BLOOD FEUD

A Fanfic Based On 'Tenchi Muyo!' 
& 
The Platinum Dragon's 'Tales Of Nagi' 
By
THE PSYCHOMATIC POET

Done with the permission of The Platinum Dragon

With help, editing and pre-reading from: Minako

DISCLAIMER: This fanfic is about the bounty hunter, Nagi and her 
	    cabbit, Ken-ohki. I did not create Nagi nor did I create 
	    Ken-ohki. Both these characters and the 'Tenchi Muyo!' TV 
	    series are owned by AIC/Pioneer and are in no way affiliated 
	    with me. 

            DO NOT SUE ME. 

	    I am not being paid to do this fanfic. The Clown(in 
	    no way affiliated with the Clown from 'Spawn'), however 
	    psychotic, belongs to THE PSYCHOMATIC POET. So does Iori 
	    Mikaido, Mad Dog and Blade Matthaus. 

	    Aarin Shirow, The Juugoya and the terms 'Falaris' and 
	    'Falarian' belongs to The Platinum Dragon. 

	    It is my opinion that Nagi and Ken-ohki should be in 
	    the OVAs and not the TV series. 

	    This disclaimer also applies to the songs, song titles and 
	    lyrics that have been used in this fanfic. Thank you. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER 1:
SEND IN THE CLOWN AND DIE LAUGHING

   The music was playing, the dancers were dancing and the drunks were 
drinking. The night-life was very much alive.

   And among all the noise and activity around him, he was inconspicuous. 

   He needed to be. 

   But then again, it was not that hard to do so in this motley crowd of 
cut-throats, gangsters, thieves, murderers and criminals of all sorts. He 
had been told that his target was in this Talarc slum bar. 

   Najer. 

   Leader of the notorious Klick-Heads gang. He was wanted for fourty-five 
counts of murder and over seventy counts of drug trafficking, all of which 
were committed throughout the various star systems. And now, he was here on 
Talarc, drinking rot-gut deek with a couple of his Klick-Heads, oblivious 
to the fact that he was being closely watched. 

   It would be an easy job no doubt. Come in shooting, get Najer's head, 
collect the twenty-thousand Juraian credits that was being offered by the 
Galaxy Police and maybe take down a whole bunch of his Klick-Heads with 
him in the process. Which ever way, it was going to be fun. 

   Wishing that the deek here was half as good as the ones served at The 
Razor's Edge, he took one final look at Najer's 'Wanted' poster, put it back 
into his trench-coat pocket and proceeded to walk up to Najer's table. 

   He was halfway to Najer's table when he thought he saw something white 
and furry bound into the bar. Dismissing it as some adverse effect of the 
lousy deek, he was about to continue towards Najer when someone in a black 
cloak came crashing through the front windows of the bar, the glass shattering 
into a million pieces with an ear-shattering 'kreesh'. Landing as gracefully 
as a cat, the intruder rolled forward once and threw a force blade at one of 
Najer's Klick-Heads, the force blade searing all the way through to the back 
of his body and killing him almost instantly. All Hell broke loose inside 
the bar as all the other patrons rushed to the exit, fearing that they might 
be the next one to go down. 

   Someone had pipped him for the bounty on Najer. He was still at quite a 
distance from Najer since the intruder's spectacular entrance five seconds 
ago. And from where he stood, he could see that the action was still going 
on fast and furious. Never standing still for long, the 'gate-crasher' jumped 
and somersaulted over Najer before landing on the table Najer had been sitting 
at. Dislodging the force blade from the dead gang member who had slumped down 
in his chair, the cloaked stranger kicked the body away and announced, "Criminal 
Omega A065, Najer. I hereby arrest you under bounty rights. You can either come 
with me, or die and have your head carried back. Either way, I get paid." 

   "It's...it's Nagi!" blurted out one of the Klick-Heads as he recognised 
the bounty hunter through her cloak, his hands suddenly trembling involuntarily. 

   Nagi deactivated her force blade and strapped it back onto her belt. 

   "Stinking bounty hunter! I ain't goin' with you quietly!" growled Najer 
as he lifted his blaster and proceeded to shoot at Nagi. Nagi's reaction 
was several milli-seconds faster as she kicked Najer's blaster away with 
her right boot. Whipping off her cloak at the same time, Nagi draped it 
over Najer's head, pulled tight and kicked hard with her left boot. 

   As Najer staggered backwards with Nagi's cloak still wrapped around 
his head, Nagi stood back up on the table with her hands crossed under 
her heavy bosom, her platinum white hair bobbing up and down with every 
little movement she made. The stare from her dark red eyes pierced through 
everyone, intimidating them. Threatening them. She was wearing a silver 
body-forming armor that was strapped over a grey, figure-hugging battle 
suit that accentuated the feminine curves of her body. Hanging on the 
left side of the black belt around her waist, was her force blade while 
an energy whip occupied the right side of her belt. A pair of thigh-high 
boots completed her bounty hunter dress code. Her expression was one of 
confidence, if not a little smug, as she sized Najer and his thugs up. 

   These two-bit punks will be no problem, thought Nagi. The twenty-thousand 
credits are as good as mine...

   Nagi. Aarin Shirow's protege. Right down to the weapons, fighting 
style and the reading of the bounty rights. Her most recent bounty, a 
mass-murdering psycho named Critch. It was rumored that the fight between 
bounty and hunter raged so hard that in the end, GP had to verify Nagi's 
claim to the bounty by the bloodstains on the ground they had been fighting 
on. It had been a most impressive kill.

   Aarin was respected as a fellow accomplished bounty hunter when he was 
alive, and more so after he had died. But protege or not, no one messed with 
his bounty. Not even the most experienced bounty hunters dared to cross his 
path. And the few who did, never lived to tell the bloody tale. 

   Nagi was still busy with the Klick-Heads. Good. Calmly, he reached into 
his black trench-coat and drew two Crixer sub-machine guns from their holsters 
with his gloved hands. He cocked the short-barreled guns unceremoniously, the 
sound drowned out only by fearful shouts of "Bounty hunter!". Anticipating the 
kill, he took out a long Ruix cigar, clenched it in between his teeth and lit 
it up with his gold-plated lighter...

   Najer fumbled clumsily about with the cloak on his head, all the while 
swearing and cursing loudly. And when he had finally dislodged it from his 
head, he screamed out to his underlings, "What are you idiots waiting for?!! 
Get her!!"

   Obeying his command, Najer's thugs began to reach for their blasters and 
advanced menacingly on Nagi. Cooly, Nagi dropped down onto the table, stuck 
her right foot out and spun her whole body around the circumference of the 
table, deftly kicking every Klick-Head who had stood around the table. Flipping 
off the table acrobatically, Nagi caught Najer's left knee with a foot-sweep 
as she landed. 
  
   "EEARGH!!" Najer cried out, tumbling to the ground. 

   "Does that feel good, punk? Do you want some more?" taunted Nagi as she 
reached for her energy whip. 

   But before she could arrest Najer, several of the Klick-Heads had 
recovered from her kick and were now looking for revenge. Forgetting about 
his blaster, a Klick-Head lunged forward at Nagi but she swung a right punch 
that smashed into his nose and sent him flying back to where he came from. 
Drawing out their blasters, the other Klick-Heads fired at Nagi from various 
positions. Dodging the first few salvos of blaster fire, Nagi proceeded to 
flip over her attackers and landed behind them flawlessly. With her force 
blade in hand, Nagi slashed into the two Klick-Heads nearest to her with 
swift, well-trained strokes, seriously wounding them and thus, effectively 
putting them out of any further action. Before anyone else could react, Nagi 
had already lashed out with her energy whip at the other Klick-Heads' blasters, 
forcefully knocking them out of their hands. Calmly, she strapped her weapons 
back onto her belt. Beckoning at the remaining thugs, she grinned, "C'mon boys. 
Show me what you've got."

   Enraged, five Klick-Heads charged at her all at once, screamimg out 
for Nagi's head. The bounty hunter stooped low to avoid a wild punch and 
thrust her elbow into the Klick-Head's ribcage. As he reeled backwards, she 
swept her left foot upwards and dislodged his jaw as she kicked him in the 
face. Just as he fell, another thug came up from behind the first one and 
tried to grab hold of Nagi. She thrust her left foot straight into his 
unprotected abdomen and head-locked him with her right hand as he bent 
down. Using her left hand to block a fierce kick from yet another thug, 
Nagi kicked higher and fiercer to break her opponent's leg at his knee, 
after which she let go of the Klick-head she was holding on to and drove 
her right knee-cap into his face. Using the unconscious Klick-Head's back 
to block an attack by two of his compatriots, Nagi clasped onto his shoulder 
with both her hands and hoisted herself up. At the very critical moment while 
she was in mid-air, she lashed out both her left and right legs in their 
respective directions and knocked out the other two Klick-Heads at the 
same time. Nagi back-flipped off her temporary support and cart-wheeled 
towards the last thug. Before he could even stagger backwards, Nagi had 
immobilised him by gripping his head with her legs while her hands were 
still on the ground supporting her body. With very little effort, Nagi 
drew her upper body upwards until she was virtually sitting on the shoulders 
of the Klick-Head and thrashed him senseless with a barrage of punches to 
the side of his head. Nagi jumped off before the thug fell onto the floor, 
the unlucky fool bleeding from his nose and slowly drifting into 
unconsciousness. 

   -Nagi! It's Najer! He's heading for the door!-

   Nagi turned to see Najer limping towards the door. She was seconds 
away from throwing her force blade at Najer's right working knee when 
someone loomed in front of Najer and kicked him with such force that he 
flew all the way to the other side of the bar, denting the far wall on 
impact before he fell back to the floor. 

   "To me, Ken-ohki," said Nagi and the silvery grey cabbit bounded to her 
from under a table. 

   -Who is it, Nagi?- 

   "I don't know. But I think your question is going to be answered soon..."

   As he came into the dim light, Nagi caught sight of his features. 
The first thing that struck her was his white skin. Not just white but 
an unnatural shade of white. His eyes were covered by a pair of wrap-around 
shades as he surveyed Nagi's handiwork. His hair, which was short and spiky 
with the exception of two long fringes hanging all the way down to his chin, 
was light-blue in color. Three dark scars ran parallel to each other across 
the diagonal length of his ghastly face, adding to the already sinister aura 
of Hellishness that surrounded him. In his mouth was a half-chewed up cigar, 
the ashes glowing a deep orange amber. He wore a large black trench-coat that 
hung loosely around his slim body and was clad in a pair of heavy black boots. 
However, the one detail that caught Nagi's full attention were the two guns 
that he held firmly in either hand.

   -I don't like him very much.- Ken-ohki stated bluntly, baring his sharp 
teeth and ruffling the fur on his back.

   "Me too..." replied Nagi, wary of the danger she might be in.

   "The Clown!" gasped Najer as his breath came back as quickly as it had 
left him a moment ago.

   The Clown took a purposeful puff on his cigar, inhaling the smoke, 
savoring it unhurriedly and then exhaling it. He started to trudge towards 
Nagi, the Crixers still in his gloved hands. 

   -Nagi! Nagi!- There was an urgency in Ken-ohki's thought. 

   She was tense, concentrating on his every move and not noticing the 
Klick-Head coming from behind her. 

   He lifted up both Crixers and fired, the tritanium-ceramica bullets 
whizzing pass Nagi, who dodged them, and imbeding themselves into the 
Klick-Head in a red explosion of blood and cartilage. He did not stop there. 
Crossing his arms, he fired his Crixers at the other injured Klick-Heads, 
killing them outright and not leaving any one of them alive. Spent bullet 
cases filed out of the Crixers like blood out of an open wound. Stepping 
onto and over the bullet-ridden bodies, he did not even so much as flinch, 
striding casually past a slightly stunned Nagi without much fanfare. 

   "Nagi!!" screamed Najer. "Keep him away from me and I swear that I'll 
come with you nice and easy!!!" 

   Surprised by his plea for help, Nagi turned to look into Najer's eyes. 
They were filled with nothing but pure terror for this person. 

   The Clown was still striding towards Najer, never taking his eyes off his 
bounty for a moment. 

   "PLEASE NAGI!!" begged Najer. 

   "Hey! What do you think you're doing?" demanded Nagi as she held The Clown 
back. 

   He stared at where Nagi had grabbed his shoulder and glared at her through 
his wrap-arounds. Never backing down from a challenge, Nagi glared right back 
at him, prompting him to react by reaching into his trench-coat pocket and 
taking out Najer's 'WANTED' poster. 

   Puzzled by his action, Nagi asked, "I've seen Najer's pretty picture 
before...so what about it?"

   He pointed to the sentence 'DEAD OR ALIVE' before placing the poster to 
the tip of his cigar. As the poster burned, The Clown threw the charred poster 
away and jerked his shoulder free of Nagi's grip before turning towards Najer. 
He raised both his hands and proceeded to empty his Crixers into the cowering 
criminal. 

   "AHHHHHHH!!!!" cried out Najer, thinking that he was going to die for sure 
this time.

   The short rapid-fire crackle of the Crixers blazed the roof as Nagi shoved 
both his hands upwards. "He isn't putting up a fight! You don't have to kill 
him!" shouted Nagi. "And even so, he's my bounty, not yours! I came out and 
claimed him first, remember!"

   Rules meant little to him. Rules were made to be broken, weren't they?

   He blew a puff of smoke into Nagi's face. The smell was downright horrible, 
but she tried not to cough out aloud. He seemed to understand her words as he 
slowly put his hands down. Nagi allowed herself to relax a bit. 

   -Something's wrong Nagi!- warned Ken-ohki. -It's too easy...-

   Ken-ohki's fears were proved right because once The Clown had put his guns 
back into their holsters, he cooly sucker-punched her. Hard. Nagi could feel 
the full effects of the punch as she bent down from the pain, clutching her 
abdomen tightly. 

   "MIYAAAAA!!!!" shrieked Ken-ohki as he jumped onto The Clown's face, biting 
and scratching frantically. Ken-ohki was trying to buy some precious time for 
his mistress to recover from The Clown's blow. 

   And I was about to thank him for saving my life, thought Nagi angrily. 

   Meanwhile, The Clown had caught hold of Ken-ohki with his left hand. He 
stared at the hissing cabbit for a moment before flinging him aside. 

   "KEN-OHKI!!!!!!!!!" screamed Nagi, kicking ferociously into The Clown's 
stomach and punching him in the face with a hard right. His wrap-arounds flew 
off and landed a distance away as Nagi dashed towards Ken-ohki, recovering him 
as she slid behind an overturned table, Nagi whispered desperately as she 
rubbed the cabbit gently on the neck, "Ken-ohki! Ken-ohki! Speak to me!" 

   -Don't...don't worry about me, Nagi. I'm tougher than I look, you know.- 
came Ken-ohki's thought as he opened his red feline eyes. -You'd do better to 
watch out for him.-

   And just as Ken-ohki's thought ended, a boot came smashing through 
the tabletop, sending pieces of the table flying through the air. Nagi 
rolled away quickly from the airborne debris and stood at a distance 
from The Clown. "YOU! You touch my cabbit one more time, and I'll tear 
your arms off!!!" Nagi stopped talking when she found herself looking 
right into his naked eyes. They were blood-red in color with no eyeballs 
whatsoever. And framed against his white skin, his eyes looked simply 
chilling. Nagi put down Ken-ohki gently in a safe corner of the room as 
The Clown removed his foot from the tabletop. 

   -I can still fight, Nagi. I'm fine.- protested Ken-ohki. 

   Nagi answered, "No, you must rest. I can take him on." Ken-ohki still had 
that doubtful look on his face. "Trust me, okay?"

   Ken-ohki sighed regretfully. -Alright. But be careful.-

   "I will," Nagi answered as she turned to face The Clown. 

   He took one last puff on the cigar and took the it out from his mouth. 
Stubbing it onto his right cheek, he remained expressionless, hauntingly 
unaware of the pain he was inflicting on himself. 

   What in the Hell is he doing, thought Nagi, surprised by his action. Makes 
no sense at all, whatever he's trying to do.

   When the ambers had died out, he flicked the cigar butt away, Nagi 
watching it spin through the air and land on the floor. The moment the cigar 
butt had hit the floor, The Clown jumped forward and kicked. Nagi was ready 
as she parried the kick with her left arm and hit back with her right leg. 
The Clown blocked her leg, grabbed her ankle with his right hand and jabbed 
into the back of her knee with a left chop. Nagi grimaced, her face registering 
the pain that shot through her right knee. Standing only on her left foot, Nagi 
gathered all her strength and jumped high to send her left foot smashing into 
The Clown's jaw. He reeled backwards, releasing Nagi's ankle. Nagi back-flipped, 
landed and charged at The Clown, slammimg a hammer-like punch across his face, 
after which she gripped his neck and thrust her left knee into his stomach 
twice before releasing him and lashing a powerful right uppercut at his face. 
Nagi executed three consecutive kicks at The Clown's knee, ribs and head before 
rounding off the combo move with a fine roundhouse kick to his chest. The Clown 
flew backwards and crashed into several tables and chairs. He did not get up 
even after the dust had settled back down.

   Nagi was breathing very heavily and her brows were wet with sweat. "All 
this...just for a Class Omega bounty," she panted. "Where have all the Alpha 
criminals gone, eh, Ken-ohki?" The cabbit miya-ed a cheery little laugh as it 
hopped onto Nagi's right shoulder. "You've caused me more trouble than you're 
worth, Najer. The twenty-thousand credits had better make me feel happier." 

   Najer was quiet as he contemplated the notion of having to spend a long 
time behind bars in a Galaxy Police prison.

   Clack! 

   Nagi spun around to see The Clown emerging from the pile of broken wood 
slowly, his blood-red eyes fixed firmly onto her. Blood trickled down from 
his right nostril and a corner of his lips, but his face still kept that same 
cool composure. Nagi could not be sure if he was angry or not. She was not even 
sure if he could feel anything at all.

   "Which part of 'He's my bounty' didn't you understand?" groaned Nagi. This 
was getting tiresome for her. "Ken-ohki, keep an eye on Najer."

   -Will do.- And Ken-ohki hopped off Nagi's shoulder. 

   Using his right foot, The Clown flicked a large piece of wood towards Nagi, 
who upon seeing it, side-stepped to avoid it. And just for that split second 
when Nagi was concentrating more on the on-rushing piece of wood, The Clown 
dashed forward, jumped onto a nearby table and leaped from it, his trench-coat 
flapping behind him like the wings of a raven as he sailed through the air. 
Immediately upon touching the ground, he somersaulted over Nagi's head, landed 
behind her before spinning and kicking Nagi in the back. Nagi staggered forward, 
mindful of the table in front of her. As she swerved to avoid the table, The 
Clown grabbed her from behind and locked her in a bear hug with his powerful 
arms. 

   "GYAAA!!" cried out Nagi. The Clown began to apply more and more pressure, 
slowly squeezing the air out of her lungs. "AHHH!!" Nagi cried out once more. 
Clenching her teeth, Nagi leaned her head forward and swung it backwards, 
head-butting The Clown with the back of her head and forcing him to release 
her. She was gasping for air when The Clown slammed a powerful kick into her 
left shoulder and sent her sliding across the floor. As Nagi got up, she 
clutched tightly at her left arm, obviously having been injured by his kick. 
She was about to attack The Clown when she realised that he had kicked her 
away from Najer and was now nearer to him than she was. 

   "Dammit!! Ken-ohki, get the Hell away from him!!" shouted Nagi.

   -But...-

   "No buts! I'm not going to put you in danger just for the sake of catching 
a bounty!!"

   The little cabbit had no choice but to obey his mistress, hopping to her 
side quickly.

   Whipping out two big knives from either side of his belt, The Clown 
brandished them at Nagi, catching her reflection in the tritanium-treated 
blades. Silence enveloped the pair as they engaged in a fierce stand-off 
with each other, neither bounty hunter wanting to back off.

   "You shouldn't kill him," growled Nagi as she slowly slid her hand onto 
the handle of her energy whip. "He's already surrendered." She undid the strap 
carefully. "And under bounty law, he deserves to be taken back alive." All that 
she was waiting for, was for The Clown to make any moves, false or true.

   And as if to answer her, The Clown threw one of his knives at Nagi's 
head. Reacting quickly, Nagi lashed out her energy whip and knocked the 
knife off course, the weapon eventually lying harmlessly on the floor with 
a loud 'clink'. When Nagi looked up, The Clown was already standing over 
Najer, holding his knife with its blade facing downwards. And he was grinning. 
The Clown was actually grinning down at Najer and it was the most horrible 
grin that Nagi had ever seen in her life. The Clown's lips were pulled all 
the way back to reveal two rows of cigar-stained teeth and bright red gums, 
his cadaverous cheeks narrowing down to his sharp pointed chin as the scars 
on his face rippled like snakes awaiting a strike. 

   Najer screamed like a stuck pig. "NOOOOOOOOO!!!!" 

   Without even bothering to read Najer his bounty rights, The Clown plunged 
the knife deep into Najer's chest, all the while making his vile grin the last 
thing that Najer would ever, ever see. 

   "GARRGGGHRRHHGGH!!!" Choking on his own blood, Najer tried to scream. 
But instead of his voice, it was his blood that kept streaming out of his 
mouth. The Clown dug deeper and deeper into Najer's flesh, thoroughly enjoying 
the expression of total fear that Najer was exhibiting wildly. His eyes began 
to bulge out of their sockets and his body jerked violently as The Clown wrenched 
his knife from side to side. With one final thrust of the blade, blood gushed 
out from his chest wound. Najer gasped one last time and died with his eyes 
wide open; the eyes of the dead staring straight at The Clown. He had finally 
completed conducting his crazed symphony of pain and it satisfied him immensely 
to see such cruelty and suffering. Especially when it was orchestrated on 
criminal scum like Najer. 

   Nagi was shocked speechless. It was not the killing that so much as 
sickened her but the way it was done. She had done quite a fair amount of 
killing in her line as a bounty hunter, but never had she seen anyone take 
so much glee in killing a person the way this madman in front of her had done. 
It seemed that he actually thrived on it. Lived on it. Nagi shuddered at the 
thought. A bounty hunter who was actually more twisted than the criminals he 
brought in. 

   The Clown got up slowly from Najer's body, dissolving his wicked smile 
as he did so. Once the kill had ended, there was just nothing funny to smile 
at anymore. The Clown glanced over his shoulder and spied Nagi staring at his 
dead bounty. So he was wrong. There WAS something else to smile about. 

   "What now? You're going to kill me as well?" asked Nagi. "If you are, I 
have to warn you that I'm not going down as easily as these Dick-Heads did..."

   His lips curled upwards yet again, his ghastly leer partially hidden to 
Nagi by the up-turned collar of his trench-coat. The thrill of the kill was 
on once more. The Clown turned around to face Nagi, and as he did so, sirens 
began to scream loudly outside the slum bar. The GP land cruisers had arrived.

   Here comes the calvary, thought Nagi. Late as usual.

   -We'd better get out of here unless you would like to explain this 'little' 
mess to the GP, Nagi.- advised Ken-ohki. He was already at the entrance of the 
bar, quietly surveying several of the GP officers rushing up to their positions. 
-And they've brought some really big toys with them this time...- noted the 
cabbit as he referred to the heavily armed GP officers.

   After a few minutes, the familiar blare of a loud speaker filled the air. 
"This is the Galaxy Police! All those inside the building, throw your weapons 
out and come out with your hands up! Comply with our orders, and no one will 
get hurt! I repeat! Comply with our orders, and no one will get hurt!"

   "Screw the GP! I'm going to finish this thing with 'Mr Smiley' right here, 
right now...so whaddya say, 'Smiley'?" spat Nagi as she let out a feral growl.

   Unexpectedly, the other bounty hunter responded by reaching into his 
trench-coat pocket and pulling out a small black box. He had activated it 
by pressing on the only button situated on the box and before long, the sounds 
of plasma shots ricocheting off a metal hull could be heard coming from outside 
the bar as the thunderous boom of powerful thruster engines roared overhead. 
Another moment later, part of the whole roof was blasted away and chunks of 
debris began to swirl everywhere due to the force the thruster engines were 
exerting. Covering her face with her right hand, Nagi could still make out 
a sleek black ship with swept-back wings and four souped-up turbo thrusters 
hovering above The Clown. 

   Having already dislodged his knife from Najer's body, The Clown was 
preparing to leave with his bounty as a platform came down from his ship 
for him. 

   "COWARD!!!" Nagi screamed out in anger. "Come back here and FIGHT!!!!"

   Nagi could only look on helplessly as he boarded the platform and 
disappeared into his ship. Without any warning, the vertical thrusters 
of the ship powered up and filled the whole place with jet-streams of 
hot gases. 

   "Reow!!" hissed Ken-ohki as he felt the heat singe his silver-grey 
fur. Nagi could not feel anything except for the rage that was building 
up rapidly inside her. And as The Clown's ship slowly lifted up into the 
open skies, Nagi could not help but unleash her anger. "THIS ISN'T OVER 
YOU BASTARD!!!! DO YOU HEAR ME!!!! THIS ISN'T OVER!!!!!!" Her voice was 
drowned out by the afterburners of the black ship as it blasted off skywards 
into the night-time skies of Talarc. In a matter of seconds, it was gone, 
leaving behind a fuming Nagi, a very worried Ken-ohki and several unhappy 
GP officers. 

   Seeing that the GP officers were preparing to move in, Nagi snapped back 
to the present. "Ken-ohki! Battleship mode!"

   -Just what I wanted to hear all day.- Ken-ohki let out a sharp screech 
as he transformed himself into a weird looking spacecraft that looked roughly 
like a smooth dark sphere with four jagged crystals jutting out uniformly from 
it. As he transformed, Ken-ohki tore another gaping hole in the roof so as to 
accommodate his large size as a crystalline battleship. Nagi was about to get 
on board of Ken-ohki when she saw The Clown's other knife lying on the 
debris-strewn floor. 

   -What's the matter?- 

   For some reason, Nagi felt compelled to retrieve that knife. She walked 
over hurriedly and picked it up. 

   I swear that I'll slit his throat wide open with his own bloody knife. 
"Nothing. Teleport me on board, Ken-ohki." 

   -Don't think I didn't catch your last thought, Nagi...- chided Ken-ohki 
as he beamed Nagi up. -The murderous intent surrounding that thought was so 
thick that you could cut it with the knife you're holding.-

   "So sue me," said Nagi as she managed to break into a small cynical smile. 
"Let's move out!"

   With a pulse of energy, Ken-ohki blasted off through the roof exit that 
The Clown had just created, leaving just as troops of GP officers stormed into 
the bar. 

   Taking potshots at Ken-ohki with their plasma rifles, the GP officers 
tried their luck but most of the shots missed. The few that were on target, 
however, were deflected by Ken-ohki's shields. 

   -Persistent little bugs, aren't they? Shall I blast them away?- mused Ken-ohki.

   Nagi looked at the images of the GP officers on the screen and answered back, 
"I think we've done quite a bit of demolishing for today. Let's just leave this 
shit-hole."

   "Miyaaaaa......!!" The cabbit battleship acknowledged his mistress' command 
and streaked into space with delight, leaving the GP officers far, far below to 
curse their luck for the day.

   "Miyaa......!!!!!"

***

   A deal was going on in one of the abandoned warehouses on Falaris. Two 
different groups of men were inside the musty confines of the warehouse; the 
Mikaido Clan on one side and the Kallonga Gang on the other. The men of the 
Mikaido Clan were well-dressed in expensive two piece suits while the rag-tag 
band of street punks from the Kallonga Gang wore the latest fads in punk fashion. 
Different these two groups of men may be, but one similarity had united them. 
They were all drawn here with the same purpose in mind. 

   The need to satisfy their greed for wealth and their lust for power. 

   Sitting down on a chair opposite the leader of the Kallonga Gang, 
the young crime boss of the Mikaido Clan, Iori Mikaido, spoke first. "I 
hope this deal is not going to foul up like the last one, Mandrail," asked 
Iori furtively. A native Falarian, Iori was a strikingly handsome fellow. 
Slicking back his stylishly cut red hair, his handsome and well-chiselled 
features were, at the moment, contorted to a frown as he placed his thumb 
and a finger beneath his chin. "Many of my brothers died during our last deal. 
Somehow, the GP knew where we were and ambushed us." Iori ended his statement 
with an accusing tone. Mad Dog, a fellow Falarian and Iori's sworn brother, 
took up his usual position beside Iori as his right-hand man. As always, he 
had his long, white-colored hair carefully combed to cover the right half of 
his face, a mean scowl fixed permanently on the other half.

   "So ya sayin' that I snitched on ya?!" railed Mandrail, his long and unkempt 
hair shaking as he slammed his right hand on the table angrily. At this point, 
several of Iori's men started to move forward, but Iori signalled for them to 
back off.

   "Don't you think that it was strange that the GP knew exactly when and where 
to strike? And how was it that you conveniently disappeared when they arrived en 
masse?" 

   "Why'dja askin' me for?! Why don'tcha ask one of ya so-called 'brothers', 
huh?! I lost a lotta mah guys on that day too! I'm lucky to be even sittin' here 
and talkin' to ya right now, Mistuh Mikaido!" retaliated Mandrail. 

   Iori smiled knowingly. He still had a deal to negotiate and there would be 
time to settle this later. "Alright, Mandrail. Alright. Let's not pursue the 
matter for now and proceed with what we're all here for, shall we?"

   At first, Mandrail remained expressionless, after which a big crooked smile 
broke out on his face. "Heh heh heh! Now ya talkin'...Ya got the stuff?"

   With a wave of Iori's hand,  Mad Dog came forward to the table with a large 
silver box. Setting the box on the table, Mad Dog slid a non-descript card through 
the built-in scanner that was located on top of the box. With a loud hiss, the lid 
of the box slowly opened to reveal vials upon vials of neon blue liquid, stacked 
neatly together in several rows. The contents of the box seemed to pulse with raw 
energy as Mad Dog took a step back. 

   Iori spoke, his voice glowering with anticipation. "Delivered as promised, 
Mandrail. Six hundred vials of pure Miasma."

   Mandrail eyed the vials greedily and licked his dry lips, "Not that I don't 
trust ya, Iori, but I'm goin' ta hafta taste-test'em first." 

   "Be my guest," agreed Iori and Mad Dog proceeded to hand Mandrail a vial from 
the box. 

   "Uh-uh!" came Mandrail's reply. "If ya don't mind, I'll choose it mah-self." 

   Although angered by Mandrail's request, Iori reacted by giving him a stoic 
nod while Mad Dog let out a grunt. Choosing a vial at random, Mandrail brought 
it up to his pierced nose and pretended to sniff at it like a cigar. When he 
was satisfied, he broke the vial into two by bending it, and emptied the glowing 
contents into his mouth. Flinging the halves of the spent vial aside, Mandrail 
began to feel an unbelievable high spreading through his whole body like wild 
fire. One second he felt his body becoming lighter and lighter while the next 
second had him feeling as though electricity itself was coursing through his 
veins. The thing about Miasma, was that you could never predict the effects 
of the drug every time you consume it. The possibilities were, as they say, 
limitless, with each Miasma-induced high as different from one another as 
there were snowflakes. 

   "Well?" asked Iori with the patience of a wise sage. 

   Rolling his eyeballs upwards to expose the whites of his eyes, Mandrail 
answered unsteadily, "This...is da stuff, man..." Mandrail was clearly in a 
state of total intoxication as he allowed himself to be fully mesmerized by 
the up-lifting effects of the drug. 

   Iori observed Mandrail disdainfully. It was true that Iori sold drugs, 
but he personally abhorred the practice of ever taking them. "If you're 
happy with this batch, then my brothers and I would like to get paid. Do 
you have the money?"

   With a smile on his face, Mandrail waved for one of his men to come to the 
table with a black box that was slightly larger than the silver one. With no 
built-in scanner, it only took Mandrail's man a second to get it open. "Sixty 
thousand credits, Iori. Don't botha ta check; it's all there." 

   "If it's all the same, I would like to check the amount. Mad Dog." 

   As Mad Dog stepped forward again, this time to count the credits, another 
one of Iori's men went up to Iori hurriedly and whispered something into his 
ear. Iori listened intently and nodded once after listening to what his man 
had to say. 

   "It's all there, Boss," said Mad Dog as he confirmed the count and closed 
the black box. 

   Iori stood up slowly, straightening his suit as he did so. "Excellent. 
It has been, a pleasure doing business with you, Mandrail." Iori was careful 
to hide any apparent tinge of sarcasm in his words. 

   "No problem at all, Mistuh Iori..." sneered Mandrail as he stood up, 
whipped out a blaster from the jacket he was wearing, took aim at Iori 
and fired. 

   And suddenly, everything seemed to slow down inexplicably.

   Mad Dog was the first to react by using his back to block Iori from 
Mandrail's blaster shot. Mad Dog took the blast full-on, his left shoulder 
bleeding from the blaster-inflicted wound, his senses burned raw by the pain 
it was causing. 

   Iori could only look on as Mad Dog steadied himself, pulled out his 
silver-colored blaster, swerved and fired, all in one move. Mandrail ducked 
just in time as Mad Dog's shot caught a Kallonga gang member in the face. A 
brief death scream was all that was heard as the men of the Mikaido Clan 
prepared to clash with the Kallonga gang. 

   With volley after volley of blaster fire whizzing over his head, Mad Dog's 
primary concern was of Iori. "You gonna be alright, Boss?"

   "I'll live." 

   "It'll be for the best if you were to leave now." Mad Dog grimaced slightly 
as he spoke. "I'll take care of things here."

   "No." 

   "But..."

   "I have a score to settle with Mandrail."

   Mad Dog was about to talk Iori around when he stopped short. Once Iori 
Mikaido had his mind made up, no one can change it. "Okay, but be careful 
Boss."

   "I will. And Mad Dog..."

   "Yeah?"

   "I owe you another one..."

   "Heh, who's counting?"

   Iori smiled. "I am."

   With that, they both charged into the raging fire-fight...

***

   Ken-ohki, who was in his battleship mode, was floating about rather 
aimlessly in the blackness of space. His mistress, Nagi, was inside him, 
assessing the injuries that she had picked up from her brief but intense 
fight with another bounty hunter. The Clown. 

   "Damn!!" swore Nagi. 

   That was just about all she had been muttering after their blazing 
retreat from Talarc an hour or so ago. Having taken off all her weapons 
and outer armor, Nagi was busy inspecting the large red bruise that had 
formed on her left shoulder. It had been so long ago since she had had 
to do this, the unglorious act of checking for wounds and treating them. 
But then again, this was also the first time in ages that she had found 
an opponent who was her equal. Other than Aarin.

   A longish, diamond-shaped crystal with Ken-ohki's face on it floated its 
way to Nagi. "Reow!!" said the crystal. -That sure looks nasty, Nagi.-

   "Obviously," came Nagi's reply as she reached for a med-scanner. 

   -Still sore?- inquired Ken-ohki.

   Nagi switched the med-scanner on and put it above her bruise. "Uh-huh."

   -I didn't mean your bruise, Nagi.-

   The scanner beeped once and Nagi took a look at its reading. "Then what 
did you mean?" 

   -Maybe, your ego?-

   Nagi drew in a deep breath and put the scanner back down. 

   -I'm sorry, Nagi. I shouldn't have said that.- 

   Allowing a small smile to form on her face, Nagi patted the Ken-ohki crystal 
and said, "Nah. Knowing you, that would've came out sooner or later." Ken-ohki 
grinned at Nagi's statement. She knew him just too well. "And yes, you are right. 
My ego is sore." Nagi's voice hardened at this point. Looking across the table, 
her eyes searched coldly for something. And there it was. His knife. 

   "Coward. All thanks to him that I lost twenty-thousand credits and got this 
instead." Nagi looked at her bruise. "And the bugger smudged my reputation as 
well."

   Ken-ohki tried to offer some help. -No point brooding over it. What you have 
to do, is to get over it and plan our next move...-

   "Oh no! I'm not going to get over it! You want me to get over it? Fine! Right 
after I cut open his damn throat with his own knife!" snapped Nagi. 

   -I see you're beyond reasoning on this subject, Nagi. Henceforth I won't say 
anything about it then.- replied Ken-ohki bluntly.

   Realizing her sudden outburst at Ken-ohki, Nagi took in another deep breath. 
"I'm sorry, Ken-ohki. It's just, just..." Nagi stuggled to find the right words.

   -I know. I know. All you humanoids are always like this.-

   Nagi smiled amicably. She had always found Ken-ohki's straight-forwardness 
rather funny.

   -So where to next, boss?-

   "I'm too tired to go through the bounty lists right now. BUT for one thing, 
I do feel like getting drunk tonight."

   -And that can only mean one place.-

   "Plot a course for the The Razor's Edge Ken-ohki!"

   "Miya!!" Ken-ohki miya-ed his approval and shortly afterwards, both Nagi and 
Ken-ohki were on their way to The Razor's Edge.

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