Crossover Fan Fiction ❯ The Anime Margin: 108 Stars of Destiny ❯ Pillar of the Worlds Story, part 2: The Temple of the Pillar ( Chapter 29 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer:
This fic uses characters, places, themes from franchises that are the property of others. I do not own these franchises.

Special Thanks to:
Charles Xavier, Fanfiction.net author: For writing an awesome crossover with anime and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Suikosource website: for providing great information that made this fic possible.

The Anime Margin: 108 Stars of Destiny
By: RB3

Pillar of the Worlds Story, part 2: The Temple of the Pillar

The next day, the members of Valiance attended a great meeting before an elevated stage within the heart of their base. Dolores, Roger, Jessica, and Folken waited in chairs for Eddie to take the stage. When he got on, Eddie glanced over the ocean of people assembled before him. They were tense, anxious to hear words of encouragement from the leader of Valiance, the Chief Star of Heaven. Valiance's greatest battle laid ahead of them, the final showdown between them and Adam Acme.

Eddie adjusted the microphone before addressing the crowd. "Heroes of Valiance, today is a great day for every Toon. Today has a special meaning for each of us. For some it is revenge, for others it's about doing what's right. Whatever your reason, today is when we finally bring the fight to Adam Acme. For the past year, he has terrorized our homes and escaped whenever we try to stop him. Today, there is nowhere left for him to run! Today, we will finally turn his greedy dream of power into a nightmare!"

The crowd cheered boisterously. "YEAH!"

"We will crush Acme and all those that dare to get in our way!" continued Eddie. The crowd, moved by Eddie's speech, erupted into cheers. "So when we go out there, let's show those Omnipotence maniacs that they can't mess with us or our worlds. We're pissed off, so let's show them just how pissed off we are!"

After that rousing speech, the armies of Valiance mobilized their forces to attack Cephiro. The Valiance strategy was a three part plan. The first was to secure the space above Cephiro. From the information gathered by Valiance scouts and the mole, Omnipotence had a fleet of about 300 hundred ships guarding Cephiro. Most of these vessels were Abh and Toon ships acquired while Omnipotence still controlled their governments. Valiance's renewed space force would come in three waves and wipe out the entire fleet or at least as many enemy ships as possible.

The second phase was to have the space fleet bombard the planet and remove as much surface-to-space weaponry as possible. They would also soften up enemy troop formations for the final phase, the ground assault. Of the three phases, the ground assault was the most elaborate. It was also complicated by new developments. Acme had already become the Pillar of Cephiro. However, he had not begun expanding the Pillar system yet and Valiance was intent on keeping it that way. Acme was holed up it the heart of a special temple complex he had willed up in preparation for this. This temple was Valiance's ultimate goal.

The complex was Omnipotence's command centre. It was shaped like a diamond with its corners facing the cardinal directions. It housed all of the items Omnipotence had stolen for their research. This strange structure was made from a blue, crystalline substance that was virtually indestructible. Due to these factors and the fact that it was on top of a plateau, the only way to breach this temple was to send people through tunnels underground on foot. These tunnels led to a node directly underneath the temple.

There were five possible paths to take from this point, four of which were marked with a symbol. These marked pathways led to the nodes at each corner. Each node corresponded to one of the four power types, science, psionics, ki, and magic. They were marked by symbols of a gear, a brain, a muscular torso, and a book respectively. Only someone who had powers of the corresponding type could enter these pathways. Anyone else was repelled. In the case of the science path, the team had to have no other special powers.

Each of these nodes supplied power to a barrier which blocked off the centre. They also provided Acme with the ability to use any technique or spell from that particular power type. If possible, each team could help out by sabotaging their node to weaken Acme. The science node was an especially important one since it housed key infrastructure needed for expansion of the Pillar system. He kept the supercomputer Ymir there, as well as the machines which suppressed his Paradox. The fifth team would take the unmarked path and confront Acme at the heart of the temple.

As the Valiance fleet sped through the dimensions, they emerged at the other end in outer space some distance from Cephiro. "Sir, we will reach the Cephiro system in thirty minutes," reported Dr. Eggman.

"Good," replied Eddie.

One by one, Valiance battleships emerged in the space around Cephiro. Though outer space was infinite and boundless, enough Valiance ships had appeared to clutter the void. There were over a hundred ships in the first wave alone with many more still to come. Among those in the first wave were the Archangel and the Basroil. The enemy ships guarding Cephiro moved forward to intercept the arrival of Valiance's fleet. Beams of light and missiles surged back and forth from each side. Ships from both sides burst into pieces flame upon suffering fatal damage. The battle for Cephiro had begun.

The Freedom zipped through space, dogfighting with any enemy fighter craft or mobile suits it encountered. An M1 Astray fired several shots at the Freedom, whose great speed allowed it to evade easily. Kira fired a pair of retaliatory shots, missing his first and scoring with his second. The shot melted through and severed the mobile suit's left arm, depriving it of its blast shield. A UFO zinged by and fired several beams of energy. The shots rattled the Freedom's shield, but were unable to penetrate the anti-beam coating.

Kira fired a pair of shots but the UFO slid sideways perfectly. Toon UFOs had special parts which provided inertia-less flight and the ability to make sudden direction shifts. The UFO fired more beams which Kira evaded through deft movements. He fired more beams both of which missed. The UFO and Freedom traded shots but both missed their mark. Kira finally scored a hit to the top, causing the UFO to shudder. It exposed a previously invisible yellow force field which protected the ship much like Phase Shift Armour.

As Kira discovered, not only were Toon UFOs very elusive, they were also shielded by an energy barrier. "Athrun, watch out, these things are shielded!" warned Kira.

It was too late. Athrun had already fired the Aegis' gun, expecting the beam to burn through the enemy UFO. Instead, it impacted a similar barrier harmlessly. Athrun then heard Kira's warning, just in time to narrowly avoid the enemy's retaliatory shot. "Now you tell me!" he replied irately.

Athrun dodged more incoming beams. He fired several beams in return, missing the UFO, which shifted sideways to escape. Athrun closed in and attempted to slice it in half with a beam sword, but the UFO shifted sideways again and returned fire. Athrun raised his shield, barely in time to block. He returned fire, hitting the craft twice with beams. One of the beams seared the UFO's anti-gravity thrusters, giving Athrun the break he needed. He closed in and sliced the UFO in half.

From his station in the Crimson Egg, Folken watched the state of the battle unfold. Valiance had hit the Omnipotence line hard. His ships were beginning to wedge through the enemy's line, separating them into two less cohesive groups. "We've got the enemy on the ropes. Send the next wave to hit their exposed flanks. Trap them in between our crossfire!"

The next wave of forces emerged from several gates which shimmered into and out of existence. They approached the enemy line, which was weakened and fractured by the initial onslaught. With the first wave still putting up a fight, the second wave easily closed in from the vulnerable flanks. Omnipotence's fleet was trapped in the middle as Folken had planned. Each enemy ship came under attack by the first wave from one direction or the second wave from the other.

A UFO shifted sideways to avoid Kira's fire. However, it also moved out of one line of fire and into the Eternal's. The Eternal let lose with guns blazing. The beams impacted the UFO violently. Its shields depleted rapidly until a beam seared through the craft itself. The UFO exploded in brilliant burst of flame. Other enemy ships followed the destruction of that UFO. An Omnipotence Abh cruiser came under heavy attack by Valiance mobile suits. A Valiance Abh cruiser fired upon the enemy, destroying it in a brilliant flash of fire. Even Omnipotence's larger ships fell to ruin under Valiance firepower.

As the enemy fell, Valiance began to position ships around Cephiro to begin bombarding its anti-ship defences. From the surface of the planet came beams of light, one after the other. Valiance-aligned Abh cruisers responded in kind, raining beams of light back on the surface. They descended down and seared a hole into the ground next a gun emplacement. The gun aimed upward and returned beams up to the ships in orbit. The first three shots missed, but the fourth seared through and blew up an Abh cruiser. Even as it exploded, the Abh ships kept the pressure. The beams rained on the gun until it was struck and exploded in a burst of flame.

---

After heavy bombardment, Valiance had lost several ships, but Omnipotence had lost even more in ground defences. Valiance ships had cleared a path for the ground invasion to land and finish the task of invading Acme's temple. The drop ships descended onto the planet like meteors falling from space. From the ground, they looked like shooting stars. They hit the ground with a loud thud and the doors hissed open. Soldiers and towering mobile suits and Evas began to swarm out, taking control of the area.

In the distance, they could see the temple complex high on top of its plateau. It towered over the horizon like a dome of blue crystal. Valiance's army marched down the plains towards the base of the temple. As they approached, they could see the first signs of an army waiting for them. There were M1 Astrays and several soldiers manning gun emplacements. The two sides were not yet in firing range, but could knew the other was there. Suddenly, a squadron of aerial Digimon flew by overhead! The Digimon dumped tons of ammunition upon the enemy. Mobile suits exploded in plumes of flame and soldiers were thrown about like rag dolls.

A Gigadramon hovered overhead and rained missiles down on the enemy line. A missile descended onto a gun emplacement, blowing it to pieces in a deafening explosion. Others began to twist around to aim at the Digimon and shoot them down. Gigadramon banked away as he came under fire. A cannon turned towards a Parrotmon. Its shell damaged the bird's wing, causing to leak Fractal Code painfully. More shells struck the bird and it crashed into the ground and disintegrated into Fractal Code entirely.

Thrown into disorder, the Valiance ground forces had approached the enemy unhindered. Stealth Guymelefs suddenly removed their cloaks and blasted flamethrowers onto the enemy. Soldiers hidden in trenches were charred alive, leaving behind only ash. A Guymelef unit flamed a gun emplacement moments after its operator abandoned it. The metal machine became charred black and rendered useless. A rocket soared through the sky and struck the Guymelef. The explosion tore through the cockpit, killing the pilot immediately. The Guymelef toppled over as a useless hunk of scrap metal.

A Saillune soldier hacked off the barrel of an Omnipotence soldier's gun. The soldier gutted the Omnipotence gunner and left his body for dead. No sooner than he turned away that the enemy rose up as one of the undead. The zombie soldier shot his killer in the back and shambled away. An bolt of flame embedded into the zombie's back. It ignited and burnt to ash as it collapsed to the ground. The magician that had sent that spell fired another at an approaching enemy soldier. An unnoticed grenade landed on the feet of the magician and exploded.

The bodies began to pile all around, the bulk of which came from Omnipotence. Everyone had been bloodied and battered from the most intense battle they had ever fought. However, Valiance had the upper hand, causing more damage than their enemy could handle. Within the hour, they had secured the area around Acme's temple. The greatest heroes of Valiance travelled through the underground tunnels beneath the mountains. The path was lined by the same crystal as the temple. Thoughts races through the heads of the heroes as they walked through the tunnel.

"So, it has finally come to this," remarked Koichi.

"Yeah, I'm a little nervous," said Sakura.

"Same here," said Koichi. "Who knows what we'll face in the battle with Acme? I hope all of us can go home safely."

"To think after all this is over, we're all going to go back home. I'm going to miss everyone," admitted Sakura.

"It's not goodbye forever. We can always visit them whenever we go on vacation," said Kero.

"Yeah, I'd like to show you the Digital World some time, Sakura. There are a lot of beautiful things I want you to see," said Yolei.

In another group, Trunks down the hallway with the shaman. "How can you be so calm, Yoh? All of us are sweating and nervous and you're treating it like a day in the park," remarked Morty.

"Eh, no need to get worked up about it," said Yoh. "I know we can take him so there's nothing to fear."

"Well, Acme is probably as afraid of us as much as we are of him," suggested Trunks. "I'd be scared too if so many people were coming to get me all at once."

"As much as I understand how you feel, Trunks does have a point. I wouldn't want to be Adam Acme right now," observed Amidamaru.

Sonic used his fingers to count off every one going to fight him. "Yeah, he's got us, those kids in the front, those cops in the back, some of Cephiro's people, our strategist... He's sure made a lot of people mad."

"We're here," announced Folken.

The teams reached the fork in the road as described in their briefing. The fork was a large nodal room made from the same crystal as the rest of the temple. At the moment, the team was directly under the temple itself. There were five pathways to choose from. The central one was quite short. They could see an elevating platform at the end of it, but it was protected by a barrier of translucent, iridescent light. This one led to Acme, but they needed to shut off power before they could use it. From left to right, the pathways were marked by a brain, a gear, a muscular torso, and a book.

"You all know what you have to do right?" asked Folken.

"Yeah," replied Yoh.

"You know, I wonder what would happen if I were to enter a different doorway..." remarked Urd.

"Uh, Urd, I don't think that's a good idea," warned Belldandy, concerned about where this was about to lead.

"Yeah, I think you should listen to sis this time," advised Skuld.

"What could possibly happen?" said Urd, who thrust her hand into the ki doorway. A loud 'BZZZZT' sound echoed in the room as a surge of electricity ran through Urd's body. "YAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Urd collapsed onto the ground, her hair still standing on end from the electricity. Everyone but her sisters had a laugh at her expense.

Skuld sighed. "Why didn't you listen?"

"Great, now I'm the laughing stock," groaned Urd.

"Well, at least that loosened everyone up," remarked Folken, failing to suppress his laughter. "Okay everyone, let's go! We've got a madman to stop."

---

The amassed group split into five groups, four of which entered the doorways relating to the power types. The last group waited at the fork and the entryway for them to finish up. Ross headed a team consisting of his wife, the three Norns, Banpei, Folken, Folken's cat women, Lan, and Mayl. Each member had been chosen for very a specific reason. The Norns, Folken, Lan, and Mayl were there to help with sabotaging Acme's computer systems, including Ymir. The rest were mostly there for security, although some of the hackers could fight if needed.

Ross' team walked down the Pathway of Science. As they went deeper into the pathway, the hallway began to turn metallic. After a few more steps, they could see golden, circuitry-like designs on the walls as well. Ross and Naomi kept their guns out at all times in case anyone tried to ambush them. They entered a room filled with work desks and chairs. At the far end of the room was a board with a schematic for a machine written on it. It looked like the R&D facility of a typical corporation.

Suddenly, several androids descended a flight of stairs at the opposite end of the room. Upon entry into the R&D room, they opened fire! "Take cover!" cried Ross, shoving down one of the desks and diving behind it.

The others took cover behind desks and returned fire. Bullets and blasts of energy went flying across the room. Ross peaked out and squeezed off a few rounds. They hit an android squarely in the chest, knocking it down. The other androids fired more shots, but were unable to get through Ross' cover. He peaked out again and squeezed out more rounds, nailing another android in the head. It collapsed onto the ground, spurting sparks of electricity. Ross hit two more androids, staggering one while taking out the eye of another.

Urd peaked out and arced a blast of lightning. The electricity surged through the android, causing it to shudder uncontrollably. Its circuits shorted with a foul smell. The android collapsed on the ground. The others returned fire, narrowly missing her head before she ducked behind cover. Belldandy fired a blast of air which dented an android's chest. The android attempted to keep fighting only to take another blast to the chest. This one punctured a hole through it. It twitched uncontrollably even after falling to the ground.

"This is taking way too long," said Naomi.

She peeked out to fire a few shots before returning to cover. "Don't worry, I'll have Banpei handle this," assured Skuld.

A hidden compartment opened in Banpei's back. A portable rocket launcher emerged and formed on his back. Banpei peaked out and let a rocket rip. It swooshed as it soared across the room, hitting the opposite wall. It exploded with a deafening boom, blowing up a huge cloud of smoke. However, it seemed to have worked because they could not hear any shots coming from the other side. When the smoke cleared, all that remained of the enemy were severed limbs, some of which were still moving.

"...And you say I overdo things!" remarked Urd indignantly.

Skuld merely let out a forced chuckle. "Okay, maybe that was a little bit too much."

"I'll go check the stairs," said Naomi, who cautiously looked around the corner. She saw nothing dangerous. "Okay, coast is clear!"

The group walked up the flight of stairs to the top floor. They entered into a room much like a dome in structure. At the centre was a column of light. In the light's centre was the holographic image of a giant. There were seats and spectral terminals all around it for operators to input commands. Several female operators were typing into this computer, Ymir. When they noticed the team, they immediately attacked!

The women leapt onto the walls and crawled along them like spiders. This was very abnormal behaviour for humans, leading the team to suspect they were also androids. Urd fired lightning but her victim leapt out of the way. Another leapt at her, but Urd sensed the attack and lashed out with more lightning. It caught the android mid-air, sending millions of volts coursing through her. The android operator shock circuited and even burst into flame as her circuits overloaded.

One tackled Naomi to the ground, but she threw her off with a kick. She delivered a massive punch which turned the android's head backwards. She grabbed the android and threw more punches which eventually took off the head. The severed head rolled along the ground with sparks dancing out of its exposed wires. Naomi threw away the rest of the body. After the team reduced these androids to scrap, Belldandy and her sisters took over the controls of Ymir. Lan and Mayl attached their PETs to special ports and sent their Navis into Ymir's Net.

"I'm going to check the other room. Keep trying to hack Ymir," said Folken.

The Naomi, Ross, and Folken checked out the neighbouring room and confirmed it safe. It was dominated by another machine with a very prominent gauge on its front. It had coloured areas to indicate a danger level which scaled from green, yellow, and red in ascending order of danger. Folken retrieved a manual and blueprints within a maintenance closet. Folken skimmed through these documents to get an idea how this machine worked.

Eriya noticed the concern on her master's face as he analyzed the blueprints. "What is it my lord?" asked Eriya.

"This machine is a Fate Alteration Device, just as I feared. It's like the one sustaining Emperor Dornkirk, only it's linked to Ymir. Acme is using it in tandem with Ymir to regulate the effects of Paradox against him," said Folken. "Right now, Paradox is at the green level, but that will change once our team confronts him. We'd better not play with this machine. There's no telling what might happen if we do."

---

While Ross' group dealt with the Pathway of Science, Robin followed her group through the Pathway of the Mind. In her group were her friends at the STNJ, Miho and Amon. The remaining members of her team were the three priestesses of Mount Muldoon. As they walked down their hallway, the walls became like dark blue stone. The air was heavy as though an invisible presence was watching their every move. A saline smell began to fill the air, which only strengthened as the group moved further down the hall.

"What's this salty smell?" asked Miho.

"I'm more concerned about this strange feeling I'm having. It's like we're being watched," said Amon.

"There's a room up ahead. We might find something there," said Miz.

The group entered a circular room made from the same blue stone as the hallway. There were plastic tanks on raised platforms and pedestals all around the room. The central one was the largest. All were lit by bright bluish lights which made the water almost glow. The saline smell came from the pools of water in these tanks. Submersed in this liquid were several brains, perfectly preserved by the saline solution. Some were human while others didn't look like they came from a human being at all. They were alive and each seemed to exude a supernatural awareness about them.

"Brains, brains everywhere," remarked Shayla. "Does Acme collect these things or what?"

Suddenly, the team heard a shrill screeching sound. "AAAH! What the hell is that?" asked Amon, trying to cover his ears.

Despite the team trying to do the same as Amon, it wasn't an effective defence. Unlike a typical sound, it didn't seem to originate from any specific source. Rather, it resonated from within the minds of the team. "Ugggh... Its those brains!" observed Afura, trying to fight off the sound. "They're making this sound. We have to destroy them!"

Miho mustered enough willpower to fire her orbo gun at the tanks. The orbo oozed over the tanks relieving the pain they were causing her with the sound. Amon fired more pellets into the tanks along the side walls, relieving more pain. Within seconds, the two had coated all of the tanks with orbo. "Ah, that's much better!" remarked Shayla. "I thought my head was going to explode."

The team found a flight of stairs and ascended them to the next floor. There, they found an even larger version of the previous room. Unlike the first, this room had only one tank at the very centre of the room. The saline smell was even stronger and originated solely from the solution in that tank. This tank was the largest they had ever seen and housed a brain that could only have belonged to a giant. Six pedestals bearing crystal balls had been placed around the central brain.

Miho touched one of the crystals and received a flood of random images. These images came so fast that she had difficulty processing all of it. "Are you okay?" asked Robin, noticing her fatigue.

"Yeah, I'm fine," replied Miho. "I just got overwhelmed, that's all."

"What is that thing?" asked Amon.

"It's some kind of living supercomputer," replied Miho. "If you touch those crystal balls, you can see things in faraway places. You need to focus your mind on what you want to see."

Miz touched the crystal ball and focused on seeing what was happening in space. She saw that Valiance's fleet was still fighting remnants of the Omnipotence fleet. For the most part, Valiance controlled the space in orbit around the planet. Several Valiance ships orbited the planet, defending its space from reinforcement by Omnipotence. The Crimson Egg was one of the ships in orbit. Miz focused on the bridge, where Dr. Eggman was giving orders to his robotic crew. Eddie entered the room and watched the situation unfold from the Crimson Egg's monitors.

"Don't forget, we're here on a mission," said Amon. "Let's break the Psionic Lock for the other team."

---

Madison led a team of her own through the Pathway of Magic. Following her were Meilin, the Elric brothers, and the Magic Knights of Cephiro. As they travelled down the tunnel, the blue crystal of the hall turned into dirty grey cobblestone. They began to see glowing orbs mounted on holders along the side of the wall. The orbs brightened the hallway much like fluorescent lighting. From the appearance of the hallway, it looked like they were inside of a medieval castle. The air was stale as though it had been sealed away for a long time, even though Acme's temple was a relatively new structure.

"You know, this place kind of reminds of a castle from an RPG," said Fuu.

"What did you expect? This IS the Pathway of Magic after all," said Meilin.

The group walked further into the tunnel until they came into a dark, dank area of the temple. There were alcoves in the walls blocked off by iron bars. They had straw bedding on which a prisoner could sleep. A few even had the bones of deceased prisoners still inside. From the look of the place, it looked like a castle's dungeon. Although faint, the team could hear a series of footsteps approaching the area. They seemed to have come from men in iron boots. As the seconds went by, the sound grew louder.

Hikaru summoned her sword. "Someone's coming!"

The source of the footsteps moved closer and closer until the team could identify it. They came from a band of armoured knights brandishing swords. With them were two priestesses in ornate robes of white and two wizards in robes of black. Hikaru crossed swords with one of the knights, each trying to overpower the other. Ed transmuted his arm into a blade and parried another knight's attack. The other Magic Knights crossed blades with the remaining knights. While the knights kept the bulk of the team distracted, the priestesses and mages chanted spells.

On finishing chanting, one of the mages unleashed a great blaze upon Madison's team. Instead of incinerating them, a barrier of turquoise light, the Shield Card as summoned by Madison, protected them. "Oh yeah? Two can play at that game!" cried Meilin.

She summoned the Firey Card, which burst forth from her hand and soared straight at the enemy. The priestesses chanted a protective spell, sealing their team within the safety of bubbles of white light. Meilin summoned her Twin, a perfect clone made of magic. Meilin gave her double a boost which enabled her to leap over the frontlines. Once the Twin landed before the enemy spell casters, the real Meilin activated the Fight Card. A sensation of power filled Meilin's team, giving them more strength to fight the soldiers.

The Twin dashed at a priestess with magically-enhanced speed. She planted a flying kick straight to her face, felling her in a single shot. Panicked, a nearby mage rushed to fire out an unknown spell. The Twin heard his words and attacked. She threw a pair of punches which the wizard dodged miraculously. She went for a leg sweep, tripping the man and interrupting the spells. With a single axe kick to the head, she knocked the man out. The real Meilin fired a Shot at the remaining priestess, who crashed into the ground hard.

Hikaru began to push her foe back, which surprised him greatly. He never expected the young girl to be so strong. With a final burst of strength, Hikaru disarmed him. Now vulnerable, she made a felling sideways slash across his chest. She spotted Fuu being kicked down by a knight. As the knight came in for the fatal blow, he noticed Hikaru coming and parried. The two crossed blades and strained to overpower each other.

Al alchemically transmuted the ground and trapped the feet of Hikaru's opponent in stone. The soldier futilely attempted to wrench himself free. Meanwhile, Ed still jockeyed for advantage with his knight. Ed managed to clap his hands together while still struggling with the knight. He touched the sword's blade, transmuting it into water which tumbled to the ground. Surprised, the knight was rendered defenceless. Ed took this chance to shoulder tackle the knight into the ground and encased the man in transmuted stone.

The team found a flight of stairs leading up to the next floor at the very end of the dungeon. Upon climbing these stairs, they emerged on the first floor of a castle. The stairs were part of a stairwell with another set of stairs leading to the second floor. They decided to check the first floor before going on to the next. Like the dungeon, the first floor was also made of a dirty grey cobblestone. It too was lit by magical orbs which gave off white light like fluorescent lighting. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary.

It was when the group found the treasury that they finally discovered something of interest. There were piles of gold coins, some in chests and others lying on the ground. They all seemed to be there just for the taking. Scattered within these coins were various gemstones and other items of gold like crowns and sceptres. Ed took one of the coins and tried to bend it with his teeth. "It's real!"

"Where did Acme get all this money?" asked Al.

"Same way he got everything else; he stole it," said Meilin.

"Hey, look over here!" cried Madison. "It's the Destiny Stone!"

The group gathered around the gigantic blue diamond which hovered in the neighbouring room. It had a single large ring of gold encircling its centre. The diamond seemed to cast an unearthly sensation of power. Its ring seemed to emanate a faint but wholesome and pure power. On the floor was a gigantic magic circle made of glowing blue light. It seemed to be drawing power from the Destiny Stone and channelling it out as a stream of blue light through the roof. The team had found their target.

"What can you sense?" asked Ed.

"It looks like the Destiny Stone is providing power to the shield around Acme's room," said Madison. "We need to shut it off."

---

Like the other three teams, Ryo led his own team through the Pathway of the Body. His team consisted of the most prominent ki users from Valiance; Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke, Inuyasha, and Kagome. As they travelled down the hallway, the scenery turned from the blue crystalline temple to one of Japanese decor. The walls and floors took on the sheen of glossed wood. There were prayers written in Kanji all along the walls. An aura of mystery and supernatural power filled the air.

When they passed under a torii, they entered the first room in the Pathway of the Body. This room was circular in shape and made from the same glossed wood as the hallway. From its design, they were within the heart of a Shinto temple. At the far side of the room was a set of beads hanging from a metal hook on the wall. "Those are Yoh's beads," said Ryo.

There were also seven pedestals in the centre of the room arranged in a circle. On top of each pedestal was a single Dragon Ball. "...And those are the Dragon Balls! Let's get'em for Trunks!" said Naruto.

"Wait!" said Sakura.

"Why?" asked Naruto.

Sasuke pulled a kunai from his pouch and hurled it above one of the Dragon Balls. It collided with a previously invisible barrier of electrical energy. The electricity arced through the kunai quite dangerously. "That's why."

"There should be a switch we can use to shut off the power," remarked Sakura, looking around the room. "Let's look around and see if we can find it."

The group scoured the room for anything that might look like it controlled the power to the barriers. After several minutes of searching, they were still unable to find anything. "The switch might not even be in this room," remarked Sakura. "I don't see any traps around the beads either. Sasuke, see if there's a barrier around it."

Sakura stepped aside for her squad mate. Sasuke threw a kunai into the wall right in the middle of the space encircle by the beads. The kunai hit the wall as expected. "No barrier," remarked Kagome.

Ryo pocketed the beads for safe keeping. "I'll tell Yoh the good news when we get back. Let's keep moving."

The team continued deeper into the Pathway of the Body until they came upon an even larger room that the one which held the beads. Unlike the first, this one had several coffins situated along the walls. They were finely carved boxes of stone covered by lids of glass. "There are people inside!" said Sakura.

Naruto looked inside one of the coffins. "Oh man, that's way creepy!"

"Why are these people here?" asked Inuyasha.

Sakura and Ryo examined the caskets and the people inside them more carefully. The people weren't actually dead, but in a state of suspended animation. They included people from various ki-based societies including Ninja Nations ninja and Zeta Earth Saiyans. On a closer inspection of the coffins, they noticed unearthly, glowing blue Kanji marked along the surfaces of the coffins. Ryo noticed a tube running out of all of the coffins and up the wall beside them. A trail of blue energy travelled up this tube and to a location yet to be determined. Each of these tubes was marked by a number in Kanji.

"This writing is a special prayer," remarked Ryo, recalling his training as a shaman. "It's drawing energy from the people in the boxes."

"Living batteries," said Kagome. "They're being used as living batteries. We have to save them!" The team tried everything they could from lifting the lids to smashing them, but nothing worked. Kagome was panting from all of the exertion to pry a coffin open. "This isn't going to work..."

"I can't risk a Wind Scar," said Inuyasha. "I might hit the person inside."

"There's got to be another way to shut this thing off. Let's go deeper," urged Sakura.

The team continued inward where they found the final room. It was a prayer area with an altar at the centre of the room. The altar had several glowing beads placed into holes marked by a number. The only hole that did not have a number contained a bead that resembled a miniature One-Star Dragon Ball. "This looks like the controls for all of the power here," said Sakura. She tried to pull out the bead marked with the Kanji for the number one. "Uggggh, it won't come out!"

"How about that one that looks like a Dragon Ball?" suggested Ryo.

The bead Ryo mentioned was noticeably separated from the other. Sakura pulled that bead out easily. Once removed from its holder, the bead went dark. "Maybe this shut down the barrier back at the Dragon Ball room," suggested Sasuke. "Let's take a look."

The three ninja left the room. After a few minutes, the remaining three members heard an explosion boom from the coffin room. They ran there to see what was going on and encountered the three ninja fighting some the enemy. "What's going on here?" asked Kagome.

The ninja were in a confrontation with three other familiar ninja, at least to them. Team 7 recognized these three as Gaara, Kankuro, and Temari of the Sand Village. However, they not the real thing. Rather, they were clones of the originals made from the related element. The Gaara clone was a monster made entirely of sand. Kankuro was a wood puppet, much like the one he used in battle. The Temari clone was the hardest to see, being made entirely of shifting air.

Under Sharingan, Sasuke could see that they were merely constructs animated by chakra. "Be careful, these guys aren't pushovers!" warned Sasuke.

Gaara unleashed a torrent of pure sand upon the heroes. Inuyasha countered by batting a Wind Scar at it. The two attacks collided, cancelling each other out. Using the situation as a diversion, Kagome fired a sacred arrow into Gaara's heart. The arrow stunned the monster momentarily as it pierced through. However, it eventually recovered and reformed itself with the available sand. Gaara hurled a wave of sand at Kagome, but Inuyasha sliced the wave before it could get her.

Ryo immediately hurled himself at Kankuro with an assortment of slashes. Kankuro dodged the attacks and fired a wooden spike from a hidden arm compartment. Ryo easily deflected the shot and scored a massive slash across the enemy's chest. Kankuro stumbled back but being only wood, he felt no pain. The gash began to reseal itself as wood regrew over it.

Temari hurled a blast of air, which the ninjas evaded by hiding behind caskets. When the wind died down, dozens of Naruto clones suddenly leapt out! Temari hurled blasts of wind into the sky, blowing them back by the dozen. Some got past her defences by running underneath the winds. They hurled several punches and kicks which she evaded with opportunely timed twirls.

"Man, these guys are tough. I throw everything I have at them but they keep coming!" remarked Ryo, hiding from Kankuro's attacks.

Sasuke ducked under a casket. "There chakra reserves aren't depleting. Something is continuously feeding them new chakra."

"It might be the coffins. If I could figure out a way of shutting the power, I could stop them," said Sakura. "I think that board with the beads might be the answer."

"Okay Sakura, go back and use the board. We'll hold out here," said Ryo.

Sakura ran back to the room with the slotted board. Kankuro hurled a wooden stake towards her back. Sasuke stepped out from hiding and deflected the projectile with his kunai. Naruto summoned more Shadow Clones and sicced them on Kankuro. The wooden ninja fired stakes like a machinegun, spearing one clone after the other. However, their distraction paid dividends since Sakura had reached the hallway safely.

Gaara hurled a mass of sand upon Kagome. "Kagome!" shouted Inuyasha, running to her aid. He put himself in the path of the sand so that Kagome could escape.

The sand piled on top of Inuyasha. "Inuyasha!" she cried. She saw the Tessaiga being washed down the room by the sand. The sand burst into the sky and an enraged Inuyasha emerged from it. His eyes were red with supernatural fury, as though possessed by a demon. "Oh no, not now!"

Gaara attempted to dump more sand upon Inuyasha. It caught his arm but with supernatural strength, he ripped through the sand with his claws! Inuyasha raced at Gaara and delivered several slashes to his body. Gaara crumbled into a pile of sand, trying to reform himself from the tremendous damage he had sustained. The half-demon rushed Kankuro, ripped him into wood chunks. He did the same to Temari, dissipating her into the air.

The Sand ninja began to regenerate, but suddenly dissipated. "Sakura must have done it!" said Naruto.

Now that the enemy had fallen, Inuyasha turned his fury upon his allies. Ryo parried his claw swipes while back-pedalling for more space. "We still have another problem. Our 'friend' has gone crazy!"

"He gets that way when he loses his sword and his life's in danger. He won't stop attacking until everyone he sees is dead!" said Kagome.

"Gulp!" said Naruto. "That means us too, doesn't it?"

Inuyasha hurled a Blades of Blood at Ryo, who back off to deflect them with his wooden sword. Naruto summoned several Shadow Clones to restrain the half-demon. They grabbed anything they could get ahold of from arms, legs, and even his head. Despite so many clones restraining him, Inuyasha still continued to resist and threw them off one by one. Eventually, he got all of the clones off of him and renewed his rampage.

"We need to get his sword back to him!" stated Kagome, fetching it from the ground.

"Easier said than done!" retorted Sasuke.

At that moment, a swarm of Saimyosho descended upon Inuyasha. The half-demon turned his attention to them, slashing away at the demonic wasps. "This is your chance!" called someone unknown. "Get the sword back to him!"

Kagome carried Tessaiga to Inuyasha and thrust it into his hand. Inuyasha's bloodlust and fury vanished instantly and the wasps flew away. At that moment, Naraku approached the team. "Naraku, what are you doing here?" asked Inuyasha.

"Naraku? You're the one who helped us, weren't you?" asked Kagome.

END OF CHAPTER

New Stars of Heaven/Heavenly Leaders:
None

New Stars of Earth/Earthly Warriors:
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