Wild Boot
by Rarstarr

Reboot and Ranma 1/2 are the property of Mainframe Entertainment and
Rumiko Takahashi respectively and used here (respectfully) without
permission.

I'd like to thank my prereaders: Jin, David Johnston and Shane Burton

-----

Akane: I fight for Mainframe,
	Against viruses and the User.
	My format: Defender,
	To protect and do battle.
	To protect my friends and family,
	Their lives and codes,
	To protect them from,
	Our enemies.

-----

Part 4: The Black Binome.

	The city of Mainframe hovered over the Energy Sea from which it drew its
power. The sea itself was nothing more than raw, seething energy and any
constructs coming in contact with it were immediately broken into their
component bits. It was for this reason that any ships traversing the sea
typically flew several thousand pixels above the surface.
	The piers of Mainframe abutted Kits Sector, one of the more populated
sectors in Mainframe. Binomes came from all over Mainframe to spend their
days off lying in the deck chairs or going on leisurely cruises across
the sea. On busy days both charter boats and private yachts vied for the
space, because few binomes could afford the expense of a permanent berth.
	The numeral 8 walked along the pier towards a pair of binomes staring
through binoculars out to sea. It was a quiet day, with no Mainframe
ships out, so the pair quickly spotted the strange ship.
	"Haven't seen that one before Jim," the one binome commented.
	"Looks like a big cargo vessel of some kind Al," the zero returned.
	"Tell me Jim, does it look like their sails are a set of very large
woman's bloomers?" Al asked.
	"Why yes Al, it appears so. They even have red hearts all over them,"
Jim replied.
	"Isn't that strange Jim."
	The zero did a full body nod. "Yes Al, it is."
	The large three masted galley did indeed have a large pair of bloomers
hanging from the spars. "Sails" full, the ship charged towards the
Mainframe pier at high speed. When those observing realized that it
showed no sign of slowing, they ran screaming from the pier.
	With a loud number crunching sound the massive ship plowed into the
docks. Almost immediately a number of binomes flew over the rails on
zip-boards, brandishing club-like file lockers. The Mainframe binomes
doubled their efforts to run screaming as the invaders chased them down
and encased them in jade blocks.
	A zero binome dressed entirely in black jumped up on the ship's rails.
"Excellent work men! Now go out and find me plunder! And don't forget,
any nome that brings in unused pretties will be forced to scrub the
laundry!"
	"Aye, aye sir!" the invaders chorused, then scattered into the sector.

*****

	Ranma had just returned from another fight with Akane. Of course he
hadn't left under his own power. No, Akane had malleted him, straight
into an energy surge. So he had returned to his apartment a she. That
meant a quick electron shower, so she had retired to the bathroom.
Without looking she had turned on the shower and turned to put Glitch on
the vanity. She had then turned back to shower cubicle and pulled open
the door to find...
	"SHAMPOO!" Ranma-chan cried in surprise, falling away from the shower
door.
	"Ranma!" the naked sprite cried, leaping out of the running shower to
embrace the Guardian.
	It took a few moments for Ranma-chan to collect herself. "Shampoo, what
were you doing in my shower?"
	The cute sprite shrugged. "Shampoo in neighborhood and know you not
mind."
	"So why wasn't it going?" Ranma-chan asked. Unnoticed by the pair of
sprites, two binomes sneaked in through a small window high in one wall.
	"Shampoo just finished when she hear Ranma come in. She surprised
speechless." One of the binomes grabbed Glitch off the bench.
	"I'd prefer if you'd warned me," Ranma-chan told her. She sighed. "Could
you let go so I could put on some clothing bitmaps?" In the background
the second binome pulled out a strange device and pointed at the two
female sprites. The first shook his head and indicated the
window.
	Shampoo frowned and let go of Ranma-chan. "If Ranma want." The two
sprites touched there Icons, their bodies fuzzing and to reappear covered
with their usual garb. In the background the two binomes snuck out
without the sprites noticing.
	"Well if you don't mind I was going to take a shower and change back,"
Ranma-chan told her. "But I'll escort you to the door first." She turned
to the bench, arm outstretched. "Glitch, co-- hey, where's Glitch?!"
	Shampoo and Ranma quickly scanned the room.
	"Window wasn't open eariler." Shampoo pointed out.
	Ranma looked at the now open window. He leapt over to it, grabbing the
sill and pulling himself up to look out. He caught a glimpse of the two
binomes as they flew away on zip-boards.
	"Damn, software pirates," Ranma dropped to the ground. "And they stole
Glitch!"

*****

	The door to the Nekohanten jingled as it was pushed open, causing the
inhabitants to turn. Akane, defender of Mainframe, walked into the
restaurant. She ignored the continuing gazes as she scanned the room.
Finding an empty table, she headed for it.
	Mousse slid up, moving just beyond her and turning to move backwards
with her. "And so, how is Mainframe's ex-most-eligible-sprite?" the
server inquired.
	In answer Akane reached up and slapped him, sending him spinning off
along his bar. After a few moments he managed to stop and held his head
as he swayed. "Better I see," he commented groggily. Recovering, he
zipped over to the table Akane had seated herself at. "How may I serve
you ma'am?"
	"TWICE!" Akane exclaimed. "TWICE IN A SINGLE CYCLE!"
	Mousse blinked, or more to the point, his eye pixels vanished for a
second. "Excuse me, you wish to be served twice in a single cycle?" Akane
glared at him. "Oh, I see, you were referring to Ranma saving you."
	Akane's glare darkened. "Thank you so much for reminding me."
	Mousse pulled back slightly. "You brought it up."
	She frowned. "Bring me a quantum shake, heavy on the quarks," she
demanded.
	Mousse saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" He zoomed off towards the kitchen.
	Akane turned her gaze on a few of the binomes, who immediately pretended
they were doing something else. The sprite snorted, 'You'd think they had
better things to do than gossip about me.'
	The door jingled again as a one binome entered. He was wearing a
lopsided cloth cap and carried a bundle of what looked like newspapers
under his arms. "Anyone wanna buy a newsdoc?" he inquired. "Latest on the
Guardian-Defender love affair."
	Silence hit the room like a brick. It didn't take the luckless sprite
more than a few nanos to realize something was wrong. Quaking in terror
he turned towards the soft growl coming from one of the booths. Akane
slowly raised herself out of her chair. The news-nome jumped into the
air, sending papers flying everywhere as he shot out the door.
	Mousse, coming out of the kitchen, watched the door slam backwards and
forwards for a few seconds before gliding over to Akane's table. "Please,
ma'am, don't scare the customers, it's bad for business," the file server
scolded her playfully, placing the cup before her.
	Akane opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by a vid window
popping up over the table. "Akane, could you come to the principal office
please?" Kasumi asked. She didn't wait for an answer, closing the window
before the sprite could reply.
	"That was unlike her," Mousse commented.
	"Something's up," Akane declared and sprinted out the door, slamming it
into the wall outside.
	"That door's not going to last very long," the server observed.

*****

	Shampoo and Ranma had tracked the software pirates to the docks. They
hid behind a building, watching as the invaders flew in from various
parts of the sector.
	"Ranma, look," Shampoo hissed, pointing.
	Ranma turned to see four young binomes running along the sea front,
chased by a pair of pirates. The first binome, a one, was wearing an
orange jacket and a green hat that flopped down over his ears.
Immediately behind him ran another one binome in a brown jacket and a
blue knit hat with a red pompom on the top. A short distance behind him
was a zero binome, wearing a red jacket and looking decidedly fat.
Bringing up the rear was a one binome in an orange parka that covered him
leaving one his eye visible.
	"Come on fat nome, you're falling behind!" the first binome yelled.
	"I'm not fat just big boned," the fat binome returned, puffing.
	"Mrmpf Mrm Mrrm mrf," the last one announced.
	Before any of his companions could answer one of the pirates struck the
parka clad youth with a file locker. The jade block teetered on the edge
for a few seconds before slipping over and plummeting into the sea below.
	"OH MY CODE!! THEY DELETED KENNY!! THE SPAMMERS!!" One of the kids
yelled.
	Ranma shook his head. He couldn't believe that a young binome had lost
his life to such a bad joke.
	
*****

	Nabiki and Kasumi stood in the Command.com's office, watching a display
window when Akane entered. The window showed the sectors of Mainframe. A
quick glance showed that one of the sectors was darkened.
	"What's processing?" Akane inquired.
	Nabiki looked around. "Kits sector has gone down. We had reports of a
strange ship at the docks then the commlinks went down."
	Akane frowned in thought. "Are the CPUs ready?"
	Kasumi nodded. "In a wait state down on the flight deck."
	"Where's Ranma?" she asked.
	Nabiki shrugged. "Out of contact, so he's probably in Kits."
	"Right. Give the CPUs clearance to launch the moment I'm down there,"
Akane directed, turning towards the door.
	Nabiki rolled her eyes. "Wait a nanosecond Akane, I'm coming too."
	
*****

	Aboard the pirate ship the last of the pirates dumped their booty on the
deck and passed a small device to a zero binome wearing a pair of
glasses. Ignoring the plunder this zero binome carefully carried the
device to a large machine sitting on the deck and inserted it. The
machine would then fizzle and spark and out would pop a collect of...
women's panties, creating an ever growing pile on the deck.
	One of the pirate binomes walked up beside the zero binome. "Arrg, the
captain must be pleased with this haul Mr Christen."
	"Oh, yes indeed," the zero replied in a slightly nasal voice. "He hasn't
come out yet, which is always a good sign."
	"Well, maybe you should run and get him!" a male voice cried from behind
them. The crew turned to find a pair of blue skinned sprites standing
balanced on the side rail.
	"And wh--" the pirate started defiantly. He was interrupted by a black
blur shooting out of the pile of women's undergarments, bouncing once on
the deck and then glomping onto Shampoo's chest.
	"EEEEK!" Shampoo screamed, smashing the binome off her. "What this?" She
started pounding the thing into the deck.
	Suddenly Shampoo flew straight up past the Crow's Nest before crashing
to deck. She got to her feet, swayed for a few seconds then fell into a
dazed heap on the deck. Ranma turned his turn his head to look from
Shampoo to the binome that had thrown her.
	"Who are you?" Ranma demanded.
	"I am the Black Binome!" he announced, gesturing grandly. Sure enough he
was a zero binome dressed entirely in black.
	Ranma nodded. "I've heard of you. Happosai, terror of systems and hero
of Women's Lingerie stores all over the net." Ranma somersaulted off the
rail into a ready stance on the deck.
	"Well boy, I see you're a fighter. Good, you can face me and lose!!
HAHAHAHA!" Happosai cackled.
	Ranma raised an eyebrow. "I'm glad someone's having fun."
	The black binome dove forward, brandishing a pipe it had pulled from
somewhere. A single tap with the pipe sent the surprised Ranma smashing
into the deck, file locked.
	"Take them and clap them in irons," Happosai ordered, "and don't forget
to extract the girl's pretties."

*****

	Akane, Nabiki and the CPUs arrived just in time to see the large sailing
ship zap into distance. The group stood at the end of the pier, looking
confused.
	One of the newly freed binomes turned to them. "The Guardian and another
blue sprite went on board!" he exclaimed.
	"Oh that's just alphanumeric," Nabiki remarked sarcastically.
	Akane turned and looked around the docks. "That one," she announced,
pointing at a sleek private launch sitting nearby.
	Nabiki studied it for a moment. "Good eye, that's Chumley's new yacht,
fastest in all Mainframe." She smiled. "This should be fun."
	The Chumleys, a pair of rich one binomes, watched in despair as the
CPU's took over his yacht. "On who's authority?" Mr Chumley demanded.
	Akane tossed the flat rectangle shape of a PDA at the binome. Kasumi
smiled happily from the screen. "Hello, how are you?" she inquired
sweetly.
	"Oh, the command.com, of course." Mr Chumley deflated.
	"Right, lets get moving," Akane ordered.
	Nabiki nodded and hurried through to the wheelhouse before realizing
that she was following Akane's orders for once. Shrugging Nabiki set the
course, then handled the wheel over to a binome so she could join Akane
standing on the aft deck. She was staring at the dock as it receded.
	As they watched a large dog trotted up to the end of the pier, gazing at
them sadly. It was a strange dog, the size of a pony, it's bitmap red and
yellow.
	"If I didn't know better I'd say that dog wanted to join us," Akane
commented.
	"Well, he'll never make that jump," Nabiki returned.
	THUMP! The ship rocked as the large dog landed on the deck.
	"Of course, I could be wrong," Nabiki muttered. "That is one strange
looking mutt."
	Akane knelt down next to the dog, putting her arms around his neck. "I
think he's cute. I'll call him Frisket."
	"CUTE?!" Nabiki choked. "You're not serious. He's a data dump dog."
	Akane spotted something and frowned slightly. "Look at this, someone
stabbed him. What kind of basic sprite would do that to a dog?"
	Nabiki wandered back towards the wheelhouse, muttering something about
her sister and strays.

*****

	Ranma groaned and sat up. Shampoo lay not far away, curled up in a ball.
The cell was a simple room. There was a bed, a chair, glowing energy bars
and the required graffiti on the walls. A single guard sat outside the
cell, watching them.
	When Shampoo stirred, Ranma shot to her side. "Are you okay?"
	"Shampoo fine," the sprite replied as Ranma helped her to her feet. "No,
feels like Shampoo missing something." She patted herself down. "Grrrr.
Pervert Nome steal Shampoo's panties!" Shampoo announced.
	Ranma looked surprised. "Off your icon? That's a neat trick."
	"Ranma help Shampoo delete pervert captain?"
	The guard-nome leapt to his feet. "Hah, you'll never escape this cell.
Only one sprite has ever escaped this brig." The binome pointed at the
graffiti on the far wall.
	Ranma and Shampoo turned to look at the wall. There, amongst declaration
of people being here and tally marks, was a quick doodle of a mouse
holding a spatula.
	"Ukyo?" the pair chorused.
	Shampoo turned on the guard. "You let Shampoo out and she not kick you
later." She reached out and tried to grab through the bars. There was a
crackle and a flash of light and Shampoo was thrown across the room. As
she soared her body twisted and shrunk. A small purple and white kitten
landed on its feet, looking angry.
	The guard stared for a few seconds, while Ranma started backing away.
"Ca-ca-ca-ca-CAT!" he screamed. He leapt up into the roof corner, hugging
the roofing beam. "CAT, CAT, CAT!"
	Neko-Shampoo walked over to the corner and looked up at Ranma. "Mew?"
	"HELP! CAT!" Ranma yelled, terror in his voice.
	The guard started laughing. "Oh, this is good, a Guardian scared of a
little sprite like that. I've got to get the guys in to see this." He
hurried up the stairs to the hatch, and was gone. When he returned with a
small parade of pirates, they found that the bars of the cell had been
shredded.
	"Maybe the Guardian had good reason to be scared of that thing,"
commented one as he glanced around the empty brig.
*****

	Nabiki glanced at the PDA sitting on the control panel. In the display
Kasumi could been seen examining something before her.
	"I've located the portal they used to enter the system," the command.com
announced. "You're going to have to speed up if you want to catch them
before they reach it."
	"We're already travelling thirty pixels over spec. I can't get anymore
speed without a major upgrade," Nabiki returned.
	"Then we may have just lost Ranma and Shampoo," Kasumi pointed out
sadly.
	"We can always hope for a miracle."
	"Oh," Kasumi cried suddenly.
	Nabiki turned to stare at the screen. "Is that a good oh, or a bad oh?"
	"They've stopped. I don't know why, but they've stopped."
	Nabiki grinned. "Ranma."

*****

	Happosai watched in horror as the middle mast crashed into the rear
rigging. Binomes ran around the deck yelling.
	"WHAT IS GOING ON?!" he demanded from the poop deck.
	One of the binomes skidded to a halt. "Sir, it's the Guardian. He's gone
mad and is tearing up the ship!"
	"Gone mad?! What do you mean?" The black binome yelled.
	"He's acting like a cat and clawing up everything in sight. He's knocked
out the rudder and disabled all three masts. We're dead in the water!"
	"Pull out the oars. Make for the portal. And kill file that Guardian!"

*****

	The slaves in the galley's hold were all chained to the massive oars
that could, in an emergency, propel the ship. A single binome watched
over them and beat out the stroke timing on a drum. He was a massive
brute of a one, everyone on board was scared of him, except the captain.
Thus it was a surprise to the captured binomes when he suddenly
disappeared behind his large drum.
	A small purple and cream cat jumped up on the drum and, to the sound of
fighting and cries of pain, starting thumping out a jazzy rhythm with her
little paws. The slaves, giving up their rowing, swung backwards and
forward jiving in time with the cat's beat.
	One of the binomes, a one wearing a blue suit, a blue hat and sunglasses
turned to his neighbor. "That is one cool cat."
	After a few nanoseconds a blue sprite poked his head over the drum.
	"Merrow?" the sprite asked.
	"Mew!" the cat replied.
	The sprite bounced over the drum, landing on hands and feet in the
middle of the slaves. He waved a curled hand at the binomes, who winced
as streaks of light flew past them. There was a loud clank as the
manacles fell to the ground.
	The binomes cheered as they charged out the door.
	
*****

	The Mainframe yacht pulled up along side the listing sailing ship. The
sprites and binomes stared at the floating wreck in surprise. One the
masts leaned heavily against another while the third hung over the edge,
attached only by its rigging. The port nacelle was barely attached,
leaving the ship leaning heavily to that side.
	A one binome poked his head over the rails. "Ho, ship, care to give us a
tow back to port?"
	Nabiki and Akane shared a disbelieving glance.
	"Is Ranma up there?" Akane shouted.
	"If you're talking about the Guardian he's a little, uh, indisposed at
the moment." The binome turned to look off to one side, then winced
visibly. "That had to hurt."
	Nabiki stepped forward. "Permission to come aboard?" she called.
	"Uh, oh yeah, sure, just let us find a ladder or a rope or something."
	The pair waited a few nanoseconds before a rope ladder was thrown over
the edge. Shrugging Akane gripped the ladder and climbed up it. She
pulled herself over the railings and stare in wonder at the scene before
her. Binomes busied themselves trying to repair the damage to the ship.
	She spotted Ranma almost immediately. He was curled up on the main deck
batting at a binome dressed all in black and hanging from a rope attached
to one of the spars. The strangest thing was he wasn't touching the
binome, but the binome was being hit. Thankfully the black binome seemed
to be unconscious.
	"Wha?!" Akane managed intelligently.
	Ranma's head popped up and he fixed his gaze on Akane. With a single
bound he pounced on her, knocking her to the ground. Akane was surprised
when he curled up in her lap and started purring.
	Shampoo emerged from below decks. "Shampoo finally find shower," she
announced. "Oh, violent defender girl here. Good." She frowned. "Why
Ranma sit in her lap?"
	Nabiki grunted as she pulled herself over the railings. She took in the
scene and laughed. "Oh dear, this is good."
	Akane was becoming frustrated. "Someone tell me what's going on here."
	"Genma-Ranma-Father idiot," Shampoo stated. "Teach Ranma Nekoken." She
frowned sadly. "Ranma scared of cats, fear get bad, Ranma become one. Not
good."
	Nabiki looked around. "Ranma did all of this in this Nekoken?" she asked
in disbelief. Shampoo nodded in answer. "So how do we get him out of it?"
	Shampoo shrugged. "Shampoo not know, no one stupid enough to use Nekoken
since her history file began."
	Akane reached out to stroke Ranma's hair. "Nice kitty."
	Neko-Ranma's reaction was to raise his head and kiss her lips. A quiet
"oh" went up from the surrounding binomes, followed by a silence born of
expectation.
	"JERK!" Akane cried, and slammed her fist down on Ranma's head.
	Ranma groaned. "What hit me?"
	"I see. That's how," Nabiki commented dryly.

*****

	The little creature looked like a mobile triangle, except for the large 
pair of eyes stuck to the top. Turtle, for that was its name, glided
through the weird misshapen city. Lost Angles was an unusual place in
Mainframe, for one thing it was a sector by itself, connected to the rest
of the city by a single twisted bridge. Whatever it had once been Lost
Angles was now a place that only two types of sprite visited, the random
and the nulled.
	Turtle was neither. In fact Turtle was part of the reason sprites feared
Lost Angles. If he wasn't enough of a reason there was always his
mistress, the  fragmented, but powerful virus, Kodachi.
	The small sprite shot at full speed along the street, stopped, then
turned seventy-six degrees to the right and shot forward again. He
reached a large hole in the ground, turned ninety degrees down so he
pointing into it and once morezipped forward.
	After a short trip (full of stops to correct his course) he arrived in a
large chamber that could only by described as gothic. The domed ceiling
rose majestically over the raised dais on which sat the virus herself.	
Kodachi was a female virus, tall and lean. She was always clad in what
looked like a black skintight suit the covered her entire body. Her face
was
covered by a bit mask, white and at the moment sad.
	"Ah, Mr Turtle," she greeted warmly, her mask switching to a smile,
"what do you have for me?"
	Mr Turtle split into two pieces, hinged at his back, revealing a mouth
full of wicked looking teeth. He snapped a couple of times then blurred
into motion. Weaving all over the space before Kodachi he left lines in
the air behind him. After a few nanoseconds a two-dimensional picture of
Ranma hung in the air.
	Kodachi reached out and stroked her pet. "Yes, he is handsome. I glad
you showed him to me. I think I might have some fun." Kodachi leant back
and cackled with glee.

*****

	The return trip to Mainframe was long, but uneventful. Shampoo made her
excuses and headed off to the Nekohanten, while Nabiki made plans with
the ex-slave binomes to repair the ship. She said she had a plan that
would make them a tidy profit.
	That left Ranma and Akane alone to return to the principal office to
report back to Kasumi. With, much to Ranma's discomfort, Akane's new dog
Frisket. Kasumi nodded knowingly and logged their reports into
Mainframe's read only room.
	As they left Akane turned to Ranma. "I've got some procedures to run,
could you take care of Frisket for me? Maybe give him a bath?"
	Ranma looked at Akane, then at the dog. Frisket growled. "I don't think
he likes me much Akane," Ranma pointed out.
	"Oh Frisket will be good," she gently reached down and scratched behind
his ear, "won't you boy." Frisket whined appreciatively, then gave a
quick nod. "That's a good boy."
	Grudgingly Ranma agreed and took the dog back to his apartment. He led
the oversized hound into the bathroom. "Well, a shower won't do you will
any good," he commented, "so I guess I'll have to use the furo for once."
	He touched a control on the wall and a section of the floor sunk away,
leaving a large tub in the center of the room. "Well, in you get. The
faster we get this over with, the sooner we can get around to ignoring
each other."
	"Waoff!" the dog agreed and leapt into the tub.
	Ranma  touched the control, setting them to fill the bath. He turned
back and his jaw dropped in shock. "H-how did you get here?"

-----

-----------
Rarstarr,
David Farr
http://homepages.ihug.co.nz/~djfarr/
djfarr@ihug.co.nz