"speech"

"radio or telepathic speech"

thoughts

/"different language or panda sign"/

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½. I make no money from this, nor do I plan on trying to. This is purely for fun.

Warning: There will be some OOC for some characters. It is an AU though, so that can almost be expected.

In the state of New York there is a town. Naturally enough of course. This particular town was somewhere between a town and a small city. It's name was Freedom City, and it was located roughly a hundred miles northwest of New York city. At first glance one wouldn't think this self proclaimed city was important.

Freedom City wasn't a trade center. It wasn't a tourist town. It didn't house any great sports teams or major political structures. What put Freedom City on the map was the fact that Mister E called it home. Mister E, the first known meta-human. The oldest living costumed crime fighter in the world. And widely considered the most powerful force for good as well.

It was also the location of another well known institution's main headquarters. When one thought of Freedom City they thought of a group of famous costume adventures known as the Freedom Society. A collection of heroes and champions with a reputation of being the best and brightest. A group which had a very long history.

It had begun in 1953 when a group of young mystery men founded a sort of gentleman's club to share their adventures with each other. They were the first of a new breed. Men who for various reasons decided to don a mask and face the crime of their cities. Even among each other they refused to unmask.

It wasn't until the early sixties that the public even knew about the Freedom Society. A fact which most historians take as meaning that before 1961 there was no Society. This was far from the truth. That was the year however that the Society entered a new era. On August 5th, 1961 the current members banded together for the first time in public against an extra-dimensional invasion.

Over the years the team roster had changed many times. Members would die or retire, and younger heroes would join. The one constant was a single man. The man known only as 'Mister E'. For almost two decades the world wondered exactly what his abilities were. After all, he had rarely demonstrated the same meta abilities twice.

None of that mattered though to two travelers as they exited the airport. The elder was an overweight bald man wore a dingy white training gi. He had soiled white bandana wrapped around his head, and wore wire rim glasses. The man's name was Genma Saotome. His eyes were constantly scanning the area, in search of easily acquired food. Not that he had any money with him. Paying for things wasn't exactly the man's style.

The younger traveler was a seventeen year old girl. She stood barely over five feet tall. Her hair was a rich crimson. She wore a sleeveless red silk tunic of Chinese styling and loose black Chinese silk pants. Unlike the older man who was barefoot, the girl was wearing soft soled slip on shoes. She turned to her companion and snarled.

"This is all your fault pop! Just had to wish 'to no longer have your worthless son turn into a weak girl', didn't ya?" The teenage girl snapped at her companion.

If she was honest with herself, the girl wasn't really surprised that Genma had screwed up her life, again. Such an event was almost a weekly affair. She didn't know where he'd gotten an honest to god magic lamp of wishes. But the fact that her father had screwed up with poorly worded wishes was par for course. The idiot hadn't even bothered to find out the conditions and rules for what could be wished for.

The overweight man threw his Styrofoam cup of coffee at the girl. "Quit acting like a weak girl, boy!"

The liquid hit her, and the girl instantly became a boy with black hair. He was almost a foot taller too. The newly turned boy collapsed to the ground in pain. In the past such temperatures would have barely fazed him. But now the coffee had left visible burns where it had struck that were far in excess of what should have occurred.

In another part of the city a middle aged man had just emerged from the First Second Third National Bank. His hair was a light brown color, and his eyes a soft blue. He stood a little over five and a half feet tall. His cloths were a loose fitting tee shirt and blue blazer. He also wore baggy sweat pants. His horn rimmed glasses gave the man an air of knowledge. His name was Kevin Smith, and he was far older then he appeared.

The week for Kevin had been fairly quiet. No emergencies had cropped up which required his attention. The crime rate in his city was down, in small thanks to the newbies who had begun to patrol Freedom. No new invasions or major threats which locals couldn't handle All in all, Kevin had been enjoying a well deserved break.

A soft beeping at his waist told the man his vacation was over. With a sigh Kevin grabbed his pager and looked at it. A code alpha-dee, that sounds bad. I had better check what is going on. Kevin replaced the pager, and pulled out his cell phone. Quickly dialing, he called the precinct.

"This is E, I just got word of an alpha dee, what is the situation?"

He listened, Kevin's face turning grim. He had not known the kid mentioned long. But to hear of a fellow adventurer's death was a hard thing. He stepped into an alley and pulled off the shirt and jacket. These got put in a pocket dimension. Next he removed his shoes and pants. Now he was garbed only in a solid white body suit with an E on his chest. Reaching into one of his belt pouches, the man retrieved a white half mask and put it on.

The now costumed man lifted into the air under his own power. Like a human rocket he shot off towards the airport. He knew the situation had to be serious. A code alpha d meant that a registered hero had died in action. Kevin, or rather Mister E as the public knew him, hadn't seen the youth called Bio Blade in almost a half century. Still, hearing of his death was hard. Whoever did this, they must be powerful. The kid wasn't a pushover. At least he bought the police time to get that boy out of danger.

When he finally arrived at the airport, the costumed adventurer flew through the shattered wall. His approach indicated the wall had been cut, not broken by brute strength. Of the reported murderer however there was no sign. Which made him concerned. There shouldn't have been enough time for the suspect to have escaped, and he'd seen no one leaving the building.

Mr E frowned and tapped his chin lightly with a single finger. Nodding afterwords, he once again scanned the area. This time he did so with the ability to see heat signatures. And there, tiptoeing across the room was a man shaped heat signature. One where to the naked eye nothing was visible. In a split second Mr E was standing in the path of his invisible query.

"I suggest you surrender peacefully and face justice. Too many have died already this day. Try to fight me and you will lose."

The invisible man was one overweight martial artist named Genma Saotome. And he was currently blinking in surprise. Genma didn't recognize the white clad figure before him. The man was clearly not a martial artist. He moved like he was barely trained. And the mystery man's aura spoke of extremely low levels of chi. That indicated a severe lack of power.

And yet, this man had appeared out of no where. Plus he could obviously detect Genma. That alone was alarming. No one should have been able to do that. And that oni which had gotten between him and The Boy. This place was far more dangerous then Genma had expected. I'll have to take out this one too, then I can fetch the boy and leave.

With that thought in mind, Genma unleashed his deadliest technique. A set of chi formed vacuum blades flew at the heroic Mister E, impacting on the white clad man's chest. The only visible effect however was the tearing of fabric. The costumed man looked down at his chest, then back at Genma.

"Now look what you've done. Sigh, it looks like I'll be using my old costume for a few days."

Mr E lashed out a fist. The fact he was unharmed had startled Genma to the point he failed to react in time. The moronic martial artist flew backwards. His back slammed into a wall, and he slid down slowly. What the hell? The martial artist frantically thought to himself. It was a minor miracle that he didn't drop his concentration.

That white clad man could clearly see him. A fact which Genma ignored. After all, no one could see him when using this technique. It was a perfect method of stealth. Or so he believed. Genma started to sneak away. In his mind, it was a perfect plan. Slip away, find some cold water, then casually stroll out of the airport,. Then he could find the boy.

"Gosh darn it," Mr E snarled.

There were times when he seriously disliked the random nature of his gifts. This was one of them. Already the thermal vision was fading. And when he tried to refresh it, all the costumed adventurer got was a resistance to heat. That and faster healing. How long those would last was anybody's guess. The last of his thermal vision vanished as he saw the suspect starting to move. By the time he got there, the suspect was already gone.

XxXxX

"All units be advised, suspect is to be considered armed and extremely dangerous. He has demonstrated visual obscuring abilities and can project nearly invisible projectile blades at will. Caution is advised."

This was the first thing Ranma heard as he came to. He was still in pain, but it had lessened somehow. The burns from being splashed were visibly improved too. The teenage boy found himself strapped to a bed of some sort. Next to him were two figures. One was a woman wearing a green body suit.

The other stood five feet tall. It was male. He had gray fur with darker gray stripes evenly spaced on his arms and legs. The male wore a red training gi with black sash. His tail twitched nervously. The triangular ears on top of the male's head were laying flat. The male looked almost like... like...

"C-c-c-c-CAT!" Ranma screamed

The boy struggled in a blind panic. A few months ago that would have been enough to break free. Now however he felt weaker then ever before. It wasn't just strength that had been stripped from Ranma's male form. The durability he'd gained from ten years of insane training was gone too. As well as his massive chi reserves.

Ranma's struggles increased to the point where bruises started to form. And then he went slack. An angry sounding "Meow" was heard, and the humanoid feline frowned. An exchange of hisses and meows followed. Afterwords the feline humanoid was scowling as best he could. He looked at the paramedic, and nearly growled.

"It isn't safe to unsecured 'wild horse'. And avoid cold water if you please."

"Why's that Cat?" The woman asked.

"Please, it's Catmandu. The boy is extremely pissed. And while it's unclear, I got something about a demand for cold water and having metal cutting claws. It is most perplexing though. How is it a human child knows the language of my kind?"

"No idea," the paramedic said. "And would you rather I use your given name, Cat?"

Catmandu visibly shuddered at that. "Bast no, you know that I hate that name! I am getting too old for this. There is a reason I only teach others anymore. Still, wisdom and experience may prove invaluable should the boy's attacker try again. Can you believe once I sought out such danger as a thrill?"

/"Release me!"/ Ranma yowled.

Claws made of pure chi extended and dug into the bed. They faded within seconds. That was more then enough time however for the gurney to be shredded. The effects on the others in the area was immediate. The one called Catmandu hissed in alarm. The woman fainted. Ranma found himself struggling in the remains of the gurney.

/"Calm yourself, kitten. There is no danger to you. We seek only to lend you aid."/ Catmandu soothed.

/"Want OUT!"/ the cat-like boy yowled again angrily.

Catmandu shook his head side to side. His hand reached down and began to scratch behind the boy's ears. After several seconds he lightly tapped the boy in the temple. This caused Ranma to fall unconscious. A fortunate event too as the ambulance had come to a stop. The rear doors opened, and emergency workers were stunned to see the wreckage in the back. This was going to be a long day.

Two hours later he'd changed his mind. It's worse then a long day. This is hell. Catmandu thought. He'd just witnessed a water fountain malfunction. This caused a high powered stream of water to spray through the air, get deflected by three different clipboards carried by three different nurses, and hit the cat-boy while the mystery patient was yowling and racing through the halls.

Catmandu then saw the boy somehow turn into a cute red headed girl upon being struck by the water. The fact the fountain stopped malfunctioning right after that marked the entire event as 'damn strange'. As if that hadn't been weird enough, the now cat-girl had paused and started to actually lick the burns. And he could see them fading with each lick.

Someone in one of the rooms must have been watching Lassie reruns. Catmandu himself barely managed to refrain from jumping at the barking coming from the room. The mystery boy/girl didn't even try. She jumped strait up, and clung to the ceiling. To the amazement of everyone, the tile ceiling didn't collapse. The girl's pigtail had also seemed to be stand on end, and not just because of being upside down. It had actually bristled.

And now Catmandu was staring out a window on the fourth floor of the hospital. I am far too old for this, he thought. The girl had jumped out the window and leaped from building to building heading towards the outskirts. In his youth the cat person would likely have tried following. But that was almost forty years ago. Catmandu pulled out a communicator from his belt.

"Hello Moth, it is Catmandu. I just thought I would give you advanced notice. The mansion may soon host a young girl who thinks she is a feline. Red hair, short, well endowed for a human. And can manifest energy claws which easily turn titanium into metal shavings. Me? I shall return to the Academy. I am too old to chase hyperactive kittens across the city."

XxXxX

Dinner at the Society mansion was usually a chaotic affair. Between differing dietary needs, clashing personalities, and general disregard of social niceties it was often only two steps away from a full on battle. Today was no different. A lavender skinned woman with moth like wings was arguing with a blue haired man. A green skinned man who was easily seven feet tall was in an impromptu tug-of-war match with a bat winged feral girl with glass like skin and hair over a metal cylinder. Then there was the gang banger jealously guarding his raw steak from a baby with similar features to the feral.

This current generation lacks a certain class, Mr E thought as he entered the dining room. He pulled off his mask and slumped into his chair. He'd not even had time to change tunics yet. Three hours wasted searching for that murder. The boy has gone missing. And Fluffy says another feral is maybe on their way here. Oh joy oh rapture.

"So, Sam... What brings you to Freedom tonight? I thought you were still busy in Dubuque? Something about a meta destroying buildings."

The blue haired man paused in his argument. "It's the oddest thing Kevin. I finally caught the punk last week. He starts yelling 'this is all Ranma's fault' in Japanese and blowing up random objects with a touch. Then when I tried chasing the damn punk down everything kept shifting.

"Fucking kid's a god damn area porter. Next thing I know I'm chasing the kid through space cruisers, alien forests, and China. Did I ever mention how much I hate porters and god damn magic? That punk is STRONG! He hit me once with that damn umbrella, and knocked me into some pool of water. Next thing I know I'm a damn teenage girl."

."Last... week?" The green skinned man asked. "And what about your condition?"

Sam shrugged. "Near as I can figure, the damn curse ain't affected. Resets it too I think. Not that it would matter much. Sonova bitch!"

That last had been because the bat winged girl had knocked over a pitcher of miller light. Which naturally had flowed across the table and soaked Sam. He, or rather she now scowled. It wasn't so much that Sam minded being female. There was that too though. There were advantages though. More so, it was the fact (s)he was getting soaked so often. That, and being a teen again. That sucked.

"So Kevin," Sam started, "What happened to..."

She was interrupted as klaxons went off indicating an intruder. With the noise everyone except the bat winged girl jerked to attention. Everyone had worked together for years. A fact made obvious when they started to respond in an organized manner. The moth like woman started towards the mansion's security center. The green skinned extra-terrestrial began to herd non-combatants to a more secure area. The remaining two people started moving towards the sound of smashing objects.

Kevin pulled his mask back on. While he did this, Sam's form shimmered due to intense cold. Afterwords the blue haired neo-girl was garbed in a ill fitting white bodysuit. The sweater and jeans were gone. Her skin had taken on a bluish-white color and was mildly reflective. They both skidded to a stop when they reached the disturbance.

A man sized hole had been torn through the outer wall. As well as several other hallways in a strait line. Sam bent over and looked down the path of destruction. Seeing a red headed girl on all four limbs sniffing the air, then beginning to claw through yet another wall in a strait line towards the kitchen caused the icy heroine to blink.

"Correct me if I'm wrong E, but isn't this place built with some of the strongest materials in the known galaxy?"

"Of course," Mr E said calmly as he examined the initial hole.

"And it can, and has survived an atomic explosion with minimal structural damage?"

"Yes, as I recall Reactor barely neutralized the radiation at the time. And had to go on medical leave for a year afterwords." Mr E replied. "Why do you ask?"

"And the interior can withstand impacts from almost anything up to, but not including punches from some deities we've met?"

"It should, but why these questions?"

"Because there's a teenage girl carving through all that like the walls aren't even there. And considering this simple fact, I'm unsure how we will stop her from trashing the mansion." Sam said with a sigh.

Next time: With a killer on the loose and a feral girl tearing up the mansion, can things get worse? The Freedom Society has it's hands full when a terrorist also starts causing trouble.

Author Notes:

Other then the cursed springs, Ranma, and those living in Nerima the world setting is that of my heroes unlimited campaign. This means it is a world of super heroes, and super villains. There is a long history of heroics. A history of heroes dying to save the world, and old guard retiring. Freedom City is a fictional city where a good portion of 20 years of super heroic roleplaying has taken place.

The Freedom Society is the campaign world's equivalent of the Justice League or Avengers. It was the main focus of the original campaign my gaming group ran. The campaign was initially set in 1948. The first sessions were us taking turns Gming one shot solo adventures for each other. Maybe the occasional team up of 2 or 3 of our seven characters.

Originally the 'Freedom Society' was a way for our characters to interact and share info with each other between adventures. This phase of the team lasted till 1956 in-game. That was when we got pulled into stopping a covert invasion from an extra-dimensional army. That storyline lasted till 1961 in-game with many adventures. In-game, that was the year the war's final battle was fought. A battle which spilled into the public eye.

The 1st 2nd 3rd National Bank was the scene of our first adventure. And it's name was kind of a joke initially. During 20 years of gaming and about 70 years of timeline in-game, that branch has developed a reputation as THE hardest bank to rob. By 2000 it had recorded something like 6,592 attempted robberies since it's grand opening in 1948, none successful. Most by would be supervillains.

The bank has almost become a right of passage for criminals. Almost all major villains in north America have at one point or another tried robbing it. Newbie heroes in the area tend to stake out the bank. After all, it's almost a daily event that some costumed clown tries robbing it. That branch also has the highest security, including having a staff of highly trained meta-human security guards.

It's heroes are not taken from any media. They are taken from years of roleplaying with friends using the Heroes Unlimited system. Catmandu is one of those heroes. He was active from the year 1972 till 1987 in the world setting. As a martial artist mutant animal, he has only his skill and those natural abilities retained from his original form of a house cat.

These days he's retired from active crime fighting. Instead he teaches the next generation of heroes hand to hand combat. Once in a great while he comes out of retirement for special cases. He doesn't study any specific style of martial arts. Rather, he knows (and is a master of) a more generic 'American' style of martial arts. In Heroes Unlimited terms he has Hand to Hand-Martial Arts instead of one of the styles from Ninjas & Superspies.

Mr E is their world's equivalent to Superman. A man with a noble heart and more power then any one meta-human should ever have. As well as the world's first known meta-human. His initial powers back in the late 40's were being immortal and the ability to grant powers to himself or others via touch. The duration of said powers is random, lasting anywhere from 15 seconds to being permanent (very rare). A few minutes to an hour are usual. He can't exactly control what powers are given either.

By the year 2000 Mr E had acquired something like 15 different powers which don't fade. These range from being able to see really far away, to invulnerability, to turning into living ice. Not all the powers are useful outside of special situations. And some actually can't be used in conjunction with each other. Such as his ice form and fire form. Naturally, in his few elemental forms the invulnerability is negated. He also has the danger of having all but his original powers being stripped by anything that can even temporarily negate super powers.

Is it just me, or are these notes starting to get as long as an entire chapter?