Random Pointless Rambling: Remakes of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire! Woohoo! But I don't have a 3DS… I'm more used to playing Pokemon games using emulators and with cheat codes, though.
Forgot to mention this in the previous chapter… The purplish-black smoke released by Hina is, according to her, misfortune in its physical state. She infuses her attacks with the smoke to curse her opponents when she hits them. It may look like nothing at first, but those hit by her "misfortune-powered" attacks will run into unfortunate things shortly afterwards, which is what happened to Cheetah when a squirrel ran across her feet and distracted her, thus allowing Mamizou's attack to hit her.
Chapter 38
Prison Breakout
Most or all of the inmates of Stryker's Island had somehow broke out of their prison cells and were causing havoc and trying to find a way off the island, which was situated some distance off the coast of Metropolis.
There was a ship docked at the harbor, and needless to say, the inmates were making their way towards it to get off the place. They could've gotten away faster if it weren't for the guards interfering with them.
However, some of the inmates had superpowers, and it was thanks to them that they were leaning towards the winning side. Even so, the guards managed to hold them back and not let them escape faster than they could.
Some inmates managed to escape the guards' notice and get close to the ship, but Superman suddenly landed in front of them and asked, "Going somewhere?"
"It's Superman!" they gasped before turning to run, because they knew well they were no match for the Man of Steel.
A shadow went over them, and when they looked up, they saw Batman dropping out of the Bat Plane and landing right in front of them. Before they could do anything, the Dark Knight slammed the heads of two inmates together to knock them out, while the others ran in another direction.
While the other inmates were running and fighting the guards, amulets shot down from the sky and hit them, causing miniature explosions that knocked them onto the ground. Reimu then dropped down from the sky and landed in the midst of some of them.
"Who are you?!" one of them asked her.
Not bothering to answer his question, since she couldn't understand him, the shrine maiden started attacking the inmates with physical attacks. She was able to take down the ones who attacked her as well.
Marisa suddenly swooped down from the air and zoomed across the place on her broom, leaving behind a trail of glittering stars in the process, and knocked down inmates who were in the way. The witch then swooped into the air, got off her broom, and floated onto the ground. "All right! Who wants to fight-da ze?" she asked with an enthusiastic look while adjusting her hat.
Not too far away, an inmate managed to claim the baton of a guard and was using it against him. He was about to give him a powerful strike when Mokou suddenly appeared from above, caught his hand, and pushed it down backwards to make him fall on his back.
The inmate got back up and looked at the immortal before attacking her, but she easily caught his hand when he swung down the baton and then kneed him so hard that he fell over.
Making sure that the inmates wouldn't be able to use the ship to escape, Superman went under the sea and, placing his hands, underneath the ship, moved away from the island to move the latter farther and farther away from it, much to the shock of the inmates and guards who didn't know what was going on.
Superman moved the ship about half a kilometer away from the shore, and then he reemerged from the sea and flew back to the island, landing in front of the surprised inmates. "Sorry, the ship's not in service today," he said to them. "Be good boys and girls and return to your prison cells right away. I promise that none of you will get hurt if you do as I say!"
"Like that's going to happen so easily, Superman!" shouted a monstrous voice. From amidst the inmates, a bizarre being with purple skin rushed forward with his hand reached out to the Man of Steel.
"Parasite!" Superman quickly said before flying out of the way the last second.
Parasite turned to the airborne Kryptonian and said, "Get down here so I can steal your powers and then fly out of here!"
"You just gave away what you want to do, you know?" Superman said to him. "But then, I would probably know what you plan to do using your power even without you saying it in the first place…"
Parasite smirked as his hands caught fire, and then he shot a stream of said element at the Man of Steel with one hand. Superman easily dodged it and asked in surprise, "Where did you get that ability from?!"
"Saw some girl doing this, so I sneaked up on her from behind and took it from her, sucking her dry in the process!" replied the purple villain.
"Mokou!" said Superman in surprise. However, he remembered the kind of person she was, so he didn't worry too much about her condition. The Man of Steel then took a deep breath before blowing cold air at Parasite, encasing him in ice in a short amount of time.
However, thanks to the ability he got from Mokou, Parasite was able to thaw himself by generating heat. The villain snickered at how convenient it was to have an ability that suited a time like this.
"You freak!" shouted the voice of Mokou as she jumped at Parasite from behind and hit him in the side of the head with a fiery roundhouse kick.
KICK!
The villain was sent tumbling to the side. He got back up and glared at her while asking, "How are you still alive?!"
As she didn't understand what he was saying, the immortal ignored his question and pressed forward in attacking him, throwing fiery punches and kicks. Her fiery power wasn't the only thing Parasite absorbed; he also absorbed her fighting skills, so he was able to block them as if he had training in dealing with close-range combat.
After dealing with some of the inmates with the help of Reimu and Marisa, Batman went up to one of the guards, who thanked him for the help.
"Who started this breakout?" the Dark Knight asked him. "And are there still inmates in there?"
"We haven't found out who started this breakout yet, and there are still some in there," replied the guard. "Due to this place being located out at sea, not all of them believe they can make it out of here, so they thought of at least taking over this prison and holding the guards hostages."
"Then I'll deal with them," said Batman, and then he turned to Reimu and Marisa. "The two of you come with me. Superman and Mokou should be able to deal with everything out here."
"Yeah, we have to find Seija and stop her, assuming she's still here," agreed Reimu.
Iku had the television provided by Lex Luthor opened up from behind, and she was tingling around with the wires and various important parts inside. As she was doing so, the other three girls with her watched with great interest at what she was doing.
"Are you really sure you know what you're doing?" Yuugi asked her.
"Trust me; I have a lot of study in this sort of thing," Iku told her. "The kappa asked me for help with their inventions before because almost all of them require electricity, and according to them, I'm one of the best sources for it in Gensokyo. During my time with them, I've learned a lot about electronics and technology. Fixing and modifying something like this shouldn't be too hard for me."
"Wow! You're smart, sister Iku!" commented Flandre.
"It's probably useless telling you this," Iku said without taking her head away from the back of the television, "but from what I've studied about a television, I noticed that some of the wirings inside is a bit different from what I've seen. It's not different in the way that it's entirely something else, but rather, it's the same kind of thing I've seen before, only changed in some ways by someone's hands."
"What are you trying to say?" asked Yuugi.
"It means this television might have been modified to only show certain programs," replied Iku. "Either this is an error on the manufacturer's part, or someone did this on purpose because there are certain things he doesn't want us to find out."
"Okay, I think this should do," said Iku as she connected the last wire into its rightful place.
Inmates were getting beaten up and occasionally thrown around the place, as the combined force of Batman, Reimu, and Marisa was too much for them to handle, even when they attempted surprise attacks on them.
"So where are we supposed to be going?" Marisa asked the Dark Knight.
"The security room," he replied. "We'll be able to get a good look at most of the place using the footages there. We'll decide what to do after that." He then looked up at a nearby security camera. "It's a safe bet to say that some of them are in there and keeping an eye on us this very moment."
"I was hoping you would say that sooner or later!" said a voice that came from a hidden speaker.
"Who said that?! And from where?!" Marisa asked in surprise.
Recognizing the voice, Batman said, "Toyman."
"I am currently the eyes, ears, and mouth of Stryker's Island, Batman!" said the voice of Toyman. "I am also in control of the security system! I can keep you from progressing anytime I want to, but why trap your enemies when you can do something worse to them?"
Ignoring what he said, Batman asked in a slightly raised voice, "Where are the hostages? Don't you dare lay a hand on them!"
"It's true there are hostages, and now that you said it, I think I should toy around with you regarding those hostages. Heeheehee!" replied Toyman.
"I told you not to lay a hand on them!" said Batman angrily.
"If you really want to rescue the hostages, then you better get to the warden's room as fast as you can, because I'm going to give orders to the inmates there to kill them if you're too late!" explained Toyman. "Of course, there's no fun in you getting there with ease, so someone is on his way there to make things hard for you!"
Shortly after he said this, footsteps could be heard coming from around the corner, so the three got into defensive stances. Suddenly, the sound of a wall getting busted through could be heard, much to their surprise. "What was that just now?!" asked Marisa.
The three remained cautious while keeping their eye at the corner up front, and all of a sudden, someone charged out of the wall next to the two girls and pushed them through the one on the other side.
CRASH! CRASH!
"Reimu! Marisa!" Batman gasped. He looked through the hole they went into and saw a tall and bulky robot with green light shining from certain parts of his body. "Metallo!"
Metallo turned around slightly to look at him and said, "Friends of yours, I presume? Heheh! Watch as I crush them like bugs in front of your eyes!"
Reimu and Marisa got back up, and the latter asked, "Who is this?"
"That's Metallo," Batman told her. "He's a cyborg who runs on kryptonite, a green, radioactive rock that is capable of causing harm to Superman. It's located in where his heart is, so if you take it out, he will stop functioning!"
"Thanks for the tip," Reimu said to him as she took out several paper amulets. "Knowing the enemies' weak spots is a surefire way to victory!"
Even though Batman wanted to help them take on Metallo, he knew he had to get to the prisoners before it was too late. "Can I trust the both of you to take on him?" he asked the girls. "They're trying to stall us to keep us from getting to the prisoners, and they're going to kill them if we don't get there in time!"
"Go ahead! We'll take care of this metallic freak ourselves-da ze!" Marisa said to him.
"Just leave him to us, so go now! Saving people's lives is more important!" Reimu told the Dark Knight.
"All right! Be careful! I'll come back to help you when I'm done!" said Batman before turning to leave.
"You're not going anywhere!" Metallo said as he started following him, but he was blasted in the back by Reimu's amulets and Marisa's star-shaped projectiles. He turned around to face them angrily and said, "Fine! I'll deal with you girls first!"
Mokou attacked Parasite relentlessly with both close-ranged attacks and fiery projectiles, but the latter was able to block them, though he would occasionally fight back. Mokou didn't dodge most of his attacks and even looked like she was putting no effort into dodging them.
After Parasite sent her flying back a few feet with a punch, the latter released a large blast of fire at him. He quickly countered by releasing an equally large blast of fire, and embers flew all over the place when the fiery attacks of both sides collided with each other.
"Fire Phoenix!" Mokou shouted as she shot a fiery bird-shaped projectile through the explosion afterwards. It came out of the other side unscathed and collided into Parasite, blasting him back a few steps. Mokou then ran at Parasite with one hand pulled back. "Fujiyama Volcano!" Then she unleashed a punch that caused an explosion reminiscent of a volcano erupting when it came in contact with the villain's body.
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!
Parasite flew back a great distance from the powerful punch and came close to flying off one side of the island. He got back up while growling in anger and pain, but then he saw that the wound inflicted on him was slowly healing by itself.
A pair of fiery wings appeared at Mokou's back, and then she flew forward at a fast speed and rammed her head against Parasite's body, sending him off the island. The villain fell into the water, but came back out of it and flew into the air shortly afterwards. He was surprised that he was able to fly and assumed that it must be something Mokou was able to perform as well.
"Fujiyama Volcano!" Mokou shouted as she attacked with the "volcanic" punch again. Parasite managed to dodge it this time, and then he pulled back his fist to attack with the same attack, and he was successful in hitting Mokou and making her hurtling through the air. After coming to a stop, she angrily said, "Don't think you can fight on equal terms with me just because you're using my powers! I've been using them since forever, so I can use them better in every way than you!"
After increasing the size of her wings while covering herself in fire entirely, Mokou charged forward faster than before. Parasite quickly moved to the side, but when Mokou made a quick and small u-turn, she attacked him in the head with a roundhouse kick that knocked him through the air. Parasite came to a stop and growled in anger as he shot several fireballs at her, but the fire around her protected her by absorbing them as she flew in his direction.
Parasite attacked with Fujiyama Volcano again, but Mokou went underneath his fist and countered with the same move. "Fujiyama Volcano!"
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!
The villain was sent flying back in the direction of the island and made a rough landing. He got back up while glaring at Mokou as she came towards him. "I'll get you for this!" he said. He was going to create a large amount of fire in his hands, only to find that he was unable to do so anymore. "Curses! Time is up!"
Surprised at being unable to use her powers anymore gave the immortal the opportunity to charge into him with her head again. Parasite flew back from her and tumbled against the ground, and when he got back up, he received a fiery punch to the face. Mokou then attacked him nonstop with fiery punches and kicks. She ended things with a powerful uppercut to his chin. "Fujiyama Eruption!"
SMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!
A relatively large fiery explosion was created when her fist came in contact with Parasite, and the villain was sent shooting into the air as a result. When the explosion and smoke died down, a crater was revealed to be underneath where Mokou was standing on. When Parasite fell back down, Superman caught him and then settled the unconscious villain carefully onto the ground.
"That was amazing!" commented the Man of Steel. "Normally, it's unadvised to perform such dangerous-looking attacks on your opponents, but Parasite is very durable, so I think he should be all right."
"I get carried away at times," said Mokou.
"We all have to learn to control ourselves," Superman told her, "but anyway, good work! I'm pretty much done rounding up the rest. All that's left are the ones inside, but I'm sure Batman and your friends can handle things themselves."
Batman finally arrived at the warden's room using the air vent. Looking through the grating, he saw some staff members of the prison and the warden himself seated close to one side of the room, and all around them were armed inmates. From his location and angle, he wasn't able to see every part of the room, so it was possible that there might be some inmates located or hiding in places out of his sight.
The vent was located in a place where there was no way he wouldn't be seen if he removed the grating and got out, and he feared that the distance between it and the hostages was enough for the inmates to lay hands on them if the former spotted him.
He observed the room as closely as he could for things that could help him take out the inmates and rescue the hostages, and then he noticed some buttons on the warden's desk. Wanting to know what those buttons were for, he looked around again and noticed something peculiar about the windows.
After wondering if things were really what he thought it was, the Dark Knight decided to take the risk. Even if things didn't end up what he thought it was, what he was going to do next would at least surprise and distract the inmates and perhaps help him get to the hostages in time.
Taking out a small device with a red button and a batarang, Batman looked at a particular button on the desk carefully. After taking a deep breath, he pressed the button on the device, which caused the lights to flicker and then turn off. Almost at the same time he pressed the button, he also pushed off the grating and then threw the batarang at the button on the desk. It was a direct hit, and this caused steel panels to come down in front of the windows, sealing them completely.
Due to the lights going out and sunlight being prevented from coming in, the whole room became dark. The inmates started panicking and aimed their guns in various directions, trying to defend themselves at whoever might come after them.
As Batman was very used to seeing in the dark and moving around in it, to the point where one could say he was more used to moving around in the dark than in the light, he was able to take out all the inmates in less than a minute using his fists. After all the inmates were out cold, he pressed the same button on the device to make the lights return. One could see unconscious inmates scattered around the floor and the hostages with surprised looks on their faces.
"Is this all of you?" he asked the prisoners.
"Behind you! On the ceiling!" said the warden hastily. The Dark Knight immediately turned around while taking out and holding a batarang in a way ready to throw it and saw a girl upside-down on the ceiling and lying on her front.
"So it's the so-called Batman who made it here first, eh?" said Seija. "I wonder what happened to the shrine maiden and the witch. You'd think they'd come here first to look for me, but I guess since they don't know I'm here, it's only natural they aren't in a hurry, I guess."
Batman said the amanojaku's name in an angry-sounding tone, while the hostages stood back up. He then told them to leave the room and also to take the inmates back to their cells if they could.
"What about you?" the warden asked him.
"I'll deal with her," the Dark Knight told him.
As the staff members started doing what Batman told them to do, Seija smirked as she snapped her fingers. When the guards tried moving forward after picking up the inmates, they found themselves moving backwards instead, much to their confusion. They tried to push forward hard, only to find themselves moving backwards just as hard.
As they questioned what was happening, Batman turned to Seija and asked her, "It's your doing, right?"
"I heard you're very smart, so you do the deduction yourself," Seija told him with a smile.
Batman then turned to the staff members and told them, "Try moving backwards instead. You should move forward that way." They did as he said, and they indeed found themselves moving forward. "Move like that from now on. She used her power to make your movements reversed. Things should return to normal after a while."
"We will try," said the warden before leaving the room with the staff members. Some of them were still trying to get used to moving in such an awkward manner.
After all of them left the room, Seija snapped her fingers again and caused energy arrows to appear in front of the door, all of them pointing in the direction of the guards. Seeing this, Batman quickly took out his grappling hook and pulled the trigger while swinging it at the door. The hook extending and the device being swung to the side at the same time caused the former to hit the door and slam it shut just before the arrows flew outside and hit the staff members.
"Quick thinking, eh?" commented Seija with a somewhat unimpressed look.
"Leave them out of this! Your opponent is me!" Batman angrily said to her.
"Sure, why not? Let's hope you can entertain me!" said Seija before snapping her fingers. Batman got into a defensive stance, and the amanojaku suddenly lunged at him. When Batman tried to raise his hand to counter her, they moved back instead, so she was able to pin him onto the floor with her hands around his neck, trying to strangle him.
The Dark Knight was able to pry her hands off his neck and then flung her onto the warden's desk. He got back up and glared at her as she got onto a crouching position. "Nice try on realizing that I reversed your movements so fast!" she said to him. "You really seem to be as smart, skilled, and adaptive as they say!"
"I know pretty much everything about what you can do, so you have no chance of winning against me!" Batman said to her.
"Oh really? I fear that things are going to be the other way round! Heheheh!" the amanojaku said with an evil and demented-looking face and then licked her lips.
Back in Gensokyo, the machine used for finding where the lost girls were was finally close to completion.
As Kanako, Yukari, and a kappa scientist watched as the other kappa and fairies do their work, the latter said to the former two with her eyes glued to a paper. "Going at this rate, we should be able to complete it in about an hour or less. Remember that this machine is made to work with Miss Yakumo's power."
"Yes, we've been through this already," said Yukari. "I will channel my energy into the machine in order to create a portal that will lead to wherever they are."
"However, creating something like this is new to us, so I can't guarantee it working one-hundred percent perfectly," said the kappa. "I recommend that we finish things up as fast as possible."
"Don't worry; I'm sure we can get them all back in a jiffy!" said Yukari with confidence.
TO BE CONTINUED
GAME2002 EXTRA SHOW
Meiling Hong
Chinese demon. Gatekeeper of Remilia Scarlet's mansion. Chinese kung-fu expert. Aware of surroundings even when asleep, and wakes up instantly in response to intruders and dangers. Demon in nature means higher physical strength than normal humans. Can further increase strength using rainbow-colored aura and other forms of chi-related techniques. Medium threat level.
The Atom: I'm suddenly reminded of Ryan…
Shinmyoumaru Sukuna
Dwarf, only about an inch tall. Wields mallet called Miracle Mallet, which grants wishes. Mallet can only be used by dwarves, and prices will have to be paid if the wishes are too big. Relies on mallet to increase size of own projectiles and is virtually defenseless without it. Gullible. Low threat level.
Red Robin: I know the story Little One Inch. He actually exists in their world and she is his descendant? That hammer is the very same one he took from the oni? Wow! This is a fairy tale come true!
Seija Kijin
Amanojaku, subspecies of oni, but appears to not be the case in their world. Ability to reverse things, be it movement or positioning. Notorious fugitive in own world. While not a powerful fighter, is a dangerous person due to having a manipulative, deceptive, and wicked mind. Medium to high threat level.
Martian Manhunter: She reminds me quite a bit of the Joker.
Benben Tsukumo
Living lute, or biwa, a kind of Japanese lute. Once tried to overthrow society to avenge mistreated tools, but no longer interested in it. Uses sound as attack. Has a younger sister named Yatsuhashi. Granted life by Shinmyomaru's Miracle Mallet. Low threat level.
Black Canary: It's hard to believe that someone looking as kind as her participated in such a plot before…
Yatsuhashi Tsukumo
Living koto, a type of Japanese string instrument. Younger sister of Benben, though only because they were granted life at around the same time, not due to blood relationship. Uses sound as attack. Hyperactive unlike sister, who is calm and quiet. Granted life by Shinmyomaru's Miracle Mallet. Low threat level.
Green Arrow: Now I'm curious what my bow would look like if it was given a human form…
Raiko Horikawa
Living drum. Possesses electrical powers and also fights using sound. Instigator of the plot to overthrow society to avenge tools, but no longer interested in doing so. Usually laid-back, but is aggressive when fighting. Granted life by Shinmyomaru's Miracle Mallet. Originally a taiko drum, but switched to a modern day drum set to avoid losing magical power and changing back into a normal drum. Also taught this method to Benben and Yatsuhashi. Medium threat level.
Katana: I'm getting a Raijin vibe out of her…
Fujiwara no Mokou
Immortal due to drinking a potion called the Hourai Elixir, created by Eirin. Can heal from all kinds of injuries in a short amount of time and even regenerate from a single cell. Over a thousand years old. Possesses fire-based power and is highly skilled in close range combat. Detests Kaguya due to the latter making her father perform an impossible task that ended in humiliation when he asked her for her hand in marriage. Somewhat easily agitated. Medium threat level.
Jon Stewart: Let me get this straight… The person she hates the most and wants to kill almost became her mother at one point… Sounds a bit messed up if you ask me…