SHONEN ALLIANCE
RE:BIRTH
OPENING THEME: GOLDEN TIME LOVER (Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood)
A few hours earlier, the heroes of the Lunarian alliance had gathered in the Lunaria palace. There was only one item on everyone's minds, the situation in Amestris.
"The guy who attacked Hughes and me was definitely talking about the two Dark Saiyans we beat already," Usopp explained, "I'm sure that this Decay he was talking about had to be one too."
"You're right, Usopp," Teresa revealed, "to be specific, Decay is the Dark Saiyan of Indolence."
"Slothfulness," Kakashi simplified, drawing a unified "ohhhh" from Naruto, Luffy, and Goku.
"Laziness," Miria further simplified, drawing a second unified "ohhhh" from the same parties.
"So we're dealing with a lazy Dark Saiyan? This shouldn't be too tough," Renee thought aloud.
"It won't be that easy," Katarina explained, "being lazy doesn't so much mean that he's weak as it does that he's shameless. Not exactly one for hard work and perseverance if what he wants can be gained with shortcuts."
"Which makes me worry about what exactly he's doing in Amestris," Teresa admitted, "That world is strange. A lot of its history is lost to the point that even we don't know much about it beyond the fact that much of its history, and Amestris's in particular, is written in blood."
"Best guess is that Decay was attracted to the legend of the Philosopher's Stone," Katarina explained, "I've been pouring over records from Amestris, Gallia, Xing, and every other nation of that world, and it's the best I've got. It's supposed to be some kind of all powerful object that grants its wielder near limitless potential. There's also no evidence it's real, so it's nothing we actually have to worry about."
"Nothing in the records maybe," Shantella spoke up, "but it is real."
"Vine and Hughes talked about it sometimes while they still thought I had amnesia. Apparently, the Elrics were looking for a way to find a Philosopher's Stone. They thought it was the only way to restore their bodies to their proper state. Apparently, they found out how to make them, but never did. They never talked about why while I was there, though, so I don't know why they wouldn't use it."
"We'll have to ask," Katarina suggested, "if these things do exist and we can find out how to make them, they could be a huge help to us."
"The fact that a Dark Saiyan thinks so too gives me pause," Queen Fiona finally broke her long silence, "I want to know what these Philosopher's Stones really are before we give them any consideration."
"So what're we waiting for?" Clare asked, "sounds like we should be back in Amestris."
"The tricky part is that Vine is still undercover, with Amestris's leadership believing he executed Hughes and Usopp," Kakashi explained, "if we're going back, we need to take that into account."
/\/\/\/\/\/\
The heroes had wasted little time in their return to Amestris, and, as proved by Luffy's timely rescue of Hawkeye, had reentered the fight just in time.
"YIKES! THOSE'RE SHARP!" Luffy yelped as one of Lust's spear attacks sliced through the side of his vest. Lust tried several more times to spear the rubber pirate, thwarted each time as Luffy narrowly dodged her. As a final strike seemed poised to pierce his throat, he let out a loud yelp as he grabbed his neck and pulled it aside, letting the spear pass harmlessly between his head and shoulders, right past his stretched neck.
"Jeez, you could really hurt someone with those," he observed as he let his neck snap back into place.
"I think that's probably the idea," Aliasse observed, standing defensively in front of Hawkeye.
"Hmph, I don't know who you are or where you came from, but it's clearly safe to assume you aren't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed," Lust observed mockingly.
"Nope, I'm the guy they send when someone needs to have their ass kicked," Luffy admitted, cracking his knuckles.
"Is that right," Lust hissed, any amusement she'd enjoyed at the expense of Luffy's stupidity fading to be replaced with annoyance, "then by all means, feel free to try and 'kick my ass'."
"You asked for it," Luffy shouted, grabbing the wrist of his right arm and spinning it like a lasso, "GUM GUM… PISTOL!" he roared as he flung his fist at Lust.
"Is that all?" Lust mocked as she side-stepped the strike, her fingers forming into razor sharp claws. Luffy figured out what she intended quickly enough to wrench his arm away from her, whipping his wrist out of her range just quickly enough to prevent her from slicing his hand off. His arm retracted and he shook his hand, never letting his eyes leave his opponent.
"Well, that didn't work," he admitted, "guess I'd better be a bit more careful. You could cut off one of my arms if I got too careless."
"I'd be more worried about what else I could cut off," Lust warned in reply, "your head, for example."
"Heh, I'm not worried about that, but you can go ahead and try if you want to." Luffy's taunt caused Lust to grit her teeth in annoyance.
"Hey," Aliasse whispered to Hawkeye, "you should go while she's distracted."
Unfortunately for Aliasse, Lust wasn't as distracted as she'd hoped. She also wasn't as distracted as Aliasse now was and took full advantage of the Valkyria's temporary vulnerability!
"Hey! Watch out!" Luffy warned as Lust's spears shot out, skewering both Aliasse and Hawkeye through their chests!
"What kind of trick is this?" Lust hissed, having not actually felt her spears pierce anything. Sure enough Aliasse and Hawkeye faded like a mirage.
"That was careless, Luffy," Miria chastised the Straw Hat captain. She stood behind Lust, carrying Hawkeye and Aliasse each under one of her arms, both visibly confused by what had just happened.
"Sorry, my bad," Luffy apologized, stretching out in preparation for a fight, "hey spear lady! You're fighting me now, so leave everyone else out of it!"
"'Spear Lady'? Is that supposed to mean me?" Lust hissed, making no effort to hide her annoyance.
"Now GUM GUM PISTOL!" Luffy shouted, launching an extending punch at Lust!
"This trick again?" hissed the Homunculus as she stepped aside and prepared to slash Luffy's arm.
"TWIN PISTOL!"
Lust never saw the second fist coming before it struck her hard in her stomach, driving the air out of her forcefully.
"GUM GUM," Luffy roared as both arms retracted, "GATTLING!"
Lust hadn't even fully recovered from the previous blow when a barrage of punches began to rain upon her. Luffy's barrage continued for near half a minute, leaving Lust covered in painful looking bruises and welts. Then, in a flash of red light, she stood as though she'd never suffered a blow!
"She healed all the damage I did," Luffy observed calmly.
"She can instantly recover from just about any damage," Hawkeye explained to Miria, "even fatal wounds can't do any permanent damage to her."
"If that's the case, how do we put this monster down?" Miria questioned.
"Guess I'll just have to keep doing damage," Luffy declared as if the answer were obvious, "see if this healing has a limit."
"Do you really think you can deal that much damage before I land a fatal blow?" Lust mocked the Straw Hat captain's sincerity.
"Were you at full strength, I might agree," a voice echoed through the room. A cloud of darkness opened in front of Lust and the giant who had previously menaced Usopp and Hughes emerged from it, "however, you've already consumed much of your power recovering from the Flame Alchemist's attacks."
"What're you doing here?" Lust hissed angrily.
"You Homunculus are useful to Lord Decay's plans. To allow you to perish here would be problematic for us. I suggest you retreat and let me handle this enemy."
"If you think you're going to escape, then I suppose I'll just have to bring an end to that delusion," Miria promised, drawing her claymore and stepping forward to intervene.
"You're welcome to try," the hulking enemy invited, I'll just have to crush the skull of the woman and girl while you're too preoccupied to protect them."
"Just try it," Aliasse hissed.
"You can't let her get away," Hawkeye ordered Miria, "it doesn't matter what happens to us."
"I understand, but I wonder what your commander would say to that suggestion."
"He'd say that isn't an option."
Several things happened so quickly, Hawkeye and Aliasse would only be able to process everything after everything had calmed down. Colonel Mustang's furious voice cutting through the battlefield was only the first. The second was a an intense flame burning through the hallway leading into the chamber.
The third was someone shouting the words "GO MAGICAL HATS!" and then the two were encased in darkness by the protective seal of a magical top hat. Lust's screams of anguish cut like a knife through the silence as an inferno engulfed her!
"How? You should have bled out by now?" she cried in anguish as her charred skin began to regrow.
From the the darkness of the hallway, Mustang emerged, Havoc's destroyed lighter clutched firmly in his hand, flanked by Yugi, Ichigo, and Clare. While there was a large bloodstain soaked into his uniform above where he had been stabbed, there was no evidence of injury.
"Turns out, there are some in the universe with powers we could only dream of. Stretching limbs, summoning monsters from playing cards, healing any wound in an instant.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Sakura Haruno was inspecting Havoc who still lay unconcious, he face distorted from the pain of his wounds.
"His spinal cord is severely damaged," she observed, "he'll never walk again if all we do is stop the bleeding."
"Just leave it to me," Orihime promised, stepping towards her, "everything will be okay!"
"Right," Sakura agreed with a nod.
/\/\/\/\/\/\
Another inferno engulfed Lust, causing the Homunculus's pained shrieks to cut the air like one of her spears.
"Your friend's eagerness for you to escape seems a bit misplaced if you're really immortal," Mustang admitted with a ferocity as hot as his flame, "it makes me wonder how many times I'll have to kill you before you stay dead!"
"What makes you think I'll let you," the hulking foe threatened, stepping towards Mustang.
"You've got a different problem!" Luffy shouted, charging forward without any hesitation to plant a heavy kick onto his enemies cheek, staggering the foe.
"You challenge me!?" the muscled menace hissed as he grabbed Luffy's leg, "YOU DARE!?" With a roar of fury, the foe hefted Luffy above his head and slammed him forcefully into the stone floor, creating a small crater where Luffy's skull met the stone.
The blow would have easily killed most people, which is probably why the enemy didn't expect Luffy's counter kick. It caught his opponent squarely in the jaw, knocking him onto his back as Luffy pulled his leg away and rolled back onto his feet.
"An attack like that won't work on me," Luffy heckled his foe.
"Is that so?" the foe hissed as he recovered. Rushing forward and wrapping one of his massive hands over Luffy's head, "then what about this?"
He yanked with immense strength, clearly intending to rip Luffy's head clean off of his shoulders. Instead, Luffy's neck stretched, following his head to the astonishment of his baffled adversary!
"What sort of a trick is this?" he demanded, releasing Luffy's head so it snapped back into its proper place.
"There's no trick," Luffy declared, stretching his cheeks and sticking his tongue out at his opponent, "see? I'm a rubber man!"
"A rubber man? Amusing. Am I then to assume that you are the real Straw Hat Luffy then?"
"Yep!"
"I see, so I was correct that that big nosed fool who interfered with me before was an imposter!"
"Big nose? Oh, you must mean Usopp. Yeah, no. Usopp's definitely not me."
"Good, it would have been most truly disappointing to discover that the mighty Straw Hat Luffy was an underhanded coward, incapable of offering any true challenge.
"Uh, didn't Usopp beat you before?"
"Underhanded, dirty tricks allowed your friend to claim victory in our battle. Such measures would not work again."
"I see, well, don't expect any 'underhanded' tricks from me. I'm gonna kick your ass the old fashioned way!"
"NOW GUM GUM…" he roared stretching his arms to the back of the room. "BAZOOKA!"
Lust was experiencing something that no Homunculus had ever before, complete helplessness. Over and over the flesh and muscle boiled away from her bones, healed, and then were boiled away again. Still Mustang's relentless barrage continued.
Luffy's blow struck his foe in the stomach with bone shattering force, driving the muscled menace sliding several feet back.
"NOW GUM GUM…" he shouted, charging after his enemy, "…PISTOL!"
The attack was aimed for the enemy's head, but the foe rose his hand just in time to catch Luffy's fist.
"You'll have to be faster then that," taunted the brawler as Luffy wrenched his hand free and jumped back away from his foe.
"You asked for it," Luffy declared, bending down to place his fist against the ground, "now, SECOND GEAR!" he shouted before vanishing.
As Luffy continuously reappeared and disappeared all around his opponent, the foe was thrown off, trying to track the Straw Hat Captain!
"What kind of trick is this? Some sort of illusion? Surely it cannot be pure speed!"
"GUM GUM…"
Luffy's voice came from above and the foe looked up to see Luffy for less then a second before the pirate vanished again.
The sound of Luffy hitting the ground directly in front of him drew his focus slowly down to the crouching pirate. Pink steam seeped from his body as his arms were already drawn back to strike.
"…JET BAZOOKA!"
Lust let out a shriek of rage and charged at Mustang. Whether she could have reached him was quickly rendered a moot point, however, by her own ally crashing into her, knocking both of them over.
"Get out of my way!" she hissed at the muscled foe, shoving him off of her.
"Now's our chance. BANKAI!" Ichigo exclaimed, drawing Zangetsu and triggering his Bankai in a single, fluid movement.
"Dark Magician! Go, Dark Magic Evolution!" Yugi ordered, summoning his Dark Magician who was immediately engulfed in dark magic and emerged as Magician of Black Chaos.
"GETSUGA TENSHŌ!" Ichigo roared, forming his Hollow mask in the same instant he swung Tensa Zangetsu.
"CHAOS SCEPTER BLAST!" Yugi ordered, prompting his Magician to fire an orb of dark magic from his staff.
The black crescent of spiritual energy and the orb of dark magic struck the two villains just as a final inferno from Mustang engulfed them! The resulting explosion emitted enough power to shatter Yugi's Magical Hats, though with his Second Gear still active, Luffy was between Hawkeye and Aliasse and the explosion before the shattered remnants of their hat even had time to disappear. Everyone watched and waited for the blast to clear, looking for any indication as to whether or not their fight was over.
Lust was healing, but it was slow, almost as though she were nearing her limits. The other foe wasn't dead, but he wasn't getting up either. He just lay on the ground, writhing in the agony caused by the severe wounds that covered his body.
"Time to end this," Mustang declared, preparing to strike the lighter one last time.
"Seems you've outlived your usefulness," the bulky enemy said, suddenly rising to his feet, albeit unsteadily.
Before any follow up attacks could stop him, he grabbed Lust by the throat and hefted her off of the ground!
"What are… you…" Lust never finished her question. Her "ally" drove his fist into her chest. The Homunculus screamed in agony as red light burst forth from the wound, only stopping when her former ally ripped his fist free, bringing whatever was producing the light with it!
Lust stared, dumbstruck, at the light for a few seconds, then buckled, falling forward. She never hit the ground before her body disintegrated into dust.
Death had come for the undying.
The brute opened his hand, revealing the Philosopher Stone he had ripped from Lust. Red energy surged through him, healing all of his injuries. Then, completely spent, the stone turned to dust.
"BASTARD!" Luffy roared, "IS THAT HOW YOU TREAT YOUR FRIENDS!?"
"She was no longer useful," the admission was cold and dispassionate, "now, her death at least served a purpose."
"THIRD GEAR!" Luffy roared, biting into his thumb and blowing air into his bones to inflate his right arm to giant size, "GUM GUM GIANT…"
Just in time, Luffy noticed something out of the corner of his eye. A metal orb was flying directly towards Aliasse and Hawkeye!
Even with his Second Gear amplifying his reaction speed, Luffy only just managed to stretch his left arm between the women and the bomb, before shifting Third Gear from his right arm to his left, allowing the bomb to bounce off and away from his giant fist. The explosion that followed only lightly singed the back of his hand.
"Well, quite the pickle you got yourself in!" No one had seen the clown arrive, but now he stood beside the brute, cackling wickedly, "I think it's time we make our exit."
"Damn it! You won't get away!" Luffy shouted.
"It's funny that you think you have time for us," the clown quipped. Suddenly, a dozen of the clown's bombs seemingly materialized, all converging on Aliasse and Hawkeye.
"DAMN IT! STOP CHEATING YOU BASTARDS!" Luffy roared as his right arm enlarged and he slammed both giant hands defensively over the damsels. Every bomb that detonated seemed to be followed by another bomb materializing, subjecting Luffy's giant hands to a relentless barrage of explosions. "Owowowoowowowowowow!" he shouted every time an explosion singed the back of his hands.
"Yugi!" Ichigo ordered, brandishing Tensa Zangetsu and charging ahead, Clare hot on his heels. Yugi needed no follow up orders.
"GO BUSTER BLADER AND OBNOXIOUS CELTIC GUARDIAN!" he ordered as his two sword wielding monsters appeared and followed the charge.
"Too late! Until next time!" the clown roared, laughing maniacally as black energy engulfed the two and then vanished, leaving nothing but the dust that had once been Lust and her Philosopher's Stone.
The villains had escaped.
CLOSING THEME: KIMI NO NAMAE (Rising of the Shield Hero)