[Sama Says] The awesome title artwork done by Kimi-chan! Speaking of Kimi, there actually is something to this whole “Kimi Regime”. I mean, I had promised this would be done in January... 2008. XD I'm only ten months behind schedule!

I originally hoped this would all be one big story, but... this looks like it's going to be quite large when it's finally done, so I decided to break it into chapters. :3

So, um, enjoy. :3

---

“... Craaaaap.” Sama complained. The Ghostly Kimi shook her head, but just as the mouth's of the Giant Phantom Clown were within swallowing distance, a flash of red light struck the monster clown through the head; and it dissolved away into dust.

Blinking, Kimi looked up – and then her jaw dropped. Sama sweatdropped himself.

Standing in front of them was the Man in the Crimson Cape. “We meet again... for the last time!”

“Oxymoron!” Sama shouted.

Crimson Cape ignored Sama, unsure if he was talking about what had been said, or just trying to insult him. Instead, he reached into the folds of his cape and withdrew the small padlock he had stolen from the underseas laboratory months earlier.

“You two can't possibly understand what's going on... which is why I'm going to have to get rid of you – permanently.” Crimson Cape snapped his fingers and suddenly Kimi flashed with light; a second later, her spirit and body had been rejoined – Cape had teleported her body from the ground below and healed the super hero.

“... Seems odd that if you're going to try to kill us, you'd give me back the ability to beat people senseless, but whatever.” Kimi shrugged.

“I won't kill you... just get rid of you!” Crimson Cape grabbed the top of the padlock, snapped it open, and red light engulfed the train...

... as the light enveloped the train and the two heroes themselves, each was forced to close their eyes. Even with them shut, the blinding red light still seemed to seep through their eye lids – in fact, it felt like the light was going through their very bodies.

After only seconds of being completely engulfed by the radiate red, the two felt the strange sensations leave them and the harsh glow dispersed as well. Kimi looked around for the Man in the Crimson Cape, but he was gone as well.

“How come this crap NEVER stops!?” Kimi complained.

“I don't know – but we're in a flying train that isn't flying anymore, so maybe we can wax philosophically LATER!?” Sama was panicking – but crashing into the ground in a train sounded a little too painful for his tastes.

“Silly Scared Sama,” Kimi snickered. “Between the flying and the super strength, I can land this train on a dime. Or even a nickel!”

The sidekick blinked a few times. “... Isn't a nickel bigger than a dime?”

Kimi didn't pay attention to what Sama was saying, instead she jumped up and caught the roof of the train, trying to hold it up. By flying up and applying pressure to the roof of the train she hoped to slow it down enough for them to survive the inevitable crash. Sama looked around, nervously, but after a moment in which the train started to slow, he gave a relieved sigh.

“Maybe we will be oka--”

Before he could finish that thought, the train crashed into something. They were still up too high for it to be the ground, although it was just as much of a jolt. The train smashed apart into pieces and both Kimi and Sama were thrown out of the wreckage. It was apparent right away that the ground they had hit was made of metal.

“Ouch ka bibble...” Sama moaned, rubbing his sore nose. Kimi sat up from where she'd fallen, a few feet away from him, and looked around in every direction. As she looked about, she noticed something; all around them was nothing but sky – they were still in mid-air.

Well, not in every direction. There was a massive metal tower just behind them. It was some kind of control tower for whatever it was they'd crashed on – which turned out to be a colossal flying warship. Huge towers spiraled out from behind the control tower, all the way down the back of the massive ship. The warship had to go on for at least two miles, and several missile turrets, gattling guns and other war-machines were jetting out from the great complex.

“Uh... Kimi... we might have trouble.” Sama swallowed. Kimi turned her head to look over at him, and before she could question his sudden fright, she saw what had paled him up.

The doors of the massive tower had opened and several gigantic, man-shaped robots walked out. They were over nine feet tall, glowing red eyes and mouths that had rows of metallic teeth as sharp as knives. They had razor blade-like claws that extended almost a full foot off their hands. 'Friendly-looking' they were not.

“It just never stops.” Kimi complained, hanging her head.

“Yeah, but you have to admit, things never get dull.” Sama tried to cheer her up.

When the super hero lifted her head, there was a smile in place on her lips; and a devilish gleam in her eyes. “Well, I HAVE been itching to break some crap since that clown tried to make me his lunch.”

Sama grinned too; a army of tricked-out robots might sound scary, but to any professional super hero (or sidekick) they were just fodder for the mashing. He turned his head to Kimi, who nodded her head towards the right. Sama knew what that meant, so he turned towards the left.

“3, 2, 1: Let's Go!”

In a flash, the two went to work. For all the times they've been known to be lazy, preoccupied or just plain too silly to be viewed as 'super heroes', it was moments like this that proved that they were the best out there.

Kimi shot towards a group of robots with incredible speed, putting a fist in front of her as she flew, she tore right through several of the robots, turning them to scrap. Spinning around, she kicked the head from another robot and it smashed into the robot behind it, destroying that one too. She darted to another one and unleashed a furious flurry of fist-work, pulverizing the robot into bits in a matter of seconds.

As a circle of robots advanced on her, Kimi screamed as loudly as she could – a Sonic Scream that turned the fearsome, fatal machines into piles of bolts and screws and wires. They hadn't even gotten close enough to so much as scratch the superhero.

On the left side of the battleship, Sama was also tearing the robots to pieces. Green and Blue lights flashed as he used his superior speed (and flansabers) to rip through a horde of robots, cutting them up as easily as if they'd been made from butter. He threw his sabers and they spun around, making large circles as more and more robots were felled. While his hand's were free, Sama unleashed a wave of emerald lightning that took down several more of the killing machines.

Catching his sabers in a jump, he landed back-to-back with Kimi; the two had worked their way back to where they had been standing originally. The army of vicious robots had been pulverized, shredded, broken and battered.

“Oh yeah, we're cool.” Kimi grinned, looking out at the smoking heaps of scrap that had once been their enemies.

The ship gave a horrible lurch. The debris from the robots and the train was tossed around, into the air and all over the ship. Kimi and Sama lost their footing fast and both took a tumble, winding up in a large pile of broken parts. Eventually Kimi's head popped up from beneath the robot wreckage, and a second later so did Sama's.

“I taste oil...” Sama made a soured face.

“Better oil than blood.” Kimi shrugged, pulling a broken spark plug out of her hair. “Any idea how we just had an earthquake when we're in the air?”

“Not a clue...” Sama's face suddenly turned white as a fresh paper. “... That guy might know, though.”

Kimi turned her head and then dropped her jaw. The doors of the giant tower had opened, and a man had walked out. His arms were crossed and his face was completely hidden from view, but they could see enough to know this guy wasn't the friendly type.

He was at least a foot taller than Sama, dressed in black armor that glistened in the sun. He had red boots and a tattered scarlet belt and cape. He wore black shoulder pads, giant scarlet spikes protruded from them. He also wore a helmet that covered his face, with three giant crimson spikes coming from it. Although this man wasn't one of the usual faces of their Rogue's Gallery, there was something oddly familiar feeling about him.

“... You must be the ones I was warned about.” The armored man growled.

“Um... we're just...” Kimi trailed off.
“... Traveling chicken salesmen.” Sama finished, earning him a annoyed glance from Kimi.

The armored man scoffed and shook his head. “Traveling chicken salesmen? I might have believed that...”

“REALLY?” Sama asked, sounding as shock as Kimi now looked.

“... I MIGHT have, if you HADN'T JUST DESTROYED TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY KILLBOTS!” The armored man roared. While his voice had elevated in volume, he did not seem to be that mad. In fact, after a moment to regroup his composure, he laughed.

“I am General LunCH, Commander of the Leader's Dark Wing Squadron.” He introduced himself in a sinister voice.

Kimi and Sama both blinked several times, and then the two turned to one another. At length, Kimi sighed. “An alternate dimension. Wow. That Crimson Cape guy was reeeeal original with his schemes. We've only done this a hundred freakin' times!”

“Well, look on the bright side...” Sama started to say, but Kimi made a threatening gesture and he decided it was best he refrain from speaking anymore.

LunCH stepped forward, his eyes moving subtly as he studied the two of them. They way they looked, their attitudes... it was all too similar to be a coincidence. LunCH couldn't be sure if this was some trick, or if the day she had spoken of had finally arrived.

“Yes, there is no doubt. You are Kimi and Sama. I was told this day would come, though I've never had much trust in anything that woman says. I see now, she was right.” LunCH was rambling on, another similarity to someone our heroes know extremely well.

“Yeah, yeah. Geez, do the bad guys ALWAYS have to foreshadow and leave cryptic clues about crap the reader can't possibly figure out yet!?” Kimi grumbled, crossing her arms and trying to mask her smile with fake-annoyance.

Unfortunately, after a long pause, her smile started to fade. Sama scratched his neck.

“... Looks like the fourth wall cheat doesn't work in this dimension. That's gonna be a pain in the ass.” Sama groaned, dropping his arms back at his sides and once-more gripping his twin flansabers.

Kimi yawned, covering her mouth and ignoring LunCH entirely. “Darn, I was hoping that tower would fall on 'im; save myself some time and aggravation. Oh well.”

LunCH was devoid of any visible sign of emotion, so it was impossible to tell if their antics were riling him up. It might seem like Kimi and Sama's nonstop back-and-forth is all for show – but they had learned over the years that whenever the villains lost their cool, it made beating them a lot quicker.

Unfortunately, as LunCH remained stoic, Kimi and Sama exchanged glances and suddenly the two wiped away the looks of complacency and replaced them with gravely serious scowls.

“Kimi... no fourth wall trick and this guy isn't the least bit annoyed by us.” Sama gulped.

“Yeah . . .” Kimi's trailed off, and as she did she took a battle stance. “ . . . We might actually have a challenge this time.”

Sama paused and mused about those words. “I don't know about all that, I mean --” Of course, whatever else he said was drowned out in the noise. Kimi shot forward, jumping right at LunCH and closing the gap between them in an eye's blink.

Her first connected squarely with the dead-center of his chest. There was a pause, and even the wind seemed to stop blowing. Kimi's fist had impacted LunCH with as much force as the super hero could muster – and that usually amounts to enough to wreck giant structures with ease.

However, LunCH did not fly backwards. He did not fall to his knees in pain. He didn't even recoil in the slightest.

Kimi, however, felt her eyes water up and seconds later she jumped back, clutching her hand and cursing; all of which prompted an over-sized sweatdrop from her now white-as-a-ghost sidekick.

“Hmm... is it too cliché to compare that to a bee sting?” LunCH pondered aloud in sarcastic glory.

“That... That can't be good.” Sama gulped, rubbing the back of his neck, suddenly filled with a lot of dread.

Kimi was still reeling in pain. One downside of having super strength and endurance is that she hadn't really had to deal with pain since she got her full powers. Oh, she'd felt pain sometimes. Blocking a flansaber with her bare hands burnt, being thrown through a skyscraper made her sore – but this level of pain was something she'd forgotten.

LunCH smirked beneath his spiked helmet, narrowing his dark eyes. “That did not hurt. I'll show you real pain.”

Kimi groaned. “UGH, could your lines BE any more generic!?”

Generic lines aside, the armored giant jumped forward and batted Kimi aside with a flick of his arm. She flew across the hull of the ship, crashing into the ground and skidding for a long distance; but doing so with such speed that as she crashed into Sama's legs he had no time to dodge and he too fell flat on his bum.

“Crap! This guy doesn't move much, but he's tough.” Sama complained, wiping a bit of blood away from his nose.

“Pft. He's just a mass of steroids and steel, I can take him!” Kimi jumped up, ignoring the pain in her ribs and clenched her fists.

“At least give me a chance!” Sama declared, whipping his twin sabers from his belt and charging forward. The green and blue blades flashed to life as he reached LunCH and quickly Sama brought them done on the armored-foes head, shoulders and chest.

After about the seventh time Sama whacked him, it occurred to him that LunCH hadn't budged in the slightest the entire time, and there wasn't so much as a red-hot spot on his armor. Pausing (with a large sweat drop) Sama sighed. “Um... So, wanna get a pizza?”

LunCH replied with his fist; uppercutting Sama viciously on the chin and sending the sidekick sprawling backwards, eventually landing at Kimi's feet.

As he wiped the blood from his face and climbed back to his feet, the sidekick sputtered. “I guess I should have shocked him...”

“Relax bushy-head, I've got a plan this time.” Kimi replied, flexing her fingers and re-clenching her fists. “Although it's funny you should mention shocking him.”

She flew over to her her sidekick, leaned in and whispered something to him. Sama jumped back, his eyes as wide as baseballs. “Are you NUTS?”

“Just do it, okay?” Kimi rolled her eyes, flying forward and cracking her knuckles. Her eyes narrowed at the armored enemy. Whatever she had planned, Sama looked worried about it, LunCH seemed as stoic as ever and Kimi was confident.

Shooting forward once again, Kimi put her hands out in front of her, balling up her fists. Behind her, Sama sighed and followed her orders – he held out his hands and sent forth a wave of electricity – right at Kimi!

In an instant, Kimi was glowing with a harsh emerald shine, suddenly blasted with several volts of electricity. It was painful, but she was able to use her super-human endurance to keep from being too injured. Gritting her teeth, Kimi slammed her fists into LunCH and the electricity flashed from her like a bomb.

LunCH was thrown backwards and landed on his side, smoke rising from his armor. Kimi too was thrown to the ground, groaning in pain.

“AH! Oh my God, I killed Kimi! ... That can't be good for the series.” Sama whimpered for a second and then jumped to Kimi's side. She groaned again, and then sat up; her hair was throughly poofy and Sama was afraid he was about to be hit.

“That... was a really bad idea.” Kimi admitted as she stumbled back to her feet, with a little help from Sama.

“Are you okay?” Sama questioned as Kimi leaned against him. After a moment, she shook her head and stood up straight.

“Depends; did I get him?” Kimi asked, popping her neck and trying to recoup her barrings. She had hit LunCH at almost super-sonic speeds, using her full strength – and the giant current of lightning had only added to the strength of impact.

“You kidding? There's no way he'll get up after tha... um...” Sama had been wearing a confident grin, but that melted away, along with all the color in his face. A very pale and suddenly shaking Sama pointing, and Kimi suddenly had the urge to break something. Which is actually a good thing when you're in the middle of a life-and-death battle.

Turning around, Kimi saw that LunCH was not down for the count. He wasn't standing strong, though. He had scampered to his feet and was now stumbling around, trying to get back to a good stance.

“Stupid... heavy... armor...” LunCH complained as he tried to get his barrings. Whenever he'd stand up, he'd lose his balance and have to run a bit to catch his fall. As he did, he stumbled all across the side of the ship.

As she watched him stagger about like a drunk chipmunk on a pirate ship, Kimi suddenly got an idea. She noticed that LunCH was staggering near the edge of the airship, and the railing that had once been on that side was gone; ripped apart when the train had smashed into the flying fortress.

“... We're going again, Sama.” Kimi said suddenly, becoming very serious.

Sama's jaw dropped, blinking and then rubbing his eyes. “'Scoose me? By that do you mean the whole lightning-fist-flying thing? The thing that almost knocked you out?”

“Sama, in all our years of being friends, how many arguments have you won?”
“You could get hurt!”
“HOW MANY?”
“... Four.”
“Four? No. It's three; and that's me being generous.”
“Oh, come on! I won the pizza bagel argument!”
“I think you have your dreams confused with reality.”
“No way, I totally won that argument!”
“You did not-- OH! What the hell are we doing talking about this right now for!? You hit me with your full force lightning, or I hit you with my full force foot!”

Sama sighed; he knew when he was beaten. It was perhaps the second weirdest argument they had ever had, but he didn't have time to think about that right now.

While LunCH continued to stumble, trying to find a way to stand back up with the overwhelming weight of his armor, Kimi floated back up and then dove once more.

The superhero was speeding right at the armored fiend, and behind her a reluctant sidekick charged up as much power as he thought was appropriate – and then, knowing she'd complain if he didn't, he added a little bit extra.

Two seconds before Kimi connected with LunCH, Sama's lightning reached her feet. By the time her fists hit the jet-black armor, she was glowing with emerald rays once more. There was an explosion and a massive shock wave; and LunCH was thrown off the side of the battleship; Kimi fell off too, now completely unconscious.

If he'd had more time, Sama probably would have muttered a 'who didn't see that coming', but he simply did not have that kind of time. He jumped right off the side of the ship, but Kimi already had a head-start on falling as it was.

Oddly enough, Kimi seemed to be falling faster than LunCH. Sama didn't have the time (or the physics background) to try to explain why. One thing he did have, though, was a lot of hours logged watching anime and playing games. That's probably where his next idea came from.

Putting his hands behind him, he blasted with the full strength of his lightning, hoping to use it as rocket exhaust to close the gap between he and Kimi. Unfortunately, the giant blast of lightning he'd expected turn out to be a small fizzle and a few sparks.

“Aww, Potatooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooes!” Sama yelled as he fell; he'd used too much energy on the blasts before and had nothing left to turn himself into a missile with.

There was still one thing he could do. Glancing at the space between he and Kimi, Sama noticed that LunCH was still floating between them. He didn't question why, he just decided to use the unconscious armored psychopath as a kind of midway point; he'd jump onto LunCH and springboard from him to Kimi.

“Alright Sama, time to shine! Just grab Kimi, spin around and land on your feet before you both get smashed to death on the ground and you'll totally score some cool points!” Sama psyched himself up.

The plan worked! At least, the very first part of it did. Sama managed to jump onto LunCH, but after that point his luck gave out. LunCH, as it turns out, was still awake – and he quickly smashed his foot into Sama's stomach.

“Ooofh! I think my stomach just flew into my throat.” The sidekick muttered.

“You two really are a pain in the ass!” LunCH growled at him. “But you're also a lot more pathetic than I expected. Do you have any idea why your attacks were so ineffective?”

Sama just whimpered in response. He was in too much pain, and too worried about the fast-approaching ground, to really care.

“It's my Special Ability . . . my armor can 'Return Fire'. Every punch, every kick, every swing of your strange sword and every volt... My armor has copied it all, and now, you get to feel it.”

“That... really sucks.” Sama groaned; and then a massive blast of energy burnt out of LunCH's foot and filled Sama's body. He screamed for a second, but quickly passed out. The armored General spun around and kicked Sama off his foot, launching a spiraling Sama right towards Kimi.

The two crashed together and spiraled out of control, falling into a thick forest a few miles away from where LunCH was about to crash – a deep, clear lake. Hugging his knees to his chest, LunCH curled up and cannonballed into the lake.

He slowed down and eventually landed on the bottom of the lake, next to a giant metal face . . .

---

“Oww...”

Opening her eyes, Kimi found herself staring up at what looked like a misshapen hole, pouring light down from behind a blanket of darkness. After her eyes adjusted, and she snapped fully back to consciousness, she realized the 'blanket of darkness' was actually a canopy of several trees high above her head.

The hole was where several branches had been snapped off when something crashed through the canopy. Judging from the itchy sticks and leaves she was lying on, she had a pretty good guess as to what that something actually was.

“Ka bibble.” Sama whimpered from her right. Casting a glance in his direction, Kimi found that he too had survived – he was just buried beneath the debris from the treetops.

Pushing a large branch off of herself, Kimi sat up and rubbed her head. The last thing she'd remembered was flying towards LunCH at sub-supersonic speeds, engulfed in a blast of lightning. Though, given she was now in a forest, she doubted she'd won the fight.

After digging her sidekick out from the trees and waiting for him to regain his senses, she heard the story. Learning that LunCH's armor had absorbed their every attack only put her in a foul mood.

“Great, just great! We've got to beat a psycho CHoWannabe, and he can absorb anything we throw at him!” Kimi didn't take losing very well. While she brooded, she also came up with a question.

“Hang on... if he absorbs everything, then why did he stumble around so much when she did the combo?” Kimi pondered aloud.

Sama shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe when we combined your physical strength with my Flan energy, it was too much for him to absorb all of it. Maybe a little bit got through.”

Kimi sighed and leaned back, floating a few feet above the ground and staring up at the hole in the forest foliage. She was still a little annoyed by this new world that they'd ended up in, but she knew there was a way home – after all, they'd done this kind of thing before.

A lot.

“Hey Sama, you still have that cake taped to your wallet?” Kimi asked, suddenly changing the subject to food.

Sama shook his head. “Sorry, doing that so much ruined my old wallet, so I just sort of stopped...”

Kimi groaned in annoyance, but said nothing for a moment. Eventually she did come up with something. “Well, let's look for some food in this forest. There's got to be something.”

Her sidekick nodded, climbing to his feet he started to look around. Quickly, Sama scampered around the area they'd landed in. His right hand glowed a faint green – he had not recovered much of his energy, he needed more light than just the hole in the treetops.

“There's some moss on this tree.” Sama suggested.
“Did you land on your head?” Kimi blinked.
“Why?” The sidekick tilted his head.
“. . . Just keep looking.” The superhero sighed.

After a few minutes of searching, Sama ran over with a smile on his face. “I found some eggs!” He cheered.

“Eggs? Alright! Fry 'em up with that saber!” Kimi grinned, clapping her hands together.

Suddenly there was a loud 'squawk' and a massive bird-like creature swooped down and clawed at Sama's face. The sidekick yelped loudly and fell backwards, and the creature took back the egg. Just as it flew away, Kimi got a good look at the creature – it looked like a panda with the wings and talon of a hawk.

“Weird world.” Kimi shook her head, then she glanced down to Sama. “You alright?”

“Yeah, I'm good.” Sama replied, he had a few scratches but it wasn't too bad. He shrugged: “I'll go look for something else...”

Re-activating his lighted-hand, Sama once again disappeared into the forest around Kimi for a few minutes. When he reemerged, he was holding a large red mushroom in one hand, and a equally large green one in the other.

“Wild mushrooms? Isn't that dangerous?” Kimi raised an eyebrow.

Sama shrugged. “This is all I can find. I mean, I could try hunting, but I'm too much of an animal lover to want to do that.”

Kimi shook her head. “Naw, no hunting. I suppose if I can eat a flansaber, I can handle some funky mushroom.”

The two shrugged and both took a bite out of their respective mushrooms. After a few seconds, both were chewing, happily surprised at the taste.

“This isn't so baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!” Sama yelped mid-sentence, suddenly as his body shot up a few extra feet and he smashed his head against a branch.

Kimi winced as another poor tree was crumpled because of them; but she didn't feel too bad about it. Actually, she didn't feel bad at all – not about the tree; her wounds! All the soreness was gone instantly, as if the mushroom had given her a second wind.

“This seems... familiar.” Kimi blinked, though that was all she said on the issue.

“... Can I try that green one? I think I just gave myself a concussion.”

---

LunCH was still standing in the middle of the lake, but something had changed. Where there was once water there was now nothing more than earth. LunCH's magical armor had absorbed every last drop of the lake's water.

As he walked out on the shore, he lifted his arm and blasted the lake's water back out of his armor and restored it to the lake where it had been before his unexpected fall. As he finished refilling the lake, he turned around to find three people standing before him.

“General, it's always good to see you; I trust this hunt will be great fun.” The first of the three was a tall man who wore a white business suit; although something was odd about it. The suit had small slits on the side to keep it from restricting movement. The man also carried a gigantic steel drum on his back – the instrument kind.

“With all respect, General; I don't work in groups and I don't need these two.” The second was a woman with a brown ponytail and red eye makeup. A skull-shaped pin clasped her cape around her shoulders; both the cape and her clothing was gray.

The third was a tall man in a tan cloak with dark hair and a thin goatee. He wore fingerless gloves over his hands and did not say a word the entire time. His eyes were closed and there was something 'off' about this guy.

LunCH shook his head. “The three of you are the top FINDERS in the realm. The very best I've ever worked with. Today, though, I'm sending you on the hunt of a lifetime.”

“Who is the target?” The quiet one finally spoke, in a quiet, somber voice.

General LunCH replied: “They are. The two who Shalashama warned us about. They have finally arrived; and now I turn to the three of you. The targets for this hunt are two obnoxious, wise-assed, little punks named Super Kimi and Wonder Sama.”

WHO, AND WHAT ARE FINDERS?
WHERE EXACTLY ARE OUR HEROES, ANYWAY?
WHEN WILL THIS START MAKING SENSE?
WHY DO YOU THINK IT WILL?

THE ANSWER TO SOME OF THESE QUESTION MIGHT BE GIVEN IN THE NEXT EXCITING CHAPTER OF LORDS OF THE SKIES, MAYBE!

:w00t: Awesomeness Sama! Simply awesomeness!!!

XD No fourth wall to save you now! Maybe he's on vacation?

And don't Kimi and Sama know it's bad to eat wild mushrooms? But I supose when your choices are moss or mushrooms I would eat them too XD

Can't wait for more Sama! Awesome job! Oh and awesome pic Kimi!

Darnit, I know I've seen something like what CHoW/Lunch/whatever's outfit is before, but I cannot remember where! :(

Nice story so far!

Now it looks like their are TWO evil CRs...XD

Unless, of course, their's more we don't know!

Which is highly likely.

ANYWAYS, enough with my ramblings.

Kimi and Sama are in an alternate dimension! With giant panda-hawks...O.o...

Oh my.

I can't wait to find out who exactly these new guys are, and how Kimi and Sama are going to get out this, or how everyone else is fairing back home.

C_R: Thanks! ^_^ Yep, our heroes are toast without the fourth wall. XD Yeah, eating wild mushrooms is bad, but there's going to be about a million little references to things; that was just one of 'em. :3

DP: You might be thinking of Shredder from TMNT; Kimi made the design, but I listed him as a sample of what I had in mind. I'm glad you're enjoying it -- there's a lot more coming.

Professor: We shall see how evil she really is. :p
There's a LOT you don't know yet. This is about 2% of the overall story -- but I decided to break it up into little segments so I could actually post some stuff.

There's a *lot* of new characters to be introduced. As for what's going on back home, you won't see any of that for a while -- but I promise you the wait will be worth it. :3


Thanks everyone! I've actually got a lot more than this written, but I want to re-work some stuff before the next bit. Still should be soon, though.

Bingo! That has to be it!

Wow, this seems pretty cool, GS! So it's going to end up being an incredibly long story, eh? Well, that sounds pretty good to me. :)

It's weird, though, that you, too, are doing a story that involves alternate reality versions of the characters. XD

As for the picture that Kimi drew... there's something very Gurren Lagann-ish about it. And it's not just the Gunmen-like robot thing in the back that looks suspiciously like Lagann (Simon's Gunmen). The whole picture seems to have that type of feeling to it. Though, on the other hand, there was that part with the panda-hawk hybrid... kinda gave me flashbacks to grape-hippos. :p

CPOC: Yeah, this one goes on for a while. :3

Ha, it is strange. Although I'm willing to bet that the source of LOTS' alternate reality is very different than the one in SA.

Kimi's picture is very good, and being reminiscent of Gurren Lagann is actually appropriate for this! I can't say too much, but there are some giant robots-a coming.

Thanks man! Part 2 is written, I just need to fix some things and then post it.

Wheeee! Here we are, part two. If all goes well, there will be a new chapter every Sunday or Monday. Anyway, hope everyone enjoys this one!

LOTS – Chapter 2

---

“Well, isn't this just faaaaaaaaan-tastic. We got blasted into this weird-o world, attacked by CHoW-on-steroids and now we're stuck in a stupid forest. Things just keep on getting better and better for us.”

Super Kimi was more annoyed than ever; but Sama could not blame her. Kimi had been eaten by a ghost clown, blasted into a foreign universe and had been without food for almost an entire day. Even her overly-optimistic sidekick was having a hard time staying upbeat.

“It's not like this kind of thing doesn't happen to us all the time.” Sama reminded her, although he sounded pretty irritated himself.

“That's my point!” Kimi groaned. “That caped bozo has been bugging us for months now – and we still don't have any idea who the creep is, or why he's trying to kill us.”

Sama shrugged his shoulders and blinked – which turned out to be a mistake, because while his eyes were closed he walked into a spiderweb. There was no spider, but the second the web had brushed across his face he started shouting and flailing his arms.

Kimi clenched her fists.

After a few seconds of screaming and brushing his face furiously with both hands, Sama straightened himself back up and continued his earlier thoughts as if nothing had happened. “A-Anyway, there's lots of people trying to kill us. CHoW, Rowen, Spork, Avenger, that weird-o toe guy. What's the big deal?”

Kimi shook her head slowly, her mind swimming in memories. “No... this is different. Red's been responsible for all kinds of crap. That whole 'gnome thing', the ghost clowns, this... I'm telling you Sama, this guy is different. I can tell.”

Sama paused for a few seconds. After a bit, Kimi got annoyed: “Hey! Are you listening?”

“Shh!”

Kimi stopped dead in her tracks and spun around on the spot, eyes narrowed, brows furrowed and hands on her hips. “Did you just shush me?”

“Kimi, do you hear that?” Sama asked, looking around, his green eyes scanning the treetops.

“Not yet, but in a second you'll hear the sound of punching. Coincidentally you'll feel the pain of punching too.” Kimi continued on her mini-rant; although it was mostly to vent and not coming from actual annoyance at the shush.

She was about to add another comment, but without warning Sama jumped her way, grabbing Kimi and pulling her to the ground. Around the same time they hit dirt, nearby tree trunks exploded into splinters in a roar of explosion.

“Ah, so you do have reflexes. Good; I'd thought this was going to be boring.” A amused voice spoke from somewhere in the forest around them, but the exact direction was hard to pin down – the voice seemed to be coming from at least three separate places.

Kimi's face had changed from playful sarcasm to confusion and horror. “Why didn't I hear it?” She murmured.

“The Flan-Lightning; high doses can disrupt your senses for a while.” Sama quickly explained as he scanned the forest around them.

“... Stupid mushroom; here I thought it healed me...”

“You were hit with a lot of lightning Kimi, you won't just recover after only a few minutes.” Sama tried to console her, but his voice seemed distant. Likely because the majority of his attention was on the many potential hiding places around them.

Suddenly, a figure moved in the trees. Jumping from branch to branch, a man in a white business suit. A gigantic drum was strapped to his back, the silver straps criss-crossed over his chest, beneath the suit-jacket. He wore sunglasses and on the lapel of the suit was a small pin shaped like a gray skull.

Aside from the difference in clothing, however, the man looked identical to Tinman. The saucepan hat was gone, replaced by a feathered fedora.

“Since you survived the first blow, I'll go ahead and introduce myself. My name is Steelman; I'm a FINDER. One of the best, actually. Lord LuNCH has hired me to eliminate Super Kimi and Wonder Sama – that would be you two, right?”

Kimi and Sama exchanged glances, eyebrows raised.

“Yep.”
“That's us.”

The two stood up, Kimi crossing her arms and Sama striking a heroic (though dorky) pose.

“Tell you what lil' drummer-boy, I've got a serious lack of sleep and food; but I have plenty of pent-up anger. Attack us and I promise I'll beat your face so bad it'd freak out Picasso.” Kimi taunted.

“And I... will do MAGIC!” Sama jumped forward, suddenly (and inexplicably) wearing a top hat and cape. He pulled a deck of cards from his jacket and held them up to Steelman's face. “Now, pick a card, any card and I'll pull a carrot out of your ear!”

Steelman did not seem amused. His eyebrow quirked a quarter of an inch – and then he jumped forward and planted his knee into Sama's stomach, causing the sidekick to double-over in pain.

As usual, Kimi had disappeared from where she'd been standing before. Steelman tugged one of the straps on his chest and the drum, as if willed by some kind of magic, suddenly was strapped in front of him. He stepped back and hit the side – sending out a arrow-shaped burst of soundwaves that flew into the treetops.

There was a explosion and Kimi fell down with a handful of leaves – but she quickly swerved to another direction before she got near the ground.

“... The boy acts like a fool while the girl sneaks off and attacks; just as Shalashama warned. You two are the real deal.” Steelman narrowed his eyes.

“The best there is.” Sama replied; he had crawled over to Steelman's feet, grabbed one of them, and then unleashed a powerful electric shock. Steelman gritted his teeth while he was zapped, but he quickly kicked Sama in the head, knocking him away and ending the jolt.

As he rounded on the downed sidekick, intending on stomping him with the heel of his black leather boot, Kimi shot towards him from behind and flew two-fist-first into the FINDER's back. The impact launched Steelman forward into the trunk of a large tree.

Kimi threw Sama over her shoulder and then took off straight up into the air. She flew through branches and eventually, out over the canopy. A few seconds passed by, and then arrow-shaped bursts of sound waves fired up from out of the forest below.

“I hate the idea of running away.” Sama complained as one of the sound-bursts flew close enough to shave a few stray hairs off his head.

“You don't see me jumping for joy either,” Kimi replied as she zigged and zagged to avoid the blasts from below. “... but neither of us has recovered enough strength to face that guy.”

“Uh oh... we may not have a choice!” Sama gulped. Kimi looked over her shoulder and saw that Steelman was now hovering above the canopy, using his drum as a kind of flying-device. In his hands, he now held a harmonica.

Kimi returned her eyes to the sky in front of them and flew down lower, getting closer to the treetops once again. Every now and then she'd have to swerve to avoid a tall branch that would curve up, out of the canopy.

Suddenly, a crescent-shaped wave of sound flew just above her head.

“He's shooting those from the harmonica!” Sama yelped.

“Hmm... You know, I've got an idea.” Kimi mumbled, and those words filled Sama with twice the dread of the sound-waves that were now constantly being fired towards them.

Kimi suddenly dipped down, breaking the border of the canopy; she was now flying between giant branches! Every few seconds, and sometimes quicker than that, she would have to shift her flight to avoid crashing head-first into one of the giant branches.

Steelman could not follow them on this particular path; the space between the branches was too small for his giant drum to fit through. Instead, he had started flying directly above them, and started stomping his feet on the drums, sending circular sound waves crashing down at them.

“Is the idea to kill us, because this seems even more dangerous!” Sama complained.

“I could always drop you.” Kimi reminded him, prompting her sidekick to shut his mouth.

As several more blasts rained down from above, one of them struck a tree ahead of them. As it did, Kimi narrowed her eyes and flew low; just as the broken trunk was falling, she spun herself around and kicked it up! The giant shattered trunk slammed into the floating drum, sending Steelman spiraling out of control.

As he fell away, Kimi broke through the treetops again, and this time she took off into the distance, a triumphant smile on her face. Sama gave a sigh of relief and dropped his gaze from the skies to the world below. As he did, he saw a old dirt road running alongside the forest – and three large cars driving so fast they were kicking up clouds of dirt and dust.

“Kimi!” Sama yelled over the sound of the wind, pointing down at the cars. “Wanna stop and ask directions?”

Kimi looked down at the cars and smirked. “Seems like they're in a hurry... we'll probably just get ourselves mixed up in some crazy trouble... but that's bound to happen anyway.”

“Yeah . . . and if we find someone who isn't crazy and violent, maybe we can figure out where we are.” Sama hoped.

“Or a way home...” Kimi muttered, and then she started in on a sharp descent. Her plan was to land on the roof of one of the cars. Unfortunately, she went down at too sharp of an angle. Though she tried to pull up, her speed was just too much and she and Sama crashed right through the top of the center car, breaking the closed sunroof.

There were two people inside the car, sitting in seats facing one another. Nearest the rear of the car was a young man who was wearing dark glasses and a strange black suit. On the other side, sitting with her back to the front seat was a girl with pigtails who had a giant ax in the seat next to her.

Kimi and Sama, having broken through the sunroof, were now stuck hanging upside down.

“Smooth landing.”
“Shuddap.”

The girl darted forward and slashed the ax, stopping it just so that the metal was only just touching Sama's neck. Naturally, the sidekick sweatdropped.

“Um... hi.” He blinked.

“Who are you?” The girl with the ax demanded.
“We're superheroes...” Sama trailed off, a little too scared to speak.

Kimi rolled her eyes. “This is ridiculous; look! We're just here to ask for directions. How do we get out of your world?”

The man raised an eyebrow. “Out of our world...?”

Kimi blinked suddenly as something occurred to her, and she elbowed Sama in the side. “Hey... I think this guy is supposed to be Phazon.”

Sama tried to turn his head, but between being wedged in a sunroof and having a over sized blade on his neck, he failed. However, as he was moving he got a better look at the girl. “Actually, now that you mention it... wants-to-chop-my-head-off-lady looks a lot like Tazzy. Only, you know, crazy.”

“You want me to shut these two up?” The girl-who-looked-like-Tazzy asked.

“Not yet. We don't know if they're with Shalashama.” The Phazon look-alike replied.

“We can't take that chance. You two! Shoo! Shoo! Get lost!” The Tazzy-like girl demanded, waving her free hand. She returned her ax to the seat next to her, much to the relief of Sama.

Sama blinked in response. “We're... stuck. In your roof. Sorry.”

It looked like the eerie-similar-to-Tazzy girl was about to respond, when there was a sudden super-loud noise; a sound wave enveloped the car and ripped the roof right off. The strangers who looked like their friends both ducked, covering their heads, while Kimi, Sama and the roof were tossed right off the car and bounced onto the side of the road.

The Tazzy-like girl jumped onto the seat, grabbing her ax up once more. Suddenly, Steelman jumped onto the trunk of the car, an odd little smile on his face. His drum was gone, but he was holding onto his harmonica. While small, it had been powerful enough to tear the roof from the car.

Steelman looked down at the Phazon-looking man, and then turned his sights on the Tazzy-like girl. “Zatty!? Don't tell me a FINDER of your stature is working for an washed-up fragment of yesterday like him?”

Zatty shook her head, a smirk on her lips. “Some of us draw the line at hunting down innocent people.”

Shaking his head, Steelman scoffed. “Who decides who is innocent? Shalashama is ruler of this world now. His word is law! Going against him is a crime – so how can any of you be innocent?”

“You can't really believe that.” Zatty hissed back, her eyes narrowing and a look of disgust washing over her face.

Steelman sighed. “Forget it. We won't agree, that's painfully clear... and I doubt you'll get out of my way, will you?” He raised an eyebrow.

“You're talking so confidently... don't tell me you think you can beat me?” Zatty tilted her head and pursed her lips into a smirk.

“I've gotten better.” Steelman snapped back, his temper visibly rising. He opened his mouth to say something else, when he was suddenly struck in the back with the broken roof and knocked clean off his drum.

Kimi dropped the roof after smacking him away with it, and shook her head. “I guess all villains are incapable of shutting up. Maybe that's what makes them so evil.”

Sama jumped onto the flying drum a second later, his arms crossed as if he was thinking. “You know, I rarely shut up, so I think your theory doesn't work.”

“Oh yeah, 'cause you've never done anything evil.” Kimi rolled her eyes.

As the two crime-fighters began to bicker and joke between themselves, Faze and Zatty exchanged glances and shrugged their shoulders. The two began to whisper to one another.

“Those two might have some skills.” Faze mumbled.
“Maybe, but they also might be spies for LuNCH.” Zatty cautioned.
“I don't know. They don't seem the assassin type.” Faze tilted his head.

“ASSASSINS?” Kimi suddenly turned her attention from her sidekick to the strangers in the car. “I'm not an assassin! But if you say that again, I will kick your ass in. Literally, I'll kick you so hard it concaves.”

“That's... That just wrong.” Sama pointed out.

Faze blinked, twice, and then said: “Erm, yes... well, before you were saying something about being 'super heroes', right?”

Kimi's hostile attitude lightened up a bit; she crossed her arms and leaned back, now sitting Indian-style in mid-air. “Yeah, that's what we do.”

For a long time, Faze said nothing. His eyes closed and he seemed to be deep in thought about something or another. Kimi and Sama exchanged glances but both were confused as to what was happening before them.

Then, at length, Faze spoke. “I'd like to ask your help in a matter of grave importance in our world.”

Kimi shook her head. “Listen, I'm all for being the hero – it's actually fun, when it isn't annoying... but that's all beside the point. I want to get home. So if you want our help, how about helping us in return?”

Faze sighed. “I'm not sure I can do that.”

Kimi shrugged her shoulders. “Then I guess you're on your own.”
“Kimi!” Sama gasped, shocked by Kimi's refusal. “Come on, we can't just abandon these people...”
“We have to,” Kimi replied, turning her head his way. “Did you forget? Mr. Crimson Cape Annoying-Pants is still back home, causing trouble.”

Faze and Zatty both turned unbelievably pale. Faze stammered, but spoke: “Crimson Cape? Are you talking about Shalashama?”

Kimi's eyes became as wide as basketballs and she shot forward to the edge of her seat. “Wait, WHAT?”

Sitting back in her seat, Zatty explained: “Shalashama. The guy who betrayed our true king and took over this world... he always wears a red cape and hood.”

Faze tilted his head, looking out the window. It was as if he'd heard this story so many times before he was bored by it. Zatty, meanwhile, began to tell a story.

“You see, this world, Roshia, was once ruled by a fair and just King. However, he was not alone as ruler... he had a great organization to help him. The Council of Knights. Heroes who protected our world with special powers.”

Sama raised an eyebrow. “That doesn't sound vaguely familiar at all.” His sarcasm was heavy, but Zatty didn't have a clue what he was talking about.

Suddenly, Faze jumped into the conversation. “The King was an idiot.”

“Sir...” Zatty began, but he cut her off.

“He was too blind to see that the Council was unhappy. Shalashama appeared one day, and he corrupted the Council. Turned them all to his way of thinking. With the exception of one Knight, the entirety of the Council betrayed the King and took over. Once the King was gone, the one Knight who refused to revolt was banished, and Shalashama took control.”

Kimi crossed her arms. “So 'Shalashama' is screwing up this world too, huh? What is that guy's problem!”

“I wonder if this is his homeworld, or if he comes from our world...” Sama pondered.

Faze leaned back, his arms still crossed, and starred daggers at the two superheroes. “The Council of Knights are now known as the Council of Lords. They each control a separate area. My group is opposing their rule. If you have any interest in joining us, we could use your help.... but I can't promise we can help you in return.”

Kimi leaned to her side, sighing. “I don't see how we have much of a choice, do we? It doesn't look good on my super hero resume to let a whole world be enslaved by tyrannical dictators.”

“ADVENTURE!” Sama yelled happily; Kimi kicked him in the shin, causing him to whimper and shut up.

For a moment, everything was quiet. Kimi and Sama rode in silence, while Faze and Zatty were whispering to each other, probably a little unsure on their new allies. As things were continuing, though, there was a loud whistling sound.

And then, the truck in the lead of their convoy exploded.

“Aww, Potatoes.”

A second later, and the truck behind them was riddled with bullets; the tires exploded and the truck spun off the road and into a ditch. Kimi and Sama exchanged glances.

“URGH! Can't I ever just relax?” Kimi complained.

“Oh no... it's the world's greatest FINDER! A hunter who is ruthless and cruel, who is a master sharp-shooter... Gunsen!” Zatty looked panicked. She glanced to Kimi and Sama. “You two, get Faze to Rhubarb Village! Please, go, hurry!”

Zatty grabbed her ax and jumped out of the limo. Sama and Kimi shook their heads, but they agreed. Kimi jumped out of the limo and flew to the back; she picked it up easily with her super strength and started flying in the direction they had been driving.

As they started to get away from road, though, a scream echoed out from the woods. Sama and Faze snapped their heads around.

“That was Zatty...” Faze gulped.
“Aw, heck... I can't leave a girl in trouble.” Sama nodded. “Alright, I'll go find her!”

With that, Sama jumped out of the car and flipped his way down to the ground. He then started running as fast as he could (which, believe it or not, is quite fast) towards the woods. However, as he'd only just entered the thicker part of the trees, he spotted Zatty lying on the ground, in a clearing ahead of him.

“Tazz-- I mean, Zatty!” Sama called.

The ax girl wasn't moving. She was still breathing, but a strange metal dart was sticking up from her side. Sama wasn't sure what it was, but he had a feeling it had knocked her out. He started running forward – only to hear a gunshot!

Sama jumped back, hiding behind a tree, and a harsh, female voice growled from out of the woods.

“That's right, I'm a Sniper.” The voice hissed. “And you... You're Wonder Sama. Don't know what makes you so special, but there's a big bounty on your head, boy, and I'm going to collect it.”

Sama clenched his fist; and as he did he felt a sharp pain in his upper right arm. He clenched his face and groaned. After a second, he looked down to see blood on the sleeve of his jacket. Pulling the sleeve back, he realized the bullet had grazed his arm.

“Alright crazy gun lady! Let's just calm down!”

“Come out from behind the tree, or I'll shoot Zatty... and this time, it won't be with a paralyzing dart.”

Sama sighed... he didn't like this situation, but it went against everything he believed it to put a girl in danger. Shaking his head, he raised his hands and stepped out. As he looked up, he saw the sniper hiding in a tree... and he gasped.

“C-C-Crystal?” Sama choked out, too amazed to believe his eyes. The girl in the tree was holding a gigantic rifle, but she still looked a lot like his beloved Flan-I teacher. Though, this girl didn't look like she'd ever even said the word 'huggle'.

The sniper DID strike an uncanny resemblance to Crystal Rose. Though, there were a few obvious differences. For one, this girl was clearly emo – she had red eye makeup, was wearing all gray and black (completely with dark silver hair) and had paled her face to the point she looked like a ghost.

“My name is Gunsen Rose,” The Sniper hissed. “And I'm a FINDER. Anyway... I don't really talk to bounty, so you can go to sleep now.”

Suddenly, she shot Sama in the chest – it was a dart, just like the one stuck in Zatty. The next thing Sama knew, electricity was coursing through his body – and then he blacked out.

---

Meanwhile, Kimi had flown as fast as she could, and with directions from Faze they had almost reached Rhubarb Village. Finally, Kimi spotted the village on the horizon and grinned.

“HAH! I knew we'd be fine.” Kimi grinned.

A second later, she heard Faze scream. Quickly setting the car down, she spun around to see him lying on his seat, clutching a wound on his shoulder. His eyes were closed and he was unconscious.

“W-What happened?” Kimi blinked.

Suddenly, a man appeared standing behind her. She only realized it because she spotted a very brief movement in the corner of her eye. Spinning around and jumping back, Kimi was face to face with a dark-haired man in a gray trench coat. He had a mustache and goatee and a vicious scowl on his face. He was also holding two, long knives.

“What happened... is this. I have stabbed him with a poison-tipped knife. He has five minutes to live; lest you should defeat me and recover the antidote.”

Kimi raised an eyebrow. “Avenger...?”

“... Close, but no. I am Revenger – a... simple FINDER.” He flashed a smile, which showed off his fangs. “... and you, Super Kimi of Teh City... are going to die.”

He smiled and closed his eyes in a happy, anime-ish way. Kimi, famous for being quick to the punch, threw her fist at his face. Rather than hitting him, though, Kimi missed – because Revenger was now behind her.

“You have no chance.” Revenger hissed. “However... I will give you two more chances to hit me.”

Kimi narrowed her eyes, a vein was now visible in her forehead and her teeth were gritting together. “Are you mocking ME? That's it, no more Mr. nice girl!”

She didn't have time to think about any contradictions. Instead, she started throwing kicks at Revenger's head with a speed and fury that would have rivaled any martial arts master. Her feet moved like bullets, but no matter how fast she was, Revenger avoided the kicks.

“That's far more than two misses... Miss. So now, you will die.” Revenger hissed.

He was behind her again, suddenly, and he tried to slash at her with his knives. Kimi avoided it – narrowly enough to lose a few strands of hair. She flew around in a circle, but no matter how fast she flew, every time she got near Revenger to attack, he dodged easily and somehow ended up behind her.

At one point, he even scuttled up a tree backwards, on all fours, moving his body in ways that no human possibly could. Kimi was getting irritated... always a dangerous thing for her enemy.

As Revenger thrust his knife at her, Kimi spun around and threw a punch, focusing all of her speed into this last attack. She was, after all, on a time limit. Her fist managed to connect with the side of his face – and because of her superior strength it threw him backwards into a tree.

Revenger slumped over, not moving. Kimi floated over, cautiously, and after a quick search of his jacket pockets she found a small vial of white liquid. Quickly flying back to Faze, she forced him to drink it.

“Come on! Don't just die – not in chapter two, anyway. That's boring!” Kimi complained.

Faze coughed, sputtered and opened his eyes. He was very pale, his head hurt and he was shaking all over – but he was alive. He staggered up to his feet, with some help from Kimi, and nodded.

“Thank you... we need to hurry, though.” He muttered.

“Yeah, yeah.” Kimi picked him up and flew towards the village.

As Kimi was flying away, some bushes rustled and out stepped Steelman. He smirked and raised his harmonica, ready to send a arrow-shaped energy beam right at Kimi – when suddenly Revenger stepped in front of him.

“Whoa! You almost gave me a bloody heart-attack!” Steelman shook his head. “I thought you were dead...”

Revenger scoffed. “I don't die so easy. Anyway... don't attack her. I'm going to be the one to kill her.”

Steelman threw back his head and laughed. “Yeah, right! Listen, you're just a finder – no different than me.”

Revenger narrowed his eyes. “Oh? Am I?” He held up his right hand, revealing a small, rather unimpressive ring. However, when Steelman's eyes fell on it, his face became as white as a sheet.

“Y-Y-Y-Y-You... One of... Of...” He coughed. “I see. I didn't know. That's fine – I'll go after the boy, then.”

Steelman quickly turned and ran off into the woods, apparently in a hurry to get away from Revenger.

---

It was a dark tower, massive and black. The sky around it was as black as night – although it was only noon. In the uppermost chamber, the Man in the Crimson Cape sat on the floor, his legs crossed.

His mask was off.

“How's it going... in Roshia?”

Crimson Cape – Shalashama – looked over his shoulder and saw his lone, true companion in this place. As the girl crossed her arms and leaned against the wall, Shalashama spoke.

“Sama's been captured already.”

“ALREADY? Hah!” The girl laughed.

“... Kimi is still free. She's with Faze.”

The girl tilted her head. “Who? I didn't bother memorizing everyone in Roshia. I mean, it's not even...”

“SHHH! Don't reveal too much!” Shalashama cut her off. “Leave some surprises for the final chapter, alright?”

The girl shook her head. “Whatever. Listen... are Kimi and Sama going to survive? Can they actually make it back to this world?”

Shalashama leaned back, took a deep breath and then said: “Nothing has changed, as far as I'm concerned. The plan stands just as it always has.”

The girl smiled at that point. “Good... then I guess I'll be off to Roshia. Just to make sure those two don't screw things up.”

---

---

---

WHO ARE THE COUNCIL OF LORDS?
WHERE HAVE SAMA AND ZATTY BEEN TAKEN?
WHAT AWAITS KIMI IN THE MYSTERIOUS CITY OF RHUBARB?
AND WHAT DEVIOUS PLOT DOES SHALASHAMA HAVE IN STORE FOR TEH CITY?

… You know. Keep reading.

As long as you update faster than CPoC updates A&F (meaning more than once a year *kicks CPoC* :p ), hooray!

And nice new chapter!

Huzzah! An update!

Ooooh, alter people! I can't wait to see the other altered people.

And I wonder if there's an alternate Kimi and Sama too that they might run into later...

Revenger is scary, and I'm guessing he's one of the Lords...

Can't wait to see what happens next.

Or if you've already run into them... :LOL:

Heh, scary, AND referential!

And of course he's a lord. After all, look who his counterpart is! *Saiyapose*

EDIT: I also just noticed that he has alot of similarities to a certain Metal Gear villain I happen to be a fan of... Very good show, Sir Sama.

Thanks everybody! ^____^

Again, sorry for the delay. I'll have 3 done before next week is over at the latest! Unless I get a job, which might cut into writing time. Anywho...



DP: Thanks man! ^___^ I'm glad you enjoyed it -- and yes, I will update faster than Spoony on A&F. Which he should totally update.


AGOI: Thanks! ^__^ There's many, MANY altered people... some of them are inspired by real characters, and some are just randomness from my own mind. As for Alter Kimi & Sama... *static...*


Avenger: Glad you enjoyed it! And yes, Revenger is Vamp-ish. :3 Makes for a fun villain.

You know I actually read this at like 1am but since I was so tired I could barely fuction yesterday I decided to save my review until today!


AWESOME job Sama! I really need to stop reading SK&WS at night because everytime I laugh I threaten to wake up my roomate and have stuff thrown at me! But seriously, very cool chapter! It's cool to see all the altered people and it's awesome to see Kimi and Sama working together and beating the baddies. The last few fights have been especially fun to read!

And updates every week?! Yay-ness!!!

C_R: Thanks! ^___^ Heh, I'm glad you enjoyed it and I'll work my hardest to make the weekly updates a reality. :3
There's gonna be some really long, hopefully exciting fights later on.

Pretty awesomely done, GS! I still find it so weird that we're both writing stories that involve alternate dimensions. :heh: Though, there does seem to be enough differences so that I hopefully won't appear to be copying you. :heh:

Weirdly enough, I was thinking about using the name "Steelman" at some point, myself, but decided against it. Good thing, too, since you ended up using it! XD

And Crystal Rose has an evil double here, too, eh? The idea of someone like Crystal Rose being evil is definitely amusing, isn't it? :p

Hmmm... I think some sort of message is hidden in these comments somewhere, but I can't seem to discern what this hidden message is. What a mystery!

SPOON!: Yes! It's an odd coincidence that we're both working on special projects involving alter-worlds. Still, no matter how much great minds may think alike, we've both spun two totally different stories this time, so I think it's okay. :3

Though in all fairness, SA started first -- because I'm a horribly lazy weirdo who took a *year* to write this, so I'd probably be the one viewed as "copying". Luckily, I don't think either of us has to worry about that. :3

I wouldn't say Gunsen Rose is evil, necessarily... she's more of a mercenary type; works for whoever has the most money. Which makes her the opposite of Crystal, who does what's right for the sake of it being what's right.

I tried to make everyone opposite in some way; but not always in the most obvious way. Just wait till you see the end of the chapter that I'll be posting right below this -- when you meet those two, you'll know what I mean.

And now... chapter three. :3 FEATURING... Chickentaur.

...

LOTS – Chapter 3

Kimi had been flying towards Rhubarb Village, still carrying the rebel leader over her shoulder. When at last she found the village nestled deep within a mighty forest, the super hero landed and set Faze down. She opened her mouth to ask a question – but a second later men and women had her surrounded, holding various weapons towards her.

“. . . Hi.” Kimi blinked.

“ALRIGHT! WHO. ARE. YOU!?”

A woman in bright red armor was now standing in front of Kimi, having pushed her way through the crowd of weapon-wielding villagers. She wore a samurai-styled helmet, though her armor seemed more knight-ish. On the chest of her armor, and again on the front of her helmet, was a white symbol that looked like a crescent-moon lying sideways.

Kimi blinked again and almost took a step back. There was a kind of intensity in this woman's voice, and a glare in her eyes. One that wasn't unfamiliar, actually. Kimi had seen such a look before . . . and suddenly Kimi recognized the woman. She had the same face as one of her friends and roommates, and the same anger that that roommate displayed whenever someone attacked the Master Flan – or insulted Roy.

“Joha?” Kimi gasped in shock; and then she remembered that she was in an alternate universe and this woman was definitely not her friend. The woman in red armor reached behind her back, pulling her weapon – a giant egg beater, which was quickly pointed at Kimi in a threatening way.

“I ask you a question; and I won't repeat myself.”

“Roha, no.” Faze stepped forward suddenly, and for the first time, Kimi heard a different tone in his voice. The usual element of melancholy was gone, replaced with a forceful, commanding tone. She was surprised – and so was the egg beater brandishing attacker, who backed off.

“What happened, sir? Where's Zatty?” Roha asked

Faze shook his head, and with a sign that old guilt returned to his voice. “It's a long story. We were attacked by FINDERS. Zatty hasn't returned yet, and I fear she might have been captured.”

Roha fell silent, her face visibly paled behind her helmet. Just at that moment, Kimi let out a long, low growl. She had her arms crossed and was shaking while doing so.

“That's IT! You guys need to all knock off this depression crap right now!” Kimi yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at Faze. “I don't know how messed up your world is, and frankly I don't give a damn! I'm used to being around a bunch of obnoxiously happy people, and this group is starting to bum me out!”

“Just who the hell are you to talk that way?” Roha demanded, showing she could get just as mad as the superhero. Suddenly, though, the voice of Faze once again stopped her.

“No...” Faze said quietly, a silent but visible little smirk on his face. “It's alright, Roha. Kimi here is a super hero who is going to defeat Shalashama.”

Roha arched an eyebrow and looked at Kimi with a hand on her hip. “A superhero? HER? With all due respect...”

“She is also my honored guest. She saved my life. So please, treat her with whatever respect you deem worthy of that.” Faze said, although he didn't seem too enthusiastic. Then he turned and walked away, slipping his hands into his pockets and lowering his head.

After a pause, Kimi was gritting her teeth. “I'm going to go crazy with all you depressing people.”

Roha started to snap, but caught herself, remembering Faze's words. She took a deep breath and then spoke solemnly. “Did he tell you about the COUNCIL OF KNIGHTS?”

Kimi nodded. “Yeah. Said they were a bunch of selfish jerks who served some dumb-ass King who screwed up big time. Why?”

“... Faze is the rightful King of Roshia.” Roha replied quietly. “I'm Chief of the Royal Guard... or, I was.”

Kimi felt a bead of sweat drop down her head. “So... you gonna egg-beater me for that 'dumb-ass' comment?”

Roha shrugged. “The King orderer me to treat you with respect.” The woman in the mismatched crimson armor turned her eyes toward the deep blue skies.

The superhero tilted her head. “Seems like you respect him more than he does, himself.”

Roha shook her head and turned back to Kimi. “No, you misunderstand. He's not really all that emo... it's just... there are still many who blame him for trusting Shalashama. This village is loyal to him, but many...”

Kimi nodded. “Yeah, yeah. I get the picture. If it makes you feel any better, I'm sure I'll wind up fixing all of this in some over-the-top adventure.”

---

Sama groggily opened his eyes, his head still swimming from the electrocution. For a long moment, he lay where he was with a good smirk on his face. Then, suddenly, he realized that bad things had happened to him and he sat up and looked around.

“Oh great . . . I'm in jail.” Sama sighed, recognizing the steel bars all around him as some kind of prison cell.

As he looked around for a moment, he also noticed that he was not alone. Zatty was there as well, sitting in the corner with an annoyed look on her face. Sama rubbed his neck nervously; he didn't know this girl much at all, but she looked like Tazzy and that reminded him of all his friends back at Teh Flan-I Temple.

“So, where are we?” Sama asked her, tilting his head.

“... I don't know. I only just woke up a few minutes ago.” Zatty replied. “One thing I DO know; we're in trouble.”

“Aw, relax.” Sama shook his head, leaning back against the bars behind him. “I'm in situations like this all time.”

Zatty turned around and raised an eyebrow. She was amazed that he could remain so calm, almost bored when in custody. Crossing her arms, Zatty was about to question him, when suddenly Sama stood up and walked across the cell.

Without a word, he took a key from out of his sleeve and slipped the key into the lock. It did not fit, but he was able to manipulate it with his flan. His eyes glowed green for a moment and then the lock clicked and the door swung open.

“Let's get out of this place, shall we?” Sama grinned, always happy on the few occasions when he got to show off. However, as he looked back at Zatty, all he saw was an nervous look on her face. He opened his mouth to question why, but suddenly he caught some movement from his eye.

As he turned, he saw LuNCH, towering over him in his black armor. Gunsen stood beside him, holding the large red-and-black gun that HA had given to Sama, which she had apparently stolen.

“... Aww, Potatoes.” Sama sighed. “Don't tell me... we're in your airship, aren't we?”

LuNCH shook his helmeted head. “No, no... you're in my... LANDSHIP!” LuNCH spoke dramatically, and the 'dun-dun-dun' music played from the background. Sama blinked.

“Land... ship? Like...?”

“A big boat that goes on the land, yes.” LuNCH confirmed. “There's Airships and Sandships in lots of video games – so why not a ship that goes on dry land? A Landship. You see! I am original!”

Sama snickered. “Not even a little bit.”

CHoW would have gotten angry and taunted Sama over a remark like that. However, as Sama had to remind himself, this guy wasn't CHoW. As if to help him with that lesson, LuNCH delivered a backhanded slap to Sama's face – which hurts a lot more when coming from a giant wearing magical armor.

Sama fell to the floor, his nose bloodied, and he muttered a ka bibble or two as he tried to get back to his feet. He had only managed to climb onto his knees when LuNCH stepped on his back – putting too much force on his legs and knocking the Flan-I back down to his stomach.

“Insolent whelp! You and that girl caused me a real headache today! Luckily, Master Shalashama has a high value for your hide! When I deliver your body to him, I shall appointed to the Council of Lords! With my Flying Battleship, I shall finally surpass that brat as . . . LORD OF THE SKIES!”

Once again, the dramatic music sounded in the background, this time accompanied by a thunderclap. Then, LuNCH coughed and started to squash Sama once more. For a moment, Sama wondered how he'd get out of this mess. His money was on Zatty saving him somehow.

Then, seconds later, there was a large explosion and the nearest wall was blasted clean open, throwing LuNCH across the room.

---

In Rhubarb Village, Kimi wasn't having any epic battle scenes (as of yet) or dealing with psychopaths in armor. However, that's not to say she wasn't in the midst of a crisis; for she was. Kimi was stuck in what could be the single most horrible experience of her lifetime.

No, not being stuck in an alternate world, not knowing what was happening in her realm, and also not knowing if her sidekick was alive or dead.

“What the fu...zzies... is this crap?” Kimi complained, her arms crossed and a very sour look on her face. She had taken to wandering Rhubarb Village, and had found a small restaurant. She had ordered everything, with extra cake – but the many foods in front of her were all foreign and weird.

“... Is that an octopus on a donut?” Kimi blinked.

“A jelly donut!” The waiter grinned.

“... And, that one... the cake-looking thing...?”

“The twig cake? It is made with the finest twigs and sticks we could find in the forest!” The waiter replied happily.

Kimi groaned; then she spotted a large plate of chocolate moose. She quickly grabbed it and started chowing down – and then she spit it out.

Kimi, the super hero with a super-powered mouth and stomach, known to eat almost anything, spit it out.

“What's wrong? Is the moose's fur not cooked well enough?” The waited asked.

“... So in this world... chocolate moose... is fur from an actual moose covered in chocolate sauce?” Kimi's eye was twitching and she looked ready to kill.

“Of course!” The waited replied.

Kimi was about to snap and say something hurtful to the waiter, when Roha entered the restaurant. As the girl in mismatched armor hurried over, Kimi sighed and pushed the strange foodstuffs away from her.

“LASOOF can have this crud.” Kimi complained.

“Miss Kimi, his highness would like to see you.” Roha announced, giving a small, polite bow. Kimi raised an eyebrow.

“MISS Kimi? Bowing in my presence? . . . I'll have to teach those tricks to Sama when I find him.” The superhero joked to herself, and didn't really mind that Roha had no idea what she was talking about. She sighed and followed Roha, who started explaining about some things – but Kimi was far too hungry to listen.

---

In the chaos of the wall exploding into pieces (Sama wondered if that had been the fourth wall, but did not have time to ask) Sama had no idea what was going on. He rubbed his sore knees and was about to stand up when he was grabbed by the scruff of his neck by Zatty, who jumped right out the newly-made escape hole.

. . . and right into the ground, which it turns out they were zipping by. Zatty and Sama rolled on the ground for a bit – Zatty seemed able to duck and roll to protect herself, while Sama bounced along on his side, grunting in pain.

The gigantic Landship was true to its name; it looked like a magnificent pirate ship, the rival of even the Flying Dutchman, although this ship was moving over the land, knocking down trees and flattening hills just to proceed.

The ship had stopped, though, not long after Sama and Zatty jumped out.

From inside, a yell could be heard quite clearly – LuNCH seemed to be really angry as he shouted: “RELEASE CHICKENTAUR!”

Zatty paled up and gulped; while Sama tilted his head to the side and got a dazed expression. “Chicken...taur?”

A second later, a massive metal door on the side of the Landship opened, and out staggered a horrible creature. It was a giant of a man, but he had the head and left leg of a chicken.

“Chickentaur!” Sama laughed, falling backwards. “Oh... My clone would love you.”

Zatty smacked Sama on the back of the head. “You idiot! That is Chickentaur! A half-man, half-chicken! One of the single most horrific and disturbing monsters ever conceived! It eats people, which makes it half-cannibal I guess, and also it pecks and scratches entire cities into dust!”

Sama blinked twice, and then fell into a snickerfit – which earned him another smack to the back of the head. “I'm sorry!” He protested. “It's just... Chickentaur!”

“BA-KAWK!” Chickentaur roared, and it charged right at them. Sama grabbed Zatty and then jumped away, using his flan powers to jump far enough that they avoided the beak. The Chickentaur's beak had flown so fast, and struck with such fury that there was a miniature crater where the two had been.

After they landed on the road, Sama released Zatty and gulped.

“I... I don't want to get killed by a Chickentaur. Heroic sacrifice? Sure. Dragon? Maybe. Epic sword fight with an sadistic villain? Probably. But not a giant half-man, half-chicken. That's just... too absurd.” Sama mused.

Just as Chickentaur readied its next attack, a small black ball with a suspicious white cord sticking out flew towards Chickentaur and landed on his human foot. Naturally, this was a bomb and it exploded; knocking Chickentaur backwards! The massive half-man, half-chicken fell right on top of the Landship.

“OH COME ON!” LuNCH roared from inside. “THIS IS RIDICULOUS!”

Sama grinned. “That... was awesome!” He said, turning to Zatty excitedly.

“That wasn't me.” She replied, shrugging her shoulders. “I use an ax, not bombs.”

Just as Sama was ready to say something, an engine revved up and a motorcycle pulled up at their side. The driver was wearing a green jumpsuit and motorcycle helmet that covered her entire face. Sama and Zatty blinked at one another.

“Come with me if you want to live.” The Biker Girl hissed coolly.

Zatty shook her head. “Thanks for saving me; but I have a job. I need to get back to Faze.”

The FINDER turned to leave, but Sama stopped her. “Hey, wait! Um... if you see Kimi... that girl I was with before... could you let her know I'm not dead?”

Zatty nodded. “Yeah, sure.” She then cast a glance at the Biker Girl. “Be careful... you can't trust just anyone out here.” With those words of wisdom, Zatty ran off into the forest.

Sama turned to the Biker Girl, raising an eyebrow.

“So, who are you?”

“That's none of your concern.” Biker Girl replied.

“... What do I call you?”

“I don't care.”

“... How about... Skippy?”

“No. Don't call me that.”

“... She-Ra?”

“No! No, not that either.”

“... Punky?”

“Do you want me to leave you here with the chickenman?”

“... How about Eliza Doolittle?”

“That's it, I'm leaving.” She revved her bike.

“NO! Wait! Wait! I'll just call you... Sunny. That was my dog's name.”

“Fine, whatever, let's just GO!” She grabbed Sama by the scruff of his neck and pulled him onto the bike; then she revved up and shot off down the road. The bike was not ordinary; it could travel at speeds that eclipsed race cars, which made Sama feel a little green.

“Uhh... could you slow down, Sunny?” Sama begged.

“You know what? Just call me Biker Girl.” BG replied, shaking her helmeted head.

“Okay, fine, whatever... can you slow down now?” Sama asked again.

“No! Now I have a question... are you Wonder Sama, from Teh City?” Biker Girl asked, which instantly made the hairs on Sama's neck stand up.

“Erm... yeah. How do you know about...?”

“I'm fighting against Shalashama, the same as you. He destroyed my world, just like he wants to destroy yours. I followed him, trying to get to Teh Planet, but instead I got trapped here. Shalashama lives in a massive castle and you need a key to get in... I'm looking for one of his lieutenants who has that key. A mad botanist named Foon.”

Sama blinked. “... A... mad botanist... named Foon... who carries a key. FINALLY something in this world sounds a little familiar!”

---

Kimi had followed Roha to the edge of town, which as it was, happened to be at the base of a tall mountain. Faze was waiting there, his arms crossed, looking up at the mountain. Kimi floated over and raised an eyebrow.

“You wanted to see me?”

“Yes. Thank you for coming. I'm preparing my troops to attack Shalashama, but for story purposes we won't be ready till near the end. Still, I don't think you can win without learning to defeat the COUNCIL OF LORDS. The one Councilman who did not betray me lives at the peak of this mountain with his apprentice. Go and find him, and he'll teach you the secret to beating the Lords.”

Kimi raised an eyebrow. “Um... I usually beat stuff by, you know, beating it. With my fists.”

Faze shook his head. “That won't work here. You'll need something bigger and more bad-ass. Only Happy can help you.”

Kimi blinked again. “Happy? I hope I get to beat up a game show host... I mean, sure, I'll go meet him. I DON'T agree that I need help to win, but I figure if it'll make it easier to beat them and get home, I'll go for it.”

She paused. “If Sama shows up, send him my way – and tell him to make me a sandwich!”

Kimi started up the hill before Faze could say another word. The reluctant King was very surprised by this superhero, but for some reason, he felt as if she might be their best hope at stopping Shalashama.


As Kimi flew up the mountain path, she soared by the occasional tree, and giant rock, and eventually she flew right past a mysterious mountain man in a hood and cloak – and despite the script calling for her to stop, she did not.

“Nope. Just going to ignore it. I know this won't end well if I don't.” Kimi groaned.

Then, the Mountain Man jumped into the sky and landed in front of Kimi. She shook her head and started to complain, when she was punched in the face and flew right off the edge of the mountain!

“... What feeble strength this girl has. I don't see why I was called on this one.” The Mountain Man whispered to himself.

Suddenly, Kimi flew back up (since we all know falling off a mountain doesn't do much to people who can fly) and clenched her fists tight.

“That... hurt.” Kimi growled; and she was mad. This Mountain Man seemed to be a match for her in strength – something she absolutely could not stand!

Mountain Man laughed a gruff laugh from behind his cape. “Gwa ha ha ha ha... I am physically the strongest man in the world. You cannot defeat me, little girl. Now let's have a long, drawn-out battle scene!”

Kimi would normally have agreed; but the Mountain Man had touched a nerve. Kimi's hands clenched so tightly her nails were now drawing blood. “Little girl? . . . I've saved the universe more times than I remember, beaten giant robots, evil aliens, vader-wannabes... You just pissed me off REAL bad.”

Kimi opened her mouth, and instead of fighting, she yelled – a Super Sonic Scream, that quickly sent Mountain Man flying right off the other side of the mountain! Afterwards she clapped her hands together and grinned.

“Idiot. Getting in MY way, insulting me... I'm the friggin' star of the... what's that sound?” Kimi looked up, and realized that a super sonic scream on a mountain was probably a bad idea.

Rocks were now falling in an avalanche style. Kimi tried to fly away, but she was quickly overpowered and squashed beneath the giant boulders.

Super Kimi Did Not Win... Oh wait, no, that's something else.

Naturally Kimi has superpowers, and was not killed by the boulders. She was just trapped; which was annoying. She was in the middle of complaining loudly to herself, when suddenly she felt the weight crushing her become less and less, and then the rocks were thrown off completely.

“... What now?” She wondered, and as she looked up, she spotted a boy who looked her age standing in front of her. He wore a black and silver uniform, and also a bandanna and cape. He was the exact image of Darth Rowen, with one huge difference.

He had a warm and friendly smile on his face.

“Oh, good, you're not dead. I saw your foot sticking out from beneath the rocks when we came to investigate the avalanche, and I feared the worst.” The Rowen-lookalike said, and his voice genuinely sounded concerned.

“Now this is just too weird.” Kimi muttered to herself – and then, she saw him.

A taller man with silver hair and a strange mask over one eye. He too, wore a cape and a black and silver suit like the Rowen-lookalike. He was clearly the HA of this world. What happened next, though, was too shocking for Kimi to fully comprehend.

“Hellooooooo! I'm the Happiness Avatar, but you can call me Happy.” The HA lookalike said with a big grin; which quickly fell. “Oh noes! You're hurt; don't worry, I know what can help – HUGGLES TIME!”

And then, Happy tackled Kimi and attacked with bone-breaking huggles.

“You've gotta be f<_>ing kidding me.” Kimi blurted out, and really, there was no other way she could have said that.

“Language! A young lady should never speak that way!” Happy scolded her.

Kimi then passed out, overwhelmed not by her injuries, but with shock.

---

Meanwhile, in a room that looked a lot like a corporation's board room, sitting at a long table were several people. One of them was Revenger.

“This is ridiculous! Sending that muscle-headed chump after the girl? No, forget it! I'm going back out myself.” Revenger complained.

“You can't. Shalashama's orders.” Another of the LORDS who isn't being revealed yet shook his head.

“Pfft. Forget it. I'm GOING.” Revenger replied, and as he turned to walk out of the room, he came face to face with a young man who stood at the door.

The man wore a black suit and had wild, unkempt hair the color of fire. “Sit down and shut up.” He sneered.

Revenger's eyes narrowed. “I don't remember them making YOU a member of this council, Stan. So get out of my wa--...” Revenger's taunt was cut short as a younger woman stepped out from behind Stan.

She too, was dressed in black, and she wore a bandanna. Though her hair was short and blond. Her face was buried in a large book. Not a comic book, but an actual novel consisting of thousands of pages.

Revenger took a step back from the woman. His face had become unhealthily pale.

The blond girl lowered her book and tugged on Stan's arm. He leaned down and she cupped her hands to his ear and whispered something to him, so no one else could hear.

“Yes, your ladyship.” Stan replied, and he looked to Revenger. “Lady Kate wishes me to inform you that if you disobey Shalashama's orders... then I am to chop you up into little pieces and burn them all separately. Even with your powers, I doubt you could recover from that... Mr. Immortal.”

Revenger scoffed and went back to the table. “Friggin' Stan, thinks he's Mr. Bad-ass 'cause she'll only talk to him.”

The other Lord shook his head. “You're wrong. Kate will speak to others. It's simply that, if she speaks to anyone else, it's a sign that she's decided to kill them. Be glad you haven't heard her voice.”

Revenger made a rude gesture with his hand, but the other Lord ignored him.

Kate had returned to her book, while Stan sat down in a chair and leaned back, putting his feet up on the table.

“Pfft... I still don't see how she got the SKIES as her domain.” Revenger complained.

“I said, shut up.” Stan looked over to him. “When she tells me to give you an order, you listen to it. After all, between the two of us Kate and I are... the Lords of the Skies.”

Happiness Avatar! XD

...

I wonder who that biker is supposed to be a reversed-copy of...

...

Evil Botanist??

...

Chicken Boo, what's the matter with you.
You don't act like the other chickens do...

You wear a disguise, to look like human guys
but you're not a man, you're a chicken, Boo...

...

Great work again, GS!

I swear my parents think i'm crazy....Everytime I read SKWS stuff I burst out laughing....Really loud laughing XD

I think Happiness Avatar is my new favorite character.....EVER......SRSLY.

And I think Kimi's cursing is justified right about there....XD

As usual Sama you are full of Win.

That...was epic...

Chickentaur = Thaddius copy? XD

Foon?! With a key?! I wonder who that could be! :o

But seriously, this is awesome GS! So cool seeing who's who in this universe. I should make a list so I can keep things straight...

DP: XD I knew everyone would love Happy. I mean... how can you not?

The biker will be explained in time. :3

Actually, Dr. Viper was the inspiration.

And you, sir, are made of win for the animaniacs reference. Now, though, I'll be on YouTube for an hour watching it.

Thanks! ^__^ Glad you enjoyed it.

CR: XD Sorry your parents think you're crazy, but I am honored that you found it so funny.

Like I said, I had a feeling everyone (but, obviously, you especially) would find Happy hilarious. ... Okay, maybe HA won't find it all that funny, but everyone else.

XD Kimi had to curse there. It's just too weird.

Thank you! ^_^ I'm happy you liked it.

AGOI: XD Yep, Chickentaur is the Thaddius of this world. Only... don't let Hammah put this one on his head.

Foon with a Key. :3 That one might be too obvious.

Thanks! ^^ I'm glad you like it. And I'll make a list and post it sometime.

I was actually just making another Gintama reference, because Hedoro looks really scary, but isn't evil at all. :LOL:

Though I had no idea you actually were referencing someone with that, since I don't think I ever watched that program you linked to, before. :heh:

Oh, as soon as I saw you linked to Gintama I didn't think you were all that serious... but I thought I'd explain the person behind the Foon anyway. ^^

And Swat Katz is awesome. One of my all time favorite American cartoons. :3

XD ZOMG.... I will have to draw a picture of Chickentaur terrorizing a city one day. That is just too awesome.

Amazing as always, GS!! I can't wait to see the other characters' personalities. :D

Tazzy: ^____^ Why thank you! I can promise at least some more of the characters will be introduced next time!

A picture of a Chickentaur? That would be awesome!

LOTS – Chapter 4

Kimi opened her eyes and quickly discovered she was in a large, comfy bed with many pillows and warm blankets. At first she had no idea how she'd gotten there, and really didn't care. There was no evil, no villains, no pain . . . for once it was peaceful.

And then, a door not far away burst open and in ran HA – Happiness Avatar – who was holding a trey of mini-muffins.

“I thought you might like a delicious treat!” Happy grinned, gliding over to her and setting the muffins down on a table beside the bed.

As memories rushed back into her mind, Kimi fought the urge to pass out again. Instead, she rubbed her eyes and focused on her surroundings. She was in a room that could only be described as 'cute'. The walls were covered in pictures of baby animals, everything seemed soft and cuddly, and when she realized this was HA's home, she wondered if maybe she was being punked.

“This is just too weird.” Kimi shook her head. She sat up and leaned against the wall, crossing her arms. “Alright. Explain! … if you can.”

Happy tilted his head. “Well, okay then! My name is Happiness Avatar, I was an robotics engineer for King Faze, and a former member of the COUNCIL OF LORDS, before my fellow COUNCILMEN decided to overthrow him. I wouldn't do it, so they kicked me out too.”

Kimi blinked. “That's not what I meant! Explain why you're so nice! And why this place is so cute and cuddly! It's WEIRD, MAN!”

Happy paused and pondered. “I'm not sure I understand... just what's weird about it? Oh! Maybe you need more huggles!” He grinned.

“NO! No, I'm fine, really!” Kimi flew up and hid in the corner of the room . . . the corner of the ceiling. She was worried that if she saw HA give out any more huggles, it would create a time-space paradox and destroy all life in existence. She realized that the last time a time-space paradox had destroyed the world it had been because the Master Flan was destroyed . . . but this was just weird enough to bring on a repeat.

“If you say so!” Happy replied in a cheerful, sing-song voice that made Kimi shiver.

“Could you... be a little darker? Maybe make a violent reference? Say something creepy?” Kimi begged.

“I could never do anything like that! I'm far too nicey-wicey!” Happy replied with a grin.

“ . . . Well, that WAS creepy.” Kimi replied, shaking her head. She floated down from the ceiling and landed on the floor tentatively, almost cautiously. A second later, a door opened from behind her and she turned around; and suddenly she was face to face with one of her greatest enemies.

“Hi. I'm Cowen. Nice to meetcha.” The boy looked exactly like Rowen, although he wore the same style of uniform as Happy. Kimi's face twitched a couple of times. If HE started huggling anyone, it really would destroy the universe.

Luckily for the universe, Cowen had no interest in huggles. Instead, he mentioned something about dinner – which instantly made Kimi throw away any lingering doubts or hesitations about these two.

[. . . . .]

When the motorcycle stopped, Sama and Biker Girl were sitting outside of a large mansion. The building had a golden roof and trim all along the sides, and giant silver walls. It sat in the middle of a thick forest – but rather than trees, this was a forest comprised of overgrowth and giant ivy vines.

“Makes sense for a mad botanists.” Sama muttered as he hopped off the bike. He looked to Biker Girl and raised an eyebrow. “So this Foon guy has the key to Crimson Cape's castle?”

Biker Girl nodded. “Yeah. He's loyal to Shalashama, though. You'll have to beat him if you want the key.”

Sama shrugged. “Figures . . . but if there's really a mirror that'll lead back to Teh City, I have to try. Kind of wish I had Kimi with me, though.”

Biker Girl stepped forward suddenly and placed a hand on Sama's shoulder. “You can't rely on others all the time, you know. Even sidekicks have to fight some battles.”

Sama sweat dropped. “I-I know that! I've fought battles before; I'm a Flan-I!”

Biker Girl shook her helmeted head. “That you are . . . but I didn't say 'Flan-I fight some battles' . . . I said 'sidekicks'. Be a sidekick . . . or you'll probably be killed.”

Sama's eye twitched a bit. That sounded like the same kind of annoying cryptic clue that always seemed to be given during a cartoon, and would later be important. As Sama had been watching cartoons since he was a tiny baby, he knew all the tricks . . . and this one was an annoying one.

Then, something else occurred to him.

“Hey wait . . . how'd you know I was a sidekick? And how did you know I was a Flan-I – or what a Flan-I even is!?” Sama asked several questions in a row and turned to Biker Girl. Unfortunately, both she and her bike had disappeared. He sweat dropped again and this time almost fell down from annoyance.

Sama shrugged his shoulders and stepped forward. He looked up at the mansion door and bent down to the lock. After a few seconds, he was able to unlock it. The door swung open and Sama stepped inside to a very dark room.

He felt like he was in a jungle; there was a wide variety of strange plants growing everywhere. Beneath some of the ivy and vines he could see machinery – but he couldn't recognize what it was.

“Man... what a weird place...” Sama muttered to himself. As he continued to creep along cautiously, charging a small bit of lightning on his hand to use as a light, he noticed a large green pipe sticking up from the ground in front of him.

“Whazzat?” Sama blinked. “Is that . . . Awesome!”

He grinned and ran to the pipe – he'd played enough Super Nintendo to know what this was. Jumping up, he was about to try to slide down – when a large, drooling mouth shot up from the pipe and ate him.

[. . . . .]

Kimi was eating too; she, Cowen and Happy were having dinner. Whereas the idea of a huggling HA and a super-friendly Rowen was scary, they had good food. A table at least six feet in length was laid out with pizza, donuts, shrimp, croûtons, burgers and of course –

“CAKE!” Kimi grinned happily, suddenly reminded of home for the first time in a long time. Though she knew this wasn't home, and so in between bites she looked over to Happy and asked him the all-important question.

“Hey, Faze told me you could help me defeat Crimson . . . erm, Shamalama.”

Happy blinked, and his face grew somber. “Shalashama?”

“Yeah, that's the one.” Kimi nodded.

Happy leaned back in his chair and paused for a few minutes, pressing his fingertips together in front of his face. Kimi and Cowen kept eating until at last Happy replied.

“Yeah, I know the secret to beating him. I didn't believe it . . . I didn't want to believe it, but you're sitting here, which means it has to be true.” Happy seemed to be talking more to himself than to Kimi.

“What do you mean, bro?” Cowen asked, raising an eyebrow.

“. . . It's --”

As always seemed to be the case in situations such as these, a window burst open sending glass flying through the room. Now Kimi is used to super villains breaking windows; but when the glass showered the table, it effectively ruined dinner. Given that it had been almost two days since Kimi's last meal, her eyes narrowed.

“Oh, you're SO dead.”

The perpetrator was the same hooded mountain man as before. He now stood on the table, his feet in the cake. The ultimate insult, Kimi flew up and charged him without a word – slamming her shoe into his face and sending him flying off the table.

He crashed into the wall, knocking over Happy's 'Howdy Cat' clock, and his hood fell off. The mountain man stood and Kimi recognized him.

“You have got to be kidding me . . .” Kimi blinked.

[. . . . .]

Sama, in the meanwhile, was getting bored in the Piranha Plant's stomach. There wasn't much to do, and it smelt like expired milk. He had already tried to cut through the walls of the vicious, man-eating plant's stomach with his flansaber and failed. Suddenly, he heard a noise like coughing – and then he was spit out by the plant and landed on his chest, on the grassy lab floor.

“Eww . . . That was SCARY.” Sama groaned.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.”

He paused, hearing maniacal laughter. He looked up and saw a pair of feet sticking out of sandals. The feet were green and leafy, which prompted Sama to look further up. Standing in front of him was Foon, the Mad Botanist! His hair was made of grass, his skin was green and ivy covered his lab coat.

That wasn't what made Sama's jaw drop.

“Spoony!?” Sama gasped, recognizing the Mad Botanists instantly!

“I am Doctor Foon, Chief Botanical Researcher for Shalashama. You must be that boy from the other world, eh?” Foon asked, grinning.

“Greeeeeeeeeat. Hey, listen, do you have a key to Shemashuma's palace?” Sama asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Shalashama. And yes, yes I do.” Foon replied, nodding his head once.

“Cool. Can I borrow it?” Sama grinned.

“Oh no, not at all. I have strict orders to kill you.” Foon explained. “So you see, there'd be no reason.”

Sama knew what that meant – and instantly his hands went to one of his sabers; he jumped up and towards Foon, bringing the saber towards him! His arm was caught by a large vine, and another vine wrapped around his waist and pulled him up into the air.

“Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha . . . You lose.” Foon said simply with a sinister smile.

“Eh?” Sama turned his head and saw the source of the vines; it was an Ivysaur the size of a tank. His eyes widened and he felt a sweat drop; this wasn't good.

“This one will remember to chew.” Foon chimed in, and suddenly Sama saw the vines moving him towards the giant Ivysaur's mouth.

“Oh no, no, no, no! I'm not becoming plant food twice in one episode!” Sama reached his free hand into his pocket, going for his spare saber. Instead, his fingers felt a small, metal rectangle. He knew what it was, but didn't know how he'd gotten one. Still, in this situation it was appropriate.

Sama pulled the lighter from his pocket and flicked it on; burning the vine around his waist and causing Ivycause to drop him instantly as it recoiled in pain. The sidekick fell to the ground and several plant monsters scurried towards him. They looked like crabs that were made of grass and ivy. He waved the lighter around and they stopped in their tracks and stood their ground.

Foon wasn't smiling anymore. He looked angry, clenching his fists several times. Then he charged forward and hit Sama in the back with his keyblade; knocking the lighter away. It tumbled a few feet and set the grassy floor ablaze.

“Aww, potatoes.” Sama sweat dropped as the entire lab began to burn.

[. . . . .]

“Spork!?” Kimi was surprised at the face of the villainous mountain man – it was one she normally associated with an annoying science-guy.

“I am Sprok, the Warrior King.” He replied with a sneer. “I assure you, this is nothing personal . . . but my orders are to destroy you, and I never fail.”

Kimi blinked. “Yeah, whatever. I should probably care about who you're working for, but this is the second time today you've pissed me off, and you ruined my meal – so prepare for some skull bashing, pal.”

She shot forward and threw a barrage of lightning fast punches; but much to her amazement Sprok managed to dodge each and every one of them. He had incredible speed, and he was strong too – but not on the same level as the hero.

He jumped back and then charged forward, punching twice. Kimi caught the first punch, but the second hit her in the jaw and knocked her down. She rubbed her jaw and then shot forward again, knocking Sprok in the chest with both feet and sending him flying right back out the window.

She looked around for a second to try to find Happy and Cowen, but she couldn't see them anywhere. So she hurried outside after Sprok, but the second she passed out the broken window she was kicked in her side and hit the ground hard. Sprok jumped at her, but she rolled to the side, shot up and aimed her own kick at his back. He circled around, caught her foot and spun it around – causing Kimi to spin around wildly. She fell back, her head hurting and her vision spinny.

Sprok jumped at her again; but she twisted away and punched him in the chest; knocking him down to the ground.

“I really hate it when the jerks have strength.” Kimi complained.

“I shall ease your pain with death.” Sprok grinned.

“UGH! Why do bad guys always say stuff like that?”

Sprok leaped forward again, but this time Kimi shot right past him, came up from behind and delivered a powerful kick to his back, knocking him flat on the ground. For a moment, she thought the battle was over. Then, Sprok propped himself up on his arms and a strange yellow light began to glow around him, and around a large stone lying a few feet from him.

“That's never good.” Kimi concluded, and she flew towards Sprok intent to stop whatever he was planning before it could happen. Sprok jumped up, Kimi kicked him in the chest – and then Kimi bounced backwards, holding her leg and swearing in pain.

Sprok was now made of stone as he stood in front of her, with a sneer on his face. “Ha . . . As I said, I never fail.” He charged at her full speed, and Kimi sweat dropped, wondering what she'd have to do to escape. Then, much to her amazement, a gigantic pair of red, robotic arms wrapped themselves around Sprok.

“Giant robo huggles!” Happy's voice called out as Sprok was scooped from the ground by a gigantic red robot: Gurren!

“H-Happy?” Kimi blinked, her jaw had dropped and she was impressed. This HA had cool toys too!

The ground just in front of Gurren started to hum loudly, and then a smaller red robot shot out like a rocket, a drill on its front – and smashed into Rock Sprok, quickly shattering his stone armor. A second after Lagann's attack, Gurren swung his arm around a few times and then threw Sprok off into the distance.

“Are you alright?” Cowen's voice came from Lagann.

“HELL YEAH!” Kimi replied, ignoring her injuries and the lost meal. This world had giant robots!

Gurren suddenly opened, and Happy slid out and landed on the ground in front of Kimi. He was standing with his arms crossed and a serious look on his face. He had done a lot of thinking while he watched the battle, and a realization had struck him.

“Kimi, I --”

“That was friggin' cool! Can I get one of those?” Kimi asked with a grin.

Happy sweat dropped. “In a minute! Remember, before, I was going to tell you something important.”

Kimi blinked as she recalled the earlier dinner. Happy had been trying to say something, but Sprok's appearance had interrupted him. “Yeah, sure, what's up?”

Happy slowly lowered his gaze, and his smile faded. He looked like whatever he had to say was painful, and as he began to speak, Kimi understood just how right that was.

“The real reason I remained loyal to the King . . . The reason I resisted Shalashama . . . You should know it. One day, I saw Shalashama meeting with a strange woman . . . a girl who rode a motorcycle and kept her face hidden behind a mask. She spoke of another world, different from our own...”

“My world!” Kimi assumed, crossing her arms.

“Yes . . . I believe so. Shalashama indicated that . . . this other world, YOUR world . . . was the true world, and that our world is a false one.” Happy explained.

“False?” Cowen, who by now had excited Lagann, raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Happy gave a deep sigh. “Our world, according to Shalashama and this woman, does not exist. It is an illusion created to trap two from another land . . . Super Kimi and Wonder Sama.”

Kimi's forehead twitched, a vein bulged, and her fists clenched so tightly her knuckles turned white. For the last few months, Crimson Cape had caused a lot of aggravation to her and her friends. If what Happy said was true, however, it meant he had created an entire parallel world and used it as a prison.

“How is that possible?” Cowen asked.

“I don't know . . . he talked about two strange dessert dishes.” Happy replied, and that caught Kimi's attention.

“What? Hold on, what were they?” Kimi asked, dreading the answer. Her face had started to pale as she dreaded the words that she knew in her heart would come next.

Happy seemed surprised by her interest, but decided it would make more sense to her than it did to him. “He said this world was created because he controlled 'Master Flan' and 'Master Custard' . . . though I do not know what makes those particular dishes so special.”

Kimi groaned and closed her eyes. How could that be true? If Crimson Cape had control of both magical desserts, then what did that mean for her world? What did that mean for Rapid Island? Had the Flan-I failed? What about the Custard?

“No way . . . that's not possible.” Kimi shook her head. Spoony, Crystal, Tazzy, Avatar, Amelie . . . the Flan-I couldn't have failed! Joha wouldn't allow the Flan to fall into evil hands! And besides, the Professor, Avenger, KxS, Jimi, Hammah; they wouldn't have given him the Custard, would they?

“That is what he said.” Happy nodded. “It means something to you, doesn't it?”

Kimi opened her eyes and looked up at Happy. This time, her face was completely serious, her eyebrows narrowed and she felt a fiery anger burning in her blood. “Yeah. It means I need to get home. NOW.”

“This is ridiculous!” Cowen objected. “Our world isn't real? How can you even think that, bro!?”

Happy shook his head. “No . . . it's true . . . and I believe our responsibility is to help Kimi, here.” He paused and then reached a hand into his pocket. He pulled out a pair of V-shaped sunglasses and handed them to Kimi. “Take these. They will let you pilot Gurren – plus you'll look cool.”

“Bro, no!” Cowen objected once more, now sounding like a finger-pointing attorney. “You can't give up Gurren . . .”

“... Thanks.” Kimi accepted, putting the sunglasses on.

[. . . . .]

The laboratory was now completely engulfed in flames. Sama and Foon's battle had become close range, and Foon had lost his edge of controlling plants. The two were now on a catwalk, high above the burning floor of his lab. Sama's used his flansabers, while Foon was using a large katana that was surrounded by a magical aura.

“You burnt down my lab!” Foon roared, he was visibly angry. “Do you have any idea how much destruction you caused!?”

“Heh, you actually reminded me of Spoony for a second.” Sama replied with a grin; then he slashed at him again, but his strike was parried by Foon's katana.

The two crossed blades a few times, striking and blocking. Then, Foon ducked down low and kicked Sama's knee, sending him fall down. In one swift motion, Foon prepared to strike – and then he was run over by a motorcycle.

“Whoa.” Sama blinked. Biker Girl had crashed through the wall, jumped off her bike and allowed it to skid right into Foon, smashing him against the railing of the catwalk.

“. . . Get the key.” Biker Girl stated simply, her arms crossed.

“Huh? Oh, yeah!” Sama jumped up and looked around the room for a moment. He didn't see a Keyblade, and since Foon wasn't the copy of whom he'd assumed, he doubted he'd find one. However, as his eyes scanned the building he did spot a giant key hanging from the ceiling like a decoration.

“How did I miss that?” Sama wondered aloud. Then his mind turned to more important matters – like the mysterious Biker Girl who continued to follow him and save his butt from danger. “Okay, so who are you, anyway?”

He turned around, and she was gone. “ . . . Annoying.”

Sama jumped up, pocketed the key, and headed out of the lab.

[. . . . .]

“Wait, what about me?” Foon complained from beneath the bike.

[. . . . .]

“So, how does this thing work?”

Kimi was now in the pilot's seat of Gurren, talking to Happy over a headset. He was standing at Gurren's feet, while Cowen was at his side with his arms crossed and his face pouting.

“Why are you giving her Gurren? We hardly know her.” Cowen complained for the umpteenth time.

“Like I said; our world isn't real. Trust me on this one.” Happy replied with a shoulder shrug.

“That doesn't make sense.” Cowen shook his head.

“Cowen. Please believe me this time. It's important.” Happy's words were grave and somber; unusual for him. He turned around and looked up at the clear blue sky. “Our purpose is to help her and her friend get home. I understand that now.”

Cowen was about to reply, but suddenly Happy spun around and his face had paled. He grabbed Cowen by the shoulders and shoved him towards Lagann. “Go! Get in Lagann and take her towards the castle! Right now!”

Cowen blinked. “But, bro . . .”

“What's going on?” Kimi asked from inside Gurren.

“JUST GO!” Happy roared in his most forceful voice yet. Cowen knew that tone, and he knew Happy was as serious as he could be. Fearing what it could mean, Cowen regardlessly did as he was asked. He jumped into the smaller robot and closed the lid – and then he ran towards the nearby mountain and drilled a hole.

“Please follow me, Kimi!” Cowen yelled back to her.

“Wait, what's going on?” Kimi was confused, but she followed after Cowen. The two disappeared beneath the surface of the ground, and as they did, Happy walked inside his house.

Two people were sitting at his kitchen table. One was a blond girl, and the other a boy with a surgeon's mask over his face.

“Hello, Happy.” Stan acknowledged the former COUNCILMAN.

“Hello Kate. Stan. Tracked me down, didja?” Happy asked, crossing his arms.

“Where's Kimi?” Stan asked.

“. . . Would you like some cake? There's only glass, some wood and shoeprints on it.” Happy offered.

Kate and Stan didn't look amused.

[. . . . . . . . . . .]

One more chapter to go – I have it all planned out and it should be posted really, really soon.

In fact, I have the next ten stories planned – the first five will conclude teh Trilogy (ROTH and TSJB are both just two parts long) and the next five . . . ha ha ha . . . will be awesome. XD I'm going for max comedy and a lot of shocking surprises, too! :D Seeya then!

I did NOT see Foon being Spoon! Brilliant GS!

Ah, man, this was a great update! I can’t wait for the next one to see the other awesome stuff you have planned!

Max comedy and shocking surprises? Ooooh, sounds like fun!

That quote…XD…Awesome.

Don’t forget Tinman!

OMFG YOU ARE SO FULL OF WIN.

:w00t: Awesome! I can't wait to see the conclusion of this! It's really gonna be great!

Nice story yet again!

...

Are COUNSILMAN and COUNSIL OF LORDS in all capitals because they are abbreviations for something?

AGOI: Thank you! I was trying to keep that one in the dark. XD

Ah! I forgot Tin! >_< My apologies. My brain isn't so great at remembering everything in the wee morning hours.

Glad you liked it!

C_R: XD Thank you! I wondered if anybody would get that one.

DP: Thanks! :D

… Nope. XD They're just that way... because... um... LOOK, A SQUIRREL!

As for the conclusion... BOOYAH!

---

LOTS – Chapter 5

After escaping from the burning laboratory, Sama made his way through the woods. Eventually, he came out on the other side – and in front of him was a deep gorge, a narrow rope bridge and towering across the gorge was a towering castle, as black as the night sky.

“Cliché villainous tower . . . yeah, that must be Shama . . . Shala . . . That must be Crimson's place.” Sama muttered to himself. He walked to the edge of the bridge and paused nervously. It didn't matter if he was watching movies about explorers and doomed temples, or playing video games about finger-pointing attorneys – old rope bridges were never good.

However, he examined it for a moment, kicking the bridge with one foot, and he determined it sturdy enough. Gulping, Sama started across. He was a little worried, though – he had not seen Kimi in a long time. He didn't like the idea of fighting Shalashama without Kimi. Beating the major villains was a job for the series star, not the co-star.

“Well, I'm hoping she'll show up anytime.” Sama shrugged, enjoying the freedom of not having a fourth wall to yell at him whenever he interacts with the plot.

He had made it no more than five steps onto the bridge, but as he took his sixth he was filled with lightning and thrown back onto the ground. He swore as he looked up and rubbed his now-sore head.

“Invisible force-field . . . wonderful.” Sama complained. As he looked around for a possible way around it, his eyes fell on a floating black shape in the air, about six feet above his head. Sama realized the shape was a keyhole, and he pulled the key from his pocket. “Hope this works.”

He jumped up, an easy task for a Flan-I Knight, and slipped the key in the lock. There was a series of bright, white flashes through the sky and when Sama landed back on the bridge he believed the force-field was off. Taking a tentative step, the sidekick was saved from a second shock and proceeded down the bridge.

He was almost a quarter of the way across the bridge when he spotted a white vapor moving in the corner of his eye. He quickly turned around, and was face to face with a ghostly version of Kimi.

“Yo.” Ghost Kimi grinned.

“K-Kimi?” Sama gasped, taking a step back. “What happened?”

Ghost Kimi shrugged. “What happened? I needed someone to watch my back. You weren't there. I got killed. Fun times.”

Sama's eyes widened and he stumbled back a bit more – and suddenly he felt a cold shiver behind him. He spun around again and saw another ghostly sight: this one was Avatar, his arms crossed.

“Funny . . . when we first met I was a ghost. Now I am again!” Avatar grinned. Sama stepped back from him, when a third apparition appeared on his left side.

“If you're wondering, we all died because you weren't there to help.” This time, it was the Ghost of Tazzy. “It was pretty horrible.”

Sama staggered back as the three ghosts floated around him, his back now on the ropes of the left side of the bridge. “T-This isn't real! This is some kind of illusion!” Sama stammered.

“Oh, no. It's real. The pain was real too – really painful, that is.” Vidit's Ghost had appeared now, once again from behind Sama. He was now stuck between the four – and more were on their way.

“You should have heard the screaming.” Joha's Ghost rose up from beneath the bridge on Sama's right. “So loud and awful!”

Sama was whimpering now. He'd fallen to his knees and looked downright miserable.

“It was the worst day of my life . . . and, you know, the last.” Hammah's Ghost was floating just to his side.

“Stop it! Go away! I . . . I didn't . . . I mean . . .” Sama was convinced it wasn't real; but he couldn't help but be affected as friend after friend appeared and blamed him for their apparent deaths.

“You didn't mean? Oh, but that doesn't matter, does it?” Phazon's Ghost was floating around, speaking in the same ghastly tone as the others.

“Nope. Doesn't matter at all. You were gone when we needed you.” Spoony's Ghost – which was a ghostly television with a ghostly picture of Spoony on the screen – chimed in as it floated around Sama's head.

“Hey Sama, guess what? Everyone you know and love is dead – and it's you're fault!” Crystal's Ghost floated up in front of him with a eerie grin. Sama fell backwards and put his hands over his head, groaning.

“Stop! Stop it! All of you! This isn't real – this can't be real! Go away!” Sama yelled, covering his face. They did not listen – instead each of the Ghosts continued to chant and rant in eerie, haunting voices. Finally, Sama screamed and raised his hands sending a blast of green light from both of his palms.

The sound stopped, and the ghosts were gone. Sama stayed on his knees for a moment, tears in his eyes. He blinked a few times, and then looked at his hands.

“That wasn't lightning . . .” Sama muttered.

“Obviously, your friends aren't really dead . . . not yet, anyway.”

Sama heard an unknown voice. He felt a deep anger in his heart and he spun around – then his eyes widened. Standing at the far end of the bridge was the Man in the Crimson Cape himself.

“I sort of expected you to show up at the end of the story.” Sama narrowed his eyes.

“Sama,” Crimson Cape was speaking in a low, humorless voice. “You understand nothing. I am not a heartless monster. I'm not even trying to hurt you, or your friend.”

Sama raised an eyebrow. “Really? So the ghost show and threatening to kill them was just an act, then?”

“I did not say I would 'kill them'. I just said they would be dead.” Crimson Cape replied. “I am not an 'evil man'. What I do, I do for a good reason.”

Sama groaned. “I'm really sick of bad guys who try to justify themselves! CHoW and Rowen always come up with crappy excuses, and Spork just loves the words 'gray area'. So please, for once, can't I deal with a bad guy who admits he's the bad one?”

Crimson Cape laughed. “Be careful what you wish for. I am not the one who will kill your friends. I'm just a messenger. If someone is to kill, then it is not I.”

“ENOUGH!” Sama roared. “You freak me out with ghost-friends and you ramble on like a hyperactive kid! You obviously know exactly how to piss me off, don't you?”

“I know more than that.” Crimson Cape replied smoothly. “I know your favorite food.”

Sama rolled his eyes. “If you're going to say 'potatoes', you are SO wrong.”

“Meatball sandwich on toasted bread.” Crimson Cape yawned.

Sama paused, raising an arm – then he put his hand down. “O-Okay, well . . . you know how to freak me out and my favorite food. Are you a myspace stalker?”

“I know your past – how you became a thief, how you turned to sidekick,” Crimson Cape enjoyed freaking people out. “I know your present – I know you're afraid of what's growing in your fridge, and I know your secret crush.”

Sama blinked. “Okay . . . well, at least one of those things I'd like to not discuss right now, so can we skip the talking and start the fighting?”

Crimson Cape shrugged. “I haven't even gotten to your future . . . for example, I know in a few seconds, you'll be going for a swim.”

Sama sweat dropped. “Aw, Pota--”

Crimson Cape activated a red flansaber and slashed the bridge beneath him. As the bridge collapsed, Cape was floating in mid-air with a red aura around his feet. Sama jumped up just as the saber connected with the bridge – but Cape raised his free hand and blasted Sama with a bolt of red lightning, knocking him down into the gorge below.

[. . . . .]

In a stretch of green field that sat next to a raging river, a drill popped up from the ground, twisting and tearing up the soil until a small robot – Lagann – popped out. Seconds later, Gurren joined it on the surface. As they'd been told, Cowen and Kimi had used the mecha to escape from whatever had scared Happy so badly.

“Cowen! We need to move out.” Kimi called over her communicator. “We should move towards the Palace where Shalashama is. I've got to get a way home.”

“No.” Cowen replied over the communicator in a cold, unfeeling voice.

Kimi groaned. He was starting to remind her too much of the Rowen she knew. “Come on! I need your help to stop Shalashama, and Happy --”

“Happy is in danger!” Cowen replied, and Kimi could hear the fear and sadness in his voice. “I left my bro in danger!”

“Cowen . . . Happy wanted to stop the bad guys. He explained it to you.” Kimi tried her best to remain calm, but she was worried. Ever since Happy had told her Shalashama controlled the Master Flan and Master Custard, she was worried about her world and her friends.

“You mean that stuff about our world not being real?” Cowen's voice had gone from miserable and full of fear, to burning with anger. “That wasn't true! Bro had to be wrong about that! We're real! I . . . I know we are!”

Kimi shook her head. “Listen, I'd be upset too. I mean, if I found out I was just a cartoon character – or even worse, an internet character – I'd freak out. Probably move to Memphis and become a cannibal; but right now I need your help! Happy wanted you to help me because he knows I AM real, and right now my REAL friends and in REAL danger!”

“NO!” Cowen objected stubbornly. “I . . . I . . . I have to help Bro!” He turned Lagann around and jumped into the ground, drilling his way back towards where he came. Kimi swore and started to follow him – but at that moment, a beeping filled the pilot's chair.

“Ugh, what now?” She looked at the radar screen and saw a large dot in the middle and several small dots coming right at it. She had no idea how to use a radar screen, but had seen enough movies to know that didn't look good.

A second later, missiles impacted all around her at all sides. Explosions and flames whipped up at the sides of Gurren and large pieces of metal struck her from all around. Kimi screamed out in frustration and looked up.

A giant, mechanical monster called Ray was towering over her. It was the source of the missiles, and inside the behemoth's mouth was the pilot – Revenger.

“I'm baaaaaaaaaaaack,” Revenger grinned widely. “And you are SO going down this time!”

Kimi had not expected Revenger to have a giant robot. She had beaten several before (CHoW loved giant robots, and the Professor was known to have a few too) but never had she had one of her own. Until now.

“You wish! I'll rip that dumb dinosaur-shaped hunk-a-junk to bits! . . . How do I pilot this thing?”

As Revenger started to laugh, Kimi realized her radio had been on even for the last part of her statement, something she had not intended. She sweat dropped and started turning knobs and pulling levers, not really knowing what she was doing. Happy hadn't had time to include instructions.

Gurren shot forward and put an arm around Metal Gear Ray, like Gurren needed help standing up. Naturally, Ray swatted Gurren away, knocking the robot to the ground. Ray spun around and started firing several bullets into Gurren's hull.

“Crap! Damn it, how do I do the drill thing?” Kimi complained; she knew all about Gurren, since it was one of the (many) shows that she and Sama watched whenever there was no crime. She didn't think too much about why Gurren existed in this universe. If Happy was right, if this world was just a trap.

'It means Crimson Cape knows stuff about us . . . I'm really sick of that guy.'

With bullets bouncing all over her robot, Kimi didn't have much time to think. She hit a few buttons and Gurren rolled to the side, evading the attacks. Next up, though, Ray fired more missiles – and Kimi decided to reach over and rip up a tree; using it as a bat to knock a handful of missiles back at Ray.

There was a series of explosions and Ray staggered. Revenger swore loudly over his comlink. Missiles continued to fire and once again Kimi tried using the tree as a bat – but this time the missile exploded, setting the tree aflame and knocking Gurren down.

“DAMN IT!” Kimi roared, punching the arm of her chair and knocking it off. As she reached down to find the missing chair piece, her eyes fell on a book stowed away beneath her chair. As she picked it up, the words 'Gurren Instruction Manual' made her smile.

“Well, this is . . . stupidly obviously, but I'll go for it!” She grinned, opening the book and reading through it in a few seconds. Yes, Kimi can read an entire technical manual in seconds. When she read manga, she took her time, but with boring stuff she read it fast. She wouldn't be able to explain what she just read, but all the information would be rattling around in her brain and would become somewhat of a second-nature.

Now that she understood Gurren, Kimi slipped the sunglasses Happy had given her over her eyes. “Alright punk, let's do this.”

Ray opened fire with the rail gun, and Gurren whipped the sunglasses off it's chest and used it to block away the bullets. As soon as Ray's gun finished firing, Gurren used the sunglasses like a sword and slashed Ray across the leg, causing sparks and flames to shoot out and knocking Ray down.

“Damn!” Revenger gritted his teeth. “I'm not losing to you again!”

Ray suddenly opened its mouth and Kimi could see a glowing light. She swore, but a second later a beam cannon fired and cut Gurren across the toros, tearing apart the robot's body and knocking it down to the ground. Flames exploded and Kimi lost control over Gurren.

Kimi swore loudly as she ejected from Gurren's mouth. She'd have to do this the old fashioned way – by beating Ray with her own two hands. Ray's rail gun fired multiple shots and Kimi swerved and zipped and dove and zagged to avoid them. She knew that a regular gun couldn't hurt her, but a giant machine gun capable of taking out a tank was something else, and she didn't feel like testing the limits of her endurance.

Suddenly, a drill exploded from the ground and Cowen shot up, bringing Lagann's drill right into the downside of Ray's missile pack. Then, Lagann jumped away mere seconds before the remainder of Ray's missiles exploded – on its back.

Ray was torn apart, the debris falling to the ground.

“Cowen!” Kimi was surprised. “You came back.”

Lagann's brain popped open and Cowen looked up at her. “Yeah . . . well, Happy wanted me to help you. I'll do what Bro wanted.”

Kimi sweat dropped. “I broke Gurren.”

“I noticed.” Cowen looked unhappy about that. “It's alright . . . I know someone who can fix it. Follow me!”

[. . . . .]

Sama has a lot of abilities, a lot of skills, a lot of special talents.

Swimming was never one of them. He had always been a bad swimmer. He loved the water since he was a kid, but had never been very good at keeping his head above water. Normally, he could at least tread water – but he was still shaken up from before. Seeing the ghostly images of his friends harass him, and having Crimson get in his head had put him in a bad state of mind.

So, naturally, he was being whipped around in the current like a ice cube in a cup. His eyes closed and for a moment he thought this might be it – and then a hand reached out and picked him up, depositing him on the shore.

“Ugh . . . Oh man, I can't thank you enoug . . . You have got to be kidding me.” Sama's expression of thanks trailed off as he realized who had just saved him. Somehow, he knew this was going to end badly.

The girl looked like Blackfire, with the distinction that she was dressed like a nun. It was a kind of warped paradox that was already making his head hurt. Before he could say anything else, she had grabbed him by the collar and started dragging him off somewhere.

“Um . . . I appreciate you saving me and all, but could you maybe tell me where we're going?” Sama asked.

“Oh, don't worry poor drowned person. I'm taking you to a creepy shack in the middle of nowhere, so I can kill and eat you – I mean, give you food and shelter.”

Sama sweat dropped. “Did you just say --”

“Shhhhhhhh,” She shushed him. “No need for you to speak!

Sama groaned. He wasn't sure what scheme she had for him, but he decided that he was just going to go. He jumped up, breaking free of her grip and jumped, trying to make it to a low-hanging tree branch.

He landed on the branch, looked up, and spotted Crimson Cape floating right in front of him. “You again?” He sighed

“Yeah, me again.” Crimson replied, shrugging his shoulders. “Komiander isn't too great at keeping her mouth shut. No matter – I know all your fears and weaknesses; you can't win. Neither can Kimi, for that matter. Why not surrender?”

Sama scoffed. “Dude, as much as you might know about me, you don't know jack if you think I'll surrender. Besides – I'm not scared of a Blackfire look-alike. That nightmare's over for me, so why should I be afraid?” Sama crossed his arms resiliantly.

Crimson Cape snapped his fingers as a ball of red light began to glow in his hand. He looked towards Komiander, who was standing at the base of the tree, and he shrugged. “Alright then . . . how's this?”

He threw the ball and it became a bolt, and as the bolt of red light struck her, Komiander transformed into a horrific spider-woman.

“. . . You are SO freaking evil.” Sama glared at Crimson.

“Not as much as you might think.” Crimson replied cryptically, and then he vanished.

Sama cursed and jumped out of the tree, trying to get to another nearby branch – but a giant glob of webbing got his feet, stuck them together and caused him to fall to the ground below. He winced as his shoulder filled with a stinging pain, but forced himself to turn over.

He looked up and saw the Spider Monster standing above him, drooling a foul smelling toxin from her teeth. Sama whimpered like a scared dog – he feared and loathed spiders more than anything else. Even the idea of being trapped in a mayonnaise factory, while being given a spinal tap with a giant needle and having a tornado hit was not as scary as a spider.

Naturally, the Spider Monster reached down to bite his head from his shoulders, but Sama rolled to the side and tried to escape – until one of the eight legs came down on his chest with a thud and knocked the wind from his sails (and lungs, don't forget lungs).

“You know, even with all this, you're still not as annoying as the real thing.” Sama sighed.

The Spider Monster made a horrific screeching sound, like someone attacking a chalkboard with a rusty steak knife. Sama's eye twitched and he started concentrating on getting away. He lifted his hands and sent waves of lightning at the Spider Monster. Sparks flew and emerald-colored light flashed through the forest.

The Spider Monster blinked, and then resumed it's decent to eat Sama's head.

“Oh come on!” Sama yelped. With his options dwindling, he grabbed his flansaber and cut the Spider's foot away from his chest (and it's body) and then he rolled away. The Spider Monster roared in anguish and started chasing him (with seven working legs left, it wasn't too hard).

Sama sliced the webbing off his feet and started to run. What else could he do? He fought giant monsters a lot, but a spider was just too much. In a few seconds, the Spider had caught up with him, drooling toxins on his back. Sama yelped, spun around and slashed with both sabers.

The Spider was hit and reared back; it prepared to smash him with giant, clawed feet.

And then, the Spider was struck in the chest so hard it fell on its back and stopped moving completely. Sama blinked and looked up – Biker Girl was standing on a low-hanging tree branch. He had not seen what she did to defeat the Spider, but it had worked.

“T-Thanks . . .” Sama sputtered.

She jumped down and landed next to him. “You better get going. Follow this road and you'll reach Crimson's castle. I'll steer Kimi in the same direction.”

Sama blinked. “Hang on! No disappearing this time! I've got questions!”

Biker Girl shrugged. “And I have the answers . . . but not today.”

He imagined she was sticking her tongue out at him from beneath her helmet. She did a backflip onto the tree branch, and then jumped off into the woods. She clearly could jump as well – if not better – than a Flan-I.

Sama sighed. “I really want to go home.”

[. . . . .]

Light-V was considered the finest mecha mechanic in the world. His job was to repair the mecha used by Kate, the highest-ranked person in Shalashama's army. Still, unknown to his bosses, he had supported King Faze the entire time. So when Cowen and Kimi showed up and asked him to repair Gurren so they could stop Shalashama once and for all, his response had been immediate.

“FINALLY!” Light-V shook his head. “It's about time someone stood up to that freak. Of course, I'll repair Gurren. Give me an hour or so.” He grinned.

“Thank you.” Cowen nodded to him.

“Oh sure, thank HIM! I'm the one who has to do all the complicated work.” SxK, Light's apprentice, muttered. She was already standing at the side of Gurren, welding a large piece of metal back onto the robot's hull.

Light-V shrugged. “Now if you'll leave me to work, I'll get done faster.”
“YOU'LL get it done faster?”
“. . .”
“Gah! Sorry, sir! I'm working!”

Light-V snickered. “It is fun giving her a hard time. All part of the apprenticeship.”

Kimi floated outside, deep in thought. Something about this whole thing didn't set well with her. Although throughout the entire adventure in this strange world, there had been someone or something trying to kill her, she'd always managed to get away. When she was in danger of losing, someone just happened to save her. When she couldn't figure out Gurren's controls, she just happened to find the instruction manual.

'If what Happy said is true . . . if Crimson Cape made this world . . . if this is all just an illusion, then he could destroy us at any time. Still, I survived . . . I'm sure Sama has too. It's almost like he wants to push us to the edge of defeat, but not actually beat us.'

Kimi had never spent a lot of time thinking about the bad guys. True, there were some quiet moments when she wondered about Rush, but she didn't spend a lot of time on those thoughts. Still, something about this situation was just wrong.

“Kimi, there's something I should tell you.” Cowen interrupted her thoughts. The two were outside now, and Cowen had a serious expression on his face.

“Yeah, go ahead.”

“If you're going after Shalashama . . . you should know something. You'll never reach him unless you can defeat Kate. She's his lieutenant, and known as 'Lord of the Skies'. She pilots a giant robot, and more than that, she had psychic powers.”

Kimi groaned. “Fan-freakin'-tastic. So how do I stop her?”

“The only chance you have . . . is to combine Gurren and Lagann.”

Kimi's groan turned into a grin. “Awesome. Then I take it you'll be helping me on this?”

Cowen nodded. “Like I said, it's what bro asked me to do.”

Kimi was about to say something else, when suddenly the voice of Light-V returned to their ears. Neither of them turned around right away.

“I'm having a small problem here . . . I could use some help.” Light-V muttered softly.

Kimi was ready to ask what the problem was, wondering if maybe he wanted her to hold Gurren up while he (or rather, SxK) did more welding. As she turned, though, she found that Light-V was being held by the neck – the one holding him was LuNCH.

“Forget about me?” LuNCH grinned – at least Kimi presumed he did, she couldn't see his face. Still, she'd fought enough villains to know the motions.

The two stood for a moment, and then LuNCH threw Light-V like a projectile. Kimi dodged him easily, but he crashed into Cowen knocking him over. Kimi slammed a kick into LuNCH's helmet; and LuNCH didn't move in the slightest.

“Oh wait, you absorb this stuff, don't you?” Kimi remembered with a sweat drop.

“Yep.” LuNCH grabbed her foot, released the full force of her kick, and sent her flying backwards until she hit the ground and skidded along, creating a deep ravine.

She stuck her head up and scowled. “Man, I really hate that.”

“I'll help!” Cowen yelled, and he took off running towards Light-V's repair shop.

LuNCH's boots started to glow. “Now, try this on for size!” He held out his hands as his boot absorbed the grass right from the ground; when he opened his palms, he started shooting grass blades with the speed of a gun.

Kimi blinked as the grass hit her, and then fell off onto the ground. “Um . . . Whatcha doing?”

LuNCH sweat dropped. “I, uh, whoops . . .” He coughed, and then moved his foot – and started absorbing the rocks from the ground. This time, though, she shot forward and punched him with all her might in the chest. A split-second later, she swore under her breath – it was a natural reaction to try to beat the villain before they attacked.

She really didn't like the absorbing armor thing.

“This'll hurt.” LuNCH promised, as he charged both the rocks and the force of her punch. Suddenly, the side of the repair shop ripped open (despite the loud protests of SxK) and a speeding robot – Lagann – zipped towards LuNCH.

In a flash, the drill cut true and ripped the straps on his gauntlet. The glove flew into the air, spun a few times, and as it fell, Kimi caught it.

“Yeah, this WILL hurt.” She promised – and then she threw a second punch at LuNCH; this time using the power of his gauntlet and her own strength together. The glove shattered on impact, and so did LuNCH's chest plate. He fell backwards and lay still.

Cowen popped out of Lagann and stood over LuNCH triumphantly. “That wasn't so tough! I always heard that guy was tough.” He grinned.

“Oh, really?” LuNCH reached out and, with his one still-gloved hand, grabbed Cowen's leg. Cowen tried to kick away, but LuNCH squeezed immediately and Cowen yelped out in pain, falling to the ground.

Kimi shot forward and kicked LuNCH as hard as she could in his uncovered arm, knocking him several feet away. She shook her head and looked down at Cowen. “You alright?”

He shook his head. “No . . . I think he broke my ankle.” Cowen lamented. “I won't be able to help with Lagann, now.”

Kimi slapped her forehead. “Here's an original idea – for once, how about giving ME some GOOD luck? That'd be fun.”

It seemed her luck wasn't going to turn. There was a rumble behind her, and with a dark scowl plastered on her face, Kimi turned to see LuNCH once again climbing to his feet. It seemed like the armored airship commander wasn't ready to give up today.

“There is nothing in this world that can ever stop me!” LuNCH proclaimed, crossing his arms stubbornly. A boot connected with the back of his helmeted head and knocked him to the ground; and this time he was unconscious.

Kimi and Cowen traded confused glances. There was a woman standing above the (finally) unconscious villain, her arms crossed. She wore a motorcycle helmet and a riding suit – yep, the same Biker Girl from before.

“So . . . can I go back to my shop now?” Light-V sweat dropped, and then, without waiting for an answer, he ran back inside the repair shop.

“Alright, who are you?” Kimi asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Doesn't matter. You want to stop Cape-boy?” Biker Girl replied coolly.
“Yeah. Still want to know who you are.” Kimi crossed her arms.
“. . . I'm a fan, okay?” Biker Girl clearly had something to hide.
“I love fans. Not good enough.” Kimi narrowed her eyes.
“I saved Sama's life.” Biker Girl added.
“Who hasn't?” Kimi was still suspicious.
“LOOK!” Biker Girl was getting annoyed. “This is irritating. You're irritating. Here's the deal – you come with me, I'll show you the way to your sidekick and the way home – if not, you can keep screwing around and stay here forever.”

Kimi paused. “ . . . Alright. Let's just wait on my giant robot.”

[. . . . .]

Sama had finally made it back from the gorge to the path that would take him to the palace. Once he reached the area where Crimson Cape had destroyed the bridge and given him a ghostly show to watch, he jumped across. This time he wasn't waiting around for company.

On the other side of the gorge, he found a rocky hill. Slowly, the sidekick started jumping up, bouncing from rock to rock as he shot up towards the Palace. He was about halfway up the hill when suddenly he spotted a figure standing in his way.

It was a man about his age, with thick red hair and dark eyes. He wore a mask over his mouth and was holding a katana in each hand. Sama recognized him instantly – not from his half-covered face, but from his messy hair.

“I guess you're the faker-me.” Sama crossed his arms.

“Something like that, punk.” Stan hissed.

Sama reached for his saber – and he felt something sharp cut into his hand, instantly forcing him to drop the saber.

“You remember Gunsen Rose, I assume.” Stan pointed over his shoulder, up the hill a ways. Sama could just barely see the image of Gunsen Rose, kneeling on the upper path with her rifle.

“Here's the deal, 'Sama'. I'm going to give you a katana. We're going to fight. If you beat me, you can pass . . . if you fail, you die, of course. If you try to use your flansabers, or try to run – Gunsen will shoot you. Understand?” Stan proposed.

Sama shrugged. “I don't seem to have a choice...”

“Good,” Stan smirked. He threw one of the katanas and it landed at Sama's feet. Sama reached down and pulled it from the ground, and as he looked back up, Stan was right in front of him and already swinging his sword – Sama dodged to the side, but as he felt a pain sting his arm, he realized he hadn't dodged totally.

He looked down to see his arm bleeding from near the shoulder. “. . . OUCH KA BIBBLE! YOU CUT MY FREAKING ARM!” Sama yelled loudly.

“Well, I AM trying to kill you.” Stan replied, slashing again. This time Sama blocked the blade. The two slashed and hacked at one another a few times, trading clangs on their swords.

Sama jumped back as Stan slashed forward; and then he rolled beneath the faker and tried to attack him from behind. Stan jumped right over him and delivered a nasty cut to Sama's back, making the sidekick wince.

“I really don't like you.” Sama growled.
“Feeling's mutual, punko.” Stan snickered.

Their swords clashed yet again, and then a few times more. Finally, Sama had an opening – but he didn't stab. He wasn't used to fighting with real swords, and he wasn't about to try to kill someone. In that second of hesitation, Stan spun and slashed Sama once again, knocking him to his knees.

“You won't win like that.” Stan hissed.

Sama said nothing. He leaned back and looked up at Stan, who had just raised his sword above his head. From the look on Stan's face, Sama could tell what was coming next. Then, just before Stan was about to bring the sword down; Sama threw up his hands and shot lightning at the blade.

Stan started to hum with electricity and glow like a Christmas tree; then he collapsed backwards, unconscious. Sama stood up and held onto his bleeding arm. Without another word, he dropped the katana and started walking up the rocky mountain.

[. . . . .]

The King's Palace sat at the top of the rock-covered mountain. Standing in front of that Palace was a giant, red robot. Inside that robot was Kate, the most feared of all Shalashama's knights.

Kate said nothing (it wasn't uncommon). She simply sat in her seat, the giant Big Duo with its arms crossed just as she was. She knew that Kimi was on her way.

Surely enough, as if on a cue, Gurren came up the hill at that second. Kimi looked out at the giant red robot and she snickered.

“You must be Kate.”
“. . .”
“Not too talkative, huh?”
“. . .”
“Alright. Well, in that case, let's just get to the fighting.”

Kate suddenly spoke. “You should know something, Super Kimi. When I speak to someone . . . it means I plan on killing them.”

Kimi shrugged. “Great. Whatever. Can we fight now? I wanna go home.”

Big Duo did not move; Gurren did. Gurren charged forward and threw a mighty punch; but Big Duo's arm suddenly grabbed the fist and blocked the punch completely. Kimi narrowed her eyes as she realized that Big Duo was stronger than Gurren.

“This could be fuuuuuuggggggggggghhhhhhrrrrrrrrn.” Kimi was pleased at first, thinking that she could enjoy a nice battle with an even opponent. Suddenly, though, a horrible pain slammed through her entire body and she closed her eyes and screamed.

“I am a psychic.” Kate's voice traveled again. “I can crush you without ever laying a finger on you.”

Big Duo grabbed Gurren's other arm, and then the larger red robot used the pistons in its arms to send a powerful jolt of energy into Gurren's arms – tearing them apart.

“You can no longer fight me with your robot . . . and I can attack your brain and central nervous system at any time. There is nothing you can do to survive.” Kate promised.

Kimi's eyes were still closed. The pain was too intense. Then, she heard a soft humming . . . like a drill. And a second later, a giant drilled crashed into the roof above her, stopping just a few inches above her head.

Of course, Kimi watches Gurren Lagann, so she knew what was happening. “Cowen! I thought you broke your leg!” She called.

“Who the heck is Cowen? Don't tell me you replaced me already!” Sama's voice called back in fake irritation.

“SAMA?” Kimi's jaw dropped. “How the heck did you get Lagann?”

“Some weird biker chick whose been helping me ambushed me in the woods, gave me a robot – which doesn't have enough leg room, by the way – and told me to come find you.” Sama explained.

“You'd think that would have made it into the story.” Kimi pondered.

“Eh, I think the author is trying to get this posted before 24 comes on, so everyone doesn't have to wait and extra hour to read it.” Sama explained.

“Oh.” Kimi blinked. “Well, I can understand skipping stuff for television's sake . . . but how would you know that?”

Sama shrugged. “You know, since we are trying to hurry – and there's no fourth wall in this world to stop us – we should just move on to the fight.”

With Lagann in it's head, Gurren started to glow. The arms repaired themselves and suddenly drills exploded out of the robot from nearly every available point. Gurren Lagann charged forward, slamming into Big Duo and drilling away at nearly every opening Kimi and Sama could find.

Kate knew she could not defeat Gurren Lagann. So she focused all of her psychic energy on Kimi's mind – she was trying to destroy Kimi's brain, to completely cut away intellect and leave her a vegetable.

“Ahhhhhhhh!” Kimi was screaming. She pushed down hard on the drills and suddenly Big Duo exploded. Flames shot to the tops of the skies, sparks shot in every direction, and both giant mechs caught ablaze. Then, a second explosion, this one several times more massive.

“Kimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!”
“Samaaaaaaaaaa!”

The two yelled, neither able to escape. The explosion would destroy them both – not even Kimi's powers could let her survive.

[. . .]

Kimi and Sama lay on the ground, a few feet from one another. They were not burned, there was no soot on them – indeed, even the cuts in Sama's jacket (and skin) were gone. Kimi's bruises were gone too.

Both were asleep, perfectly alive and alright.

Standing above them was the Man in the Crimson Cape, and the Biker Girl.

“. . . They died in the other world.” Crimson Cape sighed.
“They're fine.” Biker Girl argued.
“They aren't ready! Damn it!” Crimson Cape roared in anger. “They failed! That means that all the planning . . . all these months of work . . . they are for nothing!”

Biker Girl shook her helmeted head. “It's too late to back up, now. Luckily, that world didn't exist. Now we just have to see if Kimi and Sama can defeat what happens next.”

Crimson Cape nodded. “Yes . . . that's true. I just don't understand why the boss ordered us to do all of this.”

“Neither do I . . . but I'm sure he knows what he's having us do.” Biker Girl shrugged. “Now, come on . . . you need to go check on Teh City. Evil's in full bloom . . . they need their new leader.” Biker Girl reminded him.

“. . . Hah, I suppose you're right. Let's leave them here. When they wake up . . . the next part of the plan begins.” Crimson Case hissed.

[. . . . . . . . . .]

WHEW! That's finally done. :D And now I'll work on the next one's as fast as I can, because I have several ideas for the new season that are hilarious and awesome and I'm eager to work on them. :3

The next part of the trilogy will be done in no less than three days; and it mainly details with what's been going on in Teh City while our heroes were gone. :3 Lots of stuff with the Flan-I, and the Custard-I, and everybody else! Plus, we're finally going to find out who Crimson Cape actually is, and why he's doing all of this. ;D

And Team Rocket. Team Rocket is there too.

I seriously did not expect this tonight, though I guess you just beat the deadline anyway. :heh:

Anyways, as for the story, really good stuff yet again (which I think I've said already, recently :heh: ). Though what's the giant, red robot supposed to be? Your picture link only leads to a no-hotlinking image.

The pieces are starting to fall into place!

Ahhh, secrets abound, and I'm racking my mind and trying to figure out just who Crimson Cape and this Biker Girl are, what exactly they're trying to do, and who their boss is...

Giant robot fight ftw, by the way. XD

Very awesome work GS, can't wait for the next part!

DP: Thank you very much! :D

The red robot is supposed to be Big Duo from Big O. I updated the link, maybe this one will work! >_< Sorry about that!

AGOI: Indeed they are... slowly! XD

You'll find out in the second-half of RotH! And the fact that you haven't figured it out makes me think I'm sneaker than I thought. XD I actually typed out who they were, but decided to wait and save it like I originally planned. I'm so indecisive sometimes. XD

Thank you! :D I'm glad you enjoyed it!

The next part is coming soon. Pay close attention to some of the smaller details, especially when it comes to the character's interactions . . . there will be a few small hints about the 2009 season. ;D

The next part, unless I am delayed by life (XD), will be posted sometime between January 20th and January 23rd!

Indeed. My only guess from the beginning was that they were the alternate world versions of Kimi and Sama (though I also thought Joha was a possibility for the biker, though that's possibly because for whatever reason I associate the color purple with the biker XD ), though you said Kate and Stan were their alternate world reps. outside of that, they could just be original characters.

I am saddened that the next part is going to take until next January to appear, however. Even that seems uncharacteristicly long... What's wrong with saying you'll try getting it up by the sooner and more-reasonable-to-expect date of, say, late June?? XD

DP

XD I thought people might think either Sama or Rowen for Crimson Cape, since they're both associated red.

Biker Girl Kimi? I guess I could see where you'd think that.

But let me state for the record: Kate and Stan were the Kimi and Sama of the alter-world.



Oh man, DP... you're doing to me what I've been doing to Spoony in regards to SA and A&F. XD I don't like being fed my own medicine! XD XD XD

But I'm for serious, DP! Within the next three days there will be an update. Unless important work gets in the way, or I lose internet or something. BUT AS LONG AS I HAVE A COMPUTER AND FREE TIME, IT SHALL HAPPEN!

:w00t: Very awesome Sama! Everything is starting to come together....Yet there is still much mystery!

Crimson Cape and this Biker Girl's identity are still gonna bug me forever though XD I wanna know!!!

I'll be waiting anxiously for your next update!!!

With that sort of determination, I'm sure you'll get it out before the next SA! :LOL:

As for beating the next A&F, I'll probably have finished a SK&WS story by then...

XD

C_R: Thank you! ^_^ Yes, it will all make sense... as much as this series ever does... soon!

XD Well, just two more updates and you'll know! And I plan to have that done in no more than six days, so (hopefully) you won't have long to wait!

I want the whole Trilogy done in 12 days or less. 3 days per chapter! That way I can do the next season.

EDIT:

DP the NINJ0R: XD I hope NOT! I want to see SA updated as soon as possible! But I already bugged Spoony once today, so I won't do it again. (You can. XD)

XD Then you get busy! I wanna read more A&F!