AN: Well, my first new story in a bit, at least on here. And my first new fandom in even longer. This is a fic I've been posting over on Sufficient Velocity, and it's been decently popular. So I decided I'd do my first reverse cross-post, and post something here that started on another site.

In any case, this one was inspired by an idea posted in the fanfic thread there by a user named inquisition. Namely, what if...for some reason or another, Kongou was delayed to the point the Japanese decided to just take the designs, and build the three remaining sisters on their own. Because in this timeline, the Diet only authorized three Armored Cruisers instead of four. This leaves the incomplete Kongou to be bought by the Royal Navy as HMS Indestructible.

And then we have an entirely new history to work with for everyone's favorite British born and raised fast battleship, when she's eventually summoned by the Japanese during the Abyssal War. With that in mind, it's worth noting that...well, she is not the same. There will be similar traits to show this is still Kongou, but otherwise...

Yeah, different experiences=different character.

Here's hoping people enjoy this here as well as there.

Prologue: Indestructible

"We need more ships, sir."

Admiral Daiki Takeda sighed softly, looking up from his paperwork. One of his most brilliant Commanders, a young man named Goto, was sending him a serious look. Takeda put down his pen, to more easily focus on that look, recognizing it as one he himself had leveled at both the Diet and American Admirals. For much the same reason that Goto was giving him it at this very moment, in fact. The Abyssals...there were never enough ships to combat them. They were far reaching, and very dangerous. Trying to defeat them was difficult and required resources that Japan just didn't have. No matter how many of their own warships they summoned back as kanmusu, that point didn't change.

It was why he had tried to convince the Diet and Americans to send more of their kanmusu to help. But he had always gotten the same answer. That the Americans were too busy covering their own shores, and couldn't possibly provide enough to cover Japan as well. This despite the madhouse that was the United States Navy of the Second World War. A navy more than large enough to supply enough kanmusu to cover Japan, at least to some extent. There was nothing he could have done though, and Takeda had resigned himself to making do with what he had.

"I am aware of this," the Admiral finally spoke, his rough voice carrying through the room, "But my answer remains the same. The Diet has made it quite clear we are unable to get more support from our allies."

Goto stubbornly shook his head, "I didn't mean more ships from our allies."

The emphasis the young man put on that last word had Takeda sigh again. Goto wasn't a bigot or ultra-nationalist, the man was just frustrated...they all were.

"Then what are you suggesting?" Takeda interlocked his fingers, looking over his hands at his subordinate.

"We need to summon more of our kanmusu," the younger man replied.

"And who would you suggest we summon? We already have all three of the Hiei sisters, Nagato and her sister, Yamato and hersister..." Takeda listed off the battleships on his finger, "All of our battleships have already been summoned, right down to Fusou and Yamashiro. Our carriers are much the same. Unless you are suggesting we summon our pre-dreadnoughts, we are in no position to summon more kanmusu that would have any real impact on our situation."

"I wasn't suggesting that," Goto shook his head again.

"Then who?"

The young Commander smirked, "Tosa. Her or Amagi."

Takeda just frowned, "Neither of those ships were ever completed. Tosa was closer, but she had not even received her armament."

"Ah, but the Americans summoned Hawaii."

That...that was technically true. That kanmusu was nearly complete when her ship hull had been scrapped though. Even her primary weaponry had been fitted. The same could hardly be said about Tosa or Amagi- the original Amagi, as they had already summoned her successor. Even Tosa, the much further along warship, had only been complete to her main deck. No weapons were ever fitted, before she was expended as a target. Which, in of itself, would make summoning her difficult. Where would her loyalty be, to the country that had not even given her the dignity of being scrapped?

On the other hand...it was hardly something they couldn't do. The chance was slim, very slim, but Japan needed every ship she could muster. In that regard...

"Very well, we can attempt to summon them," Takeda pulled himself to his feet, as Goto practically jumped to his own.

The man had more energy than he knew what to do with, clearly. Takeda couldn't help a small smirk crossing his face at that. Goto reminded him of himself, in his younger days. It was amusing in a way, but for now, reflecting on that could wait. He needed to make some calls, and set up the process to summon a kanmusu once more. It had been some time since Japan had done so...Shimikaze had been the last one they had summoned, and that was two months ago.

Even so, he had some political clout, as the overall commander of the kanmusu. It wouldn't be hard to get the materials and everything set up within the day.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

And, as it turned out, it wasn't difficult. Within a handful of hours, Admiral Takeda was standing in a Shinto Shrine with Goto, and a handful of others. The materials and other set up had already been brought in, and it was just a matter of waiting to see what would happen from that point on. At least, that was the case for the Admiral. He had sat in on many, many summonings. Including the one that had brought back Yamato herself. But he had never had an active role in the proceedings, leaving that task to those...if not trained for it, at least experienced in it.

Frankly, Takeda still didn't fully understand the details of the process.

"This is the first time you've been present for a summoning, correct?" the Admiral turned his head, looking down on the suddenly nervous commander next to him.

"Yes," Goto replied, "Least of all one I suggested."

"They're all the same," Takeda replied easily, before backtracking slightly, "With the exception of Yamato. We did everything in our power to make thatone special."

"I can imagine. She is the symbol of our nation, after all."

That she was...but this summoning was nowhere near as extravagant as Yamato's. It was much more similar to the average one for a battleship. More important than a cruiser or lighter ship, but still not as important as the symbol of their nation. Takeda didn't know if that was a good thing or not though. On the one hand, they wouldn't be wasting time and resources if Tosa and Amagi refused to hear the call. On the other hand, they may refuse for exactly that reason...Tosa especially so. The Admiral couldn't claim to understand how the kanmusu felt during their call to arms.

But he could easily imagine that Tosa, cut down as a target instead of being finished or given the dignity of being scrapped and her materials used to help someone, may not be willing to come back easily. He wouldn't even be able to blame her...unable to serve her nation, as anything but a target for her older cousins. That would be more than enough reason to be bitter.

"We're beginning the summoning."

His private doubts aside however, Takeda could do no more than watch as the summoning began.

Darkness...sleep. Peace.

"I am Kongou, first of the Kongou-class battlecruisers! Born in Britain but raised in..."

Stirring...something calling for her.

"You are no longer Kongou. Japan has declined purchasing this hull after the delays in construction proved too long for them."

'What...I...'

"You are now HMS Indestructible of the Royal Navy."

'I am...Indestructible? But my sisters! My...'

Her country abandoned her. She would have served with pride and honor alongside her sisters. But she had been abandoned, left to instead serve the Royal Navy. Why? Was she not good enough? The delay wasn't enough right? Why would she be left alone like this?

"Welcome to the Royal Navy, Indestructible!"

'Thank you Invincible!'

She wasn't alone though. Her...cousins? They were there. They would help her through this, even if she wasn't like them. Indestructible...not Kongou. Perhaps, she could make this work. Even as war approached, she could make this work.

Return...we need your aid.

Indestructible fought alongside her cousins...and indeed, her younger sisters. They weren't the sisters she had believed she would have, but Irresistible and Implacable were every bit her sisters as Hiei and future girls ever would have been. They had all served as best as they could in the Great War. She herself had been at Jutland...seen her mentor Invincible destroyed, along with Queen Mary and Indefatigable. She had fought hard upon seeing that, her crew craving revenge for such horrible losses. Her guns had crippled SMS Seydlitz, very nearly sinking her. But that hadn't been enough to fill the hole in her heart...the hole where her mentor had once been.

But beyond that battle, she did not fight as much in the war. Her actions were always exemplary, but the Germans declined fighting the main force of the Royal Navy. And so, Indestructible spent her time on blockade duty with her sisters. She would only see the Germans in combat one more time at Heligoland Bight. After that, she would never see another German warship, until it came time to escort them to Scapa Flow after the War ended.

Please...return to aid us...

After that, was the long period of peace. Indestructible and her sisters watched as their elder cousins, those who survived the war, were scrapped one by one to keep the politicians happy. Even Tiger, a surrogate younger sister whom Indestructible was rather fond of, didn't escape. In the end, with Courageous, Furious and Glorious all converted to Aircraft Carriers, the only battlecruisers left in the Royal Navy were Indestructible, her sisters, and the newer Renown, Repulse and Hood. Perhaps, even her and her sisters would have been gone as well, were it not for...for the girls who might once have been her sisters.

For when Japan modernized her Hiei-class battlecruisers into fast battleships, the Royal Navy- with ships that were nearly identical -decided the best option was to do the same, and sacrifice three of the Revenge-class battleships instead, to keep to the treaties.

"Well I'll be damned, you might just be as good as me now!"

'I...you're right! I am, aren't I?'

"Renown's right, it's good to see you'll be around a bit longer Indestructible. You've taught me so much, I doubt I can ever repay that debt."

'Ah...Hood...'

"Don't be modest now! It's not like my mentor to be modest!"

Indestructible had cherished those memories...the last happy memories she had with Hood. Her dear friend would be sunk by the Germans...just as her own mentor had been, so long ago. Just as Invincible had been blown apart by her magazines, so too would Hood. Indestructible had cursed the Germans upon the news of that...cursed them as tears brought about by memories of Jutland flashed in front of her. Her spirit cried for the loss of another of her comrades.

But instead of facing the Germans, she would be sent to the Pacific with Prince of Wales, Repulse, and her sisters Irresistible and Implacable. Sent to the Pacific...to reinforce the Dutch and Australians against the Japanese. A direct counter to her...to her estranged sisters, Hiei, Haruna and Kirishima.

Return! We need your aid!

Luckily or unluckily, she would never see her Japanese siblings. Indestructible would instead feel the sharp bite of a torpedo, piercing even her improved armor. A torpedo that doomed her...doomed her to a slow, watery death. Her mind had faded, as the cold water ran over her decks, her crew picked up by her crying sisters. She had felt no anger as she sank though...merely relief she would not have to face the judgmental eyes of her lost siblings. Indestructible had let the cold waters take her, content to sleep.

But now...

'Who is...why am I being called?'

Please, come back to us proud warrior of the ocean!

'I...I will return! Indestructible, British born and raised battleship, will return!'

"...that is not what I expected."

"No, no it is not. That is a Royal Navy uniform."

"But we didn't..."

"No, we didn't. I wonder..."

"She looks like one of our own though, Admiral."

"Indeed..."

HMS Indestructible heard the voices around her, even though she shouldn't have. She didn't hear them through the walls of metal and steel of her old body. She heard them through soft ears, the feeling of equally soft skin resting on the ground rushing through her. She didn't know these feelings...but they felt as natural to her as the feeling of her boilers running through maneuvers. Of her mighty guns firing on targets, at Jutland or elsewhere. Or...of cold water, rushing over her decks as she finally went to rest.

Impossible or not, the old battleship opened her eyes, the brown pools looking at her surroundings. She...had no idea where she was. This wasn't anything she recognized, from the talk of her crews. It wasn't a British naval base. If anything, the wooden walls and paper doors looked surprisingly...Japa...

They weren't speaking English!

Indestructible jumped to her feet, her uniform rustling as she spun around, finally noting who had spoken. Two men, both in unfamiliar uniforms. The uniforms weren't the issue though...both of them were very clearly Japanese. She was with the enemy!

"Calm down, you're among friends," the man in the fancier uniform held his hands up, not a weapon in sight.

"You're not my bloody friends," Indestructible replied, speaking perfect, proper British accented, English.

The man raised an eyebrow at that, switching to heavily accented English of his own, "I...can understand why you would think that. I assure you it wasn't our intention to summon you here...we were trying for Tosa. I'm not quite certain why we summoned a British kanmusu instead."

Kanm...

"Ship Girl?" the battleship blinked, "What are you talking about Admiral?"

Instincts were hard to break, and she automatically acted respectful when asking that question. The moment she had finished speaking though, Indestructible shook her head, and returned to being on edge. She had no idea where she was, other than being in Japan, or how to use her body. But she would run before she let herself be captured. Her best trait was her speed after all!

"That...is a very long story," the Admiral- who else would have such a fancy uniform? -replied slowly, "Suffice to say, we have been summoning Kanmusu for some time, to fight a new enemy that has driven our conventional forces from the sea. The Royal Navy has done the same, so I...am not quite sure why we summoned you instead of them. What is your name, kanmusu?"

Warily watching the man for any signs of hostility, the battleship replied, "HMS Indestructible."

There was silence, shocked silence, as the Japanese men had their jaws drop. Even the Admiral looked flabbergasted, and Indestructible had to hold back a giggle with everything she was worth. Looked like she could do the same to humans that she could to her...to her sisters. What...had they survived the war? She hoped they had. She had been so...so tired...that her thoughts upon sinking hadn't been about her failure to protect Irresistible and Implacable.

Something that was weighing her down now, as she slumped slightly.

"I can't believe it," the younger man spoke up, drawing the battleship from her dark thoughts, "Kongou...we summonedKongou."

A flash of anger went through Indestructible at that name...her old name, "I am not Kongou. My name is Indestructible, because Japan abandoned me. I am a British battleship now."

"Of course," the Admiral spoke soothingly, "I apologize for Commander Goto's words. Now, Indestructible...the war ended decades ago. Japan is an ally of Great Britain and the United States now. I'm sure we can work out a way to get you back home. For now though, if you will follow me, you can stay with our kanmusu until then. I'm sure they can help you adjust to...your new body."

Indestructible was not inclined to trust this man. Japan may not get the anger that Germany did, but on the other hand, they had been enemies. She may not have hated them for sinking her, so long ago.

But she wasn't going to trust them, until she could contact London.

AN: Do I expect a lot of people to read this one? Not in the same way as posting a Madoka or Bleach fic would do. But as said above, this is decently popular already on SV, I just figured it was worth...broadening the fanbase. Or trying.

We'll see how that goes. I hope anyone new who read this enjoyed it at least!