GuyverRyoga / Ryoga 1/2 : Worlds in Collision
A story concerning three alternate Ranma 1/2 universes
by Mark Latus
Prologue - Mistaken Identity
(If you read "Ryoga : Crossover" you can probably skip down 70 lines)
Sunday Morning, Ranma 1/2 Timeline-The Present
Had there been a casual observer in the supposedly unoccupied office he
(or she) would have concluded the teenagers were identical triplets. Someone
more knowledgeable about one of Nerima's frequent visitors would have
wondered why there were suddenly three Ryoga Hibikis. Anyone who knew about
the events Friday night at the Tendo Dojo could be forgiven for believing
another group of Ryogas had been dragged out of their alternate universes.
None of these assumptions was correct. Not one of the three was either
human or belonged in this world and time. As designed all of the androids
were identical to Ryoga Hibiki at the age of 17. The teenage model Ryoga
Simulation Androids (or Ryogoids, as they were commonly known) were Emperor
Hibiki's personal favorites. The androids came in a range of age groups from
five to fifty. His most favored model was the 19 year old design, the same
age he'd been when he killed Ranma Saotome.
However that happy event was two years in the future and in another
universe. It was also not looking as certain as it once had. Clustered
around the monitor screen the Ryogoids watched the playback of Operation
Crossover. It had not gone anything like expected. In essence the plan had
been simple, at least from the point of view of a machine intelligence. The
rebels had hijacked a timemachine intending to kill the Emperor before he
achieved unification with the global computer net. They were unaware all
timemachines were locked out of the homeline's past and would only convey
them into the past of an alternate universe. This was a safety feature to
prevent damaging the Empire's history. The Emperor didn't give a damn about
screwing up the history of alternate universes. After all, he had to test
time travel somewhere.
Unfortunately things can't normally stay in a foreign universe due to
the differing quantum signatures of matter. The only way to exist in an
alternate universe was to carry a Quantum stabiliser (which all the androids
did) or receive a stabilisation charge to temporarily align you to the host
universe. The timemachine had provided the latter of these for the rebels,
unfortunately it was of finite duration. Once it expired the rebels would
have been snapped back to the homeworld. Where they could change the past
and preempt the Empire's existence.
Sadly the temporal exclusion factor made it impossible to enter the same
time twice. So once something gets changed in the past it stays changed.
Ambushing the rebels proved impossible, there are limits to what can pass
from one dimension to another. Why this is remains unknown at present,
dimensional travel is a new science having been developed just two years ago
(meaning 2118 AD, from the Ryogoids' point of view until very recently it was
July 1st 2120 AD). With twenty rebels in this timeline one android was all
that could be forced into this timeline. That should have been enough.
In addition to the most advanced machine intelligence developed (wrapped
around the the downloaded personality of a psychotic Ryoga Hibiki) the
androids had been designed as the ultimate warriors. They were programmed
with every martial art known, superhuman reflexes and strength besides being
equipped with one hell of an internal weapons system.
In essence the plan was simple, while the rebels hunted this world's
Ryoga the Ryogoid would hunt them. To ensure the rebels had someone to hunt
five other Ryogas had been dragged from their homeworlds and dropped near the
Tendo Dojo. After some initial complications the six Ryogas had decided to
stick together until they figured out what was going on. The Ryogoid had
joined them claiming to be a seventh Ryoga.
Sure enough the rebels showed up and the android was waiting. Things
were running smoothly until the Ryogas objected to the slaughter of
unconscious rebels. The Ryogas learned that number seven was an android and
responsible for their being stranded on the wrong world. Worse than that one
of them was dead and another greviously injured.
They turned on the android, which learned that it was hardwired not to
harm Ryoga Hibiki. This was a failsafe the Emperor had installed in his
creations to prevent a Frankenstein scenario. Unable to defend itself the
android had vanished, where it went was unknown to the Ryogas.
It was not unknown to one of those watching. On the screen one of the
Ryogas destroyed the Quantum Lock holding them in this universe. All but
this world's indigenous Ryoga vanished.
Unit 207 (Model 17 Modified, Interdimensional/Temporal Survey and
Exploration Design) sighed and turned off the monitor. "Well now we know
what happened to 303. He bugged out of this dimension and never came back."
Unit 549 (Model 17, Standard Enforcement/Battle Design) nodded, "It was
a mistake to send one of you, we'd have done a better job." 463 agreed with
its comrade.
207 suppressed an angry retort, the downside of having the Emperor's
personality (praise his name) was having his emotions. Meaning being quick
to anger and pick a fight. In fact in the early days the Emperor had to do a
little reprogramming to prevent his androids from continually beating each
other up. Despite which tensions remained between the subgroups of androids.
However 207 was in command of this trio and therefore not about to let
this develop into a shouting match. "A battleunit would have lasted longer
but been equally unable to defend itself. Lacking dimensional shift
equipment he wouldn't have had any way out." Neither of the others could
contradict this, a side effect of being very intelligent.
207 continued, "Now we saw 303 kill 18 of the 20 rebels before the
Ryogas turned on him. At which point he escaped having first synchronized
the rebels to his shifter so they were transported with him. He obviously
intended to kill the remaining 2 then return with the bodies to this dimension
for transport back to the present."
"But nothing showed up at the timescoop point", 463 interjected. The
androids could have interfaced and concluded this conversation in seconds.
However having human personalities they clung to verbal communication except
in crisis situations.
207 nodded, "Unfortunately 303 jumped blindly to avoid imminent
destruction. He didn't have time to choose his destination. Which meant he
warped into the flux line."
The other two looked at him blankly, they had never been programmed with
the alternate dimension data, they were just along to provide backup. 207
continued, "As you know when we change the past in an alternate universe we
witness a phenomena known as the paradox wave." Both nodded. "If we observe
this happening from our world we see a period of flux as reality changes. It
lasts several minutes from our point of view. On the changed world the new
reality becomes the only one to have ever existed."
"The one exception to this is worldline Gamma. Two days from now a
reality flux becomes the only thing we can observe from then until our own
time. Temporal exclusion prevents us from observing the trigger of the flux.
It is believed that at some point in our own future we may make changes to
that point in Gamma's history. Or we may choose to not intervene. Until the
matter is resolved Gamma is in flux and unobservable, possibly unenterable."
"Compilcated", 463 commented. 207 agreed, time paradoxes can confuse
even MI's. "But if the flux hasn't happened yet why didn't 303 come back?
Even damaged he could have taken two unarmed rebels with ease."
207 shrugged, "Gamma is the strangest known alternate world. There's
evidence of alien intervention in it's distant past and an actual worldwide
conspiracy around at this point in history. In any event the only way to
find out is to go look for myself."
Neither 463 or 549 had dimensional shift equipment. The packs on their
backs contained the stabilisers that held them in this world. 207 had an
inbuilt combination dimensional shifter/stabiliser. It meant he carried less
armament than them, but as Ryogoids have a ridiculous overkill capability
it didn't make much difference. His backpack was full of sensor equipment,
which he was going to use to find what had happened to 303.
He gave his final instructions to his subordinates. "Gather 303's
equipment and wait at timescoop point." Six hours from now a vacant building
two kilometers west would be swept by an energy wave. Anything caught in
that wave would be dragged into 2120, arriving ten minutes after the three
Ryogoids had departed. "If I'm not there in five hours assume I've been
destroyed. I'll find a quiet spot and shift to Gamma. 303 would have
arrived at the spacial equivalent to the spot he left. So I'll begin my
investigation at the Tendo Dojo."
The other two began clearing the equipment as 207 departed. He headed
out of the building until he reached a small alleyway. His memory files
indicated this tended to be a little used place in all the observed
worldlines. Heading into the alleyway he engaged his dimensional shifter.
Sunday morning - Timeline Gamma (Imperial coding system)
207 appeared in an alley virtually identical to the one he'd left. No
one noticed his arrival except a stray cat which ran off in a panic. The
android called up his map of Nerima in 1995 and plotted the optimum route to
the Tendo home. He set off, being physically identical to the contemporary
Ryoga Hibiki he could claim the identity if the need arose. That was why the
model 17's had been sent on this mission.
As he proceeded 207 noted various discrepencies between this world, the
homeworld at this point in history and the world he'd just left. Ukyou
Kuonji's restaurant was gone, a new coffeeshop was under construction at the
site. The Nekohanten restauarant had a small "Out of Business" sign in the
front window and a "For Sale" sign on the wall. There hadn't been any
observation of this line's recent history so he had no data as to the cause
of these changes. Not that it was likely to be significant, still he felt a
certain curiosity.
Arriving near the Dojo and finding a concealed spot 207 began scanning
the yard. His metaphorical heart sank. Sensor readings did not indicate
303 leaving the yard. Furthermore there was evidence of a massive energy
pulse occuring approximately the same time that 303 appeared. 207 had a
nasty feeling he knew the source of the pulse.
In this timeline Ryoga Hibiki had found, and become joined to, an
extraterrestrial artifact known as the "Guyver Unit." It converted its host
into a living weapon. Among other things it gave the wearer the capability
to generate massive destructive energy bursts. The unit was wanted by an
organization known as Kronos. According to Kronos an alien race was
responsible for the creation of the human race. In creating the human race
the aliens had introduced a genetic strain that, when activated, transformed
humans into genetically designed warriors called Zoanoids.
This was obviously false. Of the fifteen known Earths this was the only
one the Empire had detected signs of alien intervention. After discovery of
this world a study had been made of various worlds' prehistory periods.
Evolution had proceeded without extraterrestrial help. A closer study of this
world's past had shown the aliens introducing a dormant genetic "trigger"
into the already existing primates. Plans to travel to this world's past to
steal alien technology had been abandoned. The technology of the so-called
"Creators" was biologically based and incompatible with the Empire's
inorganic technology. However a study was being made of their interstellar
drive systems by temporal observation.
In any event the Zoanoids had evidently been abandoned in favor of the
Guyver units and the aliens had left earth. Kronos had begun centuries ago
as a cult surrounding the few humans who could trigger their Zoanoid
transformation due to a genetic quirk. In this century it had taken the
form of an international corporation and learned how to activate the genetic
trigger the aliens planted so long ago. In addition Kronos was actively
search for any artifacts the creators had left. Which meant they were
willing to kill Hibiki to regain the Guyver unit.
That was the latest data 207 had on this timeline. His genetic scanners
indicated five people in the house. He could identify them from his datalog,
Ryoga Hibiki, Akane, Nabiki and Soun Tendo and Ranma Saotome. There was no
trace of the two others he had expected.
207 had a hypothesis, it went something like this; Hibiki becomes
paranoid after being continually attacked by Zoanoids. Or monsters as the
layman would call them. So he tends to react in a very hostile fashion to
perceived threats. Unit 303 appears in the Tendo garden surrounded by
corpses. Due to the battering it has recieved it is obvious 303 is not
human. So Hibiki sees a "monster", shreds of artifical skin hanging off it
among the people it has killed. He activates the Guyver and destroys 303,
303 being programmed not to attack or defend against Ryoga Hibiki. 303 is
destroyed, as is its Quantum stabiliser. That means the remains of 303 and
the rebels snap back to the homeline.
This was very bad. Even if 303 had time to kill the remaining rebels
history does not record twenty corpses suddenly appearing in the Tendos'
garden. That should have caused a time paradox. But 207 had left his time
after 303 so the Empire still existed. Or did it? Reality had seemed very
fragile since time travel was invented. Perhaps the Empire now didn't exist,
or wouldn't exist, or whatever. "Now" was a rather slippery term in these
circumstances.
While 207 pondered these questions he was unaware he was under
observation. The nondescript van had been watching the Tendo home all night.
The Kronos observer couldn't understand how Hibiki had got out of the house
without his spotting him. He'd be in deep shit with Kronos HQ for this.
There was still time to save his neck. He keyed the comm. link to the
strike team and told them, "Hibiki is out and fifteen metres from the north
wall. The streets are deserted, move in and initiate plan."
207 sighed, he didn't have the capability to work out something as
complex as the nature of reality. The only thing he could do was return to
the previous worldline and await pickup. Ideally he should cross to the
homeworld and examine the changes that had occurred. However his programming
prevented this, no one was allowed to enter the Empire's past to avoid
inadvertantly changing anything. He might as well walk to the pickup point's
equivalent in this world and cross over there.
That was when 207 got his first surprise. His sensor equipment detected
a dimensional shift pulse. Correction, it was similar to shift frequencies
but not an exact match. Which seemed impossible, shift technology was not
developed until 2118 because several of the sciences it required wouldn't
exist until the mid twentyfirst century.
Except that in this world a highly advanced technology already existed.
The artifacts left by the extraterrestrials. This was a new threat to the
Empire. If Kronos had dimensional shift technology now that meant they'd
have it decades before the Empire. Which meant they might conquer this
world then look for new Earths to rule. If Kronos launched an assault on the
homeline before 2120 the Empire's history would be destroyed. This threat
required investigation. He must find the signal's source and investigate.
But the signal had ceased and had been to brief to track. 207 felt a
building anger, it was one damn thing after another.
So for the Kronos striketeam it was a rotten moment to show up. 207
saw four large men in purple jumpsuits emerge from the sidestreets. Two
moved to intercept him as the other two hung back. His datafile identified
the outfits as standard Kronos uniform. A bit silly looking in his opinion,
but people who want to be changed into monsters probably don't have much in
the way of fashion sense. Or any other kind of sense.
"We've been looking to pay you back for all the trouble you've caused,
punk", the uglier of the two snarled. His companion muttered "Yeah!"
207 remembered that his mission parameters constrained him to avoid
making unnecessary changes to parallel world history. So he said, "I'm not
the man you're looking for, so piss off."
The two Kronos agents chuckled. "Yeah, you just happen to look like
Hibiki. Too bad cause we're gonna kill you for that."
207's defensive programming activated. He had been threatened with
destruction. It was now permissable to kick ass. Good, he needed to blow
off some steam.
In front of him the two men changed. While both remained humanoid one
developed armoured skin, a reptilian appearance and a large horn in its
forehead. The second developed bat-like features, claws and a furry body.
Both figures increased in size to over two metres in height.
207 scanned them, comparing the toughness of their skin to his ceramic
armour. No contest, besides he could use the energy shield if necessary.
Strangely they were waiting for him rather than making the first move. Fine
by him. A sonic scan of the horned one located what he was looking for.
"Interesting body you've got there", 207 told it. He speared his right
hand through the Gregore's chest and pulled it back out holding the multi
chambered heart. "So what does this bit do?"
Emperor Hibiki had never developed a sophisticated sense of humor.
However he did develop a viscious streak which was passed on to his androids.
207 couldn't read the expression on the reptilian face but was willing
to bet that it was a mixture of pain and surprise. Trying to speak it
collapsed at his feat.
"What the fu...urk!" the batlike one said. It added this last
exclamation when Ryoga did a standing jump, landed on its shoulders, reached
down and grabbed its head, then twisted it 180 degrees. Ramothis's last
sight was of his two comrades directly behind him, still in their human
forms.
207 jumped from the falling Zoanoid and landed lightly on the street.
Looking at the remaining two he said, "Do you feel lucky, punks?"
The Kronos agents stared at him in shock. The plan had been simple, the
two standard Zoanoids threaten Hibiki, he activates the Guyver, then they
transform to their Enzyeme II forms and hit him with their bioacid. The acid
was specifically designed to break down and destroy the Guyver armour. Then
they would just have to fish the control medallion out of the remains, tell
team two to kill everyone in the Tendo house and head back to HQ.
But Hibiki had killed two Zoanoids with his bare hands which just wasn't
possible. He started towards them and they began the transformation process.
The first had almost finished when Hibiki punched him in the chest. His
ribcage shattered, sending lethal splinters through most of his vital organs.
Ignoring his dying foe 207 ran through his options for killing the last
one. So many choices. The man had become a hulking white furred thing with
huge claws and four insectlike pincers growing from its back. Easily dodging
a spray of acid from its mouth and a strike by two of the four pinchers 207
made a choice. In midair he unclipped his belt, snapping it in a certain way
so it became rigid as a sword.
As he leapt past the Zoanoid his arm slashed twice. What followed was
rather like one of those samurai movies. 207 landed, behind him the zoanoid
stood frozen in its last striking position. 207 returned the belt to its
normal state and refastened it. Then, with timing only a machine could
achieve, he snapped his fingers. The Zoanoid fell apart in three large
chunks.
207 smiled, it had been an amusing diversion. Now down to business. He
paused, while in battlemode he had increased his sensor range to detect
threats. There were radio waves coming from that van by the corner.
Kronos's observer couldn't believe what he'd just witnessed. Hibiki had
wiped out four Zoanoids without the Guyver. It wasn't possible. But he'd
seen it with his own eyes. He'd called in the second team for support and
was frantically calling Kronos HQ.
"This is an unsecured line", the operator told him. "Fuck that, Hibiki
just took out team one. He didn't use the Guyver he tore them apart with his
OWN FUCKING HANDS! WE'VE GOT A SITUATION HERE! SEND EVERYTHING YOU'VE GOT,
OH SHIT!!!" This last remark was added as 207 ripped throught the wall of
the van. He grabbed the observer by the throat and lifted him with one hand.
As he did he examined the surveillance gear in the van. Primitive by his
standards but it had probably seen too much. He felt an increase in mass as
his captive began transforming. He tightened his grip until he felt the neck
snap. Dropping the corpse he made an adjustment in his energy shield. There
was a voice from the fallen cellular phone shouting, "What's happening over
there?!"
207 smirked and said, "Thank you for being with us, we now conclude our
broadcast day." The electromagnetic pulse fried the van's equipement and
scrambled all the video and computer recordings of recent events.
Leaving the smoking van 207 began wandering toward the crossover point.
It was a good a place as any to scan from until his five hours were up. At
which point the second Zoanoid team came charging around a corner. They'd
already transformed, two of the bat-things, an insectlike creature and a
reptilian one with huge pods on its shoulders. The pods were generating
laser energy, best to end this quickly.
207 took evasive action, as he dodged he generated a plasma sphere
between his hands. He launched it at the Zoanoids, firing before the Vamore
had finished generating enough power. As the plasma sphere reached the
Zoanoids its electromagnetic containment field collapsed. Plasma exploded
outwards and seared the zoanoids.
207 scanned the scene. The screaming indicated one of the Zoanoids was
still alive. One of the bat creatures had been on the fringe of the blast,
blinded and burned it howled in agony. The others were dead. 207 pulled a
bandanna loose and aimed it at the creature. The bandanna decapitated it
and began circling back to the android. It arrived at the same time as the
Zoanoid's head hit the ground.
Retying it 207 wandered off, noting that the first Zoanoids he killed
were already decomposing rapidly, evaporating into gas. One way to save on
funeral expenses, he mused. Inside the Tendo home everyone remained asleep,
unaware of what they'd missed.
A little distance away Sasuke wondered what had made that awful noise.
Well it hadn't lasted long fortunately. He continued back towards the Kuno
Mansion, Master Kuno would be most pleased by his discovery. Sasuke had felt
uneasy when Master Kuno joined those Kronos people. Not that he had much
foundation for this belief, he knew little about them. He was pretty sure
Master Kuno didn't know much more than he did. They had recruited him by
appealing to his vanity, saying they needed a man of his skill and
intelligence, to observe certain troublemakers at Furinkan High. As one of
those troublemakers was Ranma Kuno was more than happy to join.
But then Ranma and the Tendos dropped out of school for unknown reasons.
Since then the only contact with Kronos had been an urgent memo addressed to
all Kronos personnel advising them to keep an eye out for something called a
Guyver unit. The memo included a picture and a warning not to touch it with
bare skin. Of course Kuno had turned the matter over to Sasuke and told him
to scour the town for the item. He had then returned to writing bad poetry
to the pig tailed girl and Akane and wondering why everyone in the Tendo
house was so tense these days.
Sasuke had been lucky and after several weeks of searching had found
the gizmo in a small park underneath a bench. Making sure not to touch it
with any part of his body he had dropped it in a bag. Now he could go home
and get some rest. Maybe Master Kuno would give him a raise. Although he'd
be more likely to complain about the time it had taken. As if finding
something the size of a discus was easy. In any event hopefully things would
be quiet for the next few weeks.
Sasuke had no idea just how unlikely that was.
To be continued.
Authors Afterword: I realize the title characters haven't appeared yet but
setting some background seemed like a good idea. This
story spun off from "Ryoga : Crossover" which had several
alternate versions of Ryoga meeting in the regular Ranma1/2
universe.
If you didn't read it what do you need to know? Well
the GuyverRyoga stuff will be explained as we go. He made
a cameo appearance in part 8 of Crossover so there's not
much to know about him.
Ryoga 1/2 is a little more complicated. As the name
suggests he fell in the same sping as Ranma. How this
changed regular Ranma history was discussed in Crossover.
All you need to know is he's engaged to Nabiki, living at
the Tendo Dojo, and his female form is lusted after by
Kuno and Happosai. Involvement with Nabiki has made him
more machiavellian than the Ryoga you know.
Basically his world is a wild and crazy one,
GuyverRyoga lives in a dark, cyberpunk world. The same
man, very different aspects.
If this story will work, who knows. But I'm going to
try.
By the way for everyone who was asking how Ryoga 1/2
and Nabiki got engaged. That story will be told, but not
as part of this one. Sorry.
Up next, monday morning in two different universes and
absolutely no androids.
Part one : Parallel Lines.
Coming soon.
(
geocities.com/tokyo/temple) (
geocities.com/tokyo)