Heroes of the Void

Chapter 1

Rain pounded on the ruins of Hyrule Castle. Even the deluge was not enough to quell the demonic fires that raged on the barren soil. The hero of time crouched, beaten and battered, on the soggy ground. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. His ally Sora walked up to him and raised his hands into the air, calling forth an ethereal bell that healed their wounds. Green light danced across their forms as their cuts and bruises faded away. The duo looked at the ruins of the dark castle where they had just defeated Ganondorf, a man of pure evil. Sora helped Link to his feet and the two began to walk away. They stopped dead in their tracks as the earth began to tremble. They quickly turned to see the rubble rise. The silence was split by an enraged bellow as rubble and shrapnel exploded everywhere. The two heroes dove behind a bolder for cover. When they stood they saw a gruesome sight.

A monstrosity had risen from the wreckage. It looked like a gigantic demonic boar with glowing red eyes. It held two glowing blades, and a black triforce emanated evil from its forehead. This was the true Ganon.

Fires sprang up, ringing the combatants so that none may escape. Ganon charged the heroic duo with a bloodlust roar. They dodged to either side of the beast, raking its sides with their weapons. It was no use, their blades bounced off his armor plated hide. The monster spun, throwing the duo across the battle field. The two stumbled to get up, the wind knocked from their lungs. Ganon turned around slowly, preparing to charge again. Link's fairy Navi circled their heads, yelling that the monster's tail was his weak point. Ganon charged. The duo looked at each other and nodded, the message was clear.

Sora charged Ganon while Link knocked and arrow. At the last second, Sora rolled between the beast's legs and drew his keyblade. He ended his roll with a jump and slashed downward at the demon's tail. The monster stopped and howled in pain. Link released his arrow and it hit its mark: the tainted triforce of power in Ganon's forehead. It was sucked into the void, doing no damage as the beast regained its composure. It reached around and grabbed Sora, throwing him at Link.

Link dove and caught Sora, sliding across the ground, but just then, Ganon charged, slashing at them with his golden blades. Link barely had time to react, throwing his hand in the air. His triforce glowed and a protective bubble of blue light enveloped them, a gift from the goddess Naryu. When Ganon touched the light, he screamed in agony and backed away. Sora formulated a plan and filled Link in on it rapidly.

As the light faded, Sora and Link stood to face the monster that had plagued Hyrule. Ganon roared, eyes glowing like hellfire, and charged the heroes. Link knocked another arrow, focusing all that he had into it. Sora pointed his keyblade, a weapon to vanquish all darkness, into the air. A pinpoint of light appeared at the tip of the keyblade and grew as a glowing crown appeared at his feet. Link silently released the arrow, it whistled as it sailed directly toward the black triforce. Sora pointed his keyblade at the arrow, and released a shaft of light at it. The beam of light enveloped the arrow, giving it holy power.

The light arrow hit its mark and sunk deep into the skull of the demon, purifying its wretched soul. The beast stood rigid, silent, paralyzed by the light. Sora and Link seized the opportunity and charged Ganon. They leaped into the air, ready to deliver the final blow. Their blades crossed in an X formation, charged with light. Light blazed from the triforce on Link's hand, anticipating its reunion with its brother. The tip of Link's sword was inches to Ganon's face. Then in a flash of blinding light, they disappeared.

Chapter 2

Sora opened his bleary eyes. He felt like he was spinning in three different directions at once. The grey smear that was his surrounding world came into focus. He looked around and saw that he was in a gigantic, round, white room. Flat black screens of all different sizes at all different angles hung in midair. Blue disks that gave off a faint glow ringed the room, hovering an inch or so off the ground. In the center of the room rose a massive black arch with unintelligible, alien runes covering every inch. It rose several stories from the ground. The only thing visible through the ominous arch was the other side of the room, where several small, black stone platforms stood in a semicircle. In front of the arch stood a tall, cylindrical, onyx podium. However it was none of these things that drew Sora's attention. It was all the people in the room

The room was filled with dozens of other confused people. Well, most of them were people. He saw a short green being with shining pink eyes that was screaming something about doom. Another figure stood over eight feet tall wearing silver armor. It was flexing its four jawed mandible and surveying the room. A furry blue creature with red sneakers and white gloves stood upright with his arms crossed, tapping his foot impatiently and looking around the room. A tall man in shining black armor stood stock still, making labored breathing sounds as if through an apparatus. Link stood next to Sora, tense and battle ready.

Suddenly a dull, humming and thumping sound filled the room. It was a debilitating sound that shook Sora's vision and nearly made him fall over. One obnoxious boy with black hair, who hadn't stopped babbling about aliens, blacked out. The onyx podium began to swirl, becoming liquefied. Out of the fluid darkness rose a cloaked figure with its arms outstretched. The podium returned to its solid form and the figure stood tall atop it. Suddenly, all the screens scattered about the room blared to life. They all depicted the cloaked figure's dark visage. The mysterious stranger spoke, voice booming from every side of the vast room.

"Welcome contestants, to the Battle Nexus Tournament!" applause broke out from unseen spectators. "You, who have been deemed champion of your world, have been whisked through time and space to compete here, in the antiverse!" more invisible cheering. "Now I am not a being of pretenses, so I will tell you this: you are here to battle for the amusement of the Ancients. We are a people of infinity, created before time and space, and doomed to exist in our own Oblivion for eternity. That being said, it gets pretty tedious. So we hold these games to relieve our boredom." The crowd of new gladiators was stunned silent. "You have been chosen from your realm of existence because you are an unmatched warrior, a brilliant mind, or because we think you will amuse us the most. That being said, you will compete in a series of battles, puzzles, and other challenges in teams of five. However, we understand that beings of mortality are flawed, and oft need a reason to compete. Your inspiration is two-fold. The final victor of the tournament will be rewarded. We ancients will use our dark power to grant the champion's greatest desire…" The crowd began to murmur, as the contestants imagined what they would wish for. "…And any team that loses three challenges will face consequences. Its members will be executed." The crowd instantly silenced.

The same obnoxious boy who couldn't stop yammering had regained his consciousness. He yelled up at the cloaked figure, "You think that we'll degrade ourselves by competing for filthy alien jerks like you?" he called out. The cloaked creature just glared from under its hood. "Well I won't do it-" suddenly a pool of darkness opened under the boy and a black spire shot out, impaling him. The boy coughed out a smatter of blood, quivered and grew still.

A metallic, feminine voice called from the ether, "Challenger Dib has lost one life." Dib's body began to swirl and was enveloped by black smoke. It vanished and the impaling spike receded into the ground. There was no evidence that the event had even transpired. Sora was horror stricken.

"The young fool actually helped me make a very good point." The cloaked figure said. "If a gladiator dies in the course of battle, he will be enshrined in dark matter." He gestured past the black arch to the numerous pedestals beyond. One began to glow, then black miasma swirled around it. It cleared to reveal a statue of Dib. The statue glowed red briefly then returned to normal. Suddenly, at the exact spot where Dib had vanished, a shadow appeared on the ground. The shadow took the shape of the mad scientist boy. The other gladiators watched breathlessly. The shadow rose from the ground into an upright position, and features began to appear. The shadow had become Dib. The clone's eyes snapped open and it gasped for air, looking around and babbling incoherently.

"The dark matter clone created will be exactly like the original. It will even have the same memories that the original had up until death. Each Gladiator will have a stock of five regenerations. You may win more lives, or they can be taken away from you for breaking the rules. Any team that loses three challenges will have their lives reduced to zero, and will be permanently enshrined in dark matter for all eternity. This also means that even though you are competing to be the ultimate victor, if you forsake your team, you will be crippled for the challenges."

"Now onto the challenges themselves. The main objective of the tournament is to survive long enough to become champion. There will be a vast variety of challenges, from one-on-one combat, to races, to an entire brawl between every gladiator. There will be incentives for winning challenges and fulfilling certain bonus objectives. This could be extra lives, an improved arsenal, or even immunity in another challenge. There will usually be one challenge per cycle- which is approximately equivalent to twenty four Earth hours. This means that not every team will compete every day. If it is your day off, then you are free to relax, train, or sabotage other teams. Ah yes, another good point. Espionage and sabotaging other teams is encouraged, to breed an air of mistrust and fear. However flat out murder is against the rules-off of the battle fields at least. 'An eye for an eye' as the Earthlings are so fond of saying. Any murderers will have one life removed from them."

"Your arsenal for challenges will be whatever is typical for you in your home world, unless specified by the challenge. You can, however, loot weapons off of fallen adversaries and keep them, if you so choose. Your ammunition will be replenished after every challenge, and your weapons taken from you while you are in the hub."

"This hub is a space station in the antiverse, it is your new home. Every team will have their own quarters and lodgings. It is filled with whatever creature comforts you could want. After all, we wouldn't want you to uncomfortable as you fight for your life." The cloaked man let out a sinister cackle.

"Challenges will take place on various worlds across the multiverse. You will be instantaneously transported to the arena by the grand arch." The demon gestured to the massive arch. The air was filled with the same humming thumping sound as when the figure entered the room. One of the innumerable runes glowed and an image flickered across the arch. The whole arch was illuminated as it showed an image of a sprawling city. It looked so real that the skyscrapers could actually be on the other side of the arch. That's because they were. "This arch is connected to every location in the multiverse, this is a tournament of a truly epic scale. The entire cosmos is your battlefield!" It declared with a sweeping gesture. The image through the arch began to flash and rapidly change between locations. There were deserts, oceans, asteroid fields, and even the center of a star.

"I am Thanatos, your game master. However I have chosen to take a human vessel, so that my incomprehensible visage does not disintegrate your weak minds." The figure removed its hood to reveal its face. Before them, on the podium, stood a 7 foot tall man dressed in shining Black armor with a billowing red cape. He had gaping black holes for eyes, and a sinister grin.." The demon laughed a gruesome laugh. His audience stood in shocked silence.

"Now I will begin dividing you into squads of five. We have divided the teams based on shared attributes." The overhead screens cleared of Thanatos and filled with brackets. "You will be able to submit the names of your teams if you so choose. When I call your names, step forward. After all the teams are created, you will be sent to your quarters to get acquainted with your new teammates. The first challenge will begin in the next cycle. Team One…" And than Thanatos began listing names.

Thanatos called out the name of Sora's companion, Riku. Sora's eyes widened at the mention of his friend's name. When he five warriors on Riku's team made their way to the front of the crowd, Sora and Riku locked eyes. They had parted at Hyrule, and now he wished that they hadn't found each other- as their next meeting would be on the battlefield.

Thanatos continued listing teams for some time, the names would be called; the warriors would step forward, and then be teleported to their quarters to meet their teammates. This continued until only a few people were left. "And last but not least," Thanatos called, "Sora, Link, Sonic the Hedgehog, Master Chief Petty Officer John-117, and Edward Elric." The Final five warriors stepped forward. The dividing had been completed. "Welcome to the Battle Nexus, the ultimate tournament! Be ready, the games will begin in ten minutes!" with a final grand gesture, the gladiators vanished, off to their quarters to prepare for the coming storm.

Chapter 3

The contestants stood in the white round room of the competition. Atop of his podium, Thanatos stood while folding his arms, his darkened eyes overlooking the crowd with a sense of aloofness.

"Today shall be the first day of combat." The dark lord announced. His demonic voice resonated through everyone's souls. He lifted a bloody battle-axe with into the air in a sweeping gesture of ceremony. Glowing demonic runes were etched into the blade. "The wheels of fate will assign your opponent; as well as our publicity specialist." He said the last part in a barely audible voice, before clearing his throat and speaking loudly, "You shall clash with them on a battlefields randomly selected from your realms. The rules of this engagement are simple: each team will pick two of its members for the battle and they will fight to incapacitation with another duo. To refresh your memory, slayings are not only allowed, but encouraged. I know some of you may hesitate in this endeavor, but I suggest you withdraw your pitiful mortal ideals if victory is on your mind. You will be made aware of whom you will face and where you will be transported to at this time." A red streak of lightning cascaded from the abyss and set his axe ablaze with a demonic sapphire fire. He paused for a second, smiled wickedly, and announced, "May all of your sins be sublime."

A number of envelopes blazed into continuation with a small whiff of flame in a hand of one of every team's members. Master Chief happened to be the one to receive such an 'honor' on his team. He peeled open the envelope and took out a sheet of parchment. There were but two things written on it in a Victorian style font. They were 'Opponent: Team Twenty-Six' and 'Location: Antioch, Auir."

"Do any of you recognize that place or remember which team that is?" The Spartan asked his companions, his voice as cold and unemotional as ever.

"Yeah, I remember the team." Sora announced. "That was one with those odd cartoony looking characters. Oh, and that more normal looking guy; uh… Brock or something…"

Ed sighed, "I just wish we knew more about them."

"Make haste to choose your champions. When you have done so, have them sign their names on parchment." The inhumanely deep voice of Thanatos ordered. "After that, step into the Arch. You will then be transported to your designated battlefield. Make haste, for the first ones there shall be in a better position to stage an ambush."

"But I don't have a-"A pen teleported into Sonic's gloved hand. "Oh."

He then pondered for a second. He didn't know anything about Auir or the Protoss, but at least the word 'city' gave some hint as to what type of battlefield they were facing. "Alright, I'm not really the best in this case… there isn't much room to move around in."

"I'll go." Spartan 117 volunteered.

"I'm with you." Ed announced, nodding. "This should be easy!" He declared with a confident grin.

"Good. He seems competent enough, but maybe a bit too cocky." Master Chief thought. "What are your abilities, kid?" The Spartan asked.

"Alchemy." The young man asked with a smile. "I'm capable of transforming up to a certain amount of matter into whatever I wish. However, no matter can be destroyed in the process. This is called Equivalent Exchange." He explained, quickly clapping his hands and transforming part of what Master Chief thought was metal on his arm into a blade. "For instance, I can create whatever I wish using this as long as the same amount of matter as is in it is used. However, I cannot change basic elements into something else. That's difficult if not impossible to do."

"How do you do that?" Sonic asked in a stunned voice.

"I'm not sure exactly how it works, I guess you can call the energies that are used to do it 'magic,' but a lot of science is required to use alchemy at all." He than turned to Master Chief, "What can you do?"

"You'll see." Master Chief simply stated.

His teammates were young, brash, overconfident and not militarily disciplined from what he saw: definitely no Spartans. However, they'd serve their purposes. The Ghost of Reach took the pen from Sonic and signed the paper before handing it to Ed. As he finished the last stroke, the arch showed the vision of a half-destroyed alien looking city. The two turned to stare at it in awe. No one else seemed to notice any change.

"Can… you guys see that?" Ed asked.

"See what?" Sora inquired, confused.

"The arch changed… I guess each competitor sees it differently."

With that, two made their way over to the titanic onyx arch and stepped in, anxious yet confident about the coming battle.

Unearthly smokeless white fire streaked from the ruins of what was once the great city of Antioch. An alien race called the Zerg was responsible for this, having years ago conquered this world. Though many of them had since left the city after the High Templar Tassadar annihilated their director, the Overmind, a few still remained, mindlessly scrounging through the ruins. They were unable to find a purpose in life without help from a commander long dead.

Ed and Master Chief were teleported to what used to the main hub of the city. Master Chief held a shotgun and had the backup of an energy sword or scoped pistol that were clipped on his belt. Ed stood without a weapon but was ready to transmute what was needed. They stood in the middle of what was once a circular park of some sort. Unfortunately, all that remained were a few rocks, trees, and patches of cobblestone-like walkway still holding out against overgrowing grass. Surrounding the park were a few standing buildings, mostly pyramid or phallic shaped. They were yellow and pearl in color.

It was around midday. The bright sun of Auir illuminated everything around them quite nicely. High in the red skies flew few large Zerg species called Mutalisks, a two-winged creature fond of firing parasitic projectiles at its enemies. Accompanying them were many large crab-looking monstrosities called Guardians. Down below, a few Zerglings, a small dog-like alien, scampered about the city they had so long ago destroyed. They didn't seem to take notice of the duo. The other team was nowhere to be found.

"Alright. Where are the- OOMF!"

A red streak of light bolted down from the tops of buildings and slammed into Ed at supersonic speeds. This tossed him like a ragdoll into the side of a small building about fifty yards away. It then curved towards Master Chief and-

"NNNHHH"

-plowed into him. He was ready for this though, having since bent his knees slightly in a defensive posture while blocking the light with his shotgun. The light pushed him back a few feet before he managed to slow himself, kicking up dust as he moved. At this time, he was able to see what was producing the source of the light, the Powerpuff Girl Blossom. She was currently gripping his shotgun while hovering a few feet off the ground.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" He spat before tossing her off. "A kid?"

She flew a few feet backwards, still in flight, before telling him, "I'm no joke, mister."

He pointed his shotgun at her and prepared to fire, all the while telling himself "Getting to Earth is more important than her momentary suffering."

He fired a shot at her. With almost lightning reflexes, she dodged to the left. He fired another shot, and low and behold, she dodged to the right.

"This is going to be a bitch." Master Chief groaned before the teeter tot hero charged at his torso fist first, faster than one could blink.

She reeled back her arm and swung at him. He blocked this with the side of his left arm. His shields flickered and absorbed most of the kinetic energy, and then he-

"OOF!"

-slammed a slightly diagonal right hook into her with the strength that only a Spartan could muster. She glided away from his side for a few feet before plowing into the dirt.

She quickly recovered, sat up, and with a cocky grin said, "You're going to be more trouble than I thought."

Her eyes began to glow red.

"But let's see how tough you are without that shield of you-"

Master Chief interrupted her speech with another shotgun blast. She barely had time to roll out of the way.

"FUCKING. COCKY. KIDS."

He didn't wait for her to get up this time, with the speed of Sonic he was upon her, ready to finish her with a hit from the butt of his shotgun. It was at that moment that a pair of burst lasers hit him, depleting his shields entirely. He triangulated the origin of the shot and looked upon one of the highest buildings nearby. Clinging to its side about 20 stories up was one of Dexter, Boy Genius' latest combat inventions, a six-legged monstrosity of a machine that rather resembled a crab. A laser cannon was mounted on each side of its cockpit. Both still smoked from the previous firing.

"I TOLD YOU YOU WOULD-A NEED MY HELP"Dexter gloated using a built-in loudspeaker.

Another laser blast sailed towards Master Chief, only giving him a split second to move out of the way only to be knocked to the dirt by the now back-in-action Blossom. A series of super-powered fists slammed into his helmet, denting it more and more every hit.

"THIS-" She slammed a superpowerd fist into his visor. "IS FOR TRYING TO KILL ME." She struck him again with an impact as loud as a thunder crack. The young hero seemed to have a tear in her eye at the last hit. She only managed to punch him one more time before the last Spartan gripped her by the hair and slammed her into the ground with his left arm. The hit seemed to weaken her a bit, for she couldn't seem remove herself from his fist.

"Hopefully the twerp won't fire at me with her so-"

Dexter fired another shot, confident in his targeting abilities. The two streamed towards the Spartan at the speed of light only to hit a block of stone, newly transmuted by Ed. The inch deep holes they formed smoked. The champion stumbled to Master Chief's side, panting heavily. He was still recovering from the initial blow from Blossom.

"Never could stay out of a fight long." He uttered in a strained voice with a hint of his usual cocky grin. Master Chief managed a small smile under the helmet. At that moment, his shields began recharging a bit, though a bit slow for his liking. He stood up and deposited an unconscious Blossom on the ground, slung his shotgun around his back and withdrew the unlit hilt of an energy sword. He quickly ignited it, the ground quickly illuminating around him with the long blue blade of plasma.

"Let's finish this."

Ed's eyes were wide open at the sight. Blossom opened an eye as well.

"Like you have a CHANCE!" She screamed before firing a pair of eye-beams at point blank range at Master Chief. His shields managed to hold for the second he needed to bring the sword down upon her.

"WAIT!" The alchemist wailed desperately. He was too late. The Powerpuff Girl's head rolled off her shoulders while her overly large eyes rolled to the top of her skull. A plethora of blood poured from where her head was attached. In the anti-verse, a million demons all howled in glee. This was too much for the Fullmetal Alchemist to handle.

"You… you killed her." Ed stammered, shaking his head incredulously.

"It had to be done." Master Chief stated robotically. "She'll be back."

"Don't you try to pull that crap on me!" Edward shouted, still shaking slightly. "No matter how you look at this, it's wrong! I don't care about that cloning crap!"

"It's the quickest way to end this waste of time, damnit!" Master Chief shouted, sharing with Ed his angry side for the first time. "At this moment, a fleet belonging to an alien coalition hell bent on wiping out every last human is heading towards my home planet. I need to get back."

A beat. Ed stood shocked.

"Either help me or stay the hell out of my way."

"I-I'm still not going to help you kill Dexter." He announced.

"Well that's dandy, but at the moment he's trying to kill YOU!" Master Chief barely had time to grab Ed and move out of the way of another incoming laser blast. He knew it was only a matter of time before Dexter would recuperate from seeing his teammate die.

"Time to bring that thing down." The last Spartan announced.

The UNSC hero began charging towards the large, yellow, pyramid shaped building that Dexter clung to.

"Fine, I'll help you!" Ed called, still shaking slightly.

"What?"

"Don't kill him and I'll help you, damnit!"

"We'll see."

With that, Ed joined Master Chief in his 200-yard run, occasionally dodging potshots from Dexter and a few rocks and trees here or there. After a minute, the duo eventually reached a large opening in the outer wall where they presumed a door must have been. It was here when Dexter decided to open his mouth.

"PSH, MY WONDERFUL INVENTIONS CAN'T BE BESTED BY AMEOBA LIKE YOUUUU!" He taunted, his annoying voice echoing from building to building. "SURRENDER YOURSELF TO MY INSURMOUNTABLE GENIUS!"

Bad idea.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SHORTER THAN AN AMEOBA!?! YOU NEED THAT GIANT MACHINE TO OVERCOMPENSATE -" Masterchief clamped an armor clad hand over the enraged alchemist's mouth.

"We need to get up there before he decides to move."

Master Chief flicked on his shoulder-mounted flashlight to illuminate the interior. A long, three-foot wide hallway stretched on for what seemed like forever. They made their way in, finding nothing along the way including any sort of staircase or DOORS. The only features were pairs of crystals that sat upon four-foot high pedestals spread along either wall.

"Alright, this is just nuts." Ed complained. "What kind of alien race builds a place without doors?"

Master Chief was stumped as well; even the Covenant used types of entranceways at High Charity.

Ed tapped his chin, "Unless… they don't use doors." He said, smiling.

He reached out to a random crystal and tapped it. His forehead wrinkled in frustration when nothing happened. He thought for a moment, and then placed both hands on it.

Again, nothing.

"Why is this so complicated?" He asked rhetorically, shaking his head in disbelief. "Wait a minute, why would they build teleporters activated by mere touch? That would probably cause some… I've got it."

He then tried pushing the crystal down, and then to the side: with that, he was teleported away in a flash of blue light.

Master Chief blinked. The kid was as bright as he thought. He was able to work through problems under the clock as quickly as any soldier could. Could he have had military training on his own world? He shrugged off his thoughts and touched the crystal. After a flash of light, the Spartan found himself with Ed in a small windowless room, the only feature being more crystals of the same type as the ones in the hall, each hugging a wall. An additional one was near the wall that the heroes stood by, its color different from the rest.

"Alright, the one nearest to us will probably take us back; the others will probably take us to another part on the floor… so colored one?" Ed guessed.

"Sure." The Spartan said in a bored tone.

"Hopefully this will work…"

The two activated it and were whisked away to a room with about the same features as the last, save for a story tall cylindrical tube in the middle of it. There was also an additional crystal near where they arrived of a different color. They kept going up and eventually reached the 19th story.

"You know, he's probably not on the building anymore by now." Ed stated.

"That's why we're heading to the roof." Spartan 117 retorted. "With any luck we've driven him off the building. He might even have even gotten impatient and left his machine to hunt for us. I'd like to have the high ground in either situation." The roof was a desolate place, save for a foot-wide hole in it likely corroded by a Guardian's acid attack. Master Chief and Ed walked over to the side of it and looked down. Dexter was gone.

"Raaaaahhhh" A fear-inducing roar emanated from the hole behind them. The two heroes twirled about.

"Common, bring it on!" Ed screamed.

He attempted to transmute the alien material below him to form his halberd, but was unable to do so.

"Damn, crap must be very chemically advanced. I don't know how to transmute it."

Having no other choice, he transmuted his automail arm into a blade.

A Hydralisk, a large almost snake-like creature, slithered out of its hole with its yellow alien eyes fixed upon its new-found prey. It had two large scythes for arms and was nearly eight feet tall and ten feet long. It emitted another bone-chilling snarl before firing a series of armor piercing spines at the duo. The two rolled in separate directions out of the way of the poison projectiles. Master Chief took aim with his shotgun and fired liberally.

"Rahhhhhhhhhhh!"

Several large holes formed in the creatures' body near its tusked head. It retracted for a second, screamed in pain, regained its strength and charged towards the last Spartan. Ed saw this, gasped, and went at the creature at a side angle. The genetically modified monstrosity slowed, turned to meet him and swung one of its abominations for arms down upon the young alchemist who blocked the blow with his blade. The creature brought all of its strength down upon him, causing his knees to buckle. Sweat dropped from his forehead. Saliva dripped from the Hydralisk's mouth, signifying its anticipation for a quick meal. It beast raised its other scythe-like arm for the killing blow.

His Spartan ally fired another four rounds into the Beast's side with his M90 Shotgun before having to reload, distracting it from cutting Ed in half like it had with so many Protoss warriors before. The hero of Amestris knocked the arm he was parrying away, rolled to the creatures other side, and cut it open its hide with a quick slash. The former soldier of the Overmind howled in pain, blood spewing out of it and all over Ed. A deep red gash had been formed in its skin.

"Damnit! This was a new coat!" He spat and struck the creature again. Sensing an opportunity, Master Chief slung his shotgun and flicked on his energy sword. He surged forward with the deadly Elite weapon underhand. With one quick motion, he drove it upwards through the creature's skull from bottom to top. He then flicked off his sword and let the minion of Zerus hit the roof with a loud thud, dead as a doornail.=

"Hahaha that was a piece of cake!" Ed announced with a grin while walking over towards his Spartan companion, alien blood still dripping off his blade. His suit was almost completely covered. Master Chief nodded, attaching the sword hilt to a magnetic clip near his waste. "Not bad."

"Not bad?" He said while laughing. "We kicked that thing's ass… or whatever it has."

"That we did. However, we need to get going so we can find Dexter." Master Chief told before walking towards the teleporter.

Ed held up a finger, "And not kill him, right?"

The Spartan turned to face him.

"I can't promise you anything except that if I have the opportunity not to have to pull the trigger, I'll take it" Master Chief said matter of factly.

"Don't let this competition get in the way of your dignity. You're no killer."

"My dignity died long ago. Let's go."

They made their way back to the hallway from whence they came. They eventually reached the entrance hall, a bit away from the passageway in. Dexter's voice was there to greet them. The arrogant genius was standing at the entrance.

"You really thought I'd stick around and wait for you to attack from above?" He asked. "Are you two STUPPPID?"

"Why don't you come forward and say that you damned coward!" Ed screeched.

Dexter cackled at that. "You know, when those demons said we'd be facing the likes of you, I knew I honestly thought I'd be in for a fight, but that was before I knew that I'd be able to summon inventions from my laboratory! After that, I knew I'd be the origin of a slaughter! Hahaha. Still, why bother with complex machines of destruction when you can go back to the basics, right?"

A series of cloaked ticking plastic explosives revealed themselves, spread all over the walls of the alien hallway.

"Don't bother trying to teleport away; I've planted these in every room near you." He gloated. "Now say hello to god for me!" The Boy Genius laughed like a maniac. "Na, I'm just kidding. I don't believe in any god!"

Master Chief lowered his shotgun in defeat.

"Smart kid."

Ed merely chuckled.

"I think you forgot the first rule of any battle, Dexter."

"And what might that be?" Dexter asked in a cocky tone.

"Know your enemy."

Ed clapped his hands.

The ticking stopped.

No bombs went off.

Foul smelling white goo leaked out from the plastic casings of the bombs.

"What… no. NO. My beautiful creations!" He stammered, awestruck. "How did you do that!?"

"You're not the only one who knows a thing or two about science. Most explosives on my world are made out of a material called cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine, or cyclonite. I examined my friend here's hand held bombs he carries around and found they were made of the same thing. He said it's called RDX. I reasoned you used the same thing as well." Ed explained while smiling proudly. "This material is harmless in its liquid form, so all I had to do was excite the molecules of it to make your bombs duds."

John-117 blinked.

Dexter's jaw hit the floor.

"What device did you use to do such a thing?" He asked, eager to acquire more knowledge.

Ed tapped his forehead. "Nothing with but what's up here."

"Then you are some sort of magician!"The tyrannical twerp proclaimed. "Please, I must know more!"

Ed grinned. "Sorry buddy, but this has gone on long enough" He called before charging down the hall towards him. With a left hook, Dexter's glasses flew from his face. He spiraled into the ground, blood spewing from the mouth. He didn't get up.

"Dexter has been incapacitated." A booming voice echoed from oblivion. "Edward and John-117 are victorious."

"Now, we need to have a little talk. I want to know more about those powers of yours."

"I'll tell you everything I know once we get back," Ed promised.

A moment later, they were gone.