From: Serafita <serafita@my-deja.com> I'm new to this. Oh well. Here I go, with my first posted fanfic to this mailing list. Bear in mind, that this is meant to be silly. So, like, don't take offence if you do take... uh, yeah. ^_^; -------------------------------------------------------------------- -BATTLE OF THE CHURCHES- -PROLOGUE- Y'know, I never thought we would get this. We've been battling with the opposition for countless years now, all over some pretty stupid stuff. Then again, if it's stupid, why am I in this war? Heh. Point taken. And it all started off so innocently too. Y'know, which one do you like, and why... Ah well, time to collect my firearms and get ready to go back to war. Our leader will guide us through, as always. We remain in the shadows, unlike all the other armies and religions. It's a religious kind of thing, I guess. For the opposition are all Churches. Yep. Sounds pretty freaked out, don't it? They want to start up a new Oppression. As in, oppress people's thoughts into what they should believe in, or not believe in. I can hear sound. It's my fellow inmates and squad. We're pretty much average people, you know. Except for the fact that we all wear a chinese top with magazines of ammo over it. Heh. Hawk is the first member I'm gonna introduce. His real name has been forgotten for some time now. He uses it so rarely that one day, he just forgot it. Still, he's a good teammate. He believes in our great leader just as much as I do. And no, our leader is not a goddess of any kind. She is simply mortal, just like the rest of us. And that's why we love her, I guess. Because unlike the other churches, she doesn't demand us to perform sacrifices or demeaning things like S&M or anything like that. And for that, we thank her. Our leader is as normal as you or I. Well, apart from the fact that she is the personification of war in battle. The way she quickly rips through the Knights and Defenders easily, with bare arms and battle techniques... Corwin is the second one I'm gonna introduce. He probably has a nickname, but if he does, I don't know it. He firmly believes in our leader, and will do anything for her. He's got photos and posters of her everywhere in our headquarters. Luckily, the leader laughed, and took it in good stride. In fact, she even jokingly posed for a few shots in jest. Said something about being used to this kind of thing back when she was younger... Belldandy (another codename) is female, and the same age as me, but she's cool. She's the one who got me all started into this, in a way. A legend among legends, I guess. She joined this... well, cult, because we're the most normal group left, next to the 'Nice' Church. She's also HEAVEN's Ambassador as well, and reports back to them every so often. She's a rarity, since that for some odd reason, most females usually joined the True Knights... If only things were back to normal... Oh yeah, my codename is Serafita. I'm the newbie, I guess, but I've proved to everyone that I can pull my weight in my squad. It's been hard, but everyone has been helping me. Unlike the other Churches, our soldiers are still human enough to help each other. In addition to our firearms, our leader has taken time to train us in these amazing martial arts. It's been said that our fighting skills are the Arts of the God of Fighting himself, and it shows. With just a quick charge of bioenergy to our system, reinforcing it, we can perform the first Art, which allows us to move at subsonic speeds. It's great in the field. Especially since there's so much of the opposition than us... I digress. It's the True Church which started off things. Their so- called goddess demanded that the world was hers, and that everyone should worship her as the Truth. That only she should be the real one, and the 'True' one. Naturally, the world was in a uproar. And then, her legion of followers came, armed with huge iron warhammers to carry out her will... They destroyed towns and cities. People, they tried to subvert them to their goddess. If they refused, death would follow. I found one of the bodies once, and it wasn't pretty. The poor guy had died of severe poisoning, which worked by literally melting him inside-out. And while he was still alive. Naturally, the Cute Church followed by the Affectionate Church would soon come to take back their lands and their followers. And chaos happened. That was when our leader decided that she would have to take matters into her own hands, in a attempt to reunite the human race. She is missing her soulmate, and believes that with him, she will have the power to unite the world back together. It was her speech, which brought tears to my eyes. I would never forget, how she pleaded for us to unit against the world. She literally begged for us to help her. We don't know where she came from, or how she came to be, but we do know her name. She has red hair tied into a small pigtail, and she wears Chinese clothing. Her name is Tendo Ranko, and we are her cult. We hide in the shadows, away from the wars of the other Churches. And we slowly rebuild our divided and shattered world. We are the Templars. Simply because the name pisses off the Churches, who have taken offence at our use of holy titles for our soldiers. And even better, we have taken our leader's soulmate's name into the name of our Cult, to really get to the Defenders and the Knights out there. Oh yeah, it really pisses off the Knights if you call their 'goddess' a uncute tomboy. And a violent maniac. Heh. Even the leader of the Nice Church mentioned something about that once. Something about being a psychotic maniac? Our title? We are the Cult of Ranma and Ranko. Nice, eh? Well, we could have called ourselves the Templars of the Real Fiancee, but hey, cult sounds good. Our known allies are the Nice Churches, since they're pacifists who have been forced to fight. I feel sorry for them. But right now, they equal more of us. We are so few in number, you see... most of the people actually believe in the 'True' One. I refuse to speak her name. If only things were as they were. It was all so simple a few years back... just friendly arguments between people who couldn't decide who their favorite fiancee was... and then, the 'True' One had to try to subvert the world... and she's succeeded part of the way. Over half of the world is hers... it seems like a long way to win, and some people lose faith and willingly join the True Knights... Bell places a hand on my shoulder and I look up at her. She smiles sadly, knowing my thoughts. Still, she motions for me to follow her. We have to meet our leader and friend. I sincerely hope that she finds this Saotome Ranma. From the photos she's showed us, they look a cute couple. Though I wonder if Corwin's mutterings that they're related have any truth to them... after all, they do look similiar, what with their clothing and hairstyles and eyes... it's odd, but if they loves each other that much, I don't care. I'm just thankful that such love can still exist in a world like ours. I nod to Hawk and Corwin as they join us. We're all wearing Chinese shirts of a different style. Hawk prefers the original kind, with sleeves folded up to elbows, and bracers. Corwin likes the sleeveless kind, so he can move his arms for easy movement. Belldandy usually wears the neckless kind, though she usually wears silks as well, which float on their own accord. Me, I like the original, but sleeves unfolded. We all wear the same colour as Ranko. Red, which symbolises the innocent blood which has been spilled on the battlefield. I adjust the minigun Hawk gave me from when I first joined, and swing it over my back, out of my way. Hey, I practice Anything Goes, remember? You know, 'Anything Goes'. Any way to win, you take it, unless you'll kill innocents, that is. The same style as our leader, and the same as her beloved. The Knights may practice their variation of Anything Goes, but their style is based on their so-called-goddess' skills, while ours is based on Ranko's, which her own skills are modelled after the legendary Saotome Ranma. Ranko understood our reasons for the guns. Everyone else carries weapons. The True Knights carry large iron or wooden warhammers, or more commonly known as mallets, able to deliver a electrical charge capable of stunning or killing whoever it hits... if it hits, while the Cute Knights (heh heh, what a name) carry these large spatulas... well, at least with the Cute Knights, we're on neutral terms with them. And Affectionate Knights as well. They use bonbori, which look like two maces. Cool, I guess. I just have to laugh at the names sometimes, though. Heh. In fact, in a way, it's the True Church against the world. It reminds me too much of a different type of war... *sigh* Is it that easy to imagine the 'True' One condemning all those who would oppose her...? Finally, we reach the hall. It's not elaborate, like all the other Churches, but we're practical. We don't mind. We don't spend millions on decoration which serves no purpose... Our leader is standing there. We don't bow or grovel or anything like that. She told us not to, since she's a human and not some sort of goddess. And she's smiling with tears in her eyes. Hawk is the first to speak. "Ranko-san?" She faces us, smiling through her tears. "Hawk, Bell, Corwin, Serafita... I've found him. He's here!" she whispers with delight in her voice. But there's something else in her voice. We notice it. Ranko isn't exactly known for lying well. And she knows it. "There's a problem, isn't there?" Bell asks, adjusting her earrings on her right ear. She calls it her seal. "Yeah..." Ranko replies, her head down. I look into her beautiful blue-grey eyes, and I suddenly know. "The Knights have him..." I say softly. When you say Knight nowadays, it always means the True Knights, the Defenders... All she can do is nod. Hawk slowly smiles. It's kind of eerie when he does that. "Then that means..." "Full frontal strike on their headquarters..." Corwin finishes off. Hawk looks at him annoyed, and I nearly laugh, if the situation wasn't so serious. "Serafita," Ranko says, turning to me, seeing as Corwin and Hawk seem to be preoccupied with glaring at each other in a friendly way. "He's at base 10. I suspect that he's been drugged heavily." "Right," I reply. "I'll organize the raid then, I suppose. I'll make sure to bring medi-kits with me as well." "I'll see what help I can get from my resources," Belldandy replies, as she fingers her seal. Bell's noted for her amazing list of contacts. "I'm sure I can contact Project HEAVEN. My father will aid us." Project HEAVEN is hidden away from human eyes, and away from the prying fingers of the True Church. I'm frankly surprised that they're supporting us. Then again, I was good friends with Belldandy before this frigging war started... maybe that helped some. Me an' Bell, we sort of dropped out of contact for a while, when the wars started, but I managed to find her again, through amazing circumstances. "It's probable that the True Church may have raided the Rose Church for special paralysis drugs. I'll start preparing antidotes." Corwin adds. The Rose Church... their Ninjas are... weird. But they possess some of the most potent drugs in the world, all flower-based, hence the name. It's a good thing that they have a leak in their Church... some high- ranking official is secretly passing us blueprints and documents as to the creation of the poisons used. I heard that the official may have some sort of thing for our leader, but I can't be sure... well, we'll just have to watch over Ranko, just in case. Even though she's probably watching over _us_. As for the drugs... heh, we've adapted it to our weapons for powerful tranqs. Hey, it's flower-based, and easy to make! We've got quite a few green-fingered soldiers in our cult... "I'm coming on this op too," Ranko says, with determination in her voice. We look at her eyes, and we can only agree. "More the merrier!" Corwin laughs. His infectious laughing slowly gets us to laugh as well. And we know what we must do now. We have to save Saotome Ranma from the clutches of Tendo Akane. -END OF PROLOGUE- -------------------------------------------------------------------- To Corwin, Hawk, and Belldandy... gomen nasai? ^_^; I'm not even sure if I should continue this... ^_^; It just came to me one Saturday night, when me and Hawk were joking around with creating a cult to counter the Churches... ^_^;; And then the story grew up on its own... ...Oh, it's walking! Look, Cult-chan is walking! C'mon, Cult-chan! Walk to Serafita-papa! ^_^;; (god, I'm sad...) --Phil "Serafita" Chan --started on 10:30pm, 11-11-2000 --finished on 11:59pm, 11-11-2000 --------------------------------- "I have forgotten my password! Oh lord, why have you forsaken me?" --Serafita, being stupid as usual Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/ Before you buy.