Lighters

by Fezzgator

Out on a job for the mayor, Michiru is pulled away from her world and dumped in one that, at least on the surface, is paradise. Along with a cranky chimera who hates monsters, a girl who barely talks and a group of misfits displaced from across time and space Michiru will try to find her place. Plus crossovers with Slayers!, Xenogears, Final Fantasy 6, Escaflowne and more!

1. Chapter 1

"They say that the true measure of a person is when they are at their lowest, when everything has been stripped away from them…That is a sentiment I very much agree with. Would you not agree, doctor?"

(X)

Night had fallen on the city of beastmen, Anima City. Once the lone bastion of safety for this separate species of transforming humans, it had recently opened for normal humans to come and visit, live or do business should they choose.

Some humans did indeed accept the invitation. Others…had less savory plans. Anima City was home to rich and poor beastmen alike and that presented many opportunities for the unscrupulous. Thus, two figures had just left city hall after a chat with the mayor of their proud city, engaged in a rather animated discussion.

The younger of the pair, a girl, ran out front of the other, a taller man, before turning and flinging her arms out wide for emphasis "Come on, Shirou! You know I prefer staying like this!"

The man, older by centuries but by appearance no more than his mid-twenties and featuring pale skin, silver hair and a trench coat with a collar around his neck stopped in his tracks as he sighed, long and hard. Michiru had proven herself passionate, reliable and selfless…but she was also stubborn as hell. The ancient protector of Anima City regarded his partner with exacerbation as he looked her up and down, a tanuki beastman with light brown fur except her forearms and near her feet and around her eyes which were a darker brown. Her short, fluffy tail matched her hair, mostly dark blue and near black at the tips. Her ears were also black and her eyes had the odd feature of being two toned, mostly teal with pink in the lower quarter of her irises. Whatever their color, Shirou could see that same stubborn determination in those eyes when she was set on something. Great.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Shirou coolly answered his partner's plea "Damnit Michiru, we already went over this with the mayor. We, and that includes you by the way, agreed to this plan. We are not backing out of it just because you don't like to be in your human form."

Shirou raised an eyebrow before he added with a hint of accusation "Unless there is something else? I don't suppose this plan…scares you, Michiru?"

At that, the young woman puffed her cheeks in indignation as she darted right up into Shirou's face, a finger pointed right between his eyes "Whats that supposed to mean, huh? Yeah, I agreed to the plan but that doesn't mean there isn't a better way! And where do you get off saying I'm scared after everything we've done, huh!"

Her partner, however, was unfazed and drily responded with the finger still in his face "You have a better way then?"

All of Michiru's bluster left her as she cringed backward "Well…that is to say…look, just because I haven't found it yet, doesn't mean it isn't there!"

"Right…" the silver-haired man responded as he began walking again "Well then, in the meantime, I need you in human form, as we discussed, to be our bait for the traffickers."

The tanuki girl's shoulders slumped as Shirou walked past her "Yeah, yeah, fine but I'm going to keep thinking! Hold on a second…"

True to her word, Michiru began shifting back into the form she had spent the first seventeen years of her life. Shirou caught the sparkle out of the corner of his eye and turned to see her finish the change. He had seen pictures of her in her human form, but this was, in fact, the first time he was seeing her like this in all the time he had known her. Beyond that, he couldn't help but notice the sparking affect that accompanied her change. When beastmen shifted from human to beast form and back again, it was quick and with no fanfare. Michiru was not naturally a beastman and that point was driven home for Shirou that much more as the transformation finished.

Now a normal looking eighteen-year-old girl with black hair in a bob cut with notably uneven bangs and brown eyes stood there, a sour look on her face "What are you starring at? Is it really that strange to see me like this?"

Shirou scoffed as he turned back forward and began walking again. "Don't be ridiculous, beastmen spend most of their day in their human form, why should you be any different?"

Michiru, who had begun walking to catch up to her partner, stopped dead in her tracks when she heard the rhetorical question, her eyes wide. She thought back to when Shirou, at the time a massive silver wolf, howled in an attempt to break the people of Anima City out of a berserk rage. The young tanuki remembered how she and her best friend Nezuna alone did not respond to Shirou's mournful calls. Micjhiru remembered how, in that moment, she knew that even if she looked to all the world like a beastman, that in reality she wasn't one of them and never could be.

Expecting a retort, Shirou stopped and turned in surprise when he heard her answer, pain clearly in her voice "Because, Shirou…I'm…"

Then, everything stopped.

The world seemed to freeze as Michiru and Shirou stood there, mid conversation. They were not alone, cars in the street, other people walking along the sidewalks, everything had frozen in place. As everything remained motionless, a pillar of light reached down from the heavens, engulfing Michiru. Another moment and the pillar was gone, the tanuki girl along with it. As the light faded away, everything resumed as if nothing had happened.

For Shirou though, it was as if Michiru has simply vanished. One moment she stood before him, clearly upset by his off hand question and about to say…something. Then, she wasn't.

A creeping fear told hold of the man, suddenly alone on the street. Had he blacked out and Michiru had run to get help? No, that didn't make any sense. There were wisps of light for just a moment though…

The protector of Anima City shifted into his beastman form, a humanoid silver and white wolfman and sniffed the air. To his horror, his gut was correct. Michiru's scent, her very essence, was gone. If she had been kidnapped, run off or even killed, he still would be able to detect her. This though…this was impossible. Shifting back into human form, panic clearly written on the normally stoic man's face, Shirou rushed back to City Hall, in the vain hope he could get help looking for his friend.

(X)

Summer had arrived in Musutafu. School was out, which meant more people than normal were out working, having fun or just relaxing. All three could be had at the massive Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall. One of the premiere places to shop for all shapes and sizes, the mall was four stories tall, open down the middle with many bridges connecting the two sides on each floor. After running straight for a quarter of a mile, the structure turned right at a forty five degree angle for another thousand feet where it was left open, just like the entrance.

Patrons to the mall that day weren't just being treated to a wide selection, great customer service and good food because at the far end a concert was going on for Japan's newest idol, Franchouchou. Hundreds were there filling the middle portion of the mall while others hung banners along the handrails of the upper stories as they cheered the newest sensation in the idol world with her deathly green skin and auburn hair as she sang and danced.

This wonderfully idyllic summer day was interrupted when a pillar of light seemed to pierce the sky, splitting the few clouds there were overhead, forming a ring around the luminous projection. The beam made contact with the ground right at the angle of the shopping mall, startling anyone who saw it even as no sound accompanied it. Many in the nearby concert crowd turned to see what was causing the flash but Franchouchou herself kept singing, doing her best to be unfazed by the sudden distraction.

After just a few moments the pillar of light receded back into the sky, leaving a girl wearing a red jacket with white pinstripes down the arms over a white tank top with dark blue shorts accented with neon green highlights. Michiru blurted out "I'M NOT LIKE…" before she cut herself off. Her mouth left agape, she slowly straightened up from the bent posture she had taken as she was calling out to Shirou, her eyes slowly scanning about her as stunned onlookers starred right back at her.

As Michiru stood there, in stunned silence, a crowd of onlookers began to gather. A young man who had been nearby with his friends stepped forward into the impromptu circle that had formed around the girl and asked "Miss…are you alright? Was…was that your quirk just now?"

Still stunned, Michiru didn't even seem to hear the question as she drew her focus from her new surroundings to the teenager "Where the hell am I? It, it was night a second ago…" then Michiru realized something and her focus on the young man turned more intense "Where's Shirou? What happened?"

The concerned teenager wilted under Michiru's gaze and took a few steps back, answering nervously "Uh, this is Kiyashi Ward Shopping Mall, Miss. I don't know a Shirou! Honest! There was a beam of light from the sky and there you were…"

A beam of light? Michiru glanced up at the sky, seeing nothing but the clouds and the upper floors a massive mall. Then, something else the boy said brought her attention back to him "Kiyashi Ward? Where the hell is that?"

The boy looked surprised by the question and was about to respond when an older man in what appeared to be a police or security uniform pushed his way into the circle "OK! Whats going on here! Who the hell used their quirk in public like that?"

Quirk? What the hell was he talking about? And Kiyashi Ward? Michiru has a flood of questions and no answers. The thought had occurred to her that she was pretty familiar with all the wards in Japan, even if she missed her senior year of high school and there was now Kiyashi Ward. One thing was for sure, she wasn't in Anima City, and meant if they found out she wasn't a human…

Fear creeping into her mind, Michiru began to backpedal under the man's scrutiny as he barked at her "Was it you, girl? That why everyone's looking at you?"

Just as Michiru was about to turn and run for it, another figure forced his way into the circle whose appearance was enough to keep Michiru in place for now. The newcomer was an older man, a bit on the shorter side, no taller than Michiru herself and featured balding dirty blond hair and his face protruded just enough to suggest a snout. Beyond all that however, the old man had a massive tortoise shell over his entire torso, itself covered by a finely tailored suit, a sight Michiru couldn't help but think a bit silly. Said turtle man looked less than pleased as he snapped at the other gentleman "Damnit Keima! I told you to leave this to the heroes, you have no idea what you could be rushing into!"

"Hey, I'm head of security here, Caraprince! I won't have hired guns like you boss me around, ya hear!" came the man's response having turned his back to Michiru to respond.

The shelled old man was about to outright order the over-zealous security guard back to his post when an eager "Where's the villains!" from behind him caused his shoulders to slump.

Now Michiru caught sight of a girl, near her age she guessed but given the way the girl looked, it was hard to tell. This new girl had an extra pair of arms, that were pointed instead of having hands, large compound eyes that still had green irises despite being made up of many small lenes, as well as four translucent wings on her back. Two yellow antennae raised above brown hair kept in a ponytail about six inches and bent forward at ninty degrees added to her insect-like appearance. The insect girl wore what looked like body armor that was black over her midsection and amber over the chest and shoulders with pants that were also black save for two yellow squares on either pant leg. Thinking on it, Michiru had never seen an insect themed beastman before, which was odd the more she thought on it. Now though, with these two on the scene and arguing with the security, the tanuki girl's earlier worry began to fade as the bickering continued without her.

"Damnit it Formidable, I told you to stay and keep watch of the concert in case this was a distraction!" the old man bellowed as he, too, turned to face the newest comer to the party, apparently deciding that discipline was more important than getting to the bottom of the situation.

"Come on old man, I want to be where the action is!" The ant-girl exclaimed, pumping the fists of her upper limbs. "Now where is the villain?"

Suddenly feeling his age, the turtle hero retorted, pointing back at Michiru "We don't know if shes a villain, or if she is even responsible! Now get back to the stage, ya hear!"

The ant girl pursed her lips as she narrowed her eyes but did indeed turn, making her way back to the stage, grumbling all the way. Michiru could only stand there, feeling very much as if she had been completely forgotten as this played out before her. As Formidable stomped off Michiru took the opportunity to re-insert herself back into the conversation, waving at the turtle man and security guard "Um, yeah, I have no idea whats going on. It was nighttime a second ago and I was on the street in front of city hall. I'm…still not sure where I am or how I got here."

Caraprince was about to respond, telling her that could all be sorted out at the station when three more people made their way into the circle, which itself was starting to dissipate since it was becoming clear a hero had things under control. The lead woman of the trio, perhaps thirty, spoke up, her hand to her chest and a smile of her face "I think I can answer your questions miss, if Caraprince-san would be willing?"

Michiru turned to see who had spoke. The woman in front of the other two had light brown hair that was cut short, just around her ears and had kind green eyes. She was dressed casually, a simple white top with floral patterns and pink shorts, as if she was out shopping for the day. Her two companions, about ten years younger, were also dressed for a day at the mall. The girl had deep green hair kept in a high ponytail and blue eyes that betrayed deep concern. She was wearing a simple red top, white pants and a violet sash around her waist. The young man was wearing a black t-shirt with brown cargo pants and no shoes for some reason. His hair was black and short cut but his red eyes and sharp pointy teeth he was baring as he smiled was a bit disconcerting.

Desperate for answers, Michiru wasted no time running up to the woman, noting how weird it felt to do it as a human after being a tanuki for so long. "What happened?! Please tell me, miss?"

The woman smiled, and placed her hand on Michiru's shoulder, calming her with the warmth in the older woman's eyes "Hitomi Kanzaki and not here, its probably best if we sit down for this." Hitomi motioned for them to move toward a bench nearby. Michiru nodded and started walking with the other three behind her.

The turtle hero needed more than someone's word however before he let someone wander off with a potential suspect "Actually, Kanzaki-san, there was clearly unauthorized quirk usage, I'm going to need to know who you are before I let ya do anything with this girl." The security guard, arms crossed over his chest, nodded in agreement.

Hitomi motioned for her two charges to continue to lead Michiru as she deeply bowed to Caraprince "I'm so sorry, of course, my ID."

As she was walking away, Michiru glanced back to see the shock written on the old turtle's face as he looked at the card Hitomi had showed him. Things just keep getting weirder and weirder. What was even on that card? The turtle man turned, grabbing the security guard, who only seemed confused by whatever was on the ID, and the two began heading back to the concert, Caraprince calling for any other gawkers to break it up.

Once they reached the bench, in front a fountain, Michiru noted, she and the other two sat down. Hitomi was only a few moments later, squatting down to look Michiru in the eye before she said "Before we get started, lets introduce ourselves." Michiru nodded and Hitomi motioned to the girl on Michiru's left "You already know me of course but allow me to introduce Terra Branford." Said girl gently bowed and smiled before Hitomi continued "And on your right is Shinra Kusakabe." To which Shinra grinned and gave a thumbs up. Finally, Hitomi asked "Now that you know who we are, may I know your name?"

Michiru glanced to her right and left, finding a mix of reassurance and expectation on Terra and Shinra's faces. Impatience was starting to bubble up in the displaced girl as she settled back into looking at the still smiling Hitomi "Kagemori, Michiru Kagemori. Nice to meet you. Now…now would you please tell me whats going on? I've already figured out I'm not in Anima City so where am I?"

Hitomi placed her hand on Michiru's, which had become tightly clasped on her lap when the answer came "Michiru, I am sorry to tell you this, but you are in Musutafu, Japan, a large city west of Yokohama."

When Hitomi's hand touched hers, Michiru couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. When the answer came, that fear was replaced by confusion. Musutafu? West of Yokohama? There was no such city in Japan! A sinking feeling was developing in the pit of her stomach and even though she feared she knew the answer, Michiru also whispered back "And what about Anima City? Can I…can I go back?"

Hitomi seemed to be fighting to hold her composure herself as she responded, "I'm sorry Michiru but here, there is no Anima City."

No Anima City? What did she mean by 'here'? Confusion again gripped Michiru as she looked again at the two people seated on either side of her, pleading for something, anything to explain this. What Michiru found in their eyes was pity as each tried to offer reassuring smiles of their own. This was unacceptable. Michiru bolted up, looking down at the pained woman in front of her "What the hell is that supposed to mean? Huh? What happened to Anima City? What happened to me?"

Hitomi stood up, her face again the picture of warmth and comfort "Nothing happened it, Kagemori-san, but you've been taken…taken from your world. This isn't the Japan you know. It, it isn't the world you know."

Michiru's eyes widened as she plopped back down on the bench, stunned. She didn't understand. This couldn't be real! This couldn't be right…Michiru continued to sit there limp, as though the air had been knocked out of her as she tried to wrap her mind around such a revelation. After a few moments, Terra finally spoke "I know its a lot to take in Kagemori-san, but it'll be ok. It happened to both myself and Shinra-san. Kanzaki-sensei has been here for both of us."

Shinra jumped in as well, pumping his fist "Yeah! And Luminaire-san too! It's a lot to take in at first but you'll be fine, I promise! This world's actually pretty cool!"

A lot to take in? That was one hell of an understatement. If what Kanzaki-san said was true then…then it was all gone. Her family, Nezuna, Shirou, those helpless bears, that damn weasel. Everyone she'd ever known, it was all gone. How was she supposed to handle that? What was she supposed to do about it? Wait…

The three surrounding Michiru had began to worry as the silence from the displaced girl dragged on for an uncomfortably long time. Finally, as the faces starring at her had begun to show concern, Michiru broke out of her own thoughts and spoke "So…how many times has this happened if you two went through this too? And for that matter, how'd you even know to be here?"

Shinra and Terra looked at each other before turning to Hitomi, deferring to her. Michiru followed suit as Hitomi answered "You're the tenth person to be kidnapped like this that we are aware of. As for knowing you'd be here…we didn't." At this point Hitomi's smile turned sheepish "We were just shopping and checking out the concert when the beam of light appeared and dropped you here."

At that, Michiru snapped her fingers "Oh yeah, the boy from earlier said something about a beam of light too, whats up with that?"

"That, yes" Hitomi responded, bending down again "Someone's been using it to somehow bring people to this world, though the story we tell the public is you've just been transported from far away, not another world."

At this point, Shinra shoved his phone in Michiru's face with an article on the screen from some hero website and excitedly continued the explanation "Yeah, and because we appear in that beam of light, people call us lighters!"

Hitomi gently placed her hand on Shinra's phone and moved his arms back out of Michiru's face before continuing "This is the first time someone has appeared near other lighters. It's always seemed pretty random where someone will appear, though it's always been in Honshu and its always been roughly a year apart."

Looking down Michiru thought for a second "So if I'm the tenth and it's been ten years, it's been one person each year?"

Michiru looked back up and over when Terra responded "That's right, Kagemori-san. There has never been more than one a year since it started, so on the plus side, it'll be…a..nother…."

The green-haired young woman lost all train of thought as her gaze turned from Michiru up and beyond Hitomi. Michiru and Shinra quickly followed Terra's gaze, followed by Hitomi turning around as well. There, where Michiru had first appeared, was another pillar of light, its silent beauty the harbinger of another lost soul. All three on the bench stood up and Hitomi could be heard saying under her breath "No..its not possible…."

As the light began to fade, Hitomi steeled herself, speaking as clearly and confidently as a commander to her troops "Terra, Shinra, get over there and see who it is, I need to call Luminaire, I feel something very, very wrong is about to happen." That last part caused the two to pause a moment before nodding and dashing forward.

Michiru stepped up beside the older woman as the other two ran off "What about me? I want to help to!"

Hitomi shook her head as she scrolled through her contacts on her phone "You've been through so much already, don't you think? Let us take care of it." Michiru frowned as Hitomi put the phone to her ear "Hello, Sanada-san, you won't believe this, but…Michiru? Where are you going!?"

Michiru had darted off as soon as Hitomi started speaking. She was not going to sit idly by and do nothing. Not this time! She was done sitting in her room feeling sorry for herself!

As Michiru caught up to Terra and Shinra, she was greeted with a sight she hadn't altogether expected to see. There, sitting on the ground with a sketch pad in one hand and a pencil in another, sat another young woman. Even for someone use to living around people who routinely transformed into animals, this newcomer was exotic looking. Her hair was green but unlike Terra's deep forest shade, this woman's was pale like jade and flowed wildly down to the middle of her back. Her skin had an orange hue, and her eyes were of amber. She had a large tan scarf that wrapped loosely around her neck as it flowed down either shoulder, held in place by large clamps on each of those shoulders. She appeared to be wearing a red, loose fitting and short-sleeved top that exposed her mid-riff along with a short skirt of the same color and a pair of large black with yellow trimmed boots.

Like Michiru, the girl was looking around in confusion but unlike last time, people didn't seem to be as phased by it. Michiru could hear people wondering if this was a stunt for the concert where others were wondering if it was a rescue gone wrong. What kind of world was this that it only took people a few minutes to get use to something like this?

Then again, Shinra wasn't giving them the chance, walking about and telling people it was alright and not to worry as Terra went over and knelt down in front of the displaced woman "Are you ok? Can I help you up?"

The woman simply nodded as she placed her pencil in the spine of her sketchpad and reached out, taking Terra's offered hand. The girl didn't seem to be betraying any sense of unease as she stood up, coolly taking in her surroundings. By this point Michiru was standing beside them and glanced at the pad, caught by mountain scene sketched on it. It was so detailed, aside from the lack of color, Michiru thought it could be a photo. With nothing else coming to mind and wanting to ease any fear the other girl was feeling, Michiru blurted out "That's a really good drawing! Is that where you just were?"

The girl glanced down at her pad, almost as if she was just remembering it was there and regarded it for a second before answering, still looking down at it "Yes…it was. Emer…I was taking a break in the Nisan Mountains just a moment ago." Rasing her head once more, the girl scanned the mall and its inhabitants "This doesn't look like anywhere I've ever been…though it reminds me of Solaris. But…it was destroyed. Everything was destroyed. This…isn't right."

Terra opened her mouth, about to try to explain when she was cut off by Michiru "The same thing just happened to me! One minute I was in Anima City, minding my own business and next, I'm being yelled at by security guards and told I'm in another world!"

Terra couldn't help but put her hand in her face and shake her head at Michiru's bluntness. This wasn't really something you just casually drop on someone. Still, what was done, was done and Terra put on the most comforting smile she could muster and tried to salvage the situation as the new girl's eyes looked like they might pop out of her head "I'm sorry but it's true. The tactless one here is Michiru and I'm Terra, may I ask who you are?"

The question seemed to work, getting the other greenette to come back into focus at the question. It took her a moment but she finally answered, softly, as if saying it was somehow the worst thing she could utter "Emeralda Kasim."

It was an interesting name to be sure, though Terra was struck at the way it was conveyed. Michiru, though either didn't notice or didn't care because the next thing anyone knew, the girl had slapped her arm around Emeralda. This caused the newest arrival to jump slightly as Michiru declared "Hey Emeralda, its great to meet you!"

Michiru then gently spun around, taking Emeralda along with her before saying "Come on, I have no idea whats going on, but theres this Hitomi woman who seems to know! We were just talking when you got here so I'm sure we'll get to the bottom of it."

Terra at first was horrified by Michiru's forwardness and indeed there was shock on Emerald's face as well when she was first touched. After glancing down at Michiru's hand though, Emeralda then looked over at the other girl's beaming smile. It was almost infectious and after just a moment, a small smile touched Emeralda's lips.

Terra relaxed a bit at the sight and waved Shinra over, who had finally gotten the crowds to stop forming. The black-haired young man quickly introduced himself and got a nod from Emeralda in return. This caught Shinra off guard but he shrugged it off as the four made their way back to the bench where Hitomi was standing, her back turned and still on the phone.

The group of displaced souls had barely made it a few steps when behind them yet again, a pillar of light cut through the heavens, illuminating the area behind them. The four quickly turned, eyes wide with shock. Michiru couldn't help but think how eerie and otherworldly it felt being so close to it.

Before the light could even disperse however, something shot straight at them. Before anyone else could react, Emeralda stepped forward, throwing her arms up. Before anyone else could say or do anything…some…thing had crashed into the girl. Michiru expected to see Emeralda tumble backwards but instead was greeted with the sound of clanging metal.

Michiru starred in horrified fascination at the…thing that had attacked them. It could best be described as a full sized vaguely female manakin, only it featured six arms and three sets of glowing yellow eyes with what looked like red stitch-marks under each of them. The creature was wielding a sword in two of its hands that were being held in check by Emeralda, whose forearms now looked like a pair of shields. It was a strange sight and as Michiru starred on, her two eyes met the creature's eight. Without irises or pupils, there was nothing for the girl to see but it was enough for the mannikin to open its mouth and let loose a piercing scream.

Emeralda gritted her teeth, refusing to yield as others covered their ears in response to the horrible shriek. With all the strength she had, the greenette forced the creature backward.

If people hadn't been aware of what was going on before, the scream had awoken them to the danger. People began screaming in fear and panic as many turned and ran for the only open part of the mall with the concert stage blocking the other end. The blade-wielding mannikin seemed to be weighing its options as the sea of humanity streamed past it.

In the meantime, Michiru, Terra and Shinra had recovered as well, moving to stand side by side with Emeralda. As Emeralda's arms shifted back to normal, Michiru glanced over at Terra and Shinra, who didn't seem terribly surprised but were instead focused ahead of them. Emeralda almost looked disappointed in herself but also kept her focus ahead. Flames suddenly shot out of the bottom of Shinra's feet as he rose above the ground and said "Terra and I will handle that thing, you two should get out of here, we'll hold them off!"

Neither girl moved, however. Shinra tried again "Seriously, we're heroes in training (well, I've always been a hero), we can handle this till help arrives!"

"Oh no! I'm not going anywhere! I can help and that's what I'm going to do!" Michiru declared as sparks formed around her. Fur covered her body while her other animistic traits returned as she smirked "Lets do this!" More sparks caused her arms to explode in size to that of a massive gorilla, her hands balled up into massive fists.

Emeralda said nothing, instead answering with her own arms forming into blades and her face hardening for the task at hand.

Shinra's grin, almost demonic with his sharp teeth and red eyes, only grew bigger "Fair enough, but I'm not going to be the one getting in trouble for using my powers!"

That brought Michiru up short "Wait, what does that mean!?" It was too late for an answer though as the mannikin had finished observing and, seeing the threat the four posed, charged forward again.

Shinra exploded forward first and fully expected to be the first to make contact but was shocked to see Emeralda beat him to it, her blade-like arms clanging against the creature's own. The red-eyed young man was undeterred however and took the opening, spinning in mid-air into a flame powered kick that slammed into the mannikin's side.

The mannikin reared back but kept its guard up as Emeralda pressed it as it fell back. Held in place again by the greenette, Michiru was able to catch up as well, coming in from the left, her massive arm reared back. As she swung though the mannikin broke off and leapt back just in time to avoid being crushed. Michiru's fist had impacted with the concrete hard enough to leave a large crater that had required Emeralda to leap back from herself to avoid losing her footing.

In the meantime, Terra had stayed back and began to run in a wide arc, calling out to the mass of people rushing away to stay calm and keep heading away. By the time the mannikin had dodged Michiru's punch, Terra was behind it, between the monster and the throng of people rushing for safety. Raising her hand at the creature, a series of fire balls appeared out of her hand and shot forward. The mannikin seemed to sense this and leapt clear up in the air, leaving the fiery projectiles heading right for Shinra.

Shinra had been prepared for exactly this, however and as the fire balls neared him, he kicked each up, straight at the mannikin. Unfortunately, creature seemed prepared for that as well. With its head still fixed and looking down at them, the rest of its body began spinning rapidly, dispersing the flames.

Just as the mannikin finished spinning, Michiru smashed into it from above, having transformed her massive arms into wings, she had flown up past the creature as it was distracted. Despite the heavy impact, Michiru had to leap off as the mannikin began getting up like the attack had been nothing, using its extra limbs to push itself upright again.

Emeralda took that moment to rush inside the creature's guard and slice at it, only able to take off one of its right lower arms as it shifted away and swung with its left blade. Emeralda was ready, having already shifted her left arm into a shield, blocking the thrust. The creature's attack was strong enough to send Emeralda flying backwards into Shinra however and the two tumbled to the ground in a heap. With Michiru still airborne and looking for another chance to strike, suddenly, the mannikin had an open lane to attack others or flee.

It chose to attack, charging a group of teenagers clearly dressed for the concert and were just now making it past the melee, having been at the front of the stage when the fight started. Michiru saw the mannikin's assault and dove to intercept but she quickly realized she wasn't going to make it. All she could do was watch in horror as this nightmare creature swung its blade down on the terrified fans.

That horror turned to relief and again to shock as another young woman pushed them out of the way, only to be decapitated herself. The new girl's red-haired head fell off to the side and rolled twenty feet away as her body crumbled to the ground.

That had done it. Before another victim could be claimed, Michiru torn into the mannikin's back and sending it face first into the ground, her feet having shifted into talons. Tears streamed down Michiru's face and rage etched into her features. She looked up at the shocked and terrified girls and screamed "GO!"

The girls complied and darted off. Just as they were out of the way, Michiru heard a voice yell "Clear out, girl!"

Michiru did so, leaping off once more, holes left from her talons in the back of the mannikin as she did so. As Michiru released, the Mannikin darted back up on two feet, just as a giant turtle shell smashed into the creature, sending it spinning out of control up and toward Shinra, who had recovered from Emeralda landing on him. As the mannikin tumbled toward him, Shinra yelled "TERRA!"

The green-haired girl called back "READY!" just as Shinra caught the monster in the midsection with another powerful flaming kick, again sending it skyward. Before it ever had a chance to recover, a fireball much larger than the one's Terra had shot earlier smashed into the mannikin, hitting it square in the mid-section. The impact blew several of the monster's remaining limbs clean off as it flew higher into the air. When the mannikin finally crashed back down to earth, its remaining limbs shattered, leaving it immobile and squirming on its back.

Emeralda stepped up to the smoldering puppet and starred down at its head. The jade-haired girl glanced over at the decapitated body only a short distance away before coolly returning her gaze to this…thing. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, she screamed in rage, rearing her head back as her hair twisted and shifted into a massive hammer, which she swung as her head came back around in a head-banging motion. The hammer swung forward with immense force, smashing mannikin's head to pieces just as it was about to scream again. Returning to her full height as her hair returned to normal, Emeralda glared down at the remnants of the monster's hollow head as the rest of it became motionless.

Shinra and Terra had been rushing over to stop her but came up short when they saw the head had been hollow. Terra glanced up at her fellow greenette and saw tears streaming down the other girl's otherwise emotionless face. Terra could only imagine what was going through Emeralda's head to do such a thing.

Michiru, meanwhile, had landed beside the head of the girl she had failed to protect. Her limbs returned to normal arms as she knelt down, entirely missing the lack of blood from the wayward head. To herself as much as the dead girl she whispered, "I'm sorry…I'm so, so sorry."

Michiru nearly jumped out of her fur when the head spoke back, cheerily "Its ok! If you really do feel sorry, I'd appreciate it if you took me back to my body!"

The tanuki girl frantically looked side to side before responding, clearly unnerved "Wha, wha, what the hell! How can you still be alive?!"

"Because I'm not alive, silly! But let's just call it my quirk! Now, would you mind?" the dismembered head replied, motioning toward her body with her eyes.

Slowly, tentatively, Michiru approached the dis-embodied head and very gently picked it up. As she turned it around to see the girl's face, Michiru got a good look at the "victim." Indeed, the talking head's skin had a deathly green pallor to it and was very dark around the eyes, as if she had been dead for much longer than the few minutes Michiru had perceived. Again, the head spoke "I'm Sakura Minamoto, by the way or Franchouchou as I'm known on stage!"

"On stage?" said Michiru as she looked up from the talking head and focused past the group gathering around the headless body to the large stage down at the end of the mall. By this point it had been totally vacated, various bits of trash strewn about as people had rushed away. Come to think of it, Michiru did hear a song being sung when she first got here…and that meant "Wait, you're an idol?!"

"Yep!" Sakura responded, no small amount of pride in her smile. Then she lowered he voice to add "and I'm a lighter, too, just like you. You can trust Hitomi-san, she'll help any way she can."

The tanuki girl nodded "Thanks Minamoto-san, and I'm Michiru Kagemori, by the way."

As the two approached, Caraprince, who had come out of his shell, was holding up Sakura's body, awaiting her head's return. With Shinra, Terra and Emeralda gathered as well, a toothy grin played across his face "I'm very impressed with ya all! These two tell me the four of you have never even meet! HA! If I didn't know any better, I'd a thought you all had been a team for years!"

Emeralda simply nodded and Michiru resisted the urge to scratch the back of her head as she sheepishly laughed, unsure how to take the praise. She was just doing whatever she could to help in the end and holding a talking head reminded her that she could have done better. Her thoughts were interrupted when Sakura chirped "You can just stick my head back on, Kagemori-san!"

Michiru complied and sure enough, once the head was back on, Sakura started walking about like nothing head ever been wrong. Glancing around, Michiru thought to ask, "Why does everyone seem fine with the whole decapitation thing?"

Caraprince answered, his arms folded across his armored chest "It was in the job briefing for me about Minamoto-san's quirk, Zombie. Any part of her body can be removed and reattached without issue. I filled these three in while ya were collecting her head." Emeralda nodded in agreement while Shinra just smiled, and Terra gave her a wink.

Michiru slowly nodded, no less weirded out by the explanation than by the fact itself. Looking around, this place was definitely Japan, and yet, it clearly wasn't anything like her home. People were shooting fireballs and literally losing their heads but no one was batting an eye. Michiru herself looked like some weird cross between a human and a racoon who could morph herself into parts of other animals yet no one was questioning her on it. She glanced over at Emeralda, the other girl calmly watching Shinra as he began asking the old turtle a question and couldn't help but wonder what she made of all this madness.

Shinra's excitement brought Michiru out of her thoughts as he asked the veteran hero "That was a cool move with your shell back there! How did you get that kind of speed and momentum going?"

A smirk played across Caraprince's lips as he pointed behind everyone "In my old days I could'a pulled that move off myself but now I need a little help. I had my intern over there give me a good kick!"

Sure enough, the ant girl, Formidable, was approaching the group, Hitomi in toe. "It looks like just about all civilians are out of the area, boss!" the ant girl reported with a wave.

As the two got closer Hitomi added "I'm sorry we got separated like that, with everything going on, I called for help and then started to assist with the evacuation." She turned to Terra and Shinra and added, "You two did wonderful! Not bad for having just got your provisional licenses!"

Terra blushed at the praise and Shinra was beaming, arms crossed over his chest. The way the young man stood, one could just imagine a cape billowing out behind him as he declared "It's all in a day's work for a hero like me! But thanks, Kanzaki-sensei."

Hitomi chuckled at Shinra's bravado before she continued "The police and some other heroes should be here any minute. Kagemori-san, Kasim-san, thank you for helping with that attack, you helped save so many people today."

Emeralda offered a weak nod but would not meet Hitomi's kind smile, preferring to look at the floor. Michiru, on the other hand, glowed with the kind words "Aw, don't mention it! Just glad to help, you know?"

Some of the glow lost its luster as Hitomi continued "However, I need you two to know that here, it's against the law to use your powers if you're not a trained and licensed hero. Given the circumstances, you'll be forgiven this time but that's something we'll need to talk about when Luminaire gets here."

By the time Hitomi had finished, Michiru's shoulders had slumped, and her ears had drooped. Michiru's face took on a sour look when Formidable spoke up in a condescending tone "Of course you need a license, what idiot doesn't know that?"

Michiru wasted no time responding to the insult pointing to Emeralda, "Hey! We just got here, alright! How the hell are we supposed to know about your stupid rules when we're not even from this world, huh?" Emeralda simply raised an eyebrow at the exchange.

With her eyes closed and a smug look on her face, Formidable thought she had a retort ready and started saying "Whatever, unless you two were living under a…wait, what did you just say?"

Michiru took a challenging step forward "I said-"

Before Michiru could finish, Hitomi stepped in between the two of them, laughing nervously "Now now, you two, you just saved a whole mall's worth of people, let's just leave it at that, okay?"

At this point the ant hero-in-training was more confused than anything but wasn't about to let it go "Yeah, but she said-"

The conversation died there when in front of them, a final pillar of light burst down upon them. All went silent, a variety of emotions playing on the gathered group's faces. Hitomi appeared horrified that such a thing could happen yet again while Michiru, Terra and Emeralda looked on with a mixture of awe at the sight and fear for what was about to come. Shinra and Formidable looked like they were ready to fight whatever was about to appear while Caraprince stoically looked on.

After a few moments the light faded and there stood not one but two people. Well, one was standing and the other was being held up by the other in front of him by his shirt. That stopped as the two of them realized something was terribly wrong and the taller one let go of the other, turning to face the group. The taller one was wearing a tan outfit featuring plain pants and a long-sleeved top, covered by a hooded cape of the same color. A black belt held a European style sword hanging off to his left. His features were what really stood out though, his skin was blue, his ears pointed, and his hair was a deeper cobalt blue with a sheen to it, almost like metal. Not to mention he had what appeared to be rocks on his chin, up his jaw line and around parts of his eyes.

This first newcomer glanced around, shock momentarily on his face before he spun back to face his companion, barking in anger "Xellos! What the hell did you do?"

This Xellos put one hand up defensively, the other hand holding what looked be a large cane or wand. "Now, now Mr. Zelgadis, I had nothing to do with this and I'm hurt you would even think that I had!" The shorter of the two featured a much more normal, if androgynous face, featuring purple hair in a bowl cut down to his shoulders. He wore a bright smile that kept his eyes nearly shut, making it hard to tell what color they were. Xellos also wore a cape, though his was black, lacked a hood and had yellow trim with imbedded red rectangles. The cape was held in place low his neck by clamps that looked kind of like three playing cards. He had black pants and a tan, long-sleeved shirt along with grey gloves and a satchel across his body.

Neither of the two newcomers had the chance to continue their discussion however as screams of pain rang out, drawing everyone's attention to Terra, who had doubled over and was clutching her head. Shinra and Emeralda, the two closest to her, tried to see what was wrong but Terra called out "STAY BACK! I…NO! NOT…NOT AGAIN!" The green-haired girl's head shot up and looked right at the purple-haired one, her eyes wide as the pain, fear and anger washed over her. In her last moments in control of herself, Terra could see the smile on Xellos' face grow wider and his eyes open more fully to reveal purple irises. She couldn't help but think there was malice in those eyes, the last thought she had before her world exploded.

Blasts of energy sent everyone flying backward as cries of pain rung in their ears. When Michiru sat back up, in Terra's place stood a creature covered in pink fur, not a shred of clothes on her and not a hint of the girl who was there a moment before. The fur grew darker towards Terra's now clawed feet and hands. Her once green hair had doubled in length and volume having taken on the same color as her fur with purple tips, running wild down her back. The transformed girl was holding her head and writhing about, intense pain evident on her decidedly beast like features. A faint glow of energy seemed to be surrounding her. Michiru couldn't help but think the sight before her was as much amazing as it was incredibly dangerous.

As everyone began getting to their feet, Terra reared up toward the sky and let out a bestial scream. Though no one dared approach her, Hitomi mustered the courage to call out "Terra! TERRA! Whatever it is, we'll help! Please, whats wrong!"

Hitomi's cries only seemed to focus the maddened young woman because now Terra turned to look right at her. Their eyes met and Hitomi could find no hint of the kind person she had grown to know in this monster's violet, shimmering eyes. Undaunted, Hitomi stood firm "Terra, I don't know whats happened but we'll help you!"

The creature's only response was to snarl and charge forward.

(X)

Hello all. If you're still reading then I assume I've at least not made a complete fool of myself. I appreciate your interest in this story, I've felt compelled to write it for nearly a year now. Its taken many a rewrite and modification but I am finally ready to share it.

Now I must admit I am a busy man. Full time job, field guides I'm writing, and a young child do add up. But if you've come this far, perhaps you'll be willing to join me for the rest of this trip. I will post one chapter a month, at the least. If life allows me to do more, I shall.

I have been posting chapters of this story on for over 2 years now and I wanted to see if anyone over here had any interest in it. If I get any response at all, I will continue to post chapters until you're all caught up. I've also taken the time to clean this chapter up with minor fixes, spelling and grammar issues and the like so this is the better, cleaner version of the chapter. That would be one incentive to reading here as I would like to post the cleaned up and cleaner versions of the og chapters here.

Please feel free to comment and review, I'm usually pretty quick to respond. That being said, if you have suggestions as to where the story should go or the like, know that I'm 32 chapters and 324k words in so not much is changing until we're all caught up.

Again, thank you for checking this out, and take care out there.