BlazBlue: Cross Tag Isekai

The Four Outsiders

"Five days and still no sign of any threats," a young man with spiky blond and black hair wearing a belted uniform examined with a sigh as he gathered water into a wooden bucket. The sun was setting off in the horizon, bathing the area in a light orange glow. "You think this was really worth it?"

"I hope so, going through the mountains was risky enough as it was," a silver haired youth in a black school uniform with a sheathed katana at his side answered in turn as he sat on the riverbank with a small fishing pole. "It's no wonder no one would try to go through there, with what we went through I doubt that your regular traveler would risk it."

"Which has me worried, Yu," the blonde said to him. "That area was blocked off. Now that we've made it through there's a chance that something on this side could try to make it back; something that could try to attack the side. People could die if there's another swarm and we're not there to stop it."

"Everyone dies at some point Hyde; It's only a matter of when and what you do before then," the other student said in response. Hyde was shaken by the coolness of his teammate's words and stared at the other student in disbelief. "...At least that's what all of the people in those movies would say."

"Don't scare me like that, I almost thought we had another of those 'bleak view on life' types in our group," the Hyde said with a sigh. "Any bites?"

"Nope, I can see plenty of fish, but none of them are biting," Yu explained before he shook his head. "At least I have the Knowledge to have an Understanding of the Diligence you need to fish in the wilds."

"What's that supposed to even mean? You just took three traits and applied it to one thing."

"I means I'm experience enough at fishing to know I'm not going to catch something here before it gets dark," Yu said with a sigh. "I could always-"

"You are NOT electrocuting the water again; you know how hard it is to eat fish when every bite sends twenty volts onto your tongue?" Hyde was... less than pleased thinking back to the last time fish had been prepared.

"Well maybe if you had a higher Spirit, you'd actually be able resist it," Yu argued back before pulling out his fishing rod. "This means we're using up the last of the meat tonight after all."

"Sounds like someone could use some cheering up!" a young voice called as a young girl leaped out of the treeline above them and landed perfectly between the two.

"I know someone that clearly needs cheering up, but he's back at the camp," Hyde said with a smirk. "Hit the jackpot, Ruby?"

"Yep, managed to find a ton of berries and nuts to keep us going for a few days," Ruby told the two with a big smile. She was dressed in a black corset and skirt with white sleeves to serve as arm wear. On the back of her waist was a complex collection of metal that was able to shift to a weaponry state. "I've also got good news; I didn't see any monsters while I was out. I think we're in the clear!"

"I hope so... we still have a ways to go to the outland villages and there's a lot that could happen before then," Yu reminded as he rose from his fishing spot. "Come on, dinner's probably ready by now."

"Yahoo! Time for dinner!" Ruby exclaimed excitedly as she pumped her arms into the air.

"It's just campfire stew, not like it's anything special," Hyde reminded her as the trio began walking back. "Then again, I guess he is a good cook despite his appearance saying otherwise... Anyways, are you guys any closer to leveling up?"

"No, I think that since we've been traveling with each other our experience has been going up at the exact same rate," Yu told her. "Which means that if the monsters on this side of valley turn out to be too much for us to handle, we're in trouble."

"H-Hey, try and think positively," Ruby begged nervously. "I mean we've got our leader with us don't we? Remember what we had to fight through back inside the mountains? I'm sure with him we'd be able to cut through just about anything!"

"We only survived back there because he hit those damn things by surprise and it was his fault we ran into them in the first place," Hyde reminded realistically. "If this area's monsters are anywhere close to as strong as what we faced back there, we could be in trouble."

"Yare yare daze, and you three always say I'm the downer," came a new voice. This belonged to the oldest and the so called 'leader' of the group. The man in question was garbed in a red coat and had a black hakama with white outlines and metal plates on his shoes. He didn't appear to be armed, but everyone in his team knew better than to consider that a demotion; this guy was strong enough to stop a monster's charge with a single hand. Unlike the silvery haired Yu had, this guy's hair was closer to a pure white.

"In our defense, you're usually the group downer by a huge margin," Hyde told him. "Then again I guess you did start with a-"

"We know, we know; we've addressed this before," the leader said with a groan before pointing back to the path they'd just come from. "You three were out here for so long I had to come grab you. Come on, food's just about ready."

"Lead on Commander Ragna!" a playful Ruby said to him as she started marching with a smile. Hyde and Yu gave each other a glance before sighing and following the two. "So... are we really out of meat?"

"If Yu didn't catch anything then it means we are," the Reaper told them. "No luck?"

"You're one to talk," Hyde muttered under his breath.

"None," Yu said as he promptly ignored Hyde. "I could have used my power, but then we'd have the same problem as last time."

"I'm for avoiding that if it's all the same to you," Ragna told him. "All in favor?"

"Aye," Hyde cast in agreement.

"Aye, only Nora would've loved have to eat fish like that," Ruby said, making everyone confused what she could have possibly meant.

Dinner at the campgrounds was a quiet affair, as was usual. All four of them merely sat around the campfire and enjoyed their dinner, not saying much of anything until the food had been cleared away and the dishes had been washed of what few food scraps remained. After that came the... interesting part of the evening.

"Alright, time to decide the watch order," Ragna said leaving everyone to glance at each other nervously. "I'll take first wa-"

"H-How about I take the first watch?" Yu asked quickly, interrupting the Reaper. "I-I'll wake you up for the second and then Hyde can watch third, and Ruby can finish off the night."

"You sure about that?" Ragna questioned. "Look, I'm sure that-"

"I support Yu's plan of action!" Ruby cut in quickly.

"Agreed!" Hyde interjected, leaving Ragna to stare at the three of them.

"...Guess I'm outvoted. I'll never understand any of you," Ragna complained as he went over to the team's magical backpack. What was so magical about said pouch was the amount of equipment it could carry and how weightless it would still remain. Putting the cleaned dishes inside of the thing and taking out four sleeping cots, Ragna tossed one to each of his team members. "Let's get some sleep then, we're going to continue heading east in the morning."

"Got it," Ruby said before whispering to Yu as Ragna set up his sleeping space. "You're not waking him up are you?"

"Not a chance..."

Later

Yu gave a small yawn as his night-watch approached its end. By now their campfire had already burned out and was little more than a few warm embers. Keeping his wits about him, he kept his hand placed firmly upon his katana as he watched the forest for signs of creatures of the night. At that moment though, all that there appeared to be out here were the crickets and the occasional owl. Glancing skyward, Yu then saw the position of the moon and realized that his portion of the watch was about to be over. Turning back to the camp, he headed over to Hyde's cot and-

"My shift already?" came a gruff voice that caused the teen to appear paralyzed with fear. Nervously smiling, he turned to face his unamused team leader.

"I... I was just about to come get you," Yu said, trying to play into his usual Expression... which was currently the opposite of Enthralling.

"Sure you were, that's why you headed straight for blondy's cot," Ragna muttered as he got out of his own sleeping arrangement. "For the record, my ears are a lot better than the kind you're used to."

'So he heard Ruby whispering to me earlier,' Yu thought sadly as he headed into his own cot. 'I mean, we should be fine right? We managed to survive earlier, maybe it's gotten better after all...' Despite trying to reassure himself, it still took him a good while to ease his mind before he could finally fall asleep.

Two Hours la-

Of course as soon as he had...

"ROOOOOOOOOAAAAARRRR!"

"What the hell was that!?" Hyde shouted as he was rudely awoken by the bestial roar. Using his Exs, he summoned his blood red katana, The Insulator, as he groggily got ready for a fight.

"Everyone get ready! Something's coming!" Ragna shouted as he raised his fists and got into a battle stance.

"Not again..." came a sigh as Ruby rose to her feat, the collection of metal turning into a scythe before transforming into a sniper rifle once she realized that the enemy wasn't close enough to attack yet.

"This is why we have to try and stop him," Yu groaned as he took his katana out of his sheath before waving his hand. "Izanagi!" An other-worldly being with a strange spear as a weapon and a black buckle longcoat as clothing came into existence behind him, its dull yellow eyes seeking out its target from behind its metal mask.

As soon as the four had prepared, the trees in front of them were instantly turned to splinters as another roar sounded, this time close enough to physically shake them with the force in its voice. The approaching threat turned out to be a bear of gigantic proportions. The thing stood eight meters tall when upright and had razor sharp claws that hadn't even slowed as they cut through the wood. Odd fragments of bone appeared to be peaking out of its thick black fur, appearing tougher than any stone you could find.

"It looks tough, but we can still bring it down!" Ragna shouted as he prepared. Looking back to his team... he saw their glares, all of which were directed at him. Knowing what they were upset about, he grit his teeth. "It's not a disaster; it's a blessing in disguise! You want meat!? THERE IT IS!"

All three of them glanced at each other, all of them silently agreeing that they'd rather have gotten their sleep.

Author's Note (Omake at the end)

So yeah, I had my fair share of stuff that I ended up going back to fix. I changed a couple of things to better align with more recent chapters (since this is set further in the future as sort of a teaser). Anyways, that's another edit done, I'll still respond to any comments here. Enjoy the Omake!

Shinto Shenanigans

"Hey Ragna," one Ruby Rose questioned her Reaper leader. "The three of us wanted to ask you something."

"Huh? I mean I guess you can, not sure what good my answer will do though," the Reaper admitted, knowing he was just as new to this world as the other three. Surprisingly, it was Yu to talk in Ruby's place.

"So... is it true that you've fought someone that called themselves Izanami?" the gray haired student asked.

'Okay, that wasn't what I was expecting... or hoping for.' "...Yeah, must've made a passing reference at some point..." Ragna didn't look any of his team directly in the eye. "She was one of the last opponents that I fought... my own sister."

"Y-Your own..."

While all three of them appeared visibly shaken at Ragna's news, he just thought it was the thought of having to commit such an unspeakable act as battling a younger sister... though if he ever let even the slightest bit of info about Jin slip, he'd have a lot of further questioning to defend himself from.

"That wasn't what I was expecting," Yu admitted. "But it does beg the question; what was she doing in both worlds?"

"Both? …Probably wasn't the same one, our worlds probably just have some similarities in them. I mean we all speak the same language, even Ruby."

(Author's Note: REMINDED THAT CROSS TAG HAS DUB EVEN THOUGH CF DOESN'T!)

"Yeah, I guess you have a point," Yu said, acting a little more relaxed now. "It's not that odd that there aren't at least a few parallels, I mean Hyde's world is pretty close to mine aside from our fantasy aspects."

"Buuuuuuuuut that does cause a pretty big question. Does this make Ragna Izanagi then?" Hyde asked.

"Does that make me... come again?" Ragna asked. Yu was just left there with an expression that was continuing to darken. Apparently he'd already thought through this possibility, but he didn't want to acknowledge it.

"Wait, I don't get it," Ruby input. "What's all of this about an Iganagi?"

"Izanagi, and it's the name of my persona," Yu corrected her. "It's based off of a deity from Shinto mythology; he's known for creating the islands of Japan and birthing several other gods."

"Izanami is the same way, save for the fact that she later becomes a death goddess," Hyde said, having come from a closer world to Yu's. "But... in the story-"

"Izanagi and Izanami were brother and sister as well as spouses, I'm well aware," Ragna told them both not appearing pleased with the fact.

"Ick, incest," Ruby said, sticking her tongue out at the idea. Ragna merely shuddered at the thought of if maybe his darkest suspicions of Jin had been true. "How do you know about them though?"

"My master used to tell me stories including them and the other old gods of mythology... Never really gave the whole Izanagi thing any thought though, even after I heard the name... must just be a coincidence." 'And as much as he'd grown, I doubt Jin was qualified for the role either.'

"So no similarity then?" Ruby asked before getting a bright idea. "Oh! Let's ask Izamaki!"

"Izanagi..." Yu corrected once more, also doubling speaking the name as a summon.

"Well he's here, now what?" Ragna asked.

"Now we prove that he doesn't know anything and put this whole ridiculous mess behind us," Yu said, obviously dismissing this whole thing to nothing more than coincidence.

"..." Izanagi didn't say anything, remaining motionless as it floated behind Yu, staring deeply at Ragna.

"...This is unsettling," the Reaper bluntly told him.

"Come on, just try to talk to it!" Ruby asked.

"Just end this Yu, I want to eat soon," Hyde told them as his stomach grumbled.

"Fine..." Yu sighed. "Izanagi, do you know how you could be similar to Ragna. Is there any way that you two could be linked, that you're even similar?"

"..."

Then Izanagi did something unexpected. Taking its free hand, it moved it upwards and touched it to its metal 'face'. Everyone watched on with awe as it grabbed the mask and finally removed it after so long, revealing...

"Holy..." Ruby began.

"Shiiiiiit." Hyde crudely finished.

Aside from its familiar glowing yellow eyes, the Persona's true face was very much that of the Grim Reaper, as was the now exposed silver hair atop its head. Hyde and Ruby stared between the two before going to Yu for his reaction.

"...This explains... absolutely nothing," the silver haired sighed. "In fact, it leaves more questions out in the open."

Nodding in agreement, Hyde and Ruby watched as the Persona then levitated from behind Yu to in front of him so that it was standing before Ragna as the two glared at each other. The persona then spoke, its voice was an echo like always.

"I am thou, and thou art I."

Ragna stared at the figure in front of him for a long moment as he processed what it had meant. Coming up with an answer, he gave it a snarky smirk and put a fist on his hip to give himself a moodier and more rebellious look.

"You're not me."

So obviously these shorts are going for more different tones than the story proper, though there will still be some humor in the first part.

Until Next Time Everyone! Ciao!