Shinobu was a quiet addition to any Dungeon.  Most Elites made 
themselves out to be a rather LOUD pain in the ass for keepers, but 
Shinobu was one of the rare ones who didn't complain as often.  Of 
course, when she did complain, it was usually shortly before she got 
fed up and left, so keepers had to be VERY careful about how quickly 
they dealt with complaints and to be mindful of who they'd sent to 
fight spontaneous battles.
	Shinobu had a policy that those who did not complain right away 
about the little things should have their larger problems dealt with 
quickly.  After all, the larger the problem, the more important it was.
	So, complaining led to frustration.  Frustration led to anger.  
Anger led to rage.  Rage led to a lot of broken doors and traps on her 
way back to the portal.
	Of course, there were always those keepers who tried to appease 
her at the last minute.  She allowed it once.  If it got bad enough 
that she began getting frustrated again, she simply left.
	Not that Keitaro Urashima had much to worry about.  He was very 
responsible.  He knew that some people, like Motoko and Shinobu, 
couldn't move as fast as everyone else due to their armor, and often 
moved everyone back to the dungeon proper after the battle.
	Of course, strangely enough, there'd been a hero outpost near one 
of Keitaro's portals, but it had been manned entirely by magical traps.  
Keitaro had sent the Liddo and his fighters to destroy the traps and 
claim the outpost, deciding that the outpost would be an excellent 
place to try out his new super traps.
	It had been mostly sentry traps with the occassional fear trap.  
But the biggest surprise had been when Shinobu had smashed down the 
steel door that led to the innards of the post.  A bigger-than-average 
sentry trap had been behind the door and had fired directly into her 
face.
	Had Shinobu been a normal fourteen year old girl, the magical 
blast would have kept her down or possibly killed her outright.  Her 
armor had protected her somewhat, but it had been her training to dark 
knight status that had saved her life, as she'd been struck in the face 
with things more painful than a mere fireball.
	Still, it hurt a lot.
	It was then that Keitaro showed up, ON THE BATTLEFIELD, to make 
sure Shinobu was truly okay.  They hadn't destroyed the sentry trap or 
even confirmed whether or not heroes might have been in the outpost.  
Keitaro had threatened his own life to make sure Shinobu was okay and 
to heal her quickly.
	It had been _stupid_, yet endearing.
	After all, no other keeper she knew of would dare come within 
five feet of a battlefield unless the enemy was busting down their 
doors.
	If Keitaro cared that much about his minions, then it was obvious 
that she would be working with him for quite a while.

	Keitaro looked at a few of the trap designs.  There were some 
that couldn't be upgraded much at all, like the spike trap.  It was 
designed to flip over and lash out at enemies.  The only things wrong 
with it was that the blood usually caused the flipping gears to jam and 
locked it in 'assault mode', which made it easy to notice and destroy.  
The notes that came with the trap declared that it was ingenious, but a 
nightmare to keep clean.  Keitaro had no doubts about that.
	Gina had managed to upgrade it slightly to a rapidfire style of 
stabbing, meaning it could really tear into someone before they managed 
to back off.
	The gas trap was difficult.  The design was efficient, a single 
nozzle on a metal bell-shaped device that unleashed a lesser version of 
the Bile Demon's Gas attack, meaning any upgrades would reduce the 
efficiency.  Adding four more release nozzles would increase the amount 
of time the gas attack stayed in effect.
	The fear trap was another tough job.  The only things wrong with 
it was that it smelled terrible even when you weren't triggering it, 
it's range and duration weren't the greatest and the brave and/or 
intelligent could hold their breath before destroying it.
	The Nightmare formula that the trap used was potent.  To such a
degree that whoever was manufacturing it had to wear gloves AND take
the antidote when adding in the slight amount that the trap required.  
And the Nightmare formula was only a third of the power that the trap 
used.  The skeleton inside would release terrifying screams while 
powerful illusions would cause further fear to any who ventured too 
close.
	The problem was that increasing anything the trap had or adding 
in nozzles to increase the spread of the Nightmare would endanger his 
own minions, there was no way to increase the skeleton's screams.  The 
only thing left to do was to increase the range of the illusions.
	The freeze trap's modification was similar.  It already did it's 
function rather well.
	The fireburst trap had some valves added so that the molted steel 
could be poured onto anyone attacking it while it prepared for another 
explosion spell.
	The alarm trap... was annoying and useless.
	The trigger trap... same deal.
	The guard post trap was useful when Keitaro actually assigned 
people to the guard post.  It alerted them instantly of attackers.  He 
rigged it to also alert the Dungeon Heart.  That was about all he could 
do.
	The doors needed very little in the way of upgrading.  They 
already served their function perfectly.  Some easy bake molds for the 
frames were about all they could do.
	And finally, the wooden barricade.  All he could do was treat the 
wood so that it wouldn't catch fire or rot.
	All that was left to do was wait and see if any heroes came to 
test the fruits of his and Gina's labour.

	Naru was still in shock.  Seta had been .... well, he'd been her 
first crush.  And no one liked to see their first crush turned into a 
skeleton.
	But, there wasn't anything she could do.  The only thing that 
could restore him to life were the same artifacts that could do the 
same to Haruka.
	The problem was that they needed to work up a good sized and 
highly trained team before heading out on the conquest circuit.
	They'd already trained enough.  It was a problem of personnel.  
They had fifteen so far, but twenty-five more were possible before the 
portals were to become inert for a while.
	Then, a shockwave like force hit the dungeon's inhabitants.  
Something or someone tremendously powerful had entered.  Everyone in 
the dungeon hurried to see the newcomer, save the chickens, who clucked 
and hopped around.
	As they arrived, the inky darkness that had filled the portal 
room cleared, to reveal a girl with long bangs, a stray lock of hair 
sticking straight up, but otherwise, her hair was rather short.  She 
wore a white long-sleeved shirt with an orange skirt, black leather 
boots, and carried a rune-covered sword.  From behind her, two feather 
wings hovered, not quite attached, but obviously hers.
	"KEI-CHAN!" the girl squealed, hugging Keitaro.
	"HUH?!" came the nigh-universal response.
	Seta glanced at Haruka, the only one not surprised at the girl's 
reaction to Keitaro and began worrying as the unshakeable Haruka 
Urashima was sweating bullets, "K-k-k-kanako!"
	"Kanako?" Seta inquired.
	"She's Keitaro's adopted sister." Haruka answered.
	"Oh yeah, it''s been quite a while, Kanako..." Keitaro noted, 
recalling the last time he'd seen her was well over ten years ago.
	"I have been waiting to see you!  Grandma Hina said that you 
would take up her Dungeon Heart, so I've been checking out just about 
every dungeon that has an open portal." Kanako responded.
	"Um, yeah..." Keitaro began, unsure of why Kanako would do that.  
Sure, they'd been close as kids, but...
	The statement and mood was interupted when Keitaro turned 
suddenly, "Someone's in the guard post."

	Lord Kentaro Sakata snarled in frustration.  Whoever had created 
the traps that his giant and dwarf were bravely smashing apart had been 
either a genius or a homicidal lunatic.  The double-barrelled sentry 
cannon could fire at a steady rate, wearing down attackers at an even 
faster rate, while the strange-looking lightning trap was strong enough 
to stun his fodder, er, men long enough for for them to have eaten a 
meal.
	Finally, his giant finished smashing the lightning trap into tiny 
pieces, allowing them to continue forward.  His dwarf suddenly keeled 
over as a spike trap revealed itself and tore into his stomach and arms 
while his giant fell to his back as a powerful gas trap unleashed a 
hellish odor.
	Kentaro growled in frustation.  He didn't want to spend his time 
getting all sweaty and dirty smashing traps.  That was what minions 
were for.  However, it seemed that he would have to do just that.
	He slammed his sword into both the spike trap and gas trap, 
smashing both with one blow.  Snorting triumphantly, he turned the 
corner to head towards the evil keeper's Dungeon Heart...
	And ran back towards the hero gate, screaming in terror.
	Only to scream in terror again as he saw a band of keeper 
creatures, all ready to pound him into the ground.  Glancing behind 
him, in the hopes that his minions might have been just stunned by the 
traps, he saw nothing.  No doubt some imps had already carried them 
off.
	"You'll never take ME alive!" Kentaro told them hysterically as 
he pointed his sword at the group.
	Kanako pointed at Kentaro's face and willed her disruption spell 
into activation.  Kentaro screamed in agony as searing acid began 
burning at his face.  He dropped his sword and fell to his knees, 
clutching at his face, only to fly backwards as Kitsune blasted him 
with a fireball.
	Driven to a point of insanity out of pain, Kentaro blindly 
charged the group, only to impale himself on Shinobu's sword.  The 
blue-haired dark knight huffed in contempt before drawing her sword out 
of the Lord and turned away briefly.
	Kentaro lashed out, hoping to hit something and make his death of 
some value.  Shinobu spun and beheaded him.  Kentaro's body collapsed 
forward as his head landed a few feet away.
	"Pathetic." Shinobu huffed, kicking the dead Lord's body.
	"Yes, Lord Kentaro wasn't exactly a brilliant or courageous 
man." Motoko commented.
	"That's Lord Kentaro?" Naru commented, as she removed the helmet 
and quickly put it back on as the acid had done a very thorough job of 
making his face a mess, "I'd heard rumors that he was supposed to be a 
handsome and gallant man."
	"Yes, when he was trying to woo you, he could be.  Otherwise, he 
was quite obviously a poster child for disreputable youth." Motoko 
answered.
	Haitani groaned.  The last thing he recalled was being gutted 
like a fish.  Then, he recalled that he had been heading into a 
keeper's dungeon.  Since he wasn't rotting in the ground, that 
obviously meant he was either in a prison or-
	He opened his eyes to see a room filled with torture racks.
	Yep, he had been captured.
	He glanced to his left.  His giant friend, Shirai, was bound to a 
similar wooden wheel.  His backside wasn't even warm, so that meant-
	*DRIP*
	Water torture.  Probably mixed with some intensive pain-filled 
torture sessions with a very attractive woman.
	Mutsumi appeared above the dwarf and gave him a tiny wave before 
raising a larger-than-normal nutcracker.  Or bonecracker as it would 
likely be used.
	Haitani closed his eyes and hoped really hard that wanting to 
avoid pain would be enough to count him as 'converted'.

	Keitaro looked around the fortress.  Haruka had been the first to 
point out that Kentaro Sakata had only been respected for the fact that 
his family possessed a portal gem.
	With that knowledge firmly in mind, Keitaro had gathered his 
minions and headed through the hero gate to Kentaro's keep.
	The place was a dump.
	Family banners, half-decayed with the surviving halves being 
quite old and worn, dangled from the few flag posts that were clinging 
desperately from the walls.  The walls themselves looked almost caked 
with moss.  The doors had holes and anything metal had some level of 
rust on it.
	"How could he or anyone put up with such a dump?" Naru asked.
	"It's quite amazing that he was respected as much as he was.  
Geez, even all of my imps working for a month probably couldn't get 
this place looking nice." Keitaro commented as he walked to a window 
near the front of the keep and peered out.
	And his jaw nearly shattered the foundation.
	Whereas the insides were disgusting and wretched, the outside 
looked to be scrubbed clean of even germs.  The stones on the outside 
of the keep were nearly sparkling in their freshness, the moat was 
clean, the gates were well-oiled and the doors were polished.
	"Uh, I guess he was... working on it...." Keitaro commented.
	"Hmm, looks like he was more concerned with how the place 
appeared." Haruka noted.
	"This is almost a perfect reflection of him.  Polished looks, but 
everything else was rotten." Motoko addded.
	"I was expecting the entire place to look like this." Keitaro 
declared, shaking his head.
	"I wouldn't put too much into it.  He still wasn't much of a 
man." Motoko told him.

	Haitani and Shirai had been rather easy to convert.  Both had 
decided that Keitaro wasn't so bad the instant Mutsumi placed the 
bonecracker over Shirai's 'little Shirai'.
	Both were immensely pale and shaken, but they were firmly on 
Keitaro's side, not desiring to find out what Mutsumi might do to them 
if they ever thought to change sides.  That or they hated Kentaro's 
keep so much that they'd rather live in a place that was cleaned 
regularly.
	Shirai was very helpful in the workshop, as it turned out.  He 
seemed almost too eager to get Keitaro whatever he needed while 
creating normal traps on his own.
	Haitani for his part was helping the Liddo out in digging tunnels 
and claiming land, which the dwarf found was a lot easier than it had 
originally seemed.
	Seta was directing a bunch of Liddo in cleaning up the interior 
of Kentaro's... Keitaro's keep as it would be the first base of 
operations that they'd have away from Grandma Hina's pre-constructed 
Dungeon. Kitsune and Haruka were finishing up in the library and Ranma 
was researching new training room designs.
	Keitaro had just finished another one of his Super Traps when he 
felt a strange presense.  He hurried to the Dungeon Heart and activated 
the magical map.  Then frowned.  Apparently, another Keeper had entered 
his realm.
	He would have to determine whether or not this new keeper was 
friend or foe.  If friend, then they'd trade ideas.  If not, well, 
Keitaro was already planning for that.

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

	Current Cast

	Liddo-kun and friends as Imps
	Keitaro as a Troll/Keeper
	Kitsune as a Warlock
	Motoko as a converted Knight
	Kaolla as a Mercenary Fairy
	Haruka as a Vampire
	Naru as a Elite Monk
	Mutsumi as a Mistress
	Shinobu as an Elite Dark Knight 
	Tama-chan as a Mercenary Firefly
	Ranma Saotome as a Monk
	Brittany Diggers as a Fairy
	Gina Diggers as a Troll
	Cloud Strife as a Dark Knight
	Pikachu as a Dwarf
	Ryoga Hibiki as a Rogue
	Seta Noriyasu as an Elite Skeleton
	Kentaro as a Lord of the Land
	Haitani as a converted Dwarf
	Shirai as a converted Giant


OMAKE+_+_+_+OMAKE


"And now, Elite Dark Knights jumping on trampolines!!"
"WHEEE!!!!"

"And now, for something terrifying!  Trolls and Bile Demons jumping on trampolines!"

"Our Dungeon Floor is lumpy, jump up and down.... Do it GIRLS!!"
"GO-GO-GO-GO-GO-GO-GO-GO!"
"LALALALALALALALALALALALALALALA!!!!"

"Micro-piglets stalk our dungeon!"
*Glares intently*
"BEWARE!!!"
"Oh no, they're gnawing on Seta!!"
"Oh, hell yeah, this takes me back to junior high!"

Haruka glared at Keitaro, "Your nocturnal perseverence has earned you a hidden gaming tip: GO TO BED!"

"Micro-piglets stalk our Lord of the Land."
*Yawns loudly*
"WHO CARES!!!"

	Kentaro Sakata as a Lord of the Land who gets killed falling out a twenty story building to land on a bicycle with no seat face first.  After that, he's referred to as Bicycle Face or Nosejob.