Mangatripper
By Ewen "Blackbird" Cluney

Episode 1
Vulcan eyebrows, Vulcan ears
That's what I dream of
No more sorrow no more tears
Can't you get be beamed up
Quite bizarre but still a dream
As I'm waiting for that beam
 - Millencollin, "Vulcan Ears"

You might not believe what I'm about to tell you. I don't really 
care. It might have all been a dream or a vision (yes I have seen 
Escaflowne, thank you) or maybe I was just going crazy for a 
little bit. I don't want to believe any of those things, though. 
I want to believe that it really happened. Because it was so 
real. Because it seemed like the first glimmer of hope in my 
pathetic life.
	Because she was there.
	Aw crap. I'm getting ahead of myself here. My name is 
Gabriel Collins - you might have seen my Excelion website. Maybe. 
I really need to update it, but lately I haven't had the 
motivation, because memories of... shall we say "the incident" 
keep haunting me. I guess that's why I'm writing this - before it 
slips out of my head, so I can try to work it all out on paper 
and maybe, _maybe_ find my way again and figure out where to go 
from here.
	I'm 21 years old; I go to DeAnza College in Cupertino, 
California. My major is Computer Science, but I've been taking 
Japanese classes and such every chance I get. It wouldn't be any 
exaggeration to say that I'm an otaku. Once glance into my 
apartment (I live on my own and work as a shift lead at the local 
video store. No Clerks references please.) would be enough to 
confirm this; posters take up nearly every inch of wall space, 
and a good amount of the ceiling too, and I have a ritual of 
changing the wall scrolls on the windows around on the first of 
the month. Then there's all the models, and so many DVDs that if 
the shelf fell over you wouldn't find me for a week (my employee 
discount doesn't mean much; I just spend way too much money on 
anime). Hell, I even sleep with a UFO catcher doll of Kasumi from 
Excelion.
	Considering all that, it's no surprise that I went to 
AnimeExpo this year. I saved up as much money as I could for the 
few months in-between that and FanimeCon, and went on a road trip 
with a few friends down to Long Beach.
	It was the worst anime convention of my entire life.

	The trip down to Long Beach was uneventful. In fact it was 
excruciatingly boring. Adam and Ken got into a big argument over 
what to listen to on the way, as though we didn't have time to 
listen to everything everyone wanted too during the eight-hour 
drive. Once that was over, though, things quickly went back to 
"Boring As Hell" status, though for once I was able to put on the 
Excelion Special Vocal Collection CD without getting any dirty 
looks. Everyone else finds the theme song annoying, but I love 
it.
	We didn't stay at the Westin at all; instead we'd gotten a 
room in a little motel a couple blocks away. The price was less 
than half what it would be at the hotel, though there was no 
cable. It was three guys and one girl, though Alice was for all 
intents and purposes one of the guys, and her obsession with 
Fushigi Yuugi rivaled mine for Excelion (though she had managed 
to get her Miaka costume ready; I never even started on my 
Katsuhito one).
	As soon as we went to the pre-reg desk things started to go 
down hill. Some things are meant to stay buried, and what 
happened to me at Gunderson High School was one of them... I'm 
getting ahead of myself again.
	Six years can change a person a whole lot, but some things 
always stay the same. I'm not the same guy I was in my freshman 
year of high school, and yet I am. The face that I saw there 
behind the registration desk, scarcely changed at all, was one 
I'd hoped I would never see again in my entire life. Not many 
people find someone like that at the age of fifteen, but I did.
	His name was Jack Wallace. He'd cut his brown hair shorter 
and spiked it with gel or something. He'd also acquired somewhat 
more expensive tastes in clothes and did the cheesy yuppie thing 
of hanging a pair of sunglasses on the front of his shirt collar. 
I'm not a violent person at all, but seeing him again I had to 
clench my fists at my sides before they started trying to find 
someone to punch in the face. I was surrounded by my friends, and 
they'd notice that something was up, so I forced myself to look 
calm as best I could. It wasn't easy.
	"You guys have got to see the masquerade, though," Ken was 
saying. "Last year was just... _everything_!"
	Adam nodded. "We'll have to find out about when to get 
tickets. It'll only get bigger compared to last year."
	I just nodded and didn't say anything. I was trying to 
figure out where the line would take me, which spot along the row 
of a dozen registration volunteers I would find myself at. 
Hopefully far, far away from Jack. The line moved ever so slowly, 
snaking its way around the tall, airy ballroom. There were too 
many people, and it was like Fry's Electronics how each volunteer 
called out that they were ready when they were done with the last 
person they'd helped. He wasn't going any faster or slower than 
the others.
	I jumped when Alice elbowed me in the ribs. "I hear there's 
actually lots of Excelion cosplayers around. Apparently you're 
not the only one who likes that series. Are you okay?"
	I rolled my eyes at her and nodded. "Fine."
	"Well, it seems Excelion is kinda' like Utena," explained 
Ken, "in that an abnormal percentage of the fan base likes to 
cosplay."
	If any of them thought that something was bothering me, they 
didn't say anything about it. The line continued forward in slow, 
fitful strides, the face that I hated ever so much moving ever 
nearer. I needed to register if I wanted to go into the 
convention, but then he was going to be here - but on the other 
hand he'd be stuck at a registration desk for most of the 
convention anyway. Besides, if I wanted to bail, there was 
nowhere to go; I was over 400 miles from home on the 4th of July 
weekend.
	Finally, it got to where my friends were at the front of the 
line and I was at the back of our foursome. Then Adam went. Then 
Ken. That left me and Alice. My heart was racing and each second 
seem to take an eternity to pass. Someone was getting into an 
argument with a registration volunteer over something, and some 
higher-ranking staffers were called over to deal with it.
	Suddenly two volunteers raised their hands at once. One was 
a girl in a DiGi Charat costume, the other was... Jack. Alice and 
I began moving forward and I tried to angle towards Dejiko, but 
suddenly Alice tripped and fell flat on her face. Thinking fast, 
I started helping her up and nodded to the people behind us to go 
on ahead.
	"Thanks," she muttered, rubbing her ankle. "I'm off to a 
great start this year..."
	When we went to get our badges I tried very hard not to look 
at Jack. If he did notice me, I didn't see it. Knowing that he 
was not ten feet away was enough to make me feel sick. As we 
emerged from registration into the hotel wearing our new con 
badges I was able to relax a little. After all, this was what 
we'd been planning for what seemed like an eternity - a weekend 
at the biggest anime convention on the West Coast.
	We found ourselves sitting in the line for the dealers' room 
a full two hours before it actually opened. FanimeCon might be 
smaller, but we didn't have to contend with lines like this 
there. Adam had brought his new Game Boy Advance and wound up 
playing F-Zero with another guy in line, and we all wound up 
talking about the kinds of stuff we usually do to pass the time. 
I was there with my backpack, but it was mostly empty apart from 
a notebook and my Kasumi UFO catcher doll (I was loathe to allow 
it to get too far from my person so far from home), the idea 
being that it would be filled up pretty quickly once we got into 
the dealers' room.
	By the time the door was finally opened we'd been rained on 
for the better part of an hour and of course no one was prepared 
for it since we were, after all, in Anaheim at the height of 
summer. Even it the rain, with clouds covering the sky, it was 
warm and humid. I think maybe my relationships with my friends 
are kind of superficial a lot of the time, but that didn't stop 
me from temporarily forgetting all about Jack. I'd been trying to 
forget for six years, so I've had lots of practice.
	The dealers' room this year looked more like a trade show at 
first, with Bandai and Pioneer assaulting those who entered with 
huge projection screens showing their latest releases. Adam again 
showed his pragmatic side and we all agreed to meet up at the 
Bandai panel in two hours. His idea was a really good one, since 
we almost immediately lost each other in the quickly growing 
crowd.
	I'd only had $140 in cash on hand after registration (I'd 
meant to pre-register but procrastinated on it as usual), and it 
went fast, leaving me to resort to my credit card. By the time I 
came out I'd bought the two Excelion art books I'd been wanting, 
a Rei Ayanami garage kit, the Excelion OAV DVD boxed set, the 
first volume of the bilingual Love Hina manga, and a couple of 
PlayStation games that were on sale for $10 apiece.
	I got to the Bandai panel with my backpack weighing me down 
a bit. The rest of the day was a blur of panels and watching 
anime, plus a foray into the gaming room. Finally, at about 10:30 
p.m., we headed back to our room and took turns showing off the 
spoils of the dealers' room. Alice had at last acquired the 
Fushigi Yuugi Seiryu DVD boxed set, plus a rare UFO catcher of 
Tamahome (I'd heard about her fanfics about him, but never had 
the guts to read them, considering). Adam had caught up on his 
collection of Ruruoni Kenshin DVDs and picked up a really nice 
wall scroll of Asuka (you don't want to know about our little Rei 
Vs. Asuka debate - trust me). Ken, predictably, had gone nuts 
with Gundam model kits, having even gotten the coveted Wing Zero 
Custom.
	It took almost four hours for us to finally get to sleep, 
the last hour spent in giddy darkness. That was around when 
thoughts of Jack began coming back to me. I... don't want to talk 
about that yet. It'll come up soon, okay?

	We were up bright and early to wait in line for tickets to 
the masquerade. I didn't quite think of it as the highlight of 
the entire convention as Ken did, but I still wanted to go. Once 
again the margin of our earliness was two hours. This time I had 
my art books to look at, and a manga to read, so time seemed to 
be passing ever more quickly. That's when things took a turn for 
the worst.
	A powerful arm just yanked me out of line, with enough force 
to snap the orange tape that sectioned off the line. I found the 
biggest, meanest convention security guy I'd ever seen staring 
right into my face. "Is this the guy?" he asked someone.
	Adam suddenly put himself in between us. Adam's a pretty 
imposing guy, and even though he was a good five inches shorter 
than the opposition, he's got a lot of bulk on him - mostly 
muscle though you wouldn't know it looking at him. "Who wants to 
know?" asked Adam. He was calm - a whole hell of a lot more calm 
than me. I was trembling, and it only got that much worse when I 
realized who Mr. Security had been talking to.
	Jack took off his sunglasses. His expression was unreadable, 
just like back then... "That's him. Gabriel Collins. I'd 
recognize him anywhere."
	Adam spoke before I could say something that I might've 
regretted. "That's Gabe all right, but if you wanna mess with my 
friend you're gonna have to tell me why." I know Adam; he's 
usually so calm and easygoing, but I never ever want to be the 
one to get him mad.
	"A friend of his?" Jack mused. "It's kind of surprising that 
a scumbag like him could make any friends after what happened 
back then."
	"You're lying." I snarled. "Just like before."
	"Uh huh. Tell it to the judge." He halted in mock surprise 
and grinned in a way that made it that much harder to keep from 
hitting him. "Oh wait! You did tell it to the judge, didn't you? 
Not guilty because there was only circumstantial evidence, wasn't 
it?"
	I was aware of Alice and Ken behind me. The pounding of my 
heart sounded like a drum in my ears. Apart from that, silence 
reigned for a time.
	The security guy was the first to speak. "So you want me to 
kick him out like you said?"
	Thinking back, I'm glad I keep my fingernails really short; 
they would've drawn blood about then. Again, Adam's surprisingly 
cool head prevailed. "If you want to pull shit like that you'd 
better get the convention chair on that little radio of yours 
right now."
	Jack shook his head. "I don't think he has to answer to 
someone like him."
	Maybe Adam wasn't quite as calm as I'd believed, because the 
next thing that happened was that Adam's fist grabbed Jack's 
collar, nearly lifting him off the ground. "You keep going on 
about whatever bullshit you couldn't prove in court. Just what 
the fuck are you trying to avoid saying?"
	"Your friend is a rapist."
	My fist hit his face harder than I would've thought 
possible. The next thing I knew I was pinned to the ground by the 
security guard, my armed twisted around like I'd seen in so many 
cop shows. It hurt like hell, but I was too hyped up on anger to 
care at that point. Jack was laughing at me, the event center 
security guys were coming running, and the line was still moving 
though a lot of people were gawking at the spectacle that this 
little "reunion" had become. Ken and Alice were yelling for me to 
be let go, I think. Adam let go of Jack, giving just enough of a 
push to make sure the jerk fell on his butt. Somewhere along the 
line I passed out.

	When I woke up, I was in our motel room. It was afternoon 
already, and Alice was there, sitting on the other bed reading 
some manga. "What happened?"
	She gave a shuddering sigh and turned to face me. "It's not 
true, is it? What that guy said?"
	I shook my head, fear welling up inside me in a flood. 
"No..."
	"I didn't believe it for a second. None of us did."
	I'm not sure, but I think I was crying. Without my 
friends... I think my life literally wouldn't be worth living. It 
had never really hit me until then.
	"The good news is that that guy said he wouldn't press 
charges and the convention guys decided not to kick us out. The 
bad news is we won't be going to the masquerade."
	There was a faint beep and the door opened. Adam and Ken 
strode in. "Don't be so sure."
	I didn't look up. I couldn't.
	Ken produced some slips of paper from his pocket. "It seems 
they were giving two tickets out per person. I met up with some 
people I know from the internet and talked them into giving me 
their extras. We hafta' get going soon though."
	Alice stood up and took the tickets out of Ken's hand. "You 
have another one, right?"
	The room was silent for a while.
	Ken solemnly shook his head. "I tried," he said slowly. "I 
begged. But three was all I could get."
	My friends looked at each other and at me.
	Adam and Alice started to speak at the same time, but 
somehow I found the capacity for speech again. "Go without me."
	Alice, being the way she was, was going to get in my face. 
She was already warming up. "No way. You can't sit here moping 
all night by yourself! You need to go and have fun more than any 
of us! Now get up!"
	I shook my head. "Just go. I need some time to think. 
_Please_."
	Adam rested a hand on Alice's shoulder. "All right Gabe. 
I've been there myself. But whatever you do just remember that 
we're here for you."
	"That's right." added Ken.
	"If you change your mind," Alice said carefully, "come and 
find us in line, okay?"
	I held on until they were out of the room and halfway down 
the stairs before the crying started in earnest. It wasn't what 
had happened that day, but what had happened six years before. 
I'd thought a dream was coming true, when in reality a nightmare 
was beginning. The memories came back unbidden - they did that 
every now and then, but never with such a wrenching, sickening 
impact as they did on that night.
	I was just starting high school at Gunderson as there was 
this girl I kind of liked named Rebecca. I had no idea how to go 
about things, and I found out that a sophomore named Jack was 
interested in her too. Determined not to give up, I decided to 
try talking to her anyway, and she actually talked to me and gave 
me a chance. I trusted her completely, and that turned out to be 
the biggest mistake of my life.
	A few weeks later we were hanging out a lot, but then I 
heard a rumor that she was seeing Jack in secret. I was planning 
to meet her after school, and I'd resolved to ask her about it. 
It was one of those things that I was sure I should do but I was 
so afraid to...
	I was holding my Kasumi doll close to me in the motel room.
	When I saw Rebecca that day, she invited me to her house. I 
forgot all about the questions on my mind and agreed to go. She 
took me into her bedroom. You can imagine what was going to 
happen. It was going to, until, barely dressed, she started 
screaming and crying. I barely escaped from the house without 
being beaten by her father. The next day I saw Rebecca and Jack 
kissing and they laughed at me and the world turned into this 
twisted wheel of pain. I had to stay home from school, and it all 
became a big court case that went nowhere. I finally started 
going to school again at Lincoln, which is where I met Adam, and 
through him Ken and Alice and the rest.
	I don't know for sure, but I think every serious anime fan 
has a bit of an escapist in them. A little part of the self that, 
deep down, wants more than anything to leave behind all the 
banality and pain of the real world behind in favor of a shining 
place. At that moment, watching a tear land on the forehead of my 
Kasumi UFO catcher, that part of me didn't seem very small 
anymore. I was so sure that Kasumi would understand, could make 
everything all right. I grabbed my backpack, rammed my stuff into 
it and, still clutching the Kasumi doll, stepped outside and 
started walking, not caring in the least where I was going.
	The night air was too warm and humid, but I kept walking. 
The world seemed such a cruel and terrible place. That secret 
desire to leave it all behind grew by the second. The world and 
all the people in it seemed to have been put there to cause me 
pain.
	I didn't see the truck until it was too late.

Episode 2
Only in dreams  
We see what it means  
Reach out our hands  
Hold on to hers  
But when we wake  
It's all been erased  
And so it seems  
Only in dreams
 - Weezer, "Only In Dreams

You might not believe the next part of my story. I remember it so 
vividly, though. Not like the fading, fleeting swirls of a dream, 
but a crystal-clear etching of a memory, more solid than any 
other in my life. I blinked in warm sunlight, and slowly picked 
myself up. On the edge of my consciousness was something like a 
dream, something about being turned inside out, about golden 
light, and about endless stacks of drawings.
	Blinking in the bright afternoon light I looked out at the 
city before me in awe. It was Tokyo. I'm sure of it. The signs 
were in Japanese for one thing. Some people passed behind me - I 
realized I was on some kind of bridge between two buildings - and 
when I spun around to look at them I fell into shock. There's no 
gentle way to put this; I was confronted by living, breathing 
anime characters. Just average people - housewives, schoolgirls, 
salarymen - but with huge eyes, tiny mouths and noses. I looked 
at my own hands, and instead of a mass of bones and flesh and 
skin and hair and veins, I saw a hand-shaped outline with flesh-
tone coloring. An adorable little girl with pigtails was looking 
up at me.
	"Oniisan... you dropped this," she said. She was holding my 
Kasumi UFO catcher and grinning
	I nodded numbly, took it from her hands, and thanked her. 
She scurried off. My brain was taking its time in letting me come 
to terms with this new reality. I was in an anime. Not a dream - 
but the genuine article. I was sure of it. I thought about home 
for a moment, but immediately decided I was better off here. 
Whatever happened, it would be something exciting and wonderful. 
I was sure of it. I started walking, again not caring where I 
ended up, but this time sure that something great awaited me.
	I know there's a lot of people who write self-insertion 
fics. I've heard too many complaints about them, and besides, how 
could I be appropriately cruel to a character who is, in fact, 
myself? And then... I bet there's some people who like some 
celebrity so much that they know as much as I do about Kasumi, 
and I have to wonder what happens when someone like that meets 
the object of their obsession. But when you got that obsessed 
over someone even though you know for a _fact_ that they don't 
and couldn't exist in real life...
	I was walking down a crowded street when, like something 
right out of an anime, the people walking seemed to part for a 
moment and there before me... I have no words to describe how I 
felt at that moment. For those of you who haven't seen Excelion, 
Kasumi is an average high school age girl with medium-length blue 
hair. She wears a standard school uniform a lot of the time, and 
glasses too. Her eyes are ice-blue, just a bit lighter than her 
hair.
	At that moment, as I was taking in the sight before me, I 
think she noticed how I was looking at her. She turned to face 
me, blushing just a little. "Um... Who are you?"
	I tried to think of what to say. This wasn't a celebrity or 
an actress; she actually was the character I had watched through 
so many adventures, a delicate high school girl with magical 
powers. I'd also totally forgotten that I was still holding the 
UFO catcher doll in my hand. "Gabriel Collins." I replied weakly.
	She walked up to me, leaning close and adjusting her glasses 
to stare more intently. Did I mention Kasumi was pretty forceful 
when she wanted to be? The doll was pulled out of my hand and 
shoved in my face. "And what exactly is this?"
	She was probably thinking that I was some kind of weirdo 
stalker or something. "Kasumi, I can explain..."
	Her eyes narrowed. "You're one of Katsuhito's friends, 
aren't you?"
	Katsuhito was the president of the photography club in 
Excelion, who'd been trying to expose Kasumi and her friends for 
ages. She didn't hate him with a passion like Arisa did, but came 
close. "No! It's nothing like that!"
	Kasumi scrutinized the doll. It was of her in her school 
uniform, but with a Soul Sword in one hand. "Excelion Nuigurumi?" 
she read. "Nuigurumi" was the Japanese word for a plush toy. 
"Made by Banpresto? Who _are_ you?"
	It wasn't supposed to be like this - that's what I was 
thinking, but I later realized that I was very wrong about that 
and this was exactly how it was supposed to be. "I'm..." I took a 
deep breath. What happened next should've clued me in as to the 
nature of the place I was in - in more ways than one - but 
somehow it didn't. A ball of energy flew by - I found myself 
pulling Kasumi to the ground and out of its path, which proved 
fortunate since when it struck a building down the street there 
was an ear-splitting explosion.
	The figure that loomed out of the haze was a tall, slender 
bishounen - an anime "pretty boy" of the type so often seen in 
shoujo manga. He wore a long coat and slacks made of black 
leather, with his hairless but toned chest bare save for a silver 
cross pendant. He held a katana in one hand that glinted 
menacingly in the daylight, matching his red eyes.
	Culling through my encyclopedic knowledge of Excelion, I 
could find no clue as to who this man could be. He was too human-
looking to be a mazoku, and too effeminate to be a new Dark 
General - there were only supposed to be eight anyway. And... as 
I thought about it more I began to realize that he was in a 
different art style than the cast of Excelion. Kasumi and I were 
"drawn" in typical Hitoshi Asakawa style, while the stranger 
looked more like he'd stepped out of something by CLAMP. 
Something where he was a villain.
	Apparently this was a Kasumi from late in the TV series, 
because she moved assuredly, without hesitation, as she touched 
her bracelet and called forth her Soul Sword. It was an ornate 
greatsword, about as long as she was tall. I knew that she could 
wield it as though it were light as a feather, but to actually 
see it happen before my eyes was incredible.
	"Who are you?" she demanded. "What do you want?"
	The bishounen brandished his katana and grinned. "What an 
amusing pairing." His voice was like a knife wrapped in velvet, 
the menace in his tone almost hidden, but not quite. He motioned 
first to Kasumi. "You will be perfect for my master's purposes," 
he announced. Then he turned to me. "And you... I think you'll do 
nicely for my entertainment." It was dawning on me that there was 
something very... yaoi... about him.
	My mind raced, trying to figure out how Kasumi would try to 
handle this situation. Her powers were considerable, but they 
also tended to cause a lot of collateral damage. In the TV series 
it was played for laughs, but in the OAV series... I really feel 
sorry for her. A blue glow surrounded Kasumi's sword, and the 
world seemed to move into slow motion as the bishounen's katana 
glowed red in response. She was going to try her Azure Blaze 
attack, and I took it as my cue to back away as quickly as I 
could. Suddenly she thrust the tip of her sword into the ground, 
throwing out a shockwave of energy. Then I realized - her 
opponent had done exactly the same thing. The two shockwaves 
clashed and tore at each other, and finally died out.
	Both fighters were unscathed, but Kasumi was shaken. "You... 
countered my attack completely! How?!"
	This was about the time that I first realized that the 
knowledge of anime that I'd been collecting over the past five 
and a half years could be useful here. "He can mimic any 
technique you use against him!" It was an old cliché, and any 
group of super-powered villains usually had one among their 
number who could do that. They were always total bastards, and 
the hero (or heroine) had to do some serious quick thinking to 
have any hope of winning.
	The bishounen glanced in my direction again. "I like him 
already. Very astute; no one's ever guessed on the first attack 
before."
	The question was, what did he have of his own? If he could 
only mirror opponents, then any sufficiently determined and large 
group could probably beat him if they were careful. I moved 
closer to Kasumi.
	"How'd you know?" she asked quietly.
	"I've seen his kind before. You have to take advantage of 
his imitation power and his arrogance."
	The glance she cast at me was a suspicious one. She probably 
was wondering if I was another who'd read the Book of Excelion. 
Kasumi charged her sword again, and her opponent responded in 
kind. She feinted and dodged sideways, throwing a few quick, weak 
bolts of energy.
	I ducked behind a car. It was odd, but no one seemed to be 
paying any attention to what was happening. I would've expected 
police cars, fire trucks, news vans, and people everywhere 
gawking. I was in an anime, I realized, and that meant I was in a 
world that operated on anime logic. If I could just find a way to 
take advantage of it...
	When I stood up again, Kasumi and the bishounen were facing 
off - he was complaining about how feeble her attacks were.
	"In that case," I replied. "Why don't you have a taste of my 
special technique?"
	I jumped over the car, a bit clumsily, and moved in closer. 
"Be ready to get him." I whispered to Kasumi as I passed her. My 
heart was thumping pretty damn hard at that point. On the one 
hand I was exploiting this guy's weaknesses, but on the other 
hand if I was in an anime, then I might be doing something that 
the story would decide was totally impossible. I didn't want to 
accept that, though. Anime heroes always won by doing stuff that 
was totally audacious.
	When I was maybe three feet away from Mr. Villain, I held up 
my hand in a fist.
	"I don't sense any power from you." He muttered.
	I put on what I hoped was an arrogant grin. "Of course not. 
I can suppress my aura."
	That seemed to satisfy him for the moment, and he imitated 
my stupid posture exactly. I tensed up my arm as much as I could, 
and prayed he couldn't read minds. He watched my face and my fist 
intently. I was sweating, and I hoped he didn't read too much 
into that.
	"HITEN-MITSURUGI-RYU!" I intoned, shouting the first attack 
phrase that came to mind, "KUZU-RYU-SEN!" I opened my fist 
menacingly and then kicked him in the groin.
	He was on the ground, and Kasumi was looking on in abject 
shock.
	"This would be a really good time for a Cobalt Void or 
something!"
	Kasumi blinked and nodded. The Cobalt Void was an attack 
that banished the target back to their home plane, surrounding 
them with a ball of dark blue energy that rapidly shrunk down to 
a single mote of light and then vanished. That was exactly what 
she did, and it worked perfectly. It looked just like I 
remembered, used about nine times over the course of the two 
seasons of the Excelion TV series.
	I let myself fall down to a kneeling position and breathed 
deeply in the hopes of getting the pounding of my heart to calm 
down. Kasumi sighed and returned her sword to the void from which 
it came. "Now," she said evenly, "you have a lot of explaining to 
do, Gabriel Collins."
	I picked up the little UFO catcher doll - somehow it had 
survived intact (though a little dirty) - and put it in my 
backpack. As I did so, I remembered the art books in there. 
Reluctantly, I pulled one out and held it up in front of her.
	"Excelion Illustration Collection 2?" she read. "What...? 
Where did you get this?" There was an edge of fear to her voice. 
"Is this how you know so much about me?"
	"I'm..." Kasumi wouldn't let me out of this one. She was shy 
and quiet a lot of the time, but when she wanted something badly 
enough there was no stopping her. "You might think I'm crazy... 
I'm not so sure myself right now. But I think I came here from 
another world. A place where powers like yours aren't real at 
all."
	She opened the art book and began looking at the pictures. 
"I remember all of this. This is what happened last year when we 
fought the Eight Dark Generals." She reached the part that was an 
interview with Hitoshi Asakawa and stopped short. "Has my whole 
life been something created for an audience's amusement?" she 
breathed. "Am I just an anime character?"
	"What would be so bad about that?" The question was a 
rhetorical one, and bitter at that. "You can live forever in the 
minds of the fans, and have a life that actually means something. 
Not a bunch of stupidity that goes nowhere like... like..."
	"Just how much do you know about me? I must be your favorite 
character, right?"
	I should've said something else, anything else, besides what 
came out of my mouth next. As I spoke I slowly rose to my feet. 
"Let's see... Your birthday is on October 27, favorite food is 
chocolate cheesecake, least favorite food is fried eggs, favorite 
school subject is Japanese. You were raised by your mother and 
have a younger sister named Harumi. You also had a pet cat named 
Tama. Your computer's desktop wallpaper is of you, Arisa, and 
Yuuko dressed up as a cat, fox, and bunny, respectively-"
	"Shut up!"
	The words hit me harder than any slap could have.
	"Do you think I'm supposed to be impressed or something? 
That's just... scary! How would you like it if someone came to 
you out of nowhere and knew every little detail of your life!"
	She was on the verge of crying, and I was feeling like 
serious scum about then. "I'm... sorry." I managed. "I didn't 
mean it like that."
	 Silence reigned for a long time. Kasumi wiped her eyes. 
"Baka." she muttered.
	"Looks that way."
	She almost laughed in spite of herself. "I guess you don't 
know where we are either, do you?"
	That caught me off guard. "Huh? I... thought this was 
Tokyo..."
	"It is," she replied, "and it isn't. It's Tokyo, but it's 
like neither I nor anyone I know exists here."
	I tried to imagine how Kasumi would react to being cut off 
from her friends and family; it was hard, and I didn't like that 
image. Without realizing what I was doing, I put my arms around 
Kasumi and held her close to me. It felt... I'm not sure how to 
describe it. Holding her like that, it felt like there was a 
sudden explosion of warm, gentle light inside me. Thinking back, 
it seemed that she let herself become immersed in the feeling for 
just a moment before she abruptly pushed me away.
	"Why do you like me so much? What's so special about me?"
	I tried to find words for what I felt about her, for the 
feelings that had ultimately led me to have an enviable library 
of all things Excelion consuming half my apartment. "I don't know 
how to explain." I said at last. "But... if there's anything I 
can do to help you get home, I'll do it."
	Kasumi looked at me skeptically. "How did you know so much 
about that bishounen guy? Have you seen _his_ show too?"
	I shook my head. "I don't know where he was from. I've just 
seen so much anime. The whole attack-imitating enemy thing has 
been done dozens of times."
	"If we're in a world that's actually an anime..." she mused. 
"That kind of knowledge could be really useful. I don't know if I 
could've won without your help."
	I just wished I had the knowledge of how not to talk to her 
without sounding like an idiot. I wasn't that great at talking to 
girls in the first place, and at that point I felt like the 
spirit of every timid nosebleeding anime protagonist was trying 
to possess my mouth.
	"I'll take you up on your offer," she said at last. "But no 
funny business. Understood?"
	I nodded, just barely managing to hide my enthusiasm. "Of 
course!"
	Kasumi decided to simply start walking, and indeed staying 
in one place was unlikely to turn up anything. If this really was 
an anime, then it seemed unlikely that anyone would may much 
attention to the fact that the better part of a city block had 
been toasted anyway. Walking like that might've been pleasant, 
but Kasumi was distant and didn't talk much, and thoughts of the 
way she'd yelled at me kept burning in the back of my mind. It 
reminded me of how things got when there was tension among my 
friends; everyone grudgingly backed down, leaving a grim, tense, 
pensive silence where everyone contemplated what they'd done 
wrong.
	"I'm sorry... about before." I blurted out.
	"You already apologized," she reminded me. "What kind of 
world are you from? Katsuhito never apologized for anything in 
his life, and Ichiro took a week to get over his embarrassment 
enough to say he was sorry to Arisa."
	She didn't sound angry at all, which was really heartening. 
"My world... is really boring."
	"Sounds nice."
	I stopped short. "What?"
	Kasumi turned around to face me. "The past three years of my 
life have been full of fighting monsters and trying to save the 
world. A world. Lately I've been thinking, and I've come to 
appreciate being able to just get up and go to school and have 
fun with my friends."
	At the time it sounded so stupid to me to want things to be 
so boring and mundane. "I don't think you'd want things to stay 
that way forever." Halfway through the OAVs Kasumi had decided to 
give up the power and go back to being a normal girl, only to 
find that her life seemed boring and incomplete.
	The look she gave me was unreadable, and the moment was 
quickly interrupted anyway. Kasumi blinked and jumped at 
something.
	"What is it?"
	She looked around as though searching for something. "I can 
sense something..." Of course! How could I forget - like every 
other magic-user in Excelion, Kasumi could sense magic of all 
sorts. That meant she might be able to find a way out of this 
world.
	Abruptly, Kasumi broke into a run. Luckily she was the most 
delicate of the three girls; I don't think I could've kept up 
with Arisa no matter how hard I might've tried. We turned a few 
corners, past bewildered housewives and children, and headed down 
an alleyway. Kasumi came to a halt in front of what looked to be 
an ancient well or fountain of some sort. It took a moment, but I 
finally placed it in my memory; it was nearly identical to the 
one from the first Card Captor Sakura movie.
	"This is it." Kasumi said firmly. "It's definitely a magical 
portal of some sort."
	I nodded. It sounded crazy, but I was sure I could feel 
something there. It was like a nagging feeling that this wasn't 
what it seemed. "But where does it lead?" I asked carefully.
	We looked at the well for a long time. Suddenly, Kasumi 
climbed up onto the edge of the well. She held her hand out to 
me. "Come on. We won't get anywhere standing around here."
	That impulsiveness seemed so unlike her... But then in the 
anime Kasumi had never been in a situation like this. When I was 
standing next to her, Kasumi jumped into the water, pulling me 
along with her. Somehow I expected to be soaking wet, but there 
was only a warm, blue light...


Chapter 3
Anime comes in a lot of forms; it's a moving target where the 
moment you make a generalization someone can point out half a 
dozen titles that do the opposite. This was something I hadn't 
taken into account when I was pondering what sort of world Kasumi 
and I might find ourselves in next.
	Although I was relieved to wind up someplace new in a way 
that didn't involve being rendered unconscious, I would later 
find that to be a very small consolation in the general mess that 
was soon to ensue.
	We were in a hot, damp room, surrounded by sounds of running 
water on all sides. It didn't tame long for me to note the 
distinctly female silhouettes behind the frosted glass panels 
that decorated the sides of the room.
	We were in a women's shower room. If there was one thing all 
my anime viewing had taught me about being in such places, it was 
to never, ever do it. The average villain is hard-pressed to 
produce a fortress that is more dangerous to intruders than a 
simple girls' locker room.
	Motioning to Kasumi to be quiet, I crept as quietly as I 
could manage towards the door. I was already fatigued, and now 
nervous too on account of the impending discovery that every 
anime cliché seemed to be conspiring to bring about.
	I turned to check on Kasumi; she was looking around warily, 
wondering, it seemed, what had led me to such heights of 
paranoia. At that moment my concerns proved to be far more 
justified that I could've imagined, as my head collided with 
something soft and round.
	A shove from the owner, combined with sheer shock, sent me 
to the floor and took Kasumi along for the ride. I had just run 
face-first into the ample chest of a tall, imposing woman with 
shoulder-length blue hair. She might've been pretty had her face 
not been so contorted with rage and disgust. "Males, " she 
sneered, "are forbidden here."
	It took me a moment to realize that she was speaking not to 
me, but to Kasumi. A moment too long, because I had started to 
emphatically apologize when a fist struck me in the temple. The 
force with which that woman hit me was astonishing; it carried me 
a good four or five feet sideways and to the ground.
	The world exploded with an unending flow of pain on the side 
of my head. I was dimly aware of Kasumi looking over me with 
concern, then shouting. The place became much more crowded. But 
my eyes weren't quite focusing and my ears were ringing... and 
the _pain_. I was getting a feeling of cold dread in the pit of 
my stomach. I felt Kasumi being pulled away from me, shrieking, 
and I was aware of a warm, coppery-smelling liquid dripping down 
the side of my head.
	As my vision started to clear, a sense of helpless 
indignation rose up in me. Kasumi was surrounded by about a dozen 
or so women, some wearing towels, others naked. Four of them were 
pinning her to the floor, each holding a limb. Kasumi's glasses 
were a few feet away from me, one lens cracked (they probably 
would've done more were they not all in bare feet). Watching the 
ringleader - the others were cheering her on with the name 
"Azalea" - unbutton the jacket of Kasumi's uniform, with the look 
on her face making it clear that much more would come off 
afterwards, filled me with powerless rage. I had done something I 
had believed totally impossible; I had met and (more or less) 
befriended my favorite anime character, and now I was being 
forced to watch her be _violated_ with my own eyes.
	I felt sick, and not just because of the blow I'd taken. Not 
for the first time or the last, I got a bit of inspiration from 
Excelion. Not everyone understands why the Excelion theme has a 
line that goes "I can't be brave like you, but I can't be quiet 
anymore" (that leads into the chorus with the line in English 
that gives the song in the title, "Call My Name"). The song is 
about standing up for what you believe in, regardless of what you 
have to overcome.
	With her blouse and skirt pulled off, Kasumi continued 
screaming as she was turned over and they made ready to take off 
the bra. Those women around her responded to her struggles and 
cries with cruel laughter and vicious taunts. I was bleeding and 
my head hurt like hell, but I felt that I couldn't stand by and 
watch any longer; I did the first thing that came to mind, which 
in retrospect I now realize was probably a very bad choice.
	Pulling myself to my feet, I yelled, "Leave her alone!"
	All eyes were on me; Kasumi regarded me with tearful hope, 
the others with venomous revulsion. The beating of my heart was 
like thunder in my ears in the silence that followed.
	The blue-haired woman - Azalea - dropped Kasumi's blouse to 
the floor and took a step closer to me. "Who the fuck are you?"
	Not flinching under that glare wasn't easy, but I managed 
somehow. Maybe I was too zoned to fully appreciate it or 
something. "My name is Gabriel Collins." I replied evenly.
	She frowned. "You want us to leave her alone? Why the hell 
should we? We bust our asses every day, fighting for what you 
believe in. What about you?"
	Usually I'm not too good with words; I tend to think of 
really scathing retorts a couple days after the fact. But this 
time the obvious reply came to me immediately. "It looks like 
this will be my first time."
	Before I could react, she motioned to two of her comrades, 
who wasted no time in pinning me up against the wall. My physical 
condition was average at best, and they were surprisingly strong, 
so there was little chance of escape.
	"You have spirit," she mused, looking at me appraisingly. 
"But not much else."
	My arms, held roughly against the wall, were already aching, 
and the bleeding on my temple hadn't quite stopped. I went 
through the anime I'd seen in my head for a solution. The 
situation was that a villain had captured the heroes, humiliated 
and beat them. This was followed by:
1.	A heroic interruption (e.g., Tuxedo Kamen)
2.	The villain deciding that the lesson (s)he was actually 
trying to teach had been learned.
3.	The hero(es) find some last reserve of power to defeat their 
opponents (e.g., when Kenshin fought Jin-e).
	Options one and two meant waiting and hoping, which I 
couldn't afford, and number three seemed equally unlikely. If I 
could just come up with a fourth; they might be anime characters 
but I wasn't.
	"Kasumi! Can you-!" I was given a punch to the stomach, hard 
enough to make me cough up some blood in classic anime style, but 
Kasumi seemed to have gotten the message anyway. Her body was 
surrounded by fitful flashes of blue, which were enough to 
scatter her captors. "I-I don't know if I can do it!" she cried.
	I'd forgotten; using the power of Excelion required a 
certain level of self-confidence, something she was surely 
lacking in the aftermath of that ordeal.
	"You can!" I countered. "I believe in you!" I was rewarded 
with another punch to the stomach for my efforts, so hard that my 
feet left the ground and I came down slumping in the iron grips 
of the two women that held me, gasping for air.
	While the others were ready to flee, Azalea was not 
intimidated by Kasumi's display. When the magical sword was 
halfway formed, Kasumi found herself grabbed by the throat, 
flipped over, and slammed on the ground. Somehow I managed to 
wrench free - adrenaline can do some amazing things, even if they 
become costly later on. I lunged forward and managed to catch a 
wicked blow meant for Kasumi. Pain compounded by agony shot 
through my back. With my hazy vision I think I saw Kasumi's face, 
looking at me and crying.
	I don't think I've ever performed such an act of self-
sacrifice before. There was no premeditation at all, just a 
reflexive act to protect her from harm. Somewhere in the haze of 
pain a fleeting hope began to rise; in most any anime this was 
about where things would turn around.
	"I believe in you." I repeated, though it was no more than a 
hoarse whisper.
	Kasumi attempted a reassuring smile as she stood up. I was 
too hurt for it to matter. What I remember of the next few 
moments is only hazy details; the world seemed to explode with 
blue light. I'm sure I slipped in an out of consciousness a few 
times, and I think I might've been delirious because...
	It sounds like something a stupid fanboy would say, and it's 
not like I really remember it clearly at all. I might've been 
delirious like I said, but... I have a faint memory of Kasumi's 
lips meeting mine.
	Well, anyway. The next thing I was fully aware of was being 
carried down a long metal corridor by Kasumi. She had my arm 
draped across her shoulders and was fully clothed again, though 
severely slowed down by my weight. I blinked and started walking 
on my own feet, though I found that I still needed her support to 
stay up.
	"Are you alright?" she asked. There was a faint edge of fear 
to her voice.
	"Getting there." I replied. "Where are we?"
	She took a deep breath, shuddering a little as she did. 
"Some kind of spacecraft. Part of a fleet, it looks like."
	My mental facilities were making a faster comeback that I 
would've expected, even though I was wincing a little with each 
step from the lingering pain. I was trying to put this all in 
place in my mind. The scene we'd left behind was like something 
out of a sadistic and possibly hentai high school type anime, but 
we were unquestionably in a science fiction setting.
	"Why did you do all of that for me?" Kasumi didn't stop 
walking, but I could feel her look of concern.
	"Dunno..." I mumbled. That was partly true; I'd acted on 
emotion rather than conscious thought, and I was still in the 
process of sorting out what feelings had led me to try such a 
crazy-ass stunt.
	"You don't _know_? You could've been _killed_! You nearly 
_were_!" She shuddered, on the verge of tears. Feelings of guilt 
began to form at the edges of my consciousness. "Tell me, do I 
_really_ mean that much to you?"
	Before I could try to formulate an answer, footsteps sounded 
in the corridor. Kasumi looked around frantically, but there 
seemed to be no way out; the corridor was impossibly long and 
seemed to offer no side exits.
	The figure that emerged from the distance was a tall 
imposing bishounen with long while hair and steel-gray eyes, 
dressed in a black uniform covered with a black leather trench 
coat. I took note of the katana sheathed at his side. When he saw 
us, he frowned. In short order a pair of boys - it was odd for me 
to think of teenagers as boys, but they were so emphatically 
boyish and effete I had little choice.
	The bishounen shook his head sadly. "Those girls... simply 
no conception of how to do things _properly_."
	Out of the frying pan...
	That was about the last thing I'd wanted to deal with today. 
I'd already had enough of bishounen freaks with that last guy. I 
mean, I try to be accepting of people of other sexual 
orientations  - my sister is bi after all - but these bishounen 
were apparently conspiring to give my efforts at tolerance a 
major setback.
	One of the boys nodded in agreement. "They're so scary, 
Xavier-sama..."
	 The bishounen smiled and tousled the boy's hair before 
returning his attentions to us and finally noticed Kasumi.
	"You however... You will be ideal for my master's needs." 
Damn but this guy was good at sounding sinister. If the tone of 
his voice was any indication... results of the needs of his 
"master" could be anything from what this Xavier was undoubtedly 
contemplating for me up to and including a slow and painful 
death.
	Kasumi apparently hadn't missed the veiled threat either, 
because she cringed at his words.
	Which, it occurred to me, we'd heard from another bishounen 
not too long ago. "Who-" I started to say before I fell into a 
painful fit of coughing. "Who is your master?"
	"Not that it's any of your concern, but he is called Lord 
Velirion." The name sounded faintly familiar, but I just couldn't 
place it. "Don't worry," he added. "You'll meet him soon enough, 
and hopefully he'll let me keep you."
	Remaining calm at that point was a considerable challenge, 
but I was just too tired and hurt to have the energy necessary to 
get properly angry.
	"Come." he snapped as he began walking down the corridor. 
The two boys were quick to follow suit. "If you do as I say you 
won't be harmed. Much." When we hesitated, he turned back and 
frowned. "Unless of course you'd rather be left in the care of 
those female troops; they're all rather tense from all these 
battles, and I suppose they could use some playthings to 
entertain them."
	It seemed we had little choice at that point. I was 
sincerely hoping Kasumi had a good idea as to what we could do to 
get out of this mess, because I was fresh out of brilliant 
schemes.
	As they walked, it became clear that Xavier was favoring the 
blonde boy, so the dark-haired one pouted and finally fell into 
step beside us. The way he regarded me made me shudder, because 
he seemed to already consider me to be one of his fellows. "My 
name is Jean. What's yours?"
	"Gabriel Collins." I muttered. "And this is Kasumi." If 
nothing else I figured I might be able to get some information 
out of him. If knowledge was power... we were pretty much screwed 
there too right now.
	As it turned out, he was quite forthcoming. "Well, Gabriel. 
Before you ask, this ship is part of the United Earth Alliance 
fleet that has been fighting a losing battle against a race of 
hostile aliens. Men use power suits and women pilot aerospace 
fighters."
	"So why were those women so psychotic?"
	He sighed. "There has been a growing trend of divisiveness; 
it's been seen in the military before, between ground troops and 
pilots. However now there are rumors that a faction of men is 
going to attempt a coup."
	"Under these circumstances," Xavier interrupted. "A man with 
my... _charms_ can go far. They suspect nothing, but soon this 
ship and its weaponry will become Lord Valirion's property."
	We entered a large room, filled with countless gadgets whose 
purpose I could only guess at. In the dim light I could see 
several figures - more teenaged boys in uniform - who immediately 
snapped to attention at Xavier's appearance. He nodded to them.
	"Prepare the parachronic conveyor," he ordered. "I have a 
delivery for Lord Valirion." The boys launched into a flurry of 
activity, working control panels like there was no tomorrow.
	Before I could object, I was pulled away from Kasumi and led 
to a padded seat. Kasumi was being led to a raised platform, lit 
from below by a soft blue glow - I was beginning to realize what 
a "parachronic conveyor" really was. One of the boys seemed to 
station himself next to me. "I've heard that Lord Vailirion has 
been looking for a girl with ice-blue eyes," he explained 
conspiratorially, "for the ritual he's planning."
	That was enough to convince me to take action. Another bold, 
crazy-ass scheme was forming in my head. "Risky" was not 
sufficient of a word, but no other solutions were presenting 
themselves and the consequences of not acting seemed dire indeed. 
A pathetic, hopeless future full of self-loathing loomed 
overhead.
	Acting it what turned out to be the few seconds I had left, 
I pulled one of the thick illustration books out of my backpack - 
somehow I'd managed to hold onto it through this whole ordeal - 
and hurled it at a boy who was operating some kind of control 
panel. Whatever occurrences he'd been anticipating, being 
blindsided by 263 pages of the artwork of Hitoshi Asakawa was 
very far removed from the list. Sheer alarm brought his hands 
spasming down on the control panel in what was surely the wrong 
manner. The book, in its fall, added to the clatter of keys, but 
by that time I was halfway across the room.
	The place was suddenly fully of panicked shouts, and the 
platform on which Kasumi was standing started throwing up 
rainbow-colored sparks by the time I reached her. Xavier had 
drawn his sword, but was quickly realizing the futility of that 
	What happened next is hard to explain. I still don't quite 
understand it. At first it was like I was seeing bits of my past, 
from mundane everyday details to the dark times I already told 
you about, and the events of the con. The time I'd spent with 
Kasumi seemed to zoom by. Well, I suppose I was only a few hours 
by that time, but it seemed a lot longer.
	What came next was the part that's so difficult. What I 
_think_ was happening was that I saw several different possible 
futures at once, and it was too much information for my brain to 
really process correctly. I saw myself attending the rest of the 
convention feeling deeply depressed. I saw myself beating the 
hell out of Jack and ending up in jail. I saw myself reading the 
book of Excelion. I saw Kasumi and I getting married... There 
were lots more, but those are the ones that stuck in my mind.
	Well, that's not entirely true. Some of the things I saw I 
won't talk about. Especially where Xavier is concerned. Suffice 
it to say that there's a 50% chance that he'd seriously regret 
his designs for me, but it wouldn't do me any good.
	Christ. I've spent the whole night typing. I'm going to have 
to finish this tomorrow. I have the day off anyway. This is 
halfway point - it's like my little adventure was a 6-part OAV 
series. Maybe anime worlds naturally tend to have things happen 
in anime series formats. I don't think I could've made it through 
a 26-episode TV series.
	The next part is... weird. It'll have to wait until 
tomorrow, but suffice it to say that my actions in making an 
escape had consequences.


Chapter 4
Where was I? Oh yeah. When I next awoke, I found myself in a 
hospital bed. I had a headache, as though I'd slept a little too 
long on a Sunday afternoon. I didn't seem to be bandaged, and I 
wasn't really hurting anymore. I sat up and took a look around. 
Sitting there, looking exhausted on a chair beside the bed, was 
Kasumi. She was wearing a different school uniform than usual, 
but a sailor fuku nonetheless. When she saw that I was up, she 
blinked and rushed to my side.
	"Collins-sempai! You're awake!"
	At first I thought it was really odd that she was calling me 
"sempai" - I might be older than her, but we never went to school 
together so I could hardly be called her upperclassman. But 
then... Have you ever had one of those dreams where you just 
"know" something for no apparent reason; you see a man and you 
know that he's been your friend for six years and you owe him 
twenty bucks even though everything about him is an alien 
fabrication of the unconscious. Well, it was like that; as I 
tried to think back I started remembering things very 
differently. I was her sempai after a fashion; I was an American 
transfer student at the high school she went to. I'd been injured 
trying to protect her from bullying by an infamous "bad girl" 
gang in school, and...
	The relief was plain on her face. "Collins-sempai... I'm so 
sorry that this happened to you. I-I'm glad that... that you 
wanted to help me, but I never wanted-" It might've been foolish, 
but I'd tried to protect her from them, and received a serious 
beating for it. I'd been passing by the girls' locker room - I 
remembered it was on the way from the archery range - when I'd 
heard some commotion...
	"It's okay." I interrupted. "Really. I feel fine now." My 
brain was trying to make sense of the conflicting memories that 
were assaulting it. The pieces didn't quite match, as though my 
left and right eyes were seeing two different but similar things. 
"How long have I been here?"
	Kasumi let out a sigh. "Two weeks." It later occurred to me 
that whatever bizarre effect had "integrated" the two of us into 
this new world, it probably affected Kasumi much more than it did 
me.
	I stood up and stretched. "I feel fine." I declared with a 
smile. "It takes more than that to keep me down." If not for the 
world messing with my memories, I would've probably just been 
glad to have some rest after that whirlwind of an ordeal.
	It took some time to convince the hospital staff that I was 
indeed feeling fine. Healing tended to be a rather nebulous thing 
in anime; in one series a character can be beaten within an inch 
of his life and recover a moment later because it's funny, while 
in another a similar injury is a season-long tragedy, and in yet 
another it's instant removal from the show due to character 
mortality. But when all was said and done I was given a clean 
bill of health by a rather nondescript doctor.
	As we walked outside the hospital it was late afternoon; the 
sun was setting, casting orange and pink hues across the sky.
	"I came right after school." Kasumi said quietly. She was 
avoiding my gaze, and seemed to be blushing. She'd had no way to 
know that today would be the day I recovered, which meant... 
She'd been coming every day.
	Inside I was elated that she liked me enough to do such a 
thing, but a mixture of emotions and hormones was making it hard 
to think straight, and I suspect my cheeks were as colored as 
hers. I didn't realize it at first, but I had automatically 
started walking towards home. Not my real home, but the place 
where, in this world, I was living and had somehow come to think 
of as home. Only half conscious of what I was doing I took a 
different turn.
	"Are you really okay?"
	I blinked and realized that I hadn't said anything for a few 
minutes. I nodded, and took hold of her hand without thinking 
about what I was doing. "I-I'm fine, Kasumi-chan."
	She was too embarrassed to make any move one way or the 
other, so her hand remained motionless in my grip. Then I 
realized this and my hand became just as stiff as hers. It was 
like going through the first time all over again. Falling in 
love. To tell the truth, it had seemed as though I might never 
feel that way again.
	"How is everyone?" I managed. Change the subject. Sure.
	Kasumi shrugged. "Daisuke and Touji are especially worried 
about you, and... Everyone's been asking about you."
	We came to a small park. By that time my heart was pounding. 
"Did anything interesting happen while I was asleep"
	Whatever she remembered made her blush even more brightly 
than before, but she said, "Not really."
	We found ourselves sitting on a bench. The park was small 
and mostly empty with the exception of a couple of children 
playing in the sandbox and a man walking his dog. We sat there in 
silence for... too long. Kasumi seemed to reach a decision; she 
took a deep breath and turned to me.
	"Collins-sempai... P-please tell me... about me... do 
you..."
	I could feel the uncomfortable warmth of a blush spreading 
through my body. My beating heart seemed to pound against my 
chest, and my hands trembled. Even under normal circumstances I 
would've had a hard time answering, but having been turned into 
an anime teenager it was proving nigh impossible.
	"I mean... Y-you protected me. You were so brave and... 
and... Not many people would do that."
	This was about where things started to head straight for 
Weirdsville, Japan. I'm pretty sure that what happened was... How 
can I explain this? (I keep saying that...) It's like... anime is 
made up of certain elements. They're not the molecules and stuff 
that make up our world, they're stories and emotions and things 
like that, only those things are a lot more fragile than 
molecules, and whatever happened to Xavier's control panel caused 
his "parachronic conveyor" to somehow "break" parts of the world 
it transported us to.
	There I go getting way ahead of myself. At first it was just 
like all the sound cut out for just a moment, and the world 
seemed to tremble for just a moment.
	"Eetou... Anou... Boku... Boku wa..."
	Those words came out of _my_ mouth. I hadn't tried to speak 
Japanese - I don't know all that much of it after all - it just 
happened, like something was making words come out in Japanese in 
the same way that gravity makes things fall towards the ground. I 
blinked, wondering if my eyes were working right, because not too 
far in the distance I could see words - English words - that 
seemed to float in the air. The words were yellow with a black 
outline and at that moment seemed so familiar yet totally foreign 
at the same time. They were backwards too; I read, "Um... uh... 
I... I..." and I realized that that was what I'd just said, 
translated into English.
	"Korinzu-sempai. Onegai..."
	I pointed to the words and asked her if she could see them. 
(It came out as "Ano... Kasumi-chan, sore o mite koto ga dekiru 
ka?")
	She looked at where I was pointing for a long moment. The 
words hung there in the air, plain to see, saying "Um... Kasumi, 
can you see that?" After a long moment, she nodded. When she 
turned back to look at me, her expression was different somehow. 
She adjusted her glasses. At that moment, the conflict in my 
memories started to become more and more obvious, like whatever 
had pushed those fake memories into my brain was gradually 
receding.
	"Gabriel," she said, suddenly returning to the English that 
I had grown accustomed to hearing from her. "What's going on?" 
She was looking more and more like the confident Kasumi I was 
used to and less and less like a timid, blushing schoolgirl.
	I took a deep breath. "Yo no se." At that I did a double 
take. Whatever language I was suddenly speaking, I couldn't even 
understand it myself.
	"Gabriel," she replied. "Creo que este es... Español?" 
Español, as I recalled, means Spanish. I know a lot of Latin 
American countries are into anime (not to mention France and some 
other parts of Europe, and quite a bit of Asia too for that 
matter), but this was a bit much.
	I stood up and looked around. "Nani kono... kono baka na..." 
Japanese again, this time without subtitles.
	"Concentrate." Kasumi said firmly - in English. Her voice 
and accent seemed to be fluctuating as she spoke - sometimes in 
clear English, other times the broken English of a typical anime 
character - but the language stayed the same. "Ifu... IF you try 
you can always speak Engrish. English."
	"Ua... WHAT is going on?" It was as though someone was 
playing with the world's DVD remote, and as you might imagine I 
wasn't exactly thrilled with the prospect. As if all that weren't 
enough, the weirdness suddenly went up a notch.
	I was in some way dimly aware of colors and music suddenly 
swirling around me, of posing, sometimes by myself and sometimes 
with Kasumi. For that matter I could've sworn I'd seen words in 
Japanese zipping by... and I think there was a funky-looking 
Western name somewhere in there too.
	The next thing I knew, Kasumi and I were walking down the 
street. I stopped short, though when I noticed that my arms and 
legs were suddenly rather... stubby. Once glance at Kasumi 
confirmed my rising suspicions.
	"Great. Now we're super-deformed." I muttered. I didn't 
object to that kind of thing when I was watching it, but 
experiencing it first-hand seemed somehow a bit less fun.
	"Super-deformed?" Kasumi blinked quizzically, making a loud 
"piku" sound as she did so. "What's that?"
	For no apparent reason, a cute little girl with pigtails 
chose that moment to appear and answer the question. "It's 
simple, really, oneesan!" she proclaimed, pulling out a chart. 
"Anime characters generally have three basic states, depending on 
the nature of the Zone in which they are currently residing. 
There's the baseline normal form, the childlike 'chibi' form 
('chibi' is Japanese for 'little' by the way), and finally the 
comedic extreme of the super-deformed state."
	"But what does being super-deformed actually do?" asked 
Kasumi. I let out a sigh. This was shaping up to be a typical 
omake.
	The girl grinned. "When in the super-deformed state, an 
anime character is virtually indestructible-" This was about 
where this whole SD business started to get unpleasant, because I 
was evidently going to be used for demonstration purposes. To be 
more specific, she clobbered me with a giant anime mallet. "-They 
can feel pain-"
	The shock of the mallet's blow left me with a little bandage 
on the top of my head, and I found myself unleashing a series of 
super-deformed curses.
	"-But physical damage can ultimately be shrugged off very 
quickly. On the other hand, super-deformed characters are 
invariably more excitable and short-tempered."
	"I'll show you short-tempered!" I yelled. "What the heck do 
you think you're doing smacking me on the head like that!"
	The girl ignored me. "And that's the basics of being Super-
Deformed! That's all for today!"
	The world seemed to shudder for a moment, and suddenly 
Kasumi and I found ourselves standing in the park like before, 
except that we were wearing our usual clothes and my backpack had 
mysteriously returned, which was something of a relief; even when 
I wasn't being flung to the far corners of an unknown and hostile 
multiverse, for some reason I always felt a little bit off-
balance without my backpack.
	The little girl was still present, though. She looked up at 
us with an expression of... confidence. "Are you two okay? Things 
got really weird around here all of a sudden."
	Kasumi slowly nodded. "What the hell happened?"
	It seemed a bit out of character for her to swear like that, 
but then I could hardly blame her after what had just happened.
	The little girl casually sat down on the bench. "My name is 
Natsumi, by the way."
	With a sigh, I sat down and motioned for Kasumi to do the 
same; she did so reluctantly. There was something...familiar 
about her, but I couldn't place it.
	Natsumi began speaking with the same encyclopedic tone as 
before. "So you want to know what happened? That was a big 
dimensional disruption. A continuity divergence, a linguistic 
fracture, and finally an omake shift, all within seconds of each 
other."
	My first instinct was to demand to know what the hell she 
was talking about, buy I stopped myself and tried to think about 
what she'd said and the possible meanings behind it. My casual 
musings about the structure of anime worlds from before seemed to 
be very correct. The "linguistic fracture" sounded like the right 
name for the bizarre subtitling and dubbing that we'd been 
subjected to. And an "omake shift" was easily identifiable. "A 
continuity divergence... that's like..." I floundered for the 
right words. "Like when they make an OAV series and then they do 
a TV series in a different continuity."
	Smiling and nodding, Natsumi replied, "Exactly. You're 
pretty sharp."
	This "Natsumi" was definitely more than she seemed. The name 
was generic enough; "natsu" for "summer" and "mi" for "beauty" - 
the second most common suffix for a female Japanese name. But the 
way she spoke and moved weren't particularly childlike. That left 
one question; whatever she really was, was she on our side?
	I decided to take a chance. "Then... What do you call it 
when someone from another dimension, where anime is just 
something on video, comes here where it's real?"
	"You," Natsumi replied, "are what we call a Mangatripper."
	Aside from the obvious Rumic Theater reference... That term 
made about as much sense as anything else around here. I realized 
that Natsumi was gauging Kasumi's reaction; this latest 
revelation was not a huge shock to her but simply a label for 
what she already knew. It did not, however, give me any idea as 
to whether or not to trust her. A part of me was convinced that 
such a cute little girl couldn't possibly want to do anything 
bad, but I knew that reaction wasn't my own. The ranks of cute 
characters in anime included as many vicious little freaks as 
they did kind, loving little girls. If not more.
	"Be that as it may," I replied. "Why exactly are you here?"
	Natsumi just rolled her eyes and smiled yet again. "I was 
sent to investigate the dimensional anomaly; it's over now, but 
that still leaves the question of the other ones that have been 
detected lately."
	Again, what she was saying just didn't fit her persona. On 
the other hand, given the... interesting disposition of our foes 
so far (i.e., they had all been highly fruity bishounens), it 
seemed unlikely that she was affiliated with them. "Have you ever 
heard of a man named Valirion?" I asked pointedly.
	Silence reigned for a moment, and a breeze whispered 
ominously through the trees. "How do you know that name?"
	I eyed her suspiciously. "It seems like I should be asking 
you that question."
	With startling speed and intensity, Natsumi grabbed me by 
the collar, pulling my head down until it was level with hers. 
"Tell me."
	"His lackeys have come after us twice now. Once in Tokyo and 
once on a spaceship."
	Natsumi let me go, seemingly ambushed by her own thoughts. 
"That explains a lot. Disruptions were monitored in both Tokyo 
Prime and somewhere in the Mecha Zones..."
	Kasumi frowned. "Do you think perhaps you could include us 
in this discussion?"
	Natsumi turned to the pair of us, shuddering slightly. 
"Look... Valirion is dangerous. Very dangerous. There are always 
plenty of villains around, but when one of them starts hopping 
dimensions he can usually become ten times as dangerous. And if 
there's enough at stake that he wants something from you two... 
You could be in deep already."
	Not what I wanted to hear. But then she was clearly speaking 
in some kind of technical lingo, and using plenty of terms that I 
couldn't understand.
	Kasumi, I realized, was restraining herself, keeping 
considerable anger and fear bottled up. "Then what are we 
supposed to do?"
	It was about then that I realized a tall, slender, and too-
familiar figure was standing behind us. "You will submit to the 
will of Lord Valirion." It was the guy from Tokyo - the bare-
chested guy in a black trench with a silver cross. "He is not 
unkind," he continued, "If only you knew the truth of why he 
pursues this great errand."
	It seemed like Kasumi and I had begun to develop a rapport 
of sorts; with barely a glance at each other I took Natsumi by 
the arm and Kasumi and I scattered in opposite directions, coming 
around to meet behind a stone statue of a dog. As I'd hoped, 
Kasumi had already materialized her sword.
	"Remember his imitation power." I reminded her.
	A wave of crimson energy blazed into the statue, throwing 
fragments of rock in every direction as the unfortunate stone 
canine shattered. "It would be foolish to assume that mimicry is 
my only power," explained the bishounen. "Assumptions can be your 
downfall."
	It just had to be the same guy. My bluff from our first 
meeting would never work a second time. Kasumi gave me a 
reassuring smile and stepped forward to do battle. I was more 
than a little concerned at this point; while we'd beaten him with 
trickery the first time, a straight-up battle was likely to prove 
more difficult, and the humiliation of being kneed in the groin 
would put him on his guard. Not only that, but of the three girls 
from Excelion, only Arisa had ever beaten a General single-
handedly, and that was with the motivation of seeing Hiro almost 
killed.
	Kasumi's shimmering blue sword met his katana, which gleamed 
a hungry, predatory crimson hue. The two swords clashed again and 
again, throwing up multicolored sparks each time they struck, but 
it was all too clear that the bishounen wasn't fighting 
seriously. He seemed to be waiting for the right moment to bring 
the battle to a close with one perfect blow, like a fighting game 
player trying to land that one perfect level 3 super, smirking 
all the while.
	I felt that same helplessness as I watched them go back and 
forth. Kasumi would occasionally try a magical attack here or 
there, but he invariably devised some counter. When I dared to 
take my eyes off of the battle for a moment, I saw Natsumi was 
watching the battle with an intensity that few adults could 
manage, much less a child.
	"Damnit!" Kasumi growled. "What the hell do you freaks want 
with me?!" She was getting angry, and losing her focus. She 
sounded like me, actually.
	"Xavier made me promise to bring the boy back," the 
bishounen explained casually, even as the clash of swords 
continued, "but you... You are the final ingredient in the rite 
that will allow Lord Valirion to fulfill his ambitions. A 
sacrifice to his greater glory."
	She fought on harder than ever, but the bishounen seemed to 
be growing weary of the battle, and finally he raised his sword 
skyward and brought it down on the ground, sending out a massive 
shockwave of energy. I found Natsumi pulling me to the ground as 
the burning red energy washed over us. When I could see again - 
when the red haze had at last cleared - Kasumi was lying 
unconscious on the ground. With little regard for my own safety I 
found myself rushing over to her side; she was out cold, and her 
sword had faded back into the nothingness from which it had 
appeared.
	That bastard was looming over the two of us, and I had 
nothing to fight with. I let out a ragged breath. "Fuck. Now 
what?"
	At that moment I hadn't been keeping my anime clichés in 
mind, because I was forgetting that this was another of those 
dire moments when something incredible happened to pull the 
heroes out of hot water.
	Natsumi stepped forward, putting herself between the 
bishounen and myself. "I can't let you touch them," she declared 
firmly. "You and your master are violators of the Dimensional 
Accords, and as such it is my duty to arrest you, forcibly if 
need be."
	Both the bishounen and I looked at her as though she'd been 
struck by another "linguistic fracture." "What," he mused, "could 
you possibly hope to do to me?"
	"I didn't want to have to do this just yet," she replied, 
"but you leave me no choice." What happened next... Well, it 
looked like one of those cool digital effects you see in some of 
the newer anime series. It was like part of reality just unfolded 
around her, revealing a very different person. The "new" Natsumi 
was tall, probably in her early 20s, with short black hair, and 
clad in a nearly skintight blue jumpsuit. I could make out the 
words "D-POLICE" in English along the side of her leg. She 
clenched her fists, and blue energy flared around them. "I am 
Detective Natsumi Akamura of the Dimensional Police, and I am 
hereby placing you under arrest on charges of trans-dimensional 
terrorism, and complicity in Zonal genocide."
	I was trying to comprehend what could possibly be going on 
when it dawned on me that this would be a poor place for the 
unconscious Kasumi and I to be, so I carefully picked her up and 
began to retreat. The bishounen watched us go out of the corner 
of his eye, knowing, it seemed, that this was an opponent he 
could not afford to underestimate.
	"So," he mused. "The Dimensional Police. I can't say I've 
heard of such an organization, but I can't afford to take you too 
lightly either. Prepare to die, at the blade of Folken."
	The wind rose as the two of them faced off, neither moving 
in the least for a painfully long moment. The glow that 
surrounded Natsumi's fists slowly intensified, and her eyes 
seemed to burn with power. Though she had no real ties to myself 
or Kasumi, she seemed to know too well the stakes of this fight, 
and was prepared to give it her all.
	The new battle exploded into being when Natsumi leapt 
backwards, unleashing two spheres of energy; Folken deflected the 
first with his sword but took the second one on his leg. There 
was a small explosion, but before the dust had cleared Folken 
soared forward, coming at her with his sword. The blood-red blade 
slashed again and again, Natsumi dodging and parrying as she 
fought back in a precise, calculated series of movements. The 
power blasts from her fists blazed as she assaulted him again and 
again, but on those occasions when she did finally manage to land 
a blow it seemed to have little effect.
	After what seemed like an eternity, there was a lull in the 
battle as both fighters paused to catch their breath. Natsumi 
seemed to mutter something to herself, and I immediately noticed 
a change in the energy that seethed around her hands; it was as 
though they left faint trails of blue as they moved. As though in 
response, Folken held his sword horizontally in front of his 
face, and used it to make a deep cut in his forearm. The sword 
seemed to pull his blood into itself, taking on a malicious glow.
	 I held my breath as the world seemed to pulse in time with 
their energies for yet another small eternity. Kasumi was coming 
around, but not quickly enough. The two warriors blazed towards 
each other; Natsumi brought two snaking spirals of seething blue 
to bear on Folken, who returned the favor with a massive, sinuous 
slash of angrily luminous crimson. The two attacks tore through 
the air, clashing in a blast of pure white light that sent a 
fierce wave of painfully hot air shooting out in all directions.
	The sound of a katana sliding into its sheath was like an 
icicle rasping against my spine. I already knew too well how the 
clash had turned out. When the dust finally cleared, Folken stood 
there, smiling faintly.
	Natsumi had collapsed to the ground; the blue jumpsuit she 
wore was torn and crackled with stray sparks of blue energy. She 
looked up at him bitterly. "Jettison. Code Omega." she growled. 
What remained of the tattered jumpsuit suddenly blurred and 
twisted, forming a crackling ball that shot towards Folken. He 
seemed to move into a brief blur of motion, and the two halves of 
that ball sped past him and exploded in the distance as he 
sheathed his sword again.
	By that time, however, Natsumi, wearing normal clothes and 
wielding some kind of energy pistol, was upon him. What she 
lacked in power she was evidently making up for with stunning 
agility and quick thinking. Her gun sent a seething yellow beam 
into Folken's shoulder - though it didn't seem to hurt him much - 
and this was followed almost immediately by a kick to the face 
that left him staggering. Unfortunately, Folken seemed determined 
to persist in being an overpowered villain, because he spun 
around, bringing his fist into her stomach so hard she was sent 
tumbling over and over, skidding to a halt alongside Kasumi and 
I.
	Why I hadn't run I couldn't say. Instead I picked up 
Natsumi's gun and leveled it at Folken. I'd never held a gun 
before, and I hope I'm never forced to again. I don't know how I 
held it steady, but it didn't matter because that bastard did 
some kind of 2-hit kick combo, first knocking it out of my hands 
and then booting me in the face. Only able to see out of one eye, 
I could only watch as he hefted Kasumi over one shoulder, raised 
his sword, and slashed through the air. Reality itself was cut 
open, and he stepped through. It took a moment for the full 
implications of this to hit me.
	He had taken Kasumi.
	Desperately I grabbed Natsumi by her shirt collar. "Wake up! 
We have to do something!"
	She blinked hazily.
	"You're supposed to be a cop! A professional!" I pleaded. 
"Do something!"
	When she rose to her feet, she roughly shoved me aside and 
retrieved her gun, holstering it. Her eyes seemed to take in 
every detail of our surroundings. Without another word, she 
grabbed my hand and dashed through the fading portal formed by 
Folken's sword.


Chapter 5
I don't know if I have
The strength to go on anymore
I can't be brave like you
But I can't be quiet anymore
 - "Call My Name" (Excelion OP)

It was about then - too damn late - that the full extent of my 
feelings became apparent to me. Before, Kasumi was my "favorite 
character," the one whose design and personality I'd liked and 
not much more. But that was before I'd met her, looked into her 
eyes, held her hand... I hadn't wanted to admit it to myself, 
because it sounded stupid, and because the betrayal of so long 
ago had left me unable, or at least _unwilling_ to open myself up 
to someone like that again. Until now. When I'd looked into her 
wavering eyes in that park, feeling the gentle breeze and 
surrounded by the warm hues of the setting sun, I'd felt my heart 
racing. I'd felt more alive than ever before, as though her smile 
had revived some part of me I'd assumed gone forever.
	I... had fallen in love with Kasumi. Looking back, I was an 
idiot not to realize it sooner. I had, after all, risked my life 
more than once and nearly gotten killed trying to protect her. I 
had no special powers beyond my knowledge as an otaku, and lately 
that seemed to only be making me that much more certain that 
there was nothing I could do.
	But now she was gone, taken away to be a sacrifice to some 
bishounen madman's ambitions. The knowledge that she had been 
taken from me and could die soon was like a painfully open wound.
	I'd wanted more than anything to protect her, to rescue her 
from Valirion's clutches, but neither Kasumi's mystic powers nor 
Natsumi's technological firepower had been of much use against 
one of his servants - and the main villain was always far 
stronger than his minions. I really wanted to believe that Kasumi 
and I were somehow the main characters of a story; this was 
supposed to be an anime after all. We were _supposed_ to win in 
the end, but right now that seemed impossible.
	The place Natsumi and I found ourselves in following our 
hasty jump through Folken's portal was a corridor, its walls made 
of smooth yellow-gray stone. "Where," I breathed, "are we?"
	Natsumi was taking in our surroundings, and had drawn her 
energy pistol. "This is undoubtedly Valirions fortress." she 
replied.
	It probably wasn't fair to her, but it goes without saying 
that I was high-strung at that point. "How the hell do you know 
that?" I snapped.
	She sighed irately as she began stalking down the corridor. 
"This is not the material multiverse you come from. In the 
Aniverse plots are real, living things rather than mere 
coincidence." She placed each foot quickly but carefully as she 
walked, holding her gun at the ready. "When you deal with them as 
much as I do, you can feel them. And I can smell a climax coming 
up soon.
	That might've been comforting if this story didn't involve 
fighting sadistic fruity bishounen freaks. "I'm all for rescuing 
Kasumi, but how the hell are we supposed to do it?"
	Natsumi's jaw clenched. "Suffice it to say that I still have 
some tricks up my sleeve."
	I didn't doubt that, but... Somehow that didn't sound right. 
Not that she had some more power, but that she would appear 
towards the end of the story to defeat the villains. I was the 
hero at the beginning of the story, and it seemed to me that in 
an anime that meant that I would have to be the hero at the end, 
the one who fought the final battle. That was always how it 
worked; I just wasn't sure what kind of conflict could possibly 
arise where I would be the winner. I found myself thinking in 
circles; I was somehow destined to win, being the story's hero, 
but I couldn't do that as things stood. I was Gabriel the 
Mangatripper, a hero who succeeded by a combination of anime 
knowledge and sheer audacity of actions.
	Natsumi motioned me to silence as she approached an archway. 
When I was able to see through it, I caught a glimpse of a vast 
circular chamber, filled with a maze of metal catwalks. If I had 
been watching an anime in the comfort of my apartment I probably 
would've pulled out some microwave popcorn and sat back for a 
cool fight upon seeing the main characters enter a place like 
that. Seeing it with my own eyes filled me with cold dread.
	"Natsumi," I whispered.
	"I know." She replied quietly, flipping a switch on her 
pistol. "No sense in keeping anyone waiting."
	For several seconds we walked along the catwalks, the 
tension in the air thick enough to cut with a knife. Then the 
inevitable happened. The entrance made by this particular villain 
was cliché, but impressive nonetheless. Cherry blossoms filled 
the air, and the villain flickered into being. A slim and supple 
body was covered by an elegant kimono, and a perfectly manicured 
hand lightly gripped a gleaming naginata.
	The long black hair that I can only call luxurious and the 
perfect touches of makeup didn't fool me though. I'd seen enough 
shoujo anime in my day to do the math.
	The figure's bare feet lightly touched the ground. "You may 
call me Tsubasa."
	"You're a man, aren't you?" I mused dryly.
	Despite how professionally calm she usually was, Natsumi was 
looking at me with eyes consisting of big white circles with 
little black dots in the middle. "Wha... you can't be serious!"
	Tsubasa's dark expression was more than enough proof to me. 
"How?" he growled. "How could you possibly have known!?"
	"I've seen your type before." I replied. That was true; 
Fushigi Yuugi, Ruroni Kenshin, Excelion, and, after a fashion, 
Sailor Moon, all featured such characters.
	Natsumi was looking at Tsubasa in incredulous shock. "B-
but... I-I mean... HE?"
	I nodded, trying to gauge how I could turn this to my 
advantage. Flattery seemed the most viable option. "To be fait, 
it was only the fact that Valirion's other minions are all men 
that tipped me off. I'm not really a good judge of such 
things..." I grappled with the words for a moment - as open-
minded as I might be, judging the looks of another guy wasn't 
exactly something I would claim to be skilled at. "...Well, I'd 
say you're hands down better looking than Xavier and Folken put 
together." Of course, I didn't mention that that was because I 
prefer girls.
	Silence reigned. Natsumi and Tsubasa alike were looking at 
me with such expressions of disbelief that I began to wonder if 
I'd managed to do something to break reality again. Then I began 
to wonder if I'd gotten the "attentions" of another gay guy.
	Tsubasa blinked audibly and wiped his eyes. "You are too 
kind, boy. Valirion-sama has eyes only for that fool girl, even 
though the only thing she can do is draw." _That_ piqued my 
interest. It was a new wrinkle in the plot, to be sure. "WHY?" he 
cried. "Why must my great love for Valirion-sama be unrequited?!"
	Natsumi was rubbing her temples.
	There had to be _some_ way to _use_ this ludicrous 
situation. There was no telling how much time Kasumi had left. 
"Believe me, I know how you feel." That was, I realized, true 
after a fashion. Memories of Rebecca always hurt, but the fact 
that I stood to lose the first person I'd dared to love after 
that scarring nightmare...
	Tsubasa must've detected my inner turmoil, because I was 
startled to find him putting his arms around me in consolation. 
Natsumi's expression was outright comical. Tsubasa wept openly, 
and I found myself awkwardly patting him on the back. I had to 
figure out what to do next in a big hurry though. Not only was 
this wasting time, it was kind of creepy.
	"It's too bad," said Tsubasa, "that kindred souls such as 
ourselves must be forced by cruel fate to do battle."
	Damn. I stayed where I was and emphatically mouthed "SHOOT 
HIM" to Natsumi. It took about three tries before she figured out 
what I was getting at. The blast that came out of Natsumi's gun 
was a ball of angrily crackling pure-white energy. Seeing it come 
closer I shoved Tsubasa away from me - into the Natsumi's 
oncoming shot - and dove to the ground.
	There was a small explosion that made my ears ring, but I 
could hear Tsubasa's effeminate shriek of agony all too well. By 
the time Tsubasa had recovered and made ready to fight back, 
Natsumi had already begun moving along the catwalks, firing off 
laser blasts from that pistol of hers as she ran sideways. Though 
it lasted only a fleeting moment, the venomous glare Tsubasa gave 
me made it clear that in his eyes I was the smaller of the two 
insects he planned to crush today.
	The cross-dresser dashed forward, naginata still in hand, 
picking up so much speed that my eyes couldn't keep up. He seemed 
to momentarily flicker in and out of existence, and his polearm's 
razor-sharp blade thrust forward, slicing past Natsumi by mere 
inches and striking the catwalk with enough force to split a 
portion of it. The shards of metal that were thrown up didn't 
faze Natsumi, who kept moving.
	Realizing that I was being ignored, I started making my way 
towards the other side of the chamber, even as the ring of metal 
on metal grew ever more frequent.
	I had avoided looking down before, preferring to trust 
Natsumi rather than face the vertigo that would doubtless result, 
but now I forced myself. I couldn't count how many stories down 
it was, but this chamber was the interior of a vast cylinder, 
with catwalks like the one on which I stood at various intervals. 
At the bottom I could just make out a hexagram inscribed in 
glowing blue on the floor. In anime those were symbols of 
mystical power. Not good.
	Although Tsubasa lacked Folken's flagrant energy wave 
attacks, his assault was clearly wearing Natsumi down. A kick to 
the stomach doubled her over, and a blow to the head with the 
haft of the naginata left her on her back, and somewhere between 
the two blows the gun slipped out of her hands, falling to the 
depths below. The blade of Tsubasa's weapon was pointed at her 
throat in a heartbeat. It gleamed, matching the predatory malice 
that shone in his eyes.
	"Now, little girl," Tsubasa snarled. "you die."
	At first, Natsumi seemed oddly resigned to her fate; she 
took a deep breath and schooled her features to tranquility. "I 
believe," she replied evenly, "that that is going to be my line 
in a moment."
	I wasn't too far from the opposite side of the room, where 
an archway led to another corridor. But I froze at that scene.
	Time seemed to move in slow motion as Tsubasa thrust 
forward, intent on shearing Natsumi's head off. She raised her 
right arm, and... the flesh of that arm seemed to explode from 
within as some bizarre blade made of a shimmering green metal 
emerged where her forearm had been. The blade of the naginata 
slid along the edge of that green blade, throwing up sparks, and 
a quick movement from Natsumi cut the haft in two, sending the 
severed blade falling below.
	Time seemed to stand still for a moment. The next movement 
was a slash from Natsumi's sword-arm. Tsubasa jumped back, and 
for a moment it seemed as though he'd evaded the attack, but then 
the red blood from a gash across his chest began to stain his 
kimono. 
	"Before you ask," Natsumi said dryly. "I am not human. I am 
Rune Weapon."
	The significance of that was unknown to me, but Tsubasa 
recoiled in shock. "Y-you?! How could you have escaped?!" From 
the recesses of his kimono he produced a pair of kodachi - the 
smallest variety of Japanese swords. With tears erasing his 
makeup, he used one sword to savagely cut his hair short.
	"Humans," she sniffed, "can rarely contain their curiosity, 
even when they hold Pandora's Box."
	I was beginning to see where all of this was headed. "Rune 
Weapon" undoubtedly had some connection to Valirion from some 
time ago - and held a grudge to boot. What I really needed to 
know, though was whether whatever she had planned included 
rescuing Kasumi.
	"You are an abomination," Tsubasa spat, readying his swords. 
"And you have broken me, turned me back into the monster I once 
was." It took me a moment to realize just how much Tsubasa had 
changed in those few seconds; his voice, his posture, even the 
gleam in his eyes, were all somehow immeasurably more masculine.
	The change in Natsumi was more disturbing though. Seeing the 
enthusiastic little girl become a stolidly professional 
"dimensional police" detective was one thing, but now even that 
subdued personality was gone. Her face was terribly blank; 
looking into her hard eyes was like looking down the barrel of a 
gun, knowing of the destructive power barely contained within.
	When Tsubasa attacked, he unleashed a barrage of deadly 
combination attacks, his twin swords flashing with impossible 
speed and savage fury as he came for Natsumi. A sort of monocle 
slid into place in front of her right eye, and suddenly she flew 
into action, blocking every last attack he tried.
	At that point I didn't care who won; I began moving again. 
If I caught Tsubasa's eye at all, he didn't act on it; he 
undoubtedly knew that diverting his attention from Natsumi would 
cost him dearly.
	I found myself prowling past a series of doors, behind which 
I could hear sounds of activity, though it was mostly just casual 
conversation. Trying desperately to decide on a course of action, 
I hid myself behind a broad stone column and tried to catch my 
breath.
	That's when I heard voices; a guy and a girl, about my age, 
were talking. When I craned my neck to see, I could make out what 
was undoubtedly one of Xavier's boys, but his conversation 
partner was just out of my line of sight. Their conversation was 
mundane to be sure - the boy had apparently asked for some advice 
as to what to do about his affections for another boy - but what 
struck me was the girl's accent, or rather lack thereof from my 
perspective. Her tone, the cadence of her words, and the slang 
laced with swear words were all those of someone from the Bay 
Area like me.
	When the boy finally left, my curiosity got the better of me 
and I approached. She was Asian - Chinese if I was guessing right 
- and plain looking though by no means unpleasantly so. Her black 
hair just touched her shoulders, and the jeans and T-shirt she 
wore made her look as though she'd just walked off the streets of 
San Jose.
	When she saw me she blinked in surprise. "Who're you?" she 
asked quietly.
	"Gabriel Collins. And you?" There was something familiar 
about her, but I just couldn't place it.
	"Christine Wong." she replied, growing more and more curious 
with each moment. "Where are you from?"
	"Cupertino." I replied. "My place is right off Wolfe Road."
	"So you're from the real world too?"
	 "The pain from having the crap beaten out of me the other 
day seemed pretty real." My mind was spinning with the 
implications of all of this. She was another Mangatripper like 
me, and Valirion was in love with her.
	She looked at me strangely, as though tempted to laugh out 
loud but politely restraining. "Is that a joke?"
	"I wish it were." I said sourly. "Got cornered by a bunch of 
female space fighter pilots. Where do I know you from?"
	Christine blinked and shrugged. "I assume you go to the 
local anime conventions?"
	_That_ was it. "I remember now; FanimeCon 2000, in the 
Masquerade line. You're Iori no Miko."
	She smiled, blushed, and finally nodded. A fangirl. 
Footsteps sounded down the corridor. "You'd better go hide." She 
cautioned. "The guards are going nuts all of a sudden - something 
so secret they won't even tell _me_."
	I nodded gravely. That meant Valirion was smarter than most 
anime villains; she undoubtedly would've objected to his trying 
to kill Kasumi, so he'd conclude it was better to keep the whole 
thing a secret from her until after. "If you see Kasumi, tell her 
I'm coming." I turned to leave, and then as an afterthought 
added, "If you see Valirion, please do me a favor and don't tell 
him anything."
	Unfortunately, my only route away from the guards was the 
one that took me back to where Natsumi and Tsubasa had been 
fighting. When I got there, I saw that Tsubasa had lost one of 
his swords, and was badly bloodied. Natsumi seemed to have been 
cut a few times, but there was no blood. Tsubasa watched her 
warily with one eye - the other was clenched shut, stopping blood 
from flowing out of where that eye had no doubt been sliced.
	He gave a guttural cry for what I knew would be the last 
time, and swung. His sword fell over the edge of the catwalk, and 
a moment later he followed it.
	The silence that followed was filled the sickening, coppery 
scent of blood. I approached Natsumi very carefully. I had no 
other option, except to go back into that corridor and face the 
guards. She was kneeling, her arm finally returned to normal, but 
she and the catwalk around her splattered with blood. I realized 
that she wasn't being silent. There was a faint, pathetic sound.
	She was crying.
	"Now you know," she whispered hoarsely, "what I really am. 
Nothing  more than an artifact - a killing machine on legs. When 
I change... my program just takes over and..."
	"Never be ashamed of who you are." That was, I realized, a 
direct quote from Kasumi in the third episode of the Excelion OAV 
series. "As long as you're alive you can always aspire to 
something greater." My impassioned soliloquy started to hit 
stride. "Like the Battousai - the deadliest assassin of the Meiji 
Revolution, who instead of ending his life became a wandered who 
protected the common people with a reverse-bladed sword. You're 
already a dimensional police detective-"
	"Just a job." she interrupted bitterly.
	I paused for a moment, then took hold of one of her hands. 
"Then take it further. Your job gives you the opportunity to make 
the... multiverse a better place every day. Start now."
	Footsteps sounded in the distance, and frantic voices. "The 
monitors detected intruders in the Yggdrasil Chamber! Level 16B!" 
shouted one voice. In moments, both corridors were filled with 
guards, headed straight for us.
	As Natsumi and I stood up, looking around frantically, I 
suddenly found her putting her arms around my waist from behind. 
I was struggling to comprehend what she could've been 
contemplating when she suddenly flung both of us backwards over 
the side of the catwalk.
	I gasped for the breath to scream as a horrible feeling of 
vertigo assaulted me. The sound of clinking metal, followed by 
what at first sounded like a ruffling of sheets, drew my 
attention.
	Wings. Natsumi had sprouted a pair of wings, white-feathered 
but partly mechanical. Our descent was reduced to a slow, 
swimming dream as we floated downwards. I felt an odd clarity 
coming over me; the time of our rendezvous with destiny was fast 
approaching, but not just yet. 
	"What is it about your kind?" Natsumi mused quietly. "You're 
just like James was. So different. So kind. So... real."
	"It's not an accident that I wound up here, is it?" I asked 
quietly.
	"No." she whispered. " Most Mangatrippers are pulled here by 
their own hearts."
	I nodded. That made a lot of sense; thinking back to that 
moment, I had wanted only to escape the banality and pain of the 
real world, no matter what it took and no matter what the price. 
"Before I just wanted to get away from there. Now I have a reason 
to stay here."
	Natsumi pulled me just a little bit closer, but seemed to 
hesitate for a moment. "You're so much like him." she whispered 
sadly. "I'll do whatever I can to help you save her."
	I felt a lot better about our chances at that point as we 
continued drifting downwards, towards what I knew would be the 
story's inevitable conclusion.


Chapter 6
Only hope can keep me together.
Love can mend your life but
Love can break your heart. 
 - The Police, "Message In A Bottle"

As we floated down, sounds of commotion rang through the vast 
chamber, but the noise failed to disturb the tranquility of our 
descent. Natsumi hadn't said anything for some time, but I 
finally decided to break the silence.
	"Valirion will be down there." I said. "And his henchmen."
	She nodded. "I know. Valirion, Folken, and Xanadu had to 
work together to seal me away before. If I'm destroyed the 
singularity that powers me will be released. Do you understand?"
	I nodded and shivered. "A black hole." The symbolism there 
was breathtaking, to say nothing of the danger.
	As we drew closer to the bottom, I saw several figures 
below, and realized that one of them was Folken. Our approach did 
not go unnoticed; a tall man with shoulder-length black hair, 
dressed in an ornate gray and blue outfit, complete with 
dramatically flaring cloak, looked up. His expression was 
unreadable, but his presence was regal and commanding. There 
could be no question - that was Valirion.
	I could also see Kasumi; she'd been clothed in a flimsy 
white garment, and strapped to an altar in the very center of the 
room. My heart ached seeing her like that.
	The barrage of attacks I'd been expecting to tear through 
Natsumi and I at any moment during our long descent never came. 
As Natsumi and I lightly touched the ground, I realized that 
Folken was sweating, as were Xavier and another bishounen I 
hadn't seen before - presumably the Xanadu that Natsumi had 
mentioned. While Valirion showed no outward sign of fear, his 
minions were only barely succeeding in hiding their fear - of 
Natsumi. The four of them stood there, between Kasumi and me. It 
had taken three to seal away Natsumi before. And there was the 
question of the purpose of Valirion's sacrificial ritual; if we 
failed to stop him, would he gain even greater power?
	"Holy shit! What the hell's goin' on?"
	A small figure emerged from a stairway to one side of the 
chamber, looking around in wide-eyed shock. The look on 
Valirion's face as he regarded her spoke volumes; the moment his 
eyes fell on her his expression was so... tender.
	Her cheeks colored at his mere glance, but she pressed on. 
"Val-"
	"Please, Christine," he interrupted. "It's not safe here."
	Christine looked annoyed until her eyes fell on Natsumi. 
"Rune Weapon," she breathed. "Someone let her out."
	Valirion said, "Please go. We will deal with that monster."
	"I am not a monster." countered Natsumi. "I used to be a 
tool - a lifelike killer doll - but not anymore." She spoke 
passionately, her voice wavering.
	Christine nodded numbly. "You've grown. Gained a heart. I 
figured you would."
	The look that Natsumi gave Christine was icy. "I know who - 
and _what_ - you are." she announced coldly. "Are you going to 
let him go through with this? Let him murder an innocent girl?"
	Kasumi shivered, looking at me pleasingly. My breath caught.
	This was going to be messy. Christine looked like she was in 
the throes of an internal conflict, as though what Valirion stood 
to gain from this ritual was almost worth the cost of Kasumi's 
life. In anime, when the villains were sure they were on the 
right side... things god ugly and tragic.
	Natsumi faced Valirion and spoke to me quietly. "I'll fight 
them. The rest is up to you."
	I had missed out on seeing Natsumi's full power before, but 
not this time. Her angel wings folded and disappeared. Meanwhile 
her right arm became a sword-blade once more, while the left arm 
became a gun of some kind. Smaller, bat-like wings sprouted from 
her back, and a monocle of some kind snapped into place in front 
of her right eye. Finally, a pair of metal discs emerged from her 
back and hovered at her sides.
	Valirion's minions had drawn their weapons and reluctantly 
made ready to do battle, but Valirion himself was turning his 
attention to Kasumi. Natsumi found three sword-wielding 
bishounens bearing down on her, and she moved into the fray with 
no hesitation whatsoever. Her blade-arm slashed, her cannon 
seethed with blue energy and fired, and the discs that hovered 
beside her seemed to have an uncanny ability to put themselves 
directly into the path of their strikes, sometimes seemingly 
before they could even swing. In moments Xanadu took an energy 
blast and Xavier received a jagged cut across one leg.
	As I made my way towards the altar, my heart feeling as 
though it was trying to beat its way out of my chest, my foot 
bumped into something, and I found myself picking up Natsumi's 
energy pistol. Seeing Valirion holding an eldritch-looking dagger 
over Kasumi, I leveled the blaster at him and got ready to fire. 
I didn't think about how unheroic and anticlimactic it would've 
been for me to do that, so it was a shock when I found a crying 
Christine putting herself in the line of fire.
	I shuddered. "Why?" She looked at me and said nothing. She 
and Valirion loved each other - I could see that now. I didn't 
want to kill him, but I had to stop him from hurting Kasumi.
	When Valirion saw what was happening he froze. "Christine... 
How _dare_ you!"
	I didn't want to do what came next, but I saw no other 
alternative. I grabbed Christine, holding her in a headlock with 
one arm, and holding the gun to her temple with the other. She 
didn't seem to be physically weak; ordinarily she probably 
could've fought free, but fear and inner turmoil robbed her of 
the will to fight back.
	"I'm sorry." I whispered.
	I had gone from being ignored to being the center of 
attention. The battle had frozen in place, and all eyes were on 
me.
	"Coward!" Valirion snarled.
	"You took the girl I love first." I countered. "Let Kasumi 
go and I'll let Christine go. Unharmed."
	"And if I refuse? You don't look like a killer."
	He was calling my bluff. I could never have pulled that 
trigger, but at that moment making him think I would was the only 
card I had to play. "I _don't_ want to. I _really_ don't want to. 
But to save Kasumi I just might. _Please_ don't let it come to 
that."
	"Give up." added Christine. "It's not worth it, even if it 
means our time will be short... at least we can be together." She 
sniffled; I felt her tears dripping onto the arm that had her in 
a headlock. "I don't know if I could love a man who'd... 
who'd..."
	I realized that Kasumi's expression looked a lot like how 
Christine's face must've at that moment. The girl I had come to 
love didn't know whether to love me, hate me, or both. I don't 
know whether it was I or Christine who trembled more in the heavy 
silence that followed.
	Suddenly, Valirion gestured. I felt a sharp tug, and 
Christine floated out of my grasp, apparently pulled away by 
telekinesis.
	While Christine was in mid-flight - obviously being drawn to 
Valirion's arms - Natsumi made her move. She launched herself at 
Valirion, swinging her sword-arm with lightning speed. It was a 
testament to Valirion's skill that he was able to react in time, 
parrying the blow with his blade only half-drawn.
	That sword was, however, of no use against the cannon that 
replaced Natsumi's other arm. Arcane symbols seethed in the air 
around the barrel, and a beam of blue energy lanced into 
Valirion, sending him into the far wall. Christine cried out as 
she floated to the ground, alone, and Valirion's minions were 
quick to put themselves between Natsumi and their master, their 
loyalty apparently exceeding their fear by far.
	That was about when I decided to make a move - only to find 
that Folken was not as loyal as he seemed. He hadn't joined his 
comrades, and instead was acting on his own initiative, holding 
the ceremonial dagger that Valirion had dropped, and striding 
towards Kasumi. There was no doubt that he had turned traitor; if 
he still cared at all about his fellows he'd be helping Xavier 
and Xanadu as they fought for their lives against Natsumi's 
merciless assault.
	At that moment time seemed to flow with all the speed of 
cold molasses. Folken held the dagger over Kasumi, who was 
calling my name. As I ran towards her I think I managed to let 
the gun slip out of my hands. Each breath, each step, seemed to 
take an eternity to complete, and the blade continued to descend.
	My hands gripped Folken's hands, and he found ourselves 
fighting for control of the knife, even amid the explosions that 
rang out behind us. He was astonishingly strong, but adrenaline 
and desperation lent my arms more strength than I would've 
thought possible. The dagger wavered in the air over our heads, 
suspended between our white-knuckled hands. He began to overpower 
me, the blade dipping dangerously close to my chest. His red eyes 
looked at me with burning hatred, and the feeling was becoming 
more and more mutual by the second.
	It was about then that I decided to quit playing fair; this 
would-be murderer and traitor didn't deserve it. Bracing myself, 
I brought my knee into his crotch even harder than the first 
time. The sudden shift in equilibrium sent us to the cold stone 
floor, but when I recovered, I was able to pull the dagger from 
his unresisting hands. I gave him a swift kick to the stomach for 
good measure.
	When I cut Kasumi free of the ropes that pinned her hands 
and feet into place on the altar, she put her arms around me and 
cried. I held her close to me for a moment, before I remembered 
where we were; we weren't in the clear yet.
	Natsumi's sword-arm hummed, glowing an angry blue along its 
edge, as it slashed forward and left Xavier holding only a hilt 
as the severed blade of his sword fell to the floor. Before it 
landed, though, Natsumi continued forward, extended a wickedly 
serrated blade from her elbow, and cut a ragged gash across 
Xavier's side. The blade hit the floor with a clatter of metal.
	"Stop!" pleaded Christine, placing herself in front of 
Valirion. "We'll let her go! Just stop! _Please_!"
	Natsumi shook her head as she stepped forward, sinking her 
sword-arm deep into Xanadu's chest and flipped him over. He hit 
the ground with a sickening thump and didn't move. "I am a 
dimensional police officer. Valirion is a verified Class B 
criminal."
	"So?" Desperation crept into Christine's voice as tears made 
her choke on the words. "What the fuck does that mean?! You can 
just take him in without a trial or anything?!"
	Kasumi gripped my hand as she got to her feet. "Natsumi," 
she whispered. "Don't..."
	When Natsumi glanced back, I realized that she too was 
shedding tears. "He's a _verified_ Class B criminal; his guilt 
has already been conclusively proven. You haven't read the 
_reports_! You haven't seen how he destroyed two _entire_ 
populated Zones! How he enslaved the inhabitants of the Centurion 
Segundus Zone!"
	"Then what does that make _you_?!" Christine retorted 
bitterly.
	"I was a tool back then. It would've been like arresting his 
sword for killing people."
	Kasumi called her power. What happened next was something 
that, in all three Excelion series, all 46 manga volumes, and 
both movies, had happened once and only once. Kasumi attained her 
Primal transformation. Her usual magical sword became something 
more like a cross between the Masamune from Final Fantasy VII and 
Hikaru's ornate magical sword from Magic Knight Rayearth. It 
moved with an unparalleled elegance in her hand, and trailed blue 
mists as it moved. She wore elegant, supple armor made of 
gleaming blue ice, and a white cloak flared out behind her. I 
took a step back; I knew that the power of this form was awesome 
and terrible.
	"Natsumi," Kasumi said coldly. "Stand down."
	"Hate me if you must," replied Natsumi, "But I must do my 
duty. Now more than ever. "
	"I was wrong," sobbed Christine. "You're still a monster."
	Natsumi shrugged. "There's nothing more to say."
	Kasumi nodded and readied her sword. It pulsed with icy 
power, and she charged. Natsumi seemed to stay still, but I saw a 
faint flicker and realized, too late, what it was.
	Image attack. Natsumi had moved so fast she'd left behind an 
after-image. Her blade-arm impaled Valirion with enough force to 
shake the entire chamber. Valirion gasped, spilling blood from 
his mouth, as Natsumi yanked her arm free.
	The world seemed to hold its breath as Natsumi's bloody 
sword-arm became flesh again. Christine rushed to Valirion's 
side, and he held her gently.
	"I'm sorry." he said, his voice just above a whisper. "You 
made me what I am, and I failed you."
	"No..." she sobbed. "Don't go. Please..."
	He smiled, and pointed at her heart. "That is where I came 
from, and it is where I shall return."
	I didn't even try to understand. The story we'd become a 
part of had brought us victory, but made us feel like crap for 
doing it. When Valirion was silent - painfully and irrevocably so 
- Natsumi cleared her throat. "I..." The words caught in her 
throat and she tried again. "I hate to be the bearer of more bad 
news, but I must."
	At that point I was about ready to go find Natsumi's gun and 
shoot her with it. Kasumi frowned, and Christine regarded Natsumi 
with grief and feat, tinged with rage.
	No one said a word.
	Natsumi sighed. "Her." She said flatly, pointing to 
Christine.
	"What?" muttered Christine. "Are you going to kill me too?"
	Natsumi took a need breath. "If I have to. That or you go 
back home."
	My hands clenched into fists. That girl had been through too 
much already. "Why the hell is that?!" I demanded. "I'm a 
mangatripper too!"
	"She," Natsumi replied coldly, "is not a Mangatripper. She's 
a Creator."
	Silence.
	"A person from the material multiverse with exceptional 
creativity." She paused, trying to gather the words she needed, 
though they seemed to be trying to elude her. "People like 
that... when they come here their ideas become real. She made 
Valirion and this place and all of his minions and..."
	Christine's jaw dropped. "I... me? B-but..." She let out a 
long breath. "He knew all along."
	"How." I interrupted. "How can she get back?"
	"She can't do it herself; Creators don't have a strong 
enough tie to the material multiverse. But a Mangatripper can."
	Kasumi gripped my hand tightly. We all knew what she was 
saying.
	"Me?" I struggled to stand firm against a sickening feeling 
of vertigo that had nothing to do with falling. "How?"
	"After a story like this one, you'll have collected enough 
narrative energy that you can go back by sheer force of will," 
she explained uneasily. "But."
	This wasn't going to be good. "But?"
	Natsumi lowered her head, unable to look me in the eye 
anymore. "I know you're thinking of taking someone along. It 
won't work."
	Kasumi turned to me, the mystic raiment of her primal 
transformation dissolving. "Gabriel..."
	"The Dimensional Police can't send her back?" I asked 
hopefully.
	Natsumi shook her head. "No. There are very few other ways, 
and none are reliable. Even if I were to let her go, she made a 
Class B criminal; the rest of the D-police will be coming for 
her."
	Kasumi's expression was pained. "Gabriel, whatever 
happens... I... I..."
	"I know." I said softly. "I know."
	"I love you." she whispered.
	"I love you too." I replied. It felt so good to be able to 
say it. I _really_ wish it hadn't had to be under such 
circumstances. We'd won and yet we'd lost very badly. Natsumi's 
expression showed that she hated this situation every bit as much 
as we did, but she also wasn't about to turn her back on her 
duty.
	"Lave me." Christine muttered bitterly. "I don't care 
anymore."
	Part of me wanted to do just that. But Christine was so much 
like myself. I couldn't stand by and let her be killed; I could 
tell myself that it'd be different than doing it myself, but I'd 
never believe it for the rest of my life, even if Kasumi was 
there beside me.
	I knelt down and opened my backpack. I gave the remaining 
art book - the OAV one - and the UFO catcher doll to Kasumi. 
"Keep these to remember me by." I said firmly. "Someday you'll be 
able to give them back to me."
	Kasumi nodded numbly. It was one of those stupid anime 
things; "I'll let you take this scarf to remember me by while you 
go fight so that way you have to come back no matter what." 
Stupid, but it made me feel a little bit better.
	Christine regarded me with shock. "Why?" she breathed.
	Somehow I managed to keep myself from crying. "Do you really 
think I could live with myself?"
	Christine shook her head. "It's not like I have anything to 
live for."
	"You're alive." I retorted. "As long as you're still alive 
there's still hope."
	Christine sighed. "You sound just like Sanosuke."
	I shrugged. "And you sound just like Megumi. Never mind; 
we'd better go before I say anything else corny."
	When I turned to face Kasumi, her expression was melancholy 
rather than anguished. "I don't have anything to give you." she 
said quietly.
	I put her hand over my heart. "You've already given me more 
than you can imagine."
	Kasumi and I held each other for a too-short eternity, and 
finally kissed. She let go reluctantly. "Goodbye," she whispered. 
"I won't forget you."
	"Goodbye." I replied. "Until next time."
	I turned to Christine, and took hold of her hands; I wasn't 
sure how to do this, but it seemed to be the right thing to do.
	"If you ever meet James Butler from Michigan..." Natsumi 
said reluctantly. "Tell him I miss him."
	I nodded. "I will." I didn't like Natsumi much at that 
point, but I didn't want to be mean to her either. Without her 
Kasumi really would be gone.
	Christine looked away from me, lowering her head so her 
tears weren't so obvious.
	I tried to fill my mind with thoughts of home. I remembered 
the feel of my apartment with it's faulty fluorescent lighting. 
The plastic and popcorn smell of work. The fur on Alice's cat. 
The sound of my friend's voices.

	The next thing I knew, I was waking up on the bed of the 
hotel room at AnimeExpo. When Adam and Alice came back into the 
room to drop off the spoils of the latest trip to the dealers' 
room, it turned out that the convention was nearly over. When 
they demanded to know where I'd been, told me how worried they'd 
been, I apologized, but couldn't give an answer as to why.
	The trip back home was uncomfortably quiet. My friends were 
assuming that the incident with Jack was the cause of my 
disappearance and the thing that troubled me, when in fact it 
seemed like ancient history. I lost count of how many times I 
said "I'll be fine."
	Fortunately, John put on some CDs and made use of his 
phenomenal talent for speaking a lot and saying very little to 
keep out minds elsewhere.
	When I got home nine hours later, I turned on my computer 
and started typing, before I could forget any of the details. 
Now... it's all over. I don't have anything tangible to show for 
it - only memories and heartache. I'm going to find a way to see 
her again. I have to believe that.

	Gabriel saved the file and sighed. He wasn't sure what he'd 
do with it, since no one would believe him. He also wondered what 
had become of Christine Wong; when he'd awakened back in the 
"real world," there'd been no sign of her.
	He was startled by a knock on the door; his friends were all 
working today, so he wasn't expecting anyone. He rose, shutting 
off the monitor, and went to the door.
	"Hi." Christine stood there. Her smile wasn't cheerful, but 
she wasn't outright crying like the last time he'd seen her.
	"How..." he sputtered. "How did you find me?"
	"You told me you had an apartment in Cupertino off of Wolfe 
Road." she replied. "And not many other people would have an 
Excelion wall scroll in the window." He'd forgotten that he'd 
told her that.
	"But why?" The eloquence he'd displayed back in the Aniverse 
seemed very distant at that moment.
	She shrugged. "I dunno." He knew where he'd heard that 
before. "For one I wanted to be sure I wasn't crazy. For 
another..."
	He blinked as she trailed off. "For another?"
	"For another... I don't want to be alone right now."
	Silence fell over them for a moment. Thinking of how he'd 
felt over the past couple days, Gabriel realized that he didn't 
want to be alone either. He smiled. "How much Excelion have you 
seen?"
	"Only a couple of episodes..."
	He took her hand and started leading her into the apartment. 
"Time to fix that."


Afterword
	Wow. It's been a long time since a story I was writing 
gripped me in that "can't sleep well while it's not finished" 
kind of way. The original idea was to start doing stories of a 
particular length - in this case, a 6-part "OAV." The 
"Mangatripper" idea itself isn't new; it's something I came up 
with ages ago, influenced by movies like Cool World and Who 
Framed Roger Rabbit.
	What if, somehow, there was a place where anime was real? 
Combining that concept with the influences of the AD&D Planescape 
campaign setting and some particularly bizarre fanfics resulted 
(through a few iterations) in the Aniverse that Gabriel visited, 
home to every possible anime, and furthermore places and beings 
made of the elements of anime distilled. Hopefully the Aniverse 
BESM netbook will be ready relaitvely soon. ^_^;
	The Mangatripper story itself represents an experiment of 
sorts. So far it's the only story I've written in the first 
person, and the ending is, I think, more memorable and open-ended 
than most of the others I've done, containing both sadness and 
hope.
	While Gabriel and I share a lot in common, we are not the 
same person; his personality encompasses elements of myself and 
several of my friends, but ultimately he's an "Every Man" in a 
sort of otaku morality play, about... well, that's for the reader 
to contemplate. Excelion is likewise a work of fiction; any 
number of other anime heroines could've probably stood in for 
Kasumi (Fuu from Magic Knight Rayearth comes to mind), but I 
didn't want to feel obligated to stay true to someone else's 
character, especially when it came to her falling in love with 
the protagonist.
	As usual, I have no idea what my next story is going to be 
like; I have a couple new ideas percolating but not ready to 
really begin writing. Until next time. ^_^

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Ewen "Blackbird" Cluney                     blackbird@blackbird.nu
Blackbird's Domain                        http://www.blackbird.nu/
The Official Thrash Home Page          http://thrash.blackbird.nu/
Knight Kevlar of the Immortal Frog        Silver Knight of Mihoshi
              "Be nice to me; I might just develop 
             psychokinetic powers and destroy Tokyo!"
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