Meal 26
The hooded man left soon after bestowing the old lady with the gift. Taking it into her home, she couldn't wait for a chance to use them.
"And that is the last one," yawned Anikitty as he watched Obamon take the last of the meals out to be cooled on the counter. "Boy that was a lot of baking."
"And you did a lot to help me," she giggled patting his head and watching a puff of flour come off his fur. "Though it looks like you got a tad messy helping me, dearie."
"Guess I should get washed off and then go out to play Renamon and Guilmon," he told her.
"How about a little snack first?" she asked holding up a bottle of chocolate milk. She shook it a little to mix it up and then handed it to the blobby kitten. Unable to resist the chocolatey delight, Anikitty took the bottle and suckled on it unaware of just how special this snack was. His fat expanded with each gulp making him more obese by the second. Anikitty didn't notice this at all as he was lost in a powerful bliss. He didn't even notice as Obamon picked him up as she grew into her monstrous form. He just kept growing fatter and fatter as well as more and more succulent for the predator salivating to consume him. He only noticed something when he felt some drops of drool on his head. He looked up, not stopping drinking to see Obamon licking her chops.
"Obamon?" he asked in a confused tone. "What is going on?"
"I'm so sorry dear," she told him and she put his rotund frame into her belly maw, managing to stuff him in completely.
"Obamama?" called Anikitty again.
"It will be over very shortly," she told him in a calm voice as the mouth shut and he was swallowed down. Once he was gone, she reverted to normal and patted her belly. "Such a wonderful meal. I did some great work on him. He will not require much time to prepare and I was feeling hungry for a snack. Hmm, I should check to see how those special meals are cooling." As she started to walk to them she felt something run down her cheek to her chin. Placing a claw on it she realized it was tears. "I am crying? Why now of all times? I have been thinking about old times too. I guess it is only appropriate since I am so close to achieving my goal. So very, very close indeed."
It was ages before the kind, old lady received another guest. She might have forgotten about the gifts before long, but finally she did get a visitor. It was a young boy who needed a place to stay for a day before he could meet up with his friends the next day. She welcomed him in with open arms.
"Such a fool," said Killajor barely able to move atop the mountain that Tagmer left him on.
"Tagmer is such a fat fool. He left me here not even bothering to make sure he finished the job, but it's to be expected from a pea-brained lizard-cow hybrid. He didn't even notice that I snatched this away from him." He held in his hand the leaf that Tagmer had in his pocket, the form his Tanuki self had hidden in. "I just need to devour this and then I will be all healed up and even better, back to my true, limitless power. Heheh, it was all worth the wait." Bringing the leaf to his maw, he could taste the power already, but before he could give it a nibble, it poofed and Tanuki Kill appeared before the injured Yoshi Kill. "You decided to show yourself?"
"Uh, huh," he yawned lazily. "Time to eat." Picked up his other self, Tanuki Kill started to devour him.
"No, I'm supposed to be the one to devour you," he complained.
"Meh, I'm too lazy to care," he responded swallowing him down bit by bit. "Just try not to squirm around too much." With ease he devoured Yoshi Kill and patted his bulging stomach. Then with a yawn he relaxed where he sat. "A little nap and then I think I'll show my appreciation to Tagmer for being such a grand chauffeur to me all this time." He fell asleep.
Seeing this as a perfect opportunity to use one of her new recipes, she opened the box and picked out one for spaghetti. The moment she picked it out the card vanished and a strange sensation came over her. Without even reading the card she knew how to make it and even more some unusual cravings appeared.
"Any idea how we're going to get out of this mess?" shouted Vincent to Logan as they leapt from one jumping from one piece of debris to another inside the cyclone Dillon had created. They were doing all they could to keep from getting smashed against the giant armadillo's shell.
"Working on it, but unless I can get out of here I don't think there is much else that can be done," Logan answered. "The problem is, even at full speed I can't seem to overpower the suction."
"Maybe if we can give you an extra boost you could break free," suggested Zane hanging onto Vincent as the ropes tying him were becoming undone. "But we better hurry. We're running out of stuff to jump to."
"Maybe if I used my guitar I can give you the boost you need," suggested Vincent. "However, to do it right will require me to stay in place. We'll only have one chance and I really hope you can figure something out to save us right after."
"I might know just the trick," replied Logan. "Get me out of here and leave the rest to me."
"Right," agreed Vincent leaping to higher rocks in the cyclone. "Let's get as high up as possible then. We'll have the best chance of getting you out and the longest time before getting smashed on Dillon's shell from there."
The two scrambled their way up as high as they could, though at best they were barely able to ever get higher than halfway up the top of the cyclone. Once they were both standing firm on a large rock, Logan lifted off the ground with all his might, but at much as he tried he could only seem to match the suction power of the tornado. Quick to do his part, Vincent wielded his guitar and strummed on it with all the power he could muster sending a powerful wave of sound up at Logan helping his go higher. As he started to fall, Vincent didn't flinch as continued to play. Up above, Logan's face, ears, and tail stretched against the wind resistance. Logan was starting to wonder what was going to give first, Vincent, the power of the tornado, or him. He hoped it'd be the second option as he neared the top of the tornado. Looking beyond it he could the sun shining like the way out of a dark tunnel, but then something moved in front and blocked the light out.
"That is not a soft, fluffy cloud," whimpered Logan as a huge chunk of rock started getting pulled in from the top of the cyclone and down on him. "Vincent! If I can't break free now I won't be able to break through that rock. Also, it'll crush us before we get a chance to be smashed by Dillon. I need more propulsion."
"I'm already rocking out as hard as I can," Vincent shouted back. "Not like I have an amp to plug into."
"Maybe I can give Logan the extra oomph he needs," stated Zane.
"How are you going to do that?" asked Vincent.
"With my aura," he answered.
"But you can't seem to use it anymore," commented Vincent. "It hasn't worked the last few times you tried."
"I know, but if it isn't that powerful I might be able to use a little," he explained. "We have nothing to lose from me trying and unless you can pull an amp out of thin air I don't think we have any other choice."
"Go right ahead," Vincent told him. "But you better hurry. I was hoping to have Logan out of here by now."
Wiggling out of his bindings, Zane cautiously tried to get free without getting pulled away by the suction. It almost got him at first, but he hung onto Vincent's tail and climbed up his back to his head. As he cautiously steadied himself up there, Vincent wanted to tell be careful not to step on his face, but he couldn't risk upsetting his balance. Instead, he tried to focus on his guitar playing, a task Zane was now making more difficult. Zane got into his stance to perform his Aura Sphere attack. He focused on drawing on his aura, what little he could gather and after so many attempts before he could see the energy forming in his hands.
"How's it coming?" mumbled Vincent barely able to even speak as he was.
"It's working," he answered. "I just need to get it a bit bigger or it might not get Logan out of here." He focused more on drawing more of his aura into his hands and formed the ball larger, but as it grew the shape started to lose stability. "Crud, stay together."
"What's wrong?" asked Vincent.
"I'm having trouble even keeping an Aura Sphere stable. Even this little bit is a pain. I just can't understand how it has become so difficult for me."
"Well I don't want to add any more stress to you, but my sense of danger is telling me that we our window is only seconds from closing. You have to fire it now!"
"I know," growled Zane biting his lip. "It still needs more power. Just give me a countdown. I hate to cut it so close, but if I don't get it strong enough it'll all be for nothing."
Nodding, Vincent began the countdown. 5. Zane returned his focus back to his aura sphere and while it was still misshapen he ignored that in favor of increasing its power. 4. In a panic, Logan was flapping his arms trying to gain more height as the huge rock was coming ever closer. 3. Dillon's shell was continuing the shatter anything that came in contact with it and the rock that Vincent and Zane were on was mere meters away and closing in fast. 2. Vincent continued playing nonstop despite the numbness in his swollen fingers. 1. Hearing that, Zane launched the aura sphere. He managed to increase its size quite a bit in that short amount of time but the way it flew seemed more like a wobbling water balloon. It popped in the same manner as it hit Logan in the rear, but it did its job as it pushed him higher up. As soon as Logan escaped the power of the suction his speed increased even more as he flew straight up at the huge rock and smashed right through it. He then soared out of the cyclone and back down to the ground in front of Dillon.
Back inside, Vincent and Zane were holding onto the rock they were standing on with all their might as it impacted on Dillon's shell and started to get chipped away. "Logan better hurry," cried Vincent. "We don't have much rock left to stand on."
"One chance to get this right," panted Logan staring into the cyclone. "This one's for all the bacon-flavored dog biscuits." Flying forward at full speed, Logan flew into the base of the tornado where Dillon was spinning in his shell. He continued flying straight ahead seeing as the openings in his shell kept revolving around. Muscles tightened as he neared and though it was close he succeeded in making it through the hole where his head was. "Dillon!"
"Da' gya?" replied the huge armadillo in surprise as he saw the butterball dog fly at him and head butt him with all his might and blast him out the other end of his shell finally putting an end to the spinning and the cyclone.
Vincent and Zane were able to breathe a sigh of relief as the shell stopped spinning before the rest of the rock crumbled beneath their feet. "He did it," panted Vincent as he collapsed on top of the shell. "You okay, Zane? Zane?" Looking to his friend, he saw he was face down on the shell sleeping. "I guess that attack took all the strength you had. Well, it was enough to save us."
"What happened?" moaned Dillon. "Why am I so dizzy?"
"Because you were spinning around so fast you created a tornado," replied Logan. "Had enough yet?"
"Oh, hardly," answered Dillon swinging his arm around. "I have not yet begun to fight!"
"We'll see about that," countered Logan taking in a massive breath of air. He kept on inhaling causing his belly to stretch and swell larger and larger. Amazingly, his outfit stretched along with him until he was nearly half the height of Dillon and twice as wide.
"I don't know what you are trying to do," laughed Dillon. "But you just made yourself a big tempting target!"
Ready to strike, Dillon let his mighty fist fly at Logan who quickly exhaled in response, letting his breath go right at Dillon. As it touched his fist it started to freeze and the ice quickly creeped up his arm and then to the rest of his body. It froze Dillon solid and stopped his attack.
"That was a little too close," panted Logan seeing how close Dillon's fist was from him. "But that should be enough to keep him from moving for a while at least."
"You did it!" cheered Vincent hopping off Dillon's shell and running to congratulate his ally. He left Zane on top of the shell to rest and regain his strength. "Maybe we're finally getting somewhere in this battle."
"Yeah," agreed Logan. "Hope Jokull and the others are still okay."
"We can find out once we get a chance to rest and recover. Zane is out cold too," replied Vincent. "For all we know they might be done and coming over here." He then looked up at the frozen body of Dillon. "What should we do with him?"
"I'd hate to do anything worse to the silly dillo," admitted Logan. "But that ice will hold him for a while, but not forever and once he thaws we'd be right back where we were before. It might be best to land the finishing blow and hopes it returns the old, out-of-shape, fatso, derpy dillo we all know and love." Nodding, Vincent readied to strum on his guitar and shatter him.
"If you know what is good for you, you won't strum that guitar," said a voice from behind them, atop Dillon's shell. The familiar voice was enough to stop Vincent from playing. They turned to see and stared in shock to see it was Bruce, standing tall and holding Zane by his tail.
"Hey, it's Bruce!" shouted Logan excitedly. "How did you escape Obamon's digestive track?"
"Careful Logan," warned Vincent. "Something isn't right. I have a bad feeling that he's become just like Dillon now."
"You're right about that," snickered Bruce swishing his tail. "And now I'm here to clean up the mess Dillon couldn't clean up and unlike him I'm far stronger than him."
"Well you are a lot smaller than he was," Logan pointed out. "And besides, I'm a superhero, the Golden Retriever!"
"Oh, I know all about you," Bruce stated. "In fact, in reality, I am..." He twirled around and a purple cloak shrouded him for a moment. When he stopped and stood before them he now had on a poisonous purple outfit. On his head was a matching cavalier hat with a black feather sticking out of it. At his side was a spiked whip and upon his face was a mask over his eyes. "Wolf Bane!" As he spoke his name thunder crackers and lightning struck the ground despite the fact it was a sunny, partially cloudy day.
"My arch nemesis!" gasped the Golden Retriever. "At last we meet for the first time, for the last time."
"Uh, he's your arch enemy, but this is the first time you've ever met him?" asked Vincent confused.
"I think so," replied Logan. "What was your name again?"
"Wolf Bane!" he answered causing thunder to crackle and lightning to strike again.
"Does that happen every time your name is said?" asked Vincent.
"Pretty cool huh," bragged Wolf Bane.
"Awesome," giggled Logan. "Wolf Bane!" Once again the thunder and lightning happened.
"It isn't a toy!" snapped Bruce. "Now how about we have our epic final battle, Golden Retriever. Just you and me."
"What about me?" shouted Vincent. "We won't fall for your attempts to split us up."
"You will, if you don't want your friend injured," he threatened holding up Zane tightly. "Besides, you have a couple friends who want to get reacquainted with you."
"What do you mean?" asked Vincent before he paused and started to tremble. "You don't mean them do you?" He heard a chuckle behind him and while he turned around to see who it was he already knew. "It is you. Donavin, Rhodes. Not you too."
"You look glad to see us," stated Donavin. "But you are the only one. You abandoned us when we needed you most to save yourself."
"That's not true," he cried. "I felt horrible, but there was nothing I could do to stop Obamon. Please don't tell me she turned you to her side."
"No you were the one who did that," answered Rhodes. "And now you are going to pay for it."
Vincent gritted his teeth and remained silent for a while. "You alright?" asked Logan.
"I'm fine, but darn it all," he growled. "We just started to get somewhere and now... and now we're even worse off than before. Obamon, damn her she will pay for this! No matter what she throws at us it won't be enough to stop us. We will overcome this and take the fight back to her. Logan! You take care of Bruce and I'll take care of my friends."
"My pleasure," he nodded as he took off and Vincent charged forward brandishing his guitar.
The old lady suddenly found herself cooking pasta. She had no idea when she started or what happened since she took the recipe card out. It was all a blur, but just smelling the food she prepared amazed her enough to push it out of her mind. She called the boy in once the food was done and sat him at the table as she served him the meal.
"How much more do we have to go?" panted Glenn as he followed Drag towards the mountain.
"We're almost at the base," he told the moogle. "I hope you aren't thinking of not going after coming this far. Besides, you saw what I did. There's no turning back now."
"I know," he answered. "But first there was the wind, then those random thunderstorms that just came and went in seconds. I'm starting to wonder just what we're running into."
"Well, it has been quiet for a while now so maybe everybody is all tired out now. If we go now we might be the ones to tip the tide and save everyone. We'll be Heroes!" stated Drag before the ground started to and rise up. "We'll be dead!"
"What in the world is going on?" cried Glenn clutching tightly to Drag's side as he seemed to be the only stable thing around. The ground rose up all around them including beneath their feet creating new mountains around the one that they were heading to. Chunks of rock and earth chipped off the ground and tumbled down the sides of the newly formed mountains.
"Are we going to be killed before we even get the chance to fight someone?" asked Drag seeing the boulders tumbling towards them and started running downhill away from them.
"You are a tough pup," commented Glenn hanging onto Drag by his tail. "Can't you break them with your draconic strength or something?"
"I could, but not when there's so many," explained Drag. "Why did the ground suddenly change like that anyway?"
"No idea," answered Glenn as he worked his way to climb onto Drag's back and get into a more comfortable position. He then looked up and his body started quivering again. "But it might have something to do with that!" He pointed up and Drag's jaw dropped when he looked. Not only had the ground become mountainy, but there was now a ceiling over the sky.
"That is not normal," freaked Drag starting to hyperventilate. "What in the name of fish is going on?"
"It's like the ground all around use stretched and morphed into a sphere. It is like a reverse planet where we walk around on the inside. I've never seen anything like it, though it seems that sunlight is still passing into here or we wouldn't be able to see anything at all."
"That is all well and good," said Drag. "But after what we've seen earlier would stretching the ground be a good idea?" Drag suddenly tripped on a rock while his mind was distracted. He tumbled forward for a bit before he came to a stop just in time to see the boulders appear nearly on top of him. They had almost flattened him and Glenn when the ground around them collapsed and only the emptiness of space was below. The two of them fell through along with every bit of debris and then all was quiet. Then a pair of blue, scaly claws began climbing back up from the abyss. "That was very, very close." He slumped over once he and Glenn were safe, but he didn't feel any less tense.
"I forgot you can scale walls and ceilings," stated Glenn. "We'd be dead if you couldn't. But this world is so unstable now. It is warped beyond recognition and then there's what we saw before."
"I know," added Drag recalling earlier when Glenn was getting ready to leave. As they looked into the distance they saw as the ground was aflame, but what was left behind was not scorched earth. Nothing remained after the mysterious flames consumed the land and the flames kept spreading closer and closer like locusts threatening to consume everything in their path. "The world is disappearing. I don't know how or why, but even if we do help the others what good will it do if we cannot stop the world from vanishing or escape before it does?"
"Then there is no hope?" asked Glenn.
"Possibly," said Drag. "The others may not have noticed it yet and even if they did I doubt they have the power to restore a world. We are all done for no matter what happens." Climbing up on Drag, Glenn struck Drag's head with all his might. "Hey! What was that for?"
"To pound some sense into you," snapped Glenn. "You are going to give up now? So what if all hope seems lost and you have no idea what you are doing? Don't we usually make things up as we go anyways?"
"That is true," admitted Drag.
"Yes it is," continued Glenn. "And if we're the only ones who have seen what is happening we have to warn them. If we work together then we just might be able to find a solution."
"Yeah!" agreed Drag. "All of us together might be able to figure a way out and time might not be on our side, but we haven't run out yet. So we shouldn't waste any more time sitting around. Come on Glenn! Let's keep on hustling!" Drag got back to his feet and charged forward, so suddenly Glenn fell off him.
"Wait for me you stupid salamander!" he shouted.
The boy was amazed by the sheer amount of spaghetti before him. He was even more surprised that he managed to eat it all. The only lady found an unusual delight in him eating it as well and embraced him in a hug to reward his incredible appetite.
"I summon the White Eyes Blue Dragon!" shouted Jokull as he held up the card and an enormous dragon poofed out of nowhere. It roared fiercely as it stood on its hind legs before taking off. "Let's see you handle this guy, Snow!"
"Doggeh!" squealed Snow with glee as he ran up and hugged the dragon. The poor scalie cried and struggled as Snow nuzzled it. "Oh, I love you so much."
"Well that didn't work out as I hoped," admitted Jokull as he drew another card. "But I best make due. I activate, Goodbye Cruel World! Self-Destruction!"
The dragon glowed brightly before going out in a big bang. The force of the explosion sent Jokull tumbling backwards and left a huge crater where it was. Snow was still standing where he had been in utter shock. He then grew angry and snapped at Jokull. "How dare you blow my precious doggeh up! You are so dead!"
"Uh, how about a makeup pizza?" offered Jokull. "I summon Mega Super Ultra Pizza!"
Out poofed an enormous pizza that giant gabu-sized. In instant delight, Snow returned to his bubbly personality and started nomming on the pizza. What he didn't know, however the card was actually the Exploding Pizza of Doom and as soon as Snow began to eat it, it exploding increasing the already sizable crater from the last explosion. When the smoke cleared from this attack, Snow looked rather distraught with a face full of pizza sauce. As the shock subsided he stomped on the ground furiously.
"You fooled me again and this time with a pizza!" he cried. "Low blow! Very low blow! For that I'm going to turn you inside out!"
"You going to what?!?!" replied Jokull confused.
"Backwards Pizza Attack!" shouted Snow pointing his finger at Jokull and firing a pink ray from the fingertip. In a panic, Jokull leapt out of the way and dodge the attack, letting it hit the ground.
"That was close," sighed Jokull. "I don't think it would be very fun to be inside out. I can't even imagine how I'd be able to eat." Suddenly, the ground started to quake and morph. He watched in awe as all around new mountains started to form and the ground in the distance started to stretch up around creating a reverse world. "Wh... what just happened?"
"Looks like I made the world become inside out just like a reverse pizza," snickered Snow. "Whoopsie, but now that I think about it, why not just turn you and everything else into a pizza. Then I could devour everything! Just the thought is making me salivate." Holding his hand up, he started creating a ball of pizza-smelling energy in his palm. It grew bigger and bigger by the second until it was frightfully large. "With this one blast all shall be pizza for me to consume! Nothing can stop me now!"
"Not good," cried Jokull at he watched Snow throw his hand down to launch his attack. Without thinking, Jokull drew a card and held it out. In a poof of magic, Jokull found himself unable to move and looking at Snow, he was frozen in place too.
"What happened?" asked Snow his hand holding the magic attack ball excruciatingly close to Jokull. "Why does my nose also have to itch at a time like this too?"
"Well this card is called, 'Take a Break! 30 Minute Rest!'" answered Jokull. "Looks like it holds us in place for a half an hour. Guess I couldn't stop you, but at least I could stall for a bit, till my friends come to help me."
"Assuming they make it in time," stated Snow. "If nobody comes then you're all pizza!"
"I have faith they will come," retorted Jokull feeling an itch come to his nose.
When the boy had finished, he yawned wearily. The old lady lifted him up and cradled him in her arms as she brought him to bed to sleep. She gave him a gentle kiss on his forehead and right after he was already snoring.
"Not sure what that was about," stated Tagmer placing his hand on his head. "I was climbing down and then the ground started morphing and I started falling up. Wonder if Obamon is trying to troll us or something. Feels a bit strange looking up and seeing the ground, but at least the blood isn't rushing to my head."
"Well the gravity was changed along with the ground," stated Tanuki Kill from behind Tagmer.
"You again?" replied Tagmer. "Didn't I already beat you enough times?" As he spoke, Kill shoved his arm into Tagmer's maw with almost blinding speed.
"Like I give a crap about that," he answered before attacking Tagmer in a manner similar to how he had before. Collapsing to the ground, the big, red dragon was out cold. "Farewell, you pain in my ass." Placing a hand on Tagmer's head he readied his kill attack.
"What a shame," sighed an anthropomorphic camel watching. "I was sent here by Obamon to take care of him and you beat me to the chase."
"Well you snooze you lose," taunted Kill. "But if you are working for Obamon then I might as well kill you as well."
"Why would you?" he asked as he sipped a cup of tea. "You are still a part of Obamon's team so why would you want to fight against me?"
"Because I plan to defeat Obamon as well. Nobody is my master."
"If you are a traitor to Obamon then I have no choice," he told Kill. "I will put you down for a permanent dirt nap."
Not bothering to answer, Killajor warped in front of the camel and exploded a deadly blast of magic at point blank range. "You had my interest then I got bored," he yawned.
"Don't fall asleep yet," stated the camel. He was completely unharmed from Kill's attack, though the ground around him had suffered damage. "Putting you to bed is my job. Now have some chamomile tea. One sip and you will take a nap, never to awaken ever again!"
