Wild Boot: The Net Game
By David Farr
Tenchi Muyo is copyright of AIC : Pioneer LDC, INC. ReBoot is the
property of Mainframe. Ranma 1/2 is copyrighted by Rumiko
Takahashi/Shogakukan,Inc. All are used here respectfully for the purposes
of fanfiction. This story may be redistributed only if unchanged and no
fee is charged.
My thanks go to my Prereaders: Allan Bryant, Ammadeau, David Johnston,
Jin and Shane.
*****
Tsunami: I come from the User
Bringing Light and Protection
To the people of Jurai
And all citizens of the web
In hope
That one day
We will all know peace
*****
v2.4.2: Histories Clash! A Final Battle.
*****
Lightning clashed above their heads, illuminating the darkened
sky-dome and the nightmarish landscape beyond the lakeshore. Even in the
pauses between the bursts of light, the group of sprites could make out
the twisted bare trees rising from the infected landscape thanks to the
glowing veins of deep purple viral energy.
For Tenchi, the sight struck him to the very core of his being.
This was the system he had spent his entire process in. Somewhere out
amongst the infection were the ruins, probably warped beyond recognition,
of places he had fond memories of: his school (well, what was left of
it); the fields in which he had trained with his grandfather; his
mother's memorial. Anger seethed within in him, but his training kept it
from showing beyond the clenching of his fists.
"You came into a game when the system was like this?" RyoGA
asked, staring in disbelief at the devastation about them.
"It was not like this when the game fell," Aeka replied shortly.
"This is a new development."
Ukyo knelt on the edge of the Ryo-oh's dome, just clear of where
the webship's hull met the energy lake. "We're lucky this island is
floatin', else the virus could just infect it from the lakebed." She
looked up. "But I've never seen a virus infect an entire system like this
before."
Washuu snorted from where she stood, arms crossed, watching the
four new sprites. "I'm not surprised, Kagato was always an inventive
son-of-a-virus."
"You know this virus?" Ukyo asked, standing and turning towards
the compiler.
"He's not a virus, just a sprite. I'm not sure where he got it
from, but this was an infection he picked up. The way he's been using it,
I don't think he was forcibly infected either."
"You mean he volunteered to be infected?" Sasami inquired. The
young princess still cradled the small cat/rabbit creature Ryo-ohki in
her arms. "But that's random!"
"No one ever described him any other way, Sasami. If the virus
offered Kagato power, he'd take it, that's the way he is." Washuu looked
out over the system. "And I'd definitely say he got power."
"Tell me something," Ranma's first comment in a while caused
everyone to jump, "does this Kagato wear an icon like this?" He tapped
the area just beneath his icon. The others stared at him, Ukyo, RyoGA and
Shampoo all seeing an unusual seriousness in the young Guardian.
Aeka stared at him in confusion. "Why yes, he does, Ranma. Is
this important?"
"SPAM!" The vehemence with which Ranma spat the curse caused
everyone, even Tenchi, to take a step away from the Guardian. "Spam!
Spam! Spam!" He spun about, shuddering with repressed rage.
"Ranma, what wrong?" Shampoo inquired, stepping forward. "You
know Kagato? Is Guardian?"
"I know of him," Ranma replied, his voice hissing angrily through
his teeth. "He was meant to be purged."
"Wait a sec, Ranma-honey," Ukyo interjected. "I know Guardian
history, there's only been one purge ever called by the collective, and
that was somethin' like two gigacycles ago."
"And how do you know Guardian history?" RyoGA inquired.
"Know thine enemy," Ukyo shot back. "I studied the Guardians in
depth when I was gettin' ready to hack the Supercomputer. Never knew what
could brin' out a weakness in their defences."
"Actually two gigacycles sounds about right," Washuu added.
"Kagato came to me as a student about that long ago." She paused.
"Although if I had known someone wanted him deleted that badly I would
have shot him myself."
"I am afraid I do not understand," Aeka stepped forward. "What
did this Kagato do that earned him such hatred?"
Ukyo shrugged. "I never really found out. Guardians don't really
like talkin' about him, all I ever got was a reference to his great
betrayal."
"I'm not surprised you never found out," Ranma commented, his
voice deathly quiet. "The story isn't even told to cadets." He turned
back, his face serious and sad. "But I think you should all know it,
because we are going to have to face him.
"It happened back when the Guardians were newly formed, when we
and the Keytools first started protecting the Net."
"Excuse me, Ranma, but what is a Keytool?" Aeka interrupted
politely. Her sister nodded energetically.
"Is tool Guardians use to fix tears and other stuff," Shampoo
replied. "Makes Guardians good warriors."
"No Shampoo, a Keytool is much more than that." Ranma closed his
eyes, and Ukyo noticed that his left hand was constantly clenching and
unclenching. "A Keytool is a process, just like a sprite, only they can't
communicate using our language. By themselves they have power, but little
self-direction, so they work with a Guardian and help him or her to
protect others. It's a bond of trust.
"In all the history of the collective, only one sprite has
violated that trust...
"A few cycles before a Guardian and Keytool had found themselves
in a real crisis. They had been fighting a virus, and the Keytool was
damaged to the point where it could no longer function. The virus had
been defeated, but the system was unstable, and there were tears popping
up all over the place. Stuck for another solution the Keytool decided to
sacrifice itself, transferring its code - and powers - to the Guardian.
The result was... more than expected.
"That Guardian and Keytool were made heroes, posthumously
unfortunately, as the merged entity expended all its energy to repair the
system. The Guardians discussed the idea of encouraging more merges, but
in the end it was decided to reserve it only for emergencies, and only in
emergencies. They went as far as to organise a council that would
investigate any merges, and dictate punishments if the merge was decided
to be unnecessary. However, not everyone gave up on the idea.
"At that time Kagato was a researcher trying to find better ways
to deal with viruses. He concentrated on weapons, if our history docs are
right. However, unknown to everyone, he started research on the merge. In
time, he found a way to force the Keytool to merge, but it was a long
process, and he was discovered before he could complete it. Parser, the
Keytool that had chosen him, was gone, but Kagato had only a fraction of
the power of a true merge.
"What followed was a Net wide sprite-hunt. Kagato could go
nowhere without a Guardian or CPU finding him. The Guardian collective
ordered him deleted on sight, and Guardians and Keytools alike were more
than happy to do it. He was believed lost when his ship was destroyed in
the Back-of-Beyond, but obviously that was only a ruse, allowing him to
slip out onto the web."
"Where he met up with me," Washuu finished. "I thought he was
just a brilliant scientist from some small system who had figured out how
to protect himself from the web. Certainly he was in awe of my
knowledge." The little compiler burst into a smile. "But who wouldn't
be?"
Everyone sweatdropped.
"He was floating around ready to quit file when I came across
him. I offered to take him to the nearest system, but instead he begged
me to take on him on as a pupil." She paused for a moment to fondly
remember how she had put him through hell - ah, seriously tested his
commitment - before finally giving in. "He absorbed knowledge like a
superdisc, and was always studying this or that." She snorted. "I trusted
him so much that I let him help me when I decided to have a child."
"You and Kagato did that? And Ryoko is his...?" Mihoshi cried in
shock. "Eww."
"Nothing like that!" Washuu snapped. "True, I assembled Ryoko
from bytes of my own code, but she is not the result of normal
reproduction."
"You can say that again," Aeka murmured.
"I wrote her code, not allowed it to compile naturally. She has
no father. I am her only parent!"
"But Kagato had a hand in her creation, and did something," Ranma
interjected.
"Yes. He altered Ryoko's mental processes. She could still act on
her violation, but Kagato could influence her, either subtly, as he has
since her creation, or directly like he did before the game. The first I
knew of all this was when the phreaker used her to capture me!"
"Oh, poor Ryoko," Mihoshi weeped, "betrayed by her father."
"HE IS NOT HER FATHER!" Washuu roared, blowing over the
blubbering detective.
Shampoo nodded. "Then we have two reasons to delete him. Must
save system, and avenge Ryoko and Parser."
"I think that's three, Shampoo honey," Ukyo pointed out.
"He has to be in the Principal Office," Tenchi declared. "That's
the only way he could do this," he waved at the infected city beyond the
lake, "so quickly."
The others looked at him, surprised that he had spoken so
definitely.
Ranma nodded and tossed out a zip-board. "Lead the way,
defender."
*****
"SPAMMER! BUG! NEWBIE!" Ryoko screamed, continuing to struggle
vainly in her spotlight prison. "When I get out of this I going to
decompile your greyscale bitmap so thoroughly they won't be able to
assemble a hair!"
"Oh, mute it," Kagato told her, a touch of impatience in his
voice. Ryoko, despite herself, fell silent. He turned back to the window,
examining the group shown there carefully. "Guardian Ranma Saotome, my,
my, my."
Despite her ranting, Ryoko had heard enough of the conversation
he was watching to know that the young Guardian's last name had not been
mentioned. Her eyes focused on the window, and the image of the sprites
travelling through the twisted landscape. 'If Kagato hasn't been on the
Net in two gigacycles, how does he know of this Ranma?'
"She will not be pleased to find out her web creature failed," he
murmured again, still staring at the vid window. "But I'm sure a much
more personal account of his death will sate her anger." He turned to
face Ryoko, a sly grin on his face. "And you will help me, won't you
Ryoko?"
*****
The entrance of the Principal Office loomed over the assembled
group. Shampoo peered into the darkened doorway, trying to discern shapes
in the inky depths, but the only movement she could see was, she knew,
her imagination. Like the city behind them, the Principal Office was
empty, as silent as the Trash Bin.
Ranma spun slowly to face the group. "Okay Tenchi, you're the
local, what's our best plan?"
The defender was suddenly the uncomfortable centre of attention.
"Well, I know the Principal Office has a anti-virus command in the core
chamber. I'm not sure if it will be strong enough to fix this." He
glanced back at the twisted city.
"It will be once I'm through with it!" Washuu announced grandly.
She quieted down. "However Kagato's control of the system will prevent it
from initialising."
"I'd better go with her," Ukyo added. She smiled at the smaller
sprite. "Two heads are better than one."
Tenchi nodded. "Take Sasami too. With all the virals that are
probably crawling around the system she's probably safest with you."
"But I wanna help, Tenchi," the young princess whined.
It was Aeka who came to Tenchi's aid. "Sasami, you are not a
combatant, you a princess of Jurai.net. If you wish to help us, it is
best if you are somewhere safe."
Sasami's eyes narrowed. "You're a princess too, and you're
going," she accused.
"She's right," Ranma interjected. "Shampoo, RyoGA, you take
Princess Aeka and see if you can't find Ryoko. Don't engage Kagato, call
us when its time for that."
Sasami sighed. "Okay. But Tenchi, take Ryo-ohki, that way you can
find Ryoko easier."
"Okay, Sasami."
Giving a happy miya, the small cabbit leapt from the princess' head onto
Tenchi's shoulder.
"But that leave you alone with only defender boy and bubble
girl," Shampoo pointed out.
Both Tenchi and Ranma turned to regard the clueless detective.
She stared back looking confused. "So who am I supposed to go with?"
"Hmmm..." Everyone turned to find Washuu regarding her
holographic keyboard. The little Compiler looked up. "I think it would be
best if Mihoshi came with us." This brought surprised looks from the
others, which Washuu silenced with a wave. "From what I know of Kagato
and the scans I've taken, Tenchi and Ranma have the best chance of taking
on Kagato, thanks to Tenchi's Jurai powers and Ranma's unknown quantity.
Adding Mihoshi, or anyone else for that matter, to the equation only
lowers the probability of a favourable outcome by involving hostages for
Kagato to use."
Tenchi nodded, pulled out a file folder and quickly started
sketching on it. "Then Mihoshi goes with Washuu, Ukyo and Sasami to the
core chamber." He passed the folder to Washuu. "This map will help you
get there, but I don't have the access codes."
Ukyo smiled. "Tha's what I'm along for, Tenchi-honey."
"And I will go with Guardian Ranma's other two companions and see
if we can find that software pirate Ryoko." Aeka didn't sound to happy.
"Although I do not see why."
"We'll also see if we can find the armoury while we're at it,"
Ryoga added.
"Fine, let's go," Ranma spun his zip-board and slid into the dark
passageways of the Principal Office.
*****
Ukyo glanced about at the corridors as they walked. She wondered
who had designed the layout. Unlike the cramped technological feel of
Mainframe, Nippon's Principal Office was filled with wide soaring
corridors. High above their heads, ornate buttresses crossed. Light came
not from hanging laps or inset panels, but instead from torches burning
in scones on the wall.
"Gothic," Ukyo commented.
Washuu nodded absently. "According to Tenchi's map it should be
just up ahead."
"Ya think so honey?" Ukyo inquired sarcastically, staring at the
large door marked 'Core control chamber.'
Washuu glared daggers at the other sprite. "Fine then, miss
Hacker, want to open them."
Grinning, Ukyo paced over to the door and looked it over.
"Hmmm... this is system is paranoid about its security."
"How long will it take you to open?" Sasami inquired, popping up
beside her.
Ukyo frowned. "Too long." She took a few steps away. "Everyone
step back, I'm going to have to cut it open."
"Won't that take longer?"
Grinning once more, Ukyo pulled a small red and white marble from
her belt and casually expanded the Pokeball. "Not with my special tools.
Vulpix, I choose you!" The ball split open in her hand, and spat forth a
jagged bolt of red light that formed into the cute fox pokemon. "Vulpix,
use your flame thrower to--" She was cut off by the door groaning open.
"Wha?"
A quick glance at an equally baffled Washuu showed that the
Complier wasn't responsible, and the little princess was looking on in
awe as well. For a few nanoseconds Ukyo could only stand and wonder
before she spotted Mihoshi standing next to the doors controls.
"Wow, I guess that is the passcode," the ditzy detective
announced.
"What is?" Ukyo inquired reflexively.
Mihoshi turned, smiling. "Well, I took my compile day, and added
the number of torches in the corridor, then I divided it by frequency of
the standard communication window, applied the Hamming Distance as a
exponent and finally used the parity as a multiplier. Simple really."
Ukyo stared at her for a few moments. "Yah're the luckiest sprite
I have ever met," she murmured, awed.
"You got that right," Washuu snorted. "Come on, let's get to
work." She strode purposefully into the core control chamber.
Beyond the portal was a large circular chamber. A large console
circled the entire chamber, and a single column rose out of the centre,
also sporting terminals. Washuu immediately headed over to the central
column, the terminals there coming to life as her digits touched them.
Ukyo pulled out her other three pokeballs, realising the cute
animals contained within. "You four pokemon watch the door, I don't want
any one sneaking up on us." There a collective cry from the sprites and
they scampered off to set up positions at the door.
"Excuse me, Ukyo," Sasami's quiet voice drew her attention. "What
should I do?"
"Hmm... yah have some Command.com training, don't yah, sweety?"
The little girl nodded in reply to Ukyo's question. "Okay, see if yah can
locate the PIDs of those missin' system sprites."
"Okay!" Sasami happily cried, and she skipped over to one of the
consoles.
"Meanwhile, I'll see if I can get soma the heat off the others."
"Umm... excuse me." Mihoshi waved her hands, but was ignored by
the three busy sprites. "Oh, what can I do?" She wandered over to an
empty section of console. "I'm not sure what to do." Glancing over at the
others she saw their serious faces, even little Sasami. "I shouldn't
interrupt them." She leaned against the panel, her hand resting on a
keypad.
A small draw hissed open beside her, revealing a pink cube lying in
there. "Oh, what's this." She pulled out the cube and looked at it. "Wow,
I think if I do this--" she said turning the top of the cube. "No, maybe
this." Quickly she twisted the left side. "No, this? This? This?" She
continued to manipulate the cube. "That doesn't wo--" Without a sound
Mihoshi vanished.
*****
"Are you getting anything with that eye of yours?" Aeka demanded,
glaring at Shampoo.
"If spoilt princess would mute for few moments, maybe Shampoo
could concentrate," the amazon snapped back.
RyoGA sighed, rolled his eyes, and tried to ignore them as he
gazed down the corridors. Ever since they had spilt off from the others,
the pair had been fighting. He wondered if there was some kind of
software compatibility chart he'd missed, because he couldn't figure out
what was causing the arguments.
"SPOILT! How dare you!" Aeka snapped.
"Is very easy," Shampoo returned, glaring at her with narrowed
eyes.
Aeka drew herself up and gave Shampoo a superior stare. "Well, at
least I can speak properly!"
RyoGA's head snapped around. Something was wrong, and it had
nothing to do with the fight.
Shampoo drew her gun, and waved it at the princess. "You no make
fun of way Shampoo parse."
"Oho," Aeka lifted a hand to her mouth, as if talking in stage
whisper, "now we see the way the one-eyed amazon really is. Violence is
always the answer, is that it?"
"Is better than insults," Shampoo returned, "it no hurt for as
long." She grinned lifting Gun up beside her head.
RyoGA turned, about to silence the pair, when the attack came.
The first bolt hit the wall next to the quarrelling pair, sending
Aeka sprawling. The next would have taken out RyoGA himself, if he hadn't
thrown himself sideways immediately.
"My, my, Ryoko, is that anyway to say hello?"
The arrogance in the voice caused RyoGA to bristle as he lay on
the floor. Slowly he raised himself and turned to face their attackers.
The woman, Ryoko, hovered off the ground, a glowing globe of energy held
in one outstretched hand. Her companion, captor and master, floated
beside her, calmly watching them.
"Princess," RyoGA whispered out the side of her mouth, "can you
take the girl?"
"Yes, I believe so," her tone did not fill him with confidence.
"But where is Shampoo?"
A cat's hiss at his feet told RyoGA the answer to that. "She's
out of the battle for now."
Kagato was surprised when the orange sprite started to glow
purple, although he didn't show it. Whatever unusual ability the boy had,
it would not be enough.
"Now AEKA!" RyoGA declared, thrusting his hands out. "SHI SHI
HOUKODAN!"
The blast of game energy shot down the corridor, followed moments
later by a sizzling ball of lightning. RyoGA paused for only a second to
reappraise Aeka, before they both leapt forward on the attack.
Ryoko shot forward, and flickered out to reappearing on the other
side of the Aeka's blast. She immediately raised he hand and threw a
volley of blasts towards the approaching Aeka. The princess dodged some,
letting others splash onto her force field.
Meanwhile Kagato simply took the massive beam. RyoGA, following
the blast, lashed out at the smug renegade, but his fist impacted on a
shield of energy that formed around Kagato. Chuckling, the older sprite
smashed his own fist into RyoGA, sending him flying back.
Aeka twisted as she approached the pirate, her hands charged with
energy. As they passed each other Aeka fired another blast, but Ryoko
vanished. Pain, as a fist impacted in Aeka's back, told her where the
other had gone.
RyoGA grinned at the other. "I've never tried this on a sprite,"
he declared, raising a finger. "BAKUSAI TENKETSU."
Kagato continued to smirk as the game sprite thrust out. The blow
struck the shield, and shattered it, causing the smirk to vanish as
shards of energy fell about them. His energy sword exploded into life,
it's green glowing blade swinging up to parry RyoGA's thrust.
Finger met sword, and for a tic the two combatants held their
positions. Then Kagato's sword flared up, sending a burst of energy
outwards, sending Frisket flying back.
Kagato turned to see that Ryoko had subdued the princess. Aeka
continued to struggle in the pirates grip, but with her arms held
securely above her head by her floating captor, Aeka could only vent by
firing blasts at the roof.
"Well, princess, you and your two--" Frisket leapt on top of him,
trying to bit his head off. A single blast sent him flying again, this
time knocking him out.
"Now, princess, as I was saying, you and your two animal
guardians..." he paused and looked around. "And where is that girl that
turned into a cat?"
Ryoko looked around and shrugged.
Kagato sighed, it seemed that the young Guardian's companions
would had a number of surprises in store. "Come then, these two will have
to do." He reached out with his power and lifted the offline dog.
*****
Otaru watched as his three Sabre binomes faced off against the
Garlant Sabre binomes. He knew that Lime, Cherry and Bloodberry were
three of the most powerful Sabre binomes ever created by sprites, thanks
to the virgin modules that acted as their hearts.
Unfortunately Lynx, Tiger, and Panther also had virgin modules,
and unlike his three, they had military training and a lot more
experience. Still, he believed in the three artificial girl binomes. As
long as they fought together, all four of them, nothing could defeat
them.
"Come on," Lynx, the blue haired one binome growled. "Let's get
this over with."
"Yeah," her blonde haired zero partner, Panther seconded, "we
don't have time for this!"
The Japoness foursome didn't answer, responding instead by
reading themselves for combat. Before they could move, however, a
glittering shape appeared between the two parties.
Mihoshi looked around, spotted the unfamiliar faces and then
turned her gaze down at the cube. "Oh, a Goto command. I'd better get
back to the others." She thought about it for a few seconds. "Ummm, I
think this is how I do it." She twisted the cube a few times and
vanished.
Otaru stood blinking. "That... was a real girl. They DO still
exist!"
*****
"Miya?" Ryo-ohki mewed looking around in confusion. She focussed
for a moment on both of the corridors that lead onwards, then turned and
looked back the way they had come. Finally, she hopped over to the other
two sprites.
"I think she's lost it again," Ranma commented.
Tenchi looked over at him. "The way I understood it, she and
Ryoko have some kind of contextual link. So Ryo-ohki should be able to
get some feeling for where she is."
"Contextual link? That mean that if Ryoko was moving around..."
"... it would take some time for the link to renew," Tenchi
finished.
"Miya," Ryo-ohki agreed, giving them a large, tearful look.
Tenchi knelt down next to the small cabbit. "Never mind,
Ryo-ohki, it's not your fault. We'll just have to find them the
old-fashioned way."
"Come on, let's go this way," Ranma indicated the corridor on the
left.
"Why left?"
"Because left is right," Ranma shot back.
"What kind of logic is that?"
"As good as any other for this kind of choice."
"Er... okay." He joined Ranma as he walked off. "Tell me Ranma,
do you think we can beat Kagato?"
"Of course we can!" Ranma exclaimed. "So he may have the powers
of a Keytool plus whatever he learnt off the compiler, but we got your
Jurai powers and my martial arts. There ain't nothing that can stop us!"
*****
Mihoshi appeared once again this time forcing two sprites to leap
apart.
To one side she could see a zero binome with red hair and an X
shaped scar on one cheek. In his hands he held a strange sword with a
reversed blade. He was staring intently past Mihoshi at the other
combatant.
The other combatant, a one binome was standing, his sword held
back and with his other hand reaching forward to touch the tip of the
blade. He wore dark blue uniform and matching cap. Like the zero binome,
he ignored Mihoshi, concentrating on the battle.
Shrugging, and ignoring the other binomes at the edge of the
dojo, Mihoshi went back to fiddling with her command and vanished.
*****
"Pi ka pi ka pi ka," Pikachu chanted as it paced back and forth
before the entrance to the control room. Inside the three sprites
continued to work busily at their various tasks.
"I've done it!" Sasami cried happily.
Ukyo looked up. "Done what?"
"All PIDs accounted for!" the young princess announced.
"What, all of them?" Ukyo inquired in disbelief. "That's
impossible." She pushed herself off from the control panel, allowing her
floating chair to carry her across the room.
"Ah huh," Sasami confirmed, pointing at the screen. "See, they're
all in the archives."
Ukyo touched the controls a few times. "They look pretty safe
too, there's some major inoculation in the complex. I'm truly amazed that
they evacuated the entire system without loosing anyone. They must one
hell of a organiser in their numbers."
Sasami looked around. "Where's Mihoshi?"
At the sound of the detective name, Washuu's head popped up and
she looked around. "What? She's missing?"
"Strange, I could swear she was here a nano ago," Ukyo comment.
"Hey, you guys," she called to the pokemon at the door. "Did Mihoshi pass
by you?"
A collection of negative cries answered.
"I wonder where she went?" Ukyo mused. "Oh well, we don't have
the time to worry, and she can't get into much trouble by herself."
"Want to place a bet?" Washuu inquired.
*****
Once again Mihoshi found herself in a strange system. This time
she was standing on a wire mesh platform, surrounded by machinery.
At one end of the platform stood a serious looking green system
sprite in a business suit backed by an equally grim looking sprite in a
blue uniform similar to Ranma's. At the other end stood a massive navy
blue virus. Beyond the virus sat a large machine, all hoses and
containers filled with glowing liquid.
"No, that's still not right," Mihoshi announced, tears coming to
her eyes as continued to twist the cube. "Oh, I'll never get back now."
Once more the command whisked her away.
*****
Grandiose pipe organ music echoed back at Aeka from the walls of
grand cathedral. High above her the roof arched upwards, almost vanishing
into the distance. Out of the corner of her eye Aeka could see, if she
strained, the entrance, across a thin bridge bordered by still lakes of
energy.
As much as she would have linked to sprint, or even better, flew,
across the bridge to safety, she had herself trapped in what was a
humiliating and, it was turning out, painful pose. Ryoko was hovering
behind and above her, hands locked around Aeka's wrists, dangling her in
mid air.
Giving up on that, her eyes darted towards the "dog" that had
once been the Guardian's companion. He was awake once more, although now
trapped in a bubble of energy. Obviously he was not enjoying their host's
entertainment, as his paws were clasped firmly on his ears.
And that left Kagato, playing the pipe organ with amazing flair.
Suddenly he stopped and turned; his last note lingered menacingly in the
air for a moment. Smiling, he stood from the organ bench.
"Well, Princess, I am glad you chose to join me," he said
smoothly, a charming smile on his face as he approached.
"It's not like you gave me much choice," Aeka shot back.
"Ah, of course, my apologises. Ryoko, let her go."
And the puppet pirate did just that. Suddenly released, Aeka fell
to the ground, stumbling as she struck, but quickly regaining her poise.
"What is it you want of me, Kagato?"
"Ah, straight to business then Princess? And here was I thinking
we could have a pleasant chit-chat, maybe some electron tea."
Aeka simply levelled one of those looks at him.
"What I want, Princess, is the one thing even the greatest
compiler on the web could not reverse engineer," he grinned down at her,
"and that is the code of Jurai."
"And you think I will give YOU that. Are you random?"
"Well, either you, or your cute little sister, who is even now
watching us, along with the compiler and that Guardian's hacker friend. I
am sure she will be more than willing to supply the secret, when I am
finished with you."
"I don't think so!" a pair of voices declared from the entrance.
Turning everyone found Ranma and Tenchi standing at the far end of
bridge, one with his energy sword glowing and the other fists balled.
*****
In the core chamber, Washuu and Ukyo reclined lazily in floating
chairs, watching the happens in the cathedral on a vid window.
"Now things'll get interesting," Ukyo commented.
"Yep," Washuu nodded in agreement, "greatest show on the web."
Ukyo leant forward to the girl sitting cross legged in front of
them. "Hey, princess, pass the pop3kernels."
"Sure," Sasami replied, taking a handful of snacks before passing
back the box.
*****
Mihoshi looked around in confusion. This was the first time she
had ever seen a room with clouds in it. Especially since they were these
kind of misty blue, with sparkly bits through them.
Two sprites on the bed, one female, the other male, and both
naked, along with a floating one binome and a bunch of small identical
zero binomes, were looking at her in surprise. At the door two one
binomes readied weapons, although Mihoshi really didn't consider a fan
and a staff with rings on its end weapons.
Realising she still hadn't got it right, she played with the cube
some more and vanished.
Shaking her head, the floating one binome turned to the pair on
the bed. "Now, Miaka, as I was saying..."
*****
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the young prince and the lost
Guardian. Playing hero to the end are we?" Kagato smirked. "A futile
gesture."
Tenchi stepped forward, the lighthawk sword - his glowing blade -
held ready. "And why would that be?" he inquired.
Kagato waved his hand, and Aeka was sealed within another energy
sphere. "Because you will not harm the lovely pirate, and the Guardian,
even if he had a Keytool, is utterly ineffective against me."
Behind Tenchi, Ranma blinked in confusion. "You know, for such a
smart guy, you missed a really simple solution." He threw out a zip-board
and hopped onto it. "YO! SPIKY HEAD!"
Letting out an animalistic grunt, Ryoko swung around to glare at
him.
"I hear you got stuck in trash-bin for a hundred mega-cycles! I
must say, you look it!" Ranma quipped.
A frown creased Ryoko's face.
"I really don't know how you expect to attract any sprite with a
such a degraded bitmap!"
Ryoko started growing and Tenchi shot his companion a worried
glance.
"Oh, I suppose you can also try nulls, they'll go out with
ANYTHING!"
Screaming, Ryoko threw an energy blast, which Ranma effortlessly
dodged.
Ranma gave a bark of laughter. "Ha! I've seen lowres game sprites
with better aim!"
Her silvery face tinged with red, Ryoko snarled and leapt forward
at Ranma, claws reaching for him.
Ranma kicked his board, twisting it back to he door. "Have fun
Tenchi!" he called as he shot out of sight. Moments later Tenchi was
almost blown off his feet as Ryoko bulleted past.
Kagato slowly walked down the stairs, even as Tenchi crossed the
thin bridge. "So, boy, it is you, me and--"
*BOOM*
"Ha! You call that an energy blast!" Ranma cried in the distance.
Everyone paused, watching the doorway.
"So, boy," Kagato started again, once he was sure they would be
no more interruptions, "it is just you, me, and Yosho's sword. But do you
even know to use it?"
Tenchi raised the sword. "Of course." He leapt forward, and the
air rang with the clash of energy blades.
*****
Another bolt sizzled past Ranma, to strike the wall ahead of him,
filling the corridor with smoke and debris. He burst through the cloud,
and turned suddenly, zipping down a side-corridor. Moments later, Ryoko
pierced the smoke, and she too swooped through the turn to chase Ranma.
Glancing over his shoulder, Ranma saw Ryoko generating another
bolt in her hands, and got ready to dodge. For the first time in his
run-time, he wondered if maybe he had downloaded more than he could
process.
As another section of corridor was vaporised by a near-miss,
Ranma could only hope that Tenchi was doing a lot better than he was.
*****
Sword struck sword, sending sparks flying. Tenchi glared at his
opponent across their locked energy blades.
"What is it you want, Kagato?"
The viral sprite sneered. "From you, nothing. You can barely
control that sword, let alone defeat me. Why don't you just run away,
like your ancestor, and let me take what I want from the princess?"
"Leave her with you? NEVER!" Tenchi pushed forward, forcing
Kagato back a step and breaking the lock. He swung the light-sword
around, but found the blow parried.
Angry, Tenchi stuck, again and again, trying to break through the
other's defenses, but blow after blow was parried easily. Finally Tenchi
overextended himself, and a strike from Kagato sent him stumbling away.
"Really, boy, what did you hope to do? Come running in and save
the system? Or were you thinking more about Ryoko? I saw in her memories
that you two were close." He chuckled. "Or at least she thinks that way."
Kagato started towards the other sprite. "But it's all for naught."
"I'll show you NAUGHT!" Tenchi cried, turning to lash out.
And Kagato struck back, a mighty blow that sent Tenchi flying
down the cathedral stairs.
The viral sprite stood at the top of the stairs, staring down at
the boy lying on the floor below. "Foolish boy, now you die!" He raised
his sword, ready for the killing blow.
*****
The corridors ended suddenly, and Ranma burst into a massive
sphere room. The walls glowed with lines of energy, and below Ranma could
see a single large iris lock. Worst of all was that the room offered no
other exits.
"SPAM!" Ranma cursed. "The core chamber, just my luck." He swung
lazily around to face the entrance, and watched Ryoko shoot into the
room.
The software pirate pulled up, gaze locked on the guardian. She
grinned evilly, another ball of energy forming in her hand.
"Err... can we talk about this?" Ranma inquired. He knew that
without the twists and turns Ryoko would get in the lucky blow.
A blast was Ryoko's reply, and Ranma zipped out of the way. He
was forced to flee, as bolt after bolt rained down around him, decimating
the walls of the chamber.
Ranma could feel the heat of the explosions on his back as the bolts
struck behind him. And with each blast, they were getting closer.
Finally one struck too close. The force sent him flying from the
zip-board, and he plummeted down to strike the wall, then slid down. His
trip ended when he struck the edge of the lock.
Dazed and battered, he looked up to see Ryoko hovering over him,
grinning evilly. Her hand was outstretched and another energy bolt
already generated.
Then Ranma felt the energy sear his bitmap.
*****
"Foolish boy, now you die!" Kagato raised his sword, ready for
the killing blow.
"Miya!"
"Meow!"
Two balls of fur leapt from the shadows onto Kagato's face. The
viral sprite gave a cry of surprise and pain as he stumbled backwards,
Neko-Shampoo and Ryo-ohki clawing at his face.
"Cursored creatures!" He dropped his sword, and reached up to
grab the two animals. Now trapped, they hissed and spat at him.
"Pathetic." He held them out and generated a pair of blasts that sent the
two slamming into the far wall.
Neko-Shampoo struck the floor, her head spinning. With the last
of her energy she forced herself to look up, hoping that their
distraction had worked. Unfortunately, the last thing she saw with her
fading consciousness was Tenchi kneeling, bent over his knee, as Kagato
started down the stairs.
*****
Ryoko hung in the air as the smoke from the explosion blossomed
before her. What little was left of her mind was sure that her prey was
dead, but she stayed for confirmation. As the smoke faded, however, a
figure was revealed, standing where, moments before, Ranma had lay.
Ryoko blinked, her mind spinning in confusion. The figure was
female, and stood with her hands on her hips. More smoke cleared,
revealing a full suit of shiny metal armour with metal links showing at
the joints. Her head was uncovered, and topped with flame red hair.
"I'm both Ranma Saotome and Glitch!" she declared, raising her
hand. "Sorry about this." She released a blast of white energy.
*****
The momentary distraction dealt with, Kagato once more retrieved
the hilt of his sword and started down the stairs. "Well boy, it seems
you've run out of friends. The princess and her dog-boy companion are my
prisoners." He waved at the two force bubbles containing the them. "The
Guardian's pet and Ryoko's cute little partner are offline." He glanced
at the two furry creatures slumped on the floor. "And the professor, the
younger princess and the hacker can't leave the control chamber."
Tenchi rose to one knee, coughing badly. "You forgot someone."
"The Guardian? Don't expect a rescue from him. Without a Keytool
he has surely fallen to my puppet by now." Kagato's sword leapt to life
in his hand. "Now, young prince, it is time for you to quit file."
Tenchi's sword buzzed into life, spluttered a few times, but
finally held steady. "You'll never win Kagato, not while even one of my
procedures or variables is still intact." He raised himself to his feet,
and wiped a trickle of energy from the corner of his mouth.
"Bold words," Kagato returned, "but, like your process,
ultimately futile!" He raised his sword, once again ready to strike a
fatal blow.
With a pop, Mihoshi appeared, suspended in mid-air above Kagato.
The Cyber-Police detective looked surprised as gravity reclaimed her and
she fell downwards. Kagato swept his sword up to strike her away.
And Tenchi leapt forward, his sword flashing outwards.
*****
Ranma-chan entered the cathedral, Ryoko folded over one silver
encased shoulder, in time to see Tenchi land, sword held after the
strike. Slowly the part-Juraian defender and Kagato turned to face each
other.
"Well boy, it appears you managed to defeat me after all. I
congratulate you." Kagato's voice was measured. "But if you think you
have won, you are sorely mistaken." A soft golden glow crept over his
features. "Soon enough you will fall to the one I call mistress." Slowly
his body dissolved into golden light.
"NO!" Ranma-chan cried, dropping Ryoko. Instinct driving her,
Ranma-chan ran up the steps, her hand outstretched towards the fading
glow. The white energy flowed from her hand, enveloping the last of glow.
"Come on!" The transformed Guardian threw his will into the beam.
"Return to us!"
An object started to form in the gold glow. It was a rectangular
box, and as Ranma and a surprised Tenchi watched more features formed.
There was a small cylinder appearing on the top face at one end, along
with a small disc that was blossoming in the centre. Slowly the details
were added, and finally Ranma halted the power flow.
Exhausted, the Guardian bent, her bitmap paling a few shades as
she gulped in air.
"What is it?" Tenchi asked, equally breathless, but for a
different reason.
Ranma-chan looked at the object floating before her. "That,
Tenchi, is Kagato's Keytool, Parser." She reached out, and the Keytool
floated into her hand. Quietly she smiled at it. "Welcome back to land of
the functioning."
"Ah, excuse me."
Ranma-chan turned to look at the other sprite. "Hmm?"
"Who are you?"
*****
"I see, Ranma-sama, so that is why you transform into a girl."
Aeka looked over the once again male guardian. "But it does not explain
the new silver armour?"
The entire group was standing atop the Principal Office, watching
as the anti-virus swept across the system. It looked like a wall of
energy, erasing the dark blighted landscape, and leaving a pristine city
in its wake.
"Well, that goes back to our first game jump," Ranma explained.
"While RyoGA, Ukyo, Shampoo and I survived - albeit with damage like
Shampoo's eye and Ukyo's arm - Glitch was unable to make the transition.
Instead he wrote himself into my code. So now I have bytes of Keytool
mixed into me, which lets me do some of his original tricks."
"Including that energy blast you hit me with," Ryoko commented
sourly.
"Sorry about that, but I was only returning the favour."
"Heh. Forgiven and forgotten."
Tenchi looked at Ranma. "So what now for you?"
Ranma shrugged. "Back into the games, seeing if we can get back
to the net or Mainframe."
"Hey, is this Mainframe of yours on the web?" Ryoko asked.
"Was last time I looked. The connection was guarded but I know
the address."
Ryoko grinned, and reached over to pluck Ryo-ohki from Sasami's
head. "Then why don't we see about giving you a ride home."
Shampoo perked up. "You do that?!"
Aeka smiled at the others. "Of course, you all helped us without
a second parse. It's the least we can do."
-----
Author's Notes:
Well, I'm letting this out despite only hearing from two of my
five (now) prereaders. I hope you all enjoyed it. C&C is always
appreciated and almost always replied to. ^_^
-----------
David Farr
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~djfarr/
djfarr@ihug.co.nz katsuhito@planetjurai.com
"Die-cast construction, it's a lost art."
- Optimus Primal, Beast Wars.
"It's sudden, but I'm going to sing."
- Ruri, Mobile Battleship Nadesico.