Ranma looked out at the chrome giant, feeling a mixture of fear and nervousness. He was sure he could take the thing down, but part of him wondered. After all, it wasn't every day he came across giant killer robots.
"I got this," He confidently stated as he started towards it.
"Not so fast Ranma," Xavier called out. "I know I said combat against, but the most important rule when face to face with a Sentinel is to know it's ok to run."
"Run?" Ranma scoffed. "I ain't afraid of that thing. It's not like it's a giant metal ca.. ca... cat..."
"You mustn't take the Sentinels lightly. Their primary object is to eliminate all mutants they encounter. Now as I said earlier," Xavier started as he turned to the group of students. "I created this program to teach combat against Sentinels, however for our purpose, I want to make you all aware of how dangerous they are."
"Enough of this. I can take it." With that, Ranma charged into battle.
"Ranma, don't!" Xavier shouted, but his plea fell on deaf ears as Ranma ran up giant and took up a stance. As Xavier looked over the faces of the other children, he could see their worry written on their faces. "You will all see first hand it seems just how dangerous one of these can be, but take heart though as this simulated version can not kill."
Stepping out onto road, Ranma faced the metal menace. Here, he could see it was even taller then he originally thought it was. Not knowing anything at all about his foe, he knew he'd have to make the first move. Ranma rushed in and took a jab at the Sentinel's leg and was surprised when all he left was a small dent. This attack also gained the attention of the Sentinel, which turned it's head to face Ranma general direction.
"Mutant detected. Beginning termination," it monotonously stated as it aimed it's hands at Ranma and began blasting. As Ranma dodged with a back-flip, he watched in horror as the beam caused a good sized crater to form in the ground.
Realizing his current plan wasn't going to work, he searched his surrounding hoping to find some decent cover. The area was straight out of a post apocalyptic horror movie with buildings partially destroyed, cars randomly abandoned, and an oddly deep orange sun drenched sky. He spotted what appeared to be the remains of an gas station and sprinted towards it, hoping he could get there safely. A moment later, he was ducking behind the remains.
As he tightened his fist, he began to go over various ideas for attack. He already could tell it'd take too long to beat the Sentinel down at his current level and with the blasters, the Sentinel was protected fairly well against direct air attacks. His best chance would be to match it's size and wrestle it down, but he'd never tried his father's technique even though he'd seen it done a few times.
'No time like actual combat to test it,' he thought. He quickly focused his chi in his center. When it felt dense enough, he pushed it outward to fill his whole being and bounded it to his flesh. With a loud yell, he then pushed the chi outward further and felt the disorienting sensation of his muscles and bones stretching to match. Looking down, he saw his body was already twice it's normal size and he wanted to be happy about this, but he held his concentration so he wouldn't lose his current size.
At this time a shot whizzed past his head and for a second he wondered if the Sentinel was programmed to give warning shots. He ducked down, trying to buy more time to grow. He still needed another minute at his current growth rate to match the Sentinel's size.
'If I'm gonna do this again, I really need to practice and perfect it,' he mentally noted. His fear though was realized as the Sentinel rounded the corner and took aim. He quickly evaded with a side step and took off running. As he ran, he felt the rate of growth slow down as his concentration was diverted.
- - - - -
In the control room, Xavier watched with fascination as Ranma sized grew larger and larger. His new student was apparently even more special then he could have imagined and so far seemed to be willing to fight for the right side.
'Jean,' Xavier called out with his mind.
'Yes Professor?'
'I wanted to let you know I'll be sending you the Danger Room data on Ranma.'
'Danger Room? Is he really ready for that?'
'Yes my dear and it seems he's managed to surprise us again. I'm hoping you might see if the data indicates how he is doing what he's doing.'
'What he's doing?'
'I think the data will tell the tale better then I can.'
'Of course, I'll be waiting.' With that, Xavier turned his attention back to the fight. He could see that at this time, Ranma was now the same height as the Sentinel and was facing it.
- - - - -
Ranma huffed and puffed, his lungs burning. He wasn't used to holding his energy in such an odd way and he recalled how his dad had been unable to hold it for more then a minute or so against Happousai. He figured he could hold it longer, but how much was the question. Deciding that odds were strong that he'd run out of strength quickly, he opted for a quick strike. He charged, stepping over simulated cars and building remains, reaching the Sentinel. As he approached, the Sentinel fired several blast from it's palm. Rather then try to block them, Ranma dodged left and right and was with in striking distance in the blink of an eye. He took aim at the hulking giants chest and let his fists fly.
As he started, he vaguely recalled seeing the hand of the Sentinel raise towards his face. He felt an intense heat build up and his own conscious was giving way due to the over taxation of his body. He couldn't even tell if he was still punching, but he willed the signals to continue to his arms. Just before he passed out, he was sure the Sentinel fired it's beam and he thought, 'I lost?...'
- - - - -
Ranma awoke slowly, his head throbbed for a moment to remind him he'd come close to spending all of his life force in a apparently vain attempt to show off. Not that he would ever admit that to anyone or back down if the challenge presented itself again. He had too much pride to do that. So he would do what he always did and damn the consequences.
A quick glance told him he was in the medical bay yet again. He was quickly growing tired of being there, but knew that till his child was born, he couldn't afford to avoid it.
His thoughts drifted to the family he hadn't spoken to for some time and he reached for the cell phone in his pocket. Slowly pulling it out, he eyed it and wondered how much he'd end up regretting making the call.
His mind was still wondering if he should, when he heard a voice from the phone.
"Hello?" The voice called out. It sounded like Nabiki's voice.
'Did she figure out his number,' Ranma wondered. "Hello..."
"Ranma," Nabiki stated sounding slightly surprised. "Where are you? Where have you been? Everyone has been worried sick about you."
"I told Kasumi where I was at..."
"You told her you're at a school and if you're wondering, there's a lot of schools in the world. Saying that is almost the most vague thing you could have told her."
"Sorry... I wasn't ready to give any more information..."
"Ranma are you in some kind of trouble?" Ranma thought for a moment on whether he wanted to tell her anything or not.
"What do you mean? Me? In trouble?"
"That's what I asked Ranma. Look, I promise you can tell me."
"Yeah right Nabiki. I tell you, next thing I know I got the real trouble at my new door step."
"Does that mean you've run away?"
"Nah... but regardless as to how I got here, I'm not to eager any more to rush back... I'll return, but not a moment before I decide." This brought about a moment of silence. He began worrying that he'd taken it too far and caused her to hang up, but then he heard a sigh.
"Can I at least get the number of where you're staying? So we can keep you informed if anything happens."
"Wait, didn't you call?"
"No Ranma, you called. Geez, things must be bad if you aren't even aware of what your own fingers are doing."
"Oh, sorry," Ranma said nervously before giving her the cell's number. After a few more pleasant words, Ranma said his good byes and hung up.
- - - - -
Nabiki looked at the number and knew what she had to do. The only problem was how to do it without tipping the others off to her find. She had no desire to throw trouble Ranma's way. At least not until she understood the situation better.
"Nabiki?" Akane asked as she turned the corner. "Who was that?"
"That?" Nabiki asked innocently. "It was Ranma."
"Ranma?" her face light up for a moment. "Let me talk to him!"
"I'm sorry, but he had to run off," Nabiki lied.
"Oh...," Akane's disappointment was not very well hidden. "Did he leave a call back number this time?"
"Sorry, but it seems to have slipped his mind again. Next time I'll definitely force it out of him."
"Ok Nabiki. Thanks."
"I'd love to stay and chat, but I need to go to school and take care of a few things. Don't wait up for me."
- - - - -
Jean felt bad for the young man before her. She'd had him coming in once a day to do two scans which she justified by saying she wanted to monitor the progress of the child, when in truth, she just wanted to study Ranma under a microscope. To her, Ranma was the strangest and most exciting discover she'd made in recent years.
However she could see his discomfort. She could even sense it radiating off of him. Ranma had managed to adjust quickly to life in the mansion with no visible signs of apprehension but as the days passed, she learned he was simply hiding it. It was there but buried under confidence.
Ranma current discomfort level only made what she was going to tell him even worse. She was sure of it.
"Spill it already Doc!" Ranma said in a rather impatient voice.
"I have some bad news... At least I can imagine you aren't going to be happy..."
"Doc, I'm pregnant. It can't get any worse as far as I'm concerned."
"The scans show you have a womb."
"Yeah, it's on the top floor of the mansion. What about it?"
"No Ranma, not a room. A womb, where the baby is growing..."
"Oh," Ranma said. For a moment his face blushed. "Big deal. I got breast and a few other female parts too."
"When you're a girl, you have those..."
"Doc, you aren't getting ready to suggest what I think you are... are ya?"
"You're male half has a womb and the embryo is no longer in an energy state." Ranma suddenly turned down and seemed deep in thought. "As far as I can tell, the change happened rather slowly over the last month."
"Damn it... and here I thought I was just putting on weight..." He punched down at the ground so hard, a small shock wave formed and dented the floor. This caused Jean to jump in surprise.
'And just earlier today he'd passed out from lack of energy.'
"Sorry Doc..."
"Don't worry about it. The floor probably had it coming."
"This is all happening cause of... it... isn't it?" Ranma asked.
"Yes," was all Jean could say.
"Then I don't want it..." Ranma suddenly muttered.
"What's that?" she asked as she tore her focus from the ruined section of floor.
"It, I don't want to keep it. Don't want to give birth to it. I don't want to be a mother to any one any ways!"
"You can't be serious? You want to abort your child?"
"I don't have a child... I never asked to and I never want to..." Ranma's eyes screwed shut in an attempt to keep from crying. He was about to get up when Jean sat next to him and hugged him. For several moments, the two simply sat side by side in an embrace before Ranma found his voice. "Sorry."
"You're under a lot of stress and you're going through something most women dread. You've been so brave Ranma, but please promise me you'll not act too rashly or on your own. If tomorrow you still want to go through with this abortion, tell me and I'll go with you."
"Thanks Doc... Jean."
"You're welcome Ranma," she replied.
Getting uncomfortable with the close contact, Ranma a got up to leave the room.
"Uh, I... think I'll go and do some katas or something. I'll see you later..."
- - - - -
Ranma sat in his room, thinking about his sudden desire to abort the child.
'If I do, will my body return to normal?' he asked himself to no avail "It's your fault! I promise to protect you and you betray me... making me a girl... against my wishes..."
As he continued to think, there was a knock at his door.
"Hello, Ranma?" came the deep voice. To Ranma, the voice seemed to be a some what classy sounding voice mixed with a feral animal.
"Who's there?" he asked.
"My name is Hank McCoy. I wanted to see you in person. I'm a friend of Jean Grey's."
"Oh, sure, come in." Ranma tilted his head to see who entered. To his shock, a strange almost ape like man with dark blue hair covering his body entered.
"I'm sorry for my appearance," Hank calmly stated.
"No problem. Guess for a moment there, I forgot myself." As Ranma eyed Hank, he felt the strangest sensation that he was in danger.
"It happens to the best of us. I've been receiving reports on a regular basis and I must say I'm fascinated by your case. I'd love to take a closer look if you don't mind."
"Um, sure... you want to head downstairs."
"No, I don't think that'll be necessary," with that comment, Ranma felt an overwhelming need to sleep. "I do hope you like this new device of mine. It's created to induce deep sleep and requires no direct contact."
Hank pulled from his pocket a small transmitter.
"But... why?" Was all Ranma could mutter as his body slowly shutdown.
"It's simple my boy, what I want to do, I have no doubt would be against the "Professor's" desires. I greatly miss the days when I was able to do anything I wanted without fear of morality," the hairy man lamented. "For the Ages of Apocalypse.. None the less, I think I could learn a thing from you. Fear not, as I have no desire to do any long term damage to you."
His body finally gave out and he fell hard to the ground.
(I hope the Sentinel battle was to everyone's liking. I was able to deliver on my promise of a 5k fight scene.
I hope the emotional pieces are working cause honestly I'm not a very emotional man in real life. Writing this is sort of like play acting for me. Not to mention, the direction part of the fic is taking is sort of against my own personal beliefs, but I won't go into detail. Also, I hope this chapter isn't too dark. I really don't want this fic to go that direction but dealing with the abortion issue is tricky.
Sorry this chapter took so long, but I'm feeling the effects of losing interest, which is funny as I still haven't actually gotten to the main story I wanted to tell.)