Another Like Me
I do not own Ranma 1/2 and its associated characters. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi. I do not own X-men Evolution or any of it's associated characters. Inspiration for this fic came from 'The Evolution': a Ranma 1/2 / X-men crossover by Dragonlord.
Thoughts
Telepathy
Chapter 3: RevelationsRanma had fallen in love with this city. It wasn't the atmosphere nor was it the people that attracted him so: it was the food! Never before had he seen so many foods from so many different nationalities. At this moment our pig-tailed hero was sitting in a nice Italian restaurant consuming a large order of spaghetti with gusto. Finishing in ten seconds flat (it would have been five but those damned Western utensils slowed him down) he sat back and sighed in contentment. That really hit the spot.
After paying his bill he left and walked down the main street some short way until he reached a small nondescript little café he liked the look of. Seating himself and ordering some tea he closed his eyes, shuddering as he remembered the last events that had occurred on that god-forsaken rooftop. Who knew that the Old Goat had it in him? The thought of a nice Happosai was a completely alien concept to Ranma.
FLASHBACK
Ranma turned and was just about to leave when Happosai called out to him.
"Hold it young one! Before you leave these shores I have one last gift for you."
Ranma stopped and looked over his shoulder.
"You've already done enough for me. You have my deepest gratitude for your help but I can't take anything more. Goodbye, I hope we meet again under better circumstances."
Happosai stood and walked over to where his heir was standing, blocking his path.
"Ranma I am a very old man. In the past year I have seen you grow into a mature and responsible adult, capable of standing on your own two feet. Take this and remember your old master during your travels."
From his gi pocket, the diminutive man pulled a small pendant made of a silvery material. If one were to look closely at it as Ranma now did then one would notice that it rippled as if being manipulated by its own personal current.
"This here is the Aquarius Stone. I liberated it from a mutual acquaintance of ours in my youth. It has the ability to repress all water-based curses when in contact with the skin."
Ranma took the item from Happi's outstretched hand and hung it around his neck, tucking it inside his shirt. Bowing, he spoke with a voice thick with emotion and gratitude.
"Master Happosai you are a true friend. I will never forget your kindness to me."
He took a step towards the edge of the building before looking back one last time and for a moment it seemed as if the old Ranma had returned. In a cheery voice he exclaimed as he jumped:
"Make their lives hell for me Old Letch!"
Happosai watched as a small shape bounded into the distance.
"Will do Ranma m'boy", he chuckled, "Will do."
END FLASHBACK
From then on the trip had been mostly smooth sailing. For some reason people (all women for some reason) had kept bothering him throughout the flight. Asking him to join something called the 'Mile High' Club or something. As he didn't plan to fly again for quite some time Ranma had gracefully declined, figuring that such a membership would be a useless drain on his precious monetary resources. He just wished those poor girls hadn't looked so disappointed.
Anyway now that his stomach had been satisfied it was time to solve his next biggest problem…clothing. His Chinese clothes were comfortable but they had two major drawbacks. Firstly he looked completely out of place on the streets. Secondly they were far too dangerous for someone with his mutant ability. If someone were to brush his skin he would cause him or her some serious harm, of that he was certain. What he needed was some skin-tight clothing, and most definitely a pair of gloves. He had narrowly avoided draining anyone on the plane but still the risk was too great to continue for much longer.
Leaving the café he walked further on until he found a cheap and cheerful clothes shop. He had to say one thing for these American girls, they were very friendly and amazingly helpful even with his less than perfect command of English. 15 minutes later he stood in front of the store mirror and admired his form.
Pretty Good! >, he thought.
He wore a set of black jeans and boots, a red long-sleeved shirt and a pair of skin-tight black gloves. All in all he looked rather like a westernised version of his old self. To top it all off he wore a black trench coat to guard against the cold weather. Indeed he was so pleased with what he saw he ordered a few more sets of the same (excluding the coat of course) to last him until he could get settled somewhere.
Back at the Xavier Institute the X-men were congregated in the Library awaiting their mentor's arrival.
"Vell", said Kurt a.k.a. Nightcrawler, "It looks as if zer Professor haz found us a new playmate ya?"
"Quiet Elf, if you give Chuck a chance he might actually be able to tell us something this time", growled Logan who was still smarting from his little incident in the Danger Room.
Kitty and Jean were discussing the latest upcoming fashions this season in preparation for the forthcoming school dance (to which mutants had been invited only reluctantly). Ororo, also known as Storm, was quietly plaiting her hair, humming to herself and Rogue was in her customary armchair trying to finish her book.
Scott sighed and rubbed his temples. He hoped the professor would get here soon. The tension was killing him! Unfortunately every new mutant they seemed to encounter, as of late, had been more than hostile towards them. He was feeling a little disheartened.
Why can't they see that we're just trying to help , he thought.
A voice intruding upon his thoughts heralded him to the arrival of the Professor.
They are afraid of what they have become, what they stand for. We mutants are a minority Scott. We compose a tiny percentage of this planet's vast population and yet in each one of use we harbour the potential to surpass all other members of our species. To be accepted we must exercise control but when we awaken it is fear that clouds the mind. In that state the human mind is a less than rational organ.
Turning to the team the Professor spoke quickly.
"We do indeed have a new potential student on our hands but at the moment I'm afraid that the search for him will need to be postponed."
This caused all the X-men to focus on Professor Xavier. Something truly serious must have turned up.
"Whats up Chuck?" asked a now concerned Wolverine.
The first thing Ranma noticed when he left the shop, laden down with his purchases, was that the streets were in complete turmoil. People were running everywhere, screaming and pointing around hysterically at something in a short way down the high street. The second thing he noticed was a giant of a man in some form of brown armour tearing apart the afore-mentioned street, uprooting lamp posts and crushing small buildings with his bare hands.
Ranma sweat-dropped heavily at the sight.
Rather like Akane during that time of the month! >, he thought.
He was about to leap in and attempt to stop the man when from above there came the tell-tale whine of a fighter aircraft approaching. Looking skywards he saw a large black jet begin it's descent. Leaping to the rooftop of the clothing store he had just exited, he decided to watch this interesting turn of events unfold before he decided the best course of action to take.
From the plane a group of individuals emerged and Ranma recognised them at once. They were the self-same group he had seen on the television at the Tendo's house. With greater interest he watched as the battle commenced.
After five minutes Ranma was seriously considering blowing his cover. These people needed help! This man, the Juggernaut or whatever his name was, he was a monster. Anything these people threw at him he just laughed off. Lasers reflected, Lightning fizzled out and even a missile shot from the Jet by the bald man in the driver's seat.
For a moment the strange man's eyes locked with his own and in his head he heard a silent plea:
Run young man, please escape while you still can!
Turning his eyes back to the fight Ranma noticed the Juggernaut backhand the guy in the weird visor, knocking him into a young girl made up to look like some form of Goth. As the big man stepped forward and cocked back his fist, anger filled Ranma's heart. As the Juggernaut let loose a devastating punch at the downed girl, Ranma launched himself from the rooftops, his golden aura blazed around his descending form as he entered the fray.
Rogue closed her eyes, waiting for the punch to end it all. She knew that she wouldn't survive a blow from the Juggernaut. If only she could touch him then his strength would become hers but it was too late. The other X-Men were too far away and she wouldn't get her glove off in time. She watched in fascination as the Juggernaut's fist slowly descended ……only to miss as a glowing form crashed into Juggernaut from behind, sending him sprawling.
The figure performed a back-flip off of his victim's back and landed in a combat stance rather similar to one of Logan's.
He looked around seventeen with a tall, lean, muscular frame and was obviously of Asian descent. His eyes were stormy blue and raven black hair was done up in a pigtail of all things. The clothing he wore was tight and in addition to gloves he wore a long, black trench coat.
The boy looked straight at his foe as he began to rise.
"You fight this one now", he said, "Name is…Ronin, Ronin don't lose!"
END OF CHAPTER 3.
(How about this one? For those of you who don't know then a Cipher is a code or a non-entity, I chose this as Ranma's codename 'cause it sounds so cool lol- daval18)