DYNASTY - CHAPTER ONE - PART A
By Sydney Kyle <jantzen77@hotmail.com>

   Author's note: Okay. I made a grievous boo-boo regarding Akane and 
Ranma's wedding. Anyway, I'll repost that prologue as soon as this 
error's fixed, but it doesn't really matter, as the incident has 
virtually nothing to with the story.

   The story's gonna be posted in separate parts for every chapter--
for some reason my e-mail service refuses to send messages with more
than 30 KB unless it's an attachment. Oh, well... 

   The characters here all act the way they should be: the way they 
act in the manga and anime series. I'll tell you this, though--this 
will only be temporary. Certain...events are going to shake up the 
status quo--so if you don't like the shallowness of this 
interpretation, then rest knowing that this is gonna get a hell of a 
lot deeper as it progresses.

   You have been warned.

   Oh, and for all of you who demanded to know just what exactly the 
Dynasty's all about and why the hell they're after the Jusenkyoites,
all I can say is wait. It's important that you discover this along 
with the Ranma cast... ;)

   Anyway, the disclaimer's still the same. All characters belong to 
Rumiko Takahashi and the Dynasty characters belong to me. 

   Keep those inputs going. I need some ideas on certain characters...

                       =========================
                          * * * DYNASTY * * *          
                          A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
                       =========================
                              * * * * * *
                       =========================
                              CHAPTER ONE:
                                 PART A
                              Elimination
                       =========================

   A monotonous, melancholy tune marked the beginning of the eighth 
hour at Furinkan High School.

   Classroom doors slammed shut as the pupils within were subjected to 
their daily doses of knowledge and education; Principal Kuno sunbathed
on the roof in his flowered trunks, armed with a piece of aluminum 
foil and a glass of pineapple juice; Miss Hinako waited patiently for
her favorite delinquents, ready to siphon their auras in order to 
revert herself from her child-form into adult-form; Tatewaki Kuno, 
along with his Kendoist Club followers, was dragged off from the 
courtyard, still spouting elaborate protests of how it was his duty to 
go forth and seek out the reason of Akane Tendo's failure to show up 
at the school gates.

   In effect, the most dysfunctional school in Tokyo was eerily quiet.

   Mainly, that was because its major players were missing.

   Akane Tendo and Ranma Saotome were late for school, and it was a 
known rule at Furinkan High that chaos had to restrain itself until
these two had arrived at the campus grounds.

   It was, after all, a normal day in the place called Nerima.

* * * * * *

   "Gather around the water, all of you," commanded the one in the 
black robes.

   The figures complied without hesitation.

   This room had a dreamy, surreal atmosphere. The walls were composed 
of a material that looked suspiciously like coral, the ceiling was 
made of jadestone and chrysoprase, and the floor was made of the 
finest mother-of-pearl. 

   The most distinguished-looking feature in the chamber, though, was 
the enormous, iridescent pool that sat placidly in its middle. Ripples 
of light that were reflected from the pool's surface danced across the 
bronze and silver-plated suits armor of the twenty or so individuals 
assembled around the water's edge. 

   "We are ready, my Lord," proclaimed the one in front.

   At this, Lord Takuma raised his dragon's-head staff over the water.
The gold dragon's eyes glittered a deep crimson, baring its fangs in a 
grotesque smile.

   The surface bubbled.

   A hush fell on the audience.

   The velvet depths of the pool cleared abruptly, and an image slowly 
began to emerge...

   It was the image of a long-haired individual with thick spiral-
tinted glasses, appareled in white Chinese robes. He was running 
frantically after the silhouette of a girl on a bike. 

   "The place is Nerima, Japan," Lord Takuma said, "and this--" 

   He gestured at the image in the pool, almost carelessly.

   "--is the first of the five targets."

* * * * * *

   "Sh-Sh-Shampoo!! WAIT!!" yelled the bespectacled, optically-
challenged young man as he sprinted after the bicyclist, who also 
happened to be the love of his life.

   Too bad the love of his life had someone other than him whom she
considered to be the love of HER life.

   "Go away, Mousse! Leave Shampoo alone!" she shot back in a high 
female voice, her patois revealing her Chinese heritage. Her long 
purple hair streamed out behind her, caught up in two neat buns at the
back of her head.

   "Buh-buh-but...where're you going?!"

   "Shampoo need to deliver extra-special ramen to very important 
person. Now shoo! Go!"

   *WHAM*

   The young man peeled his lips off the rough bark of the telephone 
pole he had collided into, composed himself, and resumed his pursuit 
of her.

   "S-s-special ramen?! Waaaaait a minute--does this have anything to 
do with that jerk _Ranma_?!"

   "None of Mousse's business!" 

   *WHAM*

   He pried himself off of another pole.

   "It is, isn't it? You're going to try and make him eat the passion
spice in that ramen, aren't you?"

   "That none of your concern, Mousse!"

   *WHAM*

   Who was putting these damned poles in his way?!

   "Oh, yes it *pant* is!" He was beginning to run out of breath. "One 
day, Shampoo!! *pant* One day, I'm going let you *hagh* see the error 
of your ways!! Just *haugh* wait and see, Shampoo!! I _WILL_ *urk* 
DEFEAT RANMA SAOTOME--AND I SHALL WIN YOUR *hurff* YOUR HEART!!!!"

   "That not happen for _very_ long time, no?" 

   She put on a burst of speed and vanished promptly down the horizon.

   "N-n-noooo! SH-SH-SH-SHAMPOOOO! WAAAAAIT!!!"

   *WHAM*

   He toppled over backwards from the pole and collapsed in the street, 
twitching, his limbs bent over in ninety-degree angles.

* * * * * *

   "Hmmm. A martial artist, is it? Most interesting."

   There was the hint of a smile tugging at Takuma's lips. 

   "Very well," he murmured. "This will certainly not be the first 
one we come up against. Do not underestimate this one because of his
looks, however. He may appear non-threatening, but mind you, he is 
quite skilled at concealing all sorts of assorted weaponry within the
folds of his long robes. This one is extremely unpredictable, and 
sufficiently skilled in the art of combat. Take heed that you do not 
advance toward him within his throwing range, lest he ensnare you with
his chains or catch you off-guard with his projectiles. But then 
again, he _does_ have two certain weaknesses..."

   "What's that?" ventured one of the spectators.

   "For one thing," replied Takuma, "without those lenses he is 
wearing, his sense of sight is drastically reduced. And two, in his 
cursed form he is ridiculously to subjugate, unlike that one half-man,
half-yeti abomination we disposed of last time.."

* * * * * *   

   "Ranma?" Shampoo asked, hopefully.

   She pressed down hard on her brakes, and looked slowly from left to
 right.

   The street was deserted.

   She hopped off her bike and propped it against a telephone pole, a 
frown of consternation on her face. As she inspected the road, her 
sharp eyes caught sight of a series of dents on the sidewalk. 

   She studied the imprints, unable to withhold her curiosity.

   They looked like...like...mallet marks. 

   Typical Akane Tendo handiwork.

   <Stupid crazy Akane,> thought Shampoo, furiously. <How dare she try
and kill Shampoo's husband! She no love Ranma! She always fight him! 
She crazy violent weakling girl!>

   So Akane and Ranma _had_ passed this way. She'd just missed them 
too, by the looks of it. The mallet marks were still fresh.

   Shampoo mounted her bike again, precariously balancing the box of
spiced ramen on the palm of her left hand. 

   <Oh, well. At least Shampoo lose stupid Mousse.>

   Sometimes Shampoo wondered why Mousse was so thick-headed. Was it 
possible to be both optically and emotionally blind? Couldn't he see
that all his attempts to woo and worship her were only suffocating 
her? Couldn't he understand that she could never view him in any other 
context other than a childhood friend? How could he be so stubborn?

   But she didn't want to think about Mousse right now.  

   In fact, the man of her dreams did not sport long tresses and
spectacles, but instead sported a pigtail and a red Chinese shirt.

   Ranma Saotome was the man of her dreams, no doubt about _that_. He
was a strong, brave fighter, possessing enough skill to defeat even 
a formidable Chinese Amazon like Shampoo in combat. Her great-
grandmother, Cologne, approved of him immensely. In fact, she favored
him so much that she did not hesitate to assist her great-
granddaughter in anyway she could to make Ranma become Shampoo's 
bridegroom, sometimes often resorting to schemes that Shampoo would 
have been reluctant to attempt in the first place. Yes, Ranma was 
confident, handsome, and honorable. He would make the ideal husband.

   There was only one hitch to it, though.

   He had three other fiancees--one of which he seemed to spend more
than a fair amount of time with.  

   Shampoo maneuvered her vehicle into the road again, a look of 
steely determination on her face.

   <Ranma, Shampoo marry you. One way or the other.>

   Then she heard a humming behind her.

* * * * * 

   Lord Takuma continued to speak into the pool while the youths
listened, hanging on to his every word.

   "This one is only slightly more difficult. She is a Chinese Amazon, 
trained from childhood in the ancient warrior ways of her tribe. She 
is quite knowledgeable in the arcane Amazon combat techniques and is 
very fast, very agile, and very quick-witted. Her weapon of choice is 
a pair of bonbori, although it seems she has neglected to bring them 
in this situation. As it is, she has been strongly instilled with the 
concepts of honor, discipline, and fierce pride--which, unfortunately 
for her, will also prove to be the chink in her armor..."

* * * * * *

   "This truly is a man's game, Tendo," murmured Genma Saotome, his 
visage a mask of utter solemnity as he sat cross-legged on the tatumi
mat. "For a game of such depth as this requires long hours of the 
utmost concentration for one to master its unspeakable complexity."

   "Indeed it is, Saotome," agreed Soun Tendo, his face equally as 
solemn as he languidly inspected the pieces on the Shogi game board 
that lay spread out between them. "Indeed it is."

   "You know, Tendo, I was just thinking. After all that our children 
have been through--Togenkyou Island, Akane's many kidnappings, her 
near-death--I had sort of...hoped that they would get along better."

   "When are they _ever_ going to learn?" Soun shook his head.

   "Stubborn as mule, that boy of mine. Takes after his mother, 
Nodoka, I suppose."

   "And Akane has her mother's stubbornness as well."

   "Indeed, Tendo, they do take after their mothers."

   "How unfortunate it is, then, that they did not take after _us_."

   Both men sighed, deeply and regretfully.

   They sat for a while in companionable silence, contemplating. 

   The exodus was interrupted by the rather disturbing sound of a 
Tendo dojo wall coming down. 

   *CRASH*

   To Genma, the sound had become relatively commonplace, especially 
in a martial-artist-populated town like Nerima. To Soun, however, the 
sound only signaled yet another depletion of his already-limited 
monetary funds for repairs.

   But instead of bursting into hysterics, Soun calmly straightened up 
and closed his eyes. "Make it stop," he muttered.

   *CRASH*

   Another wall was blown to kingdom come. 

   "Please...make it stop," said Soun. His eyelid was already 
twitching dangerously.

   Genma scooted to his feet, hastily adjusting his round rimless 
spectacles. "Think nothing of it, Tendo," he declared. "Why, it 
could...it could just be Master Happosai coming home from one of 
his...er, excursions."

   And he ducked quickly into the house before his ears could suffer
the agony of having to hear a full-blown Soun Tendo trademark wail.

* * * * * *

   "That is the third on the list. He may be folically-challenged, 
heavyset, and rather clueless-looking, but still, I would advise you 
not to judge him too prematurely. He is quite competent in the martial 
arts as well, having been subjected to hard training under the one 
known as Happosai, the Founder of the School of the Anything-Goes 
Martial Arts--the most powerfully perverted little gremlin in these 
parts, I might add. However, he is not as youthful as the other two, 
and is not as fast or vigorous, but he is infinitely more experienced 
in combat, especially when he specializes in aerial attacks. Still, he
is relatively more susceptible, especially when he is deprived of his 
speed and alacrity in his cursed form. I should inform you, however, 
that if he ever resorts to a ominously powerful-looking attack called 
the Saotome School Ultimate Technique, it would be best to make sure 
that you have a couple of interceptors at his back..." 

To Be Continued in Chapter One, Part B                      

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