Ranma 1/2: Civil War
        chap 1b: Rewriting History
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setting and major char by Rumiko Takahashi
add'l char & situations by Gregg Sharp
webpage: http://members.aol.com/MetroAnime/main.html

if you're splicing, cut everything above this line to 1a.
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	"Shampoo, I heard you were in a fight today.
You said you'd try to respect our customs." Nodoka
was calm, as always, the very image of the stoic Japanese
woman. Her displeasure was a subtle thing, like storm
clouds gathering at the horizon before the sudden
deluge.

	"Shampoo try." Shampoo looked down at
the floor of the Saotome house. "Shampoo no could
let insult continue."

	"Were they making fun of your heritage
again?" Nodoka had thought that Shampoo had
gotten to the point where she had learned to ignore
them.

	Shampoo blinked and raised her eyes to
meet Nodoka's gaze. "Was no me they insult. They
make fun of Kasumi. Say scars make her ugly, she
no get husband, no get boyfriend."

	It was Nodoka's turn to blink. "Ah. Well,
I'm sure Kasumi was able to see that this was just
idle talk."

	"Saotome-san. I sorry, but you wrong."
Shampoo tried to calm herself, she was very upset
and her pidgin was getting worse as a result. "Kasumi 
very... insecure. She very insecure about her appearance,
about her skills, about many things. She suffer very
bad in Village. Mascara very powerful, very...Sorry
Shampoo not know word. She take offense very 
easily, especially when someone seem to go against
her orders. She order Kasumi and Nabiki be treated
badly, made example of."

	Nodoka was surprised. Shampoo was the
more talkative of the two, but the purple haired girl
rarely spoke this long or this passionately. The anger
at what had befallen the two sisters was written 
plainly on her face. "I see."

	"Kasumi is Shampoo's friend. Slave bit
was act for rest of village. Shampoo not like it when
have to treat Kasumi rough, call Kasumi amazon
name, treat Kasumi as property. Only way for 
Kasumi to live, though, Mascara have too many
supporters, weight of amazon law on side of chief
elder. Now come here and find people of HER village
be mean to her for no reason. Shampoo get really
damn pissed off!"

	"Shampoo, there is no reason for such
language!"

	"I sorry, Saotome-san. Shampoo take
punishment like good amazon." Shampoo bowed 
her head waiting for the punishment.

	Nodoka didn't say a thing. The harsh
life that even the cherished great grand-daughter
of a Village Elder had endured was beginning to
penetrate after the past month. "Where IS Kasumi?"

	"Saotome-san no punish Kasumi?
She not do anything." Shampoo looked up again.
"She in room, crying. She want to be alone. If
need punish, Shampoo take punishment for
Kasumi..."

	Nodoka shook her head, and moved
to the guest room that had become Kasumi and
Shampoo's room. Not that there was much in
there as of yet, they'd only been here a month.

	"Kasumi," Nodoka called from the
outside of the door.

	There was the sound of movement from
within the room, and the door slipped open a few
moments later. Kasumi HAD obviously been crying.

	Nodoka was aware of Shampoo, standing
behind her, concern for her friend quite obvious in
her face.

	"You expected such things in the village,"
Nodoka surmised. "To find them here in your own
homeland caught you unawares."

	Kasumi nodded once, reluctantly. A sniffle
came from the twelve year old.

	"Come here, child, sit with me." Nodoka 
motioned the two of them back to the living room,
resisting the urge to hug Kasumi. After such a long
time among the amazons, she expected Kasumi to
have absorbed some of their customs and she was
unsure as to what the reaction to such a gesture 
would be.

	A few moments later, she unfolded the
letter that a strange bird had brought that morning.
In it, Cologne had sketched out a simple request.

	"That Great-grandmother's writing, all
right." Shampoo nodded when she saw it.

	"Well then, while you were at school
I began preparations for something. I have made
contact with a records clerk who is apparently 
one of your Great-grandmother's contacts and
he has begun procedures that will make your
life easier, at least, Shampoo."

	Shampoo was still trying to get used
to the idea she wasn't going to be punished.
Maybe this was some subtle Japanese thing. 
She nodded, curious.

	"Kasumi, say hello to your sister,
Shampoo Tendo."

	Kasumi and Shampoo's jaws dropped.
Kasumi finally broke the resulting silence. "How 
can this be? I thought that I and my sister..."

	"Are the only ones remaining of the
Tendo line. Well, no matter how she feels about it,
you still have both of your original sisters. The 
clerk in question simply added some 'newly discovered'
information to the Tendo family registry while adding
that the Tendo daughters apparently are still alive.
You, Shampoo, are listed as being born on 'the wrong
side of the sheets' but are officially part of the Tendo
household now."

	Shampoo's shock gave way to a smile. 
"BIG SISTER!" She hugged her newfound sister,
which answered another question in Nodoka's
mind. Apparently physical displays of affection
were NOT tabboo.

	Kasumi hugged back fiercely. "Little
sister!"

	"Which brings up something which
affects you, as well, Kasumi." Nodoka paused.
Perhaps they were too young to hear about this,
but no both had been through a lot and it might
take the edge of some of the teasing that both
would go through in school.

	"Yes, Saotome-san?" Kasumi still
had a sad expression that the news about 
Shampoo had not completely erased.

	"When I relayed the news to my
errant husband about his old friend's house
being burned to the ground, the first thing
he said was quite curious. He had said that
now 'the two Houses shall never be joined.'
I noted this and asked him about it later. It
seems that he and your father had arranged
that one of Soun Tendo's daughters would
marry my son."

	Nodoka raised an eyebrow as she
watched an amazon and her sister facefault.
She'd never seen one done in real life before.
That looked like it would hurt.
---------------------------------
	A second month passed. Nodoka
walked out of her kitchen to see a stranger 
at her gate, an armed warrior from the look of her.

	Fearing the worst, Nodoka grabbed
the ancestral Saotome katana from its resting
place, but did not draw it.

	"Saotome-san," the girl said with a
nod, her eyes registering the sword's presence
in passing. "Shampoo is here?"

	"You are?" Nodoka hesitated. The
girl looked vaguely familiar.

	"We meet before." The girl flicked back
a long braid of hair. "Soap little girl at time,
but was here when raiding party come. You 
remember now?"

	Nodoka vaguely remembered a little
girl of twelve, who had acted as a look out for the
group. She had...grown quite a bit. So had the 
naginata she was carrying.

	"<So Pu!>" Shampoo shot from the 
house to hug her friend. "Great Grandma send
you?"

	"Yes, Shampoo," Soap looked around.
"Where Lipstick?"

	"Lipstick name Kasumi now. No use
name she had as slave," Shampoo sternly 
admonished the older amazon.

	"<As you wish, princess, now-
aren't you going to welcome an old friend?>"

	"Speak Japanese, Soap. Saotome-san
no understand Mandarin. Shampoo very glad to
see Soap." Shampoo grinned. "Shampoo now
Shampoo Tendo, now sister to Kasumi!"

	"Ah, that must please Li- Kasumi to
have younger sister..." Soap nodded. "Saotome-san,
may we sit? It has been a long and dusty road.
There is much I need to speak with you of."
--------------------------------
	The next day, Nodoka watched the young
amazon go off on her own in the early morning light.
She would try to find a place of her own, but be within 
reach to continue training Shampoo. To some extent 
she would train Kasumi now as well, since they were 
no longer in the village and Kasumi was no longer a 
slave, she could still be considered an amazon due to 
her relationship with Shampoo.

	Nodoka doubted there would be much 
warcraft taught Kasumi. The girl just didn't have the
stamina needed, though Soap, or So Pu, seemed to
think that she could be taught some sort of skill in
that area.

	Soap had brought with her a few books,
a few herbs, a few weapons, and a letter. The last
had been the most alarming. Cologne had used a
cipher that Soap knew, and had read the letter to
Nodoka. It had spoken of a growing schism in the
ranks of the amazons, though never an open
confrontation.

	It seemed that some amazons simply
chose to go elsewhere, to pull their roots up and
abandon their ancestral home rather than be part
of what was developing in that remote valley.

	Soap had now confirmed that the missing
amazons were waiting, waiting for Cologne to give
a signal, waiting for Shampoo to give the orders.
The Nichieju had been founded ages ago by women
who had a core of steel- they would not bow to
tyranny, whether from a group of males or one of
their own.

	They were as they had always been. The
few, the proud, the amazons.

	When there was a battle that could not
be fought, much less won, in a practical manner, 
they did what was sensical. They simply stopped
being there.

	Unfortunately, as control slowly slipped
from Mascara's fingers, she got further out of 
control herself. Cologne was linked to the two
other Tendos, having taken Nabiki into her house
ostensibly because she'd gotten used to having
Kasumi taking care of all the minor details. She
was also linked to Soap. If the full extent of her
involvement was known, there would be either
a civil war, or (more likely considering what 
little she knew of Mascara) a quiet assassination.

	Mascara was making life hell on as
much of the amazons as she could. Scarlet, her
personal Enforcer, was apparently as heartless
and cruel as her mistress. (Nodoka had her doubts,
but Soap apparently did not.) The two were
making life in the three villages of the amazons
very uncomfortable.

	Many amazons would go along with
Mascara. She was the leader, after all, and was
quite strong. Her Enforcer had been trained for
the past five years in the Amazonian Wu Shu
to almost the exclusion of all else. For her age
group she was a champion. As village champion,
she also swayed many to her side.

	Soap was even now looking for an
excuse to stick around the area. Knowing how
she felt about the males in the Valley of the 
Nichieju, it wouldn't surprise anyone of that
Valley to find she'd challenged a handsome
martial artist in Japan.

	Nodoka shook her head. She was
married and had a child. This, this was the 
sort of thing that had a beautiful princess,
a dashing hero, and the like. What was a
woman approaching middle age doing 
mixed up in the middle of all this?

	Nodoka looked over the two
children who had fallen asleep while she
had talked with Soap. "What a pity,
that there is no handsome hero or 
beautiful princess, such as story as
this needs one."
---------------------------
	A year passed. Kasumi
joined the Cooking Club. Shampoo
considered joining as well, then
decided against it. Then Shampoo
came up with an Idea.

	There were English Clubs,
Science Fiction Clubs, Art Clubs, and
all sorts of other Clubs. So, instead of
joining an existing club, she started a
club. An Amazonian Wu Shu Club.

	That was the name, but it
had all sorts of things dealing with the
Amazons incorporated into it.

	There weren't many members
to begin with. Then Shampoo started
entering tournaments. Then Soap and
her new husband, a Doctor Tofu, 
started showing up. (Some say that
the young doctor's wife had a lot to
do with his decision to move into the
area.)

	Nine months after the start
of the club, one year after coming to live
in Juuban, there were an even dozen
members and the Amazonian Wu Shu
Club & Sewing Circle was considered
completely valid.

	Some of those who joined
simply liked the fighting skills, some 
liked the philosophies, some just hung
around to trade recipes and talk about
various Amazon related topics.

	Some took to the whole idea
of being a good cook, a good fighter, a
good amazon as if they had been born
to the amazon lifestyle. Some new students,
as it turned out, had been.

	Cologne, if she had known
about it, would have been pleased.
=========================
all this is just setup folks. Chap 2:
"Here's Ranma" continues the revised
"Enslaved" script. Will our socially
inept hero end up saving the day,
or merely annoying all and sundry?
As you may have guessed, I'm planning
on a MUCH different direction than
is usual...
ja ne, 
gregg

LIST OF JUUBAN AMAZONS (Bluebird Jr High)
Shampoo Tendo/Xian Pu, Club Champion (Wu Shu)
Kasumi Tendo, Club Champion (Cooking)
Razor/Rai Zu, male amazon, Household Weapons
Sash/Sa Shu, Razor's sister, Club Champion (Sewing)
Makoto Kino, student of Amazonian Wu Shu
Megumi Toriyama, student of Amazonian Cooking
Aya Fujishima, student of Amazonian Wu Shu
Keiko Nagai, student of Amazonian Wu Shu
Tetsuo Omikami, who joined trying to get closer to Megumi
Jiro Janpachi, who joined to sample Amazonian Cooking
Kikuko Arashi, student of Amazonian Cooking/Wu Shu
Noriko Hikawa, student of Amazonian Wu Shu
	adults associated with the Club
Soap/So Pu, Driver/Nurse/Adult supervisor,
  Amazonian Wu Shu Master
Tofu Ono, Adult supervisor, amazon by marriage,
  Chiropractor, MD
Nodoka Saotome, Adult Supervisor, kendoist,
  Anything Goes School of Martial Arts
Kensuke Fujishima, big brother of Aya, frequent
  supporter, motorcycle cop
Toast/Tao Tsu, father of Razor and Sash, Master
  of Household Weapons & Cooking