The Grief of Mr. Gun (Me, NN1, and FF.)

[nintendonut1]

:....my name's Blossom, but... alright. Sounds like a story for another time, I'm guessing."

Double D smiled and nodded, at first. "But of course. If there's anything else I could do, ANY of us could do, you just say the word..."

He faltered as Gantz continued, biting his lip. Surprisingly, he didn't respond right away, knowing full well of the situation. This wasn't something he could easily convince otherwise; obviously, Gantz had reasons of his own. Double D felt like they still had much to learn about him, whenever he chose to talk personally about himself again.

"...well, then..." Reaching a conclusion for himself, Double D finally spoke up, standing near Otto and Wally. "...if you won't accept our help, then we'll try facing Him on our own. If anything, I'm going to fight him to release that girl. I cannot stand by and wait for someone else to save her, not after seeing for myself the pain she was in as a captive of that odious creature."

[Firebreath Fishslap]

((OOC: Okay, with Waddle Dee, it's just because he's a Gurren Lagann pastiche. MANIME doesn't do emo, and Gurren Lagann is DEFINITELY a MANIME.

manime: n, anime filled with so much manliness that it's insane.
See: Fist of the North Star, Jojo's Bizzare Adventure, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann))

Waddle Dee refocused on Gantz as Gantz continued. The others seemed willing to let Gantz do things by himself. Waddle Dee was not going to do that. How could one get by without the help of their friends? It was a concept foreign to Waddle Dee. He pointed the parasol at Gantz now.

"You can't be serious! Fine, let the others leave you alone! But I won't let you go off and get yourself killed! Master Clive was right! You're trying to do things by yourself, but that never gets anyone anywhere! All it does is make things worse!" Waddle Dee yelled. "This isn't a burden one man can take! No matter how much you're trying to force it on yourself, that doesn't help anyone! All it does is make everyone around you feel even worse and worse!"

((OOC: Waddle Dee can still totally be disagreed with. Again, just sticking with the portrayal of the character.))

[gantzgun74]

Gantz lowered his head when he heard Double D say that. Well, at least he had some friends that wanted to help, whether he wanted them to or not… Sighing and turning his head, he took in the statement for a second… … “D-Double D…” After a second, he turned back giving the boy a small smile. “Th-… Thank you.” He looked to Waddle Dee, upon hearing what he had to say. “Maybe… That is the case, maybe I already know this, but have you ever considered… That I’m not truly alone?”

The others looked at him strangely.

“Well… Somewhere out there, I have a group of friends that are fighting their hearts out for me. They’ll be mad that I left, that’s true. And Likely when I go back, I’ll be hearing from them that they had warned me not to try this alone.” He put his hand to his chest. “But knowing that their alive and well, and they believe in me… That gives me the strength I need.”

“Guh… talk about a sappy cliché.”

Misty crossed her arms, giving Gantz a stern look. “Regardless of what you do, you can try and tell me that I can’t help, but I’m afraid, unlike the others.” A small grin passed her face. “You won’t be rid of me that easily.”

“Or me.”

Tarosuke choose that time to speak, crossing his arms and giving me a stern glare. “Don’t get me wrong, I don’t really like you all that much. The only reason I’m sticking around you is because… Well…” He pouted, “I really don’t have any choice in the matter.”

“Because you coming to this plane of existence is punishment for misdeeds in Heaven by Buddha?”

That caught demon spirit detective’s attention. Slowly he turned his head to Gantz and gave him a puzzled look. “H-… How did you?”

Gantz grinned typically. “I’m you’re puppet-master Tarosuke. I just read it up in your bio.”

Elsewhere, a gargantuan crack appeared in the 4th wall.

Meanwhile, back at the house, everyone just stared at Gantz, wondering if they should be impressed or think that the kid was bat-SH#% NUTS. "Regardless... ... ... ... I suppose it was getting kinda lonely with just me and Soul Calibur. I mean, Soul is not fun to play Chess with."

"Mostly because I lack the needed ARMS and HANDS to even play the game, and any strategy I concoct goes through Gantz's head just like it does mine." Everyone could hear that statement since it slipped out of Gantz's mouth, thanks to Soul.

Gantz sweatdropped, "And here I thought I was just instantaneously learning them without studying..."

[Before you ask, this is common behavior for Gantz when he's not down in the dumps. He often cracks jokes on random occasion about random things, thus earning him the title 'Mischievous Monkey' by a fellow Role-Player, outside of Dimensional Clash.]

[nintendonut1]

Double D smiled warmly. To be depended on was all he could ask for. "I won't be able to stay here all the time, given that I have my own family to take care of back home, but this place is close by, so I can come in often and check on things. Whenever you need me, just give me a hollar."

"Sounds good," Blossom nodded. "So you live in the apartment complex, right?" she asked, to which he nodded.

"That's right." He turned to Otto, Wally, and Helga. "What will you do? Stay here?"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

"I'll stay here!" Waddle Dee said, raising his tiny hand. "Okay, so maybe Gantz isn't my master. But Master Kirby taught me a while ago to never leave a friend in need behind. As long as he has snacks. But I'll always help! And so will Master De'Marcus and his friend Mr. Orange!"

"HOW THE HELL DID HE TELL I WAS HERE!?" came a voice from outside the barrier. "And NO!"

"One of my secret skills!" Waddle Dee said. "And didn't Master Clive tell you to stay here?"

"Son of a..." De'Marcus stepped forward so the others could see him. He kicked Mr. Orange a bit forward. "'Sup, I'm De'Marcus. Yes, that's my real name. And apparently I'm going to be helping Gantz."

[gantzgun74]

Gantz lowered the barrier, allowing De'Marcus and Mr. Orange inside. "Well, I'm glad to see your here, since Clive mentioned you. I trust you had safe tra-"

Gantz stopped clean in his tracks. After a second, he examined De'Marcus a bit closer... ... ... ... "Wow... Clive wasn't kidding about you... You DO look like Sonic, sorta."

Otto looked confused at this, before turning to Wally. "Do you know who Sonic is?" Wally shrugged; yeah that was sort of a new one on him too... ... Perhaps he should look it up later though.

With that thought in mind, Otto turned to Double D and shook his head. "My apologies Double D. But... We can't return to the Apartment Complex." That likely got a few confused stares out of a few people. "I promise I won't keep you out of the loop... But with Kijin Kain here, on this island... Well..." He pointed to his own nose for emphasis. "He could follow my scent, and if he does that, he could find out where we live there, if we returned. We'd ultimately be putting a lot of innocent lives in jeopardy."

He sighed a little. "Until we find some way of containing Kijin Kain, or even getting rid of him entirely, I'm not about to risk him finding the Apartment Complex. I'm sorry, but I'm sure you understand my priorities."

[nintendonut1]

Double D nodded firmly. "I completely understand. The building goes through enough as it is."

"Sounds a lot like Townsville," Blossom joked. "I'll stay here too. It looks like there's a lot of dangerous things you're involved with, Gantz. I'll tell you right now, you can't convince me otherwise."

Courage whined a little; he liked their cozy apartment! 'But if it's for everyone's good...' he supposed, looking around warily. 'I GUESS I could get used to this place...'

[Firebreath Fishslap]

De'Marcus and Mr. Orange entered the house once Gantz lowered the barrier. De'Marcus had been about to strike up a conversation when Gantz said he looked like Sonic.

[glow=yellow,2,300]"I DO NOT LOOK LIKE THAT BLUE, RAT-ASSED, FRANCHISE ZOMBIE, STUPID, CHILI-DOG EATING BASTARD!"[/glow]

At that moment, De'Marcus exploded into a yellow energy similar to those that super saiyans had in DBZ. Waddle Dee gulped.

"...What's his power level?" Waddle Dee asked.

[glow=yellow,2,300]"CLIVE YOU BASTARD! IT'S NOT FUNNY! STOP MAKING PEOPLE THINK THAT!"[/glow] De'Marcus screamed at someone who wasn't there.

[gantzgun74]

Gantz jumped at the display of power, but did little else, besides respond with "I'm sorry!" He looked more awkward then frightened. "If I'd have known that was how strongly you felt about it, I wouldn't have brought it up. Sorry about that."

Wally and Otto meanwhile, watched De'Marcus' rage with flat expressions. "Dude's scary when he's angry." Came an off handed remark from the Yin of the duo.

"Who isn't on this damn island?" Was the snarky retort from the Yang.

Turning to Blossom, Gantz nodded. "Of course, Blossom." He smiled slightly. "Thanks."

[nintendonut1]

Blossom nodded, jumping back at De'Marcas's rant. Courage had dived into Helga shirt again. "Geez!"

"Th-there's no need for that..." Double D tried to be diplomatic, as usual. "Really, he meant no hard feelings, I'm sure...!"

[Firebreath Fishslap]

De'Marcus "tsk"-ed and depowered. "I am going to kick Clive's ass so hard the next time I see him."

"Yes!" Mr. Orange said cheerfully. De'Marcus smiled and looked back at Gantz.

"Anyways, I just got here, and I'm more used to hanging out on islands and beaches and stuff, but I'm totally fine with staying here with you, Gantz. At least until I get that condo built at Giant's Lake," De'Marcus said. He grinned at that.

"Woot!" Waddle Dee said. "Well, that takes care of that, right?"

[gantzgun74]

"Not entirely."

With that being said, Gantz sighed a little. Walking over to a nearby window, he looked out to the storm. "If anything else, if what Clive said was true... I need to help as soon as possible."

"You're forgetting one thing; me." Came Soul's voice inside him. "So long as you have me, you have no keyblade. And without a keyblade... Can you really handle it by yourself?"

If anyone else heard that, it would likely be a cause for anger... But Gantz himself knew it as the truth.

Way back when, he always depended on the power boost his keyblade gave his magical abilities. Without it, he was barely a normal mage. Soul Calibur did a good job powering up his magical and physical stats, but that was only because of the co-dependence. If he kept this up, he wouldn't last that much longer.

That was the thing about Gantz, many of his own experiences surviving life threatening situations was mostly do to close calls. And he had a bad feeling there would be no close calls anymore. From this point on, it was real.

Such a thought made him sigh dismally. "I... I need more training...”

"Why would you?" Came Misty with a raised eyebrow. "You've had all the training in the world, Gantz. Back home, you had Otto and Wally as teachers along with Roland to teach you magic... And HE was trained by that Lezaford guy, if I remember the story correctly." Tarosuke looked moderately impressed at this, apparently, stories of Lezaford had even reached his ears.

"That's true." The boy said once more. "But... I need an edge. Something that'll help me past not only Him, but whatever these battles have in store for me next." He looked to De’Marcus giving him a hard look. “Don’t think I haven’t been keeping my ears open. I know something about this Ragnarok group, and I know it’s filled to the brim with dangerous psychos that know how to handle themselves in a fight. And knowing this island, that makes them pretty strong, and most normal people up the creek without a paddle should they face off against them…”

“And Him?” Tarosuke asked with a simple expression.

“Him’s a whole nother level. I need to settle things with him before anything else.” Gantz turned to De’Marcus. “I hope you understand… But Him is holding captive someone precious to me. I’m helping her before I do anything else.”

Wally grinned, "I know I can understand that mate." He jumped out of his seat. "Well let's go then! Off to Him's base to teach the demon a lesson!!"

Another groan was the response. "It's not that simple Wally. Him has powers now that you can't even begin to imagine."

[nintendonut1]

Double D nodded. "Him is a being of pure chaos. Holding your own in a fight against a creature that can bend reality is no mean fea...eh?"

Blossom perked up, catching his attention. "Wait...you're not talking about HIM, right? Distorted voice, All red, lobster claws..."

"That's the one."

Blossom sighed. "I should've known he'd make it here...of all the villains..." She shook her head, facing Gantz as she jacked a thumb towards Double D. "Well, either way, this kid's right. You'll need more than brute strength to take down a creep like that."

Double D cleared his throat, slightly irked. "First of all, my name's Double D. I apologize for not introducing myself earlier. Secondly, I thought you'd might like to know that according to a friend of mine, another villian from your world is here as well." She turned back to him. "...a manic monkey by the name of Mojo Jojo."

"Mojo's here too!?" Blossom rolled her eyes and facepalmed. "Ugh, what a pain!"

"Indeed, he is quite the pain," Double D agreed. "We've had tangles with him more than once."

(Just hoping here that Wally brings up the Monkey See Doggie Three incident XD)

[Firebreath Fishslap]

De'Marcus stayed silent while Gantz and Double D's groups conversed, up until Gantz adressed him about Flamel's group. "Well, if an immortal dickwad, a clockwork mage, a peacock, a squirrel, a ghost fish, some kid who's his own dad, and all their minions count as 'filled to the brim', I guess so. Oh, wait, they've got some new kid. I only saw him once or twice, he's got green hair. Kinda looks like Bugsy from Pokemon.... not that I watch that."

And then the subject of Him and Mojo came up. "Oh, wait, this Him guy's a reality warper? Hey, I can help with that. I've fought tons of reality warpers before."

Waddle Dee raised his parasol into the air. "I think we should head off to Him's place right now too! No point in waitin' around for him to strike!"

"Yeah, what the little guy said," De'Marcus said.

[gantzgun74]

"You guys are OBVIOUSLY not listening to me..." Gantz had directed that comment at De'Marcus and Waddle Dee. "I've already tried that, it won't work..."

"Why not?" Misty said, cracking her knuckles. "Sounds simple enough to me."

This only brought out a frustrated groan from the boy as he rubbed his temples... How to explain this... His eyes widened, before turning to Blossom, looking deathly serious.

"Blossom... Do you remember that time you and your sisters raced home from school? And how you three went so fast, you actually traveled into the future of your world? The future where you didn't exist?" From the look on Gantz's face, you could more then tell that he was worried, and was EXTREMELY sorry for bringing back easily one of the Powerpuff's WORST memories...

And then, possibly confirming very bad fears, he finished with.

"He's grown as strong as he was then... Possibly even more so."