Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ The Ultimate Antidote ❯ Inviting the Brotherhood to dinner; Repressed Hatred of thy self, unleashed. ( Chapter 11 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The Ultimate Antidote
Written By: Matdeception

Ranma 1/2 Notes: Takes place after the Manga

X-Men: Evolution Notes: Time line all screwed up. Taking place during the second season, 'The heX factor' episode happened before Angel Wings, and Rogue only barely met Risty. Live with it.

Disclaimer: I do not write using the aforementioned series in an attempt to steal, discredit, or defame said series or their characters. I write to pay homage to the original creators, as well as improve upon my own dim writing ability. Not now, nor ever will this fan fiction be used to gain monetary value at the expense of said creators intellectual properties.

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Chapter 8: Inviting the Brotherhood to dinner; Repressed hatred of thyself, unleashed.

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Kitty yawned tiredly. Man, was she tired. All she ever seemed to do anymore was get up, get beaten up in the Danger Room, go to school, study study study, get beaten up in the Danger Room, go to bed. Rinse and repeat. It wouldn't be so bad, she guessed, if Logan or the Professor would come clean. They had all agreed last night, after Logan refused to answer any questions, that there was something big going on. It was disconcerting, the secrets. Didn't they promise to be more trusting after the whole Mystique incident as the Principal?

The elevator chimed, signaling it's arrival at the bottom floor. Before the doors even opened, she casually poked her head out, looking left and right, before stepping out of the elevator, and descending into the floor.

They may want to keep secrets, but the X-men were tired of it. She was going to find out what the heck was going on, and she was going to find out now.

---

"System calibration set." Forge sighed, tiredly pinching the bridge of his nose. It had taken all night, but he had done it. Installing the new monitor systems hadn't been tough, just time consuming.

"We appreciate this." Xavier smiled, looking over the new control systems, "Thank you."

Forge smirked, "Oh no, it's my pleasure. I can't wait to actually meet this guy."

Logan snorted from his spot against the wall, "Thought only kids and pyro's liked to play with fire?"

"Heh." Forge shrugged, "Just curious, really. A guy who could do everything we programmed Tangen with is a dream come true for extended energy diagnostic research."

"Right.." Logan sweated. What the hell was the geek talking about?

"Will you be back.." Xavier paused, before a sigh escaped his lips. Rubbing his forehead, he continued, "... tonight?"

"Sure will." he chuckled, pushing off his chair, "It's late guys. I'm going home and crashing. I'll be here in time for the experiment."

"Later." Logan waved the guy off as he passed through the doors. Once Forge had left, he grumbled, "Don't know what you're thinkin, Chuck."

He waved the man's concern off, "I don't plan to hurt the child, Logan. He will be our guest this evening, nothing more."

"Then why get Forge all hot and bothered with these new installations? You're planning on getting that kid in there, aren't you?"

Xavier nodded simply. "He asked you why the kids were scared of him, didn't he?"

"Yeah.." Logan shrugged, "I only told him about the tape, not the training."

"Precisely." Xavier explained, "When I touched his mind in Japan, I realized one important aspect he trusted above all others. You can hurt him. You can break his bones, pulverize his hopes and dreams, yet he'll continue to help you no matter how horribly you treat him. It's when you lie to him, keep the truth hidden, that's when he'll start to hate and loath you."

"Pfeh." Logan snorted, "Sounds like a lesson, Chuck. You learnin anything?"

Xavier blinked, then chuckled sadly, "This is about the dreams, and the secrets we are keeping from the children, isn't it?"

"You don't say?" he bit off sarcastically, "I can understand some of it, I even agree with the whole Mystique thing, but y'know they'll find out sooner or later. Where's that goin to leave you?"

"Who knows?" Xavier sighed, "I just want them to get to know him, the real him, before they find out about his secrets."

"Why? They didn't act all that bad when they found out about the others? Why would this kid matter?"

"Ah." Xavier nodded, seriously, "It is true, they didn't seem to mind with the other kids, but in this situation their dealing with some one who could just as easily name us his enemy, as his friend."

"I trust you Chuck. Don't think I'll ever trust anyone as much as I trust you." Logan said simply, "These dreams of yours just been trying my patience."

"Yes, the dreams." he sighed, "I don't know what to make of them. In each instance they showed the boy joining a different side, or no side at all."

"You remember that thing yet?"

"Which one?" Xavier asked, curiously.

"The thing Rogue said in that dream? Y'know, where she did something to the kid and was cryin about bein sorry?"

"I haven't the faintest of clues." Xavier sighed, "I've even gone so far as to scan my own mind with Cerebro, to drudge up the memories. But they aren't there."

"What does that mean?"

"It means." Xavier grimaced, "Some one's putting those dreams in my mind, and anyone capable of that is some one to be leery of."

"Why?" Logan snarled, "It doesn't make sense. The kid's strong, but he ain't the end all be all. His mutation isn't even anything special, so why him?"

"Why indeed?" Xavier sighed, "If what we think is true, then it's feasible to believe some one has plans for the both of them. What plans, is the question."

"Pfeh." Logan sighed, "Whatever." he hated all the sneaking, all the lies. It was getting aggravating, "I say we tell the kids everything, least then we can figure it out together."

"Logan. I've thought of that, and I want nothing more then to tell them. It's the possibility that whoever is putting these visions in my head wants me to tell them that stops me."

"Eh?"

Xavier sighed, explaining, "It's like traveling back in time. If I went back, and arranged Erik's death, then the man we know as Magneto would not exist. Everything he would have done in this life time, whether good or bad, would simply cease to be. Can you imagine everything he's responsible for being swept away?"

"Pfeh. World would be a better place, if you ask me." Logan grunted, "But I get what you're sayin."

"So you can understand why I won't intervene until I know what to expect?"

"I get it." Logan shook his head, sighing, "What if waiting is what they want though?"

"If it gets bad, Logan, I'll tell them everything."

"S'all I ask."

---

Kitty had heard enough. Slowly, ever so slowly she phased back through the halls, popping up out of the floor in front of the elevator. "Like, this is confusing." she sighed, slipping through the elevator doors. Scott was right. They are hiding things, at least she knew that much, but what could it all mean?

---

"She no show?" Ranma sighed, blearily trying to shove his burnt toast down his throat before his taste buds had a chance to complain. He wasn't a good cook, unless motivated anyway. Early morning hours definitely sucked.

"No." Nabiki shrugged, "I think she be busy for long time. She secretive. Like snake."

Ranma blinked, "That my mother you talk about!"

"Heh." Nabiki chuckled nervously, "No mean bad. Mean compliment?"

"If say so." Ranma shrugged, waving the whole thing off, "We need go. Be late for school, bad thing."

"Why go school at all?" Nabiki sighed, "If Nodoka no show. Who cares?"

"She be mad whenever she show up." he explained, shouldering his pack, "Side. I promise I meet Chunky today."

"Thought his name Chuck?"

"Eh.." he shrugged, "Chuck, Chunky, no different."

Nabiki smirked, switching to Japanese, "Some how, I think there is."

---

Lunch time was quick to roll around, Ranma noted in relief. He had missed the morning classes yesterday, except for Speech, anyway. Why in heck did they stick him in the AP Math course? Why did everyone think just because he was Japanese he'd automatically be good at math? Bastards.

"That it." he growled, pushing away his plate as if it carried the Bubonic plague. "I make lunch tomorrow. School food remind me of dog poo."

Nabiki blinked. She had thought ahead and made her own lunch, knowing that if the food the school offered one day was bad, then chances were things wouldn't improve. "You eat dog poo?"

"Ah.." Ranma scowled, "Shut up." before setting his head down.

"Heh." she grinned.

At least today wasn't as bad as yesterday, and for that Nabiki was grateful. Those X-kids kept staying at the two of them every now and then, but the open hostility seemed to have been drained from them. With what Ranma told her of yesterday's fight, she guessed she could see why they were freaked in the first place. It had been a shock to Ranma when he first discovered the fact anybody who had a TV got the chance to see him go on a murderous rampage. It upset him, but that was mostly because when people recognized him from that video and asked him about it, it reminded him what had happened, and who had died. It had only been four weeks since they ran, and in her not so humble opinion she thought they were holding up pretty well. To be sure, the first two weeks were hell, on the both of them. And while the tears had stopped, she knew nothing could ever heal the wounds their spirit sustained that horrible day.

Ranma, proving once and for all nothing could stop his devotion to sleep, snored lightly. No one really noticed, the sound of the noisy cafeteria drowning it out. She had to respect that trait in him, to just pick any old place and lay down for a nap, with no care of what's going on around him. It annoyed her though, because at times like this, when there was literally nothing to do but wait for class too start, she was stuck staring off into space with no one to talk to.

---

"So I said, "No! I worked so hard on it!" and he backed right down." Risty smiled brightly, "Then the idiot said "Rogue probably did all the work, anyway!" and I slapped him!" she leaned over and grinned, "So.. if Matthew asks, tell him you didn't help me with Ybarra's homework assignment? Please? He'll think I'm a liar if you tell him the truth!"

Rogue grinned, "Shoulda just told him tha truth, if he kept trying to steal it I'd clobber him."

"Ohhh!' Risty sighed, "It's not the same! He'd call me a little scaredy cat if I did that!"

Scott was getting aggravated. Not that he hated Risty, he actually liked her. Just having her around put Rogue in a better mood, and that was always good in his book, but right now they needed to be alone. Kitty hadn't been able to tell them what she found out this morning, Storm's presence at breakfast and then later Logan's presence as he dropped off the other kids at school put a stop to that.

"Well.." she took a final slurp of her milk, glancing at her watch, "Oh nuts. I gotta go, it's no fair Smithers JROTC class is all the way across the school!" she sighed, grabbing her book bag, "I'll see you for Ybarra's class."

"See ya Risty." Rogue waved her off with a smile, "Don't forget my cd!"

Risty blinked. Oh yeah, Rogue had lent her the new Marilynn Manson CD yesterday. She had nearly forgotten about that. "I won't. Bye!"

Kurt waved, "See yah."

"Take care, yo." Evan grunted.

Jean eyed the girl as she walked away. Once out of ear shot, she grinned, "Alright Kitty. Spill the beans, what's going on?"

"You know, I thought I'd never, like, get the chance to tell you!" Kitty chattered out excitedly, "It's like we thought, they are hiding secrets from us."

Rogue frowned, and I mean FROWNED. The last time they had hid a secret from them, it had turned out Principal Darkholme was in fact Mystique, and was her adopted mother. That had put some strain on her relationship with the Xavier, but the most galling about that tid bit of information was the fact he promised to be more open with these type of things.

"What kind of secrets?" Scott scowled. More secrets, it's always more secrets.

"Um, it's like this. They didn't say anything out right, but did you know the Professor's been having dreams?"

Evan blinked, "Eh? Dreams? Who here doesn't have dreams?"

"What kind of dreams, Kitty?" Jean questioned.

"Dreams about Ranma." Kitty sighed, "They were talking about how different they were. One dream was him turning against us, another was him doing nothing for either side, and another was him joining the team." she glanced to Rogue, "I don't, like, really understand it. But the one where he joins us, they said you end up doing something really bad to him."

Rogue blinked, "Eh?"

"They said in that dream you were crying about how sorry you were. They couldn't figure out what you were saying, though.."

Rogue glared, "I don't cry."

"Hey, that's just what they..."

She repeated heatedly, "I don't cry."

Jean frowned, ignoring the whole crying bit, "If it's a dream, can't he just delve into his subconscious and fish it out?"

Kitty shrugged. She really didn't understand the whole brain mumbo jumbo thing, "I'm pretty sure he said he tried too. That's where things get weird, he think's someone's putting them in his head."

Kurt grimaced, "Ah, the plot thickens!"

Evan slurped his milk, "But who?"

Kitty shrugged, "He doesn't know. It's why he doesn't want to tell us."

"Run that by me again? Why don't he want us to know?" Rogue asked curiously.

"He said something about 'What if' he tells us, and that's exactly what the enemy wants."

Scott snorted, "What if by not telling us, he's playing right into their heads?"

Kitty nodded at that, "Logan said the same thing."

Jean sighed, rubbing her forehead in irritation. Things were getting weird, "Anything else?"

"I don't.. oh yeah!" she snapped her fingers, "They said one of their secrets dealt with Ranma, Mystique, and some 'other' kids."

Kurt frowned, "What 'other' kids?"

"He didn't say." Kitty shrugged, "He said we knew about it though, and we weren't upset. He doesn't want to tell us that secret because we don't know Ranma. He wants us to get to know the real him, or something like that."

Scott grimaced, "That isn't going to be easy."

Kitty nodded seriously, "Yeah, he knows that we saw the video tape with him going nuts. And I think the Prof is going to tell him about the training we've had."

Evan chuckled bitterly, "Oh, that's fly. Hey kid, look at this. We've been trainin the kids for months to eventually take you down. Neat, huh?" he bit off sarcastically.

Scott nodded grimly. That wasn't the best way to start things off, not by any means, "Let's recap. Xavier's having weird dreams about Ranma joining the Brotherhood, or doing nothing, or joining us? For some reason no one's sure of, Rogue's crying because of it.."

"Hey! I don't cry!" Rogue scowled defensively.

"... and then there's some big secret about him and Mystique, and to top it all off the Prof thinks some one's planting those dreams in his head. Right?" Scott finished, ignoring Rogue's out burst.

"Umm.. I think so.." Kitty responded, hesitantly. Was she forgetting something?

"It's a cluster bomb." Evan grumbled.

Kurt sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly, "No kidding! There's so many confusing things going on I don't know what to think!"

"Chaotic, isn't it?" Jean grumbled, picking at her food irritably.

---

"Ranma, I'm sitting here, naked, and all I want to do is make mad, passionate, heart pounding love with you. If you feel the same, just keep sleeping." Nabiki casually bit off, completely bored.

Ranma snorted, otherwise remaining asleep.

"Great!" she sighed. Dead gerbils were better company then he was! Wasn't there anything should could do to fight the boredom?

Catching something big and fat out of the corner of her eye, she gazed curiously at a table of students nearby. Or more importantly, the girl sitting with them. What was her name? Wanda..

She eyed the other kids sitting with them, realizing only then they were all glaring at her, or more importantly, at the sleeping jock. Oh yeah.. these were they guys who picked that fight with Ranma the other day?

She sighed. It had been a vain hope of hers that the jock could at least stay out of trouble, even if only for a week or so after starting school. That notion had died a painful death, if Ranma's account of events were to be believed, which she did believe. He just wasn't the type to lie about a fight, unless he lost, then he'd just whine and complain about being tricked and how he was going to beat their ass in the upcoming rematch.

She gave Ranma a glance. Still sleeping. Well... screw it. Grabbing her book bag, and half finished bento, she stood up and began heading for the Brotherhoods table.

---

There were only so many ways one could describe absolute hate, absolute brain splattering hatred towards a currently sleeping boy no less then thirty feet away. Peitro Maximoff had never been so embarrassed, nor had he ever felt so much pain from just one guy. He didn't know what he did, but after stabbing him in the back everything in his world erupted in pain. It felt like his back was breaking in half, that's how painful it was. He wanted vengeance, he wanted to give the guy the exact same treatment.

He wanted Fred to stop trying to steal his lunch! "Hey!" he slapped the fatter Mutants hand away from his meatloaf, "Piss off fat ass! That's mine!"

Fred scowled, but said nothing as he pulled his hand back. He was hungry, hungry with a capital H. Ever since Mystique ditched em, no ones been able to afford any damn food to stock the fridge. Not that it would matter if they had the cash, he guessed, since the fridge had been pulverized by Lance yesterday when they made it home and found nothing to eat. Heck, the only reason they really came to school anymore, aside from kicking around the X-freaks, was to eat! And the cafeteria food sucked! Barely putting a dent in his overly massive hunger!

"I say we kill Tabitha and eat her." Fred scowled. Ever since that bitch showed up their food supply had been run through like how a Road Runner high tails it through a desert. They had nothing left!

Toad looked worse for wear, arguably taking the worse of the damage from yesterday's fight. Right arm in a sling, with bandages patched over his face. He was so depressed he didn't even whine about being depressed, and whining was what the Toad did best.

"Kill Tabitha." Toad grumbled, "Sure." he finished, distracted. He was so out of it, he didn't even realize what he was agreeing too.

Lance was far more calm then he had been yesterday, his eyes latched on and never leaving the sleeping kid a few tables down, as he contemplated the fight and what he had seen. Peitro had gotten his ass handed too him, badly, and he didn't understand how. He had taken tougher blows and kept on kicking, but whatever the ass did to his back really screwed him up. And then, somehow, some way, he disrupted his seismic waves, turning the very power he prided himself on against him! He hadn't been conscious for the rest of the fight, but the stories Fred and Toad told him were enough. They had gotten their asses handed to em, and handed bad.

Wanda set her milk down, happily patting her full belly as she sighed in contentment. The guys might have been out of food, but she always kept a small stock of fruits and vegetables hidden away. Her time in the Looney bin had taught her well in the art of hiding valuable things, else those bastards take it away. So content, she almost missed some one calling her name.

"Wanda?"

Peitro blinked, looking up to Nabiki. Oh great, the bastards friend. He scowled, about ready to let loose with a barb, only to stop by a glare thrown his way by Wanda.

"Nabiki." she turned from her brother, nodding.

"Hi." she waved, "Sorry if bother. Me is bored, Ranma sleeping, bad talker."

Wanda hmmed, leaning back and checking the kid out. Yep, out cold. "So?"

Nabiki smirked. Wanda seemed like the 'I don't give a damn' type, but she had already thought of a way around it. "So, is custom in Japan. If bored, go make friend." she slid into an empty seat, setting her book bag to the side and her bento on top of the table. "You save me from deaf princess, is make you friend."

Lance blinked, eyeing Wanda weirdly, "Saved her? Deaf princess?"

Wanda waved it off, "Ms. Perfect was trying to recruit her, wouldn't take no for an answer." she shrugged, "And I didn't do it out of the kindness of my heart, I just don't like her."

Fred eyed the small box Nabiki had put on the table. Oh man, he was so damn hungry, and he could literally smell the home cooked food. Unable to stop himself, he began to reach across the table with his meaty hands. Wanda eyed the boy dangerously as he did that, but nothing would stop him! Almost there, he froze as a dull blue glow began to surround the witches hand. He gulped, pulling back. There was dying of starvation, and dying by Wanda. He'd rather starve to death. "Sorry.."

Nabiki had watched the entire scene curiously. As she had suspected, Wanda was a mutant, or some type of magician anyway. She was leaning towards mutant, with the seemingly hate directed towards Jean, but one can never be too sure. "Oh!" she made a play at looking shocked, "You hungry?"

Fred grumbled, "Hell yeah."

Nabiki nodded, pushing the bento cap off before shoving it forward. She had packed twice the amount she had eaten, mainly for Ranma, but the jerk had insisted on eating the cafeteria's food. "Here. I make too much, you have some, cutey."

Fred blinked, blushing badly as he took the pre-offered food. She thought he was cute? "Ah.. thanks."

"Is no problem."

Lance glanced at the food, and at the girl, before going right back to the food, "Hey.. uh.. mind if I get me some of that?"

Nabiki shook her head, "Have all you want."

Fred scowled, "It's mine!" yanking the bento away before Lance could get his hands on it.

Nabiki smirked inwardly. Men, honestly. Putting on her puppy dog eyes, she gazed at Fred cutely, "Oh? Please share, me no like when people greedy." Aside from myself, she added with a mental smirk.

"Eh.. heh." Fred gulped. Damn, she was just so.. so cute! "All right.." he finished with a sigh, setting the bento down, which Lance started devouring immediately.

Toad sniffed, looking over, "Is.. is that.. beef?" he licked his lips, salvia threatening to drool all over the place.

"Help self." Nabiki offered. Okay, that was weird. These guys were acting like they hadn't had anything to eat in days!

Peitro glanced down at his meat loaf, frowning in disgust, before looking at the food quickly being devoured by the three stooges. "Uh..."

Nabiki rolled her eyes, "Go. Eat."

Needing no more incentive then that, he lunged across the table, grabbing a handful of the food and shoving it in his mouth, almost ravenously.

Wanda watched the boys, chuckling to herself at their antics. All it took was one pretty girl offering them food to make them abandon their whole 'Rebel with out a cause' appearance. Leaning over, Wanda poked Nabiki in the side, "That's sneaky."

"Is so." Nabiki whispered back with a grin, "I am best."

---

"Would you look at that?" Kitty grumbled, which drew everyone else's attention.

The sight of the Brotherhood practically tearing into each other over some food was freaky, but the shouts of "THAT LAST PIECE OF CHICKEN IS MINE!" ... "TOUCH THOSE PEAS AND YER DEAD!" ... "SHE GAVE IT TO ME! SHE SAID I WAS CUTE! IT'S MINE! BUAHAHA MINE!" and strangely enough the last came from Toad, "I'LL KILL YOU BASTARDS! LEAVE THE BEEF ALONE YOU FREAKS!"

Jean looked askance at the whole thing, "Whoa..."

Evan chuckled, elbowing Kurt in the side, "Man, this is the funniest thing I've seen in a long while."

Scott sighed, "Well, looks like Ranma's friend is getting cozy with them.."

Rogue nodded, eyeing the girl annoyed, "Yeah.."

Blob grabbed Peitro by the neck, picking him up and slamming in down on the table, "YOU LITTLE BASTARD! THAT LAST PEICE OF RICE WAS MINE!" Peitro struggled against Fred's hold, kicking wildly. By a stroke of dumb luck, or Karma being a bitch, he slammed his foot into his tray with all his speed, the thing rocketing from the table, traveling through the air like a frisbee towards a currently unconscious jock.

Kurt winced, "Oh crap."

Rogue blanched. This could be bad, not that she was scared of him anymore, not after everything she heard (though she was concerned about all the secrets), it was just going to be embarrassing when that plate of half finished food landed.

Jean lifted her hand to stop the tray, though she was a little too late.

As the tray was about to hit him, Ranma's hand flashed out and grabbed it in mid air. Some how the food managed to stay on the plate, instead of spraying everywhere. He set the plate down, and continued to sleep.

"... Okay..." Scott smirked, "This guy is good." the others nodded, not like they needed him to point that out.

---

Wanda raised an eyebrow curiously, "He's still sleeping, isn't he."

Nabiki nodded, not all that surprised. "Is so."

Peitro, free of Blobs hold, rubbed his neck while frowning, "How the heck did he do that? He was asleep, wasn't he?"

"Ranma is always attack." Nabiki tried to explain. Damn the language barrier! "He fight all time. No rest. So he train for sleep defense. People always attack."

Lance snorted, licking his fingers clean, "Sounds like he just pisses people off."

Nabiki shrugged. They got her there, it wasn't like she could defend Ranma from that, since it was true for the most part. "He no try, people just angry."

Toad grumbled. He had gotten a good portion of the food, but he was still starving, "Man, I'm still hungry." he sighed, "We need to make some money. I'm tired of starving damn it!" when Mr. "I'll eat flies to survive" says he was starving, then that meant something.

Nabiki hmmed. Why not? Ranma really didn't care, and she doubted Nodoka would be back tonight, she had the impression the woman was trying to avoid them anyway. "You busy tonight?"

The three guys looked at her curiously, shaking their heads. Did she want to hang out with them or something? Smash crap up? Hmmm.

"Is good." Nabiki grinned, "No busy, you come to dinner. Me make big food."

Wanda blanched. She was inviting them to her HOME?!?! The girl didn't know what kind of disaster she was inviting! "Nabiki, that might not be a good.."

"WE'LL BE THERE!" Fred roared! Food! Food! Food! More food, and a girl who called him cute! How lucky can you get?

Lance frowned, thumbing in Ranma's direction, "I don't think so. You're brother or whatever doesn't like us, not after yesterday."

Toad had been all set to agree with Fred, but Lance did make a point. "Damn.."

Nabiki waved them off, "No worry. Ranma no hate you. He knew, he think people who attack are friends. He don't care."

Peitro blinked, "Uh.. what?" That didn't make any sense. They attacked him, nearly beat the shit out of him, and this chick's saying he thinks of them as friends? "I'm missing something here."

"Obviously." Wanda snorted, "Nabiki, are you sure?"

"Sure is sure." she nodded, "Just me and Ranma alone. Love company. Love friends. Make big dinner." she blinked then snapping her fingers, "Oh! Forgot!"

Lance rolled his eyes. This had sounded too good to be true, she was probably thinking up an excuse for them not to come.

"Ranma and me go to school after school. Be back seven. Can you show then?"

Peitro frowned, "Eh.. school after school?"

"Is so. Ranma meet hairy claw man and Chuck in Japan. Big fight. Almost kill hairy man. He go see them, apologize."

Fred blinked, "Hairy claw man.. wait, you mean the X-freak's school?"

Nabiki shrugged. She really didn't understand all the X-freak stuff. "Me guess so."

Peitro scowled, "If you're in league with those asses, we'll just say no to dinner." He was hungry, yes, he was practically starving, but the Brotherhood had to have some pride damn it!

"In league?" Nabiki blinked, "What 'league' mean."

"Nabiki." Wanda began, "He means if you're on their side against us."

"Side?" Nabiki frowned, "No side. Me no like princess or friends. Me think they stuck up. Ranma no like them, they scared of him."

The bell began to ring, signaling the end of lunch break.

Lance had to bite his tongue. He had been just about to ask what she meant by the X-men being scared of the guy. He could ask tonight, he guessed. "Cool. Guess we'll go then, huh Peitro."

Peitro shrugged. If they weren't siding with the X-mean, they were okay in his book, "Sure."

---

Ranma blinked. "You invited them to dinner?"

Nabiki nodded, "Yep."

He scowled dangerously, "Nabiki..." Looks like there was going to be some ass beating tonight.

"Please Ranma." she rolled her eyes, "I'll make sure they don't touch you're manga."

He nodded with a grin, all pretenses of an ass kicking flowing away, "Ah, that's cool then. They know the way?"

Nabiki blanched. She had completely forgotten to give them directions! Argh! And school had just ended, and their lockers were on the other side of the freaken school! "Quick! Ranma! Run over and find them! Tell them where it is!"

Ranma shrugged. "Sure."

---

"You think that Nabiki girl was being serious?" Fred twiddled his thumbs. He had never felt so nervous in his life. Oh he couldn't wait!

Lance sipped his coke, shrugging, "I don't know." He doubted she lied about the dinner part, but the whole 'Ranma think you friend.' was way too hard to swallow in his book.

"Hey.." Toad frowned, "Do you guys even know where they live?"

Peitro blinked, then scowled, "Damn it! I didn't even think to ask her!" Here they were, starving and with an invite to a free meal, and they didn't even think to ask directions! ARRRRGH!

Wanda opened her locker up, shoving her books in, "We'll just go tomorrow."

Lance was about to respond, but as he was sipping his coke he caught sight of Ranma literally jumping over the crowds of kids, using their heads as spring boards. The fact the kids didn't even seem to notice surprised him, causing him to spit his drink out all over Toad.

Peitro raised an eyebrow, "Okay. That isn't natural. Bet he's a mutant."

Fred hmmed, "You know.. now that you mention it.. he could be."

Wanda rolled her eyes. "You twits just thought of that NOW?"

Ranma landed in front of them lightly. Rising to his feet, he smiled, "Me come with message."

"What?" Wanda eyed the boy weirdly. Being so close to the guy's Chaotic emissions was strange. It was almost as if it was trying to reach out and drag her in.

He reached into his pocket, producing a small folded paper. "Here. Map to apartment. You come at seven, yes?"

Wanda nodded slowly, taking the offered note. She frowned then, seeing a tendril of Chaos seep into her aura for a brief moment, then slip out. Weird. "Seven."

Ranma smiled brightly, "Good. You good friend for Nabiki." he waved, "Bye!" and took off.

Toad smiled nervously, "He's not so bad.. once you get around the ass beatings."

---

The trip to this Chuck's school wasn't long. He was surprised to find it so close to the high school, but who was he to complain? He eyed the gates curiously. "Think this place?"

Nabiki nodded, "Think so." she replied, pressing the intercom switch. It wasn't long before a voice crackled to life through the speaker, "Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters."

"Ah. Yes." Ranma coughed nervously, "Me Ranma Saotome, come with Nabiki Tendo see Chunky."

Nabiki face palmed, "It Chuck rude boy!"

"Oh.." he shrugged, "See Chuck."

"Ah yes, we've been expecting you." the voice on the other end sounded thoroughly amused. A light buzzing sound began to ring as the Gates open, allowing them entrances, "Just come up to the front, some one will meet you there."

The two tentatively stepped through the gates, eyeing the surrounding area. It was practically a park inside the walls! With so much greenery it gave Ranma a nostalgic feeling from his time spent wandering the wilderness as a kid. He whistled, "Big place."

"Yeah."

They continued their walk in relative silence, arriving at a rather large house after five minutes of walking. The house was big, there could be no doubt of that. Nabiki speculated that it was even bigger then the Kuno mansion. Xavier had to be one hell of a loaded guy if he could afford this type of set up. Waiting for the two was a African woman with starch white hair, dressed in a weird looking body suit with a tacky X on her upper left shoulder.

"Welcome Saotome, Tendo." the woman bowed, answering in Japanese. "It's nice to finally meet you."

Ranma waved, "Yo."

"It's nice to meet you Miss..." Nabiki trailed off expectantly.

"Munroe. Ororo Munroe."

"Were here to see Chuck, Logan sent us." Ranma explained again. He was a little impatient to get this over with. The fact they were having company over excited him! Finally! A chance to make some friends!

"Ah, yes. Come inside, he's waiting in the study for you." she motioned for them to follow, which they did.

If the outside was an impressive display of wealth, the insides simply blew them all away. Comfy looking rugs with numerous pictures of men and women they had never seen before, polished mahogany walls and a rather grand staircase made of some type of stone, marble Nabiki thought, leading up to the second level. And they wanted Ranma to come and live here? They guy would go nuts!

Ranma stopped suddenly, Nabiki running into him. Caught by surprise, she yelped, "HEY! WHat's...the.." she blinked.

Before she even opened her mouth, a loud popping noise sounded, followed by a little blue demonic guy snapping into existence, "Storm! Have you seen my..." he blinked, noticing Ranma and Nabiki for the first time.. "Uh..." he winced.. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

Storm frowned, "Kurt. We told you we would be having guests today..." she stopped talking the moment Nabiki moved in front of cute, looking at him curiously. She reached out and pinched his cheek, "He cutey! Like fuzzy animal!"

Kurt blanched, thanking his lucky stars his fur hid any sign of the raging blush threatening to turn him into a permanent member of the tomato race. "I.. ah, gotta go." and just as quick as he came, he vanished in a puff of smoke.

Ranma snorted, "Flirt. Scare him away."

Nabiki grinned, chuckling lightly, "Can't help it. He cute."

Storm smiled at the interplay. Maybe things would turn out better then everyone expected? They certainly seemed friendly enough. "I'm surprised. Most people would sooner run when they first see Kurt then call him cute."

Ranma waved her off, "We've seen weirder stuff." As weird as the guy looked, he had nothing on Taro's cursed form. "Chuck please?"

"Ah yes, this way." Storm once again lead them through the house.

---

Ranma eyed the man in the wheelchair weirdly. He was crippled?! He was beaten by a crippled guy? "Uh.. you Chuck?"

Xavier smiled. Only Logan ever called him Chuck, but since he had sent the man to invite them it wasn't surprising they'd call him by that name. "Ah, yes. I'm Charles Xavier." she motioned towards a red head sitting nearby, "I believe you've already met Ms. Grey."

Nabiki winced internally. Yeah, she had met her, called her stuck up too. "I've had the pleasure."

Jean waved cordially. "Nice to meet you again, Ms. Tendo. And you too, Ranma."

Ranma frowned. "You know Japanese?" she hadn't acted like she did. Well, he could be mistaken, he hadn't actually tried to talk to her all that much, actually he just plain avoided her for the most part.

"Oh." She shook her head, smiling, "No, I'm afraid I don't."

Nabiki blinked. "Then.. how are you talking to us?" The girl didn't seem the type to lie right to your face, or so stupidly.

Xavier chuckled, "I'm afraid that's my doing. I'm using my mutant ability to create a kind of 'Universal Translator' so we could speak."

Ranma shrugged, crossing his arms, "All right. I said I'd come, and here I am. What do you want to talk about?"

"Straight to the point?" Xavier nodded, motioning to Jean, "I've asked Jean to assist with Ms. Tendo's abilities. She's a practice Telepath, and will make sure she'll go far with her abilities."

Oh, that was just freaken great. She tells the girl off, and now she's her teacher? There's a message in there some where, she was sure of it. Oh yeah! Irony, in it's purest form. "Great." Nabiki chuckled lamely.

"Jean?" Xavier motioned towards the girl.

"Yes Professor." she rose from her seat, walking up to Nabiki. Her kind friendly smile didn't fade one bit, "Ms. Tendo, if you'll follow me?"

Nabiki shot Ranma a glance, who simply shrugged and nodded. "Okay."

As the two left, Ranma sighed, "All right doc. What's up?"

Xavier sighed, rolling to a book case. Pulling a book back, the case slide to the side, revealing a pair of large metal doors. "Come with me, Ranma. I think it's time you learned the whole truth about us, and about why the children are scared of you."

Ranma raised an eyebrow curiously. What the heck was this all about?

---

As the elevator began moving down, Xavier spoke seriously, "This school was created for the purpose of homing and educating mutants. A place were they could be safe, and be allowed to develop their powers while still retaining living a relatively normal life. It's my dream to unite mankind, and mutant kind in peace. Though, it isn't so easy."

The doors chimed open, and Ranma followed after the man as he rolled out.

"The upper levels are for the children's housing, and general living quarters. These are the lower levels. Were we help train mutants in their abilities, building up their confidence so that when the time comes, they can rejoin the world educated and confident they can make a difference. Some who come decide to stay and join a mutant fighting force dedicated to the pursuit of peace for all man kind. The children have affectionally dubbed them the X-men."

"Cute." Ranma shrugged.

As they turned a corner, Ranma spotted Logan leaning against a set of steel doors, a headset hanging loosely from his neck. He grunted, as they approached, "Sup kid."

"Hey." he eyed the corridors, "Eh.. is this everything you wanted to show me? What's that thing about the 'Truth'."

Xavier smiled, "Logan, if you would?"

The man grunted, lifting up his head set, "Forge, open the doors."

A brief moment passed, but soon enough the double wide doors began to slowly split apart, revealing a rather large, if barren, empty steel room. Following the men in, he wondered briefly if this was a trap, especially as the doors closed behind them rather quickly.

---

Kurt peered around the corner, smirking as the men walked inside. As the doors closed behind them, he motioned to the others, "Their in. Let's go."

Kitty grinned as the group began to follow after Kurt, each carrying a chair, "I knew it! I knew they were going to get him in the Danger Room!"

Evan chuckled, "This is going to be good. You sure they said they were sending him up against his own copy?"

"Like, duh." Kitty chuckled, "I don't want to miss this."

Rounding the corner, the kids climbed the steps up to the command room. Flinging the door open, they weren't terribly surprised to see Forge there, startled at their sudden entrance.

Forge blinked, "Uh.."

Rogue waved the guy off, "Just here for the show, ignore us."

"But.. the Professor said.."

Rogue stepped up, waving her ungloved hand an inch from his face, "These aren't the students you're looking for."

Scott rolled his eyes, "That was lame."

"Quiet you." she hissed, "Lets get this show on the road!"

---

"This, Ranma, is the Danger Room. A part of our facilities used to train mutants in their abilities, and the X-men in team work and tactics." he sighed then, "This is also where you will learn the truth. The truth about the kids, and why they seem to fear you."

"Right.."

---

Kitty scratched her head thoughtfully, "Uh, how come he's speaking perfect English?"

Forge shrugged, messing around with the keyboard, "I installed a translation device in the room. Everything said in there is translated to English, here." he scowled, "Unless it's bloody Dutch. I hate them."

"How tolerant of you." Rogue rolled her eyes.

---

"Logan, tell Forge to bring up the latest recording on X-men Training Module: Tangent."

"Sure Chuck." Logan grunted, tapping his communicator and doing just that.

After a moment, the room faded to black. A little freaked, Ranma suspiciously eyed the room. He didn't think this was some elaborate trap to get him here, but you could never know. Kiima had stressed that fact perfectly with her using her 'Akane' guise.

The room expanded outwards of up to a hundred yards or so, terrain forming into a flat concrete plain. Ranma didn't understand what was happening, but it was wicked cool. Wonder if they had one of these things at K-Mart?

Visual representations of the X-men began to pop up, first the glasses guy only with out the glasses, wearing some strange visor and a weird body suit similar to what that Ororo chick upstairs had. Soon after he appeared, so did Jean, the demon guy, that black blond hair kid, the little girl with the Pony tail, and that strange Goth chick.

"Here you'll see what we have code named 'Tangent.'" Xavier's voice drew his attention from the kids, to a weird looking shinobi standing apart from the group. Black trunks and an equally black top, only it was kinda yellow down it's center, and it had glowing yellow eyes.

"Begin sequence."

Almost as if that single sentence controlled the room, the figures began to move. Ranma's eyes widened curiously as Scott fired a funky red laser beam from his eyes. The creature tried to dodge, but with quick teleportation from Kurt, he was knocked back into the beam.

Ranma nodded. Not a bad tactic, all things considered.

As the creature jumped to his feet, the group began to spread out, Jean and that goth chick taking opposite stances. The creature didn't seem too concerned by them, running past with out even looking in their direction, heading right for Scott.

Which was why he blinked in surprise as Jean raised her hand, and the creature suddenly stilled. Weird. Even weirder was the creature raising it's hand towards the red head, a sickening blue blob of energy forming in it's hand. Just before he was about to fire, the goth chick reached out and touched it. He noticed immediately as the thing seemed to weaken, the blue energy ball slowly vanishing.

"It's game over man. Game. Over."

Ranma smirked. That was a cool little taunt. he'd have to remember that one.

"Pause sequence." Xavier ordered, which Logan re-laid to Forge. The figures froze in their place, most of the kids with a happy triumphant look. "It's at this point we switched the creature to level two, changed it's tactics from incapacitate to killing. It's also gained access to new abilities, abilities I think you'll find rather familiar." he sighed, "This is the reason the children were scared of you."

---

Scott sighed, "I can't believe he's showing him this. I mean, seriously, it would just be better if he never knew about it."

Kitty hmmed, "You know, like, I think I remember them saying Ranma only cared about the truth or something. Eh, yeah. They said if you lie to him, that's when he'll start to get mad." At least, that's what she remembered.

"Heh, I can respect a guy like that." Evan nodded seriously.

---

"Restart sequence."

Ranma watched, rather bored. Nothing seemed all that.. "What the HELL?!?

The figures form shimmered, transforming into something he knew very well. He'd see it in the mirror every time he looked. It was.. him!

The false Him suddenly powered up his blast, exploding it and knocking the goth chick away with seemingly no effort. The blue dude vanished, catching her before she could land and sitting her down.

Words of surprise, of annoyance, and of determination rang from the kids, but he was far to focused on his own thoughts to actually hear them.

The false him raised his hand towards Jean, and with a cry of "KIJIN RAISHU DAN!" A black blade formed from seemingly no where, shooting out at the immobile girl. Ranma blinked as the blue furry dude appeared, only to wince as they were both mowed down, vanishing as the blade passed on. He didn't need to think about it much, few people could survive a Kijin Raishu Dan, and he doubted they could.

The false him dropped to the ground. Scott shouted something, before firing three beams of red light. The false him stood there, taking the beams as the black blond hair kid rushed in, a strange bone armor snapping into existence over his body. Ranma wanted to cringe as the false him brought his hands to his chest, fingers bent slightly. As the boy ran in, the false him slammed his fingers forward, coldly stating "Dokuja tanketsu-shou!" piercing the boy's armor. He vanished just as the two before him.

The false him stood up, eyes snapping to Scott as blades of blue energy began to emerge from his fists. Ranma remembered that, he had done it as more of a mental tactic then anything else when he had been fighting Logan. Rushing in, the false him dodged the funky red beams, seemingly with no problem. Crouching at Scott's feet, the false him jumped straight up, claws flashing as angrily as it's own voice, "SEI!"

Scott vanished before it even landed. He watched as the other him eyed the pony tailed girl, before walking up to the unconscious goth chick, simply stating, "Die." as he slammed his claws through her skull. She quickly vanished as well.

Pony tail girl seemed to panic, turning to run. The false him scowled, "THERE'S NO ESCAPE" before launching a Kijin Raishu Dan at the retreating girl, nailing her in the chest.

"Pause Sequence. Upload Tagent Three and hold."

The false him froze, before vanishing entirely as a new him formed up twenty feet in front of their little group, remaining motionless.

"You.. you.." he shuddered. He knew something would come of his actions in Japan. He had spent so much time trying to ignore it, to put on a false face, he had almost forgotten about it. He sighed, "You were training those kids to kill me."

Xavier nodded, slowly, "Correct. We didn't know what to think, what had happened to you after Mystique took you from Japan. We feared what you could do if you turned against us." he sighed, "I love these children, Ranma. I'd do anything to keep them save, even sacrifice my own life. That's why we did it."

Logan grumbled, "Kid, you gotta understand our side of it. You love her. You would do anything for her, if she asked. What were we suppose to do, knowing who she was, and what she believed in?"

---

"Uh.." Kitty blinked, "What the hell are they talking about? Who did he love?"

No one could answer that

---

Logan continued, "And the way you snapped on us. You killed those people, kid. Don't get me wrong, we don't blame you for doing what you did. They killed you're fiancée, they killed you're father. We understand it, but you gotta understand us in turn. You may have killed them to avenge their deaths, but you still killed, you proved to us if driven enough you could bring yourself to actually kill some one."

Ranma chuckled, sadly. Shimmering tears beginning to pool around his eyes, threatening to break loose. "You know.. that wasn't the first time I killed some one." he waved the men off, as they looked ready to interrupt, "The first time, I did it to save Akane. She was going to die. I convinced myself it was fine, killing to save another. It didn't matter that the guy was some big bad Phoenix and could just rebirth himself. I still killed him." he shuddered, fists clenched tightly, "I told myself the same thing in Japan. I was killing to avenge the deaths of pop and Akane." he sniffed, the tears pooling in his eyes slowly tumbling down his cheeks, "I tried to figure it out afterwards. Try to justify killin all those guys." he looked at Logan bitterly, "When I nearly killed you, I tried to justify that too, but I couldn't."

"Ranma.." Xavier began, only to shut up as the kid waved him off fiercely.

"No.. no I gotta say it.. even if only so I don't forget." he grimaced then, idly glaring at the false him, "After we ran, ran from those bastards.. me and Nabs, we just tried to forget. I don't blame her none, her whole family was killed. Her dad, her older sister, 'Kane was her youngest." he growled angrily then, "But she didn't kill anyone. She didn't have their deaths on her conscious. I tried to justify it, to make me believe it was the right thing ta do. When I couldn't, I chose to forget, to repress it as much as I could. Nabs did too, but she just wanted to forget she was alone. I swore.. I swore then, I'd do everythin I could to protect her. She's the last Tendo, the only one left of the bloodline Akane came from. I figured if I kept her alive, then I'd be keeping Akane alive in a way, y'know?" he sniffed, rubbing his nose.

"Kid.."

"Seeing this thing." Ranma growled angrily, waving towards the false him, "Seein it kill those kids, no remorse, no pity, just killin em in cold blood.. it reminded me of what I did in Japan." he grunted, "That was me. That was me there, killing those kids, the me who just wanted to end the lives of people I didn't even know, but I hated anyway." he scowled, as his resolve hardened. He was going to rip that arrogant son of a bitches face off! "Better run, I'm killing this guy."

The other him smirked, dropping into an aggressive fighting stance, as if sensing the battle to come.

As the two stood off against each other, Logan scowled, whispering to Xavier, "Chuck, you ain't got no right to be messin with his head like that."

Xavier blinked, "Logan, I did no such thing. He's been repressing this since he left Japan. He didn't want to face it, to face the killer inside." he shrugged, "He's getting his chance too, it seems, and he's taking it."

Ranma didn't waste a second lunging into the false him. Punching high, he wasn't surprised to find it blocked. The thing caught his risk, pulling him in close where it tried to follow through with a wicked haymaker. Catching it's attack, Ranma brought his knee up to smash it in the gut. It countered by raising it's own knee to block the attack, back stepping, favoring his right foot, he leapt up and attacked with a spinning kick. Ranma leapt in tandem, flipping over him, he grabbed the thing by it's shirt, pulling it into his flip and flipping him away.

The creature twisted in mid air, landing lightly on it's feet, where it paused for a brief second before blasting straight into the boy as he landed, hands clenched tightly against it's chest, fingers bent like knives. "Dokuja tanketsu-shou", it's attack hitting true, Ranma stumbled back a few steps, pain flaring from the damaging attack, he fell to one knee.

---

"He survived that?!?" Evan bark, surprised. That attack had ripped through his exo-skeleton like it was nothing!

Forge grimaced, nodding, "The sensors I installed rated his durability nearly off the scope. He's one tough bastard." he said that last part with a great deal of respect.

---

The other him continued to flow in as he recovered from that strike. Barely able to get to his feet, he quickly parried a series of killing blows thrown by the other him, all designed to hit his throat, chest, gut, and groin. Slapping it's fists to the side after it's last series came to an end, Ranma stepped up close to his chest, "KATCHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" before launching five seeming slow punches into the things chest, all of which connected. Strangely enough, the creature blasted away, crashing to the ground in a heap nearly fifty feet away.

---

"Okay, that's the second time he's done that." Kurt frowned, "How can five punches do that?" he eyed Forge seriously.

Forge blinked, reviewing the data, "Well, Kurt. You're calculations on the amount of punches he threw would be correct, if you happened to add the other one hundred and seventy four punches he also threw."

Kurt blinked, "Huh?"

"In the span of .04 seconds the sensors picked up one hundred and seventy nine separate punches." he explained, pointing to a monitor, "Wow. He's strength rating is enough to dent a slab of Titanium!" the genius grinned, "Like, far out man!"

---

The other him slowly rose to it's feet, cold blue eyes meeting his heated on. He was surprised the thing could still move, though he realized with a sick sort of satisfaction he was glad it hadn't gone down. It would have been too easy, not enough to make him feel as if he actually won against what this thing represented in his minds eye.

"There ain't no place for you in me, punk." Ranma scowled, nearly vanishing from sight as he charged forward.

---

Kitty whistled, "He's really moving."

Forge grunted, another screen popping up on his screen with it's analysis, "He's traveling at approximately three hundred and twenty three miles per hour. Very impressive, for a non-mutation."

Kitty blinked, "Hey.. you know, we never did find out what his mutation was. You know?"

Forge shrugged, "Nope." And it was true, he didn't. Xavier had explained it wouldn't help him in a fight, so they saw little point to actually adding his mutation into the Tangent modules.

---

The other him brought his arms to his chest, pressing them together horizontally as he whispered the name of his attack, "KIJIN RAISHU DAN!" a sickly black blade materialized in front of him, before blasting outward towards the charging martial artist.

Ranma scowled. He was far too committed to the attack to dodge. Bringing his arms up, which glowed slightly, the black blade slammed into them, before passing through and out the other side. As if expecting the man to fall, the other him stood there, motionless for a scant second, which was more then enough time for him to get up in his face and launch a series of damaging attacks.

---

Scott frowned, "We've seen that attack cut through a man whole. Why didn't it kill him?"

Forge hmmed, scratching his head curiously, "I know Scott. I modeled that attack off the video feed from Japan. The kid some how managed to dull the blades edge, enough so he could block it."

"How?" He really wanted to know that trick.

"I have no idea." Forge shrugged seriously.

---

Logan had to admit, there were no if ands or butts about it, the kid was seriously out of his league. Watching as the two launched series after series of masterful attacks at each other, he turned to Xavier, "Chuck?"

Xavier was trying to pay attention to the fight on two levels. The physical level, and the mental. The boy was seriously hurting mentally, in ways he couldn't even begin to describe. There was a part of himself that hated what the thing represented to the boy in his eyes, but there was another part that respected it, cherished it, even encouraged it, and then there was a dark, feral void buried beneath it all. He was facing a hologram, an illusion, but the boy saw it more then that. Saw it as everything he wished he never had become, as everything he detested and hated about him self. He wasn't fighting himself, in his mind he was fighting a great bird man, a man he realized was the turning point in his path. The man he had first killed, the man who had unintentionally launched him down the darker path. The path of a killer. "Logan."

"You sure this was the right thing to do?"

"We'll find out soon enough." They hadn't actually intended for this to happen, but they adapted to it like all humans adapted to change.

---

Forge blinked, "Hey.. is Storm in there?"

Scott shook his head, "No."

"Weird.." he frowned, deeply.

"What is it?" Rogue looked over his shoulder at the monitors. She couldn't make sense of it.

"There's a low pressure zone building up from within the chamber. I've never seen anything like it." Forge admitted with a shrug, "It's strange."

Kurt blinked, "Hey.. is it just me, or does it look like their fighting in a spiral?"

Evan gave the two fighters a serious look, "You know, I think you're right."

---

Ranma knew it was coming. He was almost there, just a few seconds longer.

In a move that surprised, and baffled, everyone watching, Ranma rushed in, ducking low with a softly glowing blue hand clenched into a fist, launching upwards into a sloppy uppercut while screaming, "HIRYU SHOTEN HA!"

---

Rogue blinked, "Rising Dragon Ascension Wave?" What the hell was that.

Forge frowned, "What is that suppose too.." the computers started to spark, small arcs of electricity flashing across the board as a tornado appeared out of no where in the training room, the Tangent module screaming as it was sucked up until the cataclysmic funnel.

"What the hell?!?" Evan screamed, shocked.

"I don't know how, I don't know why, but that kid just created something the holographic imagers weren't designed to handle." They all looked up, out into the Danger Room to see the tornado blazing wildly in all directions, it's base remaining in a set position however, right where Ranma was standing, his fist still raised to the heavens.

"Is this his mutation?" Scott blinked, to which Forge quickly answered no. "I'm not picking up any mutation waves flowing out of him. He's not using the mutant gene to generate or control the Tornado. This is something else."

Kurt, as with everyone else, was rather shocked. He even more so when he pointed out something, "Hey.. what's he doing?"

Looking back out into the room, everyone blinked at the sight of Ranma unbuttoning his shirt. Once opened fully, he grasped the tails and expanded his shirt outward, almost like wings. The winds buffeted him, and slowly at first, he began to rise, quickly gaining speed as he climbed the funnel towards its top.

"This kid is resourceful, you got to give him that." Forge spoke in a tone akin to awe. "He's riding the tornado upwards, while the other him is flowing back down."

"Why? What's he doing?" Scott didn't understand this at all.

Rogue watched the boy as he flew upwards, memorized the determination etched on his face. She knew that look, it was similar to the one she imagined on herself. He was determined, and he wouldn't take no for an answer. "He's killing his inner demon."

Kurt eyed the girl weirdly, but said nothing. They all had inner-demons, things about themselves they hated so much, but were to scared to actually part with. Him with his hate, and love, of the woman who abandoned him, and Rogue.. Rogue with her misery at never being able to touch some one. He knew her well enough to know she would be rid of that part of herself in a heartbeat, if she could. But she couldn't, and she knew that, she had even come to accept it. Now, here was some one who had chosen to fight his own inner demon. He was lucky enough to be able to do it. He envied him, and he guessed Rogue did too.

---

Reaching the zenith of his flight, Ranma raised his hand to the heaves, a pulse of blue energy forming around his hand as he focused his will. He had done this once, and it humbled a Dragon Prince, but this time was different. This time, he'd have no help from the ambient Ki generated by the repeated Hiryu Shoten Ha's launched in that battle. He wouldn't have it any other way, either. Channeling the power of his spirit into the blast, nearly training his reserves to their very limits, he screamed the name of his attack, "HIRYU KORIN DAN!"

A blue pulse, starting at the base of the funnel, flashed brightly, before it started traveling up Tornado, the winds stilling as it passed. As the pulse reached it's zenith, the energy flew from the tornado itself, directly into his fist. Filled with the combined power of his Hiryu Shoten Ha, and the majority of his inner energies, he slammed his first downward, directly at the other him who was already struggling to it's feet.

A blast of pure energy ripped from his fist, blasting him back up high into the air. The energy beam screamed loudly as it traveled downward, it's deadly arc leaving a afterimage of it's passing. The energy slammed into the other him, disintegrating him before slamming into the ground and digging it's way through the holographic landscape.

---

Forge whistled. It was only a matter of time before the holographic imaging systems died on them. He hadn't designed it to handle any of these things. "Killing his inner demon is right. He vaporized that bad boy!"

---

Xavier watched as the boy fell from the sky. He had seen many things in his years, but never something like that. He almost felt as if he crossed into some previously forbidden zone. Where something no man but those who trained for it, who earned the right to enter could. It was humbling, so much strength, so much energy, so much potential.

Using his shirt to glide, their was just enough wind left from his Hiryu Shoten Ha to land him relatively lightly. He still slammed into the ground, but the damage wasn't enough to put him down, permanently.

The image inducers began to fail, one by one, the battle field fading away.

Panting, Ranma struggled to his feet. He was ready to just go home. "Heh.."

---

To be Continued (Yep)

Fun chapter, I suppose. Ranma has faced himself, defeated the repressed feelings of guilt and doubt he had closed off since his time fighting Saffron.

However, just keep in mind, he isn't joining the X-men because of that. He isn't joining the X-men period (Well, maybe, depends what I think up next). He's just pretty much freed himself from his own denial, and now he can deal with the things he did instead of hiding it away behind a veil of comfort. Expect him to get a little moody for the next few chapters, and expect some friendships to develop amongst him and the X-Men. There will be some time jumping in the very near future, but I'll post it as I go. Emma Frost won't be showing up for a few more chapters at least, since IMO Shaw is simply observing for now (Emma doesn't even know about Ranma, she's waiting in her hotel waiting for the damn slow ass Inner Circle to make up their damn minds).

Anyway.

For those of you who have been ever so lucky to read the Ranma 1/2 Manga, yes, I know all about the Hiryu Korin Dan, and I understand how it works from my view point. In the manga, the Hiryu Shoten Ha didn’t disappear like this did, but hey, I had to pull the power from some where. Ranma sure as hell isn’t strong enough to gather and shoot the energy by his little old self.

Most of that fight was to set a baseline, one of which I’ve completely agreed with when it came to crossing Ranma into X-men. He’s a touch son of a bitch, like Collosus, he’s fast (Not as fast of Peitro, but close enough), and he’s as strong at causing damage like say Jugger Naught (Though, the majority of his damage is granted through the kinetic energy of his quick strikes, which doesn’t actually deal with strength itself, for you physics nuts.).

You may think “Wow, Ranma’s dues ex machina!” but you really need to realize how utterly retarded the power systems for both series are. Still, i’ve made it where he can be taken down, it just takes team work, and alot of it. Oh, and thats another reason I’ve included Emma, and given Nabiki Telepathic skills. Ranma has NO defense from them.

He’s kinda like Juggernaught in that respect. So if I decide to have him join either side, the otherside will still have a way to take him down. Even Jean could technically screw Ranma up so bad he’d lose a battle with the X-men, she just doesn’t realize it yet (training telepathy powers is kinda hard against holograms with no real minds). Anyway, that’s that.

So for the poll on Match ups is as follows.

Rogue: 1

Emma Frost: 2

Nabiki: 2

Kitty: (Don't ask, I don't get it myself) 1

Jean: (...) 2

Mystique: I systematically removed this from the list, based on it being an extremely fucking stupid idea. Whoever voted for her, and you know who you are, go drown yourself.

Wanda: 1

That's all so far, folks. Cast your vote by sending me an email to narkanarka@hotmail.com

You can also send any comments or critiques here, or leave them in a review on the story so I can read them over and over again (I actually like that).

See you next time, kiddies.