Adamantium Rage

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2, Wolverine, and Street Fighter do not belong to me.

* *: Thoughts

Capital letters: Shouting or loud noises

{ }: Author's own thoughts

_ _: Stressed words

" ": Speech

Chapter 3

Canada is not the warmest place on earth, It's climate varies and temperatures often reach extremes. Ranma Saotome was finding this out now for himself, he had never witnessed winter in all his time in the village, he had only been there a short two months, in that time it had been fairly warm. At first when it began to snow he had been worried, then delighted, with such long term memory loss as he currently had, he had never seen snow... or at least didn't remember it. The first day had been wonderful and the boy forgotten his woes momentarily as he admired the beauty of the white flakes that rained down from the heavens. The next day however quickly changed his opinion of the cold substance.

It was cold.

His healing factor helped a little but the snow had not stopped. It kept falling as he kept walking in a southerly direction. It was deep. His feet burned with the biting cold, his sandals not giving him nearly enough protection to stave off the freezing Canadian winter.

He fell. He'd stopped counting the times that he had fallen, not caring at all anymore. His feet were numb, his fingers felt like they weren't there either. His feet plunged into the foot deep snow over and over again creating a steady trail of craters that resembled, slightly, the craters on the moon, which Ranma had lay sometimes by the river with his friends back in the village, just watching the moon until they fell asleep. This wasn't nearly as comfortable.

How much further till he got to the U.S.? This was the only thought on his mind. He had a mission to fulfill,he had to find Thunder Hawk. He had to find out who he really was. That was the whole reason that he was trudging through the forests of Canada. With his name being the only link to his past, he hadn't much to work with.

Ranma pulled himself over a small slope and continued on his trek towards the United States. The ground had become more stable and he was gaining a little more speed., the foot deep snow had died down to a very thin layer or packed down snow. However the blizzard that he walked through had begun to get worse, thicker.

He blinked, trying to get the ice off of his eyelashes, his vision blurred, he could hardly see where he was going, it all seemed like it was just one big blob of flickering white. He stumbled and fell to his knees once again, his leather satchel fell from his shoulder and he struggled to get back up, his movements were slow and sluggish. His fingers were stiff and couldn't wrap around the leather strap.

Ranma Saotome, decided to leave the hand made bag where it lay and continue with out it, the only possessions that were stored in there were pictures of his adopted family and friends along with a few things that he had made during his stay in the Indian village.

He stopped and for a moment looked back at the satchel as it quickly began to get covered in the falling snow. The bag held his memories. His new ones anyway, it was all he had. He couldn't just throw that away. His mind was made up and he picked up the bag. He struggled but managed to throw the strap over his shoulder. And turn back towards his destination. Ranma blinked his eyes once he turned around, he saw something in the distance, it was bright and moving towards him, two lights ran parallel beside each other towards his position. Could it be a few of the villagers? Had they changed their minds and sought him out? Did they want him back? His frozen body began to unconsciously walk towards the lights at a faster pace, his feverish mind not able to heal fast enough to produce proper coherence.

The two lights got even closer and Ranma could now see that they were connected somehow, he still couldn't see properly though and it looked like a blob with two bright lights. Everything went from white... to black, fast when the lights reached him and Ranma lost consciousness.

*****************

Alex Shaw frowned as he adjusted his red and blue toque so that he could see the road better. He could see his own breath inside the black Honda Civic as he slowly rode through the harsh Canadian blizzard towards Whistler. This, in his opinion was never a good thing. He was a fairly lenient person, there was only a few things he didn't like; Drugs, alcohol, coffee, and cold. The last one not so much as the others, but he was always grumpy when not warm. He'd gotten married only a week ago to the woman beside him, riding shotgun, excitingly looking over a map. She too wore heavy winter clothing, though with much more feminine colours. Her long red hair hung over her right shoulder in a neat braid. Alex took his right hand off the wheel and reached towards the heater to turn it up a lot.

His hand never made it, his wife's senses and reflexes seemed to be like that of a wild animal and those traits were brought to the forefront as she smacked his hand away without even looking up from her map. "Don't touch that heater Alex. We don't need it."

Alex sighed forlornly. "Why couldn't we have our honeymoon down someplace warm, like California or Barbados Sofie?" He sped up the car a little, eager to make it to the resort so he could spend some time inside warming up. "Why were you so adamant on dragging me up to this frozen wasteland?"

Sofie, smiled playfully annoyed and punched him lightly in the arm. "Hey! I grew up in this frozen wasteland! You said yourself you've never gone skiing before so this is the perfect opportunity."

"Perfect opportunity to freeze to death." Alex replied grumpily. "I'd probably be a LOT more enthusiastic if we could warm up on the way there."

"Oh hush!" Sofie said as she picked up the map again, scanning it to find out where they were. "You've been doing nothing but complaining since we got off the plane. You'll change you mind onc..."

SMASH!!

"OH MY GOD!!" Alex screamed as he struggled to get his Civic back under control. The car spun wildly out of control over the icy roads. The worried man saw images from his past flash in front of him as time slowed down. Seconds turned into years and just when he was sure they were going to die the car stopped and the pair just sat there staring stunned at the tracks they had made in those few seconds.

"W...What happened?" Sofie asked worriedly, staring at nothing with wide eyes full of fear. One moment she was the happiest person in the world, just married to a handsome young man, on her way back to Canada to go skiing on her honey moon, the next moment she has a near death experience on the way to Whistler.

"I...I...I...think I...Hit..." Alex was shaken, stirred and pounded into a fine puree of guilt and fear, his expression matching his wife's as he looked at the road. He could hardly speak he was so scared. "A man...on the road... only looked away for...a second." Alex shook himself out of his stupor and turned the keys, turning off the car. He then slowly moved his hand to the door handled and grasped it shakily. When he opened the door with an ominous clicking sound a torrent of snow hit his face, feeling slightly like tiny bug bites. His knees felt weak and he stumbled to his knees as he tried to stand on the deep snow. He quickly pulled himself up to a standing position, ignoring the cold and forgetting about the open door to the slightly wrecked Civic. The young man trudged through the heavy snow and walked onto the road. He looked around and noticed that there was blood on the ground, and a leather bag, and a trail of small blood patches that led away from the trail that the car's tires had made. Alex didn't even think about it, he just walked, following the trail that he knew would lead to a horrible mess that he didn't want to see.

What he found was surprising to say the least. A teenager, no older than 17 or so years old, was lying in a pile of snow, three of the trees that surrounded the boy were either knocked down or spilt in half. Alex rushed over to the prone form and checked his pulse, amazingly he was alive. Alex marveled at the boy, he looked of Asian decent but wore clothes that looked more like native Indians or something. He was handsome, rough features, and unruly black hair cascaded from his head. "Weird!" Alex muttered to himself as he cleared some stray twigs and sticks from off of the boy. "This kid doesn't look too damaged, and I'm pretty sure I hit him dead on." Alex had finished clearing the twigs and sticks from Ranma's body and put his right arm under the boy so that he could pick him up and carry him to the car. His eyes widened though when he tried to lift the boy. "This kid ways a TON!" He mused to himself as he looked down at the obviously unconscious boy. Alex turned from the prone boy after gently letting him down and then walked towards the car where Sofie still sat shocked.

Sofie Shaw was stunned. She couldn't move, she was to shocked by the fact that they had hit somebody with the car. She didn't even register Alex's voice the first time that he had called her name. It wasn't until he made physical contact with her that she finally snapped out of her trance. "Huh? W...What's wrong Alex?" She asked, turning towards said person.

Alex motioned over his shoulder in the direction of where he had found the boy and smiled weakly at Sofie. "Come on. There's a kid over there. He's too heavy for me to carry."

"W...What do you want me to d...d...do?" She asked as she placed a hand over the one that Alex had placed on her shoulder, relishing in the small amount of comfort that it gave her.

Alex sighed, seeing that his wife was in a small state of shock. "The kid I... hit... is too heavy for me to carry alone, I need you to help me carry him to the car. He's still alive but he may need some medical attention." Sofie nodded and slowly staggered out of the car. Alex helped her to her feet and the two newlyweds walked off towards The black haired boy's location.

Sofie stared at the boy in awe as they came upon him. She couldn't help but notice how handsome he was, despite their age difference. She wondered how is it that a boy dressed so lightly could still be alive in such cold weather which she was, only now, beginning to notice. Alex moved around and propped up the boy's form on himself. "Get his legs, make sure you've got a good handhold." He said as he grunted and struggled to lift the surprisingly heavy teen. Sofie snapped out of her dazed reverie and nodded wordlessly, lifting up the boy's legs and trying to pick him up.

She failed.

Sofie gasped as he dropped the boy back to the ground. "Oh my god." She said as she covered her mouth with her mitten covered hands. "I'm sorry! I hadn't realized how heavy he was."

Alex frowned and motioned to the boy that he still held on to. "That's alright hon, just help me get him to the car, then we can finish driving to the resort, they'll have some people there that could help him." Sofie nodded and bent down to lift the boy's legs up again. She succeeded but it took all of her strength to do so. She sighed in relief when they finally managed to get back to the, surprisingly only lightly, damaged car.

Alex sat down at the wheel and turned the keys that were still in the ignition. "Come on!" Alex growled at the gasping and struggling motor. "COME ON!!" He yelled at it. A steady hum followed a moment later and Alex brightened up. "YES! It still works." Alex fumbled a moment with putting the black Civic into gear and then slowly pulled out of the clearing they had slid into.

****************

Doctor Feldnikk smiled as he raised his stethoscope from the topless young teenage boy that lay on a bed at the Whistler Resort. The Shaws had brought him in only twenty minutes ago out of the freezing blizzard in their wrecked up Honda Civic. "The boy is completely fine. I couldn't find a scratch on him, his pulse is strong and healthy, what else is there to be said, other than the obvious fact that he's unconscious?" The doctor chuckled a bit at his own, slightly inappropriate, joke.

Alex Shaw stared at the doctor as he stood up from his kneeling position. "That...That's impossible! I hit that kid with my CAR!" Alex stood up and looked a little frantic. "I mean... I'm glad the guys all right but there was a trail of blood and everything. That was only around an HOUR ago!"

Dr. Feldnikk chuckled again, his thick brown mustache bristling at the motion. "Please calm down Mr. Shaw. I'm sure that it's noting. I've heard of a tribe of Indians that lived somewhere around that area that are able to speed up their healing abilities using spiritual means. From the way the boy was dressed when you brought him in I'd say that it's a highly likely possibility that he was from that very tribe."

"Speed up their Healing process?" Alex wondered out loud. "How's that possible?"

Feldnikk shrugged his shoulders comically and smiled. "I haven't the slightest idea! HA HA! But I've seen it done and I can't deny it. You've really just got to see it for yourself to believe it." Feldnikk smiled once again and held out a hand to Alex. "I hope you enjoy your stay at the resort. I know I will!" The doctor then left the room all the while chuckling.

"You sure that guy was a doctor?" Alex asked staring at the door that the Burly man had exited.

Sofie walked up behind Alex and put her arms around him comfortingly. "Come on baby. Don't get so upset. This is our honeymoon." Sofie then slipped one of her hands up the front of Alex's shirt and rubbed his chest in a suggesting manner. "I'm sure we can find something _fun_ to do... If you know what I mean?"

Alex smiled and turned his head and kissed her lightly on the lips. "Yeah... But tell that to the _unconscious kid_ lying in our BED!" He said grumpily as he glared at the half-naked teen who was, unwillingly, accompanying them on their honeymoon.

Sofie sighed and sat down on the bed beside the boy. "I don't know Alex... he looks like he might be in the mood."

Alex looked disgusted yet humorous at that statement. "GOD Don't even _joke_ about something like that! That kid's gone through enough today as it is, let's just find a hot tub or something and let him rest."

Alex's wife jumped off the bed and grabbed his arm pulling him towards the door. "That's more the spirit Honey. Let's go!" Alex barely had time to lock the door before being dragged away from the room. He didn't mind though. He tended to think of the unconscious boy as a heavy guilt filled reminder that he had hit him with his car.

****************

The light was almost blinding. His head pounded like a herd of elephants. He could barely think straight. "Where am I?" Was all that he could mutter through the pain and confusion. All he remembered at the moment was the cold and the lights that had been rushing towards him before... "MOTHER!" He yelled as he came out of his dazed and confused state with a start. Ranma Saotome looked around him in complete and utter bafflement. He was in a room, but... no other like he had seen before, he looked down at himself and gasped. The clothing that he wore was different, bulkier and warmer, more comfortable.

"Is this the United States?" He wondered to himself in perfect English. "Did I make it?" He muttered out loud. He got up off the bed that he was lying on and looked around again. He noticed the door and decided to look around some more, he was fairly sure that this wasn't the United states. He had a gut wrenching feeling that he had been set back rather than moved ahead.

The door opened easily not locked from the inside and the young black haired boy walked out of the room. A few people walked by him and he paid them no heed. He needed to find Thunder Hawk. That was his mission, he needed to do this for his mother... for himself. All of a sudden Ranma was pushed aside rather roughly.

"Hey Watch it buddy!" Said a man angrily at Ranma. He hadn't been paying attention to where he was going and had walked right into the man.

Ranma looked a little sheepish. "I'm sorry. I was not paying attention. Please accept my apology." He said with a small bow towards the blonde haired man with the yellow tinted glasses.

"You better be sorry! Little punk." The man then walked away in the opposite direction. "Put a shirt on buddy." The man muttered to himself. Ranma stared after him for a second and then continued on his way.

He walked a little bit more and stopped at a window overlooking the resort that he was currently staying at. He stared in awe at the spectacle before him. There were hundreds of people outside in the snow, maybe thousands. Ranma wasn't sure he didn't really take into account the people on the giant slopes of the mountain. The crystal snow glistened in the afternoon sunlight and the blizzard from the night before had calmed down to a light gentle snowfall. Giant machines loomed over the people on the ground reaching up to the highest parts of the mountain carrying people inside their domed bodies to drop them off at the summit.

"Incredible." He whispered in awe at the sight. He noted the people laughing and smiling as they sped down the icing covered snow hills of whistler on strange boots that were attached to long slender boards of plastic and metal. Some were separated and others were stationary and held both feet together. Ranma turned around when he heard voices and stared in wonder at the winter garbed people walking down the halls towards him.

Three teenage girls had just com out of the cold with their skis slung over their shoulders. One of the three girl was carrying a snowboard under her arm as she walked beside her friends. They all wore winter clothing with toques covering their heads with what hair that could be seen hanging out the back.

"And, like, did you see how I, like, totally went off that huge jump at the end there? Swear to god I almost broke my leg."

"I know! Those things could be dangerous Jen! You shouldn't go off them until you get some more experience."

"Hey girls. I think we should go find those hot tubs and soak up for a few hours. After all that time out in the cold, I could _definitely_ go for a dip."

"Excuse me?"

The three girls turned to the voice that beckoned them and looked inquisitively at the shaggy haired Japanese boy. "Yeah? What do you want?" The girl named Jen asked. Ranma looked a little bit sheepish and he blushed at the pretty girls. They wore winter clothing yes, but their curvaceous bodies still stood out in the tightly worn outfits.

"Where am I?" He asked her turning his head while he looked at the ground trying to hide the blush that he could feel burning on his face. The other two girls giggled behind Jen and she glared at them before grumpily answering.

"You're right there?" She said, stating it as if it where the most obvious thing in the world, while she pointed at where Ranma was standing. Ranma looked at his feet expecting to see something significant to his question but there was nothing there. This registered when all three girls started laughing out loud.

Ranma shook his head. "No! No! I didn't mean it like that. I mean what is this place? Am I in the United States?" He asked. The girls laughed hysterically and Ranma frowned, the blush returning to his face with a vengeance. "What? What did I say?" He asked glaring at the small posse of teenage Canadian females.

The girl named Jen calmed a little bit and put a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "I'm sorry , it's just that... You are SO far off!"

"What do you mean?" Ranma asked suspiciously.

"This is The whistler _ski_ resort in Canada. You're way off you're mark buddy."

Ranma frowned. He wasn't too happy. This was not his destination. He needed to get to the United States fast it was his only chance to find out who he was. If he didn't get there soon. Thunder Hawk might have left and went somewhere else. He remembered his adopted mother saying that he traveled a lot and never stayed in one spot too long. "Damn!" He muttered. He looked up and noticed the three girls where still there, looking at him, and laughing, and whispering to each other. Ranma had very good hearing and could pick up what they were saying rather clearly. "What is this...hot tub, that you were talking about?" He asked curiously.

One of the girls leaned in and whispered to Jen. "Here's a perfect opportunity to get to know him. I know you wouldn't mind." Jen blushed and then smiled at the confused Ranma.

"Why don't we just show you?" She asked with a smile while her face turned red from embarrassment.

Ranma smiled. "I'd like that. Thank you."

The girls giggled and grabbed Ranma's arms, dragging him towards the hot tubs. Ranma was a little confused as to why they where all of a sudden changing their whole opinion on him. At first when he stopped them to ask about his whereabouts, they seems to not care at all. Now they looked at him hungrily and offered to show him this, exciting, hot tub thing. Ranma swore in his head that he would leave again for The United States right after the Hot tub. Making more friends was not a top priority on his list of to do things.

Ranma smiled as he followed the girls into the hot tub room, they passed by a bunch of pools of steaming water and Ranma smiled. The door closed behind him and the girls. "So where is this hot tub thing?" Ranma asked the girls. All three of them whipped around to face Ranma.

"What the HELL! Are you doing here?!" One of the girls, who Ranma had learned was named Nikki, said.

Ranma looked confused. "I'm following you to the hot tub." He said.

Jen glared evilly at him. "This is the GIRL'S change room! No boys allowed!" She yelled. Ranma looked confused. They told him to follow them and he did. Why where they getting mad? Ranma noticed the other girls in the rom changing and then looked back at the trio of girls he was with.

"Why not?" Ranma asked.

All three of the girls changed their expressions quickly to ones of disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me." Jen muttered. The other girls thought the exact same question. "Are you saying that you don't know why there's separate change rooms for boys and girls?"

Ranma shook his head. "No...should I?" The three girls broke out laughing and then shoved him out the door. Together.

"Just stay out!" Nikki said. The girls then turned away from the door and changed into their swim wear.

Ranma leaned against the wall as he waited for the girls to finish changing. *Where are these hot tub things?* he wondered as he looked around. He had no idea that the pools of steaming water _where_ the hot tubs. He had no memory of his life, except for the time that he had spent with the tribe of Indians. He yawned as he stood there. The girls were taking a long time to change.

**************

Alex Shaw sighed in contentment and pleasure as he sat in the hut tub with his wife Sofie. He was currently kneeling in the middle of the hot tub while his wife sat at the side, giving him a massage. "See?" Alex muttered. "Who needs to pay a professional to do this?"

Sofie smiled as well. She leaned in and bent her head down so that her lips were right beside his ear. "When's it going to be my tur, EEEEEEEKKKK!!!"

SPLASH!!

Sofie landed in the water rather loudly as Alex stood up abruptly. She sputtered out some of the water and moved to the side of the tub where Alex was standing. "Can I ask _why_ you just did that?!" She asked angrily.

Alex looked towards a wall not too far off and looked shocked. "It's that kid that I hit!"

Sofie sighed heavily and groaned. "Will you just let that GO! That wasn't your fault!"Alex shook his head and pointed at the wall where a Japanese male with unruly black hair stood, topless, waiting for something.

"He's right there! Leaning on the wall!" He said in amazement and disbelief.

Sofie's jaw dropped as she stared at the boy that her husband was pointing at. "He woke up already!?" She said, also in a state of disbelief. "That's unbelievable! How could he have come out of it so quickly!?" Alex shrugged and got out of the tub. Sofie followed soon after and they walked towards the teenaged boy's direction. A group of three of so females of around the same age as the boy came out of the girl's change room in skimpy two piece bikinis and one of them grabbed the boy's hand pulling him towards the hot tubs.

Alex stopped in his tracks and Sofie took his hand. "Looks like someone's made a few friends." She said with a smile. As she watched the girls drag him into the hot tub. "Let's forget about him for now. I'm sure he'll be fine." Alex nodded weakly as he watched the single teenage boy get into the tub with the three beautiful teenage girls.

"What a player." Alex muttered as his wife dragged him away from the scene.

**************

Ranma sighed contentedly as he leaned against the side of the Hot tub, half immersed in the steaming water. This was a _really_ nice feeling. His troubles just fled his mind as he sat there soaking. He had never taken a warm bath when in the village. They just washed themselves in the stream that ran by their village. The stream was usually very cold though and hot water was not wasted on bathing but used for cooking meals. He began to doze off as he rested his head on the edge where the floor met the tub. In his mind a vision began to form. A panther. For a moment Ranma got worried That he would wake up finding that he had just hurt his new friends, but he felt no fear. The Panther in his mind looked different than the beasts he remembered. It stood on it's hind legs like a man, but it's body was covered in fur, and the face was just like that of a Panther but it wore clothing. HIS clothing.

"Ranma." It spoke as it turned to look at him.

Ranma jolted awake. "Ranma?" Jen asked as she shook the boy awake. Ranma looked around half expecting there to be some sort of Panther man in the vicinity but there were only the three girls he had met earlier. The long blonde Jen, the short haired brunette Nikki, and the long haired brunette called Jenna. "Why don't you tell us about yourself Ranma?" Jen asked.

Ranma shook his head and looked around making sure there was no panthers around and then looked back to the three girls who accompanied him in the hot tub clad in bikinis, who were looking at him expectantly. "I don't..."

"Awww come on!" Jenna pleaded, giving Ranma the puppy dog eyes. Ranma, for some reason, faltered and gave in, despite the training and teachings of his foster mother.

"I don't know about myself." Ranma said quietly confusing the girls for a moment. "All that I remember from my life is that my name is Ranma Saotome and that's it. I'm on my way to the United states so that I can find a man that can help me with my past."

Nikki, Jen, and Jenna's eyes turned sad and sympathetic. "You don't remember anything?" Nikki asked. "That's so... sad!"

An awkward silence passed over the four people in the hot tub before Jen decided to speak up and break that silence. "How... do you plan on getting there?" She asked.

"I was walking there and then these bright lights came towards me... then I found myself here." Ranma said as he motioned that he was talking about the entire place.

"You were gonna WALK!!" Nikki said amazed.

Ranma nodded. "Speaking of which I better get going. I need to find T. Hawk as fast as possible. I need to find my past. I need to know who I am."

"We'll help you!" Jen said.

"We will?" Nikki responded confused.

"We can't let him walk there all by himself. He'll freeze to death. He's not exactly clothed for a trip like that. Besides I don't think your mom would mind if we borrowed her car. It's for a good cause!"

Nikki looked shocked. "My Mom's CAR!? She'd kill me if she ever found out! That's not to mention if we scratch it! She'd probably disown me if I even left a finger print on it!"

"So she never find out then!" Jenna added in. "Come on! It'll be like a road trip!"

"NO! I'm not going to steal my own mother's car! Forget it!"

*************

"I can't believe I just stole my own mother's car." Nikki muttered as she, her two friends and Ranma loaded up the last of their provisions into the trunk and hopped in the back with Nikki driving, Jenna, Jen and Ranma sitting in the back.

"ALL RIGHT!! Let's get GOING!!" Jen yelled excitedly from the back. Ranma sat quietly in between the two girls and just smiled. He'd never driven in a car before. He'd seen a few and the elders owned a small car for when they needed to go into town, but it was hardly ever used and forbidden to the children. The one that Nikki's parents owned was much nicer.

"Do you know how much a Jaguar COSTS!!?!"

Jen leaned forward and smiled mischievously. "Can you imagine how cool we'll look driving one around Canada and the U.S.?" Nikki thought about this for a moment and smiled slightly.

"I guess..."

"I think we should head over to L.A. see the stars if you know what I mean!" Jenna added. "I kind of borrowed my dad's Visa."

Ranma looked confused. "Why would you have to go to the U.S. to see the stars? All you have to do is wait for nightfall."

Jenna shook her head. "No I mean _movie stars_! We want to see movie stars."

Ranma still looked confused. "What's a movie?"

"This man needs a T.V. and VCR STAT!!" Jen joked before breaking out into laughter. "This is going to be so much FUN!"

*I'm going to be grounded for three lifetimes.* Nikki thought sadly before stepping on the gas and driving away from the ski resort.

**************

"AAAAANNNDD IN THIS CORNER STANDS THE LONE TEENAGE BOY WHO IS WALKING AWAY WITH _YOUR_ MONEY!! THAT IS UNLESS SOMEBODY OUT IN THE CROWD HAS THE GUTS TO TAKE HIM ON!!!" The room was dark, smoke filled the air from the many cigarettes that the people had in their mouths. Ranma Saotome stood alone in a cage-like ring with an announcer calling on people from the crowd for him. He had fought ten straight battles and won every time. He was hardly sweating.

Boos and hisses could be heard from the crowd that surrounded the ring on all sides. A few cheers rang out but that was only because they bet on Ranma from the start and were winning money. Ranma smirked as he looked back at what got him here.

(((Flashback)))

Ranma Jen, Nikki, and Jenna were currently walking along the streets of Toronto. They'd decided to take a little tour of lower Canada as well on their road trip. They were all slightly sullen looking and Nikki was kicking around a stone on the ground.

"This sucks!" Nikki stated as she kicked it onto the street. "Where's that gas station again?" She asked grumpily as she glared at Jen who was looking at a map. While she walked, stumbling once in a while.

Jen looked up and just ahead there was an alley. She pointed at it while walking towards it. "We can cut through this alley and it's just on the other side." She said. The others followed not even thinking for a second what might be in there.

The alley was rotten and garbage was scattered all over the place it was dark narrow and there was lots of places that could be used to hide in. "Yuck!" Jenna muttered as she unconsciously grabbed Ranma's arm as she looked around the disgusting, stereotypical, alley.

"It's not that bad." Ranma mentioned as he walked calmly through the alley.

"Well hello there."came a voice from the shadows of the alley.

The girls froze in terror and fear as they looked towards where the voice came from and they all clutched onto Ranma. Ranma looked confused as a crumby looking ragged man came out from behind the shadows.

"Uhm hello." Ranma said with a weak wave as he watched the man step towards them. He was feeling a little self conscious when the girls grabbed onto him. He wasn't very good with woman and they were all a little too close for his comfort.

"Looks like you gots a little body guard there, eh ladies?" Came another voice from behind them where they had entered. "Guess we'll have to get rid of him."

"Oh no." Nikki muttered in terror. "We...we're trapped!" Both the thugs pulled out little switchblade knifes and walked towards the group.

"After we take out all you're boyfriend here we was thinkin that we could have a little fun." said the first one menacingly as his knife glinted in the minimal amount of sunlight. That was when the girls noticed the bulge in the mans pants.

"You disgusting freaks!" Jen screamed at the men as she whipped her head between both of them frantically. "You're, like, twenty years older than us!"

"Uhh what's going on?" Ranma muttered as he looked at them.

The thugs laughed at Ranma's statement. "Ain't it obvious kid?" Asked the first thug as he tugged at his crotch. "We're gonna beat yah to a pulp and then take your girlfriends on the wild ride o their lives.

"Oh my god we're gonna die!" Jen said weakly. Ranma frowned at the thug.

"I disagree with you." He said angrily once he figured out what they were going to do, or at least what he thought they were going to do. Either way he didn't like threats, especially when it was directed towards his friends.

Ranma shook free of the girls and jumped over their heads towards the first tug. Ranma then got into his tribe's fighting stance and faced off against him. The thug laughed and waved the knife in front of the pigtailed boy's face. "You think a lil punk like you can beat the both of us?" He said. Ranma rushed forward before the thug could react and punched him across the jaw, sending him sprawling. The thug held his jaw in absolute pain and glared at the boy. "YOU'RE DEAD KID!!" He yelled as he ran towards Ranma. Ranma jumped over the thugs thrust and kicked him as hard as he could in his ribs. Ranma heard a crack and the thug flew into the wall face first, creating small craters in the bricks and making a snapping sound that echoed in the alley.

The thug dropped to the ground in a heap of garbage...lifeless.

"HOLY SHIT!! YOU JUST KILLED HIM!!" Yelled the other thug in shock as he looked at the lifeless eyes of his partner in crime. The man looked at Ranma as he walked past the stunned trio of teenage girls and advanced on the second crook slowly. The thug dropped his switchblade and turned around to run. Ranma jumped straight over the thug, twisted in mid air and brought his foot around in a mid air spin kick, connecting with the side of the mans face so hard that it twisted right around 360 degrees and knocked him against the same wall. Ranma glared at the two fresh corpses for a moment and the girls just stared at him in shock and horror.

Ranma all of a sudden blinked and lightly shook his head as if snapping out of a daze. "Wha? H.. Who the?" Ranma looked down at the corpses again and noticed that their necks where broken. "What the? WHAT HAPPENED!?" Jen, Nikki, and Jenna stared at the bodies and then looked up to Ranma. "You...you killed them." Jenna stated. She felt faint and almost fell over but the other two girls noticed her sudden condition and held her up.

Jen was the first to recover. "Lets get out of here. We don't want anyone to know about this. Lets all never speak of this again. Jen and Nikki pulled Jenna away and Ranma followed closely behind. The headed for the gas station and then Jenna stopped. "SHIT!" She said.

"W...What!? What's wrong!?" Ranma said worriedly. He didn't feel like any more bad news. He frowned as he looked back on his fight with the thugs. It was like he was in a trance. He felt...feral, when those guys threatened his and his friend's lives. It was almost as if someone took control of his body and he was watching from the sidelines. He couldn't really explain it and he felt...scared.

"We're out of money!" Jen said with growl.

Nikki groaned. "How the hell are we going to get gas now? We'll never make it to the US!"

"I believe that I can help you." Said a man from the shadows of the alley they had just exited. Ranma turned around and got into a fighting stance. The man put up his hands defensively. "I'm not a threat to you boy. I think that I may even be your salvation."

"What do you want!" Ranma growled. The could have sworn that he saw them flash yellow.

"I saw your fight. I was going to help, but I realized that you had no use for it. You're a very skilled fighter. When I heard that you folks where short on cash I thought it would be worthwhile to help you out." He said.

Ranma glared at the man trying to decipher the mans intentions. The man was tall, well muscled and moved like a very skilled fighter. The man was Caucasian and had long flowing white hair that showed he was older than his frame suggested. He had a bandanna around his head and a type of fighting wrist guards half hidden beneath the sleeves of his long dark trench cold, which moved around in the light wind, barely noticeable. Ranma smiled. "What do you want us to do in return.

The man chuckled. "I'm not going to give you money and expect you to owe me a favor boy. I'm letting you in on little secret, one that would allow you to earn your own money. The way you fought back there, I think that you'll have no problem."

Ranma let his guard down slightly. "Go on."

The man reached inside his pocket and pulled out a piece of orange paper. "This is a flier for a underground street fighting tournament. Anyone can sign up to fight in it, anyone can bet in it. If you win you get a large sum of money and the respect of the other fighters. I'll warn you though. It's not just a walk in the park."

Ranma let his guard down completely and took the paper from the man. He remembered his foster mother telling him that Thunder Hawk competed in these tournaments, this could help him find the man, and his past. Ranma folded up and put it away.

(((Present)))

Ken Masters walked swiftly through the tight crowd and walked towards the front where a few girls were cheering on the kid in the ring. He smiled as he watched the kid dispatch yet another opponent. He got up to the front and smiled as the announcer called on the crowd to fight the boy. He was looking forward to seeing how this turned out. The kid came out of the blue and had already dispatched all of his opponents. He beat all of the regulars and most of the people in the crowd were booing him badly, angry that they were losing so much money on these fights. Some wouldn't bet on him because he was new, most wouldn't because he was just a teenager. Ken wasn't a whole lot older than the boy and decided that this could be a good experience.

He wanted to see Just how good the kid was. Ken put up his hand and humbly said. "I will fight him!" The referee pointed to Ken and addressed the crowed as he opened the cage to the ring and let the long blonde haired man in.

"LLLLLLADIES AND GENTLEMAN!! I GIVE YOU YOUR SAVIOR!!" He stated as he motioned to the red ghi clad form of Ken masters as he entered the ring.

Ken smiled as he gave his black belt a tug and faced off against the Black pigtailed boy, who seemed a little spaced out at the moment. The ref grabbed both of their hands and led them to the middle. "Shake hands and come out fighting!" He said into the small microphone clipped to his shirt. He stepped back, exited the ring and rung the bell at the side signaling the start of the fight.

***************

"GO RANMA!!"

"KICK HIS ASS!!"

"YOU'RE NUMBER ONE!!"

Ranma smiled aver at where the girls were cheering him on as he shook hands with Ken. He turned hi attention back to the Long Blonde haired man in the Red sleeveless martial arts Ghi. "Good luck." Ranma said, not wanting to get off on the wrong foot with the man despite they were fighting each other.

"You too." Ken said with a smile. The then stepped back and got into their particular styles of martial arts.

Ranma growled and rushed first, going straight for a knockout blow like he had so many of the other fighters. Ken dodged to the left. Ranma looked a little surprised at the man's speed and pushed a little harder, throwing a complicated series of punches and kicked. Ken dodged all of the punches and a few of the kicks. Ranma corrected his aim and sent a kick straight for Ken's mid section. Ken blocked the kick but hadn't anticipated the strength of the blow and flew against the cage stunned. "Wha...What the hell is this kid made of!?" He stuttered shocked. His eyes widened and rolled away from a kick that was aimed at his head. Ken jumped to his feet and jumped to his feet, getting into a ready stance.

He had hoped that the distance would give him a moment to applaud Ranma on his skill but the black haired boy jumped towards the man, not allowing him to speak. Ranma landed with the flying kick that missed and spun around hoping to catch Ken with the back of his fist. Ken ducked and gave Ranma an uppercut. Ranma landed on the ground hard, but got up just as quick.

Ken smiled as he saw the blood on Ranma's lip. He stared shocked however when he saw the blood slide back up his chin and heal the wound instantly. "Wha? What the hell!?" Ranma jumped forwards and began a flurry of punches and kicks that Ken was hard pressed to dodge. Ken managed to get a few hard hits in that rocked Ranma, but he bounced back just as fast if not faster.

*How the hell does he do that?* He thought as he threw a flurry of punches of his own at the boy. He was caught by some but not enough to actually matter. Ken found himself being backed into a corner and thought that this was the end. *I have to end this quick if I'm going to end this at all!* He thought desperately.

Ranma's eyes widened as he watched Ken dodge most all of his blows. He was just as fast as he was, if not than faster. Ken's body began to glow red and Ranma continued to press onward, ignoring the aura of chi surrounding the blonde martial artist.

Ranma smiled as it finally looked like he had the advantage. He reared back his right fist and prepared to deal the knockout punch.

"SHORYU KEEEEEENN!!!" Ken yelled as he ducked down and slammed a flaming, chi powered, fist underneath Ranma's chin, the energy rocketed Ken upwards and Ranma shot through the chain-link fencing that was the top of the ring. Ken landed on his feet at the edge of the ring and smiled. He wiped the sweat from his forehead as he watched Ranma's smoking body fall to the ground. The crowd stared in awe at the display of skill and power that Ken possessed and Ken gave a victory sign to signal his win.

This was short lived and a hand shoved Ken back up against the chain-link fence. Ranma put a fist to Ken's throat and then two claws burst out from in-between his knuckles on either side of Ken's neck. Ken looked shocked that his Shoryu Ken hadn't worked and Ranma smirked as the burns on his face began to slowly heal. "Here's two of my claws." Ranma said with a malicious smirk. "Want to see the third?" He asked. Ken panicked and thrust his hands forward. "HADOU KEN!!!" He shouted as chi built up quickly in his hands and burst forth, striking Ranma in the chest. Ranma screamed in absolute agony as the high level chi blast tore into his flesh and burned the entire front of his body. He flew through the air and hit the corner of the ring, slamming into the post with a loud clang.

The arena was silent. Ken looked at his opponent and then the Referee came into the ring. The ref, cautiously crept up beside Ranma and started to hit the ground that his smoking body was laying on.

The ref counted all the way up to ten and Ranma didn't move. The small man with the slight beer belly and the striped shirt walked over to Ken and raised his right arm. "L...LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!! I GIVE YOU OUR NEW CHAMPION!!" He said proudly and yet a little scared at the mans powers. Ken smiled and gave the victory sign again. This time however he really had won.

{I'll bet you guys didn't think he'd win.}

***************

Hours later Ranma awoke with a huge headache. "What happened?" He asked to nobody in particular. He sat forward a little and leaned on his elbows.

"You lost the fight Ranma." Came a familiar voice. Ranma opened his eyes and noticed the three girls standing around him.

"Did we win any money?" He asked. Jen nodded.

"We pulled out of the betting pool just before you fought Ken. We won a fortune." Ranma smiled and coughed.

"Glad I could help." He said. "What the hell'd he hit me with? Felt like a bomb. Normally I'd be healed by now." Nikki looked concerned and frowned.

"He shot a chi blast at you. He didn't mean to hurt you as bad as he did, but you pulled those claws on him and he just freaked."

Ranma chuckled lightly. He almost never used his claws. He didn't like them at all. They confused him to no end and every time he popped them from between his knuckles he couldn't help but wonder where he had acquired such things. "I can't remember." He said as he closed his eyes. "I remember tests... or...something."

Jenna looked sympathetic and stroked the side of his face. "You poor thing. Not knowing anything about yourself."

Just then a familiar voice rose up from behind the girls. "What!? He almost impales me and your sympathizing him cause he can't remember something!?" Ranma sat up more and looked at who said that. Ranma stood up as he recognized the man before him. "Your name is Ken...the one I fought. How did you do that?" He asked amazed at the memory of the attacks the blonde man used.

Ken smiled slightly seeing that there was no hard feelings between them. "I'm a martial artist, I've just gotten to a point of control where I can manipulate a spiritual form of energy called Chi. It's life force energy." Ranma looked amazed as he thought about this.

*Life force? Chi?* Ranma looked up at Ken and smiled. "I'm Ranma Saotome. Do you think you could teach me how to do that?" He asked.

Ken looked surprised at Ranma's response after the slightly older Ken defeated him. He chuckled and put a hand on the back of his neck reflexively. "Heh heh. Here I thought you were gonna kick my ass because I beat you." He said.

Ranma smirked. "I may take you up on that later."

Ken stopped and looked upset with himself. "Oooh! Me and my big mouth." He muttered. He then ;looked at Ranma inquisitive. "So why's a kid like you fighting in these tournaments?"

Ranma frowned. "We needed money for gas. I need to get to the US to find a man named Thunder Hawk. I was told that he could help me find out who I am."

"You got amnesia or something?"

Ranma nodded.

Ken smiled and then put an arm around his shoulder. "I'm heading in that general direction also! Mind if I join yah? I could trade you lessons for a ride." Ranma smiled.

The girls all smiled. "Of course you can come!" Jen said.

"Yeah we'd be MORE than happy to accommodate a handsome fellow such as yourself." Nikki said with a gleam in her eye and a lecherous smirk on her face.

Ken smiled. "Hey thanks. We can stop off at all the street fights along the way."

Ranma smiled as they made their way back to the car. He liked Ken a lot already.

**************

Ken's Eyes bugged out of his head as he looked over the sleek exterior of the Jaguar. "Wow. This is a really nice ride." Nikki blushed slightly as Jenna, Jen, and Ranma piled into the car.

"ThThank you."

Ken nodded. "Guess I'm sitting up front with you eh?" Nikki nodded and rushed over to the driver's side. Ken sat down in the passenger side and Nikki started the car.

************

The next day Ranma found himself kneeling in a grassy clearing on the outskirts of Toronto. Ken kneeled in front of him and looked serious the girls were over by the Jaguar sitting around and talking privately. Ken cleared his throat and stared at Ranma. "Chi is the energy that resides in everything. Every rock, tree, person and animal has chi, which is their life force energy. If one trains and learns to harness and control their chi, there's no telling what they could do." Ranma stared intently at his new sensei, taking in everything that he said. Ken continued. "The form of chi that you saw me use was called the Hadou. There's only two other people I know that can use this energy. My friends Ryu and a man named Dhalsim, who had taught us the technique in the first place." Ken paused and stood up. "Once you learn how to use Hadou you can create different attacks based on the energy you use. You've already felt my Shoryu Ken."

Ranma nodded. E didn't really like the memory of that particular attack. It hurt. A LOT! The Hadou was even more powerful and he did NOT want to be on the receiving end of that again. It actually took him an entire day to heal from that. Usually he healed almost instantly. "How do I train in this technique?" He asked his mentor.

Ken smiled. "First you have to find your centre."

Ranma nodded and stood up off the ground. He got into a comfortable fighting stance and closed his eyes. He listened to Ken as he went on about the Hadou and how to use it. Ranma began to spin his arms slowly in front of him, making a circular pattern, while keeping both of his arms level with the ground.

"Good." Ken said as he watched Ranma perform the first step. "Now concentrate on the energy around you, your aura, the energy in the air, the ground. Pull it all in."

Ranma sweated as he began to do this. He could feel the energy begin to form, but it was a lot more straining than he thought it would originally be. He opened his eyes and noticed small green lights coming towards him from every direction. Ranma gasped and stopped pulling in the energy around him. Ranma fell to the ground and breathed heavily. Ranma held his gut and panted. "Why does it hurt so damn much!?" He said as he clutched stomach.

Ken shrugged. "I have no idea. It was like that for me and Ryu as well. It takes a lot of time and practice. I'm actually surprised that you were able to pull in that energy on your first try. That's absolutely incredible." Ranma smiled weakly and coughed a little.

"Thanks."

***************

A dark figure sat in a room alone, staring at a monitor. The man was huge, obviously not an average person. In fact some would say that he was a giant. In a way he was. He sat ominously in the dark room, lit only by the screens in front of him, his fingers tented in front of his face, a deep purple and red cape draped over the arm rest on the large throne like, metallic seat. The man stood up and his nostrils flared signifying that he was upset with what he saw on the screen. "This is going too slow. I will not accept this." The man's voice was deep and spoke of power, his very essence breathed power. As he walked toward the technologically advanced screens and pressed a button on the console, holding it down before speaking to a picture of a old man. "Finding martial artists like this is getting tiresome professor. I want results and what you've gotten me is not an army. I need you to dig up all of the background on every single street fighter around the world and find out any way at all that you could blackmail them into joining us. I don't have the patience to be picky."

"But sir." Protested the elderly man from the other end of the video communications transmitter. "We have to be delicate about this. If the law enforcement finds out..."

The man revealed his face by leaning in towards the screen menacingly. M. Bison didn't like being talked back to and he felt like pointing this out to the insignificant professor by cutting him off. "By the time we have made up our army of martial artists the police, FBI, CIA and all the others will be in the dark as to what I have planned until it's too late." The old professor nodded humbly and agreed weakly, not wanting to have to face the wrath of M. Bison. The leader of Shadow Law, the biggest Terrorist organization in the world. He was the last person you wanted after your hide. "Now professor, anything new that would interest me?"

The professor was about to shake his head no, but then he remembered something and shuffled a few papers around on the console before picking up a certain piece of paper. "There is one thing that I think may interest you sir."

"Proceed." Bison said as he walked back and sat down in his throne again, ominously folding his fingers in a tent like position again. "This had better be good too." he said darkly, promising pain if it did not please him.

The doctor cleared his throat nervously and began to read what was on the paper. "A...Apparently a new fighter has emerged from one of the less known street fighting rings in Canada. Reports are saying that the boy had mettle claws."

Bison frowned angrily. "This is not important. I don't want you to inform me of every single fighter with a shiny set of toys."

The doctor shook his head. "No sir I'm afraid you misunderstand. The boy healed his wounds instantly and the claws came from in between his knuckles. He some how is able to retract these claws into his arm. and had complete control as to when they came out."

Bison leaned forward and smiled. "This sounds familiar. I've heard of a secret government organization known as Weapon-X. I've had a few operatives there but my contact with them has been terminated due to an accident." Bison paused for a moment contemplating what to do about this current turn of events. "What is his name?" He asked the professor.

The professor looked over his notes and sweated slightly under the gaze of his master. "R...Ranma Saotome."

Bison smiled wickedly, a flash of red moving across his pure white eyes. "Find out everything you can about this boy's family first of all, then find the boy. I want you to find out who he's related to, where he trained, and all medical records, school records, I want you to dig up EVERYTHING!" Bison stood up and then turned around, heading for the large metal door at the end of the room.

"Y...Yes sir!" Muttered the man fearful as he bowed deeply to the retreating image of the man.

***************

Author's notes: {I've decided to end this here Bison's here and now he's after Ranma. OH NO!! Whay. Anywhay. I was trying to go for detail with this if I did okay. I just thought that it would make more sense if Ranma lost his Fight against Ken. After all Ken is older, more experienced, has the Hadou technique and Ranma hasn't been taught to his full potential. All he did was master T Hawks fighting style, minus any chi attacks. I'll explain shit like that later. I hope you liked this chapter. I really wanted to get into the Street Fighter aspect of this fic. There may be more yet to come.}

Morden Night: anime_morden@crystal-tokyo.com

http://mordennight.tripod.com

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