Author's Notes
Alright everybody, let me give you a bit of background before anybody comes to me asking about "plot gaps". As you know, this is a sequel to the other Dream Quest stories, which exist in a series of stories that I've written over the years. The ones that are posted are Mortal Quest (story 4), Glory of the Hunt (story 5), and A Feudel Dream (story 7). This is story 9. "Where are stories 6 and 8?", you may be wondering? Well, those were stories that I had a few ideas for, but I couldn't get the rest of the story laid out, so I put them on the scrapheap for now. However, there are a few references to them throughout my other stories, such as the first part of this intro referencing the, as of now, unwritten story 8.
That all said, this story will be a crossover between several different games and Animes, some of which may be more well known than others. This intro consists of a bit of background on the characters, for those of you who may not know them, and telling how they all get into a bizarre predicament. So, without further adeu, I give you the latest Dream Quest adventure! Enjoy!
Dream Quest: The Calibur of Courage
Six months have passed since Onaga's attempt to conquer the Earth, and the planet, its cities, and its people are healing nicely; in particular, Matt discovered that his family and friends were not truly dead! Their "deaths" had been a conspiracy to get his undivided attention at an agency so secret it didn't even exist. He found himself hard-pressed to do so, but Matt eventually, albeit with quite a few conditions, forgave the agency and his spirits soared to the level his family and friends had grown to expect and love.
Damages that were accumulated during the raging battles have been mostly repaired, thanks in part to some superhuman aid from the Masters. The Masters were forced to become stronger than ever in order to repel the sequential strikes by Mephisto and Onaga1, and these new powers have helped them to keep the planet a safer place since then. During the attacks, some of the original Masters came out of "retirement" and a couple of new allies were gained, making the Masters an even more potent force of good.
Ever since the attacks, and the repairs, things around Earth have been mostly peaceful, aside from the occasional petty theft or bank robbery, which were simple enough for the Masters to stop. As such, with D.C.'s anniversary rapidly approaching, Matt and D.C. decide to find the perfect gift for D.C.'s wife, Alicia. Matt:"So, what kinds of things were you thinking of getting her?" D.C.:"Chick things." "Well, duh," Matt said as he rolled his eyes. "I meant, what general area were you looking at? Jewelry? A reservation at a hot restaurant? A night flying above town with Tera Cooler..." D.C.:"Hey! I try to keep the super hero life separate from my family life when I can. But, that's not a bad idea; I never took her flying before... Still, I think that jewelry would be a good option as well."
Matt:"But, you don't want to spend an enormous amount of money, right?" D.C.:"Well, no. Unlike you, I wasn't declared legally dead two years ago and still have to worry about finances." After laughing for bit, Matt suggested, "Well, what if we could find some fine jewelry for free?" D.C.:"Alright, and where would we do that?!" Matt:"Simple. We go treasure hunting in Other World. You have vacation days coming up at work, right?" D.C.:"Ok, I see where this is going. You want me to make my wife think that we're just going to be hanging out for a day, when really we're going to be going to Hyrule or Skyrim looking for treasure to make into jewelry?" Matt:"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up." D.C.:"Haha. You always have an idea of how to make things work in reality by dimension hoping into a fictional world. That's why I love you...in a non-gay way." Matt:"I thought we got over the 'in a non-gay way' thing years ago! Haha, whatever. Let's just get going as soon as we can, huh?"
So, the next day, D.C. waited for Matt to show up at his house on Dragon Fire, the motorcycle Matt built to be an improvement over the Super Truck. Soon, Matt arrived outside the house and the pair of heroes departed for Other World. When they arrived, they were in a wide-open plain, with mountain ranges off in the distance in all directions. Matt:"Welcome to Skyrim, D.C. With any luck, we'll be able to delve into a dungeon or two, find some gold and jewels, and take them to an Argonian jeweler to make an awesome necklace for a minimal price." D.C.:"It'll be that simple, huh?" Matt:"Well, we may have to take out a bandit or two along the way, but, yeah, it should be reasonably simple to find what we need."
With that, Matt used his key chain to send Dragon Fire back home, and the two heroes set out upon the wide-open plains of Skyrim. Soon, the two came upon a cave near a waterfall, and decided to investigate. When they got inside, they saw four dead bodies around what appeared to be a shrine to a deity. When they got close, they saw a journal, probably belonging to one of the deceased. After reading it, Matt said, "This says that divine wrath will fall upon those that disturb the shrine or steal treasure from here. Want to look somewhere else? I don't feel like having to pawn a false god today." With a laugh, D.C. smacked the statue on the shrine and said, "Yeah, alright. I think it would be a bit hard to explain to Alicia if I came back with a scar to two as well."
No sooner than D.C. hit the statue, a black hole appeared behind him and started to suck him in with the power of multiple tornadoes! D.C.:"Whoa, shit!" D.C. started to use his telekinetic powers to float away from the portal that appeared, but was having minimal success. Matt reached out his hand to aid his friend, semi-transforming in the process to gain his superhuman abilities; even with this tremendous strength increase, however, the two continued their path toward the portal. Matt grunted with effort as he pulled his friend away from the blackness, but he lost his grip on the cave floor and began to fly into the portal with D.C. Matt:"Whoa, no, SHIT!" The two heroes disappeared into the portal immediately afterwards.
Thankfully, Matt and D.C. appeared on the other side in one piece. Matt:"Well, at least that didn't work like my trip through the Infinity Vortex... But, still, where the f*%k are we?" D.C.:"You're the dimension hopper, don't ask me!" "Funny," Matt said as he reverted to his human form. "More importantly, let's get back home, or at least back to Skyrim to get you a jewel or two to use." Matt pressed the button on his Key Chain to summon Dragon Fire, but nothing happened! Matt:"Weird." Matt pressed the button a second time, but his bike still didn't appear. Matt:"Ok, now I'm a bit worried. Wherever we are, my bike doesn't know how to find us. But, that shouldn't be right...my bike can find everything from our world to every world beyond it!"
D.C.:"I knew this was a bad idea. Only you could find a way to make a simple errand turn into a life or death situation by sending us to a place that we can't escape from!" Matt:"Bite me, D.C.! If I recall, you were the one that smacked the statue bringing 'divine wrath' upon us. But, I don't think that's what really happened; wherever we are, it seems to be in line with the current year in our world." D.C.:"You're right, those skyscrapers look a bit too advanced for the likes of Skyrim's people or their deities."
His eyes getting wider, D.C. added, "You know, I just thought of something. You said that Dragon Fire could find anything from our world and beyond. What if we somehow wound up in a world made before ours!?" Matt:"What, you mean we could have wound up in 'Dimension 0' or something?!" D.C.:"You got a better idea?" Matt:"Well, as unlikely as that sounds, that's also probably the only logical explanation. But, that would mean this is God's 'Forge of Creation' or something!" D.C.:"Well, if that is the case, we must have been sent or called here for a reason; you are 'The Soldier of Heaven' after all." Matt:"I did give myself that title, didn't I? Well, it seems quite apparent that Dragon Fire can't reach us here. So, if we are going to get home, we're going to have to find another way." D.C.:"No rest for the best of the best, eh?" After laughing for a moment, Matt replied, "That's always the way it goes, isn't it? Well, we won't get anywhere standing around here; we'll just have to look around the old-fashioned way for now..."
In the distant future of Other World, sometime in the 2200's to be exact, three warriors were sitting in a transport ship, anxiously waiting to arrive at their home base; they had just finished a mission that called them away from home, and, consequently, away from some close friends. The warriors were robots, but they were a fantastic type of robot: one that could think, feel, and act for itself; robots that were more human than machine, possessing free will! The ex-facto leader of the three was covered with blue armor, with black under armor covering the exposed areas of his arms, legs, and torso. His dearest friend, called by his compatriots "The Crimson Hunter", was donned in, as his nickname implied, crimson red armor. Unlike his friend, he specialized in close range combat, armed with a beam saber instead of an arm blaster. The third member of the group, also the youngest, was built of mostly black armor, with dark grey under armor covering the exposed areas of his body.
Within a few minutes, the captain of the drop ship announced over the ships communications, "Attention, Hunters! We will be arriving at Maverick Hunter Headquarters in just a few minutes!" Megaman X, or "The Blue Bomber", as he was sometimes called, breathed a sigh of relief; it was good to be home. Zero, his scarlet armored best friend, shared the sentiment; after keeping the world safe for more than 200 years, they needed a break from all the uprisings that were taking place. The worst part of their most recent mission was the fact that they were betrayed by the commanding officer of their far off mission, Colonel Redips! Having to destroy your commanding officer, then nearly burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, wasn't exactly what Zero called a "dream vacation". Axl, the youngest member of the three, was somewhat indifferent to coming home; sure, it was good to be home, but he was, self-admittedly, happiest on the battlefield going guns-akimbo on Mavericks.
After a couple of minutes, X activated the communications module on his helmet. X:"Hunter Base, do you copy?" Zero and Axl looked at X with slightly bewildered looks on their faces; they were going to be home in a few minutes, why was he bothering to contact the base when they knew that on their end as well? Through the module, X heard a familiar female voice say, "Hunter Base, this is Alia." When his friends saw X get a somewhat sappy smile on his face, they immediately knew what his real goal was. X:"Just calling to let you know we'd be back a few minutes." With a brief chuckle, X's primary navigator, Alia, said, "We can see you on the sensors, you know. It's good to hear from you, though, X. It's been a while." X continued his conversation with his friend, while shooting his other friends an irritated look; while he was chatting with Alia, Zero was making kissy faces at him while Axl made a mocking swoon imitation. It became painfully apparent to X that his friends knew something that he hadn't explicitly told them: he had a bit of a crush on Alia.
With docking imminent, X cut his conversation with Alia short and waited for the ship to finish the docking process. As the trio walked down the main corridor to the docking bay, X's pacifistic nature began to reach its breaking point; his friends continued to ride him about his upcoming reunion. X:"Will you guys give it a rest!?" As his friends returned to their usual composure, X added, "I haven't even told her yet, so lay off!" Zero:"And that is why I'm giving you such a hard time! You've known her for nearly 200 years, and you still haven't had the courage to say three simple words. We killed Sigma ten times and you never backed down during any of those battles! What makes this so different?" X sighed, knowing that, on some level, his best friend was right. But, all the same, he retorted with, "Yeah, well, I've seen how you look at Layer; you've known her for nearly 100 years and yet you're still 'Single' like me." "He has a point there, Zero. Looks like you both have some 'work' to do," Axl teased his two friends. Zero opened his mouth to say something in reply, but immediately shut it, as no words came to mind. Seeing that he had struck a painful nerve his friends, Axl suggested, "Alright, let's just drop it for now. We have to go meet them to report on our recent mission anyway."
So, the three heroes went towards the war room of the Maverick Hunter Base. Once there, they were greeted by the head commander of the Hunter Base, Signas. Signas:"Well, if it isn't our Class S operatives! It's good to see you're back from Giga City." After turning toward the navigators' control booth, Signas added, with a wink, "It hasn't quite been the same around here without you guys." They were oblivious to the meaning of Signas's last comment, but headed in that direction anyway.
After climbing the steps to the booth, the three of them noticed their respective navigators, hard at work. X walked over to the female Reploid with blonde hair, dressed in pink armor; his secret crush, Alia. As he walked up behind her, staring over her shoulder with remote curiosity as to what she was working on, she suddenly said, without looking up, "Do you know how hard it is to concentrate on my work with you looking over my shoulder, X?" X:"How did you know it was me?" Alia:"Well, for one, I saw you three come in as soon as you arrived. Second, I'm your navigator; it's my job to know where you are at all times." X nervously put his hand behind his helmet, mimicking a man scratching the back of his head. With a softer, less professional sounding tone, Alia finished, "And third, I kind of missed having somebody actually care about my work."
While the two of them got reacquainted, Zero and Axl struggled not to laugh at X and embarrass him. Zero walked over towards the dark-skinned female Reploid with purple hair, dressed in somewhat risque white and purple armor; Layer, the first girl since Iris, who was unfortunately killed during the fourth Maverick uprising, to catch Zero's eye. Layer looked back at the crimson hunter, trying desperately to hide her blushing face, and said, "Welcome back, Zero. I trust your mission was successful?" Zero:"Depends on how you look at it..." He started to report his mission details to Layer, who listened attentively, typing every last detail into the mission computer. Simply having Zero nearby made Layer's face become flushed; for her it was "love at first sight", but, much like X and Zero, she couldn't find the words nor the courage to tell her significant other what she felt.
Across the room from the other two pairs, Axl approached his navigator; the short, energetic Reploid named Palette. Unlike his two friends, Axl sought to keep his relationship with the green-armored girl strictly professional, while simultaneously getting along with her as a dear friend. Palette:"Find any research on your Copy Chip while in Giga City?" Axl:"Not nearly as much as I'd hoped, and more than I hoped to find at the same time..." He reported his mission outcome to his navigator, finishing at roughly the same time as X and Zero. Alia:"Sorry to make you guys give reports the second you got back. I can only imagine how beat you guys are." Signas suddenly came into the navigator's booth and said, "And that is precisely why they have the rest of the day off; I want the three of you to go to your quarters and spend at least eight hours in your recharge pods." With a sigh of relief, the three Maverick Hunters headed to their quarters and immediately powered down.
The next day, sixteen hours later, X awoke feeling much more energetic than he had when he got back from Giga City. He hadn't planed on sleeping quite that long, but he really needed the break. He walked out to Observation Deck 2, his favorite spot to sit and think. He stood leaning along the railing, contemplating the conversation he and Zero had the previous day. He liked Alia, and she seemed to like him back, at least as a close friend, but how could he convey what he was thinking to her? Zero was right about one thing: facing a whole army of Maverick Reploids seemed easier than what he had running through his mind right now.
It was about then Zero joined him on the balcony and stood next to him. X:"So, you thinking about our conversation yesterday as much as me?" Zero:"Yeah. I wasn't trying to make you meltdown; I was just trying to motivate you to tell her before its too late. Don't do like I did with Iris; don't wait until she's dying in your arms or until you're ready to go to the scrapheap before you tell her. You don't have to worry about embarrassing yourself; I can tell that she cares about you, more than she let's on." X:"And I can see Layer blushing whenever you get within fifty feet of her." Coming up behind the two of them, Axl said, "So, what's taking the two of you so long?! Go get your girls, you idiots!" X and Zero looked at one another and just started laughing. X:"You know, Axl, you're right about one thing: we are stupid." The three of them laughed even harder than before.
They were about to continue their conversation when a black hole appeared off the balcony and started to drag them towards it! Zero:"Where the heck did that come from!?" Axl:"You got me, but I think the more pressing question is 'How are we going to avoid it?'!" The force of the portal had already pulled Axl off the floor, causing him to fly in the opposite direction he wanted to. Zero:"AXL!" He reached out and grabbed his friend's hand in an effort to save him, but soon found himself in a similar predicament; the only thing holding him and Axl away from the portal was the railing of the balcony, and Zero could feel his grip slipping!
The two noticed that X's appearance had changed, having summoned one of his various armor systems. X's current armor, the Commander Armor, as he called it, was the final, permanent upgrade given to him by his creator, Dr. Light. The armor stored the data for many of the other armor systems he had used in his previous missions. Each armor had its own strengths and weaknesses, but since the Commander Armor could summon the armor systems at will, X was ready for any situation! Equipping himself with the Gaea Armor, a very heavy, but not very mobile, armor, X grabbed Zero's arm and started to pull against the portal's strength.
Despite the increased weight, X soon found himself rising off the floor of the balcony as well! X:"I...can't...hold on!" His armor had superior griping ability, enabling X to stop their flight by grabbing onto the railing Zero had been holding onto. However, he quickly realized that the tighter he held on, the stronger the portal's pull became! Several other Maverick Hunters arrived at the scene at about that same time; the trio's desperate battle against the portal's pull had begun before operation hours of the Base, so there were very few people to help them until right then! X looked up and caught sight of Alia in the back of the crowd, with a horrified look on her face; it was right then X's grip faltered! X:"NOOOOOO!" The three Class S Maverick Hunters flew into the awaiting portal, which promptly closed behind them!
No sooner had she witnessed X and the others fly into the portal, Alia ran to find the other navigators and rushed to her navigation console on the double. On the other end of the portal, the Maverick Hunters appeared with no damages. As the Gaea Armor disappeared, reverting X to has normal appearance, he said, "You guys alright?!" Zero:"Yeah, it'll take more than a trip like that to take me down, buddy!" Axl:"I'm fine, too. But, do either of you know where we are? I've never seen buildings like this!"
At about that moment, X heard in his helmet, "X! X! Come in! Do you read?!" X:"Alia! Yeah, I'm here. So are Zero and Axl. We're not sure where we are, but we're fine." Breathing a sigh of tremendous relief, Alia continued, "Good to hear, but I can't see you on my navigation console! Wherever you guys are, it isn't on Earth!" X:"It sort of looks like we've gone back in time or something; I haven't seen buildings of this style for nearly 200 years! If that's the case, though, I'm surprised that our communications aren't being interrupted; not that I'm complaining they still work." Alia:"This is no time to joke, X. We can't see any of you guys, and who knows how long our communications link will stay open?!" "It's now or never, then," X thought to himself before saying, "I don't know what the deal here is, Alia, but before the communications decide to stop on us, I need to ask you something..." Alia was slightly shocked at the request, simply replying, "What?" X:"I know that you've always done this as part of your job as my navigator, but I'm asking you to do this now as my friend: wait for me." Alia:"W..wait for you?!" X:"Yeah. We'll find a way home before you know it, and when we do...there's something that I want to talk to you about. Provided the communication holds out, I'll give you updates to our current situation, but until then, just wait and wish me luck." With a slightly nervous tone, Alia replied, "Alright, X. Good luck." X:"X out." Once communications were cut, Alia added silently, "If you get hurt out there when there isn't a thing I can do for you, I'll kill you myself, X!"
At the same time, Layer had been frantically calling Zero. Zero finally replied, "What is it, Layer?" Layer:"How can you be so calm right now?! Alia told us that you guys were sucked into a black hole!" Zero:"Yeah, about that. Whatever that portal was, it sent us somewhere into the past or something; my map sensor is saying that we're right in front of the balcony, but the building that we're near is most certainly not Maverick Hunter Headquarters." Layer:"If you guys really were sent into the past, then our communications could falter at any moment!" Zero:"Well, if that does happen, I want you to do something for me." Layer:"What?!" Zero:"Don't panic. X and I have been through some serious business before, and not knowing where we are for a moment doesn't really qualify. We'll find a way home soon, and when we do, well, I'll tell you then. But for now, just wish me luck, like always." Layer tried desperately to hid the worry in her voice as she spoke, "Good luck, Zero." Zero:"Stop worrying already! Zero out."
Axl's dialogue with Palette was short and sweet, and certainly didn't contain any "hints"; he merely explained the current situation, and she said, "Good luck." Once his compatriots chats were over, Axl face-palmed in their direction saying, "I can't believe that now, when we're trapped in time, with no immediate escape route, you guys decide to confess to your navigators!" X:"We didn't really confess. Besides, it seemed like a 'now or never' thing to me. But, that's beside the point; right now, the three of us need to find a way home, or at least someone who is more native to this place than us who can point us in the right direction." Zero:"Agreed. We don't know how long communications with Hunter Base will function, and our navigators can't help us anyway. We're on our own, so we better start walking..."
In yet another universe, sounds of supernatural combat could be heard coming from a convenience store. Or, more accurately, about half a mile underneath of that convenience store. On that battlefield, a man wearing a white and green striped hat, a black coat, and clogs was training a young protege to regain his lost powers. The protégé was a teenager a bit less than 6 feet tall with bright orange hair. As far as the teenager was concerned, this was "training from Hell", but it would soon be worth it. He had lost his powers after being attacked by a much stronger opponent, and in regaining his powers, he would be strong enough to rescue a friend who was taken captive by that same opponent.
Through this rigorous training regiment that couldn't have come from anywhere but the deepest pits of the underworld, Ichigo Kurosaki had regained his Soul Reaper powers. His friend, Rukia, who was in need of rescuing, had been taken back to the Soul Society. Unfortunately, Ichigo was unable to simply charge into battle, like he wanted too. There was only one way in or out of the Soul Society, a special gate called a "Senkaimon". His current mentor, Kisuke Urahara, had the means to open one, but it would take a couple of days. This meant, of course, that Ichigo would have to be patient and wait until Urahara opened the gate.
Being patient wasn't one of Ichigo's strongest suits but, at the moment, he had very little other choice if he was going to storm the Soul Society and rescue his friend. So, albeit with some reluctance, Ichigo was sent home by Urahara to rest up before the big battle. As Ichigo leaped across Karakura Town towards his home, he suddenly started to think about all the people he'd be leaving behind to go to the Soul Society.
The first one who came to mind was his friend, Chad. Ichigo smiled fondly, thinking of his gigantic friend; Chad was easily a foot taller than he was, but he was so gentile that he wouldn't hurt a fly. It was partly because of this, that Chad would never fight back against anybody who was attacking him. Ichigo first noticed this trait about him when Chad saved him from having his ass royally kicked by a group of bullies in Junior High; after Chad had knocked the guy beating Ichigo (while that guy's friends held Ichigo still) away, they turned on him instead. But, Chad didn't fight back; he just let them pound on him until they got tired of it and left.
When Ichigo had asked him about it, Chad simply said that he had promised Abuelo to not fight for his own sake; Chad had been a bad kid at one point, when he still lived in Mexico, but his grandfather helped turn him around. Abuelo had given Chad a Mexican coin as a charm to help keep his "large body and strong fists" under control; Chad at one point said that this coin was worth more than his own life. The coin was stolen by a group of bullies, who had captured Chad and threatened to drop it in a river, until Ichigo came to save him. Afterwards, the two teens made a promise to each other; Chad would stay the same, not fighting back for his own sake, but if there was something Ichigo felt was worth giving his life for, Chad would back him up, and Ichigo would do the same in return.
Ichigo's thoughts then moved to his family; his younger twin sisters, Yuzu and Karin, and his father, Isshin. He had lost his mother at a very young age; at first he blamed himself for getting her killed trying to save him from falling in a river, but, in reality, a powerful Hollow called "Grand Fisher" was responsible. Ichigo's near-permanent frown deepened for a moment as he recalled his burning desire to pay the evil Hollow back in kind. Since that day, he resolved to stay strong and be a protector of his family. He cared for his sisters deeply; Ichigo chuckled for a moment before thinking that he supposed he cared for his father as well. Isshin Kurosaki made it a never-ending quest of his to catch Ichigo off-guard with an attack. Thus far, Ichigo had managed to derail all of his dad's attempts. Though it annoyed him to no end, he supposed that these non-stop attacks had helped to sharpen his senses to near superhuman levels, becoming that much more potent when he transformed into a Soul Reaper.
Uryu Ishida came to his mind next. Although he'd only known the Quincy for a short time, and Uryu had sworn to be his enemy for life, Ichigo couldn't help but realize that, despite their numerous differences, he could count on Uryu to have his back, and Uryu could expect the same in return. Ichigo laughed when he thought of Uryu's exceptional sewing skills; a rather odd thing for a male to be good at, but Uryu could easily put 100 year old grandmothers in their place with his level of skill.
A dear friend of his, Tatsuki, entered his mind next. The ultimate tomboy, Tatsuki was a black belt in martial arts, kept her hair short, and had a rather...unrefined way of speaking. All the same, she'd helped him come out of his shell when he was a small child, and had been a very close friend ever since. She had provided comfort, what little he would allow to seep through the "Iron Curtain" he'd placed around his heart, after his mother's death. But, most of all, he liked how she would keep him in line; if he ever got out of line, he would promptly be on the receiving end of a roundhouse kick, or something of the sort.
Finally, Ichigo's thoughts moved to the person he imagined he'd miss the most; Orihime Inoue. They had met under unfortunate circumstances when they were twelve; Orihime's brother, Sora, had just been hit by a car. She tried desperately to get him to a hospital, but the closest place she could find was Ichigo's house, which also served as a small clinic. They were unable to help Sora, and he died that same day. At the time, Ichigo didn't know that it was her, but came to realize it once they got to Junior High; she was the only other person Ichigo was aware of, besides his own mother, who had a hair color that was similar to his own.
She was good friends with Tatsuki, who was responsible for formally introducing Orihime to Ichigo. At first, Ichigo was determined to uphold his reputation of being a tough guy; he was cordial, saying "Hi." in the hallway, home room, and the lot, but did little else. "But," Ichigo thought to himself, "she was quickly able to see though that facade." After she subtly told him he didn't need to act so tough all the time, he softened up a bit, but only when she was around. His scowl remained everlasting, but she was able to get rare smiles out of him with her sweet, bubbly personality and her...interesting imagination.
Upon reaching High School, they shared several classes, but Ichigo remained aloof, mostly because she'd hang out with Tatsuki and several other girls at school. Despite himself, he'd glance in her direction a few times, and her chipper face would almost never fail to, ever so briefly, melt his frown away. More recently, shortly after gaining his Soul Reaper powers the first time, he'd rescued her from Sora, who'd lost himself and become a Hollow. It was at that moment, Ichigo felt himself starting to look at her a bit differently; she remained the kind person that he'd always seen, but a bit of inner strength showed a bit more clearly, rather than her always, seemingly, hiding behind Tatsuki. Her personality was becoming more effective at melting through his barriers, and he begin to notice her rather filled out figure; she was an attractive level of thin, but if you looked higher, you'd immediately see her gigantic... Ichigo shook his head vigorously to force the increasingly "R rated" thought from his teenage mind; she was a dear friend, a nakama, nothing more...right?
It was at this point he noticed that he was getting closer to his home, closer to his bed. He hadn't wanted to admit it, but reminiscing on the past, in addition to his training, had brought out a great fatigue. He sobered up considerably when he noticed a black hole suddenly appear right in his path! Ichigo didn't know what this meant for him, but whatever it was, it couldn't be good! Ichigo reached behind him and unsheathed his Zanpakto, Zangetsu. Ichigo:"Getsuga Tensho!" A beam of pure energy emerged from his sword and plowed into the portal. Ichigo's effort to destroy, or close prematurely, the portal failed; and since it appeared right in his path, he had no time to change his direction! Ichigo was sucked into the portal and emerged on the other side in a place that most certainly was not his home town. Ichigo observed his surroundings with a tinge of worry, however, he observed equally quickly that worrying about what had just happened wouldn't change things. Ichigo thought to himself, steeling his resolve, "I don't know what just happened, but nothing is going to stop me from finding a way out of here!" At this point, all he could do was sheath Zangetsu and walk down the path before him...
In still another universe, two people were practicing swordplay in the courtyard of a Japanese mansion. One was a red haired boy and his tutor was a blonde woman. The boy was trying desperately to learn how to use a sword, or any weapon for that matter, more properly so he could aid or, as he preferred, replace her in battle situations. The girl was far superior in skill than he was, and she made that painfully obvious; at every attempt to engage her, with wooden practice swords of course, she'd knock him on his ass within one or two swings of her sword.
Although she was trying to keep her cool, Saber continued to get more and more irritated with her Master, Shiro. Saber:"Shiro. I understand your desire to follow in your father's footsteps as a hero of men, however, that same desire has made you completely irrational! My sole reason for existing in this world right now is to fight in the Holy Grail War and achieve the Holy Grail, but you are essentially forbidding me from doing so! I do not require your protection, as I'm sure you can plainly see." Shiro looked up his blonde servant and stated confidently, "I know you don't need my protection, but I can't help it. I don't like seeing people get hurt, especially women, when I can do something about it! That's what heroes of men do; they defend those who cannot defend themselves!" Saber's irritation reached a new high, as she let out a seething groan. Saber:"I've told you already that I am a Servant first, and a woman second! You're efforts to 'protect' me have only served to get you nearly killed on more than one occasion! I've told you repeatedly that if another Servant or Master confronts you, you are to summon me immediately, not try to fight them off yourself! How you've managed to come back from these idiotic attempts is beyond me!"
Shiro smiled sheepishly on the floor of the training dojo in his back yard. She was right in one regard; he probably should have been killed a couple of times, but something was causing his wounds to heal abnormally fast. He wasn't sure if it was Saber's mana that was sustaining him or not, but, whatever it was, it was keeping him from dying. Saber calmed slightly and finished, "I don't mind teaching you swordplay for last resort situations, but this is war, Shiro, whether you want to admit it or not. I am a soldier in that war and you are my commander, but a commander that is not willing to fight cannot win!" Shiro:"Saber, we've been over this. I don't like causing people pain or killing them. I know this is a war, Saber, but I want to avoid conflict as much as I can. And when conflict comes, I don't want to see you get hurt on my behalf." Saber's rage flared again; even if he wasn't trying to do so deliberately, his patronizing speech about 'women shouldn't be in combat' was really beginning to annoy her.
She was bound to Shiro by a pact made between Master and Servant, but given his pacifistic nature, she often found herself wondering why she had been picked for his Servant. He didn't want to fight and knew very little, if any, magic. As such, his lack of magical ability meant that she couldn't replenish her mana quickly after battles; this combined with Shiro's unwillingness to let her fight, meant that it was a long while before she saw battle. Patience, when it came to waiting to strike, or for her enemies to strike first, was not in Saber's mind set. However, for as annoying as Shiro's behavior was to her, Saber couldn't help but admire him for it as well; he would have made a fine diplomat, or a benevolent ruler, in ancient times. But, at the moment, all Saber could do was hope that after soundly defeating him so many times, it would convince Shiro to give up in his attempts to keep her safe, and let her fight.
Saber's mannerisms relaxed again before she said, "I'm sorry, Shiro. I know that as your Servant I shouldn't be talking so out of turn with you." Shiro sighed before replying, "Saber, you may be a Servant, but I consider you a friend above all else. I respect your opinion; I know that one-on-one I'm no match for a Servant, but I still don't like seeing you, or anybody else for that matter, get hurt." Shiro paused for a moment before finishing, "Let's break for now and get some food and rest. But I'm not giving up; I'm determined to learn how to use a sword." Saber couldn't help but laugh at her Master's enthusiasm; she'd pummeled him into submission so many times during their "training", but he still refused to learn. "Oh, well," she thought. "I'll just have to keep convincing him."
They left the dojo and began to walk towards the main house, when a black hole suddenly opened up in front of them! Shiro:"Saber! Stay back!" Saber ignored her Master, summoning her armor and prepared to fight whatever emerged from this portal. To their surprise, nothing came out of the portal; instead, it started to pull them into it! Shiro flew off the ground first, but Saber caught him in the air and started to struggle against the portal's strength in the opposite direction. Being a Servant, she was much stronger than a typical human, but even her strength was proving to be useless against the ridiculously strong pull the portal mustered. She soon felt herself floating through the air and became enveloped in blackness!
She and Shiro emerged on the other side of the portal unharmed. Shiro:"Thanks for catching me, Saber." Saber turned on her heel towards her Master, irritation evident in her eyes. Saber:"For what little good it did us! Whatever that portal was, it sucked both of us up into it! My strength was nothing compared to it!" Shiro:"Look, Saber, calm down! We may not be at my home like we should, but we are still alive. We can still find a way back, but, in order to do that, we're going to have to work together and figure this out!" Saber's armor disappeared and she reverted to her regular clothing. Saber:"Yes. You are quite right, Shiro. I lost my head for a moment, but there is little we can do about our current situation other then move forward." Shiro:"That's the Saber I know! We better get moving; I've got a feeling that this isn't going to be a simple walk in the park..."
In still another cosmos, a voluptuous, dark-haired woman sat in her apartment, pondering the events of her day. It started like any other day; she got up, got ready for her work as a super model, did some, occasionally seductive, poses for the camera, and returned home. However, as of late, she's had a side job; she wasn't sure whether or not she should be proud of the work she did at this job or not, though. A cruel twist of fate, in her mind anyway, had made her into a monster; she had latent supernatural abilities, which recently surfaced, causing her to get some very unwanted attention.
Jun Fudo sat looking out the glass door to her apartment's balcony, reflecting on what this bizarre turn of events had meant for her. She was, rather forcefully, recruited into a secret organization, called the "Human Alliance", a short time ago. In the short period of time that passed from her recruitment, she was forced to kill three other creatures like herself; Devil Beasts. Unlike the vast majority of Devil Beasts which currently existed in the world, Jun was able to hold onto her human consciousness; this meant that she wasn't a mindless killer, and would only kill in self-defense. However, this didn't stop Lan Asuka, the Human Alliance's leader, from forcing her into situations she didn't approve of. Her "job", if you could call it that, was to find and eliminate Devil Beasts that were targeting and killing humans. Since she would accompany Asuka into suspected areas, they would be attacked by the hostile Beast, forcing Jun to transform into her Devil Lady form to keep her and Asuka from being killed.
While her human side remained intact, Jun could feel herself change, not just physically, when she became Devil Lady; her personally became much more boisterous and violent. It almost got to the point where she enjoyed killing her enemies. After changing back to herself, Jun would break down into tears, frightened by how much she seemed to enjoy herself while in combat. Jun smiled briefly, still locked in her thoughts, "I suppose that is on only real downside to it." Her personality would be altered, but she was slowly beginning to get a handle on it. In addition, she possessed greatly amplified strength, speed, and durability, enhanced senses, and she healed very quickly. Her enhanced senses and healing carried over to her regular, human form as well.
Jun frowned as she thought of a little boy she had met in a tunnel while walking home a couple of nights ago. He seemed to be aware that she was Devil Lady, and was sending more Beasts after her. He had called her "a traitor to her own kind". In a way, Jun thought, he was right. She was killing off other Devil Beasts like herself, but she had sworn to use her powers to protect humanity; her own humanity was her most precious possession.
The only thing more precious to Jun than her own humanity was her friend, Kazumi. Kazumi was the sister Jun never had, and her being a Devil Beast was changing Kazumi's life, and not in a good way. The boy Jun saw had sent a Devil Beast to kill Kazumi and her family; Jun was able to make it in time to save Kazumi, but her parents were brutally murdered. Since that night, Kazumi had been staying with Jun. Jun absolutely abhorred having to lie to her, but she also felt that if Kazumi knew the truth about her, it would not only freak her out, but also cause Kazumi to hate her; on a nightly basis, she would go out with the Human Alliance to hunt down rouge Beasts. Jun didn't know what she would do if Kazumi ever found out she was a killer, but she had a feeling that if that ever happened, the tenuous hold she had on her human side would surely shatter.
Jun was suddenly snapped from her dreary thoughts by the sound of the front door opening. Looking in the door's direction, Jun caught sight of her young friend and smiled. She and Kazumi met initially a couple of years ago when Kazumi entered the wrong room at a modeling audition. Although Jun felt she wasn't "idol material", Kazumi disagreed, and immediately asked her for modeling advice; they were like sisters ever since.
Kazumi walked in, half expecting Jun to not be there, but was very pleasantly surprised to see Jun sitting at the table near the sliding glass door. Kazumi:"Hey, Jun! I'm surprised to see you here. Usually, you'd be going off to that other job you have by now..." Jun:"Yes, it seems that I have the night off for once; I just hope they don't call in the meantime. How was the shoot?" Kazumi:"Oh, the usual. I got there, dressed up all nice and sexy, posed for a bit, and that was it." Jun couldn't help but laugh; seeing Kazumi happy again after her parents' deaths meant to the world to her. Kazumi:"Anyway, it was pretty hot on the set and I feel disgusting. I'm gonna hop in the shower." Jun:"Alright. If I don't get called out in the meantime, we'll get something to eat when you're done!" Kazumi:"Oh, that would be AWESOME, Jun!" Kazumi began to hum happily at the thought of getting to actually spend time with her "sister" this evening, and headed for the bathroom.
Jun felt herself starting to smile as well. She really needed Kazumi; to her, Kazumi was the only thing that kept her human. Jun walked out onto the balcony of her apartment to get a breath of fresh air while she waited for Kazumi to finish. That was when her night flipped upside down; no sooner had she gone outside, out of Kazumi's ear shot, a black hole appeared off of her balcony! Jun's eyes became wide with worry; not for herself, but if this portal were to destroy her home as well, what would happen to Kazumi!? However, strangely enough, the force the portal was generating was only focused on her; the door to the balcony remained stationary, the table inside the doorway stayed on the floor, and Kazumi was safe in the bathroom, humming a happy tune as she cleaned up.
As Jun clung to the railing of her balcony, she resisted the urge to scream for help, and the even stronger urge to change into Devil Lady. Jun figured the only chance she would have to escape this anomaly would be to call upon Devil Lady's strength; she immediately squashed this thought when another struck her: if Kazumi came out in the meantime to see her in Beast form, it would be, to put it extremely mildly, awkward. So, in a matter of a few more moments, Jun's grip on the railing was broken, and she flew into the blackness that awaited her. She emerged on the other side without a scratch, much to her own surprise. The portal closed behind her and Jun looked around her surroundings. She was in unfamiliar territory, and her senses were going into overdrive. Jun got a very bad feeling; in the history of her having bad feelings, this one was the worst. Would she be able to make it back to her precious Kazumi? Would she be able to find a way back home without getting killed in this, apparently, unpopulated world she currently found herself in?
Jun tried to calm herself, but to no avail; her enhanced Beast senses were picking up the smell of a powerful presence. Jun:"A Beast...there is no doubt in my mind that the presence I'm sensing is a Devil Beast!" She didn't know exactly where this other Beast was, but if the past was any indication, the Beast would be looking to have her head on a silver platter. Jun transformed into Devil Lady, the process completely shredding every piece of clothing she currently had on. Her hair stood up into a wing-like form on her head, and her muscle mass increased dramatically. As Jun looked off into the distance, the night vision in her yellow eyes taking full effect, she said aloud, "I will not become the hunted! I'll kill this other Beast and find a way back to Kazumi! Anything that decides to stand in the way of that is going to have to deal with the devil..." With that, Jun followed the road ahead of her with an unbreakable resolve to guide her!
In another of the seemingly infinite parallel worlds, it was a cool, full-mooned night in the year 2053. A heavily fortified military base was brimming with activity; growing and picking vegetables, setting up defense systems, and, most importantly to 99% of the base's population, keeping four members of the "happy family" under constant watch. The four in question had gotten used to the quiet hostility towards them; given the current circumstances of the world, it was only natural. More than a decade ago, a germ hit the world by storm, separating the entire world's population into two groups: the undead and the soon-to-be-undead; the humans who were still alive were also infected with the germ, called "Necrosis", but the symptoms of its disease didn't take effect until a few minutes after death. An exceedingly small percentage of those already under the germ's disease were able to maintain their consciousness after death, albeit without memories of their deaths or their names. Dirge and Nephthys were two of these one-in-a-billion.
They were allowed to stay in the base because they were able to control their undead urges to hunt humans for food, but mostly because one young girl, Zoe, was given the authority to let them stay. A decade ago, Zoe had been separated from her mother during an escape from an overrun base used by the humans. She'd managed to wash up on shore, only to find herself surrounded by a large group of undead, flesh-hungry seagulls. Barely escaping them, she'd made her way to a graveyard, which, to her six year old mind, was a fortress surrounded by heavy iron gates; surely, the undead would never be able to reach her here.
Murphy's Law prompted the undead to start rising from their graves; she would have been eaten alive for sure, if Dirge and his dog, Cerberus, hadn't shown up. Eventually, they met up with Nephthys and a reanimated dinosaur, called Chimera, who aided Dirge in getting Zoe home; this wasn't done with heavy trials, though. Aliens, of all things, arrived and tried to kill them all, but Dirge was able to use his undead status to turn the Acropolis's defense systems against the alien. Immediately afterwards, the bridge leading to the base collapsed, taking Dirge and the others with it, leaving Zoe alone.
Years went by and Zoe matured into a sixteen year old woman, who was constantly at odds with everyone else in the base; particularly her mother. Nobody believed that a "zombie with a conscience" had been responsible for bringing her home safely; however, when a dire situation began, the Acropolis needed all the help it could get, even if it came from the supposed "Xombie". After several hardships, Dirge, Nephthys, and Zoe were able to save the Acropolis, and stop an evil Variant, called Gallows, in the process.
It's been a year since Gallows's second death, and the Acropolis is thriving...or as close to thriving as it can get. The two resident Xombies, Dirge and Nephthys, were still looked at with fear and, occasionally, hostility, but their expertise with dealing with their fellow undead was unexpendable. Zoe was worried that her undead friends would eventually leave if things didn't improve, but they were firm in their desire to stay. Even if it was just to keep her safe, they would stay; after traveling across the land with her a decade ago, Dirge had come to love Zoe like a daughter, and keeping her safe had become his reason for being.
Due to the improved defense systems, zombie attacks against the Acropolis had dwindled considerably, but Dirge, Nephthys, Cerberus, and Chimera stood by the gates to the Acropolis, ever ready to defend it. In the event that anything went wrong with the defense systems, the Xombies were the perfect secondary defense; they never tired, never needed food, and the zombies would walk right up to them to be slaughtered (why suspect that one of your own would kill you?). But the biggest "perk" to being undead was, as Dirge put it bluntly years ago, "Nothing hurts when you're dead."
The six foot seven, blue-skinned man experimented with his alien left arm a bit more as he stood by the gates with the green-skinned, reanimated Egyptian. Despite swearing to keep the place safe, Dirge was beginning to grow bored simply standing around. All he had was time, but standing around idly was actually wasting it. If he was going to be doing nothing, he'd rather be listening to Mozart and reading a book, even if he was reading it for the millionth time. Nephthys shared the sentiment, but she'd rather be using her surprisingly scientific mind to aid in finding a cure to Necrosis. But, given her status as an undead, none of the scientists at the base trusted her, and it seemed that Zoe was the only one who did more than barely tolerate them to begin with.
Suddenly, the purple haired teenager came out of the base's gates to see her friends. Cerberus's ears perked up as he panted with glee and wagged his tail; the former action was mostly out of "old habits dying hard". Zoe:"Hey, guys. I figured you could use some company, but more than that..." She trailed off after handing each of the two Xombies two syringas of Embalming Fluid. The two sentient zombies injected themselves with the stuff every so often to keep their joints and other appendages from turning to dust. Dirge:"Thanks, Zoe. Shouldn't you be teaching a class right now, instead of loitering with 'abominations' like us?" Zoe chuckled lightly at the self-deprecating humor Dirge had used before replying, "No, not today. I'm getting the feeling that nobody even listens to my lessons on the differences between zombies and Xombies, anyway. I mean, everybody, even my own mother, who should be indebted to you guys, distrusts your ability to control yourselves around them."
Nephthys laughed before replying in her heavy accent, "It comes with the territory, dear. They'll come around eventually." She was going to continue when Dirge interjected in a deep voice, "Yeah, that's about as likely as pigs flying." After spending such a long time together, Dirge and Nephthys had developed a brother-sister relationship, which prompted Nephthys to shoot her "brother" a look before finishing, "As I was going to say before I was interrupted, they might have a point in Chimera's case; millions of years of genetic coding is hard to erase, remember?" Zoe:"Yeah, I know. With that regard, a lot of people keep asking me how Dirge keeps Cerberus under control so well. I keep telling them that Cerberus was a police dog in life, but nobody seems to listen to 'the crazy child'." Nephthys:"I'm sure everybody has stopped thinking that you're crazy by now, dear. Besides, you proved them all wrong when we showed up to help." Dirge:"I bet you just wanted to rub all their noses in it, too, didn't you, Zoe?" Zoe had to admit that she felt a certain kind of pride when Dirge and Nephthys had shown up, immediately putting all the rumors that she had simply dreamed them while drugged up in the infirmary to rest.
Dirge:"Anyway, Zoe, there's nothing for you to do out here, so why don't you go back inside?" Zoe shook her head before returning, "No, Dirge, I'd rather spend time out here with you than inside with all those people; you guys are my friends, and it seems like the only ones that I have. Ironic, isn't it? The whole world has gone to Hell in a handbasket and the only friends that I can make are all dead!" Even Dirge, with his deadpan personality, had to release a laugh at this comment; whenever Zoe came out to see them, it never failed to make his miserable life brighter for a bit.
But, all good things must come to an end. During their conversation, a black hole opened up about a third of the way across the bridge leading to the Acropolis! The portal's pull seemed to be focused on Dirge and Nephthys, since they were the only ones being dragged towards it. Dirge groaned his signature "Aw, perfect," as he started sliding across the ground against his will. Both Dirge and Nephthys started to fight against the portal's strength with their undead-enhanced muscles, but it soon proved to be for naught; they started to lift off the ground slightly and drift forward into the portal's awaiting blackness.
Zoe reached her hand out to Dirge in a frightened attempt to keep her friend from disappearing from her life again. However, Dirge refused her hand; whatever this portal was, he was determined to keep his "daughter" out of its grasp. Dirge flew forward first; his right hand kept an ironclad grip on Faust, his dual-spaded shovel, while his Xar-Gathian left arm extended a tendril, which wrapped around a support beam on the bridge, momentarily stopping his flight. As Nephthys flew by him, Scythe in her right hand, she gripped Dirge's right leg and held on for dear "un-life".
Zoe realized that the portal wasn't "paying attention" to her, so she ran out towards them to help, but stopped dead in her tracks when Dirge boomed, "Don't even think about it, Zoe! If I'm being dragged into Hell right now, I'm not going to be responsible for taking you down with me!" Chimera stayed by the gate while Cerberus followed Zoe out onto the bridge, coming to his master's aid. Just before she lost her grip, Nephthys shouted out to Zoe, "Don't worry, sweetheart. We'll be back!" Immediately afterwards, the portal swallowed her whole, and increases its pull on Dirge two fold. Dirge looked onward and saw the tendril extended from his arm was ripping rapidly, prompting him to shout out, "Cerberus!" His loyal companion barked in recognition, with a concerned look in his eyes. "Guard Zoe!", Dirge finished before he, too, was sucked into the awaiting wormhole.
When Dirge emerged, Nephthys was waiting for him, Scythe in hand. Nephthys:"Well, that's about the only anomaly stranger than us Variants." Dirge looked back at her with an exasperated expression, or as best as he could make his face appear so. Dirge:"I don't see how you can joke right now, but at least we don't appear to be in Hell, like I was afraid of. You think we can find away out of this place and get back to Zoe?" Dirge asked the question knowing that the answer was probably not what he wanted, but his ever optimistic "sister" replied, "Of course we will, Dirge. Standing around here won't get us anywhere; we'll just have to keep moving until we find somebody who is native to his place..." "And hope that they aren't immediately scared senseless by talking zombies?!" Dirge finished for her. Nephthys couldn't help but smile when she said back, "Always have to be the negative one, don't you? But, you have a valid point; we'll just have to keep moving and hope for the best." She started to walk down the road in front of them, tightening her grip on her Scythe slightly as she went. Dirge started to follow her and said, to no one in particular, "It's...going to be a long night..."
1Refers to the currently unwritten Dream Quest 8: Hell on Earth
End Notes
Some of you may have noticed some ideas that were used many times, particularly the "shipping" hints that I threw into the story. In particular, the part where Zero and Axl were making X's life miserable on the transport ship was inspired by a part of Classic Cowboy's "When You Come Back To Me".
For those of you confused about the "timelines" I used, I'll list them in order of section:
The "normal" dimension section takes place 6 months after story 8, and two years after story 7.
The "Megaman X" dimension section takes place after the end of Megaman X: Command Mission.
I forget the episode numbers, but as the story said, the "Bleach" dimension section takes place right before they left for the Soul Society the first time.
Again, I forget the episode numbers, but I think the "Fate/Stay Night" dimension section begins in the middle of episode 10 or 11.
The "Devil Lady" dimension section takes place sometime between Episodes 4 and 5.
The "Xombie" dimension section takes place a year after the end of Xombie: Reanimated.