[Episode 113907] [Episode 113907]Mystique said nothing, only looked away unable to meet her son’t eyes.
“Mom, I know what it’s like loosing control because you’re alone in a dark place surrounded by... things you think will hurt you. I don’t wish that on anybody.”
Wolverine noted the fear that crept ever so slightly into the boy’s voice and kept quiet. Whatever he was refering to seemed to have an effect on his long time enemy.
Without looking up she said, “Back to the entry hall, first floor, opposite side hall next to the bust of Xavier, third door on the left, in the bathroom, under the sink.”
Ranma raced out of the room and down the hall. He surprised a few people when he jumped the banister and ran down the hall without breaking stride. When he got to the bathroom, he tried to open the door, but it wouldn’t budge. They were superglued shut.
“Mother, please help me. Don’t die. Father? Don’t die. Help me, somebody!”
Ranma punched his fingers into the countertop and ripped the sink off the wall, cold water splashed everywhere. Curled up in a fetal position was the same woman that Ranma had seen his mother turn into only her hair was wild in disarray and her colorless eyes were wild with terror. Air that seemed to have built up in the small space rushed out in a great gust.
“Mother!” the African woman lunged at Ranma-chan and latched onto her as she dropped the sink to the side.
“It’s ok. You’re safe now.” The older woman continued to cry without restraint as she was held.
Ranma looked up when Wolverine and his mother entered the room. He hit Ororro’s sleep spot and handed her to Wolverine who sniffed the air before taking her.
“Ya did good, kid.” he said as he took his fallen teammate out of the room. Mystique refused to meet Ranma’s eye and followed Wolverine out.
“Mom.” Ranma-chan called. Mystique stopped. Ranma-chan walked to in front of her mother and lifted her chin to look in her ice-blue eyes. “You did good, too, Mom.” and gave her a hug. It took a second before Mystique finally let go of the breath she was holding and returned the embrace.
“Ahem.” Professor Xavier interrupted from the hall door. “If you two have a moment, I would like a word with you. Please, meet me in the study where we were before.” With that he wheeled himself away.
“That guy really bugs you, huh?” Ranma-chan asked.
“Charles is what you might call ‘one of the good guys.’ But I’ve been on the opposite side from him for far too long to trust him completely, but he is far too trusting for his own good. Look at how he just left us here like we were one of his lap dogs expecting us to follow him. We could just leave and he wouldn’t bother to stop us.”
“Except for the puzzle piece you’re still carrying. At least let’s hear what he has to say.” He said walking out of the bathroom after changing himself back to his male form. “Who knows, they might even feed us before we leave. Rich folk can be generous when they feel like it”
Ranma walked out leaving his mother standing there for a moment. She didn’t want to confront her secrets right now. She also didn’t want to leave without Ranma.
The X-men stood around the room and waited as Ranma walked in with his usual swagger, his mother behind him looking like a woman condemned. As soon as she saw the everyone she lifted her head high and continued in her proud walk under the stares ranging from mistrust to outright fury.
“First things first,” the Professor said as the two guests stood next to the chairs designated for them. “The item in your possession, please.”
Mystique looked at Ranma who merely shrugged his shoulders then reached into the satchel for the puzzle piece, but was interupted.
Cyclops didn’t trust Mystique not to pull out something other than what the Professor asked for and with all of the X-men in the room, it might be something dangerous. “If you don’t mind,” Cyclops said, reaching for the bag, “I’ll take that...” Ranma seemed to appear from nowhere beside him and snagged his wrist before he could touch the older woman.
Mystique smiled lightly, “It’s OK, Ranma.” then reached completely into the satchel and took out the piece as well as the accompanying data discs and handed them to Cyclops, who was still unnerved at the pigtailed youth’s piercing gaze. The tension in the room noticeably relaxed as Ranma allowed the taller boy to walk back and put the puzzle piece in a box next to the professor.
“Ranma was good enough to share with me the reasons you tried to steal this from us, Mystique, so I’m not going to hold it against you. It does raise some concerns however.”
“You needn’t worry about it, Charles. I will deal with Magneto when the time comes.”
“You mean ‘we’ will deal with him.” Ranma added.
“Yes, your skills are formidable, Ranma. But it may not be enough.”
“He got lucky the first time. Next time...”
“Next time he won’t underestimate you and he won’t hold back.” Xavier said. “In getting out of his fortress, you’ve earned a lifelong enemy. The fact that Mystique won’t be taking him the item he sent her for is going to make her a target. You know Magneto won’t take this lying down.”
“Let me guess,” said Mystique. “You’re going to offer us sanctuary within your hallowed school, am I right? Don’t kid yourself, Charles. Magneto only lets this place exist because on some level he believes in the work you are doing, just not your methods. If he chose to, he could reduce this place to rubble. Not just that but past experience tells me we are less than welcome by the other members of your household.”
“Got that right” Rogue muttered none too quietly.
“You’re right, of course. But what is the alternative? Playing politics with the White Queen? Or even worse, going at it alone? It isn’t necessary, you know.”
Wolverine came walking in, “What I want to know is where you’ve been for the past six months.” Wolverine said as though he’d been part of the conversation the whole time. In fact, Xavier had been keeping him informed of the conversation so far via telepathy. “You drop off the radar an’ we know you aren’t with Magneto anymore. Suddenly you’re working for him again, but this time he’s holdin’ somethin’ over your head.” He looks at Ranma.
Mystique snaps at him, “That is none of your concern.”
“Mystique actually stuck her neck out for somebody?” Rogue said, “How do you rate?”
“Yeah,” said Kurt. “Just who are you, anyway?”
“Staying here is even less of an option.” Mystique interrupted, turning towards the door, “Come on, Ranma, we’re leaving.”
“Will you keep secrets from this one too, Mystique?” Xavier asked.
“Shut up, Charles.” She whirled on the man, “It’s your fault the others turned on me. But you won’t have this one, I swear it.”
“Mom?” Ranma asked, “What’s going on?”
“’MOM’!?!” Rogues voice boomed out along with a few others as Kurt fell off the fireplace mantle where he was perched. Mystique stiffened as the others seemed to back away from the path between Rogue and the older woman.
“Y’all had another kid?” Rogue asked. “Just great. Where did ya keep this one hid?”
“Another?” It was Ranma’s turn to look stunned. “Mom?”
“You’re her son?” Kurt asked picking himself up. “I have a brother?”
“What brother?” Ranma asked, now more confused than ever. “Mom.”
“Yes, Ranma.” Mystique turned on her son, her eyes looking like a cornered animal. “’Yes.’ Is that what you want to hear? Yes, I have a second son. Over there is your brother. Not just your brother, your twin brother; your fraternal twin brother. Are you happy now?”
“Mom,” Ranma recoiled from the woman.
“Mother... how?” Kurt said, approaching the two.
Mystique backed away from the two brothers, looking like she was about either run from the room or break down and cry hysterically. Just as she was about to turn towards the door, the Professor’s voice interrupted her.
“Don’t pass up this opportunity, Mystique. You’ve been given a second chance, you can make things right.”
Mystique began to laugh a cruel mirthless laugh, “A second chance? How many chances are there for me? A third? A fourth? It doesn’t work that way, Charles. It doesn’t work that way! You make your choices and you live with the consequences for the rest of your life. THAT is the way it works.”
“Mom, stop it.” Ranma said, though he couldn’t get much conviction into his voice.
“’No more secrets.’ Is that what you want, Ranma? Fine, I’ll tell you everything. When I was your age, my mutant power transformed me to this. It took me a long time to even find the ability to transform myself into a normal person, but even then I couldn’t hold it for long. I was outcast, shunned, exiled by my own parents; even my father nearly beat me to death. I survived the only way I could, but they never caught me because I made sure I look like somebody different every time.
“When I finally was able to hold a transformation for longer than a day, I was in Japan. I went to Japan because they have a more conformist society, so no one would notice you as long as you were like everyone else. I met Genma and we were married. Don’t bother thinking I did it for love and any of that nonsense. If anything he was envious of the life his friend, Tendo, had a wife, children, land, income and stability. Having a husband would help me blend in better and for him, having a wife would give him what he wanted, an heir.
“It was easier than you might think. I manipulated him from the beginning. I gave him the idea to settle down, I even gave him the way to kill off that gnome of a master. He thought it was all his idea. HA! When you two were born, Genma focused solely on you, Ranma. You were much stronger even back then.
“Your real name, Kurt, is Tenma Saotome. You are, in fact, Japanese, though no one would know it now to look at you. You were born sickly, I was afraid you would die and none of the doctors would help me back then. To them it was better if you had died than possibly carry on your inferior genetics.
“I convinced Genma to take your brother on a training journey even as an infant. You remember the story, Ranma. When that fat fool sold you for a bowl of rice, two pickles and a fish? While he was gone with you, I took Tenma to look for someone who would help me. I found Magneto. He was doing genetic experiments with the mutant chromosome.
“He convinced me that the only way to save your life was to activate the X gene dormant within your body. That gene doesn’t become active until puberty in most cases. But to artificially stimulate it in an infant...
“But you see the results every morning when you look in the mirror, don’t you? And I left you there with that German family. Better that than take you back to Magneto.”
Her anger and fear seemed to have run it’s course and she sagged into a chair. “After that I had to pay off my debt to Magneto. After a few years, I even began to believe in him and his agenda. I believe in it so much, I even adopted a daughter. I raised her for a time with a dear friend of mine. Not out of love, but because she had the potential for great power. I raised her in hopes of making her a weapon.
“Meet your adopted sister, Ranma. Rogue meet Ranma Saotome. Now we all one big happy family.” she laughed again. Ranma was too concerned with his mother’s ranting to worry about the new family members he seemed to have picked up.
“I used her trust, lied to her with kindness. I set her up against the X-men and it cost me. See how she looks at me? She would kill me if she could. She has every right to.
“And you, Ranma, I left you in the hands of that brainless, bigoted oaf, Genma and abandoned you for over a decade. I used that seppuku pact to keep both you and him under heel.” The proud woman seemed to curl into herself, pulling her knees to her chest. “That’s the type of woman I am; the type of mother that I am.”
Ranma knelt knext to her, “You also went half way around the world to try and keep me safe, Mom. Maybe you couldn’t a done anything against that Magneto guy, but you still tried. Maybe things were screwed up in the past, and maybe we do gotta take the consequences of our choices. But we are always makin’ new choices every day, Mom. And things have gotta change ‘cause of that, don’t they?”
His words seemed light some hope in her eyes as she pulled him into a hug. After a moment, Ranma stood up and bowed to the Professor, “Thank you for your generous offer, Sensei, but I feel we must decline at this time. Perhaps one day we can meet as friends.”
The Professor bowed his head in return, “I look forward to that day, Ranma Saotome.”
The X-men gathered on the front steps to watch the pair leave through the front gate.
“Y’all don’t really believe all that hogwash, do ya?” Rogue asked to no one in particular.
The Professor answered her, “I pray the boy’s faith is not misplaced as much as you do. Perhaps she is manipulating the boy for her own purposes. Then again, perhaps she really does want to change her ways and correct her choices of her past. Sometimes all that it takes is for one person to believe in her. But we will see.”
With a lightness to her step Mystique walked out of Xavier’s property on the arm of her son. Her very manly son.
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(Posted Sun, 15 Aug 2004 02:40)
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