Ranma Saotome walked slowly down the city streets, ignoring the strange looks people were giving him. He knew he didn't match fashion of the local area, but he didn't really care. He had thought he would be happy to finally get away from Nerima, and all the insanity that had driven him to the brink of madness. He'd even snuck into the international airport and hid inside a plane's cargo bay just to ensure no one could track him.
But after all of that, all he felt was…numb. He knew that wouldn't last long. His escape hadn't filled him with pleasure of triumph, only shame. He'd taken the coward's way out. It didn't matter that he would have likely sought some other end before long if he hadn't fled, he had still run away.
Deciding he didn't like people staring at him, he stepped into an alleyway and triangle jumped to a roof, deciding to take the high road from now on, if only to have some peace and quiet. In the distance, he saw a structure he recognized from classes. "The Eiffel Tower," he muttered under his breath, still using his native Japanese. "So I'm in Paris, huh? Guess I couldn't get further away if I tried…"
He hopped across a few buildings, making his way towards the Tower. The top would make a better place to think from, and if nothing else it would give him a good view of the city to plan his next move.
It didn't take him long to reach the Tower, or to race up the outside to the peak. He was used to leaping from building to building, so crossbeam to crossbeam was child's play. At the peak, he balanced himself as he stared out at the world.
Slipping a hand into his pocket, he pulled out the only object he'd been able to sneak onto the plane with him…the family tanto, the Saotome name inscribed on the sheath of the blade. An inheritance…and a reminder of everything he hated about who he was, and the life he'd left behind.
The Cat Fist…the Jusenkyo Curse…the dozens of fiancés…Happosai…all the mistakes of Genma Saotome that Ranma had been forced to take onto his own back. The mistakes he himself had made, because he had become too much his father's son. Is this really what the world meant? The sins of the father shaping the son to repeat them?
Sighing, Ranma drew the blade, staring at the metal as he thought, struggling his way out of the morass of emotions weighing down his mind.
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Hawk Moth looked up in surprise as the window in his lair irised open. "Goodness…that is a great deal of negative emotion. Rage, sorrow, envy, self-loathing, and a touch of nihilism…this is a surprisingly dark individual." Chuckling, he beckoned one of the white butterflies flittering around him into his left hand, covering it with his right as he infused it with the power of his Miraculous. "Let's make him a little darker, shall we, my little Akuma?" Uncovering the butterfly, the now glowing black and dark purple insect flitted out the center of the window, making its way to the individual detected.
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As Ranma continued to stare at his blade, he barely noticed the butterfly floating up towards him. At first, he was planning on ignoring it as just another insect, but something inside him warned him, some instinct for danger. Training his eyes on it, he reacted as he frequently did and lashed out. Swinging the blade, it passed through the butterfly, which burst into shadows that infused the blade, turning it dark.
Purple lines formed a mask shape around his face in front of his eyes, and a voice spoke in his ear. The voice spoke French, and yet Ranma understood it perfectly. "Ranma Saotome-"
"Gyah!" Ranma gasped out, nearly tumbling off his perch, only just barely managing to grasp hold of the tower with his free hand. "Get out of my head!"
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In his lair, Hawk Moth flinched back. Never before had he gotten this sort of reaction when using his Miraculous. Normally, the Akuma simply overwhelmed the mind of the one it infused, drawing out the prominent negative emotions to completely dominate the individual. Somehow, despite the depths of rage and pain he had been in, this 'Ranma' had been able to not only resist the Akuma's corruption, but lash back at Hawk Moth through the connection the Akuma had forged. This is…interesting… Hawk Moth mused in his mind. However, he knew if he wanted to get this human as his servant, he couldn't relent.
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"Relax, Ranma," the voice in his head said softly. "I am not your enemy…and no, you have not gone crazy. My voice is quite real."
Grumbling curses under his breath, Ranma resettled himself on his perch. "Who the heck are you?" he demanded angrily. "And where are you? And what do you want with me?"
Hawk Moth paused as he felt the bitterness in the boy's voice at that last question. "I see this isn't the first time someone has approached you in a manner similar to this. Allow me to be brief. I am Hawk Moth, and I am somewhere in this city, the exact location unimportant. I sent my little Akuma to you because I sensed in you great potential for even greater power. I would like to help you achieve that power, if you'll do something for me in return."
Ranma snorted angrily. "Yeah, I get the drift. Not the first time I've heard this deal, and you can take it and stick it-"
"No need to be rude," Hawk Moth offered gently. "I understand why you might not want to accept this offer right off the bat. For now, however, simply think it over. If you wish to speak with me about this, simply speak into your blade. The Akuma within will reach me, and I will make time. You have great potential, and I would hate to see it squandered.
Ranma spat off the side of the Tower. "Yeah, great potential. Never heard that one before. Don't hold your breath." Disdainfully sheathing the blade, he tucked it back into his pocket before leaping off the tower, sliding down the arc of its support before leaping into the trees.
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Hawk Moth stared out his window as he watched what the boy, this Ranma Saotome, was capable of even without the amplification of the Akuma. "If this is what he's capable of unamplified…what super powers will the Akuma bring him?" He chuckled softly. "There's time enough to work on him. I can find others temporarily to attempt to claim the Miraculous from Ladybug and Cat Noir. But this one…he will succeed where others have failed, of this I am certain. And he will accept my offer eventually." His laugh turned dark and wicked. "After all…he knows he has nothing to lose."