note: some of you are gonna hate this. Since you know who
you are, go on to the next fic immediately. Yes, this is a x
over. No, it isn't meant to be serious. Yes, there are
non-canonical extrapolations of Amazon culture, laws, and
customs. As to the flavor, well...


 "Private Bets?" The figure put the hood of her sky blue
cloak down and examined the crowd with eyes of the same
shade, made more odd by the almost black skin and white hair
of the figure.

 "A DROW?!" Various people went for weapons.

 She held up an ID card with her picture on it, which
immediately mollified those closest.

 "Edema? Aren't you the proprietor of the 'Heart Of Darkest
Chocolate Ice Cream Parlor'? Outer ring, in the
unfashionable (near-slum) sector of Asgard?" Rowan thought
he'd seen the drow before.

 "That is myself, indeed." The drow's voice was the sort of
rich and feminine purr that immediately set more than one
male heartrate racing, especially as it had just been
revealed that she wasn't THAT sort of dark elf. She smiled
openly at the crowd, nodding to a couple that she recognized
as patrons. "It has come to my attention that you are
running something here that is similar to what Puck was
doing over on Mimir's Well. Is this... contest open?"

 "Well, I don't know..."

 "Please," said Edema, putting her hands on Rowan's
shoulders and leaning close, "it is merely something that I
would see for mine own amusement."

 "Well, uhm, I guess..." Rowan had never thought of elves as
having quite such an impressive amount of... personality.

 "Oh, you're too kind, milord." Edema slinked away in a
manner that Urd would envy.

 "You've just been 'snookered', Rowan." Bard enjoyed the
other's look of discomfiture, and wanted to see his reaction
to this. "Edema is well known in Asgard as a pool shark."

 "Pool?" So she was a good swimmer, big deal.

 Edema smiled at the crowd, flipped a rock up and then
tossed it into the pool. It skipped four times, managing to
make a semi-circle as it did so. "Ooooh. That was kind of
neat," she remarked in her best 'Mae West' voice.

 The Bard reached over and set Rowan's jaw back in place.

 "That wasn't even in a Ranmaverse." Rowan's eyes bugged.
"Well, it didn't START in a Ranmaverse."

 "Oh my," said a large collection of beings.
----------------------------------------
 SPRING FORWARD, FALL BACK  by GreggSharp
this is another unintended fic.
----------------------------------------
 Kara staggered out of the crater her impact had made and
tried to get her bearings. The Anti-Monitor's attack had
hurt her, badly. She was coughing blood, burned, had seen
the Anti-Monitor conjure up out of nowhere the substance
that was most poisonous to her, and had sent her through a
dimensional rift.

 Kara further noted two other things. One, she was having a
really *BAD* day. Two, the Anti-Monitor had gotten *REALLY*
annoyed at her.

 She was dying, and she knew it. Had the others won? Had she
bought them the time they needed? It was one thing to throw
one's life away in last minute sacrifice, another thing
entirely if one's sacrifice were wasted because the severity
of the situation had thrown people into shock.

 Too much of the time the battles they fought were silly.
One villain out to conquer the world, like they'd know what
to do with it if they succeeded, after another. Silly.
Battle Of The Egomaniacs. Nothing really accomplished. Then
the occasional fight like this one where it was the very
stuff of heroes and villains- to preserve lives and freedoms
or to see hope and life and love extinguished.

 Kara staggered to one of the pools. At least she could get
this damn taste out of her mouth.
--------------------------------
 "You never said anything about--" Ranma began, dodging the
first swipe of a panda paw. Unfortunately he didn't do so
good as far as the second such strike.

 "Ohhhh. Not 'Spring Of Drowned Cheerleader'. Very tragic
story of strange girl in cheerleader costume who drown in
Spring Of Drowned Girl just three hour ago. Terrible tragic
story sir!"

 Ranma splashed to the surface, brushed blonde hair out of
his eyes.

 Blonde hair?

 Ranma's eyes went from the blond hair to what were D cup
breasts straining the front of her gi.

 Breasts? Blonde hair?

 Ranma's eyes swept up to the panda looking down at her.
There was no repentance in the panda's gaze, no awareness
even that something wrong had occurred.

 "O-YA-JI!!!!" Ranma surged out of the pool and leapt
towards her father.
-----------------------------------
 Ryouga Hibiki sighed and wondered where he was now.

 "AAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaa!"

 Ryouga watched as a very amply endowed blonde girl shot
overhead, screaming in terror and waving her arms as if she
was trying to fly. Ryouga had to admit she was doing a
*very* good job, as the near-naked woman's arc looked as if
it would put her a few miles away.

 Ryouga scratched his head. "Blonde hair, blue eyes, nearly
naked. ARRRGGGHHH! How did I end up in Sweden?!" Ryouga
turned dejectedly and tried to retrace his steps. He must
have lost the trail somewhere back this way.
-----------------------------------
 An outsider woman had managed to make an entry into the
Amazon Tournament. She had landed, skidded an impressive
distance, and managed to knock over forty two young would-be
warriors who would compete in tomorrow's matches. Nineteen
of these Amazons were knocked out.

 "What the hell is going on?!" Ranma managed after getting
up. She looked down at herself and screamed again.

 "<OUTSIDER! HOW DARE YOU DISRUPT THIS TOURNAMENT!>" Shampoo
stalked forward. She had been training and preparing for
this tournament all her life, and was not happy to see her
impending glory stepped on.

 "Help me, please..." Ranma turned around, not recognizing
this place, not knowing what to do. What was going on here?

 "What's wrong child?" Cologne had noticed the furrow this
girl had carved in the dirt from her impact, and her
curiosity had been aroused. A blonde Japanese?

 "He fell in a pool, and my father turned into a panda, and
the panda knocked me into a pool and now I'm a girl?!"

 Cologne nodded. That explained the confusion, the scream,
and the obvious shock the girl was going through. It didn't
explain her sudden appearance. "Where was this spring?"

 "That way!" Ranma's arm swept out to point in the direction
of Jusenkyo.

 <WHAM!>

 Shampoo felt her jaw, picked herself up off the ground, and
ignored the stammered words from the Outsider Woman. There
could be only one recourse. "<I CHALLENGE YOU FOR THIS
INSULT!>"

 Cologne gave a disgusted noise. Making a public challenge
like that wasn't something she could just dismiss. Obviously
Shampoo had only been paying attention half of the time in
those Amazon Law classes. That was still more than she'd
done during the Lore or History, however.

 "But I don't *want* to fight her!" Ranma yelled. This was
going entirely too fast and was way too bizarre. She wanted
explanations. She wanted things to make sense. She wanted to
be a guy again!

 Cologne noted that the blonde woman was about ready to
explode. "<Shampoo, this is not the best time.>"

 "<Great Grandmother, I am within my rights.>"

 "<So you are.>"  Cologne sighed. "Okay, uhm, what was your
name?"

 "Ranma."

 "Well, Ranma, I'll answer your questions when you're done
with this. In exchange you will answer a few of mine."

 "If I can." Ranma climbed unsteadily to the top of the log.
She wasn't about to jump after what had happened the last
time.

 "<Shampoo, you don't have to do this. Ranma here has
already apologized.>" Cologne had a bad feeling about this.

 "<Need to do this.>" Shampoo mumbled, checking her teeth.
Two felt loose. "<Can't let an outsider woman show up
Amazons. Honor and pride of the village.>"

 There was shouted agreement to that, particularly from the
Amazons who had been knocked over by the outsider's arrival.

 Cologne's bad feeling intensified, but she sent Sugar off
to fetch some hot water. Maybe the situation could be
salvaged somehow.

 Ranma merely stood there, waiting for this angry girl to
make the first move. After a moment, Shampoo did so, racing
across the Challenge Log to repeatedly beat on this upstart
Outsider.

 Ranma noted an opening, and blocked one of the bonbori
maces, kicking out at the same time. She wasn't ready for
the results.

 The blocked mace, dented almost in half, shot across the
village and was recovered much later. It had to be pried out
of one of the outer walls by three Amazons with prybars.

 Shampoo felt pain explode outward from the point of impact
and dazedly realized there were clouds BELOW her! Her
extensive training had kept her front ribs from becoming one
with her back ribs, but that still HURT.

 Ranma looked up, seeing the girl falling limply, and did
what she felt she needed to do. Ranma jumped again.

 Shampoo was wincing at the expected impact, knowing that
she couldn't survive a fall from THIS height, when she felt
gentle strong arms encircle her. It was the blonde woman
again, mumbling something in some unknown language, and
rolling so that she would take the impact herself.

 When the impact came, her ribs moved just enough that she
lost consciousness.
---------------------------
 As Shampoo began to awaken, she looked up at the trudging
blonde Outsider. Great Grandmother had said this Outsider
was named 'Ranma', hadn't she? "Ranma?"

 The blonde looked down at her, and quite openly showed
relief at seeing that she was okay. Shampoo was confused,
this was NOT how Outsider women were portrayed. Maybe she
was a goddess? A dragon in human form? Something else?
Definitely NOT a weak hateful Outsider woman who was only
interested in putting down those different from herself.

 Shampoo glanced around, pushing aside how warm and safe she
felt in the girl's arms. They were in the village again. "<I
think you can put me down now.>"

 "<You let ME be the judge of that, Shampoo.>" Lilac, one of
the Healers, gestured for the Outsider to put Shampoo down
on the ground. When Ranma did so, Lilac began her
examination. "<Three cracked ribs, right collarbone's
broken, point of impact was the collarbone, bruising over
most of her chest and upper arm, looks like some further
damage to the tendons and muscle strain on the right arm..
Looks like Shampoo was dodging and the kick grazed the ribs
and only partially hit the collarbone.>"

 Cologne looked at the concerned face of the Outsider and
came to the same conclusion as Lilac. "<The Outsider clearly
does not know her own strength, is lost and alone, and a
warrior. I proclaim her free of additional challenges during
her stay here.>" Cologne kept from smirking at the visible
relief sweeping the Amazon ranks. NOBODY wanted to fight the
Outsider at this point. Proving that stupid was not the same
as ignorant.

 "<How dare this Outsider hurt my Shampoo!"> Then again.

 "<MOUSSE! Stop...>" Cologne's voice trailed off as she
stared at the sword that Mousse had just tried to thrust
into the outsider's back. He would have an easier time
thrusting it through rock. Deciding she better do something
before the Outsider got annoyed, Cologne stopped Mousse by
the simple measure of applying her cane to his head and
ordering some of the warriors to take the dazed male and
lock him up "before he got their *guest* annoyed."

 The idea of what their guest might be able to do if
actually angry instead of confused got the Amazons moving
quickly.

 Mousse found himself stripped, tied up, gagged, chained,
shoved in an empty pickle vat, the lid of the vat chained
and locked into place, and locked in Shampoo's basement
before the little stars had finished flashing in his vision.
Mousse blinked a couple of times in the cramped dark space
and decided he needed to avenge Shampoo AND himself for
this.

 Ranma lifted the no-longer-angry girl up at the old woman's
direction, apologized again, and started out for her hut.

 Hot water poured down, and Ranma staggered as the weight of
the girl seemed to go from near-nonexistant to substantial.
He didn't have any trouble with that weight though, other
than now shouting out in gladness at his restored male
gender.

 Amazon jaws dropped. The crowd of warriors following at a
respectful distance. The girl in Ranma's arms. The Elders.
Everyone noticed the sudden weakening as the hair and gender
changed, but that was merely one of the observations going
on.

 Tiger summed up one of those ideas. "<Shampoo was defeated
by a cute guy? Mousse is gonna be plenty PO'ed about THAT!>"

 Another idea, voiced by one of the Amazons who actually
stayed awake during Lore classes, was "<if that's a Jusenkyo
curse, I wanna go swimming a little later.>"

 A minority, but still present asked a question now
occurring to still others. Particularly among those who had
been knocked out during the stranger's arrival. "<I wonder
if he's into GROUP marriages?>"

 Unfortunately, Ranma didn't speak Chinese, otherwise he
might have started running there and then.
-------------------------------
 Ranma lay down and tried to make sense of things. He was in
a village of women who seemed VERY friendly to him.
Especially that girl with the purple hair.

 There had been a long discussion between this "Cologne" and
"Shampoo" about something. The girl had been obviously
confused about a great many things. Finally the Elder had
explained to Ranma that Shampoo owed her life to him and
therefore was his servant until the life-debt could be
repaid.

 Ranma remembered, from somewhere, about technically
primitive societies often having elaborate warrior codes.
This seemed to be the case here. There had been some further
argument about what was to be done afterward, but finally
the two seemed to find an agreement.

 Looking at where Shampoo was sleeping, Ranma tried to
figure her out but as usual with women found he just
couldn't manage it. She had been so hostile at first when
she had thought him an outsider woman, then had done a
complete turnaround after the fight. Then gotten VERY
friendly when he was revealed to be a boy with a curse.

 Not that she could do much about it right now. Shampoo had
one arm in a sling, her ribs were taped, some really smelly
salves applied and she was wearing a very loose robe over
all the bandages and poultices. A servant, but one that
couldn't do a lot for herself right now.

 He felt strange. Even in uncursed form, he felt strange.
Like ideas and concepts and feelings that he'd never had
before were surging up in his consciousness. How odd.
----------------
 Ranma dreamed. He walked the streets of an asteroid city
and watched replays of a technologically advanced world that
ripped itself apart under a red sun. Of a civilization that
could have walked the stars as gods but had turned their
back on the stars and become a cold and sterile society. Of
the discovery of a blue green world where a cousin named
Kal-el had grown to become a hero, a legend, and a standard
to strive for.
----------------
 Shampoo dreamed. She saved the life of Ranma, bestowed upon
him the Kiss Of Marriage now that they were even, and
settled down to have dozens of children who were able to
leap tall mountains in a single bound.

 Shampoo smiled and snuggled into her blankets a little
deeper.
-----------------
 Genma dreamed. Of bamboo leaves and steaming bowls of rice.
Of bringing home a man among men and showing everyone that
Genma was capable of things far beyond Happosai. Of watching
his wife beginning to rip up the contract, then she looked
past him and frowned.

 When had Ranma turned into a blonde girl in a bunny suit?

 When had he assumed his cursed panda form? Genma watched as
his wife unsheathed her katana, which was somehow now three
times her own height. She held the parchment before him and
fixed Genma with a humorless gaze.

 Genma grumbled and turned over in his sleep, lost in the
nightmare.
---------------
 Ryouga smiled in his sleep and dreamed of unclad nubile
blondes leaping overhead. If he hadn't been unconscious
already, his nosebleed would've put him there.
---------------
 Mousse tried to move around to ease the cramps. "WHEN IS
SOMEONE GOING TO LET ME OUT OF HERE?!"
---------------
 "DIE RANMA!" Akane yelled, then realized she was reading a
script from another fanfic. "Oops. Sorry, sorry, my bad."
---------------
 Ranma woke up, stretched, and not so quietly freaked when
he looked in the mirror for the first time since receiving
his curse. He ran a hand through the odd streak of yellowish
hair, looked into the blue eyes of his reflection, and (in a
panic) checked his pants. Relieved that he wasn't turning
slowly into his cursed form, he shrugged and decided to
ignore this new development for the moment.

 Shampoo, pretending to still be asleep, noted the panic,
the checking, the relief. Wisely, she decided not to pursue
the subject. Shampoo was to observe the boy/girl and
determine if he could be brought into the village (Shampoo
had high hopes on this), could be an ally of the village, or
if he would pose a threat to the village. The first two were
outcomes that everyone would prefer. The third would mean
that Shampoo would have to wait for him to be in his male
form, vulnerable, and then kill him as quickly and quietly
as possible.

 She was *really* hoping for option one.

 Ranma, not knowing about any of this, luxuriated in doing
his morning routine in his *own* body. He could leap without
going through the roof, kick and punch and move without the
worry of something weird happening.

 Before Jusenkyo, life was predictable for Ranma. No roots,
no ties, no friends, no focus or refuge save the Art. His
father made sure of that, that the only real concern in
Ranma's life was the Art and that any physical needs that
had to met were somehow incorporated into it. Foraging
became part of the Art, eating became speed training,
digging latrines were also part of the focus. Attacks from
his father could come at any time, hence the continued
battles. Yes, it was *all* about the Art. Martial Arts was
his real father and his mother, his lover and his friend,
his only companion and refuge.

 Now, the Art had been made useless.

 He had been able to break bricks since he was five. He
could shatter walls five years later. Five years after that
he could use dim mak techniques to shatter bricks that he
hadn't directly touched.

 Now all it took was a splash of cold water and he could
crush  a brick into a fused lump of stone.

 Still there was the comfort of something familiar and it
was something he was good at. Which is why he performed the
series of Martial Arts manuevers known as a kata. Over and
over again, the complex manuevers written into his brain by
repetition. They were familiar when the world around them
had changed and gone completely insane.

 A few hours later, Ranma and his servant packed a few
things and set off to Jusenkyo so that he could rejoin his
father.
----------The Private Betting Room----------
 A number of beings there were idly making wagers or sipping
on frosty fountain drinks (supplied by Edema, who was one of
the few beings locally who could and would make a triple
fudge chocolate malt milkshake topped generously with a gob
of whipped cream and a cherry.)

 "So, they meet up with Genma, return to Japan, and then
Genma lets his son know about the engagement." The Bard
nodded, as it sounded about right. "How is he going to force
Ranma to go to the Tendo household? His cursed form could
throw Genma all the way back to Jusenkyo."

 Edema shrugged and looked innocent. "Genma puts the facts
together and does not inform Ranma about the engagement
until later."

 "Lass, what be the hair and eyes changing color?"

 Edema smiled at the older mage. "Why, sirrah, 'tis simple.
Kara, also known as Supergirl, is dead but three hours when
young Ranma doth get immersed in that pool. Her soul and
personality, that of a valiant warrior, moves into the young
man. Enough of her persona remains that she doth exert an
influence upon him, especially strong in dreams. And from
dreams, to waking where they can reinforce certain
tendencies in his behavior that might not as strong as they
were before."
---------------------------
EYECATCH#1:
 Ranma-chan is lifting a barbell with "1 ton" written on the
ends, Kasumi and Shampoo are sitting on the ends.
 Ryouga throws a kettle at Ranma.
 Ranma is flattened under the weight.
 While Ryouga is laughing, Akane and Shampoo deck him.
----------------------------
 "At last. At last, Ranma is coming!" Soun wept with joy,
looking at the scrawled lettering once again.
 "Hi.Bringing Ranma from China. Saotome" was the bulk of the
message, and under that was a slightly better script reading
"& Shampoo. You no forget."

 Soun shrugged before going to collect his daughters. As for
that last strange line, well if he had been out "roughing
it" for years, a bath would be among his priorities too.
-----------------------------
 Ryouga paused. He kept finding some areas of China that
looked the same. Same pools. Same bamboo poles. Same crows.
Same frogs.

 Same pudgy old guy smoking some metal pipe and saying
something in Chinese.

 Ryouga groaned as the realization struck home. Didn't just
*look* the same, it *was* the same.

 Well, this time he'd try crossing this area with all the
pools. Besides maybe that guy over there had a map.
--------Mimir's Well-------------
 "Damn, he was so close, too."

 "So which pool did Ryouga fall in?"

 Rowan turned the sound up, focussing on the Jusenkyo Guide.

 "That terrible tragic cursed spring. Terrible story of
werewolf who fall in spring five hundred year ago. Now
whoever fall in spring take body of werewolf."

 Ryouga howled. If someone knew wolfspeak they would have
known what he was saying.

 "RANMA SAOTOME! YOU SHALL *PAY* FOR THIS!"

 "Yup," said Rowan, turning the sound back down. "Figures."
--------------------------------------
 "One of you wouldn't happen to be," Soun began. His voice
trailed off as he looked over the two. One was a Chinese
girl, the other American or something.

 "Shampoo," said the Chinese girl.

 "We already have plenty if you're here to sell us some."

 "I'm Ranma Saotome," the blonde girl sighed. "Sorry about
this."

 Soun fainted.

 "'He' is a girl," grumbled Nabiki.

 "Please to get hot water." Shampoo cut Ranma's protest
short. "Family of father's friend need know, yes?"

 "I s'pose."

 The panda growfed and moved Soun into a comfortable
position.

 "Why do you want hot water?" Kasumi looked over the two
girls and the panda.

 "Please just get it."

 "Shampoo help. Where kitchen?"

 "The shampoo is in the bath, not the kitchen," Nabiki
corrected.

 "Shampoo right here. What you say?"

 Ranma merely looked uncomfortable when she felt a need to
speak. She'd been getting odd urges  like this more and more
often. "Look, I know what it looks like but I'm really a
guy."

 Akane sat back down. She'd wanted to challenge this girl to
a fight but if she was nuts Akane wouldn't press further.

 Nabiki reached out and squeezed. "Oh yeah, you're a guy all
right."

 "Please don't do that."

 Shampoo brought in a kettle of hot water, which was
snatched away from her by the panda. A moment later the
contents had been dumped over its head.

 "POP! Why did you have to use it ALL?!"

 "The panda just turned into a guy," summed up Akane with
wide-eyes.

 "Urrrr. Now Shampoo need make *more* hot water."

 Kasumi blinked from her position alongside Shampoo. "I'll
go make some more."

 Genma began explaining about Jusenkyo, how hot water turned
him back into his uncursed form, but any other sort of water
turned him into a panda. While his son...

 "Let me see, if 'Spring of Drowned Panda' turns you into a
panda, then Ranma here must have found 'Spring Of Drowned
California Girl'?" Nabiki shook her head at the thought.
She'd seen the panda transform right in front of her, and
still didn't quite believe it.

 "I don't know," Ranma said in a quiet little voice.

 "You don't know?!" That was from Akane, the now-awake Soun,
and Nabiki.

 "The Jusenkyo Guide called it 'Spring Of Drowned
Cheerleader' but that don't quite seem to fit. I'm pretty
strong in this form."

 "Yeah, right," Akane openly scoffed. From what she could
see of the other girl's arms, there wasn't much muscle tone
at all. More importantly, here was her chance. By being
openly hostile towards this person, any chance of this
forced engagement being between them would be ended. "You
almost had me believing you for a minute."

 Nabiki frowned, figuring out what Akane was up to.

 Soun chuckled. "Hot water turns you back into a boy. Well,
that's not so bad is it? My youngest daughter, Akane, she's
sixteen. My middle daughter, Nabiki, she's seventeen. My
eldest daughter, Kasumi, is in the kitchen. She's nineteen.
Pick anyone you want, she'll be your new fiancee."

 "Fiancee?" Ranma had still been in shock from the "not so
bad" comment when this whammy arrived.

 "Fiancee," repeated Shampoo, flipping through her
dictionary. So many new words. Ah, here it was, it meant...
"Aiyah!"

 "Oh, didn't I mention that," said Genma as if it had just
occurred to him that this was why they had come here. "Must
have slipped my mind."

 "Fiancee?" repeated Ranma.

 "Oh, he wants Kasumi," said Akane with a slight grin. No
way she was going to marry some freak that changed genders
and nationalities with a splash of water.

 "Couldn't agree more," said Nabiki with a nod. Which was to
say that she couldn't possibly agree more that Someone Else
would have to deal with this mess.

 "Fiancee?!" said Ranma and Shampoo simultaneously.

 "It's settled then," Soun said with a nod and a glance at
his old friend. "Kasumi and Ranma, it is a match made with
Heaven's blessings."

 Kasumi entered the room with the kettle. "Here's the hot
water. Did I miss anything?"
------------------------
 Ryouga howled and raced across the landscape. Somewhere out
there was Saotome, and he would *pay* for this.

 Ryouga adopted a loping run which allowed him to cover a
long range, and reveled in the strength and speed of this
form. It was Saotome's fault, but this form *did* have some
advantages. Speed, strength, enhanced senses, he could take
monstrous amounts of damage and would heal extremely fast.

 When he caught up with Ranma, Ranma would pay for this
insult. Then Ryouga could concentrate on getting this
lycanthropy cured. It was only a matter of time.
-----------------------
 Mousse had questioned the guide, and found something *very*
interesting in the crater. Little shards of green glowing
crystal. Magic, no doubt. He'd fix these into his weapons,
then go hunting for the girl who had absconded with Shampoo
and made mockery of him.

 Mousse wondered why everyone had been reluctant to talk to
him back at the village. It didn't matter, though. The
outsider woman would be defeated by him, and then he would
have BOTH Shampoo and the outsider woman.

 A perfect plan.
------------------------
 Kasumi stared straight ahead and tried to cope. Cope with
the betrayal. Cope with the strangeness. Cope with the odd
situation she found herself in. "Oh my."

 "Son, you *must* marry a Tendo."

 "O-YA-JI!" The blonde woman turned and kicked a field goal.
The ball, in this case, was a panda weighing around 850
pounds. From the arc, it looked like the ball would end up
in Yokohama. The harbor to be exact.

 "Nice shot," said Nabiki after a moment.

 "I was aiming for the pond," sighed Ranma. "I have a lot of
trouble judging my strength in this form."

 "Oh," Nabiki said with a smirk. "Stronger than a
locomotive?"

 "Maybe, never fought one." Ranma shrugged. "I think I'm
gonna grab a bath and a hot soak. This has been a most
distressing day."

 Kasumi could only nod from within her own shock. She was
engaged to a girl?! <shudder>

 Nabiki noted the semi-constant drizzle of March weather was
back into drizzle mode again. The sound of perfectly good
bricks being reduced to a fine powder indicated that Akane
was trying to get rid of some of her frustration and anger.
Nabiki could well understand why, neither she nor Akane made
any pretense at living up to some outdated standard of
honor. Well, at least not much of one. Finding that their
father had made such an old-fashioned and cumbersome
arrangement was difficult, but that they were supposed to
live up to it no matter what, this was unpleasant.

 Nabiki spent a few moments looking on in concern at Kasumi.
Kasumi was, of all the Tendos, the most traditional. The
arranged marriage wasn't the hard part for Kasumi, it was
that the fiance was female and *gaijin* that made it
difficult for her. She still hadn't heard the details of the
curse.

 Nabiki noted that the sound of breaking bricks had stopped.
Good. Those cost entirely too much. She'd gotten Akane a
"stress toy" before, but they also tended to break down
fairly quickly.

 "AAAAAAaaaaaa!" Akane came running from the bathroom to
heft the table up. "I'll drown him in the bathtub."

 "What's wrong, Akane?" Nabiki noted that her father and
Mister Saotome were over there making plans. She ought to go
throw a monkey wrench in said plans, but first the emergency
at hand.

 "There's a pervert in the bathtub!"

 "Oh, Ranma must have changed back into a guy," Nabiki
shrugged. The important thing now was to derail any fool
schemes her father had about railroading the two teens into
an instant marriage. Kasumi deserved better. They *all*
deserved better.

 "My fiance is a pervert," mumbled Kasumi with an odd
expression. "How UN-nice that is."

 Akane nodded when she heard that. This Ranma had hurt
Kasumi, therefore Akane would hurt Ranma. Akane looked
around and decided to pummel Ranma for this. Maybe her
baseball bat?

 Nabiki had come to the belated conclusion that Kasumi had
been in the kitchen during the explanation of the different
springs and still didn't know that Ranma was a boy. Oops.

 "Uhm, sorry about this," Ranma said as he stepped into the
room.

 "This is Ranma?!" Kasumi blinked. He was male and Japanese.
Well, this was better than some gaijin girl at least. "I
thought that girl..."

 "This is how he normally looks," Nabiki said. A moment
later the cold water hit Ranma.

 "Whatyadothatfor!"

 "Oh my."

 "Cold water turns him into a girl, hot water turns him into
a boy." Nabiki nodded and lowered her glass again. She had
to see it for herself again anyway.

 "PERVERT!" Akane arrived with her baseball bat. The bat
swung out. A half moment later she was looking down at the
stub of her broken bat. "YOU! That was my favorite bat!"

 "What you do *that* for!" repeated Ranma. Was this Akane
girl getting mad at her because the bat broke?

 "YOU STUPID PERVERT!" Akane hefted the table and brought it
down on Ranma.

 Nabiki and Kasumi blinked at the shattered remains of their
dining room table.

 Ranma glared at the girl assaulting him. "Why am I a
pervert?"

 "You looked at me in the nude, you letch? I.... is
something burning?" Akane stopped in mid rant.

 "Akane, your gi is on fire." Kasumi sipped at her tea and
tried to pretend this wasn't happening. Especially she
wanted to pretend this wasn't happening to *her.*

 "AAAAAAHHH!" Akane reacted to the sudden flaming sleeve by
waving her arms frantically. The flames spread.
"AAAAAAHHHH!"

 "Ranma, blow the flames out," Nabiki would immediately
regret the suggestion.

 Ranma blew, hoping Nabiki knew what she was talking about.

 "Y-y-y-y-you, ba-k-k-k-k-ka," summed up the frost covered
Akane. She wasn't sure if she was addressing Ranma or Nabiki
at that point.

 "At least the fire's out," offered Nabiki.

 Kasumi blinked. If she could do that in July, it might be
handy. "I'll fix you some hot water, Akane."

 "Waitaminute," Nabiki reached over to grab the blonde
girl's shoulder. "Are you faster than a speeding bullet?"

 "Ain't never tried to race one," Ranma snorted. This was
Japan, outside of Yakuza, private collections, and a few
weirdoes, who had guns?

 "More powerful than a locomotive?"

 "Show me one that's practicing the martial arts and I'll
beat it." Ranma wondered where Nabiki was going with all
this.

 "Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound?"

 "Hell yes, I musta leapt two damn miles when I went to
Shampoo's village."

 Akane stopped shivering as things clicked together for her,
too.

 Kasumi thanked Shampoo for heating up the kettle then used
it to make tea for Akane. "It's a bird?" Kasumi was
thoughtful. Maybe Ranma could carry groceries for her. Well,
he wasn't totally useless as a fiancee. There might be some
uses for him, after all.

 "It's a plane?" Akane said it incredulously. She was
immediately glad she hadn't tried punching the blonde. That
coulda hurt.

 "Oh my," said Nabiki. The possibilities for profit were
staggering.

 Ranma sweatdropped. "Why's everyone lookin' at me?"
-Betting Area-------------
 "So, you see?" Edema sat back and managed to look sultry
while licking whipped cream off the top of her milkshake. A
half-lidded glance over the crowd proved that her
performance was unobserved. Everyone was watching the
screen. Edema pouted a little, disappointed.

 "So, Ryouga's a werewolf. Therefore magical, therefore able
to hurt Ranma's cursed form. So, Mousse goes bald from
kryptonite poisoning and is chasing Ranma around with
weapons that can kill his cursed form," Bard nodded his
understanding.

 "Remember the color changes? The Kryptonian genes are
sufficiently dominant that there is some bleedover for both
forms." Rowan sipped at a Coney Island Special and wondered
about the odd name. A coney was a rabbit, wasn't it? It
didn't taste like rabbit...

 "True, and Kasumi comes to the rescue!" There was mild
applause as the scene played out. More applause as Kasumi
beat Mousse over the head with a broom, dislodging his wig.
Akane and Nabiki grabbing little green glowing rocks and
tossing them away.

 "So what about flying, Ranma ever get the hang of that?"
-------------------------
 "You've got me?!" Akane squeaked. "Who's got you?!"

 Ranma blinked and realized they weren't supported by
anything. Gravity took over.

 "AAAAaaaaaaaaaaa." <THOOM>.

 Ranma looked over at where Akane was imbedded in the
ground. "Why'd you have to say something? Huh? Why did ya
have to do that?"
---Betting Area----------
 "Guess not."

 "Well *eventually* but it takes some time. Even when she
gets the flying straight down, turns and landing remain a
problem."

 "Yeah, well look at the time Kuno gropes her. Damn, what
altitude did they reach before she figured out where they
were?"

 "Looks about geosynch orbit level." Bard shook his head. No
explosive decompression, but it looked like Kuno nearly
froze his sword off.

 "So cut to the end, what happens?"
----------------------------
 Nabiki looked at the tub of coal lumps for Ranma to
compress and wondered where her little moneymaker had gone.

 Akane, having been regressed in age due to some odd
mushrooms she'd eaten, wondered where Ranma was with a cure.
Hopefully he'd show up before Kasumi could take her on
*another* shopping expedition. Especially after Ranma had
freaked out on seeing Akane's new "Hello Kitty" overalls.

 Shampoo wondered where Ranma was. It wasn't like him to
spend this long when there was an emergency going on.
Besides, Mousse's latest attempt to use magic to avenge
himself on Ranma had managed to catch other people. AGAIN.
Now she AND Ukyou AND Akane were four year old girls. She
was *really* hoping that Ranma came back before Kasumi
dragged the three kids off to another sale.

 Ukyou sulked. Magic mushrooms in the ramen. And she had
fallen for it. Now she was stuck wearing "Sailor Moon"
underoos. The humiliation, the agony. The... oh crap. There
was Kasumi.

 Kasumi hummed happily as she chopped vegetables to add to
her soup. She hoped that the Sanrio sale was still going on
over at Five&Under tomorrow. Akane would look *so* cute in
that pink jumper. Oh yeah, and hadn't Ranma been gone
awfully long. Probably tried to turn and buried himself in a
mountain again. Oh well, time to do this while the food
simmered. "Girls, time for your baths!"

 Soun stared at the little panda across the shogi board.
"Genma will take a bath later, Kasumi, just go on ahead."

 "Okay, father," Kasumi said with a smile, carrying three
heavily-protesting children to the furo. "Now now, children,
behave."

 Screams and squeals and other  comments echoed through the
house a moment later.

 "Shampoo can bathe self! Not need... Shampoo can undress
self! No <blurble glurble>!"

 "Aw, c'mon Kasumi, that's enough. HEY! Leggo! Sis- <blub
blub> ter!"

 "Damn, I almost got to the door! Ah hah, sugar, you won't
believe this, but I <gurble blub> HEY!"

 "Oh my, Akane, your hair is so dirty."

 "NO! Kasumi please not use THAT shampoo! How you get
that?!"

 Soun looked at the diminuitive panda. "Just another typical
day around here, isn't it, Saotome?"

 Genma held up a sign. [Where *is* that ungrateful son of
mine?]

 A naked purple haired toddler ran past the two as if all
the demons of hell were in pursuit. "Shampoo need to hide!
Kasumi wants to be mother *way* too much!"

 "Shampoo! <blurble blub!> How dare you escape without us?
<glub blub sputter>"

 "Don't worry, Ukyou. I'll find Shampoo later. Now let's
finish getting you two clean. Oh, and I've laid out the
cutest little outfits for you!"

 Shampoo looked around for a safe place to hide.

 "Shampoo, get some clothes on," Nabiki was quickly getting
tired of watching a little naked Amazon running around the
backyard.

 "Where Ranma? Shampoo really really having bad day!"

 Nabiki smirked at the little girl and ate one of the little
cookies. "That's *your* problem. Gee, for 500 yen I'll hide
you until he gets back."

 Shampoo stopped. "No, Shampoo think Nabiki right. Shampoo
will just go find place to hide. EEEEEK!"

 Kasumi picked up the struggling little girl and went back
to the bathroom. "Thanks for keeping her busy, Nabiki."

 "Anytime, Kasumi." Nabiki lazed back and listened to the
sounds of mayhem coming from the bathing room. So
entertaining. The sounds died down after awhile, and Kasumi
could be heard happily humming in the kitchen again.

 Nabiki's curiosity started working and she checked on the
three kids. They'd apparently tired themselves out and had
been tucked into bed. Nabiki snapped some photos, knowing
that when they got turned back, the three would pay
handsomely to have these not circulated.

 Three hours later, it was discovered that Kasumi's use of
the odd shampoo she'd found in Shampoo's things had a few
side effects.
------Betting Area-----
 "Oh dear." It was duly noted that after the bath scene,
several of the viewers had nearly gone comatose.

 "But Kasumi doesn't know the pressure points. She would
never have deliberately..."

 The scene flicked back to a scene where Kasumi was sorting
Shampoo's things and finds a scroll and the shampoo.

 "She doesn't read Chinese. At least not fluently. And a
hairdresser technique strikes her as curious enough that she
gives it a try." Harpell Harkel groaned from the back. "I
can see this happening."

 "How much is erased?"

 "Blocked, not erased. Looks like they're acting like real
four year olds."

 "Oh dear. Poor girl."

 "Which one?"

 "Did you see this scene where the little girls get ahold of
Nabiki, a box of magic markers, and a roll of duct tape?"

 "Dear lord, that's horrible... Can you make me a tape of
that? Oh my. Bathtime!"

 "Well, Shampoo gets her revenge at least. Guess she still
remembered the Xi Fang."

 "Nabiki shouldn't have gone for revenge like that. She
certainly shouldn't have turned her back on the little
waifs."

 "Sorry, but making Nabiki forget about money is just so
*wrong*. Oh my. "

 "Waitaminute, where *is* Ranma during all this? That's four
days later! No late minute rescues?"
-------------------
 Ranma flicked a pebble out, amusing herself by making a
sonic boom. "They probably don't even miss me. Just fetch
and carry. 'Oh Ranma, I need some ice, can you fly to the
Antarctic and get me some?' Or 'Ranma, could you crush this
coal down to diamond for me?' Or, 'Ranchan, can you fly my
okonomiyaki stand to the Oktoberfest?' Or, 'Airen, Shampoo
need to get back to village, need flight now.' NONE of them
ever think of me.

 "Hell, around *that* household, I can't even spend five min
utes as a guy before someone's splashing me. I just get
treated like a doormat or slave or something. It ain't
fair."

 "So why are you telling me this? Over." Pink watched
carefully. One sip of the memory destroying formula, and
she'd capture this powerful woman. Then, after a quick
marriage to her brother, the tribe could have *really*
powerful children.

 Ranma set the cup down again, having somehow never taken a
drink over the past hour.

 "I wouldn't mind it so much if someone just said 'thank
you' once in awhile. Or if I could spend more time as a guy,
y'know."

 "Pink, what you do here?" Rink came up the mountain path.
"Is not something else you do that get me in troubles, is
it? Over."

 "<Hey, if this works, I'll be hailed as a hero. Cologne
will be forced off her position as Matriarch, and we can get
even with Shampoo all in one fell swoop. It will also solve
all of her current problems. Everybody (except Shampoo)
wins!>"

 "<Sounds like another brilliant plan. Really, this boy
hasn't done anything wrong. Other than knocking me out when
he landed that once. Don't you think that he's better as a
friend than a slave?>"

 "<Quiet, my sister. One drink is all that's needed.>"

 Ranma glanced down at the cup. "<Well, I thought there was
something funny going on.>"

 Rink and Pink blinked. "<You speak Chinese?>"

 "<A little.>" Ranma shrugged. "<Now, if you don't mind, I'm
going to go brood some more. ALONE. But first, a little
payback.>"

 The two amnesiac sisters were found in the village square
five minutes later.
--Betting Area-------
 "So he's off pulling a Ryouga. Probably justifying it as
drawing off his many attackers from the Tendos."

 "Mousse goes to challenge Ranma again, and finds out that
'his Shampoo'is currently four years old. Man, if he had any
hair left, he'd have pulled it all out!"

 "He tries a love potion on her? When he's twelve years
older than her? That's sick!"

 "Poor Mousse. Love potions *never* go as intended. Must be
harsh falling for Azusa Shiratori."

 "What do you mean poor Mousse? Nabiki ended up with the
name of Gabrielle and whisked off to Azusa's collection!
She'll have nightmares for years!"

 "Mousse was *trying* to get Akane. That was who Azusa
wanted for the Gabrielle role."

 "Love really is blind. In this case, at least."

 "If only he hadn't hit Kasumi, Akane, and Shampoo with
'Spring Of Drowned Man' water. Sure, it would have cured
Ranma and made him a *much* easier target, but firing off
bursts of *that* blindly..."

 "I don't think I've ever seen Kasumi that angry. Must be
the testosterone..."

 "Hmmmm. Well, it doesn't seem to have bothered Akane or
Shampoo much."

 "Wait till the shampoo wears off."

 "Ah, here's Ranma! One week later."
---------------------
 Nabiki clung to her rescuer, leaving the pink be-ribboned
hellhole behind her. She yelled, she pounded, she clung to
the flying blonde girl with all her might.

 She made it perfectly clear that leaving Nabiki Tendo
behind was *not* an option. All of which was quite obviously
being ignored by the flying blonde. She still hadn't gotten
the hang of turns, flying from Azusa's house to a
skyscraper. Reorienting from the skyscraper's top to head
towards the Tendo house.

 "Hello!" Ranma noted that Akane and Shampoo were currently
four year old boys, Ukyou was a four year old girl, and
Kasumi was, well... Kasumi was a nineteen year old guy
dressed in Kasumi's usual clothes and walking as if his
panties were riding funny. Not that Ranma had any control
over that Xray vision junk to be able to check. Though it
looked like Kasumi could be getting a calcium deposit in the
right heel.

 "I've got an announcement."

 "Did you bring the mushrooms?" Akane asked, eyes brimming
with tears at the thought that Ranma had let them down
AGAIN.

 "Oh yeah." Ranma pulled the little pouch off of his belt.
"Here ya go! Anyway, my announcement is this. I've made a
choice of who to marry."

 "That's nice, Ranma." Kasumi grumbled in a deep voice.

 "Nobody." Ranma nodded. "Ain't gonna do it. All bets are
off. No point in being engaged to anyone, since it would
just make ya a target."

 Kasumi briefly considered hitting the little blonde girl.
Akane, Shampoo, Ukyou, and Nabiki merely stared.

 "Yeah right, you leave and all the craziness goes with you,
uh-huh." Ukyou turned her attention back to the bag of
mushrooms. "They gotta be cooked first, right?"

 "Yeah, Ranma, you leave and so do all are problems. Nabiki
can cook these?"

 "Shampoo no trust Kasumi to do. Kasumi love playing with
kids too much."

 "On that, sugar, we're in agreement."

 Kasumi went to go fix some hot water. Kasumi was unhappy.
Kasumi kept stretching her clothes out. Kasumi was hoping
for a cure. If only Ranma could handle turns. Or sudden
stops. Or long distances with passengers.

 "So I will choose no one and everyone will be happy." Ranma
nodded, then became aware she was all alone in the backyard.
"I'm serious!

 "Really."
----Betting Area------
 "So what happens?"

 "Flies to Jusenkyo. Crashes, of course. Still has trouble
with landings."

 "Of course."

 "So in this timeline, he actually *does* find Spring Of
Drowned Man and gets cured?"

 "That's when he gets captured by three Amazons and is
pulled off into the village for a weeklong introduction to
an ancient Amazon torture."

 "Not the dreaded 'Hundred And One Flavors'?"

 "They didn't use the legendary 'Deft Touch' technique?"

 "Dear kami, not the 'Journey Of A Thousand Steps'?"

 Rowan quickly made notes to research these at a Yggdrasil
node at the very next opportunity.

 "Yes," nodded Edema. She was a little disappointed that the
Amazons in question hadn't used the really advanced
techniques.

 "By Baldur's beard! Well, that's *another* week Ranma's out
of commission."

 "Try a year." Edema smiled, they *had* used the advanced
techniques. At least Ranma had gotten away long enough to
mail the casks of Jusenkyo water to the Tendo dojo. Well, at
least this was a different ending...






OMAKEOMAKEOMAKEOMAKEOMAKEOMAKE
       in case you're wondering, this takes place in the
"Roger Rabbit" universe. Toons are real and living in Japan.


 "Where's Akane?" Kasumi looked around. "Or for that matter
Nabiki and Genma? We've only got a few minutes before this
fic starts!"

 Soun looked up from his script. "Akane's doing a lemon with
Biles-san. I don't know about Nabiki or Genma."

 Ukyou glanced up from her own script. "That's odd, Genma's
doing a lemon story that Biles-san said he was working out."

 "You don't suppose..." Soun blinked. "He couldn't. He
wouldn't. Oh my. Now THAT hasn't been done before. I've got
to go watch *that*!"

 Ukyou and Kasumi watched Soun exit the Tendo stage. "Just
be sure you don't get into the script yourself!"

 "Nah, he's wanted to do a lemon with Mrs Saotome for awhile
now." Shampoo grabbed a handful of chips. "Oh, and Nabiki
got a temp position on 'Today in Japanese Business' where
she's doing an interview with the head of Toyota. She won't
be able to make it."

 "Anyone else out for this fic?" Kasumi put her own script
aside. "I mean, I *could* go on that cooking show but I saw
I got some good lines in this one."

 "Mousse can't make it. He's got a guest spot on Animaniacs,
just a duck in a crowd scene, but he keeps making out that
it's his 'big break.' Neither of the Kunos showed, but they
only had one scene each anyway."

 "So the script is screwed," said Kasumi thoughtfully. "So
why don't we write a new one when we find out who we could
get to play the parts."

 "Hmmm," Shampoo looked up with a grin. "You know, I know
two people who could play the sisters. They haven't had work
for awhile. Soun could have adopted them while on a training
journey."

 "That leaves someone to play the parts of Genma, Soun,
Mousse, and maybe the Kunos."

 The phone rang. After a moment Kasumi came back to announce
that Ryouga had turned up in Cincinnati and was subbing for
a radio newsman named Les Nessman. Something to do with
agriculture, he wasn't quite sure.

 "So Ryouga too," Ukyou said, staring off into space. "Hey,
I gotta idea! Which Ranma were we gonna use?"

 "The Morisato kids, Keiichi and Megumi. Not too hot on
martial arts but they were down as 'Anything Goes
Engineering' in this story. Keiichi gets cursed to turn into
an exact duplicate of his twin sister Megumi who has a
reputation as a 'bad girl' sort."

 "How 'bad'?"

 "Madoka Ayukawa meets Marller."

 Shampoo whistled. "Real bad. Hey, if you bring HIM in as
Ryouga, I have a suggestion for Mousse's replacement."
-------------------
 Two hours later:

 "Ok, let's see what I've got so far," Kasumi looked up from
scriptwriting. "Soun Tendo adopted two lost elves as
daughters after his wife underwent radiation therapy from
cancer."

 "I've got Nabiki's role?" Pirotess asked with a sultry look
that was completely wasted in current company.

 "And I'm playing Akane?" Deedlit just wished she could have
an ale right now. It might help.

 "Actually you're playing Pirotess and Deedlit Tendo. It'll
be less confusing that way." Kasumi looked up. "Ranma will
be studying magic. Following the tragic death of his father
during an accident where he fell into a pit of starving
cats..."

 (Kasumi pauses briefly for the applause from the audience
to die down.)

 "Ahem... anyway, Ranma has been studying magic under the
tutelage of his weird Uncle Zelgadis Greyweirs."

 Ukyou held up a hand. "I was gonna get Zelgadis to play
Ryouga."

 "Don't worry, I found a Ryouga. Now Soun promised one of
his daughters would marry Ranma and link the two houses, but
there's a problem."

 "Nah, elves and humans can do the horizontal bop. They can
even have kids." Pirotess smirked, getting into her Nabiki
role early.

 "Uhm, that wasn't the problem, was it?" Shampoo looked a
little embarrassed at Pirotess' blatant suggestion.

 "No, actually the problem is that Soun isn't as emotionally
unstable. He doesn't fixate on the marriage nearly as much.
He also has a job as a teacher."

 "Do I get any good lines?" Omibutso, aka Falcon, rumbled
from behind his dark shades. He wasn't the only one who
hadn't found work since "City Hunter" folded.

 "You get to look imposing and powerful. Strong silent
type."

 "Hmmm." Omibutso shrugged. Standard. "I'm surprised Ryo
didn't apply for that role."

 "He's playing Happosai."

 "I though you were going to get Tetsuwan for that spot,"
commented Ukyou.

 "He bowed out at the last moment. Too much of a stretch of
character. Wants to be called back if we do a 'Spring Of
Drowned AstroBoy'."

 That actually got some consideration. "Hmmmmm. Nah."

 "Char Aznable will be playing Tatewaki Kuno after all,
looks like the Gundam project fell through."

 "Kaori's playing Kodachi? Funny, I'd have thought she was a
natural for Akane."

 "Maybe we should have Kodachi played by Pirotess, Kaori can
play Akane, and I'll move to... no that doesn't work,"
Deedlit shrugged. She couldn't see playing Nabiki.

 "We got WHO to play Ryouga? Are you *crazy*?! He's not even
Japanese!"  Shampoo scratched her head. It would be as
improper as having a Norwegian play her part.

 "He's cheap. It's just a one shot anyway..."

 "Shan Yu? Chief of the Huns from that Disney flick?"

 "'Mulan'," noted Kasumi.

 "I still think I can get 'Gen-san' from Sabre Marionette J
for Genma's role, then have Zelgadis in Ryouga's role.
Hanagata from SMJ can play Tsubasa..."

 "You know," Shampoo grabbed a cracker and winked. "This
looks completely insane. Let's do it."

 Kasumi sat back and looked thoughtful. "Okay, how about..."
--------------------------------
 "Uhm, right. Well, these are my four daughters," said
Omibotsu, adjusting his black glasses and looking imposing.
"If you marry one, the Tendo family legacy of Engineering
martial arts will continue.

 "This is Kasumi, she's nineteen and practices Domestic
Engineering martial arts. This is my adopted daughter
Pirotess, in human years she's about seventeen, and a
practitioner of Mechanical Engineering martial arts. This is
my adopted daughter Deedlit, in human years she's about
sixteen, and a practitioner of Ecosystems Engineering
martial arts. This is my final adopted daughter, Sasami,
she's twelve. Sorta kinda."

 Ranma blinked. "Uhm, right."

 "Oh, he wants Deedlit!" Kasumi pushed Deedlit forward.

 "Couldn't agree more," chimed in Sasami.

 "Whaaaat?! Why *me*?!" Deedlit pouted in her "Elves Do It,
Naturally" t-shirt. Though he *did* look a little like Parn.

 "I don't think he'd last five minutes with me," purred
Pirotess, though she visibly considered it.

 "Too old for me," chirped Sasami then considered that she
was chronologically actually older than both elves. Oh dear.

 "Too young for me." Kasumi smiled then considered that out
of the four daughters in this story line, nineteen was *way*
younger than the other three.

 "Hmmm," said all four daughters as they considered this.
------------------------------
 okay, this was just a bizarre little thing that occurred to
me about casting different characters. Someone had done
something like this as a parody of the Bet, but without the
Roger Rabbit or casting concepts. Just got a chuckle out of
the idea of the casting of:
	Gen Ojisan from SMG as Genma Saotome
	Queen Emeraldas as Nodoka Saotome
	Omibotsu "Falcon" (City Hunter) as Soun Tendo
	Char Aznable (Gundam) as Tatewaki Kuno
	Deedlit (Lodoss Wars) as Akane Tendo
	Pirotess (Lodoss Wars) as Nabiki Tendo
	Kasumi as Kasumi Tendo
	Sasami (Tenchi) as Sasami, young kid sidekick
-----------------------------------------
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com/

"Chinese Amazon Space Marines? Bwahahahaha
hahaha- gurk!"
     -last words of the dreaded Space Pirate Astergan

ja ne, gregg