Chapter Text
Harry Dresden finally found a moment to relax, between various jobs and training his new apprentice, the man hadn’t had much time to rest. Unfortunately for him, there wasn’t going to be much of it, as he entered his apartment his behemoth of a dog, Mouse, seemed to be acting off. The large animal seemed both on guard and relaxed. Harry’s wards were still up so nothing that shouldn’t be able to get in should be there… Except for the wounded woman that was laying on his couch, Mouse approached her quizzically then started to nuzzle against her arm.
“You get even bigger? Bloody hell, Catra would have a heart attack if she saw you.” The woman spoke, petting the dog gently.
It was then things clicked, she was definitely much older than she should be considering the time since he last saw her, and the streak in her hair was dyed a wine red. “Merula? Is that you?”
“Some detective you are, mate.” The witch groaned, she had just gotten fully redressed, even if her shirt and jacket were ruined, a large stain of blood at the torn shoulder. “Sorry for usin’ your first aid supplies, but… Big green bastard fucked me up… Ah,you’ll see eventually.”
“Hold up. See what?”
“You’re a Chosen, Harry.”
“You did not just reference those books at me.”
Merula stared blankly at him, it was then he remembered what universe she came from. “Okay well, first off, I’m a terrible choice. And second, I don’t have time to be a Chosen, I have a job, actual cases too, and an apprentice-“
“Look, I don’t make the rules, besides you’ll probably be gone like a week at most, your world doesn’t move at that fast a rate.”
“That’s great but what if I still don’t agree to it?”
“Grabby hands portal takes you. Whether you like it or not. Just glad I had time to warn you, I’m supposed to be your guide but..” She gestured to the injured shoulder, “...Damn that hurts, look, I sent out a message for the rest of my old team… Don’t know who’ll answer but...”
She just groaned after that, Harry hadn’t stocked back up on anything stronger than Tylenol.
“Didn’t I do my time by helping your crew out before?”
“The bastards in charge don’t really think like that.”
Dresden just sighed “Sooo, how long do I have?”
Merula pointed behind him, and Mouse barely had time to let out a warning snarl before Harry Dresden was ripped from his own universe.
Dresden found himself laying on his back, thankfully managing to hold onto his staff. As lines of lights marked their way along the buildings, he noticed soon that his clothes had shifted, his trademark coat was now stylized, jet black without signs of wear and had a glowing strip on the inside, light blue. Similar with his clothes, though those seemed to be replaced with a bodysuit of some kind… He then remembered what was tied to his belt. No longer in a bag, Bob The Skull instead was connected to Harry by a couple power cables for lack of a better term.
He disconnected the skull, which was now more a geometric art piece shaped like a skull.
“Hey boss.”
“Get a good rest?”
“I don’t know, mostly feeling confused now, but also a bit sexy.”
Haruhi awoke in what appeared to be some kind of medical room, attempting to spring up from the bed she was on, she found her leg was chained to it. “What the hell?”
“Sorry about that,” a rough voice spoke, drawing Haruhi's gaze to the corner of the room, where a rugged man in military gear and an eyepatch, with a shard of shrapnel in his head stood. “My second-in-commands idea, only allowed it to shut him up.”
Haruhi was confused to put it mildly. “Where am I? And where’s my uniform?” She said, realizing she was wearing a medical gown.
“You’re on Motherbase, kid, and don’t worry, we had one of the female soldiers change you.”
“You could tell I was a girl?”
“Yeah, all I had to do was pick you up, not hard to figure out.”
“Huh.” She shifted in her spot. “Kinda cold in here.”
“That’s because you’re only wearing a thin layer of fabric, kid. Now how did you get on our platform?”
Haruhi recounted the last things she remembered before waking up, which just led to more questions.
“So it’s like… Sex free gigolos?”
“Pretty much.”
“Right well, if you say you don’t know, I believe you. Folks here call me Big Boss.” He then takes a large vape-like device and hands it to her. “Phantom cigar? It’s strawberry.”
She hadn’t planned to take it until he said the flavour.
A man wakes up in a vast desert, as information flashes inside his eyes, he smiles and sits up with a bold. “Dadbot 69 is turned on. Nice.”
He looks around, far in the distance there is a tower surrounded by some kind of walled settlement, and in the other direction… A man in some kind of armour is approaching him. “Are you alright, citizen?”
He stands, a conflict in his programming ticking away. “This is not my home, how will DAD get to JOB? If DAD doesn’t get to JOB then how will DAD come home to spend quality dinner conversation with WIFE and DAUGHTER.”
“Well where are you from?”
“Town, USA. Of course.”
There’s a long pause, from the armoured man. “Well, you’re in the Mojave wasteland… So let’s get you to one of our NCR camps and then we’ll try and find this… ‘Town’...”
Aboard a large ship that floated in the space between realities, a portal appears, Josie Saltzman stepping out. She made her way to the bridge, a device in her hand. Upon arrival, she found only three other members of the alliance.
The Ork, Kaptin Bluddflagg, snorted at her, his ‘choppa’ in hand. It was bloody, Josie found that interesting. The Ork spoke. “Did yaz git da’ whats-it-thing?”
“The Handlink? Yes, all I had to do was beat up some scientist. Did you succeed in your personal time wasting- I mean, your ‘totally not a waste of time’ goal to kill Merula?” The Kaptin growled his reply. “Didn’t think so.”
The Ork nearly lunged until Xigbar moved between the two. “Calm down, no need for us to be offing each other… Yet.”
“Whatever.” Josie rolled her eyes, before looking to the throne in the center, and to their leader, Tsukasa Kadoya. “So, you finally going to tell me why I’m collecting trinkets?”
“Because I believe they’re all connected to a greater prize.” He spoke in a most arrogant tone.
“And how do you know that?”
Tsukasa smirked. “Simple… There once was a Chosen named Gold Roger, before he was stricken from the records, he revealed everything to me.”