[Ranma/Xover][FanFic] Omake Theatre: Stray Bat Strut
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Chapter One: Stray Bat Strut
DISCLAIMER: The DC Universe is by (big surprise) DC Comics. Ranma 1/2 by
Rumiko Takahashi. This was an attempt at trying to work out some of the
ideas i had for "Spring Of Drowned Hero" but distance myself more from what
it turned out was being done by DB Sommers in "Avenging".
---------
The three girls stared in shock at their father. They knew him very well.
Soun Tendo was not a terribly clever individual, and he had no emotional
stability to speak of. He would go off into his "stoic samurai" impression,
only to go to his Demon Head rage or cry enough that Kasumi would have to
replace the flooring without any warning to speak of.
This particular set of staring was because, as the gentle reader no doubt
already knows, said father had just dumped on the three girls a bombshell.
"Married?" Kasumi asked.
"You've never met him?" Nabiki inquired.
"Are you nuts?!" Akane questioned.
"It's easily fixed," said Soun, holding up a videotape.
Three sets of blinks. "What?!"
Soun led his three daughters to the television and put the tape in an
obviously new (still blinking 12:00) VCR. "I heard about this and was able
to get the tape."
The three young women turned their attention to the television, now showing
a scene at some sort of martial arts tournament.
Announcer: "this film was taken by a spectator at the Gotham Interschool
Women's Karate Tournament so we apologize for the poor quality of the
recording."
The three young women looked at the two gaijin getting ready to fight. Then
the camera swung crazily and a figure that two of the daughters recognized
appeared, surrounded by gun-toting thugs.
"KILLER CROC?!" Nabiki and Akane exclaimed.
"Oh my!" Kasumi didn't want to be left out. "Is that our fiance? He's
very..."
"No," said Soun, grinning as if he'd just won the lottery. "Watch."
One of the seconds hanging to the side of the arena suddenly moved and
started taking out the gunmen, a moment later and the girl who'd been on his
side had leapt the ropes and joined him.
Announcer: "As you can see young Ranma Wayne shows off his skill in martial
arts quickly disarming the gunmen with the assistance of his protege Tifa
Jones."
Nabiki blinked. "Wow. He hits hard enough to hurt Killer Croc?"
"I could do that," said Akane, not sounding as confident as she wanted.
Announcer: "You might remember from a story a few years ago that Ranma Wayne
was adopted by Bruce Wayne over ten years ago and was originally named Ranma
Saotome. He plans on studying in his land of origin during his high school
year, though he states that America is his home now. We now go to..."
Soun paused the picture, which was now showing the tall and broadshouldered
muscular youth flattening someone taller and more muscular than himself and
also having thick scales.
"I could do that," repeated Akane sounding less convinced.
Nabiki feasted her eyes on taut muscles, blue eyes, broad shoulders. Then
something registered. "Ranma *Wayne*?! Adopted by BRUCE WAYNE?!"
"Nabiki, you shouldn't shake father like that," chided Kasumi.
Nabiki's eyes were wild. "WAYNE ENTERPRISES?!" Nabiki was waiting for it.
Buff, muscular, studly, well traveled, and likely to inherit at least a tiny
part of Wayne Enterprises. Where was the bad side of being engaged to this
guy?
Soun tried to look beneficient and wise. He didn't quite pull it off. "Yes,
I thought since it is a matter of honor and it involves the dojo, Akane
should be the one engaged but URK!"
"Nabiki, you shouldn't choke father like that," chided Kasumi.
--------
Ranma sat back in his chair and tried to catch a nap. Oh sure, he *could*
have gotten a ride from one of the others. Though he was tired of being a
minor tagalong character. When he'd first become Robin it had been pretty
cool, but being the junior partner had gotten cold.
Oh the fights were good, the usual goon or thug had some good strength and
minor combat training. Occasionally they were really strong or good, and
fighting metahumans had been great for learning new martial arts and coming
up with new techniques. Getting his *own* metahuman abilities in that one
fight had been major cool, but he hadn't a lot of time to experiment with
them. It also wasn't enough to put him to where he was anywhere near able to
spar with Superman. Darn it.
Which was at least part of why he was going to Japan. He was Ranma Wayne,
*not* the kid whose father had sold him to a visiting gaijin to cover a
hospital bill. He had learned more of the Art since becoming Ranma Wayne,
and he'd fought alongside the superheroes of the previous generation. He
wasn't going to reclaim Ranma Saotome, he was going to reinvent Ranma Wayne.
Dick had become Nightwing. Jason had died. Ranma had been the third Robin.
As such he'd gone off with other heroes for a few months here and there,
trying to learn as wide a range of skills as he could. Even with the
Batcycle or Batjet he'd had trouble keeping up with Superman, Superboy, or
the Manhunter. He thought Green Arrow was a pompous ass who relied on a
single trick way too much. Wonder Woman was sometimes difficult to work with
as well.
Wonder Woman's *daughter* on the other hand, was a different kettle of fish.
They were in much the same place, even if they were coming at it from
different angles. She was one of the strongest metas attempting to live a
normal life, and he was from a normal life trying to reach a place in the
strongest. They'd fit in well together and she'd become probably his closest
friend among the League and other heroes.
He might've considered dating her, but Superman had an *entirely* different
attitude about sons-in-law than he did about junior fighting companions,
and, well, Ranma didn't want to disappoint him.
Fear couldn't have had anything to do with it. Nothing at all.
"Enjoying the trip?"
Ranma blinked as he realized the seat on the Wayne Enterprises plane next to
him was suddenly occupied. "Kent?!"
Kent Nelson steepled his hands in front of him. "You require some additional
training in your new abilities."
--------
Ami stretched as she sat at her desk. Math was good. Of course, with a full
moon tonight and no monsters since the entire Doom Tree thing had ground to
a close, Ami was feeling a little restless.
*Breeep!*
Hearing her Mercury Computer trill out an alert brought her fully awake from
a near drowse. Flipping it open she expected to see a youma alert. That
wasn't quite what she got.
"Sailor Mercury, I presume?"
Ami eeeped. When she could recover she recognized the face looking out at
her. "Uhm, Batman? How?"
"I was on monitor duty at the JLA satellite," said Batman in fluent
Japanese. "When Green Lantern came to relieve me I suggested we combine
efforts and contact you?"
"Me?!" Ami tried to think of way out of admitting that she *was* Sailor
Mercury. "Uhm. Well, if you have a message for Sailor Mercury I can try to
get it to her, heh heh."
"Riiight," said the Batman, a faint hint of a trace of a smile almost
appearing on his face. "Robin III is going to be operating over there for at
least a year, and it would be nice if the usual misunderstandings with the
people on the same side didn't occur."
"I see," said Ami, seeing the point. The most recent Robin was around her
age, wasn't he? The one who had worn the odd red chested costume with the
Chinese pants, yet another variant of the earlier Robin costume.
"Of course, he's going to try to come up with a different identity. Much as
Nightwing did before him."
"So how will I know it's him?" Ami paused. "I mean, how will Sailor Mercury
know that he's Robin?"
"Password is 'Knight Takes Rook', he'll know I have been in contact with
Sailor Mercury if he hears that." Batman's eyes narrowed. The superheroes
seemed to get younger and younger nowadays. Ah well, times were changing.
Ami nodded, then sagged as the connection went dead. Her heart was still
racing. Batman? The Justice League? Heroes that had been operating for the
best part of the century: the All Stars, the Justice Society, now the
Justice League.
Ami smiled as she considered the possibility that the next time they faced a
world-destroying evil, they could call in the Marines. Figuratively, of
course.
---------
Ukyo had finished her research and gone back to her grill and cried. The
anger had just drained out of her leaving sorrow.
Ten years of her life down the drain.
The stories had been quite clear when she finally found them, a cross
reference at the library had pulled up the story of one "Ranma
Wayne/Saotome".
Of how a little boy had been thrown repeatedly into a pit of cats. Of how
the boy had been rescued but been reduced to a nearly mindless animalistic
state. Of years of treatment for mental problems before he was able to face
society again. Of a nearly total mental blackout of his youth prior to being
adopted by Bruce Wayne.
The person now calling himself Ranma Wayne wouldn't remember her at all.
He'd died when his father had thrown him into that pit. The tall and
debonair Wayne didn't seem to have much in common with the Ranchan who had
befriended and abandoned her...
Ukyo sniffled, her head coming up as several ideas suddenly gelled in her
head.
First, Ranma might not be able to remember the betrayal, but *Genma* would.
Second, if Ranma Wayne came to Japan, then she could renew her ties with
him. The Ranma that betrayed her was gone. Maybe the Ranma that she had
fallen in love with could be resurrected?
--------
Genma snuck out of the house. Stupid woman. It had been almost ten years
ago, why resurrect such painful (for him anyway) memories? The news merely
indicated that at last he would be able to reclaim his wayward son and begin
retraining him in the Anything Goes style. Then he'd marry the boy off to
one of Soun's daughters and be set for life!
It wasn't like some prissy little spoiled rich boy could stand up to him.
Also Genma would have access to that Wayne Enterprises money.
Nodoka was not only holding the regrettable loss of her son earlier against
him, but his inability to produce any further heirs. It wasn't his fault!
No, it was Wayne-san for taking Ranma away after Genma had sold Ranma to
him! It was that damn priest who had found him while Genma was just stealing
a few yen to cover expenses who had hit some sort of shiatsu impotence
point.
Nodoka didn't understand him. She also didn't understand that some little
slip of paper (restraining order) would not keep Genma from reuniting the
family! Once Ranma was married to one of Soun's daughters, the two of them
(Soun and Genma) would be set for life and all their suffering to get to
this point would be rewarded!
It was obvious really. Genma was right, as usual. It was just that others
stubbornly refused to acknowledge it. That's all.
------
Sailor Pluto checked the timestream, found the changes about to go out of
control and said something very unpleasant.
Then she looked again in more detail.
In *that* timestream there, Chibiusa was not stuck as a child. Chibiusa was
instead Usagi II, but a more poised and self-confident Princess.
There, that was the usually morose Sailor Venus wallowing in periodic
self-pity over her lack of ability to develop a relationship with *anyone*
cute guy or not. Except that there she had a pleased smile and a... bulging
tummy?!
There was the Dark Moon kingdom, except that instead of trying to conquer
Crystal Tokyo this was a peaceful delegation?!
Sailor Pluto looked over the timestream and noted that there were several
ways to get there from here. All centered around this boy and him entering a
relationship with one of the Scouts.
More study turned up the pattern. If Ranma Wayne married one of the Inner
Scouts (or some girl with violet eyes she didn't immediately recognize
though she was fast forwarding through a lot of scenes) then Crystal Tokyo
would come about slowly and only by accepting new nation-states into a sort
of hegemony. The result was a less static but healthier world. No great
freeze.
If Ranma Wayne married anyone else (though there were a few cases where he
married an Inner *and* someone else that ended up in the new possibility)
then it either ended up with the old Crystal Tokyo or it ended up with no
Crystal Tokyo at all. Then there was the one where he was engaged to *that*
girl and humanity died because that girl was offered power, took it, and
became a soulless monster that her fiance defended anyway.
Sailor Pluto, Senshi of Time, stood back and wondered. She had been geased
to protect Crystal Tokyo. No matter how much she disliked doing certain
things, she'd end up doing them if it would strengthen the chances for
Crystal Tokyo.
Should she go for Crystal Tokyo or this new version? Traditional or one
which would make more people happy? Original recipe or honey BBQ?
Setsuna Meiou frowned slightly. She ought to get some food while thinking
this over.
-------
With Kent Nelson returned to his tower, Ranma could get some quiet.
He wanted to try out these new tricks, but wouldn't be able to until at last
the plane set down. A small plane wasn't the right place for this sort of
thing.
That and he still hadn't decided on a new name. Nightwing was already taken.
He kinda liked the Bat motif, but that would just be following Batman's
legacy and he wanted to step out on his own. Maybe if Bruce completely
retired he could be the *new* Batman.
Of course, Wonder Woman's purple ray device meant that the JLA members who
used it could live a lot longer than might otherwise be guessed. Still,
Batman *was* getting on there in years.
The problem was that neither the dark and brooding of Batman or (to a lesser
extent) Nightwing really was Ranma's thing. The attitude wasn't his, despite
the three having nasty origins. Bruce and Dick had both lost their parents
due to a murderer. Ranma had merely been abandoned by his mother and
tortured before being sold off by his father. Maybe that was why he didn't
have this dark flame of vengeance burning within his heart.
On the other hand he didn't have the same attitude or tendencies of *any* of
the JLA members he'd occasionally worked or just crossed paths with. The
Creeper was, well, creepy. Sort of a good guy Joker who didn't seem quite
all there. Green Lantern was a cop. Doctor Fate and the Phantom Stranger
were kind of weird, Ranma had been known to dabble in weird himself but
those two had taken the plunge into full blown strangeness. Wonder Woman
came across as patronizing and still had a little of that "mere male human"
attitude towards him. Green Arrow- no thank you. Black Canary was OK, but
she had her own share of "prove she's just as tough as any of the guys"
thing that tended to make her abrasive. Of course with GA and BC, this was
also mixed in with a bit of the "I'm too damn old for this." Both GA and BC
had been active in the 60s.
Martian Manhunter was OK, but sometimes let that alienness of his go loose
and you were wondering exactly how serious he was about some of the stuff
he'd do. He never quite got the concept of American humor. Plastic Man was
drooping a bit, but he *was* over seventy years old now. Nobody there whose
portfolio Ranma wanted to take over if it came down to it, even if he wanted
to be some second generation version.
As for the Titans, they were all out to follow in the footsteps of the JLA.
Ranma wasn't sure he wanted to even that.
If it came to *anyone* he'd go after for being a Hero II or III, he'd have
chosen one of the JSA members. He *was* pretty Terrific, if he did say so
himself.
The idea would be that he'd go to High School here in Japan to finish those
years, meet up with some Japanese superheroes, compare notes and explore
that part of his heritage. Then maybe hit an American business school.
They'd decided that one of the best bets would be for Ranma to use his dual
citizenship and manage some company in Japan. Take a break for a few years
to establish a business in Japan with Wayne Enterprises helping out
financially. The company would be a Wayne company, but he'd be the chairman
and be able to prove or disprove whether he could do anything with it.
Though he was having enough trouble trying to decide on a new heroic
identity. Maybe something that utilized his meta-powers though those had
been gotten accidently during that mess with the Dominators and he wasn't
exactly practiced with them.
Whatever he called himself, "the boy wonder" part *had* to go.
--------
Meanwhile, in Tokyo, an American supervillain had recently gotten a clue. A
very rare occurrance to be sure.
Show up in America, and superheroes would come crawling out of the woodwork
to stop you. Go to New York, Metropolis, Gotham, Central City, or just about
any major city and you faced some sort of costumed crimefighter. The problem
with this was that they were all experienced, they had a tendency to win
fights, and they were known to be able to get allies dropping in on them
whenever you'd managed to put together a plan that exploited a single hero's
weaknesses.
Where else to go?
Great Britain spoke English (a plus) but had all sorts of treaties. If their
own heroes couldn't handle the situation, American heroes could jump in.
Placing you in the same situation you'd been in prior to crossing over the
Atlantic.
Australia spoke English too, had no such agreement, but was generally
perceived as poor pickings for any major supervillain. That didn't mean it
was removed from consideration, merely lowered on the list.
Japan had no such agreement either, though they spoke Japanese, had odd
writing, and seemed to be particularly unfriendly as a people. Polite
though. The superheroes that they *had* were all inexperienced young girls
and a few male martial artist types. Oh, and Doctor Light though she had
apparently retired.
So this American supervillain had taken his idea to a few others similarly
afflicted. Tokyo had connections. Tokyo was like New York or Metropolis in
that there were a lot of people and a lot of money. Tokyo's main defenders
were inexperienced in fighting supervillains and the like. Tokyo had
organized crime from where they could recruit thugs and minions easily.
Which brought the Mad Hatter (among others) to Japan. Superior Girl thought
it had possibilities. There were a couple of others who'd gone along with
the idea. Neither Poison Ivy or Harlequinn cared for Japan, much less
working with the others, but *did* think the idea of working out of the
country had possibilities.
Knowing that Japan would be helpless before them, the first priority was to
use a self-hypnosis device to teach themselves the language. Soon, very
soon, they would be ready to strike.
=============
just a possibility for the "Spring Of Drowned Hero" replacement.
What meta-human power does Ranma have? i *do* have two ideas on this that
might work out, but if someone has a better idea than Chosen Of Bastet or
Ki-Mage...
*Will Ranma find himself allied with the Senshi or will Uranus and Neptune
manage to alienate him?
*Will Soun succeed in marrying Ranma off to Akane?
*Will Nabiki re-invent herself in order to become a contender?
*Will Kasumi break the odds?
*What is Ranma's meta-human "enhancement"?
*Will Genma and/or Nodoka succeed in kidnapping Ranma "for his own good"?
*Will Ryoga show up without having ever had any bread stolen from him?
*Will Shampoo be part of the group of husband-hunting Amazons?
*What of Ukyo? Will she become Spatgirl or is that too much of a stretch to
see her in a tight bodysuit?
*Can an Americanized Ranma fit into modern Japan?
*Will i ever write a second chapter?
*Will i come up with a better title?
oh well, just a thought.
ADDENDUM: Andrew Norris has taken over this idea and will be running with
the concept. Good luck, Drew!
-----------
"What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?" Jean-Jacques
Rousseau
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