It wasn't fair. If not for those interloping do-gooders... Those wannabe heroes... Those meddling kids and their annoying summon, the world would have been his. The mother lizard had been well protected in it's resting place while waiting for the march against Washington. His secondary lizards had already begun to spread chaos across the world. Within a few months the world would have been his. He would have had access to all the mana wells and large magic sources in the world. Once they were in his power he could have begun the mass tap and drain operation that was needed to acquire enough power to resurrect the dead. And then.... Then his sons and wife would have been with him once more and together they would have begun the job of leading humanity to a new golden age. The Professor slammed his fists against the ancient temple wall in frustration and anger. It wasn't right. The WORLD wasn't right. No world where such tragedies could be allowed to happened could be considered so. A world where a man's family could be lost to him in such a stupid and pointless manner. No, he thought with great force, NO not lost but taken. Taken by the corrupt and bloated governments who had feared his genius and supposedly radical ideas. Oh they had made it look like nothing more than a simple and ordinary car accident and he had to admit they had done a good job. A lesser man might have been fooled but not him. He had been lost at first after the murders. All of his ideals and dreams seemed as dead to him as his families. He had wandered around Japan investigating the strange occurrences merely out of force of habit. Until he had stumbled upon the underground temple of the forgotten reptile god. A dark god who had been apparently worshiped by a race of pre-human lizard people and lost from the memory of mankind. The Professor knew that for any normal person the sights and aura of the temple would have driven them mad. In his case however it had only helped to bring about a clarity of vision. An understanding and revelation about an earlier time of the Earth's history when greed and evil had not ruled the fates of the innocent. A time of righteousness and purity of thought. A time that it was beholden upon him to recreate and restore. He had spent nearly the whole of his life fighting against the growing loss of mankind's soul. At first he had seen science as a means to bring about the necessary salvation but soon abandoned that as to cold a path. The Professor had then moved on to spirituality, to the studies of the old ways, the good ways. With his loving Meiko, and eventually his beloved children, at his side he had learned and studied all that he could find on the worlds that existed beyond the normal vision of humanity. At last he had felt the time was right and he was ready. He had begun to speak out and hold sermons in an attempt to spread his ideals. At first he was seen by the general public as just another nutcase wannabe cult leader preaching crazy ideals and ideas. Soon however that had begun to change as people actually begun to listen to his ideas involving a peaceful and personal reinvention of ones inner self. He used to believe that a non-violent approach was the only way in truly succeeding in helping man move on from the mistakes of the past. But all that had changed now. It had been made clear to him that peaceful methods would never be allowed to succeed by those who were in power. As he begun to study the wealth of knowledge that had been miraculously persevered all this time in the temple, a change begun to come over him. He continued to devour all the knowledge that the temple possessed which was rather appropriate as the temple had begun to devour him. Or rather his soul. He soon ceased to care about preserving lives and minimizing the violence of his methods. He began to accept that there would have to be sacrifices in the name of a greater good. Soon he began his campaign of terror against those who saw as the future death of mankind. He found some small successes here and there but nothing that was effective enough for him. Also he had realized that deep down inside the rest of mankind could go to hell if his family would not be around to appreciate the utopia he was going to create. The Professor started researching what would be required to bring about such a resurrection and had discovered that it would only be possible if he himself was ruler of the earth. Of course the goal had always been to bring about the downfall of those currently in power but he had never given to any real long term thoughts to what should come after. But as he thought upon it further, the more the rightness of it struck him. Who better to personally lead mankind into the golden age than the one with clearest of vision. With his family once more by his side everything would at last be perfect. So the Professor began his great plan for world domination and it had all been going so well.... Until now. Now there was only one option left to him. It was the one he had left to the last resort as the potential loss of life it could bring about could be catastrophic. Indeed if things went badly it could lead to wiping out of all life on Earth. But the Professor no longer cared about the consequences, all that mattered was the goal. He had tried the safer and less costly path and had been blocked once more. So now he would take the more dangerous course and if it lead to the end of all life.... Well he didn't care about a life that did not feature his wife and children in it. So he prepared for the ritual that would bring about not only his triumph over the world but revenge on those responsible for his last plans failure. Soon all those who deserved justice would face it at his hands. It was at last time for the summoning ceremony to begin and he moved over to the summoning circle. The Professor placed the sacred front rimmed hat on his head and turned it backwards as according the ancient summoning tradition. He picked up and threw the blessed summoning sphere that would bring the dark god to this plane of existence once more into the circle. He then recited the Holy Words of Power: "Cthulhu, I Chose You!" He held his breath as he looked upon the summoning circle and.... Nothing happened. The Professor blinked in confusion as he waited a couple a more minutes but still nothing. He then looked at the summoning scroll and a few retranslations later slapped his forehead. He had mistranslated the ancient gods name. How embarrassing. Oh well, he thought, he WAS only human. He began the ritual again this time with the proper name.... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ A few minutes later in a large forest a short ways outside of the town Miro and company were located the ground began to shake. It was just a slight tremor at first but within it had grown to a full blown Richter 5 earthquake. All of the animals the forest were trying to escape the forest with such desperation and speed that it was clear this was no ordinary earthquake. Suddenly the ground began to split open and beams of darkish energy began to shine up from below. Within a minute the ground had given way completely and a huge circular beam of energy, nearly 24 feet in diameter, shone up high into the sky. Anyone who would happen to be looking into the purplish black beam for more than a couple seconds would find there eyes beginning to hurt and there thought processes growing fuzzy. A minute later something began to emerge from the energy. Something dark and old. Something hundreds of feet tall. Something radiating an evil so strong it could be felt for miles. Something wearing puke green and yellow polka dots and white face paint..... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ One of Those Shops An Improfanfic experiment in alternate universes Begun by Farsan de Arnibia Continued by Shaun Kronenfeld Chapter 12B: Renovations and Confrontations ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "I call this store meeting officially to order." Miro said in a what he hoped was an official sounding voice. It was around 24 hours since the successful battle with the Mother Lizard had successfully concluded and about an hour before the fight with the Primordial Reptile began. Everyone was gathered in heretofore undiscovered conference room, although not with out some protest. After the Mother Lizards defeat the local peasants and samurai had decided to throw a huge victory party in honor of the great heroes who had saved there world. Rikura, Theodore, and Kimihiko were all anxious to go outside and join the celebration but Miro had made it clear that the meeting was mandatory. Unara was there because she wasn't the party type. She had been told she didn't have to attend since she technically was not an employee of the store but just shrugged her shoulders and came anyways. Sakura was sleeping off the summoning spell again. Rikura had been worried at first but Pochi informed it was natural and nothing to be worried about. "Now since this is the first of these meeting we have held let me set down some ground rules first." Theodore rolled his eyes at this, remembering all to well similar openings during role-playing sessions back in there origin dimension. Both he and Rikura had agreed not to call it home since neither saw it that way anymore. He just hoped that Miro wouldn't bog them down to much with minute details and rules. He could practically smell the roast lizard and he was hungry. "We will begin each meeting with a brief overview of what has happened since the previous meeting, including important sells and large energy expenditures. After that we will then open the floor to suggestions and ideas. Finnaly we will conclude the meeting with a planning session for successfully completing our future pre-planned goals." Much to Miro's annoyance Rikura began to snore at this point. The worse part was that it was not a fake snore, she had really gone to sleep that fast. Just like whenever they role played. "RIKURA!" "Huh... I'm awake. I'm awake." "As I was saying that will be normal procedure. However tonight we will do something a little different as Pochi has something very important he needs to talk to us all about." The small fairy that was the current physical representation of the shop floated up to podium. /Thank you, master. Ahem. Let me begin by asking a question: ARE YOU ALL COMPLETELY OUT OF YOUR MINDS?!!?/ Pochi shouted with such force that everyone had to cover their ears as the store shook down to its very foundations. Outside the party jerked to a momentary stop as the celebrators feared that huge earth shaking vibration was another giant lizard had come attack them all. Back inside everyone sat around in a stunned and dazed silence as Pochi continued his rant. /What were you all thinking? How could possibly do something so moronically stupid? There are not words to do justice to the low ranking I prescribe to you peoples supposed, and apparently non-existent, intelligence The overwhelming idiocy of such actions leave me speechless../ "Clearly not speechless enough." Kimihiko muttered under her breath. /What was that!?/ Pochi said as he flew into Kimihiko's face so as to look her straight in the eyes. If Kimihiko was intimidated by this she didn't show it as she causally stared back. "I said clearly not speechless enough you overgrown souvenir stand. Look none of has a clue what the hell has set you off so badly." /Not a clue you say? Well here look at this and see if it refreshes your memory./ Pochi pointed at the pull screen and images began to play out across it ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Why do I have to wear a miniskirt!" Miro wailed as he was being lashed to a pole at the top of the highest building in the town. "Sex appeal." Rikura smiled as she tightened his bonds. "No, I mean, literally. Why do I have to wear it? I'm not even a girl!" "We needed someone to play the cheerleader role, didn't we?" Kimihiko responded. "But why me? Why not Rikura...or even you?" Miro whined. "Remember. The cheerleader has to be helpless. Me and Rikura...don't fit the role." Kimihiko explained. "Oh and I do?" Rikura nodded. "Quite well, actually. You make a very pretty helpless cheerleader." "Rikura!" Kimihiko yelled out. "Time to go!" "Right!" Rikura yelled back. They both took off, and scrambled down the ladder, leaving Miro strung up as lizard bait. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The three friends all had perplexed looks on their faces as the images finished playing across the screen. "Yeah so?" Theodore said. "It was Kimihiko's stupid plan to lure the mother lizard in. It was far from the best but I don't think it was that bad....." /I have no real problem with the plan Theodore, all though making such a simple blunder as confusing cheerleaders with tiny singing females is a pretty amateur mistake. The plan is not what has me so upset./ "Then what..." Rikura began only to be interrupted by Pochi. /IT WAS YOUR BONEHEADED CHOICE OF BAIT! Don't any of you get it? Miro is the SHOPKEEPER and you are the COMPANIONS. The companions job is the help keep the shopkeeper out of danger NOT PLACE HIM THERE THEMSELVES!!!/ "What's going on Big Sis? What was that rumbling? Is there another bad dinosaur?" "Sakura!" Rikura cried out as she ran over and embraced her younger sister. "You shouldn't be out of bed. You need to rest and recover from that summon you did." "I was but.... I started having that nightmare again.... The one with daddy... And you and me.... and the hitting.... I... I don't want to go back to sleep right now. Do I have ta?" Sakura finished, tears gleaming in her eyes. Rikura had a pained look on her face and was about to speak when Pochi flew over to the two sisters and said gently /I think you have rested enough Sakura. You should be fine and now that you have fully bonded with the summons using them won't exhaust you as much anymore./ Rikura smiled down at Sakura and hugged her again. "Everything is going to be alright from now on Sakura. I promise you don't have to worry about those dreams anymore. He... They can't hurt us anymore." Miro, papers in hand, walked over to the two. "As a matter of fact Sakura" he said "I'm real glad you are here. I need you to sign these papers." "Why?" "So that you can be considered a full member of the store. You are being hired as junior sales associate." The young girls eyes brightened and widened at the thought of this. "I really get to help out around and do all sorts of cool stuff." "Uh-huh. And as a full employee you will be as fully protected as the rest of us." Miro said addressing this more to Rikura than Sakura, who was busy signing her name on all the places Pochi pointed to. Unara walked over, a distant look in her eyes, to the four. "How about I take the young girl to the party outside. I am sure the others would love a chance to celebrate with the heroine of the battle." "REALLY? A big party for me....? I'm a heroney? That is so cool. Can I go out big sis? Can I, huh, Can I? Please?" "I don't see why not. You and Unara go out and have a good time. And you will be a good girl?" "Sis. I'm not four you know. I'm a big girl and an heroney. I'll be good. Heronies have to be good." As Unara walked pass, Rikura mouthed thank you which received a nod from the young warrior. After the two left Rikura turned to face Miro and the others. Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes and she had to take a couple of gulps of air before she could speak. "Miro-kun I'm... I'm so sorry. Pochi is right about everything he said. Without your help I... We would still be trapped back at home. Tapped with... him." By this point tears were flowing freely down Rikura's face as she collapsed to the ground on her knees. "We owe you EVERYTHING! And how do I repay you? I'm scum. I'm total scum. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm..." Miro placed one hand Rikura's shoulder and motioned with the other for her to stop. He then looked down at her and smiled. As he helped her back up, he had such a gentle look in his face that Rikura's heart began to melt. "Rikura" he began "you need to calm down. Like always you are overreacting. Now I was not exactly thrilled with the whole sacrificial bait incident but I'm not mad. Far from it. Believe me, I was glad to let you and everyone come. Heck I was grateful. The thought of trying to do all this on my own was more than a little frightening to me. So believe me when I say that I am not mad." /That is because you are a real pushover when it comes to your friends./ "Quiet you." /Hey. I'm just saying./ "Uh Miro..." "Yes Kimihiko?" "Theo and I... Well I know I speak for both of us when I say we are real sorry to. Right Theo?" "It wasn't my idea to use Miro for bait and I didn't tie him up." "THEO!" "But I didn't do anything to try and stop them either. So, for that at least, I'm sorry Miro." /You should be sorry. All of you should be very sorry./ "Pochi..." /No master I am serious here. Apparently none of you have quite realized the truth of our situation. Miro is the shopkeeper and you are the employees. That means what he says, goes. But even more importantly it is Miro with which I have the bond. If something should happened to him, it would be disastrous. None of you are compatible with me so we would all be stuck here until I could find a new master, even assuming I was successful before I ran out of energy. After all not just anyone can become a shopkeeper. Plus there is the very good probability that without Miro around the Wizard would at best not give us the cure for Miro's mother and at worst simply remove his suspended animation spell. Remember this is a cold and unpredictable bastard we are dealing with. Someone as likely to turn you into a sex-crazed nymphomaniac bimbo as help you. Finnaly the worst part about losing Miro would be the fact that we would have LOST Miro. I have only known him a short time but already I feel more for him than I did for previous masters after thousands of years. Don't any of you get it? You are supposed to be a team. Working together to help one another out and complete the sale. And it IS important we keep making sales. We don't have that much energy after all. These nickel and dime sales like we had yesterday are okay for basic recharging but to get to our destination is going to require a lot more energy. The best way for a shop to acquire energy is to seek out and complete specific requests that are placed on the Interdimensional Shop Network Board. Unfortunately due to the necessity of our reaching a certain dimension we have to travel to realities where there will quite possibly be no such requests. And while we can hang around long enough making smaller sales to equal this, like most shops do, we may not want to forsake such potentially long amounts of time. Which means we cannot afford to miss a sale. This is why Miro needs you to be on your best, always working, always striving..../ "Pochi." Miro said with a frustrated look on his face. /Yes master./ "I appreciate what you are trying to do. Really, I mean it. Yes it extremely important to me that we complete this whole mess and save my mother. But I don't want us trying to kill ourselves in the process. The truth is Pochi we have plenty of time. Now admitly I am not happy with the thought of leaving my mother in suspended animation for a long period of time but if we have to, then we will. Look this isn't why I wanted you to talk to everybody and you know it. Please tell them about what we talked about earlier okay? /Very well, Master. During the recent fight with the mother lizard everyone here neglected some important strategies. After a talk with Master Miro, we came to the conclusion that this was because you were all unaware of your full capabilities as employees and companions of the shop. The most important thing to remember is that as long as you are physically connected to the shop you are invincible. There is almost nothing that can harm a Shopkeeper or his companions while they are in contact with the shop. That means that if you were standing up on the roof , you would be protected. That means that if were outside and touching one of the outer walls, you would be protected. The other part of this is that this shop is invincible itself. If we landed in a dimension were nuclear war had broken out and were ground zero for a nuclear attack we would suffer no damage. Let me repeat that. If a giant lizard were to step on the store, we would suffer no damage. If we landed in the wrong place spatially and floated into the sun, we would suffer no damage. I trust I have made myself clear on this point?/ "Yes." "Wow think of the possibilities." "Wai, that is so cool." /This is the main reason Miro just hired your little sister, Rikura. Only the Shopkeeper and companions share this ability. So if say a customer was in the store and someone else walked in and shot up the store, the customer, unfortunately, would not be protected. This is important to remember. Also as companions of this shop you can have your own abilities enhanced temporarily by Miro. For example Rikura he can give you enough 'mp' to be able to cast Dragoon Slayer./ "That's Dragu Slave." /Whatever. You get my basic point. The most important item to realize is this: you are shopkeepers not heroes. You are the people who supply the heroes. We should not be getting involved in local affairs like you did in this reality. We should have sold something to a samurai to enable them to beat the lizards. This would have allowed us to acquire energy near equivalent to a request. You must remember that just selling things is not enough. The real energy comes from satisfying the needs of customers not just selling random items. That's why there is so much energy from requests. They represent a need so great or strong that it shines through the dimensional barrier./ Theodore looked at the small fairy, a defiant look in his eyes. "So what you are saying is that you want us to not give a damn about the fact that people could be dying all around us. To just treat them as sources of energy and not human beings. To be cold and turn a blind eye to what is going on around us. To. Be. Like. The. Wizard. Is that right?' /Yes./ "Why you smug little...." "That's enough Theodore." Miro interjected. /I agree master./ "The same goes for you Pochi. Look I admit that the idea of just interfering directly in another world makes me nervous. But at the same time that IS our job Pochi and I am not prepared nor able to just sit by and let people die in front of me. Not when we can do something. Look my feeling on the matter are this: we don't go out looking for trouble when we come to new dimensions. If trouble comes to find us then first we try to find somebody local to deal with it, through our help. But if all else fails I can't do nothing." /But master what about your mother? Isn't SHE our first priority? And what about the others? Are you prepared to throw your friends lives away on that philosophy? There is a reason most shopkeepers try not to leave their shops you know. We can't get involved, not ever. We can't take sides. We can't make moral judgments. I know it sounds cold. But the truth is that our job is to sell things to people to help change their destinies. For good or ill./ "I... I don't... Look I have think about this. Lets shelve this conversation for now and go out and enjoy the party okay?" Theodore nodded in agreement. "That sounds like a good idea. When facing decisions like this it's good to get some distance from the problem for awhile." He looked pointedly at Pochi before walking out. "Wai. Party. Party. Party." Rikura chanted as she left. "Look Pochi we will talk later okay?" Miro asked. /Of course master. Just remember two things please. First of all you are the shopkeeper and whatever decision you make is final as far as I am concerned. I may not ultimately agree with it, but I will support it to the best of my abilities. I just wanted you to know that master./ "I do Pochi, I do. And hey I want your feedback. I understand just how new I am at this and I can use all the advice I can get. What was the other thing?" /Just to try not to take to long in deciding. Remember fate can be very impatient and life has a way of forcing decisions on us./ After Miro left, Pochi flew over to Kimihiko who was still leaning against a wall near the doorway. /I notice you were very quiet during that discussion Companion Kimihiko. May I ask why?/ "I guess I didn't say anything because I didn't feel I had anything to add. I agree with both your and Theo's points. More importantly I feel that this particular decision is one that Miro has make despite what we feel not because of it. Also I think you are right. With the way things have been going I am sure the Miro will be forced to decide sooner rather than later." With that she walked off towards the exit to join the party. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Miro can I talk to you for a minute?" Miro looked up to see Unara standing in front of him. For the last 15 minutes he had been doing nothing but drinking, eating, and relaxing. Well and laughing as well. When Rikura and Sakura got an entire group of scarred and battle hardened samurai to put on grass skirts and join then in a 'traditional' Hawaiian luau dance... Well only stone itself could have avoiding cracking up and even then.... In other words after a really stressful couple of days Miro was finally able to relax. He knew it couldn't last. "Sure Unara, what is up?" "Are we planning to stay on this world for awhile?" "At this point, probably. We may not be getting tons of energy from the sales here but at least we have plenty of willing customers. Why do you ask?" "I ask because I find it very likely that if we stay here for any modicum amount of time that we will encounter the Professor again. If that does happen I feel we should be as prepared as possible. I am going to tell you something that I hope you will keep in confidence. I am certain that I know who the Professor is. He is...." "Theodore's father." Miro stated. "You have deduced this?" "Of course. We all have. Well maybe not Theodore e but I think that is because subconsciously he doesn't want to admit his father could be so crazy on two worlds. They used to be real close you know before his mother died." "I see. I suppose I underestimated all of you. However have you devised any defensive measures which we could take?" "Well not exactly. I mean I did create a weapon that I think would be really effective against him if he shows up again. But if you mean have I thought up any kind plans or anything than no. I mean it really isn't my job to do that you know. I mean I AM a essentially nothing more than a glorified merchant. What right do I have to try and take up the role of a hero? What business is it of mine what happens to other people. Why should I care, Unara? Can you tell me please, why?" Throughout his speech Miro had been growing more and more agitated. However by the time he finished a pleading tone of such desperation and sadness had entered his voice that even Unara was feeling a little embarrassed. Embarrassed and uncertain how to answer. Fortunately for her, and unfortunately for the rest of the local reality, at this point a huge beam of purplish black energy shot up from the nearby forest. Miro, with a quickness and decisiveness that would have surprised him if had thought about it, shouted "Everyone back to the shop, NOW!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Everyone, save Unara who was helping rally the troops outside, quickly entered the shop. Miro ran behind the counter and pressed a large red button which a caused a large screen to come down from the ceiling. After the earlier battle, Miro had spent time with the others trying to come with ideas to help improve the shop. One of the big suggestions had been from Kimihiko, which had been that they install cameras outside the store. She reasoned, correctly, that with the stores magic they would be both unbreakable and unblock able. It also turned out that they could be given a great deal of range. "Pochi, focus on that beam of energy quickly." Pochi complied without hesitation and the group began to study the strange beam. They all gasped a couple of seconds later as a terrible and frightening being began to step out of the beam. It was fuzzy and undefined but a couple of things were clear. It was huge to begin with. The regular giant lizards had been the size of a T-rex or a small building. The Mother Lizard had been about the size of a large building. This creature dwarfed them both. It was about the size of two Empire State buildings stacked on top of one another. Another obvious feature was on it face. Hanging down from where a mouth should be, were a group of over dozen small (when in comparison to the rest of the creature) tentacles. /Dear lord it cant be./ Pochi said in a horrified whisper. "What Pochi? What is it? Do you know what that thing is?" Miro asked. /It is one of the beings spoken of in whisper and legend. One of a group of entities that even we who walk the multiverse fear. A creature that predates humanity and the majority of life itself. Each universe no matter how young or old has at least one./ "One what, Pochi? Quit beating around the bush and tell us for gods sake. What is it?" /One of the Elder Gods. You cannot begin to understand the depth and power of these beings Master. And only one in this dimension still remains./ "I know I am not going to like the answer to this," Kimihiko said, "but why is there only one in this dimension?" /Because it destroyed all the others./ "Yep I knew wasn't going to like it." /This is the chaos bringer that all others fear. This is.../ At that moment the creature fully emerged from the portal, much to the horror of all those present. "Its... Its... Its.." The small glimpse they had gotten of it so far did nothing to prepare them for the full impact of the creature. Its skin was a pale, sickly green that looked off color and unnatural. It 's hand contained only three long, claw like fingers. Then there was the creatures eyes. Lidless and eyeball less, they seemed like a empty vortex trying to suck in the soul of any person who dare look in them. It was what the monster was wearing though that made it so disturbing. On its feet it wore gigantic and apparently oversized night black shoes. Its body was draped in an apparently white cloth like material that as previously mentioned had puke green and yellow polka dots all over it. It's face was white as a sheet, but the whiteness definitely appeared to be white paint. Finnaly, and worse of all, were the tentacles on the creatures face. At the end of each tentacle was a large, blood red rubber nose. The creature sucked in the beam of energy and acquired a dark aura around its body. "It's a clown." Miro stated in a tone of disbelief. /No it is Cthulown, the dark god of the joke./ "THE JOKE?!!? THE JOKE?!!?" /That is what I said master, there is no need to yell./ "Look I don't get the big deal. Sure its big and all but its just some clown thing how dangerous can it really.... be.... Oh crap." Theodore said. While he had been speaking, the elder god had pulled what appeared to be a fake flower out from nowhere and attached it to the lapel of its shirt. It then squeezed the flower causing a river of liquid to pour out into the forest below. As the liquid passed through the forest it burned down everything in its path. Over half of the ancient forest was wiped out within a second. Cthulown then pulled out of its pocket what appeared to be over a dozen giant deflated balloons. It attached them to it tentacles and within seconds it had inflated them fully. "This kind of crap never happened to me before I met you, Pochi." Miro said. The elder god then tied the balloons together in a blur. When it was done a giant 100 foot balloon crocodile was in its hands. It then put the balloon animal on the ground and looked at it intently. Lighting shot out from its vortex like eyes and entered the balloon animal. It came alive with loud roar and began to march towards the city. As it neared it threw open its mouth and began to shoot lighting out destroying any nearby buildings. Cthulown by this point had pulled something else out its pocket: A small (in comparison to the rest of the creature) wind up clown car. In actuality the car was the size of school bus. It wound up the car and let it race off to the city. It stopped at the outskirts, and Miro and company could only watch on in helpless horror as the door opened. From within the car, emerged a Mother Lizard. A Mother Lizard in full clown regalia. Another Mother Lizard then got out of the car, and then another. In the end 20 Mother Lizards had impossibly emerged from the car all dressed similarly to what one had to assume was their master. They began to breathe fire, smash building, and hunt down the fleeing townspeople. At this point the elder god had taken out a giant rubber hammer and was pounding in to the ground, one by one, the remaining trees in the forest. "Why.... Why is it doing that?" Kimihiko asked in a horrified tone. /Because it can. Don't you understand yet? Cthulown is an elder god of chaos and destruction. Its only desire is to wipe out all life and existence. It is going to accomplish its goal no matter what. Master we must flee. We are no match for a being of such frightening power./ "WHAT?" Theodore shouted. "You can't be serious. Look at thing. It makes the Mother Lizards look like over grown iguanas. There is no way the locals will be able to even scratch that thing. We are the only chance they have. If we leave they will die." /And if we stay, WE will die. Don't you understand? That is an elder god. In the entire multiverse there are probably only two types of beings who can actually damage a shop. An elder god is one of those. We must flee. I am sorry. I truly am. But there is nothing we can do./ Rikura looked over at Pochi, tears in her eyes. "Can't we at least make something to help them fight it.?" /I am sorry Companion Rikura. There is nothing we can supply that can affect an elder god. Not even one of your Dragu Slaves would hurt it. The only thing that we might be able to do is force feed it all our stored energy. The type of energy that the shop runs on is like poison to an Elder chaos God. But that at best would only hurt it. It certainly wouldn't kill it. Plus at best we would be stuck here and at worst we would be dead. I am sorry there is nothing we can do. By staying here we only prolong the possibility of our taking damage. Please master we must go. Now./ "Miro. We can't just run away with our tails stuck between our legs." Theodore pleaded impassionedly. "Look I get that we aren't heroes or anything. I understand that. I really do. But this goes beyond playing hero or anything. If we leave now everyone on this planet is going to die. Everyone. I can't live with myself knowing that I just run away and let that happen. Maybe Pochi is right. Maybe there is nothing we can do. But we at least have to try. We have to." /Master it is your decision. What are we going to do?/ Miro had been looking down at the ground during the entire discussion. After Pochi addressed him, he looked back up, uncertainty filling his eyes. He looked around the room at each individual one by one, ending with Kimihiko. She met his gaze head on and began to speak. "Miro... I don't have advice to give in either direction. When you get right down to it this isn't my call. I would gladly stay and fight but I would also gladly flee to safely. But I can at least say this much. My father once spoke to me about situations like this. 'Kimihiko' he would say 'when you face a decision where lives are on the line there is only one thing you can do. Close your eyes, look inside yourself, and decide what you want. Not what somebody else wants, but what you want. Once you do this, you will know what to do. You will know and it will be the right decision, no matter what happens afterward, because you will have made it with your heart.' I say the same to you. Whatever you decide, I will support you." Miro looked away, closed his eyes for a second, took a deep breath, and then looked back at his friends. "I've decided what we are going to do." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "This is it, old friend." \Yes master.\ "Now we shall see Miro what you are really made of. Will you stay or go? Will you prove yourself worthy of all my attention? Lets find out, hmmm?" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "We are going to stay and fight." Theodore jumped and shouted yes, while Sakura and Rikura pumped their arms in the air. Kimihiko simply looked at Miro and nodded. /But master..../ "No buts, Pochi. Look I understand the score. I get that I am no hero. But there comes a time when even those whose are not heroes must act heroically. When something that threatens the freedom and lives of everyone, all must stand together and fight. For us that time has come. Now does anyone have any ideas...." "Miro look!" Rikura exclaimed pointing at the screen. On the screen was Unara. She had just successfully popped the giant balloon crocodile and was now flying towards Cthulown. "Oh no she isn't..." Miro said in horror. She flew right up to the elder god, who was clearly ignoring her as it carefully finished destroying the forest. The inhabitants of the shop could not hear what was being said but it was clear she was shouting at the horrific being. She then fired off a series of shots at the creature, point blank into the head. Everyone held there breath, hoping against hope that it would somehow work. Cthulown just shrugged and spit the spikes back out at Unara, who was barely able to dodge them. It then inhaled and blew out an humongous evil looking cloud. Unara tried to avoid it but it was no use. The cloud engulfed her and seconds later moved on towards the city. When the others saw what had happened to Unara they gasped in horror and shock. Sakura collapsed on the ground and began crying. Unara had been turned into a clown. A clown wearing what appeared to be a dark rainbow colored straight jacket. She began to laugh and despite all logic they could here the terrible and insane laughter fill the store. "For the love of God Pochi, turn it off." /That is Cthulown's Clown Cloud. It will continue to spread across the planet turning all it touches into one of its mad clown minions. Their insane laughter will be the only sound left on earth once it is done./ Miro looked around at the others, an angry look filling his face. "Come on everyone, we have to think of something. That bastard Elder God is going to pay." "I... I think I have an idea...." Rikura said. "How about we...." At that moment the a huge explosion struck the front of the shop, causing the entire store to shake. "Hello in there. Can all good little boys and girls come out to play?" an insane voice said from outside the store. A familiar insane voice. "The Professor" everyone exclaimed at once. Theodore eyes narrowed before looking over at Miro. "Let me handle him. He is my responsibility after all. The rest of you stay in here and figure out a way to stop that giant asshole." Miro nodded before reaching behind the counter, picking up a sheathed sword, and throwing it at Theodore, who caught it easily. "Remember the plan we came up with Theodore. And be careful. We haven't tested that swords abilities yet." Theodore nodded before opening the door and walking outside. The others ran over to the window and watched as he confronted his father. The two began shouting at each other, although due to the noise of the other battles going on through out the city they couldn't make out what was being said. A minute later The Professor, dressed in full samurai battle armor, attacked. Theodore kept blocking the attacks with his sheathed sword while backing up. The madman flew up into air and sent hundreds of wicked, energy charged knives at Theodore, who was nicked by a couple but other wise was okay. He unsheathed the sword and tried to strike the Professor to no avail. The Professor then charged and sent Theodore flying into the stores wall. This time when the Professor stabbed at him, Theodore was unable to block and he was run through. The Professor landed and pulled the sword out of Theodore and struck with the clear intention of cutting the young mans head off. So it was a great shock to him when Theodore looked up and effortlessly grabbed hold of the blade. At this point inside the shop, Miro was concentrating, eyes closed, a small glow surrounding him. Theodore then snapped the Professors sword in half. Before the madman could react, Theodore moved with inhuman speed and slammed his fist into the Professor's stomach, shattering the armor. The Professor collapsed to the ground and could only look up as Theodore raised the sword high into air. Instead of striking however, Theodore gently touched the point of the blade to the Professors head. Both men jerked as a bright light surrounded them. A second later Theodore collapsed onto the ground as the light faded, both men unconscious. The others ran outside and quickly dragged the two men inside. Pochi then flew down, lifted the Professor into the air, and spun around him a few times, binding him in chains of light. /He will be helpless now master and unable to hurt anyone else./ "That won't be necessary." Theodore said exhaustedly, having briefly regained consciousness. "It worked Miro, just like you planned. The sword's truth power let me break down the barriers of insanity in his mind. It seems that it was the death of myself, my brother, and my mother that drove him to insanity on this world." "Theo you need to rest..." Kimihiko said. "NO! Let me finish." Theo said, barely able to maintain consciousness. "After the truth helped heal him, fathe.. The Professor showed me the way to take down Cthulown. Inside the Professors pocket is a white and red sphere. If we can weaken the Elder God, then someone can use the sphere to seal him up again. We need... We need to..." Miro smiled down at Theodore. "We understand Theo. Don't worry we will take care of the everything else, you rest. Using the sword will have exhausted you and we need you to get back your strength." They quickly moved the two men to the beds in the back. As they came back out, Miro was holding the Summoning sphere in his hand. "Gee." Rikura said. "It looks just like a Pokeball." "Yeah, well this time we REALLY got to catch em all." Kimihiko replied. "This is no time for jokes you two. Now before the Professor attacked, Rikura you said you had an idea. What was it?" "Well first I need to know something. Pochi can Miro change the outer form of the shop?" /Yes Companion Rikura. He can shape it into whatever he likes although the more complicated the form, the more energy it will take./ "Perfect. Then we can stop him, Miro." "How?" "Silly Miro. Don't you ever watch Dexter's Lab? There is only one way to stop a clown. ITS MIME TIME!" Rikura exclaimed while pointing her finger in the air dramatically. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cthulown was pleased. So far everything was going perfectly. Well nearly perfectly. Although it was not yet at more than a quarter of its full power, the Elder God was encountering no real resistance. Not that anything really COULD resist it, but still these pathetic mortals attempts to stop it could get annoying. There was one problem though. It could sense that its chief acolyte had just been defeated. It looked over and narrowed its eyes as it realized what the building it was looking at really was. It was one of THOSE shops. Cthulown knew they couldn't hope to stop it, no matter what they might try. But still... Best not take any chances. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "So will it work?" Rikura asked. /If you are asking can we shift the shops form to the desired configuration then yes. If you are asking will this form be effective against Cthulown then I have no idea. However the plan is sound. What it will all come down to is the strength of the Masters belief. If he can put enough force of will behind it perhaps, just perhaps, he can affect reality enough for this to work./ "That's the spirit, Pochi. Everyone ready? How about you Miro?" Rikura asked while fingering the summoning sphere. "As ready as I can be. Now Kimihiko are you sure you want to be the pilot?" Kimihiko just smiled and nodded at Miro. "Don't forget buddy who is the national fighting game champ where we come from. I am the obvious choice. I will be fine. But Miro.... What about you and Pochi... This plan... I'm not sure..." /We WILL be fine Companion Kimihiko. Although there is a definite element of risk in this plan, I have every faith in Miro's control./ "Thanks Pochi. I appreciate that. Although I am a bit surprised at your support of this plan." /I told you master. I may not agree with your decisions, but I will support them fully. No matter what!/ "Okay enough talk." Rikura exclaimed. "Lets go kick some Elder clown God but. GIANT ROBO ATTACK MIME, LAUNCH!!!" ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Outside the shops shape began to change. It began to elongate and grow. It launched up into the air as what were clearly the beginnings of arm and legs began to form. Before transformation could continue a number of large, cylindrical object stuck the store and exploded, sending it crashing back down to the ground. Floating above the fallen store and fingering another exploding cigar was the grotesque form of Cthulown. And despite its utter lack of mouth, it was smiling. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Inside the store, a state of horror had fallen over the conscious individuals. "What are we going to do Miro? He isn't going to give us time to finish transforming." "Do not worry sister to the Guardian." Came the cry of many voices speaking as one. "We to shall play our necessitated part in this struggle." Rikura turned around and saw it was Sakura standing by the window, magic knife drawn. In all the confusion she had completely forgotten about her younger sister. "Indeed," Sakura continued in a definitely un-Sakura like voice. "It is for battles like this that we were born. Finish the transformation. We will buy you the time you need." With that a blinding light emanated from the dagger and flew out towards the twisted hovering elder god. Cthulown was unprepared for an attack from a multitude of powerful summoned beings led by a young girl made of ice. Even so if the Elder God had been at full strength, then the attack would have had no effect on it. Fortunately though it wasn't and it was sent crashing down onto the ground and through a group of nearby buildings. The attacks continued for a full minute before the angered Elder God got back and scattered the summons. It grabbed onto the small ice girl and slammed her into the ground. It was about to step on the fallen summon when something tapped it on the shoulder. Cthulown turned and saw what looked a giant robot made out of a store, dressed in black, with white face paint and wearing a black beret. It came up to the Elder Gods shoulders. What it didn't see was the pulled back fist that uppercutted it into the nearby fallen forest. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Now that's what I call an inventive solution." \Yes master.\ "Get some popcorn will you. This is going to be fun. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Woo! A Spinning Cobra Clutch followed up with a High Impact Roaring Bullet. Now THAT is what I call Ultraviolence." Rikura said while tending to the unconscious Sakura. /What are you talking about Rikura?/ "Work with me Pochi." "Will you two be quiet. This is a lot harder than it looks. And Rikura STOP HUMMING THE POWER RANGERS THEME SONG!" Kimihiko shouted. The fight was not going well. After the initial surprise blow Cthulown was keeping them on the ropes. Right now Kimihiko was desperately trying to avoid an combined attack of exploding pies and acid squirts with limited success. "This is bad Rikura. I can't seem to match him. He's just to strong and skilled. He's playing with us. The moment he gets serious we are finished." "Kimihiko you are not doing this right. Remember this is an attack robo MIME. Start acting like it." "That won't work. This is real not a cartoon." /It WILL work Companion Kimihiko. That is what Master Miro is putting all his power into. You have to have faith in him./ "Alright here goes nothing." The latest barrage of pies and acid flew towards the now strangely gesturing robot. Cthulown didn't know what it was doing nor did the Elder God care. It was beginning to get bored with this, which is why it was surprised when the attack bounced off an invisible barrier. Its eyes narrowed as it launched another attack which again failed. "Alright it worked." "Wai. Quick mime blazing sword and take it out." "I've got a better idea." The robot pointed at the Elder God and closed its fingers as if pulling a trigger. Thousands of explosions struck Cthulown and sent it flying. "What was that?" "Oh just my blazing machine gun rocket launcher." "WAI!!!" For the first time Cthulown was getting angry but before it could retaliate, the elder god found itself being lassoed by an invisible rope. The robot then spun around in circles at incredibly fast speeds before releasing the rope and sending the whirling elder god crashing into a nearby mountain. Cthulown leapt up, enraged, and sent flying a huge wave of energy towards the robot. The Attack Robo Mime easily avoided the attack however by riding a mimed skateboard at incredible speeds. It slammed into the Elder God, knocking it to the ground once more. It then quickly grabbed onto the momentarily stunned entity. "NOW MIRO!" Kimihiko screamed. Miro's eyes shot open and with a single gesture he released the entirety of the stores energy into the Elder God. The mixture of chaotic and orderly energy was like slamming a fork into an active electric socket for Cthulown. For the first time in the entirety of its innumerably long existence it felt true pain. It screamed in a voice so loud and horrifying it threatened to shatter the eardrums of the inhabitants of the shop. It must be said that although seriously hurt, Cthulown was an Elder God of immense and immeasurable power. So from the point of view of a direct one on one fight it was far from finished. Fortunately the rest of the plan didn't call for a one on one fight. Rikura ran out of the immobile shop robot and thrust the summoning sphere into the air. "YOU GO TO HELL. YOU GO TO HELL AND DIE. CTHULOWN RETURN!!!" There was a blinding flash of light as Cthulown screamed once more, this time in anger. Rikura was lifted into the air through the sheer force of the energy coming out of the small sphere. Cthulown tried to smash her but already it had begun turning insubstantial. There was a humungous explosion of energy, light, and sound. As Rikura lost consciousness the last sight to greet her was a howling and raging Cthulown as it was dragged, literally kicking and screaming, back into the sphere. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Typical. Just typical. Everybody else is unconscious leaving me to do all the heavy lifting. Even Pochi is out of it" Kimihiko said as she carefully and gently dragged Rikura back into the shop. After the fight the shop had reverted back to its usual form, albeit standing in the middle of a destroyed forest. Despite her grumbling, Kimihiko was unbelievably happy. She had never felt so good in her life. They had done it. They had done the impossible. They had defeated an Elder God. She just felt so proud for everyone. "As you should my dear, as you should. After all one does not accomplish what you and your friends did everyday." Came a voice from the doorway. An all to familiar voice. "YOU!" Kimihiko shouted at the smiling Spells R Us Wizard. "Now, now my dear is that anyway to talk to an old friend." "You are no friend of mine. Now get out of here or else." "Or else what? Just because you helped defeat an Elder God, don't go getting a swelled head. You got lucky. Very lucky. If Cthulown had wanted he could have wiped you all out in the first second of the fight. And that was him at only a quarter power. If he had been at full strength you and your friends would have never stood a chance. Besides I am FAR more dangerous than any old Elder God. You would do well to remember that." "Why are you here?" "I simply wish to pay my regards to Miro and congratulate him on a job well done. He passed my little test with flying colors." "Your... YOUR TEST?" "Of course. You don't think that idiot Professor managed to summon an Elder God all by himself did you. Why if it was that easy we would be swimming in them." "All that destruction.... All that loss of life... All that suffering... HOW COULD YOU? WHY?!!?" "Well I can't make things to easy for Miro now can I. After all the whole point of this little journey is to help him grow in strength and ability. Oh don't worry if Cthulown HAD wiped you all out I would have intervened and resealed him. It wouldn't do to let an Elder God loose to wreck havoc upon the multiverse." "But it did wreck havoc!" "But only in a small part of it. In this case the ends justify the means. Oh yes before I forget, I restored your little friend Unara back to normal. She is back in the city helping with the survivors. She is more or less all right, all thought the aftereffects of the clown cloud have shaken her up. Oh well that's what you get for interfering with an Elder God. Oh and as a final favor I changed reality right before you beat Cthulown. I made his defeat a request and a rather well rewarding one. When Miro wakes up he will not only find he energy reserves replenished but actually somewhat substantially increased as well. Now don't go thanking me, it was the least I could do for a job well done." "You... You can do that?' "Why of course my dear. I AM a wizard after all. Be seeing you." With that the grinning Wizard vanished into thin air, leaving Kimihiko alone with the others and her thoughts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ It wasn't fair. If not for those interloping do-gooders... Those wannabe heroes... Those meddling mortals and their little shop.... It was trapped once more. Trapped within this eternal and endlessly boring nothingness. Trapped for now. It would escape. No matter what it took, no matter the cost. It might take some time but the initial capture spell had been broken and the new one was substantially weaker. It would still take time but not any real amount for an immortal. It would escape. It would be free. And it would have its revenge. Those in that accursed shop would all pay. With the thoughts of the horrifying things it would do to its newly hated foes, Cthulown begin the long and arduous task of escape... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Authors Note Well its done. My longest Impro part yet. The funny thing is that I ran out of time because I originally planned for it to be significantly longer. One of things I plan to do is write an Omake featuring what went inside Theo and the Professors mind once Theo used the spell. I know it won't be in continuity but it at least it will be out there. Oh well I am pretty satisfied with this part. I am exhausted from this but knowing me I will probably run off right after sending this in and sign up for both Queue A and B again. I guess I never learn. ? In regards to Cthulown I don't mind if somebody else decides to use him again down the line but I do ask you wait awhile at least. Also this is my third part for this impro and I have yet receive any feedback what so ever. I am the kind of writer who NEEDS feedback to survive. Its like crack for me. So if you could please comment, wither good or ill (NO FLAMES), either on the message board or at StorytellerSJK@yahoo.com I would really, really, really, REALLY appreciate it. Well that's all for now. May the whiskers never fall off your chin.