Disclaimer: Not mine…It’s those people’s stuff! Y’know…Them!
R.5 and Saber Marionette J
Brave New World
By Gray
Chapter 1: “Awakening”
A curious sensation stabbed into his mind. It was like the sunlight slipping through your eyelids when you’re asleep. It was familiar, and yet, he couldn’t recall from where. It was also so intense that it was nearly painful. In the back of his tired mind, he heard the distinct sound of something opening, similar to one of the automatic doors in various places. Then, the brightness came. It was marvelous and yet as painful as a sharp blow to the head. With a groan of half-pain, half relief, he broke the surface of reality.
It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to his surroundings. But when they did, it was with stunning clarity. He was in a room of some sort, and there was a single, but very large light on the ceiling that illuminated the place. He realized that he was in some sort of metal tube in a half-sitting position. He grunted as he pushed his body out. The pain of sleeping muscles not used for a long time snapped the last vestiges of sleep from his mind and body, and he stumbled slightly as he stepped out of the tube. It felt wrong somehow, for his muscles to be so weakened. Nevertheless, he knew for some reason, that with proper exercise, they would be fine in no time at all. Now if only he could remember what his name was…
Besides the tube and the light, there was a fairly large computer sitting in a corner of the room. He walked over to it, and slowly keyed in a few commands. Somehow, his mind automatically supplied the necessary knowledge of how to operate the machine. It was barely on-line, and it was obvious that the whole area was in pretty bad shape. The computer told him various things. It said he was on a spaceship called the “Mesopotamia”, yet he could clearly feel a warm breeze blowing through the room, which led him to believe that he was on the ship, but was now on a planet of some sort. He sought more information, and found some interesting things, including an online journal of some sort.
“After Mesopotamia, day 2,
We’ve discussed it, and decided that the best thing to do would be to clone ourselves, and then re-populate this planet in that manner. Naturally, some of us found that wrong, myself included, and we argued for quite some time. Still, Faust and Ieyasu were desperate to rescue “her” so I couldn’t talk them out of it. I suppose we’re out of options…”
He blinked at the entry, and then accessed another.
“AM, day 3,
I’ve decided to try something before going through with cloning myself. It seems that someone, not sure who, managed to place a sample of genes in storage when the Mesopotamia first launched. It was labeled as “Superb genes, perfect for project J”. I found this, and have decided to try and clone whoever this is first, I think he deserves a new chance at life as well. Besides, one more set of genes would only aid us. I talked to Ieyasu, as I feel I can trust him, and he agreed with my plan. So, the first clone will be created…and he will not be one of us…”
He blinked once more; gaining even more interest, and went to the next available entry.
“AM, day 10,
It’s done, the first clone is finished, and I must say, he’s turned out marvelously. His physical level of fitness is simply incredible, and his age is only late teens. What’s more, I’ve discovered something else interesting. A dormant gene of some sort lies deep within his DNA. Such a discovery is…incredible. If we could obtain this gene, and then use it…we could truly re-populate this planet we have named “Terra 2”, that would be truly wonderful…but more testing must be done. It is too deeply rooted and incomplete to simply clone; at least with the scraps of technology we have right now, but perhaps someday… Though I wonder…how did an obvious boy have that gene in his body make-up? Truly peculiar…”
This entry really puzzled him, but he shrugged and went to the last entry.
“AM, day 15,
God, why has this happened? Bad enough that we’re stranded on this forsaken hunk of rock, but now…well, one of the others found out about my little experiment. He didn’t take it well, and tried to destroy it all. It seems he knew something about this “Project J” that was mentioned on the container in which my young friend’s genes were located. There was a struggle and an explosion, and well… I’m dying as I input this entry. It’s getting difficult to concentrate. I just want to say, to the young man I brought back from the dead…please, I’ve hidden you away in a secret room within the base we made, and then sent it far away, where none of the others should find you. If you awaken, and I am sure you will one day, you should regain your memories eventually, and please… remember, you’re not a tool, and no matter what happens, you are the key to this world’s futu…
The last entry ended abruptly, leaving the young man to stare at the blank screen in puzzlement. So, it was obvious that he was the clone this person had been talking about. But who was this person who had cloned him? And more importantly, who was he? The young man groaned as a distant memory finally pricked his brain.
He gasped sharply, but smiled regardless.
“My name is…Ranma …” It sounded familiar. At least, he thought it did. Shaking his head to try and clear away the confusion, he decided to try and look for a way out. He found a door in the chamber, and blinked as he pushed on it, and succeeded in breaking it off its hinges. It seemed that he was a lot stronger than a normal human should be. His muscles had already recovered from their stiffness at an astounding rate, and as he walked past the door, he found himself in a chamber. At the end of it was another door, and with a slight heave, he managed to push this one open as well. The gust of wind that greeted him brought a smile to his face for some reason, and the bright sunlight that hit his face widened it. He stepped out into the light, and began his new destiny.
He was on a mountain of some sort, and the various wildlife he had encountered thus far, were, to say the least, unfamiliar to him. It was as if he were on another world. Then he remembered that the diary writer had mentioned this planet was called Terra 2. Shrugging at the rather simple name, he trekked onwards, eventually coming to a curious creature sitting in the middle of a clearing in the mountain forest he had been wandering through. The little animal was pink, and he had to admit, rather adorable. It blinked at him cluelessly, while he did the same. Finally, it let out a little squeal-like noise, and hugged his leg. He stared at it in confusion, but smiled and patted it on the head a little. It smiled and then ran off. Shrugging, he continued on. But he had only walked a few steps, when a massive amount of the little things came hurtling out of the woods, and began to excitedly leap up and down and rub against him. Smiling again, he bent down and laughed, as one jumped onto is bent knee while another made it to his head. Unfortunately, another had done so as well, and the two slipped off, and fell to the ground, eliciting a cry of pain from them both. He was just about to see if they were ok, when a tremendous roar echoed through the trees, and a stomping noise was heard. It was getting closer, and he stood up, a peculiar sensation in his mind telling him something was wrong. Then, he saw what had caused the noise. It was huge, a massive pillar of animalistic power given flesh. He noted that, aside from the fact that it was huge, dark-colored, and extremely ugly, it sort of resembled the little critters that were all around him. They had run over to the beast, and were apparently talking to it, but it ignored them and lifted a huge arm, and then drove it towards him with stunning speed. A blast of adrenalin and a jolt of warning hit his mind and body, and he leapt away just in time to dodge the attack. Flipping in mid-air, he let his instincts take over, and dodged the following attacks the beast attempted with ease. It seemed that besides being amazingly strong, he was also quite fast too. The game of tag continued for several moments, before he finally decided to end it. Putting on a burst of speed, he dodged another punch to the ground, and before the thing could retract its fist, he ran up it and when he came to its face, he hit it, very hard. The resulting impact caused the beast to roar in pain, and he hit it several more times before leaping off and landing lightly on his feet. The creature roared again, obviously in a lot of pain, and fell to the ground. He watched it warily for a few more moments, before sighing in relief and letting the tension of battle leave him. He was shocked to see the little creatures crowd around the thing and cry pitifully to it. He then came to a realization.
“It must be their parent…” With this thought, he felt a little bad, but decided he had acted in self-defense and nothing more. Besides, he hadn’t hurt it that bad. The little ones seemed to understand this, and crowded around him again. One actually bowed to him apparently in apology, and he sweated at that. He smiled and waved it off.
“It’s ok, I should be going now. Goodbye.” And so saying, he walked away, leaving the little creatures and their protector alone.
Eventually, he had found a path, and with no other recourse, decided to follow it. It led him to a large gate, and he blinked at the sheer size of it. It had to be at least three stories tall, which for a gate, was quite tall. He noted that there were guards posted on it, and that they were armed. There was also an entrance of sorts, but it was blocked by a smaller gate and a guard in a booth. Shrugging, he ran right up to the large wall, and to the amazement of the guardsmen, who had only noticed the blur when he had leapt, he actually cleared the wall! With room to spare no less. Landing with nary a sound, he sprinted away, leaving the guards to blink, and blink, and blink.
“Oh damn! Call the palace! We’re under attack by some kind of new enemy! It must be a male marionette or something! Bad enough that the tension with Xian and Peterburg is at an all time high! Now we have to worry about this too!”
The call went out, and soon, all of Japoness was on alert, but meanwhile, on the same mountain that Ranma had just vacated, a certain bubbly marionette was running towards the clearing where she always met her friends, the ponta.
“Oh boy! I can’t wait to see them again! It’s been a while!” She finally made it to the clearing, and for once, Lime was speechless. There laying unconscious, was Mother Ponta.
“Whoa…” Lime uttered, before walking up to the creature and staring at it again.
“Who did this?” She wondered.
He had made it into a city of some sort, though to be honest, it was rather strange. He somehow knew that there was something wrong with it all. It wasn’t the architecture, though it did seem a little outdated. Then, it came to him.
“Where are all the women?” He thought as he glanced around once more. Only men greeted his gaze. Then he noticed some armored guards heading his way, and blinked as they came to a stop in front of him.
“Who are you? And why are you dressed so oddly?” They asked. He blinked and looked down at himself. Indeed, his garb was pretty strange. It was essentially a jumpsuit of some sort. It was a lot different from the clothes everyone else wore.
“Well? Speak up boy!” The guard yelled. Deciding that discretion was the better part, or at least the more safe part, of valor, he turned and leapt up onto a roof, and then leapt along several more. The guard cursed and pulled out a radio.
“This is unit seven! We’ve located the target! But he got away and is heading in the direction of the palace! Request back-up!”
On the other end of the line, a man nodded and turned to two marionettes standing nearby.
“You heard him! Baiko! Tamasaburo! Apprehend the intruder! Try and bring him back in one piece though!” The two tall women nodded and blurred away.
He had thankfully managed to avoid other guard patrols around the area, but it was getting hard. Thankfully, the rooftops seemed safe, and he was able to leap along them as easily as walking. It seemed that he had no limit to what his body could do. He paused for a moment to let a trio of guardsmen run by along the streets, and was about to resume his flight along the roofs, when a whistling sound was heard, and his danger sense picked up. With a leap, he dodged the shuriken that imbedded themselves in the place he had been standing moments before.
“It seems that the reports were right. You are a male marionette. No human could do what you’ve done so far. Now tell me, why have you infiltrated Japoness?” A cool, collected voice spoke from behind him. Turning, he saw a tall, and extremely deadly looking woman standing on an adjacent rooftop. She was dressed in a red and black kimono, with pale, whitish skin, and silver hair, as well as a wicked looking naginata resting on her shoulder. He also noted a katana sheathed on her back.
“Well, why not answer her boy? Or are you not programmed with the ability of speech?” A new voice said from the opposite side of the first. He turned again, and saw another tall woman, though this one was a little different. Aside from the green hair, and tanner skin, she had a dark green kimono on, and two handles of some sort of weapons stuck out prominently from her back. She had her arms crossed and an unreadable expression was on her face, just like the other one. He finally decided to say something.
“I, I was just trying to find…” He was unable to finish the sentence. What was he trying to find? He did not know. The two women finally decided to stop the questions and just bring him in.
“Prepare yourself!” The green hued one yelled as she unsheathed twin blades of light, and charged him. The other followed suit, naginata ready to skewer him. He dodged their simultaneous assault, and he leapt away to get some room. They were suddenly there, surprising him with their speed, and he was forced to avoid even more strikes. What’s worse, they fought tin perfect symmetry, one complimenting the other. It was difficult to even stay on the defensive, let alone retaliate. Yet, he knew he was faster than this, so why couldn’t he access his true speed?
Baiko was finding it quite difficult to defeat this male marionette, as he dodged all of her and her partner’s attacks with blinding speed.
“He isn’t a normal marionette…could he be equipped with a maiden circuit?” She wondered. It seemed odd that a male robot would be equipped with one, but then again, the idea of a male marionette was odd in itself. She decided to try a scan. Breaking off her attacks, she leapt back a bit and activated her sensors.
“Impossible. I cannot even get a reading…something is interfering. He has some sort of energy surrounding him, an aura of some sort…” Seeing that her partner needed help, she attacked once more, with even more ferocity.
He cursed to himself as the green one attacked once more. The brief break he had been afforded however, allowed him to come up with a strategy. The two were skilled, very skilled, but they lacked variety. That is to say, they fought too closely to an instructed style. They never improvised beyond the techniques they employed. What’s more, he was confident that although their attacks were in symmetrical order, the easiest way to defeat them would be to break the symmetry. So, he quickly began to lead them towards each other.
Tamasaburo was curious as to what the target was trying to do. Thus far, he had evaded all of their attacks, and had yet to retaliate in any form. Common strategy said the best defense was a good offense, but apparently, he believed in the opposite. If he didn’t do something soon, one of their attacks was going to get through. The odds of him forever dodging their attacks were 99.9% impossible. She knew he couldn’t beat odds like that. But then, it happened.
“Got you!” He mentally cheered as he managed to lead the green one’s strikes into the strikes of the other one, thus disrupting their pattern of attack and temporarily leaving them defenseless. It was a simple matter to then push them off-balance and into each other, and by the time they had recovered, he was dashing madly along the rooftops towards the palace.
“This is Tamasaburo, requesting aid…Target has escaped and is enroute towards the castle.”
Lime ran home at her top speed, which is roughly 60 miles per hour, intent on telling Otaru and the others what she saw, that someone or something had defeated Mother Ponta. It was hard to grasp, considering that it would take at least two skilled Sabers with maiden circuits to win that fight. And since she knew that Cherry, Bloodberry, Luchs, Tiger, and Panther, were all living with Otaru and had not entered the forest recently, that meant that it was someone else…
“I wonder who hurt Ponta…” Lime thought as she raced along the streets of Japoness. She noticed that guardsmen were running around everywhere, but disregarded it. Nonetheless, the streets were too crowded to run at her high speeds, so she decided to go via roof. With one leap, the wily marionette was atop a nearby roof, and began leaping along them with practiced ease. She looked down and saw Otaru and the others running towards the palace, and was about to shout to them, when a blur slammed into her, knocking her off the roof right in front of them.
He cursed. He hadn’t been looking where he was going, attempting to see if he was being pursued by the two killer women, and had accidentally smacked into someone else in his haste. He realized with horror that she had fallen off the roof, and quickly leapt off to check if she was alright. He was met with several glaring faces.
“That must be the guy who hit Lime!” A tall, busty redhead yelled angrily, before holding up a spiked fist that promised pain. The other people in the group that stood around the person he had slammed into all slid into offensive postures. He cursed again; this was not what he needed. He should have known his luck wouldn’t change just because he had eluded the two kamikaze women from before. And then, said women leapt down behind him, effectively surrounding him.
“Speak of the devils…” He muttered. The pale one pointed at him. But seemed to be addressing the guy in front of him.
“Otaru, that is the fugitive that you were informed of earlier.” She said in her cool voice. The guy with the half and half blond/brown hair nodded and drew forth a slender sai-like weapon that glistened in the light.
“Right, let’s get him girls! We can’t let him get away with hurting Lime!” He said to the other women around him. The girl he had accidentally hit earlier had stood up, and was glaring at him. He groaned.
“Why me lord?” He didn’t have time for much else as the tall redhead from before had charged him with startling speed for her size, and swung a fist at him. Thankfully, as fast as she was, he was faster, and with a side step, she was over-extended. He smacked her back lightly, using just enough force to put her in the way of the two women behind him, and then dodged a dual-assault from a blonde, and another redhead with shorter hair. They seemed to work well together though, and redirected their attacks towards his new position. He twisted to avoid one’s punch, and gulped as it left a hole in the wall beside him. The other struck out with a kick, and he barely ducked it, tripping her along the way. The blue-haired one with the yellow bandanna he had bumped into, and the purple haired short one attacked him now, along with the blonde, and he was hard-pressed to avoid their attacks. What were these women? They were insanely fast and tough, and he could barely avoid all of their attacks, let alone get in his own. They were even faster than the green and pale ones, and it was quickly becoming obvious that he would have no chance of winning this battle. With this thought in mind, he decided a strategic withdrawal was in order. He quickly dodged another wave of attacks, and then used his foot to kick up a large amount of dust from the street. With everyone temporarily unable to see him, he executed a mighty leap, and cleared their heads completely, and landed on the roof again. Once more he ran.
“Why does this seem so familiar?” He wondered with a sigh.
“Damn it! He got away!” Bloodberry yelled angrily. She was annoyed that he had avoided her attack so easily, and was fuming visibly. Otaru seemed to be in thought. His chin held in his hand.
“He was obviously an incredibly skilled martial artist, whoever he was. Though I’ve never heard of martial artists being able to roof-hop...” Baiko spoke up.
“Which leads us to believe he is a marionette, though why he is male is puzzling. Nevertheless, he is heading for the palace, and while the orange blossoms could probably hold him off for a period of time, it would not be enough; hence, it would be best if Tama and I returned with haste. Otaru, your aid would be appreciated.” With that, she and her partner leapt off in pursuit. Otaru nodded to himself, and pointed to the palace, though he decided he would not be too hasty and try and get to the bottom of this mystery.
“Alright then, let’s go guys!” He yelled.
Leap, land, leap, land, it was almost soothing. The monotony of roof hopping was so familiar to his mind; it was as if he had been doing it his whole life.
“Now if I can just remember my whole life.” He thought with a groan. He didn’t really know where he was going, to be honest, he didn’t care. He was positive that those crazy women were in pursuit, and for some reason, that too was familiar. Being chased by insane females seemed almost…nostalgic? Shaking his head at his strange thoughts, he noted absently that he was approaching the largest building in the area. A majestic structure that seemed nigh invincible standing above the other smaller buildings. Still, he didn’t need to go there, and it was no doubt important, and therefore, heavily guarded. He was just about to head in a new direction when several shuriken shot by where his head had been a moment ago. Several more followed, and he was forced to twist in mid-air to avoid them. Then a blast of energy shot out, striking him in the back. He gasped in pain, and was knocked over the wall of the large building.
“Ha! Got him!” Panther cheered exuberantly. Cherry glared at her.
“Yes you did…but you also knocked him over the wall of the palace!” She yelled angrily. Panther looked a bit sheepish, just a bit. Lime smiled.
“Hey! Maybe he’ll meet Lorelei!” Everyone turned to stare at her.
“What?” She asked cluelessly.
“Oh my god! Lorelei!” Otaru yelled.
He grimaced as several guards ran by his little hiding place. The pain in his back had faded, but it still hurt. For some reason, it reminded him of something called…lion’s roar? Something like that… Two more guards ran by the alcove he was in, and he decided he couldn’t stay in it forever. With the grace of a master thief, he flipped himself onto the roof, and darted towards another shadowed alcove. He cursed as he saw the crazy women and the guy with the weird hair searching for him. He noticed a window near his position, and decided that it was his best bet. Once inside it, he breathed a sigh of relief. That’s when he saw an odd sight. A girl, clad in a lab coat with orange hair, was typing things into a console of some sort.
“Wow, a girl who isn’t some kind of loony…then again, maybe she is…” He cautiously approached her, making no sound whatsoever. He noted that she was pretty short, and delicate looking. Obviously no martial training whatsoever. She froze suddenly, and he cursed to himself as he realized that she must have heard him.
“Who…Who’s there? Baiko? Tamasaburo?” The woman asked in a voice, that, while determined, had a slight tremor of fear in it.
“Please, I won’t hurt you. I just need a place to hide…” He trailed off as she turned to him, and he was greeted with a lovely face with large lovely green eyes the color of a forest.
“Why…do you need to hide?” She asked curiously. He snapped back to himself, and rubbed his head in embarrassment.
“Ah, well, that’s just it…I have no idea…” She blinked in confusion at his words.
“What do you mean?” She asked. He sighed, and decided to tell her. She seemed trustworthy enough.
“Well…”
“That’s quite a tale, Ranma was it?” Lorelei said after listening to Ranma’s story. He nodded sheepishly.
“So now I have these crazy women after me, and this guy with funny hair…” She nodded at his words.
“Don’t worry, I’ll deal with them.” She said. Just then, the doors slammed open, and dozens of guardsmen, orange blossoms, as well as Baiko, Tama, and Otaru and his marionettes filed in.
“Get away from Lorelei you jerk!” Bloodberry snarled, itching for a rematch. Ranma took a step back, things did not look good for him.
“Wait! He…” Lorelei started, but was cut off when Bloodberry and Panther charged forward. Ranma cursed and avoided their frenzied blows as best he could. He winced as he blocked a punch with his forearm and felt like it was going to be numb. The other marionettes stood back, waiting for an opening, as did Otaru and the guardsmen. Lorelei was trying to yell over the cries and cheering for the two women to crush the intruder. Ranma decided enough was enough and started to fight back. He shoved the blonde into the redhead and then leapt into the air, aiming a kick for the redhead. The blow struck true and she was smashed into the ground. The blonde tried a grab, but he ducked and then came up with an uppercut to the chin, that drove her into the air.
“Give it up, I don’t like hitting women.” He said, as they climbed to their feet with scowls on their faces.
“You’re gonna pay for that punk! Panther yelled. Nearby, Lorelei had had enough.
“STOP THIS AT ONCE!!!!!!!!!” She screamed. Everyone turned to her. She was flustered, and out of breath, a glare was directed at everyone, who seemed to take a step back. The short girl was extremely pissed, something that never happened, as she was always quite even-tempered, but it seemed that she had reached her boiling point.
“Stop fighting! All of you! And listen to what I have to say!” She composed herself slightly. Then whirled on Baiko and Tamasaburo.
“First of all, why was I not informed of this “intruder” you claim him to be?” She asked angrily. Baiko and Tama almost looked sheepish, almost.
“We felt it would be best for your safety if you were not panicked by the thought of an enemy within our walls…” Tamasaburo said. Lorelei seemed to grow even more furious.
“What is wrong with all of you! Why must you treat me as if I am made of glass? It’s bad enough you virtually lock me in this palace and then keep me under 24-hour watch! But now you won’t even tell me about important matters such as this? How dare you!” She yelled. She then pointed at Ranma.
“He is not a marionette, nor is he an enemy! He is a human!” She said, Ranma nodded. Baiko looked skeptical.
“How can you be sure?” She asked. Lorelei glared.
“I trust him! This whole time you’ve been chasing him, don’t you think he could have fought back more? Not to mention he was alone with me for quite some time and could have, at his convenience, taken me hostage! Doesn’t that say something?” She asked. Otaru nodded.
“I suppose you have a point Lorelei.” He then turned to everyone.
“Why don’t we listen to what he has to say?” He asked in a tone that signified that they should not argue with him. Bloodberry and Panther grumbled, but agreed. Lime smiled, already forgetting why this whole mess had started, and instead thinking that perhaps she could make a new friend. Lorelei dismissed the guards, who filed out, and Ranma began to tell his story to Otaru and the others.
Author’s Notes: Um, okay, this one is a little odd I’ll admit, but like any odd thing I write, I really need feedback. Let me know what you think of this. Well, anyway, next chapter should shed some light on how Ranma wound up on Terra II and other things. Oh yeah, and who should be paired with him? I’m thinking Lorelei since she’s really the only unattached female around, well, she’s the only female around period, but, you know what I mean… Oh yes, and I’d like to give special thanks to the guy who pre-read this for me (and put up with my awful writing in its most awful early stages...) Thanks Thermopyle, much appreciated… Well, until next time…
