Gary Kleppe wrote:

Hey, Adrian would've written these if I hadn't. :P

You just had to invoke me, didn't you?  ^_-

See the difference between something like this and just having Ranma say
"Oh no! I've turned into _____________!" and ending there?

---

Ranma's lifelong ambitions, and all of Genma's efforts, lay wasted by a
careless few seconds.  Over and over, he pondered if he had done this or
that a little differently, if he might have avoided Jusenkyo's grip.
But it was all for naught: it had happened, and he knew of no way to
change the past.

He was utterly incapable of action on his own.  He could inspire others
to use him, and try to help guide their actions, but that was all.

Genma tried to use him, of course, but did so as poorly as when he had
been a boy.  The life force thus gained was barely enough to sustain
Ranma.

Shampoo, and a few of the other Amazons, played briefly with him, but
quickly grew bored.  Cologne was wise enough to tell Genma exactly what
was going on, so he could keep his son in his heart and mind until he
reached Japan.  Perhaps a more civilized clime could energize him.

Both Akane and Nabiki took a liking to him, though in their own ways.
Their perceptions were different enough that Ranma could feel the
change: who he was with Akane was significantly different than who he
was with Nabiki.  When they were together, reconciling his two versions
was a challenge - but one he revelled in.  He had not had this much
activity since Jusenkyo.

Ukyo and Ryoga eventually came along, each with their own templates for
him to latch on to.  (Of the other fiancees, Shampoo's business with
him was already complete as noted, and Kodachi would not hear of him in
his present form.)  For a time, he delighted in drawing power from the
four, particularly Ryoga and Akane, who were becoming quite close (at
least, once Nabiki noticed Ryoga's attentions towards her sister, set
Ryoga up with a GPS unit, and used his feelings for Akane to beat down
his stubbornness until he was using it whenever he needed to go from
point A to point B).

But, in time, even that faded.  Ryoga and Akane had little room in their
hearts for anyone but each other, and what room their was, was filled by
the other Tendos and various friends.  Nabiki grew tired of thinking
about someone she had never met in the flesh.  When Ryoga allowed Genma
to adopt him so as to fill the Saotome promise, Genma immediately and
permanently forgot about what his own loins had once produced...as did
Nodoka, convincing herself she had only had the one son in a desire to
stop imagining what horrible fate must have befallen her flesh and
blood.

Only Ranma noticed the others forgetting, and he was powerless to stop
it.  His efforts to get one of them to write him down, to give him some
measure of longevity - if not immortality: no knowing how long a given
text might last - had been in vain.  He made one last, desparate attempt
to gain a foothold in Kasumi's mind, but her mental space was like
Teflon, as always.  He could almost feel himself sliding into the
kitchen sink drain alongside the remnants of that morning's breakfast.

His last thought was a wondering: how had the Spring of the Drowned Idea
formed in the first place?


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