[Ranma/Xover][FanFic] Reluctant Bet segment 5
Gregg Sharp
Others will follow if breaking em up like this was
sufficient to avoid the truncation that occurred with the
first attempt.
The Reluctant Bet
segment 5 : Set Curse Template For Variable
disclaimer: Most char tm Rumiko Takahashi
Some characters not.
this chapter dedicated to those who felt i was too hard on
Genma & Akane, and not nasty enough to "Ranma"
"Aaaaaaahhh!"
The Guide finished smoking his pipe as someone appeared in
midair, plummetted twenty feet into a large bamboo
barricade, went through it (with a snapping noise that
indicated more than bamboo was breaking), and splashed into
one of the cursed pools.
The Guide sent a smoke ring up into the air, then sighed
and took a large hooked pole from the side of the hut.
Tsking briefly, he pulled the body of the poor soul who had
been killed in such an unfortunate accident. He had just
gotten it ashore when it erupted in flames and was consumed.
This caused the Guide to raise an eyebrow. The other one
went up when the same body reformed over one of the OTHER
springs and gave a startled squawk followed by another
splash.
The Guide shook his head, commenting about a terrible
tragic story of boy who fall in spring, appear out of
nowhere and then drown in one spring, and then have
sufficiently bad luck that he fell in another spring.
"AAAAHHHHHHH!" A disoriented form broke the surface of the
spring to sprawl across the top.
"Oh too bad, sir, you fall in..." The Guide came to a stop
as the girl in the spring held up a hand. "Don't tell me,
let me guess. Nyannichuan? Spring Of Drowned Girl?"
The Guide shook his head at the young woman slogging out of
the spring. "No. Drowned Girl is over there. You fall in
Uncursed Spring first. Then you fall in Spring Of Bishoujo
Bride."
The woman in the spring stared for a moment. "Well, that
explains the sudden desire to take up crochet. Oh my, and
i'll bet my hair's a mess. Where's the Spring Of Drowned
Man?"
The Guide pointed, a little surprised now. An American
tourist. Not unheard of, though unusual. Someone falling
into an uncursed spring and drowning. Fairly rare. Someone
falling in and getting cursed. Common, sometimes a daily
event. Someone deciding immediately that they weren't going
to stay cursed and asking for the correct spring to reverse
it, incredibly rare.
The woman got up, slogged partway to the Spring, went back
and got her pants, then continued on to the Spring Of
Drowned Man. Then hesitated. "If I do this, will the curses
mix or explode? Will they cancel out and the energy fry me?
Will I end up getting a worse curse as a result?"
The Guide was REALLY surprised now. Someone was actually
listening to the Jusenkyo Guide and asking intelligent
questions?! It was a sign of the Apocalypse. This was
completely unheard of! "Uhm. Jusenkyo Guide not really know
that much about Springs."
The woman gave him a flatly disbelieving look. "Come off
it. You were *at least* in the same job back at Pantyhose
Taro's birth. You've been around the springs and learning
their lore for over a decade. Try again."
The Guide blinked. "Uhm. Guide not know because Cursed
Spring use Wild magic. Magic operate by own rules and not
follow set pattern except when Springs want."
The woman thought about this. "Makes sense. Well, *i* know
what the bishoujo bride curse does. And even if i end up a
monster like Taro, i am *not* going to end up giving Martha
Stewart a run for her money." She leapt into the spring.