Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ The Anime Margin: 108 Stars of Destiny ❯ Prologue: The Sons' Dinner Party ( Prologue )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer:
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:
Charles Xavier, Fanfiction.net author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

The Suikosource website: for providing great information that made this fic possible.

The Anime Margin: 108 Stars of Destiny
By: RB3

Chapter 1: The Sons' Dinner Party

Eddie Valiant was victorious. The somewhat portly, but tough, private investigator gazed on the remains of the enemy. On the ground of their battlefield, a warehouse, laid his arch-nemesis, Judge Doom. All remained of this man, was nothing more than a mask and a splotch of paint on the floor. The judge was a victim of his own creation, a substance known as "the dip." Essentially paint solvents, the dip was used a means of executing otherwise impossible to kill Toons. It was the judge's plan to use this substance to commit genocide against Toons to pave the way for the creation of his freeway.

"Eddie, we can't get down! There's dip everywhere!" cried Doom's hostage, Roger Rabbit.

Roger, a cartoon or Toon rabbit, was Eddie's long-time companion in this case. The white rabbit looked comical in his clown-like red suspenders, but his situation was anything but comical. Doom nearly killed him and his wife, Jessica, the femme fatale in red tied next to him. The two were suspended by in front of a dip cannon as the first sacrifice in the name of Doom's plot. Eddie turned a nearby wheel which opened the fire hydrants in the building. The water gushed out and cleansed the floor of the foul, corrosive dip, allowing Eddie to free his companions.

Moments later, other Toons entered the site of the battle and began to comment. The police came on the scene to secure the premises. Roger took this time to read a love poem to his wife. However, new writing appeared on the paper, revealing the long missing will of the late Marvin Acme, Toontown's owner. As per the late Acme's desires, the Toons became the true owners of Toontown, the city where they lived, worked, and played. As the Toons cheered the reading of the will, they were elated.

So happy were the Toons that they broke out in song to celebrate. "Smile, darn ya, smile! You know this whole world is a great world after all!"

The singing and celebrations lasted well into the night, as the passing of Toontown's ownership to the Toons was a cause for celebration. Many years have passed since that fateful day. Eddie married his love, Dolores, and together brought healthy descendants to the world. Throughout his rest of his long, illustrious career, Eddie was a hero and friend to Toons, right until his passing at the hearty age of 80. The day of Eddie Valiant's death was a sad day for Toontown. Every Toon was so dismayed by the man's death that the day of his burial was declared a holiday.

The noble investigator received a burial worthy of a hero or war veteran. Countless Toons watched as Eddie's coffin was transported by his pallbearers down the main street of Toontown. Toons of all ages and origin gathered to watch in sadness as a hero was brought to his final resting place. They stopped at an open grave in the cemetery named after him and placed Eddie's remains in their final resting place.

Now, in the year 2005, nearly ten years after his burial, Eddie's grave still stood at the centre of the Valiant Cemetery in Toontown. Above his resting place was a marble likeness of himself, standing proudly with arm outstretched. The statue depicted the man as he was in his prime, the somewhat portly investigator in a trench coat and fedora, standing tall and proud. On the base was Eddie’s epitaph, written by his friend Roger. It read "here lies a swell guy."

In the years that have passed since Eddie's death, much had changed. New cartoons came and went, but the biggest change was the arrival of the cartoon's Japanese cousin, the anime, to American shores. For the first time, American viewers got to see what their former enemies from World War Two were seeing today. Leading the coming of anime was Dragonball Z, a martial arts anime of fast-paced, over-the-top combat between incalculably powerful combatants. This anime stood head and shoulders over its peers, attracting millions of viewers, both Toon and human each night. This pleased its host company, Maroon Cartoons, to no end.

A Toon kid tuned into the latest episode of Dragonball Z. The scene was a fight scene between two of the Z warriors and a Saiyan invader. The protagonists of the show, Goku and Piccolo, squared off against Goku's brother, Raditz. The two warriors through everything they could against the Saiyan invader; from flurries of punches and kicks which sent fighters flying to devastating energy beams which ruptured mountains. No matter what they did, nothing could stop the monstrous Raditz. As their final gambit, Goku locked his brother's arms while Piccolo charged up for his most powerful attack. The green alien fired the shot, puncturing a hole through Raditz and Goku, kill them both.

Elsewhere, a gathering of guests attended a dinner party. "Cheers!"

The guests clinked their glasses and sipped their drinks. Around the dinner table sat a circle of friends and business associates, some Toons, the rest regular humans. At the centre of the table was one Roland Maroon, the spitting image of his ancestor, R.K. Maroon, who had been murdered by Judge Doom. The middle-aged president of Maroon Cartoons, Roland Maroon's black hair was beginning to grey. This corporate president was the man who brought Dragonball Z to a fanatic American and Toon audience. With him were his attractive middle-aged wife, and a friend, Adam Acme.

Adam Acme was a descendant of Marvin Acme, the man murdered by Doom in order to steal ownership of Toontown in his quest for the freeway. Adam was a fairly portly man like his ancestor, but didn't have his ancestor's constantly jovial attitude and love of pranks. Adam's hair had greyed from the onset of middle-age, but that gave him a more distinguished air when wearing his tuxedo. Adam Acme was the president of Acme Co., which produced tools for use by Toons in their stunts and shows. Adam was a good friend of the Maroons, as well as one of their biggest business associates through their companies.

The rest of the table were both Toons, stars of Dragonball Z. The first was Goku Son, the protagonist of Dragonball Z. This muscular man had spiky black hair that seemed to magically stick out on its own. He had traded his orange fighting uniform for a tuxedo which made him look bigger than he truly was. Despite the muscles, the power, and the sometimes brutal stunts he did for his show, he smiled a lot. He was just a big kid at heart. Next to him was his wife, Chichi, a black-haired beauty who wore a long violet dress for this occasion. The two ate dinner as they talked with Maroon about the smashing success of Dragonball Z's first season.

"I got to hand it to you, Goku, I don't know how you pull off half the stunts you do for the ratings," remarked Maroon.

"Well, I stay in tip-top shape. I dedicate myself to a strict diet and training regimen," replied Goku. "You know, if you want to stay in shape, I'd be happy to give you some personalized training."

Maroon thought back to the high kicks and the punishment Goku took in his acting. "Oh no thanks, I don't think my back can take it." Everyone chuckled at Roland's response.

Chichi checked on her purse to find everything was in order. Her permit was still in its place and undisturbed as usual. This permit was vital, as it allowed them to be in the real world. Normally, anime Toons did not live alongside humans like normal Toons did in Toontown. Anime Toons lived in special worlds, the same ones that were depicted in their shows. They were not allowed to enter the human world unless authorized by local authorities through permits. This was a measure to protect the human world from harm.

Anime Toons had immense powers compared to most Toons, much of it was particularly destructive. In Goku's case, he could fire beams of energy that could wipe out buildings or city blocks instantly. Many anime Toons were more akin to Western superheroes rather than the slapstick comedians of Eddie Valiant's time. In particular, the powers of anime characters as well as regular Toons were divided into four groups denoting their nature; science, psionics, ki, and magic.

Science is what a race of people used to collectively improve their living standards. In some cases, a person could use it to gain powers beyond that of normal humans. It deals much with the creation of technological artefacts like robots and is the basis of space-faring shows. It has rules that are fairly consistent across shows and worlds, hence its ease of duplication and the lack of consequences in doing so. This only applied if the scientist came from a world of roughly sufficient technological development. Otherwise, the scientist would be unable to duplicate the item.

Psionics dealt with the powers of the mind and drew on its energy to create supernatural phenomenon. You can literally kill someone just by thinking about it through Psionics. Abilities such as telekinesis and manipulating thoughts are its hallmarks, though Psionics isn't limited to just these effects. This is the power type used by most Western superheroes, in one form or another. It too has a tendency towards science-fiction shows like Science does. Psionics aren't known for their creation of artefacts like Science is.

Ki is famous for making its users particularly powerful. Those who use Ki become stronger and faster than what any mere mortal can hope to achieve. Its power comes from the human body. Another of its famous powers are the pressure points; nodes on a victim where you can touch or hit to produce an effect. Ki users are often well-trained, life long martial artists and warriors. Ki also encompasses Eastern mysticism, in particular priests and priestess who deal with and bind spirits for the good of their community. This power type, being largely Eastern in origin, is a rarity in Western shows.

The final power type is Magic, one of the most varied power types of all. This is the power type of the magician, the individual who wields and draws his powers from forces of nature. Some magicians even draw their power from a greater power like a god or demon. It is the power that most deals with and is manipulated by faith and belief. Not all magic requires spells to be chanted. It is the hallmark of fantasy, with its emphasis on medieval combat, questing, surreal worlds beyond imagination, and supernatural entities like gods, demons, and dragons. Magic tends to operate differently and often contrary to established scientific rules.

The power types of Toons were many and varied, even among those found within the same show. However, there was one rule, a natural law, which was common to all power types in all universes. This immutable rule was known as the Law of Exponential Paradox. This law stated that whenever an individual uses powers foreign to his or her world, and hence his or her nature, the contradiction produces a chance for a backlash. Such backlashes can vary from being chaotic and dangerous to comical and harmless. Using foreign powers is risk akin to playing Russian roulette and can be costly in the heat of battle.

Backlashes can vary greatly in effect, depending on the amount of power invoked, as well as the user’s aptitude in the powers of their own world. A backlash can include having the used power backfire, being stripped of all supernatural powers, or even being mutated. Usually, these backlashes were temporary, but worsen and exponentially become more likely to occur as one continued to defy nature. As a corollary of this law, people tended towards the powers native to their home world as the path of least resistance. This was the reason for a scientist's failures in trying to duplicate technology from a higher tech world.

Goku and Chichi's powers were of the Ki variety. Both husband and wife were far stronger and faster and than any mere mortal, though it wouldn't seem that way in Chichi's case. Goku in particular was not actually human, but of a race in Dragonball Z known as the Saiyans. This race loved combat to a fault and had the ability to assume a state of high power, called the "Super Saiyan" form. In this form, a Saiyan's hair turned golden, their eyes turned green, and their overall power rose exponentially. Despite all this power, Goku was a man who liked the simple things in life, such as spending time with his family.

After a wonderful conversation over dinner, it was time for the guests to leave. "I had a great night, Roland," commented Chichi. "The food was tasty and the company was great."

Goku shook Adam's hand. "Nice to meet you, Adam!"

Adam recoiled in pain from Goku's strong grip. "Ugggh, okay, nice to meet you Goku." As Adam left the restaurant, he shook the pain out of his hand. The Sons walked back home.

END OF CHAPTER 1