there have been a lotta requests for this. (checks outbound mail log, yup
  it's there.) maybe i need to make the titles more attention
grabbing?<shrugs>


The Art____ (prologue)
by GreggSharp     Metroanime@aol.com
  Ranma 1/2 created by Rumiko Takahashi, AMG created
by Kosuke Fujishima, etc.
  i don't have money so don't sue me, hire me and we
can BOTH make money.
yes, this is an Alterniverse sort of thing. The idea
was: with all the talk about dedication to the Art,
what other kind of Art could have required this much
dedication and training. This is the result.
--------------------
the beginning
	There was darkness, a void.
	Then there was light. Energy formed. Matter
developed shortly thereafter. In the vortices of 
energy and structuring reality formed they who were
the First. They who would be called demons, or angels,
gods, or the Great Dragons.
	Stars formed, some alive, some aware. Planets
formed, some alive, some aware. Life appeared.
	Amongst these were beings who could tap or
manipulate forces of the universe that would come to
be known as magic. Among these were the faerie, the
true dragons, the triclops, the oni, and the humans.
--------------------
Lake Biwa region, Japan, 1787 AD:
  Happosai considered the others. The amazon squad
leader Cologne from a distant part of China, Kuonji
the Ninja Master from the Capital, the dragon known
as Frostbite (a ghostly image sent from his lair in
the Antarctic), and his own brother Hadagi - the
worst of the lot.

  "Hmmph," Cologne spat from her vantage on
a tree limb. "A panty thief, an assassin, a merchant,
and a old wyrm that doesn't even bother to appear in
the flesh. Pretty pathetic group you've got here."

  "Like you amazons," hissed the dragon with
a faint sound of amusement, "I work with what I have
available. You do not have MY years of experience,
warrior of the amazons, so you do not see what I do."

  The dragon's image was merely three feet in
length. Nobody really knew how big it was in person.
"Do you want to know what it is _I_ see. I see the
seeds of greatness. Kuonji Isako will pass away 
within the decade, and that is HER choice. Her line,
however, will continue."

  "Yes, the deal," breathed the Ninja Master,
who was an old woman who was entirely too tired of
life to have been tempted, "a sharing of a dragon's
longevity and vitality, of knowledge shared and 
of other things hinted at and promised. WHY?"

  "I could tell you three things, all true.

  "One, that I have always liked humans. Not all of
them, but just as I get ready to condemn the whole
species as a waste of flesh one of you will come
forward and prove the exception to the rule. 

  "Two, that there is a Needed Thing. Not now, but
the preparation should begin NOW. Events I have
glimpsed in the future that will be beyond MY 
talents should I stand alone.

  "Third, that in a life where I've seen you humans
build a nearly perfect society only to rip up the
Ancient Moon Kingdom and lay it waste in petty 
intrigues and power struggles, all the way to
the present day, it can be terribly boring to
watch the same mistakes over and over again."

  "And the real reason," Hadagi asked quietly.
        
  "We all want to leave a Legacy, do we not?
For Cologne it is the amazons, for Happosai his
Anything Goes school, for Kuonji it is the 
clan and the nation, and for Hadagi it is
the appreciation of beauty.

  "I will eventually pass on, the last of the
Great Dragons stranded here when Crystal Tokyo
fell and the Riftgates ceased to be. I will
leave this universe one final time, and there
are few remaining dragons of any kind here.
Certainly there are none I would pass any sort
of Legacy on to, at least that are in the world
now. This shall be MY legacy."

   Happosai affected an air of indifference
but could imagine what having even one thousandth
the lifespan and vitality of a dragon would be
like.

   Cologne imagined rising to the Council Of Elders
and continuing on for hundreds of years giving
service to her tribe.

   Hadagi imagined the money he could make with
that sort of lifespan, and with never having to
deal with illness or injury to slow him down for
long.

   Kuonji glowered at the others but quietly
thought of her clan and nation surviving even
in the face of such powerful enemies as could
be found in the world outside.

   Frostbite watched all four. They eventually 
agreed to his terms. He knew they would.

   It was all foreseen.
  
==========
Lo Phat's Diner, Hong Kong, November 18 1975
  "We meet again." Cologne nodded at the two
shrunken old men and the much younger man who was
wearing a bandoleer of spatulas.

  "The two families I have trained in the Anything
Goes style have decided to unite!" Happosai said
with a smile. "The espers of Clan Tendo and the
mages of Clan Saotome will be united in this next
generation."

  "Wait a minute," Kuonji growled. "It was to
be my line and the Saotomes..."

  "No, we were going to have Happosai's disciple
and my disciple!" Cologne rubbed her temple. She'd
known this was going to be trouble. She didn't like
the deal, but it looked like this Nadoka Saotome
might be able to pass on some decent qualities to
her son.

  "Oops." Happosai thought about this for a few
seconds. "We'll just have to see how it develops."

  Hadagi wisely kept silent. He thought it likely
if he brought up that the son of his disciple, Hibiki,
was also to be promised to the young heir of Anything 
Goes Psi-fu that there would be combat commencing in 
short order.

  Well, everyone knew what his brother was like.
Happosai'd get blamed for it anyway. Besides, each of
them was used to manipulating things from the shadows.
They knew the real decision would be fought in that 
manner.

  Frostbite watched from inside a candle flame with
eyes that rarely blinked. It had all been foreseen.

============
Tendo-ke, Nerima, Tokyo, Japan, 1990

  "What've you got, Nabiki?" Akane and Kasumi got
together behind their sister and watched the computer
screen. Shampoo was off learning more of her amazon
heritage.

  "This is REALLY wild," said Nabiki. "I was using 
some psychometry, trying to get impressions through
my Niftyserve account, when these files suddenly came
over."

  "Oh dear," Kasumi managed as she looked at the screen.
"Isn't that mother's picture?"

  "Right. It turns out that dear Mother's legacy to us
included more than psionic talents, but you knew that. 
Among other things, one of us has an iinazuke."

  "A fiancee?" Akane growled. "Did father know about
this?"

  "Daddy thinks it was his idea and that of his dear
friend Saotome. Both trained under a martial arts master
and hentai freak of nature whose name I won't mention
lest we somehow attract his attention. Actually it was
arranged by both mothers, and it looks like it was
planned long before any of us were born."

  "He's not too young, is he? Younger men are so..."

  "Don't worry, Kasumi. According to these files, he 
starts out pretty brash, no social skills to speak of, 
and his father is a total writeoff, but he's got a few 
good qualities that will come out within a year of 
having a permanent address."

  "Well, you can have him. It's not like I want anything
to do with boys anyway."

  "Now, now, Akane. We've got a little over a year before
he arrives. His father has dragged him through hundreds
of different planes of existence, learning new spells 
and fighting techniques as he did. This has gone on for
ten years now and he's even been to Asgard!"

  "Hmph. So he's been to Asgard, BIG deal."

  Akane demonstrated her own bit of divine blood by
summoning Mjolnir III to her hands. Little bits of
lightning crackled around the sledgehammer.

  Nabiki agreed. "True, but you have to admit the
average guy down at Furinkan isn't likely to have
gone any further than, say, Hong Kong?"

  Akane smiled slightly at the thought of almost any
of her classmates trying to deal with one of her great
grandfather's parties.

  "Mind you his mother is descended from a similar
bloodline," Nabiki cautioned her sister, "and there are
two more things I need to followup on. Kasumi, could
you stay a moment?"

  Akane took the hint and left, no doubt to go smash
something into elemental particles.

  "What is it, Nabiki?" Kasumi had her own share of
their mixed heritage, which usually manifested in the
aura of calm surrounding her. If that third eye opened
though, all bets were off.

  "There's two major problems with this guy, and one
with Akane. Dig this."

  Kasumi studied the new picture up on the computer 
screen. "That's the Faerie Realm, isn't it?"

  "Right. That's the next stop of the two Saotomes."

  "Hmm. So they're idiots?"

  "No, at least Ranma isn't." Nabiki stretched in her
chair. "At least not as much as his dad."

  "But nobody enters the Mists Of Faerie without some
kind of enchantment, curse, or other transformation.
Don't they know that?"

  "I kid you not, sis. This 'Genma Saotome' has 
literally dragged his son to Hell and back in the name
of perfecting his Art. This is the other problem, that
his Dad cut deals and made other lapses of judgement
all along their trip. The only definite thing I can get
is that the Saotome-Tendo engagement is the oldest and
that this makes one heck of a case for its validity."

  "He lives in interesting times then." Kasumi sighed.
"Precog and healing are my specialties but I never had
a lock-on for this."

  "That's part of it," Nabiki admitted. "I can't
tell what kind of enchantment they'll exit Faerie 
with."

  "Where the Wylde Magicke flows, Nothing Be Certain,"
Kasumi quoted.

  "So, Genma promised his boy in marriage to a LOT of
people." Nabiki started counting off. "At least one
Valkyrie, a Greek demigoddess, a dragon, two slavers,
four merchant-barons, and a demoness that I've been
able to see so far."

  "Ara-"

  "Third, there's this." Nabiki called up a computer
file. "This is that other problem I alluded to earlier."

  Kasumi noted a simple text file. She took Nabiki's
place at the computer and started reading while Nabiki
took a seat at the bed.

  Nabiki sighed. "This was included with a note about
this being one of the 'infinite possibilities' that
could occur. It said that there would be differences,
that the divergence point had already occurred, but
that you should be ready to react as if it is accurate."

  Kasumi speed read the file and turned to her sister.
"Aptly named. 'Bitter End' indeed. While it contains
some inaccuracies, I can see Akane behaving in a similar
manner."

  Nabiki nodded. "If this Ranma shows up with a curse
similar to this, I think we ought to assume the worst
and the file is more accurate than not."
 
  "So desu ne." Kasumi watched as Nabiki reached over
and clicked an icon with her mouse. "Hmmm. He doesn't
look so young."

  "That's Ranma at age 20, providing he lives that long.
Frankly, he's kind of cute and I might go for him myself.
We'll have to see."

  "We certainly shall." Kasumi agreed. 

  "I still don't know who sent me all this, but scanning
it with my esper talent shows no hostile intent or 
deliberate lies. I'm getting pretty good at combining
the tech stuff with psychometry, so assume that our
'benefactor' is either exceptional at covering tracks
or is legit." Nabiki jerked a thumb at the screen.
"If I get any further info, I'll tell you."

  Kasumi got the hint. "I'll do some basic scrying 
techniques now that I've got something to target.
When Shampoo comes back, we ought to mention this,
she IS a member of the family. Be careful, sis."

  "Always," said Nabiki with her usual smirk. "Always."

  D-chan, Nabiki's stuffed dragon seemed to smile and
blink as Kasumi left the room.
============
  A dragon, deep in the Antarctic in an iceflow that
hadn't moved much in 6,000 years, watched. With few
exceptions, this had all been foreseen.
-------------------------------
ja ne,
gregg,kuroni no koi (i'll leave the Great Works to
someone else, let's see if i can manage something
fun while they do that.)