____________________________________________________________________________________________ Ginga GIRI GIRI! The Universe is in Danger! By SSJ Heero ____________________________________________________________________________________________ - OPENING SONG: LITTLE WING - New days Hajimari no asa Sekai to KISS shiyou Blowing in the wind Hon no sukoshi no yuuki to ai wo POCKET ni I wish Moshimo watashi ni Tsubasa ga attara Kanashimi ya Kako mo Fuan mo Koeteyukeru no ni Yeah! Ushinau mono nado Nan'ni mo nai yo (Deta toko shoubu no Brand new day) Take my way! Kono te no hira de Kiseki wo CATCH shitai Hateshinai sora to daichi Soshite mirai wo tabi shiteku Umaretate no tsubasa wa Oh! Kitto kitto kitto Someday Kagayaitekun'da! ---- Recap ---- [Chibi characters of the five appear in the foreground as scenes from the last episode play in the background. Though, you can't see 'cause this is text. =P] SSJ: LAST TIME! On GINGA GIRI GIRI! Amiko and TM go do some hunting. Amiko: SSJ, Davis, and Cindy go fishing. TM: And later on, the horrible being known as CarseNSync appears. Cindy: We defeat it, only to run into the Digimon Kaiser™ and Team Voldemort. Davis: Ron took care of the Maze Brothers while TM and I took care of Voldemort. SSJ: And I WIN IN KEN'S WARCRAFT II LAN PARTY! BOOYA! TM: Shut up. Davis: I agree. Amiko: Anyway! We're back on our way to the journey! Cindy: On with the show! ---- Chapter 29: The Requiem of Heretics ---- [Rantmon definitely was not in his best moods. Definitely not. With the loss of ten minions already, he was growing impatient. After all, they were five kids. Age fourteen. Then again, Rantmon himself is pretty young, but still. Five teens. Not even the Mythril covered Tyrant was able to kill them. Or a flaming mummy. Or even six different final bosses. The most reliable had to have been Dullahan, and the only thing sent back were rusting pieces of its armor.] Rantmon: Damn it to hell! How can you fail catching five kids?! (As he traveled through his palace, pacing still into his throne room. The various villains gathered inside were now playing billiards and plenty of tables, with the smacks of billiards filling the room. As Rantmon stepped in, he immediately slammed the towering doors behind him as loud as he could, drawing everyone's attention to him.) Rantmon: Obviously, there has been a couple of failures, who all have failed to get five. Damn. Kids. So thus, anyone who has ever failed capturing any five kids, remove yourself now from my council. (And over in the corner, Perillia, or better known as Queen Beryl of the Sailor Moon series, sulked and sadly walked towards Rantmon. Quiet flushed, she walked to Rantmon, who didn't even turn an eye. Without saying a word, she pushed open the door and was gone from the quiet room. Quite a few others also followed suit, leaving the room quite empty compared to how large it was.) Rantmon: Any other failures? (No one moved. Everyone was frozen with fear from Rantmon's anger. It was when he stepped ahead to his throne, pulled up one of the arm rests, causing the chair to rise, revealing a secret trap door under it. Rantmon opened it, stepped inside, and closed it over him, then the throne came down over the hatch. No one dared go near it at all, and slowly, their games continued on as normal. Rantmon stepped down the many steps hidden under his throne, deeper and deeper away from the sunlight and into the light of the many orange torches under his palace. Down the steps and into a narrow stone hallway, carved from the hardened rock that floated and lifted his palace up. Through the hallway, down more steps, and into the very bottom of his palace. A mere fifteen feet of pure solid rock was between him and the drop into the ocean. He went to the very end of this hallway, and shoved open a secret door, well hidden and camouflaged in the stone. Inside was the very essence of a god. Shackled, chained (though neither two helped much in restraining it), and trapped in a magical cage with the Rood Inverse on the floor, was a force to be reckoned with. Rantmon faced it, just barely out of its arm's length.) Rantmon: Mauzel... I see we haven't gotten over our failed mutiny. *** :: Meanwhile! To the Crew! :: [Land approached. Not much more needed to be said. The Crew were anxiously waiting to get on solid ground, less another storm comes and detours them again. The sun was beckoning at the noon, and they couldn't be more impatient. SSJ and TM leaned on the side of the boat, glaring at the slowly approaching shore.] SSJ: Hurry up, damn it all! TM: Get us off soon, already... (But then, right by the boat, they heard a loud "KWEH!". SSJ and TM spun their heads down and saw three familiar animals.) SSJ: Holy, they found us! (Cindy, Amiko, and Davis also took notice as the golden chocobo leapt off of the water and landed straight on deck.) Amiko: Tenpi! Cindy: Mokona! Davis: Uh... Gold chocobo! (Davis received a nasty peck on the head from the golden chocobo as Tenpi leapt into Amiko's arms, while Mokona floated up and landed on Cindy's head.) Mokona: Puu! (Good spirits were finally spread throughout the crew, long awaiting their stop and the continuation of their journey. Then, the boat landed. Finally. No more sea. The Five waited long enough, and while eleven days behind, they would need serious work to be done. Immediately upon getting off the boat, they quickly paced away, into the crowd, out of the crowd, and out of the city walls. They paced. Under the sun, moving slowly through the grass, not speaking a word at all. The golden chocobo, laden with luggage, and taking it like it was nothing. They trekked on, facing the warm wind and fighting the soft, fertile ground. They trekked on. And On. Finally, night approached, the sun was setting behind them, while night was beckoning beyond them.) SSJ: How far have we gone, huh? Davis: Seems we have gone quite a way. (Amiko then turned to Davis, clutching Tenpi with her arms.) Amiko: Shall we rest soon? Davis: Probably. I'm exhausted as well. (SSJ scanned the area as Cindy and TM came panting forward, with Mokona floating overhead.) TM: Damn it! It's already night! Cindy: We've been running all day! (Amiko and Davis turned to the two.) Amiko: Eh... Sorry, but we all have to suffer. Davis: It's no longer a walk in the park now. We'll have to travel quickly if we expect to get there in time. (Cindy, with fatigue, groaned.) Cindy: Aw! TM: How far is it to Hayden's place, anyway?! (Davis thought for a bit before replying.) Davis: Hmm... About... 900 miles. (Cindy and TM nearly fainted.) Cindy: 900 MILES?! TM: AND HOW FAR WILL WE GO AFTER THAT?! Davis: Well, the Red Mountains are 2000 miles past Hayden's place... Then the other side of the continent is another 6000 miles... Amiko: Just think of it as walking around Disneyland about 2000 times! (TM and Cindy nearly fainted from exhaustion. Davis saw their exasperated glares and explained.) Davis: Hey, we only shall walk for two weeks. The rest will be simply be boating. (And then, they heard a yelp from what sounded like SSJ. They turned their heads towards the source, but they saw SSJ nowhere. They turned their heads this way and that, but then they realized, SSJ was gone. Nowhere in the fields was he to be seen. Nowhere in the expanse was he to be seen.) Amiko: SSJ? TM: What the shit? (Davis and Cindy glanced around.) Cindy: Where... Davis: Shit. (Grumbling, they all wandered about, trying to find where SSJ went. Then there was another yelp. Davis, Cindy, and Amiko looked about, not finding TM now.) Davis: What the? Amiko: Where? Cindy: What's happening?! (The night was darkening ever slowly, and with two of their friends gone in two yelps, they couldn't help but be unnerved. They were quiet, breathing slowly and straining their eyes to look about. Then, they heard SSJ's voice.) TM: What?! We can't get out? SSJ: Shut up! They'll hear! Cindy: Guys? (The three looked at each other, and walked towards the direction of the sound. They came a bit closer to distant mountain ranges, and was at the edge of a valley of trees. Then they felt there was no ground under them. With a yelp, they too fell through the ground, landing on the grass below in a rather painful method. They looked about where they fell, seeing a low cliff behind them, and before them was a small village.) Amiko: What the-? That wasn't there before. (She looked up and saw SSJ beside her then and got up to her feet. As she did, he replied.) SSJ: What, you've never seen Scrapped Princess? Amiko: Ah- What?! This is the village? SSJ: Of Heretics, yeah. (They then turned to Cindy, who was getting up as she asked.) Cindy: What is this about? (Amiko and SSJ glanced at each other. Soon, SSJ was leaning on the cliff wall as Amiko relayed the entire plot of Scrapped Princess to Cindy, Davis, and TM.) TM: So, how will we get past here? SSJ: Simple. We go through the mountains and into the other side. (TM and Cindy collectively groaned.) TM: Mountains as well?! Cindy: I can't climb mountains! SSJ: Hey, I said THROUGH, not OVER. (Suddenly, their conversation was cut short as a patter of footsteps became audible as a loud whistle was blown. The Five looked about, and saw themselves surrounded by a band of villagers, each armed with hoes, pick-axes, picks, axes, Twix, saxes, whatever.) SSJ: Hmm... This certainly is interesting. (They all saw the prominent figure, mostly because he wasn't carrying farming equipment as a weapon. He wore a simple costume, with an equally simple mask. Brown and white hair came from his head, long enough to be fashioned in a pony-tail. TM shot a glance at SSJ from the corner of his eye, and SSJ did the same. TM muttered inaudibly to SSJ.) TM: Is everyone getting a ponytail nowadays? SSJ: It seems to be the rage. (The masked one, Leonard, spoke then, interrupting the two's thoughts. Prominent and clear, yet aged, was his voice; the certain voice of a leader.) Leonard: I would say it is rare for us to have visitors, but it's even rarer to have two groups of visitors as well. Each pursued, no less. (As if those words were warnings, everyone prepared their weapons.) Leonard: Ah, please, we won't turn you in. After all, in order to do that- Amiko: You'll have to lower your barrier. (Leonard softly chuckled.) Leonard: Correct you are, miss. (One of the farmers came forth with rope. Cindy, eying the bundle, had doubts.) Cindy: Hey! What's this for? Farmer: Well- (The farmer was silenced when Leonard stuck a hand out.) Leonard: Clearly, if we have to protect ourselves with this elaborate barrier, surely, you must understand we do not trust outsiders easily. Once you enter, we'll test to see if you are trustworthy. TM: Um... Can't you do that *now*?! (Leonard thought about it for a bit.) Leonard: No. (And so, the Five were bound by the hands and led to the hidden village.) *** (Not much longer, they were brought into a large room, littered with torches and statues of a dragon of sorts. They all looked about the well-lit room, their shadows dancing around the room. Then Leonard directed their attention to him.) Leonard: This is a symbol of Mauzel. (He held a cloth with a triangle and a dot in it.) Leonard: Do whatever you wish to it. (The Five simply stared at the cloth, and they collectively spoke.) Five: For an all-powerful god, he sure has a crappy symbol. Leonard: No doubt. (Amiko's bonds were then cut, so Tenpi jumped into her arms again. She then took the cloth while everyone waited for her action. She then raised it towards a torch, almost lighting it on fire. Tenpi, however, had other plans, and bit through the piece of cloth. Amiko then came to the realization.) Amiko: This is printed on a Fruit Roll-Up! Leonard: Well, the real cloth with the symbol on it was burned by the first visitors. (Amiko then wrestled a piece of it from Tenpi, popping it into her mouth.) Amiko: I need the sugar, Tenpi. (She then turned to Leonard, hoping her response was reasonable.) Leonard: That's an acceptable response, I guess... (The Five's bonds were cut then. They all rubbed their strained wrists and saw they were a shade of red.) SSJ: The rope is made of Twizzlers! TM: What the Heck?! Davis: What is the meaning of this?! Leonard: Hey, we need rope. We can't waste it on you people. (Cindy, apparently, couldn't care less, as she was eating her own bonds, with Tenpi picking the pieces off the floor.) *** :: The Next Morning :: [TM awoke to the sound of running water the next day. He opened his eyes, seeing himself in an unfamiliar room. Certainly, there is no motel on earth that would lack a television. And clearly, no motel either would have straw mats for beds. But then again, he remembered they weren't in a crappy motel, but in a crappier inn of the hidden village. He looked about, SSJ was asleep, sitting and leaning on the wall, clutching the Hellfire sword close to him. Davis's glove lay on the floor by his own mat, using his cape has a blanket. Amiko was sleeping soundly furthest away from him, with Cindy yawning and falling back into her thick sleep.] TM: Eh... We're in the village... (TM then got to his feet, straightening out his wrinkled shirt and pants, fetched his boots from the door and donned his armor, and then he left the room with Hiko's sword beside him. Out the small, run-down in and into the dirt roads, TM looked about the small town, composed of many buildings, short and tall, wood and stone, old and new, candy or not, whatever. He was quick to notice one fact: There was no one around. The town was quiet, so quiet, he heard pins dropping from a corporate office miles and miles away. Well, there wasn't much needed to figure out where everyone was. He quickly stepped to the largest building there was, the Temple of Braunin. Inside, he saw the torches and the dragon statues lining the hallway leading into the gigantic room at the end, holding a multitude of the town's villagers.) TM: Hey... What the heck? (And then, he heard a high, cheerful voice beside him.) Voice: You seem to be new, ne? (TM then turned his head to see the beaming face of Raquel Kassull on the other side of the hall. He saw she was with her younger sister, Pacifica, and her brother, Shannon, neither of them seeming to be concerned with the giant cult gathering before them.) TM: Hey, if it isn't the Kassull siblings. Raquel: I guess we really are famous, ne? (Shannon then stood forward and towered threateningly over TM, ready to reach for his sword.) TM: Shannon Kassull... Shannon: You better not be of the Mauzel faith... TM: I am still in the village, am I not? (Shannon then sighed, and stepped back, as TM stepped forward and into the large room. He then turned back to the siblings.) TM: What's happening? Pacifica: Honestly, we don't know ourselves- (Then they all heard the crowd cheering. They looked to the center of the room, and they all saw Leonard atop the platform. He stood before the people, proud and confident, yelling them all words of confidence.) Leonard: Today is the day! Today is the day that our faith to Braunin shall be realized! Mauzel will be conquered and we shall no longer be persecuted! (And over in TM's spot, he muttered to himself.) TM: Well, this won't amount to any good. *** :: Meanwhile! :: [SSJ was up and sitting at a table in the room, pondering a way through the village. As long as Leonard was in charge, they wouldn't be allowed to pass. Clearly, it was pressing that they continued their quest. Amiko was busy pondering as well, as she sat across from SSJ. Davis was, of course, tending to his golden chocobo within the stables. Cindy was currently outside searching for TM. SSJ sighed, as did Amiko, and they didn't need to guess they came to the same conclusion.] SSJ: We'll just have to wait until Braunin thing turns out to be a fraud. Amiko: Yeah. And of course, we'll have to stop the War Class Strategy spell. (SSJ then pushed his chair back and rose to his feet, sighing. Amiko stood as well.) SSJ: Let's get TM. Amiko: Yeah. *** :: Oh hey, look, a certain team is at it again! :: [Voldemort was mite pissed. After all, he had to get back to File Island, run through the forests, get his wand after wandering for hours to find it, escape from X-ATM's still functioning shell, and leave for the mainland. Even now, as he floated within his Team Voldemort hot-air balloon, in the shape of a coiled basilisk, floated eastward towards his destination. The Maze Brothers, Malik, and Bakura also resided in the basket of the balloon, practicing their video game skills on a PSOne.] Ma: We can not lose a third time! Ze: Loss feels as sour as a lime! Malik: Perhaps if you two didn't suck at everything, you wouldn't have! Bakura: We'll take care of things this time. You two will sit around here. (And Peter, standing in the corner nearest Voldemort, stared to the ground below, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Five.) Peter: Where... They have to be nearby! Voldemort: Wormtail! The spell says we are right over them! (Peter leaned over the side of the balloon, seeing nothing at all but a field of grass and a mountain range some distance away.) Peter: They're not here! There's nothing but grass! Voldemort: What?! (Voldemort also looked down towards the ground, also seeing nothing. He cursed and swore, about to do the searching spell again. But then he saw something in the sky to the west. An object with the darkest hue of blue. Heading straight towards the balloon.) Voldemort: What in the blazes is THAT?! (Peter looked behind him, and the Yu-Gi-Oh! villains rose to see what Voldemort referred to. They all saw that it had scaly wings, wingspan wide enough to cover a mile in its shadow. As it approached, it was clear that it also had a long tail, and a head with jaws long enough to tear through the mightiest of beasts. Needless to say, the fact that it was headed straight for them didn't please Voldemort much.) Voldemort: WHAT THE BLOODY HELL IS DROMAR, THE BANISHER DOING HERE?! (And before his question was answered, it tore straight through the balloon, releasing the hot-air that was holding them aloft. With a gigantic pop, they began to fall to the ground as Dromar swooped past them, towards the gigantic Red Mountains off in the distance. And still, Voldemort's balloon came crashing to the ground, with them all screaming inside the tumbling basket. Straight towards the ground. Then they went through the ground. Wait a second, you don't normally fall through the ground. The Yu-Gi-Oh! villains took the opportunity to leap out of the basket and slow their drop. And the basket hit the stables of the hidden village, Voldemort were more or less in a bit of pain. Voldemort crawled from the wreckage in a heap of pain, yet strangely not dead in the least bit. Peter crawled out as well, with Bakura, Malik, and the Maze brothers walking to them.) Voldemort: Dromar... How did it... (But then, they saw a group of people rushing to them. Voldemort, of course, had to be hidden.) Voldemort: Damn! (Voldemort then got to his feet and covertly rushed behind another building, with Peter and the Maze brothers following. Bakura and Malik nodded to each other, and hid themselves in nearby shrubbery decorating one of the houses.) *** :: SSJ and Company! :: [SSJ, Amiko, and Davis came dashing to where they thought they saw something fall from the sky and crash into the stables. Smoke rose from the injured building as the three reached the stable with a crumbling roof. They all clearly saw what looked to be a basket in there, with strings extending to shredded cloth hanging from the roof. The roof crumbled, sawdust floating down constantly.] Amiko: What the Heck? Davis: What happened here?! SSJ: Well, apparently, an empty hot-air balloon basket dropped down from the sky. (At that, they knew something was up. So it didn't surprise them much when Malik and Bakura jumped from the shrubs behind them and land in front of them.) SSJ: Malik! Amiko: Bakura! (Malik and Bakura gave malevolent grins, and thus proudly announced their daring challenge.) Malik: Chess and Duel Monsters don't seem to be good games for us to play, eh? Bakura: But this time, we have the perfect game to defeat you! (The three merely stared ahead, apathetic and without concern.) Davis: And what would that be? Malik: Of course! A game of STREET FIGHTER ALPHA 3! (The three were taken aback; their eyes shot open in surprise.) SSJ: ALPHA 3?! Davis: I NEVER EVEN PLAYED THAT! (Malik and Bakura evilly laughed.) Bakura: Of course! That's the point! (They then motioned for the Maze brothers to fetch the Playstation One, and the two brothers did. Amiko and SSJ could not help but sigh as they saw the two brothers again. The brothers soon returned with a hunk of junk, or so it seemed.) Malik: OH NO! Bakura: THE PLAYSTATION DID NOT SURVIVE THE FALL! (SSJ and company facefaulted into the grass as Malik and Bakura tried to fix the dented, shattered, and most definitely useless game system. Finally they gave up, and the three got to their feet and prepared for anything. Then Malik pulled a deck of cards from his pocket, with one Spanish word on the back of the deck.) Malik: Now! Backup plan! Bakura: Okay! We're playing... (Insert a fiery background behind the two, shouting proudly.) Malik and Bakura: UNO! (Once again, the three facefaulted.) *** :: Five Minutes Later :: [Once again, Team Voldemort's members lost their game. SSJ, Amiko, and Davis sighed as they got up and stepped away from the grumbling two. Then from behind the building where he hid, Voldemort leapt out, immediately putting his wand just inches from Amiko's neck. SSJ and Davis instinctively leapt back in surprise.] SSJ: Voldemort! Davis: You! (Voldemort stood in place, holding Amiko back with the wand to her neck. He smiled and spoke in a low voice. His hood, of course, shadowed his head, with his blood red eyes glowing through the darkness.) Voldemort: But of course. This can be the time that I will get rid of you all! (Just then, Amiko sighed. Voldemort glanced at her, thoroughly confused by her nonchalance. But before he could mutter any spell, there was a loud cracking sound. It sounded as if glass shattered into a million pieces. And indeed, that was precisely what happened as Voldemort fell to the ground in a heap of pain with a bump on his head, and behind him was Davis' golden chocobo with Tenpi sitting on its head. Inside the gold chocobo's mouth was a broken sake bottle left by TM. It gave a loud "Kweh!", as did Tenpi, and Davis grinned.) Davis: Whoa, he's smart. SSJ: I didn't know Tenpi could communicate already. (SSJ then stepped up to Voldemort's unconscious body and muttered to Amiko without looking at her directly.) SSJ: You okay? Amiko: Yeah. (SSJ then sighed, and glanced at Malik and Bakura, who were getting ready again to attack.) SSJ: Yare yare... (Subtitles: Oh geez...) (SSJ then pulled his foot back and punted Voldemort at the two. They bounced off the ground, crashed into Peter and the Maze brothers, running out to help them. Davis then made another explosion spell race at them, and with a flash and a scream of fire, they were in the air and out of the hidden village.) Team Voldemort: Team Voldemort is blasting off agaiiiiinnnn... (And with a bling and a sparkle, they were gone, and SSJ and company sighed. He then turned to the other two.) SSJ: Let's get TM and get out of here. (Amiko and Davis nodded, and they all sprinted to the Temple of Braunin.) *** (Not much longer, they arrived and saw Cindy and TM just at the edge of the giant hall. Amiko and SSJ saw the villagers praying, glanced at each other with the same exasperated thoughts, and then Amiko yelled.) Amiko: Everyone! (All the villagers stopped in their prayers, turning to stare at Amiko.) Amiko: Stop your prayers! All of this is a ploy made by Leonard, who is of the Mauzel faith! (SURPRISE! There was a collective gasp throughout the crowd. Most were, of course, disbelieving of the incredulous claim. Cindy grew impatient and yelled at them all.) Cindy: She's telling the truth! (No avail. The villagers simply refused to believe this plot twist. Still, SSJ then spoke to the other four, like a leader giving orders.) SSJ: Okay, Amiko and TM, go to the mountain and find Shannon. Cindy, Davis, and I will take care of this spell. (Everyone nodded in acknowledgement.) TM: Okay then! Let's go! (SSJ grinned, and then dashed off to the basement with Davis and Cindy, his red cape flowing. TM and Amiko rushed as well out of the temple and towards the nearby mountains. The villagers were thoroughly confused with the turn of events, not knowing whether to continue praying or not. SSJ dashed down the flight of steps, Davis following, and Cindy behind both, barely keeping up. SSJ then leapt past the last steps, followed by Davis, and Cindy dashing close behind. Down into the darkness did they run, until finally, they reached the gigantic room. They saw inside was filled with small tanks embedded into the ground. They all figured what was inside, and opened each tank, looking inside and seeing a sleeping human. Above, the magical lines in the sky were still working the spell, and they struggled to awaken all of the villagers before the resulting spell came to be deployed. And eventually, everyone was awake. They all stood, wet from the tanks, staring up at the lines in the sky. Strangely enough, despite all the spellcasters stopped and awake, the lines were still drawing in the air. The spell was still in effect! SSJ was just a tiny bit pissed.) SSJ: HEY! WE SHOULD'VE STOPPED IT! (Davis stared up at it in fear. With a shaky breath, he yelled.) Davis: What's going on?! (Cindy, as well, was confused, staring at the symbol forming in the ceiling.) Cindy: Why's it still forming? (And then, SSJ finally barked his order.) SSJ: ESCAPE! NOW! (And that is what the villagers did, quickly, they dashed up the flights of stairs, into the main hall of the Temple of Braunin. And quickly enough, the entire village stood as far away from the temple as possible. The villagers stood beside the cliff where the Five originally entered the village, staring mournfully at the temple. SSJ, Davis, and were Cindy barely out of the temple when they saw the spell take effect. They turned back, and saw, for the first time in their lives, the true essence of destruction.) *** :: BUT IN THE MEANTIME! :: [TM and Amiko dashed up the mountain, kicking rocks and sand up as they rushed past. They saw in the distance faint figures on the edge of a cliff. Immediately, they made out the white ponytail and brown bangs. They saw Leonard, holding the knife by Elphitine's neck. And then just above the group, they saw something far worse, a group of floating, malevolent beings.] Amiko: The Peacemakers! TM: The ones enslaving humanity? Amiko: In the show, yeah. (TM gritted his teeth in anger.) TM: Curses! (They sprinted even faster. They saw ahead a small gap between them and the path straight to the Kassull siblings. They came closer and closer to the gap, and then, they leapt. Above the gap and past, they landed just behind Leonard, who dropped his knife in surprise. He turned around, and Elphitine escaped his grasp and ran to the Kassull siblings.) Leonard: You! (Amiko and TM rose and replied.) Amiko: Yeah. TM: It is us. (Leonard stepped back, mask still covering his sweating face. He turned around, seeing the Kassull siblings, and then again, seeing the two Outlaws.) Leonard: Shit! (With that, Leonard threw his mask off, revealing his wide, ugly face, as he leapt off the small cliff and dashed away into the forest.) Amiko: Well, that was simple. (Elphitine then stepped ahead, addressing the two. She crossed her arms in politeness.) Elphitine: W-Who are you? (TM answered, hands by his side, not exactly knowing how to address a princess.) TM: Well, we are- Amiko: CRAP! PEACEMAKERS! (Amiko's yell split the silence, and she leapt back. TM grabbed the false Scrapped Princess and followed suit, and soon after, a small crater was in the place of where the two stood. Shannon, Raquel, and Pacifica fell to the ground, staring as the three remaining Peacemakers descended upon them all.) Shannon: You all?! (The blond one, Steia, spoke above the rest.) Steia: Indeed, we are here to get rid the world of you all, as well as the Outlaws. (Raquel was taken aback.) Raquel: But you don't have the authorization! (The black haired one, Shizu, spoke as well.) Shizu: We do now. Mauzel has decided to do his own dirty work. (Insert anime split screen action between the Kassull siblings, each gaping in fear.) Pacifica: Mauzel himself?! (The three Peacemakers smiled, and turned towards the Temple of Braunin. Everyone there followed suit, with Amiko and TM not believing their eyes. They realized the spell was not stopped as an explosion ripped through the temple. But then, Amiko realized it was a completely different spell when two gigantic arms tore from the crumbling building.) *** :: Back to SSJ and Company! :: SSJ: WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! [Needless to say, they were in deep shit. The two arms grabbed hold of the temple roof, and pushed up the rest of the body. Cindy, Davis, and SSJ saw clearly the figure of a god, glowing white all over. It glowed with pure power as two narrow, glaring eyes aimed directly at the three. SSJ was the first to speak to the being.] SSJ: WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?! Being: I? I am. I am all; I am existence. I am... Mauzel. (SSJ's mouth dropped to the ground, his eyes as wide as oranges.) SSJ: HOLY FUCKING SHIT, THEY WERE SERIOUS! (Without saying much more, Davis got into his fighting stance, and Cindy drew her guns.) Davis: I'm right behind you, SSJ! Cindy: As am I! Let's get this one! (SSJ, too, got into his Battoujutsu stance, yelling proudly into Mauzel's face.) SSJ: Okay then! Mauzel! We're going to take you down! Mauzel: It is futile. But feel free to try, mortals. (SSJ quickly drew his sword, sending a clear wave of energy straight at Mauzel. The Wind Slash, though, bounced harmlessly off of Mauzel's body. Davis leapt up, launching meteor after meteor at Mauzel, with Cindy backing up with a barrage of bullets. Mauzel, however, took all the hits as if they were mere flies. SSJ leapt up, repeating higher and higher off of Davis' meteors, until he was over Mauzel. He raised his sword high, proclaiming his attack as loud as possible: RYUU TSUI SEN! He then came down, slashing straight through Mauzel's axis. But despite all of that, Mauzel still laughed at the pathetic attacks. So thus, this continued for ten minutes straight. Davis launched meteor after meteor, getting more fatigued with every spell. Cindy was running out of bullets, and SSJ was running out of moves.) SSJ: THIS IS IT! AIM RUNNINGMEN ATTACK! (Filled with fear, Davis and Cindy dashed out of the area, and millions of AIM Runningmen came dashing towards the god. Millions upon millions of paper flat Runningmen rushed headlong into the god, with SSJ hoping just one would affect the thing. And then everyone of them passed, doing absolutely NOTHING to it. Mauzel laughed and laughed as each and every runningman went through, without doing a single scratch. But instead of disappearing after the attack like usual, they gathered around SSJ. SSJ was confused at the change in routine.) SSJ: Huh? What's this about? (Suddenly, the area was totally white. So bright was the light that emanated from the AIM Runningmen, the villagers some mile away had to cover their eyes. When the light died, SSJ saw clearly what had happened. In place of the AIM Runningmen was an entire army of Zerglings.) SSJ: What the?! (And over on top of a building, Davis and Cindy stared in awe.) Davis: They evolved! Cindy: That was possible?! (SSJ seized the opportunity to test out his new attack. Pointing at Mauzel, he yelled.) SSJ: OKAY! ZERG RUSH! (With that, one after another of the fully evolved zerglings rushed at Mauzel, picking and picking at it. Mauzel yelled, with a surprising tone containing anger, as they kept on attacking him.) Mauzel: Stop this, now! If this continues, I will have no choice but to exterminate mankind! *** :: Twenty Minutes Later :: (No, the Zergs had not stopped picking at Mauzel. Mauzel kept threatening. And threatening. And threatening some more. But, even with the multitude of threats and the Zerglings picking at him, it didn't do much. And frankly, SSJ was getting impatient. He pulled out his Kenshin manga and read how Kenshin was kicking Enishi's ass. Heck, by now, he was at the part where Kenshin broke Enishi's sword. And still, Mauzel was there, being picked away by Zerglings, not doing anything at all. Even Davis and Cindy were getting bored. They even pulled out two Game Boy Advances and played Mario Kart. And still, Mauzel was not advancing. SSJ was getting pissed off, and yelled at Mauzel.) SSJ: IF YOU'RE GOING TO THREATEN US, FOLLOW THROUGH! (Mauzel roared in anger.) Mauzel: FINE! I'LL COUNT DOWN! TEN! (A pause. The only sound was from the GBAs, and the zerglings still picking at Mauzel.) Mauzel: NINE! ...EIGHT! ...SEVEN! ...SIX! (Still, SSJ didn't feel much threatened. Mauzel was counting very slowly, as if it was reluctant to attack.) Mauzel: FIVE! ...FOUR! ...THREE! ...TWO! (The time had come! SSJ was anxious to dodge an attack. Or two. Or three. He put away his manga, impatiently waiting Mauzel to reach zero.) Mauzel: ONE! (A pause. Cindy and Davis put away their games, waiting for Mauzel's incredible strike. Finally, it yelled, as if it was finally settled on attacking.) Mauzel: ONE HALF! (SSJ, Davis, and Cindy facefaulted, quite angry at Mauzel's cop-out.) Mauzel: A QUARTER! ...ONE EIGHTH... ...One sixteenth... ...One thirty-secondth? (SSJ fumed with anger, and he yelled at Mauzel, impatience coming from every pore.) SSJ: ATTACK ALREADY! (And yet, Mauzel continued to count down his fractions. Cindy and Davis returned to their game. That was, until Mokona heard something. Mokona directed Cindy's attention to an inconspicuous shack near the broken temple. Davis and Cindy exchanged glances, then they both leapt off the roof and sauntered to the shack. Mauzel, of course, took notice.) Mauzel: HEY! FIGHT ME! THESE ZERGS WILL BE YOUR UNDOING! (Cindy and Davis ignored the deity, walking ever closer to the shack.) Mauzel: Ignore that! FIGHT ME! (SSJ then yelled back.) SSJ: FIGHT US FIRST! (Mauzel reluctantly affirmed that, and raised its fist into the sky. It gave a terrible roar, and not terrible as in intimidating, but terrible as in it really sucked at roaring. It then launched a punch directly at where SSJ sat. So fast was the attack that SSJ seemed to not have the speed to dodge. He simply sat as the fist came closer to him. And then it stopped some feet away. Another pause. Mauzel asked in a shaky voice, aware of Cindy approaching the shack.) Mauzel: Why don't you dodge it?! (SSJ sighed and replied blankly.) SSJ: Why don't you follow through? (And by now, Cindy opened the door the the shack. She stared inside, not knowing what to say. Inside, there was but one random guy, not even going to be described. He was sitting in a chair, pressing buttons on a console and speaking into a microphone.) Mauzel: Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain! (Cindy turned to Davis, who provided her with a sake bottle. She then went up to the guy and gave him a good smack with the bottle, knocking him out cold. She then pulled him out of the shack and threw him to the ground. SSJ, of course, was not much surprised. He sighed, and muttered.) SSJ: Mauzel's a fraud... Figured. (And with that, the zergs disappeared, and Mauzel was frozen in place. Davis then stepped up to the console full of flashing buttons and pulled the plug. The image of Mauzel then disappeared, and the three sighed.) *** :: MEANWHILE! :: [No way. The Peacemakers could not believe it. Their great god... A fraud! Needless to say, they weren't taking it very well. They cried where they stood, with the Kassull siblings comforting them.] Steia: How could we be so stupid?! (Pacifica patted her back, trying to comfort her.) Pacifica: There, there... Don't feel so bad... Heck, there are a lot of people more gullible than you! (Shizu, as well, wasn't taking it well.) Shizu: All these years! I was finally awake! And my leader is a fake! (Raquel tried to reassure her confidence, speaking in her sweet voice.) Raquel: Well, Shizu, perhaps you can devote your time to something else! (Shizu then looked at Raquel, then at Steia. Her eyes were full of tears, and she finally had the resolve to speak of her idea.) Shizu: Let's devote our time to something worthwhile! (Steia sniffed her last tear, and replied as proudly as she could.) Steia: Let's devote our time to something that's solid and trustworthy! (The two then joined hands in comradery, determined to not be fooled again.) Both: Let's invest in Enron! (Amiko and TM facefaulted, though no one knew why. Shizu and Steia then left, leaving the brown haired Peacemaker who the author doesn't know the name of.) Peacemaker: I... THERE IS NO LONGER ANY POINT IN LIVING! (He rushed and leapt off the cliff. He fell a whole twenty feet into the grass below. It was quite painful, but nothing lethal. Angry, he got up an leapt off the next cliff, this time falling another twenty feet before hitting the ground. Again, he got up, leapt off the next cliff off the mountain and got stuck in a tree. He wrestled his way out, falling and hitting random branches along the way, and finally came to an actually deep cliff. He leapt off, and apparently was never seen again. The Kassull siblings, Elphitine, TM, and Amiko sweatdropped, and finally turned to each other.) Pacifica: Thanks- (Before she could finish, she heard Shannon's muffled gasp, and turned to Shannon, seeing Amiko already on him. Pacifica and Raquel stared, without saying anything. Elphitine then led them back to the village, sighing.) *** :: Some Three Hours Later! :: [SSJ was in one of his worst moods yet. After all, he got worked up about fighting a god, ready to have his ass kicked and then some, but did any of that happen? He sat in their new wagon, provided by Elphitine for their help, driving with Raquel assisting on his right. Cindy also wasn't in the best of moods as she sat inside, being scared to death by a giant illusion. And to his left, Davis rode his golden chocobo, disgruntled and silent. SSJ drove the horses steadily over the bumps and through the mountain path, feeling stupid that he actually ran a seventy miles to the village without thinking of a wagon. Inside, Amiko sat with Shannon, chatting energetically with him while hugging Tenpi, while TM was hitting on Pacifica, as usual. Cindy, of course, was perfecting her Mario Kart skills on her GBA, with Mokona playing with her. Finally, SSJ sighed.] SSJ: We'll eventually have to abandon this, huh? (Davis nodded next to him.) Davis: Yeah. The Red Mountains have no road past. There's only a road around. (SSJ swore, but that was then Raquel informed him of something up ahead.) Raquel: SSJ-kun... (SSJ looked up ahead, seeing a clear and distinct figure. He saw the black cloak, the black ponytail, and the lighter blonde bangs. He quickly recognized the son of the ex-president, and greeted the wandering stranger, raising his right hand in greeting as he came to the man.) SSJ: Yo. (Not saying anything, the wanderer gave SSJ a cold glance before returning to staring straight ahead. SSJ said nothing else as he continued ahead. It was when he heard Shannon returning to the waiting room did SSJ do the same for Raquel. Amiko then stuck her head out the wagon cart, then sat down by SSJ.) Amiko: Hey! (Again, Kensou Mishima gave a cold glance over his left shoulder before looking back towards his path. Amiko frowned.) Amiko: You know, since we bailed you out on the boat, the least you could do is say something. (They heard Kensou give sigh, and he muttered without looking at her.) Kensou: Something. (Amiko glanced at SSJ, who was disinterestedly guiding the wagon.) Amiko: He reminds me of you, y'know. SSJ: Yeah, so? (Amiko sighed, and retreated back into the wagon. SSJ spoke without moving his eyes from the road.) SSJ: Where are you going? (Kensou did not look at him again, but SSJ clearly saw from the corners of his eyes Kensou's angry glare as he spoke.) Kensou: Away from the Capital. SSJ: Hm, I see. (SSJ said no more, and he drove the wagon onward, keeping pace with Kensou just beside it. They both said nothing, nor did they look at each other. It certainly was going to be a long journey to Rantmon.) ---- To Be Continued ---- - ENDING SONG: DAICHI NO LA-LI-LA - Shizuka naru ame no megumi furu (furu) Mada haruka Haruka tooi chi ni Matteru dare ka ni Kono ai no shizuku Furete miru hoho ni asa no kaze ga fuku (hoho ni wa) Ima nani wo Nani wo kanjita no? (nani ka wo?) Tashika na imi wo motsu (subete yori) Tada hitotsu no sora made Oikakeru kumo no kage ni tachidomari Mitsumetai Kokoro no tabi Doko made mo Doko made mo Natsukashii koe ni itsuka meguriau alainn la-li-la Yagate fune wa hashiru Hashiru (Fune wa ne Doko made Michi naru Umi no hate) Sou, hiroi sekai wo shinjite Kimi wa kanata e Soshite mirai e ---- Preview ---- [Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! Preview music plays in background. The five appear as chibi style, and random scenes from the next episode play, though you can't see because this is text. =P] SSJ: NEXT TIME! ON GINGA GIRI GIRI! Amiko: Kensou unwittingly has chosen the roads we will be traveling upon! TM: An amazing coincidence, no less! But even with all this, Rantmon decides to send in the first of his elite, one the Four Enders! Cindy: What awaits us as Kensou shows his skills? Davis: And I get a new costume?! Holy shit, FINALLY! All: Find out NEXT! ON GINGA GIRI GIRI! "The Time for Action" Raquel: O tanoshimi ni! (Look forward to it!) ----