Yes, it's another pointless crossover story. Please bear with me...
RANMA 'N' ROLL
by Scott K. Jamison
(Note: Ranma 1/2 and associated characters created by Rumiko Takahashi,
NA rights held by Viz Communications. MegaMan and associated characters
created by I haven't a clue and rights held by Capcom, or maybe Konami?
Anyway, no infringement intended.)
Part One
_The Future_
"Welcome to Juusenkyo, home of the Ambient Energy Physics
Institute. Located in what was once a remote part of China, Juusenkyo
was originally known for its many scenic springs. But these were
bulldozed in 2008, due to the local belief the area was cursed."
Roll put down the tourist brochure and sighed. Too bad about
those springs; nowadays Juusenkyo looked like every other research
facility she'd ever seen, at least from the air. She checked her
internal chronometer. Still a couple of minutes ahead of schedule. Roll
was a bit nervous; this was the first time she'd been away from Dr. Light
for so long.
The casual observer would not have noticed anything unusual about
the blonde teenaged girl on the aerocraft. Even the mechanical bracer
on her left forearm would have been dismissed as a fashion statement,
common among the youth of her day. But she was in fact a sophisticated
self-aware robot, one of a handful on the planet, and the most likely to
pass for human.
Which was why she was on this mission. Dr. Wiley and his evil
robots had hit several research labs in the last week and the AEPI looked
like a likely target, but they'd refused MegaMan's help. So forcefully,
in fact, that Dr. Light suspected something was wrong there. So he'd
sent Roll to pose as a tourist and scout around.
Three hours later, Roll was getting bored. The tour guide had
taken them completely around the facility, and nothing seemed out of
place. Of course, anything really nasty would probably be in the
off-limits area. She decided to slip off from the group, and ducked into
a closet. She pressed a button on her forearm.
"Dr. Light, this is Roll. Nothing yet, so I'm going to do some
snooping up close."
"I copy, Roll. Your brother is still en route, ETA 90 minutes.
Do be careful, Roll."
"You know me, Dr. Light. Out."
Roll snagged a lab coat from the hanger, donned it, and headed
for the off-limits area. Her clever story to get past the guard never
got to be used however, as when she reached the door, the whole building
shook from an explosion.
Roll followed the guards in, and found them shooting futilely at
GutsMan, the brute force of Wiley's robots. ProtoMan and CutMan were
also there, flanked by a couple of others.
"Har, har! You call those blasters? Proto, show 'em what a real
blaster feels like."
"Sure thing, GutsMan." The smaller robot turned his arm into an
energy weapon, the beam from which sent the guards flying.
"Enough playing around. I've got the chip, now let's get back to
the master," whined CutMan.
A rope ladder unfurled from a hole in the ceiling (that explains
the explosion, thought Roll) and the robots climbed it. Roll punched her
communicator.
"Wiley's bots are already here!" she whispered. "Tell Mega to
hurry! I'll try and keep them in sight!"
She leapt to the ceiling and pulled herself through the hole.
Wiley's Skullship was already taking off, facing away from her. Roll
wasn't about to let them get away, so she hopped on to the tail. She
turned her hearing up, trying to tune out the roar of the engines.
"--Iz complete," was saying Dr. Wiley. "Now to inzert the chip
and we have a time machine. Next ztop, the late Twentieth Zentury!"
The world turned inside out.
_Two Weeks Ago_
The world turned right side in.
What Roll felt at that moment she supposed could be equated to
the human sensation of nausea.
"Zuccez! We have arrived in the pazt! ProtoMan, zet a courze
for Japan."
"Hey boss, we got a stowaway. One of them lab techies musta
grabbed our tail."
"Zat iz eazily dealt with." Dr. Wiley fishtailed the Skullship
and the still dizzy Roll lost her grip.
Mocking laughter rang in her ears as she plummeted towards the
water below. Water? Those must be the springs! We actually went into
the past, thought Roll. Good thing Dr. Light built me out of advanced
polymers so I won't rust. Then she hit.
Her vision seemed blurred, and her limbs heavy as she swam to the
surface. That time trip must have taken more out of me than I thought,
she thought. Roll broke the surface, and gulped in precious air, which
seemed to sear her lungs.
A man stood at the edge of the pool, extending a pole to her.
She noticed now that many of the pools had bamboo poles sticking out of
them, and was suddenly very grateful she hadn't been impaled on one. As
she pulled herself ashore, she noticed how loud and fast her heartbeat
seemed to be. A fault in the mechanism, perhaps?
"Miss Customer okay? You fall in Spring of Drowned Girl!"
"Whuh?"
"Legend, very tragic, of young girl who drown there many
centuries ago. Now whoever fall in take body of girl. Very popular with
visitors."
"But I *am* a girl!"
"Oh good, not so tragic then."
"Can you help me get to Japan? It's very urgent."
_Today_
Ranma sighed. So far today, he'd had to deal with two fiancees,
three rivals and a malevolent water elemental, and it wasn't even--he
checked the clock tower--three o'clock yet! It was as if some strange
force manipulated his life to make it ever more complicated and bizarre.
Oops, here came the most important of his fiancees, Akane. The
one he was in love with, or would be, if they didn't make each other so
angry.
"Ranma you jerk!" Not good. She was still upset.
"Look, I can explain about the wombat. It was a perfectly honest
mistake!"
"Honest mistake my foot!" Akane picked up a garbage can and was
about to bash him with it when they heard a soft whisper.
"Ranma...Saotome?" There was a girl standing in the street. She
had reddish blonde hair in a ponytail, and was wearing a mismatched
assortment of Chinese clothing under a ragged lab coat.
"Are you...Ranma Saotome?" she repeated, looking unsteady on her feet.
Better just bite the bullet, he thought. "Yeah, that's me. Who
wants to know?"
"I'm...Roll." She fainted.
Half an hour later, Ranma was on the phone in Dr. Tofu's office.
"--No! For the final time, no, I'm not asking for a date!" He hung up
rather violently. "Jeez, that girl never gives up. I'm not sure I cut
through all the static, but I think Shampoo mentioned somewhere in there
that there's no one named Roll in her village."
"Has to be. Do you know of any other village in China with such
silly names?"
"no, Akane, but maybe she was just visiting China. How is she, Doc?"
"Exhaustion and undernourishment, I'd guess. All she needs is
some rest and a few good meals. Here's a prescription for some vitamin
supplements, and you can take her home."
"Home?"
Home it was, well the Tendou Dojo anyways. After a short but
heated debate, ("She knew your name, so she's *your* responsibility")
Roll was moved into the Saotomes' room, and Ranma prepared to sleep on
the roof. When he got back, the girl was stirring.
"Where am I?"
"The Tendou house, in Nerima."
She sat up. "I must find Ranma Saotome!"
"Relax. I'm him. But who are you?"
"My name is Roll. Pleased to meet you." She had an odd accent,
one Ranma couldn't place at first. But not Chinese. Still, best to check.
"Are you from the Amazon village?"
"Huh?" In other words, no.
"So, why were you looking for me?"
"The man at the springs said you could help me."
Jyuusenkyo! Which probably meant she'd fallen in one of the
springs. She might not even be a "she."
"Apparently, you're something of a legend there." She stopped,
then leaned forward so her face was on his chest. "I like the way you
smell."
Naturally, it was at this moment that Akane entered carrying a tray.
TO BE CONTINUED!
SKJAM!
"Way off in China, where the bamboo grew,
lived an old mother panda and her panda babies two,
"Chew" said the the mother, "We chew" said the two,
and they all chewed together where the bamboo grew"
from "Piggyback Planet"
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