Ranma-X (A Ranma/X-Men fusion alternaverse)
Represents thoughts: I'm thinking
The smell of refuse in the alley was almost strong enough to touch, a sickly sweet cloying smell caused by the rotting fish in the dumpster from the neighboring sushi restaurant. Despite possessing an extremely strong sense of smell, it didn't really bother Sakura much. She was far too terrified to worry about the smell, what did it matter if you died in a rose garden or a trash heap, dead was dead, and there could be no other release from her current situation. Alone, unarmed, and outnumbered five to one.
She had recognized them from school as they approached her from the street, she backed away from them, further into the alley. They always hung out around the back of the school, and they had made a point of harassing her in the past. Not that anyone else was much better, nobody treated her like a normal person, but they were the worst. They hated mutants, and with her light purple skin, pink hair, and pupil-less green eyes, she couldn't be mistaken for anything else.
The mutant haters followed Sakura into the alley, trapping her completely as it reached a dead end.
Seizing her quickly, one of them pinned her arms behind her back, and held her there. He reeked of alcohol, she could smell alcohol on all of them as they surrounded her, even with the stench of garbage. The leader of the little gang, a stereotypically large man named Kana leered at her as his friend held her in his painful grip.
"Well if it isn't Sakura-chan, how's it going sweetheart?" Kana said, reaching out a hand to touch her hair. "You're pretty cute for a freak, it's too bad really. We can't let you muties run around free though."
"Please Kana-sempai, I haven't done anything," Sakura begged, "please let me go."
"You're going to have to give me a real good reason to do that," Kana said attempting a seductive smile. "You can do that for me, right Sakura-chan?" Taking her silence as assent, Kana leaned in to kiss the captive mutant, his friends laughing as he did so. Sakura shook at his approach, but did not resist, willing to do whatever it took to get away alive.
Before Kana could complete his act of violation, a feminine voice called from the end of the alley. "Excuse me? Can one of you direct me to Furinkin High School? I seem to have lost my way."
The men turned to see another mutant woman, her blue skin, and shoulder length red hair standing out like beacons in the minds of the men. Just as powerfully noticed were her long legs, and skin tight white dress.
"Looks like we've got another one," Kana said, pulling away from Sakura to approach the new arrival. "You want to join in the fun, honey?"
Another form stepped from the shadows as Kana neared the new arrival. A young man with a pigtail, his eyes glowing with a feral gold light as he glared at the thugs. Without speaking, he flexed his hands, extending claws from the tips of his fingers.
The red headed mutant smiled defiantly at Kana and his gang. "I'd start running if I were you."
"So you brought along your mutie boyfriend eh?" An abundance of alcohol, was making the young mutant hunters feel overconfident. The women were obviously no threat, and it would take more than some freak to stop five men who were used to a good fight.
"We'll take care of him, and then we'll get back to playing with you."
"Don't say I didn't warn you." she said slyly.
Kana lunged to grab the redhead, only to find himself doubling over in pain. The third mutant's foot still pressed into his stomach. His second movement. a strike to Kana's right temple, rendered the gang leader unconscious.
Eyes glowing with rage, claws extended, the male mutant attacked. Not attempting to kill, or even wound, he attacks with a ferocity and speed that the humans cannot fathom, claws shredding their clothes, punches and kicks striking at painful pressure points. Faced with such an overwhelming offense, the gang members fled. Leaving the three mutants alone in the alley, with the unconscious gang member that had made the mistake of attempting to force himself on the two women.
The new mutants approached Sakura as she lay weeping on the floor. The redheaded form shifted, her hair shortening, turning brown, and her skin gaining a more human cast. She was no longer a mysteriously beautiful mutant, she looked like an ordinary school girl. Her boyfriend's appearance also changed slightly, his frightening eyes lost their inner glow, and became a deep brown. The claws he had used so effectively to tear at the clothing of her assailants were also gone.
"Please relax," the woman said, "we won't hurt you. You are safe now."
"My name is Ranma," the other continued, "and this is Nabiki, we're the X-Men."
Ranma-X (A Ranma/X-Men fusion alternaverse)
Waiver: I do not own the X-Men characters, or those from the Ranma 1/2 series. I'm just a big fan. Don't sue me, that would be pointless, and it would cost you a big fan ;)
The Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters in Jusenkyo China was a recently constructed facility, based on the general layout and dimensions of it's sister school in New York, with a few concessions made to the culture of those expected to live there. Unlike the American branch of the school, Jusenkyo's mansion was almost entirely empty. No students were in classes, none practiced in the Danger Room.
Instead, the team had gathered on a picnic blanket in the shade of a tree, well back from the cursed springs that had made the property so cost effective to develop. Ranma laid back on an elbow, and listened attentively to what Dr. Tofu had to say.
"You did well in Japan, Ranma." Dr.Tofu said. "You as well Nabiki. It's good to see that you are both living up to your training."
"It wasn't a very good test, Sensei." Ranma replied. "They only fight we got into was a pack of regular humans harassing a mutant girl."
"Ranma is right," Nabiki put in, "I don't even think it was necessary for me to distract them. Ranma could have just pounded on them right away."
Ranma smiled proudly, and flexed his hand, extending the claws at the tip of each finger. "I don't know, I kinda liked seeing you shift into Mystique like that. She's kinda cute."
Dr.Tofu interrupted the pair before Nabiki could retort with some comment about shifting into cute women, heading off the impromptu sparring match that would invariably follow. "Things went very well Nabiki, and even if Ranma didn't need your assistance this time, he will some day, so it was a good practice mission." He paused for a moment before continuing, allowing his pupils to enjoy their success. "That being said, you did make a mistake, Ranma."
"What are you talking about? I sent four of those anti-mutant jerks running, and one of them is going to wake up with a nasty headache."
"That's not what I'm talking about, Ranma. You identified yourselves to that young mutant. You gave her your names, and you told her you were X-Men."
"Listen Doc, I know the gang in New York go in for all that code name garbage, but we're not Wolverine and Rogue here."
"That's right Ranma, you're not. You are not nearly as experienced as them, and Mutants are tolerated even less here. Did you even hesitate before you gave away your own identity, as well as Nabiki's?"
"It was necessary, Sensei." Nabiki said. "That girl was terrified of Ranma, I doubt calling himself Wyldman would have set her at ease."
"What if that girl tells somebody about the mutants that leaped to her defense? The Japanese government does not approve of vigilante justice, if they hear about an organized group of mutants fighting with human street gangs, they will not be gentle when they try to take you both in." Dr.Tofu sighed expressively, and muttered beneath his breath. Sometimes it was difficult to understand why he had chosen to return to Asia to administer the new school, life was so much easier when he could leave situations like this to Professor Xavier. Their first mission, and they broke our first rule. Maybe I should have chosen someone else.
"I am sorry, Sensei." Ranma said, surprising both his companions. "It will not happen again."
"Thank you, Ranma." Dr.Tofu relaxed slightly, satisfied that even if Ranma was reckless with his own life, he was sufficiently sobered by the idea of endangering Nabiki. "There is a new mutant about to come into his power in Japan. His name is Tenchi Masaki, I want you to convince him to come here to meet me. I should be able to determine the extent of his abilities, and you may finally have another ally."
Nabiki set down their helicopter a few kilometers away from the Masaki residence, she and Ranma would be approaching on foot so that they would not draw undue attention to themselves. This time they had promised the Doctor that they would follow the rules, partly because the rules were much more lax when trying to convince a new mutant to join with their cause.
"So are you really going to start calling me Shifter all the time, Ranma?"
"Only when we are on a mission, Dr.Tofu is right, it's just the three of us for now, we don't need to advertise ourselves. If somebody does decide to come after us, it'll be harder for them to track down Wildcat and Shifter, than Ranma and Nabiki." As Dr.Tofu's first student, Ranma was the second in command of Asia's X-Man, a position of little distinction when it meant that only one person followed your orders. Especially when that one person was Nabiki, and she wasn't big on following orders at all.
"I think we should go all out on this one Wyld-kun," Nabiki said, a mischievous glint in her eyes, "Uniforms, code names, and all."
Ranma grinned at the idea, and pressed a small X shaped button at the top of his watch. Upon joining the X-men, Ranma and Nabiki had each been given watches. Created by Beast in New York, they were inconspicuous, but useful devices. They looked like regular digital watches, except that each had a pair of extra buttons. Pushing one would allow the pair to communicate directly over almost any distance.
Pushing the other would activate the uniform sequence, overlaying Ranma's form with a black bodysuit from neck to toe, gold bracers on each wrist, and a red vest with the X-Men symbol on the right breast.
To accommodate his powers, he wore leather gloves with molded gold plate covering the back of his hands, and the fingers tips were not covered. All in all his uniform wasn't much different than the red Chinese shirt, and pants he normally wore, but the effect was somehow more imposing. In uniform he looked fast, powerful, and every bit the Wyldman he had been named.
Nabiki's own uniform was equally impressive, and similar to Ranma's. She was able to change into her uniform through her own powers, rather than through her watch, so she could wear whatever she wished, and change her uniform on a whim. The idea of having uniforms that looked nothing alike was stupid as far as she was concerned though, so she had designed her own costume to resemble Ranma's to a certain extent.
When Nabiki shifted into her uniform, she wore a black bodysuit as well, a belt with the X-Men symbol in gold, a short white leather jacket with the team symbol on her right breast in place of Ranma's vest, and pair of knee high white leather boots.
"How can you wear that, Nabiki?" Ranma asked, looking her over. "Every guy on the planet is going to stare at you."
"I've got news for you," Nabiki said, "you're not exactly going to go unnoticed among women. Besides, that's part of the idea."
Tenchi Masaki was long accustomed to the picturesque view from the Masaki shrine, but sitting on the porch steps looking out over the surrounding forest was still quite calming. Lately he had been troubled by frightening visions while meditating, quick flashes of battle against mysterious and powerful creatures. A beautiful gray haired young woman was the most dominant, sometimes she chased him through the halls of his school, sometimes she stood between him and some force he was certain lusted for his destruction.
The dreams had begun a few weeks earlier, but they had lost none of their potency. Something was coming, and he had to be ready.
"Who am I kidding, I'm going to die of boredom before anything happens around here." Tenchi muttered to himself.
"I wouldn't go betting on that, Masaki-san." said a feminine voice from behind him, causing Tenchi to jump in shock before turning around to see who had managed to sneak up on him.
The vision he saw upon turning made the temple's view pale in comparison. One of the most amazing women he had ever seen was leaning against the wall of the Temple. While her strange black and white clothes didn't really reveal anything, they still made Tenchi's mouth dry, and his throat lock up. This woman distracted him so much that he didn't even notice her companion, until he spoke.
"You might want to change into something less showy, Shifter. I think he's about to swallow his tongue."
With a furious blush, and a shake of his head, Tenchi gained control of himself. Focusing on the man in the red vest seemed to help with keeping his mind on the task at hand, so he decided to do that. "Excuse me, was there something I could help you with?"
"That depends, do you know where we can find Tenchi Masaki?" Ranma ask, rhetorically.
The confused youth hesitated for a moment before replying, "I am Tenchi Masaki."
Nabiki stepped forward to shake his hand, "Nice to meet you, I am Shifter, and this is Wyldman."
Her casual behavior served to ease the tension Tenchi felt after seeing her for the first time, as long as he focused on her face or Wyldman's, so he relaxed a little. "Why were you looking for me? I'm pretty sure I don't know anyone with names like that."
"Actually Tenchi-san, we're here about a scholarship of sorts." Nabiki said, guessing that it would be best to lie at first, rather than start out by telling him that he was a mutant.
"I don't think I applied for any, is it some kind of gymnastics school?" Tenchi asked, still trying to fathom the outfits his guests had arrived in.
"A little of that, but mostly it's for gifted students. Wyldman and I are students there, the Headmaster asked us to come see you."
Ranma smiled inwardly at the idea of Xavier's school as a place for gifted gymnasts. "Let's just say these are our school uniforms for now." He lightly tapped the X crest on his vest before continuing. "We are from the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, a very elite private school." The Xavier school in New York was fairly well known throughout North America, but the Jusenkyo school hadn't had a chance yet to build up a reputation, so it was pretty safe to assume that Tenchi wouldn't know what they were based on that.
"Are your parents here, Tenchi-san?" Nabiki asked, glancing around the temple grounds and finding nobody. "We really should discuss this with them as well."
"My father is at work, and my grandfather is visiting another temple temporarily." Tenchi said, mulling over the idea of an exclusive private school with uniforms like these. "Does your school have a Kendo team?"
A thought struck Ranma suddenly, about how he could speed up this process a little, and smile crossed his face. "We've got a very extensive martial arts department actually, are you a martial artist?"
Tenchi gave looked at Ranma seriously at that point, using the techniques his grandfather had taught him to judge another's fighting ability. This Wyldman had the same casual arrogance and confidence as Tenchi's grandfather, there was no doubt that he was a martial artist of some form himself. "Not really," Tenchi lied, "I've learned a little bit of Kendo, but nothing major."
"Are you sure? " Ranma asked, "I could really use a good sparring match right now."
Nabiki couldn't quite tell what Ranma had planned, but it was obvious he wanted to lure Tenchi into a fight, and she trusted his instincts enough to give him a hand. "Please Tenchi? When he gets restless he's a real pain to travel with, and I'm stuck with him until we get back to the school."
Chivalry is not dead in the Masaki family, especially where young women are concerned, so Tenchi agreed.
"You're going to have to do better than that, Tenchi-chan." Ranma baited, as he darted through his opponent's guard and delivered a short punch to the solar plexus. "Stop treating that sword as if it's your only weapon."
Tenchi had fought a number of practice battles with his grandfather, and in the occasional Kendo tournament, but he'd never seen anyone move the way this man did. In the beginning Tenchi had held back, not wanting to hurt him, especially as he refused to accept a practice blade of his own. It had taken only seconds to realize that he wouldn't be able to fight like that if he wished to escape with his dignity. Whoever taught martial arts at that Xavier school must have put a great deal of extra time and effort into this student. There didn't seem to be any limit to his speed and flexibility. He flowed through Tenchi's defense without a second thought, striking the Kendoist repeatedly with glancing blows.
"You've got an entire body, Tenchi. That stick is your only weapon."
Tenchi didn't doubt for a moment that he was being toyed with, his opponent could have finished their match at any point. If he chose to there would be nothing Tenchi could do to stop him, that the battle had lasted for 10 minutes meant that he was being tested in some fashion.
"Fine, you won't throw it away, then I will." Ranma said, striking out suddenly with renewed fury. A single roundhouse kick shattered Tenchi's bokken, leaving him unarmed. "Now use your whole body, Tenchi. You can't count on wooden crutches, you need to draw the power to fight from within yourself."
The words washed over Tenchi, already reaching the peak of his anger at being humiliated so blatantly by the other man. With a vicious scream, he leaped at his adversary, sweeping his right arm forward to cut him in two with a single blow.
Ranma saw the sudden flash of light that Tenchi had not yet noticed, and as a blue blade of energy formed in Tenchi's hand. Ranma dodged aside. His theory had been right, Tenchi's power manifested itself for it's first time when he lost his temper.
"Hold Tenchi!" Nabiki called, and stepped into the ring they had specified as their battle area. "Look at the blade in your hand."
Somehow Nabiki's words cut through Tenchi's temper, and he began pulling himself together. As his temper subsided, and he became more aware of his situation. His assailant was giving him a look of approval, from the far end of the ring. That only half registered on his mind though, as he stared numbly at the glowing blue energy blade in his hand.
"Congratulations Tenchi," Ranma said, "you are gifted after all."
Regarding Ranma-X: This fanfic was one of the first I ever wrote. It was never meant to be released on the Internet, but I came across it the other day and decided I might as well upload it. There are already 3 chapters to it, and I will be uploading the them soon, after I finish removing most of the errors I made when I wrote it ;)
Regarding The Guardian: I apologize for the delay. In the time since I wrote the first chapter I have had several computers die, and moved to Japan where I have no computer, and no Internet access. Chapter 2 of this series has been re-written several times due to lost data, but I am near completing it for the final time. I am not sure it is as good as the first chapter, but I will let you be the judge.
Thanks to my pre-readers, especially Renuka, Raf, and Jen. I still think you guys should be writing fics yourselves.
