Curse or Power? Chapter 1

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.

Chapter 1
A Curse, or Is it?

The heavyset man in the Maoist worker's uniform bowed to his visitors. No matter how many times it happened, he still marveled at the number of martial artists and simple curiosity seekers came to visit a place as far into the mountains as Jusenkyo valley was. It was truly no small feat just to get here.

The man still had to wonder why the government of the People's Republic bothered to even have a guide. It seemed that nobody who came to the valley ever listened to what he had to say until after they had fallen into one of the springs. Of course by then it was too late. Those poor unfortunates were then cursed and there was no known cure.

At that point all the guide really could do was to explain to the curse victims what had happened to them and what the rules were on how it worked. While the Guide was grateful that the PRC government hadn't bombed this place out of existence, he still had to wonder why they hadn't.

He had once heard a rumor that the PRC government kept the springs in place for a reason. One speculation was that they had plans in place for what to do if they ever had to participate in a war. By subjecting soldiers to certain combinations of waters, it would be possible to turn men into fearsome creatures.

While the Guide sincerely hoped that nothing like that would ever happen, he did know that every six months a helicopter from the army came to visit. The soldiers would collect large amounts of waters from the Spring of Drowned Man along with samples from springs of the more powerful animals. He was sure he didn't want know what was being done with those waters.

Now he needed to deal with the current visitors. The boy seemed intelligent enough, but the older man acted like it would take a hammer to pound a new idea into his head.

It was as he had feared. The older Japanese man had leapt to one of the bamboo poles before the Guide had been able to get properly into his prepared speech. The man then proceeded to insult the boy in an obvious effort to goad him into joining him in mock combat.

The guide wasn't sure if he had heard properly, but felt almost certain that the boy had muttered, "I know I'm gonna regret this," as he leapt up to follow his father. The Guide could recognize the apologetic expression on the boy's face. Likely he was trying to convey his regret over his father's rudeness.

The Guide allowed himself a sigh. As nice as the boy seemed, it was pretty much of a foregone conclusion that in less than an hour he would be explaining to the boy and father about their curses. There were definitely times when he hated his job.

The heavyset man went through the motions. After all, there was a chance, however slight, that one or both men would listen and come down from the poles. After a moment, he felt a small amount of hope. Both combatants appeared to be highly skilled. Could they get through the experience without falling in a spring? Unlikely.

And, yes, there it was. The older man got knocked into Shonmaoniichuan. It was obvious from the panda's attitude that he didn't really realize that he had changed. The Guide had to try and mitigate the potential disaster.

"See sir, you fall in Shonmaoniichuan, Spring of Drowned Panda. Very tragic story of panda that drown in spring 1700 years ago. Now whoever fall in this spring take body of panda."

The father apparently didn't hear, but more likely wasn't listening. The boy heard and said, "Curses, transformations? You never said anything about that."

"Young Mr. Customer, this one tried to tell you but you wouldn't listen," the guide protested.

That was as far as the conversation got. The boy was distracted and was unable to properly defend himself from the massive paw that smacked him. The boy flew over a couple of the smaller pools and then into one that the guide knew very well. For the force with which the boy hit the surface, there was surprisingly little splash.

This was the spring that the Musk had made heavy use of in the past. There was a well beaten path that led to it. It was the Spring of Drowned Young girl.

In the spring the boy could feel the tingling of his skin all over his body. There was a sensation of change as well. Whatever else was happening to him, the boy knew that he would have to get out of the water quickly. He hadn't had a chance to take a deep breath before going under the surface. If he couldn't get his head above water quickly, there was a real chance he could drown.

The trouble was that he was disoriented. It may sound strange to say, but in the water he was not completely sure which way was up. He opened his eyes and found that he could see light shining. That had to be the way to the surface. He just hoped that the sides of the pool were not so steep that he couldn't climb them.

He was feeling light headed now and his effort to swim to the surface was weak. As heavy as Ranma was, it took a huge effort to overcome his negative buoyancy and right now he lacked the strength. Could that tingling and sense of change have done something to sap his strength. What had he changed into?

As he thought, he could feel his consciousness fading while it seemed like his lungs were burning for lack of air, there came what he perceived as a flash of light. The next thing he knew he was standing on a well marked footpath next to the spring. There didn't seem to be a sun nor moon in the sky, yet there was light. The light was fairly dim, but it was enough to see what lay around him.

From behind him a voice spoke, "Greetings young warrior."

Ranma spun around and found himself facing a black haired Chinese girl who appeared to be about 13 or 14 years old. She was fairly small and dressed in rough brown homespun fabric. In spite of her young appearance, the girl stood with an almost noble bearing and there was the look of sharp intelligence in her eyes.

Remembering his manners, Ranma bowed to girl and said, "Hello. My name is..."

"Saotome Ranma," the girl completed. "Yes, I know. You present me with something of a problem, Young warrior."

"I'm sorry," Ranma apologized. "I don't mean to be a problem. Uh... please forgive my ignorance, but am I dead?"

The expression on the girls face softened into a gentle smile. "No, Saotome Ranma. You are not dead, but I can easily understand why you might think that you were. You were getting low on air and might have died if I hadn't intervened."

"Well, thank you for saving me," the boy politely said. "But what kind of a problem do I present to you?"

The frown was back on the girl's face. She said, "If you had taken the time to listen to the Guide, he would have told you that this whole valley is under a curse. Every one of the springs is fed from a single source of magic water. In each of the springs some person or animal has drowned or otherwise died. In some cases they only nearly died."

Ranma was frowning now. He asked, "So are you the spirit of someone who drowned in the spring I fell into?"

"That is correct," the girl affirmed. "It was clever of you to figure that out. The curse is a shape shifting spell. The person or animal who died in the spring provides the pattern for what the curse victim transforms into."

Ranma looked down at herself and found breasts on her chest. "So I changed into a girl?"

"Yes," was the simple answer.

"Oh, thank Kami-sama!" Ranma said in great relief. "After seeing what Pop changed into I was deathly afraid that I would change into some animal like a rat, a snake or even a c-c-cat. At least this way I'm still human. I can live with this."

With a somewhat puzzled expression on her face the girl spirit nodded. She pointed out, "Your father taught you that girls and women are weak. Are you saying that you don't believe that?"

"No, ma'am," the neo-girl answered. "Sato-san, the priest I studied ki techniques with when I was ten taught me the truth of that. Since then I've met some strong women. I'm not happy with the idea, but if I'm gonna be a girl for the rest of my life, then I'll be the best damn girl I can."

The spirit smiled and shook her head. "I find that a surprising attitude for someone raised by a man like your father."

Ranma explained, "Back when I was in Japan and going to school, I met a girl who had been in a car accident. She was paralyzed from the waist down and had to get around in a wheel chair. Yet in spite of that she was one of the most cheerful people I've ever met. If she can live with something like that, then I can live with this."

Now nodding, the spirit girl said, "It can truly be said that one of the things that can make the difference between whether the transformation you get here is a curse or a blessing depends on how you deal with it. From what you have said and what I can read of your character, I do believe you could turn this curse into a blessing."

Ranma bowed her head but didn't say anything.

"I do need to correct one point of misunderstanding," the spirit said. "You won't be a girl for the rest of your life as you said. The normal way the curse operates is that you will stay the way you are at this moment until you get hot or warm water poured or splashed on you. Then you would return to your birth form and stay that way until the next time you got splashed with cold water."

Considering that, Ranma asked, "Does getting splashed happen often?"

"Yes, I'm afraid it does," responded the spirit. "Many of the curse victims complain that they become 'water magnets.' The curse is set up in such a way that it will try to insure that you spend at least half of your time in alternate form. They can cut down on the number water accidents by voluntarily choosing times when they are in their other form."

After hearing that, Ranma said, "Well, I'm not a miso... misogi... uh, woman hater like my Pop. I actually think it might be kind of cool to see how the other half lives."

The spirit girl let out a big sigh. "Therein lies my problem. It would seem that for you, being in the form of a girl would not be a punishment. I get the feeling that you are willing, maybe even eager to learn the lessons that this would teach you. Oh, the word you were looking for was 'misogynist.'"

"Well, yes," the neo-girl said. "I mean you can't really play favorites. I fell in your spring, so I have to spend time as a girl. I know it will probably drive my father crazy. He'll probably insist that I change back to a guy as soon as possible all the time."

The spirit looked thoughtful. "You already bear a special gift. The nature of that gift suggests to me a way deal with this situation."

"Gift?" Now the new girl was confused. "What gift are you talking about?"

"I lack the words to explain it," the spirit said. "If what I read of your destiny is true, then you will meet people who will be able to tell you about it in words that you will understand."

She raised a hand which then glowed a golden color. For a moment Ranma's body also glowed in a similar manner. When the glow faded the spirit grinned in evident satisfaction. "Yes! I wasn't sure I could do that. Now you will be able to change sexes at will and yet it will not be magic that does it. Gender changing is now natural to your body. It is not a curse. It could be called a gift or maybe even a power."

Looking over Ranma she said, "Well, that made more of a difference that I had expected."

At Ranma's confused expression, the Chinese girl said, "Come over here and look at your reflection in the pool."

The neo-girl cast an apprehensive look at the small body of water. She asked, "Is that safe?"

With a chuckle the spirit said, "This is the dreamscape. In fact you are not her physically, but spiritually or perhaps mentally. The pools won't do anything to you. They are not even as dangerous as any normal pool of water."

Thus reassured, Ranma stepped up to the edge of the pool and looked at her reflection. Her initial reaction was to put a hand up to her head to feel her hair. What was reflected in the water's surface looked like the same length and tied back ponytail style, but the color...

Ranma had met people, mostly gaijin, with what was commonly called red hair but their hair was really more orange in its shade. The only time she had ever seen someone with hair the color in the reflection was a person who proclaimed that they had used dye to achieve that shade.

"Is this color natural?" Ranma asked.

"Of course," the spirit replied. "I know such a bright red is not common in Japan, but you'll find it is not so strange when you meet the Joketsuzoku."

When the spirit girl said no more, Ranma shrugged and turned back to her study of her new self. Looking at the face she said, "Well, it's like me, but a girl. I guess it's sort of what a sister of mine would look like. Beyond the resemblance to my boy face, there is something else familiar that I can't place."

The spirit thought for a moment before asking, "Do you look much like your father?"

The redhead pondered that for a moment before saying, "I guess not. Maybe I look more like my mom."

"That was my thought," the Chinese girl agreed. She said, "Before I changed you, your female form was small, even tiny. Now that this changing is natural to you, your female form is the same height as your male form. Your male form was well muscled with almost no fat. Your female form is just as muscular but with just enough fat to slightly smooth out the hard lines of your muscles. You look much like an Amazon warrior in truth."

Her happy expression faded to a thoughtful frown again. She said, "I can see one possible problem with this. If you don't change with the odd splash of water, your father might get the idea that there is something different about the way you change. He might want to know why it is different."

Ranma frowned as well. She said, "If he found out that I can change at will, he would want to know why I would choose to spend any time as a girl if I didn't have to. He'd try to beat me for spending time in girl form and I'd have to hurt him to stop that. What can I do?"

The spirit thought for a few moments more. Finally she said, "I can see that a little bit of magic may still be needed. She made a gesture and in the air in front of Ranma there appeared to be a small object shaped like a horseshoe. It was mostly black but the ends were red in color.

The spirit girl said, "In many lands a horseshoe is a symbol of good luck. When the open end is up, it is said the luck is held like water in a cup and you gain no benefit from it. But when the open end is down the luck spills out and enhances the quality of your life."

She continued, "This horseshoe represents a magnet. When the open end of it is down, you will be a water magnet the same as if you still needed water to transform. My advice to you is that in those moments when you do get splashed, you will your change so as to continue the deception that it is water that causes your change."

"What happens if I turn it with the open side up?" asked the neo-girl.

The spirit grinned and said, "Then the magical attraction to water stops and you wouldn't have to worry about wearing wet clothes."

"I'm not sure I understand why I even need this," Ranma stated.

"Because you will be in the presence of other people who have an actual Jusenkyo curse instead of the blessing I have given you," explained the spirit. "If your changes operate in a way that is different from those of others, they will pester you to know why you are different. They could cause you trouble. Once you are away from those people you won't need it any more and can change when you want."

"Ok, that sounds good," the neo-girl said. She didn't sound completely convinced.

"Some day your living circumstances may change," the Chinese girl said. "If you move to a place where your changing sexes is accepted and they don't know of curses, you can leave the horseshoe up. If you leave it that way without touching it for long enough, the magic will fade out."

"There may still be some changes that happen without conscious will," the spirit advised. "I think that it will be your emotional state that can trigger some of your changes. I'm not completely sure how that will work. I suspect you will have to learn how to do it as things go along."

Looking at the spring they stood next to, Ranma said, "I know you said I'm not dead, but isn't going to look sort of strange that I'm in the water for all of this time?"

"Don't worry about that," the Chinese girl said soothingly. "Time in this dreamscape passes differently than in the real world. The whole time of this conversation will seem but the blink of an eye to anyone outside of the pool. Still, you have been in the water for a while and the Guide will be bringing the Hook to try and pull you out."

"The Hook?" That didn't sound very good.

"A wooden pole with a piece of bent metal on the end," the spirit explained. "It doesn't have a pointed barb like a fishing hook. In fact it is similar to a tool that lifeguards at public swimming pools use to rescue people."

Considering that the girl was supposed to have drowned 1500 years ago, Ranma wondered where she would have heard about public swimming pools. She felt relatively sure that such things weren't around at that time.

There wasn't time for an explanation, however. Ranma felt something touching her body and the spirit said, "And there is the Guide with the hook now. Remember to will your change when you get splashed. If you forget and anyone does find out that it is not water that changes you, play dumb and say you don't know why it's different for you."

The dreamscape faded out and Ranma became fully aware of her body. She was hauled out of the water and as soon as her head cleared the surface, Ranma began coughing. When she was laid on the ground she threw up what seemed a huge amount of water that she had swallowed. Finally she lay taking deep, ragged breaths.

At the same moment as the magic was changing Ranma, turning a sex-changing magic curse into a mutant power, on the other side of the world, notice was being taken. In a basement deep under a mansion in Westchester County, outside the town of Bayville, New York a computer called Cerebro noted the activation of a mutant X gene in China. Since there was no one currently operating the telepathic interface, the computer recorded the information for future study.

Back at Jusenkyo.

"Miss Customer?" Ranma could recognize the voice of the Guide.

She opened her eyes and looked at the round man's round face. He said, "Is good you not drown. What you fall into was Spring of Drowned Young Girl. Very tragic story of young girl who drown in spring 1500 year ago. Now, whoever fall in spring take body of young girl. See, you young girl now."

The red haired girl pushed herself into a sitting position and pulled open the top of her gi. Instead of a scream, her expression turned to one of simmering fury as she looked at the panda.

"I'm guessing the panda that I see there is my father in a new body, right?" she asked.

"You are right, Miss Customer," the Guide affirmed.

The glare that Ranma directed at the panda by rights should have done physical damage. As it was, Genma imagined that he felt actual heat coming from the girl's gaze. She said, "Not only did you turn me into a girl, you came close to killing me by drowning. After coming that close to death by drowning, I don't feel up to giving you the punishment you deserve. Be aware, I owe you a beating."

The panda fell the icy grip of fear. The girl went on, "Because I at least change into something human instead of some nasty animal like a rat or snake, I'm going to subtract one punch and two kicks from that beating. That means you will probably live through it."

"Miss Customer, please," the Guide begged. "Do not kill father. Problem is not so bad as it seems. Come to my hut and sit down. Join me for tea. I can explain to you about your new form."

She kept her glare on her father for a moment before dropping into a more neutral expression and turning to the guide. "Very well, Guide-san. I am at least willing to listen to what you have to say."

She got a little unsteadily to her feet. She found that the bosom on her chest threw off her balance somewhat from what she was used to. It was possible to walk alright if she just paid more attention to it than usual. Sometime later it would be necessary to do some katas that emphasized balance so it could go back to being automatic. At least that was what she believed.

However, she noted was that it was just halfway to the Guide's hut that she felt herself in perfect balance. Maybe there had been something in the magic that had helped.

The hut was of sturdy construction and could have been built anytime within a span of centuries. It was old fashioned, but there were modern touches. On one side there was a short wave radio. The main room was a combination kitchen/living room. The guide went to the cast iron cooking stove and lit a fire in it. There had already been wood inside for that purpose.

When the fire was going in the stove, the Guide put a kettle on the top to let it heat. He also put on a pot of water that would serve to make supper for himself and his guests.

While he was doing that, his guests were sitting. Ranma sat in a sturdy wooden chair, Genma panda sat on the floor. When the guide was satisfied that his preparations were properly begun, he sat down on another chair.

"There is reason why I put on kettle to heat," he told them. "It is for more than tea. The form you now have is what we call cursed form. It is a water curse. Water gave you curse, water can turn you back to birth form."

Before either guest could get too excited, he held up his hands in an effort to calm them. "Hot water will turn you back to your birth form. This is not a cure. You stay in birth form only until you splashed again with cold water."

He gave them a moment to consider that. Then he said, "You will be like that for the rest of your life. Cold water will change you to cursed form, hot water will make you change back."

Even though she had gained the information from the spirit of the spring, for the sake of the listening panda, Ranma asked, "So, can we expect to get splashed often?"

The Guide bowed his head and replied, "I am sorry, Miss Customer. Yes, magic of curse attracts water. You will spend half or more of your time in cursed form. If you try to stay in birth form more than half the time, water will find you. It could be rain from clear sky, leak in roof on rainy day, even water move uphill."

"Is there a cure?" the girl asked.

"No," the man stated flatly. "No cure known. Water from Spring of Drowned Man not a cure. If you jumped in that spring you would be half man, half woman in cursed form. That is because a second curse will mix with the first, not replace it."

Ranma shuddered on hearing that. She finally said, "Mixed curses? I think I'll pass on that. If Pop did that would his half human-half panda form be able to talk?"

"I not know," the Guide confessed. "I think so, but not sure. Maybe so, but have never heard of anyone with that mix of curses."

Breathing out a big sigh, Ranma said, "Well, Pop. It doesn't sound like a good idea for you to used Drowned Man water. You might get a cursed form that can talk, but you might not. You're the only one who can decide if it's worth the risk."

"Growf," said the panda.

The girl shook her head and said, "I wish I understood panda. Maybe we can figure out a way for you to communicate when you are in that form. You know, write notes or something."

The panda's eyes went wide as a thought occurred to him. He had learned a technique that would help. He had not used it in years because he had no need to. Now it would come in handy.

There was a squeaky sound like a marker being used and then the panda held up a sign, "Actually I do know a technique that works." He flipped the sign. "I too will pass on the Drowned Man water."

Ranma's eyebrows went up and she said, "I didn't know you could do that."

Sign - "I learned before you were born" Flipped - "I never needed it before now."

Author's Note: I will admit that I like to write into my stories where Ranma's girl form gets taller. It is clear that Ranma doesn't like being such a small girl. In this story there is a logical reason for the girl form being taller. Because the sex change is a mutant power instead of magical there is no magical subspace pocket to store the body mass Ranma would lose from turning into the petite Ranma-chan. In this transformation, All of Ranma's body mass is still there, it is just moved around a bit. Girl Ranma would weigh exactly the same as boy Ranma.

A note on time frames: I recently reviewed episode 1 of the anime and in it, when Genma was explaining how they got their curses, he said it had only been two months previous when they had swum to China. Apologies to Rumiko Takahashi, but the only way I could see that making sense would be if Jusenkyo was the only place they planned to visit in China. It would make even less sense for Ryoga to be able to catch up to a moving target in that length of time.

Because of these factors, I'm writing that Ranma and Genma were in China for 2 years. They would have had time to visit many senseis and to learn a lot of stuff. It also allows time for Ryoga to get lost, pick up the trail again and get lost again several times.