"Wow, Matt," R.D. deadpanned. "Its like this world was tailored just for you!"

Ileyna choked suddenly, and had to put down her drink as she hid a grin behind a curled fist.

"Better me than you," Matt shot back. He clenched a fist dramatically and held it in front of his face. "I'm serious all the time," he said in a gravelly voice. "I hate fun. Fun sucks."

That last word made Helena snort, and she covered her mouth.

Alasea also had to stifle a giggle at the remark, causing R.D. to roll his eyes before taking a bite out of his pizza.

"Still, though," he said after swallowing. "If this world is as bizarre as it sounds, finding the Essence is going to be a pain in the rear."

"I assume this 'Essence' you're talking about is a piece of that artifact you mentioned," Guido said. "If that's the case, then you might want to check out that fighting tournament they're holding in Tokyo Square today. It's a real 'knock-out'."

"I oughta strangle you for that," Matt said. "Instead, I'll ask what would lead you to think we can find what we're looking for at some local fighting tournament."

Guido shrugged. "Well, considering how we seem to get into a new adventure every week, and it's almost 3 o'clock, I figure your arrival on the day of the tournament means that something important's going to happen there."

"Do you know everything that's going to happen?" Hugo asked.

"Only the spoilers I read about on the Internet."

Before Matt could die a little bit inwardly at this Abbott and Costello routine, the automatic doors at the entrance slid apart. A new cat slid inside - this one was wearing white.



Guido raised a hand at the newcomer. "Hey, Speedy! Come here, I've got something to show you!"

"It better not be another garden gnome, you know how I hate those things!" Speedy walked over to the group's table and his eyes widened. "Hey, they're even stranger than gnomes! Who are these guys supposed to be?"

"Good question." Guido glanced at R.D.. "Never did catch your names, by the way."

R.D. imagined that this world was going to test the very limits of their sanity. "I'm R.D.," he said, gesturing to himself before to the others. "This is Matt, Hugo, Helena, Alasea, and Ileyna."

"I'm Speedy Cerviche!" Speedy said, shaking Matt's hand vigorously. "It's nice to meet you, even if you look completely alien and horrifying!"

"Well, someone's blunt!" Matt replied cheerfully, through his teeth.

"Hold on." Speedy extended a pointer finger on each hand and aimed each at Helena and Hugo. "If you're all aliens, then what are you two supposed to be?"

"I'm a robot," Hugo said. "You've seen robots before, haven't you?"

Speedy spread his fingers across his chest. "Well, of course! I've taken down quite a few robots in my day, you know. Granted, they were all in videogames, but I think I know what I'm doing!"

"I'm the same way," Hugo said. "So don't mess with me."

"Let's try not to shoot things we shouldn't," R.D. said to Hugo. "No matter how tempting it may be."

Suddenly, Green Cat called over to them from the counter. "Speedy! Guido! I just got off the phone with Big Al - there's a disturbance over at Tokyo Square!"

"Thanks, Francine!" Speedy said. "We're on it!"

"Here's your chance," Guido said to the group. "If you go now, you can make it over there before we can."

"Goodie," R.D. muttered. "Ileyna, you detect anything?"

"Not yet," she said, not looking up from her food as she ate.

"That's not surprising. Can't take the chance, though," R.D. replied.

"It's not like we've got any other leads," Matt said. He pushed himself up from his seat, finish the last of his drink with a fast sip, and jammed pizza crust into his mouth.

"We'll make it a race," Guido said. "First one to the scene wins. You in?" He held out his hand and Matt shook it, nodding vigorously. "All right. May the best cat win."

"Nice way of excluding us," R.D. remarked as he stood, while Alasea fished some money out of her purse so she could pay the bill.

Guido shrugged with a smirk. "Hey, when you're the best, why bother with the rest?"

The two sets of heroes burst into action. As Speedy and Guido bounded over the counter, Matt and the others ran out of the pizza parlor proper. There they entered the heart of Little Tokyo, clustered with what appeared to be traditional Japanese buildings, even if they looked a bit more childish and colorful than the norm. Guess the name wasn't just for show.

"All right!" Matt said, pulling out the folded Firebird. "Let's go!" He flipped it into the air and it unfolded into the mean-looking car, landing in front of them with a dusty thud. The other nearby animal citizens stared in amazement as they piled inside and buckled up.

R.D. snatched two objects out of his satchel as he exited out of the door, and flung one a ways behind the Firebird as he ran up to the door. "Keep as close to those damn cats as you can get away with," R.D. said to Matt as the former Core host slipped into the driver's seat. "I'm gonna slow them down when we get close enough to the finish line."

Before waiting for an answer, he ran back to the Thunder King now that it had formed; the white Chaos Emerald glinting in his hand, ready for use. R.D. swung himself into the seat and started the bike up, causing its engine to roar to life.

"Hey, man, don't cheat!" Matt shouted out the window at R.D.. Geez, R.D. was pretty grumpy. It was probably the dimension they were in now. Sure, Matt could handle the wacky to a degree, but it's not like his earlier exaggeration of R.D. didn't have some truth. He focused on the dusty street again and hit the pedal, and the Firebird exploded towards the scene of the crime.

R.D. rolled his eyes at Matt's shout. As if we're not already by using motorized vehicles, he thought irritably. Let's just hope this actually works.

He gunned the engine and the back wheel chewed up the street as the Thunder King took off after the Firebird.

They charged past surprised animals and wooden wagons, past booths and shops, heading in the direction of the square. And when they turned a corner, Matt realized they wouldn't need directions anymore.

"What the hell is THAT?" he asked, pointing at the large, birdlike monster in the far distance.

"What in the world...?" R.D. muttered as the giant bird stretched out a massive pair of blue-feathered wings. Its beak opened out to let loose a terrible screech.



In the car, Ileyna shuddered. "I've got a bad feeling about this," she murmured, staring at the bird.

"It's even bigger than Ridley!" Helena said. "And it took us forever to beat him."

"We're smarter this time," Hugo said. "Helena, you need to burn the wings so Matt can drive it down. Try to get it to land in the square so we can keep the casualties to a minimum. Make sure you've got enough room to maneuver in case it attacks you. Attack it from the rooftops if you can."

"Okay."

"If I detect Essence, get in there when I shout," Matt said. "I'll get R.D. to help me keep it grounded, but if it doesn't look safe, don't go in, all right?"

Ileyna nodded. "Gotcha!"

"There's something weird about it," Alasea said, leaning over the seat. "It looks... I dunno, out of place, I guess?"

"It's a big fuckin' eagle, what'd you expect?" Matt reached for his communicator, flipped it on, and held it near his mouth. "R.D., since I imagine you've seen the giant bird up ahead, we're gonna clip the wings and bring it down, okay?"

"You got it!" R.D. said, before the transceiver clicked off. The Thunder King roared ahead of the car and took off down the street towards the gigantic bird.

"No, I mean, look at it, Matt!" Alasea said. "It looks... I dunno, different. Like it shouldn't be here. I don't think its native to this world, Matt."

"One of Magister's hired pets," Hugo said. "You think it's working with anyone in this world?"

"We'll find out!" Matt said. A sharp twist of the wheel and the Firebird skidded around, the driver side doors now facing the carnage as they slid into Tokyo Square. Animals fled from the massive bird as it claws apart the once-sturdy fighting arena. A massively fat bear laid sprawled nearby, wearing nothing but a black loincloth - maybe a sumo wrestler? But conjecture was not something to dwell on right now. There was asskickin' to be done!

The team scrambled out of the Firebird and Matt quickly folded it up. Like he was going to risk this thing stomping on the car he fought so hard for at a distance. "All right!" he said to the group. "Ready?"

"Yeah!" Helena said.

"Good!" Switching to the wind gem, Matt lifted off the ground and arced towards the great eagle. "Let's do this!"

The bird's head snapped up in a typical avian movement as it heard the sound of the Thunder King, and screeched as it flapped its wings wildly, taking to the air. It hovered in place, flapping continuously to increase its altitude, and R.D. took that moment to strike.

He steered the cycle towards a discarded chunk of wrecked stage and lined up with the beam before accelerating. The Thunder King struck and ramped into the air, the engine making a kind of echoing whine as the bike went airborne towards the ascending masked eagle. As the bird watched and began to move, R.D. whipped out a Phase Blade from his hip and activated it, swinging at one massive talon as he soared past.

The bird screeched again, more out of anger than anything else, as the blade bit into the scaly talon. With a snap of its leg, the bird smashed the back end of the cycle, hard.

"Aaahhhh!"

The Thunder King tumbled through the air, and R.D. quickly dislodged himself and pushed off, leaving the cycle to smash through the thin walls of another building while he landed safely.

"Okay, that didn't work," he muttered as the bird screamed and shoved forward, flying towards the rest of his friends.

Matt used the distraction to swoop up and drop neatly on the eagle's great back. The ring around his arm clanked until the thunder gem was on top, and he raised his arms, his fingers crackling with electricity. "Stun Voltage!" He slammed his plams against the bird's neck and unloaded as much electricity as he could into its frame.

The bird let out a terrible screech as the electricity coursed through its body, so loud that Alasea and Ileyna winced at the sound. The avian suddenly barrel-rolled, twisting about blue, white, yellow, and green feathers in a spiral that, had the circumstances been any different, would've looked beautiful.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!" Matt grasped as many feathers as he could, nausea quickly building as the bird spun over and over. Finally his grip slipped, and he hurtled towards a nearby china shop, crashing through the roof.

Fortunately, it gave Helena enough time to act. She stood in the south corner of the square, perched on a roof above a small gathering area near several booths. She flung up her claws and unleashed a swath of fire - it rose up and gathered into a small ball, hovering in the sky. This ball burst apart into a dozen streams of fire, arcing at the great bird's wing.

The giant eagle soared past, and Alasea and Ileyna had to brace themselves as its shadow crossed over them, the wind buffeting against their bodies and whipping their clothes erratically as it shot past. The flames came down soon after, not fast enough to strike the bird.

Alasea snatched Ileyna around the waist and Hugo before leaping away, out of Helena's firing path. Behind them, the bird banked sharply to the left, shooting high over the rooftops as it made its way back to Tokyo Square, ready to make another pass.

As the bird swooped down, Helena launched a ball of fire that grew in size, until it was nearly as big as the eagle's head. A swipe of her arm curved the ball into where she figured the bird would pass through. As that happened, she was already gathering more flame.

The flames streaked through the air and struck hard against the eagle's mask, but it merely screamed again as the flames were dissipated across its metallic surface. It zeroed in on Helena and crossed the distance, sweeping over with its talons outstretched. As it came in, the roof was torn apart by the talons as they were dragged across it towards the weredragon.

Helena yelped and dove off of the roof, her flames vanishing as she leapt.

On a roof in the distance, another warrior stood, unnoticed due to the commotion.



"GYA HA HA HA HA!" the bird laughed. "That Helmaroc King's doing a perfect job! Even better, it hates sumo tournaments as much as I do!" He brought a talon to his beak. "Even when those Pizza Cats get involved, the bird can take them on all by itself! It's the perfect distraction!"

"Howdy!"

The bird warrior and his bird minions turned around in shock. Matt stood behind them, his arms folded and a smirk on his face. "Wh-what?!" the bird warrior shouted. "Where'd YOU come from?"

"Over the rainbow, baby!" Matt said. "I saw you out here as soon as I flew out the hole I made. You look pretty evil, and judging by your loud monologue, you're the one behind all this, aren't you?"

The bird warrior growled, reaching for the curved blade strapped between his wings. "I don't know who you are, but you're too late! The Helmaroc King's gonna finish tearing up the square and there's nothing you can do about it!"

Just then, a voice echoed in from all around them, amazingly loud enough for the combatants below to hear. "Never say never, Bad Bird! And while I'm giving adivce, you should mind your Ps and Qs, too!"

Hugo glanced up at the rooftops where the sound was coming from. "...that's the Speedy cat."