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 engine. 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 voice 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!"
"Excellent 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 place, 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 place 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 place... 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 more. 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 place 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 voice 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 voice sounding
frighteningly feminine.
Before she could answer, two more faces 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 voice from the main
room. She had pushed aside the table and spread a soft futon out over
the mats to make a very acceptable 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 more 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 voice, he declared all bargains at an end.
"I can't believe you, of all people, my best friend...." he blubbered
a little more. "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 more. Actually, he could have made
more sense as a panda.
"I'm telling you, I don't know this girl!!!!" Ranma protested, his
voice 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...uncomfortable.
I was about to embellish the charge (anything to get Ranma deeper in
trouble) 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 unbarable. 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 more 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 more 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 are. 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 more 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 agile.
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 voice 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 trouble
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. Since 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 trouble. 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 excited 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 be a pig.
"However, there is the 'Spring of drowned Man' your life
wouldn't be normal, but you will be 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 be 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 face, ordinary height, ordinary... life?
"Yo!" Ranma soon entered the room. "Hey, you alright?"
I continued to stare at the mirror. This face... it looked so
familiar. I'm sure I'd seen it before. A moment later, three other faces
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 face, 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 more 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 more 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 twinge 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 since 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 cycle. 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.