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NSW -- Sunglasses, Screwdrivers and Swords


Obi-quiet

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Title: Sunglasses Screwdrivers and Swords

Rating: PG

Rated for: Some violent descriptions and references

Critique level: [CRITIQUE ENCOURAGED]

Famdom(s): Crossover -- Bourne Identity series, Doctor Who, Ruroni Kenshin, Tri-gun

 

Summery: Miraculous escapes never get easier, no matter how often he does it. Trying to save the strange, convinced-he's-the-one-saving-lives English man who popped up makes it immensely harder...and that's BEFORE they end up in Meji Japan!

 

The first in hopefully a series of stories that revolves around several different stories coming together.

 

Note: You don't have to know every series to get the story. If anything needs to be explained on the stories, please let me know either here in the thread, or in a note. Thank you!

 

Note 2: There will be major spoilers for the Bourne series and Ruroni Kenshin.

 

Note 3: This story is already finished, and as such will be posted on a weekly basis, probably on Monday or Tuesday.

 

Note 4: This takes place after "Ultimatum" in the Bourne Movie Series, before "Planet of the Dead" in Dr. Who, and just after the Bakumetsu Ended for Kenshin (so about 9 years before Ruroni Kenshin starts). Let me know what you think!

 

follow_the_space_gandalf_by_kuraichan-d35tj28.jpg

 

Art done by Kuraichan.deviantart.com.

 

Beta read by Chibivampire1313

 

xXx

 

Chapter 1 -- The Undetectable Man

 

"Just how many times can they come after me?" the dark-haired man grumbled to himself when he spotted the car parked in front of his newest apartment. He hadn't even been here for a month. Couldn't they just leave him in peace?

 

He shook his head as he ducked down an alley way casually. Of course they couldn't. As far as he knew, Blackbriar had been shut down just like every other government program he'd stumbled across. Did they want him for his skills for some other top secret program that had sprung up in its stead? Did they want to arrest him? Or did they want to thank him and exonerate him? Somehow he doubted that last one, as absolutely blissful as it would be to not have to worry about running anymore.

 

'It's my own fault,' he thought, grabbing onto a fire escape and hefting himself up onto it. 'I was the one that stayed in America. Should have gone down to Mexico.' He'd actually been planning on heading down to South America after the whole Blackbriar fiasco had calmed down and been out of the public eye for a few months. If he took the legal way, it would draw less attention to him. Well, it looked like he'd just have to get down there the illegal way now.

 

Warily, he looked around, peaking over the top of the roof. The guards they'd set on the roof and snipers (well, definitely no exoneration) on the buildings opposite on the street weren't difficult to spot, and he knew they'd already gone through his apartment. It looked like he'd just have to cut his losses, grab the cash he stashed in the local bank and head for the boarder.

 

The tennis shoes he wore for his daily run squeaked against the old metal as he quickly dropped back to the alley way. It didn't look like anyone had spotted him so far.

 

Retaking his casual aire, he turned and began to walk lightly in the direction opposite of his house. Too bad the alley had been blocked. It would be a lot easier to remain unseen from the next street over. As soon as he had turned the nearest corner, he broke into a fast jog. Running always caused people to focus on you, but seeing as he was dressed as a jogger, he could hide in plain sight.

 

Across from the bank, he stopped at an Old Navy and bought some khakis, a dress shirt and a jacket, then headed over to the gas station on the corner to wash away the worst of the sweat and change clothes. Once somewhat cleaned up, he tossed his work-out clothes in the garbage bin and headed across the street.

 

It didn't take him long to empty the deposit box under the name Brian Fox, but as he exited and looked towards the door, four men walked through it. He knew them immediately for the agents they were, despite their average clothes.

 

Cursing his luck (he figured they had to be watching the bank to act this quickly), he turned towards the bathrooms and stair cases.

 

He knew they'd spotted him, so as soon as the door closed, he shot up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Of course, this would have to happen after he'd been running all morning. The doors below him burst open and several pairs of feet began pound up the stairs after him, which only gave him the motivation to move faster.

 

This particular bank branch only had four floors. Depending on the situation, that could be extremely helpful, or his death sentence. In this case, he didn't find himself too pleased as there were other buildings around that had a few more stories on them, which only gave more optimal sniping positions. However, it was the only national bank within a half-an-hour running distance of his apartment that had been built small enough that he could climb down the outside fairly quickly if necessary. He seemed to do that a lot while on the run. Of course, he hoped it didn't come to that.

 

As of right now, his main goal was the elevator shaft. If he could gain access before they caught up, he could sneak down and out under their noses.

 

On the fourth floor, he grabbed the handle of the door leading into the hallway, and froze. Through the glass, he could see several men climbing off of the elevator, all of which had ear pieces. He swore. Alright then, Plan B.

 

Thankfully, he'd had the foresight to stash a bag in the deposit box, not a suitcase. He shrugged the strap over his head as he came to the door on the roof. It had been locked with a padlock. Without missing a beat, he reached in the sack and pulled out a pair of very large cutters, having known that if he needed to resort to Plan B, he'd need these to get onto the roof quickly.

 

Once outside, he slammed the door and jammed the pliers under the metal doorway. That should buy him a few seconds at least.

 

That accomplished, he did a quick look around. No one had shot at him yet, which meant they had followed him to the bank instead of actually watching it. So they had to have seen him earlier at the apartment. Good.

 

His shoes thudded hollowly against the hard rooftop as he ran to the edge and peered over. The streets below weren't exactly crowded, but it would be better than standing out alone.

 

Behind him, the door thudded loudly, as if someone (or several someones) had run into it. They'd caught up, but couldn't seem to get through the door. It only took him a moment to hop over the railing surrounding the roof. He hadn't gotten a chance to even turn around and begin his decent when a hand clasped his arm. No one had been on the roof when he'd scouted it earlier, so the hand popping out of nowhere did something that almost never happened to him. It startled him.

 

"What the-" he started as his shoe slipped. With a cry, he felt himself fall, and grasped onto the railing and hand out of pure instinct.

 

"You don't have to do this," the man who grabbed his arm said. He now held onto both of 'Brian's' arms, trying to keep him from falling. The newcomer wore a long, brown coat on over a dark brown, pin-striped suit, and short, dark hair. He also sported what sounded like a English accent. "Come back up, I can help" he spoke calmly but urgently.

 

"Who are you?" Brian shot out, thankful that he'd finally been able to get his footing again. He glanced at the man in frustration. How could he have been so utterly rookie as to miss someone that conspicuous on the roof? Someone who seemed to have a hero complex none the less. "I wasn't going to jump!"

 

The man paused, looking surprised. "You weren't?"

 

"No!" Brian growled. "Now let me go!"

 

"Um, it's not really a good idea to-"

 

A particularly loud thud from the door (facing away from them as that's why he'd chosen this side of the building) drew the man's attention before he could finish his sentence.

 

"Are they chasing you?" he asked, turning back to look at Brian with a mix of confusion, surprise and a touch of mistrust. "You didn't rob the bank, did you?"

 

Brian couldn't help but feel offended. What kind of an idiot would rob a bank and then head to the roof, of all places? Still, he needed to get rid of this 'Good Samaritan' asap, hopefully without hurting him.

 

"So what if I did?" he asked, adding a slight menace to his words. With any luck, the guy would think of him as a street punk (despite his current clothes), possibly packing heat, and let him go. "Gonna shoot whoever gets in my way!"

 

The man didn't move. Instead, he seemed to pause and contemplate Brian.

 

"You have more than money in that bag, and pulling off a heist from the safety deposit box in broad daylight would be nearly impossible...although I bet you could do it."

 

Something about the man's attitude wasn't right. This guy either had a great deal of experience or some formal training if he could see something like that. "You don't think I did?" he asked, again adding the slightest threat, but he did so halfheartedly, as he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to fool this guy.

 

The man looked down his nose at Brian, as if studying something utterly fascinating. "No, I don't think you did."

 

"You don't want to get caught up in this," Brian said, dropping the gangster-like threat altogether. "So you're going to let me go." With that, he pushed off of the roof with his legs, vaulting back over the railing and surprising the man enough to let him go and stumble backwards. He then turned back to the metal barrier lining the roof and launched himself over it a third time, only to hear a bullet hit the wall right next to his feet. He immediately dove back onto the roof, cursing. They'd either gotten a really lousy sniper set up, or backup had arrived and they'd started shooting at him from the street.

 

"So if you didn't rob the bank, why are they shooting at you?" the man from before asked as he too dropped to the roof and covered his head.

 

"Long story," Brian growled, hearing the next thump from the door. He ducked again as another bullet flew over his head.

 

"This is why I hate coming to America," the man grumbled. The American ignored him and looked around the roof, calculating. If he approached any other side of the roof, he would be in view of either the men behind the door to the roof or whoever was shooting at him from below. Currently his best bet would be to run to the opposite side and just chance that the door couldn't be shot through-

 

"Seriously," the Englishman said. "What did you do?"

 

"Nothing!" Brian muttered absently. He began to crawl towards the opposite railing. Once he was gone, they probably wouldn't touch the bystander, so he ignored the guy and kept his eyes fixed on his destination. Just a few more inches before he could get up and run without the person below seeing him. He only had a few seconds before the roof door broke, he could tell from the thumping and progressively more obvious rattling.

 

"Do you mean that?"

 

"Huh?" he felt something grab his leg, and turned his attention to the other man for a moment.

 

"You really didn't do anything?"

 

"Like I said," Brian turned his attention back to the railing across the roof, "long story." With that, he kicked out of the guy's grasp and shot forward towards the opposite side of the roof.

 

"What are you doing?" The man yelped. "You'll get yourself kill-"

 

He wasn't fast enough. Brian had no sooner taken his first step than the door broke and the four men he'd seen earlier poured out, turning their guns on him. He had to change his direction then. Sliding to a stop, he pulled out his own gun and shot at their feet, causing them to all duck for cover as he scrambled back to the man. The last thing he needed was for an innocent bystander to get hurt in all of this. She would not want that.

 

He grabbed the man's arm and shoved him behind...something. It took him a moment to realize that he hadn't really seen this 'something' before. That set off warning bells in his head. He could shrug off overlooking something or someone once because of a panic, but with his training, missing two different, very large objects approached the boarders of 'unheard of'. Blinking in confusion, he looked up at the object they'd taken refuge behind and saw what looked like a large, blue telephone booth that said "police box" on it.

 

"You could have dislocated my arm!" the man whined.

 

Brian tore his attention back to him. "Do you want to get shot?"

 

The man cocked his head for a moment. "So you saved me?"

 

The American ignored him again, leaning around the blue box and fired off a few shots.

 

"You're deliberately missing them," the man muttered, startling Brian for the second time that day. That really unnerved him. Brian didn't get startled. Ever. The man had stood up and now leaned over Brian's head, looking around the side of the blue box.

 

Brian reached up and grabbed the front of his jacket, yanking the Englishman down next to him.

 

"Stay here or get killed," he warned.

 

"Gosh, you're a worry wart," the man said calmly, standing up and taking a key out of his pocket.

 

"Get down!" Brian hissed. Seriously, the guy had to have mental problems to-

 

The door to the booth suddenly fell open, causing him to fall backwards now that he lacked support.

 

"What the-" he started again, then stopped. His eyes grew wide. From the outside, the booth hadn't been more than 3 x 3 square feet, but he now stared at a cavern at least four times that size. "What...the..."

 

"You like to say that a lot, don't you?" the man looked down at him.

 

Brian went through every single training scenario, situation and rumor he'd ever heard, and nothing came up to fit what he was seeing now. For the first time in his life, he'd stumbled across something that made no logical sense at all whatsoever. It bordered on Magic...

 

But Magic didn't exist! He wasn't sure of many things in his life, but that was one of them.

 

Unable to comprehend the sight, he shot to his feet and whirled around, backing away from the impossible box.

 

"You...may not want to do that," the man said just as bullets started whizzing by. His body reacted instantly, years of training and conditioning causing him to duck and rush back into the impossible box, despite his shock. As soon as he'd cleared the doors, the man closed them. "Alright then!" he grinned and ran up a ramp to the large, spherical console in the center of the room.

 

Despite the fact that Brian could almost instantly tell exactly where weapons, plans and personal could be hidden in the room, he still couldn't seem to describe it. The only thing that came close was something resembling the concave of a spaceship, with warm-colored light-bulbs shining down, illuminating every single corner of the room. Thick, coral-like columns supported the ceiling, branching off at random places while a ramp from the doorway lead up to a raised, metal-mesh floor covering what looked like storage compartments and various mechanical items. For the first time in a very long time he didn't even want to guess at what else lay hidden below his feet. Any number of items could fit.

 

"This is impossible," Brian muttered, running a hand through his hair. "I finally lost it..."

 

"It's just bigger on the inside," the man stopped pounding the helter-skelter console with a hammer and looked over at Brian as if it were the most natural thing on the planet.

 

"What is this?" the American insisted. "Is this some sort of trick?"

 

"No trick. It's just the Tardis."

 

"How?" It had to be a trick or a trap of some sort. There just wasn't any other logical explanation.

 

"How what?"

 

"How is this thing not a trick!"

 

"Well," the man put his hands in his pockets and rocked on his feet before a shutter ran through the room and caused both of them to stumble and grab at the nearest stable object. "That! That's how it works! My girl uses a multi-point cross-dimensional flow system to essentially switch out pockets of space-time within a relatively locked structure ”“ kind of like a Rubix Cube shoved in a much smaller box."

 

He followed, that...really he did. That didn't mean he understood the implications. So Brian did the only thing he felt he could do at the moment. He raised his gun.

 

"Oh, don't do that," the man said. For a moment, Brian wondered how he pulled off the whining tone while managing to still sound as if he knew he were superior in some way.

 

Brian continued to point the gun at the man's head. He'd figure something out about his pursuers, but first he had to get away from this illusion. "They shut down Blackbriar and Treadstone. So what program took their places this time?"

 

He had to admit, the man had a very convincing confused look.

 

"That sounds ominous," he said, looking completely unfazed, even with the weapon directed at his head.

 

"I told you guys to leave me alone!" Brian insisted, backing towards the door. "Can't you just leave me in peace?"

 

"You know, I don't really like answering questions with a gun pointed at me. Can you put it away?"

 

Brian didn't respond. Instead, he reached behind him and found the handle to the doors. The moment he opened it, he'd have to run for the edge and take his chances with the shooters from the ground, but for some reason that scared him a lot less than this guy and his illusion.

 

"You'll never get me again," he said. "I won't kill for you or anyone else!"

 

The man raised an eyebrow. "That's good. Get rid of that," he nodded to the weapon, "and I'll bet it'll be a lot easier."

 

With a growl, Brian threw the door open, turned and raced outside, expecting to dodge bullets. But instead of the gray roof, to his utter shock, he found himself in an open field with wild grasses and flowers growing everywhere.

 

Now utterly flabbergasted, he stopped, dropping the hand holding the gun to his side. His mind shut down, refusing to work. There was just no logical explanation for this. None at all.

 

"Tardis stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space. It's a spaceship." Brian didn't answer, instead choosing to continue to stare at the field in utter bafflement. So the man continued. "It's also a time machine. This is Japan, mid-1800's...I think. The country just ended their civil war. Well, that's what we'd call it. An uprising or rebellion really. Now they live in an era of relative peace."

 

"Why would you bring me here?" Brian finally managed to mutter. "And who are you?"

 

The man pursed his lips, managing to look nonchalant but mischievous and curious at the same time. "Me? I'm the Doctor. Why here? So you can tell me exactly why they were chasing you without having to worry about dealing with loud, annoying bullets."

 

"I won't give you any information."

 

"About secret government programs called 'Blackbriar' and 'Treadstone'? Black Ops or undercover groups, right?"

 

Brian turned and raised the gun at the man's head again. His eyebrows furrowed and he rocked back, his hands in his pockets once again, looking thoroughly disgusted now. "Don't...not again! Seriously, put that thing down!"

 

"No one knows about those without being apart of them."

 

"Except you." Brian didn't answer. "That's just it, isn't it. You got tired of killing, so you left. That's why they were chasing you, wasn't it?"

 

"How do you know that?" Brian demanded, squashing down on the panic he felt begin to rise inside of his gut. He hated that. Trained assassins didn't panic.

 

"I've seen it before," he said slowly with a voice suddenly full of sadness. "Hundreds of times to hundreds of people and dozens of races."

 

"So you're an alien too?"

 

"Yup."

 

"And you just abducted me." He said it as more of a statement than a question.

 

The Doctor smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess I did. Well this will be a new experience for you. I don't do the weird probe things or tests if that's what you're worried about. Do you want me to take you back?"

 

Brian paused for a moment, then lowered his gun and holstered it slowly, slightly dazed. "Hallucination or not, it's better than that roof."

 

For the first time since Brian had met him, the alien smiled a bright, brilliant smile that spoke volumes of his personality. "Brilliant." The American couldn't understand it, but he felt for the first time in his life that he could trust a complete stranger. Well, not counting her...

 

He shook the thought from his head and turned to look at the field again.

 

"Why Japan?"

 

The Doctor shrugged. "Felt like it. It's a short jump, so it makes for a fast escape."

 

"Why did you help me?"

 

"Oi," the brown-haired man stopped him. "Why are you asking all the questions. Don't I get one?" Brian raised his eyebrow, but remained silent.

 

"What's you're name?" the Doctor asked, holding out his hand and smiling again.

 

"Brian Fox."

 

"I meant your real name," the Doctor gave him a pointed look.

 

Brian snorted. "I don't deserve a real name."

 

"Oi."

 

The American resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Right now, I don't have a name. I used to be David Webb when I was a captain in the Army, but when I was an assassin, my name was Jason Bourne."

Edited by Guest

You know the closer you get to something

The tougher it is to see it,

And I'll Never take it for granted,

Let's go!

 

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What a cool idea! I really enjoyed it! I think you're already doing a pretty good job capturing the characters, and it made me laugh to think of Bourne in the TARDIS.

 

There were a few grammar things here and there--they're instead of their and such--but overall great.

 

I will definitely watch this one!

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SHE MEANS TO END US ALL!!! DOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!11eleventyone!
There goes Ami's reputation of being a peaceful, nice person.
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I mixed up a "their"? *dies* I'll never live this down...

 

I know about the TARDIS though...thought I'd fixed this one. Hmm...^^;

 

Anyway, glad you like it!

You know the closer you get to something

The tougher it is to see it,

And I'll Never take it for granted,

Let's go!

 

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How much writing time do you HAVE? I am so jealous! Granted, the story is already finished...but...still!

 

From the summary and first post, I'm guessing that David/Jason will always be the focused character? This is a very interesting idea... we writers can't seem to get enough of playing with the characters we appreciate from TV or moves. The Bourne movies are the only ones I am familiar with, so I'm going to have a big learning curve here. I have at least heard of Doctor Who (as opposed to Ruroni Kenshin or Tri-gun) though, and know that he time-travels in what looks like a telephone booth... so I guess that was enough to get me through this installement.

 

I like the idea, and it promises to be an interesting (if at times confusing) read. David/Jason seemed to be good/in character, but I can't speak for the Doctor. In particular, I got a kick out of how both Jason and the Doctor are convinced both that they are saving the other and that the other is in need of saving!

 

Like Ami said, there are a few minor grammar things, including homophones like "peaking" which should be "peeking," "boarder" which should be "border," and a few other things. Also, maybe a comment about how Jason would be sure to have a certain amount of cash on him when jogging (to purchase the new outfit), unlike most of us, who probably jog with only an extra key?

"It's always these little worlds that get you in trouble. Like Tatooine. I'm still living that one down." - Han Solo

Your barnacle has carnivorous salamanders the size of whales.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the faith we profess, for he who promised is faithful." -Heb. 10:23

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Interesting read Obi.

 

Few questions, are you basing your Webb/Bourne on the written version or the movie version? That changes how I read the character because they are distinctly different characters.

 

I'm not overly familiar with The Doctor, having never really gotten into him in the past, and I've not heard of your Japanese series to be honest.

 

All that aside and onto the actual post itself.

 

Great concept. It has a lot of potential, as both Bourne and The Doctor (from what I know of him), are both very rich and expansive characters.

 

My concern with this post was that it felt very rushed. I'm not sure if that was deliberate and part of the pace of the story you're trying to achieve, but for me, personally, it was to rushed, and it distracted from what was going on.

 

I would have liked more detail (and any old school FanFiccer on JNet will tell you this is a comment I make on most stories), as there wasn't enough of a sense of the environment, of what was going through both characters minds.

 

I had to go back and re-read the initial appearance of The Doctor a few times to wrap my head around it.

 

Overall though, I like the direction this is going in though.

Member of Jnet Addict Club 12/05

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Gimpy -- LOL Not as much as I'd like. I wrote a lot of what I've posted before I started my current job. I haven't gotten nearly as far on my stories since then. *sigh* I'm really glad it wasn't too confusing though.

 

DB -- Well, I did want it to go fast for two reasons. 1 -- It would be rehashing what had happened in both series (and I'm basing my character off of the movies. I've never had the chance to read the books, unfortunately) which would be boring for any fans (and that's who I'm gearing the story towards) and 2 -- It was the pace I wanted. It all kind of happened too fast for Jason to really calm down and think things through, or he would have never gotten into the TARDIS to begin with. It's one of those "just kind of happened" kinds of things.

 

You know, I think I'll give a short description of each series now so that people who don't know what's going on can have a bit more of an idea. Great idea!

 

NOTE: You may want to skip this if you already know what's going on. All of the following are nutshell summaries.

 

Bourne Identity series: The main character of the story wakes up on a boat in the middle of the ocean. They rescued him, and he has no idea who he is. All he knows is that he can speak several languages, and has natural reflexes/strength beyond what he expects of an average person. So he sets out to find out who he is, and discovers that he used to be an assassin. He refused to do a job, and was almost killed for it and left for dead in the sea. Now that he's back, and now that he supposedly failed a job, he's useless and the group he worked for (Treadstone), and they consider him a liability...one that needs to be "handled" if he refused to come back, which he did. This story takes place after "The Bourne Supremacy", when he regained most if not all of his memories.

 

Doctor Who series: He calls himself "The Doctor". That's it. No name, no family, no place to call home. Just a blue box that no one seems to be able to see unless they know it's there, and a determination to save just about everyone he comes across. He's an alien from world called "Gallifrey" and his people (who called themselves the Time Lords) no longer exist. So he wanders the Galaxy and time, occasionally taking someone from another race as a companion so he doesn't go insane. It doesn't always work, and over the years, he's gotten more and more eccentric. This story takes place at the end of "Series 4" or the fourth season of the new series, before "Planet of the Dead". Here's a little clip of the Doctor if you would like a glimpse at his character:

LMHO THAT is the Doctor.

 

Ruroni Kenshin series: For 300 years, Japan cut itself off from the rest of the world and lived in a feudal system under the Emperor and the ruling Samurai families. Then, in the mid 1800's, a rebellion arose, throwing Japan into chaos. They call this period of civil war "The Bakumatsu" (all real facts, btw, but from here on out it's fact mixed with the story). The struggling rebellion (also known as the Isshin-shishi) trained and hired assassins known as "hitokiri" or Manslayers to kill high-ranked officials and problem causers on the other side. These assassins didn't survive if they weren't the best. One of these assassins became known as the "Hitokiri Battosai", or the the master demon assassin. Rumor was he could draw his sword so quickly, one's eyes could not follow it, let alone block it. When the war ended, he vanished. No one knew where he went. All they knew was that he had an unusual hair color, a cross shaped scar on his cheek, and a reverse-blade sword. He had vowed never to kill again. This story takes place just after this war ended.

 

Chapter 2: Kenshin, the Vagabond Wanderer

 

"Alright then, David," the Doctor said, turning around and focusing on his blue box.

 

"Don't call me that."

 

The alien paused and looked back at the other man. "Why not?"

 

"I stopped being David Webb a long time ago."

 

"Oh come on," he rolled his eyes.

 

"No," the American insisted.

 

The Doctor backed off, although he didn't look too happy about it. "What should I call you then? Not Jason."

 

He shook his head in agreement. "I'm no longer Jason Bourne."

 

"Well I've got to call you something," the Doctor insisted. "I can't just call you human. And not a fake name like 'Brian' either."

 

"Why?" 'Brian' shot a dry gaze at the alien.

 

"Because it doesn't fit you for one. You don't look like a Brian," the Doctor glanced over as if scrutinizing the other man.

 

The American rolled his eyes. "I mean why do you have to call me something. You're just going to leave me here, aren't you?"

 

The Doctor paused. "Leave you here? Not with that thing," he nodded to the gun now hidden by the Old Navy jacket.

 

Confusion crossed the other man's face, and he opened his mouth to say something when he felt a twinge on his senses. Someone was watching them. Immediately he went on guard, dropping into a defensive stance.

 

"What?" The Doctor looked around the sunlit field, "What's wrong?"

 

'Brian' held up his hand in a gesture for him to be quiet. "Someone's there," he whispered.

 

"Someone?" Honestly, alien or not, did the guy not know how to be quiet? "Who?"

 

"Not friendly."

 

"How do you know?" The American ignored him, reaching for his gun. "Oh no you don't, not while you're my responsibility," the Doctor growled, reaching a hand out to stop him. The ex-assassin avoided the move easily, but the tone in the other's voice stopped him from drawing his weapon.

 

The alien still didn't look too satisfied, but turned his attention back to the field around them.

 

"Oi!" he called out. "We know you're there. May as well come out!"

 

Not too far away, a lone tree grew near a small, natural stream. Both men had seen it, but neither one had noticed the slight figure behind it. Now, it melted away from the small shadow the tree cast, and stepped into the late morning sunlight.

 

Instantly, both men wondered how they'd missed him. It was a young teen of obvious Japanese heritage, but with the most striking bright, copper hair glinting above the oriental features. Along his left cheek, a cross-shaped scar contrasted sharply with the boy's pale skin. However, it was the harsh, blue-violet eyes that drew the American's attention. He knew those eyes. They stared back at him in the mirror every morning. Different color, same experience.

 

This kid was an assassin.

 

"So even the peace here comes with a price," he muttered.

 

The Doctor shot a glance at him, but directed his next questions at the boy. "Hello, how are you?" he said calmly, raising his hands in a placating manner.

 

The boy didn't move, although he managed to look completely skeptical. "So you do not cause the problems the villagers speak of?"

 

The alien looked slightly taken aback. "What problems?"

 

The boy eyed them warily, but apparently decided to humor them. "Figures have been seen in the local fields at night. People have disappeared, some of them children. Also the crops. Some of them will wither for no reason. Others vanish."

 

The Doctor looked around, scratching his head and slipping the unused hand in his pocket. He seemed to be looking for something, and his movements caused his coat to swirl with the motion. "No," he said, although neither of the other two men could figure whether he was speaking to them or to himself, "we didn't cause that."

 

The boy didn't look convinced.

 

"By the way," the alien turned around. "What's your name?"

 

To the kid's credit, he didn't seem at all derailed by the Doctor's sudden question, although he did look more wary. "Kenshin," he said slowly. "Himura Kenshin."

 

"Well then, Kenshin, how about we go take a look at those fields together." Both of the assassins turned and stared at him incredulously. "What?" he asked innocently.

 

"What about me?" Brian asked.

 

The Doctor shrugged. "You can come too." Then he glanced at Kenshin and pointed to a nearby knoll, "This way, right?"

 

Kenshin stared after him, looking slightly confused, but regained what little composure he'd lost quickly and began to make his way through the wild plants that grew over the fields after the Doctor. He didn't look very pleased.

 

Brian stared after them for a few seconds before hurrying to catch up. "Hey, wait a second," he said.

 

"I know," the Doctor turned around with a smile, walking backwards while facing them, his hands still in his pockets. "You need a name. How about Mos-drashy-tony-tan-morenold-acheen-goldil-den?" Again, both of the humans stopped and stared at the alien like he'd just sprouted wings. "What?" he asked again, as if something that ridiculous should be common place, "it's a good name."

 

Kenshin blinked uncertainly and shot a look at his fellow human before continuing to follow the Doctor.

 

"I know!" the Doctor exclaimed again, "Wrynisimus! It's shorter, easier for humans to remember."

 

"Are these names from your country?" Kenshin asked before his temporary counterpart could say anything.

 

The Doctor seemed to contemplate that for a moment, then nodded. "You could say that."

 

"Just call me Jason," the assassin said, frustration lacing his voice.

 

The alien stopped. "No."

 

"Why not?"

 

The Doctor took a step towards him. "You're not a killer," he said, looking far more serious than the American had ever seen him. "Not anymore. You said so yourself."

 

Kenshin froze, now staring at the older human with an unreadable expression.

 

"I'm not going to be called some alien name either."

 

The Doctor shot an amused smile at the American, who felt his frustration level rise another notch. "Then how about Alonzo?" Jason sighed, deciding it really wasn't worth it and walked past him, coming up over the rise of the hill. "Oh come on," the Doctor persisted. "It's a perfect name! You really should..."

 

He faded off as the sight over the next hill came into view. A large, well-kept if modest field with varying crops stretched before them. Below that as well as to the sides, rice fields full of water had also been cut into the side of the hill. However, instead of the beautiful green that should have been present in both fields, large circles of dead plants randomly pocketed the landscape. The entire rice field seemed to have been taken over with blight. The plants barely rose above the water, sickly and yellow as they floated weakly in the stagnant liquid.

 

"Hello," the Doctor muttered, jumping the 3 foot cliff above the first field and kneeling down to examine one of the dead plants. After a moment, he took out some glasses and placed them on his face, then pulled the plant out of the ground for a closer inspection.

 

A withered husk of what must have been a root-like vegetable came up in his hands. Kenshin landed softly beside him, watching as he pulled out a small, thin object and began to run it over the plant. Jason remained on the hilltop. Something about this bothered him, nagging at the back of his mind. He didn't get the feeling very often, and usually when he did, he'd missed something important.

 

"It is not a blight," Kenshin said tersely. The kid didn't talk much, Jason noted, not that he'd really expected otherwise.

 

The Doctor glanced up at the boy, curiosity coloring his otherwise puzzled expression. "Did the villagers tell you that?"

 

The red head's own expression fell to somewhat annoyed. "My parents were farmers, and I have raised crops myself."

 

Somehow, Jason didn't doubt the validity of the kid's statement. Still, the kid was no farmer. Not with the way he moved. Probably a cover up for his "real" job.

 

"How do you know?" he couldn't help but ask. If the kid knew his stuff, may as well get the information he needed. It wasn't like Jason had ever raised a garden before.

 

Kenshin glanced up at him out of the corner of his eye. "A blight weakens the fibers of the plant. Harmful insects even more so." He held out his hand, silently asking for the doctor to hand it to him. He did so, and Kenshin held it up for Jason to see. "The plants in these crops are still too strong for it to be a sickness," he yanked on both ends of the vegetable, hard. It didn't tear or even stretch. " This is not a blight."

 

"That it isn't," the Doctor agreed, standing up and brushing his pants off. "It's more like the very life force is being sucked out of them. But why these plants? Why not the trees," he gestured to the sparse forest visible on the other side of the rice field. "Or the wild flowers and grasses in the field we just came from. Why here?"

 

Kenshin held out the withered thing to the Doctor, who took it again. "What was that?" he asked, nodding towards the pencil-like object in the other's hand.

 

The Doctor held it up with a smile. A small, metal tube with various adjustments glinted in the sunlight. "Sonic screwdriver."

 

Kenshin stared at it for a moment, as did Jason. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. A screwdriver? He'd been expecting something...more exiting or at least sci-fi sounding.

 

"New invention from the West?"

 

The Doctor nodded again, taking off his glasses and placing both those and the Sonic Screwdriver inside his suit jacket pocket. "Yeah, we'll go with that."

 

"The circular pattern suggests this isn't natural," Jason pointed out, bringing the conversation back on track.

 

Kenshin nodded, looking slightly impressed. "I came to the same conclusion, which is why I suspected you."

 

"And you still do," the Doctor pointed out. Kenshin didn't answer. Jason couldn't blame the kid. After all, they'd just popped up out of nowhere, had strange gadgets he'd never seen before and had been seen in close proximity to the problem.

 

Even the Doctor seemed to ignore his own observation, choosing instead to look around in the flamboyant way Jason had seen him do several times already. "Another thing, where are the workers? It's almost harvest, isn't it?"

 

Kenshin shrugged. "They are afraid to come out, which is why I volunteered. If the happenings do not stop, the village will not survive the winter."

 

"Hmm," the alien pondered this for several seconds. Then he turned to Jason and smiled. "Well, Alonzo-"

 

"Don't call me that either," Jason muttered immediately.

 

"Why not?" The Doctor looked as if Christmas had just been canceled. Jason shot him a dangerous look. "Alright, you...Homo Sapien." Jason frowned. "Let's go get you a change in clothes."

 

Jason blinked at that. "Clothes?" he asked.

 

"Well we can't very well have you running around in that."

 

xXx

 

Jason had met just about every classification of human one could imagine. Everyone from politicians through blatant criminals and on to average, every-day Joes. He'd seen the absolute best and worst that human kind could offer, and he had never met anyone as persuasive as The Doctor.

 

"People actually wear this," he muttered, looking down at the gi and hakama pants the Doctor had fished out of yet another room in his impossible phone booth.

 

"It is practical," Kenshin muttered from beside him. He had accompanied them back to the Police Box-Tardis thing (probably so as not to let them out of his sight as much as possible), and waited outside with Jason while The Doctor went inside and came back out with his current clothing. Even more frustrating, the man hadn't changed his own clothes.

 

Afterwords, the Doctor had persuaded Kenshin to show them how to get to the town as he stuck a key into the door of the blue box and locked it. Now they walked in single file down the dirt road, trying to ignore the uncomfortable silence that had settled between them.

 

It didn't take long for the Doctor to strike up a conversation. "So, Kenshin," he asked, turning around and walking backwards again. "How old are you?"

 

Kenshin frowned slightly, but answered the question. "Eighteen." Jason felt his eyes go wide. He'd pegged the kid for fourteen, tops.

 

"Really?" the Doctor seemed just as surprised. "And exactly what year is it?"

 

"One Meiji," he replied.

 

"1868," the alien translated to Jason. "You said your parents were farmers, but you dress and act like a low-level Samurai."

 

"I am a Ruroni," he answered coldly.

 

"A vagabond wanderer? You fought against the Ishin-shishi, then I assume."

 

If his voice had been cold before, it grew positively frigid now. "Do not presume."

 

The Doctor apparently took the hint and changed topics. "Isn't there a ban on swords?" he nodded to the object strapped to Kenshin's side.

 

The boy sent a warning glare at the alien. Jason glanced between the two, annoyed. The previously awkward air had grown to spark an atmosphere the kid could probably cut through with his weapon.

 

"Everyone's entitled to their own secrets," the Jason intervened, tinging his voice with a warning the Doctor would hopefully pick up on.

 

The alien didn't look too convinced, but he nodded anyway. "Right."

 

Kenshin glanced up at Jason, a hint of his gratitude showing through the otherwise emotionless face. They continued to walk in silence for several more minutes before the boy spoke up quietly.

 

"You...are like me," he pointed out solemnly. "You have seen death, and been the cause of much of it."

 

"You're too young to have a past like that," Jason muttered, wondering why he suddenly felt so regretful. He glanced down at the slight frame of the boy. He didn't look like a killer at first glance, but he had an air about him that blatantly proclaimed pain to anyone who dared approach. The kid probably didn't even realize he gave off that feeling.

 

Caution had been something drilled into Jason's head since he'd joined Treadstone. When someone made a mistake in his line of work, they didn't live to tell the tale. You didn't give away any unnecessary information, you always had a back up plan, you never had friends or family ties, and you never relaxed.

 

He knew how impossible a normal life was for him now, but he would like a peaceful one. Or, at least one where people he cared for didn't die on a regular basis. Hence why assassins weren't supposed to have any ties. Trust was a luxury to him. The kid undoubtedly felt the same way.

 

"How did you get mixed up in something like that?" He couldn't help but ask.

 

Kenshin didn't answer for several seconds, and Jason had assumed he'd asked too much and moved on in his train of though when the kid spoke up. "I began learning to fight at the age of eight, just before the War broke out. I was fourteen when I learned of the sufferings others were going through, and wanted to help. Against my master's wishes, I joined the army and became a hitokiri."

 

"An assassin?" Jason didn't know the word, but he'd already figured out as much.

 

The boy looked to the side. "A killer. That is all I was"

 

"You left." It wasn't a question.

 

"I thought I could stop suffering with my sword. I was wrong. A foolish brat who should have listened to his master."

 

"What changed?" the Doctor asked, his voice now reverent despite the fact that he never turned around to look at the two trailing behind him.

 

Kenshin eyed him warily, but continued. "I met...someone."

 

Instantly Jason knew it was a woman. Something about the kid's tone. He raised an eyebrow but didn't comment.

 

Kenshin continued. "I stopped killing because..." He faded off, looking wistfully ahead, obviously lost in a memory.

 

"What happened?" Jason wanted to shoot the alien for that question. Wasn't it obvious? The same thing that happened to...Marie.

 

He shook his own train of thought out of his head as Kenshin walked forward. Apparently, he didn't want to talk about it because he pointed ahead. "The village is over the next hill." With that, he turned and began to walk back the way they'd come.

 

"Oi, where are you going?"

 

"I promised I would rid the fields of youkai." He didn't say anymore and continued to walk away from them. Fortunately, the Doctor knew when to make a tactical retreat. He continued to watch the kid for a minute before turning back with a sigh.

 

After that, they traveled in silence.

 

xXx

 

Himura Kenshin shook his head as he rounded a bend in the road, retracing the steps he'd already taken twice that day. He'd grown soft. Only months after the war ended, and he'd already let down his guard so easily.

 

He didn't think those two were responsible for the local phenomena, but he couldn't help but think that they were connected, and he'd allowed them to distract him to a point where he couldn't figure out how. The only conclusion he could draw, was that they had tried to distract him, and it had worked. Perhaps they'd stumbled across his past somehow. He wouldn't be surprised.

 

Still, their behaviour left far more questions than answers, even if they did know of his past. Also, if they did know, how could they have known he'd be in this area? He'd only just arrived at the small farming town the night before. Add on the fact that the man, Jason, felt like a hitokiri, even if he didn't move exactly like one. One did not gain that instinctive watchfullness and assessing gaze without such a history. Whether he really had left that business or not remained to be seen.

 

Also, the other man had seemed far more involved in Japanese history and politics than most foreigners Kenshin had run across. Plus, there was something about that man too. He'd also witnessed death in a very personal way. Despite his fairly immature antics, he seemed wise; old to a point of reaching 'ancient' in knowledge.

 

The former hitokiri shook his head. How could that be? He didn't look a day over 30. Of course, Kenshin himself barely looked to be a teenager when he'd almost reached adulthood. But still... Not many, especially not that man, could handle the physical training that had stunted his growth.

 

They were an enigma, both of them.

 

He reached the formerly examined fields and began to traipse across them, combing through rows one at a time, looking for something he might have missed. Something real had happened here. It wasn't imagined, and he doubted it could be easily explained. Kenshin had never believed in Youkai. Of course, gaining the reputation of being one himself had had a hand in that. He was not about to start believing just because something came along that he couldn't explain immediately.

 

He'd have to see them face to face before he would even begin...

 

Taking a page from the 'ancient' man's book, he'd leaned a little closer as he examined one of the circles of dead plants, and something caught his eye. An indentation in the ground stood out to him in the center of the circle. Actually, now that he looked, directly in the center. Picking his way carefully into the middle, he bent down and examined the indent.

 

If it had been larger, he would have marked it as a footprint, but he had never seen any human foot leave a print that small. He stared at it for several seconds, memorizing each detail that he could around the area and about the indent. Then, he touched it gently, carefully feeling for anything.

 

In the bottom of the indent, a tiny hole had been covered by loose dirt. As Kenshin's fingers brushed over it, the small grains fell away. Looking around, Kenshin walked calmly to the trees lining the clearing and after a few moments, found a long, thin stick.

 

Slowly, carefully, he pushed the stick down into the hole as soon as he returned to it. Almost immediately, it hit the bottom. Not more than three or four inches below the surface. He wiggled the stick around slightly, feeling for the sides. That's when he realized that the "bottom' of the hole seemed soft...almost squishy.

 

To confirm this, he pulled out the stick, having made the hole slightly bigger, and stuck his finger down inside. He felt something soft and a little slimy give way under his finger. It felt alive.

 

Now more intrigued than ever, he stood to get another stick with which to dig. He had no idea how large this thing was, and would rather have some tool than nothing. It took him a little while to find a fallen branch sturdy enough to dig through the caked, unattended dirt, but he did eventually and trekked back to the area, shoving the stick into the ground as he arrived to begin working on the little indent. After several minutes, he cleared away the dirt to find what looked like a misshapen, gelatin-like egg. It had several tentacle-like growths spreading out and into the dirt around it and seemed to pulse slightly.

 

For some reason he felt almost instinctively drawn to it unlike anything else he had encountered. He reached out to take the strange object when a sudden wooziness washed over him. Surprised, he immediately stood (regretting it as the blood rushed away from his head) and backed away. Taking a calming breath, he analyzed his health, and realized his heart rate had sped up for no apparent reason. His mind seemed to shy away from the strange egg, pushing it back into the corner where he kept some of his darker memories, and he left it behind, forgotten as he made for the road. The more he walked, though, the less he seemed to be able to remain upright. He must have picked up a sickness...maybe even (dare he think it) cholera.

 

If that were the case, he had to get back to town and find help. Gulping down his weariness, he continued walking, remaining upright through sheer will.

 

He'd only just gained the road when blackness started creeping along the edge of his vision. He'd only made it 30 meters, barely past the field's edge, when unconsciousness overtook him, and he flopped onto the hardened dirt.

 

xXx

 

Notes and meanings:

 

Kenshin is his "personal" or first name, and Himura is his "family" name. Normally in Japanese, his personal name would come after his family name (so Himura Kenshin), but because the TARDIS is translating everything into English for Jason, I put it backwards so he'd understand it in English.

 

Hitokiri: Assassin or Manslayer

 

Youkai: Japanese Demons

 

Isshin-shishi: The rebellion that eventually banished the feudal system and opened Japan up to the rest of the world. For all intents and purposes, they started the "Meiji Government" and claimed they wished for a time of relative peace. This group was made up mostly of farmers, workers and slaves who were tired of the Samurai rule and is the side Kenshin fought for. The Loyailsts were those loyal to the Emperor and the Samurai family. The Doctor assumed Kenshin fought against the Isshin-Shishi because many samurai were stripped of their riches and lands and ended up wandering like Kenshin has. Kenshin really just left because he was sick of war and politics. He could have stayed and had a hand in the government if he'd really wanted to.

 

If you have any other questions about anything in the fic, I will answer it as long as it won't spoil the rest of the story. Just let me know! Thanx!

You know the closer you get to something

The tougher it is to see it,

And I'll Never take it for granted,

Let's go!

 

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Nicely done. I like where this is going. The recognition of each others past by Jason (Alonzo...lol) and Kenshin was nicely handled.

 

I'm intrigued with the 'egg' too. Things still feel rushed. However, I'll trust your writing, and that the pace will make sense soon enough.

 

I am enjoying the story though, just to be clear.

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Hmm. Well, the whole thing might feel rushed to you. Maybe it's because I'm trying to put it into a Doctor Who time-frame episode, so about an hour long in script format.

 

I hope that it's not disappointing. ^^;

 

Thank you, and I'm glad you like it so far.

You know the closer you get to something

The tougher it is to see it,

And I'll Never take it for granted,

Let's go!

 

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Thanks for the summaries/descriptions, OBQ, those did help significantly. That said, I can understand and agree with what Brendo's saying, but I also understand where you're coming from. When I read your other current fics, which are SW, I immediately feel a connection for all of the characters, and immediately identify with them. I know them, and wherever you start a story with these familiar characters - or how quickly it progresses - I should still have a better reference point for it.

 

This story, it seems like, would resonate best (not that it doesn't resonate with us) with someone already familiar with all three "worlds", but with the emphasis on Doctor Who - anyone familiar with that show should feel most at home with the pace, since you're used to dropping halfway into a quickly-paced story for an hour show, perhaps meeting a number of characters you are still trying to identify as the action continues. That is the pace you have purposefully chosen here.

 

For those of us who this is new to, it simply doesn't have the "building up, getting to know the characters" which we are used to. And I think, while you could have gotten away with a little more of a pause, were you to spend too much time here with each of the three characters, it would slow the story down too much, and turn it into a novel instead of an "episode."

 

Anywho, I liked meeting Kenshin and, like Brendo, enjoyed the way that he and Jason "recognized" each other. That was a great observation to add, from two people who are trained to be so observant! I'm really curious as to what is up with that egg/root/plant thingy - looks like this is going to be the main dilemma of the "episode"!

"It's always these little worlds that get you in trouble. Like Tatooine. I'm still living that one down." - Han Solo

Your barnacle has carnivorous salamanders the size of whales.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the faith we profess, for he who promised is faithful." -Heb. 10:23

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And now comments from your Doctor Who person:

 

You have the Doctor down really well, and as familiar as I am, this really feels like reading one of the Doctor Who episodes. The pacing, the familiar "Hey, I'm the Doctor, now let's investigate the strange things going on here" plot and introduction is really great.

 

I'm not at all familiar with Kenshin, so your background was nice for that. I've never actually seen the Bourne movies, although I know the plot, etc. And lol at the clip you chose for Doctor Who...so classic!

 

Anyway, I think the pacing is exactly right for a Doctor Who episode, and I love the different reactions to him and how the other two are relating to each other. It will be interesting to see the Doctor interacting with assassins (or rather, former assassins), since he has to face decisions like that so often himself.

 

Definitely looking forward to seeing where you take this, and I love all the little "shout outs" to people familiar with Doctor Who (and I assume ones I'm missing for those familiar with the other two). Case in point, Alonso...LOL.

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SHE MEANS TO END US ALL!!! DOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!11eleventyone!
There goes Ami's reputation of being a peaceful, nice person.
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I have to tell you...the reason I came up with this fic is that I just wanted some of my favorite characters to meet. ^^; That's really how it started. I was watching the Bourne series at my sister's house, and I thought, "man, he's almost as good as Kenshin and Vash (From Ruroni Kenshin and Tri-gun respectively)" and then I thought..."dang it, crossover in the works." ^^;

 

Thing is, The Doctor has such a strong character, writing this in any other format would have been...strange, and as Gimpy said, probably would have taken away from the story instead of adding to it.

 

Again, I just really hope that it doesn't disappoint.

 

It kind of breaks my heart that no one here knows Ruroni Kenshin. It's my favorite manga of all time (tying with a manga called D.N.Angel), and Kenshin is #3 in my top 10 character list (above Mara Jade, Anakin Solo and Obi-wan, who are my top SW characters). I don't think I've met a character that is more tortured than him. ^^;

 

This actually happens quite a while before the series starts. There isn't a whole lot that I'm doing subtly with Jason, other than the name and a few other things here and there, but there will be shout outs to Kenshin too, mostlly having to do with his eye color later on.

 

They were having name issues, Ami. I HAD to put Alonzo (Alonso, however the dang heck you spell it) in there. I think I would have died a little inside if I hadn't. ^^; And yes, that clip is classic. SO classic. I don't know if I ever had him say Alons-y though...may have to fix that.

 

For those of you who have no idea what we're talking about:

You know the closer you get to something

The tougher it is to see it,

And I'll Never take it for granted,

Let's go!

 

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Okay, the following chapter is a bit on the "set up" side, so if this is still too fast for some of you...well, it just doesn't get slower from here on out. ^^; So you have my apologies, and I do hope you like it none the less.

 

As always, critiques encouraged! Thank you!

 

Chapter 3 -- Investigating Disappearances

 

"Where are we going?" Jason couldn't help but ask. For the first time in a long time he felt like he was just getting dragged along for a ride and it had started to get to him. Of course, it wasn't like he'd really been in charge when he'd worked for the government, but the fact that this alien was blatantly "allowing him to tag along" really bothered him.

 

Completely oblivious to Jason's irritation (or outright ignoring it), The Doctor pointed in the direction they'd been walking. "That way."

 

Jason sent him a glare, which (again) he ignored, just as he had when they'd first reached the small village. It had irked him then too, the way Doctor had completely disregarded any of Jason's questions and gone around asking questions as soon as they'd entered town. Annoyed, Jason had shut up hung back for a while until he'd realized he could actually understand what both the Doctor and the villagers said. That had surprised him. He knew some Japanese, but not fluently. On top of that, he'd been sure they'd be speaking in somewhat old-fashioned terms, but he had heard modern English. Just in case they could understand him, he'd decided to not say anything at all until he had a chance to ask the Doctor without being overheard.

 

Now was as good a time as any. "I don't speak ancient Japanese," he commented, figuring the alien had something to do with it--if he deigned to answer Jason's question. "How can I understand these people?"

 

"Oh, that's the TARDIS. Generates a telepathic field that translates the language for you."

 

Jason blinked away his mild surprise. "So that is only within a limited range of your ship?"

 

The Doctor shrugged, pausing for a minute. "Uh...yeah, basically." Looking far more confident than he sounded, he glanced over at Jason and nodded.

 

"Does it allow you to read my mind?"

 

"Not unless you want me to...and even then, humans tend to be so caught up in themselves. It's kind of pointless to get inside heads as you all tend to blather what you're thinking anyway."

 

Jason's eyes narrowed slightly at the insult. "So your race is telepathic?"

 

"You really like to ask questions," the Doctor pointed out, sounding slightly annoyed, but immediately answering the inquiry anyway. "Some were. It's like learning to play an instrument or how to program a computer. It just takes a lot of work and practice."

 

Jason would have raised an inquisitive eyebrow if he hadn't been trained to school his emotions. "So even humans could learn if they tried enough?"

 

The Doctor considered this for a moment, looked Jason up and down, then shook his head. "Nah."

 

The assassin eyed him curiously. Did he say that to just slur on the human race (he seemed to like to do that) or did he see through Jason's poorly veiled question and just respond to avoid having to answer any more questions? The way the Doctor had said it made him doubt that the alien really believed humans couldn't learn telepathy.

 

Maybe he could figure out the technology behind the telepathic field learn how to use that to read other people's minds himself. It would be much easier avoiding everyone who seemed to be on his tail when he got back to his own time.

 

He'd become so lost in his thoughts, that he only barely noticed the Doctor turn onto a path leading up to an old hut sitting on a hill above a small garden similar to the ones they'd come across before. Unlike those fields, however, these had beautiful green leaves of various shapes in neat rows.

 

The American did a quick run down of the area out of sheer habit; best possible hiding places for enemies, cover if necessary, distance from the road and trees, etc. Not that he expected anything to happen during this time and this far into a rural area, but he wasn't about to let himself fall out of habit.

 

"When they come to the door," the Doctor said, "bow. It's polite, and around here it's expected."

 

"Hn," Jason muttered with a slight nod of ascent.

 

"Good," the Doctor nodded, "Shows trust, among other things. You can trust, can't you?" He said it casually and without menace, but Jason still bristled.

 

Once again, the alien ignored him and rapped lightly on the side of the house. A woman came to the sliding door, easing it aside gently as she peered through. Immediately, the Doctor bowed deeply. Annoyed, Jason followed suit, standing up as quickly as he could afterward.

 

"Good day," the Doctor smiled. "I'm the Doctor, this is...er..." he looked over at Jason. "This is Jack Jones." Jason blinked, sending another look at the Doctor, who ignored him. "We're doing an investigation on the disappearances around here recently."

 

The woman, a middle-aged housewife, obviously, bowed back. "I see," she said softly, "are you from the government?"

 

Jason stiffened, but the Doctor took it in stride, whipping out a black booklet and holding it up. "Yes, I am. Jones-san here is my assistant." Jason figured he'd have to insist on being taken back to his own time period as soon as they'd left the hut, not sure how much more of this guy's attitude he could handle before he snapped.

 

"I see," the woman stood aside. "Please come in."

 

The Doctor smiled and nodded before reaching down and yanking off his shoes. Just inside the door, a step went up to a wooden floor probably a foot off of the ground. The Doctor nodded at Jason who took off the straw sandals he'd been wearing almost thankfully. They weren't all that comfortable anyway.

 

He followed the Doctor inside, noting that the woman had knelt down in a very prim manner, bowing deeply so that her forehead touched the floor. The Doctor stood around while she reached to one side of the small hut and took some thin, neatly folded mats from a pile, placing them a little ways away from the fire pit in the center of the room.

 

Nodding in thanks, the Doctor knelt down on the mat, looking completely at home. Having finished his initial inspection of the house (finding at least three routes out if necessary and keeping his eyes on the windows and door of the single room in the hut), Jason took the second place, mimicking the Doctor in his mannerisms.

 

"Allow me to get you some tea," she said, scooting over to the pit and pulling out a pot with water in it.

 

"Thank you," the Doctor smiled. "Now, could you tell me about the disappearance?"

 

The woman's very presence seemed to fall into despair, although she didn't move more than continuing to fix the tea with an erect back.

 

"My son," she said softly. "My husband and I could not have any other children before him, nor have we been able to since his birth. We were extremely pleased to have an heir, and raised him in the traditional fashion. Two weeks ago, he didn't come back when I called him for supper. None of the villagers know where he went. If it hadn't been for Ishikawa-sama's disappearance not two days before, the village would have considered him lost in the forest of his own accord."

 

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that? How old was he?"

 

"He was in his fourteenth year," she said, her voice softer still. "He wasn't very bright, but he was a hard worker. He helped his father gather firewood to sell in town on many occasions, and he never disobeyed purposefully."

 

"I see," the brown-haired man said, taking the tea she had set on the floor before him.

 

Jason had watched her prepare the tea carefully, and didn't like the fact that he did not know the herbs she had placed in the water. She then turned and placed a similar cup before Jason.

 

"Thank you," he said as politely as he could, bowing to the woman, "but I don't really want-"

 

The Doctor cut him off, whispering out of the side of his mouth. "It's extremely rude to not accept something when given." Then he turned and smiled at the surprised housewife.

 

"I don't really want...to trouble you," Jason tried to amend.

 

The woman continued to stare at him, as if she'd been slightly offended. The Doctor rolled his eyes. "Please excuse my assistant," he said. "He is from across seas." The woman nodded as if this explained everything. Jason couldn't help a slight scowl touch his lips, but quickly suppressed it and resumed his expressionless mask.

 

"So, who exactly is Ishikawa-san?" The Doctor resumed, leaning forward after taking a small sip of his tea and setting it before him.

 

"He is””was a village elder. A very wise man that many people went to for advice. He did not have the strength to walk the length of the village. He could not have left on his own, but his family house, of which he unfortunately was the only remaining member, was empty."

 

"What day was that exactly?" Jason wanted to roll his eyes. Why was he asking the not-so-relevant questions first?

 

The woman thought for several seconds. "Monday," she said. "Monday morning."

 

"Which means he disappeared Sunday Night."

 

The housewife blinked. "Yes," she said slowly, as if to ask why he would point out something so obvious.

 

"And where is your husband?"

 

"Gathering firewood," she replied.

 

"I see," the Doctor said, then finished his tea and set it on the ground in front of him. "Well, that will be all then. Thank you." With that he bowed and stood up. She bent her head to the ground again as the Doctor and Jason exited the hut, only taking a moment to slip on their shoes.

 

"Oh," the Doctor waved as he left, although he did not turn around, "the tea was brilliant."

 

xXx

 

Jason waited until they'd come a fair distance from the house before he approached the Doctor.

 

"What was that?"

 

The Doctor glanced at him for a moment. "What was what?"

 

"The strange, random questions, the tea, the black book that convinced her we were government agents..."

 

The brown-haired man paused and turned to him, reaching into his coat. Jason tensed out of habit, and only relaxed when he saw the little black book the Doctor had showed the woman. "Slightly psychic paper. It shows the person what I want them to see. As for the tea, this isn't one of your jobs where you're in danger of being poisoned or attacked. Following the culture helps put people at ease...sometimes."

 

"I get that," Jason said, unimpressed. "That wasn't what I was asking. I'm more concerned that we didn't get as much information as we could have? Why didn't you ask her where she'd last seen her son? Or what he was doing at the time? What did you learn from that?"

 

"Well," the Doctor said light-heartedly, although it sounded a little strained, "first her son probably had a disability. I'm guessing something similar to autism. Also, knowing when the problems started can help to classify the severity of the situation. I also want to know who disappeared to find a connection, and with you offending her like that, it wasn't a good idea to ask any more questions than necessary.

 

"Now, before we go back to the fields, I have one more family to talk to."

 

Jason wanted to groan.

 

xXx

 

It took him a little while to catch onto the Doctor's reasoning, but once he did, Jason found he could follow the conversations fairly easily. He managed to not offend the second woman and her husband who hosted them this time, and as they left Jason couldn't help but see the alien in a new light. Either the man was a genius, or completely insane. Probably a little bit of both.

 

The disapearee had been a woman this time, one who had never married and remained living single with her parents well into her thirties (which the Doctor told Jason was practically unheard of). From what Jason gathered, she'd been a fairly homely woman with at least a slight attitude to match. Of course, he could be wrong, seeing as he had to really read between the lines. These people did not speak ill of anyone deceased or missing. He doubted he'd misread the undertones though.

 

"What do they all have in common," the Doctor muttered to himself. The couple had given them a few more names to add to the list of people who had disappeared, and as Jason looked at it, he realized there wasn't much of a rhyme or reason to them. Four females and six males, one of which was a baby, had vanished within the last two weeks. "There's got to be some reason those specific people disappeared."

 

"If it's a government cover up, it could be lineage," Jason suggested.

 

The Doctor blinked at him incredulously. "How long were you in that program?" he exclaimed. "Not everything's a government coverup!"

 

Jason didn't answer. After a moment, the Doctor shook his head, reviewing the list he'd jotted down (they'd been awfully impressed with just a ball-point pen). "It can't be lineage. This man's family," he pointed to a name on the list, "has lived in the town for decades if not longer. This woman's family, though, recently moved here from Kyoto to escape the war. So did this boy's family."

 

The doctor looked up and around again, although this time he didn't seem to be searching for anything. His eyes had glazed over in thought. Then he sniffed. "No, it can't be lineage, unless it goes back generations."

 

The assassin peered over at the list, running through the names and trying to put the different descriptions he'd heard from the couple.

 

"Most of them weren't very well liked," he commented.

 

The Doctor seemed somewhat startled. "What?"

 

Jason shrugged and pointed to a name on the list. "The daughter of the couple we just saw didn't have many friends. The way they talked about this man made it sound as if he caused a lot of trouble. The baby hadn't been around long enough to have any true friends or enemies and the old man could barely leave his house. The only people who would have cared for them would have been close family or friends."

 

The brown-haired man peered down at the list, his brow furrowed. "You're right," he said. "A lot of them are also very young and very old. Perhaps they're taking a people who won't be missed immediately, or people who can't defend themselves."

 

Jason stopped and stared at his companion. "Who is taking them?" he asked.

 

The Doctor shrugged. "Has to be someone." He shoved the list in his pocket and took out the withered vegetable he'd uprooted earlier. "Right now we're heading back to the Tardis to analyze the..." he cut off as they crested a hill and saw a figure lying on the path.

 

Without saying a word, Jason took off. He knew that figure; Kenshin. The red hair spilled around his form from the high, top-knot pony-tail the boy sported, looking like blood next to the pale skin that seemed whiter than normal.

 

He stopped when he reached Kenshin's side and felt the kid's neck as the Doctor caught up. "He's got a pulse," he said in a hurried, but calm voice, "but he's cold".

 

"And he's breathing," the Doctor added on, "barely."

 

Jason gently turned him to lay on his back to allow for better breathing.

 

"Something's did this to him," the Doctor said suddenly, searching the area quickly. "We need to get him to the TARDIS."

 

"If we move him it could injure him more," Jason protested.

 

"And if we don't whatever it is might come back and finish the job."

 

For several seconds, the two men stared each other down in a battle of wills. Finally Jason gave in. "Fine," he growled. "You hold the sword." The Doctor didn't look too happy, but slid the weapon out of the straps around the boy's waist. Jason then grabbed an arm and pulled the red-head up onto his shoulder.

 

"Lead the way, Doc," he said, not bothering to hide the sarcasm.

 

The Doctor didn't acknowledge the harshness (as usual) and quickly walked past. Jason followed him up and over the hill, around the bend, and across the field to the blue phone box. In seconds, he had the door unlocked and held it open to allow Jason and his burden inside. He quickly followed them, shutting the doors behind him.

 

"Lay him down over there," the Doctor pointed to one side, then sprinted past them to grab something. Jason gently set the kid on the smooth floor to the side of the raised center and felt for a pulse again, relieved when it came faintly to his fingers.

 

He moved back when the Doctor came with a blanket in hand. He spread it over Kenshin, and it fell heavily onto the body. More heavily than a normal blanket in any case.

 

"What is that?"

 

The Doctor looked up. "It's a blanket."

 

"What kind of blanket."

 

"Oh," he shrugged. "It's an adjustment blanket."

 

"Adjustment?" He just figured the alien had made a mistake and he'd meant 'adjusted', but the Doctor nodded.

 

"It adjusts to keep the body at the specified temperature. It will heat up and cool down. Picked it up when I was visiting the planet of the Ood to make sure the mass migration turned out right."

 

Jason frowned down at the covered figure. "He looked fine this morning. You said something did this to him? How do you know?"

 

"There was a slight telepathic trace around him. Too weak to follow, but I sensed it." Before he'd even finished speaking, the doctor slipped on his glasses, rushed over to the console and began to fiddle with the controls. Then he set the vegetable down and took out his sonic screwdriver.

 

"Can't you use the telepathic field from the ship to trace it?"

 

The Doctor paused and sent an impressed look back at the human. "Actually, that's what I'm attempting to do. How did you come up with that?"

 

"You spoke about the telepathic field from the ship like it was stronger than your personal skill. If it's that much stronger, it should be able to find slighter traces more accurately, if it functions like most of the technology I've worked with."

 

For a few seconds, the Doctor said nothing. Then he turned back around, taking a breath. "You're almost right. What I'm really trying to do," he turned on the sonic screwdriver and ran it over the vegetable, "is kill two birds with one stone. Well, three. I think..." he paused and grabbed a wire, jamming the end into the plant and turning on the screwdriver again as he continued. "...That whatever did this to Kenshin also hit the plants. If the telepathic signature matches, I can almost certainly trace both signals back to their origin with the TARDIS."

 

"What if they don't match?"

 

The thin alien didn't even bat an eye. "Then our problem just got worse."

 

"Our problem?" Jason couldn't help the warning note in his voice. The Doctor stopped and turned around slowly. "When did I become apart of this?"

 

"Well," the Doctor paused for a moment, "you see, once I land in a timeline and become part of the events I can't use the TARDIS to go back and change anything in that specific timeline. So you're stuck here for a little while."

 

Jason's continued to direct his stone-carved expression at the man. "Then what about me?"

 

"What about you?" He wasn't nervous when he said it, but something in his tone told Jason his answer.

 

"You took me when you'd gotten involved in my time. You shouldn't have taken me with you when you left the timeline. Why did you?"

 

"Well," the Doctor started, but didn't seem to want to finish.

 

Jason knew the answer anyway. "You were going to try and take me back."

 

A heavy silence fell over the room as again the two men stared at each other in a battle of wills. This time, though, the Doctor backed down first. "Yes, I was."

 

For several more seconds, the silence became so heavy it practically screamed at them. So the Doctor had just wanted questions, and would have dropped him back in the middle of the bullets when they were done. Finally, Jason nodded. Really, why had he ever expected differently? He knew he had to deal with his own problems. Running away didn't help anyone. None the less, he felt somewhat betrayed by this man who he'd only met less than a day before. It just served as another testament as to why trusting anyone was a bad idea.

 

"I was going to help you, though," the Doctor said. Jason knew he wasn't saying it to try and amend the damage, but it still didn't help the situation. "Really."

 

The former assassin didn't answer, instead bending down to check Kenshin's pulse again. His temperature had gone back up and some color had returned to his face. The steady thumping under his fingers felt stronger too.

 

A sudden beeping had him whirling back to the console, watching as the Doctor rushed around, adjusting more knobs in between pressing buttons left and right.

 

"What does that mean?" Jason asked, not caring that his voice sounded much colder than it had before.

 

"That means," the Doctor said, sticking his tongue between his teeth in concentration, "I was right...and wrong."

 

"What do you mean?"

 

The beeping stopped, and the tall man froze as he watched a screen on the console. "It means that the telepathic signals are so similar they're almost identical...but they're coming from two different sources. And if I'm right," he paused and looked back at Jason, his expression serious. "There aren't just two of those out there, there are at least a dozen weaker signals...and one very strong one.

 

"The real problem, though, is that the one that did this to the vegetable and the one that attached itself to Kenshin were both weaker." He sighed taking off his glasses. "It's been at work for at least three hours, probably more."

 

"Doing what exactly?"

 

The Doctor looked back at Jason. "Feeding off of his life force. The being that did this is an alien."

 

xXx

 

Author's Notes: I didn't realize how...mean I made the Doctor seem in this. Now the Doctor has been known to be condescending when he's annoyed or distracted, but he also values life and intelligence so much that he encourages both when he can. He's normally not like this. The point I was trying to get across in this is that Jason's gotten on the Doctor's nerves just as much as the Doctor has gotten on his. Despite that, they both seem to have a begrudging respect for the other that kind of...just happened. ^^; I wasn't really planning on it, but the characters seemed to just write themselves that way.

 

Note: The Doctor was planning on taking Jason out of the situation and then put him back somewhere else an hour or so later if Jason proved to be telling the truth about not having done anything to warrant being chased/arrested. Like I said, he likes to help people out, and tends to not trust government organizations very much.

 

Oh, I've decided Saturdays are the best update days for this story at least. I'm still going to stick to Mondays for my Anakin time travel fic.

 

Haven't decided about my Leia time travel one.

 

Anyway, please reply!

You know the closer you get to something

The tougher it is to see it,

And I'll Never take it for granted,

Let's go!

 

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Oh good! It does slow down here for a chapter or two, but it will probably speed back up again towards the end.

 

I really enjoyed writing the Doctor and Jason interacting. It's entertaining.

You know the closer you get to something

The tougher it is to see it,

And I'll Never take it for granted,

Let's go!

 

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Nice update. I don't think it was anything outstanding, but it was good, solid writing, and I really enjoyed reading it. I felt like the Doctor was a tiny bit out of character in this update, but I can't really point to where I feel is out of character, so it might just be my imagination.

 

Nice job, and keep it up!

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SHE MEANS TO END US ALL!!! DOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!11eleventyone!
There goes Ami's reputation of being a peaceful, nice person.
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I really liked this post! I think what really stood out were the interactions between Jason and the Doctor - they were both hilarious and a bit fascinating.

 

The Doctor ignoring Jason's questions, his views of humans in general, etc.... lol. I'm enjoying his character more and more as this goes along. Also, in response to your note after the post, I didn't get the impression that the Doctor was mean here at all - it just fits his distracted and yet completely focused nature, especially when, in this scenario, he is still trying to figure out and possibly "fix" Jason's situation as well. And, like you mentioned, both are getting on the other's nerves. I think you've done a good job of portraying all of that.

 

"Oh, that's the TARDIS. Generates a telepathic field that translates the language for you."

I read that and thought, "How utterly convenient for a TV show!" I'm pretty amused by how the show seems to have put crazy complex technology together in such a way where they avoid trying to explain any of it or having to build any crazy new props...and yet, it is all so handy for letting the Doctor pop into any culture or time period he wants. Another example of that was at the end of this section, with the screwdriver and a wire stuck into the vegetable make the Doctor sound like a rather crazy scientist, and yet apparently are tried and true methods of investagtion for him. Lol!

 

There are so many lines in this part which made me laugh as the Jason and Doctor continue to figure each other out (and annoy each other a bit at t same time). Some of the lines I enjoyed most were:

"Not unless you want me to...and even then, humans tend to be so caught up in themselves. It's kind of pointless to get inside heads as you all tend to blather what you're thinking anyway."

 

Jason would have raised an inquisitive eyebrow if he hadn't been trained to school his emotions. "So even humans could learn if they tried enough?"

The Doctor considered this for a moment, looked Jason up and down, then shook his head. "Nah."

 

The Doctor blinked at him incredulously. "How long were you in that program?" he exclaimed. "Not everything's a government coverup!"

Hilarious!

 

"Good," the Doctor nodded, "Shows trust, among other things. You can trust, can't you?" He said it casually and without menace, but Jason still bristled.

I liked this line a lot...like the instructions on culture which the Doctor gave Jason, it shows how that first, quick scene we were introduced to is continuing to play into this. The Doctor is still just as interested with Jason as he is with the new situation they found in Japan. It's a different kind of interest, however, because here there is a definite bad guy and people to save, while with Jason he seems mostly concerned with trying to help Jason learn to trust and interact with people better (while still trying to figure out how dangerous he is).

 

Anywho, good stuff! Getting to know these characters more is fun, and the more I know them, the more I enjoy each post as it comes. You're doing a good job of character interactions and continuing the plot of the disappearances all within a tight frame of time.

"It's always these little worlds that get you in trouble. Like Tatooine. I'm still living that one down." - Han Solo

Your barnacle has carnivorous salamanders the size of whales.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the faith we profess, for he who promised is faithful." -Heb. 10:23

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Yosh! I did it! I wrote the Doctor so someone who doesn't know the series can still know the character! Everything you just described about the Doctor is EXACTLY what I was trying to portray! *glomp* THANK YOU SO MUCH!

 

Another example of that was at the end of this section, with the screwdriver and a wire stuck into the vegetable make the Doctor sound like a rather crazy scientist, and yet apparently are tried and true methods of investagtion for him. Wink Lol!

 

As the series goes on, the Sonic Screwdriver gets more and more complicated. It's kind of entertaining to watch, but there's one point in the series where there's a guy from the future with them in Londan, and they're about to get attacked. So he says he has a sonic blaster, and he asks the Doctor what he has. The Doctor says: "I have a...oh, never mind."

Jack (guy from the future): Sonic what? Sonic canon?

Doctor: No! Just know it's sonic! I'm all Sonicked up!

Jack: Sonic shotgun?!

Doctor: NO!

Jack: Well what?!

Doctor: SCREWDRIVER!

 

LMHO

 

So later, Jack's making fun of it. He says something along the lines of "who looks at a screwdriver and thinks 'this could use some sonicking'". Then the Doctor turns around and says "have you ever had to put up a lot of cabnates? Hmm?" *snicker*

 

Okay, done there. But yeah, later on he can diagnose medical problems and scan things and all sorts of fun stuff with it.

You know the closer you get to something

The tougher it is to see it,

And I'll Never take it for granted,

Let's go!

 

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Indeed---the sonic screwdriver is the deus ex machina for the entire series. There are only a few things that it can't do--deadlock sealed things and wood. For some reason.

 

"Who looks at a screwdriver and thinks 'This could be a bit more sonic'?"

 

LOL, I also like in that episode how the Doctor is always trying to replace Jack's sonic blaster with a banana. "Bananas are good!"

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It can't unlock wood, but it can resonate with the water inside of it to make it go 'splody'....boom. No, I don't plan on using that later on in the fic at all. *whistles innocently*

 

I find it rather funny that he SUCCEEDS in switching the blaster for a banana.

You know the closer you get to something

The tougher it is to see it,

And I'll Never take it for granted,

Let's go!

 

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Thanks again to everyone still reading this! I appreciate it. It's not very long, only 8 or 9 chapters (I always lose track of my chapters. ^^; ). Thanks again for the responses! I appreciate it!

 

Chapter 4: Aliens in Old Japan?

 

Jason felt his eyes widen at the revelation. An alien? On Earth? This early in history? As far as he knew, Earth was alone in the universe. Sure the Doctor said he was an alien, and Jason did believe him, but this just made it...real. Besides, the Doctor at least looked human, so it had been easy to treat him as such.

 

"You mean an alien like you?"

 

"Of course not," the Doctor shot him an offended look. "I'm not a parasite."

 

"What then?"

 

"Not sure."

 

Jason scoffed. "Helpful."

 

"Oi," the Doctor defended, "I'll have you know there are at least a dozen different species that this could be! To figure out exactly what it is," a smile crept over his face, "we'll have to find one."

 

The assassin could only blink in surprise. "So you want to go out there, run around, and try to find a creature that wants to suck our bodies dry of energy when we have no idea what it looks like?"

 

The Doctor considered that for a moment. "Basically." That stupid smile never left his face.

 

Jason suppressed a sigh, shooting a dangerous glare at him. "Do you enjoy living like this?"

 

The Doctor shrugged. "What's not to love? Lots of running. Keeps you healthy." The American rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something when a noise from behind him distracted them both.

 

"Where is this?" Kenshin had apparently woken up, because he sat up and looked around at the large room, his face paling slightly again.

 

"Um, it's..." the Doctor started, "a little complicated."

 

"We're inside his space ship," Jason spoke up, his voice dry.

 

Kenshin blinked at them, took another quick look around, then turned back to them. "What is a space ship?"

 

Jason stared at him like he'd sprouted wings and horns. How could someone not know what a spaceship was? Had they gone that far back in time? Hadn't most first world countries gone through major ideal awakening in the late 1800's? He'd thought it would just be that simple.

 

"It's...a ship that sails through the stars," the Doctor finally spoke up.

 

Kenshin's eyes widened. "The stars? How is that possible?"

 

"Look," Jason said before the Doctor could say anything, "one of us will explain the details later. Right now, we need to find an alien."

 

"Not helping," the Doctor muttered. He then turned and spoke to the red-head. "We found you on the road, passed out. Do you remember what happened before that?"

 

Concentration crossed the boy's features as he tried to remember. "I...found something."

 

"What?"

 

"In the ground. It looked like an egg, but it was soft."

 

"What?" The Doctor's voice had turned serious again.

 

"That's all I can remember," Kenshin said with a scowl.

 

The Doctor held up his hand. "Small and white, about this big?" he asked, nodding to the two or three inches of space between his forefinger and thumb.

 

"Yes," the kid nodded. "What's wrong?" Apparently, Jason wasn't the only one who saw the color drain from the Doctor's face.

 

"The situation just got worse."

 

"How?" Kenshin asked. At the same time Jason said, "Why?"

 

"It's a Demmelfca," he said. "A parasite that can travel through space. It lands on planets, reproduces and buries its young, which then feed off of the life on the planet while the parent moves on. The larvae ravage the land then move on themselves when the food source runs out."

 

Jason spoke up. "Let me guess; the food source is 'life force'." He couldn't believe he just said that seriously.

 

"Life force?" Kenshin asked, looking thoroughly confused.

 

The Doctor turned around and squatted in front of the console, reaching up and into something on the bottom. When he pulled his hand out, he held four, white, smooth gems that seemed to glow. On the flat bottom, a circuit had been placed.

 

"Here," the alien tossed one to each of the humans. "These will protect you from them."

 

"These?" Jason raise a skeptical eyebrow.

 

"What are they?" Kenshin asked, studying his closely.

 

"They're telepathic gems with dampening circuits."

 

"Huh?" the swordsman looked up, more puzzled than ever.

 

"The thing you touched feeds through a link to your mind. Well, your soul really. This will protect you from it. Place it somewhere on your skin, and it will stay there until you want it released."

 

The Doctor put it on the back of his hand and held it up for them to see, wiggling his fingers. "See?"

 

Jason raised an eyebrow and reluctantly decided to place his on his person, just below the collarbone. Kenshin continued to look at it skeptically for several seconds before he placed his on the back of his neck.

 

"Right! Do not take those off, and don't touch them! The eggs, I mean. That's how they make contact, through touch. As long as you don't touch any directly, you'll be fine. And you," he pointed at Kenshin, "if you take it off, that thing will start to feed off of you again. Got it?"

 

Kenshin's eyes widened. "It is still 'feeding' off of me?"

 

The Doctor began to rush around again, grabbing the vegetable and sticking it in his coat pocket with one hand while the other hit a few more buttons. "Was. Right now, the TARDIS is protecting you." Looking down, he seemed to contemplate for a moment. "Now where did I put that? Oh yes!" He rushed over to a seemingly random part of the mesh floor, dropped down and removed said flooring. He then stuck his hand down inside and pulled out a large, old-fashioned looking remote control.

 

"What's that?" Jason asked.

 

"This..." he paused, "is a way for me to link back to the ship," he said absently as he checked it over. A few seconds later, apparently satisfied, he got up again and ran out of the room. "Don't touch anything!" he said before he disappeared deeper into the ship.

 

Behind Jason, Kenshin cleared his throat. "Could you please explain now?" he asked.

 

Jason scratched his head. He really had no reason not to. "Um, you know the Earth is round, right?"

 

Kenshin deadpanned. "I am familiar with the concept."

 

"Good." That made the explanation much easier. "So, what if I said there were other planets out there? Like ours, but more advanced. They can travel through the stars."

 

"The planets?"

 

"No, the people on the planets."

 

The red-head cocked his head, trying to wrap his mind around the new concept. "Like ships sail through the sea?"

 

Jason paused for a moment, comparing the analogy. "Something like that," he said finally. "Well, this guy is from one of those planets."

 

"Why would he visit Earth?"

 

The former assassin shrugged. "Beats me."

 

"Oi, I have my reasons," both men turned to see the Doctor coming through the door, and tossed each of them a small bundle.

 

"What's this?" Jason asked.

 

"Gloves," the Doctor said. "They have to make skin contact to establish the feeding link."

 

Kenshin shook his head as he forced himself unsteadily to his feet. "I still do not understand. How can something feed off of one's life?"

 

The Doctor still seemed to be rushing around, although Jason had no idea what he was doing. "Living requires energy. These feed off of that energy."

 

"How?"

 

The alien finished with a flamboyant slap to a particularly large button and turned around to face them. "You know, you're as bad with questions as he is," he nodded to Jason, who didn't react. Then he turned and ran to the door, taking out the device he'd said would link him back to the ship. "All right, boys, let's go!"

 

xXx

 

Kenshin had seen his share of strangeness in his life. After his time and involvement in the war, for his young age, he had definitely witnessed the practically unexplainable.

 

This topped the list. Easily. And he wondered exactly how the situation had come into being so quickly. Somehow, he'd been quite literally swept up and now traveled with another man from across seas, who at least somewhat shared his sentiment, and another who apparently wasn't even human. He didn't look strange, although now that he thought about it, there had always been something off about this man. His ki felt...different, in a way he couldn't describe. So honestly, Kenshin could believe this man was not born on this planet (although he still found the whole idea difficult to swallow). That could also explain how he'd thought the man was older than he looked. Perhaps on other planets, people lived for centuries.

 

He followed the Jason (now in dark, tight clothing that made Kenshin uncomfortable just by looking) who in turn followed the Doctor. The alien had left his long coat behind, and now only wore the brown suit similar to those that the Westerners favored.

 

That's when he noticed where they'd exited. It was the exact place the small, blue box had been earlier. Turning around, Kenshin couldn't help his mouth dropping in astonishment.

 

"This is the work of youkai!" he gasped. The inside of the box, which he could now clearly see, was somehow bigger than the outside. It made no logical sense!

 

"Nope," the Doctor responded as he shut the doors and locked them, "It's not magic. Not really. It's just..." he paused, noticing Kenshin's frankly astonished look. "My...magic. This way!" With that, he grinned broadly and then started off towards the fields. Kenshin decided he'd think on it later. He didn't know if his over-taxed mind could handle it at the moment.

 

The three men hurried over the fields, with the Doctor in the lead. He turned slightly north, away from the roads, and angling towards the opposite end of the fields, closer to the forest. Kenshin wondered briefly why they had decided to forgo looking into the small, egg-like creatures, and he also wondered how the man seemed to know his destination as his eyes stayed locked on the little box-like thing he'd said would hook himself up to the impossible box. Yet another thing that made no sense to him, just like seemingly everything else about this man.

 

As they continued to walk, coming to the edge of the forest and never slowing down, Kenshin came to two realizations. First, they made for strange allies. Second, he'd begun to trust them. Saving someone's life tended to render that kind of bond, but it was more than that. These two men had not lied to him once. Even the man who claimed to be a former assassin. They'd both withheld information (not that Kenshin could really blame them, as he would do the same in their shoes), but they had not lied.

 

"Doctor," Jason spoke up, drawing Kenshin's glance. "Are these things we're going after intelligent?"

 

"Don't know," the alien shrugged and smiled again. "We'll find out."

 

"That's why we're passing the fields. You're heading after the parent."

 

The Doctor shot another impressed glance at the assassin. "You're assuming the stronger signal is the parent."

 

"It is, isn't it?" The Doctor didn't answer. Instead, his grin widened, showing more than a little mischief and a touch of insanity to boot. It didn't seem to reassure Jason, and the former hitokiri found he agreed with the sentiment.

 

Kenshin still found following their conversations somewhat difficult. Even though they spoke Japanese well, it still seemed like they were really speaking in a completely different language. He'd only vaguely heard of half the terms they threw around and discussed, as if they used them on a regular basis.

 

Honestly, for the first time since he'd left his Master's place, Kenshin felt outclassed. The alien possessed knowledge and experience that he suspected put his brief (albeit harsh) experience to shame, while the other had lived a life much like his, but for longer and with more up-to-date knowledge on technology. All Kenshin had at his disposal was Hiten Mitsurugi. The style wasn't anything to scoff at, but it still felt somewhat inadequate. Of course, he also had not seen the men fight. Perhaps he'd reserve judgment.

 

The Doctor traipsed, uncaring and loud through the underbrush, while the two humans ghosted along behind him, intent on the area around them and keeping their senses open for danger. The ground began to slant up more steeply as they approached the mountains.

 

Kenshin felt the strange ki long before the Doctor stopped them with a hand signal. It made the human-like alien's ki seem normal. Again, Kenshin tried to place the feeling, but the only word that his mind would supply was "different".

 

"Right," the Doctor said, shoving the device into his pockets (Kenshin vaguely wondered how he could do so when the pocket didn't seem large enough). "It's just ahead," he fixed them with a serious look. "Now, by the time they become adults, their appearance changes somewhat, but you can't stare at it or it will get offended.

 

"Look around. If you can see anyone else, help them while I talk to it."

 

"What will you discuss?" Kenshin asked calmly.

 

The Doctor gave him a scrutinizing look. "It's only doing what it was born to do," he responded. "If it's intelligent at all, I have to give it a chance."

 

"And if it doesn't want to take your chance?" Jason asked, his tone dry and sarcastic.

 

The Doctor didn't answer, meeting his eyes for just a moment before pulling out his own pair of gloves and slipping them on.

 

"Alright," he said, fixing them both with one last look. "Alons-y!"

 

Immediately, he turned around, hurrying through the trees and bamboo shoots again. Kenshin and Jason quickly caught up, although Kenshin noticed his fellow human seemed to be having a slightly more difficult time. Perhaps American and English forests weren't like these? The thought had never really crossed his mind.

 

They slowed as a large ridge stretched up a good 20 feet before them. Almost directly ahead, a large cave opened ominously. Without so much as a hesitation, the Doctor climbed inside. Kenshin exchanged a wary glance with Jason before they both followed.

 

xXx

 

Jason didn't know quite what to expect when they walked in the cave. He'd figured it would be something that he'd see on Star Trek or Twilight Zone or something like that. Instead, he got an eye-full of psychedelic 70's. The actual shape the Doctor had described for what he assumed were the young didn't change too much, although it got lumpier. And disturbingly, it pulsated.

 

Strange colors seemed to have dyed the skin, snaking out like splashes that mixed and melded in a few places like ink tossed on a canvas, but unmoving like a tattoo. Red, purple and blue throbbed through the top-most, transparent layer of skin, coloring over the dull yellowish gray flesh below.

 

He noticed its large tentacles moving around lethargically, and it even seemed to glow slightly, (seriously, it looked like it had been yanked right out of a bad trip). It also didn't look quite like a what he thought a giant squid would, as the tentacles varied in size and tapered off at the end to a sharp point. They reminded him more of tree branches swaying in the wind than actual appendages. The varying iridescence cast the dark cave into a dim, spinning light that reminded Jason of a lava lamp.

 

The really strange thing about the whole scene, was that the thing wasn't nestled in a corner, nor did it look to be the center of a web with the tentacles spread out. No, the large mass of flesh easily the size of a car actually floated lazily around the small cave. He had no idea how the heck something that large could freaking fly. Some of the floating appendages had wrapped themselves around various objects, and it took a few seconds before Jason realized they were people. Even from here, he could see many had turned into dried-out husks, now resembling the vegetable thing they'd extracted from the ground earlier.

 

A little worried, Jason glanced over at Kenshin to see how the kid was taking it. Not very well, he concluded. He'd stopped, eyes wide in utter disbelief as he tried to take in the impossible scene. He also looked a little sick. Whether that was from the sickening motion of the pulsing light or just the scene in general working on him was anybody's guess.

 

"Hey," he whispered to the kid, who turned his dark eyes up to Jason. "You gonna be okay?"

 

For a moment, the former hitokiri said nothing. Then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, nodded and walked past Jason, stopping behind the Doctor, who had paused on some fairly level ground a few feet inside the cave entrance.

 

With a glance back at the other two, the alien reached down and removed the white gem from the back of his hand. Jason and Kenshin eyed him warily, but said nothing. Then he turned and tossed the gem to Jason.

 

"Stay out of it's way," he nodded into the cave. "If you find anyone, put that on them. I have another one, remember?" Jason wanted to ask if he'd suddenly lost it. Of course there was no way he was going to approach that thing. Kenshin, on the other hand, simply nodded and began edging his way around the thing, keeping close to the large rocks that littered the ground and made a partial wall. Watching the kid simply follow orders like that struck a little too close to home, and he made a mental note to talk to him about it later.

 

Right now, though, he figured he should probably try going the opposite direction.

 

"Oh, that's not good," the Doctor's voice stopped him in his tracks.

 

"What?" he asked quietly.

 

"He's never heard of the Shadow Proclamation."

 

"The what?"

 

The Doctor shot him a look that said 'I'll tell you later'. "Well," he said aloud to the thing. Jason had the distinct feeling he was speaking up specifically for their benefit. "It essentially means, 'I come in peace, let's talk'!"

 

He paused for a moment, apparently listening through telepathy, Jason realized. Had he really taken off the protection just to talk to the thing? Such a dangerous move would never have crossed his mind, and even now he couldn't help but marvel at the stupidity of it. You weren't supposed to open yourself up to the enemy like that!

 

"That's why we're here," he said.

 

Another pause.

 

"I'm here to help," he said finally. Jason found himself a little more on edge when he heard the slightly desperate tone in his voice. "I can take you and your young to a planet with no sentient life where you can raise them..."

 

He faded off. After a moment, his face took on a slightly sickened look.

 

"But you can live off of...other types..."

 

The Doctor stopped again, 'listening' to the thing. Jason had reached a corner of the cave, and did not like what he saw. Apparently the thing liked to deposit its victims in this corner. He recognized the clothing on the bodies belonging to what he'd been able to observe of the culture. They'd come too late. An indifferent mask slid over his face as he began to shift through them. Normally as an assassin, he wasn't the one who had to 'clean up' after his missions. That's what he left to the cops and politicians. That's also what it felt like he was doing, for some reason.

 

He hated it.

 

"I could take you there in minutes! They won't die!" The Doctor insisted. Jason didn't respond, just looking for a sign of unwrinkled flesh...of life.

 

"No you””Kenshin!" The Doctor's voice had him spinning around so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. He could barely see the kid over in the corner, and he didn't look too bad. The red-head stared defiantly back at the doctor, his hands on something.

 

"I will not let him die," Kenshin said softly, although Jason could hear him clearly.

 

"You really shouldn't have done that!" The Doctor said.

 

"I'll be fine," the teenager insisted.

 

And right about then is when everything hit the fan.

 

xXx

 

Kenshin wished he could hear how successful the Doctor's arguments were, but without 'hearing' the other side, he could only take what the human-like alien said.

 

He didn't sound too successful.

 

The former hitokiri continued his stealthy glide around the cave, over crumbling boulders and through the dust, dirt and leaves littered throughout the smaller rubble on the floor. He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and froze, looking over to find one of the Thing's appendages (he really couldn't call them arms) had drifted towards him...and what's more, it held something in it.

 

The bloated tentacle had wrapped its rough, uneven skin around someone. Kenshin felt his eyes harden. It had just sucked the life right out of him. It was a boy, Kenshin surmised from the build. Couldn't have been more then 13 or 14...

 

Wait... Kenshin's eyes went wide. He'd felt ki from the form... The boy was still alive. He took several quick steps that put him close to the slow tentacle easily as thick around as his waist. As soon as he'd come up to the yellowish-gray flesh, he put a hand on the boy's mouth. Yes! He could feel a breath! But only barely.

 

It only took moments for the swordsman to surmise the situation. Who knew how long the kid had been wrapped up and touching the thing? It needed direct contact to start feeding, but what happened if it continued to touch someone? Kenshin had had serious problems after only 15 minutes or so, although he suspected a lot of that had to do with how it worked on his mind. He figured he'd only been out maybe three and a half hours judging from the position of the sun when they'd exited the impossible box.

 

The boy was dying.

 

So Kenshin did the only thing he could think of. Reaching in back of his neck, he grabbed the gem/jewel thing that somehow had stuck there, and it came off immediately. He glanced over at the doctor one more time, and then stuck the gem on the boy's neck.

 

"Kenshin!" The Doctor yelled his name. Somehow, the red-head felt whatever 'link' he had with the little egg immediately. Now that he concentrated on it, the influence it had over him, even from this distance, surprised him. It was subtle, but there nonetheless, and it did seem to be draining his energy.

 

Nothing he couldn't handle, now that he was aware of it. At least for a while. With determined eyes, he fixed his stare on the Doctor, flaring his ki dangerously.

 

"I'm not going to let him die."

 

The man ran a hand through his hair. "You really shouldn't have done that!"

 

"I'll be fine," the former hitokiri insisted.

 

He saw it coming, but even with his reflexes he couldn't dodge it. The formerly lethargic, slow tentacles suddenly shot out at a much greater speed, wrapping themselves around his upper body and neck. Kenshin's eyes suddenly went wide.

 

You taste good. Instinctively, Kenshin knew it was the Thing talking...directly into his head? The thought process he quite literally felt from the thing was surprisingly simple.

 

No! Don't! That was strange...he heard the Doctor, but it felt more like an echo...like someone had yelled from a great distance. Still, the intensity of the man's words weren't lost.

 

"Let him go!" This time he knew he'd actually heard the Doctor.

 

Then the feeling of his energy draining away came back, but so much stronger and more sudden it took Kenshin's breath away. His hands had already grasped the tentacle in a vain effort to get it to let go. The rough-looking skin felt rubbery beneath his gloved fingers.

 

They worked hard on you. They weren't words per se, but Kenshin understood the basic concept none the less. He didn't quite realize what the thing meant until the flashbacks started. He saw his memories surround him, each as realistic as when he'd lived through them. His parents, smiling as they worked on their fields, making sure to keep him out of sight of others passing by. The women who protected him from the marauders falling before his eyes, begging him to live. Hiko Sejiro thrusting a sword into his hand, spending hour after hour on training him to wield the weapon.

 

So small, but so tasty... The army doing everything they could to keep him a secret, even as he sharpened and honed his skill as a hitokiri. The blood never really did seem to come off of his skin even now...and then the really painful memories started.

 

"NO!" he yelled, screamed really, rejecting the utterly drenching pain as she flashed before his eyes. He couldn't face this...not so soon after. Only two years, and he hadn't been able to visit her grave once. He didn't feel worthy. He never would. She'd done so many things for him...she'd changed him...

 

They stopped almost as quickly as they had come, and he sat there, breathing hard. The Thing still had its tentacle wrapped firmly around him, but he couldn't hear it any longer.

 

"Kenshin?" he heard the fairly strained voice of the Doctor and forced himself to look up. He stood there, looking at him worriedly with his hand on Kenshin's now exposed arm where the loose sleeve had fallen down when he'd tried to loosen the thing's grip. The white stone in between the dark-haired man's fingers pressed firmly to Kenshin's skin.

 

"That's...yours," the hitokiri said tiredly.

 

"Are you alright?"

 

So...tasty... The voice came faintly to his mind.

 

"It's...still there," he said slowly, gasping for breath. "The stronger...one. I can still...hear it."

 

The Doctor didn't look too happy, but he nodded. "It's stronger than the dampening gem."

 

You different...but so delicious... That's when Kenshin realized it. The thing had turned its attention away from him. The tentacle had loosened enough he could even slip out with a little struggling. Why had it? Then he realized where its energy had turned to instead...

 

"You touched it," Kenshin, his voice accusing.

 

The Doctor didn't answer.

 

"He what?" Jason asked, coming to stand beside them.

 

"I'm fine," The Doctor insisted, but his face had gone pale. Determined, Kenshin finally slipped free of the appendage, surprised that he could remain standing upright.

 

"Sunofa..." Jason muttered, fading off before he finished, and fished inside a pouch at his hip. Seconds later, he had the fourth gem in his hand and had stuck it onto the Doctor's hand.

 

The man sighed in relief.

 

Why! Almost not feel you! Suddenly more tentacles shot towards them, almost faster than Kenshin could watch...but not faster than he could draw a sword.

 

Slash. He'd turned the blade to the reverse side, cutting through at least three of the appendages like they were made of butter. The thing recoiled, and vaguely, Kenshin heard it scream in his mind in pain.

 

Both Jason (who had some strange, metal tube in his hand pointed at the thing) and the Doctor couldn't help but stare in amazement. Out of habit, the swordsman slid his sakabatō back into the scabbard after flicking off the substances the thing had left on his precious sword.

 

I kill you! Even more tentacles came at them. Jason came out of his stupor first. Loud bangs that hurt Kenshin's ears came from the metal tube. Was that a gun? He'd never seen one shaped quite like that before...

 

"Get out! Now!" he vaguely heard the Doctor say, and nodded in acknowledgment. Somehow, they ducked all of the now incredibly fast tentacles and made it out of the cave. It seemed to be somewhat cautious concerning them now, although the anger was slowly pushing that caution to the side.

 

Once outside, Kenshin noticed that Jason had grabbed the boy, now carrying him as he rushed along ahead of them. After a few seconds, Jason seemed to realize they weren't keeping up with him, and turned to urge them on. He never got the chance. Instead, his eyes flew wide.

 

"DUCK!" he yelled. Kenshin's battle reflexes kicked in, and he did as he was told, dropping to the ground as something rushed by overhead. The thing had flown at them, taking out several of the trees and bamboo shoots, raining them heavily down around the group.

 

I kill you! I kill you! I kill you! I eat you now!

 

He felt the words in his head, along with the anger and frustration that came along with it, and for just a moment, he wasn't in the Meiji era, but in the Bakumatsu, on protection detail. A touch of depression made it's way in through the mask he used to clamp down on his feelings. So this is what his teacher had meant when he'd told Kenshin that he'd never be able to escape it. Would he be drawn back every time a remotely dangerous situation arose?

 

Standing up, he shoved those thoughts aside to contemplate on later, ignoring the drain on his energy reserves. He only had a handful of techniques he could use against an opponent like this. Most of his battoujutsu required him to be standing on solid ground. With the way this thing was flying at him, he doubted he'd live through using those techniques against that...thing. He'd never had to go up against something with that kind of mass and speed before.

 

So he had to get higher...than a flying youkai-like thing. Right. He'd have one shot at this, if he was lucky.

 

Expertly, he dodge-rolled as the thing came diving at them again. It was worse than a volley of cannon balls! Fortunately, that kind of speed required a great deal of control to stop, pause or turn. As such, they should have a few seconds in between each attack. Glancing around, he saw Jason taking shelter at the base of a tree, leaving the boy there. The Doctor crouched low to the ground, searching the sky. One look told Kenshin the alien would be alright, so he followed the man's gaze. In the distance, the thing turned and began to speed back towards them.

 

Eyes steeling, the former hitokiri sprinted towards a nearby tree, placed his foot on the sloping trunk and leapt towards the lowest branch, landing on it nicely and crouching immediately so as to use the momentum to launch himself towards the next cluster of branches. That would be high enough.

 

The thing swooped low, heading for the Doctor. Jason had pulled out his guns again and was shooting at the thing, yelling and racing towards them. Kenshin liked his spirit. Not to mention the distraction.

 

The thing continued to scream in his head, louder and angrier each time the shots hit it. He saw it adjust its position just enough to take a swipe at both the Doctor and Jason. The assassin apparently realized it too, because he started running sideways, never stopping his bullets except to reload, and, impossibly, he shot 12 bullets before he had to reload each time! The very idea of guns that efficient did not sit well with the hikotiri at all.

 

He didn't need to steel himself or take a deep breath before he took a running leap off of the branch, directly at the Doctor, who had flattened himself on the ground again. The gun shots stopped, and Kenshin realized that Jason had paused to stare in both amazement and utter disbelief. The thing passed directly underneath him, and he thrust his sword down through the hard, rubbery flesh in a perfectly executed Ryu Tsui Sen Zan.

 

The egg-shaped alien screeched in his mind, now in panic more than anything else. It immediately swept up into the sky, speeding away with Kenshin clinging to the sword now buried almost to the hilt in its flesh. The colorful substance that had flashed through its skin had begun to spurt out, staining Kenshin's hakama and making the thing's back slippery.

 

His expression never changed through the whole ordeal, but now just a slightest touch of worry entered his eyes. Heights and hikotiri didn't often mix. He'd had to deal with a few assignments that incorporated some of the higher buildings in Kyoto, but those rarely reached more than three or four stories. All of this flashed through his mind in an instant as he realized he had to withdraw immediately.

 

Bracing his feet as well as he could, he yanked at the sword. It took more strength than he cared to admit, but it finally slid loose, causing the thing to shriek yet again and increase its speed. With his sword came more of the substance, now covering him in a strange, glow. No longer able to keep his footing on the slippery, moving surface, he pushed off haphazardly, only then realizing just how high into the air they'd been able to climb in just those few seconds he'd been on the thing's back.

 

If he came out of this alive, he doubted he'd be able to move for a very long time. If not...well, he hoped he wouldn't be reincarnated as bird.

 

Of course, that's when his adrenalin rush wore off and his vision faded to black as the combination of speed, fatigue and sheer shock finally overtook him.

 

xXx

 

Author's note: Okay, so a little background is probably needed here. Kenshin's sword style, Hiten Mitsurugi, is (despite being a style that's made up for the series) actually a rather logical style that could work. However, it's rather difficult to pull off in real life mainly because of the height factor. Most of the katas and moves have to be executed from a higher angle than the opponent. This is one reason why Kenshin has become so fast, because to make up for his lack of height, he's learned to climb, jump, tumble and do whatever he darn well has to to pull of the style.

 

Anywho, I hope this chapter isn't too unbelievable.

 

Let me know what you think please!

Edited by Guest

You know the closer you get to something

The tougher it is to see it,

And I'll Never take it for granted,

Let's go!

 

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Are you insinuating that the Doctor's pockets are bigger on the inside too?

 

Excellent work. It reminded me a lot of the first episode with Eccleston and the living plastic creature, especially how he was talking to it but you could only hear one side of the conversation.

 

Very nice, fast-paced, and solid characters. Keep up the good work, Obi!

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SHE MEANS TO END US ALL!!! DOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!11eleventyone!
There goes Ami's reputation of being a peaceful, nice person.
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Nice update, OBQ. The action is really ramping up now!

 

You had a great mix of action, description, character interaction, and humor in here. There were a number of lines (mostly by Jason or the Doctor) that had me smiling - you've done a great job playing off the Doctor's eccentricity and Jason's factual, terse focus to bring the perfect level of humor into an otherwise serious situation.

 

I'm curious, is a Demmelfca something that the Doctor has run into or mentioned on the show? If not, you did a good job of working it in with just enough level of detail to make it quite believable in the Doctor's zany adventures. If I were to try to paraphrase the alien tentacle-blob flying around and throwing itself at our heroes I think it would come out a little far-fetched and unbelievable, yet the way you wrote it I found it believable in a Doctor Who episode. The details leading up to their encounter with it and especially the way you allowed us to "hear" it through the Doctor and Kenshin's telepathic links really emphasized the low, still mostly instinctual intelligence of the Demmelfca. From there, everything else fell together.

 

I liked getting to see Kenshin's skill with the sword and throwing himself off of things , as well as getting a small peek at his past. Like Brendo, I enjoyed the continuing interaction between the characters - especially as we got to see Kenshin and Jason interact a lot more together (especially from Kenshin's POV).

 

"And if it doesn't want to take your chance?" Jason asked, his tone dry and sarcastic.

 

The Doctor didn't answer, meeting his eyes for just a moment before pulling out his own pair of gloves and slipping them on.

I liked this little byplay here... the Doctor and Jason are still having their ongoing conversation outside of their present circumstances. The Doctor is still watching him carefully... although I'm not sure whether Jason has realized that these comments might influence his future greatly yet!

 

Keep up the good work!

Edited by Guest

"It's always these little worlds that get you in trouble. Like Tatooine. I'm still living that one down." - Han Solo

Your barnacle has carnivorous salamanders the size of whales.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the faith we profess, for he who promised is faithful." -Heb. 10:23

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No, a Delmmefca is completely made up. ^^; Actually there is a reason for the name, and I will write anyone who gets it a one-shot. I'll give you a hint: it has to do with what the Delmmefca says/thinks. Won't say more than that.

 

Oh yes, the Doctor is most definitely watching Jason more closely.

 

I think what really made it somewhat believable is Jason expecting something and getting something completely different. Truthfully, I kind of based it off of what I got from New Jedi Order, the weird brain/vong things were my real basis/inspiration for this. Funnily enough. ^^; I'm so glad you thought it was at least somewhat believable.

 

Thank you again for the awesome review, Gimpy.

You know the closer you get to something

The tougher it is to see it,

And I'll Never take it for granted,

Let's go!

 

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Haha, well all I could think of (at least right now, at the end of a very long day) is terms that had to do with food or eating since that was constantly what he/she/it was trying to do. I got about as far as "Delicious and "mmMmm" and then got stuck.

 

I think what really made it somewhat believable is Jason expecting something and getting something completely different. Truthfully, I kind of based it off of what I got from New Jedi Order, the weird brain/vong things were my real basis/inspiration for this. Funnily enough. ^^; I'm so glad you thought it was at least somewhat believable.

 

Hmm, that's a good point about how Jason's perspective also added to it...didn't even catch that subtle leading you did to make it more believable. And you cleared up my brain fart! While I was reading it I kept feeling like it was reminding me of something obvious that I couldn't quite put my finger on... and it was the yammosks you were inspired by!

 

And as a correction, since maybe this wasn't quite clear - I think that it would have been "somewhat believable" if someone had just summarized the plot for me in their own words with no background or were it based in a more realistic Earth (i.e. no aliens or Doctor, just this waving tentacle-thing showing up out of the blue in downtown LA or somesuch). Having read it within the role of Doctor Who, and more importantly the way you crafted the actual encounter plus leading up to it, it was completely believable.

"It's always these little worlds that get you in trouble. Like Tatooine. I'm still living that one down." - Han Solo

Your barnacle has carnivorous salamanders the size of whales.

"Let us hold unswervingly to the faith we profess, for he who promised is faithful." -Heb. 10:23

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LOL *glomp* Thank you! Again. So much.

 

I'm glad that was subtle enough that it didn't distract, but added to the story.

 

Yes, the Yammosks! Like I could remember their names...the Vong names were so...weird. *shrug* guess they were supposed to be.

 

Okay, one more clue to the Delmmefca: Think, 'backwards'.

You know the closer you get to something

The tougher it is to see it,

And I'll Never take it for granted,

Let's go!

 

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