The following is the prologue of my first series called "Charlatans." Don't
worry if you get confused by this. The prologue/teaser takes place around
the end of the first book. The first chapters will
lead up to this event, and the following will conclude it.

"The X-Files" are property of Chris Carter and Ten Thirteen productions.
"Ranma 1/2" are property of the incredible Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ.
--------------------------
Charlatans: Teaser/Prologue

Ranma felt pain like she had never felt before. Ranma was no doctor, but
she could tell that she was in real trouble. The blood had turned black,
meaning that she had been shot in the abdomen. The
color of the blood was due to the bullet tearing through her kidney. Ranma
heard that this was the most painful way to die.

'Heh, shot by my own gun. What a way to go!' Ranma tried to find some humor
in her current situation. The irony wasn't enough to relieve the horrendous
pain that she now felt.

She could feel the rumble of the trains as they shook the rails that she
now sat on. The train yard was covered in a fine mist. She had fallen next
to an unmarked train car. The exact train that they had
been chasing for the last week.

Ranma looked up at the stars. Her vision was starting to go. She knew she
didn't have a long time to live.

Ranma's eyes started to close when she was heard a gun go off. She knew
what her partner's gun sounded like. She wanted to cry out for help, if she
had the strength.

Ranma was determined not to die, not here and not now. She reached up and
grabbed the handle on the side of the train car. She pulled herself up
while she cupped her stomach with the free hand. The
pain nearly overwhelmed her. She stifled a scream as she pulled herself
vertical.

"I don't care what you are, I'll kill you!" Ranma staggered as she limped
across the trainyard. More gunshots could be heard coming from the
warehouses that surrounded the yard.

"You have no comprehension of what is going on!" The alien bounty hunter
stated in a cool and calculating tone.

He stood over seven feet, with a build that would have terrified most men.
A stream of green liquid dripped from a wound in his arm. In his right arm
was a deadly device. No meant for distance, but
deadly up close. The long needled weapon was deadly in the hands of those
who knew its true purpose.

"I may not have the facts, but I know that you won't get away with what
you're planning!" The other man said. He had a badge on his suit that
clearly identified him as one Fox Mulder.

"You cannot stop me. So either leave now, or die." The hunter narrowed his
eyes on his target.

The Agent quickly slapped a new magazine into his gun.

"Then so be it, you'll never get away with this you vile cur." The agent
said as he released the safety and fired at least ten shots into the hunter.

The hunter was staggered, but only for a second. His opponent took this
moment of weakness to close the distance between them. The Agent came in
low and in the blink of an eye kicked the Hunter
back into a wall. The agent straightened his tie as he holstered the gun.
He turned his back as he started to walk towards the exit.

"This isn't over." The hunter said as he lifted a large piece of metal of
his body.

Ranma fell over onto the hard gravel. She landed with a thud. Ranma nearly
screamed, the pain was overwhelming. She was determined not to give up. She
had to live long enough to kill that alien
bastard. Slowly pushing herself up she limped over towards where her
partner had been facing off against it.

Ranma saw the last of the fight between her partner and the hunter.

'he's getting better' Ranma commented to herself.

"Kuno!" Ranma yelled as loud as was possible.

The agent turned towards the redhead.

"Oh God! Ranma what's happened to you. I swear to the heavens that I will
avenge you." Kuno ran towards Ranma. Ranma couldn't stand any more, the
pain was like a force of gravity, sucking her
towards oblivion.

Ranma toppled over, falling into Kuno's arms.

"Ranma, Ranma, speak to me." Kuno started to shake. He was covered in his
partner's blood.

Ranma started to stir, her eyes fluttered as she strained to stay conscious.

Ranma motioned for Kuno to come closer. She whispered into his ear, "Tell
Akane I was wrong. Tell Scully I'm sorry. And Tell Mulder that it's not
over." Ranma said as a stream of blood ran out of
her mouth. Ranma grunted as she lost consciousness and went limp.

Kuno set her down as the rage in his gut overwhelmed him.

Kuno turned towards the bounty hunter.

"I'll kill you, you green blooded BASTARD!" Kuno reached behind as back and
pulled his boken out from behind.

He charged the bounty hunter with in-human speed.

Author's comments

What the hell is going on?

-Ranma and Kuno have mistakenly been confused with Mulder and Scully, who
have gone missing. Mulder and Scully find out about the mix up and use this
as a oppertunity to go freelance. I won't
tell you what happens in-between then and now. But Ranma and Kuno aren't
going to take this lightly. This series does have humor, but it will retain
the dark and dangerous feel of the X-Files series.

Who is the Alien Bounty Hunter?

-That's a good question. There is no set awnser for what he truely is. From
what we're lead to believe he's a alien who can shift his appereance
whenever he chooses. He can only be killed by driving
the cylindrical weapon into the base of his neck. I won't tell you what his
agenda is, yet.

Why is Ranma a girl, and why is she shot?

-I won't give too much away. But Ranma has to pose as Scully, which tests
Ranma's integrity to the limit. The reason for her being shot won't be
revealed untill later in the series.

Why does the story start off in the middle?

-I chose this method becuase it hasn't been done in many fanfics. It's the
same way of telling a story as such movies as 'Pulp Fiction', which start
off near the critical part of the story and then reveal
how it progressed to that point.

Comments and questions will be highly appreciated. Flames will be thrown
away. It's my first fic, so help me make this a good one. Constructive
comments help both parties, readers and writer.



Contact me at bobafett@scruznet.com

Hompage located at http://www.ab-tm.com/titleist/

You can find my gallery of art here. I have quite a few pics for this
series. Most of the pics were made before writing the story, and served to
inspire its creation.