Reality as we know it is made up of a nearly infinite number of
parallel universes, some almost identical to our own, some to alien as
to defy understanding.
This is the way of things, the way things have always been.
Until now.
Something has happened. Time as we know it is about to unravel
completely. The multiverse stands on the brink of disaster.
You have become Unhinged from time.
You are the newest of
THE EXILES.
An Anime MetaFic
By Exar
a.k.a. Ben Jernigan
____________________________________
The full disclaimer is at the end of this story, as it contains a few
spoilers. For now, simply assume that none of these characters are
mine, I'm just borrowing them.
____________________________________
"All right you chubby bastard! Where the hell am I and whaddaya want with me?"
That was the first thing I heard as I came to. My head was throbbing
like I'd had too much Sake and my nose was being tickled by a few
blades of grass. I sat up slowly, gingerly allowing my skull to become
accustomed to its new altitude.
I lay on my side in a seemingly endless field of grass. It streched
off to the horizon in all directions I could see without a single bump
or blemish. Rolling onto my back with a groan, I could see despite an
abundance of light, there was no sun in the blue expanse above.
I pulled myself into a sitting position, my hands automatically
reaching for and checking the position of the Cresent Moon strapped to
my chest. Still there. Good. I sat cross-legged on the grass and took
a good look around.
A male voice, very pleasant and totally artificial sounding, said.
"All will be explained in time. I don't wish to repeat myself, so we
shall wait for the others to come around."
The speaker was a middle aged man, dressed vaguely like a banker, who
stood in the center of a circle of people. He was balding, overweight,
and unless I missed my guess, a hologram.
The people forming the circle quickly caught my attention. They were a
very interesting bunch. I felt I could probably learn much from them.
At present, the only other one awake was the girl who had spoken
earlier.
She was a fairly short redhead with an odd pigtail and wearing chinese
clothes. She carried herself like a fighter, and had the lithe, clean
build of a martial artist. Strength without bulk, and nearly zero body
fat. She looked to be about 17 years old. At the moment she seemed to
be trying to reign in her temper, and was having difficulty with it.
Sprawled on the grass next to her was a young boy who couldn't have
been more than 12 years old. He was wearing a nicely cut (but very
small) suit and english style overcoat. He carried a large book,
almost what one would call a tome, and a long staff with a strip of
cloth tied to it. There was a pair of small glasses on the ground near
his head I assumed were also his.
Next to him was a sight that set me to salivating almost at once. A
young-looking woman wearing a tiger-striped bikini and boot set, who
had long lustrous green hair. And oddly, two small horns poking out of
said hair on top of her head. Even unconsious, her face was lined with
the evidence of great sorrow, and she had large dark spots under her
eyes.
Laying streched out perfectly straight on the grass beside her was a
young albino girl with blue hair. She was wearing some kind of
one-piece jumpsuit that had "REI" and "UNIT 0" stenciled on it.
Next was a man crumpled up in a heap, lying like a discarded puppet.
He wore a tattered police uniform of a sort that seemed several
decades out of style. Clutched in his left hand was a sheathed Katana.
He had an eyepatch over his right eye.
Just starting to stir next to him was a plain looking young man in a
lab coat. He seemed to be in his mid twenties and wore thick glasses.
Under the lab coat he wore a striped sweater and khaki pants. A gold
wedding band could be seen on his left hand.
I sat next to him, and I suppose I should describe myself for the sake
of completeness. I stand about 5'9" and am very thin. I have
wraparound sunglasses and a baseball cap on at all times, and a black
and silver P90 submachinegun strapped to my tactical vest. I call it
Cresent Moon. I was wearing standard BDU pants and a pink biking shirt
under my harness. My name is Kintaro Oe.
On my other side lay a vision unlike any I'd seen before. She was a
mature woman in the bloom of life, yet for some reason, she was
wearing a parody of a schoolgirl's uniform. She was dressed in white
and blue, with a very short skirt and a strange gold tiara framing her
short blue hair. At her side was a small laptop computer.
Withing a few minutes, the whole group was awake and pestering the
hologram with questions. Spreading his arms wide, he quieted everyone
and said. "I am the Timebroker. You have become Unhinged from time.
The fabric of time itself is coming undone, and all of reality is
threatened. However, all of you are in a position to make a
difference. If you work together, and follow my lead, you can save the
mutliverse, one universe at a time. Will you step up to your new
destiny?"
I could have sworn I heard the blue haired woman next to me mutter, "Again?"
The redhead stepped forward and said, "You can count on Ranma Saotome.
I never lose!"
The tattered policeman quietly said, "The sword of Saito Hajime is at
your service."
I cocked Cresent Moon and checked the safety. "Kintaro Oe is ready to
fight, sir."
The blue haired woman sighed and said, "Sailor Mercury embraces her destiny."
The guy in the lab coat nearly tripped stepping forward, but said,
"I'll do what I can to help. I'm Keitaro Urashima."
The bikini-clad girl whispered, "Lum will help. In darling's memory."
The albino, in a tone of voice totally devoid of emotion, said, "Rei
Ayanami will do what is needed."
The boy looked totally overwhelmed, but to his credit, he stepped up
too. "I'm Negi, Negi Springfield. I don't know how much I can help,
but I can't just do nothing. I'm in."
The Timebroker smiled. It was a tight, nasty smile devoid of humor or
compassion. It simply conveyed satisfaction at getting one's way.
"Very well," he said. "You are each Exiles from your own worlds and
times, but together you may be able to do the impossible."
He gestured toward me and a large golden bracer appeared on my arm. It
had a ruby set into the side of it that glowed faintly.
"That is the Tallus. It will enable me to communicate with you on any
world in the multi verse. it will also serve to enhance your
teleportation magic, Sailor Mercury. So that you can cross the gulf
between universes."
"I will tell you through the Tallus all you need to know about your
missions. I will send you to the first world now. Good luck."
Blinding light filed my eyes for a brief moment, and then I found
myself standing in Tokyo, near Tokyo Tower. The other Exiles stood
around me, with similar shell-shocked expressions on their faces.
"Let's find a place to crash for the night, folks. We can get
acquainted and get some food and rest."
"Who made you leader of us, buddy?" Spat Ranma. The redhead glared at
me until her stomache growled loudly. "Though I guess food sounds
good," she conceded.
Seeing no other dissenting opinions, I led the way into the Ginza,
looking for a cheap room and hoping our money would be good on this
world.
____________________________________
Elsewhere-
A computer shuts down and a dark figure leans back, satisfied with a
hard job done right. It looks over its shoulder at the rows and rows
of crystal coffins hanging from the ceiling.
"It's a pity so many of them will die. But blood is the price to make
up for our terrible error. Best that it not be ours."
____________________________________
End chapter 1
____________________________________
Full Disclaimer:
The Exiles concept is property of Marvel Comics. Lum & Ranma Saotome
are property of Rumiko Takahashi and VIZ. Keitaro Urashima and Negi
Springfield are propety of Kan Akamatsu. Rei Ayanami is property of
GAINAX. Saito Hajime is a real person, but the version I am using is
based on the fictionalized character from Studio Gallup's Ruroni
Kenshin. Kintaro Oe is property of Tatsuya Egawa. Ami Mizuno is
property of Naoko Takeuchi. Whew. that was a long disclaimer.
____________________________________
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