On Wed, 16 Jul 1997, KOUMA RYODACHI wrote:

Lurker's on a roll! Here's the first chapter of Onna: Yellow Side.
Warning to Cologne fans: She may seem like a bit of a villain in this 
story. But I'm trying to give her a fair treatment, balancing her 
harshness and scheming with her POV on things.

	Well, since she's almost *too* goody-goody in Red Side, we'll let 
this slide.

   Ranma 1/2:
   "ONNA" Red Side vs. Yellow Side

    YELLOW
     SIDE
   Act One: Schemes

   Chapter 1: The Bombshell

Uh-oh.

   Cologne rapped Shampoo several times with her staff. "Excuses, 
excuses! I'm so SICK of excuses!" She sighed, and closed her eyes. 
"Shampoo, you are a disappointment to me."

	We knew this was coming eventually.

   "I will never look at you proudly again, Xian Pu." Cologne closed 
her eyes and perched on the counter. "As of this moment, you are no 
longer my heir."

	Ouch.  But this seems a bit much.

   Shampoo cast her eyes down. "Elder Khu Lon, you are saying that 
you didn't come here to help me win over Ranma?"
   "No, child. I did not. I came here to observe my new heir, and to 
observe you. I had hoped that being here would strengthen you, that 
you might show that potential you'd been lacking. Instead, you have 
become soft, and weak, and have less potential than ever. You have 
failed me, and you will be replaced."

	This contradicts some of Cologne's own thought balloons.  She's 
probably shading the truth here to be harsher.  More likely, she did 
intend to at least *try* to get Ranma married to Shampoo, but this plan 
is obviously long gone.

   Cologne closed her eyes and smirked. "Why, Saotome Ranma, of 
course."

Kind of figures.

   Shampoo exploded. "WHAT!? Are you out of your mind? The Niichieju 
will never accept a man as the heir to an elder."
   "Ranma is also half woman."
   "It doesn't matter! His true form is a man!"
   "Not for much longer," Cologne replied confidently.

Big Uh-oh. 

   Shampoo scowled. "Alright then, assuming this plan of yours works, 
what about a husband? Even if Ranma were to accept becoming Niichieju,
 you'll never convince him to marry a man, and have children."
   Cologne smiled. "Oh, but I will. In fact, I've already chosen 
Ranma's husband-to-be."

Awfully sure of yourself, ain'tcha?

   "I doubt the validity of this scheme. I don't see how it could 
possibly work."
   Cologne smirked. "It will work."
   Shampoo stood, and clenched her fist. "No," she hissed. "I will 
see to it that it fails."

About time you got some backbone, girl.

   Standing in the doorway, Cologne called, "You're no longer welcome 
in this establishment, and you're no longer allowed to associate with 
any Niichieju. Consider yourself an outcast, Xian Pu." With that, she 
slammed the door.

This is mega-not good.

   She wished the girl could see things her way. That everyone could 
see things her way. All she wanted was to ensure that her people 
remained as strong as they had for centuries. Was that such a 
horrible thing to want? Nations fought devastating wars over much 
sillier things.

At the expense of someone else, it becomes a less palatable thing.

   Sighing, she hoped that the girl wouldn't suddenly become 
dangerous. She knew from long years of experience that when backed to 
the wall, people had a tendency to surprise you.

True...And Shampoo *does* know a few tricks.

   The door opened, and a weary figure dressed in travelling clothes 
stumbled into the restaurant. "Where...is...the Tendou...dojo..."
   Cologne grinned. "Well, hello Ryouga! What a coincidence. I've 
been wanting to speak with you..."

	Not *another* Ryouga/Ranma-chan fic! :-)

	Okay, we can see a few bugs in Cologne's plans already...  She 
has to convince Ranma to become a woman full-time, join the Amazons and 
marry Ryouga.  Plus she has to convince Ryouga to ignore his past history 
with Ranma, marry him, and join the Amazons.  So that's six *very* 
difficult tasks.  And that's *before* factoring in interference from the 
other fiancees, Ranma's family, Kunou and anyone else who happens to take 
an interest.
	Now, Cologne can probably deal with number one by causing the 
"Drowned Girl" personality to come out and possess Ranma.  We'll presume 
that she knows the girl was an Amazon warrior and thus likely to be loyal 
to the tribe.  But old records are often incomplete, and the Drowned Girl 
might have personality traits Cologne doesn't want that get in the way.  
(Like rebelliousness, suicidal depression, not wanting to do martial arts 
despite her upbringing...)  And she might not like Ryouga either.
	Ryouga can probably be controlled for a short period, and 
tricked, but his Revenge on Ranma/Love Akane (or Akari)/Get Lost Real 
Easy triangle of fixations will make him an unreliable pawn at best...

SKJAM!