The False Apocalypse - A New Beginning

by Master Xeion

An epic journey ensues when a black ops agent attempts to save his world from destruction. When an attempt at time travel leaves our hero in 19th century Japan, he soon realizes that he may not even be in the same universe. Watch as this dimension hopper begins his journey to unite the dimensions and save countless worlds! Book 1 (NOT crack)

6. Chapter 06 - Way of the Tea

The False Apocalypse

Book 1: A New Beginning

Chapter Six

Way of the Tea

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Disclaimer: I do not own any of the worlds or characters from the crossovers. If I did I would be working on them and not this. The original characters and world in the first chapter are however of my own creation.

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The night of Jinei's death proved to be one of the most traumatic Alden had ever experienced. Shortly after Kenshin arrived to snap the boy out of his frenzied state, Sanosuke arrived with a few officers following not far behind. As promised there were questions. It was hard to keep quiet about a boy who could cut through Japanese steel like lard. Though Alden shook, terrified at how over the top he had gone, they had to ask anyway. The answer they were given was that the swords were a gift from his father, a man who was a master in the ways of magic. They were told that the katana were enchanted to melt anything the blade touched. While this satisfied the initial questions it did not solve the position the police chief was in. Too many people had seen what Alden had done.

The sword ban in Japan was absolute. Only police, military officials, and the hired guards of important bureaucrats were exempt. The hired guards were not however, permitted to carry their weapons in public. While this Alden was a friend of the Battousai, he was not any of these things. At first the police chief intended on overlooking it but the sheer power of these blades and the ruckus they had caused made it impossible to ignore. The mutilated state of Jinei did not help matters. Until he could get authorization from his superiors, Alden would have to be arrested and his blades confiscated.

Having seen what Alden was capable of, Kenshin considered letting them take the boy. As useful as the foreknowledge could be, and as friendly as he initially seemed, the kid clearly had a very dark side to himself. That was when he thought back to the words Alden said after he snapped out it. Kenshin could see how much like himself the boy truly was. Somehow he knew that this state Alden entered was related to the reason he attempted to travel back in time.

"If you could, this one would very much like to talk to Mr. Yamagata; that I most certainly would." Kenshin asked with a formal bow.

"Mr. Himura I'm surprised you would use your connections to…" The police chief started, offended by the idea that Kenshin would use his friendship with the Lord of the Imperial army to manipulate the law. They were already giving him considerable leeway as it was by allowing Kenshin to carry his sword without any official rank. The police chief could accept this because, as Lord Yamagata said a few days ago; Kenshin was a hero of the revolution. It would be difficult to expand that leeway much further. Concessions would have to be made.

"This one is not planning on using any connections; that I am not. This one wishes to create a special task force to deal with people like this Kurogasa; I merely wish to speak to him about that. Still, this boy as you've called him will be one of my most valuable comrades; that he most certainly will." Kenshin replied with a smile, explaining the gist of his intentions to talk with the lord.

"I –well – I – very well. Gather the body." The chief commanded his men who had now put out the remaining fires. They were thankful that it had rained recently or the fires would have been far worse. "I will see what I can do Mr. Himura." The chief added with a slight bow. He wasn't sure how quickly he could contact such an important person but after their recent contact it would be too difficult to at least send a letter through.

With that the chief gathered his men and left the area, leaving Kenshin and his friends to themselves

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The next day, Kaoru's dojo was filled with concern for their new friend. The previous night had brought little sleep to Alden who was tormented by nightmares. Clearly unable to get any truly restful sleep they allowed him to get as much rest as possible. That time did allow Kenshin to explain to Kaoru his intentions with this new task force. Kenshin wanted much more than to end the legal gray area of his carrying a sword. He explained how without this, Alden would have likely been arrested for carrying a sword. The truth was, that was only a pretense. Having seen what Alden could do, it was too dangerous to let him be without being part of the government in some way. Kenshin got though this thanks to his former battlefield relationship with Lord Yamagata. Were this matter up to the police chief, Alden would have likely been left alone unless he carried his blades in public. However, with the number of people who saw him do something as dangerous as 'magic,' he might as well be walking around armed with spells. Even with the explanation of enchanted swords, there was no way to tell if he could do such a thing with his bare hands.

The simple truth of the matter was that without some specific assurances Alden would be considered a danger to society.

Kaoru and Yahiko of course thought this was ridiculous but that was the nature of politics. The world was ruled by acceptance. No matter how much power a government amasses, they rule only by the fact that most people accept their rule. This acceptance can be out of either love or fear but that acceptance must exist. Most people fear what they do not understand. A powerful swordsman is understandable. A sorcerer, no matter how many people believe they exist, is a thing to be feared. The truth behind their intentions is irrelevant in the face of public opinion. Put that power in the hands of the government however…

"You saw how he lost it, Kenshin. I don't see how ya think ya can trust him." Sanosuke commented having listened to the entirety of Kenshin's plans for this new taskforce. If the boy couldn't keep his mind when he had the upper hand then how did Kenshin expect the kid to help further the idea of not killing?

"Something happened to him last night, of that this one is certain." Kenshin replied as he turned a few fish above a campfire. Lunch was getting close and they couldn't let Alden rest much longer, not if he was going to keep his strength. Somehow he knew they would all need as much strength as possible in the near future. The way Alden talked about difficult opponents… it seemed like a number of them would come sooner than later.

"I know something happened, he ripped the guy apart and lit him on fire!" Sano reminded the red haired swordsman. Even if Jinei was a sadistic bastard, nobody deserved to go that violently.

"That's not what I meant Sano. The genocide from his world, there had to be some reason behind it. This one can't shake the feeling that this is related; that I most certainly cannot."

"Then you would be right." Alden appeared at the doorstep to the dojo with Kaoru just behind him. There were dark rings around his eyes and his voice was more guttural than should be natural for a boy of his size. He was clearly exhausted from the nightmares. Kenshin remembered a name he kept saying though the night; he could only assume that this Zereth was the brother Alden had mensioned.

"Well you better start explaining before my foot works its way up your ass." There really was a deep trust issue between Alden and Sano. Honestly, there was a trust issue between Sano and anything remotely related to modern technology.

"The fish is almost done so we have time; that we do." Kenshin tried to diffuse the situation and provide a calmer environment for this particular discussion. In his experience serious conversations were best held over a meal. When they weren't they tended to become too serious for his liking. Soon Yahiko came out from training in the dojo and joined them around the campfire where Kenshin started handing out the fish on sticks.

"You of all people should know that no war starts without a reason. My brother was a geneticist, a man that could manipulate the human body. He could do anything from changing people's natural hair color to their lifespan or their physical strength. He believed we could out evolve all the world's greatest problems."

"When you say out evolve…" Kaoru started but was unsure of how to finish her question.

"He thought we could adjust our bodies to survive harsher climates with less food. He was a genius but as insane as they came. An event was coming that would change the world's climate for a long time; so the world agreed with him. We were fools. We became stronger but at a terrible cost." Alden explained, looking down at his hand as he squeezed his fist so tight it turned pale.

"Whatever he did had a side effect." Kenshin surmised. He was starting to see where this was going. That truly was a terrible fate for a planet; for every living being to suffer from the very thing that was supposed to save you.

"Worse than you could imagine. Everyone has these violent alternate personalities now. They're trying to take over the world, using violence to bring out as many as they can. I created a serum to suppress it but my dose is wearing off. As long as I stay away from any fighting I should be fine for another week. Without it, I'm going to be a danger to everyone."

"I told ya there was something off with him, Kenshin. You should never trust a sorcerer." Sanosuke stated, satisfied that he had been right from the beginning. Who else but sorcerers could manipulate people like that?

"I can always talk to Dr. Gensai. I'm sure he's got lots of herbs you can use." The doctor was always helping Kaoru and her family. She had seen his store rooms; he hand countless medicinal herbs in stock. She wouldn't be surprised if his stock was the largest in a week's ride.

"It's certainly a start but I doubt he'll have everything I need." Alden replied, knowing many of the ingredients had to be stolen from modern pharmacies. Thankfully near the end, he had to start gathering local herbs as part of the ingredients. It was simply becoming too dangerous to simply raid a normal pharmacy.

"I'll show you the way later, it's not that far from here." Kaoru offered with a smile. To her, it was only thanks to him that Kenshin even considered creating some special police position. If they could get the details worked out with Lord Yamagata then their money troubles would truly be over. From what he said to her, he wanted to create a police core that used reverse blade swords. The red haired swordsman also felt that the principles of a sword to protect would fit perfectly with his ideal organization. Together they would create a force capable of protecting the public without resorting to unnecessary force, a force that could shine as an example to the whole country. After all if the police swordsman they met the other day were any standard to go by, Yahiko would have likely been killed for his history as a pickpocket. It was sad to imagine how many other children around the country were in a similar situation.

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It was nearly an hour later when everyone had eaten their fill and talked till it settled. They tried to give Dr. Gensai as much time as possible to return from his own lunch. When they were ready however, Kaoru took Alden to about a block down the road to the meet the esteemed doctor again. When slid the door open they heard a small bell, chime with the movement.

"Oh Ms. Kaoru, to what do I owe this visit?" Dr. Gensai asked as he stood from stocking one of his shelves. His two granddaughters could be heard frolicking in the back yard. It really was a beautiful day. There was a part of him that wished he could get done with stocking the shelves so he could enjoy the day.

"It seems Alden here was needing some herbs. He's got some kind of disease from his world. Do you mind if he looks though your stores?" Kaoru asked politely, knowing they had already trusted him with Alden's big secret. It was always worth it knowing a good doctor, especially one you could trust.

"Of course, do you know it's called?" The doctor stood and approached the young man, looking for any physical signs of what he was looking for. If he could get an idea of what this disease did then he could likely narrow down the herbs he would need.

"It doesn't exist yet and we never named it. Where I'm from most people who've succumbed to it, think it's a good thing." Alden replied with regret in his voice. A large part of him wished he could have regularly spread the cure from the sky.

"I see… do you know the ingredients you need?" While diagnosing new diseases was not entirely uncommon, it was difficult to come up with a treatment for such things. These vague answers did not help.

"I write them down. Do you have any Camellia Root?" Alden asked as the doctor gave him a piece of parchment to jot down what he needed.

"The root, can't say I do but there is a forest near the harbor with quite a few." It took a few minutes for the boy to write down the many ingredients he would need. The list was actually quite long. Most of them were rather familiar but a few needed some further explaining. Japanese had evolved quite a bit over a couple hundred years, as had the way they described medicine. The Latin chemical names were far more widely used than the names of each herb. It took more than an hour of back and forth to find the many roots, leafs, and barks that would contain the chemicals Alden would need.

"I've got to say, that is quite the list. I have most of it but it will take time and preparation." A number of the materials would have to be ground to powder, while others would have to be extracted from similar powders.

"Is there any way to make it into a pill, something I could take every few days?" Alden asked. Back home he didn't exactly have a lot of resources at his disposal; most of the time they had to inject it in liquid form.

"If we could extract the fundamental chemicals, it's a possibility. Have you thought about making a tea? That would be much quicker with these ingredients." The doctor suggested. A number of the materials were actually quite widely used in the production of tea. Chinese medicinal teas were actually quite popular. Truthfully there was a tea shop near the heart of town that would have most everything his stores own wouldn't.

"Sooner would be better…" Alden thought to himself. He knew that the confrontation between Aoshi and Kanryu Takeda would come soon enough and he would have to be in top shape by then. He certainly couldn't have himself losing to that blasted monster of his in a fight with Hanya or Hyotoko. Somehow they had to find a way to defeat them while keeping Kanryu from killing them with his Gatling gun.

"It's worth a shot. If you could gather what you have while I try to find the root; I would be most grateful." Alden asked with a curious bow.

"Just come back before dinner and I'll have it ready for you." Dr. Gensai replied with a smile. It wasn't often you got to take part in curing an unknown disease.

"Thanks again Dr. Gensai!" Kaoru shouted cheerfully as they left.

"Oh, youth at it's finest. It's good to see Kaoru doing better after losing so many students." The doctor reminisced before taking the list into his hand and turning to his many stocked shelves.

"Now where do I keep my lotus blossom?"

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Tokyo's harbor was surprisingly close but the roads to take them there weren't exactly the straightest in the world. A car would have had them there in a matter of minutes but by foot it took more than half an hour just to see the water on the horizon. What they were looking for however was not the harbor itself. Kaoru knew the forest Dr. Gensai was talking about. There was a stream that emptied into the harbor where a waterfall cut through a dense forest. The Camellia trees grew at the edge of the stream where they could get plenty of water.

It was unfortunate that they were not in bloom but the blossoms were not what they needed. The root of the tree would have to be dug out of the ground and a few strands of root carefully harvested.

"Thank you again Kaoru. You don't want to see how I get without this serum." Alden thanked the woman who was providing them a place to stay. It was impossible to say how truly thankful he was for that. For her to continue giving like this when she had no immediate source of income

"Well someone's got to keep you knuckleheads in shape. Besides, if it weren't for you I don't think Kenshin would have ever thought about getting a job."

"He wouldn't have. The show never mentioned it but I think you were mostly living off the bounty rewards for taking down some of the more dangerous threats to the government. Raijuta Isurugi and Shishio Makoto are a couple of the greater threats."

"Did I ever get any real students again?" Kaoru asked, silently hoping that she did.

"Not that I'm aware of. But if Kenshin gets this squad going, I'm sure you'll be more than busy. If I can get a proper forge going I imagine I'll have plenty of reverse blade swords to make."

"There it is, see, oh wow there's a lot of them." Kaoru pointed out the trees at the edge of the clearing. A number of them surrounded the creek below a waterfall. The most lush of them however, were clearly up top.

"Do you think there's a way around to get up there?" Alden asked, looking around for a decent path.

"Probably but the forest gets pretty dense. Wont the ones down here do?" Kaoru asked, concerned for how sheer the cliff was. A fall from that height would kill even the hardiest men. It would be a bloody and gruesome death to land on those jagged rocks.

"Back home, I found the healthiest trees made the most potent serum. Stay here and get help if I fall." Alden replied, removing his loose fitting shirt to keep it from grabbing on any of the jagged edges. The baggiest part of his pants were tied tight around his ankles for the same reason.

"You can't do that! A fall from that height would kill anyone. Sano might survive but he's hardly normal." Kaoru expressed her concern. Quite frankly she wasn't sure if Sano would survive such a fall, even after how well he took all that bruising from Kenshin.

"Wish me luck." With a smile plastered on his face, Alden broke into a sprint, drawing one of his swords and leaping high into the air. He made it a full five meters up the side of the waterfall before slamming is blade hard into the rock face. The blade melted deep but with it twisted to the side, it did not melt downward. With all the practiced agility of an acrobat, the boy worked himself into a swing until he stood on top of the blade's hilt. Using his blade as a springboard Alden took a number of jumps, drawing his second blade as he leaped high yet again. Not satisfied with the height of this jump he allowed himself to springboard yet again and flew within three meters of the top before he plunged his blade as deeply as he could. Swinging up top yet again he made his final springing leap onto smooth grass.

With every jump Kaoru felt like she nearly had a heart attack. It really was scary seeing someone make a 12 meter climb in only a few jumps. There was silence for a few moments and the dojo master began to wonder if Alden managed to hit his head on something. That was of course until he peered his head over the edge with a wide grin plastered on his face.

"Told you I could do it. Hell, Kenshin could probably do that in one jump." Alden boasted as he stood up strait and drew a small shovel from his pocket.

"Are you insane?" Kaoru shouted, her irritation just as evident as the fact that she wanted the boy to hear here so far away.

"Probably." Alden shouted back with an amused chuckle in his voice. After all, he did occasionally get a strange voice in the back of his head. "I'll be back in a minute!" From the bottom of the cliff Kaoru could just barely make out the sound of digging and chopping. Nearly ten minutes passed before the silver haired boy showed up again, only this time he was carrying a sack full of Camellia root.

"That should hold me over for a good while."

"It's about time, but how do you plan on getting down from there?" Kaoru replied with a sigh, thinking he certainly took his sweet time. Thankfully they had time.

"Hmm, getting down… Well there's always Kenshin's way." Alden stroked his chin till he came up with an idea.

"Why does that sound dangerous?" Kaoru couldn't help but think to herself after having seen the way Alden got up there. Her worst fears were confirmed when she saw him backup away from the wall before leaping high and nose-diving off the edge. Ever faster the swordsman fell; the only thing which slowed him any was when he grabbed ahold of one of his blades, yanking it out of the wall before continuing his descent. He repeated this action with his second blade, making sure he got close enough to the cliff to kick off so he could land in a crouching slide.

For all of Alden's effort the landing was still quite hard. "Yup, that hurt…" He wheezed out though he clearly had suffered no major damage. Thanks to his enhancements he knew any muscles he may have damaged would be healed within the hour. Thankfully it didn't feel like he pulled anything so he stood and sheathed each blade a flourish and practiced precision.

"Of course it did you dummy! You really are insane." Stomping her way over to Alden, Kaoru bashed him on the head for his stupidity. They really ought to make a special police force; all they needed to do was call it the monster squad and they would fit right in. Between Kenshin, Sano, and this nut there wasn't much else they were good for.

"Just wait till Kenshin finishes training with his master. You don't know insane till you've seen those two fight." Alden replied, rubbing his now bruised head.

"Why am I not surprised that Kenshin's master is as much of a monster as he is." The dojo master couldn't help but sigh at the thought. She may not have seen Kenshin go truly all out but between the rumors and what she had seen the man was truly terrifying swordsman. The reality of Kenshin's strength didn't fit his personality at all.

"You have no idea."

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Alden's particularly long drop definitely slowed them down as they returned to Dr. Gensai's. This brought significant verbal wrath from the woman who was providing him shelter. It was never wise to anger the hand that fed you so Alden couldn't do much but apologies. It took a while for him to explain that back in his world he had gotten used to jumping nearly that high. Mech suits, large and lumbering machines that were armed with advanced rockets and Gatling guns were things he fought regularly. Fighting such things required quite a bit of agility and a bit of recklessness. Without his physical enhancements such movements would have been impossible for even the most skilled humans. The fact that Kenshin could perform similar feats without the same genetic manipulation really brought home just how out of the ordinary his level of genius was.

As they approached the doctor's clinic it was quite easy to take notice of a man built quite similarly to Dr. Gensai. The short and slightly chubby man seemed to be having a good time chatting away with the good doctor. There was a rather large sack on the ground to the man's left that seemed to be filled to the brim with a number of pots and ingredients.

"Oh, you're back Kaoru. You're just in time. This is Gyoki Murasame, he owns a tea shop down the way. He was able to help me with the ingredients I didn't have. With his help we might be able to make something that doesn't taste like bitter medicine." Dr. Gensai greeted them with a smile while introducing his friend. The doctor patronized Gyoki's tea shop quite frequently. It wasn't exactly a famous shop but it certainly was a respected place within Tokyo. One thing was certain, Mr. Murasame knew his tea.

"I see you got the root you needed. Good, if you could chop it as finely as you can, I'll make sure the rest is ready." It took a couple hours of prep work for all the ingredients to be ground and ready. Using as much knowledge of the chemical ratios as he could Alden gathered each ingredient in scoops so he could create the right balance for his mixture. In the end he divided up the pile into a number of estimated doses before allowing the tea maker to go to work. With a fresh batch of tea simmering, Gyoki took every small tastes as he tried to reason out which of his own ingredients would balance out the flavor into a palatable tea. It wasn't much longer when the tea was complete and Alden poured a cup to try for the first time.

"I balanced it out with mint and sweetened it with a bit of honey. I think you'll like the result. It should be good worm or cold so you can take the proper dose throughout the day." The tea maker explained the most important ingredients he added while Alden tried a cup. Calmly taking a sip, Alden swished the tea around his mouth, checking the flavor and seeing if there was anything he would add personally.

"This will do nicely. I'm very grateful for your help. I'll be sure to pay you back for this Kaoru." Alden thanked her before turning to the doctor and tea maker to thank them as well. The monster within him was a terrifying thing, a beast that had to be caged. If it weren't for friends like these there was no telling what would become of him.

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It was nearly time for dinner when Alden and Kaoru finally returned to the dojo. The boy carried a canteen full of tea at his side and a sack full tea powder in glass jars. The supply should last him several months before he would have to order more. Thankfully now that they knew a solid recipe it would be a simple matter of placing the order. It wouldn't do to worry Kaoru with more leaps up such a dangerous wall.

"Hey Kaoru! The police chief came by earlier." Yahiko screamed, running in their direction the moment he saw them in the distance. By the sound of his voice it wasn't too urgent but it certainly sounded important.

"The police chief? Don't tell me he was after Kenshin again." Kaoru replied, knowing that wasn't likely to be the case but concerned none the less.

"I don't know, but he gave Kenshin some kind of letter. Kenshin's been staring at it ever since." A letter, from what Kenshin told her earlier it was likely from Lord Yamagata. That was rather fast though. The Lord of the Imperial army was a busy man. It actually surprised her that the man would get the message so quickly, much less reply. Somehow he had to have business nearby.

Like Yahiko said, when they found Kenshin he was sitting inside the dojo, reading the letter by the now fading sunlight. He recognized their footsteps and acknowledged them before they even made it to the door.

"Lord Yamagata wants to meet me tomorrow; that he does." Kenshin stated before any of his friends had a chance to ask him anything. He soon handed the letter to Kaoru, knowing she would want to see what it said.

"That quick?" Kaoru asked, it was surprising enough that the letter would arrive so quickly but such a fast meeting was unheard of. Taking the letter, she moved closer to the door for some better lighting before she started reading.

"Kenshin is a valuable person to Lord Yamagata. I'm sure he wants to know why Kenshin had such a quick change of heart." Alden surmised.

"This one will not be an officer in the army; that I most certainly will not." Kenshin stated decisively. As much as he wanted to help protect people there was only so much he could do alone. However, the last thing he wanted was to get so involved with the government that he would become some purposed murderer again. He had to forge a better way. Somehow he had to convince Lord Yamagata that this core of revers blade sword wielders could do everything they needed. He had to convince the lord that such a squad was capable of dealing with people like Kurogasa.

"Then let's hope he finds your terms agreeable." Alden stated as Kaoru handed him the letter Kenshin had studied for so long.

The letter read.

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Mr. Himura,

Your police chief, Soichiro has informed me of your wish to form a special group in order

to deal with certain troublesome elements such as those involved in this Kurogasa incident.

I am quite pleased that you have had such a quick change of heart. Though I deeply respect

your oath to never kill again; it pleases me that you also recognize the danger such individuals

represent to the public peace and our country as a whole.

Again I say to you that we need your strength, Himura. Unfortunately I am a very busy man.

I will be unable to come to you as I did before. However, I can grant you and your friends

entrance to Edo Castle where I am currently dealing with some rather important business.

If you wish to speak with me further on this matter, it would be best if we could meet early

tomorrow afternoon. Afterword's I must prepare to depart towards Aizu for further business.

Sincerely,

Lord Aritomo Yamagata

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Chapter Notes

There we go. One of the quirks I always wanted Alden to have was him carrying around a canteen and sipping on his tea all the time. This provides the perfect reason for that, especially after his last freak-out. Just to let you know, after the meeting with Yamagata, we will be getting into the full swing of the Oniwabanshu ark. I'm excited. I do think I want to get another chapter of Rise of the Guardians out first though, so keep an eye open for that.