Survivor... Sort of.
By: Bob the Almighty
Disclaimer: Someone else copyrights almost every single character and place and I mean him or her no disrespect by writing about their characters and ideas. This is a piece of fanfiction loosely based on the television series 'Survivor' and the novel 'The Lord of the Flies'. Very loosely based.
Note: This is also the very first time I've actually written a massive anime, video-game, and live action TV series crossover without creating the entire cast from scratch and just using the settings. I hope it's entertaining.
Chapter One: Plots and Intros
In the deepest, darkest corner of New York City stands a building. Actually there are several buildings, lots even, but this one was special. This building was the home of an evil greater then Hitler, more viscous then school children… a television station. CBA or Chaos Broadcasting Avocation was ABC's evil side, a darker, grittier sub-division. The CBA was the source of numerous thriller movies, bad news, and heart-wrenching dramas: just like any other station from the outside, but from the inside…. ABC took credit for the shows produced but the actual dark details were left to the hands of the CBA.
The balding TV producer frowned at his Idea Making Person in disapproval, "We need better ratings. A whole new show. Something realistic. Survivor was good but… the show has lost it novelty. We need something people will watch, similar to Survivor but more…." The I.M.P. smirked, "Yes, you need something unexpected… Survivor with real danger, less civilization…. With players who don't know they are playing a game." The TV producer's eyes widened and he nodded reverently; this new I.M.P. was good at this. "Yes, yes. Kind of like one of those science fiction shows. Get random people and stick them on an island but…" The I.M.P. smiled mysteriously, "Don't tell these people anything…. Kidnap them out of their homes or off the streets…. Knock them out with a sleeping spe- gas. They'll wake up on the island all unknowing." The producer stared at the purple haired man they had sent him with a mixture of shock and… excitement. "Of course we would have to do something about the families of the… players. It wouldn't do to have the public find out their new favorite characters are real people after all." The I.M.P. continued to smile his plans not disturbed in the slightest, "Of course Mr. Jarikesi I'll take care of that personally…. And the players themselves as well… I have a new bit of… technology that will do just the thing." The TV producer, Mr. Jarikesi, was obviously surprised that the I.M.P. knew his name; even he had stopped referring to himself as anything other the TV producer long ago. Still, such a thing could be forgiven if the I.M.P. could do what he said… if only he didn't have such an infuriating smile all the time, and did this guy ever open his eyes? The I.M.P. continued as if aware of Jarikesi's thoughts, " As for the island itself, some of the 'randomly' picked people I'd like to choose are more then capable of attempting and probably succeeding in escaping." Jarikesi frowned and opened his mouth but before he could say anything the I.M.P. interrupted, "How-ever, I have another piece of technology that will create an invisible barrier around the island… say in a five km radius all around. A powerful barrier too… from the outside it will just appear to be a barren rock, so no rescue for the 'castaways' until the 'plot' calls for it." Jarikesi was astounded; never before had any I.M.P. suggested anything so…. Wonderfully Evil… and his offices were situated in New York. He wasn't sure exactly how the purple haired man had gotten this… technology that he spoke of, but somehow Jarikesi knew the I.M.P. was telling the truth. "What about the danger?" He asked suddenly, "You mentioned real danger." The I.M.P. continued to smile oh so infuriatingly, "That is… taken care of as well. I have a… friend who can supply a variety of different… beasts for the island. Dangerous to the normal person but… the people I intend to 'randomly choose' aren't exactly normal per-se. Oh, they are normal enough for viewers to sympathize with them… They are just more capable of… taking care of themselves them the average huma- person." Jarikesi nodded, a bit uncertain, obviously at least some of the people who the I.M.P. wanted to 'randomly choose', weren't going to be chosen randomly in the slightest. "Wait a minute. If these people are so… capable, then is there any chance of viewers recognizing them?" This time he was sure he'd found a hole in the I.M.P.'s plot but instead of the disappointment he expected, the man just smirked more. "That too is covered. You see these people are extremely recognizable… in their own worlds that is. Here, they don't even exist past a figment of some artist's imagination." Jarikesi's jaw dropped; own worlds? Artist's imagination? "Are you saying we use fictional characters for our show… like a child's cartoon… but wait that wouldn't make any sense…" The I.M.P. stood and the TV producer was shocked by the absolute confidence he showed, "Not at all Mr. Jarikesi. You see these people are real, they just aren't of this particular world. Oh, some of them are for an Earth but not this one. Think parallel worlds and other dimensions." Jarikesi opened his mouth to protest but was cut off as the I.M.P. produced a map out of nowhere and began pointing out suitable islands for the… game. It seemed he had no choice but to comply with this… Jarikesi knew that somehow he had lost control over this project before it had even begun. If this new show were as popular as he thought it would be though… everything would be worth it.
Hours latter, the entire plan had been laid out, an island had been chosen and the I.M.P. had given promises that the technology to keep the… players in would be set as soon as the cameras were installed. The cameras themselves… the I.M.P. had given him enough to cover the entire island twice over; they looked normal but somehow Jarikesi knew they were different somehow. "The island should be completely set up in about two weeks then…. What about the players then?" The I.M.P. was still smiling, "Oh yes. I intend to follow them around for a bit first… get some footage of their daily lives for the shows' intro. I'll even give you some nice character profiles. I can have them on the island in three weeks so you have one week to make sure everything is in place and working…. And make sure there is absolutely no trace of anyone ever being there. We can't have our vict… er players finding out what has happened to them too early… Oh and I'll be releasing the 'beasts' onto the island sometime during that last week so you'd better have all your people off or…"
The I.M.P. stood up and started towards the door, "Well, I'm off to stalk some victims er players!" Suddenly Jarikesi realized something, "Wait!" The I.M.P. paused, hand on the door handle, "Hmm?" Jarikesi stood, "You never told me your name…" Turning around to face him, the I.M.P. waved a gloved finger, "That, Mr. Jarikesi, is a secret." With that said he exited, leaving a very stunned TV producer staring at the door as it slammed shut. Briefly he wondered just what he had gotten himself into but the word 'ratings' kept popping up whenever he began to try to feel guilty. As he thought it over later, Jarikesi decided that the best thing about this new show was that he wasn't going to get into any trouble for it since the people being kidnapped weren't even from his world. Not once did he think to wonder exactly how capable the 'players' were or whether or not they had any powerful friends.
Outside of Jarikesi's television studio, Xellos Mettalium shrugged off the illusion of modern businessman to return to his normal guise of fantasy-style mysterious priest. He was still smiling as he opened a portal in the middle of the street and left the world for another. The various passerbyers who'd witnessed this just shrugged and continued whatever they were doing. This was New York after all and who were they to meddle in the business of an obviously powerful super villain or hero?
Far away, in another universe altogether, on another Earth not too dissimilar to the one he'd just left, Xellos appeared on top of a several storied high school building just in time to watch the arrival of his first victim. 'Ah, here he comes, and it seemed as if he's a she today; how fun!' Smiling, Xellos took out a video camera and began filming.
"Pigtailed Goddess!" *Wham, Thwack* "Gahk." As usual, the idiot kendoist, Tatawaki Kuno, was down for the count before he could even get close enough to grope Ranma's girl-form. "I wish you wouldn't encourage him Ranma." This came from one of Ranma's three main fiancées, Akane Tendo, who according to Ranma's father Genma Saotome, had the most viable claim on him. The fact that neither of them got along in the slightest didn't help matters, but both of their fathers ignored this, and one of Akane's two elder sisters actually used it for her own schemes. "Encourage him!" He announced in exasperation, "I'd sooner jump off a cliff. Jeez you are so kawaii-kune…" *Thwack* Going purple Akane brought her book bag down on Ranma's head. Hard. "Ranma no Baka!" Unfortunately, along with his Jusenkyo sex-changing curse, Ranma was also cursed with the gift of speaking before thinking. He was just lucky Akane was in a good mood today; otherwise he'd be heading towards the Tendo dojo via Akane Airlines instead of sprawled on the ground in a Takahashi pain pose.
And so another day began in the Ranmaverse. If another super powered martial artist didn't show up the day would be quite predictable. Ranma might manage to get through the first few classes without insulting Akane and getting malleted into low-earth-orbit again but his luck wouldn't last past noon. At lunchtime Akane would try to feed Ranma some of her poisoned food, he'd refuse to eat it and get hit into the stratosphere. Or one or both of his other fiancées would arrive with lunch for him, he'd accept, end up insulting Akane's cooking and get hit into the stratosphere. Or the said fiancées would start a fight with Akane or each other, their respective obsessed suitors would show up and attack Ranma, and eventually Ranma would end up flying through the sky again. Or a challenger or rival of Ranma's would show up and start a fight resulting in Ranma somehow insulting Akane's fighting skills…. Sometimes all of the above happened, once in a blue moon only one of the above happened; either way, Ranma almost always ended up taking involuntary flying lessons. Oh, and during all this, Ranma's curse would be activated at least ten times turning him into her. After lunch Ranma would make his way back to the Tendo dojo where he and his father were staying. Sometimes he would actually go back to school to finish the rest of his classes. Of course there were small variations each day but the result was almost always the same. It would be insanely easy for Xellos to kidnap Ranma Saotome for the island.
His next victim in this universe… Nabiki Tendo was the sister of Akane and as different from her as night and day. Not caring much for martial arts, Nabiki lived for the challenge and power of getting as much yen and as much knowledge as she could. She was amazingly clever and through manipulation and scheming, was one of the main reasons Ranma was still single. She would've made a good Mazoku if it weren't for an extremely hidden soft spot for her sisters…. Best of all though, and the main reason Xellos had chosen her over any of the other people around Ranma, was the fact that Nabiki Tendo was not a fighter. If attacked, she would be completely unable to defend herself and thus, would depend on Ranma or one of the others to protect her. Unfortunately her daily routine varied enough that it wouldn't be as easy to kidnap her as Ranma but… Right now, the Trickster Priest/ I.M.P. was content to just tape the daily lives of his victims… er, players.
Early the next morning Xellos cheerfully dropped back into Mr. Jarikesi's offices again to give him a folder with some very basic information on Ranma Saotome and Nabiki Tendo. He was gone before Jarikesi could so much as open his mouth. As he wandered the streets of New York he wondered aloud, "Hmmm, who should I 'randomly' choose next?" He thought for a minute more then nodded decisively. This next victim was, in some ways, an old rival of his… it would be tricky to make sure she didn't notice him.
Setsuna Meiu was, as per a recently acquired habit of hers, sitting calmly in a coffee shop in the business district of Jubaan, Tokyo. There was a folded newspaper on the table in front of her but she didn't even glance at it; she didn't need to. She'd been sitting there since noon, five hours previously, and didn't look as if she had any intentions of moving anytime soon. The people who ran and worked in this particular coffee shop were used to this: Setsuna had been coming here almost every day for the last three years. Sometimes she only stayed a few minutes, other times she stayed all day; if it weren't for the fact she typically dressed in rich clothes and always paid without question, people would have thought she was homeless. No one ever asked her to leave though, not even when she was visited by a bunch of loud high school kids or her two rich friends, the blond race car driver and the violinist with turquoise hair. Setsuna was as permanent a fixture as the ceiling fans or the tables… always calm and serene, people expected her to be there. Strangely enough, some of the only times she was absent were when there was a monster attack nearby; one time someone had jokingly wondered aloud if Setsuna were one of the Sailor Senshi since she was never around when they were fighting the monsters. Setsuna had shot the man a glare so icy that he'd shivered. It was kind of strange that she'd been so affected by the man's joke, but she couldn't really be a Senshi, she was probably just mortified that anyone would picture her in one of those amazingly short skirts the Senshi wore. In any case the Senshi were hardly seen anymore, but that was good since that meant the city wasn't being attacked by energy sucking or heart-crystal stealing or star-seed taking monsters. Either way Setsuna had established a routine so predictable that some people actually set their watches by her timely arrivals at exactly twelve noon.
As Xellos watched from across the street he wondered why he'd thought the Senshi of Time might notice him. After all, they'd stopped dating a good three thousand years previous so she had to have stopped that silly 'always watch my back incase he shows up again' nonsense by now. Just in case though, Xellos made sure not to get any closer than fifty feet of her. This island business would be the perfect way to get a bit of vengeance for all the nasty things she'd called him. Even though all those things she said were true….
It wasn't until Xellos disappeared via portal later that day that Setsuna finally left the Coffee Shop. Setsuna wasn't completely sure but she thought she'd felt a familiar dark aura just across the street from her coffee shop. Of course she did nothing to acknowledge the presence yet… it was slightly troubling to think he might have returned after all those millennia. Even now she couldn't prove he'd been part of the fall of the Silver Millennium but…. If it weren't for the fact that her future self had specifically told her the Senshi would have no more battles before the formation of Crystal Tokyo, Setsuna would have been severely worried. Still, she promised herself to watch the other Senshi extra closely for the next little while.
The next morning Xellos once again dropped off a folder on Jarikesi's desk, the information it contained was sparse but adequate for the show… just like the info on Ranma and Nabiki all the 'abnormal' scenes and info had been edited out. Xellos wanted to see the expression of Jarikesi's face when he saw for himself just how unique the 'players' in his 'game' were. Like the day before Xellos was gone before anyone really noticed he'd been there. This time he knew exactly where he was going; he'd had plenty of time to think while taping Setsuna… she hadn't done anything all day. Setsuna wasn't nearly as interesting as she used to be back when she worked for that Queen Serenity in that Silver Millennia thing.
In any case, his next victim lived on a rather… unique world.
As the blue swirls of the inter-continuum portal faded away on the near deserted streets of New York, Xellos stepped into the glorious sunshine of yet another world. For once his smile almost slipped; this world was almost too… happy. He stood just outside a strangely shaped building with the words 'Pokemon Center' on a sign in the front. Not that it really needed a sign as the building itself was shaped like a giant red and white ball. Xellos almost turned back and went to find another victim with a less… sickening disposition… almost. The show did need someone the kids could relate too after all, and from what he knew about this particular kid… Ash Ketchum was in absolutely no way a fighter. The only reasons he'd be better off than Nabiki were because of his little animal friends…. An added advantage of choosing this kid was that Xellos didn't really know much about this particular world's culture and peoples since all sane Mazoku avoided this world like the plague. Not that there were very many Mazoku who knew how or actually did travel to other worlds and dimensions but… there was such a thing as too much cute, and this place definitely applied. Still, by observing Ash Ketchum on the island Xellos could easily piece together the info he needed.
"Pika pika chu!" The little electric mouse gestured out the window into a nearby tree. "Huh? There's someone filming us? That's strange…" Ash Ketchum pressed his nose to the window of the Pokemon Center to get a better look at the strange man sitting comfortably in the tree branches. His friend and travelling companion Misty frowned slightly, "He's probably not filming us Ash, just the Center. Maybe he works for the Pokemon league." Ash's other friend Brock nodded in agreement; "She's right Ash… besides, why would anyone want to film us in particular?" Ash power-posed, "Maybe he knows that I'm going to be the next great Pokemon Master!" Pikachu jumped onto Ash's head with a nod, "Pika!" Brock and Misty sweatdropped slightly although they'd been expecting Ash to say something like that, he always did. A few minutes later when they looked out the window again the man was gone.
Xellos was coming awfully close to frowning… or at least not smiling. This place was positively scary, and he was one of the most sadistic and evil Mazoku he knew… and that little mouse thing was intelligent! It had seen him and pointed him out to the kid! Luckily the kid and his two friends hadn't seemed too suspicious but…. Xellos made sure to watch from a better hiding spot for the rest of the day. There was a lot about this world he didn't know. Briefly he wished he'd watched more than five minutes of that Pokemon show while in the restaurant across from Setsuna's coffee shop. Only briefly though, a minute more of watching such… cuteness and he would've been sick. Thankfully he managed to get enough footage and the information of where Ash and his friends would be in a week to leave the Pokemon world before the end of the day. He was immensely glad to drop the folder on Ash Ketchum on Jarikesi's desk that night.
The next day Xellos was ready to seek out his next victim. Shinji Ikari was about as different from Ash Ketchum as possible with all sorts of personality problems and a wonderfully depressing disposition.
The world itself was a dark futuristic Earth that was probably going to end up destroyed in the next year or so. If Shinji's father's plans worked out that is. Best of all, without his giant robot, or Evangelion as they were called, Shinji was a complete wimp. Not only would he be completely helpless on the island, but also he was depressing enough that it might even effect the other victims!
Shinji's life was also quite different than Ash's. He lived with a beautiful woman named Misato Kisarigi and her pet penguin Penpen in an apartment building in the city of Tokyo-3. He attended a 'normal' high school although they didn't actually teach anything other then the history of the 3rd impact, which was what they called the disaster that had melted of the polar icecaps in the year 2000. (Of course what was being taught was in actuality a government conspiracy to cover up the arrival of the beings called Angels… but people weren't supposed to know that. The only reason Xellos did was because he'd been directly involved in the entire thing as a pet project before he got called away to watch a certain ultra powerful red haired sorceress. ) Shinji also worked for a branch of the government called NERV, as an Evangelion pilot. Apparently the only people who could pilot the Evas to fight the Angels who attacked the city every few days were people born during 3rd impact; Shinji Ikari and two other fourteen year olds were the only pilots. The other two pilots were just about as messed up as Shinji but Xellos only wanted one person from this universe just in case someone found out about it.
Shinji frowned, gazing about suspiciously. He could swear he could feel someone watching him but… it was probably just nerves brought on by that assassination attempt on him and Asuka a few days before. Just in case though he fingered the gun Misato had given him. No one except for Misato knew he, Asuka and Rei had been carrying heavy-duty guns and ammo but…. It was obvious by now that things weren't exactly what they'd first seemed but this time he was armed and ready. He thought it was about time he started to reveal the skills he'd picked up from the Buddhist monks he'd been raised by as well… well not yet. But soon: he was going to prove to his (censored) father that no one was going to run his life! As soon as they defeated all the Angels, NERV was finished and Gendo Ikari would wish he'd never even considered abandoning his son. Shinji almost cackled evilly at the thought, but quickly resumed his 'weakling, wimpy kid' guise. Soon though….
It was too bad that Xellos was completely unaware of Shinji's thoughts at that moment… too bad he'd been away for so long he didn't know about the guns or the dawning realization of Gendo Ikari's evil in Shinji and the other Children. As it was, he was a bit perplexed at the feeling of utter calm that radiated from Shinji Ikari that fine summer day. Still, as he stepped back into the offices of Mr. Jarikesi the next morning, folder in hand, his smile was as cheerful as ever.
The next world… Xellos didn't know much of anything about it. Apparently it had only become accessible a few months before; he wouldn't have known anything at all about it if not for an ad in a 'Playstation' magazine he'd seen while browsing the shops of New York the other day. The people he intended to kidnap… a cute little black mage named Vivi and a little girl named Eiko. Apparently they both had some type of fighting or magical skills but they were both far to young to be very powerful. Vivi was only around eight or nine years old and Eiko was just six. Then there was the fact that neither of them seemed to be completely human… a possible problem on the island. When he stepped out of the portal this time, it was to a rather different scene then any of the other worlds. He stood in the high grasses of a vast dry plain; the most prominent feature of the entire place was the enormous tree in the distance that rose at least three km high. His victims were no where to be seen… 'Oh there they are!'
"Th, that sure is a big tree…." Vivi strained his eyes to see the top as he and his friends Zidane, who was basically their leader; Dagger, who was really Princess Garnet of Alexandria; and Eiko, a Summoner who had recently joined them, walked towards the tree. Eiko had supposedly decided to come to help them enter the Iifa Tree, in which a mystical Eidolon that no Summoner had ever been able to Call was Sealed. Vivi thought that her real reason for coming was because she was lonely; Eiko's parents had died a while ago and the only company she'd had in a long time were the Moogles who lived in the ruins of her village with her. It was amazing how many Moogles lived there… Moogles could be found almost everywhere in the world but it was really seldom that more then three were seen together at once. Eiko knew them all by name; they were her family as far as she was concerned. Even now, as they trudged through the long grasses towards the Iifa tree, Vivi knew that a little Moogle named Mog was hiding somewhere on the little girl's person. "According to the records of my people, the Iifa Tree has been here for centuries, so it's had a long time to grow. I just hope we'll be able to get in." After that Zidane started asking Eiko all sorts of questions about the Iifa Tree with Dagger breaking in every once in a while to ask a question about Eidolons. Vivi was silent, he had a vague feeling of apprehension but that wasn't anything new since he had found the Village of the Black Mages a few weeks before. Still, "Um… Zidane? I, I think someone might be following us…." Zidane nodded, "I know, keep on your guard… you never know what kind of monsters are lurking around."
A few monsters attacked the party that day but nothing big enough for them to go full out on so Xellos was still a bit unsure as to their exact skills. That they were better fighters then he had first thought was certain but that didn't effect the plan so it didn't matter. Xellos knew where they were headed; it should take them a few days until they reached that big tree so the only problem he might have would be separating the two children from their older friends. Xellos was completely ignored by every single monster on the plains throughout the entire day… it wasn't until after he left that they began coming out in full force again.
The next morning was much like all the previous ones for Xellos, he entered Jarikesi's offices at the break of dawn and was gone before anyone but the few pedestrians outside could see him. By now, said pedestrians didn't even glance at him, whatever he was doing was none of their businesses and if he did something illegal one of the local heroes were sure to catch him.
The next world was going to be exceptionally tricky… especially since the next victim was the Captain of a rather sophisticated space ship. As Captain of the Voyager, Kathryn Janeway would also be the first of the kidnapped to be missed; her ship had all sorts of technology to detect intruders, and everyone on the ship knew each other by sight so he couldn't pretend to be a crew member. However, the high technology of the Federation didn't have many defenses against true magic so… All he really had to do is stay in a sub-dimension where he could tape the actions of Captain Janeway for the day… and ward the sub-dimension from their scanners just in case.
"Captain, sensors are indicating a slight disturbance in the sub-dimension nearest to Voyager," Lieutenant Tuvok reported as he finished one of Voyager's routine sensor sweeps. Janeway frowned slightly as she heard this: they'd had problems with dimensional beings and anomalies before. "Keep scanning it. If it shows any signs of getting larger, or takes on a threatening nature, I want to know immediately. We can't have another incident like the last one."
In the warded sub-dimension, Xellos facefaulted; he hadn't even been there three hours yet. Nevertheless he did have a fairly good idea of what Captain Kathryn Janeway did all day so… and it just wouldn't do to get caught. Unless…. Smiling, Xellos returned to New York… leaving the camera behind to record Janeway the rest of the day. He'd pop back in a few hours to get it; something that small shouldn't be as traceable as him. Meanwhile, he needed to find a few more victims and the best places to find information on other worlds in New York were the video and bookstores.
A few moments after he began a full sensor sweep of the dimensional anomaly Tuvok announced, "Captain, the anomaly is almost gone." Janeway nodded, "Keep scanning. You can never be too certain." It was just another day on the starship Voyager….
The next day yet another folder was placed on Jarikesi's desk. Yesterday Xellos had found three more 'players' for the 'game', and today he was off to tape the one that could possibly pose some danger to him. Or she might not even notice him since he wasn't one of her usual enemies. In any case, Buffy Summers was a Vampire Slayer… or most specifically the Slayer. Vampires weren't the only things she hunted… anything with evil intentions would do for her. Thus, Xellos had every intention of keeping his distance as he taped her movements.
This time the portal opened into a dark graveyard. "That's peculiar…" Xellos wondered aloud, "It should be daytime still. Perhaps this world is slightly off…. Hmm, how interesting." He began wandering the grounds, searching for his victim. 'Funny, the others were usually in sight of my arrival point…. Wait, there she is.' Buffy Summers was locked in battle with a… typical vampire. Leaning against a large tombstone Xellos began filming, making sure to cast a shielding spell against vision first. A minute later Buffy had staked the vampire and was wandering the graveyard again. This continued for about an hour, with the occasional vampire trying their luck against Buffy and always dying explosively. Xellos made sure to keep a good ten meters away at all times just in case until…. One minute Buffy was walking along the path and the next she'd turned and with a running jump landed right in front of him! "Who are you and what the hell do you think you're doing following me?" Xellos still smirked, but he was shocked that she'd seen right through his shield. It appeared as if he'd have to appropriate this particular 'player' sooner instead of latter. "Er. Nice to meet you! I'm like you're biggest fan in the whole multi-verse! You're like so famous and I was in town so I just had to see you! Wai! Sleeping!" The slightly stunned Slayer slumped to the ground, deep in an enchanted sleep. "Well, that was easy." Shrugging, Xellos cast a 'stasis' spell on her and tossed her into the sub-dimension that he'd set up for the players to 'sleep' in until the island was ready. He hadn't intended to kidnap anyone until he was finished filming them but… accidents happened. He'd have to make sure Buffy didn't remember seeing him though, that information could ruin everything.
The next day, after leaving the folder on Jarikesi's desk, Xellos was off to his next victim's world.
Once again, as he left the glow of the portal, Xellos found himself in Japan. Or more specifically, in the forest surrounding what Xellos knew to be the Masaki Shrine. This particular visit had to be a kidnapping, instead of the usual tapping. The entire area was covered by technology that the Federation would die for. Washu Habuki was one of the most brilliant scientists in the multi-verse, possibly the most brilliant, and Xellos wasn't stupid enough to be caught by her sensors. Washu herself would've made a good player for the island if not for the fact that she would probably be able to get off the island and cancel out his force shield in less than a minute. That is unless he used that new spell he'd picked up a while back…. That would work, and it would take Washu forever to figure out too. Still he wouldn't kidnap her unless a good opportunity presented itself. His true victim was in actuality, Katsuhito Jurai, also known as Yosho of the planet Jurai. He was an expert kendoist and… the grandfather of a rather irritating young man named Tenchi. Xellos would have kidnapped Tenchi but for some reason the young man was being watched especially closely by the Tree Goddess Tsunami. Though Tsunami was known to be a major pacifist, Xellos wasn't about to take that chance… if he wanted to get of a god's bad side all he had to do is go to his home world and shout obscenities at the Lord of Nightmares. Even kidnapping Yosho was fairly risky, but the 700 and plus years old man had just the easygoing personality to really get on the other kidnapped' nerves. Smiling as usual, Xellos walked straight up to Yosho's shrine and walked in.
Yosho frowned at his tea, then glanced across the table at his guest. He wasn't exactly sure why the spiky red haired scientist had taken to coming for tea so often up at the shrine so frequently. It used to be that she stayed in her lab almost all the time, coming out only to pester Tenchi or her daughter Ryoko but… her presence was definitely welcome. Even though Tenchi and his father had moved their house to the scenic location of the lake below the shrine, there were a lot of stairs leading up to the shrine so visits weren't exactly frequent. So when Washu had decided to be social, Yosho hadn't objected in the slightest. It helped that other then Sasami and Kiyone, Washu was one of the few people living in the house by the lake that didn't frequently blow up a good portion of the landscape. Oh, sometimes an experiment of hers would backfire and blow up the house or a nearby mountain, but that didn't happen nearly as much as Ryoko and Aeka's fights or Mihoshi crashing her spaceship into the lake. She didn't act so… immature as the other guests either… well mostly. Being a few thousand years old probably helped in that particular department. "So how's your new dimensional sub-harmonic array coming?" Washu blinked slightly at the question, "Oh it's going fairly good… I've had to rebuild it twice thanks to Mihoshi though…." He nodded wisely; Mihoshi had a rather uncanny way of causing massive disorder and chaos completely by accident. "Hmm, I wonder if-" Whatever he wondered would never be revealed as a voice rang out, " Sleeping!" putting both of them into an unconscious state.
Xellos actually blinked when he saw that his spell had worked on both Yosho and Washu. 'Amazing coincidence! This must be my lucky day.' Smiling all the way, he cast 'stasis' on them and tossed them into the sub-dimension with Buffy. Kidnapping people was sure easy!
Things happened a bit different the next day. He still slipped into Jarikesi's offices without him noticing and put the folders on Yosho and Washu on his desk, but this time he left something else as well. A single piece of paper with neat typing on it that read: Hi! It'll be a few days before the next victim's info comes in: the next one is somewhat a friend of mine…."
To be continued….
Authors Notes:
Hi! I hope that you like my story so far; it isn't as long as I wish I could write a first chapter but it'll do. I originally wrote this for my English class but my friends liked it so I decided to post it on-line to see if other people would enjoy it. This is my first piece of published fanfiction so go easy on it… I'm working on chapter two right now but I can't say when it'll be finished.
By: Bob the Almighty
Disclaimer: Someone else copyrights almost every single character and place and I mean him or her no disrespect by writing about their characters and ideas. This is a piece of fanfiction loosely based on the television series 'Survivor' and the novel 'The Lord of the Flies'. Very loosely based.
Note: This is also the very first time I've actually written a massive anime, video-game, and live action TV series crossover without creating the entire cast from scratch and just using the settings. I hope it's entertaining.
Chapter One: Plots and Intros
In the deepest, darkest corner of New York City stands a building. Actually there are several buildings, lots even, but this one was special. This building was the home of an evil greater then Hitler, more viscous then school children… a television station. CBA or Chaos Broadcasting Avocation was ABC's evil side, a darker, grittier sub-division. The CBA was the source of numerous thriller movies, bad news, and heart-wrenching dramas: just like any other station from the outside, but from the inside…. ABC took credit for the shows produced but the actual dark details were left to the hands of the CBA.
The balding TV producer frowned at his Idea Making Person in disapproval, "We need better ratings. A whole new show. Something realistic. Survivor was good but… the show has lost it novelty. We need something people will watch, similar to Survivor but more…." The I.M.P. smirked, "Yes, you need something unexpected… Survivor with real danger, less civilization…. With players who don't know they are playing a game." The TV producer's eyes widened and he nodded reverently; this new I.M.P. was good at this. "Yes, yes. Kind of like one of those science fiction shows. Get random people and stick them on an island but…" The I.M.P. smiled mysteriously, "Don't tell these people anything…. Kidnap them out of their homes or off the streets…. Knock them out with a sleeping spe- gas. They'll wake up on the island all unknowing." The producer stared at the purple haired man they had sent him with a mixture of shock and… excitement. "Of course we would have to do something about the families of the… players. It wouldn't do to have the public find out their new favorite characters are real people after all." The I.M.P. continued to smile his plans not disturbed in the slightest, "Of course Mr. Jarikesi I'll take care of that personally…. And the players themselves as well… I have a new bit of… technology that will do just the thing." The TV producer, Mr. Jarikesi, was obviously surprised that the I.M.P. knew his name; even he had stopped referring to himself as anything other the TV producer long ago. Still, such a thing could be forgiven if the I.M.P. could do what he said… if only he didn't have such an infuriating smile all the time, and did this guy ever open his eyes? The I.M.P. continued as if aware of Jarikesi's thoughts, " As for the island itself, some of the 'randomly' picked people I'd like to choose are more then capable of attempting and probably succeeding in escaping." Jarikesi frowned and opened his mouth but before he could say anything the I.M.P. interrupted, "How-ever, I have another piece of technology that will create an invisible barrier around the island… say in a five km radius all around. A powerful barrier too… from the outside it will just appear to be a barren rock, so no rescue for the 'castaways' until the 'plot' calls for it." Jarikesi was astounded; never before had any I.M.P. suggested anything so…. Wonderfully Evil… and his offices were situated in New York. He wasn't sure exactly how the purple haired man had gotten this… technology that he spoke of, but somehow Jarikesi knew the I.M.P. was telling the truth. "What about the danger?" He asked suddenly, "You mentioned real danger." The I.M.P. continued to smile oh so infuriatingly, "That is… taken care of as well. I have a… friend who can supply a variety of different… beasts for the island. Dangerous to the normal person but… the people I intend to 'randomly choose' aren't exactly normal per-se. Oh, they are normal enough for viewers to sympathize with them… They are just more capable of… taking care of themselves them the average huma- person." Jarikesi nodded, a bit uncertain, obviously at least some of the people who the I.M.P. wanted to 'randomly choose', weren't going to be chosen randomly in the slightest. "Wait a minute. If these people are so… capable, then is there any chance of viewers recognizing them?" This time he was sure he'd found a hole in the I.M.P.'s plot but instead of the disappointment he expected, the man just smirked more. "That too is covered. You see these people are extremely recognizable… in their own worlds that is. Here, they don't even exist past a figment of some artist's imagination." Jarikesi's jaw dropped; own worlds? Artist's imagination? "Are you saying we use fictional characters for our show… like a child's cartoon… but wait that wouldn't make any sense…" The I.M.P. stood and the TV producer was shocked by the absolute confidence he showed, "Not at all Mr. Jarikesi. You see these people are real, they just aren't of this particular world. Oh, some of them are for an Earth but not this one. Think parallel worlds and other dimensions." Jarikesi opened his mouth to protest but was cut off as the I.M.P. produced a map out of nowhere and began pointing out suitable islands for the… game. It seemed he had no choice but to comply with this… Jarikesi knew that somehow he had lost control over this project before it had even begun. If this new show were as popular as he thought it would be though… everything would be worth it.
Hours latter, the entire plan had been laid out, an island had been chosen and the I.M.P. had given promises that the technology to keep the… players in would be set as soon as the cameras were installed. The cameras themselves… the I.M.P. had given him enough to cover the entire island twice over; they looked normal but somehow Jarikesi knew they were different somehow. "The island should be completely set up in about two weeks then…. What about the players then?" The I.M.P. was still smiling, "Oh yes. I intend to follow them around for a bit first… get some footage of their daily lives for the shows' intro. I'll even give you some nice character profiles. I can have them on the island in three weeks so you have one week to make sure everything is in place and working…. And make sure there is absolutely no trace of anyone ever being there. We can't have our vict… er players finding out what has happened to them too early… Oh and I'll be releasing the 'beasts' onto the island sometime during that last week so you'd better have all your people off or…"
The I.M.P. stood up and started towards the door, "Well, I'm off to stalk some victims er players!" Suddenly Jarikesi realized something, "Wait!" The I.M.P. paused, hand on the door handle, "Hmm?" Jarikesi stood, "You never told me your name…" Turning around to face him, the I.M.P. waved a gloved finger, "That, Mr. Jarikesi, is a secret." With that said he exited, leaving a very stunned TV producer staring at the door as it slammed shut. Briefly he wondered just what he had gotten himself into but the word 'ratings' kept popping up whenever he began to try to feel guilty. As he thought it over later, Jarikesi decided that the best thing about this new show was that he wasn't going to get into any trouble for it since the people being kidnapped weren't even from his world. Not once did he think to wonder exactly how capable the 'players' were or whether or not they had any powerful friends.
Outside of Jarikesi's television studio, Xellos Mettalium shrugged off the illusion of modern businessman to return to his normal guise of fantasy-style mysterious priest. He was still smiling as he opened a portal in the middle of the street and left the world for another. The various passerbyers who'd witnessed this just shrugged and continued whatever they were doing. This was New York after all and who were they to meddle in the business of an obviously powerful super villain or hero?
Far away, in another universe altogether, on another Earth not too dissimilar to the one he'd just left, Xellos appeared on top of a several storied high school building just in time to watch the arrival of his first victim. 'Ah, here he comes, and it seemed as if he's a she today; how fun!' Smiling, Xellos took out a video camera and began filming.
"Pigtailed Goddess!" *Wham, Thwack* "Gahk." As usual, the idiot kendoist, Tatawaki Kuno, was down for the count before he could even get close enough to grope Ranma's girl-form. "I wish you wouldn't encourage him Ranma." This came from one of Ranma's three main fiancées, Akane Tendo, who according to Ranma's father Genma Saotome, had the most viable claim on him. The fact that neither of them got along in the slightest didn't help matters, but both of their fathers ignored this, and one of Akane's two elder sisters actually used it for her own schemes. "Encourage him!" He announced in exasperation, "I'd sooner jump off a cliff. Jeez you are so kawaii-kune…" *Thwack* Going purple Akane brought her book bag down on Ranma's head. Hard. "Ranma no Baka!" Unfortunately, along with his Jusenkyo sex-changing curse, Ranma was also cursed with the gift of speaking before thinking. He was just lucky Akane was in a good mood today; otherwise he'd be heading towards the Tendo dojo via Akane Airlines instead of sprawled on the ground in a Takahashi pain pose.
And so another day began in the Ranmaverse. If another super powered martial artist didn't show up the day would be quite predictable. Ranma might manage to get through the first few classes without insulting Akane and getting malleted into low-earth-orbit again but his luck wouldn't last past noon. At lunchtime Akane would try to feed Ranma some of her poisoned food, he'd refuse to eat it and get hit into the stratosphere. Or one or both of his other fiancées would arrive with lunch for him, he'd accept, end up insulting Akane's cooking and get hit into the stratosphere. Or the said fiancées would start a fight with Akane or each other, their respective obsessed suitors would show up and attack Ranma, and eventually Ranma would end up flying through the sky again. Or a challenger or rival of Ranma's would show up and start a fight resulting in Ranma somehow insulting Akane's fighting skills…. Sometimes all of the above happened, once in a blue moon only one of the above happened; either way, Ranma almost always ended up taking involuntary flying lessons. Oh, and during all this, Ranma's curse would be activated at least ten times turning him into her. After lunch Ranma would make his way back to the Tendo dojo where he and his father were staying. Sometimes he would actually go back to school to finish the rest of his classes. Of course there were small variations each day but the result was almost always the same. It would be insanely easy for Xellos to kidnap Ranma Saotome for the island.
His next victim in this universe… Nabiki Tendo was the sister of Akane and as different from her as night and day. Not caring much for martial arts, Nabiki lived for the challenge and power of getting as much yen and as much knowledge as she could. She was amazingly clever and through manipulation and scheming, was one of the main reasons Ranma was still single. She would've made a good Mazoku if it weren't for an extremely hidden soft spot for her sisters…. Best of all though, and the main reason Xellos had chosen her over any of the other people around Ranma, was the fact that Nabiki Tendo was not a fighter. If attacked, she would be completely unable to defend herself and thus, would depend on Ranma or one of the others to protect her. Unfortunately her daily routine varied enough that it wouldn't be as easy to kidnap her as Ranma but… Right now, the Trickster Priest/ I.M.P. was content to just tape the daily lives of his victims… er, players.
Early the next morning Xellos cheerfully dropped back into Mr. Jarikesi's offices again to give him a folder with some very basic information on Ranma Saotome and Nabiki Tendo. He was gone before Jarikesi could so much as open his mouth. As he wandered the streets of New York he wondered aloud, "Hmmm, who should I 'randomly' choose next?" He thought for a minute more then nodded decisively. This next victim was, in some ways, an old rival of his… it would be tricky to make sure she didn't notice him.
Setsuna Meiu was, as per a recently acquired habit of hers, sitting calmly in a coffee shop in the business district of Jubaan, Tokyo. There was a folded newspaper on the table in front of her but she didn't even glance at it; she didn't need to. She'd been sitting there since noon, five hours previously, and didn't look as if she had any intentions of moving anytime soon. The people who ran and worked in this particular coffee shop were used to this: Setsuna had been coming here almost every day for the last three years. Sometimes she only stayed a few minutes, other times she stayed all day; if it weren't for the fact she typically dressed in rich clothes and always paid without question, people would have thought she was homeless. No one ever asked her to leave though, not even when she was visited by a bunch of loud high school kids or her two rich friends, the blond race car driver and the violinist with turquoise hair. Setsuna was as permanent a fixture as the ceiling fans or the tables… always calm and serene, people expected her to be there. Strangely enough, some of the only times she was absent were when there was a monster attack nearby; one time someone had jokingly wondered aloud if Setsuna were one of the Sailor Senshi since she was never around when they were fighting the monsters. Setsuna had shot the man a glare so icy that he'd shivered. It was kind of strange that she'd been so affected by the man's joke, but she couldn't really be a Senshi, she was probably just mortified that anyone would picture her in one of those amazingly short skirts the Senshi wore. In any case the Senshi were hardly seen anymore, but that was good since that meant the city wasn't being attacked by energy sucking or heart-crystal stealing or star-seed taking monsters. Either way Setsuna had established a routine so predictable that some people actually set their watches by her timely arrivals at exactly twelve noon.
As Xellos watched from across the street he wondered why he'd thought the Senshi of Time might notice him. After all, they'd stopped dating a good three thousand years previous so she had to have stopped that silly 'always watch my back incase he shows up again' nonsense by now. Just in case though, Xellos made sure not to get any closer than fifty feet of her. This island business would be the perfect way to get a bit of vengeance for all the nasty things she'd called him. Even though all those things she said were true….
It wasn't until Xellos disappeared via portal later that day that Setsuna finally left the Coffee Shop. Setsuna wasn't completely sure but she thought she'd felt a familiar dark aura just across the street from her coffee shop. Of course she did nothing to acknowledge the presence yet… it was slightly troubling to think he might have returned after all those millennia. Even now she couldn't prove he'd been part of the fall of the Silver Millennium but…. If it weren't for the fact that her future self had specifically told her the Senshi would have no more battles before the formation of Crystal Tokyo, Setsuna would have been severely worried. Still, she promised herself to watch the other Senshi extra closely for the next little while.
The next morning Xellos once again dropped off a folder on Jarikesi's desk, the information it contained was sparse but adequate for the show… just like the info on Ranma and Nabiki all the 'abnormal' scenes and info had been edited out. Xellos wanted to see the expression of Jarikesi's face when he saw for himself just how unique the 'players' in his 'game' were. Like the day before Xellos was gone before anyone really noticed he'd been there. This time he knew exactly where he was going; he'd had plenty of time to think while taping Setsuna… she hadn't done anything all day. Setsuna wasn't nearly as interesting as she used to be back when she worked for that Queen Serenity in that Silver Millennia thing.
In any case, his next victim lived on a rather… unique world.
As the blue swirls of the inter-continuum portal faded away on the near deserted streets of New York, Xellos stepped into the glorious sunshine of yet another world. For once his smile almost slipped; this world was almost too… happy. He stood just outside a strangely shaped building with the words 'Pokemon Center' on a sign in the front. Not that it really needed a sign as the building itself was shaped like a giant red and white ball. Xellos almost turned back and went to find another victim with a less… sickening disposition… almost. The show did need someone the kids could relate too after all, and from what he knew about this particular kid… Ash Ketchum was in absolutely no way a fighter. The only reasons he'd be better off than Nabiki were because of his little animal friends…. An added advantage of choosing this kid was that Xellos didn't really know much about this particular world's culture and peoples since all sane Mazoku avoided this world like the plague. Not that there were very many Mazoku who knew how or actually did travel to other worlds and dimensions but… there was such a thing as too much cute, and this place definitely applied. Still, by observing Ash Ketchum on the island Xellos could easily piece together the info he needed.
"Pika pika chu!" The little electric mouse gestured out the window into a nearby tree. "Huh? There's someone filming us? That's strange…" Ash Ketchum pressed his nose to the window of the Pokemon Center to get a better look at the strange man sitting comfortably in the tree branches. His friend and travelling companion Misty frowned slightly, "He's probably not filming us Ash, just the Center. Maybe he works for the Pokemon league." Ash's other friend Brock nodded in agreement; "She's right Ash… besides, why would anyone want to film us in particular?" Ash power-posed, "Maybe he knows that I'm going to be the next great Pokemon Master!" Pikachu jumped onto Ash's head with a nod, "Pika!" Brock and Misty sweatdropped slightly although they'd been expecting Ash to say something like that, he always did. A few minutes later when they looked out the window again the man was gone.
Xellos was coming awfully close to frowning… or at least not smiling. This place was positively scary, and he was one of the most sadistic and evil Mazoku he knew… and that little mouse thing was intelligent! It had seen him and pointed him out to the kid! Luckily the kid and his two friends hadn't seemed too suspicious but…. Xellos made sure to watch from a better hiding spot for the rest of the day. There was a lot about this world he didn't know. Briefly he wished he'd watched more than five minutes of that Pokemon show while in the restaurant across from Setsuna's coffee shop. Only briefly though, a minute more of watching such… cuteness and he would've been sick. Thankfully he managed to get enough footage and the information of where Ash and his friends would be in a week to leave the Pokemon world before the end of the day. He was immensely glad to drop the folder on Ash Ketchum on Jarikesi's desk that night.
The next day Xellos was ready to seek out his next victim. Shinji Ikari was about as different from Ash Ketchum as possible with all sorts of personality problems and a wonderfully depressing disposition.
The world itself was a dark futuristic Earth that was probably going to end up destroyed in the next year or so. If Shinji's father's plans worked out that is. Best of all, without his giant robot, or Evangelion as they were called, Shinji was a complete wimp. Not only would he be completely helpless on the island, but also he was depressing enough that it might even effect the other victims!
Shinji's life was also quite different than Ash's. He lived with a beautiful woman named Misato Kisarigi and her pet penguin Penpen in an apartment building in the city of Tokyo-3. He attended a 'normal' high school although they didn't actually teach anything other then the history of the 3rd impact, which was what they called the disaster that had melted of the polar icecaps in the year 2000. (Of course what was being taught was in actuality a government conspiracy to cover up the arrival of the beings called Angels… but people weren't supposed to know that. The only reason Xellos did was because he'd been directly involved in the entire thing as a pet project before he got called away to watch a certain ultra powerful red haired sorceress. ) Shinji also worked for a branch of the government called NERV, as an Evangelion pilot. Apparently the only people who could pilot the Evas to fight the Angels who attacked the city every few days were people born during 3rd impact; Shinji Ikari and two other fourteen year olds were the only pilots. The other two pilots were just about as messed up as Shinji but Xellos only wanted one person from this universe just in case someone found out about it.
Shinji frowned, gazing about suspiciously. He could swear he could feel someone watching him but… it was probably just nerves brought on by that assassination attempt on him and Asuka a few days before. Just in case though he fingered the gun Misato had given him. No one except for Misato knew he, Asuka and Rei had been carrying heavy-duty guns and ammo but…. It was obvious by now that things weren't exactly what they'd first seemed but this time he was armed and ready. He thought it was about time he started to reveal the skills he'd picked up from the Buddhist monks he'd been raised by as well… well not yet. But soon: he was going to prove to his (censored) father that no one was going to run his life! As soon as they defeated all the Angels, NERV was finished and Gendo Ikari would wish he'd never even considered abandoning his son. Shinji almost cackled evilly at the thought, but quickly resumed his 'weakling, wimpy kid' guise. Soon though….
It was too bad that Xellos was completely unaware of Shinji's thoughts at that moment… too bad he'd been away for so long he didn't know about the guns or the dawning realization of Gendo Ikari's evil in Shinji and the other Children. As it was, he was a bit perplexed at the feeling of utter calm that radiated from Shinji Ikari that fine summer day. Still, as he stepped back into the offices of Mr. Jarikesi the next morning, folder in hand, his smile was as cheerful as ever.
The next world… Xellos didn't know much of anything about it. Apparently it had only become accessible a few months before; he wouldn't have known anything at all about it if not for an ad in a 'Playstation' magazine he'd seen while browsing the shops of New York the other day. The people he intended to kidnap… a cute little black mage named Vivi and a little girl named Eiko. Apparently they both had some type of fighting or magical skills but they were both far to young to be very powerful. Vivi was only around eight or nine years old and Eiko was just six. Then there was the fact that neither of them seemed to be completely human… a possible problem on the island. When he stepped out of the portal this time, it was to a rather different scene then any of the other worlds. He stood in the high grasses of a vast dry plain; the most prominent feature of the entire place was the enormous tree in the distance that rose at least three km high. His victims were no where to be seen… 'Oh there they are!'
"Th, that sure is a big tree…." Vivi strained his eyes to see the top as he and his friends Zidane, who was basically their leader; Dagger, who was really Princess Garnet of Alexandria; and Eiko, a Summoner who had recently joined them, walked towards the tree. Eiko had supposedly decided to come to help them enter the Iifa Tree, in which a mystical Eidolon that no Summoner had ever been able to Call was Sealed. Vivi thought that her real reason for coming was because she was lonely; Eiko's parents had died a while ago and the only company she'd had in a long time were the Moogles who lived in the ruins of her village with her. It was amazing how many Moogles lived there… Moogles could be found almost everywhere in the world but it was really seldom that more then three were seen together at once. Eiko knew them all by name; they were her family as far as she was concerned. Even now, as they trudged through the long grasses towards the Iifa tree, Vivi knew that a little Moogle named Mog was hiding somewhere on the little girl's person. "According to the records of my people, the Iifa Tree has been here for centuries, so it's had a long time to grow. I just hope we'll be able to get in." After that Zidane started asking Eiko all sorts of questions about the Iifa Tree with Dagger breaking in every once in a while to ask a question about Eidolons. Vivi was silent, he had a vague feeling of apprehension but that wasn't anything new since he had found the Village of the Black Mages a few weeks before. Still, "Um… Zidane? I, I think someone might be following us…." Zidane nodded, "I know, keep on your guard… you never know what kind of monsters are lurking around."
A few monsters attacked the party that day but nothing big enough for them to go full out on so Xellos was still a bit unsure as to their exact skills. That they were better fighters then he had first thought was certain but that didn't effect the plan so it didn't matter. Xellos knew where they were headed; it should take them a few days until they reached that big tree so the only problem he might have would be separating the two children from their older friends. Xellos was completely ignored by every single monster on the plains throughout the entire day… it wasn't until after he left that they began coming out in full force again.
The next morning was much like all the previous ones for Xellos, he entered Jarikesi's offices at the break of dawn and was gone before anyone but the few pedestrians outside could see him. By now, said pedestrians didn't even glance at him, whatever he was doing was none of their businesses and if he did something illegal one of the local heroes were sure to catch him.
The next world was going to be exceptionally tricky… especially since the next victim was the Captain of a rather sophisticated space ship. As Captain of the Voyager, Kathryn Janeway would also be the first of the kidnapped to be missed; her ship had all sorts of technology to detect intruders, and everyone on the ship knew each other by sight so he couldn't pretend to be a crew member. However, the high technology of the Federation didn't have many defenses against true magic so… All he really had to do is stay in a sub-dimension where he could tape the actions of Captain Janeway for the day… and ward the sub-dimension from their scanners just in case.
"Captain, sensors are indicating a slight disturbance in the sub-dimension nearest to Voyager," Lieutenant Tuvok reported as he finished one of Voyager's routine sensor sweeps. Janeway frowned slightly as she heard this: they'd had problems with dimensional beings and anomalies before. "Keep scanning it. If it shows any signs of getting larger, or takes on a threatening nature, I want to know immediately. We can't have another incident like the last one."
In the warded sub-dimension, Xellos facefaulted; he hadn't even been there three hours yet. Nevertheless he did have a fairly good idea of what Captain Kathryn Janeway did all day so… and it just wouldn't do to get caught. Unless…. Smiling, Xellos returned to New York… leaving the camera behind to record Janeway the rest of the day. He'd pop back in a few hours to get it; something that small shouldn't be as traceable as him. Meanwhile, he needed to find a few more victims and the best places to find information on other worlds in New York were the video and bookstores.
A few moments after he began a full sensor sweep of the dimensional anomaly Tuvok announced, "Captain, the anomaly is almost gone." Janeway nodded, "Keep scanning. You can never be too certain." It was just another day on the starship Voyager….
The next day yet another folder was placed on Jarikesi's desk. Yesterday Xellos had found three more 'players' for the 'game', and today he was off to tape the one that could possibly pose some danger to him. Or she might not even notice him since he wasn't one of her usual enemies. In any case, Buffy Summers was a Vampire Slayer… or most specifically the Slayer. Vampires weren't the only things she hunted… anything with evil intentions would do for her. Thus, Xellos had every intention of keeping his distance as he taped her movements.
This time the portal opened into a dark graveyard. "That's peculiar…" Xellos wondered aloud, "It should be daytime still. Perhaps this world is slightly off…. Hmm, how interesting." He began wandering the grounds, searching for his victim. 'Funny, the others were usually in sight of my arrival point…. Wait, there she is.' Buffy Summers was locked in battle with a… typical vampire. Leaning against a large tombstone Xellos began filming, making sure to cast a shielding spell against vision first. A minute later Buffy had staked the vampire and was wandering the graveyard again. This continued for about an hour, with the occasional vampire trying their luck against Buffy and always dying explosively. Xellos made sure to keep a good ten meters away at all times just in case until…. One minute Buffy was walking along the path and the next she'd turned and with a running jump landed right in front of him! "Who are you and what the hell do you think you're doing following me?" Xellos still smirked, but he was shocked that she'd seen right through his shield. It appeared as if he'd have to appropriate this particular 'player' sooner instead of latter. "Er. Nice to meet you! I'm like you're biggest fan in the whole multi-verse! You're like so famous and I was in town so I just had to see you! Wai! Sleeping!" The slightly stunned Slayer slumped to the ground, deep in an enchanted sleep. "Well, that was easy." Shrugging, Xellos cast a 'stasis' spell on her and tossed her into the sub-dimension that he'd set up for the players to 'sleep' in until the island was ready. He hadn't intended to kidnap anyone until he was finished filming them but… accidents happened. He'd have to make sure Buffy didn't remember seeing him though, that information could ruin everything.
The next day, after leaving the folder on Jarikesi's desk, Xellos was off to his next victim's world.
Once again, as he left the glow of the portal, Xellos found himself in Japan. Or more specifically, in the forest surrounding what Xellos knew to be the Masaki Shrine. This particular visit had to be a kidnapping, instead of the usual tapping. The entire area was covered by technology that the Federation would die for. Washu Habuki was one of the most brilliant scientists in the multi-verse, possibly the most brilliant, and Xellos wasn't stupid enough to be caught by her sensors. Washu herself would've made a good player for the island if not for the fact that she would probably be able to get off the island and cancel out his force shield in less than a minute. That is unless he used that new spell he'd picked up a while back…. That would work, and it would take Washu forever to figure out too. Still he wouldn't kidnap her unless a good opportunity presented itself. His true victim was in actuality, Katsuhito Jurai, also known as Yosho of the planet Jurai. He was an expert kendoist and… the grandfather of a rather irritating young man named Tenchi. Xellos would have kidnapped Tenchi but for some reason the young man was being watched especially closely by the Tree Goddess Tsunami. Though Tsunami was known to be a major pacifist, Xellos wasn't about to take that chance… if he wanted to get of a god's bad side all he had to do is go to his home world and shout obscenities at the Lord of Nightmares. Even kidnapping Yosho was fairly risky, but the 700 and plus years old man had just the easygoing personality to really get on the other kidnapped' nerves. Smiling as usual, Xellos walked straight up to Yosho's shrine and walked in.
Yosho frowned at his tea, then glanced across the table at his guest. He wasn't exactly sure why the spiky red haired scientist had taken to coming for tea so often up at the shrine so frequently. It used to be that she stayed in her lab almost all the time, coming out only to pester Tenchi or her daughter Ryoko but… her presence was definitely welcome. Even though Tenchi and his father had moved their house to the scenic location of the lake below the shrine, there were a lot of stairs leading up to the shrine so visits weren't exactly frequent. So when Washu had decided to be social, Yosho hadn't objected in the slightest. It helped that other then Sasami and Kiyone, Washu was one of the few people living in the house by the lake that didn't frequently blow up a good portion of the landscape. Oh, sometimes an experiment of hers would backfire and blow up the house or a nearby mountain, but that didn't happen nearly as much as Ryoko and Aeka's fights or Mihoshi crashing her spaceship into the lake. She didn't act so… immature as the other guests either… well mostly. Being a few thousand years old probably helped in that particular department. "So how's your new dimensional sub-harmonic array coming?" Washu blinked slightly at the question, "Oh it's going fairly good… I've had to rebuild it twice thanks to Mihoshi though…." He nodded wisely; Mihoshi had a rather uncanny way of causing massive disorder and chaos completely by accident. "Hmm, I wonder if-" Whatever he wondered would never be revealed as a voice rang out, " Sleeping!" putting both of them into an unconscious state.
Xellos actually blinked when he saw that his spell had worked on both Yosho and Washu. 'Amazing coincidence! This must be my lucky day.' Smiling all the way, he cast 'stasis' on them and tossed them into the sub-dimension with Buffy. Kidnapping people was sure easy!
Things happened a bit different the next day. He still slipped into Jarikesi's offices without him noticing and put the folders on Yosho and Washu on his desk, but this time he left something else as well. A single piece of paper with neat typing on it that read: Hi! It'll be a few days before the next victim's info comes in: the next one is somewhat a friend of mine…."
To be continued….
Authors Notes:
Hi! I hope that you like my story so far; it isn't as long as I wish I could write a first chapter but it'll do. I originally wrote this for my English class but my friends liked it so I decided to post it on-line to see if other people would enjoy it. This is my first piece of published fanfiction so go easy on it… I'm working on chapter two right now but I can't say when it'll be finished.