Ranma 1/2 final draft
Happi Days #6: Fourth Week, Monday
  all char are (c) Takahashi Rumiko, with the exception
of Tetsuo, the crew of the smuggler ship 'ChaCha Maru'
and extraneous other characters thrown in for one scene
or less.
-----------------------------
	Hiroko smiled and fixed an extra box lunch.
This time she'd be able to give it to Ryouga-kun, she
knew that the lost boy needed plenty of food to keep
his energy up.

	She'd almost followed the recipe this time,
though it had seemed a little bland, so adding octopus
marinaded in a pepper sauce (to keep it from spoiling)
seemed a good touch. 

	"Ryouga-sama," Hiroko giggled. Cooking was so
much fun since the Becoming and she'd accepted the
changes. Besides, Nabiki's picture of Ryouga coming
out of the furo...

	Hiroko smiled as she added another piece of
octopus.
-----------------
	Ranma slipped out of the silk cords that had 
been used to tie him in place, sneaking slowly towards
the window like a ghost, careful not to awaken his 
guard.

	Akane murmurred something in her sleep from her
futon in front of the door.

	When Ranma's heartrate approached normal again,
he slowly opened the window. He was expecting the hand
dropping down on his shoulder, so sure he'd be found
out that when nothing of the sort occurred he was unsure
of himself briefly.

	Slipping away into the night, Ranma felt that
checking up on Ryouga's story was his first priority.
If it checked out, maybe he should go back to China.
-----------------
	Happosai slipped out of his lair, a hidden
panel in the roof of the Tendou Training Hall where
he'd hidden the mass of his silky darlings.

	The whisper of air around the incoming dagger
was sufficient for Happosai to dodge. An overcast night
with no lights on in the yard was perfect for sneakery,
but apparently it benefited others than Happosai.

	"Who's there," Happosai growled. A glimpse of
motion, too quick from concealing shadow to shadow. He
could only be sure of one thing. It was a woman who
was wearing black pants and a red Chinese shirt. The
conclusion was obvious.

	"So, Ranma, finally you find the courage to
face me." He hefted the super soaker in his hands. "You
have already doomed your friends and family. YOU are
personally responsible for the tragedy afflicting them
because you didn't face me when you should have."

	Silence was the only answer Happosai received.

	"Ranma, you can't fool me. Come and face me, you
coward, or I may have to do something really nasty."

	More silence. Happosai began to creep forward
as silently as he could. He thought that his opponent
should be right over there.

	"Really, Ranma, I expected more of you. If you
don't face me, do you know what I'm going to do? I've
got three tins of something called 'Golden Passion Dust'
ready to drop in the water supply. All I have to do is
turn one extra little valve, and the drug mixes with
the Nerima water supply. Believe me, this will make my
revenge with the Jusenkyo water seem gentle and 
refined by comparison.

	"My ONLY problem will be in deciding who to
ravage first." Happosai got to the shadow and realized
that Ranma wasn't there. Looking around, he reached the
peak of the roof and tried to figure out where his
opponent was. "Will I deflower sweet Akane first? Maybe
that best friend of yours, the okinomiyaki chef? I can
have Nabiki and charge her for the pleasure, hah! Maybe
even some of your formerly male friends, I glomped one
yesterday and she felt DELICIOUS."

	A movement alerted Happosai, the figure was
visible as movement leaping over him. "Game, set, and
match, Ranma!" Happosai triggered the flood of his last
supply of the cursed Jusenkyo spring water towards the
figure.

	The figure dodged, rolled, and stood as a porch
light came on, a bo staff clearly visible in her hands.

	"K-Kasumi?!?" Happosai's eyes bugged out, yes,
even more than normal. He stared unmoving as Kasumi
took a martial arts stance that clearly read "challenge"
to his trained eyes.

	Gravity, of course, was not suspended. <SPLASH!>
------------------
	"Where is that baka?"

	"It's ok, Akane. The poor boy just doesn't 
realize we've got his best interests at heart."

	"Ukyou, if he chooses YOU, I-I-I'll be happy
for you."

	"Sugar, you'd be completely miserable and you
know it. Same here. And if he chooses Shampoo we'll
both me miserable. If he chooses Kodachi..."

	"Killing him would be the only merciful thing
to do." Akane looked over at Ukyou, strange how the
two of them seemed to have deepened their friendship
since being affected by the water. "Still, if we find 
him..."

	"We'd better find him," Ukyou drew her battle
spatula, "before those other girls do or there might
not be anything left of him."

	"I was just thinking about what happens if he
were to face Happosai before he knows about the water."
--------------------
	Ranma puzzled about something. Why did Master
Po give him this kettle? It was a 1/3 replica of the
"Unlocking Kettle" of the Musk Dynasty, and would 
supposedly only function one hundred times before the
magic ran out, but it was still extremely valuable.

	He wondered if Master Po had used some ancient
Chinese magic and had determined that it would be needed
in some future battle with Herb and the Musk Dynasty.
--------------------
	Hundreds of miles away, Master Po sneezed, then
went back to channel surfing. Odd that even with a
satellite dish that got hundreds of channels, he usually
ended up watching CNN Japan.
--------------------
Eighth week, Sunday
	"Heh, you girls look like you'd like to party!"
The tattooed man motioned his fellows forward, six guys
from outside Nerima looking for a little "fun."

	The women approached by these men were less
than enthusiastic about them or their approach.
Hiroko and Daisuki clung to each other and wailing in
terror.

	Tetsuo, the only guy on that side of the 
impending fight, only had one offensive spell, and that
would take a lot out of him. Still, he built up the 
power, as these women had stopped being nearly so pushy
and he owed them for that. Besides, this FELT right.

	"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"

	Tetsuo glanced over to one of the walls and
blanched. The thugs, on the other hand, reacted with
a few drools and wolf whistles.

	Kasumi, dressed in a combination of a pantsuit
with hard leather armor, pointed from atop the wall at
the thugs. "Your perversions end here! Preying on 
the weak and defenseless, you deserve NO MERCY!"

	Koko-chan, dressed in a sailor fuku with 
armored shoulderpads, crossed her arms and glared. "For
your crimes against women, you shall be PUNISHED!"

	Nayami, still trying to balance on the wall,
didn't have a speech prepared. "SAME HERE!"

	"Shampoo really tired of uppity men like you.
Men who do this thing go really bad place."

	The leader of the thugs smiled, revealing a
few missing teeth. "And who are you little girlies
to teach MY men a lesson?" The other thugs smiled
and started discussing who got which girl first.

	Tetsuo seriously considered switching to his
Hide spell. 

	"WE are the Nerima Police Auxilary, Amazon
Division One! And You ARE UNDER ARREST!"

	<VRRRRT> Kasumi was suddenly holding her 
favorite battlestaff.

	<CHING-CHING> Koko-chan's tetsubo appeared.

	<SNIIIIICK> Nayami's warclaws slid out of her
sleeves. 

	Shampoo's bonbori appeared in her hands and she
once again regretted that she didn't have a dramatic
sound effect for her weapons.

	These were, of course, typical low level thugs
who immediately failed a wisdom check upon seeing these
women produce weapons out of nowhere. Instead of doing
something halfway sensible like running or surrendering,
they attacked.

	At one point during the battle, Tetsuo used his
single offensive spell when the leader attempted to go
after the cowering Momoko. The "Chi Bolt" knocked the
leader down long enough for Kasumi to slam the end of
her quarterstaff into said leader's manhood. Said leader
would be singing soprano for several weeks.

	Unfortunately, Tetsuo Tsukiku was about as
powerful a wizard as he had feared, and collapsed from
the energy needed to cast that spell. The results were
quite predictable, save to say that he really wished he
had enough energy left that could cast that Hide spell.

	Kasumi had to finish this up quickly, though,
she had a wedding to attend.
------------------------
	"She makes such a beautiful bride," said Ukyou,
dabbing tears away from her eyes as she turned from the
two at the altar to Ranma.

	"Yes, she does," agreed Akane, smirking slightly
before resting her head against Ranma's shoulder.

	Cologne smirked. Her newest pupil had done her
so proud by tricking Happosai and the results had been
quite rewarding. Finding that "Love Potion" had been
equally wonderful.

	Happosai pushed back her veil so that she
could gaze lovingly upon her husband.

	"You may now kiss the bride," the minister,
who was clueless about the nature of the bride, said.

	Mikado Sanzennin obliged, finally kissing his
1000th girl. Nobody had told him yet. They'd probably
wait until AFTER the Honeymoon.
--------------------
New Years Eve, Fifth Month:
"Dear Honored Mother, Father, family:

	"As this is usually a time for reflections,
I'm writing this down. It has truly been a strange
year and I'm appending some additional files on the
events, particularly the events known as the 'Bishojo
Bride' events.

	"Happosai is happily married to Mikado 
Sanzennin, and the couple are expecting their first
child in another six months. Happosai got quite drunk
after Kasumi tricked him into splashing himself with
his own cursed springwater, with the result that the
mental contamination occurred very quickly.

	"So many of the Nerima citizens have become
almost 'Stepford Wives' versions of themselves that
the traditional 'feminine arts' have become a major
business here. Note that strong feelings and beliefs
were unaffected by what is referred to as the Becoming
by many of the Cursed.

	"Reaction to the situation in Nerima is mixed.
Many feel that Nerima itself is cursed and avoid it as
if it were a plague colony. Others come to gawk at the
women and overall change in the atmosphere. Still others
feel that the area has become an easy target for 
violence and all sorts of mayhem.

	"The official breakdown of the Cursed, as last
determined by one of the local news agencies, is that 
there are 1,212 Cursed individuals in Nerima. Support
groups for people with curses have confirmed that the
actual number is slightly higher.

	"Of these people, 64 have curses not related
to Jusenkyo. 1,101 are confirmed victims of Happosai's
little rampage. 47 have Jusenkyo curses who have come
here since the news broke about Happosai's little
escapade. Being around other people who share your
problem, or at least understand it, has drawn that
group. 

	"Of the 1,101 that were affected by Happosai,
there is a further breakdown. 187 of these individuals
were hit with the waters from the 'Spring Of Drowned
Amazon Warrior.' Martial arts supplies and dojos can
be found very easily in some parts of Nerima. There 
are a further 374 Cursed who show NO attitudinal change,
and the working theory is that they were simply hit
with Nyannichuan or 'Spring Of Drowned Girl.' There
are another 14 who weren't human to begin with, as
apparently Happosai visited the zoo at one point.
These last have some qualities of their former animal
selves, but largely appear to be human women. These
are all currently learning how to be human. This leads
to 526 who WERE hit with the 'Bishojo Bride' water who
were human. Figure roughly half used to be of the male
persuasion.

	"Furinkan High School was the worst affected.
The male/female ratio is now 1/80 with a few packs of
amazons and guys who have never mentally transformed.
In the case of these three springs, the amount of 
mixing of the curses appears to be minimal.

	"Due to the false perception that Nerima is
easy pickings for the violent, and that there are now
a large number of provisional amazons here, two more
changes of note. Nerima is now a sister-city (a very
appropriate term, don't you think) to the Amazon 
Village, and there's several amazons in the Police 
Department now. Also Furinkan has been kicking serious
butt in the high school athletics programs.

	"Ranma Saotome returned almost exactly one
month after he left. He brought with him a device 
similar to the 'Unlocking Kettle' of the Musk Dynasty.
He was able to use this until the magic ran out, and
one hundred of those with the 'Bishojo Bride' curse
now have normal lives and personalities until they are
splashed with cold water, then the other personality and
form become dominant. Most are coping with the change
with a certain Japanese stoicism.

	"Medical studies are being conducted, with the
reports being released simultaneously in the American
'JAMA' and the British 'Lancet' on the short and long
term effects of the Curse.

	"Most of the world goes on as it has for years,
without particularly noticing or caring what happens to
a small group of people in a suburb of Tokyo.

	"Oh yes. There have been a swarm of marriages
here within the past few months. My immediate superior
Kasumi Tendo married one of the Cursed who can switch,
a Doctor Tofu Ono. Akane Tendo married Ranma Saotome,
though the betting was almost even that he would marry
a girl named Ukyou Kuonji. Nabiki Tendo married this
guy named Hitoshi Lawrence, a Japanese-American 
photojournalist who came here to do the 'Girls Of 
Nerima' book. Nabiki's also got a manga deal going 
dealing with the adventures of her sister. As I'm in
Kasumi's squad, I'm hoping for at least cameo scenes.

	"All for now. Hope all of you are doing well.
As for this job I've got with the local Police 
Department's Amazon Auxilary, it's a decent wage and
I get to pummel evildoers, so it's a good job.

Respectfully,


Nayami/Ri Ku Straczynski, Junior Officer Nerima PD"
 
--------------------------------------------
well this ends the Happi Days story arc. If you
got an occasional laugh out of it, then it has
had the desired effect.
     anybody who wants to write sequels, sidestories
etc. GO FOR IT! 
  

Mata ne, minaasan,

gregg sharp, SCA ronin & general nuisance
Phoenix Arizona