And now for something completely the same:

Continued from the previous part...

^_^

    "Well, I'm disturbed," Haruka whispered to Setsuna. "How about
you?"

    Setsuna didn't respond, quietly watching the conversation
taking place across the dining room table between her father and the
rather large bald man that had replaced the little, pink-haired girl
with a splash of hot water.

    Haruka smiled slightly. "Funny, you know... On the girl, that
gi looked a little loose, but didn't really look like it could expand
THAT much..."

    "Ah, Saotome! Now it all makes sense!" Soun exclaimed, slapping
a hand over the man's back. "Why didn't you tell me earlier? We could
have avoided a lot of this confusion."

    Saotome Genma shrugged, glancing at the Luna-P, which had moved
away a short distance, looking almost frightened in its movements,
trying to stay out of the man's sight. "Yes, Tendo. But, my friend,
we wouldn't have had nearly as good a chance to get over any of our
initial trepidation if the explanation of my curse happened later.
There are times that things just happen, and you have to go with
them." He returned his friend's backslap. "Now, we can continue
finalizing the details of the marriage contract!"

    Setsuna leaned in to whisper to her sister. "You often like
to wash off and spend a little time in the furo after you finish
your mechanical work. I believe that the important information
has been discussed." She indicated Genma. "And, we may have our
visitors for an extended period today. Therefore-"

    Haruka chuckled. "Alright, you made your point. I'm going, I'm
going." She walked out of the room.

    "Ah... Genma?" Soun started. "There's still one little problem.
You said that your son is also affected by a curse. He was the girl
you brought in, was he not?"

    Genma nodded. "Indeed, he was." He smiled. "But, it's not so
bad: Yes, he turns into a girl when splashed with cold water, but,
like my curse, the process is easily reversable by the application
of hot water!"

    Soun brightened. "Excellent! It really isn't anything serious,
then! My daughters' minds and wills are strong! They will not be
frightened off by something as simple as this! Engaging this boy
to them could perhaps be the best thing that could happen to them."
He turned to his daughter. "Isn't that right, Setsuna?

    The green-haired woman continued to smile. "Of course, Father.
I am certain that both Rei and Haruka will be delighted to share
their unparalleled joy with you when they hear of this."

    "So you see, Saotome," Soun continued, unable to decipher the
sarcasm hidden in his daughter's voice, "all is well!"

    In the next moment, Rei walked in. "Hello, Father. Hi, Setsuna.
Hello..." She trailed off when she took note of the large, bandanna-
wearing man. "Wait, who are _you_?"

^_^

    The black-haired boy sat hunched over in the warm furo,
muddling over his current dilemma...

    "Stupid curse... Stupid dress... Stupid hair... Made me lose
to a GIRL," he muttered in frustration. "Hmph..."

    After losing to that _girl_, Rei, he had been advised to go
and get washed up. Having been too frustrated to argue, he had
trudged off to the bathroom, ditched the sailor-suit as quickly as
he could, then omitted the traditional pre-washing bucket of cold
water and jumped right into the furo.

    The boy looked off to the side, where his clothes had been
haphazardly tossed. They consisted of a red, sleeveless, chinese-
style shirt, black pants, and a pair of sandals. The gi Rei had
lent him lay strewn near them.

    He grimaced. Since the curse, clothes had taken on an entirely
new dimension... and not one he liked.

    "I'm going back to China," he said, "and find a cure for this
curse, once and for all..." He stood up out of the water.

    At that moment, the door opened, and a tall, well-proportioned,
short-haired blonde woman strode in...

    Completely naked.

    Taking notice of the boy, she stopped abruptly, and raised
a confused eyebrow.

    The boy looked toward her, and found himself staring in wide-
eyed shock. "Oh, uhhhhhh, hi... Haruka?" he said, rather uneasily.

    Haruka narrowed her eyes, then wordlessly whirled around and
exited, slamming the door behind her.

    "Uh oh," the boy whispered quietly, "I... should probably go
and tell them about the curse."

    He stepped out of the furo, toweled off, and got dressed.

    The young man winced as he considered how literal his curse
had made that word. He sighed, taking a deep breath, straightened
his shirt, opened the door, and walked out...

    *THWACK!!* ...Promptly getting struck from behind at the base
of his skull. Without so much as a groan, he slumped to the floor.

    Haruka, now wearing a thick white bathrobe, casually twirled
her blackjack around once, then dropped it and pulled out a length
of thick, black cable...

^_^

    "Well, you see, Rei," Soun began, "this is my friend-"

    "Hey! Dad, look at what I found!" Haruka called, walking
into the dining room, carrying an unmoving young man who had his
black hair tied back into a single, short pigtail.

    The boy had been securely hogtied with a black cable and
gagged with a bandanna.

    Genma fainted.

    Soun looked at the boy, his lower lip trembling. After a
moment, he finally burst into tears. "Waaah! My daughter killed my
friend's only son!"

    "Yeah, serves 'em right," Haruka half-growled, dropping the
limp form to the floor. She paused. "Wait... Your friend's _son_?"

    Rei absorbed all this, remaining cautiously quiet.

    "He just came to fulfil an old agreement," the Tendo patriarch
continued to cry, "and you _killed_ kim... Waaaaah! My daughter's
a murderer!

    "He is not dead, Father," Setsuna noted, "only unconscious."

    Soun sniffled, his whining waterworks slowing to a halt.
"Really?"

    "Yeah," Haruka added, lightly nudging the individual on the
floor with her foot, "we don't kill 'guests' here. But, I mean, even
if he is the misbegotten _spawn_ of your 'best' friend, he's still
a peeping tom. Hmph... You should have seen the way he was staring
at me."

    The bound young man on the floor stirred. He groaned, spitting
out the gag. "You got a pretty good, loooong look at me, too."

    Haruka smirked, looking down at him. "Yeah, and I wasn't
exactly impressed, if you know what I mean."

    The boy paused for a moment, then blinked. "Hey!"

    "I've seen some _miniscule_ things in my life, kid, but _you_
take the-"

    Setsuna cleared her throat. "Haruka, I believe you have
made your point."

    "Point?!" Haruka asked incredulously. "Let me get my katana.
_Then_ you can watch me make my point."

    "Uhhh," the boy began, "I'm sorry?"

    The short-haired blonde looked down at him and nodded. "That's
a start. Now how about-"

    Setsuna prodded Genma lightly on the cheek with her finger. The
large man instantly bolted upright. "NOT THE SQUIRRELS, MASTER!!!!"
he shouted. "PLEASE NOT THE *SQUIRRELS*!!!"

    Everyone fell silent at this.

    Sounds of cars, birds, and the wind ceased.

    Rei blinked as the silence continued.

    *Chirp-chirp!* The quiet trudged on, unabated save for the
soft rubbing of crickets' legs.

    The lack of normal auditory input became unbearable.

    "That's the first time he's done that," Ranma finally admitted.

    The background noises resumed.

    "Saotome," Soun began quizzically, "what was that all about?"

    Cowering in a corner, trembling, Genma looked up at him with
feral, bloodshot eyes. "You're one of them, aren't you?!"

    Soun blinked, frowning.

    Genma returned the blink, then smiled. "Oh, sorry... I thought
you were a circus midget." He shook his head and sighed. "_Very_
dangerous men."

    "Pop," Ranma said, struggling against his restraints, "I'm
_really_ beginning to worry about you..."

    The large man glared at his son. "You mean you don't know
about the true dangers of-"

    Rei coughed in disbelief. "What is going on?!"

    Setsuna quietly sipped her tea. "You do not wish to know, Rei."

    The raven-haired girl cocked an eyebrow at her. "I think I do."

    Haruka shook her head. "Trust me on this one: You don't." She
paused. "What happened to that girl, by the way? The one in the
dress?"

    The young man on the floor began to speak, but was silenced
by Haruka stepping on his back with sufficient force to knock the
wind out of him.

    Rei frowned. "Umm... I don't know, I thought she was in the-"

    "Ah!" Genma cut in, moving forward. "Perhaps the best way to
explain would be..." He picked up his son by the black cable...

    *SPLAAAARRCKAAASH!!!!* ...and was spared the effort, being
thrown out the open window with Ranma by Haruka, into the large koi
pond outside.

    Rei frowned.

    Setsuna looked on impassively.

    Haruka stared.

    Floating facedown in the pond were a small girl with her pink
hair done into 'rabbit-ears,' and a somewhat older girl wearing a
long, white gown and her hair in two very long pigtails.

    "Oh my," Setsuna smiled, "I think you've killed them."

^_^;;;

    "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," the dronings went on and on in
the guest room of the Tendo household.

    In an attempt to ease the throbbing, the pink-haired girl
and the blonde held icepacks to their respective heads.

    "Spore," the blonde muttered, turning to the individual
lying next to her.

    "Odango-atama," the 'rabbit-eared' girl retorted, wincing at
the pain and glaring back at her.

    "That'll teach you to stare," Haruka said, grinning. "Just
be glad the pond isn't any shallower." Her grin became a full-blown
overconfident smile. "Though I'd say its victims were."

    "One more time," Rei said, her eyes narrowed in skepticism.
"Ranma is really a boy?"

    "Yup," Ranma replied with a groan.

    "And... my father's old friend is really a fat, bald old man
named Genma?"

    "He is indeed," Soun said proudly.

    "Hey, have some respe-" Genma began weakly, then stopped as the
pressure from the attempted outburst reached her head. She closed her
eyes tightly, the hint of tears forming. "Ow...ie..."

    The Luna-P floated nearby, no longer moving in a frightened
manner. It almost seemed to smile as it hovered in front of the
girl's face.

    Rei sighed. "This is _really_ bizarre... How did it happen?"

    "Well," the cute little girl began, "it happened like this..."

...

    It was a bright, sunny day, and the little puddles of water
glowed in the morning light.

    An overconfident pigtailed boy smirked at his father. "Heh
heh heh. So you want to fight in this stupid place, huh?"

    Genma adjusted his glasses. "Yes, son. I believe that your
skills will be greatly improved by this training ground." He looked
around. "This may be your most difficult excercise yet. Be careful,
though. I understand that these pools may be cursed. It would be wise
to-"

    "Cursed?" Ranma chuckled, idly toying with his pigtail. "Let's
check that out, okay, Oyaji?"

    *Thwack!* In a single move, Ranma kicked his dear, innocent
father away into one of the large ponds.

    With a splash, a small, pink-haired girl began her struggle
out of the pond, her poorly-fitting clothes hindering her every move.
"Son," she squeaked in fear, obviously losing her already tenacious
handhold, "please help me!"

    "G'hyuk," Ranma laughed at his 'father.' "Like I'd ever
do thaaaaa-"

    *Splash* Because of his clumsiness and lack of caution, the
undisciplined young man fell backward into another pool, his hair
growing long and turning blonde, becoming a rather stunning girl
in a white gown.

    Ranma climbed out of the pool, stopped, then looked down
at the new additions and subtractions. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

...

    "And then," the little girl sniffed sadly, turning on her
side in one of the guest beds, "he chased me around, blaming me for
it."

    "That's so sad," Rei said, replacing the old icepack on Genma's
head with a new one.

    "That ain't how it happened, Pop, and you know it!" Ranma
snapped, flipping her pigtails out of the way as she sat up.

    Genma sat up quickly and glared at her son. "Oh yeah?!"

    "Yeah!"

    "What _did_ happen, then?" Soun asked.

    Ranma continued giving her 'father' a rather evil stare.
"Well, first of all, the _SPORE_ here drags me off to this one
training ground, only he doesn't know it's cursed. So we get
ready to fight, warm up for a bit, and before we could even
get started, he fell right into-"

    "No I didn't! You knocked me in!" Genma cut in, slapping her
small hand forcefully down to the bedding.

    There was a pause.

    Then an argument.

    "No I didn't!"

    "Yes you did!"

    "No. I. Didn't!"

    Then a brawl.

    *WHAM!* "Oh, yes you did!"

    *BAM!* "Did not!"

    *SLAM!* "Did too, Odango-atama!"

    *POW!* "Did not, you _spore_!"

    Setsuna cleared her throat, at which the fighting ceased...

    Midair.

    "If you cannot agree on what truly happened," the green-haired
woman said, "we will have to seek other resources to determine the
level of authenticity of either story."

    Ranma and Genma blinked as they looked at her. "Like what?"
they asked in unison.

    Setsuna held up a thin magazine; a copy of Very Tragic Story:
Jusenkyo Guide Monthly. On the cover was the picture of a drenched
blonde girl in a dress glaring at an equally wet, and all-too-
familiar pink-haired girl.

    "Oookay," Ranma said. "What does it say happened?"

...

    The ancient, cursed martial arts training ground, Jusenkyo,
glistened in the morning light as the sun crept over the high,
Chinese mountains surrounding this land. Thousands of small pools
with bamboo poles protruding from them dotted the landscape.

    The Jusenkyo tour guide, whom we shall call Jos�, was a
middle-aged man with features that highlighted his Chinese and
northern Siberian heritage. He looked across the valley, took a deep
breath of fresh, cool air, and began his journey from his small
home toward the entrance of the grounds. There were undoubtedly
overzealous tourists waiting to get in...

    Surely enough, there they were: two of them, having for some
reason simply ignored the large, multilingual warning signs that
adorned the entrance. Obviously unaware of the danger that surrounded
them, they casually walked amidst the springs, coming frighteningly
closer to falling in with each passing step.

    Jos� cleared his throat and called to his new customers in
hopes that they would heed a verbal warning, "Ah, greetings, sirs!
It would be a good idea to avoid the springs. They are _far_ more
dangerous than they would first appear."

    The larger of the two, a bald man in a white gi with a
bandanna over his forehead, turned toward him and waved him off.
"Bang bang. Cooka Cola. Cheese and fish with rice!"

    The other visitor, a black-haired boy in a similar gi with his
hair in a short ponytail also turned toward Jos� and waved. "Tuna
noodle goulash!"

    "I... see," Jos� said, frowning. He recognized their Japanese
accents, and knew from their stunning lack of linguistic skill in the
local form of communication, they were going to be trouble. He
continued speaking, this time in Japanese. "Here, sirs, we have the
cursed training ground of Jusenkyo."

    "Ya ready, Pop?" the boy asked the large, bald man, getting
into a ready combat stance.

    The man nodded, moving into position in front of him.

    *Bambambam*Thwack!*Whooshwhoosh* The two spontaneously leapt
into the air, each a flurry of punches and kicks as they fought,
using the bamboo poles sticking out of the pools for the occasional
need to land and maintain balance.

    Jos� watched in fascination, but not particularly impressed,
considering that he had seen some of the Amazons from a nearby tribe
fight, and then there were the Musk-

    *Splash!* That thought was cut off, however, as the smaller of
the two combatants dodged a midair kick and made a double-fisted
blow to the other's back, knocking him into one of the springs. The
boy landed on one of the other poles, maintaining a ready position
in preparation for the next counterattack.

    *WHARSH!* Out of the pool that the man had fallen into leapt
a giant black and white panda.

    "Gaaah!" the boy shouted in shock as the animal bounded toward
him.

    Jos� shook his head. "Oh, very bad... He fall into Spring of
Drowned Panda. Very tragic story of panda who drown here five
hundred years ago. Now whoever fall into spring take body of giant
panda."

    The black-haired young man glanced wide-eyed at the guide,
leaving himself wide open for the panda's attack...

    *Wham!*SPLASH!*

    Jos� sighed. "Oh, you fall into Spring of Drowned Girl...
Very tragic story of young girl who fall into spring fifteen hundred
years ago. Now whoever fall into spring..."

    The newest member of the drenched club paused, frowned, looked
down at herself, took a look down her gi, and quickly looked away,
quickly becoming pale with shock and confusion.

    "...take body of young girl," the guide finished.

    The panda took a moment to look down at itself, then looked
at Jos�. "...Growlf?" it asked bemusedly.

    The redheaded girl scrambled out of the spring and rushed
toward the guide. "WHATTHEHOWDIDCANYOU...AAAAAAH!!!" She ran around
in a circle, pulling at her hair, screaming.

    Jos� produced a kettle of hot water he always carried around
for such emergencies. "Now," he began, "hot water will-"

    The girl, still in a deep state of trauma, looked toward the
guide and pointed at the panda. "So... Is that... _thing_ my pop!?"

    Jos� nodded, preparing to explain how the curse could be
reversed.

    *SHING!!!* "DIE!!!!" the girl screamed, pulling out a large
meat cleaver and beginning to chase the panda, who wisely decided
that running would be the best thing to do at this point. "BRING
ME TO A *CURSED* TRAINING GROUND WILL YOU?! THIS IS THE LAST
STRAW, AND I MEAN IT!!! GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!!!!!!"

    "Grolf?" the panda asked weakly as it ducked under a slash.

    "'SNOT GONNA WORK THIS TIME!!!"

    "Mister... Miss... whatever, sirs... You will just make things
worse," the guide said with a sigh, looking down at the ground and
shrugging in a gesture of surrender. He paused, noticing a faded
character on the sign posted near the Spring of Drowned Girl. "Oh,
very sorry, sirs!" he called to them. "That was Spring of Drowned
Psychotic Murderer Young Lady With A Bad Temper And An Evil Gleam In
Her Eye Who Hates Pandas And Their Fathers Who Turn Into Them. Very
tragic story about talk show host who-"

    *SPLASH!* The redheaded girl finally chased her prey into
another spring. She stopped at the edge of the pool, her eyes burning
with anger and malice.

    "Waaaaah!" a little, pink-haired girl with her hair in 'rabbit-
ears' cried, desperately splashing around in the pool as she
attempted to stay above water.

    "ThAt'S NoT gOIng TO SaVE yOU," the redhead twitched, her voice
taking on an extra vibrato as she spoke. She raised her meat cleaver
in preparation to throw it.

    "WAAAAH!!!" the little girl cried, tears starting to pour from
her eyes. The hint of a golden crescent moon flickered on her
forehead before vanishing.

    *BOOM*CRASH*WHAM!!!*SPLASH!* There was a quick flash of
lightning and a purplish-black cat-faced balloon appeared, slamming
itself into the older girl's stomach with enough force to send her
flying several meters away into another spring.

    The balloon hovered near the struggling pink-haired girl,
and, with a puff of smoke, turned into an obnoxiously cute blow-up
rabbit life-preserver, which quietly slipped around the girl. With
its assistance, she swam to shore, pulling herself onto dry ground.
She took a moment to catch her breath and look to where the other
girl had gone.

    "What's going on?" a blonde with two long pigtails asked,
dazedly, climbing out of the spring, dripping water. She pulled back
and smoothed down the wet material of the short white skirt of her
leotard-like sailor fuku and- "Wait, what am I wearing...? AAAAAH!!
I'M A GIRL!!!"

    Jos� sighed sadly. THIS was going to take a bit of effort to
work out... "Sirs? Madams? Whatever you like be called, I could
explain this if you just come over here!"

    The pink-haired girl slipped off the life preserver, took
several deep breaths, and glared at the blonde. "This is all your
fault, 'Son.' If you hadn't gone-"

    The blonde looked over to the other girl. "Son? Wait... Pop?"

    The little girl nodded.

    The blonde narrowed her eyes. "_MY_ fault?!"

    The pink-haired girl inched closer. "Yeah," she said, looking
over the other's appearance, "odango-atama."

    The older-looking girl frowned, idly reaching back and pulling
forward one of her pigtails. She felt back far enough to notice one
of the buns on the side of her head. "Hey!"

    The situation rapidly decayed from there... and the following
battle lasted for hours, ranged all over, destroyed a dozen unwashed
shirts, and knocked a poor, unsuspecting soul off a cliff...

    Eventually, though, they got tired, and made their way over to
Jos�'s run-down duplex house.


    It was sunset by the time the two made it to the door,
red-faced and exhausted from the long, hard conflict.

    "Spore," the blonde muttered with heavy distain, barely
tolerating the presence of the smaller girl behind her.

    "Hmph," the girl replied, her arms folded. The cat-faced
ball hovered just behind her. She turned toward it. "What are you
looking at?" she snapped. The balloon backed off slightly, making
confused twittering noises as it did.

    The blonde moved to knock on the door, but it opened before
she could.

    "Ah, sirs!" Jos� greeted jovially, taking the girl in the
sailor suit by the hand. "I am glad to see you! Come in and I will
explain this to you." He clapped his hands together around the
girl's hand and looked into her eyes. "We shall discuss it over tea!
We seldom get-"

    *Bonk!* The levitating ball lightly slammed into the guide's
forehead, then spun around and returned to its position near the
pink-haired girl.

    "Ah, right!" Jos� said, rubbing his forehead and smiling,
looking almost embarrassed. He quickly ushered them in, seating them
in a pair of ornate, highly polished dark wooden chairs. "Now wait
here while I get the hot water!"

    "Whoa," the blonde noted, stunned at how quickly they had been
taken inside, "he sure seems enthusiastic..."

    "Which is more than could be said about _you_," the pink-haired
girl added.

    The sailor-suited girl looked at her, raising a tired eyebrow.
"And... just what's that supposed to mean?"

    "I don't know," the little girl groaned, resting her head
against the back of the chair. "What were we arguing about again...?"

    "I forgot," the blonde young woman replied... then caught her
reflection in a mirror on the wall. "GAAH!"

    *SPLASH!* She stood, bumping into the hot water kettle that
the guide had poised over her head.

    "AAAH! THAT'S HOT," the black-haired boy shouted, knocking
away the white-hot tea kettle.

    "Oh, very sorry sir!" Jos� gasped. "We just install new hot
water main last week. All bugs not quite worked out. It get really
hot. I have to carry with cloth anyway, so..." The guide trailed off
as the section of rug the kettle landed on started to sizzle. "Oh
no!"

    While Jos� dealt with that little problem, the pigtailed boy
calmed down, seeing that he was in no danger of being a girl or
wearing a woman's figure-skating costume at the moment.

    "That's a relief," the boy sighed, sitting down.

    The 'rabbit-ear'ed girl looked at the guide. "Uh, hey,
can I get some of that...?"

    "Please just a moment," Jos� replied, patting out the flames
that threatened to form. "AAH! No, not the eight-tracks!"

    The pigtailed boy looked at his 'father' and smirked. "You
know, 'pop...' You look REALLY cute like that... Maybe you should
_stay_ that way and-"

    *WHAM!* The cat-faced sphere quickly took action to eliminate
the forthcoming insult, making a decisive blow to the side of the
boy's head, knocking him out of his seat.

    "Oooh," the pink-haired girl said, wide-eyed, visibly impressed
by the object's prompt action. The ball hovered within her reach.
She took it in both hands, examining it closely.

    "Unnh," the black-haired boy groaned, using the chair as a
support as he made his way back up.

    "Ah," Jos� said, tossing aside a wool blanket he had been using
to smother the fire, "I am done, I will get more-"

    The pink-haired girl looked up at him. "Could you tell us
about the curses first?"

    The guide blinked. "Well, yes..." He smiled. "Let us begin,
then. What would you like to know?"

    The boy gave an EVIL glare at the catlike sphere... which
somehow returned the glare, forcing him to back down.

    "Tell me about his curse," the girl said, pointing at the
young man.

    Jos� nodded gravely. "Oh, yes... Spring of Drowned Moon
Princess." He shook his head and sighed. "That is a very tragic
story..."

...

    The couple walked amongst the shining, pristine pools of
the valley. One, a tall black-haired man wearing a set of black armor
and a cape held the hand of the other, a lovely young woman in a
flowing white gown with blonde hair done in two very long pigtails.
A golden mark resembling a crescent moon adorned her forehead.

    "Oh, Endymion," the woman said, leaning closer to her love,
"this is so beautiful... Thank you for bringing me here to see it."

    The man smiled secretively. "Good... Because it is the last
thing you will _ever_ see."

    The young woman frowned, stopping and letting go of him. "What
do you mean by that?"

    Prince Endymion continued walking, then halted and whirled
to face her. "It means..."

    Beside him, cherry blossoms swirled in the air, coalescing
into a very effeminate blonde man in a grey uniform. He levitated
a few feet off the ground and looked at the girl, an amused
expression on his face as he put a hand to his mouth and laughed
softly. "...your destruction, Princess Serenity."

    Serenity's eyes widened. She started taking steps backward,
away from the two men. "Endymion... What is Zoicite doing here?
What is he talking about?"

    The prince's expression twisted into a mask of evil, his eyes
bulging and his mouth foaming. He tossed his head back and let off
a peel of loud, roaring insane laughter.

    "The prince," Zoicite said, smiling knowingly, "is no longer
with us..."

    "That's right," a small black cat with a crescent moon on its
forehead said as it faded into view, "he's under Our control... and
there's nothing you can do to break it."

    Endymion took a step forward and cackled, unsheathing his
sword and leveling it at the Princess.

    Serenity looked on, agape. "You too, Luna?" She looked at
Zoicite and narrowed her eyes. "What have you done to Endymion?!"

    "Why," the effeminate man replied, "I've relieved him of
his sanity, and given him a taste of what true Dark Energy can
do! He didn't stand a chance..."

    The man in black armor lunged forward, thick films of white
fluid trailing down his cheeks. He landed in front of the Princess,
snarling and waving his sword like a maniac. "RAAARRGHHH!!!"

    Zoicite laughed and shook his head. He pointed an open hand
at the Princess. "Zoi!" A swirl of cherry blossoms flew toward
the young woman in a sudden, intense gust of wind.

    "No..." Serenity whispered in despair, her eyes tightly closed
and tears beginning to form as she attempted in vain to resist the
force of the attack. "Ahhh!!"

    *SPLASH!* The pigtailed princess was flung backward into one
of the smaller pools. She coughed, struggling to keep her head above
water. Soon, though, she found that the pool was shallow enough for
her to stand. She did so... only to see the possessed prince and
corrupted guardian and advisor advancing upon her.

    For a moment, the Prince's gaze became intelligent... and he
reached behind his cape, pulling something indiscernable out.

    The blonde girl kept her eyes closed for several seconds,
awaiting the inevitable doom to overtake her...

    *Splash!* The sudden cascade of very cold water shocked her
into opening her eyes and taking a deep, surprised gasp. Serenity
suddenly shut her eyes again in pain as her lungs burned for air...

    Then, nothing...

    Yes, nothing happened for the next few seconds as the
Princess coughed out the water and looked up toward the apparent
assassins.

    Prince Endymion had a hankerchief out, wiping the foamy
substance off of his face. He smirked and pointed at her. "Heh...
Gotcha!"

    The blonde princess raised an eyebrow, noting that both
Luna and Zoicite were rolling on the ground, laughing hysterically.
Endymion soon joined in.

    Serenity stood, soaked from the water and shocked at what had
just happened.

    "Happy Venusian Idiot's Day!" Endymion chuckled loudly.

    The young woman narrowed her eyes, her expression quickly
going from shock to anger. "So you think that's funny, huh!?" she
shouted, her voice cracking slightly.

    Zoicite sat up and looked at Endymion. "Uh oh," he said,
grinning, "it looks like your fiancee's mad..."

    Luna was still rolling on the ground, giggling away.

    The crescent moon on the Princess's forehead glowed, and
a powerful golden aura sprang up around her. "Tsuki ni kawatt�,"
she began through gritted teeth.

    Endymion quickly stood and looked at his friend. He chuckled.
"On the count of three..."

    The Princess rose out of the spring, her two long pigtails
whipping wildly behind her. "OSHOKYO!!!"

    "RUN!" the Prince finished, taking off at a phenominal rate.

    The black cat stopped laughing as she noticed the current
condition of the Princess. "Oh dear..."

...

    The Jusenkyo Guide frowned at the looks the boy and the pink-
haired girl were giving him. "Alright," he admitted, "so story not
so tragic!"

    "Ooookay," the black-haired young man said, "whatever... So,
the one I got was, like, Spring of NOT Drowned Moon Princess...?"

    Jos� shook his head. "No. That not how it work."

    The boy shrugged. "Alright."

    The little girl looked up, almost bright-eyed. "What happened
then?

    The guide looked at her. "What?"

    "What happened to the prince and the princess?"

    "Oh," Jos� said, nodding, "the Princess was angry, so she
went after them, and the magical battle of the year started. In
a few minutes, Spring of Drowned-"

    "Ooooooh," the girl said, visibly awed by the story.

    "Heh," the young man muttered, "I hope she punched that
guy's ticket REAL good..."

    "If you let me continue," Jos� added, "I could tell you about-"

    "Riiight, right," the boy cut in. "But first..." He grinned
and pointed at the 'rabbit-ear'ed girl. "Tell me about _his_ curse."

    The guide paused, frowned, shrugged, then smiled. "Ah, he
fall into Spring of Almost Drowned Annoyingly Cute, Time Traveling
Princess From the Future." He looked sadly at the girl. "Very tragic
story..."

...

To be continued...

Coming next time: Chibiusa's Tragic Story! And a Royal Marriage Plan.

-------------------------------
Benjamin A. Oliver
boredcollective@aol.com

    "We are the Bored. Lower your shields and surrender your fics.
     We will add your standup and slapstick comedy to our own.
     Your humor will adapt to entertain us.
     Resistance is and always has been: Futile."
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