I originally released this a few months back, inspired by a the trickle of
Guyver fanfiction and Adam Brown's One War, Three Sisters bit. It had
stalled, and I had begun work on other projects. Last week, I was looking
through RAAC, and found one of my favorite fanfics. Mark MacKinnon's The
Shadow Chronicles. After reading that monster again (the Sailor Moon parts
in the recent volume make more sense now that I've started watching SM), I
thought of this one and decided to take another whack at it. It's a lot
longer than I had planned, but I hope you all like it.
Feedback, C&C, and other goodies are more than welcome and are
appreciated.
============================================
Ranma 1/2
Bio Booster Armor Guyver
X-Day
============================================
One hour from now, another species of life form will disappear off
the face of the planet...
Forever...
And the rate is accellerating...
Megadeth -- Countdown To Extinction
============================================
Alkanphel surveyed the devastation around what was once Mount
Minakami, the flaming ruins of the Iseki lying beneath his feet. The First
One smiled, a sight not for the faint of heart, and his laugh echoed
throughout the vast forest that surrounded the artificial mountain that once
served as the seat of power in Kronos, Japan.
"Lord?"
Alkanphel turned to gaze upon his remaining ten Zoalords, the
traitor Gyro having met an appropriate end. One of them held the dying form
of Masaki Murakami, the prototype for Gyro's Zoalord form, against his
chitinous chest.
"Your orders?" asked another.
"Halmical, come forward."
"Yes, lord?"
"You have served me well over the centuries. I hereby place you in
command of all Kronos operations in light of former commander Gyro's betrayal."
"Thank you, my lord!" Balcus bowed deeply, joy evident in his mixed
voice.
"First, you shall take this Murakami and complete the process of
adjustment. He shall become the twelfth Zoalord and sit at my left hand."
Alkanphel saw Balcus nod, knowing that the latter had understood his
unspoken explanation.
"And then?"
"The time has come," he said to all present. He felt the immense joy
from each Zoalord warm his telepathic receptors, the sensation spreading
through him as well. "We have waited long enough!
"It is time for Kronos to reveal itself, and for mankind to know his
true masters!
"My children... X-Day has come!"
Their shouts of joy threatened to rend the heavens, daggers of fear
stabbing through the hearts of the five fugitives desperately making their
escape far below...
==============================================
Washington, D.C.
United States of America
"Mr. President!"
He awoke at the urgent shout, faintly annoyed at the Secret Service
agent standing over his bed. Peter Duncan's bleary eyes fixed on the stern,
somewhat worried face of Agent Price as he struggled from the depths of sleep.
"Wha... is it?" he asked around a yawn.
"Sir, you're needed in the Situation Room. Secretary Houseman needs
to see you."
"What?" Price's blunt words shook him fully awake. The President of
the United States rose from beneath the covers, reaching for the robe
another agent in black held ready for him. There was no corridor between the
White House and the West Wing, but he would not need a coat. The nights were
still warm from summer's passing.
President Duncan's stomach was beginning to constrict into a tight
ball of dread. SecDef Houseman had never, not once, called him up at three
in the bloody morning.
What could it be? he thought as his entourage escorted him through
the halls and past portraits of former presidents and first ladies. So far
as he knew, the threat board was clear. The usual hot spots around the globe
were still below the boiling point. Then why...
Oh, Jesus.
Duncan nearly came up short when a hand on his shoulder kept him
moving. This was bad. Very, very bad.
President Peter Duncan took his seat at the head of the long table
in the West Wing's Situation Room, the eyes of the Secretary of Defense and
the Secretary of State falling on him. He read both gazes, seeing fear and
anxiety mirrored in them.
This was worse than he had thought. Jim Houseman, who sat at his
right, handed over a stapled manilla evelope on which were printed two words
that nearly made Duncan short of breath.
Kronos Protocols.
"Sweet God..." he muttered, suddenly feeling a thousand years old.
"When?"
"We got confirmation just an hour ago," Houseman replied in a sombre
tone. "We can expect the first attacks within seven hours at the absolute
latest."
"And how the hell did we not see this coming?!" he shouted.
"Kronos has stepped up its timetable due to the recent events in
Japan. They were apparently more severe than we had first believed."
"Sir," the Secretary of State spoke up. "We're not ready. SANDALWOOD
is barely up and running. Our enhanced forces are not even full manned, much
less in place. There isn't a chance in hell of fighting Kronos off."
SANDALWOOD, Duncan thought. Their supposed ace-in-the-hole against
the Zoanoids had only just been finished and was sparsely staffed and equipped.
"Mr. President," Jim said. "We need to go to DEFCON-1."
"Do it." As if that would do a whole lot of good, he thought
ruefully. "Initiate stage one of the Kronos Protocols."
"What about CockedPistol?" asked SecState.
"What about it?!" Duncan shouted angirly. "I will NOT nuke
Americans! We want to save them, not murder them!"
CockedPistol, also known as SnapCount, was the state of DEFCON-1
that related to nuclear weapons. All covers were off the silos, both keys
were turned, and both codes inputted. One twitch, and mushroom clouds sprung
up all over.
"Air Force One is standing by, Mr. President," Houseman said. "All
the Joint Chiefs are being gathered and evacuated to SANDALWOOD."
"What about my wife?"
"She's already en route. Sir, we have to leave. Now."
President Duncan rose from his chair to follow the two secretaries
out of the Situation Room. It had finally happened, and far too soon.
America wasn't ready, and the Kronos Protocols wouldn't do a damn bit of
good. In that moment, he realized anew just how much an illusion safety
really was.
God help us all.
=================================================
Province of Nekonlon
People's Republic of China
They came charging through the mists generated by the myraid geysers
that dotted the otherwise barren landscape of Nekonlon, China - misshapen
mockeries of creation that roared their vengeance over the sounds of battle.
Kirin, Prince of Nekonlon and master of the School of the Seven
Lucky Gods, had tasted defeat but once in his life.
The taste this time was more bitter by far.
The furious wailing of the strange monsters still echoed behind him
as he carried his wife, Lai Chi, to the waiting airship. Her unconscious
form was slumped over his shoulder, the occaisional low moan all the sound
from her lips.
"Hang on, Lai," he muttered as he leapt clear of a small crater that
was once a geyser. "We will survive, and they shall pay."
The attack had come at dawn, hundreds upon hundreds of monsters
overwhelming Nekonlon's border guards. Man and monster had engaged in
furious combat with the rising of the sun as tooth and claw clashed in its
light.
The other masters of the school had fought bravely; Monmon,
Bishamoten, Ebitan, Muu, Daikoksei and Daihoksei each fighting alongside the
remaining guard force against the coming invaders.
The battle had been fierce, each side suffering heavy casualties as
the fighting escalated. Then the reinforcements came.
Several monsters, their black chitinous bodies lending them the
appearance of upright stag beetles, had dealt his forces the first major
blow. The fleshy spots of their armor had opened to reveal arrays of
gelatinous lenses that hummed with incredible power in tune with the
enormous jewels between their horns seconds before the blasts hit.
Beams of searing ruby light had cut through Kirin's forces as a
scythe culls the chaff from the wheat. Monmon had been caught in the first
volley, her skin catching aflame before her body vaporized.
Kirin violently slammed shut the door on those memories, returning
his focus to the waiting ship. His forces were destroyed to the man, not a
soul left in Nekonlon to put up any resistance to those foul creatures.
He had wanted to fight to the end, to spend his life in defiance of
those horrid mutations, yet the final words of Ebitan had convinced him
otherwise.
("Master... Kirin..." he had gasped, bleeding from a hundred wounds,
"You must... flee..."
"No! Ebitan, Kirin shall not abandon his land, nor his people!"
"Master... you..."
"Ebitan!" Kirin could see the light fading in the diminutive
warrior's eyes, flowing with the river of red from his body.
"As long as you live, so shall our school, and our home," Ebitan
said. "Go..." And then he was gone. Gone, like all the rest.)
Kirin leapt down into the dormant geyser, bracing his legs for the
impact with the deck of his airship. He and Lai Chi would leave at
nightfall, but where would they go?
==========================================
Xinian Province, Bayankala Mountain Range.
Joketsuzoku village.
People's Republic of China
"Fall back to defensive positions!"
Lei Wing Fa shouted the order over the din of combat, the warriors
of Joketsuzoku moving back as ordered. All around her came the screams and
howls of the creatures which had attacked at dawn, explosions ripping
through the spartan huts of the village as every able bodied fighter - man
and woman - took arms against the invaders.
What are these things? Lei thought as she reinforced the protective
barrier around the village council chambers which held those wounded from
combat. She had met her fair share of demons and monsters in her time, but
none of them matched what was trying to cut them to ribbons now.
Huts all around her were burning, black smoke spewing skyward with
the screams of the dying. Never had she seen such carnage...
Several angry red bursts slammed into the shield generated by her
and the first group of the twelve elders. Lei felt the heat of the unnatural
blasts bake her skin and threaten to collapse the barrier. They could not
keep this up forever, the monsters were pushing her warriors back from every
direction.
We're finished, she thought. We can't hold out here much longer. She
was faced with the possibility of having to retreat, marshalling the
remaining Joketsuzoku and running.
The thought galled her to no end. To think that a Joketsuzoku would run!
Her wizened eyes spotted one of the creatures bearing down on the
barrier. Its skin was dark green, mountains of muscle stretching the scaled
tissue taut. The enormous monster had no real neck, its mouth merely twin
rows of razor sharp teeth. Above its yellow eyes was a lone horn, with lines
of smaller spikes jutting out behind on both sides.
Two of her warriors attacked from each side, catching the behemoth
off guard as one plunged her blade into its chest. The creature howled in
agony and rage as the second bashed its face with a makeshift club.
Lei had never seen anything move quite so fast, its right arm
lashing out and catching one of the fighters in the head with a
boulder-sized fist. She flew backward like a limp doll to land in a heap on
the ground, her chest still. The other soon shared the same fate. It roared
its defiance as it tore the blade from its chest until a blast from behind
silenced it for eternity.
Lei saw another of the elders, Xi Feng, charging up the narrow
street toward the barrier, twenty warriors behind her. Their armor was
dented and rent, blood and sundry other fluids coating their ruined outfits.
"Lei!" she shouted as she neared the barrier.
"How bad?!"
"They keep on coming!" Xi shouted in reply. "We are being overwhelmed!"
Lei felt her heart sink at the news. It definitely would not be
long, now. There was only one choice and, much as she hated to, she had to
take it.
"Xi Feng! gather the remaining forces! I shall prepare the wounded.
"We are retreating..."
"NO!" Xi Feng screamed in protest. "We will fight to the last! We..."
"DO IT!" Lei roared. "Sacrificing our people to win this battle is
not a victory!"
"But..."
"Nor is sacrificing the battle to save our people a defeat!"
Xi Feng glowered at Lei for a brief moment before turning to execute
her orders.
Phoenix Mountain, Lei thought as another volley of blasts rocked the
failing barrier. It is our only chance.
=======================================
Tokyo
Nerima Ward
Japan
Ukyo picked herself up off the floor, blood running freely from the
gash in her forehead. It clouded her vision as pain throbbed in every fiber
of her being. She was hurt, maybe seriously, but not fatally. Not yet.
The insane laughter made her look up at her attacker, a hulking
monstrosity that seemed to have no skin. Bare muscle tissue bulged in the
open air, the red eyes from its skull-like face boring into her like
gunsights. Ukyo froze for a moment, blind panic threatening to overtake her
as she rose to her feet.
It's playing with me, she thought as she searched for her spatula.
She found it off to the side, broken. Useless.
"I might not kill you," it said in an alien voice, lust clear in its
tones. "I might want to have a little fun with you for awhile."
Ukyo felt the gorge rise in her throat, fighting it down with an
effort. There was no way, no WAY, she was going to submit. She would not
scream, either. She wouldn't give it the satisfaction.
"Come'n get me, you ugly freak," she snarled, a plan already
forming. It wasn't much, but she hoped it would give her time to get away.
Whatever it was, it had treated her attacks like a joke. She had one last
gambit left.
"Think I will." It took a step forward, its hideously long tongue
hanging down from between rows of obsidian teeth. Ukyo had to struggle to
keep from collapsing from the obscene sight.
She reached behind her back, fingers closing around the paper sack.
It wasn't much, but it was her last chance. Ukyo let it draw closer, clawed
hands reaching for her. It nearly reached her when she attacked.
The flour bomb landed dead on in the monster's face, a cloud of
white filling the air with its surprised roar. Ukyo wasted no time, turning
to run out the rear exit and hoping that no other creatures were out there
waiting.
She neared the door when the sound of something smashing hammered
her ears. And then came the roar as a solid wall of heat and air rammed into
her back and pushed her the rest of the way through the door. Ukyo rebounded
off the wall, nearly blacking out once she hit the pavement.
She felt the heat on her skin, baking it through the material of her
outfit. Ukyo forced her eyes open, forced herself to see the flames licking
at the outside of the door she had vacated only seconds before.
It was gone. Her restaurant, her home, was gone. Destroyed by some
nightmare creature intent on having its way with her. At least, she thought
ruefully, the bastard went with my place.
Ukyo crawled a few meters before regaining her feet. Blood continued
to ooze from her forehead. She tore a strip of fabric from her top, wrapping
it tight over the wound. Every breath hurt, bringing sharp and shooting
pains up and down her left side.
As she made for the end of the alley, more sounds began to make
themselves clear. The staccatto reports of gunfire. Shouts and screams of
terrified people running for their very lives from creatures from beyond any
nightmare. The air raid sirens that wailed their message that Japan was now
screwed. Above it all were the howls of demons whose hour had finally come.
It was as if hell had come to earth.
She forced all fear from her mind, all thoughts of anything save
one. Ranma. She had to find Ranma.
Ukyo turned and ran toward the other end of the alley. She wouldn't
stick to the streets, not where everyone was running in animalistic terror.
Of course, the alleys probably weren't any safer.
Terror coursed through her veins like cold fire, granting her legs
the strength to propell her forward. Her lungs burned, her ribs screamed,
and her mind kept imagining shifting forms in the dark shadows that
surrounded her.
Ukyo ducked through one alley after another, the sounds of chaos
assaulting her ears from all directions. Ranma, she thought. Ranma is okay.
He's probably trying to find me right now...
She would never know what had made her look up at that time. She saw
it there, plunging toward the pavement to block her path to the light. Ukyo
drew up short as it hit and her legs went numb.
Some of the tissue was charred, the stink of burnt flesh coming off
of it in waves. Its skull head was blackened on one side, the left eye gone
from its gaping socket. Ukyo nearly felt sick at the sight as its other eye
glared at her hatefully.
"Shouldn'tve tried that, bitch," it growled. "Now I'm gonna have to
punish you."
"GO TO HELL!" Ukyo screamed, groping for the last of her throwing
spats. Cold terror was replaced with white hot rage at the abomination
before her as she prepared a volley of lethal darts.
"YOU FIRST!" She never saw it move, the impact to her chest sending
her sprawling back onto the floor of the alley. Bright spots of color danced
in her vision as her chest burned for the air that had been violently forced
from her lungs.
No, she thought. It can't end this way. I won't let it end this...
Oh, shit!
Its horrid visage consumed her vision, tongue lolling from between
jagged teeth. The demon's maw stretched open as it towered over her. Ukyo
could feel its fetid breath wash over her again and again as she fought
desperately to rise once more.
For a brief second, Ukyo could have sworn she saw a flash of light
streak down the creature's center. She blinked, and blood spurted from the
path it had taken a split-second before the demon fell in half...
Revealing something even more terrifying behind it.
Its form was male, chitinous armor black as night covering most of
the orange fibrous material beneath. The silver orb at its waist glinted
dully in the light that managed to fall into the alley. Twin sets of long,
gracefully curving blades extended from its forearms, all four humming with
restrained power.
Her gaze fell on its face, where two tiny balls rested between
expressionless white eyes and downward jutting spikes. A tiny emerald rested
in a niche above a faintly glowing medallion in the forehead, just below a
backward curving fin. Identical rows of spikes lined the sides of its head
just above two more medallions which were nestled in more of the orange
matter beneath the dark covering.
For a moment, Ukyo wondered if she should be more afraid of the
newcomer than the monster it had just bisected.
It took a step toward her as Ukyo backed away. Her eyes frantically
searched for her remaining shuriken, knowing they wouldn't do any good but
not willing to die without a fight. Jets of gas escaped from around the
spikes on its face as it extended a hand toward her, palm up. And then it
spoke in a vaguely mechanical voice.
"Come with me if you want to live."
"Huh?" Ukyo was stunned. She stopped searching for her weapons as
she stared into its face.
"I will not harm you, Ukyo Kuonji."
"How... how do you know my name?!" If she had been stunned before,
she was outright shocked now.
"Never mind that," it hissed, irritation evident in its voice. "We
have to leave, now!"
"Not without Ranma!"
"Don't worry about him, he's safe. For now."
"And..." Ukyo's next question was cut short when the mouth of the
alley suddenly darkened, blocked by several hulking monsters.
"No more time for discussions!" the armored figure shouted as it
scooped Ukyo up in its arms.
"Hey! Put me... WHOA!"
The leap carried them far above the tops of the buildings, far
higher than she herself could jump. As she saw the monsters shrinking below,
she realized that she'd never seen anyone leap this high.
And they weren't coming down.
"Climb on my back," it said as it shuffled her about. Ukyo managed
to get a good hold, legs and arms wrapped around the black armor. It was
warm to the touch, almost... alive.
"Who? WHAT are you?"
"I'll explain later!"
She had been told to never look down from high places, yet Ukyo
found herself doing just that. Emotions railed within her, mixtures of fear,
anger, and pure horror beating against her mind and body in a tide of disbelief.
They were everywhere. Demons of all descriptions rampaged through
the streets of the once relatively quiet ward of Nerima. Buildings burned
like giant torches, sending clouds of acrid smoke billowing skyward. People
ran in every direction, only to meet death at the hands of the creatures.
The screams reached even her height as she beheld a scene that could have
given Bosch nightmares.
She spotted the Nekohanten, home to one of her worst rivals for
Ranma's heart, rapidly succumbing to fire and she felt a twinge of regret.
"Hold on," her strange savior said as their forward momentum stopped.
"No problems there." She saw it cup its hands together and watched
in awe as a sphere of crackling black energy formed in the space between them.
=========================================
The smoke seared Shampoo's lungs and eyes as she held the ichor
stained blade ready. Her entire body ached, screaming for rest as she stared
down the monster that stood before her.
Its reptilian skin was slashed in countless places. Clotted blood
coated the scaly surface that scarcely contained obscenely powerful muscle
beneath. Hateful red eyes glared at her from above a gaping expanse of
dagger-like teeth, clawed hands flexing in rage. And it was not alone.
Mousse wheezed to her left, coming slowly to his knees as he fought
off the savage blow one of the creatures had dealt him. To her right was
Cologne, perched easily atop her ashwood staff.
"Y'know," the one in the lead said in a voice like a rockslide,
"that toy of yours really tickles!"
She beat down the rush of terror that threatened to take control.
She would never show fear in the face of the enemy. If Shampoo was to die
here then she would die like the warrior she was, not as a whimpering coward.
They had to flee, and she knew it. The restaurant was coming down
around them, flames licking hungrily at every surface and heat cloying the
air. The passage to the rear exit had already caved in, the rubble coated
with flames. If they stayed, they would die.