                                  Weapon Ranma

Disclaimer; What are you disclaiming, bub?

< >: Thoughts

{" "}: English language

[" "]: Chinese language

                                   Chapter 3

                                  New Mutants

Logan looked about as he and Shampoo made their way towards the docks in Hong
Kong during the late afternoon. It had been two weeks since he and the Amazon
had left her homeland and traveled toward the coastline. It had not been a
difficult journey, and the Wolverine had learned that having the Chinese girl
around wasn't as bad as he thought. Since she spoke Mandarin and Cantonese
fluently, she served as a translator for him. Another plus was that she knew the
wilderness around the Bayankala Mountains and had proven to be an able guide. Of
course, her fighting skills were nothing to sneeze at either. She was quite
capable of defending herself against the occasional bandit or highwayman. In a
city such as Hong Kong, with its high crime rate, underworld dealings and
illegal fight circles, such talents were valuable indeed.

As for the great-granddaughter of Cologne, she was more than excited to be in
such a large place. She had never been in a city before, but she had heard tales
of the sights and things that were done in such places. She had never seen so
many people gathered in one place and everyone was bustling about like bees in a
hive. Then there were those strange wagons that moved about without horses. She
remembered her friend Talcum telling her of such things from those manga books
she always read. She spoke of devices called 'cars' and bicycles that roared and
did not require pedaling, called 'motorcycles.' Shampoo had never believed in
such things until she saw them for herself. She was entranced by the various
sights and took in every thing she saw as she followed her husband down a street
toward the docks.

"What we doing here, Airen?"

Logan growled slightly as he replied. "I told ya, before. I ain't yer 'Airen.'
Jus' call me Logan, okay?"

"Okay, Airen!" Shampoo said with a smile.

The mutant sighed as he shook his head. "Anyways, we're heading out to Japan for
a bit, since I got some business to take care of. I'm looking to see if there's
a boat going that way." <Boat is too slow, but I don't have much choice. I can't
get past those damned airport metal detectors!> Logan winced as he thought about
the downside to having an Adamantium-laced skeleton.

"So we not stay here for while?"

"Maybe for a day or two." He then spotted a large fishing boat that had a sign
written in Cantonese. He gestured to it and asked. "Hey, what does that say?"

Shampoo nodded as she read it. "That boat offer to take people to other places
for fishing or travel. Say it go as far as place called... Okinawa?" She then
read the price. "Aiyah! Very expensive! More money than Shampoo and Airen have."

"Crud." Logan took another look at the dilapidated vessel and its
unsavory-looking crew. He didn't like the way they appeared and to his keen
nose, they smelled even worse. However, they looked to be the type that did not
ask any questions, as long as they were paid. Logan wanted to keep a low profile
and he didn't see any other opportunity to get to Japan at the moment. He then
heard some shouting and cheering near a warehouse and grinned.

"C'mon Shampoo. I think I just found us some boat fare."

----------

Inside of the building, the crowds roared around a makeshift ring as two
fighters beat at each other in a stick-fighting match. Both were armed with
heavy, weighted staves, that were each one and a half feet long. On the
sidelines, the bookies were eagerly taking bets as the fans waved around large
bills. Though such fights were illegal, there were a few uniformed officers in
the crowds that were wagering and cheering on the fighters.

One of the combatants was a large, heavyset man with, long black hair and large,
muscled arms. His form boasted brute force and high endurance, though seemed
slow and plodding. His opponent was slimmer and built more like a gymnast. He
was clearly faster than his opponent and attacked with quick strikes while
dodging many of the powerful, but lumbering attacks of his adversary. The air
was filled with shouts and the sounds of wood clacking against each other as the
two fought.

Logan nodded as he and Shampoo watched the fight from the sidelines. The
Wolverine saw that the smaller fighter had some considerable advantage in speed.
However, he could see that the larger man was taking many of the hits and
shrugging them off as easily as a dog would shake water off its fur. He could
also see that he was forcing his opponent toward one of the corners of the ring,
thereby limiting the space in which he could maneuver.

Both Shampoo and Logan winced as they saw the larger fighter land a blow on the
smaller man's right leg. A sharp crack was heard and both knew that he was not
going to last much longer. The man went down in pain, but that didn't stop his
opponent from continuing to pummel him. Several more hard blows landed on the
man's upper body, fracturing ribs and forming large bruises. A hit to the head
sent the fighter into blissful unconsciousness, but the big brute continued to
hammer away, intent on reducing his helpless foe into a pulp.

As he was about to deliver another blow which would surely split open the man's
head, Logan decided to act. As the hulking giant reared back, he suddenly fount
his wrist being gripped by something that was akin to iron. He turned around and
saw the Wolverine holding back his arm with a vise of Adamantium. He growled as
he tried to pull free, but Logan remained firm.

"You won already. He ain't getting up." Logan said as he locked eyes with the
big bully.

The giant simply snorted as he turned, reared back with his other arm and swung
his other stick toward the interloper's skull.

Though it wouldn't have been more than a light tap to his Adamantium-fused
skull, Logan decided to intercept the blow with his other arm. He caught the
weapon with an open palm and casually twisted it out of the man's grip. In that
instant, he then delivered a hard kick to the big man's abdomen, driving the
breath out of him and sent him reeling backward. At this point, the crowds
stopped in their cheering and grew silent, gasping as they saw the stranger, who
was about a foot shorter than the current champion, knock his opponent to the
ground.

The large fighter landed hard on his rear, but quickly staggered back to his
feet while gripping his remaining weapon. At that point, Logan casually twirled
the stick in his hand before tossing it to the floor. Without keeping his eyes
off his opponent, he spoke to his traveling companion.

"Hey, Shamps. Tell this guy's manager that I'll be taking his opponent's place."
He gestured to the fallen fighter, who was now being dragged out of the ring by
his own manager. "And by the way... bet heavy on me."

The Amazon was a bit confused for a moment, then nodded as she spoke to the
fighter's bookie in Cantonese. The bookie took one look at Logan, and how the
large fighter towered over him and laughed. Then Shampoo gave him an incentive
by showing him the money she and Logan had and bet it all. This got the other
spectators riled up and new bets were being made. The bookie saw this as a
golden opportunity and gave his consent, giving Logan a hundred-to-one odds. The
fight was on!

The giant laughed as he was ready for some fresh meat. He figured that one kick
was just a fluke and now this stranger was going to pay. He quickly swept up his
other club and slammed them together. He was going to enjoy grinding him into
the floor of the ring.

Logan simply smiled as he went into a stance. Though his Mandarin was still far
from perfect, he decided to taunt his adversary. ["You like fight small people?
Me small. Try fight!"]

The giant snarled at the insolent remark and charged at Logan with all his rage
and fury.

----------

A little while later...

"Aiyah! So much money! Husband is too, too GOOD provider!" Shampoo said as they
left the warehouse. In her hands was a very thick wad of bills.

"Will you cut it out with that husband stuff?" Logan said as he wiped his brow
with a towel. "Anyway, it was half-decent warm-up and we got enough for the
boat. So first, we'll get something to eat and find us a place to stay for the
night. Tomorrow morning, we're heading for Japan."

----------

Back at the warehouse, the bookie was sobbing hysterically as the former
champion was sprawled unconscious on the floor of the ring. Beside him, his
broken weapons were only good for firewood after impacting against the
unbreakable bones of the Wolverine.

The bookie was still in a state of shock after seeing his prized fighter topple
like tree. With no more than a dozen blows to the chest and head, the Wolverine
cut his opponent down like a redwood and ended the match with a fist of
Adamantium to the face. Then came the hardest part for the bookie. Paying off
Shampoo and all the others who had bet on the Wolverine! With just one fight, at
a hundred-to-one odds, he was bankrupt! He had good reason to cry.

As he continued to sob, some distance away, a man dressed in a gray trench coat
nodded as he took out a small cell phone and spoke quietly into it.

"Agent Six to base. We've found Weapon X. Send in the Retrieval Units."

----------

At a nearby hotel...

Logan grunted as he prepared to settle in for the night. Though it had irritated
Shampoo when he requested separate bedrooms, he still believed that he and the
Amazon shouldn't get too friendly this early in their relationship.

It wasn't that he didn't LIKE the purple-haired girl. On the contrary, her
company had been most welcomed after traveling on his own for so long. And...
well, it had been a LONG time since he had been with a girl and she was very
pleasant to the eyes. Furthermore, she was a decent sparring partner and could
keep up with him for the most part, when he didn't use his claws. Logan didn't
know many people who had her stamina and conditioning. She was also a great cook
to boot and he had enjoyed the meals she had prepared for him during their
journey through the Asian wilderness.

However, she was still quite innocent and a bit naive to the real world. Due to
some ancient law of her tribe, she was MORE than a little affectionate and was
raring to consummate their 'marriage.' More often than not, he had to sleep with
his claws extended and his enhanced hearing on alert in case she got any funny
ideas. Now most men would be eager to do the mattress dance with this bouncy
warrior maiden, but Logan was not like most men. Due to a quirk in his
chromosomes, he had been given the ability to heal virtually any injury he
sustained at an accelerated rate and was granted extra keen senses of smell,
sight and hearing. However, it was these same gifts which made him a freak in
the eyes of those who did not understand, were jealous or fearful of his unique
standing in the human world.

With that thought, the Wolverine began contemplating his lot in life and
wondered if the world would ever accept those who were born with a special...
gift in their genetic structure. Anti-mutant sentiments had been growing all
over the world lately and there had been numerous attempts on his life, far more
than he cared to remember. And there were others that were after him due to the
Adamantium that was bonded to his bones. The Wolverine was almost always in a
state of constant alert and danger seemed to threaten him at every turn. He
didn't want Shampoo to be involved in such things and had tried on several
occasions to get her to leave him and return home.

However, the Amazon would not take 'no' for an answer; neither in Mandarin,
Cantonese, Japanese, English or any other language. She stated quite plainly
that she would follow him and be by his side, regardless of what would happen.
She knew that her Airen had many enemies, most recently among the Musk Dynasty,
but she swore that she would remain with him.

Logan couldn't help but feel flattered at her seemingly unshakable loyalty to
him, but he knew that things would get more dangerous if she continued to stay
with him. Early on in their journey, he had tried to ditch her several times,
but due to her exceptional tracking skills, she always found him and Logan soon
gave up. In any case, Shampoo had vowed to kill herself if he were to abandon
her and he didn't want her life on his conscience. Eventually, he got used to
her presence and even got to like having her around, grudgingly though.

As he lay down on the bed and laced his hands behind his head, he began
wondering if other mutants in the world were having as tough a time as he was.

----------

Japan, specifically a back alley in Nerima...

Hikaru Gosunkugi, (also known as Voodoo Spike), was running for his life as the
neighborhood bullies were chasing after him. He had told them that he didn't
have much money, but they didn't believe him and were going to pound out every
last yen on his scrawny body. He then eeped as he saw that the alley was blocked
off by a tall fence.

Gosunkugi had to try for it, though he knew that he would not be able to jump
over it. Athletics had never been his strong point and the fence was over ten
feet high. Whimpering and gritting his teeth, he made a silent prayer and ran at
full speed toward the barrier.

Up to this point, Voodoo Spike had never been lucky in life, neither in
attaining fame, getting a girlfriend, nor even getting others to notice that he
was alive. To everyone, he was just a nobody; something to take up space in the
background. He had gotten very reclusive as time went on and when he began
dabbling in the black arts, people thought he was just plain bizarre. However,
at this very crucial juncture in time, fate had decided to give this pathetic
soul one break. Deep within his body, a certain gene was starting to stir. With
adrenaline pumping and stress levels reaching their peak, the genetic blueprint
of his body began to alter itself. When Gosunkugi came to the wall, he gritted
his teeth and jumped with all the strength he had in his spindly legs.

He was quite surprised when he actually cleared the fence by more than six feet.
He made a sloppy landing on the other side and bounced on his rear end once
before finding himself in the middle of a street. He looked back at the fence
while his body still shook like a leaf.

<Did... I do that?! >

At that moment a car came barreling toward him and honked its horn.

"WHOA!"

Before he could even think, Voodoo Spike's body automatically reacted with a
kind of agility that he never had before. His legs instantly kicked out and
propelled him sideways to avoid being hit, then he rebounded off a lamppost
before making a twenty-foot leap toward an adjacent building. However, when he
saw that he falling short of the ledge that he was heading for, he reached out
with flailing arms to try and stretch over to it.

At that moment, his mouth opened and something long and wet shot out to grasp a
flagpole and swing him to safety. He felt a heavy strain in his mouth. As soon
as he landed onto the ledge and gripped hard onto the brickwork, he began
hacking and spitting. Just what was that horrible taste? It was like eating old
paint chips!

He then looked down and saw that his mouth was still open and that something was
dangling out of it with the other end wrapped around a metal bar that had been
painted white. He bit down in surprise when he realized that it was his own
tongue that was extended. This caused him to howl in pain and in reflex, made
the new appendage retract back into his mouth. He then held both hands to his
mouth and whimpered as tears poured down his eyes.

"Ow!"

----------

Back in Hong Kong...

Agent Six nodded as he readied his forces near the hotel where Logan and Shampoo
were staying at. It wouldn't be long and this time they would not fail in
capturing the Wolverine. All he had was that girl and she wasn't going to pose
much of a problem right? They had the element of surprise and outnumbered the
pair, ten to one. Nothing could stand in their way.

Little did he and his cohorts know that Shampoo was far more formidable than
they believed. In fact, she was now even more dangerous as certain genes in her
body had completed their metamorphosis and were ready to unleash her hidden
power. At that moment, Agent Six gave the order to attack.

----------

Logan bolted up from his bed when he suddenly sensed the presence of approaching
danger. His eyes looked about and his nostrils flared in readiness. Something...
no, someone was out there. A feeling of being hunted was felt, but the Wolverine
was used to such sensations. He also knew how to deal with them.

SNIKT!

While dressed only in a pair of shorts and undershirt, he quickly got to his
feet and silently made his way toward the door to his room. He slowly opened it
and went to where Shampoo was sleeping. If the intruders were who he thought,
then the Amazon would be better off as far away from this place as possible when
the carnage broke out.

----------

In her room, the purple-haired girl was already awake. Trained from the time she
was able to walk, the Amazon had also sensed that something was happening. She
was standing near the door with her bonbori held at the ready. Garbed only in a
very short nightdress, she tensed up and prepared to brain whoever it was.

Just as the door opened, the moonlight glinted off a sharp, metal surface.

"HIYAH!" Shampoo shouted as she swung a heavy mace at the intruder.

"Shamps! Wait! It's me!"

CLANG!

The war club was deflected by a trio of Adamantium claws as the Amazon leapt
back to get more fighting room. She then saw that it was indeed Logan and
lowered her weapons.

"Airen?"

It was at that moment that the far wall to her room suddenly exploded.

The two of them whirled about as several figures came in through the gaping hole
and rushed toward them. The intruders were armed with various hand-to-hand
weapons as they advanced on their target. All were dressed from head-to-toe in
black suits and masks, making them appear to be a band of ninjas.

Both the Wolverine and the Amazon tensed up as the attackers came at them. Logan
dodged a strike to the head as one of his foes charged in. He parried another
swing and then felt a mild shock in his hand as he blocked his foe's weapon with
his claws. He backed off and saw that the intruders were not carrying ordinary
clubs, but modified stun batons that acted like tazers, giving off a jolt of
electricity every time they struck. It was apparent that they wanted to take him
alive.

Dodging another swing by ducking, he spun about and landed a roundhouse kick to
the abdomen of an assailant that tried to blindside him. The attacker went
flying across the room and slammed into the opposite wall. He slumped down to
the floor after leaving a deep depression in the plaster and masonry.

Logan's nostrils flared as he got a good whiff of the intruders and nodded. He
sidestepped a shot to his left flank, then brought his claws down on top of the
arm of his opponent. The limb was cleanly sheared off and sparks from severed
circuits erupted from the stump. Logan then drove a fist into his adversary's
face with claws pointing out, perforating the android's CPU.

"Aiyah!" Shampoo exclaimed as she saw Logan shish kabob his latest victim, then
gasped as she saw the insides of the robot.

"Don't hold back on these tin cans, Shamps!" Logan called out as he defended
himself against two more of the Synthoids. "They ain't alive. They're just fancy
machines!"

As soon as she heard this, she nodded and began dishing out her own brand of
destruction. She sent one of her heavy bonbori down on the head of a robot,
smashing its cranium like an eggshell and scattering its brain circuits all over
the floor. As the decapitated android flailed about, she slammed one of her
clubs into its chest, sending it back and causing it to stumble into two more of
its cohorts. A baton came into contact with the exposed circuits, causing the
damaged unit to explode. Noxious smoke began filling the room, causing Shampoo's
eyes to become watery and irritated. This also caused a slight distraction as
she tried to clear her vision.

However, the androids were not affected by the smokescreen as they simply
switched to their infrared scanners. One of them came up from behind and managed
to hit her in the back with its baton.

Shampoo cried out as she felt every nerve in her body being subjected to a
concentrated burst of voltage. Her hands opened reflexively, releasing her
weapons as she slumped to the floor and blacked out. Her attacker raised its
weapon, intent on delivering a blow to her head.

It never got the chance as Logan came up from behind and drove the claws of his
right hand through the droid's back. The Adamantium blades tore through the
machine's infrastructure and severed a few of its motor control centers, causing
it to thrash about.

"That ain't no way to treat a lady, bub!"

With a couple of quick swipes, he cut Shampoo's assailant down, then decided
that they needed to get out into the open. Sweeping his unconscious companion up
into his arms, he charged through the remaining androids and leapt out of the
hole in the wall. Despite the fact that they were three stories up, the
Wolverine controlled his descent and landed easily on his feet on the street
below.

He barely had enough time to set Shampoo down when he heard the sounds of
thruster jets from above. His eyes narrowed when he saw four massive machines
come down toward him. He moved away from the Amazon, trying to lead the
attackers away from her. He managed to get more than thirty feet away before his
path was blocked by two more of Agent Six's retrieval units. He was now
surrounded by six huge, heavily armed robots.

Unlike the androids which he and Shampoo had faced in the hotel, these
automatons were eight feet in height and looked like technological armored
knights. They were the Combatrix. Based on the older Sentinel robots that were
originally created to capture/hunt down mutants, these newer models were
designed with greater firepower, more armor and better AI systems.

At that moment, the stranger known as Agent Six appeared from a nearby alley.
Behind him, the Synthoids that had not been destroyed in the hotel appeared
behind him and took up battle stances beside the larger machines. Shampoo's
Airen now found himself facing off against six Combatrix and a dozen more
Synthoids.

Wolverine growled as he saw who was hounding him. "Genda..."
Agent Six nodded as he removed his hat and showed him his face. He appeared to
be a man in his early thirties and had short, black hair. He wore steel-rimmed,
octagonal glasses which flashed in the moonlight. He smiled at the trapped
fighter and said, "Hello Logan. Long time no see."

"Nowhere NEAR long enough." Logan gritted his teeth and readied his claws.

Katsuhiko Genda snorted. "Oh come on now, Weapon X. Surely you don't think that
you can beat all these Combatrix and Synthoids, do you? That little group I sent
into the hotel were just to flush you and your girlfriend out. Now that you're
out in the open and surrounded, you'd better not give us any trouble. Just come
along quietly and no one will get hurt."

"I ain't nobody's Weapon X and you ain't taking me anywhere! Ya want me? Come
and get me!"

Genda sighed as he shook his head. "Logan, Logan, Logan. Do you realize just how
much we had invested in you? Fusing Adamantium to a person's skeleton cost us a
great deal, and it was only because of that mutant healing factor of yours, that
you were able to survive the bonding process. And for the last three years,
you've cost us time, money, equipment and manpower when you deserted. We trained
you, Logan. We raised you. Now I think it's about time that we got some return
on our investment."

"You want payment? I got yer payment right here." Logan held up his right fist
and to Agent Six's astonishment, the claws began to glow with an eerie blue
light. "And here's the interest! KI CLAW!"

The Wolverine then made a sweeping wave with his right arm. The blue light shot
forward in the shape of a crescent blast. Three Synthoids were cut in half and
the right leg of a Combatrix was sheared off, causing it to topple forward.

<Huh? Since when could he do that?! > Genda thought in shock as Weapon X
suddenly leapt forward into battle.

Unknown to Agent Six, Logan had learned a considerable amount of ki techniques
while on the run. In Tibet, he had learned not only to use his ki to temporarily
transfer his healing factor, but also as a weapon to strike at long distance by
focusing it through his Adamantium blades.

Now the fighter sliced through three more of the Synthoids, then dodged a
barrage of concussion blasts from two of the Combatrix. The pavement was torn
apart and asphalt went flying. Fortunately, Shampoo was not in the line of fire
and no debris struck her unmoving form.

Wolverine did a neat flip and used a telephone post to rebound off. He landed
behind a Combatrix and made a couple of fast swipes with his claws at its legs.
Though they were constructed from the latest polymers, which were ten times
stronger than reinforced titanium, Logan's claws still cut into them like hot
knives through butter. The huge machine staggered forward and fell, making a
huge depression in the concrete.

Two of the other Combatrix and five of the Synthoids began a flanking maneuver
and began firing plasma bolts on Logan's left side. The mutant swerved out of
the way and the barrage hit the downed Conbatrix, causing it to explode. Metal
shrapnel and charred electronic components went flying everywhere. A jagged
piece of metal impacted into Logan's left calf, causing a sharp pain to shoot up
the leg. This caused Logan to limp slightly, hampering his movements.

Agent Six saw his chance and held up a remote. "It's all over, Logan! You're
going back!" He then pressed a red button on the side of the remote.

The remaining four Combatrix surrounded the wounded Wolverine and each raised an
arm toward him. Gun-like devices popped out from their forearms and began
emitting a strange, pulsating noise. At that moment, Logan felt his entire body
lock up. It felt as if he was being gripped by gigantic invisible hands. He
struggled to move, but his limbs felt as if they were being held back. Then he
found himself being lifted off the ground and hovered some ten feet in the air
with his body still paralyzed.

Agent Six smirked as he approached the now helpless fighter. "Well, how do you
like the new magnetic field projectors on the Combatrix? The technicians felt
pretty stupid for not having thought of this sooner, instead of wasting the last
three years."
Wolverine let of a snarl as he continued in his futile attempts to get free.

Katsuhiko continued to taunt Logan. "You know what, Logan? With your combat
skills, your mutant healing factor and that Adamantium-skeleton, you were
considered a very formidable weapon. Almost unstoppable, if you think about it.
The bosses were planning on making even more enhancements on you, but you just
had to go and spoil it by running off like that. Do you realize just how much
trouble we had to go through chasing after you?"

"I'll give you even more trouble when I get my claws on you!" Logan gritted.

"Not likely." Genda shrugged his shoulders. "Oh sure, in close-quarters and
hand-to-hand combat, you've got the advantage with your martial arts and those
claws of yours. And I was quite surprised with that energy attack. That
Adamantium alloy is incredible too, since it's virtually indestructible, making
your bones unbreakable. However, it does have one weak point. It was made from a
ferrous ore, which makes it highly susceptible to magnetic waves. Once the
engineers realized that, then it was easy to construct the magnetic field
projectors that are keeping you paralyzed. These new Combatrix are constructed
from the latest plastics, rendering them unaffected to the magnetic waves. And
you can't cut anything while you're in the air, now can you?"

"You... dirty... stinking... bastard!"

"Flattery will get you nowhere." Genda shrugged as he took out his communicator
and tapped in a certain code. "A special squad will be here shortly with a
magnetic holding cell for you. I would say that you have, oh... two minutes to
say goodbye to your girlfriend over there."

Logan looked through the corner of his left eye and saw that Shampoo was just
starting to regain consciousness. When the Amazon looked up and saw her Airen
suspended helpless in the air, surrounded by giant monsters, she cried out in
shock.

"Airen!"
"Shamps! Get out of here now!" Logan shouted. He didn't want her getting hurt if
she tried to help him. The Synthoids were poised to attack anyone who approached
them or the Combatrix.

"NO!" The Amazon shouted as she staggered to her feet and turned to Agent Six.
"Leave Airen alone. You no want get Amazon mad!"

"Oh really? And just what are you going to do about it?" Genda said with
amusement as he signaled for the Synthoids to eliminate her. He had orders to
take care of any witnesses.

At that point, Shampoo felt something happening within her body as her heart
pounded in her chest. Just as the first of the Synthoids charged at her, she let
off a scream and threw and arm forward. Her hand suddenly let off a beam of
light which shot out and blasted the machine into a smoking pile of spare parts.

Genda was shocked for the second time that night. "What the...?!"

<No way! > Logan thought. <Does this mean that Shamps is a mutant too?>

Shampoo looked down at her hand and saw it glowing with an intense white light.
Her eyes widened as the glow began to surround her entire body, then let off
another burst of brilliance like a magnesium flare. This caused Agent Six's eyes
to be blinded as well as the optic sensors of the Synthoids and the Combatrix.
Then another bolt of intense light shot out and burned through the arm of the
Combatrix that was closest to Wolverine. This caused the magnetic field
projector to short-circuit, weakening its hold on Logan's right arm enough so he
could move it. He quickly took advantage of this opportunity and focused his ki.
Then swung his arm at the next robot and sliced its head off with a ki blast.
With two of the Conbatrix taken out, the other two were unable to hold their
prisoner as he broke free of their magnetic grip. Once he was on the ground, he
charged in and slashed the chest of the third automaton, before decapitating the
fourth. He then whirled about to finish off the remaining Synthoids, but Shampoo
beat him to it.

The young female warrior from a simple Amazon village let off another cry as her
body let loose with a huge sphere of light and heat which fried the circuits of
the robots and scorched the ground all around her for fifty yards. Then, the
light faded away, leaving the girl to slump down to her knees, totally
exhausted.

Logan knew that they had to get out of their immediately, for such a disturbance
would surely alert the local authorities, if they weren't already on their way.
He ran toward his companion and knelt down beside her while retracting his
claws.

"Shamps! Are you all right?"

Shampoo weakly raised her head and looked in her husband's eyes. "Airen? What...
happen...?"

"Never mind that now! We gotta go!" Logan then swept her up into his arms and
then used a nearby car to bound up to their ruined hotel rooms. Once inside, he
set her down on the bed for a moment and went to grab their packs. When he came
back with their luggage in one hand, he grabbed her with his other arm and began
leading her down the stairs. In less than two minutes, the pair were running
down the streets and heading toward the docks.

----------

Back at the place where Shampoo's mutant ability first manifested itself, Agent
Six rubbed his eyes as his vision began to clear. Once he regained his sight, he
gasped as he saw that there was nothing left of his Synthoids and Combatrix but
piles of sliced and smoldering junk. He then sirens in the distance and with no
sign of Logan or the girl, he had to chalk up this latest confrontation as a
loss and backed away into an alley. Just as the police neared the area, he
pressed another button on his remote and activated the self-destruct devices to
eliminate all evidence. The burned-out hulks then disintegrated into powdery
residue, leaving nothing for the authorities to find.

----------

A day later, in a secret conference office...

"So you failed yet again, Agent Six." The head executive said in a most
displeased tone.

"It wasn't my fault, sir!" Genda protested as he addressed his superiors. "I had
Weapon Ranma! If it weren't for that girl he had with him..."

"He has a point." One of the bosses said. "You all saw the footage from the
control monitors of the Synthoids and the Combatrix, before they were destroyed.
Apparently, Logan is traveling with another mutant. An extremely powerful one at
that."

A third executive nodded. "From what the preliminary analysis of the footage
shows, this Chinese girl seems to have the ability to produce and manipulate
photons. It appears that she can control light in various forms and intensity,
and even create lasers. You could say she's a 'living laser.' This certainly
puts a new wrinkle in our bid to capture our runaway project. It gives us a new
opportunity, doesn't it?"

"Indeed." The head executive nodded. "This situation does call for some more
study. Agent Six!"

Katsuhiko snapped to attention. "Sir?"

"The Synthoids and Combatrix have proven to be mostly ineffective against Logan,
especially now that he is with this other mutant. It seems that we will need
more drastic measures. I am going to have Project J stepped up."

"Project J? Don't you think... if I may speak freely?"

"You may."
"Don't you think that's a little too much?"
The head boss was silent for several moments before replying. "So far, Logan has
proven to be unstoppable, and he now being helped by this girl. We may need
something just as formidable or even more so, to bring him down."

----------

On a slow boat to Japan...

"Shampoo no can understand how she do ki attack. Great-grandmother no train her
yet."

Logan shook his head as he and Shampoo leaned on the rail of the fishing boat
that was taking them to Okinawa. His leg was bandaged after using his claws to
dig out that piece of shrapnel. By the next day, he wouldn't even have a scar.
"That wasn't a ki blast, Shamps."

"How you know? It look like ki technique."

"Nope. I trained in using ki and I didn't sense any of your personal aura being
used when you saved my bacon back there. And I wanna say thanks for that, by the
way."
"Welcome!" Shampoo smiled at her husband, then asked, "So what Shampoo do
before? Is magic maybe?"

Logan took a deep breath and replied. "What you used was your mutant power."
"Shampoo no understand. What is... mutant?"

"It's what I am... and what you've just become. And believe me, your life has
just gotten a whole lot more complicated."

To be continued...

Author's Notes

A lot of people had suggested that I give Shampoo a kind of feline transforming
ability, like Wolfsbane of the New Mutants. However, I thought that was too easy
and too cliche. Instead, I decided to give her a power like the Dazzler's, but
she doesn't need sound to convert into light. She able to manipulate and control
light from the infrared wavelengths, all the way to the ultraviolet ranges. She
can also produce lasers and holographic images, eventually. I'm trying to think
up a name for her; some ideas were Laser Lady, Luminescence, Photon or something
along those lines. Any ideas?

Eventually, we're going to see more mutants with different powers and I promise
you that not all the Nerima Crew will be mutants. No, I haven't forgotten about
the Musk Dynasty and as for the X-Men showing up... well, that is a secret!

And for those of you who are wondering about the history of this world, it's
like this: mutants have been around for some time and anti-mutant sentiments are
gaining momentum. This has caused secret organizations to form with the sole
purpose of controlling or destroying these special people. They are especially
high in places which pride on racial purity, such as Japan. As a result,
Sentinels had been created and have been around for a few years. As for the
organization that Agent Six belongs to, well they have their own agenda.

I've decided to combine aspects from the old X-Men animated series, the X-Men
Movie and X-Men Evolution.

Next chapter, we'll delve more into Ranma/Logan's past as he and Shampoo meet up
with some of the mutants in Japan.
