Private/Closed Bootleg Brothers 6

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

Dagr's slap on his back caused Pit to step forward slightly, not having expected the gesture from his friend. At that moment, Warlock finally addressed him with a simple question.

"Little flier, you appear to be a servant of a God too, yes?"

"Uh, that's right!" Pit replied, pointing finger guns at the Warlock. "Name's Pit, servant of Lady Palutena, the Goddess of Light! I'm also the captain of her royal guard, y'know. A whole franchise of experience under my belt."

No one really knew exactly what he meant by that. Before long, Dagr's response to something he hadn't heard from Warlock earlier caught his attention as well. His masters were mad that he had emotion?

"Yeah, that doesn't seem right at all. Talk about a terrible work environment."​

ZedΩ
​

Masaru's comment and following look were met with a glance from Zed. With Spamton walking away to do mischief elsewhere, it was best to at least leave him with some parting words. Hopefully it would be what the salesman needed to hear.

"I certainly agree," he added, looking towards Spamton. "though even if our paths do not cross for some time, I am sure we shall meet again if we will it so. Not even the vastness of the multiverse can keep souls such as ours apart, as you can see by this reunion."

Zed's words took a slightly different approach in comparison to Masaru's, though the core of it was the same – Spamton was free to make his own choices, especially if he resolved to see them through. In a way, it was what the leader of ATEMS had learned after his own encounter with Moebius. To defy and push past a so-called fate.

He hoped Spamton would keep that thought in mind, at least.​

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
Both fighters anticipated each other's moves well. Lucario unrelenting offense managed to remain close, but Taskmasters defense forced him to keep his distance, though the prime serpents managed to make up for it. That is, until Taskmaster stabbed his shovel into the ground, blocking Lucario's leg while Taskmaster went on the offense. Lucario raised his palm to catch the haymaker, but Taskmaster's weight pushed the pokemon down. Lucario roughly landed flat on the floor before rolling back. Using Taskmaster momentum against him, Lucario would pull Taskmaster overhead, push both legs into his chest, and kick to judo throw the man towards the Kraggling!
"Show me your potential!" he cheered it.

Magolor
"You really makes friends wherever you go, huh?" Magolor giggled as he watched the happy reunion. He was tempted to ask how they met, but the realization of Spamton bowing himself out of the group caught his focus. After what they just went through, the mage was surprised they were just letting him slip off.
"Uh, keep an eye on Kirby, okay? I'll be right back." Magolor asked Team Exodus, before floating after Spamton. He flew to his side, once again wearing a grin.
"So that was a thing, huh? Where are you going, friend?"

Kirby
Eitri peeling the puffball off her, as if disgusted, caused Kirby to blink in confusion. It seemed like Eitri wasn't a hugging kind of friend...yet. He was about to try again before Eitri said his name with upmost seriousness. Understanding her urgency, Kirby mirrored Eitri's face, before her question caused his to melt back to its natural blank expression. The puffball blinked again, processing, before brightening back up as he cheered happily, nodding in affirmation.

 

[comic]

IRNANE​

She listened intently to Kirin's explanation of a septima. Psychic power... that wasn't common in Nirn. Not without magic, at least. The way it was described implied it was a natural thing, a power from the mind. Intriguing... and Nephthys was capable of it in spades, with seemingly no magic involved.

The dark elf quickly pulled out her journal and began to jot down some notes as Kirin concluded, not wanting any of this to be forgotten in the wells of her mind.

"Sooo you're saying there's a chance your September-"

"Septima," Irnane muttered on impulse.

"-could work?" Chai questioned, following up with a suggestion.

Irnane swished her lips to the side as she dotted an 'i' before she tucked the journal away and glanced up at Kirin and Chai. "The rules of other worlds are so... different... but where I'm from, interrupting a ritual like this is a horrible thing to do, not without entering their minds as well. Unless we know more, I believe intruding on this interaction could be disastrous."
​

SPAMTON​

Aw, drats! The Daniel LaRusso guy noticed him! Then offered some... interesting choice (heh) words. Then anime boy added a little to it, and Spamton got the impression he was getting the tail end of an intervention. Intriguing, to be sure... it sounded like they were encouraging him... did they know his plans?

And if they did, they seemed supportive. After all, they didn't seem to support Master Hand.

It was nice to be shown a little support once in a while.

He would double down on obtaining power like that of the Nexus.

"IF YOU WANT [Specil Deal] THEN YOU [Know Where To Find Me] SO IF YOU WANT TO [Steal The Mona Lisa] THEN YoU Uou ^[ JJ=$6(?//NN.*%45 HH! HAHAH! HAHAHHHHHhhhH!"

He appeared to entirely glitch out for a moment, his body breaking apart in a dispersion of unstable pixels, but it was gone as quickly as it came, and he grinned back at Masaru and Zed, raising a hand to rub his thumb against his forefinger- the universal language for money, before he turned and walked briskly away.

However, before he could expediate his retreat, Magolor appeared once again, seemingly concerned about his expedient retreat [Did I Mention That Already?]

"So that was a thing, huh? Where are you going, friend?"

The salesman stopped, turning his head quickly to look at the egg, his eyes flickering between pink and yellow for a moment, alternating before they stopped. Spamton slicked his hair back before he looked left, then right, then leaned toward Magolor, raising a hand to cover his mouth conspiratorially. "WHERE I'M GOING? WELL, BUDDY, THAT'S [Relax With Your Family On A Beautiful Vacation Everyone Can Enjoy At Honolulu Beach House Resort!] IT'S WHERE I'M WORKING ON [[The Big One]]."
​

KASSANDRA​

At Nótt's following onslaught, it became clearer and clearer she was beginning to overwhelm the Spartan- though Kassandra gave no show of fatigue or worry, instead continuing their conversation in earnest. "I met him once, in the underworld," she admitted, parrying a rapid attack, eyeing Moon-Wing in time to notice it fire another beam. Kassandra managed to barely time her movements in order to block an attack while simultaneously angling the Sword of Perseus to block the beams once more, still ignorant to what would happen if it would land.

"He was a brave fool," the misthios continued. "Rigid. He could have had more to aid him, but he saw the look of fear in their eyes at facing the Persians. He sent the other armies home, so that only he and his Spartans could defend Greece. He lost, but it cost the Persians greatly. His sacrifice saved Greece from invasion."

At the sudden blast of energy upward, Nótt forced a now-burning banner to fall toward Kassandra, who intentionally dove backwards out of the window, going into free-fall.
​

NEPHTHYS​

Damn this tricky bastard... Nephthys gave pause at the dinosaur's destruction, but it also resulted in the destruction of its card. Rex was going to be mad at her blunder.

Annoyed, she raised her hand to the side, aiming to grip the throat of the bug monster she'd intended to destroy, and rip its head from its shoulders with a telekinetic yank, though her gaze was squarely upon Yami Bakura while the spirit spoke to the gardevoir.

<You're quite the coward,> the gardevoir taunted the spirit. <We could have ended this so long ago, but you fled. You hid. You're still hiding. You let me glimpse your power, thinking you could instill fear. You looked really stupid, just so you know.>

As Dark Ruler Ha Des launched his attack, Nephthys swiped her free hand through the air, sending ten psychic blasts that met his, tearing through his beams before eventually both attacks dissipated, and as Moon Envoy closed in, Nephthys matched the crescent pike with her double glaive, smacking into it with movement that felt strangely natural, almost threatening to break through the pike with her superior power. She decided to give in to this strange, oddly familiar sense of instinct, and proceeded to unleash a flurry of attacks, spinning the glaive so that one end was always hitting the pike, while the other met the monster's body. To top it off, she began to teleport around him, striking from every angle that she could as she left momentary visual clones behind to throw him off, and hopefully cut him into nothing. If her senses should be hampered again, like before, she would teleport a distance away to let its effects fade and not risk destroying one of her allies again

However, whether she destroyed Moon Envoy or not, she would still teleport a distance away. With her greater understanding of the summoning, and with her enhanced power, she closed her eyes to peer around for another summon- and she found one. She could actally see that her and Bakura's physical bodies were being watched over by three people, one of which Nephthys recognized.

Kirin's ability to seal strange powers away, as she'd done to Neph...

Yes, that could prove useful.

Without sparing even a moment, she made to pull Kirin into Bakura's mindscape. She could apologize later for this nonconsensual bid for aid.
​

DART​

There it was, that spinning attack again, like a tornado.

As Dart was about to swoop in to meet the boy on his terms, he paused, before shooting upward and staring downward. Lavitz had been the original Green Dragoon of the wind element, though he didn't get to go far with it. His life had been cut short by Lloyd. Lavitz's own king, King Albert, had taken the mantle of Green Dragoon, and never left Dart's side from then on. Dart had learned a lot about many elements from his companions, and Albert was no different.

Tornado's were a defensive tactic, and easy to turn offensive. It wouldn't be smart to try and break that, especially with eight yo-yo's flinging about, and those things hit like Kongol.

He took a brief moment to feel his dragoon energy. It was building up slowly, but not nearly enough to call upon in a pinch. This kid wasn't half-bad- why'd he feel the need to even lie and trick? He clearly had wit, power, and tenacity. Was it just a sense of insecurity in himself? Or did he not like to be properly challenged?

Or... perhaps...

Dart glanced about at their surroundings, before he squinted his eyes at Rinku, connecting a few dots.

"Oh... yeah, that explains a few things," he muttered to himself with a sigh, before he shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, can't be worse than Jeice. Surely."

Gliding back down, he waited for the kid's move to end and for his response to Dart's sudden aversion.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rinku


He won't get close to me, he? Heh, that means he doesn't have a way to break through my defense!

If Dart wasn't going to approach him, the he'd just have to unleash all the extra energy on something else! Seeing a corner of the city ahead, he shot his Yo-Yos ahead of him, air displacing from the speed they were shooting forward with.

KRUUUSH!

They snapped the building's corners and foundations! Breaking clean through the sturdy demon-stone, the crippled building began to tilt forward like a falling tree. That's when the demonic Yo-Yos each took hold on part of the face. Spinning in unison as Ribku hoisted the severed building up into the air.

The Yo-Yo strings began to extend, longer and longer. Soon enough, with was almost cartoonish in proportions, the building raised threateningly over the battlefield.

"Let's play a new game, shall we? How do you fancy catch?"

Rinku lopped the structure over towards their enemy, like a pitcher in a game of baseball it threatened to smash dart. the strings quickly flying back to their owner after the building was sent spiraling toward's it's target!


♬♪ When your wings are burning
Who keeps you from falling?♬♪





Rex Raptor the Rapper


"WHAT."

As soon as Neph was to help, their move to 'help' was to immediately destroy two headed king rex instead of actually disposing of the bug in front of them. He knew she didn't like losing against his Dinos last time but he didn't know the dislike was rooted THAT deep.

"What's the big idea?!" Rex shook his fist, still half behind Sans. "And to think I was trying to help you out ya backstabbing flower!"

The threat ahead was still very much real though, which he quickly slinked back behind Sans, shaking his shoulders.

"Do something you worthless plumber!"

 

[comic]

DART​

He was momentarily confused. Not out of anything logical to be confused about, of course- but he was confused about if he was expected to catch the building itself or not. Dart certainly didn't mind a game of catch, but it was a little silly to do it with buildings.

Oh well, why not?

Spreading his arms, the building collided with the mercenary, and it shuddered, debris breaking off on the impact as it traveled a few more feet, before it suddenly and rapidly slowed to a stop.

Flying a little lower in tandem, Dart managed to move the entire building over himself, one eye closed as he grunted from the impact, before he let out a chuckle. "Alright! This'll be good practice for when my son's old enough to play!"

His muscles bulged before he yelled, throwing the building back toward Rinku, sure to push through the air as well for that extra boost, sending it back toward the demon just as quickly as it had rising- and it was already gathering immense inertia as it dropped.​

 

[Psymallard]

Taskmaster & Kraggling
Lucario successfully hurled the Taskmaster, but the assassin nimbly recovered in the air. He still sailed towards the Kraggling, which panicked for a moment. Upon hearing Lucario's cheers, however, the beetle steeled itself and jabbed its horn forward. An ethereal snake leapt from the horn, and threatened to bite into Taskmaster! However, the supersoldier coolly twisted in the air, and landed on one leg beside the beetle. The other leg was already in motion to punt the small creature through the window of an old, abandoned jailhouse.

With that nuisance dealt with, Taskmaster swiveled back towards the Aura Pokémon. He quickly jabbed the staff forward and summoned a chunk of sand to blast at his foe, then assumed a sturdy fighting stance in preparation for the jackal's approach.

Marshtomp
After defeating his second foe, the Marshtomp wasn't looking too hot. He was badly damaged, and could hardly see straight. However, the amphibian was determined to follow through and defeat this evildoer, who had just trapped the real Bakura in the floor! Marshtomp turned to the massive form of Ha Des. In his wounded state, he couldn't hope to muster a remotely intimidating Growl, so he went on the offensive instead. As Nephthys took out the other monsters, Marshtomp would stall the Dark Ruler with a continuous, Torrent-empowered Water Gun!

Kool Kats
The mad cultists entered the arena.

"Make. Your. Move."

Already, the Nightmaren was attempting to claim superiority over them. He demanded them to act first- to attempt to embarrass them by playing on the defensive. Troy was no sucker- he knew the dream creature had watched his fights and saw what he could do. Plus, if he did what he was told so eagerly... well, to be predictable is to be uncool.

So, following a scoff, the narcissist decided to test his foe's patience. He zigged, and then he zagged across the arena. He took his sweet time to slither over, but not once did he take his predatory eyes off of Reala. Before even entering melee range, however... the leader of the Kool Kats spat at Reala's face.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rinku


Returning his attack was hardly original, Rinku half expected it considering his previous foes often did similar moves when he threw things. This did however show Dart's alarming physical prowess, something he took note of. As the building came his way, he shrugged. Bouncing up, his shoes clicked on the side of the building when it passed, bounding off it with his tip toes. Hands behind his back, he tried his head like a coy child

"Got no tricks of your own so you gotta steal mine now? Have to say, I'm a little let down!"

"Those things seem alive." 808 called up to Dart in hushed tones, concealed from Rinku's eyes by a nearby crate. "Slowing down some footage, Rinku's finger movements have nothing to do with how they perform. It's as if the strings themselves have some kind of intelligence to their own, they should be eliminated first."

"How about we make things more interesting? A second game..."

Rinku winked, somersaulting over to a nearby wooden building's shingled roof. Snickering to himself, the Yo-Yos came to life once more, ripping apart the surface of the roof. Dust and light debris flew everywhere in a big plume. Suddenly, several dust clouds began to form...and move. Spidering out to several rooftops, the cloud moved towards Dart's position. A flicker of one rooftops had Rinku inside it, yet in another, Rinku popped up again.

This was no doubt clone tricks. But the dust and debris made it hard to tell which one was which at a glance. The first dust cloud erupted nearby Dart, a Rinku jumping out with a horizontal kick. Two other clouds encircled Dart waiting to strike, moving around rooftops in spiral formation, defecting a smokescreen to limit Dart's perception.

Hidden underneath this, a Yo-Yo would fire right at the sole of his feet from the ground, it's origin concealed by the cloud.

♬♪ You fly higher than your guardian angel,
Into the fire dancing with danger.♬♪




Reala


Their opposition seemed ever the rebellious, going out of their way to disobey his orders. That kind of rebellious behavior reminded him of his traitorous sibling. This little display earned Reala's scorn. Raising his hand as the pair neared closer and closer, he expected a sword slash of some kind, but instead, they had the gall to spit at him! The nightmaren general moved his hand upward, something building up in his palm, so the airborne saliva vaporized upon coming close to his claws.

"For that disrespect, I shall flood your heart with despair."

Inside his palm, a bright red sphere grew. Heat radiated from it as it was fired from his hand, almost like a cannon. Soon enough there was a sphere of flame that expanded and expanded as it soared toward the sword using twin. All the while, his second hand's clawed fingers curled as well, like they were preparing a follow up.

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
The kraggling gave it its best shot, but was shortly evaded and unceremoniously punted by Taskmaster.
Lucario's followed the bug as he crashed through the window, the glared at Taskmaster. Even if this was a fight, that felt rather callous.
Taskmaster wasted no time, throwing a block of sand created by his weapon. Lucario responded by summoning his own weapon, defensively twirling his bone staff to disperse the sand before throwing it at Taskmaster. The bone staff boomeranged around, aiming to strike him twice before returning to Lucario, who had followed after the Kraggling.
The pokemon entered the jailhouse to find the Kraggling, hoping it wasn't too injured.
"A valiant effort." spoke Lucario. "Are you injured?"

Magolor
"The big one? That sounds...huh."
Magolor raised a brow at Spamton's secret. Or well, he assumed it was secret, given Spamton's behavior. Part of Magolor, the redeemed part, was suspicious of Spamton's words. He had proven to be a serious threat if left unchecked. Yet other parts, the scholar and trickster, were curious over how he obtain this power, and what could be done with it.
"Oooooh! Sounds fancy!" Magolor drawled. "Think I could tag along? I'm something of an entrepreneur myself!"

 

[comic]

DART​

"Got no tricks of your own so you gotta steal mine now? Have to say, I'm a little let down!"

The dragoon's confusion was mounting as he frowned, cocking his head slightly to the side. "Huh? What do you mean? You... you asked to play catch. I... I did. Does 'catch' mean something different to you?"

However, 808's call up to Dart refocused the man. She was talking about the yo-yo's. He'd guessed at their sentience already, but her words put his confusion on them at ease. He trusted her advice. Then Rinku continued.

"How about we make things more interesting? A second game..."

"I don't think you realize what a game is," Dart pointed out as Rinku began to generate his smokescreen in an eccentric manner. The mercenary let out a light sigh. "Nevermind, you're not listening..."

It was pretty obvious what Rinku was doing. Dart might have been intellectually stunted in many regards, but a fight? Tactics? He was no slouch at that, and smokescreen was a common thing for trickier opponents, befitting what Rinku had thus far displayed. Thinking for a moment, Dart got an idea. It was as though one could literally see the lightbulb going off in his head.

Rinku would just have to not mind Dart taking a little inspiration from him for real this time. Suddenly, the Red Warrior began to rapidly spin, flames jettisoning out around him. In only a second or two, he had became a cyclone of his own, winds whipping and picking up around him, funneling the nearby debris up and away into the dark sky. The Rinku that came up, real or not, would be confronted with a harsh reality as he would find his kick meeting a green-ish blur that was Mind Crush, and if it proved to be a clone, Rinku will still feel the blade's effects regardless.

♬♪ Into the fire
Dancing with danger ♬♪

Then, the Dartnado would blitz toward where Rinku had last appeared (or a clone), shredding through virtually anything in his path (the sneaky yo-yo being inadvertently left behind when it plunged upward), carving apart any materials that came close, the flames growing more intense the longer he held up his cyclone, mingling with the effects of Mind Crush, producing small spurts of emerald flames among the scarlet and amber. He was an unstoppable, seemingly all-consuming monster now, earing through buildings like cardboard as he crashed through them in rapid succession, one after the other, shredding through barriers and walls while the smokescreen, and Dart's own generated debris, were kicked up and away. Whichever Rinku he would find he'd hone in on with rapidity.

♬♪ You place your bet with no regret
In this game of Russian roulette ♬♪

He had a feeling Lavitz and Albert both would be pretty proud of him for this move. What was even better- the wonton destruction was actually providing a slow though steady build on Dart's DP. If all went well, he'd be able to access his dragoon form soon- though it would be limited. He'd still need twice as much DP to summon the Red Dragon.
​

SPAMTON​

"N#5\\IY&.0}]^7 [Rise And Shine!]" Spamton replied, as though Magolor was supposed to understand what any of that mechanical garbage noise meant. Casting a glance at the others, Spamton gestured for Magolor to follow him before he ducked away, headed for the stairwell that traditionally led down from the stands to the lobby.

Generic Host had seemingly disappeared, which was slightly concerning, but oh well. Fellow hearts and minds had to stick together, and the salesman had an inkling that Magolor would prove to be a valauble... business partner.

As Spamton began the descent, he let out a few bursts of laughter. "YOU KNOW, THEY ALL THOUGHT-THOUGHT-THOUGHT I WAS [Out Of Your Goddamn Mind!] WHEN I [Enclosed Is The Address For Your Mommy And Daddy] AFTER [I Love Refrigerators]."​

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Dark Labyrinth

Yami Bakura merely laughed off Neph's taunts.
"Why am I not surprised that a lowly beast cannot comprehend the incompressible? I could have crushed you right away, but where would be the fun in that?" Yami Bakura asked. Nephthys slashed through Moon Envoy, and the warrior was sent flying back. It screamed, before exploding into pixels. Even with all the chaos, Yami Bakura kept his eyes on Nephthys and watched as she teleported away. He tilted his head.

"Trying to take advantage of the loss of your dinosaur, and call for more help, hm? No, I don't think I'll let you do that. I activate the spell card, The Shallow Grave!" Yami Bakura exclaimed. One of his face down cards flipped up to reveal a green card, one that depicted a strange, ax-wielding warrior crawling out of an open grave.

"This card allows each of us to bring back one of our destroyed monsters. Your only destroyed monster is the Two-Headed King Rex, and with that returning you no longer have any room to call for help." Yami Bakura exclaimed. As Rex Raptor shook Sans and pleaded with the skeleton to do something, the ground rumbled. With a roar, Two-Headed King Rex burst out of the ground before the dinosaur duelist! It roared angrily, preventing Man-Eater Bug and White Magical Hat from reaching Rex and Sans. Meanwhile, in front of Yami Bakura, only a face-down card appeared.

Neph's ATK/DEF grew by 800!

~

In the plaza, a strange feeling suddenly came over Kirin. An intense weakness came over the battle priestess. She felt as though she was about to pass out. It felt like her very soul was being pulled out of her body. Being pulled... towards the necklace Bakura wore.

But before she could fully be pulled in, the sensation suddenly stopped. As if it had been interrupted. Kirin was back in her own body.

~

"Now, back to our battle. I grow tired of these little 'friends' you've called upon." Yami Bakura said. As if to punctuate his point, Marshtomp fired a powerful Water Gun attack at the Dark Ruler. The fiend shrieked in pain, being pushed back by the surprising power of the attack. While it took some damage, it was able to quickly conjure an energy shield to block the rest of Marshtomp's attack.

"I'll equip White Magical Hat with the spell card, Wonder Wand. It boosts his attack by 500 points!" Yami Bakura said. Before the well dressed magician, a staff with a green gem at the top appeared. The monster grabbed it, and energy seemed to flow around it once more.

White Magical Hat
1000 ATK -> 1500 ATK

Yami Bakura then proceded to place a few more cards on his duel disk.
"I'll set a monsters, and another card. Now, my monsters! Dark Ruler, attack Two-Headed King Rex! White Magical Hat, attack the swamp creature. Man Eater Bug, destroy that pathetic child and that skeleton!"

White Magical Hat quickly changed course. The spellcaster ran over towards Marshtomp, jumping into the air and attempting to strike the Pokemon with its new cane!

The Dark Ruler Ha Des shook itself off, trying to dry itself. With a sneer, it turned towards the massive Dino monster. It held up a hand, and sphere of dark energy formed in it. With a sudden movement, the fiend flung the sphere of dark energy at Two-Headed King Rex! Meanwhile, Man-Eater Bug lunged towards Raptor!

Ryo Bakura watched helplessly as the Dark Spirit's monsters unleashed another round of attacks. He struggled against the ground, trying desperately to free himself...

Yami Bakura stats
Hand: 1 card
Field: White Magical Hat, Man-Eater Bug, Dark Ruler Ha Des, two face-down monsters.
Spell/Trap Card Zone: Wonder Wand (equipped to White Magical Hat), Fearful Earthbound (blocked by Sans), two face-down cards


Nótt

Kassandra had met her grandfather, in the underworld? The land of the dead? Incredible. The idea that such a thing was possible was astounding to the Princess, but she didn't show it. Nótt simply continued on as if Kassandra had simply remarked about the weather.

As surprising as it was to hear that Kassandra had visited the land of the dead, more surprising was her reaction to Nótt dropping the burning banner on her. Kassandra leapt over the balcony, jumping out the edge of the castle. Was she mad?!

Nótt hesistated for only a moment before jumping after her.

The Princess slid down the wall, using on of her clawed gauntlets to slow her decent. Moon-Wing beat its powerful wings and clung to its perch on the back of Nótt's neck, slowing the princess' decent even further. As Nótt fell down the side, she pointed her lance at Kassandra and fired another flurry of magical blasts. Moon-Wing assisted, firing its eye beams once more.


Eitri

Kirby hadn't had its memories erased after the Dimension Games. Eitri grinned.
"Thank you, Kirby. You have been most helpful." Eitri said, and pat Kirby on the head. Now that she wasn't caught off guard, Eitri could feel how soft Kirby was. It reminded her quite a bit of how those Mokey Mokey Belowksi used felt...

With Kirby having remembered his times in Dimesion Games, that strengthened the theory she had that only those who escaped retained their memories. Most unusual...

To add on to the unusual occurance, Zed called out after Spamton to voice his agreement with Masaru's sentiments. Eitri merely glanced to Zed, before sitting back down on the stands.
"Kirby..." Eitri spoke up once more. "Byleth has told me you've attended quite a few of Master Hand's tournaments. It is my belief that Master Hand created the Dimension Games Death Game we were forced to fight in. Do you know why he would do such a thing?"

 

[Psymallard]

Taskmaster & Kraggling
Lucario summoned a staff of his own to block the projectile, and then threw it to stall for time as he checked on his ally. Taskmaster met it with his Shovel Scepter and forced it into the dirt. His form relaxed after a moment, and stared expressionlessly as the jackal turned its back on him.

---

Inside the jailhouse, the Kraggling had just rolled to its feet and was shaking both the glass shards off of his shell and the daze from from his head. It seemed that the kick had dazed more than harmed this sturdy creature, who looked up at its master as he approached.

---

With a sigh, the Taskmaster jammed the staff into the ground, where it stood upright. In one swift motion, he procured his bow and notched an arrow. The arrow let fly through the same window he had kicked the bug into. The projectile impacted a wall nearby his foes, and erupted. The explosion would expand to fill most of the area of this cramped building, and tear through enough of the ancient wood to collapse the structure!

Marshtomp
As the White Magical Hat descended upon the weakened Marshtomp, the water/ground type persevered. To meet the magical staff, he threw out a open-palmed slap to smack the weapon to the side. His other fist was clenched, and began to glow with the power of his fighting spirit! The Mud Fish Pokémon let out a grunt of exertion and drove a Rock Smash towards his attacker's midsection!

Troy Monet
The nightmaren responded to the disrespect with incendiary magic. Troy took a step back and swung his blade upwards to cut the attack in twain. The fiery, unstable energy blossomed outwards in an explosion, and to that, the narcissist widened his stance and twirled the wide blade of the Soul Edge in front of him to take the brunt of the attack. He still skid backwards, but upon coming to a halt, he stood up and brushed off one shoulder to coolly dismiss the attack's potency.

"Surely that ain't all, jack. Something, something, bark, bite... you dig?"

The Kool Kat was fighting the mental battle here. He sought to push the uptight entity's buttons and drag him down into rage, which would work to advantage both in the fight... and embarrass him in front of a multiversal audience. The cultist's shark-tooth smile grew wider as winds begain to kick up around him and levitate Troy a couple inches above the floor.

Tabby the Tablet
Tabby continued watching the conversation, but it became more and more evident that some of them... didn't really care. The robot listened closer, and, to his shock, Magolor was negotiating a business deal??? The tablet threw the remaining nachos over his shoulder, wiped the cheese from his screen, and then trailed the two salesmen from a comfortable distance.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rinku


The Yo-yo failed to hit Dart as they ascended into the air, heat starting up around themselves. Now this was an inconvenience, Sure, but Rinku wasn't put off. When Rinku rushed up to hit Dart, a slash struck him, passing through it, revealing it to be a clone. The clone blinked, for a second before yelling out and disappearing.

Wait, my clones aren't real, how did he-"

"Tch!"

A sharp pinging in his brain hammered at him, ringing distractingly in his head. His vision got wobbly and his balance in his inner ear was thrown off, leading to the boy tripping over himself and falling on a roof to the left of Dart, his Yo-Yos visually panicking and recalling to their master's fingers.

♬♪ It's time to win and time to lose!
Time to kill the truth and change the rules!♬♪

He has psychic warfare? Did he enchant his blade with something??

These were questions he couldn't afford to entertain, as the Dartnado was very much strong and booming. Dust clouds practically all gone, it was heading right for him! Cursing at Dart, he punched the shingles he sat atop of. When he did this, they shattered apart, sliding with him riding atop them off of the roof. Acting as a slide, he went with it as he spiraled down to the second floor, landing at the doorstep of demon-Stone building that was erected diagonally.

Knowing them to be fire resistant, he sheltered next to the building, the to flames burn to the sides of it rather than on top of him. His brain readjusting, he looked to the building he was propped up on. If it was fire retardant, then maybe it can be used offensively as well! Punching a part of it, and then again, he broke off some sizeable chunks. Grabbing three of them, he snickered. Jumping away from the building, he reeled back his arm, waiting right for when Dart was in view...

♬♪(So keep the dice rolling)
(Until I wake up or-♬♪

Throw!

♬♪(Die)♬♪

Toss!

♬♪(Die)♬♪

Hurl!

♬♪(DIE!!)♬♪



Reala


Troy somewhat took the hit, skirting back. Taking it better than others of his ilk, he even came up with a cocky comment right afterwards. This reminded him even more of his rebellious sibling, which made his prepared move all the more fitting.

"You seem like you have a problem with authority, dear visitor. Why don't we change that?"

His claws in his other hand glimmered with purple for a second before he snapped his fingers. Suddenly, shooting out of ground under the Kool Katz member came several golden chains. These bonds would fire up and go to latch on to his body, and would move and extend with him to capture him. There were five in total. One for each limb, and one for the center body.

NiGHTS frowned in the audience, remembering the context for this move. Reala would trick them, and use this attack to restrain them and seal them away in chambers called 'Ideya Palaces', prisons that were inescapable from the inside. I'm sure he gets some sort of sick satisfaction using that move.




Rex Raptor


Waiting for Sans to do something, Rex was suddenly met with the reappearance of his destroyed dinosaur monster. At this revelation he did a double take between Sans and the revived Dino. Assuming he was responsible for this, he awkwardly pat Sans on the shoulder, stepping away from the skeleton.

"...Good work."

His ear twitched at Bakura's following callouts. That ruler thing was a strong one, even he knew that King Rex wouldn't endure an attack like that, and he wasn't about to have his dinosaur go extinct right when it came back!

"Duck and swipe them both those monsters with your tail!"

The white hat monster was already off by the time Two Headed King Rex dropped to a crawl, so was spared from the tail. But the Man eater bug was ripe for a tail smash as it threatened to approach them. Rex himself took a cautious step back, a subconscious attempt to make Sans a more appetizing target to eat.

 

[comic]

NEPHTHYS​

Her efforts proved fruitless. Well, actually, Bakura’s counter to another summon worked more in her favor than anything else. Bringing back King Rex kept Raptor being helpful, as he could directly command the beast. Holding off on dragging Kirin in wasn’t what Neph had planned on, but it was far from an inconvenience. After all, it did enable her to regain those lost points.

Marshtomp was looking worse for wear, and the gardevoir wasn’t certain on leaving him to fend for himself as still the best course of action. He’d proven admirable thus far, but that had garnered more focus from Bakura, and in his state, Neph could lose both an ally and a boost.

Bakura took the time to boost that dumb magician guy with the stupid facial hair. What made that one so special, anyway? It seemed capable of surviving EVERYTHING thrown its way…

No, Neph would need to dispatch it now. Bakura seemed to favor it. Despite her boosts… she decided to further empower herself, and used Calm Mind, enhancing her special attack and special defense somewhat on top of the advantage she already had.

As White Magical Hat dashed toward Marshtomp, the mud fish countered to smack the weapon aside, then followed up with a Rock Smash. A sudden telekinetic energy would befall White Magical Hat, as Neph attempted to halt him in place to prevent him from even attempting to block, before she appeared behind him once she’d ensured the attack landed, ready to follow up with one of her own.

Casting Mystical Fire, she imbued the attack into her weapon itself, the blades fuming with magenta flames that sputtered on contact as the gardevoir began to swing in a relentless assault against White Magical Hat, seeking to shatter him once and for all. His blocks would not be capable of withstanding the boosted might of her attacks, and she sought to capitalize on that and eradicate this foe, finally.

“don’t mention it, pal,” Sans winked back at Rex. A single bead of sweat had formed on the skeleton’s skull as he kept his blue bones active to hold Fearful Earthbound at bay and keep I occupied. Holding up such tough magic could get a little tiring, but if it kept a nuisance at bay, so be it.

KASSANDRA​

As the misthios dropped, Nótt followed, though took a safer route, sticking to the side of the cliff face to slide down it, firing some of the same blasts that had been hounding Kassandra since the fight began.

She crashed into the ground far below, having plummeted like a rock, dust kicking up from the impact and forming a small crater, the woman having pounded into the earth with one of her passive abilities- and no caveats from fall damage. Gravity was not an enemy of the misthios.

The blasts disappeared into the brief smokescreen, and it was impossible to tell if they’d met their mark- before a sudden glowing white arrow blasted from another point in the smokescreen, aimed surprisingly perfectly, as though Kassandra could see Nótt through the dust without struggle, not to mention the Ghost Arrow of Artemis was honing in on her as well. It would pass through any obstacles put before it before plunging into the cliff face without a sound, dissipating soon after and inflicting severe piercing and laceration damage to anything it passed through.

Then Kassandra would emerge, now going on the offensive as she sprinted like a mad bat out of hell, kicking off the ground to actually propel herself up the cliff face, bounding up its length to reach Nótt and slash at her. If the woman were to kick away from the rock into open air, Kassandra would immediately follow, doing the same.

DART​

Fire resistant stone was a problem- for the fire. The flames aren’t what gave Dart his strength, and they aren’t what made his cyclone so dangerous. Dart had been able to locate Rinku pretty quickly, and as the boy hurled the demon stone…

♬♪ (Die) ♬♪

SMASH!

♬♪ (Die) ♬♪

SMASH!

♬♪ (Die) ♬♪

SMASH!

As the dragoon zeroed in on Rinku, he smashed through the demon stone, burrowing through their center and scattering rocks about. He closed the distance, and broke apart the second, so that when the third came, Dart was dangerously near Rinku.

As the third stone chunk burst apart, Dart emerged from the debris with an excited shout, Mind Crush glowing white hot with all of the energy he’d been charging up. All those flames in the surrounding tornado had been excess energy coming off of the sword in waves, and as Dart was upon Rinku in the blink of an eye, he brought the blade down in an overhead hammer strike that was supernaturally enhanced to exuberant strength for the blow, implying his coming move. “MOOOOON…!”

♬♪ Come and play with me tonight ♬♪

Whether it hit demon or stone, a blinding explosion would erupt. If Rinku had dodged in any capacity, within the epicenter of the sun-like eruption, Dart would slash upward with Mind Crush, another tidal wave of volatile energy erupting forth to wash over Rinku just like the earlier elemental ball had done as Dart finished his callout. “STRIKE!”

Had he blocked, Rinku’s mind would be overwhelmed with Mind Crush’s influence, leaving him dangerously vulnerable to the resulting white-hot explosion that Dart expelled with his overhead blow.

♬♪ We are gamblers, you and I ♬♪

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Nótt

Kassandra made no attempt to slow her fall, slamming into the ground with such force that it created a smokescreen. A glowing white arrow shot up from the cloud with incredible accuracy! Moon-Wing was ready, raising a wing to block the attack. Purple runes appeared on its wings, and a bubble of purple magic appeared around the fighting pair. Moon-Wing's 'Wings of Stout Defense' magic would shield the pair... or so they thought. The Ghost Arrow flew through the magic shield as if it was not even there. Moon-Wing screeched in pain as the arrow pierced his wing, and the arrow punched through Nótt's stomach.

The Princess merely let out a grunt, and black ichor began to leak from the wound instead of red blood. The arrow had gone all the way through, but Nótt didn't feel as affected by it as she normally was. This Crimson Stone really was something...

Kassandra leapt from smoke cloud, and began running up the cliff. Nótt was once again impressed by the sheer power and athleticism of the assassin. As Kassandra anticipated, Nótt pushed off the cliff. But not in the way the assassin expected. Instead of pushing away from the cliff, Nótt launched herself down faster. Moon-Wing used its wings to block Kass's slash, and Nótt attempted to gore Kassandra with her spear as she flew past Kass towards the ground.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Kirin
​

Chai seemed eager to "solve" the situation at hand. In a way, he reminded Kirin of BB – an earnest, life of the party type of guy, though quite possibly to the point of being a detriment at times. At least Chai wasn't trying to win her over like BB would on repeated occasions.

Irnane provided her own input with the priestess' additional information, and she came to a similar conclusion. Interfering here could only spell disaster, so it was best that they just left the unconscious contestants be. Surely they'd be able to resolve... whatever it was they were taking care of in there.

"Yeah, guess it really isn't a good idea. Think all we can do is wait for them to wake up."

She turned back to the unconscious Neph, crouching slightly.

"Still, can't help but wonder what's going on in there–"

Suddenly, the Battle Priestess' body gave out on her. Kirin fell forward with a gasp, narrowly catching herself before her head could hit the edge of the bench. A feeling of overwhelming exhaustion washed over her, and she felt as though a strange energy was trying to take hold of her. She had a feeling part of it came from Neph, but the other part... was it that necklace?

Then, as quickly as the sensation had struck, it vanished. Kirin took a moment to recover, leaning against the bench while sitting on the ground. She'd never felt anything like that before.

"...woah." Kirin managed to speak out, still feeling short of breath. She looked to Irnane and Chai. "I think... I almost got pulled into their minds too."

As she spoke, her gaze shifted to the necklace Bakura wore. Was it somehow connected to all this?
​

Gunvolt
​

And so Reala and the Kats departed to do battle. NiGHTS had followed after them, leaving only Gunvolt and Master Chief at the platform. Looking towards the sparring arena, the Azure Striker took note of a new screen that had appeared to display the new fight. Alongside it was another screen, depicting a man in crimson armor and a red echidna duking it out furiously. Hadn't they been going at it for a while now?

Regardless, he brought his focus to the newly started battle. From what he'd seen of Troy and Allison, the two were a duo that worked with great coordination. Allison could transform into a durable blade, while Troy was able to summon vortices around him for a variety of uses. Coupled with some psychic techniques, they certainly made for a force to be reckoned with. Audrey had been able to make it past them, albeit it was a close battle.

Reala, on the other hand, he knew little of. Outside of those talks of dreams, nightmares, and their master Wizeman, the nightmaren was rather secretive on their own abilities. They'd started off the battle with a blast of explosive flame, and now summoned a series of fast-moving chains to restrain the challengers. Gunvolt was reminded of his own Voltaic Chains, though the purpose of each technique was clearly different.

"Looks like this could be quite the fight. Been looking forward to seeing Reala in action, y'know."

At that moment, a familiar figure flew out from Master Chief's back. The floating form of Lola hovered between the two champions, looking out at the lobby, before she turned toward the screen displaying the fight between Reala and the Kool Kats.

"I'd say I hope that Reala guy beats those guys up, since they're annoying and stuff, but..." She commented. "Honestly, I don't like him too much either. Real creepy vibes. So maybe I'll just root for them all to smash each other up real good! Yeah!"

She seemed to think it a genius compromise.
​

ZedΩ
​

Spamton left for his mischievous plans, and Magolor followed after him, perhaps seeking to learn more about what his next goal was. Zed could only hope their interaction would keep Spamton in check. Enough to prevent a disaster like before, at least.

"...Quite the eccentric one, is he not? May the Sun enlighten his path."

Zed let out a sigh as he turned to face the rest of the group. He remained standing as Eitri and Kirby spoke – or rather, the latter nodded in response to her questions. Kirby seemed to affirm that he had kept his memories from the event, much like the Golden Trillion theorized earlier. The possibility of it being an unintended side effect of his escape alongside Eitri and the others grew more and more likely.

Keeping that in mind, the leader of ATEMS awaited Kirby's response to Eitri's latest query. Anything that they could learn about Master Hand or those Dimension Games could prove incredibly useful.​

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
The aura pokemon found the Kraggling rather quickly and was relieved to see it was tougher than it looked.
"Very well. Let us return to-"
The pokemon's pupils shrunk to pinpricks as he heard the faint twang of a bowstring, and an overwhelming sense of danger struck it. Just as Taskmaster's arrow passed the window, Lucario had snatched the Kraggling, placing them protectively under his arm as he used Extreme Speed to vacate the building as fast as he could. He had barely passed the door before the arrow went off, the explosion knocking the pokemon off his feet. After Lucario roughly bounced off the floor, he corrected his position, using Extreme Speed to keep his momentum. The pokemon covered ground incredibly quickly, coming onto his buried bone staff. With his free arm, Lucario would grip onto his staff, kicking the nearby Taskmaster away as he twirled around it. When he slowed himself enough, Lucario dropped the Kraggling safely into the floor, and pulled his staff free from the ground.

Magolor
"Uh-huh..." Magolor nodded as he attempted to translate Spamton's speech in his head. "Well, they say genius is never understood by commoners, Hee Hee!"
The two's laughter mixed, though Spamton was far less controlled. Once again, Magolor had to wonder what made him this way. Could the "truth" really have this much influence on a person, or was he this...quirky normally?
"You could say I was insane once. Wouldn't recommend it, unless you have some friends to snap you out of it. Sometimes you just go too far, right?"


Kirby
Kirby leaned into Eitri palms as she patted him. It seemed like he she was finally turning around! That was easy!
But it seemed the question wasn't the only one, and the second was far more difficult to answer. Kirby had never considered Master Hand's plans when it came to the competitions. He just saw them as fun events where he can see some of his friends, maybe even eat great food! He just assumed Master Hand liked that stuff too.
Though...how does a hand eat?
The puffball seemed to shake his head slightly as he looked down, deeply perplexed by Eitri's question and the intricacies of Master Hand eating.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rinku


His brief attacks didn't seem to have much effect, and like a stubborn bull, Dart shattered through his attempts to stop him. He didn't have many options, nothing in his arsenal would be able to help him here. But maybe...he didn't need something from his arsenal.

Mind crush reminded him of an ability he just received from the store, a spite purchase. He remembered a description stating it made enemies sluggish, slow, and confused, masking them in some kind of illusion? That would have to work. Before Dart was finished smashing the second rock, Rinku interjected with a callout.

"AZURA!!"

Calling upon them, the dream like state that was described on the ability would be applied to Dart, effectively robbing him of his perfect opportunity for damage. He'd disappear completely from Dart's eyes.

♬♪(So, keep the dice rolling)
(Until I wake up or-)♬♪

Using this window of opportunity with a now slowed opponent, Rinku made his escape. Like a rat, he scurried inside the horizontal demon-stone building he was right near. Seeing there was only one entrance/exit to this particular building, he shot three Yo-Yos at the already weakened side of the structure.

♬♪ (Die) ♬♪

Bzzzzt!

♬♪ (Die) ♬♪

SLICE!

♬♪ (Die!) ♬♪

SCRAAATCH!

This would make the whole building fall like a tree, swatting Dart out of the sky, while also allowing him to slip out the opposite end without having to approach Dart.







Chai


"...You don't say..."

Inching a bit to the right away from Kirin, Chai's eyes narrowed. Peppermint may have been right when she said this psychic syndrome thing may be contagious. Suspicious eyes sliding down to the unconscious pack of people, Chai gave a whistle, putting his hands behind his head.

"Sooo judging from the fact that we can't exactly help without risking them and the longer we stay here we might fall unconscious, have we consider like, not sticking around?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Eitri

Kirby looked down, thinking hard about the question. Eitri stared at the puffball for a moment, before sighing and shaking her head. Even if the Star Warrior did know the answer, it appeared to lack the ability to communicate it.
"Never mind." Eitri said. She turned her attention back to Zed and Masaru. Ótr had returned to his seat, and was watching the fight between Nótt and Kassandra with some interest. Byleth remained standing next to Eitri, keeping a watch on their surroundings but occasionally looking to Kirby.

Eitri stared at Zed and Masaru for a moment, before crossing her arms.
"What was that puppet creature? Are either of you familiar with him?" Eitri asked the pair, referring to Spamton.

 

[ArmedBlue]

ZedΩ
​

"In a way, yes."

As he spoke, the Golden Trillion looked over his shoulder, watching as Spamton and Magolor disappeared into the stairwell, and a familiar tablet followed them from afar. Now confident that Spamton was well out of earshot, he turned back toward Eitri.

"My apologies for all the confusion, Eitri. Whatever feeling of familiarity or déjà vu you may have experienced is not without reason, though it was best to keep that man from learning of it. Allow me to explain, bewildering as the truth may be..." Zed began, his expression remarkably stern, before he took a deep breath.

"When the last round of matches began, and Masaru was brought here to meet you... That being, Spamton, covered in mechanical armor, launched an attack on the lobby and all those in the stands. Billions struck by beams that decoded their very being, an onslaught that only a few survived. You were not among them." He paused, looking up at his ATEMS Knights, who remained in their spots engaged in light conversation. To think only Layla had survived that...

"Of those currently here, only Masaru and I were able to escape the attack, and I was also able to narrowly save my dear Layla. Out of those in the tournament, Magolor, Chai, Jevil, and Nótt managed to survive as well. Finally, there was Tabby, another audience member who avoided the initial attack. We wasted no time in launching a counterattack, albeit the one known as Jevil initially was on the side of Spamton." Zed continued, his gaze returning to Eitri.

"The battle was long and grueling. Miniature copies resembling Spamton's current form attacked in large numbers, and when those were wiped out, seven copies of certain people were summoned to aid our foe. Alongside a replica of yourself, there was also a copy of Mediamon and Omega, two familiar faces from the Dimension Games." He added, a slight smirk tugging at his lips. "Even as a lesser clone, you remained quite the fighter, I must say. It took me quite some effort to bring your replica down."

"In any case, the conflict shifted in an unexpected manner. Spamton appeared to be under the control of something greater, bound by an array of supernatural strings. It attempted to convince us of an inescapable fate, an approaching defeat – yet our conviction shone bright. We were able to overcome the struggle and snap the strings holding Spamton. Following that, a button of sorts appeared, labeled "Reset". It would bring everything back to before Spamton's first attack. That, and..."

For some reason, there was a slight lapse in his memory.

"There was a plea made. To convince Spamton of his own freedom upon our return. An attempt to prevent such a catastrophe from occurring again, leading him away from whatever path it was that caused his actions. As you no doubt noted from Masaru's words to Spamton, my own additions to his remarks, and Magolor's attitude towards that salesman..."

The prince looked out towards the lobby once again.

"We pressed that button. The world returned to what it once was, as though chaos had never broken out in the first place. That is where we are now, my friend."​

 

[Fraseandchico]

Masaru Takahara
​

"Well, uh-" Masaru's realisation of blowing any cover he seemed to have was still just dawning on him when Eitri had asked if either him or Zed knew Spamton, coupled with Spamton's own reaction to their words.

Luckily for him, Zed took the initiative in that moment, explaining to Eitri (and others who heard) what had happened.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it. I got pretty lucky, Eitri, you gave me a blessing and I don't think I could've helped much without it." Masaru added, before shrugging.

"I'll admit, from what I understand, I feel a little bad for the guy - Maybe I'm being a little soft. That other voice mentioned something about 'saving his world', so I have my own concerns about that, but..."

The Warlock
​

Mordenna actually paused a moment at Dagr and Pit's concern, before waving a hand to the side and seeming rather dismissive of their worry.

"Nonsense. They are Gods, you understand that yes? I represent their glory, they gave me gifts beyond my former feeble humanity, and I squander it by falling to Envy and Arrogance. Human failings. And in front of a whole host of peoples, no less - They must be rather embarressed by such weakness on my part." With a shake of his head, the Warlock began to stand up straight again, his small mention of humanity carrying a strange amount of venom to it.

"'Pit', you surely understand - to be uplifted and chosen as a warrior, Nay, a Champion, for a God is an important duty, to fail shows that you have not been disciplined correctly. And that is before considering I am the sole remaining of their three Champions, even though I am - was, the Greatest."

"I must return. That is simple as a feeble mind could hope to comprehend."

 

[comic]

KASSANDRA​

Kassandra grit her teeth as she felt her stomach impaled by the weapon Nott carried, tearing out of her other side. She could remember this, when her own brother had done exactly the same to her lifetimes ago.

Kassandra turned, allowing the lance to exit without tearing anything apart, before Kasandra similarly kicked off a jutting out rock, on Nott’s tail like an insistent hound. She had fought with oen wounds like this before, plenty of times. In her surprising close-in, Kassandra made to wrap her arms and legs around Moon-Wing at various angles as she called upon the latest charge she’d just obtained, depriving her of any.

Ring of Chaos.

Point-blank with Nott and Moon-Wing, a burst of powerful heat and energy would expel with surprising concussive force, combining power with a stunning blow to blast Nott at an even greater speed into the ground that was fast approaching (the epicenter at the back of her head) while the misthios, not needing to be left open for the blast to work, attempted to rip Moon-Wing’s skull from its body with a violent twist and a tug during the move.
​

​

SPAMTON​

“ALL MY FRIENDS [Murder!] [The Bucket List!]” Spamton replied in his usually cheery expression, despite the context of his words. “SOME MIGHT E-E-EeeeeeeVEN ARGUE [I’m The Only Sane!] [I’m The Only Sane!] [I’m The Only Sane!] [I’m The Only Sane!] [I’m The Only Sane!] [I’m The Only Sane!] [I’m The Only Sane!] [I’m The Only Sane!] [I’m The Only Sane!] [I’m The Only Sane!] [I’m The Only Sane!] [I’m The Only Sane!]”

After the third or so "I'm the only sane" it almost started to sound like "I'm going insane" which was probably the case.

As they emerged in the lobby, Spamton appeared to have no shame for waltzing about on the contestants floor, despite having no official participation with the tournament. With a skip in his step, he strode on toward the back of one of the shops as quickly as his little legs would carry him, before he paused, appearing to hesitate on taking another step forward.

“GO TO FAR…” he repeated Magolor’s words as though he’d only just heard it, and for a moment, the more genuine voice came from the salesman. Though his back was to Magolor, the egg could hear the static in his eyes. “They said that to me…”

And like usual, Spamton perked right back up. “MAN! [What An Imagination] YOU’VE GOT-GOT-GOT, FRIEND!”
​

​

DART​

As he smashed down toward the third boulder, something strange came over the dragoon. A confusing vision, something he didn’t understand. Worshipers around a blue woman? He didn’t know any of these people!

Yet as he moved, the vision didn’t seem to shift, and when Dart landed on solid ground, he nearly stumbled over, shaking his head. This… this was an illusion! Of course, just like what Emperor Diaz had done! A trick of the mind!

♬♪ It’s not an angel on your shoulder ♬♪
(Whispering in your ear)

Gritting his teeth, trying to struggle through the tired stupor he found himself in, making him wobble on the spot, Dart reached into his armor for something, just as the building came crashing down with a shuddering boom, for a moment seeming to crush the Red Warrior. Dust puffed outward from the impact.
​

♬♪ You hear the things you wanna heaaaar ♬♪

The ground rumbled, before a red comet blasted out of the top of the collapsed building, rising into the air. In Dart’s free hand, a red stone was held in his grasp, glowing brightly. Flames seemed to be emitting off of the mercenary’s eyes as his gaze immediately fell upon Rinku.

♬♪ The wheel of darkness spins in the game ♬♪
(Where no one ever wins)

Using the power of his dragoon stone, Dart could fight through the vision. While the blue woman still pervaded in his vision, he could see beyond her, toward an illuminated outline of a demon child: Rinku. Most notably, Mind Crush was still glowing, brimming with energy, as it hadn’t been released when his attack had been interrupted before it even truly began.

“Rrrr, I’m sick of tricks! Fight me on equal terms! Let MIGHT make RIGHT!” Dart yelled, pointing his sword at Rinku, the flames around his eyes flaring up as the vision of Azura continued to push into his mind. He was isolating Rinku's ki somehow, it seemed, allowing him to triangulate the boy's position without physical sight...
​

♬♪ Could this be how the end begiiiiiins? ♬♪

​

​

IRNANE​

Kirin nearly succumbed to the same thing that claimed Nephthys, Bakura, and Rex Raptor- though she surprisingly didn’t fall to the dream. Did she resist its call? Was the process interrupted? A subtle look toward the necklace Bakura wore clued Irnane in on its possibly magical properties.

Her own gaze befell the necklace. Her world was no stranger to entire pocket dimensions being put in jewelry. Could it be that these individuals were in fact within something like that, as opposed to inside of a mind?

At Chai’s suggestion, Irnane crouched down to peer at the necklace, before she waved her hand over it, pulsing with pink magic as she tried to reveal any sort of charm, curse, or magic-like energy tied to the necklace.

She did not yet offer dialogue with Chai, not until she tested this.​

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Moon's Elegance

A direct hit! But of course, the assassin would not go down such easily. In fact, she fought as if she had not been injured in the slightest. Nótt continued falling, facing Kassandra. Just as Kassandra had used the mid-air collision to slide off Hrímfaxi, Nótt had used it to continue facing Kassandra. The assassin kicked off the wall and lunged at Moon-Wing. But instead of entangling herself around the massive bird, Nótt intercepted her. Moon-Wing blocked attacks heading towards Nótt, and it seemed the inverse was also true. Nótt smiled to Kassandra, their collision turning them and causing them to fall side by side.

"You dropped out a moment there, dear. Where were we?" Nótt asked. Kassandra released her Ring of Chaos. Just as before with Kassandra's Ghost Arrow, runes on Moon-Wings' feathers appeared. A barrier of purple energy appeared around the Princess and her eagle, reducing the power of the Ring of Chaos against them from a massive explosion to a mild concussive blast.

Moon-Wing released Nótt at the last second, catching itself mid-air. The Princess and the Assassin slammed into the ground, but Nótt continued to try and hold Kassandra tightly. She let go of her lance, fully committing to the grapple.
"Ah, thats- oof, that's right! You traveled to-" Nótt abandoned the conversation as she tried to wrestle the assassin, aiming elbow and knee strikes at Kassandra as she tried to force her way on top. Her sharp, claw-like gauntlets attempted to dig into Kassandra's flesh, and if they were successful, Nótt would begin draining Kassandra's blood.


Sun's Radiance

Dagr looked up to the alien, thinking for a moment. She sighed, and shook her head.
"I get it. It sucks, but I get it. If my mother thought I had embarrassed her, or embarrassed my people, she'd definetly tan my hide." Dagr said. "It's unfortunate, though. It seems to me that you can't stop yourself from having those emotions and feelings. In my world, even the gods sometimes fall prey to those sorts of failings."

Dagr grinned and winked to The Warlock.
"I guess they're weak gods, huh?" Dagr said, echoing what she had said to Warlock before about his own gods. The Princess looked to the gate, watching Audrey for another moment, before looking back to Warlock.

"Well Warty. Usually I'd offer to go and talk to your gods, try to convince them that you fought a good and strong fight that no one should be ashamed of. But I have a feeling they'd see it more as an insult at best, and try to annihilate me at worst. Or both." Dagr said, and shrugged. "So I guess I'll say this, then. I hope you don't die!"

The Princess smiled and gave Warlock a thumbs up.
"Live, and work to get even stronger! Then come find me again, and we'll have a rematch!" Dagr said. "Now, I really gotta- Oh, before I go. I have one more question for you, Warty."

Dagr leaned on her ax, and looked up to Warlock. She suddenly gave Warlock a dramatic, surprisingly elegant bow.
"Greatest Champion of the Elders. One who's will shines bright with psionic power." Dagr said dramatically, before looking to Warlock with a cheeky smile. "Is Warlock your real name?"


A Humble Scholar

Zed regaled Eitri with the story of the events, Masaru agreeing with his tale. There was no nervous or frantic expression on Masaru's face, and the sage believed the pair were telling the truth. Eitri thought for a moment, before chuckling and shaking her head.

"Of course. You approaching, at the same time that creature showed up. Magolor and Princess Nótt showing up as well. The familiarity with which you spoke to Magolor and Spamton. I had a suspicion there was something happening." Eitri said. She nodded to Zed. "I am grateful you told me of this."

Next Eitri looked to Byleth. She regarded the mercenary for a moment.
"Does Sothis know anything about this?" Eitri asked Byleth. The woman stared back at Eitri, silent for a few moments before finally speaking.
"She will not tell me." Byleth said. Eitri shrugged and looked to Masaru.

"You say I gave you a blessing? Likely the Flame Blessing, no doubt." Eitri said. "Well. I am glad that it was able to help you in your battle. Oh, and Masaru."
Eitri's expression turned more smug.
"Do be more careful next time you're deceiving someone. That 'Spamton' creature never introduced itself, and yet you were the first one to call it 'Spamton'." Eitri said with a smile. She addressed the pair.

"It appears the two of you have now have two concerns. The mystery of the Dimension Games, and preventing this Spamton from repeating what he caused before." Eitri said, rubbing her chin. She sighed dramatically. "Well, I suppose that if the two of you wish, I could help you with this Spamton problem. Unless you have faith in your other associates being able to convince him."


The Concerned Bystanders

Irnane reached out with her magical senses. Pink magic floated around her and, then around the Millennium Ring.

It was instantly clear that this was no ordinary piece of jewelry. This was an ancient artifact, thousands of years old. A magical item, one of powerful and dark magic. Shadow magic. Illusion magic. Reality-changing magic. Despite it being so powerful, there had been no indication of this until Irnane inspected it. Possibly another magical effect it had.

 

[Psymallard]

Taskmaster & Kraggling
After releasing his arrow, Taskmaster went into the motion of stowing his bow. His mind was quick enough to perceive the Pokémon tumbling through the front door. He pushed his body to move similarly as quickly. The supersoldier snatched up his stave and twirled away from the incoming Lucario to narrowly escape the kick. Yet, the assassin didn't part without a counterattack, and swung the Shovel Scepter at his foe. The weapon wasn't long enough to quite reach across the growing distance between the two, but as Taskmaster had spun, it had gathered sand to artificially extend the weapon's length and threaten a strike upon the pocket monster.

Kool Kats
"You seem like you have a problem with authority, dear visitor. Why don't we change that?"

The Nightmaren continued to antagonize Troy, but the narcissist granted him no visible reaction. The aforementioned winds whipping around him quickly turned into a Vortex Ball that surrounded his entire body. Just in time too, as golden chains erupted from below him. Unfortunately for Reala, they were quickly seized by the current, and twisted in a way that gave the King of Kool time to react.

His smile widened at the Nightmaren's foil, and he quickly turned sideways inside his hamster ball of air. The Vortex Ball then erupted and scattered the chains in every which way, while launching Troy straight towards Reala at breakneck speed! Troy aimed to end this quickly by impaling his foe with the Soul Edge.

Tablet
The ninja continued to follow, but when the stairwell opened into the plaza, he felt as though he had to increase his following distance even further and meander quite a bit to continue being as subtle as he was- especially not being a contestant here. But first, he decided to utilize an upgrade he'd gotten a while ago. One that was downloaded off of another tablet. He attempted to scan Spamton, and recognize his energy signature so that Tabby wouldn't lose him.

The babbling salesman led Magolor behind a shop, and in the time that they stopped to chat, the quick little robot hid around the corner to continue listening in on them. Quietly, he drew Lemonkus's scythe... just in case.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rinku


Bullheaded. Persistent. Dart shrugged off any attempt to deter him. What did he think he was? Some kind of main protagonist in a shonen manga?

Weevil tested his creativity, Irnane tested his resolve. Dart? He was testing his arsenal. He could only assume he was honing in on him using something other than sight. Either way...he was slowed. That gave him something to work with. He just needed to disrupt that sight somehow.

"Hmmmm...I'll consider it." Rinku thought boyishly for a moment. "But that mind blade thing ain't exactly sports like, is it? Got a whole blade dedicated to mind stuff. Throw that away and it's a deal buster~"

Bouncing up into the air, he put his arms behind his head and stuck his tongue out the right corner of his mouth. Just levitating up in the air several yards in the front of dart, he waiting for Dart to drop his weapon. He wanted a 'fair' fight, wasn't that right? He eyed his slowed foe carefully. Dart wouldn't attack right when he was making demands with his enemy, a protag wouldn't do it. Alright. Time to play as if this were a novel. At this point, the music has dimmed and slowed, as if it knew this was a responsive moment.

Peppermint, who was watching through 808's eyes a small distance away, shook her head from behind her screen, putting her feet up on her desk.

"Okay, that's the worst attempt yet. This guy's dumb, but he's not THAT dumb."






Reala


Hmph. More than expected from a visitor.

As the chains shot away their intended target, Reala began to make his move. Lurching to the side, the muscular maren hooked his curved talons into a chain link, forcing it up, Soul edge making a loud metallic clang off of the dream like material as Reala parried the strike.

Reala offered a condescending smile, cocking his head, as if looking at an impertinent child. The rest of the chains quivered before quickly coming back around for another pass while the Kool Katz's backs were turned. Reala would shove them back, using the chain as the buffer tool. Doing so, he finally took flight, flying in a curved flight path somewhat to the side of the insane pair, leaving behind some strange crimson trail on the ground...

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
The man was already moving as Lucario approached, and even as he kicked, the Taskmaster was barely out of reach. Reading Taskmaster's counterattack, Lucario pulled himself down and planted both feet into the ground, smoothly transitioning into a twirl of his own. He swiftly pulled the bone out of the ground and swung it in time with Taskmaster. The bone staff would tear through the shovel staff's extension, dispersing the sand before Lucario twirled again, dropping the Kraggling and stabbing the staff forward, extending it to strike Taskmaster!

Magolor
Well that caused a reaction!
Magolor was initially taken aback by Spamton's sudden hesitation, before he perked back up as if nothing had happened. As the magic egg followed the skittering puppet to his secret location, Magolor yellow eyes seemed to glow curiously.
"Mmm. Imagination huh?" He replied, pensive. "Speaking of which, humor me will you? Who are you talking about? Contacts, maybe? Hee Hee!"

Kirby
"Never mind."
Kirby seemed to deflate slightly as Eitri turned away. Dangit, he really thought he had made a connection! Though he was thankful he no longer had to think to hard about the question. Maybe he'd ask Magolor. He seemed to know everything.
With the others engaged in conversation, Kirby placed his focus on the one who brought him here.
" Poyo? Poyo. Poyo!"
Kirby spoke as he scurried around Byleth, meeting her occasional glances with a mix of confusion and concern. He had assumed that she'd go back to normal now that they were back with their friends, but she was still different.

 

[comic]

KASSANDRA​

That damned bird... Kassandra was beginning to wish she had Ikaros more, now. If that kind of second party could be allowed, then her eagle would have been fine. He wasn't nearly as involved as this thing.

However, it abandoned them as they crashed to the ground. Kassandra suffered no damage from the impact, and presumably Nótt was in a similar position because of the store item. Nótt seemed to be trying to continue the conversation, and the misthios couldn't help but find it... kind of funny, to be honest. "This would be nice under different circumstances."

Despite the fight, she made sure to throw in a flirt about their grappling embrace. She wound her hands to Nótt's shoulders, then to her head. The Moon's Elegance was attempting to strike with her knees and elbows, but Kassandra proved to be a little difficult to properly hit, as her grappling saw her pushing herself as tightly to the woman as possible.

She knew about the blood thing, and she was egging it on. It would offer that brief moment of vulnerability, and as Kassandra had barely used her hidden blade so far, it was doubtful Nótt had caught its appearance some odd two or three fights ago. So she lured Nótt into a false sense of security by grappling with her using her hands, giving off the impression that the misthios was no longer armed.

Gauntlets dug into the exposed bits of Kassandra's flesh, and she winced slightly, before she activated her hidden blade, aimed point-blank against the side of Nótt's head to plunge into her brain from the side. "I do wish these were different circumstances."
​

​

IRNANE​

Hm...

Not the same magic, but she'd seen similar degrees before. Daedric worshippers. Darkness, shadow... like Namina, or maybe Nocturnal? The energy, however... it reminded her more Mehrunes Dagon...

The reason she was here in the first place.

Standing back up, the dark elf couldn't help but wrinkling her nose in disgust as she gazed upon the artifact, before she quickly recovered and looked toward Kirin. "You felt the pull here, right? The call. This necklace is imbued with dark, old, powerful magic. I have no doubts that this is why they're in this state. I imagine they're within the realm of the artifact, doing battle with whatever power lies within. You were nearly called into it, I presume to aid. For some reason, the call was stopped. The darkness didn't want you in there."
​

​

DART​

He lowered his sword slowly for a moment, considering Rinku's proposal. "Mind Crush...? I called upon this weapon because it counters your illusions and tricks. So if I replace this with Heat Blade... no more clones. No more... whatever this vision is. You're strong, but you're too afraid to commit to your strength! I don't care if you're a devil, or a monster - I want a real fight. That's why we're here, isn't it? No more clones, and it's a deal!"

His usual cheery attitude seemed a little overridden at the moment, as though his lust for a good fight were more important.

Yet as he made his proposal, Dart's mind was drifting a little. He wondered if his friends and family were watching this... he hadn't seen some of them in a long time, not since the end of their great adventure together. He missed them. Albert, Kongol, Haschel, Meru... maybe even Miranda, too.

And maybe... if this place really was so outside of the rules of time... maybe Rose was here. Or even Lavitz! Not his son, Lavitz, the one he was named after. Dart's old friend, the Jade Dragoon.
​

​

SPAMTON​

"HM? TALKING ABOUT? I D-D_IDN'T MENTION ANYONE!" Spamton laughed, before the next moment... it was as though they were walking in a completely different place. They hadn't gone through the wall, almost like they'd vanished on the spot, and Magolor now found himself in the strange tunnels beneath the plaza, where Kirin had wound up a few times before.

"BUT IF I , YOU HEARD SOMETHING [You Shouldn't Have]."​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rinku / Peppermint



Peppermint couldn't believe what she was hearing. Doing a double take, she almost spit out her tea. Practically slamming it on her cluttered desk, she gripped her monitor tightly.

"What?! Idiot! What are you even thinking?!"

Rinku, seemed greatly pleased by this. Mind Crush was a killjoy, breaking through his tricks and made his little toys nervous. Rinku shrugged, nodding at the suggestion. Dropping his illusion.

"Then it's agreed. While we are being transparent here..."

Suddenly, 808's music changed completely, shifting into a different song. Tone shifting from before, automatically as if it was predicting what was to come.

Master of Illusion

Provided to YouTube by Nuclear BlastMaster of Illusion · Battle BeastCircus Of Doom℗ Nuclear BlastReleased on: 2022-04-29Producer: Janne BjörkrothComposer: J...

m.youtube.com

Rinku held out a hand, raising it above his face. He slowly lowered the hand, obscuring parts of his face from view, but through the gaps of his fingers...it revaed something ghastly. Rinku's skin appeared to change in those small windows. dark red scale like skin was revealed to Dart through the gaps of the fingers, like a window. His eyes were black with narrow yellow pupils, which appeared to have an ornate symboling in it. Rinku stopped it at his mouth, the gap between his thumb and his hand at his lips, a barbed tongue swishing around a crooked mouth.

"Rinku, S Class Demon-Yokai." He reintroduced himself.

His Yo-Yos erupted from behind him, flinging behind him as if they were eight lashing tails, wriggling in the air. The faint sound of hissing was heard in the air as they lashed about. A purple aura coming over them and Rinku, his hair on his head standing on end. Taking his hand away from his face and firmly in tune with his strings, he grinned in a way it showed his canines.

"I want to hear those bones break!"

Suddenly, as the guitar erupted from the song, Rinku boomed forward with faster speed than he had shown yet, Yo-Yos spinning like fan blades in unison. He'd swipe with his blade acting toys, sweeping in to cleave Dart's body into pieces!

 

[comic]

DART​

And it was agreed. Dart seemed satisfied, flashing the teeth of a 90's anime protagonist as the music stopped, replaced with something else. The Red Warrior placed his hand firmly upon the glowing blade of Mind Crush, and his fingertips began to glow, then his hand, and the power rushed from the blade into his arm, dispersing into the dragoon's body.

Sliding the red orb back into his arm, the air around Dart began to shimmer and shake from the heat coming off of him as he stuck Mind Crush out to the side, and it vanished in emerald flames.

"Rinku, S Class Demon-Yokai."

Hand still outstretched, Heat Blade manifested with another flash of light. "I'd show you the real me, too, but we're not there yet," Dart said. To Rinku, it could have come off as arrogance, or even attempt to annoy him - but in truth, it was the truth. Dart was still building up his energy to access the dragoon form.

"I want to hear those bones break!"

"Then try!" Dart yelled back, and as Rinku boomed forward, his speed increased as he pushed into his ki reserves, Dart also boomed forward, leaving a streaking trail of flames behind him as the ground underfoot cracked and burned in an instant.

Yet as they closed the distance in an instant, Dart would slash early, blasting a burst of shredding flames horizontal to the ground, disintegrating a section of staircase caught at its edge before reaching Rinku, at least twelve feet from end to end. The rest of the staircase collapsed almost immediately, sending a few barrels of fruit tumbling toward Rinku inadvertently.

Dart slashed again, this time vertical to the ground, cutting Heat Blade up and sending another streak of blistering heat, this one equal in length and stretching tall in the event Rinku tried to jump over the first wave.

Unlike the prior blasts Rinku easily waved away, this one would more like magma- even plasma -in its composition, a physical force that would slug forward.

At his sudden stop, a gust of wind also pushed forward in front of him with enough force to potentially destabilize the demon, and raising his foot, Dart smashed his heel into the ground, just as the music hit a break for a stronger rift, gearing up for the lyrics.

Demon stone cracked under him, and the stone under RInku would suddenly lift, aiming to further destabilize him like a see-saw, before Dart would finally blast forward at the same speed with which he had before, aiming to smash into Rinku's defenses with a shoulder-bash before rapidly swinging the sword horizontally, a third blast of energy flying out if he missed.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rinku↝

Instead of jumping high like Dart would have preferred, instead Rinku punched through the wall next to him, he broke through so fast that it looked as if he just simply goblin crawled into the surface. As the pair of wave washed through, Rinku resurfaced, Yo-Yos acting as spider legs as they let him crawl out of the newly made hole and cling to the wall of demon-stone.

That's when the stone he stood atop began to crack and creak, wailing off the stone audible. Realizing what Dart was to do, Rinku's aura grew less transparent, thicker color flooding into it. Hints of red flickering ever so often with the purple. Juicing up his engine, he met Dart's shoulder bash head on.

♬♪ Mirror, mirror on the wall
Who's the greatest of them all? ♬♪

Instead of colliding with it, he used the heist of energy to dexterously land on the shoulder, looking as if a sneering gargoyle perched up a high tower. The sword slash was next, a natural response. Rinku maneuvered around, scaling his body like an evasive insect would have, hooking his hand on the right shoulder plate of his foe, maintaining a blind spot.

♬♪ I'm the master of illusion
Welcome to my mad delusion ♬♪

It was time for a meal. Rinku would put his toothy grin to use, his teeth getting irregularly sharp as he aimed to the side of Dart's neck. All the while his Yo-Yos would strike rapidly at Dart's Elbows, Armpits, and knees. Making the most of his advantage by trying to limit all the important joints as much as he could.

♬♪ I'm the one who makes the rules
For the heroes and the fools ♬♪

"These energy readings...he's, losing energy?"

Peppermint was scanning Rinku thoroughly, who for some reason didn't attempt to target her. According to her readings, Rinku's energy, which before this point didn't have near any sign of wear, now seemed to be depleting. Rapidly. Maybe Dart actually made the right move after all? If he kept Rinku blitzing like this...he may just end up tiring him out over time!

 

[comic]

DART​

The warrior managed to keep a surprisingly accurate read on Rinku's position, even as he moved around Dart. He would feel the man's armor stinging his skin, hot to the touch. Incredibly so...

The yo-yo's came in, striking their intended places. Dart winced, shaking under the repeated hits, but with each one, a burst of flames lashed out back against the yo-yo's. Every hit they were making was transferring some amount of damage. It wasn't enough to make it an immediate issue for Rinku, but repeated use would begin to stack, especially with that charged energy the dragoon had absorbed.

Pushing through the pain, even as Rinku tried to disable limb movement, Dart's tenacity shone as he maneuvered his blade, and as Rinku's open mouth came in - he suddenly found his cheeks at risk of splitting, Heat Blade in the way. Hot flames spun down the boy's throat as the yo-yo's kept striking, but the warrior grit through the pain, suddenly boosting backward to smash Rinku through several walls, sandwiched against Dart.

♬♪ I can tear down angels from the sky
And make Mona Lisa cry ♬♪

Despite the moment where his blade was primed to deal some real damage, Dart didn't take the opportunity. He asked for a fight, and what use would it be to end it now?

Spinning rapidly if Rinku clung on, Dart would slam him violently into a series of walls, carving through the commercial city from one end to the other. Should Rinku try to reposition and bite again, the dragoon's body would burst with flames, expelling some of his energy to fling Rinku away, or risk him and his yo-yo strings getting turned to ash.

♬♪ Ohhhh ♬♪

"If you wanted a meal, you should have eaten before the fight!" Dart called, and if Rinku was off of him, he would fire several more flamestreaks through the air toward him.

♬♪ You can hear the weeping violins
Long before the bitter end begins ♬♪​

 

[ArmedBlue]

Kirin
​

Kirin held off on responding to Chai's suggestion for a moment, still somewhat recovering from the feeling of disorientation. Sure, maybe it was best if they backed away to let these three handle things, but that didn't feel right to her. Something about the situation troubled her, but she couldn't quite put a finger on it.

Her peacock green eyes drifted over to the middle lobby as she sat there. Some of the screens displaying the fights were visible from her position, while Gunvolt and that futuristic soldier remained in their platform at the center. The jester in red and black had vanished, though, leaving Kirin to ponder where he'd run off to.

At that moment, a door swung open in the back of the lobby, and a familiar figure walked out onto the plaza. One she didn't think she'd see around here anytime soon. Was that psychic pull from earlier messing with her vision?

"Spamton...?"

"You felt the pull here, right? The call."

"Huh?"

Irnane's words got her attention, the Battle Priestess turning to look at the dark elf. According to her, the necklace was imbued with powerful dark magic, shedding some light on the nature of the situation. Whatever was in there... Neph and the others were fighting it off. Knowing that, there was no way in hell she could just leave them like this.

"If that's the case, then..." Kirin said, standing back up. "I gotta help them out somehow. Whatever's it is that's in there, I bet my Fetters can seal it!"

She rushed over to Bakura's half-conscious body, holding a hand up to the necklace, before she stopped, hesitating.

"Though, if they're also in there... What if it ends up hurting them too? I've never used my Septima on this sort of thing, after all."

As she spoke, Kirin looked back towards the lobby. Spamton was no longer in sight. Was she really seeing things?​

Pit
​

Warlock proceeded to elaborate on the nature of his gods, going on about how he'd failed them by falling in human feelings, something Pit didn't exactly understand. From what he'd seen, humans could be quite close to gods in nature. Even Lady Palutena once said such a thing after the defeat of Hades, after all.

"Guess the gods of our worlds are just way different." The angel commented, partially in response to Warlock's earlier words to him. "Sure, I may have had a real tough time in battle, but Lady Palutena is always there to lend her support. So even if I get knocked down a kazillion times, I'll keep getting up to fight the good fight!"

After his earnest words, Dagr gave her own input, wondering if Warlock was the psychic user's actual name.

"Oh yeah, is it actually that? Or is it more like a big bad final boss title?"​

ZedΩ
​

Despite the massive amount of information the Golden Trillion had dumped on Eitri, she appeared to take it all quite well. Perhaps she had been in a similar situation before? The amount of awareness she displayed about the reset in time and space was frankly impressive. Zed let out a chuckle at Eitri's remark on Masaru slipping up with Spamton's name, before he focused on the sage's following words.

"Ordinarily, I would not ask you to trouble yourself with such matters..." the prince replied. "But this is no ordinary situation. Although Magolor is currently keeping a close eye on Spamton, it may be more difficult to monitor his movements once the tournament concludes. Travel between dimensions, at least for my world, is still quite out of reach. As such, any support from your side would be greatly appreciated, no matter how small." He added, expression turning into a slight smirk.

"I know you to be quite capable, after all."​

 

[Gamingfan]

Magolor
"Ah, silly me." Magolor replied with a giggle.
So that was definitely something of interest, though evidently not something Spamton wanted to elaborate on. That or he was really deep in denial.
Their environment had changed, drastically and suddenly. Had they gone through a portal? Magolor didn't sense any magic though.
In spite of his surroundings and Spamton's vaguely threatening words, Magolor played it cool.
"Oh, I've heard a lot of stuff." He said, now playing dumb himself. "I was just curious, since we barely know each other. I gotta know about who I'm working with. After all, I'm here to help."
Magolor's last sentence was emphasized with a wink.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Dungeon Crawlers

With a powerful combo attack, the relentless barrage from both Marshtomp and Nephthys proved too much for the White Magical Hat. With a deep groan, the spellcaster exploded into pixels and vanished. Sans continued to disrupt Fearful Earthbound, preventing it from trying to crush and blast Nephthys. Unfortunately, Two-Headed King Rex was not as lucky. The massive dinosaur monster tried to avoid Dark Ruler Ha Des' attack, but was just a moment too slow. The dark energy ball struck the dinosaur, and it let out a pained roar. It exploded into pixels, and Nephthys would feel a twinge of pain from her monster's destruction.

Nephthys' ATK/DEF fell by 800!

Despite White Magical Hat being destroyed, Yami Bakura seemed calm as ever. Drawing another card, he placed it on his duel disk.
"I summon Crass Clown, in defense mode." The dark spirit said. Next to the throne, a hideous rotund clown materialized. It balanced on a large blue and yellow ball, and was armed with a long cane. The monster let out an ugly laugh, moving in front of the throne to defend Bakura.

"And now, to reveal one of my face-down monsters. I reveal my Morphing Jar!" Yami Bakura exclaimed. One of his face-down cards flipped up, revealing a familiar-looking blue pot. With a screech, a grinning, one-eyed tendril of darkness emerged from the pot. It shot towards Nephthys, and passed through the psychic type like an illusion. Just like when Rex had fallen for the fake treasure chest, Nephthys felt a strange burst of energy, followed by more exhaustion. At the same time, Yami Bakura discarded the last card in his hand and drew five more from his deck.

Yami Bakura chuckled, and gestured to his monsters.
"Morphing Jar, destroy that little dinosaur brat. Dark Ruler, let's see if you will succeed where my other monsters failed. Destroy the swamp creature!" He commanded. Morphing Jar screeched again, and flew towards Raptor. Just like before, it tried to bite down on the dino duelist. The Dark Ruler turned their attention to Marshtomp. It pointed its hand to the Pokemon, and five beams of dark energy shot from his fingers towards Marshtomp! While his monsters attacked, Yami Bakura placed another card on his duel disk.

About now, Nephthys would become aware of a strange feeling. Throughout the fight, the massive blank tablet had stood next to Bakura's throne. But after Morphin Jar's last draining attack, Nephthys would begin to feel a... pull. A pull towards the tablet. It was a weak pull, like that of a faint breeze at her back, but the sensation was still there. It was a familiar sensation as well, eerily familiar...

Yami Bakura stats:
Cards in Hand: 4
Cards on field: Face-down monster, Dark Ruler Ha Des, Morphing Jar, Crass Clown
Spell/Trap Card Zone: 3 face-down cards, Fearful Earthbound


Nótt

"I do wish these were different circumstances."

F-CLANG!

Kassandra activated her hidden blade that was pressed into the side of Nótt's head, but luck was on the side of the princess. The blade struck Nótt's crown, sending up sparks and deflecting off of it. Nótt jerked her head to the side as her circlet was sent flying, but Kassandra's hidden blade still managed to score a deep gash across the side of Nótt's head. Unlike other wounds she had received so far, red blood began oozing from the cut.

Moon-Wing swooped down with a screech, and attempted to grab Kassandra's hidden blade in its talons and snap it off! Meanwhile, Nótt grabbed Kassandra's other wrist, and continued draining her blood through her fingers.
"Whew! You are quite the assassin! That was frightening." Nótt said, smiling to Kassandra as if nothing had happened. Moon-Wing began slashing at Kassandra's arm with its talons and beak, and Nótt could feel that hunger rising.... Hunger... Hunger...

Nótt's smile grew to a fanged grin, and her eyes flashed red. She pressed her full weight down on Kassandra, attempting to pin the assassin to the ground.
"Ríðahraðr Fyrirdǿma." Nótt hissed. On her right arm, invisible runes revealed themselves and glowed. Her appearance rapildy changed, as she grew larger and more ethereal. A dark energy coated her body, swirling all around, and her form became more monsterious. A powerful aura burst forth from Nótt, weakening Kassandra's strength and speed while raising Nótt's own. Her ATK/SPD Menace ability.

With a hiss, Nótt lunged down and attempted to sink her fangs into Kassandra's throat!


Eitri

Eitri's smile faded for a moment as she seriously considered Zed's request. Did this Spamton truly outweigh her investigation of the Dimension Games? Master Hand's motives were unknown, but this Spamton... The path he was on would surely lead to destruction. And the chance that this destruction could lead to Niðavellir was one that Eitri did not feel comfortable taking. She nodded to Zed and Masaru.
"Very well. I shall put my investigations into Master Hand on hold, for now. Even though, as you said, it may proof difficult to continue once this tournament concludes." Eitri said. "I am not exactly sure how I can help with this, though. While I consider myself handy in a fight, my true areas of expertise are in magic and its technological applications. Not in passionate speeches that change the minds of those who listen."

Eitri paused, thinking some more.
"Forgive me for this, Masaru. But it is typically a good idea to consider many different possible solutions..." Eitri said, then addressed both him and Zed. "It sounds to me, from the way Zed described this, is that our end goal is to prevent Spamton from causing this 'catastrophe' as you called it. Once again, I ask for your forgiveness of me for making this suggestion. But would it not be easier to simply... eliminate this Spamton creature now? Or report him to Master Hand, and have him deal with it?"

As Kirby ran around Byleth, the woman was distracted from her self-given task of scanning the nearby area. She rested a hand on the handle of her sword and closed her eyes, looking away from Kirby. After a few more times of Kirby going around her, Byleth finally gave in. The mercenary knelt down, looking to Kirby and placing her hand on his head.

"My friend... please..." Byleth's voice trailed off, and she appeared to be at a loss for words. Her emotionless facade broke, and she frowned sadly at Kirby. Her mouth opened and closed, as if she was trying to speak, and finally she let out a resigned sigh. Byleth sat down next to Kirby glumly, and continued to pet Kirby's head.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rinku


With how Rinku was forcing his Yo-Yos to hit joints to limit Dart's movements, Rinku was given time to react to the blade headed right at his face. Stopping himself before Dart could deceiver the attack, he hissed before head-butting the thing up and over him, his crackling pink aura helping to lessen any fire damage he was receiving from the quick punt.

This applied to the cloaked Yo-Yos as well, registering hits, but softened from the field, giving a nice damage reduction to them as they continued fairly unhindered, now throwing themselves into lodges of armor and segments of plates. They'd stretch themselves to provide tension, forcefully restricting Dart, preventing him from moving any limb, his arms being forced into a 'T' formation at his sides. This made a perfect opportunity for damage.

♬♪ You can see the strings and puppeteer
Before the dusk will make them disappear-♬♪

This was when the pair was alarmingly thrust backwards. Rinku was filled with surprise for an instant before realizing what dart was trying to do. Due to his position, he couldn't hope to get away from the damage, but he didn't need to. As the first wall smashed into Rinku, the little demon used the force of the smash to fuel his bite, forcing his teeth into the flesh of the dragoon. Wall after wall, Rinku cringed but sunk his teeth further and further. Like a hammer and nail.

It was only when flames erupted from Dart did Rinku find it too much. Ki was visibly seen evaporating before Rinku let go of Dart, a smear of Dart-blood smacking his cheeks and he dragged himself away from the wound. The Yo-Yos would use Dart as a spring board, still in his armor. They would extend and force Rinku off of Dart, threatening to peel off his armor and throw Dart off due to temporary joint immobilization as he made some distance.

♬♪The game is over!♬♪




Rex Raptor


"Why?!?" He yelled out. "I just got him back!"

Rex was frustrated with the sudden loss of his dinosaur...again. But unfortunately for him, he was so distraught mourning the dead that he didn't have time to prepare for a sudden attack jar. A familiar one. The same one monster that attacked him from the chest! Rex barley had time to swing his head around before-

CHOMP!

A sting of pain before silence. Rex's eyes, filled with color suddenly dimmed and grayed. After a moment of standing, Rex's limp body fell to the ground, reduced down to the equivalent of zero life points. The team would have to make do without his 'Help' from here on out.

 

[Psymallard]

Taskmaster & Kraggling
The assassin's attack was foiled, but as Lucario twirled again, Taskmaster braced for the choreographed attack. He surely deflected the thrust, and then closed the distance to his opponent. He assailed the Aura Pokémon with a rapid barrage of stabs from the sharp point of the scepter with precision no less than that of the eldest princess of Jötunheimr! The goal was to catch Lucario off guard with the sudden offensive push.

---

Though it wasn't a long fall, the Kraggling curled into a ball when dropped out of instinct. The insect quickly unfurled and spotted its master under attack! So, again it charged forward to intervene, and once again an ethereal snake coiled around its horn to increase both the damage and range of the attack!

Marshtomp
After managing three victories over the opponents, the Marshtomp looked around. There were still multiple more monsters on the field, with more appearing all the time! And now, the biggest of them all was focused on the hurt Marshtomp. He continued to push himself, and dove forth. Simultaneously, he spewed a Mud Shot on the ground to create a slip 'n' slide beneath him! The slippery mud carried him behind the Crass Clown, so that the Dark Ruler wouldn't have a clear shot on the mud fish.

It also helped him get closer to both Bakuras, one of which currently needed help. But in his approach, he aimed to take out the monster that was in the way... if Ha Des didn't already. If Crass Clown was still in the way, after pushing himself to his feet, the pocket monster charged the clown and attempted to punch the ball out from under the fiend! If this was successful, he would then uppercut the clown as it fell!

Kool Kats
Troy pushed away from the clash, and the clinking of chains alerted him to another issue that seemed rather persistent. The blue-haired narcissist whipped around and deflected one incoming chain, and then the next, and the next. After a moment for the fact to sink in that they would not relent, a Vortex Ball appeared around each of Troy's feet and promptly erupted to send the man shooting into the air. When he neared the apex of his jump, he motioned for Reala to bring it.

"Quit being lame, popsicle stick. Show me spectacularity."

Tabby the Tablepus
Peering through the wall at Spamton's energy signature, the tablet was shocked to see it suddenly jump dozens of feet away! The robot ninja peeked round the corner, and then went out to look for what kind of trick he must've pulled. Tabby checked under a nearby dumpster, then tried jumping up and down in the spot they had just been- but to no avail. Now, the machine had no other choice but to trust that Magolor could handle it on his own.

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
Taskmaster deflected the attack, knocking Lucario's staff out of his hand. It spun away, lodging itself into a tree before fading away. The assassin jumped forward, closing the gap between the two fighters as Lucario brought up his arms. Taskmaster assaulted the fighting/steel type rapid stabs of his weapon while he backpedaled. In a fitting role reversal, Lucario was now on the defensive, using the metallic spikes on paws to block and redirect.
The man was very strong. Far more capable than the humans Lucario had known, and even some pokemon. Lucario was beginning to have fun with the battle, despite the man's cold attitude. After the psychics and magic users he had faced, this made for a refreshing change of pace.
The Kraggling jumped into the fray, attacking Taskmaster with a surprise horn attack! Lucario seized his chance, suddenly turning to the side and letting Taskmaster's Shovel Staff narrowly sail past him. Lucario would grip the handle with one hand, just below the sharp end before the man could pull back, and use the other to shove a swift Force Palm into Taskmaster! The attack was capped off with a wide pulse of aura that would catch the assassin, even if he attempted to disengage!

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reala


His smug foe had risen into the air after defending himself agains the chains, at this point, Reala was orbiting in a semicircle. When they ridiculed the maren, Reala cocked his head to the side, offering a posh smile.

"Not entertaining enough for you, is it? Mmm, very well."

Simply moving an inch to the right, the red trail intersected with itself down on the ground. When this happened, a black void filled the circular area, pulling everything not nightmaren in origin down into the void below. The suction was strong, Reala stretching his left arm to the sky.

That's when something manifested overhead, a purple object, its surface swirling like some kind of Liquid Metal. It was around three times larger than Reala himself, and was a perfect sphere. It levitated in place, Reala swooping up the top of it.

"Say goodbye, dear visitor."

Pressing his hand on the top of the object, the purple material seemed to ignite, becoming a swirling mass of oranges and reds. Reala thrust the orb down, a blazing trail behind it as it aimed to smash into the delinquent and end this match while he was still fighting the current.

 

[comic]

KASSANDRA​

That malakas tiara got in the way! A glancing blow, if deep, but nowhere near as effective if it had been a clean strike. Their grappling contest was something Kassandra wasn't unfamiliar with - common among spartans. She might not have spent her whole life in Sparta, but she remembered much of her stepfather, Nikolaus's teachings. She remembered the other children, the competition...

She hated what Sparta became.

Moon-Wing came down to pester her, but as the hidden blade retracted, Kassandra pulled away from Nótt, half of her body practically peeling away from the intense grapple, a helmet appearing in her hand as she moved herself out of the eagle's grasp, still being drained through her other hand.

Slipping on the Helmet of Ares in one fluid motion, she felt her power increase - and then she used Nótt's own shop item. Hrímfaxi's Blessing, doubling the bonus power from the helmet. In a quick strike, Kassandra grasped Nótt's gauntlet - and ripped it away from her arm, kicking away from the princess as she summoned Arachne's Stinger in one hand, and the Sword of Perseus in the other before Nótt could sink her fangs anywhere. Using her last charge for the moment, she called upon Second Wind, a brief light filtering over her body, sealing her wounds.

It didn't do much in the way of healing her, but it kept her from bleeding, all of her open injuries closing up.

"You remind me of the Isu," Kassandra commented at Nótt's new form. The Gods she had fought had done something similar.
​

​

IRNANE​

Kirin's misgivings were not misplaced. Irnane agreed, for the most part. Disrupting this ritual could be dire. One probably had to be called into it. Kirin's call had given up, and possibly not because she was mentally too strong. If Irnane were a gambling woman, which she was not, she would have wagered Nephthys had called upon Kirin's aid, but the presence of the amulet had disrupted the process.

It was likely fortunate Kirin's mind hadn't been split in two, if this was anything like Nirn.

"You may need to act within," the dunmer suggestion, and her gaze turned toward Rex Raptor, who began to stir nearby.
​

​

SPAMTON​

Through the catacombs the salesman led the salesman, before both salesmen arrived at Spamton's little shop. It all remained as he'd left it. The wooden booth, the painted sky, with clouds and the sun...

But something felt wrong.

"SPEAKING OF [Help] WHERE THE [Help] IS MY OTHER BUSINESS PARTNER?"

He looked around for a few moments, his rosy cheeks appearing more vibrant in their rather dark surroundings. "DID HE [Cut Me Out] OF THE [Deals!]???"
​

​

NEPHTHYS​

Back to back... Rex, then Raptor, not both the same. The gardevoir winced at their falls, but took solace in knowing Raptor would be fine, sent back to his physical body without any harm. She presumed. However, that left two slots open again. Then there was that dumb jar, which caused part of her exhaustion, and part of her concern regarding Raptor's fate. It didn't feel nearly as effective as before, but given her allies were dropping, and Marshtomp was likely next...

She hated this card game.

Things were too chaotic for her to give much focus to the faint, preternatural pull to the tablet. She gave it a moment of though, but it was too concerning for her to consider it something helpful.

She needed to help her remaining allies, then summon a couple more.

Marshtomp was on the move again, but he couldn't hold out much longer. Some words of encouragement might bolster his resolve, if only enough to prevail evermore. <You've done so well. Just hold on for a little longer, dear. We can still finish this.>

Vanishing, she appeared in the mouth of the Fearful Earthbound, spinning in a circular motion with her weapon, aiming to finish the annoying trap off and carve it to pieces while Sans's bones kept it at bay, before her gaze fell upon him. <Aid the marshtomp. I will call new allies.>

Sans winked back at her in reply before he casually shuffled off toward the swamp fish, and Nephthys reached out with her mind again, just as quickly as before to yank Kirin into this well. And with the second opening...

Ah, there was some guy. He had the guitar with metal powers or whatever, could be useful. She tried to pull him in as well.
​

​

DART​

"You BIT me?"

Dart frowned, pulling his free hand from his neck and looking at the blood. Rinku hadn't gone nearly as far as he had with Irnane. The mercenary's skin was almost like steel, and while the chunk was certainly sizeable, it only seemed to make Dart mad. As the yo-yo's pulled, the dragoon spun again, twisting his body in a way that gave the impression he knew exactly what he was doing. Several of the yo-yo's were pulled away from his armor, only a few dislodging and scattering portions, but the one caught on his shoulder pauldron managed to pop it off - only to find it couldn't pull away any more.

Dart had grabbed it already.

A sudden burst of flames shot out of his arm, intent on scorching the string to cinders while simultaneously and rapidly traveling to the base, toward its holder. With Rinku's suddenly diluted ki, Dart was doubtful he could counter the scorch and save his toy.

His dragoon points were so close... just a little bit more, and he could provide a real show.

♬♪ No more rounds to play, it's time to pay ♬♪

Glancing toward his shoulder pauldron, then down at his loose armor, Dart grabbed his chest plate and heaved it over himself, tossing it aside to reveal a bare chest. The only real armor that remained were on his arms.

♬♪ Who's got the Joker? ♬♪

"You fight dirty," he commented. "I can't figure it out. Is it because you're too cruel to play fair... or too afraid you'll lose if you do?"

Taking in a deep breath, he gripped Heat Blade tighter. "Clear out, 808! This one'll hurt!"

Slashing upward, he dispelled the remnants of his gathered charge from before, mashing it into his most powerful standard attack. "BLAZING..." he called, and lightning suddenly flashed through the sky as the wind whipped like a hurricane around them very suddenly - and then he slashed downward. "DYNAMO!!!"

♬♪ The game is over
Who's got the Joker
To kill the lies and make your heart recall ♬♪

Multiple torrents of electrified fire tornadoes touched down around Dart, swirling violently around him before they spun just as aggressively toward Rinku, zooming in on him - locked in. Electricity crackled within each cyclone, sometimes bolts striking out toward the little devil as Dart huffed, lowering his arms for a moment to catch his breath.

♬♪ There's no other sky to fall ♬♪

He was ready.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rinku


It was working.

Rinku's devilish look beffitedbhis true nature, a forked tongue slipping out of his smile. But there was a small problem. One of his weapons were snagged. Before he could do a clever trick to attempt to save or recall it, flames were already spreading. His Ki did wonders to fight off the flames typically, but that focused? Even Rinku knew he couldn't save it in time.

Instead, he observed the charring strings carefully, and in the split second he knew he had to let it go, he wanted to leave a parting gift. A sudden burst of energy shot right at the Yo-Yo, filling it with Ki...a worrying amount actually. It was radiating a bright pink, almost white. He was overloaded his own Yo-Yo with chi, and when the rope snapped, like a lightbulb...

FLASH!

...it popped. Without Rinku regulating it anymore with the snapped connection, the Yo-yo exploded, releasing its built energy in an explosive form! The rest of Rinku's aura fighting off the residual flames after the string was snapped, coasting back a bit from the exchange.

"You fight dirty," Dart commented. "I can't figure it out. Is it because you're too cruel to play fair... or too afraid you'll lose if you do?"

"Fighting dirty? I didn't see nothin' in the rules stating biting was off limits." Rinku snorted with a shrug. "If it's any consolation, too chewy for my liking."

The blood and meat that entered in his system had a reaction. Demons gained power in the demon world through devouring their rivals. So when the flesh was brought into his body, a sudden surge filled his veins. The boost was in welcome, even Rinku getting taken off guard for a second.l, his aura shifting from pink to a waving orange.

"Woah! That really packs a punch. Ohoho...I can get used to his."

Then Dart called out to his feline companion, which dopely saluted before bouncing off down a corridor to find cover. That wasn't particularly subtle. Seems like he'll have to be on the defensive this time. When Dart swooped up, Rinku assumed he'd be up to his usual flame tricks. Thinking this, he preventively spun up his remaining seven Yo-Yos, prepared to snuff out and blow away the flames.

When Dart instead summoned electric focused fire tornados, Rinku had to admit he was perplexed. Fire? Expected. Wind? Okay. Electric was new. So he just decided to use the defense he had already prepared, spinning all his yo-yos at them before they could make distance. He quickly realized it was taking more effort than normal, even with his sudden power boost. This wasn't normal.

The tornados swirled, abated by his reviving demonic weapons - but the electricity didn't care how much counter wind he used. Electricity shocked out. Bursting a wall near him, then zapping the air close by, and then a third struck Rinku square in the chest.

"...!"

Rinku put a last push, giving a final quick spin with the Yo-Yos, dispersing the tornados with enough counter wind pressure before they rushed back to his side. A scorch mark was plastered on chest where the bolt struck. The front of his shirt had torn to shreds, Rinku grit his teeth as he refocused on Dart, who hovered above.

"Damnit...wait..."

Dart seemed visually tired from that attack. Was that...the strongest thing he had? His predator instincts kicked in, smelling blood in the water. This fueled new motivation to fight the pain. He wasn't going to let this go to waste!

Bringing out the Devilsknife, he shot forward spinning the Yo-Yos behind him for extra speed. His goal? To cleave Dart right when he was weakened! With a spin, he prepared to cleave with a horizontal slash upwards.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Nótt

In an impressive display of strength and skill, Kassandra managed to struggle out from Nótt's grip. The Princess allowed herself to be knocked back by Kass's kick, rolling back and scooping up her lance as she jumped to her feet. With Hrímfaxi back in her hand, the strength and speed boost she received from her special aura was doubled. Her lance glowed a soft blue, and dark energy continued to swirl around Nótt.

"Ah.... My apologies, dear." Nótt said, twirling her lance and slowly approaching Kassandra. Her voice was gravely and strange now, with an echoing reverberation to it. She took in the changes Kassandra had made. A new helmet, and a new dagger as well. And somehow, her wounds had sealed themselves. Being able to conjure new magical weapons, special powers, and able to heal themselves. She was truly an incredible opponent. Moon-Wing flew around the women before landing back on its perch on Nótt's shoulders. The eagle glared at Kassandra. "This Crimson Stone. This actual hunger for blood is a new sensation for me."

Nótt lunged towards Kassandra, attacking again with a rapid flurry of slashes and thrusts. She was trying to pressure the assassin much like she had up in the throne room, attempting to force Kassandra into the main castle entrance that had been blown down by the invading forces. As she did, Moon-Wing once more fired its eye beams at Kassandra.
"So! The Isu, hm? Should I take that as a compliment?" Nótt asked Kassandra in-between attacks.

Suddenly, Nótt jumped back and flung a Nitro Crate at the wall of the castle next to Kassandra. She thought that throwing the explosive directly at Kass would be a good way to have it sent right back at her from the sword, so her intention was to catch Kassandra in the explosion indirectly.