Hello! This is a new fic I've been working on, a sequel (written with
permission) to one of Richard Lawson's stories. I'll be posting this
part by part, probably a part every 2-3 days, in order to keep you all
in suspense. All C&C and other feedback on this will be welcomed,
appreciated, and answered.



			     POOLS OF HORROR

		         A Ranma 1/2 fanfiction
			     by Gary Kleppe

This is a sequel (written with permission) to the story "Cursed", by
Richard Lawson. This story was based on an idea from Benjamin Franz's
story "Hello Again". I highly recommend both of these fine works. "Hello
Again" was in turn based on an episode of Ranma 1/2 Nettouhen, which
(the series, not the particular episode) was based on the manga by the
esteemed Rumiko Takahashi-sama, which needless to say I also recommend.

The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the creation of and rightful property of
Rumiko Takahashi. They are used here without permission. This story may
be freely redistributed, but it should not be altered substantially or
used for profit in any way.

Comments, criticisms, and all other sorts of feedback are welcomed and
appreciated!

WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE: Ranma awoke one day to find strange thoughts in
his mind. There was someone in his head who wasn't him; someone who was
neat and tidy and disliked violence. He sought out Cologne, only to find
that Shampoo and Mousse were acting like the cat and duck that they were
cursed to turn into. This, Cologne said, was the second-stage result of
their Jusenkyo curses. In the same way, Ranma's mind was being replaced
by that of the girl who drowned at Jusenkyo fifteen hundred years ago.
Cologne took Shampoo and Mousse back to China in hopes of finding a
cure, while Ranma struggled inside to hold on to who and what he was, a
struggle that was abruptly cut short as Akane angrily splashed him with
cold water.

			PART ONE: LILI'S STORY

Feng Lili moved through the woods, as quickly as she could, looking for
a road or anything else that would show her the way out of the
wilderness that she was lost in. The sky was darkening, and if she were
not out of this woods by then, she would be spending the night. That
thought terrified her. Alone here, her life expectancy was short. Her
sixteen years of growing up as the daughter of a well-to-do merchant had
given her little experience that would help her survive alone out here.

Lili wished she had not had to come on this trip, but it had been
necessary. This was a time of great turmoil in China. Her father, a
well-to-do merchant, had been forced to pack up his business and family
and move north to Xi'ning. Happily Yang Wei, the man who worked for her
father, had come with them. He was a handsome man of noble bearing;
Lili's fondest wish was to someday become his wife. Unfortunately, Yang
Wei didn't seem to notice her much. Probably because of her unattractive
scrawny body, she thought. To make up for that, she liked to make
herself appealing by always dressing in fine clothes. She also had
become an expert in cooking and all the other duties a good wife ought
to be able to do.

The bandits put an end to Lili's plans. They attacked her father's
caravan, and one of them chased her into the woods. Having heard tell of
the things bandits would do to a captured young girl, she ran as fast
and as far away as she could. Unfortunately, she never found her way
back to the caravan, or even the road.

The sky was almost dark. Lili wandered into what seemed to be a
clearing, framed by mountains on the other sides. She could barely see
the moonlight reflecting off of something in the clearing. Water? A
lake? She went in for a closer look.

Lili heard a sound and turned. A pudgy bald man in peasant clothes was
standing next to her, close enough for her to smell his breath. "Why
have you come here?" the man said. Was there a trace of mockery in him
voice? Or was that just the imagination of a frightened girl? "This is a
dangerous place. It is very strange for you to be here."

The girl looked, trying to see what was so dangerous, but it had
abruptly turned dark. "I'm lost! Can you show me the way to --" She
turned back to the man, but he was gone without a trace.

Lili moved, trying to remember from what direction she had come, not
wanting to stay in such a place. She prayed to any gods that might be
listening. She wanted to get out of this place. She wanted to be clean,
with clean clothes, and not be a scrawny little kid anymore, and not
need to be afraid, and marry Yang Wei, and have him protect her forever,
and live a peaceful life far away from whatever horror there was here.

A misstep in the darkness plunged Lili into water. She fell, splashing
around under water, desperately trying to hold her breath.

For her sixteen years of growing up as the daughter of a well-to-do
merchant had given her little experience at swimming...

***

Fifteen centuries later in a place not too far away, the old woman named
Cologne carried a cat into her bathroom, setting it down in the tub. Its
contented purring changed abruptly to angry hissing as it noticed a
kettle of steaming water that sat on the sink.

"Now, now, your elders know what's best for you." With incredible speed,
Cologne's hand struck a point on the cat's body, causing it to instantly
fall asleep. It was a pressure point technique, modified for the feline
anatomy; something that Cologne frivolously referred to as shi-cat-su.
She had developed the technique in case she ever again had to fight
Ranma under the influence of his neko-ken training. That would not be a
possibility anymore, not with the way things were turning out.

The hot water was poured over the unconscious cat, magically
transforming it into a very shapely young woman. Shampoo. It was
Cologne's stupid blunder that made her like this. Cologne had taken her
great-granddaughter to Jusenkyo for retraining, heedless of the legend
of the place, and Shampoo fell into one of the pools. The spirit of a
cat that had drowned at the place became fused with her. She became a
cat, first in body but later in mind as well. All because some foolish,
stubborn old woman hadn't bothered to find out the truth.

Your elders know what's best for you... how stupidly wrong that was.

That was not the first mistake Cologne had ever made. Still, she had
done a lot of good overall for her Amazon sisters. It was a good life,
lasting as it did over a hundred years.

Cologne unscrewed the top from another container of liquid, a small
flask. This was half of the amount she had been able to get of the
magical water, the precious liquid that would allow her to atone for her
mistake. The other half was on its way to Japan, to a certain man whom
she had known in her youth. It was an offering, a final chance for him
to make something useful out of his life, which was due to be over soon
anyway; a way to be remembered for having done something noble instead
of having been an annoyance.

The old woman poured the liquid over her great-granddaughter. The
cat-spirit became instantly visible in Cologne's mind's eye, outlined in
psychic fire. Her powerful spirit reached out toward the cat.

Here, kitty kitty...

***

Lili awoke. She was distressed to see that the sun was already risen.
She was still only half-conscious, feeling as if she had slept the
longest sleep in her life. She did not like to sleep too much. Getting
up early always helped her finish her assigned chores around her home
more quickly, which pleased her father.

It became at once obvious to her right away, even in her half-asleep
state, that this was not her home. The room was in disarray, with
clothes and various other unrecognizable objects left randomly about.

She noticed her clothes. This wasn't something a girl like her could
wear! Then she noticed herself. There was no more thin and scrawny young
girl. She was strong, muscular, and full-chested. How? How long had she
been here?

Lili thought back. The last thing she remembered was walking in the
dark. Water. She had fallen in water. Then there was a dream. A dream of
being someone else. She strained to remember, but the dream had
disappeared. She thought that perhaps she had been kidnapped by bandits
and brought here, wherever this was. Or perhaps she had simply gone mad
and been locked away here? Perhaps both?

A muffled noise was heard. The sounds of someone breathing? Lili turned
to look. It came from some large object covered by a sheet next to where
she had been sleeping. Slowly, with trepidation, she lifted up the sheet
to see what it was.

She saw a panda.

She pulled the sheet back down over it, covering it completely, as if
that would mean that it wasn't there anymore. How? How could she have
been sleeping next to a dirty, smelly animal?

The girl moved from the bed and stood up, trying not to disturb the...
thing... under the covers. She had to try to get out of this place.
Clothes. She would need clothes. She searched for something suitable.
The closet was full of things a boy might wear. In the very back was a
dress. It would have to do. It was nothing like what she was used to,
but at least it somehow felt feminine. At least wearing it didn't make
her feel like she was wearing boy's clothes. Underneath she still had on
what she had been sleeping in, but that couldn't be helped for now.

Cautiously, Lili made her way downstairs. She didn't know who or what
might try to stop her from escaping. Hopefully she could slip by without
them noticing her.

A woman waiting at the bottom of the stairs had noticed Lili. The woman
smiled warmly. She spoke, with words that Lili was unfamiliar with.
Strangely, as the girl listened, she began to comprehend the speech. The
woman was telling her that she was late, that she was supposed to be
somewhere, handing her some sort of container and pointing her out a
door.

Lili went out the door. She had understood a good part of the words, but
had no idea what they referred to. She wondered if she was still insane.

***

Elsewhere, a young man walked through a crowded shopping center. He had
come so that he could be among people. He didn't generally like people
all that much, but the urges that had recently started within him
threatened to overpower his mind when he was alone. His intelligence was
something he valued strongly. He had to try to save it.

Of course, people had never done much for him. His whole life had been a
disaster from day one. He thought of the old man, and the urges grew
stronger. One word. The old man had completely and utterly ruined his
life with one carelessly-chosen word. Yes, everything was the old man's
fault. He could give into the chaotic urges and start destroying
everything. People would run screaming, people who never did anything
for him anyway, they would run in terror, and the old man would look at
everything and realize whose fault it all was...

The young man jumped into the shopping mall's decorative fountain. The
urges were too strong to resist. He rose, transformed into a
multi-tentacled minotaur-like creature. At that moment Pantyhose Taro
was no more.

The crowd ran from the creature, screaming.

***

This was the strangest place that Lili had ever been in.

The first thing she had noticed was the cars. People rode inside metal
creatures, or perhaps magically-propelled carts, to get where they were
going.

Then she had found the shopping place. An incredible selection of goods
was available, including many things that Lili did not understand at
all. She purchased a set of underwear that felt properly feminine to
her, using some monies that were in the bag she carried. Everyone seemed
to have enough money to buy things. There was no peasant class, at least
not in this place; perhaps all of the peasants were kept in other
places.

Lili spent hours just walking, looking for anything familiar. She
desperately wanted to find her way home, or at least back to any place
that she knew. At least, she thought, she did not need to worry about
being molested by bandits here. Surely such a thing would not happen
amidst so many people.

Without warning, something jumped out from behind a bush, attaching
itself firmly to Lili's chest. It was an old,
very diminutive man. "Hi there, sweetie!" the old man said in the
strange language of this place as he fondled Lili's breasts.

"Eeeeeeeee!!!!!" Lili screamed an uncontrollable, hysterical wail.

She fell to her knees, crying, the old man still attached. This was
simply too much, she could not deal with any more. She wanted to go
home. She wanted her father, or Yang Wei, to come and rescue her, take
her from this mad, insane place. But deep down she knew that wouldn't
happen. She was damned to here for an eternity, and would never see
anyone she knew again.

A hand grabbed the old man by his garment, pulling him away from the
girl. "I shall not allow you to terrorize innocent women, not while I
stand," a new voice said. Lili could not stop crying.

"It's just a bit of fun," the old man said. "A training exercise. C'mon
and catch me, Ranma!"

Happosai paused. Something was obviously wrong with Ranma. He should
have been enraged, should have been chasing the old man trying to make
him regret what he did. Instead Happosai's victim seemed on the verge of
a complete breakdown. Before him was not a martial artist, rather a
young girl with terror in her eyes. This wasn't fun anymore. There was a
serious problem here, one that the old lecher did not want to involve
himself in. He bounded off in search of other pursuits.

"Are you all right, my love?" Lili's rescuer asked. She slowly looked
up, trying to believe that it would be all right now. The man wore robes
and carried a wooden sword. "Fear not, no harm shall come to you. You
are under the protection of the Blue Thunder of Furinkan High!" Lili
looked up further, finally able to see the man's face.

It was him. It was Yang Wei.

Or at least it looked like him. "Are you really Yang Wei?" she asked in
Chinese, a glimmer of hope in her soul. The man obviously did not
understand, and she repeated the question in the strange new language
that she somehow knew.

"Ah, but the encounter with the vile lecher has left you stunned, for
you could not forget that I am Tatewaki Kuno, your most humble and
faithful admirer. To you, pig-tailed girl, am I devoted with a love that
I could feel for no other."

Tatewaki and Lili then noticed that they were being stared at, by a
short-haired girl with an angry expression.

***

It had not been a good day for Akane Tendo.

It was the day of her Trigonometry exam. Ranma had agreed to study with
her the night before. Instead, all he did was babble gibberish at her
all evening long. Then he fell asleep, Akane's dad having to carry him
up to his room. Then this morning he didn't even get up out of bed for
his exam. Akane waited for him to get up, and finally had to leave
without him. Even so, she was late and the Principal made her scrub out
all the toliets in the first floor ladies' room before her exam.

On her way home from school, Akane spotted Ranma talking to Kuno. He was
in his girl form, as he had been in all of last night since she had
angrily splashed him that afternoon. He wore a dress, the same one he
had worn as "Ryoga's finacee". What scam was he trying to pull with Kuno
here?

Akane glared at Ranma and Kuno, clearing her throat to get their
attention. "Ranma! What are you doing here?!?"

Ranma backed away towards Kuno, as if expecting the kendoist to protect
him. "You must be mistaken," he said timidly. "My name is Feng Lili. I
am..."

"You could've at least gotten a decent disguise this time. Did you
honestly think you'd fool anybody with this act? Is there anybody who
could be stupid enough to fall for this?"

"Please calm yourself, Akane Tendo," Kuno said. "The pig-tailed girl is
obviously distraught. This does not lessen my passion for you! Be not
jealous!"

"JEALOUS??!?" Akane kicked Kuno away. Ranma looked at her with what
appeared to be fear in his eyes. Akane grabbed him by the arm and strode
forcefully toward home.

***

Police officer Usugurai wasn't worried.

His sources all told him that the people who frequented the Tendo Dojo
redefined the word eccentric, but that they were top-notch fighters, and
always came through when there was a crisis. Which there was.

At least the sensei seemed to accept his story. It was the truth, but
even he had trouble believing that it wasn't just a dream, or a movie.
"You've come to the right place," Soun Tendo reassured the policeman. "A
monster tearing up the suburbs, eh? We'll soon put a stop to that. We
happen to have one of the finest young martial artists in Japan here at
the dojo. If anyone can sort out this monster, he can."

Kasumi looked out the window. "Oh look! Akane and Ranma are home!"
P-chan ran towards the door with an excited Bweeeee!!!

The two young people came in the door. "Let me go!" one of them, the
girl with the pig-tail, protested frantically.

"Officer Usugurai, please allow me to introduce my daughter Akane," Soun
said. "And this is Ranma Saotome, the young man who will be able to
defeat your monster. If he can't do it, no one can." Usugurai did not
need to use his police observation training to discern that the person
the sensei had pointed out was in fact a young woman.

Akane was paying no attention to her father at the moment. "All right,
Ranma. I've had enough of this! Just what the hell is your problem??"
she said, as P-chan jumped into her arms.

"Stop -- stop pushing me around!! I just --" The pig-tailed girl
struggled to speak, on the verge of tears. "I just can't deal with
violence!!"

Now Usugurai was worried.

Gary Kleppe
kleppe@execpc.com, Home page http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe
My fanfics and the FFML map are on my comics/manga page,
       http://www.execpc.com/~kleppe/comics