The
Great Crossover Adventure
by
Xanthix
Chapter
4: Preparing for Battle
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"We
have a problem!" Fox replied to Washu's communication.
"What
is it?" she asked.
Zelgadiss
clarified matter-of-factly, "We found the missing dragon. However, it
didn't want to be found."
"Can
you give us a visual? Maybe we can help," Washu replied.
Fox
answered, sounding on edge. "Oh, you're going to have a really big visual
in just a minute. We're coming back to the Great Fox as fast as we can -- our
new big friend thinks we're dragon chow. How's that engine coming?"
Washu
grinned. She said, "It's fixed. Not too hard a job for the smartest-"
Fox
cut her off. "No time for that. Rob64! Run a level two diagnostic and
prepare to engage a large incoming hostile. Provide cover fire for our
Arwings."
"Roger.
All systems go. Great Fox will cover you," came the ever-ready robot's
reply.
Everyone
felt the ship shudder as it re-powered its engines and moved to intercept Fox
and Zelgadiss. Washu recalibrated the viewscreen to show a visual of the
incoming ships.
As
they all watched a tiny speck become one large spot and two smaller ones, Ryoko
asked, "Why are they fleeing? Why don't they fight it?"
Ameria
provided an answer. "It must be a powerful dragon. Some dragons are immune
to normal attacks. It might even know sorcery!"
Washu
stood quietly, pondering this new twist. It was Ranma who spoke next. He asked,
"Why don't we fight the dragon? Can't we try out the new powers you were
telling us about?"
Washu
immediately looked up. If she gave them the powers now, they could help fend
off the dragon. But they might not get the hang of them right away and might
get disoriented. Oh well -- it wouldn't be anything that she couldn't handle,
and it would be fun to watch. "Okay," she said to Ranma. "I've
already scanned you all so I can keep the links to your home planets open;
we'll test the conversion in the shuttle bay and then you can go!" She
picked up some of her equipment and headed for the bay door. "Well, aren't
you coming?" she asked, looking back.
Ranma
hadn't quite expected an affirmative response so soon, but didn't want to lose
face so he strode purposely after Washu. Ryoko got up and followed them. Ameria
left the room last, giving Ryoko plenty of room, and thinking about Ranma.
She
admired his bravery in volunteering for this. She knew he understood even less
of this universe than she did, and bravery in spite of that was commendable.
She concluded that he must have a Heart of Justice. And he was kind of cute, in
a weird way. She resolved to continue their previous conversation, and find out
about Ranma's past, and his future.
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"There.
You're all ready," Washu said, after positioning the three others in the
shuttle bay. "I'll be in the hanger control room supervising the
conversion. You shouldn't feel much, except for the transformation."
Everyone
was a little nervous, not knowing what was going to happen, but Ranma was
especially anxious. He had been through 'transformations' before, and it seemed
to him that Washu's last comment was specifically directed at him.
Washu
went to an airlock door leading to a small room at the back of the hanger.
Before entering, she turned and said, "Oh, I may have forgotten one
tiiiiiny detail. Because of the way this works in the dimension I borrowed it
from, only females can transform." She looked at Ranma. "Catch!"
she yelled as she tossed him a cup of water that she must have gotten earlier
when no one was looking.
This
caught everyone by surprise, especially Ranma. As Washu shut the airlock door
behind her, Ranma tried to dodge the cup that was flying at him. He ducked, but
Washu had thrown it too low. The cup hit him in the head, and water dribbled
down her face.
Ameria
and Ryoko, confused by Washu's statement about females, were now also confused
as to why the water seemed to change Ranma's hair color from jet black to fiery
red.
As
Ranma slowly got up, upset at having been outwitted, Ameria first noticed the
change. There was something different besides the hair -- Ranma's figure and
stance seemed to have changed... The realization hit her like a load of bricks.
She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.
Ryoko
caught on a minute later. "Whaa?" she softly uttered.
Ranma
gradually stood up to her full height again. She hated it when this happened.
Always at the wrong moments. As she faced the two flabbergasted females, she
smiled nervously again. "H-hi girls," she offered.
It
was at this time that Washu chose to activate the transformation sequence. She
suppressed her giggles as she punched the button. The flash of blinding light
caught all three off guard, understandably.
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Fox
was not enjoying his stay in this dimension. The fact that an angry giant white
dragon was following him did not help his mood.
The
dragon had appeared out of nowhere when he and Zelgadiss were investigating
some power readings around a small moon. One moment there was open space all
around; the next, there was a flash of light and a huge dragon had appeared in
front of the two Arwings. It was larger than the Great Fox, and bright white
even in the darkness of space. It had four powerful limbs with claws, a long
body and neck, and a slender head. Its two wings unfurled to reveal a huge
wingspan. It would have been elegantly beautiful if it wasn't out to kill them.
Just
as they had swerved around the dragon, it had attacked. It gracefully
maneuvered from a curled-up position and spread its wings and arms, swiping at
the Arwings. Zelgadiss flew out wide to avoid the long claws, and Fox rolled
out of the way. Unfortunately, he rolled towards the dragons head. It snapped
at Fox's Arwing like a coiled viper, missing it by mere feet. Fox hit the turbo
and narrowly escaped behind the dragon.
While
this was happening, Zelgadiss had turned around and now came at the dragon. He
knew that normal attacks wouldn't work on a beast this size, but he tried the
lasers anyway. He fired with reckless abandon, emptying the Arwings laser
charge into a searing streak of laser bolts. They hit the dragon in its chest,
and had no effect. As he turned and dodged the oncoming dragon's fist,
Zelgadiss wondered if the dragon was smiling or it was just an illusion caused
by its many visible teeth.
By
this time, Fox had come around for another pass. His voice came over the
intercom: "I think we're outgunned here! Let's head back and try to come
up with a new plan of attack." Zelgadiss saw Fox's Arwing blasting at the
back of the dragon's head, as a distraction, he thought. He used this chance to
turbo back towards the Great Fox. Fox followed closely behind him.
Unfortunately, the dragon followed closely behind Fox. It was fast too -- even
with turbos, it was all they could do to stay out of its reach.
So
the two were flying back to the mothership as fast as they could go. Fox hoped
that the Great Fox's remaining laser cannon would have a greater effect than
his Arwing, or that Washu had a plan...
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As
their eyes grew accustomed to the intense, sourceless light in the shuttle bay,
the three girls were able to see what was happening around them. They were each
gently lifted off the floor by some force, and surrounded in an aura of colored
light. The three girls were awed and silenced as powerful beams of matter and
energy cascaded around them, changing their powers and appearances. While this
dazzling light show was taking place, a musical crescendo of sound echoed
through the bay. As the sound and light climaxed, their new costumes and powers
were sealed in an explosion of color. The three returned to the ground softly
as the light faded.
Momentarily
lost in wonderment, each looked at herself and the others, as Washu looked at
them from the control room. Ameria was now dressed in a blindingly white outfit
with scarlet red trim and a long cape, with a fiery red emblem on her chest. As
she looked down at it she realized that it was the scales, symbolizing Justice.
She knew that this new outfit symbolized her love of Justice and Righteousness.
She was moved by its beauty.
As
Ranma looked from Ameria to herself, she saw that her own left arm was clad in
bright white as well. But her right arm was in a black sleeve. The two colors
merged in her top and swirled together to form a yin yang, illustrating the
balance of two halves. Ranma was struck by the irony of this costume, but
realized that it did illustrate her nature.
Ryoko
was afraid to look at herself after seeing how the other two had ended up. And
rightly so -- as she looked down, she discovered that she had a large pink
heart on her chest. As she held out her hands in shock, she noticed that she
had on dark red gloves and boots, that seemed to glow like fire when she moved.
She wondered how this could possibly be a reflection of her personality.
After
a few moments of silence, Washu spoke over the intercom. "Nice outfits
girls!" She sounded as if this kind of thing happened every day. In
return, she received two unbelieving stares and one murderous one. It'd be best
to distract their attention from this big change, she thought. "Oh,
speaking of girls, sorry about the water, Ranma. I figured it'd be the quickest
way to explain your... situation." Another stare became murderous. Oh
well, can't win 'em all, she thought.
Ryoko
turned towards Ranma and asked, "So what's the deal? You change into a
girl if you get splashed with water?"
Ranma
resigned to explaining her situation as best she could. "Only cold water.
Warm water changes me back. It's a long story. My dad changes into a panda
bear, and one of my fiancées turns into a cat."
Ameria
had resumed her state of shock, barely breathing. This latest news was too much
to take. She fainted and collapsed to the floor. The other two quickly bent to
help her up, believing that the transformation had been what overwhelmed her.
"It's okay, Ameria," Ryoko said in a fit of kindness. "Your
outfit isn't even as bad as mine!"
Ranma
held up Ameria's head. He asked, concerned, "Are you all right?"
Ameria opened her eyes. She could see Ranma's resemblance in her new form, but
things were still too weird. She looked away, at the ceiling, and carefully
stood up.
"I-I'm
okay," she stammered. "In fact, I like my costume. Can we go fight
the dragon now?" she said, changing the subject.
"Ah,
that's the spirit!" Washu's voice came over the intercom again. "You
have access to the powers of your planets now. You can breathe and fly in
space, and your regular attacks should be amplified. Also, you'll be able to
communicate with each other and me the whole time. You might want to practice a
little before the dragon gets here. You have ten minutes." With that, she
activated the shuttle door control. A whole wall of the bay opened out into
space, revealing a wide starfield and a glimpse at a nearby sun.
On
seeing this, Ryoko walked towards the exit and leapt out of sight into the
great black yonder. After all, she already knew how to fly. Ameria followed
her, casually avoiding eye contact with Ranma for now, and leapt off the edge
of the bay floor. Having had some experience with levitation spells before, she
uneasily maneuvered after Ryoko. Ranma walked to the bay door after her. She
wasn't exactly sure what had just happened, but with a thumbs up from Washu she
jumped away from the ship. Since the closest experience to space walking that
she had had was running on the roofs of her hometown, she awkwardly hurtled
through space towards the other two.
Washu,
now in an empty shuttle bay, turned to a display monitor. It looked like the
three girls were zooming around the ship aimlessly. Hopefully Ryoko would give
them a few pointers on flying. As she packed up to observe them from the cargo
bay, she decided that, given all the stress they had been through, it was best
that no one had noticed a particular side effect of the borrowed technology she
was using. Her daughter probably wouldn't mind the exposure, but Ameria and
Ranma might mind it if they knew they were wearing the tiny skirts of sailor
senshi uniforms...
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Continued
in Chapter 5: Battle and Aftermath
"Slayers" is copyright H. Kanzaka / R. Araizumi. Original ideas, artwork, and text present on this page are copyright Esther Nairn, unless otherwise noted. No reproduction is allowed without express written or emailed permission. Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.