DISCLAIMER: All characters are owned by either Namco or Capcom. The end.

And now for something completely different.

Chapter 01: Performance

Janga was severely disappointed.

He'd anticipated his inevitable trip to Hell since he learned what it was. Living here wasn't as horrible as the stories people made to scare children strait made it out to be. Lunatea paled in comparison. The world was at least twice as big with a larger populous in this city alone. Nothing exciting ever happened around the city, however. Only the occasional bit of property damage caused by a disgruntled demon 'venting', or something just as childish. Janga had to wonder if one of the tortures of Hell was the monotony of it all! He'd never been this bored in life!

Hell wasn't even the 'politically correct' term for where he was now, damn it.

This was half the reason Janga got back on the bottle immediately after being banished here. He hadn't drunk this heavily since forming an alliance with Garlen, but now there was seldom a time he didn't have some mixture of cheap brands in his claws. To make matters worst he had to take on some form of employment to pay for the alcohol he drinks.

That's just ... ridiculous!

Needless to say Janga found himself bitter and angry on those nights he left his job at the bar down the street from his apartment. An apartment. He never lived in anything smaller than a two story house on Lunatea! The door he left unlocked because there was nothing of value in the apartment, so he shoved it open with a shoulder and left it partially opened for the time being.

Dinner would consist of four cans of stolen sardines and whatever was in his mystery booze bottle today. His poison claws ripped through the top of the tin, which was the only use he had of them in this world. Janga balanced the first of the cans on his stomach while stretching out along the armchair propped in front of the only form of entertainment in his apartment: a twenty inch TV. Another stolen item, but one that was more interesting than the others. There were no televisions on Lunatea, which made meal times very boring now that he looked back on it.

Maybe there's some innovation here after all.

Kicking at the TV was enough to turn it on. There was some kind of show on this channel tonight, the kind that made him regret throwing the remote at some beggar out on the street last week. " Damn it all ... " He sighed, but was not going to get off the couch to change to something decent. Food would take his mind off the noise assaulting his ear drums, and in a few minutes he'll be too drunk to care who was performing.

His prediction was correct. Around his fourth sip he started to get a faint buzz that drowned out the noise around him while amplifying the minimal noises he made. Janga thought it amusing to see what he could mess up in this state, so he started to test out a range of vocals ranging from hisses to barks (it took years to learn how to bark). The response he got when he tried meowing was the most pleasing to the ears, so he tried it in a few different pitches.

Until he heard someone call back.

Janga tried to straiten up immediately but he only managed to stumble off the edge of the arm chair to the floor. Crack. There went another unmarked bottle, and damn if they weren't hard to come by in this world! He could feel the sleeves of his jacket soaking through with it already. Not that it mattered since his eyes and attention were focused elsewhere.

There was another cat on TV ... or at least he thought it was a cat. Most of her body looked like the humans who mill around down here but she had little white ears and a long tail. Must have been some sort of gimmick. Things like that don't exist, right?

Those meows were terribly convincing.

" Must be drunk ... " Janga thought with a look of disgust as he adjusted himself so he sat with his back against the chair. " ... If I'm sober enough to admit that I'm drunk am I really drunk? " He reached for his bottle, and the correlation between his wet coat sleeve and his inability to find the bottle clicked.

" Damn it all. " He hissed out his frustration as he watched the rest of the faux cat's performance. Due to his current physical state he couldn't properly judge her ability to sing. That was the part he was interested in, anyway. The way she moved her body was alluring, but she didn't move like a dancer in one of those late night clubs. It seemed so familiar, but he couldn't make the connection as to where -

" Janga-cha-an! " That was a voice he definitely heard in the apartment. Before he could turn his head to find it a little round clown jumped onto his face. " Janga-chan! I finally found you! I've been looking EVERYWHERE. Haven't you ever heard of calling your friends, or sending a letter even? "

" What the Hell!? " Janga screeched as he clawed at the clown on his face. He hated being touched! " I'm not your friend! I'm not even your associate! " Finally, he got a good grip on the circular creature and managed to pull him off. " What the Hell is wrong with you? "

Joka laughed as he wiggled out of Janga's claws. " I am simply expressing my excitement over finding who I consider a good friend, forgive me. "

" No. "

" Very well. " Joka brushed himself off casually. " I'll go and extend my business offer to some of my other associates, then. "

The cat calmed slightly. " What kind of business offer? "

Joka swung his foot out and turned around completely. " The type of business that you would be interested in, but it seems I was mistaken - "

" Don't you pull that arrogant crap on me, Joka! " Janga pushed his hand down on top of Joka's head before he could protest. " I'm not above cutting up your little ass and makin' some confetti. Think it's about time I celebrated my first year in Hell, anyway. "

" It's been three years, Janga-chan. "

The clown received a swift prick to the side in response. " Just tell me about this job. "

" I will not only tell but show you this rare opportunity if you release me! "

" Fine. " Janga pushed the clown forward with enough force to ensure he fell, then moved to stand himself. " You better not be wasting my time. "

Joka looked up at the considerably taller animal with a pout. " You speak as if you were doing something before. "

Janga growled and started towards the door in frustration. His eyes did dart back to the TV when he crossed it's path, but what he'd been watching prior to being interrupted was replaced with a commercial about medicine ... or something. He didn't know what they were trying to sell him. Maybe he was imagining things. Maybe he should stop drinking.

No. No he shouldn't.

For those who might be confused as to what this might be, it's Namco x Capcom from Janga's POV. A few scenes will be added and moved around to make it more interesting and less predictable. The first chapter that'll actually have stuff from the game is 3.

It's buildup! xD