Club Bleach Z! (The 2nd FanFic you should read! :P)

[Joe Black]

Being capable to completely immerse oneself into his own ego and focus on nothing save himself is an art, Joe.

I have perfected this art.

Undying has exactly one tantilizing hottie who is capable of fullfilling any and all of his standards; her name's Thelindra.

That was an awesome chapter, but I must also state that even when it is suggested in good mood, suggesting that Undying is gay is the worst possible thing you can do, unless you have a death wish.

There seems to be a misunderstanding, so I'm going to deal with it immediatly, as the tone that you imply in this message leads me to believe that you are upset. As a writer, I apologize completely for offending you, even if such was unintentional.

First of all, I apologize for impling a negative connotation to you having an ego. I myself have bias against people with giant egos, but I'll attempt as a human being to accept your personality. I must admit, the world does need people like you.

Second of all, I never at all meant that you were gay. To imply a sexual preference that is otherwise deemed unnacceptable in their eyes is an inappropriate practice. Rather, what I tried to imply is that even though you are straight in nature, people in the story (just like in real life) will wish and try to convince you to think thier way. I won't ever place you in a situation in my story that would humilate or offend you, unless such situations are first approved by you.

Just to clarify however, I really don't respond well to threats and I really don't want to make this work completely based on requests. You surely must understand that fanfiction is an excerise of one's imagination.

However, even with these excuses, I take full responsibility for the matter, and only hope you can accept my honest apology. I wish that we can still be friends.

Sincerely,

Joe

P.S. Thelindra? . . . we'll just have to see, now won't we?

[Undying]

Hmmm, my apologies, Joe. Apparently I gave you the wrong impression...

Although I do have an ego and high self-esteem (and doesn't that help me), I am perfectly capable of understanding other people's points of view and/or refrainfrom arguing in regards to that.

You have to understand however, that although I have nothing against homosexual pepople, I do not like to be placed in any situation that links me to being such a person, directly or indirectly.

Therefore, my first reaction to the wording in your story (which, as I should have remembered, is just a story), was blatantly incorrect. It is linked, I'm afraid, to a rather unconvinient joke that was carried off recently, which truly upset me.

I did not, and do not, mean to start any animosity between us, nor to demean your story in any way at all.

I will have to apologize.

And as for Thelindra... yeah, we'll just have to see, won't we? :D

[Evanesque]

*huggles* That was an awesome chappie...as always..I'm seriously thinking about printing them out and filing them...I think this ish teh best fic ever...

So I guess I'm Nyu from Elfen Lied (with pokemon parents), aren't I? :redbiggri

*ish delighted*
^_^

[Undying]

Nyuu had horns, not fluffy ears :p.

Other than that, does indeed sound like Nyuu... *would have liked her looks better if she had longer hair*. And if she wasn't a killer...Xp.

[Evanesque]

She does have long hair and she's a pretty awesome anime character <333333
You're probably talking about Lucy (who's the killer), she's amazing!! And Nyuu is teh split personality of hers that is sooo adorable...

Note: A lot of people mistake those horns for fluffy kittie ears..:redbiggri

[Undying]

lol I know about Luci. That's the problem with Nyuu, tick her off or hit her head and you get a mad killer... that makes her a little less adorable in my eyes (you know, accidents do happen, and one accident and I'm dead...doesn't sound like a deal).

[Baby-Pie]

yay awesome chappie Joe *hugs tight*...last part got me thinking...you planning on somehow getting Lee back with Undy's help??...>.>...mehh wont ask ya i'll just wait and see :)

[Rabid_Wolverine]

For being so pwn I'm going to give you 40 vouchers which entitle you to a free rape with a total cash value of $0.001

But those chapters FTW.

Thou art made of win my friend. *RAPES x230957238956280572*

[Joe Black]

It breaks my heart to write this, but due to circumstances out of my control, I am forced to announce that writing new chappies will take me an average time of two weeks, usually released on a Monday.

@ Evanesque: I know, my imagination is fleeting when it comes to character design. My own special twist in what is to come, hopefully in the next couple of chappies.

@ Undying: In the story, your own quest of love ensues. Actually, I’m still surprised at how well your request of being in the fanfic (long, long ago) actually worked out quite well.

@ *Ririn*: *huggles back*

@ Rabid: I missed woo so much! *hugs*

Enjoy! [Note: I decided to use L’s fake name he used against Kira for the remainder this fanfic, Ryuzaki.]
____________________

[I]Chappie 21: Undying Pride!

“Erm,” Undying said politely, “I think the word you meant was something along the lines of, I’m going to make a woman very lucky.”

Gaara bowed his head slightly to the ground in quiet embarrassment.

“Undying-kun,” Ryuzaki explained, “Even though you are completely straight in nature, there will be those that will continue to wish you were not. Let’s face it; females aren’t the only ones that are attracted by your natural good looks.”

Undying raised his head proudly at the sound of these words, flattered at the apparent truth that L made him remember. He pumped up his chest high, and planted his fists on the sides of his waist.

“Well,” Undying gloated, pulling out a personal hand mirror, “I should have remembered that not everyone can resist my smexyness, even men. A gift and a curse when it comes to being this devilishly handsome. . .”

He drifted off in a trance from his own reflection from the mirror, stroking his hair to make it perfect, and raising his eyebrows in a seductive manner. A few more seconds passed, until he realized that he was still in a conversation.

“However,” Undying added passionately, “There is only one person that could ever complete me, a person that no mere mortal can surpass in attractiveness. A woman so surprisingly hawt, she scores a perfect ten on the Babe-meter. Her name echoes through my ear each passing moment of my life. The name that the angels themselves dubbed her, Th...” [Note: Relativistic to Rabid’s own “Babe-meter” scale, she would be about a seven, at best.]

“Say no more.” Gaara interrupted apologetically. “At one time, she almost tempted me back to the Straight Path. Heh, but my will was too strong, and the promise of the Forbidden Love was simply to strong for me. However, fate has it that your love has good ties with me as one of her best friends. You know, I could arrange something for you two. . .”

“What would you ask of me in return?” Undying responded eagerly.

“If you are truly Lee’s star pupil, I want you to prove it. Honor your master by fighting me in place of him, for a long awaited rematch.”

Undying nodded in reverent understanding. “It would be my pleasure. So when, I mean, if I win. . . you would arrange a blind date with me and her?”

“I would be more than happy to.” Gaara replied. “However, if I win. . .”

Undying shivered. What kind of horrible punishment would be in store for him? Could it be a fate worse than death? Gaara blushed again.

“You see Undying,” he shyly explained. “Using sand all day for my ninja training leaves my skin all course and dry, and my oversized, heavy ninja gourd makes my poor back ache so much.”

“If I lose, I have to . . .” Undying leaded impatiently. Gaara looked up with blank, determined eyes.

“Give me a personal full body back massage, applying moisturizing lotion thoroughly to my upper and lower back.”

Undying took a couple of slow backwards steps away from him, with absolute horror in his eyes. It was obvious that at any moment, he was ready to bolt. The Ultimate Weapon of the Sand rolled his eyes.

“The version in where you are NOT nekkid.”

The flower warrior clenched his eyes in desperate contemplation. If only ~Thelindra~ had offered him that same request, he thought. However, Undying was too proud to listen to the fear inside him. It didn’t matter what the stakes were now, because he was now fully determined to win. Unlike most other humans, where pride is an inherent weakness, he uses it as a wonderful gift.

“I accept your terms.”

An evil grin grew from the face of the Sand Ninja, followed by a sudden change emitted from Gaara’s emotional aura. It was apparent that the flower loving, overemotional Gaara personality was now reverted back to the emotionless killing machine that we all know and love. [The same Gaara that uses Sand Coffin to solve all of his life problems] He wanted this to be a serious battle, for the one in the heavens he still adored.

“Oh, before I forget.” Gaara replied smugly, “If at any time you hold back during our battle, I will kill you.”

“Humph.” Undying rebuked, “Beautiful warriors never die.”

Both enemies stared each other down with fiery passion. The tension in the air grew ever still, for they both knew quite well that their fight would be more than just a friendly competition.

“Whose up for some ice cream?! ^.^”

Gaara’s and Undying’s stare diverted at the source that was Ryuzaki, with utmost bewildered looks on their faces. Even in the most intense times, does he ever take his mind off of candy?!
_______________________

So, despite extreme anxiety for the upcoming fight, Gaara and Undying finally decided to appease that which was Ryuzaki’s unquenchable sweet tooth by going to the local ice cream parlor. As they were walking as a group of three down the cement path towards the candy shop, Undying made an effort to walk much faster than usual. Of course, the other two didn’t seem to be too concerned, and actually allowed themselves to fall back a couple of meters. It would be only natural, the two thought, for a man such as Undying to move away from a situation that would make him the most uncomfortable.

Ryuzaki started humming a tune to himself, which Gaara immediately realized. Beside Ryuzaki, the Sand Ninja was getting into the groove, stepping and swaying side to side. Ryuzaki soon did the same as the one beside him started humming the same tune. Undying continued to face forward and walked even faster, pretending not to know them. A small, teensy weensy part of him wanted to sway and sing with them, but he was much too proud for that. Undying clenched his eyes again in unimaginable grief, repeating to himself the stereotypical man’s creed, three words: Beer, chicks, football. [“Mr. Sandman” – The Chordettes. Made in the 50’s]

{Ryuzaki: Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen
Give him two lips like roses and clover
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over.
Sandman, I'm so alone
Don't have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.}

{Gaara: Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream
Make him the cutest that I've ever seen
Give him the word that I'm not a rover
Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over.
Sandman, I'm so alone
Don't have nobody to call my own
Please turn on your magic beam
Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream.}

{Together, swaying side to side in unison with their arms around each other’s shoulders:
Mr. Sandman (Gaara: “Yesss?) bring us a dream
Give him a pair of eyes with a “come-hither” gleam
Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci
And lots of wavy hair like Liberace
Mr Sandman, someone to hold (someone to hold)
Would be so peachy before we're too old
So please turn on your magic beam
Mr Sandman, bring us, please, please, please
Mr Sandman, bring us a dream.}

The flower warrior wondered to himself plenty of troublesome questions.

“Does almost every day in the world of “:3” have to involve at least one song like some sort of Broadway musical? Could there be a song more awkward than the song that was sung just now? Is the creator of this world absolutely insane?”

[The answer to all of these questions is: F*** YEAH. For example, my original plan was for the two to sing the old 90’s hit “Candyman” by Aqua, with Gaara in place as the female voice. If you have forgotten about this song / lyrics, I recommend looking it up again. Ah, good times ahead.]

After a while, Undying shrugged his shoulders, realizing that his thoughts were the product of an unhealthy frustration. He slowed down his pace, and allowed his accepted friends to walk beside him once again. For him, Undying decided, he was much too proud to care if people judged him for having friends with different views. The rest of the way to the ice cream parlor, the three young gentlemen shared stories of their youth, remembering the good times they had with the people around them.
_______________________

In the ice cream parlor. Ryuzaki, Undying, and Gaara are sitting quietly at one of the corner booths. Ryuzaki is happily [and hurriedly] licking his melting vanilla ice cream cone topped with sprinkles. Undying is slowly licking his straight chocolate ice cream cone, and Gaara is picking at his banana split with the fancy small silver spoon, attempting to savor the flavors of the strawberry ice cream and the banana. However joyous an ice cream parlor is supposed to be, the atmosphere for Undying and Gaara slowly reverted back into a dismal state, as if the world just died.

“Could you help me finish this?” Gaara kindly offered to Ryuzaki, who was quickly done with his cone, “I guess I’m just not into the mood for eating ice cream today.”

Ryuzaki, out of infinite empathy, couldn’t help but feel guilty. His stomach began to ache, and it wasn’t the effect of the ice cream. He finally realized the weight that this fight carried, and feel a strong compassion for the two at his table. Undying smiled.

“You know what Gaara? I’m really not that hungry either. Why don’t we just get it over with it, right now? Not as enemies, but as friends for the same passion of honoring Lee and what he stood for.”

Undying confidently tossed what was left of his ice cream [after taking his last giant bite] into the garbage. Gaara and Ryuzaki nodded at his logic, and each took a last sweet spoonful of the banana split before departing from the table and back outside.

“So,” said Gaara with a calmer, more respectful voice towards Undying, “Where should we fight?”

“The beach.” Undying responded simply. “That was the first place I met him for the first time. . .”

“And the place that Lee and I talked, long into the night.” Gaara finished.

“Are you insane Undying?” Ryuzaki said, bewildered, “You are trying to face the most powerful sand ninja ever, on the beach?”

Undying simply laughed in his own partial state of megalomania.

“You know what, Ryuzaki? It doesn’t even matter anymore. I could always find another way to get to the woman I love, and I’m sure Gaara could find someone willing to give him a back massage. The stakes are only minor to encourage each of us to fight our best for our departed best friend. Anyways, I want to beat the Sand Ninja at his prime.”

Gaara nodded, and smiled. Undying finally realized his true, underlying intent all along. Ryuzaki couldn’t help but grin as well. Even with the seriousness of what was to come, the three men simply couldn’t help themselves but be proud and happy for one another.

The battle coming up could be messy!
___________________________

What will the result be for the upcoming match between Undying and Gaara?
What of Potato and his newfound love Evanesque on the mysterious island?
Will the main story of DevilDude ever be continued, or is Joe simply too happy in continuing his side stories?
And will Ryuzaki ever quench his sweet tooth, and will Undying ever find his way into Thelindra’s heart?
These questions and more might be answered in teh next chappie of CBZ!

[Evanesque]

^_^
Well done Joey ^_^ Interesting chappie...I wonder how that fight between Undying and Gaara going to turn out.

I wonder what you're going to do with the 'Nyu' me and the dog-transformed-into-human, Potato/Yamato ^_^"

It sucks that you don't come on regularly, it'd be awesome to have you around CB...average of two weeks for writing the fic, huh?...with posting on Monday...*marks calendar*
:redbiggri

[Undying]

*marks calendar*

*rapes Joe for excellent writing*

man, you're good. So good.

I'm just... better. *looks into the mirror* and I'm used to staring into thr mirror too much... (Shibuya from Ghost Hunt :p).

Hmm, I lready know Undying's theme song, but I can't find the lyrics to it.

Mr. Raindrop from Gintama. Rawr?

[Baby-Pie]

*glomps*awesome chappie joe... L is so cute always candy on mind...someone i can live with XD...*waits for the next* monday it is then...

[Rabid_Wolverine]

Mr Raindrop falling away from me now
Mr Raindrop falling away from me now...

Hehehe. That song FTW. *RAPES x932572907591659068168561852356238572893289651276478216578254721758612*

Carry on with that script homie. Or I won't EVAR rape you again.

[Tablo.]

GAKCT!

Gila neeh!!

This will take me months to read this fic. TT__TT Can't catch up.

But then, I just reached chapter 2. -_-'

[Undying]

I'm just a flower on a tree,
Why must you leave?
I'm just a flower on a tree,
Why must you leave?
Mr. Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr. Raindrop, falling away from me now

All I remember ;__;.

I wuv that song very muchos.

@Rabid: you have any idea where can I get the lyrics? It's Undying's theme song henceforth!

@Joe: you're surprised that me in your fic os good? It is I, isn't it? How can it not be good? :D

[Ai]

/me claps..

Once again Joe you've outdone yourself, Sorry i hadn't replied for the last three chapters of it..:(..I've been preoccupied..

But i'm regaining my old activity and self, Which means that i'll be starting to Keep CBsi uptodate soon as well..:P...Just for you.

[Undying]

:D Cool Ai, I can't wait to see where that story goes! Moreso because I actually had the honour of writing one of the chapters!!!

Joe, you'd better update on Monday, or else!

[Rabid_Wolverine]

Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now

Do you know how much you mean to me
Why must you leave?
I'm just a flower on a tree
Why must you leave?

Do you know how much you mean to me
Why must you leave?
I'm just a flower on a tree
Why must you leave?

Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
*
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now

*(You make my day, don't go away)
(He's falling He's falling)

*begins on the star above

The lyrics are here.

gendou.com has the lyrics to pretty much all the songs.

[Undying]

Weird, it didn't have them when I checked... =\.

Oh well. Yeah Joe, that'd be Undying's theme song :).

[Rabid_Wolverine]

You have to click the English link.

[Undying]

Ah, I see, I see... that's it eh? I'll be sure to remember it next I look for lyrics.

Bleh for sig limits. I wanted to add it to my sig as my theme song but my sig has too many characters, apparently :(.

[Joe Black]

@Demonic_Ichigo: Yeah, it might take you a while to read all of it. Make good use of the first page url directory of this thread for your viewing enjoyment. ^.^

@ Undying: You chose your own theme song!111 zOMGWTFBBQ . . . i’ll see what i can do. [probably next episode, maybe]

@ AI: I can’t really blame you for inactivity, especially when I could be easily considered as “e-dead.” btw... I need Club Bleach Survivor! :P

@ Rabid: Please O Please! Don’t take away the rape. :3

Note that even though this chappie deals with love, it will never out best my favorite movie. [“Meet Joe Black”] If you haven’t seen it before, I recommend watching it. For those who already have; watch it again. Over and over again, I’ll remind you all. It’s made of win. Hey, if you ask stuff of me, I’ll do the same.

Anyways, Happy Belated Valentines Day! *huggles*

Chapter 22: Evanesque’s Secret

The setting starts at the mythical place where the memory of Lee resides, the beach. Where his chosen pupil Undying first met him, and the same place where his cherished best friend Gaara shared long talks in the secret of the night. Of course, no ordinary human could fathom Undying’s reasoning with choosing this location, where sand surrounds them. Simple equation; Sand Ninja + an infinite amount of sand = suicide. However, the risk of death wouldn’t be Undying’s concern. The main purpose of the upcoming battle is to honor Lee and his influence on the planet of ‘:3’, although there are secondary greedy reasons as well. To recap, if Undying wins, Gaara will arrange a blind date with the one he loves, and if Gaara wins, he receives a full body back massage.

Gaara and Undying stood across from each other, about five meters apart, in complete reverent silence. A soft breeze slowly blew their hair in a uniform direction, and the only sound that could be heard was Ryuzaki’s slurping from a safe distance away, as he indulged into a ‘Strawberry Ichigo’ slushie.

“Are you ready to finish this, Gaara?” Undying stated bluntly.

“Let’s do it.” Gaara agreed.

He looked up to the heaven above him, and knew at that moment, that Lee was watching them proudly from above. Each of the combatants executed their fighting stances, each anxious to fight, even to the death. However, this was feeling was soon dissipated, as a thick lightning bolt whizzed behind Undying’s head, with a pitch black background for extra effect. [Basically, his “spidey sense” was tingling. :3]

“I have the strangest feeling,” Undying thought, “that this battle will be delayed somehow due to the inevitable randomness of everyday life.”
__________________________

On the island where a heroic lover ended up because of the battle with the mystical Magikarp, a multitude of different Pokemon gather around a sight on the beach. Of course, these weren’t the ultra rare or mystical Pokemon, but those that you would normally see on a bright, sunny, Poke-filled day.

When they saw Evanesque and Potato sleeping side by side, a sense of celebration stirred in their minds, overjoyed that she finally found someone just like her. Her soft purr of delight pierced the hearts of these warm creatures, as their eyes melted into a stream of joyful tears. In their hearts, they thanked the man beside her for filling the missing piece in her life.

A Pikachu ran in front of the gathering crowd and rushed to explain to the others, using excessive hand signals, what they should do for the newly joined couple. Nodding with every word this electric rat had to say, they agreed amongst themselves using the bits and pieces of their own name.

Some of the creatures dashed back into the forest. Others parted in all directions on the beach. Those in the water submerged themselves into the sea, and the creatures capable of flight soared into the air. All of this was directed to one purpose.

As the commotion started, two dreamy eyes opened, trying to comprehend what was going on. She couldn’t understand why all her Pokemon friends were in such a hurry. Looking beside her, she lovingly saw the man she had only met yesterday. The Pikachu that led the group whispered what they were doing directly into her furry pink ear. Pleased with these words, she grabbed her messenger and huggled it tight. The cute yellow rodent, shocked by the suddenness of her response, couldn’t help but give her a shock back as electric current. Of course, being raised by Pokemon, she had developed immunity to Pickachu’s shocks. Potato hasn’t.

What are the Pokemon doing?
________________________________

Undying scanned his surroundings for anything that could stop this monumental battle, and the introduction of his own chosen theme song. Of course, anime characters cannot usually do this, but Undying found a way. Unlike humble people [O, how he doesn’t understand them], he takes sass from nobody, like the proud lion, king of the jungle. He himself chooses his own destiny!

I mean, if you managed to survive against the Prince of Saiyans, and tie with the Green Beast of Kohona, what is left to fear? [Chuck Norris, but that’s beside the point.] He begged to the skies that his battle would begin soon.

“O Please,” Undying wished, “No cameo appearances. No cameo appearances . . .”

“Stop stalling Undying.” Gaara taunted. “It’s time to duel.”

“Did somebody say, duel?!”

Ryuzaki titled his head at the source of the voice without emotion; a blank stare emerging from the depths of his eyes. Undying, upon looking at the random cameo appearance character, couldn’t help but raise his left eyebrow to unimaginable heights. In his black stylish Duelist Robes, crazy black hair with yellow and red highlights, strange purple eyes, and his Millennium Puzzle around his neck, the stranger greeted everyone with a hearty wave. Ryuzaki returned this with a hearty sigh.

“Is that how you people greet the King of Games?” Yugi replied.

“Do you mind?!” Undying provoked, “Gaara and I are starting a monumental battle. My theme song was going to play, but you had to ruin it. Duel personality freak.” [hehe, double meaning.]

“I should totally send him to the Shadow Realm.” Yugi thought. “That would be freaking sweet.”

He snapped out of this cruel fantasy, shook his head and responded as politely as he could.

“Actually, I’m here as part of an agreement. Gaara here owes me a Duel Monsters match.”

“Are you kidding me Gaara?” Undying scolded, his discontent now focused on the sand ninja. “How the heck would you owe him such a ridiculous request?”

Gaara looked down, as a familiar red tinge appeared on his cheeks. It was if he had received Hinata’s shyness.

“That’s because,” he hesitated, “He fullfilled one of my own. Imagine what it’d be like being [I]with two different people, but in one body...”

“Please,” Undying begged, “Tell me no more.”

“Let’s just keep that our little secret. :3” Yugi said sweetly. [Poor Undying, he’s surrounded.]

“Sorry Undying,” Gaara sighed, “This should only take less than a standard episode length without verbal filler and pointless flashbacks. I accept your challenge.”

Gaara whipped out of his ninja belt a card deck with epic finesse with his left hand, and with the other beautifully caught the duel disk that Yugi tossed at him.

“You carry your own deck?” Undying said, bewildered.

“It’s technically not mine.” Gaara remarked, “This is a deck made up of booster packs that Yugi bought me just for the occasion.”

In true Yu-Gi-Oh fashion, they yelled a familiar battle cry as they inserted their decks into the duel disks which emit holographic images.

“It’s Time to Duel!”

Undying looked up to the blue sky in absolute grief, and in his mind talked as if there was someone listening on the other side.

“I’m already being replaced?! That makes me a sad panda.”

“Sadly enough,” Ryuuzaki told Undying. “I’m slightly fascinated what the outcome will be of this battle.”
________________________________

Potato jumped from his slumber spasmodically as an electric sensation jolted through his human body. Evanesque, surprised that her hubby was being hurt so easily but such a ‘small’ electric shock, dropped the Pikachu and scurried a relatively far distance away from Potato. She had to do something so that her poke-friends had more time.

Potato rubbed his eyes to see his newfound love standing on a relatively large boulder with her right hand in the air, about to sing the song of when they first met on the shores of the District of ‘:3’. She had to lull him back to sleep.

Realizing what Evanesque was going to do again, Potato jumped to his feet. He was determined not to be held slave to her beautiful song. His love was so strong for her, that he wanted no force to prevent her from being with her. Taking out a small object from his pouch, he was ready for his epic specialty move. Taking a small pastry from his waist pouch like a Pokeball, he wound up his arm. The camera zoomed into his left eye so close, his determination could be easily seen. [Ah, good times with Ash.]

“Go! Mochi Throw!” he mentally declared, hurling the pastry with all his might. [Mochi is a type Japanese rice cake. How did he get this? The magic of anime.]

The sticky red bean paste filled delight soared through the air masterfully as it directly into Evanesque’s gaping mouth. Her mouth closed suddenly as she chewed, blinking repeatedly in quiet disbelief, attempting to comprehend the flavorful goodness. Swallowing the goodie triumphantly, her eyes lit up with joy. A new lust appeared in her eyes, as she now had two new addictions; her wonderful new companion and a treat as sweet as him.

She dashed back towards her hubby, launching herself into Potato’s arms. Potato didn’t know whether to catch her in a warm embrace, or brace for imminent impact. Of course, once he did make a decision he was already on his back on the warm sandy beach with his love above him shining with the sun.

They looked deeply and lustfully into each others eyes, as they lay together on the beach; was this really the right time? Evanesque closed her eyes and puckered her lips innocently. A small tear of joy came from Potato’s eye, as he closed his. Was this when Potato was going to receive his first romantic kiss?

“Pika Pika!” a Pikachu growled. Just like that, the romantic moment was snatched away from the couple. Both a little irritable, they both turned to the source of the voice, sitting back up on the beach. However, Potato wasn’t ready for what he saw next.

In front of the couple, all the Pokemon that could be on the island, were now in front of them on the beach. More so, a multitude of objects were laid before their feet, each with a specific beauty. Everything from fresh berries and coconuts, picked flowers, shiny rocks and seashells from the sea, even colorful leaves collected from the younger Pokemon, were before them. It was then that Potato realized why Evanesque tried to lull him back to sleep. They were collecting their wedding gifts.

Potato couldn’t help but smile in gratitude for these creatures, and for his fortune with being with the one he loved. Evanesque expressed her gratitude in a more verbal way, using fractions of her name just like the creatures around her. It seemed to Potato it was just more than sounds, but actual communication, as if how the words they said actually had background meaning. Seeing how she interacted with these animals so calmly and playfully, he couldn’t help but fall more madly in love with her.

Of course, with any ‘wedding reception’, Potato still had yet to fully get acquainted with her family. The Final Test that each new boyfriend and girlfriend has to go through.

Potato now knew what meeting someone’s family for the first time felt like. There were those Pokemon that were overjoyed about the entire thing, similar to the people who sit in the front row during a wedding, crying their eyes out in joy. Others were somewhat displeased with Evanesque’s choice, analyzing him head to toe and shaking their heads. These were few, but like every wedding, there are some that won’t be pleased with anything. Then you have your emos who would sit outside the group and grumble to themselves, the bored teenager types who were forced to come, the best friends who only wanted Evanesque to be happy, and the elders. There was even the family friend who couldn’t shut up. You know, the one that retells his life experiences and bores you with his anecdotes. Of course, Potato never bothered to try and understand what that Charmander was saying.

Then there was the final person that Potato had to meet; Evanesque’s foster Mom. Potato, despite nervousness stood with strong full body posture, and peered into the shrubby area where she was going to arrive. Her daughter kindly led her out of the forest to her new acquaintance. Potato blinked twice bewilderedly, until he realized it really did make perfect sense. In front of him stood a Jigglypuff, with a wholehearted expression of question on her face. She paced back and forth looking at every angle of Potato’s given human body. Nodding, she then looked straight in Potato’s eyes in a staring showdown.

The Jigglypuff stared sternly into his eyes, her expression growing more and more intense each second. Potato returned this with empty, but peaceful eyes.

*The camera view constantly switches between each of their faces, gradually drawing closer and closer to each of them.*
*The peak of the intensity is reached, but Potato shows no sign of withdrawl*
*As the camera is at it’s maximum of zoom to see the entire face of each character, it’s evident that the Jigglypuff is losing this contest. Potato maintains the eye contact. Gradually, as the camera zoom comes farther and farther away, her face transforms into a teary eyed, innocent look, overwhelmed by the man’s determination.*

Finally the foster mom sighed, starting to cry a flow of joyful tears. For it was the mother’s intuition that this man was truly the one her daughter needed. She turned to Evanesque, and nodded. The group of Pokemon howled with celebration, and started to dance among themselves. Potato motioned the little ones to play with their seashells and shiny rocks. Motioning his hand forward out to Evanesque, he indicated if he may have a dance. However, just as Evanesque reached towards his hand, the wedding crashers arrived. Who? For all of Pokemon history, take a wild guess.

A hot air balloon shaped like a giant Meowth head floated over the island, as three familiar figures stood in their own self pride, as they bellowed their own personal theme. [Jesse is Red. James is Blue, and Meowth is Orange. Don’t deny it; Team Rocket is teh smex.]

Prepare for trouble!
Make it double!
To protect the world from devastation,
To unite all people within our nation.
To denounce the evils of truth and love,
To extend our reach to the stars above.
Jesse! James!
Team Rocket blasts off at the speed of light.
Surrender now or prepare to fight.

Meowth! That’s right.

The three waited patiently for a response, but they received no answer. For little did they know that both humans were incapable of human speech. Potato was still a mute [despite that one time occurrence] and that Evanesque was raised by Pokemon. This ‘silent treatment’ only infuriated Team Rocket. They jumped from their height, and landed with expert finesse on the sandy ground below them.

“We are going to take all the Pokemon on this island and there is nothing you can do about it!” Jesse taunted.

No verbal response. Just blank faces everyone else on that island, included Evanesque. She really had no idea what the heck was going on.

“Ash was totally better at that heroic response thing.” James whispered.

“Fine then!” Jesse yelled in her own rage, “If you aren’t going to say anything, then I’ll make you. Go, Arbok!”

James supported this emotion with an added battle cry. “I choose you, Weezing!”

*In order to understand the following events, one must understand relative Pokemon power levels. Since Team Rocket has constantly faced Ash in many Pokemon battles [and lost each time], they were determined to get their own Pokemon stronger. With much dedication, one could say that each of their Pokemon have reached close to Level 100, the maximum relative power level. Assume that the Pokemon on the island have no true battle experience, meaning their average level would be about Level 5.*

The Arbok and Weezing lauched themselves the instant they were out of their Poke-balls towards the mass group of ‘n00b’ Pokemon. Arbok shot the helpless Pidgey and small critters with a machine gun volley of poison stings, while the rest became victim to Weezing’s devastating poison gas. It wasn’t long until each of Evanesque’s companion Pokemon fainted. If the two champion Pokemon were more serious in their battle techniques, they could have easily killed all of them.

In the whole confusion of the smoke cloud that the Weezing created however, there was still one more casualty to account. Seeing another moving silhouette in the smoke cloud, Arbok lunged to take a bite of the creature. The man wanted to cry in pain and rage, but he was unable to say a word. The smoke cleared, and the large cobra realized what it had done. He had attacked an innocent human being. Potato clasped his right shoulder tightly where he was brutally bitten, looking straight into the Arbok’s eyes. However, the snake returned that look with cruel apathy, for he felt he wasn’t responsible for what happened in the heat of battle. Arbok slithered back to the side of his master, and the Weezing floated back to his.

“James.” Jesse said remorsefully, “Hurry and capture all of these Pokemon, before we do any more damage. I don’t want this man to suffer, even if he does irritate me. Meowth, go with James. I will check his status; make sure he’s not poisoned.”

“I understand.” James replied. Just like the good times they had while fighting Ash all those years. Even when they were on the side of evil, they too still had a heart. When human life was at stake or when their enemies truly needed help, they would always come to their aid; that’s what all three understood well. As Jesse had some training as a nurse, she hoped that she could make a correct diagnosis.

Jesse walked to the fallen enemy which was Potato and carefully analyzed his wound. She gave a half hearted smile of relief. As she took out spare linen bandages from a leather pouch, and using all of her knowledge of first aid, she wrapped his arm with the greatest of care.

“He’s alright. The puncture wound wasn’t deep enough for Arbok to start injecting him with its poison. As long as he rests, he’ll be just fine.”

“Thank goodness.” the two villains sighed, relieved as well.

However, what they didn’t know was that there was still someone else on that island, and she wasn’t fine. She searched her mind desperately for a straight answer. Why would people attack the innocent? Why would they want to capture these wonderful creatures, and take her family away from her? Evanesque cried uncontrollably, unable to comprehend this suffering. Her sadness channeled to rage, as she looked with dark, hateful eyes to those that ruined her day. Those that attacked her friends and those that would hurt the one she now loved most.

As he was being bandaged by Jesse, Potato looked up innocently into her eyes. Calmly, she finished up what she had started and started walking back. Potato would never forget what those eyes were like again; the eyes that held back her internal guilt from the world. She whispered in his ear a small wish. “Please get better, for my sake as well as yours.”

“We are almost done our primary objective Jesse.” James shouted. “There were much more Pokemon than were expected. Boss will be pleased.”

As Meowth and James were loading up the now landed hot air balloon with their cages filled with Pokemon, a most displeased figure headed towards them. Her emotions were stripped from her face, as her zombie stare peered towards her new enemy. Jesse, sensing something was going to go wrong, dashed to assist her friends. Evanesque indeed wasn’t pleased at all.

“Nesque.” she demanded with direct hostility, pointing to her friends in bondage.

The three villains shook their heads in unison. They simply couldn’t give up what they earned. To them, these were just regular animals if they didn’t have a human bond as a trainer to pet relationship. However, to Evanesque, these were her nakama, those who were important to her. Of course, how could Team Rocket know of this type of bond she had, when she couldn’t even physically explain it?

In this time of blind anger, Evanesque wouldn’t deal with her own emotions that would allow her to hesitate any longer. She was going to convince them to let her friends go, even if it meant brute force. Her hubbie was injured because of them, and her wedding day was completely ruined. Her animalistic rage was taking over. James decided to act on what was fundamentally the right way to go.

“Weezing, use Smoke Screen!”

Instantly, the whole beach was covered in a grey smoke, submerging the enraged Evanesque in a temporary state of blindness, koffing and weezing her lungs out. Just like that, Team Rocket was dashing back to their hot air balloon, attempting to make their daring escape. As the smoke cleared, Evanesque looked up at her enemy with emotionless, but determined eyes. Channeling all of her inner strength of what she was going to do next, a bright white light emerged from her chest, and started to drown her entire her entire body in its brilliance.

Potato was watching with disbelief what was going on. It appeared that Evanesque was evolving, but this was unlike any Pokemon evolution he had seen before. She couldn’t be a Pokemon herself, so how is she able to do this? No, this was a different transformation altogether. Could this be she was really one of the Digi-Destined?

The white light suddenly changed drastically, as it turned more into a stream of blue digital code. Potato eyes widened in quiet horror, this was an uncontrolled Digivolution. She wasn’t human to begin with after all, but one of the only last Digimon of this world. The stream of code surrounded her body, removing the leaves that were before [with convenient censorship with light angles], and contrasting it with cold artificial steel. Thin, but surprisingly strong metal bikini style armor was replaced around her main body, which contrasted with the rest of her new ‘accessories’. On her face, the digital stream added a full robotic metal helmet which was heavily plated, as well as a adding massive mechanical arm, even more fortified. Her other arm and legs were then equipped with relatively light, strong metal guards. The rest of the digital stream that was left was transferred right into her body, giving her the needed strength and stamina for battle. She was no longer Evanesque, but a new cold creature known only as . . . Mechanesque.

The once light footed villain team was now stopped in their tracks as they sensed the new energy level. Arbok and Weezing, being their humans faithful servants, gathered courage to turn around to face this brutal new force. Before either human master could utter a word for the two Pokemon to stop, they charged fearlessly into battle. An evil grin appeared on Mechanesque’s face, for this was going to be the first time that the alter ego could use her formidable powers again. She simply wasn’t going to allow these creatures to live.

The Arbok was the first to act. Shooting its signature poison sting attack, it launched several “machine gun”-like missiles at the metal plated Digimon. Nimbly, Mechanesque deflected these easily with her metal plated arm. Weezing, attempting to take this defensive stance to his advantage, spewed an even more powerful blast of toxic gas than usual. However, he also underestimated Mechanesque’s speed. With considerable leg strength, Mechanesque launched herself into the air, just before the stream of gas could reach her. Her mechanical arm changed dramatically, until a familiar cannon-like shape took form. From inside, artificial energy collected for one obvious purpose; as a devastating force. As soon the energy took the form of a stable sphere, she fired with absolute barbaric force at the two creatures below.

Jesse and James, knowing full well that this was more than what their Pokemon could handle, called them back. The familiar red light transferred their comrades back inside their respective Poke-balls, just before the large blast of energy collided with them. The ground below them rattled spasmodically from the aftershock. Content with what she had done, Mechanesque softly landed back on the beach, looking for another challenge. Evilly, she stared right back at her helpless enemy.

“I’m sorry Arbok.” Jesse explained. “You have done more today than what I could ever expect from you. . . thank you.”

“We give up.” James begged to the fierce creature, calmly placing the metal cages where the animals were stored back onto the sandy ground. “If you have mercy on us, we promise never to attack this island again.”

However, Mechanesque wasn’t content with such a simple surrender. No, her animalistic whim was to make them suffer even more dearly. She channeled another energy blast in her metal arm, aiming straight at her human enemies. In absolute fear of what was going to pass, the two Rockets gave each other one last tearful hug goodbye.

“Jesse, know that I’ve always loved you.”
“Even though you were a complete idiot sometimes James, I’ve always felt the same way too.”

With half hearted smiles on their faces, Jesse and James looked into each others eyes contently, ignoring their imminent doom that waited behind them.

Meowth hesitated with fear on what he should do. He couldn’t attack Mechanesque by himself, but if he did nothing his comrades would surely die. The shot was fired. Meowth shook himself out his doubt, and did what he thought was right for his friends. He ran to intercept the energy blast using his own body.

Potato eyes gaped in pure horror, as he relived the moment; the time when DevilDude intercepted Vegeta’s energy blast for him. That Meowth, even though he was on the side of evil, had done the most honorable thing someone could do; sacrificing one’s self to save another. Upon impact, the cat screeched out of terrible pain, launched back violently towards his two loving human comrades. Mechanesque backed down from attacking any further.

“MEOWTH!” the two yelled. James dashed toward the airborne feline, and using some of his baseball experience he had acquired as a young boy, dived with all of his might and caught him just before Meowth hit the ground. Upon looking at the cat’s innocence, tears fell from both of his friends eyes. Meowth was seriously bruised up, and they didn’t know what to do.

“Meowth, are you alright?” questioned James remorsefully, although he already knew full well what the answer was.

“Meowth, you can’t die.” Jesse cried. “I won’t allow you to die! Do you understand me? We need you!”

“Need me?” Meowth replied in a coarse but soft voice. The damage must have been indeed significant for his voice to change that drastically. “Why the heck would you guys need a talking cat for?”

“You are our talking cat.” Jesse spoke sweetly.

“What happened to your determination?” James reassured, “Do you even remember why you can talk?”

[Old Episode Flashback. You have to be a fossil like me to remember so long ago. :P]

Indeed, Meowth did remember how he came to talk. When he fell in love with another Meowth, as a stray cat long time ago, he was given an ‘impossible task’ to gain her love, for she wasn’t at all interested in him. The task was to become more human. For months, he trained himself vigorously to become humanlike; to run on two legs instead of four as he stole from the meat shop[getting caught many times], and attempting to repeat words and phrases of everyday human speech. Finally, when human words came out of his mouth, he made haste to tell the one he loved. Of course, in that time, the other Meowth fell in love with a Persian. It broke his heart, but at that time, he knew how great his determination was. It was also the time he decided to join the forces of evil.

“You were the greatest friends a cat could ever wish for.” Meowth replied in a wispy voice. “No, you were my true family.”

“Meowth...” they whispered. Just then, Meowth’s breathing became raspier. It was apparent he was nearing death.

“Come closer . . .”

Jesse and James moved their ears closer to Meowth’s mouth. Mechanesque yelled fiercely as the innocent Evanesque inside her demanded control of her body. Finally, the alter ego Mechanesque laughed maniacally, and nodded. Evanesque should indeed have a better view of what happened due to her recklessness.

De-evolving back to her original form, she fell down to her knees in guilt. Her enemy had only caused her comrades to faint, while her energy blast was about to kill one. She wasn’t justifying their actions of capturing her friends, but it seemed more justified than what she just did. She asked herself; why couldn’t she control her feelings?

As the two humans of Team Rocket looked deeper into their precious cat’s face, a small grin emerged from his face, giving them a small wink.

“Play along just for a little longer...” he whispered. With those words, he bellowed a last convincing sound of final death, yelling in almost believable pain.

Breaking Evanesque’s heart, she quickly retrieved the small metal cages with tears of guilt streaming down her face, as she ran deep into the forest out of plain sight. Potato watched as he lay partially injured to what would be the last time he would see Team Rocket, at least for today.

Meowth quickly jumped right to his feet from his unconscious position, brushing the sand off of his shoulders with his paws. The other two Rockets marveled at his superb acting, but were still confused.

“Meowth,” James said politely, “If that was an act, how weren’t you hurt from the blast?”

“That is actually quite simple, my friend. As a jumped in front of the blast, I took out one of my spare coins. Throwing it at a precise moment, the coin collided with the blast just before it could impact me, causing the explosion prematurely. True, it was an extremely lucky throw. However with my superior acting skills, I pretended the energy blast collided with me directly. But, I’m curious. Did you two actually mean all those things you said?”

“Every word.” Jesse replied softly. “Oh, and James . . . what I said to you before we were going to die, forget I even said anything.”

“Agreed.” James answered, smiling contently. “Come, let’s get out of here before Mechnesque discovers you were faking it.”

“What were you supposed to forget?” asked Meowth innocently.

“Nothing important.” James replied. Just as he said that, a Pokemon in the water caught his eye. “Wait, is that a Magikarp? Maybe we can give something to Boss after all.”

“You can be really stupid sometimes.” Jesse scolded. “Remember that one time that fisherman ripped you off by selling you one of those things?”

James shrugged, just as soon as he thought of something else. “Is this actually going to be the first time we leave by hot air balloon without ‘blasting off again’?”

Meowth grinned. “Unfortunate really, I must admit that getting blown up because of Ash was really exciting. *sigh* Times change I guess.”

As they left to make their first normal exit, the Magikarp that James was analyzing before gains full camera view, giving you, the viewer, a subtle wink.
__________________________

Who will win the Duel? Will Undying ever use his theme song and battle Gaara, despite all of his current frustration? And is he really being replaced by the kawaii awesome Yugi Moto?

What will Potato do, now that he knows what devastating power Evanesque is capable of? Will Evanesque ever find out the truth about what really happened to Meowth and will her poor heart ever be repaired?

Is DevilDude going to be forever suspended in time?

Are these chappies really worth the two weeks of anguish and anxiety?

For these answers and more, be sure to check out the next episode of CBZ!
__________________________

[Joe Black]

[On a completely different note, it seems that the thread doesn't like me; it never updates like it should. so i apologize for the double post]

Announcement: I’ve decided to issue a fan art contest for all my dedicated readers due to my perpetual boredom of everyday meaningless life. All submitted work to me that is deemed appropriate will get a special spot on the first page where the directory is with direct credit to you, the artist. [As long as I can work out the technology barriers. :P]

-The type of art form you choose is not restricted, except for the content rules stated on the CB forums. This can take on the form of a poem, theme song, a character drawing (existent in the story or a new one created by you), visual of a specific scene, an additional side story, just about anything!

- To submit your entry, simply post into the Club Bleach Z! main thread, and title the post in bold type: Fan Art Submission(s). You can also submit more than once if you wish, but limit it to one post with the Edit button.

- As well, try to avoid using someone else’s art as part of your own. If you feel it is absolutely necessary to do so anyway, be sure to reference their work as part of the credit.

- If you are using a website to store an original image, make sure that URL is up to date once in a while. If the URL no longer works, simply change it in your original Fan Art Submission(s) post.

- I look forward to all of the entries submitted into this contest. I’ll try and update this thread as often as I can.

[Undying]

*Does Ren [Tao Ren, from Shaman King] pose of anger, with spear*

How dare you delay my shining appearance witha cameo appearance? GOLDEN CHUUKA ZANMAI!!!

*a multitude of spear strikes lands upon Joe*

Nah, just kidding. I loved it. Awesome!

Ah, the good days of Mewoth's flashbacks... I still remember it! He was trying to learn froma bunch of ballete dancers, true?

And then he menaged to talk. I loved it. That's why he hates the Boss' Persian so much :p.

And Eva, a Digimon? LMAO man, you're good! I didn't understand the description though - did she become some sort of a Angewomon?

I wuved it compltely. I sympathise with Undying... eh, wait, I am Undying! XD

More! We damand more!

I might try to do something that looks like "my Undying of dreams" :D.

[Evanesque]

You never fail to surprise...and wtf...Mechanesque????
I thought that lil poke-like character was going to turn out to be Nyu/Lucy from Elfen Lied...

Instead she's a digimon XD
You know? I've never even bothered to watch that anime...ever...I was completely satisfied with pokemon...X3

Wow, that whole chappie was lo-h-ong!!
Wonder what's going to happen between Gaara and Undying.

[Joe Black]

@Undying: You are finally starting to get my idea of elaborate referencing. :3

If that time comes where I’m not be able to post another again (OH NOES!) as I fight antagonistic forces in my own life, I ask you kindly to simply carry on. For I know that with your own wonderful imaginations, you can fill the gaps my chappies leave behind. But who knows, I might even humor this forum again by posting more than once every two weeks. :P

As always, enjoy! I have to tame the smexy beast which is Calculus now.

Chappie 23: Good Times with Duel Monsters

Ryuzaki has many different kinds of appetites than one is lead to believe.

A vast and diverse swirl of emotions swirled around the docks off of “:3”. Yugi Moto had just challenged Gaara to a strategic card game known as Duel Monsters, postponing Undying’s most triumphant battle. Some would speculate that this was due to a new evil power only known as Writer’s Block. Other say it was the average course set by Randomness. Yet it no longer mattered why it happened, but the how and when it was going to end.

Yugi’s deep purple eyes filled with unending passion as he prepared himself for the upcoming battle. Gaara turned himself slightly away from him, looking quite displeased with the current situation. Undying clenched his fist with more or less ‘undying’ rage, wishing this battle would end so he could have more camera time to himself. Ryuzaki smiled, enjoying the timeless sensation as sand molded around his naked feet.

“I assume you remember how to play, Gaara?”

Upon hearing this question, the Sand Ninja rolled his eyes and gave a very quick and simple summary.

“Drawing cards, playing monsters, setting traps and casting spells, all in the goal of bringing your opponent’s Life Points to 0, or when another condition of victory occurs.”

“Correct.” Yugi replied, “Oh, before I forget, we also have to talk really obnoxiously loud as we declare each of our moves, so that everyone around us can hear.”

“Can’t we simply mime our actions, and allow the holograms to explain it?”

Before Yugi was to recall that one time he actually did face a mime in an epic card battle, another untimely set of guest appearances occurred. This of course was Yugi’s personal cheering squad, except not entirely made of female cheerleaders, such as Gary’s (Ash’s old rival in Pokemon), and comprised of only three people. There was his best friend Joey, his girl friend Téa who is really inclined to show her emotions, and Tristen. Yugi had much to be thankful for.

Of course, Gaara had quite a bit of wisdom to imbue on each of them first. Not the type of advice that warms the heart, but that which comes in the brutal unchanged packaging, reality itself. Undying also had a lot to tell them using only negative facial expression. Ryuzaki, unlike the others, had his eye on the prize.

Ryuzaki, in his cool white t-shirt and his baggy jeans, casually walked towards Yugi’s trio of friends. Courtly, he bowed slightly before Téa, but made no eye contact with either Joey or Tristen, or even attempt to acknowledge their existence.

“I do not believe we’ve had the pleasure of meeting before.” Ryuzaki seductively spoke, “People know me as L, others as Ryuzaki. You sugar, can call me whatever you want.”

Taking this as polite compliment Téa smiled, and shrugged. “Ryuzaki is a wonderful name. My name is Téa.”

“What are we, chopped liver!” Joey exclaimed. “Tristen and I are also really good buddies of Yuug. Not to mention that I ranked second place on Duelist Island.”

At that moment, Undying contemplated on what sexual preference Ryuzaki really was, and Ryuzaki contemplated the last joyous time he had the pleasure of eating liver. Undying also wondered if life as a one woman man really was the right way to go.

“I beseech you three to leave.” Gaara interrupted, knowing full well he was destroying a harmless conversation. “This battle doesn’t need you three here.”

“Yugi needs our support!” Téa rebuked, “I have never left his side even when he was in the greatest of need.”

Joey added, “Plus I plan to learn new strategies so I can learn how to finally defeat Yugi at this game and become the greatest.”

Tristen shrugged. “I don’t even know why I exist.”

Gaara nodded, assessing these collected testimonies, and decided to take care of each with superb clarity and insight.

“Téa; I heard your dream was to become a dancer. Why haven’t you’ve worked toward your dream yet? Sometimes, you have to be more concerned about yourself than others for the sake of your own personal self fulfillment. Sure, every man deserves a skimpy hawt girl cheerleader, but you can’t dedicate yourself just to others. Live your own dreams.

Joey; how do you expect to ever defeat Yugi, when all you do is analyze his strategy? Have you ever considered asking for help from other people, such as your obvious lover Mai Valentine? Your opponent always knows how to overcome his own strategies, therefore if you copy Yugi, you shall always lose against him. Even then, this card game isn’t the end all be all of your existence. Work hard at school and make top grade, ride a bicycle, take long walks on the beach, play games, post regularly on internet forums; all of that good stuff.

Tristen; don’t ponder why you exist, but simply consider what you can do to make your existence more meaningful. Either that, or just get the hell out of my life.”

The trio, extremely befuddled by Gaara’s words of wisdom, each decided to merely dismiss what was told to them.

“Show him whose boss, Yugi!” they yelled. Gaara shook his head, for he really didn’t care himself what the outcome was.

“Finally,” Undying thought. “This duel can finally start, so when it completes I’ll be the star of the show again. BWAHAHAHA!”

“Finally,” Ryuzaki thought, “This could be the day in where I can get some TNA, erm, a girlfriend of my own.”

Yugi and Gaara reached toward their duel disks as they declared in unison the start of the battle. “TIME TO DUEL!”

On one side, a carefully made deck wielded by the King of Games, the other one randomly made of booster packs with no thought wielded by Gaara of the Sand. Who will win?!

This battle will continue on the next episode *sees Undying shake his head with obvious displeasure*, I mean *sweats*, in the next couple of minutes!111
______________________________

Ryuzaki peered onto the created holographic battlefield, and decided to ask his new friend an innocent question.

“You see that sweetie pie over there? Do you think I have a chance?” he whispered.

“Well, are you in <3?” Undying responded.

Ryuzaki sighed passionately, and replied as honestly as he could. “Every time I look upon her, my heart beats faster, and a certain special song plays loudly in my head. Is that normal?”

“I cannot explain it, but the same thing happens to me with the one I love. Every single time I see her, a Lenny Kravitz song plays in my head. That, or I just imagine her dancing to the song ‘Like a Virgin’ by Madonna.” [Yeah, I’m a Kravitz fan; “Lady” or “Fly Away.” This comes directly from my own personal experience btw.]

“Oh, so it is normal. However, I don’t know if she’s into the intellectual types.”

“Of course the babes like the intellectual types! They don’t want to admit it, but they want more than just a body. They want a brain in which to suck out with their passionate kissing and increase their own pool of knowledge. That’s why men are always slightly less smart than females. Out of curiosity, which song does play in your head?”

Ryuzaki blushed lightly for a moment, and turned his face back towards the battlefield, and towards his new infatuation, pretending not to hear that question. Undying understood this feeling of withdrawal, and returned back to his feelings on the battle. Undying couldn’t help but notice that unlike any strategy game he’s ever played, that the capability and experience on one side was much greater than the other. In the words of an intellectual such as Ryuzaki, it’s like a game of chess with one person as a beginner, and his opponent being a Grandmaster.

However at that moment, Ryuzaki was thinking about something a lot more interesting that chess. The same song played in his head as he peered into Téa’s eyes. Allowing his imagination to drift away, all of his surroundings disappeared into pitch blackness, focusing only upon his sweet. Even if such was only his frivolous fantasy, it seemed that Ryuzaki wanted to stay in it forever.
_________________________

(Decided to finally use this song; “Candyman” by Aqua. Btw, anytime I add a song to teh mix, I recommend dl’ing and listening to the song for dramatic effect. This is all in Ryuzaki’s candy filled imagination, with Téa dancing seductively in his head.)

{Téa:
I wish that you were my Lollipop
Sweet things, I will never get enough
If you show me to the sugar tree,
will you give me a sodapop for free?}

{Ryuzaki:
Come with me Honey,
I'm your sweet sugar Candyman
Run like the wind - fly with me to Bountyland
Bite me, I'm yours - if you're hungry please understand
This is the end - of the sweet sugar Candyman.}

{Téa:
Oh my love - I know you are my Candyman,
And oh my love - your word is my command
Oh my love - I know you are my Candyman,
And oh my love - let us fly to Bountyland

You are my Lollipop - sugar sugar top
You are my Lollipop - sugar sugar top

I wish that I were a bubble gum,
chewing on me, baby, all day long
I will be begging for sweet delight,
until you say I'm yours tonight.}

{Ryuzaki:
Come with me Honey,
I'm your sweet sugar Candyman
Run like the wind - fly with me to Bountyland
Bite me, I'm yours - if you're hungry please understand
This is the end - of the sweet sugar Candyman . . .}
__________________________

What Ryuzaki didn’t realize however, was that he was actually humming this catchy tune out loud. Undying started to sway back and forth with the beat. Téa, Joey and Tristen weren’t hearing the tune, too centered over the card battle that was just beginning.

“Before you make the first move Gaara, know that you can never overcome the ultimate power of the heart of the cards.” Yugi stated.

*Gaara points to self* “Love tattoo on forehead.”

The two opponents drew five cards from each of their decks, and Gaara skimmingly looked at them before making his first move. The Life Points of both opponents were declared at 8000. Gaara, being the first to act, drew another card.

“For my first move,” Gaara declared, “I commit suicide, inflicting lethal damage of 8000 Life Points to myself. I lose.”

“Nice try.” Yugi responded, “You need a card to do that.”

“What?! Are you trying to tell me that I can summon monsters from complete nothingness, but I do not have the ability to kill myself without a card?”

“In the world of Duel Monsters, there are no emo people. Anyways, for our little agreement, you promised to give it your all so it’d be a challenge.”

Gaara rolled his eyes, and sighed. “Fine. I discard one card since I can only have five cards in my hand, and end my turn.”

Yugi’s eyes opened slightly in quiet shock. All that echoed in his mind is why he didn’t play a card on the field. Now he could play a monster and attack his Life Points directly. Was this a trap, or some part of a large elaborate strategy? All Gaara could think of, was what was taking so long for him to execute his move.

“My move!” Yugi spoke in an epic voice. Drawing his card, his eyes gleamed with silent surprise. He hadn’t used this creature in quite a while. “I summon Celtic Guardian!” On the holographic field, a warrior of above average strength appeared, with an attack power of 1400. “Celtic Guardian, attack his Life Points directly! Sword Slash Attack!” The creature jumped upward with impressive height as he took a large swing at the defenseless Gaara. Gaara’s Life Points decreased to 6600, but Gaara stood still, not even a single wince from the attack.

Yugi couldn’t help but comment on Gaara’s cool response. “When you’re attacked Gaara, you have to clench your chest in pain.”

“It’s a freaking hologram. There is absolutely no force attacking me except for a 3D moving picture.”

Yugi rolled his eyes. “It’s for dramatic effect for anyone watching the duel. I should have known that I got the lower end of our little innocent deal. You’re not even trying to duel; you’re just allowing yourself to lose by not playing any cards.”

“First of all,” Gaara replied, “I know you enjoyed every second on what happened that night. Second of all for my first turn, I literally couldn’t play a monster. For underestimating my awesomeness, you shall lose!”

Ryuzaki obnoxiously cheered for Gaara, and Undying allowed a smirk to surface on his face. It seemed that even Gaara himself easily attained his own little cheering squad, even if only two. Gaara drew a card from his deck.

“My move!” he declared. “For my first act, I’m going to play the magic card Monster Reborn to summon a creature from the dead!”

“That won’t do anything.” Yugi rebuked, “There aren’t any monsters in your graveyard.”

“That’s where you’re wrong. The card I discarded last turn to the graveyard was none other than a monster card. Come forth, Blue Eyes White Dragon!”

Magnificently, the dragon with a mini fancy lightshow involving bolts of lightning emerged onto the battlefield, staring down the warrior in front of him with the avid interest of bloodshed. Its attack power is the strongest in the game at a power of 3000. (without the added buffs.)

“Blues Eyes White Dragon, attack Yugi’s Celtic Guardian! White Lightning Attack!1111”

A large ball of compressed electric energy zoomed at incredible speeds, absolutely destroying the warrior before it. The Celtic Guardian was now only a black pile of holographic ash on the ground. Before damage was inflicted on Yugi’s Life points, he activated the trap card “Woboku” so that the difference of power between both monsters was negated.

“WTF!” Yugi yelled, “You got a Blue Eyes White Dragon, in a booster pack? There were only supposed to have been four ever made, Seto Kaiba having three of those while the other ripped in half for some gay reason.”

Gaara shrugged. “I guess I’m just extremely lucky. Maybe I should borrow one of Lee’s green training uniforms and become a leprechaun.”

Before anyone around Gaara could fathom the sheer horror that sight would be, Gaara declared the end of his turn.

“When is this going to end?!” Undying yelled, “It’s going to take freaking forever for this battle to end, especially when explained through a non-visual media presentation.”

Gaara and Yugi turned to each other and nodded in unison. Gaara turned to Undying and replied, “Through a well scripted montage of moments to conveniently highlight the key points of the battle and other random events.”

“Well, what song are we going to play for this . . . ‘montage’?” Undying replied.

“Does it matter?”

Undying shrugged. What song could possibly destroy this moment anyway, and twist it to something more messed up that what it already was?

[Montage to the song “Live to Win” performed by Paul Stanley.]

* A series of fade ins and fade outs of Gaara and Yugi drawing their cards*
*Ryuzaki moves slowly towards Téa’s side*
*Camera zoom onto the mouths of each duelist as they declare their moves*
*A slide shows of monsters attacking one another senselessly with a series of activated traps and magic forces obliterating monster after monster.*
*Gaara smirking as he clenches his chest mockingly as his Life Points go down*
*They audience continues to cheer wholeheartedly. Even Undying finds himself part of the action*
*Yugi and Gaara stare into each other’s eyes contently as the game continues to build*
*As Ryuzaki is cheering, he accidently trips, and as he fell, strokes Téa’s side lightly. As she helps him up, their eyes meet for a subtle, but passionate moment.*
*Undying attempts to make a healthy conversation with Joey and Tristen as they cheer Yugi on. This obviously fails, and they get into a harmless brawl*
*Yugi and Gaara now stand panting air in and out of their bodies, as if they had just ran a triathalon.*

Without the attempt for a real wholehearted explination, the standings before the finishing move were as follows: Yugi – 4200 LP, Gaara – 1 LP. Yugi also had his trademark monster Dark Magician on the field. Gaara had absolutely nothing on the field at this moment.

“What the hell was that?!” Undying yelled, clenching his forehead with tears and sweat pouring from his face. “How can one simply jump through moments in time without any transition? This world doesn’t make any sense.”

“You put up a good fight Gaara,” Yugi patronized, “However, this is the end of our duel.”

“Aww!” Gaara replied, “I was just beginning to have some fun. :3. Is it my turn?”

Yugi nodded, in a much more relaxed mood that he was at the beginning of the events mentioned in this chappie. Before, he was at his average demenor of always wanting to win, but for the first time in a while, he realized the fun that it could hold. Right now, Yugi realized that even Gaara was smiling and having a good time.

“Alright,” Gaara throught as he drew his final card away from him, with his eyes closed in deep concentration. “Heart of the cards.”

Turning the card over towards him, his face instantly turned bright with joy. Yugi attempted to fathom what card Gaara could have drawn in order for an expression like that to appear on his face. Gaara turned to Yugi once more with polite eye contact.

“I’m sorry Yugi, but this battle belongs to me. Another time perhaps if I bother to practice, I’ll face you again.”

Yugi was slightly confused. Out of the five booster packs that he had bought him, what was the probability that he now held a card that could overcome his entire deck. However, that’s when he realized that Gaara still had five cards in his hand. Gaara placed his entire five card hand on the battlefield, and Yugi’s eyes held quiet momentous shock.

In front of Yugi, were all of the extremely rare five parts of Exodia the Forbidden One. A large momentus creature of unimaginable porpotions rose from the ground of the battlefield, even more so than the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Yugi couldn’t believe himself, this was the same way he defeated Seto Kaiba for the first time. Even more so, the probability of getting all five parts in five sepate booster packs was atronomical. With these cards on the field, Gaara had achieved an automatic win. Gaara pointed to the target of his creature, as he declared the last move of the game.

“Exodia . . . OBLITERATE!”
_______________________________

With the end of the Duel Monsters battle at a remarkable finish, Yugi and his gang make a warm farewell as they declare Gaara to be the new King of Games. However, there are much more adventures just around the corner.

Will Undying become the main star of the show, or is the author going to go back to what supposed to be the main storyline? What will be the results of Gaara’s and Undying’s own duel in honor of Lee?
Will Ryuzaki ever truly nourish his many different appetites, and earn Téa’s heart?
What of Potato and Evanesque? Will they ever confront Evanesque’s inner demon again? Will Team Rocket play a role later in the future?
What of evil galactic Emperor Xenu and his own adventures?
What of Sakura and her personal journey in the afterlife? Will she confront Lee once more?

Is this simply a teaser of questions that won’t ever be answered, but are placed there in order to grab reader attention, and place them constantly at a cruel cliffhanger till next time two weeks into the future?

These questions and more might be answered on the episode of CBZ!
_______________________________

[Rabid_Wolverine]

I nearly cried in the epicness of this chapter. Also you double posted and also I hate fillers. *CRIES* If you do a Naruto I may have to actually kill you.

[Undying]

Indeed. If you go a Naruto I'll ban you *points to Smod abilities*

But I loved most of the chapter, and lol'd at the Yugi part. Ah, the nostalgic times of "Duel Bastards"...

If you do a Naruto/Bleach, you'll suffer. Other than that, you have my compelete support, if you need anything don't hesitate to ask and I'll do almost anything humanly possible to help you (only Thelindra gets me to do anything humanly and inhumanly possible for her, but that's another story).

[Evanesque]

*blinks* Oooh...that was a looong chappie...^_^

I really like your style of writing, silly and cute XD

Thankies Joey *cookies*

[Baby-Pie]

wow i missed out on 2 new chappies...kool ...lol at Yugi, you somehow can fit anyone from anywhere and it still would fit...good job sweets *hugs*

[Joe Black]

This chappie is kinda shorter than my other ones. For some strange reason, I have become addicted to hourly walks around the neighborhood every night. It might be the exhilerating taste of fresh air, or the sensation of freedom that keeps me going. Then again, I might just be crazy.

@ Above comments: Excuse my language, but I think the Naruto and Bleach fillers were actually quite good. Trust me though; I would never purposefully add extraneous filler [most of the time]. I would never make filler last a couple of seasons, to “pull a Naruto” if you will. *hugs* BELIEVE IT! — f***

[Due to technical difficulties, further auther comments on this chappie will be removed or replaced.]


Chapter 24: Ryuzaki’s Riveting Realization

“That’s nostalgic. This is nostalgic. Your rack is nostalgic.” It’s only apparent that nostalgic will become Naruto’s new dattebayo.

This time, after the events that occured before, Undying and Gaara made no indication of speaking their long drowned out speeches about ultimate supremacy or whatnot. Of course, this goes completely against Dragon Ball Z fashion. At this time however, all they wanted to do was fight even to the point of destroying themselves, not bore the other to death with plans of global destruction or personal superiority.

Undying pointed to a more sutable location for their fight. The other two nodded, Field of Affectionate Hearts past the Forbidden Forest would be an awesome place for the battle (sound familiar?). There would be no further distractions, such as the random card duel, and it was well isolated so that Ryuzaki would be the only one to spectate the battle.

Undying hoisted his two male friends on his shoulders. By activating some of his fierce ki energy, gained the ability to fly and in matter of minutes, were at their desired location. Still without saying a word, Undying indicated for Ryuzaki to stand near the edge of the field, and walked a considerable distance away from his opponent.

“After all of this is over,” Ryuzaki said, “We should all totally have a threesome.”

Gaara’s face turned blank, not able to respond to such a direct request. Undying also couldn’t find the words to respond, however unlike Gaara, he was truly horrified. Ryuzaki rolled his eyes.

“. . . of golf.”

In unison Gaara and Undying blew out the compressed air from that sudden intensity with a strong “Oh!” mouth motion.

“Gaara will probably cheat by using sand from the traps.” Undying joked.

Gaara raised his nose high like a pompus gentleman. “”The King of Games would never cheat.”

Trading smiles, Undying slapped his hands together in an enthusiastic clap. “Let’s finish this, friends. Ryuzaki stand back!”

Throwing a simple white smoke bomb at his feet, Undying at that moment was no more. In his place, the flower warrior known as Tuxedo Mask stood. Ryuzaki didn’t realize until that moment that this was his alternate ego. A chain of thoughts sprawled across his beautiful mind.

Tuxedo Mask is known to be the lover of the heroine Sailor Moon. Undying proclaims that he is a one woman man, faithful to Thelindra. Undying is Tuxedo Mask. If Sailor Moon was another person, then that wouldn’t be faithful. Breaking a virtue like that isn’t like Undying.

Then that means! Thelindra is — her.

Then why would Undying agree to the terms of the fight, to arrange a date when he has already earned her heart?

!!!
Is Thelindra simply unaware of the true identity behind the mask?

Does Thelindra suffer from a multiple personality disorder similar to Yugi Moto, but the common ego is mentally seperate from her other?

Is it even that Undying is only intrinsically aware that he’s not cheating, even if he doesn’t ‘know’ Sailor Moon’s true identity?

If the above is false, where each of them are aware of thier own egos and the respective egos of the other; Do Undying and Thelindra feel incapable of confronting each other unless in their alternate hero form?

So many questions left unanswered. That is, if I assume that my deductions are correct.

Before Ryuzaki could continue to drown himself in his own thought, the piecing battle cries screeched in his ears. Ryuzaki shook his head, and made a mental note to investigate more of this matter, for the primary purpose of appeasing his ‘undying’ curiosity.

“Come on newb!” Undying shouted.

“Newb?” Gaara replied, absolutely befuddled, “Is that some sort of exotic delicacy?”

Undying shook his head, and pointed to the sky above, as if to cue someone to play a song.

“Have you ever heard the song, Mr. Raindrop?”

“Mr. Raindrop, bring me a dream – make him the cutest that I’ve ever seen. Give him the word that I’m not a rover, Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over — Raindrop, I’m so alone. Don’t have nobody to call my own. Please turn on your magic beam. Mr. Raindrop, bring me a dream.”

“You just replaced the word Raindrop for the first verse of the Mr. Sandman song!”

“I was only written in English dub. Allow me to rephrase; ignorant English dub filled with songs that especially apply to people in North America, up to songs dating back to the 60’s—”

The background music emanated from the sky. Undying allowed words to flow out of his mouth, as if directly from his heart. [I finally heard this song by Amplified. Quite good.]

{Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now

Do you know how much you mean to me
Why must you leave?
I'm just a flower on a tree
Why must you leave?

Do you know how much you mean to me
Why must you leave?
I'm just a flower on a tree
Why must you leave?

Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
*
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now
Mr.Raindrop, falling away from me now

*(You make my day, don't go away)
(He's falling He's falling)}

Gaara attempted to hold back his tears, but before he could show Undying weakness, he clenched his eyes and reverted back to his evil self. Ryuzaki still couldn’t get around to how a character could ever choose his own theme song.

“Well I have a theme song too!” Gaara rebuked.

“Let me guess. Enter Sandman by Metallica.”

“>.<!!”
___________________________

Why is there still so many questions left unanswered, including those from the last chappie?

What is the story behind Tuxedo Mask and Sailor Moon and their respective common egos? Will Ryuzaki have the investigative skills to find out? Does the auther even know?

Is there any unexplained significance to the inherent musical nature of :3?

How will Potato and Evanesque confront each other, and their own personal demons later in the series?

Will the main story of DevilDude ever be continued, or will Xenu’s fleet and our main hero continue to be trapped in a time stasis field? [maybe next chappie]

Will you survive waiting another two weeks?

[Undying]

And how did you make L so much... L?

Damn, L's my favorite Death Note character (yes I do watch Death Note like 99% of the rest of the universe. So sue me. And yes I do not like Light mostly. Dual personalities FTL. Ryuk and L FTFW!!!), and you made him... 99% like the original L.

Only L would suggest going to have a threesome of sweets rather than golf, or would have some amazing deductions to say before anything happened.

Joe, lengthen the chapter or I will unleash my L fighting style on you.

[Evanesque]

This was really a short chappie. I could barely even get what exactly was going on XD

Hey how come you cut down on author's comments? They were so much fun to read...your silly but funny chappies always make my day...aww, I was looking forward to so much more!
</3

Anyways, I hope you'll have more time for the next chappie and put more stuff in there. I wonder what's happening with Potato :redbiggri

[Baby-Pie]

wee another update...lots of singing :).....oohh love the way Gaara and Undying are...cant wait for another 2 weeks...hurry Joey!! *huggles*

[Joe Black]

@Undying: Wanna know the secret about how I can write L so much like the original? That’s because – I AM L! haha. Actually, it’s as simple as choosing not to wear socks, wearing my hair messily, and eating candy while writing. :O

As the twenty-fifth chapter written, I believe it’s a good time to critique myself and my writing and allow you the reader to do the same. For example, I believe I have to work on those small spelling and grammatical errors, and work on explinations. [Maybe I should get a new editor. :P]

As well, for curiosity’s sake more than anything, which chappie do you think is the best so far? What are the best aspects of the chosen chappie(s)? [Personally, I believe chappie twenty was one of my more inspired ones]

Bonus Question: If you had a color coded name (such as mine), what would it be? :P

Here’s [thankfully], a longer chappie than before, packed with more irrelevant fun stuff. Creativity hasn’t come knocking on my door yet, so I’ll have to make do with creating my own. Main story still hasn’t been reintroduced yet; it's simply too easy to appease my inner child. [On that note: I’m rewatching the nostalgic series of Medabots. You should too. *points to avatar*]

*does a Metabee high jump machine gun blast attack on Undying, finishing off with two heatseeker missiles*

*huggles* Enjoy! *fan art contest thingie is still open haha [front page hyperlink]*

Chapter 25: An Inner Desire for a Name

On the way back into the district of ‘:3’, Joey and Tristen waved goodbye to Yugi and Téa, and headed their own ways. Joey headed to Mai’s haus, finally considering Gaara’s previous advice [for a shot at love or for duel monster training, I’ll let you decide]. Tristen decided to head towards the library to withdraw a revised copy of a book by René Descartes, a French philosopher who attempted to explain human existance. Téa stared at the sky dreamily, and decided to ask her old friend an innocent question.

“You know that cutie cheering Gaara on while you were dueling?”

“Who? Investigator L?” Yugi questioned.

Téa sighed, and responded sweetly, “A blue haired angel with no name. . .”

Yugi nodded in agreement. “Wull, are you in <3?”

“— What if he doesn’t like me?”

“Of course he likes you! Wasn’t it obvious when he was humming that song? That was his song— for you.”

Téa stopped for that moment and bowed her head in quiet reflection. She always thought that she would be with Yugi forever on that fateful day. However, she knew Yugi was, and still is Pharaoh, willing to sacrifice his life for the world. Having herself at his side would only bring him in danger. If there was a time where she was captured by his enemies [actually I think this happened many times in the show anyway], Yugi would stop at nothing to save her life, even at the cost of his own. His enemies would always be in the way of the course of their true love, or at least, her love. She knew that even though she could grow to like other men, deep in her heart, there would always be a spot for him.

“Why are you afraid?” Yugi interrupted, “The Téa I know can seduce any man she wants, even me.”

Téa looked into Yugi’s face confusingly. He returned this expression with a half-hearted smile.

“It would be a lie to say that I didn’t still have those kinds of feelings for you.”

Téa closed her eyes sorrowfully, for she knew quite well that he was now interested in other people. Yugi nodded solemnly, turned his back against Téa, and as kindly as he could, bid her farewell for the day.

Téa looked at the sky above once again. Instead of the previous feeling of sorrow as Yugi left, an inner secret emotion emerged; a small sinister grin that seemed unnatural for such an innocent looking face. The clouds started to rumble and turn dark overhead, casting an eerie shadow upon her. She was now alone with her thoughts.

“All I need is his real name, and the world is ours Yugi . . .”

Taking out a small black note from her bag, dramatic lightning stuck behind her in the foreground.

“With my left arm, I shall embrace you and you shall love me fully once more. With my right arm, I will pass judgment upon your enemies. I shall be your wife, a woman worthy of being the lover of the Pharaoh!”
____________________________

[Meanwhile, on a hot air balloon shaped like a Meowth.]

James bellowed a large sigh as he stared at the landmass below them, contemplating on the events that recently passed Jesse gave him a complimentary back rub, and inquired what was on his mind.

“For some reason Jesse,” James replied, “I still can’t help but feel sorry for that pokemon raised digimon female we met on that island. That monster Mechnesque couldn’t have been the same being as the one who only wanted to protect her friends. Now Evanesque will forever have to carry the burden, to believe she killed another being, and was unable to save him from her own inner demon.”

“She totally deserved it!” Meowth scowled. “You and Jesse almost died because of her.”

“We all try to make good in this world James,” Jesse replied, “Meowth did what he thought was right at that moment to save our lives.”

James bowed his head, and once again turned his face over the side onto the world below. He wondered if there was such a pain worse than death itself, and wished that the pure being known only as Evanesque that someday, she can be truly free.
____________________________

Gaara and Undying nodded. They were going to fight this chappie, and there absolutely nothing that the Author could do about it.

No distractions, fillers, or busty cheerleader babes cheering from the sidelines [aww shucks]. It was just a plain open field, accompanied only by a fangirls dream that Ryuzaki would take off his shirt. Lest they forget however, that even if they fight, the Author still has supreme command the song played, the randomness included, and to write the fate of the battle.

“Whoever’s up there,” Undying addressed to the sky, as if to a higher being, “you’re welcome to play the opening to the battle song.”

The other two shook their heads, whilst Undying waited for the heavens to play a background song like it seemed to always do. They paused for a while, but silence is all that Undying recieved in return.

“Hey, Mr. DJ,” Gaara said sarcastically, “Put a record on; I want to dance with my baby—”

“And when the music starts,” Undying added, “I never want to stop; it’s gonna drive me crazy.”

Ryuzaki nodded his head several times as if counting the beats for a musical verse. Unlike the other two, his words were sung.

[I]“Music, music music, [repeat, fade out]. Music makes the people come together — Music, mix the bourgeoisie and the rebel . . .”

“Umm,” Undying replied confusingly, “Where did that come from?” Gaara nodded in agreement.

Ryuzaki shrugged. “Wull, I guess I’m sorry. It’s just when you two started off that song, it lulled me to sing the words instead of simply saying them aloud.”

Undying leaned in closer to Ryuzaki. “What? Starting off a song?”

“Yeah, the first two lines of Madonna’s classic hit ‘Music’. Although you two simply said them aloud, they were also in beat with the song.”

Undying recalled to that moment in time, and carefully analyzed in his mind what they had said. When he had finally caught on to yet another obscure reference in the world of ‘:3’ his mouth formed out a commonly used obscenity. L couldn’t help but chuckle. Gaara went around to a similar conclusion to Undying, but reacted instead with a somewhat amused smile. [Has that ever happened to you, where you quoted a song without realizing it?]

“I guess he has a more creative way of playing the music he wants for your battle.” Gaara added, “Allowing us to sing the songs for him, or at least quote the words of them in tune without our knowing.”

“What’s next?” Undying blurted aloud, “Are we going to recruit Yugi and make our own boy band?!” [Boy bands must consist of exactly four members]

“I’m thinking it would be more like a barbershop quartet.” Ryuzaki corrected jokingly.

“Barbershop quartet – boy band, what’s the difference?”

Ryuzaki allowed a small grin to emerge. “Let’s just say that one involves some sort of vocal talent.”

“Ouch.” Gaara quickly replied. “Wull, on second thought, boy bands really don’t need it. They are anyways super cute, and make really good dancers – *his two friends look at him strangely* umm, we should totally make a heavy metal band!”

Undying rolled his eyes. “A little off topic, wouldn’t you say? Right now we should be fighting, but due to that little trick, we are less likely to fight. It’s just going to be filler forever and ever, in a constant cycle of pain and suffering. *sulks* I don’t want to pull a Naruto.”

Gaara shrugged. “There isn’t anything stopping us now.” The sand slowly flowed out of his oversized gourd onto the ground, forming a steadily increasing conical pile.

Undying grinned. “That’s more like it!”
__________________________________

“That was so cool!” Ryuzaki howled. “This is easily one of the greatest battles I have ever seen.”

Undying and Gaara are both worn out, and based on your own perception, you do not yet know who the winner was. Each fighter decided to rest on the ground, and close off from the world around them. As Ryuzaki was waiting, he accidently turns directly facing you, the reader.

“Readers – they really do exist.” He allowed himself to fall into a deep trance of logical thought, but realizing once again this was the world of ‘:3’, he shook himself out of it and decided to address you directly.

“Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Ryuzaki.”

You nod politely, and introduce yourself. You quickly explain that you were somehow unable to watch the battle in its entirety. Ryuzaki turns his head sideways curiously.

“By legend, the readers are supposed to have the omnicient power of watching any important event they please.”

You tell him in your own words that someone was unable to accurately portray for you the events of the battle in true narrative word form. Ryuzaki nodded.

“Maybe I should start at the top for you then.”
You clap your hands excitedly. At least you wouldn’t be left completely in the dark. Ryuzaki, although attempting to keep his cool, couldn’t help but enforce all of his words with excessive hand movement. You attempt to imagine his flashback as if you were at the fight itself.

“Alright, it all started like this. As Undying took on the offensive, Undying’s wish to the heavens came true; the heavens played a song. It was if at that time we lived in an anime, a song that made the battle that much more epic.” [This time, I’ll let you use your imagination.]

Just as you imagine such a song, Ryuzaki continues his own recollection [with added random Starcraft quotes.]

“Undying right away charges up his trademark rose energy blast attack [Nuclear missile launch detected]

It was easily blocked by Gaara’s sand, and realized that the energy blast wasn’t going to be effiecient enough. [More energy is required. Build more power plants]

Undying charged towards his opponent, and Gaara quickly found himself victim to a direct ‘Lee-san fists of fury’ style attack, just like in the Chuunin final exams. His sand defense was starting to break through. [Your base is under heavy attack!]

Gaara attempted to quickly build thick walls of sand in which Tuxedo Mask couldn’t penetrate, but those were quickly destroyed. [You cannot build there.]

Gaara knew not to let the same situation like in the Chuunin exams happen again, and so he chanelled more energy from the beast inside him, but he soon went out of control. His eyes turned red in bloodlust and his body started to mutate into a large raccoon thing. He bellowed a fierce battle cry. [SPAWN MORE OVERLORDS!]

Undying, in this state of emergency, fought even more fiercly than before, concentrating on some sort of weak spot that Gaara’s perfect defense left open. However, the beast inside Gaara started to counterattack with wave after wave of sand, attempting to execute a quick, but extremely painful Desert Coffin attack.

In all uber awesome Arnold Shwartzenegger fashion, Undying somehow found humor in the situation. “This isn’t how I expected to spend my day at the beach.”

Swiftly taking out a rose, he hurled it with all of his might towards his target. Gaara, knowing that his sand at average thickness would be easily penetrated by the thin, sharp, fast moving object, tried to channel all of his remaining sand to a forward barrier. It was too late though, for there wasn’t enough time for the sand to act so quickly. Luckily, by this time Gaara had regained control of his inner beast, and with his ninja reflexes, he narrowly deflected the missile with a kunai from his leather pouch. He had regained his regular human form. . . [Not enough minerals]”

You continue to nod your head, even after the long explination, and motion for him to continue. He shakes his head, and explains that this is all you need to know.You refuse this answer, for there has to be an end. Ryuzaki simply sighs.

“Afterward, Gaara surrenders the match. He said that otherwise he would be late for his appointment in the local beauty salon, and didn’t expect the battle to be so long. Men have to take time with their looks too. Anyways, I also think it’s because Gaara realized that he was losing ki energy at a faster rate than Undying was. If he entered hand to hand combat, he would surely lose. It’s like pairing a Bleach and Naruto character in a versus battle thread, absolutely pointless.”

You nod. There really isn’t any point to battle threads that would lead to spam, and a man at times does have to concern himself more with his appearance, rather than concerning himself with gaining honor in battle. You thank Ryuzaki for telling you what happened and head your own way, and wonder how Gaara’s arranged blind date will go for Undying.
_______________________________

To end this chappie, Naruto insisted that he would sing the concluding song, one of his own personal favorites. [“Believe It or Not” by Joey Scarbury, Main Theme from Greatest American Hero]

Look at what's happened to me,
I can't believe it myself.
Suddenly I'm up on top of the world,
It should've been somebody else.

Believe it or not,
I'm walking on air.
I never thought I could feel so free.
Flying away on a wing and a prayer.
Who could it be?
Believe it or not it's just me.

It's like a light of a new day,
It came from out of the blue.
Breaking me out of the spell I was in,
Making all of my wishes come true.

Believe it or not,
I'm walking on air.
I never thought I could feel so free.
Flying away on a wing and a prayer.
Who could it be?
Believe it or not it's just me.
______________________________

How will Undying’s blind date go?
Will Ryuzaki, Gaara, Undying, and Yugi actually make a boyband?
Will the next chappie concern itself with the Evanesque arc, or the long forgotten main storyline?
Is there anything more torturous than Naruto singing?

I bid you all a good night and wish you the best in your own life. Till next time, farewell.
_______________________________

[Undying]

Weee. You never cease to amaze me, man. I wuved the StarCraft quotes (StarCraft FTW!!!!!!!! BESTEST GAME EVAH!!!!!)

Moar, moar!

[Joe Black]

[Death Note #25; *tear* One of the only animes that can actually pull on your heartstrings and never let go.]

For one of the greatest anime characters of all time; this is for you, Ryuzaki.
Not for Misa, who still manages to be a nub for the whole anime. Inspired by many dreams.

I feel like Santa every time I post a chappie.

Chapter 26: That Love Chappie

Ryuzaki, Gaara, and Undying were now in the district of ‘:3’, after finishing what was their tribute to their deceased friend. They still were depressed about Lee’s death, but they knew in their hearts that Lee wanted them to continuing working [and playing] hard in this world. Undying felt a pain in his heart, as he remembered a quote from Chappie 14 that would change the way he thought forever. A quote said just after his battle with his master: [“Let’s just hope that Sakura doesn’t kill us.”]

Gaara pointed yonder inward towards the main city. He stood firmly on the ground, gazing at the setting sun. His eyes twinkled with quiet contemplation.

“It’s a beautiful sight, isn’t it?” Ryuzaki responded.

He gently placed his hand on Gaara’s shoulder and whispered that wherever their deceased friend is, he too is looking at that sunset. A tear trickled down his face, and quietly thanked Lee in his mind for leaving behind such wonderful friends.

“O NOES!” Gaara blurted suddently, “I have to get to mai appointment. Hair doesn’t condition itself.”

Undying and Ryuzaki nodded, understanding that in a world of crazy anime hair styles, one must do a lot to keep it that way. With that, Gaara waved goodbye to his friends as he hurriedly headed toward the beauty salon.

“Wull,” Undying said, “I think it’s about time I search for another fighting prodigy to home my skills.”

“I understand.” Ryuzaki replied bluntly, bellowing out a large sigh. “I guess I should be headed on my way too.”

With that, they nodded and headed on their own ways. Undying was in search for a demon fox / human hybrid known as Kurama, a mythic flower user that uses a thorn whip as his primary weapon. [Wiki “Yu Yu Hakusho” if you are unfamiliar] Ryuzaki walked on the path in which there would be no turning back.

With his hands in his pockets, and his head towards the ground, Ryuzaki miserably headed towards his self made prison, the headquarters in which he investigates the Kira investigation by himself with the help of his assistant Watari. That is, until a special someone crossed paths.

“Hey!” Téa shouted. She ran towards him, waving and giggling playfully. However, as soon as she saw into his cheerless eyes, her expression changed to one of concern. “What’s wrong?”

“— Oh! Téa!” Ryuzaki replied, shocked that he didn’t recognize her presnece in his own depression. “Sorry about that. It’s nothing – really.”

Téa didn’t buy into his explination, but didn’t want to be rude to question this answer.

“Where are you headed?” she asked.
“Nowhere in particular.” he replied, “I usually end up back at my apartment, working alone on my cases.”
“Oh. . .” Téa replied regretfully, “I should let you be with your work then.”
“Wull, I’m actually not in much of a hurry– would you care to walk with me?”
Téa smiled, and nodded.

Suddenly, another mystical element happened in the world of ‘:3’, another dramatic story device. The world was frozen, all except for Téa. She calmly walks toward you, the general audience for a soft spoken personal aside.

“His love for me will be his downfall, and be the rise of my power. This isn’t an innocent walk, but the path that will lead to his untimely death; the day in which the blue haired guardian of this earth falls. He doesn’t know I, his newfound love, is the one Kira that will kill him. With his demise, I’ll be able to kill of all Yugi’s enemies with the power of the Death Note, and I will gain Yugi’s love again. However, as long as this investigator continues to live, I cannot risk being captured.”

Téa then calmly walked back into her original position as before, and the time around her started again. Ryuzaki never before thought he could make a meaninful relationship with another human being, similar to the one he had with Watari. Ryuzaki courtly offered his elbow so that she could wrap her arms around it. She smiled, and did just that, snuggling herself onto her next target.
____________________________

On an island not too far off the coast of the district of ‘:3’, Potato hurriedly ran towards his distressed love, in hopes of saving her immortal soul. Her guilt was painfully burrowing deeper into the root of her heart, and her vice known as Mechanesque continued to subdue her natural goodness.

Evanesque leaned upon a large boulder in the middle of the forest, gazing at the dim light emitted by the canopy of the forest above. She howled no cry for her suffering; only a silent river of tears that flowed from the very depths of her heart. She already knew from the beginning that she was different from everyone else, but it was that one difference that struck her soul; the chance that more living beings that came across her would perish at the hands of her inner demon. Lonliness was the option she chose for the safety of her friends.

Potato, even when completely lost, continued to run deeper into the unknown forest, disregarding every bruise and cut he had recieved from the many obstacles. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, and his animalistic insticts grabbed hold. Although there was a small chance that she would ever be found, that no longer mattered to him. When all hope was lost, he remained in search, feeling the very emotion that his former master Pipp-ORK still had for her lost dog; the distress of losing someone you love.
_____________________________

Téa allowed herself to sink deeper and deeper into her personal thoughts. She knew that she had nothing personal against L, only that he was in the way of her plans to retain Yugi’s love. Through realizing this, she decided to make his death impresonal and without cruel inspiration, including specification on the details surrounding his death. For example, ‘Ryuzaki will meet his death by choking on a hard candy’ was unacceptable.

All she needed to kill him, with the powers of the Death Note, was a name and a face. She still didn’t have Ryuzaki’s real name. She hadn’t found anything on Ryuzaki’s personage that would lead her to his real name with her adept pickpocket hands. Painfully, she also came to realize that Ryuzaki would never give his real name, even to a temptress, in the trust that she would never need to know. Frustrated in knowing that she defeated herself in only five minutes of their pleasant walk, she found turned to her last option, a death god that only she could see, her Shinigami.

During the wordless walk, Ryuzaki continued to admire their surroundings as it slowly turned to night, in constant hope that he would be able to make a good first impression. Téa turned to Ryuzaki and politely dismissed herself to the ladies room.

As Téa entered the washroom, she checked every stall to make sure that she was truly alone. At least, alone in the aspect that it was only her and her shinigami. Confirming that there was nobody else around, she boldly whispered, “I want to make the eye deal.” [Eye Deal: In exchange for half of her current lifespan, she is granted shinigami eyes, which allows the user to see the real names of every person she sees henceforth, as well as their lifespan.]

The female shinigami simply laughed. “kekeke. That doesn’t sound very fun – I have something much more entertaining in mind.”

“I knew you would do something silly like this – Ririn.”

Ririn grinned. “I just think it wouldn’t be polite if you ended the date so soon. . .”

“Get to the point.” Téa demanded.

“I would like you to extend this little love charade. If you do so, I will write Ryuzaki’s real name myself.”

Téa sighed, wondering why she wouldn’t just accept the eye deal. “As long as you specify he will have a painless death at midnight.”

Ririn just laughed. “Done.” [“Humans are so easy to manipulate!” she thought.]
_________________________

“How did you find me?” she asked.

“Don’t ever doubt my sweet, the ultimate power of love!”

This is what would have been said if both Evanesque and Potato were able to speak, but their facial expressions described just that. Potato, despite all odds, had found his love once more. Evanesque turned her face in shame, but Potato gently lifted her chin so they were linked eye to eye. She could see into the depths of his soul, his love for her remained true, but she didn’t understand. How could he ever love her, even after what has happened? She attempted to explain just that.

She shook her head, and cried. She imitated Meowth with a kawaii cute cat face, scratching her hair with her right hand, as if it were a paw. Afterwords, she fiercly pointed into herself, towards Mechanesque. Potato nodded, and prayed that he would be able to succeed in the greatest Charades game of his life. Potato stood up in front of her, and closed his eyes in deep concentration. Afterward, he courtly bowed, just like he saw in the drama theatres when he was with Pipp-ORK, before they started the show. Evanesque understood, and lifted her hand, indicating to continue.

Using exactly what was Evanesque’s impersonation, he started off with the main character; the lovable cat known as Meowth. Potato raised his hands out forward, indicating he was changing characters for that moment. He stood up, and walked a distance from where he was Meowth. Raising his arm similar to how Mechanesque would hold it, he imitated a shot being fired. Evanesque shook her head confusingly, wondering how this was any different of what she had already known.

Potato once again indicated a stop in the sequence, and reverted back to being the Meowth, adding more emphasis by licking the back of his hand. Picking up a small rock, he threw it in the direction in where the ‘blast’ was presumbably fired. As he could, he acted out the explosion taking place. For dramatic effect, he reverted back to playing the character of Meowth, calmly purring and cleaning himself for ten whole seconds after the imitated explosion. After this duration, he clenched his heart in true overacting fashion as he played out his presumed death. Evanesque still didn’t quite understand, but leaned closer towards the ‘stage’, wondering what was going to happen next.

Potato, still acting as the Meowth, opened his right eye that faced his audiance of one, carefully analyzing his surroundings. Hesitantly, the main character brought himself up, fanned off the dust on his fur, and smiled. It was at that moment, that Evanesque’s eyes were opened to the truth.

“Mew mew. . . nesque?” [“Meowth tricked me?”]

Potato nodded. Overjoyed, she leaped onto him, rubbing her innocent tears onto his bare chest. She didn’t feel anger towards the creature that tricked her, but was thankful that he survived; for his and her sake.
_________________________

Téa hurried back to her date, as to fulfill Ririn’s strange request.

“Anything happen while I was gone?” Téa casually asked.

“Not really, just the usual.” Ryuzaki repled, “Bugging Light to ask Misa on a well deserved date and all as he stopped by to talk . . .”

Ryuzaki was suddenly cut off by a familiar musical tune that echoed at it went down the road – the ice cream man, making his last round trip before the night began. Kids from all around popped out of the shadows, eager to taste a dessert that would end off their day on a good note. Except one; who was sitting on the curb alone crying. Ryuzaki tilted his head, and approached the girl. Ryuzaki bent down on one knee so they were both at eye level.

“What’s wrong?” Ryuzaki asked her, “Why aren’t you getting some ice cream with your friends?”

She hesitated to answer the stranger, but finally she said, “My famiwey can’t afford ice cweam.”

“Every kid deserves ice cream.” he replied, “Come, my treat.”

He stood up, and offered his hand towards her. Hesitantly, she pulled out her hand towards his. Suddenly, he grabbed her hand and hoisted her onto his shoulder. The little girl gi