Author's notes:

A GRIT inspired fanfic describing how Vince and Amy came to be. That's all. Definitely not a reflection of my own childhood (sorry to disappoint you, Wing :P ).

And yes, I'm aware that there's a Ranma 1/2 fanfic out there called "Two Sides of the Coin" by Benares, I believe. This fanfic of mine is not related except for the similarity of the title.

I'd also like to say that this is the first piece of fiction that I've written in several years, so please bear with me if my writing isn't that good. With that said, comments, flames, criticisms, and praise are highly welcome. Well, as long as the flames and criticisms are well thought out and constructed ^_^

The usual disclaimers apply: Ranma and co. are Rumiko Takahashi's creation while the GRIT is Jason Heavensrun's little baby :) and so on.

Two Sides of a Coin: The Story of Vince and Amy

by Vince Tagle <vtagle@uci.edu>

"Take that, ya' whimp!"

"Ow! Stop it!"

"Shut up, four-eyes!"

"Ow! Come on, Greg, stop hurting me!"

The bully continued to beat up the hapless child while onlookers cheered the him on.

"This'll teach you to stay out of my way!", yelled Greg as he planted a particularly nasty kick to his victim's rib cage.

"Stop!"

At the command, Greg spun around to see the source of the interruption. A female his age stood before him, her features contorted in unmasked anger. "Hm... must be that new girl", Greg mused. "Whaddaya want? Can't you see I'm busy here?", he shouted at the girl, giving his victim a quick blow to the stomach, knocking him down again as he was getting up. "I want you to stop beating up on that boy," replied the girl as she walked up to Greg. Greg laughed, "And what're you gonna do about it if I don't?" His answer came in the form of a hard blow to his jaw.

Momentarily stunned ("I can't believe I just got hit by a girl!"), Greg was unprepared for the series of blows that followed the initial one to his jaw. The girl continued to pummel him until he finally collapsed to the ground, dizzy from the pain. The girl, admiring her handiwork, finished it off with a swift kick to Greg's side. The other first graders just stood there in awe - the biggest boy in the first grade was just beaten up by a girl!

"Are you alright?", asked the girl as she helped the boy that Greg was beating up on to his feet. "Yeah, I'm fine", answered the boy. "My name's Amy. What's yours?", she asked the him. "I'm Vince. Um... thanks for saving me back there.", he replied sheepishly.

At that point, the two children knew that the two of them would be friends for forever.

==========

"Such a tragedy for a child to die at such a young age."

"She was only nine, wasn't she?"

"I heard that she was killed in an auto accident. A car veered out of control and hit her, injuring her fatally."

"Oh my! Did they catch the driver?"

"Unfortunately, it was a hit and run. The driver sped off before anyone could get the license plate."

"How sad..."

"I hear that that boy over there was her best friend."

"Oh, how is he taking it?"

Vince sat rigidly in his seat, watching as the priest performed his ritual before burying his best friend. "Why did you die, Amy? Why? Why?!? Why did you leave me?!?", ran through his head. Death was a relatively new concept for the boy, made even more difficult by the death of his best friend. After the final shovel of dirt was placed, he filed into line to pay his respects.

==========

As the fist sped towards his midsection, Vince sidestepped the attack and calmly reached out and grabbed his opponent's wrist. Spinning himself around so that he and his opponent were facing the same direction, he took a step back while twisting his opponent's wrist back towards him, sending his opponent to the mat with a loud slapping sound.

"Very good, Vince," an old man wearing a white gi and a black hakama (*) congratulated. "Thank you, sensei", Vince replied as he helped his sparring partner back up. "You okay there, Dan?", he asked. Dan grimaced, "Yeah, I'm fine. Damn you're good." Vince just smiled, "Well, I should be, I've been practicing Aikido for... hm... five years now. Started when I was eleven years old." "Well, I must say that you've progressed much in those years", his sensei commented, "Pretty soon, you'll be ready to test to receive a black belt." "Hai! Arigato, sensei," Vince answered, beaming with pride. The sensei went on, "But for now, I want to introduce you to something that might interest you..." "Oh?", Vince wondered out loud. "A former student of mine will be teaching iaido here and..." (*) A hakama is a really baggy pair of pants that looks like a skirt or coulatts (sp?). In my experience, they are worn by kendo and iaido practitioners, aikido instructors, and Kuno (at least, that's what I assume he's wearing).

==========

"Great, Vince! Just great!", Vince berated himself as he wandered around in a forest. "You don't speak a word of Chinese, you forgot to take your 'Chinese phrases for American Travelers' with you, and to top it all off, you're lost in some forest! What else could go wrong!?! Gr... lovely idea it was to leave the tour and explore the country side on our own.", as he continued to rant about his stupidity.

"Hm... well, that's a nice change of scenery," he commented as he came to a clearing which ended in a cliff. Peering over the edge of it, he was greeted by the sight of hundreds of pools with long poles sticking out of each of them. "What is this place?", Vince wondered. "Oh! A hut! And someone's home!", he exclaimed. "Maybe he understands English", Vince considered, as he started to get up, "and maybe he has a ph-SHIT!!!" Without warning, the edge of the cliff that he was crouching on collapsed and sent him tumbling down the cliff.

"i'm gonna die i'm gonna die i'm gonna die SHIT!!!" ran through Vince's head as he plummeted to his apparent death down the cliff face. As he fell down the cliff, he bounced off of a small protruding ledge, slowing his descent and sending him towards a pool of water. Vince, of course, took no notice of this as he was still preoccupied with meeting the ground at a not so safe speed.

With a loud splash, Vince fell into one of the many pools he had seen before falling off the cliff face. "Where am I?", he pondered as he floated slowly back up to the surface of the pool, "Is this the afterlife? I always imagined it as a tunnel of bright light..." He continued floating upwards slowly. "If this is the afterlife, why do I feel like I'm drowning..." he considered, "Shit! I am drowning!" With that thought, Vince swam upward and broke through the surface of the pool, leaning on a bamboo pole, that was stuck in the water, for support. "Interesting place for a bamboo pole," he mused, as a middle-aged man wearing pants, a long sleeve shirt, and a cap, all colored a greenish brown, walked up to the pool Vince was in.

"<Oh, honorable sir, you fall into spring of drowned girl. Very tragic story of young girl who drowned in spring 1500 years ago.>" (trans. from Chinese)

"Um... excuse me... Do you happen to speak English?"

This drew a blank stare from the man. Vince was also confused, "Why does my voice sound different?"

The stranger helped Vince out of the pool. "Um... thanks.", he replied sheepishly as he thought to himself, "Why does my body feel different?" Glancing downward, he noticed round protrusions coming out of his chest. "I have... breasts?" Feeling his sanity slipping away, Vince quickly checked the rest of his body. "I'm... female?" were his last thoughts as he slipped into a coma.

==========

"Un... Where am I? Hello? Anybody around here?"

A man wearing a lab coat and a stethoscope walked into the room carrying a clipboard, "Ah... I'm glad to see you're awake Vince. I'm Dr. Nezake, and you're in the Tokyo Center Hospital in Japan."

"I'm in... Japan?"

"Yes, you were in a coma for a week."

"Ugh... last thing I remember was meeting some stranger in a valley full of small pools of water."

"Ah yes, he brought you to the nearest town which arranged for transport to Japan to treat your condition. He also left you a note." The doctor pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Vince. "It's in Chinese," Vince pointed out, "and I can't bloody damn well read Chinese!" "Woah, calm down Vince, I know you've been throu-urk!" The doctor's words were cut off as Vince grabbed his necktie and pulled it close "And another thing, my good doctor, my name is Amy. Got that? I'm a girl, okay?"

Dr. Nezake, looking over his patient who, physically, was obviously female and looking ready to gouge his eyes out, agreed nervously. "Good," Amy replied after letting go of the doctor's necktie. "Um... your parents have been notified and arrangements are being made to send you back the the United States in a few days. In the meantime, I'll get this note translated for you." "Thank you, doctor. I really appreciate it", Amy said as she laid back down. "Now, get some rest. You'll be fine in no time," Dr. Nezake ordered as he left the room.

=====

"Hello, Amy. I see you're in a better mood today."

"Mm."

"Well, good news. One, you've fully recovered so you'll be leaving for home in a few days."

"That's good."

"Secondly, I got that note translated for you. Something about cursed springs and tragic stories."

"Mmm. Thanks, doc. Um... can you get me some tea. I got a headache right now and need something to relax me," requested Amy. "Sure, Amy," Dr. Nezake answered. Going over to the door, the doctor called a nurse over, "Nurse, can you bring over a cup of tea for my patient here." The nurse acknowledge Dr. Nezake's request and left. Turning his attention back to Amy, Dr. Nezake informed her, "Once your parents fax back your release forms, we'll be sending you back home. In the meantime, I have some other business to take care of so I'll be leaving you now." As he turned to leave, Dr. Nezake accidentally bumped into the nurse who was bringing Amy's cup of tea. Unfortunately for Amy, the cup of tea flew out of the nurse's hand and spilled all over her.

"Ow! That's hot!!", Amy shouted. Dr. Nezake and the nurse could only stare agape in confusion. "What?", demanded Amy. Dr. Nezake just pointed and stared some more while the nurse fainted. Amy looked down at herself. "Why the bloody hell do I look like a guy now...?", she thought as her mind shut itself down from the strain of having to deal with becoming male.

=====

"Oh... where am I? Hello? Can anybody hear me?"

"Hello, Amy. Good to see you've recovered from your shock from a few days ago," said Dr. Nezake as he walked into the room, "Anyway, we had to cancel your flight home since you had slipped into a coma again and because of um... other incidents."

"Ah, I see. Um... Dr... Nezake...," said Amy. "Yes, Amy," asked Dr. Nezake, "something bothering you?" Amy replied, "Um... yeah... why do you keep on calling me Amy? My name's Vince."

This time, it was the doctor's turn to faint.

=====

"Hello, Vince," greeted Dr. Nezake as he walked in, "And how're you doing today?"

"Heh, shouldn't I be asking you that, doctor?", Vince replied.

"Hm... well, yes, anyway, I brought in an old friend of mine who's had some experience with your um... condition," Dr. Nezake said as he ushered in a young man with a pony tail and glasses. "Hi, I'm Dr. Tofu," greeted the young man. "Um... hello, Dr. Tofu," Vince answered.

"So, Isamu, this is the young man who changes gender?" Dr. Tofu asked, indicating Vince. "Yes, it is," Dr. Nezake affirmed, "A rather disturbing phenomenon too, I might add." "Vince, can you stand over here. Isamu, can you get me a glass of hot water and a glass of cold water?" requested Dr. Tofu. "Nurse! Can you bring over a glass of hot water and a glass of cold water over here?" Dr. Nezake ordered from the door. A few minutes later, a nurse walked in carrying the requested items. "Thank you, nurse," Dr. Tofu said as he took the glasses. He then splashed Vince with the cold water, who suddenly transformed as the water hit him. In his place stood a drenched and very pissed off young female. Dr. Nezake just stood there, surprised by the sudden transformation while Dr. Tofu nodded thoughtfully. "Was that really necessary, Doctor?" the soaked female demanded. Dr. Tofu ignored her question as he poured the glass of hot water on the girl. "Ow! Hot!" In the girl's place stood Vince. Dr. Tofu just nodded thoughtfully again. "Just as I thought. You have a Jusenkyo curse. Specifically, you must've fallen into the Nyaniichuan." Vince looked incredulous, "The 'Nyaniichuan'? What exactly is it? For that matter, what the bloody hell is 'Jusenkyo'?" "Well," began Dr. Tofu, "Jusenkyo is a training ground that houses a multitude of cursed pools. Each pool has a tragic story attached to it where something or someone drowned in it. The curse is that if you fall into one of the pools, everytime you get splashed with cold water, you take on the form of whatever drowned in the pool. Hot water will reverse the change. Nyaniichuan is the pool where a young girl drowned." "Oh my," was all Vince could say. Dr. Nezake just stood there, trying to comprehend what he just heard.

After a long pause, Vince spoke up. "Um... Dr. Tofu, how do you explain the shift in personality?" Dr. Tofu considered the question for a moment before answering, "Well, the only explanation I can offer is that you've manifested a multiple personality disorder to deal with your curse. There's more to it than that of course, usually a traumatic event from childhood or repressed feelings and emotions is the underlying cause of a multiple personality. I guess the shock of changing into a girl was enough to trigger the disorder." Vince thought about this, "So everytime I get splashed with cold water, I turn into a girl, both mentally and physically, and hot water reverses it." "Yes, that's the gist of it," Dr. Tofu agreed. "Oh lovely! This is a fine turn my life has taken. I'm a walking freak show now!" exclaimed Vince, throwing his hands up in disgust. Dr. Tofu smiled, "Actually, Vince, I'd like to take you back to Nerima with me. I think the environment there will help you adjust to your new life." ==========

"Damn and bloody hell! Can't a body get any sleep around here? This is a medical clinic, for crying out loud!" Vince thought to himself as the sounds of an argument from the next room woke him up from his nap. As he got up to tell the occupants of the adjoining room to keep it down, he heard one of the voices yell "GOIUNROUGA SAKEBI SEN!" followed by an explosion. "Shit!" shouted Vince as he ran into the room. The sight of a young man wearing silver arm bands standing in front of what should've been a wall in Dr. Tofu's clinic greeted him. The young man stepped out into the alley behind the clinic, "How did you like my newest technique, you assho...huh?" A brown haired girl suddenly appeared, swinging a giant spatula at the young man. The force of the blow sent him flying down the alley into someone else. "A giant spatula...?" Vince thought as he stared at the scene before him, flabbergasted.

"Welp, might as well see what's going on outside," Vince mused from his observation point inside the clinic. "From a safe distance away of course," he amended as he walked out to the front door and around to the alley, where a large crowd was beginning to form ("Probably attracted by that explosion") The crowd began to become hostile to a figure that looked vaguely like Fabio with glasses, shouting about things such as honor and how cowardly it was to attack someone that was helpless. The Fabio-like figure, who Vince deduced was named "P-word" from what people in the crowd were ranting, looked apologetic. Then a very evil looking demon appeared and appeared to be having an argument with "P-word". "I can't believe Dr. Tofu said that this place would help me adjust to my new life. More like help me become crazier!" Vince decided as he watched what appeared to be twins imprison the demon in a glass ball.

Even more interesting to Vince was when one of the members of the crowd and "P-word" stuffed another pair of twins wielding giant spatulas into what appeared to be a huge drink mixer. Vince just stared in confusion, "What the _hell_ are they doing over there?" A number of the crowd members shook the canister around, dumping out one of the girls who was in there. She didn't look too happy, especially at the one who had brought out the canister in the first place, and demonstrated this by pummeling him into the ground. "Oh! That's gonna hurt in the morning" Vince commented as the poor soul passed out. A young man wearing a pair of jeans and a faded jean jacket, heard him and remarked, "I would think it hurts now!" Then another man with a really bad haircut noticed Vince and introduced himself "Hey, a new guy. Hi, I'm Steve..." The End. ========== Post-fanfic notes:

Well, I had to fudge my inital appearance into the GRIT a bit to make the story work. So sue me :P

Once again, feedback is nice so feel free (in fact, I encourage you) to e-mail me. And hey, maybe we'll see some more GRIT side stories. -- Vince Tagle - vtagle@uci.edu aka Amy Malarkey of the Malarkey clan GRIT Protector of Dana Sculley's mental and physical well-being