Ranma's Evolution
Ranma ½ / X-Men Evolution Crossover
By Hawk
Note: This chapter takes place a couple days before 'Growing
Pains'. I also changed the title of this chapter, and there's nothing
you can do about it! Nothing!
"English"
"Japanese"
Chapter 2: Language Barriers
Sitting outside the mansions front doors, Ranma
wondered how he was supposed to get to school. Not that he
wanted to, but the Professor would probably be upset if he
missed his first day. Scott had left already, as well as Jean, the
only two kids who knew how to drive.
He'd run to school, if he knew where it was. Instead he
sat on the front steps and readjusted the straps of his backpack,
thinking about how much trouble he was going to get into.
He blinked as he heard a rumble from around the corner
of the house and looked in the direction it was coming from.
Logan rolled up to him in a jeep made for off road driving. "Need
a lift?"
Ranma grinned in thanks and stood up off of the front
steps, once again readjusting his backpack before he opened the
car door.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ranma walked through the school hall looking blankly at
the piece of paper in his hand. The Principle, Mr. Kelly, who was
apparently brand new as well, had given him the paper, telling him
it had all of his classes listed, what rooms, what times and what
teachers. Made sense to Ranma, he'd been through the situation
before.
The only problem was that he couldn't read it. He could
speak and understand people speaking English, but he still
couldn't read it. He got the feeling he wasn't the brightest student
at his old school. If he'd ever gone to school before, of course.
The only thing he could understand on the paper were the
numbers, but even then, what the hell did 'R-O-O-M' mean?
Though he understood the numbers, he didn't know what they
were referring to.
The school bell rang, signaling the end of the second class
of the day. The hallways immediately filled with students, chatting
loudly, anxious to enjoy their 20 minute long break from learning.
Two students bumped into his shoulder, knocking him to the side,
and into a locker. The two apologized as they walked away.
He pressed his back against the row of lockers, trying to
get out of the other students way. His eyes widened and zipped
back and forth, trying to take in every teenager that walked past.
Though his watch helped to translate what they said, it didn't
seem to have the ability to translate the mass amounts of English
speech traversing through the hallway.
It passed in and out of English and Japanese. He would
hear the English revert to Japanese, then back to English, and it
made his head pound. He put his hands over his ears, hoping to
silence the scrambled speaking. His breathing quickened,
becoming slightly rasping.
A small hand grabbed his shoulder, and he spun out of
the grip, smacking the arm away. A girl he didn't know looked at
him oddly, shaking her arm.
"Your refnighing tu locker," the girl said.
Ranma gave her a blank look. Was she saying this was
his locker? How would she know that?
"Can fu move?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.
That Ranma understood. He nodded his head quickly
and stepped to the side, watching the as the girl stepped up to the
locker and opened it. 'She's opening my locker?' He peered
over the girls shoulder and into the locker.
'Why is if full of books, and random pictures of guys?'
Ranma made a face at the contents. 'I hope this isn't my locker,
yeesh. . .'
Reaching over the girls shoulder, he pulled one of the
books from inside and looked at the cover. He scratched his
head. What was B-I-O-L-O-G-Y?
The book was torn from his hands, and the girl was
yelling at him, but he couldn't really make any of it out. 'She
looks pretty pissed. . .'
"Calm down, you ugly tomboy, you look like a tomato!"
Ranma exclaimed, hoping to make the girl stop yelling at him.
Instead of quieting the girl, she seemed to get angrier, and
started yelling louder, pointing and gesturing. People around them
were starting to stare and point as well. He still couldn't
understand what was being said. Looking down at the translator
watch, Ranma flicked it with his finger hoping to make it work
better.
He was suddenly pushed from his side, and he stumbled,
surprised by the sudden attack. Glancing quickly at his assailant,
Ranma took in the tall, blonde boy, wearing a red jacket. He had
a smug smile on his face, as if he knew something Ranma didn't
know.
Collecting his balance, Ranma turned his full attention to
the taller boy. "What's your problem, huh?" he asked, hoping the
translator was working correctly.
"You're my problem now, pal," the taller boy stated,
trying to look tough.
No one else was talking, only watching, which explained
why Ranma could make out what the boy had said. He looked
the other boy over and nearly laugh out loud at what he saw. The
taller boy was not a fighter at all. He had some muscle, but clearly
had no idea how to use them right.
Shaking his head, Ranma turned his back on the blonde
boy. "You're not worth my time."
Sidestepping, Ranma easily avoided the punch aimed at
the back of his head. He reached up, grabbing the offending arm
and twisted it, dropping the blonde boy to his knees quickly. He
put pressure on the arm, almost snapping it.
"You cowardly piece of shit! Attacking someone when
they have their back turned, what kind of person are you?"
Ranma growled in his ear.
"Ranma!" a voice all too familiar called out.
He looked up at the approaching redhead, and released
the arm he was twisting.
"What's going on here?" Jean asked, as Duncan rose to
his feet.
"He attacked me!"
Jean looked at Ranma. "You attacked Duncan?"
Ranma shook his head. "No! He attacked me!" he
exclaimed.
"You saw it, Jean! He was twisting my arm! He was
going to break it!" Duncan shouted.
"You liar!"
"Can anyone tell me what happened here?" Jean asked
the surrounding crowd.
No one said anything, instead glancing around at one
another.
"You're going to believe this strange Asian guy over me,
Jean?" Duncan asked, incredulously.
"The name's Ranma Saotome, pal," Ranma growled.
"And why should she believe you, huh?"
"Because I'm her boyfriend," Duncan retorted.
Ranma looked at Jean in surprise. "This idiot is your
boyfriend?" The surrounding crowd shared a laugh. It wasn't
every day that Duncan Matthews got insulted so openly,
especially to his face.
"You could do way better," Ranma added, shaking his
head.
Jean blushed slightly at the implied compliment, but didn't
let it faze her too much.
"Say that again," Duncan said, standing up to Ranma, and
looking down on the pigtailed teen.
"That you're an idiot or that Ms. Grey can do better?"
Ranma asked, confused.
Duncan's face turned as red as his jacket. "Ms. Grey?
How does this guy know you, Jean?"
"She and I are livin' together," Ranma cut-in. He blinked,
and shook his head. 'Why does it feel like I've been through this
before?'
"What? Jean, who is this guy?" Duncan asked.
"What's going on?" Scott enquired after pushing his way
through the surrounding crowd and stopping beside Ranma.
Jean spared Scott a short glance. "He's a foreign
exchange student, Duncan, he's just a little confused. Just layoff
him, alright?" she lied, grabbing Duncan's arm, and smiling
sweetly.
"Alright, alright, I'll let it go, but only because you asked
me to, hun," Duncan said, smiling back at Jean.
"God, I think I'm gonna hurl," Ranma muttered.
"I think you and I should remember this as the first
time we agree about something, Ranma," Scott added.
"Likely the last, sun hater," Ranma replied.
Scott glared at Ranma from behind his sunglasses.
"Look, can we go outside, it's a little too cramped in here
for me," Ranma pleaded lightly.
Sensing that Ranma was indeed uncomfortable, Scott
grabbed his shoulder and led him through the crowd and down
the hallway. They walked out the front doors of the school into
the fresh air, and Ranma inhaled deeply.
"Thanks. . . shades," Ranma muttered, with a slight
grimace.
"No problem, shorty," Scott retorted. "So you wanna tell
me what happened in there?"
"Eh, I don't know, some girl was showing me my locker,
and she got mad at me, and then that Duncan guy shoved me,"
Ranma explained with a shrugged. He shook his wrist that had
the translator watch. "And this thing wasn't workin' or somethin'.
It kept going in and out. Was giving me a headache."
"Hm, we'll get Forge to look into it, and don't worry
about that Duncan guy. He's just an ass," Scott explained.
"Then why does Ms. Grey go out with him?" Ranma
asked, dumbfounded.
"Cause she's just. . . stupid," Scott mumbled, obviously
annoyed.
"Yeah, Duncan's a grade A jerk," Kitty said as she
walked up to the two boys.
"Hey, Kitty," Scott replied, looking over his shoulder at
the younger girl.
"Hey, guys. How's it going? Things going ok, Ranma?"
she asked, looking up at him.
"I dunno. I don't think I'm made out for school," Ranma
muttered, rubbing the back of his head embarrassed.
"Why's that?" a strange boy wondered, as he walked up
to the other three.
Ranma glanced at the new kid. "Uh. . . hi? Have we
met?" he asked.
"Oh! Ha, it's me, Kurt!" the teleporting mutant replied
sheepishly.
"Why don't you look. . . like you?" Ranma scratched
the back of his head.
"You know that watch that you have?" Scott started and
Ranma nodded. "Well Kurt has a watch that can hide his true
form with an illusion."
"Ooh, cool! That's amazing! I didn't even recognize
you!" Ranma exclaimed.
Kurt grinned. "Yeah, it words Wunders, mein Freund. So
why do you think you're not made out for school?"
"He got into a fight with Duncan just a couple minutes
ago," Scott explained.
"First day and already getting into a fight?" Kitty asked.
"That jerk started it. And this stupid watch isn't helping.
Sure I can speak and understand English because of it, but I still
can't read it," Ranma explained, pulling out his class schedule. "I
have no clue what this says!" He crumpled up the paper into a
ball and chucked it aside in frustration.
"I hate this school already, I can't read any of the damn
words, and I don't feel like I belong here!" Ranma continued.
"Ranma, it's not-"
"Don't even bother!" Ranma cut in, annoyance growing.
He turned and stalked away a few steps before stopping and
looking at them again. "Oh, and thanks for the 'ride' this
morning," he bit out sarcastically.
The three winced, Scott the most. It had been his idea to
leave without Ranma, knowing that Jean had gotten a ride with
Duncan that morning.
Kitty walked over and picked up Ranma's crumpled
class schedule. She flattened it out as best she could and looked
it over with a frown.
Kurt stuffed his hands in his pockets and said nothing. He
thought he and Ranma might have something in common, what
with both of them being from different countries, but he knew at
least how to speak, read and understand English on his own.
Ranma was clueless, in more than one way. The teen
remembered nothing of his past, of who he was, what his
childhood was like, how he had gotten to America. Right now,
nothing made sense to Ranma.
"We should find him, yeah?" Kurt asked, looking at Kitty
and Scott.
"Yeah, we better hurry, before break ends," Scott
replied.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"What's the mattah, sugah?"
Ranma looked over his shoulder, taking note of the girl
known as Rogue. She was gazing at him in confusion, an
eyebrow raised.
"Where ya headin' off to by yourself?" she asked.
"Felt like bein' alone, that a problem?" Ranma retorted.
Rogue shook her head. "No. No problem. I know the
feelin'."
"Good, then you can you do me a favor?"
"What's that, Ranma?"
"Tell everyone 'thanks but no thanks. I'm grateful for all
the help and what not, but this ain't gonna work out,'" Ranma
explained, shaking his head.
"Wh-what?" Rogue stuttered, surprised by Ranma's
proclamation.
Ranma gave her a backhanded wave and quickly leapt
away.
Rogue stared, shocked, at the spot where Ranma had
been standing just a moment before.
"Rogue!"
She recognized the voice immediately, and looked back
at Scott, Kitty and Kurt.
"Uh, Scott?" she muttered, about to explain what had just
happened.
"Have you seen Ranma?" he asked urgently.
"Uh. . . ya. . . he's gone," she said weakly.
"Gone? Where'd he go?" Kitty enquired.
"I don't know. . . but. . . he's gone. For good," Rogue
explained, then attempted to repeat what Ranma had just told her
to say. "He said 'thanks but no thanks. I'm grateful for all the
help, but this ain't gonna work out."
"Damnit! Which way did he go?" Scott looked around
quickly, hoping to catch sight of the pigtailed boy.
"I dunno, he just jumped and was gone." For some
reason she couldn't explain, Rogue felt unhappy at Ranma's
sudden departure. She hadn't gotten the chance to really know
him and suddenly felt like she might never get it.
"We have to inform the Professor," Scott said and
looked at Kurt. "Kurt?"
Kurt nodded. "I'm on it!" he exclaimed before glancing
around for witnesses and porting away.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ranma walked slowly down the busy New York street,
warily eyeing all the strangers. He was a foreigner in a foreign
land, and he had to find a way back to Japan. When he got there,
then maybe he would be able to find out something about his
past. 'Easier said than done, unfortunately.'
Though unnerved by the massive amounts of people
walking around him, Ranma easily slipped in and out of the
crowd, briefly considering jumping to the top of one of the
buildings to get a better view of the streets. He had axed that idea
after seeing some weird guy in red spandex swing by on what
looked like white rope.
He had taken off his translator watch, pocketing it, so to
avoid the headache of having to listen to thousands of people
talking, and the little wrist machine trying to process them all.
Instead he walked, lost as to where he was, no idea what anyone
was saying, and clueless as to how to get back to Japan. Though
something was also telling him that he should head North, to
Canada, but he didn't really know why he would have any
business there.
Someone shouted at him, and he turned to look at a man
waving a strange object in his face. It smelled really good, and his
stomach growled loudly. He smiled at the man and grabbed for
the object, but the man pulled it back and said something again.
Ranma scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders to
show he didn't understand. The man gestured to some numbers
on the side of his cart and Ranma assumed that the man was
asking for payment. Sticking his hands into his pockets, Ranma
came up empty handed, frowning in disappointment. The man
turned away from Ranma and started waving the object at other
people.
A foreigner in a foreign land with o foreign money.
A woman screamed beside him, and he flinched
momentarily at the sudden loud noise. Sparing a quick glance, he
eyed a woman nearby pointing and yelling at another man, who
was running down the street, a purse clutched in his hands.
Though Ranma was in a different land, and wasn't the
brightest bulb in the box, a screaming woman, and a man running
with a purse could easily be considered an international sign:
purse thief.
Hopping into the air, Ranma landed on the head of a
nearby pedestrian and, using it has a springboard, jumped after
the purse snatcher. He was quickly in front of the man and stuck
out his arm, clotheslining the thief who proceeded to flip violently
and land hard on his stomach. Lifting his foot, Ranma stepped on
the back of the mans neck, pinning him to the sidewalk.
Ranma blinked and looked at the assembled crowd
around him as they all clapped and cheered for him. He grinned
and gave them all a thumbs up. Someone patted him on the
shoulder, and another person grabbed his arm, giving it a
congratulatory shake.
Rubbing the back of his neck, Ranma blushed at the
sudden amount of attention he was receiving. The woman ran up
to him quickly, wrapping him in a tight, yet brief hug. She shook
his hand, smiling happily, rambling like crazy words he couldn't
comprehend. He reached down and grabbed her purse,
wordlessly handing it to her, smiling widely.
She grabbed her purse, hugging it to her chest tightly, and
again shook his hand. More people were patting his back, or
grabbing his arms and shaking him. The woman smiled at him
again, and he smiled back.
It felt good, doing what he did, stopping the thief and
rescuing the woman's purse. The attention he was receiving was
an added bonus to how nice it felt doing the good deed.
He blinked in confusion as the woman reached into her
purse and pulled out some green paper. She held out the paper
for him to take. Realizing it was money, Ranma shook his head
and hands, before pushing the money back toward her, refusing
the offer. He bowed to the woman for her generosity.
Feeling the man begin to struggle under his foot, Ranma
bent over and punched him in the back, hitting a particularly
painful pressure point. The man tensed and reached to his back,
screaming in pain. He stepped off the mans neck and reached
down, grabbing the thief's collar, yanking him to his feet.
Turning the man to face the woman, Ranma shook him,
and twisted his arm behind his back. The man bowed his head,
crying, repeating the same words over and over, which Ranma
hoped were an apology.
Seeing that the man had apparently apologized to the
lady, Ranma spun him around, and looked him in the eyes. The
man's eyes filled with fear and Ranma smiled reassuringly. . .
before head butting the man, knocking him unconscious.
Dropping the man unceremoniously, Ranma once again
bowed to the woman before turning and making his way through
the group of onlookers who parted, all gaping or staring in awe.
"You really think you're not cut out for this?" a gruff
voice asked in Japanese.
Ranma frowned. "How'd you find me?"
"We have our ways." Logan crossed his arms, thumbing
his nose.
"Well, good for you. Planning on draggin' me back to the
Professor?" Ranma replied, mimicking Logan's stance.
Logan ignored his question. "So where ya headed?" he
asked instead.
Ranma shrugged. "I dunno. Japan. Canada. Away from
here."
"How were you planning on making it to Japan? Gonna
swim?"
Chuckling, Ranma grinned. "Possibly. For some reason,
that doesn't seem too impossible."
Someone walked past, patting Ranma on the shoulder,
but he ignored it.
"You hungry, kid?" Logan asked abruptly.
"Starving."
Logan placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "Lets get
something to eat."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Scotts jeep pulled up to the parking garage, slowing to a
stop. The five mutants, Scott, Kitty, Kurt, Evan and Rogue,
climbed out and trudged into the house. After porting back to the
mansion, Kurt had informed Logan of Ranma running away. He
had been bluntly told to return to school, and that the situation
would be taken care of. It had been three hours since then.
They had since not heard back from Logan, Ororo or the
Professor as to what was happening. Entering the main hall, they
glanced around, spotting no one.
"So what now?" Kitty asked.
Scott shoved his hands in his pockets. He still didn't
particularly like Ranma by any means, and didn't really care if he
returned or not. He did care if Ranma ended up with the
Brotherhood and returned as their enemy though. It was better to
have a jerk like Ranma with you, than have a jerk like Ranma
fighting against you.
"We talk to the Professor, find out what's going on,"
Scott replied. "For all we know, Ranma could be back in the
mansion already, but our best bet to find anything out is to ask the
Professor."
The others nodded and the five made their way to the
Professor's office. They knocked, and upon Professor Xavier's
reply of 'Enter', the five walked into the office.
Sitting behind his desk, Professor Xavier smiled as his
students entered. "Come to inquire about Ranma?" he asked with
a slight frown.
Scott nodded, taking in the Professors expression. "He
hasn't come back, has he?"
Professor Xavier shook his head. "Sadly, he hasn't. I've
been trying to get in touch with Logan for the past two and a half
hours, but he hasn't responded."
The five students looked at one another before Rogue
spoke, "Do you know if he's found Ranma at least, Professah?"
The Professor again shook his head. "No, I don't know
for sure whether or not Logan has found Ranma, but I would
wager a bet that if he hasn't already found him, he is on his trail."
"Thanks, Professor," Scott muttered.
"Don't worry, I will inform you all as to when Logan
returns, with or without Ranma," Professor Xavier explained, and
the group of teens turned to leave. "And one more thing."
The five turned back to the Professor.
"You are worrying about someone who so recently was
your enemy, and in doing so you display an amount a maturity
that makes me proud to say you're my students."
The five students had the decency to look embarrassed
as they shuffled out of the room. Entering the main hall once
again, they all turned to the front door, as the handle turned and it
swung open.
Jean Grey stepped through, and took note of the others
downcast expressions at her appearance. "Well gee, I'm happy
to see you guys too."
"Sorry, Jean, we were just hoping you were someone
else," Kitty explained.
"Well that makes it better," Jean muttered. "What's going
on?"
"Ranma ran off, and Logan went after him," Scott
explained. "Logan hasn't come back yet though, so we don't
know what's going on."
"Have you talked to the Professor yet?" Jean asked,
suddenly alert.
"Yeah, he said he hasn't been able to get in touch with
either of them. He's in the dark just like us," Scott replied,
shoving his hands into his pockets. "Not that I like him or
anything. He was a total jerk, but I'd rather have him on our side
than on someone else's, you know?"
"Yeah, he seemed way too full of himself," Evan added,
crossing his arms over his chest.
The three girls and Kurt frowned.
"I was liking him. He was very cool!" Kurt said in
Ranma's defense. "He was going to help me with the ladies, I just
know it!"
Everyone shook their heads.
"I don't think anyone could help you with the ladies,
Kurt," Kitty mumbled.
Kurt frowned as everyone laughed.
"Oh, I think I could help him."
The six mutant teens blinked and turned to the voice.
Ranma stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest,
looking as smug as ever. The watch translator was back on his
wrist. Logan stood behind him, grinning, arms crossed as well.
"How long have you been standing there?" Scott asked,
surprised that none of them had heard their entrance.
"Long enough to know how much you care about me,
bright eyes," Ranma retorted with false sweetness.
Scott glared at Ranma behind his sunglasses. "Well, it's
true, you are a jerk, shrimp."
"How'd you open the door without us hearing you?
Were you spying on us?" Jean asked suspiciously.
"Whoever came in here last left the door open," Ranma
shrugged, and Jean had the decency to blush.
"All I did was walk up and hear what you guys were
talking about. If I were purposely spying, you guys made it pretty
easy for me to do so," he added before Logan pushed him in the
back and further into the mansion.
"Get in there, kid," Logan muttered, and closed the door
behind them. "I gotta go see the Professor. Go get yourself
situated again."
Ranma slid his hands into his pockets and grin at Logan
as the short man walked away. He turned back to the six others
and frowned. "Hey, um. . . I'm not so good with words and what
not, so I'm just gonna say. . . I'm sorry if I made any of you guys
worry."
The assembled six smiled back at him, the three girls
blushing faintly at his sudden modesty.
"It's no problem, Ranma," Scott said for them all.
"You're one of us now, we gotta look out for each other."
Ranma raised an eyebrow at Scott. "Who said I was
saying sorry to you? I know you weren't worried about me,
zipper zapper."
Scott glared. "I don't like you, shorty," he said bluntly.
Ranma grinned. "But like you said, I'm one of you guys
now. So I guess you're gonna have to grow to like me, eh?" he
replied and walked up the stairs and out of sight.
Scott sighed.
"You guys are such good friends!" Jean teased, smiling
evilly at Scott.
"The best of friends!" Kitty gushed jokingly.
"Why can't we be friends like that, Scott?" Kurt asked,
looking hurt.
Scott sighed. "I don't like you guys either," he said,
though his lips drew up in small grin.
The others laughed.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"So. . ." Professor Xavier started, his fingers steepled
together in front of his face. "Do you mind telling me how you
convinced Ranma to return?"
"Didn't you know that I'm an excellent speaker?"
Professor Xavier raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Ok, so maybe I'm not so great, but I have my ways," he
muttered with a sheepish shrug.
"Care to tell me of these 'ways'?"
Logan looked thoughtful for a moment, as if he were
going to refuse. "I guess. . . I can. . . if it means that much to you,
Chuck."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Three hours earlier:
Ranma and Logan sat across from one another inside a
small deli, their drinks and food ordered. Nothing else had been
said between the two of them since Logan last suggested getting
something to eat.
Ranma stared out the nearby window at the bustling
people, and honking traffic. It was loud, and he didn't like it. It all
gave him a headache, mainly because he understood none of it.
"So what? You gonna drag me back to the mansion or
what?" Ranma asked, not looking away from the window.
Logan snorted, and pulled out a cigar. He put it in his
mouth and was about to light it when he stopped. Grunting, he
pocketed his cigar and then grumbled. "Can't smoke anywhere
nowadays."
Ranma glanced at Logan. "That's good. Smoking's bad
for your health."
"Not bad for someone with the ability to heal," Logan
replied, leaning back in his seat. "Any damage a cigarette or cigar
could do to me is healed automatically."
"You're living a smokers dream," Ranma muttered.
"You gonna start trying to talk me into coming back yet?"
Their waiter returned, bearing their drinks and food.
"Everything look ok?"
Logan grunted a 'yeah' and the waiter walked away.
"I'm just here for the food, kid," he replied and cracked his
neck.
"Yeah, and Scott isn't stuck up," Ranma retorted,
picking at the newly arrived food.
Grinning, Logan raised his glass. "I'll drink to that."
Eyeing his glass of beer, Ranma sighed, and slowly raised
his glass of water, clinking it with Logan's drink.
Logan took a sip, and Ranma followed suit. Putting his
drink down, Ranma looked down at his sandwich
apprehensively.
"So why aren't you wearing the watch, kid?" Logan
asked, nodding his head at Ranma's bare wrist.
"The thing doesn't work in big crowds," Ranma
mumbled, frowning. "It would go in and out of English and
Japanese. Made things really confusing."
"Right, right. . . looks like it still needs some work."
Logan replied before taking a bite out of his hoagie. He
swallowed the bite. "You can hand over the watch, I'll take it
back to the mansion."
Ranma raised an eyebrow. "So you're really not here to
take me back?"
"I told you I'm not," Logan replied, shaking his head. "If
you want to come back, you can come back, easy as that."
"Yeah, well, I'm not going back," Ranma grumbled,
eyeing Logan cautiously.
"And for the last time, I told you I'm not trying to make
you. Now eat your damn food."
Ranma stuck his tongue out at Logan, before picking up
his sandwich and slowly taking a bite. He chewed, finding it to
taste pretty good. By his knowledge he had never had one of
these sandwiches before.
"Like that?" Logan asked as Ranma wolfed down his
deli sandwich.
Ranma nodded, distracted by the food in his hands.
"Thought you might."
The two ate in silence, Logan finishing his hoagie first, and
then downing the rest of his beer in one gulp. Standing, Logan
stretched and slapped a twenty on the table. "Well kid, was nice
knowing you. See you later. . . or not."
Ranma looked at Logan in confusion. "You're leaving?"
"Yup, I'll see you later, kid," Logan replied and walked
out of the deli.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"You left him?" Professor Xavier asked, stunned.
"Yup, left him there looking like a lost dog," Logan said,
grinning.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ranma blinked, surprised and confused. He had no idea
what to do now. He was alone again, in a big city he had no idea
where anything was. With no money as well.
"Maybe I shoulda rethought this," he muttered and
glanced at the exit. "Yeah, I'll just ask him for a little help in
getting around."
Sighing in resignation, Ranma stood up and rushed
toward the door. He stopped at the door, turned around and ran
back to the table. Snatching the rest of his sandwich, Ranma once
again turned and this time ran out the door into the streets.
He looked to his right, not seeing Logan, then glanced
quickly to his left. He sighed and glared.
Logan stood, arms crossed over his chest, looking rather
smug. "What took you so long?" he asked.
Ranma grinned sheepishly and held up his the rest of his
sandwich. "I nearly forgot my sandwich."
Logan nodded. "Of course."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"How did you know he'd come out?" Professor Xavier
asked.
"Because he's just like me. I may enjoy the lone wolf act,
Chuck, but I do know how much this place and you can help me.
I'm sure the kid thinks exactly the same," Logan explained,
plucking his cigar from his chest pocket and placing it in his
mouth. He didn't light it.
"And here I thought you only stuck around here because
you had nowhere else to go, Logan," Xavier joked.
Logan raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, partially that as well,"
he said with a grin and stood up.
"What took you so long to get back here?" the Professor
asked before Logan could leave the room.
Logan blinked and looked at the Professor. He lit his
cigar, which immediately made Xavier frown. "Showed the kid
around New York some. We gotta get Forge to look at the kids
watch tomorrow. Good thing it's a Saturday," he said before
striding out of the office.
Professor Xavier frowned. Logan was lying about
something.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Ranma sat up from where he was laying on his bed.
There was a second knock on his bedroom door. "Yeah, come
in," he said.
Logan entered the room, and shut the door behind him.
He grinned.
"You didn't tell him, did you?" Ranma asked nervously.
"No, I didn't tell him," Logan replied, still grinning.
"It's not funny," Ranma growled, glaring at the mutant
across the room.
"I don't know about that. . . I was pretty amused when-"
Logan started.
"Shut up," Ranma mumbled, cutting him off. "Just. . .
keep it to yourself, okay. . . I don't want anyone else knowing."
Logan shrugged. "It's bound to come out at some point,
you know. You won't be able to hide it forever, specially not
from the Professor."
"Yeah, well, even so, I'd rather no one else know that I
turn into a girl when I'm splashed with cold water."
There was a knock at Ranma's door. "Yeah?"
The door opened a bit, and Jean's head popped in. She
raised a quick eyebrow at Logan's presence who raised an
eyebrow back at her.
"Yeah? Can we help you?" Logan asked.
"Uh. . . yeah, I just. . . wanted to welcome Ranma back
and just say that I'm glad he decided to stay," Jean explained,
and smiled at Ranma.
Ranma blinked and blushed slightly. "Uh, thanks," he
mumbled, grinning and rubbing the back of his neck to hide his
embarrassment.
"Yeah, well, uh. . . that's all," Jean muttered and ducked
out of the room.
Logan glanced at Ranma, who looked back at him.
"What?" Ranma asked pointedly, putting his hands on his
hips.
Logan shrugged. "Nothing, nothing at all," he replied, and
walked out of the room. "See you at dinner, kid."
"Yeah," Ranma mumbled and looked around his room.
He sighed. "What am I gonna do. . .?"
Next Time: Chapter 3 - Making New Friends
Ranma's first Saturday at the mansion with the rest of the
mutants. Xavier wants him to get to know his fellow classmates
better. Should be easy enough, right? Right. . .?
Author's Notes: Hmm. . . I've had this sitting on my comp for
awhile, only half of it was written though. I pretty much wrote the
rest of it in a couple of hours. Anyway, please review and let me
know what you think, constructive criticism is very welcome, but
flames are typically ignored.
Now for the fun times of Chapter Stats!
(Chapter Stats do not include the Chapter Stats)
Chapter Stats:
Characters: 26387
Words: 5683
Sentences: 886
Lines: 946
Paragraphs: 677
Pages: 22
Average Word Length: 5
Average Words Per Sentence: 6
Maximum Words Per Sentence: 20