Okay. If I get any more in this next month, I have someone lined up to co-mod, and I'll add you.

Until then, do you mind if I put you down as an alternate?

thats fine

OK ok....since you begged. I'll play. I feel devious.

With that being the case, I am going to go finalize my co-mod.

For now, I'll put you down as an alternate.

Prologue 5 will be sometime today.

Is anyone reading these? I haven't gotten any comments out of anyone, good or bad. Not that I'm expecting any of the former, but it'd be nice to know if these are going to be helpful or not (i.e. if people plan to read them at some point)

Shadow40 has agreed to be my Co-Mod once again.

With that being the case, the two alternates have now been shifted into signed up players.

I will allow 3 more open spots, and then anyone after that will be an alternate.


I'm very pleased with the signup turnout thus far. If I had known I would get this kind of turnout for "Thawmus' Heroes", I would have done it sooner.

Of course, it remains to be seen if you guys come back for the second installment.

*Holds hand out*

Reading material please!

Prologue 5


"I take it this was your idea?"

"Of course it was. The rest of you continually fail to act. Something had to be done."

"You know as well as the rest of us, that everything will happen the way it was meant to happen."

"And yet you stand idly by, as though you are not supposed to be a part of it."

"Sending a lone Paladin to death for one of their creations! Exactly what part of it are you trying to become?"

"The crescendo."



Tangoro. The City of Champions. Or, at least, that was how it was always advertised. Everyone that had half of a brain called it, "The City of Death", thanks to the stench of blood and decay that filled the air. That is, if you were stupid enough to actually be there. Most just watched from the millions of cameras throughout the city, capturing every second of the action, and displaying it for the trillions upon trillions of viewers throughout the galaxy. A stadium that repelled stadium-goers, and yet returned a ridiculous profit. The Tangorans had obviously put their ducks in a row.

Here, matches were held. Sometimes, rarely, they were purely competitive, with death being outlawed. But viewer ratings always plummeted with these matches. So, for the most part, Blood Games were held. These held no penalty for death, as it was the objective. You had to fight, and you had to win, or else you were going to die. It wasn't always fair, and it was almost never fairly fought. Usually it was champions and mercenaries, assassins and guards, or...in some very rare circumstances...someone with vengeance on their mind, and a thirst for someone else's blood to be spilled.

But today was an important day. Today was the day of the Galactic Blood Tournament. The winner would be given the prize of owning their very own planet, pre-conquered by a group of mercenaries hired by the Tangoro Corp.'s Board of Directors. The prize, today, was the planet Hitkich, home to an amphibian race, known as the Hitki. They knew nothing of fighting, and had become easy prey for the Tangoro Corporation.

Today was the day that Thawmus intended to give the planet back to them. Word had spread around that a mercenary had been crossed, and was going to try and take down the Tangoro Corporation. But nobody knew who it was. Rumors spread fast in the galaxy, but it never ended up being more than a warning. They knew that whoever it was, they intended to join the tournament, and they intended to win. Thawmus smiled, knowing how much security was scouring the city for any signs of a bomb. Having a large and empty city meant that nobody was going to see anything suspicious. They had no idea where to look, and only the Makyol knew that there was nothing to be found.

"Excuse me, Thawmus? You're up next."

The attendant was sweating profusely, although Thawmus gathered it was due to the heat, and less from intimidation. Nobody would harm an official. Planets were too big of a prize.

Thawmus headed down the ramp. His opponent was likely there already, setting up traps left and right, getting their team into position. He began to wonder if it was wise to go down the ramp alone. Almost everyone in this tournament had teammates, and powerful ones at that. Alucard, Jack, and Raharu would be looking on from the monitors. Alucard was angry about not being part of a fight, but Thawmus knew he understood. This battle would have no meaning for any of those three, and they would be putting their lives on the line for nothing. Jack and Raharu were nothing but trouble when this was the case, and Alucard would get...messy.

Finally, he reached his starting location. It looked to be an abandoned park. No doubt it was set up to look that way. Everyone spoke of the Tangorans that once lived here, and built this city, but the rumors were unlikely. It was far more likely that the Tangoro Corporation built the city to look the way it did, from the ground up.

Thawmus stood, and closed his eyes. He did not sense the presence of anyone else here. And yet the announcer was counting down to the start of the fight. Something was wrong, here. He opened his eyes quickly, intently scanning the landscape for any sign of movement.

"3"

No, there was nobody here. Something was definitely wrong, here.

"2"

Nothing in front, nothing behind, nothing to the left nor the right. Perhaps they were starting elsewhere in the city?

"1"

And then he felt it. A tremendous heat buildup directly above him. Two female aliens, gathering lightning in their hands.

"FIGHT!"

He nearly dodged the strike, but he was too slow. He heard the booming thunder as the impact threw him off of his feet. Tumbling forward, he sensed another flying straight into him, and sprang himself up, flying several feet above his former position. The two females gathered lightning in their hands once more, as he dodged a knife thrown his way.

"Desiro..." he muttered to himself, identifying the blade quickly, as he tossed a small energy charge at the two females, disrupting their attack. Desiro was a Paladin, one who had sworn to kill Thawmus. He routinely claimed that Thawmus had caused his brother's death. This seemed unlikely, since Thawmus had never met a Paladin other than Desiro, and that Desiro most certainly never had any siblings. Thawmus had written the man off as delusional, insane, and highly dangerous, a very long time ago.

"THAWMUS!!!!!"

The voice came from behind him, as a sword struck out at him. Thawmus used a hardening technique that he had learned on Furizo, energizing his hand so that he could catch the blade. "You're loud, Desiro. Too loud," he said, as he pulled the sword toward him, and delivered a hard knee to Desiro's groin. "That should keep you quiet."

Unfortunately, Thawmus had miscalculated. He thought there was only three here, but the fourth revealed themselves from above. A rather large brute, a Saiyan. Thawmus had no chance to evade, as the man put his palm in the Makyol's face, and clutched his head as though it were a softball. He drove Thawmus down to the ground, and didn't stop there. The force of the crash caused dust and debris to flow out, making a sizeable crater.

Unable to move, Thawmus was going to be in trouble. The big man was far more powerful than him, and he would be unable to break free of his grip. Lightning crashed down on him, a sword was shoved through his back, and then....white.

Thawmus stumbled, confused. The Saiyan, Desiro, and the two females were no longer here. There was nothing but white, as far as the eye could see.

"Hello there, Thawmus."

He turned around, seeing a man....maybe a man....who was dressed in a large white hooded robe. The man's face was shrouded by...something unnatural. The hood itself did not seem to cast a shadow over his face, and yet a shadow remained. Glowing white tendrils flowed from his back, always moving, but retaining a "winged" pattern. A sword was sheathed at his side, yet he showed no intention to use it.

"Who are you, where am I, what happened?" Thawmus asked. He felt his back, and no wound could be found.

The figure replied, "My name is Tyrael, and I'm afraid you're dead."

Prologue 6


Tyrael did not hesitate. He spoke quickly, and eloquently, and did not waste time. Thawmus found this odd at first, since he was dead. He thought there would be nothing very time-sensitive anymore. But Tyrael eventually got to the point, and all was made clear.

"I apologize for the inconvenience of all this. I'm sure your death was not very pleasant. But this was the only way I would be able to speak with you in person. Only Paladins can commune with angels, and the only remaining paladin saw fit to have your demise. We do not have much time. You cannot stay here long. While you are here, time moves very slowly in your universe. If we spend too much of it, you will not get back in time to avenge your death."

Thawmus stayed silent. While this was all rather strange, it was no stranger than anything else that happened in his universe. If kids are flying around under their own power, throwing energy blasts like they're candy, archangels saving your life wasn't out of the question.

"In any case, we have a lot of work to do here, you and I. I have been waiting for a long time. First, I'd like you to meet someone here. This is Kamina."

Tyrael gestured to Thawmus' right, where a man with blue hair appeared. He had multiple scars and tattoos all over his body, a red cape, and ridiculous looking V-shaped sunshades. The man had a katana slung to his right.

"You will need to help him save his universe, first, and then we can continue with something else. I need you to open a portal to a special dimension, and take him with you."

Thawmus started to feel like an insecure child. He had not created a portal in a very, very long time, and he had only done it once. That was the day he left the planet Makyol, and was exiled by his teacher, Romack. There was nothing good to come of portals, and he had never truly learned the technique. The best he had ever done was opening up holes to the Dead Zone, and that was always a last resort.

Tyrael seemed prepared for this.

"Don't worry. I know you don't know the technique. And this one will require some skill anyways. That's why I asked an old friend of yours for help."

Thawmus turned to his left, as another man appeared, whom he recognized immediately. Romack. Even after all of the years he had spent after the incident, Thawmus still instinctively bowed. "Greetings, Master."

Romack smiled, laughed, and said, "There's no need for that anymore, Thawmus. I think you can gather the truth by now, as to what really happened that day."

Thawmus cocked his head to one side, and thought about the events for a moment, and all became clear. Romack was not a Makyol instructor, he was a Paladin. He was sent to get Thawmus, for this very moment in time, where he would use his Gatekeeper abilities to help others. The Dark Ones likely killed Romack, in retaliation, which was why Romack was here. Desiro was a Paladin as well, and likely called Romack "brother" in the terms that Paladins used, and held Thawmus responsible for Romack's death.

Thawmus was not happy.

"Well, that's an awful lot of painful lies at once. So, here we are. Apparently I'm supposed to help this jackass over here get to his universe, and save it, while my real body is getting destroyed in my own, and the person I thought I knew best, turned out to be a sham. Do I have that right? And that I'm now going to be taught how to open up some more portals, so that I can keep doing this forever? I'll tell you what. I'll pass, since I don't even have the power to save my own universe. Right now, there's a planet that's up for grabs, and I intend to give it back to the people that inhabited it. That's my objective right now. All this bull#### you're running me through, here? I don't care. Find someone else to lie to, and kill, so that you can manage to tell them that their new lot in life is to save everyone else's universe but their own. Me, I'm not that guy."

He turned away from all three of them, and started walking away. He didn't know if there was a way out of here, but the hell with not trying. Romack chased after him.

"Thawmus, come on, calm down. I know you're not happy, but you're going to save your universe. You and all of your friends. But this is part of what you will have to do after that. This is something Tyrael and I have known since before you were born."

Thawmus turned to him, his eyes red with anger.

"Save them with what? Portals? Helping people from other dimensions? In case you didn't notice, I just got my ### kicked."

Now it was Romack's turn to get angry.

"And do you really think we're so stupid, that we didn't see you get your ### kicked? You may be a lot bigger than you were, but you're still as stupid as ever. You have all these gifts that nobody else has, and you don't utilize them at all. We're going to show you how. But first, you're going to have to play our stupid little game, because it's the only way you're getting out of here."

Thawmus threw his hands up in frustration.

"Fine," he said, "Let's do this. We don't have time, right? So let's get this done."

They both walked back to the others, and Romack spent a few minutes showing Thawmus the proper form and hand motions. Thawmus wasn't picking up on it very quickly, but he eventually learned it. Things like this were much easier for him, a long time ago. But now, this sort of thing was difficult. Romack coached him just before he formed the portal.

"Okay, Thawmus, the universe you're taking Kamina to is not a real universe. It's a multi-dimensional labyrinth. It's a trap space created by some very powerful people, that creates universes from someone's thoughts and feelings, effectively trapping them there forever. Kamina's friends are trapped there, and Kamina is going to break them out of it, but you're going to take him there. You and Kamina both will be able to travel through this labyrinth freely, because you're both dead. Just be careful, and then use the exact same technique to come back here."

Thawmus grunted in irritation, and created the portal. He turned to Kamina, and said, "After you, jackass."

=========================
A few seconds later, they arrived at their destination. A small swamp, with boxes littering the landscape. A small boy, and another Kamina were kneeling on the ground, pleading with what looked to be Aardvarks, for their lives. Kamina motioned to Thawmus to hide behind one of the boxes. He whispered to him, "Stay here, and let me show you where true power lies."

As Kamina approached the the two kneeling, the boy slowly stood up, and tried grabbing for something at his neck. Perhaps it was an item he was trying to find? Thawmus did not know, but it was obvious whose dimensional trap this was. The boy was lost, and needed help. And Kamina was going to give it to him. He approached the box behind the boy, and stepped up on it.

"What's the matter, Simon? Can't find your drill?"

The boy turned to face him, surprised.

"Huh, that's too bad."

Simon was confused, and said, "But...there's another bro here...", indicating the man on the ground.

Kamina's face turned to anger, as he raised his katana to the sky.

"Dumbass! The reputation of Team Gurren echoes far and wide! Their badass leader, a paragon of masculinity! As if there could be more than one of the mighty Kamina!"

Simon still stammered, replying, "But, there's two of you here."

Kamina grinned, "Right, pick the one you want."

"But, that's crazy, bro!"

"Listen Simon. Don't you remember? You were always the method to all of my madness. You were the one that made all of my big talk, more than words. Your drill is way different than that pebble over there."

Kamina jerked his thumb at the other Kamina, bowing and begging on the ground, and then put his finger right into Simon's chest.

"Your drill is right here. You can't stay in this place forever. Just what is that drill of yours meant to do?"

Simon was still stunned. He could barely make out the words, "Is it...really you?"

The other Kamina reached up, and pulled Simon to the ground. "What are you doing? Bow and beg and grovel on your knees, and pretend to apologize to them. If they let us go, maybe we can steal some more."

Simon began to realize the words spoken to him. He started to feel like himself once more. "My drill is......my drill is.....MY DRILL IS....."

He clenched his right fist, and delivered and uppercut to the groveling Kamina.

"THE DRILL THAT WILL PIERCE THE HEAVENS!!!"

He clenched his left fist, and slammed Kamina's head into the ground. He stood up, and reached for his chest, and then opened his hand slowly.

"My drill is the heart of my soul."

In his hand, was a small drill-shaped key, which he turned and unlocked the box behind him with. Light poured out of all of the boxes in the swamp, as the sky immediately cleared up.

Kamina grinned, and said, "Get going, Simon. Just don't be distracted by the what-ifs, should-ifs, and if-onlys. The one thing you choose for yourself, that is the truth of your universe."

Thawmus was stunned, as the boy suddenly transformed into a man.

"Right bro, you're exactly right."

Kamina reached out and pointed at Simon's heart.

"My universe is the universe that lives in here."

Simon understood again, replying, "Right bro."

Kamina grinned, and turned to the box next to them. "It's not just me. It's these bozos, too." Thawmus could not see, but he heard laughter coming out of the box. Most likely more of Simon's fallen comrades.

The two of them looked up at the sky, and then Kamina turned and said, "Hey, just when in the hell did you get taller than me?"

Simon laughed, and said, "Hey, you're right. Well, gotta go."

Kamina's smile faded, and spoke sadly, "Yeah, but this time, though, it's really goodbye."

Simon smiled, and assured him. "This isn't goodbye. You're always here." He then jerked his thumb toward his own heart.

Kamina's smile returned, and replied, "Yeah."


Simon then turned and faced the sky, reaching toward it with his key. The sky began to warp into a spiral, wrapping itself around the key. Kamina took this opportunity to run to Thawmus, whispering, "Let's go, now, before he leaves!"

===============================

The two of them returned, and Kamina faded away, after thanking Thawmus for helping him. Thawmus turned to Tyrael and Romack, and asked, "So, I go back now?"

Romack smiled. "Not quite yet. There's one more man you must meet, but you and I will have to go meet him ourselves, because he is still alive. You are going to need his help, when you return."

"Well, what's the guy's name?"

Romack's smile grew a little wider.

"His name is Thawmus."

Prologue 7

"Well Tyrael? It seems that you've begun your "crescendo", so now what?"

"Now, we teach him everything. Quickly. And a couple of us will have to make some sacrifices."

"Sacrifices? You're already sacrificing the natural order of things, by sending him to save the Gurren Lagann Multiverse. You had no business doing that for Kamina. We all wanted that multiverse to survive, but the ramifications of that could be catastrophic for all."

"And if we hadn't, we'd never be able to ask for their help in the future. They have access to Perception Teleportation Drives. He will need Viral's help when the time comes, and Viral will come through for him. An immortal will make a powerful ally."

"You're talking about transporting an army! Are you telling us-"

"Yes, I'm telling you that I'm going to make him High Paladin. As occurred 30,000 years ago, a threat to the multiverse has emerged, and a High Paladin must be elected, to lead a multiversal army against it."

"You know as well as we do, that a High Paladin must merge with an angel. Are you prepared to make that sacrifice yourself?"

"No, my sacrifice will be quite different. But I know someone who is prepared to do so."

=====================

"So who is this other Thawmus, that we're trying to find?" Thawmus inquired, as he and Romack walked through the forest. The jump to this world was difficult, with so many similar universes, that still veered in different directions. He had asked Romack why it was this way, but Romack's response was cryptic at best. He said, "The writers are too numerous, here." Whatever the hell that meant.

Romack answered him, "He's an orc. They're a mostly civilized race on this world, but they're savage. You'd find similarities between them and your Makyol race. He is a barbarian, a ruthless killer. He was called upon during a time of trial in this world, and with the aid of his friends, he defeated the evil responsible. Unfortunately, since that time, he's been remiss. He cannot find anyone who presents a decent challenge to him anymore. As a result, he's secluded himself from the rest of the world, and just lives here, in this forest."

Thawmus caught on quickly, "So we're going to give him a new challenge. Something he can sink his teeth into."

"More or less, yes. But he will need direction. He's not terribly bright, is prone to murderous rage, and will most likely want to test you before he will follow you."

"Well that shouldn't be too hard."

Romack stopped him, and stared intently at him. "You must not underestimate him. While you have skills and techniques that he will likely have never encountered, he is something you've never encountered, either. He is nearly unkillable. He wields an axe that rips into the very fabric of space-time. And he has had to deal with magical attacks that make some of the things you've experienced, look like child's play. He has a warrior's instinct, and he knows himself very well. And, he has multiple personalities."

Thawmus's smile faded. "Multiple personalities? What's important about that?"

Romack looked even more stern, "It means that he's not always stupid. At random intervals, he's vastly intelligent. I would not be bringing you here, for someone that was going to be of no use to you at all. He is going to be one of your greatest assets in the crisis to come. But first, you must best him in combat, and earn his respect."

Thawmus nodded. He was already weary of everything Romack was telling him. It made sense that another Thawmus would be this powerful, but Romack was making him sound more and more like an unmanageable resource. A bloodthirsty barbarian? Sure, he'd be great during fights, but what about the times when you're not fighting? It would be like trying to give a Pit Bull enough activity to keep them from mauling the neighbor.

They were both very surprised, when the encounter finally occurred. The orc was sitting on a tree stump, axe head on the ground, with both hands resting on the handle. Behind him, a campfire was busy roasting what they could only assume was edible. He was watching them as they came out of the forest, obviously having been aware of them for some time. This gave Thawmus the chills, knowing that he was this attentive. He could have launched a surprise attack on them at any moment, and Thawmus would not have reacted in time. The orc spoke up, as they approached.

"Off-worlders, I assume? Is there some reason you approach my camp without fear?"

Romack was just as stunned as Thawmus was. Random intervals of vast intelligence, indeed. Romack began to ask:

"How, how did you-"

The orc did not hesitate, "The green one there is too small to be an orc, and too large to be a goblin. And one of you smells like a wizard. No wizards exist in this world anymore. We saw to that ourselves."

The orc's eyes showed a hint of remorse. Thawmus could not determine what the cause of it was, but he guessed that it was something of an accidental genocide, caused by this Thawmus and his friends. He looked to Romack for confirmation, who nodded. Well, it was time to try to the sales pitch.

"My name is Thawmus. I'm from another universe. I need your help in order to-"

"Okay."

Thawmus blinked, and then looked to Romack again. Was he serious? Or was this a test?

"Are...are you serious?"

The orc got up, and slung his axe over his back. "Of course I'm serious. I've gained control over my intelligence over all these years. It is not random anymore. I know and heard everything the two of you said in the forest. I'm coming. There will be no need of a test."

Thawmus had but one last question, "How are you so sure about all of this?"

The other Thawmus replied, "One of you smells like a wizard, the other doesn't have a smell at all. I'm assuming the wizard has something to do with me being able to hear you at all."

Thawmus hadn't even thought about it, but he was right. He was still dead. That was the reason Romack had to come along. As he started to form the portal to go back, he thought to himself: The bastard is smarter than me.

Prologue 8 is coming up, probably sometime today or tonight. Prologue 9 will take longer to write, because it's an important one, that must be done right. Prologue 10 will tie it all together, and bring us back to where the game will end up starting. Probably going to space out the last two, so that 10 hits a little less than a week before the game starts.

Signups will close as of the end of this week. Any further signups after this week will be alternates. A few of the signed haven't made appearances on HCR in some time, so we may need some by the time the game starts. Not sure.

Well, I finally got around to reading all the prologues. I enjoyed them. A bit confusing with the dialogue at times (it's hard to translate pauses and inflections an author intends without some cliche "said menacingly"s or "grumbled"s.

I recognized some names from prior DBZ games, but seeing as I don't really follow anime/manga, I have a feeling some of the easter eggs are lost on me.

Still, fun, and makes me excited for the game.

(FYI, if I can make a request, shorten the "======" you sometimes use as section breaks, they tend to stretch out the iPhone.)

Would like to take the place of OPEN SLOT please.

Argh! I had a feeling that was a problem area. Noted, I'll work on it.

DBZ is one of the biggest mediums for this particular Thawmus. Others don't have that touch to them, such as the one he just met. And once we get to other universes, such as the Protomen universe this particular game is set in, there should be a lot less of that going on. I didn't really follow DBZ until I was 18 or so, and I hadn't seen anything like it, so it's pretty fresh for me, still. In retrospect, it's a pretty awful show, that I continue to watch old episodes of with joy. To the gruff men in the crowd: It's like watching Conan the Barbarian. You know it's an absolute turd of a movie, but you'll watch the whole thing if it starts showing on your TV, and enjoy it.

(This 2nd Thawmus actually is closer to a mix of Conan and Thrall, from the Warcraft universe.)

Awesome!

Can do.