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

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                          * * * DYNASTY * * *          
                          A Ranma 1/2 Fanfic
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                              CHAPTER TWO:
                                PART A
                                Regroup
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   It was uncannily silent at the Tendo dojo later that afternoon.

   After-school afternoons at the dojo usually consisted of pointless
bouts of endless squabbling between Akane and Ranma, sounds of battle
when Ryouga or Mousse or Kuno made their daily rounds of violence 
toward Ranma, and walls caving in when Shampoo or Kodachi dropped by
to announce their neverending love for Ranma.

   It seemed that all the insanity had centered around Ranma.

   And now, the stillness that had befallen the training hall seemed to
have originated from one inevitable fact.

   Ranma wasn't there.

   And neither was Genma, Ryouga, Mousse, or Shampoo.

* * * * *
   
   The living room had the atmosphere of a tomb.

   The dinner of teriyaki and rice lay untouched on the low-set dining
table. The television was on, showing the latest weather broadcast, but
it was currently on mute. Even Nabiki's yen-counting and Kasumi's 
cheerful exclamations of "oh my" were blatantly absent.

   They were all here and accounted for, though.

   Soun Tendo sat at the head of the table, staring down blankly at 
the assembled feast before him, his tanned, mustachioed visage streaked
with dried tear trails. Kasumi and Nabiki Tendo each sat on one side of
him, their gazes fixed on the floor, unable to summon up the 
appropriate words in which to address the dilemma. Cologne had 
positioned herself at the other end of the long table, her owl-like 
eyes closed as she pondered the circumstances. Ukyou Kuonji had 
isolated herself slightly to the right, her forehead resting on the
handle of the huge assault spatula she clutched in her hands. Akane
Tendo sat directly opposite her, an unreadable expression on her 
countenance, her fists clenched tightly amongst the folds of the sky-
blue skirt of the uniform she was wearing.

   The entire situation was almost too unbelievable for the gathered 
group to comprehend.

   "Pass me some soba, please," said Cologne.

   The others gawked at her as Kasumi obliged--as it was her obligation
due to her incredibly nice nature--and the old Chinese Amazon attacked
the noodles like there was no tomorrow.

   Akane was the first to express her indignation. "I don't _believe_
this!" she sputtered. "How can you act so calm when something's 
happened to Ranm--I mean, to the others?!"

   Ukyou joined in, equally indignant. "Yeah, and one of them's your
great-granddaughter, too!"

   Cologne silenced them with a sharp sweep of her staff, then calmly 
finished off the last of the soup and noodles. 

   "Do you want to hear what happened to Ranma and the others or don't
you?" she asked pointedly.

   Her words seemed to snap the shocked assemblage back to life.

   "Do _you_ know where Ranchan is?" Ukyou demanded eagerly.

   "And what about Saotome?" Soun wanted to know.

   "And Ranm--and the others? What about the others?" Akane added.

   "Could you have possibly seen what happened?" queried Nabiki, as
indifferently as only Nabiki Tendo was capable of under the circum-
stances.

   "Oh, my," was all Kasumi could say.
    
   Cologne waved all their inquiries aside with her chopsticks. "One
thing at a time, all of you, one thing at a time. Granted, the 
circumstances of Shampoo and the others' disappearance are very strange
indeed, and it will take a while before we can figure out what 
_exactly_ happened to them." She hopped on top of the table, and from 
there she addressed the rest of the group. "But before we can even 
contemplate that, I suggest that we hear the eyewitness accounts first
in order to get a better idea of who or what was responsible for this."

   Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Wow, that actually sounds reasonable."

   Cologne sent her a glare. It was hard to tell, especially when her 
beady little eyes made it look like she was always glaring, but it 
seemed like a real glare this time. "Do not mock your elders, child."

   "Sorry, sorry," muttered Nabiki, holding her hands up in a 
condescending gesture of surrender. "So bite me if I'm just not used 
to any sort of rational thought in this house."
   
   "AnyWAY, as I was saying before I was so _rudely_ interrupted," 
Cologne went on, "I think it would be best for all of us to hear about
what happened during the time of the disappearances." She swiveled 
around to glance at Soun. "You were there with me when Ranma and the
older Saotome vanished, Tendo. Care to relate to us what you saw?"

   "Uhm, yes, of course." Soun leaned back, his eyes glazing over as 
he transported his mind back to the events of the morning. "After 
Cologne had showed up here, saying something about getting to Ranma
before something terrible happened, Saotome and I immediately rushed
to the school in a desperate and daring attempt to save him..."

---Flashback---

   "Hurry, Saotome! Hurry!" Soun urged, wiping the waterfall of sweat
that streamed down his face. At his heels were Genma, who was panting
profusely, and Cologne, who was hopping alongside him, utilizing her
staff like a pogo stick.

   "I _am_ hurrying!" shot back an exhausted Genma, whose ample girth
made running at top speed an activity he hated very much. "But what I
still don't know is exactly _why_ we're doing this!"

   "I _told_ you, Saotome, son-in-law's in danger," Cologne reminded 
him briskly as she leaped over a fence. "The sooner we can warn him of
this, then the better."

   "Warn him?" demanded Genma, unconvinced. "Warn him of WHAT?"

   "I will explain later!" snapped Cologne. "For now, we will simply
have to rely on my instincts and reach son-in-law before he is taken
as well!"

   "TAKEN?" panted Genma. "Hold on a minute--nobody is taking my--"

   "You may not even have a say in it, Saotome," replied Cologne as
she cleared a telephone pole. "I just seem to harbor a very bad 
feeling about this..."

   "And why's that? What does this have to do with my son?"

   "I TOLD you, Saotome, this is _not_ the time for needless expla-
nations! Skilled as son-in-law may be, that is not going to make any
difference in the final outcome--do you understand?" Cologne swiveled
around to stare at Genma, her eyes narrowed.

   Genma, however, was not about to this sort of abuse without any 
further clarification, and he was adamant in voicing his severe 
dissatisfaction. "Well, _I_ *haff* am definitely NOT going to *haugh* 
kill myself just because *pantpant* you're *haighaigh* overreacting to 
noth--"

   He was cut off by the faintest sounds of a hum and the briefest 
flash of light.

   Soun and Cologne halted, stunned. Where Genma had been staggering 
along right beside them, there was nothing but thin air. 

   A few minutes passed as they searched around the surroundings, 
failing to locate any sign of where Genma had gone. It was as if he had
vanished off the face of the earth without their even knowing.

   "What happened?" Soun demanded, looking astonishingly self-composed,
considering the weak control he had of his tear ducts. 

   "He's gone," Cologne concluded rather stiffly, scaling back up her
stick. "This is more serious than I expected, Tendo. It seems they took
him as well. And if 'they' are the ones I suspect them to be, then here
is nothing we can do about Saotome's disappearance."

   "Nothing?" Again, Soun Tendo did not show any signs of panicking.

   "Nothing more," repeated Cologne grimly. "We will discuss this later,
Tendo. First it is imperative that we reach son-in-law before _they_ 
do."

   Soun remained in his statuesque pose, his visage grim. "Then that we
shall," he declared, his voice strong and unwavering. "Forgive me, 
Saotome, but our lifelong friendship must be considered later if we are
to save your son. For I must retain my honor, dear friend Saotome--"

---Present Time---

   *WHACK*

   "Oh my," Kasumi said, hand over her mouth.

   "Poor daddy dear," Nabiki commented.

   Cologne unwedged her battle stick somewhere from the top of Soun's
head. "Honor indeed!" she gibed. "When he realized his dear friend 
Saotome was gone, he ran around bawling like a baby. The very shame--
a grown man doing such things!" She shuddered.

   "Daddy's the...shall we say, sensitive type," offered Nabiki.

   "Well, exCUSE me," Akane interrupted, "but wouldn't you be upset
too if your lifelong friend just vanished in front of your eyes without
a trace?!"

   "I already explained it, child--there was _nothing_ he could have
done. After I convinced him of that, we had already lost precious time
in trying to get to son-in-law. But when we arrived at the school, it
seemed that there was no place to hide..."

---Flashback---

   "Sooo...what're you sayin'?" Ranma demanded, astonished. "You sayin' 
that there's ANOTHER group of maniacs out there who're out to get 
everyone under the Jusenkyou curse--and they're _not_ the Jusenkyou 
Order??"

   Cologne looked solemn. "That is _exactly_ what I am saying."
  
   Soun nodded anxiously, darting suspicious looks all around them. "I
think you'd best listen to her, boy."
 
   They were in front of the perimeter fence that surrounded the front
of Furinkan High. Behind them, the classroom window of Sensei Tanaka's
third-floor classroom gaped wide open as he continued his lecture, 
unmindful of the fact that one of his students had been replaced by a
rice-sack dummy.

   "But I still don't understand why--"

   "It's a long story," explained Cologne, yanking Ranma's arm with her 
staff. "But now is not the time nor the place for me to tell it. It is 
absolutely of the essence that we first get you back to a safe place."
   
   Ranma frowned, somewhat exasperated with the way the two adults were 
behaving. "Is it just me, or are you guys blowing this a liiiiiittle 
out of propor--"

   He was cut off by the distinct sound of grass being trampled right 
behind him.

   A quick about-face revealed that there was no one behind him. In 
fact,the only movement he could see was the rippling of foliage in the
sudden breeze.

   A faint humming met their ears. 

   Ranma let out a low whistle as he slowly got to his feet. "Well, 
well, whaddaya ya know?" he remarked. "Seems there _is_ someone out 
here with us after all."

   "More like _someones_," Cologne corrected grimly, stepping back.

   "NNNNOOOOOO!" screamed Soun, tearing out tufts of long black hair 
from his scalp. "THEY'RE HERE! THEY'RE OUT TO GET US!! I'M TOO YOUNG TO 
DIE!!! HAVE MERCY!!! THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO MEEEEE--"

   *BONK*

   "Oh, get a grip on yourself!" scolded Cologne, straightening out the
Soun-shaped dent on her staff. "Really, if I were your sensei, I'd slap 
you silly, I would. Besides, they're not after us--it's son-in-law 
they're after!"

   "WHAT?!" Ranma cried.

   "Oh, yes." Soun composed himself, clearing his throat. "I...knew 
that."

   Ranma rolled his eyes. "This is crazy!" he protested. "What the heck 
did _I_ do, anyway?!"

   "You have the curse of Jusenkyo upon you," Cologne said quietly. 
"For these people, that is all they need to know."

   The humming grew louder, more incessant. The wind picked up speed. 

   Cologne yanked Ranma's arm with her staff. "Come on," she urged. "We
have to leave. Now. We need to find you some place to hide before it's 
too late--"

   Ranma shook off her grasp. "I'm stayin'," he stated flatly.

   "WHAT??!" shrieked Soun.

   "I'm stayin'," Ranma repeated.

   "I'M _NOT_ LETTING MY DAUGHTER MARRY A DEAD MAN!!" shrieked Soun.

   "Hey, listen," Ranma began, his blue eyes flashing dangerously. "I'm 
_not_ lettin' those jerks get me. It's not like I'm totally helpless, 
you know--I'm perfectly capable of takin' care of myself, all right?"

   "That doesn't matter," Cologne cut in, her voice hard. "You may be 
the best martial artist in Nerima, son-in-law, but if I am correct in 
guessing just _who_ these people are then maybe, just maybe...your best
isn't good enough. And neither is mine."

   Ranma looked at her in shock. After a bout of slight reluctance,
though, he finally came to a decision.

   "I don't care," he declared. "I gotta know what happened to Pop and
the others."

   Cologne studied him for a second, then hopped over, long silver hair 
flapping wildly in the wind. "Then so will I," said she, hefting her 
staff into a battle position. 

   "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" exclaimed Soun, jogging toward them.

   "If son-in-law decides to put his life in the line to find out what 
happened to my Shampoo, then I am in no place to stop him," replied 
Cologne.

   "Exactly," Ranma said in determination. "If Shampoo's in trouble,
then I gotta save her. After all, I _am_ your son-in-law, right?"

   "That is correct." Cologne smiled. "My, aren't you brave."

   "You're not bad yourself, Cologne..."

---Present Time---

   "DREAM ON!" Ukyou and Akane yelled at the same time.

   "Why, can't a girl dream anymore?" Cologne defended herself quite
staunchly. 

   "Not when the girl happens to be two hundred eighty years old and
past menopause," Nabiki remarked.

   "Why, of all the nerve! You youngsters nowadays...no respect for 
your elders--"

   "Never mind about that!" Akane interjected. "What happened after?"

   Cologne took a deep breath and immersed herself once again in her 
ruminations. "Well, Soun and I faced the unseen assailants, intending 
to discourage them from reaching son-in-law, but it was of no avail..."

To Be Continued in Part B


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