Wild Boot
by Rarstarr

Reboot and Ranma 1/2 are the property of their rightful copyright holders and used here without permission.

*****

Part 1: The Sheriff's a w--*dong*!

*****

	The city of Mainframe was hard pressed to survive. With the loss of 
the sister city, and the attack of the two viruses, cycles were hard. The 
Tendos, the last four of the  original sprites of Mainframe, tried to keep 
the city processing. However it was a steep gradient battle and it was 
quickly realised that help was needed from outside the system.
	That help was about to arrive.

*****

	Nabiki, the middle daughter was a serious sprite. She always wore a 
suit that nicely offset her green skin. Every morning she checked to be sure 
her bitmap was in perfect order and that her Icon was in its usual place on 
her right arm. She was an important person in Mainframe, her businesses owned 
most of the property and if she didn't out right run she at least had a major 
part of the sharing rights.
	She was holding a meeting with some of her more influential clients, 
so was surprised when a vid window popped up beside her. She had altered her 
contact status to be unavailable so only two people could contact her and 
Kasumi wouldn't unless there was an emergency.
	The window showed her father, looking far too pleased with himself.
	"Yes father?" Nabiki asked through slitted eyes.
	"You must come to the Com room immediately, some is about to arrive 
that I want you to meet!" their father exclaimed.
	Nabiki scowled. "I'm too busy processing here to break procedure and 
see you father."
	"But it is urgent! I have at last found a solution to our problem!"
	"Oh, this I must see," Nabiki muttered. She turned to the binomes 
around the table before her. "I'm sorry gentlenomes, I must leave, this is 
very important." They grumbled and coughed out their agreement. Nabiki turned 
back to the vid window. "I'll be their in a nanosecond."

*****

	Soun, patriarch of the Tendo clan, was a tall noble looking sprite. 
Green skinned like his daughters he habitually wore a gi. He sat at his desk 
in the Principal Office.
	The vid window closed and he immediately accessed another one. It 
popped into existence before her, but instead of a sprite or binome, the 
words "unable to complete procedure call, please try again later" appeared.
	"Where is that girl?" Soun muttered.
	His oldest daughter, Kasumi, was reading through a readme file at the 
filing system. She had a quiet subdued beauty about her. She had spent a lot 
of time helping her father run the Principal Office, and it had gotten to the 
point where he was doing very little and she was running the system, with the 
help of her two sisters. Her icon sat in the centre of her chest.
	"Do you mean Akane, father?" Kasumi asked, he voice sweet and soft as 
always.
	"Yes, I can't seem to contact her."
	"Oh, she's in a game cube in sector 100101," the girl sprite informed 
him. "She shouldn't take much longer."

*****

	The arena was well lit, the audience little more than a filled in 
blur. In the centre a pair of one binomes, dressed as referees, pushed a 
massive set of weights into position.
	In the announcer's box a zero and a one binome sat staring at the down 
at the stage.
	"Well Jim, the user really stuffed up that one, didn't he?" the one 
asked in an excited whisper.
	"Yes Al, he did. That leaves the game open to the Mainframer team," 
the zero replied.
	A sprite stepped out onto the stage. She was greened skinned, like her 
sisters and father. The game had outfitted her in a gi, which was fine by 
her, she'd been wearing one anyway. Her Icon hung on a chain around her neck. 
Her black hair was cut into a boyish trim.
	"Folks, it looks like Akane, Mainframe's best gamer, is stepping up to 
do the snatch and jerk," Jim whispered excitedly.
	"You can feel the tension," Al commented quietly.
	"Of course, if Akane can do this then the Mainframe team will win the 
game," Jim replied quietly.
	"Jim, why are we whispering?" Al asked in a whisper.
	"I have no idea, Al," Jim replied in an equally quiet voice.
	Akane gave the commentator's box an irritated look. How could those to 
joke at a time like this? She went back to looking at the barbell. The user 
had failed to hold this weight and if she could then the user would lose, and 
they wouldn't be nullified.
	She stepped forward and dusted her hands off. Squatting down, she 
grabbed the bar. Pausing for a few seconds to take a few deep breaths she 
jerked the weights up onto her chest. Her face bulged with the effort.
	"Oh, that was good, wasn't it Jim?"
	"Yes Al, but the User got past this point."
	Akane pushed the weight up, holding it above her head. Her face was 
starting to darken with the effort.
	"Now if she can just hold it, she can beat the User, isn't that right 
Al?"
	"That's right Jim."
	Akane held the weight above her head. She was not going to fail. She 
was not. A few nanos passed, then the buzzer sounded and Akane threw the 
weights crashing to the ground. The crowd and the binomes cheered.
	"Game Over," the calm voice of the computer announced.
	The purple floor shot past their heads as the game cube retreated back 
into the sky. Immediately a vid window popped open next to Akane.

*****

	The four Tendos were standing in a large room in the Principal Office. 
A large machine dominated the room. It was a complex contraption, involving 
flashing lights and sparking wires. A pair of large electrodes pointed to a 
space above a dish on the floor.
	"YOU DECIDED WHAT?!" Akane screeched.
	Soun immediately started weeping. "My daughter's yelling at me," he 
sobbed.
	Kasumi put a comforting arm around him. "She's just upset, daddy. You 
really should have asked before entering us into a permanent linking with 
this Ranma Saotome."
	Soun immediately stopped weeping. "We made the arrangements many 
megacycles ago. When Genma contacted me, I saw it as a chance to save our 
system."
	"He's a Guardian, bet he's handsome," Nabiki mused.
	"I hope he has a high version, I prefer older men," Kasumi commented.
	"Are you two just going to accept this?!" Akane demanded of her 
sister.
	"Its for the good of the system Akane," Kasumi pointed out.
	Akane fumed. "But --"
	"Incoming comm signal. Initiating rt/st handshake," the computer 
announced with a calm voice and impeccable timing. The lights on the large 
machine started flickering. The four Tendos immediately turned as power 
started flickering across the electrodes.
	Suddenly the lights dimmed. "War-war-warning, power-er-er s-s-surge 
detec-tec-tected," the computer announced, its voice warped.
	"What the?" Soun cried, cringing back in shock.
	"Han-han-handsha-sha-shaking  com-complete. Con-con-connection ini-
initiated."
	Two beams shot from the electrodes to strike the space above the dish. 
A silver sphere formed, but immediately started twisting out of shape.
	"Oh dear," cried Kasumi. "If they attempt to come through while the 
portal is unstable their data structures will be randomised."
	Akane glared at her sister. Somehow the way she said it made it sound 
so less lethal than it was.
	Soun dashed over to the control panel and started madly pushing 
buttons. "Nothing I do is working, the portal is becoming more unstable by 
the second! Someone did something!"
	Akane and Nabiki looked at each other helplessly, it wasn't in their 
format. Kasumi, though knew exactly what to do. Pulling her metal broom out 
from behind her back she strode purposely towards the machine. She swung the 
broom back and then with an almighty heave struck the machine.
	"Power restored. Initiating download," the computer declared as the 
lights came back up and the sphere reformed.
	Kasumi turned to her family, who were staring at her in open-faced 
surprise.  She shrugged. "It just needed a woman's touch."
	"Download initiated," the computer informed them.
	The Tendos turned to watch the surface of the sphere rippled. Imagine 
their surprise when the sprite that emerged from the portal was a panda, 
carrying another sprite over its shoulder.
	"Daddy, who are they?" Kasumi asked.
	The Panda dumped the other sprite to its feet. The sprite was a girl, 
that much was obvious, about as tall as Akane. Her skin was blue and the hair 
on her head was a metallic red. She wore a Guardian uniform with her Icon on 
her right breast.
	"Hi, ah, I'm Ranma Saotome, sorry about this," the strange girl sprite 
commented.
	"Daddy, he is a she," Nabiki commented dryly.

*****

	Ranma dodged the blast easily. Akane opposite her prepared to throw a 
second.
	After the disaster of Ranma's arrival, Akane had invited Ranma to a 
game of Blaster Combat in the game simulation room. Blaster Combat was a 
fairly simple game, but great for working on game processing timing. The two 
combatants were giving blasters, which they shot at each other until they 
hit. There were various objects to hide behind and when you played it in the 
game cube there were various power-ups you could pick up.
	Akane was having a surprising hard time trying to hit Ranma. He didn't 
fire back, but even her best shots fell short as the girl dodged out of the 
way. She paused in firing for a moment, ducking back into shelter. No sounds 
came from the other side so Akane leapt out and fired at ... nothing. Ranma 
had vanished.
	"Where'd she go?" Akane wondered aloud. Suddenly she felt someone tap 
something on her head.
	Looking up she found Ranma lying atop her shelter, lazily point her 
gun at Akane. "Zap," she said simply.
	Akane glared at Ranma for a few seconds. Then smiled and laughed. "You 
were lucky," she accused.
	Ranma shrugged and jumped down. "You should move more."
	Akane looked at her. "I suppose you're right."

*****

	Kasumi poked her head into the room in which Ranma was checking 
through a pack of equipment. The younger sprite looked up.
	"The static shower is free Ranma," Kasumi announced. "You'd better use 
it before it gets taken over again."
	"Ah, haha, right, thanks Kasumi," Ranma replied.

*****

	Ranma stopped the shower and stood there thinking. He wondered how the 
Tendos would process this development. He mulled over his life with his 
father, the travelling Guardian inspector. He thought about the accident. He 
thought of old friends long gone.
	'Well, I suppose I'd better go and face the MIDI,' he thought, pushing 
open the shower door, on a rather surprised and naked Akane.
	The pair stared at each other for a few seconds. Akane, shaking, 
turned, reactivated her clothes and stepped out of the bathroom. Ranma 
watched her go,  confused.
	Outside Akane stood in front of the door for a few seconds. She then 
screamed. By the time Nabiki and Kasumi caught up with her she had gone to 
the armoury and was staggering through the halls of the Principal office 
carrying a bomb ten times her size.
	"Ah, Akane, what's that for?" Nabiki asked, eying the bomb warily.
	"The pervert in the shower!" Akane snapped.
	"Don't you think that's a little, ah, excessive," Nabiki commented.
	"That's funny, Ranma was just in the shower," Kasumi commented to 
herself.
	The clearing of a throat attracted the sisters' attention. They turned 
to find a male sprite standing in the corridor.  He was blue with black hair, 
in the same ponytail style as Ranma. He wore what looked like Ranma's 
uniform.
	"Ah, I'm Ranma Saotome, sorry about this."

*****

	Soun stood behind his desk. Another old sprite, blue like Ranma only 
rotund. He too wore a Guardian Uniform. The three Tendo sisters and Ranma 
stood in a semicircle around them.
	"I'll go over this one more time," Soun told them. "This is my old 
friend Genma Saotome," he indicates the large man, "and his son..."
	"Ranma Saotome," Ranma finished.
	"But, Ranma was a girl," Nabiki commented.
	"Ah yes, how to explain," said Genma squeezing the bridge of his nose. 
"I know!" He suddenly tosses a small sphere at Ranma. The sphere explodes on 
impact, realising jagged lighting at Ranma.
	"And now he's a girl," Kasumi stated, for it was so.
	"Whenever we're hit by any form of uncontrolled energy, we shift, a 
controlled source changes us back."
	"Ah, good, then the linking can go on." Soun steps up and slaps Ranma 
on the back. "Ranma my lad, ah lass, these are my three daughters. Kasumi 
nineteen megacycles, Nabiki seventeen megacycles, and Akane sixteen 
megacycles. Pick one and she and you will be linked."
	"Oh, he wants Akane," Kasumi immediately announced.
	"Yes, Akane's the one for him," Nabiki added.
	"Are you totally random?! Why would I want to marry that pervert!" 
Akane cried.
	"PERVERT?!" Ranma cried.
	"What else do you call a guy who stares at girl's body?" Akane 
returned snidely.
	"Backspace up! You walked in on me!"
	"Its different when a girl sees a boy!"
	"They're already well interfaced!" Soun commented to Genma.
	"NO WAY!" Akane and Ranma both yelled.
	Genma reached out and grabbed Ranma. "Come on boy, we're going to 
settle in, then have a long discussion." He dragged the struggling girl 
sprite.

*****

	"Hello, Kasumi?" Ranma stepped into the entry hall of the Principal 
Office. A few moments later Kasumi swept into view. 
	"Oh, hello Ranma, nice to see you again. I'm afraid Akane isn't here 
right now." Kasumi gave him her best smile.
	Ranma scratched the back of his head. "Aha, yeah, I, ah, didn't come 
to see her. Have you seen pop, he said he was visiting your father."
	Kasumi frowned. "I haven't seen them in a while. They were near the 
com room last time I saw them."
	"The com room?!" Ranma cried, and took off at a dash.
	Ranma skidded to a halt in the com room. All seemed normal. The large 
machine sat quietly humming, its lights not blinking.
	"Who left that there?" Kasumi asked, pointing at a pda lying on the 
ground in front of the dish.
	Ranma strode over and snatched it up. He tapped the scrolled through 
the message on its display. As he read his frown deepened to scowl. "That 
cowardly old fool! If I ever get my hands on him I'll pull him apart bit by 
bit!" he cried to the heavens.
	Kasumi at the control panel for the portal generator,  looked at him 
in shock. "Ranma, what's processing?"
	"Our fathers have run off to the supercomputer, leaving us to look 
after Mainframe!!"
	"Oh, my."
 
-----------
Rarstarr,
David Farr
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~djfarr/
djfarr@ihug.co.nz