ranma@TASS.org (Saotome Ranma) Daigakusei no Ranma Halloween 1997 Special Sometimes wishes come true, and sometimes dreams come true too. And sometimes, even nightmares come true... Ranma looked at his watch. It read "FR 10-31 20:14". He looked around, confused. Something was out of whack, and he couldn't put his finger on it. Suddenly he was drenched, soaking wet, and cold. She shook her head, the water splaying everywhere. "Hi Ranma." Akane was before him, looking at him with a slightly puzzled look. "Aren't you supposed to be my husband?" "I... I *am* you husband." "But you're a woman." Akane shook her head. "I can't be married to a woman." "I'm a guy!" Ranma looked around for hot water. There was *always* a kettle nearby. *Always*. Nothing but dry, cracked desert as far as she could see. "You're no man." Akane sadly turned and began walking away. "I thought I married a man. Obviously I was wrong." "I *am* a man. I *am*." Ranma cried and struck her fist against the desert floor. To her relief, water came gushing up. She basked in it, feeling the heat of it flow over her. "See Akane! See!" Akane looked over her shoulder, smiled softly, then looked ahead of herself again as she kept walking. "Akane! It's me! I'm a-" Ranma looked down and her heart froze. Breasts. She still had breasts. She was still a woman. "NO!" She sank to her knees. "I'm a man!" "You're no man." Ranma turned her head to see Ryoga staring at her. "You've never been a man." "I am." Ranma surged to her feet and grabbed Ryoga's shirt. "I'm more of a man than you'll ever be, pig!" Ryoga sneered. "You call me a pig? Who shoved me into the springs? Who did everything he could to keep me from telling Akane I loved her? Who tricked me and beat up on me and made my life a living hell? No man, surely. No human being did. Just an animal." "I'm not a- BWEEE!" Ranma blinked. Something had happened to her voice. She released Ryoga's shirt and felt her throat. Or tried to; instead, something hard jabbed her neck. She looked down and saw that her hand had changed into a hoof. The hair on her skin was growing dark and bristly. She looked up at Ryoga, appealing. He just laughed once. "Just as I thought. A pig in body and soul." She watched in horror as her own body began to shrink, the floor getting closer and closer with every passing second. She looked around and saw that the things she took for granted were now almost out of arm's reach - well, they would be if she still had arms. In a matter of heartbeats, Ranma, now a pig, stood in the shadow of Ryouga's towering frame. He took a few steps backward uneasily as Ryouga leaned down and smirked. "Body and soul, Ranma," he whispered menacingly. Akane stopped short. "Ranma?" she asked questioningly. Ranma tried to reply. "BWEEE!" he squealed. Akane turned to see Ryouga squatting down next to a small black piglet. "Ooh, he's so cute, Ryouga! Where'd you find him?" "I don't know, Akane-san," Ryouga replied, standing up. "He just appeared here." "Well, have you seen Ranma?" Akane asked. "He was here just a second ago. In fact, I asked this strange woman if she had seen him, but she seems to have disappeared too." Ryouga grinned evilly. "I really don't know what to tell you, Akane. But you know Ranma, he's probably around here somewhere. "BWEEE! BWEEE! BWEEE!" Ranma squealed loudly. "Oh, it looks like we've upset the poor little piglet," Akane said. "We're near Ukyou's okonomiyaki shop. Maybe we should take the piglet there until someone claims him?" Ryouga picked up Ranma by the scruff of the neck. "I'll do that right now," he said. "Why don't you just wait here a sec?" With that, he took off down the block. Within moments, he had reached the Utchan. Ukyou looked up to greet him. "Hi Ryouga, whatcha got there?" Ryouga held up Ranma, who squealed loudly and tried to get away. "I found this outside. Is it yours?" Ukyou held out her hands, and Ranma gleefully jumped into them. He turned and stuck his tongue out at Ryouga. "No, I've never seen him before," Ukyou said. Slowly, Ranma turned to face Ukyou. He looked first at her, then back at Ryouga. Ryouga stood grinning like a madman - in fact, Ranma could swear he was. Ukyou finally set Ranma down on the counter. "No, I've definitely never seen him before. But thanks, Ryouga, for dropping him by," she said as she turned and walked into the kitchen. "I think he'll make a good pork okonomiyaki..." "BWEEEE!" -- A Nightmare on DnR street... ghost-written by Richard Lawson and Paul Gallegos. (c) 1997 Digital Knight Communications and Richard Lawson http://www.tass.org/~ranma/home.html http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/sterman/fanfic.htm