I don't own Love Hina. (PH34R my L33T idiot-proof disclaimer.)
-Keitaro's Big Adventure
Chapter One
Keitaro Urashima looked around the Tokyo-U campus and sighed happily. "What's with you?" Naru Narusegawa asked.
"Only a few years ago I never would have believed that I would actually get into Tokyo-U," Keitaro explained. "Now look at me. I'm a third year student instead of a forth year ronin."
"I guess you have come a long way," Naru said with a small smile.
"Isn't that plane flying kind of low?" someone called suddenly. Keitaro turned and saw a small prop-driven monoplane flying towards him. It was only about thirty feet off the ground. 'That plane looks familiar,' Keitaro thought suddenly. 'Now where have I seen it before?' The answer hit him like a ton of bricks.
"It's Seta!" Keitaro turned and began sprinting. Somewhere above him he could here someone yelling over the plane's engine.
"He's running!"
"Just grab him!" an all-too familiar voice answered. Keitaro glanced over his shoulder and saw the airplane bearing down on him. The side door opened and a young man brandishing a fishing pole climbed down onto the plane's landing gear.
"A little faster!" the man with the pole yelled. Keitaro stopped watching and put everything he had into his run.
"Leave me alone Seta!" Something snagged the back of Keitaro's khaki slacks and lifted him into the air. He glanced back and saw a small, gleaming fishing hook caught on his belt loops.
"There's a truck!" the man with the pole yelled. "Pull up!" Keitaro looked forward in time to see that he was rushing towards the trailer of a parked truck. "Oh shit!" Keitaro sighed in resignation. 'Why me?' he wondered as his head connected with the truck.
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"Oh shit!" Gregory Tyler winced as the young man struck the truck with a hollow metallic bang. To Greg's complete and utter amazement the truck rolled over like it had been struck with a wrecking ball.
"Is something wrong?" Seta Noriyasu asked. Greg glanced up and noticed that the older man was looking over his shoulder at him. A building was looming ominously before them.
"Eyes front!" Seta turned and jerked the plane's controls back. The plane went into a steep climb and Greg held on to the door's handle for dear life. He glanced down and winched as the young man dangling from the end of the fishing line struck the building.
"Could you reel in Urashima now?" Seta asked.
"If he's still alive," Greg commented. He began to reel in his line. Within half a minute the young man was close enough for Greg to reach down and grab. He dragged Seta's part-timer into the plane and slammed the door shut. Greg felt for the young man's pulse and stared in amazement. Not only was the young man's pulse strong and healthy, he was already beginning to regain consciousness. "Super Man you are."
"How's Urashima doing?" Seta asked.
"He's fine," Greg said, shaking his head and the sheer impossibility of it all. "This guy must be immortal or something."
"Something like that," Seta said. "Uh oh."
"What?" Greg demanded, climbing into the copilot's seat.
"Looks like there's an armada after us," Seta said as he pointed to the radar screen. Greg stared at it for a moment before he brushed the crumbs from lunch off the screen.
"There are two of them," he growled. He climbed out of the copilot's seat and glanced around the back of the small plane. "Where are the rocks?"
"We used all of them on the way here," Seta said sheepishly.
"Wonderful," Greg growled in annoyance as he opened one of the boxes in the back and pulled out his M21 semi-auto rifle. "Just see if you can fly straight," he added as he loaded a twenty-round clip into the rifle and ripped open the plane's side door.
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Keitaro slowly floated to consciousness and found himself lying on a gently vibrating floor. 'What happened?' He glanced around the interior of the plane and winced as an icy breeze rustled his hair. He glanced to the side and saw a young man with a large rifle in his hands wedged in the plane's open door. He brought the rifle to his shoulder and aimed carefully before firing. Keitaro glanced out of the window and watched as a small plane with a pair of huge guns under its wings exploded. "Oh hey Part-Timer!" Keitaro glanced up and saw Seta grinning at him from the pilot's seat. "Come on up here!"
"What the hell is going on?" Keitaro demanded as he sat in the copilot's seat.
"Bank left!" the man in the back yelled. The plane rolled suddenly and green streaks shot past the window.
"It's a laser!" Keitaro screamed.
"They're tracers," the young man in the back corrected dryly. His rifle barked and there was another explosion just behind them. The young man shut the door and ejected a large black box from his rifle.
"Meet Gregory Tyler," Seta said, introducing the man. "He's my new assistant."
"If you have an assistant then why did you drag me into this?" Keitaro asked.
"I'm not an archaeologist," Greg explained as he began loading bullets into the box. He finished quickly and laid the box inside a large wooden crate. "I'm just here because I need something to do and decided archaeology was pretty safe."
"Right," Seta said.
"Right?" Greg demanded, brandishing his rifle. "Does this look like I'm safe?"
"Maybe not," Seta said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. Greg sighed and laid the rifle inside one of the wooden crates in the back of the plane.
"So why exactly did you drag me into this?" Keitaro asked. "And who are those guys back there?"
"Those guys are the men trying to destroy the world!" Seta
declared, throwing his hands up dramatically.
"Gah!" Greg yelped as he lunged forward and grabbed the controls. "You keep your mind on flying and I'll explain it to him."
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"Here." Keitaro took the small mug of coffee with a grateful nod and leaned back against one of the wood crates. Greg sat down too and sipped his coffee.
"So how did you get stuck traveling with Seta?" Keitaro asked.
"Just by a chance meeting," Greg said simply. "He crashed a van into my shack and we've been traveling together ever since. Anyway we heard a rumor about something important on one of the islands. . ."
"Islands?" Keitaro cut in.
"Hawaii," Greg explained. "That's where I was living."
"You're an American?" Keitaro asked. Greg nodded.
"Anyway," he began again. "We found some ruins hidden by a thick forest and we began excavating."
"What did you find?" Keitaro asked.
"Well we found out that those ruins were linked to the Lost Turtle Civilization of the Pararaklese Islands," Greg explained. "They had nearly identical architecture. This proved that the civilization was a massive empire." Greg reached into one of the boxes in the plane and pulled out a magazine. "Look on page ten." Keitaro stared at the magazine's title.
"I can't read English very well."
"It's German," Greg said. "Just look at the pictures." Keitaro flipped open the magazine and stared at the picture on page ten. "Look familiar?"
"Yeah," Keitaro said, staring at the vase on the page. "It looks like one of the vases from the Turtle Civilization."
"It was excavated from some ruins in Germany," Greg explained. "It's about three thousand years old."
"But the vases on the Pararaklese Islands were only about two thousands years old," Keitaro said in confusion.
"Which may mean that the Turtle Civilization lasted for a thousand years!" Seta declared. "And they may have been a world-wide empire!"
"We covered the world-wide empire bit already," Greg said.
"That doesn't explain who those guys you shot down were," Keitaro interrupted.
"It may," Greg said. "Have you ever heard of Atlantis?"
"Of course," Keitaro said. "It was supposed to be a highly-advanced civilization that was lost. . .wait a minute. You think that the Turtle Civilization was linked to Atlantis?"
"We found something in the Hawaii ruins that turned out to be rough coordinates," Greg explained. "They marked an area about one hundred miles south-west of Hawaii. We checked all the books and found nothing there."
"That really doesn't explained who those guys were," Keitaro said.
"We don't know who those guys were," Greg said flatly. "They busted into the excavation site in Hawaii and they've been after us since then."
"Why?" Keitaro asked.
"Well. . ." Greg said tiredly.
"Greg blew up the excavation site," Seta said.
"I've always believed that it would be better to destroy something then to let someone take it from you," Greg said. Keitaro could tell that they had already had this conversation before.
"Since then they've been after us," Greg explained.
"Get ready to land," Seta called back. "We're here."
"Here?" Keitaro asked as he looked out of the planes window and saw nothing but water.
"Here," Greg said as he opened a wooden box and pulled out a wet suit.
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"I don't know about this," Keitaro commented as he pulled at his black wet suit.
"Just don't freak out," Greg said. "Keep relatively calm and you'll be fine. All you have to do is keep an eye on your gauges and tell us if they change a lot suddenly."
"How will I tell you?" Keitaro asked.
"There's a radio in your face mask," Greg explained. "Hey Seta?"
"Yeah?" the older man asked.
"Where's that Glock?"
"Here." Seta reached into the glove compartment and pulled out a black handgun. Greg took it and quickly checked it over. "What do you need that for?"
"It can shoot underwater," Greg explained as he holstered the pistol on his weight belt.
"That doesn't explained why we need it," Keitaro said.
"Those guys who tried to shoot us down are still after us," Greg explained as he slipped out of the door and onto the plane's pontoons.
"His past has made him very paranoid," Seta whispered. "He prefers to have a gun within reach whenever possible."
"What kind of past?" Keitaro asked.
"He'll tell you eventually," Seta explained as he sat on the edge of the plane's hatch and pulled on his flippers. "If he ever trusts you." With that Seta pulled on his mask and disappeared into the blue waters of the Pacific.
"What kind of past could he have?" Keitaro wondered as he stepped onto the pontoon and jumped into the water.
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"This is incredible," Keitaro said as he looked around the water.
"I knew you'd like it Part-Timer," Seta said. "What do you have Greg?"
"Well were have about a ten square mile search area," Greg said. "I figure it'll take us about twenty days for a fairly thorough search."
"Are we right in the center?" Seta asked.
"Yes we are," Greg said, holding up the small screen strapped to his wrist. "What I don't know is why we're in the center. We should be in one of the corners."
"I just have a gut feeling," Seta said. "Hey look at that." Keitaro looked where Seta was pointing and saw a strange structure rising from the sea floor. "Does that look natural?"
"No," Greg said. He sounded infinitely annoyed by the fact that Seta's gut feeling had been dead on. "Ten square miles," he said slowly. "And you picked the precise number of square feet."
"Lucky guess?" Seta asked with a chuckle as he swam over to inspect the strange building. "Looks like some sort of temple."
"Found the front door," Greg said. Keitaro swam over. "Looks like they're closed." Greg tapped his gloved hand against the tarnished metal door. He rubbed at the filmy coating on the mental gently. "Looks like copper." Keitaro began to swim around the building and stared at the beautiful architecture.
"I think I found something."
"What is it?" Greg asked as he swam over.
"This might go inside," Keitaro said as he pointed to the large hole in the sea floor.
"The way it tilts. . ." Greg began. "I agree with him." He pulled the pistol from his hip. "I'll go inside and have a look."
"What do you need the gun for?" Keitaro asked.
"Pest control," Greg said as he pulled the flashlight from his side and began to pull himself into the hole.
"Sharks?" Keitaro asked looking around nervously.
"Oh please," Greg said. "Sharks rarely attack. I'm more worried about eels and terrorists." His flippers disappeared from view and he didn't say anything for a while.
"Greg?" Seta asked.
"Oh my God," Greg said. "You guys should really have a look at this."
(:::::::::::::::::::::::::::)
"Oh my God." Greg looked around the inside of the temple and pulled off his facemask. The air was a little stale, but still breathable. He turned his flashlight off and looked around the building in the flickering glow coming from the oil lamps. "You guys should really have a look at this."
"What is it?" Seta asked.
"Just come in here," Greg said as he holstered the Glock. "You're not going to believe this." A few minutes later the small pool of water on the temple's floor bubbled and Seta appeared. He hauled himself out of the water and turned to help Keitaro. Seta pulled off his mask and looked around the room with a sense of wonder and awe. "This seems like some kind of library," Greg commented.
"Why do you say that?" Keitaro asked. Greg moved towards a large bookshelf-like piece of furniture and pulled an ancient scroll from one of the cubbyholes. Seta took it and spread it out across an ancient wooden table. Greg peered carefully at the desk.
"This is oak."
"So?" Keitaro asked.
"I don't think that oak grows in this area of the world," Greg said. "This does go to prove the world-wide empire theory."
"Yes it does," Seta said with a childish glee. "These markings are almost identical to those of that we found at the Pararaklese and Hawaii sites."
"Can you translate it?" Greg asked, some of Seta's excitement finally catching up with him.
"If given enough time," Seta said as he tugged a digital camera from his belt and began taking pictures of the scrolls. Greg heard a soft bubbling sound and turned to stare at the hole in the building's floor.
"I think that commodity just ran out," he said as he drew the Glock from his hip. At nearly the same time a man in all black dive gear erupted from the hole with a sub-machinegun ready.
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Keitaro winced as Greg's pistol barked loudly. The diver jerked back and his sub-machinegun sent a number of bullets stitching into the building's ceiling. "Get your gear on!" Greg screamed as he pulled his dive vest back on. Keitaro nodded and began to jerk his dive gear onto himself. Another diver forced his way past his comrade's body and Greg dove behind a hardwood counter as the man fired. Something overhead cracked and Keitaro looked up in time to see water spraying forcefully through the bullet holes in the building's ceiling.
"Is your gear on?" Seta yelled over the gunfire being exchanged between Greg and their assailants.
"Yeah!" Keitaro screamed. Then the aging rock overhead finally caved in and thousands of gallons of ocean roared into the building. The wave of water slammed into Keitaro and threw him against a wall hard enough to knock the wind out of him. The next thing he knew Seta had him by the hand and was dragging him towards the surface.
"I can't do this alone Part-Timer!" the older man called over the radio. Keitaro glanced down at the rapidly disappearing sea floor.
"What's about Greg?"
"He'll be fine," Seta said stiffly. "We need to get to the surface."
"There are people down there trying to kill him!" Keitaro yelled.
"I wouldn't worry about him," Seta said. "He really can take care of himself very well." At that moment they both broke the surface of the water and Keitaro was momentarily blinded by the brilliant sunlight.
"Freeze!" Keitaro pulled off his facemask and stared at the man perched on the edge of the boat. "Don't move!" the man yelled, waving his weapon threateningly. The water a few inches from Keitaro's face danced suddenly and the man on the boat pitched backwards with a scream. Greg broke the surface without his dive gear and sucked in a lung-full of air. He continued to wheeze and cough as he pulled himself onto the boat and holstered his pistol. Seta threw his dive gear up onto the boat and pulled himself up.
"It's official," Greg wheezed. "These bastards are after us and our discoveries." He leaned down and took Keitaro's dive gear. Keitaro looked around the boat and felt ill when he saw the lifeless corpse sprawled across the deck. Greg took the man's gun and pushed the body overboard.
"Where's the plane?" Seta asked.
"In a million pieces," Greg said, nodding towards a burning hulk floating on the water. He reached over the side of the boat and dragged one of the wooden boxes up onto the ship. "We need to get to a harbor."
"Can we make it to Hawaii?" Seta asked.
"Hold on!" Keitaro exploded. "We were just attacked and a building that may have been proof of Atlantis was destroyed!"
"That was then," Greg said with a tired sigh. "You have the pictures?"
"Yeah," Seta said, holding up his digital camera. "This is all we have to try and find out the next location."
"Let's just get out of here before more of those guys come," Greg said, nodding towards the rapidly sinking body in the water.
-End
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-Author's notes. Here's my first stab at Love Hina fanfiction and my first stab at comedy in one package. I've kind of been toying with the idea of this story since I finished the manga. This takes place in an alternate universe after Keitaro is given the Hinata Inn by his grandmother. The time period is 2004.