You wrote:
 

Frankly I think Maelstrom should not talk so much.  
Combined with the all-CAPS diction, it's a real strain on the >eyes, 

Sorry about that. I knew that would be the one problem with the chapter,
(aside from the speech being long) but under the circumstances I thought it
was best to give his speech in caps. Just seemed right.

 

and the story could
easily be slimmed down without losing any of the substantive points. 

Actually, I tried and almost everything in there was necessary in one way
or another. Maelstrom's motivations needed to be explained so he didn't
come off as simply wanting all of this power for the sake of having it. He
did it because of a percevied wrong (and it was all in the name of
'justice' in his eyes). As to the origin of Jusenkyou and the plan, again I
thought it needed to be explained, although I'll be the first to admit the
length of the speech was pretty close to painful. Tried clipping as much as
I could though. Most of the other background info was needed too, including
the early years. 
   
Thanks a lot for the comments though. Hope you like the next chapter
better. It represents the true climax of the series. (Yep, this was just
the wrap up to the bad guys part of the story.) The whole thing has yet to
really sink in for Ranma, and then he has to react. Hopefully, I'll get to
send the next chapter tomorrow, unless something comes up. The one
advantage to waiting so long to post this was that at least I can send the
next one out soon. 

 
D.B. Sommer