Strongest

Chapter 10: The Space King

Written By Illuminet

Disclaimer: The cast of characters from Makai Kingdom : Chronicles Of The Sacred Tome do not belong to me, and are the rightful property of N.I.S (Nippon Ichi Software) America.

"..."-Indicate Speech

'...'-Indicate Thought and/or Telepathy

:MK:CST:

Space Battleship Yoshitsuna

:MK:CST:

'Why is it so dark? Dammit...am I still dreaming? Have I woken up at least once since that dream about fighting Alex was cut off? Tch...damn asshole imposter, where the hell are you!'

Zetta demanded hotly. He wanted answers now. These dreams were going on way too long to be healthy. Not that he could be completely sure how long he slept, since it could have been anywhere between a few hours to a few days. His eyes opened and he realized he was still in his body, and still unable to move as always. His body remained in the small throne in the small room of the flying fortress.

'I've heard of reoccurring dreams before but this is ridiculous! Maybe being that damn book has it's merits since I don't have to eat or go to the bathroom. I'd be a big mess otherwise when I did actually wake up...assuming I even can...no, wait a minute...dreams are the accumulation of one's desires, experiences, memories, and what not. If that damn imposter thing won't give me some answers, maybe I can search deeper within my own self! I have to know who that Demon dressed in red is...especially if what my imposter said was true. I have to know if that child's body I was in was really my own originally...which may make that red dressed Demon a relative or maybe even my own father...? And the Demon with the red hair who was supposedly with Trenia! Who the hell was he, and was he really the person Trenia used to wish on the Sacred Tome? Now that I think about it, in some sense, my body does look kind of like his...? I'm obviously the more handsome one of course, but that's to be expected. Anyway, I've gotta start using these dreams for something more constructive than just fantasizing about beating the shit out of the other Overlords who piss me off to no end. My memories are...'

Before Zetta could conclude his thoughts, the right hand Prinny entered.

"Lord...Zetta, dood?"

The Prinny asked hesitantly, not wanting to be smashed in the side of the head like he had been previously when he was about to call Baal by his name while Zetta's mind was awake within his body when Alex's Netherworld had been spotted. At the same time, he didn't want to be nearly choked to death like the Prinny doctor at the Nursing Bay of the battleship for calling him Zetta when it was really Baal. After a few seconds without any bodily harm coming on the Prinny's person, he concluded that Zetta was the name for the day and continued to speak.

"The next Netherworld is in sight, dood. Here are the specs, dood."

The Prinny said before leaving the room. Zetta knew he shouldn't be tempted, but allowed himself to view the Netherworld he would dream about causing havoc on. If he was lucky, maybe it would be Drake III's Netherworld. That annoying idiot had it coming to him in the form of a good ass kicking for trying to take over Zetta's Netherworld...twice in fact. First when he tried to rewrite the Sacred Tome, and the second was when he used the old Corn guy who everyone originally thought was -The One-. Actually, it had been quite a lot of centuries to go by since Zetta ever saw Drake's Netherworld that he had forgotten mostly what it looked like. The only thing he did remember that there was another Netherworld that looked similarly like it, and that Netherworld was...the one shown on the paper.

'That belongs to...Pram, the white bitch who caused my body to be destroyed in the first place. No...she did revive Salome after all so I guess I can't hold anything against her...but then again this is a dream and I could kick her ass for as long as I want to, so what am I saying trying to hold back for! I can get my other answers later after I beat the living hell out of her! Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!'

A deeply repressed fury was unleashed. So long had Zetta tucked away the urges to utterly annihilate Pram for Salome's sake since the female Overlord owed her new life to the Former Oracle's efforts. Zetta needed an outlet for all these bottled up emotions and it might as well be this dream. Baal controlled Zetta's body to stand swiftly.

'It seems I am indebted to the Overlord Pram since she was the one who allowed me to take this body that was to be mine to begin with had it not been for those many interferences so long ago...yet, it was also the same Overlord who revived that Salome the Traitor in the first place when she should have remained dead. It is so hard to choose what kind of death to bestow upon her...or should I let you control your own body for the decisive final blow, Zetta?'

Baal's thoughts were so low that they were always undetectable by the younger Overlord.

:MK:CST:

Pram's Netherworld, Outskirts of White Fairy Mountain, Hidden Grove

:MK:CST:

Even before the Yoshitsuna was about to descend, an invasion was already taking place. Not one of Prinnies, but rather, it was one of Vegetables. They were all minions of King Drake III, the Lion Overlord who in actuality had no Netherworld to call his own and had been living off the lesser worlds around this Universe. Pram's Netherworld had once been his own until the girl took it from right under his nose at only the tender age of two. It left him both infuriated and humiliated that his only child, his only daughter, would leave him high and dry like that. Of course, no other Overlord knew that Drake didn't have his Netherworld anymore because of the deal he and Pram had made. In exchange for not telling the other Overlords that Drake's Netherworld now belonged solely to her, Pram made him swear to never mention him as her parent. He may have felt humiliation for the loss of his Netherworld, but she felt humiliation for just being related to him. Despite being far, far, far from the sharpest tool in the shed, the Lion Overlord was able to keep this secret between himself and Pram from spilling out during the process of helping Zetta with the rebuilding of his Netherworld.

"We need more troops for the front gateway, King Drake. Preferably the Apple Seeds for their healing magic."

Spoke an old Corn. This old man was the same Corn who was at first mistaken to be -The One-, until the Overlords realized that the so-called curse branded upon Zetta was completely fake when he was still alive and kicking well over the three day limit. The old Corn now served as a Vassal under King Drake and, more importantly, an advisor. King Drake would never have had the talent and skill alone to try and take his old Netherworld back after his original plan to take over Zetta's Netherworld flopped big time. Heck, the old Corn was more like the one in charge yet never actually tried to take advantage of King Drake's stupidity and genuinely seem to want to help him, perhaps because it was Drake who saved his life after the near fatal injury obtained from the Zetta Beam. He instructed Drake and taught him how to cultivate the land to create the formidable Vegetable army and to use the tactic called -The Invasion From Within-(gee, that sounds familiar, doesn't it?). At this very moment, King Drake, was dressed not in his royal garbs but rather simple farm work clothing.

"Apple Seeds, huh? Got it. I'll send them right away."

Drake said and walked to the large Apple Tree he grew on Pram's Netherworld.

"Troops, fall in!"

Drake ordered. Apples began falling from the tree onto the ground, sprouting two seed like eyes, a mouth, and bodies. Some of their heads had worms coming out of their eyes for brief moments, but it did not affect the Apple Seed soldiers, who were quite used to it. The Apple Seeds lined up in a straight line before King Drake.

"You heard my friend. Your brethren need assistance on the front of the castle. Make haste before all is lost. That is all. MOVE OUT!"

Drake shouted, and the Apple Seeds saluted, and burrowed under ground. This was their fastest means of travel through Pram's Netherworld and provided more cover as opposed to temporary flying. Of course all this use of Vegetables unique burrowing abilities was thought up by the old Corn guy, not Drake himself. Drake turned to the old Corn.

"How was that time? I didn't slip up even once!"

Drake stated, very much proud of himself. The old Corn nodded.

"Yes, very good. Your Order Capabilities have increased significantly under my tutelage for the past month."

The old Corn said. Drake nodded vigorously.

"Hey, thanks for the words of encouragement! I'll have Pram's Netherworld in no time! Ha Ha Ha!"

Drake placed both hands on his hips and guffawed loudly as he proved out his chest in his arrogance. The old Corn sighed.

"Please calm down, King Drake. Your daughter is very smart and very powerful. We have to fight with these guerilla tactics in order to keep ourselves alive. If Pram knew our locations, she could utterly destroy us. I don't mind helping in your ambitions, but please try and keep your emotions in check and not put the entire force in jeopardy."

The old Corn warned him. Drake calmed down relatively quickly.

"Yes, your right. It's just so boring having to wait like this. It's been an entire month since I started this fight, but when will this Netherworld be mine again?"

Drake sighed out dejectedly. Luckily, he knew the hiding places of Pram's Netherworld better that she herself did, so the King and Vassal were actually quite a bit more safer than they would originally believe. The old Corn gave him a pat on the back.

"This is what you wanted to achieve, remember? There's no need for impatience. It's been so long already, you might as well keep going, my King."

:MK:CST:

Space Battleship Yoshitsuna

:MK:CST:

"So that's the person in charge of all the Vegetable Demons, dood. Seems there is a family feud going on between him and his daughter who is the Overlord of this Netherworld, dood."

Using the high tech camera mounted onto the lower half of the Yoshitsuna, an image of Drake and the old Corn guy was projected to the middle of the room for Zetta's viewing pleasure.

'Why the hell didn't these damn Prinnies do this for me the last time? Oh yeah...they were the only invaders at the time, silly me. But enough about that...Pram is Drake's DAUGHTER! Shit, I did not see that one coming at all, but I can see why she wouldn't want to say anything considering the mass embarrassment that would probably ensue behind her back. Honestly, who would want a moron like that as a parent? Even someone as fearless as me just gets shivers thinking about it. Huh...then again, I could kill two birds with one stone in this scenario! Pram can die for making me lose my real body, and Drake can die for trying to take over my Netherworld. Guess I should take Drake down first of course since he's a damn coward who likes to run away when in deep trouble. Might as well make ole Corn face there pay for his false curse to. Bastard made me worried I was gonna die in three days! Man...if only this was reality, I could completely humiliate Pram!'

Zetta still had one other dilemma.

'I just got this wickedly bad-ass plan brewing in my head, but how the hell do I execute it without having control over my body since it seems to like to do whatever it wants to? Dammit!'

:MK:CST:

Pram's Netherworld, Overlord's Castle, Throne Room of Endless White

:MK:CST:

"Stupid Vegetables. Now I'm gonna be just like Zetta and hate and curse them for the rest of my long life..."

Pram, Former Oracle who now took up her full time role as Overlord of her Netherworld, growled lowly. The Vegetables loved to burrow under ground to escape the full devastation of her powerful magic powers. Vegetables were also tough due to their well balance of members. Carrots attacked physically up close with swords or spears, Pumpkins attacked from mid range usually with rifles, Corns used offensive magic to strike from long range, and the Apple Seeds provided support with curative spells. All these factors made them extremely hard to kill for her soldiers, but Pram herself was not one to give up so easily. Especially considering it was her idiot of a father who was behind the whole thing (having publically announcing it to her and the rest of her residence a month ago before suddenly attacking). Right now, many of those said Vegetables she now despised so much had infiltrated her Throne Room. Tucked under her arm was the spell book, Pnakotic Diary, which Pram made levitate from her palm once she outstretched her arm. The book opened up and began to move from page after page, glowing faintly to amplify her already tremendous magic skill. Pram aimed her other hand toward the incoming enemies closing in on her, shooting icicles from her palm in rapid succession to skewer any unfortunate enemy. Her offensive was completely flawless and prevented any Vegetables from being able to even fire off a spell of their own.

"Dammit, this has got to stop. I better find that dumb-ass before I start to lose sleep over this."

The Former Oracle said to herself. Her once miraculously clean Throne Room was now in shambles, but it was of no concern at the moment and could be rebuilt at a later time. Finding Drake at the moment was top priority. Or so she had hoped, until the ceiling was drilled through and Prinnies began falling through the holes they made with their large power drills. The ground began to shake as well with the arrival of Prinnies in Driller G machines. Pram eyes narrowed into slits.

"What the hell is going on! Now he's got Prinnies working for him? Damn devil penguins, eat ice, bitches!"

With those words, the Former Oracle fired off another batch of sharp icicles at the opposition. She might have to start getting real serious if Drake was bringing all these soldiers.

:MK:CST:

Pram's Netherworld, Outskirts of White Fairy Mountain, Hidden Grove

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"What the...! Where are all these Prinnies coming from?"

Drake looked near the mountain where some of his forces, along with Pram's, were suddenly both attacked by Prinnies flying overhead in F-X Skydiver planes. The planes descended quickly and unleashed bombs on top of Drake and Pram's soldiers, while other planes used machine guns to tear through them.

"Those Prinnies...are they part of some other invading party or just here for the hell of it?"

The old Corn questioned. Drake was already going ballistic.

"What do we do? We don't have the vehicles to combat them...We're all GONNA DIE!"

Before Drake could go in running mode, the old Corn jumped up and slammed him across the face.

"Get a hold of yourself, my King. We'll be blown away if we're seen. We may just have to wait here until things blow over. Have the rest of my kin retreat for now. Maybe we can use these Prinnies to our advantage to weaken Lady Pram or something."

The old Corn said calmly. Drake took deep breaths to calm down. Until the snapping of a twig caught his attention. The Lion Overlord focused in on the source of the sound was very surprised by what he saw. Actually he was much more astonished than that.

"Z...Ze...Zetta?"

The Lion Overlord squeaked out. The strongest Overlord ever know stood before him, guarding the exit to the hidden grove. It was a surprise he was even able to find this spot. Followed by Zetta were four Dark Gear XX vehicles, two going to either side of him. The Lion Overlord began to show his bravado(as he was prone to do in front of any Overlord and considering the fact that he's trapped for now).

"Wow, look at you, Zetta. No longer the Book Worm, I see. How's it going? It would seem you're the one controlling these Prinnies. May I ask why?"

Drake inquired, but the Overlord remained silent.

'Hmm...my body seems to be cooperating with my thoughts though I still can't control my limbs directly. Wasn't this also a bit of an overkill to bring four Dark Gear XX's? I mean, I could take on Drake and the damn Corn face with both hands tied behind my back, plus blind folded at the same time. Were they really necessary?'

Zetta questioned himself. Drake was beginning to take Zetta's silence as an insult.

"What's up with you Zetta? Cat caught you tongue(how original...)? Are you here to steal my glory of taking over Pram's Netherworld? Why would you do such a thing, considering our illustrious history together?"

Drake said in a hurt tone. Zetta was the silent one, as per usual considering the circumstances.

'Illustrious? Since when? Hell, I didn't even think he knew such a big word to begin with. Stupid dreams are confusing me! I mean, come on, how would Drake know such a word and be able to use it in the right context? Damn, now I really have seen everything...'

Zetta's thoughts were interrupted by Drake speaking again.

"We've know each other for 30,000 years and counting, Zetta. I don't see why I deserve the silent treatment from you. If this is about me trying to take your Netherworld a month back, lighten up already because it was just a joke. No need to be bent out of shape and itching for a fight, okay? We can both talk this over like civilized, honorable individuals."

Drake said. All this ass-kissing was starting to make Zetta nauseous.

'Uh...like civilized, honorable individuals? Last time I checked, trying to take a Netherworld from someone in his or her sleep isn't honorable. I'm surprised he would even say things like that. Damn hypocrite.'

Zetta wanted so badly to speak at this moment.

"All I really wanted from you was your...your...your -Junk-."

Drake continued on, trying to find the right excuse. Zetta was freaked out at that moment, taking the meaning the wrong way.

'My...-junk-? You sick son of a...! I didn't know you swung that way.'

If Zetta could, he'd be gagging. The same could be said of Baal, who made Zetta's facial expression contort in disgust. It confused Drake briefly until the old Corn spoke up.

"Uh...I think he took the term the wrong way because of how you said it. He thinks you're a homosexual...er, I mean, gay."

He said. Drake's face went red, and he became absolutely livid.

"How dare you! How dare you imply that someone of my distinguished lineage is...is...is...so insidious!"

Drake was growling darkly in his rage.

'What the hell? Why are you getting mad at me when your -friend- was the one who said it? Hmmm...but I wonder...you seem to get smarter when you get angry, Drake.'

Zetta thought to himself.

"I meant I wanted your valuables and your riches, you asshole! Don't think you'll get away with that insult to my pride, Zetta..."

Drake began to build up power, his muscles bulging as his entire body started being surrounded in a fiery sphere.

"...tremble at the fullness of my TRUE FORM!"

Drake's body disappeared in a puff of smoke, and Zetta briefly thought the Lion Overlord ran away under the cover of it. But the outline of someone could be made out. And when the smoke finally cleared completely, before Zetta's very eyes stood a... bony thin, black haired guy dressed in a blue suit, red and white striped tie, wearing a demon helmet and riding a little red scooter?

:ToBeContinued:

Note: I apologize for the late update. This chapter was hard to write because it was quite a chore to try and keep Drake in character to how he is in the game. I probably killed his personality pretty badly though...even Pram seems off in the little segment she's given. Oh well, I'm trying the best I can. Anyway, about two or three chapters left until the second and hopefully more interesting part of the story get's into motion.