10.1
"Princess!" Mario, the famous plumber hero, shouted as he kicked the door to the Mushroom castle. The Hero of the Mushroom Kingdom was distressed looking for the Princess.
'And here I thought we could have a nice relaxing Loop!' But those plans went flying straight to the window when he arrived at the Kingdom and saw large troops of Koopa all over the streets. This wouldn't be out of place any other Loop where Bowser was eviler than normal, except this troops looked way more organized and wore heavily specialized armor that wouldn't look out of place in a fascist regime from the future. The Helghast soldiers came to his mind.
But Mario wasn't called Super Mario for nothing and he quickly disposed of all the troops that stood his way towards the castle. Although he had to admit, this Koopa put up a better fight thanks to their heavy armor and weaponry. Still, in the end the Red Plumber was triumphant.
"Princess! I'm coming for you!" Mario shout once again as he made his way towards the upper floors where Peach was probably kept in. Once he arrived to the last floor he found a locked door that he kicked open to release the princess from her imprisonment. "Princess!"
"Oh! Hello Mario!" Peach greeted him in a very blasé manner, while sitting at a table drinking a cup of tea. "Would you like to join us?"
"Wha?" Mario uttered confused. Wasn't her kingdom been invaded and she imprisoned in her castle? But there was another thing that caught his attention. "Us?" He asked as he finally noticed the other occupant in the room. A very tall young woman dressed in a much decorated suit of armor with bird motif and sported very long flowing red hair.
"So this is the famous Super Mario, Princess Peach was talking so much about." The red head said as she stood up from her seat, making her tower over Mario. "My name is Parasoul Renoir and I am the Queen of the Koopa." Parasoul introduced herself as she offered her hand. "It is a pleasure to meet a hero of great stature like you."
"Uh…Th-The pleasure is all mine." Mario said after finally getting over his initial shock and shook hands with Parasoul. "When you say Queen of the Koopa, You mean…"
"She is replacing Bowser, yes." Peach answered. "I too was surprised when I 'woke-up' and find a letter from the Koopa Queen to talk about a peace treaty and open trade routes for our kingdoms."
"Peace Treaty…?" Mario repeated back somewhat nervously. "So those troops outside…"
"Yes, they are my escorts." Parasoul said nodding. "I can take good care of myself, but they insisted on coming along. And since we were going to be talking privately I decided to let my troops rest and enjoy what the Mushroom Kingdom has to offer." She explained the presence of her military troops. "I hope they didn't cause you too much trouble when entering the castle."
"Trouble, you say?" Mario was sweating bullets at this point, a fact that both rulers noticed immediately.
"Mario…? What did you do?" Peach questioned similarly to a mother asking her child if he ate all the cookies of the cookie jar.
"I..I thought you were been invaded and imprisoned."Mario admitted. "I didn't know you were on the middle of peace talks." Especially with the all the troops marching around the streets.
"You know, this could be considered an act of war." Parasoul pointed out much to the plumber's dread. "But I am willing to overlook this, if you issue a public apology towards my troops and their families."
"I guess…" Mario responded somewhat embarrassed but relieved that he got away with almost starting a war with just that.
"That and no cake for you for two months!" Peach added to his punishment, which was a real low blow for him, but accepted nonetheless. "Well, not that that is settled," she continued as she turned towards Parasoul. "As a show of appreciation and to celebrate this peace treaty, I wish to invite you, Queen Parasoul, to a sporting event of your choosing." She announced earning a surprised look from the red head.
"It's what we do in our free time." Mario explained. "Every Sport, and non-sport, you can imagine we had tournaments for."
"In that case…" Parasoul began with a tingle in her eye. "How about a Tennis competition? I love Tennis!"
"Of course that sounds great!" Peach said excitedly as she clapped her hands. "We can even invite Daisy to join us!" then she turned towards Mario. "Say, is Luigi awake? Do you think he could go get her at Sarasaland?"
"I'll see what I can do?" Mario informed looking at the cheery Princess who was excited for another competition. 'Luigi isn't awake this time, but I'm sure he can make his way to Sarasaland alone.' Not that there weren't any Koopas around this would be mostly a peaceful Loop.
[-On the day of the Tennis Tournament-]
"Mario! Could I please get another partner?" Luigi pleaded to his big brother but was quickly grabbed from behind by saidTennis partner.
"What are you saying Weegie? We are killing out there!" Said none other than Peocock who had Looped replacing Princess Daisy from Sarasaland. "We make a great team!" she said as he gave the green plumber a noogie.
"Mario! Please help me!"
10.2
Parasoul awoke inside a spaceship landing in a strange alien planet. "Where am I?" She wondered before she concentrated in her in-loop memories to see if she could get a clue.
"This is unusual." Apparently she was bounty hunter going to the alien planet Zebes in search of a dangerous species that had been stolen from a research center by a group called Space Pirates.
"Space…I never imagined visiting an alien planet before," Then again with the Loops, every world she visited that wasn't her own could be considered an Alien planet. "I guess that means I am an Alien too." She said while looking at her own features in a reflective surface.
Pinkish skin, green hair and eyes, really exemplify that point. Althought there was something that made her slightly uncomfortable. "Why am I wearing a tight pink leotard?" Really the thing was tighter than spandex. "Am I supposed to fight Space Pirates like this?" Because in her honest opinion, this sort of 'outfit' wasn't fit for combat.
Suddenly another memories popped-up and Parasoul brought her hand to her chest where she activated a command. Then she was enveloped into space armor with a canon for a hand. "Now this fits perfectly for combat," and now that she was equipped with proper armor, Parasoul exited her ship ready to defeat those space pirates and recover the stolen Metroid.
"Although I feel kind of naked without Krieg." Her Parasol-like Living Weapon. But as soon as she mentioned his name she felt a small pulse come from her arm canon. "Krieg is that you?" she asked earning a small pulse as response. "It's nice having you by my side Krieg." Although Living Weapons could never gain sentience like their Parasite 'cousins', they were self aware and could only be wielded by people they deemed worthy. And Parasoul appreciated Krieg like a member of her family.
"Now! Beginning Mission!"
[-]
During her exploration of the planet Zebes, Parasoul came upon the Leader of the Space Pirates, the dragon-like creature known as Ridley. The one responsible for the theft of the Metroid and the death of the scientists that worked in the research facility where the Metroid was stored.
Ridley proved to be a fierce combatant with his aerial strikes and fire breathing, not to mention his resistance to all of Parasoul's suit upgrades and weapons, like missiles and bombs. All except for one thing.
"Krieg! Please cry for me!" Parasoul commanded as she aimed at the flying Ridley who was readying his next attack. "NAPALM SHOT!" then from her canon, she shot a gooey-like substance that sticked to Ridley that he could tear away. "Cry!" she shouted as more and more shots were fired and completely enveloped the flying dragon causing it to fall into the ground.
Ridley tried in vain to tear away from this gooey cocoon he was trapped in with no avail. No matter how much he trashed and screeched he was completely trapped.
Parasoul watched the desperate display with no sympathy whatsoever. "Krieg…Detonate!" she commanded coldly, causing the goo-like substance to shine for half a second before it ignited and blew up in a fierily explosion. After the smoke and rubble cleared, there were no traces of Ridley remaining.
After assessing the death of the Space Dragon, Parasoul turned away and declared. "Space Pirate Leader Eliminated. Continuing Mission!" Another one gone, just one remained.
Ridley may have been the one leading the attack to the research center, but it was someone else go gave the order for the attack and wanted the Metroid to clone an entire army of them to destroy the Galaxy, killing billions in the process. Something that Parasoul was going to stop at all costs. "I'm coming for you, Mother Brain!"
10.3
Parasoul 'awoke' in a pleasant manner for once, sitting in a small table enjoying some tea. But the tranquility and enjoyment of the moment were ruined when the in-loop memories hit her, like a baseball bat with rusty nails to the face. "You got to be kidding…" she said with the only emotion she could muster: disgust.
"Your highness!" said the person who was seating and sharing a cup of tea with her, the granddaughter of the head of the Medici Mafia, Filia Medici; which in this loop was her eldest sister if you can believe such a thing. "Are you…"
"Awake? Yes. But I wish I didn't." She scowled. "Have you processed the in-loop memories yet?"
"Yes…" Filia answered with a grim face. "We are Demons…"
"I noticed…" Parasoul deadpanned. It was sort of obvious what they were with the red skin, unusual eyes and the horn in the middle of her forehead. "The question is…what are we going to do about it?"
"I don't want to open the gates of hell to take over the world and heaven, I can say that much." Filia stated decisively earning a nod of agreement from Parasoul.
"Indeed. We shall take care of Corset before he can enact any of his plans." The princess said while in her mind was already forming possible plans to defeat the Masochistic Demon.
"Should we ask the Angels for help?" Filia offered her own idea but she received a negative.
"I don't think that's a good idea." Parasoul confessed. "Both Panty and Stocking…" she really didn't like saying those names out-loud. "…they are very unruly individuals." no wonder they were expelled from heaven if the way they acted was any indication. "Even if they were Loopers, which I highly doubt; Do you really think they would even listen to us long enough to explain ourselves let along help us?"
"I guess you are right." Filia admitted with a sigh of defeat. "They truly are demons themselves." Which was strange that they were angels in the first place. "When you think about it this place makes no sense at all." Why did Demons represent Order while Angels represented Anarchy? Should it be the other way around?
"That's the Loops for you." Samson said butting in. "Sorry, I was asleep. What did I miss?"
"We are demons and we are planning on defeating our boss and prevent him from opening the gates of hell." Filia explained in a nutshell.
"Hm? That's cool." Samson said not really all surprised. "So when do we do this?"
"Right now," Parasoul said standing up before looking back at the table which still had a tea set on it. "Or we could wait until we finish our tea." She sat back down and served another cup of tea. "Say what you will, but this tea is delicious."
"Certainly!" Filia agreed as she took a sip of her tea. "I guess we can wait a few more minutes…"
[-]
"I'm so f****** bored." Panty Anarchy moaned as she picked her nose and wiped the booger on the side of the couch she and her sister Stocking were plastered on surrounded by trash and filth.
"Tell me about it." Stocking agreed as she threw away another dirty plate of some sugary treat she just finished eating. "Not a single Ghost is months."
"And no sight of those red b****** either." Ma, what would she give to kick their red assess again.
While the two fallen angels remained lazily on the couch, their 'Mentor' and reverend for Daten City Church was losing his patience with the two of them. "You two sluts stop f****** around and do your damn job!"
"Oi! How are we going to do anything if there aren't any ghosts to hunt?" Panty retorted with Stocking nodding in agreement making the black reverend to stand back for a second.
"It is true that we haven't had any Ghost attacks, which could be considered good but…" Garter said with an expression of deep thought on his face. "if you don't defeat ghosts and collect Heaven coins they you will not be able to return back to heaven!" Which meant he had to put up with these to b****** even longer.
"Who want to go back to heaven anyway…" Panty moaned again much to Garter ire.
"I do! So you better get up and search the city for clues!" he shouted in anger but he was promptly ignored by the Angels. "For F***'s sake!" But then the entire church was filled with the loud sounds of heavy vehicles coming from the outside. "What's going on?" he left to investigate and the Anarchy sister looked up curiously.
"Should we go see?" Stocking asked her sister.
"Meh, there's nothing better to do, right now." That is until she managed to get some guy to come over and f***.
As the three occupants of the church exited the front door, they found several cargo trucks in their front yard. "The F**** is going on?" The answer to that came in the form of two red skinned devil sisters.
"Scanty and Kneesocks! What are you two red sluts doing here?" Kneesocks said in an accusatory manner, but deep down she was glad to finally have something to do.
"First of all, we are no longer go by those names." The demon formerly known as Kneesocks said while pushing back her glasses. "We go by Filia and Parasoul respectively." She pointed out to the green haired Filia first before pointing at herself. "Second, we didn't come here to fight."
"Ha! And you b****** think we are going to believe that!" Panty rudely gave them the middle finger. " And what's up with these f****** trucks anyway?"
"Filia, if you please…" Parasoul turned to her 'elder' sister who just nodded and pressed up a red button in a remote control. Then the trucks unloaded their cargo in the front yard, which was thousands upon thousands of Heavenly coins.
"What the…?" was the response of the two angels and their mentor.
"We eliminated every single ghost that appeared in the city for the last few months and collected all of these coins." Parasoul explained in a very serious manner.
"Not to mention we took care of Corset and send him back to hell." Filia added with a nod.
"What did you say…?" Garter exclaimed completely shock by this reveal. "You two defeated that masochistic demon?" he asked getting to nods as response.
"And why do all of that and bring all these coins here?" Stocking asked confused by all of this.
"So you can use these coins to go back to heaven and get out of this world." Filia explained causing the Anarchy sisters to glare at her.
"Ha! Likely story! You just want to pull a fast one on us!" Panty accused while rudely pointing at them. "I bet all of these coins are fakes!"
"Nope, they are 100% legit." Garter said after inspecting the Heavenly coins very closely. "These are too perfect to be a counterfeit."
"Exactly, now do us all a favor, take all of the coins and get back to heaven." The demon 'sisters' have seen what the two angels did on a daily basis and they were frankly disgusted by their behavior. Heck sometimes they were almost worse than the ghosts themselves.
"I still think this is a trap!" Panty crossed her arms in front of her. "You could be doing this to get rid of us and then spring up a plan to destroy the city." They were absolutely crazy if they thought they could fool her.
Suddenly, the Angels' pet, Chuck, which looked like a deformed green dog with Zippers on its head came running out of the church as a bolt of lightning struck him and a small message from Heaven appeared for Garter to read.
"Aha…mmmm…interesting…" The black reverend mumbled as he silently read the note to himself.
"Oi! Would you read the note out-loud you black a******!" Panty shouted in frustration which didn't prompted the reverend to shout back.
Instead he Look back to the demon sister and proclaimed. "Congratulations to you Daemon Sisters! For a job well done, Heaven has decided to reward you by making you Angels!" this caused a severe reaction from the two Fallen Angels.
"What the F***?! "/"You got to be f****** with us!"
"Sorry but we can't accept." Parasoul answered completely stoic.
"Yeah, if these two are any indication, we don't want to be part of Heaven's forces." Filia added which explained their refusal.
"Oh no! These two b****** were kicked out of heaven for a reason!" Garter said much to the chagrin of the Anarchy Sisters. "You'll find out that Heaven does have standards!"
"Sounds tempting…" Filia rubbed under her chin. "What do you think Samson?" she asked to her hair which, to the complete shock of everyone else besides Parasoul, answered back.
"I don't know…is there good food in heaven?" he asked thinking with his 'stomach' first.
"What about you, your highness?" Filia asked to her supposed 'younger' sister. "Do you wish to go to Heaven?"
"Mmm…" Parasoul hummed as she thought about it. "Sure, I'll go; anything to get away of this wretched place." Really, Daten City was truly one of the worst cities she had ever visited.
"Good, you may go in peace to the glory of our Lord!" Garterbelt proclaim as two beams of light came from the sky to take up the Daemon Sisters to Heaven alongside the mountain pile of coins.
"Goodbye everyone!" Filia waved goodbye for the three of them as in a flash of light they disappeared; leaving the two fallen angels with their jaws hitting the floor.
"WHAT!"
"THE!"
"F***!"/F***!"
"See, if you do a good job like those two demons, you might return back to heaven one day." The back revered said before walking back inside the church. "Oh! And clean up all of your s*** inside the church!"
10.4
Parasoul sighed as she kept on doing some paperwork. Usually she would hate doing this, and relegated this task to one of her most trusty advisors but after so many crazy fused Loops, the monotony of reading and approving or disapproving all sort of legal and bureaucratic manners was welcoming at the moment.
Despite her new fund appreciation for doing paperwork once in a while, she couldn't spent the entire day trapped in her office; she had promise Umbrella that they were going to have movie night together, and watch all the favorite movies they managed to rent from the video store.
One movie in particular she wanted to watch was in fact a rare copy indeed, at least for her. It seemed that this world had a slight variation in which the movies of Annie: Girl of the Stars, had different cast choices and new art direction. As one of the biggest fans of the show (although she would never admitted it out-loud to ANYONE ever) it made her immensely happy since it meant that she had new collectables and the show would never get stale or boring, gods forbid that.
Yes. Tonight was going to be a good night indeed. She couldn't wait to finish this paperwork and get back home. 'I only hope Umbrella doesn't start movie night without me.' Gods knows how impatient that girl could be. Still, she loved her little sister to death and knew that tonight they would have a well-deserved good time together.
Parasoul was about to return back to her work when the door to her office was knocked three times. "Come in…" Weird, she wasn't expecting anyone. And if this was an emergency, they would've called her by phone. Then the door of her office opened and let unexpected visitor in.
"Sorry for the intuition, your highness." Marie, the maid Skullgirl, entered the office. "I know is somewhat late but I had to speak with you."
"Is something wrong?" Parasoul asked with her mind going over hundred of possible scenarios since Marie never visited without a good reason, which spelled trouble most of the time.
"Yes and no." Marie answered vaguely. "For me and Patricia it is a problem and it could be a problem for you too. Probably." The last word being the key word here.
"What is it?" the princess asked worriedly but at the same time with slight curiosity, since Peacock and Marie usually dealt with their problems in their own 'unique ways'; and often involved the destruction of one or several buildings or blocks of her precious kingdom.
Marie closed her eyes and took a deep breath before answering. "Patricia and I have misplaced a very… private and personal thing of ours." She admitted with a sigh. "A video."
"A video…?" Parasoul repeated already imagining a lot of things, but she didn't want to jump at any conclusions. "What sort of video…?"
Marie remained completely silent for a few seconds as if debating if she should really say it or not. "It's a video of us…doing something that isn't meant for the eyes of certain people…"
"That doesn't tell me much." Not really, it said much but the redhead didn't know exactly what the maid was implying. "Is this some sort of video of you two during one of your killing sprees, or what?" She asked knowing that couldn't be the answer but she had to make sure, besides she was slightly invaded by morbid curiosity.
Again Marie remained silent for a few seconds before answering. "As you know Patricia and I are very close…"she stopped for another second before continuing, "We do anything together and…we wanted to reinforce the bonds we share while doing…something very adult."
This perked the Princess curiosity even more. "You mean…you two…" she trailed off almost embarrassed to say it out-loud herself. 'I can believe this, and they recorded it too!'
"Yes, the two of us…with several other couples too." Now this reveal almost had the crowned princess experiment a major meltdown.
"What?!" She managed to exclaim after the shock of hearing those words came down. "You mean you and Peacock…with other people at the same time…?" she asked hesitantly to which Marie just nodded. "And you recorded that?" This was truly something she never expected to hear from the two of them. She knew the two girls were close, but to do something like this was inconceivable.
"As you can imagine, this video is very important to us." Marie said snapping Parasoul from her distressed thoughts.
"I can see why this is a problem and why you want this 'thing' back." Honestly, she still was processing that the two girls had done and recorded something like 'that'. "What I don't know is why this could be a problem for me too." And by Gods, please don't tell her that her unawake self had participated in it; because if that was the case, she would have to kill someone.
"You see…we wouldn't have lost a video if there hadn't been a mix-up?" Marie explained once again too vaguely.
"Mix-up?"
"We accidently put our video in one of the cases of a movie we rented." Marie further explained. "When we realized there had been a mix-up, we went back to the video store to retrieve it, we were informed that the video had being already rented; after some…'talking', we managed to 'convince' the manager to give us the list of people who might have rented the case with our movie in it."
"Wait! You couldn't possibly mean I…" Parasoul voice was filling with dread.
"Yes, you were one of the people in the list." Marie cut in. "So if you could give us back our video. It is inside the Annie: Girl of the Stars movie case."
"Oh my Gods!" Parasoul stood up from her seat and shouted completely horrified. "I left Umbrella with the movies back home!" And knowing her, Annie: Girl of the Stars movie was going to be the first one she would pop in. "We have to get back home and get that movie before she sees it!"
Seeing the usually steely Princess flip out like this was a strange sight to behold, but Marie decided not to comment on that. "Here, I'll teleport us both with him." She said as she waved her arm and summoned one of her many undead minions she had collected throughout the multiverse. The minion was a blue skinned young man with pointy ears and tail. "Kurt if you could please help us get to the Renoir Castle." Despite being an emotionless husk of his former self, it didn't mean Marie couldn't treat him with proper etiquette and respect. "Princess please place you hand on him." She said as she placed her hand on Kurt.
Any other time Parasoul would have questioned Marie about this 'minion' of hers, but there was no time for that, she had to save the innocence of her younger sister. "Right!" and as soon as the two of them were touching him, the three of them teleported with a BAMF.
[BAMF]
In less than a second, the three of them appeared inside the castle.
Not wasting any time, Parasoul was the first to run towards her room where her sister probably was. "UMBRELLA!"
Marie just watched her go before she turned to Kurt. "Thank you very much, Kurt." She bowed to express her gratitude. "Now you can go back to rest." She relieved him by sending him back inside her subspace pocket before she gave chase after the Princess.
"UMBRELLA!" Parasoul kept on shouting as she arrived at her room's door and kicked it open. "UMBRELLA!" she exclaimed as she saw her poor little sister on the floor and quickly kneeled besides her. "Umbrella! Are you okay?" She asked as she examined her sister. She panting exhaustedly and was completely red faced.
"Sis…I feel…hot all over…" The pink haired princess managed to say between pants, "And my legs they feel funny…"
As a big sister, she was horrified hearing these words from her little sister, but right now wasn't the time for that, she had to comfort the poor little girl. "It's alright, I am here now!" she gave poor Umbrella a big hug. "Big sister is here for you." She embraced her as her sister soon pass out from exhaustion.
"It looks like we arrived too late." Marie commented as she stepped into the room and watched the two sisters on the floor. "I didn't think she would react like this though." She said not once drawing away from her monotone voice. "I'll just take the video and leave you two alone." But as soon as she was about to retrieve the video, Parasoul stopped her.
"No!" The Crowned ruler said angry. "In order to explain Umbrella what she saw correctly I need to see this 'thing' first." If not who knows what sort of twisted mentality she could develop. It was her duty as a big sister to set things right.
"Are you sure about that?" Marie questioned as she looked deep into Parasoul's eyes. "Once you see it, you cannot unsee it." She warned sternly. "Not to mention, you'll have to promise to never reveal what you'll see or else."
"I don't care!" Parasoul retorted unafraid. "I'll do anything to protect my little sister. Even if I have to give up my life to do so." In fact she already did once, when she wished upon the Skullheart to have Umbrella to never become the Skullgirl.
"Very well…" Marie conceded and turned to the TV and re-winded the video. "You asked for this." Marie said and finally pressed play.
[-]
The video started completely dark with several shadows moving around as ominous music started to play and a narrator with heavy Japanese accent kicked in."Sent the Kiddiesu away. This is sutoricly for adults." Then it showed a warning in the screen that said: only for 18 up.
Then the lights were turned on and show a man with an onion for a head wearing a sweat clothes several people behind him.
"Oh yesssu. It is time to get romantic-u." the onion head announced as the music changed beats into a more pumping one and everyone began dancing.
Time to get romantic, yes indeed that's for sure
Da kick punch style remains very secure
Never pending, always the first, to make a move.
This, time, we get, down nice and smooth.
Then the camera changed focus as it showed the people behind the Onion Head grouped by couples dancing and following his very moves exactly as he did. Between these people Marie and Peacock were dancing along as a couple themselves.
"Love Kick" The Onion Head sang as he kick said kick, with everyone else behind him following him while singing along "Love Kick!"
Love punch./ Love punch. Love duck./ Love duck. Love turn./ Love turn. Love chop./ Love chop. Love twist./ Love twist. Love pose./ Love pose. Love hug./ Love hug. Smooth kick./ Smooth kick. Nice punch./ Nice Punch. Sweet chop./ Sweet chop. Love fight./ Love fight.
Because I'm smooth, with a groove so new,
I wish everybody had the…
Then the rest of the song was interrupted when Parasoul press the pause button. "What the heck is this…?" She asked completely perplexed.
"It's a video of Romantic Karate." Marie pointed out. "Patricia managed to get us spots for a special class with Tamanegi-Sensei."
"But…I..you…" Parasoul mumbled confused trying to organize her thoughts and formed coherent sentences. "You said this was a video of you two doing something very adult!"
"Yes. Didn't you see the warning at the beginning?" Marie said referring to the 18 to up thing. "Romantic Karate is a very physically demanding exercise, and it is not recommended for younglings. Or they could pass out." Just like Umbrella did just now. "We managed to get in, by claiming to be very short." That and with very authentic fake ID's.
"So you're saying that this scare was just for a tape of you two doing Karate?" Parasoul resumed the previous events in a nutshell. "Is that it?"
"Yes." Marie nodded. "What did you though the video was about, Your Highness?" She asked putting Parasoul in the spot.
"No, nothing. Just forget I said anything." There was no way in hell she would ever admit what she imagined the video was about. "Just take your video and leave. I'll put Umbrella to bed." The poor thing was exhausted.
"Thank you for understanding." Marie bowed as she retrieved her video. "And please remember not to tell anyone about this. It is kind of embarrassing…"
"Believe me, I will not tell anyone about this EVER."
"I shall take my leave then." Marie then summoned Kurt back out and was about to leave but then she remember something, "Oh I almost forgot." Marie then took out the Annie: Girl of the Stars movie and gave it Parasoul who gladly accepted it "Here, enjoy your movie, your highness." And with that Marie and Kurt were gone in a BAMF!
Parasoul just stood there in silence as she looked down at the movie on her hand. "So much for movie night…" she sighed tiredly. This was the last time she let Marie's vague explanations put her mind in the gutter.
Then Umbrella started to mumble in her sleep. "Smooth like…butter….caress…your lover…" she uttered much to Parasoul horror.
"Marieeeeeeeee!" She really should've seen the whole tape.
10.5
"Okay, I'm confused…Why are we celebrating Thanksgiving?" Filia asked as everyone was sitting on around the HQ, the secret lounge beneath the Renoir Castle, waiting for dinner to be served. "Our land was founded differently than the U.S.A." Although she had to admit that Canopy reminded her of California with a little bit of New York mixed into it.
"It is more symbolic than anything else." Parasoul explained with a glass of wine on her hand. "It is rare for all of us to Loop together like this, so I thought we could do a mock Thanksgiving dinner to spent some time together, share some stories and give thanks to all we are grateful for."
"That's a very nice gesture, your Highness." Filia said as she looked at the gathered loopers. All of them drinking and sharing laughs or in the case of Peacock playing with a game console surrounded by her gang. "They are a very close group." She said with a longing stare.
"And you are a part of it too." Parasoul put her hand on the girl's shoulders when she noticed her expression. "You are one of us now, and we all care for each other." Like a very big and strange semi-dysfunctional family, considering who and what they were.
"Thanks Princess." Filia said with a smile, glad to be accepted.
"Now try to gather everyone else, dinner will be served soon." Parasoul then walked away to check on food. Well more like check on the chef she had hired.
After she watch the princess walk away, Filia turned towards the rest and tried to gain their attention. "Excuse me…everyone, the food it's almost ready…" but it was futile since everyone were too distracted or too loud to even pay attention to her. "Guys…"
"HEY YOU! FOOD'S READY! TIME TO EAT!" Samson yelled out getting everyone's attention.
"Finally! I'm starving!" Peacock said as she put down her controller on the floor. "Come on guys let's get some food." She pumped her arm into the air as her gang of imaginary friends cheered and made a quick dash to the table. The rest followed suit but in a more organized manner.
"Thanks Samson." Filia was grateful for the assist.
"No problem kid."
[-]
Once everyone was seated in their respective places, Parasoul brought up the main dish under a silver platter and place it in the center of the table. "Now before we cut the turkey, why don't we all share what we are grateful for and what do we look forward in the future?"
"Oh come on! Do we have to?" Peacock complained only to be elbowed by Marie who also gave her a warning look. "Ouch! I mean. Sure! Who wants to go first, and stuff?"
"If you don't mind, I'll go first." Beowulf said as he stood up, surprising everyone he would volunteer first. "I thank all of you for this sure to be great dinner and making every day a worthwhile experience. Ever since I retired I felt like something was missing, that there wasn't any worthwhile challenges for me anymore, but thanks to you guys I rediscovered my will and enjoyment for Wrestling. I am grateful for you guys." The wrestler sat down as he finished with everyone looking at him appreciatively. Then Big Band was the next to stand up.
"I am grateful that I get the chance to do once again being able to do my job as a detective, busting criminals everywhere; it makes my old heart feel young again." The cyborg detective smiled as he took out his breather. "That and being able to eat steak again." This earned him a few laughed as he sat back down.
"I am grateful for you Ben." Carol said as she stood up. "If it weren't for you I…I wouldn't be here, with all of you. I am grateful for all you have done for me and for been here whenever I need you. Thank you." She managed to finish with only slight watery eyes, but with a smile nonetheless.
"I am grateful that I get to spend more time with my little sister." Parasoul stood up next. "I now realized that I used to focus too much in my work, leading the people, keeping our military strong, and protecting the kingdom from harm that I almost forgot how important family is, and spending time with those you care about. And that includes all of you…yes even you Peacock."
"Aw Shucks! I always knew you were a big softie." Peacock laughed as she stood up. "Now, I am grateful that you chumps are here because otherwise it would very boring for me and you guys know how I get when I get bored." This caused everyone to laugh nervously at peacock's 'joke'. "Especially you Princess, every great comedy show must have a straight man, or in this case, woman." Peacock couldn't help but laugh when she saw the redhead cross her arms and grumble mutter something under her breath. "Also I am thankful for you, my Merry Gang of Hooligans," She said turning to the objects she gave life to thanks to Avery and her overactive imagination. "I couldn't ask for a better group to join me in any if not all of my crazy or illegal activities!"
"Yeah!" Came the chorus of Avery, Andy and Tommy, while Lenny and George just clapped. "But I'm especially thankful for Marie here, because if I have to spent the eternity with someone, she is my first choice always." And with that she sat down enjoying the embarrass look on Maries face.
"I am thankful that you think so highly of me, Patricia." Marie said as she took her turn to speak. "And I'm grateful to be able to live again, not as a tool for the SkullHeart's will but as my own person." The maid kept her thanks short and concise letting the next person to speak up.
"Yeah my turn!" Andy the Anvil said, "I am thankful for the boss who gave us life and takes us along for the ride on crazy escapades."
"Yeah! And have us punch people!" Tommy cut in, as expressive as ever.
"Yeah that, too." The anvil continued not really minding the interruption. "And we are thankful for Miss Marie too, who convinces Peacock to let us watch what we want on the TV once in a while."
"Sqwack! That's right!" Avery nodded in agreement. Although he would follow Peacock to the depths of hell itself, he had his limits as how many Annie: Girl from the Stars episodes he could watch in a row. That while also hogging all of the nachos too.
"See Marie! You gave them a little bit of liberty and sympathy and now they are painting me as the bad guy!" Peacock complained mostly in jest causing the maid to smile.
And with that, everyone turned to Filia and Samson who were the last ones. Filia stood up and stammered a bit before recovering. "I-I just want to say that I am thankful to be here and that everyone has accepted me despite bearing my last name…"Truly the Medici named carried a really bad reputation for a lot of people gathered here. "And I want to say that what motivated me was to recover my lost memories…but now, it is my desire to create new memories with all of you, my friends." This earned her the applause and the smiles of everyone gathered there. "So, Samson? Do you want to say anything?" Filia asked to the Theon who responded with.
"I am thankful that we finally get to eat!"
"Now that guy knows what he is talking about!" Peacock agreed with a grin. "Come on princess, cut that turkey up! I'm starving."
Filia couldn't help but smile at the joy of been part of this group; despite their general craziness, it truly felt like a family. And she couldn't ask for a better or more unique one.
10.5 Addendum
After dinner was over and everyone was sharing stories about their most recent loops, Marie cut in to raise a very good question. "If we are all here? Where is Eliza?"
Back on one of the most luxurious and finest penthouses money could buy; two very infamous loopers where enjoying a relaxing evening.
"Dinner is finally ready." Eliza said as she sat down across her special guest. "I hope I didn't keep you waiting for long, darling."
"You are lucky you are one of the few people I, Dio, forgive for making me wait." Said none other than the notorious MLE, Dio Brando. "I expect this meal to be nothing short of perfect."
"Oh! I am sure you'll love it and if it's not of your liking, there is always…'dessert'." Eliza gave a predator look that promise lots of fun after dinner. "Albus! Horace! If you please." The parasite user snapped her fingers and her two bodyguards appeared bringing a large golden covered platter and place it on the table.
"I hope this is of your liking." Horace, being the most refined of the two, bowed politely before turning to Albus and dragged him away to leave their boss and her guest alone.
"Dio-Darling, I present to you, today's main course!" Eliza then lifted up the cover to revealed said dish.
"Mh? I can't say I was expecting this." Dio said surprised while looking at the meal. In the middle of the table was an olive skinned cat girl with a gag ball on her mouth and tied up with steel shackles and dressed in skimpy leather lingerie. But the more interesting thing about the meal was it was still 'fresh' and full of energy if her struggling was any indication."But I'm afraid I found Cat Girl not really that filling."
"Oh! But this one is special." Eliza informed with a smirk, "She is an immortal cat-girl! No matter how much you eat of her, she always recovers completely intact ready for another meal. It is her immortality that makes her blood very piquant!"
"Hm…Indeed it smells that way." Dio noticed once his augmented sense of smell got the aroma of the catgirl's blood.
"What do you say, Dio-darling? Would you like to share this meal with me?" Eliza said flirtingly.
"Yes, let's."
10.6.-
Ever since people can remember there has being a constant threat to humanity; a being of destruction and chaos known only as the Slamgirl.
The Slamgirls are women who wished upon the JamHeart, an ancient artifact that could grant any woman's wishes, but if the woman's souls aren't jamming enough, the accursed Heart would corrupt them.
The only defense people had against the Slamgirls and her undead army of B-Ballers is the Anti-Slamgirl Labs.
The Anti-Slamgirl Labs are a black-ops research institution created in a time when King Barkley prioritized scientific B-Ball advancements ethics. Founded by Dr. Jordan, they were funded by the NBA government with hopes of understanding the nature of the Slamgirl so they could create basketballs and B-Ballers capable of directly confronting the menace. Unfortunately, many of the government's subjects were sacrificed in the labs' experiments.
After losing his wife to the Jam Heart and the B-Ball War, King Barkley found himself with a stronger conscience. Despite the continuing need for the Labs in the fight against the Slamgirls, the King moved to decommission their experiments. Once he himself disappeared, however, it was restarted in secret and the lack of official oversight has allowed the Labs' scientists to perform increasingly questionable experiments. One of their latest creations, Peahoops, may prove to be the perfect weapon against the Slamgirl... but can any end justify such horrific means?
[-]
The Cyborg B-Baller known as Big Slam sighed in annoyance. "This is a really stupid Loop." But his sense of duty wouldn't let him just bail-out as easy. "Once the world of Jam falls apart, it is our duty to pick it up and slam it even higher." Or so his sating went in this Loop.
10.7
"You guys! You guys! You got to see this!" Peacock yelled as she opened the door to HQ with a kick, where the other loopers hung around for some drinks. "You will not believe what happened last Loop!" she then turned to Andy Anvil and handed him a tape. "Hurry! Hook up the VCR to the TV."
"Yes, boss!" Andy saluted as he went to do his task.
"What was it?" Parasoul asked with a small sense of dread, since whatever it was that she wanted to show them this bad had to involve something really embarrassing for someone or the destruction of an entire city of her kingdom. Either way is nothing good.
"I can't tell ya! Or it would ruin the surprise!" The girl said but it was clear she was almost ready to spill the beans herself seeing how excited she was. "Hurry up with that thing Andy!"
"I'm doing it as fast as I can Boss!" It really wasn't easy to connect cables when he was wearing boxing gloves.
"Uh…Peacock? I been wondering…why your fascination with VHS?" Filia asked curiously but politly enough to not offend the ASG unit. "Why not DVD or Blu-ray?"
"Elementary my dear Ms. Piggy!" Peacock answered making Filia's eye twitch in annoyance for that jab at her weight. "Because VHS kick ass, and with my powers I can make VHS quality image so good it makes Blu-ray look like crap!" She finished by lighting up a cigar and smoking it. "That and because hooking up 8mm Film takes way longer." But that didn't meant she didn't have copies of every movie or TV series she loved in an 8mm film format.
"Boss it is ready!" Andy announced with a thumps up.
"Great! Now, everybody prepare yourselves to see something of epic proportions." Peacock then made a couch appeared and she took her spot in the middle while picking up some pop corn. "Do you guys know about Naruto, one of the original 7?" She asked to the captive audience.
"I have heard of him from some of the Loopers I have met in fused Loops," Big Band said, "But I have never met him in person."
"Me neither." Carol confessed as she stood next to Ben, "I know he is a 'ninja' of some sort."
"Yeah, the kind of 'Ninja' that wields strange Ninja Magic." Beowulf crossed his arms across his chest. "And doesn't use stealth at all, like a regular ninja." Heck, Valentine who was a nurse was more of a traditional ninja than that guy.
"How do you know that?" Parasoul asked the wrestler with a raised eyebrow.
"I may have read the Manga about his base line…" He scratched the back of his head. "I had a Hub-like Loop and I entertained myself by reading and watching movies between wrestling matches."
"Anyway!"Peacock cut in "Naruto Looped into our world and he got into several fights." Which wasn't a rare occurrence for visiting loopers since this world was pretty violent even without the intervention of a pair of goddesses. "But there was one fight that truly is a must watch!" and without further delay, she pressed the play button on a remote control and the tape started.
[-]
"Gotta admit, that ability of yours is something, alright." Naruto Uzumaki said as he looked down at his downed elfin opponent who had his face to the floor. "To transform anything you touch into a musical instrument sounds like a strange Stand User Ability, that the Jojo's would encounter…" which was a fair comparison since his elf guy carried that human looking Viola around like it were his stand. "Hope you aren't angry that I broke your Viola in two…" Naruto then poked his opponent to get some sort of response from him. "Hey man, are you okay?" he turned him around only to found out he was dead. "Crap, I killed him…" Although it wasn't his intention, he didn't felt too bad about it since the guy was a certified assh*le.
"Hey you! Stop right there!" A voice called out for him, making Naruto curse onder his breath.
'Crap! Better not be the police or something.' It would really ruin his stayed if he became a fugitive of the law for the rest of this Loop, 'Maybe I can claim it was self-defense…' although knowing his erratic luck, that claim wouldn't hold water in this world's court, if they even had any.
With a sigh, Naruto turn around to face this newcomer only to step back in horror once he got a good look at him. "What the…?"
"You look strong, wanna have a fight?" The newcomer said in a voice that sounded exactly like Naruto's.
"What…who are you?" Naruto barely managed to ask for he was developing a headache.
"Sh*t son! Don'tcha know who I am? The name's Maeruto Suezumaeki, you better believe it!" Maeruto introduced himself while striking a pose similar to the ones the Jojo's used, and using a hand sign that belong to some sort of street gang he probably didn't belonged to.
"You got to be f*****g kidding me!" Naruto pinched his nose feeling his brain lose a few neurons for the stupidity of it all. This "Maeruto Suezumaeki" looked and sounded exactly like him except also very different.
First of all, Maeruto had pink hair instead of blonde, a scar similar to Kenshi the Samurai on his left check over the 'whisker' birth-marks, not to mention the eyepatch over his right eye. As for the outfit, he was wearing a green and black version of Naruto's orange and black outfit, istead of ninja sandals he was wearing red and white air Jordan sneakers and this forehead protector had the a marihuana symbol instead of the leaf village's.
All on all, he reeked of a bad re-colored self-insert OC. "Look, I didn't want any more trouble, but for the besmirching of my image I have to kick your ass."
"Aw yeah! Dis is goin' to be gud!" Maeruto said as he fell on his battle stance. "A warning thou, not only I'm a ninja, but I am also a samurai and a wizard too." He declared as he pulled out four swords, with one of the swords having a magic wand with a star attached to it. Then the swords ignited becoming flame swords; also a flame appeared over his crotch.
"Of course you are." Naruto said sardonically, never wanting to punch his own face so much in his entire life. Not even Menma annoyed him this much. "Now come, you third-rate copy of me!"
What followed couldn't be described as a fight, it was a complete massacre; this was specially apparent when the whole Canopy Kingdom ended up as just a whole in the ground, and now an addition to what is known as No Man's Land.
"What did I tell ya?" Maeruto cracked his neck as he look down at Naruto who was bleeding inside a smoking crater. "Sh*t son, you weren't even a warm-up."
"F*ck!" Naruto cursed as he struggled to even sit up. It was inconceivable, him losing this badly against a cheap copy of him. "The f*ck are you?!"
"I told ya already! The most badass warrior to ever live! Maeruto Suezumaeki!" Then the pink haired ninja samurai wizard let out a loud whistle that was heard all across the whole continent. Then from the distance a vehicle came faster than lightning. It was a 1965 1/2 Mustang with flames spray-painted on the sides.
"Maeruto-Sama!" called out several girls as they stepped out of the Mustang, the lot looked like generic 'anime' girls with weird colored hair. Except for one thing, all of these girls were crippled in some way.
"Guess, my ride is here!" Maeruto said looking at the girls. "Nice sparing with you but now I have to go back and tend to my Katawa Shojo Harem!" and with that the Ninja Samurai Wizard left Naruto alone, while he got inside his Mustang with his Harem of girls and popped some wheelies as they drive away.
"What an assh*le!" Naruto muttured before he passed out due to blood loss.
And that's how the tape ended.
[-]
"So? What do you think?" Peacock asked to the audience who were completely speechless. "Pretty funny right?"
"My…My kingdom…" Parasoul uttered still in shock for seeing her precious kingdom obliterated to the ground.
"Peacock…what was that?" Big Band questioned still processing the strangeness of it all.
"A pretty sweet vid of one of the Original 7 getting his ass kicked, that's what." The girl answered with a metallic grin.
"I gathered that, but…" Ben trailed of just a second feeling embarrassed of saying the name out-loud. "this… Maeruto Suezumaeki…" it really was a stupid name. "Was he Double in disguise?" That was the only 'person' he could think of that could defeat a strong Looper like Naruto that easily.
"No… he is not." Filia answered making everyone turned towards her. "I know because of this!" Filia then pulled out a comic book from her subspace pocket. To say that the cover was horrible was an understatement, because it physically hurt everyone's eyes when they gazed upon it. "Maeruto Suezumaeki is a comic book from our world and it only doesn't exist when Maeruto himself is a real person" Filia explained causing everyone to flinch.
"Does that mean…" Ben said aghast.
"That he is a recurring Variant of our world?" Carol finished for Ben, feeling as appalled as everyone else. Filia just nodded confirming the terrible truth.
"I have a question though," Beowulf cut in. "Why do you have that comic book, Filia?" he asked putting Filia on the spot.
"I..I..well you see…" There was one way she was going to tell everyone she liked to read comic books, otherwise people, (or maybe just peacock) would make fun of her. "I…I just saw it one day, and I got it as a collectable…because I sometime save weird things from the Loops…" she lied, but it was very convincing one since every Looper tended to gather junk or weird stuff every now and then in one way or another.
"Tell me, Filia." Beowulf continued. "Was it popular in the Loop you collected it?" he asked genuinely curious.
"Oh! Ehm..I don't think so…" Filia said wiping a little bit of sweat from her forehead. "According to the Editor's notes, which I read out of morbid curiosity by the way…" Filia added to keep up the lie that she had collected this thing ironically, instead of geekness for comic books in general even if they were horrid. "It says that the book was cancelled after just this first issue." Which was a super-size special of 50 pages, not including advertisements. "And I can see why… the story is ameturish and the characters are completely one-dimensional caricatures that spew out one-liners and catchphrases…" which would be okay if it were a 'parody' comic but this thing took itself seriously. "Not to mention Maeruto himself is a prick and a 'Gary-stu' that has all the powers and gets all the ladies, specially the legless ones."
"Wow, It seems you know a lot about comic books Filia." Carol said innocently causing Filia to blush a little fearing that her secret was about to come out.
"No! no! no!" She shook her head. "I'm judging this from my own personal standards for good literature! I'm an avid reader of novels, you know!" another lie, or more likely a half truth. She was an avid reader of Novels, but only of the 'romance' genre.
"That's all well and good, but how do we deal with this menace…" Parasoul cut in, finally getting over the shock of seeing her kingdom destroyed. "If he is capable of defeating an ancient Looper like Naruto, that means he is very dangerous to all of us."
"Not necessarily." Peacock said completely calmed. "After I knew of this guy existence I did dome digging around about his origin and general abilities…" this got the attention of everyone. "You see, Maeruto whole shtick is that he is better than Naruto at everything, simple as that."
"But Naruto is very strong! He is one of the O7 and…" Carol was then interrupted by Peacock.
"Hey, let me finish, you windmill." She took a puff of smoke as Carol debated with if should feel insulted by been called windmill. "Maeruto is only supposed to be stronger than baseline Naruto, but when the Looping Naruto came here in the exact same Loop Maeruto was 'real.' He accidently upped the power of the Pink haired NinjaSamuraiWizard, making him even stronger than himself."
"You mean that this was just a freak accident?" Parasoul deduced.
"Correct!" Peacock nodded. "Just imagine the odds of Naruto looping into our world and meet up with Maeruto again?" she said with a smile. "I know crap about statistics but that sounds like a quintillion to one odds of happening again."
"I guess we can sleep safe and sound tonight, right guys." Beowulf joked trying to lift up the mood of the place. "What about I pour some Tequila I got when I looped in Mexico?" This suggestion was received by several nods of agreement.
"I really feel like drinking until I pass out…" Parasoul commented uncharacteristically, but seeing that level of destruction towards something she cared a lot about, made her want to drown the memories away.
"Hm…could I get a Tequila Sunrise please?" Carol asked to which Beowulf said yes. She might not been capable of getting drunk but that didn't mean she couldn't pretend; besides for her, regular Tequila didn't taste all that great. She preferred a more colorful and fruity flavor of orange juice with grenadine syrup.
"I too want a prepared drink," Peacock said, "But I want…"
"Let me guess…a Bloodie Maria." Beowulf cut in with a cheeky grin.
"How did you know?"
"I am that good."
After a while everyone was enjoying their drinks and completely forgetting all about the video they watch. All except one.
'They must never know…' Beowuf thought as he laughed and drink with everyone else. 'They must never know I have looped as Maeruto multiple times…'
10.8
Filia awoke in a very precarious situation, on top of the wings of a plane. "Wow, What the?!" Filia almost lost her balance and fell off the plane, "What is going on?!"
"Filia?! Is that you?" Carol asked as she was the one piloting the plane. "It seems that we Loop in this place once again." She said while pointing at her own foxy ears and Filia's blue hair. "Do you think that Dr. Eggman is up to no good again?"
"Probably." If he already came back once it wasn't too unbelievable he would always come back. "It seems that after we downed the Death Egg space station from orbit, it crashed somewhere around here," Filia retold her in-loop memories after she had them assimilated. "Knowing the Old Doctor, he is probably going to try and have it back up in orbit."
"I guess that means we got to stop him once more…" Carol said with a renewed sense of adventure.
"I even have the chaos emeralds with me…" Filia said as she took them. "So this is going to be easy, don't you agree Samson?"
"Ugh…don't talk to me until we reached ground…" The Theon answered still not getting over his airsickness. "I said to never ride this thing again…"
"Sorry…" Filia apologized before turning to Carol. "Hey Carol, let's land the first chance we got."
"Roger that!"
[-]
After a half an hour of flying over the ocean, the trio finally reached their destination and safely made it into the ground.
"How are you holing up Samson?" Carol asked after a few minutes of exploring the jungle by foot. "Are you better now?"
"Yes…I feel a lot better now…" He really hated it when he and Filia flew and he wasn't the on on control of said flight. "Please, do not make me go up in that thing…"
"Well, for now we are sticking to land so there's no need to wo…" But before Filia could finish a voice called out.
"Hold it right there thieves!" Then a figure jumped down from above and punched the ground hard enough to make both Filia and Carol lose their balance. "Not another step or I…Filia? Carol? What are you two doing here?"
"Beowulf?!" Both girls exclaimed surprised by the appearance of the wrestler champ, who strangely enough had long red hair. "We could ask you the same question!"
"Well, I awoke just as this floating island crashed into the ocean when a giant space station fell from orbit." He explained. "Then this egg shaped doctor something told me that he would try to put this island back in the sky with the help of this giant green emerald, and he warmed me of two thieves that might come and try to steal the emerald away… I guess he meant you two."
"Yeah, no!" Filia answered. "That Doctor is the bad guy and he would try to use that giant emerald to put his space station back in orbit."
"Not to mention, he transform defenseless animals into robots and uses them for his nefarious plans." Carol added resentful by the villainy of the Egg shaped man.
"Guess we better put a stop to his guy." Beowulf said cracking his neck and knuckles in preparation. "I'll follow your lead, since you girls are familiar with this place."
"Well, I follow Filia since this is her third time looping here." Carol said with a smile. "That means you are our leader this Loop."
"Leader?!" the bluenette repeated slightly mortified. "I don't want to be leader, we are team we should all be equal."
"Yes, but you have the most experience and that experience makes you the best candidate to call the shots here…" Beowulf pointed out. "You should try to have a little bit of faith in your own abilities."
"Beowulf is right," Carol agreed with a nod. "You should believe in yourself…" Carol then placed her hand on the blunette's shoulders. "because I believe in you."
"Carol…" the parasite host was render speechless by her friend's faith in her. "I..I'll do my best." There was no way she could refuse now; besides hearing Carol said these words to her made her feel a lot calmer. "Beowulf? Do you think you can keep up with us?" She asked as she turned to the now red headed wrestler. "Thanks to this loop I can run very, very fast."
"Hm. Now that's the confidence a leader should have." The wrestler praised before continuing. "Also, don't worry about me. You may think I am an old man but I can run fast too. Also strangely enough I can sort of 'glide' too." It was really weird.
"Hmm…that might come in handy later…" Filia rubbed her chin with a thoughtful expression on her face. "Anyway, we better go and put a stop to that doctor Eggman and more time!" she pumped her hand into the air.
"Yeah! Let's go!"
And so the quartet let by Filia began running through the jungle in direction to their next adventure.
10.9
Big Band sighed for the nth time that Loop. He had been planning to take the Loop to relax and rest after his last Loop. Unfortunately for him, he was the only one awake besides Marie, which was great since he didn't have to worry about dealing with her unawake self. But soon after tragedy struck the world of TV when the live action actress and voice for Annie: Girl of the Stars was apparently victim of a murder attempt. Fortunately for the child actress, she survived but now she was in a deep coma, saddening children everywhere; with Patricia being one of them.
Annie occupied a big part of the girl's heart; it was one of the last remnants of her innocence and childlike wonder alongside the memories she shared with Marie. Now, after this tragedy the girl was a mess. She was uncharacteristically moody and she snapped back at everyone at the smallest provocation, especially since the perpetrator was still at large. It made Big Band worried that she might snap and kill someone…ehm…someone that didn't deserve it.
Anyway, Big Band had took it upon himself to look for clues and bring the criminal to justice so that Patricia and children everywhere could rest peacefully knowing that the person responsible of hurting their idol received what he deserved.
After some 'interrogations' around the city, Big Band finally had a clue where he could find the person he was looking for. Unfortunately for him it was a popular hideout for the Medici Mafia and one particular parasite host. Bastet's Den.
Ben knew that entering the place was going to be difficult, especially with the way he usually looked he wouldn't be able to even get pass the front door. So utilizing the magic spell he learned from Louise to transform his body at will; he reverted back to who he once looked when he was an active officer for the New Meridian Police Department (NMPD).
It had been so many years since he was declared dead, so no one would recognize him. Also, he decided to forgo his classic trench coat for something more Stylish. Instead he wore a white suit over a formal blue silk shirt, with a white tie and white fedora hat to complete the disguise.
'Here goes nothing.' Ben Birdland thought as he arrived at the club. Strangely enough there was no bouncer at the front door. This instantly sent up alarms to his mind, but he was determined to continue. He had come too far to give up now. With nothing to fear, Ben opened the door and made his way in.
The moment he stepped in, the whole place fell into complete silence as everyone gathered in the place turned to look at him with narrowed eyes. Ben had crashed a private party for the members of the Mafia and everyone was ready to jump at him the moment he did something stupid. Heck within the members, there was the infamous Black Dahlia, the faithful bodyguard of Lorenzo Medici and the first Anti-Skullgirl Human Weapon to ever be created by the ASG Labs.
If this had been his old self, Ben would've been completely terrified, but after living so long and seen so much thanks to the Loops, this was a walk in the park.
In a very calmed manner, he placed his hand on a pocket inside of his coat. This caused everyone one the place to place their hands on their guns ready to shoot him, but then he revealed what he was trying to get.
A silver coin.
Despite being an object that presented next to no threat, everyone on the bar was still on the edge waiting for Ben to do his next move. And the detective delivered in style when he flipped the coin making soar through the air across the room and in an astounding display of accuracy, the silver coin felt directly inside the jukebox's coin slot turning the music back on.
As the music blared on, the mood of the whole place began to change and Ben took this as the opportunity to move his way in at the rhythm of the song. He couldn't explain why, but all the people around his also followed suit and resumed whatever was it that they were doing before he came in, all while moving and dancing to the song as well, almost as if they couldn't help themselves. But hey, if it made his work easier who was he to complain?
As he moved through the crowd, he set his eyes upon his first suspect: Black Dahlia. He needed to get info out of her, but he couldn't do it in the traditional manner, fearing he would break whatever spell was affecting the place. So instead, Ben began to sing.
The Lyrics of the song detailed the crime scene and what probably happened when the assailant broke in to attack Annie. The criminal entered her apartment and left bloodstains on the carpet, meaning the first attack happened in the living room. Annie then tried to escape using the furniture, like carling under the table and then ran into her bedroom and locked the door. It was just then when she was struck again sealing her fate.
The whole thing was a classic closed room mystery. How did the assailant manage to attack Annie after she had sealed herself inside her bedroom? Very few people would be able to pull that sort of stun; Dahlia been one of them.
But the more Ben thought about it, it made less sense for Dahlia to be the assailant. Her alibi? Well, Dahlia was proficient with the use of the knife, but the fact that Annie still lived cut her off the suspect's list. Dahlia NEVER failed any assassination mission she took for Lorenzo. And even if the plan was to just attack Annie and put her in the hospital, sending Dahlia for a mission like that made no sense.
So back to square one. Now time to look for suspect number two.
Sliding through the room, Ben finally found his second suspect who was been harassed by drunken morons who wanted to show her a "good time". Not wanting to waste any time, Ben walked towards the two idiots and clobber them sending them to the ground, something that no one around seemed to mind. Heck, even his suspect looked glad for what he had done.
This next suspect was Cerebella, 'the Diamond of the Cirque des Cartes'. She too was proficient with the use of knives as deadly weapons, and was known to work as an 'enforcer' for Vitale, one of Lorenzo's sons.
But as Ben watched her move and dance to the rhythm of the ongoing song, his suspicions began to dim.
Cerebella might be dedicated to the Medici, but she was still a good kid. She was only rather close-minded and in a state of denial regarding any claim to Medici wrongdoings. And despite her fanatic dedication for Vitale, she wouldn't go as far as to do what this assailant had done to Annie. Intimidation tactics and maybe a slap or two, but to plunge a knife into Annie, who was just a little girl, was not Cerebella at all.
Another suspect crossed from the list. Still, there were a few other 'enforcers' that could have done the deed.
Dancing by, Ben came across a bunch of goons playing poker and betting large sums of money. Nothing really worth noting about, that is until Ben noticed something. As the winner of the round was about to collect his winnings, Ben grabbed his arm and twisted it making some cards fall from the goon's sleeve exposing him as a cheater. Ben didn't think much about two bit goons like these ones, but even he made an exception to expose cheaters and put them on their place. And put him in his place he did when Ben still holding unto the goon's arm flipped him over and threw his cheating butt to the floor. The rest of the goons around just laughed and gave him thumps ups while they bopped their heads at the music. Ben just tipped his hat and marched on.
As he walked away from the poker table, he passed by a pool table with people playing, but one punk in particular thought it would be funny to 'accidentally' hit Ben with a misfired white billiard ball. But before the flying projectile could even hit him, Ben turned around and caught the offending object with his right hand. Then in a showing display of physical strength he crushed the ball into mere white dust. After that he finished by walking up to the punk that tried to pull that stunt on him and blew the powdery remains of the white ball into his face. This earned him a few laughs, but Ben didn't care, he couldn't waste time with these punks, he had a criminal to catch.
Seeing he got no luck on the first floor, Ben decided to move on and try his luck on the second floor of the place. Going up the stairs he come across someone he honestly didn't want to meet. It was none other than Eliza, thankfully enough it was her 'unawake' self.
Eliza, like the rest of the patrons, was under the influence of the strange musical spell that was placed on this local, bobbing and dancing. Eliza was a capable seductress that could cajole any man under her will, something she was trying on him if her provocative glances and moves were any indication. But Ben knew all too well that under that appearance, laid a bloodthirsty beast ready to pounce and devour any unfortunate soul that ended up lured by her charms.
Ben decided to ignore Eliza's advances and continued on towards the second floor. She wasn't even in her list of suspects since Eliza didn't 'work' for the Medici and when she did it was only when they were blackmailing her by threatening to reveal her secret as a host for a bloodthirsty parasite. Besides, even if Eliza were to take the 'job', she wouldn't have use knives. She would've sucked Annie dry. So no, Eliza wasn't the culprit, end of story.
On the second floor, Ben didn't found much besides more goons dancing around and trying their luck with the waitresses. One scumbag in particular crossed the line of Ben's limits when he slapped a waitress for turning him down. The undercover detective took pleasure on punching the daylights out of that classless loser and throwing him down from the second floor.
Once that guy was out of the way, Ben turned to check on the waitress and see if she was fine, but as soon as he turned his back a shadowy figure appeared and try to attack Ben from behind. Nevertheless, the result was the same as with the misfired white ball, because Ben quickly turned around and grab the offending hand of his would be attacker. It didn't take more than a second for Ben to identify who was his assailant. It was "The Jack of the Cirque des Cartes", and another Enforcer for the Medici Mafia, the Elfin bard and parasite host known as Taliesin.
The elf was another suspect that Ben instantly crossed out from the list. He may be a womanizing dirtbag, but the attack of Annie wasn't in his M.O patterns. Taliesin puts great value in physical beauty to the point that for him, others weren't people but rather "things"; especially women whom he objectified sometimes quite literally, thanks to his ability to transform whatever 'objects' he touched into musical instruments.
Had Ben been his 'previous' self, he would've worried of being transformed by Taliesin's cursed touch. But now the Parasite host's ability only made him laugh. Transform him into a musical instrument? He was BIG BAND! He already was most musical instruments. So this effeminate looking Elf posed no threat to him.
Ben just gave Taliesin a solid second look of pity and shame before he twisted the elf's artificial hands until he tore them off and let them fall into the ground. It might have been a little too aggressive for his tastes, but Ben held no sympathy for guys like him.
After that and not founding anything of relative interest to the case on the second floor, Ben made his way back to the first floor to check back in case he had missed something or someone.
Down on the first floor again, the music and the dancing continued, but as soon as Ben had made his way to the middle of the room, the whole place turned dark as well as silent because of what could only be a sudden black out. The undercover detective worried that whatever spell the music had created was gone and that everything was going to return back to normal, robbing him the change to find the whomever attacked Annie.
Annie…that poor girl; the hearts and peace of mind of millions of children who were fans of her and the show she worked on rested upon his shoulders to find and bring the perpetrator to justice. He wasn't going to let the chance slip away from him. If there was no music, then there was always a capella.
"Annie…are you okay?" Ben sang with his heart with the poor girl struggling to live back in the hospital. "So, Annie are you okay? Are you okay, Annie?" when he saw the rest of the patrons slowly bobbing their heads at his signing, Ben knew the spell was still active and he needed to continue singing. "Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok? Are you ok, Annie?" as he continued with the song, the rest began joining in too. "Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok? Are you ok, Annie?" then above everyone else, Ben voice resounded once more, "Annie, are you ok? So, Annie are you ok, are you ok Annie?" Then the whole building lighted up again in an instant and the music blared on again, and the signing and the dancing returned for a second round.
Once everyone was distracted by the groove again, Ben danced across the room and found something he didn't expect; a lonely patron sitting at a small table, not even dancing in place. Now that was really suspicious.
As Ben walked towards the lonely patron, he soon realized the identity of this person: "The Club of the Cirque des Cartes", the fierce magician known as Beatrix.
Ben had investigated Beatrix before, she was the bitter rival of Cerebella, wanting nothing more than take the "Diamond's" spotlight in the Circus and within the Medici ranks. As a magician, she too was proficient in the use of knives, especially throwing daggers. She also wielded the Cloak of Damocles, a magical object that was basically a subspace pocket except this one required great concentration in order to keep the contents inside; not only that but also the ability to disappeared and appeared in different place. Combine all of that and you have the prime suspect for the assailant. A bitter magician proficient with knives, who would do anything to climb through the ranks of the Medici Mafia, and that could easily enter Annie's apartment without forcing the door or windows and could 'disappear' out of the crime scene leaving a 'locked room' scenario.
Ben knew Beatrix was the one he was looking for, and she knew it too, if the sudden tension of her muscles and her glare towards him were any indication. Ben was ready to confront the magician here and there and take her to the authorities, but fate had other plans for the two of them.
Ben could hear them, even with the music going on, he could heard the mobilization of armed troops surrounding the building ready to storm the place. The detective mentally cursed his luck, why did the Egrets have to come in? And why were they doing it? Yes, members of the Medici were gathered here for a party, but in the eye of the general public, the Medici family were entrepreneurs and a very respected clan. So it made no sense for the Canopian Military to come here.
Unless the Egrets were here with the same intention as him: to capture Annie's assailant. Ben knew that Young Princess Umbrella was a fan of Annie's show, so it wasn't unbelievable she managed to convince Parasoul to use the Egrets to find the culprit. Unfortunately for Ben, he was about to be caught like he was a member of the Medici.
So Ben was about something, he never thought of doing before, but as they say, desperate times required desperate measures. Faster than anyone could blink, Ben took out a Tommy Gun and fired in the air to cause enough panic and force the Egrets to retire enough for him to make his escape.
In the end his plans was successful, except he also lost track of Beatrix who used her Magic cloak to disappear from the scene. But all in all it wasn't a wasted effort, now he knew who the perpetrator was. Now all he had to do was to track Beatrix down and bring her to justice.
"No better time like the present to hunt down a smooth criminal."
10.1.- I can't write Mario's Accent.
10.2.- Skulltroid: Zero Mission.
10.3.- Parasol & Filia with Garterbelt.
10.4.- We made an Adult Video.
10.5.- Happy Skullsgiving!
10.5 Ad.- Dinner with your Friend with Benefits.
10.6.- SHUT UP AND JAM!
10.7.- "[Maeruto Suezumaeki]'s so bad-ass, that he's got NAD in his bad-ass, so he's BNADASS."- Jose Luis Villareal.- A fictional lannguage-challenged fanboy of Skullgirls.
10.8.- Filia the Hedgegirl 3 introducing newcomer, Beowulf the echidman.
10.9.- Looking for a Smooth Criminal. And yes, Annie is Okay!