Every world has it's legends. Stories that, whether true or false, shape the way people perceive the universe. In this world, many of these legends deal with a man called Sukebe. Some say he was a pervert. Others call him a misunderstood genius. Scientist, opportunist, wizard, dupe, savior, conquerer; all these and more have been used to describe him. Some say that without him this world would still be a lifeless husk, others curse his name with every breath. And among all these, there are those who know the truth. Few of them live long enough to take advantage of that knowledge. >--*--< P O K E W O M O N U N I V E R S E --CF-- (chaos factor) Episode 1 - Normal Days By Morgan >--*--< It was a normal day for Aya Kusanagi. Of course, Aya's definition of normal didn't always match what any other person would call normal. Today, normal involved randomly wandering through the forest, generally paying no attention to the scenery - or anything else around her, for that matter. Given that this forest was home to lots of bug-type pokewomen, as well as many other dangerous sorts, this would fall under most people's definition of "suicide". A wise person, they say, would not walk this forest without powerful pokewomen of their own for protection, or better yet avoid the place entirely. But Aya Kusanagi is not a wise person. She's more of a desperate person. >--*--< Not far away, Ranma and Genma Saotome were also having a normal day. Again, their definition of normal was not the same as the average person. Genma Saotome is one of the few remaining masters of the barehanded human fighting techniques - the "martial arts". When his son Ranma was born, Genma decided that he would train Ranma to be the greatest martial artist of his generation. People hearing this (those who knew what he was talking about, at least), often said this shouldn't be very difficult - Ranma was pretty close to being the -only- martial artist of his generation. "Why bother," they would say, "you'll never be as powerful as the least fighting-type pokewomon anyway." Genma told them that they were missing the point. And, surprisingly enough, Genma was right. His philosophy was that no one who had not tasted battle on their own could truly understand it's ways, and evidence seemed to bear him out. Already Ranma had knowledge of tactics that rivaled even some master pokewomon tamers; it was even thought by some persons knowledgeable in the martial arts that Ranma had already surpassed his sire. Genma might even believe this himself (though admit it never), but he still felt his work was unfinished. Ranma would not merely be the greatest martial artist of his generation (he already was), but the greatest it was possible for him to be. So, even after Ranma turned 18, the age when most martial arts students transfer their skills to becoming pokewomon tamers, both continued to travel the world in search of new training. This would generally be good enough for all concerned, except for one important fact. Genma Saotome was in many ways an impressive man - a great teacher of martial arts, skilled in the ways of the outdoors, devoted to the welfare of his son. But he has along with all of these things one great weakness. He is an idiot. Thus it was that the two came to this forest, following a rumor of a legendary training ground called Jusenkyo. Genma wasn't surprised that it was so hard to track the place down, that no one seemed to want to talk about it. After all, that's why they're called -secret- training grounds. If he'd asked a few more questions, he'd have found out no one wanted to talk about Jusenkyo because they preferred not to think about having such a place nearby, but Genma was not the type to ask more questions. It wasn't long before they reached their destination. There was a sign nearby. WARNING! Valley of Cursed Springs Jusenkyo Spell Dump Genma saw the sign, but didn't feel the need to pick it up so he could read it (a storm had knocked it over several days before). He already knew what he came here for, and he was much more interested in looking over this new training ground. Some time in the past, a kind and clever soul had sunk bamboo poles into each spring. Genma nodded approvingly - fighting while balancing on top of the pools, a difficult feat but nothing the boy couldn't handle. The fact that the poles were there to make it obvious where the springs were so they could be easily avoided just didn't register. And the odd bubbling and the strange smells - they must be what made it a legendary training ground. No wonder so many were trying to hide it's secret! >--*--< Aya suddenly blinked and stopped walking. This was good, as she was about to ram a tree. She looked up into the sky and screamed, "Is this it? Is -this- the opportunity you have made for me?" There was no answer. Aya looked around to get her bearings, and began to run. Straight towards Jusenkyo... >--*--< Genma, having decided he liked the looks of this place, now intended to put it to the test. "Follow me, Ranma!" he shouted, leaping up on top of one of the poles. Most martial artists develop a very effective danger sense in their training, and Ranma was not the exception here. "Uh, Pop, I don't think this is a very good idea..." "Nonsense-" started Genma, before he was interrupted by an ominous creaking noise. As has been previously mentioned, these poles were for looking at, not standing on. Additionally, they were quite old. It wasn't really that surprising that the pole Genma had jumped on was taking the opportunity to snap. *I thought they built legendary training grounds to better standards than this...* thought Genma. He was so surprised that he didn't think of trying to jump away until it was too late... There was a large explosion. >--*--< "Damn!" shouted Aya. She ran faster. >--*--< Ranma woke up by the edge of another pool, alone. "Pop? Pop? Where are you?" called Ranma, but there was no response. Aside from the broken bamboo pole, there was no sign that Genma had ever been there. For reasons that may never be fully understood, Ranma chose that moment to look down. Fur. Short, and not all over, but fur nonetheless. Claws, that he hadn't noticed digging into the ground before. And, perhaps most surprising of all, a pair of round bulges on his chest. Ranma was now part human, part tigress, and all female. "ARRRRRRRRRRRGH!!!!" And none happy about the situation. Suddenly, a pair of silhouettes appeared at the other end of the valley. "Hey! It's a wild tigress!" Another voice responded, "Are you insane? You can't go down there." The first one was apparently not inclined to listen to reason, and the sound of running feet soon reached her ears. Ranma had never been one to avoid a fight, but fighting now would not be a winning proposition. And there was no way Ranma wanted to get caught by some random freak - she was a guy, not some random pokewomon! Unfortunately, the same circumstances that made running a good idea meant that it wouldn't work very well either. Ranma had already been tired from the long hike to reach Jusenkyo, and getting blasted by whatever it was didn't make dealing with an entirely new body any easier. She had an initial lead from her pursuer's need to avoid the many pools, and the thick vegetation and the setting sun worked in her favor, but fatigue was quickly taking it's toll. At this point, luck was all that was keeping Ranma ahead, and her luck was about to run out. An unseen root in the dark caught her foot, taking her down. Struggling to rise, but knowing it may already be too late, she looked up and saw... a girl? Yes, it was a girl, one with long dark hair and plain features, dressed in a simple t-shirt and shorts. Judging by her looks, she was pure human. Ranma had never seen her before, but something in her eyes spoke of recognition, and a sort of sad understanding. The girl patted her on the head. "Don't worry," she whispered. Suddenly, the boy who had chased Ranma came through the bushes. He was surprised to find this new girl standing over his quarry, a girl who looked extremely determined. Her voice was still soft, though now laced with a chilling anger. "How terrible of you, harassing a young girl who hasn't even been a girl for very long! I, Aya Kusanagi, will not forgive you!" This particular indiviudal had never seen Sailor Moon. He did not recognize this as a danger signal. "SHROUD!" A ball of crackling orange energy built between Aya's hands, then suddenly pushed out, forming a wall that seemed to blot out everything in sight. Then Ranma saw one thing that stood out, the silhouette of a certain young man being propelled violently back the way he had come. Said young man did not recognize this as a danger signal either. He was unconcious. As the light faded, the girl came back to Ranma's side. "There, it's okay, you can rest now..." Ranma felt the girl lightly stroking his back, before finally slipping into unconciousness. <--*--> Ranma woke up to the sight of the inside of his bedroll. By the amount of sunlight that shone in, it was unusually late for him to be waking up. In fact, he felt like he wouldn't mind sleeping a few more hours, but an odd noise had woken him up. A sort of sizzling, sparking sound... and what was that odd smell? Ranma threw off the cover, and was about to sit up, when a sudden realization occurred. His hands shot to his chest, which was reassuringly free of soft squishy things. He was male again! Had it- "No," a voice said, as if to answer his unspoken question. "It wasn't a dream." Ranma turned and saw a familiar looking girl. "... Aya?" The girl nodded. "... What's going on?" "You apparently had a run-in with the Jusenkyo Spell Dump, cursing you to turn into a Tigress at some common and unavoidable stimulus," said Aya. "Not such a bad fate at that," she said with a shrug, "Most end up a lot worse off. I thought everyone knew to avoid that place now?" Ranma felt a bit dizzy. "Common and... huh?" Aya shrugged, and put something Ranma couldn't quite see into the pack next to her. (His pack! Where had it come from? He'd left it behind when he fled Jusenkyo...) "Well, I don't know what makes you change, except it's probably something pretty common. It almost seems like something in Jusenkyo is amused by having it's victims switch around as often as possible." She pulled something else out of his pack, and the strange noises started again. "I've got a few suspicions though..." What was that anyway? Ranma got up and, when he came closer, saw what Aya was holding. It was a pokeball, apparently one of his. (Ranma had never actually used them, having been deemed unready by Genma, but he had been issued the equipment just in case.) The cover had been removed, and from underneath Aya's fingernails long metal probes extended into it's circuitry, which were apparently the cause of the strange noises. "Hey, what are you doing with that?" "Just making a few minor modifications." Ranma frowned. "That's illegal." Aya looked up at Ranma, eyes wide with surprise. "But I need to do this, if we're going to find a cure for you." "A... cure?" "That's right. I can't imagine you want to turn into a Tigress for the rest of your life..." Aya frowned a bit. Ranma thought about it. He knew many researchers had tried to reverse ordinary cases of threshhold, without success; what could this rather wierd girl do with just some ordinary pokewomon equipment? Still, she had saved him from an unthinkable fate once already, and she seemed to have some idea of what to do now, which put her a step ahead of him. "So, what's this supposed to do?" Aya smiled. "Well, the first thing you'll need to do is become the second greatest Pokewomon master in the world..." Ranma blinked. "The -second-? Not the first?" Aya shook her head rapidly. "No, no, not the first greatest. We wouldn't have a chance of curing you that way." Ranma just sighed. It appeared this girl was just as strange as she seemed. But what else was there to try? Aya stood up and brushed her hands together. "Now, there's just one more thing to do before we get started!" "What?" Aya pulled out a cup and filled it with water from the stream. "We have to find out what triggers your curse." Then she dumped it on his head. In seconds, Aya found herself face to face with a wet and dripping male Ranma. "Well, it was worth a try..." Aya thought for a moment, then suddenlly tried to tackle Ranma's legs. Ranma dodged easily. "Hey! What's the big idea?" "I thought maybe it would trigger if you fell over." Ranma sweatdropped. <--*--> Ranma sat in the stream washing off the results of the latest bizarre attempt by Aya to trigger his curse. *Where did she get the watermelon from anyway?* A large rock smashed into the water just in front of Ranma's feet. "Yikes!" Ranma backpedalled away from the impact site. And then noticed that she was using more than just ordinary fingers to do so. Aya jumped up and down, grinning. "Yaaaay! I did it!" The effect was almost ridiculously cute. Ranma got up. "Blech. Wet fur." Aya picked up a towel and started helping Ranma dry off. "I think I know what triggers your curse now." "What?" "Surprise." *Why do I suddenly have this feeling of impending doom?* thought Ranma. "There, all dry now." Aya put the towel aside, then wrapped her arms around Ranma and kissed the other girl passionately. "Ah...?" "You've only had that body for less than a day," Aya said breathlessly. "You should... get to know it better?" After that, speech no longer seemed required. <--*--> It should be noted that, no matter how dissimilar they may be in shape, size, or abilities, all pokewomen share certain traits. One of these traits is the ability to Bond. During taming, the mind of the pokewomon forms an empathic connection to her tamer. Though the strength of the link varies from individual to individual, the results are often impressive. So it was that a previously inactive portion of Ranma's brain was flooded with energy. In response to it's genetic coding, it reached out, seeking the mind of their tamer, to form just such a linkage... And found nothing. To empathic senses, Aya Kusanagi -did not exist-. A collection of neurons can't really be said to whimper, so they simply shut down. Ranma was aware of none of this, her concious mind being completely occupied by thoughts on the order of "oh god that feels good". <---*--> Aya Kusanagi snuggled against Ranma and smiled happily. Soon, they'd have to get up and be on their way, but for now she was happy with the way things were going. Now that she had met Ranma, there could be no such thing as a normal day again. And that was not only a good thing, it was one of the best possible things. According to the notes her aunt had left behind, all of the events of the past thousand years had been going precisely according to plan. It was about time for someone to shake things up a bit. <--*--> [End theme - "Demolition Man", Def Leppard] end episode 1 - chaos factor <--*--> Disclaimery bit: Ranma and Genma Saotome created by Rumiko Takahashi. Pokewomon created by a variety of people as a parody of a certain highly marketed game. Aya Kusanagi created, obviously, by Aya's parents. (But authored by me.) Notes: Chaos Factor began november of 2001, with this addventure post: http://www.bearchive.com/~addventure/game1/docs/183/183337.html The idea that started it up was indeed a desire to answer the question "What happened to that Pia that ran out on Ash?" I never wrote any more posts to the thread (and for all I know no one else even *read* it), because I realized I had come up with an unusually large number of events far into the future, and if I wanted to do things the way I wanted to, I had better write it stand-alone. Then passed a few months with me pretty much ignoring the PW setting, except occaisionally popping in to check for new chapters of "Crimson League". One of those more recent times, I saw a mention of something called "Fallout", read some of it's chapters, and came up with a very silly idea. That started me writing "Chaos Factor Excess", which you should soon be able to see some of. (There's already three times as much of it as this, sheesh!) It succeeded in getting me writing again and getting me thinking about the setting again, and so finally I figured out enough of the in-between parts to finish some of this, the more serious story. Another part is completely plotted out and shouldn't take too long to complete, but that depends on how other projects (like, say, passing my java class) go. Thanks for reading. Hope you've enjoyed your time here. -Morgan. August 1, 2002. <--*--> "Living like a caged-up animal, criminal Television newsman so subliminal Bringing down the walls of wonderland Just another highbrow cowboy telling me Everything and everyone and all the things I ought to be Here I am, your demolition man" -"Demolition Man", Def Leppard