Everyone knew the plan; find the villains that were warped here and stop them, by whatever means necessary. The first problem with accomplishing this feat, however, was finding them. Another problem would be finding the Calibur before the villains did; the heroes deduced that it was likely that the villains would have some sort of a lead as to the sword's location, whereas they were completely in the dark as to where to even begin to start looking. Based on this, X took the opportunity to slip away from the rest of the group to take care of something important to him.
X:"Alia. Alia, do you read me?" There were a few moments of silence before X was greeted with what he was dying to hear; Alia:"Thank God! Yes, I read you X! I was starting to think you'd disappeared for good!" After breathing a sigh of relief, X continued, "I guess the communications are still open...somehow. I was calling to give you an update on our situation. All things considered, Zero, Axl, and I are doing fine. We had a...bizarre welcoming committee when we got here, but we got out of it alright. In fact, we've made several new allies." Alia:"That's good, X. I guess that means you're all trying to help each other get home, right?" Unfortunately for the two Reploids, all X heard was "That's g..." before their communication was suddenly cut short. X:"Alia? Alia, are you still there? Alia?!" In X's world, when she didn't hear X reply, Alia's fear returned with a vengeance. Alia:"X?! X, what happened?! You still there?!" Her communication with her crush had just been completely shattered; not even static came through the line. She promptly put her head down on her console, trying to comfort herself by saying, "He'll be alright. He's always been alright in the past, just have faith. He'll be alright..."
Back on the extinct world, X wasn't normally one to swear but "Dammit," seemed a perfectly reasonable way for him to express his feelings on what had just happened. X went back to the rest of the group to join in the battle plans. Before doing so, however, he pulled Zero and Axl aside to tell them what had just happened. X:"I called Hunter Base; Alia specifically." Zero:"And?" X:"I managed a small amount of communication with her; I told her that we were doing fine, all things considered, and that we'd managed to get ourselves a few new allies. She started to say something in reply when the communication suddenly shut off; I couldn't even hear static. I think it's safe to say that the little miracle that let us communicate with them across dimensions just quit." Axl put a comforting hand on X's shoulder and said, "I'm sorry, X. I know how much she means to you." X:"Thanks, Axl. I expected that the miracle, or whatever we want to call it, would stop working eventually...I just wish it didn't give out in the middle of a conversation like that." Axl:"I know. But, look on the bright side." After receiving a raised eyebrow from X, Axl chuckled and finished, with a wink, "She'll be that much happier to see you when we get back!" X found himself forced to chuckle and give a happy sounding sigh. X:"Yeah, I suppose you're right. Now, come on; we've got to get back to the battle plans if we're going to get out of here with the others." Zero:"Right behind you, X."
After the Maverick Hunters returned to the group, the others informed them of what the current strategy was. While they were informing the Hunters of the plans, Dirge and Nephthys snuck away to have a word with each other. Nephthys:"What is it, Dirge?" Dirge:"I've read about holy wars, like the Crusades, but this is ridiculous! This sword, the Calibur of Courage, or whatever, summoned us here. Why? Our robotic pals have a mortal enemy called Sigma, who's also here; it makes sense that the sword would call them. Ichigo over there is some kind of monster hunter or something, so it calling him to hunt down that Deadwina person also makes a bit of sense." Nephthys interrupted Dirge by saying, "I'm not sure where you're trying to go with this." Dirge:"I'm trying to understand why we are here! Even if the sword called us here, I can't see what the reason was! Those guys over there are dealing with things even more supernatural than us, and the only real enemy that we've ever made is Gallows!" As if on cue, before Nephthys could give her two cents, a gunshot echoed through the marketplace. The bullet associated with the gunshot proceeded to hit Dirge right in the center of his forehead! Fortunately, for Dirge, the bullet bounced off of a metal plate he'd installed in his head years ago, specifically to protect himself from head shots. Everyone looked in the direction of the shot and, up on a rooftop, they saw a zombie with a vintage rifle in hand and a noose around his neck.
Nephthys:"Gallows!" The zombie, dressed in a black longcoat and cowboy hat, replied, with a slight southern draw, "Damn. I forgot 'bout yer ironclad skull." After a brief pause, Gallows finished his thought, "Well, naw I didn't, but shooting you anywhere else wouldn't've done any good at gettin' your attention." Dirge looked up at Gallows, with narrowed eyes and said, with unsubtle venom in his voice, "Gallows...I guess the Calibur had a reason to summon us, after all." Gallows:"Hahahaha! So, the sword the Devil seeks summoned you here to chase me? I'm ever so glad; I was a bit sad when I was brought back to 'un-life' for a second time because I wouldn't get an opportunity for revenge...but here ya are. I promised the Devil to make him proud for giving me my third chance at life, and I plan to deliver!" Nephthys:"We beat you once, Gallows, and we can do it again!" After laughing heartily for a second time, Gallows responded, "I go by 'Hangman' now...and I'm not the same Xombie you remember!"
Immediately after Hangman finished his boast, everyone heard an obnoxiously perky voice shout off the rooftops, "Ooooooooh Ichigooooooo! Helloooooooo!" Edwina appeared beside Hangman on the roof, and proceeded to cling to his left arm in a similar fashion that a girlfriend would her significant other. This action, of course, earned a shocked expression from all of the heroes; Dirge and Nephthys especially. The heroes' expressions, particularly Ichigo's, whose expression soured beyond the norm, returned to their standard appearance when Edwina began to convert into Deadwina before their eyes. "You still owe me a meal, Reaper," Deadwina said in a significantly raspier voice than before. Ichigo:"No thanks. I can think of quite a few people that I'd rather take to dinner than you!" This response only caused Deadwina to cackle loudly; "What makes you think you'll have a choice in the matter?! You're to be the main course!" Ichigo promptly reached for Zangetsu and returned, "Not if I have anything to say about it!"
From another direction up the road, everyone heard a gruff voice say, "Well, if it isn't the Devil and all of the other interesting humans." Everyone turned to see Sigma entering the marketplace courtyard from an alleyway, his voice having lost none of its malice towards humanity. "I warned you not to come between me and the sword again, humans! Now, you'll pay the ultimate price for your interference!" X:"I don't think so, Sigma! That sword you're so interested in knows when evildoers are coming for it, and summons heroes to stop them. The second you arrived, we were called here as well! These humans are our friends and they are under our protection; you're not going to harm one hair on any of their heads as long as we still function!" Sigma:"Heh, heh, heh! Well, if it isn't my three favorite humanitarian Reploids! Oh, this is too good to be true; I've been waiting for a century to get back at you three!" Zero:"It's nice to be remembered. But, if you think we're going to just roll over and die, you've got another thing coming!" Axl:"Yeah, and there's no way you're getting your hands on that sword, either!"
Sigma:"Silence, Prototype! You got lucky against my Children and I the last time we met, but the same won't happen this time! This body I have may appear to be the one I had previously, but it is far stronger than any other body I've ever had before, and it's all thanks to that demon!" Axl:"Heh. I may be the prototype your 'children' spawned from, but I did a pretty good job at scrapping not only them, but your self-righteous butt too! And I've got news for you, buddy; just because some demon gave you a newer body, doesn't mean that you're going to win! You're not the only one who's learned a trick or two!" Sigma:"Hahahahaha! Bold words for a worthless prototype! I'm looking forward to drilling them back down your throat!"
As the others moved to engage their respective foes, Matt, D.C., Shiro, Saber, and Jun heard another voice coming from above them; the voice, calm and semi-monotone, said, "So, this is where the conflict decided to resume..." As the owner of the voice descended closer to the ground, both D.C. and Matt recognized that it was an Albetri female. However, something was strange about her; rather than the jubilant blonde-yellow colored feathers the race usually possessed, this woman's feathers were a very dark brown, almost black, in color. As far as the human portions of her body, her skin was a silvery-gray, her eyes were ruby red, and her hair was the same color as her feathers, but seemed to have red highlights towards the ends. She wielded a compacted halberd, and, once she'd touched the ground, D.C. recognized both the weapon and the girl!
D.C.:"Sky-Lance?" Sky-Lance looked in the heroes' direction, acknowledging D.C. as well; Sky-Lance:"Ah, Host of Giga Cooler! This is most unexpected!" During this brief exchange, Matt mentally asked D.C. how he knew this woman. D.C.'s mental reply was simply that he'd seen her a few times around Malice's palace, whilst he was pretending to work for the demon king. D.C.:"It's Tera Cooler, now, actually." SL:"So, the diamond warrior evolved, has he? Good for him." Sky-Lance sighed audibly before continuing, "As you can imagine, Host of Tera Cooler, my being here is not for a 'social call', as I suspect is the case for you and your friends here. I have been summoned to this world by a creature, who calls himself Mephisto, to find a weapon of godly power. In return for finding this weapon for him, he promised to remove my curse. I have, however, decided not to aid him."
D.C.:"I have to admit, you look a lot different than the last time I saw you; this that because of this curse? And why would you offer help Mephisto if you never intended to?" SL:"I learned my lesson about trusting demons the hard way last time. As you are aware, Host of Tera Cooler, I was a spy for Malice in the Albetri army. I had joined Malice's armies to achieve power and glory, my greed blinding me to the fact I already possessed those things; I was a top ranking officer in the Albetri army, and I am the creator of the Sky Lance technique, which is why it's named after me. After you and your friends defeated the king of demons, his army fell apart, the humans were all freed, and my involvement with him was discovered by my superiors. After I was charged with crimes of treason and espionage, my rank and title were stripped, and this curse was placed upon me as punishment. This curse prevents me from dying, no matter how many times I am felled, how many attempts I make against myself, nor how much I age. I was then promptly banished to wander the remnants of the Demon Domain forever, with nothing more than the clothes on my back, and my halberd; they were 'generous' enough to let me keep my weapon from my days in the army, since I forged it myself."
Sky-Lance paused briefly before continuing, "A couple of years after Malice's downfall, I was wandering the Demon Domain's desolate landscape when I was attacked by a group of demons; though Malice's armies crumpled with his demise, his domain's countrymen still remained. These demons were what you humans would call 'vampires', and, as you can see, I succumbed to the disease they carry; hence, my new appearance. However, due to my Albetri blood's natural resistance to disease and demonic magic, I was able to maintain my composure; I do not require feasting on blood to survive and walking around in the sunlight is of no consequence. In short, to them I am a 'Daywalker' possessing all of a vampire's additional powers but none of their weaknesses."
Sky-Lance looked at the heroes, became aware that she was basically telling them "her life's story", and could see Jun getting ready to pounce. SL:"I'm sorry for the drawn out explanation; I'll get to the point of your other question. It was not long after I contracted vampirism that I met another Albetri woman in the Demon Domain. She told me that she served as Malice's...personal servant. She absolutely adored Malice, and was quite furious towards you, Host of Tera Cooler, for your role in his demise; I believe she had a serious case of what you humans refer to as 'Stockholm Syndrome'. Anyway, she knew of the curse that was placed upon me, and while she couldn't undo it, she knew of a loophole that would allow me to die with my honor restored; if I was felled by one of royal blood in honorable combat, I would be allowed to die and ascend to a higher plane of existence. It is for this reason that I chose to 'aid' Mephisto in his quest for the Calibur of Courage."
D.C.:"You knew about it, didn't you?" SL:"Not exactly. The Albetri have long told stories of a sentient blade from another world that those with evil in their hearts could never touch; if any did, a legendary hero, the true wielder of the blade, would appear and slay the villainous soul in its tracks. When the demon Mephisto told me of the legendary blade he sought, I believed that the Calibur of Courage was the very same blade from the legends, and if any of the other fiends he'd sent to find it managed to do so, then a hero would appear to stop them. If there was even a slight chance that this hero was born of royalty, I couldn't let this opportunity to atone for my past crimes slip by."
After Sky-Lance was finished with her story, Saber spoke up; Saber:"You require a battle with one of royalty in order to atone for your past crimes and ascend to Heaven, correct?" SL:"Yes, an honorable duel with a king will set me free." Saber:"Then, Sky-Lance, was it? I shall fight you! In the ancient past, I was a king and thus possess the royal blood necessary to end your suffering." SL:"I appreciate the gesture..." Saber:"Saber." "...Saber, but you understand that I cannot simply let you kill me; it must be a one-on-one duel to the death. Understand?" Sky-Lance finished. Saber nodded; "I understand. In fact, I assumed as much." Shiro:"Saber, are you sure about this?" Saber:"Shiro, I value your concern...but this must be done to help this woman. All you can do for me is give me as much mana as you are able to, then stay out of harm's way. I'll rejoin you when our battle is finished." Shiro was reluctant to leave Saber's side, but he finally relented, and with a nod, moved behind Matt and the others.
D.C. and the others started to walk away from the two women, who stood with weapons at the ready when Sky-Lance called out, "Host of Tera Cooler." When D.C. turned back to look at her, she finished, "I want to thank you for being so kind to me in the few brief times we met, even though I realize now I didn't deserve it." D.C. simply nodded and smiled. "And, Host of Brawn?" Sky-Lance continued, prompting Matt to turn around to face her, "What happened to me in the aftermath of your battles with Malice was my own fault; I hold no grudge against you. In fact, you did the humans and the Albetri a great service by defeating the demon king, and for that, I thank you." Matt gave the vampiric Albetri a response similar to D.C.'s and turned around to walk further away from the inevitable chaos about to ensue, while putting a comforting hand on the worried shoulder of Shiro. SL:"Very well, then, Saber. Without further interruption, I accept your challenge!" With that, Sky-Lance extended her halberd to its full length, and flew towards Saber, who stood at the ready with her invisible sword.
Only a few moments passed after Saber and Sky-Lance started their battle when the other four heroes felt the ground start to tremble slightly beneath them; something very large and heavy was coming their way. Matt and D.C. used their respective 6th senses to try to figure out the identity of who was causing the ground to shake; the answer came to them almost immediately. Shiro looked at the two of them as they stood wide-eyed with visible worry. Matt:"Oh, no. No, anybody but him. Anybody but him. Anybody but..." He was cut off when the wall of a building the group was adjacent to crumbled into nothingness and Omega Bowser emerged from the dust cloud. "FOR F #K'S SAKE!" Matt and D.C. cried concurrently. Omega:"Hahahahaha! Oh, how sweet; it seems I've been missed in my absence." Matt:"Don't flatter yourself! Why can't you just be good evil psychopath and stay in Hell where you belong?! The only guy I know that's more annoying than you in terms of not staying dead is Sigma!"
Omega:"Hahahaha! Oh, how I've missed our little chats; it always made me feel a bit better when I could get under your skins. Besides, did you really think that the Calibur would summon the Eternal Guardian and his pal for any reason other than me?" D.C.:"No, that part is no surprise. But, it sure would be a nice change of pace if we didn't run into your punk ass every time we turned around!" Omega:"Heh. I could say the same thing about you; your motley crew has been a thorn in my side almost as long as I can remember, but you two are, by far, the most atrocious of them. You irritate me so much that ridding the universe of you has become my reason for being!"
Omega looked down in front of himself, a few steps closer than Matt and D.C. were, gazing at Jun and Shiro. Omega:"I have no idea who you two maggots are and, for that matter, I don't give a damn. Nevertheless, I have two eternal pests to kill and YOU'RE IN MY WAY!" Omega took a swipe at Jun and Shiro, who back-flipped behind D.C. and Matt, and rolled to the side, respectively. After landing, Jun took a sniff of the air; immediately afterwards, the three guys heard a familiar hissing growl come from behind them. Jun:"You have the blood of a Devil Beast coursing through your veins, don't you, monster?" Omega:"Hmm. I have no idea what these 'Devil Beasts' are, but if they are anything like the demons I've come into contact with over the years, then yes, I suppose I do. What would make my blood interest you, other than, perhaps, the desire to spill it?" Jun:"It makes you a Beast, just like me. It also means that a certain demonic little bastard sent you after me to kill me, doesn't it?!" "No one gives ME orders, Little Devil!" Omega bellowed, "And unless you want to find out first-hand why that is, I suggest you leave me and my 'friends' here to talk!" he finished in a deathly serious tone.
Jun was about to lash out at Omega in anger, but Matt stopped her by grabbing her by the shoulders. Matt:"Trust me, Jun; he can do much more than back up his threats. Get Shiro some place safer than this royal cluster f$%k we've gotten ourselves into and leave Omega here to us." Jun looked at her ally's fire-red eyes and, after noting the dire seriousness of his gaze, reluctantly agreed and grabbed Shiro by the hand before flying off across the marketplace. D.C.:"Now, then, where were we? Oh, right; we were just about to open up a can of whoop ass on your demonic ass!" D.C. finished his statement by transforming into Tera Cooler. When Omega noticed that Matt hadn't followed suit, he inquired, "What's the matter, hero? Still thinking of trying to 'bury that hatchet' with a tyrant like me?! Hahahaha!" Matt:"I'm afraid I can't, Omega; I'm not as strong as I used to be."
D.C. was well aware of what Matt was trying to do, and tried his hardest to suppress his crystalline grin, particularly after he noticed Omega had taken the bait. Omega:"Weakened or not, I will kill the Eternal Guardian this day! Now, TRANSFORM!" Matt:"I told you; I can't. Somebody beat you to the punch, Omega; Brawn the Eternal Guardian is dead." "Really now?" Omega inquired, while appearing to be thinking. He then, in a rather expected action, back-handed Matt across the torso, leaving deep slashes, and sending him flying through the wall of a building a few blocks away. Omega:"I guess I'll just have to settle for killing you in human form instead! Hahahahahahaha!" Omega then turned his gaze towards D.C., who, keeping the ruse, pretended to look furious. Omega:"And as for you, I'm not going to give you time to clap your hands!" Going off of the past experience of battling Matt, D.C., Garret, and Inuyasha's group a couple of years back, Omega knew that D.C.'s Ice Wall and Crystalline Slam techniques he possessed as Giga Cooler could temporarily dissipate the Adamant covering of his body; however, both techniques required D.C. to clap his hands and slam the ground to activate them, since they relied on the use of his Crystal Alchemy. As such, when Omega raised his hands to strike, D.C. causally replied, "Yeah, I figured," before firing off a Black Ice Beam.
Hovering in the air half a block away, Jun and Shiro had watched this turn of events occur. The two looked on in shock as Matt flew a few blocks away, crashed through the wall of the building, but didn't reemerge after several moments. Shiro:"But...he said he could heal! Even after all of that punishment you gave him, Jun, he got right back up! One slash from someone he's supposedly fought before wouldn't bring him down...would it?" Jun didn't reply right away, instead looking down at D.C. confronting the Adamant monster that was several times his size. Jun:"We need to help them or that Beast is going to kill them! Come on!" With that, Jun started to fly towards D.C. and Omega, just in time for D.C. to unleash the Black Ice Beam. Jun promptly noticed that the Adamant shielding over Omega's body had disappeared; Jun and Shiro both came to the correct assumption that Omega was momentarily vulnerable with his covering gone. Before they could reach Omega to strike, however, they both heard a roar; the same thunderous roar that Jun had heard while dueling with Matt! What they saw fly out of the building was not a small human with dragonic features; instead they saw a large humanoid dragon-human hybrid with four arms flying straight towards Omega at 500 mph!
Just as Omega moved his arms out of his line of sight to glare down at D.C., he saw Matt, now transformed into Bowsereon, coming right at him! Omega had no time to react, resulting in him taking a huge dragonic fist to the face, the force from which releasing a small shockwave, and hurtling through the air! Omega smashed through the original building he'd emerged from, leading to the remnants to become one, big pile of rubble, before stopping against the wall of the next building back; the front wall of said building practically disintegrated into dust from Omega's massive body, in conjunction with the incredible force behind Matt's strike, crashing into it. Omega got back to his feet, rubbing his jaw and glowering towards the heroes, which now included Jun and Shiro. Omega lumbered towards the group, while growling, with the most extreme levels of hatred in his voice, "I should have known you being reduced to a simple human was too much to wish for!" Matt:"Ghahahaha! Yeah, you really should have. I mean, come on, Omega! I would think that, after all this time, if I said 'I'm not as strong as I used to be,' you'd know that I'd gotten stronger not weaker!" Omega made an angry grunt, that was somewhere between a scruff and a laugh, before replying, "True, but it would be a nice change of pace if you two didn't become even bigger annoyances every time I came back!"
D.C.:"Alright, enough of this back and forth shoptalk. I've got a family to get back to, so let's just curb-stomp this asshole again and find the Calibur!" Matt was silent, but extended his Adamantium Calibur as if to say, "Let's do it!" Omega:"Hohohoh! A fight to the death? That suits me just fine because I was planning on killing you two anyway!" It was at about that moment everyone heard a rather youthful sounding battle cry coming from above them. Not more than a few seconds later, D.C. was tackled around his waist and carried off into the air by an unknown assailant! "D.C.!" Matt shouted in mild concern, and turned towards his airborne friend, considering flying in pursuit. But, instead, a Black Ice Beam came from the air, striking Omega and momentarily removing his Adamant layer again. While the beam was shooting downward, D.C. telepathically communicated with Matt, saying, "Don't worry about me, Matt; I don't know who this guy is, but I'm going to find out. In the meantime, take out Omega while you still have the chance!"
