RANMA'S TRIP TO MAINFRAME
Written by ElektraChapter Three
Akane looked at her surroundings. It
was a city of some sort, and they were standing in front of a broken
down warehouse. "Where the heck are we?!" she asked herself. Then
she looked at Ranma, who was standing beside her. "Oooooooh!! This
is all YOUR fault, Ranma!!"
"Hey!" Ranma snapped, "I'M not the
one with the mallet space here!!!"
"Now now, Children," an old voice
began. Both Ranma and Akane looked at the source.
"Cologne?!" Akane asked, "What are
YOU doing here?!"
Cologne looked at Akane, "I was
pulled through your mallet space, child..."
Suddenly, the warehouse door opened,
and a green-skinned, yet beautiful, woman stepped out. She looked
up at the sky, and took a deep breath, muttering one word, "Bob..."
"Pardon us..." Cologne began,
interrupting the woman's private moment, "But.. where are we??"
The green-skinned woman was startled
as she noticed the strangers, "Oh, hello... who are you?" she asked.
Cologne looked at the woman, "I am
Cologne, this is Ranma Saotome, and this is Akane Tendo," she said,
pointing to the teenagers.
"You three should get to a shelter..."
the woman began, "Mainframe isn't a safe place to walk around
anymore..."
"Mainframe?!" Akane began, "What the
heck is Mainframe?!"
The woman looked at her, confused,
"What do you mean? THIS is Mainframe.." the woman replied, gesturing
with her hands at the surroundings, "Have you gone completely
random?"
"If 'random' means CRAZY, then yeah..
she sure IS crazy!" Ranma muttered. Akane glared at him, and fumed.
The green-skinned woman seemed
amused, "Well... you three better come inside. It's too dangerous
out here." She said, and motioned for them to follow her into the
building. They were met by a purple skinned woman.
"Hey, Dot, sugah... who are our
visitors," the woman asked.
"This is Ranma, Akane, and Cologne,"
the woman known as Dot replied. "I found them outside, Mouse... I
don't think they're from around here.."
The woman called Mouse looked at the
trio, "Hmm... very odd. All the portals to the Net are closed... ah
don't see how visitors could come from OUTSIDE our system..."
Dot shrugged, "Maybe something
happened when you closed the portals,"
"Ah beg your pardon?!" The woman
replied. "Ah'll have ya' know ah did a VERY thorough job closin'
those portals, Dot honey! There ain't NO WAY anyone can get through
'em!"
"I'm not saying you didn't, Mouse.
I'm just saying that something might have gone wrong.." Dot replied
politely.
Mouse scratched her head, "Well...
could be.. but... ah don't know WHAT could have gone wrong..."
"It was Akane's mallet space that
sucked us in here!" Ranma piped up.
"Shut UP, Ranma!!" Akane snapped.
"Mallet space? What in the Net is
THAT?" Mouse asked.
"It's this weird sub-space pocket
Akane pulls her mallets out of when she gets mad." Ranma explained.
Mouse, and Dot took a moment to
think, "Could her mallet space have created a tear or portal?" Dot
asked.
"It's possible, sugah... very
possible..." Mouse replied.
Dot's face suddenly brightened up,
"Well... If she can create a portal into Mainframe, maybe we can
create a portal into the web... Maybe we can find BOB!!"
"My my..." Cologne began, looking at
Dot. "You remind me of myself when I was your age! I was always
excitable... but, of course.. I grew up with the Amazons... That's
another story, though..."
Mouse looked at Dot, and whispered,
"I just hope you don't end up having such an old, dried up voice
like hers when you get older!"
Dot was surprised at Mouse's rather
rude comment. Cologne looked confused as she spoke up, "Did I miss
something?"
Dot and Mouse smiled, and shook their
heads, "No no.. nothing at all.."