[Jusenkyo] The scene opens on a young man staring into a shallow pool of water. He appears to be in his late teens. He is wearing a leather jacket, and a backwards cap which reads "Montreal Canadiens". On his back is a large backpack. He looks depressed. His eyes slowly rise from the pool and he forces a smile. This is JT. "So I'm finally here. The legendary training ground of Jusenkyo. After all these years I'll finally acquire some real fighting skill! Excuse me! Guide!" "Greetings, sir! You here to train?" the guide asked nervously. There had been way too many accidents recently with martial artists mistaking the place for a training grounds. "Of course not. I know no martial arts. Can you tell me which one of these springs Pansuto Tarou fell in?" JT asked. "I do not remember exactly...He change to bull and eel and yeti and crane, yes?" "Yeah...that's him." "I do not know exact spring, but I think it one of two springs there." He gestured toward one spring to his right, then another one beside it. Then he walked back to his cabin. JT looked at the springs then slowly moved to approach them. "Hmm...50% chance. Hell, why not! Either one will have to be an improvement over my present status...Whatever the other spring's curse is cant be that bad, can it?" Ominous thunder... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Ultimate Curse: Episode 1 Based on characters created by Rumiko Takahashi Written by JT Thibault Send rants and raves to aoi.ikazuchi@juno.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JT laughed to himself evilly, and jumped into the spring on the right. As he hit the water, he felt his body begin to shrink, until all that was visible in the pool was his clothing, floating on the surface. It was at this time that the guide ran to the spring with a map. He looked at the clothing floating in the spring, then at the map, then (wide-eyed) at the spring again. He shook his head as he fished the clothes out with a stick. "Very bad...you fall in spring of drowned rock. Tragic story, very tragic, of rock who drown in spring 2000 year ago. Worst of all Jusenkyo curse..." Why he jump in like that? the Guide wondered to himself The guide used his shovel to remove the rock from the bottom of the spring. He carried it back to his cabin and started to boil some water... [Guide's Cabin (Later)] "Now you back to normal. Why you jump in spring?" "Heh heh...um...I kind of wanted a powerful curse so I could actually defend myself in a fight. I heard a guy named Pansuto Tarou came here and transformed into a powerful creature, so I tried to find the same spring he fell into." "You now owner of Jusenkyo worst curse, curse of drowned rock." "How can a rock drown?" JT asked curiously. "I not know. There also spring of drowned octopus. But not know how octopus drown, either." "Great...so if I get hit with cold water, I turn into a rock?!" "Yes. You know how curse work?" "Yeah...I've heard about it. Man, this curse sucks. I'm outta here." "Wait! Nerima of Japan have many cursed people. If you looking for cure, Nerima good place to start." "OK. Thank you." JT left the cabin muttering, cursing his horrible luck. He would find a cure. Oh yes, he vowed to find it. Until then, he would never rest. [Nerima] JT stops on a street corner and looks at the hand-drawn map. The shopkeeper he had talked to had been kind enough to suggest he begin his search at the Tendo dojo, a popular site for random chaos. He rotated the map 90 degrees clockwise, trying to point the map-road parallel to the real road. Suddenly, the map was wrenched from his hands by a passing girl on rollerblades. "Enrique! My Enrique! Itıs so cute!" the little girl said in a whiney nasal voice. She continued down the road, whining the entire way. "Oh well...if a mere piece of paper could make someone that happy, why not let her keep it..." JT wandered the Nerima district for 3 hours, asking random people about the location of the Tendo dojo. He received clear directions several times, but still managed to get lost. Navigation was not one of his strong points. Now that he thought about it, he didn't have very many strong points period. He snapped out of his rumination as he walked directly into a brick wall at the end of a dead-end alley. "Damn!" he and another voice exclaimed at the same time. Another voice? He turned around and faced the stranger. He was quite tall and muscular. He looked like he could throttle JT in a matter of seconds, had he wanted to. He wore a yellow and black striped headband and clothing that looked like it hadn't been washed in weeks. "Excuse me. Do you know which direction leads to the Tendo dojo?" the man asked. "I haven't the faintest idea. Actually, thatıs where I was headed right now...but I got lost. Several times. I've been trying to find that place for 3 hours!" "Better than 5 weeks", the man muttered "What?" "Nevermind. I guess we can search together, since we're headed to the same place. If you need a place to sleep tonight, I have a tent in my backpack." How long did he think it would take to get there? "Thanks. My name's JT." "That's an interesting name. I'm Ryouga. I just came from the left street, so let's head down the right street." "I just came down the right street. Hmmm..." "I guess there's only one way to go, then." "And that would be-?" He didn't even have time to finish his question before Ryouga punched the brick wall, smashing it to pieces. "This way." An hour later, they found themselves back at the smashed brick wall. Ryouga was openly frustrated with their lack of forward progress. "Where the hell am I going?!" Ryouga exclaimed angrily. Suddenly, it began to rain. Ryouga reached behind him and pulled out an umbrella with such quickness that JT wondered how often he did it. "That was nice reaction time." "Thank you. I have a lot of practice. I'm not fond of the rain." JT eyed the rain nervously and turned to Ryouga. "Um...is there room under there for another person?" he asked. "Sure...just stand to my right. Don't step in any puddles. I don't want to be splashed." JT laughed to himself as he thought "Don't worry...I'm sure it would affect me in a much worse way..." They continued to walk, both looking a bit pale because of the rain. They finally found themselves, 2 hours later, at the Tendo dojo. Ryouga slid the door open and let himself in. "It's OK. I live here. Sometimes. Come on in." "Thank you." As they entered the house, a tall, beautiful woman came out to greet them. "Hello Kasumi." Ryouga said to the woman. "Hi Ryouga! We haven't seen you around for...gosh! It seems like a month! What have you been up to?" "Just travelling..." "How exciting! And who's your handsome friend?" JTs eyebrows shot up for a second when he heard this. "His nameıs JT. He was looking for the Tendo dojo, so I led him here." "You led him here without getting lost? I'm so proud of you Ryouga!" "Thanks..." Ryouga replied half-heartedly. "So JT, is there anyone in particular you're looking for?" "Not really. I just need to talk to anyone who was cursed at Jusenkyo." Kasumi's mouth opened into a small 'o', and Ryouga's face blanched. "Wait here...I'll get Ranma." "Thank you." Kasumi walked up the stairs and disappeared from view. There was a tap on his shoulder, and he turned to find Ryouga looking intently at him. "Why are you here?" Ryouga asked. JT looked at the ground for a moment, unsure whether he should be freely spreading knowledge of his curse around. He raised his head and looked Ryouga over. He didn't seem like a bad person. What harm could it do? "I got cursed at Jusenkyo." "You're cursed? What's your curse?" "It's kind of embarrassing..." Ryouga thought briefly of his own curse and fumed for a minute at this person thinkingnhis curse could be anything less than a vast improvement over the form he was cursed with. "It can't be that bad!" Ryouga said through a smile. "I turn into a rock." "A rock!? You can't be serious! How can a rock drown?" "I wondered the same thing for a while." "Wow...that's even worse than my curse! ...oops..." Ryouga stopped talking a little too late. He hadn't planned to tell anyone about his curse who didn't already know. "You're cursed too? What's your curse?" "A little black pig. No matter what, Akane is not to hear of this. Understand?" Ryouga's face contorted into an intimidating frown. "Who's Akane?" JT said, a little unsettled by the look Ryouga was giving him. "Tendo Akane. She lives here." "OK, I won't say a thing. You have my word. Do you know if there is a cure?" Ryouga laughed. "Don't you think if there was a cure I would've used it already?!" "Man, for someone trying to keep a secret, you're being awfully loud!" "Grrrrrr...." They heard footsteps from the top of the stairs , and directed their attention to the 3 figures approaching them. One of them JT recognized as Kasumi, the friendly woman from before. She was followed by a muscular boy with a pony-tail and a cute blue-haired girl. "JT, this is Ranma and Akane, my sister. Ranma and Akane, this is JT, Ryoga's friend." "Hey Ryouga! He looks American...don't tell me you wandered over to the United States again?" Ranma taunted. "Shut up!" "Nice to meet you JT." Akane politely said. "Yo.", greeted Ranma "Nice to meet you both." JT replied, unsure what to make of these two. The girl seemed nice enough, but the boy seemed to have a bit of an attitude problem. "So why'd you wanna talk to me?" "Well...I kind of got cursed at Jusenkyo, and-" "Lemme guess. Somehow it was my fault that you fell into the water, and now youıve come to Japan to get revenge on me by beating my face in." Ranma shot Ryouga a nasty look. "Actually, it was my own fault. Do you know of a cure? And what is your curse anyway?" "It's a little embarrassing..." "It can't be worse then mine." JT replied. "He's right" Ryouga agreed "Oh yeah? Well, I turn into a girl!" "I turn into a rock." "Really? How can a rock drown?" "I don't know." "I think you're full of it! There's no spring of drowned rock!" Ranma challenged, almost as if he was upset that he didn't have the most humiliating curse... "No, I'm not lying. Bring me cold water and I'll prove it." "This should be good" Ranma hurried into the kitchen and returned moments later with a glass of water. He handed the glass to JT. "Here" JT took the glass and poured it over his head, rapidly shrinking until all that is left is a piece of granite. "You win. Your curse is worse. Can you move?" The rock rolled to one side, then back to it's original location. Everyone gasped. "Can you see?" Akane asked. JT tried to answer "yes, I can", but couldn't make any noise. After all, he was a rock. "Hey Akane...you actually expecting an answer form that rock? Rocks don't talk Akane." Ranma said in a smug tone. *POW* Ranma laid on the ground, unconscious, a huge bump on his head from where Akane had smashed him with the conveniently placed rock. Kasumi brought in a kettle of hot water and dumped it on the rock, who grew rapidly into a naked human. JT looked around and noticed everyone staring at him. He followed their gazes and noticed he was completely naked. "AAAGH!" he yelled, grabbing his clothes and donning them quickly. "You could've let me do it myself!" "But how could you lift the kettle if you were a rock?" Kasumi asked. "Ummm. nevermind. To answer your question, Akane, I _can_ see while I'm a rock." "I'm so sorry about using you as a weapon! Sometimes Ranma's just such an idiot. I get carried away. Are you OK? I know Ranma has a thick skull..." "Don't worry! It didn't hurt at all! I was a rock!" "Since you're cursed like Ranma, why don't you stay with us for a while? That way, if Ranma finds a cure, you can use it too." Kasumi helpfully suggested. Ranma stirred on the ground as he regained conciousness. "Having someone who's half rock living here could prove to be even more dangerous than Akane's cooking!" *POW* Ranma dropped out of consciousness as Akane put way her giant mallet and stormed angrily upstairs. JT wondered briefly where she had gotten that mallet from. "Boy, they must really hate each other!" "Actually, theyıre engaged." Kasumi informed him. "No kidding?" "No. They truly are engaged." "They sure don't act it" "Let's introduce you to the rest of the family!" Kasumi led JT into an adjoining room, where a middle-aged man was sitting down, playing a game of shogi with a panda (panda?). "Father, Genma, this is JT. I've invited him to stay with us for a while. JT, this is my father, Tendo Soun, and Ranma's father, Saotome Genma." "Hello" JT managed to say, still curious about the trained Panda. "Hello" Soun greeted, The Panda turned away for a moment and raised a sign in the air. "Hello" it read. JT was very impressed! Not only could the Panda play games, but it could write and understand speech too! "So where is Mr. Saotome?" "He's the Panda." "Oh", JT thought. "Mr. Saotome? Were you also cursed at Jusenkyo?" The Panda turned away again and scrawled quickly on a sign. He held up a sign that read "Yes, I was. Are you cursed too?" JT felt a little silly about talking to a Panda, but he continued anyway. "Yes. Cold water transforms me into a rock." Soun and Genma's eyes widened. "That's quite an unfortunate curse you have." Soun stated. "That's what I was told..." "Well, feel free to lodge in the guest room with Ranma and Genma." "Thank you sir." "I'll show you to your room." Kasumi offered politely. "Thank you." Kasumi led JT upstairs and gestured toward an open door at the end of the hall. "That is the guest room. Make yourself at home! Bye bye!" Kasumi walked downstairs and disappeared from sight. JT stepped inside the room and was amazed at how small it was. Fortunately, he hadn't brought a lot of his belongings, actually selling most of what he owned to get enough money for a trip to Jusenkyo. Where was his Sony Playstation now, he wondered. He closed the door behind him and changed out of the clothes he'd been wearing for the past several days. He opened up his backpack and withdrew a new set, quickly donning them so as not to be caught naked by one of the other occupants of the room. After changing, he threw his backpack and sleeping bag into the corner of the room and sat on the floor, marveling at the Tendos' hospitality. There was a knock at the door. "Yes?" The door opened and in walked what seemed to be a goddess; the physical embodiment of pure beauty. She was the most gorgeous girl JT had ever laid eyes upon. She was stunning. JTs brain couldn't come up with anymore synonyms for beautiful, so it just shut down. "Hey Ranma. You still...Oh? And who might you be, handsome?" the girl inquired. JT blushed and tried to reply in a coherent manner; an act his sleeping brain would not permit him to do. "Uh...I'm...uh......uh...Oh yeah! JT!" "JT, huh? That's an original name...I'm Nabiki, Akane's sister." "H-h-how d-do you d-do?" Nabiki looked at the boy curiously. He didn't seem to be much older than her and he was kind of cute. "Wow, my mere presence turned him into a babbling idiot...I've never had that kind of power over a guy before...This could prove to be interesting" she thought to herself, slightly amused. "Oh, I'm great. Will you be staying in the guest room?" "Um...Yeah, I guess...um...yeah." "Well then, welcome to the Tendo household. I guess I'll be seeing you around." "This place is a bit...crazy, huh?" "Heh...you haven't seen anything yet...when Ranma gets back, will you remind him that he owes me 3000 yen?" "I...I can do that" "Thanks a million. I'll see you later." And with that, she was gone, but her face remained etched in JTs mind. He thought of her and sighed. , he thought. . There was another knock on the door. "Yes?" he asked anxiously, hoping Nabiki had come back to visit him. The door opened and Kasumi entered. "Father decided that as long as you will be staying with us, you should attend school with Ranma, Akane, and Nabiki. Is this agreeable with you?" JT couldn't see any problems with it. In fact, it would give him the chance to spend more time with Nabiki. "Yes! Definitely! When can I start?!" "My! Father will be pleased to have such an eager student living in the dojo! If only Ranma and Akane shared your passion for knowledge!" "There's passion all right," JT thought, "but it definately ain't for knowledge..." "I think father can register you in time to start next semester. I believe the semester begins in 2 days. Bye!" Things were looking up for JT, almost enough for him to forget the dismal life he led back in the United States. All his life he had struggled to make something of himself, but there were to many people trying to pull him down...All his life, he had distanced himself from others, remaining lonely and depressed. Now, ever since the trip to Jusenkyo, his life was improving. He had a home, a friendly "family", and a cute girl living right down the hall from him. Everything was absolutely perfect...except for his tendency to transform into a chunk of granite... JT laid out on his sleeping bag and fell asleep almost instantly, smiling and dreaming of his new life... He awoke early the next morning and noticed Ranma and Genma were already gone. He heard fighting from outside and figured they were training. He grabbed a towel and headed down to the bathroom, stripping sleepily as the bath filled. He sank into the water and let out a sigh. This was great. He couldn't remember ever being happier in his entire life. From outside came a splash, followed almost immediately by the sound of a girl screaming. JT sank further into the water and tried to ignore the noise as he enjoyed his bath. He didn't even hear the knock on the door, or notice the subsequent opening of the door. He did, however, turn his head to find a cute red-haired girl standing before him, completely naked. She stared at JT angrily. The girl stared angrily at JT. "Why didn't you respond to my knocking, rock-boy?" "I'm sorry! I didn't know you were coming in! Honest!...Do I know you?" The girl jumped into the bathtub and immediately became...Ranma. "So that was your female form?" "Yes, it was. And I do believe it's _my_ turn to use the bath!" he said, kicking JT through the roof. JT sailed high into the air, rubbing his jaw, and looked down just in time to see the fast-approaching water of the pond. 30 seconds later, a wet rock rolled its way out of the pond. "Man, this curse sucks" he tried to say, but no sound emerged from the rolling piece of granite. JT finally managed to roll himself to the front door of the Tendo dojo. He rolled against the door several times, each time creating a dull thud. Finally, the door was answered...by Nabiki. JT panicked. "Oh no! I can't let her see me like this! I can't let her know I'm a rock! She'll have no interest in me! AAH!" Nabiki just smiled. "Is that you, JT?" "AAAH! She knows! My life is ruined!" "Let's get you inside and back to normal." With some effort, Nabiki lifted the large rock and set it on the kitchen floor. She grabbed a nearby kettle , and poured the hot water onto the rock. JT reverted to his human form and was about to thank Nabiki, when he noticed her intense blushing. "What's wrong?" Nabiki's eyes darted downward where they lingered for a few minutes before returned to meet JTs gaze. "Not a thing from where I'm standing...but you may want to put on some clothes." It was JTs turn to blush. He ran upstairs, praying no one else saw him. He got to his room and threw on some clothes, then laid down to ponder things. "She must've known I would revert without my clothes...yet she didn't look away. Maybe...maybe she likes me!" With that thought still in his head, he laid down and smiled, thinking of ways to let Nabiki know of his love for her. Nabiki sat in her room, grinning happily. "These pictures should earn me quite a bit at the school. She paused, thinking. "Or maybe these ones will be all mine..." Back in the guest room, JT was still laying on the floor. There was a loud noise outside. JT stood up and looked out the window, but saw nothing. "What the hell was that?" Then the wall caved in. Through the dust JT could make out a figure walking into the room through the new 'door'. It was a cute girl with purple hair holding what looked to be a balloon on a stick. "Who you? Where is Ranma?" JT pondered the girl for a moment. "She doesn't seem to know very good Japanese... come to think of it, when did _I_ learn Japanese? last I remember, the only thing i could say was 'I'll stab you to death!'. Hmmmm..." He collected his thoughts and addressed the girl. "I don't know where Ranma is! Why'd you destroy the wall? We have doors you know!" "Hmmph...do not make Shampoo mad." "Eh?" "Idiot..." "Don't call me idiot! At least I have the minimal amount of common sense required to operate a door! Unlike somebody in this room! And I can actually refer to myself in the first person!" "You anger Shampoo! Now you pay!" JT saw the ball-on-a-stick coming toward his face, but lacked the quickness necessary to dodge it. It struck him square in the forehead. "Nope, that's not a balloon. I think it's cement" was JTs last thought before sinking into unconciousness. "Eh? That very easy...must be weakest person in dojo." Shampoo turned and jumped to an adjacent rooftop. JT just laid on the floor, unconscious. Hours later, he awoke to find the sun had already gone down. How long had he been out? He stumbled sluggishly down the stairs and almost ran into Nabiki. "...um...Hi Nabiki! heh heh. heh." "Are you OK? you got a nasty bump onyour head. You seem quite shaken up." "It's...it's nothing." "At any rate, I'm going upstairs. I'll see you later." "Bye!" "Yeah." JT watched her ascend the stairs and sighed quite loudly. There was a tap on his shoulder and he spun around to find Ranma grinning at him. "So...you got a thing for Nabiki,huh?" "Huh? Um...of course not! Don't be foolish!" "Well, at least that's one less person after Akane! Damn Ryouga and Kunou..." "Hmmm...say Ranma. Nabiki says you owe her 3000 yen." "Damn! I can't believe I forgot about that! ...and how'd you get that huge bump on your head?" "Some crazy woman came into the guest room and beat he into unconciousness." "Crazy woman? Was she by any chance dressed in a leotard?" "No, but she had purple hair and spoke very broken Japanese." "That's Shampoo. ...Um...how many walls does the guest room have now?" "Three." "That woman has got to start using the doors!" "Agreed...anyway, she was looking for you. Any ideas why?" "Yeah...she wants to marry me." "Huh? Doesn't she know you're engaged to Akane?" "I'll explain this some other time. It's a long story." "OK, sure..." "I need to train some more. You wanna spar?" "It wouldn't be a very fair fight..." Ranma looked JT up and down and began laughing. "Oh come on! You don't look like you're that good!" "I didn't say I as. I meant you would win easily, not me." "Let's go anyway. Maybe I can teach you a thing or two." Ranma and JT stood facing each other in the sparring room. Ranma was in a karate stance, and JT was leaning forward, his body lowered toward the ground. "Ready?" Ranma asked. "Sure..." "Go!" Ranma feigned with his left hand and prepared to strike with his right...and was surprised when JT ran right into his left fist, knocking himself out cold. Ranma revived him and they both stood up. "Ouch..." "That was a fake punch...it wasn't even supposed to hit you!" "OK...try again?" "If you're sure you can handle it!" "Go!" Ranma wasn't expecting JT to initiate the fight immediately. He faced JT and lunged forward with a right jab, but JT wasn't there anymore. He had dropped to the ground, shooting forward and grabbing Ranma's leg, which he then elevated into the air. JT swept the other leg and Ranma dropped to the mat. JT dived onto him. "Single leg takedown! Two points! Woo hoo! The crowd goes wild!" JT gloated. Ranma just laid on the mat, confused. "What?" "Oh, nothing. Just the point system used in wrestling." "Good job getting me down, but what are you gonna do now?" JT thought for a moment, adn seeing no real choice, he went with habit. "Um...I guess I'll try to pin you." Ranma pushed JT off him effortlessly. JT hit the ground with a loud *thunk* "I'm finished. Maybe we can do this again some other time." "OK, what ever you want, as long as you can handle losing!" JT walked to his room and grabbed a towel. He wlaked to the bathroom and, remembering his previous experience in the bathroom, knocked quite loudly on the door before entering. He lowered himself into the bath and felt his sore body coming back to life. He wondered how school would be tomorrow, he thought about trying to learn martial arts, but mostly he thought about Nabiki. When he finished, he rose from the bath, wrapped the towel around himself, and headed to his room, which mysteriously had four walls again... "Wow, that was quick repair work. I'm impressed." He pulled on a pair of boxers and settled into the sleeping bag, instantly falling asleep. That night, he dreamed... [Alley] JT: Release her now, or face the wrath of my killer attacks! Axle: Hmmph. You couldn't beat us before, so why do you think you can do it now? Aren't you tired of being beaten into oblivion? JT: Let her go! Axle: (Laughing) Do your worst, fool! JTs arms moved in a blur. He punched Axle in the head, the chest, the gut, then the head again. Axle stepped back, reeling, but refusing to fall. Axle lept forward and punched JT twice in the face and executed a perfect roundhouse kick to his jaw. JT fell, but quickly got back to his feet. He smiled an evil smile, and pulled from his jacket a crowbar. JT: No more games Axle...It ends now. JT gripped the crowbar with both his hands, so tightly his knuckles were turning white. He stared at Axle with hatred in his eyes. He ran towards axle, yelling maniacally. JT: KUROKAGE NO KANATEKO!! The crowbar moved with the fluidity of water, arcing towards Axles face with incredible speed, leaving a trail of darkness behind it. Axle took a step back and JT fell to the ground with his crowbar. He looked up at axle and saw the gun pointing down at his head. Axle: You have no power. You cannot defeat us. You have wasted your life trying. Then came the gunshot, and everything was black. His sight was gone, his feeling was gone, but he could still hear. He strained to make out the conversations. Nabiki: What a loser. He didn't even rescue me. You're so much more of a man than he was, Axle. I can't resist your manliness. Take me, right here, right now. Axle: As you wish, babe. Then came the sounds of gratuitous lovemaking. JT woke up screaming, his body covered with sweat. "Dammit! I can't even win a fight in my own dreams!" JT yelled. The Panda sat up and smashed a sign over JTs head, effectively putting him back to sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ End part 1! How was it? Tell me what you think! Write me at: aoi.ikazuchi@juno.com Preview of part two: JT heads off to school as the new semester begins, but instantly makes several enemies who want to beat him senseless. He ends up spending most of his first day in the nurses office. What a fool! Anyway, watch for part 2, coming soon! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------