Yo, here is the first part of a fic I've had kicking around for quite some
time. I'm just trolling for general reaction to what I've got so far, good,
bad, in character, out of character, etc. So here it is...

(note: this has no relation to Ranma/Genration X X-Change students.)
(double note: I will happily take any sort of suggestions for a better title.)
(triple and final note: For x-men afficianados this takes place sometime
before x-men 25)

Ranma and the X-Men


	Things looked bad. 
	That was the number one thought that the X-Man and mutant known as
Wolverine had in his mind. He was standing in a back alley in Tokyo, Japan,
warily watching for any signs of pursuit. He stood guard at the mouth of an
alley that the X-Men had ducked into to catch their breath; shooting a
glance over his shoulder he regarded his comrades gravely. Rouge was o.k.
after all, it took a lot to hurt Rouge, but Beast was beginning to get a
little winded. And no small wonder considering his load, the bleeding and
battered forms of Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops, and Remy LeBeau, a.k.a.
Gambit. And Psylocke, well Psylocke was missing. That was why the X-Men
were even in Japan, to find her. And apparently somebody knew it, because
no sooner had the X-Men touched down and started looking for her then they
had been ambushed by the Hand. Wolverine padded back to the four and
grunted as he took in the wounds on Cyclops and Gambit. In the running
fight with the Hand, he hadn't been able to pay attention, but now.......
He shook his head, knowing that he had to get the X-Men to someplace safe,
and soon, else Cyclops and Gambit both might not see the next dawn.
	Rouge looked down at Wolverine apprehensively as he knelt by Gambit and
asked in a bit of a hesitant voice, "How are they, sugah?"
	"Not good," he grated, "Cajun's losing too much blood, Cyke got stuck
right through the gut. They'll be o.k. with help, but they need help now."
Wolverine rose and looked at Beast, "How you holding up McCoy?"
	Hank McCoy regarded his diminutive teammate gravely and spoke in his rich,
Oxford accent, "Well enough, Wolverine. I've got a bit of a stitch in my
side and a few mild lacerations, but nothing to stop me from being able to
carry our two comrades to the closest available aid. You, being much more
familiar with both the territory and the burdens of leadership can take on
the mantle of guide and leader and show the way to said aid." He held a
hand to his left side and was breathing heavily, and Wolverine could read
the pain in that blue - furred face but he simply nodded in reply to Hanks
words.
	Rouge nodded once, deferring to Wolverine, her gaze still on Remy's still
form.
	"Well, load 'em up, McCoy, the sooner the better."
	Beast, with Rouge's aid, placed the wounded men on his shoulders, drawing
a gasp and moan from both of the unconscious X-Men. "I trust you have a
place to lead us too?" Hank asked, suggestively.
	Wolverine nodded, "Yup. Hospital's out, too obvious. And Yukio is out of
the country right now, but I got an old friend in the Nerima district, not
to far. Fastest way would be if Rouge provided lift and we go by air. You
below, me above."
	Rouge nodded at Wolverine's plan and moved behind Beast while Wolverine
moved behind her. "All set?" she asked as Wolverine encircled his arms
around her neck. After receiving a terse yes from both of her comrades, she
took off, carrying the Beast with two hands under his shoulders while
Wolverine rode on her back. "Where we going, Wolvie?" Rouge shouted back at
him as they flew along in the air.
	"Keep going east, toward Nerima business district." He pointed one arm in
front of her and she sighted down his finger to a collection of lights and
buildings. "We're looking for a place called the Cat Cafe, it's a
restaurant! I know the owner."
    	Rouge felt a terse smile on her face as she shook her head and just
asked aloud in wonder,"Sugah, you sure do seem to have a lot of old friends."
	She didn't hear Wolverines low, amused, reply, "Yeah, and this one's a lot
older than most."

					*	*	*

	Cologne cocked her head towards the roof. She looked around her room,
shrugged and decided to not even try to go to sleep. She didn't sleep much
anyway. As she pogoed towards the stairs, riding on her everpresent staff,
she idly wondered if the muffled thump she had heard was Shampoo. If so,
she thought to herself, granddaughter and I are going to have several
conversations. One on coming in at a decent hour, and another on working on
her stealth. After all, she smiled as she neared the door; it doesn't pay
to sneak into a place if one couldn't do so quietly. As she neared the
door, she slowed and paused. It felt like.....
	"This isn't Shampoo," she muttered to herself, "and it's not Mousse
either...." she trailed off, and for a split second considered discretion
in what she was about to do. She refused to admit it to anyone, but she was
getting on in the years, and no longer enjoyed fighting as she once did. It
seemed to take more and more out of her, each time. She angrily shook her
head and chased such thoughts away. She was a full blooded, experienced
Amazon warrior. Just because she didn't have her granddaughter or her
half-blind waiter to help her, there was very little in this world that
could stop her. She threw the door open and stormed onto the roof, ready
for anything. 
	Anything except what was gathered in front of her.
One would have thought that after the experiences Cologne had in her life,
nothing would faze her, but the sudden appearance of two unconscious,
bleeding men, a tall American woman with dual colored hair, a short, darkly
dressed man, and a blue furred creature, did just that. Her battle aura
disappeared as she took in the presence of the five strangely clad
individuals in front of her. After a lifetime of combat, she knew when
someone wanted a fight and these people wanted no part of one. As a matter
of fact, they looked like they had been on the receiving end of one. As she
levelly scanned the group she simply asked,"Why are you here?" 
	The short individual in the center returned her gaze just as evenly as the
woman and blue furred man looked on. Reaching up, he pushed back his mask
and Cologne felt a shock of recognition.
	"Hiya Cologne. Sorry to barge in like this, but we need some help."
	Cologne bounded forward and gestured toward the stairs. "Logan, old
friend, my home is yours. What is going on? What do you need?"
	Logan gestured toward his fellow X-Men, "I got two severe, one minor, and
one tired."
	Cologne nodded at his terse words, "Yes, yes, bring them downstairs, I'll
get my things." She bounded back towards her room, putting her questions in
the back of her mind.

	Logan led the way, lifting Cyclops and carefully carrying him down the
stairway. Rouge followed with Gambit as Beast stumbled behind them. Cologne
was already in the main room of the cafe, clearing tables and setting up
piles of herbs and bandages. Logan laid his burden out on one table, a
flash of sympathy going across his face as Cyclops let loose with low moan.
Across from him, Gambit was mumbling to Rouge, trying to convince her that
he was fine. Beast collapsed into a chair and sat still, trying to catch
his breath.
	Cologne clucked and poked at the two semi-conscious forms and began to do
what she could to help them. "So, " she stated, placing herbs, rinsing
wounds and doing her best to bandage the two men, "What happened to you?"
	Logan shooed Rouge away from Gambits side, sternly pointing at Beast and
letting her know that he wanted her to see if he needed anything. Rouge
looked at him unhappily but moved to McCoy's side. He heard the two begin
to speak in low tones as he took in Gambit's form and began to help
Cologne. "Logan...." Beast's voice came from over his shoulder. Wolverine
waved a hand, "We got it McCoy, let Rouge take a look at that side of
yours, we need to make sure none of the blood in your fur is yours." Beast
subsided and sat back.
	"We landed in Japan less then two hours ago, looking for a friend. Next
thing we know, we're neck deep in Hand. We handed out worse then we took,
but still..." Logan looked unhappily at his friends while he talked to
Cologne.
"Well, don't feel to bad Logan, we all get surprised, even you. You know as
well as I do that bad luck IS a factor. And don't worry about your masked
friend here," Cologne pointed at Cyclops, "He really needs some blood and
so does the other one, but I've done all I can and he should be ok. Three
thousand years of Chinese Amazon combat builds a healthy store of Chinese
Amazon Cures for injuries just like this. Can we afford to call someone if
he can be trusted?"
	Wolverine considered it and nodded, "If whoever you have in mind can do a
housecall and can keep his mouth shut, yeah."
	Cologne smiled, "Dr.Tofu is quite used to treating difficult to explain,
combat related injuries." She turned her head and called out,  "You there,
skunk hair."
	Rouge looked up, a bit taken aback by the way Cologne referred to her.
	"Go out in the hall and fetch me the phone."
	Rouge looked at Wolverine, who simply nodded. She stood up from where she
had been sitting by Beast and headed for the hallway.
	Cologne returned her attention to Wolverine. "How long has it been anyway?
You've never once dropped by after I sent you my letter saying we'd opened
here."
	Wolverine shrugged kind of guiltily, "Been a bit busy. And I guess the
last time was back in '48 when you left Madripoor. Remember?"
	"Of course," Cologne laughed, "Back then you called me Seraph." The two
smiled at the old memories. "So Logan, are these your friends, the X-Men?
I heard about them, but I don't really keep up with the hero scene. We
heard about you the last time you all came to Japan but that's about it."
	Wolverine nodded and spoke up, "Yep, the two guys you just saved are
Gambit and Cyclops," he pointed at each one in turn, "Thanks for taking us
in, by the way."
	"Don't mention it," Cologne shrugged. She nodded at Beast, "Who's the rug
and the girl?"
	"That's Hank McCoy, and the girl goes by the name Rouge."
	Beast gave a tired wave from where he sat, too exhausted to even twitch at
the rug comment. The two moved to his side, leaving Gambit and Cyclops to
sleep where they were. 
	Wolverine approached his friend, "How you holding up McCoy?"
	"Well, " he replied,"After Rouge's inspection, I have to admit to being
the owner of some of the blood that is currently on the outside of my body.
I seem to have a slight cut on my left side."
	Cologne poked at Henry with her cane and motioned for him to lift his arm.
After he complied, she peered at the gash in his side; bounded back to the
table of supplies and applied a medicine soaked bandage to it. After a
moments pause, she leaned back and poked Henry in the chest. McCoy inhaled
sharply and then released his breath in a great whoosh.
	"Why thank you madame," he said, hesitantly rubbing his hand over the area
she had pressed. "I feel much better now. Shiatsu pressure point?" he asked.
	'He's good, Logan, I'm impressed."
	At this point Rouge came in with the phone. "Ahh, here ya go......a....
ma'am."
	"The name is Cologne, dear, and thank you." Cologne took the phone and
began to dial Tofu's number.
	"Ya got any beers around here, Co?" Logan asked, looking around. 
	Cologne pointed, "In the back in the kitchen."
	Logan nodded his thanks and began heading toward the back. "You two want
something?" he asked over his shoulder.
	"Just water, Logan, "Henry said, and at Rouge's nod, "Make that two!!"
	Logan returned in a short while, holding a Kirin beer and two glasses of
water. Cologne looked up from the phone. "He's not answering, he's probably
asleep, so I'll just keep calling till the rings wake him up."Logan nodded
absently, sat down and downed half the beer in one pull. He sighed
contentedly.
	"Who's your missing friend?" Cologne asked quizzically.
	"Lady ninja on the team. Name 'o Psylocke." He leaned forward and looked
at his old friend. "You still keep your ear to the ground?"
	"I'm fairly well informed." She shook her head at the phone. "If my
granddaughter were here, I'd send her to go get the Doctor, but she's been
out all day and that idiot waiter of mine is out as well, probably trying
to find her."
	"Well, our missing member is a pretty good fighter. Came into town to take
care of some personal business couple days ago. Didn't call, didn't write.
So we showed." Wolverine took another pull at his beer.
	"Well," Cologne said expectently,"what does she look like? Maybe I could
have some people look while your friends lick their wounds." 
	"Well, it kinda be tough to miss her, she's about 5'10", good figure, good
moves, purple hair..."
*thunk*
	Everybody started as Cologne dropped the phone. "Purple hair?" she asked.
	Wolverine leaned forward again, "Yeah, why?" he frowned puzzedly.
	"My granddaughter...." Cologne whispered weakly. Purple haired warrior
missing.... Shampoo gone all day with no word..... Cologne had been around
long enough that she no longer believed in coincidence. She started and
bent down and retrieved the phone. Quickly dialing in a new number, she
stood with anxious intensity praying for someone to wake up and pick up the
phone. A sleepy voice came over the line....
	"Tendo dojo...?"
	"Ah, Mr. Tendo, I need to speak with Ranma, this is Cologne."
	"Ahh , Cologne, Ranma, yes, well..... do you know what time it is?"
	"Yes, yes, " she snapped "do you think I would have called if it wasn't
important?"
	"Yes well,..... hold on."
	Cologne waited as she heard the phone being set down and footsteps in the
distance. After hearing what might have been several muffled shouts, she
heard a new set of steps approaching.
	"Yeah...." came Ranma's voice, thick with sleep.
	"Son-in-law.....Ranma.... have you seen Shampoo today?"
	It may have been the urgency in her question, or the fact that she had
retracted the son-in-law and referred to him by his name, but Ranma
suddenly seemed to be a bit more aware.
	"Shampoo... no, as a matter of fact, I was kinda wondering where she was.
Mousse stopped by here a coupla hours ago, looking for her."
	Cologne paused for a moment and looked at the ground..... she straightened
her head and spoke firmly.
	"Ranma, I need you to come to the Cafe, fetch Dr.Tofu on your way here and
have him bring supplies to treat two men for combat injuries, also, if you
see your friend Ryoga, get him as well."
	"Huh?" Ranma asked, "What's going on?"
	"There are some people here who need a doctor and I'm beginning to think
that Shampoo maybe in trouble somewhere."
	"Uhhhh, are you serious?"
	"Deadly serious boy, deadly serious."
	"O.K., I guess I'm on my way." 
With that final statement, Ranma hung up the phone, not waiting for a
goodbye. Cologne noted to herself with relief that he had sounded totally
alert and awake with his final sentence. She returned the X-Men's quizzical
looks and answered their unasked questions.
"My granddaughter has been missing all day long. She is an exceptional
warrior, and," she paused to gather herself, "she has purple hair. At
first, I attributed her being out all day to her own business, but now…"
she trailed off uncertainly.
Beast half raised his hand, "Coincidence?" he asked suggestively.
Cologne threw him a look of disgust, but before she could reply Wolverine
shook his head.
"C'mon, McCoy, you should now that in our business, there ain't no such
animal." He took another pull from his beer and redirected his gaze towards
Cologne. "Who was that you called?"
"A young warrior who my granddaughter is infatuated with. Probably the best
martial artist in the city."	
"How old?" Wolverine tersely asked.
Cologne shifted just a bit uncomfortably. "Seventeen."
Wolverine shook his head and finished his beer. "I don't like working with
kids, Co."
Cologne waved her hand, as if to fan away his protests. "He and his
companions are young, but they are extremely talented. They know the area
and they are a force to be reckoned with."
Wolverine shrugged in acceptance, "It's not like I have a lot of choices.
McCoy doesn't have much experience operating in Japan, and I'd want to
leave him here with Cyke and Gambit anyway." He held up a placating hand
before Beast could protest. "It's not cuz I'd think of you as a liability,
but I wouldn't want to leave these two alone.  Rouge and I have worked
Tokyo before, but I'll take all the backup I can get." Beast nodded wearily
while Rouge smiled, remembering how she and Wolverine had shaken the town
up before.
Cologne nodded her head with finality, "Very good then, Ranma and his
friends should soon be here. You should take this time to rest, perhaps to
eat?"
Rouge raised an arm, "Pardon me ma'am, but ah think I could use a shower."
Beast smiled and added, "Some food would be highly appreciated."
Cologne gestured to Rouge, "You can use the bathroom that's up the stairs
and to the left. I'll get some rice and noodles on." Cologne pogoed into
the kitchen and began to fire up the stove and set up food for preparation,
Rouge disappeared up the stairs while Wolverine helped himself to another
beer. Beast sat back and tried to catch some rest. 
Soon after Rouge returned, and the X-Men were digging into their food,
there was a knock at the door. Cologne put down her pipe which she had
anxiously been puffing on and bounced away to answer it.



*	*	*	*


	Things looked bad.
	That was the number one thought that the martial artist and Tokyo resident
known as Ranma Saotome had on his mind. He stood in the main dining room of
the Cat Café warily gazing upon the motley assortment of individuals around
him. Shooting a glance around the room, he assessed said individuals
gravely. Besides the five costumed superheroes, he stood among those that
he would call his closest friends and enemies. Beside him stood Ryoga
Hibiki. Ranma had managed to corner P-Chan in the Tendo dojo and get some
hot water on him and had told him the situation. Akane, who was standing to
his left, was still darkly staring at Ranma, still suspicious of the sudden
disappearance of her pet pig. Dr. Onu Tofu was quietly working over the two
unconscious forms of Cyclops and Gambit with some assistance being rendered
by the X-Man known as Beast. And by a large stroke of luck, they had run
into Mousse on the way to the Café and had brought him along to hear
exactly what Cologne had to say.
	The five had arrived only a few minutes earlier and had been quite taken
aback by the appearance of Colognes guests. Dr. Tofu had immediately gone
to work and had started some portable i.v.'s. Cologne had passed out
introductions and the two groups had started to compare notes. 
	Ranma held up his hands and tried to lay things out, "So what you're
saying is that one of your teammates is missing, right?" At Wolverines
affirmative nod, Ranma continued, "and you," he turned to Cologne, "are
telling us that Shampoo is missing." Again, an affirmative headshake, this
time punctuated by Mousse. "And they both have purple hair?"
	"Yup, that about sums it up, boy." Logan's gravely voice stated. "Now the
questions we got to answer are where are they? Who took 'em? And why? Then
we got to figure out what to do about it. We know the Hand's involved,
other than that, we don't have much in the way of information."
	Ranma shrugged helplessly, "Don't ask me man, evil ninja clans and stuff
is a little out of my league. I'm just here because it sounds like one of
my friends might be in trouble."
	Wolverine shook his head, "Looks like we have to find out the hard way."
To answer the inquisitive looks he received from the teenagers, the short
Canadian grinned and pounded his right fist into his left hand. "We go out
and ask politely." He popped his knuckles suggestively.
	Ranma and Ryoga both grinned at Wolverine's demeanor. "Sounds like a plan
to me, Wolverine-sensei," Ryoga said. "Where do we go?"
	Wolverine grinned again, "Just follow my lead kid. And just call me
Logan." He turned to Cologne and jerked a thumb over his shoulder, "You
know what kind of stuff I'm going to go do, which of these kids can hang?
I'm going to take Rouge with me, she's done this stuff before and she
understands enough Japanese to get by. McCoy is a little too obvious for my
taste."
	Cologne nodded thoughtfully and stroked her chin, "Tell me Logan, do the
other three understand Japanese?" she gestured to Beast and the two
unconscious X-Men.
	Before Logan could respond, Henry spoke in fluent, slightly accented
Japanese, "I do Madame, and the one in the coat knows a smattering, but I
believe my fearless leader is a bit in the dark."
	Cologne nodded again, "Good enough." She turned to face Logan and the
others. "I'd say take Ranma, Ryoga, and Mousse. If you and the skunk-hair
are fairly fluent then you five can get along fine. It's my understanding
that Akane's English is the best among the youths so she can help here."
When it looked as if Akane would protest Cologne continued, placatingly,
"Need I remind you that there are injured people here and there is no
guarantee that their enemies might find them. They'll need some defense."
	Akane nodded reluctantly. "Hai," she paused as a thought came to her,
"Maybe we could also call Ukyou. Her English is pretty good and she could
help out also."
	Cologne nodded and Akane slipped into the back to find a phone after
giving Ranma a hard look.
	Dr. Tofu rose from where he was working on Cyclops and Gambit. "Now that
I've got some plasma into them, they'll be fine. They ought to be waking up
fairly soon, they'll probably be very hungry." He turned to Logan and
Ranma, "As much as I'd like to help you, though, I feel I need to stay
here, in case there are any complications."
	Logan and Ranma both nodded, one relieved that his friends would be under
a doctor's care, the other relieved that there would be someone to back up
Akane and Ukyou. At that moment, Akane returned from the back.
	"Ukyou sounded a little mad to get woken up at this hour, but I explained
things and she said she'll be on her way."
	Ranma looked up at that and noted the time on a nearby wallclock. "Oh
yeah, its almost three in the morning. Where are we gonna find information?"
	Wolverine smiled, "You know where to look and how to ask, you can always
find information." He looked at the three young martial artists and added,
"Now we're going to be busting some heads and shaking some people down over
the next few hours, do any of you guys have any problems with that?" There
were a series of looks exchanged among the three and then a shaking of
heads negatively. "We're also going to be threatening and intimidating some
people, you guys have any experience at that?"
	The answer to Wolverine's question came immediately. Mousse pulled out two
scimitars while Ryoga casually reached over and yanked one of the stools
that were bolted to the ground off of the floor. Ranma smirked, "Oh, we're
pretty good. As a matter of fact, on that one, I might ask you that
question, Logan-san."
	* snikt *
	Three gleaming metal blades popped out of each of Wolverine's hands as a
feral grin flashed across his face. "Yeah kid, I think I'm pretty good
myself."
	Cologne grinned as the Ranma crew stared in awe. Wolverine started for the
door, and retracted his claws in mid step. Reaching the door he held it
open with one hand, gesturing into the night with the other. "Let's go,
people."



*	*	*	*