On 5/9/97 6:05 PM, gaffney@iconn.net at gaffney@iconn.net wrote:

C&C welcome!  gaffney@iconn.net is the addy.

Well, let's see. Cute story... though I think Ataru seemed a little too 
unreasonably reasonable, if that makes sense. I know you dropped in a 
possible explanation, but it didn't really seem convincing. Ah, well.

    Suddenly, everyone was startled by a crowd of people surrounding Mendou.
    "There's a girl that doesn't like Mendou?!?"
    "That's impossible!"
    "Mendou, what did you do to her?"
    Mendou was backing away from the crowd, waving his hands.  "I-I didn't
do anything to her!"
    Ataru decided now would be a good time to leave.  "C'mon, Lum.  We're 
taking Akane-chan to Sakura-chan to see if she can help her get home."
    As they left, Mendou continued to be peppered with comments.
    "He must have done something really horrible to that girl!"
    "But *every* girl loves Mendou?  What's different about this one?"
    "My god, it's full of stars!"
    A Dappya appeared.  "It's the Apocalypse!"

Heh.

    Sakura was startled.  Ataru was coming to her shrine, and wasn't running
towards her with a glazed look in his eyes.  Furthermore, there was a small
girl with him, who looked as if she'd been crying.
    Ataru looked at Sakura seriously.  "I owe you a grope later, but we have
something more important right now.  This girl is lost."

Uh-huh. Right. This is what I meant; I can't see Ataru saying that, like 
it was a business transaction or something. ;>

    Ataru frowned.  "But why does it happen?  Is it some scientific thing?"
    Suddenly, to everyone's surprise, a chalkboard was rolled in, followed 
by a young girl with wild red hair.  She started drawing on the board.  "It's

You forgot the Science Academy uniform. <wry g>

very simple.  Lum's presence here, even more than the other aliens, is a
textbook case of the chaos theory.  The neighborhood of Tomobiki is doing 
its best to cope with this by extending some of Lum's strange abilities to
everyone in the area.  In this way, the extraordinary things that happen 
here are merely seen as just another day in the life of Tomobiki.  Whenever
Lum leaves Tomobiki for an extended period, the powers go away."
    She finished drawing with a flourish, and rolled the board away again.
"Sorry for the interruption, but it looked like you needed a genius to help
explain things to you!"  Just as quickly, she was gone.

<Groan> Remind me to kill you later.

    Akane seemed determined to be miserable.  "Of course they love me!  
They're my family!  Families have to love each other!"
    Ataru's smile faded.  "That's not always true, Akane-chan.  My mother
is constantly wishing that I'd never been born.  My father spends so much
time behind his newspaper that I don't know what he thinks.  I'd like to
think they love me but...after so many years of them treating me like an
unwanted child, how can I?"
    Lum and Sakura were off to the side, stunned.  "Darling..." Lum
murmured.
    "I had no idea he felt this way," Sakura said.  "Maybe that's why he's
acting so strange."

<Grunt> Maybe. Still doesn't feel right. Interesting insight, though.

    "KYAAAA!!"  Akane reached into a dimension that hadn't been accessible
to her until now, grabbed a mallet without thinking, and slammed Cherry into
the stratosphere.  "GO AWAY!!!"
    Ataru, Lum, and Sakura stared at the mallet in Akane's hand.  "This is
going to make things more complicated," Sakura mused.
    "Will she be able to do that outside Tomobiki?" asked Ataru.
    "Oh, yes.  Lum would have to be off Earth for more than a few months 
before the powers stop.  I'll have to explain to her parents somehow."

Hmmm. I don't know about this. I can sort of accept this explanation in 
UY, but it really doesn't fit Ranma, IMHO. 

    Sakura turned and prepared to leave, ready as always for the dramatic
exit.  "Tomobiki."
    Both of their eyes widened, and they looked at Akane with a wary
expression.  Sakura sighed.  *This town is never going to get rid of its
reputation,* she thought.

Wouldn't that be "Tomobiki is never going to get rid..."? "This town" 
would be Nerima right now... unless she's making a prediction of the 
future? ^_^

    The present.

    "So it's this weird dimension?  Because of the alien girl?" Ranma asked.
    Kasumi smiled.  "I suppose you think it's silly."
    Ranma shrugged.  "No sillier than any of the stuff that happens around
here...in fact, I've got an idea."
    "Ranma!"  Akane had entered the house, mallet at the ready.  "Are you
ready to eat my cookies, or do I have to pound you again?"
    Ranma grinned.  "Perfect timing."  He turned to her and said, "Of course
I'm not going to eat your cookies!  Your cooking is poisonous!"
    "Why you..." Akane swung down her mallet onto Ranma's head -- 
    And Ranma caught the handle deftly between his hands.  "Ha!  It worked!"
He had paid careful attention to the descriptions of the Tomobiki people, 
and wondered whether he could try to emulate them.  "Now I don't have to 
worry about those mallets anymore, you kawaikunee tomboy!"
    Akane, who had been trying to drive the mallet onto his head, got even
madder.  "Ranma..."
    Suddenly the air around the two of them seemed to sizzle.
    "NO..."
    Flashes of electricity coursed out through Akane's hands.
    "BAAAAAKKAAAAAA!!"
    Ranma screamed as voltage coursed through his body.  He dropped to the
ground, looking very charred.
    "Oh, my!" said Kasumi.
    "Well, this is an interesting development..." said Nabiki.
    Akane stared at her hands wide-eyed.  "How on Earth did I do that?"

<Sigh> And I can't say I care for this, either. The Ranma characters are 
zany in their own way; don't try to turn them into UY characters, 
*please*! I'd like to see more UY stories, but not that way!



Travis Butler
(The Professor, formerly of Myth and Magick!, Lawrence, KS;
 tbutler@tfs.net, now from the Wandering Powerbook;
 <http://www.tfs.net/personal/tbutler/>;
 Mac page <http://www.tfs.net/business/tbutler/>)

...Like Alice, I try to believe three impossible things before breakfast.