Once again,story flow checks and if anything odd that stands out and I'll see if it works or not.
Homo Superior
Orientation part 2
**** Xavier Institute for Higher Learning ***
Ranma took in the gym class that was taking place outdoors. Looking up, he saw the clear blue sky without a stormy cloud to be seen for miles. That was fine by him.
“Alright then, boys on one side girls on the other.” Ororo Munroe, codename Storm nodded as the boys and girls separated into two sides. “Ok get changed, today, we will do Wolverine Scenario 3, which means lots of rope climbing, pulls ups, and for the fliers, running away from the stinger robots.”
Groans immediately rose from the rest of the class.
“Awww man!”
“Not the stinger robots!”
“Kill me now!”
“No fair Professor!”
“Shut it!” A large burly guy bellowed from next to Storm. “After you're done changing, fliers with Storm. Grounders, you're with me!”
Ranma took a good look at the mutant in command, and was curious as to how it was possible for him to walk when most of his muscle mass was in his torso. Taking in the group around him, he noticed he got dirty looks from some of the boys, while the others were whispering softly amongst themselves whilst looking in his direction. Shrugging, he made to go to the boys’ locker room, but a comically large muscular arm barred his way.
“Not you new Guy.” the Strong Guy said as he singled Ranma out.
“Me?” Ranma asked, pointing to himself.
“Yeah, got special orders for you.” the big man answered. “You get changed over there in the private sector for our special-needs students.”
He pointed to a section further back, where different types of people were walking in, both male and female. Some of them looked odd, with one guy even looking like his form was constantly changing, as if unable to keep a real shape.
“Hey, what do you mean by special-needs!?” Ranma raised his voice a bit, somewhat offended. Were they trying to say he's handicapped?
“Ah shucks, I didn't mean to say it like that... you turn into a girl with cold water, right? I mean, that’s what Storm told me,” the big man pointed out. At seeing Ranma nod, he continued. “Well, a few of the boys have power over water, and wouldn't be adverse to seeing a pretty little redhead naked, you know? Boys being boys and all.”
“Oh.” Ranma grasped what the big man was trying to say. “Oh... I see.”
“And what with the incident with Feral and all, we were told to keep an eye out for you. They're good kids, they just have an “us” against “them” mentality, hopefully it'll all blow over soon!” the big guy smiled in a friendly manner.
“Bah, I ain't worried about them.” Ranma waved off the big guy’s concern, but accepted the treatment he was being given. Thought he did agree, he wouldn't put it past those that were trying to restore Feral’s honor trying to humiliate him in some way.
“Yeah, heard you were a tough guy, like me I suppose.” The big man thumbed his chest with a grin, then looked down at Ranma and extended his hand. “Name's Guido, but everyone calls me Strong Guy.”
Ranma grinned back at the big guy’s, or rather, Strong Guy’s attitude and returned it with a hand shake of his own. “Nice to meet you, name's Ranma Saotome, just call me Ranma.”
“Well, I think I kept you long enough, go get changed.” Strong guy shooed the pig tailed boy away.
Walking toward his locker room, he was passed by a girl that looked as if she was completely made out of mist. She had long blackish hair with a pixie like face, however, her body seem to look fuzzy one second then solid the next, as if it was also in a state of flux. Which, if she was made out of mist, made sense to Ranma. Of course, that didn’t change the fact that her feet seemed to be missing, cutting off at the ankles. She must be floating somehow, he deduced. The girl saw him and blinked with an emotionless face. He didn't see any recognition in her eyes, and simply nodded to her in greeting. To his surprise, the girl returned the gesture and pointed at a room behind her.
“Rooms 3.”
“Ah, thanks.” Ranma called after her, but the girl had floated away. It wasn't until he was half way changing into what look like casual fatigue wear that he questioned how mist could wear gym clothes.
By the time he made his way back out, he saw an organized file of girls chatting among themselves on one side while a disorganized pile of boys had huddled up on another. As with all high school hierarchy, the strongest and most popular were in the center, while the nerds, geeks, and losers were on the outside. Weaker of the herd and all. Off to one side, Ranma spotted the loners who didn’t fall in either category.
“Alright fliers, you’re all with Storm, the rest of you are with me.” Strong Guy said as he turned his back and started to march toward an open field.
To Ranma’s surprise, at least a third of the group floated up after Storm. Most had wings, but some didn’t, which was interesting to him. He couldn't help but feel a bit jealous at that ability, after all, the Saotome school specialized in mid-air combat. Still, he dutifully followed after Strong Guy with the rest of the grounders.
“Alright then for those of you who haven't done it yet, Wolverine scenario three is simple, you are free to use your powers to absorb, evade, block, or even attack the little cannons that will spring up along this obstacle course.” Strong Guy pointed to a built up obstacle course. “It's time to put all of those powers of yours into practice! Remember, anybody should be able to run through the course at least once. The further you get, the higher you will be graded.”
“But teach! I'm a strong type, how the hell am I going to evade the fast stringers?” A big guy with crystalline skin protested with a raised hand.
“Amateurs.” Strong Guy muttered to himself as he shook his head at the lot of them. “Look at me, I'm a strong type, I’m not fast and nimble! Let me show you how it's done.”
Without much fanfare, the teacher ran through the obstacle course and was immediately attacked by little drones on the ground. Instead of trying to avoid it, he stood in his place and took the damage. “Being strong means I can take a few more hits than usual!”
Next, he got to the spike part on the ground where you’re supposed to traverse with hanging echo rings, the kind usually seen used by gymnastic practitioners. “Now, most of you agile types can simply grab this and be across in a flash, but for me, I'll break the rope, so I'll have to improvise!”
Without much warning, he ripped a tree from the nearby area and placed it over the spikes, simply walking over the area. On and on he went through each obstacle and hurdle, some he powered through, others he used his strength to work around. By the end of it all, while looking slightly ruffled up, he had completed the course.
“Any other questions?” Strong Guy asked as he looked at the now bashful looking crystalline teen in the back.
“I got one teach!” a cocky voice said from in the center as a suave looking guy made his way through the throngs of boys. “How is the normie going to get through this in one piece?”
At the comment, a large group of the boys laughed, most of them knowing exactly who he was referring to.
“Yeah, you gonna give us a bell curve on our score if the normie doesn't make it?”
Another ring of laughter echo out from the boys and girls.
“Shut it!” Strong Guy ordered before putting the whistle to his lips and made to blow down on it.
“Wait!” a trio of girl voices sounded out.
Turning around, the assembled grounders saw the Three-in-One Cuckoo sisters running up to the group quickly.
Strong Guy, however, was not amused and put his hands on his hips, looking down at the girls. “You girls have a good reason why you were late for my class?”
“We had to get Celeste from class,” Irma and Phoebe said in unison. While Celeste head look down at the ground.
“And why were you late for my class, Ms. Celeste?” Strong Guy folded his arm and focused on the third sister.
“I was held back in class by Mr. Caliban for... disciplinary reasons,” Celeste mumbled after shooting Ranma a dirty look.
“Hmm, well if Caliban held you back, I can't fault you for it,” Strong Guy reasoned before he allowed the girls to join the class.
While some looked confused as to why Ranma knew why said girl was late, he shrugged at the death glare the blond was giving him, feeling no intruding presence in his mind. Guess she learned her lesson. Looking at the area before him he had to admit, as far as training goes, this obstacle course wasn't all that bad. It was missing a few alligators and maybe a couple of poisonous snakes to really bring out one’s sense of danger, but it’d do.
“Alright then,” Strong Guy placed the whistle on his lips and blew on it. “Begin!”
At the sound of the whistle, the throng of students surged forward, intending to tackle this Wolverine sanctioned obstacle course with everything they had. Three minutes later, there were cries of pain and crying in general from the student body.
Traveling almost effortlessly, and at a steady pace, was the normie. He expertly climbed the echo bars across the spike lace ground. Now had that been all, it wouldn't have been too far-fetched for him to do it, but what was odd was the fact that six stinger drones, little mouse-sized flying devices, were firing little electrical shock beams at the boy, only to miss him by mere inches each time.
“Bu-Bullshit!” The now dishevel suave guy from earlier protested, pointing at the supposedly normal human. “Those drones are malfunctioning!”
“Gotta be man!” Another voice chimed in.
“I ain't gonna lose to no normal!” The suave guy shouted as he used his power of concussive force to shoot himself off the ground and grip the rings.
No sooner had the guy got a handle then six more drones flew out and started to fire at him.
“Ow! Gah! Damn it!” The suave guy raised his hand to try and shield himself before he attempted to return fire at one of the drone, which dodged his energy attack and resumed attacking him, resulting in him losing his grip, no longer able to withstand the pain. “Noooo!!!”
Ranma turned around slightly and saw the twentieth person fall in to the spike pit. To his disappointment, the pit was not filled real spikes, but instead some kind of video illusion. How was that supposed to motivate the students? Finally making it through the half mile stretch with ease, he hopped down and looked ahead. There was an empty sand field littered with bodies. Apparently the sand was booby trapped with soft mines. Not explosive, judging by the bodies on the ground, it seemed to be something that stunned them.
Picking up a few dozen pebbles, he looked at where the bodies were scattered and mapped a safe path half way through. Of course, having taken his time, there were people that made it past that previous obstacle and were now stuck here. He saw a dark skinned boy with war paint on his face run at break neck speed from behind him.
“Ohhhh!!!!” The Boy of Native American descent roared in vigor as he jumped high into the air as he got to the edge and clapped his hands at the ground. Immediately, a gust wind of shot into the ground, making a small indent, but at the same time propelling the boy higher up, enough so that he could flip forward and do it again, crossing the sand area safely.
Ranma had to admit, that was clever of the boy and he wasn't the only one. While there were people on the ground, there were people who appeared to be stuck half way through the area. He couldn't help but grin that among them were the blond triplets, and one of the girls who’d tried to read his mind without permission.
Casually, he tossed a pebble at the ground a few feet in front of him, and watched it explode upward. Grinning, he jumped to the area where the mine was triggered with ease.
“What the?! That's bullshit and cheating!” Celeste protested, pointing at him.
“I don't see myself getting disqualified do you?” Ranma needled before he tossed another pebble several yards forward. This time there was no explosion. Jumping lightly to the area, he landed safe and sound. The other mutants, who had no such projectile powers, copied his example as they too picked up rocks and pebbles to make their way through the mind field.
“Hi.”
Ranma turned around to see the mist girl floating effortlessly passed him while giving him a wave. “Aren't you supposed to be with the flyers?” He pointed at the sky where a vicious game of tag was going on.
“Floater.” She answered as if that explained everything in her monotone voice. “Bye.”
With that, the girl floated over the minefield and into a safer haven.
'Wait, you can't just leave us here! Aren't you a gentlemen, there are girls in distress here!'
The voice he recognize right away as the blond girl, Celeste. However, he heard it too clearly and the tingling in his head let him know that she probably had projected her thoughts into his head. Turning around quickly, he flicked a pebble right at the girl forehead eliciting a pained yelp.
“Ow!”
“Good!” Ranma declared. “I told you to stay out of my head didn't I?”
Holding another pebble menacingly, he dared any of the three sisters to try and invade his mind again. The two sisters next to Celeste, however, had more sense than to try and taunt the boy after a telepathic conversation.
After seeing the sisters turn their attention elsewhere, Ranma quickly made his way through the obstacle area with little incident. Turning back, he saw the three sisters looking worriedly around, along with the other students stuck midway through. Looking down, he saw that he still had a good few dozen pebbles left. Quickly, he struck a straight path through, causing explosion where some landed and nothing on others.
The sisters and other students now looked at a single clear path through in surprise. For those stuck, they could just backtrack through the fallen bodies and make their way across.
Ranma left before some of them even thought to thank him. Already, he had made his way through several more sections of the obstacle course and was at the last one. It was a clear football field length to the goal line. The field itself appeared to be littered with a multitude of paint colorings, the reason for this were the two dozen turrets mounted on either side of the field. Each of them, based on their movement, appeared to only have a forty five degree forward firing angle. However, each turret also had a big fat bulls-eye on its body. The objective of the game seemed simple enough, hit the bulls-eye, disable the target, or run through the field.
On the table next to him, he saw a variety of 'weapons', and even calling them weapons was too generous of a term. There was a gun that could shoot little B.B pellets, some throwing darts, and a large block of concrete that look too heavy for normal people to carry. He assumed that the last object was for the strength type. He also assumed the people with greater agility would just weave their way through the attacks. Picking up a small rock nearby, Ranma gently did pitch it into the field of fire and watch for the reaction time. Satisfied as he watched the now painted stone drop on the grass, Ranma took a few dozen throwing darts from the table.
Grinning cockily, Ranma stepped onto the field and saw the turret on either side fade from view. Immediately, there were balls of wet paint fired in his direction. Jogging, Ranma ducked under the first paint ball and threw the dart in the direction the attack. The dart struck true and revealed a deactivated turret. Smiling, he continued flinging the darts and hitting the targets. He didn't hit all of them, just the ones he deemed necessary, and within seconds, was on the other side of the field, untouched and with at least a dozen darts remaining in his arsenal.
Walking past the victors of the obstacle course, some that didn't look like they had got through unscathed, Ranma put the remaining darts on a nearby table. Turning around, he noticed that among those there with him was a black boy with bone protruding from his body, a girl with red hair that seemed to be normal enough, the mist like girl, and an animal girl.
'Animal girl?' Ranma thought as he looked at the girl. Cat ears? Check, Cat tail? Check. Fur on her outside? Check. Not freaking out? Check! He was cured! Okay time for him to man up and apologize. Drawing himself to his full height, he walked toward the cat girl and tapped her on her shoulder.
Apparently his action startled her as she was taken aback upon seeing him. “Wh-what do you want?” the girl asked warily.
Bowing his head across his body in the Japanese sign of atonement, he uttered a phrase he rarely said. “I'm sorry for the other day. I had some personal issue but I didn't mean to cause you any grief, I humbly ask for your forgiveness.”
There, he said it! Now, he'd be in the clear even if she decided to hold a grudge against him. He had bowed his head and apologized.
“Wh- what are you talking about?”
Ranma blinked as he straightened back up. “Ummm, I'm apologizing for being rude to you yesterday?” He replied in confusion, his confusion was mirrored by the cat girl own.
“I never met you yesterday,” The cat girl started before her eyes widen and then narrowed dangerously. “Why did you think you met me yesterday?”
“Umm... because you did?” Ranma said suddenly aware of the crowd gathering around him murmuring in a low voice.
“So, all feline types look the same to you. Is that it?” The girl said in a dangerous tone.
“Huh? There’s more than one?” Ranma asked as he looked at the girl. She was a cat girl, and the only one he seen so far, it gotta be her. Right?
“Just for your information, I have BLACK fur, Sybil fur is GOLD, but yeah, we're completely alike!” The black furred cat girl looked even more offended if possible now.
Ranma closed his eyes and sighed. There was only one that could describe the huge mistake he just made.
“Fuck.”
+++ Lunch Time+++
“That's the guy that thinks all muties look the same right?”
“Yeah, how can he mix up Veronica with Sybil I'll never know, I mean they're two different colors!”
“I always though the Japanese nowadays were more open minded too.”
“I wish somebody would kick his ass.”
Sighing, Ranma looked down at his tray that was piled on with food and continued to eat it despite the whispered. How was he supposed to know? He hardly remembered the girl and well she fit the description of cat girl to him. Then of course he hadn't seen any other cat girls around so he had assumed that was the one.
Ah well, at least now he know the cat girl he was looking for had golden fur on her.
“Wassup, mind if I sit here?”
Looking up Ranma saw a black boy with blond hair looking at him as if for permission. “Go ahead, you'd be my only guest,” he said waving to the empty table.
“Yeah eating lunch alone is no fun, ya know?” The boy said before grinning. “The name's Evan, but people around here call me Spyke.”
As if to show Ranma how he got his name, he lifted his arm to show a sharp bone jutting out from his forearm.
“Neat,” Ranma commented politely before he continued to eat. However, Evan grinned widely as he continued to look at Ranma.
“Auntie Ro was right, you're no human supremacist. My power is freaky to normal people, yet you didn't bat an eye at seeing my actual bone as a weapon.” Evan said easily before looking at Ranma seriously. “She also said the whole ordeal with Feral was a major misunderstanding, but it was not her place to tell me why.”
Ranma grunted noncommittally still on his guard for an attack soon. He knew it was coming just not from where.
Evan propped open a gallon jug of milk and chugged it down in front of Ranma's. “Growing boy and all of that, ya know?” He said as he raised the gallon of milk in a toasting gesture.
Humoring the boy, Ranma took his own orange juice this time and returned the gesture and the two chugged down on their respective drink.
“Ah, that hits the spot!” Evan stated grandly as he start to chow down vigorously on his food.
The murmur appeared to lower with the appearance of Evan as the two boy continued to eat.
“Mind?” A monotone piped up from behind Ranma.
Turning around he had to blink at seeing mist girl here looking in askance at Ranma's table. “Err, help yourself?”
“Oh you became friends with Myst? Good job!” Evan grinned as he pat Ranma on the back.
'So her name really was Myst after all?' Ranma wanted to ask but refrained. He’d fucked up enough times already.
Ranma was perfectly fine with eating in silence, so was Myst, not so for Evan unfortunately as he rattled on and on about their gym class today.
“Man, I barely made it through, thank god for my skateboarding skills,” Evan finished as he opened up another gallon of milk and chugged it down.
“You all could have made it out easily if you wanted to,” Ranma stated as he bit down on some bread. His comment drew a curious look from Myst but it was Evans who wanted to know more.
“Oh and how would we have done that?”
Ranma shake his head. “If you all have worked together it would have been easy.”
“We weren't allowed to do that,” Evan reminded him and saw that Myst nodded slowly in agreement.
“Actually, he never said anything about not being able to work together at all,” Ranma countered. “Not once did he mention you guys should go at it alone but instead said that EVERYONE should have been able to pass it using your powers.”
“I don't think that's what he meant though,” Evan pondered while cupping his chin. “Or is it? It would have been a great team building exercise...”
Even Myst who was slowly 'eating' her apple stopped as she put some thought into it herself. After a few seconds of thought, Evan smacked the palm of his hand against his forehead.
“Damn it, it’s like a trick question!” Evan lamented with a groan. Ranma might be right, the X-men preach about teams and working together a lot, yet everyone went off on their own...
“Flatscan.”
Ranma sighed and figured that this was coming. He hoped that Jean and the Professor wouldn't be too mad with him. He'd try to minimize the collateral damage at least.
“Floyd!” Evan said in alarm as he stood up to his full height, his expression one of anger. “That was uncalled for!”
“Disgusting,” Myst agreed. There was a small frown marring her features.
“Watcha gonna do Evans, tell your auntie on us?” Floyd, the leader of a pack of three boys, stood at his full height. To his left was a big guy that looked normal except that his skin appeared alligator like, and to his right was another boy who was tall and had some form of fire coming from his hands.
Evan grimaced at the taunt, but these three where powerful mutants in their own right. They were much stronger than him, that's for sure. Idly, he was coming up with a good excuse as to why he was going to be bruised later to his aunt, ‘cuz if he doesn't have a good excuse, his mother would kill him.
“One try.” Ranma said suddenly.
“What?” Floyd and his friends looked down at the normie in surprise.
“Normally, I would kick your ass from here back to wherever you came from,” Ranma explained to them even as he pinched the bridge of his nose. “However, I don't want this to get out of hand, so you get one try to hit me then you leave me alone.”
By this time the Cafeteria was silent looking at the developing scene.
“Oh, is that right?” Floyd asked innocently. “Think you are so much better than us, do you Flatscan?”
“I don't think so,” Ranma said in a bored tone. “I am.”
“Lay him out Fury.” Floyd hissed as the boy to his left punched his palm with a glowing balled fist encircled by fire.
Evan was already off his feet and getting ready to intervene, while Myst also was floating toward the pig tailed boy.
There was a loud smacking sound Fury fist connected with flesh. However to the three boys shock, Ranma blocked the attack, his hand already wrapped around the balled fist. The fire seemed to encompassed Ranma's own hand yet the pig tailed boy didn’t flinch.
“That's your one try, better luck next time.” Ranma said before he shoved Fury, fist first, back a few steps.
People could hear a pin drop in the cafeteria due to the collective shock at Ranma’s display.
“Croc!” Floyd ordered as the alligator skinned youth lunged with great speed at the young martial artist, just like an alligator in water.
There was a the sound of something heavy impacting, as the students saw the boy known as Croc doubled over Ranma’s arm, an arm that seemed to have be embedded in larger boy gut. Croc’s eyes were wide open, as if trying to register the pain as he gasped for air.
None to gently, Ranma took his other free hand and pushed the scaled boy toward the leader of the group.
“You want a go at me too?” Ranma asked in an innocent voice.
“This ain't over Flatscan!” Floyd promised as he and Fury grabbed their friend and made their way out of the lunchroom.
Turning back around to enjoy his lunch he saw Evan and Myst staring at him wide eyed. “What?”
“What?! you…. how!?” Was all Evan could manage as he looked at Ranma before he gathered his thoughts. “I thought my aunt said you weren't a mutant!”
“I'm no.” Ranma replied to his two table mates. “Plain ol’ Flatscan Ranma, that's me.”
“Don't say that word!” Evan chided the pig tailed boy harshly.
“What? Aren't Flatscans non-mutants? Wouldn't that make me a Flatscan?” Ranma asked in confusion.
“Stop! Stop it!” Evan vehemently ordered. “Flatscan is a derogatory term for humans used by the bad guys in the mutant community.”
“Truth.” Myst agreed with Evan.
“I don't care what they call me,” Ranma declared with a frown. “It's not my problem.”
“Look, it's just frowned upon here at the school okay?” Evan pleaded, and smiled as he saw Ranma nod in acknowledgment.
“Good.” Myst said before she went back to eating.
“Still,” Evan said as he sat back down. “How’d you do that? Alligator hides are tough! And how come you didn't get burned by Fury just now!”
“First, Alligator hides aren't that tough,” Ranma recalled his dad and him hunting down a few alligators for food. “As for the fire thing, cool Ki to nullify the sensation.”
“Cookie?” Evan asked in confusion.
“Cool or Cold Ki, you know,” Ranma said as he saw Evan’s confused face. “You know the life energy all around us, inside of everyone?”
“Ohh, you mean like the Force?” Evan eyes said lighting up.
“Jedi?” Myst stop in mid bite to ask.
“What?” Ranma said blinking at the two. “No it's, argh it's complicated, I'll tell you later.”
“Jedi.” Myst said in satisfaction before going back to eat.
“Man, that was awesome what you did!” Evan boasted as he went back to eating.
“Flatscan.”
“God damn it,” Ranma half cried out in exasperation to turn around to face a different trio. These one were a lot more normal but appeared to be the fighting type. Standing up he was about to end it quickly when it was ended for him.
“Out of the way Tyler.”
The boy in question, Tyler turned around and any demeanor of belligerence melted away as he suddenly turned bashful. “Hey... Cuckoos sisters...”
“You don't know which one I am, do you?” The middle blond of the Cuckoo sisters said in a flat tone.
“Of course I do!” Tyler protested. “You're …. Irma...?”
“Get lost, now before I make you make out with your friends in public,” The girl before him said flatly. The boys who were with him were already running.
Ranma saw the boys make their hasty retreat, and stared at the trio of girls standing before him. Right away, he knew the one that did the talking earlier was the one called Celeste. How did he know? She had a little bandage on her forehead, courtesy of his pebble attack from earlier. Still, three telepaths, he was sure he'd be able to move fast enough to knock them out if it came down to it.
Hopefully.
The four stood looking at each other before the sister to the left of Celeste nudged her with her elbow. “Celeste...”
Celeste bit her lower lip and exhaled while glaring at Ranma. “My two sisters felt that we should thank you for bailing us out of the sandbox obstacle course earlier.”
It was then the sister on Celeste right elbowed her sharply and gave her a meaningful glare.
“And that I apologize for scanning your mind without your permission...”
The two sisters nodded in satisfaction before turning back to Ranma, awaiting his reply patiently.
Ranma took a moment to let the girl’s awkward apology sink in before he responded in a similar fashion. “Errrr... apology accepted... I guess?”
“Great! Now we are in harmony again,” the sister to the right let out a put upon breath. “Seriously, nothing would ever get done if she kept on thinking of ways to get back at you for history class.”
Looking at Ranma, the girl smiled. “I'm Phoebe, and that's Irma over there, of course you already met Celeste.”
“Umm nice to meet ya?”
“To be quite honest, I don't really take too much stock in the rumor that you are a human supremacist,” The girl that identified herself as Phoebe said as she casually brought her tray down to the other side of Ranma tray.
“Uh... thanks?” Ranma responded as the other two sisters taking a seat to the left of Pheobe.
“My theory is that you're color blind,” Phoebe deduced. Hearing a thud she looked down and saw Ranma had apparently tripped over nothing and landed on the floor face first. “Ranma?”
Ranma picked up himself and immediately defend himself. “I can see fine!”
“No need to act defensive, lots of people are color blind, it's nothing to be ashamed of,” Phoebe reasoned.
“Wha- I'm not!”
“Hardship.” Myst voice chimed in from across the table as she gave Ranma a sympathetic look.
For a moment, Ranma hoped that someone else tried to pick a fight with him as he listened to the understanding tone of the Cuckoo sister next to him.
+++ Afternoon+++
Fifth Period was uneventful for Ranma, the people that he was there with gave him some weird looks, but overall it wasn't too bad. However, it was sixth period that brought him the headache from lunch.
“Oh hello Ranma, we meet again,” Phoebe Cuckoo stated, all smiles.
Ranma simply looked up at the ceiling and glared. “Of course you would do this to me...”
“The ceiling is white if you were wondering,” Phoebe pointed out helpfully.
“I'm not color blind!” Ranma protested but the blond already turned her head to face forward.
“Right then class, today, we shall be visiting how to crack a Kree weapon module,” Kitty Pryde, codename Shadowcat, immediately said upon entering.
“What happened to the Shi'ar weapons module Professor?” a girl at the front row asked.
“We had to use em all...” Kitty Pryde trailed off and caught sight of Ranma in her class. Smiling she gave him an enthusiastic wave before turning back to the chalkboard to draw the outline of a complicated looking device.
A few glares by the male students that were obviously crushing on the teacher were directed at Ranma for the special attention he received, but the pig-tailed boy didn’t care, and greeted the woman who fed him on the first day.
“Okay, there!” Kitty announced after drawing a very complicated looking device on the board. “Since we don't have too many modules, you'll have to partner up with somebody. So buddy up! By the time class is over, I'll have you jury rigging a Kree mother ship!”
Immediately, several people got up to exchange seats with other students to partner up. Ranma knew he was going to be the odd man out, and be forced paired with the last person no one wanted to be paired up with. Well, second to last anyway.
“Hey normie, why don't you switch seats with me so I can partner up with Phoebe?” A handsome teen said as he flashed the blonde smile.
“Sure,” Ranma said and was about to get up only to have Phoebe grabbed him by his shirt sleeve and pulled him back down. “What?”
“You're my lab partner,” Phoebe said simply before continuing to make little notes in her note book.
“What?” The handsome boy face looked crestfallen. Unfortunately, the blond didn’t give him the time of day, and as if dismissed, the boy went on his way looking for another lab partner.
“Uh... thanks?” Ranma ventured.
“Well, you seem like you would be more focused on the lab work then flirting with me,” Phoebe said bluntly.
The girl’s confident demeanor was pretty different then the girls back in Nerima. Well, he could deal with that, he wasn't here to pick up even more fiancées, after all.
Unfortunately, while his enthusiasm was there, the material itself was so far beyond his comprehension that it wasn't even funny. Surprisingly, the girl Phoebe didn't make fun of him for it, on the contrary, she took her time and explained what needed to go where, and why. In the end he was nothing more than a glorified helper, but they did complete their assignment.
“Let's see, No Irene, the way you modded this will blow the weapon up upon firing.” Kitty, who was walking along, graded the weapon modification she'd given them. “Not bad, not bad, at all, Sam.”
“Thanks Professor Pride!”
She finally reached Ranma’s table, and after humming for a few moments, nodded. “Not bad, it'll be good enough for a few shots, hopefully to get away at least.”
“Damn,” Phoebe sighed before she leaned back into her chair.
“Sorry,” Ranma apologized, feeling that it was his ineptness that pulled the other blond down.
“Nah, you were competent enough with it, had you had a real understanding of what we were doing, we might have perfected it, but not bad for a beginner.”
At her last statement, the bell rung, and just as quickly as she came, she left both the room and a very confused Ranma behind. The day had just been getting weirder and weirder. The hate was still there, but now it was tempered by wariness, and he even made two friends in Spyke and Myst. Still, he couldn't help but bring his mind back to Akane. Sure he teased her, but then that was normal for them, there was no hate laced in it. Just anger.
Looking down at his little card, his final class for the day was an elective. It's a time where the students got to spend time working on their mutant power with their respective team leader. “Well... shit,” He muttered softly as he started to see mutants of similar types walking together.
“Ranma.” Myst greeted as she floated by with other students that look incorporeal. There was some with nothing but light on them. Then there was a guy who seemed to be in a container of some sort. Was he made of green gas?
“Gang way bud,” Evan said as he skate board pass Ranma but not before patting him on the shoulder as he headed toward Psylocke. The two of them made eye contact and Pyslocke gave Ranma a small nod.
“Ranma!”
Turning around at the voice that called him he saw Ryoga, still in his stone form being accompanied by the purple girl.
“Ryoga...”
“I heard about what you did to that poor sweet girl! You make me sick!”
“Ah shove it up your ass rubb-...,” Ranma stopped short as he saw several other students looking at the exchanged. Yes, it was true, Ranma was about to called Ryoga by a new nickname he came up by himself. Rubble. “You know what, forget it, I don't have to explain nothing to you.”
“Don't you turn your back on me!” Ryoga said loudly but was suddenly restrained by two other power type guys.
“Cool it man, we be late for Colossus’ lesson, let it go.”
Exchanging one final glare between each other, Ranma made to leave, but was stopped when he crossed paths with Akane, who only gave him a pitying look and walked away. In the group that she was with, there were girls that had fire and ice on their fingers or in some cases, the palms of their hands.
Things would have ended well there, except for when the three Cuckoo sisters all passed by him in front of Akane.
“Ranma.”
“Hi, bye!”
“....”
Ranma saw Akane eyes narrowed and the familiar fire of jealousy shone in her eyes again. He opened his arms to protest his innocence but she wasn't having any of it. With a final glare she turned her head and walked with her group.
After a few moments, he found himself the only one in the empty hallways.
For a few moments, Ranma wonder what he should do. There was no mentor for him. Not really. It then occurred to Ranma that with no mentor and the free period, he could do anything he wanted.
“Time to train!” Ranma grinned as he now could get practice for real. True, he didn't have his pops as a sparring partner anymore, but the man wasn't giving him much of a workout anymore anyway.
With a grin on his face, he jumped into the trees lightly, leaping from branch to branch till he reached the top to get a better view of the entire Xavier Institute. What he saw impressed him, as the main gate itself was a good mile away from the driveway, not to mention there were other buildings behind the mansion itself.
Jumping back down and landing light, Ranma touched the oak tree and felt that it was sturdy enough to begin his training regime.
While training, he could detect a physical presence that closed in on him, he just never accounted for a Telepathic summon. It wasn't until Jean’s mental announcement with Ranma in the zone did it stop Ranma in mid punch. 'Jean?' he thought back to be sure.
'Ranma? You're focused again?”
'UH yes, Sorry, you guys awake now? Ya doing okay?'
'We're fine, just fatigue, school's over by the way.'
'Is it? Huh, didn't even notice the time passing by.'
'Yes, that was... interesting.'
'What was?' Ranma though as he put his shirt back on. He'd need to shower again later as soon as he found out where he was staying. Hopefully, that damn bed down in the lab wasn't his permanent residence, but knowing his luck it might be. Looking at the area he was in, a lot of the trees now had it barks exposed, and while he didn't destroy any on purpose, it wouldn't take much more for woodcutters to finish the job.
'You don't know?' Jean thought to him.
'… I'm asking ain't I?'
'When you were focused like that, and I was inside your mind, normally you'd react very negatively to it. This time, you didn't force me out but instead appeared to have synced up with my presence. Not violently rejecting me, but I felt as if... as if... as if I could do no wrong. Sorry, I don't know how else to describe it.'
'Oh... No idea. Oh hey, you wouldn't happen to know where I'll be sleeping would ya?'
'The lab of course.'
Ranma physically staggered at that revelation until he felt the humor in the thought. If she wasn't his doctor...
'Hah. Hah. You got me. That was funny.'
'So I heard you had a bumpy first day today, wanna talk about it?'
'We starting my therapy now?'
'Well no, I am asking you know as a concerned adult. I know kids could be... vindictive.'
'Bah, it ain't nothing. Although... I did hit some guy name Croc... sorry.'
'While we don't condone settling things with violence except as a last resort... I actually kept tabs on you. You were a tad confrontational, but otherwise justified in your response.'
'Oh... Thanks...' Ranma thought back in genuine amazement at not getting chewed out. Looking up, he saw a familiar figure flying above him.
“Lord Ranma, I found you, Lady Grey and Professor Xavier await in his studies,” Kiima said from overhead.
“You know the way?” Ranma asked the winged woman.
“If you please,” Kiima landed and started to walk toward the mansion.
Upon reentering the mansion, he saw a few students straggling here and there, with a few of the older teachers out and about talking to them in small clusters. After a series of turns, he found himself in front of a nice set of oak doors. Kiima knocked politely, before backing away and allowing Ranma entry.
“Come in,” Professor Xavier’s voice declared from the other side.
Slowly, Ranma walked inside and saw a baby Saffron flying around, making diving passes at the Professor while giggling. Upon a second look, the baby wasn't really flying. 'Telekinesis.' Ranma figured, and saw Jean sitting on the sofa smiling up at the little boy.
“Ranma,” the Professor greeted the pigtailed youth as he gently lowered the baby being toward Jean. Turning around, he looked at the young man before him. “How are you feeling? Any headaches, nausea, anything feel off to you?”
“Far as I can see, everything is normal and I don't seem to be freaking out over cats anymore,” Ranma answered with a relieved expression on his face.
“Mind if I delve into your mind to see if the blocks we put on it is still holding steady?” the Professor asked, but his tone clearly suggested that it was something Ranma ought to agree to.
“Of course, ya helped me out a lot!” Ranma told the man and his protégé. Right after he agreed the Professor closed his eyes and a moment later, Ranma felt a presence in his mind.
After a minute, the presence disappeared and the Professor opened his eyes back up again.
“Just as I suspected, while the mental block we put in is a strong one and intricate, your psyche was just too deeply affected by the Cat Fist training. I am afraid that our estimate of the block holding for a year was overly generous.”
“How long?” Ranma asked swallowing hard as he did so.
“At the least, six months. If you are lucky, Eight or Nine. It all depends on how well you face your inner demons Mr. Saotome,” the Professor gave Ranma encouraging look.
Ranma absorbed the news and nodded. This was his battle to fight. And, Ranma Saotome never loses. Looking at the Professor and Jean, Ranma gave a deep grateful bow from the waist down. “Thank you for everything you guys have done for me. Truly.”
“No need for any of that,” the Professor waved away in embarrassment. “Please.”
“Now as to our next order of business,” Jean prompted after smiling. And look at an adjacent door that was in Professor Xavier room. “You can come out now.”
There was a soft click as the door open to reveal a golden furred cat girl looking extremely nervous and uncomfortable.
“Ah, Ms. Clarke,” the Professor greeted warmly and was rewarded with a smiled in his direction. “I believe Mr. Saotome has something he would like to say to you.”
Ranma gave the nervous cat girl a once over and absently noted that she was pretty cute. Still. He did owe her an apology if not more. Executing the greatest move ever known in the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts. Ranma flawlessly performed the Crouch of the Wild Tiger technique.
“I'm sorry, I'm really really really sorry!” Ranma babbled while crouching in submission.
Ranma's groveling took everyone in the room by surprise. Even baby Saffron was peering curiously at the human.
Sybil blinked once, blinked twice, until it finally registered exactly what she was seeing before her. Curiously she doesn't sense reluctant or overpowering fear like yesterday. “Umm, it's okay...please get up?”
Ranma grinned on his last descent down and stood back up straight facing the cat girl. “I'm Ranma Saotome, sorry about yesterday. I had nothing against you; I just have this... fear of cats.”
Sybil eyes widen at that admission and though she felt bad that Ranma feared cats, she was glad that it was not because of what she was but because of what she looked like. She frowned a bit at that line of thought.
“Thankfully, the Professor and Jean say they’re gonna be helping me with my... problem,” Ranma admitted grudgingly before bowing again formally. “For what's it worth, I think you make a pretty cute cat girl”
Sybil feline senses were all telling her that Ranma was completely sincere, and now that he was in the same vicinity, he was not looking at her any differently than anyone else. She blushed a bit when he called her cute, and if she didn't know better she said he had some feline traits about him. Shaking her head at the thought, she walked up to Ranma and gave him a hug. She had heard from Jean about the treatment he had been given through the day partly due to her. The whole thing was just a big misunderstanding.
“I'm sorry for causing you trouble today too, if you'd don't mind, I would like to be your guide until you get the hang of the campus.”
Ranma was a bit surprised by the hug, but due to the amount of times he had been hugged by his various fiancées, he wasn’t too fazed by it. “Uh... sure, I mean, if you are okay with it...”
“Great! I'll meet you in the Cafeteria at breakfast tomorrow!” Sybil smiled cheerfully now that everything had been cleared up. Looking over at the Professor she wondered if there was anything else.
“I believe that is all,” the Professor happily announced. While it was true that Ranma’s fear of cats would need to be overcome, the fact that Ranma hadn’t exhibited any aversion to Ms. Clarke was a good first step. “You can leave Ms. Clarke. Thank you for your time.”
“Anytime Professor!” Sybil cheerfully replied before she gave a cheery wave and exited.
Turning back to Ranma, the Professor brought up another topic concerning the young man. “It has come to my attention, due to sheer oversight on my part, that you have no mentor for the free period reserve for such an endeavor.”
“Yeah...” Ranma shrugged.
“I find that it would be unfair to you to be left out like that, but my problem is finding who could actually teach you anything useful regarding your abilities,” the Professor continued as he used his hover chair to get back behind his desk. “It was Logan's suggestion that you be given usage of the danger room for your free period so you can hone your skill. Jean here however suggested that we should let you audit any class you'd like to maybe learn something new, even if your abilities are different from ours. As such I found myself in a conundrum.”
“A what drum?” Ranma asked. He followed along until the last part well enough.
“A dilemma. You see, only the most senior students get access to the Danger Room and I'm afraid by giving you access to it, it might look like a case of favoritism. While at the same time, if I gave you permission to audit their class, I have to wonder if you are truly learning anything worthwhile from it, other than a deeper understanding of Mutantkind. Logan feels that it would be a great disservice to you and your abilities if we make you do that instead. As you simply do not fall into any of the category we have at the moment.”
“Ah...”
“Which was when Ms. Grey reminded me that I can solve this dilemma by adhering to the fundamental teaching of this school,” the Professor said before looking at Ranma from across his desk.
“And that is...?” Ranma prompted the older man.
“Choices, Mr. Saotome, we should all be free to choose our path. What choice would you make for yourself?” the Professor finished and fell silent as he looked at the pig tailed boy.
Ranma frowned at that. The old man was passing the responsibility to him because he couldn't decide?! But then upon further reflection, he didn't think the old man was the kind of person to do that... so now the choice was his. The Danger Room would be a training ground of a sort he'd guess, and yes he would hone his skills or at the least not let them rust too much. However, there was some merit for attending the other students mentoring classes too. He could be inspired to create new technique for his own uses.
In the end, he felt the choice that would benefit him the most was the one that let him attend the mentoring classes. Since he’d been here, he had seen a wide array of mutant abilities that would have taken him by surprise him in Nerima. If he could learn how mutants’ abilities worked, learn their limitations, then he could work on abilities to counter them.
The world that he had known, where martial artists battled one another had been flipped upside down. Now, there were people that could shut down a martial artist with zero training. He would need a wide array of skills to survive in this new world, and learning from them would be the best start he could get.
“Professor,” Ranma spoke up after contemplating for a few minutes in silence. “I think I would like to sit in on those mentoring lessons.”
The Professor looked a bit surprised by the teen’s choice but respected it. “Very well then. We will set up a rotation with the mentors.”
+++ Evening +++
Ranma had been dropped off at the dormitory by Scott Summers before he head back to the main mansion. Looking at the impressive double door of the building, he walked in and was immediately greeted by a gaming area, television area, a small kitchen area, and boys and girls chatting with each other. At first he thought it was all students until he saw a few of the teachers chatting amongst each other. There appeared to be five or six of them, three he recognized as Wolverine, Pyslocke and Strong Guy, the other three he did not. There was a girl that was like that picture Dr. McCoy showed him yesterday, a guy with a machine for an arm, and another man covered from head to toe in white.
It was Logan who turned around and saw their newest recruit.
“So ya made it through the day alive, eh? “Wolverine joked before he beckoned at a smaller student to come over to them. “Ranma, you’re gonna be sharing a room with Beak over here.”
Ranma watched as a small, thin, and bony young boy with the head of a chicken or some such bird made his way nervously to the older man.
“Alright Beak, This is Ranma, he'll be your bunkmate for the year, got it?” Wolverine asked the obviously nervous chicken boy.
“Of-Of course Mr. Wolverine, sir,” Beak replied a bit fearfully.
Wolverine let out an exasperate sigh and motioned for Ranma to come close. “Look Beak, don't believe in all the rumors alright? Ranma is not a human supremacist terrorist waiting to blow us all up at the first chance he gets. Alright? You're smarter than that.”
Unfortunately, Wolverine’s pep talk did little to reassure the bird boy.
Ranma decided to take charge of the situation and step up to the bird boy making him yelp in fright and backed away hurriedly a bit. “My name's Ranma Saotome, I'll be in your care.”
Beak who had been looking ready to hyperventilate at the normal boy proximity stopped when he registered Ranma's words. “You're in... my care?”
“Of course,” Ranma said easily. “In Japan, the senior person at a location takes care of the younger one.”
“Is that true?” Beak looked to Wolverine who was known to have lived in Japan before.
“That's right Beak, you're what the Japanese called a Senpai now, you're Ranma’s upperclassman,” Wolverine gave Ranma a grin and a thumbs up for the nice attack angle.
“M-me? His Upperclassmen?” Beak squawked before he calmed himself and puff himself up to his full, albeit short, height. “Right then, umm this way, Ranma.”
Ranma and Wolverine shared a knowing look before the pig-tailed boy followed the smaller boy up the stairs into the corner dorm room.
“Here we are!” Beak announced proudly.
As far as rooms went, Ranma had seen worse, while it was cluttered with Beak’s things, there was nothing to suggest it was pigsty.
“So- so you like it?” Beak asked tentatively, and noticed he had some of his computer games on the extra bed.
“It's nice,” Ranma replied honestly. As he slung the back pack from his shoulder and fell back first onto the bed.
“Umm… Oh yeah, bathroom and shower is down stairs, and we have a kitchen if anyone feels like making a late night snack. Dinner is usually served here, since the school is closed.” Beak rattled on and looked over to his new roommate, only to find the boy’s eyes closed and asleep already.
Upon closer inspection, Beak didn't think Ranma looked like such a bad person. Looking at the clock, he noted that it was almost dinner time. As quietly as he could he tip toed out of the room and turned off the lights before shutting the door as lightly as possible as to not disturbed his guest.
No sooner had the door shut then one of Ranma eyes shot open and looked around. Sitting up over the side of the bed he had to admit that guy named Beak was a pretty nice guy. A bit of a scaredy cat, but nice.
“Hello.”
“Gah!” Ranma shouted as he jumped up from the bed and turned around and let out a breath at seeing Myst. “Don't sneak up on me like that!”
The long haired mist-like girl simply shrugged her shoulders.
Shaking his head, Ranma turned the lights back on and sat on his bed. “What are you doing here anyway?”
“Neighbors,” Myst replied.
“Neigh- Oh your room is next door?” Ranma asked having figured it out.
Myst simply nodded.
“So what are you doing here? You know this is a boys room right?” Ranma informed the girl. Sure she was mostly mist but that doesn't mean she should be alone in a room with a boy.
“Roommate...” Myst trailed off with a blush, which was something to see considering her near translucent state. “Boyfriend.”
“Wha- oh. OH!” Ranma also blushed as he realized what Myst was trying to say.
“Wanted...”
Ranma titled his head curiously as the girl continued. “Wanted?”
“Visit. ” Myst said softly her form became a bit distorted after the admittance. “Friend.”
A bit amazed that Myst spoke more than one word at a time, Ranma grinned at the girl. “Well my friend is always welcome here.”
“Thank. You.” Myst replied.
“So what do you want to do?” Ranma asked as holding a conversation with Myst might be pretty difficult.
“Play,” Myst said eyeing an object underneath on Beak side. “Monopoly.”
Ranma had never played the board game before, but he could learn how for his friend. He was in the middle of reading the back of the box to figure out the rules when Beak came back with a tray filled with food and gave a startled squawk at seeing Ranma up and about.
“Y-You’re awake!”
“Yeah, was just a bit tired earlier,” Ranma said then palmed his forehead as he forgot to introduced his friend. “Beak this is Myst, my friend. Myst, this is Beak, my roommate.”
“I know about Myst, she rarely talks to anyone!” Beak exclaimed before he realized that he might have been rude, but covered his mouth.
“It’s. Okay.” Myst spoke up.
Ranma grinned at Beak’s shocked expression before a thought occurred to him. “Oh hey, Beak you wouldn't happen to know how to play this game would ya?”
“Monopoly? Yeah, I do actually.” Beak said as he looked at the board fondly. He had brought it with him with the intent of playing it with friends, but no one ever became his friend.
“Great, wanna join us for a game? While you are at it, could you teach me how to play?” Ranma tried to coerce his roommate.
“Rea-really? You wanna play a board game with me?” Beak asked in amazement before shaking his head. “Of course, I do!”
“Great!” Ranma said before turning to Myst and whispered. “You don't mind a third, do you?
Myst simply shook her head and pointed back at the Monopoly board.
“Then it's settled. I don't know what game this is, but Ranma Saotome never loses!” Ranma declared cockily.
“Arrogant.” Myst tone chided.
Ranma flash a cocky smile in the girl direction.
“Will." Myst began with an odd gleam in her eyes. "Humble.”
“You’re certainly welcome to try.” Ranma grinned at his friend before turning back at Beak.
Beak couldn’t believe the banter that was going on, something that he wished would have happened with him, only to never be selected or invited to any dorm room parties. Seeing Ranma’s expression of playful flee, he couldn't help but grin back. “Y- You two are going down!” He half squawked.
“That's the spirit!” Ranma cheered. “It's not fun if you don't put your pride on the line.”
Beak had to smile at that before remembering something. Turning around he took the tray of food he brought in and handed it to Ranma. “Here, I, thought you might be hungry when you woke up so... I got something for you.”
Ranma looked at the tray and back at the bird boy. This boy was clearly scared of him, even had misgiving yet, his innate nature was kind. “Thank you.”
Setting the tray down, Ranma looked at the dinner which was meatloaf, some mash potatoes, some other assorted veggies, and bread, with a soda to wash it down. It would be what Ranma considered a light snack, but he could go without a real meal every now and then. He then turned to his friend, who he realized missed dinner too.
“Want some?” Ranma asked the girl.
“Yes.” Myst uttered. Then looking at the tray, she pointed at some meat the bread and steamed veggies. “Feed.”
Ranma stabbed some veggies on the fork and held out to the girl expecting her to take it. So it was to his surprise that she simply leaned down and ate off of it. Well, in the way she does. It wasn't chewing what she did but more like dissolving the food.
“Delicious.” Myst commented. “More.”
“Kay...” Ranma trailed off before feeding the girl some more. He had a feeling that she was somehow enjoying this more than she should.
TBC
Next : Orientation Part 3
Myst is my original creation. Evan always liked him in evolution. Liked Beak too in the comics.
So things I am concern about:
1. Did I explain the character with enough detail for people to get an idea.
2. Does the interaction feel natural?
3. I thought this might be a good cut off point but at the same time maybe the next morning scene too where Sybil greet him and cut it off there. Hmmm
Thanks!
