Zelgadis poked at the campfire. How did he get into these messes? Amelia slept soundly, sprawled at the foot of a tree while Lina leaned on Gourry who snored loudly. It was supposed to be another journey for his cure... until he happened upon Amelia... who was looking for her long lost sister. And after that.. they ran into Lina and Gourry... who were looking for the rumored sword of legend, the Blast Blade. Then of course... they had to again... stumble upon another Mazoku conspiracy. It was like they were the personal toys of L-sama. First it was Shabranigdo, then Gaav, then Philbrizo, then Valgaav and Dark Star, and now Dynast? "Someone must hate us," Zelgadis grumbled to himself. "Says the one who seems to hate himself," said a certain annoying voice. Zelgadis didn't bother turning to the source. "What do you want?" Zelgadis groused. "Don't you have someone to annoy who's not willing to bisect you?" "And what is the fun of annoying someone who's like that? Not as fun as annoying someone like you," replied Xellos, keeping the smirk on his face. 'Must restrain fist of death...' Recomposing his emotions, Zelgadis poked the fire, making the flames leap higher. "So.... why ARE you here? Couldn't it wait until morning?" "I just finally decided to check up on you.... after staying behind to check on things on that port town you guys were chased out of," was the Mazoku priest's reply, "Talk." Zelgadis knew that if Xellos were willing to give a rather straight answer, straight enough for Xellos to give out, it would be important. "All I can say... that things are going as well as they should be. And that's all you need to know." With that, Xellos disappeared as his wont, leaving behind a frustrated Zelgadis. "I knew it..." Zel grumbled. =========================================================================== Magictech Productions Presents... A Slayers and Sailor Moon(and some others) Crossover... Slayers REVOLUTION Another unlikely crossover from the minds of Shaun Garin and WarChild... And as usual, nothing here belongs to us. If they did, we'd be rich! =========================================================================== Episode 7 : Double Trouble! Adventuring on our Separate Ways! =========================================================================== "Where is he?" Zangulus scanned the darkened room before him. Inside this ruined tower, there wasn't much light coming in. And it was starting to turn dark, so in sense he could see much of anything. "He's in here somewhere," Legolas said. "I can hear him." "In which direction?" Gimli asked. "Thirty meters in front of us," Boromir said darkly, unsheating the Blade of Gondor he still bore. Legolas blinked at the answer. "I knew that he was in front of us... but not how far." "Acute sences accompany mine hearing," Boromir said as he gripped his longsword in hand, one hand at his side where his horn used to sit. "I think it has to do with this body." "Shh.... keep quiet. I want to surprise him," hushed Zangulus, Howling Sword ready. The thief cowered in the darkness. It was too quiet, and his persuers spoke too quietly for him to hear them. He was so busy trying to hide from the four that he didn't know that someone else was sneaking up on him. Someone that lived in the ruined tower... The sound was echoing across the stones laid down in the ruins. Clip clop clip clop went the steps as a low, heavy breathing was heard. The sound was audible, and it only served to have the theif pay attention to what's in front of him, despite the fact that the sound was behind him. Then, a warm wind tickled the back of his neck. In out, in out. The thief wiped at the back of his neck, unused to the peculiar heat hitting the back of his neck. Then he heard a particularly loud snort. He turned. And screamed. =========================================================================== "Sounds like our thief got spooked," commented Legolas, having heard the very audible shrek. Boromir nodded. "Something frightened him. Prepare." The thief scrambled by them from out the darkness, tossing their coin pouch at them, screaming something about never stealing again. "Interesting. Sounds like we've got a scary monster in here...." Gimli said, before realizing what had spooked the pickpocket. He slapped his forehead as he realized that he entered the ruined tower... again. "Methinks we should prepare for battle," Legolas said, stringing his bow with two arrows. The white blade of Gondor was loosened as with Gimli's axe, it's double headed blade dim in the darkness. "Even though I never intended to meet up with it again." Zangulus nodded, and got his sword ready when he heard a loud, "THE ONE WITH THE FLOPPY HAT! THE ONE WITH THE FLOPPY HAT!" "What the hell?" Zangulus exclaimed, looking about for the one crying about his hat. "YOU, THE ONE WITH THE FLOPPY HAT, ONLY YOU WILL BE ALLOWED TO FIGHT ME!" Looking at the very large man in armor, Zangulus snorted, thumbing his nose. "Why should I?" "FLOPPY HATTED ONE, THERE IS SOMETHING.... ABOUT YOU UNLIKE THE PREVIOUS ONES. SO... I SHALL FIGHT YOU AND ONLY YOU, NOW!" With that, the huge man charged, drawing forth a mighty sword. Zangulus barely had time to loosen his sword from it's sheath as the man's blade met his own. =========================================================================== "What are they?" Sylphiel asked, as the small creatures filled the room. "Looks like they're one of the two mysterious creatures the innkeeper mentioned," replied Naga, eying all the knifes they brandished. 'Please don't use them to make us bleed,' she thought to herself. "They're kind of cute." At this, the leader, a small creature with a floating gold crown atop its head cocked his head in surprise. "Cute? Probably. But cute doesn't mean that they can't be dangerous. All those knifes seem to be... (gulp) sharp..." replied Naga. "I think we should run." Sylphiel grabbed Naga's hand as they bolted. The small creatures stared, and then, the leader cried an undulating battle cry as they charged. Soon the chase was on as the swarm tried to follow the two female magic users. People looked out their windows in surprise at the sheer mass of little green creatures, wielding Kitchen Knives and Lanterns. "Why are they chasing us?" Sylphiel asked, panting in between words. "I think the real question is, why did they storm into our rooms?" Naga replied back. "You don't think these little things are perverts?" "They looked too cute to be perverts," Sylphiel replied. "Hey! We resent that remark!" went a chorus of cute voices. "Less talk more running!" Naga puffed. And soon enough the chase led the two magic users straight into the nearby forest, and soon were obscured by the trees. The creatures stopped in their tracks, as they could see the girls ran into the woods. "I can't believe they got away," muttered one creature. "I told you that only a few of us should come to see her, unarmed," said another. "Be quiet!" demanded the leader. "If we don't find them, then all is lost for our kind." "But is she really our leader?" one asked in a high voice. "She does not look like the pure warrior we have waited for." "It has been one hundred years since the last one, and the signs are right. And I did feel the rings of three fellow spirits in their posession," replied the leader. "If not, then it seems they are going to find the right one." Chanting a sing song, the swarm of creatures ran off into the distance, searching for their mistress. =========================================================================== The figure growled at another sword had been added to the fray. He glared at Boromir. "FOOL! I DID NOT ASK FOR YOU!" Boromir would have shrugged, if he wasn't putting up his sword. "Not until you explain why you want to fight just Zangy here. And I thought you would fight just anyone in these ruins.... so I heard. Never heard of a choosy monster." The monster growled as his sword clanged against Boromir's longsword. "You fight like a pixie," the stone man jeered, earning an upraised eyebrow from Legolas. "I do believe our old companion has gotten cheeky in the last few years we have not seen him," the elf noted as Gimli nodded. "This continent has quite an odd speech pattern to it, so it's patterns are inflictuous," Gimli added, fingering his axe. "FOOL! STAND ASIDE!" demanded the figure, his sword continously clashing with Boromir's. "Make me. You want to fight Zangy? You got to beat me first!" retorted Boromir. "IF THAT'S HOW YOU WANT IT, MAN OF STONE!" Zangulus bum rushed him, slamming his shoulder into the creatures sternum. The monster 'oof'ed. "Boromir, as I much appreciate your help, but I think he just wants me," Zangulus remarked, keeping his eyes on the figure. "By the way," Zangulus began asking the figure, "what's your name?" "I AM ODIN!" The monster roared angrily. "REMEMBER THAT HUMAN! AND FOR YOU STONE MAN, THIS IS YOUR PUNISHMENT FOR INTERFERING!" With that Odin slamed his sword on the ground, causing a shockwave that was directed towards Boromir. Boromir was thrown about by the shockwave, only to be caught by Gimli and Legolas. "By Gandalf's Beard... you weigh a whole lot more," commented Legolas, as Odin and Zangulus eyed each other, and started to clash. =========================================================================== "I think we've lost them," commented Sylphiel. "For now," Naga breathed. "But are we going to head back to our inn room?" "I don't know," answered Sylphiel. "But I don't think they will allow us the courtesy." "Point taken." Naga took a good look at their surroundings. Trees and trees and trees. "How deep into the forest did we run?" "Not sure," Sylphiel said. "A good ways I'd think." "Maybe we should try to find our way back to the town and...." Naga didn't say anything more as she and Sylphiel heard a screech of a projectile flying over their heads. "Incoming!" Naga howled, throwing herself to the forest floor. Sylphiel followed suit, and fell to the floor as the projectile flew over them, and then exploded a ways from them. "Who's shooting at us?" Naga demanded. "I don't know. I hope it isn't those creatures...." Sylphiel stopped as she saw a small group of those creatures running towards them, with frightened looks on their faces. "Come back here you vermin! You think you can outwit us? No one outwits us Rockets!" a female voice called out. "The little guys are in trouble!" Sylphiel cried. "You saw would happen if you try to defy us, and yet you are defying us! Looks like we'll have to teach you a lesson!" said a male voice. "You refuse to give us your food, eh? Sorry, but we, the Rocket Gang takes no for an answer!" added a cat-sounding voice. Justin says: Another projectile streaked the air, the explosion scaring the creatures. Naga scowled. "What's going on?" "Wha... who goes there?" went the cat sounding one. "Looks like we got other humans around here!" "Get out of our way if you know whats good for you!" the female shouted. "Allow us the pleasure to punish these naughty vermin for defying the Rocket Gang and we'll be on our way," went the male. "The Rocket who?" asked Sylphiel. "Hmmm... looks like we'll have to introduce ourselves Looks like these twerps don't know who the Rocket Gang is," said the cat sounding one. With that an organ started playing out of nowhere as three figures appeared. "Well... when someone asks who we are..." "it's a common courtesy to answer them..." "To prevent the destruction of the world..." "And to protect the peace of the world..." "Piercing the evils of truth and love..." "We are lovely and charming villians..." There were three of them. One was a lavender haired man, another a red haired woman with striking red hair, not the carrot orange of Linas. And the third seemed to be some kind of odd cat creature. Armor adorned them with a garish red R on their chests and shields. It was a striking comparison to a couple of mercs. And on the shoulders of the two humans were large cylindars, presumingly the device from whic hthose projectiles were fired. "The name's Jessie." "Call me James." "And we are the Rocket Gang, the new and improved brigands in this land!" "Leave us now or we'll blast you where you stand!" "Meowth, that's right!" "Hmm.... Fire Bolt Throwers," Naga mused, peering at the cannons on their shoulders. "With a charge of 20 bolts with no refilling power." Sylphiel just sweatdropped at the entire motto. "Ok you girls... stand aside. We don't want to disappoint the boss!" went Jessie, as she aimed the cannon at the cowering group of creatures. Naga smirked. "Don't bet on it," she said as the ends of their weapons let out a puff of smoke. "You see, I picked up a little spell on my trips called Scan. It's really useful to check the extent of someone's powers, what items they carry, things like that." Naga laughed sinisterly. "And your weapons are out of juice." "Unbelievable!" went the cat. "I thought you had these two juiced up!" "We did... I think..." went James. "Augh! No matter! We'll call our pets!" With that Jessie pulled out a whistle and blew on it. Several creatures wandered into view, some of them odd looking. One was a large ball for a lack of a better term, another was an oversized snake, a third was a pitcher plant with eyes, and the last was a blue thing. "The Rocket Gang spares no expence in chimeric research!" Jessie exclaimed. "Get them!" The creatures charged foward, but a swing of Sylphiel's glaive caused them to fall back. "Using engineered creatures to pick on someone small is evil. It's always unfair to pick on someone weak and defenseless." With that Sylphiel made a stance. "In the name of Sairaag, I will punish you!" =========================================================================== Elsewhere in another world, a blond girl with Odango styled hair, currently in chains, sneezed. =========================================================================== Naga made a face. "Less talk. Freeze Arrow!" Soon enough, the Rocket Gang's engineered creatures were quickly frozen, and sent back to the trio. "Uhhhhh........ no way. I'm not going to stick around to be frozen!" went the cat. "Have a backbone Meowth, we can still win this...." Jessie said, but not before she saw the red glow in Sylphiel's hand. "Dragon Slave!" With a shot that sounded like it would be heard around the world, a brilliant red lit up the Rocket Gang's vision. "SHIMATTA!" Boom. "Looks like the Rocket Gang...." "Is Blasting Off in defeat!" "WWWOOOOBA!" Ding. =========================================================================== "Howling Sword!" Zangulus swung his black magic blade, creating blast of air at his opponent. He merely parried away the blast. "FOOL," he rumbled. "I AM AN AIR ELEMENTAL. I AM IMPERVIOUS TO AIR ATTACKS." Zangulus cursed himself. If he's an air elemental, then what he can do? This... thing... in his opinion.... was as good or better then Gourry in swordsmanship. And he didn't like the idea of going agaisnt him with just swords. But it seemed to be his only idea. Conjouring up a quick spell, he distracted him with a cross shaped fire blast as he dashed in immediately after, sword in a cutting blow. His opponent barely parried, but was able to hold Zangulus off. "YES. YOU FIGHT WELL. BUT WILL IT BE WELL ENOUGH?" "Well enough to beat you," Zangulus said with a smirk. "THAT WAS THE CLAIMS OF THE PREVIOUS CHALLENGERS! LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN DO AS WELL AS YOU CLAIM!" With that the opponent pushed foward, forcing Zangulus to leap back as the opponent's sword crashed to the ground, making a dent in the stone floor. 'Fast, strong, resistant against my swords power... I'm screwed. Unless...' "Bow me!" Zangulus shouted as Legolas threw him his bow and two arrows. Getting room, he nocked both on the string and let it loose, the White Arrows jutting into the mans armor, penetrating it. The oppoenent growled, as he pulled out the arrowed out of his armor as if they were nothing. Zangulus grinned to himself. "OPENING!" He drove his sword through the rents in the mans armor, dropping the large opponent to his knees. With a cry, Zangulus found himself clutching the broken hilt of his sword as the others mighty sword crashed through the remains, shattering it like dust. "Damn it! Not again!" But the other three could only stare as the large figure crashed into the ground. Gimli blinked. "How did Zangulus.... impossible...." "I agree," agreed Legolas. "Both of us faced that thing and failed to stop it. But Zangulus..." "I got lucky," Zangulus breathed heavily, still looking at his broken sword. =========================================================================== Sylphiel felt flushed for sure. She wasn't sure where that 'punishing bit' came from, but it felt... odd. Like a rush almost. An almost immedate second thought was that she sounded extremely rediculous saying what she said. 'Maybe Amelia's rubbing off on me,' she thought, but she wasn't sure about that. Naga simply groaned as she folded her arms. "Hmm, you little guys again?" The little creatures kept chattering amongst themselves until saying to Naga, "You must stay here. Our King will be arriving here to thank you, O chosen one." "King? Is he rich?" Naga asked, a glint of greed appearing in her eyes. "Well... he was.... until those fiends ravaged our kind for so long. You just dealt with three of them," the little creature answered. "We're farmers by nature," another added. "Those hoodlums have been attacking daily, raiding our food supplies." "And taking some of our kind as slaves. We know where they are living, but we needed human help to stop them," a third remarked. "But apparently the humans of the nearby town were told that we were dangerous, and thus we couldn't get help," the first finished. Sylphiel had decided to join in on the converstation. "What made you come to us then?" "Because we need the help of the chosen one," rumbled a deep, yet little shaky voice. The pair looked up to see a very large green monster with a floating crown over his head, looking very imposing. It was the same one they saw at the inn. Well... he was large... compared to the smaller creatures around him, but still no higher than one of the girl's knees. "KAWAIII!" Sylphiel squealed, causing a massive round of embarrased sweatdrops to appear. "Now.... that was quite unexpected," said the one with the crown. "I am the king of the Tonberries, and I have come to come to thank you for protecting my people from those who call themselves members of the Rocket Gang." "Well, then you have nothing to fear, for I, Naga the White Serpent is more than a match for some measly gang!" At this, she laughed, causing hair to stand on end. The Tonberries backed in fear of her laugh. "Is his majesty sure about her being the one?" whispered one. "I hope not. Me thinks his majesty is losing it," whispered another in response. "Quiet," hissed another. "She must be the one. Our majesty must be right. I hope." "Is that so? Than I hope that you will help us in removing the rest of the gang from this land?" the king asked. "I'll give you something in return for your aid." "Something in return, eh?" Naga's eyes glinted hungrily. "All right... tell me what to do." "Here." Naga blinked as the creature thrust an ornate staff, at least several feet long with an ornate flur de leis symbol surrounded by a golden circle. "This will help you along the way. Not much for attacking, but it will help." With that he pointed down the woods. "Their hideout is located deep in these wood. It should be close, See to it that my people are free and the gang chased out. Just beware of their Chimeria army." "Ha! No one can defeat the likes of us! I, Naga the Serpent and Sylphiel the Dragon Slayer!" Naga proclaimed haughtily. "I'm not really a dragon slayer," Sylphiel protested quietly, being ignored by the rest who were celebrating Naga's enthusiasm with cheers. =========================================================================== A long time has passed since Zangulus felled Odin and lost his sword. No one had said a word, especially to Zangulus, who was brooding over his sword. "It looks worse than Aragorns blade, Anduril before it was forged," he mused to himself, holding the remains of his sword, nothing but the hilt, guard and two inches of steel. He was lucky in the first place to find a duplicate of the sword among Rezo's old stuff. But it was unlikely that he was going to find a third Howling Sword anywhere near here. The massive titan before him breathed heavily, making a rasping voice. "Very good," he rumbled, his skin pale. 'Oh nuts. He's still alive.... and I don't have a sword,' Zangulus thought. "Very worthy of my gift." Odin picked up his sword and thunked it into the soft dirt. "For you." 'How am I going to beat him without a.... wait a minute...." Zangulus became in shock as he realized at what Odin said, and not to mention that Odin wasn't speaking in his usual "loud" tone of voice. Odin smirked. "Farewell." Mustering up energy, he mounted his steed and rode him out of the ruins, dissapearing into colorful spirits as both him and his horse vanished into thin air. Zangulus blinked, and so did the three behind him. "That was.... weird," remarked Boromir. "Hostile for one moment.... then almost.... friendly... the next." "Very odd," Gimli added. "Looks like he left his sword for you Zangulus. Why don't you take it?" asked Legolas. Zangulus pulled the curved blade out from the ground, it's keen dark edge glinting in the dim light. "Not overall heavy," he remarked to himself, shouldering it as a sheath would be hard to come by. At least it would suit him as a suitable replacement.... for now. "Well... looks like this has been a exhausting day. I doubt that the bar is open late at night," Legolas said. Gimli nodded. "Why don't we head back to town? I'm sure those female companions of your are worried about you." Boromir blinked. "Female companions?" "Travelling companions. We're trying to find a group of old friends," Zangulus said. "Why? Is there something wrong?" "Oh... um... nothing," replied Boromir. "Good. Because after today... I'm definately going to need a good nights sleep." And with that, the four started their trek back to the port town. =========================================================================== "Hurry up you little brutes! I want these Chimera fed!" The various Tonberries scambled to follow their master's orders lest, they be hit by... The Tulip. The Tulip was a lovely young woman, but had a hard, experienced edge to her beauty. She carried a magical tulip that could become a whip, baton or whatever she desired it to become. She went by other names, like Domino, or Number 009, as she was one the favorites of the boss of the Rocket Gang. The Tonberries knew her as 'The Tulip' do to the fact she'll use her tulip to punish them if they failed in their task. As the small creatures waddled about, doing what they normally did at twice their normal speed, a hail of large ice spears lanced down, forcing the girl to spin her tulip around, deflecting them. "Who dares?" the girl looked around, trying to see a sign of the attacker. It didn't look like one of the Chimera's was responsible. But the very thought that an intruder would actually find this place... "Burst Rondo!" The firey orbs exploded around her, kicking up a well thought out dust cloud. The girl coughed for a moment. "Hey.... (cough cough) who do you think you are?" "OH HOHOHOHOHOHO! Surely you haven't heard of the infamous Naga the White Serpent? OH HOHOHOHO!" was the response. The girl winced for a moment, preparing for a retort. "No, I don't think so. The only famous bandit hunting sorceress I know of is Lina Inverse. And it wouldn't have surprised me that if she stumbled upon one of our secret hideouts scattered across the land. We expected to be discovered by her sooner or later, not by some bimbo laughing sorceress who thinks she's famous." Sylphiel sighed, hung her head, muttering daintily, "This is a bad idea...." As Naga went toe to toe with the tulip wielding henchwoman, more or less infuriated by the insult, Sylphiel raised her glave, cutting the chains that bound the Tonberries together in what would be soon known as a chain gang. As the Tonberries ran for freedom, the girl fumed. "Hey... we worked hard on capturing them!" She pulled out her whistle... ready to blow... Clang. And it was knocked out of her fingers as Domino yelped in pain, wringing her hands. Naga smirked, holding the staff that made a very pleasant humming sound when struck. "Looks like you can't call for your Chimera's now," Naga said. "Now... will you admit defeat to the great Naga?" Domino made no comment but to lunge, her tulip sparking electricity as the pair fenced back and forth, tulip to staff. Whack! Too bad she didn't notice that Sylphiel was finished with freeing the Tonberries, and has snuck behind her to give a good whack on the back with the hanle of the glaive. Of course, being of heavy cold iron, a strange combonation for a weapon that was clearly magical based, it not only nuturalized the electrical power Domino had been feeding into the tulip, but also, smacked her unconcious. "Oh my, excuse me," Sylphiel said with a small smile. "Well, that was short and pointless, but hardly a challenge for me!" As Naga laughed, Sylphiel started to poke around the cages, opening them with a quick twist of the blade. "I wonder what kind of horrible creatures this gang was..... oh..... KAWAII!" Naga poked her head to where Sylphiel was looking and smiled. "Cuteness galore." "Pichu!" A little yellow creature said adorably, looking at them with unbiased adoration, holding out his arms. "Odd.... if this is one of the chimera making up this chimera army as the Tonberry King said... why did he say these Chimera are dangerous?" Naga remarked, remembering the Tonberry King's words. "CHU!" Naga coughed as the little mouse like creature had given her a shock of some type. "I see." With that Sylphiel opened up the other cages, dispite the Tonberries saying 'No.' She saw that chimeria ranging from small and cute to large and vicious were kept in these cages. Some of the large and vicious were actually quite doctile, some of them were downright snappish, and others were too cute for words. "I don't understand... what's with these creatures?" Sylphiel mused out loud. "We were to have an army of them... so that the Rocket Gang will be an unstoppable force that the world can't stop our rise to power...." responded an awakening Domino. "Really? Then you'll have to tell us all about this, won't you?" Domino swallowed at the evil smile Naga had as Sylphiel quickly turned away. A yelp of terror was then heard as Naga began to do something unspeakable to her. What she did, dear readers, is up to you. =========================================================================== "Ok... so we know that these creatures are to be used in a world domination plot. But what now? I don't even want to destroy them. Some of them are just so.... Kawaii...." Sylphiel remarked. "Yeah, and some are downright wierd looking." Naga remarked. The blue blob thing with the black tail with squinty eyes just saluted, making a long drawn out sound that sounded like "woooooooba..." "It seems releasing them to the wild would not be a good idea," Sylphiel remarked, with the Tonberries that stuck around quickly nodding in agreement. "Why don't we take them along, and drop em off at the nearby wildlife area? I'm sure it has more than enough things to keep em happy." Naga suggested. "Pichu," the small mouse said, leaping into Sylphiels arms. "That would be a good idea..... but how do you propose to lead a couple dozen of creatures, large and small, to the nearest wildlife area?" "Not sure.... maybe the town could use them instead," Naga went thoughtfully. "If at least... we should notify the local authories on this discovery. They'll probably take care of things. You stay here. I'll head back to town. Zangulus is probably wondering about us anyway." With that, Sylphiel left the hideout in care of Naga, and the Tonberries that were looking up at Naga for some odd reason. =========================================================================== "Gee... I didn't think that the walk back to town was this long," remarked Zangulus. Gimli yawned. "It is late, and with much fighting, I believe we should get some rest for a while." Legolas nodded in agreement. "True. Never though chasing a pickpocket would result in this." Then a person caught his eye. "Say... isn't that your lady friend running from the other entrance?" Zangulus called out as Sylphiel ran over. "Hello," she greeted. "Where have you... four, been?" she noted with some surprise that they were in the presence of a chimera, much like Zelgadis but with long hair and a wirey beard unlike the younger, shorter and clean shaven Zelgadis. And not to mention a curved sword resting on Zangulus' shoulder. And what happened to his Howling Sword? "Long story. We'll talk about it after we get some sleep." Zangulus then noted the weary and disheaveled look of Sylphiel. "Looks like you have seen some action as well." Sylphiel nodded. "I need to report to the local authories. We've discovered.... an interesting bandit's hideout out there." "I will accompany her," Boromir said, earning relieved glances from the rest of the company. "I am quite fresh from the days exertions." With that Sylphiel and Boromir headed to the town office, while the remaining three headed for the inn for some sleep. =========================================================================== It was not until a couple more days later that the 'Chimera Crisis' was resolved. The townspeople were glad to take these creatures in. A lot of them made their homes protecting livestock, being work labor and best friends, some were pets, others were emotional support and some of them were the town mascots. The little yellow one didn't want to leave Sylphiel but she had no way to support it. As for Domino, and the lower level lackeys that were at the hideout and happened to survive, they were locked behind bars, despite threats from Domino that she would escape and get revenge... or something like that. The trio of Jessie, James, and Meowth, and their chimeras were still at large. Of course, being underfunded and lacking magical abilities and weaponry, it was a given they wouldn't be much of a threat. The authories also just sent out word to other towns and kingdoms that the Rocket Gang would have hideouts under their noses, despite the fact that Domino refused to tell where they were. But all in all... this only meant one thing for Zangulus, Naga, and Sylphiel. Lina and co were now way ahead of them and it was going to take some good time to catch up. Of course, it didn't hurt that the flying creatures decided to give them a ride to the next town. Boromir, being too heavy, deemed to run. So at the moment... they were gathering their stuff before they left for the next town. Except for Boromir... who was meeting up with a priest he had encountered before he happened on his old comrades. "Well?" Boromir sat down across from the purple haired man. "Quite a company we have," he said, his language slipping into Middle-earth speech. "Yes." Xellos sipped at his tea. "Quite intreguing, especially the weapon of the white priestess." "Of course. Have you come across the texts needed to cure me?" Boromir asked curiously. "It is possible. I have come close. But I noticed a cure is not high on the scale of importance for you." Xellos replied. Boromir nodded. "Knowing my friends are alive and well, is more than enough for me." "But I wouldn't mind if I happened on a cure. Besides... Zangulus tells me of a man who's looking for one." "Yes, Zangulus knows of a man who has a similar condition," Xellos sipped his tea. "For a priest you seem to know lot about them. If you know them, then why did you ask me to travel with them, and not go with them yourselves," queried Boromir. "Alas... for a priest such as I.... I have only so many obligations. " Xellos answered. "Do I look like a person who can handle multiple tasks?" Boromir allowed himself a small thought to himself as he replied, "I suppose you are labored with many things at your temple." "You could say that." With that Xellos stood up. "I better be going now. I will check up on you later, just to see if you learned anything more." "Good travels," Boromir replied, earning a nod from the priest. With that Xellos dissappeared into the crowds before astral shifting, so that Boromir could not see who he really was. "Hey! We're about ready to go without you!" Zangulus called from the noise of the crowd. Boromir got up, tucking his cloak behind himself as he adjusted the sword at his side and picked up the bag at his side. "Ready." "Six," Legolas said suddenly. "Six?" asked Sylphiel, the yellow creature resting in her hands. "The company. There are six of us. It reminds me of when we were nine." Gimli nodded in agreement. "Indeed." The remaining fellowship nodded in agreement. Zangulus, while not part of the chosen of Elrond, had joined in Lorien after Gandalf's supposed demise. "Looks like you have an interesting story behind this," Naga commented. "We do. We certainly do." Zangulus quipped, as the group finally set of for the next town, continuing their journey to become Pokemon Ma.... ahem... continuing their journey to locate the infamous Lina Inverse and her friends.... wherever they may be. =========================================================================== Authors notes (Shaun) : The Rocket Gang was NOT my idea. I swear. All of this was WarChild's idea.... mostly. Odin, Boromir, Legolas, Gimli and the horde of Tonberries are my ideas. Everything else, you can pick on my co-author for bringing up. I honestly didn't think he'd pull a Pokemon on this fanfic at ALL. As usual, I like the Fellowship. More people'll be showing up, including Merry and Pip later on. Aragorn, well, he'll have his part, as with Gandalf, Frodo and Sam. Frodo will appear soon, as soon as I can figure out a part for him. Merry and Pip are around, but will head back to Middle-earth soon. Author's note (WarChild) : Okay... blame me. If you don't like Pokemon, so sue me! But note that I have only a small bank account and shares in a couple of mutual funds to offer ya. The idea of a Team Rocket(or the Rocket Gang in the Japanese version) style bandit gang in a D&D type world stuck with me. I originally came up with it for a Slayers fic that never went anywhere. No actual Pokemon would have been used, except Meowth, which I could explain as a result of a human turned into a cat by a Mazoku. But I couldn't resist. BTW, the Rocket Gang's speech is a modified version of the Japanese version of their speech. Boromir, an agent of Xellos that didn't know he one? My idea. Xellos was only telling a half truth when he said he had other obligations. I say that there are more things about the Glaive and its possible effects on Mazoku for now. Remember what happened to Krystox in episode 3? Sylphiel saying a justice speech? Sounds like the original Glaive's original owner is rubbing on her. We'll be finally taking a look at what's happen to the previous owner and her friends, and the first glimspe at the true villians of the series(and trust me... we're not dealing with someone at Team Rocket's level folks). And oh.... Sherra will be rejoining us shortly as well. So.... while today's episode was... lighthearted... the next two will be a bit more dark... like on the level of the confrontation against Shabranigdo in the Slayers first season. That's all from the good old insane me. Just tell me if my insanity is a good or bad thing for this story.