Ranma 1/2 and all of its characters and situations are
the creation and property of Rumiko Takahashi. I use
these characters and situations without permission.
Neon Genesis Evangelion and all of its characters and
situations are the creation and property of Hedeiki Anno
and Gainax. I use these characters and situations without
permission.
Slayers and all of its characters and situations are
the creation and property of Hajime Kanzaka, Rui Araizumi,
Kadokawa Shoten, TV TOKYO, SOFTX, and Marubeni. I use these
characters and situations without permission.
Final Fantasy 3, Final Fantasy 7 and Xenogears and all of
the characters and situations within are the property of
Squaresoft Inc. I use these characters and situations without
permission.
Any and all additional characters and situations are the
property of me. No permission is needed, however if you wish
to use any of the original characters and situations, feel
free to do so, just let me know beforehand.
Converging Fates
By Kyle Emmerson
Chapter Five: The Convergence
****
"Is this line encrypted?" the General asked, resting back
in his seat, talking into his cell.
"Yes sir," the voice on the other end stated.
"All right. I want a full update. Now."
"We've sent out unmarked soldiers into Cedar Grove to
search for the missing kids, so as not to alarm any
civilians."
"Good. Has the Doctor Sandhu made any progress on the
craft in San Fran?"
"Well, sir. That's another subject. It appears... the
craft has been retaken by the pilots."
The General remained silent for a moment. "You had better
be kidding, Lieutenant."
"No, sir. The report says they took several torso shots
from the guards before making it to the craft, where Doctor
Sandhu was at the time."
"Did you engage in pursuit?"
"Yes sir. We sent four Apache's after it, but..."
"Oh great. More good news. What now?"
"The speed of the craft overtook us. It got up to Cedar
grove within 30 seconds. Our choppers at the base there are
mobilizing now."
"Are you stupid? If the thing could run from our choppers
at THAT speed, you'll only be chasing it away again. No."
"Yes, sir."
"Did they injure anyone during the retaking of the
craft?"
"No, sir. They didn't hurt anyone. Though they didn't
have much of a chance to, if they wanted to."
"I think they may not be hostile. There were weapons on
the craft, correct?"
"None that would could identify, sir."
"Still, from what you describe, that craft may have
literally ripped our choppers in two before it had a chance
to return fire. They may not be hostile. Try to engage in
communications with it, but don't be demanding."
"Yes, sir. I'll give the stand down order."
"I'll be there in about an hour, Lieutenant. Keep things
running there."
"Yes, sir."
****
"And now, right here on 95.3, the Z-man gives you one of
his faves! I give you.... Skid Row!" the radio rang out.
James yawned as the beat began. It was just one of
those days. His morning had been filled with trips back and
forth from the hospital, to his home, to the base, which he
was still restricted from entering.
o/~ Whoa yeah! o/~
Now it was time to go home for the night. The sun would
set in an hour, and he could catch an early night.
o/~ Since I was born, they couldn't hold me down! o/~
Hmmm. That's kinda catchy.
o/~ Another misfit kid, another burned out town! o/~
James started to subconsciously move to the music, taking
a left and heading down the road. That road was the longest
part of the trip. Straight, long, and rather uninteresting.
o/~ I never played by the rules and I never really cared!
o/~
Things were happening so fast. First, the mishap at the
base, which caused Sarah's injuries, the cause of most of the
stress. The doctors had said Sarah would be out of the
hospital, most likely, the next morning, barring any
complications.
o/~ My nasty reputation takes me everywhere! o/~
He wished to God that Sarah would finally break down and
tell him what was going on at the base. It wasn't as it he
wouldn't be able to tell what she was talking about. And he
wouldn't tell anyone else.
o/~ I look and see, o/~
But then, even as a University Graduate in the field of
Biology, James was a journalist by trade. He held a masters
degree in biology, specifying in xenobiology, a field that
often got him laughs. But it was the only thing that
interested him.
o/~ It's not only me... o/~
While biology was his interest, journalism was his trade.
He enjoyed the written word. To tell people a story, fiction
or reality just brought him joy. The feeling he would get
after having something published. To have it work known. It
was a drug. His drug.
And so he had gone on to publish several articles in a
few newspapers in San Francisco and Los Angeles, as well as a
small story in a Sacremento magazine. Then had come his
crowning achievement. His first book.
o/~ We're standin' tall, ain't never a doubt... o/~
It didn't quite meet his expectations once he it got
published. Didn't make the bestseller list. Picked up by a
cheesy Science Fiction paperback company, about a lonely
xenobiologist and an alien virus on the ISS, which wasn't due
for completion for a few more years.
Still, he made some money off of the book, and it got his
name recognized in some circles. But usually only science
fiction and anime fans. Still, it was better than not being
known at all.
o/~ We are the young, shout it out! o/~
James yawned as he pulled through the halfway point of
the long stretch of road. The scenery was still as
uninteresting as could possibly be. A tree here, a street sign
there. A fire hydrant, several small, mostly uninhabited
buildings. A group of youths blocking the road.
o/~ They call us problem child... o/~
James pushed the brakes as fast as he could, but
apparently not fast enough. He was going to hit one of them.
o/~ We spend our lives on trial... o/~
James took another look before shutting his eyes. Oh god,
he was going to hit a cop!
o/~ We walk an endless mile... o/~
Finally, he heard the thump, and the car came to a stop.
Great. He was going to be arrested now. He killed a cop. He
had RUN OVER a cop!
o/~ We are the youth gone wild! o/~
"BAKAYAROU!" he heard.
o/~ We stand and we won't fall... o/~
James was confused. That was Japanese. He was sure of
it... But... It came from... the hood of his car?
o/~ We're one and one for all... o/~
James opened one eye to see the cop standing on the hood
of his car, shaking his fist at James. The cop was Asian,
but.. He only looked like he was in his teens.
o/~ The writing's on the wall... o/~
As James rubbed his eyes, he noticed the others. A guy
that seemed to be in his early twenties, wearing the
strangest ensemble he'd ever seen, and... more importantly,
wearing a big ass sword on his back.
Another guy, around the same age, with spiked hair,
wearing some sort of weird grappling claw on his hand. But
boy, he looked buff.
Yet another man, wearing a bandanna carrying a small
dagger at his side.
And then the girl. Dressed in white, except for a pale
green spandex-like material she wore underneath, and again...
carrying a sword.
o/~ We are the youth gone wild! o/~
That was it. James had fallen asleep at the wheel and he
was dreaming. Maybe it was an idea for his next book?
o/~ Boss screamin' in my ear, about who I'm supposed to
b-- *click* o/~
If he was dreaming, he didn't want to be interrupted. He
ignored the various yells from outside and escaped into his
own mind for a moment.
"Ranma! Daijobu na?"
Wait. If he WAS dreaming, it was vivid enough for it to
be an REM dream, which meant he had to have been asleep for a
few hours. He didn't know he was THAT tired.
"Hai, hai. Nokoru wakarimashita, Akane?"
But he was still in his car... wasn't he?
"H...hai."
Was he dead?
What he saw next only served to make James even MORE
confused.
****
"Ranma! Are you okay?" Akane yelled from the side of the
road.
Ranma checked himself over. "I'm fine, I'm fine. Just
stay over there, okay?"
"A... Allright."
"So, where are they? They're supposed to be getting
close, right?"
"Ranma," Cloud said, gasping. "Is... that what we're
looking for?"
Ranma looked to where Cloud was pointing, which was to
say, straight up.
Now it was Ranma's turn to gasp. "What the hell is that?"
****
"There," Lina said, pointing to the ground. "Those
people. That's where this is coming from."
Zelgadis narrowed his eyes. "They're armed."
"But they also might have an idea what's happened to us.
If we have any problems, I'll just whack them with a Dragon
Slave."
Zelgadis sighed. "Lina, not everything has to be solved
that way."
"Yeah, he's right!" Gourry said from below. "Can we land
now?"
Lina nodded. "I guess we should."
And so, they descended to the ground. Gourry was the
first to make landfall, all the while keeping eye contact
with the people before them. One of the vehicles Zelgadis had
displayed so much interest in earlier was behind them, while
one of them stood atop in, and another inside.
Gourry was the first to notice the others, mostly huddled
by the side of the road, under a tree. He recognized them
instantly as non-combatants, while he suspected one of two of
them were quite easily capable of fighting.
"Friend or foe?" one of the others said. A tall man with
a rather outrageous hair style and a large sword strapped to
his back that outweighed, and probably outperformed Gourry's
own sword, when it wasn't in light mode.
Lina was somewhat surprised that they could speak her own
language. They were the first people the three of them had
come across that could speak it.
"That depends on you," Lina replied, keeping her eyes
narrowed.
"I think what he means," the one on the top of the
vehicle started to say as he jumped off. "Do you have any
plans to attack us? Because if you do, you'll find we're more
than a match for you."
Lina scoffed. "As if you could stop us if we wanted to
attack you."
"Lina," Zelgadis began. "That's not wise. We don't yet
know what these people are capable of, and we ARE
outnumbered."
"Yeah," the cocky one said. "Listen to that rock guy."
Zelgadis narrowed his eyes. "Don't call me that."
"Ranma," the spiky haired one began. "I don't think--"
"The question remains... Do you want to attack us?" the
woman asked.
"You first," Lina replied.
"We mean you no harm," the one with the bandanna said.
"But we are prepared to defend ourselves."
"As are we," Zelgadis replied.
Suddenly, they were distracted by a frantic yelling from
nearby, not only from in the vehicle, but by the people by
the tree.
****
"What do you think?" Asuka asked.
"Think of what?" Akane replied.
"The tall one with the sword. He's cute, isn't he?"
"You know," Akane began. "They could be in danger from
those people."
Asuka shook her head. "Why would two cute guys and some
flat-chested girl try to hurt them? Heck, even if they COULD
fly... Besides, aren't bad guys supposed to wear black robes
and stuff?"
Terra laughed. "Not where I'm from. The person we spent
years fighting wore colours. A lot of them."
"But still," Tifa said. "They don't look menacing."
"Hey, you guys?" Shinji began.
"What is it?"
"I know it's not an Eva, but I'm pretty sure they didn't
have anything resembling them at this point in history, right
Asuka?"
Asuka shook her head. "No, the first thing that even
resembles an Eva was an old American Military project to try
and develop a mech, based on the Eva units. But that was
developed in 2006, and then scrapped soon after a major
malfunction."
"Well," Shinji said, pointing upwards. "Tell me what THAT
is, then."
****
Weird.
That's all James could think. It was weird. First, these
three people float down from the air as if they were human
helicopters, and even then, he suspected one of them wasn't
human.
Secondly, the lot of them started spouting words back and
forth, in Japanese.
That was weird enough as it was, but what he saw next, a
fourth... object coming down to land, was what REALLY
bothered him.
It was, quite literally, a giant robot. Trimmed with
white and blue colourations, a sort of cockpit, where he
could see the distinct forms of three people, and... Wings?
He couldn't explain it. He didn't know if he wanted to
explain it.
So he didn't. He just kept sitting there, and watched.
****
"Doesn't that strike you as strange?" Fei said, pointing
towards the flying people.
Elly nodded, then looked towards the doctor. "Can you
fly?" she asked.
Doctor Sandhu merely shook his head. "As far as I know,
no human being on this earth can fly."
"Fei?"
"Yeah?"
"I think they might know something about how we got here.
It's just... a feeling."
"Should we land?"
"I think so."
****
Ranma's jaw dropped open. He'd seen plenty of giant robot
anime, in fact, he'd seen tones of it.
But never in his lifetime, had he ever expected to see a
real mech.
And least of all did he expect it to land so close to
him.
Everyone spun around to watch the object land, including
the three strangers, who had seemed to even forget they were
there, just to watch it land.
As it got closer to the ground, the wind started to blow
through everything. Picking up a thin layer of dirt from the
road and sending it in every possible direction. Blowing wind
through the nearby trees, and even smashing the windows of a
nearby building.
A moment later, faces appeared in those same windows.
Finally, as the object landed, and the wind died down,
Ranma could get a clear view of the belly of the beast.
The cockpit. There were three people inside, looking just
as amazed as everyone on the ground.
****
"Let's see," James said to himself, holding his hand up.
"Explosion at the lab, Sarah hurt. That's point one," he
checked one finger.
"Second point, lab assistance talks about a feedback
loop, and that there were others," he said as he checked
another finger.
"Point three, I nearly crash into some extremely weird
characters. A teenage, Japanese cop, a weird looking guy
with a big ass sword, and several others." Three fingers.
"Point four, three people float down from the sky and
start talking Japanese. One of which doesn't even seem
human." Four.
"And to complete the hand, a giant robot just landed
twenty feet away from me," he said.
"Not to mention you're talking to yourself... James, you
ARE going crazy," he said, just before checking his back seat
for five inch tall people and gremlins.
****
"What now?" Fei asked. "We've landed."
Doctor Sandhu strained his eyes. "It's easy to say
they're not locals. But they seem more surprised than
hostile."
Elly nodded. "I say we talk with them."
"I'm inclined to agree, my dear," the doctor said.
"God, he reminds me of Citan."
Elly just laughed.
"Okay," Fei said. "Here goes."
****
"What the hell is this?" Lina asked, obviously in awe.
"I've never seen... or even imagined anything like it!"
Zelgadis said.
"It's a giant!" Gourry exclaimed.
The last comment was accentuated with a whack to the back
of the head by Lina. "How many giants have you seen with a
window for a belly, and three people looking out?"
Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by an escape
of steam, and the belly opening up to allow the people inside
to get out.
****
"What do you make of this?" Cloud asked.
"What the hell am I supposed to make of this? It's a...
thing!" Sabin exclaimed.
"It's a mech. A giant robot."
Cloud nodded. "I could figure that much. We've got things
like this on my world... but not THAT big..."
Locke nodded his agreement. "Our world too. The empire
had some giant robots, but never this big, or even human
formed..."
As the cockpit opened, the five of them remained silent.
"Wait for them to talk," Cloud said.
****
"I think they're waiting for us to speak," Elly said.
Fei nodded. "What should we say?"
"Might I suggest 'Hello', lad?"
"Umm... Hello!"
****
"English," Cloud said. "He's speaking English."
"Can't he speak Japanese?" Ranma asked, obviously
frustrated.
"Don't know. What should we say?"
"Well, how about 'Hello'?"
Cloud cleared his throat before replying.
****
"Hello!" one of the other called back. "Nice... uhh...
robot!"
Fei smirked. "They're friendly," he said to Elly.
"Thanks!" he replied to the people.
****
"Nice robot?" Locke laughed. "You couldn't think of
anything better to say?"
"Well, what would you have me say?" Cloud retorted.
Locke thought for a second. "Actually, that's probably
what I would have said, too."
"Well, they seem friendly enough," Cloud said. "And I
don't think those three are here to cause trouble. I think
they've got the same problem as us."
"Pulled out of their own world and dropped here?" Ranma
asked.
Cloud nodded.
"Good God, how many more are there gonna be?"
****
"Sir, it's dropped off of radar," the radar technician
said.
"Did it leave again?" Lieutenant Klein asked.
"No, sir. More than likely, it's landed."
"How far away?"
The technician looked up. "Not far, sir. Two, three
clicks at most. We can reach it in the hummers."
The Lieutenant looked up. "General Leonard says to make
contact in as friendly a manner as possible... But that thing
by itself could take out entire legions of tanks... I'm not
taking any chances. Send an armed convoy," he said, sighing.
"Order them to fire if they portray any type of hostility."
"Yes sir."
The order was given, and an armed convoy of seven humvee's
left the base within minutes.
****
It was small. He could see from the various memories he
had taken that it was a small town.
But what he was looking for was not small by any stretch
of the imagination. What he sought, was the one thing that
had been able to hurt him.
His revenge for the pain inflicted upon his shell could
wait. He would get them eventually.
But the one who had hurt him. Who had damaged him beyond
the point of damage. The stone one.
The one who had said two words that held no meaning for
any of his shells as of yet.
The two words. Rah Tilt.
And they were nearby. The base. He would be there in ten
minutes. A mere ten minutes, and he would destroy all life
within the base, then the town. One by one, he would consume
the inhabitants of this world.
Starting with the sentients. The best taste came from
sentients.
Soon. So very, very soon.
****
"He's getting closer. We've got to move," Terra said,
with a frightened edge to her voice.
"Cloud!" Tifa called. "Terra says he's getting closer!"
Cloud glanced over and nodded. Turning back, he told the
others.
****
"What's going on?"
"They... I think they're speaking Solarian, Fei," Elly
said.
"Solarian? Are you sure?"
Elly nodded. "I'm sure of it."
"I can understand it," Fei replied.
"Solarian?" Doctor Sandhu asked.
"They're saying that something dangerous is coming, and
that we should all try and get away from here as fast as
possible."
****
"Do you think they're talking about that thing we met
back on the road?" Lina asked.
Zelgadis nodded. "It has to be. It would make sense."
"Do you think we should get moving, then?" Lina asked.
"It would seem the best course of action."
"Hey, guys?" Gourry began. "What's that?"
Lina and Zelgadis looked towards where Gourry was pointing
and gasped.
****
"What the hell is this? Another protest?" Lieutenant Klein
asked.
"It appears that way, sir. Although I'd assume it was more
of a gathering because of the craft. We might have a bit of
trouble keeping this out of the news, sir," the driver stated.
"Screw that. I want these people arrested. All of them."
"Sir, that would be in violation of their constitutional
righ--"
"Are you questioning my orders? Need I remind you that
General Leonard himself left me in charge? This is a matter of
national security. I want them all arrested."
"Yes, sir. I'll relay the order," the driver sighed.
****
"Oh, what now?" Ranma cursed, turning around to see the
convoy approach.
"I don't think... I don't think it's that thing... It's..."
Cloud strained his eyes. "Something else."
Celes' eyes widened as they got closer. "Are they going to
stop?"
"Military," Ranma said. "They're the military."
"Are they here to help?" Locke asked.
Ranma shook his head. "I'd say they're here because of the
mech. They have to be, and from what I hear about the military
and aliens, they aren't going to be too friendly."
"We aren't aliens, though."
Ranma nodded. "Either way, we're either going to end up
shot, or arrested... If you ask me, I say we should let
ourselves get arrested."
Cloud nodded. "Yes, the security at the base might be
enough to keep the nameless one out long enough for us to get
home."
"Err," Ranma began. "Yeah. That'll work, too."
****
"Sir, I don't think these people are mere civilians," the
driver stated.
"What?"
"Look at them. What civilians do you know of that wear
clothes like that, or even swords for that matter."
Lieutenant Klein narrowed his eyes. With a quick count,
there were fourteen of them. With perhaps more in the car. Five
on the side of the road, nine in the middle of it.
"I want those five secured first. They appear to be the
non-combatants. If the ones in the road resist, point the gun
at those five. They'll have to give up. I want everyone to keep
their heads up, they may be armed with other types of
weaponry."
****
"What should we do? They're after us again," Elly said.
Fei shook his head. "If we leave, these people might be in
danger. I don't want to risk that."
"I don't think they'll shoot," Doctor Sandhu said.
"Won't they?" Fei retorted. "All we wanted is to get our
gear back, and they shot at us. They took possession of
something that wasn't theirs, and we took it back, and THAT
warranted them trying to kill us."
Doctor Sandhu sighed. "They thought you were a hostile
alien force. They thought you might have tried to kill them."
"They THOUGHT that this gear was their property."
"I'll tell them not to fire. They have to listen to me," he
said.
Fei sighed. "Fine, tell them, then."
****
It didn't take long for the convoy to arrive. The first
humvee parked mere meters away from Tifa, Akane, Terra, Shinji
and Asuka, as the inhabitants piled out and held the five of
them at gunpoint.
"Wait!" Ranma called. "Don't shoot!"
There was another clutter of movement as more soldiers
piled out and held the four people by the car at gunpoint.
James watched wide-eyed from the car as someone pointed the
dangerous end of an AK-47 at him.
Lina, Gourry and Zelgadis on the other hand, felt the
definite threat, but just stared in confusion at the choice of
weaponry.
"What are they going to do? Poke us to death?" Lina asked,
obviously steaming.
"Lina, I think--"
"I think these people need a taste of WHO exactly I am!"
"Lina, I wouldn't suggest--"
Celes batted a curious eye towards Lina.
"Darkness beyond Twilight," Lina began.
"Oh, dear," Gourry said.
****
"Crimson beyond Blood that flows," the red-haired girl
continued.
Celes narrowed her eyes. It was rare to see it, but she
could definitely see what was happening. The girl was casting
an incantation.
****
"Idai na nanji no na ni oite ware, koko ni yami ni
chikawan," the girl continued.
"What the hell is she doing?" Klein asked.
"Well, my knowledge of Japanese is rather limited, sir...
But from the sounds of it, she's praying to some sort of dark
god."
Klein narrowed his eyes. "Great," he said. "Satanists."
****
"Let the fools that stand before us be destroyed by the
power you and I possess!"
"Why," Fei began. "Do I NOT like the sound of that?"
****
"DRAGON SLAVE!"
"This isn't good," Gourry said. "TAKE COVER!"
****
Celes had little choice. She rose her sword into the air
and expanded her aura as much as she could.
"Put down your weapon!" One of the soldiers shouted at her.
"I can't!"
"Put it down, or we will OPEN FIRE!" Another soldier said.
"You idiots! She saving your bloody life!" Sabin yelled at
them.
"Stay there. Don't move, or you'll be shot too!"
Sabin growled. "Celes, keep it up!"
****
"What the hell?" Lieutenant Klein swore. "Is she crazy?
Doesn't she know that we'll kill her?"
"Sir?"
"What?"
"Look," the driver pointed.
Klein's jaw dropped open. What he saw defied belief. A
strange fog was emanating from the red-haired girl, and was
actually collecting within the blonde's sword.
Fog wasn't the right word. It seemed... REALITY itself was
moving around, and collecting into her sword.
"What the hell....?"
****
Lina stared in disbelief. It didn't work? How could it not
work?
Then she saw it. The girl. One of the others. Her SWORD was
attracting the Dragon Slave.
Lina narrowed her eyes. Didn't she know how much effort it
took to cast that spell? It wasn't right!
"Lina," Zelgadis began. "I think we should just go with
them. If the need arises, we can escape easily. For now, let's
go before anyone gets hurt."
Lina ground her teeth.
****
Celes finally lowered her sword, out of breathe. The looks
of astonishment on the soldiers faces was reward enough. But
they had to move. NOW.
"Are you going to arrest us, or what?"
****
There it is. Chapter Five.
That was quick, was it not? ^_^
As for the use of Japanese, I don't know if I pulled it off
correctly, so I'm hoping someone will tell me if I did or
didn't. ^_^
As always, C&C is appreciated. ^_^