Malphegor

MCIM Ch. 104

Emma glanced at Shaw, then at Riptide frozen solid in ice. Her diamond form rippled like liquid mercury, transforming back into ordinary flesh and bone. She walked forward, reaching out to touch Mario's arm.

Mario swatted her hand away. "Keep it professional."

Emma blinked, clearly not used to rejection. Seeing that seduction wasn't working, she gave up and slouched onto a sun lounger, extending one arm toward Hendry. Her eyes fixed on the thick wand in Mario's hand. "You're a mag...

MCIM Ch. 103

Mario and Raven arrived at Banner's laboratory, and Mario paused at the entrance. Obsidian sat on the ground, back against the outer wall. Mario could sense the waves of existential despair radiating from the massive alien. The guy looked like he'd just learned the meaning of futility.

Raven noticed the motionless figure and assumed it was a statue. In her defense, nothing in her life experience had prepared her for the existence of something that looked like Obsidian.

She had que...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 365

The nine members of the Fellowship of the Ring set out from the hidden valley. Elrond watched their departing figures and sighed softly.

The world was in chaos and turmoil. Nowhere was spared.

Even the Free Cities, long known for peace and almost untouched by evil, were not exempt. In the past, Sauron would never have cast his gaze upon them, but the moment their leader left, the lands of the North and South Undeeps fell into war.

Thranduil had tried to lead his people in su...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 364

Light?

No, that wasn't it.

Garrett drank a bottle of night vision potion and looked into the distance.

That wasn't light.

Creak... creak...

The sharp sound of something scraping against metal echoed. Garrett focused his gaze and saw several huge white spiders covered in frost gnawing on a heap of tattered black armor.

That armor style looked familiar.

Nazgûl?

He frowned in confusion.

Yes, it was the kind of armor Nazgûl usually ...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 363

"Why hasn't Garrett come back yet?"

At the same time that Garrett was heading toward the Northern Waste, in a western outpost belonging to the Free Cities near Dol Guldur, Elrond and Glorfindel were meeting with the brown-robed wizard Radagast.

This animal-loving wizard was one of the most valuable intelligence sources for the Free Peoples.

All birds and beasts could serve as Radagast's eyes and ears. Even Saruman had to rely on him for news, though he privately disdained Ra...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 362

Saruman was, for the time being, safe.

In an earlier discussion, Elrond and Gandalf had come to the same conclusion.

The Nazgûl had chosen to capture and imprison him rather than kill him, which clearly meant they still had some use for him. Until their purpose was fulfilled, at least, they were unlikely to truly threaten Saruman's life.

Of course, that didn't mean he wouldn't suffer in other ways.

After all, expecting the Nazgûl to invite him over for a pleasant con...

NYP Ch. 67

"Each of you take one of these kunai and keep it on you at all times during patrol."

Kenji stood outside his tent in Area A3, holding out three specially marked kunai to the chunin squad leaders assigned to his sector. If any patrol encountered danger they couldn't handle, he could teleport directly to their location.

"Yes!" The three chunin accepted the kunai, securing them in their pouches.

They didn't ask questions about why these particular kunai were important. Operatio...

NYP Ch. 66

A week after Kenji had first demonstrated the Wood Release puppet, he found himself back at the same training ground. This time, three people were present: himself, Hiruzen, and someone he knew well.

Yamanaka Inoichi. Current head of the Yamanaka clan and one-third of the new Ino-Shika-Chō formation.

"Yo, Inoichi. Long time no see." Kenji greeted him first, taking in the other man's appearance. Inoichi looked good, confident in a way that came from accepting real responsibility. ...

NYP Ch. 65

"Kenji, I want you to create another Wood Release puppet for the village."

Hiruzen's tone was serious. He'd been thinking about this since witnessing the demonstration, and had clearly reached a decision.

"The village will provide all necessary materials. This assignment will be classified as an A-rank mission. The only requirement is that the puppet must have the potential to contend with a tailed beast. Can you do that?"

Kenji didn't agree immediately. Instead, he chose ho...

NYP Ch. 64

The Eight-Tails' chakra gradually dissipated. The massive form shrank, tailed beast energy withdrawing until it revealed an unconscious Killer B collapsed on the ground.

"Yes! We caught the Eight-Tails jinchūriki!" Dōtō looked excitedly at the figure lying in the dirt.

"Don't celebrate yet. They escaped." Minato leaped down from the slowly crumbling wooden golem and walked over to where B lay.

"Idiot, didn't you notice A and the other Kumo ninjas are gone?" Enma asked hel...

NYP Ch. 63

Kenji's head snapped toward the sound. The explosive tags should have detonated by now. Had A survived? He didn't have time to investigate further.

"ROOOAAAAR!"

The bellow was deafening. Dark red chakra exploded outward in a massive surge, blasting away the smoke and dust that had been obscuring the battlefield. When the air cleared, the Eight-Tails stood fully manifested.

Gyūki.

The creature was enormous. Its head was that of a massive bull with twisted horns, eyes b...

NYP Ch. 62

Kenji stood slightly to the side, observing the standoff.

This was it. The first clash between the A-B Combo and Minato, exactly as it had played out in the original timeline. The difference was that Minato had already made a name for himself across the shinobi world with the Flying Thunder God Technique. His reputation preceded him everywhere he went.

Kenji, by contrast, usually fought through puppets and never drew much attention. He wasn't unknown exactly, but he didn't have th...

HSU: Ch. 337

Inside the tent, although Black Zetsu sounded serious, Kakuzu just felt that this thing wasn't serious at all.

Don't ask him why. It was just a feeling.

After all, you couldn't read its expression. That's the downside of not looking human.

"I can't really explain that feeling just with words." Kakuzu actually wanted to tell Black Zetsu what that thing was, but he had risked his life and still only half-understood it. Other than knowing it was something related to chakra, he ...

GSiN: Ch. 193

"About to die?"

Sōwa couldn't quite understand what Ryouma meant.

Jinchūriki had tailed beasts sealed inside them. Unless the injuries were extremely severe, they were honestly quite hard to kill.

Then, as if realizing something, his eyes widened slightly.

---

Very soon, under the swift action of the remaining Taki ninjas, the Ame survivors on the battlefield, along with Sōto's subordinates, were all tied up with hemp rope. Hands and feet bound, they knelt on ...

OP: AMP Ch. 172

The dazed expression on Alvida's face cleared up surprisingly fast, like someone snapping out of a trance.

"So?" Marcus asked cautiously. "How was it? What happened?"

Alvida looked at him with an expression he couldn't quite read.

"You're... way too big."

Marcus blinked. "Uh... what?"

"I mean—" Alvida seemed to realize how that sounded and quickly clarified, "Your soul, your presence, whatever you want to call it. It's massive."

"Okay, even if you're tryi...

OP: AMP Ch. 171

"How do I even explain this?" Marcus muttered, thinking for a moment.

Then he started experimenting.

He plucked a small piece off the cloud house, kneading and shaping it until he'd formed a white ball about the size of his fist.

"Your ability makes any object frictionless, right? But here's the thing, if two objects that are both at zero friction meet, they don't slide off each other. They can't, because they never make contact. No contact means no sliding."

He held u...

OP: AMP Ch. 170

Alvida dragged him into a small house made of white clouds.

"Haven't you noticed something? Every time you take over someone's body with your Soul Possession ability, you use their powers way better than they do."

"Ok?"

Marcus had no idea what she was talking about.

Seeing his completely blank expression, Alvida started listing examples with her fingers. "We use our abilities every single day, right? We've had years to practice with them. So why can you use them better...

OP: AMP Ch. 169

The Straw Hats and everyone else stepped aside, clearing a path to the Golden Bell.

Wyper took his first step forward.

He placed his hands on the bell. "Great Warrior Kalgara... your promise is finally fulfilled. Though your friend can no longer hear this song."

"But his descendant is still waiting below," Vivi said gently. "The sound will reach him."

"Cricket is in Mock Town down below."

Wyper spun around, staring at the Straw Hats in disbelief. "You mean... Nol...

MCIM Ch. 102

Nobody in the room believed Mario's claim except Mario himself, especially Raven, who was still rubbing her aching thigh from where she'd face-planted into an involuntary split.

The blood collection proceeded at a steady pace. Within moments, the syringe had filled completely with Xavier's blood.

Xavier gently withdrew the needle from his arm. His face was still pale, though not from blood loss. That first jab Mario had given him had hurt like a bitch, and his arm still throbbed f...

MCIM Ch. 101

Mario stood under Moira's umbrella.

Neither of them spoke as they walked toward the university auditorium. Moira knew he wasn't as innocent as he looked, but as she kept reminding herself, she had no evidence. The only thing she could do was call the cops and report him for sexual harassment, which seemed extreme for umbrella-sharing.

She glanced at Mario, who kept edging closer under the umbrella to avoid the drizzle, taking up more than his fair share of coverage.

"Could y...

MCIM Ch. 100

After realizing which world he'd landed in, Mario frowned slightly.

The X-Men were definitely part of the Marvel universe, that much was certain. But the real question was whether this parallel world was purely mutant-focused, or if it was a mixed bag with all the usual Marvel chaos.

If it was mixed... well, things were about to get very interesting. Mutants, Inhumans, superheroes, sorcerers, vampires, an entire lineup of superpowered beings all crammed into one reality. They prob...

MCIM Ch. 99

Mario opened his eyes and stared at the familiar patterns overhead.

"The seven days are up... Time to check on the quantum channel."

Those seven days had been pure vacation. Apart from fishing, shopping, traveling around with Skye, and playing video games until dawn, he hadn't cared about anything else. He'd avoided thinking about work, vampires, or dimensional travel. If Ivan hadn't called yesterday to say the quantum tunnel device was complete, he might have stayed lost playing ...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 361

The reforging of Narsil, the Holy Sword, would take time, and both the Fellowship and the various factions needed to make their own preparations.

After the meeting ended, everyone did not set out immediately. Instead, they stayed in Rivendell for a while, waiting until everything was ready before officially beginning the expedition.

As for the specific preparations...

First came ensuring the safety of the surrounding area.

Elrond met privately with Garrett to discuss t...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 360

This was a decision that shocked not only many others but even Frodo himself.

Gandalf froze for a moment, pretending not to hear Frodo's first outcry, and continued to persuade the others.

"No, my boy, turn back now. Go home, and you can still avoid all that pain..."

Even if it might be something inevitable.

"I will take the Ring to Mordor."

The argument came to an abrupt halt.

"Though... I do not know the way."

This time, Gandalf couldn't pretend not...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 359

"No."

Boromir's refusal sounded cold and ruthless, but his head was positively warm, bobbing like a rattle.

Putting aside whether the moment was appropriate, just looking at the armour that radiated heat, if you hugged him carelessly you'd likely get burned. For some reason, though, that interruption loosened Boromir's mood considerably.

Where did this inexplicable relaxation come from?

Well, not bad.

He leaned back against the stone chair and f...

LOTR: TMCP Ch. 358

At the end of the Third Age, year 3018, on a bright noon, the Council of Rivendell was convened.

Presided over by Elrond, the Lord of Rivendell, the main attendees included the highest leaders of the Free Peoples: the Lord of the North, the legendary Garrett; the Grey Wizard Gandalf; the Ring-bearer Frodo; the discoverer of the One Ring Bilbo; the unassuming Noldorin Elf Glorfindel; the Dwarf Glóin and his son Gimli; Boromir, the eldest son of the Steward of Gondor; Legolas of the Wood...