WRESTLING WITH SLAYERS WRESTLING WITH SLAYERS Part One TRANSLATION NOTE: MAZOKU = One from a race of evil. A demon, or monster

TOWN OF SALRAG

Lina Inverse and friends looked at the person before them. All their attempts had failed so far. Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis were almost too tired to stand. And Xelloss... well... Xelloss wasn't around.

Lina narrowed her eyes, and began the incantation.

"LINA!" Zelgadis shouted, "You can't go Dragon Slaving everyone just because they won't let us rent a room!!"

Lina glared at him, "Zel, this is the third Inn we've been too! We're all tired and starving. I WANT TO EAT AND I WANT TO SLEEP!" Lina shouted.

"I... I'm sorry ma'am but... we're FULL!!" the Innkeeper repeated, stepping away from the red aura surrounding the sorceress in front of him.

"We haven't had a decent meal or sleep in TWO days!! We've scoured the town only to find that EVERY single Inn is filled to the maximum!! SOMEONE has to pay for denying me a bed and supper!! If you won't let us in..." Lina's voice became low, "I'll have to take drastic measures!"

"Zel is right, you know..." a voice said from behind Lina.

Lina turned to see who dared interrupt her rant, "Xelloss!!" She started, "Where have you---" then stopped when she noticed him snacking on a large chicken leg. Her eyes went wide, and she smiled sweetly, "Xelloss!! Surely you can share a piece of that with your best friend, Lina... right??"

Xelloss looked at his food, "No I can't..." he said as he stuffed the rest in his mouth.

Lina frowned, "XELLOSS!! Tell me where you got the food!! TELL ME NOW!"

Xelloss smiled, "You want to know where I got the food??"

Lina nodded.

Xelloss motioned for her to come closer. She did so, "Well... you see..." he started.

Lina leaned in, eagerly awaiting the answer.

Xelloss winked, "That is a secret!"

Lina screamed and proceeded to strangle the purple-haired man in front of her, "You truly ARE Mazoku! You're so cruel!!"

Gourry pulled Lina off Xelloss, lest the trouble-making Mazoku take exception to her actions.

But, as usual, Xelloss simply smiled.

Gourry sighed, holding a struggling Lina, "Why are the Inns so busy?"

Zelgadis glared at Xelloss, "And if you say 'it's a secret...'" he warned.

"Oh... that is no secret..." Xelloss explained. "It's quite simple, really. Odd things are happening in the neighboring town. Apparently, a lot of people have shown up out of nowhere. The townsfolk of Dalnar could use some help. They were frightened by the out-of-towners, and ran here to Salrag. "

"What are all those out-of-towners doing in Dalnar, Mr. Xelloss?" Amelia asked.

"Ahhh... now that is a secret!" Xelloss replied.

Zelgadis let out an annoyed grunt, and grabbed for Xelloss, but only found himself grabbing at thin air, "Stupid Mazoku!" Zelgadis muttered angrily. Once again, Xelloss had disappeared.

The Innkeeper looked at the group in front of him, and the space where Xelloss had been. "OUT! All of you OUT!"

***

TOWN OF DALNAR

Vince McMahon, owner of the World Wrestling Federation, looked around the Arena he had rented for the weekend, "This will do quite nicely. It's a shame that everything seems to be a throwback from the middle ages though... " he sighed.

"That's all right, pops! Hey... it could work out. Think of this - a wrestler from the middle ages!!" Shane McMahon, the co-owner, replied.

Vince looked at his son, and shook his head, "No."

"But... we need SOMETHING to interest the townspeople! This is a different place all together! With different people! They may not like what we have to offer,"

"WHO wouldn't like what the WWF has to offer?!" Vince asked, surprised.

"Uh... all the townsfolk who ran to the next town the moment we arrived..." Shane replied.

Vince brushed that explanation away, "Perhaps it's a holiday and they went to visit their families. Besides, who needs the townspeople? We have WWF fans filling out this place!"

Shane decided it was pointless to argue, and headed off to do some paper work.

***

TOWN OF SALRAG

"I'm curious about what Xelloss said was going on in the next town..." Lina began as the quartet continued their search for an Inn. "Besides, there's nowhere to eat or sleep here. We could probably find a nice Inn in Dalnar..."

Amelia jumped up on a nearby pole, and addressed the people on the street, "To those from Dalnar -- If the out-of-towners are scaring you away from your homes, never fear!! We shall smite them with the hammer of justice!"

Lina rolled her eyes, "Amelia... get down from there..."

Amelia paid no attention, and continued her speech, "If you wish to be back in your homes, then we shall grant that wish!"

Lina quickly joined Amelia up on the pole, "We will grant that wish... for a small fee!"

"Miss Lina!" Amelia gasped, "That's not fair..."

"And going hungry and sleepless isn't fair either. Now let's go to the next town and see what's happening," Lina replied.

The quartet headed on their way.

***

TOWN OF DALNAR

ONE DAY LATER

Lina and the others were awed by what awaited them in Dalnar. Many outsiders, mostly teenage males, were running around, cursing at each other, making rude gestures, and being generally loud and annoying. "What's going on here!!" Zelgadis asked one of them.

"Finally, the World Wrestling Federation has come BACK to Dalnar." One excited outsider shouted.

"All this for a bunch of WRESTLERS?!" Lina asked.

"Not just ANY wrestlers!! The best sports entertainment has to offer!" Another outsider replied, "And if you're not down with that, I got two words for ya!!" he said, and followed it up with a rude catchphrase.

Lina fumed, "How about you suck my DRAGON SLAVE instead, you little---" Lina began, but Gourry dragged her away from the obnoxious boy before she could finish her incantation.

"Come on, Miss Lina..." Amelia said, "We need to stop these enemies of justice!"

"Let go, Gourry!!" Lina demanded. Gourry quickly complied, and she almost fell over from her own momentum.

Before Lina had a chance to admonish Gourry for his clumsiness, a man came up to the group. He was holding out two thin strips of paper, "Hey... want some tickets for the WWF show at the Dalnar Dome tonight?? Only 100 gold pieces..."

Lina looked at the ticket, "100 gold pieces?? It says here it's only worth 25 gold pieces!! Are you trying to rip us off?!" Lina shouted, eyes narrowed.

"Uh... no... not at all..." the man sputtered, then quickly ran away.

Zelgadis repeated his earlier question, "What is going ON here!!"

"I don't know... but let's head out to the Dalnar Dome!" Lina replied.

***

The quartet snuck around the back of the Dalnar dome, "What is THIS?" Lina asked as she stepped up to a large metal contraption sitting in the backlot of the Dome. She looked around the object, and saw rubber snake-like things coming from different parts of it. She kicked at one.

It didn't move.

A few feet away sat three metal steps. The steps led to a door in the contraption. Lina quickly climbed up to the door, and kicked it open.

Her eyes went wide when she saw within the contraption 3 men and 2 women. They seemed to be pressing buttons on the lighted units that lay in front of them. They looked at her for a moment, then simply returned to their tasks unfazed.

Lina spoke loudly, "Why have you driven the people of Dalnar out of their homes??!"

One man stood up, "I'm the director here, and you're not authorized to be in this area!! The WWF mobile truck is off limits to fans!"

Amelia spoke, "We don't know what the WWF is, and we're not fans of it! But you have frightened the townspeople from their homes! That is unjust! I, Amelia Wil Telsa Sailune, must take action!"

The director said something to a woman beside him, and she picked up a strange box he called a walkie-talkie. She spoke into it and the director turned to Lina and the others,"We have called security. You will be taken off this property in 2 minutes!"

"No we won't!" Amelia said, "Because we have justice on our side!" and with that, she jumped down the steps, and ran into the building a few feet away.

"Amelia!" Lina called out, and ran after her. Gourry, and Zelgadis followed.

***

When they entered the building, Lina and the others slowed down. They were silent as they carefully snuck around the hallways. The silence was broken by the sound of Footsteps rushing down a nearby corridor and soon, four men wearing black shirts came around a corner, "WWF SECURITY! We demand you leave the premises RIGHT NOW!" one shouted.

"FIRE BAAAAAAAAAAAAALL!!" Lina shouted, and a ball of flames headed towards the security men. They quickly turned tail and ran, one muttering something about not getting enough injury pay to head off a ball of fire.

"Wimps..." Zelgadis said, and the quartet continued on their way - until they were interrupted once again.

"HEY!! You there!!" A voice shouted behind them. The group spun around to see an older man dressed in a gray suit, "Who are you, how did you get in, and what did you do to my security men?"

"Your security men ran away!" Zelgadis replied.

"You're not allowed to be here!! The dressing rooms are off limits to fans!" the man shouted.

"Again with the fans thing! I am not a fan of anything except food and money, Mr... whatever

your name is!" Lina asked.

"The name is McMahon...!" Then he took a closer look at Lina, a thought forming in his mind,

"hmmm... cute face, flaming red hair... but no chest - though silicon could fix that quite nicely..."

Gourry, Amelia, and Zelgadis quickly backed away from a fuming Lina.

"No CHEST??? How DARE you mention the ONE thing I'm most sensitive about!! FIRE BAAAAAALL!!" She shouted, and Mr. McMahon barely jumped out of the way of the red ball heading towards him.

Mr. McMahon looked back to Lina, "How did you do that?!" he gasped

"It's called MAGIC...!" Zelgadis replied, and began an incantation of his own.

"Wait! WAIT!!" Mr. McMahon said, then looked at Lina "You said you were a fan of money... right?"

Lina put a hand up to Zelgadis, "Zel... hold on..." she told him. Zel stopped his incantation. Lina turned back to Mr. McMahon, "What about money?"

Mr. McMahon smiled, "Well, I can make you a LOT of money! With your power, you could be

a big player here in the WWF!! Do you have a name??"

Gourry spoke up, "They call her the Dragon Spooker..."

"GOURRY!" Lina shouted, and whacked him in the head, "You didn't have to tell him that!"

"Dragon Spooker? That's not your REAL name... is it?" Mr. McMahon asked.

"My name is Lina Inverse!" Lina replied proudly. "Perhaps you've heard of me...!"

Mr. McMahon frowned, "No. No, I've never heard of anyone named Lina Inverse. The name DRAGON SPOOKER would probably suit you better..." Lina gritted her teeth, and was about to cast another spell when Mr. McMahon interrupted her, "You know, a woman with your talent could be of great use here... and make a lot of money! How about you and I make a deal??"

Lina looked at him warily, but was interested, "What kind of deal, Mr. McMahon..."

Mr. McMahon smiled, "A deal that could make you a millionaire!"

To Be Continued…