[FFML] [Multiverse] [SI] Prologue (Currently Untitled)

Disclaimer: Capcom owns Darkstalkers and Biohazard (Resident Evil), Rumiko
Takahashi owns Ranma 1/2, Naoko Takeuchi owns Sailor Moon, Nintendo owns
Pokemon, Squaresoft owns Final Fantasy VII, Hajime Kanzaka owns Slayers, and
Kosuke Fujishima owns Ah! Megami-sama! (Ah! My Goddess!)

>From the Authors of "The Tendos' Brother," "Trials of the Heart," "Wolf in
the Snow," and "The Importance of Rules," comes a Multiversal Dual-Author SI
Fic of Epic proportions. Taiteki Kagato, and Wakoid2 present:

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The screen showed the hazy, colored interference of a connection that wasn't
quite right. Occasionally, a figure would flash on the screen, only to be
replaced by pure static before the display went back to it's original
interference. Suddenly, a loud thump was heard, the sound of someone's
frustration begin taken out on a piece of metal. The interference
disappeared, and she sounds of fighting emanated from a nearby speaker.
Another kick, and the screen flared to life, showing...

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With a flick of her thumb, Jill Valentine's Beretta released the spent clip,
and her left hand slammed another into place in a matter of seconds. The
shambling figure dropped as a bullet tore through it's skull, and she frowned
as a familiar shape emerged from the shadows that dominated the far end of
the corridor before her.

The louder report of Barry's Magnum roared beside her, and the green,
gorilla-like creature screeched, before leaping. Another roar, and the thing
jerked in midair, falling on it's face and sliding to a stop a meter away.
The body gurgled softly, a pool of blood spreading below it, then shuddered,
as the life finally left the genetic monstrosity. The unmistakable sound of a
grenade going off nearby caused Jill to crouch, before she spared a glance
over her shoulder.

Whatever those creatures were, the Umbrella shock-team seemed to be holding
them off well, so far. The fact that S.T.A.R.S and Umbrella Co. were fighting
back to back reminded her exactly how screwed this mission was. The new
creatures were obviously not Umbrella's, and the black-suited Shock Team of
the Corporation was now emptying magazine after magazine of machine gun fire
into the advancing swarm.

"Jill!" Claire called, shaking her out of her reverie. Looking back at the
corridor, she saw another green creature coming, and the equally grotesque
beasts that crawled on the walls and ceilings with ease, it's brain exposed
for all to see.

Aiming her Beretta once again, Jill aimed at the throbbing brain of the
long-tongued thing, and hoped she'd not run out of bullets before they ran
out of time.

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A knob was turned in the darkness, and the scene was replaced....
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"Steel Bladed Sword!"

Tifa watched as the dark rider she had summoned carved a path through the
horde of even darker beings. Dozens fell upon meeting Odin's blade, and
others were trampled beneath the horse's hooves. However, it only took out a
small part of the horde she and the others faced.

She looked over to where the others were fighting. Barret's gun-arm blazed as
he mowed down row after row. Covering his back was the former Turk, Vincent,
sniping at any enemy that came too close to their position.

"There's so many..." Tifa spun around, raising her fists, but relaxed when
she saw it was the teenaged ninja, Yuffie. The girl was splattered with
blood, some of it her own, but most that of the dark creatures.

"It's like there's no stopping them," she said, in a weary voice one would
not normally associate with the plucky ninja. "They've already taken what's
left of Midgar, and Kalm. More and more keep piling out."

The older woman didn't reply. Off to the side, she saw Cloud, Cid, and Red
XIII tearing through more of the creatures.

"Omnislash!" The spiky-haired blond unleashed his strongest attack, finally
turning back the latest group of attackers.

"I'm fuckin' tired," Cid mumbled as they staggered back to join the rest. He
leaned on the Venus Gospel, using it like a crutch.

"You and me both," said Barret.

"Hey! Hey! At least we're still alive, right?" said Cait Sith, as he went
around healing those of them who needed it. Its left arm of the moogle had
been torn off in an earlier battle, and now trailed wiring and cotton
stuffing.

Cid spat out some blood. "Can it, Reeve."

"Just trying to keep our spirits up..."

"Wonderful job. I feel so thrilled that I'm gonna be torn apart by those
@*^%$ little-"

"They're coming," Red XIII said suddenly, his ears perking forward. They all
shuddered as a new wave crested the ridge.

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"They're everywhere..." a voice said in the darkness. The figure simply
nodded once, before turning the knob again...
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"Pikachu, Thunder attack!"

"Piii... kaa... chuuu!!!" A thick bolt of electricity crashed down into the
teeming mass.

Ash sighed as more of the creatures swarmed over the crater left by Pikachu's
attack. These were taken down by other trainers' pokemon, but still more
came.

"Ash, there are more coming from behind!" he heard Brock call. "I don't think
Team Rocket can hold them off!"

The boy nodded. "I'll go help them! Make sure none of them reach the
Pokecenter!"

"Count on me," Brock replied. "Onix, go!"

Ash and Pikachu raced around the building to the other side.

"About time you got here, twerp," Jesse griped.

Ash ignored the comment, and released more of his pokemon. He watched as a
small cat-like pokemon ran out from the edge of the treeline. "How bad is
it?" he asked when it finally reached them.

"Dere's a whole bunch o' dem right behind me," Meowth said. "Some of de wild
pokemon managed ta get dem, but..."

Ash nodded. Turning back to watch the first creatures burst out from the
forest, he steeled himself. He and the others had to protect the Center and
the injured trainers and pokemon inside.

If only he could be sure they would be able to.

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The knob turned again...
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Hsien-ko and Lei-Lei stepped out of their car to survey the devastation.

This was the third town they had come across in such a state. There was
literally not a single wall left standing, rubble strewn all over.

"Again, no bodies."

The blue-skinned Chinese ghost looked at her sister. "Yeah? They were
probably taken to be food."

Lei-Lei shook her head. "Somehow, I do not think so. It has been done too
methodically. Also," she said, gesturing to a bloodied animal pen nearby,
"note that only human bodies are missing. Whatever the things that did this
are, they took the bodies for some other purpose."

Hsien-ko sighed. "Don't tell me you're starting to believe that junk
Felicia's been saying. It's just some new type of Darkstalker. I mean, what
else could it be?"

"I'm not sure," the other replied. "I just sense that something is wrong.
Didn't you hear about the group of these things that attacked Demitri's
castle?"

"Sure. They were totally wiped out for their trouble. What's your point?"

"Consider just how many there would have to be if they could swarm into a
town and kill everything before anyone could even react. Almost all of the
wagons are still in stables. The people didn't even have a chance to escape."
She looked up at the clouded sky. "The attack on Demitri was either a scouti
ng party... or a test."

"Jeez, enough with the paranoia. They're just overambitious Darkstalkers,"
Hsien-ko said. Her tone lacked the conviction it had help before.

"Perhaps," Lei-Lei said.

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... and again...
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"Akane!"

The shout seemed to shake the heavens, as Ranma Saotome destroyed the
creature hovering over his fallen fiance. A shrunken figure quickly hopped
her way over, inspecting the fallen fighter more thoroughly than the most
advanced hospital could.

"She'll live, son-in-law. She'll live..." Turning to survey the creatures
being held back by the Nerima Wrecking Crew, and a few other Martial Artists
who'd decided to help, Cologne couldn't help but mutter under her breath,
"-only to die, at this rate."

Ranma, staring at the creatures much like Cologne, couldn't think of any
argument to what he'd heard her say. He just nodded, and joined the fight.

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"The numbers..." the figure said, it's eyes glued to the screen...
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"-by the powers you and I possess. DRAGON SLAVE!" Lina Inverse shouted,
before the night sky turned brighter than any day. The explosion destroyed
the creatures ravaging the land, and those she hadn't killed were falling by
the handful as Amelia, Gourry, Zelgadiss, and even Filia fought with every
high-powered attack they could muster.

"Miss Lina, " Amelia managed to say, after clearing the area around her with
a Ra Tilt, "They're not stopping." She punctuated this with an Elmekia Lance,
then turned back to the fight when the distance she'd cleared earlier was
filled with more creatures.

"Tenacious bastards," Zelgadis mumbled. His sword, glowing red after casting
Astral Vine, sliced through three more creatures, like a hot knife through
butter. He turned in time to fireball a creature that was coming up behind
Gourry, before turning and beheading another that had dove at him when his
back was turned.

"Filia, couldn't you be a bit more offensive?" Lina asked, turning to the
Dragon Maiden, who was currently Shielding them from a few projectile
attacks. As the tears crawled down her face, plastering blonde hair to
unblemished cheeks, she quietly repeated to herself the same thing, over and
over: "...no warning, we had no warning..."

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Someone was sobbing softly in the background, but the figure ignored it,
watching as...
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"If anyone is going to destroy the world, it will be us!"

As more black fire erupted beneath the invading creatures, Hild sighed, and
turned to the mass of Gods and Goddesses with mixed feelings of contempt,
condescendence, and, if one were to look hard enough, thanks.

The Demons behind here continued to pour their power into Hild's attack, and,
as she watched, the assembled divinity gave their power to the armored figure
at the head of their pack. A light of the purest white flew from the figure,
and tore into the ranks of the invaders, destroying them so quickly they had
no time to so much as scream.

Turning back to her attack, she watched as the fires spread, the black flames
leaping from figure to figure, leaving more normal white flames once the
target had truly begun to burn. The creatures caught in the Hellfire writhed
in agony, their tortured screams letting Hild know the attack had succeeded.

Both leaders, however, frowned as they turned their eyes at the seemingly
endless expanse of onrushing invaders. And they called forth their powers,
preparing to attack again.

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The knob clicked hard, indicating it could go no further in that direction,
and the screen flickered to show the last world...
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"Sailor Moon!" The assembled Senshi cried, converging on their fallen leader.

"Damnit! Get back here! Neptune and I can't hold them off ourselves!" Sailor
Uranus shouted. Turning, she cursed again, and sent another World Shaking at
the charging thing. Pluto had managed to Freeze a portion of the invaders to
the West, and Saturn's Silence Wall kept them from converging from the East,
but there were thousands coming from the North.

"You can't protect the Princess if you're dead!" Neptune cried, taking a step
back as the invaders managed to gain another few feet. Saturn and Pluto stood
back to back, sweat dotting their faces as they held the Invaders off from
the sides.

"Mars Flame Sniper!" Sailor Mars Called, incinerating a creature that had
jumped at Neptune from above. Mercury stayed with Sailor Moon, while Jupiter,
Venus, and Mars resumed fighting off the approaching horde with everything
they had.

Watching this from her position, back against a wall, and Sailor Moon's
unconscious head cradled in her lap, Mercury couldn't help but feel defeat
creep up on her and her friends. "So many... " Sailor moon said sadly from
her lap. Looking down, she realized she was talking in her sleep, obviously
dreaming. 'Or having a nightmare,' Mercury silently amended, staring at her
friends as they lost another few feet to the approaching wall.

"Too little, too late," Ami Mizuno, Sailor Mercury,�said softly into the
night, watching her friends fight an innumerable foe.

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The screen shrank to nothingness then, plunging the room into total darkness.
Whoever had been sobbing sniffed in the darkness, another trying to comfort
them quietly. And standing by the dark screen, one hand still on the power
switch, a figure spoke softly to itself: "we have to send help. We have to
get help."

Rising and walking in the darkness towards the others, it spoke louder, an
order. "Gather your men. We're interfering, and assembling a team."

"A team?" the crying voice said, sorrow tainting the question, making the
notion sound hopeless.

"Yes. We're getting outside help. And maybe, just maybe, we'll live to see
tomorrow."

coming soon to the FFML, Anime/Manga Fanfics at Delphi, and FF.net....

Send any C&C to Wakoid2@aol.com and TaitekiKagato@aol.com