Okay, I've gotten a *lot* of requests for the first two chapters, 
so I'm resending them.  I may be editing them slightly...


			WORST CASE SCENARIO
			by Scott K. Jamison
			(Takahashi disclaimer)

	"The bath is hot, Akane."
	"Thanks, Nabiki."
	Akane smiled to herself.  A nice hot bath would feel good after a 
long and confusing day.  Imagine her father coming up with an arranged 
engagement out of nowhere!  She'd been so angry about the thought of 
being forced to marry some stranger because of a promise she hadn't even 
been consulted on.  She'd been prepared to hate any boy who came through 
that door, just on general principle. 
	"Kunou you jerk!"  That fathead had decreed only boys who could 
beat her in a fight could date her, and the idiots had actually bought 
into it!  So boys either attacked her or avoided her entirely, and 
neither of these courses endeared them to her.  Why, oh why weren't any 
boys her age like Dr. Tofu?  Kind and gentle and considerate but with 
enough backbone to stand up to bullies like Kunou; too bad he was too old 
and in love with her sister. 
	Akane walked into the changing room.  She saw Ranma's clothes in 
the basket.  Ranma had been a big surprise to everyone.  Never in a 
million years would she have guessed that "he" would be a cute girl with 
a pet panda.  Nabiki had seemed the most disappointed.  Her middle sister 
might actually have been looking forward to the possibility of an 
arranged marriage.  
	And this girl knew kempo!  She'd seemed so shy and unsure of 
herself, but Ranma had evaded all of Akane's attacks with ease and 
counted coup with style.  "Mr. Saotome may have misled Father about the 
sex of his child, but he obviously trained his daughter well."  Akane 
looked forward to working with her new friend, maybe learning some of her 
techniques.
	"A lot better bargain than I'd hoped for, all round."
	Akane opened the door to the tub area.  She'd caught Ranma just 
as she was rising from the hot water.  Akane idly noted that the 
pigtailed girl was better endowed than she was.  "Hi Ranma!" 
	To Akane's surprise, Ranma turned bright red and turned her 
back.  
	`"I'm sorry!  I'm sorry!"  What?  She sounded almost as if... 
	"Ranma, it's okay.  Haven't you ever taken a bath with another 
girl?" 
	Ranma visibly flinched. 
	"Ranma, what's wrong?"
	She didn't turn around.  "Akane, I shoulda told you this earlier, 
but I didn't know how.  You're probably going to kill me for this, 
but--but--" Her voice broke off.  
	Akane didn't know what to think.  What could be so awful her new 
friend couldn't bring herself to say it?  How would Kasumi handle this?  
She moved to comfort the smaller girl, but Ranma shied away.  
	"Akane, I-I'm not a girl." 
	"Ranma, don't be silly!  I have eyes, you know.  You're 
*definitely* a girl."
	Ranma spun around in the tub.  Her eyes were red.  "I am *not* a 
girl!  I'm a man!  A *man*!"  Her legs seemed to fold under her, and she 
slid back into the water.  "I *have* to be a man!"  
	Her frame began to rack itself with sobs, and this time Ranma did 
not move away when Akane embraced her.  
		*			*			*
	The family gathered around the table.  Akane had managed to calm 
Ranma down and get her dressed again.  The pigtailed girl looked grim, 
and the panda beside her almost looked guilty.  Father looked ashen, and 
he'd been crying too.  Nabiki had resumed her poker face, and even Kasumi 
didn't seem cheerful.  
	Ranma cleared her throat.  "Let me introduce us.  I am Ranma 
Saotome, age 16, and this," pointing to the panda, "is my father Genma."  
	The panda gave a slight bow, and Akane noted that her sisters 
looked as shocked as she felt.  Was Ranma completely delusional? 
	Father spoke.  "Yes, my daughters, it is true.  These are indeed 
my old friend Saotome and his son."
	"I thought we went through this before, Dad.  That is *not* a 
son." snapped Nabiki, prodding Ranma's chest again for emphasis.  
	"Do that one more time, and honor or not, I'll break your 
finger."  Ranma snarled.  Nabiki really *had* been pushing it, Akane 
decided.  
	"Perhaps there's a reasonable explanation?" 
	"There's an explanation all right, but it ain't reasonable."  
Ranma took a deep breath and glared at the panda.  "Me and Pops here went 
to China on a training trip, visited a few schools, tried some funky new 
techniques.  But he can't read Chinese, so when he came across this book 
mentioning a place called Jyuusenkyo, the only parts he saw were "Martial 
Arts" and "Training Grounds".  And like a dummy, I went right along with 
him. 
	"So, we arrive and there's a local guide we run into.  
Unfortunately, his Japanese was none too good, and we were both anxious 
to get started training.  It looked kinda dangerous, sure, bamboo poles 
sticking up out of natural springs, so you had to keep your balance or 
get wet, but I'd seen worse, I thought.  So we jumped right up without 
even listening to the guide yelling about some kind of legend.
	"We sparred for a bit, then I got in a good shot and landed Pops 
in a pool.  The water churned, and suddenly this giant panda leaps out 
onto a pole.  *Then* the guide manages to get out that anyone who falls 
into one of these Cursed Springs turns into whatever drowned there 
centuries ago.  Pops fell into Spring of Drowned Panda, so..."
	The panda sighed and held up a sign.  [I thought it was a good 
idea at the time.]  Akane boggled.  It could write? 
	"Pops didn't quite catch on to what had happened and came 
charging right back at me.  I was still trying to grasp what the guide 
had said, and he caught me off guard.  I wound up in Spring of Drowned 
Girl.  You can see what it did to me."  She pointed to herself.
	"That seems a bit extreme, even for martial arts training." said 
Kasumi.  Nabiki sat silent, Akane could almost see the wheels turning in 
her head. 
	"Extreme is a nice way to put it.  And it's all your fault, 
Pops!"  Ranma started pounding the panda.  It fought back, not as an 
animal would, but like another martial artist.  So it was true then.  
Ranma really was a boy.
	"Wait a minute," said Nabiki, "so you're stuck like that?" 
	Ranma paused, though she kept up her guard.  "Yep.  Guide told us 
the change is permanent, no known cure.  I even asked about maybe finding 
another spring that would make me at least male again.  There is a Spring 
of Drowned Man, but once you've been cursed, none of the other springs 
will work on you."  She kicked the panda in the head, it fell down and 
they both returned to the table.  
	Father frowned, lost in thought.  Suddenly, his face brightened.  
	"Then all is not lost!  The engagement still can hold!"
	"How do you figure that, Mr. Tendou?  I may be a guy inside, but 
I don't exactly have the equipment to be a husband anymore."  Ranma 
sounded almost as if she'd been told she was going to die.  Akane felt very 
sorry for her. 
	"Why, all we have to do is go to this Jyuusenkyo place, find the 
Man spring, and one of my daughters will jump in!  That way, it'll still 
be husband and wife, and I've always wanted a son!"  Father beamed as 
though all creation had been put right. 
	Akane was shocked speechless.  Surely Father wasn't intending...  
Nabiki looked positively ill.  Finally, Kasumi spoke for all of them. 
	"Father, dear, you *are* an idiot, aren't you?"


		THE END

	Okay, obviously this was inspired by "Ascending Changes" and its 
inspiration "A Couple of Dips."


SKJAM!
"I will give to you a labyrinth of wild roses, I know you'll find your 
own way through"