Meal 36
"Who's that coming now?" asked Drag gazing into the sky, spotting something flying at him and Yure at a remarkable speed.
"What's going on?" yawned Yure, still recovering his strength from earlier.
"We'll find out in a second," answered Drag tightening his grip on the small blue kitten ever so slightly. "I just hope it isn't more trouble."
"Drag, is that you?" called Zane as came close enough for Drag to recognize him. "I sense your aura, but you look a bit different."
"Zane?!?" shouted Drag happily. "I've gone through a change, but it's me. I also have my friend Yure with me."
"Looks like you two are far from all the fighting," Zane commented. "Can you do me a favor and watch these two for me?" Gently, Zane placed Snow and Dillon onto the ground. "They need some rest too and i have to go join in the battling. The enemies our side is facing are strong, but now that I'm back to full strength I can help tip the scale back in our favor."
"I wish we could help," said Drag sadly kicking a rock halfheartedly. "But we're not strong enough. We'd just get in the way."
"You've done your part already," Zane told him. "And you still have a part to play. Until this battle is over we all got to do what we can and right now you have to keep everyone safe."
"You can count on me," stated Drag, his voice more upbeat.
"I know I can," smiled Zane as he flew off towards the battlefield.
"Who was that?" asked Yure.
"Zane," answered Drag. "He's a friend and incredible powerful. If anyone can save us, he can. And the two over there are Snow and Dillon. Snow is a nice guy, but a bit too affectionate and by that I mean he's a real smotherer. And Dillion is just... uh... derpy."
"Doggeh," Snow moaned.
"Even when he's out cold he still calls me that," sighed Drag.
"Please, Doggeh, listen to me," groaned Snow opening his eyes a crack and attempting to lift his head.
"Oh, Snowy," cried Drag. "Please don't push yourself. You're pretty banged up from whoever you were fighting."
"That was Dillon," he explained. "When he was a gigantic musclebound armadillo."
"Uh, ok, a disturbing thought," shuddered Drag.
"Please focus," groaned Snow. "Where did Zane go? I need to tell him something important."
"Zane?" replied Drag looking around. "He already left to go fight more. Why? What's the matter?"
"Obamon is sending something terrible after us," explained Snow. "It's got an ability that camouflages it so that now even Zane's aura can sense it. It won't be long before it arrives and all of us will be wiped out instantly."
"Obamama, would she really do something so horrible?" thought Yure.
"Something that could destroy us all?" asked Drag fearfully. "What is it?"
"Armeatgedon," answered Snow.
"Come out, come out wherever you are," taunted krystal as she ventured through the ice labyrinth. Her breath was visible and she continually shivered. "You sure are making it cold in here, attempting to weaken me, but you must be feeling the effects too."
"I'm fine," shivered Wolfcub. "But if you are so concerned why not just give up?"
"No thanks," replied Krystal, thrusting her spear at one of the ice walls and shattering it to pieces. On the other side, she was able to see Wolfcub momentarily before the wall regenerated. "I can already see you're not that far away."
"But you used your charge," countered Wolfcub. Using her Diamond Dust, she made spikes shoot out from the walls on either side of Krystal. Reflexes fast, Krystal ran down the labyrinth hall, dodging the spikes as they came at her. Upon reaching the turn in the hall she was greeting by a powerful icy gust of wind, chilling her to the bone.
"I could really use a jacket," trembled Krystal, the heat leaving her body along with her strength.
"Yeah," agreed Wolfcub. "That Amazon Princess getup isn't doing you any good at this point. Now, once again, give up or you'll freeze to death."
"I'm touched you care so much about me, but I can handle a little wind chill," Krystal answered stubbornly, her body icing over with each step forward she took.
"I said to stop!" shouted Wolfcub, enhancing the power of her icy wind, watching the ice spread over Krystal, but she didn't stop walking towards her. "You'll die if you don't!"
"I won't die," countered Krystal tearfully, the cold freezing the tears to her face. "I can't allow myself to, not until I see him again. My body might freeze and shatter from the cold, I might lose all feeling as the blood freezes in my veins, but even then I won't allow myself to die. That is the power of my resolve. Tell me, do you have resolve that strong too?"
"You aren't leaving me any choice," cried Wolfcub walking towards the nearly immobile Krystal. With a single thrust of her sword into her chest, Wolfcub watched as the rest of her body froze solid. "Even if I have to kill you, I will do what I must to survive for the sake of the others. Please do not think ill of me."
"I do not in the least," Krystal answered from within her ice coffin. "I respect you for being able to do something so difficult."
"You can speak?" questioned Wolfcub. "But how can you still be alive?"
"I told you," she explained. "My resolve will not permit me to die and Obamon has granted me power so that I cannot be defeated. I was hoping to spare you from this, but I have no choice. Now witness, the power of Mega!"
The ice covering Krystal cracked and crumbled as power gushed out. Wolfcub's fur stood on end as a chill ran down her spine. Sensing the danger, she pulled out her sword and swung it. "Ice!" wall all she managed to say before Krystal's power exploded out and annihilated the entire labyrinth and then some.
"That power was even greater than I expected," panted Krysta, not a trace of the ice left or Wolficub. "It drained my strength so fast that I was only able to maintain it for a moment. I'll have to recover my energy before I seek out my next opponent." Stumbling off, Krystal left the site of the battle. Once out of sight, Wolfcub's paw dug out of the ground and slowly she attempted to dig herself out.
"I was too careless," she coughed, her strength leaving her. "If I didn't make an ice cave I would have been killed." Struggling again, she attempted to pull the rest of her body out of the ground. "I lost the fight, but I have to keep going. I have to get to the others... I have to tell them... about what I found out... about the Food of the Gods..." Once again, her strength gave out, but this time she couldn't get back up. "Damn it."
"What's with these arrows?" cried Vic as he flew to dodge the barrage of arrows from Darkfang's bow.
"They don't make any sense," added Ivy as she flapped her fat wings and send a wave of air at a cluster of arrows, but they were unaffected. "His arrows aren't flowing with the winds. He could guide them on the wind before, not this defies all logic."
"My power has just gotten stronger since then," explained Darkfang. "I can shoot my arrows and nothing can deter them. Now that I've warmed up I fight like I give a damn." Plucking his bow again, he attacked again firing a vast amount of arrows up at them, far too many to count.
"Fly Ivy, fly!" shouted Vic as he once again moved with all the agility and dexterity his obese body could manage and Ivy did the same.
"The Flying Spaghetti Monster wasn't even half this ferocious with its attacks. And he's our friend. How can we fight him?"
"I'm still trying to figure out how we're even going to get in close to him," commented Vic.
"I'd be more focused on survival than winning right now," stated Darkfang. "Oh, and there is one force that still has an effect on my arrows, gravity."
"You mean," stuttered Vic looking up into the sky, the countless arrows overhead had reached the peak of their accent and turned to come raining back down on them. "We have to dive down Ivy!"
"Ok," she agreed. "I'm with you!"
Facing downward, the two obese Lugia nosedived downward with all their speed. Darkfang continued to fire arrows, surrounding them from the front and back with attacks. Still, they didn't deviate from their descent, flying down towards the ground. As the arrows reached them they did their best to dodge them, but their best efforts weren't perfect. Arrows stabbed into their blubberous bodies stinging them painfully as they stuck in their frames.
"Just a bit more," groaned Vic. "We're almost on top of him."
"That's right," snickered Darkfang grinning as he pulled back at his bow once again, larger arrow taking form between his thumb and index finger. It was twice the size of the other arrows, black in hue and radiated an evil aura. "Come right over. I've got a little surprise for you." Release the arrow, it soared at the two Lugia.
"Something about that arrow," cried Vic. "Quick split up!" Breaking off from their attack on Darkfang, the two Luigi flew in opposite directions to dodge the black arrow. As they did the arrow curved its trajectory towards Ivy and continued after her, changing its path as she did.
"It's homing in on me," called Ivy, trying to fly higher and lower, but the persistent arrow stayed on her drawing closer inch by inch. "I can't get it off of me."
"I doubt homing is its only ability," thought Vic, his battle instinct kicking in. "But Darkfang only fired one and stopped firing altogether. Perhaps he can't attack anymore while he's using that arrow. This could be my chance." Turning to Ivy, he called to her. "Hang on a bit longer! I'm going in for an attack!"
"Be careful," she cried swerving quickly as the black arrow zipped at her, narrowly missing her. "And hurry! This arrow is getting faster." It turned and flew at her again. Carefully, diving, she dodged it again. "I'm not sure how much longer I can avoid it."
"I only need a minute," Vic answered and flew down to the ground, shutting his wings to be as aerodynamic as possible. Nearly touching the ground he opened his wings, stopping his fall and flying forward at Darkfang his belly brushing against the ground.
"Quite a daring stunt," praised Darkfang. "But did you seriously believe I wasn't able to attack just because I stopped firing?" Pointing his bow at Vic, Darkfang unleashed a concentrated barrage at the legendary fatty. Ignoring them, Vic continued to fly forward, getting covered over by the dangerous projectiles. "And again you impress me, but I knew you had a defensive ability as well. After all, we were allies at one point."
The arrows bounced off of Vic's body, a Safeguard aura surrounding him from harm as he finally came within range of his opponent. The Safeguard vanished, enabling Vic to once again attack. Raising his wings up high, he prepared to strike Darkfang point blank with a powerful tornado. "And we'll be allies once again," shouted Vic. "I just got to get rid of the evil influence on you by beating the crap out of you."
"You just very well might," admitted Darkfang. "But you were a few seconds too late it seems."
Vic felt a sharp pain in his back as something struck him from behind and smashed him into the ground at Darkfang's feet. Attempted to get up, a foot came down on his head keeping him down.
"You had another ally?" groaned Vic trying to see who was on top of him. As he managed to tilt his head to get a better look his jaw dropped and he shook in horror. "No... I can't be... Ivy?"
"Destroy!" she growled evilly. "Must kill my enemies!"
Vic didn't know what to say to her made even more difficult as she put pressure on his windpipe. Then he spotted the black arrow on her chest. From that spot her luminescent silver feathers were turning a toxic purple and quickly spreading to the rest of her body. "That arrow, don't tell me you corrupted her."
"Don't act like you were attempting anything different," snickered Darkfang. "You wanted to turn me from one side to the other. I simply performed the same thing and recruited Ivy to our team." Spawning another dark arrow at Vic he prepared to shoot it. "And now you shall join us to. We'll be allies again, just like before."
"What's with this guy?" asked Rhodes to his band. "We're playing our fingers raw, but we haven't even touched Darkmane."
"He's just been swinging his claws every time we play music," commented Donavin.
"Let's try one more time," suggested Vincent. "I want to check something. Watch him carefully."
The trio began to jam on their instruments once again, powerful waves of sound pulsed at Darkmane who just stood there waiting. A grin spread across his face and he flexed his claws. "Still haven't figured it out yet?" he bellowed. "Then let me spell it out for you. There is nothing my claws cannot cut! Even sound is as easy to severe as rice paper!" Swiping his claws. he sliced the air, the sound waves getting shredded and becoming inaudible.
"I figured as much," sighed Vincent. "Distance attacks won't have any effect on this guy. We'll have to turn this into a close range fight."
"But he just said that he can cut through anything," pointed out Rhodes. "If he hits any of us, he could cut us to pieces."
"That's why we need to use strategy," continued Vincent. "Listen really carefully and we can beat him."
"Having a little strategy session?" mocked Darkmane. "It is hardly a worry for me, but I won't risk being too confident. I won't allow you to cooperate!" He claws became engulfed with dark energy. Growling with the fury of a beast he slashed his claws, the force of that was enough to create gale force winds, sending Rhodes and his friends tumbling off their feet, but no worse for wear.
Rhodes was the first to get up and as he called to the others to see if they were okay, his words came out completely different from what he had intended. As Vincent and Donavin tried to speak they were facing the same communication problem. Even as Darkmane taunted them they were unable to understand his words, but his tone was more than enough to deliver his mocking statement.
Words lost to them, the trio of musicians stared at one another confused. The few words that they spoke were just as broken as before. Seeing their confusion, Darkmane attacked, claws slashing at them. Even the sound of his claws swinging in the air was distorted. They barely even managed to notice him in time to move, narrowly missing missing a killing strike as he swung over the space they were all at an instant before they dove away. Slicing through the air, he created a powerful shockwave sending the three off from the power and even knocked Darkmane himself off his feet and onto his keister.
"Gah," he groaned rubbing his ass. "I got a bit too overly eager and slashed too hard."
"Wait, I just understood him," commented Donavin.
"I understood you," added Rhodes.
"I guess that attack of his wore off," suggested Vincent. "Listen quickly. Here's what I think we should do to beat him."
"I didn't give you permission to speak," countered Darkmane, slashing the air to disrupt sounds once again.
"Fork!" shouted Vincent hastily as Darkmane attacked. After that, everything became gibberish.
"Was that what he chose as his last intelligible words or a failed attempt at cursing," pondered Darkmane in his head. "Or was he trying to convey some plan with a single word. I doubt it. They don't even have any forks."
"Come on," bellowed Remgat. "Hit me again! Tear through my flesh and scales with your claws or try and bite at my windpipe! You know you want to."
"Don't take me for an idiot," wheezed Tagmer. "That dark aura surrounding you, every time I touch you, you drain my strength. All the damage I've done has been healed and you're getting even stronger."
"Well I thought you'd like to get in as many attacks as possible," commented Remgat with such smugness it churned up bile in Tagmer's stomach. "Because one way or another I'll absorb your strength and then your flesh and blood to increase my power even more. Then I'll take care of Cyrus and Obamon and everyone else."
"And where does that leave me?" snarled Tagmer. "You take my power, flesh, and blood then all I'll be is spirit."
"I always thought you should diet," insulted Remgat. "You overweight imitation of a true badass!"
"What did you say?" snapped Tagmer, his boiling blood pumping through his veins. He radiated a red aura around him body. The ground around him melted into magma and Tagmer sunk in up to his knees. "What did you SAY!?!"
"Oh, getting angry," snickered Remgat. "Good, but I need you furious! You heard me! A big fat imitation of Bowser! You want to be like him, but the only thing you could be king of is the buffet. So just step aside and show you what a true tyrant is capable of."
"Gwa!!!" roared Tagmer, his fiery aura grew enormous, creating a lake of lava that encircled both him and Remgat midway up their bellies. "I'll tear your head off and shove it right up your ass!"
"That's better," laughed Remgat. "I'd like to say it was my winning personality that's made you snap, but admittedly I've been doing more than drain your strength with each hit you gave me. I've been giving you a bit of negative energy and damn it can make even the most even tempered guys pissed off for barely anything at all. A very useful power don't you think, Taggy?" Draconic eyes and drooling savagely, Tagmer answered with a wild growl. "Heh, so pissed off you've lost all reason in that little head of yours. Well, I'm right here! Let loose your fury on me and make me stronger!"
Lunging at Remgat, Tagmer tackled him into the lava and began to claw and tear into his scales and flesh, but as soon as he did any damage it was instantly healed. With each attack, some of Tagmer's power was absorbed by Remgat increasing the size of his black aura and reducing Tagmer's red one. As Tagmer's aura was reduced, the lake of lava began to cool down around the edges and harden up once more and Tagmer himself began to shrink in size. Remgat grew in size, muscles flexing before swelling larger and harder.
"Yes!" cackled Remgat. "This is more wonderful than any other pleasure for me! Keep attacking! Give me all you can till you are all used up and I have everything!"
Unable to quell his rage, Tagmer continued to attack Remgat, becoming more and more reduced than from his previous attack. The damage he was inflicting on Remgat was being reduced as well till he couldn't even leave a scratch upon Remgat's scales. Finally, Tagmer's strength was so depleted he was only a fraction of his normal size and bulk while Remgat gained several stories. The lava around them continued to cool down till the it was fully hardened encasing the two of them in it and putting an end to Tagmer's futile assault.
"Guess that tank is dry," commented Remgat breaking free of the ground with no effort at all. He then plucked the tiny remnants of Tagmer out too and and dangled him by his muzzle. "Well, a drop remains. I could leave you barely alive to watch, but I'll just leave you barely alive to watch yourself be digested in my belly. Opening up his maw for a moment, Remgat took a cautionary look around. "Good, nobody to interfere." Opening his maw again, he dropped Tagmer in and swallowed him down in a single gulp. "Meh, I've eaten better."
