Chapter 2 A New Home a New Purpose

Porting as our three individuals just accomplished usually does not induce panic and screaming unless one ends up in a wall or in a pit of Carien. Unfortunately for Ranma several things did occur that would add a new circumstances to those above. First the trip was instantaneous and to go from a hospital room to a completely sterile research lab with lots of equipment that could have been purchased from the Marquis De Sade (on one of his bad days). Second, the person carrying you changes from a somewhat normal (if a little large) Asian male to a 7 and 1/2 foot lizard like man in heavy gray power armor. Of course none of the regular inhabitants to this lab were surprised that Ranma was screaming. Actually if he had not been screaming they would have been worried.

"Now there really is no need for that at this moment." Passively spoke an ancient man in a lab coat. "K'r'nth you can put the young man on the table over there." Gesturing in the general direction of several of the more tame examination tables.

K'r'nth, who by this time had repositioned Ranma to have a better grip on the struggling martial artist, moved over to the nearest table when the old man in the lab coat looked up sharply.

"No! The one at the far end. Yes, that one. Really one would think that you could not read minds." Shout the old man but end mumbling the last part. "Remember to strap him in. Patients sometimes get so testy and squirmy when you try to explain things to them it is just best to start off with them strapped in."

"What a second! Nobody said anything about being strapped in! Stop, who the hell are you and what happened to the guy who was carrying me!" Shouted Ranma as he struggled in vain banging his fist against K'r'nth scaly hide.

"Stop that this instant! You will do nothing but hurt yourself, youngling!" K'r'nth tried to tell Ranma in his most reassuring tone. It wasn't very reassuring because K'r'nth could feel the bruises developing under his scales. "Damn, this little one is strong" he thought. Tired of wrestling with the squirming bottle of martial arts energy K'r'nth slammed Ranma back first onto the metal table knocking the breathe from him. Than before Ranma could recover he K'r'nth flipped him over and Ranma into the restraints.

Ranma was now positioned on "the table". What makes this table interesting is not that it is an operating table no it was the fact that Ranma's head was strapped into a hole in the table and the table seemed to be postionable. As became apparent when the old man took out a remote and angled the table so that Ranma was standing up strait but still bound to the table.

"Now that we are all comfortable we can get down to business. Yes?" Asked the old man to Ranma. The old man actually seemed to be waiting for a reply from Ranma rather than stating a rhetorical question.

All Ranma could do was nod, as he was no scarred into a speechless stupor. The old man moved over to the table with a spring in his step that surprised Ranma. It was as if he was much younger than his body appeared.

"So the terms of the contract have been explained in detail to you by my friends here?"

Still all Ranma could do was shake his head, but this time in the negative.

Sighing the old man looked at the Shaktar, as his race is called, and said "Why did you not explain everything to him?"

"There was not the time nor am I a negotiator. The youngling agreed to help us in return for him being healed and several other of his problems being solved." K'r'nth replied as if bored. "And you know how talkative Frost is on a general basis."

"I guess sometimes you just have to do things yourself if you want them done right." Sighed the old man. "Listen up Ranma because I am only going to go through this once. You are currently in your dimension. We have brought you here so that you can do what I am no longer able to do. You see my body is weak but the spirit is strong. So you are going to become my eyes, hands, ears and wrath. You are going to help me save this world and universe, even if it does not understand that it is dying. You are going to do this because I am going to give you several things that you want and that you need. The first is I am going to make it so that you can walk, run and fight better than you could in your old life. Secondly, I am going to provide you with the life and support that you will need to grow and prosper in this world. And lastly, I will make it so that you can control your curse. No, I cannot rid you of it completely but I can make it so that you can control it. You will find it beneficial in some of the work you will be doing. Also you will find that it rains more here on Mort, which is the planet that you are on, than just about anywhere else. All you have to do is help me from time to time to save the citizens of this world and many others. Understand that some of these missions will not be to your liking but they will always be necessary to saving millions of others. Do you agree?"

"W.W.What happens if I do not agree?" Ranma was able to stutter out.

"We will return you to your home dimension where you can live your life out as a crippled martial artist who cannot defend himself from his enemies and who has not a friend nor ally in the world."

Ranma sat stunned as the old man voiced his greatest fear about his condition. His whole life he has been able to take care of himself, Genma being the dedicated and responsible father that he is, and now he cannot even get across the room to use the bathroom by himself. At this point Ranma felt the bottom of the barrel under his feet, as he knew that no one would miss him and that all that was left was to embrace his new life here.

"What do I need to do to accept, do I sign or shake?"

"There is no need for signatures or handshakes your word of honor is enough for me. As for now all you need to do is relax and put this mask on." With that the old man handed him a metal mask. On the outside it was a shiny crome while the inside had several was constructed of a white sterile plastic with several odd spherical pads and a gas mask on the inside. Several straps were attached to the edges to hold it to the users face and a single thick cable exited the bottom.

"Ummm... what is this?"

"That is going to teach you while I work. Rest assured it will do nothing but provide you with the information you would have received if you had been born here. It will not affect your personality in any way. It will also provide you with some basic background skills. Think of it as educational TV for the mind." This comment brought a chuckle from the Professor. "It will probably be the only time you find something educational on the TV here. But come now K'r'nth help him put it on so I can get started."

"It fits like this youngling. Trust me you do not want to be awake when the Professor starts to work on you. Just remember to try to relax." With this said the large reptilian arranges the mask over Ranma's face and steps back. The doctor after checking the straps holding Ranma down proceeds over to a control panel and turns on the first switch. Ranma hears the sound of gas and is introduced to the sweet smell of anesthetic gas. Ranma vainly tries to stay wake but after several minutes passes out from the gas. After checking to ensure that Ranma is asleep he types in the commands on a keyboard to begin Ranma's education.

"It is time for you to leave old friend." The Professor motions to a door on the other side of the room with his hand. "Note even you can see the procedure that is about to take place."

"I shall await your call." And with that being said the large Shaktar left the room.




A Small Glimpse of Home
Nerima one week after Ranma's departure.

It is truly amazing how a small thing as a few hours can make the difference in the grand scheme of things. On a galactic scale it is a single grain of sand on a beach. But for Nabiki Tendo the effect of that grain of sand was devastating. The currier company had just called to inform her that the recipient was not present to receive the package and that the hospital was unable top direct him to a new location. This sent her into a frenzy as she pulled every favor she could think of to find Ranma. The hospital had already contacted the police to notify them a patient had gone missing. But no clues could be located as to his whereabouts. None of Nabiki's contacts could locate a single trace of the missing ex-Satome.

Damn.... Its not like he could just walk away from the hospital. He didn't even take any of his clothes or the hospital wheelchair. So how did he get out and where would he go. Nabiki paused a moment to think about this when she heard some commotion down stairs. Shaking her head she tried to think of anybody who would kidnap him.

Shampoo is still in jail I checked. Kuno doesn't know that Ranma IS the pigtailed girl. That only leaves Ryouga. Though he didn't strike me as a person to kill someone in Ranma's condition. Nabiki pauses in her thinking as the noise down stairs almost sounds like her father celebrating. This would seem like an impossibility as he has barely stopped crying long enough to do anything. Nabiki got up and decided to investigate.

On the way down stairs she noticed Kasumi leaving in a hurry. Damn it must be bad if Kasumi is that upset. But what could it be. What greeted her down in the living room could have made the seven samurai rise from their graves to reap vengeance on the two clans.

Around the table sat the perpetrators of this great travesty. Mr. and Mrs. Saotome on one side with her father at his usual place. But the last two are what caught her attention. Next to Akane sat Ryouga in Ranma's place. Also intriguing was that the two of them were holding hands.

Mr. Tendo jumped up and bear hugged his middle daughter spouting "Isn't it great Nabiki, Genma has just told us that Ryouga will be the heir to the school and Akane has accepted the engagement to him."

"Yeah great.... " was all she could muster without cursing them for the honor less fools they were. Here they were celebrating when somewhere out there Ranma was trying to make a life for himself with nothing. It was all she could do to get out of there fast enough, but not before Akane grabbed her hand in the adjoining room.

"Nabiki, I know this is sudden but I know that he loves me and he isn't some perverted freak."

Biting back her sarcasm. "Yeah Akane I am so happy for you. Please tell Kasumi that I want to talk to her when she gets home."