Hello, all.  Here's just a little something I cooked up a few
minutes ago for your reading pleasure.

        Enjoy!

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Begin attached File -- "Ranma 1/2:  The Rules of the Run"  (I hope)
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Ranma 1/2:  The Rules of the Run [Teaser]

By:  James "Phoenix" Jones

	The old man looked up from his drink as the door to the bar opened.  He smiled sadistically as a young man entered and began scanning the room.  <This must be the one.> he thought.	
	Raising his arm lazily, he waved at the boy and motioned him to the table.  The boy, seeing the man quickly obeyed.  As he neared him, the old man sized him up.
	<Not bad.> he thought.  The boy was young, probably fifteen or sixteen, with black hair and blue-gray eyes.  He wore a dirt-covered shirt and pants with a trench-coat over them.
	"Wuz up, chummer?" asked the man.
	"Are you the guy I talked to?" asked the boy.
	"You talk to Falcon?"
	The boy nodded.
	"Then you found me."
	The boy let out a relieved sigh and sat down.  A young waitress walked over and asked if he wanted something to drink.  After ordering a glass of tea, he turned back to Falcon.  
	"What'd you want?" Falcon asked.  "Time isn't exactly on my side you know."  Finished, Falcon took a drink of beer while he waited for the answer.
	"I want to learn to run." Said the boy.
	Falcon choked on a swallow of beer and spit out some of the glass.  Looking up at the boy he said,  "You WHAT!!!???"
	The boy looked at him calmly and repeated himself.  Falcon, now calm, said, "So why come to me?"
	"Word is you're one of the best." Said the boy.  "I was hoping you'd be willing to train me."
	Falcon stared at the boy for a moment and suddenly burst out laughing.  "You can't train for the shadows kid." He said.  "Why don't you go home and come back in a few years, your momma is probably worried sick about you."
	The boy looked at Falcon coldly and asked, "So you won't train me then?"
	Calming down, Falcon looked at him and said, "Kid, the run is just that... the run.  You don't train for it, you just do it."
	The boy looked at him questioningly.  "Don't follow." He said.
	Falcon couldn't suppress another chuckle.  Another day, another wanna-be runner.  "If you don't follow me, you've got no business being on the run." He said.
	"Yes I do." The boy countered.
	"Oh... do you now?" asked Falcon.  "And what might that business be?"
	"Revenge."
	At this, Falcon raised his eyebrow slightly.  "Revenge?"
	The boy nodded.
	Falcon glared at the boy coldly.  Revenge wasn't an uncommon reason for wanting to run the shadows, but it normally got the runner killed way to quickly.  "Revenge on who?" He asked at length.
	The boy was about to answer when the waitress came back with his tea.  He took it and handed her two nuyen for the tab.  Taking a sip, he contemplated his answer.
	"Well?" asked Falcon.
	At length, the boy looked up at him and said, "One of the Corps." 
	Falcon laughed again.  "Which one?"
	"That's my business." Said the boy.
	Falcon nodded, despite himself, he admired the boy's attitude.  "Okay, kid." He said.  "What exactly did this corp. do to you?"
	The boy rolled up his sleeve to reveal a jagged scar running the length of his arm.  "They killed my parents and gave me this." He said.
	"Damn good reason for revenge." Said Falcon.
	"I thought so." countered the boy.
	"Kid, you don't even know what you're getting into." Said Falcon. 
	"Then tell me!"
	Falcon leaned back and continued to stare.  "Okay, chummer." He said.  "Sit back and I'll tell you about the run.  You can make up your mind after that.  Check?"
	"Check."
"First off, what makes you think you can survive on the run?" asked Falcon.  "It's hell out there you know."
"I can fight." Said the boy.  "I've been studying martial arts since I was four."
"Cool." Said Falcon. "You any good?"
"The best." 
Falcon smirked.  "So you're a good fighter heh, got a lot a fancy moves I assume.  That's all well and good, but those moves don't help a whole lot when bullets start shredding your internals."
The boy cringed but said nothing.
"The shadows are hell boy." Said Falcon.  "They're the dead zones cast by the MegaCorporations.  They're like nothing you've ever gone through.  Oh sure, people move through 'em, people like me.  Of course, not may runners live to be my age."
"I know that." Said the boy.  
Falcon shook his head sarcastically.  <I like you boy.>  He thought.  <You remind me of me.>  "So you're dead set on going through with this, huh?"
"Yes."
"Okay." Said Falcon. "But if you're sure, you ought to know some things.  I can tell by looking that you've had a pretty sheltered life."
"It show's huh?"
Falcon nodded.  "Okay, kid." He said.  "The run is like a game... for most of us.   Thus like a game, it's got rules."
"Rules."
"Rule one." Said Falcon.  "You find you're own truths.  Nobody can tell you who you are or what you are.  Once you know that, nothing else matters.  Rule two:  Choose your enemies carefully.  Friends are rare and precious, but they still come and go.  On the run, you're enemies accumulate."
"Is that all?" asked the boy.
"No." said Falcon.  "There's one way of summing all this up.  Memorize this proverb kid, it may save you're live."
"Okay," said the boy, "So what's the saying."
"Watch your back, shoot straight, conserve ammo and never, ever cut a deal with a dragon."
The boy nodded, absorbing the words.
"There's one more thing you need to know." said Falcon.  "Once you start running, you can never stop."
"Never?"
 "From the time you first step into the shadows, you sacrifice a small part of your soul to them." Said Falcon.  "From that point on, you can walk out of them after a run, but you can never leave them behind.  That's the price you pay for running the places most devils would think twice about before moving through."
"I see." Said the boy, finishing his tea.  "Thank you for your time Mr. Falcon."
"Changed your mind, huh?"
The boy shook his head slightly.  "No." he said.  "If anything, I you just convinced me."
Falcon laughed.  "Oh... by the way, you never did tell me your name."
"Its, Ryouga." Said the boy.  "Ryouga Hibiki."
"Well, Ryouga Hibiki, I wish you luck."
"Thanks." Ryouga said sarcastically, standing up.
"Were you going?" asked Falcon.
Ryouga turned to him and smirked.  "Going to go let part of me die." He said.  "I've got some running to do."  With that, he was gone.
Falcon stared after him for a moment.   "Welcome to the run, kid." He said to himself.  Shaking his head, he finished his drink, dropped some nuyen on the table and walked out of the bar.

****************************************** The Beginning....

Disclaimer:

Ranma 1/2 characters are the property of Rumiko Takahashi and the company that publishes them.  Shadowrun and all associated sayings, equipment, etc. are registered trademarks of the FASA corporation.  Both are used without permission and are not intended to offend anyone.
The character Falcon is a background character I made up for this teaser, he will make no (planned) appearances in the actual story.

End Disclaimer

Authors notes:

Okay, I know this was short, but it is sort of a prelude to a bigger story I'm planning on writing sometime soon (after I finish the one I'm working on now, of course. ^_^).
 
No, Ryouga is not going to be the main focus of this Ranma/Shadowrun x-over, but I decided to use him for the prologue.  I felt like being sneak for some reason.  How many people out there thought that it was Ranma the guy Falcon was talking to?  Come on now, be honest!

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this little teaser.  C&C is requested and will be appreciated.  All e-mail will be replied to.  As per usual, all flames will be read over, thought about, used if they contain any semblance of  C&C, laughed at if they do not, and will be promptly discarded in either case.

Also, I ask everyone to please keep in mind that this is a teaser that was thrown together in the course of a few minutes.

Thanks for reading and thanks in advance for any C&C.

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"Watch your back, shoot straight, conserve ammo and never, ever cut a deal
with a Dragon."
	-Shadowrun street proverb

"The acrid air is heavy with hate and a question hangs in the haze -- When
will you Rage?"
	-Werewolf: The Apocalypse
jace@utkux.utcc.utk.edu			James Jones:  The Blood Phoenix
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