Mister Sinister was not a well-known villain, not like Doctor Doom, or Magneto. This was largely due to the differences between his goals, and the goals the other two strived for. Yet, at the same time, each shared a pair of common elements. Each was, without question, a genius in at least one field or another. And each of them felt that the ends they sought were (ultimately) in humanity's best interest.
Doctor Doom was said to hate Dr. Reed Richards and wanted to rule the world. Doom's technological genius was obvious to even the most casual of researchers. The fact that he was (overall) a fair, if harsh, ruler was often overlooked. Likewise, his skill with sorcery and magic were seldom mentioned in a serious manner. What few realized - or were willing to admit - was that Victor von Doom honestly felt that humanity would be better off with the order he wanted to impose on the world. Even fewer knew about his ongoing attempts to free his mother's soul from (a) Hell.
Magneto, meanwhile, was well known as a mutant supremicist and terrorist. At best, he was a man who felt mutants should create a nation of their own, even if it required them to seize territory that some other nation had claimed. At worst, he advocated that mutants either rule over non-mutaants (Flatscans) with an iron fist, or that they eliminate Flatscans altogether. Magneto's awesome powers however, often caused people to forget that he had an impressive intellect and scientific abilities. Likewise, far too many people who knew of his history would forget that - before his powers manifested - he had survived in Nazi Germany's concentration camps. To Magneto, ensuring that nothing like that could ever occur to mutants paramount. And that, above all else, was the foundation that his actions were based upon.
The primary reason that information on Mister Sinister - including the fact that he even existed - was at least partially due to how his goals did not require him to act so publically, or as directly, as many others. Doctor Doom felt he should rule the world for humanity's own good. Magneto sought to save mutants from what he felt was the inevitable attempt by baseline humanity to exterminate them. But Mister Sinister wanted to bring about a Golden Age of humanity, where everyone was a superhuman.
Decades before Charles Xavier was even born, Doctor Nathaniel Essex had voiced a theory that evolution would one day cause humans to develop abilities that could be described as superhuman. To Dr. Essex, this offered humanity infinite possibilities. A world were people may one day no longer have to fear sickness, disease, or even aging were merely a drop of water in the sea of his dreams of humanity's potential.
A family tragedy resulted in Dr. Essex throwing himself into his work, obssessed to a degree that was shocking to his peers in Victorian England. If some higher power existed, Nathaniel Essex felt that it had failed its creation. And thus, it was his duty to help humanity as a whole, no matter what the price.
Perhaps he would have recovered, had his path not crossed that of mutant Apocalypse. Or perhaps if his wife had not given up on him, and declared him to be a monster. But their paths did cross. And his wife did declare him to be a monster. And thus Doctor Nathaniel Essex became Mister Sinister.
Mister Sinister did not manipulate, harm, or kill individuals out a sense of perverse pleasure. Much as a general during a war must send out soldiers to kill - and to die - for the good of their nation, Mister Sinister felt he had to affect the lives of others to bring about a new age - a better age - for humanity.
And now Mister Sinister felt the results of Genma Saotome's experimentation on Ranma could help him come closer to turning his dream into reality. Because while mutants might be one of his primary interests, any variation on humanity that could pass along their superior abilities to their children would attract his attention.
And if this variant also allowed for at least some of those superior abilitie to be passed along to females that the variant mated with?
Such a thing was indeed worthy of study.
*****
Mister Sinister was looking over a report on Sil's recent actions, now realizing why they shifted as much as they had from her activities of just a few weeks ago, when a priority flag appeared in the corner of the screen.
Sinister calmly finished reading the report on Sil, and marked it appropriately, before pulling up the flagged information. As he slowly read, a shark-like grin blossomed across his face. It would appear that Ranma Saotome had impregnated another young lady just days - or potentially even hours - after his encounter with Ms. Lee. One that had been under light observation already, due to their own potential.
While the children of those who used magic or "Ki" often either did not inherit whatever genetic gift had allowed their parents to do so, or did not show the same potential that had attracted Mister Sinister's attention to their parents, their abilities presented him with an interesting puzzle he intended to solve one day. And, there *were* some bloodlines that seemed well-suited to passing on their hidden gifts in an undiluted form.
Mister Sinister methodically pulled up all the information he had on the young lady in question. Before he took any action regarding this girl, even if were only to increase the surveillance on her, he wanted to re-examine his information regarding her capabilities and the environment she was in.
He was, after all, a scientist.
*****
Ranma felt fustrated as he headed back towards where his father should be.
For a brief moment, the link he had with his first mate had been as it should have been. Clear and open. But, now, it was blocked again. It was like trying to listen to a single conversation on the other side of a room filled with noisy people.
Still, at least he knew that his first mate was alive, and that the child she carried seemed to be unharmed.
In an effort to calm himself, Ranma felt along the other three links he now had, and allowed himself a moment to savor the memories of claiming his second mate.
*****
He still couldn't sense anything from his mate. It was as if the link between them didn't exist. Part of Ranma worried that this meant that his mate was now dead, but surely he would have sensed something in that case, even if only a split-second of pain and fear?
Perhaps he hadn't imagined that hostile contact he had felt so soon after mating? But, if that was the case, why reveal their presence to him, since that might warn him of a danger? And, if they were weaker than him, why attract his attention?
But, regardless, he couldn't feel his mate, she couldn't feel him, and there was a potentially a threat to both of them.
The same drive to ensure the survival of his kind meant that this was unacceptable. Another mating was required. But not with just any female who was healty and fertile. The odds of a child surviving would be higher if the mother was capable of defending herself and the child she would bear.
And so Ranma was using the time he had left before his father was due back to search for a worthy female. One that moved like one trained to fight, and someone with... something else.
Something that he couldn't define, but that he had sensed from the first female he had chosen to mate with. Something which made that female even more worthy to be a mother of his young. Even more likely to survive.
Ranma's head suddenly turned to take another look at a particular female. He'd already noticed the way she held herself, the way she moved, but now he was looking to confirm something else.
Yes. It wasn't the same, but there was something about that female that made it clear to Ranma that she was worthy. He had found his second mate.
Ranma began to move towards ...
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Wed, 07 May 2003 16:38)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.