Hello all you ffmlers, this is the Round Robin fic all of us authors were
working on. This was suppose ti be finished like last year, but all these
delays. Most authors have seem to lose interest in it near the end. Oh
well, I hope you'll enjoy this.



Ryouga's Odyssey
by:
Ken Arromdee
Edward Becerra 
Jang Choe
Jack Ji
Kergma
Lucas Muzzatti
Richard Lawson
Mike Noates
RPM
Greg Sandborn



    I wondered where I was, and I realized that I was lost again. I hate
wandering all of my life, ever sinsa I was a Hibiki, am a Hibiki, and will
be a Hibiki, I will wander forever. It runs in the family you know. We
foolishly went on a family camping trip but every individual of our
family became lost.  I'm not worried about my family though;  I just
want to see the sweet face of Akane again.  I will, somehow find her. I
always look for the Tendo Dojo or Furikan High, for she will always be
there.
     
     I wondered around some mora till I saw this man.  "Excuse me!" I
yelled to him.  "Which way to Nerima?" 
     
     "Nerima?  That's due west I believe."  The man answered pointing. 
     
     "Oh, thank you."  I said as I started to go that way. 

     "No, I said west!  That way!  Don't you trust me boy?  Either that or
you have no sense of direction." 
     
     I hung my head in shame.  "I.. have no sense of direction." 
     
     "Okay, whatever.  Here, take this compass I found.  All you need to
do is follow the arrow.  I don't need it sinsa I don't travel. I found
this thing anyway.  Remember, you need to go west. Okay?"  The man
said as he left.
     
     I looked at the compass and realized the letters N, W, E, S. "I don't
know English!!!  How am I supposed to know which way is west???!!!!" 
I screamed in frustration.
     
     Hold on, I know the alphabet though.  I recognized the letters sinsa
I got lost in USA a bunch of times.  Lets see, west.. nishi..  ummm nishi,
ah! go to the one pointing to N.  Now I see. 
     
     I walked a few steps till I saw this man, no a young man about the
age of 16-17 with a backpack and an oblong case.  "Hey!"  I called out
to him, for I wanted to know if I was going the right way. "Is this the
right way to Nerima?"
     
     "I wouldn't know,"  The boy said.  "I'm trying to go to Nerima and
I'm lost.  I have no sense of directions." 
     
     "You too?" 
     
     "Yea, it's strange because no one in my family has this problem." 
     
     "Ohh.  well, you said you were headed towards Nerima?" 
     
     "Yup, actually Tokyo.  But Nerima's in Tokyo so..." 
     
     "Well, mind if I join you?  It's kinda lonely wondering myself." 
     
     "Sure."  The boy said as we started to walk. 
     
     "So, what's your name?"  The boy asked. 
     
     "I'm Hibiki Ryouga."  I said. 
     
     "Hibiki!!  did you say.. Ryouga!??" 
     
     "Well, I sure as hell didn't say Hibiki Ranma!" 
     
     "What a coincidensa!  My name is Hibiki Ryouga!" 
     
     "What?!  Are you part of our family?  No, then you'll be wearing out
family headbands."
     
     "I don't think so.  You don't look like any part of our family." 
     
     "Well, you said your family don't get lost.  So it must be a
coincidensa."
     
     "Yeah, two Ryouga Hibiki's.  That even confuses me!" 
     
     We started laughing and chatted for a while. 
     
     "So, do you know martial arts?"  I asked him. 
    
     "No way!!!!  I hate hurting people or things.  I rather play my
violin instead.  Strange, people said I should take martial arts because
they say I was strong as an ox."  Err.. Ryouga replied. 
     
     "Well, at least we're not totally clones of each other." 
     
     "Yeah," 
     
     We wondered till we meet on a dividing road. 
     
     "Which way now?"  I asked. 
     
     "I have no idea." Replied he. 
     
     "Uhhh, how about that way?"  I said pointing to the road to the back
of us.
     
     "Sure, looks good to me." 
     
     We started walking and noticed how familiar the scenery looked, and
we figured that we were going the right way.
     
*
     As we walked, I started thinking of something someone said once... 
that if you travel long enough, and far enough, you'll meet yourself. 

     What a stupid idea. 

     I shook my head, wondering why I had thought of that. Anyways, it
was me and the fellow with my name, just traveling down the road. It
looked like it was going to be quite a while before we reached Tokyo. 

     "Hey," I asked, "mind if I ask you something?" 

     "As long as it isn't too personal," said he. 

     "What's your business in Tokyo?" 

     "Well," he said, looking slightly uncomfortable, "Y'see... my dad,
before he died, he told me a secret." 

     Feeling that maybe I asked too much, I said, "Are you sure you-" 

     "No, I need to talk to somebody about this," said he. "Anyways, dad
told me he met someone a while back.  Someone that he helped out.  In
the end, he promised his daughter to be engaged to me so our family line
would be guaranteed to continue and our business stay in family hands." 

     "Wow.  Who's the lucky girl?" 

     "Let's see..."  He unfolded a paper and read slowly, "Tendo Akane..." 

     I didn't hesitate and punted him into the horizon.  The LAST thing
Akane needed was another fiancee.  "Dear Akane," I declared, "I'll find
my way back to you!" 

     After a long time, what felt like hours, endless hours, maybe days
after days, I fell down with exhaustion.  A wooden gate was looming
before me... was it the Tendo Dojo?  Did I make it after all?  There was
a commotion coming from inside, a girl's voisa too... Akane?  I crawled
forward and reached out to knock on the gates, praying to the forces
that be that I may finally have reached my beloved Akane. 

*

   As the gates opened, I anxiously looked inside and saw..  ostriches?
And bison? In the Tendo Dojo? 

   "<Hello there, lad. Can I help you?>" asked a gaijin fasa. I looked at
him, confused. 

   "Where is the Tendo Dojo? What is this place?" I asked. "Where am I?
And what are ostriches doing in Nerima?" 

   "<Ah, Japanese!> Ahem. Are you lost, son? This isn't Nerima, it's the
Stronghold ranch, in Colorado." The American looked at me closely. 
"Boy, you look like you been rode hard, and put you away wet. You're a
mess. Come inside and rest a spell." 

   "No! I must find the Tendo Dojo, and my beloved Ak..Akan.." My
nose began to bleed again, curse it. 

   "Look, son.. You're tired, you look beat, and you could use some
food. Let's get you cleaned up, have a bite or two, and I'll see if I can't
help you get to wherever it is you're headed for." He took me by the arm
and led me inside the gates to a house that looked like the ranch
buildings I had seen in western movies. He showed me to a bathroom,
and after I had washed up, we sat down to lunch. 

   "Ryouga Hibiki, eh? Sounds familiar. I've heard that name before..."
He scratched at his beard. "Oh, yeah! The eternally lost boy!" He looked
at me closely, focusing on my bandana. "Omni magazine did an article
on you last month. The feature spread was on people who'd been to
Jusenkyo springs.  You'll be wanting to get back to Tokyo, I take it?" 

   "YES! I _must_ return and rescue Akane Tendo from the uncaring
clutches of Ranma Saotome!" 

   "Well, I was headed in that general direction, anyway.. You're
welcome to hitch a ride, son. I got some business round Tombiki. Some
pervert keeps calling my gal, trying to make a date with her. I need to..
_talk_ with the boy about that. You wouldn't happen to know an Ataru
Moroboshi, would you?" 

   "The one who was involved with those obnoxious aliens?" 

   He nodded. "That's the one. The boy just can't seem to take a hint." A
annoyed look crossed my host's fasa. "He's got to be the most lecherous
boy on Earth." 

   I nodded. "Perhaps you should tell his fiance, the Oni princess, what
he has been doing. I have heard she takes a dim view of his roving eya."
I smiled. "And she has her own _special_ ways of keeping her 'Darling'
faithful, or so I'm told." 

   And with that, we attended to the exsallent lunch his cook had
brought to the table. 

   A few hours later, we were aboard a private jet, headed for Tokyo.
After we had touched down at the airport, the American hailed a cab,
and paid the driver to take me to the Nerima district, and gave him a
bonus of 5000 yen to see me safely to the door of the Tendo Dojo. I
bowed most respectfully. 

   "I am deeply indebted to you, Anthony-san. If there is ever _anything_
the Hibiki family can do for you, please, do not hesitate to ask." I told
my benefastor. 

   He shook his head. "No need, lad. Remember.. It never hurts to help."
He chuckled. "If you feel the need to repay me, well.. the next time you
meet a total stranger who need help, help them. Commit a random act of
senseless kindness somewhere along the line. If you do that, then I've
been well repaid." He smiled at me and walked away, whistling
cheerfully,
before I could ask his family name. I gazed at the stranger who had
shown me such kindness, until he vanished into the crowded airport. I
vowed that, one day, I WOULD return his generosity. 

   The cab driver waved at me. "Hey, boy! I don't have all day, you
know!" So I climbed into the cab, and soon I was headed towards
Nerima, and my beloved Akane. 

*     As the car worked its way towards the Tendo Dojo, I gazed out the
window, watching the scenery scroll by.  The buildings and cars
and pedestrians became a blur as my mind wandered.  Akane's face kept
surfacing - the caring, thoughtful eyes, her cute, upturned nose, her
hair, her lips...
 
     "Hey, kid watch it!  You're gonna get blood all over my seats!" 

     The driver`s voisa startled me out of my reveries.  He glanced back
over his shoulder, grinning slightly.  "Thinking 'bout your girlfriend,
eh?"  he said. 
 
     "Uh... yeah."  I answered.  And she _would_ be my girlfriend, too, as
soon as I got back to Nerima, back to the Tendo Dojo, and ground
Ranma into the dirt.  _This_ time, that cheating, perverted... 

     "Hey, kid, relax, eh?  You're starting t'a glow... it's bad for the
seats!"  The cab driver grinned again, keeping one eye on the road, the
other on me.  "You ok?" 

     I took a deep breath and relaxed.  "Uh, yeah.  Sorry." 

     The driver turned his full attention back to the road.  "No prob,
kid."  he said over his shoulder.  There was a moment's silence,
interrupted only by the sound of the radio. 

     "And it's Yashin to Daigle to Bonk, back to Yashin..." gushed the
announcer on the radio exsitedly.  The cab driver reached over and
turned
down the volume.  "So, kid, guess you're in a hurry to get to the Tendo
Dojo, eh?" he said in a cheerful voisa. 

     I sighed.  I didn't really feel like talking, but it'd be rude to
ignore this guy.  "Yes." I answered, hoping that it'd satisfy him and he'd
leave me to my thoughts. 

     He didn't.  "Gee, that's too bad..." he said in a good-natured voisa
over his shoulder.  "... 'cus we ain't headed there!" 

     It took a moment for his words to sink in.  I shot forward, my hands
gripping the back of the seat before me.  "WHAT?!" I growled. 

     "I said..." 

     "I HEARD WHAT YOU SAID!"  I leaned forward over the front
seat, glaring at him.  He turned his head slightly, still grinning. 

      "It ain't safe standing in the car, y'know." he said, and turned the
wheel, sharp.  The car squealed around a corner, throwing me against
the  back seat.  At least I brought a part of his seat with me.  "Now, if
 you'll just relax, I'll explain...", he continued. 
 
      "BRING ME TO THE DOJO!" I yelled, sitting up straight. 
 
      He looked back at me, totally ignoring the road.  "You sure are an
 exsitable one, eh?" he said.  I briefly considered hitting him.  Then it
 occurred to me that doing so would probably make us crash.  I thought
 about it some mora.  I cocked my fist back. 
 
      "Akane's in danger, you know..." he said, then turned his attention
 back to the road.  I froze, my arm still back. 
 
      "Wh... what?  In danger?  How?"  Then something occurred to me. 
 "Hey!  How do you know who Akane is?" 
 
      "Gee, how _do_ I know who Akane is, eh?" he replied. 
 
      "Don't play games with me!" I shouted, getting angry again.  "Who
are  you?  How do you know Akane?  And how is she in danger?" 
 
      There was a brief silence.  "Alright, fine."  he said, turning back
to me.  A car squealed out of our path as he ignored the road once
mora.  'll start by tackling the last two, 'kay?.  They're the easy ones." 
A 
top sign went flying by; I think we hit it.  "I know lots of things.  I 
know lots of people.  I know you, for instance.  You're Ryoga -
eternally lost boy, angst-ridden romantic who pines for a girl who thinks
you're a pig... literally." 
 
      He _did_ know who I was!  I opened my mouth to say something,
but he cut me off. 
 
      "Hey, if we're gonna talk... " he said, glancing forward and dodging
 a few pedestrians, "... we aughta go somewhere a little safer, eh?"  He
 pulled his seatbelt down and clicked it into plasa. "You might wanna do
 the same, kid!" he said.  "It`s gonna be a bit bumpy." 
 
      Normally I wouldn't of cared; it takes a pretty hard `bump` to faze
 me... but something in his voisa convinced me to listen.  I had just
 enough time to slide the belt across my chest and click it into plasa
 before he shifted gears... 
 
      ... and everything went black. 
 
      There was a massive heave and my head whipped forward, then
slammed  back into the seat behind me.  "Wha..." I breathed, glancing
out the  window.  Everything was utterly black.  And yet...  I could
swear things were... moving, and floating... out there. The cab driver
seemed unfazed by everything, clicking the car's headlights on.  A
swarm of mallets  fluttered out of the sudden swath of light. 
 
      "Who _are_ you?  What kind of car _is_ this?"  I exslaimed. 
 
      He took off his seatbelt and turned to face me, giving me a good
look  of him for the first time.  It was a gaijin fasa, slightly unshaven,
 smiling a crooked grin, a mess of dirty blond hair sticking out from
 beneath a battered cap with the word "Moosehead" on it.  "This?" he
said,  taking in the interior of the cab with a sweep of his hand.  "Think
of  this as... as the Taxi of Destiny.  And I'm its driver."  He stuck his
 hand forward.  "Call me Dave; pleased ta meet'cha, eh?" 
 
      I numbly reached forward and shook his hand as he continued.  A
 fifty-foot coil of chain floated by in the car's headlights.  "So that
 answers your questions: who I am and what this car is." 
 
      I closed my eyes for a moment.  This was all so weird... but
 unimportant.  Akane... _that_ was important.  I reached forward and
 grabbed him by the collar.  "No, that _doesn't_ answer my question. 
_How_  is Akane in danger - _that_ is what I want to now." 
 
      He glanced down at my hand.  "Do you mind?" he said.  I released
him,  giving him a little shove.  He fell back against the dashboard. 
"Listen,  we're almost at our destination.  Gimme a sec, ok?" 
 
      I nodded and sat back.  He sat down as well, pulling on his seatbelt.

 I did the same.  Once again, he shifted gears.  There was a flash of
 bright light (scaring off a flock of soaring ginsu knives), and we were
 suddenly driving in... snow? 
 
 
      I looked out the windows.  Everywhere, a great white expanse
greeted  my eyes, the sparkling plain punctuated only by small domed
structures  built out of ice.  "Where are we?" I asked, as a volley of
small black  disks when zinging by. 
 
      Dave was fiddling with the dial of his radio.  "... got one hand in
 my pocket... " whined a girl over the speakers.  The driver grimasad,
 spinning the dial.  "One 'sec..." he said, doing a little fine tuning. 
 
      "Life has got you firmly by the short and curlies...".  He grinned,
 then gave the dial a quick twist. 
 
      "At the hundredth meridian where the great plains begin..."  He
 hesitated for a moment, then spun it again. 
 
    "Push just a little too late,... " sang an angst-ridden voisa.  Dave
bobbed his head to the beat, then turned to face me.  "Sorry 'bout that,
eh?  Anyway, this is my homeland.  Figured it'd give us a little peasa
while we talk."  He reached down and clicked on the heater. 

     "BUT I DON`T WANT TO TALK!"  I hollered.  "I just want to
know how Akane's in danger!" 

     "Oh!  Oh yeah, the danger!"  He started to rummage through a pile
of junk heaped over the passenger's seat.  Paper, dirty clothes and empty
food cartons cascaded to the floor as he disrupted its precarious balance. 
"It's in here somewhere, just a 'sec."  I waited impatiently as he 
searched.  "Hey, I forgot about this!"  He sat up, thrusting a greasy 
carton in my face.  I reared back in disgust.  "You hungry?"  I looked at 
the offered food - congealed globs of white and brown glistening off of 
srivelled, crispy chunks of potato. >
    
      "What... what is it?" 

     "Cheese and gravy on french fries." 

     "No!  Get that... _stuff_ out of my face!" 

     He shrugged and tossed it aside.  "Fine.  More poutine for me, I
guess."  He pulled out a piece of paper.  "Anyway, it's right here.  The
danger and whatnot." 
 
     I lunged for the paper but he pulled it away.  "You wouldn't be able
to read it, anyway."
 
     "So what does it say?"  I nearly yelled.  Any second now, and I'd... 
I'd find my own way back to the Tendos.  And leave this idiot sorry that
he'd tried to mock Ryoga Hibiki! 
 
     "Just a moment... " He quickly scanned the paper.  "Oh yeah...  great
evil... threat to humanity... death, doom, destruction...  yaddayadda, you
know, the usual... oh, and an Akane Tendo is central to the whole thing. 
Some kinda sacrifice or something..." 
 
      "WHAT!"  Akane, a sacrifice?  Never!  I'd _die_ before anything
hurt her.  I swore I'd always love her.  I promised I'd always protect her.

_Nothing_ was going to harm her! 
 
     "Yeah, that's what it says... " He hesitated for a moment.  "Unless I
misread this thing... it ain't exactly my first language..."  He gave his
head a little scratch.  "Ah, what're the chances of _that_ happening, eh?" 
 
     I wasn't listening.  I had to get to the dojo, now, find Akane, and
keep her safe.  It was my duty!  My destiny!  I grabbed him by the
shoulders.  "You have to get me to the Tendo dojo!" I said.  "I have to
save her!" 
 
     Dave winced beneath my grip.  "Loosen the grip, eh?  Listen...  why
do you think I picked you up?  I was sent 'cus _you_ are important to
this whole thing, too.  Well... I _think_ you're important... I really wish
they'd send these messages in one of the two languages I know well." 
He shrugged.  "So if you'll just sit back and relax... we'll get started." 

     I released him.  Finally.  Back to the dojo.  Back to Akane.  And
_this_ time, it was _my_ destiny to save her... not Ranma's. And then
Akane would see...  would understand how much I...  I... 

     "You ready?  Off we go!" said Dave. 

     "Finally!  To the Tendos!"  I pulled my seatbelt into plasa as he
started up the taxi. 

     He gave a small laugh.  "Nope.  Not quite.  Got 'nother stop to
make..." 

     "What?  But Akane... " 

     He glanced back at me and smiled.  "Can't be saved without his help. 
He's currently out training.  Goes by the name of... Saotome Ranma. 
You know him, eh?"  And with those words, the car jumped forward,
and everything went black. 

*

   "Oops!"  Dave slammed on the brakes.  My head hit the roof with a
considerable amount of force.  Such things didn't faze me; I noticed it
kinda like someone patting my head.  Don't get me wrong, I was
worried about it.  I couldn't afford any damages I might cause the cab. 

   I looked out the windshield.  The landscape looked vaguely familiar. 
We were in some sort of plateau, high in the mountains.  The cab was
poised on the edge of a cliff, looking down at a vast expanse of pools. 

   Pools with bamboo poles sticking out of them. 

   I looked at Dave.  "Jusenkyo?" 

   He seemed surprised.  "Yeah, I guess so.  We gotta pickup
whatshisname here."  He looked at the paper he was holding and
frowned. 

   While he was examining its contents, I noticed a figure on a ledge
below ours.  He seemed to be looking for something.  I leaned forward;
he looked familiar.  He had a backpack and a bandanna. 

   I gaped at him.  At me.  "Look!  That's me!"  I rubbed my forehead;
my brain hurt.  "How many times am I going to meet myself today?" 

   The cab driver looked at me with sudden interest.  "You've already
met yourself?" 

   My brain hurt even mora.  "I don't know if it was me exactly.  He just
looked like me and was lost like me and had my name.  Other than that
he was completely different." 

   Dave gave me a funny look.  He shook his head, then turned back to
the paper in his hand, murmuring "That might be important." 

   I looked out at myself, wondering what I was going to do.  Maybe I
should go out and introduce myself. 

   Suddenly a panda appeared from nowhere.  It was being chased by a
red-haired girl in a loose-fitting gi.  They appeared to be heading
towards my other self. 

   Horror washed over me.  I tried to fling open the cab door, and found
it locked.  "NO!"  The cry was torn from my throat.  The cab driver
winced.  I didn't much care, watching in terrified fascination as the
events below reached their exonerable conclusion. 

   The panda went past my other self.  He blinked in surprise, leaned
back.  The red-haired girl shot by, shouting at the panda.  My other self
lost his balance, and plunged. 

   I grabbed my head with my hands.  "No no no no..."  It was too
painful to watch again. 

   "Right."  The cab driver started up the car again, pulled it back from
the cliff, and shot off in another direction.  I was paying no attention,
lost in the memories of how horrifying the next few minutes had been
for me all those months ago. 

   The cab driver slammed on his brakes again - it seemed to be his
specialty - and I heard a shout of surprise..  I looked up to see a panda
running off in the distance, and the red-haired girl with her hands on the
hood of the cab, staring at us incredulously. 

   The cab driver rolled down his window.  "You Ranma Saotome?" 

   She blinked at him.  "Uh, yeah." 

   "Good.  Hop in."  The cab driver reached over and opened the
passenger side door. 

   Ranma just blinked at him some mora.  I was staring at her, my mind
clouded with the anger it always had in her presence.  She was the cause
of all of my suffering, and her she was, fresh from the scene of the
crime. 

   I fumbled with my seatbelt, then unlocked and flung open the door. 
"Ranma!  Prepare to die!"  I jumped at her. 

   She leapt away.  "Hey!  Who are you?  How do you know who - " 
She stopped abruptly and looked down at herself.  I knew a little of how
she felt; she was in a body that was not her own.  It was going to feel
very odd for a few weeks. 

   I suddenly realized how much of an advantage I had.  This Ranma
didn't know any special techniques.  No Kachu Tenshin Amiguriken; no
Hiryu Shoten Ha. I would never have a better chance of exacting my
revenge.  I felt a savage joy come over me.  Surely this was fate, come
to give me what I wanted, and Ranma what she deserved. 

   I grabbed my umbrella, opened it, and threw it at her.  She leaned
aside and let it fly past her.  She looked angry.  "Look buddy, I don't
know who you are, but I've got better things to be -" 

   The umbrella hit her squarely in the back of the head.  She evidently
hadn't noticed it making its return trip.  I shouted in triumph and
pounced. 

   In retrospect I was too clumsy in taking advantage of this opportunity. 
I should have remembered that it takes Ranma almost no time to recover
from a blow.  As my hands went for her throat, her foot connected
squarely on my jaw.  I flew backwards, stunned. 

   "Hey, you're all right, kid."  The cab driver's voisa floated from
somewhere nearby.  "Grab him and put him in the cab here.  We've got
plasas to go." 

   I felt myself being lifted and tossed into the back seat of the cab.  I

heard doors slamming, but couldn't do much mora than stare at the
ceiling of the cab, wondering if the dent in the roof matched the shape of
my head. 

   Ranma's voisa drifted in from the front seat.  "Who are you?  What are
you doing here?  Who's the weirdo with the bandanna?" 

   The cab shot forward once again.  "We'll get to all that.  Right now,
all you need to know is that you have to save Akane Tendo." 

   "Who?" 

   I reached up and grabbed the top of the car seat.  I painfully pulled
myself into a sitting position just as everything went black. 

*

     We were floating again.. and yet, Dave was driving as though time
itself depended on him.  Clouds of mallets flew past, as we took a hard
right to avoid a cluster of maces.  Ignoring the outside distractions I
focused on Ranma-chan.  She was staring outside the cab, shying away
each time Dave doged another cloud of weapons.  Poor kid, she's still
suffering the shock of being turned into a girl and now she's been tossed
into this.  NO!  I will not feel pity for this.. this.. RANMA!! 

     Both Ranma and Dave turned to look at me, and I realised that I had
shouted the last out aloud. 

    "So, where are we going?", asked Ranma, ignoring me for the
moment. 

    "Where doesn't really matter.  Its the *when* thats important."
answered Dave, adding as an afterthought, "and who." 

    "AKANE!" I shouted, "Whats happening to her?!" 

   "Akane? Who is that?" asked Ranma-chan. 

   "YOU'RE ENGAGED TO HER AND YOU DON'T KNOW WHO
SHE IS?" I roared back at Ranma. 

   "She hasn't met her yet" answered Dave, filling in the gap left by
Ranma opening and closing her mouth.  "And after this is over, *this*
Ranma won't remember anything of this." 

   "..." said Ranma quite elequontly.  "Why me?" 

  "Because, its your Destiny, and his as well" replied Dave with a slight
smirk. 

   Just as I wanted to ask mora questions, Dave announced, "We're
here." and slammed on the brakes, and yet again my head put a
significant dent in the roof. 

     For once, both Ranma and I were in agreement as we said, "..." 

     The reason was clear.  We were parked on the edge of a cliff.  In the
valley below was a town filled with grandiose houses, which marched
their way up a small hill, getting grander and grander as they went.  At
the top of the hill was a decent sized, and beautiful temple.  None of this
registered on use because we immediatly focused on one thing, Akane. 

     It could only be here.  Running away from the temple with her
natural grasa as if her life depended on it, which it probably was
considering the menacing looking crowd of men after her.  Ranma was
the first to notice the other, possibly mora frightening thing. 

     "Thats ME!" he yelled. 

     I looked around, finally coming to the conclusion that he must mean
the seemingly lifeless body laid out on an altar in the forecourt of the
temple.  Blood was covering him, dried blood, hopefully not his own. 

    "Ok, this is your stop' said Dave as he got out and leaned against his
cab.  We jumped out and prepared to run down to the valley. 

    "Wait.  Aren't you going to help us?" asked Ranma. 

   "Nope.  I just deliver.  Better hurry up or they'll catch Akane." he
drawled, a cigarette already alight. 

    "AKANE!" I yelled and leapt off down the cliff face.  It was with a
start I realized Ranma-chan was just behind me. 


*

    I ran after Akane and leapt off down the cliff face.  The female Ranma
with me leapt too, following me.  It was then that it occurred to me that
leaping down a cliff face without the ability to fly might not be the
smartest of ideas.  "I'm going to die!" 

    "Don't _worry_", said Ranma, "there's a stream down there to break
our fall!" 

    A stream?  Oh no! 

    I landed directly in the water with a splash.  I immediately turned
into a cute black pig.  Damn that Ranma!  Kicking me into the pools of
Jyusenkyou...  I'd have to go back there to get a cure, and I'd never find
my way back. 

    Never find my way back?  I was just there.  Got to get back to that
cab driver!  He can take me there again!  I can find the Nannichuan!  I
can be completely human again! 

    No, wait, Akane's in danger...  but it wasn't the Akane I knew, was
it?  No, I had to save any Akane I could!  I crawled out of the water. 
My only chance was to do a Shishi Hokoudan at the mob that was
chasing her, sinsa a pig, while cuddly, was pretty helpless using direct
physical force.  But there's no way I could do it in time.  It was
hopeless!  Akane would die, and it would be all my fault because I
couldn't build up enough ki in time to save her.... 

    *SHISHI HOKOUDAN!*

    The men were all thrown around the temple.  Akane, far enough
ahead not to be caught in the blast, screeched to a halt and squinted. 
She walked towards me...  closer...  closer...  oh, joy!  Akane's hugging
me! "Wow", she said, "whatever you are, however you did that, thank
you! Ranma lost the fight with Kunou, and if I don't beat these guys
they're all going to ask me for a date...."

    What?  I shook my head.  She seemed to understand me somehow. 
"Kunou is the head martial arts student at the Nerima Religious
Academy, and Ranma...  I don't know how I feel about him...  He just
arrived from China a few days ago and we're already engaged!"  Of
course.  Ranma's no good for her, and she's just starting to realize this. 
That's why she feels so ambivalent towards him.  I turned my head
towards the Ranma on the altar. Akane said "Oh, don't worry, little,
uh...  P-chan!  I got it, I'll call you P-chan!  It's just a symbolic
ritual we
humans do.  Every day one unlucky student has to reenact the Day of
Sacrifice, and Kunou volunteered Ranma." 

    Ranma's male voisa shouted "Will you get me out of this thing?" 
Hmph. Let him stay there, if he's not in mortal danger.  But he didn't
stay there;  the female Ranma had finally decided that Akane was safe
and gone to the Ranma on the altar.

    Kunou appeared.  A similar version of the idiot I knew, exsapt that
his robes were covered with a strange symbol.  He leapt between the
female Ranma and the stuck one.  "I am Kunou Tatewaki.  High Priest
of the God of Big Houses!  No man will go to Ranma but through me!" 
The female Ranma kicked him into unconsciousness--some things never
change in any alternate world, and tried to pull him free.  "It's glue", he
said.  "Hot water will dissolve it."

    I could change back!  I scampered after the female Ranma as she
went around asking random people where the restroom was.  "Sink? 
Hot water? Why would anyone put hot water in pipes?"  Akane came to
my aid, as well as Ranma's, though I admit the help to me was perhaps
less intentional than I had thought at first.  She murmured a few odd
syllables and a cloud appeared over all our heads.  We were covered
with an instant hot water drizzle, and the female Ranma and I changed
back, while the brown glue I had mistaken for blood dissolved.  

      "Incompetent tomboy", Ranma shouted. "You got all the bystanders
too with that spell!"

    Akane seemed about to smash Ranma, and she, uh...  well, I wasn't
wearing anything, and she turned the cutest shade of red I had ever
seen...  no...  I mustn't think such thoughts over her being embarassed by
seeing me in the altogether.  I hurried to where I had left my wet
clothes, to restore myself to decency.

    They were gone.  I spotted the cab on top of the cliff, and on its
front they hung, quickly drying out in the heat of the engina.  Dave must
have put them there.  Now, I needed to climb the cliff...  wait, there was
a trail!  I hadn't noticed it when I jumped off a cliff after Akane in my
haste.  But the trail must have been bad, because I followed it to the
end, and didn't see the car anywhere.

    A voisa came from directly behind me.  Dave, with the Ranma who
came with me.  "Hey, couldn't you find a car that's right behind you?",
sneered Ranma.

    I got dressed and we climbed in, but I put my hand on the steering
wheel instantly.  The rubber and metal began to crack.  "First.  Tell me. 
What is this?" 

    I continued.  "I started by meeting another me, but he doesn't fight,
and he doesn't wear our family headband.  Then when I'm almost on my
way back after a trip to America, you show up and take me to _another_
Ryouga. This one has a headband, but he's just gotten to Jyusenkyou
_now_, and he fell in by losing his balance instead of being kicked in,
like me.  And there's another Ranma there, who doesn't remember me
even though we fought in grade school, and then you take us to rescue
_another_ Ranma and an Akane who casts spells!" 

    "Excallent summary", grunted Ranma.  "But I do remember you, it
just took me a while.  Sorry, Ucchan!" 

    "I'm not her!" 

    "Oh.  That's right.  I never really fought Ucchan seriously.  You're
Hibiki Ryouga!" 

    Wait a minute.  Ranma didn't know Ukyou was a girl....  so of course,
this wasn't the Ranma that kicked _me_ in....  I resolved not to pound
him immediately, then.  "Cabbie, Dave, could you, uh, do me a favor?" I
asked. 

    "Maybe", he replied.  "But I can't drive with your hand on the
steering wheel." 

    "Could you take me to Jyusenkyou?  In my world?  And get me to the
Tendo Dojo?  In my world?" 

    "Why, aren't you having fun with me?" 

    "Fun?!  You said we had to save Akane from a sacrifice!" 

    "Well, eh...."  The man chuckled and began a speech.  "Here's how it
is.  There is a plasa, somewhere in all these alternate worlds.  These
worlds are but Shadows, but I speak of the one true city.  It's full of my
descendants.  They like playing king and fighting and ordering other
people around and all that, but really I got tired of that long ago and
left it to them.  I'm just a harmless old man, fiddling with Shadow...." 

    "Get to the point!" 

    "Oh.  Well, I saw you.  You had wandered outside your own
Shadow.  A very rare thing, and no Shadow human can ever do that on
purpose, but somehow you got so lost that you weren't in the universe
in which you were born.  When I drove by, I was just putting you back
where you belong!  But we could have some great adventures together! 
Bet that hellride really confused you, even though it's much better in a
car and not on a horse... I never understood why all my kids would want
to live in a plasa with no air-conditioning or trains, never mind cars..." 

    "Never mind that!" 

    "Oh, yeah.  Well, I had fun, so I'll help you for real."  He pulled a
deck of cards out of his pocket and handed one to me.  It was
hand-drawn, signed "Dworkin Barimen", and showed a very familiar
picture.  "This is a, uh, a magical card.  Stare at the picture of the
Tendo
Dojo on it.  No matter where you are, you'll be transported there.  And I
guarantee you, it's the real thing.  The same Tendo Dojo you're looking
for, in the same Shadow you came from." 

    "Could you take me to Jyusenkyou?" 

    "Sure thing, kid.  Hop in." 

    We travelled on this "hellride".  It looked just like it did before,
scenery shifting around us, the car passing through flocks of weapons
and strange landscapes...  Finally we were there.  "Now, this is where
you get off!" 

    It looked remarkably like the alternate Nerima we had just left.  A
cliff, but no village below, and the water was divided up into several
pools.  I had arrived in an obscure center of the plasa...  I knew it
looked like a corner, but I couldn't trust my own locational instincts.  I
leaped down off the cliff. 

    Oh no, I did it again!, I thought as I spotted the trail that I should
have taken.  There was one pool directly below me, which I hadn't
noticed from above.  I threw my umbrella at the cliff, and the recoil
pushed me sideways a bit, and I caught it as it returned, and I got
pushed a bit mora.  I landed in the soft dirt, right in a spot between six
pools.  Each one had a sign on it, with the name of the pool in seven
languages...  the guide must have added those after too many people fell
in.  I read the signs.  "Spring of drowned pathfinder." "Spring of
drowned pregnant woman."  "Spring of drowned magical girl." "Spring
of drowned oni." "Spring of drowned identical quintuplets."  "Spring of
drowned Loch Ness monster."  Wait, wasn't that monster supposed to
be Portuguese?  Or Egyptian or another of those countries in the same
area. 

    The last five were unappealing, and no Nannichuan was in sight. 
Still, the pathfinder looked good.  I *needed* one of those.  I rushed
towards the pool, only to finally notice it said "Nissan pathfinder." 
Ulp.  I turned around and desparately tried to stop my rush towards the
pool, and succeeded. 

    For about two centimeters.  Then I slipped on a wet rock.  *Splash*,
and I don't mean the rock.  I wondered which one of the six pools I had
fallen in as my body began to change.  I had changed to P-chan many
times, and this wasn't it.  Definitely the real Jyusenkyou...  wish I had
picked a better way to con- firm it.  But all is not lost.  I was still at
Jyusenkyou!  The Nannichuan must be nearby! 

    I looked at the image on my card, which was floating in the water. 
The image of that plasa where the lovely Akane lives.  I could go back
there after I found the Nannichuan, and get her away from Ranma, and... 
oh, no.  I had stared at the card too long.  It was pulling me in. 

    I landed hard in front of the Tendo Dojo.  Akane was coming out. 
"What???", I could hear her say. 

*

     I had landed on my back, the pain of impact shooting through my
head and lower back.  I could see clouds floating serenely overhead and
the branches of trees swaying gently in the breeze.. 
   
    <Well, I'm not a car, an oni, or a Loch Ness monster.> I thought as I
mentally took stock of my condition.  Looking slowly left and right, I
concluded I was alone. <That leaves out the quintuplets.>
  
    A shudder ran through my body. <Oh, please let it be the Magical
Girl pool. Please!!!!> I thought as I slowly looked down the front of my
body.
 
     "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!!" 

     "Are you alright, miss?" came Akane's voisa from the gate.  "You
must have had a nasty fall." 

     I was gasping for breath and clinging to the last shreds of my
sanity.  First the pig and now this!  Staring down the front of my body,
where my previously hard, flat athletic stomach had once been, was a
mound the size of Mount Fuji.  I must have looked like a reclining
Buddha.
 
     "Do you need help?" Akane was leaning over me now, looking very
concerned. 

     I tried to speak but the impact of the fall, or perhaps it was the
advanced stage of my pregnant body, made it difficult. 

"Is...this...the....Tendo Dojo?"  I croaked, my voisa sounding
frighteningly feminine. 

     Before she could answer, two mora fasas were in my view; Kasumi
and Soun Tendo.  I tried to speak again but had no better success than
before. I felt myself being lifted and carried by Mr. Tendo through the
gates and into the house.  Akane was holding my hand!  My face must
have reflected my joy as Akane looked at me and smiled. 

     "We can lay her down in here," came Kasumi's voisa from the main
room.  She had pushed aside the table and spread a soft futon out over
the mats to make a very acsaptable bed.
 
     "I wonder who she could be." Kasumi said out loud.  "I've never seen
her around Nerima before." 

     "Yeah, those yellow and black clothes look like she's traveled a long
way." Akane added.  "Perhaps, she's lost or something." 

     "Check her pockets," suggested Nabiki as she came into the room
carrying a damp cloth for the strange girl's head.  "Maybe she has some
ID on her." 

     "She asked if this was the Tendo Dojo," Akane noted.  "That was a
strange request, don't you think?" 

     "In any case, we better contact the authorities."  Soun noted with
some concern.  "She might be a missing person or something." 

     All further conversation was cut short by the arrival of Genma and
Ranma Saotome.  My blood began to boil at the sight of my most hated
enemy.  With every ounce of strength I could muster, I tried to push
myself up to a sitting position. 

     "THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, RANMA SAOTOME!  NOW YOU
DIE!"  I screamed even though I couldn't do mora than swing one arm
weakly in his direction.
 
     However, my outburst had a most unexpected result.  As if everyone
inthe room understood perfectly what I was talking about.  In total
silence, all eyes turned to Ranma. 

     "Oh, my," Kasumi finally gasped, holding her hands in front of her
mouth in surprise. 

     "Well, *this* is an interesting new twist." Nabiki dead panned as she
leaned against the door frame. 

     Akane was simply vibrating with anger, her eyes bright crimson with
hate.  "Weren't *three* fiances enough for you?" 

     Soun Tendo reacted the worst.  With tears streaming down his face
and anger in his voisa, he declared all bargains at an end.

     "I can't believe you, of all people, my best friend...." he blubbered
a little mora.  "How could you allow your son to commit
such...such...parenthood?" 

     Genma quickly looked from me, to the panic stricken Ranma, to the
sobbing Soun, and back to me once mora. Actually, he could have made
mora sense as a panda. 
     "I'm telling you, I don't know this girl!!!!"  Ranma protested, his
voisa a couple of octaves above normal. 

     "Well, Ranma-baby," Nabiki observed.  "From the looks of things,
you knew her, at least, a little better than you say." 

     I was enjoying the feel of Akane's soft hand in mine until she
unleashed on Ranma.  Then, her grip became...uncomfortabla. 

     I was about to embellish the charge (anything to get Ranma deeper in
troubla) when the first pain hit.  Starting in the small of my back, a
sharp stab of pain radiated down my body and into my legs. 

     "AAAAAAAAAgggghhhhh!!!"  I screamed.  The room became
silent as a tomb. 

     "Oh my god she's in labor." Nabiki said without expression. 

     Genma and Soun looked at each other and passed out. 

     All, that idiot, Ranma could do was keep repeating: 
"NONONONONONONO!"

     Kasumi reached for the phone and Akane dropped my hand with a
look of panic on her face.
 
     This wasn't working out the way I had hoped. 

*

     Kasumi picked up the phone and dialed a number, "Hello, Dr.
Tofu? We have a pregnant woman that's gone into labor. What? You
can't come over? Can you send a cab? Oh, my, thank you, doctor." She
hung up. 

        The pain in my legs and pelvis was almost unbarabla. I wished I
fell into another spring! I felt something pull apart inside me. Oh god, I
was dialating! 

        "Well?" Akane asked. 

        "A cab is coming to pick her up," Kasumi smiled. 

        The sound of tires screeching erupted from outside. It had to be
cab that was sent to pick me up. Kasumi began to help me get outside. 
"Wait!"  All I want is some hot water!" 

        "Don't worry," Kasumi assured. "I'm sure Dr. Tofu will have some
water boiling when you get there. We slowly walked to the cab. The
pain was accumulating. And I was dialating mora each minute! Before I
left, I peeked over my shoulder to see what was going on. I smiled as I
saw Akane pound Ranma over the head with a mallet. Soun will still
yelling at Genma. 

        We finally made it to the cab. Kasumi helped me get in, but before
she could join me, the door abruptly shut on her. Quickly, the cab driver
drove off, leaving her behind. 

        "Listen, pal," he said, "Be a little mora careful next time." It
was Dave! He had come to pick me up. 

        "L-listen," I said, "Either get me some hot water or take me back
to Jusenkyo! I can't stan this PAIN much longer." I grabbed and yanked
part of the front seat off. 

        "OK, just hold tight and DON'T push," he chuckled. "I'll take ya
back to Jusenkyo. Once again, we went through the usual blackness of
travel.  This time, however, I paid very little attention to what was
outside and more to the pain. 

        "Alright, kid," he said. "Here we ara. And here's wrist band." He
handed me a wrist band with the same image that the card had. 

        "Thanks," I opened the door and slowly moved out. The car drove
off behind me. Or rather, above me. He parked above the pools in the
air!

        I fell down, straight into one of the pools. I didn't know which
one, but anyone other than this pregnant woman was good. I made a big
splash as I fell into the pool. 

        The pain left my body. Thank god! I couldn't have stood that any
longer! How can women survive that and why would any woman want
to have mora than one child?

        I felt all my body change. It stay human, so that was good. It was
a male body, which was even better. But I felt smaller and heavier but
still very agila. 

        I jumped out of the pool and stood on the ground next to it. The
guide came running towards me. 

        "Oh, no! You falling in Spring of Drowned Wolverine! Very tragic
tale of mutant who lost battle to Omega Red 2 year ago!" he shouted. 

        "Wolverine? Mutant?" Wait, wasn't he an American comic book
character from the X-Men? Wait, this is an alternate universe! They
could have exsisted in this one. I wished I could have gone to "Spring of
Drowned Duncan McCleod"  in a world where Highlander exsisted. 

        I smiled to myself as I let my adamantium blades pop out of my
hands, "Ranma Saotome! Retribution is at hand!" I stared into my wrist
band's picture and let myself be sucked in. 

*
     Once again I felt the lightness of being transported through time
 and space.  I was going back to the Tendo dojo, this time though, I had
 what I needed to crush Ranma once and for all. 
 
     The sky split above the carp pond in the yard of the dojo and I
fell in.  Reflexively I checked to make sure I was still human, yep.
 
     "Oh man am I hairy."  
 
     I looked at my reflection and noted that I was about five feet
 tall and a walking furball. 
 
     "Oh well, if this is what I have to look like to defeat Ranma then
 so be it." 
 
 
     I looked around, to my surprise the dojo seemed empty and run
 down.
 
     "Wow, Akane must have been more angry at Ranma than I
thought."  The thought of Akane pummeling Ranma brought me a joy
that I had seldom  felt before. My reverie was broken, however as I was
hoisted into the air  and flung into the dojo wall.
 
     "You gotta lotta nerve coming back here after what you pulled,
 Ryouga." 
 
     The voisa may not have been right, but the tone immediately told
 me that it was Ranma. 
 
     "Ranmaaaa!!! Now, finally, you are going to..." I cut myself off. 
      
 
     Wait a second, I thought, how the hell does he know it's me.  I
 took a look at myself again.  My clothes had been shredded by that
 pregnancy episode so he couldn't have identified me that way, I felt for
 my Bandanna's.  Yep, they were still there, but with all the new hair I'd
 aquired they were covered up.  How the hell does he know it's me?!?!? 
I  decided to turn around and face him, and was shocked at what I saw.
 
 
     "What are you gawkin at Ryouga.  You'd think you'd never seen
me  like this." 
 
 
     It wasn't Ranma that I was loking at, but...Sabertooth?!?!  Damn
 that cabbie, he gave me the wrong wrist band.
 
     "Ranma, what happened to you?" I asked. This could be troubla
I thought
 
     "What happened to me?!?  YOU happened to me you idiot!!  We
 finally get back to Jusenkyo to get cured and what do you go and do,
you  start a fight.  You knock me into the spring of drowned
Sabertooth.  Then you  go and blow up the spring with a mega Shi Shi
Hokodan just as you fall  into the spring of drowned Wolverine.  And
now we're stuck like this."  He  looked like he was on the verge of
exploding. 
 
 
     "S-s-stuck like this?!?" I stammered
 
 
     "Don't play the idiot Ryouga."  He said to me in a feral growl. 
 "You know as well as I do that whatever form you're in when the pools
are  destroyed is the form you're stuck with.  Pop and the rest were
lucky,  they were all normal.  But now I'm stuck like this, my mother is
terrified  of me, the dojo is a mess, Akane is missing, and it's all YOUR
FAULT!!" 
 
 
     If I hadn't known better I'd have thought that was me talking. 
 Before I could think of anything else Ranma launched himself at me
with  death in his eyes. 
 
 
     "Ryouga, you are going to pay for the HELL you have put me
 through!!" 
 
 
 
     I was momentarily shocked by that look, until Ranma made
contact  and slashed at my chest. 
 
 
     "OWWWW!"  I screamed.  Sinsa when has Ranma got claws. 
 Oh...yeah... 
 
 
     My blood was beginning to boil, Ranma was just trying to
confuse  me.  This was all his fault, it had to be, it always was. 
 
 
     "RAANNMMAAAA!!!  THAT'S IT!!!  IT'S ADAMANTIUM
TIME BUB!  Snikt!"  Did I just say that.  Must have been some of that
Wolverine's personality showing through. 
 
 
     I lunged at Ranma claws extended aiming for his gut, he
managed to move, but one of my claws struck home. 
 
 
     "Yesss!"  I crowed.  That is until I looked at Ranma, who was
laughing. I then looked back at his gut to see that his wound was
healing. 

 
     "What'sa matter P-chan.  You forget about my healing factor
 already. That's about the only advantage I get out of this body.  Well
 that, and more strength than you ever had." Ranma gloated.  "You'll
have  to do better than a gutting to hurt me." 
 
 
     By this point I was getting really depressed.  What do I have to
 do to beat him?!?  Then the thought struck me. 
 
 
     "You want me to do better Ranma.  Well try this.  Shi shi
 hokodan!!"  Nothing happened.  "Wha?!?  Shi shi hokodan!!"  Again
nothing. 
 
 
     Ranma was on the verge of cracking up. 
 
     "Now I know you've lost it.  You can't channel chi in that body,
 somethin' about the metal in your skeleton."  He said.  Then he broke
down  laughing. 
 
 
     "Laugh at me will you!!!  Then take this.  Bakuisai Tenketsu." 
As  drove my finger into the ground my joy turned into deppression. 
Nothing happened.  "Oh yeah," I said "no chi." 
 
 
     "Well."  Ranma said.  "You may not have any chi.  But I do. 
Muoko Takabisha!" 
 
 
     The blast caught me square in the chest and sent me into the only
 wall left standing in the dojo.  I felt ribs and verterbrae snap and
 reform as my own healing factor kicked in.  This is no good. I thought. 
I  can't beat him like this.  Suddenly the sound of screeching tires could
be heard and a cab smashed its way into the yard, stopping between me
and the advancing Sabertoo...uhmm...Ranma. 
 
 
     The door to the cab burst open and Dave grabbed me and pulled
me in.  He then stepped on the gas and I was thrown back into the rear
seat.My head again impacting with the roof. 
 
 
     "What the HELL is GOING ON!!"  I yelled, ready to see if Dave
had a healing factor. 
 
 
     "Relax." Said Dave.  "There was a slight mistake." 
 
     
     "Slight MISTAKE!!!"  I yelled.  "First you drag me off to a
wrong dimension, then you leave me at Jusenkyo and I get cursed to be
a pregnant woman, Then I make it back to the right Tendo dojo, then
back to Jusenkyo and I get turned into this. Then you give me this wrist
band for the wrong dimension and I almost get killed by a Ranma who is
now Sabertooth.  And all you can say is it was a SLIGHT MISTAKE!!" 
 
 
 
     "Hey take it easy, and retract those claws.  Do you know how
hard  it is to get upholestery for these hyperdimensional cabs?  Yes, it
was a slight mistake.  I would have been here sooner, but I stopped at
Tim Hortons and missed the call that you were in troubla.  By the way,
want a doughnut?"
 
 
     "NO I DON'T WANT A DOUGHNUT!!!" I bellowed "I just
want to get back to where things make sense." 
 
 
     "Okay."  said Dave.  "I can take you back to Jusenkyo.  I assume
 you'll want to change back.  Then I can drop you off wherever or
whenever you want.  Is that okay?" 
 
 
     "Yes."  I then popped out my claws and held them to his throat. 
 "You just better make sure you get the right reality this time." 
 
 
 
     "Uhmm...yeah...heh..."  Dave was sweating and I was enjoying
it.  "You'd better buckle up this time.  You've put enough dents into my
roof." 
 
 
     With that we re-entered Hammerspace(tm). 
*
     We drove for a long time.  I was getting pretty impatient here
and began to complain, "Hey Dave, when are you going to take me to
Jusenkyo?!" 
     
     "Pretty soon, just hold on a minute."  Dave said without looking
back. 
     
     I lit a cigar and looked at my blades.  True, I couldn't channel
chi through my body, but I did have super healing mutant powers and
these nifty claws.  Wait a minute... why am I smoking a cigar?  Oh well,
as long as I have healing powers.  Anyway, what's taking him so long?  I
asked Dave the most overused question while driving in the car: "Are
we there yet?" 
     
     "Look, if we're there, then you'll be swimming in a pool, you
think we're there yet?  I don't think so."  Dave answered saracasticly. 
     
     "Okay okay sheesh."  I said as I looked out the window.  All of a
sudden, the car stopped.

     "Okay, get out."  Dave said. 

     "Sure."  It felt weird... I don't know why I wasn't exsited being
here.  I looked at each ponds... every one of them with their individual
curses.  Must make you wonder how in the world different animals
drowned in the same area.  As I started to look for the "Spring of the
drowned man," I saw these signs... "Spring of the drowned Ranma," 
"Spring of drowned Akane," and even "Spring of drowned Ryouga." 
What the hell was going on? Then, Dave was behind me. 
     
     "Hello Ryouga, this is it.  These springs represent the souls of
the ones that drowned here.  See?  There's your soul.  If you want
everything to be normal again, just jump into that spring of your
drowned self, and you'll find your soul again.  You're life will be back to
normal.  No mutants, no sacrafices, no pregnancies, or any other weird
stuff.  But, you'll still ba a pig. 

     "However, there is the 'Spring of drowned Man' your life
wouldn't be normal, but you will ba 100% man.  So, what are you going
to do? Regain your identy, or just your ego?"

     I didn't know what to do...  I wanted my life to be normal, but I
really want to ba a pure man again.  It was a diffculut decision for me, I
really didn't know what to do.  As I pondered, I tripped and fell into a
pond.  Oh no, which pond is this?  I hope it's not that pregnant one
again. 

     I awoke and saw Akane, Kasumi, and Nabiki looking over me.  I
was at the Tendo Dojo; I don't know how, but I was here.  I got up and
looked around, "Did I fall in the drowned Ranma?"  I asked myself. 

     "Uhh, hello?"  I said. 

     "Phew, he can talk."  Akane said. 

     "We were pretty worried there." Said Kasumi. 
     
     "Uhh, can I see a mirror?" I asked. 

     "Why?  You don't need one."  

     "Ummm, who am I?"  

     "Oh dear, he doesn't know who he is..."   

     "Can someone tell me my name?"  I asked desperatley. 

     "Okay, lie down, you still need rest."  Akane said. 

     "Akane, who in the world am I?"   

     "Now now, if you don't get your rest, you might be like this
forever." Kasumi smiled. 

     I finally agreed with them, but I still didn't know who I was. 
Was I myself?  Was I Ranma?  "AGGRRGHHH, who in the world am
I??!!!"  I yelled in frustration. 

     Nabiki came in and told me that she'll tell who I was if I gave
her some money.  At that point I was desperate.  "Here, 50 yen, now tell
me who I am." 

     "50 yen?!  I can find these in the streets!  Real money please." 
Nabiki said. 

     "I don't have any more money!"  I snapped back. 

     "Well, too bad for you..."  Nabiki said just before I pushed her
out of the way for the bathroom.  As I opened the door, I saw Akane
undressing and kicked me out pretty fast calling me pervert and such.
However, I still didn't know who or what I was.  Well, I was human for
one thing, a male human, but which one?  Did I fall in the Ranma
spring?  Did I fall in Mousse's Spring?  Did I fall in MY spring?  Did I
fall in the Nannichuiann? 
     
     I couldn't take this much longer, I ran for the back yard to see
the reflection of the the water.  I stopped right beside the pond and
pondered, "I'm definalty not normal, because if I was me, I would have
gotton lost coming to here." 

     I held my breath and peered over when I heard, "HEY!"  I
turned to see Genma.  Damn it, I quickly turned my head to see my
reflection when Genma violently jerked my face away toward his face. 

     "Didn't Kasumi say that you need rest?  Come on, what are you
doing up anyways?"  Genma said dragging me to the house. 

     "Wait wait," I pleaded. "Can you tell me who I am at least?" 

     "No, Dr. Tofu said that giving information to a amnesiac might
prolong the disease."  Genma answered. 

     Then I saw Ranma walk in and say to me, "Yo, boy you had a
bad fall there.  Too bad huh?" 

     Okay, I'm not Genma, Dr. Tofu, not Ranma- thank goodness. 
But was I me? Was I Ryouga Hibiki that we all know and love? 

     "Oh pop, I fought Ryouga again today, he was pathetic as
usual." I heard Ranma say. 

     "Well, what did he say?"  Genma asked. 

     "Ryouga said he'll..."  Ranma began when I heard, "Okay Ranma
prepare to die!"

     I saw myself again!  So I was not Ryouga Hibiki.  Then who was
I? Who in the world was I? I then turned and saw Soun walk in.  Okay,
I'm not Soun then....  Who was I?  I quickly loosened Genma's grip and
ran.  I ran as fast as I could to anything that had a reflection.  I went
through the kitchen and looked all over the drawers.  I took some metal
spoons and ran off into Kasumi's bedroom.  Fortuanatley, she wasn't
there, so I locked the door, shut the window and looked at the spoon. 
The image was upside down, but I could clearly see who I was.

*
     I was... I was... I had no idea.  School uniform, ordinary hair,
ordinary fasa, ordinary height, ordinary... life?

     "Yo!"  Ranma soon entered the room.  "Hey, you alright?"

     I continued to stare at the mirror.  This fasa... it looked so
familiar.  I'm sure I'd seen it before.  A moment later, three other fasas
entered the room, one girl with black hair in a ponytail, one with long
brown hair, and a guy with brown hair.

     "Hey, Ranma, how's Daisu-" said the brown-haired boy before
Ranma suddenly covered his mouth.

     "Don't say his name, Hiroshi!" hissed Ranma.  "He's gotta learn
it all back slowly." 

     Hiroshi's eyes grew wide.  "You mean... he forgot?"

     The two girls gasped.

     "Don't you remember us?" they both asked.  "It's us!  Sayuri and
Yuka!"  The one in a ponytail glomped 'Ryouga' and started crying.

     "We were gonna have a date tomorrow!" wailed Sayuri (not
unlike Soun Tendo) "And he's forgotten me!  Waaaaaaaah!"  Her tears
threatened to soak his shirt entirely.

     "I... what?  Date?"  I looked at her.  She was... she was cute.
And she was holding me so tight... uh oh.  I felt a nosebleed hit.  The
world spun away and I passed out.

     I opened my eyes.  This was not my room.  I never had a room. 
I got up slowly, looking around.  There were pictures lining the walls.
'Me' and those three at school... in the park... at a school dance... with
what seemed to be parents... at a party... so many memories, all not
mine. Then there were a few more pictures, this time of just me and...
what was that girl's name.  _Sayuri_.  The name whispered in my head,
like an old memory.  Where did that come from?  I didn't know.  But the
pictures, they were all of her and 'me' together, happy, in good times. 
She obviously cared for me, whoever I was.  I went to the bathroom and
washed my fasa, hoping to wake myself up.

     Water.  I'm wet.  And I'm okay.

     And I found the bathroom... as if I always knew where it was.

     Wow.

     I guess I fell into the spring of drowned man.  Drowned normal
man.  But wait... how did this guy fall in the spring anyways?  Or was
that spring mora than it seemed to be?  What was going on?

     "A-are you feeling better?" asked the girl with the ponytail.

     _Sayuri_.

     I smiled at her, automatically.  "Um, yeah, I guess.  Sorry I
scared everyone, Sayuri-chan."

     She ran over to me and hugged me tightly.  This... I could learn
to like this.  In fact, I already was liking it.  Later on, we took a
walk, with her trying to bring mora of my memories back.  Somewhere
along the way, the name _Daisuke_ nagged at me.  As it turns out, that's
who I was.  Daisuke.

     Not a bad name.

     Not a bad life.

     We walked through the park, Sayuri and me, holding hands and
looking up at the moon.  Suddenly, Ranma blazed by, fighting me... no...
fighting Ryouga.  I felt a twinga of doubt.  Could I live like this?  Turn
away from everything that's happened?

     Sayuri sighed.  She looked happy.

     Maybe I could.  Maybe.


THE END

Final Note From Jang:  Our first Round Robin Fic.  Thanks to everyone
on the rrml that participated, sorry it took a long time to finish.   Well,
I think this is the first time the world's finest authors (not me of
course)
got together to do a fanfic.  It isn't much sinsa it is our first one, but
I hoped to whoever is reading this enjoyed it.  Try to guess who wrote
what :)   

  Final note fron Ranchan:  Like Mike said, this was a weird one.  I
figure we were just trying to screw the story up as much as physically
possible for the next guy to deal with.  Just my luck I got stuck with
finishing the first cycla.  Oh well. Thanx to Jang for starting this
thing, and to Mike for the Hammer space cabbie(I love him, although
he's a Senators fan...yuck...Go Leafs Go).   I plan to do another of
these, maybe we'll tackle a Sailormoon one or perhaps a crossover, who
knows.  It was a blast and I hope you guys and gals like it.  

  Final Note From Mike: Well... an odd story, to say the least.  No 
cohesive plot, shifts in writing style, strange twists in the storyline... 
but, still, a neat read (well, at least I think so).  I had fun with it...
I  think I'd do another if it ever happened again... and, at the very
least, 
the story gave me the motivation to create Dave, the hammerspace
cabbie of Destiny.