==========================
Ranma 1/2:  ROUND ROBIN
Original Concept:  Nigel M
Part 1:  Nigel M. (st2a0@jetson.uh.edu)
==========================

Author's note:

Hi!  I got tired of waiting for someone to start a round robin so I 
started one myself.  Feel free to try and get the Ranma 1/2 cast out 
of the predicaments they get into.

BTW, for those of you who do not know what a round robin is.  It is a 
story started by one author and continued by others.  The objective is 
to get the characters out of the tight squeezes tha the previous author 
had put them in and then put them in another predicament for the 
next author to pull them out of.

Rules for this particular Round Robin are:

1.  No using the 'dream clause' i.e.  "And then I woke up.",  "Oh!  it 
was just a dream!" and so on.

2.  There is no set length to the segment you can write but please 
have the decency to write at least two paragraphs of text or something.  
No one liners.

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PART I:  THE BEGINNING
----------------------------------
The sun beat down on Nerima, its searing beams scorching everything.  
The streets were deathly silent, deserted in this oven-like heat.  It was 
the second month of a heatwave, with no sign of letting up.

"It's so hot," Ranma-chan panted, lying down on the living room floor.  
Across from her were the Tendo sisters.  Akane looked irritated, 
pouring herself another cup of iced tea.  She wore a tanktop and some 
shorts.  Ranma-chan noted that she had very nice legs, but didn't let 
on, since she knew she would get clobbered for it.  He turned his gaze 
to Nabiki, who was fanning herself while reading a magazine.  She too 
wore a tanktop, but was wearing some considerably shorter shorts.  
Ranma-chan gulped.  Why didn't she notice that before?  Kasumi 
was the only one who didn't look uncomfortable as she idly brushed her 
hair.  Ranma-chan turned his gaze outside, towards their parents.  Her 
dad, for some inexplicable reason, was in panda form, playing shogi 
with a barechested Soun.  Ranma lay back, looking at the ceiling.  
Heat waves washed over her.

"I wonder if there's anybody stupid enough to be outside today," she 
said aloud, spritzing herself with cold water.

"PIGTAILED GIRL!  AKANE TENDO!  I HAVE COME FOR YOU MY LOVES!"

Ranma-chan was hauled up and hugged fiercely in one arm, Akane in 
the other.  Ranma-chan was about to boot Kuno but Akane was quicker.

"Just what do you think you're doing?"  She asked angrily, grinding his 
face to the floor.

Ranma-chan arranged her shirt.  It looked like Akane had things well in 
hand.  Good thing too, she thought.  It's too hot to be dealing with this.

"I have come to take you to the unveiling of the new Kuno Estate," Kuno 
said stiffly after Akane finally let him up.  "This intense heat prompted 
me to order the construction of a new domicile, one that has better 
air-conditioning.  I have been informed that it is complete.  
COME LIVE WITH ME MY LMFFGUH!!!"  He said, as Ranma-chan greeted him 
with a knuckle.

Ranma-chan's eyes lit up, she winked at Akane.  "You want us to live 
there,"  she said, batting her eyelashes as she lifted him.  "Away 
from the heat?"

"Yes, my love," Kuno said.  "I come to invite-"

"Isn't that sweet," Nabiki chimed in.  "Hey, Dad!  Mr. Saotome!  
Kuno's inviting us to stay over at his new house for a little while!"

"New house?"  Soun asked as Genma-panda held up a sign with the 
same thing written on it.

"Air-conditioned!"  Nabiki replied.

"Thank you so much,"  Kasumi said, coming out with all their bags 
packed.  "That's very kind of you."

"But, I-" Kuno started.

"Shampoo be delighted to stay at Kuno's,"  Shampoo 
bound in, landing her bike on Ranma-chan's head.

"Air-conditioned, you say?"  Mousse said, wandering in.  "I too shall go."

"How nice of you to offer, Kuno," Ukyo said, walking in.  "Nobody's coming 
to the Ucchan's anyway."

"I DIDN'T INVITE ALL OF YOU!!"  Kuno shouted.

--------------------------------------------
Kuno's protests were in vain, and eventually, they all piled out of the 
Kuno family car to a large house on the outskirts of Tokyo.

"Very nice, Kuno-chan," Nabiki said, waiting at the front door with 
the rest.  Kuno had paused at the car to give instructions to the chauffeur.

"Please refrain from calling me such, Nabiki Tendo,"  he said, 
inserting his key.

"I didn't call you 'such', I called you Kuno-chan,"  Nabiki said, smiling.  
She loved to get Kuno's goat.  A little less than his yen, of course.

It should be noted at this point that the Kuno Estate is a 
three-story house the size of Graceland.

They all walked into what looked like an airlock.  Everybody looked around, 
puzzled.

"This is to ensure safety,"  Kuno said proudly.  He walked up to a key pad 
and typed in a complicated combination.  "Had I not done this,"  
he indicated the keypad.  "The mansion's advanced intruder deterrent 
system would have surely deterred us by now."

The inner door opened up.  They walked into a brightly lit hall, 
not unlike a ballroom.  It had a large crystal chandelier and a checkered, 
black and white floor.  It was also blessedly cool.

"Welcome," Kuno said.  "To the Kuno AAAAAAAHHHHHH!"  He continued as 
the square he was stepping on opened up and swallowed him.

Everybody else tried to get off the squares but were swallowed whole 
by the floor.  The house settled in again, but this time, an electronic 
voice intoned.  

"//Kuno Estate intruder deterrent system now activated//"

--------------------------------------------------------
Ranma-chan landed on her head, tried to get up, and was summarily dropped 
on by Kuno and Akane.

"What mockery of justice is this,  that my own house attacks me?"  
Kuno said angrily.  "Pigtailed girl!  Akane Tendo!  Together we shall oof!"

Akane dusted herself off.  "What do we do now?"  She looked around.  They 
were in a large steel room, dimly lit.  The walls were smooth, no doors, 
no windows, nothing.  "This is all your fault, Ranma!"  She shouted.

"My fault?"  Ranma-chan shouted back at her.  They argued a bit before 
Kuno tried to hug them both again and was knocked unconscious.

"It looks like the only way out is the same way we came in,"  Ranma-chan 
pointed towards the now closed portal.

"Why is the floor so cold?"  Akane shivered.  They all looked at the 
floor for the first time.  They were standing on ice.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryoga wandered into the large house, hoping for some directions.  He was 
pretty sure he was in China, but he didn't know where.

"Hello?"  He said, walking onto the checkered floor.  "Is anyone heeeeeere!"  
he shouted as the tile he was standing on opened up and slid quietly close.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shampoo had been trying to open the portal for the last minute or so to no 
avail.  the portal resisted all her blows.  She looked down in annoyance 
at Mousse, who was still unconcious on the floor.  She looked around the 
cell.  it was made out of stone, it's ceiling far above her jumping range.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ukyo slammed her spatula against the portal again, swinging with all her 
might.  She looked around the room large room she was in.  No doors, no 
windows, just gigantic vines all over the walls.  Suddenly, she was hit in 
the back by an object that in later examination, turned out to be Ryoga.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Soun banged on the walls.  "My babies!"

[I'm sure they're all right] said the sign Genma held.

"You're right, Saotome," Soun sniffed.  "Nothing to worry about."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kasumi made sandwiches as Nabiki flipped channels on the large television.  
They fell into a half finished room, with one wall still incomplete.  
They found the kitchen soon after.

"I wonder how Ranma and Akane are doing?"  Kasumi wondered aloud.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the wall farthest away from them, a wall opened.  At first, 
Ranma-chan couldn't make out what was rushing towards them, but it 
soon grew clear what they were.

"C-C-C-Cats!!"  She yelled leaping onto Kuno.  Akane was shocked,  there 
must have been at least a hundred of them.  They heard a crack as the ice 
behind the cats fell, and what was under it was not water, but acid.  
Akane barely had time to notice that the room was getting hot when the 
wave of cats  swallowed them whole.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mousse woke up to the  sound of grinding gears and a rythmic pounding.

"Mousse wake up!"  Shampoo yelled as she furiously pounded a wall.

"Shampoo what's wrong?"  Suddenly he was aware of the small holes in the 
wall which spewed thousands of rats into the room..  From the floor he 
noticed that gigantic metal spikes were beginning to rise.

"Shampoo!  There're rats here!"  He yelled.

"That not what Shampoo is worried about!"  She shrieked, pointing up.  
The ceiling had opened up and revealed a gigantic fan, its blades spanning 
the whole circular room.  Even from this distance Mousse could see that the 
blades were incredibly sharp, gleaming with menace.  The fan spun quickly, 
its blades whirring in the air as it started to descend slowly.

Mousse was trying to fight off the rats away from Shampoo and him while 
she frantically pounded on the wall.

"Mousse!  What we going to do?"  She wailed.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ryoga desperately pulled on Ukyo's arm as she was being carried into the 
waiting maw of the plant.  The vines had suddenly sprung to life and a 
previously innocent lump of vegetation opened up to reveal rows upon rows of 
glittering teeth.

A vine whipped around, choking Ryoga, he pulled Ukyo from the vine that 
was holding her and she was now chopping off any vines that got close 
with her spatula.  A flailing vine stung her hand, making her drop the 
spatula.  Immediately, she was tied up and was being pulled again 
into the gigantic flytraps jaws.  She looked over at Ryoga, who was 
also being pulled, the vines choking him.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Without warning, the room started flooding.  Soun and Genma struggled to 
stay afloat.  The massive jets of water were creating a whirlpool effect, 
whipping them around furiously.

"If we don't find a way out of here quick,"  Soun gasped.  "We'll run 
out of air!"

Genma struggled to stay afloat.  Soun watched him get hauled under by the 
undertow, reappearing nearly a minute later.  The panda looked 
extremely agitated.

"What is it?  What's wrong?"  Soun said, swimming over.  The panda tried 
to write but the ink kept getting washed away.  Finally, in frustration, 
he grabbed Soun's head and dunked him into the water.  

Soun struggled against the panda's grip until he saw what had agitated his 
friend.

"PIRANHAS!"  He gurgled, bubbles spewing from his mouth.

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YOUR TURN
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