Logan groaned, cursing that young mutants name for the thousandth time in a few minutes struggled down the hall of the fairly nice hotel, one hand on his stomach and the other against the wall for support. Despite his amazing healing power, the punches that the boy dealt out left their mark.
He arrived at his destination, warily taking his hand of the wall and ensuring he could hold himself upright, before banging loudly on the door in front of him. Several powerful knocks rang out through the hall, and the sound of footsteps was heard from within.
The lock unlatched and the door opened slightly, exposing a brown haired, meek appearing man, who's eyes widened at the look of Logan.
"Hey Pete… mind if I come in?" Logan wheezed, flinching several times.
"Holy crap! Yeah, sure, come on in!" Peter shouted, pulling the door open and pulling one of Logan's arms over his shoulder, assisting him over to the couch.
"You got some ice?" Logan grunted, wincing in pain again as he had to sit down.
"Yeah… yeah lemme go get some…" Peter replied, heading back to the kitchenette to grab some ice and something to put it in so that it could be put in. Part of the way into getting the materials, Peter blinked and looked up at Logan. "Why do you need ice…?"
Logan grunted and lifted the hem of his shirt, revealing his stomach to the wall-crawler. Calling it a bruise would be understating it by a long shot. His stomach was covered in splotched purple and reddish splotches, the most hideous bruise Peter had ever seen. The bruise was already clearing up, and Peter began to wonder what it looked like right after he received the wound. Which brought on the next question…
"What the hell happened?" Peter asked as he brought some ice in a plastic bag over to Logan, who snatched it and put it on the wound, which flared up in protest to the cool compress.
"Been a long time since I needed to do this…" Logan muttered, his thoughts turning back to that punk… Ranma he called himself. "Gonna kill that little punk…" Logan growled, peaking Peter's interest.
"What!? Who did this to you?" Peter asked, already feeling he knew the answer.
"Your mutant…" Logan growled, lifting the ice pack to examine the bruise a moment before setting it back down on the wound.
"You found him already! Wow… talk about lucky… or… unlucky in this case." Peter muttered, still amazed at the severity of the bruise. "You say one punch did this?"
Logan sighed and shook his head. "It looked like it, but it was a long punch… and the bruise is way to big to be just one punch… looks like he's got strength and speed… or some other mutant power of some type… I did get a name though. Ranma Saotome."
Peter grinned. "Well, at least you got one good thing from that… I'll see if I can find out where the guy lives or-"
"I'm going too..." Logan stated, his voice showing he was adamant against being told otherwise. He lifted the icepack and saw that the bruise was nearly gone, already having healed as they had spoken. "I got a score to settle."
Peter stared at the gut of Logan, still amazed that such a severe bruise could be healed so quickly. "Alright… let me leave a note for MJ…" Peter said and rose, heading back to the kitchenette to retrieve a pen and a piece of paper. Logan rose in the meantime, straightening his shirt out and rolling his neck.
"Ok… that should do it… Let's go." Peter said, walking out the door followed closely behind his mutant friend.
The hunt was on.
--------------
"Ayeka! Stand down!" boomed the voice of an aged and wise individual.
Ayeka glanced to the side, noting her brother's stern look of disapproval.
"B-but brother! This man is an illegal alien! This is Juraian property; he has no right to be here!"
"Wait a sec…" Ranma muttered… "Brother?"
"She's trying to marry her great nephew!" Ryoko stated from behind Ranma.
Ranma blanched and gazed in horror at the purple haired beauty in front of him, unsure of what to make of her.
"Shut up! Y-you violent, uncouth harridan!!" Ayeka shouted as her face colored deep rouge. "My relationship with Tenchi-sama is none of his concern! I think it's just your jealousy speaking!" Ayeka yelled, smiling as she saw Ryoko flinch.
The room was blanketed in a silence, everyone realizing that the last comment Ayeka had made was quite low.
Ranma glanced between Ryoko and Ayeka and snorted. "You're kidding me!? You're bragging about having a wuss like that?"
"Hey…" Tenchi mumbled, sighing as he knew arguing it at this point was futile.
"Worse," Ranma continued, turning to Ryoko. "Is that you are actually jealous of a guy like that. He couldn't save you if your life depended on it."
Ryoko growled, his barb stinging deep and hitting home. "Take. That. Back."
Ranma snorted, his arrogance overriding common sense and he was oblivious to just how deeply Ryoko did feel for the boy. He raised his arms behind his head and turned his back to her.
Ryoko let an inhuman growl reverberate through her throat, and a small tingle grew in the back of Ranma's head.
You seem to have a knack for angering others. Kao stated with a hint of annoyance in his echoed voice.
'Old news.' Ranma thought as he leaned backwards, bending his body at an angle that a limbo champion would envy as a blast of red energy soared above his head, the heat wafting over his face before it propelled forward and hit Ayeka square in the chest, sending her flying through the wall.
He rose again, his feet staying planted to the ground as he lifted up, as if they had been stuck there with some sort of adhesive. He turned to face Ryoko, his face devoid of all humor and he looked into her face for a moment before…
Pulling his eyelid down and sticking out his tongue. "Bidaaa!"
At first there was no reaction, but then Ryoko snarled, immediately igniting a sphere of energy and expanding it into the blade Ranma had seen earlier. Ranma however, had yet to see the effects of the blade when applied to human flesh, thus was fairly sure he should avoid any contact with it until he could study it further.
Thus, when Ryoko charged forward, floating through the air and a large snarl coming from her throat, Ranma leapt backwards before she could even start her swing, flying back and hitting the top of the wall where it intersected with the ceiling and stuck his legs and one of his hands for support on the wall, while the other stayed in front in a defensive position.
The aliens present gawked at the boy who had just leapt an impressive distance back, and now was clinging to the wall as if his hand and feet were covered in some sort of crazy glue.
"Well that's a dandy trick." A very soft voice said from Ranma's left. He turned and looked to see a very short and petite redhead, whose hair stuck out in every direction, reminding Ranma of Ryoko for a moment. She had a mischievous smirk on her lips, which Ranma all but knew from Nabiki. One that said "Oh goody! Fresh meat!" Needless to say, it didn't make him feel any more comfortable.
Ryoko growled, and glared at the newcomer, who Ranma vaguely remembered from his last trip to the shrine. "Washu what are you doing here!?"
"I live here." Washu deadpanned, giving her daughter a half-lidded stare which caused Ryoko to blink and her energy sword to sputter out of existence.
Washu meandered over to where Ranma was still adhering to the wall and looked up at him. Ranma got the sense that this girl wasn't just some other girl; the way she looked at him was rather un-childish. Ranma had several guesses at this point. Having figured out that most people at the shrine were not human, he could at least assume that. From there, he had no idea what to expect from the girl. Several… less favorable ideas ran through his head and he shuddered.
If only he knew, he would be gone already.
The girl was inspecting his feet and hands, as if searching for the method by which he clung to the wall. Ranma, disliking being observed like some sort of experiment (of course, he didn't realize what that look really looked like, but would find out soon enough.) and dropped down from the wall, landing silently on his feet and looking around at everyone in the room.
"So then, ready to tell us just what you are?" Washu asked, smiling innocently.
"He's human Washu." Ryoko stated, giving Ranma a less than pleased glance. "But what he's wearing isn't."
"Oh?" Washu asked, turning back to Ranma and getting a bit too close for comfort, gazing intently at his clothes, as if searching for some movement or something similar. Of course, all she could see was fabric. Turning back to Ryoko, Washu gave her daughter a disbelieving look. "Truly the clothes?"
"You know… I could answer you…" Ranma said rather curtly, glaring at Ryoko, who simply smirked.
Washu turned back to Ranma and raised a brow before nodding and saying. "Very well then, please enlighten us....?" Washu said, the last part trailing off into an inquiry that too Ranma a moment to decipher as to what she was getting at.
"Oh! Uh, Ranma. My name is Ranma." Washu stared at him for a moment and nodded.
"And you were going to tell us about your… unique abilities?"
Ranma stared dumbly at her for a moment, blinked before recognition dawned on his face. "Oh! Right. Uh… well… it started a few weeks ago I suppose when I was in a fight with a friend of mine…what happened next was just… well, weird. After the fight I was on the rooftops minding my own business and…" Ranma looked around and found that he was quickly losing the interest of most everyone there and it seemed they wanted to take matters into their own hands. "Uhm… why don't I just show you then…"
Ranma closed his eyes and took a deep breath concentrating for a moment. At first there was no real change, and the residents of the Masaki household exchanged looks, while Ryoko watched on, still upset with Ranma, but couldn't help but look in fascination at the change.
After a second or so, the changes began to truly show. The wrinkles on the clothes had slowly shrunk, indicating that his clothes were shrinking and getting tighter on his body. Soon they looked to be actually squeezing his body they were so tight, and the people present got a good look at his figure, the clothes leaving little to the imagination. Next the ties on his shirt seemed to melt away, the bright yellow color of the wooden and cloth pegs fading into the red of the shirt. The seam on the front of the shirt molded into one another, creating a shirt that was simply red and tight as spandex. His pants tightened too, and the hem of the loose black pants poured into the red shirt, spilling an inky black color up into the skintight shirt and swirling chaotically and unpredictably. The red from the shirt too flowed downwards into the dark pants, which now fit him like a second skin. The swirling chaos of the outfit began to flow around his skin, crawling ever further down his arms and enveloped his hands, the fingers extending into sharp claws. The suit also flowed down, seemingly consuming his slippers, which flowed back into the main part of the suit, disappearing altogether as the abstract fluid like substance covered his feet completely. Once his entire body was covered the thick substance of a deep blood red and pure black crawled up his neck, and Ranma unconsciously took a breath, still not completely used to his mouth being covered by Kao. Tendrils of the suit began to form around his body, rising and falling randomly, as if they were some sort of solar flare and Ranma was the sun. The seemed to defy gravity, rising and falling freely around his body, forming random shapes in the air and often just appearing to be some sort of sludge that was constantly reshaping itself in the air as it flowed around him before rejoining with his body. The suit continued to climb up, covering his mouth and nose in one fell swoop. The members of the Masaki residence watched in fascinated horror as his jaw seemed to grow longer and thinner at the bottom, before a mouth appeared to rip itself open, jagged and pointy inky black teeth jutting out from the red abyss that was his mouth. As it finally covered the rest of his head, consuming his scalp and all of his hair, pools of white appeared where his eyes normally would exist, swirling and stretching out upwards into a pattern that seemed similar to flames, giving his eyes a large and chaotic appearance. The lack of pupils made it so that they couldn't tell where exactly he was looking, and one could only guess.
The transformation finally finished and Ranma turned and looked around at the people who had just witnessed his change, judging their reactions silently in his mind. The one Ryoko had called Washu was taking it well… almost too well. She was smiling giddily and bouncing from foot to foot, something that reminded Ranma of some sort of demented dance. The drool from her lip didn't really make him feel any better as well.
Ryoko appeared fascinated still, and gave him a look that said "We need to talk" and not in a good way. Ranma resigned that he probably shouldn't have insulted the boy she liked like that, but he did feel she needed to move on, he had seen girls like that at Furinkan, and knew that moving on would be best.
Tenchi looked scared shitless. Ranma wanted to laugh; he really did, but reserved that for a later date to rub it in his face. Of course, Ranma couldn't really blame Tenchi. He had seen quite a bit in his life, and knew that even with everything he had seen, the suit would unnerve him. Not scare him mind you, just unnerve.
The old guy's face was emotionless, not displaying an ounce of any sort of emotion. Ranma found this odd and knew that he had to be more than just some old guy. First he moved far too fast for any regular person, and now he didn't seem phased by the suit at all. 'Must be an alien thing…' Ranma thought, to which Kao agreed, his voice resigned.
The blonde haired woman with an amazing tan that Ranma hadn't seen before had tears in her eyes, and only seemed to be holding back out of fear for what he might do. Ranma felt kind of bad.
He then turned to the final member present, Sasami, and winced. She had a horrified and shocked expression on her face that made Ranma immediately regret showing the suit in it's entirety.
'Kao! Take the suit off of my face!' Ranma thought quickly, feeling awful about making the girl so frightened.
How so Host Ranma? Kao asked.
'I dunno just… make it like a collar or something, just get rid of the face!' Ranma hurriedly thought, hoping to salvage his relationship with Sasami before it went tumbling down a glacier like a lost ski.
The suit altered again before their eyes, splitting open at his head and peeling down his body, halting just below his head and encompassing his neck completely in a large collar look.
Sasami immediately looked relieved and smiled back at Ranma, who had given her a reassuring smile and a wink.
"S-simply amazing! It's appears to be some sort of enhancing uniform that seems similar to the Masu, of course more tests will be needed to be done to find out it's true specifications, but by what I have seen-" Washu was interrupted by Ranma clearing his throat, and she looked up at him in wonder.
"Uh, Kao says he's not a uniform." Ranma stated, wondering why Kao wanted him to point that out.
"Kao?" Washu inquired.
Ryoko drifted over and pointed at the suit. "Yup. Seems this Kao thing isn't a suit he is inside of Ranma as well. Or something like that." She stated, shrugging carelessly.
"So this "Kao" is a-" Washu was once again cut off by Ranma, which she quickly found to be getting annoying and decided to herself that Ranma needed a lesson in manners… but that would come later.
"Symbiote." Ranma said, only repeating what Kao himself had stated and not really knowing what the word really meant.
"Outstanding! That means that even with the loss of the visible parts of this being, you still gain all of its benefits, allowing that there are benefits of having "Kao" in you."
"Uh…" Ranma started, smiling meekly and rubbing the back of his head. "There is a couple."
Washu nodded and appeared more excited than Ryoko had seen her in a long time. "So then… you are human, but your super human strength and sticking to walls must be something that he passed on to you then?" Washu asked, seeing if her assumptions were correct.
"Well… define super-human…" Ranma muttered twiddling his thumbs uncomfortably.
"You should just have Kao come out and explain it himself. Herself. Itself. Whatever." Ryoko said, confusing herself.
"He can… 'come out?'" Washu asked again, getting more and more excited by the minute.
"Well, as long as… uhm, it is connected to me, yeah, he can create his own body and stuff… but uh…" Ranma glanced at Sasami and laughed weakly. "The suit seemed to scare Sasami, and Kao chooses to look like that most of the time and-" This time it was Ranma who was cut off, but not by any of the Masaki residents.
I can alter myself to be more acceptable, Host Ranma. Kao's ghostly voice stated and Ranma nodded.
"Yeah! That'd be great Kao!" Ranma shouted happily.
Washu blinked. "Kao just spoke to you?"
Ranma blinked and nodded. "Uh… yeah, he can like, you know… speak in my head or something."
Ranma swore he heard Kao sigh in defeat, but decided he was hearing things.
"But uh… I dunno, I think he might scare little Sasami there…" Ranma said, glancing apologetically to the short blue haired girl with vibrant pink eyes. She pouted at being called little, but blushed in embarrassment and nodded in thanks when Ranma indicated that she was afraid of the suit that had just engulfed his body.
I can alter my appearance so that it is less frightening, for her sake. If that would be acceptable, Host Ranma.
Ranma nodded. "Yeah, why don't you do that… you can explain this better than I could…"
Washu exchanged a look with Ryoko, who nodded to her, reassuring that this wasn't some joke.
From Ranma's feet, a black pool formed that looked to be a pure black shadow, and it slithered across the rice paper mats, sliding into place along side Ranma before slowly bubbling upward into shape. As if someone had been pouring red and black goop into a human shaped mold, the figure slowly grew into a distinctly humanoid shape, and a very well built one at that. The face this time however was different, and instead of jagged and erratic teeth, the mouth was very similar to a standard one, the only real difference being the fact that it was red and black. The eyes were no longer elongated and resembled a flame. They now were simply ovular.
Sasami smiled; relieved that it was no longer as scary as it had been, and though it still looked chaotic and unnatural, but she knew that she could handle this better than the other form.
Washu just stared at the new construct, her eyes neutral, with an underlying twinkle of excitement visible.
"Everyone…" Ranma started, glancing over to his newest partner in crime. "Meet Kao."
Ayeka popped her face up, the flesh marred with dirt from the ground and pieces of grass scattered occasionally. "You! You vio- viole…" Ayeka trailed off and stared at Kao, her mouth hanging open.
"So you don't know where he went?" Logan growled, picking the mousey owner of the bar up off of his feet.
"H-Honest! They just disappeared! You saw them! Please I don't know anything!" The barkeep pleaded, a light sheen appearing in his eyes, indicating he was ready to cry.
Logan set the man down roughly and turned to Peter. "He doesn't know…" Logan muttered in English so that Peter could understand. Peter frowned and sighed.
"That was our only lead too…"
"Not quite…" Logan said, smirking dangerously that made Peter uneasy. "I have a couple connections with the police around here, they owe me a favor or two, and I might be able to get this Ranma's address or something."
Peter nodded. "Yeah, that'd work… maybe figure out more about his background, where he's from, family and such.
Logan nodded back, agreeing completely. It did seem like the best course of action for the time being, until they could come up with something better.
"To the station it is." Logan said, and the pair set off down the busy streets of Tokyo, looking for the nearest police box. The streets were fairly empty for Tokyo, people already at work, allowing Peter and Logan an easier time navigating the maze of pavement and pedestrians, Logan pausing once in a while to ask for directions.
Once they reached an area that was less crowded Logan turned to Peter and quietly asked: "You brought your costume right?"
Peter was slightly surprised at the question, but nodded and pulled his shirt down slightly, revealing the bright red and blue of his Spider-Man outfit. "Yeah, why?"
"Just in case we get in a fight…" Logan said. "I might need yer help."
Peter noticed that Logan said this begrudgingly, and knew that it hurt his pride to ask for his help, and nodded quietly. He had fought the unknown mutant once, and had yet to really see the full extent of his abilities. He knew that he could take Venom out, which Peter could do, though not easily. However the mutant seemed to almost be enjoying himself as he had pummeled Venom. A frightening aspect indeed. And even scarier yet was that he didn't exactly know what the mutant power was. He assumed super strength, but he had simply vanished after Peter had knocked out, and so invisibility was on the line as well. The bruise he had seen on Logan was certainly an eye opener, to be able to cause that much damage to Logan of all people was quite a feat, and he must have dealt a lot of damage in a short amount of time to Logan's gut.
They arrived only moments later to a small police box on the sidewalk. Logan, while not a very religious person prayed that someone he knew was in the box, and nearly shouted in happiness as he saw an old buddy of his. His friend had aged, wrinkles and sagging showing on his face. His hair was graying and he was slightly hunched over, his back giving in to age.
"Hey! Takahiro!" Logan shouted in Japanese, startling the officer within the box.
"Can I help you sir…?" Takahiro replied, looking confused as to why the foreigner knew his name.
"You don't recognize me? It's Logan!" Logan said, smiling as recognition dawned on Takahiro's face.
"Logan! By god you haven't aged a bit! The years sure have been nice to you!" Takahiro happily exclaimed, causing Logan to smile weakly and chuckle.
"How's it going? Haven't seen you for what…?"
"'bout 25 years…" Takahiro stated, smiling as his eyes went dull as he reviewed old times. "What are you doing here Logan? I thought you moved back to the States?"
Logan nodded. "I did, but I am here on business… speaking of which, I got a favor to ask…"
Takahiro immediately got more serious. "Anything! As long as it's within reason of course."
"I need some information on someone, a Ranma Saotome…" Logan said, almost sneering in remembrance to the cocky little punk's speech.
Takahiro immediately locked up and looked at Logan. "What is your business with Mr. Saotome?"
Logan raised a brow at his reaction. "He work for the police or somethin'?"
Takahiro chuckled and shook his head. "Thank god no. That kids a disaster zone, ask anyone who knows him and they'll tell ya. Trouble follows him like lambs to the slaughter. He's helped out occasionally, usually does more harm than good though. Not really his fault with the mess he's in…" Takahiro shook his head. "Weird stuff always happens around him too, strange and inhuman… I swear those Nerimans are getting stranger every day…"
"Nerimans? As in Nerima, the district?" Logan inquired.
Takahiro nodded. "You best stay away from there, the police have found its better that way. Some people like to live there, never a dull moment. Carpenters are filthy rich, what with all the rebuilding. Bunch a whackos always fighting and causing damage and your man is always at the center of it all."
"So he's a trouble maker." Logan said.
"Nah… I met him once, he's not the type to purposely mess things up, it just… happens you know? Extremely bad luck or something. On the other hand he is one of the luckiest guys I know, he's got women chasing him from here to China and back."
"Sounds like a pervert."
"It would seem that way, but he's actually a bit of a prude from what I hear. Anyway, what business you got with Ranma?"
"I got a score to settle." Logan honestly answered, and was surprised when Takahiro shook his head and clicked his tongue.
"Not a good idea, Logan." Before Logan could ask why, he continued. "Look…" Takahiro glanced about to see if anyone was watching before continuing. "Now, don't quote me on any of this but even you are gonna have a hard time in Nerima Logan. I've only witnessed a couple of their fights, but I have heard stories that are downright scary. People creating tornado's with their fists. Shooting balls of energy at each other, jumping 5 stories easily, lifting lampposts and weights that weigh several tons with ease, rocks blowing up with just the touch from a finger… The list goes on… People visit Nerima to see this stuff all the time; it's what funds the repairs for the town, all the tourists. Only people who love an action packed life would live there. Walk away Logan, walk away."
Logan and Peter exchanged looks, wondering why they had not heard of this sooner.
"Which way to Nerima?" Logan asked.
Kao sighed. Or wanted to at least, he couldn't exactly do that in front of the people who graciously accepted them into their home. As such, Kao turned around to where Ayeka was sitting on the ground and held out his hand to help her up. ."I am bio-amplifier Kao-Soldier enhancer number 132, it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance Miss…?" Kao ended with a question, wondering what her name was. Of course, he had heard it earlier, but the less they knew of him and his abilities he felt was the better.
"A-Ayeka." the purple haired woman muttered, slowly reaching for the hand and almost shrieking when the amorphous hand seemed to slide around her skin a bit before she was pulled up into the home. She suppressed any urge to scream and attack the thing, knowing it wouldn't be very diplomatic. She did however retract her hands from the liquid grip of Kao as soon as she could.
Kao however, already had what he needed.
"So you're the one making him so powerful…" Washu asked, a small smirk on her lips and a gleam in her eye as she finally met the being that she had been agonizing over for the past few days."
Kao was about to respond in the affirmative, but slowly a mischievous idea entered it's mind. Ranma had been showing him off; even if it wasn't on purpose Kao didn't much appreciate the publicity. He decided it was time for some payback.
"Not entirely true. At the time when I bonded with host Ranma, he could already exert nearly 17 tons of force and his punches could travel several hundred miles per hour. He had a deep understanding of the energies his body naturally produced and could harness them effectively, though not to the full extent they can be used."
All eyes turned to Ranma, who just stared at Kao, disbelief in his eyes. Kao thought it was because Ranma was upset because he wanted no one to know about his abilities, in fact, the opposite was true. Ranma cared not who knew about how strong or fast he was his curse was the thing that he truly did not want people to know about. The truth was, he couldn't believe the statistics that Kao put out. He knew he was good, but Ranma seriously doubted he could put out 17 tons of force… that was just inhuman.
"Of course, he couldn't put out that much force for very long…" Kao stated, looking through Ranma's thoughts. "But with the proper conditions, Ranma could put that out easily, possibly more if enough adrenaline was released."
Ranma just continued to stare at Kao, ignoring the eyes he could feel roaming his body. The information hit him like a ton of bricks, and Ranma felt like more of his humanity slipped from his fingers, like one trying to hold sand in their fingers.
"Ranma…" Washu began, breaking Ranma from his reverie. "If you don't mind… I would like to do some tests, to verify if what… Kao said is true." She knew that he was shocked from his reactions to Kao's speech, about what she didn't know, but knew that trying to force him to do something right now wouldn't be good idea. If he was as powerful as this 'Kao' being stated, then making him do something that he did not agree to do and would not necessarily like to do was not a good idea, but she still wanted to get some examining done, nothing serious, just some basic tests and examination to see what she could find.
Ranma looked at the girl, unsure of what to do. She seemed far too young to be able to examine him, but then, Ranma didn't know if aliens aged differently. Maybe she was some sort of race of child genius aliens… or something. Ranma looked to Kao, who seemed indifferent to whatever his host decided.
"Y-yeah… I guess I could do that…" Ranma muttered, still shaken from Kao's statement.
Washu cheered internally and smiled broadly and reassuringly. "Please follow me!" She chirped and turned, skipping down the hall to her lab.
Ranma watched the skipping girl and turned to Kao, a worried expression on his face. Kao did a very small shrug before his body began to melt into the ground and the pool on the floor slid back into Ranma, who walked off after the redheaded girl and into the door she walked into.
The occupants of the room glanced at each other before hastily following after Ranma and Washu.
Now, Ranma had been in the lab once before, but didn't truly have time to examine anything he had seen or appreciate how large it really was.
He let out a low whistle and followed Washu automatically, taking in the various sights before him. The lab was, without a doubt in his mind, enormous in every sense of the word. Various tubes and cages held all sorts of creatures he had never ever seen before, and wasn't really surprised to see the various creatures that were not of Earth origin, considering that his hosts were not either. The machinery too seemed far beyond the ones Ranma had seen here on earth.
"Just over here." Washu said, and they arrived at a clearing with a metal examining table in the center. "Please, lie down."
Ranma looked nervously at the table and back at the little redhead. "Uh. Are you sure you are uhm… certified to do this?"
Washu looked up from the desk she had walked behind with several consoles and screens on it and up at Ranma. A small smirk graced her cute lips and she nodded. "Of course Ranma… It may not look it, but I am much older than I look…"
Ranma nodded. "Thought so… just… you know, thought I'd check…" He said as he walked forward and laid back on the cold surface, breathing deeply, not knowing what to expect.
"Would it be more comfortable if I looked like this?" Ranma turned and saw the redhead approaching in a nurse outfit. However, a drastic change had taken place. The woman was now far older in appearance. From looking no older than nine or ten, she had gone to a knockout of perhaps 25 years of age. Her hourglass figure and brazen eyes made Ranma cough and sit up.
"Woah!" He shouted, eyes roaming over her new body.
Astounding… such abilities would be amazingly useful, combined with your curse, you would never have to look alike, the perfect disguise… Kao's voice stated, drifting through Ranma's head.
Ranma barely heard Kao, as he was too busy with the knockout of a woman in front of him.
Washu leaned down to get face to face with her new subject, and it was only then that Ranma realized that the top two buttons of her blouse were undone, leaving little to the imagination. Ranma swallowed unconsciously and began sweating, he was used to such blatant displays, but he was more afraid of the pain that was caused because of them. A small poke came from his arm and Ranma muttered "Ow…" And turned to see what it was. A syringe was in the woman's hand, and slowly pulling an amount of his blood out of him.
"Forgive me, I just find it easier to do when my patients are distracted…" Washu said, removing the needle from his body and taking the sample back behind the desk and placing it in a container which immediately lit up and began to tilt off axis and spinning about.
Ranma couldn't help but smile weakly at the woman. Though he didn't appreciate the sudden blood draw, he did appreciate her honesty in the reason. Washu looked up at the boy and was surprised to see him smiling. She smiled back softly, glad that at least he wasn't complaining.
The others the entered the room, and looked about at Ranma sitting on the table and Washu behind the desk looking at some information. And typing furiously, her fingers quickly tapping away at the holographic keys being displayed. The went over to where Washu was and looked over her shoulder on the screen where a display was showing a double helix that traditionally represented a human's genetic structure. Numbers and statistics flashed by too quickly for others to read, but Washu caught it all, her eyes widening and furrowing on several different occasions.
"Ranma, please lay back…" Washu said, and Ranma complied wordlessly, deciding that just following orders would do him best for the moment being. From the ceiling a machine descended, which was rather large and several metallic tentacles slithered out and had some sort of ocular device on the end of them, and each tentacle took a different limb and began to scan over it slowly and precisely.
"Just a scan Ranma, nothing painful, just lay and relax." Washu said.
"Didn't you scan over him already when he was knocked out…?" Katsuhito asked, raising a brow to Washu's words.
"The scan I performed earlier was very basic Yosho-dono. This is going to be a full scan, and should give me every detail about the structure and components of his body." Washu stated, continuing to type and assimilate information as it passed by on the screen at blinding speed without missing a beat. "Astounding…" Washu murmured, attracting the attention of the others.
"What is it…?" Katsuhito asked, and Washu shook her head, indicating that now wasn't the time.
Ranma lay still as he could be, allowing the mechanical tentacles to survey every inch of his body, leaving nothing unchecked.
Was this the best course of action Host Ranma? Kao inquired, his voice sliding through Ranma's mind like liquid silk. To let them scan you like this I mean.
Ranma sighed gently, trying to stay still while doing so. 'I dunno Kao… But… is it true, what you said back there? About… what I could do?' He thought, letting Kao soak up the words.
It is, I didn't think that it was new information to you, I thought that you knew of the extent of your abilities.
'I knew I was strong…' Ranma thought, blinking as a tentacle slithered over his face and flashed brightly, causing his vision to be filled with bright spots for several moments. '… but I… I just didn't know…'
Evidence I have gathered suggests that you did not use your strength to its full capabilities. One example of your strength would be after it returned to you from the moxibustion point. You were used to trying to punch with all of your strength, and so when it returned and they threw the cement wheel at you, you crushed it with ease.
Ranma remembered like it was yesterday. He was so ecstatic about his strength returning, that he had simply crushed the wheel with every ounce of his strength. 'But… I wasn't that strong then… was I?' Ranma asked of the voice in his mind.
No, at that point you had around 7 tons of force output, if what I can gather from your memories is correct. However, you had much more training and adventure after that, and your strength grew past what a normal human should have been limited to.
'… Normal human?' Ranma asked, noting what Kao said as the scan seemed to be nearly over, and his conversation was coming to an end.
I… I am not sure I have the time to go into detail right now… As if a prediction, the tentacles suddenly slithered back into the hub that hung above Ranma. I will tell you later, for now, concentrate on Washu's wishes.
"Thank you very much Ranma-kun. Now if you'll please follow me again, I only have several more tests to take… for now."
"What was that last part Washu?" Ranma asked as he swung his legs over the side of the table and stood up, following after the redhead in the tight fitting nurse outfit.
"Hm? Oh, nothing to worry your cute little head about. Oh, and Ranma…" Washu began, turning around to face Ranma.
Ranma paused in time as to not walk straight into the buxom girl and looked into her face. "Hm?"
"Call me Washu-chan!"
The taxi pulled up on the outskirts of the district and their driver turned around. "This is as far as I can take ya… it's a liability to go any further…" The cab driver said, to which Logan grunted and pulled out some money, shoving it roughly into the driver's greedy hand before he and Peter exited and looked out into the district they had been directed to.
"Doesn't look too bad…" Peter said appearing very unimpressed.
Logan looked at him, his eyes silently agreeing with Peter's words as they began to hike into town, destination unknown, and only a name to go on.
Ranma Saotome.
It took only several minutes for them to get into the actual district, and from what either saw; it was a completely normal place to be. None of the things that the police officer had said seemed to be true, and it left Peter and Logan wondering if he was exaggerating a little.
The people seemed to carry on as any average person did, walking into crowded markets, purchasing some food and leaving, or entering some other shop and buying some knickknack or another and then leaving. All seemed in place, all seemed well.
"Maybe the officer was wrong…?" Peter supplied, to which Logan shrugged and continued. It certainly seemed possible, the place seemed as normal as any other places Logan has been. He needed to find out where to find this punk though, and he had yet to see any sort of police box or something, so the next solution was to ask someone on the street.
"Excuse me… miss?" Logan asked, switching to Japanese.
The older woman he asked paused and looked up at the foreign man. "Yes, how can I help you?"
"Can you tell me where a Ranma Saotome lives?" Logan asked kindly, knowing that better results would be reaped if he appeared kinder.
It was like a shockwave, rippling down the street and Logan was at the center. Everyone just froze and looked at him, fear or accusing looks in their eyes.
The old woman appeared to be shocked, but regained her composure. "W-What business do you have with Ranma…?" The woman asked of Logan, her eyes glaring accusingly.
Logan was baffled as the woman said the name so familiarly. "Look lady, he and I just have some unfinished business and-"
:Logan was cut off by the woman, who appeared to be getting angry. "Unfinished business indeed! Ranma is a saint! To think why hooligans like you and all those others who are after him is beyond me. He may cause some damage here and there, but he has done far too much good for your petty revenge to be of importance. Hmph!" With that, the lady stuck her nose in the air and walked off, surprisingly, much to the agreement of the clapping crowd, who gave both Logan and Peter dirty looks.
"That worked out nicely…" Peter deadpanned, seeing that they were now public enemy number one.
"Uh, excuse me sugar…" A soft and high pitched voice asked of Logan from behind him. "You say you were lookin' for Ran-chan?"
Logan raised a brow at the brunette. She was dressed rather manly, but Logan could easily smell the feminity on the girl "Yeah…" He began, looking her over. She wore a blue chef's suit, her hair back in a large ponytail, and a bandolier of small spatula's were draped across her chest, and one enormous one was draped across her back. "We're looking for him, you know him?"
Ukyo gave the foreigner a menacing glare. "What business you got with my Ran-chan…?"
Peter raised a brow at the possessive streak that just came on and spoke up before Logan could get them in further trouble. "We uh, we just need to talk to him, nothing serious…"
Ukyo glanced at the meek, freckled covered Gaijin and blinked.
Peter looked at her before sighing. "Forgot that this isn't New York…"
Logan glanced at the downtrodden web-slinger and translated, to which Ukyo nodded and looked them over, before smiling. "Well, if that's all that it is you guys can follow me. You might be a bit disappointed but, I can at least help ya out a bit."
"Disappointed…? Why?" Asked Logan of the boyish girl that had began to lead them down the street, He absently noted that the crowds were clearing a way for them automatically, as if this sort of thing happened all the time.
"Ran-chan moved out to Tokyo a few days ago, ya just missed him. I can take ya to where he used to live though." The woman replied, still guiding them down the streets.
Logan turned to Peter and translated. Peter nodded. "Figures… just our luck… at least we might find something back at his old home though."
Logan looked skeptical but nodded and continued nonetheless. "So, how exactly do you know Ranma?" Logan asked of the girl, who turned back to look at him.
"Me? I'm his cute fiancée, Ukyo."
Logan paused for a moment. "Cute fiancée?"
Ukyo looked back at Logan as if he was the odd one here. "For wanting to see Ranma you sure don't know a lot about him. He has a couple of other fiancées, but I am the cute one."
"Sounds like a womanizer." Logan said.
"Hardly… I wish he was sometimes though, then I might actually get a little something…" Ukyo muttered.
Logan looked at the girl, who he guessed to be no older than 20 and shook his head in disbelief. This Ranma guy sounded like quite a lucky fellow.
"Well, here it is… I gotta talk to Akane anyway so this worked out for both of us!" Ukyo happily said, entering the compound. Logan looked down at the sign which said "Tendo Dojo", and then the sign that appeared recently added just beneath that. "To challenge Ranma Saotome to brutal combat use the rear door."
Logan looked around and began to walk around the complex, looking for the rear door the sign spoke of. Peter grabbed Logan before he could venture far and pulled him back to the front door.
"I know you want revenge, but this time, we're doing it my way." Peter whispered harshly as the approached the door.
Logan grumbled as Peter knocked at the door, and both waited patiently as footsteps slowly approached the door and opened it. A kind looking woman who appeared to be the mother of the household answered the door and looked at the two foreign men.
"Can I help you?" Kasumi asked.
"Please go on in there." Washu said, pointing back to the chamber behind her and then she turned around and sat again at a desk that looked nearly identical to the one that Ranma had seen at the examining table.
He looked to the chamber, and found it appearing quite normal, the only thing that resided within it was a punching bag that had some alien (he assumed) markings on it. The walls were pure white, the kind of white only found in hospitals, and Ranma was slightly put off by that. One wall however had windows that he could see in through, and let the occupant of the chamber look out to see the desk as well. The second he took a step into the chamber, the door sealed shut with an automated hiss.
An intercom clicked on, and Washu's voice reverberated through the room. "Ranma-kun, please punch the bag as you would normally." Ranma turned and nodded to Washu, indicating that he heard her, though it wasn't really necessary.
Ranma just performed a light jab into the bag and it swung back a little, before rocking forward again.
Washu typed on the computer, quickly storing away the files to examine thoroughly later before clicking the speaker on and speaking again. "Now as hard as you can please Ranma."
Ranma blinked and turned to Washu, the punching bag slowly drifting to a halt in front of him. "Uhm… well, that kinda depends… Kao makes me stronger, so like… with, or without Kao?"
Washu looked at Ranma for a moment before answering. "First without…. Then let's try it with."
Already done Ranma… Kao said before Ranma could ask for Kao to stop augmenting his strength.
Ranma nodded in thanks, though Kao wasn't anywhere to be seen and got into a stance, taking a deep breath as he did so. He rarely punched with everything he had, and found that he preferred to give lots of lighter punches that made his foe gradually weaken and get sore quickly. The risks were often too high for trying to knock a foe out in one blow.
But this time Ranma did indeed deliver as his fast collided with the punching bag at dizzying speeds and even more amazing force. The bag swung back heavily, nearly reaching the ceiling before descending again, and Ranma had to leap to the side as the bag swung past, nearly colliding with him. As it began to swing past him again he grabbed it and held it until the momentum had drained from the bag and it was at rest.
Washu only caught glimpses of the information she would review later, and swelled with excitement at the flashes of information she caught. "Now with Kao please Ranma…" Washu said, barely restraining her excitement and keeping composed.
Ranma felt his muscles suddenly tingle with newfound power and he knew that Kao had begun to assist again without his telling him to do so. He cracked his neck several times, quickly growing bored with these experiments that Washu was doing, but decided to continue. For now at least.
He prepared himself and swung once more at the bag, and this time it did swing up and reach the ceiling, creating a loud "thud!" as it impacted with the alien material before swinging back down.
Washu's eyes widened considerably and only Katsuhito noticed, the others too intent on watching Ranma himself. He would have to talk to Washu later about the results.
"Now try punching it your fastest Ranma." Washu's voice said over the intercom.
Ranma sighed and reluctantly grabbed the bag to slow it down, bored out of his mind.
Washu saw this and a debate was being held in her mind. She desperately wanted these tests done, a human with such a potential was simply astounding, and if she predicted, might possibly match a Juraian as they evolve. Not in technology, but in the sheer power of a single man.
On the other hand, she did not want to make Ranma feel uncomfortable or unwelcome for several reasons. The first was that she could see that he was not enjoying himself, and while she could continue, a willing participant is always better than one who isn't. That, and the fact that Ryoko seemed to take a liking to the boy, or at least it seemed that way from what she pulled over the link. She found that Ryoko was interested, and did enjoy his company in general, but there were moments when the exact opposite was true. Most of the time, the former was the case however.
"This will be the last test for today Ranma." Washu said, receiving a bright smile from Ranma that made her smile in return.
Ranma nodded and bounced from heel to heel, preparing to perform a technique he did just that same morning. "Kachuu Tenshin Amaguriken!" Ranma shouted, and his fist blurred forward into the punching bag.
Ryoko furrowed her brow as recognition dawned from the words he had spoken. It was the same words he had uttered earlier against that man with the claws. Now the punches were faster and his fist was blurred, but it wasn't anything she couldn't match… was he really just that slow? Maybe she had overestimated his abilities…
Washu's eyes lit up as the recordings of the impacts against the bag were fed back to her through the computer, information flashing at a blinding rate.
"For how strong he is he sure isn't that fast…" Ryoko muttered, a hint of disappointment in her voice.
Washu shook her head, the action caught by all present. "Hardly, I doubt anyone here, even you Yosho-dono, could match this… the rate at which he is punching is beyond anything I have seen from any race, human or otherwise."
"Eh!?" Ryoko blanched, floating over to see what on earth Washu was talking about.
"Let me play that sequence again for you…" Washu said, fiddling with some controls and starting the feed again. The gathered residence of the Masaki household watched his fists impact the bag at nearly the same speed as before, when they watched Ranma perform it for them.
"Doesn't look faster…" Tenchi said, receiving nods of agreement around.
"I know. What's baffling is that this is playing at 1/500th the normal speed. For every one punch that we saw him do out there, somewhere around 500 were actually performed. His arms were moving too fast for us to follow, giving the illusion of one punch."
"Uh, Washu?" Ranma said, startling the group from there stunned looks as they watched the screen. The gathered group looked up to see Ranma standing, his hand behind his head tugging at his pigtail in a very cute manner and a sheepish grin on his face. Beside him, the punching bag was limp, hanging like a deflated balloon, and then they realized that metallic looking grains of some substance had spilled forth from a large rip in the bag, creating a small dune on the floor beside Ranma. "I kinda ripped the bag…" Ranma muttered, very embarrassed.
Washu's lip twitched and a line of drool began to slide from her mouth and down her chin.
"Wait a second…" Logan mumbled, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He was currently leaning against a wooden pillar in the Tendo home, the gathered family sitting around the table in the room along with Peter and Ukyo. "You're telling me that this kid has how many fiancée's?"
"Official or otherwise?" Nabiki drawled, not too keen on leaking information on Ranma. Ever since he left and she had admitted to him her feelings, she had been keeping her vault of information on him kept rather tight. It would cost a pretty penny for anyone to gather information on Ranma, she would be sure of that.
"Otherwise." Logan said.
Nabiki quickly held out a hand. "5,000,000 yen."
Logan sputtered and looked at the girl as if she had gone mad.
"Nabiki!" Akane admonished, shaking her head in disgust. "I'm sorry Logan-san, but we don't really know. His father here, Genma, engaged him to so many girls he lost count… around 10 have come this way and eventually given up… the only official ones here anymore are myself and Ukyo… there is another girl in Nerima who is engaged by Chinese Amazon law, and another who just thinks she is engaged to him.
Logan felt a headache coming on, which is surprising, considering his healing abilities should stop that before it even starts. He turned to Peter and quickly translated the important bits, watching as Peter's face screwed in confusion.
"Logan-san, why are you looking for Ranma?"
Logan glanced at Peter and made sure that he couldn't understand anything before continuing in Japanese. "I got a score to settle with the punk."
Kasumi immediately got up and retired to the kitchen, emerging again not a moment later and handed him a clipboard and a pen.
Logan raised a brow and looked down at the clipboard, only becoming even more wierded out by what it said. "Vengeance Quests Against Ranma" Followed after the title was a neat table filled in by various names followed by reasons for being angry at the intrepid pigtailed hero of our story.
"Uh…" Logan muttered looking at the various reasons for vengeance and realizing that his wasn't really nearly as bad as some of the others.
"So Logan-san…" Kasumi asked, a very sweet tone to her voice. "Why exactly do you want to kill Ranma-kun?"
Logan looked up at the girl who had asked him with honey dripping from her voice and his resolve crumbled. He wouldn't kill the kid. Maybe just maim him a bit. "Forget it… my reason ain't nothing compared to some of these… cept maybe this one… bread feud… hmm..."
"Then you dropped your vengeance quest against Ranma? That's wonderful!" Kasumi blankly stated, though she did appear honestly happy.
Logan grunted and shook his head. "Yeah… no problem… but that ain't why we are really here." Logan said, giving in to Peter's idea and trying to talk to them and acquire information. "My… friend and I, we have reason to believe that Ranma is a mutant."
Logan did not expect a positive reaction from the information, knowing that mutants were not accepted very well in the world.
Akane blinked and turned to Nabiki. "I dunno, I guess it's possible… do you think he is a mutant Nabiki?"
Nabiki turned to Akane and shook her head. "No, I thought he was a long time ago and asked Dr. Tofu about it, his genes show no evidence of mutation."
The news was rather surprising to Logan, who was sure that Ranma had some sort of mutation in order for him to be that strong or fast.
"Ranma is… different Logan-san." Akane said, continuing before Logan could speak. "I know, everyone is different and all that... but Ranma is even more so…" Akane took a moment to reflect on the past before continuing once more. "He… he is able to do things that none can even dream of doing… he just, he's one of those guys you read about in novels ya know…? The guy who, even with all of his faults tends to shine through… I guess… I guess that's why we won't let go of him." Akane said, glancing to Ukyo and blushing. Ukyo nodded softly, a smile on her face as she took in what Akane said.
Nabiki couldn't hold it back anymore. All throughout her sister's speech, she had slowly begun to crumble. She quickly excused herself, heading quickly upstairs to her room where she closed and locked the door. Her feet slowly carried her to her desk and she slid open a drawer, looking at the book held within. She had long since found out where Ranma was staying and had wanted to call him… but found her self unable to do so. The temptation now however was far worse than she had ever felt, and she found her hand reaching for the phone, despite not remembering telling herself to do so. She watched, as if through a dream as her body dialed the numbers and raised the phone up to her ear and listened as the tone sounded in her ear.
"Hello? Can I help you?" A female voice came from the other end, and instantly Nabiki felt a wave of jealousy wash over her.
"Uhm, hello, but is there a Ranma Saotome there?" Nabiki asked, trying to sound as professional as possible.
"Why yes, but he is out right now, can I leave a message?" The woman kindly asked.
"Yes… tell him Nabiki Tendo called, and that it was urgent." She said before abruptly hanging the phone up, sighing heavily. God did she miss that boy.
Ranma sighed happily, glad to be out of that place. He idly dug around in his mouth, picking morsels out from between his teeth after the delicious lunch Sasami had just served them.
"Wow Sasami! You're such a great cook! Man, whoever gets with you is gonna be one lucky guy!" Ranma proclaimed, a broad grin on his face.
Sasami blushed heavily and twisted the apron she wore around in her hands. "Ah… Thanks Ranma-niisan."
Ranma idly wondered when she started calling him that, and why he didn't really care.
The others gathered around the table exchanged grim looks, now knowing that there was someone with worse manners than Ryoko, and that fact horrified them to no end.
"Well…" Ranma said, standing up. "I better get going." He smiled warmly at his hosts and continued. "Thanks for having me and well… not attacking me like last time." He said, laughing and rubbing the back of his head.
"NO! YOU CAN'T!" Washu shouted, rising to her feet and diving at Ranma, clinging to him like her life depended on it.
Ranma quickly raised his hands up. "Not touching! Not touching!"
Katsuhito, Tenchi, Ayeka, Sasami, Mihoshi, and Ryoko collectively blinked and watched with a hint of fear in her eyes as Washu stayed latched on to the fine specimen she had found, not letting her fingers budge an inch. Ranma in the meantime was trying to shake the small girl off of his leg, to no avail.
"Uh, Washu-chan… couldn't you just set your lab up at his place?" Tenchi so helpfully suggested with an evil glint to his smile. If this Ranma fellow was going to insult him so openly, Tenchi was at least kind enough to repay the favor.
"You can do that!?" Ranma shouted, immediately getting quite a bit more worried.
Washu's grin was an answer enough. "Well then, Ryoko what are you waiting for?" Washu hastily asked, unlatching herself from Ranma's leg "Let's get outta here!"
Ryoko blanched and stood up, glaring at her mother. "Wait just one second, don't I get a say in this!?"
"Of course not." Washu said, looking at Ryoko as if she was crazy. "When did you ever get a say in anything?"
Ryoko's glared at her mother and walked over to her and Ranma, glancing back at Tenchi and giving him a weak smile and waving before grabbing a hold of Ranma's arm, who had just gotten up, and her mother's, and fading from view.
Katsuhito released a breath he hadn't known he was holding as he continued to watch the area that Ranma had phased away from. Human indeed…
Ranma reappeared in his apartment along with Ryoko and Washu by his side and looked rather sick. "Ugh… I am never gonna get used to that."
Ryoko smirked and leaned close to Ranma. "Aw? Is the teleporting too much for you?"
Ranma gave her a sideways glance and brushed by her, disregarding the comment.
"Smooth…" Was all Washu said as she followed after Ranma, leaving Ryoko alone.
"So Ranma-kun, do you know a place where I can set my lab up?" Washu asked kindly of Ranma as he walked into his room, as if searching for something.
"Uh… Maybe the closet… I really don't think you're going to have enough room though..." Washu was way ahead of him and already digging around in the closet, tossing out Ranma's meager material possessions before reaching into a hole that seemed to just appear at her side and pulling out a large, alien object, before ducking back in.
Ranma sighed as Washu got started setting up her lab, right in his room. "So much for privacy…"
Just outside the door, the landlord paused as she heard voices through the door. Odd, she saw Ranma leave, but never saw him come back in… She remembered quickly of the message she was passed on and decided that there was no better time than the present and knocked on his door.
Ranma quickly answered the door and looked out to see his petite but lovely landlord, Sakura standing there with a large smile on her face. "Got company?" She asked, trying to peer around him.
"Er… Yeah." Ranma said, moving to block her view, but Sakura had already seen enough. Her heart sank a bit as she realized that he was in his apartment with a girl, but brightened up almost just as quick.
"Well, I just wanted to tell you that you have a message. It's from a Nabiki Tendo, she says it's urgent." Sakura said, watching the emotions play over his face. First surprise, then confusion and finally fear.
"Thanks." Ranma muttered, contemplating the meaning of the message as he closed the door on Sakura, not even realizing she seemed to want to continue the talk and walking back into the apartment, taking a seat on his couch.
"What was that about?" Ryoko asked, floating beside Ranma and being a nuisance in general, as always.
"My fiancée's sister called me earlier… she said it was urgent." Ranma said.
Washu dashed into the room, her eyes wide. "Fiancée!?"
Ranma and Ryoko simultaneously blinked and Ranma slowly nodded. "Uh, yeah… I am engaged…"
Washu shot a worried look at Ryoko, and saw her angrily staring back at her. She took a deep breath to calm herself before smiling and waving. "Well, you learn something every day… bye!" She returned to Ranma's room, but not before giving Ryoko a look that said "GO FOR IT GIRL!"
Ryoko glowered at her mother's inconsiderate nature. She still was Tenchi's, no one could replace him. Ranma was a jerk anyways. Chauvinistic, rude, stupid, strong, kind, funny… Ryoko sighed suddenly, causing Ranma to raise an eyebrow.
"You ok?"
Ryoko shook herself from her thoughts and nodded quickly, a slight blush filling her cheeks.
Ranma looked at her for a moment, as if studying her before turning away. Why did girls always act this way around him? He stood up soon after, turning to Ryoko. "Look, I gotta go check out what's going on, it'd prolly be good for me to check in with everyone anyway, see how pops is doin and-"
Ranma was suddenly cut off by a short red-head bounding into the room. "I'm coming!" She shouted. Any chance to see the parents of Ranma was a plus in Washu's book.
Ranma blinked and turned to Ryoko. "I guess you're coming too, right? Ya gotta watch over me and all that?"
Ryoko nodded professionally, and Washu snickered at her daughter.
"Come on then, may as well get one of the early trains…" Ranma muttered, wondering how much this was going to cost him.
They arrived early evening, the blue sky fading into a golden yellow and flaming orange which was painted across the sky in such glorious colors that only Mother Nature herself could be the artist of this canvas. The sun was still peaking over the hills in the distance, the last of it's honey colored warmth washing over the district and making each building look as if it's glowing.
"Nice town." Ryoko said, looking about curiously.
Ranma grunted in response, to which Ryoko and Washu assumed was an affirmative, but were left guessing as Ranma said no more. "Hey guys, I gotta way to get there quickly… but uh, could you carry Washu or something Ryoko?"
Washu immediately stepped up to Ranma and jumped onto him, his arms instinctively catching the young-looking woman. "I'd rather go with you… Ranma" The way that his name had rolled off of her tongue made him shudder involuntarily. It sounded far too adult, far too sensual for how she looked. He swallowed a lump in his throat as Washu snuggled close to his chest, drawing circles with her finger.
Ryoko fumed and she didn't know why.
"U-uh… Try and keep up with me Ryoko…" Ranma said. Ryoko was about to snort in response and tell him where he could shove it, but before she could speak he had already launched off of the platform they were on, drifting down to a building and leaping quickly off of that one, proceeding like that down the golden hued buildings.
Ryoko just watched in awe and then noticed that people around her started talking excitedly about how Ranma was back. She became thoroughly confused because of this, and suddenly realized that Ranma was now just a small figure in the distance. She quickly drifted up and darted after him, trying to match his erratic movements and speed.
Washu, for her part, was having the time of her life. She had flown before of course, but the fact that she was being carried did add a certain thrill, and every time they dropped down to a building a fear built up of, "What if he falls down?" But each time his feet landed true and he bounded up again, over several roofs at a time before descending once more.
Ryoko caught up soon after she chased after him, flying being a much quicker and more efficient way to travel, and immediately noticed the look on Washu's face. She looked like a giddy girl on some carnival ride. Jealousy rose up within her and she forced it down as soon as it had risen up. Damnit, she liked Tenchi!
Ranma suddenly stopped, his feet landing as light as ever on a one story building. Across the street a very traditional and old looking house stood, rather large compared to most houses these days. A tall wall of about 3 meters stood around it, and a large gate indicated the entrance to the complex. A sign out front said in large letters: "Tendo Dojo" And another sign, which was poorly tacked on, stated "To challenge Ranma Saotome to brutal combat please use the rear door."
Ryoko shot Ranma a curious glance, and he just shrugged and laughed weakly.
Ranma leapt once more onto the roof of the complex, his feet planting firm on the sloped tile roof and Ryoko followed close behind. From above, they could hear someone talking below them, but the voices were muffled.
Ranma shrugged and assumed it was just one of Akane's friends or some such thing, and stepped carelessly over the edge of the roof and down into the backyard. Washu once again felt her stomach rise and she smiled giddily. Ryoko followed, phasing through a part of the roof lazily and landing beside Ranma.
Ranma set the woman in his arms down, turning around to see who was home. He blinked as he realized several things. There were two foreign men in the house. One of the men Ranma remembered from just that very morning, where they had a small quarrel on the street. The other seemed familiar, but couldn't place a name to the face.
"You!" Logan shouted angrily, his claws extending in rage.
Ranma blinked.
Long chapter ne? Sorry I kept you all waiting after the last King of Storms update, I wasn't close to being done with this chapter and only just finished it up. I am pretty pleased with it, I think it's my largest update to date, so enjoy it. Some of you prolly thought that some things were OOC or some such thing but I feel it is at this point when the characters from their respective anime or comics will begin to diverge. It happens in all fics eventually…and now was the time. Any questions, comments or praises can be sent to me via e-mail (in my profile or on the main page of my website) or by simply writing a review.
Next chapter: Enter Magneto
Ja Na, and review please! -Gundraw