Disclaimer: I do not own any rights to either Ranma 1/2 nor Sonic the Hedgehog. These franchises are owned by... um, a bunch of companies and business entities that I, the author of a thousand failures, cannot be bothered to look up. I know Rumiko Takahashi created Ranma Nibunnoichi, but it's owned by a bunch of publishing companies and stuff, and Sonic is owned by Sega of America among other things, so at least I'm not totally clueless.
Summary:"Oh what a shameless son I have, running off with some -man- like some giggly little -girl-!" "Hey! It ain't like that! Besides, it's Sonic the Hedgehog!"
Author's Note: Last time we discovered that I am insane, and then Akane was kidnapped by robots. Now on with the show! (Read?)
Chapter 2 - What Would Robots Want With Akane?
While Ranma, in Vixen form, flew over the metropolis of Station Square she went over in her head what propagated the latest SNAFU moment.
She went over it like she went over the city, too quickly to see anything, and only really able to see where it all ended up. Of course, this was normal, Ranma never managed to quite get a hang on the ins and outs of Akane's temper. Sometimes Ranma thought that if only Akane could dial it back a bit the two of them could train seriously together, but noooo, with Akane it was either hit like a girl, or like a speeding Bullet Train, there didn't seem to be anything in-between. And frankly, fighting angry all the time did no-one any favors.
Still, Akane tried. And Ranma tried. Heck, even Genma had tried once! Sure, he did more harm than good, but that was to be expected; Genma being an idiot came with the territory, not unlike Akane's temper or Ranma's big mouth.
'Hmm, there we go. Of course, I'm already a girl and I'm still headed for that stupid fountain. I think Akane aims for it sometimes.' Angling herself for a softer landing, Ranma prepared for splashdown.
Ranma flew over Station Square so much these days that some of the residents mistook her for another flying fox, like Tails. Until she landed on concrete and created an impact crater, in which case people tended to think she was a robot or something. It was hard to tell sometimes.
This time when she landed, as with many other times, she created a crater in the water that spilled all over the street and left very little water still in the fountain itself, though the fountain was left untouched and would fill back up from the city's water supply.
That was getting normal anymore, and most of the citizenry didn't even stick around to stand and gawk like they used to. There was, however, something unusual about today's landing.
There were robots there, just standing around, as if waiting for something.
"Huh? Robots?" Rather than responding, all four of the robots simply brought up one arm and fired at her, forcing her to dodge. "Hey, what? Okay, you asked for it!"
Before the machines could respond Ranma had closed in on one of them and, using a combination of Martial Arts and the sort of brute force that could survive cratering concrete with her back, tore off its legs, then tore off its arms and started using them as combination weapons/shields to beat the other bots into metallic pulp.
The fight lasted approximately two minutes, after which some four people had been hit by the tranquilizer darts and were unconscious on the ground, though for the most part the few people still on the streets (mostly checking on the fallen) were congratulatory.
"Ah, yah, no problem. I gotta get home, now, see ya!" And without another word Ranma started roof-hopping her way back to the Tendo Dojo.
"Great Grandmother! Shampoo back!"
"Ah good, Shampoo, come here. Do you need some hot water?"
"Maybe later," Shampoo stated, putting her currently oversized bicycle in its reverent place, "Shampoo lose pants again. Stupid metal men."
Cologne was going to say something else as she led the way to the back of the store, but that last comment stopped her, "What was that about robots?"
"Met- Robots attack Shampoo while delivering. Shampoo teach them lesson, but lose pants." Shampoo, of course, didn't want to admit that letting her tail loose like that actually felt pretty good; the awkward, multi-size outfits she'd been forced to adopt weren't superbly tail-friendly, not unless she wanted a great big hole right where her human posterior was.
Cologne didn't say anything for a few moments, absorbing that information. Normally, Doctor Robotnik's robots tended to leave the citizens of Station Square alone, and hadn't attacked any of its Martial Artists with much ferocity. It made sense that it would happen eventually, but Cologne had been alive too long to simply pass off what might have been a simple encounter as anything but ominous.
If nothing else, destroying several of his robots, which had targeted her to begin with, meant that the Doctor was now, at a minimum, aware of the threat they posed to him. "I see."
"Great-Grandmother want tell Shampoo something?"
"Yes." She was going to tell her that they would be closing late that night, as she was expecting a dinner rush. "Close the restaurant, we're going to step up your training." She nodded to herself as Shampoo immediately started off with the task; before turning to leave, she left a last message over her shoulder, "Stay in that form, your lingering awkwardness with it will be our first task."
"Yes Great-Grandmother. Shampoo get pants?"
"... sure."
Ukyo Kuonji was confused. She honestly didn't know what to think about the encounter she'd just had in the streets.
She'd been stopped by a bunch of robots. Knowing that robots meant bad news, she had sunk into a defensive stance, her oversized battle spatula at the ready.
The robots, on the other hand, seemed content to stare at her... until one of them spoke. "Sensory information conflicting with database records. Querying for additional instruction..." This, of course, confused the boy-dressed-girl... but the next statement was just insulting. "Subject is too masculine, do not acquire."
The robots then turned to leave peacefully. Of course she still smeared them across the tarmac and ripped their so called 'sensors' out with her bare hands before stomping spitefully on them, but it was still confusing. And she puzzled it out the whole time she was cleaning the street in front of her shop of the lingering scrap metal.
As he traveled through the wilderness, Ryoga wasn't shy about using the Bakusai Tenketsu to help clear the way when he couldn't find his way.
Such as when he found himself in a small cave-like-tunnel, filled mostly with rubble. It did not occur to him that it was filled with rubble because he'd been blasting away at it, he simply saw a rock face and decided to poke it with his finger.
"Finally!" He smiled happily as his eyes took in the almost serene environment, all bright, almost emerald green interspersed with ancient-looking ruins, which he did not notice he was walking out of. "Fresh air! Sunlight!" He wasn't sure why he was so happy about these things, he only actually remembered being underground for a few seconds. Or he thought so, anyway.
He promptly began walking in a random direction, with no idea where he was except that it was somewhere near Mt. Fuji. Probably.
It was about the time that he was walking along the edge of what looked like an old amphitheater that he heard shouting. "YOU WON'T GET THEM, THIEF!" He then felt a fist.
It hit him in his right flank, which he only just noticed as he was crawling out of the crater he'd made in the Amphitheater's center. "Ow, that hurt." It was almost enough to anger him, but mostly he was annoyed. He rarely got hurt, though, so he was more confused than anything.
When he looked up he saw his attacker land only a few feet away from him; apparently the red... whatever it, he, was could fly. Or glide, anyway, which didn't even come close to surprising Ryoga, who invaded the nests of dragons on a regular basis. Never mind that dragons weren't supposed to exist.
His attacker glared at him and waved a fist which, Ryoga noticed, had two spikes on it. It was probably those spikes that had managed to pierce his thick skin. "You'll get a lot more of that if you don't get out of here!"
Ryoga was confused, but not because the guy wanted him 'out of there', wherever there was, nor because he was using violence to get that point across; he got a lot of both of those things in his travels, managing to stumble into the most awkward of places without meaning to.
Mostly he was confused because he got the feeling he recognized this guy. Meh, probably met him before somewhere. "Could you tell me how to get to Station Square from here?"
The guy looked confused for a moment, then switched back to furious, "I WON'T LET YOU SELL THEM LIKE SOME COMMON ROCKS!" And then the guy attacked him, again.
Ryoga blocked with his arms this time, and was again thrown back, partly because as a pig he was smaller and lighter, though his skin was just as thick thanks to the Bakusai Tenketsu.
Of course, his arms still hurt after that hit and his patience finally snapped, a vein appearing on his right temple as he shouted "NOW I'M MAD!" and hit the guy square in the nose.
Now it should be noted that as a human, Ryoga's fists could crush boulders with ease, and that he was rarely careful in crosswalks, though he did find it annoying to have to peel himself out of the mangles of metal he sometimes found himself in. It should also be noted that when he was in his cursed form, his fists had similar qualities to hooves, ie very, very hard.
So it was unsurprising when Ryoga's hit gave Knuckles the Echidna a bloody nose, "THAT HURT!"
The two then went into an anger-fueled brawl that entertained the both of them for the afternoon. Then Ryoga remembered where he recognized him; they used to fight each-other any time he got close to the place, one could almost say that they had helped each-other learn to fight.
Regardless, neither of them were going to be leaving Angel Island for a little while at least.
When Ranma finally got back to the Tendo's she announced herself, "I'm back!"
"Welcome back Ranma, would you like some hot water?" Kasumi emerged from the kitchen with a kettle of said water, which Ranma accepted gratefully.
"Thanks, Kasumi. Is Akane back yet?"
"Oh my no, Nabiki-chan says she got kidnapped again."
"Eh? By who?"
"WAAAAAAAHHHH! IT WAS TERRIBLE, RANMA! DOCTOR ROBOTNIK TOOK MY LITTLE GIRL AND HE COULD BE DOING ANYTHING TO HER RIGHT NOW!"
"What? Were you even there?" Ranma jumped back as Mr. Tendo latched onto her, making her drop the kettle that Kasumi had just given her, causing her to frown.
"Ranma! As her Fiance it is your duty to go and rescue her." Genma nodded sagely, adjusting his glasses for dramatic effect.
"Why don't you- hey leggo!"
"SAVE MY LITTLE GIRL, RANMA!" Mr. Tendo was crying even more loudly now, and had backed up his plea with a little bit of the Demon Head for effect. It was a crying Demon Head, but it somehow worked.
"Geeze FINE! Do you even know where she is!" Ranma broke herself from Mr. Tendo's grasp and stood on the back of his head, keeping him sobbing into the floor.
That was when Nabiki arrived with a piece of paper, "Here, I checked my sources and found Metropolis Zone."
"Thanks, Nabiki." Ranma looked the map over and nodded, she knew that area.
"And for fifty yen..." she held out his hand, which Ranma filled with a roll of her eyes, "I'll tell you that he also tried, and failed to abduct Shampoo and Ukyo. No one else that I know of, though."
"Alright, thanks again Nabiki."
"Don't get used to it."
"Right. Okay, I'm going." Ranma almost whined as she got off Mr. Tendo's head and went back out the door. Couldn't she have at least gotten something to eat before something stupid happened?
Tails the Fox was just putting the finishing touches on the preliminary sketches for the plans to a prototype of a demonstration evac-pod when the sound of frantic, panicky squeaking filled his workshop.
"Eh? Cream?" When he curiously sought out his younger friend, Tails found her blubbering in his sitting room, where she instantly latched onto him, crying into his chest.
It was hard to get much of anything out of her at first, the pitch of her voice, the fact that she was talking directly into his fur, and the constant sobbing meant that all he really got for the first minute or so was 'Eggman' and 'Amy'. Which could mean just about anything, really, though he got his computer to make contact with Sonic just in case.
Of course, it wasn't until Cream had finally calmed down that Sonic actually answered his phone. "Okay, so could you tell me what's wrong? Take a deep breath."
Cream did so, Cheese the Chao encouraging her on before she said, a little shakily but for the most part without any blubbering, "Me and Amy were just walking to the city, when all of a sudden a bunch of Eggman robots ambushed us! They got Amy! They shot her and she fell asleep before she could even get her Piko Piko Hammer out, and I tried to fight them but they just ignored me and flew away! They took Amy!"
Having heard all of that, Sonic nodded on the big screen at the back of the room, "Alright, I'm on it." This surprised Cream, who hadn't realized he was listening in, but Tails distracted her by patting her on the back.
"Alright, we'll get some more help. Do you know where Big is?" Cream only blinked, then smiled.
Minutes later Sonic was just speeding into Metropolis Zone. As usual there were a few robots out roaming the countryside zones, some of which he smashed if only for old times sake, but once where he needed to be he slowed down a little, so he could see where he was going and hopefully not miss any signs of the missing pink Hedgehog.
He looked high, grappling onto a radio aerial, he looked low, nearly collapsing a street as he made a sonic boom in the sewers, and he looked around the streets, smashing robots as he went, but there was no sign of life other than the occasional bird, and in Metropolis Zone even those were rare.
And then movement on the rooftops caught his eye. Looking that way he had trouble spotting anything until it again bounced up to the sky, where he could see its red fur against the mostly-blue sky. Seeing it... her as he kept up from a distance, he understood how he could have missed her against the rust-colored slums of the city that they both appeared to be trudging through, as she blended in incredibly well.
He was about to zoom over to offer some help, or to possibly warn her away when he noticed some robots in her path. In fact, he did turn in her direction, though he halted when he saw her do what might have been a decorative little flip, only to smash the robot to pieces with what might have been just her tail.
He'd never heard of anybody with a tail that strong, so one could forgive him for simply standing there, watching as she dispatched even more robots, almost negligently.
Of course, they kept coming, and it wasn't until it was too late that he realized why: He was there, and Robotnik by now probably knew it and was sending even more robots just to keep him busy.
Just as he was thinking this he heard, of all things, the girl shout "Oh no! An opening!" and saw her get shot and fall to the ground, motionless.
He went to give chase, but more robots got in the way, just as he saw one of them grab the girl and fly off. "Aww man, can't you guys give me a break?" He heard their blasters start charging and shrugged, "Guess not."
End Chapter 2
So there's that. Hoped you liked it, and the cliffhanger I left it on. (grins)
This is a pretty quick, short little story (as I planned), so there's the finale next, and maybe an epilogue, I'm not sure. Mostly I just wanted to get this out. :D
Alex Ultra: I'm Dreaming Of Being With You
LATER