“This is a bad idea.”
“Yeah, it probably is.”
“…isn’t there anyone else who could help you?”
Ranma nodded, not taking his eyes off of the gate to Xavier’s School for the Gifted. “There are a couple of other people I could have asked, and Xavier is at the bottom of the list, but he also happens to be the closest. I figure it couldn’t hurt to visit him first.”
Walking next to him, Wanda arched an eyebrow. “You do remember me blasting the shit out of the X-Brats last night, don’t you? And the way I hear, you have history with the whole lot of them. BAD history. Why the hell would they even consider helping you?”
“Because they’re all rainbows and puppies and fair play. They’re the good guys!”
Wanda snorted. “Ok, I’ll give you that.” She eyed the steadily closing gates for a second before turning back to her boss. “How are we going to play this?”
“I’m gonna ring the bell and wait for someone to answer.”
“…”
Ranma caught the look she was giving him. “Hey, their security system has motion-detecting laser turrets, canons, and buzz-saw throwers, and that’s not even adding in the fact that there’s the X-Men, the New Mutants, Storm, Wolverine, AND Xavier. I admit, together we could easily make it through most of that, but Xavier would drop us at the front door.”
Growling softly at the memory of Xavier’s self-control lessons and his later mental assault, Wanda conceded the point. After a couple of seconds her mind registered something Ranma had mentioned. “Who are the New Mutants?”
“Wanna-be X-Men, a couple of years younger and nowhere near as well trained as their seniors, but still a little dangerous if you don’t take them seriously.”
“How many mutants are we talking about?”
Doing a quick count of those he could remember, Ranma soon came up with the guesstimate of- “A little over fifteen mutants.”
“Doesn’t it bother you that they have as seriously outnumbered?”
Ranma shrugged, entirely unconcerned. “No, not really. Like I said, Xavier is the only one we need to worry about.”
*BEEEEEEEEP!*…*BEEEEEEEEP!*…*BEEEEEEEEP!*
The feral mutant known as Logan lifted the newspaper he was reading off of the Security Console to get a better look at the monitor. When he saw the individuals at the gate, or rather, one specific female individual, he swore colorfully and hit the red alert button, setting off alarms throughout the mansion. “Damn it, I knew this would happen, but no; Chuck had to take care of business out of town!” Snarling bestially, he pulled the cowl of his uniform over his head and picked up a remote control for the grounds security system before charging out the door.
“I said this was a really bad idea.”
“And I said that yes, it probably was.”
Wanda studied the gathering mutants. “What’s the deal with the two adults?”
“The white-haired woman is Storm, and she can control the weather. Watch out for lightning. The short hairy guy is Wolverine. Animal-sharp senses, indestructible metal skeleton and claws, and extremely fast healing. He’s also an exceptional martial artist, so don’t let him get close.” Ranma smirked cockily. “If a fight breaks out, I’d like to deal with him myself, alright?”
“Gotcha.”
By now the X-Men had assembled into a rough semi-circle around the still closed gates, their abilities readied for battle as much as was possible, and their minds prepared for a fight. Floating above the ground-bound mutants, Storm assumed leadership of the group and called down to the two near-intruders. “We have no wish to fight you, but be warned; we will defend ourselves and our home if necessary!”
Ranma answered for the two of them. “That’s great, ‘cause we aren’t looking for a fight!”
The X-Men were clearly dubious, but some of them studied the newcomer carefully while keeping the Scarlet Witch covered. Wolverine took a couple of steps towards the gate, sniffing the wind as Storm directed it to blow past the uninvited guests and towards the Canadian’s sensitive nose. He growled darkly and took a guess at Ranma’s identity. “Then what do you want, Mystique?”
Naturally, there were a number of surprised and disturbed reactions to having their old foe wear a male body, like- “Vhat!?” and “Oh man, that’s just twisted!” and “Like, eww!”
‘Soul of Ice, Soul of Ice…’ “My name is Ranma, and I’m not Mystique!” Seeing that the X-Men obviously didn’t believe him, he held his palm out towards a tree off to the side of the road and fire one of his traditional ki-blasts without shouting out its name.
*WHA-BOOM!*
Logan was as surprised as anyone as he watched the respectably large tree crash to the ground. “Huh. I could’a sworn…alright then ‘Ranma’, what do you two want?”
Relieved that his ruse worked, Ranma got right to the point. “I need to speak to Xavier.”
Relaxing somewhat, Cyclops spoke up. “Why do you need to talk to him?”
Ranma gave him a look. “…it’s personal.”
The field leader of the young mutant team pointed accusingly at Wanda. “Then why did you bring her along?!”
The Scarlet Witch grinned evilly, her hands glowing with chaotic energy. “Didn’t your mother ever tell you that it’s rude to point?”
Cyclops flinched, his hand snapping up to the side of his visor and twisting the dial to ‘max’. The other X-Men followed his lead, getting ready to attack, before Logan cut them off with a barked command. “Cut it out!”
Squeezing Wanda’s shoulder slightly to get her attention, Ranma shook his head silently, and she reluctantly powered down. Turning back to the X-Men he addressed the whole group. “So, any chance I could speak to the big brain for a little while?”
Though some of the assembled students bristled, Wolverine chuckled before shaking his head. “Sorry kid, he’s out of town on business.”
“…oh.” As a sudden thought popped into his head, Ranma twitched violently. “…shit.”
Slowly descending to the ground, Storm frowned in concern. “Are you well?”
Ranma cleared his throat nervously. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine, thanks.”
The African mutant wasn’t entirely convinced. “Are you sure? Perhaps we could help you in the Professor’s place.”
Shaking his head, the shapeshifting martial artist politely declined her offer. “No thanks; there’s a couple of other people I need to talk to, and I’ve got a long way to go to meet them.”
“If you’re sure…”
Ten minutes walking distance down the road from Xavier’s, Wanda pulled Ranma off of the road and into the forest a short ways. “Alright ‘Ranma’, why don’t you try telling me what’s really going on?”
Sighing, Ranma ignored her glowing hands and sat himself down on a tree stump, shifting back to his blue-skinned, red-haired form. “To make a long story short, I got caught in a freaky accident involving a time-traveling mirror and some explosives, and somehow ended up in Mystique’s body. I’m pretty sure I’ve got all of my and Mystique’s abilities and skills, but Mystique’s memories are harder to reach; maybe because there are a lot more of them, and they haven’t settled in yet.”
“And you wanted Xavier to help sort them out?”
Ranma blinked, surprised that she hadn’t immediately called him a liar. “Uh, yeah. Unfortunately, when Wolverine mentioned Xavier being out of town, I remembered that the ‘old’ Mystique had knocked him out and stuffed him into the Juggernaut’s high-security holding tank after she busted you out of the hospital. She’s been taking his form to put in appearances at the mansion”
Wanda chuckled at the mental image of Xavier floating in a giant fishbowl.
“Anyway, we should probably head back to town; there isn’t enough time left to go anywhere else and back today, so I guess I’ll have to
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(Posted Sun, 19 Mar 2006 20:18)
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