(static, then an ABC Goodwill Games eyecatch)
(the eyecatch fades into a sunny, snow covered New York City street.  With a
little bit of effort one can confirm that it's in Manhattan)

Reporter:	We're here with Saotome Ranma, who's agreed to perform a feat
		of strength for us.

Ranma:		You are going to cover the fallout, right?

Reporter:	We'll cover any city fines, yes.

Ranma:		And any hassling that comes of you broadcasting this.

Reporter:	Yes.

Ranma:		OK.  Get the slow motion camera, at least 400:1, OK?

Reporter:	Here comes Jim with it now.

(camera shifts off of the reporter and Ranma, the way it does revealing it to
be a handheld)

Reporter:	Let's just let Jim get set up.

(a minute and a half of setting up a tripod and adjusting the camera follow)

Jim:		OK, it's ready.

Ranma(to Jim):	Video or film?

Jim:		Video.

Ranma:		Run a second or two, just to be sure.

Jim(slightly surly):
		Yes.

(the camera shifts back to Ranma)

Ranma:		I'm gonna be destroying city property here, don't want you to
		get too big of a fine.

Jim:		OK, that's clean.

Ranma:		focus on the parking meter, on three.

Jim:		Gotcha.

Ranma:		One.

(pause)

Ranma:		Two.

(pause)

Ranma:		Three.

(a loud, thudding CRACK! sounds, like a small artillery piece, followed
instantly by a faint shush of feet in snow, the echo of the first crack, and
then the faint rattle of coins in a metal container.

Ranma had turned into a black and red blur on three, and there is a small
cloud of disturbed snow falling around her feet, and a parking meter head in
her hands)

Reporter:	I can't believe it.  Or I can, because I just saw it, but I
		can't believe it.

(the reporter waves at the camera, and it shifts fully onto Ranma, while the
reporter presumeably regains her composure)

Ranma:		You didn't grow up around the crowd I did.  Most of the
		difficulty was breaking it off without damaging it.

Reporter:	Was the loud blam you hitting the parking meter?

Ranma:		No, if I'da hit the meter it woulda been crushed.  The blam
		was my foot going supersonic the moment before I hit the
		meter's pole.

Reporter:	Supersonic?  Nothing human could . . .

(Ranma shakes her head and interupts)

Ranma:		Anyone, with enough training and practice, can.  I've only
		been practicing for twenty years or so, and I'm still
		learning.

Reporter:	If you say so.

Ranma:		I do.  May I keep this?

(Ranma brandishes the parking meter head)

Reporter:	Sure.

(a quick cut to inside, a different reporter behind a desk speaking)

Reporter:	Well, we presented that footage uncut and un-edited because we
		can hardly believe it ourselves.  Following this short break,
		we'll be back with the slow motion footage, and several
		experts on the martial arts, all of whom assure me that what
		we just saw is completely impossible.

(eyecatch/splice/eyecatch)

(different room, with a round table, six fairly fit people in various
clothing, Saotome Kasumi, a couple of people with the look of doctors, and the
reporter from behind the desk)

Reporter:	Joining us right now are:

(gestures to the man beside him to the right)

Reporter:	James Smith of the New York Karate association.

(continues gesturing around the table, the camera following as each person is
introduced)

Reporter:	John Brown, a sensei at the Reliant Tae Kwan Do institute

(John makes a scowling face, but otherwise doesn't object to the mangling)

Reporter:	Janine Krowici, an instructor with the Manhattan Women's Self
		Defense Project.

(Janine smiles at the camera)

Reporter:	James Lee of Lee's Gung Foo

(James smiles, and waves a little)

Reporter:	Dr. Theodore Roberts

(Theodore, the darkest-skinned person at the table, nods gravely)

Reporter:	Dr. Marya LeFarge

(the slightly plump woman nods gravely)

Reporter:	Saotome Kasumi, a student of her wife's school.

(Kasumi smiles, and a thump and rattle of something or something falling is
heard from somewhere off camera)

Reporter:	Li Wen, and his grandson Li Sai-Yuk, the current state
		champion.

(the old man smiles slightly, the young one more broadly.)

Reporter:	We just watched the normal-speed footage.

(he turns from the camera to address the table)

Reporter:	Does anyone have any idea how this could have been
		accomplished, or any other preliminary comments?

(Kasumi smiles, settling back a little bit in her chair)

Smith:		It is completely impossible.  No one can move that fast.

(Li Wen smiles, a faintly pitying look on his face)

Li Wen:		It is entirely possible.  I've only seen it once in my hundred
		and ten years as a martial artist, but it is quite possible.

Li Sai-Yuk:	You're not going to dig out the story about the old woman who
		saved you from a mugging in Shanghai again, are you, old man?

Li Wen:		Yes, I am.  When I was a young man, before the Boxer Rebellion
		in China, I was in Shanghai.  I was a bit of a ne'er do well,
		living day to day doing odd jobs for people of dubious
		reputation.

		One day, in early fall, I had a little bit more than usual,
		and I, in the way of a young man, flashed it around, hoping to
		attract the attention of the young women.  I primarily
		attracted the attention of a small gang of thugs, who cornered
		me in an alley.

		Being young, I had much more bravado than sense, so I refused
		to hand over my little bit of cash.

		Three of them pulled out guns, two revolvers and a single-shot
		pistol.  The guy with the single-shot fired, and I threw
		myself on the ground and waited to die.

		From the entrance to the alley an old woman yelled at them,
		
		"You need guns to cope with a single unarmed non Martial
		Artist?" she taunted, and I looked up into the most astounding
		sight I've ever seen, a woman, not quite three feet tall,
		perched upon a small stick.

		The two with revolvers started firing, all twelve shots in
		half as many seconds.  One of them wasn't a very good shot,
		the bullets hitting the walls far from the woman, but the
		other was different.  Her hand fluttered in front of her
		chest, as transparent as a hummingbird's wing as she ran
		forward, and I could see the bullets fall to the ground, but
		she never waivered.

		By the time I had blinked again all of the thugs were on the
		ground, and and she was offering me a hand up.

		She refused any thanks, saying that it was a martial artist's
		duty.

		When I insisted she said that I could learn the Art, as best I
		could, and pass it on.

		I never reached the level of perfection I saw that day, a
		hundred and ten years ago, but I have done my best, and hope
		I have attained a level she would be proud of.

Kasumi:		I think Obaba would be proud.  You are quite skilled for one
		who began learning so old.

		Ranma is unwilling to admit to any limits, but by the time one
		has entered school most people have accepted that they exist.
		Until that can be forgotten one cannot reach the pinnacles of
		the Art.

Dr. LeFarge:	How can anyone human take that kind of abuse?  Is she some
		kind of mutant?

Kasumi:		We all were tested before the Japanese Olympic committe put us
		on the team.  All four of us are normal humans.

		One can, after a certain amount of study, learn to manipulate
		one's life force for attack, defence, reinforcement, and rapid
		healing.

		Here,

(Kasumi pulls a small knife out of nowhere, and draws the edge across the ball
of her left thumb.  There is a quick upwelling of blood, which fades to
nothing before even Dr. LeFarge can get her hands on Kasumi's.  Dr. LeFarge
glances about quickly, and Kasumi hands her a clean white handkerchief.

Dr. LeFarge dabs gently at the wound, looking for the cut, and Dr. Roberts
kneels down beside them.)

		I'm just a beginner, but you will notice that the wound is
		already mostly healed, only the cut through the epidermis
		remaining.

		Even for a skilled martial artist like Ranma hard tissue
		damage can take days to heal, however.

Dr. Roberts:	This is utterly impossible.  There is no evidence that this is
		a hoax, but it's impossible.

Janine:		How long have you been studying?

Kasumi:		I studied a little bit when I was a girl, but I gave up the
		Art for a while after my mother died.  I didn't take up my
		studies again until I fell in love with my wives, about five
		years ago.

Janine:		You only participate in the Ice Dance competitions, unlike
		your wives.  I've wondered why ever since I first saw you
		perform.

Kasumi:		I consider myself a non-violent person, and any figure
		practice that either of my wives participate in has a better
		than even chance of turning into a full-blown fight.

		When we're doing ice dance we only have random attacks about
		one practice in seven.

Janine:		Does your school have any students who could share your Art
		with my students?

Kasumi:		We have a few students, but none of them are competent to
		teach yet.

		If one can ignore his eccentricities Grandfather Happosai is a
		competent teacher.

Janine:		What sort of eccentricity?

Kasumi:		He likes to fondle people, and steal women's underwear.  I
		think he enjoys the attention it gets him.  Other than that
		he's pretty nice, with a soft spot a mile wide for the weak
		and disadvantaged.

Janine:		Some of my students have, problems, that . . .

Kasumi:		I've never known him to actually harm anyone.

Reporter:	Well, that's about all of our time.  We will have our slow
		motion footage right after this break.

(eyecatch/static)

---
log:
2000/spring:	plotted
2000/Sept/21:	written