Pug Productions ********************************* Author: Pug cruzd@rpi.edu http://www.rpi.edu/~cruzd/pug/pug.html ********************************* Insert standard disclaimer here: A fan fiction based on Takahashi Rumiko's Manga series, Ranma 1/2. The characters of Ranma 1/2 are the property of Takahashi Rumiko and her licensees. All characters portrayed in this story are owned by their respective creators and companies. I don't own any of them. Please don't sue me. Version 1.00 Draft Genera: Ranma ½ AMG alternate reality cross over When gods fall Chapter 1 Everyone wonders what heaven would be like if it existed. Some believe that it’s a place high in the clouds, a Paradise for those worthy to enter. Everyone is given a halo, a harp and a set of wings when they reach the pearly gates and spend the rest of eternity plucking away an angelic tune. Others believe that Heaven is the place where the gods look down at mankind and like a couch potato in front of their TV set, they watch the mundane life of the mortals as if it were a sitcom. Everyone has their own view as to what Heaven is like but in truth Heaven is quite a busy place. No one plays harps, and there’s isn’t enough time to watch TV. Heaven does exist, but it exists for one reason, and that’s to keep the Universe running. Oh, there are tall towers which spiral to sky and beautiful buildings marbel and gold and trees and all sorts of greenery line the ways but their beauty all pale in comparison to what lies at the center of it all. What’s there? Why the Yggrasil, the world tree, the universal super computer that makes time tick. The Yggrasil is the greatest database in all creation. Every thing that has ever existed or will ever exist are within the file system of the great tree. And who made this glorious machine? The One who made it has many names, the most common are Allah, Yaweh, God, and Kami-sama. Kami-sama was the first, and will be the last, and in short, made everything. Now any machine needs to be maintained properly. One might wonder whose job that is. Simply put, that’s what the gods are for. They take care of everything from system maintenance and security to debugging problem files and programs. Though it’s true that Kami-sama could have made a perfect system, but then life would be really boring, and who would want that. In one of the many rooms within the Yggrasil a little girl who looked to be twelve, ground her teeth in frustration. “Why are there so many bugs here!” she growled. She was a short girl with long raven locks flowing past her shoulders. There were three blue marks on her face, one on each cheek and one on her forehead. She was dressed in a red and white blouse and skirt and in her hands she gripped what looked like a long mallet. “I’ll get your yet you little furballs!” she screamed as she ran across the room. The place was a control terminal, one of many in the Yggrasil. The little girl ran past the flickering computer monitors and dodged chairs in her effort to mash the white furry creatures bouncing around the room. They looked to be a cross between a rabbit and a spider. They were ‘bugs’ which invade the Yggrasil system causing havoc with the main programming. The disposal of the ‘bugs’ fell into the hands of the system debuggers. “HiiiiiiiYaaaaaa!!!” The girl swung her hammer around her head once and brought it down on top of one offending creature. A squeak was heard followed by a loud ‘POOF’ and the spider-bunny disappeared in a puff of smoke. “Gotcha!” the girl exclaimed giving the victory sign. “Not bad.” Another voice said. The little girl turned around. Her eyes widened realizing who it was. “Oneesan!” “Hey kiddo!” the white haired woman replied. She was dressed in a very revealing manner that left nothing to the imagination and on her face were the three marks of the goddess. “I’m not I kid!” “Sorry Skuld-chan.” She emphasized the ‘-chan’ and smirked. Skuld looked at her older sister and frowned. “Your not drunk again are you Urd?” “I only had a little bit. Hic-!” She held her index finger and thumb apart slightly. Skuld rolled her eyes. “You’ve already been demoted once before!” “You shouldn’t dell on the past, Skuld-chan. That’s my department.” Urd laughed. “Besides I just dropped by to see how you’re doing. I hear the more bugs have been cropping up lately especially in your section. Skuld pulled up a chair and plopped down into it tiredly. “Yeah, it looks like they’re just popping up one after another. I don’t have any time to get other things done. I’m really falling behind in my other duties. I’ve already put in a request for some extra help. “ “Really? What did the main office say?” “They approved my request today. With the help I’ll be getting I can finally start cataloging the future events for the next millennium. “ Skuld said happily. “So who are they sending up?” “Well I barely had time to look at his sheet but his name is…” Just then the door to the lab opened and in stepped a small boy looking about Skuld’s age. He was dressed in a red shirt whose sleeves were a little long for him, and black pants that were a little baggy. His face had deep blue diamond shaped marks and his dark hair was tied in the back with a pigtail. “Hi! Ranma god of Change, second class limited.” The little boy piped up. He looked at the two sisters and walked up to Urd, slightly nodding his head. “I’m here to report in Skuld-san.” “Oh, what a polite young man.” Urd smiled. “But you have the wrong person. That’s Skuld. I’m her sister Urd.” “I’m Skuld.” She was slightly irritated. Ranma looked at her with a confused expression. “B-but you’re a girl.” “So, what’s that got to do with it?” Skuld asked dangerously. “Well I couldn’t work for a girl, what would all the guys say?” Ranma said explaining. “But you were ready to work for her,” Skuld said pointing to Urd “Yeah, well she’s a woman, and well… you’re just a kid like me.” “I am not a kid your jerk!” “What did you just call me?” “I said your were a jerk, you jerk!” Urd stepped back from the argument with an amused look on her face. ‘They look so cute together,’ Urd mused. Fancying her own idea she let out a chuckle. “What’s so funny Oneesan?” “Oh nothing, don’t mind me.” Urd waved her hand. “I better get going any way. Besides I’m sure that you and Ranma will get along fine. I mean you make the perfect couple already.” “Me and him???” She pointed and glared at Ranma. “Hey! It’s not like your some kind of catch either you know. Besides who’d want a tomboy girl anyway.” Ranma shot back. Urd blinked. ‘Uh-oh…’ Beside her Skuld’s knuckles turned white as she held on to her hammer. “What did you say?” There was a dangerous edge to little goddess’s voice. There were daggers in her eyes. “I said that your are an uncute, built like a brick, TOMBOY!!!” ‘Poor little guy. I hope Skuld lets him live.’ Urd turned her head away, as steam came out of Skuld’s ears. “RANMA NO BAKA!!!” Skuld lashed out with her hammer and brought it down the little boy’s noggin. ** Rare was the time that anyone was called into Kami-sama’s office. The father/mother of creation was a very busy person. For Kami-sama to directly intervene in any affair was case of great importance. Only when the course of creation the needed I little nudge in the proper direction would Kami-sama act. There was a serious expression on the man’s face. Kami-sama had many forms and many faces. In this time and place the father figure was appropriate. He looked down at the pair in front of him with a stern look “Would you care to explain yourself Skuld- chan?” Kami-sama asked his daughter. “Father… well…” Skuld looked down at her feet and fretted. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong,” Ranma butted in. “She’s an uncute tomboy!” He was holding a very large ice pack to his head and he was sporting a shiner of a black eye. “Why you!” Skuld hefted her hammer again. “Ahem,” Kami-sama cleared his throat. “Ranma, please wait your turn.” “Yes sir,” the boy replied meekly. “It’s Ranma’s fault! He’s such an incentive, hardheaded, macho, chauvinist, jerk!” Skuld was fuming. Ranma tensed for a moment but held back from any reply. Kami-sama sighed. “Skuld for what ever the reason you should have never strike out in anger. When one acts in anger one’s action’s become unfocused. You may end up doing something you will later regret. Do you understand Skuld –chan?” “Yes Father.” Skuld glared at Ranma who was grinning like an idiot. ‘Jerk…’ “Ranma, now about you.” “Yeah pop?” “What happened to you, you brought down upon your self. If you don’t have anything nice to say, then don’t say anything. Do I make my self clear Ranma?” Kami-sama’s face darkened slightly. Ranma swallowed. “Yes sir!” “Good.” The smile returned to the Lord’s face. “Now I want you to two make up.” Skuld and Ranma glared at each other. “Ahem.” Kami-sama cleared his throat. “I’msorryIhityouRanam.” Skuld muttered. “SorryyouranuncutetomboySkuld.” Ranma said. “Ranma…” Kami-sama’s face darkened again. “I mean, I’m sorry I called you an uncute tomboy Skuld.” Ranma said adjusting the icepack on his head. “With that out of the way, I want both of you to make an effort to get along with each other. There’s infighting in the pantheon as it is. You will be working with each other from now on. Skuld, please get Ranma up to speed in system administration and debugging of the Yggrasil System. Skuld looked up “But father…” “Skuld…” “Yes father…” “Very well then, that’s it. You are both dismissed.” Skuld and Ranma both bowed and left. There was a fond look on Kami-sama’s face as he watched the pair leave. ** Time passed. The days became a routine. Ranma would follow Skuld around on her daily maintenance checks of the tree system, then later on practice sessions using magic followed. To Ranma ‘debugging’ was a simple enough task which he caught on to quite fast. He did lag a little with the more technical operations happening with the system, but he left that stuff up to Skuld. “What is this place?” Ranma asked. “We’ve never been here before.” Today Skuld took them deep into the heart of the Yggrasil. The room they entered was an array of spiraling columns with traces of light flashing through them. The walls were lined with root like lines crisscrossing over each other like a tangled web. “Don’t you know anything?” Skuld huffed. “This is one of the central information nodes of the Yggrasil. All incoming data is processed through here. It’s one of the most sensitive areas and only certified system administrators special clearance are allowed in here.” “Sorry,” Ranma said defensively. “I’m not some computer geek like you, so I’m still trying to get this stuff. You don’t have to bite my head off.” Skuld bit her lip. “Just watch where you’re going and don’t touch anything. I have to run a scan for bugs here.” She pulled out here little red notebook computer she always carried and started typing. Ranma walked around looking through the various systems in the room. Written on one of the columns were the words ‘Doublet System Archive’ and unlike the other columns this had no light running through it. ‘The Doublet System…’ Ranma mused. ‘The great injunction Kami-sama created to keep Heaven and Hell from destroying each other.’ As is went, the life of each god was linked to that of a demon and vice versa. Should either die, then the other connected by the link would also perish. Confrontations between the sides became more subtle and all out wars ceased, but on rare occasions the system would be activated in the passing of either a child of light or one of the dark. “Ranma, what are you doing over there?” Skuld asked closing her little computer. “Nothing just looking around. Are you don’t scanning yet?” Skuld nodded. “There is one bug in here some where.” From the inside of her jacked she pulled out a pair of goggles and put them on. “I just have to pound him it.” The goggles had a built in scanner giving her the readout of the room. She hefted her hammer and started prowling the room. Ranma shrugged and followed. He walked in a relaxed posture with his hands behind his head. “There it is!” Skuld pointed. The charged forward with her hammer. As she swung down the little spider-bunny jumped out of the way, barely missing the large weapon. Ranma watch on as Skuld chased the furry critter around the room screaming, yelling and hammering. This went on for a good ten minutes before Skuld stopped and slumped back against one of the pillars. Sweat ran down her brow and she was breathing heavily. “Well that did a lot.” Ranma commented. “I’m just tiring it out!” Skuld huffed. The spider-bunny dashed out in front of her and hopped on top of her head and hopped off bouncing away energetically. A vein appeared on her head. Ranma rolled his eyes then went off after the bug. He saw the bug nibbling on one of the connections along the wall. “Can’t let you do that little guy.” Ranma ran toward it causing the spider-bunny to jump out of the way. Ranma expecting this, launched himself in the air to intercept. As the bug came into range, Ranma made a fist and bopped the critter on the noggin. There was a poof of smoke as the furry thing hit the ground. “That wasn’t to hard,” he said dusting off his hands with a smug look on his face. “How did you do that?” Skuld asked wide-eyed? “You moved so fast...” She pulled out her computer to calculate his speed. “Aw it was nothing. I just picked up a few things from my last assignment.” “Where was that?” Skuld asked. “Purgatory.” “The borderland?” Skuld looked shocked. Purgatory was the no-man’s land between Heaven and Hell. It had been the battle ground of gods and demons since the beginning of time. Soul’s of people who were not evil enough to deserve damnation but who’s hearts were not pure enough to see the path to Heaven, wandered the noman’s land like lost sheep. It lay to the gods to seek them out and lead them to the light. The danger was that the demons did all in their power to thwart the benevolent actions of the gods. Confrontations were a common occurrence there. Ranma nodded. “There were a lot of people who needed help there. I did what I could but sometimes… Kami-sama decided to transfer me when I had a run in with Cait Sith…” He shivered remembering the feline shaped demon. “Ranma are you all right?” Skuld watched with a concerned face. “Huh? Oh… yeah I’m ok. Where to next Skuld?” the little boy said with a forced cheerfulness. ***---**---*** Time passed, and though the time they spend together was usually spent in arguing, a few rare moments happened now and again in which Ranma and Skuld actually got along well with each other. “Hey Skuld what are ya up too?” Ranma came walking in carrying a stack of books. Only his eyes could bee seen over the pile. With a heavy thump he dumped his load onto the desk. The books were large leather bound works covered with intricate designs and images. “Watch where you put those. I’m doing some very delicate work here!” Skuld said not looking up from her laptop computer. “What ya doing?” Ranma came over and leaned over her shoulder. “I’m writing a program for my Banpei-kun.” She was continued typing on her computer. Ranma squinted at the screen trying to make sense of the lines of code. “What’s a Banpei- kun?” “It’s something I’m building.” “And what would that be?” Ranma asked curiously. Skuld sighed realizing that she wasn’t going to get any peace till she showed Ranma what she was making. She turned her head. “Banpei is…” She found her self starring at Ranma’s face. Their noses almost touched. Ranma blinked looking into Skuld’s eyes. He hadn’t realized he had gotten so close. He backed up almost stumbling over himself. “S- sorry,” he said scratching his head. Skuld turn away hiding the blush on her face. She cleared her throat. “Banpei-kun is a robot I’m building.” “A robot?” Skyud nodded. She quickly typed something into her computer and when she hit the enter key, one of the walls in the room opened up and there appeared a large robot. It was a mechanical marvel standing about twice the size of the two godlings. The body was made out of large spheres looking like a snowman with protrusions for the arms and legs. The head sat on top of the main round body with its glass like eyes dim and unlit. “Wow… What’s this thing suppose to do?” Ranma asked. He walked around Banpei and knocked on the robo’ts chest. A hollow metallic sound rang forth. “Stop that!” “It’s not going to hurt it.” “Grrrrr… just don’t touch anything! I’m almost done with it and I don’t need you messing it up.” Skuld frowned. “All I have to do now is finish downloading the program and Banpei will be activated.” She walked back to her computer and started typing again. Ranma continued looking at the robot. “Skuld? What is Banpei for?” She shrugged. “Nothing really, it’s just something I wanted to build. I can’t really explain it, but making things like Banpei-kun is just something I love doing. I guess you really wouldn’t understand.” Ranma looked up with a thoughtful expression on his face. “Well ya mind if I just hang around here for a while then?” “Fine, just don’t bother me anymore.” Skuld turned back to her computer and started typing away again. Ranma just shook his head and pulled up a chair. Taking one of the books he began paging through it with. ‘I wonder if this stuff is any good? Hm… Introductory manual to the Yggrasil System Vol. 1.’ Ranma groaned. Time passed. Ranma was on the third book when Skuld jumped up jubilantly. “It’s done!” she exclaimed. Ranma looked up from his book. “Are you going to turn that tin can on now?” Skuld glared at him. “For your information when I activate Banipei-kun his programming will allow him to do all the work your suppose to be doing. So then I can finally have you transferred out of here and still have the help I need.” “Ha! If you think that pile of bolts can replace me you better check the screws in your head instead of your robot.” “We’ll just see about that!” Skuld ran over to a console and angrily pulled down on a large lever. The room started to shake as the robot’s platform was raised up and from the ceiling large electrodes were lowered. Skuld pulled down her goggles and put on a white lab coat. “Banpei activation phase begin!” She pulled down another lever and electricity arced into the steel body from the electrodes. In the midst of the pyrotechnic display the metal body began to move and its optical sensors began to glow. “Yes! Yes! It’s alive! It’s alive!!!” Skuld cackled madly. “…” Ranma grew a sweat drop. “Banpie I command you to rise!” Skuld ordered. The robot complied, getting off its rest platform and settling its legs onto the ground. “Ha Ha!” Banpei started to lumber forward, its metallic body clanking and clattering as it moved. It began to cross the room and when it reached the wall on the other end it slammed into it and kept on going leaving a gaping hole. Skuld’s jaw dropped. Ranma walked up next to her holding his hands behind his head. “Is it suppose to do that?” He asked innocently. Skuled turned toward him. There was a twitch to her face. “Aaahhhh…” Ranma swallowed nervously and began backing up. Before Skuld’s hammer could connect with his head another crash sounded as Banpei bulldozed into another wall. Skuld blinked. “The file room! If it runs into the storage banks all the information… Oh no!” Ranma breathed a sigh of relief as Skuld pulled back her hammer and ran after the wild automaton. “Hey wait up! That thing could be dangerous!” He said getting up and going after Skuld. Skuld made her way through the rubble left behind from Banpei’s wake. “Oh man!” Ranma exclaimed as he saw the robot head toward the computer systems in the room. “Hey doesn’t that thing have an off switch?” Ranma asked catching up the girl. Skuld looked at him blankly. “Off switch?” Skuld’s face turned beet red and Ranma grew a sweat drop. “Never mind, just let me borrow this,” he said as he took her hammer from her. “Ranma wait you can’t!” Skuld called out after him. He ignored her as he charged forward gripping the hammer. ‘No problem just pretend it’s a big bug.’ As he got closer he realized that Banpei towered a good two feet over him. ‘A really big bug…’ “All right! Take this you rusty old bucket!” He jumped up and slammed the hammer down on top of the robot’s head. A ‘gong’ sounded and the hammer vibrated like a tuning fork in his hands. There was a dent in the ball shaped head of the machine. “Well what do ya know, it worked!” Before he could pat himself on the back the head swiveled one hundred and eighty degrees. The sensor eyes lit up to a bright red. “Uhhh… Skuld I think I made it angry…” “I tried to tell you that before. I programmed a self preservation algorithm into Banpei!” Skuld yelled back. “Why did you have to go do something stupid like that for!” Ranma glared at her. “Ranma!!!” “What?!?” “Lookout!” “Huh?” From the corner of his eye he saw a metal fist coming toward him. ‘Oh boy…’ “Ranma!!!” Skuld screamed as she saw the little boy’s body go flying across the room and slam into a wall. She watched in horror as the metallic monster mover forward to finish the job. “Ranma get up! It’s coming toward you!” Ranma’s reply was a groan as he tried to get up but fell back down in a heap. “No!” Skuld ran forward placing herself in between the boy and the robot. She pulled out her little red laptop computer and frantically started typing away. “Banpei-kun I order you to stop! I order you to stop! I order you to stop!” She kept repeating to the machine as her fingers flew across the keyboard. She was forced to back up as Banpei kept approaching. The robot raised its metal arm into the air. Skuld stood there like a deer caught in headlights. The glowing eyes flashed and the sound of gears turning and motors winding were heard as Banpei brought its fist down on top of the little girl. As the fist was about to reach power, a flash of light lit up the room. A ball of white energy flew past and struck the robot square on the chest. Electricity crackled around the metal body bringing it to a shuddering halt. Black smoke seeped out from its joints as Banpei returned to its previous lifeless state. It took a moment for Skuld to realize what happened. ‘How…’ She looked behind her and saw Ranma on the ground with his arm outstretched. She sensed the remnants of the magic around him. “Ranma…” The boy managed a slight murmur before he passes out. A trickle of blood ran down his mouth. “Ranma?” Skuld gently nudged him. There was no response. Skuld’s face paled. “No… Ranma! Ranma!!!” She desperately shook the boy but he wouldn’t be roused. “Someone help me!” the little girl screamed out. ***--**--*** Somewhere in heaven a phone rang. “Goddess relief office, Beldandy speaking,” “Skuld-chan? Why are you calling this line is reserved for-“ “Slow down, I can’t make you what you’re saying.” “Robot? Accident? What do you mean Ranma’s dying?” “Kami-sama no… I’m coming Skuld-chan. Just hold on.” Beldandy put the phone down. Her face was a mask of worry. She had never heard her little sister in such distress. She clasped her hands together and muttered the words and in a flash the goddess was gone. End (for now) Author Notes: This is a pet project I’ve been working on. Depending on how it’s received I’ll decide to continue it or not. Please send me an comments or criticism you feel appropriate. Thank you for reading. For subject put: Ranma|Amg ****************** cruzd@rpi.edu ******************