The next day, Ranma and the girls were given a personal tutor each to start training in the use of their powers. Basic control had to be instilled before returning to Japan, enough for them to learn on their own later.
Storm, having personal experience in wind manipulation, was paired up with Fuujin. Shadowcat, the X-Men's resident hacker, took Lain under her wing. Since Millia was already proficient with her hair, Wolverine took her for further martial arts training. Phoenix coached Mutsumi on the use of her telepathic powers. Having trained Rusty Collins, another mutant fire user, in the X-Factor days, Cyclops volunteered to train Shinobu. That left Ranma in the hands of professor Xavier himself.
Xavier privately tutored Ranma to correct his education somewhat. When the pig-tailed martial artist remarked that it would be useless, Xavier simply said "You have power over light, Ranma. To better control it, you must learn what it is and what it can do. Unfortunately, it requires more knowledge than you presently have, hence your lessons" To his dismay, the professor was right. Ranma only managed to make crude laser beams and violent blinding flashes for the moment.
As for the Darkforce, it was an unknown. Ranma was shown videos and the files of other known users of this strange energy. After seeing Darkstar in action, Ranma concentrated on learning one ability of it in particular.
"YAHOOO !!!" Xavier shook his head, smiling, watching Ranma flying in erratic circles above the mansion. With his martial arts training specializing in mid-air combat, it was no wonder Ranma had always wanted to be able to really fly.
"This is great ! WHOA !" *THUD* Oh, well. Progress could still be made. More training on the way.
*****
Shadowcat and Lain hit it off from the start. They both loved computers and Lain proved to be an apt student. It was so much easier when you could directly link your mind with the computers themselves. It was a strange sight to see Lain zoning out, her eyes filled with visible data code lines. She didn't even touch the keyboard but the machine obeyed her mental commands. She was practicing her hacking skills when shadowcat entered the computer room.
"What are you doing, Lain ?" She took a look at the screen and saw... internet websites of dubious moral quality (and all illegal) "OH, MY GOD ! WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT !?"
The screen changed and the FBI homepage appeared. Lain sent several messages and turned the computer off. She smirked "just doing my job as a concerned citizen. I expect these sites to go down and their creators to be arrested soon"
Shadowcat smiled nastily "That's... nice, yes. Much more productive than just accessing the Pentagon's files. I like your way of thinking" Lain just shrugged "Oh, those were too easy. I needed a better challenge after breaking through the NSA network's defenses"
Shadowcat sweatdropped. She was kidding, right ?
*****
*WHUMP*
"Get up, girl ! We aren't done yet !"
Millia Rage shakily stood up and resumed her fighting stance. Wolverine was a tough cookie. With his adamantium skeleton and his insane regenerative abilities, it was almost impossible to take him down. Even with her hair, she hadn't been close to defeat him in sparring once. But if there was a thing she wasn't, it was a quitter "Ready when you are, old man..."
And the battle started anew.
*****
Storm and Fuujin had numerous disagreements during her training. The major contention point was that Fuujin was too eager to develop the killing aspects of her powers : keep air out of someone's lungs, increase or decrease atmospheric pressure to provoke a slow death, generating blades of wind (she got this idea from Ranma when he spoke about his fights in Nerima, something about a guy named Ryuu Kumon)... That sort of things.
At first, Storm thought it was a reaction to her experiences in that prison but after a talk with Wolverine, she knew it was something else. She had been trained to be a killer, pure and simple. To her, her power was only a new way of doing her job. The ensuing confrontation changed that.
"Do you want to add new notches on your scorecard ? I thought you wanted to change..." Fuujin nervously broke the staring contest between them. Those blank eyes, brrrr... Still, she had a point. She had fallen in her old routine, it was easy and reassuring. Wolverine's words came back to her mind. She didn't need additional nightmares to keep her up at night.
Fuujin relented "You're right, Storm-san... It's hard to break up old habits. Maybe you could teach me how to do other things with my power"
Storm smiled "Of course, Fuujin-san. What do you think of trying to generate a wall of churning wind ? Very practical to deflect incoming projectiles..."
"Interesting. Show me" Maybe she was on the right track this time.
*****
It had been difficult but Cyclops managed to convince Shinobu to train in the offensive aspects of her fire abilities. They had talked at length about life and death.
"You're not a monster, Shinobu. The fact you're feeling guilty about it is proof enough"
"What you did wasn't just or right. It was necessary though, a simple matter of self-preservation"
"Ending a life should never be taken lightly, ever. All the training you will undergo will allow you to better control your power. One day, you'll be able to use it to subdue your opponents without killing them"
Shinobu Maehara remembered the talk she had with her Ranma-niisan and gathered her courage. A few minutes later, fireballs melted practice dummies into slag.
*****
Since she was young, Mutsumi Otohime had been considered a somewhat ditzy and distracted person.Unknown to all who knew her, it was her mutation's fault. Of course she was distracted with all the voices she heard in her head all the time. When they became too much, she would faint, her mind shutting down to prevent overload.
All that changed with her recent captivity. The voices stopped with the dampener on her arm. Weeks of isolation made her turn inward and she slowly learned to tame her telepathic powers.
She had still much to learn though. Phoenix taught her how to erect and maintain her mental defenses, ending the cause of her faintings at last. She could think more clearly too. And a certain pig-tailed boy was prominent in her thoughts.
Ranma had helped save them from a grim fate. She felt that debt could never be fully repaid, no matter what he said. She had seen his inner being. He was crude, brash and arrogant, yes, but he was also kind, full of life and had a noble heart. He was also very handsome *Ahem !* Mutsumi blinked and blushed when she realized Jean Grey had perceived her mental monologue.
"Don't get distracted now, Mutsumi. Now I'll teach you how to forge a mindlink with others. It's a way of communication that can be vital in a fight as it is quick and untraceable in most circumstances"
"Hai, Grey-sensei"
Read the comments on this episode
See other episodes by Jamil Nate
(Posted Tue, 05 Nov 2002 18:43)
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.