"… Reborn… Revolution," she whispered, the finality of the words sending a shock of power that stole that thing she valued most from her, leaving her to fall limp. In her last fleeting moments of control before her world faded away, she smiled wanly at Ranma, standing nearby.

"And so it ends," Saffron intoned.

End of Elimination — Take Two

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Communications.  Tenchi Muyo! belongs to Hitoshi Okuda and Pioneer LDC. Sailor Moon belongs to Naoko Takeuchi and Kitty Films.

Ranma straightened, turning away from where Hotaru had fallen to lie prone. "What now?" he asked tonelessly, staring out at the slowly advancing tide of reavers. "This is how it was meant to be?"

Saffron rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and after a moment — as though the charging reavers were of no consequence — asked, "Are you okay?"

Gritting his teeth, Ranma glared at the god. "I will fight to the bitter end," he swore.

Saffron smirked. "The path lies before you. Like sunshine on a cloudy day."

"I will resist!"

The reavers halted suddenly, some paces away from the trio, and formed perfect concentric rings, standing motionless for the moment. "I do not want to see you like this," Saffron declared. "Do not make me sad anymore!"

But try as Ranma might, the power was irresistible. Saffron had already fallen sway, and he doubted he had much longer to fight. As he watched, a strange, unearthly music began to build up, low and echoing. On cue with the music, each reaver raised one claw, and then another, and linked it with the nearest partner.

"No," Ranma groaned, feeling his resistance wear thin. Tokimi was calling to him, beckoning to him. He felt the red robes he ware shift, tightening, and reshaping themselves, as the reavers began to spin in their circles, slowly at first, but with increasing speed as the unearthly music began to increase in volume.

But it was too late — the reavers continued their mad dancing, celebrating Ranma as the Lord of it All. "Why did you have to use the Dance-Dance Reborn Revolution," he pleaded to Hotaru's departed spirit, unable to stop himself from stomping.

That's right, folks, the new off-Broadway hit, "Reaverdance", due to a planet near you… never. We hope.

Author's notes: Well, since you've suffered though that remarkably trite piece of swill, I do have some good news. Chapters 14 and 15 of PoE are complete (14 is with The Refuge at the moment, but won't be posted until it's been revised, and 15 is in super-rougdraftiayanjin form at the moment), and progress on the revisions of prior chapters is still going on. If somewhat slowly.

So, yeah, I'm still alive, and the fic is still being worked on…. Thank you very much for your time and patience. ^_^;

Brian Randall

Webmaster: Larry F
Last revision: January 7, 2006