Ehem. This was NOT the plan. I repeat, this was NOT the plan. The plan was to finish up "Director's Agony". HOWEVER, Writers Block attacked that fanfic, and to make matters worse, this idea would not leave my head. Mwah. Since it takes place in the Final Chapter, I pretty much have to put a big ol' SPOILER warning here. So, if you're not up to the Final Chapter, then this has a very high chance of ruining part of the game for you.

DISCLAIMER : I think everyone knows the drill by now. I don't own them. I never have, I never will.... unless you persuade Square of Japan to sell the rights to one Helen Donaldson for 50 cents. But since the chances of that working are around the same as a snowball's chance of survival in Hell, let's just say that Live-A-Live (and its characters, and etcetera) belongs to Square of Japan. Ok?

I think that's all I have to say on this matter. So.... *pulls out her scribble book* Join me, in a tale of adventure, horror, romance and.... wait, wrong tale. Sorry. Expect the usual Buriki-Brand Stupidity here. And you know my usual warning about my difficulty of keeping the characters "In Character". I'll try, anyway. And I will be using the English translation names. Again, to avoid confusion.

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LIVE-A-LIVE - THE SPHERICAL ROBOT AND THE LOVESTRUCK FOOL

By - Helen / Buriki Daioh / Etcetera

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Hero's Peak was a cold and desolate place. Not to say that it wasn't always cold and desolate, but it was even more so with the lack of life around.... with the exception of four life forms nearby.

Standing before a large boulder was a tall young woman with long brunette hair and a scar on the right side of her face, wearing a pair of red pants and a long pink kimono. She focused on the rock, a look of sheer determination on her face. "Leave this to me." she whispered, as she raised her left leg.

"Don't fall, Lei!" a young boy with spiky blond-brown hair and a scar in the shape of a "X" on his forehead hollered. He was dressed much like a delinquent, wearing black pants with white stripes on the sides, a leather jacket and a studded scarf, among other less eye-catching items of clothing.

The girl, identified as Lei, turned towards the boy in frustration. "Damnit, Akira!" she screamed. "You just broke my concentration!".

"Well!" the boy, identified as Akira, said in a huffy tone of voice. "Sorry for trying to help you keep your balance!".

It was then that a young man with black hair, who wore a red bandanna around his head, a purple parka and a pair of mustard-coloured jeans, stepped forward. "Now come on!" he snapped. "Instead of bickering, why don't you just break the damned rock?".

Lei turned to the young man. "Masaru, if you're going to complain about this, why don't YOU try breaking this rock?" she asked, her tone of voice incredibly bitter. At this exchange, a small spherical robot with "Prototype 03 - CUBE" marked on its underside, wearing what looked like a large pair of square glasses and a red cap beeped in a somewhat frightened tone.

"Fine then, I will!" the young man, identified as Masaru, yelled back in response. He kicked the boulder.... and was rewarded for his effort with a sore foot and an unbroken boulder. Needless to say, Akira and Lei snickered to themselves at this exchange while Cube scurried over to Masaru and quickly performed "High Speed Operations" on said wrestler.

"Bah." Akira said, brushing an errant lock of hair away from his face. "World's Strongest Man, my butt.".

"At least I tried!" Masaru shot back. "You're just standing there doing absolutely nothing!".

"I know." Akira replied, smiling serenely. "Isn't it wonderful?". There was no response to that, except for some beeping from Cube.

"Ok boys, step away and let me handle this." Lei said, motioning for Masaru and Cube to move away from the boulder. The robot was only too happy to do so, but the wrestler had his objections.

"Humph. You're a woman. If I couldn't break the rock, then neither can you...." Masaru grumbled.

Lei glared at Masaru in response. "Excuse me, but this woman would have destroyed Roller over there if it didn't fight back." she stated, pointing to Cube, who let out an offended beep.

"That means jack schitt!" Masaru retorted. "I'm the World's Strongest! If I can't break it, then neither can....".

"MOVE IT!" Lei interrupted, shoving Masaru away from the rock with all her might.

At this exchange, Akira whistled. "Woo, looks like we have a lover's spat!" he said, trying his best to hold back his laughter. "Cube, I think we better get out of here, and leave the lovers to sort this out themselves!".

Masaru picked up Cube - whom was beeping in protest at this sudden turn of events - and positioned it above Akira's head. "One more word about Lei and I being lovers, psycho, and I drop the 'bot." he growled, unamused at the mind reader's cracks.

Man, Akira, you really stepped into it this time.... Akira thought, trying to figure out a way to get out of this situation. What is he thinking, trying to use Cube as a weapon? Then he got an idea, and he focused intently on Masaru, his eyes glowing in the process.

He better make a crack about us being lovers again soon. This thing is HEAVY. Masaru thought, not knowing that Akira had just read his mind.

"You know...." Akira said casually, tapping his foot on the ground, "You don't HAVE to hold Cube above my head. When I make a crack, you can always pick it up and drop it on me then.". Realizing that Akira had a point, Masaru placed Cube on the ground, much to the relief of the robot.

"True, that. I could always deck you like so...." Masaru said, making a motion to punch Akira in the face. However, the unmistakable sound of a boulder splitting apart interrupted his action. He turned towards the source of the sound to see that Lei had indeed broken the boulder.

"Shocked?" Lei asked, in a mocking tone.

Akira smirked. "Well, well, well. Looks like a woman is stronger than the World's Strongest!" he said teasingly.

"Shut up." Masaru grumbled. "Just shut up."

Cube scurried over to where the boulder formerly stood, and focused on the entrance that was made. It beeped in amazement, before scurrying into the newly made entrance.

"I knew there had to be a reason why that rock was there." Lei said to herself. "Well, no use just standing here, right?". She followed Cube into the entrance.

Masaru chose not to comment on the new entrance, but instead followed Lei and Cube into the entrance, grumbling incoherently at being upstaged by a woman, of all people.

Akira stood, thought to himself, and glanced around.... before realizing that he was alone. "Hey, wait up!" he screamed, chasing after his cohorts.

And on a mountain elsewhere in this area, the Demon King Odio could be seen beating his head on the large statue nearby. Good grief.... all the heroes I had to bring here, and it just had to be those idiots.... he thought to himself bitterly.

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There. The idea scurried out of my head, so I have to leave you all on a cliffhanger. *groans can be heard* Still, it gave the old Writer's Block on "Director's Agony" a good shoving, so you'll either see Part 3 of that or Part 2 of this pretty soon. My notes -

* Akira's HARD to write. But then, I always did have difficulty with writing dialogue and such for badasses such as him. *sweatdrop*

* Mwaha, Masaru is fun to write, though. I don't know why, he just is.

* Yeah, I support Masaru/Lei. I don't know why, but I think they'd be perfect for each other. (But that's just me.) Considering that this is a fandom where Boy/Girl pairings are rare in the Japanese fandom (with possible exception of Pogo/Beru).... *coughs*

* I'm sure that you can see where THIS one's going, ne....? I'll see what I can do with it, though.

You know the review drill by now. Reviews are welcome, constructive criticism is welcome, but flames will be laughed at and beaten mercilessly with a stick. And before you ask, I am not sane, and I don't take drugs.  And now that I am done with that, I shall go to sleep! *walks off*