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Ginga GIRI GIRI! The Universe is in Danger!
By SSJ Heero (http://66.75.107.143/animenext)
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---- Chapter 49: Daedalus' Labyrinth ----

[Smoke and dust flew into the sky. The screams of whistling noise rang throughout Komachi. 
It was the evacuation signal. People flooded from their homes, offices, parties, and 
unproductive CEO meetings towards the shelters far below the town. Elevators in each 
corporate building carried the groups down into the shelters. Large service elevators 
carried others from residential neighborhoods down there.

More smoke and dust flew into the sky. A different scream rang through the city. Glass 
shattered. Buildings crumbled. At the center, there was Suzaku. Winds flew as he twirled 
about, blades flying rapidly around his center. The rushing winds seemed to scream as they 
flew this way and that. More sounds of shattering glass in the area.

During this, TM fell to the ground, grabbing his ears in pain. The sound was too much for 
him. He was shaking all over; he could feel the sound. The air's vibrations were that 
powerful. He looked up in his pain and saw the Nishiten leader speed up straight at him.

But the sound was getting to him. He could still hear the screams. He couldn't stand. He 
couldn't move. No matter how hard, knowing the blades coming near, he couldn't force 
himself to move. Suzaku came near TM.

More smoke and dust flew. This time, though, Suzaku flew away as an explosion tore the 
ground just before TM. Suzaku barely dodged, and with that stopped his rotation. TM was 
sweating and panting with relief. He saw Claire, rocket launcher in hand, and earmuffs 
blocking out all sound. Suzaku smiled.)

Suzaku: Looks like my opponents have resources.

(TM spat onto the ground. He struggled to stop shaking. He pushed himself off the ground, 
using most of his strength to balance himself. He could barely stand, let alone move. His 
red aura had dissipated. His head was spinning. Finally, TM muttered to Suzaku.)

TM: That's it... You're going down.

(TM stuck out a finger, pointing it straight at Suzaku. His face was set into a stern, 
determined scowl. Suzaku wondered what attack the kid could do that made him so confident. 
It was then that he announced his attack.)

TM: Kaoru! Use your "smack-him-over-the-head-a-million-times" attack!

(Suzaku sweatdropped as Kaoru stumbled forward, gladly assisting TM.)

Kaoru: Okay! This is it!

(Kaoru raised up her bokken, aiming straight for the guy's head. Suzaku sighed. With a 
flick of his wrist, his left hand's kodachi retracted back, and he caught the wooden sword. 
He aimed the other blade at Kaoru's heart.

It was then, in that tense moment, that he heard another voice. He caught sight of Lulu 
over the scared Kaoru's shoulder, muttering a chant. He swore, letting go of the blade. He 
leapt back just in time for a giant bolt of lightning to strike the ground where he just 
stood. Suzaku skidded on the asphalt, looking ahead at his enemies.

He then felt two kicks upon the right side of his face. He flew away, scrapping upon the 
ground, loudly and painfully. Sakura and Tifa, the two who had kicked him, landed on the 
ground with great pain on their legs. It felt like they had kicked something very heavy.

Suu, with her many inventions, was ready to strike down Suzaku, but then Hinata called out.)

Hinata: Stop!

(Everyone did. They all turned to Hinata, who had the Byakugan staring straight at Suzaku. 
She was tense, frightened, and surprised. She couldn't believe her eyes. She turned to TM.)

Hinata: He's not human! For one, his heart's not beating at all!

(TM was taken aback at the news. As he saw Suzaku rise up from his heap, he saw the bloody 
scrape on his shoulder. He saw something else in there as well. Sparks of electricity. 
Wires. Oil. TM's eyes narrowed. Red flashes filled the area as his bishoujo disappeared. 
Now that he knew what he was up against, he couldn't risk his bishoujos' lives.)

TM: That guy... An android?!

(Suzaku grinned, the bloody, oily scrape not seeming to bother him.)

Suzaku: No, not an android. I died, but now I have returned to the living.

(TM clenched his teeth, glaring at the guy.)

TM: Magic?!

(Suzaku smiled even wider. His eyes were wide with veins. He was living, yet not living. TM 
saw Suzaku bring back his left kodachi, gripping both tightly.)

Suzaku: No, not magic. Not that kind, at least. The only magic here is the magic of 
science. I'm more properly called a cyborg.

(With that, Suzaku proceeded to twirl around and spin again. TM could only stand there, 
struggling to create a way to counterattack as the devilish scream filled the area. He put 
his hands together, and gathered his Chakra. Now was an opportune time! He concentrated on 
his hands, and a rush of wind surrounded him. The wind spiral began to form, just in time, 
as well.

He suddenly felt the pain in his left ear again, hearing the deafening scream, bleeding now 
from the pain. He lost concentration and fell to the ground again. He heard Suzaku come up 
from behind, and barely dodged the Nishiten leader.)

Suzaku: Oh? The Voice of the Devil hasn't fully affected you?

(TM cursed to himself as he flew back. It was a good thing his right ear could still 
hear... Wait, he thought, why was his right ear spared? Shouldn't the sound have hit his 
right hear as well? What happened, and why didn't he hear?

He remembered why. A wind was flying past his ear, towards his hands at that time. He 
wondered; could he avoid that attack if the winds were around his ears. He put his hands 
together, this time not for the Rasengan. He needed to use his Zero power. That created 
high winds!

As Suzaku continued twirling about, proud of his attack, he leapt at TM. With a clang, he 
heard his weapons blocked. His eyes focused from the blurry spinning, and he saw TM blocked 
one of his kodachi with his blade. Suzaku was taken aback.)

TM: I gotcha, you goddamned bastard.

***

[Meanwhile, Davis and Rikku sped forward at Byakko. Both of the man's hands were on the 
ground. Flames and earth surrounded Davis as he shot a punch at Byakko. Then he heard 
something strange. From every pore of Byakko's body tore hundreds of blades. All shone in 
the light and were quite sharp, so he assumed. Davis couldn't move out of the way,

All he could do to protect himself was to let the back of his metal Meteor Gloves take the 
impact. He came to a stop, feeling pain among his arms. A few of the longer blades pierced 
his skin ever so slightly. Davis pulled away and slid along the floor, blood running down 
his arms.

Rikku appeared just beside him, fast enough to have avoided the blades.]

Davis: What the Hell is THAT?!

(Byakko stood up, and Davis saw that the blades retracted. He saw it disappear into the 
man's skin, and with more surprise than when the blades came out, he saw the cuts 
disappear. Byakko wasn't glowing; there was no chanting; there was no magic. It couldn't 
have been a healing spell or other ability. Davis pondered in surprise before Rikku spoke.)

Rikku: He... There's something wrong with him!

(Davis shot Rikku a glance, not quite surprised at the vague info, considering blades tore 
out of his skin a second ago. Rikku then continued.)

Rikku: I saw machines...

Davis: In him?!

(Upon looking back at Byakko, he froze seeing that he had disappeared. Davis just barely 
turned around and caught sight of the Nishiten member fist raised up in attack. He grabbed 
Rikku and skidded away. Byakko smiled; glad to have a decent opponent. He raised his fists, 
prepared to smash Davis in.

But then he was flying to the side as a boomerang hit him straight to the cheek. He was 
flying back as Sango caught her boomerang, glaring at him.)

Sango: Byakko of the Nishiten... With that defense, it is best we attack from afar.

(Davis nodded, turning to Rikku.)

Davis: Then, we'll hold him off, you make something big.

(Rikku nodded.)

Rikku: Supernova?

Davis: That's just what we need now.

(Davis stood and faced Byakko. Both raised their fists at each other, preparing to strike. 
Davis saw the blades coming from Byakko's fist protrude further, shining in the light. 
Davis suddenly and quite loudly yelled, leaping away from a surprised Byakko.)

Davis: Asuka! Now!

(Giant bullet holes tore into the ground where Byakko stood. Off in the distance, hidden 
behind the maze of towers and buildings, Eva-02 launched volleys of bullets at Byakko, 
clear in its sights. Asuka yelled with pride as one of the bullets struck Byakko.)

Asuka: Yeah! Take that, ass!

(Byakko flew back, straight into a building, yelling in pain. There was crashing, 
collapsing, and smoke flew into the air. Byakko grunted as he was shoved back into the 
walls of the building. He looked up at where the shots came from; looking through a tunnel 
he created through the crumbling building.

He then saw Rikku throw something in. He swore, ducking down and attempting to dodge it. It 
shattered a distance before him, and out tore a small supernova. It raged among the 
supports of the building, tearing them off their foundations as the nova raged through the 
area. The terrifying attack lasted a long time before the structure finally collapsed, 
sending tons of steel and glass upon the man.

Davis enthusiastically slapped Rikku a high five. Sango and Asuka grinned as they 
disappeared in a red light. Rikku, too, disappeared as Davis took a look upon the tomb of 
Byakko. He turned around and stepped away.

Only then did he hear a trembling within the collapsed building. He heard steel shuffle. 
The tons of debris were shoved away, and out from the wreckage was a bruised and battered 
Byakko. Davis' mouth dropped to the ground. He finally saw what that man was.

Much of Byakko's skin was torn off, revealing a terrifying secret. Davis saw instead of 
internal organs, he was filled with a core, surrounded with rows upon rows of blades. He 
saw the left side of Byakko's face, with the skin intact, smile for a bit. The other half, 
though, was gone to reveal a skull of shining metal. He then saw the torn, tan plates crawl 
up from the wreck, reattaching to Byakko and blending into the outer skin. Davis lost his 
breath as Byakko's wounds disappeared.)

Davis: WHAT THE HELL?!

(Byakko smiled, pointing to himself.)

Byakko: I fought someone like you a while ago in a little town called Meria. He tore me to 
pieces, I should tell you. My creator managed to rebuild me; it took him a hell of a time 
to do so. And now, after so much labor on his part, I live again.

(Davis was frozen with terror. No way. That was impossible. It is impossible to revive 
people from the dead, except with the most forbidden magic. Then, he came to a realization, 
figuring it was all the doing of science. He just gritted his teeth as he muttered.)

Davis: No... You aren't alive.

(Byakko grew silent, glaring at Davis. The two stared at each other.)

Davis: Your body may have been revived, but you are missing an important component.

(Byakko scoffed, raising his fists in pride.)

Byakko: Hah! I don't need a heart, muscles, lungs, or even nerves. Through losing those, I 
have gained something much more important: these tiger claws.

(The claws then tore from Byakko's skin again, glistening in the light as he awaited Davis' 
response.)

Davis: No, I don't mean any of those physical objects... What I really want to know is... 
Where's your soul?

***

[And still meanwhile, Kamui was out and flying up towards the Minotaur, Amiko holding onto 
his hand and Kensou holding onto hers. They sped in a line towards the flying fortress as 
the wind raced past them, coming closer and noticing all its features. They saw the various 
domes and turrets lining the sides of the ship. There were various large hatches aiming out 
from the sides, currently closed off from the rest of the world. The red beast was a 
miniature country, with its own defense, attack, and army.

And yet, even with the daunting figure, they still approached. Gripped with fear, Amiko 
still was resolved to figure out about this thing. Who was controlling this, with Kaiba-kun 
as an underling? Was it on Rantmon's side? All these questions raced through her head as 
Kamui landed upon the top of the minotaur. He disappeared in a red flash as Amiko and 
Kensou exchanged glances.]

Amiko: You think we'll be okay?

Kensou: As long as we don't get caught.

(They raced along the top of the ship, towards any opening they could find open to them. 
Not knowing what was there before them, where to go, what to do; all of these weighed on 
their minds, and they haven't even entered yet!

They dashed silently along the top of the ship. They saw the dome up ahead, the bridge of 
the Minotaur. The enemy would be there, they figured. As they went nearer, with the soft 
taps of their shoes on metal, they heard more another building collapse down in the city. 
They needed to stop this madness soon in order to keep on going to Rantmon.

They came to the glass dome surrounding the giant bridge. They looked down through the 
half-sphere of glass separating them from the bridge. They saw quite an excited group of 
soldiers surrounding someone sprawled onto the floor. Upon seeing the guy stand up and look 
about the room, they saw, to their surprise, that it was SSJ.]

***

[SSJ sighed to himself. He shouldn't have been the nice, heroic guy. Now he was being 
knocked around by these guys with the butts of their rifles. Man, this wasn't a good day. 
He fell to the ground, and painfully got to his feet again. He woke up in the middle of a 
forest only to now be smacked around with rifles. He was hit again, and he staggered for 
breath. He should have left her without caring.

He was way too nice to cute girls. As he stung and was sore all over, he recounted all the 
girls who he fell for. Man, he was such a tool.

The beating stopped. He heard the door had opened, and saw that in stepped the third tier 
ender, Knives. He saw the scowl on Knives' face, and the soldiers around him made a path 
for Knives, saluting. He glared at Knives, wondering what was going to happen. He saw 
Knives stop in his step and sneer proudly at the boy, and with that shoved him back into a 
conveniently placed chair. Quickly, after he landed on it, ropes were produced to attach 
him to it as Knives spoke.]

Knives: Well, and Cell died trying to get pieces of shit like you.

(Knives then turned to everyone else, commanding them.)

Knives: Make sure he doesn't esc-

(He suddenly felt a chill. He turned around and saw that the ground under where SSJ had sat 
was gone. He turned his glare at one tired soldier, leaning down on a control console. The 
guy turned white, quickly releasing the button he had been leaning on and saluting with 
fear.

After a gunshot, his body was dumped through the hole.

Knives then fumed, sending commands to the soldiers.)

Knives: Get that kid, he must have hit the ground right now, and since I'm speaking, he 
couldn't have died.

(The soldiers saluted, and dashed past Knives, hoping he won't be angry again. So as they 
disappeared and Knives stepped towards the door, suddenly the alarm rang. Red flashes 
filled the Minotaur. No, it wasn't from bishounen or bishoujo, but some intruder had been 
caught in the ship. One of the operators on the many consoles lining the bridge corrected.)

Operator: Well, it's not in the ship, per se... They're... Right above.

(So the girl pointed up, and up above, Amiko and Kensou stood on the dome, not paying 
attention to the bridge below. Knives smiled.)

Knives: I'll get there in time to pick up their corpses. The Cypher won't be long.

(The operator nodded, and Knives almost disappeared through the door. Another operator 
called, barely stopping Knives from leaving. Angry with the interruption, he glared back at 
her. She just flatly stated the obvious.)

Operator: Sir... There's a bigger problem at 3 o' clock.

***

[Amiko and Kensou saw it coming. There was a large machine floating in the air by the 
Minotaur. About as big as them, they saw the propellers and cameras over the rings around 
it. They saw the machine guns mounted on the thing. They saw it was aimed at them.

Amiko dodged left to barely avoid bullets bouncing off the armor of the Minotaur. Kensou 
leapt away as well, regaining ground and dashing forward at the machine. Another barrel 
aimed itself at Kensou. He swore, and was quickly as possible, kicked off the ground and 
swung himself around in a circle. As he spun, the volley of bullets came quickly, and he 
barely dodged each one. Cheap, mass-produced machinery can't beat him!

With that, he unsheathed his blade and leapt up at the machine, and with the fight scene 
clocking at thirty seconds, depending on how fast you read, he sliced through the 
propellers with his amazingly powerful blade.

The machine was torn asunder and fell to pieces as it tumbled to the ground far below. 
Kensou sighed, and turned his head around, searching for Amiko. She was standing upon the 
dome over the bridge, not quite minding that she was in plain sight of all the operators. 
She saw something much greater.]

Kensou: No way...

(Amiko pointed to a large series of dots in the distance. As they approached, it became 
clear, with the wings, the ammunition, the technology, that it was a second-class 
government fleet. Kensou shrunk down in fear, realizing how near he was to get caught.)

Amiko: What're those?

(Then she caught Kensou kneeling on the armor of the ship, tense and shaking. She ran to 
him and looked straight at him.)

Amiko: Kensou?

Kensou: They're... After me...?!

(Amiko took another look back at the fleet, and shook Kensou.)

Amiko: Come on, let's go and get the others.

(And as they were about to step off, a voice called out.)

Voice: Stop, now.

(Amiko and Kensou turned towards the source, and they saw Seto Kaiba standing there, duel 
disk system on his left arm and ready to challenge them.)

Kaiba: This is as far as you go.

***

[Knives stood in the bridge, staring at the hologram screens that appeared throughout the 
area. All of them showed many different ships coming closer, and all aimed at his Minotaur. 
No, this was unexpected. This was way too fast. He only just started the night before! They 
couldn't have reacted so quickly to the mayhem.

Did they know of his plans? No, it was impossible. They had to be here for something else, 
and now that his ship was in plain view, he would be a target for this onslaught.

He swore. With a government fleet, the Angel Arms would do nothing. He simply stepped away 
from the bridge, down a corridor, and soon was standing on a rather large hangar. He saw 
the bay open, and he was standing on an open platform, air rushing by, as he faced the town.

Two angelic arms appeared in place of his others. Screw presenting bodies to Rantmon, he'll 
incinerate the town then and there. He aimed the barrels of his guns directly at the heart 
of Komachi. There was a loud boom, echoing and sounding like a roar.

Suddenly, a gigantic arrow tore into his left angel arm. He screamed in pain as he reverted 
his right arm to normal and tore it out of his left. Despite the giant hole in his left 
then, he was more concerned about the arrow upon feeling it. It was made of bone. He looked 
down upon the city. Where the Hell did that arrow come from?!

It was then, with his eagle eyes, he caught sight of Cindy, dashing through the streets 
below in search of her friends. He called for a small ship, and within a minute, he was 
descending to the city himself. One of the Five is good enough for him. With his anger, he 
wanted to end this quickly.]

***

[Back at the four Nishiten members left, a man dressed in the flowing attire of a wanderer 
grinned with pride as he let down his large bow. It was a large bow of metal, and soon 
after, it split into many plates and disappeared through the man's skin. His black hair was 
messy and some covered his lifeless gray eyes. He was met with applaud from Nataku and 
Genbu, who cheered.]

Nataku: Nice shot, Seiryuu.

(Seiryuu looked upon Genbu.)

Seiryuu: Good work with making the arrow.

(Genbu nodded, smiling with devilish pride. No one would stand in their way. No one. It was 
then that Gouki, hidden in the darkest shadows, spoke. He was barely visible with his 
spiked hair and black attire.)

Gouki: Daedalus approaches. Master Suzaku and Byakko haven't returned yet.

(Upon that realization, with the fleet in approaching in the distance, all of the Nishiten 
members exchanged glances. These kids couldn't have been that good. Still, now that 
Daedalus was here, they could leave their posts. They disappeared among the rooftops of the 
towers around them, heading for the fleet off in the distance.)

***

[Suzaku saw it, too, and so did Byakko. Both glared at their opponents from where they were 
feeling robbed of their victory. Suzaku sneered at TM, not even acknowledging that the boy 
defeated the voice of the devil. He kicked TM away and retracted his kodachi, disappearing 
along the skyline of the city. Byakko wanted to tear Davis in shreds; of course he had a 
soul, what in the hell put it into that moron's mind that he didn't?! Still, both leapt 
away from their battles and disappeared in the tangle of towers and streets, headed 
straight to the government fleet. They would fight another day, and when that day comes, 
they'll kill those two for sure.]

***

[As Cindy dashed around the town, she grew more and more nervous. The distant buildings had 
crumbled to the ground, and she figured that the others were involved in that. So she 
passed the steel towers around her, with glass littering the streets from the high-pitched 
noise some time before. Now it all had stopped, but in its place, quite unreassuringly, was 
a fleet of ships appearing to deal with the enemy ship above.

She paced on as hard as she could, sweating and panting as she dashed past empty streets. 
She hoped to reach them soon. And then, a gust of wind.

She looked behind, only to see a small red vessel land on the ground, throwing air 
everywhere. She stepped back in fear as she saw a figure step out from the opening door. 
The door flew open, and Knives stepped out, throwing at her a menacing glare.]

Cindy: Aw, damn it...

(Knives continued glaring, and pulled out his revolver. Quickly, Cindy did the same, and 
they faced each other with barrels aimed at each other's foreheads.)

Cindy: Why do you have to be on Rantmon's side...?

(Knives coldly answered, hand tightening on his gun.)

Knives: For Rantmon's glory. He is everything, the beginning and the end, his strength 
knows no bounds.

Cindy: Then, if someone was stronger, would you follow that person?

(Knives cocked his gun. There was a soft click.)

Knives: Impossible scenario.

***

[And indeed, Knives had a great faith in Rantmon. He held a great faith in Rantmon's 
infallibility. He believed that Rantmon can stand up to anything. Knives never knew of any 
loss on Rantmon's part. And so far, he was right.

Rantmon was particularly proud of himself at that point. Dragging a large crystal towards 
his island using ancient magic. The crystal was the color of the earth, brown, shining as 
the calm face and closed eyes of the God of Earth shone through. Its arms were crossed; its 
legs drawn together. It had succumbed to Rantmon's strength, and from out of the clouds, 
out burst a brilliant shape of yellow.

Sparks ran through the air. Bolts of lightning rained on the grass far below. The yellow 
shape took form, four legs and a large tail, covered with scales. A massive head with horns 
and a crest of bone bellowed as he fell from the sky and landed upon Rantmon's island. The 
dragon caught sight of Rith and Dromar. And a quite disturbing laugh filled the air.]

Rith: Volt! You haven't changed at all!

(Volt cast a proud look upon Rith then, and it spoke as well, through its mind.)

Volt: Hah, Rith! I always change. I'm just so glad to finally be rid of that prison!

(It was then that Rantmon coughed, standing near the large doors of his palace. Volt took 
notice of him, and bowed its head.)

Volt: So this is the being that freed me?

(Rantmon smiled as a strong wind came upon the area, throwing sand all about.)

Rantmon: Yes, I have freed you. It is all for a new age that will come soon.

(And the winds blew stronger that day. As the sand from his palace flowed through the sky, 
the winds seemed to have been letting a scream. A frightful scream of the wind spread 
through the Other World. The Age of the Gods was coming to a close, and a new age with 
Rantmon would come. That is, unless a force greater than the gods themselves was to come...)

---- To Be Continued ----

- ENDING SONG: RAVEN - DO AS INFINITY - [1]

yume de nita anatawa totemo [chi]saku
busoi michi atemo naku [aru] iteta
kunoi nomi atari ou ui hajime
sagashiteta dakaraou mitsu karu to

kutsumo no [kisetsumasu o za] shitekita
kono kayoba hiki zurimawa suyouni
rugu bo keta tokei namaki mado seba
kanashi mino itami wa ya waragunoka 

sakebigo wa ga kodama noyouni
hibiki wa garu ah ah
dakusshita [bajono] omoidasezu
nakija kuruyo ah ah ah 

---- Preview ----

[The Naruto Main Theme plays in background. The six appear as chibi style, and random 
scenes from the next episode play, though you can't see because this is text. Haha!]

SSJ: Next time! On GINGA GIRI GIRI! Knives shows how cool he is by fighting a girl!

Amiko: Don't say that, SSJ, you know Cindy and I aren't the normal damsel-in-distress kinda 
girls.

Kensou: The fleet makes the ultimatim for the Minotaur, and none other than Daedalus 
reveals himself.

TM: As Knives and Cindy face off, the rest of us regroup, only to be called.

Davis: And it is an unusual call, at that, for two familiar faces greet us at the meeting.

Cindy: Next! On GINGA GIRI GIRI! "The Calls of the Other World" You better look forward to 
it!

----

Author's Note:

[1]: Same as last week, the song was not used in any anime I've seen, so I've taken the 
liberty of shortening it to "TV Size".