Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 is owned by people other than me. I own nothing and
claim no rights to the show. I don't own Marvel either. But I guess that's a big proverbial duh, isn't it?
Note: C&C, public or private, is appreciated. Also, all previous chapters can be found at www.fanfiction.net . Chapters will also be given out by request.
Co-written by:
Ashes2ashes: slayer0@Zoomnet.net
AsheRhyder: ashrhyder@yahoo.com
Rage
Chapter Nine:
The hills seemed endless. Endless rolling blankets of green that seemed to extend to the ends of the earth. A flock of wild geese flew in an elegant V-shape overhead. Down below a heard of caribou roamed, eating happily. The chilly wind promised snow in the future. In other words?
It must be Canada.
At least, he hoped he was in Canada. Ryouga peered closely at his map, unaware that it was upside down. It also happen to be a map of West Virginia.
"Why the hell does it need all these squiggle lines anyway?" He crumpled up the map angrily and threw it over his shoulder; not giving a damn about pollution or Indians that cry when you litter on commercials.
'Those Alpha Flight people had been nice to give me directions. I still think it's a weird name for ski resort. Why does everyone I run into seem to be wearing spandex? Is it a new trend or what?' He shrugged and shifted the weight of his backpack.
'What am I doing here? Do I even deserve a cure? After all the horrible things I've done . . . after what I did to Akari. . . . What _DID_ I do to Akari?' He shook his head violently.
'Damn it I can't remember!' He paused. 'Do I even want to remember? . . . Turning into a little pig was better than this. Ok, so it was kind of cool being able to beat up Ranma, but I never wanted to kill him!'
He blinked.
'Well, I don't want to kill him anymore. What would Akane have thought of me if I had killed Ranma? What . . . what if I had killed Ukyou? Or Akane?'
He felt a knife twist through his heart as the possibilities raced through his mind. He couldn't take it anymore!
"SHISHI HODOKAN!"
--
Another traveler raised his head as a sound reached his ears. It was too far away for even him to be able to identify. But he knew it had held such familiar pain . . .
--
Hours later, Ryouga found himself in the middle of a grassy glade, still lost. The sun was setting across the horizon, bathing the sky in brilliant hues of red and orange. An icy wind blew softly from the north.
"Damn," Ryouga swore. "I hate the cold...."
"You an' me both, kid." A gruff, smoker's voice chuckled from somewhere behind him. Ryouga spun around, confused at how someone was able to sneak up on him.
"Who are you?" The lost boy's hazel-green eyes narrowed.
"Not important. Just another traveler."
The man in question was short, even a few inches shorter than Ryouga. He wore a heavy jacket, jeans, flannel shirt, and boots. His wild black hair swept up into points, which would have been weird had the Lost Boy not been familiar with anti-gravity hair thanks to Ranma.
"Care for company, to share yer fire?" He gestured to the roaring campfire Ryouga had going.
Ryouga shrugged. With this new healing ability, there was little chance that even if this guy was a bandit, he couldn't take him. Even though the guy did look a lot sturdier than Ryouga himself . . .
"Thanks, kid." The man sat down and removed a cigarette from his jacket pocket, lighting it in the flames and inhaling deeply before blowing out a cloud of smoke.
"Smoking is bad for your health, you know." Ryouga arched one eyebrow. The man let out a hearty laugh at the lost boy's statement.
"Kid, these things can kill thousands o' people, but they'll never kill me."
Ryouga shrugged. "It's your life."
"So . . . you a fighter?" The bandanna wearing martial artist asked later, uncomfortable with the heavy silence.
"Ya noticed?"
"Your choice of clothing doesn't do a good job of hiding a strong build."
"Ah. I fight, a bit."
"So then the muscle mass is from weight training?"
"Yer pretty observant, for a kid."
"I'm a fighter, too."
"You?" Once more, the man laughed. "Ya don't look it at all."
"Eh?!"
"Well, ya look kinda young . . . what style do ya use?"
Ryouga hung his head, letting shadows fall over his face.
"It's a conglomeration . . ." He sighed.
"Oh? That's nothing to be ashamed o', kid. Take the strongest moves . . . nothing wrong with that. Just as long as yer good."
"Oh, I'm good." Ryouga's scowl turned into a smirk. "I can prove it, too. Wanna spar? Loser cleans up camp tomorrow."
"Sounds fun." The man cracked his knuckles.
Both stood, and moved a short distance from the camp. Ryouga watched his opponent carefully, so as not to get lost.
They faced off, sizing each other up for a moment, trying to figure out the other's weaknesses from the mere stance.
"C'mon, old man, what're you waiting for?" Ryouga smirked.
"Kid, you sure yer a fighter? I've seen a lot o' men with more bark than bite... An' lots' o' them looked like they coulda packed a punch, too. You.... yer scrawny, for Pete's sake."
Ryouga's face went red. "SCRAWNY?!" He yelled. "I'll show you scrawny!" He punched directly down, embedding his arm up to his elbow in solid rock. Logan arched one eyebrow in amusement.
As easy as if he was lifting foam blocks, the lost boy tore out a huge chunk of earth and chucked it as the shorter, stockier fighter. Logan's claws slipped from their grisly sheaths, and cut through the stone like butter before retracting.
"Nice trick."
Ryouga's eyes widened slightly as the two halves of rock crumbled to each side. 'What was that?!' He was sure the rock would have nearly hit, not too hard, of course, but enough to show the man he was a force to be reckoned with.
"Got any more tricks up yer sleeves, boy?" Logan's grin was feral, his steel-blue eyes excited at the prospect of an honorable challenge. For once, his opponent would not be a hologram, a robot, or a dishonorable bag of fleas. A chance to put to the test all the things he learned in Japan, but never got to use on the field due to his enemy's lack of honor or knowledge of bushido.
Ryouga scowled. "I don't know how you did it, but it won't do you any good in our battle, old man."
"Let's go." Logan smiled, motioning for Ryouga to attack. Ryouga's mind was racing. He'd seen Ranma do the same taunt before, always getting him to charge. The first move.... make your enemy come to you.
"Yer better than I thought!" Logan laughed. "Ya didn't jump right in to battle . . . good."
"I'm not the brightest guy around, but I do learn, eventually." Ryouga admitted, never once taking his eyes off his opponent. When it was apparent that neither one was going to make the first attack, Ryouga caved. He flipped forward quickly, driving his left foot ground-wards in a sharp kick.
Logan twisted to the side to avoid it, and countered with a right punch. The blow didn't connect, though, because Ryouga had rolled with the move and was already behind his opponent. He jabbed, but Logan dodged that as well, displaying his skill at close range fighting.
The lost boy tried to kick Logan, but the older man managed to dodge once more, and Ryouga flipped backwards, catching him in the chin with his foot. This put distance between them, and gave the youth credit for first attack.
"Not bad." Logan admitted, rolling his neck to get cricks out of it. For some reason, Ryouga could swear he head heard metal... he ignored it, focusing on the older so that he could try and read attacks to come.
"I try." The lost boy assented.
"Try this." Logan lunged, adding kicks and punches, about half of which Ryouga blocked, and the other half which slipped through his guard. The lost boy wiped some blood from his lips, blood that had escaped before his new healing factor eradicated the wound. It was rather impressive really, to make him bleed at all.
He stretched, then quickly slipped back into his fighting position.
"You're not bad either, for an old man." Ryouga watched him for a minute, then shifted out of his stance. Logan let out a hearty laugh, relaxing.
"Nice sparring with ya, kid." Logan grinned.
"You too, old man." They shook hands, at which point, Logan flipped Ryouga. The lost boy caught on quickly though, and landed on his feet, before flipping Logan on his back.
'Not as dumb as he looks....' Logan noted sourly.
"So tell me, old man, how'd you get rid of that pebble I threw at you?" Ryouga wondered aloud sometime later.
"Ya really wanna know?" Logan leaned in closer, as if the secret had to be kept at all costs.
"If you know some kind of technique, I'd love to learn it from you." The lost boy replied. Logan held up his right fist, palm facing himself, and steeled his jaw as he sent the trio of gleaming adamantium claws through his skin.
"These babies will cut through anything."
Then the Junsenkyo victim's luck held true, as the area experienced a sudden spring shower. Unfortunately for Logan, Ryouga didn't have time to grab his umbrella, and got drenched.
The lost boy's eyes quickly went from soft brown-green to sharp blood-red, something that did not escape Logan's notice. Six similar talons shot forth from the top of Ryouga's hands, and his muscles tensed as he pulled back into a pouncing position. Wolverine was not smiling anymore.
Quick as the wind, the X-man grabbed the nearest thing to him and flung it at the Nerima Martial artist, in an attempt to distract him and gain some ground to fight in. The kettle that had sat over the fire smashed into Ryouga's face, spilling water all down his front, and causing him to fall over with swirl-y eyes.
Logan blinked, and saw that the red was gone from his companion's gaze. He sat him up against a tree, careful not to get the lost boy wet again. He saw when the change in his sparring partner's demeanor had taken place, and, despite popular opinion, Logan was a rather intelligent man. He didn't always talk like Hank McCoy, but then again, he was above human...
"Yo, kid, you okay?" He shook Ryouga gently, but the martial artist was out cold. Logan scowled, and picked up the youth's hand, from which the deadly metal claws still protruded. 'These should have retracted...' he thought.
"Wait a second, where the hell did he get these?!"
"Wha... whasat?" The lost boy blinked, looking dazedly at the older man who was examining his claws-- HIS WHAT?!
"WHAT THE HELL?!" Ryouga stared at his claws in mortification, while Wolverine scowled.
"Who the hell are you, kid?" The older man demanded.
"Ryouga^�" The talons disappeared back to wherever they had come from with a soft snikt.
"Ryouga, eh? Well, Ryouga, you're going to tell me exactly what's going on, starting with what happened when it started raining..."