Mugen Universe: Tournament of Champions- The Fanfiction Series

[OverMaster]

-The Cruelty of Children, Part 5: A Meeting of Heralds, Prelude-

Team Nifelheim's Rooms:

"YE-OW!" the Joker complained loudly as Bell wrapped some bandages around his head. "Gently, Roundhead! Gently!".

"Give me a break. I'm a living fighting machine, not a nurse" the little girl deadpaned, while at the other side of the living room, Mara snickered while watching their surveillance tapes.

"Heeeh... heh heh he he... Bwa ha ha ha!" the demoness finally broke out in laughter. "She gave you the pounding of a lifetime! I can't believe it! And then... and then you made a fool out of the brat! Oh, this is rich! Two of my two least favorite people, owned by the prize of one! I love it!".

"There are causes for concern, though" Goenitz coldly analyzed the images of Skuld attacking onscreen again. "Look at the way she moves, so different from the way she behaved when we first met her here. There is no move wasted, each one inflicting the maximum efficient pain...".

"Tell me about it" Joker groaned. "I wasn't expecting for such a beating. Tootie really has the killer stuff in her, doesn't she?". He chuckled. "But all for the better. Because when we have her here--".


*FLASH!!!*


"-- with us..." the Clown Prince finished the sentence, noticing they now were sitting elsewhere, after a sudden burst of light swallowed them without any warning, "... that power will be working for us...". He stood up. "Okay, what's the big joke now?".

They were in the middle of a long hall which Mara and Goenitz recognized. "We are right outside of one of the Queen's meeting halls" the blonde observed, eyes widening. "She must want to talk with us again!".

Joker looked at his wristwatch and grimaced. "I hope it doesn't take too damn long. I promised Harley I'd be there to watch her fight, and she'll whine and whine to no end if I don't do it".

Then the huge black door in front of them opened with majestic slowness. Bell stood up as well, and Rei seemed anxious. The Clown Prince of Crime sighed. "I'll take what's behind the black door, then..." he said as if he were in a game show, pointing a finger at it, "... I'm praying for a sports car and one million dollars in canned ham for my heart's content!".

"Come in" Hild's voice, in a calmed and regal tone, then called out from the inside. "Herald, you lead the march. The time has come for you to be formally introduced to the Triumvirate".

**************************

MUGEN Medical Bay Center:

"You... did... what....???" a recovered but still bed-ridden Keiichi Morisato asked lifting his head from the feathery pillow, his eyes bulging out as he looked at Skuld, sitting next to him with Doctor Occult and Beenuel. "How could you fall for something like that?!".

"Indeed!" the God of Animals angrily spat. "You might have just made a fatal mistake, child! What, pray I ask, were you thinking when--".

Skuld just malleted him to the head again, making him to cry a single cartoony tear, and humphed. "There is nothing to fear. I'll be the one taking advantage of that agreement in the end" she said with resolve. "I won't lose! There's no way that dumb clown will get one on me!".

"I would say he already has gotten one on you..." Keiichi sourly mumbled.

"HEY! I did it for you, you know!" Skuld shrieked while White Mage gestured for her to keep her voice low. "It was all your fault in the first place for running away with that creepy angel girl and getting yourself poisoned!".

"I was worried about you!" Morisato retorted back. "If you hadn't ran after that God-Killer for a battle you couldn't win, nothing of this would have ever happened!".

"He has a point there..." Otaru quietly nodded, standing next to a window.

"This is no matter of yours!" Skuld told him.

"Please, Mom, Dad, don't fight..." Keima meekly intervened. "You never fought before... well, in the future...".

Skuld looked at him in an annoyed way for a second, but then her glare softened and she sighed. "Okay. There is no need to cry over the spilled milk, right?" she tried to ease everyone around her. "All we have to do is to outlast Team Nifelheim in the tournament. That shouldn't be so hard, right? It's just what we had intended to do all along, anyway...".

"Still, the mere fact of you making a deal with a representative of Hell shall leave a bad mark on your resume" Beenuel remarked, rubbing his pained head.

"Hey, but I had no choice!" she protested.

Keima took a seat at the other side of the bed and gripped Keiichi's hand tightly. Discussions or not, it was good to see Father and Mother together again, he thought. Meanwhile, the older Morisato heaved a deep sigh. He knew the little boy was hiding a lot from him, but after all they had been through, he did not dare to confront him about it causing him more pain. He would have to wait to see Urd again, to find out if she had any light to shed up on the matter.

"Well" Otaru headed for the door, "since you are all together and healthy again, I guess I must be going back with my team. I'll also call Lady Melody's parents for them to come pick her up".

Melody did a touble take, at the other side of the room. She had not had her chance to meet Edward Elric yet, after all. They couldn't take that away from her...

"Sounds good" Occult nodded, then looked at where the Princess was. "Melody, what do you--".

They all put on surprised shocked faces then. The little princess was not there at all anymore.

"Argh, people just keeps disappearing one after another!" a frustrated Otaru slapped a hand on his own face.


OOC: T51R, you can retake Melody's subplot now and tie in to Ed's if you want. Sorry about taking her away for so long.


Next: Violent Reactions!

[T51R]

~The Hunger…Part 2~



“What‘s going on in there, I wonder.” Nausicaa pressed her ear to the door while Rosette and Chrono did the same. Yomiko had already left to take over care of the two little Diclonius girls; Yuka was almost due to start work in the kitchen while Kouta had to see to the other guests at the Lodge. Chrono looked towards the door, and watched as Kenshiro began fading into the crowd outside.

“Damn,” he muttered, then turned to his Contractor. “Rosette, we‘d better go.” The Magdalene Nun looked torn for a moment, trying to decide where she wanted to be. The Centre was heavily guarded, she thought to herself. Nausicaa would be safe, and if anything were to happen the injured would still be able to give any intruders far more trouble than any of the guards, save the Valkeryes. “Coming!” She joined Chrono at the door, the both of them struggling for a bit before finding the Fist of the North Star in the crowd. As Nausicaa watched them leave, she smiled to herself. No wonder, she thought, no wonder they wanted to come here. Their lives had been so tragically cut short; if the world owed anyone a living, it had to be them. They had passed on unnoticed, unknown, heroes without faces who had given all they had in the name of a world that was not theirs. She again pressed her ear to the door; her own battle was still a while away and she could afford to be playful. If only a tad so. She listened as on the other side of the door, voices rose, and boisterous complaints about almost everything under the sun filled the hallway.

“Is everything well?” a voice came from beside her. “You seem to be a little concerned.” Celestine took a seat while watching Nausicaa strain to keep track of the conversation on the other side of the door.

“They‘re being so noisy in there,” Nausicaa stepped away from the door. “You seem a little less troubled today,” she observed of the God, “is everything well? We‘ve heard things, terrible things. Of why those people at the field are here. And about what happened just now.”

“Many of the things you heard,” Celestine motioned for her to be seated next to him. “please, try to keep them to yourselves. While I cannot lie, I can assure you that everything within our capacity is being done. Fear not Nausicaa, for measures are being taken as we speak to deal with the threat.”

“So,” she gripped tightly to her crumpled, blue skirt. “the thing we fought, is it still out there? That thing, that thing people are calling…the Orochi? And what about the thing that attacked Ms. Skuld and her team-mates? What was that, was it really what people are saying it is?”

“The Orochi it seems,” Celestine couldn’t help himself; ever his First Class licence had been restored, he had been compelled to speak nothing but the truth. At least, he thought to himself, there was some good news to go along with the bad this time. “is now the least of our problems. He has lost perhaps all his influence, save for small pockets of worshippers that continue to be loyal to him. I expect,” he felt sinful, as a wave of elation filled his belly. “that he will soon be removed officially from his position with us. You no longer need to fear him returning; I doubt that he shall. While the Orochi Power still exists, I doubt that it will for much longer.”

“And the other one,” Nausicaa pried further, “what about the other one?”

“We are still addressing that issue as we speak,” he replied, “but you needn’t be concerned about it; rest assured that we will reach a conclusion as to how that…thing will be addressed…”

The door to the ward trembled as a tray filled with random junk was hurled forcefully against it. “What on Earth…” Celestine spun around.

“They‘ve been doing that for ten whole minutes already.” Nausicaa deadpanned.



-Inside Ward 32-



“I CAN‘T BELIEVE THIS!” the voice of the woman next door screamed hysterically as yet another tray, this one filled with old shoes, torn clothed, bloody bandages and the kitchen sink slammed into the door. Ed just stayed where he was, clicking with futility on the call button as he began to grow paler and paler from hunger. Dinnertime was approaching, and the clock on the wall slowly ticked towards the fateful hour. Frantic clicks filled the room, Ed’s neighbour finding her own call button and assaulting the front desk with every obnoxious series of clicks that she could think of. “DAMMIT, FEED ME!!!” The entire room shuddered as she shouted.

“Hey quiet down,” Ed mumbled. “You know some people just starve to death peacefully…”

“SHADDAP!!!” the room trembled again, knocking the Full Metal Alchemist off of his bed. “AND I AM NOT STARVING TO DEATH! I‘VE… ” Yet again the walls shook, this time a bestial growl sounding from the bed next door, followed by a loud ’thunk,’ a light and small body hitting the floor. “OOOOWWW!!!”

“Hey? HEY! Yu okay over there?” Ed squeezed a knee between his body and the floor, finally worming his way to his feet. “HEY! You’re alive, right? RIGHT?” He half-sprinted half-hobbled to the screen between them; it wasn’t easy to move with a half dozen tubes sticking out his shoulder not to mention having his normal arm in a sling. It didn’t help either that he was missing his automail arm; the leg was fine, only slightly damaged. Winry however, had decided to strengthen up several of the parts, and Ed was thankful that she did it on the spot. Okay, he thought, he was going to have to get the screen off the walls and off of the frame that had been set up, splitting their shared ward down the middle. He tried taking hold of the screen with his teeth. It wasn’t easy, since it had been pulled taut. After a good bit of slobbering, he finally found a bit of purchase: the flap at the end of the room. Ed braced himself and then stood on his heels while jerking his head backwards; he knew full well that he might end up on his arse. A snap. One of the push-on’s came loose. Great, he swore to himself. One down, over a dozen to go. The sound of scraping came from across the room, followed by the sound of sheets and bed-rails being clawed at. “Hey, hold on!” he quipped, again biting down on the saliva-soaked flap and ripped the screen away from the wall. “HEY!” he slowly moved towards the petite figure trying to haul herself back onto her bed with only her arms.

Her legs were a mess; two deep cuts on her left thigh together with a good number of bruises and abrasions. Other than that, she looked fine. The Alchemist could tell however, that she was still in a good deal of pain. That hair, he thought to himself, he had seen it somewhere before. Before he could remember though, the young woman succeeded in pulling herself onto the mattress and turned around.

“YOU!?” Ed spat, recoiling, and then tripping over the loose sheet of sterile fabric that used to be between their beds, he fell on his bum.

“YOU!” Lina Inverse gawked, “I‘VE BEEN IN HERE WITH YOU ALL THIS TIME!? WHY!? WHY ME?!”

“WHY YOU!?” Ed shouted from the floor, trying to get his feet untangled. “WHY ME!? AND WHY DID YOU SOUND LIKE YOU WERE STARVING TO DEATH!?”

“BECAUSE I AM STARVING TO DEATH, YOU IDIOT! THEY SAID THAT I COULDN’T EAT OR DRINK ANYTHING UNTIL THE ANESTHESIA WORE OFF!” Lina shot back. “AND WHY THE HELL ARE YOU IN A GIRL‘S ROOM ANYWAY!?”

Ed looked stunned for a moment. “WHADDAYA MEAN GIRL‘S ROOM, THIS IS A GUY‘S ROOM! I DON‘T SEE ANY CUTE LITTLE SIGNS ON THE WALL YOU KNOW!”

[T51R]

“WHAT ARE YOU SOME KINDA CHAUVANIST!?” Lina stomped down hard on Ed’s face causing a drop of sweat to form on the side of his head, as well as causing his eyes to turn black with a massive dark region quickly developing over his features. “THAT‘S BASIC CURTEOUSEY!!! DIDN’T YOU LEARN THAT IN SCHOOL!?”

“LAST TIME I CHECKED IT WAS BASIC CURTEOUSEY TO NOT THROW YOUR BOOTS AT THE DOOR OR TO SCREAM IN A HOSPITAL!” the Alchemist bellowed.

“HA! WHO‘S SCREAMING NOW!?” Lina caught him off-guard, and crawled to the edge of her bed then grabbed Ed’s cheek. “I‘LL SHOW YOU HOW TO SCREAM!!!” She pulled him in, grabbed his other cheek and began pulling his face in opposite directions. “WHO‘S SCREAMING NOW!?” she yelled, as Ed let out a wail. “MWAAAAAAHAHAHHAHA…GAH!” Lina found herself surprised; Ed had planted his normal foot on her own face. With the cut in her leg still freshly sutured, Lina knew that she had to put all her weight on something else. And the closest thing at hand…were Ed’s cheeks.

“LET GO YOU CRAZY…OOOOOOOOOWWWW!!!!!!” Ed yelped as Lina’s grip grew even stronger, “YOU‘RE GONNA YANK MY HEAD OFF!!!”

“THEN STOP KICKING ME!” she screamed. “I‘M GONNA FALL, YOU IDIOT!”

“YOU!? I‘M GONNA FALL IF YOU DON’T LET GO!” Ed yelled back. The room was snapped into silence as the doorknob began to turn. Neither of them could move; somehow, someway, Lina and Ed had managed to find themselves in a situation of perfect balance. Both were standing on a leg each; Lina’s injured limb wouldn’t support any of her weight, while Ed’s foot in her face and her hands on his cheeks meant that if either of them were to move so much as an inch they would both end up sprawled on the cold floor with no way to get back up ay time soon.

There was a loud thunk as Melody nudged the door open; Celestine had taken over for Nausicaa. The once-sealed God had ordered Alphonse back to his room for much-needed rest, and had asked the Princess of the Valley of the Wind to see to it that he did not manage the orderlies to take him somewhere else. Melody had waited patiently for him to grow either tired or bored. And when he finally stood up to speak with another orderly, she decided to risk it all. The chance of meeting her idol had been too much to resist, even if it meant braving the wrath of her parents yet again. She crept into the ward, and found it an absolute mess. And in the middle of it all, in a twisted heap of half-wrecked flesh was the one she had so wanted to see: Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist. It was then that she noticed someone under him. Melody jumped backwards when she recognised the fiery redhead as the woman Ed had only just hours before been locked in combat with. “You…the two of you…how could you” the Princess of the Magic Kingdom stammered.

“It…it‘s not what it looks like!” Ed protested, his head buried in the floor under the small of Lina’s back; he couldn’t pry himself out either. He hadn’t the arms to do so. Not that using his feet would help though, those were tangled up in the fabric of the partition again together with Lina’s. “HEY! IT‘S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE OKAY!?” Melody took yet another step back, not sure of what to make of the situation before her. The final bit of mental trauma however, was yet to come; both of them collapsed as an earth-shaking growl came from both young bodies.

“Are you…” Melody took a step towards the twisted mess of flesh, which was growing paler and paler as she approached. Another thunderous sound filled the room. Melody looked closer, and realised where all the noise was coming from: Ed and Lina’s stomachs. She poked at Ed’s now-seemingly lifeless face, and turned Lina’s head this way and that. “It can‘t be…” the Princess assumed the worst. She turned on her heel, ready to run to fetch a doctor for them when the pale, zombie-like mess picked itself up off the floor. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!” Lina had managed to worm her way onto Ed’s shoulders, while the Alchemist stood them up off of the floor. With glowing eyes filled with hunger they stepped forward towards her, Melody trying not to scream for the fear that now gripped her.

Lina felt her way around Ed’s pockets, and fished out his wallet. “FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…” she monotoned, saliva dripping from the edge of her lips. “BRING US FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…” she thrust a twenty-dollar bill towards the little princess who squeezed herself against the door.

“FIFTY BOWLS OF RAMEN, THANK YOU VERY MUCH….” Ed gurgled, leaning forwards so that his and Lina’s faces were but an inch or so away from the little girl’s. Melody screamed at the top of her lungs, ducked under their chins, and exited the room quick as a shot leaving Ed and Lina disappointed in her wake. “Great,” Ed spat, “Now what?”

“Sooooooooo hungry….” Lina gurgled. “Raaaaaaaaaaaaameeeeeeeeeennn…..”

“YOU‘RE DROOLING ALL OVER MY SHOULDER!!!” Ed started protesting again. It was then that the pair noticed something in the corner of their shared ward; a handle poking out of the shadows. Both Alchemist and Sorceress glanced at each other, realizing what it was as ideas began to fill their heads. Perhaps all was not lost.

It was a wheelchair.

:evilsmile


~To be continued! NEXT: The Hunger...Rampage!~

[KingEli]

R&B vs. Expendables, Prelude:

Team Red & Blue Quarters:

"Where am I?" Asked Zero "Hello? X? Kunckles? Sonic? Anybody? Dammit where is Everyone at?"

"Zero........." Said a Faint Female Voice

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Said The Leader of The 0 Unit Maverick Hunters grabing his Z-Saber.

"Zero!!" Yelled The young woman as she came into view.

"I...I......Iris!" The Crimson Hunter called out "Your back!"

"Yes I--What? AaaaAAAJJJJ!!HHH!!!!" She Yelled as she was attacked by an Shadowy figure wielding an Energy Saber Cutting her in Half.

"Iris? IRIS!! IRIS!!!!" Zero Cried "You Son of a Bitch! I'LL KILL YOU!!!!!!!" Said Zero in Pure Rage blasting the figure into dust with his Z-Buster.

"Not Again......Not Again."

"Yes....again." Said a Much More Menacing voice

"No......No, please get outta my head...." Said Zero

"You killed me and my sister......Monster" Said Reploid in Milatary Garb.

"Colonel?! But Your......"Said Zero

"Dead? Yes by your blade Demon." The Repliforce Member Replied

"Zero you are a killer........." Said The Dark Voice.

"No, I'm not. Stop, Just stop."

"Murderer! Murderer!! MURDERER!!!!" Yelled Iris

"Stop Iris I'm Not......"

"But you are........" Said The Voice

Then Zero got a huge shock as he was walking away, he sees the two bodies of Megaman and X laying in a pool of their own blood.

"No, No, NOOOO!!!"

"Subcum to the Darkness..........Kill those who give me my Motavation in life........"

"Stop it, Stop IT, STOP IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Yelled Zero with a Mighty Roar

".........................My Son"

Then Zero woke up breathing REAL Hard.

"It was Only another nightmare............a Nightmare." He Began telling himself.


OOC: Hey OM are you going to include Gesse Howard in this Meeting of The Hearalds?(He is Thanos' Hearld after all.)

[OverMaster]

-A Meeting of Heralds, Part 1: Difference of Opinions-

Nifelheim:

The Joker hesitated. "Walking in, me first? Yeeeah, right... As if I'm going to fall for THAT one. And besides..." he turned to Mara and gestured for the big black door, smiling with a bowing, "... Ladies always go first!".

"I have told you to enter first, Herald!" Hild's voice commanded sternly, and Joker groaned lowly, feeling compelled to obey by the Contract biding them. He could feel his feet almost carrying him to the door against his will.

"I am going to sue, you know" he was saying, while he crossed through the entrance and into the Royal Meeting Chambers, the rest of Team Nifelheim coming in right after him. "I know my laboral rights... My Syndicate will have your--".

Then he paused, looking in awe all around him. He was not someone who was surprised easily, but the view all around him had managed to stun him into silence at least for a short while. It had to be the biggest place he had ever been in, big enough to house at least four Injustice Gang headquarters put together. It had a wide, black and red shiny domed ceiling that seemed to hypnotize him with its dark beauty. And it had a fine, elegant, and yet pungent soft scent of depravity and wickedness all around it. It was hard to understand, and much harder to explain; maybe it was just whatever they had used to clean the floors, but it certainly seemed that way to him.

"Nice..." he whistled, nodding to himself, then looked at where Hild was sitting on a black throne in the middle of the other side of the gigantic room, looking straight at him with those deep, enygmatic green eyes of hers. Next to her sat a grim, stonefaced behemoth of blue and golden armor, and at her other side, grinning, as always, was him. "Vellinor!" Joker hissed, narrowing his eyes.

Then he noticed Mara, Rei and Goenitz were kneeling behind him in front of the middle throne, and Mara had pushed Bell to her knees to imitate that action.

"My Lady" the Orochiblooded lowered his head. "Seeing you again fills our humble hearts with content".

Joker sneered softly, mildly repulsed by their flattery. He looked at the Thriumvirate again; his wishes to jump on Vellinor's throat and ripping it off with his teeth were warring with his insticts of selfpreservation inside him. However, he managed to hide that well enough to keep a cool, aloof facade and ask Hild, "Weeeell...? To what do I owe the honor of being here?". He hoped the irony on his question was going to be noticed, but the Queen seemed not to mind as she called him to her with a slight waving of a hand.

"Herald, come to me" she said.

He gritted his teeth together, annoyed, but then decided to go with the flow for the moment; he advanced towards the thrones, limping slightly as he did so; Skuld's beating still had left more than a mark on him. That did not escape the Eternal's attention as he looked down at the approaching human with contempt.

"So, here we have him, the infamous Joker. With a black eye, an injured leg, and bruises all over him?" Thanos scoffed. "Lady Hild, I must say, your choice of a Herald... baffles me".

"You forgot a cracked rib, Sire" the Joker replied at the moment, managing to walk in a fine line between irreverence and reverence in his comment's tone; judging by the looks of Darkseid-wannabe there, he looked like another one of those monguls full of themselves he was used to deal with in the supercriminal community.

"I was just wondering what kind of Herald comes to his Mistress' service beaten like a child, yet with no shame of showing up in such a shape" Thanos sneered back.

"It works finely when allowing your enemy to beat you for now is part of your strategy to beat them at the end, Sire" Joker smiled wyly to him, a slight mischievous spark on his eyes.

"And what kind of pitiful so-called strategy would be that?" the master of the Infinity Gauntlet questioned.

"Kind # 358, Sire" Joker almost chuckled, then stopped before Hild and kissed the hand full of rings and jewelry she was offering him. "Ma'am. As despicably lovely as ever, even in company of..." he shot Vellinor a dagger stare, "... some people unfit to mingle with the high society".

Then he noticed the tall, well muscled masked figure standing behind Vellinor's seat, near to where a sweatdropping Kadachi was trying to help Caskett with his predicament. His eyes again shone in surprise, and his red lips curled into a new grin. The big guy whom he had seen fighting Skuldie and the Anzell bimbo back at the Grounds.

"The God-Killer" he walked past Vellinor, ignoring him much to the Trickster's annoyance, and bowing in front of a momentarily shocked Kansai instead. "Enchanted to meet you, dear Mister! Oh, to greet a true master of the arts of genocide in the flesh! I feel like a child meeting Santa Claus! Finally, two masters of the artform with no parallel in the known universe, face to face, reunited in a--".

"Uhhhhhh, excuse me..." Kansai put an armored hand over his mouth, shutting him up, "... Do I know you? Why are you taking so many liberties with me, man?".

The Joker blinked, then backed away one step or two, with genuine surprise. "You... you surely noticed me at that rumble back at MUGEN, right? The really handsome guy who attacked him--". He pointed over his shoulder at Vellinor.

Kansai scratched his head, then shook it. "Sorry, but nope. I wasn't paying too much attention on what was around me; I was busy with the kid and the blonde. Anyway, who the hell are you?".

Joker froze in place. "You... you DON'T know me?? But... But EVERYONE knows me!" he protested, disappointed. "The one and only Joker! Clown Prince of Crime! Harlequin of Hate! Ace of Knaves! Merry Scourge of Gotham City! America's Most Wanted for over a decade now!!".

"........." Kansai frowned, and thought on it long and hard, as if trying to remember something. Finally, he just shook his head once more and admited, "No, I'm not gettin' anything. Actually, I don't read newspapers that much, and only watch ESPN, Cinemax and HBO movies on TV...".

"I think he was that guy played by Cesar Romero in that old Bat-Guy TV show, Kansai" Kadachi told his host from where he was trying what seemed to be a specially painful cure on a screaming Caskett. "Remember it? That camp thing that always had you drooling about Julie Newmar?".

"Ohh, yeah, THAT guy. The Joker..." the God-Killer snapped his fingers in realization. He looked at the clown's face again and said, "Sorry, dude, but I always liked the Riddler better anyway".

[OverMaster]

Continuation. (Post too long, had to cut it by half).

"... Cesar... Romero...?" Joker seemed to be totally lost about that explanation, but then just blinked and shook a hand in front of himself and Kansai. "Ah, it doesn't matter. What really counts now is, I can learn from you, and you'll be able to learn from me too. For instance..." he leaned forward to Kansai's right ear and whispered secretively, "... you know that guy sitting there? The goofily grinning one?".

"Yeah. What's with him?".

"He is... a God..." Joker whispered a bit louder. "A trickster god...".

Now it was Kansai's turn to be confused. "Hum, yes. I know. So...?".

"So... God-Killer..." he pointed to Kansai's chest, then slowly drifted his pointing finger into Vellinor's direction, "... and God... Get it?".

"..........." was all of Kansai's reply.

Joker looked at him with exhasperation. "Do I need to draw a map to you, or what?!".

"Forget it, Joker..." Vellinor happily almost sang, reclined on his royal seat. "Kansai-kun is working for me-ee...".

Joker's face made a sudden disgusted twist, and then he looked at Kansai for confirmation. "Is that... right?? You, a God-Killer... working for a God???".

"Hey, I don't know where did you get whatever info you have on me, Chuckles, but apparently, you have a few things wrong" the NODE replied. "Despite my nickname, I don't wander around just killing any and all gods I cross paths with. I only perform killings if I can get any profit outta them. Otherwise, what is the point?".

"So, basically..." Joker seemed even more disappointed now, "... you... work for whoever can pay you the best, no matter if they are gods or not?".

"Of course. Killing by the mere sake of killing may be fun, but doesn't put food on the table, you know?" Kansai asked as if dealing with a very slow child.

"... Yes, I see. You... are right, of course" the white faced man sighed, lowering his head. What a letdown. The superior being he had placed so many hopes in resulted to be nothing but a vulgar mercenary, a killer for hire. He didn't value the true worth of the Cosmic Joke after all.

Oh well, he just would have to teach him about it then. If anyone could do it, that one would be him, right? With that in mind, Joker smiled again and looked at Kansai's face. "In any case, it's still nice to meetcha, Champ. Let's start from the beginning, shall we? I'm Joker, and I can see you and me are going to be very good friends... Kansai, that's your name, right?".

"That's correct" the NODE nodded, pun intended.

"Excellent!" Joker patted him vigorously on a shoulder. "Now that's a name you don't hear every day! You must be very proud of it... Huh...". Then he noticed, Kansai's body had suddenly lost all signals of life, and plummeted to a side, with a broken neck. "Kansai...?".

"You broke his neck when you touched him" Hild explained.

"WHAT?! But I didn't even put any strenght on it!!".

"No strenght was needed" Thanos huffed. "The fool just does that each three or four minutes, always finding a new way to pay wicked unwilling tribute to Mistress Death".

"For real...?" Joker stared at the corpse laying at his feet. "Just like Kaarage...?".

There was a brief silence, and then Joker crouched down, pulled a red crayon out, and began to draw funny faces on Kansai's mask. "Hee hee hee, this is funny...".

Thanos grumbled to himself. Maybe it was time to call in his own Herald. After all, there was no way Howard could look bad compared to those two...


Next: Stitch vs. Dorado 'Klap' Klompson, Prelude!

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

It was then, however, that the Joker noticed something odd about the crayon he was holding. Namely, the fact that it was ending with a lit fuse . . . .

A second later, the crayon exploded in the Joker's hand, causing his face to become covered in red dust. Behind him, he heard Vellinor bursting into laughter.

"Sorry, Lady Hild, but I just had to do that!" the Trickster said between laughs. "Why so red in the face, Joker? I didn't embarrass you, did I?"

The Joker angrily wiped the crayon remains off his face. "Oh no," he replied icily, "you just gave me a good excuse to kill you now, that's all."

With that, the Joker charged up power to unleash against Vellinor -- only to have a piano fall on him from above, squishing him.

"Encore!" Vellinor shouted, clapping his hands. "Heh heh .. .. Cesar Romero. Who next? Mark Hammill?"

"Must you always resort to such foolishness?" Thanos groaned.

"Hey, you saw him! It was an act of self-defence!" Vellinor protested. "And besides which, he's the Joker! He likes being the centre of attention!"

With that, Vellinor jumped off his seat, shoved the piano aside, and peeled the pancaked Joker off the floor. "Gotta say, though, nice going on the way you stuck it to the good guys, Jokey Boy!" he said as the Joker popped back into solidity. "I mean, first you emotionally traumatize Keichii, then infect him with laughing gas, and THEN blackmail Skuld! True, I could have done better, but it's still not too shabby for a pathetic mortal. Here, have a cigar!"

With that, Vellinor popped a cigar into the stunned Joker's mouth and lit it, causing it to explode in his face. Enraged, the Joker lashed out at him with a herring . . . .

Wait, a herring? What the hell happened to his knife?

"Hey, I congratulate you, and this is the thanks I get? Getting assaulted with a herring?" Vellinor said as he dodged the attack. "For shame, Joker! You need to learn your manners!" As if on cue, a gigantic book labelled "Basic Manners For Idiots" fell from above and bonked the Joker on the head. The Clown Prince stumbled about drunkenly, miniature Batmen flying around his head.

Hild cleared her throat. "Are you quite done now, Lord Vellinor?" she asked.

"Oh, quite, milady," Vellinor replied. With that, he teleported into the midst of Team Nifelheim and began shaking their surprised hands. "Hi, how are ya . . .lookin great, Mona, listen to any good heavy metal recently? Hey, kiddo, way to utterly humiliate the JLAvengers. Pity about that robot girl, though . . . hey, padre, nice toupee! Hey Rei, I bet you came to see Kadachi, right?"

Rei gave an insane grin. "You betcha!"

"Oh good," Vellinor said. "He's right there." He pointed to Kadachi, who had just recovered. Upon recognizing Rei, Kadachi screamed in terror and ran for his life, Rei in hot pursuit.

"Hey Kadachi! Make sure to invite me to the wedding!" Vellinor called to his herald. He then turned back to Team Nifelheim. "Oh, and just a favour to ask boys and girls: if the good guys start questioning you again, never, EVER indicate that your Mistress and I are an item, 'kay!"

"We aren't an item, Lord Vellinor," Hild said from further behind.

"Oh, must you persistently ruin my illusions?" Vellinor grumbled. "But anyways, keep mum, as the British say. Otherwise . .. well, I'm sure Mara will tell you all what happens to people who piss Queenie off."

With that, the Trickster God teleported back onto his throne. "You have the floor now, Hild. Or is it Thanos' turn? Damn, I always get the speaking arrangement mixed up."

Further in the background, Kadachi continued to scream as Rei chased him, while Femto continued to scream as Tiki bit onto his balls.


(Over to you OM . . .or KingEli . .. or whoever . . . . )

[KingEli]

"As Thor would say, By Odin's Beard, this Stupidity must Stop." Said Thanos "I Think it's time I Brung him..........."

***********************************

MUGEN Grounds-Whearhouse

"How long till we get out of this Bloody place Boss?" Asked Billy

"Soon, when the Heat goes down." Said Gesse

"I Kenw Coming here was a bad idea." Said Krauser

"I Think it's too late For 'I Told you so.' Krauser." Said Gesse


*FLASH*

***********************************

Location of The Trimunitive

"Hey Guys, weren't we in a Whearhouse?" Said Yamazaki as The Howard Team looked around their new Surroundings.

"Great. He Must have called us." Said Gesse

"And who is that?" Said Billy

"There person who brought me back to life."

"This won't end well, I just know it." Said Krauser as they walk down the corrior.........

[J Dog]

After that four-way punch, Mimi looked up into the stands briefly to see the guy that got her here, Jack. Sadly, she didn't realize that his time to come to the Stadium for his upcoming fight had to be so soon. Of course, she forgave him. Your team's priorities are a top need, so I'm fine with that., she thought, I'll win for you! I swear!

Cosette was staring at the person she wanted to take down first, Bulleta, and figured that the only way to get her out of the way is by a ring-out. So, she immediately dashed towards Hood, who responds by kicking her in the left leg, and tripped her to the ground.

"Nice try, but it's going to take more than THAT to bring me down, Sara!" she smirked.

"Yeah, you nutcase, well, I got more tricks up my sleeve. And I'm not planning on bringing you down." Cosette said with a slight grin that was bigger than Hood's.

"Then why did you come at me?" She replied as she attempted to kick Cosette, but missed since her target rolled out of the way.

"If I can't bring you down, then I'm going to knock you out of the ring!" Cosette responded by getting up and hurling fists at Hood. One connected to the face, and she backed up.

Figuring that this is the best time to strike, Tomoyo rushed into the fray, and made it into a three-way fight, much akin to how it all started. As each girl threw her fists and kicked her legs, Mimi stared at each fighter.

"Look at them, they are all nuts." Mimi said to herself as she adjusted her helmet to correct the view of vision. "That Hood girl looks nice, but is a whack job. Sheesh! I've never seen a girl with a basket come loaded with guns (even though she can't use them)."

Hood heard that and growled at the one non-fighter. Mimi gulped a bit. "Guess, I shouldn'tve said that." she giggled weakly with several sweat drops visible going down her face.

"Yeah, you shouldn't say th-" was all B.B. Hood could say. In slow motion, a combined attack from Cosette and Tomoyo landed a double blow, and the Darkstalker went down out of bounds.

"Annnnddd the first elimination is Bulleta B. Hood!" the referee said loudly. After that, Hood was furious.

"I DIDN'T LOSE: THE DIGI-BRAT DISTRACTED ME!" Hood yelled.

"Hey, sorry about that. Let's talk about that after the fight, okay?" Mimi said.

"Oh, we'll talk after the fight, all right." Hood said with a bitter mood, for she was conned out of $900. After that, she went to a seat near the fight and became a spectator. "Just hope there's a light in all of this miasma in which I'll get some credibility."

"Now that we got that out of the way," Cosette said to Tomoyo, "It's time for US to duke it on. Winner gets the brat." Upon hearing that, Mimi pounded Cosette with an armored fist. "Calling me a brat, huh? Well, I'm going to set you straight!"

[OverMaster]

-A Meeting of Heralds, Interlude: Now you have done it!-

Underground Arena:

"Foolish" Cosette said as she connected with a blow to Tomoyo's jaw.

"Selfstuck" Tomoyo countered with a kick to Cosette's stomach.

"Untrained" Cosette groaned while she threw a knife at her adversary's head, missing it by meager milimeters.

"Arrogant, pompous" Tomoyo swung her crowbar forward, failing at hitting Cosette by mere inches.

"Oh, dear..." Mimi watched standing at a side in awe. They actually seemed to be quite evenly matched, with Cosette having only a slight edge thanks to her superior training, experience and calm over Tomoyo's raw brutality. Whoever won, though, she would be in for a tought fight later on.

"Hm. Not too bad of a strategy" Matt commented to the other Digidestined. "She waits for a single final opponent to be determined, then she takes down the weakened enemy...".

"But isn't that just a bit... dishonorful?" Joe doubted.

"Hey, it's not like she would have any chances going at both of them at the same time" Matt shrugged. "She has to rely on subterfuge and tactics if she wants to win".

"Go, Mimi! Fight on!" Yolei cheered. "We know you can do it!".

"Yeah, Mimi!" Sora cried out in agreement. "Show them all!".

Their friend looked up at them from the ring and sweatdropped. "Oh, thanks, girls, but I think I will wait for a little more before doing it...".

"Give it up, loser" Cosette unleashed a rapid barrage of kickboxing blows to Tomoyo's solar plexus. "I have been trained by the Mob to be their best hitwoman, while you rely on sheer unfocused savagism. You need to train for a decade before dreaming of matching me".

"Get off your high horse, darling" Evil Tomoyo thrusted her crowbar forward, managing to hit Cosette on a flank. However, the pink haired girl took advantage of that by grabbing the blunt weapon with a hand, using it to pull Tomoyo towards herself, and punching her in the face with her free hand. Then she threw her at Mimi. "Tachikawa! Catch her with a kick!".

"Uh, sure!" Mimi nodded quickly, tentatively rising a thick booted foot, and then used it to hit the upcoming Tomoyo. At the same time, Cosette also kicked the black haired youngster from behind, making her to gasp. Then she gripped her in a bearhug and bodyslammed her against the mat.

"Ouch!" Blue Jay almost cringed, still standing next to the Penguin. "That sure looked like it hurt, Boss!".

"Waaaughhhhh!!" Cobblepot actually quacked. "I had no idea those little ladies could get so brutal!". Then his lips curled into a smile. "Just imagine how the fights between adults will go, then... we will make a fortune here!".

Meanhwile, Ataru had rushed to the knocked down, spiral-eyed Tomoyo's side and was giving her the countdown, "... Five! Four! Three! Two! One! AND SHE'S OUT AND DOWN, FOLKS! Now it's all to be decided between Cosette Sara and Mimi Tachikawa!!".

"Heard that?" Cosette almost smiled to Mimi, assuming a new battle ready stance. "We took the nuts down. We might even make a good team if you weren't so annoying. But anyway, Tachikawa, now it's time... for us to have our last dance".

******************

The Rooftop of the MUGEN Hotel:

"Okay, girls..." Ranma said warily, "What do you want to talk about?".

"Oh, Airen!" Shampoo giggled cutely, actually managing to take him by surprise closing in on him with amazing speed and wrapping her slender arms loosely around his neck. "You no know? What Shampoo do always want with you? It always about our love..." she purred, looking at him with catlike playful intensity. Ranma instictively took a furtive quick glare to where Akane was, and saw her with a small veing bulging on her forehead for a second, although it subsided at the right next moment. Old habits died hard.

Then he had to look again at Shampoo's eyes since she had practically pushed her face into his. "We miss you so much, dear Airen... Our lives nothing without you... Come with us, please..." she begged, and he found himself even more uneasy than he usually was around her, those huge, sweet, mesmerizing eyes fascinating him. "Just for a while...".

"Sh-Shampoo... I..." he stammered.

"Oh, please, Ranchan, don't be cruel..." Ukyo slipped to his side as well, rubbing her head against his right shoulder. "We are dying without you... We need you, and we know you need us t--".

Then she had to shut up, since a sticky line of spiderwebbing had suddenly covered her mouth. Shampoo and Akane instantly shot burning twin glares at Spider-Man.

"You!" the Amazon growled. "Bug-Man!! I tell you you no get in way! Or you DIE!!".

Ignoring her, Peter Parker quickly snatched Ranma with his hands and pulled him back. "Hey, Ranma! Ranma! Wake up!". He looked at the Saotome boy's placid blank expression and slapped him twice, taking him off his trance. "Ranma, remember, they are vamps now! If you look straight at their eyes, they can hypnotize you!".

"Wha--" the martial artist blabbered groggily, "What...? Pete? Shampoo... tried to hypnotize me?".

"You no listen to him, Airen!" the Chinese young woman begged. "He only want to separate us! You must come with us, for--".

Then the arachnid hero's Spider-sense rang buzzing again, and the five of them were surprised when a loud boom resounded all around and the building shook violently, almost making them to fall off their feet. As soon as they recovered stability moments after, Akane looked down off the edge and asked loudly, "Now what was THAT?!".

"Hey, this is no trick of yours, is it?" Spidey asked Shampoo.

"We do nothing of the sort!" the Amazon protested in defense.

"Oh, my dear God...!" Akane gasped out loud, and the sopunds of screamings and commotion coming from below made the others to join her in looking down. Some sort of huge omnibus had crashed and exploded on the gates of the Hotel, and now flames were expanding all around at an amazing speed.

"A... terrorist attack?!" Spider-Man readied his webshooters and swung down, while telling Ranma, "Hey, Ranny, forget about that for now! The people down there needs us!".

**************

Dome-A:

The referee read from the piece of paper Ayeka had given him, for the whole public, "LAADIES AND GENTLEMEN! And here we have the order Team 'Saviors from Space' will be taking in this epic battle! First, Experiment 626, the Hawaiian Wonder, Stitch! After him, the honored Princess Ayeka of the Royal House of Jurai! And finally, the Man of Steel himself, Superman...!! Vash the Stampede, the Humanoid Typhoon from Planet Gunsmoke, will be their Striker!".

The crowd went wild with cheering as Dorado also handed the announcer a list of his own. The referee nodded and read from it as well,

"AAAAND THIS IS THE ORDER TEAM 'FANWARRIORS' WILL BE TAKING! First, young Dorado Kompson, then the lovely young Tiffany Stalwall, and finally, her older brother Jack Stalwall, with Mel Kompson, Dorado's father, acting as their Striker!".

Less claps and cheers were heard now, as Stitch came quickly crawling on all his legs to take his place in front of Dorado. "OK! Now!" he barked, with a feral smile.

"Ditto here!" the Gatorboy smiled confidently. "I'm going to take down this little weird animal, Steve Irwin style!".

The ring around them morphed to assume the form of a luscious, green African rainforest. "Secenario Number 54390-C, The Jungles of Wakanda, Africa, Planet Earth" Washu's recorded voice blared through the speakers.

"So, once again, it's... TIME TO RUMBLE!" the Tenkaichi Budokai announcer yelled through his microphone. "TEAM SAVIORS FROM SPACE! VERSUS! TEAM FANWARRIORS! RRRRROUUUND ONE!!!! FIGHT!!!!!".


Next: Heralds Together!... kinda.

[J Dog]

The Big Fight- Part I: The Gatoryboy and the Creation

"Okay, you furball!" Dorado barked as he got into a battle pose, "I don't care if you came from Outer Space; I'm going to catch you like a rat!"

"Ooh! Fight!" Stitch replied with a grin as Dorado launched forward.

"Enjoy this move: Secret Gatorboy Technique* Giga Punch!" Dorado yelled as he attempted to pound the lab creation. However, Stitch grabs his fist, and swings him around like a rope, for one of his abilities is to pick up objects that are a good size compared to him.

"Oh my! Stitch has got the Gatorboy in his mercy now!" The Budokai announcer said while observing.

"Bye bye!" Stitch barked as he threw Dorado a good distance. Dorado landed on the ground, and tried to perform a somersault to avoid damage, but wound up tripping and falling flat onto the arena's ground, due to the curse charm. Laughs could be heard.

Stupid furball, Klap thought with irritance, I'm going to show them that little guy that size DOES mean everything! He got up and pulled out a jagged-shaped sword. "Hey, do you like swords, Stitchy?" Dorado launched again. "If you do, you'll love this!"

"I can't believe this." Jack moaned. "He's going to get his butt handed to him."

"Not really; I think he's got something going on." Tiffany calmly said.

"Secret Gatorboy Technique: Behemoth Slash!" was echoed as Dorado swung his sword at Project 636. Stitch jumped and grabbed the sword easily.

"Think you're going to throw me for a loop, eh?" Dorado yelled. "Think again!" He let go of the sword and kicked Stitch. "Got you now!"

"Yaah!" Stitch screamed as he fell backwards and rolled. "Stitch hurt! But still fun!" He said with a weird grin, that made Dorado confused. It was then that the lab creation charged and landed on Dorado's leg and bit him.

"YEEAAAOOWWWW!!!!" Dorado cried out as he shook off the creation. "I've had it with this furball! I'm going to take it out with this move!" He pulls out a habanero pepper. "Hot stuff, eh?"

"Huh?" Stitch wondered. "Stitch confused."

"You should be; I'm going to eat this, and you'll see the fireworks."

"Eat! Eat!" Stitch replied. Agreeing to the terms, Dorado ate the habanero and let out an engulfing flame.

"HA HA! BURN, BABY, BURN!" Dorado yelled out. "That was my Technique: Fire Blast! Did you like.... it?" He saw Stitch in the air, coming down on him with a kick. That knocked him flat on the ground. Of course, Dorado then kicked Stitch off and threw another Giga Punch at him. This one would connect, and send Stitch to the other side of the arena, where he hit the ground.

"AAAANNNDD STITCH IS DOWN!" the Announcer spoke out. "Winner is Dorado Kompson!"

"Ayeka," Superman told the Princess, "That being clearly took a beating from his fire breath as well as that kick. No wonder Stitch was able to be beaten: He put out all he got onto that one move. Despite that, he's ready for the taking now. You can beat him easily."

I know what they're thinking, and they're wrong; Dorado thought with his voice sounding like Eddy**, But, damn, my throat burns.
*********

"Okay, you ditz, it's time to prove who's the better." Cosette said to Tachikawa with confidence. Now that there is only one opponent left, Mimi decided that she might as well keep the subterfuge she had used.

"Well, come on then." she nodded. With that, Sara dashed out and rocketed towards Mimi, and kicked her in the stomach. That sent her back a little bit.

"How about that, huh?" Cosette asked with a smirk. "Handle that?"

"I guess so." Mimi said weakly as she got back up. "Guess why I brought my suit to this fight, and that isn't just to absorb impacts."

"This I gotta see." Cosette replied as she tried to punch her in the arm, only to see her get out of the way and kick her with a heavily-padded foot.

"The other reason," Mimi told her, "Is that I KNEW I was going to fight. Besides, taking a punch is bad enough, but taking a punch in which the fist is covered in layers of kevlar and metal, ouch!"

"Lucky move." Cosette bitterely whispered. "But you aren't going to get another fist of foot onto me."

"Well, if I can't hit you, how can I beat you?" Tachikawa said with saracsm. "I understand that I'm going to fight you anyway."

"Then show me your moves?" It was then that Cosette rushed and pounded Mimi into the air with a strong left kick. She landed with a thud.

"Oh no!" Sora cried out. "Mimi!"

"It's all over, brat." Sara said. However, a shock came to her; her target got up.

"What's over?" Mimi replied with several gasps. "I'll tell you what's over; you thinking of me with no respect!"

"Come on; you can't win. Deal with it!" Cosette screamed out. But Mimi didn't deal with it; she connected an armored fist to the face.

"I didn't want to do that, but remember this; The reason you are going to lose is because you don't understand my new move. I've been saving it." With that, she leaped up and came down with the karate chop. That sent Cosette forward a few feet. Because of that, Sara had a hard time getting up.

"For an annoying brat, you got something there." Cosette said, "I really didn't want to say this, but..." She groaned a moment. "Mimi Tachikawa, you... beat me..." Cosette collapsed.

"Aaaannd the Winner is... Mimi Tachikawa!" The referre roared out.

"I... won?" Mimi said, confused. "Really?" She walked over to Cosette. "You know; you actually was a good opponent." Mimi said as she handed out a hand. "I'm glad about that."

"Do you think that after all that, it's even?" Cosette moaned. "To me, you're still a whiner. But at least you're a whiner who can fight."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Mimi replied.

(Over to OM)

*Dorado's Moves are akin to moves from Bobobo-bo Bo-Bobo in which they are annouced in a group
**The perfect voice talent for Kompson is now Tony Sampson, who does the vocals for the so-called "megalomaniac"

[T51R]

~The Hunger…Part 3~



“They seem to have calmed down now, especially for them.” Doctor “Black Jack” Hazama slowly stripped his latex gloves off of aching hands. “Except for young Alphonse over there. I don’t think that his injuries are so much physical as they are psychological. You see, he is showing signs of being both mentally exhausted as well as…”

“What are you telling me doctor?” Celestine had been worried, ever since the fight between his own team and The Player’s; he had not expected for those he had chosen to fight with such intensity so early in the Tournament, let alone act with such sheer savagery. He wondered for a moment; had he made the right choice in the Elrics? In Ifurita? Or even in Chii, who had appeared so innocent when he had offered her a chance to bring her beloved back. When he had found her weeping over the corpse of Hideki Montosuwa after a fatal car crash, badly damaged and on the brink of ceasing to function. Back then, he remembered, the Dimension Tide had only just been unleased. The first inklings of the great fusion had been apparent in Chii’s Tokyo, which had slowly but surely been merged with the not-so-far-flung future city of Saint Lowell. The corporate’s had come, looking for what was probably the first-ever occurrence of the Third-type android Neuro-Technology. And they had found it. In Chii, a Persocom unique among her kind. Hideki was trying, trying to get her to safety. And then, things went sour. Celestine did his best, but yet he could not force the doubts from his mind. Had he chose poorly, he thought again. If Heavy Metal Impact had been prepared to go to such lengths just to win, he shuddered to think what would happen when Hearts of Fire and the Holy Swords took to the field of battle.

He shook it off, just as “Back Jack” Hazama took a hold of his shoulder and prepared to shake him. “I‘m fine Doctor,” Celestine nodded. “Just a little…worried, if I may.”

“All of us are,” Hazama began to clean his hands off in the sink next to them. “As I was saying, I know he‘s still a bit to young for it but Alphonse, he’s showing signs. And for someone that young it isn‘t good.”

“Signs?”

“Post traumatic stress disorder. PTSD. I don’t think it started here either; both of them must have seen more than their fair share of trouble before they came here. If I may, why did you choose them? Did you even know?”

“What are you telling me then?” Celestine began to grow weary of Hazama’s technical aptitude. Just then, he only wanted to the truth; if the Elrics and Ifurita were going to be alright.

“I‘m telling you that it‘s against my professional opinion for them to keep going on in this Tournament. Whatever those boys went through made them grow up too quickly. I‘m not a phycologist but the signs are pretty clear that they shouldn’t be doing this, especially not in the shape they‘re in right now.”

“And Ifurita?”

“Her problems were quite frankly out of my field of expertise,” Hazama replied matter-of-factly. “So I did the best thing I could for her at the time. She is recuperating aboard one of the ships that the news said was orbiting the planet. I still find it hard to believe.”

“And you let them go with her?” Celestine was almost shocked.

“If what that fellow said was true, it would have meant Ifurita‘s death if we decided to wait for the mechanics,” he looked down the hall to where an average-looking black man was holding a curious instrument to one of the patient’s chest. Average-looking, save for the fact that his eyes were obscured by a strange visor that matched the lighter tone of his black-and-deep-tan overalls. “His name is Geordie, if I remember correctly and the woman working with him calls herself Beverly Crusher. She is quite talented as a doctor, although I do feel that she relies far too much on her instruments. They have been here for a while now, and they have bee more than helpful especially with the sudden influx of wounded form the surrounding areas.”

“That is a report best made to Lord Rayden, doctor.” Celestine huffed. “Tell me, have they said anything about Ifurita?”

“They did actually, she should be returning to her team in the next day or two. Apparently they do have quite a bit of experience when it comes to robots like her.”

“That is good then, thank you doctor.” Celestine dismissed himself respectfully but not before a figure in black with long, dark hair stormed into the hallway bellowing his name. As he marched closer, the God made out the lighting bolt in his hair and the almost-trademarked glasses he always wore. “Excuse us doctor,” Celestine nodded towards the exit where the nurses often took their breaks, and the latest arrival on the scene followed him outside. All hell broke loose after that, The Player making his grievances very, very plain.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS BARBARISM!?” he demanded, straight to Celestine’s face. “ARE YOU INSANE MAN, BRINGING THOSE ANIMALS HERE!? By God you are insane! You‘re going to damn us all Celestine, can’t you bloody see it!?”

In the din, neither of them noticed the patients of Ward 32 wheel themselves past the closing door behind The Player.


~To be continued...~

[OverMaster]

-A Meeting of Heralds: Reunion-

Nifelheim:

"Come on, Gorgeous..." the angelic Rei Fifteen cooed as she hovered with her shining wide wings in circles around a nervous Kadachi, slowly cornering him at the other side of the meeting room. "Why so shy? I only want to talk with you... share some innocent laughs... maybe murder a few if you want, but I'll understand if you don't wanna go so far in our relationship yet...".

The other, older Angel sweatdropped, then coughed slightly and straightened himself. "My dear young lady, while I do appretiate your... admiration towards me, I also must say I find your behavior to be highly unproper. Ladies should carry themselves in a far subtler, gentler and less... enthusiastic way around unknown gentlemen".

Rei did a double take, then stared at him, pointing at him with a finger. "Oh my Gawd..." she gasped, "You... you...".

"What?" Kadachi asked arching an eyebrow.

"You are... gay?" Rei exclaimed, making his skin to crawl. She pointed back at where Kansai was, and continued, "You and that guy are... an item, aren't you? That's why you are so bashful with women!".

"HEY!!" Kansai had heard that and stomped his way to Rei. "WATCH YOUR MOUTH, DOLLY! NO F%&$# WAY I'M KADACHI'S BEDMATE, LITTLE TRAMP!!".

Rei cringed back, looking now at him with widened red eyes. "But he is so... prissy when it comes to me... and looks like he doesn't love me anymore...".

"WE BARELY KNOW EACH OTHER, PERIOD!!" Kadachi yelled back, veins bulging on his head. "AND I'M NOT INTO GIRLS BELOW 17!!".

Joker then stomped his way as well following the God-Killer, grabbed his angel by the throat and forcefully pulled her back towards himself. "You're making a scene here!!!" he yelled. "Control your darn hormones, stupid... stupid thing!".

"You should treat her more carefully, Herald" Hild warned from her royal seat, her brow frowning just so slightly. She then turned to Vellinor. "As for you, My Lord, I would be grateful if you didn't mistreat him so much in my presence, either. Disrespecting a Herald can be seen as a disrespect to the Herald's master as well, although I know you must be not very used to this universe's customs since you are an outsider to it".

"Gotcha" the trickster grinned. "Oh, you learn something new every day, don't you?".

Then the black gigantic door opened slowly once more, and Thanos rose from his seat. "Ah. I see my Herald has arrived as well. Enter, Howard. And remember to bow before your master".

Geese Howard grumbled to himself as he walked in, followed by the rest of his troupe, then made a mild-bowing, half-kneeling in front of the towering Eternal. He hated the mere idea of calling someone else Master, much less to kneel before him. Still, he knew Thanos had full control of the situation by now, and he played on a scale too above Howard's usual range. For the moment, he had all the bases covered on him.

Yamazaki whistled in surprise looking all around, then his curious wandered to the others present there. So, those were the cosmics quacks Howard had told him about. A really hot babe, a big brute-looking monster and a hooded grinning apparent loon. Interesting...

And then, the Joker looked at the newly arrived and pointed a finger in Laurence Blood's direction, saying, "Oooh! A bullfighter! Nice! We are going to have a surprise show! Una corrida! Oh, and Howard D. Ducks is here too!".

"The name is Geese Howard!" the South Town crimelord growled furiously, annoyed to find the Gotham wacko there.

"Eh, Geese, Ducks, whatever" Joker shrugged. "All are waterfowl all the same. But hey, Howie, I thought you had been killed... they said Little Red Riding Hood iced you...".

"I got better" was all of Howard's reply in a grunt.

"Well" Hild gestured for her Herald to come, and Joker playfully skipped his way to her, as Thanos and Vellinor did the same with a slower moving Howard and Kansai, respectively, "Gentlemen, as Heralds of the Triumvirate, you are going to have to work together in the future, so it is time for you to get to know each other better. However, this Council first would like to see a good showing of your abilities. Mister Kansai already passed on his test with flying honors, so now it is time for the rest of you...".

Meanwhile, Kadachi had refocused his attention on Femto and his Tiki predicament, with Rei curiously staying behind him, her hands crossed behind her own back.

"Soooooo, Cutey..." she asked. "What's the deal with this fella? And why is he doing such funny noises?".


Next: Team Bad Girls vs. Team Reluctant Warriors, Prelude! Also, a return to the Icy Cold Sphere!

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

The First Shard


Zarabeth, however, was not there to observe Mimi’s victory. Normally, at a time like this, she would either be practicing her moves or polishing her blades to perfection, or else finding some way to study her opponent. Indeed, now that she thought of it, that probably would have been a good idea: she had not yet had a chance to spar against Alita, but if this Panther woman possessed strength and agility anywhere close to what she had seen the cyborg exhibit, then she knew she might be in for a tough battle.

At the moment, however, there were other things that Zarabeth was concerned about – namely this display case full of jewels that she had stumbled upon in the lower levels of the Citadel. She had only come here because she had been looking for a restroom (they were something to get used to, these modern restrooms) and instead found an area being watched over by a pair of Cobblepot’s goons. Naturally, when they had tried to apprehend her, she had knocked them senseless (like she was going to let scum like them lay a hand on her), but her attention had quickly been drawn to the display case they had obviously guarding.

The case was full of jewels and mystical artifacts of all shapes and sizes, ranging from rubies surrounded by ever-present auras of flame, orbs studded with arcane writings, and even what appeared to be a common oil lamp. Zarabeth had encountered enough mages in her time to know that these were magical items – indeed, her own magical senses tingled as she stood close to them. But her attention was soon drawn to the tiny stone shard near the bottom: it was no bigger than the tip of her finger, and yet its green surface swirled with ripples of faint light that were almost hypnotic to look at.

It matched Anzell’s description of the Gem of Evermere perfectly.

“Enjoying the view, Miss Zarabeth?” a voice said. The vampiress whirled around – the Penguin and half a dozen armed henchmen were standing by the entrance, guns leveled at her. “I always knew that women loved jewelry, though I would say assaulting my henchmen just to get a look is a bit extreme.”

Zarabeth snarled, her fingers instinctively moving for her blades – she quickly thought better of it, realizing that she wouldn’t have a chance to draw them before Cobblepot’s goons opened fire. Maybe mere bullets couldn’t kill her instantly, but she would rather not take that chance.

“I’d like to know what you’re doing with so many magical artifacts,” she growled, “especially since I have a good bet that many of them don’t belong to you.”

The Penguin merely smiled and twirled his cane. “Why, whatever makes you say that, Miss Zarabeth?” he said sneeringly. “All of these arcane items are my rightful acquisitions. You see, in the hopeful event that Ragnarok should blow over, I’m quite sure that magical items such as these will sell very well to the right buyers – indeed, my associate and I know of quite a few individuals who would pay a high price for such artifacts.”

“So in other words, you’re smuggling artifacts brought over from other worlds?” Zarabeth hissed.

“Smuggling is such a dirty word,” the Penguin replied with a chuckle. “I run a very legitimate business, after all.”

“Bullsh*t,” another voice said. The Penguin and his goons whirled around – a pair of meaty gray fists lashed out and instantly floored the two nearest henchmen. Before Cobblepot’s goons could open fire, Marv grabbed the two unconscious henchmen and hurled them both aside, sending them slamming into their comrades, before leaping in front of Cobblepot, whipping out Gladys and holding it at his head. The Penguin began to visibly sweat as he looked up fearfully at the grinning brute towering over him, revolver at his head. The henchmen quickly rose back up to their feet and trained their weapons on Marv, and a tense standoff ensued.

“Sorry, Ozzy, but I don’t take kindly to people pointing guns at my teammate,” Marv said. “Now, tell your goons to drop their peashooters, and I promise I won’t give your head a new ventilation hole.”

The Penguin’s lower lip quivered nervously; he quickly turned to his henchmen and nodded. As one, the suited thugs slowly dropped their weapons and backed away, eying Marv warily. Smiling, Marv holstered Gladys and patted Penguin roughly on the back. “See? That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” He glanced over at Zarabeth. “You alright, babe?”

“I’m fine, and for the last time, stop calling me ‘babe,’” Zarabeth grumbled. She then noticed the two-headed battleaxe strapped to Marv’s back. “Nice axe,” she commented.

The Penguin backed away abruptly from Marv, all signs of nervousness melting away as he resumed his more dignified demeanor. “Know that I am only tolerating this behaviour – and letting you live -- because you’ve already been signed into the competition,” he said icily. “Be assured, next time I won’t be so lenient.”

“Aw, I’m shakin’,” Marv chuckled. He expression quickly became serious as he glanced over at Zarabeth. “So what’s the story?”

“He has one of the shards,” the vampiress replied. “And he’s going to sell it to the highest bidder.”

Marv’s expression soured. He looked down at Cobblepot, and for a minute it looked like the Sin City bruiser was about to break the Penguin’s neck. Then, slowly, his wolfish grin returned. “How much for the green thing, Ozzy?”

“That depends on whether or not you’re a man of substance,” Cobblepot replied as he lit a cigar. “Given your background, I highly doubt it.”

“Don’t be too sure,” Marv replied. “I know a certain lady who could easily bring about the necessary cash.”

Zarabeth’s eyes lit up in surprise. “You . .. . you’d get Anzell to conjure money?” she said. “That . . . that’s just dishonest!”

“Hey, we need to get that shard, babe,” Marv huffed. “And I’m sure Anzell would agree that we need to do so by any means necessary!”

“We don’t we just kill this pig and take it then?” the vampiress growled. “A scumbag like him deserves it!”

“Please bear in mind that I have a lot of armed henchmen with itchy trigger fingers at my disposal,” Cobblepot interjected. He turned back to Marv. “And sorry, but in my experience, I’ve learned not to trust beings who can conjure truckloads of money at a whim. If you’re going to buy this little shard – insignificant as it is, seeing as there are more extravagant items in the case -- then I wont have you simply take the easy way out.”

Marv frowned, his knuckles tightening as he did so. “You drive a pretty hard bargain, Ozzy,” he said. “Maybe Zarabeth’s right: maybe we should go for the more violent option.”

“Now, let’s not be too hasty,” the Penguin said with a wry grin. “I’m sure we can still come to an agreement. How’s this for a deal: if one of you wins this tournament, then I will give you this little shard for free. But only, mind you, if one of you wins.”

The big bruiser’s frown deepened. Slowly, he looked over at Zarabeth, whose face remained stern and impassive. Both were thinking the same thing – that this meant it was either all or nothing, even if it meant eventually fighting each other.

“Done,” Zarabeth said abruptly. Then, without a further word, she walked past Marv, Cobblepot and the armed henchmen and, without looking back, stormed out of the room.

Marv slowly backed away from Cobblepot, continuing to glare at him as he did so. “You’d better be a man of your word, Penguin,” he said gruffly. “If not, well . . . I wouldn’t want to be you.”

“Oh, be assured that I meant everything I said,” the Penguin said with a smug grin. “Now, you’d best prepare for your match, Mr. Marv – no doubt Koh-nan will be out for blood.”

Marv gave Cobblepot one last glare before he turned around. “So will I,” he muttered as he left the room.

[OverMaster]

-A Meeting of Heralds, Second Interlude: War and Peace-

The Icy Cold Sphere outside Tokyo:

"Man, this sucks, big-time" the dark haired, tomboyish Kaoru Matsubara groaned while looking into the direction of MUGEN in the distance, trying to see at least some speck of it, forcing her eyes while narrowing them, her mallet hung over her right shoulder. "I'd rather like to be there fighting than to be here working as Jerkira's new watchdog...".

"Oh, come on..." Miyako/Bubbles said from where she was sitting writting a letter to her Grandmother. "Akira-san is not so bad when you get to know him. You should try to talk with him. He is... so sad about all what has happened! You really can feel it whenever he speaks!".

"Feh!" the Japanese version of Buttercup humphed loudly. "Leopards don't change their spots. He's acting that way while he's down and hurt, trust me. When he gets better, we'll see if he continues being so grateful to you...".

"Anyway..." the third Z-PPG, the red haired Momoko, piped in, looking up from her portable TV and the Stitch vs. Dorado fight, "don't you wonder what got him so beaten down in the first place? He already was very weakened when we got here. If he had been at full power, he would have squashed us down like flies".

"Must be the aftereffects of his fight with the guys from that spaceship orbiting over us..." Kaoru muttered looking up at the sky; the three of them were sitting at the gigantic Sphere's entrance, feeling the cold breeze on their faces. "The Newmana, wasn't that its name?".

"Nirvana" Bubbles corrected her.

"Whatever".

"In any case, where are Mr. Steel and his teammates now?" Blossom asked.

"They said they were going to patrol the surrounding area" Bubbles answered. "The people who has arrived is scared and hungry, and they don't have anywhere else to go to, bur Mr. Queen says it's dangerous to keep them around here, especially since Team Beastmaster is supposed to be coming".

"Heh!" Kaoru balled up his left fist and swung it against the open palm of her right hand. "Yeah, I can't wait to fight those Beastmaster guys! Do you remember that fight they had broadcasted throught TV? Those InuYasha and Juggernaut, and the robot girl, can give us much more of a challenge than losers like Mojo and Princess!".

"You say that as if it is a good thing..." Miyako sighed deeply. "Sometimes you're so weird...".

************************

Team Bad Girls vs. Team Reluctant Heroes, Prelude:

Forever moved by hate, and the deepest desire to destroy...

A true Demon Goddess is born for the destruction, Ifurita. You are a shame to your condition if you can't see that. Just thinking of you in the same category than me, thus, is sickening... and that is why I must prove I am above you. And then, crush you to the eternal darkness, sending you to oblivion. Returning the favor.

And then, the world will burn, in the most beautiful funeral pyre in my honor...



"Pssssst, Red..." Harley Quinn whispered to her long-friend and reserve member of her team Poison Ivy, while she, Android 18 and Livewire marched behind Khalia heading to the Arena. "What could be having Khaly so lost in thoughts?".

"Beats me" the redheaded mistress of vegetal life shrugged. "It's not like I ever want to know exactly what goes through that head of hers".

They entered the C-Dome to find Naruto Uzumaki, Son Goku, Kenshin Himura and the Thing already waiting there for them next to special young referee Mandy, who seemed really tiny standing next to Ben Grimm's massive orange frame.

The secondary stadium fell into a blunt silence as Khalia marched to Mandy and handed her the card with her team's lineup, while shooting Goku an evil galre and little smirk. The Saiyan just smiled a bit goofily in reply, but then his expression seemed to suddenly turn far more serious and introspective.

"Let's see..." Mandy eyed the card, and read, "Okay, so this will be Team Bad Girls' lineup for this match!" she spoke through her mike. "First Fighter, Harley Quinn! Second Fighter, Android Eighteen! Third and Final Challenger, Khalia of El-Hazard! With Livewire from Metropolis, USA, acting as their striker!".

Then she also received another card from Kenshin's hands. "And this is the order Team 'Reluctant Heroes' will take--".

Meanwhile, Harley nervously looked all around at the public, searching for her dear Mister J with her gaze. And Khalia just continued smirking in a darkly disturbing fashion.

This is just a momentary stumbling block on my road to your doom, Ifurita. Just wait for it. You will meet True Hell here... and that will be only my start with you...


Next: Ayeka vs. Dorado Kompson!

[OverMaster]

-Ayeka Jurai vs. Dorado Kompson: The Princess and the Pooper-

Dome-A:

"TEEEEEAM 'SAVIORS' FROM SPACE! VEEEERRRRSUSSSSS! TEAAAAAAAAAM 'FANWARRIORSSSS! ROUND! TWO! FIGHT!!".

"Aiiieeeeeaaahhhh!!!" Dorado swung forward with his sword drawn out as soon as the go signal was given, and lashed wildly only to have his blade clashing against an invisible barrier and bouncing back, the momentum too big and sending him on his back against a nearby jungle tree. "YEOWCH! What the heck was that?!".

Ayeka stood there with her hands extended to her front, projecting a huge shield bubble all around herself, with tiny Jurai logs floating around it. The Gatorboy stared amazed; never before he had seen such a thing.

"What is that thing with the logs?" he curiously asked, pointing at them with a scaly finger.

"Our royal family derivates its power from our sacred Juraian trees" she explained. "Through them, we channel the divine power that protects us... just like this..." She then made other two little logs to appear floating on both sides of Dorado's head.

"Hnnnnh... And what is this supposed to do?" he grunted, annoyed. He got his answer one second later when the logs shocked him to a burnt crisp.

The crowd cheered, as on the bunkers of Team Saviors from Space, Jumba attended to a bruised Stitch. "Ah, the Jurai Power" he sighed to himself. "How do I wish I could study it and harness it for my personal use. Just imagine it, Pleakley!" he said to the one-eyed crossdressing alien next to him, in a nurse outfit also aiding with Stitch's wounds. "An Experiment with Juraian capacities! There would be no greater living weapon in the universe than that one!".

"... I guess so..." Pleakley gave the renegade scientist an odd look. "If the Juraians don't skin you alive first for it...".

"Hey, an evil mad scientist can dream, can't we?".

Dorado stumbled back to his feet groggily, coughing up thick clouds of black smoke. "OK... OK, lady, you asked for it!" he growled. "I was going to be nice with you, but I see I can't allow myself that! DAD!" he called out. "Combo Attack, now!!".

"Roger, Klap!!" Mel the striker rushed in, on the ring, and father and son ran to Ayeka charging themselves with power the way Nabeshin had taught them to. "KOMPSON MEGACOMBO ATTACK!" They both yelled as their ubercharged fists hit the barrier, pushing it back. Ayeka gritted her teeth together, then had to use her Jurai Power to float out of their reach, still keeping her shield up.

"Crap, it wasn't enough!" Dorado cursed while tightening a fist and looking up.

The Princess put a delicate hand over her mouth and laughed... rather scarily. "Ohhh ho ho ho! I must admit you have been impressive so far! Not many could claim they continued fighting after receiving a shock from my smaller guardians! But ultimately, your might is no match for Jurai's!". She then redirected the energy around herself and used it to blast down Dorado and Mel, making the ground below her to shatter and explode, bits of grass, wood and leaves flying everywhere.

Ayeka then stood there, suspended in the air, panting with the effort needed, but smiling smugly as she looked down. "I did it.. Father... Lord Tenchi...".

But then, from the smoke below Dorado jumped up, sword brandished towards her, wounds and burnt marks all over him, but still with a feral glint in his eyes.

"BEHEMOTH SLASH!".

"AHHH!" She barely could move it out of its way in time, and, scared, her conservative clothes immediately changed to a skintight dark outfit, pointy marks appearing over her cheeks, while a blueish light shone enveloping her. Then her eyes glowed eerily, and she balled up a sparkling fist and brought it down into Dorado's jaw, sending him flying with that solid punch out of the arena and straight into an electronic scorecard of the stadium. "HOW DO YOU DARE?!".

".... Owwwwieeee..." Dorado gurgled as he slumped down to the floor, then fell unconscious. The public roared out in acclaim, and Ayeka softly floated down back to the ring, smiling and waving gently for everyone.

"Round Two goes as a victory for Team 'Saviors from Space'!!" the referee announced. "Now it is turn for Miss Tiffany Stalwall to make her entrance!!".

On the seats of Team Girl Power, Sakura Kinomoto looked at Ryoko Hakubi with curiosity. "Ryoko-san... what was that happening to your friend?".

"Hm" the space pirate smirked, folding her arms in front of her bust. "The Princess just merely went from Deffensive mode to Offensive mode. You surely noticed she was playing very much at the deffensive at first, but now, her attack patterns will change a lot".

"Seriously?" Kero-chan, perched on her master's left shoulder, looked on with interest. "Oh wow! I can't wait to see the next part...!".

Tiffany sighed as she walked up into the Arena. "As they say here in Japan..." she muttered, "... Dorado no baka...".


Next: The Big Fat Herald Talent Contest!

[T51R]

~The Hunger…Part 4, The Rampage~



-Convenience store outside the MUGEN grounds, a little later-


They moved in silence, except for the creak of greaseless bearings coming from the wheelchair. Neither of them had spoken the entire way there; neither was sure that the other was not plotting against them. Both of them had good enough reason; Lina had come to the tournament hearing much about the famed Full Metal Alchemist. And what she had heard was not what she had seen, nor felt. And the experience had left its mark, literally. She looked down at her leg, still seeping fluids even though the bleeding had stopped thanks to Black Jack Hazama’s skills as a surgeon.

She felt sick to her stomach as they crept towards the store, especially since Edward was now slung across her right shoulder propelling them slowly forwards with the tips of his toes. She wondered if it had been a good idea, escaping from the Medical Centre; both their sponsors were present However, neither of them felt like talking about the battle between their teams; Lina, because of her pride and Edward…because of the shame, shame of the fear he felt when he first entered the ring to face the Dragon-Spooker.

He knew deep inside that it wasn’t Lina he was afraid of; in their sort time at the Lodge they had heard a lot about each other and Ed knew her reputation well. It was something else, and admitting it he thought, would be akin to admitting all the pain and suffering both Al and himself had endured over the course of their lives had been for nothing; he was afraid that everything they believed in would in the end be proven false. Neither of them had spoken since they had left the Centre; in truth, they had nothing to say save to save themselves from the questions that their more matured team-mates would surely soon be asking. If they weren’t already asking Alphonse, who had obviously been returned to the Fighter’s Lodge.

Lina sat quietly where she was, looking down at her cut leg while feeling over the bruises on her face. Her eyes were still swollen from trying to see through a film of her own blood. “What about that tin can of yours,” Lina muttered, looking in the opposite direction to Ed as he nudged them ever-closer to the store; it was a good fifty feet away still but it may as well have been a thousand miles. She wondered if it had been a good idea, leaving the medical centre. It was driving her crazy, the solitude. The silence. The incessant checks and prodding’s. And of course, Jack Hazama’s inspections that made her feel like a speck of bacteria under a microscope, and she didn’t like that one bit. “You don’t have to worry, because I‘m never going to forgive your friends for what you did to Jade, and Coop. I‘m never going to forgive you either, for what you did to me. So if you want, we can talk. Just don’t expect me to be too warm about anything.” The Alchemist didn’t reply, Ed just kept looking off to the side. There was nothing he could say to explain himself, or his teams actions. And he knew it. “Fine, be that way then. Asshole.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” he muttered under his breath.

Moments passed, moments that seemed to stretch into eternity. Finally, they rolled up the wheelchair access ramp and made their way to the door. Just as they were about to pass through it however, a thin young man brushed past their chair just hard enough to knock them off-course and into the door sill.

“Sorry bout that,” he dragged them back to the middle of the lane, and then noticed Ed trying to get them moving again. “Hey, take it easy.” He nudged Ed aside and took the handles of the chair himself. “Because you look like…hey! Wait a minute! You‘re that bastard Full Metal Alchemist, aren‘t you?” He looked around the tiny redhead sitting in the chair he was pushing. “HEY! Kaname! Ryuho!” he called, and then almost growled. “You‘re never gonna guess who I just found.”

“Not now, Kazuma. We still need supplies.” A cold voice replied from the other side of the store.

It was then that a young woman with brow hair, and an apron stained with blood and bodily fluids hastily made her way out of the isle next to them. “Kaza-kun, please don‘t get us in trouble, there are people out there still suffering and if we don’t get to them quickly then…” She recognised the pair, and dropped the basket full of bandages and antiseptic she was holding. “You…” she locked eyes with Edward. Just before his memories became hers, thanks to her Alter powers. “So that’s why…”

“Kaname,” the lanky young man stared Edward down. “You don‘t have to feel sorry for this piece of shit and the condition he‘s in. And I‘ll bet you anything that he brought her here against her will also!”

The sound of boxes being placed on the counter startled them and another young man with dark green hair, his clothes slightly torn at the shoulders fished out his wallet and laid several bills down in front of the shopkeeper. “Kazuma. We don‘t have time for this. Everything outside of here‘s going to Hell in a hand basket, we were lucky the last time. There were only twenty of those Meganula, and if what everyone‘s saying is true then very soon were gonna have even more than those on our plate. You sure you wanna waste your power on that bastard when we can be doing something more meaningful? You and I both know…that you don‘t have much left.”

“Kaza-kun, Ryuho, I‘m going on ahead!” Kaname excused herself, and carried the massive stack of meds and supplies out the door, turning right at the tiny fork in the pavement outside.

“Well neither do you Ryuho, but that doesn’t mean that I‘m giving up. If this is the end of days then I’m gonna do all that I can. Don‘t tell me you‘re gonna quit just because.”

Edward finally brought himself to look at the thin man’s face; his right eye was closed, but other than that he looked normal. His right arm however, that wasn’t covered by his jacket has two lines running down it all the way to his wrist. They seemed to go on, under his glove. “Waitaminute,” he muttered, “I don’t even know you guys! Who the hell are you to be calling me a bastard!? If you think that you could have done any better then us then why don’t you fight the next round instead of me and my brother!? HUH!? WHY DON‘T YOU!?”

“Because we already have a job to do here.” Ryuho took the change from the cashier and left a couple of notes behind. “For them, see to it that they get the food that they need,” he instructed the man behind the desk. “If you have the courage to see what’s going on away from these grounds, and to see what you’re fighting for with your own eyes, then meet us behind this building. Kazuma. We should go.”

“Yeah yeah, whatever. Hey,” he turned to Ed. “If you really wanna see how good you guys got it here, then come outside. But don’t eat anything before you do.” With that, he turned and left the store.

Without saying a word, Ed wheeled Lina over to the fresh food section where the picked out some grapes for herself, followed by bread, butter and a leg of smoked honey-baked ham. Ed however was having trouble; he could still hardly move his arm.

“What do you want?” Lina muttered.

“Just…just some bread, thanks.” He couldn’t bring himself to look at her, but nonetheless he went where she looked. Over to the alcohol they went, where she put several bottles of wine in her lap. Minutes later, they found themselves outside the store again. At the fork in the road. Neither spoke; Lina didn’t want to say anything that she didn’t have to. And Edward was still just too ashamed to speak.

“Ex…excuse me…” They turned to the right, and found Kaname looking at them with her hands red and sticky, a needle ad some surgical thread in one, a patch of gauze in the other. “Please…help us…” Ed looked down at the wheelchairs seat, and found Lina looking back at him. He understood immediately, and began nudging the wheelchair towards the young woman who ducked back around the corner. As they passed the white wall and arrived out back near where the bathrooms were, they began to hear the sound of people. People in pain. As they rounded the corner, Edward stopped the wheelchair. The sight before them was just too much to bear.

“Dear…God…” Edward whispered as his breath left him.

“What…happened here…” Lina dropped the loaf of bread, the bottles of wine slipping sliding off her lap and onto the soft grass wet with dew.

[J Dog]

"Excel can't believe this..." Excel Excel mumbled weakly, "Cosette-chan has been beaten by the brat." As she said that, Sara got up, feeling distraught and surprised.

"I was beaten by... Mimi Tachikawa!" Cosette muttered under her breath. "I can't believe this."

"Hey, relax. You did scare me a bit, and I thought I'd lose to you." Mimi told her from behind.

"I don't need your sympathy, ditz." Cosette barked. "But, I lost, so I'll have to tell you this." She moaned a bit, then turned to her rival. "Mimi... you did good."

"From you, this was better than I thought." Tachikawa agreed. "Well, I figure we'll still be rivals."

"Look, you beat me, and I hate that." Cosette grumbled. "And yet, I now respect you... a bit. Whoever trained you must've channeled something into you."

Mimi laughed a bit as she dismantled her slightly-scarred armor off of her (she was wearing street clothes underneath) "Remember the kid with me. Jack Stalwall trained me, and he showed me a few pointers." She turned to her friends. "Tai, did Jack have to leave?"

"Yes, I'm afraid. But he had to be with his team." Kamiya said to her. "Speaking of which, according to Izzy, has managed to beat one opponent."

"Oh, I got something!" Izzy said, a little surprised, while looking on his laptop, which he was using to monitor fights going on. "It says that Dorado Kompson has been defeated by Ayeka Jurai." A sweatdrop fell on his face, "By being thrown into a scoreborad."

"I don't know how Jack can handle that guy." Mimi muttered, a little perplexed. "As soon as I get my prizes, I'm heading off to the Dome and watching Jack take on Superman."

"How do you know that he'll take on the Man of Steel?" Joe asked. "Are you sure they'll make it that far?"

"Trust me; he'll fight him." A light beamed from her eyes and she cleanched her left fist. "And the Hero from Houston will beat him!"

"I might as well go too, Mimi-chan." Cosette chuckled a bit with a menacing grin. "I can't wait to see if he can take down Superman."

"He will, and why do you want to go with me?" Tachikawa asked. She was a bit confused and frightened by this.

"Well, I want to see his face when he hears how you won this fight and all." Anger was fueled into her eyes. "So, get everything you need, and go meet him!"

"Alright, alright." Mimi replied. "Sheesh, take a chill-pill for once." With that, she went to get the trophy and $900.

********

"Come on, Rivermoron!" RyuForrester roared with laughter. "I'm Not FALLING FOR THAT TRICK!!!"

"I'm not really aiming for you." Orion snapped back, as he flew above Forrester and went to a bunch of palm trees. He used the boots to knock them to the ground.

"Wrath of the Orion Consteallation: Devestation!" he screamed as he knocked the downed trees and launched them at Forrester's dragon body. The beast avoided a few, but got on landed on the crotch, and writhed in pain.

"Got you!" Orion smiled as he pressed one more button on the boots, and revealed a flamethrower. "It's all over, Doctor Clayton Forrester!" With that, he rocketed into the air and jetted towards the stunned foe. As soon as he got close, he fired a gigantic fireball that scorched Forrester.

"AAAAAAHHH!!!! WHHYYYY ME??!!!!!" Clayton screamed as he returned to normal and collapsed to the ground. He stared at the grinning Orion, who cocked his head at an angle.

"You're Pathetic, you're creations are pitiful, and everyone you know are losers. Face it; I won."

A pale expression grew on Clayton. Orion was right; he lost.

Next: Tiffany Breaks Ayeka's Defenses!

[J Dog]

Guys, can we hold off the Saviours/Fanfiction fight until Tuesday? I won't be back until then, that's why.

I plan on using this time to prepare ideas for sprites in a Mugen game.

[OverMaster]

-The Big Fat Herald Talent Contest-

"So, what are we intended to do now?" The Joker raised a green eyebrow quizzically, as he looked towards Hild again, seeing how she stood up from her seat.

"As I said, you are going to show your worth to this honored Triumvirate" she calmly explained. "My associates merely wish to witness some proof of your abilities. That is all".

"A pop test?" Joker smirked maliciously. Then he stretched, and winked an eye. "Well, I haven't been studying too much lately, but I'm a smart boy. I'll give it a go!".

"That is good to hear" Thanos also rose from his own seat, the Infinity Gems beginning to glow eerily on his massive gauntlet again, prompting even Vellinor and Hild to cautiously back away. "Because I am still not convinced you are more than the gnat you seem to bee, buffoon. If you truly deserve that life you have sickeningly been gripping to for so long, then let your abilities to speak for it. If not, know the peace of Death's soft embrace at last".

He raised his gloved hand high, and from it began to emit an initially faint glow, which soon turned into a gigantic vortex spinning above his head, sucking huge chunks of the ground, then shooting them into Joker's direction. With a yelp of surprise, the supercharged Clown Prince barely had time to react by throwing a mental shield in front of himself, and then had to dodge when Thanos simply appeared behind him (how could something so huge move so fast?, he wondered), and swung a collosall fireball from the Gem of Power that almost hit him.

"Dad!" Rei XV shrieked then, noticing the bind he was in, and flew over his head to deploy her wings and add them as additional defenses to Joker's shields. "Hold on there, cavalry's already here...!".

"A veritable odd couple" the Titan merely frowned deeper, pressing the intensity of his assault on the duo, the Gauntlet glowing brighter as it continued shooting unlimited amounts of energy, bathing the whole room in light, scaring Mara to no end, making Bell to gasp, and Kansai's eyes to burn on his face, which made his head to burst out in flames, and he fell down dead again. "As well in life as in death, I wonder? Answer me, 'Joker' of Earth: are you afraid of Death? Because that fear is one a Herald must never have!".

"I'm only... afraid of... nnhhh..." Joker gritted his teeth, trying to push his shields back against Thanos' onslaught, "... mutant caterpillars riding monocycles, Thanny-boy... Nnnnghhh!!... a sad trauma of my childhood, I must... admit...".

"A laughing fool to the end?" Thanos snarled coldly, but then lowered his hand, and the energy coming out of it died oput slowly. "Be grateful your mistress has proved to be enough of a good ally so far. Otherwise, I might not humor your lowly blabberings enough for your wellbeing". He then turned to Hild as Joker panted, feeling his head in fire from the efforts he had just made to keep the Infinity power at bay. "Lady Hild, I feel satisfied by now. He has a minimum of power needed to start with... But I truly hope your promise of him growing stronger to match the One Above All's daughter proves itself true in the future".

"Oh, it will, my dear friend" Hild smiled casually, and then spoke to Joker again. "Herald? Lord Vellinor has tested you in the past, and knows you well enough. Now Lord Thanos has tested you to his satisfaction. However, before you can rest, why do not you show us something else to cement your position? Show us something... surprising, imaginative. I don't know..." rolled her eyes back thinking of something, and then concluded, "Just be yourself".

The clown let a final wheezing out, drew in a deep breath, and nodded, regaining a wicked grin. "Oh, you want a show, don't you? Well, I just thought of something...".

"Good. So show us that Something" Vellinor encouraged him with some tingling poison in his mocking voice. "Unless you are too spent out for it...".

"Hah, you wish" the criminal comedian snorted with despise. He walked to the nearest huge window, opened it wide with a hand gesture, and looked up to the blood red sky. "Ah" he mused. "I see that Dimensional Tide thingy has affected even you down here!".

"Actually, the skies are always like that here in Nifelheim" Hild pointed out.

"Oh" the Joker blinked. "Whatever. In any case, not anymore...". He raised both gloved hands high and concentrated. He was not too sure that was going to work, but he still wanted to give it a try. He remembered what Hild told him, of how his powers worked according to his will. He was a reality alterer. He had to try. He had to...

"Nnnggghhh..." he mumbled, squeezing his eyes shut close, and a vein bulged out on his forehead while he focused his power into the sky, feeling his mind to mingle with part of the fabric of reality, his will flowing through it, buzzing in his head, almost about to explode...

And then the whole sky changed, inking itself with a deep green hue all over Nifelheim, surprising and shocking demons everywhere. The red receded giving its place to a deep emerald tone all around the land of Hell, and Thanos, Vellinor and Hild watched on with interest, and Rei clapped her hands together.

"Bravo! Bravo! Encore!" she said as Joker finally let it go with a gasp, lowering his hands while the sky returned to its usual crimson red. "Gimme a J! Gimme an O! Gimme a K--".

Her host smiled tired, but triumphant. "That's... that's right! Who da man now, huh? Who da man?".

"Hhhhhmmmmmm" the now revived Kansai rubbed his chinpiece thoughtfully, looking up through the window. "Not bad for someone who isn't even a planetary yet. However, your success shouldn't go up to your head yet, chum". He raised an armored hand of his own a bit, and pulsed on the fabric of reality in front of himself, pressing a secret code known only to a NODE. "It's a mere superficial natural pigmentation alteration, not even a permanent one. Watch and learn".

All the others looked up with curiosity as the God-Killer's hand actions suddenly turned the whole red skies a dark deep purple, then all white, then as black as charcoal, and finally it went to adopt a bizarre color pattern reminiscent of that of a Scottish kilt. Joker and Rei's jaws hit the floor as Kansai casually let it go, the sky returning to its habitual red tonality in a mere few seconds after that. He didn't even look fazed at all.

"See?" the God-Killer looked down at him condescendently. "You still ain't da man, Dawg. You still have a lot of terrain to cover, Skippy".

"... Prima donna..." Joker finally muttered with a soft humbled humph.

"Hey, don't take it too bad, Laughs" the massive NODE crouched down a bit in front of him to look straight at his eyes. "I'll give you a consolation prize for your effort". He looked through the human's genetic code and his life databanks as he touched him on the forehead with three fingers, reading his vital info with his contact. "Hum, yeah, just like I suspected. You are a singularity, and your power level is rising. The bad thing is, it's going too damn slow. But I think I can help with that".

He pressed a couple of points on the Joker's head, and retired his hand from it, satisfied. "Well, that's it. You feeling better now, right?".

"Uhhh... actually, yes..." a confused Joker looked up at him. "I don't have a headache anymore...".

"Great. Just wait a couple of days and you'll see the results" Kansai then turned to the Triumvirate. "I certify he has a good level for now. He'll get better, although he must remember power is not all. He needs to adquire more skill as well if he wants to make it far as a Herald".

"... Oh, oh, yes..." Hild blinked slightly, a bit impressed. "We will keep that in mind". She retook her usual confident smile and looked towards Geese. "Well now, Mr. Howard, I believe it is your turn to prove your worth now".

"I'm more than ready" the ganglord and martial artist smiled arrogantly, crossing his arms. "What do you have in mind?".

"A trial by combat" Hild replied. "Now, you are a lower level kind of Herald, if I remember it corectly, so we will not put a test against one of us like we did with my own Herald. Instead, if Lord Thanos makes no objection...".

Suddenly, nine horned demons with goat legs and hooves appeared out of nowhere around Geese, surrounding him with axes and spears.

"... we will start with nine of the best Sargeants from my legions" Hild continued evenly. "Beat them by yourself, and we could pass on to the next stage of your test".


Next: Team Expendables vs. Team Red and Blue, Prelude... if Team Expendables shows up, that is! :)

[Saint_007]

With my job (which is really eating up my time) and me arriving home late and dog-tired , I haven't been posting much. I hope to rectify this situation soon enough...

[OverMaster]

OOC: Ah. Sorry to hear about that.

IC:

-Team Blue and Red vs. Team Expendables, Prelude-

B-Dome:

Mitsurugi Hanagata straightened his bowtie and looked at his wristwatch again. "I wonder what is keeping them..." he muttered.

"Oh, come on!" Wanda the fairy yelled at him from the Judges' seats. "It's been only seven minutes!".

"But I want to go looking for Otaru-kun now...!" the thin referee wailed with rivers of tears running down his face. "It's not fair...!!".

At the other extreme of the Arena, Sonic the Hedgehog was even more impatient, a blue streak swirling nervously around his teammates, causing small sonic booms around himself as he passed by again and again, much to Zero's annoyance.

"Can you stop doing that?!" the red Maverick hunter finally asked, with all his patience over. "You're being so obnoxious it hurts!".

"But I don't like to wait!" Sonic screeched to a halt. "Blast, I hate slow people who makes others to wait for no reason! Who do those guys think they are?". He then zoomed outside and returned seconds later with a chilidog, which he started munching on quickly. "Or were they scared and ran away?".

"I don't think that's the case" MegaMan X pointed out. "Haven't you heard about our rivals? There is a good reason why they call them Team Expendables. They keep on dying all the time! The team has had to be replaced forty-five times already since MUGEN started, and they haven't even fought yet!".

"That could pose a problem" Knuckles huffed. "What if they die in a fight with us? Would that be pinned down on us?".

"As long as we play it smart, and their deaths are not directly caused by us, I'd say we are safe" X opined.

"So, they are death magnets?" Sonic asked with incredulity. "Then winning should be a piece of cake. Hey, maybe they'll even slip when entering the ring, break their necks and we will win by default... although that would stink".

"Yeah, there's nothing worse than a victory won without honor" the echidna nodded crossing his arms.

"Let's not dwell in trust yet, though" Zero narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "Maybe there is more than meets the eye here... I suspect some kind of foul play might be involved in this team's sponsors, because otherwise, it wouldn't make any sense to send them in the first place...".


Next: A Meeting of Heralds, Finale- Hail to the Kings (and Queen)!

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

"A trial by combat" Hild replied. "Now, you are a lower level kind of Herald, if I remember it corectly, so we will not put a test against one of us like we did with my own Herald. Instead, if Lord Thanos makes no objection...".

Suddenly, nine horned demons with goat legs and hooves appeared out of nowhere around Geese, surrounding him with axes and spears.

"... we will start with nine of the best Sargeants from my legions" Hild continued evenly. "Beat them by yourself, and we could pass on to the next stage of your test".


Vellinor smiled as he saw the demons surround Geese, and promptly conjured a bag of popcorn. This was going to be fun . . . .

"Hey Kansai," he said to his nearby Herald. "What exactly did you do to Jokey Boy, anyway?"

Kansai's eyes shifted left and right for a minute, before he leaned closer and whispered something into Vellinor's ear. The Trickster God's eyes lit up in surprise -- he glanced briefly at the Joker, then back at Kansai.

"You sure that's a good idea?" he asked. "I mean, come on, the guy hasn't even fully mastered basic conjuration and angel control yet: do you honestly think he's ready for something like this?"

"He's a singularity," Kansai replied calmly. "As such, I'm sure it will come naturally to him."

Vellinor shrugged. "Meh, I guess it's not that big a deal," he said. "Chuckles will need it sooner if he's going to have a tea party with Belldandy. Next time, however, please do NOT do that without my say so. And the same goes if he tries to sweet-talk you into training him."

"As you wish, my lord," Kansai said with a slight bow. "Um . . .. by the way . . .given that the Joker seems to really hate you . . . . you aren't concerned about him potentially coming after you, are you?"

"What, Laughing Boy? Oh no!" Vellinor chuckled. "Heck, it's just plain hilarious whenever he tries to kill me! Don't worry, Kansai, I can handle Joker myself if necessary. Besides -- " his eyes suddenly took on a sinister glint -- "singularities like him are ever so fun to mess around with, as Hild can attest to."

The sound of a throat clearing itself caused Vellinor to turn around and see Hild glaring at him disapprovingly. Sheepishly, the Trickster looked up at the sky of Nifelheim, which now had a giant smiley face drawn onto it.

"Uhhh . . . . .it was him," Vellinor said, pointing at Kansai.


*********

"Black Mage, what the hell are you doing?" B-ko shrieked.

"Buying an apple, of course!" Black Mage replied as he chomped down on his recently purchased apple. "Don't get your bra-strap in a twist, D-Cups."

"THEN WHY THE HELL IS THE FRUIT STAND OWNER LYING DEAD IN A POOL OF HIS OWN BLOOD?" B-ko shrieked, pointing at the mutilated body of the fruit stand owner lying at the back of the blood-soaked stand.

Black Mage glanced back at the poor unfortunate whom he had all too recently unleashed stabbity death upon. "Please, speak a little louder and bring the entire Angel Division running," the mage scoffed. "Besides which, the bastard had it coming for charging me frikkin' five dollars for a single apple."

Sesshomaru looked unfazed, as usual, but he nonetheless shook his head. "That is the third random person in a row you've murdered today," he said. "Unless you stop, you may very well be caught and get us disqualified."

"Hey, can I help it if this place is populated by two-bit idiots who are practically screaming to be murdered?" Black Mage shot back. He glanced over at a crowd full of the latest refugees. "Take those losers, for instance: homeless, penniless, and taking up even more of what precious little space the tournament grounds have to offer. If the people running this whole shebang were smarter, they'd simply blow them to bits and be done with it."

"Y . . you murderous sicko!" B-ko stammered.

Silent Bob, of course, said nothing, though he discreetly used his Green Lantern Ring to make the body of the shopkeeper and the bloodstains disappear.

"No, sickos are people who do things simply because they get off on it," Black Mage countered. "I kill people simply because they are ignorant, annoying assholes whose lives are utterly without use or purpose."

"True as that may be, we cannot allow you to kill any more people," Sesshomaru replied. "This is the final straw: we are cutting your share of the money Lord Vellinor gave us."

"HEY!" Black Mage protested as Silent Bob used his GL ring to extricate the change from his pockets. "This isn't fair! Do you have any idea who youre messing with? I used to be the Lord of Hell, you know!"

"Oh really," Sesshomaru muttered.

"Yeah! Hell, if I was STILL the head Hell Guy instead of that stupid Lich King, you'd be showing me a little more res-- "

The Mage's tirade was cut short when Sesshomaru pulled out a vial of water and doused him with it, causing him to turn into Black Bunny. The rabbit squirmed and fidgeted as the Youkai picked him up and stuffed him into a small bag. "You're staying there until we get back to our quarters," he said tonelessly.

Laugh it up, fleabag, the rabbit thought. But if, through some strange stroke of luck or weird plot device, I EVER regain my rightful position as Lord of Hell, then I swear by all that's unholy, you'll regre --

"And stop plotting vengeance against me," Sesshomaru said as he and the rest of the Other Team headed back to their quarters.

Aw rats.


Next: The second shard is found, and a young warrior meets his darker half!

[T51R]

Things are heating up at Uni, next post tomorrow evening. Sorry bout that,:o gentlemen.

[OverMaster]

-A Meeting of Heralds, Finale: Dark Forebodings-

"REPPUKEN!!" Geese Howard opened a hand's palm, and sent a ground-slicing energy projectile of Chi towards the two nearest demons, pulverizing them instantly, and filling the whole room with light. Again, it made Kansai's eyes to burn setting his head into flames from the inside, and he fell down limply to the ground, lifeless once more.

Howard himself was impressed with the amount of power that had just came out of him. It was highly beyond anything he had ever done before. He felt the might, unmatched power, running through him, pulsing through his veins, filling him to a whole new sensation of wellbeing.

He grinned in a crooked way as he thrusted an elbow back, hitting a demon who was jumping on him from behind, and running him through with it. The dark being continued alive, though, and clawed at the revived human, only to have him blow his head off with a punch.

"SO GORE!!" Rei XV chirped with mad enthusiasm.

"Eh, he's just going with his usual moves, but with a lot more power" Joker observed, unimpressed, as they watched Howard then jump up high and bombard his opponents with several Shippuken aerial fireballs each one the size of a small room. "The guy lacks any imagination, any vision, at all".

"Boss..." Billy Kane muttered under his breath, impressed. Even Ryuji Yamazaki watched in with a respectful silence unusual in him.

The other demons jumped on Geese all at once then, lunging their axes down on him, but the new Herald just blew his way with ground-shaking punches through them. The Triumvirate watched expectantly as he reduced the minor demons to ashes one after another, until he was left alone at the battlefield, standing over nine burnt demonic, twisted and broken bodies, not even panting, a confident smile curled on his lips.

"Braaaaaa-vo!" Joker clapped with barely noticeable sarcasm. "A shame you didn't the same against the swordsmen, Goose!".

Howard shot him an icy killer glare, but then gestured towards the offended Billy to stay quiet. He looked towards Thanos then and asked, "That was all? It barely could be called a workout. What is next?". He made a few 'Bring it on' gestures. "I am more than ready!".

"My turn now!" Vellinor sprang from his seat like a spring clown coming out a Jack-in-the-Box. He twirled his cane into Howard's direction, and said, "A brawl every now and then is okay, but to truly prove yourself, you must show you can make it through other kinds of circumstances, too! Jokey already went through this once, and now you're going to do it too, Lucky Boy!".

With that, before Howard could ask what was he meaning, the crimelord just disappeared from sight in a flash.

"Hey!" Billy Kane gasped. "What have you done to him?!".

"Relax, Smithers" the trickster chuckled. "Hey, Jokes, why don't you tell him what happened to his bossman?".

"You... you sent him THERE?" The Clown Prince gave him a baffled look, then laughed. "OH, HO HO! The Pranking Ground! Now that's rich!".

"Pranking... Ground...?" Mara dared to ask from the corner she was in.

Vellinor conjured a giant TV screen, and motioned for everyone to come nearer. They all closed in, to see Geese standing in the middle of a desertic landscape out of a Road Runner cartoon, running away from several giant anvils falling from the sky chasing him.

Bell sweatdropped hugely. "That... that looks so...".

"Dumb..." Wolfgang Krauser completed the sentence for her.

"Ahh, you two can't recognize true comedy even if it slaps you in the face" Vellinor groaned, seeing how Howard fell down a cliff to leave a human-shaped mark on the ground below.

"Hasn't he learned how to fly yet?" Joker asked. "And you told me I was still green!".

"It must not be a big deal for someone so used to fall from his Geese Tower" Vellinor shrugged. "Wait, wait, now I'll send in the fire ants. You'll see how funny it is...".

"Ants in the pants!" Joker chuckled as Geese ran around shaking vicious insects arrived out of nowhere out of his clothes. "Perfect for rants, if you excuse my slants!".

"I fail to see the point to this tomfoolery" Thanos muttered gravely.

"Hey, he needs to be prepared for EVERYTHING, and I mean everything" Vellinor defended himself. "What if he has to fight Team Wacky Hijinx, or Nabeshin's full madcap reality distortions? And besides... what doesn't kill him will just strenghten him".

They continued to watch how for the next few minutes Howard continued eluding giant rabid weasels, jumping through mined grounds, and killing armies of little cherubs in Nazi outfits and colorful party hats, all of them just part of the random insanity of Vellinor's favored playground, until the trickster just snapped his fingers and brought him back to the Meeting Room.

"Well, that's all for now" he said, nonchalantly. "I'm satisfied for the moment, too. You have my seal of approval, Geese Howard". And he stamped a big "FULLY APPROVED BY THE HANDSOME VELLINOR. GUARANTEED QUALITY" on the crimelord's forehead. Then gave him the thumbs up. "Congrats, Big Boy!".

"Well, I am glad to see we are agreeing on this, then" Hild nodded, almost sighing. "Thanks for your patience, Lord Thanos, and Mister Howard. Heralds, you can depart now. But remember, not a single word of what happened here must be spoken to anyone else".

"As if I wanted to tell anyone I am in forced cahoots with that loser" Joker huffed, looking away from Vellinor.

"I say the same" Howard grumbled trying to rub the seal off his forehead.

"... And you all will remember to honor and obey the members of this Triumvirate" Hild reminded them in a chiding tone. She raised a hand and a light began to envelope all their present followers, except the God-Killer, his companions and Hild's royal guard, transporting them back to MUGEN. "Remember to stay on the path we have drawn for you. The prize for failing us... is high indeed".

"Bye bye, Mommy!" Rei waved a hand to her, smiling widely. "See ya later!".

Just as Howard's team was transported back to their warehouse, Team Nifelheim was instead left at the outside of the C-Dome, with Rei somehow now in a pretty but plain green dress and white shoes, now in her human form instead of her Angel one.

"Oh" Joker looked at his wristwatch. "At least she was considerate enough to leave me here to watch Harley's fight!".

"See? There is some benevolence and magnanimity in her acts, even towards a worm like you" Goenitz pointed out.

"Eh, it's easy for you to say, she gave you the leader post" the Clown Prince countered. "But anyway, let's go in and try to leave those horrible memories behind. And besides, Harl will need a shoulder to cry on when those guys kick her butt the hard way...".


Next: Naruto vs. Harley Quinn!

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

Things are heating up at Uni, next post tomorrow evening. Sorry bout that,:o gentlemen.

Take your time, bro. I know all too well how hectic university can be.

[J Dog]

Tiffany vs. Ayeka of Jurai

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind." Dorado muttered as his head spun around; cuts were all over his body from the shrapnel caused by the impact of him slamming into the scoreboard. "I never thought I'd lose to some lumberjack girl."

"Well, expect anything, gator." Jack told his friend. "Look, Tiffany will mop the floor with her."

"How will THEY know?" Dorado snapped, referring to the fact that we haven't even seen Tiffany's moves, sans a flashback, yet. "Nothing against your sis, but come on! I don't think she'll do it."

No wonder everyone wants to beat you senseless, Jack thought. Back to the fight, Ayeka looked at her new challenger, who gulped down a bit.

"You are out of your league, kid." Ayeka told Tiffany, "I wouldn't dare take me on."

"Appearances are decieving, you know." Stalwall told the princess of Jurai. "That's how you were able to defeat Dorado...", she clenched her hand. "And that's how I'll be able to defeat you." As she said that, a glowing orb slowly engulfed her right hand (the one clenched). "Observe this one; Light Grenade!"

She threw the orb and the impact blinded her opponent.

"AAGGH!" Ayeka screamed. At that moment, Tiffany went on the offensive.

I gotta get her out of whack!, she thought as she prepared an energy beam. It'll be the only way, since putting a foe on the run is the best way to win.

"Grrr... you little brat!" Ayeka grumbled before getting a taste of Tiffany's energy beam that knocked her to the ground. Upon getting up, she called for more of the logs.

"Hey, Tiff!" Jack yelled. "Look out for those logs!"

"Gotcha!" she replied. With that, she created a miniature force field that protected her from the lightning from the logs. Ayeka was surprised, but figured that it wouldn't last long before she would win.

"You aren't going to get away with that! I will win!" Upon that, she used the same move that nearly beat Dorado, only magnified on Tiffany. More logs appeared, and suddenly, explosions occured. Jack was shocked.

However, when the smoke cleared, Tiffany was standing, a little shaken, but able to stand.

"Even for you, I'm surprised about this." Tiffany told her. "Look, if you want to see me lose, at least wait until I face off against Superman. But now, I'm afraid that the round is over." She lifted up her left arm into the air. "I'm sorry."

A giant orb was formed in the middle of the air, as it gathered energy.

"Hey! She's copying the Genki Dama!" Dorado snapped. "I don't believe it!"

Jack hit him in the head. "Look, while it follows the same formula, Tiffany just puts some of her energy into that orb. It isn't as it she's swiping it from others."

"See ya!" Tiffany yelled out as she released the orb and launched it towards Ayeka, who, once again, changed her clothing color. But that wasn't enough to prevent her from being knocked flat onto the ground by the force.

"Lord Tenchi..." Ayeka sadly muttered, "I failed..."

Superman was shocked at the state of his next opponent, but figured that this will be an easy win; he knew that Jack would probably give him the run for the money.

"AAANND the winner of this round is the lovely Tiffany Stalwall!" the Budokai announcer screamed out. "That means the Man of Steel is up next!" Roars engulfed the dome since one of the most notable figures in fiction is now going to take the arena floor and fight. Tiffany returned to Mel briefly since Kompson called for her.

"This will probably help you out a bit, but use it wisely." he told her, as she was given a small piece of kryptonite that Nabeshin gave him after the Mecha Dorado encounter.

"Good luck, Tiffy!" Jack smiled as he messed with her hair a bit. It was that when he heard a voice that was familiar. He turned around to see, in the stands, the Digidestined, with Mimi holding the trophy and the duffel bag that held her battle suit, smiling... and the irated face of Cosette.

"Uh.... does not compute..." Jack said with a whacked out face, after seeing Sara. "What are you doing here?"

"Seeing if you can handle the Last Son of the planet Krypton." Cosette told him. "I want to see if the trainer of this brat here who managed to beat me can-"

"Hold on a sec! You telling me that Mimi defeated you?!!"

Mimi nodded happily.

"Yes." Cosette grunted. "I'm still not happy, but at least I'm going to respect her existance."

"We'll talk later about this, after the fight." Jack told the two.

"Promise me that you'll beat Superman." Mimi told her sensei. "I told them that you would."

"Relax! I will."

If he wins, maybe he'll be a good fit for ACROSS, Cosette thought.

[J Dog]

Things are heating up at Uni, next post tomorrow evening. Sorry bout that,:o gentlemen.
Hey, school outweights posting on a forum, dude. It's cool.

[OverMaster]

-Naruto vs. Harley Quinn, Prelude-

C-Dome:

"... And the order Team 'Reluctant Heroes' will be taking is..." Mandy read from her cue card, "First, Naruto Uzumaki. As second fighter, Benjamin Grimm, the Thing. Closing the lineup, Son Goku. Acting as their striker, they will have Kenshin Himura. Now, both first fighters, come here, quick. We're on a tight schedule" she urged them in a dry tone.

Naruto, grinning confidently, hopped his way to Mandy. He just wished Sakura could be watching this somehow. This would be his hour of thriumph! His first big step in becoming the savior of Konoha, and no doubt, the future Hokage of the village!

"I'm more than ready!" he yelled loudly. "Let's go!!".

Meanwhile, Harley Quinn, followed by her two pet hyenas Bud and Lou, walked in at a far more sedate, hesitating pace, looking all around, still searching for the Joker withy her gaze. "I'm, uh... ready too... I guess...".

And then, she finally saw him, coming with the rest of his team and taking seats near where Team Justice was, much to the latter's annoyance. She beamed a huge smile and waved in his direction saying, "He's here! He's here! YOO-HOO, PUDDIN'!! YOUR HARLEY IS--". Then she paused, "--is--".

For some reason, some shapely and pale young girl with short blue hair and red eyes was clinging to one of her Mister J's arms, and it made Harley to see red. It was bad enough he had to share rooms with that slutty demon, Mara, but now he also was fooling around with a teenager?!

"PUDDIN'??!!" She howled at the top of her lungs, red running over her white facial makeup. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WITH THAT-- THAT-- GIRL?!?".

"Hum, Daddy?" Rei XV gave Joker a curious look. "Who's that crazy chick who is yelling to you?".

"An idiot" the Clown Prince mumbled, then yelled back, "FORGET THAT, HARL, YOU KNUCKLEHEAD! I'LL EXPLAIN IT AFTER THE FIGHT!!!".

"WHADDYA MEAN WITH THAT?!" The harlequin spat angrily. "WHY, YOU, DOUBLECROSSING LITTLE..." She sobbed a bit, "... Y-You... you are so bad...".

"Hey, you" Mandy tapped her on the back with her microphone. "I have no idea of why you are so worked up, but cut the drama, okay? The public came to watch fights, not soap operas".

"Grrrrrr!!!!" the clowngirl spun back to face both the young referee and Naruto, hr eyes burning. "Okay, okay, damn it! Oooo, I'm so angry, I'll vent my tension on you, brat!" she pointed at Naruto with a finger. "So prepare yourself for the asskicking of your life! And then, I'll take that little Lolita and will--".

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, Granny!" the young ninja mocked her. "Whatever you say!".

"Don't you dare to call me old, snotnosed punk!" Harley shrieked back.

"Man..." On the Jury's seats, Asuka Langley Sohryu looked down at the ring with a frown. "Now why the racket? Honestly, don't those morons realize this is a serious matter?!".

Then she felt Shinji nervously poking her on a shoulder, and looked at him with annoyance. "And now what happens with you, baka?!" she asked.

For all answer, Ikari raised a trembling finger to a section of the public, and Asuka's jaw fell down. There she was, someone she never thought she'd see again. And with the last persons she would have ever expected her to be with. And doing the absolute last thing Asuka ever thought she would see her doing.

Rei Ayanami. With Team Nifelheim.

Smiling.


Next: Tiffany Stalwall vs. Superman: Don't Tuge on Superman's Cape!

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

"So Lady Hild," Vellinor said nonchalantly as he sat back in his chair, "exactly what are we going to do about the other wannabes who want to seize the throne of Heaven? I mean, Doom isn't exactly going to sit back and watch us take over Heaven while ironing his green robes, and this "Boss" person doesn't sound like the compromising type, either."

Hild chuckled. "My dear Lord Vellinor, we shall simply bide our time and wait for them to make their respective moves," she replied. "After all, we have already gained so many advantages that -- "

The Daimkaicho of Hell was cut short by the sound of a cell phone ringing to the tune of the opening theme to South Park. "Hold that thought," Vellinor said as he fished out his cell phone. "Hello?"

"Lord Vellinor, there is a Mazoku named Xelloss on the line who wishes to speak with you," came the droning, clinically depressed voice of Marvin the Robot on the other line. "He says its about a bet he made with you."

"Jeeze, took him long enough!" Vellinor replied. He suddenly frowned. "Wait a minute . . . .. how did he get our number?"

"He claims to have found it in the yellow pages," Marvin moaned.

"Curse you, foul yellow pages!" Vellinor exclaimed dramatically. A second later, his cheery grin returned. "Put him through." He briefly turned to Hild and Thanos. "Excuse me for a second." And with that, the Trickster suddenly seemed to morph and flow like liquid into his phone's reciever, disappearing from sight.

******

The first sign Xelloss had that Vellinor had picked up the line was a hand shooting out of the payphone's reciever and throwing a lemon marang pie into his face. The Mazoku staggered back, stunned, as Vellinor promptly pulled himself out of the phone in a cartoonish manner.

"Hiya, Xelloss!" the Trickster exclaimed. "What can I do for you?"

The grimacing Mazoku conjured a towel and wiped the pie off his face. "Oh, I merely came by to give you the money I owe you," he replied. "We Mazoku honour our promises, after all." With that, Xelloss conjured a briefcase which he set on a nearby table and opened, revealing a freaking LOT of money. "Voila."

Vellinor stared at the money for a second, a sour frown crossing his face. Then, abruptly, he burst into laughter.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" he laughed. "I think you must have misunderstood me, Xellos! Either that, or you just have no clue as to how to interact with other gods!"

Xelloss raised an eyebrow. "Is the money not to your liking?" he asked.

"Oh no, it's swell," the Trickster replied. "It's just that . . . well . ... it would be unseemly for me, a full god, to accept it from a demonic minion like yourself. You see, Xellos, according to the rules of divine interactions --- " Vellinor fished out a giant book labeled "Da Rulez" and slammed it down on the table " -- you, as a demonic servant, are merely a representative of a much higher power -- in this case, the Beastmaster. And, as a matter of technicality, when I made the bet, I was not, per se, making a bet with you, but, through you, your mistress."

Xelloss stared at Vellinor with a frown. "What are you implying?" he asked.

"I am implying that for you, a mere Mazoku herald, to give me the money would be a grave, grave insult," Vellinor replied with a smile. "Technically, I made the bet with your mistress, therefore, such a personal matter should be handled only between gods: it would be proper manners for your mistress to give me the money herself."

Xelloss nearly facefaulted at these words, his face turning a bright red. "You . . .you cannot be serious!" he shouted. "My mistress would never submit to such an insult!"

"Oh, your mistress was the losing party, and yet she would decline to give me what I am owed on the grounds that it is an insult?" Vellinor said. "That's not only poor etiquette, that's just plain rude! You may inform your mistress that I am not at all impressed by her bad manners."

"Really? Well, get this straight," Xelloss said venomously. "My mistress will NEVER stoop so low as to give you the money herself, so you're wasting your time."

"No, Xelloss, YOU'RE wasting my time," Vellinor replied. "If your mistress refuses to abide by the rules of our little bet, then I might simply have to pursue judicial action to get her pay up. I hear the honourable Judge Kansai will be in soon .. . . ."

The Mazoku's eyes narrowed. "Was that a threat?" he hissed.

"What? Oh no, not at all!" Vellinor replied cheerfully. "Simply let your mistress know of my grievances like the good little servant that you are, and everything will be forgiven as long as she pays up. Heck, I'll even prank that little Lina Inverse broad you guys keep fidgeting over! I have every intention of respecting and honouring your mistress's divine sovereignty and power . .. just so long as she respects mine. Ta ta!"

With that, Vellinor disappeared back through the telephone. Snorting in contempt, Xelloss walked over to open that rulebook that Vellinor had left behind, just to see if it was legit. Naturally, the darned thing exploded on touch, flinging Xelloss backwards into a nearby wall.

"I do so hate that pest," he muttered.

*******

A few minutes later, Vellinor reappeared back in the meeting room. "Hi guys, what did I miss?"

"What was all that about?" Hild asked.

"Oh, nothing," Vellinor replied, "just winding up the Beastmaster and her minions with insulting demands, that's all."

"Are you sure that is such a good idea, Lord Vellinor?" Thanos said. "Insulting or even threatening the Beastmaster might provoke the Council of Hells into action against you."

"Aw, no it won't!" Vellinor scoffed. "They'd rather pay up than piss off the guy who commands the God-Killer. True, it will no doubt increase their hatred for me . . . but that simply means they'll show their hand sooner, and thus give us a very good excuse to pwn the losers."

Hild sat back in her chair. "If the Beastmaster has any sense, then she won't force the Council to take action so quickly," she said. "On the other hand, this could very well cause the situation to spiral out of control. Lord Vellinor, if worst comes to worst, I want you to apologize to the Beastmaster if she reacts in a way that could threaten us."

The Trickster gave her a sour look. "Aw, you're no fun anymore, Hildie!" he grumbled. "Fine, if the Yeastmaster reacts like the crazy, psycho, out-of-control freak that she is, then I'll apologize to her. But I will NOT, under any circumstances, give you any assurance that I won't publicly humiliate Xelloss in the process."

Something beeped, and Vellinor took a look at his watch. "But I'd best be going now: apparently Doc Nova's Shard detector is going off. Toodles!" And with that, he abrutply disappeared.

[Golden Darkness]

Hey, school outweights posting on a forum, dude. It's cool.

True.

Not going to be posting till Saturday at the latest. Moving to my brother's apartment. He has no computer as the at moment, and mine's being shipped and won't be there till Friday at the latest.

Damn I wish I have a laptop.

[KingEli]

"Lady Hild.......Are you Really That Sure that Doom Won't be a Wrench to our plans?" Said Thanos

"Oh Coure, Lord Thanos. What could the Man truly do to us?" Said Hild with a Smile

"Tsk Tsk. I Expect you to play it smarter. Doom is No Fool, my Dear, the Man has outwitted Beings that would have Destroy him or Myself With ease and this 'Boss' Is one to Watch out for, for he/she/it could be more dangerous than anyone." The Mad Titan Said

"You Bring up Valid points, but you are worrying too much. They are boud to slip up sooner or later." Hild Replied

"Then again so could we..............If you Excuse me Misstress of Hell I must take care of Matters."

"Farewell, Lord Thanos........"

And With That Thanos Disappeard.


Next Up:Thanos and The Marvel Cosmics!!

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

Storm Warnings

"Team Nifelheim?"

The voice caught them by surprise -- they all turned to the right and found that the speaker was a random spectator sitting next to Mara. He was a tall man, clad in a white overcoat that looked like it belonged to a previous century, with a white cross emblazoned on the chest. The sight of a fellow man of the cloth made Goenitz grimace, expatriate priest that he was. The man himself appeared to be in his middle ages, with dirty blonde hair and a coarse, stubble-lined face. He wore a pair of fine glasses over his eyes which seemed to catch the sunlight. And he was smiling, as though amused to see them.

"What's it to you?" Mara grumbled.

The priest's grin seemed to widen. "So pleased t'finally meet you," he said, his accent clearly a Scottish one. "The ones I serve have been very impressed by yer respective track records -- especially you, Mr. Joker."

"What? You mean His Pointy Hatedness himself sends his kudos?" the Joker exclaimed. He laughed out loud. "Why thanks padre! I never knew the old geezer had an eye for talent!"

Goenitz audibly snorted. "You may take your honeyed words elsewhere, priest of a false God," he growled. "We serve but one master, and she is far more powerful than any puppet Pope of yours."

The other priest's grin suddenly seemed to became a little more sinister. "Now who said anything aboot me serving him?" he said. "Nay, brother, I serve far, far greater powers."

It was at that moment that the members of Team Nifelheim felt the aura radiating from this man -- a powerful, unholy aura that even made Mara shudder.

"And it is on behalf of these powers that I bring ye a message to convey to yer mistress," the Scottish priest went on. "Please tell her, if ye will, that the Dark Gods are more than content to leave her alone, provided she dinnae interfere. If she does, then none of us will 'ave any qualms aboot removing her -- and you -- from the picture."

For a minute, Team Nifelheim was silent. Then, abruptly, the Joker burst into laughter. "Oooooh, I'm shaking!" he scoffed. "This crazy Scottish yahoo is going to beat me to death with a haggis! Whatever shall I do?"

Goenitz was less than impressed: his face was contorted with fury. "You dare make threats towards my mistress?" he growled. "You will rue the day you made such a mistake, cur -- "

The priest of Hild was cut short when his entire body suddenly seemed to freeze. Bewildered, he tried to open his mouth, move his arm, anything -- nothing happened. The rest of Team Nifelheim was in the same predicament, unable to move or speak. The Joker and Rei seemed the most distressed by this predicament, unable as they were to make any witty banter.

Paladin Anderson's eyes seemed to glow a bright blue as he brought his grinning face close to Goenitz's. "Dinnae use that tone with me, demagogue," he sneered. "I could kill ye all here and now easily, or I could leave ye all as crippled, worthless wrecks so that ye may know the true power my masters grant. But the dead and the maimed can leave no messages: your worth right now is only in your ability to convey information t'yer mistress. Let her know that the coming of Chaos shall not be stopped -- not by her, or anyone else. Mayhaps if you're alive long enough, priest, you'll then see with yer own eyes the power of the True Gods."

With that, Anderson stood up. "Nice talking to ye," he said. And with that, he suddenly disappeared in a burst of blue flame. At that same moment, the strange freezing spell that had been placed over Team Nifelheim abruptly dissipated.

"Remind me to never, ever rent Highlander ever again," the Joker moaned.

[T51R]

~The Hunger…Part 5~



“What is this…” Edward could hardly keep the shock from welling up in his throat as he looked across the little yard behind the store that was strewn with used bandages, sterile pads and first aid kits. There was also the smell of blood, the groans of the injured and the occasional complaint of pain. He could tell that they had only just gotten there, and that they were on their way to the Tournament Grounds where they would at least have the protection of the Thunder God, Rayden. Many of them were no older than he and Lina were, some even younger. They seemed to be led by a well-built man whose hair was dyed blonde; many of them were seeing to his wounds. Grave though they were. There were others too, those who had either given up their places on Titanus, the Power Ranger’s carrier-Zord that had been converted into an improvised mobile hospital-cum-evacuation vehicle or those who had been helping to carry the injured to their goal. Both he and Lina kept on staring, staring with shock. They had seen it on the TV, they had heard it from the other contestants. But they could not have known how badly the situation outside the Tournament grounds had deteriorated since MUGEN had begun, the gates closed at their backs, shutting out the world.

“Dear God,” Lina muttered, hardly able to speak. She had seen the injured before. Many a time in her home world had she borne witness to tides of battered bodies [many a time due to her spells.] However, this was different; though the wounds were deeper, it was the eyes of the wounded that unnerved her. They were devoid of almost all hope. One girl, she noticed, still limped about with a crutch bringing supplies here and there, between Ryuho and Kaname, even though her leg was badly broken. Lina could almost feel her pain as she dropped herself as gently as she could to the ground next to the blonde-haired man who was bleeding badly from his side. The Sorceress could tell that he was in a bad way. But yet, she could not help but be surprised when he struggled to sit up, lit a cigarette and began smiling in spite of his wounds.

“HEY YOSHIKAWA! COME HERE A MINUTE!” Onizuka yelled as he flicked his Zippo open. “You‘re looking pretty down. I told you, Anko‘s gonna be fine. As soon as we get her to the medical centre I‘ll bet you anything that the doctors are gonna tell you the same, so just play it cool alright?”

“Yes, sir.” the grief-stricken youth muttered. He had watched his first love try to fight off a Meganula on her own, when the both of them had been trapped in an alley. He remembered what she had said to him. “Be braver, be a man, make sure we get there together because that‘s what you promised me we‘d do,” Noboru repeated the words to himself as he sat down in the damp grass next to the young Uehara’s stretcher. She was still unconscious; she had been that way ever since the Meganula had thrown her forcefully against the alley wall. If it hadn’t been for Onizuka, he thought, they would both be dead. The Great Teacher had taken the larvae’s blow in her stead, and had then proceeded to beat it to death with the bumper off of a wrecked car. He looked back across the yard; Onizuka was lying down again. Yoshikawa knew the man was infamous for putting up a brave front. He knew that he was in much worse a condition that it seemed.

“Excuse me,” Yoshikawa turned around slowly as he lifted Anko’s hand in his own, and found Lina wheeling herself towards him. Behind her, Ed was talking to the girl who had taken it upon herself to be the one-woman supply chain. “But, could you tell me what happened to you? And to her? What…what about everyone else? Where did all of you come from?”

“We came from Tokyo,” Lina turned around, and found Kunio Murai walking towards her. The back of his shirt was stained pink; he had been carrying Urumi Kanzaki on his back for the last leg of their journey, and even though her wound was slow-bleeding it had nevertheless mixed with his sweat while the group had been on the move. “Yeah, it isn’t very far from here but you try doin‘ it without a bus, hell you try doin‘ it while all those freakin‘ things are after you!”

“What things? The monsters?” Lina prodded a bit further.

“Not just the monsters,” Murai began to explain, Ed and Himeno Awayuki joining them. Himeno wore a worried look on her face, and Ed’s features had become even more troubled. Kunio nodded to the pair, and then continued, “people too. People are acting like animals out there, there‘s not just the bugs but there‘s whole gangs of people who are running around acting like people‘s lives aren’t worth anything anymore. Anyway, when the Tournament started weird stuff began to happen…”

It took a while, but when Kunio had finished both Ed and Lina were almost in a state of shock; Kaiju had risen from the rivers, the mountains and the sea. Almost all of them had been accounted for, except for the most dangerous one. They had begun to devastate the country, Hedorahs spawning beneath the city, in the sewers and their amalgamated form growing ever-larger. Meganula moved through the subway, breeding, causing parts of the city to flood. One Gidrah had been vanquished, but that wasn’t the end of it by a long shot; Xilian-augmented beasts as well as other giant creatures had also sprouted. Goudas, Zetton and the Red King were wreaking havoc in Osaka along with many others across the country.

“So, people are out there fighting them, right now?” Ed stammered, “but, there‘s too many of them…they don’t have a prayer…”

“It‘s not about having a prayer,” Himeno said meekly; she had seen so much in the last two weeks her heart was almost broken. “Its…its about going on, carrying on, no matter what happens. It‘s about carrying on, so that the memories of the people we lost…so that they can go on too, with us.” She remembered how the Leafe Knights had sacrificed themselves to save her when Orga rose from the centre of the capital. “I know, I know that our chances are slim but that doesn’t make it okay to give up!”

“That‘s right,” Murai turned back to where Onizuka was lying, Kaname finally getting to him. “and we might not look like much, but none of us here is gonna give up. Not until we reach the MUGEN grounds where we‘ll be safe.” A winged shadow passed over them, and the air began to smell of brimstone. “Oh great, they made it through the JSSDF‘s artillery!” Murai looked skywards as the winged beasts began to fill the sky only for great numbers of them to be taken down by a beam from the city in the distance. A dozen or so swooped away to the attack, but the majority of them remained circling above. One of them began a dive. Right at the store where they were. “Oh damn…”

“SHOCKING! FIRST!! BULLET!!!” The creature almost folded in half as Kazuma made contact, the dragon careening out of control and landing in the distance from the force of the blindside bullet alone while its assailant landed on the road several dozen feet away with a soft thud. More of them began to swarm, diving en-masse until a hail of lighting bolts from the sporadic clouds caused them to fall lifelessly from the clear, crimson sky.

“Dear God…was that…” Ed muttered, dumbfounded.

“Rayden…” Lina finished for him. “but…but he‘s presiding over the matches that are going on right now! How did he…he truly is a God, isn’t he?”

“No way, there‘s a God at the tournament!? No wonder you guys are safe!” Murai was startled, but hope again began to shine in his eyes. “Himeno, we have to get moving again. If everyone‘s okay that is.”

“Miss Kaname‘s almost finished” she nodded. “Mr. Onizuka insisted that she should treat everyone else before him, so we can move on. You‘ll help, won‘t you?” She looked pleadingly at Lina and Ed. “We…we‘ve lost so many. Please, help us! I…I can't...I can't bear for us to lose any more.”

For the first time since MUGEN began, Edward Elric and Lina Inverse exchanged glances…in understanding.





~To be continued...~

[OverMaster]

-Tiffany Stalwall vs. Superman: Don't Tug on Superman's Cape!-

An absolute respectful silence fell all over the public as the Man of Steel floated down to the Arena, with a white dog wearing a red cape also coming down next to him. Krypto.

Then the crowd exploded into deafening cheers again, and Tiffany gulped down. She was about to face maybe the greatest legend of all the MUGEN fighters; others were more powerful, no doubt, but this was the biggest icon of them all, the one the world saw as its greatest hero. Even if she defeated him somehow, maybe everyone would hate her for it after that.

But it was her duty to try her best. She looked at Jack for confirmation, and he nodded easing her nerves.

The tall red and blue clad in front of her gave her a sympathetic look as well. She is only a child, he thought. This event is as cruel as they come, pitting us at random against each other like this...

"Okay, Mister, Miss, are you two ready?!" the referee asked.

"All ready to go" Tiffany nodded.

"Likewise" the Man of Steel half-sighed, thinking of how to beat her without being too harsh, but making sure of not leaving his guard down either; she, after all, had broke through Jurain's minor shields, a true titanic task on itself.

"FINE THEN!" the showman bellowed. "TEEEEAM 'SAVIORS FROM SPACE'!!! VERSUS!! TEEEEEEAM 'FANWARRIORS'!! ROUND! FOUR!! FIGHT!!!!".

As soon as it started, Tiffany extended the hand she had been charging power into forward and let a dozen of small energy orbs to come out of it bombarding the whole arena. All in vain; a man-sized speeding blur, whose red and blue seemed to mix at such high velocities in a purplish tone, almost danced around the projectiles, and zoomed straight to her, a fist in front of him.

Tiffany almost panicked for half a second, but then reacted; she had quick reflexes herself, and she knew what did she have to do. She pulled the small box her brother had given her out, and opened it. The small rock inside of it let its glow to come out free, and the Kryptonian man and the canine following him were instantly affected by it, backing away in sudden pain.

"Wow" the blonde whispered to herself in awe. "It really doesn't take a lot of it to make an effect...".

"Ah, crap!" Booster Gold groaned on his watching seat. "The little amateur had to get lucky and get herself some Kryptonite?!".

"No kidding..." Blue Beetle pondered with worry. "Oh please, don't tell me she's going to--".

Tiffany knew she had to take advantage of it. It was do-or-lose time. Ignoring the public's boos and hisses, she lunged forward and hit the dizzied Man of Tomorrow with several other lightning orbs, rocking him back and forth.

"I'm sorry about this, Mr. Superman" she apologized, never stopping to bombard him with all what she had. "But I can't let my family down. I have to win, whatever it takes. And your pet can't help you now, since he's as weak to this as you. Please, surrender and it all will be better for both of us..." she almost begged, never cutting her continued attacks short.

"I... I can't surrender..." Kal-El grimaced under the pain. "I have... too... a family... friends... and a world... that count on me!". Then his voice took on a new resolve, and new inner strenght, as he said, "MR. VASH! NOW!!".

"Huh?" Tiffany blinked, and then the air whistled, as a new red blur ran into the ring, and the metallic shine of a gun being drawn out caught her attention. Vash the Stampede, Humanoid Typhoon. Striker.

"YAHOOOO!!" The blonde man in the long scarlett trenchcoat screamed out goofily, and pointed his gun towards Tiffany's hand holding the Kryptonite with the speed of lightning. "Don't move, Little Lady, pleeeeeeeeze!!!".

It was a perfect deadeye shot, completely sparing her hand but shooting the rock out of it, sending it flying out of the arena before she even could react at all. Stalwall watched in horror how her only real chance for victory flew away, and fell at feet of one of the Battle Judges. The god of mischief with the horned hat. Loki.

"Well, well" the trickster smiled evilly as he picked the green rock up, then pocketed it with malice. "A gift for me? How charming, Young One! I shall treasure it... not that I should some day need it, but still, as thou mortals say... what matters is the intention".

"No, no, wait!" Tiffany extended a hand on his direction. "Don't be so--". But then she noticed the superhero sharing the arena with her quickly recovering now that he was out of the radiation's reach again. She gasped hard when he flew towards her once more, unable to move out of his path fast enough...

... And then he just flicked her in the jaw with a finger, lightly, and she fell down on her face, knocked out. Unconscious.

The crowd watched in with surprise, and then they all exploded into wild cheering. "YES!!" Vash gave them all the 'V' sign with a hand raised high. "And this is the might at work... of the LOVE AND PEACE!!!!!" he yelled at the top of his lungs.

"LOVE AND PEACE! LOVE AND PEACE! LOVE AND PEACE!!!" The public chorused time and time again, repeating the Humanoid Typhoon's catchphrase.

"Whew, they had me worried for a sec there!" Blue Beetle said while the referee gave Tiffany the full countdown and officially declared Superman the winner.

Right then, however, the mood was disrupted when a loud thunder filled the stadium, and a young man holding a sacred hammer stomped into the ring to take his place as the next challenger. There was a hard resolve on his clear eyes. "Okay, Big Blue!" he shouted. "I don't care who you are, no one beats my sister, be the soft or hard way, and gets away with it! Prepare yourself! Jack Stalwall from Houston is here!!".


Next: Superman vs. Jack Stalwall- Thunder and Brightening!

[J Dog]

Nice battle, OM, but let me finish it by doing the Jack/Superman fight. Trust me: I will make it one for the memories.

[OverMaster]

Nice battle, OM, but let me finish it by doing the Jack/Superman fight. Trust me: I will make it one for the memories.

OK, but I'll be honest with you here: Really, I don't think Jack should win. I'm sorry, but looking at him in all honesty, he is still only a young man with tons of experience disadvantage against Superman, who is so used to battle all sorts of beings with powers above Jack's. True, he has a Thor-style hammer and powers, not like that helped Thor himself much against Supes in JLA/Avengers, but still, I just can't see that as covering the full distance.

Not to mention, let's face it, fanmade character who hasn't done much in MUGEN yet stepping in and beating the crap out of an icon that has being around since the 30s may alert some people's Mary Sue alerts. True, Saint has Alaniel, but he operates in an all distinct scale from the MUGEN fighters. Ditto for LoNC and Vellinor, who is supposed to play in the Really Big Leagues anyway. And the God-Killers are an even clearer case of characters acting immensely powerful but thanks to a logical explanation and story motif, not to mention they are just played for laughs anyway half of the time.

And two things more: First, as it's just logical, Supes has such an icon status between MUGEN viewers and the troubled world around them, beating him now would be a major blow to that world's hopes, especially after the JLAvengers were beaten too. Keep in mind, if the Fanwarriors win, that will make the public to hate them as much as they hate Heavy Metal Impact now. Second, well, it may sound kinda egoist, but I had some plans for Light and Darkness vs. Saviors from Space in the second round, with weight for the main storyline.

I was thinking making Jack lose after a hard fight respectful for the character's capacities and potential, I admit it. However, you shouldn't be troubled by that. You still would have Team Digidestined to go on, Team Fanwarriors could do many other important things in such a troubled time, and heck, losing to friggin' Superman is no dishonor at all.

However, I'll trust you and leave the final decision to you. If you want to make Jack to win, I won't stop you. I only want you to consider the points I just mentioned.

[T51R]

OK, but I'll be honest with you here: Really, I don't think Jack should win. I'm sorry, but looking at him in all honesty, he is still only a young man with tons of experience disadvantage against Superman, who is so used to battle all sorts of beings with powers above Jack's. True, he has a Thor-style hammer and powers, not like that helped Thor himself much against Supes in JLA/Avengers, but still, I just can't see that as covering the full distance.

Not to mention, let's face it, fanmade character who hasn't done much in MUGEN yet stepping in and beating the crap out of an icon that has being around since the 30s may alert some people's Mary Sue alerts. True, Saint has Alaniel, but he operates in an all distinct scale from the MUGEN fighters. Ditto for LoNC and Vellinor, who is supposed to play in the Really Big Leagues anyway. And the God-Killers are an even clearer case of characters acting immensely powerful but thanks to a logical explanation and story motif, not to mention they are just played for laughs anyway half of the time.

And two things more: First, as it's just logical, Supes has such an icon status between MUGEN viewers and the troubled world around them, beating him now would be a major blow to that world's hopes, especially after the JLAvengers were beaten too. Keep in mind, if the Fanwarriors win, that will make the public to hate them as much as they hate Heavy Metal Impact now. Second, well, it may sound kinda egoist, but I had some plans for Light and Darkness vs. Saviors from Space in the second round, with weight for the main storyline.

I was thinking making Jack lose after a hard fight respectful for the character's capacities and potential, I admit it. However, you shouldn't be troubled by that. You still would have Team Digidestined to go on, Team Fanwarriors could do many other important things in such a troubled time, and heck, losing to friggin' Superman is no dishonor at all.

However, I'll trust you and leave the final decision to you. If you want to make Jack to win, I won't stop you. I only want you to consider the points I just mentioned.


I'd have to agree; don't Gary-Stu your own boys. Do NOT Gary-Stu anyone for that matter m8, in a fanfic its important to write other characters as if you're writing for the publication. Also, keep character powersets fixed; going PC and pulling powers out of nowhere is bad form.

[J Dog]

Hey, it's okay. It'd be a little hard to swallow since he'll lose, but I'll be fine with it. Besides, I don't make that good of fights anyways.

Of course, Jack would have some consolation for helping someone else win.

[T51R]

Dude remember, there's also people to help outside the MUGEN grounds as well as the chance to return as a Wildcard team if they can beat Akira's group at the Sphere. So all is not lost even if they don't make it in the tourney proper. If anything there's tons more combat against everything else outside the grounds, which I'll be starting after The Hunger ends, and Heavy Metal Impact becomes the first team to see first-hand what the rest of the world is experiencing.

[Saint_007]

Tomorrow I'm going on a business trip and won't be back until Sunday after midnight. Sorry about that. Hopefully, I'll get to posting as normal next week.

[OverMaster]

Dude remember, there's also people to help outside the MUGEN grounds as well as the chance to return as a Wildcard team if they can beat Akira's group at the Sphere. So all is not lost even if they don't make it in the tourney proper. If anything there's tons more combat against everything else outside the grounds, which I'll be starting after The Hunger ends, and Heavy Metal Impact becomes the first team to see first-hand what the rest of the world is experiencing.

Yeah, you're right. Not to mention the Underground Circuit has just begun as well.

Sorry if I annoyed or hurted your plans, J Dog. So, after all, are you going to write the next fight, or should I do it?

[OverMaster]

Tomorrow I'm going on a business trip and won't be back until Sunday after midnight. Sorry about that. Hopefully, I'll get to posting as normal next week.

Well, in that case, perhaps we should postpone the Expendables vs. Red and Blue match until then, In Story.

You okay with it, King Eli?

[KingEli]

Well, in that case, perhaps we should postpone the Expendables vs. Red and Blue match until then, In Story.

You okay with it, King Eli?


I Have No Problems.

[J Dog]

Yeah, you're right. Not to mention the Underground Circuit has just begun as well.

Sorry if I annoyed or hurted your plans, J Dog. So, after all, are you going to write the next fight, or should I do it?

Well, actually, it'd be best that YOU do the fight. Just as long as Jack puts up a fight (it's no fun if he just gets curbstomped). Also, I'd like to see Mimi's reaction to the result of the fight (you know she's going to be upset two ways; the obvious part and the fact that she promised Jack would win)

I think after this, I'll probably make a few good story arcs now that Jack's team will be out of contention... for the moment.

(BTW, it's okay. I was hoping that Jack would win by a CLOSE one, but this might be better, since the major stars have been beaten so much lately, it'd be best if Supes won this time)

[Saint_007]

OOC: Okay, I'll just post this quickie, as an in-story explanation of why the match was delayed. If you want any more delays, you can have their transport bus getting run over by a train. :D

IC:
Just then an announcement came over the PA system:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it has come to our attention that the hotel that Team Expendables was in was demolished in a terrorist attack. We believe that they might be alright, so we're going to have to wait a bit until we make sure of their safety..."

Sonic blinked in disbelief. "What?! Dammit! I HATE waiting!!"

"Tough it out, buster," Zero grumbled. He turned to X. "How much are you going to bet that they were splattered in that blast?"

"Well, I'd say a pretty definate bet," X replied. "Only I don't see much fun in betting on a surefire thing."

Knuckles sighed. This definately wasn't his idea of a glorious fight.

Elsewhere, Hild was sitting in her throne after Thanos and Vellinor had left. Who should walk in but the traitor Archangel, Azrael.

"Greetings, M'Lady," said the dark Angel of Death. "The plan is set in place. My team is ready to deploy."

"You mean that idiotic team that somehow finds new and exciting ways to self-destruct?" Hild replied, raising an eyebrow incredulously. "That doesn't seem very reassuring."

"Well, I'd rather not ruin the surprise just yet," Azrael grinned. "I would recommend that we sit back and enjoy the results of my little trick."

[OverMaster]

-Superman vs. Jack Stalwall: Thunder and Brightening-

Loki arched his thin eyebrows in an extreme, odd way as he saw the Texan teenager entering the ring. "That weapon he is using..." the Norse God darkly mused. "What manner of trickery is this...?".

"Intrigued by a weapon so similar to your nemesis', Loki?" the Phantom Stranger, sitting next to him as one of the fight's judges, asked evenly. "I can read your intentions from here. You should stay away from the boy".

The God of Mischief merely sneered. He obeyed orders from no one. After this fight was over, he would have a few words with that human about his choice on weaponry and how did he get it. Of course, it would not be an open confrontation; the foolish mortals reacted better when they were tricked into colaborating by their own will...

"Okay, Good Luck to both of you!! TEAM 'FANWARRIORS'! VERSUS!! TEAM 'SAVIORS FROM SPACE'!!" The referee began again. "FINAL ROUND! FIGHT!!".

As soon as the starting bell rang, Stalwall cut loose by raising his hammer and striking it down against the simulated jungle's ground, making it to explode in a huge column of dirt and unrooted plants, sending it as far as to the domed ceiling and taking the Metropolis Marvel by surprise, hitting him back. "THUNDER FURY!!" The Texan screamed. "It's time to pay the piper, Big Blue! My Sis will be avenged!!".

"Boy, he isn't taking it easy at all, is he?" Dorado asked the recovered Tiffany at the sidelines.

"Brother..." she joined both hands over her chest, gulping down. "Beware...".

As if confirming her fears, then, like a white and red bolt, the caped dog zoomed out of the explosion straight to him, snarling and growling. "OUTTA MY WAY, MUTT!" Jack yelled while he managed to swing his hammer in front of himself, hitting Krpyto across the snout and sending him flying to a side. "I want to deal with your master, not you!".

"Boy, he's strong!" Booster Gold let out a long whistling. "Not many could claim they could just batter Supes' doggie aside just like that!".

"Well, his powers appear to be magical by nature" Blue Beetle pondered. "Superman has always had an Achilles' heel on magic, so he could have a problem here".

"Boy" the Man of Steel floated down to meet Jack's hardened gaze with his own. "You... you are a fighter by nature, aren't you?".

"You betcha!" Stalwall snarled, gathering more magical energy on his hammer. "I may not be a big name like Metallo, Mongul or Brainiac, but I'll still prove you I'm not one to be understimated!". He swung with the weapon forward, only to have the Man of Steel sidestepping and eluding him easily.

Dammit. His main edge on me is his speed, Jack thought. With that, it doesn't matter how much damage I can dish out, if I can't hit him. I have to immovilize him with something...

He quickly turned around and won time by sending a blur of high speed kicks of his own to his chest. "DYNAMITE KICK!!" the spikey-haired blonde yelled, each kick exploding on the Last Kryptonian's chest like artillery, making him to grunt and back away.

But then, he noticed the caped man's eyes glowing red. And a ray of sizzling heat vision hit his hammer, knocking it off his hand, sending it careening towards the arena's limits. Loki's eyes shone with greedy interest as he saw the prized object sliding towards him, but he knew he couldn't claim it unless it actually came out of the squared circle.

Jack grunted. So that was his game, huh? Disarming him, taking his magical advantage out first so he could be dealt with a minimum of force then. Well, in that case, he was in for a surprise...

As the Kryptonian moved in for a merciful finisher, Jack, with a sly grin... pulled out another hammer. And swung it down on the nearby hero's face, making the ground below them to crackle and shatter, sending shockwaves through the stadium.

"Holy Mother of God!" Spider-Woman said as soon as the shakings finally subsided. "This is... brutal!".

Loki blinked in confusion. "There are... two of them in his power? What sort of foolishness may this be? Even Thor himself can wield only one!".

"However, those are not as powerful as the real Mjolnir, even combined" the Phantom Stranger pointed out. "Pay attention, foul one. Those seem to be some sort of derivate from a power akin to Mjolnir's, but not quite on its same scale".

"But still enough to hurt the Kryptonian with their magical energy..." Kaioh Shin added, pondering the situation thoughtfully.

"Good" Loki grinned in a twisted fashion then. "Thus, make yon bets, gentlemen... This game is just starting".

Taking advantage of Superman's momentary confusion, Jack extended a hand on his other, fallen hammer's direction and recalled it to his free hand. Now, it was the moment. The Superman was stunned and quiet at last. "MEL!" he yelled out. "ASSISTANCE!!".

"YOU GOT IT!" the eldest of the Kompsons nodded rushing into the Arena, and ran towards Superman preparing an attack while Stalwall did the same from the other side. "PIRATE LOWBLOW!!" the gator-man shouted while hitting Superman's stomach with all his might.

"HAMMER WRATH!!!" Jack shouted at the same time, jumping up and bringing both hammers down on the Man of Steel's head, lightning coming from the red sky, breaking through the domed ceiling, and hitting the superhero's body at the same time, making him to convulse and yell in pain. The whole public gasped in horror.

"Boy, magical weaknesses must suck" Dorado snickered, right before a chunk of ceiling falling down hit him on the head and knocked him down. "OW!!".

"Um, Dorado..." Tiffany sweatdropped, "You are under a magical curse of bad luck, so you are weak to magic too...".

When the noise and the flashes of light finally subsided, Jack stood there in front of the Man of Tomorrow, panting hard, spent by the effort, but smiling to himself. The figure in front of him was a battered mess by now, barely keeping himself on his legs. He had done it. Now he only had to finish it over with a...

But then, he felt the powerful chomp on his right leg, and the pain burned through his body intensely, almost bringing sudden tears to his eyes. While he had been distracted, Krypto had arrived on his master's defense, sinking his teeth deep into the youngster's leg. The rest of Team Fanwarriors gasped.

"Jesus!" Mel said. "Why did they have to allow using pets in the Tourney?!".

"If only we could have used Uckman in that manner here, too..." Dorado groaned, rubbing his pained head with a hand.

"Dorado, Uckman wasn't a pet, he was a teammate!" Tiffany chided him.

Jack shook the dog off him, but in that short time, Superman mildly recovered, coughing up some blood, but still willing to fight. He flew towards Jack at superspeed and punched him in the stomach, blowing the air out of him.

"I'm sorry, son..." the older man said, as Jack gasped desperately for air. "But, just like I told your sister, I have a world to save... In the end, this is all for your own good. Trust me" he asked, and then followed with a roundhouse punch to Stalwall's face, sending him down.

Once Jack hit the floor with a thud, Superman blew on him using his Freezing Breath, and froze his arms and legs against the ground to keep him there while the referee slided in next to him and started the countdown. An almost knocked out Jack weakly tried to struggle free off the ice, but he couldn't do it before the count reached Ten.

"Aaaaand the winner is... SUPERMAN, LAST SON OF KRYPTON, DEFENDER OF EARTH!!" The Tenkaichi Budokai announcer raised the beaten hero's right arm, and the public went wild with unlimited cheerings. On the bunker of Team Saviors from Space, Stitch, Jumba, Pleakley, Ayeka, Vash and reserve member Starfire all clapped in acclamation. "TEAM 'SAVIORS FROM SPACE' WINS!!!" the showman finished.

Superman, however, did not wave back at first. Instead, he walked up to Jack and freed his arms and legs melting the ice with heat vision. He then helped the reluctant boy to stand up, and smiled down at him.

"Good job" the Man of Steel congratulated him. "You really gave me one of my life's fights. You fought with courage, Jack".

At first, he was going to protest about that. But then he saw the bruises marks and bloodied signs on the big man's face, and nodded slowly.

"Thank you..." Jack finally replied. "I did my best...".

Superman then pulled him up and sat him down on one of his shoulders, and both waved for the audience. After some initial surprise, the public began to clap loudly for both combatants.


Elsewhere:

Lex Luthor stared at the huge screen in front of himself with a knowing smile. "I knew you would do it, Kryptonian" he said. "There was no way that novice could defeat you that early in the tournament".

"This means we still will have to deal with him later on, though" one of his allies sitting around him, Cobra Commander, reminded him, poison dripping from each word.

"Undoubtabely" Luthor smirked, crossing his hands in front of his face. "That is the idea, Commander. Precisely that is the idea...".


Next: Naruto vs. Harley Quinn- Tricks and Consequences!

[J Dog]

Losing Gracefully

"I can't... believe it..." Mimi said with tears in her eyes, after seeing Jack lose. "Jack... lost."

"Figures." Cosette said bitterly. "Nobody can defeat Superman. Speaking of which; you only won because the fight had rules. Had it been no-holds-bar, you would've been done for within 10 seconds. Got that?" All she got was a snarl from her rival.

"10 seconds, you say?" She observed Jack being carried back to his other members of his entourage by the Man of Steel. As soon as they got close, Tiffany hugged him on his leg. "At least you tried, brother." she weeped happily.

Jack nodded. Superman placed him down on a seat. "You did great for a kid. I'm sorry that you had to lose, but I have to advance forward in the tournament. I hope you have no hard feelings."

"I understand, Supe. But you didn't have to hurt Tiffany like that." Jack spoke quietly, for the injuries did take a slight toll.

"I believe you'll grow up and become a hero, just like me. With that, I think you might make a Wild-Card spot. Until then, I will see you again." He then turned and went to his other team, who was celebrating. I can't believe that kid had all of that. Before then, I only saw him after Tenchi got kidnapped, and I knew of little., he thought. I didn't expect him to be all of this. Then... He remembered that Mel had asked him to help out in the aide of rescuing Tenchi. He turned back and replied; "I see you got power, but I'm afraid it won't be enough to rescue Tenchi. I'll handle that."

Mel understood. Dorado than turned around. "Boy, Nabe isn't going to be happy that we lost. I mean, he's going to give us a royal beatdown!"

"I don't think he'll be able to do that, son. You don't understand people well." his father replied.

"DON'T UNDERSTAND PEOPLE WELL?!!!" Dorado barked with rage. "I UNDERSTAND-" A huge piece of the arena, which was damaged during the last fight, then fell on Dorado. "DAMMIT!"

"It's true." Tiffany told him. She turned to Jack. "Brother, I'm proud of you. You took on the strongest being on Earth and actually damamged him."

"And I agree with that as well." Mimi said from above, smiling as well. "You may have lost, but you probably won more than you thank. For one; you aided me and I was able to win."

Jack nodded and smiled. He suddenly got up, ignoring the injuries. "Oh yes! We may have lost, but it ain't over for all of us! We'll move on and get a Wild Card spot!" Jack, Tiffany, Mimi and her friends all agreed. Dorado, as he was getting out of the wreckage that had fallen on him, felt different.

"Can't we just not do anything. I need a nap!" He muttered, with bruises.

Cosette had disappeared from the arena after telling Tachikawa what she felt about the way their fight ended. But for what, exactly? As she left, she figured that she would meet her again, and possibly sooner.

**********

Suzu stood out and observed the main dome. "I still haven't beaten the man I was hired to kill. But I will find him. And then, I will defeat Vellinor myself."

With that, she disappeared, bent on finding Alaniel.

************

As Orion ordered, the body of Dr. Forrester was loaded into his warship and was subsequently thrown into one of the cells. Smiling, he left the area saying, "A fate that befits you."

Suddenly, a foreign intruder appears. He was a man who was covered in shadow that had a red tint around the edge of his body. A pipe was in his mouth, but he was able to talk regularly. He then appeared in front of Dr. Orion.

"Well done, Orion. You know, you have potential. Allow me to explain to you."

"Oh yeah?" Jules replied with startle. "Well, who the hell are you?!!"

"Me? Call me Father."

Next: Jack and Mimi train to the next level and Jules vs. Father

[OverMaster]

-Naruto vs. Harley Quinn: Tricks and Consequences-

"B-B-But that's impossible!!!" Asuka Langley Sohryu stammered with her blue eyes widened like saucers, staring into Rei's direction. "I thought she had been offed when NERV was taken over by the Angels!!".

"Ayanami..." Next to the German pilot, Shinji Ikari was pale, but at the same time, happy to see who he thought to be the pilot of EVA 00 alive and well again.

"Okay, maybe it's really her!" Asuka huffed, passing a hand over her own face. "But why is she hanging from the arm of, all people, that clown?! It doesn't make any damn sense!!".

Then Shinji gasping, remembering one thing. What Ritsuko had shown him and Misato shortly before disappearing. The tanks full with Rei clones. Although Dr. Akagi seemed to have destroyed them all then, what if that girl over there was one of those clones?

"I mean..." Asuka was babblering in the meanwhile, nervously gesturing with her hands, "Yeah, she was used to hang around a bastard like your dad, Shinji, but even he wasn't as bad as that Joker guy! And not only that, he couldn't be more different from Wondergirl there if he tried! What's going on here?!".

"Ahem" Dhalsim, another one of the Jury members for that battle, cleared his throat catching both youngsters' attentions back. "May I remind you your attention is needed to be placed on the Arena? If you have any personal problems, you can solve them later, but right now, our duty comes before anything else".

"Battle Stage # 461365-C" Washu's recorded voice blared again through the dome. "Peach Beach, Mushroom Kingdom". And with that, the ring morphed to become a replica of one of the Super Mario Kart cup circuits, a sunny coastline with salty air blowing in a cool, refreshing breeze.

"TEAM 'BAD GIRLS' VS. TEAM 'RELUCTANT HEROES'!" Mandy yelled through her microphone. "Round One! FIGHT!".

As soon as the starting bell rang, Harley's two hyenas jumped straight to Naruto, growling with raw ferocity. The young ninja merely grinned and disappeared in the thin air like a blur, with a slight puff of smoke, leaving only a log where he had been seconds before.

"Wh-what...?" the harlequin blinked, totally confused, while her pets also paused to sniff the piece of wood, whimpering in puzzlement. She looked all around herself, looking with her gaze everywhere. "Blondie-Boy? Hey, where didja go?! Fight clean, blast you! Getcher undeserved punishment like a man!".

Finally, one of the hyenas snarled and bit the log, only to have it exploding on its mouth, without seriously hurting it, but leaving it with a burnt snout and knocked down. As the animal fell down with a loud whimper and the other one ran away scared by the noise, Harley freaked out.

"LOU!".

The Joker then stood up. "HARL, YOU IDIOT! BEHIND YOU!".

"Huh...?" she blinked, but right at that moment, someone kicked her in the back and sent her down and rolling a few feet through the sands. "Ouch!!".

"Sorry 'bout that, Obaa-san!!" Naruto snickered mischievously as he jumped to her to stand over her, hands placed on his hips. "I promise I won't hurt you too badly, 'cause I don't like to fight women!".

"Save your concerns, little pest!" Harley jumped back to her feet swinging a huge mallet around, but Naruto easily ducked under it. "Be a dearie and stay quiet, willja? Big Sis Harl can't squash you if you don't help at least a bit!".

"Hnnh..." a vein bulged on Asuka's forehead as she watched on. "Crazy as a loon...".

"Her adversary isn't much better..." Shinji thoughtfully observed while watching Naruto laughing out loud dancing rings around Harley.

"Little Girlyman!" Quinn shrieked trying to hit him again.

"Fatass!" Naruto stuck his tongue out at her, this time jumping over the mallet.

"How do you dare!" she protested. "I'm as slim and athletic as a girl can be! Not that you could mind much, since you have all the looks of being into boys!".

"I like girls, but not old parrots in kabuki makeup!" the outrageous ninja yawned while sidestepping another attack.

"Hey Dad, that gal is outmatched, big-time" Rei XV pointed out at the same time as the Joker fumed angrily; first that stupid Scottman had dared to mock him, and now this. Bell and Goenitz, on the other hand, just watched quietly; Mara had gone to give Hild a report about the Chaos Gods' threats. "And you say she's your stalker or something like that?".

"Eh, she can be kinda useful at times... At times..." Joker grumbled, then shouted, "KEEP YOUR HEAD ON YOUR SHOULDERS, HARLEY! Swing a hit only if you're sure you can hit him! Otherwise, you'll only give him...".

He then had to see how Naruto punched her in the head, sending her spiralling down the sands again.

"... an opening..." Joker moaned. "Forget it, Harl. You might be fighting Belldandy herself now for all the difference it'll make".

However, his sidekick still refused to stay down, and lashed out with a few fast kicks aimed at Naruto, but they all save the last one failed. The one that connected merely made him to stagger a few steps back, rubbing his impacted nose, and he sneezed.

"Okay, Obaa-san!" he said. "Let's get over with this! RASENGAN!!". He created a ball of chakra energy in the middle of one of his hands' palm, and shot it towards the clowngirl, violently spinning her in the air, and sending her flying to the other side of the ring, where she fell down unconscious.

"And the fat lady sang" Joker crossed his arms and shook his head. "What a shame. Now everyone will think I associate with losers at each chance I get, only to make myself look better by comparison". He ignored Bell and Goenitz's angry stares when he said that.

One of her hyenas, the one that still wasn't injured, came to its KOed master's side, sniffed her fallen form, then sat next to it and howled sadly. Meanwhile, Mandy stepped next to it as well.

"And here it goes: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten" she counted quickly to get over with it as soon as she could, while Poison Ivy from the sidelines gave her a piercing glare that was ignored by her. "And it's decided! Uzumaki Naruto wins this round for his team!".

"Alright!" Naruto was greeted with applauses from the public as he gave them a pearly white-teeth smile and a thumbs up. "My way of the ninja succeeds again!!".

"Heh!" a soft female chuckle then came to his ears. He turned around to see Android 18 walking into the arena at an aloof, slow pace, casually brushing some blonde hair off her forehead. She smiled at him.

"Good job there, dear" she purred playfully. "Truth is, sometimes even I wish to give Harley a few good hits on that hard empty block-head of hers". She stretched and yawned. "Honestly, she can be sooooooooooo annoying at times! Still, you continue being our enemy, so... I'll still be cruel with you".

She assumed a battle ready, but relaxed pose, and invited him with a wink, "So, wanna come and play a bit? Let's see if you can find utter pain to be as enjoyable to receive as I find it to dish out...".


Next: Naruto vs. Android 18- Blondes have all the Fun!

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

Clash of the Titans, Part 1

“Man, this job blows!” Cyborg grunted as he searched through what had to be the thirtieth garbage can today. His optic scans showed the usual junk: candy wrappers, discarded bags and boxes, half-eaten food, and other stuff that made him want to hurl . . . .but no jewel fragments of any kind. “You sure that Anzell lady doesn’t have some kind of Shard detector device?”

“If she did, I don’t think she’d need our help, Cyborg,” Robin replied as he carefully looked around the park area of the Mugen grounds. This was one of the few places, Robin noted, that hadn’t been hit by the Orochi or zombie attacks, which was perhaps fitting, since its grassy lawns and small groves of trees made it one of the more aesthetically pleasing areas of the grounds. “All I know is that, from what Batman told us, it’s highly important that we find these Shards. And look on the bright side: at least we don’t have to work with that Constantine jerk.”

Far on the other end of the Mugen grounds, John Constantine suddenly sneezed. “F*cking Americans,” he muttered.

“Yeah, well, we must have covered, what, two-thirds of the Mugen grounds by now?” Cyborg grumbled. “I mean, come on, surely we should have found SOME of the Shards by now. Either they aren’t really in the grounds, or we’re simply going to have to wait until they start falling out of the sky – ow!”

Something small and green – and yet incredibly hard – fell on Cyborg’s head from the branches of the tree behind him. The Teen Titan looked up, and saw a chipmunk chittering angrily at having lost what it believed to be a very shiny acorn. Looking back down, Cyborg saw that the object was, in fact, a small green jewel shard that seemed to swirl with arcane power.

Both Cyborg and Robin went red. “Okay, that was just creepy,” Cyborg said.

“Yeah,” Robin muttered. “It fits the description though, so . . .“ the Boy Wonder flicked on the switch of his communicator. “Beast Boy, Raven, Terra . . . .guys, we’ve found a Shard in the park area.”

”About time,” Raven grumbled on the intercom. ”You won’t believe the weirdos and freaks I’ve been having to deal with down near the refugee area.”

“Yeah, well, we can trade fireside stories later,” Robin replied. “I want you guys to head down to the park area as quickly as you can: there might be more Shards here.”

***********

Triumvirate Labs, Nifelheim

“Hiya Doc!” Vellinor said cheerfully as he walked into the lab, seemingly ignorant of the loud, wailing sirens around him. “What’s the news?”

Desty Nova turned around towards his benefactor. “Lord Vellinor, it seems my new Shard detector is working perfectly!” the Tipharean scientist exclaimed. “It’s already detected a shard in the park area!”

The Trickster frowned slightly. “You sure it’s not a glitch? Or rodents? Or Naoko Akagi tampering with your equipment as a desperate cry for your attention?”

“Please, Lord Vellinor, give me some credit,” Nova replied as he began to munch on some flan. “Oooh, delicious . . . .ahem, it’s been finely attuned to the ion signiature of the shard fragments you gave me to test on, and in all previous experiments, it managed to detect them even across dimensional fabric. I am more than quite sure that this apparent shard the machine is detecting is, in fact, genuine.”

A pair of identical lovely girls, scantily-clad and each seemingly in their twenties and with cropped black hair, and a letter 8 and 9 printed on their respective foreheads, popped up from out of nowhere on either side of Nova. “Of course it is genuine, because Professor Nova’s genius is indisputable!” they both chimed in unison.

“Why thank you girls, it is so nice to be appreciated!” Nova said cheerfully, before bursting into his usual manic, high-pitched laughter.

Vellinor rolled his eyes. “Dude, you gotta seriously stop with the Washu envy,” he muttered. “I mean, it’s bad enough she has those creepy Chibis of hers: you don’t have to take it to the next level with a pair of hot, mature Alita clones.”

“Whatever are you talking about?” Nova asked, raising his eyebrows curiously. “Elf and Zwolf are my longtime assistants. And besides which, despite what I am sure you are thinking, I have only a scientific interest in the original Alita.”

“Riiiiiight,” Vellinor muttered. “By the way, what’s the latest news on Stenchi, anyway?”

“Oh, well, we are nearing the completion of the clone body,” Nova said as he munched his tray of flan. “As soon as Dr. Ikari gives the go-ahead, I will re-insert Tenchi’s recreated brain into his mind. Naturally, it has been nothing that my experience in the field of karmatron dynamics hasn’t been able to handle.”

“Sounds good,” Vellinor said as he idly poked a finger at the breast of a flirtatiously smiling Zwolf. “Hmmm, bouncy . . . . anyway, let’s see an overhead of the area you found the shard in?”

“Certainly!” Nova replied, tapping something onto his keyboard. A second later, an overhead screen showed an above view of the Teen Titans gathered in the middle of the park. Vellinor quickly noticed the small, green shard Robin was holding, and grinned.

“It’sh thoshe meddling kidsh again,” Vellinor said, imitating an agitated Sean Connery. He quickly pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number. “Hey Marvin? You’ve picked up those coordinates given by the Shard detector, right? Whoa, whoa, before you start moaning again, I’ll need you to send Team #4 down to pick up that shard, aaaaaaaaand . . . . .. oh, school those pimply little geeks. There, you may now resume moaning about how miserable life is.” With that, Vellinor closed the phone before the Paranoid Android could begin another tirade. “Showtime.”

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

*********

“So, what do we do now?” Beast Boy asked. “I mean, do we go find Anzell and give it to her, or what?”

“That would be a lot easier if you hadn’t lost her cell number,” Raven grumbled.

“Hey, for the last time, it was snatched by that crazy Excel girl!” Beast Boy protested. “When I tried to secretly snatch it back in dog form, she kept calling me ‘Menchi’ and tried to eat me!”

Well, I don’t know about you, but I think we should . . . . .” Robin paused, and suddenly became alert. “GET DOWN!”

The Titans instantly scrambled for cover, just as what appeared to be a minature jack-o-lantern landed in the clearing between them. A second later, the mini-pumpkin exploded, sending shrapnel flying everywhere – Raven managed to raise a shield just in time to shield herself, Robin and Terra, while Cyborg simply shielded Beast Boy with his own body.

Insane laughter echoed from above them over the sound of jet exhaust. The Titans looked up to see a stange, green-clad figure on some kind of jet-propelled board flying past them. “Trick or treat, children!” the Green Goblin exclaimed as he flew past, throwing another of his pumpkin bombs – Robin, Raven and Terra scrambled to avoid the explosion.

“Titans, GO!” Robin shouted – no sooner had he done so, however, there was a flash of blue light, and Terra was instantly encased in a solid block of ice next to him. Robin and Raven whirled around, and saw a bunch of newcomers standing behind them: the foremost was a tall man clad in an everyday dark jacket and cargo pants, with his head obscured by a strange red mask. Flanking him were a massive man with a balaclava over his head, wielding a crowbar, a teenage boy with sunken eyes, red hair and outlandish clothing, a man in full arctic gear wielding some kind of ray gun, and . . . . .. a small black and white cat?

“Hmn, they’re younger than the Titans I remember,” the man in arctic gear said – Robin quickly remembered him as Captain Cold, a regular enemy of the Justice League.

“Meh, they’re all losers anyhow,” the man in the red mask replied idly. He cocked his head to the side as he looked at Robin. “Who the hell are you, anyhow? You don’t look like that Grayson tool, and I don’t remember any of the previous Robins looking like you. Not that it matters: just give us the shard, and I promise we won’t cut you up into bite-sized pieces.”

Robin had no idea what the hell this guy was talking about, but wasn’t about to be intimidated. “How’s this for an answer?” he shot back, whipping out a boomerang and hurling it at the evildoers – only to watch as the masked man calmly caught it in midair.

“Pathetic, that’s what it is,” the man replied, tossing the boomerang aside. “But if that’s how you want it . . .. “ Instantly, the evildoers broke into a charge, and a battle erupted.

Robin and the masked man met head on and instantly began to trade blows. The leader of the Titans was quick to discover that this man was just as skilled as he was, and just as fast as well: the two fought in a blur of motion, punching, kicking and blocking in a flurry of martial arts moves. Further to the left, Beast Boy transformed into a rhino and charged headlong towards the big thug.

“What the hell is this?” the Wrecker grunted, calmly lashing out with his crowbar and smashing Beast Boy aside – the Titan was shocked at how strong this guy was, as the blow hurled him across the park and sent him smashing through several trees. “Can’t ya do any better, ya little punks?”

The Wrecker was answered when he received the full force of Cyborg’s plasma cannon in the chest. The big man grunted as the blast sent him staggering backwards – the Titan cursed when he saw that it had done nothing but singe him lightly. It was then that the cat – which appeared to be bipedal, strangely enough – leapt in front of him.

“So you’re a cyborg too, huh?” Kuro-chan smiled widely. “Well, all I can say, is EAT LEAD, TIN BOY!” With that, Kuro-chan raised his arm – which suddenly transformed into a gatling gun – and unleashed a storm of metal against Cyborg. The Titan staggered back as he felt the bullets bite deep into his metal body, but it was doing only superficial damage.

“You think bullets are gonna keep me down, pussycat?” Cyborg growled. His answer came when Kuro-chan’s arm transformed from a gatling gun into a missile launcher: the metal Titan didn’t have time to dodge before a missile slammed into him head-on, the explosion hurling him backwards and sending him smashing into a tree.

“Word of advice, kid,” Kuro-chan sneered. “NO ONE calls me pussycat!” The cyborg feline’s moment of triumph was cut short, however, when a blast of dark energy slammed into him and hurled him backwards.

“Normally, I like cats, but you’re an exception,” Raven muttered as she took to the air, swerving to avoid an ice-blast from Captain Cold. She was about to lash back at him with her magic when the Green Goblin came swooping at her on his skyboard, unleashing a pair of pumpkin-headed missiles at her. Raven cursed and raised a shield just in time, deflecting the missiles and causing them to explode harmlessly around her, before returning the favour with a dark blast that knocked the Goblin off his skyboard, which zoomed harmlessly past her.

Raven looked down at the fallen Goblin. “Not so tough without your board, are y—“ She was cut short when the skyboard suddenly spun around in midair and rammed into her from behind: the goth girl screamed in pain as she was sent plummeting downwards, hitting the ground hard.

“Hehe, never underestimate a Goblin, girlie!” the Green Goblin chuckled as he jumped back onto his board as it swooped low.

Gingerly, Raven tried to pick herself up – a second later, however, she felt the earth suddenly rise up around her: sand was suddenly closing around her, forming a tight, constricting bind that trapped her arms against her sides. Raven gasped as she felt the sand beginning to crush her as it pressed tighter and tighter. How the hell could this be? It was then that she looked up, saw the sunken-eyed teenager looking sullenly at her, and realized it was he who was manipulating the sand.

“Pathetic,” Gaara of the Desert said coldly. “I was hoping that you and your friends would be worth my time, but you aren’t even worth one speck of sand.”

“Think again,” Raven said through clenched teeth. Closing her eyes, she channeled all of her power outwards, causing the sand coffin to explode outwards. She quickly redirected her power in a single, dark beam that seared towards Gaara, who made no effort to dodge as the bolt streaked towards him . . . .

As the beam hit Gaara, he suddenly disintegrated in a shower of sand. Raven blinked, confused, before a massive fist made of sand suddenly slammed into her from the side, sending her flying backwards and slamming into a nearby tree. Gingerly, she looked up and saw Gaara standing in a completely different spot, unscathed.

“You can make sand clones of yourself,” Raven said through gritted teeth.

Gaara smiled faintly. “You catch on quickly,” he said. “You must realize, then, that as long as I have sand, I can do anything.” With that, Gaara unleashed another sand-fist at Raven, only for the sorceress to raise a shield which the fist smashed harmlessly against. Raven quickly took to the air, avoiding a number of sand-spikes which shot up from the ground under her – and was then forced to avoid another volley of missiles fired by the Green Goblin. It was two on one for her – three on one if Captain Cold got involved. Not good.

The battle between Robin and the masked man, meanwhile, had gone all the way to the tree tops: the two of them leapt from branch to branch with expert agility, striking and parrying at one another with blinding speed. This guy was good, Robin thought: his fighting style was remarkably similar to the various styles Batman had taught him. He might actually need help here.

“Not bad,” the masked man said, leaping back to an opposite branch out of Robin’s reach. “But not good enough, either!” With that, the masked man suddenly whipped out his arm and threw a number of projectiles at Robin. The Boy Wonder was quick to counter, drawing his staff and using it to knock the projectiles out of the air.

It was then, however, that Robin noticed exactly what these projectiles were: miniature yellow boomerangs, the exact same kind as the ones he used.

The shocked Teen Titan turned back to face his assailant. “Who are you?” he gasped.

The masked figure didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he slowly reached up and began to pull his mask off. Robin nearly fell from his branch when he saw a young face, about in his twenties, wearing the exact same mask as he was wearing.

“The name’s Jason Todd,” the young man said with a grin as he began to pull out a staff of his own. “But you can call me Robin.”

To be continued . . . .

[OverMaster]

-Blondes have all the Fun: Naruto Uzumaki vs. Android 18-

"Team 'Bad Girls'..." Mandy took in a deep breath, "versus Team 'Reluctant Heroes'... Round Two! One... two... three... Fight!" she finally said, then ran out of the way as quick as her short legs allowed her to.

Goku's eyes narrowed as soon as the fight started. "NARUTO!" he yelled. "Remember what I told you about her!".

"Okay, fine!" the young ninja instantly put his hands together, and split himself into four other versions of himself. "Kage Bushin No Jutsu!".

"Oh, how cute!" 18 smiled as the four clones surrounded her. "Which one of you should I hit first? Let's see..." Then her malicious little smile widened as she swung a booted foot right into the stomach of the real Naruto, hitting it like an unavoidable blur, making him to gasp long and hard in pain. "This one!".

"Dame desu !" From the sidelines, Kenshin gulped in surprise. "She guessed the right Naruto-kun... in only half a second?".

"That's right" Goku nodded, his normal cheery self replaced by a somber expression. "As much as I hate to say it, I don't think he really can do anything. The difference between them is too wide".

"You can say that again, Kakarrot" a darkly snickering voice came from behind them. Kenshin turned around to see another Saiyan standing there smirking, but Goku didn't bother; he had sensed the chi from his old enemy turned ally coming for a few moments now.

"Hello, Vegeta" was all what he said. "Have you been having a good time so far?".

The Saiyan Prince shrugged casually. "As much of a good time I can have with those goofs as my partners. What about you? You are teaching babies how to begin to become men, I see" he passed his gaze through a sweatdropping Kenshin and a huffing Thing, regarding them with little more than contempt. "Heh! I pity you".

He raised his gaze to the Arena, where the clones were trying a new attack on 18. Vegeta remembered his fight with Krillin's then future wife, where she had actually dared to beat him. Although he had been told this wasn't the same Android, but the one who came from the alternate Trunks' future... all the worst, anyway. "However" he added, "I have more pity for that poor fool now..." he snorted.

"Naruto Rendan!" three of the clones tried to speedblitz 18 by sliding to her and kicking her low, but she avoided each one of them, then knocked them all aside, making them all to disappear. She then kicked the last clone into nothingness, just as the real Naruto recovered wheezing from the huge hit he had taken.

"Well, now, kid" she cracked her fists together. "Don't tell me you ran out of steam so soon... a lady doesn't like that on a first date...".

"Shut up, you... you witch!" Naruto threw a barrage of shurinkens at her, only to have her blocking all of them using only one hand, easily. She then stretched and yawned, "So boring! I want more! More!".

"You want more?!" Naruto's eyes glowed on an angry light then, "YOU'LL HAVE MORE!!" He charged forwards, readying another shurinken firmly gripped in a hand, and rushed behind her. "Thousand Years of Pain...!".

Before he could sink the weapon into her behind, however, she spun around like lightning and kicked him again, this time in the nose, making it to break in a fountain of blood. The young Ninja backed away in pain, grabbing his injured face. "Aughh! You... you... why...".

"Naughty, naughty!" the artificial human shook a finger at him. "Trying to grab me like that, that isn't a gentleman's thing to do! I'm so disappointed on you...".

"Hm" Livewire smiled in her team's bunkers, watching the fight with an amused face. "Too much for Kidding Kid's good humor. Hey, Boy!" she called out mockingly. "Why aren'tcha cracking jokes now?!".

"Stupid..." Naruto groaned, seeing 18 doing her 'bored yawn' routine again. "Stupid bunch of witches... KENSHIIIINNN!!!! LET'S GIVE 'EM HELL!!".

"Understood, Naruto-kun!" his Striker rushed in as fast as he could, drawing his sword out; he knew he would have to bring on his best move from the start if he hoped to do anything against that woman. There was no choice. He would have to do it...

"Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu Ouki Ama Kakeru Ryu No Hirameki!!!!".

The Sucession Technique. The Hiten Mitsurugi ultimate move. If this didn't work against her, nothing he had would work. Cleaning his mind of all fears, however, the swordsman zoomed to her, the air booming around his quickly moving lithe body, the sword aimed for the goal...

However, before he could hit the first vital point on his opponent's body (although he was not even sure that would work in an artificial human), she simply, with a speed and power that went beyond anyone else he had ever battled before... stopped his sword with a hand, and flipped him over to knock him hard against the sandy ground. Then she grabbed his right arm, and, grinning deviously, with a devilish spark in her blue eyes, twisted it, enjoying the sound of the bones snapping. Himura gasped hard for air in utter pain...

... Just as an enraged Naruto jumped up high behind 18, his fury beginning to show the first Kyuubi symptoms on him. Taking advantage of her momentary distraction, he shouted a summoning.

"GAMA BUNTA! Ninpou Kuchiyosek!!!!".

The giant frog appeared on its master's call and it wasted no time in shooting a giant wind blast at the blonde woman. It hit her with all its might, but it barely made her to slide back, grinding her teeth together. And then she flew through the compressed air current, straight to Naruto, and punched him across the face with a haymaker that made the ring to tremble and shake, just as the boy began to activate his chakra to go into Kyuubi mode. It, however, wasn't nearly enough to make it against the sheer power of Eighteen's attack.

He flew to the other side of the Arena, knocked out, his face bleeding profusely. Himura watched in horror, while coming back to his feet, gripping his broken arm, how Mandy gave him the countdown to defeat. The public, save for a few, was similarly shocked.

Goku then gave the Thing a glare. "Hey, Ben... You don't have to fight her now if you don't want. If Kenshin can't act as your striker now, your chances...".

"You kiddin', right, Goku?" the Thing snorted gruffily, his blue eyes full of angry resolve, his massive rocky fists tightened. "There's no way I'll let dis to pass. Dis crazy broad hurts the kid and Kenny, she pays for it!".

"But you don't need to... You can leave it to me!" the Saiyan insisted. "She will--".

"Naw, Momma Grimm raised no cowards, Goks" the Fantastic Four member shook his head, entering the ring as Naruto and Kenshin were carried away to the Medical Wing. And he called out, "Okay, Toots, ya asked for it! I normally don't do dis to no ladies... but you'll be a lady the day I marry the Mole Man, so... It's Clobberin' Time!!!".


Next: The Thing vs. Android 18- What One Must Do.

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

Clash of the Titans, Part 2: Face the Truthiness

“What . . .. what do you mean?” Robin stammered as the two dueled in the treetops, their staves clashing again and again. “You mean you’re an alternate version of me?”

“Of you? Heh, that’s rich!” Jason sneered as suddenly spun to the side and kicked Robin in the chest, sending him flying to the ground. “In my universe, there have been other Robins than you, kiddo: you’re the alternate!”

Robin winced, but spun in midair to land crouching on his feet. “What do you want with the shard?” he growled, mindful that it was currently clenched in his right hand.

“Me? Oh, nothing,” Jason Todd chuckled as he leapt from his tree with a downward slash that Robin was forced to block. “The guy I’m working for, however, is a different matter. I mean, he only brought me back to life, so it’s only fair that I fetch this one little trinket for him.”

The two fought fast and furiously, their staves clashing again and again. “Why?” Robin asked angrily. “If you really were taught by Batman, then why resort to something like this?”

“Because I grew up and saw that the world wasn’t everything Batman said it was, that’s why,” Jason replied, ducking a swing from Robin’s staff and slamming the blunt end into his opponent’s face, before following up with a spinning kick into the chest that hurtled Robin backwards onto the ground.

“You see, you and I are different, Whoever-The-F**k-You-Are,” Jason said as he suddenly pulled out a pistol. “For one thing, I’m not squeamish about killing people . . . . .”

Elsewhere, things weren’t going well for the Titans: Beast Boy was receiving a pummeling at the hands of the Wrecker, whose insane strength and durability was more than a match for anything that Beast Boy turned into. Cyborg, meanwhile, was busy battling against Kuro-chan, unleashing his full arsenal against the little cybernetic furbull, only to have him dodge blast after blast.

“You call yourself a cyborg, you pathetic amateur?” Kuro sneered as he leapt over another plasma blast and hit Cyborg with a strong roundhouse punch that sent him flying. “Please! I deal with low-level losers like you all the time!”

Raven, meanwhile, was forced to fend off against the onslaught of both Gaara and the Green Goblin, dodging in midair as she desperately threw up shields against missile and sand strikes. On the ground, Captain Cold smiled as he lined up a shot on the unwary goth girl with his freeze ray. She’d make such a pretty ice sculpture, after all . . . .. well, until she fell to the ground and smashed into a thousand pieces, anyway.

Before he could pull the trigger, however, a small black object came whistling in from out of nowhere and knocked the gun from his hand. Startled, Captain Cold whirled around just in time to receive a kick in the face that knocked him out.

“Batman!” Cyborg shouted as he leapt back up to their feet. The Titans’ opponents were startled to find Team Light and Darkness come running onto the field, Dexter already suited up in his mecha armour.

Jason Todd whirled around, his face suddenly lighting up in a twisted grin. “Bruce! I was hoping you’d show up!” he shouted as he casually kicked Robin in the stomach and floored him. “That way, you can see this pathetic wannabe get his fill of lead!”

Batman’s eyes widened as he saw his ex-sidekick – who, against all reason, was alive once again – level the gun at Robin’s head. “Jason, stop!” he shouted, hurling a batarang to disarm him.

“Why should I?” Jason snarled, spinning to the side to avoid the batarang and firing a shot off at the Dark Knight, grazing his shoulder. “I mean, it’s only kosher, right? You killed me, and now THIS is what you’re get in payment!”

Robin’s widened at these words. “What?”

“Oh, sorry, didn’t Old Bruce tell you?” Jason sneered, spinning around and forcing Robin to avoid another shot. “During a time when I had conveniently come back to life, Batman decided he would rather spare the Joker’s life than mine! Yes, that’s right: he was willing to let a mass-murderer live rather than me, his old sidekick!”

“It wasn’t like that, Jason!”” Batman shouted, leaping in with a punch – Jason spun around to block, but was left open to a kick from Robin that knocked the gun from his hand. “You’d destroyed Bludhaven!”

The ex-Robin was unperturbed, his staff spinning and twirling in a defensive pattern as he fought both Batman and Robin. “And you think that’s an excuse?” he shouted. “Do you have any idea what it’s like to die, Bruce? Well, I do, AND I’M GOING TO SHOW YOU BOTH!” He pulled a knife free and slashed out wildly at Batman, slicing a deep gouge across his chest, before spinning around and kicking Robin in the face.

Elsewhere, Dexter’s battle suit came running up at full throttle and slammed a fist into the Wrecker. This hit was powerful enough to smash the supervillain back and send him flying through several trees. “How do you like, you neurologically-impaired Neanderthal?” the Boy Genius crowed.

“Hey kid, watch ou – “ Beast Boy called out, but he was too late: a pair of pumpkin missiles slammed into Dexter’s suit, severely damaging it and sending it staggering back. Overhead, the Green Goblin burst into maniacal laughter.

“Nice suit you got there, kiddo!” he shouted, pulling a pumpkin bomb free. “Mind if I blow it up?”

A second later, however, a swarm of chains snaked upwards and wrapped around the surprised Goblin, before hurling him off his board and hurling him across the park. The Goblin hit the ground hard – a second later, the area he had landed in was torn asunder by an explosion as his bomb went off.

“Dexter, keep the big guy busy!” Spawn shouted. “Venus, you handle the cat! I’ll take on the sand-freak!”

“Gotcha!” Minako shouted, leaping in at Kuro with a flying kick – Kuro reacted quickly, leaping out of the way and pulling a sword free. “Hey, that wasn’t very nice, Blondie!” he shouted. “Then again, you’re squishier than the cyborg kid over there, so stand still while I slice you to ribbons!”

“Not likely!” Venus retorted, leaping back to avoid Kuro’s sword-swing before hitting him with a crescent beam. Meanwhile, Spawn ran towards Gaara, chains and extensions of his own cape lashing out at the ninja – only for a sand shield to spring up to block them.

“Pathetic,” Gaara muttered, lashing out with sandy tendrils that forced Spawn to dodge. A second later, Raven swooped in, unleashing blasts of dark energy at the ninjitsu. Gaara, however, was suddenly surrounded by a miniature sandstorm that spun far to the side, carrying him out of harm’s way. “Doubly pathetic.”

The three-way duel between Batman, Robin and Jason continued, meanwhile, with Jason unleashing all of his pent-up rage at both his former mentor and this stupid little kid who was unworthy of the name Robin. “I’ve suffered nothing but pain and misery because of you!” he screamed. “For that, you deserve nothing less!”

“Do you think it was easy for me, Jason?” Batman shouted, ducking a knife-swing and sending a punch back, which Jason quickly blocked. “I wish I hadn’t done that, that I didn’t have to kill you, but I can’t turn back the clock!”

“LIAR!” Jason snapped, kicking Batman and knocking him back, before spinning around to block Robin’s staff-swing. “You chose to save the Joker, you bastard! You let him live! And now, because of you – because you would rather stick to your f**king “ethics” than do what you knew was right, the Joker has become powerful enough to screw up Existence! Way to go, Bruce!”

“Hey Todd,” Robin suddenly shouted, “you talk too much!” The Titan suddenly dropped a number of smoke bombs – a second later, Jason was surrounded by a pallor of smoke, his vision completely obscured. The ex-Titan screamed a curse, before Robin hit him with a devastating five-hit combo with his staff and finished with a leaping kick that hurled him into the treeline. Jason hit a nearby tree back-first, falling to the ground and weakly looking up to see Batman and Robin advancing on him.

“Hey Gaara!” he shouted. “A little help here?”

“Fine then,” Gaara muttered. A vein bulged on his forehead – a second later, a dozen sand-clones suddenly popped out of the ground around Batman and Robin and attacked.

“You’re dealing with US, remember?” Spawn shouted, lashing out with his chains and forcing Gaara to dodge – a massive sand-fist lashed out in return and smashed Spawn backwards. At the same time, another sand-fist shot upwards and forced Raven to shield herself.

“I’m getting tired of this,” Gaara muttered. The veins around his left eye suddenly bulged – instantly, Gaara was surrounded by a massive, swirling maelstrom of sand that engulfed him. Raven threw up and arm to shield her face as the sandstorm whipped outwards and grew in intensity. The Titan could have sworn that all that sand was beginning to take a physical form . . . . .

Raven’s suspicions proved correct when the sand began to form a massive, vaguely humanoid shape. Raven cursed: Gaara had managed to accumulate enough sand to create a monstrous outer shell for himself. She unleashed a dark bolt at the sand-monster, the blast tearing a huge gouge in the area just beneath the thing’s formless head. To Raven’s horror, the creature simply began to accumulate more sand to regenerate the damage, before lashing out with a massive, flailing arm that smashed into her and sent her hurling far across the park area.

“Okay,” Spawn muttered as he looked up at the towering, sandy colossus. “This looks bad . . . .”

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

The sand-construct turned around ponderously and lashed out with an extending arm at Spawn. The Hellspawn barely managed to dodge the attack, the sand-arm sweeping onwards past a park bench where a dark-haired man wearing glasses and a business suit was sitting, seemingly oblivious to the havoc around him until Gaara’s attack came within mere inches of crushing him.

The man leapt to his feet. “Oh no! I’m being attacked by a giant space monster!” he exclaimed. “I’d better use my lightsaber to kill it!”

Spawn watched in complete befuddlement as the man pulled a strange metal tube from under his suit jacket. A beam of blue energy shot out of the tube, stopping to form a humming blade of pure energy. A second later, the man leaped over another lashing sand-arm, the power of his leap propelling him towards the head of the monster. Spawn watched as more sand-arms lashed out to intercept the man, only to be slashed to ribbons by the deflecting lightsaber. Spawn was nothing short of amazed: who the hell was this guy?”

The man brought his lightsaber swinging down with all of his might as he hit the head of the beast, the energized beam plunging deep into the sand and instantly fusing it to glass with its sheer heat. A second later, gravity kicked in as the man began to plummet downwards, his fall causing the lightsaber to slice downwards across the sand creature, bisecting it perfectly. The man landed on his feet with catlike grace, then rolled out of the way as the sand beast suddenly exploded in front of him.

The shockwave rippled across the entire park, accompanied by a massive wave of sand that blasted outwards, turning the entire area into a miniature desert. Where the sand-construct once stood, there was now only Gaara, who was visibly shaking and even more visibly shocked.

“Im . . . impossible!” he stammered. “You . .. you defeated my ultimate technique!” With a cry of rage, he unleashed a sand-fist at the suited man – who stood calmly as the sand attack merely washed harmlessly against some unseen barrier surrounding him.

“Sorry, Mr. Enemy of Freedom,” Stephen Colbert said, “but your chakra is no match for the Truth.” With that, Colbert calmly raised a hand, and Gaara was suddenly hurled backwards by some unseen force, smashing hard into a tree and instantly blacking out.

Without Gaara conscious to control them, the sand-clones fighting Batman and Robin instantly disintegrated, leaving them to face Jason Todd. The ex-Robin glared at them with murderous hatred, before glancing back at the rest of his group. Gaara, the Goblin and Captain Cold were all out, and he doubted the Wrecker, Kuro and himself would be able to hold on their own against the combined strength of the Titans, Batman’s team and . . .. that lightsaber guy.

Jason turned back to his old mentor. “This isn’t over, old man,” he snarled, before whipping out what appeared to be a walkie-talkie. “Hey robot, get us the hell outta here!”

There was a brilliant flash of light, and suddenly Jason and his allies were gone. Batman glanced around the park area: the only evidence that a battle had occurred here was the countless shattered trees and the sand that covered the grass.

Stephen Colbert holstered his lightsaber and gave a dramatic posture. "My work here is done," he said boldly. And with that, he raised his arms and flew off into the sunset.

"You have any idea who the heck that was?" Beast Boy asked Cyborg.

"Not a clue," Cyborg replied.


Coming Soon: Lament of the Vampire!

OOC: In case anyone didn't get that, look up all videos pertaining to Stephen Colbert's Green Screen challenge:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GawL4XQNOTs&mode=related&search=

[OverMaster]

OOC: Sorry, but Android 18 vs. Thing will have to wait until tomorrow. I have been busy these last few days, and I have an important work meeting for this afternoon.

[KingEli]

OOC: Sorry, but Android 18 vs. Thing will have to wait until tomorrow. I have been busy these last few days, and I have an important work meeting for this afternoon.


Work is work. Making that money counts.

[T51R]

Same here; some of the projects are really catching up on me and it's getting bloody intense!:eek:

[J Dog]

Now that the fight has been finished, I'm glad to get back to the normal and I'm pretty much going to make a big Jack and Mimi arc soon. But in the meantime, I want Dr. Orion, fresh off defeating his archrival, getting into a heated argument with the pyrokenisis-wielding, Naruto-like mirroring enemy known as "Father" from "Codename: Kids Next Door", who's an intresting villain in a sense.

Though I'm not getting into that just yet. Give me until later on today or tomorrow.

BTW, Lord, cool fight involving Colbert defeating Gaara.

[J Dog]

Advancing to the Next Level- Part I

"So let me get this straight, and I'm kinda confused." Dr. Orion said to Father as he corrected his monocle. "I don't understand how you were able to get into this flying fortress."

"Simple matters; I can morph into any form and can fly, pretty much." Father calmly replied in his soft tone. "Anyways, I just wanted to congratulate you on your victory over Forrester."

Dr. Orion was even more irated by this; he never seen Father before, and what the hell was his connection to him? "Why?"

"That pencil-necked nuthouse with the possum hair and the elephant's butt face was the bane to all of the villains in the universe." Father said in a higher, more annoyed tone. "Putting him out pretty much earned you status as a villain. I'm here to congratulate."

"Of all of the cool villains out there, I get congratulated by a guy who has the abilities of the Human Torch, Naruto, and several others-"

"Yes, yes." Father said approvingly.

"Yet, he always loses to children!" Orion thundered. Father did not like the way that had ended and swallowed himself in fire (which is more realistic in MUGEN). His eyes were drowning in fury and rage.

"YOU CALLING ME A CRAPPY VILLAIN?!!!" Father yelled with disapproval and irritation. "I am NOT a crappy villain! Thanks to the multiverse, I don't have to worry about those snot-faced kids anymore; I now have bigger fish to fry!"

"I suppose that you don't need a skillet then." Dr. Orion replied with bad humor. Of course, this only made Father madder. And with each bad remark to his dignity, the flames increased, and so did the tone and pitch of his voice.

"Let ME get this straight; I came here to thank you for K.O.ing a bad villain, and here you are calling ME a bad villain?" He launched all of his fire at Jules in intense volleys, who was singed in it. "Not again!" Orion remarked.

"DOES THIS LOOK LIKE A CRAPPY VILLAIN'S MOVE TO YOU?!!" Father screeched as the fireballs took more heat and energy. Finally, the flames stopped and Father collapsed and he started weeping. "I just want more respect..."

Recovering from the fire that had given him a bad memory that he had almost forgotten, Orion turned to the bad guy. "Then why didn't you just say so? Look, I'll respect you IF you manage to defeat a hero in this multiverse. And I mean, A true hero!" He opened up a latch that created a vacuum that sucked Father into it. "Until then, try to avoid me; because I'll make fun of you."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Father said as he fell out of the ship. He would've fallen hadn't he known levitation.

"Got rid of that nutcase." Orion muttered bitterly as he went to the cockpit of the great ship.

******

Jack, still recovering from the beating he was given by Superman, figured that it'd be best to get a little medical treatment before continuing his training with Tachikawa. Being an admirer and the pupil of him, Mimi followed suit to the MUGEN Hospital after bidding a temporary goodbye from the rest of her teammates (she vowed that she'd be back as soon as possible). As soon as Jack got treatment, she would get some more skills, she thought.

However, that depends. As soon as Jack, and his sister, got treatment and given a medication or two, they left with Mimi waiting for him in the lobby.

"Hi, Jack!" Mimi smiled. "Ready for more training?"

"Uh, about that, Mimi. Before I do so, let me go check up on the condition of Seto. It's been a while. Wanna come?"

Next: Jack's checkup on Kaiba, and Father gets a taste of facing off against the Multiverse's heroes

[OverMaster]

-Android 18 vs. The Thing: What One must Do-

"Team 'Bad Girls'..." Mandy started narrowing her eyes dangerously, her cold voice barely above a hiss, loud enough to be heard, "versus Team 'Reluctant Heroes'... Round Three, Android Eighteen versus The Thing... One! Two! Three! FIGHT!" she finally declared, and ran away for cover.

Now or never, Ben thought as he ran as fast as he could towards the female, tightening his massive rocky fists. He had to try and hit her hard s much as he could from the start, before...

But then, she just disappeared from sight altogether, and a split second later reappeared behind him, punching him in the back and sending him flying high, then juggling him in the air with a few punches of amazing, bluring speed. The public stared in mute shock as she continued with it, until she apparently got tired of it and allowed a grunting Ben to fall down on the sand, bellyfirst.

"So sad" the vain android sighed, brushing some golden hair off her face again. "They gave me the ugliest punching bag they could find, didn't they? Didn't they think I deserved something better?".

"Actually, no, you don't" Grimm groaned hoarsely, using his hands to impulse himself back to his feet. "Matter o' fact, girl, ya don't deserve anything but a good lesson or two or three...".

"And you intend to deliver on it?" she sneered softly. Then smiled. "Okay, big guy... if I'm such a naughty girl, then punish me. Go ahead". She leaned forward, offering her chin for him. "Belt me a good one. It's free. Come on, show me yor stuff...".

He blinked, then scoffed. "Yer kiddin', right? Is dis some sorta sick joke?".

"No joke. For real". She held her chin a bit higher. "Come on, it's the only way you'll ever get a hit on me in this fight. Otherwise, you'll never even be able to touch me. Bring it on, Rocky!".

"You're mocking me!" the hero protested. "Tellin' me I can't punch ya if ya don't fully allow it?! Be serious!! Who d'ya think I am? A simple object of mocking for ya, child?!".

"Are you afraid of trying?" she chuckled. "Don't be shy! Give it a go! An opening is an opening, isn't it?".

"Okay, ya asked for it! Here's your first lesson in humility!!" He swung a huge stony fist into her jaw, already sick of her bragging and her inhumanity. It connected fully, and much to 18's surprise, sent her flying to the other side of the Arena, almost out of it if she hadn't stopped in midair and flew down back to the ground rubbing her pained jaw.

"That... that wasn't too bad, actually..." she admited, slightly thoughtfully. "You are way stronger than I thought...".

She then flew over his head as he charged in a stomp towards her, avoiding the new swing of his fists in her direction, and shot an energy blast out of the palm of her left hand into his head, knocking him down. "However" she continued ", that's all you have; nothing but brute strenght, with nothing approaching the speed and versatility needed to match me. At least the kid wasn't as much of a snail as you, old man". She then jumped down on him, burying him deeper into the ground with both feet. "Pathetic. You barely are worthy of my time".

Ben grunted, grabbed her by a foot, and slammed her against the sand as he struggled back to his feet, coughing. "Dat's quite a big mouth you have there, robot" he grumbled, trying to connect another punch, only to have her easily rolling out of the way, then taking it up to the air, floating above him. "And now, you're the one who's afraid? Why don'tcha come back down here and fight me face to face?".

"Do you REALLY want that?" she shrugged, then seemed to appear in another blur of lightning motion right in front of him, slapping him playfully across the face as she did so. "Deal. I won't embarass you further by doing you from above, since I'm in a very good mood today. We don't want the audience to think they..." she avoided another punch, and countered with two dozens of lightning blows in chain to the Thing's stomach, "... came here just to see a curbstomp, do we? Oh, what the hell. Yes, I don't care about it. The most brutal this stomp is, the better for me". She roundhouse-kicked him across the ring. "Had enough, Grandpa?".

"Like Hell I did" Ben stood up again, spitting some blood. "The day I surrender to some punkish whippersnapper like ya, it's the day I retire".

He tried to charge to her once more, but she ran behind him and kicked him to the other side of the ring, to rush there herself and kick him back to his original position, repeating the operation to start a game of kicking him back and forth from one side to the other, never allowing him a moment to defend himself. "How amusing!" she said while kicking him again. "Oh, if only 17 could be here! He loved this kind of games!".

Finally, with a stunned public looking at them, she stopped the cruel game and stared down at a fallen, battered and bruised Grimm. "Well, what do you say now? Ready to throw in the towel?".

"N-Never... t-to the likes of ya..." he moaned loudly, rising to his feet once more, dazed and weakened. "No way... I'll ever give ya dat satisfaction...".

"Hmph!" she frowned. "What a stubborn old ugly man!". She elbowed him in the face a few times at superspeed, then bombarded him... and the whole arena... with dozens of fireballs. "Go down, damn you! Go down already! You really are starting to annoy me with your refusal to see the truth!!".

She panted, more in frustration than out of any effort, and waited for the smoke to dissipate... only to see the Thing already struggling and getting back to standing again, on trembling legs, against any logics.

"Curse you!" she spat, her eyes widening in disbelief. "What are you made of?!".

"I told ya... I'll never... quit. As long as I'm alive..." the superhero told her, taking a clumsy step towards her. "Take it or leave it, kiddo, but don't hope it to be another way...".

"Stupid fool!" she passed a hand through her face. "Can't you see it? You have no hope at all here! You'll--".

"Hey! Eighteen!" Khalia then yelled at her from the sidelines. "Stop playing with him! Just dump him out of the ring and be done with it already!".

"What?!" the blonde looked at the Demon Goddess' direction, flabbergasted. "But that'd be so... anticlimactic! I want him to either go down for the count or surrender to me!".

"Forget it, he won't!" Khalia spat. "Don't you get it? He's too stubborn for it! It's better to leave it like that and preserve your energy for the next round, instead of wasting it on useless efforts with him!".

"I have infinite energy!" 18 protested back. "And besides--".

"And besides, if you continue with it like that, you'll only kill him, and get us disqualified!" Khalia cut her words short. "He'll die before surrendering! Just chuck him out and be satisfied with it!!".

18 hesitated, saw Ivy and Livewire nodding in agreement with their team leader's words, and groaned to herself. "Awww, you never are fun...". But then she obeyed, and speedblitzed Ben by tackling him and throwing him out of the Arena to his defeat.

"Ringout!" Mandy called out. "Android 18 wins this round again for her team!".

"Ben!" Goku rushed to his teammate's side, and put a Senzu bean on his bloodstained mouth. "Here, eat this. You did it good, friend. Good job...".

"Heh. Don't tell me dat, Goks..." the Thing smiled weakly before swallowing the magical bean. "I wuz lousy at it, I know... the Torch will never let dis slide when I go back home...".

"Nonsense" the Saiyan patted him on a shoulder. "You were as brave and impressive as the best out there. Rest now. I'll take it from now on...".

"Well, yeah, I guess. Give dat skank a few good slugs for us, okay?".

"Sure". Goku smiled, then flew to the ring, putting on a serious, angry face again.

Gero's android smiled at him. "So" she started, "we finally are going to go at it at last. I have waited so long for this...".

Goku grunted as he powered up. "Waiting long for a defeat? Wow, I don't know what to say. But that's right what you'll be getting now. Nothing but the defeat of your life, android!".


Team Latveria's Headquarters:

"Grimm, you fool..." Doom said in a loud, ominous tone. "As usual, your sad incompetence shines through. I do wonder, thought... where is the accursed Richards through all of this? Why is he away from your side at this hour of need?".

"I am more interested about his new teammate for the moment, myself" Kagato observed, also looking at the giant TV screen. "The android does not bother me that much... odds are, we might even use Magnus' powers against her if we ever have to face her. But that man... With the fabled power of the Saiyans... Perhaps there is a way for us to harvest that power for ourselves?".

"Bah!" Doom replied. "The abilities of that brainless ape are nothing compared to what I really am after, Kagato. The powers of gods themselves... to bring all of our enemies down as they deserve, forever, at last!".


Next: Son Goku vs. Android 18... and the Underground Tournament goes on, too!

[T51R]

~Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Inertia~


-Heaven-


“Man this sucks beyond sucking,” the Orochi spat as he left the smaller chamber adjoining the great hall. Since Aion’s betrayal and the Devil’s usurping his command of the Office of Area Reclamation and Redevelopment, everything had gone down the drain. In fact, the only thing that stood between a permanent seal and the Lunar Dungeon was his contract with the mortal boy, Morisato. That hadn’t helped much either; the Tribunal had petitioned the Almighty One for special measures to be enacted. Measures which entailed contracts being rescinded and the contracted Dieties being dealt with. Harshly. His fate had been made painfully clear; as soon as Keiichi Morisato could be contacted, the contract between them would be terminated by Act of Higher Authority, and the God of Destruction would then be sealed within the Lunar Dungeon indefinitely for accessing the material plane without the appropriate Licence level. “Shit.” He was at a loss; even though Destruction of the Endless had spoken on behalf of his Lieutenant, the Living Tribunal had over-ridden the petition for a delayed Judgement upon the Destroyer of Humankind.

Next to him, Wukong followed silently. If he could just…no, he stopped himself. Havoc was not the answer, Heaven was in turmoil as it was. The Council was split in its opinion as it were, half of it choosing to trust the Goddess from Evermere, while the other half opted to hold her in contempt. Even if he were to raise chaos in Heaven yet again, there was now something under the establishment’s command that possessed the capacity to stop him cold.

“HEY!” The God of Destruction turned towards the balcony, where a small group of Higher Beings were just standing, muttering amongst themselves and trying to decide what their next move would be. He pushed his way past Alaniel, while Wukong tapped at Nudoru‘s ankle with his Naibo, a signal that he was to make way.

“Asshole,” the God-Killer muttered.

“Pussy-whipped,” the Monkey King hissed back.

The God of Destruction shot his own Lieutenant a glare, silencing the both of them with a look filled with desperation laced with rebellion. He turned to Urd, who was leaning back on the balcony‘s rail while talking to Washu and Anzell. “Looks like Morisato‘s gonna have to go it alone. I just got canned.”

“Oh really?” the Norn smiled. “I guess your hot-headedness finally caught up with you then!”

“You‘re one to talk,” the Orochi replied. “Wasn’t it you who brought this thing here?” He thumbed back at Nudoru. “And isn’t it also your fault that that other one followed him here? Looks to me like we‘re in the same boat here, except you‘re getting off lightly because you‘re daddy‘s little girl.”

“Enough.” Rind spat from where she was discussing other matters with Alaniel. “If you have something to say, then be done with it. None of us here are interested in your banter, and if anything you‘re on borrowed time right now. If you have any information that‘s worth anything, then say it now.”

“All I was gonna say,” he flicked his shirt out from behind his belt and unbuttoned his coat, allowing it to fall loosely over his wide shoulders. “Is that I‘ve been officially declared without Office. And the LT‘s pushing for me to be sealed in the Lunar Dungeon right now. Don‘t think I‘m gonna make it back to Earth, so if you see Morisato let him know alright? Hey, can‘t blame a guy for trying, but this is outta my hands, after all.”

Washu tapped her finger on her chin, remembering all too well what happened the last time Beenuel, the God of Animals had taken the very same steps against the God of Destruction. “You know, that really doesn’t sound like you at all. I guess you’re thinking of something right now, aren‘t you? After all, it really isn’t like you to take things so easy. Especially not things of this scale, is it now?” Clever little witch, the Orochi thought to itself. Washu was always a sharp one, he had to admit that much. But her almost reading him like an open book was something new altogether. Her Science and Technology department had never taken much interest in his former Office, and it unnerved him to think that she could have been watching all along. “So. What‘s the plan?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he shot back, albeit rather quietly. “But,” he began to light up another cigarette, “everyone here knows that I honour my contracts, even if they happen to be with worthless, self-destructive mortals.” Anzell shot a glance towards Alaniel, who was by then seething with anger. Don’t do it, her eyes begged, there had been enough trouble already, and in-fighting would only serve to play into Vellinor’s hands.

“Hey,” Washu yawned. “You guys wanna take this somewhere else? I dunno about the rest of you but I‘m itching for some caffeine. Anyone care to join me?” She turned down the hall, got halfway to the great spiral stairs at their end and turned back to the little gathering. “Nothing like a little downtime to get things back in focus I always say. And the bunch of you have been going flat out for the last few days. Tell me that you don‘t need to sit down for just a few minutes.”

“Uhmm, not really,“ Nudoru muttered flatly, “I kinda got this…”

“WE DON‘T WANNA KNOW ABOUT IT!” Rind smacked the God-Killer on the head with the handle of her axe, Wukong’s Naibo landing on top of her own weapon, Urd’s broom on top of his, the Orochi’s wooden practice sword on top of that, followed by Anzell’s spear and Alaniel’s sheathed Katana, topped off with Washu’s slipper which sealed the deal, and splattered Nudoru’s head from wall to wall. Miso promptly sprouted from his back and held up a huge card with “death” written in Kanji on it.

“FATAL K.O!!!” the faceless monster boomed, only to receive the same treatment a split-second later.

“You got that right,” the God of Destruction flicked some ash over the pair of bloody corpses, then turned to Washu, who had met with her own sisters. “So, where‘s a good place for a guy to spend his last couple of days of freedom?” Tokimi signalled for his silence, and a few minutes later both she and Tsunami excused themselves.

“Sorry about that, we were talking about what‘s going on with Tenchi right now. Uhmm,” she thought for a moment. “There‘s one place that’s still open,” she held a finger up. “but its take-away only. Guess we‘re gonna need to find a place to get ourselves back together after. HEY! I know! There’s a spot near there where all the kids in Rurutie hang out, and they’re all under curfew right now so it’s gonna be all ours!”

“Great,” the Orochi sighed. “I‘m gonna be cooling my heels under a billion tons of moon rock in a couple of days and we‘re gonna hang out in a kiddie pool!?”

“Why not?” Urd snickered, “it might just help you get back in touch with your inner child.”

“Bitch.”

“Impotent.”

“Will the two of you cut it out?!” Washu slapped them both over the head with her slipper. “Loon if you‘ve only got a couple of days left then at least TRY to spend them gracefully?” she pointed the slipper she was holding straight at the Orochi’s face. “So, you coming or what?”

“Yeah, whatever. Could use a cup of joe,” me almost grunted.

Urd almost toppled over when her Herald nudged her, Nudoru finally coming back to life. “Hey. What happened to Bell? Thought the two of you were going to spend some time together. What‘s up with that? And where was she when the lot of us were in the council?”

“She received a summons from our Father,” the Goddess of the Past explained. “And it is not our place to question what the summons were about. Do not ask her about it if you see her either. Words from the Almighty are for those who hear them, no-one else.” She didn’t get a reply, instead Nudoru turned to the great gardens beyond the hallway. “Kaarage, what‘s in that head of yours? Speak up.”


“Kansai.”

“Huh?”

“Kansai. Nah, its nothing, he isn’t behaving normally is all.”

Anzell approached the pair. “Perhaps we should discuss this later Lord Kaarage, when we are once again in our right minds?”

“WILL THE BUNCH OF OU STOP CALLING ME LO…” This time, Nudoru found himself on the receiving end of a broom enema which ended up protruding out of his left eye socket. “Just call him Nudoru, or Nod.” Urd explained, “he‘ll get used to it eventually, but for now just call him Nod.”

“…oh,”

“I agree, and you have some explaining to do yourself, isn’t that so…Lady Anzell?” The Goddess of Evermere could feel the Valkerye’s icy glare burning a chasm into the back of her head. “Let us go then.”



-To be continued-

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

BTW, Lord, cool fight involving Colbert defeating Gaara.

If you thought that was funny, check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eNqFibM7Ig

IC:

A while later, the team that had been so recently thwarted in their attempts to capture the gem shard stood in front of Vellinor's throne, explaining their failure whilst fidgeting nervously.

"So, let me get this straight," Vellinor sighed. "You guys got your asses kicked by both Batman and his dorky friends AND by a liberal pundit?"

"Hey, I woulda kicked all their asses if only Martial Arts Boy didn't tell us to retreat!" the Wrecker scoffed.

"Yeah right, that green kid and the geek were pummelling you!" Kuro grumbled. "Too bad we had to leave: I would have loved to get that blonde's number."

With an exasperated sigh, Vellinor fished what appeared to be a paper list out from under his robes. "I'm feeling unusually generous today, so here's her number and the number of all her friends," he said. "Knock yourself out."

With a cry of "Boo-yah," Kuro immediately ran off towards the nearest phone. "What about us?" the Green Goblin asked. "You aren't going to feed us to that Rancor thing, are ya?"

"Nah," Vellinor replied nonchalantly, "I'm just going to give you all the stamp." With that, in a blur of motion, Vellinor whipped out a stamp and, in the blink of an eye, had stamped the word IDIOT on all of his henchmen's foreheads. "And don't even bother trying to wash that off, because it's waterproof," Vellinor said with a smirk. His smirk quickly disappeared, however. "Hey, where's Jason, anyway?"

"He told me he was going to go kill the Joker, and that he'd be right back," the Wrecker spoke up.

Vellinor's face widened with horror. All the other henchmen simultaneously sweatdropped. "He said what now?" Vellinor gasped.

The Wrecker raised an eyebrow. "What? I thought he was referring to that joker who came in and pwned Sandboy."

"He did NOT pwn me!" Gaara snapped, anger flashing in his eyes. "The next time I see him, I'm going to show him what I do to people who piss me of - -"

A roll of duct tape suddenly appeared out of nowhere and slid over Gaara's mouth, shutting him up. "On the contrary, my dear Wrecker," Vellinor said, "Jason meant the Joker, that ever-so-classy villain who killed both him and his mom and whom Batman spared whilst nearly killing him." The Trickster's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh crap . . . . if Jason kills Laughing Boy, Hild will never speak to me again! We must go stop him!" An insane glint suddenly lit up the Trickster's eye. "Then again, I'd like to see how the Joker handles this situation . . . and besides, I have other stuff to take care of . . . "

The Trickster pressed a nearby intercom. "Release the Dog Catcher," he said. "Those Team Fanfiction losers haven't been humiliated nearly enough . .. . "


******

Jason's eyes narrowed as he edged his way through the seats. He was unconcerned with the fight going on below -- just some blonde Supergirl wannabe beating up a giant dumb rock. Nothing he hadn't seen before during his time with the Teen Titans (the real Titans, not those underage imitations he had previously fought). His attention, rather, was focussed on the laughing, white-faced individual in one of the seats.

The Joker. The bastard who had killed his mom . . . killed him . . . .took everything away from him . . . . . .

Jason's fist tightened. From what he had been told, the Joker had just been given the powers of a demigod, which meant that actually running up to attack him would be out of the question. No, he'd have to do it the old-fashioned way: wait for something to divert the clown's attention, then go up and introduce his throat to his knife. An inglorious end to one of the biggest bastard's in history.

The ex-Titan smiled grimly to himself. He might wind up getting in trouble with whoever it was who the Joker was now working for, but what the hell . . . .the look on the clown's face when he discovered his own mortality would be priceless. With that, Jason began to edge his way closer to Team Nifelheim's seats, preparing himself for that one, crucial slice. .. . .

[OverMaster]

If you thought that was funny, check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eNqFibM7Ig

IC:

A while later, the team that had been so recently thwarted in their attempts to capture the gem shard stood in front of Vellinor's throne, explaining their failure whilst fidgeting nervously.

"So, let me get this straight," Vellinor sighed. "You guys got your asses kicked by both Batman and his dorky friends AND by a liberal pundit?"

"Hey, I woulda kicked all their asses if only Martial Arts Boy didn't tell us to retreat!" the Wrecker scoffed.

"Yeah right, that green kid and the geek were pummelling you!" Kuro grumbled. "Too bad we had to leave: I would have loved to get that blonde's number."

With an exasperated sigh, Vellinor fished what appeared to be a paper list out from under his robes. "I'm feeling unusually generous today, so here's her number and the number of all her friends," he said. "Knock yourself out."

With a cry of "Boo-yah," Kuro immediately ran off towards the nearest phone. "What about us?" the Green Goblin asked. "You aren't going to feed us to that Rancor thing, are ya?"

"Nah," Vellinor replied nonchalantly, "I'm just going to give you all the stamp." With that, in a blur of motion, Vellinor whipped out a stamp and, in the blink of an eye, had stamped the word IDIOT on all of his henchmen's foreheads. "And don't even bother trying to wash that off, because it's waterproof," Vellinor said with a smirk. His smirk quickly disappeared, however. "Hey, where's Jason, anyway?"

"He told me he was going to go kill the Joker, and that he'd be right back," the Wrecker spoke up.

Vellinor's face widened with horror. All the other henchmen simultaneously sweatdropped. "He said what now?" Vellinor gasped.

The Wrecker raised an eyebrow. "What? I thought he was referring to that joker who came in and pwned Sandboy."

"He did NOT pwn me!" Gaara snapped, anger flashing in his eyes. "The next time I see him, I'm going to show him what I do to people who piss me of - -"

A roll of duct tape suddenly appeared out of nowhere and slid over Gaara's mouth, shutting him up. "On the contrary, my dear Wrecker," Vellinor said, "Jason meant the Joker, that ever-so-classy villain who killed both him and his mom and whom Batman spared whilst nearly killing him." The Trickster's eyes suddenly widened. "Oh crap . . . . if Jason kills Laughing Boy, Hild will never speak to me again! We must go stop him!" An insane glint suddenly lit up the Trickster's eye. "Then again, I'd like to see how the Joker handles this situation . . . and besides, I have other stuff to take care of . . . "

The Trickster pressed a nearby intercom. "Release the Dog Catcher," he said. "Those Team Fanfiction losers haven't been humiliated nearly enough . .. . "


******

Jason's eyes narrowed as he edged his way through the seats. He was unconcerned with the fight going on below -- just some blonde Supergirl wannabe beating up a giant dumb rock. Nothing he hadn't seen before during his time with the Teen Titans (the real Titans, not those underage imitations he had previously fought). His attention, rather, was focussed on the laughing, white-faced individual in one of the seats.

The Joker. The bastard who had killed his mom . . . killed him . . . .took everything away from him . . . . . .

Jason's fist tightened. From what he had been told, the Joker had just been given the powers of a demigod, which meant that actually running up to attack him would be out of the question. No, he'd have to do it the old-fashioned way: wait for something to divert the clown's attention, then go up and introduce his throat to his knife. An inglorious end to one of the biggest bastard's in history.

The ex-Titan smiled grimly to himself. He might wind up getting in trouble with whoever it was who the Joker was now working for, but what the hell . . . .the look on the clown's face when he discovered his own mortality would be priceless. With that, Jason began to edge his way closer to Team Nifelheim's seats, preparing himself for that one, crucial slice. .. . .

OOC: Hey, Lord... can I handle this part from here, please? There are a few things I need to make before their confrontation, and it needs to happen after the current arena event is over.

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

But of course. Heck, I was actually expecting you to handle the rest of it.

[OverMaster]

But of course. Heck, I was actually expecting you to handle the rest of it.

No problem. Just checking out about it, then.

[OverMaster]

-Interlude: The Beat Goes On-

The Underground Citadel:

After some free time following the four way fight, some audience had gathered again around the ring to listen to the next public announcement. The fiancee of the referee and fellow co-worker now, a pretty young alien woman with long silky green hair and little horn on her head, wearing a tiger striped bikini and high boots, stepped into the ring with a microphone.

Ataru Moroboshi watched, with a slight frown, how Lum walked to the spotlight, and groaned to himself listening to the wolf whistlings and lecherous exclamations from some men in the crowd; Lum was always an attention-drawer like that, much to his annoyance. That, coupled with Ataru's own perchance to chase after other girls (he couldn't help it!, he thought. That was just his nature, plus, she was too pushy with him anyway!) had brought him several problems in the past, even recently (the punches he had received from Luchs and Zarabeth still had their marks left fresh on his face).

However, it was not like he had to worry for now; Lum always had one way or another to make others to respect her in the end.

He watched as her electric powers then zapped some of the most loud admirers in the audience, including Deadpool and even the Evil Tomoyo, with a deafening *ZAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!* sound. Then he sighed.

"Hello, ladies and gentlemen-tcha!" Lum said for the rest of the public after that, smiling widely, as if nothing had just happened. "My name is Lum, Princess of the Oni from Planet Uru, and I'll be your host here, along with my Darling, referee Moroboshi Ataru-tcha!!". She pointed into Ataru's direction, who only sweatdropped and waved weakly for the crowd.

Lum paused nodding in satisfaction as the applauses surrounded them, then added, "And now, we'll proudly announce the next four big battles, here at the Underground Arena! First up, in an hour, will be Marv from Basin City versus Mister Kho... Coh..." she read from her cue card, unsure of how to pronnounce it, "versus Mr. Conan the Barbarian-tcha!" she finally said. "After that, it'll be the turn of Miss Makoto Rindou vs. the star of wrestling Rainbow Mika! In the third battle, we'll be watching the mysterious Miss Zarabeth vs. Panther from Gartland-tcha! And after that, the scourge of Gotham City, the Killer Croc, will be taking on Dan Amabuki!".

"My name is Dan HIBIKIIIIIIIII!!!!" A shrieking female voice corrected from the fighters' bunkers, desperately. As you will remember, after being transformed into a Chibi by Excel Excel, the Master of Saikyo drank a medicine made by Cosette Sara, which only managed to turn him into a woman. Nonethless, Female Dan was now trying to make up for her... his... defeat at MUGEN, and she/he also thought he could find his/her pupil Sakura somewhere in there. So he/she had signed up.

On the seats of the Authors' Search Team, Miroku was attending to Tomoyo's new electroshock wounds, added to the ones she got in her four way fight. "I can't believe it..." the black haired girl muttered again and again. "First those two freaks beat me, and now this alien skank shocks me... The nerve of them...".

"You could've saved yourself from that if you hadn't yelled her to make a striptease, you know!" Nami scolded her.

"Hey, I thought she was going to!" Tomoyo protested. "Why else would she show up in that tiny bikini... showing off those long, lean legs... and all that cleavage..." she drooled a bit, now smiling dreamily. "Mmmmmm...".

Miroku fought hard not to drool as well at the thought, then cleared his throat. "Anyway, we are not here to fool around. We have jewel shards to find, remember? The sooner we start with our actual task, the better".

"Finally, we agree on something" Nami nodded. "What if we split in groups to cover more ground? Miroku-san, you take Tomoyo and search at the West side. I'll go with Skinner-san to the East side".

"Why do I have to go with her?" Miroku pointed at Tomoyo.

"Why do I have to go with him?" Tomoyo pointed at Miroku at the same time.

"Because the Authors left me at charge, that's why!" Nami stated categorically. "Now quit whining and let's go!".

Tomoyo moaned lowly, then brightened at an idea she just had. She had outlasted B.B. Hood in the fight after all, meaning she had won their bet. Now Hood would have to obey her at EVERYTHING she wished... not to mention, she could look for and find her Sakura-chan as well...

A small, creepy perverted smile passed through her lips, and she stood up. "Okay, what are we waiting for? For the adventure! For the thrill of the search! For the puss-- I mean, the purpose of our mission... Here we go!".

Miroku sweatdropped. Who did she think she was fooling? She surely was thinking about going girl chasing again...

Not that he couldn't sympathize with that, mind you.



Next: Android 18 vs. Goku, Team Beastmaster arrives to the Icy Cold Sphere, and Jason closes in!

[KingEli]

"Ah I see you have returned Thanos." Said Adam Warlock

"Yes, it was............interesting to say the least. But Enough of That have contacted the others?" Saif The Mad Titan

"Yes. But how are YOU going to get them on your side?"

"Think of it as this. They would rather join forces than be Destroyed So Easily even if it Means to join up with me Warlock."

"But of your current Alliance with Hild and this Vellinor. how do you know they are not trying to backstab you in the end?" Asked Adam

"Simple. They know my work and they know I WILL come after them and ruin their plans before they can take me out."

************************************************** *****


Asgard:

"But Father, how can we trust the Titan? He has battled you before and has many times Threnten all life!" Said The Mighty Thor

"Aye My son. Methinks this Crisis is more than meats the eye, but protect ourselves we may have to make a deal with a person who's more devious than any one in Hel.

"Well my Father we shall see.........."

[J Dog]

After getting beaten down by Dogbert's Saint form, Seto Kaiba was sent to the hospital by Monty Montahue, and was given a room in one of the wards for "minor injuries". He was pretty much bruised up and lied in a hospital bed, which may sound strange to put him in a Minor Injury ward.

Jack went into the room and stared at the guy who's ego matched Vegeta and Dr. Doom. Then he figured how much that ego was damaged because of Dogbert's thrashing. Netherless, Jack figured that it'd be best to tell him that Dogbert got the royal smackdown. Of course, Seto was still able to monitor the fights, and had this to say.

"You lost to Superman... didn't you?" He muttered. "I knew it."

"Oh yeah?" Jack replied with a twitch in his eye. "Well, I gave him the run for his money. I would've won hadn't the dog been involved." Jack paused for a brief moment to regain his confidence. "But that was the past."

"Heh. Figures." Kaiba grinned. "Well, you still lost. And that makes you a third string fighter, which is what you'll always be." However, he was scared when Jack brought out his hammer.

"Third String Fighters don't last long against the Man of Steel!" Jack snarled bitterly. "I figured that you'll always be the same." He left the room, but not before saying, "Get better."

Waiting outside was Mimi and Tiffany. "Okay, guys. Now that we got him out of the way, we might as continue our training." He turned to Tachikawa. "You may have beaten Cosette, but that was because of the fair-fight rule. I want to make sure that you'll beat her in a fight styled like the MUGEN battles in the Domes. Can you handle that?"

"I guess so." Mimi replied simply. "After all, you got me here anyway."

"Yeah, I did. Let's get out of here and head to the training grounds for a little pracitce. Tiffany, we need to work your magic skills a bit, too."

All three headed off to the training grounds.

[OverMaster]

-Arrival-

"Maaaaaaa, now this is bad..." Honey Kisaragi complained as she continued walking on, with Aki Natsuko at her side. Her shoulders were slimped down, and her expression spoke volumes about her current mood, so unlike Aki's serious, no-nonsense straightface. "For how long have we been walking now...?".

"The walking, I don't mind" InuYasha snorted, leading the march through the barren wastelands. "What I really want to know is, where is that damn Xellos?! He said he would be coming with us to challenge that Akira freak, and now he pulls his annoying vanishing act again, just like that! Not that we need him at all, of course, but...".

"Xellos-san..." Kagome mused quietly to herself, sitting on one of Juggernaut's massive shoulders; she had grown tired of pedalling in her bicycle a hour ago, and the giant had allowed her to travel the rest of the distance to the Icy Cold Sphere sitting on him. She had a thoughtful expression on her face. "Guys... sometimes, don't you feel something... strange about him? Like he's hiding something from us...".

"You think?" the dog-demon boy huffed with dry sarcasm. "I mean, besides the fact he always answers to everything with 'It's a secret', and is away more than half the time?".

"I'm serious, InuYasha!" she shot back. "I don't feel like it's a mere mystery... I think it may be something beyond that. These last few days, you know I've felt like a... dark omen... about him. At first, I thought it was just because of the upcoming doomsday, but the most I think about it--".

"-- then the most you what, Miss Kagome?" Xellos asked, appearing floating behind her and taking her by surprise.

"KYA!" she shrieked. "Don't do that, please! At least give a warning before just popping in like that!".

"Now, now, where would the fun be in that?" the priest shrugged, smiling. He needed to have some fun at others' expenses to cool off his anger at Vellinor.

"It was time you showed up, Xellos" Ryouga groaned, marching right behind InuYasha, never taking his eyes off him to use him as a reference point to prevent getting lost during the march. "What the hell were you doing, anyway?".

"And no Secret-reply this time, please!" Aki stated categorically.

"Ahh, nothing that must concern you" the purple haired man tried to wave their worries away. "I was just making some small business deals with a rival party. That's all".

Team Beastmaster looked at him with distrust for a few moments, before Juggernaut broke the silence by asking, "Anyway, where are we going to get to that famous Sphere you told us about? Feels like we're just walking in circles around nothing but devastation here".

"No joke" Ryouga looked all around; it was all rubble and ruins where Tokyo had once proudly stood. Gray ashes covered the wreckage of broken buildings, and the stench of the promptly, hurriedly buried around them filled InuYasha's nose. "This is all so... depressing. I had never seen such a carnage, such a butchery. Don't tell me that Akira did this!".

"Actually, no, this is the Kaiju's handwork... or pawwork... clawwork... tentaclework... whatever" Xellos replied. "Several of them have passed through this area, although always keeping themselves respectfully away from the Sphere itself. Even they fear the power of its resident".

"For real?" Honey asked with wide eyes. "Is he so powerful, after all?".

"We all saw what he did to Basin City. You tell us" Xellos reminded her. "He may be willing to anything... and have the power to back up his actions. That's why I am here with you. Without me, you would be lost against him".

"Hey! I resent that insult!" InuYasha barked.

"Said by the boy who lost to a simple vampire" Xellos replied quietly.

"HEY! He was FAR from being a 'simple vampire', as you put it!! I'd like to have seen you trying to fight him!!".

"He would have been no match for me..." Xellos declared, rather matter-of-factly.

"I doubt it very much, Nancyboy!!!".

"InuYasha, stop it!" Kagome commanded. "Fights between us will only harm us all!".

"My question is still unanswered!" Juggernaut cut in. "How much more do we have to walk to get to that damn Sphere?!".

"Ohhhh, just, let's see..." Xellos rubbed his own chin thoughtfully, then pointed at the spherical domed metallic shape appearing in the horizon, around which several refugee camps stood. "I'd say 'five minutes' could be a good bet, Mr. Marko!".

"Ah, finally!" Ryouga said, tightening a fist. "Now that bastard finally will pay for all what he has brought to this world!!".

But then, an arrow flew to the Sphere's inside, landing in front of them with a loud explossion. Honey jumped to shield Aki with her cybernetic body, just as InuYasha, Ryouga and the others were all momentarily blinded by the flashing boom. When they regained sight moments after that, they saw a group of unknown figures standing at the Sphere's entrance. A green clad archer with a goatee. An attractive blonde woman clad in black with fishnets on her shapely legs. A red tall android with a long cape. An armored man wearing a red Superman cape. A tall and skinny man with greasy black hair, who grinned goofily at them. And three flying girls, a redhead, a brunette and a blonde, who looked no older than 13 years old.

"Stop. Right. There" the archer commanded in a loud, gruff tense voice.

"You are the guys from Team Beastmaster, right?" the floating girl with short black spiky hair and the giant mallet asked, narrowing her big green eyes.

"Yeah. And who the hell are you?" InuYasha gave a defiant step forward. "Don't tell me you're Akira's flunkies!".

"Hey, make no mistake. We dislike that jerk a lot, as no doubt you do, too" the mallet-girl quickly replied, "But still, you all are a worse threat than him. So, either go back RIGHT NOW... or else you'll regret it!".

"Us? A threat?" Ryouga blinked, confused.

Xellos smiled. "Pay no attention to her, Mr. Hibiki" he asked him. Then he called out, "Hey, friends, we only want to talk with Akira, and issue a formal challenge for him. That is all".

"Akira-san can't fight for now" the blue-skirted petite blonde of the local group said then. "Please, don't make us to fight you. Go back to where you came from, and try to help others like we are helping people here!".

"I am afraid that... just cannot be, my dear" Xellos' smile widened, as he shook a finger playfully at her. "We came here for Akira. And we are not going to leave without having defeated him, one way or another... even if it means passing through you!".


Next: Android 18 vs. Son Goku- Sparks will Fly!

[T51R]

~The Hunger…Part VI~




“You should go back to the grounds ahead of us,” Ryuho pointed into the distance at where the tip of the MUGEN arch shone just above the trees in the distance, between the hills. “Since you are unable to perform your Alchemy without your arm, it would be best if you went ahead and told the doctors that more injured are on the way. We will not be able to move quickly, at least, not as quickly as you will be able to alone. If those creatures did return, we would then have to protect you as well as the others.”

Edward had been more than surprised by the request; he had been caught completely unprepared. In truth, it was more like an order than anything else. “And what about her?” he asked the taller man. Why does Lina get to go along and I have to hoof it all the way back to where we came from alone?”

“Because,” Ryuho explained, “even though she cannot walk yet, she is still capable of casting her magicks. She can still fight, even if it is in a smaller capacity than before the two of you fought. This is not the time for personal gratification, Full Metal. This is the time for decisive action. For every moment we delay, the chances increase that not all of us will make it there. Please be quick, and if you can try to arrange for help to meet us halfway.”

“Yeah, yeah. I got it already.” Ed spat; they were just brushing him off, and he knew it. “Geez.” He turned and left for the trees in the distance, along the stone path that led to the road; the quickest way back to the Tournament Grounds. In the distance, the bridge across the little stream was still battered, even though the wreck of the back van had been removed hours before.

“You sure you wanna let him of all people handle that?” Lina turned to the man with dark green hair. “Because I don‘t know what‘s worse, he and those barbarians he calls his team-mates, or those damned things we just saw. By the way what the Hell were those, anyway?”

“They said on the radio that they are dragons,” Ryuho replied, the leaves on the trees next to them ruffling as Kazuma cut loose yet again in the distance, another Shell Bullet finding its mark on some poor unfortunate who had decided that his own justice preceded common sense and dignity. “They say that these creatures awakened some months ago, and nested under the Earths crust in underground caves. They only just recently found their way to the surface, and when they emerged…they began to feed. North and South America are fighting them off, but they‘re about to have even more trouble; satellite images have placed several other monsters crossing the ocean headed their way. Observatories around the planet are picking up more and more lights in the sky, and they don’t know what those are either. We have no idea what‘s going on, only that if there is such a thing as the End of the World, then this is truly it.”

“I see,” Lina muttered.

“And yes, I do trust that boy. For you see, I once did unthinkable things as well in the name of a cause that wasn’t mine. And we can only hope that he makes those same discoveries about himself before it comes time for him to fight again.”

“You don’t get it,” she locked eyes with the Alter User. “You weren’t in that ring with him. It was as if he wasn’t even human anymore. The way he was fighting me, it was like he‘d become some wild animal or something!”

“When I first met Kazuma, I thought of him the very same way. In truth, if anything he was wild. As wild as they came.” He nodded to Kaname, and the group of the injured began gathering up their things. Onizuka refused the stretcher that Murai and Kekuchi brought to his side, saying that Urumi should have it. She had been toughing it out for the last few days, and they were close enough that he felt she should take it easy for the last leg. “In fact, when we first met it was as enemies. He was a Native Alter, and I was part of an elite force called HOLY. I captured him, he escaped, and what followed were a series of battles between us. To be completely honest, before I understood him and everything he was fighting for…I wanted to destroy him. With every fibre of my being, I wanted to destroy him.”

Lina found herself unable to speak.

“However,” Ryuho continued, “something happened. And it was then that I realized that I too am an Alter User. No matter where we may have ended up, Kazuma and I are the same. However, our paths had set us at each other‘s throats. Do you understand what I‘m talking about, Lina?” He turned to wards the group, all waiting in single-file with a good amount of space between those able to walk. Ryuho signalled for them to begin moving out, and they trudged past the pair. “Lina, you will take the rear guard since you can reach further than we can with your spells. If that is okay with you, then I will take the point while Kazuma stays in the middle. Expect to hear complaints; he feels that he should be on point. However, he has no experience in formations.”

“Yeah but where is he?” the sorceress mumbled, scratching her cheek.

“He will be here,” Ryuho turned to leave. “Kanami will be with you, so there is no need to worry. However, pay attention to what she says. Her Alter Power is the ability to see into the thoughts of others, and if she suspects something, be prepared.”

“ALRIGHT ALREADY,” Lina bellowed, as gentle hands began pushing the wheelchair she was sitting on forwards. “Huh?” She looked up into tender brown eyes filled with both hope and determination. “You‘re..Kanami, right?”

“Yes!” the polite girl smiled. “Miss Inverse, are you ready?”

“Ready as I‘ll ever be.”

In the distance, from the front of the line, Ryuho’s voice called for the pair to keep pace.


Next…Ed meets Kazuma, and becomes the first fighter still in MUGEN to see the world outside!

[T51R]

~Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Inertia…Part II~



-Heaven-



The aroma of coffee beans and the soft clink of glasses mixed with the smell of tobacco from the corner seats. Everyone sat quietly, absorbed in their own thoughts. Rind eyed Anzell and Alaniel with suspicion; the pair being that close unnerved her. If anything she thought, she was probably using Alaniel to worm her way into the establishment. And if what she had said when the Council was in session was true, then she needed something to fall back on. If anything, he was it. Across the way, Urd and Washu murmured quietly between themselves while Rind turned and listened intently, the pair taking cautious looks at the trio smoking quietly in the corner: the Orochi, Wukong and Nudoru puffing away non-stop.

“What I don’t get,” the Valkerye whispered to the Chousein, “is that if this Kansai is so damned powerful, then why is Anzell still alive? We‘ve seen what he can do, for that matter why is the Earth still in one piece? It‘s something that I just thought about, perhaps there is something here that we are not seeing?”

“Kaarage was saying that the other one wasn’t behaving normally earlier,” Urd answered while Washu brought up her laptop, making sure that Alaniel and the Goddess from Evermere were too caught up with each other to notice. “I‘m waiting for the bunch of them to finish up before asking him what he meant by that.”

“He is your Herald isn’t he,” Rind’s featured began taking on an expression of dissatisfaction. “Order him to drop what he‘s doing and attend you, then!”

“Look, I‘ve had that numbskull looking over my shoulder for the last few days and if anything I‘m just glad he’s doing something else right now. By the way, aren’t you even the least bit happy that Anzell‘s alive to begin with? I mean, if she made it out then maybe these things aren‘t really all that; if she lived through a fight with a NODE then…”

“Excuse me, but if you two lovebirds could join us back here for a moment?” Washu called to the pair who had shifted themselves to the end of the table together with their drinks. “If you don’t mind of course. There‘s a few things I need to talks with you about. Alaniel, be a dear and get the rest of the delinquents will you?” she smiled sweetly. “Thank you!” She smirked as Alaniel rose from his seat, grumbling to himself. “I love how Special Ops boys just hate to take orders, don’t you?” the Chousein chuckled, and her face all of a sudden grew deadly serious. “Rind, if you have a question for Anzell, then now‘s the time. I don’t want for there to be anything left between the two of you, especially if the time comes when all of us are gonna have to stand shoulder to shoulder against that monster.” The Valkerye shot her a dirty look, looked over her shoulder as the men returned to the table. “Break‘s over boys,” she called to the Orochi, Wukong and Nudoru. “Time to talk shop. Rind, you wanna go first?”

“Washu, some things are best…”

“Rind wants to know why you‘re still alive,” the Chousein cut in, pointing a finger loosely at Anzell. “Anyone else who might have an answer feel free to chime in, capeche?” She looked across the table at the God-Killer, who was busy filling his cup with sugar. “Hey! HEY! You’re supposed to drink your coffee with the sugar not the other way round! And I don’t want you dying from Diabetes while we‘re doing this, so put that thing away and pay attention!”

“Alright already!” Nudoru almost yelped, while the Orochi and Wukong started snickering at their little inside joke.

“Anyway, before we go any further let‘s all of us have a peek at the fight in question. Hot off of Yggdrasil‘s data files, so you might not see things as they actually were.” All present gathered around the smaller table as Washu turned her laptop around to face them, and the screen projected itself into the air before them. All of them watched the battle between Vellinor, his associates, Team Nifelheim, and Team Skuld. “Pay close attention to Anzell in the background; you won‘t see what she‘s fighting but you‘ll realize that she‘s fighting something. This is confirmation that she fought an entity almost identical to Kaarage here and lived through it.”

“What the f*ck!?” the Orochi spat; on the screen before him was the Goddess of Evermere, just as Washu had said. And just as she had said, there was nothing on the receiving end of her blows and stabs. “You shitting me or what, looks like a freakin‘ dance to me! Ey!” he turned to Anzell. “Why the heck were you dancing on your own when everyone else was throwing down? Too good to get your hands dirty or…” Washu turned her laptop towards Nudoru, and a smaller screen came up beside the footage of the larger one. He made several hand gestures, including flipping himself the golden digit just to make sure what he was seeing was in real-time. “Bullshit! What the Hell are you!?” the God of Destruction spat at the thing beside him; on the screen, the chair and place next to him were empty even though to his eyes they were occupied.

“That’s what I‘m trying to tell you Orochi,” Washu explained, “now keep watching.” Silence filled the air for a moment, and the footage began to slow when Anzell began to charge the Solar Cannon between her outstretched hands. “Now. Watch carefully what happens to the beam.” They did, and Rind was the next to speak.

“It looks like…a person is standing there…”

“Kaarage, explain this.” The Chousein commanded. Beside her, Urd’s glare compelled the God-Killer to obey.

“That‘s the F-PAK, or Field-Phase Avionics Kit at work,” Nudoru answered. “It‘s a single local warp of the Wave, Kansai literally bent the coding of this particular Reality and its Tangents around himself, basically creating a Trans-dimensional and Trans- reality conduit.”

He stopped when Washu held her had up, signalling for his silence. “Now Rind, its your turn.”

“What I want to know is,” the Valkerye began. “Is how you eve managed to survive a fight with this…thing. There is no reason to not believe that it wasn’t doing battle without your death as the desired result, is that not true? Then how, if I may ask did you manage to…”

“DAMMIT, WOULD IT HAVE BEEN BETTER FOR YOU IF SHE HAD DIED IN THE FIGHT!?” Alaniel shot to his feet, as did the Valkerye opposite him. Both of them grudgingly sat back down when Washu shot them both icy stares. “My apologies, Lady Washu.”

“Now,” Rind cleared her throat. “Please explain exactly why it is that you‘re still alive, and here among us.”



~Next...revelation!

[J Dog]

Jack and Mimi to Level 2- Part 1

As soon as they went into the training grounds, Jack searched for the melee dummies for usage for the first part of new training. He was able to find one, but it was worn and pretty much had parts that were about to fall off even if the impact was Homer Simpson trying to punch a fly from "The Homer They Fall". Of course, Jack took this "thing" with him and placed it in front of his sister and his new friend/trainee.

"Couldn't find a better set." Jack grinned weakly as he placed his shoulder down on it. Whatever little force it could hold didn't stay there, and the entire piece of garbage for fighting equipment fell apart. He turned around, and a giant sweat drop fell from his face.

"Um, how am I going to fight it like that?" Mimi asked, confused. Figuring out quickly on what to do next, Jack immediately replied, "Uh... no. We're not. Let's focus on speed for now."

"Let me guess; you have to be faster than your opponent on foot." Tachikawa replied. "I'm guessing that's what it is."

"No, it's not. Though you are right partially." Jack admited. "Sorry if I busted your logic a bit."

"No worries." Mimi smiled. "I'm always ready to learn, now that all these weird things have happened to me."

"Alright, then. First up, you have to be fast physically. That was what you understand, but you also have to be fast MENTALLY! To do that, you have to figure out what he or she is going to do and counter it."

"Easy, but I can't read minds." Mimi told him. "How do I figure out someone's moves?"

"Obviously, they have clues. You know, facial and body expressions. Movements. What they say. There are many ways. That's the part that dosen't need much. The hard part is combating it."

"In other words; you have to react to their skills." Tiffany told her.

"Yeah. Since that piece of crap won't work, we'll have to do it the old way. Tiffany! Orange me!"

Tiffany replied by throwing an orange to Jack. Confused, Mimi asked about it. Tiffany then told her that she had it with her the whole time.

"Okay, I'm going to do something, and you have to avoid this fruit, got it?" Jack asked Mimi.

"Sure, but-" Jack then threw the citrus with Mimi offguard and hit her in the stomach. Some juice squirted out and splattered all of her shirt, and even reached parts of her hat. "Aw, man! Look what you did to my shirt!" she yelled with annoyance.

"Sorry, but that was the whole idea; avoid it or else get splattered."

"Um, this may sound kinda odd, but when may I use my suit?" she asked.

"Obviously not here. But there will be a few parts where some padding is required in the event of a goof."

"I see." Mimi then looked down on the ground. "You ruined the orange, by the way."

*******

Micronesian Island

"Defeat a hero, defeat a hero, defeat a hero..." Father muttered as he wandered around one of the islands near the current positioning of Orion's dreadnaught. "I have to defeat a hero so that I can become one to fear by all. Can't go to that STUPID Mugen Tournament, or else that flying guy in the cape is going to crack a few bones. Can't take on an army, obviously. There's gotta be a hero somewhere that I may take on, and there has to be one!" A light flashed over his head. "I GOT IT!" He lifted up into the air and headed off in the direction of Mugen, despite the fact that he feared getting pounded by Superman.

"I'm not getting Superman, but rather a weak team. I know; those Expendable... ah forget them. They'll die the moment I heat up to 115 degrees." He went back down onto another island.

"This new universe sucks." he graons to himself. "And where can I get some rocky road?" Realizing that he is by himself, he questions his sanity.

Next: Part 2 of Mimi's new training, with a twist

[OverMaster]

-Android 18 vs. Son Goku: Sparks will Fly-

The tall, spikey-haired man's face continued being unsually grim and stern as he faced the petite blonde woman standing at the other side of the Arena.

"Hey there, Son Goku" the alternate 18 smiled softly, brushing some hair off her forehead again. "I have been dying to meet you in a combat for years... You know, in my world, my brother and I killed all of your dear fighting pals, or at least alternate versions of them. Even Veggie over there" she pointed into a watching Vegeta's direction "had his clock cleaned and his tomb made. Even the alternate version of your boy Gohan..." she purred teasingly, narrowing her eyes to add to the effect. "He screamed a lot...".

Goku didn't even flinch. He just patiently called out, "Miss Referee. Can we start right now?".

Mandy approached at a steady, never nervous pace. "Fine with me" she shrugged. "Okay! Team 'Bad Girls' versus Team 'Reluctant Heroes', Round Four! Android 18 vs. Son Goku! One, two, three, FIGHT!".

She quickly slipped away while both fighters took it to the heights in a flash, immediately starting with a furious exchange of close range kicks and punches, so fast that it seemed like lightning moves to most people below, nothing but flashes over them.

"What's happening up there? I can't see them!" Asuka Langley complained.

"Neither can I" Shinji blinked. "Wow, this is unbelievable!".

"They are just warming up" Dhalsim stated, even his trained eyes having great difficulty to follow the combat. "Truly, they both are great warriors, and yet, one of them is the clear superior...".

"You mean the blonde, right?" Asuka asked. "After seeing how she stomped the other three members of his team, I think she can take this one down as well".

"You should learn not to jump to opinions like that, Miss Soryu" Jason Blood, free of his demonic Etrigan form for now, puffed on a cigarette at the other side of the Judges' seats. "Just wait and watch".

Finally, 18 quickly flew back away and joined her hands, using them to shoot an energy blast at Goku. He teleported out of the way using his Instant Transmission, and then reappeared right behind her and punched her in the neck, sending her flying down against the sandy ground.

"Whoa, Clyde, he's hardcore!" Lobo told Vegeta. "Not the fraggin' wimp you told us he was!".

"Meh. Kakarrot usually is a spineless wimp when it comes to dealing with women, Czarnian" the Saiyan Prince replied with a snort. "However, this one has made it personal by hurting his new friends. When Kakarrot takes something as a personal matter... his Saiyan blood fully shows up. Never forget that. It might even save your neck in the future, Lobo".

"KAMEHAMEHA!" Goku then shot his patented huge chi wave down at her, and remained floating over her as the smoke cleared out. When it did, she stood up, coughing, her face full of dirt.

"Okay... You seem to be more of a challenge than they were, I'll admit it" she said. "I see the legends about you didn't exaggerate. However, as big as your powers are now, I also have been powered up by my superiors...". She bombarded him up with several energy blasts in rapid succession; he dodged most of them, but a few hit him shaking him off. "And I haven't been the only one! LIVEWIRE, NOW!".

"Allright!!" the electric villainess and enemy of Superman zapped out of the Girls' bunker like living lightning, and flew to the Arena at nearly lightspeed. "Finally, a piece of the action for me! EAT VOLTS, SUPERSUCKER!" she madly laughed as she also shot a barrage of lightning bolts at him, trapping him between her attacks and Eighteen's. "It'll be a hot time in town tonight!".

"AAARRRGGHHHHH!!!" Goku yelled in pain, but then powered up, his battle aura shaking and bouncing the attacks off him, as his body muscles bulged, his hair grew spikier and blonde, and his eyes turned green.

"Man!" Lobo said. "He also can do that Duper-Saiyet thing too!".

"Of course he can, you fool!" Vegeta snarled. "I told you he is a true Saiyan, even if his rank is inferior to mine!".

Livewire chose to retreat back when Goku shot her an angry, intense stare, and then refocused his attention on Eighteen. He flew down to her, so fast that she couldn't move out of his way in time, and kicked her to a side. She screched to a halt as best as she could and tried to rush at him for a counterattack, but he easily blocked her with an arm, then punched her in the face.

She stumbled back, then lashed out with a new punch. He ducked it, and punched her in the throat. She retaliated by hammering down on his head with both fists. He kicked her in the chest.

The shockwaves of the fight sent tremors all across the dome. The public watched on with wild horror and morbid fascination.

18 tried a discharge of speedblitz punches to his broad chest, managing to rip his shirt open, landing hundreds of hits on him, stretching herself to her limits. She hadn't expected him to be THAT tough. Even now, as she continued machine gun-punching him, she noticed she wasn't even making him to bulge back, as he just held on his ground stubbornly, and looked like the only reason why he wasn't moving out of the way was because he didn't want to bother with it.

Finally, he simply grunted, "Super Saiyan, Level Two", and a new, wider and bigger power aura deployed around him, knocking 18 clear out to the other side of the huge ring, making her to roll through the sand. His hair was even spikier now, and his muscles had grown up in size as well. A mighty frown crossed his features as he rushed to her, readying a fist, bringing it back ready to impact. "IT ENDS NOW! TAKE THIS!!".

"..." 18 barely could blink, before the fist, charged by an energy way above her level, hit her squarely in the face, sending her out of the squared circle and clashing against the Jury's seats, knocking her down and out. Asuka shrieked and Shinji gasped as they backed away to save themselves from the collision, but once the commotion passed, they cautiously followed Dhalsim and Blood to the fallen fighter's side.

"Looks like she's done to me" Jason Blood calmly commented. Dhalsim nodded in agreement, and so the Gotham City demonologist turned to Mandy and announced, "We certify it! She is out of the fight! Son Goku wins this round!".

The crowd exploded into a million of cheers. After witnessing the android's cruelty to the other Reluctant Heroes, they had been hoping for something like that, and they now embraced the alien warrior as a new big hero for the tournament.

He was smiling at them, his expression softened to its usual self, when Khalia entered the ring at a slow, regal pace.

She clapped a bit, softly. "Bravo, bravo. Congratulations, my fine fool" she said. "Finally, someone other than Ifurita that will be able to give me a fight. However, ultimately, you are doomed as well".

"Hey, we'll see about that" Goku turned to look at her, still smiling confidently.

"Yes, we will see I am right" the Demon Goddess smiled back. "And then, you will be ready for your place at the dark halls of the dead. It couldn't happen to a better guy...".



Next: Reluctant Heroes vs. Bad Girls, Finale. Son Goku vs. Khalia.

[J Dog]

Jack and Mimi go to Level 2- Part II

Getting the hang of Jack's "Orange Barrage" quickly, Mimi suddenly notice that she was getting a tad quicker with her wits; a welcoming change to her off-realizations of reality before.

"You know, Jack, this isn't as bad as I thought it'd be." She said while ducking and weaving. Palmon was impressed by this as well.

"Doing great, Mimi!" the Digimon of the Digidestined of Sincerity said.

"Thanks!" Within a few minutes, Jack was fresh out of citrus to strike with and was pleased with the results of training.

"Well I'll be..." Jack smirked with pride as he came to shake Meems' hand. "The girl that was described as a ditz has ascended to a level that surprises even me."

"Um... Jack." Mimi asked, breaking the brief silence. "I just want to know; how do you feel about losing to Superman?"

Jack stared at her like she had asked a big question. But, at least he had something to say.

"Mimi, it didn't feel good, but I got over it. Besides I was able to deal damage, which is something that is hard to accomplish. I thought I was going to win, but..." He stopped for a moment, which concerned Mimi.

"Why?" Mimi then asked with concern.

"Simple logic; it was luck. You see, while skill is required, sometimes you may rely on dumb luck to succeed. It may sound amatuerish, but at least it works like a charm." Jack then smiled. "I ran out of luck back there, I guess. But it never matters. The only thing I'm worrying about now is helping you out any way necissary. Got that?"

Mimi nodded. "I do so. So what's next?"

************

"There has to be a way to become a TRUE villain." Father pondered as he was on that island. He then figured that you don't have to take out a superstrong hero, but one with not many powers. He now knew what to aim for, and headed off to MUGEN.

Next: An uninvited guest to Jack and Mimi's training

[T51R]

~Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Inertia…Part III~



“I cannot say,” Anzell whispered while deep in thought; until then it had not come to her mind that her opponent was depending on physical combat. “Wait.” She pulled herself together. “Lady Rind, may I ask why you suspect me so? Have I not already proven myself as an ally to the Council, and to Heaven?”

“What are you basing your accusations on, Rind?” Alaniel eyed her cautiously.

“I know for a fact that this…creature, or whatever it is has more than simple blows in its arsenal, Lord Alaniel. And I for one wonder why it is that it did not do more in its efforts. By right, it should have done far more damage than simply…”

“I HAVE HEARD ALL THAT I COULD CARE TO!” Alaniel boomed, the others at the table jerking themselves upright in shock at the Demi-Angel’s outburst. “Is it so wrong to have triumphed over such odds and escaped? Can any one of you tell me that? How is it wrong to have overestimated this being, believing it at first to be some threat that nothing could possibly counter? My Lords and Ladies we have seen with our own eyes today that it can be beaten back, we have seen with our own eyes that it can be bested and that it isn‘t infallible. We can win this, we just need to find out where it is and its weaknesses. It has to have a weakness, otherwise Vellinor would never have bee able to gain control over it, doesn’t it stand to reason that if we find the Catalyst that he used…”

Washu didn’t speak, instead she simply turned her laptop towards him and began a replay of her earlier combat test. “This is what one of them is capable of,” she explained as Alaniel watched the thing on her screen tear through all twelve Zodiac Knights, shattering their Kameis and almost obliterating the flesh beneath it. “I can’t explain what happened on the grounds, but…”

“He‘s fighting hand to hand,” the Orochi deadpanned. “Geez, I can’t believe this shit. Take a freakin‘ look here, the ONLY damned ranged attack either of them threw was Anzell‘s! So you gotta ask the question,” he began lighting up another cigarette, right there at the table. “exactly why was it fighting hand to hand when it had the option of just filling the whole damned area up with shrapnel? If it‘d done that it‘d have taken out three teams at once.” He turned back to the display, looking between the laptop screen and the projected image. “I take it the only ones here who‘ve done plenty of scrapping at the base level are me, Rind, Alan over there, Wukong and ‘Nod? Look, that was a straight fight, no powers. Just the nitty-gritty. Fists, feet, whoa…” he watched as on the screen, Anzell was propelled towards the roof. “…and knees. So either that thing wanted to know what it was like to throw down human-style, OR there‘s something else going on.”

“The Earth,” Anzell whispered. “That‘s it! The Earth itself!”

Urd stretched herself, and then turned to her Herald. “Kaarage. Earlier, you were saying that Kansai wasn’t behaving normally. I think that now is a good time for you to explain what made you say that,” she began tapping her finger on the table.

“I was gonna say the same thing that he did,” Nudoru thumbed towards the God of Destruction. “Anyhoo since he already said it then,” The rapping of Urd’s fingers on the table turned into a shrill squeak as she dug her nails in and raked them through the polished veneer. “Uhmm, right. Like I said while we were at Dan‘s trailer, every one of us has the same basic offensive and defensive options. And from the looks of that,” he pointed at the laptop’s screen, “he isn’t using all of his combat options.”

“Well we‘ve established that much,” Washu turned the panel towards herself, and began pouring over the data from the last several weeks. “While I‘m doing this, Anzell why don‘t you go on? I wanna hear your theory too.”


To be continued....

[J Dog]

Jack and Mimi go to Level 2- Part III: Father Doesn't Know Best... Probably

Flying high over the Pacific Ocean and using his ultimate evil adult powers, Father nears Japan with intentions not to kidnap any group members of KND (like the last time), but to defeat a hero and get a higher ranking in the Fraternity of Evil People and, more importantly to him, Dr. Jules "Rivermen" Orion's respect. After all; the defeater of Dr. Forrester is one to look at.

"Let's see... there's got to be a bunch of weak heroes around here." Father said to himself as he saw the grounds in sight. "I really don't want to do this, but it's the only choice, I guess." The eyes around him became tiny slits as he discovered a patch of heroes he deemed "Weak Enough To Conquer".

"I FOUND SOME!"

What he was about to do may as well be the worst decision in his life (though not as bad as releasing Grandfather into the world), but he figured that it was probably the only way to go.

*******

Training Grounds

Jack and Tiffany begin a quick spar, since it was now her turn to train. Jack started by throwing an electrical shot at her, in which Tiffany blocked with a magical aura. She then fired a light beam at Jack, who converted his two hammers into a psuedo-shield and struggled to hold back.

"Thunder Wall!" He called as a wall of lightnings surrounded him and ate up Tiffany's attack.

"I didn't know that you could do that." Mimi said as she was watching.

"Just figured that it might work." Jack then told her. "I got all this power with Lightning Force, so I'm trying to use it in every possible way."

"It's true." Tiffany added. "He has a lot of that with him. It's just a matter of time until he completely unleashes it and shows his true powers."

"True... powers?" Mimi then made a dumbfounded face; this ISN'T Jack's true powers? Then what are they?, she thought. Then she looked at his face, who was a bit strained from the Thunder Wall, but had a bit of a grin.

"I understand that you are confused by all of this, Meems." Jack confessed, "But take into mind that everyone has untapped potential; You just gotta dig hard enough to find it, that's all."

"Gotcha!" Mimi agreed. Then, it started to heat up. "Is this one heckuva heat wave?" she asked.

"Heat... wave?" Tiffany sweatdropped. The four turned around to see Father, who was in a flame that surrounded his body.

"Kids... I guess I've picked the prime targets for my provings." He said coldly. His flames heated up. "And you're going to get it!"

"How the hell?" Jack said, pissed off. "What the hell have we done, you shadow-wearing wussy?"

"Nothing really; execpt for the crime that you will be my guinea pigs in my test that'll show everyone that I'm a true villain." The flames grew even hotter still.

"I figure that the four of us will have no problem taking this guy on." Palmon told Mimi.

"I dunno. He's a bit of a fire guy, so let's take some caution." Mimi then told her Digimon. "Of course, we will kick his butt!"

Next: Father vs. Palmon/Mimi/Tiffany/Jack- A bit one sided?

[OverMaster]

Sorry about not writing much lately, but I haven't felt too good these days. I should be posting the start of Khalia vs. Goku tomorrow, though, and after that, a Team Justice vs. Team USA prelude and the start of the new battle at the Icy Cold Sphere.

[J Dog]

I made a big goof: I was supposed to have Jack call Father a "shadow-wearing wussy", but I accidentally made it "dark-skinned wussy". I really am not racist, and I was worrying about this the whole weekend, so today I fixed the error.

Besides, Jack in Houston has friends of all varieties.

[OverMaster]

OOC: Still I feel not at a condition to post something really worth the time. I'd prefer to post the whole Khalia vs. Goku battle tomorrow if I feel better, and then move on to the story's next stage, rather than to post just a fight opening today.

Saint, Sandman, Golden, guys, you still alive? :p Sandman's team has the next turn at the Arena battles, and it'd be good to see some followup to the Alaniel and Boss' subarcs. It's been weeks...

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

That's alright: it seems that most of us have recently been bogged down by schoolwork and other projects as of late (myself included), so such delays are only too understandable.

@J Dog: Don't worry, I'm quite sure that no one interpreted it as a racist description, anyway.

[J Dog]

Team Stalwall vs. Father

"She's right, you know." Jack told the darkness-entombed being that was going to face off against them. "Besides, I doubt that even 50 of you could manage to defeat US!"

"50 you say?" Father smirked with glee. It was there that something was wrong with this picture; maybe Father had a trick up his sleeve. And he did.

"Prepare for a royal beatdown, kids!" He yelled as mirror images of himself formed all around the four, eventually surrounding them.

"I have created 200 versions of me!" One of them said with a booming voice.

"And now you have to battle us all! MHA HA HA HA!!!" Another yelled out.

"Damn! I can't believe it!" Jack snarled and clenched his hammer, preparing for the chance to beat up the Fathers. He then leaped into the air, and was soon met with a hailfire of fireballs sent to him. Immedately landing on the ground, he sent his hammer down onto the earth, causing a mini earthquake that shook the ground and created a crevice. About 10 of the Father mirrors fell into it.

"Took care of that one easily." Jack smiled as he lifted up his hammer again. "Ready for more?"

"Eat this, you punk! FIREBARRAGE!" was what one of them screamed out. Several of the Fathers then gone on the kamikaze and turned into gigantic shooting flames that went around Jack and surrounded him in a ever-heating crubicle of fire.

"I think you shouldn't underestimate us." One of the remaining mirrors said to Jack, who was sweating extremly.

"For that, enjoy being cooked." A second mirror then added. "I wonder what you'll taste lik-" He then disappeared in a pile of black smoke, as with several others, who were engulfed in a streak of white light. Jack turned to see Tiffany; the catalyst of this.

"Get out of the flames!" she yelled. Jack agreed and was able to jump out of the blazing furnace.

"Thanks, sis. Guess I owe you one." More of the Fathers then charged at the four. Preparing for this, Palmon had digivolved into Togemon, who begun her Needle Spray attack. As she had spun, the dart-like thorns pierced through the legion of shadows and took them out.

"That got rid of about 30 of them!" Mimi said to her Digimon. She turned to two more Fathers, who were charging at her. "Guess it's time for me."

Jumping into the air, Mimi would land behind the duo and give them her karate chop move.

"Mimi Chop!" She screamed as she instantly vaporized the two doppelgangers with her swift left arm. "Hah! Too easy!"

"There just too strong!" One of the clones told the real Father, who stayed back. "Is there any way to defeat them?"

"There is. But, it's a bit risky." He took a puff from his corncob pipe. "Oh well, when you are pushed to the wall, you have no choice but to push back."

Upon orders, all of the Fathers instantly fired multiples of their flames at the four. But Father forgot about Jack's newly-created Thunder Wall. The electrical wall was able to block out the multitude of heat, but it did take a toll on Jack, who slumped down to the ground. However, he was able to recover quickly.

The doppelgangers, on the other hand, weren't so lucky; for that attack, they literally gave up their existance. As the real Father was surprised, he was also annoyed.

"If those mes' had my wits NOT to surrender all of your energy on a piddly attack." He turned to the four. "Okay, brats! You may have won this round, but I'll win the next one!" While saying that, he created a flame-like version of the Destructo Disk (much like his father did).

"Oh, no you won't!" Jack yelled out as he fired an electrical shock. "A guy like you isn't going to lose against the Boy Who Nearly Beat Superman!"

"Call that a title? HAH!" But he wasn't laughing once the lightning bolts hit him and created an explosion.

"You... killed him." Mimi gasped. "Why?"

"I didn't kill him." Jack reassured her. "Look." When the smoke cleared, Father wasn't there, but rather, a nerdy-looking man who was gasping. Traces of shadow were all over him.

"Oh my." Mimi said, covering her mouth.

"Curse you." The man said. "Look what you done to me, Benedict Uno!"

Next: Why would Father want a better title in the first place?

[J Dog]

Admittance to being a "better" Bad Guy

"Aw, man! You stupid kids have done enough to me now!" Benedict stuttered and shook uncontrollably. "Things would have been better if you had just let me win."

"Hold it! Time out!" Jack yelled out and lifted his left hand up. "Back that up. What the hell do you mean by 'If you just let me win'?"

"Yeah. We can't lose to you." Mimi then added as she walked to Jack and hugged him around the waist. "That's just how it goes."

Benedict sighed. A million thoughts were going through his superiorly strategic-yet-weak willed brain. Most of those were bad memories, with the remained about how to feel about losing to these four. He felt completly inferior, for he may never become a true villain. Or so he thought. He confessed why he had done this.

"If you let me explain all of this, at least, maybe it'll give you some decent judgment about the shenanigan." He then started and flashback music played. We cut to a scene where he was 14, in a field, lost. "It all started back then. I was a young lad, who wasn't sure about-"

"Do we have to go THAT far?" Jack questioned with an "Are you nuts?" look. The music screeched to a halt.

"You kids don't understand how to observe a true story. Oh well, I'll cut to the chase." The music came back, but in the form of opera baritones (the generic kind that usually inspires an eerie feeling). "It was merely minutes before the universes of fiction and what was called "real life" combined into one Multiverse by the Supreme Goddess Belldandy."

********************

We observe the gigantic manor where he and his "children", The Delightful Children From Down The Lane, dwell. Deep within his control room, Father was playing the music in his organ-control board. He wasn't in a good of a mood.

"Stupid brats." He was bitterly saying through clenched teeth (of course, the shadows block his mouth). "I am the most evil being on Earth! How come I'm always LOSING to that stupid collection of meddling kids?"

It was at that moment where the dimensional shift had begun, and the earth around him was shaking. Suddenly, a bright flash appeared in front of him and swallowed him.

The next moment, Father reappears in the M.U.G.E.N Earth and falls straight into, of all things, a dumpster. Emerging from the filth, he pulls off a rotten-food holding, rain-soaked garbage bag from on top of him.

"Yeech." He pouts. "I haven't been here for 10 seconds and already I hate everything.

*******

"Exactly where is this going?" Jack asks the person who is Father about this Odyssey. "I got more training with these guys after this, so could you speed it up a notch?"

"Jack, I think it's best to hear what he has to say." Mimi reminded him. "It could explain everything.

Next: Father as the Villain in a World He Never Made

[OverMaster]

-Son Goku vs. Khalia: A Short Prelude-

Jason Todd narrowed his eyes, looking at the object of his hatred with a poisonous glare.

The Joker was stuffing his mouth with popcorn, giving his opinions on the fight to the little girl sitting next to him. Todd knew he had to get her out of the way before attacking the clown. She was a Superman level being, and he never would have any shadow of a chance against her, or even to sneak around her to get Joker.

Luckily, he had thought of a contingency to deal with her. As bitter as he was about the Bat, working with him had given him a much better sense of planning, of striking in unexpected ways, of solving problems that would stump any common human.

Soon, very soon, he told himself. As soon as this current battle finished...

"You two ready, then?" Mandy asked both Goku and Khalia.

"Yeah, all ready to go" Goku nodded, pulling out his Nyoibo magical staff.

"Same here" Khalia flexed her arms. "Give us the go-on, little fleshbag".

Mandy gave her a killer stare, then nodded herself. "Okay, robot" she said, the insulting tone just barely evident in her voice. "Team 'Bad Girls' versus Team 'Reluctant Heroes'! Final Round! Demon Goddess Khalia versus Son Goku! One! Two! Three! Fight!!".


Next: War Trumpets!

[J Dog]

"If you insist, let me finish the story, Rushy." Ben groaned after Jack asked him to speed up again. "Now, where was I?"

*******

Pulling himself out of the dumpster, Father walks down a boulevard. People were looking at him in either perplexion (to the humans, Father was the first in what was to come) or wondering when was the last time he bathed. Figuring to get a quick shower, and to wonder where the heck he is, he checked into a hotel. After cleaning up, he went back downstairs and asked the clerk about this place.

His responce; The Ramada of Greater Phoenix.

Father then asked what the year was. He got; 20XX (an undetermined year) as well as a snide remark. Finally, he asked what planet it was. He got Earth, and was asked if he was dropped here by Denebians.

One thing was certain, to him, and this WASN'T the Earth he was affiliated with. Almost everyone looks like they came out of a Japanese cartoon, he thought. He was also unaware that while some universes were sent in their entirety to form this new world, others only sent a handful of key figures. What happens to the rest is currently a mystery. Once he found that out, when the Tournament was forged, he was happy; No more Kids Next Door! But happiness deteriorated into pity and sorrow once he found out about other villains that could eat him for lunch. Magneto, Cell, and even Darkseid. Looking back, villains like the Toiletnator looked like fleas compared to them (and that's just being nice to the guy).

Luck has it that he found out about a place where villains could be reforged or created so that evil will, once and for all, conquer all good (the location and fact that almost all universes have converged added on to the importance of this). Taking a chance, he enrolled into the program. Within a matter of days, Father had learned new moves (such as the Destructo Disk-like move back in the fight) and figured out better ways to take on foes. Then came the Exam.

The Exam, in this case, takes in the form of a tournament-like battle in which the students took on one another to prove which ones paid attention or had more potential. Father easily took out his first opponent, Chameleon. But, the second round came, and he faced off against a mysterious guy who's face and arms were lathered in bandages, sans his left eye and his hair, which jetted up into the air and was as black as night with a bluish tint on the left of the style. He was wearing business attire, as his suit was royal blue. Understanding that you shouldn't underestimate your opponent, he proceeded with caution.

However, he forgot the other rule (which was taught during an emergency visit to the restroom) that you shouldn't OVERestimate your foes, either. Granted, this guy wasn't the Anti-Monitor, but he had enough to prove his value. He took advantage of Father's George McClellan-like attitude and easily dispatched him by using what he called "The Art of Dark Magic", which was little more than regular black magic moves.

Feeling a little let down, Father asked who he was. Not giving his real name, the man told him two things; One that he was "Mr. Bandages", and two, that he was the younger brother of some guy named "Orion".

Although he passed and joined a group of minor villains, that guy in the bandages proved to be his failing point. He was trying to discover the Orion man so that he may gain an advantage in the event of a future encounter, and couldn't find him until moments after Jules was successful in the defeat of Dr. Forrester.

*****

"And there you have it. To prove my worth, I had to follow the advice from the brother of the man I was hoping to best to ensure my true confidence back." After that, Benedict erupted in flames and restored his form as Father.
"Understand?" He said with his standard tone.

"I just don't get it." Tiffany said with disapproval. "No wonder your confidence is shaken; you don't have any. Until you feel that you ARE better, then you won't feel like a bad guy."

"That's what I'm trying to do, lass!" Father grunted.

"No. You're trying to PROVE that you are better. Before you can show that you can kick butt, you have to feel as if you can kick butt. As the story shows, you are, sorry to put it in this way, one sad little man."

Father sighed weakly. This was the admittance; he really was pathetic. He let childhood traumas and petty feuds get in the way of his determination. Suddenly, he gained the newfound skills to admit.

"Kids. I've made a decision. And that is that I shall be able to take into my own hands what I can do! But I can't believe that I got it from YOU guys. And I'm off!" He levitated and rocketed out of M.U.G.E.N Tournament Grounds.

"Will we ever see him again?" Mimi asked Jack, who was watching the villain go off.

"I strongly doubt it; he's got ways to go before he's truly able to believe in himself and not following poultry. He'll be busy with other matters anyways."

Sora and Tai, who got a slight distress call from the digivice, had just arrived at the training site and saw the four.

"Guys! What gave?" Tai asked. "I got the distress call from Meems!"

"Distress call?" Jack said with surprise. He turned to Mimi. "What call?"

"Our digivices can show when help is needed." She told him. "It's a little bit of a techno wonder."

"Ah. Well, in the event, you missed the fight. There was nothing. It was an easy win, and we let the bad guy get away. He won't ever pull the same stunt ever again."

"Phew. That's a relief." Sora sighed. "Mimi, I feel that you actually helped out a bit."

"You know, I have been hankering to train some other members of the group." Jack then told Kamiya and Takenouchi. "Feel like it?"

Tai and Sora then nodded, which pleased Mimi.

"Great decision, guys!" Mimi smiled and gave a thumbs-up. "You'll love training with him!"

"Alright then." Jack added. "Now, I know you that you got a suit, Tai, so you have to get it. The next part of training will need it."

In a few minutes, Tai, Mimi, and Sora were all suited up and waiting for Jack's next move.

"I'm going to teach endurance." Jack started out.

Next: Jack's Endurance Factor

[Saint_007]

Saint, Sandman, Golden, guys, you still alive? :p Sandman's team has the next turn at the Arena battles, and it'd be good to see some followup to the Alaniel and Boss' subarcs. It's been weeks...
Now that you've put it that way...Not really. You see, I got run over by a car, and now a voodoo witch-doctor has revived me to be his personal foot-massager (even to a dead guy like me, that's disgusting...) Also, adfjklasdfmnldfnmvzxjhuiopwermklnfmklasdfhkljasdfj hf

TRANSLATION: Aw, dammit, my head fell off again! That's the third time today!!

But seriously, yeah, I'm alive and well. I just fell into a rut, that's all. A really big case of writer's block. I'll get back to work :p

[T51R]

Yer I'm still here, Uni caught up with me and now Im playing catch-up with it.:( Too bad for Uni, I think I mistakenly pressed the button marked "NITROUS." One of our assignments got extended so I can post something tonight.

[Saint_007]

As the Khalia vs Son goku match was about to start in the other arena, another announcement rang in the arena where Team Red and Blue awaited their (not so worthy) adversaries, Team Expendables.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are sorry to announce that Team Expendables were crushed in the hotel ruins."

"Told ya," sighed Zero.

"As a result, a new Team Lineup is en route to the stadium they ought to be here in about five min-" Then a curious silence overcame the announcer's voice. "Sorry, ladies and gentlemen, the new line-up got into a car accident - with the Express train. The train and its passengers are perfectly fine; just don't ask what happened to Team Expendables. We apologize for this delay, and hope you will bear with us..."

"For some reason, I'm not surprised," muttered Zero. "Sonic, why don't you grab some heavy reading. This might take a while."

The blue hedgehog grumbled as he pulled out War and Peace and Unabridged Oxford's guide to War and Peace, and started reading...

Elsewhere, a new Team Expendables teleported in; a Foot Ninja, a Hand Ninja, a Ninja Gaiden Ninja and a Shinobi Ninja. They looked at each other with looks of distrust, but their orders were clear; form a team to win in the tournament. With their destinies set, they rushed off in the direction of the arena...

Only to be squashed to pulp by a large piece of debris that Godzilla had flung at Mothra and missed. All four ninjas were reduced to a bloody pulp.

Seconds later, four generic magic girls appeared in a flash of light, announcing their entries in excessively flamboyant style - only to be grabbed from below by a ravenous tentacle monster. This wasn't Blokk, but rather, Blokk's somewhat more competent older half-brother. Screams of terror turned to moans of delight, suddenly followed by the sound of bags of oatmeal busting open.

"Dammit, they don't make women like they used to... where's the bar, I need a drink... and a shower..."

Hild sighed as she watched the display. "Azrael, I suppose this is entertaining to the criminally insane, but what's the point of all this?"

"Well, let's just say my little plan needs to get a recurring loop activated."

"No, really, Azrael; what's with this pointless slaughter?"

"Very well, my Lady," said the Dark Angel, turning to the Queen of Hell to explain his little plan.

Meanwhile, a foursome of adventurer out of a D&D campaign were on their quest to fulfill their destiny as Team Expendables - only to get eaten up by a passing T-Rex.

[T51R]

~Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Inertia…Part IV~



“I think that Vellinor’s trump card might want something other than absolute power,” Washu explained as she sipped slowly from the takeaway-paper cup. “Kansai already has that Lady Anzell; we have seen the damned thing do the impossible in impossibly short periods of time. That means that the only way for Vellinor to have gained control of him is with something that even Kaarage couldn‘t obtain for himself. Right now, you’re our best source of information on him. So, what I want to know is, what could he offer Kansai, what could be enough to gain the services of a thing like that?”

Anzell thought for a moment, then moved a little ways apart from Alaniel. She had to be in her own space, she reasoned, to be able to think clearly. Events had gone from bad to worse, both on the Earth and throughout the cosmos. Even here in Heaven, she noticed that tension was beginning to rise among the beings that inhabited paradise. All because of one thing, she thought to herself, all because of a single being that had appeared. “I can‘t say,” her eyes darted around the table, settling on the Chousein. “Even the Gem of Evermere couldn’t interest a thing like that; from the data you‘ve just shown us, it wouldn’t be any good to a thing like Kansai. Furthermore, I don‘t understand why Vellinor would want to recruit a being that could easily kill him. It just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

Washu’s eyes shifted across the table, to where the God of Destruction was uneasily shifting around in his seat while on the lookout for Valkeryes. She could tell that his time was running out, and soon enough the brigades would come to take him to the Lunar Dungeon. She remembered it well enough, after all it wasn’t that long ago that the God of Destruction had caused the extinction of almost all life on the planet without sanction or approval from Yggdrasil. “You two got anything to say about this?”

“Well,” Wukong leaned with trepidation over the table; the Monkey King had never been granted the right to speak so boldly to a Chousein before and if anything, what little data the now-renegade Office of Area Reclamation had managed to gather on Washu suggested that she was to be feared to a degree even greater than the Deity he originally served. “Maybe its something that‘s really small. I remember the boy Nhe-Zha once going down to Earth himself to cause mischief. Also, didn’t the Olympian God called Zeus did often descend to the Earth himself to experience the…pleasures…of mortality?”

“That‘s it…” the God of Destruction flicked the lighter he was holding in front of his face shut, everyone else around the small table turning towards where the sat. “Urd. What was that contract about, the one you made with this idiot?” he thumbed towards the God-Killer.

“Those things are sacred,” Alaniel hissed. “Sacred, and secret. Known only to a contractor and the servant. You know that all too well, Destruction. After all, wasn’t it you who made a pact with an entire family? The Yagami‘s, weren’t they called? Now what was it again, ah I remember it now! In exchange for a part of your paltry powers they would all live lives that were too short, even for mortals? Didn’t it ever occur to you that your own bloodline would one day become so spread out among the populace that…dear God.” The Demi-Angel began to turn pale. “That’s why you went to Earth…” Opposite where he was sitting, the object of his attention narrowed its eyes into slits.

“That can be discussed later,” Rind cut in, snapping both of them back to reality. “What is your theory, Orochi? Speak now or I shall see you interrogated before the Brigade takes you.”

“Well you don’t have to be so charming about it,” he lit up another cigarette as Washu and Urd watched him cautiously. “But first, I wanna know what the contract is between her and this freakin‘ monster here.” He turned to where the God-Killer sat. “Because if the both of you are from the same place then LOOK OUT.” He barely finished the warning when the blade of a golden shovel exploded out of the back on Nudoru’s chair and through his chest, splattering everyone at the table with blood. “THE HELL!?”

“This is for looking down my dress…” a feminine voice hissed from the swirling portal behind the God-Killer, and the shovel’s blade quickly spun around perpendicular to the gaping wound. “This is for guessing my bust size…” Nudoru found himself folded literally in half and then dragged into the portal in a shower of torn flesh and a symphony of disintegrating bones. “And this…” the voice came again, “…IS FOR SAYING THAT THEY‘RE SMALL! IS THIS BIG ENOUGH FOR YOU!?” Washu ducked under the table and peered into the closing rift in space and time, just quickly enough to watch Nudoru’s demise as the Lord of Nightmares crushed him in her cleavage.

“Damn, so they really ARE as big as universes, huh?” the Chousein murmured while turning a shade of sickly purple, Urd doing the same but for a different reason. Miso had managed to escape just in time and had made itself at home in her body, much to her own Angel’s dismay; right then World of Elegance had the faceless monster in a sleeper hold and was trying to drag it out of her own host. “LOOK OUT,” Washu warned, as the very same shovel burst from the marble ceiling, missed Urd’s higher self by a hair and impaled Miso through the top of its head. “And everything was going so well,” she opened up an umbrella as a second crimson shower filled the area, Miso being dragged head-first into the Sea of Chaos after its host. “Well, since those two idiots are out of the picture maybe we should just keep going.”

[T51R]

“So much for coffee…” Urd held up her cup, the coffee in it mixed with an almost equal amount of blood. “I don‘t suppose anyone wants seconds? No?” she sighed. “Well,” she began while wiping the coagulating, sticky stuff out of her hair with the towels Washu was handing out, “My contract with Kaarage isn’t much of a secret. If anything, I think it‘s pretty pathetic.”

The Orochi leaned closer. “So, what is it?”

“What he wants,” she explained, “is mortality. For both himself and his Angel.” Everyone at the table fell silent with shock. “No, I‘m serious. Those ARE the terms of his contract. In exchange for his services, at the point in time that I choose to release him from his binds, he will be made a mortal.”

“Sonofa…” Alaniel stared into Anzell’s eyes, the Goddess of Evermere nodding at him. “So these things, they do have limitations!”

“Looks that way,” Washu’s trademark grin of a Eureka Moment returning. “But I wouldn‘t exactly call it a limitation as such. Think about it this way, if they could take on human form, it would leave them open to some form of attack or another. I made damned sure to put Kaarage trough the wringer when Urd lent him to me, and believe it or not every freakin‘ instrument I had couldn’t find a chink in that armour of his, literally. That doesn‘t mean though that breaking through Kansai‘s armour is gonna weaken him; for all we know it might just be the same kind of situation that happened with that Onslaught fiasco. Crack the armour, and you‘ll get to see Kansai like he really is. For all we know, it might be just like these things,” she slinked into the space between Rind and Urd, and tugged suggestively on their earrings. “For all we know…those armours might be seals. Or, given what we know about Vellinor‘s ace-in-the-hole up till this point and what they were built to do those armours might be what’s protecting us…from them.”

“BUT, Washu.” Rind rose from her seat as several other Valkerye strode out into the square next to them, and then started walking in their direction. Rind held her hand up, and the group of them stopped their advance. “But. It does give us an idea of exactly how Vellinor is controlling this weapon. I am asking your permission,” she turned towards Urd. “To use your Herald as a weapon against him. Let us fight fire with fire, and show this Vellinor that we are not afraid.” The other Valkerye had by then approached of their own accord, and surrounded the God of Destruction. “It looks like your time is up, Orochi.” Rind cracked a smile. “It seems that things will be getting just a bit easier after all.”

Urd shook her head, “the reason for the Council of Heaven ruling that Kaarage is to sit this entire period of time out Rind, is that just one of them has enough firepower to destroy this entire state of Existance. Lady Washu did point out that either one of them should be easily capable of wiping out every dimension, every alternate reality, every alternate Verse that Kami-Sama has ever created. In fact, Kansai has already destroyed the Precrisis Multiverse and an alternate Creation of the Chousein themselves. And he did it so fast that we didn’t realise it until the deed was done. I’m only saying all of this to remind you Rind, that the Council deemed it too dangerous to use one of them against the other. A single exchange between them…and it would be all over.”

“In other words, like Doctor D once said, ‘the greatest weakness of any power…is the power itself.’ Washu summed up as the Orochi stood of his own accord to face the Battle Division‘s representatives. “They were built perfectly to do what they had to. BUT. They’re too perfect, to the point that there’s really nothing that they can do without threatening the entirety of Existence.”

“So that‘s why,” Anzell sighed. “That‘s why…”

“…Kansai didn‘t use any of his bigger guns. The truth is, that he couldn‘t. He wants to be mortal, just like Kaarage. And without anywhere to exist separately from wherever they came from the point of mortality…is moot.” The God of Destruction finished for her, and locked eyes with the seven Valkerye. “So. You boys and girls wanna do this the easy way, or the hard way? You sure look like you‘re spoiling for a promotion, aren‘t you?”



~Next: Orochi and Wukong…FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOM!!!~

[Mr.Sandman]

OOC: Still I feel not at a condition to post something really worth the time. I'd prefer to post the whole Khalia vs. Goku battle tomorrow if I feel better, and then move on to the story's next stage, rather than to post just a fight opening today.

Saint, Sandman, Golden, guys, you still alive? :p Sandman's team has the next turn at the Arena battles, and it'd be good to see some followup to the Alaniel and Boss' subarcs. It's been weeks...

Sorry for the lack of posts on my part........I've been striken with the writer block to end all writer blocks for weeks now leaving me at a sole disadvantage went it comes to writing anything good sounding. But I'll see what I can do about the coming fight. *nod*

I'll also go ahead with some of the things I had planned in the past.....assuming nothing has happened to make doing them void. ^^

[OverMaster]

Trumpets of War, Prelude, Team JLZ vs. Team Beastmaster, Round 1!:

The Icy Cold Sphere:

"Pass over us, huh?" Kaoru Matsubara swung her giant mallet to let it rest over her right shoulder, while still gripping its handle tightly, looking at Team Bestmaster below her with a sneer. "I'd like to see you trying, bums".

"Child, please" the Red Tornado asked her. "Don't push them beyond what is needed".

Meanwhile, Kagome Higurashi hesitated. "This is bad, InuYasha" she whispered to the young dog demon who was her protector. "We came here to fight a city-ravaging monster, not little girls and superheroes".

"And what can we do about it?" IY muttered, frowning, never taking his eyes away from Team JLZ. "Looks like they're deadset on standing on our way, don't they?".

"We actually don't want to fight you guys..." Cutie Honey advanced, giving a step towards them. "It's only Akira who we want".

"Then wait for him to recover, at least" Miyako/Bubbles pleaded. "Right now, he's hurt real bad and can't fight...".

"All the better, then!" Xellos chirped in cheerfully. "That way, he just can surrender to us, can't he?".

"You must be joking" InuYasha shot him a quick back glare. "What would we gain of getting a hurt man, if he really is hurt, to surrender to us? That's too pointless and... dishonorable...".

"Unless..." Kagome narrowed her black eyes, giving the Mazoku an accusing stare, "that you can get something from him no matter his state, right, Xellos-san? Tell us the truth, what is the real story behind bringing us here?".

"You must be too influenced by unfounded suspictions, Miss Kagome" the priest of the Beastmaster just looked back at hr, always smiling. "Would I bring you all here for mere low, selfish purposes?".

"Uh, actally..." Ryouga doubted, but Juggernaut cut him short by pushing him aside and beginning to stomp towards the Sphere's entrance.

"Bah, I'm sick of this crap already!" he growled. "I just wanna see that Akira punk and verify if he's really so down and out! Let's see them trying to stop ME!".

"Bravo! That's the spirit, Mr. Marko!" Xellos clapped while the behemoth continued going straight ahead even after the Arrow's projectiles began to rain on him, along with Bubbles' bubble shots, the Tornado's compressed hurricanes and several strikes of Momoko's magical yo-yo, all combined.

"Nothing stops the Juggernaut!" he bellowed, batting the barrage of attacks falling on him like if they were nothing. "NOTHING AND NO-ONE!".

"Marko-san, beware!" Kagome shouted. "Don't hurt them, please!!".

Meanwhile, InuYasha just huffed and jumped after the X-Men's former nemesis, taking advantage of his advance to make his own after his path. "Hey, are you listening, blockhead?! She says you'd better not--UNNF!".

A green streak had suddenly flown straight into him, tackling him in the stomach and sending him flying back and away, against one of the walls of an abandoned house. The hanyou's body opened cracks on the wall when it hit it, and IY opened his eyes again to see a serious, angry Kaoru floating down nearer to the ground, her green short skirt dancing in the cold breeze.

"Little pushy kid..." he growled, beginning to stand up again.

"INUYASHA, BEWARE!" Kagome screamed. "She could...".

"Hey, Mutt" the Japanese Buttercup, ignoring her, leveled her mallet towards the silver haired half demon. "Tell your pal there to stop it, but don't go in there with him, okay? I told you, that's a place you can't get into...".

"Says you" InuYasha drew Tessaiga out again. "You aren't a normal kid, are you? Maybe you aren't even human...".

"Wanna try me?" she invited, smirking a bit.

"Hell, you're tempting me to...".

Still floating over them, Xellos watched on with a naughty smile. This all was going to be even easier than he had thought...


Next: Bad Girls vs. Reluctant Heroes, Great Finale. The Thunders of War!

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

Chaos Rising

Elsewhere . . ..

Dorian Gray hardly raised an eyebrow as Proteus reappeared in the alleyway in a flash of multicoloured light. "Well?" the Champion of Slaanesh asked. "How did it go?"

"Oh, I got the message across simply enough," Proteus replied with a chuckle. "No doubt they'll be telling Hild pretty soon."

Bacterian snorted out loud -- in the narrow confines of the alleyway, his stench was even more unbearable than before. "If dis Hild chick is as powerful as you say, you sure its a good idea to make an enemy outta her?"

"The point innae t'make an enemy of her, Bacterian," Proetus replied calmly. "The point is to make her aware of our presence. The more fixed her attention is on the Mugen grounds, the easier this whole operation will be."

Sakura grunted from where she was standing. "And you're sure this plan of your master's will work?" she grumbled. "I didn't get possessed by a daemon just so I could watch everything go to hell again."

"The Changer of Ways* knows all, Sakura," Proteus replied. "Everything is going according to his manifold plan."

Bacterian spat a gobbet of phlegm. His eyes suddenly began to shine with a murky green light.

"There is another matter at hand," he said, speaking in a deep, phlegatic voice that clearly wasn't his own. "The Space Marine lapdogs of the Emperor are already on the planet, battling the many forces that threaten to snuff out humanity. No doubt their Inquisition masters are close at hand."

Dorian's eyes began to glow with a pinkish hue of their own as the daemon possessing him came to the fore. "How can we be certain that they do not already know of our presence?" he asked, the daemon's voice sweet and almost seductive. "They may pose a problem."

The daemon possessing Proteus (or rather, fused with him, since Proteus was an energy being himself) simply chuckled. "The Imperium's lackeys are of little concern to us," he replied, his own voice sharing the same honey-sweet tone as the daemon of Slaanesh, but spoken in a much more sinister manner. "If they knew of our presence, they would have tried to thwart us by now. Sooner or later, however, they will take notice, but if they tried to stop us, their doom will be upon them."

The glow in Proteus' eyes disappeared, and he returned to his normal self. "Now let us disperse," he said. "We have much work to do."


*******

Zauriel cursed as he peered over the area where the latest refugee buses had arrived. Something was very, very wrong: a third of the buses that were slated to arrive had not yet shown up. It had been two hours by now: something had definitely happened to those buses.

At first, the angel thought they might have suffered some kind of attack from the many monsters, kaiju, and zombies plaguing the landscapes. But those convoys were heavily defended, and if they had come under attack, they would have immediately radioed them for assistance. The angel began to suspect hijacking, but even then, they should have recieved distress calls indicating such a thing. No, something else was going on here.

The angel set a mental message to headquarters. I want a full background check on all the personnel involved with the missing convoys, he thought. If you find anything suspicious, inform me: I think foul play may be at work here.

The angel turned his gaze towards the horizon. It could very well have been an inside job: Azrael's recent betrayal proved that it was not impossible for treachery to come from the administrative staff of Yggdrasil itself, let alone the tournament personnel. He had no idea what someone might want with a bunch of refugees, except maybe for hostage purposes. This whole world was spiralling out of control, the angel thought: everything just kept getting worse and worse.

Shaking his head, Zauriel turned and flew back towards the interior of the Mugen grounds.



*- One of Tzeentch's many titles

[J Dog]

Training with Jack- Make sure you bring padding

"The goal of this training is for me to hit you guys with this sledgehammer until you drop." Jack grinned with evil in his eyes. Mimi cowered behind a freaked-out Sora and an irritated Tai. However, the evil vanished, and Jack was just kidding.

"Sorry 'bout that. Little dark humor since I got weapons." He walked to Mimi, who was more concerned. "I was just joking. Forgive me."

"Yeah." Mimi struggled to say as she was crying a bit, even though she had a protective suit on. "Just... don't say that ever again."

"Alright, alright." Jack promised her. Jeez, I don't do good with icebreakers., he thought. Walking back to where he started, he revealed his TRUE intentions.

"The goal of endurance is simple; pushing your limits. I'm not suggesting you do so until you drop dead. But what I am suggesting is that you find out what tires you out. Then you get yourselves better fit and understand your limits so that you'll last a little longer on the field. The reason with the suits is that in the event of any..." he airquotes. "Quote "accidents", unquote. By that, I mean you falling a good distance, getting hurt from an attack, and such. Don't worry, if you are in any peril, I'll help you."

"Mimi, are you sure you know what he's doing?" Tai asked Mimi. Obviously, he wasn't sure about the meaning of all of this.

"It's okay, Tai. He knows what he's doing." Mimi reassured. "Besides, it's good to train a bit. The world's getting tougher, right?"

"Pretty much, Tai." Sora then put in her thoughts. "It's good that Mimi is getting this training, especially from a guy who stood a chance against Superman."

"Hey, I'm not dissing him; he's done good. I'm just wondering if this is effective." Tai then responded.

"Remember the chop I used on Cosette?" Mimi answered his theory. "Jack taught me that. I'm good at it."

"Alright. Well, let's rock!" At that, Tai started jumping and kicking. Sora started out with push-ups. Mimi chose punching as a starting move. Watching, Jack said to himself:

"It's amazing at what one is able to accomplish." Tiffany then walked to him and added, "Indeed, Jack. Indeed."

While "fighting", Mimi told Sora, "Isn't this good for you?"

************

In his massive cockpit, Dr. Orion observed what was going on in the world through several large monitors. Relaxing in his giant chair, Orion figured that it'd be next to talk to another major villain. He chose, out of random, of all people...

Vellinor.

************

Alaniel wasn't far from where Suzu was. It was a matter of time before the encounter.

(Oh, Lord, could you do the last two, as in Orion and Vellinor as well as Suzu finally meating Alaniel?)

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

Yeah, I'm hard-pressed for time, but I'll try to write them up. I'm making no promises as to how soon it will be, however. Round 2 of Alaniel vs. Suzu might take a bit longer, though, seeing as Alaniel is still talking to the council.

BTW, you did notice that Vellinor has just sent the Dog Catcher out to take out Dorado Kompson, right? (Sorry for taking so long to notice the snippet about the Dog Catcher in the first place).

[J Dog]

Yeah, I'm hard-pressed for time, but I'll try to write them up. I'm making no promises as to how soon it will be, however. Round 2 of Alaniel vs. Suzu might take a bit longer, though, seeing as Alaniel is still talking to the council.

BTW, you did notice that Vellinor has just sent the Dog Catcher out to take out Dorado Kompson, right? (Sorry for taking so long to notice the snippet about the Dog Catcher in the first place).
Yeah, I know that. I saw that. But, I'm wondering when that will materialize (I mean, I'd do it, but I have a hard time thing of ideas except for arcs I got).

BTW, I don't watch MTV2 anymore. But that dosen't mean I forgot the Dog Catcher.

[OverMaster]

Hum. I thought Suzu already had met Alaniel, and he basically pwned her? For a rematch, shouldn't there be something to prevent it from becoming just another casual curbstomp?

[OverMaster]

Trumpets of War, Part 1: Son Goku vs. Khalia, Round One.

As soon as the start for the match was given, both fighters took it quickly to the air and shot themselves against each other, colliding with great strenght, their fists bluntly meeting each other as sparks jumped off them. Khalia shot a twisted, devious smirk at the Saiyan as they both were there in front of each other, in a perfect standstill for a few moments, each one pushing back to the other.

"Such strenght... uncommon on a fleshbag, I must say" she praised, then swung a kick to his stomach, which he just took with a hard smirk of his own, not even bulging back. "Still, the end result will be the same". She slapped him across the face with a hand and backed away, then brought both hands to the front and shot a few massive bolts off her palms.

Goku teleported out of their way, then reappeared behind Khalia and punched her in the face, sending her sprawling down, but she stopped in midair and flew up back to him. They traded a few lightning-quick punches more, with Goku's speed giving him the edge; he was blocking and connecting more attacks at the same time, with the Demon Goddess starting to take the worst part in the blurry exchange. She now had a better idea of what to expect from him; she would be better putting some distance between them and avoiding direct face to face conflagration.

To make some space between both of them, she headbutted him, taking him by surprise, and flew down gracefully. Goku blinked, still hovering over her. "What's up now?" he asked. "Running away so soon?".

"You wish, Big Boy" she chuckled deviously, then began to spin around quickly, raising a huge sandstorm around her, the air all around her humming noisily.

"The Top from Hell!" Joker commented caustically between gulps of buttered popcorn. "Ooooo, I'm wettin' my pants!!".

Goku coughed a bit when the raised dust reached his height and surrounded him; he couldn't see her now. He tried to feel her chi to track her down, but could feel nothing.

Of course!, he thought. Like 18, she's an artificial human. She has no chi at all...

But then, interrupting his thoughts, from an unknown location, she spiralled up and drilling her hands against his stomach, grinning maniacally, her eyes shinning with a demented light. She hit him time and time again, and when he threw a punch at her to stop her, she ducked under it, grabbed him by a wrist, and tried to throw him away. Bad move; he simply used his other fist to hit her across the face, forcing her to let him go.

However, mere seconds after that, she grabbed him by an ankle instead and threw him down against the ground. The public gasped in horror; the memories of Ifurita's fight against MEGAS still were fresh, and now this meaner, crueler Demon Goddess was starting to get an upper hand on another of the Tournament's favorites.

Vegeta, however, was mostly unfazed. "You're way too gentle, Kakarrot" he snorted. "You should have just ripped her arms off by now. Stop toying with her, damn you!".

Son Goku jumped back to his feet in a split second, and joined his hands together. "KAMEHAMEHA!!" he yelled while shooting a quick column of his signature energy projectile up at his opponent, and his speed managed to surprise her once more, blasting her clear off the sky once more to send her falling down in front of him.

He approached her, all senses focused on avoid any ambush. He looked down at the thin woman. "Surrender?" he asked. "Trust me, it's the best thing you can do now...".

"Never an option, punk" she gritted her teeth, smiling nastily once again, and rushed back. She brought both hands down to the ground, and yelled, "Groundwave!" while slamming it hardly with her palms.

The force of her focused impact sent a high column of energy shockwaves against Goku, but he simply jumped over it, taking it to the air once more. She was just delaying the unavoidable, he thought; she had no way of matching his speed...

However, she still was grinning. She had forced him to be right where she wanted. "LIVEWIRE!!" Khalia loudly called out. "AS WE AGREED! MANEUVER 12!!".

"Yeah, well, fine!!" Frowning, the Mistress of Electricity flew out of their bunker, loading power. She only hoped Khalia knew what she was doing. This truly was going to ask a lot of her, after all...

"Shock Terapy for you again, Baby!!" the Metropolis villainess shouted wildly, sending more lightning bolts towards Goku. He began to dodge them as best as he could. Who did they think they were stalling with that? he wondered. 18 also had tried to use the striker assistance to win, to no avail. What made them to think that would work this time?

Right then, however, Khalia also shot a few major bolts off her gloves up at him, hitting his back, making him to yell in pain. His attention momentary distracted from Livewire, he jerked back a bit to half-face the El Hazard living construct...

And then Livewire gulped down. Okay, Leslie, just do it. What's the worst that can happen, after all? Her mind made up, she stopped shooting, and instead, using near lightspeed, she simply... jumped inside of Goku's chest. Living lightning entering his body, shocking him just as Khalia's shocks also worked on him, the Metropolitan nemesis of the Man of Steel phasing into him to blast his heart to near-death...

As he convulsed with long, agonic screams, on the Jury's seats Asuka paled and cursed under her breath in German, then added with a gasp, "What are they doing with him?! This is simply... inhuman, damn it!".

"They are betting it all on a desperate gamble" Dhalsim explained. "They know they will not be able to thriumph otherwise. And between risking themselves to kill their adversary and being disqualified, and being soundly beaten, they always will choose the former... That is simply their nature".


Next: Goku vs. Khalia, Conclusion. The Last Thunder.

[T51R]

~Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Inertia…Part V~



“So what‘s it gonna be, ladies?” the God of Destruction sneered as the seven Valkerye surrounded him, levelling divine weapons at the star-shaped brand on his chest. “If you‘re gonna take the shot, you‘d better not blink. Because the second you do, your souls? They‘re gonna be breaking like cheap glass.” He tucked his hands into his pockets, the white business coat draped over the chair next to him. He knew it was a game of wits at that point, and all he needed was an opening. A moment, no, a second of hesitation on their part. But alas, the game ended with the cold metal of Rind’s battleaxe creeping up under his throat. “Blindside. Nice, Rind. Gonna stab me in the back next?”

“I would like nothing more than to see you incarcerated, Orochi. So please, allow me this one pleasure won’t you?” she turned to her colleagues who began chanting, seals beginning to surround the God of Destruction, large sacred gems beginning to descend upon him. “Stop.” The Valkerye ceased their chant, and looked towards their superior officer. “Seal his power, however leave his essence. He may be an unreformable troublemaker, but there are merits to him. Orochi,” she lifted his chin with the spiked tip of her axe, “I did say didn’t I, that before you were incarcerated, I would see you interrogated? Well that time is now.” She turned back to the small gathering and bowed towards Washu, then to the rest. “You will excuse me, won‘t you?”

Alaniel heaved a sigh of relief as the Valkerye followed Rind into the square, then out of sight whist flanking the Orochi between them. “It is about time that the Tribunal decided to make the call. Now that his Office has been labelled as renegade and he himself is on his way, we can now turn our attention to other, more important things. Don‘t you think?” he turned to the gathering, just as Miso’s wings spread behind him, Shifting both itself and its host back into Heaven from the Sea of Chaos through Reality‘s fabric.

“Well, that took a while,” Urd muttered, “what happened with her?”

He pulled the bloodied end of a broken shovel from his butt cheek. “Guess she finally got bored,” Nudoru shrugged, “so she just stuck that in my butt and this…” he pulled another shovel, this one from his back, “in my spine.”

“Well for the record,” Alaniel pointed at his head. “you missed one.”

The God-Killer felt around the top of his skull, where a third shovel had been embedded in his brain. “Crap.” Blood began to spew from behind his armoured face plate and jaw piece, again causing the table to turn blood red and the floor to become covered with brain matter. A dull thud later, his lifeless body flopped onto the table with his face in Anzell’s cup. The Goddess from Evermere didn’t seem to notice however; her attentions were elsewhere.

“Wukong,” she rose from her seat. “Where did he go?” The end of her spear rapidly reformed from its shaft, tendrils of mystic, liquid metal solidifying in a deadly tip as she struggled back to her feet. “Oh, no. Washu…”

The Chousein closed her laptop confidently, and sent it back into subspace before folding a tiny pair of round-rimmed glasses and tucking them back into her crimson robe. “Ladies, gentlemen, and dearly departed,” she kicked the corpse sprawled over the table, “let‘s take a walk shall we? Urd, be ready to command your Herald. Soon as he comes back to life, that is.”

-Holding Area Zulu, the portal to the Lunar Dungeon-


“And what of Alaniel’s theory,” Rind paced around the chair that had been placed squarely before the portal, three concentric rings around a torrent ocean of dimensional space, “the one that he mentioned, about why it is that you went to Earth in the first place? Answer, and I may grant you a moment or two more of freedom.”

All he did was to remain silent; he knew that he had to buy himself as much time as he could.

“ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME!?” the Valkerye stomped hard into the char, her low-heeled boot cracking the wood right between his legs. “The more you can give us to work with, the better the chances that the planet below will be saved. There is nothing that anyone else can do now, you of all people should know that especially after your past transgressions. I know that you do not hate the Earth, Orochi. I know that you are only doing what you do in order to save it. However, He believes that the fate of the planet lies in the hands of men. And it is through men that it shall be saved. There is no other option, Orochi. Even if you cleanse the planet at this very moment Ragnarok will come, and all will be re-made. Such is the Omega Initiative.” She took a step backwards, turning towards the portal. “I will allow a moment for you to consider the magnitude of your final decision. I trust that you will use that time wisely.” She exchanged looks with the Valkerye closest to her, the circle around them growing slightly wider to allow their captive some room to breathe.

Damn, he thought to himself. Time. It was of the essence now, especially when the Dungeon was but a moment away. He began to struggle against his binds, the dozen or so gems that were crushing into him from every direction, seemingly under their own power. Damn. They wouldn’t budge, not even an inch. Come on, he cursed to himself. Come on, I didn’t teach you every damned trick to do with covert ops and shadowing your target for nothing did I? His lips stiffened. Rind was no fool, and the keeper of order, the Living Tribunal was perhaps, besides the Spectre, the wisest one of all outside of the Triumvirate. What if, he reasoned, what it the Golden One had also issued a warrant for his lieutenant’s capture as well as his own? Damn. A moment more, and he would have to act. Two moments, he decided to allow that much. The white-haired Valkerye had already begun to pace the small, well-lit room; a sure sign that her patience was wearing thin. Damn. He would need to keep her talking if there was to be even a chance of it going as he planned.

A cackle stole the attention of the eight beings around him, Rind’s axes making a sharp scraping sound as she drew them across the floor behind her, ready for anything.

“You know, I‘d love to tell you that Alaniel was right and that the contract between me and the Morisato boy was really for me to bring Belldandy back out of this alive.” Rind slowly spun around on her heel, drawing the rest of the Valkerye back into an ever-tightening formation around them. “I‘d also like to tell you that I have the only thing that may be able to sniff out the missing Masaki boy. You know, the one the Chousein are so worried about?” The Valkerye closed in, and by then Rind had once again snuck the razor sharp spike at the top of her axe under his chin. “And I‘d also like to tell you…that the only way I managed to end up on Earth anyway was because of that. One. Scrawny. Pathetic. Human.” He felt as the tip of the axe broke the skin under his jaw. “Also, I think you‘d be pretty interested to know that whatever caused Aion to take the Office of Area Reclamation from me, and to betray Heaven…was also interested in the Power Jurai. Kinda coincidental, isn’t it?”

[T51R]

A drop of blood made its way down the axe’s handle, but was shaken off as Rind withdrew her weapon. The Orochi glanced around. Just a little longer, he thought to himself. Just a little longer.

“It is simply too coincidental,” she buried the tip of the hatched in the ground between them. “What more do you know?”

“Bet you‘d like to find out, wouldn’t you?” the God of Destruction chuckled.

“For the sake of Heaven and Earth, yes, I would.”

“Then its too bad,” the chuckle turned into a sneer, “that you‘re gonna just have to watch while all the answers run up and bite you in that pretty little ass of yours.”

“Eh…” Her jaw snapped shut as the Naibo shot from the shadows, and caught her right across the chin sending her crashing into the opposite wall in a cloud of dust.

“About damned time!” the Orochi spat as several dozen doppelgangers of Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven stormed the holding room and barrelled into the other seven Valkerye, easily enough charging straight into bolts of divine lighting and blasts of freezing energy to pin them against the walls. “Now get the f*ck outta here!” The crystals shattered one by one, the one and the original Monkey King dispatching them with well-placed swings. A massive geyser of light erupted about him as the God of Destruction took to the air, and looked towards the battered corner where Rind was getting back to her feet. “Gotcha.”

“Bastard,” she spat a bit of blood onto the stony floor, eyeing both of them carefully. But not before the room, along with the building trembled again as the triple-sealed door to the chamber exploded inwards. She hardly had the time to blink as the Orochi disappeared from where he hovered, taking advantage of her disorientation to materialize right behind her and plunged his hand deep into her back.

“Alrighty ladies and gents, you know the drill,” the Destroyer of Humankind hissed. “Weapons on the floor, and stay. Exactly. Where. You. Are. Or…you‘re gonna be a Division less one, if you et what I mean. Oh, and Rind? The moment I see the feathers of those Angels of yours? You‘re dead. URD! I want that Herald of yours in plain sight. Get him out here, do it now!”

“Kaarage,” Urd whispered, “Do it. I’m not risking anything in this kind of situation.”

“You want me to off him now?” Nudoru whispered, deep into her psyche. “Because this was over three seconds ago.”

“No,” she watched as the big man strode past her, out into the open with his hands held up high. “Those two are perhaps the most ruthless creatures here besides my elder brother. If they wanted to, Rind would already be dead. They want something.”

“But what? Urd, this is getting bad, I‘m gonna come in through the other end of the portal as soon as they start backing into it, I can hit them both with one shot…show ‘em the kinda bitch Multiplanar Existence can be.”

“Belay that,” she shot a thought back at the God-Killer. “You will not move unless I command it, is that clear?”

“Crystal.”

“ALRIGHT!” the God of Destruction spat, “Kaarage! Face down, on the ground NOW!” he commanded as the Monkey King recalled his shape-shifting clones, each one returning to his hand as a single hair. “Sonofa bitch, DO IT! Might be the last thing I ever do, so let it be written that I never, EVER, not once reneged on a Contract, not even if it was with a worthless human!”


~To be continued...

[OverMaster]

Son Goku vs. Khalia, Conclusion: The Last Thunder.

"SCREAM IT!!" the demon goddess howled over her victim's yells of pain, the maniac glint dancing in her pupils as she pressed the attack and Livewire's electric form continued cracking inside of his chest, threatening to pulverize his heart. "ADMIT YOUR DEFEAT! GIVE IT UP! OR DIE!".

"N-never....!!!!" the Saiyan screeched through gritted teeth, veins pulsing on his forehead, with electricty making him to spasm, pulsing both inside and around him, thanks to both women's combined attack. "Never will I do that!!!".

"Gott in himme!" Asuka whispered in awe. "Can't we stop it? Declare her the winner, to save the idiot's life before--".

"Give them a few moments" the Phantom Stranger calmly suggested. "Never jump to conclusions. You will see".

"They are... shocking him with enough energy to power up a whole city for months!" Shinji sweated cold, looking at the Washu-made panels of indicators in front of them. "I can't believe this! He should be dead by now; if they keep it like this, they soon will...".

He cut himself short when he saw how, suddenly, the energy pulsing wildly inside of the alien's chest stopped, and from him popped out an exhausted, spent Livewire, who promptly fell down to the ground, unconscious.

"Huh? Wha..." Asuka's jaw almost hit the ground. "Don't tell me she... spent all of her power, and yet he...".

"He still continues there" the Stranger nodded only once. "Like I told you, child, he would not fall so easily".

Khalia stopped her electroblasts at the same time, pausing with a malicious smile. She watched how the Super Saiyan panted and wheezed, grabbing his heart area with a hand. "Just like Xellos told us" she mused. "You are still a bit weak on that area, after your stroke... aren't you?".

He shot her a glare. "How... how did you know...?".

"We work for a higher power, Darling". She zoomed to his side and punched him in the face, taking advantage of his current state. "There is little we can't get info about".

"Interesting..." Goku grunted, blocking another hit with a muscled forearm, then backslapping her across the nose. "Then you should know you are going to lose here, despite your dirty tricks!".

"Far from it!" she rushed back in the air, and joined her hands together. "I know a lot about you, but you barely know anything about me...". She chuckled as a ball of energy began to form between her palms. "All those blasts you hit me with? They just fed me, gave me the info to duplicate your feats, made me stronger. Not only I absorb energy, my dear lunkhead... but just like Ifurita, I also can... copy techniques".

Opening his eyes wide, he realized what she meant, and zoomed aside as fast as he could. However, she merely followed him and shot the energy wave from her hands straight to his new position. "KAMEHAMEHA!!!".

Goku groaned as he felt it hitting him like a runaway train, square in the middle of his body. It almost threw him out of the ring, but he stopped right in the nick of time, rolling down to the sandy ground, facefirst into it.

Khalia smirked down at him as she hovered near his fallen body. "See? There's no point on continuing with this. Give me that satisfaction. Admit your inferiority, and spare yourself a world of pain".

He grumbled, and like lightning, he threw himself up, feet-first, into her, kicking her in the stomach. "SORRY, BUT I'M DUMB LIKE THIS!". He followed it with a jab to her jaw. "I never know when to surrender!!".

"That's such a despicable trait!". She tried to uppercut him, but he moved out of the way and headbutted her, hard. "So, an energy absorber, huh?".

Goku used her momentary dizziness to his advantage and threw her down. Then he raised both arms high. "Well, let's see if you can absorb all energy shot at you!! I'll bet you can't hope with this much of it!".

"What's he trying now?" Joker huffed.

"Ah, I heard about that one!" Rei XV replied. "Genki-dama! Mommy Hild said it was a technique that gathered energy of all good people and smashed everyone bad, to a crisp!". She frowned thoughtfully. "But it takes a while to load. How does he expect her to be quiet while--".

"He has seen through her cockiness, her arrogance" Goenitz interrupted her coldly. "She thinks she can absorb any energy thrown at her".

"But," Joker objected, "surely she wouldn't be so stupid as so...".

"Ahh, ha ha ha ha!" the Demon Goddess laughed, opening her arms. "Ah, more fuel for my machine! You will give me the power to reach my wildest dreams, while exhausting yourself, won't you? I can't believe you're so idiotic!".

"Well, one of them is an idiot" Bell observed quietly. "Either he for thinking it will work... or she for believing she can take it...". Then the white PPG began to sense the small balls of positive energy floating out of the public around them, flowing down to over Goku's head, gathering on a quickly growing sphere glowering above him. "We will see soon, who is right...".

Guy Gardner was one of the people feeling a small part of his chi coming out of him, and blinked. "Huh? What's this? Suddenly I feel... kinda dazed... a bit weak...".

"Kakarrot's last resort!" Vegeta snorted, but smirked, feeling even a bit of his own power leaving to join the Spirit Bomb. "Typical of him. I'm not sure it'll work here, but it could...".

"KHALIA!" Goku finally shouted when the sphere was complete over him seconds after, a huge ball of compressed chi from almost everyone at the MUGEN Grounds and its surroundings. "Try this for size! GENKI-DAMA!!!!..."
".

"YES!" She beckoned the Spirit Bomb which quickly descended towards her to herself, her arms waving in invitation, her eyes gleaming with hungry lust for the power. "Come to me! The power to crush everyone! The gods, the demigods, all alike! COME!!".

And then, it fell on her, breaking the whole arena below her, bathing the whole Dome in blinding light, and crushing the ring into dust all at once. The Judges and public alike were sent down tumbling off their seats, and for a moment it was as if the world had just ended inside of the stadium's reinforced walls.

When the Joker came back to consciousness seconds later, he coughed and crawled back to his seat, his eyes quickly regaining vision which he tried to focus on the arena, curious to see what had happened. Next to him, Rei grabbed her figuratively spinning head with both hands.

He saw Khalia still standing there, wounds and burnt marks all over her body, her skintight bodysuit ripped off at several parts, but she still was on her feet, grinning madly, panting hard. Above her, a spent, bruised Goku barely could keep himself in the air.

They both stayed silent for seconds that looked like millenia, dust floating all around them, the total wreckage of the hi-tech arena under their feet. Until Khalia weakly broke the silence, whispering with a choked voice, "I... told you... I did... it... Absorbed... it...". A part of her right arm, overloaded, exploded, and she collapsed down, on her knees, her whole body trembling. "Ready now to... kill... you... stupid.... monkey".

And with that, she just closed her eyes and relaxed in unconsciousness, finally ending to hit the ground totally.

Asuka stumbled back to her feet and looked at the scene, then pointed at it with a finger and exclaimed, "Ah! She's out and cold! He won! I knew it!".

"I thought..." Shinji coughed several times, "... that you were convinced she was going to win...".

"Shut up, baka!".

Mandy, still groggy as well, waddled to Khalia's side and gave her a quick countdown. "Well, that's it!" she proclaimed as Goku, barely able to stand himself, floated down to her side, grinning dumbly. "Contestant Son Goku wins this battle for Team 'Reluctant Heroes'!".

The part of the public who still was conscious cheered up all at once. It finally was over.

A battle, at least. The war still was far from ending.


Next: Team Justice prepares to fight!

[Saint_007]

OOC: Dear Santa:

What I want for Christmas: Sun Wukong trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey, and Orochi's ass served to him. With a side order of crow.

Yours Truly, Saint.

And in other news, I think I've finally beaten my writer's block...

IC:
After ten more deaths, Team Expendables finally trudged into the field.

"FINALLY!!" Sonic sighed in relief, having finished War and Peace for the fifith time now. "Seriously, it was getting ridiculous..."

"You're telling us," groaned Knuckles. "That was just... gah, nevermind."

Hanagata cleared his throat. "Well, I guess it's time we started this match between-"

Just then in Team Expendable's van (which looked curiously like a Libyan demolition truck(*)), the GLA terrorist hiccuped, accidentally setting off his own explosives, and taking out the Zerg Infested Terran, the Cuban Terrorist, and the truck itself. The explosion was spectacular.

"NOT AGAIN!" screamed Hanagata and Team Red & Blue.

Just then, four Tripods from H.G. Well's "War of the Worlds" books landed down. Their malevolent glowing guns aimed at their opponents - only for all four alien machines to keel over from their pilots' lethal exposure to the common cold virus.

Back in her lair, Hild was looking from the screen to Azrael and back again. She had an incredulous look on her face. "Okay, so I think I understand your plan... but I'm beginning to think that you've been inhaling something strong to even think it could work."

"Just trust me, my queen..." was all of the Angel of Death's response.

Back in the arena, the field had turned into a simulacrum of an ACME warehouse while Team Expendables respawned. Zero could only look around in disbelief at the massive amounts of death traps, explosives, weapons, impractical and unsafe cartoon devices, and other assorted mayhem.

"Are we sure we want to fight in this kind of atmosphere?!" the Reploid asked in concern. "I mean, given the stuff here, I doubt anyone would need a lot of creativity to find new ways to kill and maim themselves, much less the morons we're up against..."

Suddenly, something teleported behind him. Zero turned around to see...

...four hundred dodos(**)?!

"What the?! What the hell's up with this?!" he exclaimed.

Before Hanagata could recover from his own surprise, one of the dodos cried out "Tae Kwan-Dodos! ATTAAAAACCK!!"

What followed was an excersize in sheer inanity and utter pointless butchery. The dodos, for all their stylising and battle cries, could only seem to hit each other and the surrounding landscape. Blood sprayed and feathers flew as the clumsy birds managed to kill themselves in dizzying new ways. And Zero was left standing, covered from head to toe in feathers, completely unharmed. He puffed, and coughed up a couple more feathers.

"Okay, maybe this was funny at first," grumbled the Hunter, "but now it's just getting on my nerves..."

Suddenly four special ops troopers bearing the insignia "Bravo Team" rappelled in to the warehouse. One of them accidentally knocked a jar labelled "T-Virus" as he came down, the pathogen instantly killing all four (leaving Zero unharmed, since his Reploid DNA wasn't something the virus could affect). Just before Hanagata, in his frustration, was about to declare the match over, the four recently deceased immediately got up, very much changed. Their skins were now blue, indicative of their zombified states. Before anyone could move a muscle, one of them accidentally set off his rocket launcher, vaporising himself and his three comrades.

Zero, Hanagata, and the rest of Team Red & Blue could only stare at the fight scene in disbelief...

...to be continued...

(*) - If you've played Starcraft and/or the Command and Conquer series, you'll know that Team Expendables was made up of Kamikaze units.

(**) - From the movies "Ice Age" and "Ice Age the Meltdown"

[Saint_007]

I was going to write something (namely, catching up on all the loose ends) but I've got a lesson. Hopefully, i can get to writing something tomorrow

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

Elsewhere, the Other Team were watching the finale of the Goku vs. Khalia fight in their quarters when their TV screen suddenly became filled with static.

"Aw, this sucks!" Black Mage moaned. "I wanted to see robo-chick rip that guy's head off!"

"It must be a bad cable connection," B-ko grumbled. "Typical . . . .there's nothing but shoddy equipment in the tournament grounds . . . ."

A second later, however, the static suddenly cleared up once more. This time, however, the screen was dominated by the face of a bearded, monacled man wearing what appeared to be a royal navy uniform, standed on what appeared to be the deck of some kind of . . . . warship . . . .

"Attention Other Team," the man on the TV said . . . .

"Great, now some dork on TV is talking to us," Black Mage grumbled.

". . . . .I am Dr. Jules Orion of the Orion Force. I have a message for you to convey to your master, Vellinor."

"Hey, do we look like that jerk's couriers, pal?" Black Mage said. "We aren't your messengers, either, so why don't you go talk to him yourse--"

Black Mage was cut short when Silent Bob pulled a bottle of water out from under his coat and doused him with it, causing him to turn into Black Bunny.

"What sort of message?" Sesshomaru asked warily.

"Simple," Orion said with a slight smile. "The next time you see him, tell him that I am interested in a possible alliance with him: I am sure that such an alliance will benefit him greatly, and no doubt we shall be abe to overcome any obstacles our foes throw at us. Goodybye."

With that, the screen went into static again, before returning to normal and showing Goku standing victorious over Khalia.

"Hmm, that was weird," B-ko muttered.

"Very," Sesshomaru agreed.

*******

No sooner had Dr. Orion made the transmission, however, when there was a sudden flash of light behind him. The mad doctor whirled around, just in time to see the Trickster God standing there, grinning at him.

"Hiya, Julesie!" he said cheerfully. "A little bird told me you're interested in a possible alliance with me?"

Orion smiled. "It seems your surveillance systems are better than I thought," he said.

"What? Oh no, I'm just all-seeing and all-knowing. Comes with being a god," Vellinor replied. He looked around the bridge of the air-fortress. "Nice place you got here. Could do with a little deco, though." He snapped his fingers, and a second later, the entire place was littered with wreaths, Christmas candles and a big Christmas tree. "Gotta love that festive feel!"

"Er . . . yes," Orion muttered. "Now about my offer . . . . "

"Whoa, whoa, hold on there, Creekman," Vellinor said, sitting down in the command throne of the air fortress.

"Rivermen," the doctor corrected.

"Whatever," Vellinor corrected back. "I never said I was going to ally with you yet, on the grounds that . . . .well, I don't really see much of an incentive to. I mean, I already have plenty of scientists in my employ, and most of them are a lot crazier than you, Creekman. Secondly . .. . come on, exactly what have you done so far in Mugen? I mean, other than build an idiotic robotic replica of Dorado Kompson that got pwned by Nabeshin anyway?"

Orion felt his face going slightly red. "For your information, I defeated Dr. Clayton Forrester," he replied.

Vellinor raised an eyebrow. "Who? Is he anywhere on Dr. Doom's level?"

"Well, no, but -- "

"BORING." Vellinor yawned loudly. "Come on, Orion, you aren't really making much of a case for yourself here."

By now, Orion was getting more than a little frustrated. "I know you are an enemy of Dorado Kompson," he said. "If we join forces, we can crush him once and for all!"

Vellinor snorted out loud. "Crush him? Why the hell would I want to crush him?" he asked. "I just want to humiliate him in the worst ways possible -- and I'm already doing that quite well, WITHOUT your help. You really aren't convincing me, Orion: you're simply coming off as a pretentious moron who can't even build a proper evil robot clone without any hassle. You don't seem to have anything you can offer that I don't already have. So tell me, Orion . . . . why should I ally myself with you?"



OOC: Over to you, J Dog.

[T51R]

~Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Inertia…Part V, continued~




“Dammit what part of get your ass on the floor don‘t you understand!?” the Orochi spat as the God-Killer continued his advance. “I‘m telling you Kaarage, get your face down on the ground with your hands where I can see ‘em or your friend here is toast!” Well, he thought, it had somewhat worked. Unfortunately, the best laid plans of mic and men, and Gods to it seemed, never went the way the were meant to. Someone had seen though it quicker than he had expected, and he had a pretty goo idea who. His gaze darted across the room, first at Washu who hadn’t moved an inch since had entered through the door, then to Urd, who was staring him down. And finally, to the man in the white trench coat. Several steps remained to the portal behind both him and the captive Rind. Damn. He knew that he would need to ditch the hostage, but the moment he did Urd’s command would come. And both he and his lieutenant would be dead. “Wukong, bail. Better one of us gets out of here than both of us bite it fighting that thing. You hear me? Get the f*ck out of here. All I‘m asking is that you see to it that my contract with Morisato‘s upheld, think you can do it?”

“Do it yourself,” the Monkey King quipped. “We can out this, we’ve been in tighter fixes than this before. Remember the Realms?” They backed closer to the portal, the Orochi dragging Rind backwards by her collar while his other arm was still embedded in her back, an eerie glow around the place where his limb and her body became one.

Strange, the Valkerye thought to herself. There was no pain, but she knew what he had done nonetheless; her soul. The God of Destruction’s most lethal weapon, at least, the only one he had that could actually effect Higher Beings: the ripping out of their souls. “This is a deadlock,” Rind dug her heels into the ground. “Kill me, and you‘ll both have to deal with that.” She cocked her head towards Nudoru, matching the pair behind her step for step. “Your contract will never be completed. Time has run out Orochi, surrender now and tell us what you know. All of it. Perhaps in that way, your contract with Morisato can be in some way or another honoured.”

“No way,” he almost yanked her off her feet, “You. Urd. Peorth. All of you have histories with the Morisato boy. I don’t know exactly why or how, but now I‘ve been dragged into this mess. And the only way out for me,” the God of Destruction concluded, “is for me to finish the contract…with my own two hands. And to do that, I need to get out of here. There‘s no damned way I‘m getting tangled up in that web you, Belldandy, Urd, Skuld and even Peorth have fallen into. Somehow, someway, bound to a mortal‘s fate by the Ultimate Force. Can‘t you see the irony in that Rind?” he sneered. “First Belldandy, then her sisters, and through them the Almighty one, and now the circle is finished with something coming here, to His Creation to balance out the equation.” Keep them talking, he thought, keep them distracted as they moved ever-closer to the portal. Three steps, then two. Damn. “GET ON THE FLOOR, HERALD!” he shouted at the God-Killer. He wasn’t buying it, the Orochi realized. Even if it didn’t understand the protocols of Yggdrasil, even if it didn’t fit in, he realized that Urd’s herald more than understood the language of violence. “Back off Kaarage, or she‘s dead!”

“You know, you keep saying that like it‘s really gonna happen,” the God-Killer muttered from behind his faceplate. “Because I‘d like to see you do it, when you never existed in the first…”

“STAND DOWN!” Urd bellowed from across the room. “Kaarage, do what he says. There are things that can be risked and things that cannot. And then there are things…that I am unwilling to risk.” She shot him a wink as he turned back towards her for confirmation of the order.

“Good dog,” the God of Destruction snickered as Nudoru dropped forwards into a push-up position, then lay flat on the ground just as his Goddess had ordered him to. “Hands where I can see them. Good, gee I wish I had a cookie.” He felt the warmth of the dimensional energies begin to engulf him, the Monkey King’s Naibo disappearing into the portal next to him. “Sorry about this Rind,” he whispered into her ear as he withdrew his arm from her back, “but I hope you realize that unlike Kaarage here, I‘m nobody‘s dog.” With that, he sent her towards the floor below with a well-placed kick before vanishing into the rift.

“YOU BASTARD,” the Valkerye screamed as she fell, “I‘ll see you sealed Orochi, for all of eternity, I swear…oof!” She found herself caught by the Demi-Angel Alaniel, then set back on her feet as Anzell and Urd came running. But before she could answer she found the two remaining Chousein coming through the door. "Lady Tokimi, Lady Tsunami...I...I have failed the Council."



~To be continued...

[J Dog]

You know, Lord, that's how Orion introduced himself in the promtional video that he came from. Oh, and Saint, I loved the Dodo's attack style... which led to their obvious defeat.

*********

"Hmm... what do I have to offer?" Orion thought out loud. He knew that what he bargained was not of any use to Vellinor, and this guy was needed to defeat his true foes from the Planet Houston universe. But, he had something that COULD be of usage. It was just a matter of what exactly.

"Here's a bit of a bargain for you." Orion then told Vellinor, who was almost asleep; a sign of little compassion for what he had. "I will offer you free usage of an assistant of mine."

Vellinor buzzed it. "Come on! That "try it, you'll like it" crap dosen't work on me. I WAS the inventor of that idea because I wanted to pass off some really bad potatoes. It's just an excuse to offer me a crummy assistant when I got enough under my control as is."

"Figures. But, he's not any ordinary crony, but rather, my older brother." Was what Orion then added to attempt to sell the deal.

"Older... brother?" Vellinor didn't expect this, and even he was a God. Confident, Orion continued. "You see, he knows Black Magic-"

"Eh! Eh! I already have Black Mage and several others." Vellinor interrupted. "Not of use."

Irritated, Orion continued. "As I said, he knows Black Magic. But he also has the uncanny ability to alter rules and is capable of the deadliest of spells. He can be used for virtually any situation, Cloaky." That was his comeback for "Creekman".

"He sounds decent. I may already have one like him, but if he really is able of handling such spells and tricks, I think I COULD use him for my amusement. What is his name?"

"I am sworn to secrecy, but he calls himself 'Mr. Bandages'. If you must know, he is mostly scarred from third-degree burns and wears these bandages all over his face and visible body. He looks a bit like Hush, in a sense." Orion felt a tad triumphant. "I know he is capable of accomplishing any goal that is given to him."

"If it'll make a blowhard like you feel better, I will use this," He airquotes, "Mr. Bandages. But don't expect me to be satisfied until he does one goal of mine."

"Which is?" Orion asked.

"Can't tell. But if he works, I may consider the Orion Force to become part of my legion... even though I can rule the entire world within the confines of my bathtub and have a rubber duck as assistant."

"Overconfident, I presume." Orion then told him. "By the way, you want to know why I want to crush Dorado?"

"I'm all ears." With that, Vellinor creates several flying ears around him.

"Hah hah." Orion said weakly. "Although Dorado is weaker than Jack by a LONG SHOT, he isn't confined to fate. Jack is going to become the omega God of Thunder someday, along with his sister becoming a defender. Dorado, on the other hand, can be manipulated so that any future is possible for him. If you are going to humiliate him, I suggest that you take into mind that any reaction can affect his destiny. In fact, ALL reactions can affect his destiny, even if he has to go to the bathroom."

At that, though, Vellinor was gone. A note was left that said, "Heard it all. I'll think about it and see you real soon- Vellinor"

******

Jack was still watching the training and figured it was time for the next step.

[Saint_007]

OOC: Okay, first off, thanks for the complement, J Dog :) Second, apologies to Golden Darkness for the first part, but by now, *someone* would have found Dr. Oliver under all that wreckage. He'd be somewhere by now - if only inside a hospital :p

I hope to finally tie up some loose ends with this, and manage to finally advance the plot a bit...

IC:
Earlier on Tournament Grounds

Bunny was making another round of her MUGEN grounds patrol, keeping an eye out for anything that could be described as suspicious activity. It basically gave her something to do while the others were busy with their scrying and detective work.

Still, there was the problem of the other Powerpuffs. Bell was understandable; she wasn't exactly friends with Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup, so why should she be any different. Besides, anyone who willingly teams up with that horrid Joker and Mara is just trouble. Alaniel told her about their past; why would anyone in their right mind work with them is beyond her.

But that brought up the question of the other - or rather, the original - three Powerpuffs. Bunny sat down on a window ledge to think it out. No, Alaniel had asked her about it before. He told her that if she wanted, she could go and see her sisters. But she was the one who refused. Now why was that, I wonder?

Basically, it was because of what happened when she was around them last. Oh sure, she was a messed up abomination of an attempt then, but... she nearly failed them all. She just... god, it was just too embarassing to think about. Good thing her career ended then... though how it ended kinda sucked.

So why wait to see them again? Maybe because she needed to feel that she had accomplished something, that she was somebody worth joining them again, that she wouldn't screw things up again. Simply put, she wanted them to be proud of her...

Maybe working with Alaniel to make sure everything ends well would-

Just then, she heard an explosion, and a thick column of smoke was rising. Bunny reacted almost instinctively; she flew upwards towards the scene to see what had happened.

The scene was in total chaos; an entire building had been demolished in an explosion, and there was a huge smoking pile of rubble inside an even bigger crater. The rescue teams were just arriving, but time was critical; there were evidentally people trapped under the remains.

Bunny pondered for a split-second what to do; diving in at full speed would be hazardous to anyone she might accidentally crush with the force of the impact, and if she haphazardly threw the rocks aside, she might upset the pile, thus endangering those stuck underneath them. There was one thing to do; it wasn't pleasant, and it really took a lot out of her, but it was the only responsible thing to do. She steeled her resolve, dove at the pile of wreckage - and phased through.

It wasn't easy, keeping track of her molecules in a dense soup of air, dust, and stone, but it was more of a concentration thing than a power thing. Good thing I worked on that, she thought, otherwise, this would have been difficult, not to mention horribly gruesome if I messed up... Downwards she dove, finding people with her X-ray vision, and then trying to push through the rubble, carrying them to safety.

She was just about to lay down, exhausted with the cumulative effort, when she thought she heard a faint groan, apparently coming from the wreckage. Impossible, I thought there was nobody left down there. With one last sweep of her eyes, she took a closer look. To her surprise, she found out why she had missed the owner of the voice before; he was unfortunately pinned down by large metal support beams. And those metal support beams were holding the rest of what was left of the support, so tearing through them wasn't an option. Oh, but she was already exhausted...

"Well, as Blossom used to say," Bunny sighed, "it's not about doing the easy thing, it's about doing the right thing..." She took a couple of deep breaths before diving in again.

"Sir? Sir can you hear me?!" she called out, not quite sure if he was conscious enough to hear her. She managed to phase this far, but dear GOD were her lungs burning. She didn't know how long she could hold her breath. She tried to remove the wounded man, but his leg was spike through by a piece of metal. The act of merely stirring him woke him up.

"Urrgh... that hurts..."

"Sir, take it easy, you'll be okay," Bunny said, more in an attempt to calm herself down than to ease the guy's mind. "What's you're name?"

"My... friends... call me Dr. O," he chuckled weakly, before giving in to a vicious fit of coughing.

"Sir, please hold on, let me get you out of here," Bunny replied, holding his leg. "Now bear with me - this might sting a bit." In the darkness, 'Dr O' nodded. Bunny phased the metal spike right out of the leg, and the wounded man managed to supress his desire to groan.

"Sir, now hold on," Bunny replied. "This might be a bumpy ride..." With that, she held on to the injured guy, and phased back through the rubble to air.

Just as she was about to reach the surface, she felt her lungs about to explode literally. Utilising all that was left of her strength in one last, desperate gambit, she thrust forward...

...out into the open sunlight. With an explosive gasp, she sucked in the sweet air, nearly fainting with the massive effort. She managed to regain control at the last second, and gently landed the wounded man onto the ground. As the rescue teams took him to an ambulance, Bunny fell to her knees, her head throbbing intensely with the exhaustion and pain.

"Need help, little girl?" asked one of the firefighters. "You seem to have a hard time of it..."

"Nah, I'm fine," Bunny said, coughing strongly. "I... I just think I'll go take a rest..." She stumbled away in a daze. She just hoped there would be no more escapades like that...

EDIT: Crap, I was hoping to have more time to post more. Ah well, tomorrow it is, then...

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

Karma

Nifelheim

“His vital signs are stable,” Dr. Hojo said as he looked over the monitor with Dr. Akagi. “No visible fluctuations as of yet.”

The scientists assigned to serve the Triumvirate of Hell were hard at work in the operating chamber. At the center of the room, Tenchi Masaki lay unconscious in a heavy suspensor unit. Thus far, they hadn’t been experiencing any difficulty in the operation: there had been no unstable reactions from the Light Hawk wings as of yet, and everything was in place for Tenchi’s mind subversion to be carried out. There was no telling, however, how the Power Jurai would react once the actual operation began.

“The Power Jurai is stable as well,” the Red Ghost said from his station. “The necessary safeguards are in place in the event that it should react negatively.”

He glanced across to Royal Pain, who gave a nod and began tapping at the console where she was standing with Gendo Ikari. “Initiating AT Fields,” she said. Almost instantly, the AT fields surrounding the prone body of Tenchi Masaki sprang to life. The science team knew that, if the Light Hawk Wings reacted negatively to the tampering with Tenchi’s mind, then the AT Fields would be the only thing preventing them from shredding the entire lab. “Power is at a hundred percent.”

From his own console, Desty Nova looked up at Vellinor and Hild, who were overseeing the operation from a shielded balcony. The two gods nodded almost in unison: turning back to his console, Nova began tapping a few keys. “Initiating nanobot insertion,” he said.

The main screen promptly lit up, showing Desty Nova’s own unique nanobots – a type that were much smaller than most brain cells, as he had claimed – filtering in through Tenchi’s skull from the apparatus attached to his head. Almost immediately, Tenchi’s body seemed to light up, and several warning alarms began to wail.

“We have a Light Hawk reaction!” Klaw said. A second later, Tenchi’s light hawk wings sprang to life, and the AT fields flared as they fought to restrain the unleashed Power Jurai.

“AT fields are holding,” Royal Pain said. “Hojo, what’s his vital status?”

Hojo peered at his monitor intently. “I’m getting a fluctuation in his heart rate,” he replied. “It’s a stress reaction. I’m pumping in more sedative right now.”

The ex-Shinra scientist quickly pressed that button that caused more sedatives to be pumped directly into Tenchi’s bloodstream. The Masaki boy’s heart rate quickly went back to normal, though the Light Hawk wings continued to batter away at the AT fields.

“It’s functioning like an immune reaction,” Gendo Ikari muttered grimly. “Nova, how’s the neurological edit going?”

The Tipharean scientist pushed up his goggles slightly. “All nanobots are in place,” he replied. “Initiating karmatron manipulation.”

The tiny white dots representing the nanobots on the screen suddenly turned red to indicate that they were doing their work. Desty Nova had bragged time and time again of his own unique theory of karmatron dynamics – of using nanotechnology to essentially edit human minds or even re-create entire brains and their full set of memories from scratch. And now they were about to see Nova’s unique neuroscience in action.

“Karmatron manipulation is under way,” Nova said with a slight smile. “Activating Ouraboros program.”

*********

Tenchi sat alone in a clearing outside the Masaki shrine. Everything was quiet and tranquil: there was no breeze, and the sky above was cloudless. It was peaceful and calming here: he could sit quietly and meditate, without having to worry about any of the cares of the world. It was quite nice not having to worry about being pestered by. .. . .

. . . . . .. .

. . .. .. .that was odd: he was sure he knew their names. Those two girls who usually bothered him: Ry . . . . . .Ay . . . . . .. .

Tenchi blinked in confusion. Something wasn’t right: he should know their names. He tried to remember everything about them – the silver-haired one, with the dark skin and the odd facial markings . . . . .

Ry . . . . .H . . . ..

A cold sweat broke down his face. Dammit, that wasn’t what she looked like! Or was it? He couldn’t remember: he thought back, and found that their faces and their names were all a blank. He tried thinking up his family name, hoping that then he would remember them: he knew his last name began with an M, at least. Or was it a T? Wait, no, his FIRST name began with a T!

At least, he thought it did. Who was he, again?

No . . .. this isn’t right . .. .. THIS ISN’T RIGHT . . . ..


********

“Light Hawk output is increasing!” the Red Ghost exclaimed. No sooner had he said this when the AT field generators began to spark as their grids began to rupture.

“Field strength has dropped to 60%, and is continuing to fall!” Royal Pain exclaimed. “I’m pouring auxiliary power to the main generators!”

Ikari cursed. “If those generators blow, we’re dead,” he said. “Nova, can’t you hurry this up?”

“His consciousness is resisting the edit,” Desty Nova replied with surprising calm. “Fascinating . . . .such willpower from such a young mind . . .. . “ He tapped into his console. “But a few appropriate projections might set that straight.”


*******

Tenchi fell to his knees and clutched his head. He felt chaos swirling around him – the serene landscape around the shrine melted into an indistinguishable miasma of noise and colour. He felt like his whole world was spinning out of control: he didn’t know what was what, or whether or not it even existed . .. .

This isn’t right . .. . nothing’s right . . . .

Then everything suddenly lurched back into sharp focus. He was back on the outskirts of the Masaki shrine. Everything seemed right once again: everything was quiet and peaceful.

She was standing in front of him – the dark-skinned, white-haired woman, looking down at him with a friendly, almost motherly smile. Tenchi instantly realized that she was familiar – that he knew her somehow . . . .

“Do you know who you are?” the woman asked.

Tenchi paused at the question, and slowly nodded. “I’m . .. . .Tenchi,” he said slowly, as everything came back to him. “Tenchi Masaki. Grandson of Yosho, the Crown Prince of Jurai.”

“Good!” the woman replied cheerily, as though to a toddler saying its first words. “And do you know who I am?”

Again, Tenchi searched through his mind. Everything was coming back to him now: everything was becoming clear.

“Hild,” he finally replied. “You are Lady Hild.”

Yes, he now remembered everything: he remembered who he was, and who his family and friends were – Grandfather, Sasami, Ayeka, Ryoko, Washu, Mihoshi, Kiyone, the Chousein, Ryo-Ohki . . .. .he remembered all the trials and tribulations that had faced in the past. He remembered his lineage, he remembered Kagato . . . .and above all, he now remembered Lady Hild, Lord Vellinor and Lord Thanos. The Triumvirate: the three beneficent gods whom he served unquestioningly. Their will was his command: he existed to serve them and carry out their divine plan.

Instinctively, Tenchi fell to one knee and bowed before Hild. “What is your bidding, my mistress?” he asked.

Hild’s smile deepened. “Go back to the tournament grounds,” she replied. “Say nothing of the Triumvirate, or of your servitude to me: let your friends and teammates simply know that you are alright. I shall have instructions for you when the time comes.”

Tenchi bowed even lower. “It shall be done, mistress,” he replied. “I live to serve you.” There was a smile on his lips as he said this: everything now made complete, perfect sense. He was now secure in the knowledge that everything was as it should be.

********

“Eureka!” Desty Nova exclaimed. “The karmatron alteration is complete!”

No sooner had Nova said this when the Light Hawk wings suddenly died down. “The Power Jurai is returning to manageable levels,” the Red Ghost said. “It’s no longer resisting us.”

“Vital signs are normal as well,” Hojo said. He looked up, a slight smile forming on his grotesque face. “I’d say the operation was a success.”

There was a flash of light, and Hild and Vellinor teleported into the room. “Great job, people! Fantastic!” Vellinor said cheerfully while clapping his hands. “Free donuts for everyone!”

“Indeed,” Hild said. “I take it, however, that you still need to implant the failsafe mechanism?”

“That is correct, mistress,” Gendo Ikari said respectfully. “The worst part of the operation, however, is over: implanting the failsafe into Tenchi’s brain should be quite easy now that his Light Hawk wings won’t interfere.”

“Splendid,” Hild said with a smile. “The only complication we have left to deal with, however, is how we shall convincingly plant him back in the Mugen grounds without leaving the authorities suspicious.”

“Leave that to me, Queenie,” Vellinor said. “I’ll simply engineer a nice little incident so that the good guys actually think they were rescuing Tenchi. It’s so nice, getting the heroes to do your work for you, don’t you agree?”

“Quite,” Hild said, looking down at Tenchi with an almost motherly look on her face. “Quite nice indeed.”

[T51R]

~Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Inertia…Part V, continued~



“You haven’t,” Washu placed her left hand on her hip while gesturing casually with her right, Tokimi and Tsunami greeting her as they met the people within the tiny room. Rind felt around the small of her back, the exact spot where the Enhanced Soul Stealer had made contact. “If anything what the Orochi just did is gonna and him right where all of us want him. He just needs a tiny little push, and we‘re gonna have a force to be reckoned with on the Earth, working for us whether he likes it or not.”

Rind turned to Tokimi, and then to Tsunami. “M’lady, you would tolerate this…thing running amok on the planet below us? He desires nothing but the spilling of blood, of human blood! Please Lady Tsunami, Lady Tokimi, please see sense! If it were not for the contract with Morisato he would have in all likelihood brought about another cataclysm upon all life! He must be stopped, right here and right now! Even if what he said is true…”

“And just what did he say, Valkerye?” Tokimi’s icy glare bore its way into her soul.

Rind choked; she had probably lost all mandate to pursue the God of Destruction right there and then. “He said…he said, that he had a way. He had a way…to track your experiment down.”

“Tenchi!?” Tsunami gasped. “But there is no way…we ourselves do not know what happened to him, and the D‘s are searching every dimension within their jurisdictions for him. Even some that are not…”

“Yes,” the Valkerye muttered, cursing herself under her breath. “He said that he possessed the only thing that may have a chance of leading you to him. What that may be, he did not mention.”

Alaniel stepped towards the Chousein, bowed humbly and requested their permission to speak, one at a time. He knew of them, that was his job. He also knew their reputations; Tsunami’s benevolence, Washu’s genius, and Tokimi’s penchant for being manipulative. That alone, together with their silence, led him to believe that they were concocting a plan to get their engineered Messiah back safely. The Demi Angel cleared his throat, and turned to Tokimi. “M‘lady, please tell us. What are your plans? That you did not strike down the God of Destruction where he stood leads me to believe that you knew all this was going to happen.”

“It was not us who foresaw this event, Servant of the Morning Star.” Tsunami replied on her sister’s behalf. “Rather, it was the Golden Lord herself. We were but instructed to be here, at this very place.”

Alaniel baulked at the name. The Lord of Nightmares, she who floats like gold upon the sea of chaos. She had also expressed an interest in the Tournament, for reasons that Special Operations’ strategic planners could not discern. “If I may M‘lady, would you tell us what she said? For if there are other motives involved then…”

“No.” Was all of Tokimi’s reply.

“But it does concern Tenchi,” Tsunami whispered. “And for him, this gamble must be made. For even though it may be impossible, should his power and the Light Hawk Wings fall into the hands of those who would usurp the Throne of Eternity, then we are all but doomed.” She looked to her pink-haired sister, Washu holding her thumb up to her chin. “What is it?”

Finally, the head of Heaven’s Scientific Developments Wing spoke. However, in place of her usual cheerful and bubbly demeanour were eyes narrowed into slits. They had seen that expression before, and it meant that whatever she would say next should be carefully considered. “There isn’t a choice. We‘ll have to force the Orochi‘s hand.”

“EXCUSE ME!?” Urd and Rind gasped with shock, Anzell exchanging confused glances with Alaniel.

“We have to find out exactly what his trump card is. Contrary to popular belief even in Heaven, the Orochi‘s motives have always been ridiculously similar to those of Beenuel, the God of Animals. The only difference between them are the methods that they choose to employ,” Washu began to explain. “You see, like Beenuel, the Orochi only wants the planet to be kept sacred. He does not hate life, however he does hate the humans because of what they‘re doing to the world. However, judging by the last time he was on Earth he does respect them as sentient beings, and he does respect their right to live as well. As much as he‘d have us believe otherwise.” She locked eyes with the Valkerye. “You did the pre-trial interview with him in ‘97 didn’t you, when he was banished from the Earth by the Three Sacred Treasures?”

“Y..yes, but…” Rind tried to reply.

“So you should know that there is no immediate threat to the planet, at least not from the Orochi itself. The Monkey King on the other hand has been kept contained for aeons, and if he decides to pick up where he left off the amount of chaos he could cause would be incredible. We do know however that he is dead loyal to Heaven‘s chosen Messenger, so for the time being we don‘t have to worry about him. What we do have to worry about however is his boss being taken out. If Orochi should fall some way or another, Wukong would go out of control. And the last time…well, I don’t have to tell you what happened the last time, do I? It‘s required reading these days.”

Finally, Anzell made her way to the fore and formally greeted the trio of Goddesses. “What is it you propose,” she asked, “what can we do now that the two of them are most likely on Earth?”

“He is bound by a contract, isn‘t he?” Tsunami answered this time. “Hence, one of his first objectives…will be to meet with his Contractor.”

Urd stiffened, looked towards her Herald and then back at Tsunami. “He‘s going for Keiichi!?”

“Not to bring him harm nor pain,” the Chousein replied, “but rather, to assure him that the contract between them is still in effect. That would present Yggdrasil with a Catch 22; for a God or Goddess can only be recalled to Heaven if they choose to break the contract. OR, if the Almighty One himself commands it. Thus we can predict that we will do so, if only to buy himself a little more time and to keep Lady Rind away. After all, was it not her who was responsible for sealing him in 1997?”

Alaniel and Anzell looked on, indeed, the three were renown for their foresight.

“And how is it,” Rind finally made herself heard again after making sure that the Advanced Soul Stealer had left no ill effects, and that she was virus-free, “that you intend to force the Orochi‘s hand?” Tokimi’s lips began to curl at their edges as she turned only her head towards the Valkerye. Washu and Tsunami knew the look all to well. She had something stewing in the back of her mind, and she was wondering if she should let it out or not.

“That,” she began, “I cannot say. We do have rather high standards of conduct. After all, is this not Heaven? And do we not serve He who represents all things that are good, fair and just? However, if there was one of us here whom He did not hold sway over, who had no need to fear his wrath and the Judgement of the Tribunal…oh. My, my. Perhaps I have said too much, haven‘t I?” She took a step towards Urd, and found the ground under her heel surprisingly malleable. She thought nothing else of it, until a scream echoed through the chamber and a fountain of blood stained her robes.

“WILL YOU GET THAT HEEL OUT OF MY EAR!?” Nudoru cursed as he thrashed around under Tokimi’s foot, the stiletto tip of her high-heeled boot having made its way through the right side of the armour of his head…and out the left.

“Oh dear,” Tsunami covered her mouth with shock while her sisters let out a sigh of resignation. With a sickening, sucking sound Tokimi pulled her heel free. “Are you well?”

“HOW‘D YOU LIKE TO HAVE SOMETHING POKEY THROUGH YOUR HEAD!?” he screamed as an extra crimson stream appeared, spilling out of the other end of his skull like the River Nile. “Talk about bad work safety…”

“Enough.” Tokimi spoke sternly. “I trust you have been listening, Herald?” He nodded. “Good. We leave your Mistress to dwell upon that particular decision then. Until we meet again. However, do not come back without the report of success.” She turned to go, both she and Tsunami fading slowly from view until all that was left of them were the remnants of a hazy dream, as if a muddied memory.

[T51R]

Slowly, the group turned towards the God-Killer, and Anzell was the first to pose her question. “What exactly did Tokimi mean by that,” she crossed her arms, the slender shaft of her enchanted spear tucked snugly in her left hand and leaned back onto her right shoulder. “It seems to me that she was recommending…” she thought hard as to how she should word it, until Alaniel stopped her.

“We should go,” the Demi-Angel locked eyes with both Washu and Rind. I don’t think Lady Tokimi meant for us to be privy to what will happen now. Washu nodded her reply, but he could tell that Rind was still spoiling for some payback. “Ma‘am,” he called to her. “You know that orders given to a Herald are secret…”

The Valkerye shot him a dirty look. “I know that full well, Special Operative. And the Battle Division will send its report to your people by the regular express channels.” She then turned to Anzell before making her way out of the room. “And you. Until you receive the Council‘s mandate to act, I‘d suggest that you stay put. Since you seem to be Alaniel‘s guest, then his people will undoubtedly arrange some living quarters for you. Am I correct?” Again she exchanged looks with the Demi-Angel, then stormed her way out of the containment facility.

“I can‘t believe her sometimes,” Alaniel sighed, before leading the Goddess from Evermere away. When the room was empty however, and the only things remaining in it were the portal, a broken chair and seven unconscious Valkerye, Urd led the God-Killer to the higher levels of the building. Somewhere where the skies could be seen. Somewhere that was not as claustrophobic.

“Did you get any of that,” she asked of her servant. “Because plenty of the beings on the Council aren‘t going to be happy with this. So,” she smiled her mischievous smile, “do you have anything for me to approve of?”

“Tokimi wants things set up so that Orochi feels completely helpless and alone,” he explained.

“Don’t you think I didn’t figure that part out already?” Urd grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off his feet, peering into the dark goggles that hid his eyes. “What do you think I am, some kinda idiot? What I want to know is how you‘re going to go about it. And it had better NOT have anything to do with blowing up the last quarter of the Dreaming!” She set him back on the ground, on his feet. “And Don’t you DARE bleed on this dress, it’s the last clean one I have left! And why the Hell don’t your clothes ever get dirty anyway?”

The God-Killer looked around, ruffling through his pockets, pulled out Wanta then stuffed him back in, looked under his coat, then finally sniffed himself. “I‘m not really moving through 10, 11, 16-dimensional or 3-dimensional space. Look, Tokimi wasn’t suggesting a political move. She was talking about a combative solution, she wants for stress to be put on the Orochi so that the Council will have a black ops commando in its power, and since there’s no way that they‘re gonna make him do what they want with an Edict, they‘re gonna make him do what they want…by force.”

“Good, now explain what else you‘ve understood,” Urd sat herself on the railing some several hundred meters above the lush greenery below. “Just so I know that you‘re not going to mess this up.”

“What the Chousein want, is for Orochi‘s last pillar of support to be taken away from him. That will force him to side with the humans, and to actively search out a means to either locate Masaki, or to at least bring them closer to him. All while keeping Morisato safe and while working towards the Tournament going smoothly. Because, if he is to gain the Power Jurai and complete the Contract, he will have to ensure that Belldandy is the final challenger. His final challenger. Chances are there‘s another factor in this, and that factor is Orochi‘s trump card. Whoever or whatever that is, they‘re confident enough that he is telling the truth about it. Confident enough that it‘s gonna force the Orochi to help them in their search, before it helps him get what he wants. Right now, that one pillar of support left is the Monkey King. And what they want, is that Sun Wukong is removed from the picture without the intervention of Heaven being obvious. That about covers it,” Nudoru wheezed, barely escaping the icy clutches of yet another asphyxiation-related demise.

“YOU GOT ALL THAT JUST FROM LYING ON THE GROUND AND GETTING STEPPED ON!?” Urd fumed.

“Never said I wasn‘t a combat tactician,” the God-Killer shrugged.

“Geez you could have just said that you have half a brain,” Urd let herself fall backwards into the empty sky at her back, then rose slowly to face her Herald on the other side of the marble railing. “Go, I‘ll go talk to Belldandy about this. Anything you want her to hear?”

“Yeah,” Nudoru cracked his neck, and then his knuckles within the red, armour that surrounded them. “Tell her, she better keep her eyes open and her ear to the ground.”

Urd turned to leave, but stopped for a moment. “Kaarage.”

“Yeah?”

“No killing. I‘ll see what I can arrange with Rind so that you‘ll be relieved when you‘re finished. I think she‘ll be interested.” She thought for a moment. “Also, I want you to see that the Orochi makes clear his intentions to honour his contract with Keiichi. Then I want you to check up on Skuld and Beenuel for me. Report to me when you‘re done. However, give me three hours to talk with Rind. After three hours, do what you have to. I give you leave to go.”

“Ma‘am,” Nudoru replied as Miso’s wings stretched far and wide into the clear, blue skies of Heaven, an apparition if sheer destructive power sending shards of energy floating gently into the pale stone streets below as if they were feathers. “Looks like we finally got some action, huh?”

“Ga schop één of andere harige ezel,” the faceless monster stretched, loosening itself up.

“Ready?” the God-Killer watched as the Angel’s began to encircle the both of them. “Hey hold on a minute.”

“Wat?”

“DON‘T do that…thing again, right?”

"Ding? Welk ding?"

Nudoru swung his arm around Miso’s neck. “No. Light. Hawk. Cannon. Got it? You took out three quarters of the Dreaming with that damned thing, you miss in 3 dimensional space you‘re gonna blow up what, 97.221 percent of the whole damned multiverse this side of the Source Wall, not to mention 71.76 percent of whatever‘s left on the other side! NO. LIGHT. HAWK. ENERGY. WEAPONS. Hell, just stay put, I‘ll give you a shout if there‘s trouble.”

"In orde, maar ik ben gonna neem nu een shit als dat het geval ik het in voor de laatste zes eeuwigheden." heb gehouden,” it answered.

“Yeah well, just wipe aight?” the God-Killer muttered as the Angel’s wings again bent the fabric of Yggdrasil’s realm around them, 10-dimensional space being effortlessly cleaved apart then reconstituted behind the rift.



~Next: The plan of the Chousein unfolds, and Achika Masaki awakens! All in the second-last installment of Orchestral Manouvers in the Dark!

OOT: Oi, LONC, that flowed pretty well with yours didn't it? Maybe the plot can go a little faster now. :D

[OverMaster]

Trumpets of War, Part 2: The Taste of Justice.

"Well, that was fun enough" the Joker rose from his seat again, dusted himself off, and walked for the door. "So, let's get going, team, before we get more death threats, or someone blows up what little is left of this place".

"Aren't you going to talk with your... girlfriend?" Bell asked while following him. "She must be very upset after that defeat".

"Nah, Harl's a strong girl. And I figure she'll want to be left alone for now. If not, well, *I* want to leave her alone for now, and isn't that all what really matters at the end? Not to mention, I don't want to stay around her friends. Especially not now that they must be soooo cranky..." he chuckled.

"And they all looked slutty" Rei XV added.

"You should not worry about the Demon Goddess, at least" Goenitz closed the march, absently watching how some angels carried the unconscious Khalia to the Repairs Wing. "There is no way she will recover from that soon".

"Good riddance, I say!" Joker opined, as the four of them walked outside. "Say, what if we go for some lunch and shit before it's time to see the next brutal pummeling?".


Still waiting in ambush, Jason Todd narrowed his eyes, wyly smiling to himself. Now, it was time. They were getting away from the public. He pulled out a small device out of his belt and pressed a red button on it.

To get a revenge on his killer, he had studied his teammates' quirks and abilities. He fully knew he had no business going against them, so he had to get them out of the way first. Then, when alone with the clown, he could take his decisive moment to strike.

A high-frequency sonic signal. Something that only someone with superhearing could hear. It had took him a lot of time and effort to duplicate the transmission, but finally, he had done it. Something to send the girlie on a wild goose chase, long enough for him to do his job.

Bell, the familiar voice rang in her ears. Come here right now. I need you, please, Bell. Come to my headquarters. It's urgent!

"Susan?!" she stopped and blinked, surprised. "Susan, are you okay...?" she wondered aloud.

Joker, curious to see her normal icy facade falling, looked at her with curiosity. "Huh? What's up, Cutie? Remembered you left a pie in the oven?".

"I have to go to check on something. Mr. Goenitz, please, excuse me". She bowed politely in front of him and took off at superspeed. "It'll be only for a moment!".

Joker watched, puzzled, how she quickly disappeared in the distance. "Bathroom break?" he wondered.



Todd chuckled grisly to himself. Now, to deal with the priest. All he had to do was to--

Wait a second. Some other people were approaching Joker, Rei and Goenitz. A young woman with long dark hair and two teenagers... wait, he recognized them, those two were part of the Judges back at the Arena. What could they want with Joker and his damn team?


******************


"Well, we are next" Back at Team Justice's headquarters, Kim Kaphwan stretched, preparing himself for action. "Are you all ready, team?".

"Of course we are!" Amelia nodded with enthusiasm. "We can't lose, with the strenght of our beliefs, and the hope of those who trust us behind us! We can't fail Miss Lina and the others!".

Etna watched them from the couch, still not believing there could be three other Justice Freaks as big as Flonne around. Prince Laharl would have a stroke if he saw them now. She ripped a bag of Cheesy Poofs open, and began to eat a few. They tasted kinda weird, she decided, munching on this exotic new food. "Right. Anyway, you still should be careful" she warned. "What I've heard about that Bogard hunk and the Flag-man is, well, they are pretty experienced and respected. You could be in for a fight there".

"Nothing we can't handle" Darkwing Duck replied putting on his hat. "You'll see? Well, team? Let's go. Things are about to get really interesting...".


Next: Asuka vs. Rei vs. Harley vs. Jason?!

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

Passageways

A while later, Anzell and Alaniel walked down the halls of Yggdrasil. They were both quiet after all that had just happened: the Orochi was loose back on earth, his escape from custody something that the Lord of Nightmares had apparently anticipated all along. The more Anzell got to know the Council of Heaven and all of its workings, the more she came to see how much intrigue really went on within its ranks. If it wasn’t someone like the Orochi or Azrael carrying out a hidden agenda, it was one of the higher-ups – Anzell still remembered her surprise when she first heard that the Triumvirate had suppressed all data on the Joker. She still couldn’t help but feel that one of them had also suppressed all data on Evermere. What could this fact mean for her, an Evermerean, if someone wanted the existence of her and her people to be kept a secret?

She shook her head. She knew how crazy it was to think this, but a small part was beginning to miss the totalitarian administration of Evermere: at least Astraedon’s centralized regime wasn’t tangled in such a convoluted web. Then again, she reasoned, there were no doubt many things about Astraedon’s administration that she didn’t know.

“You’ll have to forgive Lady Rind,” Alaniel said after a while. “It’s obvious that she still doesn’t quite trust you, and if you look at this week’s past events, you can’t really blame her.”

“I don’t,” Anzell replied. “I seriously hopes that she won’t be so mistrustful that she’ll try to hinder my mission, though: trillions of mortals are dead because of Vellinor, and if Rind can’t let me do my job and stop him, then . . . “

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that,” Alaniel replied as they turned a corner. Anzell took a quick glance at Alaniel, however, and she could tell by his expression that he wasn’t quite sure of his own words.

“At least we now know Kansai has a weakness,” Anzell said, changing the subject. “Even if he can’t do anything other than fight at close-quarters, however . . . . how are we going to defeat him? He can already shrug off divine attacks, and he won't die no matter what we throw at him. Even if we defeat and capture him, we’ve already seen with Kaarage that it’s impossible to hold a NODES unit under any kind of restraint unless we have someone to kill him every time he regenerates . . . .and if Kansai is smart, he might simply find a way around that.”

“We should probably leave that to Lady Washu,” Alaniel replied. “I’m sure we’ll think of something.”

Anzell paused and shook her head. “This thing has already destroyed an alternate version of the Chousein’s creation,” she said. “Engaging it in a universe other than this one would be suicide, as it could simply blow up the entire dimension to take us out . . . and we can’t simply wait for it to come back to this universe so that we can pounce on it.” As she said this, she idly rubbed her upper arm, where a still-lingering bruise from her battle with Kansai was visible. “At this rate, our best bet would be to eliminate Vellinor, since he’s Kansai’s contractor . . . .and he’s slipperier than oil. The only alternative is to sic Kaarage on him, and that would – “

“Total kaboom,” Alaniel finished for her,nodding knowingly. “Whatever Rind thinks of, it’s bound to be pretty drastic.” He bit his lip. “Damn, somehow I just know that Vellinor is going to take advantage of this whole Orochi mess. If my gut instinct is right, then he may have had a hand in Aion’s defection.”

The Goddess of Evermere said nothing. The situation was looking more hopeless each second: Kansai was on the loose, the Chaos Gods were no doubt up to no good, the Joker and Dr. Doom were increasing in power, Vellinor was in league with two of the most powerful gods in the multiverse, and to top it all off, the Council of Heaven seemed like it was on the verge of tearing itself apart. The thought crept up on her that this was a war they could not win.

Yggdrasil will fall . . . . Vellinor will have his way . . .. and there’s nothing I can do about it . . . ..

“Er . . . .by the way . . . “ Alaniel said, suddenly looking quite uneasy, “um . . . .Rind did kinda suggest that my branch give you and your team proper lodgings, since she seems to think you’re my guest . . . .”

“Uh . . . yeah, I can see how she would think that,” Anzell replied with surprising sheepishness. “The thing is .. . .well, my team and I already have lodgings booked. I mean, it’s not like we use them much anyway . .”

“Yeah, I get the idea,” Alaniel said. “Thing is, though, Rind kinda said it in that ‘I won’t take no for an answer’ tone of hers."

Funny, I thought it was a ‘get her out of my sight’ tone, Anzell thought to herself. “I dunno . . . .. I guess we could move in with your division, since as how we’re kinda working with each other . . . .um . .. ..unless it would be too much of a hassle.”

“No no no, it wouldn’t be any trouble at all!” Alaniel replied.

“Nothing at all!” the Nothing Fairy chirped as it flew past.

“Well, um . . . . . .it’s not that I don’t want to . . . I mean the offer is great . .” Anzell said. “Not that . . . .. . well, I mean . . . . . “

“Not that what?” the demiangel asked, curious.

Anzell let out an exasperated sigh. “The thing is . . . most of my team has become convinced that something other than a simply professional relationship is going on between us,” she said. “Well, at least Marv is . . . .and Alita might . . . .and maybe Chief, but you never know with him . . . .”

“I see,” Alaniel said. He suddenly looked quite uncomfortable. “And. . . . are they actively disapproving or anything?”

“What? Oh no, it’s just . . . if we move in, then Marv will never stop joking about it,” she said. She suddenly bit her bottom lip. “Dammit, that’s the stupidest reason for not moving in if there ever was one: I shouldn’t care what they think. And besides, they’re wrong, aren’t they?”

“What? Er . . .. . uh, yeah,” Alaniel replied. “I mean . . . we’re just friends, right?”

“Of course! Just friends!” Anzell said with a sudden smile. “And besides which, we’re both professionals trying to do our job!”

“Exactly!”

“Precisely!”

“I don’t see how your team or my boss could think even that!” Alaniel said cheerfully. His face soured, however, when he realized what he just said.

“Whaaat?” Anzell exclaimed, her face reddening in rage. “You mean to tell me that even Lucifer thinks we’re an item now? Why that son of a – “

“Whoa, whoa, calm down!” Alaniel shouted, grabbing hold of Anzell to prevent her from storming down the hall. “Do you want me to get me. . . . . .fired . . . . . “ He tried off when he realized that he was now holding Anzell close to himself. And oddly, Anzell wasn’t resisting . . . .

Alaniel abruptly let Anzell go. “Er . . . .sorry . . . “ the reddening angel said.

“No . . . um . . .don’t . . . worry about it,” an also-blushing Anzell replied.

For a minute, the two stood in front of each other, neither able to really look each other in the eye. Eventually, Anzell cleared her throat to relieve the tension. “Um . . . . .I’ll ask my team about the whole idea of moving in alongside your staff,” she mumbled.

“Uh . . . yeah . . . you do that,” Alaniel replied. “So, uh . . .. . see you around, then?”

“Yeah . . . . .see you,” Anzell said. And with that, the two turned and walked their separate ways.

Eventually, when Alaniel was out of view, Anzell suddenly turned and began to kick the wall in frustration. Damn it, she thought, why do I always have to act like such a . . .. such a. . . . . such an IDIOT around him? Every time I get into a conversation with him, it’s like my IQ winds up going down to . . . .well, Kaarage’s level!

With a sigh, she stopped kicking and leaned against the wall. I mean . . . I care for him, but it’s not like I LOVE him or anything! Well, he is pretty cute . . . .and he’s a very nice guy . . . .and . . . .

AAAAARGH! STOP THINKING LIKE THIS! The goddess of Evermere promptly hit herself over the head, leaving a sizeable lump. I’m a professional, dammit! I’ve to maintain my self-cont – “

Her train of thought ceased when she realized that she was being watched. She turned to the side and saw Dokuro-chan standing in the hallway, looking at her curiously.

“Why were you hitting yourself, miss?” the Angel of Extreme Violence asked. “If you need someone to bash your skull, you could always ask me!”

Anzell sweatdropped. “Er . .. no, it’s nothing!” she said, laughing nervously. “I was just . . . trying to, um . . . remember something, but . . . .I remembered it now! Bye!” And with that, the goddess hurried down the hall past Dokuro-chan, who simply stared in confusion.

Idiot, Anzell thought bitterly to herself. Damn idiot. . . . you should know better than to get involved with a colleague! Remember Drathal?”

She abruptly stopped. Her right eye began to waver then. She should have known better than to think that: the memory of Drathal was far too painful. She had buried his name for a reason: she wouldn’t go through something like that again . . . .she couldn’t . . . .

Fighting back the tears that began to well in her eyes, Anzell walked on down the hall towards the exit.

[OverMaster]

Trumpets of War, 3: Obstacles to Justice.

"HEY, YOU!" the loud, shrieking, young female voice surprised the Joker, making him and his two partners to turn around. They saw a slim redheaded teenager in a yellow dress stomping her way towards them, followed by a gasping older woman in a red jacket and black skirt, and a thin, weak looking Japanese boy. "WONDERGIRL!" Asuka Langley Sohryu shouted again. "We want to know what are you doing here!".

"Ah, two of the Judges and their legal guardian" Goenitz said calmly. "To what do we owe the honor of this attention?". He smiled slightly. "Do you wish to speak with Miss Ayanami?".

"Yeah, you got that right" Asuka huffed, stopping in front of them fearlessly. She turned to Rei. "Hey, you baka, what was that with you disappearing like that, and now just appearing here without telling us about it, and with this people, to boot? Didn't you know you had these two" she pointed back to Shinji and Misato, "sick worried about your wellbeing, thinking you could be dead, idiot?".

Rei arched her eyebrows quizzically. "I beg your pardon?" she snorted, with a disrespectful tone going against the words themselves. "Who the hell are you, and why are you talking to me like that?".

"Oh, no..." Misato whispered behind them, and she and Shinji exchanged worried looks. "So, it is true... When you called me, I couldn't believe you, but--".

"I told you so" Shinji Ikari whispered back. "I think... this is a Rei clone. How did she survive to Ritsuko's purge, I don't know, but...".

Meanwhile, Asuka was looking Rei XV straight to the red eyes, with Joker watching on both intrigued and amused. "What do you mean with that crap?!" the German pilot yelled at her. "Don't tell me you have amnesia or some shit like that! It's me! Asuka! EVA 02 pilot!".

"I've never seen you before, Tootie" Rei shrugged it off. "You must be mistaking me for someone else... Number Two or Number Three, maybe...".

"Number... Two?" Asuka wrinkled her nose. "Number... Three?".

"Um, Asuka-chan, maybe we should leave this for now this way" Misato Katsuragi pleaded, trying to be discret while putting a hand on her right shoulder. She and Shinji still hadn't told her about a lot of the secrets they had uncovered from NERV; after all, the girl had endured through a lot right before, during and after the coma the Angels awakened her from as soon as MUGEN started, and they had not wanted to worry her even more needlessly. The existence of Rei clones was one of the details Asuka ignored.

"What are you talking about, Misato?!" Asuka shook her off, then turned to her fellow male pilot and Judge. "Shinji, why won't you say anything?! Are you just going to leave Wondergirl here like this?!".

"Ehhhh, Asuka, actually, maybe that would be for the best..." he shyly replied. "It is not that easy, you'll see...".

"Excuse me, please!" Joker piped in, slightly bonking Asuka two playful times on the head with his cane. "So, Cutie, you claim you know Rei-chan... Are you a friend of hers?".

"Merely a colleague!" the redhead snapped back quickly. "These two, however, really worry about her, although it looks like they don't anymo--".

"I don't know them at all, either" Rei interrupted her, then slided to Shinji's side. "Although I sure could get to know you better. You are kinda cute...". She cooed to him. "Tell me, that hysteric shrill gal ain't your girlfriend, is she?".

Shinji blushed red to the points of his ears, and Asuka also flushed red, but in anger. What the hell was Rei thinking?! This wasn't like her at all! She had been a ton of bad things in the past, from Gendo's lapdog to monotone pain in the arse, but never before she had acted like such a shameless flirt!

"HEY, YOU!" Asuka grabbed her by an arm and pulled her away from Shinji. "TELL ME THAT IN *MY* FACE, OKAY?! I don't know what the f***ing Hell is happening with you, but I'm getting sick of this new behavior of yours!".

"Unhand me, bitch!" Rei shook her hand away, and they both stared daggers at each other.

"The only bitch around here is standing right in front of me!" Asuka shrieked back. Misato was about to sternly intervent to stop it all, when another voice called out,

"Hah! You got that right, Asuka-chan...!".

"Huh?" Asuka looked aside, and Rei did the same a second after, just to see someone jumping down from a nearby rooftop, landing in front of them acrobatically, followed by someone else. Asuka knew them, she had talked with them days before, and just judged their acting at the Arena. "Oh, crap, not you...".

"You, the blue haired little bimbo!" Harley Quinn, already recovered from her fight with Naruto, now ignored Asuka, pointing with a finger at Rei instead. Behind her, Poison Ivy waited tensely. "You and me have some matters to solve, the hard way!".

Joker moaned to himself. "Oh please. Not the jealousy act again, Harl! It goes against your natural charming stupid airhead allure!".


From his ambushing hiding place, Jason Todd frowned. This was bad. The place had became too crowded. If he wanted to have his chance at the miserable clown, he would have to strike right now...


Next: Z-Buttercup vs. InuYasha, and all havoc breaks loose when Jason Todd joins the EVA reunion party of the year!

[Saint_007]

Alaniel sighed in frustration. What the hell was wrong with everyone today?! First Rind loses it, Orochi manages to break free, and now Anzell acts like he's just insulted her entire family. If he felt that his advice would have been respected in any way, he would have suggested a nice large dosage of Prozac all around.

His cell phone started beeping.

"Al here," he replied, trying to wonder what had gone wrong this time.

"About damn time I got you," Protoman said bitterly.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"Well, I would say Dom and Thrall, but they're better now. Still, they had quite a bad shakeup, and Dom had a bad nosebleed..."

"What?!"

"Well, Dom's all better, so I'm handing him the phone. You two talk about what the hell happened..."

There was a brief silence, the Dom's voice came over the line. "I'm here."

"Deegan, you sound awful..."

"Yeah, well, Thrall isn't much better," grumbled the Seer. "I had a vision of Kadachi..."

"Kadachi...?!" Did he mean... "What about Kansai?"

"No, didn't see him,l just Kadachi. He struck again."

"Dammit..."

"You won't believe where..."

"What do you mean?!"

"He struck... beyond the Fourth Wall..."

"WHAAAAT?!"

"It was a major catastrophe; several hundred thousands lost in a major tsunami. Ironically, it could have been worse; he could have just destroyed the whole Universe Beyond the Fourth Wall..."

"...a painting within a painting..." whispered Alaniel in shock, remembering Dr Knox's words of caution. So even the Universe Beyond the Fourth Wall was no longer safe... So much for the 'Godhood' of the Authors; they should be shaking in their boots, just like Heaven still is.

"Come again?!"

"Nothing... so are you certain about this?!"

"Well, I was meditating when the rupture in the Fourth Wall occured. It just tore through the barriers and it was so strong that I blacked out for a bit. Protoman tried calling you."

"Sorry, we were in a high-ranking meeting. My cell phone was off." Alaniel shook his head. "This is bad... if not even the Authors' world is safe after all..."

"You sure, Sherlock?" Dominic said sarcastically.

"Cut the chatter, Dom. We need to get back in the game; already, we're too far behind..."

[Saint_007]

Rockman sighed, looking across the terrace cafe that Uran forced him to sit in their "date". For some outrageous reason, Uran genuinely seemed to have a crush on him - all this was just too ridiculous to simply be the result of trying to make Roll jealous. He sighed; all he wanted after his recovery was to be brought up to speed on the current events, and just relax a bit.

However, he found himself suffering from sharp, drilling headaches. To a human and a robot alike, that signified a major imbalance or overload within the reasoning and control mechanisms in what passes for a brain in both. To a robot, it was more the result of an overload or imbalance in the circuits, something Rock felt but couldn't put his finger on. When he recovered from the injuries he had received from his battle with Nabeshin, the pain was negligeable background noise at first. However, it was slowly increasing until just a while ago, where it burst into a powerful impulse of pain. He got out of his chair and stumbled out of the terrace cafe.

"Rock!!" cried out Uran in concern, "what's wrong?!"

"Just... just need to get back to the quarters... I..." Rock clutched his head groggily. "I think I need another checkup."

"Is this just an attempt to throw me off?!" Uran huffed angrily. Rock was glad he wasn't faking his headache; Uran was giving him a look that could kill.

"No, really, I need to get a checkup - fast." His headache seemed to be fluctuating, but still, it was better to be safe than sorry. Uran huffed again, apparently upset at how short her "date" had been but, but left with little choice.

Later, at the Team Robots quarters, Roll found a tired Rock and a hostile Uran coming back. Finding a chance to get back at Uran, she chuckled softly.

"My, my, have the lovebirds argued so soon?"

"Roll, please," sighed Rockman, unwilling to get into an arguement. Uran, however, was full of fight.

"Oh stuff it, old maid," snapped the raven-haired robot girl. "It's none of your business!"

"Reall, so why are you so upset?" Roll replied slyly. Uran was about to answer vitriolically, but Rock cut the two off.

"Ladies, I need a check-up," explained the Blue Bomber. "Is anyone else here?"

"Not really," Roll said aloofly. "Dr. Light and Dr Ochan went off for a drink with Dr. Natsuko, and Otaru's still out somewhere. Nuku-nuku and the Marionettes are around somehwere, goofing off if you ask me. So why do you ask."

"Nothing, it just seems I'll have to do a checkup on myself," Rockman said. And before Roll could answer, he walked off to the lab.

There, Rock found that the headaches had worn off, but he had also pinpointed the source; apparently, there seemed to be extra information floating around in his processors that had nowhere to go. What's more, it seemed similar to the data he collected every time he acquired a new power. But that would mean...

Strange... the data seemed vague, shifting oddly, but suggestive of great power. Did it really come from...?

Well, if it did, he might be able to use it. The simplest thing to do, he reasoned, was to store it for later use. He popped a chipset into the computer and began downloading the data onto it, wondering all the while the significance of this all...

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

Lament of the Vampire, Part 1

Meanwhile, Alucard sat alone in his cell, bound within a special capsule-like stasis unit that encased everything but his head. Normally, he would have been able to simply rip his way free with his vampiric strength, but, as he discovered, the unit was reinforced by special force fields which made sure that his limbs remained stuck in place. Hellsing could really use some of these for restraining any Undead they might want to closely observe or experiment on, he noted. Of course, at the moment, an exchange of technology between these Angels and Hellsing didn’t seem like something that was going to happen any time soon – and neither, he noted, did his getting out.

For the longest time, he had been kept in this empty room, no doubt kept under close camera surveillance. They could have at least let him out of this damned capsule so that he could stretch his limbs, but they were too afraid of him breaking out. And rightfully so, he thought to himself with a snicker. He wasn’t too afraid of what they would do to him: after having fought the gods themselves, Alucard was less afraid of the forces of heaven then ever. He idly wondered if Vellinor was going to simply leave him here, but had figured that the asshole would probably take his sweet f*cking time (at this, he had received a powerful electro-shock, as usual).

Well, at least the angels were considerate enough to periodically send someone in to give him a glass of blood solution (he could tell the difference between the kind of blood solution made by Hellsing and fresh blood, after all), though he had assured them that he didn’t need to drink as frequently as other vampires. Sadly, these little angelic couriers didn’t make for great conversation partners: they simply came in, fed him the blood, and left. He could almost always see a faint hint of disgust in their eyes, of their revulsion that a blood-sucking creature of darkness like him should even exist. In a way, Alucard was almost disappointed that the angels were as self-righteous and uppity as the mortal priests who worshipped them: it would have been a delicious irony if they were just as sinful, just as imperfect.

And so it was that Alucard had been left alone, to reflect on all that had happened prior to his unfortunate capture (when imprisoned, there was nothing one could do but contemplate). For one thing, he was having far, far greater doubts about Vellinor: he had always thought that the trickster was up to no good, that he was an egotistical asshole who was unworthy of his attention, let alone his service. The only reason he had ever served Vellinor was because of those unusually powerful electric devices that had been implanted into him: even thinking rebellious thoughts about his new master had been to invite searing, unbearable pain that even he couldn’t endure (and that was saying a lot, given how many painful ‘deaths’ he had suffered over the course of his existence). So he had gone along with Vellinor and his plans, if only to avoid suffering undue pain.

And yet now . . .. he recalled how, in that fight against those strangers, that strange being had come to Vellinor’s aid. Alucard could almost see the aura of darkness that radiated from this being: whatever it had been, it was far worse than anything he had dealt with before. Such a creature, he knew, could exist only for death and destruction . . . . and it was under the control of a lunatic like Vellinor.

Alucard sighed and shook his head. All in all, he thought, he didn’t think he could trust his new “master” any further. In fact, he never thought this day would come, but he was actually beginning to miss Integra. Integra, at least, had been a person of honour and integrity (hence her name, Alucard mused with a grin). Integra had been someone worthy of his respect – a quality that was rare in a human. For all her mortality, she was ten times more worthy of his servitude than Vellinor was, be he a god or not.

Another violent shock ran through the vampire’s body: Alucard cursed bitterly and spat on the floor. He was getting sick and bloody tired of this. He wished that either Vellinor would come down here and rescue him, or that the angels would finally decide whether to release him or kill him. He hated being caged like a bloody animal: he belonged outside, in the night. There were other undead in the tournament, and he needed to hunt . . .

At that moment, a bright flash suddenly illuminated the room, almost blinding Alucard. The vampire didn’t flinch, however: he knew exactly who it was.

“You sure took your damned time,” he said, before frowning. It was not Vellinor in front of him – or rather, not the Vellinor he knew: there were six of them, each of them dwarflike in stature, each of wearing a black cloak and wide grin similar to Vellinor’s. “Hmm . . .who are you?”

“Oh us? We’re just his Chibi-clones,” said the lead midget. “He pretty much sent us to bail you out.” The lead Chibi turned back to one of his compatriots, and frowned. “Hey Number 7, are you going to get to work or what?”

“I’m on it, I’m on it,” the other Chibi-Vellinor grumbled. With that, he pulled a nail file, lock-picking set, razor wire and cutting saw out of his robe, and set to work carefully disabling the locks on Alucard’s stasis unit.

“I . . . .. see . . . .. “ Alucard muttered. So he was being rescued by a bunch of chibis (whatever the hell they were – the vampire never followed all the Japanese crap the kids were into nowadays). This was officially weirder than that time Bruce Willis appeared to him in that dream. “So . . . you’re rescuing me?”

“Geez, that’s what I just said, ya fanged dumbass!” the lead Chibi grumbled. “The big boss figures you’re just way too valuable an asset to leave imprisoned like this. Besides, he’ll love the look on the angels’ faces when they find that you’ve escaped.”

“What about Williams?” Alucard asked. “He’s also being held here, and he’s on the same team as I. Are you going to let help him escape as well?”

The lead Chibi snorted derisively. “Ash? Please, all he’s good at is being used as a punch bag. There’s no way we need the likes of him any more.”

“Ah-HAH!” the second Chibi (or was it the seventh? Alucard was getting confused) cried. “I”ve done it!” As if on cue, the stasis unit suddenly folded outward, freeing Alucard’s limbs. The vampire allowed himself a fanged smile as he got back to his feet and stretched his limbs. It felt good to be out of that damned thing.

“Come on, we’ll lead to to the room next door where they’re keeping your guns,” the lead Chibi said mischievously. “Sure, it’s guarded, but hey, we can take ‘em!”

“Thanks,” Alucard said as he audibly flexed his knuckles, “but I’ve been doing a little thinking while I was imprisoned .. . . “

“Whoo boy, this has ‘monologue’ written all over it,” the Chibi muttered.

“ . . . .and I’ve come to a decision.” Alucard leaned closer to the lead Chibi and grinned at him in an unsettling matter. “Vellinor. Can. Kiss. My. Ass.”

A perplexed look crossed the Chibi’s face, before Alucard suddenly snarled and lunged at him mouth-first. The Chibi barely had time to scream before Alucard clamped his jaws onto his face with an audible crunch of bone, causing all of the other Chibis to jump instinctively. Alucard abruptly twisted his head to the side, and savagely ripped off the Chibi’s face with his fangs, causing blood to erupt all over the place. The Chibi screamed in pain as it clutched the area where its face used to be, blood spurting everywhere from the massive wound, before Alucard lashed out with a pentagrammed glove and ripped out the Chibi’s throat in a single blow.

As the Chibi fell to the ground in a pool of blood, Alucard spat out the remains of its face. “So you midgets can at least bleed,” he said with a grin, the blood around his mouth making his smile all the more horrifying. “That’s good.”

“Oh my god! He killed Number 10!” another Chibi screamed.

“You bastard!” yet another exclaimed.

Instantly, the expressions of all the Chibis turned sour. As one, they began drawing weapons – pistols, knives, spatulas, flails, spoons, and even the odd wooden stake here and there.

“Nobody double-crosses the boss and gets away with it,” a Chibi said venomously.

Alucard grinned. “Come and try me then, midgets,” he replied, beckoning with his hands for them to come towards him. “Come on, and I’ll give you the fight of your miserable little lives . . . .”


*************

Klaxons blared throughout the headquarters of the Mugen security staff as angels ran frantically down the corridors towards the cell holding one of the captured members of Team Vellinor – the vampire known as Alucard. The cameras monitoring his cell had just gone dead, which could only mean that some kind of outside interference was involved. Worse, their computer scans had indicated that the unit holding the vampire in place was either damaged or disabled, which meant the vampire had broken free. They knew exactly how dangerous Alucard was – he had nearly killed several angels before he had finally been subdued – and the last thing they needed was him rampaging through the building.

The angels soon approached Alucard’s cell. The doors had not been breached, which was a good sign. However, they had no certainty that the temporal fields surrounding the cell were still active or not. If they weren’t, then the vampire could simply use his documented powers of teleportation to get out. In short, the situation was critical.

[Lord of Nonsensical Crap]

“Fan out!” the lead angel shouted. “Ready your weapons! We can’t afford to take any chances with this one!” As one, the angels drew flaming blades and powered up, while their leader carefully edged towards the door panel and slammed a fist into the opening mechanism . . .

With a heavy rumble, the reinforced steel doors slid open. The sight that greeted the angels nearly caused them to jump in alarm: Alucard was standing expectantly in the doorway, drenched in blood. The room around him was strewn with black-cloaked corpses that had been mutilated and mangled beyond recognition, the floor and walls soaked and splattered with gore. As if the sight of these dead would-be intruders wasn’t strange enough, both the bodies and the blood were beginning to dissolve at a rapid rate. Even the blood that had splashed onto Alucard was dissolving into nothingness, though, the angels noted, there were numerous ugly wounds on the vampire himself.

“Ah, hello there,” the vampire said nonchalantly. “Would you be so good as to take me to the nearest surgeon?”

The angels exchanged perplexed glances, but continued to eye Alucard warily.

“As in NOW,” the vampire said more firmly. A second later, however, he suddenly doubled over, his entire body shaking spasmodically. The vampire suddenly gave a scream of pain as he fell to the ground, twitching and shaking in visible agony.

“Get . . . .me . . . .to a surgeon. . . . . NOW . . . . . .” the vampire managed to rasp as Vellinor’s implants began to violently shock him from the inside. Only this time, they weren’t stopping: they just kept right on shocking him . . . .

To be continued . . . .

[J Dog]

Jack's Ultimate Power- Part 1

While observing the Endurance Phase, Jack wondered about what happened to him in order to become the Future Thunder God. Upon which, he interrupted training with a "Stop!". Sora, Taichi, and Mimi stopped what they were doing to turn and glance at him.

"Guys, you are doing good, but I believe that we should call it a wrap for now." Jack said to them. "I admit that for a couple of kids, I think you got potential. However, there are some more things you need to know in order to be a fighter besides just learning to punch and kick and throw out special moves. With that, I think it's best that you guys earned a little time off."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tai asked.

"Simple; I just would like for you guys to enjoy yourselves a bit. In short, take off your battle suits and relax a bit."

Confused about this a little, Tiffany went to her brother and asked him about all of this. "How come we are stopping so early?" She questioned. "We got a good amount of time left."

"I understand, Tiff." Jack replied to her. "It's just that I want to tell these guys why I'm like this." He comes close and whispers. "You know, the Thunder God-thing."

"Ah." Tiffany agreed. "Gotcha. It really is time for them to learn about it."

While taking off her own suit, Mimi asked Jack why he is doing all of this. Jack turned around to her. "I'm doing all of this because I got some things to tell you that don't involve fighting. One of those will explain why I am like this."

"Uh... a big sports fan who keeps talking about his town?" Mimi slyly joked. "Is THAT what you are like?"

Jack sweatdropped a little. "Partial credit... I think. But it goes beyond that."

A few minutes later, Jack and his gang (ncluding the other Digidestined) were about ready to head off to a little adventure in Tokyo, when a strange figure appeared. It turns out to be, well... Dorado with a dog catcher's net that was ripped to shreads, but the stick was still around his neck.

"What's with the net?" Jack asked, "Going for a new style?"

"Shut up!" Dorado grunted, highly annoyed. "A while ago, this fat ass with roadkill on his face came up to me and tried to capture me. I pwned him after that, but before getting lit out for good, he told me that he was sent by He-Who-Wears-A-Big-Fat-Grin, aka, Velliboob."

"Have you considered trying to find Vellinor and trying to straighten out the problem?" T.K. asked the annoyed Klap.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Dorado sarcastically said, "And while I'm at it, I might as well hug and kiss black mambas. Yeah, I'll kiss poisonous black MAMBAS!" He sighed. "Look, I'm going to my dorm, and I'm going to be there for a while. See ya."

After he left, Jack and Mimi looked at each other oddly; Vellinor really does want Dorado to get humilated.

[T51R]

~Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark: Inertia…Part VI, First Shell~





“Sonovabitch that was close,” the God of Destruction huffed as they flew, atop the little off-white cloud that his last remaining lieutenant, the infamous Sun Wukong had summoned to bear them towards their goal; Akagi Mountain, a volcano in Japan’s Kanto region. They took in the landscape as they flew, the Orochi sitting behind his pilot with legs trailing off into what was the wild blue yonder now stained crimson red by the Dimension Tides. “I can‘t believe this bullshit,” he muttered as he took in the scenery below; the cities lay in ruin, with random Kaiju visible in the better built up areas reigning havoc upon the panicked populace. Flames bellowed out of buildings while screams came on the acrid wind, the smell of charred wood, enflamed forests and broken sewage mains assailing the Orochi’s nostrils. He looked toward the South, at an incredibly long line of bodies stretching for as far as he could see. Refugees, he thought to himself. Refugees, probably trying to make it to the Tournament Grounds, or to the sphere that had been forcefully thrust to the surface smack in the middle of Tokyo. “Poor bastards,” he whispered as softly as he could. “But, you do reap what you sow, don’t you?” He turned to the Monkey King. “We there yet?”

“Couple of minutes, boss.” the Great Sage struck his trademark pose leaning purposefully, menacingly forwards over the front edge of his cloud with the Naibo tucked under his right arm and his left hand shading his eyes. All of a sudden, the cloud swooped low and close to the ground while overhead the titanic Macron Base slowly emerged from the crimson clouds with weapons blazing away at several dozen dragons. “What the hell is going on here boss, the whole place…holy shit.” He got no reply; the Orochi had lit up another cigarette and was staring across the burning plain towards the cities in the distance, smoke and fire rising from the middle of them all. “Boss? Orochi…”

“I hear ya,” his voice betrayed naught but disgust. “This is the Omega Initiative. The Dragons, the Kaiju, disease, plague, the planet‘s protecting itself.”

“From what?” They zipped upwards, above the red clouds and up towards the edge of space. From there they could see it all: the tiny island nation of Japan with tiny lights indicating the burning cities. It was the same as far as they cared to look; much of Asia shared the same fate as did the Americas. England and the former Eastern Bloc were not as badly effected, but both of them knew that it was only a matter of time before there was nothing left to destroy. Again they fell, back through clouds of red, between the Gayos and dragons and the other beasts that had taken to higher altitudes. Akagi mountain grew in their eyes as they shot earthwards, and seemed to explode towards them with its crater threatening to engulf the pair. The cloud ground to a stop with a soft whine, both deities thankful to once again set foot on solid ground. Again the Orochi flicked out his packet of cigarettes, turned it upside-down and muttered a string of curses while shaking it violently.

“The planet,” he crushed the empty pack of reds and stuffed it back into his pocket, “is protecting itself from the same damned things that have been trying to kill it from day one. Humans. Ever since the Industrial Revolution they‘ve been doing nothing but strip-mining it for raw materials that can‘t be easily replaced. Crude from the bottom of the sea, wood from the rainforests, destroying entire native ecosystems by damming some of the biggest rivers on the planet for their hydroelectric power…and the worst, harnessing nuclear energy. It’s the same on other worlds too, especially the ones that think they’re proving something by making Dyson’s Spheres. The Omega Initiative compels the Gaia, or the Spirit of the Earth to heal itself through any and all means at its disposal. And for any disease to be cured, the cause of that disease has to be eradicated. It‘s a sacred order, and it‘s never been used before. Its an order from the Most High, and it can‘t be refused. The only exception to the rule,” the Orochi plucked a long blade of grass from a nearby clump, “is Galactus, or Galan. That my friend, is the only mortal thing allowed to survive the re-creation of the Universe. He‘s already survived it once, looks like this is gonna be his second run.”

The Monkey King looked towards his leader and nodded repeatedly; it had been a lot to take in in a single sitting, but he managed it. Yes, he had to admit that Heaven’s Messenger never really cared much for the protocol of Higher Beings, but when it came to matters about the Earth he was more than a bit knowledgeable. Why he had never taken up a mentor’s position he never knew; he had the heart for it. But alas, he had not the patience, nor the tolerance. ‘There are no second chances in nature,’ he used to say, back when the Office of Area Reclamation was still a fledgling organisation. “It‘s up there,” he pointed towards the summit of the volcano. “Down in the magma dome. It‘s solid, and there were a few pockets between the lava streams.”

The God of Destruction smiled. “Looks like those geology books I lent you paid off, huh?”

Wukong cackled to himself at the irony; once upon a time, he was a being who sought to strengthen himself through any means in order to become a God.