TFFA: The Great X-Mas Caper

[Vexarian]

Day 5, The Edge of the Destruction; Lower Slums, 10:43 AM

Xero was walking, not looking at anything but the datapad he held firmly in his hands.

A man who was entirely on fire ran past, while a Car fell out of the sky and slammed nose first into the ground several inches behind him, wobbling for a moment before slamming back, upside down, just barely missing him once more.

He stepped into a building, which had fallen sideways, wedged against a newly made cliff. A minute later he exited at the top through a roof door, strolling through fields of debris and littered bodies.

A troll launched itself at the oblivious man, but was shot by a nearby CMPS officer, who was in turn, attacked by three more trolls. He stepped off the edge of the crevice, falling out of sight before rising up once more on a pane of metal, fired up by an explosion, allowing him to reach the other side easily.

However, let us turn our attention away from this extremely lucky fellow, and back towards a more, familiar person in the plot... Depending upon how closely you pay attention of course.

Vex rocketed through the air, flailing for a moment as he twisted and turned in mid air. He slammed into the side of one of several buildings fallen together, creating a massive crater instantly.

The next second, Dark-Zeni showed up just in front of him, her arm pulled back for another strike. The next frame showed her impacting the crossed chain spears, the crater deepening while chunks of shrapnel exploded away.

Vex let out a grunt as he absorbed the force of the third hit, yet the determination he showed never faltered. His shoulders rolled back, pushing some of the force away. Dark-Zeni growled and pulled her fist back a fourth time, giving Vex the window he needed, and he disappeared into a Light Dash, rushing across the surface of the building.

...Then Dark-Zeni caught up with him, hovering in front of him and hurtling a burst of black energy towards him, which blew a massive swath out of the buildings, causing a massive structural collapse.

Vex shifted and turned in mid fall, and hurled away a spear, just as Dark-Zenithos flew down once more. Time skipped forward in frames as Vex pulled a large chunk of rubble forward, and Zeni powered up another blast. He slammed his feet off the rubble, firing himself down as the energy exploded, creating a nova of debris firing in all directions.

He slammed into the ground, and fired forward, out racing the rain of dark energy and shrapnel as it bombarded the ground. Unfortunately, while he was fast, Teleportation was faster, and Dark-Zeni slammed her leg into his side, sending him flying off in a heap. Skipping over the ground several times before he pulled himself back up, skidding on his feet just long enough to explode in a momentary blast of light, firing away at near light speed.

Dark-Zenithos flew up and begun to wildly fire off blots of energy towards Vex's general area, dotting craters across the land scape. She teleported in front of him just as he stopped and slammed her fist into his stomach, sending him off until he slammed into another building's side, his body indenting into the wall. She appeared once more in front of him, and begun to pound into his body with fist and foot.

"WHY WON'T YOU DIE!" The Faux Crimson Moon Executioner screamed at the Twitch Combatant's face.

Vex just grinned as blood dripped off his forehead, "Why won't I die?" He parroted back at her, "The reason you can't kill me is simple."

"WHAT?! WHY CAN'T I KILL YOU!" Dark-Zenithos raged, her hands crushing his throat as dark energy billowed around her body.

Vex gagged, and quietly said, "Be...cause... you... are... " He hacked for a moment as his throat was collapsing under her assault, "Weak..."

Zeni screamed and grabbed Vex by the throat, spinning around and hurling him away, his body broken, but he was not yet dead. Just before he were to slam into the ground, he was caught by an ally, and laid down onto the ground, hacking in response to the punishment he took.

Unknown frowned as he looked up at Dark-Zenithos, the corona of black energies cascading around her form, tendrils of the black substance whipping around violently.

"Zenithos... I saw you die. I saw you that last time in endsville..." Unknown said, awe creeping in his voice at seeing her reborn, yet after a moment he was jerked back to reality, "Why have you forsaken the ones you have sworn to fight alongside?"

Zeni's lips curled open into a smile, one that seemed unsuited for her face, "Silly Unknown, I never liked the ones I was helping. Least of all, you. I will however admit that I grew soft two years ago, however, since then I have grown harder then steel. No more of your words will change me, there is no other way."

"I guess it's a good thing I kept your last words in my heart. You tole me in endsville that there was one lasting hero for TFF, and that was me... And it seems, my tests have just begun." Unknown said, solemnly at the realization.

"Again... you fool. I merely told you what you wanted to hear, there is no truth, there is no one who can defeat me, NO ONE WILL DEFY ME!" Zenithos screamed madly at him, her spine pulling back as she raised her hands to the sky.

"I would have never thought this day would occur, never imagined such an event could pass. Only in hell could such a thing happen..." Unknown said ominously, electrical energies beginning to build around his hands, the air crackling, while flames burst into existence at his feet, licking at his boots.

"How convenient, because Hell, is precisely where you are GOING!" Zenithos replied, her energy flaring wildly, the wind picking up in the area in response.

 

[Legendary Legacy]

Day 5, What's Left, Lower Slums, 10:41


"Darkness beyond twilight, Crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried-HEY!" Lina yelped, barely avoiding the Crack-blast that LL had shot at her. She glared at the smirking boy.

"You're not supposed to attack me while I'm casting, you fruitcake!"

Hearing someone snicker made LL's eye twitch. "Fruitcake? Fruitcake!?" He lifted his hand above his head, feeding more crack-energy into his fist. With a *pop* a car-sized log of what would appear to be the aforementioned fruitcake appeared above him.

"The fruitcake...IS A LIE!" he declared before tossing the disgusting substance at her.

Not wanting to be buried under a pile of nasty fruity-nuttiness, Lina finished her previous chant and fired a Dragon Slave at it. She was stunned when not only did the super-powered blast pass right through it, but the incoming fruitcake completely vanished right before landing on her. As she blinked in confusion, the tip of a staff impacted with her face, knocking her over backward.

Clutching at her bleeding nose, she growled upon seeing LL standing over her. "Wha' da Hew was dat?"

LL's grin grew wider. "I told you that the fruitcake was a lie. Give up, Lina-san?"

"FWARE AWOW!"

Teleporting not quite fast enough, LL was disheartened to find that Lina's last spell had significantly singed the left side of his purple hair.

"Oh no you did not," he whispered calmly. Turning a closed-eye glare at the sorceress, he stated, "That's gonna cost you."

He raised his staff to the sky and brought it down almost full force, making sure to hold enough back as to not break the poor thing as it was the only one he had. Lightning flashed and the next thing Lina saw before her was-

An eight-inch tall bright pink puffball with stubby arms and feet and a happy look on it's little face.

"Poyo!" the thing greeted cheerfully.

And after a moment of silence, Lina fell over laughing. "What the hell is that thing supposed to be?"

"This 'thing', as you so eloquently put it, is Kirby," LL explained. "The mascot and familiar of all who have embraced the power of Crack-fic energy. And he will be your demise this evening."

Lina laughed again, forming a fireball in her hand. "That's if I don't eat him first. I'll bet with the proper treatment he'll taste just like toasted marshmallows."

LL continued to grin. "We'll see who eats who." With a dramatic point of his finger, he addressed the pint-sized familiar. "Alright Kirby, get in there and suck! Suck like a badly written, angst-filled, shota yaoi incest fic! With MPreg!"

"Poyopoyo!"

"What do you mean even you can't suck that hard? ...Fine, leave out the MPreg part."

"Poyo!" The puffball held up a hand, apparently to give a thumbs-up, but due to his lack of fingers, it was hard to tell.

"FIREBALL!"

The moment Lina let her spell fly, Kirby leapt forward, opened his mouth and began inhaling as profusely as possible. It may not have been quite as hard as a badly written, angst-filled, shota yaoi incest fic, but it was pretty damn close. And it was more than enough to inhale the incoming fireball.

With a small belch of smoke, Kirby's body suddenly turned sunburn-red and a fiery headdress appeared on his head. He held up a hand in Lina's direction, signifying a flipping of the bird. But again, without the proper fingers for it, it lost most of it's effect.

"Sic her, boy!" LL commanded, and Kirby immediately began waddling after the retreating Lina Inverse, belching gout after gout of flames in her direction.

"Well, that should keep Lina-san entertained for a little while," he surmised. "But now I'm free to offer last-second aid to my comrades and steal all their glory by defeating their weakened foes for them! Who needs help, Shampoo?"

"It appear that twins are fighting over that way," the Amazoness replied, pointing into the distance.

"Which ones?"

"What?"

"Which ones? Zeni? Eterna? Zen? Ei-chan? Nez? Incarna? The evil clones? Am I forgetting any?"

"How the Hell Shampoo know? They all identical!"

LL rubbed his chin. "You're right, they are all identical, especially Zeni!"

"àWhat?!"

"No time for talk, Sham-chan! We have to get to the battleground before all the glory is wasted on the others!"

 

[Unknown-common-827]

What's Left, Slums, 10:44 AM

"How convenient, because Hell, is precisely where you are GOING!" Dark-Zenithos replied, her energy flaring wildly, the wind picking up in the area in response.

'I'd like to see her try to send me to hell,' were my thoughts before we charged at each other, lightning and darkness tangling into a harsh web of chaos and destruction.

With a flurry of strikes, each poised to do massive damage, we began a tirade of attacks that would even make DBZ seem like Hamtaro. Finally we broke apart and separated a good amount.

Dark-Zenithos cackled sternly at me. "Same old pathetic Unknown. Still trying to hold something of a humanity, I see. Why don't you give up now and rejoin your once beloved?"

I glared at her with eyes that were as cold as the previous December Night. "There is nothing within you that recalls my heart from those years ago. My humanity has been saved, but my power has not diminished."

Again, she cackled at my direction before launching a large black energy ball at me. Quickly I dodged before launching a lightning bolt at her, which she dodged as if it was like a beach ball was thrown.

'This isn't good... I know I can't beat her unless I can unlock my invincible form... and even then it might be a toss up. Come on, deadman, think... can't you unleash something you know she hasn't seen?' I thought as I dodged and countered every attack that was thrown my way. However, I was becoming fairly winded, the previous nights taking their toll on me.

"Pathetic worm... you are tired already? I was hoping for *AHHH!*" said Dark-Zenithos before I hit her square in the face with a tombstone that I was able to quickly transmute from the earth as she taunted me.

"That was not very nice, you fool. For that, you will now die!" said the dark witch as I steeled myself for another barrage.

'Well... here goes nothing' I whispered to myself before I threw off my hat and jacket and headed straight for Dark-Zenithos.

"What the?" said the yaoist before I began to level many devastating strikes into her torso, leaving many broken bones, bruises and blood everywhere. With a quick chant, I landed one final punch to her body, sending her flying into a nearby building.

Panting, I moved to regain my hat and jacket when a bolt of dark energy hit me square in the back. That caused my to fly into another nearby building. As I recovered for a few seconds, I saw the dark bitch in front of me walk with a renewed purpose.

The bruises, bones and blood being repaired before my very eyes. Now I could see what made so many who fell by my hand quickly want to flee in fear. There was really no way for this person to die unless you go through pure hell.

'Damnit... she really can take a punishment. I thought I was tough, but this... person take the cake' I thought to myself as she steadied another energy ball at me.

With last minute reflexes, I dodged the potentially fatal shot from her. However, the battles from the days before were catching up fast to me. With what was left of my energy I prepared a desperation attack but was stopped with a swift kick to my abdomen.

"You weak fool... you really weren't much fun after all. You will die." said Dark-Zenithos as she aimed a dark energy shot at my skull.

"This is not over... I know you aren't the real Zenithos... you aren't the one I loved over 2 years ago... you... impostor," I whispered, loud enough for her and myself to hear it.

"Oh really... well, maybe you're right," said Dark-Zenithos as her voice got darker and more manic.

Calmly, as if waiting for my last chance, I waited my fate. Hopes were out the window, only two things could help me... the stroke of midnight on a chosen night, or..

"STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU IMPOSTOR, CONNIVING WENCH!" said a determined voice I haven't heard since that fateful night.

"Who says so?" said Dark-Zenithos as she turned to the voice.

"Zeni... thank the god who reincarnated you" I whispered to myself before tripping the bitch in front of me and grabbing my hat and jacket, to return to the side of the once proud anti-Yaoist.

"You wanted the fight? I'll bring a pain sandwich, and I'll hold the mercy while you enjoy it!" said Zeni as she began to charge at the darker version of herself.

 

[Epsilon]

Day 5, What's Left; Lower Slums, 10:45 AM

If there was one advantage that Azure Kite had over the virus, it came down to pure attributes. Naturally, the Twin Blade would be much faster than the virus and in this battle, that fact had not changed.

However, his battle tactics left much to be desired...

With a loud cry, Azure Kite attempted a strike from beyond Gigabyte's point of view but he found himself wrapped around a black cable which extended from the interface's left arm. "Playtime is over!"

Had the Twin Blade been able to speak normally, he would have started cussing in fear right now. All he could settle for was a simple look of shock as Epsilon turned around and brought down his right claw to strike.

*CLANG*

"...... I was wondering when you two would show up..." There was no tone of surprise as he coolly glared at Azure Balmung, who had blocked the attack in time with his jagged blade, the Empty Mirage. A split second later, the cable had been cut cleanly by Azure Orca's Empty Shadow.

"So the party's all here..." Although he looked calm outside, he was a bit worried. Infecting these interfaces wasn't a very good option as they were data protected. And he had to keep an eye out for any signs that Azure Kite may use his bracelet.

As Epsilon poured over his options, he heard LL's familiar and somewhat annoying voice. "Oooh! This looks like fun! Can we join?"

Azure Balmung's only response was to give a malicious smile before he flew forward to attack Shampoo with his blade.

"AIYAH!!"

 

[knight_of_ni]

Day 5, WhatÆs left, Slums, 10:45 AM
EXP/posts ?/?

ôSon of a bitch,ö Nikolaus dashed to the side as KelÆThuzad tossed ice spells at the werewolf. He jumped over one last spell, twisting his body over it in a crude mockery of a high jump.

ôDo you honestly think you will win?ö KelÆThuzad watched as his minions surrounded Nikolaus, ôeven if you donÆt have the necronomnicon with you, your abilities and knowledge would be most useful to the Lich King, even if we have to take them by force.ö

ôAlways did talk too much,ö Nikolaus muttered as he drew a blood seal on his side, trying to pass it off as holding a broken arm. The seal glowed slightly before fading into black, a mass of energy appearing above them.

Arthus fired off a necromancy based spell towards Suzuka, who jumped out of the way, firing a ki-blast at the death knight. As the attack approached, a ghoul waiting by ArthusÆ side leapt into the blast, blocking it, blasting the creature in half. Arthus merely chuckled, ôFool, power such as ours cannot be denied. You and your lord are merely stepping stones in the Lich KingÆs plans.ö

Suzuka slipped into a defensive stance, her face set into a deathÆs mask, ôYou think too highly of yourself, death knight.ö

ôWe shall see, assassin,ö Arthus raised his sword, the smile on his face growing ever larger. Bringing the blade down, Arthus screamed, ôCharge!ö

Grave, was wadding through the undead ranks, blasting them with his hand cannons, as well as occasionally bashing any of the undead unfortunate enough to get close to him.

A roar went up over the sounds of gunfire and the various noises the dead were making. Grave turned to find the source of the sound, only to be impaled by a massive shard of ice when he found the source, an undead dragon, the one that had ôfiredö the ice shard at him.

ôàOw,ö Grave deadpanned as he dropped the handguns. The ghouls around him lunged at the wounded undead, seeking a free meal, only to get slammed back as Grave whipped his coffin around. A mechanical clicking marked the coffin revealing its machine gun; Gave merely glared, well, looked menacingly, at the dragon.

ôYeah, everything is going as expected,ö Nikolaus commented as Granfaloon began to drop zombies on the battlefield; several flesh golems and regenerators surrounded him, firing outward into the crowd of undead. His undead seemed to be at an advantage; the more primitive weapons used by legions of the Lich King. Nikolaus began drawing another blood seal, ôKeep this portal open, no matter what the cost, I will deal with the commander.ö

ôAye, sir.ö

With that, Nikolaus transformed, turning to look for Grave and Suzuka, in some hope that the reinforcements would help them. Seeing nothing past the undead that swarmed the area, Nikolaus used one of the flesh golems as a springboard, jumping over many of the undead, and using more of the undead as his path.

ôIt seems we are back where we started,ö KelÆThuzad hissed smugly.

Nikolaus responded with a grin that only a wolfÆs face could make.

(OoC:à. zombie wars?)

 

[David Alan Abramczyk]

Day 5, WhatÆs left, Slums, 10:45 AM

"Ah... Guys.... Getting swamped here..." A voice called out, as David fought against a horde of trollz.

"A little help here? Someone?" he shouted, as the horde started to close over him.

There was a wail of "Aw man, this is gonna suck...", before it was replaced by the sound of violence.

 

[sidhereelmotion]

The Den of Iniquity, Red Light District, TFFA City, Day 5, 22 December, 7:03 AM, NB EXP: 9

"Who is it?"

A knock sounded on the office door: shave-and-a-haircut, two bits. The old pink prinny put down the doujin she was reading and called out in a weathered but kind voice, "Who is it?"

From the other side of the door, a much younger voice replied, "It's Jake and Elwood Blues, ma'am."

The prinny slid the doujin into a drawer before yelling back, "Come in boys, come in. I've been waiting for you, so have a seat."

The brothers entered and sat down at the small school desks next to the door.

"Come closer," the prinny cajoled. "These eyes aren't as young as they used to be, and I want to see you. Come closer."

The Blues Brothers slowly dragged the heavy school desks across the floor towards the prinny's desk, making a loud grating squeal that might have woken the dead had Nikolaus not already done so. As they sat down again, Elwood present a brown paper bag to the prinny.

Setting it down on the desk, he explained, "We stopped at the donut shop on the way over. Thought you might like a few."

The prinny reached over and patted Elwood on the head. "You always were a good boy. They're even glazed too."

Her eyes took on an unholy glee. "Now where are the little darlings? I want to have a look at them before they go to meet the Goddess. Did you leave them downstairs?"

Jake and Elwood started to laugh nervously, looking everywhere but at the prinny.

"Do you boys have something to tell me?" the prinny asked.

Elwood mumbled, "About the girls, we didn't exactly get them just yet...."

As Elwood was talking, Jake's hand was creeping towards the donut bag, only to be struck by a previously unseen ruler. *WHACK!*

"You don't have the girls?"

Jake shook his head. "No, we tried to buy them from guy, but he started flinging lightning bolts at us, so we ran away."

Down came the ruler upon Jake's head. *WHACK!*

He whined, "Stop doing that, you dirty old bird."

There was silence. A dark aura of wrath illuminated the prinny.

Elwood leaned over to whisper to his brother, "I wouldn't have said that to the Penguin."

*WHACK!*

"See?" commented Elwood before he himself was hit.

*WHACK!*

*WHACK!* *WHACK**WHACKITY WHACKITY WHACK!*...*50-hit combo!*

"Now get out and get those girls," snarled the Penguin. "Take the Frogs with you and don't come back until you have them."

Jake and Elwood moaned as they crawled to the door.

XOXO

Secret Tunnel Entrance, Frank Castle's Inn, The Slums, TFFA City, Day 5, 22 December, ?:?? AM

It was time to go and most of the girls were entering the Secret Tunnel. The few that were staying were more than capable of slugging their way through the street war to come. Rei watched Locke as he told the girls where to go and when to start for the Futakoihana Shrine. On any other day, herding so many young girls might have driven him at least to annoyance if not madness, but this... this was part of his plan.

As Rei started to leave, Locke pulled her aside and said, "Watch out for Sidhe. I don't think she's handling what Mick did well... Then again, I don't know if I am."

Rather than arguing again, Rei just nodded, and then as if on impulse, leaned in to kiss Locke on the cheek.

"For luck," she said, and then ran through the tunnel entrance.

Locke watched her go.

XOXO

Deep Tunnels under the Commercial District, TFF Academy City, 12:23 PM

"Don't worry, æcause we've got plenty of BEER!" Eva and Rin shouted triumphantly.

"And guts!" continued Eclair.

"We're not afraid of your purple - I mean frogs!" proclaimed Sidhe, brandishing her stage prop knife at the nearest wall of frogs.

"We'll fry them!" growled Rei.

"Batter them!" Elidea quickly added.

"No, bear-batter them," corrected Morrigan.

"Illyasviel paused, then in a cute voice said, ôWell then, frog legs for everyone."

Zefie nodded and, drawing on her best memes, exclaimed, "In Soviet Russia, frogs eat girls; but here and now, girls eat frogs!"

While the girls were congratulating themselves on their very successful heroines' banter, Elwood and Jake were executing plans of their own. Elwood brought his harmonica up to his lips and blew one clear pitch. He and Jake began singing in what some girls recognized as Russian while the Frogs harmonized with their croaking. Illyasviel looked rather ill. The sinister theme grew and grew.

"What are they singing?" asked Sidhe.

Morrigan shook her head in disgust as she answered, "L'Internationale."

The song echoed down the tunnels and up into the streets as the Frogs began their advance.

 

[ryushi]

((Due to previous ignorances of mine, I have decided to repost my post.))

Day 5, What's Left, Slums, 10:49

The Trollz pressed their advantage, slowly overwhelming what was left of the resistance. It seemed that the day was theirs and they knew it. So they attacked and blitzed and rushed the line to break the defenses when suddenly...

"AAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!" BOOM!!

A flying, screaming something crashed into the middle of the horde, throwing friend and foe outwards from the impact zone. David blinked at this sudden interruption. looking over the edge of the crater, he found a very large, 7' 3" man laid out flat, with the swirly eyes and everything. He was wearing a tattered loincloth and a leather shoulder pad with two straps holding it to his body. In his Right hand, he clutched a War Hammer half as long as he was tall with a hammer head as big as Tsunade's tits.

"Are you okay?!"

The man sat up quickly...and fell back again, his hands clutching his head as he curled up in pain. "Ryushi head hurt..."

Everyone sweatdropped. "You hit the ground hard enough to leave a crater and your head hurts?" Xaosite deapanned. "Imagine that."

Having shaken off the momentary shock of having a humanoid meteorite crash through their horde, the Trollz let out an inarticulate roar (which had Ryushi whimpering from the decibels) and attacked again.

"Oh shit, here they come again!" Zero shouted to the party.

The battle resumed...

 

[Vexarian]

Day 5, Impact Center; Lower Slums, 10:47 AM

Xero stopped, and looked at his Datapad intensely, did it break or something? The arrow was gone, now there was just a circle...

He moved it around, wondering if maybe the link to the Satellite was on the fritz. He grumbled and whacked it on the side several times, in a futile attempt to get it to work again.

"Damn 'pad... Why won't you direct me anymore?!" He grumbled, lifted his foot then slammed it back down on the ground angrily, feeling the soft, warm ground under his feet squish, then groan.

"Geh-get off... me... yoh-you... idiot..." He heard a familiar voice call from under his feet. Unsure, he decided to jump up and down a few times, eliciting a scream.

He looked down and nodded, "Why are you under my feet Vex?"

"Fuck you..." He gasped out, a few splatters of blood coughing out as he did.

"For that matter, why haven't you respawned?" Xero asked.

"...Just get off..." Vex coughed.

Xero obliged and looked down, at his comrade and repeated his question, "How's it going?"

"Painful... but other then that... okay, I suppose." Vex said with another hack.

"So why haven't you just finished yourself and respawned?" Xero asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Meh, I ain't dead, I can regenerate. Besides, I'd prefer to keep the Satellite as an ace, never know what'll happen around here, things seem to just keep amping up." Vex said, feeling the bones in his arms realigning with a sickening crunch.

"Oh... How'd this happen anyway?" Xero asked curiously, continuing after a moment's pause, "Usually, your not the type to get the shit beaten out of you like this."

Vex let out a series of hacks of blood and chunks of flesh as his punctured lungs expelled all of the blood, and rebuilt themselves, after the small episode ended he gasped in a deep, painless breath, "She could fly and throw energy."

Xero chuckled at that, "Why aren't you finished off?"

"I got caught after I got chucked, and she's got more important things to worry about right now." Vex answered, taking on an odd face afterwards, and spitting out two chunks of tooth that had been forced from his jaws by a new set.

"Anyway, anyone for me to take care of?" Xero asked hopefully.

"Not sure, I'd give you advice on who to beat the hell out of, and who to spare, but it'd take too fucking long." Vex said as he allowed his head to slump back.

Xero nodded, "Right, I'll go find somebody to question.", he smirked and snapped both of his scimitars out of his belt, grabbing the hilts as he begun walking forward.

He let out an unnaturally cold breath as frost started to form over his body, solidifying further into thick sheets of interlocking ice. Within seconds he was covered in a thick frozen plate armor from his neck down, he flicked his wrists, and both scimitars erupted in flames, dancing across the blades in a barely contained fury.

He paused for a moment, crouching down for a second before propelling himself fully forward in a charge. His eyes swept over the field, there were somewhat humanoid black blobs, humans, odd humanoids and bizarre things that he couldn't even identify.

His eyes locked on someone, and he skidded to an abrupt stop, kicking up chunks of debris with his feet.

"Sabin?!" Xero called out incredulously as he stared at the blonde man with a broadsword strapped to his back.

"Yo Xero." The aforementioned Sabin replied, holding up his hand.

Now Xero may not be a genius, but he was most certainly not an idiot either. Now he was sure that Sabin had not gone with Vex, and there was little chance that he arrived here independently, at least without any knowledge on their part.

Xero turned his head as much as he could without taking Sabin out of his sights and called out, "Yo Vex! Did Sabin come?!"

"No!", he heard the echoing reply several moments later.

'Sabin' narrowed his eyes in an extremely malicious way, Xero nodded as he took on a battle stance. Sabin returned this by pulling his hand up to his blade, and yanked the broadsword from it's sheath, slicing through a nearby pole in the arc.

"Fucking great, a copy cat..." Xero said, distaste oozing off his words. These things were miserable to fight, you never knew how good they were.

Neither moved for what felt like hours, both staring each other down, until, as if an unseen signal appeared, Xero launched forward, two small ice spires having rapidly grown under his feet to forcibly launch him. While Sabin's doppleganger cracked his hand through the air, a wall of rock bursting from the ground to create a barrier.

Xero threw his hands forward and let a concentrated burst of fire explode from his fingers, slamming into the rock and causing the stone to melt, while giving him the force he needed to stop from slamming bodily into the wall.

Sabin dodged to the side, keeping himself from being hit by the burning bolt of energy. He brought out his sword and smirked as the wall crumbled and he held his free hand out towards Xero, while his sword lay across his shoulders.

Xero immediately felt uneasy in the pit of his stomach, it could be that this looked like he was going to do something, or it could be that the ground was trying to eat him now...

"SHIT!" Xero screamed and summoned his energies, causing a massive ice spire to erupt from the ground under him before he was completely pulled under. It grew as he poured more and more energy into it, bringing it up to a full height of ten stories, and immensely thick at the trunk. Immediately after he stopped he dropped to a knee on the top and panted at the exertion.

He coughed once before pulling himself back up, and wiping his forehead, dispersing his ice gauntlet for a moment. He reformed the ice onto his gauntlet and inhaled, looking around for Sabin, it was a bad idea to take his eyes off him.

'Sabin' narrowed his eyes at Xero from his position on a stone pillar, and Xero grunted, grabbing his flaming scimitars from the top of the spire, and taking a new battle stance.

At once, both of them leapt towards each other, clashing in mid air for a mere moment before they twisted around, both summoned a new spire of their respective element from their own pillar for a safe landing.

"Your going down!" Xero cried out as he ran down the pillar and sliced at Sabin, jumping down and making a new pillar as the two began a deadly, and honestly, fucked up dance. Blades clashed, sparks flying away from all three weapons, as new branches of stone and ice emerged, forming a complex weave of both water and earth.

After a few minutes of constant clashing, Xero found himself crouching on a thick branch, wondering what was going to happen. "Damn Copy Cat, has all of Sabin's power." He complained with a grumble as he loosened his body up.

And luckily, Sabin was nearby to hear this lovely compliment, and decided to thank his adversary by throwing a block of stone at him, shattering the pillar, and sending the fragments crashing down to the ground.

Xero waved his hand in the air, bringing frost towards it, building up more and more power until he threw it all forward, creating an ice wave, frosting over the entire area, and bringing dozens of new spikes out of every surface.

He followed up the frost wave with a leap, heading towards Sabin, by hopping up and around the spikes up to the tip of the top, a slice through an offending spire, and a kick sent it towards the Troll imitating an ally.

Sabin leapt up, dodging the point and landing on the top, he ran forward and leapt off again, barreling forward, towards Xero with his blade ready. Xero reacted as swiftly as he could, and launched himself to the side, he pulled his flaming energy to his hands, and begun to fling balls of fire towards Sabin, who slapped them all away this the blade of his sword, leaving it smolderingly hot.

Both landed on the ground, and Sabin's expression was now clearly different from how the original would look, having a truely maniac gleam in his eyes, and an insane smirk on his face.

"You, most definitely aren't the Earth Boy I know..." Xero said, forming a sheet of ice where he was to land, protecting himself from the earth attacks somewhat.

Unfortunately, he didn't take into account what Sabin's next attack would be, as he paused entirely, his eyes rolled back as he seemed to be continually channeling energy.

The attack, was truely epic, as rubble, rocks of all shapes, forms, and sizes conglomerated into a massive wave. Xero's eyes widened at the sight and he pulled fire into his hands, and pooled frost at his feet, he hurled a blast at a stone, reducing it to a chunk of magma, and begun to run as he through the flames.

He turned to run further, only to see more stone, and spun further, and upon making a full circle he discovered the true trap of the technique, "Cornered..." He seemed to spit out as he closed his eyes, his ice armor dispersed, and flames roared up in their place, building hotter and hotter.

Just before the waves of stone slammed into him, the flames exploded, instantly liquefying all of the rock into red hot magma. Sabin's eyes rolled back in terror and he launched himself backwards, dodging the wave of fire and bouncing up the pillars of the stone and ice construct they had formed hoping for the heat to disperse.

The doppleganger troll summoned all of it's copied powers and begun to materialize earth from thin air, throwing all of it into the flames, creating a cascade of dueling forces, both trying to come out on top until both snuffed out at once.

Almost unconscious, the troll fell haphazardly from the sky, like a rag doll falling through the air. He hit the ground hard, his sword slamming into the ground nearby, and after a few moments, he seemed to flow into it, as if it was a steadily moving quick sand.

Xero took an uneasy step forward, panting deeply as the energy drain from the last attack took it's toll, even considering how much he charged it up.

A few minutes passed, with Xero catching his breath, it seemed as though he had bested the troll. Unfortunately, it was nothing but a farce, as the ground begun to rumble intensely, and considering who he just beat, it became more and more unlikely he did not.

After another few seconds, the rumbling stopped, and from the ground, a massive, stocky, somewhat rounding humanoid figure burst out, it's arms were disproportionately large, and it's legs were much too small for it's form. However, the fact that it towered over ten stories in height more then made up for this, it was comprised of constantly shifting earth, as dirt and stone constantly flowed around it, and through it.

At the top, sitting in a makeshift throne, was Sabin's copy, looking just as insane as ever.

Xero just sighed, "God damn it... Now I've gotta fucking use it...", he said sadly, he hacked out once, then twice and calmed himself, summoning his powers, focusing his will.

Ice begun to frost and build over his body, while flames begun to dance across him as well, both forces seeking to destroy one another, while being forced to function in harmony by their controller.

The large, clumsy earth golem slammed it's fist through the construct that was restraining it, slamming it's way through, breaking earth and ice alike.

Xero's form was no longer recognizable as he continued to build in size, growing larger and longer, the ice and flames constantly bubbling out and growing larger and larger.

Sabin screamed and the golem stretched it's arms out as far as it could, shattering the remains of the construct, and littering the field with even more ice and misshapen debris.

Xero's form finished establishing, and he let loose a powerful roar as he took to the skies, flowing through the air as if it was mere water. His powers had formed a massive shell around his fragile body, an enormous oriental dragon, hundreds of feet long, and with a head large enough to be mistaken for a small building. It was massive and made of ice, with a flaming mane, tail and eyes.

Sabin screamed in response and his golem picked up a massive slab of debris and hurled it at Xero's dragon, eliciting a scream as it slammed into him. He turned and let loose a wave of fire from the dragon's mouth with an accompanying roar. Sabin however, was too quick and his body covered in stone as the golem turned to defend him, and take the brunt of the attack.

The monsterous forms seemed to taunt one another for a moment, before Xero, turned in the air and formed a long curve, bringing himself to ground level as he headed towards Sabin's golem. A mighty roar called from the dragon as it hurled towards the golem.

The golem pulled back it's fists as the Dragon approached screaming. Both struck the other, Element against element, beast for beast and raw, unrestrained power clashing in a brutal shock wave of power.

And in an instant it was over, both monsters had fallen, the battlefield was littered in flames, magma, and chunks of ice, while crevices and debris marked the entire landscape.

A groan emitted from a pile of debris at the impact point, and Xero lifted his hand up triumphantly, "I... win!" He said tiredly before his arm fell back down.

Vex chuckled as he set his feet down on the rubble, now fully healed. He grabbed onto the arm and pulled Xero out of the rubble, laying the now unconscious man out.

"Well, you certainly made a mark." Vex snickered as he looked over the even more ruined landscape.

 

[Zenithos]

Quick addition to get the story rolling again...hopefully, as I'm leaving for a while and I don't know if I'll have time to come here again while I'm away.

The Slums, what's left, Lower Slums, 11.00 AM

"The scar looks nice on you. Quite fitting." Zeni grinned, nodding at dark-Zeni's scar across one eye, as she crossed swords with her troll-counterpart once more. "What? You couldn't afford the plastic surgery? While all your other troll friends can change their shapes as they will?"

"....still proud and aloof as always, Crimson Moon Executioner..." Dark-Zeni chuckled darkly, sparks exploding as their cold steel met once more. "But I can see you're no lone wolf anymore. What? Realized you're nothing by yourself? That you are weak? That you always needed your 'knights'?"

"I found people I can entrust my life to. Unlike you, who has no choice but to live in loneliness." Zeni raised a hand as crack-fic energy welled up from the ground below her and swirled up into her outstretched arm. With a crack of thunder, tons fiery hot well-written Hawk, Random, and Hawker lemons swirled around her doppleganger. The fiery lemons blazed with a fiery passion, with plenty of het, waff, and angst, burning every inch of the trollz's skin as they made contact.

But with a quick, swinging gesture of one arm, the lemons exploded off her body as tons of trolling text swirled around her body, draining all the crack fic energy from the air and ground around her. "friends, huh....?" She grinned.

"You think you're tough, huh? HUH?!" They both heard Legacy roar at the top of his voice at the circle of yaoi fangirl trollz around him. "You want me?!" He yelled as he slammed his hockey stick to the ground. "Well, come and GET ME!" He yelled as he yanked his trousers down to reveal a set of respectable underwear.

No, the underwears were no where enough to phase even the frailest of trollz. Rather....it was what was below them....

"AAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHHHH! THE HAIR! THE HAIR! IT'S HAIRY! IT'S FRICKIN' HAIRY!" One by one the fangirl trollz went blind with shock before wretching or falling unconscious where they stood. Some of the hardier ones couldn't help but swoon and divert their eyes away to regain their balance.

(refer to TFFA Halloween Havoc, the hairy-leg hockey player incident at the Hinata Sou after the worm battle)

"....." Both Zeni and her dark counterpart couldn't help but stare in disbelief for a few moments.

"....so, uh....friends you can entrust your life to...?" Dark-Zeni coughed lightly.

".....well....most of the time...." Zeni coughed lightly in reply. "You know, the hairy legs is just a bonus."

"This is my PRINNY! It is a fluffball burning with pure passion and awesome! FEAR IT!" They turned around once more to see Locke holding a prinny by its legs and whirling it around like a warhammer as he charged through the battlefield, whacking trollz left right and center, sending them all flying high up into the air. He screeched to a halt at the end of his rampage, whirled around once more before, with an almighty manly roar, flung his prinny at the cluster of trollz still flying up into the air. "PRINNY SUPERNOVA!"

"Shades?" Dark-Zeni offered.

"Oh, danke." Zeni nodded in gratitude as she took the proferred sunglasses and put them on.

No written sound-effect could describe the pure crack explosion of a lv.2500 penguin-shaped spirit vessel. But it could somewhat be described as being a fusion between the groan of a constipated camel with a bowel full of nitrogylcerine crossed with the sound of a thousand hydrogen-filled party balloons exploding simultaneously.

"You know what?" Dark-Zeni began.

"What?" Zeni asked.

"If I leave it to your friends, I won't have anything left to take over." Dark-Zeni said, nodding at the many holes the battle had left in the ceiling over the slums....which is pretty much the foundation of TFF Academy City.

"...."

"....friends you can entrust your life to?"

"...shut up..."

"Zeni!" Unknown shouted as he ran up towards them, leaping over Ryuushi's 300 m wide crater with a single leap.

"Tch, lover-boy..." Dark-Zeni muttered under her breath. "We'll settle this above ground, Zeni! Any more and the city won't hold..." Dark-Zeni muttered as she leapt up and flew up out of one of the holes in the slums ceiling high above.

"Did you manage to drive her away?" Unknown asked as he landed lightly before her.

"....Unknown...I..." Zeni began, looking up into the eyes of her past lover. "I-I've been wanting to say I'm s-sorry...and..."

Just then, Rin, who had been holding on tightly to Unknown's shoulder, stepped down and looked out from behind Unknown's back at Zeni.

"Ah....umm....T-Tohsaka-san..." Zeni stammered, before sighing and closing her eyes. She finally opened them once more and smiled at Unknown. "....it's been a while."

"Indeed, it has been..." Unknown nodded, noticing Zeni's rather sad smile. "Uuh...Zeni, I...."

"I'm counting on you to take care of everyone again, as always, Unknown-kun." Zeni said cheerfully as she stepped past Unknown and reached up and patted him on the shoulder. "Be sure to protect her. You should get her with the other girls as soon as possible."

"...." Unknown could only watch silently as Zeni pulled her blade out of the ground, swung it around, before leaping up high into the air towards one of the holes left behind by the battle.

"...." Zeni reached up to her eyes and felt some moisture. "....silly Zeni..." Zeni chuckled to herself as she blinked away the tears and prepared herself for the battle above ground. She leapt up the nearest sky-scraper and sure enough, Dark-Zeni was standing atop it with her back to her.

"Heh....I'm sure you already realize it..." Dark-Zeni chuckled as she turned around. "The strain of using that body..."

"...so, you noticed..." Zeni's cold steel glinted under the harsh morning light. Behind her, up in the sky, hundreds of CMPS and TFFA Military aerial battleships and cruisers formed phalanx upon phalanx.

"It's quite obvious. You're using a mere human body, empowered only by human meddling with that Crimson Matrix. You couldn't expect a mere imitation to handle the strain of such powers." Dark Zeni said. "Let the poor girl go."

"....funny that you should care for the girl, troll." Zeni replied. Behind her, one of the battleships suddenly burst into fire as Epsilon and Azure-Kite's battle raged on above it after a brief change of locations.

"Why shouldn't I? She is like me, a victim of human greed. They created me, tried to make me a tool, to harness my powers like a mule's." Dark-Zeni said.

"....and yet, ironically, you decided to take on the shape of a 'tool'. We Crimson Moon Executioners are nothing more than that, 'tools'."

"Then you should understand me better than anyone. You were created by beings claiming to be superior, to be their servant and tool, to kill at their bidding. They tried to strip your soul of feelings, emotions, anything that may impede your servitude." Dark Zeni went on. "....you know what it feels like. You understand it better than anyone. Join me, Zeni, and we will right so many wrongs, bring justice and order back."

"Like you tried to do thousands of years ago?" Zeni raised an eyebrow. "When you wiped out all the knights? When you killed my friends?"

"You don't understand. I'm fighting for a cause." Dark Zeni replied. Behind them the Jester had appeared and had engaged Xaosite in a gravity-defying aerial battle.

"....no cause justifies the slaying of innocents." Zeni said. "Enough banter. I will stop you, here and now."

"Then justify your killing the innocent whose body you're using now." Dark Zeni said, with sudden relish. "....yes, you will kill her if you go on, Zeni....your powers will break her body. Even if you release her now, she won't live long..."

"ZENI!" A voice yelled out from behind her. "....Tell me...that can't be true...."

"...Mick..." Zeni looked around to face the mage. "I..." She began.

"...Is it true...Zen will die?" Mick asked, an expression of pure disbelief etched into his face.

"Mick, I can explain..." Zeni began.

"Your beloved Zen will die if Zeni continues to use her body like that." Dark-Zeni said. "The true Executioner powers is far too much for any ordinary girl like her to handle. As it is now, even if Zeni were to leave her body, she won't live longer than a few years."

"That...can't be...Zeni...you...you..." Mick began to shake with fury.

"Mick, get a hold of yourself, the city, no, the entire universe..." Zeni began.

"SCREW THE UNIVERSE!" Mick screamed, his scythe materializing out of thin air as he charged at Zeni with pure, unchecked rage.

"Excuse me, I have a few girls to catch up with." Dark-Zeni smiled as she fell backwards off the edge of the building towards the city below, leaving Zeni to Mick's wrath.

"No! Mick, we've got to stop her...." Zeni's voice trailed away as she found a manna-charged hand before her face. "....Mick?"

"...surrender that body or I will make you." Mick growled, his voice level and unshaking.

"....or what? You're going to hurt Zen's body?" Zeni challenged with an unflinching look.

The two glared daggers at each other, their eyes boring into one another for a full moment, before....

CLANG....

The scythe fell with a clatter to the floor as Mick's hands fell limply to his sides. His voice began to shake as his body did the same. "....please....I promised her I'd protect her, with my life if need be. Please...don't do this to her. She's been through enough already. I wanted to show her what it's like to live for herself for once...to not have to fight and die for strangers...I promised her many, many things. Please...don't take it away from her...please...don't..." He shuddered.

"...." Zeni sighed, before reaching out and grasping Mick's hand and pulled it towards her abdomen. "There, you feel it?"

Mick's eyes suddenly widened in shock. The manna flux in the region was definitely characteristic.

"I promised her before, Mick. I will protect her and the small life she now carries in her....well, ok, not singular, plural. The two small lives she now carries." Zeni said. "And now I will make the same promise to you. I will bring her and her charges back, alive, and well. It's true, by unleashing my powers in this manner I am permanently damaging her body. She won't live very long....but at the very least, she will be able to raise her children in a peaceful world, a world without the trollz...or me."

"So trust me, and I will give her a future." Zeni said as she turned around and leapt off the edge of the building in pursuit of her doppleganger.

Mick, meanwhile, fell to his knees, the palm that had touched Zeni's abdomen shaking violently. He raised his other hand weakly and touched the palm of aforementioned hand. It was still warm...

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Hawk's Office, TFF HQ Citadel, 11.18 AM

"What the...." Hawk muttered, staring out of his office windows as explosions lit up his fair city. "....Good God...."

"Hawk-sama!" A chilly voice shouted from the office door.

"....you..." Hawk muttered, looking around as his secretary was pushed by the intruder onto the office carpet. "I didn't expect you to be this daring, Danzo...."

"The CMPS will take you into protective custody for the duration of the terrorist attack. the CMPS will take over and place the city under martial law." Danzo said as he stepped into the office, his CMPS Fenrirs stepping in behind him and levelling their assault rifles at the Lord of Perverts.

"Terrorist attack?" The Pervert Lord chuckled. "I thought you and Armacham would have more style than this, Danzo...but this is so cliche it's made out of complete and utter FAIL."

"....we have no time, Hawk-sama. You must evacuate. We have no idea what the terrorists are after. Men, take him. Get him to safety." Danzo commanded. The CMPS FENRIRS trooped forwards into the room and began to cautiously approach the Lord of Perverts.

"...Shizuka, I'm afraid I will have to ask you to trust me on this one...." Hawk said to his trusted secretary. "....whatever happens...." He began, placing both hands in his pockets and sighing. "...STAY DOWN!"

A pillar of crack energy erupted upwards into the sky outside the office windows and from it emerged forth the face of a viking, complete with helmet and beard, it's eyes a fiery red, threatening death, destruction, and perversion.

"FREYR, UNLEASH THY PASSION!"

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

The tunnels, right underneath Futakoihana hill, 11.25 AM

"....." Sidhe stared blankly at the incoming giant snake that was rampaging its way down the sewer tunnel towards their small, cornered group. The maliciousness dwelling deep in the tunnels had been summoned forth by the trollz and had taken in all the frogs under its control and merged them into a gigantic snake. Atop it rode the Blues Brothers, with their giant megaphone from hell.

"Why do I have a feeling this particular scene has been rather overdone...?" Sidhe suddenly asked, looking around at the wall against which they were cornered before looking up at the tunnel that extended vertically above.

"Because it has?" Keiko shrugged. "Mom told me this happened during the Halloween incident."

"....ah..."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

"Well, this is the Futakoihana Shrine, isn't it?" Nez asked as she and Incarna finally reached the top of the steps. "....where is everyone?"

"....hmm...well, there is always the possibility that the girls got stopped on their way here. The tunnels can't be 100% safe after all..." Incarna suggested.

"....what can be safer than underground tunnels? But just to be sure, we should go down the Futakoihana Shrine tunnel and try and find the girls and see......" Nez began, before....

KABOOOOOM....

The snake burst out of the Futakoihana Shrine hot springs and towered up high into the sky. The Project Innocence girls all flew up, high into the air, flung up by the snake's impact.

"DO YOU LIKE OUR JIM BEAM?!" Belushi roared.

"IT'S EVERY BIT AS HARD AS OUR CANADIAN CLUB!" Akroyd added.

"...." The girls palled.

"Can I kill them?" Keiko asked.

"No, because I want to kill them first..." Sephina muttered darkly.

"Well....we found them." Incarna nodded with satisfaction. "Told you the tunnels weren't 100% safe. It has snakes in them. Big ASS snakes....errr....Nez-chan? Hey, anyone home?" She waved a hand in front of Nez's blank eyes. "Helloooo....." She called out.

"STATE OF EMERGENCY CONFIRMED> INITIATE COMBAT MODE." Nez suddenly said in a monotonous voice.

"....I knew all those terminator movies were bad for you...." Incarna sighed. "Now, please....whoah!" She cried as the ground underneath her suddenly began to shake violently. "Wh-Wh-What's happening?!"

"CRIMSON MOON EXECUTIONER CRUISER ELYSSIUM NOW INITIALIZING AERIAL COMBAT MODE. PLEASE STANDBY. CROSSOVERIUM MATRIX DRIVE NOW INITIALIZING..." Nez droned on in her monotonous voice. "AUTOMATIC DEFENSE SYSTEMS ACTIVATED. TARGETING FOREIGN HOSTILES..."

The entire Futakoihana hill shook violently as the hill began to uproot itself. The roads and concrete pavements around the hill cracked and shattered as the ground beneath them rose up. Half the neighbourhood around the hill exploded in clouds of dust and dirt as their foundations were shifted and shattered by the gigantic bulk rising from below ground all around the hill.

"....h-hey, Nez-chan, what did I tell you about making the earth constipated? It's not good! Bad Nez-chan! Bad!" Incarna yelled as she grabbed onto a nearby wooden pillar to steady herself.

"Wh-what's happening?" Keiko shouted as she ran down the back of the flailing snake.

"The city...it's sinking...." Eclair gasped.

"The slum supports were destroyed?!" Joy's eyes widened in shock.

"No! The hill! It rise UP!" Shampoo shouted as she surfed down the snake's back behind Keiko.

"There is trouble!" Morodashi yelped.

"Big, big trouble!" Maru added.

"The snake!" Both yelped. "It'll eat us!"

"Yes, we have to focus on the snake!" Sidhe shouted, rallying the group's attention to the snake. "...and that megaphone!"

"We are on a divine mission! We are!" The megaphone roared, before....

ZAAAAAP....

A positron beam shot ripped it clean off the snake's head.

The Blues Brothers looked down at the small figure sporting huge grin and a crackling positron sniper cannon atop the Futakoihana Shrine's roof.

"This is MY JIM BEAM!" Incarna cackled insanely.

"Incarna-chan! Fire at the snake! The snake!" Sidhe shouted.

"Right-O!" Incarna replied, aiming, and firing off another well-placed shot....

...which bounced right off the snake's scale-plated skin, narrowly missing Sidhe and Presea, before flying off into the sky.

"Then she pulled out my Jim Beam, and to her surprise...IT WAS EVERY BIT AS HARD AS MY CANADIAN CLUB!" The Blues Brothers sang their favourite Blues line.

"...." The girls watched the positron beam fly off into the sky with horror before Sidhe cried out, "No, Incarna-chan, don't fire at the snake! Don't fire at the snake!"

"....right-o!" Incarna replied, still smiling an insane smile.

"....did she understand that?!" Elidea shouted. "Who gave that maniac a weapon of mass destruction?!"

"We have to get to the ground first before...." Keiko began as she ran on down the snake's scales...before, to her great surprise, one of the scales rose up to reveal a frog, conjoined at the torso to the snake's flesh, it's huge slimy mouth open wide...

...and before she could skid to a stop, gravity got the better of her, causing her to run headlong into the frog's mouth. "OOOMPH!"

"The frog is eating Keiko!" Eclair shouted.

"Not for long!" Presea shouted as she brought her war-axe down on the frog....

...only for it to meet with shockingly hard resistance as the frog retreated back down, its scale merging seamlessly back with snake's skin.

"It took Keiko down with it!" Rin cried.

"Well, it won't be alone for long...." Kotomi pointed out calmly as more scales rose up to reveal the anastomosed frogs underneath.

"That's it! That's its weakness!" Sidhe realized. "Incarna-chan! Aim for the frogs!"

"RIGHT-O!"

With a rather fiery explosion one of the frogs disintegrated into wispy ash as the positron beam ripped right through it, leaving the flesh underneath it exposed.

"That's it! Now we can attack the flesh underneath!" Sidhe cried. "Come on, show them our worst!"

 

[Eternity-Incarnate]

Ooooh

Streets of the commercial district, TFFA City, Shortly before the attack from Dark!Troll!Zeni...

"Mommy! Mommy! Look, it's santa!" A small child cried excitedly while tugging on the hem of her mother's long winter coat as they passed yet another department store santa claus. All around them the cheerful chatter and general clamour of the pedestrians, intermingled with the sound of carols drifting out of the nearby department stores, all came together to create the cacophony of Christmas.

"Yes, dear, why it is. Have you decided what gift you want from Santa?" The mother smiled down at her daughter as together they walked past a lone, young girl on a bench.

"Kyon....where are you....?" Haruhi murmured dolefully as she gazed around the crowded plaza. This was where they had met up on their first ever 'SOS Brigade patrol'. It felt like another lifetime now, but Haruhi still remembers Kyon's flustered face when he arrived late for the meeting. "...grrr.....is that it? You're hiding from me again, aren't you?! Heads will.......oh...that's right, that might be why he disappeared....Kyon, is that why? Because I always treat you like that...?" Haruhi's head drooped down once more. "Kyon....please...I promise you, if you come back..."

"Suzumiya-san!" A familiar voice cried out.

"....Mikuru?" Haruhi quickly blinked away her tears before facing her brigade subordinate. "...what's..."

"Hurry, Suzumiya-san, we must run!" Mikuru cried, grabbing onto Haruhi's hand and forcefully pulling her onto her feet.

"Mikuru! But...!"

"I have no time to explain! Nagato-san says it will start any minute now!"

"What?! What will....?"

Siren wails suddenly filled the air, silencing everything, even the carols. Everyone stopped dead in their tracks, their hearts skipping entire beats. Children clung onto their parents. Drivers stopped in the middle of the streets and exited their cars.

And then the shadows filled the sky. Entire fleets of aerial warships blotted out the sky as they slowly moved across the city skies. Tanks, APCs, and other military vehicles suddenly roared down the streets.

"All citizens, please evacuate to the nearest civilian shelter. This is not a drill. Repeat. All Civilians..." The emergency PA system blared out.

"What did Yuki say?! Tell me!" Haruhi snapped as Mikuru dragged her into a dark alleyway.

"She said that they're coming. All the pieces are together. Everything that started 9 years ago is finally coming together." Mikuru tried to explain, nervously. "I don't understand it much myself, but something bad, really bad, is happening."

"You're not making any sense, what...." Haruhi began.

A deep, far off rumble suddenly shook the earth, sending them falling forwards onto the snowy concrete.

"....they're here...." Mikuru gasped, her eyes widening, as slowly the two tried to stand back up.

"Who?! Who's here?!" Haruhi shouted.

"....Nagato-san has prepared safe passage to Rokudaime. You will be safe there, Suzumiya-san." Mikuru said, urgently. "Suzumiya-san, you must get to safety. Hurry, follow me!"

 

[zerohour]

Day 5
What's left

XP: 9

Zero gazed up as the sky, taking in the ominous sight of thousands of enemy ships, each preparing to rain devastation upon

ôWell... this can't be good...ö he said to himself.

ôI think I should probably get out of here...ö

With a slight motion, Zero faded into darkness as he stepped between worlds.

--- --- ---

ôAlright, now where am I?ö he muttered to himself, analyzing the area for any clues to his location.


ôHey! What do you think you're doing here?!ö

ôYAH!!!ö Zero lashed out, blindly clobbering to unfortunate old man who had managed to surprise him. With a loud ôoof,ö the man collapsed against the far wall.

ôOhshitOhshitOhshitOhsihtHesdeadHesdeadhesdead.ö Zero chanted frantically as he checked the poor man for signs of life. After confirming a heartbeat, he glanced around, searching for a way out. Spotting a vehicle, he hopped in, and unheeding the protests of its steeds, started moving.

As he finally started to get out of there, several midgets ran in, screaming obscenities at him, but Zero didn't care. He was in the clear, and gaining speed.

ôWhy is it so damn cold?! I need something to keep me warm. Maybe this bag has something for me... Hey! A Hat!ö Zero exclaimed, immediately donning it, ôOoo... Christmas-y!ö

The hat was the trigger. All the little pieces that he had seen finally came together.

ôAw crap...ö

Zero slumped down into the sleigh, and as he struggled to get over his heinous crime, he absently noted the scroll in the sleigh begin to alter itself, and as he took flight, started to laugh at what it read.

Name: Zero
List: Naughty
Rank: 1
Reason: Beat up Santa and stole his sleigh.

 

[Xaosite]

TFFA City, Whatever's Left, Day 5, 22st December, 11:00 AM, NB EXP: 7.5

Xaosite narrowed his eyes as he and The Jester flew in slow circles around each other. Tohno, Mihoshi, Soifon, and interestingly enough Konoka stood some distance off to the side, watching eagerly, and angrily.

The anger came from that during Soifon's earlier backstab attamps on The Jester, Xaosite had been in something of a rush to save her from retaliation. So, he hadn't been as precise as he could have been, and had removed all four of the women from the combat entirely. They could have no effect on his battle this fight was over, and were not entirely pleased with that.

"Xaosite-sama, I don't rrrememberrr anything about being a chauvanist jerrrk in the holy scrrripturrres!"

"You're keeping a Galaxy Police Officer from doing her duty! That's obstruction of justice!"

"How dare you! You cannot puch me off to the side as if I was some sort of shrinking violet, you bastard!"

"How can I heal wounds if you won't let me near? You need help!"

Xaosite noted the general meaning of the yelling, but ignored the rest of it. He had a more pressing and immediate concern that was readying himself for another attack.

Heh. You may have saved them, but it is only temporary, The Jester had said. He then had continued, I have become the most crucial of all elements of the multiverse. The end. Of all of it.

"Well, if there's one thing you don't lack, it's a massive ego. Bravo. Bravo." Xaosite groaned loudly. "You know I'm not going to fall for that kind of talk, so why you even bothered in the first place, I don't know."

"FoO@l! Yo#U aLr(eady *lOst tO- /My m@akErs o>nCe bEFo+re! N=oW tH_aT *I <haVe cO^NSumEd t$hEm, I& Ha`vE mO~re pow]eR tH{an I% dID# be}forE!"

"Wait, you CONSUMNED them? As in you... ew, that is disgusting! And the taste! Almost makes me feel sorry for you. And considering you, that's saying something."

I get the distinct notion that you are mocking me in such a way that I would visit such horrors upon you that you would beg for the void for the rest of existance. That is, if I hadn't already been planning on doing just that. Very well, shall we end this pointless banter? It's time I ended you, so I can end them as well, The Jester had said.

Both figures vanished, reappearing only briefly as they unleashed wave after wave of attacks, which strangely enough had surprisingly little effect on the battlefield, and none at all on anyone else but the two combatants.

For example, when Xaosite sent a spread of dice out in all directions, they managed to miss the four females watching. When The Jester tried yet again to target them directly, he found himself hesitating at the last moment, struggling with himself to complete the attack, only to to have Xaosite drive a spear of dice throuh his back.

The Jester shifted, so that he was facing Xaosite, and grabbed the spear in both hands. Sending a charge of void energy (an impossibility unto itself) along, Xaosite was blasted away, his hands blackened and smoking.

Pausing for a moment, Xaosite's hands become healed and whole again, but The Jester took that opportunity to pull the spear, now made out of void dice, out if himself, and threw it at his opponent. With a moment's concentration, Xaosite smirked as the spear missed him entirely and vanished.

He then created a swarm of dice around The Jester, which shot inward as he twisted and dodged in seemingly impossible ways to avoid every single one of them.

Down below, the ladies watched, muttered, and plotted.

"He may be my god, but that won't save him frrrom the rrreckoning I'm going to trrreat him to when he's finished!"

"Obstructing a Galaxy Police Officer from her duty is a serious offence! That'll be a week of no video games, and that's just for starters!"

"I look forward to a sparring dummy that I don't have to worry about killing."

"Oh dear, I don't know if my fans can handle that."

 

[knight_of_ni]

Day 5 11:00 AM
Post/Exp 6/6
WhatÆs left?

ôYou continue to show your arrogance, wolf,ö KelÆThuzad gestured to the army, ôThe masterÆs will is absolute; the Scourge shall prevail and destroy the life that exists on this world.ö

Nikolaus grunted, not in affirmation, more like a general grunt. Though, KelÆThuzadÆs rhetoric was getting old to the werewolf. æHis way of thinkingà is far too simplistic. Life feeds on life, but the undead also feed on life, and they cannot spawn others, only take what once was living.Æ

ôIt matters not, though, for you will aid in this cause,ö KelÆThuzad raised his hand back as magical energies gathered around his hands, glowing coldly in their mockery of life. A quick flick of his wrist and a magic bolt, shaped in the form of the ice it was designed to replicate, was sent forth.

The werewolf stepped to the side of the rather slow moving projectile, before leaning forward and dashing toward the opposing necromancer. A sudden tug on his right leg and he was sent crashing forwards; as he fell, he looked back, his head pointed straight towards the ground, and found a zombie had attached itself to his foot.

Nikolaus slammed his left foot into it; fully extending his legs, paw like feet and all. Only to land right on his head, left dazed for a moment, he didnÆt hear the dark cackle of the lich as he revived the ghoul to once again do his bidding. The creature, now headless, once again sought to claw the werewolf apart, only to be joined by other zombies.

The necromancer flipped onto his back and slashed wildly with his claws, before sending out several fire bolts into the ghouls, the smell of burning flesh made itÆs presence known only to be kicked into the background of his mind. He bounced back onto his feet only to be brought down to his knees as numerous spider like undead began spewing webbing onto the werewolf.

ôDo you see now, wolf,ö KelÆThuzadÆs tone, in so much as he had one, reeked of sarcasm as he said wolf, ôit is hopeless. Creatures such as yourself can be tamed, do not forget that.ö

KelÆThuzad began to prepare a final spell to crush the last resistance that the werewolf put up, a low chuckle escaping his teeth. A howling came up from within the webbing before the werewolf burst through it, going straight upward. As the ghouls surrounded the spot where he would land, Nikolaus began spinning in the air, pinned to the spot, before rapidly descending in a straight line.

Of course, this wouldnÆt matter too much, if that straight line werenÆt at an angle from the ascent. One of the undead spiders began spewing bugs from its abdomen, which swarmed in on the werewolf, only to be destroyed in his path. Though the victory was short lived as his attack was broken off before he could reach the undead.

Looking over to the side, KelÆThuzad saw that the portal Nikolaus set up earlier had in the end served him. His troops managed to force NikolausÆ forces away from the portal and were now using his portal to get to his lab. He looked back at the werewolf, ô You have fought well, but the day is ou-ô he cut himself off as he noticed that he now stood in the shade.

The massive form of Granfaloon floated over battlefield, æbut what does it plan to do?Æ KelÆthuzad wondered.

ôAll forces! Begin your retreat! Granfaloon, drop the rest of the corpses!ö Nikolaus shouted in mid transformation.

Suzuka, hunched over slightly, sweat dripped down the side of her face as she straightened up, ôIt seems our fight is over with.ö Suzuka slashed once at Arthas, then leapt from undead to undead, as though skipping over stones in a river.

ôA retreat? So you admit defeat?ö KelÆThuzad crossed his arms, his face, though nothing more than a skull, gave the immediate impression of a glare.

ôNonsense, we are just leaving for a bit,ö Nikolaus bowed slightly, before nodding at Grave, who seemed to have become a pincushion.

ôYou will not escape this place,ö KelÆThuzad shouted as he launched another spell, only to be caught off guard as a corpse hit him. Stunned momentarily, Grave and Nikolaus used the opportunity to dash away from the lich. ôYou utter bast-ô A hand gripped at KelÆThuzadÆs lower body, looking down, he saw that the corpse that hit him had begun to move.

If he could have KelÆThuzad would have been sneering when he launched a spell into the face of the zombie, destroying the wretch completely. ôKill them! Kill them all!ö KelÆThuzad shouted before noticing that his forces had similar predicaments. The forces that served Nikolaus were slipping away as his own forces faced the surprise attacks from the dead bodies left by Granfaloon.

Gathering up a spell, KelÆThuzad aimed at one of the straggling flesh golems, only to be shocked out of his spell as he saw his forces being cut down by a massive energy beam.

Looking up, KelÆThuzad saw that Granfaloon had shed its outer layers reveal a shell like creature with multiple tentacles. Growling in frustration, KelÆThuzad began his next spell, one that would kill the creature slowly.

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ôIt seems we went the wrong way,ö Suzuka said as she saw the battle progressively moving away from them.

ôHuhàohàyeah,ö Mika put her hand against her head and groaned.

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OOC: thanks for the help Mick.