The Day Of 1,000 Styles

[Coach Fro]

I intentionally left Lego's bit wide open so he can jump in with his own shenanigans. I do hope he joins in soon.

And what I had set up for you was the only the tip of the iceberg, Coryn. The thing is though, I actually don't know what I'm setting up at this point.

And we're gonna keep it that way. This is going to be a good one man. I can feel it.

[Coryn]

Like I've said before. This thing is three dimensional chess, and we're all on the same side, playing against ourselves.

Hopefully he will, yeah. The more the merrier.

[legomaestro]

Well, I tried what I could I guess. Man do a heck of a lot of ideas just suddenly start popping up when you're working on something like this. Anyhoo looking forward to ya'll guys' moves.

Style 56

Though he wasn't too worried about Fro handling himself fighting himself, Lego felt a slight sense of trepidation at leaving the bro behind. But he'd put two and two together and any opportunity to slog a Nega-Coryn (Narrator says his name is Nyroc, dude) - Right Nyroc in the face - was something he just couldn't pass up. Besides, he felt awful jealous about the black lab coat. Why hadn't he thought of that?

He was ready to ambush the mad scientist when someone grabbed his wrist and tossed him back down to the earth.

"?!"

Lego smashed through two buildings before he recovered his footing, so strong the wind pressure was. When he stood up he saw a man much like himself in a green janitors outfit that had the top rolled up around his waist.  He had short hair and too many rings on his fingers, and stroked a beard.

He seemed to be observing Lego for a moment before he finally spoke, "You're not supposed to be here."

"Nega-me, I presume?"

"Ogel Ortseam. Though friends of mine just call me Oh-Gee."

Lego stood up and swiped his sword to the side. Dust floated in the air at the rising killing intent he channeled.

"I'm not sure what it says about myself but I sure as hell would like to cut you down, you know?"

"Huh. Funny thing is, I'd normally feel the same. I'm not here to fight you, though."

"Too bad for you-" Lego flash-stepped forward and swung his blade, "I'm not going to give you a choice!"

There was a roar like fire and a white-gold blade sprung in the hands of the non-descript janitor. He met Lego's force with ease.

With three strikes that bifurcated a fire hydrant, lopped off the top of a nearby library and cut a marble statue of some important military figure, Lego knew immediately he was dealing with someone of equal battle prowess to him.

OG tsk-tsked at the collateral damage and jumped into the air, golden rings forming at the soles of his feet.

"Can't afford the bill for this sort of thing."

"As far as I'm concerned everyone is the enemy here!" Lego roared, jumping up into the sky and charging his femtokatana with lightning, the femtomachines already analyzing the properties of his enemies' abilities.

Lego's eyes widened, "Magic?"

OG teleported behind Lego and taped five imaginary points in space that proceeded to make a golden pentagram.

Golden rain fell upside-down-  Colours washed out in the face of brilliant light. Lego held up his blade in defence as OG spoke,

"Precisely."

And then a blast of golden fire.



---



Fro grinned,
"You know, I'm pretty proud that you trained everyone so well even in this universe! Usually the negative means the opposite so you'd think I'd suck at being a coach in this universe but no, I'm a good leader, with good subordinates here too!"

For someone with a black eye and a ballooned face, lying in a crater caused by a merciless barrage of attacks, Fronomenal was in high spirits. Nega Fro seemed to agree, his eyebrows twitching in anger,
"You are seriously pissing me off, dawg."

Fro did a handstand and popped his left shouldr back into hi socket, whistling at the exquisite pain, He could barely see out of his right eye. All the while he counted seconds, focused on keeping his breath steady. He smiled a toothy defiant grin,

"You haven't landed any killing blows yet. What's the deal? Waiting for my ineviteable power up where I knock you down?"

"Do you want to die?" Nega-Fro said as he launched a tendril so thin Fro had to sense the killing intent rather than see it to hope to avoid it. He did as such and was not surprised to see the environment wasn't affected by the near invisible attack.

"That's scary. Really scary." Fro shook a fist, "Who the hell fights with hair like they're some sort of dark assassin! Your attacks need more oomph! More punch! This isn't a seinen manga!"

Fro dodged another attack that was indeed less subtle and had more oomph. The explosion made a small mushroom cloud.

"I do believe this version of you is insane, Captain." That was Fortis, judging by his voice. This version of him seemed to be a grotesque flayed man with accentuated skeletal portions and glowing red muscles.

"And his afro's smaller than yours." Greentap giggled.

Nega-Fro frowned at this, noticing the fact that indeed, his quarry's hair had become smaller over the course of the short but intense beating.

Fro grinned, "Oh. Guess I got found out."

Nega-Fro almost shouted a warning, but he didn't even know what to warn against. Regardless, it was all for naught. A forest of black tendrils exploded into the hair. Waving, roiling mass of hair burst forth through ground and concrete, making a forest of strangely glowing hair that obscured everything from sight and forced the attackers to jump out of harms way.

"Tch!"

A mocking voice echoed through the hair-forest, "Glad I memorized where the power lines are in this city.
Did sure make for some good hair-growth formula. Now I've gotta do the thing villains do and say - I'll be back again... Nega Frooo. Mark my wooords."

Nega-Filia chuckled, "Tehee, he's actually pretty funny."

Nega-Fro's face was a dark shadow of murder,

"I'm going to kill him until he dies. I swear. AND DONT YOU DARE CALL HQ OR ANYTHING. HES MINE."

"Aye aye, captain. Need help hunting him?"

"Find him. Do not attack him."

"Aye aye."



---



Following suspicious women who stole reality-warping devices wasn't exactly Coryn's smarter moments, but he preferred it to the barrage of bullets that followed him and Nyroc who was most certainly on his tail. The good thing about shield bubbles was they could be as versatile as he liked. Hiding his presence, keeping him silent in his movement through flight, he followed the hooded girl.

Gradually the busy streets became busy in a different sort of way. There were still the grand city lights and people milling about but instead of shock at the odd sight of a man in a shield orb and a hooded girl there was more passing curiosity at the chase that was happening. Business suits gave way to people clad in leather, half-augmented humans, cyborgs, robots, talking animals, holographs and everything one expected in a cybernetic suburbia.

Soon enough Coryn just ran to blend in with the crowd.

The girl managed to keep one step ahead of him all the way up until she vanished into an establishment.

Coryn looked up at it and saw,

"The Only Pub." in red and pink blazing letters. Some sort of high-future mix between jazz and dub-step was playing at the moment, and it made Coryn feel aggressive and smooth. His cyborg ears could pick up the hallucinogenic qualities of the sound system. This was a place that was interested in having its customers entertained.

He'd definitely find something here, if not the remote,  at least.

Still, Coryn was surprised that 4kids ever allowed such an establishment to exist under their iron-clad rule, however. But every civilization no matter how conservative needed establishments such as these. If 'The Outer City' Even counted as the 4kids jurisdiction. Coryn really needed more answers to the theories he had.

He walked in without much hassle and wondered how he could possibly pay for anything, keeping an eye out.

"Hey, want some manga?" A shady looking kid with a robotic eye and a trench-coat walked up to Coryn.

"I don't think so.?"

"Don't lie. You're totally cosplaying Science Division Commander Nyroc, aren't you?"

"I'm only cosplaying myself. Excuse me..." Coryn walked further into the pub, ignoring the colourful swear words that followed him.

Originally, he planned on blending in with the colourful bunch of people that were around. After 10 steps
Coryn realized his mistake: The lively music had stopped, all eyes were on him, and they did not look friendly.

"What the hell do you think you're wearing, punk?"

Coryn turned to see a table flanked by menacing military types in suits. A beautiful woman with black dress pants and a flowing fur coat sitting behind it. Coryn knew who it was before she leaned out of the shadows to show her face.  Her voice was unmistakable. He hoped the Nega-version of her was friendly.

"Pub-tan?"

"The one and - CORYN?!" The mysterious quality to the womans' voice dropped to an embarrassing squeak of surprise.

Coryn frowned and looked at the familiar face in the eyes. They were too familiar.

"Wait. Pub-tan Pub-tan?"

"What are you doing here?" Pub-tan stood up. Her menacing bodyguards backed away, clearly wondering
what was up with their terrifying leader. 

"What are you doing here."

Pub-tan regained her composure and waved off her guards. With a nod at the DJ the music kept on playing again and she beckoned with a hand,  Coryn came and sat at the table, still feeling some unwelcoming glares around him.

"I have a lot of questions, Pub."

Pub-tan rubbed her forehead with her thumb and index finger, "Please tell me you're alone here by accident and you can get through the portal you came in with."

"I was raised not to tell lies."

Pub-tan sighed. "Okay, here is what's happening..."

[Coryn]

Now that I think about it, both of our Nega version's "names" begin with the same letters. 'Odel Ortseam', and 'Nyroc Neks'.

Going to have to start calling him Orf Lanemon for consistency.

Seriously, these all sound like names from a fantasy novel. Maybe that's the secret?

Good work progressing things Lego! Now that makes it my turn I suppose. Sounds like there's something bubbling up in the back of my head as we speak. The old gray matter is percolating. Soon there will be a delicious black coffee of a chapter. Sweet and bitter and bad for your teeth.

[Suuper-san]

very nice, very suspenseful :)
this needs a manga. it would be fantastic :P
typical anime bad guy groups (or even good guy groups for that matter) naming conventions usually have one or two who break the mold anyway. Just whatever sounds good works.

[legomaestro]

Don't tempt me suuper haha

And Coryn oh I'll be looking for that chapter. I might've thrown too many curve balls, but now that I think of it DOTs has always been like that.

Hahaha Orf Lanemon. Jeez that does work as a fantasy name

[Suuper-san]

well I'm very nearly tempted myself haha
I only read this occasionally so I really need to catch up with how the story even began. That and the rest of the Canon T_T

[Coryn]

Well conveniently, there is a lovely table of contents in the first post of this topic. Which is fun because it's my post but Lego has been it's primary curator, because mod powers.

Honestly I just need a solid out to bang this thing out. But as it is I have been yet to get that. However, I am looking at getting some regular car maintenance next Saturday, so that will be a prime time to get it done.

[legomaestro]

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Du9a8Ydqb7CsADU5XGdsbG-Z0HMU03FE/view

In other unrelated news. This happened. As according to this style

http://forums.mangaraiders.com/index.php/topic,6904.msg129993/topicseen.html#msg129993

[Suuper-san]

lovely jubbly!
this should be mandatory listening for new members.

[Coryn]

Nothing like sitting at the dealership and writing whole chapters in single sittings. Enjoy!

(Edit: They keep the TV's in this waiting room way too loud for writing. I apologise for the many spelling errors and weird sentences. I got some cheaply produced educational television programming blasting into my ears)

Style 57

"Okay, here is what's happening..."
        It's what Pub-tan had said, but she quickly realized that being so open with the truth in such a crowded space maybe wasn't the best idea. Instead, she settled back onto her couch, and silently invited Coryn to sit across from her. As they relaxed, a tray with drinks arrived, and both picked a beverage from the tray before the server headed off again. Pub-tan took a sip, and fell into the battle-speak that MR's warriors had perfected over years of practice. "Coryn, it's good to see you again. I feel like I just saw you a few months ago. (I've been here two months).
        Coryn sniffed his drink as he processed the tan's answer. Her sudden change of tone tipped him off to what was going on, so he followed along. "I know how you feel, I feel like it was just yesterday (I literally saw you yesterday). Time sure flies doesn't it? (Time has gone a bit wiggity on us). But what can you do? (I swear it's not my fault this time)."
        Pub-tan nodded. "So what brings you to my humble establishment? (How did you find me?)
        "We were in the neighborhood (It was an accident. I didn't know you were here).
        "Oh? Who's we? Why haven't you introduced us yet? (Who else is here? Where are they?)" Asked Pub.
        Coryn chuckled. "Haha. Oh they're around here somewhere I'm sure. Probably arguing about who has the better hair (Fro and Lego, but I've lost track of them).
        Pub-tan sighed. "That sure does sound like them (Of course they're lost).
        Coryn leaned in. "So what have you been up to since moving in here? (What's happened in the last two months?)"
         "Well, I've been a bit sick, not feeling myself, so I had to take a little while to quarantine myself. But I got a lot of reading done, so it wasn't all a waste. Although to be honest, I still spend a lot of time resting up in private. (I've imprisoned my nega-self in the upstairs apartment. Interrogation has been mostly successful, but she's still holding out on me some).
        This got a laugh out of Coryn. "I apologise, I don't mean to laugh at you, but I bet you're cute when you're sick (good job!). But i have to ask, and not to change the subject, but did you see the girl who brought me here? I want to thank her for this reunion (I followed a weird girl I here. I really need to talk to her).
        Pub relaxed in her seat and nodded over Coryn's left shoulder. The scientist turned casually, and caught sight of the very person he had been looking for. She was standing in the corner of the pub, sipping on a purple drink. Coryn couldn't see the remote, but he could tell she was looking at him. Although she still wore her hood, Coryn picked up on a distinguishing feature that he hadn't noticed until now. Her hood was disturbed in two spots. He didn't understand at first, but the truth soon dawned on Coryn.
         Horns.
        At least, what was left of them.
        "'Nahca', I presume?" Said Coryn.
        Pub-tan nodded. "She's different than the last time you met her (She's not the one you know). She works for me now. We just came into an agreement (Nega-Achan and regular-myself have a cause in common).
        Coryn drained his drink, and set it onto the table. "Can we talk in private? We have a lot to discuss?"
        Pub-tan motioned at her guards and at Nahca, who started making her way over to them. "I think I can arrange something. Follow me."

        Lego had seen better days. Better days that didn't involve getting into fights with his evil clone.
        Ah well. At least he was loosing to a worthy opponent.
        Ogel was in the air above him. White-gold flames wrapped his body, and great burning horns we're protruding from his forehead. When Lego had died before, he had made great use of his angel-metal halo. The raider did not know what had transpired in Ogel's life, but he surmised he had proved similarly adept at escaping death.
        "I suppose this is it for you you crappy copy!"
        Lego's voice was craggy, but he wasn't going to go out without one last dig. "Look who's talking, you bastard..."
        Ogel swung, Lego braced himself, the firery attack filled his vision. It was all over.
        And then suddenly it wasn't.
        The attack still landed, but Lego was jerked away as something wrapped around his body. They felt like tentacles. Cold, metallic, undulating. As uncomfortable as they were, Lego could not doubt they had saved his live. But for now he was blinded by the light of the explosion. Yet he could still hear, and the voices were familiar to him.
        "Ogel you damn fool! Our orders were to capture them! Not to kill! What do you think the General would have done to you if he died?!"
        "Piss off Nyroc! If he died it would just mean he wasn't a real copy of me at all!"
        "Oh get over yourself. Check your communicator. We have new orders."
        Lego's eyes were readjusting now. Sure enough, Ogel and Nyroc were there. Sure enough, he was wrapped in metal tentacles. What he hadn't expected was for those tentacles to be connected to Nyroc's right arm. In fact, the more he looked at it, they were his right arm. It split into over a dozen individual tentacles at his elbow, which then wrapped around Lego's body and limbs. He wasn't sure where all of the material was coming from, but all the same, Lego found himself completely trapped. Even if he were free, he suspected he wouldn't be able to affect an escape.
        Might as well go along for the ride. After all, it might be useful to have a man on the inside.
        The nega-mods shot off towards MR Tower without another word. Lego had no choice but to accompany them, so resigned himself to praying he wasn't headed for immediate execution.

        From his control room at the top of the tower, the Bethuw'el had watched the fighting. He wasn't pleased with his moderators' conduct, or their inability to capture all of the intruders, but that could wait. He had other things to attend to first. There was an interrogation to conduct. And the General always enjoyed conducting them in person.
        His subordinates would expect nothing less from their General. After all, he was Ahtisah Adnarre, the Bethuw'el of MangaRaiders, and he would not show weakness to anyone.

[legomaestro]

Dude that bar-speak is inspired stuff Coryn hahaha! And dammit I got captured. Help me out Fro!

[Suuper-san]

absolutely brilliant battle speak XD

[Coryn]

Thanks guys! It seemed reasonable that the upper eshelons would have some form of code talk by this point. We get wrapped up in too much trouble.

Sorry Lego, but the story demanded it! I leave your fate in the capable hands of our cowriter(s).

[Coach Fro]

Just when you thought this was over...

After sitting on a incomplete version of this for a whole year now, I figured it was only right to finally finish it. Why a year you ask? Because writer's block ain't nothing to play around with. It will destroy your motivation to write if you let it.

Really happy to get this done though. This might be what i need to get back into the swing of things. Still got some other projects I want to complete. *cough* War Arc *Cough Cough*

Also, these Nega names are actually really good. Like, all of them are. Its crazy.

Style 58

     Part of what always got Fro in trouble was his mouth.
     The guy could never help firing off a sly remark or two. After all, trash talk had been an integral part of Fro's entire life. Fro was raised in the streets and in the streets you had no choice but to learn how to talk that talk. Sometimes talking tough scared people off of you. Sometimes it got you decked in the jaw. And sometimes, when you factor in a Nega version of one's self from an alternate universe, trash talk got a hair tendril slammed against your skull.
     And let's not forget said Nega self's dangerous assault crew...
     The 4kids specialized assault unit had been stalking Fro's runaway trail. Fro couldn't outright see them at first, but he could feel their presence. They had taken to the alleyways and the rooftops. A mirage of shapes of and shadows phased in and out of broad daylight. Nega Fro (Who will from here on be referred to as Orf for consistency's sake) didn't just train his students to be killer fighters. He trained them to be assassins. The cool ninja kind at that.
     Fro was kinda jealous that he didn't think of that first.
     Fro didn't have an exact destination in mind when he jetted out of harm's way. He just needed to get away to catch a breather. Unfortunately, Sitrof (Fortis) and his M14 Carbine had other plans. Just when Fro thought he made it to the Artist district, bullets stormed down in front of him, forcing a swift U-turn. More rounds came, this time from Fro's right. The Coach hair zipped to a building on his left, and ninja ran along its surface.
     And that's when the rpg came...
     "Wait what?!"
     The searing hiss of a rocket being launched sounded off, and by the time Fro realized it was coming the building he landed on was blown  to bits. Fire erupted, smoke followed suit, and clumps of building architecture crashed onto the ground below. Just before the impact Fro flashed step to safety below, but not without company. A few feet ahead of him was Sitrof with his trusted gladius sword in one hand, and in the other, a large, triangular, golden shield with glowing red cracks that formed a veiny x shape on it's base. While this version of the skeleton had a bit more flesh than his normal counterpart, there was one constant between the two: Their eyes. Through those eye holes bright blue flames burned, and Fro couldn’t help but smirk at the sight. Even if they belonged to a nega phony, they were cool nonetheless.
     Sitrof pointed his blade at the coach and spoke. “I’m a bit surprised, clone of the captain. Wouldn’t expect you to be much of a runner. I had figured you would’ve stood your ground and fought back by now.”
     Fro eyebrows twitched. “What the hell did you just call me?!”
     “Ah my apologies for the obvious insult, but before our unit was sent out to capture you the Captain made it imperative that we refer to you as his shadow clone.”
     Fro grinded his teeth aggressively. “Yo that son of a bitch is so lucky he’s--” Fro cut himself off. He almost admitted that his Nega self was ten times stronger than him, with that being the reason he wouldn’t be able to make Orf eat his words. But Fro was a man of pride. He would never allow those kinds of words slip his tongue even if they were true. He shook off the insult and returned to the matter at hand. “I’m only running cause it makes sense to run. I may have my pride as a fighter, but I have a brain too y’know.”
     “A good point. I cannot argue with that.”
     “Also Fortis…”
     “It’s Sitrof…”
     “Whatever, I don’t care. When did you start employing missile launchers into your arsenal of weaponry?”
     The nega skeleton seemed visibly perplexed despite not having any fleshy facial features. “Missiles? I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”
     Fro pointed at the pile of architectural rubble that was formerly a building. “The rpg that blew up that building over there. That wasn’t yours?”
     Sitrof shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”
     It was at that moment Fro began to realize the amount of trouble he got himself into. “Then who the hell-”
     Before he could finish, the sound of machinery whirling and buzzing from behind threw him off base. He turned slightly, not even wanting to confirm his suspicions, but they were confirmed nonetheless. A giant mech, half the size of MR’s central tower stood before him. It’s design was a sleek blue with a bulky frame. It’s arms were turrets armed with heavy artillery. Fro could only guess that Racokue (Eukocar) was the one piloting the mech because standing on each of it’s shoulders were Ailif (Filia) and PartneerG (GreenTrap), each armed with their very own Rpg.
     Fro threw up his arms in a fit. “How the hell did you guys sneak behind me with that giant ass robot?!”
     “A cloaking device.”  replied Racokue. His voice was projected through the robot’s internal megaspeakers. “It completely covers this robot in an invisible veil that muffles it movements for a limited amount of time.”
     “Yeah okay that makes sense. Let me guess, Nega Coryn made that for yall?”
     “Coryn? You mean Nyroc?”
     Fro sighed heavily. Whatever homie.”
     “Hey Faker,” yelled PartneerG. “How about you stand still and make blowing you up a lot easier for us?!”
     “Is killing the Captain's shadow clone okay?” asked Ailif. Despite being a nega raider she still retained some of her innocence. “Didn’t the Captain order us not to touch him?”
     “Ah who cares what he wants. Just shut up and get ready to make that phony explode!”
     Fro had been in tough some situations before, but this one definitely took the cake. He was out gunned, out-matched, outnumbered and out of options. It made him wonder. “Why am I even here? How did I even get caught up  in all of this?” The thoughts were racing through his mind, and so were the missiles. Dozens of them were coming at him at once and they came fast. Death was approaching, and by the time Fro realized it, he realized something else,
     “This is all Coryn’s fault.”
     KABLOOM! Upon the missiles’ impact the deafening explosion roared across the surrounding area. Asphalt was lifted up and flung. A pillar of smoke rose. Fro was surely dead. No amount of hair magic could save him from a point blank blast. The members of the specialized assault unit all stood and waited with anticipation for the smoke to clear, and when it did they were greeted with nothing more than an empty crater.
     “Hey Racokue,” shouted PartneerG. “Did you kill him?”
     “I’m not getting any life readings so I’m certai-”
     “He’s still alive…” said Sitrof, as stared at the empty crater.
     “What?!” PartneerG was flabbergasted. “And what makes you so sure of that Skullface?”
     As if it was instinct, Sitrof turned his sights to the far alleyway on his right. The embers in his eye sockets burned even brighter, a signal of a drawn conclusion. “Someone else was here…”


     When Fro opened his eyes he expected to be greeted with the dreamy sight of heaven’s pearly white gates. What he was introduced to instead, however, was the sight of a muscular figure standing over him. The lean muscled ginger shot a smirk at Fro, a smirk that made him feel slightly uncomfortable. He had no way of telling that the woman (possibly man?) before him dressed in nothing more than a tight black vest, skin tight shorts, boots and a navy style hat with a strange eye symbol emblazoned on the front of it was a friend or foe. With so many nega raiders running about his trust levels were beginning to deteriorate.
     The ginger could sense Fro’s uneasiness, and decided that offering him a hand to stand would be a nice first step to build trust. “Looks like I just saved your life there huh buddy?”
     Fro was a bit hesitant at first, but ultimately gave in as he was getting tired of laying on his back. “ I was good even before you stepped in.”
     “Sure you were.” the woman said as she pulled him up to his feet. She watched Fro dust himself for a second before turning around. She raised her arm and mysteriously it began to glow with a purple aura engulfing it. She waved her hand with very precise motions and soon enough the hand waves produced a portal. She turned back around to see Fro looking at her confused, but she ignored his expression. “Alright get in. We ain’t got much time.”
     “So we're just gonna skip the intros and get straight into the plot huh?”
     “Sit around and chat too much and we’re gonna find ourselves dealing with Orf and his gonnies again.”
     “True, but it would be nice to get your name at least.”
     The woman sighed. “Still haven’t figured it out huh? Didn’t know you could be this slow.” The woman removed the hat from her head, allowing the bangs of her short hair to droop freely over her face. “Take a guess, but say it backwards.”
     After seeing the woman’s hair in its entire glory, Fro quickly realized there was only one raider with such a unique color. “Aulham?”
     “Yup. Now get in before I drag you in myself.”