Random Plot Bunny Inspired Scenes

[Darkandus]

As usual, sterling work Temp.

[Tempest Kitsune]

Here's something that spawned randomly.

Spoiler: show

Choji grimaced lightly as he settled down. It had been a tough mission, but it was over now and after they rested tonight they'd be on their way back to Konoha. The missing-nin they'd encountered had been genjutsu specialists that had been robbing caravans. He'd been hit by some sort of attack by one of their apprentices when he'd jumped in front of Ino, but from the cursing of the woman, what ever she had tried to do apparently hadn't worked. He'd had a slight headache afterward, but nothing else of note, and he had decided that it wasn't anything to worry about. Sighing once more, he popped one of the candies he'd bough earlier in the day while purchasing some other items into his mouth, eating it quickly before laying down. A few minutes after he'd closed his eyes though, they slowly opened again, with a glazed look. Getting up, he went to his back, and quickly unwrapped one of his purchases. Checking it over, he nodded to himself, and leaped out the window.

Ino sighed as she brushed her hair before bed. The fight today had been hard won, and Choji had taken a hit for her. Thankfully the big lug hadn't been hurt, but what was he thinking doing something like that?! Was she not a kunoichi? Did she not have her headband to show that she could fight?! Ugh, she'd talk to him tomorrow.

That's when the racket started up outside her window. soundtrack

Racing over, she was shocked to see Choji outside on the meadow her window faced. He had three shadow clones with him, one using a doton jutsu that was supposed to be for long-distance signaling as if it were a drum-set, while the other two had guitars. One was using some sort of raiton jutsu as he played, while the other played normally. The main Choji, who was holding a microphone, seemed to be slightly out of it even as he danced masterfully to the beat. "CHOJI! WHAT THE HELL?!"

Then they started singing. Ino's face went from pale to a fiery red. Shikimaru and Asuma appeared, having heard the music as well, but as both registered the words of the song, and who they were likely aimed at they looked at each other, and simply lost it, lurching and leaning against one another for support as they laughed. Ino hardly thought it was funny, from the glazed look in his eyes it was obvious that Choji was under some sort of genjutsu. Apparently she'd have to take matters into her own hands. It'd be sad if it weren't so typical of this team. Leaping down, she approached the four, going for the one that was the "main" singer. 'I never knew he'd learned how to play guitar...' the thought came from nowhere and made her frown. He'd been keeping secrets. Then they began to sing about "candy on the beach" and her world dissolved into red.

"CHOJI!" Ino swung at her teammate, face flaming red. Asuma and Shikimaru were both laughing too hard to be any sort of help right now, and she wasn't sure that taking over his mind would help while he was under this genjutsu.

Choji smiled widely, and gently grasped her wrist, swinging her around into a perfect spin and dipping her, then hoisting her easily with one hand as he began to lead her through a complex pattern of steps. Ino's mind faltered even as he turned every attempt to snap him out of this into another move. 'Since when can Choji dance so well?'

Dipping her once more, the song finished and the clones dispelled. Choji shook his head as if coming up from under water, before looking around and realizing that: 1) he wasn't in his hotel room, 2) he was holding a brilliantly blushing Ino who was wearing pajamas very close to his chest, and 3) his best friend and sensei were up on the roof howling with laughter.

"Choji..." Ino growled, "You and I are going to have a very long talk in the morning."

---

Tsunade looked over the mission report that Asuma had handed in. "So the mission went well?" Asuma nodded.

"There was a small incident with a mis-cast genjutsu, but it's been resolved." Chuckling, he looked out the window to see Choji following Ino around carrying her shopping bags. The young man's eyes were riveted to the girl in front of him, who had apparently just bought a new leather mini-skirt

[gman391]

That is hilarious....on so many levels. good job Tempest.

[Dervon]

EPIC WIN, TK! Glad you went through and banged it out! XD

[Phht]

[Tempest Kitsune]

Heh, well I aims to please.

[Random_fan]

Very very funny tempest.

[Tempest Kitsune]

A small snippet inspired by my earlier Bleach idea.

Spoiler: show

"Where the hell do you think you're going kid?" The question was growled in a smooth, deep voice, one I'd come to respect these last few months, even as I'd learned to fear it. I paused, and smiled a little, even though I knew he couldn't see my face.

"Thought you had a meeting to attend, Captain."

"You're avoiding the question ya little punk..." There was a warning in the growl now.

I sighed, before taking the token that had come to represent my position in this crazy world I'd inadvertently found myself in after my death. I flipped it once, like an oversize coin.

"Way I see it cap, there's four choices for me. Follow the law of the land and fight within the boundaries imposed by being a Shinigami in this war, follow Aizen and his crew of bastards, go rougue and be hunted down alongside that kid and his friends..." I waited a beat, but there was no sound coming from the man, "or option four, I quit, go my own path, and see if I can find a crew of my own to take the fight to Aizen that doesn't give a damn about how we go about it."

"Lemme guess, you're going with option four." There was a definite hint of humor in his voice now, even as a bell-like giggle rang out from the area around his shoulder.

"You know me cap, once a pirate, always a pirate." So saying, I flipped the emblem once more, focusing my reiatsu on it. I'd come to a rather interesting conclusion a while ago. Everything in this spirit realm was composed of reiatsu. So if you can sync your own spirit energy with the energy of the items around you, they can be molded by your will. Of course, being able to do so usually meant that you were on the low end of the totem-pole power-wise...

"Cap, this thing's gonna be won by tacticians, not just sheer brute force. And so far Aizen's got most of em, and the only ones left that're worth a damn tossed in with Ichigo."

"Hmph, Mayuri would have your carcass screaming on one of his lab tables if he heard you say that."

"Mayuri's a mad fucking dog, and the fact that he hasn't been put down yet, no matter how damn brilliant he is, makes me even less inclined to stick around as a Shinigami." I waited a beat. "Pass a message for me cap?"

"What is it kid?"

A flash of light in my palm, and I tossed the recreation of a Spanish Doubloon over my shoulder. The soft sound of the metal hitting flesh seemed to shake like thunder in the silence.

"Tell clown-face that if we ever meet in the field, I'm gonna gut him like a fish, let him pull off his little puddle trick and reform, then repeat ad infinitum for every time he's ever hurt that girl of his."

A beat, and then a wicked laugh.

"I'll do that kid.

[Dechstreme]

Heh, figures that Kenpachi would have a pirate or two among his unit. I almost couldn't tell it was him until I reread the skit a few times over.

[Tempest Kitsune]

Here's the opening scenes to my Pokemon/Avatar crossover.

Spoiler: show

The two lab techs chattered aimlessly to each other as they waked down the hall, barely paying a glance to the burly figure in the standard black grunt uniform as he stood aside to let them pass. His eyes lingered on them for a few minutes, before he shook his head.

'Where the hell does Giovanni hire his female help, Evil-Foxes.com? I ain't seen a gal rating less than a 7.5 since I got in here.' Shaking his head once again to get back in the game, he squared his shoulders and moved further down the hall. His target was in sight now. The flashes of light and thin keening sound that was tearing its way into his brain through the "sound-proof" door were all signs that this was the place. Palming a keycard, he swiped it through, waited a second, and then smirked lightly as the mag-lock sparked and died. The smirk dropped off his face as he stepped right into a scene from any conscionable trainer's personal hell.

There were two scientists manning a console, goggles obscuring their faces as they looked on dispassionatly. The target - an "A" Unknown that had been smuggled out of the Ruins of Alph somehow - was contained in a field of arcing energy that seemed to be leeching away at its very life-force in the most painful way possible. It was the source of the keening shriek that was now battering at his eardrums. The flashes however, were coming from a second machine hooked up to the one containing the Unknown. Spinning on a platform was a Porygon, the synthetic pokemon looking much worse for the wear as it was being constantly blasted by artificial approximations of elemental attacks. Each attack was timed so that the Porygon had a chance to use its Conversion 2 ability, before it was hit by a new element. The process took only a few seconds each time, and judging from the timer that one of the scientists was looking at, they'd been at this for more than three hours.

According to the mission brief, this particular installation was attempting to use the Unknown's power to incite some sort of elemental evolution in a Porygon, which Team Rocket would then strip to its bare coding to dissect all its secrets and begin a mass-production of them.

Unfortunately for them, PSI-Com had gotten wind of it, and they'd sent Solomon LaCroix in. The Senior Field Agent twisted his wrists, deploying the spring-loaded tonfa that were strapped to his forearms. One of the scientists, maybe sensing someone coming up behind him, turned just in time to take a straight punch to the side of his face. He fell, twirling like a drunken ballerina, even as the other man was laid out by a similar strike to the back of the head.

The plan had been simple. Infiltrate, stop the experiment and secure the lab, then let his team out and methodically clear the complex, drain their databanks dry, and level the place. It went up in a shower of energy as the first scientist's head slammed a control lever on the panel. The energy field around the unknown exploded outwards as the semi-Legendary used its powers to rip a hole through reality back to its home pocket dimension. Maybe it was the fear and anger of the creature that caused it. Maybe it was blind panic... But whatever the reason, when the portal the Unknown was intent on using opened, several other portals opened around the room as well.

LaCroix was closest to the machine that had held the tortured Porygon when the portals opened. So he had a clear view of its expression as a portal ripped apart its body. The sound it made as it died would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life.

Then there was falling. Or maybe it was flying. It was hard to tell. He was pretty sure he'd tasted blue, heard sunshine and seen music as he traveled through the portal though.

Then he was landing, rolling hard, tucking like his instructors had taught him way back when. When he came up, it was obvious this wasn't the Kanto region.

Fire, smoke, embers. Screaming civilians were running this way and that as armored men (and maybe women, it was damn hard to tell with those masks) advanced through a small village, even as women in green and gold with white face-paint moved to engage them. Then one of them lashed out with a hand, and a wave of flame blasted forward, setting a roof on fire. LaCroix' eyes narrowed, even as he was up and moving. His first action was to shrug off the tattered Rocket uniform top he had on, leaving him in the short-sleeved white shirt underneath. And exposing his standard issue Battle-Pak that had given his disguise the look of bulkiness.

Running one hand over his engraved pokeballs, he stopped on the emblem that he wanted. He only had three water types on him, and there were too many for Psi-Storm to handle, while Borealis and Maelstrom couldn't handle themselves well on land. For now he'd fight fire with fire.

Later, he'd blame his choice on the fact that he'd just traveled inter-dimensionally, and was still too rattled to think quite rationally.

"Firestorm, hold em off!" His first pokemon roared as it was unleashed, wings bowling over several of the attackers even as scarlet scales shrugged off the flames that were being directed at the strange new threat. A flaming tail whipped through the air, intercepting another stream of flames that had come at it. Even as his Charizard companion waded into the melee, LaCroix was hurtling himself at some of the armored individuals that hadn't been tossing around flames like a pissed Monferno.

They were good, he'd give em that, but what he lacked in armor he made up for in speed and flexability, even with the added weight of his Battle-Pak. And he'd been training with these tonfa for nearly six of his twenty-two years. His strikes rang against the armor like he was beating a gong, leaving more than one soldier slumped, clutching their head as their helmets rang.

Then a pained roar cut through the air, and he jerked out of his battle-haze like he'd been doused with cold water. He'd gotten out of sight of Firestorm, dammit! Making his way around a knot of enemies that were too embedded in combat with a group of the warrior-women that were defending this place to worry about him, he came back in sight of his partner, and bit back a sulfurous oath that would have made a Gengar shriek in terror.

Firestorm had laid out the guys in armor that he'd been fighting, but now he was surrounded on all sides by more of the warrior women. He was breathing short puffs of agitated flames as he tried to block the strikes of their bladed fans, but LaCroix could make out where the scales had been pierced, thick blood seeping through.

Barreling through the ring of girls, he made it to the Char's side. "Wait, stop, he's not-"

"Fire Nation Demon!" one of them shrieked, trying to take his throat out with the edge of her fan. he blocked, and then parried on instinct, knocking her ass over teakettle. The others closed in then, faces hard and merciless. LaCroix thought fast, palming a pokeball in each hand. "Love to stick around and chat ladies, but I really must fly." With that he recalled Firestorm, even as he released Air-Raid.

The Aerodactyl shrieked, recognizing a bad situation when it saw one, and grabbed his trainer in one talon. A beat of his rocky wings, and the two were airborne, the downdraft sending the rest of the girls tumbling.

[MrRigger2]

I'm up for more. If you need to brainstrom, you know where to find me.

MrRigger

[Aldraia Dragonsong]

That was a nice one, there.
One point though - the name of the Alphabet Pokemon is spelled "Unown" not "Unknown".

[Tempest Kitsune]

Next part of my Pokemon/Avatar crossover.

Spoiler: show

Aang peered over Appa's head as the bison made his way through the sky. They'd left Kiyoshi island almost two days ago on a roundabout course to throw Zuko off their trail, and since then Sokka had been grumbling about how hungry he was. Even Katara confessed that they hadn't had enough time to grab a lot of supplies thanks to being forced to flee from the Fire Nation and they were already starting to run low. Suddenly Appa gave a low groan and changed directions once again. Aang was puzzled, then a smile broke out on his face as he saw the mid-sized island that the bison had obviously seen already.

The island was covered by a large bank of slow-moving clouds at that moment, so none of them spotted the huge, sinuous shape that was twisting beneath the waves near shore, herding fish into a compact ball for another much smaller shape to shoot through.

Appa landed easily on the beach, groaning in pleasure as the sun came out. And as it did so, Aang's eye was caught by a white shape floating just offshore. "Hey, you guys ever seen anything like that?" He pointed.

Sokka and Katara both turned and looked. After a minute of squinting, Sokka's eyes lit up. "Looks kinda like a tiger-seal, but it's a little bigger than normal, and it's white."

"Maybe it's albino?" Katara offered.

"I'm gonna go check it out!" And with that declaration, Aang had summoned up a ball of air and was riding it over the waves. As he got closer, it was easy to see that this was no tiger-seal. The features were wrong, and he'd never heard of them having a horn on their heads, or small tusks. Getting even closer, the animal cracked one coal-black eye from it's position of lying on its back, disproving Katara's albino theory as well. Making an odd sound, the creature lazily flipped over onto its front, obviously sunning itself in the relatively shallow waters. Grinning at the opportunity to ride a creature he'd never seen, and that apparently didn't fear humans, Aang positioned himself carefully, before dropping down onto the creature's back. "Yah, let's go!"

But instead of reacting like a normal animal and bolting in a panic, the thing merely cracked its eye again, looking at him with what could only be called a chiding look. "Gooong."

"AANG! ARE YOU CRAZY!?" The airbender flinched as Katara's shriek reached him. The creature looked up at the shore, then rolled its eye back to look at Aang. The airbender shivered a little as he read mischief in that far-too-intelligent eye.

"Deeeeeewgong!" Suddenly the beast was racing towards the beach at an impressive clip. Aang was barely able to hang on to the short, white pelt. When they'd reached the breakers, the thing dipped its head under, bucked it's back, and sent him rocketing up before, with a loud "SMACK", its tail nailed him square on his butt and sent him catapulting towards the sand. When he'd managed to pull his head free of the dune he'd landed in, it was to the sound of Katara laughing, and the beast making a "gong-gong-gong-gong" noise that was probably its own version of a hearty laugh. Neither one of the teens saw Sokka sliding his boomerang out of its sheath, and neither did the beast, its eyes squeezed shut in mirth as it slapped at wet sand with one flipper.

But one stocky, compact blue figure did from it's position behind a small outcrop of rocks, and its cerulean eyes narrowed, before glowing briefly. Three things happened in short succession next. Sokka let fly with the boomerang, there was a shimmer in the air preceding a lanky, gold-and-tan armored figure appearing between the two Water Tribesmen, and a blue blur shot from the rocks, leaping forward and catching the weapon in mid-flight. Landing solidly on webbed feet, it shook one clawed finger at Sokka, the other lightly tossing the boomerang up and down. "Gol-gol-gooool," it chided. Sokka's reaction was instantaneous.

"Hey! That's MINE!"

And now, until you prove yourself trustworthy enough to wield a weapon while near my brothers and I, it is Psi-Storm's.

All three teens froze at the echoing voice that had spoken, not in the air, but directly in their minds. The strange creature with the truly enormous forehead's eyes glowed a soft blue, similar to Aang's Avatar state, Katara couldn't help but notice. "Um, hello?" she ventured timidly.

Greetings. I am Houdini. The creature your sibling was attempting to kill is Borealis, and his savior is Psi-Storm. Who are you, and why did you attack without provocation?

"Uuum, I'm Katara, the idiot who threw the boomerang is Sokka, and that's Aang. My brother probably attacked out of hunger. We're kind of low on supplies." All three children were watching this "Houdini" with as much caution as they could muster. The shrewd brown eyes of the being watched them all for a moment, before it turned abruptly on one heel.

Come with me. We have food at our encampment. Our Master would trade that for information. It paused, then looked at the strange blue duck-billed humanoid. Psi-Storm, collect Maelstrom and meet with our Master at the camp. Borealis, go with him. The two creatures nodded, before Psi-Storm deftly spun Sokka's boomerang on one claw, zipped it past the Water Tribesman's nose, and into Houdini's waiting hand. With that, the blue and white creatures both dove into the surf, heading for an ominous looking shadow farther out.

"PIDGEOOOOOOOOO!!!" Katara's head jerked up sharply as a bird easily large enough to carry her and her brother off in either talon descended. Do not be alarmed, he is an ally. Slipstream, gather the others and meet back at the camp. I will gather up those you miss. The bird nodded once, before lifting off with a powerful pump of its wings. As it wheeled around, Katara caught sight of something small and white clinging to the crest that swept over its back.

In the meantime, Aang was cautiously getting closer to the creature that called itself Houdini. "What are you, some sort of Spirit?" It looked at him levelly, before a mental sigh, similar to ones that Monk Gyastso had been prone to using at times, wafted across his mind, gentle as a breeze.

No. Come, the situation, as we know it, will be explained by our Master. Bring your partner as well, it would be unwise to leave him unattended where one of my brethren might mistake him for a meal. Sokka, who'd been covertly studying Houdini to try and figure out how best to get his boomerang back, gulped. Anything that would consider the flying bison a meal would have no problems eating a human. Swallowing his fear, he followed after Houdini, Aang leading Appa by his reigns with Katara at his side. As Houdini led them down a barely-there track, rustles in the underbrush kept grabbing their attention.

Suddenly two more creatures trotted across the path at a parallel to their own route. One was humanoid, with a white skull-like head, while the other was... pink? Yes, a quadruped colored light pink with darker spots, some sort of beak similar to a komodo-rhino's snout, huge ears, and lots of spines, topped off by an impressive horn on its forehead. They were grunting at one another as they passed by the humans, not even giving them a second glance. The humanoid one had a bone slung over one shoulder like a club, and for a moment Sokka was reminded of some of the older hunters of the tribe chatting as they went about getting ready for a hunt.

A buzzing sound had his head jerking up, just in time to catch two large flashes of green and another smaller flash of black zipping through the treetops. He gulped heavily as one of the green flashes easily cut through a five-inch limb that was in its way without slowing down enough for him to get a good look at it.

More rustling coming from the other side had him turning his head, and then pinching himself to see if he was dreaming. A gigantic brown rat with a kinked tail was scuttling down the side of the pat, while what looked like a fusion between a plant and some sort of large lizard-toad easily kept pace, the small stalk ending in a large flower bud on its back swaying to and fro as it moved. Riding on top of the plant, reclining against the flower, was a small animal of some kind. A dark burnt-orange color with brown stripes, it was swinging a long whip-like tail in one paw, it's other paw folded over its slight gut.

These too easily outpaced the children and Houdini, leaving them walking along the path with Appa bringing up the rear. After a few minutes of listening to debris crunch under their heels, Sokka managed to work up enough nerve to ask a question. "Um, how far is it to this master of yours?"

Not far, as the Murkrow flies. Perhaps another mile. We will have to skirt a rock formation though. So all told, probably about another twenty, to twenty-five minutes at this pace.

"Why not just get on Appa and fly there?"

Slipstream is not the only flight-capable brother I have. You were lucky indeed that Air-Raid was roosting when you first landed. He is... unpleasant, when what he views as his airspace is being invaded.

As if to underscore the statement, a shadow, easily as large if not larger than Appa, passed overhead, accompanied by a predatory scream of "AAAAAAAAAAAAAEROOOOOO!!!" Sokka, Aang and Katara all gulped heavily, as Momo chittered nervously, clinging to Appa's head. Houdini paused for a moment, his eyes sweeping over the group, before nodding gravely and continuing on. Suddenly Houdini stopped once more. Move to the side of the road please. You don't want to get in his way. Sokka wanted to ask him what was so dangerous about "him", when his sensitive hearing picked up a grinding noise, overlaid by a single word being repeated like a mantra.

"slashslashslashslashslashslashslash-" A whriling ball of spines quickly overtook and then passed them, the odd mantra fading in the distance as it moved farther away.

You'll have to forgive Buzzsaw, he's one of the youngest of us, and rather excitable. When he gets in a hurry he tends to resort to using Rollout to get around, and then fails to watch out for any obstacle less sturdy than a tree. And as Sokka looked on, the creature rolled right through a thick bush, easily shredding the foliage and branches with only a small drop in speed before he was in one side, and out the other, leaving a perfect circular hole all the way through. There was silence for nearly another ten minutes as they resumed their trek, before Houdini let out a mental sigh.

I see you failed to heed the call, Beakman. The children looked where Houdini's gaze was resting, to see an odd looking fowl, clutching a vegetable of some kind with one wing. It was standing on the remains of a rather tall stimp, one that had been freshly created, if the sap oozing from the edge was any indication.

"Fetch'd far-far. Far-fetch'd!"

"Keeping him company"? I see. Please wake him then. You can accompany us the rest of the way to the camp. The odd little bird nodded, before tapping it's vegetable on the top of the stump like it was a staff. There was a moment's pause, before a deep, rumbling yawn, and then...

"Hey, how's that bird flying without flapping... it's... wings-oh Tui and La..."

The beast that was looking down at them all narrowed it's eyes slightly, before snorting, raising a small cloud of dust from its nostrils. Raising stubby clawed arms and folding them behind its spiked, triangular head, it gave another rumbling yawn, before stepping out from behind the thick stump that had concealed it. It towered over the children, easily eight and a half feet tall if it was an inch. Odd triangular sections of its heavily armored hide seemed to be missing, leaving dark holes that no light penetrated in their wake. As it moved, Katara noticed something tricking from the holes. Looking closer, she saw that it was sand. The thing grunted, looking down at Houdini, and one corner of its fanged mouth curling into a smirk.

"Ran, tyran. Tar?" The children's eyes bulged a bit as Houdini, instead of using whatever powers it was that alowed him to speak to their minds, began to mumble back.

"Ala, zam-ka. Alakazam-zam-ka. Kazam ala kazam-ka." The monster cocked its head to one side, and eyed the children once more, before shrugging. Moving ponderously, it got onto the path, before dropping down onto its arms with a thunderous crash that had all three children and Houdini bouncing off the ground for a split second. With a muffled "Ranitar," that sounding like a chuckle, it began to move forward, each foot sinking slightly into the ground under its weight. Houdini simply shook his head.

Please don't be offended, Rampage is always like that. He's not too fond of humans outside of our Master and a select few PSI-Com agents... and the Director of course. Abuse will do that, or so I am told.

"Abuse?! What could abuse something like that?! And what was the deal with you talking with him like that instead of doing the whole mind-speaky-thingy?"

There are those where we come from with both the resources and capabilities to entrap and torture beings far stronger than Rampage. His eyes became momentarily distant. Far, far stronger. His gaze focused on the present once more. Our Master was the one to release him from his torment when he was younger, and offer him a chance to ensure that others did not suffer such a fate. There are more than a few of my brethren that share his story, to some degree, if not in those exact circumstances. As for why I did not mind-speak with him, I cannot. He is what is known as a "Dark" type, and psychic-type abilities such as my own are unable to affect him in any manner. He gave an exasperated sigh. It makes battle-field overwatch a bit more difficult, but I've yet to see anything short of Maelstrom or Landslide's level of power even put a hitch in his step when he gets going.

The odd bird sitting on Rampage's head looked back, then let out a wicked sounding cackle. It leaned down and seemed to whisper into an ear-hole. Rampage looked back, and then bared its fangs in what could only be called a "predatory grin".

"Ummmm, what's "PSI-Com"?" Aang scratched his head.

PSI-Com stands for Pokemon Special Investigations Command, the organization that our Master, and through him myself and my brethren, work for.

"What's a "pokeymon"?"

Pokemon is slang for the term "pocket monster" where we come from. It is a collective term that refers to an all-inclusive grouping of individual species, over seven hundred at last count.

Before Katara could ask why anyone would call something as large as he was a "pocket" anything, they rounded a bend and came in sight of a large beach. Just in time to see a man in his mid-twenties roll backwards away from a gout of fire. Katara's reaction was immediate, and somewhat predictable to her brother, who sighed and rolled his eyes as she drew a water whip out of her waterskin and charged forward to defend the man from the Fire Nation monster bearing down on him.

Only to be brought up short as two thick tails slammed into the ground in front of her. One belonged to Rampage, who had risen back up onto his hind legs, but the other belonged to a new beast. Even more heavily armored than Rampage, its skin was a dull black, with the exception of gleaming light gray steel that made up bands around its knees and elbows, sharp claws, a strange "helmet" configuration with two horns jutting through it, and an even heavier layer of armor plating that ran down its back. Its bright blue eyes studied her for a moment, before it shook its head in negation.

"Why won't you let me help him?!" She demanded of it. Aang spoke up, tugging at Katara's sleeve.

"Uh, I don't think he actually needs any help Katara." The girl looked, and was shocked to see the man sidestepping the blasts of flame by the barest of margins, even as he backed himself into a corner against a large outcropping of rock. Sokka shouted out a warning as the beast inhaled heavily, but even as it released a torrent of flame, the man pushed off the rock, sliding under the creature's legs and rolling several feet to the side to avoid the lashing tail. The creature, attempting to follow him with the flame, ended up doing a somersault, landing heavily on its back with a pained groan. The man got up, dusted his strange black and white outfit off, and then glared at the monster.

"You done? I was just checking your wounds Firestorm, and I'm sorry I opened one of them back up that was right on top of a major nerve cluster, but I had to get that splinter out. Who knows what kind of bacteria there are here? I'd rather have you a little sore and battle-ready instead of dying of some infection." He looked up as Houdini made a coughing noise, and then his face brightened. "get up ya lazy son of a Slowpoke, we've got guests. Get a cookfire going, Psi-Storm should be back with the rest of those fish they caught any minute." So saying, he made his way straight for the children and the bison, bypassing all the creatures that had passed them on their way, and one more that they hadn't seen yet, a gigantic blue sea-serpent with wicked fangs in its gaping mouth. Reaching them, he offered his hand.

"Howdy, name's Solomon LaCroix, but most people just call me LaCroix. Who're you?"

[Random_fan]

I'm liking it so far.

[Dechstreme]

Yep, very good. When is more coming, or are you hard at work with Power of Diplomacy?

[Tempest Kitsune]

been working on both Power of Diplomacy and Unknown Elements (the Avatar/Pokemon crossover), but I wanted to put this up as well. Bits of scenes from an OC-insert Bleach bunny I had a while back.

Warning for military potty mouth.

Spoiler: show

I was staring at the spot still. Same spot that I'd been staring at for the past few hours, ever since I'd stepped out into the street, heard the roar of an engine, and felt that soul-crushing pain before everything had melted away into blackness. Now though, you couldn't even see the bloodstain that had been there to mark the place where I'd...

"Dammit, admit it to yourself at least Crevan, where you died," I snarled to myself. I looked heavenward, not even acknowledging the cars that were passing through my incorporeal body every now and then. "If there's any justice in the universe, this is where a hot blue-haired chick on an oar shows up to tell me I wasn't supposed to bite the big one today!"

Sure, I knew that I was screaming at an uncaring sky, but what the hell, it was cathartic.

"You know, that sort of thing can't be healthy." I turned on one heel to see some guy in black robes. The thing that caught my undivided attention though, was the damn sword in his hand. "Now just hold still and I'll-OOF!"

I stepped back out of his reach after I'd applied the fist to his gut, balanced on my heels and ready for anything. At least that's what I hoped I looked like. And god I wish I'd had my combat knife on me when that car had hit me. Everything else had "come with" when I'd died, and right now a weapon would have been nice, even if it would've looked like a toothpick in comparison to this guy's blade.

"I don't know who the hell you are, or what the hell you are, but if you think that this soldier is gonna stand there and let you carve his ass up, you've got another thing coming asshole. You want a piece of Brody Crevan, you're gonna have to work for it!"

----

I stared holes in the bastard's face as we both stepped onto the mat. He was smirking like a damned cocksure fool. Just like he'd been after I'd been reprimanded for striking a fellow student... not ten minutes after I'd pulled his carcass off of a shrieking girl half his size. I grit my teeth as his smirk widened, one hand gripping the hilt of the wazikashi that had become my constant training companion since we'd been issued our personal zanpakto for our first live-steel training a few weeks ago. And for a second, I could have sworn I felt an answering pulse of anger.

"This will be a straight match, no kido or shunpo allowed. Remember, you are fighting in view of a selection of the Captains of the Gotei 13. Do not dishonor their presence!" I barely repressed a snort at the proctor's tone. After the first few months here, most of what remained of my (rather lax to begin with) military discipline had fallen to the wayside. Sparing an eye, I took a glance to the side, and felt one brow arch slightly.

The two big guys were easy enough to identify. Captain Zaraki with his spiked hair and wicked looking eyepatch, and Captain Komamura with his intimidating bucket-helmet (Hey, it gave me Vader-flashbacks, okay?). On either side of them was the rather dainty looking Captain Soifon, and the freakily Joker-esque Captain Kurotsuchi (possibly the only shinigami that creeped me out more than either of the two mentioned was Lieutenant Gin, a smile like that was not natural, no matter what the hell he said!)

"Combatant's ready?!" Oh hell was I ready.
"BEGIN!"

From the start it was obvious that this guy had been training most of his life (afterlife?) to handle a blade. The fact that he was wielding a full katana against my foot-long wazikashi didn't help matters either. "Tch, I don't see why they even let you into this room," the bastard muttered to me as I dodged another slash, "it's obvious that you're nothing more than a low-class no-one, and to think you stood a chance against a Noble like me... pathetic."

"So I'm not nobility, and that makes me pathetic?" I didn't bother keeping my voice down. "Seems to me that you're the more pathetic of us. I mean, the only way you can get a woman to so much as speak to you is by force. And what's more pathetic than that?"

*CLANG!!! and there went my zanpakto. Guess trying to pull a page out of Spider-Man's book didn't work out too well. Note to self, work on my witty combat banter.

"You little-!" And there was the opening I needed.

WHAM-WHAM! he howled as I rushed him, knocking the sword out of his hands with two quick knife-hand strikes to the wrist. Before the proctor could open his mouth, I laid into the stunned bastard. Fists, feet, elbows, knees, I was a whirling dervish of pain as I used every Krav Maga lesson I'd ever received during my period of being stationed in LA as a recruiter to their utmost effect. After almost a minute of continuous pummeling, I decided to finish it with a little flare. A rising knee-strike had him screaming in agony as I compacted both his testicles, and then slamming forward, I smashed into the top of his skull with my own, considerably harder (according to my trainers) head. Turning on my heel, and trying not to stumble as stars flashed before my eyes, I walked over and reclaimed my zanpakto, before glaring at the moaning pile of flesh.

"And the next time a lady says "no", I hope you listen, asshole." With that, I turned, gave a short bow to the assembled captains, and took my leave.

The ass-chewing I got from the proctor afterward was worth it.

----

"So, you're sure that I can't make you give up?" The orange-haired kid scowled heavily at me, breathing hard even as some blood dripped down his face. He really should get that checked out.

"I'll take that as a "no" then. Fine, knock yourself out." Getting up from where I'd been sitting on the steps leading to the prisoner's cell, I hooked one thumb into the sash of my uniform. "Just be careful, alright?"

He scowled, and opened his mouth to speak (probably to ask what kind of game I was playing), when a familiar spiritual pressure washed over the both of us. Captain Byakuya descended, touching down lightly and giving me a cold glare.

"You have disobeyed your orders. You shall be punished."

I gotta say this, my time in the 11th has not had a good effect on my people skills. Especially people that I was pissed at to begin with.

"Take it up with my captain. And I obeyed my orders to the damn letter. I was ordered to "attempt to stop the Ryoka." Nothing about how I was to attempt it, or how hard I was to attempt to stop them. You've got a problem with that, as I said, take it up with my captain you cold-blooded, back-stabbing piece of shit." I clapped one hand over my mouth as the Captain's reiatsu spiked heavily for a moment, nearly sending me to my knees before I regained control of myself. Crap, me and my "call-em-as-I-see-em" attitude. The kid let out a snort of suppressed laughter, and the Captain's focus shifted to him.

"You don't learn, do you, boy?" His gaze flicked back to me. "Stay. I will deal with you after I have dealt with the Ryoka." With that, both of them drew their zanpakto. And I flash-stepped the hell out of there. Byakuya may have been a Captain, but I answered to Captain Kenpachi only. Besides, the story of what I'd just done should have been worth a few (read: several) free rounds of drinks down at 11th HQ. When (hopefully "if", but I wasn't about to kid myself) Byakuya showed up, he was probably gonna be pissed, and I wanted to both be blitzed, and have plenty of backup when that happened.

----

"Where the hell do you think you're going kid?" The question was growled in a smooth, deep voice, one I'd come to respect these last few months, even as I'd learned to fear it. I paused, and smiled a little, even though I knew he couldn't see my face.

"Thought you had a meeting to attend, Captain."

"You're avoiding the question ya little punk..." There was a warning in the growl now.

I sighed, before taking the token that had come to represent my position in this crazy world I'd inadverdantly found myself in after my death. I flipped it once, like an oversize coin.

"Way I see it cap, there's four choices for me. Follow the law of the land and fight within the boundaries imposed by being a Shinigami in this war, follow Aizen and his crew of bastards, go rougue and be hunted down alongside that kid and his friends..." I waited a beat, but there was no sound coming from the man, "or option four, I quit, go my own path, and see if I can find a crew of my own to take the fight to Aizen that doesn't give a damn about how we go about it."

"Lemme guess, you're going with option four." There was a definite hint of humor in his voice now, even as a bell-like giggle rang out from the area around his shoulder.

"You know me cap, once a pirate, always a pirate." So saying, I flipped the emblem once more, focusing my reiatsu on it. I'd come to a rather interesting conclusion a while ago. Everything in this spirit realm was composed of reiatsu. So if you can synch your own spirit energy with the energy of the items around you, they can be molded by your will. Of course, being able to do so usually meant that you were on the low end of the totem-pole in terms of raw power...

"Cap, this thing's gonna be won by tacticians, not just sheer brute force. And so far Aizen's got most of em, and the only ones left that're worth a damn tossed in with Ichigo."

"Hmph, Mayuri would have your carcass screaming on one of his lab tables if he heard you say that."

"Mayuri's a mad fucking dog, and the fact that he hasn't been put down yet, no matter how fucking brilliant he is, makes me even less inclined to stick around as a Shinigami." I waited a beat. "Pass a message for me cap?"

"What is it kid?"

A flash of light in my palm, and I tossed the recreation of a Spanish Dubloon over my shoulder. The soft sound of the metal hitting flesh seemed to shake like thunder in the silence.

"Tell clown-face that if we ever meet in the field, I'm gonna gut him like a fish, let him pull off his little puddle trick and reform, then repeat ad infinitum for every time he's ever hurt that girl of his."

A beat, and then a wicked laugh.

"I'll do that kid."

I smiled, even as I concentrated on my robes. "I appreciate that... Kenpachi." Instead of the usual flash of light, there was a slow glow that worked its way up my body. In its wake it left combat boots instead of those irritating tabi things, a well-worn pair of blue-jeans and a belt with a built-in scabbard holster. My torso was now covered by a bomber jacket with a plain black shirt underneath, while a Bengals cap rested on my head instead of the headband I'd taken to wearing. Turning to the side, I gave Captain Kenpachi and his pink-haired shadow both a wry grin and a small, two-fingered salute.

"See you on the battlefield Cap, rugrat."

---

Aizen blinked as a small figure dropped out of a portal, landing on a solid platform of reiatsu with his cloaked back to the Shinigami, staring Aizen in the eye. After a moment, the rogue Captain smiled in recognition. "So, the prodigal shinigami returns to aid his brethren?"

Brody snorted. "Feh, I renounced my status as Shinigami asshole, I figured whatever plants and sleeper agents you've got in the Seireitei would have told you that already. Not that I expected you to pay much attention to a wet-behind-the-ears brat going off on a temper tantrum. If you've gotta call me anything..." he flung off the cloak, revealing a form of light armor consisting of a breastplate, shin, thigh, and forearm guards, under which he wore a dark brown and green combat suit, "then call me a Maverick."

"And I suppose you think that calling yourself something new and training for a bit makes you capable of taking me and my Espada on?"

"Fuck no, I don't intend to fight the Espada, though I'll probably take on their subordinates. But guess what? You're not the only one to make friends." Aizen frowned as the man lifted his hands, and placed both forefingers in his mouth, before loosing an ear-piercing, and reiatsu-laden, whistle. All was still for a few seconds, and just as Gin opened his mouth to snark at the delusional man, there was a wave of spiritual pressure, rippling outwards from a central point over the town. Then another, even greater in pressure, causing the Espada, their subordinates, and the Shinigami and humans that faced them, to pause. On the third pulse, several large portals ripped open, spewing out beams of light, spearing through the darkness to land to either side of the "Maverick".

"I walked the world, and you know what I found? Human belief is a powerful thing. I found them; hidden, sleeping, waiting. I woke them, told them of a chance to put their skills to the test, against an evil the likes of which they'd never known." The dust cloud the shockwave from new fighter's arrival had kicked up was starting to settle, Brody's voice drifting out of it eerily.

Suddenly, a whirlwind kicked up, blowing away the dust. The source of the wind slung his staff over his shoulders, grinning widely. "Kehkehkehkeh, so these are what you were talking about, eh gaki?" The being was slim, wearing ancient-looking armor of Chinese design, with a tiger skin wrapped around his waist like a kilt. A metal circlet gleamed on his brow, while behind him a long furred tail coiled and uncoiled in anticipation. Simian features crinkled as he squinted his eyes at the assembled Arrancar, even as he took a large bite out of a peach he'd pulled from behind his back.

"They don't look all that tough to me," croaked another. This one was dressed in buckskin leggings with a beaded fringe, contrasting sharply with the deep glossy black of his plumage. His beak clacked as he looked around, winged arms stringing a bow with the ease of long practice and familiarity. Avian eyes widened as they stopped on one figure though, before narrowing. "COYOTE! What the hell are you doing over there?!"

Coyote Starrk looked rather surprised, looking to either side and even behind him before lifting one hand to point at himself.

"Yes you! You've been missing for AGES man! Seriously, you went out to do some Skinwalking, and never came back! Wolf and Turtle are STILL worried sick! And what's with the getup? Who's the hatchling hanging off you?" The tiny pink-haired girl growled at the bird-man, before turning her attention to Starrk, who had begun to clutch at his head.

[Tempest Kitsune]

An eventual scene from Power of Diplomacy

Spoiler: show

Umbridge hurried through the open portal into the American's rooms. She would have to be fast, there was no telling when they would come back. As she opened her purse to remove the first Dark Artifact that she was going to plant, a high-pitched voice cut through her thoughts. "Youse is not supposed to be in here."

Startled, she whipped around, and saw a House Elf, dressed in some sort of outlandish muggle clothing. He was wearing belted trousers, and a shirt, over which hung a windbreaker of some sort with a badge-shaped emblem on the shoulder. The little monstrosity even had shoes and a cap!

"Youse is not being allowed access to these rooms. Sharky is asking youse to leave now."

Umbridge glowered at the creature. How DARE it! She was a witch! She did NOT take orders from creatures below her, most especially servant races like the House Elves. "Begone you miserable little wretch, before I report you to the Ministry for interfering in Official Business!" The elf nodded.

"So youse is having a warrant? Youse better be showing it to Sharky then." The creature produced a small baton from his belt, which extended until it was almost as tall as he was. Energy crackled at both ends of the stick as he spun it casually with one hand. "Else Sharky's gonna have to jack you up."

[Dechstreme]

Oh, that toad is really going to get it, isn't she?

[Phht]

...

Well, no such issue as police brutality in UK magical world! ;) Jack her up!

[Dechstreme]

How do fried Toads smell, anyways? Is that smell hard to get rid off?

[Tempest Kitsune]

Umbridge is not a brave woman. When faced with a weapon she doesn't know, even in the hands of a House Elf, that basically sounds like a live tesla coil, I think she'd turn tail.

[Dechstreme]

She is also a prejudiced bigot with a massive superiority complex. What are the odds she'll futilely try something stupid before turning tail and running?