"Excellent!" Kutaragi clapped his hands together. Shadow had just shown him the chaos emeralds. The All-Stars had called yet another meeting after they all had returned. The victory in San Francisco, and the finding of the seventh Chaos Emerald being the main talking points. "I want to keep them safe here." Shadow explained. "Save them for when I need them the most." Some of the All-Stars were puzzled by the decision. "With such power, you could rule the mortal world!" Zeus exclaimed. "What on earth would saving them do?!" Shadow glared at his arrogant rival. "I need power to keep up that form. Usually it comes from rings, but since rings don't exist here, I figured I should look for another power source." Shadow continued. "You figured you could use some All-Star power to help you mantain your super form." Kutaragi suggested. "Well, if you have any, I guess it could work."

"Yes. I shall save some then, to give us a better chance at victory." He answered. "So what else of note happened?" He asked. The All-Stars that knew looked around awkwardly, wondering which one of them would have to break the news.

"..." Was the consensus. "A love potion, you say?" Isaac Clarke nodded. "It made her fall for him in an instant. Never seen anything like it." He repeated. "Nor have I. It appears this may be unique, so we shouldn't have to worry about it again, but this is indeed worrying." Kutaragi responded. Radec breathed a sigh of relief.

That girl had been a nightmare since day one. Whatever prophecy she believed in, she really believed it. His worst moment was when she managed to get inside the air vents and observe him in his quarters, not that he was doing anything, just that her very presense made his blood boil. She was probably just gullible. Whoever told her that 'the spirits said so' probably did so to get a kick out of it. God help that person if Radec ever found them...

"I think it's more serious than that, Radec." It was the knight of dubious courage, Sir Daniel Fortesque, who said it to him. "Don't push it, Fortesque." Radec hissed. "Maybe he's right." Radec turned to his other side, to see the elf guy. What was his name? Jak, wasn't it? "What do you mean?" Radec asked.

"Well, for a start, who knows what they could do? Maybe she'll join them in fighting us? Maybe she's off your back, but what about the rest of us? All I'm saying is, it could hurt us if we don't know."

"I know she's a handful" Sir Dan chimed in. "You say that like you're her father." Radec shot back. Fortesque ignored him. "But if that fiend Zarok is there, well then, who knows what might happen? It wouldn't be very good, I can tell you that." Radec despised the skeletal knight, but he had a point. "Fine." Radec conceded. "But where should we start looking for her? Have any ideas?" He pressed. "Well...um...I-" "Knowing how much she loves you, she'll be back soon." The orange weasel on Jak's head cut in. Radec was about to lash out at him before Jak told him to stay off. "Not a good idea Dax." He warned his friend. "Sir Dan's probably right. She'll come back eventually."

"Ugh." Calaca wasn't in a good mood.

"Calaca, you old bean, what's wrong this time?" Zarok walked into his law firm, unhit by a flying filing cabinet. "Just have a look out of the window." He sighed, head in his hands. Zarok made his way over to the window overlooking the Lake of Fire, not seeing much wrong. Some of Calaca's minions were trapped there, and aside from that, there was nothing. Then he looked up from the lake and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw a giant face staring back at him. It was Gigadis' face, carved out of rock. "I see." Zarok said, backing away from the window. "That dimwitt Gigadis had to construct that monstrosity just across from my law firm, and now every time I show up here, I can't get anything done! It feels like I'm being watched!" Zarok took another look. "I suppose so. But what can we do?"

"I can help."

The two turned to face Calypso. "How long have you been here?" Calaca asked. "Just got here." He responded. "I'll speak to him about that. As for you two, Bohan wanted to speak to you. At his castle. Currently it's being repaired, so he should be just outside." Zarok didn't trust Calypso in the slightest, ever since Columbia. "What about?" Zarok questioned. Calypso shrugged. "Didn't say. Anyway, he said it was important, and to go and see him right away." Calaca didn't waste any time. "Well, come on Zarok." Before Zarok could protest, Calaca grabbed his arm and took them both off to Bohan.

With them out of the way, Calypso took off towards Gigadis' palace. That was what the massive face was, and truth be told, it was actually unsettling to look at. But what was more unsettling was something Calypso knew Gigadis himself had discovered. He could sense it since he gave him and Calaca that assingment, and now his suspicions could be confirmed, thanks to reports from other villains. Gigadis wasn't going to be walking away from this place.

"So we're going to go for Angel City again?" Mr. Ash asked. "Not straight away. In case of another surprise attack...we need to beat them to the punch. We need something to obliterate them." Kutaragi explained. "If we can go to New Helghan, we may be able to persuade the Autarch there to give us a missile." Mr. Ash raised an eyebrow. "I thought you would be against an idea like that. Don't innocent people live there?" Kutaragi sighed. "I don't agree with the idea, no. But it must be done. If Shadow says this is the only way to get to Polygon Man, well, we have to at least give it a shot. If it pays off, it will all be for the greater good in the end. Please try to understand, all of you. I will not kill anyone who doesn't need to die. You shouldn't either. But if we do not do this, well then, many more will die, for nothing." Mr. Ash nodded in understanding. "I get it. Let's just get this overwith."

The meeting was ended, and the All-Stars returned to their own matters. Jacket finally met up with Mr. Ash again. "Hey." Mr. Ash waved. "Hey man." Jacket replied. "So, you enjoyed yourself on your little vacation?" Jacket laughed. "Yeah. It's good to let off steam every now and then. I didn't even get hit this time. What about you?"

"Well, that's a long story..."

CJ looked out of the window again. "Damn. Again with those sky walls."

"What do you mean, 'again'?" Kobe asked. "I'm saying I've seen these before. In San Andreas. Or at least what's left of it."

It was a good thing Aiden happened to be passing by. "Sky walls?" He repeated, intrigued. CJ pointed outside the window. Aiden hadn't noticed it before, but once he concentrated, he couldn't unsee it. There was a ripple in the sky. Aiden recognized it immediately. Damien was responsible.

"Yeah. I see." Aiden remembered the audio recording in his pocket. Expanding at a mile a minute. Aiden shrugged it off at first, not that he didn't see Damien as a threat, but he knew Damien was tempting him. If he went along with that, he would be killed in no time. He still wasn't going. They had far more pressing matters at hand than Damien, and if they could deal with those, every other problem would fall.

To put it simply, he wasn't going to be baited into an obvious trap.

"Really?!" Jacket couldn't believe it. Two of the five predictions his twisted mind had given him had come true. One of the All-Stars has something in his possession far more dangerous than anyone is prepared for. "Avoid it at all costs and The search for the Master Emerald has uncovered something much darker. It has a lot to do with the villains." had proven true."So that's what he meant..." He muttered. "Him again?" Mr. Ash asked. Jacket nodded. "I can't get him out of my head." Mr. Ash sighed. "Never mind that. What happened with the hostage?" He asked, changing the subject.

"Well, a fight broke out, and I tried to break it up, and..." Mr. Ash knew the rest. He felt sorry for Jacket. He was a murderer, no doubt about it, but he didn't cheer every time he caved someone's skull in. He was his own worst enemy, and he had no idea how he was supposed to deal with it.

"...That guy, Arc, killed Stahl and left as if nothing happened. Some of the others tried to get him to rationalize his actions, but the strange thing was, he had no recollection of anything about him killing Stahl. I don't know if he was bluffing or what, but it's strange." Mr. Ash thought about it for a second. He had seen Arc once before, and even if he didn't, all the All-Stars had their names and faces posted outside the virtual arena. "Yeah. He's kind of weird. Always isolated, sometimes forgets what he's doing while he's doing it, quite strange if you ask me." Jacket had no idea who that guy was, until he killed Stahl, of course. Still, it wasn't like he gave a damn about Stahl's wellbeing, or anything like that.

Most of the others were training or letting off steam in some way. It was actually a really clever idea by Kutaragi to have practice arenas on the airship. More than one, yes. About ten, though nine of them were just small arenas with no space for spectators. The attacks used All-Star power on undefeatable training dummies that were designed like anthropomorphic cats wearing white shirts with a red exclamation mark on the front. No one had any idea why they were designed that way, but they were. Something about that design did make them oddly satisfying to beat up.

John Marston had a lot of steam to let off, continuously shooting the dummy in front of him, imagining it was Edgar Ross.

Dan Hibiki was in another room, under the tutilage of Johnny Cage. Which wasn't the best, to be fair, but it was something. "That's it, concentrate. I want you to reach a Level 3." Dan sighed. "Why?" Johnny stopped fighting for a second. "Seriously? You fought off that concrete lady like she was nothing with that power! If we have that on our side, well then, it'll be a hell of a lot easier to win this war!" Dan shook his head. "I can't. My father wouldn't approve."

Johnny was about to make a smart remark, but he bit his tongue. "Why not?" He asked. "The Satsui No Hado." Johnny was confused. Dan sounded unusually serious. "The Raging Demon. It's a lot of power, but it turns you into a ruthless killing machine." Dan explained. All of a sudden, things made sense. Why Dan was so aggressive when fighting, why he was able to fight, everything.

Most strange of all, Dan's ego had finally been shattered after being beaten to within an inch of his life twice, although no one was complaining.

But was there a possibility he could control it? It was unlikely, but not impossible. He was already on a level two, despite stubbing his toe twenty times and knocking himself out using the Otoko Michi, and was slowly reaching a level three. Johnny had KO'd him about ten times already, without really trying, but he still had to see that again.

If that power could make Dan Hibiki powerful enough to do that, it was worth all the effort.

"LEVEL THREE!"

Dan activated his level three, with the crest on the back of his gi glowing red, as he surrounded himself in a dark purple aura. Turning to Johnny, his eyes were red too. Johnny tried avoiding the attacks, but it was simply impossible. Everything from Dan was unmatchable. His intensity and aggression, his speed, his power, his skill, it was like Johnny had been teleported to an alternate universe where Dan could have been one of the best fighters of all-time easily. As the super ended, Johnny applauded.

"Seriously man. You still think this is a waste of time?" Dan shrugged. "Good. Because you're gonna be knocking out opponents in seconds once you get control of that power."

Danner decided one last try was good enough. He had one last story he could tell her, and that might change her mind. She was reading a comic by a massive tv, used for multiplayer games.

"I thought I should tell you about a kid exactly like you." Maybe it wasn't the best way to open a conversation. Ellie payed attention, but there was that level of doubt and levity that suggested he could try from now until doomsday and not get any reward for his effort. "There was a virus hidden inside him, that could be weaponized to wipe out an entire race. End wars in seconds. I was tasked with getting him to safety."

Ellie said nothing, just listening.

"I remember when I took care of the child. His name was Justus, only ten years old. Kind of like you in a way, everyone saw him as the only way to end the war. But y'know what? At the end of the day, he was still a kid. No one ever treated him that way, except for his parents. They both died, although that seems to be the case for almost everyone I meet nowadays. But even when I became a criminal later on in my career, he still trusted me more than any other person in the world."

There was silence for a few seconds before Danner spoke up again. "There's good and bad in every man. Usually, a man will show his best when things are at their worst. That's something he told me."

Ellie looked at him, confused. "What does that mean?"

"He's not a good person. Very few people are. But the fact that he chose to rescue you, instead of leaving you to die, speaks volumes about his character."

"Cut the bullshit."

"Look, kid. All I'm saying is that you can hold it against him for the rest of your life if you like. But what are you going to get out of it? Satisfaction? You don't look happy to me, kid. Give him one more chance, and I know you won't regret it."

Ellie finally stopped to think. He hit her where she needed to be hit. She wasn't happy with that. She was usually upset or angry, and being mad at Joel only made things much worse. What did she do?

Danner got up to leave. "Hey." Ellie called him before he left. He turned to face her. "Yeah?"

"Thanks for the pep talk." She said, smiling. Danner smirked. "My pleasure, kid."

"What about that kid you helped? Where is he?" Danner shrugged. "Beats me. I had to leave him, for his own good. He was actually..." His voice became distant. "Really upset. I guess I was too." He sighed and left. "I hope he's okay though."

"You don't trust him?" Calaca seemed confused. "I was left for dead by him, of course I don't trust him." Zarok repeated. "I think that though he is ultimately our ally, we must be wary." The wizard explained.

Calaca paused. Maybe he would get some favours from Calypso if he reported that to him. They were currently in Bohan's castle, just leaving after Bohan told them that he needed their help in bringing down Nariko, which neither took to be very important. "You see?" Calaca shook his head. "I don't. Calypso isn't a good man, hombre. But none of us are in that postion to call ouselves good." Zarok shook his head. "I know there's something amiss, and I'll prove it!" In the same room, the villains had all gathered together.

Sigma had finally been repaired along with Vile, and now he was ready to crush X and Zero. "I'll get them, and that useless human who did this and fry him alive!" Metal Sonic spoke up. "I think we need to wait." Sigma laughed a little. "Wait for what? For them to come to us?" Metal didn't move. "That could be the key to us winning." Sephiroth stepped in. "Not likely. We must keep them on their toes."

"How has that worked out for you?" Sephiroth didn't answer. "Exactly. We need them on our turf. That way, we'll have advantages over them that will aid us in victory." Sephiroth still wasn't convinced. "And where do you suppose we should go?" Metal hated himself for saying what he was about to say, but he knew it was their best option. "Calypso's realm. They would first have to find us there, then we could seal off their only means of escape, and outnumber them. It's our best shot."

"We're talking about Calypso here." Sephiroth reminded him. Metal nodded. "I know, but he is powerful. I'm sure he'd be able to swallow his ego for one fight." Sephiroth raised an eyebrow. "You're taking a massive leap of faith with that." Metal ignored him, attempting to call Calypso. What happened was much worse than no answer. Calypso rejected the call.

"That can't be good." Metal muttered under his breath.

"Well, we're here now. Ready for some Petrusite Missiles so we can blow up every single son of a bitch we encounter." Nathan Hale stepped out of the PS Airship as it arrived outside New Helghan. "Stop." Echo stepped up. "I want to go in alone. She's my mother." Hale was going to prtoest, but Kutaragi stopped him, in one of his few moments on the deck of the airship. "I think that would be wise." Hale wanted to argue, but he knew it would be pointless.

He threw his hands up in defeat. "Fine, but just be quick." He didn't want to wait, knowing the threats the villains posed to the world. "It can't be too hard." Cloud put away the Buster Sword, kind of disappointed too. Echo's walk to New Helghan wasn't that long, but it felt like it was dragging on and on. Partially because she knew New Helghan only had one missile, and they wouldn't give it away to any old rag tag team looking for it. Walking up to the Autarch, the guards recognized her, and so didn't stop her.

"Autarch." Echo saluted and then bowed.

"What is it?" Hera Visari demanded. "I'm not in a position to be granting favours." Echo went ahead anyway. "Autarch, you don't understand, we-" "I'm afraid it is you who does not understand, Echo." The Autarch interrupted her. "War is approaching fast. We won't be looking after anyone except our own." Echo shook her head. "If you give us the Petrusite Missile, then-" "What?!" Visari was shocked. "You have the audacity to come asking for our best means of defence for your own personal use?! Get out of my sight! Don't waste my time again!" Before Echo could protest, the guards had their guns trained, and were escorting her outside.

Things were going to get ugly.

Gigadis sat in his throne, trying to gather the necessary courage to...well...I'm sure you can put the pieces together. His soon to be wife was sitting in another throne, just across from his. She wore her usual attire, but her hair was down. Gigadis insisted that she change into something more regal, and she was more than happy to oblige. Unfortunately, Gigadis couldn't control himself, and so while her hair cascaded down her shoulders, blood cascaded down from the Hell Prince's nose. This happned several days in a row. So they were taking their time, looking over the lake of fire, waiting for Gigadis to calm down. Kuu had fallen asleep after several long hours of protest against Gigadis, currently resting on Pupuru's lap. They seemed alone in that place, alongside the souls of the damned, but they didn't have a say in the matter really.

To be fair, it wasn't much of a view. Calaca's law firm selfishly obstructed the view of the barron wasteland Calypso had, with his tower sticking out like a sore thumb. Aside from one hill, and possibly the only tree in hell that wasn't a mangled soul. Gigadis knew that was how Mr. Ash and co. escaped, as Calypso explained the concept to him when they first met.

Thinking about Calypso now was enough to send chills down his spine. He knew and accepted that Calypso was extremely malevolent and untrustworthy, but that video...that was just too much. It was something everyone was concerned about, but no one thought he would actually be like that. Did they?

That was another chilling thought. What if he and Damien weren't alone in knowing about it, but they were the only ones concerned? No, that couldn't be it. Otherwise Calypso wouldn't be so cautious as to let nothing slip.

"Is everything okay?"

Gigadis snapped out of his thoughts and turned to Pupuru. "Yes, everything is ok. I was just-"

Footsteps.

"Wonder who that could be?" Gigadis asked himself, turning to the door.

Calypso appeared at the door, walking towards the thrones with his hands behind his back. Stopping before Gigaids, his arms returned to his side.

"Gigadis, I know you watched the video."

Gigadis froze. "What?" Calypso clicked his fingers. Pupuru immediately snapped out of her trance. "Wha-wait, where am I?" She looked down at the Lake of Fire and felt herself become weak. "Is this...Hell?!" Calypso walked towards her, grinning sinisterly. "Correct. Would you like to stay here?" Pupuru backed away from the Twisted Metal host, until she hit the ledge. Gigadis just stood there, with a look of horror frozen on his face. "Why didn't you follow my orders? All you had to do was get rid of the video, and no one had to get hurt. Now look where we are." He said, taunting Gigadis. "I guess I'll just have to kill Brenks myself." He chuckled. "But not before your darling queen."

"Kuuuu!" Kuu jumped into action, attempting to devour Calypso. Despite his best attempts, Calypso remained firmly in place. However, he turned to Kuu, leaving his back faced to Pupuru.

As Calypso turned back to Pupuru again, his face was assaulted by searing flames, causing him to scream out as they burnt his face and blinded him. Gigadis saw his opportunity. He needed to get both of them out of here before Calypso got them. Pupuru and Kuu, that is. As for him...

Sprouting wings and picking up Kuu, despite his protests, he called out to Pupuru. "Quickly! Grab on!" The terrified sorceress ran over to him without hesitation, grabbing onto him as Kuu finally calmed down, Gigadis felt like she might rip his skin off if she gripped any harder. Over the lake of fire, Pupuru's fear intensified. The fact alone that she trusted him enough to let him carry her was proof enough that she was completely scared out of her wits. She had her head buried in his chest, in such a way that if Gigadis wasn't on a time limit, he might have been in Heaven.

Being a demon, he was lightning quick, and before long he found the small mountain. The one with the tree nearby. "Go through that mountain!" He ordered. "Wh-What-Giagdis! Why should I trust you?!" She questioned, still shaking as he set her down on her feet. Gigadis didn't even pause, simply blurting out the first thing to pop into his head. "Because if you don't you won't live to regret it!" He pushed her forward. Looking back over her shoulder once more, she grabbed a hold of Kuu, closed her eyes and ran towards the mountain, eyes closed, not wanting to bear witness to the unspeakable horrors going on around her.

Gigadis sighed. He had just let the love of his life go, and would probably never see her again. As if on cue, Calypso showed up, surrounding himself in his own hellish flames. His face was starting to heal from the burns, but he still had some way to go.

"You'll regret that Gigadis. I'll get you, then Brenks."

"Then what? You're gonna throw us in a cell? No cell can hold me!" Calypso chuckled. "I know that. Death is the fate I have in store for you, Gigadis." Gigadis felt his stomach drop.

"Maybe you'll kill me, Calypso." He muttered, as claws shot out of his hands. "But I'm going to hold you off for as long as I can!"

Author's Note

So, Calypso figured out that Gigadis had seen the video, now they're locked in a fight to the death. Not much to say here. I hope to have two more action oriented chapters after the next one, which I've been saving for a while.

Also been playing LA Noire recently with a friend, and I find it hilarious how Cole Phelps will say the most asinine bullshit with 100% confidence because you told him too. Won't be including him in the All-Stars, but he will be in a future fic.

Until Next Time!