Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Here you go, another story from the twisted mind that is Fellgrave. I used a mix of origins for Poison Ivy in this story. A bit from Batman & Robin, some from the comics, and most is based on the show from the 2000s, The Batman. I hope you guys like it. This started totally different, with Poison Ivy being Ranma's mother(I know, that could never happen, too many inconsitencies and too hard to make Ivy into Nodoka) but as I thought about it, it became this story after going through a version where Ranma had become Ivy and Pamela Isley wasn't involved at all, but I couldn't figure out a way of making that work either. So this is the version you get.
Enjoy. And don't forget to Review.
And on another note this chapter was written to the awesome sounds of Dark Princess' album Stop My Heart. Look it up on youtube, its rockin awesome. Personal fav tracks; Cry, Stop My Heart, Please Betray Me, and Tokaja Igra.
FAMILIAR TASTE OF POISON
Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane.
Down along the many hallways in Arkham were the cells for the criminals incarcerated there. There several levels for the criminals, dividing them based on either how insane they were, or what they could do. This specific hall way was built with a solid piece of Wayne Industries Glass-steel walls facing the hallway to allow constant surveillance of the villains. In one cell Poison Ivy was reclining one her bunk as she read an artcile about an absolutely facsinating species of pitcher plant found in the Amazon rainforest.
"Hey Red, so's how come you ain't told anyone how ya got here yet? I mean, like how ya got started with everythin." A bubbly voice called out from the cell across the hall. Poison put down the very interesting article, apparently not only was the plant able to dissolve even solid stone, it had tentacles with a contact paralytic agent. She set the article onto her small desk and moved her chair in front of the glass so she could talk better with the blond across from her.
"And what's it to you Harley? Whats got you so interested in little ol' me?" Ivy asked sarcastically.
"Aww, don't be like that Red. Before I joined up with Puddin I worked here, you know? I always wanted to know what made guys, and gals, like Mr. J and you tick. So come on and spill already. What's tha harm?" Harley put out her lower lip in a pout as she stared at Ivy with comically large eyes.
*Sigh* "Fine Harley you win, just stop with the look alright. I got started just a couple years ago when I was still in high school. Hmmph, it seems a lot longer now that I think about it. Anwyay even when I was, er, normal, I tried my best to look out for Mother Nature. Unfortunately for me that meant lots of time spent either in detention or at the police station waiting to get picked up by my mother after school. Well at least it until He showed up...
Time: Three Years Ago. Location: Gotham High
"Now class I would like you all to give a warm welcome to our new Japanese exchange student. Now why don't you introduce yourself, please." Ranma nodded to the tall glasses wearing brunette and walked to the front of the class. He mentally sighed when he saw some of the girls faint from watching him move, and disturbingly some of the guys as well. He gave a lazy wave with his eyes closed to the group of students as he introduced himself, causing freakish man with an equally freakish mini-me to shout out something about 'hipness' in a land far away.
"Yo, the name's Ranma Saotome. Up until a couple years ago I was doin a ten-year training trip for martial arts with my pops. Then I stayed in Nerima for a while, before I came here. I'm a student of the Anything Goes family style of martial arts, and probably the best damn fighter any of you have ever seen." He was immediately interrupted from a student near the back of the class once he finished talking.
"Nah way man! The Batman could kick your ass any day of the week. I once saw him take down Bane with his bare hands, right outside my Aunt's place!"This cry was met loud sounds of agreement from most of the rest of the class. One eyebrow raised Ranma waited until the teacher had quieted down the rest of the students to resume speaking.
"Well I've never met the Batman so I can't say if he's better than me or not, but I can tell that even if he beat me once I could beat him the second time." The teacher turned a disaproving glare at him when the students erupted in protest at his words. Frowning she looked down at her seating list and pointed to an empty chair near the back of the class.
"If you're done antagonizing your fellow classmates perhaps you could kindly take a seat. Why don't you sit over there, there's an open spot next to Ms. Isley." This time she gestured to a young-woman with long red hair and glasses bent over a laptop in concentration.(Hey you ever notice how much the normal Pamela Isley from The Batman[2004 series] looks like Karin from Naruto? I mean they really do look a lot alike.)
Ranma sat down and quickly got bored as the teacher leapt into a lecture on the early history of the country. Trying to avoid being caught sleeping on his first day at a new school he looked around for anything else to do as his mind wandered. 'Who woulda thought Nabs would be the one to get me outta there. Well not too suprising anyway, no more damages to the house and she evens us up for wreckin my moms place.' Finally his eyes settled on the redhead sitting next to him. He leaned over and took a quick look at her laptop screen, finding it covered in lines of symbols.
"So, what are you doing there?" He whispered to her. She looked up startled, not aware that someone had been watching her. She relaxed a bit when she saw it was only the new guy. She snapped back a bit testily as she was interupted just as she was about to put in the last bit code that allow her to fake transferring money from account to account completely without being traced. She was able to do it before, but she didn't trust the thug she had hired not to find someone else to trace her. She also closed out the page with the hacked blueprints to the Chlorogene labs.
"What business is it of yours? Anyway if you must know, its part of my work to protect the environment. Not like you care." While somewhat put off by her attitude Ranma was nevertheless impressed by a high-school student being so passionate about the environment.
"Really? Cus that's kinda cool. Personally I prefer nature to the big city anyway. I guess thats cus I was pratiacally raised on the road and stuff we never stayed anywhere bigger than a village. I always found being surrounded by the trees and the sounds of the forest calming. Actually, now that I think about it, I've spent more time out in the wilderness than I have at home."
"You know what? You're all right. Name's Pamela Isley, though most people just call me Pam for short." She stuck out her hand which Ranma took and shook easily. Letting go he took on a thoughtful pose, one finger tapping his bottom lip, as he looked out the window.
"Pam? Nah I need somethin better for a pretty girl like you." As Ranma was looking out the window so he missed the blush appear on Pam's face. "I think I'll call you... Ivy. Yeah, that's sounds perfect, cus of your last name and how much you like plants and stuff."
Still blushing she tried hiding her face as she pushed her glasses up her nose. 'Come on Pam, don't do this to yourself. At least get to know him first.'
"T-thanks. I, I like the sound of that. You wanna meet me for lunch? I can show you around the school if you want too." Inside she was slapping herself for getting like this over a guy she had just met. Ranma meanwhile brightened at the chance to eat lunch with someone, his spirits also raised by the fact that he already had met someone who could be a friend.
Lunch came around quickly, with Ivy showing Ranma around the school and leading him to each of his classes so he knew where to go. After grabbing what could only barely be called edible food they both found a spot outside under the shade of an oak tree to eat. Ranma started telling her of his life back in Nerima, causing her to nearly choke on her food when she heard some of his adventures.
"Hey it's not like I meant for that to happen. How many pieces of magical cursed swimwear have you come across?" He asked with a hurt tone. Ivy struggled to get her breathing under control as she wiped a tear from her eye.
"He-haa-ha, S-sorry its just hard to believe. I mean some of that stuff does seem pretty far out there you know? I'd be a fool not to believe in magic, I've seen Solomon Grundy on the tv after all, but some of that is just seems unbelievable. Oh great. here goes a perfectly good lunch." Ivy's tone turned bitter as she spotted the 'popular' girls making their way over to where she and Ranma were sitting.
The girl in the lead came up to them and stared down at where they sat with a cruel smirk on her face. The leader was a long haired platinum blond dressed in a too-tight t-shirt and a pair of bottoms that could only barely be called shorts, giving her a look that most would affectionately refer to, at least until she hit eighteen, as 'jailbait'. Her two cronies, a short-haired brunette and a more natural blond with a ponytail, stood behind with matching sneers. Ranma sighed, he had seen girls and guys like this all too often whenever he had made it in to scholl while he was on his trip, though he didn;t really see any at Furinkan, probably cause it was so crazy already.
"Now what's a good-looking guy like you doing hanging out with Weedy here? Wouldn't it be so much better to hang out with us?" Even her voice had that grating quality that just gets on your nerves. Ivy grit her teeth and snapped right back.
"Oh Lena, finally made your way through the football team then I take it? Let me guess, you going after the basketball guys next?" Lena's face darkened as the lunch crowd tried to keep back laughter. A quick glare to her friends stopped them from lightly snickering behind her back.
"Well at least I've had someone who actually liked me. Unlike some I could say." She turned and faced Ranma as a tick mark developed on Ivy's forehead. " Now how about going somewhere after school with me, I'm sure we could find a place to hang out at, maybe we could hit the mall and get you some new clothes since you just got into town. Besides who wants to hang out with such a loser anyway." Ranma opened his mouth to tell her exactly what he thought of her idea when Ivy abruptly stood up.
Lena turned to face her with a forced smile on her face. She started to say something but shut up as her jaw was slammed closed by an nasty uppercut curtesy of Ivy. Lena fell back with a cry and spray of blood. The entire school was stunned and simply watched as Lena was helped up by her friends and carried off to the school nurse, blood spilling from her mouth. Ivy watched with a cold sense of detachement as Lena stumbled over a step and nearly cracked her head against the ground. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Ranma standing there with a big grin on his face.
"Wow, first time I've ever seen someone take off part of another guy's tongue with a punch. That was pretty nice, that punch was good too, for someone without any training at all. Uh it looks like the teach is makin his way over. I'll catch you school alright? Later!" Ivy blinked and suddenly Ranma had dissapeared, she glanced over her shoulder and caught sight of a flash of red disappearing behind the approaching teacher's shoulder.
Later:
Standing outside the school Ivy took a deep breath of the cool evening air. She had called her mother earlier and found that she would be working late, so that meant no ride and that she could go ahead with her plans. She started making her way down the street, while pulling out her laptop and setting up her encryption software, and nearly screamed when someone put their hand on her shoulder. Spinning so fast her hair whipped her self in the face she stared into the bemused blue eyes of the guy she had met earlier. Letting out a loud sigh in relief she loosened her death-grip on her laptop, no need to damage it after all.
"Heh sorry bout that, but it was kinda might fault you got in trouble earlier so I thought I could make it up to you somehow. So where ya headed?" Ivy started to shake her head and tell him to not bother and that she was busy, but caught herself. Maybe he could help her, after all two heads are better than one. A small smile grew on her face.
"Maybe there is something you can do. You see I was going to try and sneak into the Chlorogene Labs down in Southside. I heard that they were doing genetic manipulation experiments with plants from some of my friends. I heard it through the grapevine, you might say." She laughed aloud as Ranma groaned at the bad pun. "I also heard some rumours about the head scientist there doing illegal drug experiments as well, and I could use you as a perfect lookout. So whaddya say, partners?" She asked as she held out her hand. Ranma took it and shook it gently, making sure not to use too much force and hurt her.
"Sure why not? It's not like I got anything better to do."
That Evening at the Chlorogene Labs:
"Get out of here before we call the police! Lousy kids these days..." Muttered the security guard as he slammed the door closed behind him. Ivy looked up from where she had been thrown to the ground and made sure no one was around before pulling out her laptop. 'Okay Ranma should still be looking out around the corner so I got about a minute or two to get this done.' Typing in the last few pieces of code she quickly grabbed out her mike and started speaking into it, the software already at work masking her voice.
"Temblor. I have a new target for you. I need you to hit the Chlorogene Research Labs, their locate-" A rough voice with a slight southern American accent interrupted her.
"Yea yea its just around the corner from me. But before we discuss that, there seems to be a little, problem, with the money transfers."
"I'm sorry but didn't you just blow the last job? Listen Temblor, if you're interested in getting paid at all you better get over here right now." 'Oh shi-' Quickly covering up the mike with her hand Ivy let out a low curse. "I said here didn't I? Gah you idiot." She gasped when someone blocked the light in front of her. Looking up she saw it was only Ranma, an eyebrow raised in interest.
"Temblor? Who's that? Sounds like some tough guy." He said with a ghost of a smile. Ivy nodded as she stood up and folded her laptop closed quickly, she really needed to get away before Temblor showed up.
"Yeah a real tough guy, though a bit of a thug. It's kinda suprising all the things you can find on the internet. Now if you don't mind, I think it would be best if we got of here before he arrives. I don't know about you but personally I don't want to end in the ICU." She turned and started to walk away still looking at Ranma before she turned to look where she was going and jumped back in shock. Standing in front of her was a big bear of a man, dressed in a brown trenchcoat with a set of small welding goggles(best description for them) on his forehead. The most interesting and intimidating part of his attire were the two massive metal gauntlets on either hand, on the back of each was a large orb of some sort.
Reaching down he grabbed the laptop out of Ivy's grasp before flipping it open and taking a brief look at the screen. Then he turned back to face the two teens, and as he spoke he punctuated his words by crushing the laptop in one hand. "Well, well. You're not at all what I expected, Boss... Now you see thing is, boss, when you don't pay. You Pay. " He started to reach for Ivy but stopped when Ranma stepped in front of him.
"Now now, no goin after my friend. I'm sure we can work something out. Right Ivy?" He looked over his shoulder to see Ivy running towards the labs. He chuckled as he turned back to face Temblor with a sheepish expression on his face. "Heh, or maybe not. You take I.?" He ducked under Temblor's first swing and leaped backwards to avoid the next. "Guess not." Twisting the knobs on the gauntlets Temblor slammed his palms into the ground causing it blow apart in front of Ranma's wide eyes. He started to sprint away from the closing destruction, but missed his footing when a piece of the ground dissapeared, sending him head first into the pavement. Dissoriented he didn't even notice Temblor walk past him and into the labs.
Within the Labs:
Blasting open the doors, even though they were unlocked, Temblor entered the darkened labs. Aparently every one had scrammed the moment he started throwing around his power. Looking around he spotted a table with two plants on it, one a normal tomato plant and the other with tomatos that were larger than grapefruits. The lable on the second plant read #Chloro-Mulch+Venom#. Temblor shrugged but continued on. He stopped when he heard a grinding noise and looked up to see his target on a gantry shoving a large peice of machinery towards him. As it fell he simply batted it away with a swat of his gauntleted hands.
He raised an eyebrow at his target, who had the decency to at least look embaressed, who started running towards the ladder near where Temblor came in. He let her run a few feet before once again slamming his gauntlets to the ground. This time though the ground didn't erupt, instead the entire building shook, sending pipes and pieces of the roof falling. Ranma had just reached the open doors when a falling pipe slammed into the gantry, causing to break and send Ivy falling to the ground. In an instant he dashed towards her, putting as much ki as he could into his legs, willing himself to go faster.
Leaping into the air with as much strength as he could he caught Ivy midair. Unfortunately his momentum carried them onwards. Seeing what was coming Ranma dropped Ivy as gently as he could onto a filter platform, right before he slammed into a wall, bouncing back and landing in massive vat labeled Venom. Ivy started to get up and go towards the vat, but a piece of debris landed on her legs, pinning her in place. Above her, two of the large chemical containers shook ominously.
Temblor approached slowly, relishing in the panic on the teen's face. Slowly he drew back his arm in preparation pulp Ivy. However before he could, he was slammed in the back by the Batman. Off balance he fell onto the ground, his palms discharging their force into the floor and sending one of the containers falling. Ranma groggily raised a soaked red head out of the toxic soup she was in, just in time to see the container that sent her into unconciousness a moment later.
Ivy couldn't see if what had happened to Ranma after the debris fell on her, but she had seen the container fall. Unable to move any of the debris all she could do was watch as the Batman took on the thug she had hired. She had to close her eyes when one of Temblor's blasts hit a gas container and caused it too explode. She bit back a cry of pain when a piece of shrapnel sliced across her arm, she didn't want to remind Temblor that she was still here. She heard a very bad noise and looked up.
"Oh, shit." Those two words eloquently described the situation she was in. Suspended above her was another of the containers. Cracks had started to spread ominously across the surface of the container. She looked around and saw the Batman lying on his back as Temblor stalked towards him. Temblor raised his hands in preparation for the final dual-handed blow to the Batman. Pulling a bola(or is it pair of bolas?) out of his utility belt he threw them so they wrapped around Temblor's gauntlets, slamming them together which caused an explosion due to the feedback. The shockwave blast Temblor backwards into a support column. As he bounced off of the column unconcious he slammed down into the ground, releasing another blast of of energy into the floor.
Ivy let out a scream of terror as the container above her head ruptured, sending its contents in torrent downwards. Her scream lasted just as long as it took for her body to buried underneath the chemical mixture. The Batman had a split-second and used one of his batarangs to hit the control platform for the filter platform, raising it out of the chemicals. He let out a small sigh of relief when the young girl took a hacking breath. Pressing a button on his belt sent a quick message to Commisioner Gordon's pager, he went to see where the other teen had gone.
A little later, outside the Labs.
Temblor was escorted off to an armored car with his arms tied behind his back, his gauntlets on as the police had been unable to remove them. Taking a glance around the Commisioner found a shaded spot near one of the buildings corners. Turning away from the dark spot he adressed it quietly.
"I don't suppose you had any better luck with finding the other teen, did you?" A voice spoke out of the darkness, its tone layered with neutrality and only the slightest amount of audible regret.
"No, that vat he fell into was designed to release all of the chemicals right into the river if necessary. I took a sample and I believe that those rumours of illegal drug manufacturing have their origin here. I sent a snake down the pipes, they're too small for him to have fit through. I did manage to retrieve his clothing however." The Commisioner sighed. That was always the worst part of his job, telling the families that their little baby wasn't making home that night. Sometimes he wondered why ever took this job.
"Well at least you saved one tonight. We still don't know what the effects of those mutagenic chemicals will have on her, but we're hoping for the best. Don't beat yourself up over this, what happened happened and nothing you can do or could have done will change that. Go get some sleep, we'll keep looking for the other one in the meantime." The Commisioner looked behind him and sighed when he noticed no-one was there again.
"Some days, its just one thing after another. I'm just glad my little girl is still too young to get involved in stuff like this. Or maybe that would have made a bit of a difference if she wasn't.*Sigh* I just hope the family doesn't take this too badly." With that he started walking back towards the flashing lights of the police vans.
Back at Arkham:
"Lights out ladies! No talking past curfew or you lose excersize rights, remember?" Shouted the security guard as he passed down the hallway. Ivy waited until he was out of sight before returning to speak to Harley.
"That's really how I got my powers and from there I used them to get revenge on Chlorogene for giving me them. I just really wished that things had been different though. Then maybe Ranma wouldn't have died for nothing." Ivy stared down at her feet in depression. Even if it was only for one day, he was the first guy she ever liked, heck he saved her life even. Even thinking about him now brought a warmth to her heart when she remembered his smile or the feeling of his arms wrapped around her body as he carried her to safety. Humanity... wasn't all bad, just most of it. She sat back on her bed as she rested her head on the pillow. Harley watched as she fell asleep, a single tear escaping the green-skinned woman's eye.
'Hmm... Poor Red's got it baaaaad. Maybe it wasn't the whole power thing that got her like this. Maybe it was losin the guy she was crushin on, that would do it. Now how can Mistah Jay use this...' Harley went to sleep as her thoughts worked on pleasing her love with some new blackmail information.
Here ya go. Another New story and hopefully and interesting one.
Review!
Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Here you go, the next chapter and what happened to Ranma. Oh yes and the next chapter of Soul Reaper One Half is being worked on. A cookie to whoever correctly guesses the relationship between the name of the labs and the items stolen, it is a familiar link to those who follow my other stories. Bonus points for the gang identities as well.
Now its time to let the party begin! We'll dance in rivers of blood to the music of a million damned souls in torment! How wonderful!
FAMILIAR TASTE OF POISON
The roof of Gotham Police HQ
Commisioner James Gordon was not having a good day. First he got rudely awakened at three in the morning for what should have been simple hostage negotiation, as much as a hostage situation can be called simple, only to find out that the captors wer not willing to negotiate at all. The SWAT teams they had sent in had found no sign of the criminals, but what they did find turned even the most hardened veteran's stomach.
Things had really gone downhill in the last couple of years. The disorginization the crime families had been suffering after the death of Carmine Falcone had, while making things a little bit easier for the police, had also allowed others to slip in through the cracks. Two years ago Gotham City had been hit by some of the worst gang violence in its history. Two new gangs had arrived and set up shop in different parts of the city. Taking over the Northside and the docks was an Asian gang going by the Tennouren. And their rivals took over the Souththside, a old crime group from Europe by the name of Gabriella.
The two new gangs had quickly driven what was left of Gotham's old crews into an uneasy truce. The three heads of the old gangs were contained on the Eastside, though the territory was divided up among them. Sal Maroni, Rupert Thorne, and Roland Daggett. The last of the old guard for crime in Gotham.
Ever since the two gangs had arrived violence had erupted between them on a regular basis, right up until last year. Last year both gangs had begun fielding their own version of a 'Death Squad". The Tennouren's Shrike, or Gabriella's Murder Division. Both squads served as a form of detterent, as they were composed of some the nastiest killers either side could find or create.
Following in the two gangs wake were the various scavengers and hangers-on, such as mercenaries or hired assasins. The worst of them were the Jackals, elite and expensive killers that specialized in doing anything for the right price. The only good thing about them was that they kept themselves to a strict code and made sure to keep their conflicts from spilling over into places where innocents might get hurt.
Then tonight out of the blue he was rudely woken up out his hard earned sleep to deal with a developing situation.
It had been some gala one of the richer bussinessmen was hosting at his mansion, just another party for those with too much money and too little to do with it. At some point during the night an unknown number of assailants had slipped inside, permanently silencing any security that they had come across. In fact if it wasn't for one of the security guards taking an illegal break and talking to his girlfriend they would have never know anything was wrong.
As per operational procedure they had set up a police line around the entire property, by about four in the morning. By that point it was already too late. According to the forensics teams, every single one of the guests had been dead for at least two to three hours before the police had ever arrived. It was the first time a crime like that had happened in the Northside in a very long-time.
Since the Jackals had come to Gotham two years ago, crimes like this had become relatively rare. None of the super's wanted to risk upsetting either of the big gangs and so generally stayed in either the East or West-sides. Gordon though was disturbed for a different reason, the killers in this case had been around since before the new gangs had arrived, at least since five years ago. From the information they had gathered there were several members of the small group. One who used ranged weapons, a brute force specialist, a getaway man, a fire-head, the mastermind, and a very sick and vicious melee fighter, there was also the occaisonal use of ice and water in their crimes too. This time though, something new had popped up, thus James Gordon had been standing on the roof in the cold autumn air for the last hour.
The sound of light footsteps caused him to turn, only to see a pair of eyes in the shadows to the side of the signal-light. Gordon sighed, he'd long ago given up trying to predict when his enigmatic ally would appear on nights like these, or when he dissappear again. Wordlessly he held out a small folder to the caped figure. He waited patiently as the file was read over before asking the question that had been on his mind since he had checked out the crime scene.
"Do you think it was her?"
"No, though it does seem similar, these were created spontaneously out of inanimate objects, such as the flooring or chairs. Not even Poison Ivy could bring dead things to life, plant based or otherwise." The Batman shook his head as he handed the folder back to Gordon. " Which begs the question, who and how was this person able to create living spikes that impaled seven different guards out of wood flooring? Besides Ivy is still serving time in Arkham."
"Well none of the boys downstairs have any clue as to that one. But we do have a lead to the rest of the gang, all thanks to a fluke. Detective Bullock had been going through some of the old files from last year's Maroni trial, and he found something very interesting. According to some clandestine transactions that had been abruptly terminated from the receiving end, Maroni had been paying off a special unit up until about three years ago. An elite squad that specialized in hard raids. After he read that, Harvey went down to talk up our old friend Sal in the Anvil." Gordon walked over to the edge of the roof and rested both of his hands against the ledge as he looked over the city.
"The old dog didn't mind spilling about them, since they apparently went rogue around the same time the transactions stopped. Apparently they were his heavy duty squad, used for all the dirty jobs he had. They would get in and out of most hard situations they were sent on, Maroni made sure that the jobs they got were the hardest he had. A lot of the times it was real dirty work, but they'd do it. They'd take any job he offered, so long as he paid them. At first they weren't all that special, but over time they really started to scare Maroni. The only reason he said he kept them around for though, was because he was afraid they'd go to a rival gang, so he paid them more and more, while at the same time sending them into riskier and riskier situations. He was also terrified of the chance that if he did send out the order to ice them, that they'd make it out and hunt him down. Even he doesn't know who makes up the squad, except for their leader." Batman nodded his head for Gordon to continue.
"He goes by the name of MAGI, a genius of elctronics of all types, from robots or power generators. According to Maroni's description, he's at least in his mid-twenties to mid-thirties, is thin, and wears large glasses. With his pale skin he's like any usual nerd or basement dweller. But, he has a particular scar running vertically across one eye. We already have an APB out for him, but I for one hope that we don't find him yet."
"Why's that Commisioner?" The Batman asked with his usual gruff tones.
"Because, he just finished up a big job and is probably going to be with the rest of his gang. And I really don't want to start a fight with them if I can help it. *sigh* You know, its been three years now, since that night. It was a lot like tonight, cold, windless, quiet. Like the world was holding its breath in anticipation for something." He stepped away from the edge and looked Batman in the eye.
"Your lucky so far that he's been the only one you've lost. It never gets easier, and its going to be a really long day tommorow for me. Telling families that their little boy isn't coming home, or that little girl's daddy had an incident at work, it just makes things like this all the worse. I hope you find these guys, and when you do, do what ever you can to bring them down." Gordon closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them he was once again alone on the roof.
"Good luck old friend." He whispered to the windless air as he turned off the bat-signal and walked back inside. "Three years and we still don't know what happened to that kid... Shame."
3 Years Ago. Location: Atlus Robotic Labs.
A group of figures quietly slipped off the boat that had pulled up to the quayside, the motor idling as they tied it down. Making sure no one had seen them most of the group made their way to the side of the large square building, carefully navigating around any sources of light or security cameras. One had stayed behind and was setting up a crane-like device on the deck of the boat.
The first of the group pulled a pair bolt-cutters out from under a cloak and quickly cut a hole through the chain link fence surrounding the property, the others slipping through behind her. Once they reached the facility one of the taller figures consulted a small device in his hand, the light from it glinting off of his glasses, before pointing to a section of wall. The biggest man nodded, pulling out a welding torch, and lighting the gas with his cigar. The only sound was the hiss of the torch as it cut through the wall.
He slowly cut through the wall, leaving a large square outlined in glowing metal. Satisfied with the cut, the massive figure attached a magnetic clamp to the wall before pulling out the cut section. Sliding it out he moved it to the side of the new doorway into the labs. The big man turned and looked at the others before speaking quietly.
"I don't know about this, if da big boss gets wind of what were doin out here were toast! I mean even we can't take on da entire family!" The tall and gaunt man shrugged.
"Yes, but if we pull this off we can go finally go work for ourselves. We ace this job and no more doing scut work for Maroni. No more dragging ourselves back to him for more jobs. Besides there's no way you can back out now Pyro, not when we're so close to the big time." The big man, Pyro, remained indecisive for a moment more before nodding his head. He ducked his head to avoid touching the still hot metal. As he stepped into the hallway he continued his quiet conversation, loading a shotgun as he did so.
"Yea guess you're right. How'd you know all da badges would be busy tonight anyway? " The glasses wearing man smirked before directing the group down one of the hallways.
"I didn't, that was simply luck on our part. But I figured that with all the focus on the terrorist strikes by that mercenary, Temblor was his name, correct? I figured that the focus would be away from us, that he struck the same night is merely fortuitous coincedince." He sighed and hung his head at the confused expression on Pyro's face.
"It means we got very lucky, you lummox! Now hurry up, we need to get out of here before the alarms go off, my spike to their system won't last forever." Hissed the tall and thin man. The other members of the group nodded and quickly made their way down the halls, taking turns as their boss consulted his map before stopping in a wide open room. In the middle of the room where two large cylinder's, surrounded by bulletproof glass and a score of armed guards of course. Those guards were huddled together in small groups as they tried to figure out why their communications had stopped working.
"Shadow, Silence, its time to earn your pay." The glasses wearing man ordered. The last two of the group, both of whom were wearing concealing cloaks, drew out their weapons. One had a large sniper rifle while the other loosened up a length of chain that ended in a nasty hooked blade. In the other hand was a blade too long to be called a knife but not long enough to be called a shortsword, the edge serrated and vicious looking.
"And remember, No witnesses this time."
With that the one with the chain charged right in, the hook being swung through the air until it wrapped around a guards neck, and with a quick tug, tearing his head off as the sharp edge of the hook sliced right through. The sound of a rattling chain and the spray of blood from their downed ally was the only warning the guards got as the intruder went among them.
The figure danced among them, the guards' wild shots blowing holes through the cloak that trailed the figure, every step taken another guard eliminated. Throat opened here, hamstring and blade through the back of the skull there, broken neck on the backswing, heart literally torn out, and a blade through the eye and into the brain. Another swing of the chain ripped the blade through his chest, the hook latching onto his intestines and tearing them out. Trailing behind the path of devestation and bloodshed were the other two of the party, the larger Pyro silencing any guards who hadn't given in to their wounds yet.
From the doorway the last figure's rifle barked out shots as fleeing guards found no limb to put down as they ran, or no head to see where they were going. Each shot found its target without fail, some even going through several bodies before hitting the original target. The sniper also made sure to eliminate any who might be a threat to the boss as he made his way over to the two cylinders. Looking over the labels he smiled as he read them out loud.
"The Excellen line's models W-06 and W-07. Wonderful, with you things will definitely change around here." He frowned at the bulletproof glass keeping him from his prize.
"Pyro! Get over here and remove this... obstacle." The giant of a man leapt to obey, his eagerness comically similar to that of a loyal puppy.
"You got it Master MAGI!" Pyro flinched as MAGI proceeded to hit him over the head with his fist.
"Fool! You know the weight that name carries, so don't use it so loosely! Now get the stasis-chambers out of here and we can be on our way." Pyro nodded and quickly got out his bag of tools. Ignoring the screams of dying security guards he took out a small satchel and ductaped it onto the glass. Touching the end of his cigar to the fuse he backed away a few steps before leaping for cover behind a body.
There was a loud WHUMP and the last couple guards were knocked off their feet by the shockwave. Silence quickly moved over to them and dispatched them with a quick stab before they could recover. MAGI walked around the corner of the glass wall and into the vault in order to check on the condition of his prizes. After finding them undamaged he gestured over to the other three.
"Shadow, Silence you take W-06. Pyro, W-07. Chop chop, we don't have much time until the police arrive now." Indeed the alarms had already been set off by the concussive force of the small explosion. Pyro grabbed the container and slung it over his shoulder, some of the cables dangling down his back. Shadow and Silence manuevered their container onto a motorized dolly and were pulling it along slowly behind them.
They had made it out of the main building and had just about reached the street when they were forced to stop. Standing in front of them was a massive armored figure, one hand holding a massive cannon and the other a small gatling gun that slipped over the figure's fist. From underneath it's helmet were two glowing red lights that tracked the group of thieves.
MAGI let out a low curse. Of course Atlus Labs had their own Personal Trooper to defend themselves with. But damn it all why did they have to have deployed one of their top models here of all places. The Weisreitter Abend was one of three of the Original Generation EF models, and so far only one of each had been made. "Pyro, I need you to put down the container slowly, yes that's it. Now, reach into your bag and pull out the Anti-Robotic-Personnel mine." MAGI bit back a curse at the blank look he received.
"The small disk-shaped object, you insufferable ignoramus!" Hissed MAGI venomously. Flinching slightlyPyro nodded and proceeded to draw out a fist-sized disk about as thick as a phonebook. MAGI directed his words to the pair who had frozen pulling the dolly."Now when I give the signal, Pyro will depress the button in the center of the disk and then will hurl it at the Abend. Then you, Silence, will go for the legs while Shadow aims for head. If we can either blind it or take out its legs we should be able to get away. If not, well lets not think about that."
"Now, on my mark..." The thieves tensed up, ready for action."...GO!" Pryo hurled the disk with all his might, sending it straight at the Abend's head. There was a resounding clang as it bounced off, the noise sending the rest of the gang into action, Shadow and Silence leaping into position. From his position of authority(read as hiding behind Pyro's container) MAGI watched with a frown as the mine disharged a wave of crackling blue energy that failed to even dim the lights of the Abend. 'Something here is off, but what is it?" The answercame to him as a shot from Shadow's rifle shattered off of the Abend's chestplate, the force of the impact toppling the giant robot over with an earthshaking thud. 'That's it! They turned it on but forgot to activate it, the fools.'
Sighing to himself as he dusted his pants off, MAGI stood up and called to his companions." Alright, it seems we won. We got lucky twice tonight already, lets not push it. Browning's got the boat ready so lets double-time it!" The gang members nodded and quickly took off down the street. Reaching the boat Pyro put down the container he was holding and jumped onto the deck of the converted barge. Pyro frowned when he found no-one in the bridge or on deck. Looking around he spotted an open hatch on the deck. Walking over to it he shouted down into the hold.
"Yo! Haken, you down there bro?" He heard a clang and a muffled curse before Pyro heard an acknowledgement." While you're down there bring up my bag, we got the stuff." he tilted his head as he listened to the voice shout up from the depths of the boat. "Not that stuff, the other stuff. Yea the special things. What you doin down there anyways?" Pyro fell backwards as a large black bag flew up out the hatch, followed closely behind by the man who had thrown it.
Readjusting his black cowboy hat over his grey hair, the man walked over and gave Pyro a hand up." I caught a real interesting fish and was checking it out." Said the grey haired man as he walked over to the crane set up in front of the main cargo hatch. Pressing a few buttons got the crane moving put over the pier. A gentle depressing of the joystick and another press of a button picked up to two containers. Pausing for a moment for the three on the pier to find a place to stand on the crane's claw, Haken quietly brought the cargo over and onto the ship, waiting for hatch to open before setting the cargo into the hold.
Closing the hatch and turning off the crane he stepped past Pyro towards the open hatch."Pyro, get us under way. I have something to discuss with the boss." Haken said quietly as he slipped down into the hold. Pyro looked around furtively before unzipping the bag and pulling out a large bottle of vodka. Zipping the bag shut again he made his way over to the bridge while carressing the bottle in his hands.
Within the hold of the Zeit Krokodil.
Ducking his way underneath a low-hanging pipe and moving to the side of a sparking electrical cable, Haken made his way over to where MAGI had the two containers hooked up to a large monitor. He looked up from where he was connecting a cable when he heard Haken enter the room. "What do you want?"
Haken crossed his arms as he leaned againts the doorjam."I picked up something. Found it in a patch of funny looking water." MAGI put down his tools and directed his full attention towards Haken.
"What do you mean funny? Haha funny? Weird funny? Or Joker haha funny?" Asked MAGI.
"Joker funny. There was this big patch of glowing green and yellow, something, floating down the river. I spotted something inside and went fishing. You won't believe what I caught." Haken motioned for his boss to follow him. The two arrived in front of the door to Haken's quarters in a short time. Stepping inside MAGI was instantly visually assualted by wall to ceiling to wall posters of various models or anime females. MAGI turned and gave the embaressed Haken a piercing stare.
"Although these are your quarters I do expect a little restraint in your, decorating. Now what is it you found." Haken led MAGI past a life-size statue of Kaguya Nanbu and into his bedroom. Once there he indicated the form buried under the blankets. Rolling his eyes MAGI stepped forwards and pulled off the offending covering. He was forced to resist the urge to cause bodily harm to his associate, as all that was on the bed was a young woman. A stunningly beautiful one, albeit, her fiery red hair and pale skin against a deep blue dress that seemed to change shades like a stormy sea.
Turning back to Haken he pointed a finger to the woman on the bed. "What is so important about a little girl you picked up?" His tone was decidely frosty and Haken had to hold back shivers.
"Well you see that dress the little lady has on. Thing is when I pulled her out of the drink she wasn't wearing it." He paused for a moment to run that sentence through his head, before his eyes widened." And I didn't give it to her either!" He said hastily.
"Well then where did it come from? You can't expect me to believe that she made it out of thin air now do you?" Asked MAGI with smirk. He was put off when Haken gave him a nod.
"Yep. After I carried her down here I brought a jug of water and a glass, I figured she'd want something to drink once she woke up. But that's where it gets a little wierd. You see after I set down the jug next her I turned to find a glass for her. When I turned back I was stunned, the water from the jug was flowing upwards, through the air, and weaving itself into that dress she has on." MAGI's eyes had widened to the size of saucer's behind his glasses, before a cold smile stole across his face.
"Well I used to discount those tales of meta-humans like Clay-Face and such. But this, this is proof. No this is perfect. With the W models and her on our side we can set ourselves up for life!" A dark and disturbing gleam had come into MAGI's eyes as he stared at the unconscious girl on the bed, his mind awhirl with what he could do with a water manipulater. Oh yes Gotham had better be ready. Things were going to change around here.
Will our Caped Hero find the dasterdly villains in time to prevent another crime from occuring? What happened to the young woman in the gang's evil clutches? Tune in next time to find out!
As for Ranma's abilities, well the way I understand it, the Venom chemical acts as an accelerant, in the case of Bane it accelerates muscular growth, in Poison Ivy's it accelerated her body's defense mechanism against poisons and toxins to the point of absorbing them. So I figured whatever powers Ranma gained from the Venom bath would have to be based on existing abilities of his. Here ya go. Sorry bout the OC's but I needed a gang to take in Ranma and most of the villains in Batman run solo or just have nameless minions. Well mostly OC's anyway. ;)
Review!
Chapter 3: Chapter 3
All right here's the next chapter. And yes, Ranma will be a larger part now, I just needed to set the scene in the last chapter. Congrats to kajoshin for correctly guessing where the the relation ship between the W models and the labs. Them, as well as Haken, Kaguya Nanbu, and the Zeit Krokodil all come from Super Robot Wars OG Saga Endless Frontier, which is published by Atlus.
Also I felt really strange writing Ranma's introduction to the gang. I don't know, it was like a combination of pity, sadness, and guilt. Wierd huh? But I just can't read that section without feeling something.
Oh, and for those who care, I have started work on the next chapter of ToT. And I have also picked up a challenge from the author StarEyed2, though you won't see it for a while. Anyway, Enjoy!
FAMILIAR TASTE OF POISON
One Week after the Temblor Incident. Location: Gotham City Docks, Southside.
A choking gurgle clawed its way out as the gangster fell to the ground, clutching the the fatal wounds to his chest. To his side another gangster crouched, leaning his back against the side of a parked car. The gangster popped his head up over the trunk and snapped off a couple of shots at the shot up car across the street. He ducked back down as he heard a wounded scream.
From atop the rooftop of a nearby warehouse, a figure watched the showdown with cool detachement. Looking out over the city, he blocked out the cacophanous symphony of sirens and gunshots. Several buildings and parked cars along the street were on fire, along with many more in the city itself, lending the night a hellish atmosphere. The flickering of the flames of the old apartment building across the street cast a dark light that reflected off of the watcher's glasses.
The watcher didn't turn as he heard gravel crunch under steel-shod boots. Ignoring the other man on the roof, the watcher looked down the street where another group of street thugs was approaching the firefight already underway. Without turning his head the watcher rasped a question to the waiting man.
"Did you have any difficulties aquiring the information I require?" The other figure took off his hat and ran his hand through his silver hair as he shook his head, even though the watcher couldn't see the motion.
"Nah, wasn't anything I couldn't handle. You were right though, about this being an all-out war, it seems Thorne and Maroni have decided to go at it again. Thing started when one of the Don's got iced. He was choked out while he was sleeping in the middle of his mansion, surrounded by guards." The grey haired man said. The watcher narrowed his eyes as he gazed thoughtfully over the city.
"The death of a Don, by any means, is not that unusual and is hardly the cause for another gang war. What's so special about this one in particular?" He mused aloud. The grey-haired man swallowed nervously and wet his dry lips before he answered slowly/
"Uh, MAGI, sir, it was. I mean, i-it, it was Divino. Someone snuffed out Don Bruglioni." Haken barely resisted the urge to duck for cover as MAGI's head shot up explosively in shock. Haken couldn't really blame him, after all the Bruglioni's were one of the oldest of Gotham's crime families, and most importantly Divino Bruglioni was Sal Maroni's uncle and advisor.
MAGI pivoted slowly around until he was facing Haken, his brow twitching. "So Haken," Haken shuddered, "who is it they thinki might be responsible for the Don's untimely demise?" MAGI asked in a cold tone.
"They don't think it might be anyone, they know who did it. They even have the guy who confessed to it. One of Thorne's boys, an Armiena." MAGI nodded, there was no love lost between the two families and this wasn't the first time blood had been shed. However this time not just the Bruglioni's were involved but also Sal Maroni, as it was his uncle who died. Haken continued on." Thing is, and I looked into it, the guy has an airtight alibi, witnesses and security footage place at a bar for about two hours before, and an hour after the Don was killed."
MAGI frowned at the information. It seemed that someone else was orchestratring events for their own purpose. This was bad, especially considering the fact that the outright war that had sprung up between the two Heads would seriously cripple them. He'd almost think it was an effort on the Police's behalf, weakening the major crime boss' and then capturing them, but that wasn't how the Commisioner would do things. Too much chance of getting innocents caught up in things. MAGI winced as a burning building across the river exploded in a tremendous fireball. At least anymore innocents than already were involved he amended.
MAGI sighed." Well, its not our problem anymore. We worked hard to get out from under Maroni's thumb and this is the perfect opportunity. Keep me informed however, we need to keep an eye out for things that shouldn't be happening." Haken nodded, opening his mouth to respond before closing it as he heard music start to play.
Blinking, it took a few seconds to place the song but when he recognized it he gave MAGI a flat stare. "Really? Sound of My Dreams? Reaaally?" MAGI stared back at him, before turning away as he pulled out his phone.
"Don't judge me." He said sheepishly before flipping open the phone. When he spoke into the phone, it was in his usual commanding tone. "What is it? I thought I told you only to use this for important messages, and asking for me to pick up burgers is not important! I-oh, I see. I apologize, I thought it was Pyro with another inane request of his. We shall be down momentarily. Just get her what she asks for and keep her there until we arrive. Good." Closing the phone with a click he turned to Haken witha smirk on his face.
"It seems that your little Rip Van Winkle is soon to awake from her nap. And I'm sure she will be quite curious as to her whereabouts and what led to such. Come, lets not keep her waiting." He said as he strode past Haken towards the door to the stairs, the grey haired man following closely behind him. Catching the door with his hand, Haken took one last look out over the tormented city before ducking inside, letting the door slam behind him.
Within the Warehouse.
MAGI and Haken walked quickly down the refurbished hallways of the warehouse. The oustide of the building held a dilapidated appearance, one that had made the location perfect. Within though, the building had been completely reconstructed into a fortress, with dead-end hallways and built-in traps for the unwary. The warehouse had been carefully divided into three levels; an upper floor with the gang's personal rooms, the ground floor had been converted into a large lab and a a hidden dock for the Zeit Krokodil, and a basement level for MAGI's secret projects.
Approaching one of the many blank doors, none in the building were labeled in an effort to confuse intruders, MAGI pulled out a small key card. Inserting it into the reader by the side of the door, he waited patiently for the door to unlock, before pushing it open and striding into the room. The room was one of the medical bays MAGI had built after purchasing the building, the money coming from investments and some illegal trading on hacked information. Pure white walls and ceiling, the room had a cold clinical feel to it, empty of any furnishings save rows of monitors and some closets holding medical equipment. Lying serenely on the bed was their patient, the redheaded teen girl that Haken had pulled from the river, still clothed in her dress made of water.
Spotting the patient MAGI barely resisted a face palm, while Haken let out a wolf whistle. Standing next to the bed, holding a medical chart, was a pale-skinned young woman dressed in a stereotypical nurse's uniform, colored in black and white, with long black hair streaked with white. Sitting in a chair on the other side of the bed was a woman who could only be described as the first's twin, though her hair was white with black streaks, and her choice in clothing was a much more sensible feminine business suit. The second twin was ignoring her sister's antics as she was reading a small book, peering over the top of her frameless glasses as the door opened.
The white-haired sister set down her copy of Field of Dishonor as she stood up and walked over to the waiting pair at the door. "She'll be up soon. We were waiting until you arrived to wake her." She said in a calm even voice. MAGI nodded and the white-haired woman turned to her sister, gesturing at one of the machines. The black-haired sister smiled broadly as she happily skipped over to the machine, pressing a small button on it and watching as small pulses of electricity were fired into specific parts of the patients brain that would, for all intents and purposes, jumpstart conciousness. It was something special MAGI had developed after watching too much day-time television one week.
The red-headed teen blinked her eyes as she sat up, rubbing them in an attempt to get rid of the blurriness faster. Taking a look around the room she cocked her head to the side with a confused expression. After a couple of minutes it was obvious that neither she nor anyone else was going to say anything, both MAGI abd Haken content to merely observe. Sighing to herself, the white-streaked woman decided to break the ice, pushing her glasses up with a finger from where they had slid down her nose.
"Excuse me, but could you introduce yourself. We would like to know the identity of the person we saved. Oh and my name is Luciana, but everyone just calls me Shadow. Maybe you could tell us why you were floating down the river too." She said with a smile. however that disappeared when a look of confusion and growing panic raced across the girls face.
"You can't remember your name, can you?" Recieving a nod to the affirmative, Luciana sighed."What can you remember then?" The redhead furrowed her brow in concentration, before speaking slowly and softly, barely above a whisper.
"I-I remember the ground shaking, and a man with glowing hands. There was a fight or something, was I fighting? And someone else I think, someone important. I think I was trying to protect them." Luciana motioned for the girl to continue, while MAGI already had an idea as to her identity. "I remember someone falling, and me catching them. I... Ergh!" The redhead suddenly clutched at her head while the heart rate monitor spiked. "Ivy! There was a girl an' her name was Ivy, I think, and I was trying to save her from glow guy. Then something fell an' hit me on the head. And that's it." The girl stared at her hands intently, as if they would give up the secrets of her memories if she did so long enough.
MAGI and Luciana exchanged quick looks, MAGI gesturing to a corner of the room where the discuss things quietly. Seeing how discomfitted the teen was, Luciana's sister walked over to the bed and pulled the girl into a tight hug. Haken simply leaned against the door with a bored look on his face.
"Do you remember the big story in the news last week?" MAGI asked Luciana quietly, so as not to disturb the distraught redhead. Luciana nodded, it wasn't every day that the Batman was unable to save a ki... Luciana's mouth made a silent 'o' as realization hit. "And you remember what happened with the other teen involved, correct?" Luciana nodded."So if my suspicions are correct, then this one has her own special powers, probably based around water. Unfortunately they never released the missing child's identity to the public, so I will have to a bit of digging around to find it. Considering her amnesia, we could certainly keep her here, but it would have to be done in way that would keep her from trying to leave. Any ideas?"
Luciana put on a thoughtful expression, tapping a finger against her bottom lip. Her face brightened as an idea came to her and she turned back to the redhead. Walking over to the bed, she sat down on the corner of it, leaning on one arm, she used the other to gently tap the redhead on the leg. MAGI stood silently, interested in what she was doing. "Can you tell us anything about your family, names, faces, anything you can remember about them?" She asked kindly. The girl nodded, closing her eyes as she tried hard to remember.
"I remember... a panda? Maybe we had a pet? And lots of tears, and alcohol. Lots and lots of alcohol. And the pain, why is there pain?" The girl said in such an innocent, pleading voice that Luciana's heart broke. She had a good idea why the girl felt that way, after all she and her sister had lived through much the same with their father. "So much pain. Didn't I do it right daddy? Why are you hurting me? No. Not the pit daddy, not again! Please daddy! I'll be good I promise! Don't leave me alone in the pit again! Please!" Anything else the girl might have said was lost as she broke down into heart-renching sobs.
Luciana moved forward quickly, wrapping the girl in a tight embrace. The others watched on with somewhat stunned or dark looks on their faces, Haken and MAGI swearing to have a long conversation with the girl's father one day. The girl's small frame shuddered as it was racked with sobs, her arms clinging tightly to the older woman like to her only lifeline. As the redhead cried her tears into the older womans shoulder, Luciana was stroking her hair and murmuring comforting words in her ear. Eventually, after she managed to get her tears mostly under control, she looked up and stared straight into Luciana's eyes, her deep crimson meeting bloodshot blue. "Why, why did daddy do that to me?" The girl's voice was so small and quiet that Luciana barely heard her.
"I don't know little one, sometimes people do bad things for no reason at all. The best you can do is learn from it, get stronger because of it, and stop it whenever you can." Luciana paused, as if she had been struck by sudden inspiration. "Little one, how would like to be part of our family?" The girl's head shot up so fast that Luciana practically felt the whiplash. Luciana couldn't help but chuckle at the look of pure joy on the girls face. Smiling she introduced the rest of gang present.
"Letsee here. I'll be your Aunt Luci, the woman in the nurse's uniform can be your big sister. Her names Natalya, but we all call her Silence, because of how she never makes a sound." The woman in question waved from where she sitting and reading a magazine. " The man with the glasses is our smart uncle MAGI, if he has a different name he's never told us. He likes to think that he takes care of us, but most of the time I end up taking care of him." MAGI chuckled as he inclined his head towards the pair on the bed. Luciana continued on, a smirk stealing its way across her face. "And then there's your uncle Haken, the closet perv." Luciana ignored the sounds of indignant protest and kept on speaking."He's real nice once you get past that though, if a bit a gambler. Oh and your big brother Dimitri is in his room sleeping off another one of his hangovers. We may not be the best family, but we do take care of each other. So how about it?"
If the bone crushing embrace was anyting to go by, then she accepted whole-heartedly.
Later that evening:
Having made sure that she was medically sound, Luciana had taken the redheaded girl to choose her own room. Suprisingly, to Luciana at least, she had chosen a room painted in colours of deep blues and blacks, instead of any of the lighter, more feminine coloured rooms. Apparently MAGI had an idea as to the girl's identity, but had told her he needed confirmation on it, and that it would have to wait until after dinner. She begrudgingly agreed with him, and after getting a room for th girl, she had sent her to shower and get cleaned up.
Which brought her back to the present, since they had pulled the girl out of the river, she had no possessions of her own. Sighing to herself as she looked through an empty closet, Luciana made a mental note to get out sometime with her sister and her new 'niece' and go shopping. She'd have to make sure they stayed away from those damned cosplay stores her sister frequented though, how she managed to find so many in America was something she'd never know.
Any more thoughts she might have devoted to the subject would never be known as a scream ripped through the air, coming from the direction of the bathroom. Pulling out a out a pistol from that had been hidden somewhere in her clothes, Luciana cautiously approached the bathroom door. Carefully, she put an ear against the door, but heard nothing save running water from the shower.
Taking a couple steps back she slammed into the door with her shoulder, using her momentum to roll into a crouch, her eyes tracking across the room quickly. Spotting nothing out of the ordinary, she stood up slowly, still holding her pistol at the ready. She moved carefully past the sink towards the shower, the glass fogged up by steam and impossible to see through.
Stopping in front of she tapped on the glass gently, then raised her pistol in reflex. When nothing happened she tapped again. Still recieving no response she leaned over and whispered just loud enough to be heard over the running water.
"Hey kid, you in there?" Getting no sign of response back she repeated the question slightly louder. "Kid, you alright in there? Listen if you don't say anything I'm coming in." She waited patiently for about five seconds before tentatively pushing the shower door open. Opening it fully, her eyes widened and she unconsciously licked her suddenly dry lips. There, standing with a shocked expression in the middle of the shower, was a decently tall but incredibly muscular young man. It took a few seconds for the similarities between his appearance and that of the girl that had entered the bathroom, but once they did...
"Kid, is that you?" Her question was enough to snap the young man out of his shock, sending him scrambling bacwards in a panic.
"No! Don't come near me! I might be contagious!" He shouted as he shrunk into a corner. Luciana blinked, turning off the water before stepping into the shower and crouching in front of the black-haired young man. Reaching forwards, she wrapped him in a hug while telling him that it was alright. She barely registered the sound of footsteps entering the bathroom. It took MAGI a moment to actually register the scene within.
"Shadow are you in here? I was wond- I see I'm interrupting something. Don't feel the need to stop on my account, I'll see myself out." MAGI started backing out of the bathroom slowly, while Luciana had realized what it looked with her holding onto the boy like that and had leapt backwards, incidentally crashing into the shower handle and causing a jet of cold water to soak the frightened boy. The sudden shift in gender was enough to freeze all three people. MAGI decided to vocalize the thought that was running through their minds.
"Well, isn't that interesting." His statement, more the calm tone it was delivered in, caused Luciana's head to snap around. Seeing the fact that there was no shock or suprise evident in his expression, as well as the shower being his suggestion, led to one conclusion in Luciana's mind.
"You knew this would happen, didn't you?" Fixed with a painful glare, MAGI swallowed audibly any thoughts of lying his way dying after taking a look into Luciana's eyes. Meanwhile, the boy-now-girl was tenderly checking over her body in wonder, obviously her mind still in shock.
"Would you believe, that this was completely unexpected? Alright then, you see this was what I needed to be sure of. The girl's name is Ranma Saotome, and she was born male." That snapped the girl in question out of her trance quite quickly, as she considered the information before asking a question of MAGI.
"But then, why doesn't this body feel wrong to me?" MAGI nodded sagely as he considered the question carefully.
"It most likely is because you no longer have your memories and thus, no inclination towards either form. You are for the most part, a blank slate." He postulated, Ranma nodding, it did make sense to her. After all if you had no memories of being a guy and waking up in a girl's body you would believe yourself to be a girl if there were no contradictions. MAGI continued on, though an expression of distate and anger came over his face.
"And it may also be due to your own subconscious thoughts and desires. From what I could dig up of your life beforehand, you lived a chained and brutal existence between fights as a premier martial artist. It's not too hard to believe that you may have considered your female form an escape from the pressures of your life."
Nodding once more, MAGI prepared to step out of the bathroom before a thought struck him. Pulling out a small folder, he tossed it to a confused Luciana with a gesture to a more calm, though still pretty shell-shocked, Ranma. "That my dears, is why I came in here looking for you. Since you seemed so interested in the idea I went ahead and did up all the paper and cyberwork(read:hacking) for it. All it needs is a signature and you will be Ranma Volkova, Luciana's adopted daughter."
As he left the two stunned and happy young women behind, he couldn't help but feel like he'd done a very good deed. Now he needed to go out and find a puppy to kick. As he walked past Natalya's room, he made a mental note to remind her that she wasn't allowed to keep any of her catgirl outfits anymore, with Ranma staying here that would be a very bad idea.
Slipping into his room and turning on his working music, Blood in My Eyes by Dimestore Hoods, he set to the task of reprogramming last week's acquisitions. As he worked he couldn't help but smile, with the way things were going his retirement from crime was looking closer and closer. Now if only he could figure out how the girl had manipulated the water like that, and how to unlock her knowledge of martial arts too.
But that could wait for tommorrow, today he had more important things to worry about. Like how to get rid of the stupid piece of programming known as Code DTD in W-07's systems. Seriously who would install a system of removing the clothing on a gynoid to vent heat, and then linking that to an alteration to her AI that turned her into the quintessential bubbly blonde, though with green hair.
Well hoped you like that.
Okay so reasoning for Ranma's intro, I figure that without enough context behind the memory fragments he has, that Ranma's training years could easily be misunderstood by both himself and others. Him breaking down like that, both times, is also due in part to him having no effective buffer against the memories. But damn writing that section took a lot out of me.
And its time for me to pitch another Idea to the masses. So recently I had been playing a lot of a certain game, and so , as is the norm for myself, had thought about who a different character would do in the main hero's role. Which led to a clinging plot bunny being born. So what do you people think of a Rune Factory and Ranma cross? Yay or nay? I won't write anything for it for a while, but if you guys might like it I'll put time into thinking about it more. My only problem is who do I pair him with. Hmm so many choices.
Review!
Yeah, so this died a quick death. Anyway, the next chapter was supposed to be about MAGI sending out the gang to retrieve some materials for the device to recover Ranma's memory, and in the process they would run into Mr. Freeze and some of Ranma's new powers would come to light. Just lack of interest killed this one, I think.