On Fri, 2 Apr 1999 13:15:24    Ben Reyes wrote:

    Slowly, surely, the shadowy figure made its way to the temple altar.  I
could be seen that this figure was a person, wearing a sack over his/her
shoulder and looking very happy.  The figure stood in front of the altar and
reached into the sack, pulling out seven orange balls, each decorated with
red stars on them.  The balls were placed on the altar, and they glowed
eerily, as if emitting an aura of powerful magic.  The figure raised its
hands to the sky and cried out:

    "Oh, great Dragon!  Come forth and grant me my wish!"

    The balls glowed brightly, then flashed.  From them appeared an immense
dragon, its body almost wrapping around the entire temple.    It's eyes
glowed red, the light reflecting off its jade scales.  It turned to face the
unknown figure to address him.

    "You, who have awakened me from my eternal slumber, what is your wish?"

Ryouga Hibiki had long thought, dreamt, envisioned his wish: to finally 
defeat Ranma Saotome.  He knew exactly what he would say.

"I wish that I can finally defeat Ranma, to surpass him in every way!"

The Dragon gently shifted in the air as it seemed to contemplate how 
to interpret this wish.  At last, it came to a decision, and simply said 
one word:

"Granted."

Ryouga stood there for a second, excited at the thought of finally 
putting an end to Ranma's unfaithfulness and unworthiness of Akane's 
hand, and for a second Ryouga contemplated how he would spend 
the rest of his life with here.  What he had not considered was how 
he would *really* spend the rest of his life.

"Wha-what's going on?" he shrieked as his body began to change; 
he started to become shorter, afraid he was being turned into a pig 
permanently, but that fear stopped when he stopped shrinking.  It 
began again as his waistline suddely grew and his hair fell out, and 
a cold sweat ran down his now puffy cheeks as he looked at his 
big calloused hands turn into big fatty hands.

With the change complete, the Dragon began the second part of 
fulfilling the wish.  

Ryouga suddenly felt fear no longer...it was as though everything 
that should bother a person went away.

"Wait...what's there to fear, anyway?  Or to defeat?  Ranma, like 
this world, shall pass, and be as dust motes in the hourglass of 
time."  Ryouga smiled, realizing the folly of his former life.  With 
a happy puff of effort, he picked up his sack again and turned 
back to the dragon.

"Thank you," he said with a bow, "You have done what has 
been needed for me and this world for a long time.  It will be 
used well."  Who it was that spoke last, Ryouga or the Dragon, 
would always be unclear.

End.
----------

If you're familiar with Buddhism in any way, you'll understand who 
I turned Ryouga into, the Happy Chinaman who wanders the world 
with a sack on his shoulder.  Partly because of Chris Davies joke, 
and partly 'cause it's Easter, this seemed to fit.

Shunsuke

---
"Gee, I wonder what all these nice men do when they're not working."   - Rally Vincent
"Drink, smoke, watch TV, and gamble.  It's a tradition."   - Bean Bandit
     (from "Riding Bean")



Get your FREE Email at http://mailcity.lycos.com
Get your PERSONALIZED START PAGE at http://personal.lycos.com