Hey, here is the revised Ranma/X-men, I fixed the spelling of Rogue's name
and I explained a few things and added a lot of stuff from the Ranma angle
(I figured 6 pages of Wolvie and X-men and only two pages of Ranma was a
bit onesided.) I recieved quite a few letters commenting on Ranma and co.
being impressed or not by X-men and I hope I addressed that issue....any
questions about how I did so, I will be more than happy to answer...

Author's forward:

	Howdy folks, I've had this idea burning a hole in my head for quite a
while, so I finally just sat in front of the computer and told myself, 'You
are now going to write a Ranma/X-Men crossover.' It was that simple. After
I did that, I began to just type pages.
Anyway, a few things to clarify some details. This fic will probably
involve a LARGE portion of the Ranma cast, so it is time-line somewhere in
the latter part of the series. As for the X-men, this will be before X-Men
#25 so Wolverine is his old, really cool, intelligent, metal lined self. A
lot of little details maybe pulled from obscure references in X-Men, Ranma,
and maybe even events in a few fanfics, nothing story-essential though.
All righty then!! Enjoy the show!!

As always, C&C to raymond.haney@mohican.mwsu.edu
And visit my site
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Garden/5220


Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men, I don't own Ranma, I sit in insignificance
in the shadows of the people that created them (Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and
Rumiko Takahashi) and the power of the companies that own them. (Marvel,
Shogakun, Viz)





Ranma and the X-Men


Part 1

	Things looked bad. 
	That was the number one thought that the X-Man and mutant known as
Wolverine had in his mind. He was standing in a back alley in Tokyo, Japan,
warily watching for any signs of pursuit. He stood guard at the mouth of an
alley that the X-Men had ducked into to catch their breath; shooting a
glance over his shoulder he regarded his comrades gravely. Rouge was o.k.
after all, it took a lot to hurt Rouge, but Beast was beginning to get a
little winded. And no small wonder considering his load, the bleeding and
battered forms of Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops, and Remy LeBeau, a.k.a.
Gambit. And Psylocke, well Psylocke was missing. That was why the X-Men
were even in Japan, to find her. And apparently somebody knew it, because
no sooner had the X-Men touched down and started looking for her then they
had been ambushed by the Hand. Wolverine padded back to the four and
grunted as he took in the wounds on Cyclops and Gambit. In the running
fight with the Hand, he hadn't been able to pay attention, but now.......
He shook his head, knowing that he had to get the X-Men to someplace safe,
and soon, else Cyclops and Gambit both might not see the next dawn.
	Rouge looked down at Wolverine apprehensively as he knelt by Gambit and
asked in a bit of a hesitant voice, "How are they, sugah?"
	"Not good," he grated, "Cajun's losing too much blood, Cyke got stuck
right through the gut. They'll be o.k. with help, but they need help now."
Wolverine rose and looked at Beast, "How you holding up McCoy?"
	Hank McCoy regarded his diminutive teammate gravely and spoke in his rich,
Oxford accent, "Well enough, Wolverine. I've got a bit of a stitch in my
side and a few mild lacerations, but nothing to stop me from being able to
carry our two comrades to the closest available aid. You, being much more
familiar with both the territory and the burdens of leadership can take on
the mantle of guide and leader and show the way to said aid." He held a
hand to his left side and was breathing heavily, and Wolverine could read
the pain in that blue - furred face but he simply nodded in reply to Hanks
words.
	Rouge nodded once, deferring to Wolverine, her gaze still on Remy's still
form.
	"Well, load 'em up, McCoy, the sooner the better."
	Beast, with Rouge's aid, placed the wounded men on his shoulders, drawing
a gasp and moan from both of the unconscious X-Men. "I trust you have a
place to lead us too?" Hank asked, suggestively.
	Wolverine nodded, "Yup. Hospital's out, too obvious. And Yukio is out of
the country right now, but I got an old friend in the Nerima district, not
to far. Fastest way would be if Rouge provided lift and we go by air. You
below, me above."
	Rouge nodded at Wolverine's plan and moved behind Beast while Wolverine
moved behind her. "All set?" she asked as Wolverine encircled his arms
around her neck. After receiving a terse yes from both of her comrades, she
took off, carrying the Beast with two hands under his shoulders while
Wolverine rode on her back. "Where we going, Wolvie?" Rouge shouted back at
him as they flew along in the air.
	"Keep going east, toward Nerima business district." He pointed one arm in
front of her and she sighted down his finger to a collection of lights and
buildings. "We're looking for a place called the Cat Cafe, it's a
restaurant! I know the owner."
    	Rouge felt a terse smile on her face as she shook her head and just
asked aloud in wonder,"Sugah, you sure do seem to have a lot of old friends."
	She didn't hear Wolverines low, amused, reply, "Yeah, and this one's a lot
older than most."

					*	*	*

	Cologne cocked her head towards the roof. She looked around her room,
shrugged and decided to not even try to go to sleep. She didn't sleep much
anyway. As she pogoed towards the stairs, riding on her everpresent staff,
she idly wondered if the muffled thump she had heard was Shampoo. If so,
she thought to herself, granddaughter and I are going to have several
conversations. One on coming in at a decent hour, and another on working on
her stealth. After all, she smiled as she neared the door; it doesn't pay
to sneak into a place if one couldn't do so quietly. As she neared the
door, she slowed and paused. It felt like.....
	"This isn't Shampoo," she muttered to herself, "and it's not Mousse
either...." she trailed off, and for a split second considered discretion
in what she was about to do. She refused to admit it to anyone, but she was
getting on in the years, and no longer enjoyed fighting as she once did. It
seemed to take more and more out of her, each time. She angrily shook her
head and chased such thoughts away. She was a full blooded, experienced
Amazon warrior. Just because she didn't have her granddaughter or her
half-blind waiter to help her, there was very little in this world that
could stop her. She threw the door open and stormed onto the roof, ready
for anything. 
	Anything except what was gathered in front of her.
One would have thought that after the experiences Cologne had in her life,
nothing would faze her, but the sudden appearance of two unconscious,
bleeding men, a tall American woman with dual colored hair, a short, darkly
dressed man, and a blue furred creature, did just that. Her battle aura
disappeared as she took in the presence of the five strangely clad
individuals in front of her. After a lifetime of combat, she knew when
someone wanted a fight and these people wanted no part of one. As a matter
of fact, they looked like they had been on the receiving end of one. As she
levelly scanned the group she simply asked,"Why are you here?" 
	The short individual in the center returned her gaze just as evenly as the
woman and blue furred man looked on. Reaching up, he pushed back his mask
and Cologne felt a shock of recognition.
	"Hiya Cologne. Sorry to barge in like this, but we need some help."
	Cologne bounded forward and gestured toward the stairs. "Logan, old
friend, my home is yours. What is going on? What do you need?"
	Logan gestured toward his fellow X-Men, "I got two severe, one minor, and
one tired."
	Cologne nodded at his terse words, "Yes, yes, bring them downstairs, I'll
get my things." She bounded back towards her room, putting her questions in
the back of her mind.

	Logan led the way, lifting Cyclops and carefully carrying him down the
stairway. Rouge followed with Gambit as Beast stumbled behind them. Cologne
was already in the main room of the cafe, clearing tables and setting up
piles of herbs and bandages. Logan laid his burden out on one table, a
flash of sympathy going across his face as Cyclops let loose with low moan.
Across from him, Gambit was mumbling to Rouge, trying to convince her that
he was fine. Beast collapsed into a chair and sat still, trying to catch
his breath.
	Cologne clucked and poked at the two semi-conscious forms and began to do
what she could to help them. "So, " she stated, placing herbs, rinsing
wounds and doing her best to bandage the two men, "What happened to you?"
	Logan shooed Rouge away from Gambits side, sternly pointing at Beast and
letting her know that he wanted her to see if he needed anything. Rouge
looked at him unhappily but moved to McCoy's side. He heard the two begin
to speak in low tones as he took in Gambit's form and began to help
Cologne. "Logan...." Beast's voice came from over his shoulder. Wolverine
waved a hand, "We got it McCoy, let Rouge take a look at that side of
yours, we need to make sure none of the blood in your fur is yours." Beast
subsided and sat back.
	"We landed in Japan less then two hours ago, looking for a friend. Next
thing we know, we're neck deep in Hand. We handed out worse then we took,
but still..." Logan looked unhappily at his friends while he talked to
Cologne.
"Well, don't feel to bad Logan, we all get surprised, even you. You know as
well as I do that bad luck IS a factor. And don't worry about your masked
friend here," Cologne pointed at Cyclops, "He really needs some blood and
so does the other one, but I've done all I can and he should be ok. Three
thousand years of Chinese Amazon combat builds a healthy store of Chinese
Amazon Cures for injuries just like this. Can we afford to call someone if
he can be trusted?"
	Wolverine considered it and nodded, "If whoever you have in mind can do a
housecall and can keep his mouth shut, yeah."
	Cologne smiled, "Dr.Tofu is quite used to treating difficult to explain,
combat related injuries." She turned her head and called out,  "You there,
skunk hair."
	Rouge looked up, a bit taken aback by the way Cologne referred to her.
	"Go out in the hall and fetch me the phone."
	Rouge looked at Wolverine, who simply nodded. She stood up from where she
had been sitting by Beast and headed for the hallway.
	Cologne returned her attention to Wolverine. "How long has it been anyway?
You've never once dropped by after I sent you my letter saying we'd opened
here."
	Wolverine shrugged kind of guiltily, "Been a bit busy. And I guess the
last time was back in '48 when you left Madripoor. Remember?"
	"Of course," Cologne laughed, "Back then you called me Seraph." The two
smiled at the old memories. "So Logan, are these your friends, the X-Men?
I heard about them, but I don't really keep up with the hero scene. We
heard about you the last time you all came to Japan but that's about it."
	Wolverine nodded and spoke up, "Yep, the two guys you just saved are
Gambit and Cyclops," he pointed at each one in turn, "Thanks for taking us
in, by the way."
	"Don't mention it," Cologne shrugged. She nodded at Beast, "Who's the rug
and the girl?"
	"That's Hank McCoy, and the girl goes by the name Rouge."
	Beast gave a tired wave from where he sat, too exhausted to even twitch at
the rug comment. The two moved to his side, leaving Gambit and Cyclops to
sleep where they were. 
	Wolverine approached his friend, "How you holding up McCoy?"
	"Well, " he replied,"After Rouge's inspection, I have to admit to being
the owner of some of the blood that is currently on the outside of my body.
I seem to have a slight cut on my left side."
	Cologne poked at Henry with her cane and motioned for him to lift his arm.
After he complied, she peered at the gash in his side; bounded back to the
table of supplies and applied a medicine soaked bandage to it. After a
moments pause, she leaned back and poked Henry in the chest. McCoy inhaled
sharply and then released his breath in a great whoosh.
	"Why thank you madame," he said, hesitantly rubbing his hand over the area
she had pressed. "I feel much better now. Shiatsu pressure point?" he asked.
	'He's good, Logan, I'm impressed."
	At this point Rouge came in with the phone. "Ahh, here ya go......a....
ma'am."
	"The name is Cologne, dear, and thank you." Cologne took the phone and
began to dial Tofu's number.
	"Ya got any beers around here, Co?" Logan asked, looking around. 
	Cologne pointed, "In the back in the kitchen."
	Logan nodded his thanks and began heading toward the back. "You two want
something?" he asked over his shoulder.
	"Just water, Logan, "Henry said, and at Rouge's nod, "Make that two!!"
	Logan returned in a short while, holding a Kirin beer and two glasses of
water. Cologne looked up from the phone. "He's not answering, he's probably
asleep, so I'll just keep calling till the rings wake him up."Logan nodded
absently, sat down and downed half the beer in one pull. He sighed
contentedly.
	"Who's your missing friend?" Cologne asked quizzically.
	"Lady ninja on the team. Name 'o Psylocke." He leaned forward and looked
at his old friend. "You still keep your ear to the ground?"
	"I'm fairly well informed." She shook her head at the phone. "If my
granddaughter were here, I'd send her to go get the Doctor, but she's been
out all day and that idiot waiter of mine is out as well, probably trying
to find her."
	"Well, our missing member is a pretty good fighter. Came into town to take
care of some personal business couple days ago. Didn't call, didn't write.
So we showed." Wolverine took another pull at his beer.
	"Well," Cologne said expectently,"what does she look like? Maybe I could
have some people look while your friends lick their wounds." 
	"Well, it kinda be tough to miss her, she's about 5'10", good figure, good
moves, purple hair..."
*thunk*
	Everybody started as Cologne dropped the phone. "Purple hair?" she asked.
	Wolverine leaned forward again, "Yeah, why?" he frowned puzzedly.
	"My granddaughter...." Cologne whispered weakly. Purple haired warrior
missing.... Shampoo gone all day with no word..... Cologne had been around
long enough that she no longer believed in coincidence. She started and
bent down and retrieved the phone. Quickly dialing in a new number, she
stood with anxious intensity praying for someone to wake up and pick up the
phone. A sleepy voice came over the line....
	"Tendo dojo...?"
	"Ah, Mr. Tendo, I need to speak with Ranma, this is Cologne."
	"Ahh , Cologne, Ranma, yes, well..... do you know what time it is?"
	"Yes, yes, " she snapped "do you think I would have called if it wasn't
important?"
	"Yes well,..... hold on."
	Cologne waited as she heard the phone being set down and footsteps in the
distance. After hearing what might have been several muffled shouts, she
heard a new set of steps approaching.
	"Yeah...." came Ranma's voice, thick with sleep.
	"Son-in-law.....Ranma.... have you seen Shampoo today?"
	It may have been the urgency in her question, or the fact that she had
retracted the son-in-law and referred to him by his name, but Ranma
suddenly seemed to be a bit more aware.
	"Shampoo... no, as a matter of fact, I was kinda wondering where she was.
Mousse stopped by here a coupla hours ago, looking for her."
	Cologne paused for a moment and looked at the ground..... she straightened
her head and spoke firmly.
	"Ranma, I need you to come to the Cafe, fetch Dr.Tofu on your way here and
have him bring supplies to treat two men for combat injuries, also, if you
see your friend Ryoga, get him as well."
	"Huh?" Ranma asked, "What's going on?"
	"There are some people here who need a doctor and I'm beginning to think
that Shampoo maybe in trouble somewhere."
	"Uhhhh, are you serious?"
	"Deadly serious boy, deadly serious."
	"O.K., I guess I'm on my way." 
With that final statement, Ranma hung up the phone, not waiting for a
goodbye. Cologne noted to herself with relief that he had sounded totally
alert and awake with his final sentence. She returned the X-Men's quizzical
looks and answered their unasked questions.
"My granddaughter has been missing all day long. She is an exceptional
warrior, and," she paused to gather herself, "she has purple hair. At
first, I attributed her being out all day to her own business, but now…"
she trailed off uncertainly.
Beast half raised his hand, "Coincidence?" he asked suggestively.
Cologne threw him a look of disgust, but before she could reply Wolverine
shook his head.
"C'mon, McCoy, you should now that in our business, there ain't no such
animal." He took another pull from his beer and redirected his gaze towards
Cologne. "Who was that you called?"
"A young warrior who my granddaughter is infatuated with. Probably the best
martial artist in the city."	
"How old?" Wolverine tersely asked.
Cologne shifted just a bit uncomfortably. "Seventeen."
Wolverine shook his head and finished his beer. "I don't like working with
kids, Co."
Cologne waved her hand, as if to fan away his protests. "He and his
companions are young, but they are extremely talented. They know the area
and they are a force to be reckoned with."
Wolverine shrugged in acceptance, "It's not like I have a lot of choices.
McCoy doesn't have much experience operating in Japan, and I'd want to
leave him here with Cyke and Gambit anyway." He held up a placating hand
before Beast could protest. "It's not cuz I'd think of you as a liability,
but I wouldn't want to leave these two alone.  Rouge and I have worked
Tokyo before, but I'll take all the backup I can get." Beast nodded wearily
while Rouge smiled, remembering how she and Wolverine had shaken the town
up before.
Cologne nodded her head with finality, "Very good then, Ranma and his
friends should soon be here. You should take this time to rest, perhaps to
eat?"
Beast smiled, "Some food would be highly appreciated."
"I'll get some rice and noodles on." Cologne pogoed into the kitchen and
began to fire up the stove and set up food for preparation while Wolverine
lit up a stogie and helped himself to another beer. 
Rouge clapped a hand on Beast's shoulder and after making sure he was
alright, stated, "Ah think ah'll lay down in that booth over there and
catch some sleep." She turned to Wolverine, "wake me when they get here?"
she half-asked and half-stated. Wolverine nodded and she wearily trudged
into the back half of the café. Half a minute after laying her head down,
she was fast asleep.
Cologne came out of the back bearing a tray with food. She aimed a
questioning look at the two conscious men concerning Rouge's comatose form
and received her answer as Beast drolly stated, "Two of the most important
rules in the universe are to catch sleep and eat food whenever you can, for
you don't know when you will receive another opportunity. While our young
Southern Belle indulges in one, I believe my hirsute companion and I shall
enjoy the other."
Wolverine took the time to give Beast a slightly dark look before he dug in
to the food and muttered, "Who're you to be calling somebody hairy?"
While the X-Men ate, Cologne stood at the phone, still trying to call and
wake Dr. Tofu. After a while, Beast and Logan heard her talking to someone
and explaining the bare bones of the situation. She hung up and pogoed back
into the dining area. "Ranma and his friends managed to wake the doctor.
They should be here soon."
Soon enough, there was a knock at the door. Cologne put down her pipe which
she had anxiously been puffing on and bounced away to answer it.



*	*	*	*



Part 2


	Things looked bad.
	That was the number one thought that the martial artist and Tokyo resident
known as Ranma Saotome had on his mind. He stood in the main dining room of
the Cat Café warily gazing upon the motley assortment of individuals around
him. Shooting a glance around the room, he assessed said individuals
gravely. Besides the five costumed superheroes, he stood among those that
he would call his closest friends and enemies. Arced around him stood Ryoga
Hibiki, Akane Tendo, and the Chinese native, Mousse. Ranma took a deep
breath and paused, replaying everything that had happened since Cologne's
phone call, trying to get it all straight.
	
*	*	*

	Ranma looked around after hanging up the phone. Mr. Tendo still stood in
front of him, yawning sleepily and rubbing his head. "So, Ranma, what was
so important for Cologne to call at this hour?"
	"She said that Shampoo was missing and she was worried about her." Ranma
shrugged at Mr. Tendo's look. "Yeah, yeah, it sounds like some sort of
trick to me too, but I don't know. She sounded really worried. She took
back calling me 'son-in-law' and she mentioned something about bringing Dr.
Tofu to the Cat Café. Oh yeah, and Ryoga too, if I could find him."
	Soun looked and a bit more awake as he tried to throw his sleepy mind into
gear. "Hmmmm… that does sound serious. Well, should I go wake your father
to go with you?"
	Ranma shook his head, "Nah, if it isn't too serious, Ryoga and I should be
able to handle it. And if it is really serious, then we can call you guys.
This way, if something really is going on, you guys can be here and watch
over the dojo."
	Soun nodded, "I see, well Ranma, in that case, I think I'll return to my
room. I'll take the phone with me and sleep lightly. Take care, son." Soun
gave Ranma a firm nod and ambled back to his room, still yawning mightily.
	Ranma turned and contorted his face for a moment, knowing he was going to
dread what he had to do next. Namely, sneak into Akane's room and steal
P-chan, literally, from her arms. He headed up the stairs, grumbling to
himself already about how he just knew he was going to get caught in a bad
looking situation. Luck was with him however and as he rounded the corner
he spied P-chan creeping out of Akane's room. He grinned in relief and
charged silently forward, sweeping P-chan up and heading back down to the
kitchen, all in one move.
	Ryoga wiggled in Ranma's hand, trying to squeal or bite, but hindered by
the fingers clamped around his nose. As they entered the kitchen, Ryoga
calmed down slightly as he realized that Ranma was going for the hot water,
after he allowed Ranma to change him, things would be a bit more fair.
	Ranma dunked the little black pig in the sink and watched as Ryoga
suddenly jumped, dripping, out of it. He immediately snarled and raised his
hands in a fighting gesture. Before he could start yelling and wake the
whole house, Ranma held up his hands in a peace gesture.
	"Hey, don't get riled up Ryoga, I don't want to fight, I need you to get
dressed and come with me."
	Ryoga calmed down slightly and reached behind the stove to where he kept a
spare outfit. As he got dressed in his familiar yellow and black outfit,
Ranma could hear him muttering. "I hate having to jump out of the sink like
that…"
	"What do you want Ranma?" he asked as he finished attaching his collar ties.
	Ranma cut through their normal banter and simply stated, "The old ghoul
called and said that something happened to Shampoo. She wanted me to bring
you and Dr. Tofu over to the Café. She sounded pretty serious and she said
something about Tofu having to treat two hurt people. I didn't really catch
all that."
	Ryoga absorbed the information, his demeanor changing as it sank in. Truth
to be told, he didn't really have an opinion about Shampoo one way or the
other but he supposed he could call her a friend. And, as he crossed his
arms and mulled things over, he 'did' owe her grandmother for teaching him
a few useful techniques. Ryoga stood a little straighter and just nodded
once, "Fine, I'm there." He regarded Ranma curiously for a moment. "Are you
going to go dressed like that?" he jabbed a finger in Ranma's direction.
	Ranma realized he was dressed in just his boxers and a t-shirt. He bobbed
his head in irritation and acceptance. "Yeah, your right, ok, le me go
change, I'll be back in a minute and we'll head to Tofu's." He began to
walk out and paused as a thought occurred to him, "Hey, what were you doing
leaving Akane's room, anyway?"
	Ryoga grimaced, "Well, I was on the road all day today and missed lunch
and dinner. And since I showed up late, I missed eating here." He shrugged
a bit helplessly, "I figured I'd come down here and get something to eat."
	Ranma regarded Ryoga gravely, "Man, you're lucky I found you in the
hallway." 
	"Why?"
	Ranma began to snicker, "Cuz if I hadn't you probably would have starved
to death before finding the kitchen." Ryoga's unamused glare only made
Ranma laugh harder. Ranma pointed at the fridge as he began walking out
again. "Grab some food, I think Kasumi's got some leftovers in there."
Right before he exited the room he fired a final shot, he couldn't resist.
"Don't get lost in there!" Ranma ran up the stairs laughing slightly, still
hearing Ryoga's defensive reply of , "Shut up!" in his mind.
	He skidded into his room and quickly grabbed his red shirt and black
pants. After a flurry of flying clothing around the room, he stood in his
traditional garb. He sent one look at his sleeping father, now with Ranma's
t-shirt draped across his panda snout. Genma hadn't budged an inch. Not at
the light turning on, Ranma's flying clothes, or the sound of him changing
and muttering to himself. "Pathetic." Ranma killed the light and started
out the door.
	And almost ran right into Akane.
	Akane stood in her yellow, cat pajama's, rubbing sleep out of her eyes.
"Ranma, have you seen P-chan?" Her eyes took in Ranma's mode of dress and
degree of wakefulness and belatedly reported to her brain. "Just where are
you going at this hour?"
	Ranma then committed mistake number one, he lied. "Uh, nowhere!!" he
laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head.
	"How come I don't believe you?" Akane asked, eyes narrowing dangerously
while a large mallet materialized in her hand.
	Ranma then committed mistake number two, he told the truth. "Okay, okay!
I'm going down to the Cat Café.."
	Before he could get out another word Akane was bringing the mallet to
bear. "Oh-ho!! Got a romantic rendezvous with Shampoo scheduled, huh?" She
swung the mallet and it struck the floor, hard, as Ranma narrowly dodged to
the side. 
	"It's not like that, I swear!!"
	"Ranma!!!"
	Before this could escalate any farther, help arrived for Ranma from a most
unlikely source. Ryoga was suddenly standing next to Akane and had one hand
on the mallet's surface, stopping its momentum cold. "Uh, actually Akane,
he's telling the truth." 
	"Ryo… Ryoga?" Akane stammered.
	Ranma hissed, "How the heck did you get up here without getting lost?"
	Ryoga shrugged, "Followed the sound. I might have a poor sense of
direction, but I'm not deaf. By the way, in case I don't get a chance tell
Kasumi the eggrolls were delicious."
	Akane looked at Ryoga again and asked him, "What do you mean he's not lying?"
	Ryoga regarded her and almost fell into the pool of her eyes like he
always did but managed to stop himself. 'You've got something important to
do', he reminded himself. "Cologne called and told us something happened to
Shampoo and asked us to bring Dr.Tofu."
	Akane withdrew the hammer and cocked her head to the side, suddenly
thinking. She and Shampoo weren't exactly best friends but Akane didn't
really have any hard feelings for her. "O.K."
	Ryoga and Ranma breathed a sigh of relief that a fight had been averted,
although they both wondered as to why she had seemed to accept Ryoga's
story so easily.
	"But if you think I'm letting you guys go alone, think again!"
	They both winced, they knew it had been to easy.
	"But…" "Akane, look…"
	"No 'but's' and no 'look', I'm going and that's final. Give me a minute to
change."
	She stepped back into her room and the door closed in both young men's faces.
	Ranma looked at Ryoga sourly and asked, "Why the heck does she listen to
you when she won't listen to me?"
	Through the door, Akane replied, sharply, "Cuz unlike some people, Ranma,
Ryoga never tries to trick me or hide things from me."
	Both guys winced at that, each for their own reasons and the door swung
open. Akane stood in the doorframe, wearing her gi. "Let's go tell my
father, we're going out."
	Ranma threw his hands into the air and gave up, "He already knows about
me, so just go tell him you're coming with Ryoga and me. We'll wait outside."
	The two men shook their heads as they watched her head to her father's
room, and then they proceeded down the stairs to wait for Akane at the
front door.
	Presently, she came down the stairs and headed out the doors. "C'mon!" she
called over her shoulder.
	Ranma and Ryoga both headed out after her and started racing through the
streets of Tokyo. Soon enough, with their fast, space-eating pace, they had
covered the distance between the Tendo dojo and Dr. Tofu's clinic. They
knocked on the door politely and waited for a few minutes. Through the wall
and door they could hear the phone ringing. Finally, Ryoga lost his
patience and simply blew the front door down. Akane started a bit and
asked, "Ryoga, don't you think that's a bit rude?" 
	He simply shrugged, along with Ranma, "He's used to it."
	Ranma chimed in, "Yeah, besides, my old man can fix it tomorrow. When he
comes in to work."
	Akane shrugged as well and the trio headed into the clinic. Akane headed
to the phone to answer it, while Ranma and Ryoga went to wake up Dr. Tofu.
After a few hectic minutes, Dr.Tofu was soon on the phone, speaking with
Cologne.
	"Alright, I understand."
The three martial artists around him hadn't been able to hear the other end
of the conversation and Akane had only been able to get the barest details
from Cologne. But Dr. Tofu suddenly looked more focused and determined then
they had ever seen him. He turned and took several long strides to the
supply room in his clinic. Presently, he emerged, arms laden with several
packages witch he distributed to the youths. His words were polite, yet
concise. After reviewing the things he had put into the three's arms. He
picked up a large sign, that stated, "Out on emergency", mounted on a brass
pole and base. He placed it in the rubble that was his front door and
scribbled a note to Genma to fix the door on a small piece of paper, which
he affixed to the sign.
	They set off for the Cat Café with Dr. Tofu leading the way.

*	*	*

	Which brought them to now. By stroke of luck they had met Mousse just as
they reached the café and they had entered together. For a moment, as they
came in the door, they were dumbfounded by the scene in front of them. They
had all been expecting something, but the presence of the five costumed
strangers in the dining area hadn't been it.
	Dr. Tofu had immediately strode into the room and went straight to the two
men, lying on the tables. He had reacted slightly to the blue furred man
assisting him, but had managed to stay focused on his patients. After
checking over the herbs and bandages Cologne had placed on their wounds, he
had started several IVs and had started pumping replacement plasma into
their bodies.
	While he did this Cologne did her best to explain what had happened and
what was going on. Ranma had paid scant attention, his focus instead on the
people in front of him. Somehow, they seemed familiar, but he couldn't
quite place it. He dragged his attention back to Shampoo's great-grandmother.
	"And these people," she swept an arm out to encompass the five heroes,
"seem to have a stake in this as well. Their comrade is also missing. They
are.."
	Before she could get the name out, Akane suddenly thumped a fist into her
hand. "These are the X-men!" she yelled, excitedly.
	Ranma, Ryoga, and even Mousse, started at that. They knew of the X-Men.
Japan's own premiere superhero, Sunfire, had once been a member. For a
moment, Ranma felt an unfamiliar rush of excitement as he realized he was
in the presence of some honest-to-god superheroes, who had not only saved
Tokyo, and the entire nation of Japan, before, but also, some said, the
world, on several occasions. Then, it suddenly sank in.
	Ranma held up a hand in a stop gesture. "You mean to tell me that
Shampoo's being missing has something to do with the X-Men?"
	Cologne turned to Wolverine and shrugged. Wolverine answered simply, "We
don't know kid, but that's something we're going to find out."
	"Oh man, this is serious" was all Ranma had for reply.
	"Yup, that about sums it up, boy." Logan's gravely voice stated. "Now the
questions we got to answer are where are they? Who took 'em? And why? Then
we got to figure out what to do about it. We know the Hand's involved,
other than that, we don't have much in the way of information."
	Ranma shrugged helplessly, "Don't ask me man, evil ninja clans and stuff
is a little out of my league. I'm just here because it sounds like one of
my friends might be in trouble."
	Wolverine shook his head, "Looks like we have to find out the hard way."
To answer the inquisitive looks he received from the teenagers, the short
Canadian grinned and pounded his right fist into his left hand. "We go out
and ask politely." He popped his knuckles suggestively.
	Ranma and Ryoga both grinned at Wolverine's demeanor. "Sounds like a plan
to me, Wolverine-sensei," Ryoga said. "Where do we go?"
	Wolverine grinned again, "Just follow my lead kid. And just call me
Logan." He turned to Cologne and jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "You
know what kind of stuff I'm going to go do, which of these kids can hang?
I'm going to take Rouge with me, she's done this stuff before and she
understands enough Japanese to get by. McCoy is a little too obvious for my
taste. And speaking of obvious, you got anything I can change into? I
figure no need to put a sign out that says 'The X-Men are coming!'."
	"I agree. Fortunately I still have some of your things from Madripoor. You
don't look to have changed much, so it should all still fit." She pointed
at Mousse. "Mousse, go up to the attic and find and bring the box labeled,
"Logan" down. It should be in the back, behind all the other boxes." Mousse
nodded and disappeared.  Cologne  nodded thoughtfully and stroked her chin,
"Tell me Logan, do the other three understand Japanese?" she gestured to
Beast and the two unconscious X-Men.
	Before Logan could respond, Henry spoke in fluent, slightly accented
Japanese, "I do Madame, and the one in the coat knows a smattering, but I
believe my fearless leader is a bit in the dark."
	Cologne nodded again, "Good enough." She turned to face Logan and the
others. "I'd say take Ranma, Ryoga, and Mousse. If you and the skunk-hair
are fairly fluent then you five can get along fine. It's my understanding
that Akane's English is the best among the youths so she can help here."
When it looked as if Akane would protest Cologne continued, placatingly,
"Need I remind you that there are injured people here and there is no
guarantee that their enemies might find them. They'll need some defense."
	Akane nodded reluctantly. "Hai," she didn't want to but she was a realist
enough to know that things might just get a little out of her league. By
staying here she could still help take care of the other X-Men. She paused
as a thought came to her, "Maybe we could also call Ukyou. Her English is
pretty good and she could help out also."
	Cologne nodded and Akane slipped into the back to find a phone.
	Dr. Tofu rose from where he was working on Cyclops and Gambit. "Now that
I've got some plasma into them, they'll be fine. They ought to be waking up
fairly soon, they'll probably be very hungry." He turned to Logan and
Ranma, "As much as I'd like to help you, though, I feel I need to stay
here, in case there are any complications."
	Logan and Ranma both nodded, one relieved that his friends would be under
a doctor's care, the other relieved that there would be someone to back up
Akane and Ukyou. At that moment, Akane returned from the back and Mousse
came in with a medium sized box.
	"Ukyou sounded a little mad to get woken up at this hour, but I explained
things and she said she'll be on her way."
	Ranma looked up at that and noted the time on a nearby wallclock. "Oh
yeah, its almost one in the morning. Where are we gonna find information?"
	Wolverine smiled, "You know where to look and how to ask, you can always
find information." He looked at the three young martial artists while he
opened the dusty box and sifted through it's contents, "Now we're going to
be busting some heads and shaking some people down over the next few hours,
do any of you guys have any problems with that?" There were a series of
looks exchanged among the three and then a shaking of heads negatively.
Wolverine pulled his gloves off. "We're also going to be threatening and
intimidating some people, you guys have any experience at that?"
	The answer to Wolverine's question came immediately. Mousse pulled out two
scimitars and spat, "If anybody who might know where my darling Shampoo is
won't tell us, they'll regret it!" Ryoga casually reached over and yanked
one of the stools that were bolted to the ground off of the floor. "I think
we might be able to convince reluctant speakers to speak." Ranma smirked,
and turned to Wolverine, gesturing behind him, cockiness and arrogance
returning "Oh, we're pretty good. As a matter of fact, on that one, I might
ask you that question, Logan-San."
	* snikt *
	Three gleaming metal blades popped out of the back of each of Wolverine's
hands as a feral grin flashed across his face. "Yeah kid, I think I'm
pretty good myself." 
* snakt *
The blades disappeared as quickly as they had appeared.
	Ranma gulped. He had faced many challenges in his short life already and
had seen many wondrous things, as had the others, but still, it was a bit
disconcerting to see metal blades suddenly shoot of the back of the flesh
on a mans hands. Especially if that man was one who, if everything Ranma
knew about the X-Men was true, had very little compunction in using them.
For a moment, he felt a questioning surge that perhaps he was in over his
head, he fought the surge down though, and reminded himself that he was,
after all, the heir to the Saotome-School of Anything-Goes-Martial Arts.
There was nothing that was over his head. He felt the confidence surge in
him and locked the niggling fear down in his gut. Out of the corner of his
eye, he could see Ryoga and Mousse do the same thing.
	Wolverine regarded them with steely eyes and liked what he saw. He pulled
out a set of fairly normal clothes from the box and pulled them over his
uniform. As he put on the pants, shirt and boots, he grunted, "Don't worry
gentlemen. Cologne, wouldn't have given you her recommendation if you guys
couldn't handle things. I can tell just by the way you move that you're all
very skilled and very good. Remember that. Keep your confidence, remember
your training, it'll keep you alive." He reached into the box and pulled
out one final object. As he settled his old cowboy hat on his head, he
regarded the collection of people one final time.
	"Take care of my friends Co," she nodded while walked to the booth Rogue
was sleeping in. A light touch on her shoulder and she looked up, blinked
the sleep away. And took in the room of people.
	"Ah thought you were going to wake me when they got here?"
	"Sue me," Wolverine wryly responded. "We can make introductions on the way,"
he stepped to the door and opened it with one hand sweeping the other out
into the night, in front of him, "Let's go people."


*	*	*	*


End part 2

What do you think?