"Now this is how it should've been from the start." Tohma said, turning on the spot slowly to admire his decorating skills.

The throne room was painted in varying shades of red and black, and the entire place was draped with red velvet curtains. On the floor, illuminating the horrific image of Tohma and Caspian in power, was an army of tall gold candelabras. All of the pillars had been replaced and were covered in gold filigree leaves and vines. Instead of a throne, or any other semblance of order in the furniture, the floor was covered in squishy pillows and a gigantic gold bird palace, where Caspian was rummaging through a specially designed closet that K had made for him when Tohma wasn't looking. The structure had a flat roof with a sunken-in swimming pool, walls on all sides complete with elaborate window treatments, and several balconies with fountains and other statues.

Tohma flopped onto a large chintz chair and sighed contentedly. His new coat flowed out behind him, and he absentmindedly played with a corner of it while he scanned the peaceful scene, taking in every second of his glorious takeover. He was dressed in a black satin trench coat lined with red sequined material, and underneath that he was wearing a loose black shirt with a low cut 'v' in the front. His pants matched the shirt, and his shoes matched the lining of his coat. He was especially fond of them, and had spent five minutes cooing at them before Caspian had started calling him Nancy and other feminine names.

He hadn't yet decided what to do with his unfortunate prisoners, and as such, they were tied up behind a curtain somewhere; after all, they didn't quite match the new décor. K had refused to help him capture Shuichi, however, claiming that he wasn't enough of a threat to challenge the wish. He was leaning up against a far off pillar, glaring daggers through puffy red eyes. He'd cried non-stop for about an hour after the street rat had flown out o the window, and had only stopped when Mika threatened to remove his vocal cords without the help of surgical tools.

The satiny material of his new coat no longer holding his undivided attention, he got up and kissed the back of Mika's neck, pulling her behind the nearest curtain in order to do a more personal form of celebration.

"You do realize that I can still see you, right?" K said from his chosen pillow, quickly looking away to avoid anymore long-term emotional scarring.

"Then don't look!" Mika replied, pulling the curtain tighter and jumping into Tohma's arms. Ever since he'd become the man that she'd always suspected him to be, he was the catnip to her cat. She couldn't get enough of him, and she no longer cared if anyone laughed at her. If they did, Tohma could electrocute them.

"Tohma, keep the mouse in the house!" Caspian squalled from his cage, starting to feel jealous of all the attention Tohma was giving Mika. He was fine with some alone time, and he was definitely glad to have a lack of his owner curtailing his grand schemes involving glitter, but he had to draw the line somewhere.

"Oh, take a deep breath and –" Tohma started to reply before getting cut off by a ferocious kiss from Mika.

"Put the snake in its cage! Restrict its zoning privileges!" Caspian screeched at Tohma.

His order went unanswered, and a few seconds later he heard a thud and a squeak from Tohma. He rolled his eyes and continued digging through his new closet in his gigantic cage. Now that he'd had a taste of flashy outfits, he couldn't stop. All of his life, he'd ridiculed Tohma for his fashion sense, and he realized the hypocrisy of his new love, but that wasn't going to stop him. No matter how much he tried, he didn't think he'd ever get enough glitter into his day-to-day routine.

He'd narrowed it down to two equally amazing choices, and was utterly torn. He wanted to look spectacular for when their takeover was official. Tohma hadn't discussed the third wish with anyone, but Caspian was pretty sure that he'd use it to bypass the normal rules and take over the city. Caspian sighed and closed his eyes, swaying back and forth and trying to choose randomly.

"Just pick one already!" Shuichi yelled at Caspian. He was leaning against an overly-decorated pillar, and trying not to dwell on losing Yuki was making him snake-ish. He couldn't see what the bird was doing, but based on the heated parrot debate issuing from the air-conditioned mansion, it was definitely clothing related.

"Don't make me come over there!" Caspian yelled back, grabbing one of the outfits and shuffling into it haughtily.

"Bird, calm yourself." K told Caspian, scratching his head and sighing.

He was still numb from what Tohma had done to Yuki and it was all he could do to keep it together. The sooner Tohma picked his last wish, the better. He couldn't believe that he'd rather be in his lamp then out and about, but he did. He felt intensely guilty for abandoning Yuki, even though the street rat had done quite a bit to deserve it. Still, he couldn't shake the feeling that Yuki's untimely demise had been partially his fault, and the only way that he could hope to make up for it was to protect Shuichi from Tohma, Caspian, and Mika's plots.

"Don't tell me what to do, genie." Caspian commanded, narrowing his eyes and glaring at K. He preened himself quickly in the mirror, making sure that he was looking as snazzy as possible. Once he was sure that he was fabulous, he stepped out of his new house and twirled, expecting a round of gratuitous applause.

"Oh lord, could you be any tackier?" Shuichi quipped, pushing off of his pillar to examine the glitter-clad bird closer. "That's ridiculous."

"You're not helping…" K said in a sing-song voice, widening his eyes at Shuichi. He had a few choice words for the parrot, but he also had the distinct desire to keep his head for as long as possible. In light of his wanting to live, he kept quiet, not wanting to drag Tohma and his newly potent magic into the mix.

Caspian had decided on a fitted jacket made entirely out of sparkly blue material. The cuffs and hem were decorated with rhinestones and lace, and the inside of the affront to fashion was lined with peacock feathers. To top it all off, he'd put on some platform shoes and a punk spiked wig, complete with blue streaks of glitter.

"You're ridiculous!" Po snapped, insulted. "You just wish you could look this good!"

"Right…" Shuichi responded, rolling his eyes at the bird. "My aspiration in life is to be a flaming flamingo."

"Well, you're halfway there!" Caspian screeched, flapping indignantly and adjusting his wig. "And I'm not a flamingo!"

"Had me fooled."

"Not too hard to accomplish that one." Po responded, thrilled to hear something intelligent coming out of his beak for once that evening.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Shuichi asked, glaring at Caspian.

"Figure it out, Princey, or is that too hard for you?" Caspian prodded, back to strutting around in his fancy new duds.

He'd been in a terrible mood ever since Yuki's departure, and he couldn't help but feel picked on. He knew from past experiences that Caspian said horrid things to everyone, and that he shouldn't rise to the taunt, but it was half his fault that Yuki was most likely dead. He might not have cast the final spell, but he'd given the order with his stupid song.

The longer he stayed silent and brooded over Caspian's implicit involvement in Yuki's demise, the angrier he got. Thanks to Caspian and Tohma, all the people he'd come to care for were either tied up, dead, or forced to fight for evil. He glared at the bird some more and started seeing spots. He'd never felt the desire to truly hurt something, but he was starting to understand what it felt like.

"Shut up!" Shuichi yelled at Caspian, his sarcastic wit falling away now that he was envisioning the bird roasting on a spit.

"Oh, wow, that was…ingenious. I'm reeling from the shock of your astuteness finally coming through." Caspian replied, flapping over to a large candelabrum in order to get closer to Shuichi, who was starting to turn crimson.

Shuichi took a swipe at Caspian's new perch, sending the bird flying and the fiery decoration tumbling.

"HEY!" Caspian screeched, his wig askew and shoes long gone from his panicked flight. He'd alighted on one of the curtains, and was currently trying to figure out the best way to launch his impending counterattack. He couldn't let such a slight go, especially now that his party was the one in power.

"Stay away from me!" Shuichi told Caspian, crossing his arms and feeling innately pleased with himself. The bird rarely fled from anyone, and he was honored to be on that small list.

"Shouldn't have done that…" K interjected, still in a sing-song voice. He shook his head at Shuichi and started backing up, feeling obligated to protect the Prince but scared of Caspian's retribution all the same.

"I'll do what I want!" Caspian yelled back at Shuichi, jumping off of the curtain and flying straight for the prince.

"Bring it on!" Shuichi yelled, curling up his fists and standing his ground. When the bird got close enough, he took a few swings, but missed and tripped over himself instead.

"Brilliant!" Caspian called out, soaring around the ornate throne room. Shuichi was still down, dazed from hitting his head on the marble floor.

He took the opportunity to swoop down the on the prince, intending to go for the kill while Tohma wasn't around to stop him.

"Oh no you don't!" K yelled at Caspian, brandishing his gun. "You stay away from him!"

K cocked his gun and raised his eyebrows when Caspian ignored his command, and the careening bird swerved out of the way right before making contact with Shuichi's face. K fired off a warning shot for good measure, not looking where he was aiming, and hitting Caspian's precious abode. Caspian let out a bloodcurdling scream and immediately headed for his home, wondering if he had enough hot glue to repair the fifty-caliber bullet hole in his front room.

"That's better." K said, holstering his weapon and walking over to help Shuichi up. "You alright?"

"Yeah…" Shuichi whispered, rubbing the back of his head.

He'd been so mad up until now, and his anger was quickly being replaced with a sense of helplessness. Yuki and K had fought Caspian and Tohma for so long, and they'd never stopped, never given up, and here he was, out for the count because he'd tripped over his own feet. Tears started to well up in his eyes and the pain from missing Yuki flooded back into him, bringing him down to his knees.

He couldn't understand how someone so strong had been defeated so easily, just by Tohma flicking his wrist, and it pained him to think about Yuki being gone for good. If he'd left the palace, refused to marry him, at least he'd still be alive, and at least he, Shuichi, would've had a chance to see him again through a lucky chance encounter. Now, however, he was dead, and he really wouldn't see him again.

"Shuichi, don't, not here." K whispered, sensing what was wrong. Shuichi was sitting on the floor looking like a lost puppy, with his arms wrapped around himself and a vacant expression in his eyes. Caspian had returned to his cage and K didn't want the horrible bird to overhear Shuichi's tears. "Don't let them win!"

"They already have…" Shuichi moaned, starting to shake.

"Aww, does somebody miss his little friend?" Caspian cooed, landing on K's shoulder and smiling sadistically at Shuichi. Now that his house had been destroyed, it was personal. "Poor little baby."

"SHUT UP!" Shuichi screamed, getting up and launching himself at the bird, ignoring the fact that he was still on K. He tackled the genie and the three of them went down, landing dangerously close to the overturned, and still it, candelabrum.

Caspian tried to scuttle out of harm's reach, but Shuichi slammed his hand down on the bird's tail and held him down, scrambling over K to get closer to his quarry.

"Shuichi, NO!" K ordered, grabbing Shuichi's waist and trying to roll him away from Caspian. He succeeded after a few tugs, and sent the light prince flying over him, straight into the candlestick holder, which rolled away and landed next to one of the heavy red curtains.

Shuichi kicked out frantically, trying to get a hand on the frenzied conure, hell-bent on killing him. Caspian lapsed into parroty screams and kept running around the area in circles, his superior intellect failing him.

"What the hell is going on out here?" Tohma questioned, ripping open the curtains that had previously concealed his romantic interlude with the Sultana. He stopped short when he caught sight of his marvelous throne room and gasped, horrified.

Half of the curtains were blazing, Caspian's palace was blasted in half, his bird was tearing around the room like a beheaded chicken, and K and Shuichi were wrestling around, scuffing his beloved black marble flooring.

"STOP!" Tohma yelled, flapping his arms and coming unglued. "CEASE! DISSEST!"

"Tohma, you have magic!" Mika reminded her twitching lover, upset at the interruption. She had no idea who'd caused it, but it was most likely Shuichi's fault.

"Oh…right…" Tohma muttered, clearing his throat and clapping his hands. The fires instantly went out, the curtains were replaced, Caspian's mansion was fixed, the bird's beak was duct taped shut, and K and Shuichi flew apart. Tohma pulled out a rag and walked over to the assaulted marble and buffed out the blemishes. "There. That's better."

"Mmmm mmm!" Caspian yelled, hopping up and down on the floor. When Tohma ignored him, he flipped over and started to pry of the tape with his feet. He lost his wig in the process and left it off, tiring of the spectacle.

"Not now. Who started this?" Tohma asked, transforming the rag into a stick and pointing it around the room. "Who?"

"The bird." K answered immediately.

"The Prince!" Caspian said loudly, wadding up the tape and throwing it at K. "He's lying!"

"I'm sure it was Shuichi, love, this is what he does. We should just kill him." Mika said matter-of-factly, wanting to be heard. She'd been trying to get rid of Shuichi for years, and this was her best chance.

"Isn't that what you'd call overreacting?" K asked, crossing his arms.

"You can't kill me!" Shuichi yelled at Mika, considering attacking her too.

"Watch me." Mika replied through gritted teeth, practically hissing at her stepson. "Tohma!"

"I really don't feel comfortable with that…" Tohma whispered, unwilling to use the full range of his powers now that he had them.

"Then use the genie!"

"But it's my last wish!"

"Then I'll just take the lamp when you're done!"

"Technically, you can't –" K tried to interject, realizing that neither of them knew the rules of his lamp.

"Shut up!" Mika and Tohma yelled together, silencing K for the moment.

"Just use the wish, Tohma!" Mika said on an exhale, visions of a dead Shuichi dancing through her head. "Please? For me?"

"Anything for you…" Tohma replied, almost in a trance. "Genie!"

"Yes?"

"K, no!" Shuichi cried out, eyes popping. He had a taste for bird-flavored revenge, and he didn't want to die before he got it.

"I wish for you to kill Shuichi!" Tohma sang out, pointing at the Prince.

K gasped and clapped a hand over his mouth, looking thoroughly scandalized even though he'd known the outrageous wish was coming.

"Just do it!" Mika said breathlessly, leaning forward and practically salivating.

"Well…there are a few rules…certain things I can't do…" K muttered, putting his hands behind his back and tracing the designs in the dark marble with his toes.

"KILL HIM!" Mika roared, coming unglued.

"Rules?" Tohma asked, grabbing Mika's waist and restraining her. "Mika, please, hear him out. Breathe!"

K sighed and lapsed into an explanation of his limitations, highlighting the fact that he couldn't kill anyone. In his experiences with bloodthirsty lunatics, he'd found that if you made them sleepy, they mellowed out quite a bit. A nap could solve any problem, and k was curious to see if this would hold true for Tohma. If he could wear him out with words, he wasn't technically breaking any rules and he might be able to buy Shuichi some time. He sighed again for emphasis and plowed on, his voice becoming more and more monotone the longer he drew out the usually short telling of the finer details of his servitude.

By the time he'd finished, his voice had died down to almost a whisper, and his talking speed had slowed to that of a turtle's pace. Mika looked even angrier, and Tohma looked like he might be falling asleep standing up. Shuichi was still on edge, biting at his nails and watching the proceedings closely, completely oblivious to the conure sneaking closer and closer to his unguarded foot.

"And those...are…the rules." K said finally, watching Tohma closely to see if his master plan had worked. He'd considered mentioning pillows and warm milk, but that felt like he was pushing it.

"Took you long enough." Mika spat, shaking her head and glaring at K. "Jeez."

"Milady, please…now we have to figure out some other way to kill him…" Tohma started to say, his voice groggy. He led Mika off to the side and yawned, stretching to wake himself up. He didn't want K to overhear anything else, as he was pretty sure that the genie had a soft spot for the Prince. If he tried to interfere, it would be a lot harder to dispose of Mika's unwanted ward.

K's head snapped up at Tohma's last sentence; his rules hadn't dissuaded the vizier at all. Even if he didn't fall asleep on the spot or wander off to a bed, K had hoped that he would back down after being denied magical assistance, but this wasn't the case. He'd clearly underestimated the Sultana's hold on her vizier, and he regretted it. He wished he had some way that he could communicate with Shuichi, but Caspian seemed pretty attached to pissing off the doomed Prince while he was still alive.

He ran a hand through his hair, frantically trying to figure out what to do. He had to distract Tohma before he got the idea ball rolling. He thought over any loopholes to his contract, knowing full well that he couldn't outright attack his master when he'd expressly wished for his assistance in making things go smoothly. He danced in place, eyes shut tight and mind running a marathon. When one of his guns slipped out of its holster and fired when it hit the floor he was blessed with sudden inspiration. If he 'accidentally' shot someone, then he couldn't be blamed for it.

He smiled to himself and retrieved the gun, pulling out a cloth to polish it. He whistled to himself while he worked, ignoring the screaming coming from Shuichi and Caspian; they could handle themselves for now, he had bigger morons to deal with. When he was sure that no one was looking his way, he slowly aimed the gun at Tohma, not too picky about where he shot the plotting vizier. He whistled a few more bars of his tune and then quickly squeezed the trigger, dropping the gun as soon as he did to support his 'accident' ploy.

"Oh no!" K called out dramatically, putting the back of his hand on his forehead and lifting a foot. "Deary me, what have I gone and done?"

K ceased his antics and flashed a quick look at Tohma to see if he'd hit him. When a delayed shriek of pain pierced the tense air, he smiled to himself and immediately re-adopted his concerned face.

"YOU SHOT ME!" Tohma screamed, clutching a bloody foot. "IN THE FOOT!"

"It was an accident." K said, batting his eyes and smiling innocently.

"Bullshit!" Tohma yelled back, a vein popping in his forehead. "You stupid genie!"

"Tohma, just heal yourself already, we have to figure this out!" Mika said to Tohma, trying to grab his arm to drag him back. He shook her off ferociously, eyes popping and focused on K.

"You're my servant! You mutinous fool!"

"I was just cleaning them…" K offered up, shrugging mischievously. "Could've happened to anyone, at least it was just your foot…"

He usually didn't play this role, but the angrier Tohma was, the more hare-brained his ideas seemed to get. He smiled again, and picked up the gun, smacking it lightly to punish it. When Tohma didn't look amused he stashed the gun and gave him a finger wave.

"Genie!"

"Tohma?"

"I'm your master!" Tohma spat, hopping over to K with as much dignity as he could muster. "You listen to me!"

"I am." K replied, looking at the ceiling. He was purposely avoiding eye contact, hoping that it would piss off Tohma even more.

"HEY! LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M LECTURING YOU!" Tohma bellowed, spit flying at K. "YOU ARE MY SUBORDINATE! YOU LISTEN TO ME! YOU DO NOT SHOOT AT ME! YOU BOW TO ME!"

"Hey man, I don't know what you've heard, I don't 'bow' to anyone." K said, breaking his act and putting air quotes around the word 'bow'. "And you barely count as a master."

"I PULLED THE TRIGGER!"

"So did I." K hissed at Tohma, narrowing his eyes and gesturing to the bloody foot.

"You admit it!"

"Nope….didn't say I purposefully pulled the trigger." K said, raising his eyebrows twice fast and smiling wide at Tohma.

"That's enough!" Tohma said, wiping some froth from his mouth. Caspian and Shuichi ceased their wrestling, afraid that Tohma's command was directed at them. "I'm your master, you will obey me!"

He reached over and grabbed K's collar, wrenching him down to eye level. Mika gasped and made bedroom eyes at Tohma, thoroughly enjoying the full extent of his power tripping.

"We clear?"

"Crystal." K answered, straightening up and taking Tohma with him. "Anytime you want down, you just let me know."

Tohma flailed for a few seconds, afraid to land on his foot from any sort of height. K stretched and made himself taller, enjoying himself.

"Put me down." Tohma said quietly, not meeting K's eye this time.

"What's the magic word?" K asked, a musical lilt to his voice.

"Please put me down…" Tohma whispered, glad that Caspian was occupied. The bird would never let him live this one down, especially not after he'd just tried to assert his dominion over K.

"That's better, look who's learning!" K beamed, lowering Tohma to the ground and patting him on the head.

Tohma muttered under his breath and waved his hand over his foot, healing it. He glared at K and stomped off, nose held high in the air. Before he could regain his concentration, a shadow flitting through on the uncovered windows caught his attention. He stopped and watched closer, not entirely sure if there was really something there. When nothing happened for a few minutes, he sighed and moved on, trying to remember what he'd been considering before the mean genie had shot his toe off.

To be continued…

And we've finally reached the epic fight scene! Dun dun dun! I'd planned on making this one huge chapter, but I'm already at seventeen pages and Tohma hasn't even transformed into something yet. I think I have a problem, might have to restrict my stream of consciousness style if this madness keeps up. I really don't want a fifty page fight. That would feel superfluous, now wouldn't it? (Ha, I wrote this A/N before I finished the scene, which is forty pages long...got darn close to fifty. 0__0)

Nah, I'm not THAT bad. Now if Po were in charge of typing, then we'd have a real problem. I hope you all got a laugh out of this mess, that's practically the point of this crazy thing.

Have a good end-of-school month guys,

Amaya

P.S. - this is the first part of a double update, thus the Thursday posting, and Part B of the same chapter will be posted on Saturday. Maybe Friday, I dunno. Anyway, see you in a day or two.