A Very Scary Bet, RAAC version
part 2a: Here's....Ranko?!?!
by greggsharp, metroanime@mindspring.com
http://metroanime.home.mindspring.com
----------------------------------------------------
Ukyou looked around the lunchroom. "Well,
at least some of the guys aren't attacking us, otherwise
this'd look like an all-girls school."
Akane leaned back in her chair. "I don't see
why we gotta learn this stuff anyway. It's not like this
stuff is gonna be any use in runnin' a dojo."
"Hello girls, and how has your first day been?"
Nabiki slid into place next to her sister. For some reason
there were a lot of empty seats nearby.
"Lotsa garbage," summed up Akane's view of
the day. "Not like this algebra stuff has any practical day
to day use. And what possible use is this English stuff
unless we take gaijin in at the dojo?"
"Not much different from school down in
Osaka," Ukyou said with a shrug. "Just a bit more violent
in the morning and the English teacher knows less than
I do about the language..."
"Now, now, Akane, don't be too quick to dismiss
the value of an education. Even if you get into running the
dojo, there's still those who'll judge you on your education
level." Nabiki smirked and started on her obento lunch. "Mrs
Saotome may be crazy, but she can really fix an obento, y'know?"
"Yeah, I s'pose. Hey, I can get a portable grill cheap,
maybe we could make and sell okonomiyaki during lunch?" A
smile lit Ukyou's face. She could do a lot with this sort of setup.
"Good idea," said Nabiki around a mouthful of rice.
"There seems to be a few opportunities for making some money
around here too. I made some pocket change at the village with
little things like my photography skills and bets on various
fights and the like. It'd be good to earn our keep in case we
gotta move out."
"Why would we do that?" Akane glanced up.
"Uhm, Akane, remember Ranchan?" Ukyou
shook her head. "I wonder what he's like nowadays?"
"No telling, and we can't let him meet his
mother until we know."
----------------------------------------------------
Ranma glanced over to where Shampoo and
this new amazon fiancee were being given a talking to
by the Doctor. "K-9?"
"Yes, young Master?"
"I need you to get something out of the TARDIS
while the Doctor is occupied."
K-9 processed this for a moment. "Do you mean
your temporal transmitter unit? Estimate a 75% chance that
the Doctor does know about the unit's existence."
"Last I checked it was still working," Ranma said,
apparently still studying the sky. "I made sure the door to
the TARDIS was unlocked, so you can get in and out without
any problem. If you would be so kind to get it and bring it to
the building whose face I am currently spotlighting with the
reflection from my wristcomp?"
"Affirmative, young Master." K-9 paused for a
moment. "You will remain behind? This unit...will miss both
of you."
"I'll miss you too, K-9, and I know that 'Ranko'
will also feel your absence." Ranma sighed. "This is my
time and my world. It's gonna feel awfully primitive and
small, but it won't be unbearable if I can bring my workshop
through."
"Affirmative, Master." K-9 trotted off. He would
immediately detect the two intruders, but determine that they,
like the girl still on board from their last visit, were not a threat
to his Master.
Ranma carefully removed his smile. Recreating his
workshop with "stone knives and bearskins" would have taken
him months. If this worked...
-------------------------------------------
Genma thought for a moment, then the panda put
away his binoculars and thought about how he was to do
this. He'd finally found Ranma, who hadn't been at the amazon
village when he'd checked the last time, but apparently the
boy had been on the move.
There was only the one trail that a Japan-bound
individual could use to get in and out of the Bayankala range.
He could "accidently" find Ranma there and defeat him, thus
proving to the boy that he still had a lot to learn about the
Anything Goes style.
Then the two could continue on and get the
necessary additional training before it became time for the
boy to meet his mother and see if he met her standards.
It was a good plan, thought Genma. Perfect.
Nothing could go wrong.
Thunder echoed through the mountains, or
perhaps it was the laughter of a passing god. Lian'Ascot, god
of temporary positions, perhaps.
----------------------October 11, 1992----------------------
Ranma waited a full hour after the TARDIS
disappeared. Shampoo and Vanilla watched, concerned,
as their fiance took a large sack and began pulling rods
of some greenish glass and silvery metal out.
"Uhm," Shampoo began.
"What you do, Ranma?" Vanilla finished with
a cool glance towards the village champion.
"I spent nine months in a world known as
RIFTS Earth. Wonderful place, so much to learn there.
A bit too violent to live there, but for educational
purposes just fine." Ranma glanced back over his
shoulder at the two. "Do you have your packs ready?
We can go to Japan very soon if this works."
"Yes, Vanilla, you go get. Shampoo keep
eye on airen."
The albino's gaze flicked back and forth
between Shampoo and Ranma for a moment, then
she gave a barely perceptible nod. She jogged back
to her home, knowing that her adopted mother would
count on her to behave in a manner proper for an
amazon while she was gone. With some degree of
dignity, and some purely gratuitous violence. (No
one would expect gratuitous sex from either of them.)
"So, you go spend time in very educational
place?" Shampoo prompted her airen. "You still looks
in very good shape for scholar-type."
"Yeah," Ranma was now fitting the rods
together in what was taking shape as a very large
rectangular outline. "I learned some temporal mechanics
during that attempted coup on Gallifrey and picked up
this little baby in case I ended up back home. Then I
was studying some of the advanced tech they've got
in this place called Phase World, then ended up on
the Rifts Earth as we chased down these Dalek bombs
that had gotten scattered through time and space."
Ranma fitted the last rod into place and
started attaching a large boxlike device to one end
of the rectangle. "Anyway, I COULD spend a lot of
time putting together little bits of technology so that
I could eventually work with the really nifty stuff, OR
I could try to sneak in some stuff."
Ranma flipped a switch on the box and
stepped back. A sparkling glow began to fill the
rectangle. Shampoo involuntarily took two steps
back, though she was well clear of it.
Shampoo estimated that the rectangle
was thirty feet across and twenty feet wide. The
shape appearing filled this and looked to be about
twenty feet in height.
Vanilla came jogging back, two large
packs in her hands, when she saw the shape
forming in the air. The packs, and her jaw, dropped.
------------------------
The Doctor looked up as something
fairly large moved through time. "That boy really
needs to learn subtlety."
"Affirmative, Master." K-9 quite
agreed. "Master, I have checked the condition
of that girl that you and the young Master saved
earlier from the world with the invaders. She has
now spent 72.385 hours within the healing capsule."
"Odd genetic structure, that girl." The
Doctor tugged unconciously at his scarf. "Very
odd. Human DNA, and I'm not sure what the rest
of it was."
"There was an unforeseen side effect,
Master." K-9 processed the remote data for an
extra five seconds, making absolutely sure of
what the sensors were telling him. "The girl has
regressed in age. Current age is approximately
nine terrestrial years."
"Get her out, then, the remaining
injuries will have to heal on their own." The
Doctor frowned. "Any data on that 'entry plug'
that she was found in?"
"Highly sophisticated biomechanical
interface, though unrefined. Certainly more than
one would expect for Terran technology circa 2015."
"Yes, yes. When humans believe themselves
cornered they can surprise you with their inventiveness."
The Doctor's eyes widened. "He wouldn't! Oh my."
----------------------------------------
Shampoo blinked at the sight before her as
SOMETHING formed out of the little green sparkles of
light inside the rectangle.
"<Shampoo, what is that?>"
"Why you ask Shampoo? Shampoo not
know. Is magic, maybe?"
"Not magic, Shampoo. Technology. Science."
Ranma watched with a grin, hoping.
The glow flickered to a stop and a massive
weight settled onto the ground on thick legs. A few
creaks and and clanks could be heard as the box sat
there, smoke coming off of its outer surfaces.
Shampoo and Vanilla tore their eyes away
from the box to watch Ranma doing cartwheels and
laughing.
"Shampoo?"
"Yes, Vanilla?"
"Airen is...very strange."
"If too strange for Vanilla, should give up
now, Shampoo take up burden of being tai tai to airen."
"Well," Vanilla said after a moment, "at least
he not boring..."
"That true." Shampoo hid her disappointment.
If she couldn't get rid of Vanilla, how could she hope to
deal with the OTHER fiancees?
"Shampoo, Vanilla," Ranma palmed a panel on
the box and a pair of steps extruded from the bottom. A
door hissed open at the top of those steps. "Your
carriage awaits. Stow your packs and grab a chair while
I dismantle the chrono beacon."
"What language he speak now, Shampoo?"
"Shampoo not sure. Sneaky girl leave amazon
village last year, Shampoo no practice Japanese." She
was beginning to consider this a mistake.
Vanilla started moving towards the steps,
but Shampoo would NOT let her only serious rival
be the first to enter this...whatever the heck it was.
"It no have wheels, so no car. It no have
track, so no train. It no have wings, so no plane. No
thingies..."
"Rotors," supplied Vanilla. "So is not a
helicopter."
Ranma whistled a happy little tune,
gathering up the network of rods he had set out
earlier. He didn't have to go back to stone knives
and bearskins! Laser welders, fusion packs,
molecular seamers, sensor suites, his favorite
hovercycle!
A shriek from within the transport ended
his pleasant fantasy. Barely a second later, Shampoo
flew down the steps and turned to unleash a rapidfire
stream of Mandarin that didn't sound at all pleasant.
"Airen!" Shampoo found him. "Chair grab
me! You tell chair not to grab amazon womans!"
"Huh?" Ranma blinked. "Oh, you mean
the restraint harness engaged?"
Shampoo looked at her airen, being able
to tell she was not going to get any sympathy out of him.
"Ranma, why not we stay in village for now. Shampoo
show you good time."
"I know you could, but I want to see my
family."
Shampoo pouted. She'd practiced this in
the mirror and knew the picture she was presenting to
her airen. Let's see Vanilla top this!
"Oh, Ranma," came Vanilla's voice. "What
mean this flashing light?"
"Don't touch ANYTHING!" Ranma grabbed
up the last rod and ran into the vehicle.
Shampoo held the cute pout for a heartbeat
then gave a disgusted noise. "Why? How did Shampoo
offend goddess? Shampoo want attention from airen!
Do she get? No! Don't want attention from stupid Mousse.
So Mousse always pester Shampoo. Urrr....."
"You coming, Shampoo?" Ranma stuck his
head out.
Shampoo looked up at Ranma, sighed, then
put on a happy face. "Coming right away, airen! You
tell chair only airen allowed hug Shampoo?"
The door whished shut behind Shampoo,
standing in the dimly lit area where Vanilla was already
strapped into a seat, and Ranma was sitting in another
seat. Shampoo made a face. All cute expressions to the
side, there was something she disliked about furniture
that moved on its own.
Shampoo sat as close to Ranma as she could
looking at all the colored screens around her in confusion.
The technology available to the amazons was generally
limited to the things that could be carried up winding
difficult paths through steep mountains. Television was
one of those decadent civilized things that distracted a
warrior from following the true path. Computers were
something that were mentioned in magazines but Shampoo
wasn't quite sure what they were.
A clanking noise came from the door. "<Shampoo!
I love you, Shampoo!>"
"Is there way to lock door, airen?"
"Hmm. Oh, just push this button."
"Thank you." Shampoo pushed the indicated button
which flashed twice after being pressed. "Stupid Mousse!"
Ranma's eyes swept the control board. "Atomic batteries
to power..." The lcd gauge read that the batteries had just brought the
fusion plant online and was putting out enough power. Ranma pushed
another button, throwing energy into the hoverjet system. "Turbines to
speed..."
Shampoo gripped her chair as she felt the box shake. "What?"
"No windows?" Vanilla's quiet voice somehow managed to cover
Mousse's startled squawk from outside the vehicle.
Ranma hit another switch and several screens around the seating
area flared to life. He frowned and one of the views changed so that it was
looking down near the doorway.
Mousse, hanging from a chain that had gotten tangled on one of
the steps, was currently fumbling for his fallen glasses. Said glasses were
continuing to fall as the boxy vehicle continued to rise.
"What is that moron doing?" Ranma stared at the monitor.
Mousse fumbled around in one sleeve, then started checking
another, still trying to find a pair of glasses. Unfortunately all this
jerking
around on the chain finally got it loose. Mousse fell. "<Shampooooooooooo!>"
Shampoo clapped her hands twice and began rubbing them
together. She'd seen Nabiki do this a few times. "Very bad for you, Mousse,
very bad you fall in spring. Terrible tragic story. So, airen, where we go?"
"Can you make a recording of this?" Vanilla asked with some
minor degree of interest. Mousse had managed to annoy even her.
Ranma tapped the auto-track control, zooming the monitor so
that Mousse's fall could be followed. As Mousse hit the water and was
submerged. All three watched as the water was broken a moment later by
the Jusenkyo Guide using a net to fish something out of the spring.
"He fall into spring of drowned cat?" Shampoo smiled. "He
hit on Nabiki once or twice. Say he do to make Shampoo jealous. Maybe
now he do for real, take Nabiki since have matching curse?"
Vanilla nodded silently. That had a certain symmetry to it. She
liked symmetry.
"Well, at least he's OK." Ranma pushed forward on one joystick
and the ship began moving forward. "Vanilla, can you see me from where you
are?"
"Yes," Vanilla acknowledged. This was why she'd chosen a seat
behind and to the side from the pilot's chair.
"Good, I'm going to go over the controls just in case either of
you ever need to pilot it. There's a voice interface, but it's programmed
for
English, which neither of you know."
"<I have some vague familiarity with English.>" Vanilla responded
in that language. She had noticed that most of the controls and displays
were
in English. The little smiley faces for status indicators were a bit...odd,
however.
"Good. You'll be a great backup pilot."
Vanilla twitched. There was something disturbing about that
comment. She was immediately lost in thought as she tried to figure out why.
Ranma engaged the stealth systems as they cleared the
mountains. No reason to take chances, after all.
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