Disclaimer: Ranma ½, Street Fighter, King of Fighters, or any other anime series/characters or games characters that might be mentioned.

Italics: Thoughts

Powers Comes With A Price

BY: Confucius

Chapter 5

It was still an hour before the sun sets. Ranma received a call from Taski about some amazing street fighters that had appeared in the circuit. A young new Japanese fighter had beaten Sagat the Muy Thai Champion in a tournament. Ranma had seen Sagat's fights on tape and knows the power behind each of his attacks. He would be lying if he said he wasn't amazed that Sagat was beaten by a smaller man. The young champion is Ryu and his background is unknown. Taski said the young Japanese martial artist had some serious offensive techniques and was very sure Ranma would love to meet him. Taski was not there personally to watch the event but he read it from all the fighting magazines.

A powerful fighter has appeared. Many amazing fighters have appeared recently. Each has their own unique and dangerous styles. I wonder if I'll ever get a chance to meet them all. Father should already have this information since he was always obsessed with having powerful warriors at his disposal. Perhaps I should also follow his example and start my own recruitment.

The night finally came as Ranma started his next mission. The compound was located on a small island off the coast, so he had to get there by boat. He could levitate himself by he was afraid the long distance flight might drain him too much. He will be in hostile territory so he can't afford to miscalculate and overestimate himself. Nothing seems to have change while he ran away from his home. The air currents gave him a good image of the area in his mind. The shop by the dock remain the same however there were more boats here than before. He made his way towards the shop and tried to rent a boat from them. He remembered the shop was own by a nice old man and was glad that he is still in business. The old man didn't recognize him since Ranma had grown. In addition, Ranma hardly step into his shop unless needed too whenever he comes to and from the island.

There was a nice breeze over the ocean. The air smelled refreshing. It made Ranma nervous about coming home again. Even though things happened the way they did, he loved and enjoyed staying at the compound and being the young master of a world crime syndicate. There were times when he had to do things that he wasn't proud of but he had done those things time and time again with his current life. Killing or being a killer was apart of the life he leads now, no longer a stranger that he pulled away.

Ranma doesn't need to come all this way and rescue Cammy. In fact, he doesn't even know if she is willing to come with him seeing how he had abandoned her when he left. He knows he doesn't need to do anything but for some odd reason, she was a very important person in his life and he wanted to at least make sure she was fine. He didn't do anything earlier because he needed to get use to his current form. Seeing his father and dealing with him was a second priority. Being the young master of Shadowloo can't wait a bit more. Playing hero for once was new and interesting.

In the middle of his ride, Ranma decided to leave his boat. He couldn't take it to shore on the island since guards will notice something was amidst. Once again, he concentrated his energies and levitated himself from the boat. Shot like a bullet, Ranma flew his way towards the compound. He quickly remembered the little training he went through on the plane ride.

Even though his senses were hyped up to the extreme, he was still handicapped. He needed eyes to see colors and the image of people's faces. The only time we could see clearly was during rainy days. His senses can form clearer images in his mind from the fallen raindrops. He could clearly picture the streets well as like people's faces. On the plane trip to Spain, Rama started to do some experiments. He connected himself to someone's mind and viewed the world through his eyes. By doing so, he was able to see what the other person saw. For the second time after his eye incident started, he was able to see colors and real images. The first time was actually fake seeing how he was in the astral plane. He started to connect to random people and see from their eyes. It almost brought out a tear from him; almost but not quite. There he did another experiment. He projected psychic energies outward and tried to manipulate it in a way so that it could become his third eye. The technique wasn't a success and he doesn't really know if it's possible. At least one of his experiments worked and for now, it was the only thing needed.

Ranma landed safely at an open window of one of the towers. Thanks to his heighten senses, he was able to avoid the guards easily. The place hasn't really changed from what he remembered. He remembers the hallways well. When the area was clear, Ranma made his way closer to Cammy's quarters. All he hoped at the moment was that she hasn't switched rooms. Nearing the location, his hearing couldn't pick up a heartbeat in room. To make sure he found the right place, Ranma entered used his senses to get an image of what the room looked like. It was almost empty besides a few boxes. There was also a bed but his nose told him that this room hasn't been occupied for some time.

The compound was huge and Ranma knows he doesn't have time to search room by room. He began to stretch his senses afar. Through the many minds he skimmed, he noticed that many of the recruits in the facility were new. Those who were here longer also don't seem to know her and even if they did, they don't have any knowledge of her whereabouts. Then he approached a mind and immediately recognizes who it belongs to.

The mind belonged to a brilliant scientist by the name of Stromwell. He had worked under his father for many years and is a specialist in robotics. Stromwell was the man who kept the facility up to date in technological advances. One of his best works that Ranma could remember was building androids that had hidden cameras within them. To his knowledge, androids are robots that have human appearances. Meaning they look human but are made of one hundred percent inorganic materials. These androids were used to spy on government officials and the likes, however they weren't been mass produced back then. A couple of prototype has been used and had accompanied him in a few missions. Ranma tried to scan Stromwell's mind for Cammy's whereabouts but could only glimpse at his current location before detecting a group of people approaching.

Damn, just when I was about to get what I wanted, the guards are here. This should be a safe place to be since there's nothing in Cammy's old room that seems interesting.

Ranma was right. His hearing picked up their heart beats and their foot steps. They were going to another corridor away from the area. They said something about being lat for training. Once everything was clear, he located Stromwell again and planned to look further into his mind.

He's currently in the central command center. Damn, it looks like my trip here was for nothing. They relocated Cammy to another facility and Stromwell doesn't know where it is. He doesn't associate with her much just like in the past so he's not well informed. I'll look deeper into his mind and maybe I'll find a clue.

Ranma's eyes widen as he stumbled across something that he didn't think was possible. Or at least it shouldn't be possible yet.

Clone?

The young master of Shadowloo made his way towards the central command center. It was the place where the main computer was located and could only be accessed by his father and a few selected scientists. Stromwell luckily is one of the authorized personnel.

Seeing that the good doctor was alone in the center, Ranma made his appearance. "Good evening Doctor Stromwell. It certainly has been quite awhile since we met. How have you been?"

Stromwell was surprised at the sudden noise and quickly turned and see who dared to enter the room. Although he didn't see Ranma for two years, he still remembers the boy who ran away fro the organization. "Master Ranma…you've grown since the last time I saw you. Master Bison will be happy to see you."

"Unfortunately, I'm not here to see the old man. I don't sense that he's anywhere in the facility. Is father on a…business trip?"

"I guess you can call it that. Shadowloo had grown phenomenally during the time you deserted us."

"I wouldn't exactly say that I deserted Shadowloo," said Ranma. "I simply took a leave of absence. Think of it as a very long vacation. Anyways, I'm not here to talk about old times. There's some information that I want and I need you to help me."

"And what information do you need?"

"I need information on Cammy. You remember her right? There's something about her that intrigues me and I want to find out the truth about her."

"Do you really expect me to help you? Don't think for a second that you are still Bison's son. You were just a mere experiment that gone wrong. You are just adopted and not truly worthy of having his genes."

"Of course I don't have his genes. I look much more handsome. Sorry but you don't really have a choice." Ranma plunge into Stromwell's mind again and grab control of his consciousness.

I'll just take control of your body and use it for awhile. I need your eyes.

Ranma now literally had control of Stromwell's body and was able to see through his eyes. He went through the database and pinpointed Cammy's file after a few minutes. The system hasn't change much when he left so he still could search around without problem. He couldn't believe the information he was reading.

Cammy is father's clone? How is that possible? With present day technology, it shouldn't be possible to do such things and yet she was cloned nearly eight years ago. The scientist who is in charge of the operation is Irvine Francis. I remember seeing the guy but I hardly talk to him but he was seen around Cammy a lot. Now I know why. It looks like the cloning process wasn't perfect. They couldn't completely clone father so that had to use an infant and change their genes. That would explain why Cammy is female when she should be male if she was father's clone. But in time, her genes will gradually change to match father's genes. This process is still considered experimental so no ones knows what will happen to Cammy.

Ranma clenched his fist tightly upon thinking of the suffering his childhood friend will go through. His hearing picked up a feint beeping sound coming from the computer which was now loud throughout the room. Ranma used Stromwell's eyes to scan the computer to see the problem. Seconds later, the gigantic computer screen started to flicker and now displayed an image of a person he thought he couldn't see again.

Bison was checking up on his Shadowloo compound in Spain. It has been months since he has last been there. For some reason, the place has become eerie for his likes. He was currently in Thailand in the main headquarters of Shadowloo. He wanted to check back with the Spain compound and see the progress that Stromwell and Francis has made. The master of Shadowloo didn't realize that he was about to run into a family reunion when he contacted the Spain compound.

It took a few seconds for Bison to digest the image he sees in front of him. His son had returned to the base. The boy had grown a lot since they last met.

"I didn't anticipate our meeting this soon," Bison stated. "Where have you run off to boy?"

"I simply took a long vacation old man," Ranma replied. "And it's good to see you too." Ranma didn't expect to talk to his father so soon. He knew his father probably felt the same way that they were unprepared for this situation. "So…what's up?"

The sight of his son and his easygoing nature was making Bison's blood boil. When he first saw Ranma, the boy was being put under horrific training by his biological father. The boy was thrown into a pit of starving cats while wrapped in fish sausages. Such method of training is dumb and wouldn't bare any fruit. It was then that his psychic abilities manifested during little torture which brought him to the boy. He raised the boy as his own however Ranma's special ability evolved slowly as if it was meant to be dormant. Never was patient in his life, he ordered Ranma to be put in the Psycho Drive where his abilities may surface.

Unfortunately, the Psycho Drive only managed to blind the boy which made him useless. All those years of raising him had been for nothing. He had ordered Ranma to be disposed but he changed his mind soon after. The results of the extracting Ranma's abilities are not fully known and something could be salvage. The boy had never disappointed him before and perhaps he wouldn't start now. The compound seemed to be less lively after he caught word that his son had escaped. The lord of Shadowloo hasn't received any word about him until today.

"So you finally decided to come back after all. I am curious…what made you come back to Shadowloo? You should well know that I could and would dispose you for leaving the organization. You even stole money from a fellow employee and withdrew heavy sums from our finances."

"Come on pops…stealing is what our organization does. I almost forgot about that guy from the docks that I swindled. How is he?"

"What do you think?"

"That bad huh? Anyways, I didn't really come back for a family reunion pops. I'm actually here for Cammy but she isn't here. What is surprising is that I found out she is some type of clone of you. Well, she's technically not a clone but her genes are changing to match yours. It all sounds a bit crazy."

A smile grew on Bison's face. "I always though you had something for that girl even when you didn't admit it. But it's just too bad that she's not there anymore."

Ranma got a little serious. "Where is she?"

"Don't be angry now son. She is apart of Shadowloo and like you said our organization revolves around stealing and other crimes which means she should be out doing something of that sort. But don't think that I will tell you of her location. Even though you are my son, Cammy is more biologically closer to me as you have found out. Now let's talk about you shall we? From what I heard, you were blind after getting off the Psycho Drive."

Ranma was now considering his options. He was wondering if he should tell his father about his abilities.

"Looking at you right now, I can tell that you are blind. Your face is not looking directly at the screen when we talk. This means that you cannot see me even if there is a big screen in front of you."

Damn, was father this perceptive in the past? He caught on that my face is not viewing the screen while we talked, but he doesn't know that I am looking at him through Stromwell's eyes. My own eyes are hidden behind the shades I'm wearing so he doesn't see my pupils are white.

"Are you sure of that father? You are currently wearing a blue suit which replaced the red one you normally wear. The fashion sense is the same though. You still look like a Russian dictator wearing something like that."

So the boy is trying to prove that he can see. He could be lucky and picked the right color clothes I am wearing. I also have a green, white, and black suit that matches my blue and red one.

Ranma controlled Stromwell's mind and had the older man look over at him. Seeing through the scientist's eyes, he tried to adjust his head so that it was facing the screen correctly. Seeing that he was now facing the screen, he turned Stromwell's head back.

"If you can see, tell me how many fingers that I am displaying."

Ranma quickly say the number of fingers his father shown. This test went for a couple of rounds until Bison was satisfied.

This is a pretty old test to see if I'm blind but it is effective. As long as father doesn't ask me to take off my shades, everything will be okay. I don't know if I should keep this from him or not but I'll hide this secret as long as I can just in case it could be used against me.

"Perhaps you are not useless after all, Ranma."

It was then that Ranma picked up sounds coming from the corridor. There was a person approaching the center and that person has a good heartbeat, meaning he or she is physically fit. Ranma made sure he didn't move his head and had Stromwell look behind him and see the guest. This way, it would look like he unprepared and let the enemy attack recklessly. Seeing through the doctor's eyes, he saw a blond man wearing a mask with three long blades attached to glove on his left hand. Among other thing that was noticeable was the gigantic snake tattoo on his body.

It looks like father has been doing a lot of recruiting while I was away. From the looks of it, he wasn't very picky about henchmen even if they had strange fetishes.

"It seems like the other guest has arrived," said Bison. "Let me introduce you to Vega."

Ranma also turned towards Vega's direction.

"He's a street fighter who specializes in cage matches. A Spanish Ninja who slices up his opponents with his razor sharp claws. Vega is an expert in the field of killing. He'll probably even give you a good challenge."

The young master of Shadowloo wasn't afraid. Confidence was still burning in his blood vein that course throughout his body. "Perhaps but we won't know until we fight."

Vega inch closer to Ranma since he was a bit annoyed by that comment.

"I'm not here to fight father. We have a lot of time to do that later on but not today."

No one could tell but behind the white mask that Vega wore a confused face. He never knew that his new employer had a son. In fact, there was no resemblance between the father and the son. His younger boss was much more handsome than Bison. Either Ranma was adopted or he got his looks from his mother.

"You still haven't changed pops. I see that you're still hiring fighters off the street. However this one does show some promise. Let's get back to the main topic shall we? Why are you trying to clone yourself?"

"To put it simple, I needed a strong and reliable fighter who can also access the Psycho Drive. There is a saying that goes 'if you want something done right, do it yourself.' Therefore I had to make copies of myself. Who else is stronger than I and more reliable who can access the Psycho Drive? Of course I didn't make exact clones since it might be hard to tame if my personalities are also copied, plus we are not that advance yet. So I took a female child and changed her genes to become like mine which is an easier thing to do. Cammy was our first successful experiment so I began to produce more like her. I currently have two other girls like her that are undergoing the same process. Thinking about it again, they are now my daughters which make you their brother. I also added a command chip inside their head so they will obey me."

"Making your own daughter obeying every single command and fight for you. You're still a control freak pops."

Bison was getting annoyed. "I gave you freewill and yet you ran away. So I took precaution with my daughters and loyal to me."

A few seconds have past as both sides has nothing left to say.

"Our conversation should end now since I'm rather busy at the moment," said Bison. "I called back to this compound because I wanted to have an update on things. I'll have a plane ready for you so you can meet up with me."

Ranma clenched his fist and look down. He didn't know what to do. A part of him wanted to stay at his father's side and be apart of Shadowloo but another side of him wanted to be independent. He was so busy with his thoughts that he accidentally releases his hold on Stromwell's mind. He then started to thinking about his accomplishments in Japan during his two year stay. He told everyone that he was coming back and it was a promise that he didn't want to break. "I'm not coming back, at least not yet."

Bison stared at his son and analyzed him. "What do you mean?"

"I also have other things to attend to. During the past two years, I've been working on something and I want to see it through to the end. But I will keep in contact with you every once in awhile."

"You want to get out on your own? Be your own man?"

"Something like that I guess. Think of it as a little side project."

Bison would be lying if he said he wasn't mad. He just asked his son to come back to him and Shadowloo but his offer was declined. More over, it seems that the little twerp wanted to build a life on his own without his help. All those years of raising him will not be for nothing, he told himself. "Ranma, please be a good son and entertain your father for a moment." He started to laugh evilly. "Vega, show my son exactly why I hired you."

Damn, we haven't talked for an hour yet and he already gave me such a big present.

Vega transfixed on his opponent. "It looks like I was just ordered to kill you."

His heartbeat is increasing. The speed of the heart rate indicates that he is about to leap. Danger sense is warning me.

As expected, Vega leaped towards Ranma. In mid air, the masked fighter felt like he had slammed into an invisible wall and was flung backward. Vega was now lying on his back on the ground. He had no idea what had just happened. His eyes didn't catch any movement from his opponent and yet he was knocked down. He tried to get back up but found himself unable to do so even if he pushed off the ground using all his strength.

Bison looked at the fight and became intrigued. The Psycho Drive did unlock his son's innate abilities after all. His Psycho Powers began to radiate uncontrollably.

Ranma turns towards the direction where the computer screen displayed his father's image. He let Bison see his face one more time before he leaves the compound and Shadowloo for the second time. "Deduct the damage fee from my allowance father." A surge of energy began to gather around Ranma's right hand. When he felt the energy was just efficient enough to handle the job, Ranma let loose the energy ball. "Psycho Shot!"

The ball of energy shot out and hit the screen, shattering everything in its way. The devastating force also ripped through the main central computer.

Vega got up from the ground after feeling the force that immobilized him was gone. He stared at aftermath of the technique his young boss had performed.

Ranma turns towards the exit and got ready to make his getaway. As he ran forward, he stopped near Vega. "Let us continue this fight another time." Ranma then continued to make his escape.

Bison was grinning madly after seeing his son performed one of his special techniques. After a few seconds, he began to ponder about the technique he just saw. Although it may look like his Psycho Shot, the color of the energy was different. Instead of a purple color, it was bluish. Ranma also didn't seem to radiate Psycho Power at all from what he saw. Usually the power manifest around him when he taps into it but the situation is different with his son. Something is off about this, he told himself.

It was the middle of noon now in Spain. While many people were out of the hotel touring the country, Ranma stayed in and sipped tea on the balcony. He was running over what had transpired a few hours ago when he was in the Shadowloo compound. He really admires his father for being able to build a strong global organization. For him to build something that equals in power and status would be very hard to do. But such a challenge was welcomed as Ranma dreamt about surpassing Bison.

Ranma knew that Shadowloo had a big advantage since they have been operative for a long time. They were ahead in technology and biological advances then even most governments. Those were the fields he needed to excel if he was to compete in this war.

Ranma's thoughts soon travel back to Cammy and her ordeals. He has no idea where she was and how she is coping. Although she was just one of his father's experiments, she was still a childhood friend whom he cared for. His father also said that there were two more experiments like her. The trip wasn't really a waste since he learned a lot of things.

I need to go back to Japan and start building my own empire-my own legacy. I will use our new branch in Nerima as my new base of operations. Rumors have it that many strong warriors reside in the area that I can bring into my organization. It's about time I do some recruitment of my own. Geese Howard I heard is steadily growing his operations out of SouthTown in the United States. He will be the next Bison if left uncontrolled. He will also be a torn that I need to pluck.

Ranma gazed out at the ocean. Although he can't see it, he could smell the ocean scent and tell where it is coming from. Somewhere out there was the compound where he met and separate with Cammy.

Cloning….

Author's Notes:

Thanks for your reviews!

Next chapter sets a few years later when Ranma is 22 years old. So chapter 1 to 5 was like a big prologue. I'll start introducing more Ranma ½ characters and bring back some old ones.

Who am I going to match Ranma up with? It could be just about any girl.

Hey, does anyone know where I could get some in depth faqs about KOF? I know the basic storyline but if you know where I can find more information about the whole game, let me know. Thanks!