I should really post more often on here. DX I just feel like I'm spamming up my own topic, I guess. Gahhh I'm a shy plode. But Haibara~n, if you want to IM me you still can. =( I tried logging onto my seldom-used Y!IM but I can't catch you. Give me your e-mail addy or something so I can put you on MSN, if you want to talk...?

BSRaven, welcome to the fandom! X3 Always good to see a new face. Looks like Haibara~n's siggy is attracting new readers.

And that's a pretty bold idea, Sacrtria (me and Mercs keep saying how cool a Kallisti animated series would be), but I don't think we have any animators. Or at least none that come in here...I know the creator of Phoenix Wrong has an account, but I don't think he ever sets foot outside the fanart etc. forum when he does log in.

Jes, you know how much I love that banner. X33 And I can't thank you enough for that sore throat remedy. There isn't any 'it' to give...this 'contest' is just for fun, really...but depending on how many entries we get, I might pick a top 3 and rotate between them as my sig. :3

*eats *

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Lol storyboards. I wrote one of those out once for an intro. XDD it was horribly amusing.

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An opening would totally rock. I would so draw fanart... if I could draw. XD Seriously, though, this is epic.

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My yahoo is haibaraan @ yahoo.com. :)

Also, I'm done with the lineart for the Goodman picture, so I'll Photoshop it soon. That, and the icon/sig/banner thing. And I might be getting flash soon, so maybe I could start work on something! Hurrah! :DD

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Wow, either we're getting a lot of new readers or something's drawing out the lurkers. XD Hi Comfortably Numb. <3

And Haibara~n I can't wait to see that art. :3 Also chatting with you on MSN is fun, yay~

*is sick right now and can't think of much else to say*

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The Jazz Hands attract everyone, naturally.

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Ack...Sorry for the Double Post..... My computer messed up.

Last edited by Sacrtria on Thu Jun 12, 2008 11:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Get better soon, Plodey! We can't dine on a la Insaney Cookies without your fabulous writing in the first place! Want another?

Anyway, I do agree with BSRaven. When I saw Haibara~n's siggy, I was like "woah." I normally don't approve of fanfiction, but I think this is just in another category. The Jazz Hands hypnotize you, I swear. And when I got to that scene, I was laughing my head off.

Hmm...we could have an opening. But unless some lurking animators show up, we could do a sort of stiller thing. Like, pictures can fade in or out, with epic words etc etc, except I doubt they have chance of actually being animated, if we want to use high quality art for this. If you try sprites, we'll have a limited range of motion, but there is a greater possiblity for movement. Plus you have to un-pixilize them, so it looks nicer.

This is all hypothetical, though. But we have to start somewhere.

RECOMMENDATION FOR OPENING MUSIC? ANY COMPOSERS OUT THERE?

How may I help you? [/music composition TA]

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Hmm...
I think the music should come before the art, so we have a feeling of what should happen when etc.
Yes, I am attempting to follow through with my opening idea, but it can only work with lots of help.
First of, I was thinking of using some original PW themes to kind of kick it off to the PW fanbase.
Then, you could bring in either a remix or something new to emphasize the lawyer-to-hero turning point. However, it's still Nick, so, that's why a remix might be good.
Bring up the tempo to end with a flourish. The new piece for most of the opening should have the same spirit as the Fanart Montage, but there should also be hesitant moments, like during the indecision of the change, etc. It ends up kinda like this:

I. PW COURT (fades)
II. KALLISTI UNEXPECTED (hesitant, with underlying strength)
III. KALLISTI CHOOSING THE RIGHT PATH (bold, obvious tempo, dynamic changes, Nick is *kinda* ready for his job!)

Ahahaha. I feel overwhelmingly ambitious.

xD I'll have to try working on that once my synthisizer works. Are you a musician at all?

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So guys.



IT SEEMS WE HAVE REACHED TEN-THOUSAND VIEWS.

HAHAHA. CONGRATULATIONS EVERYBODY!

*goes to finish pic for Mercs so she can draw some CELEBRATORY PK GOODNESS*

Oh, and speaking of the recent Animation influx... *sigh* I'm still working on getting an animation program... But I'll have you know, when I do, I promise I will make PK videos. I have so many ideas, all of which can be produced once I actually have the necessary programs. Just wait, please! I won't let you down! It'll just take some time... -w- And some money. >_>; But it'll be worth it.

And just to update the other people, although it's probably not my place to do so, Chapter Nine is in progress. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP! X3 LET'S ALL CHEER ON OUR LOVELY WRITERS AS THEY FIGHT THEIR WAY TO VICTORY OVER... EVIL OF SOME SORT.

YES.

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Whooooop, Plodey and Meeeercs!! *fist in air*

Ah, and I finally have a time where I can Photoshop the picture. Thursday or the next Weekend. :D

Also, when school ends(July 1st)andwhenIgetdonewiththatLaytonDanjyo, I'll try to go for something resembling an opening. >_<

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GO PLODEY GO! =D =D


THANK YOU FOR THE 10,000+ HITS! HERE'S TO 10,000 MORE! Let's shake this forum up a noch!

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That's right, my loyal sidekick/beta reader/idea machine! Let us scribble out evil with my MIGHTY PEN OF JUSTICE, creator of 10,000 views! Hoo-hah!

Next chapter is, indeed, in the works. :3 Good luck with the opening project too, all you peoples. <3 Our fans are so very ambitious. Let's put project kallisti on the map! We're already the first (I think?) on here to have fanfiction OF fanfiction.

*runs around in hero suit making whooshing noises*

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Yeh, in a sense. But I can't really work with music on the computer, as I have no program. But I actively work with instruments. And I play in a band.



*follows suit and runs around while attempting to fly*

And to the Project Kallisti, we award... ...Ain't it purty?

About the sig competition, are we allowed to use other people's fan art - I have the artistic ability of a two-year-old =P - for them? I intend to credit them if I am allowed to use their fanart.

That's what I did. Now I need to make a new one for 10,000... UP. UP. AND AWAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!

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I suppose as long as you credit them, and they don't mind, that'd be okay. :3 Nobody's missing out on anything, 'tis more of a challenge than a competition...

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Now for a change of pace- Edgeworth abuse! (Don't worry, we'll back to our regular scheduled Nick abuse shortly).



And I don't know if this applies at all, but as long as I'm credited, feel free to use my art for anything. (And y'know, lemme know).

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I lol'd. Nice pic, Jes. I'm not quite finished reading yet... does that actually happen or is that just fancrack?

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Oh complete and utter fancrack.

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Off to write crackfiction nao...

I have to study for exams first.

... and finish reading the damn thing.

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You haven't finished?
Anywho, I, Kinokiita, have come to support our wonderful writer with more view celebrations!

*heroically runs off, cape trailing behind*

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Excuse me. I'm the sidekick? Last time I checked, you were uke.


...I need to do the front page real bad...

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I just said I had a cape... I'm sorry if that's a legal statement implying that I'm a sidekick. DunkillmeImsorry.
NO ONE CAN EVER REPLACE MERCS' AWESOMENESS, YOU KNOW THAT.
Apology

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No kino, she was talking to me. XD;; And if you don't know what 'uke' means...if you don't know you probably don't WANT to know. And it is the thought that counts, thankyee very much for the banner and the nice thoughts behind it. :3

And Jes, you know I love plodeservice. <3

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I finished catching up! Finally!

Cool beans, you guys. Can't wait for more

Though I must say I was expecting Gant or Super Pess to pop out of nowhere when Ema was escaping from the sewers. I don't know why, I just was.

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Last edited by Marshmello on Sun Jun 22, 2008 9:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

xDD Gant is crawling all over them, waiting tos strike and killlll.

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Doodle, doodle dooooooodle time.

So I've been rather silly lately, and thinking about what certain characters of the Kallisti (and Phoenix Wright) Universe would look like several years on. So, of course I drew a certain someone first....

(Please note, these are fan speculation, and not endorsed by the authors or based in any fact. Just the artist being cracky)



Now back to your regular Kallisti broadcast.

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I NEED TO CHECK THIS THREAD MORE OFTEN.

AND DRAW STUFF.

BUT I HEARD "THEME SONG."

And I'd like to remind everyone I think I can sing. XD

[cape twirl]

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...Lawl. I'm sure you're already aware of this, Plode, but I drew some PK fanart in PChat:



ALMOST DONE WITH GOODMAN FANART--PHOTOSHOPPING TAKES A LONG TIME FOR ME FOR SOME REASON DDDD:

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DP for fanart...

Ta-da! :DD

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Oh ~n, that is awesome. I epic fail at Photoshop...

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New chapter's coming soon guys I swear! D: It's like...90% done. I'm really sorry this took so long. My mum's not well at the moment, so I've had to do a lot of chores including making lunch and dinner. I've been working on this in the evenings.

I just hope it won't disappoint. DX

EDIT: NEW CHAPTER IS HERE! May be subject to revision, later parts haven't been beta'd, but I promised I'd do it tonight so HERE IT IS.

Kallisti Project – Samurai Arc – Chapter 5

"This way!" Broken Edge shouted over his shoulder; apparently Wright wasn't quite as agile on the ground as he was airborne.

"At least...you didn't...have to lift him through that open window...!" the lawyer wheezed in response. Gumshoe was far from a featherweight, that was true. And yet as soon as his worn-out shoes touched the ground, he'd moved like a man possessed, narrowing down Miss. Skye's location to the exact room she was in.

And now they were there. Still exhausted from their efforts at getting past the growing police barricade, the Blue Phoenix took a moment to catch his breath…before being silenced with a scowl from the Detective. “It’s still in there, pal.” he muttered, backing against the wall, next to the door. A trick straight out of the movies, but this way ‘it’ wouldn’t see him, while he’d be able to rush in quickly. Broken Edge nodded, a silent approval of the man’s sudden burst of competence, and drew his sword. Behind the door lay the enemy, and hopefully not Miss. Skye.

He kicked the door in. Laying eyes on his target, time immediately slowed as his vision and his blade focused on the creature's carelessly exposed neck. “HYAH!”

WHUMP. The blade missed, not severing bone and flesh but embedding in the padded back of the leather chair. It'd only taken a split second for it to react, reflexes that weren't human. It smirked, opened its its ugly maw and spoke, much to the man's surprise. "Straight to the point, as ever..."

Another fraction of a second, and like some twisted circus act, only the ninja's gloved hands were between that maw and his face. Teeth dug into his palms, eager to pierce the leather as he held open its jaws. All Broken Edge could do was push back, just try to push back, and look into those scar-crossed eyes.

He'd only seen that man in court briefly, but it was an experience he wouldn't forget. The complete disregard for authority, for any human life except his own. The scars he now bore from his own desperation, trying to blind himself from the truth of his sentence. 'Matty' had been right; this monster was Matt Engarde.

CLANG. Engarde lunged forward slightly, but the movement wasn't voluntary; it was gravity taking over as he stumbled on feet with partly-fused toes, and legs which didn't bend correctly for any sort of animal. Bloodlust turned to shock. Behind him, the Blue Phoenix stood with a now-dented metal trash can.

A clawed hand moved from Broken Edge's shoulder armour, gingerly checking for any blood as his head whipped round in a rage. The monster gave a snarl, eyes wild and red with rage, head turning to face his assailant.

"YOU-!" he started, before he was cut short by his own cry of pain. Getting to his feet, Engarde clutched at his mouth, blood and saliva dripping from the wound. The ninja stood over him, the creature spitting out a few loose teeth; maybe the last of his human ones.

"The girl." He moved his sword close to the patchy scales on the lizard-man's neck. "Where is she?"

A reptillian smirk greeted him, self-confident even in the face of death. If Wright was right – if Matt Engarde's personality had split into two bodies – his cowardice must have ended up in Matty, who had stayed at the apartment.

Engarde began a throaty chuckle - the barrier that once held back the psychopath was gone. "She..." his tongue lolled out of his mouth in a ridiculous grin, like a dog expecting a treat. "...was delicious."

The second when Broken Edge hesitated was all Engarde needed; a quick swipe of his tail and the man fell to the floor. Standing up, he immediately advanced on the Blue Phoenix, pinning his arms to the wall, making it look all too easy. The hurt and the hate and the anger were apparent in those blue eyes – he wouldn't come quietly, but this idiot lawyer turned idiot superhero would make a worthy slave.

Then a terrible screech; an inhuman screech, accompanying searing pain. Engarde pulled his hands away like he'd been burned, looking at his palms, scaled skin beginning to blister. He had been burned. The Blue Phoenix's jacket was doing its job, blue flames still dancing across its surface without burning the material. He backed away from fists coated in blue flames, heard a sword part the air behind him, and watched as his only exit was blocked by a heavy-set man he just barely recognised.

There was the 'click' of a gun being cocked. "Where is she, pal!?" Seeing the creature face-to-face, the gun shook, but the Detective held his aim. Engarde twisted round, grimacing with pain...they got lucky, that was all. He shouldn't have drunk the rest of that brandy. And his pitiful copy hadn't even bothered to show up!

But...at least waiting meant he'd face his clone in a form more gloriously complete. He could feel it as his wounds started to close; that cleansing pain that could only make him less human, less weak. And now...right on time, the chance he needed. Fate was driven by the strong, those who seized the moment.

He made a run for the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Wright, what did you do now!?"

"Me!?" Phoenix was covering his arms with his head as water poured down, and they both made a hasty exit. It did sort of make sense that he'd set off the sprinklers - flames didn't belong in an office building. He'd found that out the hard way once before, when idly disposing of some paperwork with a snap of his fingers. "That...that was self-defence! You can't expect me to get beaten up every time we do any hero work..."

"You let him get away." The man retorted, every word tinged with ice.

Again, it was a painful truth. The psychopathic Engardesaurus was long gone; he'd left only a few scraps of scaly skin behind, one of which was stuck to the hero's shoe. He shook it off in disgust, both at the escaped half-dinosaur and at himself...he'd screwed up badly this time. This was more than a court penalty, this could be someone's – Ema's – life. "...We have go after him."

"No time!"

Phoenix did a double-take so fast, it was almost a single-take. "Ema!" The Scientist had appeared seemingly from nowhere. He hadn't heard any footsteps or anything, but the young girl was out of breath like she'd run a mile. "You're okay...!"

"Yes, but there's something really bad going on in the main server room!" she said, cutting him off like she didn't have much time. "It's just up the hallway, the one with all the alarms and flashing lights. I'll call ahead and get Road Rash and Mask*DeMasque here."

"Affirmative." Edgeworth nodded stiffly, shooting one of those courtroom 'you had better have a plan, Wright' looks in his direction. "Detective, escort Ms. Skye out of the building. We'll take care of things from here."

"Good luck, Mr. Edgewor-Broken Edge!" she called, mentally slapping herself and trying to dismiss the embarrassing cotton candy colour her skin had just turned. Why couldn't that colour change stuff do something useful, like make her blend in with her surroundings? Detective Gumshoe was staring at her. What she wouldn't give to be invisible right now, and not bright pink and glowing orange...wait. Glowing orange!? "Detective...I hope you have room in your pocket...!"

Phoenix didn't ask questions as the other man bounded on ahead. Neither of them had any idea where they were going, but Broken Edge could always gracefully maintain the illusion that he knew exactly what he was doing. Each movement had an almost surgical precision, each footstep had a cat-like silence.

And the Blue Phoenix was lumbering along behind, the hallway too narrow to spread his wings. He wasn't really suited to fighting indoors...or fighting in general...but he'd have to feel bad on his own time. Edgeworth's frantic pace had slowed to a cautious tiptoe, and from behind the nearest closed door he could just pick out the sound of electricity and loud voices. Phoenix opened his mouth – and was silenced with an aggressive finger.

The ninja backed away from the door, still holding up that one black-gloved finger. What was he trying to say? Did he really not trust him to be quiet?

Then, another finger out of nowhere – making two. What was he...?

Three. And it hit him; he was counting, but counting wh-

BAM. Edgeworth suddenly jerked forward towards the door, slamming his leg down into the thick wood with a force that had been meant to be accompanied. A little too late, Phoenix joined in and slammed his shoulder, only to be rewarded with another glare and a brief shooting pain. He should have guessed...Edgeworth seemed to have a penchant for kicking down doors.

"It's about time-!" was what greeted them. "Help me get it off her!!" A young woman cried. Her arms were around the neck of blue-haired woman, who was wearing a small display screen over one eye, and throwing the girl around like a mechanical bull.

The first one in, Broken Edge immediately ran over, narrowly avoiding the snapped cables that sparked and writhed like electric eels on the floor. In one swift motion the eye-screen was down there with them...and strangely, it was only then that her face finally clicked in Nick's head. Lisa Basil, the 'creepy computer lady'! That's right, this was Blue Screens Inc...but – he shook his head - what was it about the Big Bang that kept bringing his past back to haunt him?

"Will!" the girl had let go of Ms. Basil, and was now crouched by the side of a figure lying in a heap; the Steel Samurai. His samurai spear had punctured some kind of computer server, right above his head...and did she just say Will? As in Will Powers? But...the hero squinted at her face as she shook the costumed man, trying wake him up – could she be...?

"Mr. Wright!" Penny Nichols spoke up, smiling as the giant of a man slowly got to his feet. She'd changed quite a bit, and not in the Big Bang way, swapping her huge circular glasses for some with smaller, rectangular frames. Her hair was down and her outfit was decidedly more feminine; only her freckled cheeks still gave her the appearance of youth. "I tried calling your office but you weren't there..."

"Mm mmf mmgh...." her companion started, then suddenly remembered he had to remove his mask. Remembering the samurai's heroism when that pile-up happened, and then trying to connect those actions to Will Powers, to a face that seemed always on the verge of tears...it was mind-boggling. "It's good to see you again, Mr. Wright..."

"It's...good to see you too." He replied sheepishly, glancing towards Edgeworth. He was helping a dazed Lisa to her feet, and if he was surprised, he was doing a good job of hiding it. Or maybe he'd known all along...he was so good at hiding things, it was no wonder he'd adapted so well to his ninja role.

"I...guess the Blue Phoenix persona wasn't the best choice..." Nick continued awkwardly. Why was he trying to make small talk at a time like this? "But what are you doing here? Were you chasing Engarde?" the winged hero asked, hopefully. Maybe...the damage in the room...maybe they had him cornered somewhere. Maybe hope wasn't lost. But he was met with two shaking heads.

Penny spoke earnestly. "No...we saw this dinosaur thing-" Something they'd have to tell them later, Phoenix thought. "-but who we're really after is Don Icy! We think we know who he really is, but I think we were too late..." She looked around at the wires, severed in some sort of scuffle, maybe with Don Icy himself. Had they just missed another villain?

But before his train of thought could get any further a cry of "Mainframe breach!!!" suddenly pierced the air. Lisa had spontaneously regained her senses, and blinked a few times, maybe not used to seeing the world through a haze of data over one eye.

Ms. Basil's hand immediately went to where her earpiece now wasn't. She froze for a moment, as if her inner hard drive was trying to overwrite some deeply ingrained data...and continued with a panicked look. "Welcome to Blue Screens Inc...we apologise for the technical difficulties. There...appears to be someone inside the computer...and...he was inside the earpiece, almost inside my head..."

The woman suddenly straightened up again, like she'd been given a jolt of electricity. In fact, she even seemed to spark a little. "Mission statement; release MC Bomber virus from the data vault. The Nickel Samurai''s downfall will be avenged." Computer screens, a few of them on the floor and apparently disconnected, flickered into life.

"Master..." the voice came from every screen in the room. "Are you pleased, master....? I'll...save the day...won't I?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

CRASH. A fist connected with the window, but it wasn't that of the Nickel Samurai...no, sharp glass could easily slice through a (now thoroughly clean) rubber suit.

[I can't let him hurt himself, not on his first day as a hero...] Mystic M thought to herself as they carefully entered the room, supported by her energy disc. She'd never thought breaking a window could be so messy – Matty had to press himself into her back to avoid the huge shards left in the frame – it wasn't like in the movies where a guy could just jump through a-

Her thoughts immediately stopped there.

Of everything in the room, the thing that caught her eye first was the image flickering into life on every computer monitor. A small human figure in clothes covered in glowing lines, hunched over a faintly glowing keyboard. Pushing his goggles up onto his forehead revealed dark eyes, vacant as black holes, and an expression with all the life sucked out of it. Or...being sucked out of it...

The boy turned, seemingly to flip a few switches. Attached to his back was some dark pulsating thing, pressing electrode-like appendages to his neck, gripping his body with a series of cable-like legs. A parasite. Somehow, she knew. No movement, just the steady rise and fall of its ridge-covered back as it drained its host.

"Cody..." Penny's words choked. Will took her in a gentle embrace, holding her to his steel-plated chest as she cried silently in the corner of the room, surrounded by broken screens and wires. Maya had a thing for remembering faces, but this was far from a happy reunion.

"I should have known." Broken Edge stated solemnly, without so much as a greeting to any of the newcomers. He took a step forward, glass crunching beneath his foot. "Don Icy Hacks....it's an anagram of 'Cody Hackins'. And that face on the television; the Nickel Samurai..." His fist clenched, reining in any emotions. "I knew no normal human could do something like that. I just hoped it wouldn't be a child..."

"So you won't fight me just 'cause I'm a kid?" it sounded like something the 9-year old would say, but there was no emotion. It was robotic, not unlike the speech synthesizer he'd used to broadcast his message.

"You're smart, for a fake hero." Keeping his eyes straight ahead, Cody's hands moved quickly across the keyboard, typing away as he spoke. An illusion, probably...the inside of a computer couldn't look like that. "We've already reprogrammed the Blue Screens Factories to make an army of drone bots...they'll redirect enough computer power to make MC Bomber unstoppable."

Lisa suddenly looked worried...reading her body language, Nick helped her up out of the assorted debris. "But...there's a 98.56% chance that would overload the server...living matter transcripted into data would be erased..." more barely-restrained emotion added to the tension. "...you'd...die!"

"I know what you did to the Nickel Samurai." Cody continued. Were they really talking to the boy hacker himself, or was MC Bomber pulling the strings? "But he'll win. The samurai always wins. And we'll be there to help him...we make each other more powerful..."

"But dude - the Nickel Samurai's right here!"

Cody was on every computer monitor in the room, but everyone turned to look at a single one. Near to the mostly absent floor-to-ceiling window, Matty had crouched down slightly to look at the screen. "See, I'm okay! These dudes didn't do anything bad..." he smiled.

Maya was the only one who smiled with him. She'd spent enough time with the real-life samurai to know he wasn't the flake he'd been, as one half of Matt Engarde. With time and patience, he was learning to do things himself...and being a good hero included making plans.

"A distraction..." Nick was visibly surprised; his mouth moved but no sound came out. It took him a few seconds, but he snapped to attention, thinking on his feet. "Well...can't we do something? Some kind of anti-hacker program, a firewall or...or..."

"Blue Screens Antivirus 6.0™!" Lisa interrupted, suddenly pulling a small CD from her jacket pocket. "Blue Screens Inc. cannot be held responsible for any system damage or data loss that may occur from this untested alpha build...but it might just work against the MC Bomber virus..." she finished hesitantly, looking for a computer that hadn't been smashed by a certain bulky Samurai.

Hesitation they certainly didn't need. "The Nickel Samurai is my master. He was placed under a curse, like in Episode 18, Season 3, when the Steel Samurai was slowly tuning into lead. It turned him into a monster. You must be..." The snapped cables reared up like cobras, spitting deadly sparks in Matty's direction."...his evil duplicate..."

The Nickel Samurai stuttered incomprehensibly, backing away. Maya prepared to defend him from the cables – she just hoped she could bat them away without damaging the machine Cody was inside – when help suddenly arrived.

"If you don't trust him, then why not trust me?" The cables turned towards the sound. Will was standing proudly; his voice, his attitude, it was so confident. So...Steel Samurai. "You can check as long as you want, but you won't find a hidden self destruct button like my robot duplicate in the two-part episode 'The Stolen Samurai'."

He nodded to Matty, who seemed to be in awe of his former mentor. There were a lot of unanswered questions between them, but right now, there was evil afoot. And in the ultimate crossover, the world needed both Samurais to halt its progress.

Broken Edge simply nodded in approval...keep going, keep him talking....as he crowded around a computer screen along with Penny and the Blue Phoenix. Nobody except Lisa could understand the lines of code flashing across the screen and her spare eyepiece, but it meant something was happening. Even watching was better than just standing there...

"...so I drew my samurai spear-!" Matty continued enthusiastically, with all the sweepeing gestures such an act would take. His memories of fighting costume-clad fiends were some of his strongest; times when the 'Engarde' part of Matt had taken a back row seat, thinking only of his next fat paycheck.

"You don't have a samurai spear." Cody stated flatly, glancing to Matty's empty hand.

Maya immediately leapt to his defence; a fan like Cody had been sure to call his bluff, but not so soon-! "WELL! What about in 'A Farewell to Armour', where the Nickel Samurai's gear was stolen and sold by that creepy innkeeper while he was relaxing in a hot tub?"

"Yeah. I'm not some idiot. But the Nickel Samurai swore on his honour that he would never misplace his weapons again." The cables slowly came back to life, rising from the floor, surrounding all three of them. "And to a Samurai, defying his honour is the same as death."

Both Samurais huddled against her; at any other time it would have been a fangirl's dream come true, but she was too busy cursing her inability to make an actual shield. Her spirit hands could block the ones in front of them, but with more severed cables snaking towards them, she could really use another Big Bang...

BANG. A small fireball – it was Nick who threw that? He'd never done that before! - was all it took to bring down a portion of the ceiling. The web of cracks from the earlier scuffle simply gave way to the heat, sending tiles crashing down onto the writhing wires.

The lawyer-turned-hero shook his hand, still covered in some residual blue flames. He seemed just as surprised as Maya, flexing his unharmed fingers – until a few rogue wires emerged from the debris pile. "Any progress on that antivirus-!?" he asked desperately, stomping on the things to try and slow them down.

Broken Edge turned to the blue-haired woman. If they survived this, he'd have to talk to Miss Skye about the amount of electricity-conducting metal in his hero suit. "Custom patch for 'MC_Bomber.exe' 99% compiled...100% compiled!" she answered, a box with some random computer jargon and an 'OK' button appearing. "Deploying antivirus...now!"

"Your armour isn't even real metal..." Cody said, as Matty grabbed a cable that wrapped around his leg, the rubber suit thankfully insulating him from the shock. "...you're just a fake. A fraud. My master is the real Samurai, and he'll-AAAAAAUUUUGH-!!"

There was a terrible silence as the cables just became part of the debris again. Maya's hands covered her mouth, spirit energy dismissed as Cody slumped over the keyboard. The parasite virus seemed to be in a bad way too, its eyes dimmed, legs flailing weakly and aimlessly. It had been a spur-of-the moment decision, maybe a reckless one...had they been too late? Or had they made things worse?

"Get off...get it off..." came through the speakers, a quiet voice followed by a childish sniffle. "I didn't want this! I...I just wanted t-to help..." Cody cried; finally a ten-year-old child again, he wiped his nose rather messily on his arm. "...I wanted to be a hero, heroes don't hurt anybody 'cept bad guys..."

Sniffing again, the boy dried his tears before making an impassioned plea, resting both hands on the edge of the keyboard as he stood up. "Like that bad guy! That thing, that butt-ugly dinosaur freak, he bit me! And I couldn't stop; I had to do whatever he said! I even had to activate...MC Bomber..." realization slowly dawned on Cody's face.

The virus's four, pupil-less eyes – if that's what they were – narrowed. It was still attached to its hosts back...very much alive, and if its creator had somehow given it emotions, very much annoyed.

Lisa watched helplessly as the thing drove its two front appendages into the fanboy's neck. "...I failed. I couldn't prevent the release of MC Bomber the first time..." she took off her eyepiece and lay it on the desk beside her. The slump in her shoulders, the new tone in her voice...it was very much human. "...I'm just not good enough."

A hand gently squeezed her shoulder. "Miss. Basil, you were always good enough." A lightly tanned face, green eyepiece in place over his left eye, smiled at the Blue Screens executive as she stammered and gawked.

"B-b-but...but...but...logic failure! C-commence kernel panic! File deletion error-!" she spluttered, when tears suddenly flooded her eyes. Robots didn't cry. "Glen...Glen Elg...you can't come back. You can't. You're supposed to be dead...I saw your gambling problem, but, the project...and you, the source code writer..." she clutched the sides of her head, trying to drive out the memories.

"That wasn't your problem. You were my boss, I was just another employee." He pulled up a chair and sat down at the console next to hers, glancing briefly at Cody. He was completely silent now; the virus controlling his hands and fingers, building more drones for its eventual, final attack, "I made a lot of stupid choices. I guess this is a chance to make one good one."

He clicked his eyepiece on, and turned to the woman with another small, reassuring smile. "You were always the best at double-checking code. Ready, boss?"

Lisa gave a rare smile in return. "Commence."

To an outsider, it was just a bunch of noisy typing, boxes that came and went at lightspeed, letters and numbers and alien symbols which made no sense. But from the inside, it was a thing of beauty as the source code twisted like ribbons or strands of DNA, weaving and intertwining.

For MC Bomber, though, it would have been terrifying...if it had the emotions to be terrified. In a way, it almost did...the unexplained lag, was this 'fear' some kind of side effect from its host? And thinking, it was even thinking...computer programs didn't think.

And they certainly didn't try to defend themselves. MC Bomber lashed out at the antivirus, but its bladed limbs simply disintegrated, the data vanished into meaningless zeroes. The creature on Cody's back floundered and struggled as it released its grip - programs didn't fight to survive.

The screams of the virus became hissing static, and Cody fell to his knees, out of sight. He and Glen Elg never even shared a glance, but as the programmer removed his eyepiece and the boy silently cried, they both knew how close it had been to being alive. How close they'd been to committing murder.

[File 'MC_BOMBER.EXE' deleted.]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Phoenix brushed back his spikes with a weary hand. [If there's one thing Engardesaurus...no, Engarde, Engardesaurus is what Maya calls him...though I guess it is kind of fitting...what was I thinking again?]

He flopped onto the much-abused couch, still hero-clad from the patrol just a few minutes ago. Yes, that was right; Engarde was good at hiding his tracks...it really shouldn't be so easy to lose a giant psychotic reptile, even in a city like this. And how could he possibly forget, after Team Phoenix had pursued every lead since they'd lost him at Blue Screens?

Maybe that initiation ceremony that morning had fried his brain; Maya had insisted on doing things 'the right way'. But at least it only took one of four new members completely recalling the hero's oath (written by Maya) to satisfy her; Will had apparently been a stage actor before donning the Samurai suit. Matty, Penny and Cody apparently had just enough memorized between them for one collective oath.

He smirked. Cody had been thrilled with his costume and badge, though how much action they would (or wouldn't) see was decided by Edgeworth. His concern was understandable; though the kid had emerged from the computer in a flash, tired but unscathed, it had still been a close brush with death. What Phoenix couldn't understand was how the prosecutor was struck into silence by Cody's retort; 'I know you are but what am I?'.

The Blue Phoenix put his hands behind his head and shut his eyes lazily. At least now he could relax...he heard a door swing open. Maya must be back already...

"Get up." a voice commanded. His eyes immediately flicked open, and a fireball formed in his left palm as he leapt to his feet – something he'd been practising so it was more than just a fluke. If there was a real intruder in in his apartment, he was ready, but...this wasn't.

"S-sorry I didn't say please...I...thought you might be asleep." Will smiled shyly, handing a bamboo pole to the confused hero. "You'll need this once Matty's done moving the furniture."

"But...what? Is this some kind of...." Phoenix looked at the stick and frowned, raising a spiked eyebrow as Matty balanced an armchair on each palm and moved them to one side. "...Did Maya put you up to this?"

"It's martial arts training, Mr. Wright." the other samurai smiled. Clad in his strong yet flexible metal armour, a perfect replica of the Nickel Samurai's outfit, he picked up a scary-looking spear. "While...while I was still Matt Engarde...I never really completed the training." he looked away in embarrassment. "My other self thought it was...stupid."

Nick looked at the pole in his own hand sceptically. He didn't use weapons – with his new fireballs, he didn't really need to – but he remembered how clumsy he was on the ground. He could have dodged the Rookie Crusher's horrible hair, escaped Sal Manella's slimy clutches, caught the injured Engarde as he fled...he gave a blunt nod.

"Okay. I'll try." his hand touched his spikes again. "But couldn't you have picked a more convenient time...?"

"Oh...a-about that...Maya said it'd be better if you didn't get your butt kicked the next time you fought a bad guy...and...well...evil can strike at any moment..."

It took them a long time to clean up after the brand new punchbag burst.

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Last edited by ExImplode07 on Thu Jul 24, 2008 10:50 pm, edited 6 times in total.

YAYAYYAYAYAYYAYAYYAYAYAYYAYAAYYYYY.........*GASPTHUD*

I will have art for this ASAP. Because this, this is just AWESOME.

And beat that punching bag, Nick! Pretend it's Engarde- no, Gant- no, Manfred. HEE.

Brilliant as always!

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Wow...Chapter 4 was awesome.

GREG ELG AND HIS SCOUTER OF AWESOME AND WIN RETURNS!

That's all I gotta say. =X

Ah! I love this new chapter!! :DDD

Wow...Cody was Don Icy. Your plot twists are always quite unique, Plode :O (And they distinguish your writing style--which I am quite fond of. >w<)

AND YES.

YESSSS.

DEADPEOPLEEEE :DDDDDD

...Uh. I mean.

GLEN ELLGGGG :DDDDDD

Wow. This was so megas. It was certainly worth the wait!! >w<

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So the new chapter inspired me- here's the first drawing I managed to do (very late) last night....

Having fun with what might be Don Icy's superhero costume....

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Jes, that's amazing. O_O That fast, too?

I'll let Plode answer all these replies since she worked hard on this chapter and it was mostly hers. I just stared at it, really.

HOWEVER FRONT PAGE FRIGGEN FINALLY UPDATED OHMYGOD.

If I'm missing something you did, please let me know.

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