knife like edge that had peeked from the sky above, instantly
crossed the span of space, and struck the Black Raven with a
horrendous force of Nature's furiocity unleashed in it's fullness.
	
	The Black Raven hollered in protest, but in the end, the lighting
incinerated him where he stood.  A second later, and Akane was alone
at the peek of the hill.
	
	The wind had stopped, allowing Ranma to return to his feet.  But
when he turned to return his attention to the attackers that
surrounded him, as each an every one of them fall to the ground.
Their flesh began to split, melt, and the skeletons began to
disintegrate into powder, and to be blown away by the retreating fog.
	
	In less than a minute.  Only he, and Akane remained.
	
	"Ranma!" Akane called.
	
	Ranma turned, and there gaze met.  But this time, in place of his
cold steal like glare, was a fiery passion that Akane had never seen
in him before.
	
	"Akane!", he called out.  The then charged up the hill, as if none
of his desperation to reach had subsided.  But finally, his strength
failed him, and he fell onto his face mid stride.  Again, his
remarkable force of will was called on, in order to push himself back
onto his feet.  But it was a futile effort,
	
	"Ranma!"
	
	Akane quickly rose her feet, and charged down the hill, then knelt
by his side.
	
	"Ranma no baka." she said, "Your so stubborn.  You never knew when
to quit."
	
	She took him in her arms, and helped him to lie back.  Then again,
his blue eyes looked into hers, and it seemed that they fell into
each others gaze.  And for the first time, Akane knew why it was
called "falling in love".
	
	A weak, but genuine smile grew onto Ranma's face.  As small as it
was, it was like a rose blooming into fullness.
	
	"Akane...." he said weakly said.  He then began to reach up with his
hand.  It was slow, and shaky, almost completely spent as it came
closer to her face.  But Akane knew.  She knew with all the certainty
of the Gods, and the spirits of her elders, of her mother, that not
even the forces of nature would prevent Ranma from touching her.
	
	Then, ever so gently, Ranma caressed her cheek, and she cried
openly.  She took his hand in hers, and held it against her face.
Feeling the warmth of his touch, the undeniable pulse of Ranma's
heart as he rested his head in her lap.
	
	"Akane.." Ranma said again, his voice a whisper, "I lov...."
	
	Then, the last of his strength ebbed away, and he snuggled against
Akane's breast, and fell into a heavy, fatigued sleep.
	
	Akane held him closer.  Her heart beating with such joy that it
nearly leaped from her ribcage.  For some reason, Ranma never ever
managed to say those three little words.  But right now, he didn't
need to.  Akane already knew.  She knew because Ranma always said
that he loved her in ways that words, nor gentle touches could ever
convey.
	
	As he slept, Akane lowered her face to his, and gently hissed him on
the check.
	
	"I know Ranma.  I know."
	
	Then, a light shined down from above.  A bright and warm light that
shattered the darkness.  Looking up, Akane saw the dark black clouds
part, to reveal the sun, still in its rightful place.  It's warmth
shining down on her skin.
	
	She looked up, and smiled at the sun.  As if thanking it for
delivering Ranma to her.
	
	The black clouds quickly began to give way to blue sky, and a gentle
warm breeze blue away the last smoldering remnants of battle.
	
	Akane then looked back down at Ranma, and gently began to sweep back
his hair as he slept in her arms.
	
	But unknown to her.  It was not the sun that she saw.  She was not
holding the sleeping form of her fiancé.
	
	Suddenly, a thick fog bank rolled in, reinforcing the darkness that
had never left.  A small, but formidable number of Indian and Spanish
soldiers stood watch over her, as Akane gently held the form of a
small corn husk male doll.
	
	Behind her, a black man shaped patch of fog was suddenly pierced by
two glowing red eyes, and a small evil laugh began to slowly grow
into a hearty bowel of victory.  Behind the shrouded image of the
Black Raven, stood Redd Darenger, gently cradling the female corn
husk doll, completely oblivious to anything that just happened.
	
	"Run!" the Black Raven shouted, "Run, School of Any Thing Goes
Martial Arts.  Run like the cowards you are, School of Any Thing Goes
Indian Fighting.  Run, run to your doom, Shaman of Indian Mountain.
For I, the Black Raven, have won!  I have won at last!  Let the
destruction of the world begin!"
	
	< + + + >
	
	
	
	Nabiki was startled away, tossing aside the covers. Looking  to the
window, she could easily see that it was still the dead of night,
close to midnight by the clock that was set upon the table.
	
	The sounds of the retained World War II air raid sirens were
impossible to ignore.  But they didn't warn of invading Americans,
but a threat far more worse.
	
	"The government has activated the Emergency warning system to warn
the population, that a volcano has suddenly become active.  The
residences are strongly advised to take shelter at once.  Hard hat
and gas mask ordinances are now in affect!" the TV loudly blared from
the downstairs, having now come on under its one accord.  "All
citizens are to dawn there hard hats immediately, and retreat to the
shelters, if not to evacuate the city.  This is not a drill.  I
repeat, this is not a drill."
	
	Still groggy and confused, Nabiki looked around.  Kasumi was still
sleeping on the floor next to her.  She was still smiling, even in
her sleep.  But this one was not your usual Kasumi smile, but
something far more carnal.
	
	Nabiki stood up, and walked over the window, still listening to the
sirens that had now gone off from all over the whole of Tokyo.  She
could hear hundreds of sirens in the distance, as police and military
scrambled to assist in the evacuation.  It wasn't until she looked at
the horizon that she saw the reason for such drastic action.
	
	Even though it was the dead of night, and the moon lay hid behind an
overcast sky, the mountain looked as if it's top was a blaze.  Fires
bright enough to eliminate a dark and thick gray plume of smoke that
was flanked by smaller plumes black and white fumes from the fires.
	
	Nabiki knew at once what was going on, and that evacuation was not
an over reaction.  The black smoke could only come from the burning
of cars and houses.  But the gray smoke, that was ash, and the white
smoke was scalding hot steam.
	
	Tokyo's resident volcano was about to erupt.  And she didn't need to
be a seismologist to know that this was going to be devastating.
	
	She quickly fell back to the floor, by Kasumi's side, and shook her
by the shoulders.
	
	"Wake up, sister.  Were in big trouble.", she said.
	
	Kasumi was a sound sleeper, she only turned over, and turning away
from her sister's gently pushing.
	
	"Oh doctor Tofu, I had no idea that you were a gynecologist too.",
she said.
	
	"Really sis, now is not the time." Nabiki said, shaking her sister a
little hard, hopefully to emphasize just how serous the situation was
to her sister.
	
	"Wha?", Kasumi said, finally waking up.  "What's going on, and why
are the sirens going off?"
	
	"I'll tell you on the way to the basement.", Nabiki said.
	
	"Ho my." Kasumi said
	
	< + + + >
	
	Kuno's knees pumped as high, and as fast as he could push them.  And
still the perusing army was no more than a few paces behind him, and
gaining on him.  But when he felt the sharp tip of a spear touch his
buttocks, he tripled his pace.
	
	He quickly managed to put some distance between him and the
persuers, and then even began to overtake his comrades.
	
	"What mockery of loftily that you display as to place your leader at
your rear.  One side, swine, and allow me, Kuno Tatewaki to take his
rightful place in your lead.", Kuno waxed, "So that I am....?  What
is this?"
	
	Even as Kuno spoke and ran at the same time, a single Spanish
soldier ran straight through the retreating group without even so
much as a challenge.
	
	Since Kuno was already running at top speed, all he could do was
watch him run past, even as it boiled his anger.  Then realized that
he wasn't watching where he was going.
	
	
	
	Kuno suddenly hit something, hard.  Since he was not looking where
he was going, he thought that he ran smack dab into a tree.  But when
he looked forward, something entirely different met his gaze.
	
	"Why don't you watch where your going bokken butt!", Ranma Saotome
shouted.
	
	"Grrr!  Ranma Saotome!  How dare you collide with me!", Kuno
shouted.  He then sprang to his feet, and razed his bokken over him
to strike, "You shall pay for this grate infraction against I, Kuno
Tatewaki!"
	
	"Ahhh!"
	
	Kuno looked up, just in time to see Tarry's face drain of all color,
as she looked behind him.  And Kuno swallowed, knowing full well that
the army was already advancing on his heels.
	
	"However, I have come to the conclusion that we shall discuss the
penance for this horrendous infraction at a some what later date and
time that is more befitting to foes of our standing in so that we may
properly adjudicate the justice that your so richly deserve." Kuno
hastily ranted.
	
	With that, Kuno grabbed Ranma by his pigged tall, and dragged him
off as he sprinted to safety.
	
	"Hay, put me down.  What's the big idea bokken butt!" Ranma shouted,
"I'm going to knock you back to Japan if...."  It was just then that
Ranma looked in front of him, and saw a sea of soldiers just barely
meters away from him.
	
	"Faster you idiot.  Don't you dare let go my hair.  You here me,
kendo breath!"
	
	After a few moments, Kuno, with Ranma still in tow, reached the main
group.  The Shaman was leading the way, running just as fast as the
others.
	
	"Marry Lou, Tarry Clearwater, delay our foe so that we may escape!"
The Shaman commanded.
	
	"Sure'in it be done.", Marry Lou said.
	
	"On the job!", Tarry said.
	
	Both girls suddenly stopped in their place, just as Kuno approached.
	
	"You best be ducked hansome, if'en you not wanting to be parted with
that cute little head of yours.", Marry Lou warned as she ready her
twin hatches, and whirled them around her grip.
	
	Tarry braced her footing, and glared defiantly at the advancing
enemy, charging down on them.
	
	"Quit Yakin, and start attacking!", Tarry ordered.
	
	"Sure'en enough." Marry Lou said.
	
	"HATCHET TORNADO!!" Marry Lou shouted.  With that, she let fly both
hatchets, barley allowing enough time for Kuno to duck under their
path.  Like unstoppable saws, they cut down trees, one after the
other.
	
	"FIST OF JOHN HENNRY EXPRESS!!" Tarry shouted, and she erupted with
her own, locomotive looking ki blast, and it plowed into the cut
trees and advancing soldiers.  The entire forest seemed to shudder as
dozens of trees were felled at once, baring a large portion of the
enemy.
	
	But it didn't hold them for long.  Within seconds, those unaffected
by the attack began to scramble over the trees, or to skirt around
the barrier entirely.  Charging through the trees in pursuit until
all but two of their number had passed.  Brining up the rear, was a
Spanish soldier and an Indian Warrior, who both stopped, looked this
way and that, and then charged after the others, continuing their
pursuit.
	
	Suddenly, Kuno burst from a pilling of leaves, and shook his fists
against them in rage.
	
	"How dare you for I, Tatewaki Kuno to retreat not just once, but a
second time as well!  The vengeance of Heaven is slow but sure and I
shall put my vengeance upon you!", Kuno shouted from the top of his
lungs.
	
	"Do not stick boy ever learn!" Shampoo said as she dropped out of a
tree, hanging upside down.
	
	"All right!" Tarry said, peeking out from behind a rock, "Does
anybody want to tell me why we just high tailed it like a flock of
quail on hunting day?"
	
	"And where is Akane!", Ranma shouted, getting up in Kuno's face.
	
	"Silence!", The Shaman said as he stepped out from behind a tree,
"Or you may yet bring the enemy upon us for the fight that you crave,
Tarry Clearwater.
	
	"Suddenly, every one heard a long whistle of amazement.  It was the
Cajun, who was looking out from the side of a tree.  He then pointed
outwards, back towards the Ranch.
	
	Marry Lou was the first to look at what The Cajun had discovered.
	
	"Holy Marry, Mother Of God." she said as the color drained from her
face.
	
	Tarry came up next to her.
	
	"Great Texas Planes." Tarry said with a similar reaction.
	
	"By the fates." Kuno said.
	
	"Hiya!", Shampoo said.
	
	"Icaramba.", Area said.
	
	"Yipe!", Ryoga meekly said.
	
	Every one looked out from the edge of the forest, with a commanding
view of the Darenger Ranch below.  And it was completely surrounded
Spanish Conquistador Soldiers and Indian warriors.
	
	"There must be at least a couple thousand." Ukyou offered.
	
	        "Two thousand, one hundred, fifteen." Bob said.
	
	Then, from out of thin air, they saw a black Bloch of fog appeared.
Then the familiar form of the Black Raven stepped from the fog.  The
vast army or reanimated soldiers parted for him, allowing the Black
Raven to step to the perimeter of the sedge lines that surrounded the
main house without challenge.
	
	"Shaman, from Indian Mountain!" the Black Raven shouted with a
thundering volume, "I know that you hide from me in the darkness of
the woods.  I have defeated you Shaman.  Behold my power."
	
	He then gestured sky words, and the black clouds that dominated the
sky began to crackle with lighting energy.  Bolt, after bolt, cracked
in the dark sky, shattering the black clouds from within and
underneath, again and again.  But so far, it was only a dazzling
light show not a signal bolt reached for the ground.  But it was
still an impressive display of power.
	
	"Shaman of Indian Mountain, you have lost.  The beggining of the end
has begun.  Soon, all of man will be sponged from the face of the
land.  Earth shall rain from the sky, and bury all of man's cities
and roads and dams.  The Buffalo shall return, and roam free and
unchallenged.  And my people shall return!  And they will rule once
more.  Not only over the Americas of our homeland, but we shall also
take the whole nation of Japan as well.  As well as all that lay in
between!  I have won!  At long last, my labors, my planing, come to
me as my reword.  And the first trophies that I will take, will be
your lives!"
	
	Then, the Black Raven's laughter seemed to fill the darkened day,
with evil.  And the vary air, seemed to take up the flavor of dry,
hot, ash.  It was the taste, of Armageddon.
	
	To be Continued...
	
	_________Closing Credits______________________________________
	-->Insert some sappy J-pop music here.<-----------------------
	--------------------------------------------------------------
	Story by : Douglas E. Kulp
	Editing by : Veggitto of #fanfics of Dalnet
	Maga-thanks Veggitto  (Must be heck to put that on your 
	        tax forms.)
	Based on stuff by : Rumiko Takahashi
	Transportation and lodging by : Code Name D.
	Well, I sapose you could ask for the anchovies to be
	raw.  But I just don't think that soshi is a populer
	pitza topping around here.
	
	 ________________  +------------------------------------------+
	[   Code Name D  ] |Comments and critiques are welcome.       |
	[   ___/\/\___   ] |Flames and gripes are also welcome.       |
	[    _(_@ @)_    ] |Just use your pre-installed Download      |
	[   _\__\/__/_   ] |Editorial Listing of Elements To be       |
	[   \   () * /   ] |Enhanced.  Also known by it's acronym     |
	Beware  of the spy |as the DELETE key, to send it on it's way.|
	dougkulp@feist.com +------------------------------------------+
	or code_name_d@my-deja.com            The rest is at:
	http://www.tass.org/fanfic/ranma.curse-of-the-ghost-dance

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