Chapter Two: Thy Dungeon Man
Part Three
The others watched as Carin and Dungeon Master grasped arms, just below the elbow, and shook once.
The little man smiled up at her, folding his hands into his large sleeves. "It is done. Now." He turned to Haku. "Will you please take them to the dining room?"
"Great, I'm starving!" Goku said, and his stomach growled very loudly, followed by his apologetic laugh.
As they were led to the dining room, Logan growled quietly, "I still don't like it. I think we rushed into this."
"There wasn't much choice," Captain America replied, also in a hushed tone of voice. "We'll just have to do what we can, make the best of whatever situation in which we find ourselves. How's your chest?" he added after a moment.
The mutant rubbed his chest briefly. "Fine, now. Might have a bruise there." He laughed scornfully. "I never bruise…whatever that Dark Magician -- or whatever he called it – hit me with, it was somethin' powerful."
"We don't want to get on their bad side, that's for sure." The Captain said, nodding.
"Yeah, I'll be watchin' my mouth from now on."
"If you can."
Logan turned to his friend and smirked. "Heh…." His gaze lingered on the soldier's face for a moment. "Missed you, Cap. It's good to see you again."
"You too, Logan."
"I hope you are hungry," Haku said, coming up to another pair of double doors. "Here we are." He flung open the doors, and they were greeted by…
…an empty table.
"Is the food still in the kitchen?" Goku asked hopefully.
"There is no kitchen." He answered mysteriously.
"Look boy," Jonah Hex said, striding up to him with spurs jangling, "Ah know ah haven't bin here long, but I've already had enough o' yer tricks."
"It's no trick, Mr. Hex," Haku said, a smile playing on his lips. "Please be seated, and I will serve you your food."
Jonah Hex's right eye seemed to bulge even more than normal in indignation, and he scowled, but he stomped into the room and threw himself into a chair, propping his cowboy boots on the chair next to him.
Superman scanned the room again with his x-ray vision. No tricks, no traps…and no food. Just normal wooden seats and table.
Hikaru cautiously went in, looking around. It was a plain, but welcoming dining room; brightly lit, with warm green-painted walls. Jonah Hex moved his feet in surprise as she quietly sat next to him. Carin followed and sat on the other side of the girl.
The other warriors filed in until all the other seats were occupied.
Haku walked up behind David Carter first. "What would you like to eat?"
David looked back at him, confused. "What would I like?"
Haku smiled pleasantly and nodded.
"Anything?"
"Anything, David Oosha," Dungeon Master's voice came. He was standing at the front of the room, next to the Pharaoh Atemu.
"Just speak it, and I will make it appear."
"No way."
Haku smiled widely. "Go on."
David's stomach growled at him. "A double cheeseburger. With bacon. And fries and a milkshake."
"What flavor?"
"Of milkshake? Chocolate, I guess."
Haku placed his thumb and forefinger delicately together, and blew through them. White seashell-like things appeared out of nowhere, chiming like bells as they hit against one another. They swirled in circles on the table before David, until in the midst of these tornado-like eddies solid shapes began to form.
When, after a few moments they faded away, there lay before him a piping-hot cheeseburger with French fries and a tall chocolate milkshake.
"Yosh," David whispered. He tentatively reached for one of the fries and after looking questioningly at Haku, took a bite.
"How is it?" Dungeon Master inquired.
David couldn't help but smile. The fries were perfectly crunchy and hot. "Good."
"Excellent. Hikaru Shidou? What would you like?" the small man asked.
"Chicken teriyaki with udon noodles? And may I have some Jasmine tea?"
"Of course," Haku answered, putting his forefinger and thumb together again. Once again, a steaming plate of chicken, fresh vegetables, udon noodles and a pot of tea and teacup appeared in front of Hikaru. She picked up a pair of chopsticks beside the plate and promptly began to eat, no questions asked.
"Harry Potter?"
"Pumpkin juice, and roast chicken and potatoes."
And so it went on.
"French toast with sausage. And orange juice."
"Spaghetti and meatballs."
"A New York hotdog with all the works."
"…Pirozhki." Necro said, Russian accent even more apparent than normal.
"Steak. Well done."
The foods were many and varied, but the strangest was Carin's. She ordered something she called "Venu Ej Fralo," which she said literally translated to "drink with plant." And it was exactly that – a green, thick-and-long-stemmed plant, with blue leaves at the top (Hikaru thought it reminded her of bamboo) in a tall glass bottle filled with liquid. Carin took the plant out of the bottle and began to eat the end, and then drank from the bottle.
And then there was Goku.
When it came his turn, he bade Haku to lean down so he could whisper to him. He whispered for what seemed like a whole two minutes, and Haku's eyes grew wider as each second went on.
After the Saiyan was done speaking, Haku gave him an incredulous look. Then he went to Dungeon Master, took him aside and whispered in his ear.
A loud burst of laughter erupted from the little man, and Haku straightened up, looking slightly vexed.
"Haha, forgive me." Dungeon Master let out one more short laugh. "If that is what he wants, give it to him."
"All of it?" Haku asked.
"Yes, all of it."
Haku turned to the Saiyan with a resigned look on his face, placed his fingers together, and blew. More of the white, shell-like things appeared than before, and swirled around not only on the table before him, but in a large swell beside him. When the shapes solidified, they saw that heaping plates and bowls lay before him, and next to him was a gigantic cart overflowing with cups, saucers, dishes, bowls and plates of various foods.
"Wow! Thanks!" Goku said, and dove right into a big bowl of rice, chopsticks flying.
"You're not really going to eat all of that, are you?" the Pharaoh Atemu asked, a note of surprise in his normally firm voice.
"You'd better believe it," Trunks said, lowering a bowl of soup. "I've seen him eat more than that in one sitting."
"I'm sorry, but that's disgusting." Samus said, pausing in her eating of a Chozodian dish.
Goku tried to respond, but all they heard was a muddle of unintelligible babbling.
"Beg pardon?" Captain America asked.
He swallowed, then said, "That's what Piccolo says."
"Piccolo?"
"Friend of mine."
"Hey kid," Logan said, gesturing to Haku. "You got any beer?"
"I don't…believe that's the best…" Haku said uncertainly, looking from the mutant to Dungeon Master.
"You said I could have anythin' I wanted."
Haku looked once again at Dungeon Master, who smiled and shrugged as if to say, "Go ahead."
A cold glass bottle of beer appeared before Logan. He raised his hand, made a fist, and a thin, shining blade slide out of the space above his first knuckle. He popped off the lid, but before he took a drink he asked, "What about a cigar?"
"Dungeon Master!" Haku turned to him, exasperated.
Dungeon Master snapped his fingers and a lit cigar appeared, floating near Logan's hand. "It's alright, Kohaku."
The mutant plucked it out of the air, took a long drag at it, and released a cloud of bluish smoke. He nodded in thanks.
"You really shouldn't," Haku said quietly, turning to Logan. "It'll—"
"Kill me? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Heard it all before, kid."
After they had eaten to their content, Dungeon Master instructed Haku and Atemu to show them their quarters, and left the room.
With a wide sweeping motion of his arm, Haku caused the plates, dishes and bottles to vanish from the table. "Please follow us."
They left the dining room behind as they made their way down an adjoining hallway, until they soon reached another, tremendous set of double doors. But these doors, like the ones that had been the entrance to the room in which they had been held captive, were transparent.
And beyond them, an interesting sight met their eyes.
Transparent-walled room upon room, interconnected with networks of clear-walled hallways sprawled out before them. They were all training rooms, of different styles and types. One of the larger rooms held a strange, translucent, golden half-sphere which Carin recognized to be a replica of a Dome from her world.
There was another, tiled room with some kind of large, cylindrical machine in the middle. Goku realized it was a gravity chamber.
There were other rooms too – a padded room for wrestling; a room with floor mats for stretching, martial arts or fencing; a room with targets lined along the back wall; and a room with various objects, ranging from logs to bricks to concrete blocks. One other room attracted their attention the most, and the Master Chief was the first to notice it. "My armor!"