Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Fan Fiction ❯ The Ultimate Antidote ❯ Guilty Conscious ( Chapter 14 )

[ 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 11: Guilty Conscious

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Ranma watched, his head down on his arms, the table where the X-men congregated in the morning. He had done a lot of thinking yesterday, and there was simply no way around it, everything was his fault this time. Sure, Nabiki had practically demanded he do it, but he coulda said no and just avoided the whole mess. He didn't understand why everyone seemed to despise the Jean girl, she seemed okay to him, but that still didn't erase the fact he had hurt the girl. He wasn't there when Duncan blew his top, but he could imagine how that went over. It was already public knowledge the jock had broken up with the girl over those damn pictures, which was another strike against his conscious. He felt like he stabbed them in the back, and then twisted the knife just to add insult to injury.

"I picked up some gossip about Feildman." Peitro grunted, idly picking at his food. Cafeteria food has long since lost its appeal, and why wouldn't it when he practically ate like a King at Nabiki's place? The girl was a decent enough cook, her Japanese dishes could be weird, but it was still better then the slop these bastards served them. "Hear he's been having a little hanky panky in the back room with that Everie chick."

Wanda grunted, "Already got that. It's Mr. Paulson we need some dirt on."

Fred blinked, "The Home Ec. teacher?"

Tabitha nodded, "He's getting pissy at us for never turning in our homework."

"I get it. Want to black mail him for a passing grade?" Lance shrugged. He didn't care.

Nabiki hmmed, drinking her milk as she listened to her cronies (she liked the terminology) talk about business. The whole incident with the pictures had happened two days ago, and Ranma hadn't stopped sulking. It was really getting on her nerves. Why couldn't the jock be a little less concerned about such things, and just focus on what was to come?

Fred chuckled, "Hey, look who showed up to school finally." he pointed to the X-men's table.

Toad smirked. He had been growing more confident over these last few weeks, especially in light of their apparent success. That was all he needed, just some consistent positive reinforcement, the type he never got when he was growing up, or when Mystique was heading up the Brotherhood. It simply amazed him how one person could bring them all together, give them a focus, a goal to strive for. Praise be to whoever the hell cared for sending them Nabiki. "Little Rogue an Jean finally showed up, huh?"

Wanda eyed their table, much like most every other student in the cafeteria. All eyes were on the girls, she didn't even want to imagine the humiliation they had to be feeling at that point. The guys around them looked tense, openly scowling at people they caught staring just a little too long. "Ignore them. We have bigger things to worry about."

Ranma sighed bitterly. Ignore them? If only it was so easy. He couldn't get Rogue's teary eyed face out of his head, couldn't ignore the hurt she expressed in that brief instance their eyes met. He could only thank his lucky star he wasn't there to see Jean find out, with the way she was looking now, more depressed then he could ever remember Ryoga being, he doubted he'd be able to hide the truth from them if that had happened. What the hell was he going to do about all this?! Could he even do anything? If so, what? He wasn't the best of thinkers outside of a fight, such instances as when he threw the Oni trapped in a cardboard box, with a Ward to keep it sealed, into the ocean making itself abundantly clear. It had taken the American's weeks to track down Happosai and that Oni when the ward washed away, and then another month to figure out how to get them out of their country.

Nabiki nodded, "We've gotten plenty of dirt on the faculty, we need to start focusing on the students. Start with the Student Council and the heads of other clubs, then work our way down."

Lance shrugged, "On it already. Therrien from the Judo Club's is a hard core Rogue fan. Just throw a few pictures his way, and he'll do whatever we want."

"That shouldn't be too hard." Nabiki grinned. She hadn't thought the Rogue pictures would sell so good, but she supposed there was something about the drawn in mysterious look that captivated Americans.

"No." Ranma snapped, lifting his head up and eyeing the group harshly, "I ain't lettin ya do that crap anymore."

Nabiki wanted to roll her eyes at that. She suspected the big dope would do something like this eventually. She didn't need the monetary boost from the pictures anymore, so she couldn't care less, but she doubted the others would be so keen on giving up such a lucrative business venue.

"What do you mean, no?" Peitro scowled. He wasn't turning chicken on them, was he?

Ranma scowled, eying the speed demon dangerously, "You deaf? I said no more."

Lance frowned, "Why?"

Ranma slammed his fist on the table, loudly, which was enough to grab the students, who sat around them and nearby, attention. He hissed, "I said no, you wanna make somethin of it?"

"Chill man." Lance waved him off defensively, "It's not like I care or anything, but the pictures are worth a hell of a lot of cash."

"Pictures I took like a moron!" Ranma bit back bitterly.

Wanda and Tabitha looked ready to argue back, but one look from Nabiki stilled them. Turning to Ranma, Nabiki smiled, "Sure Ranma. We'll stop selling the pictures if that's what you want."

Fred blinked, "Huh? Why?" he didn't understand it. They were making money with those.

Ranma waved Fred off, "Thanks Nabiki." and took off from the table. He needed to think.

Toad whistle softly, "What's gotten into him?"

All eyes swiveled to Nabiki, waiting expectantly for an answer to that question. She just shrugged, with a smile, "He's just upset. Give him time to think things out, but for now no more picture selling. Understand?"

---

"They're all staring." Jean winced. She had been reasonably upset, and in fact didn't even want to come to school today, or any other day as far as she cared. It was for this exact reason, the stares, the disappointed looks, and the knowledge that those dirty pictures of herself were still filtering about the student body.

Risty sighed. This was great, just great. Those pictures had done more then hurt her friend, they were like boils, long lasting and so painful you couldn't even forget about them for a single second. "Just ignore it, people'll forget in a few weeks."

Rogue grimaced. Who did she think she was kidding? She appreciated the fact she was trying to cheer them up, but something like this wouldn't ever go away fully. People were always going to remember it, and throw it in their faces whenever they got the chance.

Scott sighed, rubbing his forehead tiredly, "At least the Brotherhood isn't rubbing it in."

Evan threw them a glance, "Eh, guess so. They seem too busy to care."

"Busy with what?" Kitty chimed in.

"Who knows?" Scott sighed. Though Risty wasn't a mutant, she understood they didn't get along with those guys. One of these days she'd learn the truth that they were mutants, he could only thank the gods she was here now, for Rogue if no one else. The girl was being way to quiet, way to drawn into herself for her own good.

"You know." Kurt risked a peek at the Brotherhood, "You think they had anything to do with the pics?"

Rogue scowled, immediately jumping on that one. The chance to lay blame on some one, if only to make herself feel better, was very welcome, "Might make sense. They aren't the type to just sit back and watch us hurtin, they'd want to rub it in."

Jean frowned. That did make sense. "But how?"

"I don't know." her comrade in suffering sighed.

Scott frowned, "Well.. what about Ranma?"

Risty blinked, "Eh? What would he have to do with anything?"

He waved the girl off, "Just a thought. I can't really see him doing something like that, but I don't know him all that well."

Risty hmmphed, "Then don't bring it up! Ranma's a sweetie, he really is!"

Evan grumbled, "Speaking of Ranma. He's been staring at us all morning."

Jean risked a glance, and sure enough he was staring at them, his eyes alternating between Rogue and herself. "He looks mad."

Rogue nodded. He was staring at them, while saying something to the others. His eyes were narrowed, and he looked ready to explode. Which only went to reinforce her belief he was disgusted in them. "Great."

A loud crash, followed by an angry shout startled all of them, "Because I said no! You wanna make somethin of it?"

They sat, slightly stunned when Ranma nearly broke the table in half with his rage. He stopped shouting then, speaking heatedly with the other members. Finally, he waved them off and stood up, casting their table one last glance, before taking off towards the exit.

Risty whistled, "Geesh. He really is pissed."

---

Today's Speech class was quickly becoming unbearable. Ever since she came in, she could feel him watching her, eying her every move, her every step. It made her nervous, and also angry. What the hell was his problem? Couldn't he see she just wanted to be left alone to deal with this in her own way?

She threw a glare back at Matthew, who along with Jonathan had vacated their seats in favor of being as far away from her as they possibly could. Not that she blamed them for that, because if they had stayed sitting near them, she'd of killed the pricks by now. Rogue sighed, sparing Ranma a glance and discovering, much as she expected, him to still be staring right at her. She turned back to the front, grimacing. What was up with that guy?

"I don't think he hates you." Risty offered, softly.

Rogue rolled her eyes, "Hate, disgust, it don't make much difference."

---

Ranma blinked, startled as he turned from Rogue to find Nabiki slapping some papers on his desk, "What tha?"

Nabiki shrugged, "Figured you'd want the list of people we sold too. I don't expect you'll be able to get all the pictures back, but this should help with the majority."

He blinked. Whoa. Had she been reading her mind? He had just been thinking of going around and forcing people to give up their pictures, "Uh.. huh?"

"You don't need to act surprised. I figured this was coming." she grinned, "Go ahead and settle that conscious of yours."

He nodded dumbly, picking up the list. Man, there was a ton of people there. Hey wait.. he blinked, "Jonathan?" he eyed the guy sitting next to Matthew.

Nabiki blinked, following his gaze, before chuckling, "Yeah, he bought a set of both girls. Keeps them in his locker, I think."

Ranma smiled. It was not a nice smile, "Not for long he don't."


---

Jean sighed, closing her locker, "I don't know, Rogue. I don't think he hates you."

"He just stares Jean." Rogue sighed, leaning up against the lockers, "It's annoying. I keep thinkin he's comparin me to those damn pictures."

Scott sighed, "Well, maybe he's concerned? You did kind of run away from him."

Risty nodded in turn with Scott's words, "Yeah. He's prolly just freaked it even happened."

Jean nodded, heading down the hall with the rest following, "Just talk to him about it when you go out on that date."

Rogue grimaced, "I don't think there's gonna be a date, not after what he saw in those pictures." She wasn't expecting anybody to even want to hang around with them after that little fiasco, Risty aside.

Risty pouted, "Aw, now you're not being fair. He said he'd go, I don't think he'll change his mind because of some stupid pictures." she grinned, wrapping her arm around the girl's shoulder and pulling her into a hug, "If he does, then he isn't worth our time anyway."

Scott grinned. Risty was so damn cool in his book, Rogue was lucky to have a friend like that. "Heh.. hey" he blinked, stopping as the small group passed a hallway, "What the hell..."

The group stopped, following Scott's gaze down the hallway. What the...

---

Ranma grabbed Jonathan by his shirt, lifting him up and slamming him against the lockers, hard, where the boy struggled uselessly to break his hold. "I said, give me those damn pictures. Now."

Jonathan struggled against the martial artists grip with no luck. The guy was too strong, and the way he was staring at him balefully shot a nervous shiver down his spine, "Hey! Calm down man, I paid for it! They're mine!"

Ranma wouldn't have any of it, pulling him off the lockers some, before slamming him against it again, "You ain't hearin me, kid. Give me those pictures, before I kick your ass."

"Alright!" Jonathan scowled, reaching into his jacket as best he could while being held up a foot off the ground by the pissed off martial artist. Fetching them out of his pocket, he held it out to the guy, who dropped him to the ground and ripped the pictures from his hand, "Get outta my sight."

Jonathan backed off some, "Yeah.. and fuck you too!" he flipped him off, then ran.

He watched him go, snorting, "Idiot." he examined the pictures, some of Rogue, and two of Jean. He then ripped them to pieces, flinging it's remains into a nearby trashcan before taking off. He had a football team to talk too.

---

They watched him go, stunned. Once he was out of sight, Scott ran up to the trash can, removing the lid, and retrieving large clumps of the pictures, "Wow.. he's going around destroying the pictures?" He hadn't imagined him doing that in a thousand years. Why though? Wasn't he friends with the Brotherhood? They were probably laughing their asses off about this embarrassment, so why would he help them?

Risty crowed, "See!" she playfully punched Rogue's arm, "I told you he was a decent guy!"

Rogue nodded dumbly. She didn't even know Jonathan had pictures of her, since he wasn't as open about it as Matthew had been when this whole things started, "Well.. I'll be."

Jean's ever-present smile became a little less forced, "That's sweet of him." she then scowled at Scott, who was pain stakingly trying to reconstruct one of the pictures, "Just what do you think you're doing?"

Scott blanched, dropping the remains back in the trash can, "Just... uh.. just making sure they were the real deal." He sweated at the glares the three girls shot him. Heh...

---

Lunch Time:

Peitro grumbled, "With that ass stopping picture sales, we haven't made any money! What the heck are we going to do now?"

Nabiki waved him off, "Please. The longer we kept selling pictures, sooner or later they would find out just who was selling them, and that would bring more problems to our door." she grinned, "Besides, the capitol from that was just a start up. We'll focus on our Loan Sharking, gambling rings, and whenever we get information on that Mr. Paulson to complete the teachers list, the black mail ring."

Wanda eyed the girl, "You're serious, aren't you?" She wasn't much of a money maker, having neither the time nor the attitude to make sure things go down. Nabiki was all go go go go when it came to this sort of thing, so much she couldn't help but be impressed.

"You bet I am." Nabiki smirked, "Besides, we'll still sell pictures, just not so risqué. Ranma's going around beating everyone up and stealing their pictures as we speak. Once he's done, we'll start selling pictures again, within moderation of course."

"Oooooh!" Tabitha smirked, "I get it. You're tryin to get that boy in good with those X-geeks, probably so you can rip em off blind or something?"

"Uh." She blinked. Actually she hadn't thought of that. If Ranma did get in good with Xavier's kids, he could likely gain access to some of that technology buried under the school. She wasn't stupid, with the stories of holographic imagers Ranma had told her, they could make a mint off such things. "Yeah, that's right."

Fred grinned, eying the girl with something akin to awe, "Nabiki so smart, so pretty.. you scare me.."

"Heh."

---

She hated Calculus. Absolutely hated it. Like every other student had done all day, the kids were staring at her. She didn't need to look and know they stared at her in disgust, or a variant there of. She oh so hoped whoever did this to her was laughing it up, because once she found them, they were dead.

Jean blinked as a couple of Football players, the brightest on the team, came stumbling in. It looked like some one had beaten them up, waited until they recovered, and then did it again. Weird.

"Fifteen minutes late O'doyl, Williams." the teacher sighed, waving them off, "You'll make it up after school. To your seats." and they did just that.

It wasn't until their neighbor, a girl by the name of Tracy, leaned over and asked them what happened, that her interest was piqued. "Hey.. you two okay? What happened?"

"Shut up." O'doyl grimaced, holding his arm tenderly, "That bastard oriental guy showed up..."

Jean blinked, overhearing. Ranma showed up? What was he doing, and if what she suspected was true, why did he beat up those two?

Williams grimaced, answering Tracy's curious look, "He found out we had pictures of Jean and that goth chick. When he told us to give it back, and we told him to screw off, he got.. pissed."

O'doyl grimaced, "Yeah, he kicked our ass, then took those pics and tore em up. Man.. that was over two hundred bucks down the drain!"

Tracy winced, "Ouch.. that guy knows Kung Fu.. you two going to be okay?"

Both football players waved her concern off, "Heh. Duncan got the worst of it. Guy wasn't happy he dumped Jean over something so stupid."

Jean ignored them from that point, a happy little smile appearing for all to see.

---

Wanda eyed the crowds of kids, all hurriedly trying to break away from the confines of the school, to go off and enjoy the weekend. When Ranma walked up, she gave him a curt nod, saying, "Feeling better?"

Ranma shrugged, leaning up against the lockers next to her, "Not really."

"Heard you had a little scuffle with the football team."

"Eh.." Ranma shrugged, "Yeah. They didn't want to give the pics up, an Duncan deserved an ass kicking for that crap he did with Jean."

Wanda shrugged. She didn't care about that, "Hey.. you going to tell them just who took those pics?"

He blanched, shaking his head seriously, "Oh hell no. Been down that road, I'd rather live, thanks."

Wanda shrugged, "Whatever." she sighed, "What's taking those idiots so long?" Peitro, Nabs, and the rest should have been here by now. School had ended nearly ten minutes ago! She blinked, staring behind Ranma weirdly, "Hey stud.. red head incoming six o'clock." she turned her head back to the crowds, "She's smiling at you."

Ranma blanched. Oh dear god, what now? Instead of turning around and greeting the girl, he just stood there, staring at the crowd. Maybe she'd get the hint and leave him alone?

"Hey Ranma.."

Didn't think so. Ranma sighed, glancing over, "Oh.. hey Jean. Sup."

Jean smiled, and this time it was a real, honest to god, warm smile, "Hey.. I just wanted to say thanks, for what you did."

"Eh.." He hmmed, "What's that?"

Jean grinned, "You know what I mean. The pictures.. the football team.. Duncan?"

Ranma chuckled, waving it off, "S'no problem. I.. uh, just didn't think it was right."

"Well, right or no." she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek, whispering softly, "Thank you." she pulled back, leaving the martial artist blushing madly with a wave and a parting, "Bye."

"Eh heh.." he hesitantly returned the wave. "Gee..."

"Smooth Ranma, smooth." Wanda smirked. Seeing the guy flustered by Jean of all people made her day just that much brighter.

---

"Risty.." Rogue groaned as the slimmer girl practically dragged her down the halls, "Can't we jus forget about this stupid date thing?"

Risty stopped, hmmed, "No." then started dragging the girl again. "He's already said yes, why back out now?"

"Gee, lemme think." Rogue rolled her eyes, "He's probably freaked out about the pictures, why the heck would he even wanna be seen with me?" She realized her excuse was weak, and more or less an inept attempt to fight off the inevitable. Damn it all. "Y'know.. you could jus go with him, I'll be fine alone.."

Risty blinked, then scowled, "What the heck are you saying? No friend of mine is staying home Saturday night when she could be out with a nice cute boy like Ranma! Now." they rounded the hall where the lockers the Brotherhood always hung out after school was located, "Let's go!"

As they approached the two, they heard Wanda laughing lightly, "Seriously Ranma. You have no idea what you've just done."

Ranma, absently rubbing his cheek with a raging blush, scowled, "Hey, leave me alone damn it!"

"Ohhhh Ranma!" Risty grinned, surprising the marital artist who, nervous for some reason, practically jumped back and through the lockers. "Ah!"

Wanda rolled her eyes, "Don't mind him. He's trying to fight off Jean's little kiss."

Rogue blinked. Wha? "Jean kissed you?"

Ranma waved his hands frantically, "It's not what it sounds like!"

Wanda coughed.

"Okay, maybe it is." he grunted, "But she was jus sayin thanks for somethin I did. We aren't dating." he glared at the Witch, who couldn't keep that damn smirk off her face.

Risty smirked, "Well.. if there's nothing going on with you and Jean, does that mean the date is still on?" she pulled Rogue forward, surprising her, she nearly bumped right into him, "Rogue's soooooooooo been looking forward to it! It's all she's talked about all day!"

Rogue blushed deeply, trying to look anywhere but in Ranma's eyes. Ahright, first thing she was gonna do when they got away from the boy was deal with Risty's constant lyin! Damn it, she couldn't believe she was blushin like some little girl with her first crush. ARRRGH! DAMN YOU RISTY!

Ranma blushed badly. "Uh.. ah.." Truth be told, he had nearly forgotten about that date thing. "Heh.. I promised, didn't I?" he shrugged, "When do you want to be picked up?"

Risty waved him off, "Don't worry about that!" she grinned, "We'll show up at your place!"

Rogue blinked. Not only did the guy surprise her by still being willing to go out on the date, but now Risty was trying to arrange it for them to show up at his place? "Uh.. why don'tcha just.."

"Quiet Rogue!" Risty hissed playfully, turning back to Ranma, "How about three?"

"Eh.." he shrugged, "Sure. See you then."

"It's a date! Don't forget now!"

When the two girls had finally left, Wanda roared in laughter, "Oh god! HAHAHAHAH! Bullied into a date by that pipsqueak! Oh god.. wait till the others find out."

Ranma cracked his knuckles, "Wanda.." he hissed, "No jury in the world would convict me.." he glared at her dangerously.

"Heh.. heh.." Wanda winced. Okay.. so she wouldn't tell them about the date. He certainly didn't say anything about not spreading the fact Jean kissed him.

---

Sebastian Shaw had much to consider. The tenuous situation developing in Japan from the recent Anti-mutant supporters was beginning to cast a bad light upon the Syntec Corporation, a corporation who's sizeable holdings and income was as much a part of the Club as his own stocks were. That wasn't good, and if things continued in their current vein he could expect to lose a rather substantial foot hold in Japan. That was simple one of his concerns, and he had many, so many he almost couldn't count. However, his primary concern was one he had been trying to put off for months, that concern being Emma Frost, the young heiress of Matilda Frost's world wide company, Frost Corp.

Selene sighed, "How about we kill two birds with one stone?"

Harry frowned, "What are you proposing?"

"Recent reports have pointed to the presence of the boy who trashed Agency Nero's top company. He's been seen making contact with the X-men as well as Magneto's little group, but from what we've heard the boy doesn't seem interested in either side, at least as far as the mutant conflicts go. He's attending school in Bayville, and I just so happened to notice Ms. Frost is the same age as Saotome.. why not use her application to join the inner circle as a test?" Selene explained, slowly.

Shaw frowned, rubbing his forehead irritably, "What do you propose?" Ms. Frost had been waiting patiently for two months already, holed up at the Hilton. She refused to leave until her demands were met, and there was only so much time he could stave her off until the main group got involved.

"Send her to Bayville, under the condition that she must learn all she can about the boy, and if possible drive him away from both sides, while manipulating him to our side." Selene grinned, "A boy with such power would be spectacular, but when he becomes a man, he should truly be a sight to see." she chuckled, "And if Ms. Frost could garner the boy's affections, that would make our hold over him all the more powerful."

There was something to this plan Shaw didn't like. Selene was a bitch, he knew this too be true, but a cunning bitch indeed. She was no doubt planning something, whether to do with the boy, or Ms. Frost he didn't know. Still.. she was right in regards to killing two birds with one stone. If Ms. Frost did indeed manage to ensnare the boy, that would be all the better for them. "Agreed. Frost shall be granted the title of White Pawn, a conditional title that will change depending on the success, or lack there of, of her mission with the boy. Acceptable?"

Harry nodded, "I see no problems with this. Provided she not use any of our valuable resources to complete the task... it would be far too easy for her to grab those 'Love' beads and take him that way."

Selene shrugged, "So we are in agreement?"

Shaw nodded, waving the woman off, "Yes, you'll inform her of our decision. For now, we have a Animals Right Activist group to discuss." he sighed. Why did people always insist they leave those baby seals alone? Club them all and be done with it, he'd say.

---

To be continued (heh)

AN: Seriously. I thought I was going to get some major flak for that last chapter, but only one person actually emailed me with a bad review. And it wasn't even that bad, since they couldn't think of doing it any other way, either. In either case, this chapter is to point out that Ranma is feeling very guilty over what he did, which will force him to give more 'attention' to the X-men, removing him from the Brotherhood's seemingly iron clasp on his loyalties. What people don't seem to understand about Ranma, and Nabiki, is that neither give a damn for Mutant Politics. The only thing they would be concerned about is Agency Nero, and that concern would only be where the hell they could hide the bodies.

Next chapter will deal primarily with the date between Ranma, Risty, and Rogue. You'll get to see some Emma in there towards the end, but not much. Her role will pick up heat the next day when she, Nabiki, and Jean cluster fuck everything. Expect the next chapter to be light hearted, and put the X-men in a better light, at least as far as Ranma himself sees them.

As for the match up poll...

For Ranma:

Rogue 9

Emma 8

Nabiki 10

Jean 6

Wanda 5

For Nabiki:

Ranma 10

Wanda 3