The
Great Crossover Adventure
by
Xanthix
Chapter
7: Turning Tides
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Elsewhere
in the Team Rocket moon base, the quiet of a large dimly lit chamber was
disturbed by the approaching rumble of the Landmaster Tank. As the tank entered
the room, the darkness was also disturbed by its high-beam headlights, which
swept across the apparently blank walls.
Gradually
the tank came to a stop in the center of the room, and its engine was shut off.
Its cockpit window was opened from the inside, and its three female occupants
emerged.
It
was Ryoko's voice that next pierced the dark silence. The quiet of the room
combined with her recent hesitance to speak made her words double startling.
"Well,
where are they? You said they'd be here." Her question was aimed at Washu,
who was looking around, thinking.
"I
don't understand, Ryoko... According to what we've seen of the base, this
should be a command center, not an empty room," Washu replied.
"Unless of course we walked into a..."
She
was interrupted by a sudden flood of light and sound. The room lights turned on
all at once, almost blinding the three women. At the same time, large bay doors
all around them rolled up into the walls, revealing recesses beyond that were
filled with hordes of unfriendly-looking creatures. In all the commotion, no
one heard Washu finish saying "...trap," but they got the general
idea.
To
Washu's surprise, it was Ranma who reacted first. She quickly jumped into a
fighting stance, facing the closest group of the creatures.
Ryoko
was the next to respond. She jumped into the air and charged up to throw her
energy bolts. Washu followed suit, but instead of jumping up she teleported
into the Landmaster and started its engine.
The
Team Rocket pokémon wasted no time in attacking either. A pack of Rattatas and
Raticates was the first to charge, running towards Ranma. At the same time, a
flock of Spearows and Fearows dove at Ryoko and a dauntingly large Blastoise
took aim for the Landmaster with its water cannons.
Fortunately
for the girls, pokémon were not often trained to fight together in battles, and
their lack of cooperation in this situation became evident. Washu gunned the
tank's engine, quickly accelerating it out of harms way. The burst of water
from the Blastoise ripped through the space where the tank had been, and hit
the rat pack head on. The rats were all drenched and scalded by the hot water
and were washed out of the room. Meanwhile, Ryoko let loose with enough energy
bolts to fry many of the bird pokémon and throw the rest into disorder.
As
Washu turned the tank to face a group of fire pokémon, she saw all that had
happened. She saw that the only loss had been that Ranma had also been knocked
to the ground by the water blast. Pleased, she turned her attention to
introducing some nearby Magmars to the muzzle of the Landmaster's main gun.
Meanwhile,
Ranma picked himself up off the ground where he lay, soggy again. He realized
that he was a male again, thanks to the hot water, but since a group of
fighting pokémon was charging at him, he didn't think much of it.
One
Hitmonchan lead the pack. Ranma eagerly braced for its arrival, figuring it
wouldn't be a problem since it was even wearing boxing gloves. As it threw a
jab at him, Ranma deftly blocked it with his right arm and delivered a powerful
return blow with his left. The pokémon was momentarily stunned by the attack,
which Ranma used as an opportunity to take off and plow into the next pokémon
with a jumping side kick. Recovering from the landing, he jumped up into a
tornado kick that floored a Hitmonlee. His attacks came naturally; he used both
standard attacks and special techniques like a master. Even so, the pokémon
kept coming, although their numbers thinned as time went on.
Above
Ranma and the creatures, hovering and flinging energy bolts at various birds
which obviously had no resistance to electricity, Ryoko observed the scene
below her. She saw Washu, in the tank, plow through a group of creatures like
they were paper dolls. She also saw Ranma, a male again, engaged in
hand-to-hand combat with a group of Hitmonchans and Hitmonlees. Despite their
superior numbers, he held his own. At times he threw so many punches that his
arms were a blur. In the thrill of battle, Ryoko all but forgot her previous
frustrations about not being able to access her new powers.
The
battle continued in this way for a while, with the three holding off waves of
pokémon and causing enough damage to knock out many of their opponents. They
even began to back most of the creatures into a corner, and surround them. It
seemed like they might win this round.
Suddenly,
the tide of battle changed.
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Fox
wasn't sure how it had happened. Just a minute ago it had seemed like they were
wearing the enemy down. But now it looked like a whole new wave of the
creatures were arriving. It was Rob64 who detected the small red and white
spheres which were somehow teleporting more opponents into the battle. Fox was
about to target a group of newly-appeared yellowish creatures when something
unexpected happened.
The
creatures began glowing, giving off a pulsating yellow light. The light emerged
from prongs on the sides of the creatures. Fox decided he didn't want to find
out what they were up to, and fired a full spread of his lasers at them.
Oddly
enough, the enemies didn't seem to be damaged by the laser blasts, but they
scattered in response to the barrage. Fox saw them spread out and try to
encircle the Great Fox. He continued firing, but to no avail -- the creatures
seemed to absorb or reflect the laser energy.
He
was therefore helpless as he watched the enemy Magnemites link up all around
the slower moving Great Fox. They were emitting stronger light pulses now, and
they began to merge to form Magnetons. The pulses became even brighter.
Finally, in a shockwave of light, all the Magnetons released a huge burst of
electromagnetic energy. Many of them even self-destructed in the process.
The
wave of light hit the Great Fox hard. The electromagnetic flux surged through
the ship's electrical systems, blowing all the fuses and knocking out the
computer systems. In the cockpit, Fox was surrounded by small explosions of
sparks and miniature lightning bolts as all the surrounding electronic
equipment was blown out. After the commotion died down, he realized he was
unhurt, minus some singed fur, but the Great Fox was now dead in space, still
sparking with the electricity that had crippled it.
The
spreading electric stormfront also hit Zelgadiss's Arwing, which had been
heading towards the Great Fox to help fend off the attackers. Zelgadiss watched
as his starfighter dove into the approaching electromagnetic tsunami, unable to
veer of out of the way in time. He was a helpless observer as his cockpit
exploded into an electrical frenzy; all the ship's systems shorted out
violently. Fortunately, he himself was immune to the electrical damage, but
when the sparks subsided, his Arwing was now as lifeless as the Great Fox,
which drifted just outside the cockpit window.
Ameria
heard Zelgadiss shouting through the communication system, before it too was
blown out by the electromagnetic flux. His cry was more of surprise than pain,
as he was naturally "grounded" against electricity, but with the
electrical interference, to Ameria it sounded like a terrible scream of agony.
She
immediately whirled around to look to where the Great Fox was now adrift in
space, searching for Zelgadiss's Arwing. As she turned, a nearby pokémon took
advantage of her distraction. It was an Aerodactyl, and as soon as Ameria had
turned, it swooped towards her. She sensed its presence behind her and started
to turn, but before she could, the pokémon knocked her on the side with a
vicious blow from its wings. She tumbled off, reeling from the impact.
Ameria
was not about to have an evil creature get the best of her, though. She quickly
summoned her power and focused on using the same attack that she had used on
the white dragon before. Still moving away from the Aerodactyl, she aimed the
attack at it, and began shouting "Loving Justice-"
She
was cut off as she unwittingly slammed into another pokémon. It had cut behind
her as she was drifting backwards, and now latched its claws around Ameria's
torso, preventing her from moving her hands to use any sorcery. She put on her
best fiery-for-Justice face and prepared to heavily scold the beast that was
imprisoning her.
But
then she looked up and saw what was holding her. It was another Aerodactyl,
twice as big as the first one. It also had twice as many teeth, set in the
evil-looking smile so common to predators. Ameria's craving for Justice drained
away, leaving behind an unsettling fear for her life.
Meanwhile,
a growing swarm of pokémon was crowding around Zelgadiss's Arwing. A large
Scyther was using its talons to try to pry the cockpit open. Zelgadiss was
starting to get very worried -- without power he couldn't channel his spells
through the ship's weapons. He was somewhat of a prisoner in his starfighter,
since he didn't think he could breathe in a vacuum like Ameria now could. It
seemed that it would only be a matter of time before he found out the hard way.
Fox
saw all of this through the viewports of the once-Great Fox. He mused that the
windows were probably the only things on the ship that still worked. The grim
look on his face revealed the desperation that he was beginning to feel inside.
Having nothing else to say, he muttered out loud, "Washu, we have a
problem..."
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Washu,
however, was occupied at the moment. She, Ranma, and Ryoko had been wiping the
floor with their opponents. With the help of the Landmaster Tank and lots of
special attacks, they had beaten the creatures back into one of the side rooms
off of the main chamber where they had been ambushed. Many of the pokémon were
limping or bruised. Washu was using the tank to cover them, to make sure that
none of them got away to surprise them later. To her it looked like things were
under control. She liked being in control.
Ranma
and Ryoko stood to the sides of the swarm of pokémon, catching their breath and
slowly advancing on their opponents. Ryoko sensed that they finally had the
upper hand, and she enjoyed it immensely. With great satisfaction she reasoned
that this was what those filthy beasts got for abducting Tenchi. Ranma was glad
that things were looking up too. As he caught his breath, he noticed that the
room felt rather drafty. Looking down, he realized that he was still in his
skirt. He hated it when things like that happened...
After
a moment's hesitation, the three prepared to continue the battle. Ryoko charged
up, readying to release a blast of electricity to stun the creatures. Washu
armed a Nova Bomb, to knock them all out. Ranma tried his best to look
threatening despite the fact that he was now cross-dressing.
One
of the remaining pokémon, one that wasn't injured yet, stood up. It was purple
and thin, but had a tall body and long tail. It lept into the air over the
heads of its compatriots.
As
if on cue, Washu and Ryoko chose this moment to launch their attacks. From two
different directions, a bright blue Nova Bomb and a blazing arc of lightning
came hurtling at the group of pokémon.
Ranma
watched this, though he was barely able to see because of the brightness of the
attacks. Time seemed to slow as the projectiles converged on the pokémon.
But
then, just as had happened before in the Great Fox's cargo bay, Ryoko's blast
slammed into an invisible barrier. Where a second ago there was empty space,
there was now a glowing purple shield that surged with the power of the
electric blast. An instant later Washu's Nova Bomb hit the barrier as well. It
exploded into a supernova of blinding light, enveloping the whole chamber in
light so strong it could be felt. Ranma was temporarily blinded, and was
knocked to the ground by the shockwaves. As he struggled to regain control of
his senses, he caught glimpses of a huge purple dome throbbing underneath the
barrage of light, sound, and power.
When
the noise and vibrations finally subsided, Ranma picked himself off the floor
and looked around. Ryoko and the Landmaster were still standing. So were all of
the pokémon. As his eyes re-focused, he saw that they were all inside the
purple shield he had seen before. And floating above all of them was the same
pokémon who had jumped up before, glowing with the same energy as the shield.
In
the odd quiet that followed, an annoyed Ryoko said, "A psychic
forcefield?!? I don't believe this..." After some additional remarks about
what she thought of the creatures and their attacks, she lept into the air like
a pouncing cat. She drew her energy sword in mid-leap, screaming in fury as she
flew. She then thrust her sword downwards at the energy barrier, as if to burst
it like a bubble. But as she was about to hit the barrier, the purple pokémon
spoke. In a deep voice it said "Psychic Shock" as calmly as if it
wasn't being attacked by a frenzied alien woman with a light saber and a short
pink skirt.
The
instant that Mewtwo had spoken, its attack hit Ryoko out of nowhere. To the
others, it looked like she had suddenly slammed into an invisible high-voltage
electric fence. She froze in midair, her screams of alarm and pain rising above
the crackling energy of the psychic attack as it electrocuted her. Seconds
later she fell to the ground below where she had been stopped, unable to move
and apparently unconscious.
Washu
froze stiff in shock as she witnessed this. As Ryoko fell, she screamed her
daughter's name in unbelief. A moment after her limp body hit the ground, Washu
snapped out of her trance, looked again at the psychic pokémon, and set her
face in grim determination. She powered up the Landmaster Tank and threw it in
gear.
The
tank charged forward into the purple energy barrier. As Ranma watched, Mewtwo
lowered the barrier in anticipation of the tank's approach. But then it
extended its arm towards the tank. As it raised its arm, the tank flew into the
air, and after hovering with its treads spinning for a moment, crashed into the
ground upside-down.
Ranma
couldn't believe his eyes. It had looked like victory was theirs. But then
Ryoko had fallen, and now Washu? He refused to believe that such great fighters
as his teammates had been taken out of the picture so quickly. He stared at
Mewtwo defiantly and waited for it to make the next move.
For
this reason he was unprepared when he received a stiff blow to the back from a
Hitmonchan that had snuck up behind him. His mind was reeling while a whole
pack of pokémon converged on him to continue the fight. Soon he was in no shape
for offense or defense, and he quickly succumbed to the blows and tackles of the
strange creatures.
The
next thing he knew, he was being held helpless by two creatures twice his size.
The other pokémon had gathered around, some licking their wounds, others
licking their lips hungrily. Nearby, Washu was being forcefully dragged out of
the wreckage of the Landmaster. Ryoko was still unconscious on the floor. To
Ranma it seemed that even her outfit was singed by the attack she had received,
but from where he was he couldn't tell how bad the damage was. Floating above
them all was the purple Mewtwo, looking both smug and threatening at once. It
seemed to be directing the other creatures, and Ranma reasoned that it might be
suppressing Washu's powers as well.
Ranma
still had some fight left in him, but he could barely move. His teammates were
in worse shape. He hoped that Fox and the others were doing better than they
were.
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Continued
in Chapter 8: Rescue and Recovery
"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.