trans_9 | In Which Zetta Is Frustrated By Frustration [[Open]]

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In Which Zetta Is Frustrated By Frustration [[Open]]

Night in the City led the Overlord to discover a grim and horrible truth:

Getting your mope on as a book is pretty darn difficult.

That knowledge frustrated him -- and since the prime source of his frustration was his frustration, it fed into the horrible cycle of irritation that had at last boiled over into a grouchy Overlord perched atop a pillar he'd had his minions haul over specifically for the purpose of perching upon as a suitable location to be a grouch.

The Overlord simply didn't have a nature that lent itself to frustration. From the beginning, he'd set his goal and fought for it -- and had done so for well over thirty thousand years. He had, in fact, achieved a goal beyond that of anyone else in the universe, and it had felt good. Damn good. Like nothing else imaginable!

"And now here I am!" the book said, out loud to the black and empty sky. "It's not being the damn book that bothers me. I can deal with that. I'm still the most badass freakin' Overlord in the cosmos. But give me a damn ENEMY to fight!

"Agh, this sucks!" Zetta made a motion that didn't work as a book, wobbled, and nearly fell off the pillar. Some choice words filled the air in place of his formerly magnificent monologue.

He hated this. He hated feeling frustrated. He hated feeling grumpy. He wouldn't stand for this sort of feeling in someone else! Go out there and DO something, he'd say!

But damn it all, he was already the most badass Overlord to be had! And a book! Where was he supposed to go from here?!

((Edit: Posts in the Giant Rumble thread cover the time period in which Zetta and Nanashi have gone off to brawl; characters who are spying on this should post there. The post in general still remains open.))

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Nanashi was on a nearby roof, watching the show. Upon seeing Zetta nearly fall, she couldn't help herself. She started laughing. Hard. She kicked one foot up into the air as she leaned back, "Well, well. If you are so bored, how about we have a friendly fight? No killing each other being the only rule? Oh, and keeping the damage to the city to a minimum. How does that sound?"

One eyebrow went up as the laughter intruded on his grumbling. He looked around only briefly before spotting the queen over there. "Oh... hello, Nanashi. You're in a good mood. I'm guessing at my expense." The fact didn't much bother him. Nanashi seemed constantly amused by him, after all. So long as the jabs didn't get too pointed, hey, whatever floats her boat.

He thought about her suggestion for a long moment, then sighed as he made a damning admission. "My minions aren't leveled anywhere near enough to give you a challenge. I'm more powerful, that's just simple numbers, but I'm short on limbs right about now. Not that I'm saying I couldn't fight you myself, but it'd just be me trying to blast you. That's not fun. That's a giant freakin' disappointment for me."

Of course, he didn't doubt for a second that she'd enjoy the hell out of punching him repeatedly.

"So what the hell do you do to keep yourself from going crazy?" he asked. "Besides party planning." And stalking him, of course. "I can't imagine you're any better at sitting on your ass than I am..."

"O~oh, giving up already, are we?" she crooned from her perch. "That seems so very unlike you Zetta!" She pulled her hair back over her shoulder, still smiling widely. "I keep myself busy, training. Using the materials in the media library to study the Ohm and their past battles."

She laughed a bit more, daintily covering her mouth, "perhaps you should spend some time levelling these minions of yours."

"Hey, who's giving up?" Zetta snorted. "Besides, I HAVE been leveling my minions. You really want to get into some contest where I claim a couple hours levelling 'em is enough to compete with you?"

Then a thought struck him. "Wait, of course you do. Standard pre-fight smack-talking."

Nanashi laughed again, "Only a few hours? Is that all the effort you've put into levelling them? And what will happen when the Ohm next attack? They shall be crushed! Maybe I should start training them for you."

Yup, Nanashi was working the smack-talk. She didn't often talk smack with her opponents, she usually just killed them, but it wasn't uncommon for her and her generals to exchange similar banter.

Zetta slowly lifted one eyebrow.

"You're trying to just work me up."

This sort of banter was pretty much par for the course between Overlords, but... Nanashi actually seemed to want the fight.

Why? She wasn't SERIOUS about it.

Aaah, she probably just wanted to humiliate him for her own amusement. "I bet you just want to humiliate me for my own amusement. Even after you saw my power, you're betting you can beat me because of the 'no killing' clause.

"Heh. Sure, Nanashi, except we're going to the sensoriums for it. Because frankly that 'no collateral damage' thing isn't gonna fly."

Nanashi grinned mischievously- not unlike how the Cheshire Cat might smile- and cooed, "Sensoriums it is. You against me, one-on-one, and since you think I am attempting to humiliate you, you may make the battlefield."

"Okay." Zetta's heart wasn't in it, but what the hell. A minion crashed down from the sky to land next to the book on the pillar; only a heartbeat after he landed, he picked Zetta up and pitched him down to his trusty leader-mook on the ground. With the Sacred Tome secure in her graps, the loyal battle monkey set off for the sensoriums without any hesitation.

Choose the location of the battle? Zetta had.

The reliquary of the Sacred Tome.

A long platform led over a giant pit filled to near overflowing with massive slabs of stone. Each slab held the sigil of a giant stone eye staring blindly out. More of these slab floated motionless in the sky, surrounding jutting columns either of bone or a material that looked very much like it. An open pedestal marked where the Sacred Tome had once sat. Before this pedestal, Zetta had taken up his position.

Nanashi walked in, looking around the place with a keen eye, though she showed no evidence of being impressed by the grandeur. Probably because she wasn't. She was used to such splendour, and she was concerned with evaluating how best to use the place to her advantage.

"Not a bad arena, Zetta."

"Of course. An Overlord knows style, and also messing with some of his opponent's advantages." He still didn't seem to have his heart in this. He spoke distractedly, looking around as a few memories trickled through his thoughts. "This is the last place I got to have a real fight, and it wasn't much of one."

Ah, Starfire knew the voice producing those curses well. Lord Zetta has become frustrated, it seems---but with what?

Curious, she floated up to the pillar. "Something troubles you?"

"Hello, Starfire," Zetta said. For him, the greeting almost sounded friendly. Maybe something really IS bothering the Overlord!

Zetta started to blow her off with the usual bluster, but stopped before he could get it out. Of all the people here, Starfire was... nice. Frankly, that was damn weird, coming from where he did and being who he was. But he had the hunch that she might not mock him for weakness... and if if he was going to rant, such a rant deserved a listener.

"I'm used to solving my problems pretty quickly," he said. "If I was back where I belonged, even this whole book thing wouldn't be a problem. I'd reclaim my Netherworld and my body right with it. But here... I'm stuck waiting. And it's frankly pissing me right the hell off."

Starfire sat at the base of the pillar, listening attentively as she always did. "Your entrapment frustrates you---and because we have not been faced with adequate challenges, none of us are close to acquiring enough mana to free you."

Leaning back against it, she nods. "We lack control in ways that we are unaccustomed to. But is there any way for us to build mana in this situation? A tournament, or some form of training?"

Nanashi looked around. Unfortunately the place was bright. She would be able to deal with the light though, if she gave her eyes time to adjust. She took off her glasses and tossed them aside- to a corner of the sensoriums where they wouldn't get damaged, but she could grab them later.

Using memory and her acute sense of hearing she kept her eyes open against the pain of the light and acted as if nothing was wrong. "You don't seem as if you really want to do this, Zetta. Scared that it won't be much of a fight again, except not much of a fight for me, of course?"

Silence for a moment, from the top of that pillar. Then the Overlord began to laugh. Not cruelly or maliciously, or, amazingly, even evilly. Just sincere laughter. To be honest, it sounds really weird coming from Zetta.

"You ARE beyond nice, aren't you?" he said, when he at last had enough control to do so. "I, uh... I appreciate the thought?" Was that the right thing to say? He didn't know! "But I guess I haven't been clear on the scale, here. The mana involved to wish me back to normal is... big. Even an ordinary Overlord couldn't do it. There are maybe ten in existence who could absorb it trivially. Besides, rule of narrative causality -- I can't get my body back unless I get the good ending, anyway."

Zetta fixed the woman with a level stare.

"You're not in my league, Nanashi. Even if you beat me, all you'll have beaten is Overlord Zetta trapped in a book. I'm guessing that means something different to you than it does to me, though. I'm not sure you'd understand.

"Still, you wanted this, so here I am."

Nanashi folded her arms, "Well, I would like to see the extent of your abilities as a book. You seem to be able to know my power, and so I intend on testing yours."

Nanashi tisked at Zetta, "If you're not going to give it your all, then I am not interested." She turned to leave, counting down from five in her head. He would call her back.

Nanashi so has Zetta's number.

"Wh-what? Hey!" The tome almost seemed to grow a couple inches in sheer indignation. "What kind of line is THAT? You think I'd hold back on you just because I'm a book! Ha! Hyaa! Hyaaa ha ha ha ha!"

Without any sign of power or trick, the tome rose off the ground to float in the air a couple of feet above the floor. "You want wrath, Nanashi, you got it! Zetta's in da house!"

Nanashi smiled her mischievous smile, but then settled into a more smug smile, "Oh, so now you want to fight! And here I was starting to think that you did not really have any power!"

Nanashi lifted off the ground. As usual it felt unnatural, but it also felt powerful. And she loved that power. She settled atop a pillar, waiting for Zetta to make the first move.

"And that means defeating the Ohm, and you are sure that there is no other way."

It's a pickle of a situation to be sure. But there must be something her...was he a friend? Well, he's her Overlord at least. And there must be something he can do.

But he'd said something about fighting, hadn't he?

"Can you fight in your condition?"

They had an audience. Evangeline was much more prone to appearing around the ship these days; the arrival of more familiar faces had softened her reclusive tendency somewhat, and more importantly she'd finally acquired a scrying glass and adjusted to its use in the distorted space inside the ship. She still wasn't too terribly interested in most of the ship's occupants, but these two she knew, and a confrontation between them was definitely worth coming out to see in person.

Especially when they were only a shadow's width away. The little vampire emerged from her gate atop another of the pillars, to the side of the two would-be opponents. She might have cloaked her presence and watched in silence, but where was the fun in that?

"Talking yourselves up to it, huh? An experienced warrior should have more confidence. Unless you've both let your skills rust."

They looked like they were doing a good enough job of it, but why not take the opportunity to egg them on and deliver a cheap shot all at once?

"Yeah, just get on with it," the little doll that had accompanied Evangeline heckled. "And make it good and bloody."

Evangeline's perpetually psychotic first servant had insisted in coming along if there was a fight in the offing.

"Fight?" Zetta sighed. "Not really. There are maybe one or two tricks I have as a book. Most fighting requires, y'know, arms. Or the ability to move by yourself.

"Besides, it doesn't do ME any good to do the fighting. If I could wish myself back to normal, the mana power required would barely be a drop in my bucket. Someone ELSE needs to have the power. I took on an apprentice... that's good," Zetta said, a little more cheerfully. "She's got some promise. And I've been considering some fighting classes for people. I know some people it'd help. But it's still a long road ahead, and a lot of work... and a lot of waiting! Damn waiting!"

Huh. "Hey, Nanashi, we've attracted an audience." Zetta's voice had a little of his smile in it. The chance to show off? Well, that put a different spin on this little mess. An exhibition, he could get behind!

"Though what's with the heckling?" he complained in Evangeline's general direction. "Every fight needs some pre-fight banter! It's all but required! Anyway..."

Zetta turned back to Nanashi with a glint in his eyes. A literal glint, in fact --

"Zetta Beam!"

-- that erupted into twin frickin' eye lasers, stabbing out at the queen with all the speed light out to have.

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In Which Zetta Is Frustrated By Frustration [[Open]]

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They Will Have a Giant Rumble

A Challenger Approaches!

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I use the same strategy when bargaining with China Town vendors

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