Is it a good thing, or a bad thing, when even something like *this*
gives you a story idea?  I'm honestly having trouble deciding.  (I'm
serious...getting an answer to this question is my main reason for
posting this fic.  Read on, then tell me, please.)

With apologies to Rumiko Takahashi.  To the best of my knowledge,
things did not actually happen this way...

******

It was finished, and just in time.  She did not know if she could take
any more of it.  Although she hated to leave it in its current state,
there was no way she could get through another issue with her sanity
intact.

Rumiko sighed in frustration.  Ranma 1/2 had been one of her better
mangas.  She was getting ready to wrap it up anyway; settling the
affairs of Ranma's fiances once and for all.  But then *he* started
bothering her.

Happousai had started as only a side character; just another source of
humor.  She did not think it strange when she started to hear his voice
suggesting ideas: all of the significant characters, and even some of
the insignificant onces, had done so from time to time.  It was just her
imagination's way of expressing itself.

That changed when he started invading her dreams.  Once, she almost
thought she saw him standing next to her, like a statue, but he soon
dissapeared.  If it had been almost any other character, even Kodachi,
she would not have minded that much.  But Happousai was a lecher,
repugnant to all women, and Rumiko was a woman.

Even killing him off would not have helped.  Given the series, there
would always be a multitude of ways to bring him back, and besides,
actual death just would not fit with the manga's tone.  No, the only way
to exile him forever was to end the series.

And so, Rumiko headed off to deliver the final pages of Ranma 1/2,
unaware of the reality hole that winked into a momentary existence
behind her.

******

Happousai gasped for air.  The void had been cold and unbreathable, much
like someone had once told him outer space was.  As hostile to life as
it was, though, it was his lifeline.  He had felt his reality starting
to collapse long ago, and sought desparately to escape.  Only Cologne
might have been able to travel with him, but if she was aware of their
world's situation, she had shown no concern.

Ancient texts, with runes that curiously resembled four English letters,
described the multiverse: a series of realities, always in flux.  Some
grew stronger as others grew weaker; the key was how much attention
they received from the Prime Reality.  The dreamers, writers, and
artists in the PR created these other worlds merely by thinking of them;
conversely, when these realities were eventually forgotten by the PR,
they ceased to exist.  The more denizens of the PR read or saw these
worlds' stories - or, better still, dreamt of them and captured them for
others to experience - the more energy these worlds got.  Only those
realms with the most energy could send its citizens to the PR.

The world of Ranma 1/2 had received a lot of energy, but Happousai could
feel its original creator starting to withdraw herself.  According to
the texts, this signalled the beginning of the end of most worlds.
Happousai had to make his escape while he could.

It felt like an eternity of effort to even feel his true creator's mind.
Oddly, that contact only seemed to spur that entity's removal.
Desparate, Happousai tried again and again, still participating in his
home world's events but not speaking a word of its demise, in order to
buy him much needed time.  In the end, his efforts paid off.

This was far from the first time that this had happened.  For decades -
almost a century, in fact - certain denizens of these worlds had found
their was to the Prime Reality.  Eventually, some of them were bound to
meet each other and compare notes.  They would become known as Toons.

Many of the transfers happened near Hollywood, so it was only natural
that their "government", such as it was, would be headquartered there.
Their very existence was a secret, only known to themselves and to
Hollywood's top creative talent.  The humans would help these newcomers
adjust to the Prime Reality, and in exchange, they would blow away any
writer's block by regaling the creators with stories they had witnessed
first hand - or, better yet, take a camcorder, travel to any one of
these worlds, and return with a story for the "creator" to watch,
transcribe, and sell as if it were their own.  Unfortunately, almost no
transits had ever happened in Japan, so the elaborate network of transit
sensors that filled Hollywood, and miles beyond, missed Happousai.  The
A.C.M.E. - ACME Co(s)mic Multiverse Explorers - never knew of his
arrival.

For him, it would be a one way transit; he was certain that, despite
the stories being circulated, his home was doomed.  A long robe, gloves,
and a rubber mask took care of his obvious differences from this
reality's denizens, and his speed kept him out of trouble when his many
attempts to show appreciation for the female form were rebuked.

Over time, he learned more and more of the world's ways, and found new
ways to spread his joys.  One day, he learned of a mailing list whose
members unconciously fed energy to his world and many similar ones.  Out
of gratitude, he decided to tempt them to his ways...