After the Twister dissipated, Matt stood in place, panting from his recent exertions, as a wall of dust and smoke blocked any view of where Hangman and D.C. were standing. "You sacrifice all of your friends like that?" Dirge asked Matt sardonically. If Dirge still had them on his face, he would have raised one of his eyebrows when Matt started to laugh heartily at his barb. Matt:"No, just the ones that I know can take it." When the wall of dust cleared, revealing D.C. still standing, hale and hearty, next to the pile of dust that remained of the absolutely obliterated Hangman, Matt calmly finished, "See? He, a few of our other friends, and I made a wish on a magical object called the Triforce, hmm...going on a decade or so ago, that we wouldn't be able to hurt each other with our techniques. As you just saw, we could disintegrate everything around us to dust, but our allies who were we similarly blessed would be unaffected." The Xombies could only nod and mouth "Oh." in response.
"Now then," Matt said, as he extended a Dragon Chain to retrieve the, presently, ownerless Calibur of Courage from Hangman's discarded appendage. Once he'd picked it up and brought back to his physical body, he finished, "So you've been what all the fuss is about?" Now that he'd seen it first hand, Matt couldn't help but compare the Calibur to the Master Sword in appearance, minus the Triforce carved near the bottom of the blade. Once he'd grabbed the blade, he felt all of his powers start to supercharge themselves to at least a hundred fold of their normal output; he literally felt like he could do anything! Many people would be overwhelmed by such power, but because the Calibur also boosted his heroic nature and willpower by an equally huge amount, Matt was able to take the increase, grin and bear it!
Not much after the Calibur was in proper hands, the remainder of the group showed up. Dirge:"Where were you guys? You missed all the fun!" Nephthys:"I'm not sure I would call being nearly disintegrated into dust 'fun', Dirge. Still, it all worked out in the end. We have the Calibur, our foes are defeated, and we're all alive." Sky-Lance:"In my case, I've literally come back to life, thanks to Saber." Matt and D.C. mentally noted that her voice no longer sound hollow and monotone, but rather full of life and, well, normal. D.C.:"Well, you certainly sound more like you did when I first met you. I'm glad it all worked out for you, Sky-Lance."
D.C.'s gaze shifted to the child next to her as he said, "So, you still want my crystalline skull on a platter, little man?" Spite had started to speak when Sky-Lance said on his behalf, "He told me about the conversation that the two of you had, Tera Cooler. Were you ever taught the meaning of 'tact'?!" D.C. heard Matt snickering behind him, trying desperately to not outright burst into laughter; D.C.:"Perhaps I could have been more considerate, but I told him the truth, which is what he needed to hear." D.C. kneeled to Spite's eye level and finished, "I am..sorry, you know." Spite:"It's ok, Tera Cooler. It's ok. Sky-Lance, er..Mama confirmed your story. I would have appreciated a tad of 'sugarcoating', but I'm glad you told me the truth. And...any friend of Mama's is a friend of mine." While he had a slightly shocked expression when he heard the boy refer to Sky-Lance as "Mama", it was quickly replaced with a smile and eyes filled with relief that the child no longer sought his destruction.
Shiro:"It's good that everyone's friends and on the same page, but..." "What now?" Matt finished for him. "Well, first," he started to say, while perceptively focusing some of the Calibur's power. "VILLAINS! I banish you back to the Hells from whence you came!" Matt finished, while thrusting the sword into the air. Two beams of light shot out and ascended into the air; off in the distance, a tied up Edwina saw a pillar of light come down from the sky, prompting her to shout, "NOOOOOO!" as she faded away at the light's behest. Omega Bowser was still too unconscious to react as the Calibur's power sent him back to Hell. Back with the heroes, Spite wondered aloud why he and Sky-Lance weren't sent away as well; Matt:"You're not a villain, Spite. At worst, you're a child angrily lashing out at the men who helped lead to your father's downfall, and your new mother is a person...trying to atone for past mistakes. But, above all else, you two are friends; not much else to it." No one needed a further explanation than that, but Sky-Lance nodded a silent "thank you" towards him, nonetheless.
Ichigo:"So, going down the checklist, we united against our foes, we defeated our foes, we got the Calibur back, and sent our enemies back from where the came from, or outright killed them in some cases. All that's left is to go back to our respective homes, I guess." As everyone nodded in agreement, a voice suddenly said, "I believe I can help with that." As everyone looked around the area for the source of the voice, the Calibur had somehow slipped its way out of Matt's grip and began to float in the air! Understandably, everyone's eyes got huge with surprise; the voice was coming from the sword itself!
"Oh, don't look so shocked," the Calibur spoke. "Standing amongst you are, among other things, two talking undead, a ghostly warrior who, to the majority of you, is only visible because of the magical energies flowing through this land, demons, and a dragonic human, yet a sentient sword is what freaks you out? I find that rather ironic, myself." Ichigo:"I didn't really put much thought into it, but now that I think about it, it is kind of weird how all of you can see me. Oh, well, it worked out for the best, so I shouldn't worry about it." "Quite right, Mr. Kurosaki, things worked out for the best thanks to you and your allies," the Calibur continued. In response to Ichigo's face, which clearly said, "How do you know my name?", the Calibur pressed on, "Again, don't look so surprised. I grant the nigh-omnipotent powers of a god to those who wield me; it's only right that I possess those powers myself, even if I can only use them when wielded by another. But, that's an irrelevant point; from the bottom of my metaphorical heart, I thank you all for stopping those villains' plans of misusing my powers for their own personal gains."
The Calibur then pointed it's blade towards Matt and D.C., moving between the two of them before proceeding, "You two, I believe, deserve a special thanks. It was you who first learned of the predicament about to unfold in this world and made efforts to unite the other heroes against it, despite some misunderstandings along the way." The group smiled briefly, remembering the no-holds barred brawl they all had before deciding to work together. Calibur:"As such, I wish to...what's the phrase? Oh, yes. I wish to 'do you both a solid'. Enjoy my gift!" Both of the heroes were suddenly encased in a pillar of white light and immediately started to notice their bodies changing! Matt's already massive body started to grow and expand, and his previously five-fingered hands started to morph into ones with only four fingers! Chains started to appear on Matt's arms, while a choker of a similar design started to appear on his neck. Horns grew from the top of his head, and spikes formed on his back! For D.C.'s part, his eyes started to change from dark blue to a bright green, he began to grow taller, and his crystal-like body started to smooth it's edges out. Finally, both his hands and feet changed to have only three fingers and toes, respectively!
After a few moments, an explosion of fire and ice erupted from Matt and D.C., respectively, before revealing the new forms they both possessed! D.C. felt more powerful than ever, while Matt didn't feel stronger nor weaker, but he had a feeling that whatever this change was, it would be awesome! When the fire around him stopped, Matt roared a triumphant "YEEEAAAHHHH!" before looking down at his hand, noticing it looked decidedly Koopa in nature! The ice stopped at about the same time, revealing that D.C. now looked like a humanoid creature with ever so slightly feline tendencies; he had solid, bright green eyes, a long tail and thick, armored shoulders, both of which were colored a reddish orange, and the rest of his body was a light cyan tint with occasional black growths on his arms and legs. As far as their voices were concerned, they both remained the same, except Matt's became louder in proportion to his size increase, and D.C.'s became slightly hollow in tone. "Your powers as Bowsereon haven't changed a bit, but I brought the dragon in you to the surface; figured you'd appreciate that," the Calibur explained. "But, as for you, I 'ultimized' two of your power contributors to make you stronger than ever," the Calibur told D.C. "Well, that's my 'solid' to you heroes; use my gifts suitably."
With that final comment, the Calibur floated back to Matt's now extremely gargantuan grasp. Matt:"Thank you; we'll be sure to put your gift to proper use. Now, let's all go home." Spite immediately asked, "Wait! Before you send us away, what are we supposed to call you now?!" Matt and D.C. just looked at each other for a brief second, then started to laugh; the child brought up an interesting point. D.C.:"Well, I've been unintentionally using the Metric System's prefixes as the prefix in my names, and the next two after 'Tera' just suck. So, I guess Zeta Cooler will do nicely." Matt:"And like the Calibur said, I'm still Bowsereon, but if you wanted to give me a new title, I suppose 'True' Bowsereon would fit the bill." The two heroes looked at each other again, nodding in silent agreement, then turning back to Spite and his adoptive mother. Matt:"But, in all honesty, we need to set the record straight with you guys. You don't need to call our human forms the 'Host of Bowsereon' or the 'Host of Zeta Cooler'. Hell, you don't have to call our transformations by the names we gave them. They aren't separate entities that we borrow power from; they're actually just us calling upon the full extent of our powers." D.C. nodded, "Matt's right; you need only remember two names for us. My name, my real name, is Dave. He's Matt; just Matt. Can you guys remember that?" Spite:"Sure thing Ze..er, Dave." "Good," D.C. smiled.
"Well, guys, it's been a hell of a ride," Matt said, holding the Calibur aloft as a sort of "summary" for their journey. "It's almost a shame that it has to come to an end, but none of us belong to this world. We all have friends or family waiting for us, probably worried out of their minds." Matt took a look at D.C. then added, "Or, in your case, probably just pissed off." Once everyone finished laughing at his joke, Matt continued, "I don't know how likely, or unlikely, it will be, but, if our paths ever cross again, I hope we can all greet each other as allies and friends." Then, stealing a glance at Jun, he concluded, "Though, preferably without a spine shattering hug as a greeting." Again, everyone present laughed and nodded, sharing the sentiment. Matt held the Calibur as high as his 12 foot body would let him, pointed the Calibur of Courage towards the sky, and stated, "Alright, my friends, I send you back to the lands you call home!"
White pillars appeared from the sky, surrounding everyone, except for Matt and D.C., and caused them to fade gradually out of sight. Matt started to walk towards the Calibur's pedestal, saying, "Well, all of our new friends should be back to their homes in a matter of moments. I don't know about you, but I've had enough of this population-less wasteland; let's get out of here." After they reached the pedestal, Matt inserted the Calibur of Courage back into it's housing and shouted, "Calibur! Send us back to Earth!" Almost instantly, the two heroes noticed a white pillar come down from the sky and surround them, rapidly liberating them from the Calibur's dimension. "See you on the other side, Bro," D.C. said to Matt, flashing him a thumbs up (or as best as he could do with three fingers). Just before he disappeared from the Calibur's domain completely, D.C. caught Matt's toothy grin sent in his direction, before he promptly disappeared as well.
