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Dragonborn's Might makes Right by Infonticus

Game X-overs & Avengers Xover Rated: M, English, Adventure, Words: 356k+, Favs: 1k+, Follows: 1k+, Published: Aug 25, 2021 Updated: Jun 12, 2022

513Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Tanned Muscle Girls vs a Fluffy Dragon, Part 2

[The Reality Stone's Planet in the Triangulum Galaxy]

Mirko felt her body skid across the ground of the rumbling battlefield.

She immediately recognized it when her enemies apparently exploded when you hit them hard enough. Thankfully, the HunterxHunter Ken shield that she learned had protected her from most of the damage. Not all, but most of it. Just minor bruises and maybe a burn or two.

"N-nukes!" Mirko grunted out as she felt the bruises and burns that decorated her body. "Why the hell are we up against nuclear bombs walkin' on two legs!?"

And like complete idiots they fell for it- getting the bright idea that punching and kicking nuclear bombs until they exploded meant that they won the fight. But still, they had to fight.

Flipping onto her bunny feet, Mirko grunted in slight pain as she rejoined the battle. If you can call something like what was happening around her a battle. Because unfortunately for her, she wasn't the only one that had been fighting them. Every so often, someone would hit a Pillar Men hard enough that it exploded- sending them flying away disoriented like Mirko was. But through the explosions and superheated ash clouds, she spotted the familiar figure of a tall, tanned and extremely ripped cat girl fighting fiercely. But her opponent was definitely not the type of opponent they were used to though- the bunny-suited man.

"Ghislaine!" Mirko yelled out as she immediately hopped over there to make it an unfair fight for the baddie.

The veteran cat girl swordswoman was slashing away with her 'legendary' sword Hiramune while the bunny-suited man competently blocked and parried with his black mace like he wasn't fighting their physically-capable fighter in their family. And seeing him be the first to NOT explode when hit clued Mirko in that maybe he really was the real Hevnokren.

"Hey you in the fursuit! Do you like feet!" Mirko shouted with a grin as she treated him to a big flying kick- her steel-plated bunny foot smacking straight on his temple.

At least, that was what she was aiming for before he parried her leg with his mace- the thick piece of blackened metal slammed against her Ken shield with worrying levels of damage. Between the Pillar Man that exploded from her kick and now just this hit, it had cleaved off an entire quarter of her mana reserves! But thankfully, Ghislaine was still there to take advantage of the distraction.

"I am your opponent!" Mirko heard her roar out as she came in with a swing that should have decapitated the man- if only he hadn't blocked it. And together, they rained strikes and blows at him. But somehow, he just wouldn't budge- all their attacks didn't even garner even so much as a wince from him! Rude as fuck, bro!

"What!" Mirko frustratedly grunted as she gave him a roundhouse kick to his side again.

"Are!" Another kick.

"You made of!?" She finished with another kick to keep things unpredictable (because doing precisely what she had done 18 times before was exactly the last thing he'd expect her to do this time!), but this time she couldn't dodge his counterattack, and her Ken shield ate mace to the face. Then a massive shadow covered the battlefield and everyone on the entire battlefield glanced up to see a terrifying sight.

"RU! DE! US!"

A silence came over the battlefield as a truly massive dragon had arrived on the battlefield. A draconic head as large as a semi-trailer truck. A wingspan larger than any airplane Mirko had ever seen. Claws large enough to grip around cars, but that wasn't what made everyone stand in silence. No, if it was a regular dragon, she'd just take it in stride because she was getting used to the weirdness.

"Oh, you have got to be shitting me!" Mirko's disbelieving shout echoed through the silent valley.

The massive dragon was flying straight at them… in its bunny-suit. Great big floppy bunny ears flapping in the air. The floofy cloth that it wore made it look like a massive round ball of fluff that swayed in the winds. And it's claws were sticking out from fat, fluffy bunny paws.

Mirko wasn't even angry, just disappointed. This was worse than that time when obese old men cosplayed as her in every meet and greet! And without even thinking about it, her hand reached out to grab the bunny-suited man by the front of his bunny-suit, and she levelled her severely disappointed expression at him.

"Really?! Fucking really?!" Mirko deadpanned- her gloved hand gesturing to the fluffy dragon.

"Heh, we're cute and fluffy." the bunny-suited man chortled to her face.

The dragon swooped down from the dusty, choked red-brown sky on its great wings. Then a terrifying question came to Mirko's mind, and she immediately said it out loud.

"Oh fuck, does this one explode too-"

Then everything EXPLODED again.

And, unfortunately for them all, the dragon exploding was also triggering all the Pillar Men's explosions as well it seemed. Another explosion sent her skidding across the hard ground just as she tried to regain her balance… and then another explosion blew her off her feet. And another, and another, and another. And all Mirko could do was strengthen her Ken shield as hard as she could as the explosions just kept coming. The ground trembled, and the air grew hot and parched. And the bruises and burns kept piling on her body as she was tossed around by the force of the explosions.

Then suddenly, she was falling.

A pitch black abyss stretched out beneath her and cliff walls as high as skyscrapers loomed over her from all sides. The entire valley that they were fighting on somehow sank like a sinkhole. Which was actually a good thing for her as Mirko finally found that lull in explosions as she needed to regain her bearings. Manoeuvring mid-air was easy for people like them, but it was the sight all around her that concerned her.

Mirko saw as all around her, her family members were propelling themselves into caves on the cliff walls. Some less injured than her, some more so. They could have survived the fall, but she spotted a few more Pillar Men falling with them. And after a 'fight' like that, no one could blame them for wanting to avoid doomed attempt to outpunch a nuclear bomb. But what caught her attention the most was the unconscious Rudeus falling amongst house-sized chunks of earth.

"Ru-kun!" Mirko cried out- propelling herself through the air- jumping on falling debris to catch her unconscious lover in her arms, and propelled them to one of the many dark caves lining the cliff face.

Climbing into the cave, She gently rested Rudeus' small form on the rough cave floor. And to her great relief, he was banged up but otherwise okay. It has always been a concern after all: Rudeus couldn't tank hits like a lot of them could.

But thankfully, Rudeus was only sporting some burns and bruises.

"Come on, Rudy." Mirko pleaded as she pushed her mana into him, "Wake up! Wake up or I'll never park my bunny ass on your face again!"

"Mirko?" He mumbled groggily- blinking his green eyes at her. "Where are we?"

"Thatworked? Er, some cave somewhere." She replied, "The entire battlefield was on top of some kind of cavern system, and it collapsed under the explosions."

"The rest?!" Rudeus panicked- clutching the front of her leotard, "Where's the rest? I can't reach them with Telepathy magic."

"Scattering." Yoruichi answered as she climbed into the cave as well. And Mirko couldn't help but notice that the older cat girl was sporting little damage if any at all. Her black leotard was practically untouched as it clung to her chocolate skin as Yoruichi continued her explanation, "Those Pillar Men must be detonating with magical explosives- they're scrambling any weak mana energies. Magical forms of communications are effectively jammed- telepathy included. Let's hope the same could be said for Hevnokren."

"Yoruichi! You're okay too!" Rudeus greeted with a sigh of relief.

"I could say the same, Rudy-boya." Yoruichi gave a momentary smile before her sharp eyes glanced out over the edge of the cave where it overlooked the abyss below, "But our situation is more serious than we thought. More than a third of us didn't make it out of the first clash. We can't fight these 'Pillar Men' effectively as they are, so we will need to switch tactics: We need to find Hevnokren and win this fight in one swoop."

"We lost more than a third of everyone already!?" Rudeus faltered- almost in a wail. And Mirko couldn't blame him. That piece of news hit hard, but they could still get them all back! The Company Perk [Warranty Plan] revived anyone they lost just a mere three days later- no mess, no fuss. And if Mirko was being honest, that pretty much trivialised the whole dying thing.

Yoruichi's golden yellow eyes glanced back at him.

"Will you tell us more about these 'Pillar Men?' Any weaknesses that we can exploit?" She prompted, and just as she did, the earth violently shook once again. And they all strengthened their Ken shields to protect against the falling stone overhead. "The orbital bombardment is still going on… Rudy. The Pillar Men?"

"Eh, they're not really Pillar Men." Rudeus sighing cupping his chin and sat up against the cave wall. "Hevnokren only made them pose as them… their heads look familiar though."

"You recognize their rabbit heads?" Mirko prompted- finding it weird that Rudeus would recognise the rabbit heads over anything else.

"Yeah, could be a mascot for an anime or something." Rudeus nodded his head.

"Then for a lack of a better tactic, we'll still need to find Hevnokren." Yoruichi reiterated as she shook her head in disappointment with a sigh, her purple ponytail swaying side-to-side, before aiming a question to Mirko.

"Can you still fight, Mirko?" She asked, and Mirko gave a hesitant nod.

"Physically, I'll regenerate what damage I ate in about a few minutes." Mirko began- rolling her shoulder to show off the burns that were already knitting themselves closed, "But I'm running a bit dry on mana though. Help me out, Ru-kun?"

"I'll give you as much as I can spare." Rudeus nodded- taking her hand and pushing it into her. Mirko made sure to nod towards Yoruichi as he did. And thankfully, the older cat girl nodded in return- knowing better than to try and tell her to sit this one out. They both knew that she was going to fight even if she was running empty. No one was going to tell her to give up. Not even herself. And instead, Yoruichi turned her eyes towards Rudy.

"Do you have any information we can use, Rudy?" She asked, and Rudy cupped his in thought.

"The only thing we know for sure is that his base- his [Grand Manor] or [Sweet Home] is somewhere on this planet. Those are the Company Rules." He quoted with a nod.

"An entire planet to cover…" Mirko supposed. That was going to be hard to do, even for people like them.

"No need." Yoruichi reassured- deep in thought, "If my suspicions are correct, he is directing the Pillar Men via some magical communications device, I believe their variation uses something akin to Fairy Tail's Ethernano as the magic medium."

"Uh, I don't really get it? I'm not good at mumbo-jumbo theory, give me a break." She murmured as both Rudeus and Yoruichi aimed an expectant look at Mirko. And for her part, Mirko felt herself sweat under the stares. Mirko herself wasn't a savant at understanding magic and supernatural theory like Rudeus or Yoruichi was, who was a prodigy mage and a freaking shinigami respectively. She had barely kept up when they first trained her in it. She was a muscular bunny girl for crying out loud! She was there to look sexy and kick ass, and right at that moment, there were no asses to kick.

"You're the one with the keenest senses, Mirko-chan." Rudeus smiled, "Remember how you can channel mana into your ears to hear the flow of magic itself?"

"Oh! I get it now!" Mirko grinned in realisation, "If we can trace the mana signal back to their source…"

"We find Hevnokren." Yoruichi finished- matching her grin. "And all we need to do then is to send a telepathic messages to everyone…"

And this time, Mirko recognised her favourite part of every battle plan.

"And they're going to come running so that we can beat the crud out of him together!" Mirko finished with a vicious grin.

"Yeah, that sounds like a great plan." Rudeus piped up. And just as Mirko watched as he pushed himself up onto his feet, Yoruichi was there to stop him- gently pushing him to sit back down. The older woman crouched down in front of Rudeus- her golden yellow ones looking straight into his bright green. A serious expression on her face as her slender hand gently squeezed his shoulder. Mirko usually found Yoruichi to be a laid-back and aloof sort of person- living up to the cat girl stereotype- But when she was serious, that was when you knew things were going to go down.

"We can't afford to lose you on the assault on Hevnokren's manor. We lose you and it's all over." She explained to him- simple and straight to the point.

"I guess..." Rudeus conceded with sigh. "I'll just link up with whoever is close by."

"Keep moving, that'll be your best defence against the exploding Pillar Men." Mirko recommended. It was a fair bet to say that the Pillar Men didn't have much in the way of long range weapons.

"Yeah, just stay safe and we'll handle the baddies." Mirko grinned as she struck a heroic pose- the same one that she uses to reassure frightened civilians.

Hevnokren's time was running out. Just like every other supervillain that thought that could take her on.

(An hour later)

This time, Mirko remembered to tuck her long bunny ears down before she peeked over the rocky ridge they were hiding behind.

"Yes, that looks like the source of the signal." Yoruichi confirmed as she peeked with her. "I'm sending the telepathy burst. Let's hope enough of our family comes running."

"Hmm… our manor definitely looks better, I think." Mirko allowed herself a small joke, and Yoruichi couldn't help but smirk at that.

As it turned out, Hevnokren's [Grand Manor] wasn't far at all. Well, It wasn't far at all if you could break the sound barrier on foot at least. There was a good 200 kilometres between Hevnokren's Manor and theirs. The gleaming metal bunker that was Hevnokren's Manor stood serenely in the middle of a valley even as the earthquakes made by distant explosions still rocked the planet. Some Pillar Men patrolling the perimeter of the manro.

"But after we're done here, ours will definitely look much better when we trash his." She whispered, then her ears twitched as she heard something in the distance.

"fus roh da"

Then the ground once again shook, but this time, much more violently than ever before. The rumble and crack of the land itself breaking apart was a pretty intimidating sound on its own. Mirko glanced back to where she heard the sound. And the rolling cloud of superheated ash that spread across the entire horizon behind them wasn't a good sign at all. It was a good thing that they didn't need to actually breathe anymore, or she would have been worried for the people they left behind there.

"We can only hope that most have managed to avoid the Pillar Men." Yoruichi muttered.

"No, just now. I heard someone." Mirko replied. "I think that quake was a spell."

That earned the older woman interest- her purple eyebrows raising to her hairline.

"Where did it originate?" Yoruichi hurriedly questioned, and Mirko jabbed a thumb to the rolling cloud of death in the distance. And Yoruichi got the hint and gave a hum of consideration, "That's not a good sign… Rudeus might be getting hunted."

"Should we send another telepathy burst?" Mirko suggested. But Yoruichi merely shook her head.

"No, Rudeus would have done that if he needed help." the older woman replied before perking up with Mirko. A telepathy burst reaching their minds in response to their initial call.

"Only twenty-four can make it, the rest will distract the Pillar Men." Yoruichi repeated for clarity before doing a stretch, "We'll need all the advantages that we can get. I'll circle the perimeter and scout out other possible approaches."

Mirko waved in dismissal.

"Yeah, yeah. And I'll stay here, keep watch and wait for the others to arrive." she groaned. After all, this only made it the fifth time that she was relegated to guard duty because of her keener senses.

"That's a good bunbun." Yoruichi teased with an all too cat-like smirk as she reached out to pat Mirko over the head before she disappeared in a blur. And almost immediately after, her ears twitched as they heard the crack of lightning and the rumble of shifting earth in the distance. No doubt the sound of Yoruichi getting ambushed.

"The cat better not need my help." Mirko couldn't help but groan again.

"You're going to need help." Another voice counselled her. And Mirko whipped her head to the voice- fists raised and ready to fight. And right before her eyes was a girl or maybe feminine-looking boy who floated in the air in front of them.

White and blue-green was the colour scheme that governed her shirt, shorts, cape and hat. And finished off with tights down along his long slender legs and finished leather shoes. He held a beautifully carved wooden lyrie in his hand. But it was his blue-green eyes that looked down at them that Mirko found the most familiar. They held the same dismissive type of contempt that Mirko had seen on villains hundreds of times before.

"Venti, just a humble bard." the floating boy's lyrical voice introduced himself as he wore a sly smirk. And Mirko would eat her own leotard if this Venti actually was a 'just a bard' because her built-in 'supervillain' senses were tingling like crazy.

Things were about to get exciting again.

Then Mirko saw Venti's ring glow in blue, purple and red, and every primal instinct in her screamed at her to jump away before it was too late! And holy shit was she glad that she did! Immediately after jumping away the rock ridge (the entire hill that they were on!) was immediately chopped up by invisible blades. The rocks cut into perfect little cubes that tumbled in the wind.

"Finally, an actual fucking fight!" Mirko shouted with vicious delight. Then she burst into motion. It didn't matter that she was halfway through her mana reserves! She was going to beat this weird bard brat up anyway and be just in time for the others to arrive.

This Venti character looked like the caster-type though, so Mirko had to wonder if Venti had some magical defences too. Wanting to test that out, Mirko scooped up a nice hefty rock as she dashed forward, pumped it full of mana, did a running flip and hurled the rock with all her built up momentum. It made a satisfying crack as it broke the sound barrier, then it made a disappointing crumbling sound as it hit that wind barrier that he seemed to have.

She could probably face-tank that wind barrier head-on. Probably.

"Welp, fortune favours the bold!" She announced as she charged the distance- blasting past the sound barrier again as she pumped more mana to harden her Ken shield. And just as she came within a few metres of the floating bard, it felt like the wind itself was slicing at her shield. But thankfully, her shield held, and she was able to get within kicking distance.

This Venti was fast enough to see her coming- and moved a lot faster than that Pillar Man that she had kicked. And as she was close enough to see Venti's eyes widen, a gust of hurricane winds tried to blow her away, but it was too late to stop her momentum.

"GUH!" Venti cried out as all the air got kicked out of him- courtesy of her bunny foot to his girly-boy gut. Then another to his face. But just as she was about to go for the third, that gust turned into a raging squall, and suddenly, she was skidding across the dirt like a pebble skipping across water before she managed to regain her balance.

Damn, and here she was hoping to get to do her finisher combo move.

"I'll repay you a hundredfold for that!" Venti cried out as the great tornados began forming all around them, and sharp blades of wind began flying from him in every direction.

"Ugh, you're a Wind mage. Got it." Mirko grunted as she got to hopping around- dodging the bigger gusts of violent wind that gouged massive trenches from the earth like lashes from a skyscraper-sized whip. Seeing the devastation, she could only click her mouth as she realised that when Rudeus said that their enemies will be around their power level, he really did fucking mean it.

There wasn't much she could do at the moment- not when she was running low on mana. She could possibly get another hit like the last one, but with him getting serious like this- she won't survive the retaliation. So, she was just going to stall for time until the others got here and saved her bacon.

"We're going to beat your Hevnokren up!" She taunted him- diving into one of the trenches as another gust of wind that could dice through rocks flew over head.

"Your precious Rudeus will falter and fail before Hevnokren!" He shouted back, and Mirko felt a twinge of worry for that. Was Hevnokren hunting Rudeus down personally? Didn't matter. Mirko jumped out of the trench just as a tornado shredded everything inside like a blender.

She had to stall, stall, stall. So that she can avoid being diced, diced, diced.

"Your Hevnokren is even less of a man than you are, and you're trap!" She continued to shout as she hopped around the rocky hillside - hoping to get him angry and predictable. Then even more tornados came spiralling down from the sky- like fingers of a hand reaching down from heaven itself to trap her in its grip.

"Ohfuck." She muttered- her red eyes darting everywhere to look for an opening that she could escape from.

Then just as she was about to both shit herself AND die, the cavalry arrived.

Like a massive cannon shell shooting through the air, Yoruichi fucking Shihoin punched right through the tornados in her lightning cat form thing- called Shunshin Chouhengen or something. And never had Mirko been so happy to see a catgirl- Mirko herself was a bunny girl kind of gal for obvious reasons. But Yoruichi- her tall, dark and muscular cat girl- riding in to save her cotton-tailed ass was a welcome sight.

"Circle around! We'll pincer him!" Mirko heard the lightning-wreathed cat girl bark- heh- a command. Nodding once, Mirko got her rear in gear- hopping in the direction that Yoruichi came from and kept her eyes on the wind mage.

"I can hear you quite well! And your plan will avail you nothing!" Venti shouted over the roar of the winds.

"Your friends didn't make it! It's over!" Yoruichi revealed, "But we can revive them for you if you'd just surrender!"

"Ei and Zhongli!?" the boy shouted out- his expression turning apoplectic- the veins on his left arm shone with blue and purple and red light as he roared out, "YOU WILL PAY FOR YOUR TRANSGRESSION!"

This time, it was a tornado- it was a damned planet-sized hurricane! With a strum of his lyre, the boy summoned a hurricane right on top of them! The rocky ground began to be shredded into sand, and Mirko felt her Ken shield was beginning just about to hit the red as if the air itself was trying to chew her alive. Then she saw it- Yoruichi's subtle nod. And as one, they charged the powerful wind mage.

"This is going to be so ass-clenchingly close…" Mirko muttered to herself as she hopped like her life depended on it. And it did. If her Ken shield goes down while she's in this storm- she's going to get blendered into a bunny girl smoothie.

The wind mage was playing a beautiful song, Mirko could hear. Shame that it was trying to kill her. Each strum of his lyre launched a massive blades of air that dug up the earth, each pluck of the string sent a wave of wind that threatened to make her lose her footing, each chord summoning more razor sharp twisters onto the battlefield.

She weaved and dodged through them all, and once again, she found herself just a few strides away from the wind mage- her leg already in mid-kick but this time, he managed to block it this time around with his arm. He brought up his lyre and just as she noticed his glowing fingers just about to strum her away from existence…

… then Yoruichi just kind of zapped herself behind him. With Venti's focus all on Mirko, he wasn't able to stop her as her body, wreathed in yellow lightning, crossed those 200 metres of hostile winds in a hundredth or maybe a thousandth of a second. And with a swipe of her crackling lightning claws on her hands… tore open Venti's throat. He fell from the air with a wet gurgle as he clutched his throat- a slight dust cloud kicking up as he hit the ground and started the very fast process of bleeding out.

"You should have taken the offer." Yoruichi sighed as she stood over him. It was only when the light went out of Venti's eyes that she dismissed the lightning that had turned her into a cat girl- returning her to her normal chocolate-skinned human/shinigami self.

Mirko promptly fell onto her cushy ass with a relieved exhale.

"Oh fuck, I can't believe I made it through that- I almost soiled my leotard! Ahahahaha!" She marvelled- deliberately hiding her feelings behind a laugh. Killing people didn't get any easier, and that's why she was doing her best not to glance at the dead body just a few metres away. Yeah, just hide it all behind silly jokes and laughs. She'll feel like crap about looking someo- he had a name dammit!- looking Venti in the eye as they died later. Later.

And just as Mirko turned away from the battlefield with Yoruichi, they spotted familiar figures climbing over ruined ridges and into view.

"Mirko, Yoruichi." Ghislaine, their other muscled catgirl, waved to them, "It's good to see you two in one piece."

Then Rudeus came into view, and before Mirko could even smile in relief, she spotted the dark, angry expression on her favourite shota's face.

"Yeah… it's good to see some people made it." Rudeus tried to smile- but couldn't get rid of that sullen look in his light green eyes as he turned them towards. Yoruichi also seemed to catch the look in his eyes.

"Rudeus, could you give Mirko a mana infusion while Ghislaine and I talk?" She suggested to the sulking Rudeus who just nodded blankly.

"Uh yeah!" Mirko replied, and though she was nonplussed by his look, she still managed to smile anyway, "That would be great!"

And slowly, Rudeus placed his hands on the various bruises and burns all over her leg. And she couldn't help but wince- not from the pain- but from how Rudeus' mana just felt so… off. Darker and more sour. And Mirko twitched her sharp rabbit ears towards Yoruichi and Ghislain who were talking in the distance.

"Did something happen?" Mirko heard Yoruichi ask Ghislaine.

"Hevnokren and his Pillar Men happened. He had been nipping at our heels for almost an hour now." Ghislain recounted, and Mirko could hear the frown in her voice, "Me and Rudeus had lost Bisky, Erza, Irene and Bayonetta when we did our best to delay Hevnokren's Pillar Men as much as we could. As soon as the telepathy burst was sent, we misdirected him with some portal tricks and headed here."

"But we have the Company perk [Warranty Plan]." Yoruichi pointed out before humming in thought."Everyone will get revived… so, what was the complication?"

"Hevnokren didn't kill them." Mirko heard Ghislaine sigh, "He restrained and captured them, and if we don't win this fight within the next 24 hours, he will have them permanently to do as he pleases. Hevnokren taunted Rudeus about all how he was going to 'NTR' him, and Rudeus… he isn't taking their losses too well."

"He doesn't know you're here?" Yoruichi focused on that part- doubt audible in her voice.

"If Rudeus had not bought the Company Perk [Trace Defence], Hevnokren would have immediately noticed where we are and this would have been a very different story."

"But how powerful was he that not even the six of you could subdue him?" Mirko heard Yoruichi urgently press the question. And she heard Ghislaine sigh.

"Hevnokren's a giant metal dragon that absorbs explosions, magic and kinetic energy." Ghislaine clarified- an unsure tone in her voice.

"I see…" Yoruichi replied before directing another question to Ghislaine. "How much time do we have before he gets here?"

Mirko watched the snowy-haired cat girl cupping her chin for a moment- deep in thought before nodding.

"At the speeds that he is capable of, about ten minutes." Ghislaine surmised, "And that is assuming he doesn't just portal to his manor while we're assaulting it."

And at that explanation, Mirko heard Yoruichi sigh.

"We'll have to risk it." Yoruichi decided- a grim tone in her voice, "[Warranty Plan] is disabled while no victor is decided, so any of his or our family who dies are going to stay dead. If we can isolate Hevnokren by eliminating all his family members, we can find a way to deal with him. We'll bring everyone back when we win. And while we may not have a way to deal with him now, we can buy more time to figure it out while Hevnokren can't. And that gives us the advantage."

"Just twenty-six of us versus whoever is left inside Hevnokren's manor. With less than ten minutes." Ghislaine mused, and Mirko gulped- feeling the pressure was on now.

"This will be quick." Mirko practically heard Yoruichi scowl, "Ten minutes is a long time for people like us, but we shouldn't be overconfident."

And she was right.

In the end, it only took them 45 seconds… and fourteen of their number to reach the manor's front door.

Past the hailstorm of lethal energy weapons that the manor was bristling with that chewed through eight of their numbers, past the line of Pillar Men that caused five more of their casualties, past the blue energy shield that caught the last one by surprise and fried her to a crisp before they could punch through it. Crossing Hevnokren's front lawn took only 45 seconds.

Rudeus grew angrier and angrier as they lost more people. It was as if a dark cloud was brooding over his head. And it did not help that the final barrier took most of their time. The front door. Tall and wide enough to drive a truck through it, it was also shut tight with no handles or locks.

Rudeus took one look at the door before turning towards them- his knuckles gripping his sword handle so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Break it down." He commanded- a deep scowl on his face, and they all nodded in acknowledgement.

"Ghislaine, you're up." Yoruichi directed- her golden eyes looking the gleaming metal door up and down, searching for weaknesses.

"Right." Ghislaine responded. The older cat girl's rippling muscles bulged and flexed as she took up a stable stand in front of the door. She brandished her sword and Mirko could hear the blade sing with mana as Ghislaine poured more and more of it into the blade. Then with a shout of "Hyaaa!", Ghislaine slashed at the edge of the door with a deep loud metallic boom.

*THOOM*

Curious, Mirko poured her own mana into her ears and tried to listen to the blade closer… And Mirko's red eyes widened as she found something else: Voices past the door. A woman and a child talking.

*THOOM*

'-orgive me klee but Rudeus is already at the do-'

*THOOM*

'-t's go togethe-'

*THOOM*

'-only enough power for one portal warp, I'm sorr-.'

*THOOM*

'-wanna stay here with y-'

*THOOM*

'-iebling, remember your promi-.'

*THOOM*

'-hanna I dont wanna go!-'

*THOOM*

'-llow your dreams for me-'

*THOOM*

'-not without you!-'

*THOOM*

'-ill be back, setting up the SJD-'

*THOOM*

'-hanna! i donwanna go I donwanna g-'

*THOOM*

'-e brave, Klee, be brave for m-'

*CRASH*

"JOHANNA-"

And just the door fell from its hinges with a loud crash, Mirko didn't know what to feel about what she just heard.

For the moment though, she chose to focus on what was in front of her as Ghislaine spearheaded the charge into the open doorway. The older cat girl's heavily muscled back with its many scars somehow proved to be a reassuring sight for her as they continued inside- their guards up.

The interior of the Hevnokren's grand manor was surprisingly homey. The foyer with a vase of fresh flowers, the scent of home cooking still in the air, soft rugs under their feet. Everything you expect from a normal family's well lived-in house, not from an evil supervillain's lair. Then they walked into the living room and it was more of the same: Cozy couches, colourful family pictures on the walls, a giant plushie of a rabbit sitting in a red sack, and a tall blonde woman wearing a black greatcoat holding her hands in the air.

"I surrender." She calmly greeted them as her clear blue eyes watched them walk into the room- her blonde ponytail swaying with each step. The still smoking pieces of machinery- obviously destroyed by her own hand to deny them the technology- lay strewn about the living room.

"Stay still, or I will cut you down." Ghislaine commanded with her red eyes narrowed, and the woman complied- stopping in her tracks.

Then Rudeus stomped into the room with them- his short stature belying the sheer rage that he was feeling. Mirko could hear his mana baying for blood as he continued to grip his sword handle until his knuckles turned white. He stopped right in front of the blonde- his green eyes furiously staring at the blonde's blue ones.

"You were the one running the Pillar Men?" he angrily demanded.

"By 'Pillar Men,' you are referring to the plushie-headed automatons?" the woman nodded, "Then yes, I d-."

Rudeus' blade cut her words- and her throat- short. The woman barely had time to gurgle up blood before Rudeus' blade stabbed through her skull clean through.

"That's for Bisky!" He shouted out- stabbing again, "And Erza! And Irene! And Bayonetta! And-!"

And again, and again, and again his sword came down before Yoruichi did the thing that Mirko wished she could do- the tanned cat girl stepped in- grasping Rudeus' sword hand still.

"Rudy… she's dead." Yoruichi solemnly intoned, and Mirko saw how the shinigami's grip on Rudeus' sword hand was unyieldingly firm, "You had your vengeance. Desecrating corpses is both pointless and dishonourable."

And their blonde lover only sighed in capitulation before wiping his blade and sheathing it.

"That's it?" He asked in a hollow tone as they all watched him as the brutalised woman's body bleed out on the floor, "Was she the last of Hevnokren's family?"

"Hevnokren had so few. He must be concentrating all his Company Credits on himself." Yoruichi acknowledged, deep in thought before turning her golden yellow eyes towards Mirko, "Do you hear anything?"

Prompted like that, Mirko focused mana into her ears, and after hearing no other movement besides their, shook her head.

"No one is left in the manor, but the flow of mana is everywhere." she reported to the others.

"We'll continue to clear the manor just to be certain." Yoruichi muttered- as she walked off to direct the others in clearing the house. "Mirko, guard Rudeus."

"I need some fresh air." Rudeus muttered darkly as he stalked away- likely to brood.

As for Mirko, well, she was too sure what to do at the moment as she stared down at the blonde mangled body. But a lump of something stood out from the otherwise smooth leather of the blonde's greatcoat. Kneeling down, Mirko dug into the body's coat pocket and found a hastily folded-up piece of paper. Fearing that it might be some secret plans or blueprints, she quickly slipped it out of the coat pocket. And opening it up, Mirko found that it was much worse than she feared: it was a child's drawing in crayons.

A helmeted stick figure in what looked like armour, a blonde stick figure in a black coat, and between them, a much smaller stick figure in a red dress. And arched above the three stick figures- scrawled in the uneven handwriting of a five-year-old- were three names.

'Hev & Klee & Johanna'

Mirko folded the paper back up and stored it in their shared pocket space. She recalled that there was a curious sound as the child's voice was suddenly cut off- like a magical shimmering before closing shut. The little girl was probably portalled away, but… she wasn't about to let Rudeus kill one. He was just angry and hurt. So, she just needed to make sure that he didn't do anything that he'd hate himself for.

Yeah, she should go tell the others that they missed one of Hevnokren's family members. They would do it for him instead.

Mirko sighed. It was times like these that she didn't really feel like a hero at all.

(A few moments later)

Mirko stood alongside Yoruichi and Ghislaine as they collated what they had found in the manor.

"The manor is clear. Hevnokren's family is dead." Yoruichi spoke to the assembled women that were the few survivors of their family, "This was it. With no one else in the way, it was time to make the battleplan where we would take down that metal dragon. We don't know how long we have before Hevnokren arrives here, so we'll make this brief. Ghislaine here will brief us on what his observed strengths and weaknesses are so far as she was the one who had fought him direc-"

"Daddy's home, and you made his little girl cry. Prepare for pain."

Standing in the doorway was a familiar figure, even with the bunny-suit shredded and just hanging off his shoulders like flayed skin. Mirko immediately pointed her hand and shouted in alarm.

"IT'S HEVN-"

"TIID KLO UL!"

(Time, Sand, Eternity)

Then he exploded into movement.

A horrid-looking black mace glowing purple and as thick as her thigh swung through the air- too fast for even Mirko to see with her supernaturally enhanced senses. Fuck, was he actually fighting them seriously?

Her sensitive rabbit ears only registered the heavy thunderclap as the mace broke the sound barrier four times over, and the crunch of bone as one of their own's pelvis was shattered into a million pieces. The girl barely began registering the pain when Hevnokren swung again- shattering the arm and ribcage of another of her family members.

Then he swung again… only this time, the black mace met Ghislaine's sword, Hiramune… and with a pulse of purple energy that washed over them, shattered the treasured blade. The event was shocking to Ghislaine to say the least. Something that Hevnokren took full advantage of too. The mace still rocketed down towards Ghislaine's shocked expression as she stared at her blade- a malevolent spike jutting out of the mace poised to pierce her forehead.

But Yoruichi's dark form was suddenly there- so abruptly like she had always been standing there- looking all heroic with her black leotard, cool expression and whipping purple hair as she held Hevnokren's mace hand with both of hers.

Unfazed by Yoruichi's interruption, Hevnokren simply lifted his other hand that crackled with lightning and aimed for the big rabbit plushie at the corner of the room. And for the briefest of moments, time stood still for Mirko as she felt horror for what's about to happen.

She'd felt this feeling before, hasn't she? When she kicked that Pillar Ma-

Oh no.

Mirko focused all the mana she had into her Ken shield just as the bolt of lightning cracked through the air and struck the rabbit plushie right on its belly-

-then everything EXPLODED.

…

But the violence didn't stop.

"RU! DE! US!"

At ground zero of a nuclear explosion inside the crater, bathed in the blinding light and horrific heat, they still fought. The bunny suit that Hevnokren wore was now completely atomized. And he stood in all his seven-foot-tall horror, a thick armour of lustrous, gleaming metal encasing him- somehow letting him fight on while everyone else was blown away.

And once again, he took full advantage of the distraction that the nuke caused. His horrific-looking mace finding them in the superheated ash cloud.

Mirko squinted her eyes- pushing her mana into them too. It's as bright as the sun here!

With their Ken shields weakened from the nuke, his mace shattered through them like glass. Still trying to heal being blind and deaf from the nuke, Ghislaine found her elbow shattered by his mace. And Mirko did her best to jump into action once more- delivering a brutal uppercut kick straight to Hevnokren's chin… that somehow didn't even make head tilt up.

Then his mace made a whooshing sound as it rocketed down.

"Arrrrghghh! My knee! My fucking knee!" Mirko immediately screamed out in pain as she clutched her shattered knee cap. Hopping away with just one leg, she channelled as much mana as she could into her knee as she tried to keep her distance from him, but close enough to aid her allies' attacks.

But if fighting against an indestructible warlord in the middle of a radioactive crater wasn't enough…

"ARMAGEDDON BOMBARDMENT ON THE PLANET! EMPTY THE BOMB BAYS!" Mirko could hear him roar over her screaming into what she assumed was his magic-comms. Fuck, he's angry, and they were so screwed.

All their Ken shields weakened from the point-blank nuclear explosion. Intense heat and radiation chipping away at what remained of her Ken shield. Her knee going to take a few more minutes to fully heal. They were blinded, deafened and scattered. This really wasn't looking good at all. But Yoruichi came to their rescue once again- just a blur of movement even to Mirko's keen senses as she rained punches and kicks with her lightning-wreathed cat form. Each and every single one of it before even making him budge.

"Mirko! Take Ghislaine AND GO!" She desperately cried out, still clawing and kicking at Hevnokren's gleaming platemail. "What is this armour made of?!"

Then his hand glowed for a moment and suddenly frost suddenly washed over Yoruichi.

"Gah!" Mirko heard Yoruichi cry out as she was suddenly cut by what looked like a whirlwind of ice- distracting her long enough for Hevnokren to merely turn his head towards her and Shout.

"IIZ SLEN NUS!"

(Ice, Flesh, Statue)

A flash of red cut through the ash cloud, and Mirko saw how Yoruichi was encased in a pillar of pure ice that somehow didn't melt under all this heat.

"Hevnokrenite. Name pending." He explained to the frozen Yoruichi as he lightly tapped the chestpiece of his armour. "Proto-Adamantium and Uru bonded together at a conceptual level thanks to my Company-bought Dragon elements. Practically indestructible. Highly receptive to enchantments. Resists and nullifies hostile energies on contact: Kinetic, radiological, magical and anything else. Observe."

Then he turned towards Mirko, and before she could dodge, his gauntlet grabbed her by the throat and she felt her Ken shield wither at his touch- the cold metal gauntlet and the searing heat on her throat.

"Let her go!" Ghislaine shouted out as she jumped into view with a wild haymaker right to the temple of Hevnokren's shiny metal helmet. Even without her blade, Ghislaine was still the physically strongest of them, and yet, he didn't budge an inch under her flurry of blows.

"Hevnokrenite's Uru component is what confers its amazing enchantment qualities are what makes it versatile." he continued even as Ghislaine continued to strike at him, "I have enchanted each piece to feed on my victim's souls- funnelling its energy into its other enchantments and its wearer's soul. And that's only two things that Hevnokrenite does very well."

Then Hevnokren merely turned his head towards Ghislaine and-

"IIZ SLEN NUS!"

(Ice, Flesh, Statue)

-just like Yoruichi, Mirko watched helplessly as another flash of red saw Ghislaine frozen solid in ice that sparkled red.

"Impressive, right?" He viciously grinned at her, "The Reality Stone complements my reality-bending Shouts very well."

Mirko gripped at Hevnokren's fingers- trying to apply as much force as she could and pry his grip open. She can't fail here. They were the last of Rudeus' family! If they failed here then their loss was assured, because Rudeus definitely can't take on Hevnokren all by himself. And also, Mirko didn't want to think what he'd do to the people that killed what she assumes to be the mother of his child.

"How are you so powerful!?" She desperately grunted out- renewing her efforts to pry his grip open and run away before the heat and radiation emptied her mana reserves and the fragrance of roasted rabbit starts to emanate here. "The Company rules said PvP was between equals!"

And Hevnokren merely barked in laughter- deep and booming.

"Because the Company matchmaking is biased towards waifus," he chortled, "and fails to properly account for the strength of the Contractor themselves."

A light squeeze on her throat emphasised that fact pretty clearly for her.

"Besides, I'm not all powerful." Hevnokren shrugged- his shiny metal armour clinking slightly, "If I was, you wouldn't have killed so many of my waifus. And for that I must thank you, you have helpfully identified weak points in our PvP strategy that we will definitely be taking steps to correct by the time the next Contractor comes. Who would have known that Klee's Tesseract-Energy infused bombs interfered with our own magic-comms and portals? Certainly not us. And what remains of my research division is working on it now, and it's all thanks to you."

There was a pregnant pause as it all sank in for Mirko: Hevnokren had more waifus. A lot more. They didn't stand a chance to begin with, much less now. And it all came down to three words: They had lost.

"I'm- I'm sorry about Johanna." She gulped- remembering the name that Mirko heard the little girl scream out before teleporting away.

And through the eye slits of his helmet, Mirko saw his blood-red eyes stare at her intently, as if searching for deceit. And Mirko couldn't help the shiver of fear that dripped down her spine at what he had planned for her. Was he just going to hold her by the throat like this until her Ken shield failed and the radiation cooked her alive in his hand?

"LOK VAH KOOR!"

(Sky, Spring, Summer)

And just from those three syllables, the cloud of superheated ash disappeared from existence- leaving nothing but a massive crater with her, Hevnokren and the frozen pillars that held Yoruichi and Ghislaine captive.

Hevnokren rolled his eyes at her surprised expression.

"Johanna and everyone else will be back in less than three days. Going into PvP was always a risk for everyone involved. So, I'm not even mad to be honest." his deep, rumbling voice disclosed to her, "But Klee is. So, when she comes back, you're going to apologise to her. And you're going to mean it."

And Mirko nodded without reservation. For what it was worth, she really did feel like shit for taking a child's mother away from them. Because if nothing else, Usagiyama Rumi was still a hero, and owning up to a big damn fuckup like that was what heroes did.

"Now only the mop up operation with Rudeus remains for us to deal with. And by 'us' that includes you as well, Mirko." He revealed- voice full of mirth, and she looked at him incredulously. Was he asking her to betray Rudeus in exchange for her life? She only had one answer to that.

"Hell no! I won't betray Rudeus!" She defiantly shouted.

"Oh, you don't have to." Hevnokren laughed- his deep voice with malice like it was an inside joke that Mirko wasn't aware of.

Then Hevnokren removed his shiny metal helmet. Snowy-white hair spilled out, long rabbit ears stood freely, tanned skin lay in stark contrast to the first two and an impish smirk grew on pink lips. Then the rest of his armour followed in a flash of blue light. And Mirko immediately recognised who Hevnokren looked like. It was hard not to when it was her own fucking face smirking at her! How!? What!? Was this a Company perk or something?! But Rudeus can definitely tell them apart, Hevnokren can never hope to talk and act like her!

"Whaddya think?" Not-Mirko grinned at her with her signature grin as she stood naked as the day she was born, "Rudeus doesn't stand a chance against a hot bunny girl like me, right? The lucky boy."

Alright, that was a little bit convincing.

Then Not-Mirko glanced over her shoulder and down her back to admire that tanned ass that Mirko was so proud of. Not-Mirko gave it a tentative slap and the big smooth orbs of tanned milk-chocolate booty flesh jiggled hypnotically- little fleshy slaps as the firm cheeks clapped together.

"Damn, this ass is tight." Not-Mirko observed as she admired the jiggle, and if Mirko was being honest with herself, she was admiring the jiggle too. Fine, that was a pretty damn convincing impression of her. And despite it all, Mirko couldn't help, but say…

"I know, right?" She proudly grinned a shit-eating grin all while still trapped in that choke. She worked her ass off to get an ass like that!

"Yeah…" Not-Mirko agreed with a nod before shooting that same shit-eating grin back at her, "Also, I'm going to be needing that leotard."

Mirko stiffened at that.

"What did you say?" She squeaked, and Not-Mirko's shit-eating grin only widened.

[Just outside] (Three minutes before the explosion)

"This entire PvP has become a disaster." Rudeus muttered to himself- burying his face in his hands.

Rudeus took a deep breath to calm himself as he exited the manor. Thanks to the combined Discipline that they had developed, he didn't need to breathe but it really helped his nerves when he did.

He had come here with almost a hundred waifus and now he was down to less than twenty. He had spent most of his points making certain that they had a powerful enough team to fight any kind of martial artist that they came across. When your opponent explodes with the all the power of a nuclear bomb when you punch them, there wasn't much opportunity to showcase their amazing fighting prowess.

He had been, as they say in gaming terms, 'hard-countered.' Their strengths were completely nullified and their weaknesses completely exploited by the enemy team's strategy and strengths.

Rudeus felt slightly bad about that blonde waifu- that may have possibly been a Samus Aran- that he had killed. He really did. But after being on the run for so long and losing so many waifus to Hevnokren, he just sort of snapped… He'll revive her into his harem and treat her right when he wins this. But at least, with all of Hevnokren's waifus defeated, it was just him left. They could outmanoeuvre him, use their speed to their advantage, wear him down, and finally win this PvP.

Standing up from his spot atop a lonely dirt hill, Rudeus glanced down to Hevnokren's Grand Manor where everyone was still clearing.

"Well, better get back to them." He muttered- walking down the hill at a steady pace, "We should have a game plan going for when Hevnokren arrives."

Then the manor EXPLODED.

Much larger than all the detonations they had experienced before. A deadly mushroom cloud rose from the manor as the shockwave hit him. The manor must have been booby-trapped! And he could only look on in horror for a few seconds before immediately, Rudeus flipped open his Company Tablet with trembling hands.

"Please be alive, please be alive." He begged to the Tablet as he hurriedly navigated to the tab where he could see his waifus' statuses, "I can't take on Hevnokren by myself!"

"Yes!" He cried out in relief as he saw that most of them were still alive. He could still salvage this situation! Then his relief turned to dismay as he saw the horribly familiar sight of that massive metal dragon flying out from the mushroom cloud… A draconic head as large as a semi-trailer truck. A wingspan larger than all the airplanes on earth. Claws large enough to grip cars… and it was flying straight at him.

"RU! DE! US!"

He turned tail and ran. What else could he do?

He had to lead Hevnokren away from his waifus while they recovered from that blast. It was all he could do now: Buy time. And so he ran. Pushed as much mana as he could to his legs and practically flew across the ground. Back in the direction of his own manor, or at least what was left of it.

So, Rudeus ran.

"RU! DE! US!"

He ran with all the speed his magic and his body would allow. He ran through the brown dust and the superheated ash of their ruined battlefield. He ran past the myriad of craters that stretched the distance- marking the battlefields where his family had fought valiantly. He ran past the mushroom clouds that had begun blooming all over the horizon, and some that were landing a bit too close for comfort. But most of all, he ran from the furious monster that was baying for his blood and chasing him relentlessly…

"Aaaarrrggghhhh! I'm going to make you explode, you bully!"

… and the indestructible metal dragon that she was riding on.

Propelled by his magic, Rudeus was already moving at breakneck speeds. How a little girl like that could fly that fast all while firing nukes at him, he didn't know. But he was running out of options. What little atmosphere above was being blown away from the armageddon was raining down all around him and he didn't want to be here when the atmosphere finally gives up and exposes the surface to the full scorching heat of the system's red giant. And after the damage he managed to inflict on Hevnokren's harem, Rudeus knew that there was no mercy to be found in the hands of his opponent should he fail.

Hurriedly, Rudeus used his magic to cloak himself and ducked into a dark cave.

"Where did he go off to?!"

"I can't see the trail of his magic anymore- he must have teleported somewhere else."

"You hurt Johanna, you bully! When we find you, I'm going to make you eat bomb!"

"I have a better idea on where to shove those bombs, Klee."

"As long as he goes BOOM!"

Yeah. They weren't too happy about him. Not at all. But seeing them fly off in a random direction was a relief- maybe a temporary one, but a relief all the same.

But he needed to find a way off this planet before the world collapses on itself from the nuclear armageddon that it was buckling under. Which brought Rudeus to his biggest problem. Even if he found a way off the planet, he would still be stranded in the middle of nowhere. A random system in an unknown galaxy, unable to find Earth and unable to leave this universe until his PvP match was completed… or failed.

"Psst. Ru-kun! Ru-kun over here!" A familiar voice called out to him as a pair of long white rabbit ears peeked over the entrance of his cave, followed by a very familiar and welcome face.

"Mirko?!" He tried to whisper and yell at the same time. "You're safe!"

His bunny girl glanced around before joining him in his cave with a little hop, and he couldn't help but immediately glomp her- even if he hurt his face slamming it against her rock-hard abs. The perks of being a short shota- he was always face height with their abs. Yeah, he was home. But suddenly, he remembered where he had left her. Who he had left her with.

"Where are the others?" He asked, and the wince and slight wilt of her bunny ears was all the answer he needed- a frown going . "I see…"

Knowing that Mirko was all he had left was really, really heavy. But she just tousled his hair.

"Hey, chin up! We can still make it out of this though, and come back and save everyone!" She reassured him with a toothy, reassuring grin- striking that heroic pose of hers again.

"But how? We don't have a way off this planet and-" He paused as her grin grew wider. "You found a way off this planet!?"

"Even better" Mirko chirped as she grabbed his smaller hand. "Come on!"

She dragged him out of the cave and back onto the surface. The nuclear mushroom clouds had multiplied and were now forming interconnected ash clouds of death. It was a miracle that their immediate vicinity hadn't been nuked yet. But that wasn't what Mirko wanted him to see apparently. Did she find a teleportation pad or something? Because that would be the best case scenario. But as they marched around a hill, Rudeus' eyes widened at the sight before them.

"Yeah, this could work!" He exclaimed as a relieved smile came onto his face. His green eyes staring at the fully functioning starship that was parked right there. It wasn't so large. Maybe as long as a 40-footer shipping container and twice as wide in wingspan. But he did recognize it: it was Valkyrie's ship from Thor: Ragnarok!

"Tada!" Mirko announced with a proud grin- gesturing to the starship like a game show girl showing off a fabulous prize. "I saw a couple of them flying around and tricked them into landing to search for me. Then I saw the dragon chasing yo-"

*BOOM*

They both watched as a nuclear explosion detonated within a couple kilometres of them.

"Er… it's time to go!" Mirko shouted out, and Rudeus definitely agreed on that as they both ran up the ramp and into the cockpit. Every second they stayed on this planet the higher their risk of being obliterated by either nukes or Hevnokren.

Mirko immediately deposited her bunny butt on the captain's chair and started flicking switches and tapping away at the holographic controls.

"Seatbelts on, Ru-kun~! Hold on tight and clench your buttcheeks!" She teased, and Rudeus wouldn't lie to himself. The looming fear that Hevnokren would find them any second was enough to keep his buttcheeks clenched shut in nervousness. And he kept it that way the entire time from the point they lifted off to until around the time the miserable brown marble disappeared in the distance behind them.

"We got away…" Rudeus muttered disbelievingly as he leaned back in his chair- a beautiful sight of entire galaxies of stars in front of him here in the cockpit of the ship. "We. got. away."

(Two hours later)

And with a single tap, he took a loan of the full 300 Credits.

"There, I did it." he smiled proudly at Mirko who immediately caught his head in a hold- crushing his face against her toned biceps and rock-hard abs- ruffling his hair as she guffawed.

"And just like that- we're back in the fight, Ru-kun!" She cheered with a wide toothy grin, and Rudeus couldn't help but be swept away by her confidence.

And despite it looking like a really steep uphill battle, Rudeus could feel that there was a ray of hope for him. That there was still a way to win this PvP, and to think, when he first got this match up, he had said 'There's no way we could lose now.'

"Can I see too and help you decide, Ru-Kun?" Mirko requested with a curious tone as she went over and leaned over his shoulder- pressing her breasts against his back.

"S-sure." He replied- trying not to get distracted by the sensation of Mirko's breasts right by his head. Having the new girl have the approval of his last remaining waifu from the start is important too. So, he lifted up his Company Tablet to her eyes and let her scroll through his 'Cart.' It was like shopping online when you could only afford one or two items, but it was easier to put prospective purchases in the cart for easier comparison.

Samus Aran (Metroid Series), Fem!Kratos (God of War), Mash Kyrielight (Fate Grand Order), Powergirl (DC), Wonderwoman (DC), Evangeline A.K. McDowell (Negima)

And under each photo of them, there was a summary of their skills and abilities and even a brief summary of their history and accomplishments. Rudeus wasn't going to lie and say that his love for muscle girls didn't influence his choices, but to be fair there were pretty powerful even without the strong bulging abs that he'd love to bury his face in.

"So, who do you think would be useful, Mirko?" he followed up as she hummed in contemplation.

"I think…" Mirko began, ears twitching as she pointed at a specific girl, "This one is just the type of gal we need at this time! She sounds interesting!"

Then suddenly, she looked unsure.

"We can get her, right?" Mirko hesitated- glancing at him with her ruby-red eyes.

"No, I think she's an excellent choice." Rudeus smiled in return- trying to hold back a nosebleed at the rare sight of an unsure, shy tanned muscle bunny girl. But back to business, he mulled Mirko's pick over for a few more seconds- just staring at the chosen girl's photo and rereading her backstory a few more times. But if he was being honest, the more he thought about it, the more the girl that Mirko picked sounded like a good choice.

So, with a tap of his finger, he purchased her.

And in a flash of white light, the girl appeared on the floor of their ship, just behind them. Looking peaceful as she lay there unconscious. And just as Rudeus glanced back at the girl, the ship lurched forward and he was pressed into the leather chair as the ship accelerated more and more until the stars became blurred lines. He recognized that they were going faster-than-light, maybe into hyperspace or something.

"Mirko! What's going on!" He cried out as they kept accelerating, but the bunny girl only held on tight on the controls.

Until finally… they slowed down.

And before them- filling up the cockpit view was a colourful sci-fi world with massive scrap metal towers and a sprawling city. An endless scrap heap seems to stretch in every direction towards the horizon. Hills and sometimes mountains of scrap and refuse rose up from the shallow waters. Hives of ships flew in every direction in an anarchic display. And up in the blue sky were myriads of multi-coloured portals that poured an endless stream of refuse onto the planet's surface.

"Welcome to Sakaar, Rudeus!" Mirko greeted with a wide grin, and Rudeus only shot her a confused look.

"It's that planet from Thor: Ragnarok. That Sakaar?" he guessed as he admired the sights, "Did the flight navigation computer take us on a detour?"

"Detour?! Ahahahahahaha~!" Mirko broke into a full on hearty laugh- stomping the floor like he had told a particularly hilarious joke before calming down to just a grin before he suddenly found himself encased in a strange gleaming metal.

"What the hell!? Mirko, help!" He tried to jump- and even channel his mana into his muscles to break through the metal. And once again, Mirko broke into a laugh as she stood up from the cockpit and tore the controls console right off the floor. And on her tanned pretty face, a sadistic smirk blossomed.

"Sakaar also happens to be the main planet of operation for 'Star Dragon Emperor' Hevnokren and the Dread Armada." She mentioned as the ship started to do a dive and catch fire from reentry, "And it also happens to be your final destination."

Wait, was she mind controlled by Hevnokren this entire time?!

"Mirko! What are you doing?" He pleaded, struggling harder as the ship began a nose dive, "You can't be under Hevnokren's mind control! I bought [Mind Defense]!"

"Oh, Ru-kun, don't you understand by now? I'm not mind controlled by Hevnokren." Mirko cooed as she picked up the unconscious waifu that they just purchased and slung her over her shoulder. She leaned in close as she whispered three words that made his blood run ice cold.

"I am Hevnokren."

And just like that, she leaned back and it seemed like the Mirko he always knew was still standing before him, then she left him trapped there.

"See you later, Ru-kun!" She waved goodbye as she opened an exit hatch on the ceiling- the waifu still slung over her shoulder. "Thanks for the free Waifu and I hope you have a nice landing."

And just like that, she jumped out- leaving Rudeus with a view of the Sakaarian soil that was drawing increasingly closer. A single thought on his mind: How could he have possibly won this?

(Meanwhile) [Atop the Grandmaster's Tower, Sakaar]

"It's good to relax like this after a long day."

My massive dragon form- dressed once again in the fluffy armour that Klee made for it- casually lounged atop the Grandmaster's tower. And in turn, Klee was sitting on a picnic blanket laid out my large draconic head as she ate. A plate with a ludicrously tall stack of toasted peanut butter and jelly sandwiches sitting beside her as she picniced on my head between the floppy rabbit ears of my fluffy (and 50 megaton explosive) armour.

Taking a big bite out of her lightly toasted PB&J sandwich, Klee patted my head with her tiny hand to get my attention.

"Hebv?" She lisped with her mouth full of her PB&J.

"Yes, my little M67 hand grenade?"

"Also, Johanna wouldn't want you to talk with your mouth full."

"Umu…" She nodded before washing down her food with some warm cocogoat milk, "When are Johanna and the others going to feel better?"

"In about three days, so be sure to behave so that when they return you can say that you've been a good girl."

"Okay, I'll be the bestest girl for Johanna!" Klee happily beamed. "I'm glad that they're not going to be sick for long!"

Well, depending on who one asks, death can be a sickness too. I'll tell Klee the truth when she was older. Right now, there is no need to involve a child in the problems and struggles of her parents, especially when it was only a temporary setback. I'll let Klee live the next few days in happiness, rather than in deep grief.

"Look, Klee." I gestured with a fluffy-pawed dragon claw- pointing to the luminous streak on the late afternoon sky. A bright yellow-orange line was decorating the sky- like someone was painting a yellow line across a canvas of sleepy purples and soft reds.

"Oh, it's a shooting star!" Klee pointed excitedly to the sky as well- her other hand still holding a sandwich, "Just like you said there would be, Hev!"

Of course, I knew that it would be here, I timed it with my Not-Mirko body that was currently messing with Rudeus after all. But still, it was a pretty sight, so Klee and I watched as a fireball left a fiery streak through the Sakaarian late afternoon sky as it began to fall like a meteor.

"That's actually Rudeus."

"Make a wish, Klee!"

Klee turned to look at me with those ruby-red eyes of her twinkling like I told her that Christmas has come early.

"It is?!" She loudly squealed in delight- almost dropping her sandwich as she abruptly jumped up, "Then I wish for Rudeus to go EXPLOOOODEEEEE~!"

As expected, it's a good thing that I had prepared the designated crash site with one of Klee's SJDs. I had informed Jean to clear the blast radius of civilians, so only hopeless idiots who can't read or follow instructions should be in the blast radius.

*thud*

The dull thud of Rudeus' ship/tomb crashing into the ground at mach 5 echoed throughout Sakaar, and for a few seconds, Klee was vibrating with anticipation- her tiny hands curled into fists that she held against her chest. Her ruby-red eyes staring intently at the crash site as if willing for the wreck to explode. Until…

*BOOOOOM!*

"Wish granted!"

"YIPEEE!" Klee cheered- throwing her hands up in the air and jumping up and down as the mushroom cloud began to rise. "Rudeus went booooom!"

"It was fun for me to watch too."

"Thank you, Hev!" She burbled as she dropped flat onto her stomach on my dragon head to try and hug me with her entire body.

"You're very welcome, my little C4 high explosive."

- Chapter 13: Tanned Muscle Girls vs a Fluffy Dragon, Part 2 End -

Chapter 14: Invasion_Earth coming soon…