Wild Boot
by Rarstarr

Reboot and Ranma 1/2 are the property of Mainframe Entertainment and Rumiko
Takahashi respectively and used here (respectfully) without permission.

I'd like to thank my prereaders: Jin, David Johnston and Shane Burton. Also
thank you to all the people who have sent me C&C, especially the Synopsis
list reviewers. 

Comments, Criticism and MSTs welcomed.

Author Note: The numbering of parts has been altered to use Mainframe's
Season 3 numbering system. Each part is given a number similar to a program
version code. The order is Season dot story dot part. Thus the first part
is v 1.1, a two part story has parts v 1.6.1 and v 1.6.2.

-----

RyoGA: I lived in the games. 
	My format: AI, 
	Designed to play and defeat the user. 
	My life was nothing ,
	Until I met the Mainframers. 
	Now I join the fight ,
	For the our lives and freedom.


v 1.5: Okonomiyaki on the Brain


	Silicon Tor was one of the most feared places in Mainframe. Oh, Lost
Angles was indeed a place to fear, but it seemed distant. The Tor, rising
above the surrounding sectors like a snake, was the home of Mainframe's
tyrant in the making, the virus Kuno. It was from here that schemes to take
over Mainframe were launched, not purely for conquest's sake, but to win
the heart of Mainframe's Defender, Akane and, more recently, his pig-tailed
goddess.

	Who said evil geniuses had to be smart?

	Wihtin the confines of the Tor construction teams were hard at work
refitting an Armoured Binome Carrier for a very special job. As Kuno
watched the workers started pulling away.

	A dark blue binome at his side turned as a vid window closed. 
"My lord, the crews report that the vehicle is complete," he reported.

	"Good," Kuno smiled wickedly. "Now all we need is the pilot."

	A pair of footfalls on the platform behind them announced a new arrival.
"That would be me, honey," a strong female voice declared.

	Kuno slowly turned. With one hand on her hip the intruder calmly regarded
the virus. She wore a white top that hugged her lilac skin and trousers
that hugged her form. Flame red hair topped her head, glowing with a light
of its own. A bandoleer hung loosely over her shoulder, filled with small
spatulas. A larger spatula was strapped across her back.

	Kuno's eyes half closed and his lips curled into a smug smile. "Ah, Ukyo
my dear, it is a joy to be in your presence, but I must inquire, how did
you manage to gain entrance to my fortress?" 

	Ukyo buffed her fingernails and returned the smile, revealing 
fangs. "Ah, but a good hacker never reveals her secrets, darlin'." She
saunter over to the railings and lent over to stare at the ABC. "She looks
like a good ship." She spun around to find Kuno towering over her. "When do
I leave?"

	"All in due time, Ukyo. All in due time," the virus assured her. "You
should know that the compression command is old and the field is unstable,
it could fail at any stage."

	Ukyo strolled across to inspect some equipment. "Well, that's what you pay
me the big bytes for, isn't it honey?" She gave up looking at the monitors.
"Let's get on with, time isf profit and all that MOD."

	"Ah, a sprite after my own heart."

	"I don't want ya heart, sugah, just your data."

*****

	Nabiki absently hummed along to the music as the elevator doors opened.
Things at the docks had gone well. "The Saucy Mare," the ship Ranma and
Shampoo had rescued from the software pirates, was under new ownership and
repairs were already underway. The new crew, seeking adventure on the net,
had readily agreed to go into partnership with her in a shipping firm,
helping move data around the systems. It was going to be a profitable venture.

	Mainframe's Indexer stepped from the elevator at the same moment Ranma
crashed through his door. She stared in shock as the Guardian got to his
feet. "That was a real low density blow, you random game sprite!" he
yelled, then charged back into the room.

	Nabiki sighed. Just once she'd like to be able to have a meeting with
Ranma and not have it interrupted.

	"Ranma Saotome, this is all your fault, PREPARE TO DIE!" a voice screamed
from inside.

	Nabiki's eyes opened wide and if she'd been a more comical sprite, her jaw
would have dropped. She recognised that voice, but that was impossible. In
a flash she was at Ranma's door, where she saw Ranma trading punches with
another sprite they'd all thought lost. "RyoGA?!"

	The two fighters stopped, and turned to look at the door.

	"Oh, hi Nabiki, look who showed up," Ranma said, sitting atop RyoGA, his
fist pulled back ready to slug the game sprite.

	"B-but, how? You said he was deleted in the game," Nabiki looked from one
to the other.

	Ranma smiled. "He's got me to thank for that."

	"AND EVERYTHING ELSE!" RyoGA yelled, throwing Ranma off. The Guardian
flipped once and landed on his feet halfway across the room.

	"Backspace. What are you two talking about?"

	"Well after RyoGA quit filed I picked up his sword. At the time I didn't
realise it, but after the game I still had it. I must of dropped it when
Akane sent me on that trip, and somehow," Ranma glared at RyoGA, who sidled
uncomfortably, "the code in the sword reformed into RyoGA here. I'm
guessing the sword was linked to my code somehow, probably a function of my
corruption."

	Nabiki crossed her arms and tapped a finger on her chin thoughtfully.
"Hmm, that would suggest that at least some of his code comes from you."
She looked at RyoGA. "So do you turn into a girl too?"

	RyoGA glanced around nervously. "Ah, no..."

	Nabiki eyes narrowed. "Ranma, where's Akane's dog? She asked me to get him
while I was here."

	RyoGA was becoming positively wild eyed.

	He was saved, in a fashion, by Ranma. "Nabiki, it wasn't his fault, he
didn't know he could change back."

	Nabiki walked over to the game sprite. "Okay, I'll let it slide." She
poked him in the chest. "Just don't try anything mister."

	RyoGA nodded. Nabiki was a smaller sprite than RyoGA but still found
himself intimidated by her.

	"Warning: Incoming Game!" The female computer voice announced.

	"Not now!" Ranma cried, dashing out the door.

*****

	Ukyo sat in the pilot's seat of the ABC, running through a systems check.
Satisfied that all systems were green she turned to look into the back.
"Ready back there sugahs?"

	Sasuke and Gosunkugi turned to face her and saluted.

	"Ready and able!" Gosunkugi announced.

	"Yep, very able!" Sasuke added.

	Gosunkugi turned to his partner. "I just said that!"

	Sasuke pushed him. "So?!"

	Ukyo sighed and turned away. "Dumb bots." She reached out and touched a
control, calling up a window.

	"Ah, Ukyo. Do I dare hope you are prepared to depart?" The virus smiled.

	"Sure am Kuno baby. Did you add the anti-static shielding I asked for?"
Ukyo leaned back in her chair, and put her feet up on the console. 

	"Of course, although you should know it was unnecessary."

	"Humour me honey." She reached forward and touched a couple of keys. "Okay
Kuno baby, lets do it."

	Kuno looked up from the window as it closed. "Kuno baby?" he asked
himself. "Activate the command!" he ordered the viral binomes around him.

	The viral binomes jumped into action, throwing switches and checking
gauges. Energy crackled across a dish pointing at the ABC, collecting into
a large glowing ball at the point of the dish. Suddenly the sphere
discharged into the ABC, which bulged for a moment, than shrunk to the size
of a few pixels.

	A window popped up next to Kuno. "Kuno baby, you're a real shrinker," Ukyo
joked from the window.

	"Surely," Kuno deadpanned. "What is your condition?" he inquired.

	Ukyo glanced behind her. "Other than one of your henchbots wanting his
mother, we're fine honey." In the background Sasuke could be heard wailing.

	"Good, we'll proceed to stage two."

	A pair of binomes moved forward, one holding a strange pair of 
tweezers, the other holding a small vial full of liquid. The tweezers
closed gently around the miniature ABC and lifted it from the ground.
Slowly and carefully the binome lowered the vehicle into the vial, then
released it.

	"We have splash down!" Ukyo announced. "See ya from the inside Kuno baby!"
Her window vanished.

	Kuno took the vial, then opened another vid window. A dark blue zero
binome wearing glasses and a false nose stared out at the virus. He glanced
to either side, then whispered, "The dragon has flipped backwards and the
library has no books."

	Kuno blinked lazily. "Pardon?"

	The binome shifted uneasily. "Ah, the dragon has--"

	"Enough of your double talk, report!" Kuno roared.

	The binome jumped. "The Guardian has just left the game and met up with
the Indexer and another sprite. They're heading for Al's Diner."

	"Excellent." A smaller window opened beneath the vid window and Kuno
pushed the vial through. "Take this, you know what to do."

*****

	Ranma pushed open the diner door, RyoGA and Nabiki immediately entering
behind him. The patrons of the diner all glanced up, then looked back to
their meals.

	"I don't see why you stopped me!" RyoGA announced.

	Nabiki turned her eyes to the heavens. "You're still a game sprite, if
you're in a game, you'll leave with it."

	"I managed to get out before," he argued.

	"By accident. I doubt we can rely on it happening again," Nabiki pointed
out. "I'm afraid you'll have to stay out of games until we find some way of
reformatting you."

	Ranma, ignoring the pair behind him, looked at Al's waiter. "Give me a
Quantum shake and add some chocolate quarks!"

	"Right..." the waiter replied and opened his mouth.

	"Gimme a nano!" a voice cried from the kitchen. Moments later a Quantum
shake flew out of the kitchen to land on the bench.

	"Wow... Al's... running... fast... today..." Al's waiter observed slowly.

	Ranma shrugged, picked up the shake and walked over to the both Nabiki and
RyoGA had claimed.

	"Did he have to shot me though?!" RyoGA demanded.

	"Sorry, it was the only way I could stop you on such short notice." Ranma
shrugged. "It was just a force bolt."

	"It turned me into a DOG!" RyoGA's exclamation brought stares from some of
the other patrons.

	"Sorry about that." Ranma brought the Quantum shake's straw to his lips.

	"What is that?" RyoGA asked.

	Ranma held the shake away from him and studied it. "A Quantum shake. Here,
have a try."

	RyoGA took the shake and sipped it.

*****

	Inside Al's kitchen the viral binome hopped down off the stool. He rubbed
his hands gleefully and turned to his two comrades guarding the bound cook.

	"There, the package has been delivered, lets go report to Lord Kuno."

*****

	The ABC shook violently as it entered the sprite's system. Ukyo grabbed
the controls, levelling it out. She touched a button, bringing up a map on
the display. A second touch brought up a vid window.

	"I'm in K-chan," Ukyo reported. "Heading for the cerebral interface now."

	"Excellent. Report to me when you arrive," Kuno directed.

	"Ya mean like I just did," Ukyo replied, looking out the ABC's window.
Outside was the glowing blue cyberscape of the sprites mind. Flashes of
light shot along pathways and the neural network glistened with power.
"Dropping interface, NOW!" Ukyo jabbed a large red button on the console.
There was a clunk and the ABC shuddered as the interface module fell away.
"Okay, I'm setting her down."

	The ABC landed, the rear ramp falling open. Time passed.

	"GET OUT THERE YOU DOLTS!" Ukyo and Kuno yelled.

	Sasuke and Gosunkugi glided down the ramp.

	"They didn't have to yell," Gosunkugi commented.

	"Yeah, we'd have done it," Sasuke added.

	The pair of robots rolled over to the large case that housed the neural
interface device. They looked at each grabbed an end and pulled it. After a
few nanoseconds they realised that they were pulling in opposite directions
and started pushing. They glared at each other, then managed to agree on a
direction. They weaved all over the brainscape before dumping the case down.

	"It's set!" Sasuke cried.

	"Yep, all in place!" Gosunkugi yelled.

	Sasuke reached up and cuffed the bigger robot. "I just told 
them that."

	"So did I," Gosunkugi replied.

	Inside the ABC Ukyo looked at Kuno in the window. "Honey, where did you
get them? 'Cause I suggest you take them back."

	Kuno frowned. "I can't, it was a going out of business sale."

	"I can't imagine why." Ukyo leaned forward to hunch over her keyboard.
Outside the side of the case opened and large cables squirmed their way out
to attach to the ground around them. Lights pulse through the cables.
Inside the ABC the screens before Ukyo lit up showing the form of a sprite
and a wiring diagram of his nervous system.

	"Okay, the device just has to calibrate itself, then we're in."
	
*****

	"...then we had to use the anvil of despair..." Ranma trailed off when he
noticed RyoGA suddenly sit  bolt upright. "Hey, are you alright?"

	"I can't move," RyoGA gasped, then to prove himself wrong, somersaulted
onto the table. Ranma, Nabiki and the other diners watched as RyoGA first
spun like a top, then half flipped off the table and onto his head. Upside
down he waved and flopped his arms all over the place before shooting up
and crashing into a light socket.

	The diner's lights flickered as RyoGA sparked, then Frisket fell to the
floor. The dog raised his head wearily looked at Ranma as if to say "what
have you done to me now?" then collapsed.

	Nabiki looked at Ranma. "That was unusual."

	"Compared to what?"

*****

	In the ABC lights flashed and sirens blared. Ukyo turned in anger to the
two robots. "Knock off that racket would you!" she snapped.

	Sasuke and Gosunkugi put away their flashing lights and toy sirens. They
two robots then slunk off into a corner.

	"What is going on Ukyo?" Kuno asked from the window.

	"We got hit by some kind of energy surge, and now your hardware is saying
we're in a dog!" She continued tapping hurriedly on the keyboard. The
displays about her blinked, but continued to show the schematic of a dog.
"Well sugah, either we've skipped sprites without noticing, or this sprite
just morphed into a dog."

	Kuno tapped his fingers together thoughtfully. "Hmm, strange. Continue
with your hacking, we may find that the Guardian has some very unusual
secrets."

	"Right," Ukyo agreed. "I'm accessing memory functions now."

	On the display in front of her the brain started flashing. "Two plus two
equals three." A young voice declared, followed immediately by a harsh
sounding buzzer.

	"Something does not add up here," Kuno commented.

*****

	"Woof, woof, grrr, arf, woof," muttered Frisket.

	"Sounds like... he's trying... to talk," Ranma commented from underneath
the dog, his voice coming in gasps.

	Nabiki stopped and looked at dog. "Nope, he's still out. Come on, the
diagnosis bay is just ahead."

	"That's easy... for you to say..., you didn't... just carry him..., all
the way from Al's... to the Principal Office," Ranma returned.

	Nabiki strode on, followed by Ranma carrying Frisket. Nabiki stopped at a
door and touched a panel. With a hiss the door opened, giving the trio
access to the Principal Office's Diagnosis bay.

	The Diagnosis bay was a high tech room where Mainframe's chief diagnostic
tool worked. A large table sat in the middle, onto which Ranma dropped the
unconscious dog. The walls of the room were covered with monitors and fancy
light panels. It looked like something out of a science fiction game.

	"Where's the doctor?" Ranma inquired, noticing a distinct lack of that
resource.

	Nabiki smiled. "We used to have a Doctor Watson, but he left with a sprite
called Holmes to start a search engine. Thankfully we had a backup." She
looked up at the roof. "Computer, activate Emergency Diagnostic Hologram."

	A young man, wearing a black full gi and a pair of glasses materialised in
the centre of the room. He was strange because his skin was a strange
peachy colour and his short black hair seemed to be made up of lots of
strands. "Please state the nature of your diagnostic emergency," the
hologram announced in a calm voice. He then turned to smile at the two
sprites. "Ah Nabiki, good to see you again. Who is the patient?"

	"Hi Doctor Tofu, ah, this dog is the patient." Nabiki waved her hand at
Frisket.

	Doctor Tofu walked over to the unconscious animal and started examining
it. "What are the symptoms observed?"

	"He reported being unable to move, then proceeded to break dance across
the room until he hit a light socket," Ranma replied.

	Tofu stood considering this for a nanosecond. "He reported?"

	"He was humanoid at the time. He has a corruption that causes him to
transform when hit by random energy," Nabiki explained.

	"Could this corruption be responsible for his behaviour?" Tofu asked.

	"Nope," Ranma answered. "Pop and I never did that before, be useful at
parties though."

	Tofu turned to regard Ranma. "You have a similar corruption?" Ranma
nodded. Returning to his patient the doctor pulled out a scope and poked it
into the dog's ear.

*****

	Inside Frisket's head a long tube shot out the darkness. An eye within the
tube blinked a couple of times, then looked left, then right, then finally
focused on the ABC and the pair of robots standing outside of it.

	Sasuke pointed up at the eye. "Hey, that's an invasion of our privacy!" he
complained.

	"Yeah, he shouldn't do that!" Gosunkugi chimed in.

	"No, he shouldn't," Sasuke added.

	"I just said that."

*****

	"He appears to need to get some things off his mind," the doctor stated.
"Namely those two robots and the vehicle."

	Ranma and Nabiki shared a glance. "Are you saying that Sasuke and
Gosunkugi have invaded RyoGA's mind?" the later asked.

	"It appears so," Tofu admitted.

	"Then someone will have to go in and get them out!" Nabiki declared.

	As if on cue the doors to the Diagnosis Bay hissed open and Akane stepped
in. "FRISKET!" She charged forward, throwing her arms around the dog's
neck. "What's Ranma done to you?!"

	"Hey, I didn't do anything," Ranma returned. "Kuno's two henchbots
attempted to invade my mind through a spiked Quantum shake, only I gave it
him, so they invaded him by accident. Now we have to go in, get them out
and save the day."

	The diag-bay doors hissed open and Akane and Nabiki stared in horror as
the greatest danger to grace the Principal Office's diagnostic bay swept
into the room.

	"Kasumi!" Tofu cried happily. Taking a hold of Frisket's legs.

	CRACK!

	Ranma winced. "Ouch, that must hurt."

	CRICK!

	"I didn't think dogs' spines did that," Akane commented.

	CREEK!

	"I hope there are no children watching," Nabiki added.

	"Oh Doctor Tofu, you're so funny," Kasumi giggled.

*****

	Ukyo stared in horror at the screen. "I thought they liked this guy," she
commented, shaking her head. She turned to the vid window floating beside
her. "Kuno honey, I can't find the codes to the supercomputer anywhere. I
don't think we're in the Guardian."

	"By all that is corrupt, how could you have made such an error?!" the
virus snapped.

	Ukyo leant back and held her hands apart in helplessness. "Hey, its not my
fault. I'd blame those spies of yours if I was you sugah."

*****

	Ranma looked around the armoury. There was a collection of bombs, guns and
missiles. It wasn't the most impressive display he'd ever seen, the
Supercomputer's armoury classified for that. 

	He turned to Kasumi, a worried expression on his face. "This lot isn't
much use. If we fire it inside Frisket we'll do some permanent damage." 

	"This isn't the Supercomputer, Ranma," Kasumi told him, "but I think I may
have something."

*****

	"Talk about ancient," Ranma commented. He and Akane were lying strapped
into a pair of construction tugs. The tugs were nothing more than a yellow
frame to hold the pilot with a couple of heavy duty engines strapped to one
end. Both sprites were clad in a form hugging black suit with a shaded
helmet. This wasn't what Ranma was talking about however.

	Kasumi stood next to the old compression command, the emitter dish pointed
at the pair. "Remember, you can't leave anything inside Frisket's head."

	"We understand sis, hit it," Akane replied.

	Kasumi hit a key on the command's panel.

	"Hey," Ranma cried, "what are we supposed use for weapons?"

	The dish emitted a wide beam across the two tugs and the pair vanished in
a blaze of light.

*****

	Kuno sat in his throne watching a window that floated before him. The
strangely distorted picture showed a room the virus thought he recognised.

	"Ukyo my dear, could you possibly turn this animal's head," the Virus
inquired.

	"Sure honey," the hacker replied, manipulating the controls. The view
slowly panned across, showing monitors on the wall before coming to rest on
the misshapen figures of Kasumi and Nabiki standing talking.

	"Sound," he suggested.

	"Yes, sir," Ukyo returned in a sarcastic tone.

	"...at fragmented virus gets out of this now?" Nabiki asked her sister.

	"Perhaps we should remove him from the principal office," Kasumi
suggested, gazing thoughtfully at the dog

	Kuno grinned wickedly. "They've brought the animal into the principal
office, excellent. Ukyo darling, could you get me manual control over this
darling animal's motor control functions?"

	"As easy as 3.14159," Ukyo replied.

*****

	Ranma-chan sighed as she slid slightly in the straps of the construction
tug. She hadn't thought that the background radiation was high enough to
activate her corruption, but reality proved otherwise, the moment they had
been compresses she had shifted form.

	The two construction tugs flew almost silently through the twisting
tunnels of the dogs body. Akane was in the lead, soaring around bends at
full throttle with Ranma-chan jostling for position in her wake.

	Glitch's sudden beeping distracted the Guardian  momentarily, forcing her
to swerve away from the wall. "Glitch, open comm," Ranma-chan snapped.

	Nabiki's face appeared in the screen. She was leaning over the window,
almost filling it. As she spoke she shot quick glances over her shoulder.
"Ranma, you have to hurry, Frisket's on the move and headed towards the core!"

	"THE CORE?!" Ranma-chan exclaimed. "If we go in there we'll be erased!
Can't you stop him?!"

	Nabiki, glancing over her shoulder and suddenly ducked to one side. With a
cry a Binome slammed into the window and slowly slid down. "You're kidding,
right?" Nabiki replied flatly.

	"We're approaching the neural interface now," Ranma-chan informed her.

	From behind Nabiki Ranma-chan heard the faint female voice of the system.
"Warning, Mainframe core..." the voice was drowned out by screeching metal.

	"Oh my code, he just..!" Nabiki exclaimed before the scene vanished in
static.

	Ranma-chan frowned as she looked across the blue mindscape. In the
distance she could see the familiar form of the ABC, the large box next to
it and the two bots lifting off to intercept them.

	"Spam!" Ranma-chan cursed. "Hey Akane, lets split up, see if one of us
can't lose them and shut down that interface!"

	"Okay, I'll wait for you there!" the defender replied.

	"Low-res Guardian-wannabe," Ranma-chan muttered.

	"I heard that!" Akane yelled back before veering off. Gosunkugi, jetpack
roaring, adjusted his course to intercept her, leaving Ranma-chan to his
smaller companion. The robot release a hail of energy bolts, which sizzled
past Ranma-chan's tug.

	"Heh," Ranma-chan snorted. "No bot's gonna shoot me down, even in this
tub." She shoved the control bars forward, and with the scream of jets, the
tub dived towards the ground below.

	Sasuke, rolled and arced towards the falling tug, continuing to fire.
Deadly bolts of energy flashed past the Guardian. Watching her pursuer
closely, Ranma waited until just the right moment, then jerked back on the
controls.

	The tug flipped up, nose suddenly pointed straight at the rocketing bot.
Ranma-chan grinned maniacally at Sasuke as they roared towards each other.

	"Mummy!" Sasuke screamed, throwing his arms across his head.

	At the last moment Ranma-chan's tug banked suddenly, pulling away. "Too
stupid to even dodge," the Guardian commented.

	Meanwhile Akane was weaving throwing a network of columns that stretched
from the ground to the distant roof above.  Gosunkugi's blasts exploded to
either side of her. Suddenly the side of Frisket's head loomed up before
her, and only Akane's fast reactions saved her. Her tug pulled up sharply,
then flipped and rolled back onto a level course. Akane glanced back to see
Gosunkugi halt only a pixel from the wall, then turn to give chase once more.

	"AKANE!" Ranma-chan screamed.

	Akane snapped her head round to see the other construction tug directly in
front of her. Time seemed to slow as she pulled up on the controls. She
could see her black clad reflection in Ranma's visor as he slid under her.
The was a quite clink as the two tugs barely touched. Time resumed its
normal speed as the pair sped away from their almost fatal meeting.

	Moments later there were a pair of screams and an almighty crash as Kuno's
two henchbot's collided.

*****

	The sound of something raining down on the ABC disturbed Ukyo from her
work. She looked up from the game of hearts on the screen before her to see
a domed head fall on the hood of the vehicle. She looked at the bot's head,
who blinked back at her.

	"Its raining bots, hallelujah," Ukyo commented. Reaching over her shoulder
she drew the massive spatula, then dashed over to the door. She pushed
herself into the corner.

	A figure, obviously a woman, suited entirely in black, wearing a black
helmet, stepped through the open door. The figure looked around, then
turned to face out the door. "Looks..."

	Ukyo swung the spatula with all her strength. The flat of the fighting
utensil struck the back of the woman's helmet with a mighty clang. The
strange collapsed forward to the ground, Ukyo immediately stepped out,
Spatula raised for the deletion blow.

	A second figure, dressed exactly like the first collided with Ukyo,
knocking her off her feet. Ukyo tried to bring her Spatula round, but her
opponent grabbed the handle and start wrestling with her. 

	Ukyo shoved her opponent across the cabin, who grunted in pain. The other
woman immediately rallied and shoulder barged Ukyo back. Off balance, Ukyo
toppled backwards, but turned the fall into a chance to flip her opponent.
The other woman flew over Ukyo's head as she rolled and somersaulted onto
her feet. She spun around to face her foe, only to received a fist to the
gut. Ukyo stumbled backwards, winded by the blow.

	"You shouldn't have done that!" Ukyo hissed through clenched teeth. One
arm wrapped around her stomach, she raised the other fist and pointed her
ring at her enemy. She grinned as a mass  energy noodles streamed out to
wrap around her foe. The black suited girl gave a startled cry, then
slumped to the floor.

	"Ucchan!" a female voice cried happily. Ukyo turned to find that the first
attacker had regained her feet and removed her helmet, revealing a familiar
red head.

	"Ranma?" Ukyo asked incredulously. "It is! Long process no see."

	"Last time I saw you was that time you tried to hack into the
supercomputer," Ranma-chan smiled brightly and walked across the cabin.

	"You know I let you stop me."

	"Hah! If I hadn't caught you, there were another twenty Guardians just
round the corner."

	"Yeah, right."

	"Excuse me!" Akane snapped, from her sitting position. "I'd like to remind
you that while you two are reminiscing, Frisket is walking straight into
the core."

	"Spam, she's right. If we don't get us and this dog out of here, the core
energies will delete us!"

	Ukyo frowned. "Now why would Kuno-chan do something like that?"

	"It would give him access to the core of Mainframe, and he doesn't care if
he has to sacrifice you to do it!" Ranma-chan exclaimed.

	Ukyo opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted when a vid window
popped open. Ranma-chan dived out of sight as Ukyo walked back to the
pilot's seat to face Kuno.

	"Good work beauteous Ukyo," the virus commented. "I'll make sure there's a
bonus in this for you."

	"Kuno sugah, Ranma just told me you've guided us into the core. Is that
true?"

	"Now would I do something like that?" Kuno inquired with mock sincerity.

	"That's what I thought. Sorry honey, I'm pulling the plug." Ukyo reached
down and tapped a control on the panel. The displays about her plinked closed.

	"NNNNOOOOO!" Kuno howled, he leant forward. "You will pay for foiling me!"

	"Bye-bye sugah!" Ukyo closed the vid window. "Ranma honey, will you go
grab the bot bits outside while I warm up the ABC."

	"Right!" Ranma-chan dashed out the door.

	"Hey!" Akane cried, still trapped in the energy food. "Grrr."

*****

	Frisket, walking through the bright light, blinked and shook his head. He
looked around, seeing only white in all directions except one. it took only
a moment for him to decide to charge off. 

	In the wrong direction. 

	Somehow he still managed to get out.

*****


	Ranma-chan sat in the co-pilots seat as Ukyo manipulated the controls. The
ABC's engine hummed as it lifted off the ground and slowly turned to fly
across the two tugs and the interface box. A single touch of the button
dropped a series of bombs, destroying the three objects.

	"The containment field is weakening," Ranma-chan reported. "You'd better
hit the afterburners, cause we are gonna get far too big for this mutts head."

	"Right, straight towards the nasal cavity."

	"Why?"

	Ukyo shrugged. "Tradition."

	The ABC dove into the twisting tunnel leading to Frisket's nose. Even as
it weaved along the tunnel it started to grow, leaving less and less
clearance between the wall and the vehicle.

	"Ukyo, watch it, things are getting tight," Ranma-chan cautioned.

	"Stop telling me things I already know!" Ukyo snapped, not taking her eyes
off the shrinking tunnel before her.

	Ranma-chan felt a tickling on her bitmap. She glanced at the panel before
her. "Static shielding just failed," she reported. The moment the words
left her mouth the ABC struck the side of the tunnel, bouncing wildly off
the wall. Ranma-chan immediately grabbed the controls and right the vehicle.

	"You okay?" Ranma-chan glanced at the empty seat beside her. She
immediately double-taked.

	"Akane, hold tight, we just lost our pilot!" Ranma-chan called.

	"Hold tight!?!" Akane yelled. "HOW?! I'm still in the stasis field!!"

	"Oh, Gosunkugi," a shrill voice squealed, "look where your hand 
is!"

	"I'll never wash it again!" the deeper voice sighed.

	"RANMA!!"

*****

	Frisket wandered along the corridors. Neither RyoGA nor Frisket had been
inside Mainframes Principal Office before, so he was lost. Of course ever
since he'd left the game he'd been lost, Mainframe was just too strange a
place.

	He was glad when Nabiki, Kasumi and a group of CPUs came running up.

	"There you are Frisket," Nabiki panted, out of breath.

	"Looks like he's no longer under Kuno's control," Kasumi commented
lightly. Her smile warmed Frisket. 

	Something tickled Frisket's nose. Her raised his head.

	"GET CLEAR!" Nabiki screamed and she and the others dived to the side.

	AACHOO! The ABC exploded from Frisket's nose, crashing to the ground
before him.

	"Bless you," Kasumi said automatically.

	The back door of the ABC fell open, the ramp crashing to the ground.
Ranma-chan stood leaning against the doorway. "Am I good or what?"

	Nabiki smiled. "Nice timing Ranma."

	"Oh, I had some help."

	Kasumi frowned. "Ranma, where's Akane?"

	Ranma-chan glanced over her shoulder. "Ah, can you two wait a few nanos
before you release her? I need time to get away."

	"RANMA YOU JERK!"

*****

	Kuno sat in his throne, considering his latest defeat. The Guardian had
defeated him again. How could such a wretched sprite continue to foil his
plans?!

	His thoughts were interrupted by the incessant beeping of the intercom. He
slammed his fist on the pad, causing a window to open. "WHY DO YOU DISTURB
ME?!" he snarled at the startled binome in the window.

	"Ah, sir, the Command.com has sent Sasuke and Gosunkugi back," the binome
reported.

	Kuno groaned, that was hardly a blessing. "Send them in."

	"Yes Lord Kuno!" The vid window snapped shut.

	Kuno waited for a few naonoseconds. "Where are those two fools?!"

	"Down here boss!" a tiny voice squeaked.

	"Yeah boss, we're down here!"

	Kuno leant forward to find the pair of miniaturised robots at his feet.
"The Lady Kasumi has an... interesting sense of humour."

*****

	Nabiki turned on the static shower, then turned to the dog. "There, I'll
leave you to change," she told the animal then headed to the door. She
would have left it to Ranma, unfortunately he was engaged in pleasantries
with his fiancee.

	As Nabiki closed thee door she totally failed to notice a grey blur shot
through the door.

	She was only a short way down the corridor when RyoGA's startled cryl
broke the silence. Twirling she saw the game sprite crash through the door.

	"Honey, is that any way to treat a gal?"

-----

-----------
Rarstarr,
David Farr
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~djfarr/
djfarr@ihug.co.nz