This one might be a touch unusual, and frankly, I don't know whether it will go anywhere. I very nearly consigned it to the heap of ideas I wouldn't continue. But the first chapter was almost done, and having done at least one one-shot crossover with the franchise in question, I decided to finish it. This is the result.

The franchise in question is the Quatermass serials from the 50s. Yes, my username actually comes from somewhere. These three science fiction serials (plus a fourth done in the 70s) followed the adventures of Professor Bernard Quatermass, the lead scientist and head of the British Rocket Group, dealing with alien incursions. In a way, Nigel Kneale, the writer of the serials, basically set out the three paradigms of alien invasion stories with those serials: We Go to Them (The Quatermass Experiment), They Come to Us (Quatermass II), and They Were Always Here (Quatermass and the Pit). The last serial of the 50s Quatermass stories is generally considered the best. The serials were also adapted into films by Hammer Horror. In addition, in 2005, the original serial was remade and, unusually for TV nowadays, was actually broadcast live (which the first three serials were, believe it or not, save for a few bits of pre-filmed footage). It's this 2005 remake that this story is largely based on.

I did another one-shot crossover with Doctor Who, Quatermass and the Doctor. It was the first Quatermass crossover, and there has only been one other since, another one-shot by Old Toad, Quatermass and the Tiger. If this ever gets beyond the Compost Heap, this will be the first crossover that isn't a one-shot. What's more, it's a crossover with Sekirei. It may seem like an odd fit, but I think it works. Aliens and a man who has dealt with aliens who isn't called the Doctor? It'll be an interesting fit...

Fans of Mad Scientists Can Be Heroes Too!, don't despair! The second chapter will be posted some time later. That being said, the full story might take some time to post, as I need to think about the direction I want to take the story in after the passing of One for All. The third chapter is mostly fine, but I think more needs to be done...

EXOBIOLOGY

CHAPTER 1:

CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE WAGTAIL KIND

Minato groaned as he hung up the phone. Despite everything, despite his uncle's tuition, he had folded under pressure. He had failed the university entrance exams, and was now a second-year ronin. And his mother had expressed her disappointment in him. Thankfully, he still had that work with his uncle to fall back on. It may not be glamorous, but it paid well enough. And his mother, for all her distant, and somewhat domineering façade, at least recognised that his Uncle Bernard was giving him decent work.

Not that he was actually their uncle. Minato Sahashi had once considered the possibility that Professor Bernard Quatermass may have been his father and that of his sister, Yukari. When he had broached the subject with his mother, she had laughed, somewhat bitterly, and remarked that she wished that Quatermass was the father of her children. In any case, Quatermass was English, and neither Minato nor Yukari had any real Caucasian features. In truth, Quatermass was, despite being an uncle figure, the closest thing they had to a father.

Apparently his uncle once owned something called the British Experimental Rocket Group, a privately-owned space agency. However, fifteen years ago, in 2005, their first space launch ended in disaster, with the space capsule speeding out beyond lunar orbit, way beyond mission parameters, before finally returning. It was only recently that his uncle confessed the truth, with much of what happened covered up as a hoax, the reputation of Quatermass and the British Experimental Rocket Group thrown to the wolves to save the terminal career of Home Secretary Margaret Baker. Baker ended up with her career failing anyway.

Even so, it was hard to believe his uncle's words. The astronauts had encountered some sort of alien lifeform, whose original form Quatermass believed to be a form of living cosmic radiation. When it hit the astronauts, they were fused into a single lifeform that appeared to be one of them, Victor Carroon. But in truth, Carroon was four entities in one, and eventually escaped custody, rapidly mutating into a monster that took up residence in the Tate Modern art gallery. It was capable of spreading an infection that would engulf the entire world, turning all terrestrial life into an alien fungus. After a failed attempt to immolate the beast, Quatermass took a chance, as Carroon, and the other astronauts within the amalgamation, had been trying to warn them, and so, he tried to persuade the wills of the astronauts to commit suicide, and take the monster with it. He succeeded, with the monster perishing(1).

Not that he could offer such proof. The British government covered it up, and had sworn the surviving members of the BERG to secrecy, and they had been made scapegoats to try and save the career of Home Secretary Baker. Not that it worked. But Quatermass' career in sending rockets to space was over, or at least crippled, and, embittered with how the government treated him and his colleagues, he eventually left the country. He first headed to Australia, along with Judith Carroon and Gordon Briscoe. Eventually, though, he got restless, and headed to Japan.

Some years before he headed up the BERG, Quatermass was a lecturer, and had visited Japan to be a guest lecturer once, along with Dr Ludwig Reichenheim, one of the men who later became an astronaut on the ill-fated mission. It was there that he met Minato's mother, Dr Takami Sahashi, and her later colleague, Dr Takehito Asama. Quatermass actually got along better with Asama, but he still managed to make friends, of a sort, with Minato's mother.

In any case, in 2012, Quatermass returned to Japan, and managed to track down Minato's mother. His career was beginning to come back from the pit, having written a series of popular science books, and the Briscoes also opted to come to Japan, with Gordon setting up a practise as a GP, and Judith (now married to Gordon) becoming a mathematics lecturer at one of Shinto Teito's universities. And after reconnecting with Takami, Quatermass gradually became a known figure to Minato and Yukari. Eventually, Takami all but made him their guardian.

Minato sighed softly. At least his uncle wouldn't be as deeply disappointed as his mother. For all the crap his uncle had had to put up with during his career, he was less cold than his mother. And he gave him work. Okay, that was more like a research assistant, going through various books and articles, frequently to do with exobiology (or xenobiology: that is, speculating about alien biology) and space programs. But it paid a decent amount and, as long as he did a decent amount of chores, he was allowed to live with his uncle for fairly cheap. And considering rent prices in Shinto Teito, that was saying something. Even without that MBI corporation buying up the city.

Still, he hated the sting of losing like this. The lack of advancement, the lack of prestige. He'd certainly never get a girlfriend this way. It wasn't like they just fell out of the sky, was it?

"WATCH OUT!" screamed a very feminine voice from the skies, and Minato looked up in time to see a young woman collide with him, derriere-first, knocking him to the footpath, with said young woman sprawled across him. Well, she wasn't a girlfriend, but it seemed that it was, indeed, possible for beautiful young women to just fall out of the skies. Oh look, another couple had leapt down, somewhat more gracefully.

Minato, admittedly more than a little dazed by his sudden collision, tried to take stock. The young woman currently straddling him was brown-haired and eyed, rather buxom, and dressed in what could have been a miko or shrine maiden outfit, albeit with a ridiculously short skirt. The other two seemed to be sisters, practically twins, both dark haired and dressed in near-identical outfits like something out of a BDSM fantasy. And they were looking at the girl who had landed on him rather malevolently. And was it him, or was he seeing electricity crackle around their fists? Or was that a minor concussion talking?

"Nice jump," one of the twins remarked. "But you shouldn't have gotten this poor sap involved."

"I told you, I'm not fighting yet! At least not until I get my Ashikabi!" the girl who had landed on Minato protested. "Leave him out of it!"

"Excuse me," Minato said, as he got shakily to his feet, "but…why are you running around in clothes like that? Is there some sort of movie shoot going on?"

"Not exactly," the other twin said. "Look, we're not interested in you, just her. And if you know what's good for you, stay out of it."

"Look, maybe you need to just settle down and have talk about IIIIIITTTT?!" This last syllable was elongated because the brown-haired girl in the fetishized miko outfit chose that moment to take him by the arm and run at incredible speed down the streets, just barely avoiding a blast of electricity from the twins…except the electricity had been purple.

Okay, Minato thought. Try to remain calm. You are currently being pulled along by a rather buxom young woman who is currently running at speeds Usain Bolt would envy. And speaking of bolts, how did those women fire electricity from their hands? I'd think it'd be some sort of concealed taser or electrolaser, except…I don't think I've ever seen violet lightning before. And now that I come to think about it, all three leapt down from the roof of a building several stories high. How the hell did they survive that without injury…or injuring me for that matter when this one landed on me? Gah, remain calm. Remain calm. CAN'T REMAIN CALM!

Soon, his erstwhile saviour or kidnapper finished running, coming to a halt. They were on one of the bridges near the riverside. She then spun around to face Minato as he slumped. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to land on you and drag you along like that!" she said, her tone the very epitome of contrition.

Minato nodded, trying desperately to get a handle on the moment. As much as he didn't know what the hell was going on, this girl had been running from those attacking her, and he had the feeling this wasn't a movie shoot. "It's…okay, I guess. So, who are you, anyway?"

"Oh, I'm Musubi! Pleased to meet you!" the woman said with a bow.

"Minato Sahashi…likewise," Minato said, his manners a little frayed by what had happened. "Umm, Musubi, what the hell was that all about? I mean, those two fired off lightning, and you're moving so fast, and…" Suddenly, he was interrupted by a massive growling noise, which Minato soon realised had to be Musubi's stomach. "Actually, you want to discuss that over dinner?"

Musubi nodded eagerly. Ah, if only he knew what he had let himself in for…

Minato and his uncle stared as Musubi wolfed down food at preternatural speed. They had both seen people eating at ridiculous speed in cartoons, both Western and anime, but here, they were seeing it in action. Minato had called his uncle on the way home, and they decided to get some takeaway to take home. It was a good thing they got a fairly large amount, albeit on Musubi's request.

Minato shared a bemused look with his uncle. His uncle had light brown hair, cut short, framing thin, intense features, his eyes a little sunken. But there was no denying the intelligence of Bernard Quatermass.

The house Quatermass shared with Minato was a decent one in the north of Shinto Teito. Not large, given the premium on space in Japanese real estate, but enough to hold at least three people comfortably. The décor was fairly modern, though, and had many space-related pictures on the walls. They were currently in the dining room.

As Musubi finished her meal, it was Quatermass who spoke. "Miss Musubi…"

"Just call me Musubi!" the cheerful girl said.

"Musubi. Then call me Bernard," Quatermass said. "My nephew came to me with a story that sounds somewhat unbelievable. I don't doubt that he witnessed something strange, but…what is going on?"

"Oh, right," Musubi said. After a moment of furtive debate within her mind, she said, "I'm part of a competition, you might say. I am supposed to find a destined partner, an Ashikabi, in order to participate in the next stage. They are here somewhere in Shinto Teito. But those twins ambushed me. It's technically not against the rules to attack someone who hasn't found their Ashikabi. I do want to fight, just once I found my Ashikabi."

"Ashikabi?" Quatermass mused. "That sounds like the word for 'reed sprout' in Japanese."

Minato looked at his uncle. "What do we do with her?"

Quatermass shrugged. "I don't know. I do know that MBI is up to something in this city, and your mother is in the middle of it. And there's conspiracy theories on the internet that I wouldn't normally credit as having any kind of veracity, and yet, in light of what you claimed, they seem more disturbingly true than I would credit. Though whoever dressed Musubi in that…" He frowned when he noticed that Musubi seemed to be flushing.

"Hey, are you all right?" Minato asked. With that, Musubi's eyes flicked over to his own. He wasn't sure he liked that strangely unfocused stare, which nonetheless had the air of all of her attention focused on him.

"I've found you…" she murmured, walking around the table towards Minato. "My Ashikabi…" She suddenly lunged, before capturing Minato's lips in a kiss. Before Minato and Quatermass' eyes, Musubi's back began to glow. She leaned back, and as what looked like ethereal wings of pink light flared into existence, she emitted a moan that sounded disturbingly orgasmic.

As the light faded, Minato yelped, "What the hell was that?!"

"My thoughts exactly," Quatermass said. He was next to Musubi in an instant, checking her back.

"Sekirei Number 88 is yours, now and forever, my Ashikabi," Musubi said, looking as if she had made a solemn pledge of love to the young student. "I'll fight for you, and together, we'll ascend into the higher sky."

"Sekirei?" Quatermass muttered. "A Japanese name for a species of wagtail. And those wings of light…" He was back around in front of Musubi, bringing her attention to him. "What are you? A genetically-modified human? An alien?"

"Umm, I think we're aliens, Bernard," Musubi said. "There are 108 of us, stronger, faster, and more durable than humans. Some of us have special powers, like the ones who attacked me." Her gaze returned to Minato. "But to reach our full potential, we need to be Winged to an Ashikabi."

It was at about that moment that Minato's phone rang. He fished it out to find that it was a video call. Quatermass and Musubi crowded around, to find a most extraordinary apparition present. It was a man, dressed all in white, complete with a cloak or cape. His hair was a shock of white, though he seemed to be much younger than the hair colour suggested. He wore glasses that reflected the light, and he seemed to be sitting on a throne, looking every inch a mad scientist from an anime. "Greetings, Minato Sahashi, and congratulations on Winging Number 88!"

"Who are you?" Minato asked.

"Hiroto Minaka, the CEO of MBI," Quatermass said.

"Ah, Professor Bernard Quatermass, formerly of the British Experimental Rocket Group!" Minaka crowed. "I'm a big fan, of course. We have a mutual acquaintance in Dr Sahashi. My condolences on what happened to your reputation and your organisation. Little minds have an ever-so-nasty habit of constraining the great. Well, at least you and I have something in common: we have both discovered forms of alien life, masquerading in human form. Oh yes, I know about that incident with Victor Carroon. I have my sources, and sometimes, money and influence tends to bypass pesky things like the Official Secrets Act you have back in Britain."

"Hi, professor!" Musubi chirped at the image of Minaka.

"Hello, Musubi! How are you doing?"

"Very well, thank you!"

"Why is the CEO of MBI calling me?" Minato asked.

"Ah, I am so glad you asked, Minato! By Winging Musubi, you have volunteered to participate in the Sekirei Plan, where you and your Sekirei will fight for the chance to ascend. 108 Sekirei have been released for this plan."

"A bloodsport tournament," Quatermass muttered.

"Oh, don't be so close-minded, Professor! Think of this as an opportunity to understand an alien species not quite as hostile as that your own ship brought back. Though I should point out that the Sekirei Plan is confidential, and I have the authority to enforce secrecy by any means necessary. Consider yourself honoured, Professor, that you know, despite not being an Ashikabi. At least to my knowledge. In any case, I'm a busy man, so with that in mind, I will bid you adieu for the moment. Be seeing you!"

"Wait!" Minato yelped, but it was too late. The call had ended. And it left him and his uncle with more questions than answers…

CHAPTER 1 ANNOTATIONS:

So, there you have it. Minato and Professor Quatermass have been embroiled in the Sekirei Plan. But what else could happen? Let's find out…

1. This is a modified and abridged summary of The Quatermass Experiment, particularly the 2005 remake that featured Jason Flemyng as Quatermass, so Quatermass' appearance is based roughly on Flemyng. It also featured Indira Varma as Judith Carroon, Adrian Tiernan as Victor Carroon, a pre-Doctor Who David Tennant as Briscoe, and Mark Gatiss as Patterson. While Baker throwing Quatermass under the bus didn't actually happen in the remake, it could have, as Baker in the remake became more antagonistic towards Quatermass, partially because a number of roles were fused into each other to abridge the remake.