Disclaimer: Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Video and Winx Club belongs to Iginio Straffi and Rai S.p.A (NOT 4Kids!). Songs 'TANK!' belongs to Cowboy Bebop, and 'Kaze wa Mirai ni Fuku' belongs to Trigun.
Note: this follows the Rai version of Winx as the 4Kids version butchered it too much, like with every anime it dubs.
Chapter 46: Future Tense! Welcome to the Robot World!
Previously, on Ranma Club…
Nerissa plotted to take Bloom's powers for her own. She kidnapped Kasumi and Sasuke to blackmail Ranma and the Winx Club. Once Bloom was in Nerissa's grasp, Ranma, the Winx, and their Meridian allies W.I.T.C.H. invaded Nerissa's hideaway to rescue the hostages. After a grueling fight, Bloom, Sasuke, and Kasumi are rescued. Nerissa wasn't about to give up and launched one last desperate attack to steal Bloom's powers, but her power lust cost her double an arm and a leg, literally. In a rage, Ranma reduced the once powerful ex-Guardian to a limbless and mute torso. Meridian celebrates Nerissa's defeat, then she was met with an unfortunate meeting with Shadow-Valtor. Ranma and crew prepared to return back home to Nerima, but instead, they wound up sucked through a time portal and found themselves in yet another place…
"This machine made the portal?" wondered Tecna.
"WAR. NING. WAR. NING. FOREIGN. ENTITIES. DETECTED. FROM. EXPERIMENTAL. TIME. WARP. PHASE."
Everybody looked about to see numerous ARMED robots surrounding them.
"What?" said Ukyou.
"Where is this place?" asked Flora.
"Sssssssecurity!"
The camera zooms out from the lab to show a huge futuristic city. The building they were in was one of four jointed quartet buildings which formed an 'RM'.
Opening (Cowboy Bebop style, 'TANK!')
Music starts as rapid images of the cast flash by before blacking out to show Ranma's shadow silhouette
I think it's time to blow this scene
Get everybody and their stuff together
Okay, 3, 2, 1, let's jam!
Ranma's shadow stands tall, before turning into Ranma-chan from a splash of water.
Ranma is seen running before skidding to a halt to face the camera. Next it shows Kasumi feet as she walks by and shows her hold a hand up to her mouth.
The triple horizontal split-screen shows Bloom, Stella, and Flora whipping their heads around to look at the screen as their hair tosses. The second triple vertical split-screen shows Musa, Tecna, and Layla dropping down.
Ranma's shadow does a flying kick. The scene flashes by clips of Ranma-chan transforming to Faerie mode. Faerie Ranma-chan flies to the left, trailing a line behind her. The line forms a split-screen of Shampoo and Ukyou who then brandish their weapons. Ranma's shadow performs his Amaguriken, then the shadows of the Specialist souls emerge.
It then shows Nodoka holding her bundled katana. In the back, Nodoka is in her Enchantix-mode flying down the road, then shows a shot of Nerima. A profile of Ranma pans up to the right, and a profile of Ranma-chan pans up to the left.
Ukyou spins her spatula. Shampoo swings her bonbori. Ranma throws some punches before ending with a kick. Mousse juggles some knives before sprouting more weapons from his sleeves.
The Winx in their Enchantix fly off to the left. It then shows a split-screen of Kasumi and Sasuke. Then it shows the Specialists walking towards the back down a spinning corridor.
Scene shows headshots of Ranma, Shampoo, Ukyou, and Mousse. Between them was a thick line.
A production of Viz Video, RAI, and Frequent Reader.
The headshots shade in, then shows the 'Ranma Club' title.
2008 – fanfiction . net
End opening
Unknown laboratory…
The Winx and NWC found themselves in a bind. One minute they were in the public park of Heatherfield, the next they're in a spacious high-tech laboratory thanks to an unexpected time portal that suddenly sucked them through. Not only that, they were surrounded by numerous robots aiming their lasers at them. One portion of the robots were blue and grey with heads resembling a surveillance camera. The other portion were green and grey robots with single small optic lenses that rotate about the head and slightly more humanoid bodies.
"Who are you people? How did you get in here! ?" a raspy hissing voice demanded.
Everyone turned to see what looked like a cybernetic bald scientist. He was dressed in a modified scientist outfit suggesting he was a head researcher. What stood out were the robotic parts of his body. Both his legs and arms were made of red metal, and two cables jutted out of his back which enter through the right side of his mouth like a complex respirator. His left eye looked to be permanently closed or slightly open while his left was permanently wide open.
"Forget not being in Nerima, I don't think we're in the right time period." Said Ranma.
"SUB. JECTS. CAME. THROUGH. EXPERI. MENTAL. TIME. PORTAL. GENER. ATOR. ORDERS, DR. HISS."
The one called Dr. Hiss was surprised. "They came through the time portal? Then they must come from the passst! Contain them for interrogation!"
"AFFIRMATIVE."
The securitybots and greenbots immediately started to converge on the misplaced group.
"They're obviously not very friendly…" said Bloom.
"Girls, don't transform just yet…" said Nodoka. "Ranma, can you and the others handle this?"
"No problem, Mom." Said Ranma.
A greenbot that tried to grab Ranma was sent flying with a punch. It slammed into other bots, exploding on impact. That was when the NWC sprung into action.
Ukyou whipped out her battle spatula and sliced through some bots with it while using it to deflect any lasers shot at her. Shampoo armed herself with her bonboris and smashed other bots to scrap metal. She swung a bonbori at a securitybot's head, whacking its head off which slammed into another bot, exploding on impact. Mousse brought out a huge spiked steel ball on chain and swung it into a group of bots, shattering them to pieces. He quickly pulled out a mirror to reflect a laser back at its shooter, destroying it. Sasuke saw a securitybot heading toward him and reflexively kicked it back. However, it slammed against and exploded on the time portal's main control console, causing it to shut down.
"Oops…" said Sasuke.
"NOOO! The time portal generator's main control is dessstroyed! It will take weeksss to repair it!" shouted Dr. Hiss. "GET THEM!"
"So much for leaving through the portal." Said Ukyou.
"I'm sorry about that, everyone…" said Sasuke.
"Never mind that! We've got to get out of here now!" said Musa.
"Clear a path!" said Ranma.
With Ranma, Shampoo, Ukyou, and Mousse taking the lead, they plowed through the bots, making a beeline towards the lab's exit. Nodoka, Kasumi, and the Winx quickly followed them as they escape the lab and into the building's hallways.
"Ssssssecurity breach! Ssssssecurity breach! We have intruderssss in Lab 24's floor! All unitssss converge and capture!" shouted Dr. Hiss on the intercom.
The group fought their way through the bots standing in their way as they tried to find the exit.
"Where do we go?" asked Flora.
Tecna activates her PDA to take a quick scan of their location, creating a 3-D image of the building's structure. "We're currently on the fortieth floor of this building. There's an elevator shaft just around the corner."
They turn the corner to find the elevator. Stella quickly hit the down button to call the elevator up.
"Come on come on come on!" said Stella.
Everyone saw greenbots and securitybots closing in on them from both sides.
"We got hold off!" said Shampoo as she held up her bonboris.
Ranma, Ukyou, Shampoo, and Mousse started fighting off the bots long enough for the elevator to arrive. The doors finally opened when the Winx, Kasumi, Sasuke, and Nodoka poured in.
"Hurry! Get in!" shouted Nodoka.
The four martial artists threw back the bots far enough for them to get into the elevator and shut the doors before the bots could recover.
"Safe! Now let's get to the first floor!" said Bloom.
The elevator started its decent. After a few moments, the elevator stopped.
"I knew it wouldn't be so easy…" said Layla.
Tecna looked around to see security cameras lining the top of the elevator. "The cameras!"
Mousse took out the cameras with throwing knives. "We've got to get out of here!"
"Already on it!" said Ranma as Onyx Riven emerged and punched a hole through the floor. "Down here!"
Ranma dropped through the hole and slid down the elevator's cable. He was followed suite by Mousse, Shampoo, Ukyou, and Sasuke. Nodoka used her powers to levitate herself, the Winx, and Kasumi down the elevator shaft. Once reaching the ground floor, Ranma kicked open the doors, sending them flying out and smashing two unfortunate securitybots in the way. This startled the human workers and clients in the lobby, making them quickly scatter. The Winx and NWC burst out from the elevator and ran for the main door while dodging the laser fire of the numerous bots chasing them. They managed to get out onto the streets, marveling at the scene.
"We must be in the future or something!" said Bloom.
"Admire it later! We got to make ourselves scarce!" said Stella.
They turned into an alleyway, which unfortunately lead to a dead end. They turned to see a group of greenbots and securitybots behind them. In the lead was another robot type, this one was mostly black and red, known as a Police Patrol Bot or PPB. It was armed with a kind of bazooka weapon. It fired its payload, which was what looked like a basketball-sized metal sphere.
"I got it!" said Ranma as he took out Brandon's broadsword and sliced the metal sphere in two. After slicing it, he felt that it wasn't solid, rather it was completely hollow. He realized too late that the sphere was actually holding in a very powerful sleep gas, the kind used in hospitals. The sleeping gas engulfed the entire group of misplaced travelers, making them cough a bit before finally collapsing to blessed unconsciousness. "Crap… this… isn't… good…" Ranma fought against the effects of the gas, but he, too, fell into deep sleep.
The leader PPB lowered the bazooka and spoke in a cold tone. "Gather them up. They may prove useful to us."
The bots walked toward the unconscious humans, but they suddenly get blown apart by an explosion.
"FORE!"
Another explosion.
"SERVING!"
Yet another explosion.
The leader bot cursed as he recognized who was responsible. "Zulander!" The leader bot immediately retreated as he knew he didn't stand a chance against them alone. "I must report back about this matter…"
The final bot was destroyed, clearing the way for a very long van to back in. Numerous shadows fell over the deep sleeping misplaced group. Ranma was able to hear voices.
"Looks like we made it in time."
"Blowin' up bots is how I get my kicks, but what we got here? Some dudes and some chicks!"
"They're alive. They've just been put to sleep."
"Check it out! They don't look like locals."
"You're right. I wonder where they came from?"
"What do we do? We can't just leave them here."
"No we can't. Especially since the Corp wants them for some reason. We have to bring them back to base to get them treated."
"We must not overlook anything."
Unknown place…
"Ooooh… my head…" moaned Ranma as his eyes slowly opened. He found himself in what looked like a hospital room. "Where… where am I?"
"Mmmm…" Ranma looked about to see Bloom coming around and sitting up. "What happened…?"
"Bloom?"
"Ranma?"
The two teens looked about to notice everyone else lying on beds and slowly waking up.
"Whoa… what hit me…?" said Stella.
"Is this… a hospital?" asked Flora.
Everyone turned to the sound of an automatic door opening. They saw a white robot enter. It was humanoid in appearance and resembled a medical doctor as it was wearing a doctor's mirror and what looked like a stethoscope was hooked around its head.
"Oh good. You're all awake. I was starting to worry." Said the medical robot.
Everyone was surprised at the coherent speech the robot spoke in.
"You don't sound like those other robots." Said Ukyou.
"Ha! I should hope not. Oh where are my manners? My name is Watzon. You all got knocked out by medical gas. ZZ and the others found you under attack by those greenbots and securitybots, so you were all brought here before they could take you away."
"What? I don't understand…" said Musa.
Bloom was surprised when her aura sight activated and actually showed Watzon's aura. How could a robot have an aura? Still, she saw that Watzon was sincere in his diagnosis of them and his explanation of what happened.
"Everyone, we can trust him." Said Bloom.
Someone else then entered the room. This time it was a twelve-year-old red-haired girl in a pink jacket and yellow shorts. Around her head she wore a pink bandanna tied at the side.
"Hi there. Looks like you're all awake. Watzon did a good job bringing you back around."
"Well I AM a doctor, Blitzy." Said Watzon.
"But of course. As Watzon said, I'm Blitzy. Blitzy Zulander." Said Blitzy.
"Hello, Blitzy. Oh aren't you a cute one!" said Flora.
"Please, I don't DO cute… in any case, I came to take you up to the main room once you've awakened. Follow me."
Zulander Residence family room…
Ranma's group arrived in the house's large family room, where numerous robots were situated. Unlike the ones they encountered, these robots were quite distinguishable, unique, and full of personality.
In one corner were two robots that looked to be built for construction work. One was mostly yellow with a hardhat and had four arms, the top pair having a wrench and a drill for hands. The other robot was black and blue wearing what looked like sports shades on his face. He had a left arm, but his right arm was a large jackhammer point with a double-barrel laser cannon on its other end. Both robots had built-in roller blades in their feet.
Running in from another hallway were four more robots apparently playing in-house football with a volleyball. All four of them looked sports-oriented. One looked built like a top with rotating legs and feet, looking like a football, soccer, volleyball, and basketball player rolled in one. The second was a medium-built robot who had a tennis racquet for a right hand. The third was predominantly yellow and more humanoid who carried a modified baseball bat. The last one was lithe in stature and had a golf club as his single arm.
In another corner sitting in a lotus position was a black robot with what looked like a kendo face guard on his face. On his back were two ninjato swords and on his side a laser katana and nunchakus. He had two left arms and a right arm with a crossbow for a hand. He also had built-in roller blades in his feet.
On the couch in the center of the room was a short yellow robot with a computer screen for a head and wearing a headset with an oversized pencil on the right side of his head. Next to him was a white robot with a cube-like upper body with an extended neck. His head was thin, consisting of only a mouth and eyes resembling binoculars. He also had six arms: one a hand, four clamps, and one an electric welder. Sitting in an armchair nearby was a tall red humanoid robot bigger than the rest. On a shelf were five multi-colored robot heads chattering away.
"Hey BOYZZ, they're all up!" said the tool-handed robot.
"I'm glad you're all okay." Said the red robot.
"You took a fall and now you're back on your feet! But what were y'all doing out on that street?" the jackhammer robot rapped.
The newly awakened visitors were a bit confused seeing the numerous robots around. At least they were much friendlier than the first batch they encountered.
"Such fascinating robots…" said Tecna.
"Sorry to contradict you, sister, but we're not robots!" said the baseball robot.
"Precisely! We are Brain Operated Young Zygotopic Zoids, or BOYZZ for short." Added the six-armed white one.
"I see, what a clever acronym!" said Tecna. The six-armed BOYZZ was surprised at the girl since most other people would have given him blank stares for explaining the meaning. He was glad to see another technical-minded person.
"They're my family as well."
It was then a young brown-haired man walked into the room. He was dressed in blue pants and a light blue t-shirt with the letters 'ZZ' in yellow on the front written vertically.
"I take it you're the man of the house?" asked Nodoka.
"I am, ma'am. My name is Ziv Zulander, or ZZ for short. Also known as the Bots Master."
"I can see why." Said Ukyou after looking at all the other BOYZZ in the room.
Introductions were made between the groups. They got to know about the other BOYZZ: Jammerzz, Toolzz, Ninjzz, Bats, All-Ball, Ace, Bogey, Genesix, D'Nerd, Twig, and the talking heads T1 to T5.
It was then a magenta round-bodied robot entered, who was apparently a cook judging from the chef's hat and apron he was wearing. He had five arms, three were a rolling pin, a spatula, and a pot. He carried a large tray of burgers and spoke in a sort of French accent.
"Oh! It 'as been zo long zince we 'ad any visitors here! You all must be hungry! Here, bon appétit!"
"Don't mind if I do!" said Ranma. He was never one to turn down free food as he took a burger and started to eat. Everyone else followed his lead as they, too, felt quite hungry.
"Oh! This just delicious!" said Shampoo.
Everyone else agreed, especially Ranma.
'Hah, a robot who can cook. Even a robot is a better cook than a certain someone I know…'
Back in Nerima, Akane sneezed.
"Have all you want! Zere iz plenty for everyone!"
"Thanks, Cook." Said ZZ.
"At least these are edible." Said Blitzy jokingly.
"Hey! I'll have you know I worked hard on zem!" Cook said indignantly.
"I think they're just great, Cook." Said Flora.
"Zank you, my dear. I'm happy SOME PEOPLE appreciate my cooking!"
"C'mon, Cook, you know I was just joking with you." Said Blitzy.
"Come back here, Kiddie!" a feminine voice shouted.
A small robot modeled like a child ran into the room while holding a CD player. Chasing him was a feminine-looking robot with a humanoid appearance. She had light blue limbs and head while her body was red and magenta, giving the appearance she was wearing a long-skirt strapless dress and elbow-length gloves ensemble. The skirt was slit up the side stopping just over the hip and the bottom was lined and weighted with a sort of edged metal. Her feet were shaped like hi-tech high heels, and on her head were numerous cords ending in cord jacks giving the appearance of having mid-back length hair. Her face was human-like except for her eyes which looked like a pair of shades similar to Jammerzz.
"Oh c'mon, Rhymzz! I just wanted to listen to it!" said Kiddie.
"The content and lyrics are PG!" said the robot known as Rhymzz.
Twig quickly plucked the CD player from Kiddie's hands. "Hey!"
"Kiddie, what did we talk about taking others' things without permission?" said Twig, making Kiddie look down in shame. The larger robot hands the player back. "Here you go, Rhymzz."
"Thank you, Twig. You are a real gentleman." Said Rhymzz as she took the player. She noticed the new faces. "Oh my! Our guests are up already, ZZ Darling?"
"Yeah, Rhymzz. Where are the others?" said ZZ.
"I am here, Master ZZ." Said another feminine voice.
Suddenly, another female-type robot dropped down silently in a crouched position. Like Rhymzz, she was a (very) shapely humanoid but was a light pink in color. Her body was white and blue, looking to be like she was in a sleeveless kunoichi outfit with a flap going down her front and back. Tucked behind her waist were two kodachi swords and on her thigh was a strapped metal shaft. Her face was also humanlike but with glowing green eyes and a metal plate over her nose and mouth resembling a ninja mask. On her head were numerous cables tied in a topknot. Her feet also had built-in roller blades.(1)
"You've been up there for quite some time, Kunoichzz. I heard you sneak in five minutes ago." Said Ninjzz.
"You mean you knew? It looks like I've still much to learn." Said Kunoichzz.
"You must be able to erase all detection of your presence. We must always be at our pique when we help ZZ."
"Hai, sensei."
A third female robot walked in. She was mostly silver and black, looking like she's wearing a mini-skirt and a small tuxedo top. She had optic lenses for eyes and on her head were metal plates reaching down to the shoulders. On her back was a modified pool cue.
"He got you scratched, Kunoichzz."
"Hahaha! Good one, Trick-Shot! HAHAHA!" laughed T2.
"Well, all that's left is…" said ZZ. "Trick-Shot, have you seen Katzz?"
"I've no idea, ZZ. Last I saw her was…" Trick-Shot started.
Suddenly, squeaking and cawing were heard as two small robotic animals came flying and bouncing in. One was a blue robotic bird and the other a big pink insect that looked to be a cross between a cricket and a ladybug. A female robot pounced in chasing the two. She was colored blue while her body was lined red, giving the look she was in a strapless leotard. From the small of her back was a long armored tail. Her hands were built to look like cat paws as well as her feet, which also had built-in roller blades. On her head was a shock of cables and cords tied in the middle at shoulder-level behind her back while a pair of pointed metallic cat ears poked out. Her eyes glowed with a mischievous sky-blue light. She was also as shapely as Kunoichzz.
"Found her." Said Bats.
"I caught ya, Swang!" said Katzz as she grabbed the robotic insect who looked saddened at being caught.
"Now now, Katzz, don't tease Swang so much." Said ZZ.
"Oh, but chasing her is so fun, meow!" said Katzz as she placed Swang down before standing up and speaking in an almost seductive tone. "Hello everyone. How's it going?"
Ranma and the rest were a bit confused to the sudden change in behavior, but marked it off as being part of programming.
"Are they, uh, BOYZZ as well?" asked Mousse.
"Not exactly so, young man. We are Brain Augmented Beauty Enhanced Zygotopic Zoids, or BABEZZ." Replied Kunoichzz.
"I can see why."
"They're my latest additions." Said ZZ before gesturing to the robot animals. "And these two are Swang and Birden." Something that looked like a pair of binocular eyes with an arm coming out from the bottom and helicopter blades on top flew in to assist the T's. "This is Free-Hand, basically the T's extension."
"I've got to say, you've got quite a family, ZZ." Said Stella.
"Thanks, and unfortunately they're all I have. We're basically alone against the city and most of the world."
"What city is this anyway?" asked Bloom.
"You're in Robotics Megafact Corporation City, or RM Corp City for short." Replied ZZ.
"And what year is it?" asked Ukyou.
"It's 2027, why?" replied Blitzy.
"Oh man, we really ARE in the future…" said Ranma.
"You people came from the past?" asked Genesix, which he was met with nods.
"So the Corp really did succeed in making a time portal generator from what we learned from Mirrorz…" said ZZ.
"What do you mean? What's going on?" asked Kasumi.
"Perhaps I should start from the beginning…" said ZZ.
ZZ had explained his story to the Winx and NWC about how he created the Auto-Activated-Androbots or 3As, making a breakthrough in the world of robotics. Now everything was run by 3As around the world. He sold the rights of the 3As to the RM Corporation where he worked under them for three years. However, he uncovered a plot that the company president, Luis Leon Paradigm, was planning to take over the world by having all 3As worldwide be "upgraded" with something called krang chips. The krang chips are claimed to increase the productivity and efficiency of any bot they're installed in, but in reality were actually remote devices that would allow the Corp to exclusively control ALL 3As in the world, turning the robotic civil servants into war machines to turn on their masters for a global robotic takeover. ZZ defected from the Corp after realizing the truth and was almost caught, but now the Corp had him labeled as a terrorist in order to hunt him down and prevent him from trying to stop them. ZZ, Blitzy, and their robotic family were forced into hiding, concealing their house underground miles outside of RM Corp City. ZZ had initially created the BOYZZ for recreational companionship, but now had to have them help him fight the Corp. Since then, the Zulanders and the BOYZZ fought a rebel war against the Corp to stop them from achieving their world takeover plan. ZZ later created the BABEZZ to help out against the Corp, which had gotten even tougher to deal with, thanks to something called the Brain Grain. He wasn't deterred at the new threat, as he was determined to stop the Corp and clear his name no matter what.
"And that's my story." ZZ finished.
Bloom could see ZZ's aura self, who looked despaired due to the hardships he and his friends have endured. She could sense his regret of ever dealing with RM Corp in the first place because they turned his robotic success into a nightmare. "You must have suffered a lot…" ZZ could only nod.
"And the time portal?" asked Tecna.
"I had gotten info that the Corp was developing one, but purely by accident. They initially planned to make a teleporter in order to speed up krang chip distribution and to avoid my attempts to stop them. However, they somehow wound up creating a time machine instead, possibly even a dimensional gateway, which would be even more dangerous in their hands. Not only would they use it to gather natural resources that are now scarce here, they could possibly also use it to stop me from ever defecting from them. Since I'm the only one who knew the truth about their plans, I'm their biggest obstacle. If they do take me out in the past, they'd all but have taken over the world already. We went to try and destroy it, but it seems you guys already did that for us when you came through."
"What do you know? I DID do something right… eh hehehe…" said Sasuke.
"But still, that's our only way back…" said Flora.
"Don't worry. We'll find a way to get you all back home. In the meantime, you should lay low. Whatever the Corp wants you for, it can't be good." Said ZZ.
RM Corp Tower, CEO office…
"A group of people came through the portal, and you let them get away?" asked Luis Leon Paradigm, or LLP, in a cold tone. He was a tall bald man in a red coat jacket and black pants ensemble with a single black glove on his right hand.
"I'm sorry, sir. They were unexxxxpectedly strong. They took out our patrol botssss like they were nothing!" said Dr. Hiss.
"Regardless, you failed again, Hiss." Said Lady Frenzy. She was a statuesque blonde beauty in a blue and pink business dress with black spandex sleeves and leggings. Though visually appealing, she was twisted on the inside.
"Sssssilence, Frenzy! You'd think otherwisssse if you had been there!" said Dr. Hiss. He takes out a data disc. "The ssssssecuritybots managed to get video feed of their essscape. Even I couldn't believe it!"
Dr. Hiss inserts the data disc into a player, displaying the footage on the holoscreen that popped up. LLP and Lady Frenzy looked shocked at the security video. Four of the thirteen visitors easily dispatched any bot coming at them. The two girls whipped out large weapons out of nowhere despite their skimpy attires, and the robed one took out random weapons from his sleeves. The one in the kung fu clothes destroyed bots with his bare hands. They couldn't imagine a bunch of teenagers being so strong as to easily destroy a six-foot heavily armed bot, let alone a huge group of them.
"Impossible…" said Lady Frenzy.
"I told you, didn't I?" said Dr. Hiss.
"Those people must be captured. They possess unique abilities that could be useful. Since they came from the gate, we can interrogate them about what's on the other side." Said LLP.
"And then I can turn them into humabotsss…" said Dr. Hiss with glee. "Under our control, we'd be unsssstoppable!"
"It will be a problem if they've already made contact with Zulander." Said Lady Frenzy.
"If we capture Zulander as well, then all the better. Now go." Said LLP.
Lady Frenzy and Dr. Hiss leave the office. Once LLP was alone, a greenbot comes out from the shadows. Unlike the other greenbots, this one spoke coherently but coldly.
"That group of people must be special if they came through the portal." Said the greenbot.
"Which is why I intend to have them captured, ALPHA." Said LLP. "They could be valuable due to their coming from the past, not to mention their abilities. It may not just be those four."
"It is likely, LLP. They've taken down bots like nothing." Said ALPHA. ALPHA was the first greenbot to be installed with the Brain Grain chip by Barnett. Since then, he became a thinking bot, much like the ones under Ziv Zulander. The only difference was that ALPHA was all business and no-nonsense.
"Which is why I need you to find and capture them."
"I already have a plan underway."
"Good. Carry it out."
"As you wish." ALPHA leaves the room.
"Soon, Zulander, your end will mean the beginning of the new age of RM Corp…" said LLP as he looked out the window of his high rise office.
Secret area of RM Tower…
ALPHA was met by the PPB who gassed Ranma and his friends. "Zulander?"
"Unfortunately yes, sir. I was forced to retreat since unlike the other bots, I was smart enough to know when to cut my losses."
"In due time, BETA. This is just a minor setback."
"So what now, Sir ALPHA?"
"Continue as planned. Once the time comes, we shall make our move. Not just against Zulander, but also against the Corp."
"I look forward to that day."
"And the progress of the Krang Bio-chips?"
"They are near completion, Sir ALPHA. It took many weeks, but EPSILON has managed to create a chip that won't kill whoever it is installed in."
"Good. It won't do to have them kill potential servants. Humans are imperfect, but they have their uses. Killing them outright would just be a waste. It is only logical that the perfect lead the imperfect."
"And the otherworldly visitors?"
"Paradigm is incorrect, as all imperfect humans are. He thought those people are from the past, that the portal would lead to a past where resources scarce here would be abundant there. His visions are too small. He's only half correct. They're from the past, but of another dimension entirely. I've managed to get a reading on all of them, and they all possess great power of an unknown energy source unheard of in this world. If we were to extract that power, we would be unstoppable."
"I assume we won't just stop there."
"Indeed. The dimensional portal provides many possibilities. Once this plan succeeds, we can take over multiple worlds. Why stop at just one?"
"If that is true, then that means they will be difficult to deal with."
"We must gather more data on them to formulate a plan of attack."
"I will notify GAMMA and DELTA."
"Do that. Of course, don't let Paradigm, Frenzy, Hiss, or any of those humans know anything. They remain in the dark of our plans and I want to keep it that way."
"Just how much longer must we pretend to serve under them? It is sickening."
"I agree, but patience. Fortune favors those who wait…"
Zulander residence…
ZZ and Blitzy had observed the conversation that occurred in Paradigm's office. Mirrorz in Lady Frenzy's office wasn't enough to get intel anymore, so they secretly had a second Mirrorz installed in LLP's office long ago. Since his office would be the most tightly secured, it had to be handled delicately. It was the perfect test of stealth for Ninjzz and Kunoichzz. The two ninjabots easily broke in without detection, installed the Mirrorz program, and left the place as if they never even arrived.
Needless to say, the Zulander siblings were surprised to hear that Ranma, Shampoo, Ukyou, and Mousse wrecked so many greenbots and securitybots during their escape. That holoscreen footage they saw from Mirrorz seemed so unreal.
"Wow, you guys are good…" said Blitzy.
"Well, we are martial artists… eh heheh…" said Ranma.
"Now we know why the Corp wants you." Said ZZ.
"Looks like they want to use you as guinea pigs." Said Watzon.
"I'm probably going to regret asking, but what's a humabot?" asked Ukyou.
"Humabots are fusions of humans and bots. They are produced in RM Corp's humabot laboratory where human subjects undergo robotization to increase strength, endurance, speed, and reflexes. While some human subjects are willing, others are not." Replied D'Nerd.
Everyone was shocked at that.
"You mean they'd actually experiment on live humans! ?" asked Flora.
"Morality is something the Corp is short on." Said Ace.
The Nerima residents cringed at the thought of being dissected like frogs and their body parts replaced by soulless circuitry.
"And what about that green robot?" asked Kasumi. "It didn't sound like the others."
"That was ALPHA, the first greenbot to be installed with the Brain Grain." Replied ZZ. "He became a sentient bot because of that. Coupled with other thinking bots like him, he's been a bigger threat than Hiss or Frenzy. We're not
sure just how many of those bots have had Brain Grains installed into them. This was one of the reasons why I created the BABEZZ, so we'd have strength in numbers."
"You know you can always count on us, ZZ!" said Katzz.
"Hey! Look at the televiewer!" said T3.
Everyone noticed the news playing a live broadcast just outside the RM Corp towers. On the screen was a female news reporter who looked to be Chinese-American with short black hair and wearing a pink and black business dress.
"This is Lonnie Chang coming to you live from RM Corp Towers. Several hours ago, an incident occurred at the main headquarters of the industrial giant where a group of unknown people wrecked havoc inside before making their escape. A numerous amount of securitybots and greenbots were destroyed in the scuffle by this mysterious group. They remain at large and are considered armed and dangerous."
Ranma and his family were shocked when a photo of all of them was shown on the news.
"Oh no…" said Nodoka.
"Because of how destructive they are, they are considered wanted criminals by the Corp. RM president Paradigm urges citizens to notify the authorities should they be sighted for their capture."
"What? But we're not criminals!" said Musa.
"Now what do we do?" asked Flora.
"All we can do is lay low and figure out our next move." Replied Trick-Shot.
"Right, Trick-Shot. We'd better check out Mirrorz for the time being." Said ZZ.
He goes to his computer to spy on Lady Frenzy's office, where she and Dr. Hiss were having another meeting.
"Now with those people labeled as criminals, it's only a matter of time they'll be in our hands." Said Frenzy.
"Sssssoon I'll find out how they work, then turn them into humabotsss!" said Dr. Hiss.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Hiss. We don't have them yet."
"Not to worry. I'm sssure ALPHA will find a way. After all, we can't risk plotting anything knowing that there's a sssecurity leak around here. Let Zzzulander keep guessssing!"
"Indeed. LLP did say ALPHA had a plan underway."
ZZ turned off the computer, not liking what he's heard.
"Man, they sure have been keeping careful of what's being said in Frenzy's office." Said Blitzy.
"I don't like this. We only know that ALPHA's got a plan in motion, but we just don't know what." Said ZZ.
"This robot's caused you problems, huh?" asked Tecna.
"More than you know." He looks over to Swang and Birden. "Swang, Birden, I'll need you two to run some reconnaissance."
The robotic bug and bird squeak and caw respectively in response.
RM Corp City, some time later…
The city was crawling with greenbots and PPBs patrolling the area. Flying high overhead, Birden was surveying the area using the collar camera around his neck. Bouncing trough the rooftops was Swang equipped with a spy camera. Both were giving live feeds to the activity going on in RM Corp City. So far, they kept themselves out of sight.
They come across a convoy driving out towards the edge of the city. Swang hitches a ride on one of the trucks while Birden flies overhead. The convoy heads for a certain building under security. It looked like a waste facility. The two robotic animals peer in through the windows to see more greenbots and security bots inside as well as worker bots. They appeared to be manufacturing more krang chips. Their scanning showed no biological life forms, meaning nothing but bots inside. The two animal BOYZZ were also equipped with scanners that can tell apart the brain bots from the normal bots. They were able to identify two: a securitybot and another greenbot conversing with one another.
"How goes the plan, GAMMA?" asked the greenbot to the securitybot.
"Smoothly, DELTA." Replied the one called GAMMA. "Our krang chip production had increased significantly out here. No one would suspect a waste facility to be a krang chip factory."
"Production will be swift since ALPHA discovered that krang meteorite buried underneath this very building. Who would have thought?"
"Indeed. We'd better keep ALPHA posted. We shall be able to ship these out early tomorrow."
Swang and Birden immediately leave after recording the conversation. Minutes after they left, GAMMA and DELTA continued talking.
"Did you notice them, DELTA?"
"I did. They've taken the bait."
Two hours later…
Going by the surveillance of Swang and Birden, ZZ immediately sprung into action. He organized a plan of attack on the waste facility to destroy the secret krang chip factory and its hidden store of krang ore. Since there was bot security over every building, it was hard to pinpoint the hotspots.
Currently, ZZ and his group were positioned in a pincer formation around the waste facility. The Sports BOYZZ were up in front, accompanied by Trick-Shot, Rhymzz, and Twig. Blitzy was piloting the VAS, an aircraft/tank walker hybrid. Behind the building were ZZ, the Street BOYZZ, Ninjzz, Kunoichzz, and Katzz. He had his otherworldly guests stay behind as he didn't wish to involve them any more than they already were, considering they were also branded criminals.
"Are you all in position?" asked ZZ through his laser helmet's comm link.
"In position and ready, ZZ!" replied Ace.
"Remember the plan. You Sports BOYZZ will do a direct assault on the front with Twig, Rhymzz, and Trick-Shot. Blitzy will provide you cover. I'll take the Street BOYZZ, Ninjzz, Kunoichzz, and Katzz to the back and sneak in to blow it along with its hidden krang ore storage."
"You got it, brother!" said Blitzy as she prepped the VAS.
"IT'S LAZER TIME!" ZZ and Blitzy's helmets activated their 3-D visors.
*a pair of 3-D shades appears on the bottom right corner of the page*
The securitybots turned to see the BOYZZ and BABEZZ rushing towards them.
"HALT. THIS. IS. A. RESTRICTED. AREA. PLEASE. PRESENT. YOUR. IDS."
"How's THIS for an ID?" said Ace as he sliced a ball at the bot, blowing it up.
Laserfire was soon traded as the securitybots fought against the BOYZZ and BABEZZ.
Bogey drives a golf ball bomb into a group of bots, blowing them up, followed by Bats grand-slamming a ball to another bot, driving it into more bots before blowing up. All-Ball juggles a bomb ball on his knees before kicking it into another crowd of bots before they turned to useless scrap.
"Here's my opening shot!" said Trick-Shot as she tosses up a billiard bomb ball and quickly punches it with her cue stick, sending it flying fast and exploding against a bot. She throws up more balls and jabs them in rapid succession in different directions at more bots.
Rhymzz fired off razor-edged CDs from her palms, slicing through more securitybots before they fell to pieces and exploded. Three bots managed to close in on her, but she quickly does a pirouette, her weighted skirt lashing out and slicing the bots at the waists. Rhymzz sees more bots coming her way, so she pulled out a mic and sings out a high note, causing a focused sonic wave to crash into the bots before exploding. "And that was my special number for you!"
Twig used his size and strength to fight back the bots coming at him. They were no match for the firepower of his numerous mounted laser cannons.
Blitzy walked out with her VAS in walker mode, firing lasers left and right to thin out the heard. "Time to rack up another high score!"
While the front was busy, ZZ and his group made for the rear entrance. Some securitybots that remained came out and fired upon the freedom fighters. Jammerzz and Toolzz quickly returned fire with their built-in lasers, blowing the bots up. The quartet of roller-blading robots shreds ahead for some melee action.
Jammerzz punched through bots with his jackhammer arm. "You bots are as dense as lead! But that doesn't stop me from bashing off your head!"
Toolzz shreds past some more bots where he blurred his tool arms over them, dismantling the bots on the spot into useless parts. Ninjzz armed himself with his ninjatos and sliced through the bots with deadly precision. Kunoichzz followed suit with her kodachis slashing. Katzz blazed through as her claws made short work of the bots.
"Inside! Hurry!" shouted ZZ as he shot some bots with the lasers in his helmet.
Jammerzz quickly busted down the locked door and they ran inside. They made their way into the main room where the krang chips were, but…
"What? Where are the krang chips?" said ZZ in surprise.
"I don't like this…" said Ninjzz.
"I've got a bad feeling…" said Kunoichzz.
"Uh… guys…?" said Katzz as she directs her sight at the catwalks up above.
The catwalks were suddenly flooded with numerous bots. At the front was GAMMA.
"We were expecting you, Zulander." Said GAMMA.
ZZ realized they've been set up. "There's no krang ore deposit under here, is there?"
"No, but it was enough to draw you out of hiding. Now we will be rid of you once and for all. Attack!"
The bots opened fire. ZZ and his zoids quickly scattered to avoid getting shot before quickly fighting back.
"Just our luck, we're all surrounded! Not sure if we can avoid getting pounded!" said Jammerzz as he alternated firing lasers and punching with his jackhammer at the bots.
ZZ shot a few bots as he opened the comm. Link in his helmet. "Blitzy! We need to fall back! It's all a set-up!"
"Gotcha, ZZ! We'll try to get you out of there!" said Blitzy.
Back in the building, ZZ called out to the BOYZZ and BABEZZ as his visor went back up. "Game over, everyone! Regroup!"
It seemed no matter how many they destroy, more bots would come in and take their places. What ZZ didn't realize was that there was something below the building, just not krang ore. Below was actually a bot manufacturing accelerator that pumps out greenbots and securitybots on a dime using resources down below, even broken parts collected from the fighting.
"We need a clear path out fast!" said ZZ.
"You got it, ZZ!" said Katzz as she and Kunoichzz skated towards the front entrance while slicing apart any bot in their way to scrap. They were followed by Jammerzz, Toolzz, and Ninjzz, who also smashed, dismantled, and slashed at whatever came their way. ZZ followed close behind.
Upon reaching the wall, Ninjzz and Kunoichzz quickly sliced a huge section of it with their swords, followed by Jammerzz, Toolzz, and Katzz knocking it down in their charge. Outside, the battle was still going on as Blitzy's group was being hard-pressed.
"ZZ! There are too many of these things!" said Blitzy from the VAS.
"No kidding! It's like they've got numerous reserve players hidden in the wings!" said Bats.
"All of you, regroup!" said ZZ as they made their way over to them.
Unfortunately they all get surrounded by bots.
"Oh this isn't good…" said Toolzz.
It was then the MDB, or Massive-Destruction-Bot, known as Goliath rose up from its hiding place underground.
"Oh this REALLY isn't good." Toolzz corrected.
Standing on the shoulders of Goliath were GAMMA and DELTA.
"It's time to meet your end, Zulander. You and your bots." Said DELTA.
"And it will be fitting for you to meet it from me, OMEGA!"
ZZ and his friends cringed, finding out that Goliath, now OMEGA, was converted into a brainbot.
Zulander residence, minutes earlier…
"Oh no! This isn't good!" said Genesix as he observed the surveillance footage of the battle. The BOYZZ and BABEZZ were equipped with cameras in their optics in order to find out what's going on during battle in order to provide assistance if necessary. "ZZ and everyone are being backed into a corner!"
"According to my probability statistics, and the number of bots encountered, they have a 12.97% chance of making it out alive!" said D'Nerd.
"I fear I may be overworking in the near future." Said Watzon.
"What do we do! ?" asked Kiddie.
Ranma and his group had also been observing the battle footage. They thought ZZ and his zoids were doing fine, until the trap was sprung. Those robots, especially the brainbots, were playing for keeps.
"Tell me, where is that location they're in at?" asked Flora.
"At the RM waste facility 6 just on the city border south of RM." Replied D'Nerd, who even supplemented it with coordinates.
Tecna managed to feed that bit of data in her PDA, projecting a 3D image of the city, where the destination in mind blinked. "Got it! Stella, can you get us there?"
"No problem!" said Stella as she focused her powers.
"But do you want to-" started D'Nerd before he, Genesix, Watzon, Cook, and Kiddie turned to see their guests enveloped in light before vanishing from sight, with only Kasumi and Sasuke remaining. "… know…?"
"What… just happened? Where did they go! ?" said Kiddie.
"They have gone to help your friends." Replied Kasumi.
"And they will!" added Sasuke.
The BOYZZ stared at the two in disbelief.
Genesix was just as stunned as the rest.
Present time, at the RM waste facility…
"Man! If only we had Jungle Fiver!" said Blitzy.
"ZZ darling, what do we do?" asked Rhymzz.
"I'm afraid the others can't get here fast enough to get us out…" said ZZ as the bots' guns trained on them.
"You must get out of here, ZZ! We can at least make sure you and Blitzy leave here alive!" said Ninjzz.
"And leave my BOYZZ and BABEZZ behind? That's not how I operate! I don't abandon my friends and family like that!"
"Your useless sentimentality will be your undoing, Zulander." Said GAMMA coldly.
The Zulanders and their robotic friends braced themselves for the imminent onslaught. However, an explosion from behind caught everyone's attention.
"What was that?" asked Twig.
The RM bots also turned towards the source of the explosion. Before a pile of scrap that used to be bots stood Ranma and his group, with the pigtailed boy having his hands up after firing a Moko Takabisha.
"Hey! How'd you guys get here! ?" asked Ace.
"Never mind that! Why are you here? It's dangerous!" said ZZ.
"Easy, ZZ! We're here to help you out!" said Layla.
"Get them!" said GAMMA.
The bots began to close in on the otherworldly visitors.
"Well, time to show what we can do. Mom?" said Ranma.
"This is an appropriate time as any." Said Nodoka as she took out her katana.
Ranma, Shampoo, Ukyou, and Mousse took battle stances.
The Alfea students took a pose…
"WINX ENCHANTIX!"
To be continued…
Ending (Trigun style, 'Kaze wa Mirai ni Fuku')
Music starts as a scene of a wind-blown meadow outside a city goes by.
Aoi sora no shita de kaze wa mirai ni fuku (Underneath the blue sky, the wind blows towards the future)
Taiyou no hizashi wo dakishimeru you ni (As if to draw the rays of the sun into an embrace)
Ranma is seen in the dojo sparring with his Souls. Then it shows him posing for a sketch Bloom is doing. Next it shows him and Stella sitting at a café table.
Tada nagasareru dake (I just let it push me along)
Ashiato dake wo nokoshite (Leaving only my footprints behind)
Ranma is helping Flora with her gardening. Then it shows him trying to play an electric guitar with Musa.
Hoho wo naderu kuuki to nekorobu kusa ga areba (If I have the air to stroke my cheek and soft grass to fall down on)
Hoka ni nanimo iranai michitarita egao de (I don't need anything else, sleeping with a contented smile)
Ranma and Tecna are wearing VR goggles as they play a game. He is then rollerblading alongside Layla as they skate down a road. Finally it shows Ranma cooking alongside Shampoo and Ukyou.
Hateshinaku tsudzuku (I stare into tomorrow)
Ashita wo mitsume nemuru (That stretches on endlessly)
Ranma is sparring against Mousse and Sasuke. Then it shows Ranma asleep on the couch as Kasumi and Nodola look over him.
La… la la la… la la la… la la la la la la!
Ranma and company stand before RM City.
End ending
Preview…
Tecna: A city with robots! This is my kind of place!
Flora: But too much can be a bad thing, won't it?
Stella: You don't know the half of it… I don't trust that ALPHA bot…
Bloom: We get more involved with the Zulanders' fight against the RM Corp, but we find something else working in the shadows…
Musa: This may be a bigger problem than we first thought…
Layla: World takeover? That seems light compared to this!
Ranma: They are legion! Next time, on Ranma Club, "Glitchin'! The Robots Take Over!" This is like living in a bad sci-fi movie…
Author's notes:
Writing this chapter was fun. For those who guessed right, congrats! Bots Master was one of the greatest animated shows of the 90s. It never finished, giving me a chance to do so. I played with the opportunity to create the BABEZZ bots.
Yeah, sorry about the cliffhanger, but I had to end it somewhere as it was getting pretty long. Just wanted to get this chapter done with.
This is the first time I did an opening with a song without lyrics. Cowboy Bebop's TANK! Song is just awesome and was a good first test for it. How did I do?
About the 3-month break, well, I discovered the joy of the XNALara 3-D modeling program. I've made over 100 3-D images with it. Working with Felicia is so much fun! 3. Check them out on my DeviantArt gallery!
Think a robot version of DOA Kasumi or KOF Mai Shiranui.
Pyromania101: Yes, they are a nuisance, aren't they. You ever read AA's "Tattoon Ranma"?
Chm01: Surprised? And the last chapter was an omake to keep the readers busy.
El Irrespondible: Your' own fault for suggesting it. And unfortunately, yes it does exist…
Kyuubi16: Neither. Nice try, though. And I look forward to the next chap of yours.
RHatch89: Heh, I try. So you like the epic Sushi, yes?
Oraman Asturi: Well I got the idea after reading several songfics in the past.
Dr. Tempo: Yep, and also you knew because you saw in the thread. :P
Ryan L. Spradling: Perhaps, perhaps not. It's not the right time yet.
Cabrera1234: Not sure, but I can bet it will be mass chaos.
Erick-Genryusai: I'm aware of Transvestite Kingdom in OP. I follow the manga after all (which I find superior to Naruto in every way). Red and Blue are twin Ranmas from another fanfic I grew to love, "Dual Destinies".
Drake202: Well it won't be TOO big a deal. He killed Saffron before.
Cookiegirl28: I will as long as I got the inspiration!
RyoTheSaiyan: I hated the wrinkle bitch, hence why I went that route. And did the series cross surprise you?
OBSERVER01: I know, right? Well I fixed that bitch, didn't I? As for the other question… "sore wa himitsu desu!"
Omnimon12: Nope, they NEVER take the hint, no matter how much it is beaten into them.
Andrew9000: Thanx.
Firelordeg: I try.
God of all: It's hard when trying to keep things consistant.
Rictor Yagami: Ranma's berserk button. Remember the aura that formed at the end of that exorcism chapter? That was a Chekov's Gun there… Oh, and bacon strips!
Ocnarf: That will be hard…
ChicaRica: Balanced harem.
Jin Shirinue: WAAAAAY down the line Roxy will show.
Masterart: This.
The Lord of Pages: I came up with them from numerous video games I've played, especially the Zelda series. And what's wrong with EpicMealTime? It's funny!
Kabii-Hoshi: Doubt it. I never watched much of that.
XemnasisMANSEX0-0: You mean live-action? I referenced Heroes in the Christmas Omake.
AmazonGirl1597: It's an omake. It's not supposed to!
Matsuo Hateshi: Yep! Epic, no?
JonV0: Bacon strips! Bacon strips! Bacon strips! Bacon strips! Bacon strips!
Drake0x: I explained that the Specialists' souls combined to form Ranma's. Think Captain Planet and the elemental powers.
Cyclon One: Heh, It was something I thought up when I was eating.
Shinzochi: That's what omakes are for!