Jeffrey "OneShot" Wong Just Won't Die Asuka <6/6> Asuka was on her way to her next class on campus, on the other side of campus no less, when a young man approached her. "Hi there," the man said. Asuka regarded the young man for a moment. He looked to be around a year older than her, around the age of twenty one. The man was handsome, but much more handsome than most of the males students that constantly approach her. It was understandable. Since men consider beauty very high on their priority list of potential girls, they are instantly attracted to someone beautiful like Asuka. "Hi," Asuka said with a rather dismissive tone. "I'm Dustin," the man said, regarding Asuka longer than she cared to acknowledge. "Asuka," she said, figuring she should at least be nice in return. Deep down inside, she was sick and tired of guys constantly hitting on her. "It's nice to meet you," the man said. "Likewise I guess," Asuka didn't seem interested. "I've never seen you around here before," the man said, "Are you a freshman? What's your major?" Asuka had heard that line before, "It's odd that you say that. I've been walking down this path every day since the Fall semester. And no, I'm not a freshman. I'm a senior," It would be considered a bit odd that a person as young as Asuka was already a senior in college, but because she excelled in her academics and constantly took extra credits, she would be graduating ahead of schedule. "A senior? Wow," the man said, "Same as me," Asuka shrugged. "So, what's your major?" that man asked. Asuka spotted one of her classmates for the next class a short distance away. "Sorry, but I'm really busy and I hafta go," Asuka said, "My friend's waiting for me," "Oh," the man seemed disappointed, "I guess I'll see you around," "Okay," Asuka muttered before rushing off. She ran the short distance between her and her friend. "Tomiko," Asuka called out. The girl named Tomiko turned around and was surprised to see Asuka. "Oh, Asuka, hey, what's up?" Tomiko greeted her. Tomiko was a pretty girl of twenty-three. She had wavy brown hair and wore glasses. She started attending college two years later than most people, having spent her first two years out of high school traveling abroad. Although a native Japanese, her worldly travels made her very fluent in several languages. She could speak conversational German with Asuka if need be. However, Asuka spoke to her mostly in Japanese. "Ready for?" Tomiko asked, "I'm a bit worried about the upcoming test," Asuka nodded, "Yeah, I'm worried a little bit," "You? Worried?" Tomiko was surprised. This was because everyone knew Asuka was by far the best student of the class, constantly getting the highest grades in all of the quizzes and tests. "Hey, I may do well in my test and such, but those grades don't come easy," Asuka commented. "If you say so," Tomoki laughed. The two of them walked together toward their next class when they spotted Ranma walking across a giant field. It was a funny sight because Ranma was walking across the middle of the field while the school's soccer team was in the middle of their practice and had to stop what they were doing while he crossed. The fact that he didn't seem to care one bit about annoying every single soccer player made it all the more funny. Asuka was a bit surprised to see Ranma around campus around now. He could usually be seen walking around later in the day, around the time when she and Rei were done with their last class. "Hey, it's that Ranma guy," Tomiko said, pointing. Asuka turned toward Tomiko in surprise, "Y-you know him?" "No, but I've seen him around before," Tomiko replied, "He runs that dojo not too far from here," "Yeah," Asuka said. Tomiko, nor anyone for that matter, knew that Asuka lived with Ranma. She tried to keep that secret because, as much as she hated to admit it, she knew if people knew she lived with Ranma, they would not leave her alone and ask her a ton of questions about him. Why the hell is Ranma considered this town's most eligible bachelor, Asuka thought. He's mean, and he's stupid, and he's a jerk. If all the women in this town knew the real Ranma, they'd run away from him as fast as possible. "C'mon, we better hurry and head to class," Asuka said, not wanting Ranma to spot her. As if God, or Urd, or Ranma, or whoever God of the universe was at the moment, was working against her, she heard Ranma's voice. "Hey, Asuka," Ranma called out to her. Damn, Asuka swore under her breath. "Whoa, he's calling out your name," Tomiko's voice was full of surprise, "You and Ranma know each other?" "Um, more or less," Asuka said, dreading the encounter. Asuka knew she was never going to get used to Ranma's personality, no matter what. He was too unpredictable. He could say the smartest and stupidest thing in a single breath, in the same sentence. This was a guy who have seriously 'fucked' up worlds simply because he showed up there. But then again, he was also the same guy that had saved worlds. Urd, God, considered him walking chaos. ONLY someone like Ranma could give God ulcers. "Hey, Asuka-chan," Ranma smiled happily, "What's up?" Asuka didn't bother to express her annoyance at him calling her Asuka-chan. It wasn't as if anything was going to stop him from doing whatever he wanted. Deep down insides, she was glad he was on their side and not an enemy. As annoying as he could be at times, she was sure this world slept better knowing Ranma was one of the good guys. Of course, the term 'good guy' should be used loosely. "We're on our way to class," Asuka said, "And we're going to be late," Ranma turned toward Tomiko, "Hi. I'm Ranma," "I know," Tomiko said, a bit flushed, "Um, I'm Tomiko," Asuka muttered something to herself when she noticed the blushing on Tomiko's cheeks. Why the hell do girl always blush when they see Ranma, she thought. It's as if they seemingly fall head over heels over this guy at first sight. "Nice t'meetcha," Ranma smiled, "You Asuka-chan's friend?" "You and Asuka know each other?" Tomiko asked curiously. Ranma nodded, "Yeah," No, don't say anything else, Asuka thought. "Asuka and I know each other really well," Ranma said, placing an arm around her. "Wow," Tomiko gasped. The blood drained from Asuka's face. Her quiet college life as of now had just ended. Once word got out that she lived with Ranma, every girl would be barraging her with questions, like what kind of girls he liked. Girls around campus had noticed her and Ranma talking to each other at times, but she usually dismissed their questions with something like. Sure, Ranma could be seen talking to her, but that was usually after she was done with classes, when all the people from her classes had gone home long ago. Just for the heck of it, Ranma decided to role-play. This was what Asuka hated about Ranma, the fact that he was so unpredictable. "We lived together," Ranma grinned. Asuka pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can't believe this is happening to me," Asuka was fuming when she came back home later that day. Because of what Ranma had said, rumors got spread through classroom, no thanks Tomiko. Tomorrow she would have to deal with her classmates from her earlier classes since they would know as well. She knew that she would now have to deal with all those doting girls wanting to know everything there was about Ranma. Because there was no indication that she and Ranma were seeing each other, those girls would think Ranma was up for grabs. Asuka felt even more angry at Ranma than usual. She was so angry at him that she ended up throwing her backpack at him as he slept on the couch. As to why he seemed to sleep on the couch, in the middle of the day for that matter, instead of the bed in his room, was something no one could understand. "Ranma you jerk!" Asuka shouted at him. The backpack hit him in the face and ended up flipping up over the back of the couch, landing right on the night stand next to it and knocking over the lampshade resting on it. Ranma didn't even budge, sleeping right through that assault. This was because Ranma had gone through so much that only something short of an N2 mine blowing up in his face would faze him. That made Asuka even more angry. She headed toward the kitchen to fetch a glass of cold water. "Welcome back," Akane was in the kitchen. She was getting ready to prepare dinner, busy chopping some vegetables. At the moment, Akane had a big smile on her face. Perhaps it was because of the comment Ranma had made earlier, that her cooking had gotten so good that it reminded him of Kasumi's cooking. She considered that a great compliment. It was amazing how far along she had come in terms of cooking. Then again, she had been cooking and improving for over the past ten years. When she noticed Asuka seemed angry, she asked, "Is something the matter?" Asuka proceeded to fill up a cup of cold water. "Lettme guess, Ranma," Akane went back to cutting her vegetables. "It's always him," Asuka said. Akane laughed inwardly. As long as Ranma didn't do something like actually hurt Asuka's feelings, she knew Ranma was just teasing. It was in his nature. Now that Akane thought about it, she realized Ranma did that to her when she was young. It was only natural that with age, Asuka would start realizing that it wasn't worth it to get angry at Ranma anymore. Ranma did tease Asuka, yes, but never in a vicious and lampooning sort of way. Finished filling up her cup with cold water, Asuka headed for the livingroom, intent on giving Ranma a rude awakening. When she entered the room, she noticed Ranma was awake and was now sitting upright in the couch, watching television. The television was displaying some anime show she didn't recognize nor cared to watch. "You're awake," Asuka felt disappointed, having really wanted to splash Ranma awake. Ranma tapped his forehead, "Wow, I guess that's why you're graduating sooner than most people. You have a keen perception of the obvious," Asuka contemplated splashing Ranma while he was awake but ended up choosing against it. "Besides, my favorite show's on," Ranma said, leaning back, "Also, that backpack you threw at me did the trick in waking me up," "Good," Asuka said, "I hope it hurt, especially what you did to me in school today," Ranma regarded Asuka for a moment, "Did what?" "You know exactly what," Asuka said. "Forget it," Ranma went back to watching television, "I can't stand you females with your ambiguous words. 'If you don't know what you did wrong, then I'm not going to tell you'. Why dontcha put on a dress and ask something like 'Do I look fat in this dress?' while you're at it?" "Hmph," Asuka turned around and left the room, figuring it was better to let Ranma anguish at not knowing what he did wrong than to flat-out tell him. Ranma watched Asuka's back as she left the room before shaking his head in annoyance. "Women, you can't live with 'em. Period," Ranma said, turning back to his television. He heard the sounds of knuckles cracking from behind him. "And what do you mean by that?!" he heard Akane's voice. Asuka stared up at the ceiling of her bedroom as she lay in bed. "Something the matter?" Asuka's younger self, Asuka-chan, her roommate, asked curiously. "What do you think?" Asuka answered wryly. "Ranma again," Asuka-chan stated. It was a comment, not a question, "How come he annoys you so much? He doesn't seem like that bad a guy. But then again, I only recently met him," "I guess it's because you don't know him like I do," Asuka sighed, "He annoys the hell out of me. What makes me wonder is how come he doesn't pick on you but picks on me, especially when we are essentially the exact same person except for the age difference," Asuka-chan shrugged, "I don't know," Asuka chuckled slightly, "Perhaps he's leaving you alone because he's having more fun watching you chase after baka-Shinji," "Will you quit calling him baka-Shinji?" Asuka-chan said, "You weren't there to see all the amazing things he's done," Asuka shivered, "But this is Shinji's we're talking about. It creeps me out at the thought that, due to different circumstances, I could possibly like someone like Shinji," Asuka-chan shrugged, "So what if I like him. If you don't like the fact that I like Shinji, tough," Asuka shook her head in annoyance. Perhaps it was because she was a little bit older that she was able to realize it was useless arguing with her younger. They both had confrontational personalities and that was not a good combination. Only because she was older and wiser that such conflicts didn't occur. "How's school?" Asuka asked. "Same as always," Asuka-chan muttered, "Man, I can't wait to be in college. All these high school boys annoy me. I only like guys much older than me, like Shinji's age," Asuka rubbed at the headache she was developing. It was one thing dealing with Ranma's annoying antics. It was another having to deal with her younger self seemingly infatuated with the one guy she found every bit as annoying as Ranma. "You do know Shinji and Emiko are 'engaged', right?" Asuka smirked, "That means they're probably going to be getting married sometime down the line," "I don't care," Asuka-chan said, "I'm not worried. I know it isn't going to work out for the two of them. All I have to do is wait," "Ugh, I just wanna puke," Asuka said, "This is so gross...my younger self liking baka-Shinji," "Whatever," Asuka-chan said. At that moment, the phone rang. Asuka-chan was closest to the phone so she picked it up before her older self could. "Hello?" she asked. "Yes, but which Asuka? College-Asuka or High School- Asuka?" After a second, Asuka-chan turned toward Asuka and handed her the phone. "It's for you," she stated, "She says her name's Erin and that she's one of your classmates," Asuka reluctantly took hold of the phone. "Hello?" she asked. "Hi, Asuka? This is Erin. I'm in your Signals class," Asuka sighed. This was the forth phone call of the day. She already knew what the reason for the phone call was. "How come you're calling me?" she asked, already knowing the answer. "I heard that you and Ranma live together," the voice said, "Is Ranma your boyfriend?" "No," Asuka answered. "Is he seeing anyone?" came the expected question. "No," she replied, "Anyway, I'm sorry, but you called at a bad time. I'm in the middle of doing my homework," "Oh, okay," the voice said, "Perhaps we can talk in class tomorrow," "Fine, whatever," Asuka dismissed it, "Talk to your tomorrow. Later," After Asuka hung up the phone, she picked up her pillow and buried her face in it and yelled as loud as she could. "Ranma, you jerk!!! it's all your fault!!" Asuka's voice was muffled under the pillow. At that very moment, Ranma was in the bathroom urinating. When he suddenly sneezed, he missed the bowl completely, urine going everywhere but in the bowl. What was even worse was that some of it landed on that shower rug in front of the sink. Ranma scratched his head with his free hand. "Man, my aim's off more than usual today," Asuka noticed a weird smell when she was taking a shower at night. She usually took her shower around then, around a few hours before she would be going to sleep. "What the heck's that smell?" she asked herself. "I missed earlier today," Ranma said, "I didn't miss enough to make a puddle so I left it alone," Asuka's shrieked in surprised when she heard Ranma's voice. "Ranma, what are you doing in here?!?" Asuka shouted through the shower door at Ranma. "Brushing my teeth," Ranma said, "Don't worry, I won't use the cold water so you won't hafta worry about needing to jump out from under the scolding water and letting me see you naked. Then again, it's not like I haven't seen you naked before countless times," "Get out!" Asuka shouted. "Why? It's my house," Ranma replied with a mischievious tone. "It's because you say stuff like that that makes me want to move out and get my own place," Asuka said out of anger. It wasn't as if she meant it but she had thought about it several times. Aside from having to deal with Ranma's antics, and dealing with the constant confusion of having two 'Asuka' living under the same roof, living there was a very enjoyable experience. "Really?" Ranma's voice seemed genuinely surprised, "You wanna move out?" "Hmph, yeah," Asuka replied, knowing there was no real way of retracting her statement. But then again, perhaps she can use it to her advantage, "It's because you're constantly annoying the hell outta me. I can't stand it," "If you move out, is it gonna be just you alone or you and 'Bob'?" came Ranma's unpredictable answer. "I'd hafta discuss it with her," Asuka said, surprised that Ranma could tell which Asuka he was talking to since he couldn't actually see her behind the shower door. 'Bob' was the name Ranma labeled Asuka's younger version. Since he liked calling Asuka by the pet name, Asuka-chan, it would create confusion since everyone already got used to Asuka's younger self being referred to as Asuka- chan. Instead, Ranma referred to the younger Asuka as 'Bob', which left he the option of calling older Asuka by the pet name he usually called her, Asuka-chan. All in all, having two Asuka's living under the same roof was both confusing and hard to explain to people. "I guess you won't be hearing any arguments from me. It's your decision, afterall," Ranma said, leaving the bathroom. Asuka stood in front of the stream of warm water, wondering the significance of those words. Did Ranma really want her to move out? Asuka sat by the window edge and gazed out toward the stars above that night. For some odd reason, she found it rather relaxing. Little did she know that being in contact with Ranma for so long had caused her to subconsciously mimic some of his quirks. At night, when there wasn't much to do, Ranma could be seen laying on the rooftop gazing up at the skies, sometimes even falling asleep up there. Of course, it wasn't as if he needed to sleep, but that didn't mean he couldn't sleep if he wanted to. It had come to be known that Ranma slept whenever he wanted to pass some time. "I wonder if he's up there right now," she asked herself. She bonked her head, wondering why Ranma suddenly popped into her mind. She turned her attention away from the skies and toward her younger self as she lay on her bed finishing up the rest of her high school homework. "Hey," Asuka called out. "Yeah?" Asuka-chan didn't bother looking up from her textbook. "Has it ever crossed your mind to move out?" Asuka asked. Asuka-chan shook her head, "No. I just got here. What, am I supposed to move out?" "No, I was merely curious," Asuka shrugged. "What, you're thinking of moving out?" the young girl asked, "Where do you plan on moving out to? Are you going to live alone or with someone?" "I haven't given it much thought," Asuka said, "It merely crossed my mind and I was curious. That's all," At that point in time, Asuka realized that if she were to move out, she would be moving out on her own. Asuka sighed as she wondered how much of a pain her college life was going to be as she headed toward school. The moment she entered her first classroom, all the females would be approaching her to ask her tons of questions about her relationship with Ranma. Wanting to keep her mind occupied, Asuka slowed down as she walked passed the car dealership that was on her way to school. Every time she passed by, she would slow down and look in at the beautiful cars on display, especially the beautiful red classic convertible that was located in the center of the showroom floor. Although she didn't know much about cars, she knew that car pre-dated the year 2000. The mere fact that it exclusively used a gas-power combustion engine was a good indication. She sighed. She wanted a car. But that would never be since she couldn't afford one. Sure, she received a rather generous weekly allowance from Akane and Ranma, but it would take a long time to save enough for a car. Shinji had his own car, but that was because he used the money he earned from his boxing career to do so. As to Shinji's choice of car, Asuka could not understand why he bought a used car, a junker that needed a serious fix-up. "It's just as fun fixing a car as it is to drive one," Shinji had commented when she expressed her disdain at Shinji's poor choice for transportation. Asuka assumed it was some kind of guy thing, to like working on cars and getting dirty. However, she couldn't help but feel a bit of jealousy when she looked in the house garage and saw Shinji thoroughly enjoying working on the car. Working on his car seemed really enjoyable to Shinji and it made her wonder if it was as fun as it looked. She let out an annoyed breath as it dawned on her that Shinji was actually growing up faster than her. Shinji had taken over the dojo, made an exuberant amount of money boxing, and would most likely be buying his own house in the near future. And at such a young age too. At least the knowledge that Rei was in the same boat as her made her feel a bit better. Rei simply attended college, much like her. "Hi there," came a male voice. Asuka sighed. Yet another guy to hit on her. This was really annoying. "What do you want?" she turned toward the man. "Whoa, I was just only saying hi," the man said. Asuka regarded him for a moment and noticed that it was that guy she saw the other day. "Hi, remember me?" the man smiled. "Yeah.....Billy Bob, right?" Asuka asked, choosing a random name. "No, it's Dustin," the man said, wondering where the heck that name came from. "Whatever," Asuka didn't really care. "On your way to campus?" the man asked. "Perhaps," Asuka said coldly. "Same here," the man offered, "How about we walk together?" "No thanks," she dismissed him, "I'll be fine by myself," "Are you sure?" the man persisted. "Leave me the hell alone," Asuka snapped, "I'm sick and tired of guys constantly hitting on me. You have no idea how annoying it is," "Jeez," the man took a step back, "I'm sorry. I'll leave you alone," "Good," Asuka said, oddly satisfied at watching the man as he quickly retreated. Asuka felt a bit better now. Perhaps she simply needed to vent out some frustration. Ranma had seriously annoyed her yesterday and she hadn't had a chance to vent until today. When the guy was long gone, she turned her attention back toward the car she had been looking at originally. At that moment, she felt something slap her butt hard which caused her to yelp out in surprise more than pain. She didn't need to look to know who it was. Only one person would dare do something like that. "What do you want, Ranma?" she said in annoyance. "I was on my way to visit Nene when I saw you," Ranma said, "I figured I'd say hi," Asuka wondered why Ranma seemed to visit Nene so often. He visited her more than any of the other girls. It made her wonder more on what had occurred between Nene and Ranma during the time they went to that other world together and brought back Bateau and Motoko. "Well, you said hi, so I guess it's best you leave then," Asuka began walking down the street toward campus. "I noticed you lookin' at that convertible in there," Ranma smiled, "What, you interested in that car?" "What ever gave you that idea?" Asuka lied. If Ranma knew she liked that car, he would most likely tease her about it. "Dunno, probably because every time you walk by that car dealership, you stop for a moment to look at that car," Ranma commented. Asuka said nothing. How did Ranma know? Was he spying on her? "If you really want that car, I can get it for you," Ranma said sincerely. This was what annoyed Asuka so much. Ranma could be the most annoying and nicest person at the very same time. Asuka didn't really know what to say for a few moments, shocked at gesture. "All I need to do is find get a blue print of the car and we can start building it right away," he said, "It'll take us a while to built an exact replica, but it's doable," "We?" Asuka asked, "What do you mean by we?" "It'll be our lil project," Ranma smiled warmly, "We can work on the car together," "Um, in case you're wondering, I don't have this weird interest with cars like you and Shinji have," Asuka waved her hand dismissively, "It's some stupid guy thing to like cars and building stuff," "Whatcha talking about?" Ranma was surprised to hear such a comment, "It's not a guy thing. For your information, Lisa, Skuld, Ritsuko, Nene, Sylia, and Priss have an interest in this as well," "T-they do?" Asuka asked. This was news to her. Ranma reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. He unfolded it and handed it to Asuka. "What's this?" she asked. "It's a piece of paper," Ranma grinned. "I know you idiot," Asuka snapped, "But what's it for?" "It's an advertisement for this contest," Ranma grinned, "Some car company is sponsoring this contest where regular people are expected to build the greatest car possible. The winner wins a million yen. Here's the catch, these cars needs to be powered by a combustion engine no larger than 2.0 liters," "2.0 liters? Isn't that really small, even by combustion engine sake?" Asuka said. "Heh, for a girl who don't seem to care much about cars, you seem to already know more about cars than any average person since very few people know anything about combustion engines, let alone the fact that 2.0 liters is really small," Ranma grinned, "I'm on my way to see Nene and the others. Since they like this kind of stuff, I'm sure they'll be interested in taking part in such a contest. In a sense, the timing is perfect. We can build the car for the contest, and after we're done, you can have it. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard making the car look like the car you were looking at," "Y-you can do that?" Asuka asked, her voice sounding a bit happy. Ranma chuckled, "How can we not? In case you've forgotten, we've saved worlds before. How hard is it to build a car? I'm sure it's easier," "That'd be great!" Asuka jumping up and down happily. When she realized that she was acting like some super-giddy high school girl, she stopped what she was doing and cleared her throat. "Well, I gotta get going," Ranma said, "We only have a month for this contest so we hafta all get cracking right away," "Um, okay," Asuka said, "Well, I better get going to school," "See y'later," Ranma headed off. "Later," Asuka said. Asuka had a big smile as she headed off toward school, already having completely forgotten that she was supposed to be angry at Ranma. Of course, when she made it to her first class and was barraged with question about him, she would surely be reminded that she was supposed to be angry at him. "What's it like living with him?" "Have you ever seen him naked?" "Does he walk around in his underwear like I've heard all guys do?" Those were just a few of the random questions Asuka's classmates asked her. "Will you guys please leave me alone?" Asuka said, "All those questions you're asking me, that's for me to know and you to find out on your own," She figured that was a good enough answer to all the questions at once. She couldn't understand why so many girls knew about Ranma and details about his personal life. Sure, he's very handsome. But he was also a jerk. What was it about Ranma that appealed him to members of the opposite sex? At that moment, the professor entered the classroom and everyone took their seats. Asuka couldn't help but feel elated when the class commenced. Now she could return to being angry at Ranma. Asuka was on her way from school that evening when she spotted Ranma standing among a large group of people. Approaching the group, she came to realize that he was with Lisa, Nene, Ritsuko, Sylia, Priss, and Bateau. They were all standing out in front of the car dealership where she and Ranma had bumped into each other earlier. Ranma was holding and looking inside a small booklet that had a picture of a car in front of it. "Now that we've got the dimensions and specs of the car, we need to go about getting the parts," she heard Ranma say. "Asuka," Ritsuko was the first to notice her. "Um, hey guys, what's up?" Asuka approached the group curiously. "Ah, Asuka, what a surprise," Ranma said, "I was wondering what happened to you," "I stayed after class for a short while," she replied, "I had to talk to the professor about the grade he gave me for the test I took yesterday," "What, you messed up a question and wanted to contest it?" Ranma smirked. "No, for your information, the professor didn't realize that I had did all the work for the test on the other side of the test and that I was supposed to get full credit," Asuka said. Ranma said, "Okay," "What are you guys doing gathered here?" she asked. "Ranma explained this contest," Priss said, "And we're all interested in taking part in it," Ranma jerked a thumb toward Bateau and Motoko, "Bat-man and Moto-chan here are interested in taking part," "Will you quit calling me that?" Bateau said to Ranma coldly. "It seems like Bateau's got quite a bit of knowledge of combustion engines," Ranma said, "He and Lisa's gonna work together at designing the engine and keeping it within the specified specs for the contest," Several of the girls smirked at one another, knowing where that could lead. Ever since Bateau came with Ranma back to this world, he had been hanging out with Lisa quite a lot. It was understandable since Bateau was basically completely cybernetic, very much possessing a supped-up boomer body by this world's standards, and Lisa was the only one capable of upgrading and keeping his body in perfect working order. Most of the girls secretly believe Bateau was suffering from a weird case of 'Florence Nightengale Syndrome', a syndrome used to describe these cases where a patient fell for his or her doctor or nurse. Ever since Bateau and Motoko came to this world, they had acquired a job working at a newly developed section of AD Police Headquarters that was specifically designed to battle cyber terrorism, a newly budding problem in this world. Since Motoko and Bateau was so skilled at what they did back on the other world, doing the same kind of job here was pathetically easy. And because of that, they spent very little time working. Funnily enough, they did generally did grunt work since they had to start at the bottom and work their way up the ladder. Since they couldn't resort to using the advanced technology built within their bodies to solve their crimes or risk being exposed that they were 'boomers', they had to have their bodies reconfigured to hide the interface jack ports located on the back of their necks. Also, they had to have their bodies fixed back up and the nano-computers replaced to prevent the Ghost Whitening disease they currently suffered, the Alzheimer's Disease version of cybernetic bodies. Doing such insanely difficult procedures was something only someone of Lisa's skill could perform. Since Lisa did the difficult task, Bateau seemed to have developed a resounding respect for her talents as well as some kind of high school crush on her, what the crew seem to consider the 'Florence Nightengale Syndrome'. Everyone but Lisa and Bateau seem to have noticed this. "Anyway, Bateau and Lisa will be working on building the engine," Ranma said, "Ritsuko and Nene will be working on developing the engine management, the ECU device," "ECU?" Asuka asked. "The electronic control unit," Ritsuko said, "It's basically the brain of the car," "Priss and Sylia offered to work on all the other miscellaneous components," Ranma said, "And last but not least, you and I are expected to create the chassis," "What?!" Asuka's eyes widened, "I'm going to be working with you?" "Yep," Ranma said, "Hey, you're gonna be the one getting the car after all of this. What, you think you can just sit on your butt while we do all the work? I don't think so," "But-" Asuka began. "No buts," Ranma opened the garage that night, Asuka standing right next to him. The garage opened to reveal the front of the beat up station wagon Ranma had bought long ago and had installed that engine Priss had given him long ago. "Why don't you enter this car in the contest?" Asuka asked, giving the bumper a light kick, "That engine Priss gave you is a combustion engine, right?" Ranma nodded, "Yeah, but it's a 6-liter engine. We need to use a 2-liter engine," "Oh," Asuka said, "I guess you have a point. I forgot about that restriction," "We don't hafta worry about it," Ranma said, "We're in charge of making the chassis, the structural body of the car, the skeleton of the car," Asuka regarded Ranma for a moment, "Just curious, when did you suddenly get all smart with stuff like cars and such? I've never seen you interested in cars before that station wagon came along," Ranma said, "I haven't until then. But when I was working on the station wagon, I liked it so I got more interested in it and read up on it. Besides, with what we'll be doing, we'll be learning as we go along," "W-what do you expect me to do?" Asuka asked, "I don't want to do this. Working on the chassis? Doesn't that require welding and such? I know nothing about that," "No problem, I'll teach you," "What have I gotten myself into?" Asuka muttered as she flopped down on her bed. Asuka-chan looked up from her textbook, "Whatcha talking about?" "Ranma expects me to work with him on building a chassis for a car," Asuka replied, "I think I'm expected to do stuff like welding," "Why?" the young girl asked. "Because, there's this contest Ranma and several of the girls are taking part in, to make a car with a small combustion engine," Asuka stated, "And it's expected that I get the car after the contest. The problem is that I'm expected to work on the car doing something I have no idea how to, and with Ranma no less," "Oh, that's not good. You and Ranma, working together," Asuka-chan said. "I'd really like to have a car for my own, but I wonder if having to do this is worth it," Asuka said. "Well, if you don't want to, then don't," Asuka-chan said logically. "Yeah, I guess you have a point, and I really don't want to work with Ranma. I know it'll be Hell if I do," Asuka commented. "Maybe you should give it a try," Asuka-chan suggested, "Who knows, maybe it won't be as bad as you originally think," "Fine, I'll give it a try," Asuka said, "It couldn't hurt," "Do you know anything about cars?" Asuka-chan asked, pretty sure she knew the answer. "Nothing really," Asuka replied. "Same here," Asuka-chan smirked, "Maybe it's best you study up on it and at least get to know more about it. It'd be kinda weird working with Ranma on something when you have no real idea what you're working on," "I know," Asuka said, "I think I'm gonna go pay Lisa a visit tomorrow early in the morning," "For what?" Asuka-chan asked. "To ask her to give me a crash course on cars and how they really work," Asuka woke up early the next day, so early that Ranma was surprised to see her. "Aren't we up a bit early this morning?" Ranma said. He had been sitting on the stairway, busy putting on his shoes, when a fully dressed Asuka came walking down. "Of to your morning jog?" Asuka asked. "As always," Ranma grinned, "Care to join me?" "No way," Asuka said, "I've heard about how you do twenty mile warm-up jogs. That's something I definitely know I'm not interested in doing," "Suit yourself," he said, "So, how come you're up so early? You usually sleep in late. Your first class doesn't start until eleven. You usually wake up at ten to take your shower, catch a quick breakfast, and then head out the door," Asuka found herself a bit surprised that Ranma knew her so well. "I wanted to go see Lisa about something," Asuka said. Ranma looked at his watch, "Well, if you are, then you better hurry on over to her work soon because she'll probably be getting off pretty soon and heading off," Lisa was a complete night owl. She worked with Ritsuko at her company and usually worked from around ten at night until six in the morning before heading home and sleeping away her morning and a bit of her afternoon. "Whatcha need to talk to her about?" he asked. "Just a few questions," Asuka said, "Nothing too important. Girls stuff," "Okay," Ranma seemed disinterested, "Well, I'll walk you," "Um, no need, I'll go alone," Asuka said, heading toward the door. Ranma followed closely behind, "Don't worry about it. It's no problem. I'm heading out the door anyway," Asuka realized it was useless to decline, "Fine," Together, the two of them headed out of the door. "So, how's school coming along?" he asked shortly after they left the house. "It's coming along fine," she answered. "You're doing fine in your classes?" he asked. She nodded, "Like always," "That's good to hear," Ranma's voice was sincere. This was what constantly gave Asuka a conflict of interest. Deep down inside, it was moments like this that made her consider Ranma a genuinely nice guy. It was all the times when he teased her that made her think otherwise. It was as if he could be a two-faced person right in front of her face. "It seems like you've adjusted really well to this world," Ranma smiled, "From the way things look, no one would ever've guessed that you weren't a native to this world," Asuka shrugged, "This world is very much like my own," "Do you ever miss your own world?" "What's there to miss?" she replied, "It's not like I had any family or anyone there to miss me. No one'll miss me so what's the use of me even existing on that world," Asuka stopped herself from saying whatever else she was about to say, shocked that Ranma had accidentally put a chink in the icy armor. Ranma looking at her intently made her realized that that comment didn't escape his ears. "What about your friends on that world?" he asked, "Surely they should miss you," "Perhaps," Asuka said after a moment, "But they'll never know what really happened to me. Keep in mind everything that happened to Nerv was covered up by the government. I'm pretty sure that that whole world thinks the others and I are the people responsible for the destruction of Nerv," "I guess you have a point," Ranma said. "Now that I think about it, it kind of annoys me that people don't know the truth," Asuka commented. "That's life," Ranma said. "Does that ever bother you?" Asuka asked, "Y'know, that people don't really know what you've done? Doesn't it bother you that only a select few people know that you've done stuff like, literally, saving worlds?" Ranma shook his head, "Nope. Doesn't bother me at all," "Why not?" she asked. Ranma shrugged, "I don't know. I guess after you've been through what I've been through, your way of thinking changes," Asuka didn't really understand what Ranma was saying but decided to take it at face value. Together, they continued indulging in conversation, something that seemed to come very easy for the two of them. Oddly enough, of all the people in Ranma's life, Asuka was easily the easiest person for Ranma to talk to. "What's a horsepower?" Lisa scratched her head. She was sitting in front of a computer looking at a wire-diagram of what a combustion engine looked like. "That's approximately 746 watts," Bateau answered. "Like that helps any," Lisa gave a shy smile. "Think of it as 550 foot-pounds per second," Bateau paraphrased. Lisa was still confused. She and Bateau were in her laboratory at her workplace. It just so happened that she worked with Ritsuko and that her laboratory occupied an entire floor of a giant building. "It's basically the unit used to determine how powerful a car is," Bateau said, "From what I've learned ever since I got here, the average horsepower of a 2-liter naturally aspirated combustion engine is probably around 140," "Is that considered a lot?" she asked. Bateau shook his head, "Not really. From what I've noticed, with the cars I see driven around here, they probably average around 1200 horsepower. Of course, that's because it's completely different technology," "Let's try and design an old relic engine that'll match today's engine's output," Lisa said, "All we need to do is figure out how to make the engine put out ten times it's normal expected power," Bateau scratched his head, "Um, I don't want to sound like a downer, but that's going to be really hard," "But it's doable, right?" she asked. Bateau nodded, "Yeah," "Then let's give it a try," Lisa grinned. At that moment, the sound of a buzzer could be heard coming from the intercom right by her desk. This surprised Lisa because the building was closed and only she and Bateau were in there. "I wonder who could be trying to reach me at this early in the morning," Lisa commented. She reached over and pressed the button on her intercom. This allowed her to talk to whoever was standing in the closed front entrance of the building. "Hello?" she asked. "It's me, Asuka," came Asuka's voice, "May I come in? I'd like to talk to ask you about some stuff," "Hey, Asuka, how's everything going?" she returned, "Sure. You can come in. Just wait outside for a few minutes. We'll come down and let you in," "Thanks," Asuka said. "Hm, I wonder why she's here, especially this early," Lisa looked at her watch, "It's barely even six in the morning," The two of them proceeded toward the elevator in the back of the laboratory that would take them down to the lobby that led to the front entrance. "How does she know that you're here?" Bateau asked. "I usually hang around the building until around now," Lisa replied, "It's general knowledge among the group that I'm a night owl and my sleeping schedule is really messed up," "I don't think it's messed up," Bateau stated. Lisa gave Bateau a playful punch, "Of course not. You don't require sleep," Bateau gave a awkward laugh, "I guess you're right," When the two of them made to the front doors, Lisa punched in a few number on the keypad on the door handle and then opened the door to let Asuka in. "Morning," Lisa smiled. "Morning, Lisa. Morning, Bateau-san," Asuka gave the two of them a courteous smile. "Morning, Asuka. Bateau's fine," Bateau smiled in return. Although he had only been on this world for a short time, he felt weird being addressed so formally. "So, what brings you here?" Lisa asked, "It's pretty early. Don't you usually sleep in late, like until around an hour before your first class starts?" Asuka nodded, "Yeah, but I just wanted to ask you some stuff," "Sure, go right ahead," "Can you give me a crash course on cars?" Asuka asked, "Of all people, I figured you'd be the best person to ask," Lisa gave a sheepish smile. "Cars? I know nothing about it," Asuka was a lucky girl. She was lucky that Bateau liked Lisa and seemed prone to be hanging around her more often than not. Of course, it was very amusing that neither Lisa nor Bateau seemed aware of this. Bateau went about explaining how a combustion engine worked as Asuka listened intently. "From what I read, combustion engines seems to have been the most prevalent kinds of engines used on this world from the mid-1900's to the early-2000's," Bateau said, "It was then replaced with the more fuel-efficient gas-electric hybrid around 2010. Shortly after that, it was replaced by fuel cell engines, which is where this world's technology seem to be," "Wow, you know a lot," Lisa was impressed, "When'd you read up on all of this?" Bateau gave a slight chuckle, "Usually during break when I'm at work.. This world seems to be very much like my own technologically. However, from what I see, it seems like it's moving along at a slower pace," "What do you mean?" Lisa asked. "Well, it seems to rely on fuel cell powered engines quite a lot," Bateau answered, "On our world, those were only around for a few years before it was replaced by anti-gravity propulsion. It's as if this world is on the same technological track as my world, but moving along slower," "Hm, I wonder if Ranma giving me the OMS chip and my revealing Genom's intention was the reason why this world is moving along at such a slower rate," Lisa wondered aloud, "Just curious, how efficient is anti-gravity on your world?" "Really efficient," Bateau said, "The most efficient form of propulsion yet that I know of," "Really?" Lisa seemed a bit skeptic, "From what I know of it on our world, the potentially better, but still has a long way to go," Bateau said, "Well, I guess after it's refined several times over, it'll be realized that it's the best. Of course, because of technological limitations on this world, it doesn't seem as useful at the moment, but it will be," "Back to the subject, the kind of engine we're expected to be working with and designing was most prevalent before the year 2000 on this world," Bateau said. "Can you give me more detail?" Asuka asked, "I'd like to know everything there is about cars if possible before I'm expected to help out with Ranma," Bateau looked at his watch. "Sure, I'll be happy to teach you. I have quite a bit of time before I'm expected to leave for work," After she was done with her classes, Asuka wondered if she was ready to head home yet. She was pretty confident that she now knew a lot more about cars than before, but she was still a bit worried that she didn't know enough. Actually, now that she should about it, no matter how much she knew, she was pretty sure that she didn't know just enough that Ranma would be able to tease her about it. She walked slowly home, wondering if she should bother to stop off at the library and stay there for a few more hours studying before finally heading on home. "Hi there," came a male voice. Asuka had been so caught up in thinking about what she was going to do that she didn't see the man approach her until she felt someone tap on her shoulder. It turned out that she didn't even hear him and had continued on walking. "Huh?" she turned her attention toward the man. "Hi," the young man said. Asuka regarded the young man for a moment. She didn't recognize him. Once again, it was yet another random guy trying to hit on her. "Hi, can you do me a favor?" Asuka asked. "Um, sure, what is it?" the man asked, smiling. "Can you wait here for a moment?" she asked. "Okay," he said. Asuka gave him a fake smile before walking off, disappearing around the corner. She continued down the street in silence before she stopped and decided it was best she head on over to the library. As much as Bateau had explained cars to her, she still wasn't comfortable with her current knowledge and had opted to go learn some more, even if it would be very little more. She turned down a street heading in the direction of the local library but stopped dead in her tracks when she caught sight of Ranma across the street and standing in front of a book store talking to a gorgeous blond woman. Asuka recognized that woman. It was that model that graced the cover of several fashion magazines. She didn't know much about her except that her name was Melinda and she was said to be part Swedish, which explained why she had blond hair and blue eyes. Asuka contemplated just ignoring what she had seen but couldn't bring herself to do so. Perhaps it was the confrontational part of her personality that made her incapable of just ignoring them. Instead, she walked across the street and approached Ranma from beyond as he continued to converse with that model, Melinda. "Yeah, the car we're working on is gonna kick ass," she heard Ranma comment, "It's gonna be so powerful I'm gonna put a sticker on its bumper that says, 'Ha ha, you just lost to a 2-liter combustible engine', where I'll have the word 'combustible' in bold letters," "Um, that sounds very interesting," the beautiful woman tried to act interested. It was obvious she had no real idea what Ranma was talking about. "A combustible engine a type of engine that became obsolete many years ago, around the turn of the century," Asuka jumped into the conversation. Ranma turned toward Asuka, "Oh, hey, Asuka. What's up? Funny seeing you here. Where were you headed, toward the library or something?" "Um, no," she said, "I saw you so I figured I'd see what you were up to," "I was talking to Melinda," Ranma gestured toward the woman, "We met a while ago. She's cool. She's this model chick," "Model chick?" the woman gave Ranma a curious look, "Is that what you consider me?" "Y'know what I mean," Ranma waved a dismissive hand, "I don't mean no offense or nothing," "Wow, a triple negatives in a single sentence," Asuka smirked. "Ha ha," Ranma didn't seem one bit offended, "Melinda, this is Asuka. Asuka, this is Melinda," "Nice to meet you," the woman named Melinda said politely. Asuka, as pretty as she was, knew her beauty seemed insignificant when compared to this Melinda person. Being up close to Melinda made Asuka realize just how out of her league Asuka was compared to her. "Um, likewise," Asuka said, wondering how Ranma and Melinda knew each other. "You know that cello you see Shinji playing from time to time? She was the person that lent it to him," Ranma said. Asuka didn't seem to really care about that little fact, choosing merely to shrug her shoulders in acknowledgment. "Heading home?" Ranma asked Asuka, "Want me to walk you home?" "I don't care," Asuka tried to act nonchalant. Deep down inside, she hoped Ranma would indeed walk with her. Perhaps she didn't like the thought of Ranma hanging around some person other than her. Jeez, what the heck was she thinking?! Ranma annoyed the heck out of her so why would she rather him with her than with anyone else? "Fine, I'll walk you," Ranma said. He then turned toward Melinda, "Well, this is where we part. See y'round," "Um, okay," Melinda managed to say, surprised how Ranma seemed to have so easily dismissed her, "The offer still stands. Perhaps another day," "Okay," Ranma said, "No problem," Ranma and Asuka began walking off. "What offer?" Asuka had to ask. "Huh?" "She said something about an offer standing," Asuka said, "What was she talking about?" "Oh, she said that if I ever feel the need to engage in a one-night stand, she'd be more than happy to oblige," Ranma said. "What?!?!?!?" Asuka's eyes widened, her voice loud. "I was only joking," Ranma bopped Asuka on the top of her head, "Jeez. I can't believe you actually believed that. Anyway, she told that the fashion company she works for is hosting this annual fashion show next week and invited me to attend. She'll be one of the runway models wearing some new outfits her company designs," "So what do you say?" she asked, "Do you plan on going?" Ranma shrugged, "Doubtful. I don't like the thought of watching chicks just strut around wearing outfits I understand nothing about nor care to know about," Asuka felt an inward sense of relief when she found out he wasn't going to go, and she didn't really know why since Ranma was his own person. "Besides, we're gonna be working on the project together," Ranma smiled, "It doesn't seem right to just leave in the middle of the project to attend some fashion show," Asuka smiled happily, "I guess you have a point," Asuka came back home from school and was pleasantly surprised to see Luna outside the house sweeping the sidewalk. This was quite a strange sight, what with the fact that Luna was arguably the most powerful human in existence and she doing a mundane task such as weeping the sidewalk. It was even more funny seeing her actually sweeping it with a broom instead of using magic to make the broom do the work for her while she did something else. "Hey, Asuka," Luna greeted amiably. "Hey, Luna, it's nice to see you again," Asuka said politely, "How was your trip back home?" Luna smiled warmly, "It's good to be back. The trip was fine. We showed up there seemingly at the nick of time," "Oh, how so?" Asuka was curious. "We arrive back our world near Anlinson Castle," Luna stated, "It's one of many castles that can be found on my world. Well, it's this very powerful and heavily fortified castle, and as powerful as a castle as it was, it was having trouble fighting off a dragon. We show up, do the dirty work of getting rid of the dragon, and then go about our business," "Why was the dragon attacking the castle?" Asuka asked, wondering how awesome it would be to actually see a dragon. But then again, perhaps seeing an Evangelion was probably just as awesome as seeing a dragon. Luna laughed, "You really wouldn't believe it if I told you," "Try me," Asuka said, expecting the unexpected. "Seems like she, the gray dragon, is one of the last dragons still alive on that world," Luna said, "After the deal with Ranma going crazy not too long ago, all the worlds were effected. On my world, all the dragons went nuts and started attacking everything and killing each other. We saw that first hand when Shinji and I went there to get Emiko back after she went back to her world. Since the dragon's basically the most powerful of all the dragons, it's no wonder she would be one of the last remaining," "I still don't understand why it, I mean she, was attacking the castle," Asuka was confused. Luna gave a shy smile, "It turns out that there were rumors floating around the princess that resides in that castle, a girl named Rene, knows where Ranma was," "Huh? What does Ranma hafta do with this?" Asuka wondered, "How come everything comes back to Ranma?" Luna chuckled, "I really don't know. It's something about how the dragon wants to meet Ranma and went to the castle looking to find his whereabouts. The dragon's human name is Miyuki. It seems like Ranma had come in contact with her one day. You need to talk to Lina about the details about that because I wasn't there when it happened. All I know was that it had something to do with the dragon attacking some hot spring," "Miyuki? What kinda name is that for a dragon?" Asuka asked. "It's her human name," Luna said, "A dragon's real name is unpronounceable in the human language. However, their human name is much easier to remember and usually very simple," "Why would this dragon have a human name?" she asked. Luna answered, "Because she can assume a human form. There are many kinds of dragon races that can assume human form, like gold and gray dragons. Her race happens to be one of them," "I wonder why this Miyuki dragon is looking for Ranma?" Asuka scratched her head "Maybe because, as the one last of her kind, she wants to mate with Ranma since it's common knowledge that dragons on my world need to procreate with a human so their offspring will be able to assume a human form at will, and she having met Ranma, believes Ranma's a good candidate to be the father of her child," Luna laughed. Asuka gave a sheepish laugh, "Right," "Wouldn't it be funny it that were true?" Ranma grinned as he entered the room. Both girls quickly turned to face him, surprised at the thought that he could've overheard their conversation. "How's Miyuki doing anyway?" Ranma asked, leaning against the doorjamb, "I remember her. We only met for a short while. She was in dragon form then, and it kinda makes me wonder how she looks in her human form," "Um, from what I saw, she seems fine," Luna said, wondering exactly what she should be saying. "Who is this Miyuki person?" Asuka asked, as if jealous from hearing that female name. Ranma shrugged, "She's this dragon I met a while ago. She was attacking this hot spring business when I bumped into her. It turns out that she was attacking that place because the owner who put up that business put it up over her own personal hot spring," Luna and Asuka were at a loss of words. "Only you find them, huh?" Luna chuckled, "Only you end up in weird situations and meeting the most unusual people," Ranma grinned, "I guess so," Asuka eavesdropped on a nearby conversation among several girls as she and everyone else in the classroom waited for their professor to arrive. "Hey, have you checked out 'Random Encounter'?" she heard. It made her wonder what they were talking about. Was it some kind of new television show? A new video game? "Whatcha guys talking about?" Asuka asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. Besides, they were obligated to answer her since she answered so many of their questions the other day concerning Ranma and his marital status and her relationship with him. "'Random Encounter'," a girl named Taki replied, "It's a webpage that recently came about on the Net. It's hugely popular," "What kinda webpage is it?" she asked, a bit surprised she didn't know anything about it. She was usually in the know about quite a bit of stuff, stuff like new occurrences on the Net to current events to overall general knowledge. "It came about only a few days but it's receiving traffic like you wouldn't believe," Taki replied, "It's now the great big craze of the Net world," "What's so special about it?" Asuka asked. "Well, like the name of the page indicates, it focuses on random encounters," Taki stated, "It's a page about a guy walking up to random girls and just talking to them," "What's so interesting about that?" Asuka didn't seem all that impressed. Taki said, "Every single encounter this guy has come across resulted in the girl basically falling for him on the spot or coming damn close to it. No one knows if this guy and his encounters are legit or not, but the conversations the guy talks about seems too random for it to be rehearsed. The guy seems to be wearing some kind of hidden camera on him as he talks to these girls. It's hugely popular among the guys and girls because of two things. The guys flood to his page to actually take pointers on his encounters. The girls flood his page simply out of curiosity of exactly who this guy is," "What, you don't see the guy doing all the talking?" Asuka asked. The girl shook her head, "No. It's a hidden camera on him. What sucks is that the guy, when he says his name, it's bleeped out. The same goes for the girl. I guess it's simply for privacy. I'm sure lots and lots of people know about this guy. If his name is revealed, then all the encounters from here on would be rather awkward since the girl will most likely recognize his name and realize she's being filmed via hidden camera," "Lettme get this straight," Asuka said, "There's a page on the Net about a guy walking up to random girls, striking up a conversation with them and getting them to basically swoon over him? Who the hell is this guy? He sounds like some kind of scumbag preying on girls like that," Taki shook her head, "No. It's none of that. It's the girls that end up divulging more information about themselves than need be. For instance, there's one encounter where he walked up to a girl to ask for what time it was and the girl beginning. Heck, after a few minutes, you notice that the guy just wants to leave. It's downright sick how easy this guy can basically get the girl's phone number," "Does he?" Asuka was a bit suspicious. "No," she said, "So far, that page has only five videos for downloading. On all five videos, the girls freely gave their phone numbers without him asking for it. Of course, the numbers were bleeped out," Asuka scratched her head, "Man, that sounds a bit like someone I know," "Really? Who?" several girls asked in unison. "Ranma," Asuka walked home from school late that night. She had stayed on campus for longer than usual, studying with a study group for an upcoming test for one of her classes. She couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed that she was walking home alone. Sure, she should also be worried, what with the fact that it was pretty dark out and she was by herself, but she could take care of herself if need be. Ranma had trained her really well. What made her feel a bit disappointed was that she had somehow gotten used to Ranma escorting her home whenever it was late. Sure, she was usually annoyed at Ranma for doing so since it basically indicated that Ranma didn't believe she could take care of herself in case something bad happened. When she entered the house, she was surprised to see that Ranma was standing outside the house talking to Lisa. "How come Lisa's here?" Asuka wondered aloud. Not that she had anything against Lisa, far from it, it was just that the only time she ever saw Lisa was during Friday dinner. It was only the middle of the week. "So, do you think you can create something like this?" Asuka heard Lisa ask Ranma as she approached the two of them. When she reached them, she noticed Lisa was holding a small piece of paper to looked to be a blueprint of something. Ranma scratched his head, "I dunno. I only worked with welding and fabrication for only a short time when I was working on that station wagon in the garage. I really dunno if I'm capable of doing something like that," "What's going on?" Asuka asked. "Ah, welcome back," Ranma smiled warmly at her, "How was school?" "It's fine," Asuka dismissed. Deep down insides, she liked the fact that he asked her about school every time she got home. Sure, it was most likely a involuntary gesture on his part, him not really caring much about how school was for her, but a nice gesture nonetheless. "We were discussing building an engine," Lisa gestured toward the piece of paper in front of her. She handed it toward Asuka to take. Asuka looked at the paper and had no real idea what she was looking at first. It took a moment before she realized she was looking at a computer drawn diagram of an internal combustion engine. "This is an engine," Asuka stated. "Very good," Ranma smiled, patting Asuka on the head like a little girl. Asuka knocked Ranma's hand away in annoyance but said nothing about it. "It's a 2.0-liter fuel injected combustion engine," Lisa said, "Bateau and I worked on designing it last night and this was what we came up with. If Ranma can somehow figure a way to build the engine, it could put out close to a five hundred horsepower," "Five hundred horsepower? That's not that much," Ranma stated, scratching his head, "Priss said that engine I put in the station wagon cranks around four times as much horsepower," Lisa smirked, "Of course that engine puts out more power. It's got significantly more displacement. This is a 2.0-liter engine. Most engines of that caliber puts out only around three hundred horsepower at most, including modifications. This engine can put out that much before modifications," "Oh, I guess that's good," Ranma said. "Bateau said that this engine is designed for modifications," Lisa said, "He said that after you put on all the modifications and such, it can generate probably double the horsepower. That's a lot of horsepower, Ranma," "I'll take your word for it," Ranma shrugged, "What kinda modifications?" "I don't know much about them," Lisa said, "Bateau knows more about this stuff. He says that we can put modern day modifications on this engine. He said you can put stuff like a hyper charger and turbine blowers and all bunch of other stuff I haven't heard of on the engine to generate more power," "And in the end, you can get an engine that generates as much or more power than the engine in the station wagon in the garage right now?" Ranma seemed skeptic. Lisa sighed, "Ranma, you need to understand that this is a 2.0-liter combustion engine. These engines have been rendered obsolete decades ago. If you think about it, I've managed to design an engine that could probably have jump- started the automotive world decades if this engine came out then," Ranma chuckled, "I'm glad to see you're confident about this engine," "It's the best kind of engine that can possibly be produced given this world's metal technology," Lisa said, "I'm pretty confident that there is no way any more power could be squeezed out of an engine this small," "What do you mean based on this world's metal technology?" Asuka was confused. "For the contest, a 2.0-liter combustion engine is to be used," Lisa stated, "That's a huge restriction since that kind of technology is considered obsolete nowadays. Combustion engines existed decades ago and had cylinders that usually utilized gasoline for creating the combustion within those cylinders. Of course, more powerful forms of combustion can be created, through the use of stuff like rocket fuel or pure alcohol. The problem is that the best form of 'fuel' that can be used for creating combustion within the cylinders, super-octanitrocubane, is so powerful that the cylinders wouldn't be able to contain it. The metal the engine is made of would basically incinerate under the explosiveness of that kind of 'fuel'," Ranma perked an eyebrow, "Let's just say, hypothetically speaking, that the metal can contain that kind of 'fuel' for combustion. How much power can such an engine being fueled with this super-octanitro-thingie make?" "Do you have any idea what I'm talking about?" Lisa smirked, "super- octanitrocubane is one of the key elements that make up an N2-mine. N2 stands for Non-Nuclear. This stuff is as close as you can get to a nuclear explosion without it actually being nuclear," "Ooh," Ranma said, very interested, "N2-mines make really big explosions. I like those," Lisa shrugged, "Well, not that it really matters, but I'd have to say somewhere along the lines of, and I'm being conservative here, over fifty- thousand horsepower," "That sounds like a lot of horsepower," Ranma grinned, "That's definitely more than what my car can produce," "Quite," Lisa said, "Of course, it's all moot since such an explosion can't be contained. It'd be great if it could, but since it can't, we need to look to using other forms of 'fuel'," "Because the metal that makes up the engine would give out under the power of the explosion?" Ranma asked. Lisa nodded. "How about if we make it out of a metal that can contain such an explosion?" he asked, very serious. Lisa chuckled, "Well, then we will have ourselves a really powerful engine," "Cool," Ranma grinned. Lisa and Asuka looked at one another. "What, are you going to ask Urd to create such an engine?" Lisa had to ask, "C'mon, as great as it may be, don't you think asking 'God' to create you an engine that defies this world's technology seems a bit like, I don't know, cheating?" Ranma shook his head, still grinning, "What makes you think I'm gonna ask Urd for help? Never really needed her help ever before, so why should I start now?" "Don't tell me you're going to go to some other world or such, are you?" Lisa's eyes widened, "Urd's seriously pissed off at you for all the trouble you've caused on all those world's you've visited. Even though she's God, it still takes her time to fix up whatever problems you cause," Ranma shrugged, "So what? I'll help her pass the time," "Just what do you plan on doing?" Asuka was scared to ask. Ranma took a hold of the blueprint, "So, lettme get this straight. If I make this engine out of a strong enough metal to contain combustion from an N2-mine, we will have ourselves a super powerful engine?" "Well, yeah," Lisa said, "But I still don't understand what you're getting at. Exactly how do you intend to do something like this?" "I'm gonna go to a world where such a metal exists," Ranma said matter-of- factly, "When I was God, I became aware of this world and its going-ons. It contains the kind of metal capable of basically containing an explosion like that of an N2-mine, or at least a miniature version of such a mine," "What kind of metal is that?" Asuka asked. "Adamantium," Asuka leaned against the doorjamb to Ranma's bedroom. She didn't really know what to say as she watched him pack a few pairs of clothes and in a small backpack. "Where is this place?" she had to ask. "I dunno exactly where it is," Ranma said, his back toward her as he continued to pack, "But I just do. It's kinda like riding a bike. You just know how to but can't really describe exactly how to do so to someone. It's very similar," "Um, how long do you intend to be gone?" Asuka asked. "Just for a few days," Ranma said, "I'm just gonna go there, do my business and get my hands on that adamantium stuff and then come back here," "What kind of world is this?" she asked curiously, thinking of a way to say what she had been meaning to say. Ranma shrugged, "Weird world. Don't know much about it, but from what I do know, there are these people with insanely strong powers called mutants. That's about the extent of it," "As powerful as you?" Asuka asked. Ranma laughed loudly, making Asuka wondered just how true his actions meant. Was he serious or just joking around? Ranma never said just how powerful he was, but there was speculation among the group that Ranma possessed the exact same powers as Urd. This was because, if Urd was so powerful, how come there was a level of respect, and even fear, of Ranma that Urd seemed to always show whenever she was near him? If she had no equal in terms of power, why did she look at him as if he were her equal? "Why do you even bother packing clothes?" Asuka asked, "Don't you just steal whatever clothes you need wherever you are? It's not like you're morally challenged or anything," "I'm only morally challenged when it's convenient," Ranma grinned, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. There was a moment of awkward silence as Asuka watched Ranma finish packing. Deep down inside, Asuka didn't want Ranma to leave. As much as she hated to admit it, she didn't like the thought of him going somewhere far away from her. Perhaps it was out of her phobia that he would never come back. Unlike any of the other girls, she had more of an attachment toward Ranma because of their trip together to Antarctica a long time ago. Because Ranma had died during that trip, Asuka had this subconscious fear that he could die once again. "Um," she began. "Hm?" Ranma turned toward her. Asuka's words failed her. Ranma continued on with his packing, finished before long. She was forced to step aside as Ranma walked past her to head downstairs. "Ranma," Asuka called out to him. "Yes?" he turned toward her, looking up the stairs toward her. "Can I come with you?" Ranma and Asuka stood by the koi pond in the backyard. "I dunno, are you sure you wanna come?" Ranma scratched his head, having his doubts, "It's not like I'm gonna be away for long. All I'm gonna do is go there, get my hands on some of that adamantium and come back. Think of it as me going to the hardware store to get some sheetrock," "What, you don't want me coming along?" Asuka asked. He shrugged, "Dunno. Perhaps. You'd probably get in the way," "Oh," Asuka felt disappointed. Now that she thought of it, with someone like Ranma, anyone shy of being on the same power level of Luna would be considered a hindrance. Ranma noticed the disappointed look on Asuka's face and it kind of tore away at him. Perhaps he shouldn't had said that. "If you wanna come, then I don't mind," Ranma stated, "But then again, you said you have an upcoming test. I don't really have an idea of when I'll be back and I don't wanna be the cause of you missing a test if, for some stupid reason, we end up staying there longer than expected," Asuka tried to think of an argument but came up with nothing. Ranma said, "But then again, there's absolutely no reason for us to hafta stay there longer than a day or two. It's not like we have to stay there for anything anyway. It's not like we will hafta hang around waiting for Second Impact or anything. All we'd be doing is show up, pick up some of that adamantium metal, and then come back," "That sounds like an easy job," Asuka said, sounding hopeful. "Of course, I have no idea where one can get that stuff," Ranma chuckled, "For all we know, we can pick some of that stuff up at the grocery store. But then again, for all we know, I might hafta do some odd tasks to get our hands on it," He thought about it for a moment before shrugged. "I'm sure whatever we hafta do, it won't be all that hard," Ranma chuckled, "Frankly, I'm curious about how powerful these mutants on that world are. Maybe if they're powerful enough, I'll spar against them," "Why not spar against Ryoga or something?" Asuka asked, "I know how you're always looking to spar against someone, so what's wrong with sparring against Ryoga?" Ranma laughed, "Ryoga? He would've been a good sparring partner a few years ago, before I became God. But now's a different story. I heard he has a friend that's really strong and would give me a good run for my money," "That guy with the black spiky hair that's said to defy gravity?" Asuka asked, remembering Ryoga saying something about that, "That guy that hangs out with some guy with no nose and a green guy or something or another?" "Yeah," Ranma shrugged, not all that interested, "But then again, if I wanna meet people like that, I'll just go visit New York across the sea. I heard that places got people that would scare the crap outta me, and I've seen some really scary stuff," "Well, maybe you'll find a good sparring partner," Asuka said, "Frankly, I'm actually kind of curious to see you spar," "What are you talking about?" Ranma asked, "I spar against Shinji all the time," Asuka smirked, "Has he ever touched you once during a sparring session?" Ranma shook his head. "Well, then it's not really a sparring session for you, huh?" "I guess you're right," Ranma agreed, "Man, it'd be cool to fight someone really strong. I hope that world's got some wickedly strong people," "I thought you were only interested in just getting this ada-something metal," Asuka said. "That too," Ranma grinned, "But that doesn't mean I can't take a bit of time off to see how well the inhabitants of that world fairs in a sparring match every here and there," "If you say so," Asuka said. "C'mon, let's go," "Um, okay," Asuka said. Asuka couldn't help but feel a great sense of excitement. On a different world very similar yet very different from Ranma's own world, a man with shoulder-length black hair of an undetermined age happened to be looking out the window of his bedroom at around three in the morning. The man had been staying at a place which resembled that of a school called 'The Xavier Institute for the Gifted'. This place was a combination of a school as well as living quarters. Although the man looked rather young, very few people knew that he was well over a hundred years old. He looked young because he had this mutant ability that seemed to keep him looking young. The man looking out the window was named Logan. To many, he was called Wolverine. He was one of the many mutants, a species referred to as homo superior, that inhabited this world. What is a mutant? Mutant were basically what the human species would eventually become after millions of years of evolution. The only problem was that for some unknown reason, this world's evolutionary process was out of synch which resulted in many humans beings being born with mutant powers. These were all powers their species were not supposed to possess until millions of years down the evolutionary path. Mutants were categorized into classes based on their powers. The mutants with extremely weak mutant powers were considered Alpha mutants, while extremely powerful mutants were considered Omega mutants. Logan was considered an Alpha mutant, possessing super-fast healing, super- keen senses, and the ability to bring forth a set of claws from his fists. Oddly enough, Logan was also one of the greatest mutants on that world, often underestimated since he was rather small in stature, but unmatched in fighting ferocity. The alias of Wolverine was a very fitting name for someone like Logan. The fact that he possessed an adamantium-bonded skeletal system couple with super-fast healing meant he was virtually impossible to kill. What is adamantium? Adamantium is considered the strongest man-made metal in existence and virtually indestructible. Because of these factors, Logan was one of the few Alpha mutants that go toe-to-toe with supremely powerful Omega mutants. Logan, a man with a very mysterious past and have seen things that should never be seen, was a man that could rarely be caught off-guard or surprised. Tonight, Ranma's and Asuka's arrival on the grassy field surrounding the building, had caught Logan by surprise. A man of experience, Logan was quick to pull his thoughts together and respond to the unexpected occurrence. He headed for the door to go outside to meet these new arrivals. Outside, Asuka was partially disoriented. "You okay?" Ranma asked. Asuka rubbed at her eyes. Her eyes hurt because she had opened her eyes before the portal disappeared, which had blinded her temporarily. "I'm okay," she said, "I just need a minute for my eyes to get adjusted," "Told ya to keep your eyes closed," Ranma chuckled. Ranma took a moment to look around and take in his surroundings. He had no idea where he was. But then again, he didn't really care. He could find himself in the middle of Antarctica and would be all right after he was able to figure out what to do next. Look straight ahead, he noticed a large mansion-like building that reminded him of school when he used to attend high school many many years ago. He realized he and Asuka were standing in the middle of what was most likely the building's front lawn. "Great, if whoever that lives in that mansion has a thing against trespassers, it looks like we're gonna have trouble," Ranma commented, turning toward Asuka, "We should get off the lawn," He turned away from Asuka and toward the building where he caught sight of a man crossing the lawn heading in their direction. As the man got close enough, Ranma turned his full attention toward him, more curious about the man than concerned. "That's a rather interesting trick you did a minute ago," the man said, "Care to tell me who you are and how you got here before I decide to hurt you or not?" Ranma didn't really understand what the man was saying but recognizing it as English. Although he knew some English, he didn't know enough to be able to understand exactly what he said. "You speak Japanese?" Ranma asked in English, figuring it couldn't hurt to ask. "Actually, I do," Logan responded in Ranma's native tongue, "And as I was saying, care to tell me who you are and where you came from? You've only got a minute before my friends get here," "Is that a threat?" Ranma didn't like how the man said that. "He's Ranma and I'm Asuka," Asuka interrupted, worried about what could possibly happen if some fight broke out. Logan regarded Asuka for a moment, oddly reminded of Amiko, his foster daughter. Perhaps it was the slight Japanese heritage to Asuka that reminded Logan of her. However, that thought only lasted for a moment. "Do you have adamantium?" Ranma asked bluntly, "We're looking for some of that stuff," Logan regarded Ranma for a moment, not really knowing what to make out of the man before him. Ranma stood taller than him, but he was not one bit intimidated. The odd thing was the way Ranma carried himself. There was an air of carelessness to Ranma that Logan couldn't quite understand. Logan closed one hand into a fist as three claws shot out from the back of his hand, extending forward for Ranma to see, glistening in the early morning moonlight. "Y'mean this kinda adamantium?" Logan smirked. Ranma seemed impressed, "Whoa. How'd you do that?" "Magic," Logan grinned. Ranma nudged at Asuka, "See that? Magic exists on this world like our own," Asuka didn't seem to hear Ranma's words for she was focusing on claws that sticking out of the man's hand. It looked razor sharp and the man looked like the kind of guy that wouldn't hesitate to use it. "I never got your name," Ranma said. "I never gave ya my name," Logan said, "And you still didn't answer my other question. Why're you get here?" "That's rather rude," Ranma found himself a bit annoyed at the man for some odd reason. Ranma looked over Logan's shoulder where he saw several people emerging from the building where the man had come from. Little did Ranma know that the X-Men were all coming out to investigate. The X-Men was a team of mutants that consisted of Storm, Rogue, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, and Nightcrawler. Accompanying them was their mentor Charles Xavier. Ranma and Asuka found themselves staring at back and forth between Nightcrawler and Beast. It was probably because neither of them looks human that made them stare, that and the fact that they were blue. "Wow, blue people," Ranma commented aloud, referring to both Nightcrawler and Beast, "And I thought I've seen it all. I guess I was wrong," A bald man that looked to be somewhere in his fifties, if not later, in a wheelchair, possessing eyes that seemed wiser beyond his years, wheeled himself forward from the group and stopped right next to Logan. "I'm Charles Xavier," the man began, "Welcome to-" "No use Chuck," Logan said, "They don't understand English. They only speak Japanese," "I understand some English," Asuka said. "I'm Charles Xavier and this place is 'The Xavier School for the Gifted'," the man said, "Might I inquire toward the reason behind your visit? Do you require help of some sort?" "Not really," Asuka said, "We came here looking for adamantium. Do you know where we can find some?" Ranma looked back and forth between Asuka and the man in the wheelchair as they seemed to converse. He recognized the word adamantium but that was about it. The group behind Logan looked at each other, confused as to the odd request. "Adamantium, we want," Ranma said in English. Although he was simply asking, it sounded more like he was demanding based on the way it came out. "I suggest you let your friend do the talking, bub," Logan said to Ranma in Japanese, "You should stick with your native language. Not unless you don't care about making a fool out of yourself," Ranma narrowed his eyes toward Logan. Xavier turned toward Nightcrawler, "Kurt, can you please retrieve the Japanese audio translators from the science lab?" "Okay," Nightcrawler said. Ranma's and Asuka's eyes widened as the guy Xavier was talking to suddenly disappeared in a cloud of blue smoke. A second later, he reappeared, holding in one of his three-fingered hands, two small communicators that looked similar to one of those hands-free cellular devices. Nightcrawler walked forward and extended the devices for Asuka to take. "Please, take those translators," Xavier said to Asuka, "They'll translate our words to Japanese in your earpiece while your words will automatically translated to English for us to understand," Asuka paused for a moment as she looked at the odd looking hand that belonged to Nightcrawler. Nightcrawler seem a bit sad at how Asuka hesitated. But then again, considering he had blue skin, yellow eyes, and three fingered hands, it was natural that people seeing him for the first time would be a bit freaked out. Asuka took the communicator and handed it to Ranma. "They say to put this on," Asuka told Ranma, "It'll help break the language barrier," Ranma shrugged as he took Asuka's words to heart and put the device on. 'Her friend seems to show no signs of caution,' Xavier heard the red-haired woman named Jean Grey communicate to him telepathically. 'I know,' Xavier responded, 'That's rather unnatural,' "Test, test?" Ranma said into the part of the device in front of his mouth. A second later, his words, translated into English, emerged from a small speaker located right by that mouth device. Asuka took a moment before she put the device on. "Now our language barrier seems to be no more," Xavier said. "Wow, it works," Ranma said, hearing the words in his ears in Japanese. "Now that we don't have to worry about a language barrier anymore, perhaps you can tell us how come you're here," Xavier said. "You the head dude here?" Ranma asked, "Um, no pun intended, what with you being bald and all," Logan snickered. That was rather funny. "If you wish to put it that way," Xavier said, unbothered by the comment, "Your friend said you two were looking for adamantium," "Yeah," Ranma nodded, "We're looking for metal that can withstand explosions of, basically, nuclear proportions. You know where we can find some of that stuff?" Everyone started looking at one another. Perhaps it was better to not be able to understand what Ranma was saying than to be able to. "We're from another world," Ranma said, expecting everyone to not believe a single word he was saying, "I used to be God, and being God, I became aware of this world and adamantium. I dunno much about it but I know it exists on this world. I wanna bring that stuff back to our world to make a really powerful engine since the metal on our world can't withstand the kinda combustions we want," "Did I hear that correctly? Did you just say you used to be God?" a man with red shades asked, "By the way, I'm Cyclops," Ranma regarded the man for a moment. The man had short brown hair and stood taller than Ranma and had on a pair of red shades that seemed a bit odd to be wearing considering it was night out. He noticed a wedding band on his ring finger and the exact same band on the beautiful red-haired woman standing right next to him. Through quick observation, it led him to believe that they were perhaps married to one another. "Cyclops? Um, okay," Ranma seemed surprised at the name, "Anyway, yeah, I used to be God. I stopped being God awhile ago and gave the job to someone else. To make a long story short, when I was God, I kinda became, I dunno half-ass all- knowing, which is why I know about this world. That's what led me to come here. Can you help us out? Otherwise, we'll go elsewhere," "Well, of all the people to ask for help, this is probably the best place to be to ask for help," Cyclops stated, "However, this is one odd request," "Can you help or not?" Ranma seemed impatient. "We'll try," Ranma wandered the hallways of the school early in the morning. He and Asuka had been given a guestroom to sleep in for the night. While Ranma had been conversing with the group, Asuka had involuntarily yawn which prompted Ranma to cut their meeting short in hopes of heading out and finding a motel to sleep before Asuka got too sleepy. Xavier had offered to let them use one of the building's guestrooms instead, which Ranma took up. Asuka was sleeping soundly in the guestroom and would most likely not wake up for another few hours. Since Ranma didn't need to sleep, this gave him plenty of time alone to just walk around and take in his surroundings. Looking around, Ranma noticed that even though the giant building was basically a school for young mutants, the building reminded him more of an extravagant-looking learning center instead. It was around eight in the morning and Ranma was forced to step off to the side to allow large groups of children heading for classrooms. To him, the children looked like normal children. Then again, little did Ranma know that all the children were prohibited from using whatever powers they had when school was in session. Before long, Ranma found himself by the front entrance to the school, looking out toward the large grassy field where he saw scores of children gathered around in groups, a lone adult teaching them. "Outside learning sessions, huh?" Ranma said to himself, "That's a good idea. Children'll enjoy learning more. The school in my world should do that," Ranma noticed the beautiful red-haired woman from last night standing right by a large rock, a group of young children forming a semi-circle in front of her, as she gave her attentive students their lecture. From where he was, he observed her as she turned toward the rock, as if to give an example for the children, and extend her hand toward it. When the rock, which looked to weigh at least a two thousand pounds, seemed to magically levitate into the air, he had a good idea he knew what the woman's mutant ability was. "She must know magic," he stated. He tugged at his shirt collar. He never used to do that, that is, until he started wearing this heavy pin that Shinji gave him. Shinji had mentioned that he wanted Ranma to wear the pin and simply go about his business like usual. He had said it was for a pet project but never really said exactly what kind of project it was in the first place. He didn't bother straining his brain trying to figure it out and made a mental note to ask Shinji what the project was when he and Asuka got back home. Ranma continued to observe her as she went about with the rest of her lecture, making the rock levitate a few more times, even making it rotate, before putting it gently back down in its rightful place. Before he even realized it, time flew by and her class was over. The sound of a bell could be heard as the kids got up from their seated positions around the woman and headed toward the school to go to their next class for the day. Ranma choose that opportunity to approach her. "G'morning," Ranma said. "Morning," Jean smiled. "I was watching you before," he said. "I noticed," she replied, "You were by the front entrance only around five minutes after my class started," "I saw you move that rock," Ranma said, "That's really cool. Is that one of your special abilities, moving rocks? What do people call it, magic?" Jean gave a laugh, "Magic? Not quite. It may seem like magic I guess, but it's actually telekinesis," "Tele-what?" Ranma ask. "Telekinesis," she said, "It's basically the ability to move objects with the mind," "So it's like 'Mind over matter'?" he asked, "Wow, that's a great party trick?" "A party trick? I guess it has some truth to it," she nodded. "I'm Ranma by the way," he said, "We never got the chance to introduce one another but I remember you from last night," "I'm Jean," she responded. "Nice to meetcha," Ranma said, walking over to the rock, "This telekinesis stuff, is it hard?" Jean thought about it for a moment, "Hard? Well, it kind of depends on how complex the task is. Moving one rock is simple. Doing something like putting a car together from hundreds of pieces and putting all those pieces in its rightful place is much harder," "What about weight, is that a factor?" he asked, very interested. "Not entirely," she said, "Not unless the weight is extreme, like in the hundreds of thousands of pounds," Ranma placed a hand on the rock and gave it a small nudge, causing it to slide a few inches forward on the ground. "This rock's probably really heavy to a normal person, but to someone that knows telekinesis, it's probably really easy, huh?" he asked, pulling the rock back forward into its rightful place. Jean was silent for a moment, "Well, it seems like it isn't much trouble to someone of your strength," Jean had wondered what some of Ranma's mutant abilities were, and it seemed like he had just shown one of them, extreme strength. Although it was usually wrong to assume anything, like Ranma being a mutant like herself, she had a funny feeling he had some special powers. She could had easily found out what they were by establishing a telepathic link with him and finding out for herself, but she restrained herself from doing so because it would basically be an invasion of privacy if it was without his consent. "Someone of my strength?" Ranma asked, "I think it's different with me. I can't even tell if stuff's heavy anymore. My powers are really messed up," "Messed up? What makes you say that?" "Let's just say it's messed up and leave it at that," Ranma said. "Okay," Jean said, her interest more piqued than before. "You're a teacher in this school?" he asked. It was surprising just how easily Ranma could keep a conversation going. Jean nodded, "Yes. I haven't been teaching as long as some of the others at the school, but I've been teaching for a while nonetheless," "Aren't you worried that teaching these kids might be a bad thing?" Ranma asked bluntly, "For all we know, there's a chance they could use it for evil," "If we teach them the right way, there's more likely a chance they would use it for good," Jean countered. Many people had asked her such a question and that was her automatic response. Ranma nodded, "Definitely got a point there. I know whatcha mean. I've been down that path," "You have?" Jean asked. Ranma said, "I used to teach martial arts back on my own world. There was always a chance that my students would use what I taught 'em to bully others. Of course, to prevent that, more time is spent teaching them to do the right thing than actually teaching them the techniques," "That's a very good example," Jean had to admit. Ranma gestured toward the wedding band on the ring finger on Jean's left hand. "So, you're married," he said. "Yes, I am," she said. She liked that fact. It helped keep the males at bay. She knew she was a very beautiful woman, and frankly, she grew tired of men hitting on her long ago. Now that she was married, it made refusing a guy's attempts to have a date with her easier. "Can I see it?" he asked. Jean was a bit surprised at the question. However, she obliged and took off her wedding band and handed it to Ranma. "Are you seeing anyone?" she asked, noticing no wedding band on Ranma's hand. She flushed slightly when it she realized it sounded like she was hitting on Ranma. Ranma shook his head, "Nope. Don't think I'll be getting married anytime soon. Girls drive me nuts sometimes," Jean was taken aback at the comment. "I don't like the thought of becoming whipped," Ranma stated, glancing at the band. "W-whipped?" Jean stammered, truly surprised at the comment. "If I don't wanna do something, then I don't wanna do something," he stated, "I don't like the thought of having to bullshit just to make the girl happy," Jean was silent. "For instance, chick flicks," Ranma said, "They suck. I don't wanna see them. If I was whipped, I'd probably silently tolerate such crap simply because that's what the girl wanted," "Sounds like to me you've never been in love," Jean felt sorry for Ranma, "When you're in love, all you ever think is the person you love. If they're happy, then you're happy," "If we were in love," Ranma said, "Then wouldn't it make you happy that I'm happy?" "Um, hypothetically speaking, if we were in love, then yes, it'd make me happy if you were happy," Jean said, wondering when the heck the conversation had turned to them being in love with on another. "Well, if it makes you happy that I'm happy, then I think I should be able to see cool kung-fu movies," Ranma said, "Afterall, even though, say, you hate watching such movies, you know it makes me happy to see such movies. Therefore, since I'm happy, you'll be happy," Jean was stunned to silence at Ranma's logic. "The way I think of it, we're all happy either way, so why shouldn't I get to see kung-fu movies?" he said. Jean was still speechless. "Did I hear someone mention kung-fu movies?" came a voice. Ranma and Jean turned their attention toward the woman approaching. Walking toward the two of them was a beautiful woman with long purple hair that came down to her waist. She was wearing some designer pants and a blouse that made her look very sophisticated. Ranma immediately noticed how beautiful she was. Shortly after, he noticed a red mark that seemed to trail down the side of her forehead and over her left eye. "Betsy, you're back," Jean seemed genuinely glad to see her friend. "Hello," Ranma smiled. The woman named Betsy narrowed her eyes at Ranma when she noticed Ranma paying much more attention toward her cleavage than need be. "I'm Ranma," Ranma said, "Nice to meetcha," "This is Betsy," Jean said, "Also known as Psylocke," "Psylocke?" Ranma asked, smirking, "Any relation to Psyclops? Get it?" Both females cast Ranma an odd look, like Ranma had grown a second head. Ranma said sarcastically, "Wow, I'm glad you girls have a sense of humor. God forbid you didn't. Otherwise, this'll most likely be awkward," Ranma sarcasm did manage to get both of them to crack a small smile. "Did you just get in?" Jean asked her friend, "How was your visit to China?" "Ooh, China? I like that place," Ranma said. "We've never met, are you a new team member?" Psylocke asked curious. "Um, yeah," Ranma joked, "They call me, um, Snafu," "Snafu?" Psylocke asked. "Yeah, because of my record when I visit worlds," Ranma grinned, "It's an acronym for 'Situation Normal All Fucked Up'," Jean couldn't help but laugh at Ranma's quick wit. Sure, it was a rather crude joke, but a funny one nonetheless. "I heard something about kung-fu movies," Psylocke commented. "Oh, I was just talking to Jean about how I like kung-fu movies and would much rather see them than chick flicks," Ranma stated. "Interesting," Psylocke regarded Ranma for a moment, "I like kung-fu movies too," Ranma smile, "I teach martial arts. I guess it's only natural that I like those kind of movies," "Martial arts, huh?," Psylocke smiled warmly, "I do martial arts. Are you any good? Maybe we should head to the danger room. I haven't sparred against a genuine martial artist in a while," Ranma pointed to himself, "Spar? With me?" "Why not?" she asked. "But you're a girl," Asuka stretched in her bed after a good night's sleep. Almost instantly, she snapped wide awake as the sudden thought of her being late for school entered her mind. It wasn't until she sat upright and looked around while in her bed did she come to realize where she was. She was on a different world. She was in the guestroom Xavier had given to her and Ranma to stay for the night. "Ranma?" she looked around. When she noticed that Ranma wasn't around or in the room, a sudden sense of panic started coming over her. Where was he? She was in an unknown world and was alone at the moment. She looked over toward a digital clock that was on the small table to the side of the bed and noticed it was almost noon. "Oh man, I can't believe I slept that long," she said, getting up and out of her bed. She looked toward the door and wondered what she should do. As if on cue, there was a knock on her door. "Ranma?" she called out. "Um, not quite," came an unrecognized voice. "Um, who is it?" she asked. "Kurt," came the answer. "Um, come in," she said, wondering who this Kurt person was. The door opened and in entered the blue, three fingered person Asuka remembered seeing last night. She immediately tensed up at the sight, unfamiliar to seeing people that looked like him. "Don't worry, most people get nervous when they see me," he said, "I'm kinda used to it. People tend to react that way to me whenever they see me," "Um, sorry, it's just that I'm not used to, um," she began. "Seeing someone that looks like me?" he finished for her. Asuka nodded, a bit embarrassed. "I'm Nightcrawler," he stated in a soft voice, "But my real name's Kurt," "I'm Asuka," Asuka said, relaxing slightly. "I came here to let you know that if you're looking for your friend, Ranma, he's in the Danger Room," Nightcrawler said. "Danger Room?" she asked. "Ranma and several team members are there sparring," he answered, "It's a holographic room where we all spar whenever we feel like it or have free time. I'm here to take you there to him," "Um, okay," The Danger Room was a large room located underground of the school where all of the X-Men, the elite team of mutants that operated at the Xavier institute, had fought against one another in during most of their free time. The room consisted of holographic matrix which gave the combatants the illusion that they were fighting in a large open area void of possible innocent bystanders while, in reality, it was nothing more than a very specialized room. The woman named Psylocke, extremely skilled in the ways of martial arts, found herself seriously outskilled. Never had she seen someone as skilled as Ranma. If it weren't for the fact that Ranma's reflexes where insanely fast, it actually seemed to Ranma was telepathic and able to read her mind before she even executed her attacks. The sparring had gone on for only around twenty minutes, and Psylocke found herself hoping to actually touch Ranma, let alone hit him. Ranma was obviously going extremely easy on her. He had made no attempts to attack her even though she attacked him viciously. Heck, even though he was half-distracted by the fact that the beautiful Psylocke was wearing what looked like a skin-tight purple leotard. Then again, it was expected, seeing someone as beautiful as Psylocke wearing such a tight outfit could easily make any male distracted to the point of staring. Several team members with in the adjoining room, watching the two combatants spar against one another. Actually, more along the lines of watching Psylocke trying to hit Ranma. In that room watching at the moment was Logan, Jean Grey, Beast, and Cyclops. All of them very curious about this newcomer named Ranma. "He fights like a telepath," the large almost cat-like Beast commented, looking at a computer screen. The computer in that room, the War Room, gathered information of the fighting between to combatants in the Danger Room. The numbers and statistics of Ranma's fighting potential were downright scary. "Hey, Logan, you might want to look at these stats," Beast commented, "This guy not only dodges faster than anything our computers have ever recorded, but it indicates that the most minimal expenditure of energy is spent dodging. He dodges quickly and efficiently as well," Logan didn't seem all that interested in hearing what his friend Beast had to say. However, he couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement at seeing Ranma dodge. Ranma dodged very much like that telepathic martial artist he fought on a few occasions. It made Logan wonder how well Ranma would do if he allowed himself to go into one of his berserk rages. Inside the other room, Ranma barely moved as he continued to dodge all of Psylocke's attacks. He was caught by surprised when Psylocke, frustrated at her inability to hit him, resorted to using her telepathic powers to generate a psychic knife from one of her hands for extra reach, slashing at him. "Can we please stop?" Ranma asked, feeling rather embarrassed that he was basically making a fool out of Psylocke. It even pained him when he noticed the doubtful look within her eyes about her own abilities as a fighter. Psylocke wasn't a bad fighter, far from it. Instead, it was because Ranma was that much better a fighter. Ranma wondered how much of a shock it would be if Psylocke managed to land a lucky hit on him, which was basically impossible if he simply paid attention, only to find out that he possessed an AT Field. In the other room, Jean had a very worried look on her face. "Something the matter?" Cyclops noticed. "My telepathy doesn't seem to have any effect on him," Jean stated. "What?" everyone in the room turned toward her. This was an extreme shock because Jean was one of the most powerful telepaths alive. "Just for the fun of it, I tried to create a telepathic chain that would temporarily bind him and prevent him from moving, just enough for Psylocke to be able to land one blow on him," Jean said, "But the attempt had zero effect on him. He just broke through those chains like it wasn't even there. Just to make sure it wasn't me, I tried doing so several times. It doesn't work. I don't even think he is even aware of it, let alone breaking them," Suddenly, a loud shriek could be heard from the Danger Room, causing the group to turn their attention onto the two combatants. What they saw was Ranma with one of his hands on Psylocke's breasts. A second later, before she was able to lift a hand to slap Ranma for groping her, Psylocke slumped forward into Ranma's arms unconscious. "What the heck just happened?" Beast was the first to ask. They watched as Ranma gently picked Psylocke up and carried her toward the door. Beast turned off the holographic matrix, plunging the room into a dull light, revealing the door that was the exit to the room. The team headed out of their room to meet Ranma at the door as he exited the Danger Room. When Ranma emerged from the room, carrying Psylocke, Ranma answered before anyone could ask the question. "She didn't want to stop sparring so I pushed her sleep pressure point," "Hee hee hee, if I wanted to, I could do this and that with her, and she'd sleep right through it," Ranma chuckled. "Ranma!" Asuka shouted toward him. Ranma held his hands up defensively, "I'm just joking around. Jeez," Asuka and Nightcrawler and Ranma and the group were in the Med-lab where Psylocke looked like she was sleeping soundly on one of the medical beds. Beast was listening to her heart with a stethoscope. Although she looked perfectly fine, and Ranma said she was sleeping, Beast wanted to make sure Psylocke was all right. The shriek had been Psylocke's immediate response when she looked down and saw one of Ranma's hands on one of her breasts. "Pressure points, huh? Interesting," Beast turned toward Ranma, "From the looks of it, it seems extremely effective," Ranma grinned, "You should see how fun it is applying it," Asuka glared at Ranma. "Ooh, Asuka's glaring at me," Ranma acted all worried, "I better sleep with one eye open tonight," "Even though we barely know each other," Jean had to get things off her chest, "I have to say the way to treat people is very rude," Ranma said loudly, "Me? How? I wasn't the one that wanted to spar. Betsy or Psylocke or whatever you call her dragged me down here. I just put her to sleep, the simplest and easiest way to end a fight peacefully. Okay, fine, maybe my making the comment about it not being fair sparring against Psylocke because she's a girl seems chauvinistic....but, now that you see where I'm coming from, you'll realize I'm right. If I wanna end a fight, I'll put you to sleep. Because she's a girl, it looks so much worse, like I'm some kinda pervert," Cyclops took a step forward, annoyed at Ranma's anger toward Jean, his wife, "Hold up. There's no need to yell," Ranma sighed, "How come I feel like I'm the bad guy here? All I'm looking for is some adamantium bring back home, is that so hard to ask?" "Do you have ever seen adamantium?" Jean asked. Ranma shook his head. Logan stepped forward and extended his claws toward Ranma. "Don't tell me now you're looking to fight me," Ranma sighed, "You'll be just as easy to beat as that Psylocke chick. Actually, that'd be untrue since you're a guy and I have no probs beating on guys," "Don't count on it, bub," Logan grinned, not one bit intimidated. "Logan here is showing you his claws because it's coated with adamantium," Beast stated. Ranma's eyes widened, "Really? Oh, now I get it. When I said I was looking for adamantium last night, was that the reason why you extended your claws?" "Well, it seems like we have ourselves a genuine detective here," Logan said. "I guess didn't pick up on it until now," Ranma gave a meek smile. Asuka walked forward and looked at the claws, "It looks a lot like steel," "It's very similar but astronomically stronger," Beast commented, "It's near invulnerable," "You can touch it if you want," Logan said to Asuka, shrugging, "But be careful of the bladed edge. It's extremely sharp," Asuka shook her head, "Nah, I'll take your word for it," "It's super strong?" Ranma asked, seemingly unconvinced. "Even a royally pissed-off Hulk would have trouble bending it, and those claws are only coated with adamantium," Beast state, "Forget about if it's actually made of that stuff," "Hulk? Who the hell's that?" Ranma asked. "Nevermind," Beast said, "It's not that important. The point I'm getting at is that the adamantium you're looking for is the same stuff that coats Logan's claws and skeletal structure," "So, where do I get this stuff?" Ranma asked, "The sooner we get it, the faster we'll be gone," "They United States government has a large supply of adamantium in its liquid state contained in one of its Nevada underground supply depots," Beast said. "How can we get it?" Ranma asked, point to himself and Asuka, "Can we just walk in there and buy it or something? How much does it cost?" "I highly doubt you'd be able to buy it outright, especially if you intend to buy enough to make a combustion engine," Beast said, "Adamantium is extremely expensive to make, even in very small quantities," Ranma turned toward Asuka, "Hm, since we can't buy it, I guess we're gonna hafta steal it," "We? And just want do you think I'll be able to do?" Asuka asked. "I don't know what kind of world you come from," Beast said, "But stealing is against the law here on this world," Ranma grinned, "It's every bit as illegal back home on our world. Of course, it doesn't really bother me," "You do know, if you intend to do something like steal from the government, we are obligated to try and stop you," Cyclops said. Ranma smirked, "Won't you guys just turn a blind eye to it? We've only known each other for a short time, and I kinda consider you guys like friends. It'd be a shame to hafta beat the shit outta you guys," Everyone looked at one another, wondering if Ranma really was as powerful as his arrogance seem to indicate. Of all of them, Logan seemed not one bit intimidated. Jean seemed to be the only one aware that Ranma's power was far greater than he let on. "There's no need for us to go down that path," Beast said, hoping to break the awkward silence of the room, "Ranma, we can not stand idle while you obviously disregard our world's law and attempt to steal our government's supply of adamantium, but that doesn't mean we can't help you out getting the components necessary to make adamantium," "Okay, what's adamantium made of and where can we find the stuff?" Ranma asked. "That's a whole different story," Beast said meekly. Ranma looked at the list of paper that Beast had printed out for him and was reading off the list of components required to make adamantium. He and Asuka and Beast and Nightcrawler were in Beast's laboratory. No one else was around, having gone about to do something else. Since there was no indication that Ranma would spar once again, there was no real need for any of the other team members to hang around in hopes of seeing Ranma fight. Ranma was by Beast while Nightcrawler and Asuka were off to one corner talking. It turned out that Nightcrawler was raised in Germany and spoke German, which made Asuka open up more to him. Eventually, she found out that Nightcrawler was a really nice guy that sometimes played jokes on his friends. "Wakandan Vibranium," Ranma said toward Beast's back as Beast types something on his computer, "What the heck is that?" "It's a meteoric ore," Beast answered. The process and exact chemical composition for adamantium was a government classified secret that had been leaked and contained not too long ago. Luckily, Beast was one of the few people smart enough to had attained the secret without being found out. "And where the heck can I find something like that?" Ranma asked, "From the sound of it, it sound rare as hell," "It's really rare," Beast said, "A large supply of it can be found in the American Antarctic base, Melroy," "Melroy?" Ranma asked. "It's a base that was set up over the crash site of a meteor that crash landed in Antarctica several years ago," Beast answered, "It turns out that that meteor is made up almost completely of that component, Wakandan Vibranium," Ranma glanced in Asuka's general direction. After a moment, he started laughing. "This is very funny," Ranma chuckled, "Three times I'm with Asuka. Three times I hafta go to Antarctica. Twice with one Asuka and once with an alternate version of her," Beast seemed confused about the comment. "It's nothing," Ranma said, "I'm just thinking aloud," "Now, how do I go about getting my hands on this Wakandan Vibranium stuff?" Ranma asked curiously, "Can I just fly to Antarctica and just pick it up?" "Unfortunately, that isn't quite possible," Beast said, "It's a military base. The army stationed there will not let you just walk in and grab a truckload of that ore," Ranma sighed, "So, I guess I'm back to square one," "Seems so," Beast commented, "And once again, we'll be obligated to stop you," Ranma stood up, "Y'know what? Screw it. Forget about getting the components one by one and making this adamantium stuff. I'll just go attack that supply depot in Nevada and get what I need there. That way, I can skip that whole process of making the stuff by myself. Sure, I'll hafta beat you guys up along the way, but hey, you can't make an omelet without breaking a few eggs," "One word of caution, you should not underestimate the X-Men," Beast commented, "We should not be taken lightly," Ranma smiled, admiring Beast's sense of professionalism and duty. It reminded him a bit of a cop that wouldn't hesitate to arrest his best friend for doing something illegal. Sure, it would suck to be the best friend being arrested, but having people that wouldn't hesitating in making such a choice would ultimately make the world a better place. Ranma grinned, "I'll keep that in mind. One word of caution to you guys as well, don't underestimate me as well," Ranma and Asuka walked the streets of Salem Center, the city where the Xavier School was located. Because of where the location of the school was, and the fact that they were walking around close to the school, the area seemed very suburban and considered of a mostly residential area. "I'm gonna be a bad guy," Ranma had a big smirk on his face. "W-what?" Asuka's eyes widened. Did she just hear that correctly? "The X-Men are gonna be after me," Ranma said, "I'm gonna go after the liquid adamantium in Nevada. Unfortunately, the X-Men are obligated to stop me. Seems like there's no gray area here. It's gonna be a battle between the sides of good and evil. Of course, they're kinda screwed since I'll be playing on the side of evil," "Why on Earth would you do this?" Asuka had to ask. "Because, I want that adamantium," Ranma said, "Isn't that a good enough reason?" "But-" she began. "And because of what I intend to do, I can't have you following along," Ranma said. Asuka found herself at a loss of words for a moment, "W-what? What do you mean?" "It's most likely going to be dangerous what I'm gonna be doing," Ranma said, "Actually, I know it's gonna be dangerous. I hafta fight the United States military as well as the X-Men. I don't want you caught up in all of this," "What's going to happen to me?" Asuka asked, concerned. Ranma said, "Nothing. You can hang around at the school for a day or two until I get back. That way, you won't be liable for my actions since you won't be considered my accomplice," Asuka became silent. "It won't be that bad," Ranma said, "Didn't you make yourself a friend, that blue devil or elf or whatever he is? You two seemed to get together pretty well. I even heard you talking to him in German so I guess you guy's got a at least one thing in common, language. Nightcrawler's his name I think? He can keep you company until then," "Um, he's part of the X-Men, he will be one of the team members fighting you," Asuka said. "Okay, I'll go easy on him," Ranma grinned. "That's not what I mean," Asuka seemed annoyed at Ranma's joking. "Then what?" "I wanna come with you," she said. Ranma shook his head, "No. Not this time. It's too dangerous. I don't really know how powerful these people are, but I don't wanna risk you being an innocent casualty. Besides, I'm only gonna be gone for a day at most," "But-" Asuka tried to argue. Ranma's visage was serious and indicated that he was not going to budge, not this time. It made Asuka realize that, as much as she would prefer to be close to Ranma, Ranma was more concerned about her safety than anything else. "I'm gonna head out tonight under the cover of darkness," Ranma said, "So, since we've got some time before we leave, we can do something in the meanwhile," Asuka smiled slightly. At least they had some time to spend together before they had to split up. She might as well make the most of it. "Got any idea what we should do in the meanwhile?" Ranma asked. Asuka thought for a moment. "Well, we're currently somewhere in the state of New York. I wouldn't mind taking a stroll around Time Square and New York City and such," Ranma smiled warmly, "That sounds like a good idea," Ranma looked up toward the sky and noticed the dark clouds high in the sky. "Looks like it's going to be bad weather," Asuka commented, "I wonder if we should head back to the school or just get a hotel around here," "It's your choice," Ranma said, "Of course, considering we lack a thing called money, what with the fact that I only carry yen, it'll be kinda hard to rent a room around here," "Man, I can't believe we skipped out on paying for our meal," Asuka said, "The money to our meal's gonna come right out of that waitress' paycheck. I feel really bad," Ranma shrugged, "I'd be more than happy to pay, but how? We don't have money. What, you want me to rob a bank? I kinda don't wanna really cause trouble unless I hafta. Actually, if I hafta cause trouble, I'd like it to be the least possible," "Still," Asuka didn't seem satisfied. "What I should pickpocket someone?" he asked, "It's easy as hell," "It's still stealing," Asuka tried to be the voice of reason, "What if the person needs the money. There's no way we could tell," "How about I pickpocket someone that looks rich and don't need the money?" he asked, "If I'm gonna steal money from someone, how about I steal it from someone that looks like he doesn't need to worry about money?" Asuka sighed, "Your sense of logic is rather disturbing. Ranma chuckled, "Heh, it's more fun seeing the world in gray than black and white. I feel sorry for the X-Men. I wonder what they'd be doing if they were in our situation. They'd probably be stuck at the restaurant washing dishes to pay for their meal," "No, they'd probably be smart enough to bring money to pay for a meal," Asuka commented. "Well, since it seems like we don't have any money to rent a hotel," Ranma stated, "And you seem against me robbing a bank for money, it looks like our only alternatives would be to head back to the school and crash there," Asuka asked, "You think they'll put up with us another day? Keep in mind that it would be really awkward, what with the fact that it's expected that you're going to be fighting against them before long," "I'm pretty sure they'll put up with us," Ranma replied, "They need to respond according to my actions. Since I ain't done nothing wrong, they have no right to judge. Sure, they know what I'm gonna be doing not too long ago from now, but that a different story. It's wrong to go after a guy for a crime he had not yet committed," Meanwhile, back at the Xavier school, the X-Men were gathered around a computer. In addition to the group was Storm and Rogue. Ranma's voice could be heard emanating from one of the speakers, his conversation with Asuka being transmitted to the computer via the small transmitter that was located within the communicator device both Ranma and Asuka still wore. "This guy's good," Logan grinned, "It's too bad that I ain't one of the good guys," Logan had already realized that that girl, Asuka, seemed to be Ranma's Achilles heel. "Logan, we're not the kind of people that would take advantage of a situation like that," Cyclops said, "I understand your logic since that seems like the obvious way of keeping this guy in check, but I won't allow you or anyone else to do something like that," "Since when did I ever listen to you?" Logan smirked. Logan and Cyclops seemed to have a sense of animosity and respect toward one another. In a sense, it was very much like Ranma and Ryoga, minus the fact that Ranma and Ryoga actually do try to kill each other from time to time. This sense of hostility toward one another was a result of their clashing personalities. Logan walked a gray path, never hesitating to kill anyone he considered a bad person. Cyclops always tried to go the way of the diplomatic approach and solve everything as peacefully as possible. Cyclops was the team leader and usually barked out the orders whenever they were on a mission. Logan was the kind of person that never took orders from anyone which always resulted in a clash of personalities. "Logan," Cyclops said sternly, "We're not that kind of people," "You may not," Logan said, "But if things boils down to that, you already know I won't hesitated to use that girl to our advantage," "Look, this Ranma guy has done nothing wrong," Jean stepped forward and between her husband and Logan, "And Logan, I can't believe you would even consider using that girl as leverage against Ranma," Logan let out an annoyed breath. Still in love with Jean, despite her being happily married to Cyclops, Logan tended to allow himself to accept Jean's views for the better. "Correction, Jean," Beast said, "Ranma and Asuka skipped out on paying for their meals," "You understand what I mean," Jean said, "Ranma's not someone like Magneto. We've all fought against some very powerful mutants before, but this guy gives me the creeps at the thought of having to fight against him. If you think about it, having someone like that on the team would be great," "I don't know about that, Jean," Cyclops said, skeptic, "Yes, he seems like an exceptional fighter, but that isn't everything. His personality indicates that he's been so powerful for so long that he's taken on a 'I'll do whatever I want and no one can stop me' mentality. He needs someone to knock him down a peg or two," "What better way than for the X-Men to do it?" Logan had to agree. "I think leaving well enough alone is the better approach," Jean commented, "If this guy's only weakness is that girl, Asuka, and we mess with him that way, then that means he will be against us from then on. Having a guy like that against us is not something I recommend. It's better to have him as either a friend or even an acquaintance of the X-Men than an enemy," "We only saw him spar against Psylocke for a short time," Logan interjected, "We've dealt with much more powerful opponents before," "Yes, but who's to say he isn't the kind of opponent to, say, join up with Magneto to get back at us for what we've done, God forbid we use Asuka as our trump card and things go horribly wrong?" Jean said. "You guys seem awfully worried about what this guy is capable of," Storm said, silent until now. Storm and Rogue hadn't been around that morning to see Ranma's capabilities since they had volunteered to go halfway across the planet to help put out a major forest fire that was spreading over in China. Now that they were back, they were surprised to find out that Ranma had easily defeated Psylocke and had left the school to visit New York City. Storm was a beautiful woman from Africa with a long flowing mane of white hair. An extremely powerful mutant, she possess the ability to control the weather more or less. "We're not necessarily worried about him completely," Jean said, "It's just from my point of view, it's better to have him consider us his friends than his enemies. We've got enough enemies as it is," "Surely this guy can't be that hard to deal with if we hafta deal with him," Rogue said in that southern accent of hers. A southern belle with long brown hair with white bangs, Rogue possess the devastatingly powerful mutant ability to absorb the memories, abilities, and characteristics of anyone she touched. Unable to control this ability made her a prisoner of her own powers, making her unable to feel human touch without the risk of absorbing all of the person's powers and abilities. This was why she always wore special gloves. "Well, if we have to fight against this guy, we'll be ready," Rogue said. "Only time will tell," Beast added. Back on Ranma and Asuka, the two of them walked the busy streets of New York City. "Man, it's gonna rain soon," Ranma said, "We better head back," "You think something bad's gonna happen?" Asuka had to ask. Ranma chuckled, "Yeah, something bad has to happen. Those aren't rain clouds above us. Those are dark clouds. Y'know, the stuff usually used to show a sense of foreboding," "You don't seem all that worried," Asuka felt a bit relieved. "What the heck's there to worry about?" Beast furiously typed at his computer. "There's got to be a way to avoid having to do this," he said to himself. He had no doubts that he and the X-Men would fight against Ranma if he decided to actually go through with his plan to steal some adamantium from the military and cause massive damage in the process, but he was sure there was some peaceful way of avoiding having to do so. "Whatcha looking for, sugah?" Rogue approached him from behind, placing a gloved hand on one of his furry shoulders. "I'm trying to find another way for Ranma to get the adamantium he's looking for while avoiding the need to steal it from the government and use having to fight him in the process," Beast replied, "I'm trying to find a place where Ranma could find the Wakandan Vibranium without having to attack anyone or steal it from anyone. All the other components necessary to make the adamantium we can find with no problem. It's the Vibranium that's the hard part since it's so rare," "There isn't an abundant supply of resources to produce adamantium that can be easily found," Rogue commented, "And if there is, there's a good chance the government's already got its hands on the resources to do so," Beast sighed, "That's true," He continued to type furiously, hoping to find any information on the whereabouts of some Vibranium that the government don't already have in its possession. After a few minutes, his eyes widened in surprise and relief. "Bingo, I've found it," Beast said. "What? Where?" Rogue asked curiously. "There's going to be an auction for it a few days from now over in the Philippines," Beast smiled, "We can have Ranma bid for it. If he wins, he will have acquired the Vibranium legitimately," "A few days? I reckon that Ranma person wouldn't mind waiting a few days to get what he wants," Rogue stated, "But if he's going to have to bid at an auction for it, exactly where is he going to get the money to pay for the stuff if he manages to win the bid?" "Unfortunately, that's a different story," Ranma arrived back at the Xavier school in no time, courtesy of the wings he still possessed. He carried Asuka with him. Oddly enough, it wasn't as if he even needed to fly. He could just use a portal back there if he wanted to. Perhaps it was because he didn't want Asuka to get disoriented again that made him travel the slow, yet super-sonic, way of flight. As expected, Ranma was greeted at the entrance to the school by all the X-Men. The X-Men, unaware that Ranma could bring forth wings, was surprised at what they saw. "Oh, these things," Ranma pointed toward his wings, "I got 'em from when I defeated an Angel. It's not like I need 'em to fly, but they look cool so I continue to use 'em," The team was caught off-guard when the wings suddenly extended and disappeared into his back. All that remained that indicated that he had wings were the holes in the back of his shirt where the wings had pierced through. "That's a rather nice trick," Beast said, "Very useful for when you're around humans. It helps conceal your identity," "Y'mean my wings?" Ranma asked, "Oh, they're mostly decorative," He noticed Rogue and Storm. "Hello, we haven't met," Ranma noticed Rogue and Storm, "I'm Ranma," He extended his hand forward for either Storm or Rogue to shake. After a moment of hesitation, both females shook his hand individually. "We saw you last night," Storm said. Ranma found himself staring at Storm longer than expected. Asuka noticed this but said nothing. Instead,