Battle of Jack Hanma: War for the multiverse

by ZaMonolith

It was a regular day for Jack Hanma, bastard son of Yujiro Hanma, the strongest creature alive, when suddenly one day, he experiences the Dimensional Merge that makes his brother dissapear. This makes him go on a quest, while forming a group to find the people responsible and beat them up. But as he progresses in his quest, he gets into a rabbit hole of conspiracies and plotting.

1. Chapter 0: The Dimensional Merge

Battle of Jack Hanma: War for the multiverse

Prologue: The dimensional merge

It was a normal day for Jack Hanma, bastard son of the strongest creature alive, Yujiro Hanma and half brother of acclaimed world fighter, Baki Hanma. He was walking down the street in his usual tank top and cargo pants, towering over the average Joe with his 8 foot height and massive muscle filled body while unintentionally scaring them with his giant size. He made his way to the underground arena, with the usual win followed by four times the losses. Getting out of the hospital even against the wish of the doctors he entered his favorite gym, got into a locker room, had to deal with several gays wrestling inside there talking about who's the boss of that gym, took his steroids and started hitting the bench to power his massive body. It was just as any other day, getting somewhat bored with the monotone nature of life. „I wish became the most powerful I could." Just as he was about to finish his set, something occurred, he did not expect.

He saw weird waves outside the window. Just as he rushed to the glass to check what was going on, he saw several reality consuming wave wash over the city he was residing in. The first wave took over a large chunk of the city, leaving nothing behind, installing a primal fear in the fighter, he didn't even come close to feeling, in his fight with Pickle. Another wave was headed this way, but this time, his brother rushed through the gym's door. „JACK! WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE NO-„ But before Baki could finish his sentence, a wave took him away, making the giant scream in disbelief. His own brother, the closest person to challenge Yujiro himself was taken by such supernatural causes. „BAKKKKKIIIIIIII!" He screamed on the top of his lungs, shaking from the event as tears rushed to his usually red glowing eyes. The entire event came like a sledgehammer to his face. But the fighter had no time to process the events and the waves were getting closer. The sound of the waves and the screams of people trying to rush to safety were the only thing he heard, when all of it were abrupted by a portal opening. From it, the hand of an elderly man reached out for the brute to enter, with a thick Slovenian accent yelling at him to get in. The fighter, seeing the wave getting closer and reality collapsing, instinctively jumped into the portal, just before he got engulfed. As he looked down to the man that save him, he saw a short, slightly fat elderly man, with thick gray hair and beard. The man reached out his hand to the giant. „Hello mishter. I am Shlavoj Zhhizek. I know what you went throught. I'll exssplain everythiing in my houshe".

[…]

Jack took a large bite from the steak he was offered. As a means of calming himself down after the event, the philosopher offered the fighter several plates of the best meat he had available. They were inside the house of Slavoj Zizek, which was on several floating land from Slovenia, levitating in a purple void. The house was unusual, as anywhere Jack looked, all he saw were books, even in places where it wouldn't make sense, like the bathroom, floor, or even taped to the ceiling. The scene in comparison to the apocalyptic scenario that was playing down was calming, feeling like he was inside the home of a man he could trust, but was still weirded out by. As Slavoj was watching the fighter finish his meal, wiping his mouth with a napkin, the brute was about to talk, before he got interrupted by the slovenian man. „I'm shhure, you got many quhestions." Said it as he touched his nose. Jack made his eyebrows come closer to each other. „What the hell just happened back then? What happened to my brother? What happened to my world?!". Slavoj cleared his throat and got ready to talk. „You shee, my large frhiend. What you jhust witnessed *touches nose* whas the dhimensional merge." Jack raised an eyebrow. „What the hell is that?" „That's what I whas about to explhain." The man regularly let out tics, which, combined with his accent made it a bit more difficult for the fighter to understand the words of the elderly man, forcing the brute to take special heed. „I khnow not mhuch abhout it mhyself, but rhather, I know about it frhom my ghood friend Karl Marx, who, during his study of chapitalism, chalssisim, society and so on and so on, achcidentally predicted that a majhor event, known as the Dhimensional Mehrge will occur by the hands of severhal bhad actors *sniff* Which basically forces the fishional world into the wohrld of reality." „Are you telling me this whole event is manmade? How!?" Red eyes started glazing from the giant, which seamingly didn't intimidate the elderly man, who signaled the giant to calm down. „Now's not the time for anger, my fhriend. For now, we need to discuss what we know." The brute apologized and calmed down. „Sihnce it's done by powers controlled by humans, it's also possible to have chertain influhence over it. To do so, we need a team of powerfhuul fighters, whiich, is not so easy to assamble." „How come? I mean, if it comes to a good fight, I'm always up for it, but if you need truly powerful people, you could have gotten my father or brothe…" Mentioning his brother choked his voice because of the events he lived through. „Whell, I thried, but he doesn't sheem to chare tho join. I thried with other pheople, but all of them refhused. You're first one that sheems like a photential candidate, amhong others." Jack pulled up his head. „Who are those others?" „Whell, the mherge has taken a lot of pheople away, so the lhist of candidates is tighthened heavily. But they're still options." „Then what are we waiting for?" His eyes went from sadness to determination. „My brother is locked in some unknown void. Time is ticking. Tell me the first people and I'll do it." „Slavoj nodded and opened a portal through a book. „You're first tharget are the Krhatt bhroters." He said it as he showed the fighter a picture of the two men. „They're ecologists, whom chould be ghreat use to us an-„Jack didn't have time to listen. He jumped head first into the portal, leading the philosopher to be bewildered, as the fighter disappeared into the portal.

[…]

„Look at that Polar Bear, Chris." Said the ecologist as he was pointing with his finger at the creature in the distance. The brothers were deep inside of Siberia, wearing thick coatings to keep their body warm from the cold. They looked with their usual excitements at the animals, when suddenly, a portal opened. Before they could realize what happened, Jack jumped up, wearing a tank top inside Siberia, he didn't give a damn about being in such biting cold, not even shaking in the cold. „You people are the Kratt Brothers?". „And you are from the gym, right?" Asked Martin in a humorous manner, which only caused Jack to let out a frustrated sigh and his brother nudging him with a slight frown. „Yeah, we're the Kratt brothers. But what exactly are you doing here? Especially with such attire in the middle of-„ „There's no time for talk. My world is in danger, my brother is taken by unknown forces. You people need to come with me right now." The brothers looked at each other. Chris broke the silence again. „Listen, I can understand losing a brother can be an awful thing." Martin nodded, before he continued. „But I don't think we're the people you need for your mission." Jack started getting annoyed, as he felt like wasn't getting anywhere and time was ticking. „You people don't get me. I need you, not later, but now. The dimensional merge is happening an…" „Dimensional merge? I'm sorry, but events like that can't happen. We have decades of experience with nature and it's simply not possible for anything like that to occur" Jack got more annoyed. „You people don't get it. There are genuinely evil people behind this, who are causing it and we need fighters for tha…" He was interrupted again by the brothers."Woah woah woah. Buddy, we're ecologists, not fighters. We're especially going to stay out of that one." „Well, imagine if your brother was in such a situation as mine." This caused the brothers to make a frown. „Hey, now you're threatening us?" „I didn't intend it as that way." „It sure did feel like it." „Yeah, I'm seriously getting sick of this, let's go home." Chris took out a radio. „Okay Aviva, bring us back." But no one responded. „Aviva? What is happening there?" Suddenly, the waves from before started appearing in the distance, with the same loud noise they made, almost like a giant ship being crushed. „Holy crap, what is that?" Said Martin as he pointed into the distance. "That was the Dimensional merge I was talking about. "Elaborated the brute. "Nooo. The Tortuga, Jimmy, Koki, Aviva, the Kratt kids! This can't be happening. " "It can be, but if you join me, we could stop it in time." The brothers looked at each other, but time for thinking was limited, as the waves were closing in. "Hurry Martin, no time to waste. Sir, we're in." "You can call me Jack", remarked the fighter as they jumped into the portal for safety.

[…]

Slavoj was sitting on a divan being in a phone call with famous German anti-capitalist philosopher Karl Marx, as they were talking about the usual stuff about why capitalism is bad. Suddenly, out of the portal that was open as usual, jumped out the fighter as before and the Kratt brothers. In response, Slavoj hastily said goodbye to his friend and role model and held out his hand for a handshake with the brothers. The brothers were a bit weirded out by the place, but seeing the friendly behavior of the philosopher reinforced their trust in the two people. "Ahh, the Kratt Brothehrs. It's a rheal honor to meet you." "Yeah, we're happy to meet you too, mr…." "Mr Slhavoj." "Yeah that." Chris introduced himself and his brother, who was staring at all the colonies of bacteria that was living on the shirt of Slavoj. "Our team has been taken by that Merge your friend seems to have been talking about." "I wouldn't go far in saying I'm his friend." Said the brute with a raised eyebrow. "We just have the same interests." "Yeah right. How do we stop this damn thing. In fact, how did nature allow such a phenomenon to happen." "Whell. Let's stahrt of, by the fact *sniffs* that this is infact not natural. Peohple with terrible mothives are behind this and they nheed to be sthooped." Jack, not the one to wait, broke into the conversation. "But who could be behind it, why would they want two worlds to be collided into one, it doesn't make any sense." "I'd lhike to give an anshwer, but I only know what the phenomenhon is." The people in the room were getting worried for their loved ones and the event occurring. "We're ready to help.", started Martin. "But why us?" Whell, *touches nose*, fhirst off, you pheople have valuabhle skills. Second, yhou people have knowledge abhout some people with nefarious deeds." This shocked the Kratts. "What person are you talking about?" "Slavoj got up from his divan, went to a library, picked up a newspaper without problem and threw it on the coffee table. The brothers, including Jack gathered around the table and looked at the headlines. "Famous robotic expert and business man, Zach Varmitech broke into the military technology scene." The brothers were mesmerized, while Jack was scratching his head.

[…]

*Several months before the dimensional merge*

Zach Varmitech, nemesis of the Kratt brothers, inventor and business man was walking frustratingly down the street with a couple of Zachbots. He was waiting for something. Suddenly, he got a phone call from one of his employees. "Took you too damn long. Tell me about the stocks, are they better?!" While stressing in the silence, the employee answered in a somber tone, but at the same time annoyed and tired tone. "Noo, they're still not boss." Zach, with his eyes twitching put the phone down, went into an alleyway and threw a tantrum while his robots were making guard, pushing over trashcans and throwing items he could get his hands on. After which, he calmed down, which in his world was still being irrationally angry but not being physical. He looked in a stressed-out manner at cashiers and streetcleaners, being the fates, he wanted to avoid at all costs. "What am I going to doooo!?" As his face was in his hands, a tall figure was about to approach him, with a pale visage and large smile on his face. The bots were about to stop him, but the man effortlessly broke the head of one of them, making the others back off. When Zach looked up from his hands, he saw the man, wearing a suit, bald, almost looking like a child, with a tall and muscular body with a certain amount of fat on it, holding out his hand for him. In a deep gravelly voice, he started speaking. "Hello my good sir. I assume you would be Mr Zach." The inventor got shocked at the man approaching him, the giant reassured him, he mean't no harm, but he secretly laughed at that idea in his head. As the inventor was trying to collect himself, the man looked around the dirty alleyway and the mess the inventor has made. "This place isn't suited for topics like business. Come follow me. You're invited for dinner." Zach looked at the man with disbelief. "Who-o, who are you!? What do you want from me?" The man smiled wide. "I got many names, but one will get the privilege to refer to me as Mr Holden."

[…]

Zach took another dip from his tomato soup as he listened to the words of the Judge. The man looked uncanny to him, but he felt like he was judging a book by it's cover as the man was incredibly well mannered. He spoke about business like he was studying it throughout his whole life, talking about some of the most successful business men not only in their times but also in history. Not only that, Zach had this feeling he never really had. He felt like he found himself a genuine friend. "You're a wise man, Mr Holden. You're a genuinely intelligent man." The Judge smiled. Zach continued"But why exactly did you decide to talk to me? Is it my limitless intellect?" The Judge looked at him with open uncanny eyes, but in the short time Zach got to know the man, he almost immediately started to get used to them. "I picked you, my dear friend, because I always pick the people with the greatest potential in reaching the top. Both in the societal and literal food chain." Zach frowned a bit, as any mention of nature reminded him of the Kratt brothers. "And I've heard, a genius man like yours truly, have had serious quarrels with your current business." Zach nodded. "Exactly. We've been bleeding money ever since. People stopped buying my products and I'm I'll be forced to work an awful job to make a living." The inventor felt genuine distress at the idea, but the look the pale giant gave him, made him feel some hope, as he was about to share his idea. "Aww. Looking with a perspective like that on business is a bad way to go. You see, man of business and man of war have many elements in common." Zach raised his eyebrow. He questioned the man. "For example?" "For example…" The Judge pointed up with his finger, like he was pointing out something on the ceiling. "War and business are all about reaching a goal. War is led by people who'll do anything to reach it. Same goes to business. Both of these trades utilize the knowledge of their fields and their opponents. When you lead a business, you lead it like a war. One must recognize the challenges and changes in the gam…" "Can you get to the point? You're making my head spin." The Judge stopped smiling for a second while staring at the impatient visage of the inventor. He coughed and delivered the man what he wanted. "You should recognize then, that there has been a huge increase in wars around the world. And as I said, war and business have many similarities. In fact, they converge on the field of PMCs." "PMCs? What is that?" The Judge smiled, wider then usual, as it was about his favorite topic. "Private militaries. This is the place, where if you find your area, you'll be guaranteed to save your business." Zach spew out his tomato soup, with some droplets landing on the Judge's suit, but unlike others who met the pale giant, he didn't even intend on apologizing. "YOU MEAN I NEED TO GET INTO WARSS?!" The Judge signaled the man to calm down, as people were making mean looks. He then turned his head to the peppered-up inventor. "Indeed. There has been a great demand for private militaries lately, as you're one of the few people to be able to fill that niche." Zach looked at the man with disbelief. "I'm a man that is all about robotics and private services, not war. I barely understand the basic terminology." "That isn't a problem my friend. Once you tip your toes into the pool that is war, you should learn to pick up its code and language. One day, people will mention your name like they do with Ceasar and Napoleon." The words of the Judge were powerful enough to push the buttons of the inventor. "My name? Like that?" "Indeed. Varmitech could be a sign of quality and trustability among corporations and governments." The businessman looked up with bright eyes at the idea, but at the same time, he was unsure. "What do you hate the most?" Asked the Judge. Zach looked up with a frown. "The Kratt brothers, obviously." The Judge smiled. "With powers like that, you'd be able to destroy them with no issue. In fact, you'd be able to drive the entire natural world under your thumb. As war is about becoming strong and controlling the weak, just as business." The final sentence seems to have pushed the inventor over the edge, as his eyes went from disbelief to feeling like the Judge was really onto something. "You know, after words like that, I'd consider your offers." The Judge smiled.

Just as they finished their dinner, the Judge paid the bills, left for a couple minute and as he came back, police sirens could be heard in the distance as a couple was crying, because their child went missing. Zach brushed it off as their child getting in mild trouble. The two men, standing in front of the restaurant shook hands with each other. Zach thanked the man for helping him out and said he'll do everything he was told. But before he could go on his way, the Judge stopped him. "Just so you know, I'm not alone. I have a boss who I do their bidding, but could help you out with capital. And before you'd go on your way, be sure to know, that she can be impatient, but once you do what she tells you, you'll emerge from bankruptcy and reach the skies of success." Zach nodded and he went on his way for real this time.

Little did the people of this world know, that this event will play a huge role in changing the world.

[…]

"That pale jerk got into the PMC business?!" Screamed Chris with disbelief. Slavoj took a sip of his tea, with a huge chunk falling on his shirt, while neglecting it. "Indheed. The man bechame incredibly successful there. Howeveher, his current wheharbout are unknhown. The newspaper ghave you, is pretty old, being rehealsed whay before the Merge." The Kratt brothers looked at disbelief. Jack watched the fraternal figures with curiosity. "You people truly seem to hate that man. How come?" Chris and Martin looked at the martial artist. "That jerk pollutes nature and regularly messes with endangered animals." Martin nodded and continued "He's also a mean one in general". Jack looked at the two man pretty surprised, while at the same time he suppressed a guilty look, as he remembered the time, he beat up a polar bear. "Have you ever encountered him in person?" Chris spoke up. "Of course, many times." Jack smiled. "I can teach you some techniques on how to beat up him u…." The brothers interrupted him. "Woah woah woah. Sorry, but what is wrong with you?" Jack looked with a detached gaze at the ecologists. "What? You said he pollutes and messes with animals. Give him a good hit to the face and he won't be able to do it." The brothers looked at him with disgust. "That is sick man. Hurting people isn't in our nature." Jack shrugged his shoulders. "You do you. But if you need Mr Hanma to teach some manners into a brat, I'd be available."

Slavoj was shaking his head, while saliva went everywhere. "You pheople are whasting thime. Whe need a theam now." The brothers and the fighter looked at the philosopher and apologized for getting off topic. "Your nexht desthination whill be easy, in fact, you anhimal lovers whill love it the most." As the trio gathered around the old man, he briefed them on their mission. They will have to go into the dimension of Beastars and pick up Legoshi as a member. Jack was the first to speak. "Why him? Shouldn't we get a proper fighter?" "He may nhot be the bhest pick, howeher, as I said, our opthions are limited." The Kratt brothers weren't bothered, in fact, they seemed happy, they were getting to interact with even more intelligent animals. "Bhut there's no thime to whaste, thime is thicking." As Slavoj finished speaking, he opened a portal from one of his many books. The group quickly jumped into the portal, each determined by their own goal. As they went away, Slavoj resumed his phone call with Karl and complained about that one time he met Ben Shapiro.

[…]

It was a regular day for Legoshi the wolf. And by regular, instead of going outside and socializing, he sat in his room as usual. His friends were away for military service and he wasn't in any mood for going out. As he sat on his bed reading, a portal opened, making him get startled. Suddenly, the trio from earlier jumped out. Fear took over Legoshi and backed up into a corner. "Who-o are you people?!" He asked in a scared voice. The Kratt brothers were even more surprised at the revelation. "Look Martin, that wolf's anatomy is similar to that of a human." "Yeah, it's interesting." This elicited a confused reaction from the wolf, which turned into fear, as he saw the giant figure of Jack Hanma. The fighter, seeing the scared eyes of the wolf realized he was being unintentionally intimidating and backed off. "Oh, sorry to scare you, it wasn't our intention." Legoshi didn't like how his privacy was disturbed, but he was too scared and socially inexperienced to tell them off, while at the same time, his eyes showed he really didn't have any positive reaction towards the team. Chris approached the creature. "What's wrong? Is it the fact we got into your room." Martin stepped in. "Don't worry, we don't bite." Chris groaned. Legoshi looked at the people. "Uuuh, what are you guys doing here?" Jack was the first to actually explain why they're there. He explained what the dimensional merge is and that the wolf is needed for their team. Legoshi recognized the expression about the merge. "That event? You guys experienced it too?" Jack answered the wolf's question. "Yes, first hand. Why, what happened at you?" Legoshi took just enough courage and began to speak, but in a timid manner. "Welllll, something similar happened at us, but it was further away, as landmarks that were once here are gone and are replaced by others. And from what I heard, the trading partners of our city is gone, forcing us into an autarkic economy." He then looked at the trio. "And we've seen creatures like you". The trio were shocked a bit. "Humans?" Asked the Kratt brothers at once. "If that's what you people are called. But they didn't leave a positive impression on our people, as you… oh sorry, I didn't want to be mean. I mean creatures similar to you have been trying to break in. Bandits. For this reason, a military perimeter has been set up around Cherryton city, to keep those dangerous people out." The trio looked shocked. This was clear evidence worlds were colliding into one another. "I also got a few friends that got drafted into the military. I didn't join because… hurting others is simply not in my nature and a deer friend of mine used his connections to halt the authorities from picking me up into the army." This sentence really made the Kratt brothers double guess if they should pick him up into the team, but Jack wanted to get through this as quickly as possible, knowing his brother was in danger. "I see. But listen, there's no time to waste, come follow us into the portal." Legoshi shook his head. "Sorry guys, I don't want to come. I got my own life to deal with. "The brothers were about to talk, to convince him that the world and the own species of Legoshi was in danger. The wolf was curious about his "own kind" and asked for pictures. As Martin showed pictures of normal four-legged wolves, Legoshi was confused. "I-I have no resemblance to those things. Sorry guys, but I really have no reason to join you". Just as they were about to continue to speak, Louis, the most popular and richest student of Cherryton high opened the door with a frown. "Legoshi, can't you keep it down? Me and the drama club were rehearsing an…." Then he saw the three humans inside the room, with the Kratt brothers waving at the deer, while Jack looked detached as ever. The silence was broken by the red deer with the surprised and passive aggressive expression. "What the hell is this Legoshi? Why are these barbarians inside your room? Are they the only people you could befriend?" Before Legoshi could explain what happened, the trio spoke up, whom which the wolf was trying to dissuade from speaking. "Heey, that was rude." Remarked the Kratt brothers, while Jack reacted less softly. "You better watch your mouth over there." This elicited a negative reaction, as usual, from Louis. "Yeah, you people aren't barbarians while threatening me. Listen Legoshi, if you stopped befriending sociopaths, maybe you'd be able to socialize properly." The trio reacted with a frown, with Jack's pupils disappearing, letting out a menacing stare. The deer backed off at the sight of the giant. Before the wolf could explain what was happening, something shocking happened. A massive man, wearing black military gear, which adorned a red "V" insignia and a gas mask with red tinted glasses jumped down from the ventilation system right behind Louis. Before the regal deer knew what was happening, a precise strike to his neck non lethally incapacitated the animal, making him faint. The wolf yelled with disbelief, as the soldier put the deer on his shoulder and with little effort jumped back inside the ventilation system and escaped from sight. "LOUIIIIIIS NOOOOOOO!". Jack looked confused at the wolf. "You feel sympathy for that guy?". But he stepped back on his attitude, when he saw the distress in the eyes of the wolf. "This, this can't be happe-ning." Remarked Legoshi with a stressed expression. The brothers were the first to console him with Chris knowing what happened. "That V insignia. That man must be working for Zach. It sure wasn't fake news that he became a war profiteer, if that jerk has brutes like that working for him." Legoshi looked up from his sad expression. "You people know who's behind this?" The trio nodded. Jack was the first to talk. "We're trying to stop those people. They screwed me over, as well as these two brothers. All of us have someone stolen from us by these freaks." The sadness in the wolf's eyes turned to determination. "I don't even want to imagine what they'll do to Louis. I'm coming with you." Jack smiled, and showcased his approval by patting the wolf on the back. "We welcome you to the team with open arms. Let's go people." The trio, now with a new member jumped back inside the portal and went on with their mission.

[…]

Zach was rubbing his hands with glee. His business went from being on the edge of bankruptcy, to becoming service that corporations and governments would fight tooth and nail over. He sat in his luxurious chair in his office, looking out the window, at the city. To further stroke his ego, there were footage of commercials of his of private army being advertised to governments around the world, as high officials, politicians and generals praised the company of Zach for protecting the innocent from danger. Zach could feel the euphoria, as he felt like he reached a level of power he never did before. Suddenly, his mental masturbation was stopped when the Judge entered his office. Zach greeted him with delight. "Well well well. If it isn't Mr Holden. Your tips have worked. Varmitech robotics hav…" The Judge interrupted. "Varmitech Robotics and Military Grade Weapons." Zach frowned, but resumed his message. "Okay sure… But what I was saying, is that not only my company is out of debt, but I could burn a tanker truck worth of cash and we'd still be fine financially." The Judge nodded with a smile, who then reminded the inventor about their master. "Though, an intelligent and entrepreneurial spirit like yours, one must not forget our duty to serve our master." Zach raised an eyebrow and childishly resisted. "And why should I care about such person's wishes?" The Judge smiled. "Because one has to remember to be grateful for the hand that feeds, if not, one would starve. Our master worked dearly to lend you the capital, that you used to swim out of drowning, so one must better return the favor in one way or another." Zach let out a frustrated sigh and got up from his chair. "Fine, what is it she pleases?" The Judge made sure they were making eye contact and began to deliver the message, after a slight warning. "One shouldn't forget to not insult her, as one wrong word to her could invoke the wrath of God. You shall enjoy your riches and wealth, but at the same time, one must remember their duty to serve their masters. First of all, she would like you to send out your troops into several cities in the world. They have been the victims of vicious attacks from raiders, marauders and bandits. In a brutal and unforgiving world as ours, the strong can only thrive off of others, so what they do to defend others is in favor of their own goals." Zach had a hard time following as his vocabulary was only half of that of the Judge, as he barely spent any time refining himself. "Second of all, we got a troublesome fellow in the, uhmmm… one might call around the Russian desert. That man might undo our work and all we've worked for. One of our troopers captured a deer, who might be of use to us. He could lure out that man and after he poked his head out, we will neutralize him, so everything will go according to plan." Zach was getting impatient listening. All he wanted was to save his business, not serve someone that he didn't care for. He started walking around the office to try to compose himself.

He walked past a bookcase full of literature about economics and business. As he turned around, he had the face of a child that got mad at their parents for being told to do chores. "I didn't expect military business to be so complicated. And why a deer?" Uttered himself the name of the animal with such disgust, as he continued. "Animals are like the lowest of the low for of life. They're dirty, unintelligent and do nothing but cause trouble." The Judge smiled. "That's why we're picking him. He got diplomatic skills and also, he's easily expandable." The last word seems to have convinced Zach. He walked past around the hide of a bear in his office, while he purposefully walked over it, as he rubbed his shoes into it and sat back in his chair. "Will your boss be mad if I don't do what's told to me?" The Judge smiled. "Incredibly so. Even I don't want to see her mad." Zach let out a frustrated sign, as the Judge resumed. "The deer will be transported to an airport. From there, he will be assigned onto a plane, which will transport him to the home dimension of our boss. From there, the rest of the plan is explained. Once we're done, you can do whatever you please with him." Zach's eyes lighted up, always happy to see animals suffer. "I want to go too!". The Judge had his usual expression, watching the reaction of the inventor with glee. "Certainly. Another thing I wanted to mention to yours truly. The agent that captured the deer casually mentioned that the nemesis of yours, are preparing a move against you." This made Zach sat up from his chair angry. The Judge continued. "They seem to have received powerful allies. To counter that, we'll have to hire more powerful combatants and followers of war to combat these problems. I recently arranged the hiring of a certain "Frank Horrigan". The man has lost his organization during the merge and without a job, he looked for a new place here. He's incredibly enthusiastic in following the principals of combat and war and he'd make a bright addition to our organization. I hope you don't mind." Zach shrugged his shoulder. "Whatever makes the Wild Ratts go under, I'll take." Zach decided to seat back in his chair, as the Judge went away, as he gave away all the information he was told to deliver. As the doors closed, Zach looked out at the city. "Dirty wild ratts."

[…]

The opening of a beer bottle could be heard, as it quickly filled up a glass, held by a man wearing a suit, who also had a clown mask on his face. "Aaah, another bloody good Friday." Said the man with a british accent as he switched on to the football channel. He was inside a safehouse waiting for the rest of his crew to arrive. Suddenly, a portal opened, and from there, the team of Jack Hanma jumped out. This made the man raise an eyebrow, but unlike the wolf, the heister reacted more aggressively and calmly, as he whipped out a pistol. "Oi, you all there. What are you doing in our safehouse. You work for the cops?" While the brothers and the wolf put up their hands, Jack crossed his arm with a stern look. "We don't, but if you think we intend on stealing your money, you're dead wrong." The man was skeptical, but he could believe the words of the giant as he delivered it, while looking at the people around the fighter as he put away his gun. "Well well well. Look at that, if it isn't a zoo. Seems like life is throwing nothing but good entertainment at me." The Kratt brothers corrected the man. "Actually, we're here to recruit you, also who are you by the way? We're the Kratt brothers." The man turned to them, while occasionally turning his head back to the screen. "I'm Hoxton. But outside of that, you ain't get any more info." The brothers nodded as they explained the dimensional merge and what happened. While Hoxton wasn't fully listening to the conversation as he didn't really care about what they wanted, he could comprehend their goals from key words. "And why should I be bothered? I got my own troubles with the cops. And I only met you people now." Said it as he took a sip from the glass of beer through his mask. Legoshi quickly got into the conversation, who timidly tried to talk. "Please, mister heister. We need your help. One of my best friends is kidnapped by those soldiers and we need a powerful fighter li…." The heister put up his index finger into the air as a sign of warning, which sheepishly silenced the wolf. "Listen wolf boy. You people really expect me to help you all while you barge into my home uninvited? If I wanted that experience I could go back to London." Legoshi looked on the floor ashamed for trying to ask for help, which made Jack take action. "I can understand not liking visitors, but we lost many great people close to us to the dimensional merge." The emotional pleads didn't work on the heister, who took a sip of his beer, while looking at the uninvited visitors. "You fellows seem just enough to handle it yourself. Hell, I'm a part of my own gang." The brothers and wolf still tried to convince the man through emotional means, while Jack took a bolder approach. "Maybe if you come with us, we can loot some places." This made the trio look in shock as it was against their moral, but it still didn't work on the heister. "Buddy. You do realize I got more money than I could spend in a life time? Like I said, no reason to join." Not only did it fail to convince the heister, but it caused the Kratts to started critiquing the moral compass of Jack, who really didn't seem to care. Legoshi would have joined in aswell, if he wasn't intimidated by the brute. The bickering just made Hoxton more pissed off. "Oi, can you all keep it down? I'm trying to watch soccer you twats." However, the team couldn't respond, as the TV screen was filled with static, as it got hacked. The Heister looked annoyed at the TV, when suddenly, Zach and the Judge appeared on it, making the Kratt brothers make an angry expression. "ZAAAAAAAACH!". Zach let out a smug evil smile, while the Judge had his usual uncanny one. "Oi, I was watching TV you twat." Zach began to speak. "Well, if it is…. DID YOU JUST CALL ME A TWAT!?" Hoxton let out a smile. "Of course I did. Let me watch my soccer match." Before Zach could begin a rant, about how no one can insult him like that, the Judge interrupted menacingly. "I guess one man like yours wouldn't care about their wealth and comrades in danger." Hearing that made Hoxton spit out his beer onto the TV, heavily damaging it and making it go black. "I can't believe it. Were they bluffing?" The Kratts were about to answer, but with a handwave, Hoxton signaled it wasn't a rhetorical question. He picked up his phone to check the money on the gang's personal account. It was a big fat zero. This made the british heister let out swears the rest of the crew never even heard before. The criminal then feverishly attempted to call his gang members, but none answered. It was a clear sign, they were kidnapped. "Those bloody pale arses stole from the Payday gang and got away with it. I'll beat their ass once I get my hands on them." This made Jack let out a smile. I guess this is enough to make you join us." The heister nodded to the question. "I'll do anything for my gang. But remember, this is for them, not you, you got it?" The team collectively nodded. "But before we go, I gotta grab some items." Hoxton quickly rushed to the armory, picking up several firearms, equipment, like body armors, drills, etc. He also grabbed as much banknotes as possible, which was around a 100 000$. "Okay, let's get my payback." The five men jumped inside the portal, closing it in the process.

[…]

Slavoj was sitting in his home dimension looking at the scenery. It was his favorite places from his home country Slovenia, giving him a sense of happiness. Suddenly a portal opened, with the crew from earlier leaving it, now boasting 5 members. Slavoj greeted the new members. For Legoshi, the man seemed trustworthy and he would lovely socialize with anyone that treated him well. For Hoxton, the man reminded him a lot of his former partner in crimes, Dragan, who was a Croatian man, though he didn't know how the two would react if they met each other.

The group gathered in front of the house of the philosopher, to discuss their next plans. "You shee pheople, we ghot a serhious isshue. A pherson that is importhant to us, who's also a dheer is churrenthly beihng trhansported on plhane to the hidheout of one of the main pheople behind it." The eyes of the wolf lighted up. He knew who it was. "And… How do you know?" The philosopher turned his head to the Anthro animal. "You shee, I can listhen to pheople through bhooks. That's how I know." The crew was awed by the abilities of the old man. While it did cheer the wolf up that they could save his friend, he was still worried, which was visible through his ears being down. A lot of the team members tried to cheer him up, but none worked, with the Kratt brothers having a vast knowledge of the natural world but no clue how kids above 12 worked, Hoxton didn't even try and Slavoj was too esoteric for the creature to understand. However, an unlikely person seems to have had much better luck. Jack approached the wolf and put his hand on his shoulder, looking him in the eye, but with enough distance, not to scare him. "I know what it is like having your loved ones be hurt by outside forces. Trust me, we can get him back." The words of his were stern, but it seems to have worked on the wolf, as he got more determination put into him, thanks to the serious but polite and trustable nature of the fighter. Slavoj clapped his hands to get the crew's attention. "Fhirstly, what whe nheed is a plhan. They arhe going to transphort him through a plhane and the prhisoner is trhansporthed through a convoy. We chould, steal a char, drhess ourselves up as prhisoners, and then infilthrate the plhane. What do you say?" The entire crew collectively agreed it was a good idea. However, Hoxton, one of the two members that got extensive combat knowledge objected. "It's a good idea, I'll give you that mate, but I don't think a lot of our members have any combat experience." Everyone agreed. It was clearly important if they wanted to save the deer. Jack was the first to step forward. "I can give everyone a quick training session, to put everyone into shape and give knowledge about the basics of martial arts." Legoshi raised his eyebrow. "But… do we have enough time to train." "Of chourse we have, my dear friend. The operthation will sthart in a week, so whe got thime to thrain." Reassured him the Slovenian. This made the wolf let out a sigh of relief. The Kratt brothers looked at the brute. "Well then, let's train."

The training was pretty difficult, for a lot of the members. Jack gave a lot of the crew members, with the exception of Hoxton and Slavoj, as the former was already experienced and the latter was too old for traditional fighting, basic workout sets, like push-ups, pull ups, jumping jacks, biceps curls, bench presses and so on and so on. He wrote a diet for everyone to follow, but the one for Legoshi was trickier, as he refused to eat the meat of other animals, so he had to rely on a more vegetarian diet, which also included bugs. For the Kratt brothers, it wasn't too bad, as they already were pretty active, despite pushing their 30s, but it was still challenging. They took running sessions often, also lead by Jack, who had to restrain himself, not to push the others too much over the edge. The muscle building was mixed in with several martial arts classes. Jack thought the crew basic moves, like punches, blocks and kicks, alongside basic grappling moves, like takedowns and chokes. He also thought them what parts of the body to target, to cause maximal damage. It was a long and tiring process, with the three members falling to the ground from exhaustion after every single training day. Their morals were somewhat boosted, after Hoxton, Jack and Slavoj cooked the trio hearty meals, which tasted good and fueled their body for fighting.

By the end of the week, most of the members had more defined muscles on their bodies. They weren't on the level of Jack Hanma, but they definitely were more powerful than before. The Kratt brothers flexed their muscles with amazement, as they never were this strong before, while Legoshi felt a bit discomfortable, for being a predator with such strength. But the time for flexing was short, as the time was ticking. However, before they jumped into the portal, Martin wanted to know what their team will be called. After enough thinking, many of the members looked at Jack. Legoshi came up with his idea of their name. "Let's name the crew, team Hanma. He's the reason we got more powerful." The crew agreed, because they lacked other ideas.

This was the day Team Hanma first got their reputation.

[…]

The scenery was a green field with mountains, in which was situated a private airport. Through a dirt road went a convoy of black SUVs, with the red "V" insignia on them. They stopped for a bit to wait for the others. While this was going down, somewhere further, the incapacitated members of one of the cars were laying face down in the ground. The car was taken over by Team Hanma. The vehicle was driven by Slavoj, wearing the uniform of the driver, while the rest of the crew had bags over their heads with their hands being behind their back handcuffed. As the car joined in with the rest of the convoy, they started getting nearer the airstrip. Legoshi, despite having his vision being terribly blurred by the bag could make out antlers in one of the cars, giving him hope. As the convoy entered the airstrip, they were approaching a black private jet, around which, several soldiers, donning black military uniforms with the V logo on it, Zachbots and the Don himself, Zach Varmitech, who wore a black suit awaited the cars, inside the lower garage of his Jet. As the SUVs parked inside, the soldiers left the vehicles. There were a lot of soldiers, who were all observed by the business man, who occasionally looked at his watch, stressing that they were being late. Among the large commotion, were several notable figures. Louis, being handcuffed, who was provided with a brown suit as a personal request, had an annoyed expression on his face, as he was being told to move. Alongside him was the Judge, who wore a black military uniform, with no hat of any sort. Behind them tagged alone Team Hanma in their disguises. As the deer approached the business man, the inventor let out an evil smile, while the herbivore rolled his eyes seeing him. Being the manchild he was, Zach couldn't resist a little bit of insult. "You animals really believe your cultured, huh?" He remarked as he looked at the suit. Louis reacted with a stern look. "Do you really believe you deserve to lead an army of this size?" Zach replied with a slight chuckle. "Words from animals are worth as much to me as the dirt I walk on" But before the deer could reply, he was stopped by the inventor, after he saw the 5 prisoners with bags over their heads. "Hey, you couldn't bring friends here!". Louis let out a frustrated sigh, being on edge. "They're not my friends". But before a reply could be made, Slavoj chimed in into the conversation. "Whell, acthually, they're prishoners that know abhout the Krhatt borthers." The eyes of Zach widened. "The wild ratts?" Slavoj nodded. "Get them on board, I'll call it in." As the prisoners were transported onto the upper levels of the plane, Slavoj quickly made his way out of the jet, being the only man on the ground. He watched, as the ramp was pulled up and how the jet made its way into the air. He didn't feel any tension, as he trusted the team.

[…]

The tension inside the plane was extremely tense. As it flew over a mountain range, all of the prisoners were lined up next to the exit hatch of the plane. While Louis, who was oversaw by the Judge, so he wouldn't try anything brave, sat on a chair with his usual expressions, Zach cocked a pistol as he was ready for interrogation. "The flight list for this plane lists me, Mr Holden, The deer, my men, the Zachbots, but only one of you! First one to talk gets to stay on my aircraft." As he finished his sentence, with a childish evil smile, one of the Zachbots opened the hatch, as the wind started blowing into the inside of the plane. The first one to be interrogated was Hoxton. He was placed close to the edge of the exit, as Zach got closer to interrogate him. "WHERE ARE THE KRATT BROTHERS? WHY ARE THEY WEARING BLUE AND GREEN?!". No response. He fired next to the heister but it didn't even make him flinch. He was placed back in his place and the next was Legoshi, who was shaking a bit, but tried to suppress it through the training of Jack. The same course of interrogation happened, but zero response was received. Zach was getting increasingly annoyed, while the Judge watched with a smile, a bit wider than usual. Louis felt like he could recognize some of the prisoners. Zach got angry at the captured people. "A lot of loyalty for a bunch of dorks." Suddenly, one of the prisoners, the largest one in size looked towards the inventor, despite having his face obscured by the mask. "Or perhaps they're wondering why someone would think they won against someone, when they have to restrain their opponents." The roast was hot enough, that it pierced the ego of the inventor. As the manchild removed the bag of the giant, he was greeted by the visage of Jack Hanma, donning a wide evil grin with white pupilless eyes, which made the inventor fall back a bit from fear. Soldiers were ordered to remove the last of the bags, as the exit hatch was closed. The rest of the crew looked around all differently. Legoshi had his eyes on Louis, who which recognized the people from before, outside of the british heister, but didn't say a word, out of knowing they're there to rescue him. The Heister looked around, thinking this is a great place to loot, while The Kratt brothers were angry at the inventor for getting into the war business. The Judge smiled even wider when he saw the face of Jack, who reciprocated the gesture. Zach was the first to break the silence. "Looks like you dorks finally got new friends, huh?" Martin replied. "For you". Zach looked at the face of Jack Hanma, who he thought was the leader. "Well, congratulations. You got yourselves all caught. Now what's the next step of your master plan." Around the body of Jack, the air started pulsating a bright red. "Crashing this plane…." Surprise entered the face of both Zach and Louis, as chills ran down their spines as the eyes of Jack turned bright red. "WITH NO SURVIVORS!"

[…]

Team Hanma broke free as all hell broke loose. The tight area of the plane, combined with the crowding of soldiers and robots made it easy for the crew to deal with their enemies. Jack launched a storm of kicks and punches at his enemies, many of them killing their targets from the sheer force. The Kratt brothers touched Legoshi (not that way) and turned into wolves as they targeted the robots. Hoxton took out akimbo SMGs and went full auto on all the soldiers. Many of the team members were too fast for the soldiers to hit and didn't have time to react. It was an absolute blood bath, with soldiers and robots alike falling and with blood decorating the walls of the plane. The faces of the soldiers were heavily mutilated from the powerful attacks from Jack Hanma, making the inside of the plane go from soulless and industrial to looking like the scene of a massacre. During the Chaos, Louis quickly jumped behind some of the chairs to hide from the storm of bullets and attacks, while he attempted to catch a gun for himself. Meanwhile, Zach attempted to fire at the Kratt brothers, but was quickly disarmed by Chris. "You won't get away with being a war profiteer." Zach let out a girlish scream, as he ran into the cockpit shaking like a leaf, ready to call for another plane to escape with. As the Kratts chased the inventor while dodging soldiers, they were stopped in their tracks by Judge Holden, who looked at the brothers with a disturbing expression.

While the chaos was going down, Legoshi knocked out only a few guards as he rushed towards Louis, who was on the ground. Before Louis could finally get a gun, he got picked up by his wolf friend bridal style, as the wolf grabbed a parachute and rushed towards the exit hatch, while Louis was screaming. "WHAT THE FUCK IS HAPPENING!?". He also felt like his masculinity was hurt for being carried that way, but had no time to complain. As the two Anthro animals jumped out of the plane, Hoxton, while looting some of the wallets of the incapacitated or killed guards, made an angry expression while occasionally firing at the guards and robots. "Bloody hell, one of our teammates betrayed us." Jack, talking while fighting with no issue looked at the heister. "He joined us to save his friend, I won't blame him for that. Also, most of the guards are already down." But before Jack could get disappointed for getting an easy fight, he saw the Judge decimating the Kratt brothers.

Martin was thrown towards the wall, while Chris could do nothing. Before the judge could crush his head with a powerful stomp, Jack tackled the Judge to the wall of the plane. The Judge smiled. He removed himself from the tackle and squared up, just as Hanma did. The Kratt brothers watched, as the two titans clashed. The Judge wasn't all muscle like Jack, but he was quick and had an easy time dodging. Jack smiled, as he found himself a worthy opponent.

Just as the fighting was still going down, Zach was shaking inside the cockpit, waiting for rescue to arrive. The pilots were also tense occasionally looking back at the people in the back. Suddenly, Jack was thrown into the room, as he was flying with such velocity like a cannonball, he killed both pilots and heavily damaged the control panel. Zach let out another girlish scream, as the brute made eye contact with the inventor. Before he could piss himself, the Judge became his unlikely angel, as he grabbed the inventor baggage style, rushed through the corpses of the soldiers and robots and in a Bollywood style move, jumped from one of the planes to the other, that arrived to rescue Zach, through which Zach was screaming. Team Hanma rushed to the exit hatch, as they watched from a distance the inventor and the Judge. Everyone on the team were angry at the pale manchild. Hoxton, for getting his gang and wealth stolen, the Kratt for not being able to catch him and Jack, because the Judge left the fight too early. As soon as Zach was in safety, he started making rude childish gestures at the team, blowing his tongue. "Suck it up wild ratts, you'll always lose!", before he quickly dodged as Hoxton took a couple of potshots, but ran out of ammo, as he didn't bring enough. "Oh bollocks." Zach resumed his taunting, when his eyes lighted up with surprise and joy when he saw the Judge come back with an RPG. "One may appreciate your bravery and ability to endure resistance, but one should also recognize when to back down. What you may think stopped our operation was just a scratch." The Judge, let out a smile, before firing the RPG at the opposite plane. The aircraft was shaken, as it took a nosedive towards the ground. "Hahaha, good job Mr Holden". Said Zach as he watched the burning plane.

Everyone on the plane were shocked, with Jack being the first to come to his senses. "INTO THE GARAGE, NOW!" The team rushed into the lower levels of the plane with high urgency. Hoxton and the Kratt brothers jumped into one of the SUVs closest to the ramp, while Jack kicked it open with a powerful kick. He strapped a parachute on it and pushed it out with a powerful force. As the vehicle was falling towards the ground, with everyone inside screaming from the adrenaline, the brute jumped out of the rapidly falling plane and landed straight behind the driving wheel. Hoxton deployed the parachutes, ensuring a safe landing for the vehicle. The crew caught their breath, as the plane, from which they escaped exploded in the distance.

Team Hanma may have won the battle, but the war is far from being won.

End of Chapter 0

To be continued in Chapter 1: victims of the desert.

Author's note: if you reached this far, thank for reading my fanfic. If you have any complaints, even if extremely negative, please write it down, I'll take any criticism about the writing.