AN: I do not own Ben 10, Generator Rex or Devil Lady. Those all belong to their respective creators and not me. This was one of the more radical ideas that just popped into my head one day. So, to everyone who is reading this, enjoy!
Jun Fudo's eyes snapped open the moment she heard the familiar ring of her cell phone. Immediately her eyes adjusted to the darkness and scanned the room, zeroing in on her coat, which trembled ever so slightly as her phone vibrated.
Tonight Jun was on the bottom bunk, as she usually was. Occasionally she was on the top and Kazumi was on the bottom, but that didn't happen often. Even though they'd never officially decided who would sleep where, it had become an unspoken rule.
Praying that the noise wouldn't wake up Kazumi, Jun got out of bed and crept as quickly as she could towards the ringing phone. Fortunately her ability to see as well as she could in the dark helped, especially when she had to fish for the phone in her coat pockets. By the time the phone rang for the fourth time she had it to her hear and on talk.
"Hello?" Jun whispered hesitantly into the receiver, knowing full well who was probably on the other end. No one else would be calling this late at night.
"The hunt is on," A familiar feminine voice answered back. "Maeda will be waiting out front for you. Hurry up, there's no time to waste." Then the line went dead. Lan Asuka obviously hadn't wanted to wait for Jun to reply.
"Damn it." Jun mumbled as she put the phone back into the pocket she'd pulled it out of, and began to done the coat. True she was still wearing her pajamas, but if it came to a hunt, it likely wouldn't matter. As long as she had the coat, she could manage. It covered her up very well… at least it did before she transformed.
"Jun?" Almost immediately Jun's back stiffened and she turned around to look at Kazumi, who was now sitting up on top of the second bunk. "Is something wrong?"
"No, Kazumi. Everything's alright. Just go back to sleep. I've got to go out for a bit." Jun said, hoping to once again get out of this particular conversation. It had been two day's since the incident at the diner with Lan Asuka; and although Kazumi hadn't yet picked out a second restaurant to 'treat' Jun to yet, it was only a matter of time.
"Is it your 'other job' again?" Kazumi asked, sounding almost afraid. Jun had given her absolutely no more information on what this 'other job' was, and for the most part Kazumi had reframed from asking about it.
Jun bit her lip, thinking quickly. She could lie, but Kazumi would probably see through it very easily. All she'd have to do is call her agent and the falsehood would be exposed. Best to give Kazumi a slanted view of things than let her get curious. "Yes, but don't worry. I'll be back soon. Go back to bed."
"Is it alright if I come along…." Kazumi stopped when she saw Jun's expression go from concerned to completely stricken.
"You most certainly cannot!" Fudo almost shouted, a little more harshly than she intended, but apparently forceful enough to get her point across.
Kazumi nodded her head, almost sheepishly, and sighed. "Sorry; I didn't mean to make you mad. Be careful, okay Jun?"
"You too, Kazumi; now go back to bed." With that Jun left the room, still more than a little flustered at what had just occurred.
"Good evening Mrs. Fudo," Maeda said as the model got into the car and closed the door behind her. The moment the woman seemed settled he started the car, and smoothly pulled away from the apartment building.
"Hello," Jun answered half-heartedly; Kazumi's request still weighing on her mind more than anything else.
"Is something wrong, Mrs. Fudo?" Maeda asked, not taking his eyes off of the road or slowing down in the slightest.
"I've just got a few things on my mind," Jun shook her head to try and clear it then looked back up, "sorry."
"Do you want to talk about it?" She could see the secretary's face in the rear view mirror, and though he continued to watch where they were going he was most certainly giving her a fair amount of attention.
"No, thank you though. It's a personal matter." Jun said, then remembered something, "Where's Asuka?"
"She's waiting for us at the mission site. I'm supposed to brief you on the way there. Apparently we've found another beast. We're not sure just who this beast used to be or much else about it. Not long after our troops encountered it, the best fled underground; into the sewer system. We've managed to pin it into a small area, but the order's been given to wait for you, before we move in."
"I see," Jun whispered. It seemed she was going to have to tangle with another beast in the sewers…just like she had with Aoi… the friend of her's she'd been unable to save.
"You took your time in getting here," Lan Asuka said with a snort when she saw Jun and Maeda heading towards them. Because of the location, they'd had to park the car further down and head towards Asuka's position on foot. Now there were all three of them standing around an open man-hole cover, with several other men running around, shouting various things that Jun couldn't discern. "What's the report?" The blond asked, turning to one of her subordinates, a man Jun did not know.
"We've got troops stationed at every exit and tunnel leading to and from this part of the underground. It has no escape rout. Should we send the soldiers in, we should be able to trap it."
"Tell everyone to hold their positions, but do not move in." Asuka turned to look at Jun and smirked. "Tell them, Hunter J and I will handle this on our own."
"Yes," The man said with a small bow of his head, and then he moved off, probably to do as Lan Asuka had ordered. The blond had a way of making people do what she wanted to do.
"After you," The woman said, motioning towards the open man-hole with her right hand.
Jun bit back a rude comment that she wanted to make at the moment and did as she was bid. First though, she had to kick off her high heeled shoes, considering the only two ways down were climbing down a rung ladder or jumping.
Once she reached the bottom Jun looked from side to side, casting about for any sign of a beast. Immediately her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, again probably a side effect of being a beast, allowing her to see as if her were broad daylight in the dark confines of the sewer. Asuka, however, wasn't so gifted; for when she came down she had a flashlight in hand and a gun in the other.
"Can you tell where it is," The blond asked the moment she'd managed to make it safely down, after all climbing down a ladder with both hands full wasn't the easiest thing to do.
"I can smell it, but just barely. This place really stinks." Jun said, taking a few whiffs of the air, and turning to her right. "But I can say that it's this way."
"Then let's carry on, shall we?" Asuka said as she moved past Jun, leading the way down the tunnel.
"Asuka!" Jun called as she quickened her pace to follow her superior, despite the fact she was now in her socks and in the middle of one of the filthiest places in the city.
"What do you want? Do you know where it is?" Asuka asked, not bothering to stop or slow her pace.
"No, I still don't know its location yet, and its smell is still faint. That's not what I wanted to ask you about." Jun's voice grew more firm as she spoke, "I wanted to know why you were at the Diner at the same time as Kazumi and me that day."
"Still sore about that are we?" Lan Asuka almost sounded as though she was mocking Jun. "I'd think that was obvious, considering I already answered this question before."
"Stop that!" Jun yelled, not sure what she was talking about. Even though she knew the beast could probably hear her, she didn't care. Right now the anger from the other day blocked out everything else. "And answer me!"
"I do hate having to repeat myself so lets make this quick. I was there to meet your little pet."
"What do you want with Kazumi?" Jun wasn't asking for an answer, she was demanding one. "Did you want to piss me off, was that it!" That was probably the first time in her life she'd ever used the term 'pissed off', but it was apt considering how she'd felt the other day.
"No, I wouldn't waste my time that way. Although it would be entertaining now wouldn't it." Asuka let out a small chuckle before she continued to speak. "No, I had a job to do!"
"Kazumi doesn't have anything to do with us! She doesn't know anything about beasts, or what I do!"
"Is that so?" Asuka said, sounding quite amused. "Well that wouldn't surprise me, considering most beasts who haven't yet transformed don't even know what's really out there… or what they will someday soon become."
"What did you say!" Jun shouted, grabbing Asuka by one shoulder and whirling the woman around to face her. It was by far the most aggressive move she'd ever made towards the blond, and under normal circumstances Jun probably never would have dared. "What the hell did you just say!" Profanity, though so unlike Jun to use, appeared again in her speech.
"My, my we do have a temper don't we. But I think you understand what I mean. In case you care to argue, don't bother. I've already checked into it to be sure, the gene is there, though I don't know why our previous investigations on the girl didn't show it…"
"Shut up! Kazumi's human!" Jun shook Asuka roughly by the shoulders, all but screaming in her face. "Never say something like that again."
Before Lan Asuka could respond there was a high pitched grating sound and a flash of movement. In the next instant Jun found herself on the ground, knocked down by something heavy, with Asuka no longer in her grasp. Rolling over to see what had happened, Jun spotted Asuka on the ground, scooting away from a huge, ape-like monster that stood well over 12 feet tall, almost to the point where it touched the sewer's ceiling.
At the sight of the beast, Jun felt the blood inside of her boil. This was the kind of creature Lan Asuka had just accused Kazumi, of all people, of being. The rage she'd felt days ago from the diner built up inside of her, and Jun did the only thing on her mind at that point. She let go.
Above Earth's Atmosphere
Black Knight's contact awaited her on the rooftop of a rather large warship, that was currently hovering a few meters above Earth's atmosphere. He wasn't human, for certain, and didn't come from this world in more than one sense. He stood at seven and a half feet tall, and that was hunched over. His mouth was always wide open in a devilish smile, speaking or silent. He didn't talk out of his mouth. Sound receptors in his throat did his talking. He had one cyclopeon "eye" in the center of his face, but it never truly saw anything. Photoreceptors in his face did his seeing. Normally, one arm was a cannon of sorts, though he had it condensed into a hand for now. No need to attract unwanted attention, even if the airspace above the warship was a no-fly zone.
Black Knight returned and nearly missed her contact. He appeared from the shadows and greeted her with a very straight-to-the-point, "What did you think of them?" She spun around and readied the sword she could build with her arm. "I'm sorry. Did I startle you?"
"As a matter of fact, you did. Sneaking up on a person isn't advised, especially if that person is me." She returned her hand to normal. "They're all a bunch of blind arrogant fools. Thinking that they could contain this outbreak of beasts from the public. At least it was a lot easier for Providence went they went public."
"Their "Beast Hunter" ?"
"They refer to her as Hunter J, has red facial markings, bestial yellow eyes, and hair throughout parts of her body including her forelimbs and private areas. Her hair can turn into wings and a pair of antenna are on her head. She has enhanced strength, razor sharp talons, flight, electrokinesis, and she's clearly the one with any real power."
"I see. Who's the major threat of the group?"
"Probably Hunter J. As I said, she has power but no real experience. But the full extent of her abilities are yet to be determined."
The contact scratched his chin and chuckled somewhat. "Interesting." He focused his attention back on Black Knight. "Come. Our mutual friend wants us."
Black Knight and the contact entered the warship, walking into a throne room. Upon the seat sat a figure as alien as the contact. He wore a breathing apparatus, necessary for breathing after a devastating injury six years prior and red and black techno-organic armor. Muscular enhancers jutted from his skin on both of his arms. A gauntlet adorned his right hand, a red jewel gleamed from it. Tentacles fell from his face, dropping to his chest like some fleshy rendition of a hermit's beard. Unlike Black Knight's pale-colored human flesh, or the contact's red and black techno skin, the mutual friend's skin shone a pale green, with black and red veins coursing along it. His eyes glowed red. Nearly every word he spoke was echoed by a growl.
"Well, Black Knight, would this so called "Human Alliance" and their Beast Hunter of this world be worth the time it would take to defeat them?"
"Of course. I gave Malware my full report when I arrived, so he can develop countermeasures for them."
The mutual friend turned to Malware. "And what about your discovery in the Null Void?"
A fourth figure entered the room. This one, similar to Black Knight, was human. He had a full head of long hair, and his left arm was a mechanical gauntlet. He wore the clothes of a European conqueror. He wore a perpetual smile, as if he was privy to some joke he would not tell the others even if it killed him. "The Alpha Nanite, my Lord, will be completed as soon as our favorite Galvan, Albedo, finishes the designs that Malware and I developed for him."
Malware nodded. "Van Kleiss is taking care of getting Albedo to work on time. The Galvan technology will be sufficient to repair Alpha's damaged body."
The mutual friend nodded. "Good." He stood and stepped down from the throne, joining his accomplices. "When the Plumbers discovered my body floating in space after the battle with Tennyson, it was uncertain to them if I would even live. Now, I've conquered a dimension as alien to me as I am to humans, and I'm on the way to conquering a second. Once we have taken over this world, Tennyson and this Rex Salazar will stand no chance against us, and our combined powers." He looked at Malware and Van Kleiss, "Technology." He looked at Black Knight, "Nanites." He held up his gauntlet, "Magic." He looked over at a large gateway device that was big enough for everyone to fit through, "And, soon, complete control over every single dimension in the known multiverse as the genesis of my new army will arise."
After a few moments, underneath the apparatus on his face, Vilgax smiled. After six years of defeat and punishment at the hands of Ben Tennyson and his Omnitrix, his plans of dominion would soon come to fruition.
Sometime Later...
"Good work this evening, Jun." Lan Asuka said to the woman huddled up in the passenger seat of Maeda's car. Currently the secretary was overseeing the clean up procedures, though he was nearly finished. When he was, he would then drive Jun home, which was why she was waiting in his car. "I've been waiting to see you fight like that for some time. Now you can see just how powerful you can become when you accept what you are."
"Did you say all of that…just to make me angry and transform?" Jun asked, still shivering from her lack of clothes, which was understandable since all she had protecting her from the cold was a thin blanket Lan Asuka had procured for her. "Did you?"
To tell the truth, it would make sense for Lan Asuka to try something of the sort. Jun wouldn't put it past her, yet something inside of her felt that maybe, the blond had been telling the truth. She had to be sure. Now that the anger had temporarily subsided, having been taken out on the now dead and mutilated beast, it was time for her to ask again.
To Jun's surprise, Asuka didn't answer. Instead she merely smirked and started to walk away. "Maeda will be done soon. When you get home, say hello to your pet for me." And then she was gone, leaving Jun to wonder whether or not Asuka really suspected Kazumi of being a beast.
Then Jun shook the thoughts from her mind. There was no chance in hell Kazumi was a beast. Not Kazumi, least of all her. It was just Asuka, playing her sick mind games as usual. Kazumi was human, and would always be just that. At least, that's what Jun kept telling herself.
Not Too Far
A brilliant flash of light appeared on top of a nearby skyscraper, where a couple of human-shaped figures walked into this dimension from another. When the light cleared, two teenage boys were now standing there, the first one was sixteen years old,with shaggy brown hair and a lean body. He wore black/white sneakers, blue denim jeans, and a black shirt with a green jacket to go over. The jacket had two white stripes on the upper right sleeve and a single white stripe going down the left side. In the heart area of the stripe was a black circle with the number 10 emblazoned in white. On his left wrist was a white and green watch. His companion was also sixteen years old, was of Hispanic descent and was wearing a pair of orange googles on top of his head with lightly spiked, slicked back dark hair, a matching red-orange patterned jacket. His T-shirt was blue on the top-half and white on the bottom-half, with two orange rectangles on the left pectoral. He wore black pants with a blue geometrical pattern and blue gloves with orange cuffs and blue-black shoes.
"So this was where Paradox said they had gone to right?" Ben Tennyson stated.
"Yeah, this place doesn't look that different from our own worlds," Rex Salazar said.
"Vilgax has already taken over one world, I won't stand to see him take over another."
"Then let's punk bust some squid butt," Rex smirked as he pounded his fists together.
AN: That's all for the introduction, hope you enjoyed. For those of you who don't know what Devil Lady is, it's a spin off from the Devilman manga by Go Nagai. However, for this story I'm using the anime. That being said, if you haven't watched the series yet, I'd recommend you'd do so before reading this story or else you won't have any idea what's going on. On the chance that some of you have seen it, I'll see you next chapter.
