The graduate lounge was quiet, except for the irregular tapping 
of the computer keyboard as Ross hunted and pecked his way through 
another chapter.  Even that sound died down as writer's block left him 
searching for a turn of phrase.
	"Try, 'Suddenly he turned around in surprise,'" a voice 
suggested from the other side of the room.
	Ross did as he was instructed.  "Ah, Mousse.  I was sure you 
would be my personal SKJAM challenge demon."
	"You were?"  Mousse folded his hands in his robes.  "Would you 
care to explain?"
	Ross leaned back in his chair, relishing the opportunity to play 
Mister Exposition.  "_Being A Good Looser_ was a short, timeless piece; 
there's nothing in it anyone could complain about.  We discussed all our 
differences during the Princess Bride 'fic, so that's been dealt with.  
All that's left is _Descents and Inversions_ and its spinoffs, and in 
those stories, EVERYONE gets at least one entire world where everything 
they want comes true."
	"Everyone?" Mousse asked.
	"Well, not Happosai, but I live in La Jolla, so he'd be 
sidetracked before he got within a mile of me.  And Ryoga came off as a 
berserker, but I figure he's too busy trying to find Chris."
	"I don't seem to remember having any future children in D&I."  
	"That's why I knew it would be you."
	Mousse began casually toying with his weapons.  "That's a clever 
bit of analysis, but it's not exactly right."
	"Not exactly?"  Ross begin to sweat.  
	"You did make me one of the leading characters in SymPol, after 
all.  True, but my life isn't all that rosy in Joketsuzoku, 2016; at 
the moment my daughter hates me, the village wants to exile me, and I 
_still_ haven't married Shampoo."
	"But you got to beat a dragon single-handedly," Ross interrupted.  
"Ranma doesn't even get to do that very often.  And everyone C&C'd and 
said how cool they thought you were."
	"True."  Mousse smirked.  "But that's not why I'm here."
	"Then why?  You can't be here to fix my love life; it's as 
pathetic and one-sided as yours."
	"This is the reason!"  A flurry of books shot from Mousse's 
sleeves.  Ross threw himself out of the chair in a vain attempt to avoid 
them, but a paperback caught him in the side of the head.
	"Ow!  What was... _A Spell For Chameleon?!?_  Why would you hit 
me with a Xanth book?"
	"Because you made me read them to Brook!  No wonder my life in 
the 21st century is a mess!  You could have done some research into 
Chinese myths, or picked some classic fantasy story, or you even could 
have made something up, but no, you had to throw in a clever reference to 
American culture.  You're making _Me_ into an Avatar."
	"Well," Ross said defensively, "We do kinda look alike.  The 
hair, the glasses, the white clothes..."
	Sharp blades appeared out of hammerspace.  "We can change most 
of those right here..."
	"Hey, cut me some slack!"  Mousse advanced.  "Bad word choice!  
Bad word choice!  I still haven't finished SymPol!  It's your story 
after all, well, you and Tachi Kuno.  Can't you wait until I finish?"
	"Perhaps."  The weapons disappeared.  "Just make certain you do 
finish, and in a timely manner.  Or else!"
	With that pronouncement, Mousse began to fade from reality.  
_Hmmm, Ross thought to himself.  Perhaps access to hammerspace is what 
gives these anime characters the ability to cross dimensions.  Maybe can 
use that in the Seraphim stories..._
	Mousse faded back in.  "No new stories!  You're already working 
on two, with no end in sight!"
	"All right, all right, I give.  Now let me do my homework."
 ______
{B-{=__
rmckenzi@euclid.ucsd.edu : the White-Robed Mathematician