[Episode 42212] [Episode 42212]He had left the dazed girl near where he'd first found her, his sharp eyes had already spotted other winged forms approaching and his senses told him they were male and consequently best left be.
And his father would be worried if he stayed away too long.
Despite his many flaws, Genma had managed to redeem himself slightly by teaching his son early on a set of crude but fundamental ethics. The young hybrid martial artist saw nothing wrong with stealing food to survive or marking and mating with multiple women in order to ensure the survival of his species, but Ranma was not a killer.
And despite Genma's many, many, MANY screw-ups, his son still loved him deep inside. He cared. In spite of his alien heritage, Ranma remained more human in his heart then anyone else realized.
He would not condone destroying mankind in favor of his own kind, an attitude which would set him up for an inevitable future confrontation with the first hybrid, Syl. Syl had been betrayed by her creators, hunted like an animal in their efforts to destroy her simply for the crime of existing. She had grown up relying solely on the alien instincts locked in her own genes, and the result was an amoral killing machine who lived only to breed.
But even more importantly, there was one little secret that none of those involved in this had realized yet.
The reason why Genma's experiment to assimilate his Son with Species DNA had failed like it did. Part of it was indeed due to the radiation the mad scientist had used to weaken the alien's genetic matrix. But there was also another factor...the X factor.
For Ranma had been a latent mutant.
In the normal scheme of things his mutant heritage would have stayed mostly dormant and the resulting enhanced reflexes, damager resistance and strength attributed to Genma's insane ideas of training (although Ranma's abilities developed in spite of Genma's teachings, rather then from it).
Ranma's X-factor had been triggered by the alien invasion of his body. And the end result had been that instead of the Species DNA assimilating him, *He* had ended up assimilating the Species. Like an experienced RPG adventurer his genes had looted the invading entity of everything and anything useful and incorporated it within his own genetic development. That same X-factor was what had resulted in the "transmittable" marker in his bodily fluids. His saliva, tears, blood, and semen were swimming with a "user-friendly" version of the alien hybrid DNA. On contact with a compatible entity it would seek to attach itself to the X chromazones (thus only affecting females and ignoring useless unbreedable male competition) and upload its cargo of genetic material directly into the host DNA.
This served three purposes.
First, it stimulated ovulation in the female and made their bodies more receptive of impregnation as well as fortifying their physique to reduce the chance of miscarriage or the mother's death from pregnancy complications to almost nill.
Second, it 'locked' that female's breeding instincts to the alpha male, in this case Ranma. A woman so infected would never find another male desirable ever again, their bodies would reject them as potential mates on a primal instinctive level. Only the alpha with the proper 'response' trigger would attract them, and to a lesser extent their fellow 'sisters' who also possessed the same genetic 'lock'.
Third and the result perhaps the one most underestimated, was that it 'linked' each and every infected individual through a bond that was psychic, tele-empathic, and genetic. What one felt, all felt to a lesser extant. The White Queen had managed to get Jubilee to block off most of the first two connections, but the bond of blood would not be denied so easily.
When Jubilee felt fear, Ranma's body quivered in sympathetic reaction. And when her control slipped every now and then as her concentration wavered while at the mansion, flashes of images and snippets of conversation would echo in his head.
Syl, the name produced a hazy feeling of challenge/danger/threat intermingled by a strange instinctual need. Shaky images of Emma Frost, Psylocke, Shadowcat, Jean Grey, and the other females roused quivering sensations of lust and longing tempered by a wary caution. His mate's impression of these potential mates promised that they would make worthy breeders, but dangerous opponents.
And then there was the Claw Man.
Age old fight or flight stimulus reacted violently to that one's form. This was a threat, a very dangerous threat, only the mate's affection for this danger confused him. Threat that was not a threat?
Ranma shook his head in confusion, dissipating the dream-like state he'd fallen into as he'd walked on auto-pilot back to camp.
He didn't really understand what was going on here.
All he knew was that there were many potential mates out there, and danger, always danger lurking about.
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(Posted Tue, 06 May 2003 09:32)
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