Project A-ko
Deja 'U'

Adam Barnes tapped away idly at the keyboard of one of the most advanced
computer systems in the universe. <Universes> he corrected himself.
<Nearly unlimited processing capacity, and I'm still no closer to a
finished 'fic than back on my old Mac.>
A monitor next to him lit up, displaying a classic, 3-D happyface.
"*Heya boss! Whuzzup?*"
Adam sighed. "Look, I'm busy right now, Alpha. Can't you find something
else to do?"
Alpha Centauri pouted. "*Aww, you don't wuv me no more! WAAAAH!*"
Adam picked up a glass of water and held it threateningly in front of
the monitor. "You wanna spend the rest of the day as Ms. Pac Man?"
Alpha C. shut up. "*You're no fun. Besides there's nothing to do since
Leela locked me out of the security cams in Dee-chan's... Uhh, there's
nothing to do. Whatcha upto?*"
"I'm TRYING to write a fic!"
Alpha angled his head, eying the screen Adam was working on.
"*Isn't that what got you into this mess with the revenging anime
characters in the first place?*"
Adam nodded glumly. "I know. But I can't help myself. It's like a
disease. Besides, since I already got nailed for fics I haven't finished
yet, I figure I l give the animates something to be mad at me for."
Alpha bounced around his screen. "*Oooh goodie! You're gonna write a
lemon! Can I help?*"
Adam whacked the monitor. "Hentai! I _DON'T_ write lemons!"
"*Then can I write one?*"
"NO! And if you mention it again I'll make you read 'A Real Man II'
again."
Alpha sulked. "*You NEVER let me have any fun!*"
"That's right! The LAST time I let you have fun I ended up with a
Jusenkyo curse!" Adam dumped the water on himself, shrinking about a
foot and changing into an attractive redhaired girl. Her clothes morphed
and reformed to fit her (courtesy of a Wyrm-brand morph suit, specially
designed for Jusenkyo sufferers).
Alpha was about to reply when a shout echoed through cyberspace.
"CENTAURI!!!!!"
"*Oops!*" Alpha C. muttered. "*Looks like Leela found out about my
'prank'.*"
"Prank? What did you do to her this time?"
"*You don't wanna know, but it involves a digitally edited photo, a
chain letter and the American prison system. Bye!*" Alpha C. zipped
offscreen, followed by a burst of energy.
"DIVINE RETRIBUTION!" Leela cried, chasing after the perverted AI.
Adam-chan sighed, catching sight of herself in the now blank monitor.
<Hmm, red hair. That gives me an idea. No Ranma, but maybe...> she began
to type furiously.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Project A-ko: Deja 'U'

Author's note: This fic takes place 2 years after the events of the
Project A-ko movie and OAV series (I'm assuming she was in the
equivalent of grade 10 at the beginning of the first movie). There are
shameless references to all sorts of anime, manga and American comic
book characters, which means that if I don't include some kind of
disclaimer I will be paying lawsuits for the next century. Well, maybe
not, since I don't own anything. Still, the majority of the characters
portrayed in this fic are owned by someone else. There. That was easy.

By the way, this is a ROUGH draft, and also my first fic, so go easy on
me (yeah, as if THAT'S gonna happen!)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The campus grounds were a lot bigger than A-ko had initially imagined.
She gazed at the seemingly endless sprawl of buildings, her eyes glazing
over in shock. <How am I supposed to find the Admin. building? This
place is like a maze!>.
C-ko peeked out around A-ko. At first she was a little nervous, but her
apprehension dissolved as she saw the campus. "Oh WOW! Gee! This place
is so cool!" She grabbed A-ko's arm and dragged her along, trying to
look at everything at once. There was the mecha construction building,
where students were building and testing their mechs, the graphics arts
building, which was made up to look like a giant painting canvas with an
image of a techno Mona Lisa on it, and so many other wondrous sights
that C-ko's
brain threatened to go into overload. Not that it would have made much
of a difference, mind. Finally her eyes alighted on the best feature of
the entire campus.
"A SWING!" She cried, releasing A-ko's hand and running over to the
swing set. She jumped onto the nearest seat and began swinging back and
forth. "A swing a swing a swing a swing! A-ko! Gimme a push?"
A-ko sighed in exasperation. "C-ko! We don't have time to play right
now!" She grabbed C-ko's hand and pulled her off the swing. "We have to
find the Admin. building!"
"Awwww..." C-ko replied, disappointed. But she followed calmly enough.
Until she saw the next thing that interested her. A-ko spent the next
twenty minutes wandering around campus with a hyper C-ko darting around
her at the end of A-ko arm like an overstimulated five year-old. <You
would think that at eighteen she would have grown up a little.> A-ko
thought mentally.
After graduating high school, they had both registered at Graviton
International University. They had done all their course selection at
the downtown office to avoid the crowds and lineups at the campus, but
now A-ko wished she had registered at the University grounds like
everyone else. At least then she would have gotten a chance to get
familiar with the University. Now the orientation classes were scheduled
to begin in twenty minutes, and they still hadn't picked up their
timetables!
A-ko was distracted by C-ko's flailings, and didn't notice the figure in
front of them until she walked right into him, knocking him over. A-ko
stumbled by kept her feet.
"Oh geez! I'm really sorry! I should have paid more attention to where I
was going!"
"S'okay." The silver haired man said. A-ko initially thought he was
middle aged, from the hair, but when he turned and she heard his voice,
she realized that he was about her age, and relatively cute at that. He
paused, eyes bugging. "A-ko?"
A-ko didn't know how to react. <Do I know him? Is he an old enemy? A
friend?> "Uhh, yeah. Hi."
The silver haired youth smiled, picking himself up. "Don't remember me,
huh? I'm not surprised. I think it was... seven years ago, ouch! My hair
was a different colour then. Do you remember Kyle Magnus?"
A-ko screwed up her face in concentration. She really sucked with names.
<Kyle? Arrgh! I can't remember!> "No, sorry."
Kyle's face fell, but he kept at it. "Grade five? Graviton elementary?
Miss Hinako's class? Remember she was always trying to nail you with
that coin trick of hers?"
Something clicked in A-ko's head. "I remember! You put yourself between
her and me once. For some reason you BOTH ended up in the infirmary."
"I guess my battle aura didn't taste very good." He replied, dusting
himself off. "Who's your friend?"
C-ko had been hiding behind A-ko, staring at Kyle. Suddenly she darted
out, sticking her hand out. "C-ko Kotabuki! Nice to meet you!"
Kyle was startled, but recovered quickly. "Uh, hi."
"C-ko was at Graviton elementary too." A-ko said. "Remember?"
"Umm, yeah, sure." Kyle lied. To be truthful, all he really remembered
about elementary school was A-ko, and Miss Hinako because she was always
trying to discipline A-ko. That and because whenever Hinako did her
little coin trick she went through some... changes that the pubescent
boys in the class found _very_ interesting.
A-ko abruptly remembered about the time. "I don't want to sound rude, I
mean its really nice meeting you again, Kyle, but C-ko and I _really_
need to get to the Admin. building, do you know where it is?"
Kyle reached into his pocket and pulled out a small metal disk.
"No, but I can find it for you." He tapped a pressure point on the edge
of the disk and a holographic map of the campus appeared.
"Ooooooooh!" C-ko said. "That's so neat! Where dja get it? Can I get
one? Can it play video games? How does it _mmmrph_!" C-ko's questions
were muffled when A-ko clamped a hand over her mouth.
"Sorry about that." A-ko said sheepishly. "She gets carried away."
"Uh, yeah, sure. Here's the Admin. building." Kyle pointed to one of the
holographic buildings. "Here, the path is marked on the map. He handed
the disk to her, pointing to the glowing line stretching from their
position on the holomap to the Admin. building."
"Great!" A-ko exclaimed. "Thank you very much! Can I borrow this?"
"Uh... well, yeah I guess, but..."
"Thanksabunchbye!" A-ko grabbed C-ko's arm and rocketed off. Kyle
sighed. He was hoping he would get a chance to take her there himself,
maybe catch-up a bit. He had never expected to see her again, especially
after he had been forced to leave school like he did.
<I didn't even get her phone number. I guess I'm lucky she remembered me
at all.> He thought glumly. Kyle had been infatuated with A-ko since
grade four, but her. She had been so beautiful, and confident, and
_tall_ that he figured she was hopelessly out of his league. Then Hinako
had caught A-ko stomping some schoolyard bullies who were picking on her
blond-haired friend. <Huh. I DO remember C-ko after all.>
Hinako had misinterpreted the fight, and had prepared to 'discipline'
A-ko. Kyle didn't know why he threw himself in front of A-ko. He knew it
was pointless as soon as Hinako drained him, she would hit A-ko. But
that wasn't what happened.
Instead of draining his battle aura, Hinako tapped into something else
within Kyle. Something Kyle's father had told him to keep a secret at
all costs. The sudden release of energy knocked him cold, and threw Miss
Hinako into shock. Kyle's father had transferred him out of the school
the next day. At least Kyle had the satisfaction of discovering that
Hinako had left as well. It seems she had said something about going
back to someplace called Nerima, where it was safer. Whatever that
meant.
Kyle glanced at his watch. <Shit! It's 8:15! My orientation class is in
fifteen minutes!> He looked around, suddenly wishing he hadn't given
A-ko his only map. <Where the HELL is the science building?>
He glanced around. He knew what the science building looked like, and if
he could figure out what direction it was, he could find it easily. But
a forest of buildings blocked his view. He checked again, making sure no
one was around. Then he *felt* for his internal energy level. He hadn't
drained off all his charge this morning, so there was a little
remaining. not a lot, but hopefully enough for what he was planning. If
he _didn't_, it could get a little messy.
To an outside observer, it would have appeared that Kyle Magnus shot
straight up into the air, like he was fired from a cannon. To Kyle, it
was simply a matter of tapping into Earth's magnetic field, and using
his stored charge to exert pressure against it, just _so_. He was now at
least thirty feet above the tops of the nearest building, and he could
see the main science building off the the west. He dropped quickly,
before anyone could see him.
This was the point where running out of charge could get sticky, but
Kyle managed to soft land with a minimum of difficulty, stumbling only a
little. He noticed he still had some charge left over. <Save that for
lunch.> He thought, smiling.
Then he thought about what might happen if his father found out he had
used his powers. Kyle had been forbidden to ever, EVER use his
abilities, under ANY circumstances. But his Dad was back on Genosha now.
<He can't tell me what to do anymore.> Kyle thought rebelliously. Then
he remembered what had happened to Miss Hinako and the... other incident
with his powers and shuddered. He set out for the science building
running, promising himself that he wouldn't do this ever again.

A-ko slowed to more human speeds as she approached the Admin. building.
<Finally!> she thought. She examined the disk Kyle had given her, and
quickly figured out how to turn it off. <It was nice of him to loan this
to me.> Then she remembered that she didn't know how to get in touch
with him to return it. <Oh well, I suppose I'll see him on campus.>
The Admin. building was a sprawling bureaucratic monstrosity on par with
any government establishment. Perhaps even greater since it had only the
blood, sweat and tears of penniless university students to feed itself.
A-ko entered the building nervously, unable to shake the feeling that
she was stepping into the mouth of some great man-eating monster. Which
wasn't too far from the truth, actually.
A-ko groaned as she saw the line in front of the registrar's office.
There was no WAY she'd make it to class in time now! She resigned
herself to the fact and stood in line, C-ko in tow.
"Well well, if it isn't A-ko." Someone said behind her. "I didn't think
the janitorial staff were required to register."
A-ko recognized the snooty, nasty, superior sneer in that voice. She
turned and addressed the speaker coldly. "Hello, B-ko."
The lavender haired girl grinned back nastily. Behind her were her usual
corps of flunkies. "Shouldn't you have a mop or something, A-ko?" she
asked sweetly.
"For your information, B-ko, I'm a _student_ here. I'm just here to pick
up my timetable."
B-ko sighed in mock sympathy. "Oh, too bad. And by the time you do,
you'll have missed your first class! I'm afraid that won't make a very
good impression, will it? Just like with Miss Ayumi."
A-ko gritted her teeth <And just WHO was responsible for me being late
to class all the time?>
"You're not going to fight again, are you A-ko?" C-ko asked. "You
promised you wouldn't!"
A-ko unclenched her fists. <That's right, I promised. B-ko's just trying
to goad me into fighting. Well I'm not falling for it!> Suddenly she had
a thought. "And just what are YOU doing here, B-ko? Wouldn't someone of
your intellect and natural good breeding have picked up their timetable
by now?"
B-ko's eyes narrowed for a second, then she forced a smile. "Oh, someone
as charming as myself doesn't need to come early." She walked up to one
of the boys standing near the front of the line and tapped his shoulder.
"Hello there. Would you mind terribly much if I cut in line?"
The young man looked her over for a moment. He was about to say 'no'
when he noticed the huge form of Mari cracking her knuckles behind B-ko.
"S-sure... no problem!"
"Thank you." B-ko said sweetly, stepping into line.
A-ko's face was red with rage. <How _dare_ B-ko do that! If she thinks
I'm going to let her get away with bullying here, she got another...>
A-ko was about to charge up to B-ko and flatten her and her little goon
squad when she felt an hand on her arm. She turned and saw C-ko looking
up at her with her big green puppy-dog eyes.
"Don't fight anymore A-ko! Please?"
A-ko sighed. <One of these days I'm going to have to explain to C-ko
that sometimes you don't have a choice but to fight.>
"I hope this isn't standard practice around here." A voice said behind
A-ko. She turned to look.
Behind her was an extremely attractive, raven-haired young man, probably
American from the accent. He was looking past A-ko at B-ko's goon squad
with an annoyed look on his face.
"It's standard practice for B-ko, I'm afraid." A-ko said. "I knew her in
high school.>
The young man redirected his gaze at her. His blue eyes sparkled as he
smiled. "If you were there, I guess your high school couldn't have been
ALL bad. Johnny Stark."
A-ko smiled back shyly. "A-ko Magami." <Hmmm, a little forward.> she
thought to herself. <He's certainly no Kei. Still, he IS cute!>
B-ko suppressed an urge to laugh as she picked up her timetable. <Oh,
A-ko must be absolutely SEETHING by now! This will be easier than I
thought!> B-ko's plan was brilliant in its simplicity. She knew A-ko had
promised C-ko that she wouldn't fight anymore. All B-ko had to do was
goad A-ko into throwing the first punch and break her promise in front
of C-ko. That would break C-ko's heart and she would run...
...Straight into B-ko's arms. B-ko had formulated the plan as soon as
she learned A-ko had been accepted to Graviton U, but she hadn't
expected it to work so well so fast! A-ko had nearly attacked her right
at the registrars desk! B-ko mentally added a note to her plan to try
and get A-ko to attack her in front of a school official. Maybe she
could get her expelled as well! B-ko hummed happily as she walked away
from the registrar's desk, until she heard someone giggle.
Her head whipped around, and she was shocked to find that _A-ko_ was the
source of the giggle. C-ko stood looking bored as A-ko flirted
shamelessly with some guy. <That TRAMP! How DARE she neglect C-ko like
that!> B-ko fumed. She *harumphed*, lifted her chin and stormed
imperiously out of the building as A-ko handed the boy her dorm phone
number. A-ko didn't seem to notice.

<This day can NOT get any better!> Johnny Stark was on Cloud Nine. Not
only had he been accepted into the most prestigious technological
institute in the world, _unconditionally_ no less, but he had just met a
cute redhead and scored her dorm phone number. Johnny had a 'thing' for
cute redheads. Which wasn't unusual, since about half the male
population of the planet had a 'thing' for cute redheads. She had been
in some sort of spat with another snooty girl with her own personal goon
squad, and once she had left, A-ko had lost some of her enthusiasm, and
Johnny hadn't been able to secure a date. <Oh well, I'll get her next
time.> He thought happily. Now that his orientation class was over, he
had the rest of the day to himself. First order of business: Get a place
to sleep.
He checked his holographic map disk again. <Damn this place is a maze!
Where the hell are the dorm buildings?> He wasn't paying attention and
bumped into someone.
"Oh, sorry." John mumbled.
"No big deal." The person he had collided looked around like he was
totally lost. <I know the feeling.> John thought. The stranger adjusted
his backpack, removing his yellow and black bandanna to wipe his brow.
John was startled to see another identitcal bandanna underneath. He
looked as though he had been walking for days.
"Where on Earth am I now?" The stranger asked no one in particular.
"Good question." John replied. Another lost student.
The stranger turned to look at him. "Do you know how to get to Nerima?"
"Nerima?" John asked. <I haven't heard of that part of the campus. It's
certainly not on the map.> "Uhh, no. Sorry."
The lost stranger sighed and moved on. John shook his head. <You would
think such an advanced campus like this would have clued in to the
concept of directional signs.> He returned to his map, finally figuring
out the proper route.
He didn't really need to bunk at the dorm. As the nephew of the majority
stockholder of a major multinational company, he could pretty much
afford an apartment anywhere in Graviton city. Or a house, or a damned
skyscraper. But he wanted to get into the 'University Experience'. He
had heard some of his uncle's stories, and although some of it was a
little extreme, it sounded like a lot of fun. If that meant putting up
with a roommate, so be it.
He trudged along the halls of the dorm, passing by a number of students,
some of them fresh-faced like him, some dull-eyed and caffine frazzled,
obvious long-time residents. <Lesse.... D325... D326... D327... aha!
D328!> Johnny took out the key the registrar had given him. Before he
opened the door, he knocked to see if anyone was inside.
"It's open." Someone said from inside. John shrugged. Part of him had
hoped to have the room to himself for a little while, at least until he
got settled. But he knew he was going to have a roommate, so he didn't
mind much. If he didn't like the guy he could always got out and find an
apartment. He opened the door.
Inside a young man with unusual silver-white hair lay on one of the beds
reading a textbook. He put the book down and sat up.
"I guess I'm you're roommate." John said. "Johnny Stark." He checked his
room assignment sheet. "You're Kyle Magnum?"
Kyle made a face. "Magnus. Damn, I thought I had them fix that! Damned
bureacrats!" The face was replaced with a grin as he extended his hand.
"Nice to meet you. I'm harmless. Mostly."
John took the extended hand. He was usually a good judge of character,
and he had a feeling he was going to like Kyle. "Well I'm dangerous.
Really not farking safe to be around."
Kyle flopped back on the bed. "At least things won't be boring  then."
John dumped his duffel bag on the bed as Kyle watched. "That all you
brought?" Kyle asked.
"Just the essentials. The rest is in storage, or en route." John
replied, pulling the items out of his bag. <Lesse, CD player? Check.
Portable computer? Check. Technical manuals? Check.>
Kyle watched as John pulled outeach item. "Have you even got a change of
clothes?"
"Huh? No. Like I said, the essentials. I'll go into town later and pick
up some things."
Kyle choked. "'Go into town and pick up some things'? Are you trying to
blow your entire year's budget in one day?"
John grinned. "Sure! Don't worry, I can handle it. Financially, I mean.
Are you from around here?"
Kyle nodded. "Well, I was born here. I haven't been back for a few
years, but..."
"Cool, you can show me where the hot spots are."
"Hot spots?"
"Y'know, clubs, pool halls, bad tourist attractions, that sort of
thing."
Kyle shook his head. "You wanna go CLUBBING? I don't know about you, but
MY budget certainly can't handle that!"
John waved hi hand dismissively. "Don't worry, I'll cover it. I just met
a righteous babe on campus, and I need to know where to take her on a
date. This is purely for research."
Kyle shrugged his shoulders and gave up. <If this guy wants to slaughter
his bank account on the first day, who'm I to stop him? Besides, if I
go, maybe I can keep him from going overboard. Anyway, it might be fun!>

B-ko scanned through the university files. It had been ridiculously easy
to slice them out of the University mainframe, despite its suposedly
'hack proof' reputation. She finally found the photo she was looking
for: The black-haired boy A-ko was chatting with. She read the firt few
lines of his file.

Name: Stark, John Anthony
Program: Advanced Cybertronic Engineering/ Powersuit design option.

<Hmm. Same program as me.> B-ko thought. <Different option, though.>
B-ko had opted for Mecha design, planning on taking the powersuit option
once she had completed the mecha program. The two programs did share
some classes, however, and a quick check of John Stark's timetable
confirmed that they would indeed have some classes together. She kept on
reading.

Parental/Guardian contacts: Uncle: Stark, Anthony. Stark Enterprises

B-ko gasped. He was the nephew of Tony Stark? That _certainly_
complicated things. Blackmail was out, as was assasination. B-ko
shuddered at the possibility of A-ko and Stark getting together. Such an
event would give A-ko access to resources to match B-ko's. If she had
access to Stark Industries lawyers, she might even be able to get an
assault charge past the Daitokuji financial group's lawyer screen. B-ko
sighed. She couldn't wait for her brilliant plan to come to fruition
now, lest A-ko forge an alliance with this new player. <Oh well, on to
plan 'B'>.
B-ko made her way down to her automated mecha construction facility.
Mindless destruction was just sooooo much more satisfying anyway.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Adam-chan finished up the installment with satisfaction. "There! First
installment!"
"*It's only seven pages.*" Alpha said. He had obviously found some hot
water.
"It's only the first bit." Adam-chan replied. "I want to do it in 25k
chunks to avoid problems with the FFML'ers mail servers."
"*You do realise that this is an extrordinarily BAD idea, don't you?*"
Alpha said.
"What? It isn't THAT bad!
"*That's not the point! Do you realise that you are writing a fic where
the main characters are capable of infliciting obscene amounts of damage
on your person with very little effort?*"
"What could they do?" Adam-chan replied. "I mean, that the characters
from Ranma or Bubblegum Crisis aren't capable of?"
"*They could have C-ko cook for you.*"
Adam-chan went pale. "Urk."

There. hope you liked it (t starts out slow, I know! But there's more
action in the second part, I promise!) Feel free to send me comments,
corrections, screaming hateful flame-mail, etc. Keep in mind this is a
ROUGH draft!

The Prime Saggitarian,
Alpha Centauri

<<END OF LINE>>