G'day, mates! This here's an intermission chapter. It has two purposes - advance the plot, and set up a new game mode I'm introducing tonight. Yes. New game mode. Are you aroused yet? Good, because that would be disgusting. Anyway, enjoy the chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters in the following story, except for the one that I own.

A Winner Is Two: A Survivalist Is You

The Invisible Noose

Mewtwo gasped for breath. All his energy had been poured into that last Hyper Beam, and yet his foe still moved. That monstrous form had taken a direct hit, been torn apart – but even with its legs severed, it still crawled towards him, dragging itself with long, gleaming claws that splintered under the demon's own mass. It was quite literally falling apart from the stress of moving, but he had nothing left. He had lost.

Growling, the demon lifted one half-ruined arm into the air, and it melted into a roiling tendril of suspended liquid. The tendril snaked out and encircled Mewtwo, and though he put up a barrier, it was shattered easily and he found himself in the monster's grip. The tendril solidified somewhat, and a row of thorns grew down it, puncturing the artificial Pokemon's thin arms and knobby torso. Stifling a cry, Mewtwo used Struggle – but it was not very effective, and he only really damaged himself. In response, the demon tightened its grip, squeezing until Mewtwo finally went limp. His head dropped silently. It was actually rather anticlimactic.

Kirei watched tensely through a skylight, crouched on his hands and the balls of his feet. Mewtwo had fallen, in the end. That was not the desired outcome, but it had been a possibility from the beginning. He had to get out of here, silently but with all possible haste. Magneto had already retreated. The demon was exhausted, he couldn't possibly chase them now…

Then a pair of yellow orbs rolled up to fix on Kirei, and his mind fell to pieces.

Kirei sat up, breathing heavily. His skin was slick with sweat, but he was in bed, at his home. He was safe. He glanced over at his clock, and decided to get up. The sun would rise in a few minutes anyway.

As Kirei threw on a robe, his mind turned back to the dream. No; dream wasn't the right word – it was exactly as he remembered it, with no changes caused by his subconscious. He had seen more horrifying things than that before, dealt with more dire situations. Why, then, did this stick in his mind so clearly? He could barely remember what happened afterward – running for his life until he reached what he judged to be a safe distance, and reporting in to Luthor were the only two actions he could remember taking. He had escaped safely; as he had thought, the demon was too injured to give chase. Why was he being haunted by this?

---

Somewhere on the beaches of Grand Cross Isle, a miniature sinkhole began to form in the sands. The sand in a meter's radius around a particularly low point began to flow downward and inward. Then it stopped. Then it continued, stronger than before. Finally, a red-gloved hand burst free from the sand, grasping at the fresh air. It froze still for a moment, then began thrashing with renewed vigor. Next to emerge was a smooth, curved glass surface, damp sand cascading in small clumps off its sides. Closely following the jar was a red-and-black-masked head. The head coughed and sputtered for a second before opening its white-lensed eyes. "Whoa... I guess that's what it feels like to be a plant seed."

Still coughing, Deadpool began hauling the rest of his body out of the sand. "Those assholes... they should've known better than to try to kill me with a giant laser. It's like trying to kill... well, I can't think of any simile that properly reflects the futility! They got sand in my crack, though. I guess that was an accomplishment." Curiously, his suit stopped just above the bottom of his ribs, leaving the rest of him... well, completely exposed. "Looks like it was a pretty good shot, for what it's worth. I, for one, think I look pretty good with a belly shirt, but if I'm going to be hiking it from here, I may want to find new shoes. Oh, and pants maybe eventually." He fell into another coughing fit, and doubled over, pulled up his mask, and coughed out a huge wad of bloody sand. "Mmm... gritty. That's better." Wiping his face and pulling the mask up, Deadpool hefted the jar. "What's that? Head towards the volcano? You don't have to tell me twice. I bet I can borrow some flip-flops there."

---

"…which, in conclusion, will allow NASA to begin mining the moon for resources up to three decades sooner than anticipated. Unless, of course, you buy it first." Lex leaned back, his poker face hiding all emotion, and let this sink in as the music from the holographic presentation drifted to a close.

The smartly dressed, older man across from him blinked. "You've pleasantly surprised us once again, Mr. Luthor. We'll take the blueprints." He nudged his assistant. "Cut Lex Luthor a check."

"Yes sir."

Lex's smile vanished when he saw Kirei standing in the doorway to his office. "Can we wrap this up, gentlemen?" he asked. "My lunch appointment is here."

---

Thirty thousand miles above Lexcorp Industries, Lucius Malfoy was not a happy man.

He wasn't happy that he was dressed as a Muggle, wearing a smart black business suit and a white cravat that he had been told made him look like "a Dracula" instead of his far more comfortable and duel-appropriate robes. Nor was he happy about the reason for this – although Apparating to the States would have been quicker and simpler, his employer had insisted he do this through the official channels, so his passport would back him up if any foolish Muggle police force dared work at odds with him. Although the flight was first class, it was agonizingly slow, and he hadn't been able to come up with a plausible way to keep his wand on his person, so he had to keep it rolled in the newspaper in his tote bag.

But mostly he wasn't happy because of the reason for that. Specifically, he hated the reason he had to work for one who would send him to the States by Muggle airplane, so he could oversee some particularly shady work. Although the Malfoys had been pardoned for their crimes by renouncing Lord Voldemort during the famous Battle of Hogwarts, their reputation had suffered immensely. Even most of the shops on Knockturn Alley would now have nothing to do with them, and with the under-the-table donations Lucius had needed to make to earn that pardon, one of the purest-blooded wizarding families in Britain now faced bankruptcy. The very thought set the bile rising in Lucius's throat, and he hastily took a sip of his tea to force it back down. Because of this, he was forced to look for work abroad, in the international wizarding community, where his name was less known. Soon, he found himself commissioned to supervise some sort of operation overseas to get back at an organization he had once applied to be part of.

BORED, they called themselves – rather a strange moniker, but he supposed if they were going to be clever with acronyms, at least they had the decency not to try and be intimidating with it. His application, made almost a decade ago, had been denied on a 7-3 vote on the grounds that he didn't do enough with his appropriately large fortune. It was rather ironic that the first real work he'd ever have to do would contribute to their downfall.

The captain's voice jerked him out of his reverie. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen," the voice crooned, "we will reach our destination in about half an hour. We'll start to descend in about ten minutes, so if you have to use the restroom, do it now. Thank you for flying with us, and we hope you have enjoyed your nonstop flight from London to Metropolis so far."

---

Jade rubbed his chin thoughtfully, his ever-present smile gone now that he was alone at the communications panel. He didn't think he had ever seen that contestant before. He certainly would have remembered… somebody dressed like that. There was the possibility that he was some sort of summons, but he knew from his files that none of Jiraiya's or Kakashi's summons were humanoid, and Raidou's catalogued summons were very different from this person as well. It was out of the question that this was one of Red's, and it didn't seem in-character for Mystique to take on such an… obviously male form. He pressed the button that would ring Sakyo's line, summoning up his smile again even though it was only an audio conversation.

On the third ring, Sakyo picked up. "Talk to me, Jade," he answered, slick and smooth as usual.

"We have an anomaly."

There was a shuffling sound, and Jade wondered idly if it was Sakyo pulling his feet off his desk. "Elaborate."

"I have a strange contestant on aerial feed. He wasn't there before."

"Describe him to me."

"Red and black mask with white eye coverings, holding a glass jar…"

Jade was spared from having to blurt out that the man was without pants or underwear. "That's Deadpool. Jade, listen to me carefully. The camera you have him on… does it have an arcane filter?"

Jade tried the "arcane filter" button, which fell under the category in his mind of 'buttons which seemed unnecessary and which any responsible employee should be more cautious than curious about.' The result was not unlike thermal imaging, but the spectrum of colors didn't seem to flow predictably. "It does, apparently. Deadpool is shrouded in a strange color I can't quite identify."

"That's octarine," Sakyo explained with the air of somebody who only knew the theory of what he was talking about. "Deadpool is under the effects of a powerful curse that makes him immortal. I thought we'd be able to overpower it, but it seems we can't. What about the jar? Is it intact? What color is it under the filter?"

"It seems undamaged, sir. Under the filter, it's flickering yellow, with flashes of red."

"Hmm… you're still listening carefully, right?"

The necromancer thought he detected fear in Sakyo's voice, although it was well-hidden. "Of course, sir."

"Trying to kill Deadpool is a fool's errand, it seems. However, he needs to be kept outside the compound at all costs. Also, consider yourself under direct orders not to mention this to Ofdensen or Solidus."

"I understand, sir. You have my word."

"Good." Sakyo hung up. Idly plotting out Deadpool's probable course from his current direction, speed, and location, Jade pressed the 'stop record' key on his console. True to his word, he wouldn't mention it. However, he was under prior orders to relay any conversation with Sakyo that Sakyo asked him not to mention to somebody to Solidus. He would just have to send Solidus the recording without mentioning anything about it.

---

"We really should try to minimize our meetings in person, now that you're another member," Lex said idly. "There's no entirely obvious reason for me to be associating with a priest, so if we meet in public often, people will start to draw connections."

"Yes, I understand. This was urgent, however. How is your chicken?"

"The food's fine. I like veal better, but chicken's better for my public image." Lex's eyes narrowed. "You say it's urgent, and then immediately deflect the topic. This is something you really don't want to tell me, but feel obligated too." He took a deep, calming breath, and a bite of chicken parmigiana. "This is bad news, and I need to hear it. If it isn't you who screwed up, you're safe."

"I've been having… disturbing dreams." He waited for Luthor to look as if he might laugh, but it never came. Kirei had been honestly expecting scorn at this – he figured Luthor for a hardline skeptic – so this was a surprise. He pressed onward. "I fear we have not seen the last of Death by Chocolate."

Lex gazed thoughtfully into Kirei's food. Kirei waited for a response, pausing to eat himself. He realized he had skipped breakfast in his haste to get to Metropolis, and he was hungrier than he had thought. At last Lex said, "Kirei, remind me why you want to be a part of BORED."

"In your individual endeavors for power, each of you tends to cause suffering, often on a mass scale. Some of you simply don't care, and some of you do, but try to reconcile as best you can. It's fascinating, really." Kirei shook his head. "I know it sounds strange, but watching you work with and against each other, either calculating where you plan to cause suffering or calculating where the suffering has to happen to enable your plans… it's deeply fulfilling to me, like a masterful ballet performance to a performing arts enthusiast. I would aid any or every one of you to continue to bear witness to the results."

"Suffering is not a spectator sport, Kirei," Lex said with a mixture of sternness and amusement. "You're going to get involved on a deeper level sooner or later. That means you'll be called upon to cause some suffering… or endure it. Perhaps both. If Death by Chocolate returns, it may finally be BORED's turn, as a whole, to suffer. You must have known there would be a risk of something like this when you signed on. However, we are eleven powerful and competent individuals united in a mutually beneficial alliance. If and when Death by Chocolate, or any other external force, threaten us, we will deal with it then - either by fighting it, or giving it exactly what it wants."

It felt as if the weight had been lifted off of Kirei's shoulders, if only a little bit. Kirei had always felt more than a little guilty over his strange tendency toward sadism, and framing any harm that might befall him from getting in over his head as a deserved punishment genuinely helped him put it aside. Even better, Luthor acquired a fierce aura when talking about dealing with the demon - the aura of a man who knew quite a bit about battling power beyond human comprehension. It surprised Kirei how much it affected even him. "Thank you, Luthor. This has really cleared things up for me. Would you like to try my shrimp?"

"No! No…" Lex cleared his throat. "As long as you're here, I should warn you." Kirei looked up. "Your dreams may be quite accurate. You see, Metropolis has been dealing with a surge in violent crime recently, one I've had no hand in. There's apparently this cult…"

End of Chapter

Yay for unnecessarily complicating the plot! I promise this will all be relevant either by the end of the tournament, or the plot of the third tournament (Malfoy Sr, for example, won't be a player until the third tournament). The parts with Deadpool will, in fact, be relevant starting tonight.

Lex is eating chicken parmigiana, and Kirei is eating seafood vindaloo (he's infamous for eating extremely spicy food, hence Lex's aversion). Inexplicably, they're at a restaurant that serves both. Speaking of, I've been working on writing for characters from fandoms I don't actually follow, but it still may come out weird. Kirei is explicitly in a more vulnerable spot than he usually is - he's badly shaken, like most people who suffer from a recurring nightmare for a few months.

There are the usual shout-outs. Feel free to point out any you've spotted and feel good about yourself.