Trapped in the Fandom Net

Moon: Here we are, the next chapter! Sorry it took a while, I was trying to get the atmosphere right for ages and I was constantly being pestered by Evil Plot Bunnies. What are those? Eh, you'll find out soon enough.

Neko: These generals are tough...

Kunex: Hey! Little help over here!

Neko: Pudding! Be careful!

Moon: I do not own TMM or MMP!

Chapter 9: The plan part 2: Shinryu's Generals

/With Moon and her group

Moon kicked the Soulless guard aside, and signaled for the others to follow. Ichigo let out the breath she hadn't realized she had been holding.

Where were they? Inside Shinryu's palace. If you could call this wreck of a castle a palace. The entire place was crawling with monsters. This, in her opinion, was one of the creepiest places in the net. (besides the Horror genre) Why did every super-villain hideout have to be a hellhole? Were they allergic to sunlight or something?

The place was dark enough that you needed a flashlight to make out the forms of the endless Soulless. Which was a pain, because no one in the party HAD a flashlight!

"I can't see!" Mint complained loudly.

"Shush!" Neko hissed, her eat ears lying flat against her head as she slipped past more of the guards. "You're gonna get us caught!"

ZX looked around, and thankfully no one had heard the outburst.

Suddenly, there was a yelp of "YOU IDIOTS! They're using a cliché to sneak past us!" The lights flared on, and Ichigo and the others had to cover their eyes. When they could see again, two rather powerful-looking Soulless were standing across from them.

One of the smaller ones had a cold look on his face. It was human sized, with red eyes, wild black hair, and an icy frown.

One of the taller ones was a girl with a broadsword in each hand. Her hair was midnight purple, a little like Zakuro's. She was wearing a black outfit with a blue choker, bat-like wings, and a regal-looking winged helmet.

Mew scowled. "Okay, who brought the Soulless up to speed on cliches?" She jammed what looked like a pink stone into her pocket.

ZX paled. "Uh, guys? I think that Soulless is..."

The Red-eyed Soulless leered at him. "That's right, ZXfanguy! I am the Dark Avatar!"

"What the hell? How are you here? This isn't even the right fandom!"

Moon's eyes narrowed when she saw the purple-haired Soulless. "I've seen you before, haven't I?"

The girl put her hands on her hips and glared at the younger Gatekeeper sibling. "Yes, you have. The Dark Mews, remember?"

Moon groaned. "Well...shoot."

Zakuro looked questioning for a second, but then she regained her composure and stepped forward, standing next to her guides. "Are you Shinryu's generals?"

The Dark Avatar laughed. "No, we're the pizza men. How did you guess, Einstein?"

Zakuro shrugged. "Maybe it's because you're wearing all black, have red eyes, and act very haughty?" She suggested rather nonchalantly.

The Dark Avatar grimaced. "You know, you should really cut down on the drama. You know what ZX really thinks of your fandom?"

Musica stiffened, and Gemini turned towards ZX. "Hey. Does the Dark Avatar have any specific weaknesses?"

ZX nodded. "Yeah. He's a pushover. He got his ass handed to him by the Destruct and got absorbed... but that would require Avatar-level power. And these girls..." he searched for the right words. "Don't have that."

Zakuro rolled her eyes. "Thank you for the vote of confidence, ZX."

Mika sized up the two, turning her weapons over in her hands. "Are you two going to try to talk us to death? How scary. I bet you couldn't even beat Mint."

"HEY! I RESENT THAT REMARK!"

There was a nasty smirk on the Dark Avatar's face. "Oh, yes? Need I remind you that Kunex is liable to join us at any second?"

Neko turned towards Kunex with a look of alarm. "Kunex?"

Kunex exhaled. "Writer's block, combined with the fact the story was in an illegal format. I'm surprised that I wasn't turned already."

"That's because I like your character, you kick ass, and you're going to kick Dark Pegasus right between the-"

"I'M A CHICK YOU IDIOT!" The Dark Mew shouted, eyes smoldering.

"Yeah, could've fooled me." ZX mused. Suddenly, he tensed up.

"You really want to get us killed, don't you?" Ichigo said, scowling at the Gatekeeper.

Apparently both generals were getting tired to talking, because they both raised their hands. Soulless filled the room. The gatekeepers, girls, Neko and Kunex immediately stood back-to-back and drew their respective weapons.

ZX had a nasty grin on his face. "ThatDark Avatar... does he forget about THAT persona?"

Gemini shrugged. "I don't know. Does he care?"

"I don't." The Dark Avatar sneered. "And in a few minutes it isn't going to matter! CHARGE!"

ZX laughed. "I think you forget yourself, you OPed Sue of a character!" Suddenly, large wings burst from his back. His outfit changed from the mechanical one to a long robe, similar to Deep Blue's. A long sword appeared in his hands, and his face was enclosed in a mechanical helmet. A blue claw appeared on his free hand.

Ichigo and the others barely had time to be surprised before Moon began to glow as well. Rainbow colored wings burst out of her back. Her outfit changed into a silver and black version of Maka's outfit, from Soul Eater. A large, intimidating silver blade appeared in her hand. The Plot Device remained strapped over her shoulder.

"What the heck?" Ichigo exclaimed.

"It's a transformation." Neko explained quietly. "Whenever the Gatekeeper uses a Soul Shift, they become a new creature with different powers."

The Dark Avatar suddenly stopped in his tracks. "What is that?"

"A plot device called Neonite, used in a crossover as an ethereal substance. This one's called the Merciless Judge. And I myself... am TheOneTrueDestiny!"

"Wow, what a flamboyant name." Mew remarked.

"Definitely." Gemini agreed, admiring his companion's new transformations.

"..." Moon paused for a second. "And I am Celestial Moonlight Blade."

There was a silence, and then... "DIE ALREADY!" TheOneTrueDestiny shouted. He charged through a group of Soulless, and rammed the Dark Avatar. Everyone took the hint and dove into battle.

Ichigo and Dark Pegasus clashed a few times, and then broke apart.

"That's all? That Serena brat was harder to beat!"

"Serena?" Ichigo repeated. "And you may be surprised, but I'm not that whining male-dependent girl I used to be. Thanks to Moon and the others, I'm a real warrior and I'm going to kick your sorry ass into the next dimension!" She fired once at Dark Pegasus, who was blasted backwards through a wall, leaving a huge hole in it.

Mint was fighting ten Soulless at once, determined not to be left in the dust by her leader. "Take that! And that! Die! Die!" She yelled, blasting them over and over with her machine gun. Pudding was just running everywhere, bashing random Soulless with her War-Hammer. Kish and Pai were back-to-back with Gemini, helping him fend off a brute of a Soulless that was at least five times their collective size.

Lettuce was acting a little...weird, as far as her companion's were concerned. She flew head-on against the Dark Avatar, and was stubbornly holding her ground, firing blast after blast from her twin guns. Much to the General's surprise, he found himself being forced back.

"What's up with Lettuce?" Zakuro shouted after she decapitated a stubborn Rabid. "She's acting like a maniac!"

"She drank some bottled Insanity, didn't she?" Gemini asked.

"There was a bottle of something sitting around, and I was thirsty!" Lettuce shouted. "So what? DIE! PERISH! FADE TO BLACK AND DON'T COME BACK! YOU OVER-POWERED SUE!"

The Dark Avatar let out a yelp of shock and was forced to go defensive, putting up a shield of earth to save himself from the blasts of water. Zakuro just shook her head at her fellow Mew's over-the-top antics, muttered something about the 'stuff Gatekeepers kept around themselves' before turning and attacking a group of dwarf Soulless.

"How long will it last?" Moon asked in a surprisingly nonchalant tone of voice as she brought the Blade of the Moon down on a group of unfortunate scouts. The ground shook and thunder rolled as the majestic blade swung through the air, slicing apart everything it touched, and seemingly rending the sky itself.

"A few days at best." Mika replied, hacking through a meyerpire as she spoke. Angelcake and Amber had just appeared in the doorway, and lent a hand to Mew, who had been backed into a corner.

Ichigo felt surprisingly confident as she fought against the Dark Mew. Pudding came to help, sneaking up behind the girl and whaling her with her gravity hammer. Tart joined in and Ichigo started taking on the smaller Soulless, leaving the General at the mercy of the youngest members of the party. The more innocent they look the more dangerous they really are; the pink mew thought, feeling a wild, battle-probed smirk creep across her face.

Gemini was also doing well. He saved Ryou from a gargoyle-like creature that had pounced on him and was proceeding to terminate every zombie in the room with amazing speed. He was currently in gemini split mode, and put his arms together.

Mint hardly had time to duck before a huge blast of electricity blazed over her head, narrowly missing her and pulverising the monsters behind her, as well as blowing a hole through several walls and out a window that had been almost a mile away. The bird mew felt a bead of sweat slide down the back of her neck at the damage. "Why didn't you use that before?" She asked over the noise.

"Because I love to make an entrance." The boy cackled, before his other self grabbed three Soulless by the neck, spun them around six times and threw them into another wall.

"Suit yourself, big guy..." Mint replied meekly before she got tackled by a Soulless. She kicked him...eh, where it hurts, and threw him off. She got up again and continued fighting, determined not to become a third wheel.

Lettuce was still acting like a crazy person. Suddenly, she pulled an ipod out of her pocket and cranked up the volume, so everyone could hear it.

(Insert Going Down, by Sick Puppies)

"Come and get me!" She shouted, a look of manic delight on her face. For a second, a look of fear crossed the Dark Avatar's face. But it was gone in an instant, and he charged her, fire blazing on his palm.

Lettuce pointed both her guns upwards and fired both of them over and over at the same time (a/n Devil May Cry style!) extinguishing the fire and hitting the enemy between the eyes. The General broke his stance for just one minute, trying to get the water out of his eyes. Lettuce sized her chance. She jumped up, grabbed both his arms, and forced him to do an 270 flip right into the dirt.

Lettuce laughed, a loud, angry laugh that was meant to tick the Dark Avatar off. Which it did.

"You think this is funny?" He raged, before standing and attacking again. Lettuce side-stepped and kicked him in the back, sending him flying into a nearby wall.

"What's wrong?" She called tauntingly, "are you scared of me? Or are you scared of crawling back to your master and admitting you got beaten by the shyest of all the mew mews?"

The Soulless uttered a roar of fury and threw himself at her (because that worked so well the first time -_-) screaming insulting words.

"temper temper," Lettuce purred, before ducking and letting loose a devastating uppercut with her gun still in hand. The Dark Avatar hit the ceiling, cracking the entire thing. Everyone else stopped fighting and stared at her, mouths open.

Snarling curses, the Dark Avatar went into the Avatar State! Lettuce shrugged uncaring and took a step backwards, her sleek green armor catching the light of the remaining torches. "Aww, you angry with me? Oh, I'm so, so scared. Should I go hide?"

"You little-this is the mark of the most powerful being in my world!" The Dark Avatar cried, trying to make her afraid. Lettuce just smirked.

"Then come and get me." She growled, before tensing and raising both her guns.

Moon, Destiny, Gemini, Mika, Amber, Angelcake, Musica, Mew and the Mew Mews watched in awe as Lettuce faced an attack with all four elements head on. In slow motion, she jumped from one rock to the next, smoothly ducked under the jet of water, somersaulted over the sword of wind, dispelled the fire blast, and put the barrel of both guns right against the Dark Avatar's forehead. Both guns were burning with power, the blue energy gleaming so bright it filled the room.

Moon's eyes widened. "Everyone down!" She shouted, and the group hit the floor behind a bunch of rocks.

"GET BENT!" Lettuce screamed. There was a loud explosion, a shrill scream, and water flooded the room. Ichigo yelped as she was knocked off her feet and onto her back. The remaining soulless troops were swept out of the room by a tidal wave of power. Neko and Kunex grabbed Pai and Ryou's arms to stop them from being thrown out too.

After a little, the water died down and they all stood up. Lettuce was standing in the middle of the room, striking an intimidating pose with both guns pointed downwards and her eyes glowing.

The Dark Mew was shaking, eyes wide as she stared down the Green Mew. Lettuce looked her dead in the eyes. The General spun on her heels and fled.

Lettuce flipped her guns around her hands and put them by her sides, before turning towards the rest of her group. "What are you staring at?" She asked calmly.

Gemini let out a low whistle of admiration. "That was epic, Lettuce. Purely epic. You defeated a Soulless general and you barely batted an eye."

Lettuce grinned at him. "Why thank you, Gemini."

Ryou leaned towards Destiny and muttered "never, ever leave a bottle of Insanity lying around, ever again."

Destiny laughed nervously. "It seemed to work in our favor this time. But I wonder, maybe it's also the guns I gave her. I didn't know Bottled Invincibility would do something like that..."

"You mean as long as she has those there's a chance she'll act crazy?" Zakuro asked.

"Not certain, but possibly." Was the reply. Ichigo and Mint both gulped.

Moon sheathed the Blade of the Moon and drew the Plot Device for the first time. "We still have to deal with Shinryu, guys."

"And what's the plan for that?" Amber asked.

"I'll have to snipe." Moon replied with a sigh. "As much as I want to go up front and help you guys, Shinryu would recognize the plot device in an instant. You'll need to distract him while I get his barrier down and his regeneration ability offline."

"Regeneration?" Zakuro questioned.

"It means he can heal any or all physical wounds in an instant." Gemini replied. "Capturing him in the first place was an absolute nightmare. The fabric of the Cosmos is still badly damaged. We just have to hope he doesn't have the brains to try to use a Dimensional Passageway as an escape route-"

"Dimensional Passageway?" Keiichiro echoed. "And what exactly is that?"

The Gatekeepers exchanged a swift glance. "If you're lucky, you'll never have to know." Angelcake replied delicately.

"As soon as we deal with Shinryu, it should be safe enough for you to return home." Mew added.

Ichigo studied Moon and her friends. She had a feeling there was something they weren't telling them about the Dimensional Passageways. A key detail that was being left out on purpose. But why? She couldn't think of anything she had done that would suggest she would do something wrong. So why wouldn't they tell her and the girls more?

"Well?" Lettuce said impatiently. "Are we going to go stop Shinryu or are we going to go stop Shinryu, because standing here talking isn't going to make him die any faster!"

"Slow down Lettuce." Musica cautioned. "He'll be stronger than anything you've ever faced before."

The green mew wasn't fazed. "We can take him. So let's get going."

Moon smiled wanely. "Very well. Let's go." The group turned and walked down the hall. Eventually they came to a large iron spiral stairwell. Climbing to the top, Ichigo and the others were greeted by a large iron door.

Neko and Kunex exchanged a long look, before walking up and pulling them open.

End Chapter

Aaaaaaand it's done! I'm sorry if I kept anyone waiting, but I was being assaulted by Evil Plot Bunnies and I just came back from a school trip to Quebec, and there had been no Wi-Fi in the hotel I had been staying in. But I hearby promise to update this story more consistantly. I won't forget about it! It's one of my favorites!

Now you're probably wondering what the heck happened to Lettuce? Well, I have a strange desire to write her as a little crazy, especially since she's such a pushover in the anime. And you haven't seen the last of Bottled Insanity either. And Lettuce got her EPICNESS moment! Who shall I give an Epicness moment next?

Also, ZX=Destiny. I had planned the Soul Shift thing from the start, and I was waiting for the right moment to use it. Me and my brother both changed pennames, so we were convenient that way. I promise I'm not favoring my brother! And in case you're wondering why the groups were all together again, we re-grouped just outside Shinryu's headquarters. I hope this clears everything up! Next chapter, WE FACE SHINRYU!