Gateway Between Patterns. 
Part 1a: A Beginning. 
By Matrix Dragon. 

ReBoot is the property of Mainframe Entertainment. Ranma 1/2 belongs to 
Rumiko Takahashi and Wheel of Time belongs to
Robert Jordan. Anything else belongs to whoever they belong to. Don't do 
anything to this story without asking. That should
cover the copyright stuff. I hope. 

Note: This is set at the beginning of the Wheel of Time series, after 
the end of season three of ReBoot and after the battle
against Herb in Ranma 1/2. This means Nodoka does not know about the 
curse yet  (Very important in a future part),
Mainframe is back in one piece (For now), and all hell hasn't broken out 
in the Wheel of Time universe (I'm saving that for
later:) 

There are a number of people to thank/blame/send death threats to. These 
include Louis-Philippe Giroux for Differing Powers
(A personal favorite) John Walter Biles for Parallel Lives and him and 
Jeremy Blackman for Taveren 1/2. 
*** 

The Wheel of Time turns and Ages come and go, leaving memories that 
become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth 
is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth returns again. In one 
age, called the Third Age by some, an age yet to come, an
Age long past, a wind blew across the Energy Sea. The wind was not the 
beginning. There are neither beginnings or endings to
the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning. 

The wind blew across the docks, where the Saucy Mare II and Mainframe 
Task Force ships were docked. The wind blew
past them and into the city of Quadra. It continued to blow, weakening 
until it reached the Guardian known as Matrix. He felt
the cool wind blow across his face and smiled. Ever since the User 
restored Mainframe, he had stopped taking things for
granted and enjoyed life. He knew he had changed once again, only this 
time, he was happy with who he was. 

He looked at the Vidwindow in his hands, reading the information on it. 
According to the data Turbo had given them, this
systems Principle Office had a unknown type of Gateway hardware. No-one 
alive knew how to operate it, but it was known to
be part of a religion that existed YEARS ago, back before the Guardian 
Collective was created. *Maybe Bob knows a bit
about the religion,* he thought as he flew into the building where the 
Portal was located. 

In the main room, the portal stood tall and off-line, with the Mainframe 
sprites standing in front of it. Bob and Ray were using
their.... unique abilities to examine the device. Matrix walked in and, 
using his bionic eye, began to do the same thing. The
readings weren't much. *Let's see now..... Made of pure silicon, no 
energy readings, all in all, pretty boring.* He deactivated
his sensors and looked at it normally. It looked a lot like the gateway 
hardware Megabyte had used once, a giant silver ring,
with the symbols of an ancient language engraved on it. Matrix walked 
over to where Bob stood. The blue skinned man looked
at the ring, seemingly lost in his thoughts. 

"It's pretty impressive Bob." 

"That it is Matrix. It's a major part of an ancient religion. They 
believed that all life was part of a pattern, time and space, good
and evil mixing across it. Where our thread went through the pattern was 
our life." Bob gave a wry grin. "Personally, I think that
our threads are pretty much screwed." Matrix grinned. There was the Bob 
he knew, back in the old days. 

"So, what does this gateway do anyway?" 

"It's a pathway between patterns." 

"You mean between systems." 

Bob had a confused look on his face. "No. The information we have of 
that time period says that they treated all systems as
part of one pattern. It doesn't make sense. If only I could 
remember...." Bob trailed off. 

"Remember what mate?" Ray walked up to the Guardians, Board under his 
arm. 

"The Glitch half of me lived back then. It was that long ago it's hard 
to remember. I just wish I knew how to activate this damn
thing!" Suddenly all three sprites jumped as they sensed HUGE energy 
readings. A shimmering portal began to appear in the
middle of the ring. Ray stepped back, fear etched across his face. 
Matrix noticed Bob was doing the same. "Bob! What's
wrong?" 

Bob raised a shaking finger at the portal. "T-That doesn't lead to 
another system. It leads to another dimension!" 

"What!" Dot yelled out. 

*** 

"What!" Dot stepped back. Back before the war, Bob had told her stories 
of how a number of Guardians and other sprites had
somehow ended up in other worlds, places where everything was different. 
No-one knew how it happened, although it was
believed that the stranger your life is, the more likely it was to 
happen to you. *Go figure!* 

Suddenly Enzo screamed! Spinning around, she saw the reason why. Her 
younger brother had started to glow a faint white
color. Come to think of it, everyone was glowing! She stared at her 
hands, realizing that the same glow was covering her body.
In less than a nano, the glow grew to bright to stand. All that she 
could see was that white. 

*** 

Meanwhile, a world away, it was a normal day in Nerima. Normal being 
like so: Ranma had been splashed on the way to
school, meaning Kuno had started rambling on and on about his 
'pig-tailed goddess' being enslaved by the 'Foul Sorcerer
Saotome.' Ukyou had brought food for Ranma, and Ryouga was about to 
pound her for letting women hang off her, while not
caring about how poor Akane feels (Not that Akane cares for Ranma, mind 
you). Meanwhile, half the women in Nerima were
after a certain pervert. If anyone was paying attention, they would have 
noticed a small device in Happosai's left hand. Anyone
who had seen one before would recognize it as a keytool. Of course this 
would be difficult due to the fact that a keytool
shouldn't be anywhere on Earth. Suddenly the keytool began to glow. The 
glow began to spread up the perverts arm and
across his body. Soon Happosai was bathed in a bright white glow. With 
the thunderclap of air filling a vacuum, both keytool
and pervert were gone. 

Ranma-chan stopped increasing pressure on Kuno's head. "All right! No 
more pervert!" 

Akane glared at her. "Wrong, you're still here, Baka!" 

"Kawaikunee!" 

"Ranma no Baka!" The mallet hit both Ranma and Kuno, driving them a 
meter into the ground. Ranma-chan began to pull
herself out, kicking Kuno in the face along the way. 

"SAOTOME!! PREPARE TO DIE!!" Ryouga roared as he charged the 
boy-turned-girl. 

"Morning P-Chan! Sleep well - what the hell!? Ryouga, what's happening 
to you?" For now Ryouga was glowing the same
color as Happosai. Then Ranma-chan looked around. Akane and Ukyou had 
that same glow. Then she realized she was
glowing too! The glow spread down her legs, across her feet and onto 
Kunos face. *Wonderful. What is it this time?* 

"Ranma! This is all -" Ryouga's voice was cut off by a thunderclap as he 
disappeared, followed by Akane, Ukyou, Ranma and
Kuno. All was quiet until - 

"All right everyone! I will now take bets on where they went!" 

*** 

Enzo felt someone shaking him. "Go 'way Dot. I don't wanna go to school 
today. Let me have some downtime." 

Matrix grinned. Some things never change. "Wake up hotshot." 

"What? Matrix? Hey, what happened to your skin?" Then the young sprite 
saw his own hands, and Bob standing there, and
woke all the way up. Their skin and hair had changed color. Everyone 
looked like normal people on Earth. Frisket looked like
an everyday dog, with brown fur, instead of red. They were in a forest 
of some sort, in the middle of winter. Enzo had seen
something like this before. "A game cube?" 

Matrix shook his head. "I don't think so. We're all in our normal 
clothes, and ReBooting didn't work. No Vidwindows or other
types of communication. Zipboards are working at least. I've never seen 
anything like this happen before." *I wish I knew how
that gateway worked so I might actually have a clue where we are.* He 
scanned again with his bionic eye. "Strange. I'm getting
odd readings from right in front of -" Suddenly a flash of light burst 
in front of them, blocking all their sensors. When it cleared
up, a group of people stood there. What looked like a giant prune yelled 
as the keytool it was holding flew out of it's hands and
attached itself to Matrix's arm, beeping happily. Matrix looked at it in 
suprise. "Your name's Chip is it? Nice to meet you. I'm
Matrix." 

The prune was mad, but brightened up no end when he saw AndrAIa. 
"Hotcha!!" With that he was attached to AndrAIa's
chest. 

"Get off me you HentAI!" Ranma-chan stepped forward, tore the old man 
off, and sent him into Low Earth Orbit. Matrix
decided to test his new Keytool. He targeted Happousai. 

"Chip, cutter." A very sharp razor blade flew up into the air, 
connecting with the sicko, causing a scream of pain, before
returning to the Guardian. "Nice." He turned to look at the newcomers, 
then remembered where he had seen one of them
before. "Ryouga, long time no see. How are you?" 

Ryouga blinked as he realized who it was. "Matrix, it's good to see you 
again. You look a lot older. What happened to your
skin?" 

"Beats me. A few minutes ago, we were all in this cavern, all normal, 
than *BANG* we're all here, with different skin and hair,
after which you and your friends show up." 

Ranma-chan looked at Ryouga and Matrix, very confused. "Ryouga, who are 
these people?" 

Ryouga glared at the girl. "I was in another dimension once. I ran into 
Matrix and AndrAIa," pointing at them as he spoke, "and
traveled with them for a while. Those three look a bit like pictures of 
Bob, Dot and Mouse, old friends of theirs. I don't know
who that one is..." 

"Ray Tracer, mate. A Websurfer." 

"Really? Always wanted to try that. Never got the chance. And that looks 
like Matrix when he was younger. Don't ask me
how." 

Enzo grinned. "I'm Enzo. Matrix's 'younger' brother." 

Akane bowed to them. "I'm Akane Tendo." 

Matrix returned the bow. "It's a honor to meet you. Ryouga spoke well of 
you." 

Ukyou also bowed "Ukyou Kuonji." 

"It's a pleasure to meet you" 

Kuno looked at him with the look that makes you want to pound him. "My 
name is Upperclassman Kunou Tatewaki.  Captain
of the Kendo club.  My peers call me "The Blue Thunder" of Fuurinkan 
High. Ah, my dear lady AndrAIa, you are a true
beauty. I would date thee." 

"Sorry mister, but I'm already taken. Matrix and I are engaged." 

Ryouga grinned. "You two are perfect for each other. When's the 
wedding?" 

"Well, we haven't ......." 

"Matrix! I challenge thee for the fair lady AndrAIa's heart!" Kuno drew 
his bokken and charged Matrix, only to be met by a
large trident that sent him flying into Low Earth Orbit. AndrAIa was 
_MAD_. 

Akane looked at AndrAIa. "He's always like that." 

"Really!?" 

Ranma-chan shook Matrix's hand. "Ranma Saotome" 

Matrix looked confused. "Ryouga spoke of you as a - oh right, Jusenkyo, 
right?" 

"Yeah, how did you know about that?" 

"Ryouga... mentioned it once. Chip, water heater." The keytool turned 
into a small device which Matrix filled with snow. In a
few seconds it was hot water. "Here." 

"Thanks. Where did you get that? I could use something like that." 

"It's a bit hard to do that. I'll explain later. First of all we need to 
find out what's going on. My sensors are picking up signs of
civilization that way. Come on." 

Ryouga looked at AndrAIa a bit better. She was taller than he 
remembered, and she didn't have that shell on her chest
anymore...... Suddenly he realized how little she was wearing on top, 
and was fighting one of the biggest nosebleeds he had
ever had. 

AndrAIa rubbed her arms, than tapped her icon, changing her clothes to 
something a bit more suited for winter. Ryouga
relaxed. Several other Mainframers did the same thing. 

*** 

As they walked, they told of how they had ended up wherever they were. 
Dot was the first to come up with a idea that made
sense. "The gateway pulled us here to complete some task, and gave us 
what we needed to do it. That includes a normal
appearance for this world, and the allies we needed. You four plus the 
other two." 

"Are you sure those two are needed? They have a habit of causing most of 
the trouble." Ukyou was hoping beyond hope that
they didn't have to work with those two. 

"Well, when you showed up, Happousai was holding Chip and Ranma had his 
foot in Kunos face It could be bad luck they
turned up." 

"I hope so. So any idea what to do next?" Ranma hoped it didn't include 
getting engaged to anyone else. 

"None. The only thing of any use is this map that was in my hand when we 
arrived. Just remember, they most likely don't have
people with abilities like ours, so no ki blasts you two," she said, 
pointing at Ranma and Ryouga. "Matrix, for once don't shoot
up the place." 

"Who, me?" 

"Yes, you. Bob, Ray, you two don't use your powers. Now here's our cover 
story...." 

*** 

Ranma looked behind him, sensing something. A few dozen meters back rode 
a black cloaked figure. The hood was pulled up,
and Ranma couldn't see the face. Then he saw something that creeped him 
out big time. The wind, which was blowing his hair
around everywhere, wasn't touching the mans cloak. Ranma shook his head, 
confused, and when he looked again, the rider
and horse were gone. Ranma figured he must have been seeing things, then 
ran to catch up. 

*** 

Enzo looked behind him, sensing something. A few dozen meters back rode 
a black cloaked figure. The hood was pulled up,
and he couldn't see the face. Then he saw something that worried him big 
time. The wind, which was blowing his hair around
everywhere, wasn't touching the mans cloak. Not watching where he was 
going, the young sprite tripped. standing up, he
looked behind him. The man was gone. Enzo stared, them ran close enough 
to Matrix to talk to him telepathically. 

*Did you see that?* 

*See what?* 

*There was some guy on a horse.* Matrix looked behind them. No-one 
there. 

*Relax hotshot, just your imagination.* 

*Yeah, you're probably right.* 

*** 

The group walked into the village, getting strange looks from everyone. 
Bob guessed the reason first. "Compare their clothes to
ours. We really stand out here. I think we'll have to get new clothes, 
and fast." 

Ranma took a smell of some of the stuff cooking. "That smells good. 
Better than what Akane's cooking smells like. And a hell
of a lot safer to smell too." 

"RANMA NO BAKA!" Akane swung a fist, sending Ranma down the street, 
landing him in a heap near a cart filled with
barrels. 

*** 

Bran al'Vere, Tam and Rand al'Thor and Mat  watched as one blow from the 
young girl sent the boy with the braid in his hair
past four houses to land at their feet. Rand's jaw hung open. "Light, no 
one should be able to hit that hard! Are you all right?" 

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks. What did you do that for, Akane?" 

"You insulted my cooking!" 

"With good reason. That stuff's deadly!" 

"Why you..." 

"Enough!" Both teens looked at one of their companions. He was wearing a 
suit of silver armor, was a normal height with
brown eyes and long black hair. "You two are going to cause us trouble 
we don't need right now. So stop the fighting!" 

"All right." The boy looked at Rand and Tam. "Sorry about nearly 
crashing into you like that." 

Rand shook his head. "Don't worry about it. I'm Rand al'Thor." 

"Ranma Saotome." He then introduced the rest of the group. Tam looked at 
the group hard. *A good number of them are
fighters. They'd be hard to take on in a fight.* aloud he said, "You 
arrived here in Emond's Field just in time for Winternight.
Where are you from, my friends?" Half answered Nerima, the other half 
answered Mainframe. One of them, Ryouga his name
was, didn't answer to either. "What about you boy?" 

Ranma grinned. "He's got no sense of direction. He's got no idea where 
his home is." 

"Shut up Ranma!" With that, Ryouga pulled the umbrella off his back and 
swung at the other boy. 

"Save it for later Ryouga! We've got more important things to deal 
with." 

Tam mentally sighed with relief as the boy put the umbrella away. "So, 
what are you doing here?" 

It was Matrix who took up the story here. "We've been traveling for the 
past few years. We just go wherever we end up,
dealing with things as they happen." 

Mat had an idea. "Maybe you should stay for Bel tine. There'll be 
fireworks and a gleeman, not to mention dancing." 

Ranma looked at the others. "Why not? It's been a while since we've seen 
fireworks." 

Bob nodded. "We do need to get our bearings. Master al'Vere, I'm afraid 
we don't have any money left on us. By any chance
you wouldn't know of anyone who needs work done for them?" 

Bran al'Vere nodded. "Tam here needs these barrels unloaded. Do that and 
a few other jobs I need done and you can have
rooms for the night. I've got a few spare." 

"Thank you. C'mon you lot, give me a hand here." Most of the group 
grabbed a barrel, except Matrix and Ranma, who
grabbed two, and followed Rand into the cellar. AndrAIa stopped, reached 
back, and turned Ryouga around (who was not
looking anywhere near her chest) , then followed the group. 

*** 

"So, what's life like around here?" Ranma asked as he dumped the barrels 
in the cellar. Rand laughed. 

"Quiet. Very quiet. Nothing ever happens here, except every now and then 
someone makes the Wisdom mad. Usually Mat." 

"HEY!! That's not true!" 

"Oh yeah? Then what about the time that you put that itching powder in 
the wisdoms clothes? Or the time you...." 

"Okay, okay, you made your point. Sheesh, it's not my fault." Mat looked 
annoyed. Ranma grinned. 

"I know how you feel. I get the blame for stuff I don't do. In fact, I 
get the blame for almost anything. I've never figured that
out." 

"Baka! You haven't figured it out because you're a stupid pervert!" 

"Kawaikunee!" 

"RANMA NO BAKA!" The mallet made its usual appearance. Rand and Mat 
stared in shock. Dot held her head in her hands,
feeling the headache that was coming.... 

*** 

Nynaeve al'Meara, Wisdom of Emond's Field, was not in a good mood (not 
that she often was in the first place anyway, but
that's not the point). All these strangers coming to the village at once 
could only mean trouble. Take a look at what those girls
were wearing! Talk about indecent! She stomped off, hoping to catch Mat 
in the middle of something he shouldn't be in, so she
could pound on him and work of some of that stress. 

She found Mat, Ranma, Perrin, Matrix, Ewin and Rand sitting in front of 
the inn, talking. And not causing any trouble. *So
much for that idea.* 

*** 

"Where did that mallet come from?" Mat thought back to the large object 
that Akane had pulled out of nowhere. 

"No idea Mat. Only Akane knows. If I knew I'd have stopped it a long 
time ago." Ranma rubbed his head where the mallet
had hit. It was still hurting. *Akane must have upgraded the mallet. 
Just what I needed. Uncute Tomboy.....* 

"There sure are a lot of strangers in town today. More than we've had 
all my life. And you're not the only ones," Mat noted.
Rand looked up. "What do you mean by that?" 

Mat had an excited look on his face. "There's a lady and her bodyguard 
in town. They showed up last night. You see her! She's
beautiful! Like something out of a story!" 

Perrin laughed. "What, is she an Aes Sedi or something?" No-one noticed 
Matrix look at Ranma, a confused look on his face. 

"No, but a lady. We've never had any thing like this in the Two Rivers 
before." 

Ewin looked around. "Her name's Moraine. Lady Moraine. One things for 
sure, the Wisdom doesn't like her." 

"What do you mean?" Matrix asked. When the travelers met the wisdom, 
Ranma had said she had a temper almost as bad as
Akane. Which got him a mallet on the head. 

"She met the Wisdom earlier. And called her a child." Everyone winced, 
with a temper like that, it was a wonder Moraine was
still alive. "Well I've got work to do. Unlike some people." 

As Ewin walked off, the other five noticed a raven sitting on a roof. In 
less than a second, five rocks flew at the bird.... who
jumped to the side. Rand looked at it. "Never seen a bird do that 
before." 

"It is a foul thing." Ranma and Matrix spun around, Matrix almost going 
for his gun, to see a lady standing there. She wore a
blue silk dress, very modest. Matrix realized that on this world, silk 
was expensive. *This lady is rich!* He tried to put an age
to her, without much luck. Her face was totally smooth, not a line to be 
seen. "You must be Moraine," he said. 

"Yes I am. As I was saying, that raven is a foul creature. In the 
borderlands, ravens are often used as spy's for the Dark One.
Take my advice young man. Never trust a raven." Matrix nodded. He had no 
idea what this 'Dark One' was, and he didn't
want to find out. "Do you boys have any money for the peddler?" All five 
shook their heads. "Here you go. Have fun boys."
With that she walked off. 

"Interesting lady." 

"Yeah well don't pay too much attention to her Ranma. What would Ukyou 
and Akane do to you?" 

*** 

The wagon rumbled into town, and Padin Fain began his storytelling. The 
crowd listened in horror as they heard of the war
against Logain. Ray leaned against a wall a short distance away. "Looks 
like this place has problems too. Shame, it looks so
nice." Dot looked at the Websurfer. As usual, he wasn't paying attention 
to the little things. Over an hour of ruling as
Command.Com had taught her a bit about paying attention to things. The 
Village Council brought everyone's fears up as soon
as possible, then dealt with them. This stopped people from worrying 
about things that wouldn't be worth the trouble. 

*** 

Ryouga looked at Fain, then at Ranma standing nearby. "There's something 
about him, something I don't like..." 

Ranma looked at him. "You sense it too?" 

"Of course. There's something in his aura. Something that's.... not 
human." 

Ranma nodded. "I say we watch ourselves around him." 

End Part 1a

End Part 1
                                               ***
Hi there! 

This is the first part of Gateway Between Patterns. If you like this, 
E-mail me at  Matrix_83@Hotmail.com. C&C are welcome
but please note that if you flame me I WILL FIND YOU!!!!!  Also, I need 
some pre-readers. If you want to be one let me
know at the same adress. 

I know some people are OOC. E-mail me if you spot anything, I'll try to 
fix it. But I also mean for some of them to be acting
differently. You'll see why in a while. Also with Ray, I am an 
Australian myself. And I know that we don't talk like he does in
the third season. If you can't take that, go to hell! 

All questions regarding the differences between ki, the One Power and 
the types of Net Energy ( Which I'll put some detail into
later ) will be discussed in later chapters. All you need to know is 
that they are _Not_ the same thing. 

The mystery of the gateway will be explained a long long long time from 
now. 

Till next time! 

Matrix Dragon 
"Life's a bitch and then you die, have a party, watch 'em fry!" 


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