I just thought up this opening scene while awaiting feedback on
part of a story I am working on (Part one of Ranma 1/2: X-Change Students
should be on R.A.A. as soon as Megazoner posts the next batch <shameless
plug mode off>).  I am forced to admit that my memories of the show 
mentioned in the subject line are rather fond, but I have always (OK only 
since I rented BGC for the Nth time) wondered what would happen if. . . .
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<untitled>

Early afternoon; Smurf Village:

	". . . smurf!" Farmer Smurf grunted as he dragged the drape 
covered object in the wheelbarrow towards Papa Smurf's home, "this thing 
is _heavy_!"
	"Wha'cha got there, Farmer?" Hefty asked as he headed home from 
Handy's workshop.
	"T'be honest Hefty," he responded with a worried glance towards 
the tarp, "I wish I knew.  Found it out by the far end o' the field 
earlier.  
	"T'is not like anything I've ever seen," Farmer continued as Hefty
peeked under the cloth, "would rather have Papa Smurf figure it out than
try t' toy with it or leave it fer t' Smurflings t' find."
	"Yea." Hefty muttered, slightly awed at what he saw.
	"Lemme give you a hand with this" he continued as he braced himself
against the other end of the cart and pushed
******

	"Oh my smurf!" Papa said upon seeing Farmer's discovery laid on a 
hastily cleared workbench.
	"You know what it is Papa Smurf?" Hefty said as the Smurf Patriarch
examined it fully while Handy and Smurfette followed the two into the lab.
	The thing was, aside from the odd vented hump on the back, the
same general shape and proportion as most humans but apparently covered by
shaped plates of some hard substance with a more flexable material at the
joints.  One arm was shaped much like a slender (female?) human's, but the
other was a longer and thicked cylinder with five fingers surrounding a
large hole too dark for anyone to see into; in addition, both legs below
the knee were solid cylinders which widened in one direction towards the
slightly hooflike feet.  The head was unlike anything anyone in the room
had ever seen; the bulk of it being a somewhat elongated sphere with long
fins mounded behind and no visible trace of a face as they knew it.  The
reflective surface was painted a blue slightly darker that the smurf's own
skin and trimmed with a brilliant red.
	"I have no idea Hefty," Papa Smurf finally concluded, "it has the 
look of human armour, but. . . this is scarcely larger than _us_."
	"I know Papa Smurf," Handy said as he felt the armour, "and I've 
_never_ seen any metal like this before."
	"Shhh," said Smurfette as the placed an ear to it's 'chest', "I 
think there's something alive in he-"
	"Papa Smurf," called a Brainy Smurf from behind a stack of books
being lugged down from the attic, "here are these spell books you
werAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!"
	"What's your problem, Brainy?" Hefty grumbled as he dug Brainy 
out of the tomes he dropped when he caught sight of the armoured figure.
	"W-w-what _is_ that!" he stammered as he straightened his glassess.
	"Maybe we should ask her when she wakes up." Smurfette answered.
******

Mid-afternoon; Papa's Lab:

	Smurfette stood over the still figure while Brainy watched warily 
from the other side of the room.  Hefty and Handy left after exausting 
themselves and ruining several tools in a futile attempt to force the armour 
open.  Papa had managed to find a spell which confirmed that whoever 
it was inside that shell was quite unharmed, and was digging through his 
archives in the next room trying to identify the spell on the sleeping 
form he _did_ detect.
	#Who _are_ you?# half the female population of the Village Smurf 
thought as she ran her fingers along the helmet, #Where did you come from?  
Somehow, I think it was better than. . . eh?#
	"Papa Smurf said don't touch it, or we'll both get into trouble." 
Brainy noted from the corner as Smurfette fingered the hidden catch.
	"He also said he wanted to know _who_ is in here." she countered 
as she pressed the release.
	Suddenly, the opaque forward dome slid up, revealing a slightly 
tinted bowl of glass(?) that revealed the sleeping woman's face.
	#She looks human,# Smurfette observed, #but her cheekbones and 
eyes. . . they look like that traveler from the east we helped a few 
years agOH!#
	Her last exclamation escaped her lips as the eyes she was studying
suddenly snapped open.  As the red-brown eyes locked on her face Smurfette
saw a mixture of disorentation, shock, confusion, fear, and finally anger
race through them.  She barely had time to think about stepping back when 
the less mechanical of the armored hands grabbed her by the throat.
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	So what's the verdict; run with it at earliest oppurtunity, seek 
help for even thinking of such a thing, get a life and/or some sleep, what?
	BTW, does anyone know of a Smurf-related newsgroup or mailing 
list that this can/should be sent to?

HTG