Ranma ½: A New Beginning

An anime fanfiction written immortalwriter@squaresoftrules.com

Episode 5: The Coming of the Amazons

Author's notes: Hey everybody! I am very sorry about taking so long with the fifth episode, but I just got done with fighting one of the most severe cases of Writer's Block that I've ever had. But it's here now! Although I do have one more apology to make, I feel obligated to say I'm sorry to all of the people who prefer Rumiko Takahashi's much lighter style of storytelling, but it looks like this might actually get pretty dark. Either way, read on!



"(Come along Mousse, we have to find out how Shampoo is faring!)" Cologne said angrily as she prepared herbs for a spell. Mousse shook his head.

"(Why did you have to force Shampoo to go after that girl, she seemed nice enough.)" Cologne glared back at Mousse.

"(It is Amazon tradition to avenge any and all losses of honor.)" She said very slowly, as if she were talking to a child. Mousse's facial expression gained a slight tinge of anger.

"(Do you even care that your own grand daughter could die over your tradition?!)"

"(Shampoo won't die, I've trained her too well to go and do that.)"

"(Dammit you old hag, do you even care about her one bit?!)" Mousse snapped out with a shout. Cologne turned, her eyes aflame with anger.

"(Yes I do care about her, she is my great grand daughter! And now, I've had enough of your insolence!)" She cast the spell she had been preparing, amking Mousse vanish in the puff of smoke. "(Maybe a teleportation to Jusenkyo will teach you some manners!)" She said angrily as she went off to get another set of ingredients for the spell. Though she didn't notice that Mousse's glasses had fallen on the floor when he was teleported away.



"Ranma!" Ranma looked around the dark that he was currently in, trying to discern the source of the call. As he spun on his heel, he noticed a flash of reflected light and stopped. Out of the inky darkness, ran the figure of Shampoo. At first, Ranma was happy to see the beautiful chinese girl, but as he looked at her pretty face, he noticed that it was twisted in fear. Shampoo ran, then stumbled and began to fall. "Ranma!" She screamed again. Ranma reached out toward the falling girl and he tried to run to her. But he moved with infinite slowness, as tears fell from Shampoo's eyes. Ranma jumped, trying desperately to save the girl. But as his hands found their way under her falling form, he heard a swish, like wind through bare tree branches. He looked up to see a sword coming in at him from above. He ducked his head, and as he did so, he realized that the weapon wasn't meant to hit him.

"No!" He shouted as he looked up and saw the blade go cleanly through Shampoo, shattering her into a thousand shards of glass. The shards penetrated his skin as they fell, and he looked at his hands, shards of Shampoo's former being sticking out of them, his now flowing life blood mixing with her spilled crimson. He then looked up as another flash of light caught his eye, and he found himself starring at a shadowed figure, wearing a white robe with long sleeves, and a single chain hanging out of the left one, his right hand gripping the hilt of a bloody katana tightly. Ranma stared up at the silhouetted figure, and cursed him. A single menacing eye, and a frighteningly curved smile showed through the veil of darkness as the figure raised his sword for the final blow.



"No!" Ranma shouted as he flung his head up from his pillow. He looked around, and realized where he really was. Then he felt a twinge in his chest. "Ohhh." Ranma collapsed back into his bed, his ribs and bandaged side protesting vehemently that he NOT get up again. Ranma then noticed the sound of an angry argument going on just beyond his closed door. He listened carefully, but couldn't quite make out what was being said, until his door burst open.

"Ranma will heal faster with my help!" Shampoo yelled to Akane as she tried to squeeze into Ranma's room, despite the clinging Tendo girl.

"I'm not going to let you put any of your weird "ancient chinese secrets" on Ranma, you'll probably slow his healing!" The two continued to fight each other for entry into the room, until Ranma spoke,

"Akane, let Shampoo in, that salve does help." The pair paused, realizing that Ranma was awake.

"Ranma! You're awake!" They said, Shampoo with one hand on Akane's face, holding her back, and the other holding the salve high in the air, out of Akane's reach. Then it dawned on Shampoo that Ranma had just superceded Akane's authority and given her permission to enter.

"Ai ya!" Shampoo let go of Akane's face and leapt to Ranma's side, leaving the overbalanced Tendo to fall on her face. "Thank you Ranma, Akane thought I was going to hurt you!" She began to rub the cream into Ranma's bandaged side, causing him to wince in pain momentarily, thought it quickly vanished, along with the gash.

"Wow." Ranma commented as he looked at his formerly injured side. "That was fast." Shampoo's happy smile widened.

"I found some very good herbs at the high school, though, I'm out of the rest of the ingredients, and those only grow in China." Her head dipped low in shame, until she felt Ranma's hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay Shampoo, it's not your fault I keep getting beaten up." Shampoo smiled at Ranma again, and he returned it, until he felt the twinge again. "Can you do anything about my ribs with that stuff?" He asked, keeping the sudden pain out of voice.

"No Ranma, the salve only works on external wounds, not internal."

"Nuts." He said as he snapped his fingers. Shampoo laughed musically.

"Don't worry Ranma, you heal very fast just naturally." Ranma then happened to look over to where Akane had fallen, and noticed that the spot was suddenly vacant. 'Curious.' He thought as he turned back to the smiling Shampoo.

"Thank you Shampoo, I couldn't have fought Ukyou so well without your help."

"You're welcome Ranma, Shampoo happy to give Ranma fighting lessons."

"Shampoo! Breakfast is ready!" Kasumi shouted up from the table. Ranma was just about to leap out bed and dash for the breakfast table, when his ribs made them selves know yet again, this time, more painfully.

"Ow!" He shouted.

"Ranma, are you okay?" Shampoo asked cautiously.

"It's okay Shampoo, my ribs are just trying to tell never to move again." Ranma said with a sardonic smile that was twinged with just a little bit of a grimace. Shampoo crouched down next to Ranma, putting her arm around him.

"I'll help you down the stairs." Ranma put his own arm around her shoulders and with her help, managed to get down the stairs. As they came into view, Ranma noticed Akane sitting at the table, her eyes wide when she saw Ranma being helped down the stairs by Shampoo. But when she realized that Ranma was looking at her, she quickly averted her gaze. 'What is up with her? She hated me when I first got here.' As Ranma thought on those things, Shampoo gingerly took him down the last few stairs and over to the table, gently putting him in his seat, then taking up her position next to him. Kasumi came through the kitchen door, carrying a small pot filled with miso, though she nearly dropped it when she noticed Ranma sitting at the table.

"Ranma! You didn't have to come to the table, I was going to bring this up to you!" She held up the pot.

"Sorry Kasumi, I didn't know." Ranma then noticed that something was missing from the breakfast table, Genma was missing. "What happened to Pop?" Shampoo's eyes hardened.

"I sent him on a trip, he'll be back around nightfall." Ranma then happened to notice the man-shaped hole in the ceiling.

"I see." He said solemnly. "I'm supposing that he was going to ask me if I had secured a marriage yet, right?" Ranma asked as he eyed Soun, who was at the moment cautiously peeking around the kitchen door and throwing Shampoo frightened glances.

"Hai." Shampoo nodded.

"And I'm also supposing that is why Soun seems to be afraid to enter the same room as you, right?" He asked with a grin.

"Hai." Shampoo smiled, until there came the clang of chopsticks on china.

"I'm done." Akane announced as she rose from the table and gathered her school things. Ranma looked confused.

"Did I say something wrong?" He asked, not understanding what was going on.

"You had better hurry up and get ready too Shampoo, or you'll be late to school!" Kasumi cried as she looked at the clock.

"What about me!?" Ranma cried as Shampoo charged about, gathering her books together.

"You can't go to school with broken ribs!" Kasumi told him, though she thought she thought of something and paused. "In fact, I should probably take you to Dr. Tofu, you'll need his help to get better." Shampoo turned to Ranma before she left the door.

"Bye Ranma, see you after school!" Ranma's plea for help died in his throat, and his outstretched hand wilted, falling to his side.

"Alright, let's go." He said quietly, resigned to his fate.



Ranma sat in a small, quaint waiting room, fidgeting as he heard a crack, something like a bone snapping. He never had liked doctors before, and a bad experience in his youth while traveling with Genma didn't help matters at all.

"Bye." He said quickly as he stood, ignoring the pain signals his ribs sent to his brain, and sprinting for the door. Kasumi, without even looking up from the magazine she was reading, grabbed the sleeve of Ranma's shirt and pulled him back down into his seat. Ranma managed to sit for a few more seconds, but then he stood and announced, "I'm going to the bathroom!" But before he could even take one step, Kasumi pinned him with a menacing glare.

"Sit." As if pushed by some invisible force, Ranma crashed back down into his seat. Suddenly, the door to Dr. Tofu's sanctum crashed open, and out of the dark, flickering light that filled the doorway, stepped a kindly old man, smiling happily. Ranma, who at the moment was hanging from a lighting fixture of the ceiling, dropped to the floor.

"Next, please." Called out a rather pleasant, friendly sounding voice. Ranma looked back at Kasumi,

"Aren't you going to come with me?" She smiled wryly,

"Trust me, you don't want me in there with you." But then the smile disappeared. "Now go on, get in there." She urged. Ranma visibly swallowed, then took a few, tentative steps forward. Suddenly, a scream rang out, making Ranma's hair stand on end. Then, the flickering illumination in Dr. Tofu's office vanished, and was replaced by the glare of typical fluorescent lights.

"Sorry about that." Said a man, probably Dr. Tofu as his head popped around the door frame. "That last patient had a bit of a psychotic aversion, he needs some special treatment." He looked Ranma over for a moment. "Well, come in." Ranma nodded, and strode into the office, his knees only shaking slightly. "Now, what seems to be the problem?" He asked as he closed the door.

"Well, I think I shattered a couple of ribs." Ranma tried hard not to seem nervous as the doctor gave him a more in-depth inspection.

"How did you do that?" Dr. Tofu asked as he made lazy circles around the young martial artist.

"A fight with a ninja girl who wanted to kill me." Ranma had been unable to come up with a convincing enough story, so he decided to go with the truth. But rather than outrightly laughing at Ranma's story, Tofu only continued to circle, making Ranma shudder slightly as his mind analogized Dr. Tofu to a vulture. "You believe me?" He asked curiously, following the doctor's path with his eyes.

"Yes, I saw your fight with the girl, I"m supposing you fell prey to a curse of Jusenkyo?" Ranma nodded, and Tofu stopped circling him. "As I thought, you know, you are a rather good martial artist, where did you learn to fight like that, particularly after that blow to your ribs?"

"My father and I have been on a training journey since I was six and we've been all over the world, learning every technique and skill we could find. My skills with weapons were taught to me by a Chinese Amazon, Shampoo." Tofu nodded.

"I met the girl, she was very enthusiastic about searching for you a week or two ago." Ranma smiled happily and let out a little chuckle.

"Yeah, that sound like Shampoo." Tofu took his hand off of it's position on his chin, dropping the "Thinker" pose.

"Thank you for indulging my nosiness, I just like to know what's going on in my patient's lives." He then gestured for Ranma to take a seat on the examination table. Ranma moved over, the short banter having banished most of his fears of the doctor, and took a seat in the center. "Now, let's have a feel of this before we take the x-rays." He placed his index and ring finger on the injured area, so lightly that Ranma barely felt it. "You also had a nasty cut, but it was healed by some powerful magic." He commented as he felt around a little bit. "Ah, the blade of her weapon was made of quicksilver, that explains her incredible speed, but lack of control." He whispered as he felt a small lump under Ranma's skin. Finally, he removed his fingers. "You have two badly broken ribs, and a shard of metal from the girl's spatula in there, you'll have to stay here for a few hours." Ranma shrugged.

"All I'm missing is school, go right ahead."

"Alright then, I'll start by removing the shard, and then we'll fix up your ribs."



"There you go, good as new." Dr. Tofu announced brightly as he put the clasp on the bandages.

"Wow, thanks Dr. Tofu, you're a lot better then I thought you'd be." Dr. Tofu smiled.

"Well, I'm glad about that." Then, the clanging of a large bell reverberated through the room.

"Just in time, school's letting out!" Ranma declared as he charged out the door, right past Kasumi.

"See you later Ranma." Dr. Tofu whispered. "Only, it will be on different terms next time." He said sinisterly, watching the receding form of the young, pigtailed martial artist.



"I can't believe you!" Akane screamed at Shampoo as they walked out of the school grounds. "That "ancient chinese secret" can't really have healed Ranma like that, it's just not possible!" Shampoo laughed.

"I never lie, that salve can heal all but the most severe of external wounds!" She declared with finality. Which was rather convenient, since that happened to be the moment that Ranma choose to appear.

"Hey Shampoo! Hey Akane!" He shouted to them. The pair of girls turned at the sound of Ranma's voice.

"Nihao Ranma!" Shampoo shouted back excitedly, while Akane remained strangely silent. He came to a stop before them and asked,

"What did I miss?"

"Not much, the teacher's just passed out a bunch of homework sheets, these are yours." Shampoo held up what looked like several hours worth of worksheets.

"Oh man, this is going to take all night!" Ranma wailed as he took the sheets.

"It's okay Ranma, they're not that hard." Shampoo said as she placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. Behind the two, Akane snorted in derision.

"Break it up you two, we have to get home!" She said as she brushed through the two, knocking Shampoo's hand off of Ranma's shoulder. Shampoo glared at Akane as she passed by her, but grudgingly took up marching behind her. 'What's going on between those two?' Ranma thought as he watched the Tendo girl and Amazon march off. Then he shrugged and followed after.



"You take the square of the hypotenuse . . ." Ranma whispered as he fried his brain trying to do the math work sheet that had been assigned. He paused for a moment as a shiver ran up his spine. "Something is wrong."



"What do you want Akane, why did you bring me out here?" Shampoo asked Akane angrily as they stood in the darkness of the Nermina night, out by the koi pond.

"Shampoo, we need to talk about Ranma." Shampoo nodded.

"Yes?" She asked, feeling unusually impatient as she stood out in the open air of the garden with the other girl.

"I lo . . ." Akane started, but she was halted by the arrow that thudded into the tree right by her arm. "What?" She managed to say before a second arrow came in, piercing through her right should and pinning her to the tree she had been standing in front of. She screamed as her nerves sent signals of intense pain to her brain. One last arrow came in, aimed at her throat, but it was grabbed from the air by Shampoo.

"Show yourself! Stop attacking from the shadows like a coward!" She shouted as she unsheathed her sword, an item she had luckily brought with her due to the slight tickling in the back of her mind, one that said something wrong was going to happen. Then came the sound of wood dropping to the ground, and then a rather strange one, like a snake shooting through the underbrush. A chain burst from the foliage by the side of the garden, catching Shampoo off guard and almost taking her head off. But her reflexes reacted on instinct, honed from years of fighting, making her drop into a crouch below the chain, which smashed a fair sized chunk out of the garden wall. Out of the bush ran a figure, dark as the night around him, and almost invisible. He held a fine long sword that gleamed in the wan moonlight, and the chain that was now embedded in the garden wall led back into his left sleeve. Shampoo readied her own blade, preparing for the a charge slash, which appeared to be her opponent's plan of attack. What she wasn't expecting was for the shadowed warrior to rip his chain from the wall, and it brained her across the back of her head. She fell to the ground, barely conscious, and watched in horror as the warrior approached her, his sinister smile gleaming through the veil of darkness that surrounded the rest of his face. Shampoo whimpered weakly, for some reason, she feared what this mysterious man would do next more then anything else in the world. He stood over her, and licked his lips, making Shampoo shudder. Out of nowhere, and with no more sound then a cherry blossom makes falling to the ground, Ranma flew through the air and delivered a powerful kick to the shadowed warrior's head, sending him crashing right into the wall on the other side of the garden. The warrior regained his feet quickly, and growled like a feral wolf.

"Leave them alone!" Ranma shouted as he fell back into a combat stance, trying to be ready for whatever attack was forthcoming. But the warrior seemed to reconsider his course of action when he saw Ranma. He turned and leapt out of the garden, disappearing into the blackness of the night before Ranma could give chase. Or rather, that was what it looked like, though in reality, Ranma couldn't have followed, the pain coming from his ribs was intense, and he was already having a hard time just standing. Then he noticed Akane. "Oh my god Akane!" He shouted as he ran over to the injured Tendo girl. He looked at her arm and winced, the arrow had gone completely through her shoulder and it was bleed quite a bit. Ranma reached for the arrow, but Shampoo stopped him.

"No, the arrow will be barbed, these are Amazon weapons." Ranma nodded, and stepped back, deferring to Shampoo's expertise. She stepped forward and snapped the top end of the shaft off, but didn't take the out the rest of the arrow. "It will worsen the bleeding if we take the last of the arrow out." Ranma looked up into Akane's drawn face, it was obvious that the arrow was causing her great pain, but she still managed to hold her composure, something Ranma admired at that moment. Then the rest of the Tendo family came out, they had been asleep, then awakened by the scream and brought outside by the sounds of the fight.

"What's going on here?!" Soun shouted as he came outside, though the question vanished from his mind when he noticed his youngest daughter. "Akane!"He ran over to her, and nearly cried when he saw the arrow wound.

"We need to get you to Dr. Tofu!" Ranma yelled, and Akane nodded weakly, which prompted the whole of the residents of the Tendo Dojo to go off in search of the good doctor's home.

"Dr. Tofu!" Soun shouted as he pounded on the door to the clinic. "Dr. Tofu, please open up, it's an emergency!" But no answer came, there was no indication that anyone was even inside the clinic. While Soun's attention was on the door, a swish came from above, and Ranma looked up just in time to catch a glimpse of a black form flying over the clinic, and disappearing behind the building. 'What the . . .?' Ranma wondered, though he was broken out of his reverie when the lights in the clinic came on. The door opened and out stepped Dr. Tofu. "Thank god!" Soun said,

"Dr. Tofu, we need your help, someone shout Akane with an arrow!" Dr. Tofu looked over the injured girl's form and nodded gravely.

"Bring her in." The Tendo patron and daughter's quickly brought Akane in, while Ranma remained outside. 'What is going on here?' Ranma wondered again as he watched the door to Dr. Tofu's clinic swing ponderously closed.



"No!" Akane shouted as she struggled against Kasumi's surprisingly strong grip. "I have to go to school!" Kasumi sighed.

"No Akane, you need to stay home and rest." But Akane continued to struggle.

"No Kasumi, you don't understand, I have to go to school!!" Kasumi didn't allow the argument to continue any further, just carried the struggling Tendo girl up the stairs.

"She is freakishly strong." Ranma commented as he watched, astonished, while Kasumi carried Akane up the stairs almost effortlessly. Next to him at the table, Shampoo nodded and finished her miso. Something occurred to Ranma.

"Shampoo, you said that the weapons that guy used were Amazon weapons, did you know him?" Shampoo shook her head.

"No, I only recognized his sword and the type of bow he was using, it fires arrows almost silently." Ranma nodded.

"Okay, I was hoping you might know when he would attack next."

"C'mon you two!" Akane shouted as she came charging down the stairs, still buttoning up her school shirt. Kasumi was running just a little behind her, shouting for Akane to stop fooling around, and that, even if they'd used the very last of Shampoo's salve to heal the wound up, she still needed to rest since she lost so much blood. But she payed her older sister no heed, only ran on in the direction of Furinken High. Ranma and Shampoo turned to face each other, confusion reigning in both of their eyes. Then they both shrugged, grabbing their school bags, and following the two screaming girls.



After about ten minutes of all out running, Kasumi finally caught up to the faster, but weaker Akane. Minutes after that, she passed by Ranma and Shampoo, a bound and gagged Akane slung over her shoulder. When he was sure that she was out of earshot, Ranma leaned over to Shampoo and whispered.

"Remind me not to cross her." Shampoo nodded, a little fear showing in her own lavender orbs. Suddenly, a voice rang out in Chinese,

"(Shampoo!)" Turning at the sound of the familiar voice, Shampoo found herself looking at a young man she knew well, wearing his simple robe with it's extra large, and long sleeves.

"(Mousse!)" She shouted happily as she ran to the young, male Amazon, and wrapped him in a bear hug. They separated, and Shampoo smiled widely. "(Mousse! Where have you been? I haven't seen you since I left the village to pursue Ranma!)"

"(That's what I'm here to talk about Shampoo, there's no need for you to hunt that poor girl down!)" Shampoo blinked.

"(Oh, don't worry about that, Ranma's right over there.)" She pointed at the young man in question. Mousse looked over at the MALE Ranma and turned back to Shampoo.

"(Jusenkyo?)" Shampoo nodded, and Mousse threw Ranma a strangely sympathetic look.

"(So, why haven't you come home yet, even the old ghoul's starting to worry about you.)" Shampoo blushed a bit.

"(It's a long story.)" Mousse was slightly confused at Shampoo's reaction to the question, but before he could ask for the in-depth story, Ranma was already carrying Shampoo off, shouting as he went.

"Sorry Shampoo, but we're gonna be late!"

"(Sorry Mousse, bye!)" Shampoo shouted back to Mousse as Ranma carried her off.



"Ranma!" Ranma stopped short, just inches from the door to the school, at the sound of the Blue Thunder's voice. He stepped out from behind a tree, as always, wearing his Kendo uniform and holding his bokken. "Now you not only enslave Akane Tendo and the pigtailed girl, but this poor chinese girl too? I shall free them from your domineering grip, Ranma Saotome!" With that said, Kuno flung himself at Ranma. With a quietly muttered "sorry", Ranma quickly set Shampoo down and spun back to face Kuno. He was already in Ranma's face, but his bokken was still held high above his head, giving Ranma a moment to duck down and slide under the sempai's up stretched arms. Kuno tried to bring his swing across and at least score a glancing blow on Ranma, but he failed as his legs were swept out from under him. Kuno hit the ground hard enough to see stars, or rather, chibi Ranma-chan's and Akane's. With the annoyance apparently stunned, Ranma charged on to try and get to class on time.



But the bell thwarted him right as he stepped through the door.

"Ranma Saotome!" Rang out a high, child like voice. 'What is it with everybody and using my full name!?' Ranma thought angrily as he moved to his seat, giving an excuse as he went. But when he sat down, he found what looked like a young child standing on his desk, hands on her hips and one foot rapidly tapping on the wood. "Excuse me for being so impatient, Mr. Saotome, but you have a reputation for not paying a lick of attention to any teacher." She said in her child like voice, then leaned in closer to his face. "Well, I won't stand for it." With a flicker of pseudo motion, the girl vanished and appeared back down at the podium. Ranma blinked. 'Who is she?!'

"My name is Ms. Hinako, but you can call me Hinako-sensi, I will be your new English teacher. Now that we're acquainted, let's begin class."



"Good job class, I think this will work out very well, you are dismissed." Hinako-sensi said from behind her desk moment's before the bell rang. The class rushed out, Ranma along for the ride, until Hinako-sensi's voice rang out again. "Ranma!" He paused, surprised by her sudden informal address of him.

"Yes, Hinako-sensi?"

"Watch your back." There was no malice in her voice, only quiet concern.

"I will." He said, somewhat confused by the warning.



"Ohhhhh, the pain!" Genma whispered as he lay on the floor in the living room. Next to him lay Ranma and Shampoo, both moaning just about the same thing. Akane came into the room bearing a tray with a bowl of some sinister soup. As soon as Ranma and Shampoo saw Akane returning with a second course, they were up on their feet, limping toward the door. Akane noticed them.

"Ranma, Shampoo, where are you going? Don't you want to try my miso?" They cringed at the sound of Akane's voice, but Ranma turned quickly and said,

"Oh no, Akane! We'd love to try your miso, but we just couldn't eat another bite, we're just so full from those shrimp you gave us earlier. So, bye!" Ranma shouted as he flung the door open and charged out of the house, Shampoo following him.

"They were clams!" Akane shouted after them, then turned to her one remaining "taster", who whimpered pitifully as Akane pulled a slightly dissolved spoon out of the bubbling broth and brought it to his lips.



Ranma wasn't quite sure where Shampoo was now, in his mad dash to get away from Akane's lethal food, he had managed to get himself separated from her at some point. But he stopped running when he felt something well up in his lungs, then doubled over on the ground, coughing up blood.

"I really shouldn't have done that." He whispered as he wiped his lips on his shirt sleeve. Just then, he heard the sound of fluttering cloth coming from behind him, and slightly above. He turned and looked up to the warrior from the night before, his sword in his right hand and a single chain hanging out of his left sleeve, the shining moon behind him a stark contrast to his dark form.

"Oh no." Ranma whispered. Slung over his right shoulder, lavender tresses shimmering in the moonlight, was Shampoo's still form. The only thing that showed of the warrior's face, was one eye, and his wickedly curved smile.



Author's Notes: Uh oh! Who is this shadowy figure?! (Well, you've probably already figured it out, but if that's the case, then here's a question for you, WHY is he doing it?) So, what did you think? Reviews are somewhat of a driving force for me, so every little bit helps, and I'll try and get the next one out of my system before my Writer's Block catches up to me.