Yuri watched as the thing in the corridor bent low to enter the doorway to
the bridge; it had to be nearly three meters tall. As it passed the remains
of what used to be the door, it straightened up, allowing the duo to
witness its full height. Sure enough, it was the nearly three meters that
Yuri had guessed, with well over a meter and half across for its shoulders
and torso, a tattered purple cloak attached to its shoulders and reaching
halfway down its back. The thing had to weigh close to a ton, given its
huge size and girth. It was a humanoid, but definitely not human. It was
bipedal and had two arms and legs, both huge and powerful-looking enough to
rip apart six inches of tririteam alloy as though it were tissue paper. It
was colored blackish-green, with an almost metal-looking skin that appeared
hard and thick, even at the distance the thing stood from the duo. Rather
than a normal head and neck, the creature had something more along the
lines of a squat column that raised up from the top of its torso.
Strangely, the giant didn't exactly have a face, but rather a continuation
of the same course, mottled-looking skin that adorned its entire body. The
only noticeable feature of the area was that about where a face should have
been, there was a horizontal red slit approximately where eyes should have
been. There appeared to be no mouth, nose, or any other orifice where air
would have been taken in.

However, by far its most notable feature was its...hat, for lack of a
better term. It was a wide thing, perhaps two meters across and several
centimeters thick, a blunt, rounded edge all around and apparently made of
the same material as the rest of the skin. It made the giant creature look
like some sort of demented, walking mushroom. The weirdest thing of all
about the headpiece was a tiny, repulsive emblem that looked like a white
face embedded in the brim of it. The emblem stood out, calling attention to
it by the snowy color alone. Of all the things that should not have been a
part of the creature, that belonged least of all.

... The Dirty Pair meet Zeram?!?!  Now there's an ... interesting
idea.

Hmm, is it the anime Zeram (Zeiram) or the live-action one?  They were
both pretty good ...

"You're dead," Kei repeated louder, though not having heard a word Yuri
said.

 Yuri was left to stare at her friend in confusion. "Kei, what are y-"

This time Kei spoke louder, shouting at the creature. "It can't be! You're
dead! We killed you! Goddamnit, WE KILLED YOU!"

Okay.  Kei = Kei from the anime.  Not the live-action version, then.

Words poured from Kei's mouth as fiercely as the tears, "Oh, Iria. I've
missed you so much!"

Ahhhh.  Nice to see her again.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Yep,  It's a Dirty Pair/Iria: Zeiram, the Animation crossover. Hey, once I
remembered the redhaired, spunky, good with weapons, orphan sidekick of
Iria's that just happened to be named Kei, the crossover potential seemed
painfully obvious. Just needed a halfway decent story, desire, and time to
write it. The technology differential, especially in the transport systems
between the two series, will have to be addressed, but I think I got that
figured out. Zeiram's a bit dated, and I'm not sure how many people are
still familiar with it, but I found it to be an excellent action-oriented
series that will hopefully mix quite easily with the more popular Dirty
Pair, though I haven't seen very many fics devoted to them of late. Hard to
believe, given the good story potential there.

To be honest, I was never really keen on the Dirty Pair, and I probably
wouldn't have looked at this story if it wasn't by you.  Suffice it to
say, I'm very glad I did.  :)

The Dirty Pair versus the classic damn-near-indestructible thingumajig.
Should be an interesting ride ...

Oh, and I wouldn't say Zeriam's too dated.  The anime was only '94.

Cheers,
Angus