Curse Or Power - Chapter 00

Curse or Power?
A Ranma 1/2 and X-Men Crossover Fan Fiction
By Michael A. Ivins

In the writing of this story I make use of characters, places and situations that are the creations of others. I claim no ownership of those things and I make no money off of them. I present this story solely for what ever entertainment you may find in it.

Prologue

On the long training trip of Saotome Ranma as led by his father, Saotome Genma, the pair had stopped at a temple in a remote region of Japan. At this particular location the priests taught a type of meditation that was helpful in gaining control of one's ki.

During the time they stayed they quickly developed a routine. In the mornings Genma would put his son through grueling physical training. To more than a few of the priests and acolytes of the temple the training seemed overly harsh, bordering on abuse of the ten year old child. Yet the child endured a regimen that would have overwhelmed many an adult and seemed willing to submit to more.

In addition to the physical abuse the priests witnessed, there was also a mental/psychological component to it. The priest who instructed the boy in medication and ki techniques watched some of the training. While the old man said nothing and kept his face placid, what he saw of the training troubled him. While it was not unknown for a proper sensei to punish or belittle a student when they did poorly, there should also be praise given for when a student did well. Yet with the older Saotome, ridicule seemed plentiful and praise almost totally absent even when the boy performed flawlessly.

Sato, the priest, knew it was not truly his place to interfere with how a man raised his son, he still took it upon himself to give what help and comfort he could to the boy. He knew that eventually the Saotomes would leave the temple, so Sato tried to impart little gems of wisdom that Ranma could take away with him to help him better survive the training and better hold his sanity and a sense of self worth.

After a particularly rough morning session, Sato respectfully returned the bow his student gave him that afternoon. Before they got to the actual meditation, the priest wanted to address something he had noticed in the way Genma had insulted the boy.

The aged priest said, "From what I saw of your training this morning, I get the feeling that your father holds a low opinion of women. Is that true?"

The boy thought about it before he said, "He says that women are wonderful creatures who must be protected because they are the ones who give birth to the men who will run things."

"Oh?" Sato said. "Why do they need to be protected?"

"Pop says that women are weak, silly and a distraction from the Art," the boy answered. "They need to be protected because of their weakness, but they should not be taken seriously when they try to take part in the Art. Because they are a distraction, I should be polite but try to not pay much attention to them."

"Your mother is a woman, is she not?" the priest challenged.

"Well, yeah, of course," Ranma answered, confused.

"Tell me this," the priest begged. "Beyond simple politeness, does your father tell you that you must treat women with true respect?"

"Well..." the boy sounded unsure. The whole concept of respect was a little vague, the way Genma spoke of it.

With a sigh, the priest said, "Your father may want you to be the best martial artist in the world, but I wonder what kind of man he is trying to make you into."

He sat silent for a moment while thinking about the matter. "On the subject of weakness, that relates to the matter of strength. You should know that there are different kinds of strength. Physical strength is one of the most obvious, of course."

The boy nodded. He hadn't really thought about it before but what the priest said made sense.

The old man continued, "As in all things there are different levels of physical strength. By that I mean that some are stronger than others even with exercise and training. It is even true that on average, men have more physical strength than women do. However, you should know that in every group there are exceptions."

Now Ranma looked confused. The priest asked, "Are you stronger than other boys your age?"

"Yes," the boy replied.

"Is that just because of your training, or are there other factors involved?"

On seeing the confused expression, the priest amplified, "Some people take to training better than others. You could say that some are naturally stronger and training helps to increase that strength."

"As for the strength of women," he paused in thought. "There are some women who are very strong indeed. In fact there are some women who are fighters, warriors or even martial artists. An exceptional woman can be as strong or stronger than an average man and some can be as strong as an exceptional man."

"I'm not sure I understand what you are trying to tell me, sensei," Ranma admitted.

"Do not judge all women based on what your father tells you," advised the older man. "Then there is the fact that there other kinds of strength than just physical. There is strength of character, emotional strength and others."

The boy looked dubious of this, but wasn't going to challenge the priest on this.

"Let me give you an example," Sato offered. "Which sex would you say was capable of enduring more pain, men or women?"

"Men," the boy said confidently.

"Really?" challenged the priest. "Are you sure of that?"

Frowning, the boy nodded. It seemed obvious enough that there shouldn't even be a question on this.

The older man was shaking his head sadly. "I suppose then, that it would surprise you to know that the act of giving birth is at times very painful. Indeed, to birth a baby can cause a woman pain that would have a man passing out from its intensity."

"I... I didn't know that," Ranma admitted.

"Most of the other forms of strength are mental, emotional and spiritual qualities," the priest explained. "It is in those areas that women can easily equal or surpass men. Just because a person is female, do not automatically assume they are weak."

"But when I don't do good, Pop says I'm acting like a girl," Ranma protested. "He says it's bad for a boy to act like a girl."

"If he means being silly and looking at boys like you want to date them, then there would be some justice in that," the priest conceded. "But some of the things that he has been shouting at you for, it makes no difference. You should still continue to act the same way you always do. But at the same time you should keep in mind that some girls, or women, could do those things as well as a man can."

He paused for a moment before asking, "Do you think your mother is weak?"

"I don't really know," Ranma admitted. "I don't remember her too good. I was a pretty small kid when we left on the training trip."

"You should ask your father about her," the old man suggested. "But when you do, pay more attention to how he speaks of her, the attitude with which he speaks, than to the actual words. That can tell you more about how he feels. By paying careful attention to the attitude with which he speaks and the expression on his face, you can get a truer feeling for how he regards your mother."

Sato fell silent for a moment as he thought about it. Finally he said, "Ranma, I have come to understand that you are actually very smart. This has been a great help to you when it comes to learning martial arts techniques and for such things as the meditation techniques that I have been teaching."

"Thank you, sensei," Ranma politely responded.

"I have the impression that your father doesn't place much value on academic learning, is that right?" asked the priest.

"Aca-what?"

Taking a moment to rub the bridge of his nose, the priest said, "I mean school subjects like math, science, history, reading and the like."

"Pop says that a martial artist don't need to know that stuff," Ranma replied. "The only time he even lets me go to school is when the local truant officers make him send me."

Frowning, the old man shook his head again. Finally he stated, "Your father is a fool. Many of the greatest warriors in history were poets, musicians or artists when they were not fighting. Such things help them to know what it is they are fighting for."

The priest thought for a moment before he advised, "It would seem that if you are going to get any kind of education, you will need to hide such activity from your father. Here is what I propose to you. When you are training with your father, you should behave as he expects you to. But when you have any time to yourself, you should seek out teachers and if there are no teachers available, you should read. It could be books, magazines, newspapers, it doesn't matter as long as it is something to give you insight into the world outside martial arts."

Ranma thought about that. He wasn't ready to accept the advice right away, but he would think about it. One of the first things he would do would be to sound his father out on the subject of his mother.

They then proceeded to their lessons.

Over the next few weeks, Ranma found himself acting far more subtle than he ever had before. He asked seemingly innocuous questions, not to hear what words his father would speak, but to see the attitude with which Genma would say them. It was highly instructive.

One thing Ranma was able to determine was that Genma feared his wife. Why he feared her was something the boy wasn't able to learn, but that fear was plain when he looked for it. It also became clear that part of why Genma was so critical of women was that he somehow feared that Ranma would adopt feminine traits. The very thought seemed frightening to him. Again, it wasn't clear why the man felt that way, just that it was true.

It also seemed that Genma resented and envied educated men. If he had to guess the reason for that, Ranma would have to say that Genma knew that he was deficient when it came to book smarts. Genma wasn't stupid, by any stretch of the imagination, but it was true that the man was foolish and ignorant in matters outside of martial arts.

It was also true that Genma was not the best sensei. The man had a solid grasp of martial arts, but was less skilled when it came to passing that knowledge on to his son. The man lacked patience, an essential trait for any good teacher who deals with children. That impatience showed in some nearly insane training techniques. Ranma was able to perceive that his father wasn't trying to punish him, just that he hoped to push him to greatness on a shorter path.

Mostly Ranma went along with this but did what he could to survive his father's foolishness with a minimum of damage. The boy had learned to pay closer attention to the priests, monks and senseis they met along the way than he did to his father.

One of the things that he had been told by those teachers was considered to be one of the most rock solid truths of martial arts. There were no shortcuts to excellence in the Art. Ranma did learn techniques faster than others, but that was due to natural talent. The truth was that there really was no substitute for hard work.

When they were training, Ranma would jump fully into anything that would build his strength. Sometimes that would include such things as mountain climbing with a boulder tied to his back. The lessons he had gained from the old priest Sato had helped Ranma to learn how to use his ki. By application of those lessons, he was able to push his body to feats of strength that should have been impossible for someone of his size and musculature.

Consistent with what old Sato had told him, Ranma schooled himself in more ways than one. He always took advantage of any chance to read books. His skills in reading grew as did his knowledge in areas like math, science and history. At first History had been terribly boring, until he learned a trick. That was in thinking of those past events as being a collection of adventure stories about real people. Wars, battles and other conflicts had occurred in the past. Sometimes it was a challenge to see those adventures in the dry collections of names and dates, but they were there if you looked.

Ranma also learned to hide the true level of his skill in the Art. His strength, speed and skill grew tremendously. At the same time the boy learned acting skill that allowed him to hold back while making it look as if he were exerting himself to his fullest.

In their travels they didn't meet many women, but it was impossible to avoid them completely even if Genma would have if he could. Some of the women they met were not exceptional, but some were admirable indeed. Ranma was careful to hide his admiration of such women from his father.

When they settled for a time in Tokyo and Ranma was allowed to attend junior high school, the boy was delighted. He knew that the only reason Genma allowed him to attend the school was because of truancy laws. Still Ranma took full advantage by studying as hard as he could.

The boy made sure to talk to the teachers about it. He asked that they never tell Genma how well he was doing. He asked that his teachers send his father notes that would say that he was doing poorly and that he was a discipline problem. In fact the opposite was true, but he didn't want Genma to know that.

It was while he was at that school that he met Hibiki Ryoga. The other boy seemed to have a chip on his shoulder. Often belligerent and combative, Ranma found at least part of the reason for the attitude.

It was difficult to understand, but Ryoga had little or no sense of direction. The joke among the other kids at school was that the Lost Boy could lose his way in a room with only one door and no windows. That was an exaggeration, but Ryoga was nearly that bad. The problem caused the boy to be lonely, in large part due to the fact that his parents had a similar affliction.

Just as bad was the teasing the boy got from the other kids. Ranma had to reflect on the subject from the perspective of one who was often looking at such things from the outside. He himself was an outsider to most of the other kids because of his martial arts and athletic abilities and the fact that his father discouraged the formation of friendships.

Because of the kinship he felt for the Lost Boy, Ranma took it on himself to try and be a friend. Whenever possible, he would lead the Hibiki boy to and from school. He would spar with him to help the bigger boy with his martial arts.

Even with his efforts at friendship, Ranma still had to maintain an image for the sake of his father. Genma believed his son to be a rude, arrogant jock who had few friends. So he played the part when in Genma's presence and enough at school that bad reports were given to the older Saotome.

After some months at the school, Genma started to talk about how much he wanted to travel to China. It was a great opportunity and they would be able to learn some great martial arts. Indeed, many schools of martial arts had their origin in that country.

The younger Saotome had become smart enough to perceive that there was more to this interest in China than just the many forms of martial arts that could be studied there. Genma didn't like to stay too long in any one place because of his petty thievery and other illegal activities. It seemed likely that the older man was becoming too well known to law enforcement agencies in Japan. It seemed likely that Genma wanted to go to a new country where he was unknown or at least less well known to give things in Japan time to cool down.

The boy was losing patience with his father. He had thought about running away and seeking out his mother. The problem was that Genma never actually said more about the woman than her name. He didn't own any pictures of her, or if he did, then he never showed them to Ranma. They boy had looked through the contents of his father's pack and had never seen any photographs of a woman who might have been his mother.

If he couldn't go to his mother, then where could he run? It was true that Genma still knew some techniques that Ranma hadn't learned yet, but he had to ask himself if it was worth the grief to stay with the fool. He would look for a good opportunity.

That was when Ryoga issued a challenge. He wished to know which of them was the better, stronger martial artist. He felt he had to know. Ranma knew that he was the better martial artist, with a definite edge in speed and skill. He also knew that he was stronger than the other boy. This seemed distinctly odd because he knew that Ryoga was much more muscular than he. In an odd sort of way it seemed that for Ranma it was quality of muscle that mattered more than quantity.

Well, a challenge was a challenge. He couldn't turn it down. The place Ryoga had chosen was the vacant lot behind his house. Considering his penchant for getting lost, it seemed the safest choice for the confrontation.

The problem for Ryoga was that he allowed himself to feel secure because of his choice. He could see the vacant lot from the kitchen window. There was no chance that he could miss getting to the challenge in time. Thus it was that on the day of the challenge, Ryoga waited until he could actually see Ranma in the vacant lot before he headed out the front door of his house.

Naturally that was a problem, for the Lost boy went straight ahead when he should have turned left. He kept asking himself if someone had moved the lot without telling him, but he wouldn't stop. Ranma knew of Ryoga's problem. He would surely wait.

The young Saotome stood looking around the vacant lot. For a moment he thought he saw someone crossing the street at right angles to the route that led to the lot. No, that was silly. That couldn't have been Ryoga. Even he should have known there would be no need to cross a street to get to the vacant lot.

The boy waited and waited, estimating the time by the position of the sun. When it got late, he pulled food out of his backpack and made a meal for himself. When the sun touched the horizon, Ranma sighed. His friend must have gotten lost again.

From times he had led Ryoga home from school, Ranma knew where the spare key was hidden. Since it didn't look like his friend and martial arts rival was going to make it there to fight today, it would likely behoove him to go check out the house.

For the upcoming fight, Ranma had planned on how he was going to handle it. He would hold back as he always did, but he would let himself win the fight. The trick to it would be to let the fight run long and appear at times to be in trouble. Then he would beat Ryoga, but just barely. By doing it that way, Ranma hoped to keep the friendship.

When he pulled the key from the flowerpot where it was hidden, the ponytailed boy entered the house and used the toilet. In addition he petted Checkers, the Hibiki family dog. He made sure she had enough food and then looked out the window.

No, Ryoga had not arrived while he was in the house. Well, no help for it. Ranma patted Checkers on the head and then turned off all of the lights and locked up behind himself, putting the key back in the flowerpot. He returned to the lot and went to bed in his tent.

For the next two days he stayed in the vacant lot, spending one of the days in his tent to keep out of the rain that fell. Checkers came out and spent some time with him but it was mostly lonely otherwise.

It was on the third morning of his stay that things changed. Ranma found himself roughly pulled out of his tent and was unhappy to find his father there.

"So this is where you've gotten off to, boy," Genma stated.

"Pop, you always told me that I can't refuse a challenge," Ranma said in protest. He gestured to the vacant lot and said, "Ryoga challenged me to a duel in this lot. I have to stay until he gets here so we can fight."

"Oh, and when was this duel supposed to take place?" the older Saotome demanded.

"Uh..." Ranma wasn't too happy to say, but he wasn't going to lie. "The challenge was scheduled for Saturday at one o'clock."

"Saturday!" the bald martial artist said in disbelief. "Today is Tuesday. By the accepted common rules of martial arts duels he forfeited the duel by not showing up within two hours of the scheduled time. Why are you still here waiting?"

"I told you about Ryoga," Ranma reminded his father. "He's the guy who gets lost all the time. He said he'd be here, so he'll be here. It may just take him a little longer than most people."

"Son, there's no point in waiting," Genma stated reasonably. "We have to be leaving. Our trip to China begins today. We can't delay it."

"But honor demands that I meet this challenge!" Ranma insisted.

"You can get together with this boy and finish your challenge when we get back to Japan," Genma said. "It sounds obvious that the next time this Hibiki boy will need to arrange to have someone lead him to the fight so he can get there on time."

"No, Pop," Ranma said, almost growling. "I'm not going to run out on a man-to-man fight." Maybe today was the day he would run away from his father.

"I see," the older man said. His manner seemed calm as he asked, "Is there any way I can talk you out of this?"

"I'm sorry Pop," Ranma apologized. "You taught me that I have to honor a challenge. Even if the normal rules would call it a forfeit for Ryoga, I gotta make allowances for him because of his directional problem."

Genma pursed his lips. He had been seeing some of these little signs of rebellion in the boy of late. Well, yelling likely wouldn't do the job. He knew what was needed.

"Boy, you know you can't wait forever," Genma pointed out. "You must decide what it a reasonable time and then leave if Hibiki isn't here by the end of that time."

Frowning, Ranma finally said, "Ok, I'll give him to the end of the day today. If he's not here by then, I'll leave him a note to tell him that I had to go."

"That seems fair," The older man said. When Ranma turned his attention back to scanning the street in an effort to find the Lost Boy, Genma struck. With a rock he had picked up off the ground, the older Saotome hit Ranma on the back of the head.

When the boy slumped to the ground, unconscious, Genma checked him over. There didn't seem to be any serious damage. It had been slow to develop, but it now seemed that the boy was tougher than he had been when he was younger. Now something of the sort could be expected from growing up, but it seemed to be more than that. It took a much harder hit to knock the boy out that it should have with any normal person.

Oh well, that was a matter to be considered on another occasion. Grumbling about the injustice of it, the older man gathered Ranma's belongings and put them in his pack. then he hoisted the pack to one shoulder while slinging the boy across the other.

As he left the vacant lot, Genma grunted. Was it his imagination or was the boy heavier than he should be? Having seen the boy in the public baths, he could attest that his son had not a gram of excess fat on his body. Maybe he had something heavy in his pockets. Well that was another matter to think about some other time.

An hour after the Saotomes were gone from the vacant lot, Ryoga finally arrived. He looked around and could see the signs that someone had been camping out. Whoever had been there was gone now.

"Damn you Saotome!" the boy shouted. "How dare you run out on a man-to-man fight. If it's the last thing I do, I will find you. I will track you down and take vengeance on you for this insult to my honor."

Author's Note: If you can't tell, the early part of this fic is of the "Ranma gets smart" sub-genre. That means that this is an AU and that Ranma is OOC. He (and she) will be smarter and better mannered than canon.

This is actually a sort of spin-off from the story "Ranma's Full Potential." The major difference here is that it takes place at the beginning of the Ranma Universe timeline and only crosses with X-men, not all of those others. And in this story I have Ranma's sex changing be a mutant power. Let me know if you think this deserves to be continued.