Private/Closed Bootleg Brothers 6

[comic]

NEPHTHYS​

"Did you know, monster..." Yami Bakura said. "That within the plaza of this tournament, there is a sparring area? A very curious addition, seeing that Master Hand was quite specific that any fighting outside of the tournament would be met with elimination. Then again, the contestants that were using it were already out of the tournament. Could it be, that Master Hand doesn't care what those who have lost the tournament do? No, I think we won't be seeing any meddling from that creature here. You are the one out of your depth here, monster."

"Tch..." the noise audibly escaped the gardevoir's mouth as she winced, though was quick to recover herself from a visual standpoint. He'd quickly torn apart her bluff. His retort made sense, there was no reasonable way Master Hand would intervene in this situation. The only way he might would be because their bodies weren't in the sparring area. That might be enough to garner attention, but even then, neither of them were active participants... the likelihood he cared was slim, regardless if he'd gone out of his way to enlist her into this tournament in the first place.

He continued to refer to her as 'monster.' Not a common term for Pokémon anymore, despite it meaning "Pocket Monsters." Did he consider her similar to the card summons? On one hand, it made some sense. The card players weren't too different from a Pokémon trainer, difference being Pokémon training had more limitations and clear guidelines. This card game seemed more like a mess.

Then, the spirit quickly drew three cards, and Nephthys prepared her defenses, but it didn't seem like this was an attack summon upon his next words. "Shall I read your fortune? Let's look. First, your past," he drew the first card. "Ah. The Tenderness monster. Your past was a happy one, yet difficult. Your circumstances forced you to learn the value of patience, and temperance."

Fortune...? His deduction of her past seemed accurate - but Nephthys could write it off. Fortunes and prediction were all so vague and wishy-washy that they could apply to most people. That was how the game worked, after all. Then he revealed the second card.

"Now your present. The Empress Judge. You have gone through an incredible journey, gaining power and accomplishing great deeds. You've become an incredibly powerful warrior, destroying all who stand in your way. But look. It's been drawn upside down. You've lost something recently... Something before this tournament, that has caused you to lose your title..."

That one was a little too close to home. Neph shook slightly, staring back at Yami Bakura. He was talking about her trainer leaving behind his title of champion, thus stripping his star Pokémon of her status as well. She'd only just recently come to terms with this, with the idea of going back home and enjoying the retirement her trainer desired.

"Let's see what your future has in store..." the spirit lifted up the third and final card, and Nephthys grit her teeth.

<Enough,> she projected, her mental voice magnified to immense proportions for that word. <You and I both know there is no concrete future, not if places like this tournament exist, unbound by what either of us deem possible in our realms of understanding. I choose my future, not you or your cards. You do not frighten me, so cease your games, spirit. You want a battle, right?> Neph raised her right arm to her left shoulder, lowering her gaze.

A bursting aura of light shone from around the gardevoir's form, beating back the darkness of the room, the gardevoir's scarlet eyes glaring defiantly back. <You are a blight on the mind of this child. He has asked for my help, and I will continue to give it. If I don't purge you here, then you will continue to fester. You could become far more dangerous than you are now.>

The gardevoir raised her head, eyes shining with violet energy. <I am NEPHTHYS. CHAMPION of HOENN. MASTER POKéMON. I have bested KYOGRE! GROUDON! RAYQUAZA!>
​

BATTLE: CHAMPION NEPHTHYS​

She swung her arm down to her side, sparks of light glittering into being before her, humming with energy. <You will find that my will is equal to your own!> Pushing her arm forward, the sparks of energy cracked through the air, zipping wildly to a single-minded trajectory. Dazzling Gleam was not often used in such a way, but the gardevoir had already fought summoners from the world of this spirit before. She was no longer constrained by the limits or expectations of her own powers.

The sparks hissed aggressively through the air as they converged rapidly upon Yami Bakura from all sides.​

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Yami Bakura

The Dazzling Gleam attack converged on the spirit, and there was a bright flash of light! When the light faded, the spirit was nowhere to be seen. Yami Bakura's laughter echoed through the tomb, and in the place where the spirit once stood, a single duel monsters card remained.
"Behold, monster! Your future!" Yami Bakura said. "Dark Prisoner!"

Dark mist leaked out of the card, and a creature was summoned. A green humanoid with red eyes, bound in chains around its wrists, ankles and neck. It struggled against its bindings, groaning and pulling on the chains. The chains abruptly pulled the duel monster towards Nephthys, and the monster vanished. Invisible, the monster moved behind Nephthys and attempted to punch the Gardevoir from behind.

As this happened, the chamber around Nephthys began to change. It grew and expanded, corridors rising out of the ground, doors appearing in the walls. The piles of treasures grew as well, with treasure chests revealing themselves in the piles of gold. Should Nephthys try to reach out with her psychic powers to divine the spirit's location, it would seem like he was all around the Pokemon.

 

[comic]

NEPHTHYS​

Dark Prisoner…

The psychic fairy could feel a disturbing sensation. The spirit’s energy seemed all-encompassing - but as his summon went invisible, it’s own dark energy did not.

Nephthys whirled on the spot, thrusting out her palm. A magenta pulse blasted from the contact point between her hand and the prisoner’s fist as it connected with a psychic barrier. The latent energy that surged from the impact wisped away from the psychic wall, it’s magenta energy swirling down toward the gardevoir.

She closed her outstretched palm, and hungry flames created a rapid and sudden inferno out of her hand to engulf the Dark Prisoner, lashing out in a billowing cyclone.​

 

[Fraseandchico]

Audrey Redheart
​

"HAAA-" Audrey's call of might was cut off as Grazie formed a counter attack with a vicious sandstorm!

While the tornado of grains kept the Hero out of view, it was clear from the sounds that it wasn't going well for her. Once she was next seen, Audrey was launched out of the top, having been sent sky high. Her clothes, once fairly pristine, now had sand all over them and several cuts dug in. She was still able to shake it off, though the pain was causing her to get a little woozy.
"Gr...gotta retreat, get the advantage..." She murmured as she eyed her surroundings on the way down. Using her blade to tilt her momentum, she begun to dive towards the entrance of the Castle nearby. "If I can reach those, then..."

Though it was tricky, Audrey managed to just barely use her blade to slow her descent against the side of the Castle,, taking care not the stab the sword into the wall itself as to not risk her arm. Once she landed, she ran inside the Castle, though the sound of thunder erupted within and signified that she was planning something...

 

[PaprusTeuton]

Jevil

"NOW you're getting it!" Jevil exclaimed as he summoned additional, free-floating Devilsknives to try and hold back the barrage of axe slashes. "You have your own style, style, your own theme, theme! You have grown beyond just copying me, me!"
The laser-blasts from Sun-wing had managed to hit him, however the effect had been partially cancelled out by Jevil exerting a massive effort to increase his speed anyway, and while Jevil wasn't as fast as he had hoped, he was still plenty fast enough to fight Dagr.

Dagr's flurry of axe-slashes wasn't slowing down, and Jevil had to stop it soon or he'd be overwhelmed. He had already taken several hits, and at this rate- Wait! He had an idea. He summoned another Devilsknife, and began to dual-wield them! With doubled slashes of knives and additional Devilsknives from around, Jevil broke out of the clash with a sudden force.

Rising upward, with dual Devilsknives, Jevil made it to directly above Dagr's position... and dived downward, with Devilsknives ready to cut off her head! "Off with the head, head!" cried Jevil, diving downward alongside the rain.

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
This head was loud.
He had a point though. Enough games. Lucario figured he may as well give it his all.
Clenching his fist, Lucario tapped into his inner strength, summoning up all the aura he could as his mega stone flashed brightly. Thoughts his ranger partner, as well as his little blue disciple flashed through the aura pokemon's head as he was encased in a purple barrier. M.O.D.O.K's beam washed over the shield, but it wouldn't be concern for long as it cracked, then shattered entirely to reveal Mega Lucario.

Mega Lucario
Yet it remained eerily silent, thinking no thoughts save for one.
"No mercy."
A sentiment that was relayed over to M.O.D.O.K's mind before going silent. It wasn't for intimidation, it was just a promise.
Lucario retained enough sanity...for now. The aura pokemon stomped on the ground, silently releasing a blast of aura potent enough to cause it to splinter, then erupt to cover M.O.D.O.K in an explosion of aura and debris!
Lucario wouldn't allow M.O.D.O.K any quarter, taking advantage of the visual block to hit the machine with a good shoulder check!

Magolor
Oh, the dragoon started thinking.
Magolor had more or less come to his own conclusion, but he decided to watch Dart's pondering, curious about his mental fortitude.
After a bit of mental gymnastics, Dart seemed to have a brain blast, one that Magolor clapped approving at.
"Oh, neat! Is that how it works in your world? I was just thinking the same thing! Guess you're not as stu-simple as I thought!"
Magolor opted for a less insulting word, before cracking his nonexistent knuckles.
" Now hold on to your hats!" he warned before twirling.
His magic worked with his movements, creating a whirlwind that steadily begin growing in intensity, whipping against the gears. Solution or not, Magolor would force them to move if he had to!


Ryuji
Kragg powered through the explosion, before ripping a panel out of the ground.
"For real? This thing's buff as fu-whoa!"
Ryuji narrowly ducked the panel as Kragg lugged it, while it phased through William. Through what looked like brute strength, Kragg pulled out a hunk of rock and soon shattered it, releasing the debris over the blonde.
Guess his weapon was going to come in handy. Ryuji met the assault with a blast from his shotgun, reducing Kragg's own projectiles to dust just before they could land.
The cloud covered the teen, before dispersing as he fired at again and again at Kragg, pressuring the Wallrunner with a barrage of hot lead!

Alter Knight
Kirin was slippery, and Alter found it hard to land a direct hit. She was wearing her down however, so Alter didn't let up.
Kirin seemed to find a work around, suddenly throwing her talismans in random directions. Alter paused her attack, considering what she was planning, before each tailmans formed into a clone of the priestess and leapt at the knight!
Through quick reflexes, Alter managed to snipe two before they could get close. Two others that did manage quickly slashed at the Knight, forcing her to block both blades with her bow. Another came from behind, and Alter shifted so its sword glanced off her shoulder, leaving a gash in her armor.
Though her weapon was still locked with a Kirin clone, Alter Knight docked an arrow and fired it, where it vanished into the clouds. Soon after, arrows would repeatedly fall from the heavens over Kirin's position, even if she moved, charged with enough mana to reduce the surrounding buildings to rubble in a few hits, and her to dust with it!
Immediately after releasing the arrow, Alter shoved the Kirin clone off her, the used the sharp ends her bow to stab into the torso of the one behind her. With a quick spin, Alter sliced other clones right after.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Yami Bakura

Neph's fire attack blasted the Dark Prisoner back. The creature reappeared, slamming into a pillar. It screeched in pain, before exploding into pixels and disappearing. Silence fell across the tomb. No monsters lunged out, no creatures stepped forth. It was just Neph, in a massive dark chamber filled with treasures, doors, and hallways.

Deep within the mental landscape, Yami Bakura sat in a chair. On the table in front of him was a game board of the tomb. A game piece of Nephthys stood, and the dark spirit watched it with interest.
Your psychic powers and fairy magic may be great, monster. But how will you fair in my Dungeon Crawl Shadow Game?

The spirit drew cards from his deck, and as he did, the cards transformed into game pieces. He placed them on the game board in different locations.

Torches flared up around the maze. From within the labyrinth, a ghostly screech could be heard....


Dagr

Jevil flew above Dagr, avoiding her ax slash which smashed through one of the nearby pillars.
"Off with the head, head!" Jevil exclaimed, swinging down his Devilknife to decapitate Dagr. But Sun-Wing was at the ready. The Jotun eagle raised its wing, and the Wings of Fast Defense aura shield appeared around the pair. The magic shield blocked the first scythe, and Sun-Wing blocked the second.

The familiar energy of Dagr's Dragon Fang attack crackled around her axes' head. Dagr swung her ax up at Jevil, attempting to hit the jester with another one of her Dragon Fang attacks! After her attack, Dagr quickly moved back. Should the jester dodge, much like before, the energy of the attack would continue onward. The energy dragon would fly out and break through another pillar, and with both pillars destroyed, the massive platform the pair were fighting under would drop onto Jevil!

 

[comic]

M.O.D.O.K.​

"E-EH?" The Man-Mind's eyes widened in bewilderment upon the flashing of light, and the reveal of Mega Lucario. "THIS ISN'T HOW THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO GO AT ALL. NGAH! YOU HAVE RUINED MY PLANS UP UNTIL NOW, BUT THIS IS NOT OVER!"

His fingers danced over his control panel, and M.O.D.O.K. let out a loud cackle, spittle flying from his massive maw.

The Mechanized Organism entered battle mode, a golden helmet slamming down over his face, giving him a far more imposing visage (if that could even be applied to one with so large a noggin). Two extendable arms emerged from the side of his chair, the tips bearing large circular saws of potent psychic and plasmatic energy, dripping with excess power.

"No mercy."

"THEN WE ARE IN AGREEMENT! BEHOLD! A TRUE GENIUS UNPARALLELED!"

A second set of mechanical arms emerged from the shoulders of the Doomsday Chair, surging energy crackling at their tips, before they began to fire concentrated, focused purple lasers. Unlike the laser turrets, this was a consistent beam of energy, cutting through most anything in the room it touched, serrating through the floors and walls with ease.

The lasers ripped through the splintering aura blast, but it still worked its magic, kicking up debris in the room that the lasers hadn't already been doing. Yet when Mega Lucario swooped in with a clean blow - Lucario found himself immediately met with the hulking head as it barreled forward, thrusters at maximum speed. Any equipment that was before M.O.D.O.K. was shattered into loose debris as the Man-Mind barreled rapidly ahead, gathering intense speed in only a few seconds, enough that the entire building was shaking, and the few windows around them that remained were shattering from the force of the speed exerted.

The Lucario naturally recovered quickly, though his shoulder-check had been less effective than intended as M.O.D.O.K. burst through the wall, flying into the air outside of the tower, but he quickly performed a u-turn, the sides of his chair opening up to reveal his ultimate weapon.

The Dual Hyper Beams activated, and two lanes of energy opened up, projecting with powerful cyan plasma that punched through Avengers Tower's many levels, directly out of the other side, and setting off a chain reaction that saw many of the floors beginning to sequentially erupt, one after the other, quickly nearing the floor Lucario was on, the Avengers's equipment going haywire from the excessive damage.

And yet, the Man-Mind wasn't slowing down, continuing to barrel forth at an ever-increasing speed, heading directly for the mega-evolved Pokémon.
​

​

DART​

The theory actually proved true, as when the wind magic appeared again, the gears began to turn, pulling Dart and the hovering Magolor into the abyss. Despite the fact that they were seemingly on a floating platform, they both could feel the strange void rumbling as the wind magic had stirred their target further.

Yet before they could reach any sort of other side, the two suddenly appeared in a cavern, as though transported upon crossing a certain threshold. The platform was now gone, and instead, they stood on a patch of mossy stone. Organic, mucus-like webs filled the cavern, an unsettling yellow in color. Gears could be seen in the corners of the cave, but they'd been long gunked up by the mucus webbing.

Dart mostly recognized this room. Feyrbrand's true lair. Ahead of them in the circular cavern was a beam of light that shone down from a hole in the high ceiling, casting a spotlight on what appeared to be a glowing green orb, hovering just a few feet off the ground. It was the Green Dragoon orb, containing the spirit of Feyrbrand, and the Dragoons it had once carried. From those in the ancient past, to Lavitz, to King Albert.

"Wow..." Dart breathed, gazing around. "This place burned out to a husk in my time. It's weird being back."
​

​

NEPHTHYS​

The gardevoir glowered at the shifting around her. She could sense a source to it all, despite the encompassing presence, but it provided such a fog that she couldn't pinpoint the spirit. Not with reliable accuracy, and not enough to teleport directly to his location. But it did leave enough bread crumbs to form a trail that she could follow.

This was a mental scape, and Neph was a powerful psychic Pokémon. She needed to start acting like it. She had to play to her strengths here, even in ways that she might have never before. In this moment of calm, as the spirit plotted his next move, Neph raised her hand, pointing it toward the ground. This wouldn't be an equivalent summon, she was sure of it, but she wouldn't mind support of her own. An avatar of her Swampert friend from home; Osiris.

Focusing, she channeled some energy into trying to replicate the unique signature of the card summons.

This experimental practice, however, accidentally brought something else along...​

 

[Gamingfan]

Mega Lucario
The aura pokemon sent the massive head flying out the window, though the fight was far from over.
The aura pokemon stopped at the edge of the window, watching M.O.D.O.K prepare his weapons before firing lasers at the towers foundation!
Lucario felt the ground shake as M.O.D.O.K took out floor after floor in his rampage towards him. He had to move
Lucario took hold of the shattered wall and flipped himself over head, somehow gripping the window before running on all fours, scaling the tower once more! Lucario improved agility meant he could stay above the destruction, letting it get higher and higher past M.O.D.O.K until...
The mega pokemon's feet pulsed with aura, bouncing Lucario up higher as he charged an attack between his palms.
Lucario roared as he fired a laser of his own down against the Man-Mind's. The two conflicting energies caused a massive explosion, forceful enough to take out a large portion of the Tower. Debris of steel and the like rained down over M.O.D.O.K
Lucario soon dropped himself, finding his footing on a particularly large hunk of metal.

Magolor

"Ew." Was all Magolor said as he took in the mucus and slime. He quickly changed his tune when he saw the main attraction.
"And oooh! Well, this place is definitely much cooler for a fight. And what's this little thingie? Looks interesting."
Magolor circled around the Dragoon Orb, before cheekily moving his limbless hand forward as if to poke it.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Kirin
​

Kirin made it to the restaurant thanks to the cover of her Starlight Prayer technique, her clones buying her just enough time. She hoped to catch a breather from Alter's ranged attacks, but before she could relax-

SWOOSH!

"Huh?"

The sound of an arrow flying above her caught her attention, the Battle Priestess looking up to witness an uncountable amount of arrows punch through the wooden ceiling of the restaurant. She instinctively put her arms and sword above her to protect any vital organs, one arrow after the other piercing into her skin and attire as she found herself fleeing once more. Blood trickled down her arms and torso as she ran, staining her orange garments and the kosode underneath, but the arrows didn't seem to stop, instead following her every move- so she had to take a different approach.

With a dive roll, the priestess threw a talisman out a nearby window, the glowing projectile embedding itself into the side of a house across the street. A flash of lightning followed soon after, Kirin using Arc Chain once more to zip out of harm's way, warping to the talisman and smashing through the window, where the barrage of arrows finally ended. Kirin took a moment to catch her breath, leaning against a wall as she crouched down.

That was a move she hadn't been expecting. Much like with her battle against Neph, being kept at long range was not good for her particular skill set, reducing her effectiveness significantly. But his was just what she'd been looking for in this tournament. She wanted to push herself to the limit, to find new tricks to use in her battles alongside the Dragon Saviors. Though thinking of her fight with Neph did remind her of one option...

Opening her pouch, Kirin pulled out the glowing potion. "Special Potion 2.0", Spamton had called it. If logic was anything to go by, then this one would surely be bigger and better than the last. Well, Spamton was far from an average guy, but his last potion seemed to work pretty well. Still though, there was a twinge of regret. Like she was messing with something that she shouldn't. With little time to waste, the Battle Priestess chugged down the potion.

Another echo of a robotic cackle.

*Your ATK rose to 9999.

Kirin had an idea of what to expect this time. With the last potion she'd used, it'd raised her "DF", giving her incredible durability. So if this one was "ATK"...

Grunting as she got to her feet, the priestess swung her sword at the wall she'd been leaning on - and she tore through it like it was made of paper. Yep, that seemed about right. Her offensive capabilities had been increased to the max, but she was quick to note that her injuries remained the same as before. Nothing was really done for her survivability, including any possible healing she could've benefited from. She'd effectively become a glass cannon. Now she just needed to close the gap.

Focusing as she gripped her blade, Kirin crouched. In an instant, she zipped forward a fair distance, cutting through the nearby wall with her sword - a technique she called Fierce Issen Dash. She kept moving through the air, having aimed her move in Alter Knight's general direction. She missed her mark a little though, instead smashing into the side of the house she stood on, cutting cleanly through it with her blade. With its foundation destroyed, it would quickly begin to collapse, forcing Alter to move - but for every move she made, Kirin would be hot on her tail, looking to keep the gap closed and tear through any cover her opponent would seek to hide behind.

Staying on the offensive would be key here.​

Pit
​

Shot after shot rang out, forcing Chai to keep moving in order to stay in the fight. The rockstar hopped onto his guitar, surfing on the scrap device with surprising maneuverability, evading the rest of Pit's assault as he closed the gap in a flash. Insight Staff now rendered ineffective, the angel went to switch his weapon - but the resounding shockwave from Chai's attack blasted him off his feet, Pit soaring backwards and off the arena, managing to grab onto one of the ropes on his way down.
​

♪ ♫ I'm still alive, I'm ready for the pain ♫♩

"Ngh... I'm not done yet!"

Wings flashing bright blue once more, Pit quickly slingshotted himself upwards, Power of Flight active. This gave him a big burst of speed as he brandished his Palutena Bow once more, slashing at Chai on the way up should he remain close by. He finally leveled out half a dozen feet above the arena, pulling back on the bow before firing a barrage of light arrows at his opponent, each one homing in slightly towards Chai!

♪ ♫ When I fall, I'll rise again! ♫♩

Grazie
​

Grazie's sand twister sure did a number on Audrey, blowing her away towards the castle, to the point where she looked like an ant from where the Adept stood. Still though, she refused to go down, instead retreating into the structure to hide like a little wimp.

“Just where do ya think you’re going, missy?!”

The Adept was quick to give chase, closing the gap with a big jump, landing near the central Order Castle. The pincers and drills on her arms and legs whirred furiously, and Grazie’s own expression showed her clear desire to finish Audrey off.

“So ya wanna hide? Fine by me! This here castle’s gon’ be yer coffin!”
​

O grand earth, well of infinite life
Shroud me in your raging tempest
Ferocity to blow away all creation​

"DUUNE DEMOON DISASTEEER!!"

Thrusting her large mechanical arms in front of her, two massive pillars of sand shot forward, twisting and turning like vicious drills. They threatened to tear through the castle in one fell swoop, as well as the Audrey within should she be directly caught in their wrath. This would also knock the upper floors of the castle down to the ground, where what remained would then be assaulted by twin sand tornadoes, aiming to leave nothing but scrap in their wake!​

 

[Psymallard]

Taskmaster
The assassin continued to backpedal from Nótt's onslaught, still with a pretty comfortable distance between himself and the edge of the temple. The bird blocked his attack, as to be expected, but with a yank, he maintained control over the trajectory of the weapon. His left hand reached behind his back, where he unbuckled his shield. Taskmaster swung his metal targe to intercept both the eye beams from the bird and another of the warrior princess's attacks. In the same moment, his billy club swung around behind him, overhead, and then came down upon Moon-Wing- it was aimed for the area where the scalemail had been damaged by the sniper round earlier in the fight!

Beam
Beam thrashed about in the air; his altitude made him vulnerable. But, as he caught a glimpse of NiGHTS again, another fear pierced his mind. Not about the jester, but a fear that focused his mind. With a shark's flexibility, the fiend twisted midair to avoid a few chunks of debris. Then, his shark head swelled from his shoulders, all six eyes darting in different directions. He chomped through a couple more projectiles, shattering them as well as some of his teeth, but the chompers he lost were quickly replaced. A chunk of debris clipped a leg though, and left a shallow scrape on the side of his knee. The Nightmaren approached rapidly, yet no matter where she came from, the shark twisted to meet them and chomp down on the incoming drill attack!

Kragg
The clash of the scattershots resulted in a screen of dust that Ryuji intended to use to protect him, but Kragg did not intend to wait for his foe to be visible before continuing his attack. He rolled into the Defense Ball and sped towards the cloud of dust. The hot lead pinged off the thick rocky armor, and the attack dispersed the cloud as well! Before he impacted the Phantom Thief, Kragg unrolled and leapt into the air in one surprisingly swift movement. He held out a hand, and from beneath Skull's feet burst a pillar of earth tearing through the metal floor. While it wouldn't hurt the blonde directly, it carried him up to the Wallrunner, who simultaneously came down with an utterly devastating horn slam that would smash through the top half of the aforementioned pillar, easy.

Marshtomp
The Marshtomp watched the battle of epic proportions, and cheered as his friend managed to keep up with the powerful floating head. And then he went limp.

-

For what felt like only a second, he blacked out, and when he blinked back to consciousness, he was in a dull, dimly lit dungeon with treasures piled alongside the walls. The Mud Fish blankly surveyed his surroundings, a bit confused at the sudden teleportation and disappointed that he wouldn't be able to support his friend. Other than that, this was an interesting development. The Marshtomp then spotted the Gardevoir, and that was when a friendly smile formed across his face. He waved at the Pokémon.

"Marshtomp-tomp! [Hello there!]"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Yami Bakura

The Marshtomp appeared, and Neph became aware of something else new. On her forearm, a device similar to that of a duel disk had materialized. This one was golden, with three wing-like flares that were attached to the gauntlet. On one of the wings, there was a blank space that contained a inscription that resembled the Marshtomp.

In Yami Bakura's room, the spirit watched with interest as another game piece appeared on the board. A monster, much in the same style as the Gardevoir. Did Neph have a monster-summoning power as well? The spirit drew another card, and placed a few more game pieces on the board. It was no matter. One 'adventurer' or many, Neph and this new monster would find themselves facing a total party kill...


Nótt

The momentary decrease in Taskmaster's speed gave the bird just enough time to react. Moon-Wing raised its wings once again to protect itself, blocking the baton with its armored wing. Nótt continued her assault, still trying to press Taskmaster and force him back towards the edge of the temple.

One of Nótt's lance jabs stopped just short of Taskmaster's shield, and an energy blast shot out of the tip. A powerful beam of energy, in the shape of a dragon, blasted towards Taskmaster. Nótt's Dragon Fang attack!

 

[PaprusTeuton]

Jevil

Jevil dodged as usual, spinning away with a flourish. The energy from Dagr's axe slash crashed directly into the other pillar, causing the platform to fall onto Jevil. As he watched the platform fall, he cried "Incredible, INCREDIBLE!" and... was squished. The platform fell directly on top of him, squishing him into the floor.

...and then the platform broke, and a seemingly disoriented and tired Jevil floated up. "Woo-ee! You've given me a beating, beating! I think I need to go... over there," he said, pointing directly upwards, "to have a rest, rest." And Jevil flew high into the sky, out of the reach (but still in the sight) of Dagr. The chaos, outside of the diamond rain, died down.

But something was off. Despite the slowing of the chaos and Jevil's "retreat," Dagr felt very strongly...
...that something terrible was coming.

 

[Psymallard]

Masttasker
Despite having blocked the laser, a magical energy washed over him, and he felt considerably more sluggish. He hadn't accounted for that, and Nótt was unrelenting. She kept trying to push him back, and again, Taskmaster would play her game on his own terms. He flung his own legs out from under him, and jerked back the club after the failed attack to continue his control over the weapon. He landed on his shield, and quickly slid down the edge to narrowly avoid the dragon-shaped beam. As he left the roof, his club lashed out at the bird's back, but would abort if Nótt moved to intercept it. The club then would be lashed in the opposite direction and grapple a nearby tree branch. He swung from that branch just like he saw Spider-Man swing, and into the darkness of the jungle.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Chai


"If you can't handle a little drifting, maybe you should quit the race." Chai teased, halting his guitar-board to idle. "After all, it's uh...hm. What's another racing pun...? WOAH!"

Put slashed upwards, wobbling the guitar as a chunk was blown out of it, sending an unbalanced Chai teetering to the ground with a thud. Rubbing the back of their head, they peered up with one eye, witnessing Pit take flight, readying his bow, thick blue arrows generating in their azure strings.

"Uwaaaaah!"

Chai scrambled up, not in the mood to become an angel's dart board. His eyes quickly flickering to the different arrows that were being fired. As he ran, he noticed his pace was going with the tempo of the music...maybe if he could time this right...

Closing his eyes, a burst of movement overcame Chai, flickering to the left, after images present before chat hung up to him, a singular music note appearing over him. Against another arrow, he dodged to the right, the music note gaining another clef. Flicker dodging for the third time, and gaining another clef to the note, Chai stopped on a dime, grinning as he outpaced the projectiles...before a arrow he wasn't prepared for smashed into his robotic shoulder, blowing the casing wide open!

"Ah!" Chai was spooked at the exposed circuits. "Don't give up the ghost, arm!"

Readying their guitar, they put on their game face, turning to pit and pointing with their organic index finger.

"Time for curtain call, chicken wings!" Chai called out. "And I know exactly how to wrap things up!"

Bringing their guitar up, Chai began to play on their scrap guitar, which normally wouldn't be possible. As he did so, the stage lights focused on him, shredding on the chords with the music.

♪ ♫ Through the glass ceiling, we will fly!
The truth comes screaming loud and high!♫♩

As the music reached it's climax, blue energy with a golden outline began to build up from the guitar, pulses of music notes in tune with Chai's heartbeat radiated from his chest.

♫♩ This is where my dreams begin,
I feel the power from within! ♪ ♫

"HIBIKI!!!"

Striking the final chord on his guitar, he raked his hand across it, a shrieking metal rock-n-roll sound piercing outwards from Chai, blue and gold shockwaves racing through the air right towards Pit!



NiGHTS

Rows of thick shark teeth were coming down on NiGHTS as they drilled, the nightmaren slowing down midair, looking up at them crashing down. That's when they puffed up their cheeks before-

POOF!

They inflated their body to the point that they were like a ball, in fact, they were a perfect sphere! So when Beam bit down, there was an elastic sound squeaking again the teeth, the slippery NiGHTS ball wincing until they popped out under the pressure, flying out of the teeth, bouncing off of the side of the clock tower. On the return bounce, It looked as if NiGHTS were transforming their shape again...a purple horned anvil was now flying at Beam with the same speed which it bounced off the tower! If it were to go off, it would be a big slam to the side of his face!

 

[comic]

M.O.D.O.K.​

"FOOLISH..."

The box-like form of the armored Man-Mind didn't seem perturbed by the debris that fell upon him. While he disappeared from sight beneath the collapsing Avengers Tower, Lucario could sense his aura - and he hadn't slowed down at all, pushing onward with the speed and durability he had been thus displaying with his battle mode.

"I HAVE BEEN RECORDING OUR FIGHT SINCE IT BEGAN. ANALYSING YOUR ATTACK PATTERNS, YOUR MOVES, YOUR ENERGY. YOUR AURA."

Like a missile, M.O.D.O.K. shot out of the top of the crumbling Avengers Tower, psychic energy amassing around him.

"I HAVE ISOLATED ITS UNIQUE SIGNATURE. I UNDERSTAND ITS PROPERTIES. AND I KNOW ITS POOL IS LIMITED, AND DRAINING QUICKLY. THIS TRANSFORMATION IS MERELY A HURDLE, ONE I AM ACCUSTOMED TO. YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND THE FOE THAT YOU FACE, LUCARIO."

The Mechanized Organism had shifted in the air, turning to now begin hurtling toward the Aura Pokémon. If Lucario's eyes weren't mistaken - it seemed like M.O.D.O.K. was powering up ALL of his weapons---at the same time.

"I HAVE FOUGHT TITANS AND GODS. DESTROYERS OF WORLDS, BASTIONS OF POWER. YOUR PUNY DEFENSE WILL CRUMBLE AGAINST MY SUPERIOR MIGHT, TECHNOLOGY, EXPERIENCE... AND GENIUS!"

The energy saws roared, the doomsday arms projected their beams, the death laser bursted from the bottom of M.O.D.O.K.s chair as a silo of rockets propelled from the back, spiraling toward Lucario. Blue blasts rattled out of the laser cannons, and the death missile backed up the rockets, screaming through the air toward the Pokémon, the Man-Mind's arms outstretched as the entire battlefield around Lucario seemed to rattle and rumble, a telekinetic pull trying to seize the Pokémon into a gravity well, intent on trapping him in the epicenter of the all-out attack, which would finish with M.O.D.O.K. ramming into the Lucario at full speed, believing this strategy in out-powering the Lucario would prove flawless, and successful.

"SUFFER MY CONQUEST!! AAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!"
​

​

DART​

"A-Ah! Careful!" Dart raised his hand, as though to stop Magolor as he made a coy, false prod at the dragoon spirit. It hummed with a pulse of energy, one with a surprising amount of force, like it was pushing space itself out of its boundaries, and thus forcing the magician away - even if he were to teleport closer.

Dart's brow furrowed. "The spirit is hostile to those that it doesn't choose. Those with the initial intent to claim its power, or to use it to further unorthodox means, can be seen as a threat. And... it might activate it. If it does activate... well, it's more dangerous than a Virage... But you've seen it now, so maybe we should just continue our fight here."
​

​

NEPHTHYS​

A bead of sweat rolled down Neph's helmet as she stared at the marshtomp. This wasn't Osiris, not at all, not even before he'd evolved, this... this was that little mudkip from the tournament! The one that had been quite easily defeated in both of its fights!

The gardevoir slowly lowered her hand, staring at the marshtomp that bounded up to her with a friendly "hello" in the universal Pokémon tongue. Of course, she had to expect some kind of... mess-up in this attempt. After all, this was a completely new thing she'd just performed. The fact she'd summoned anything at all was already impressive, so... maybe it would be best not to look a gift mudbray in the mouth.

<H-hey...> Neph gave a small wave back at the marshtomp, before she straightened her posture. Oh well, company was better than none, and while the little guy hadn't performed well in the tournament, he'd still been involved in the first place... she had to assume Master Hand had invited him here for a good reason.

Initial introductions were cut short when a familiar (and aggravating) device appeared on the gardevoir's forearm. <What the...?>

She pulled her head back, staring down at the duel disc on her arm. This device... this annoying tool used by the duelers of that world...

...

Neph slowly lowered her arm and shook her head. It was probably pointless trying to avoid it. For some reason, despite all the diversity in this tournament... she felt tied to this world of card summoners. She hated it.

Whatever. This thing could prove useful. Well, if it hadn't been gifted by the spirit. If it had, then it was probably defective, or cursed, or something dumb like that. She didn't fail to notice the active card on it portrayed the marshtomp. How curious...

<You. Marshtomp,> Nephthys turned her gaze toward the mid-stage Pokémon. <We're in a kid's head, fighting an ancient evil spirit. Well, we would be if he wasn't hiding like a COWARD!>

She made sure to project her telepathic range in that last part so that Bakura might catch it.

<We're stuck in a labyrinth, but I've got a faint trail. Can you help me beat this guy and free the kid's mind?>​

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Dagr

Jevil survived being crushed by the platform, but didn't quite seem to be in fighting shape. Dagr leaned on her ax, taking a moment to breath as Jevil spoke and floated up into the sky. Jevil had been pushing the Jotun Princess, farther than she had been pushed in battle before. She watched him float up, and smiled.
"Aw, come on now JJ. If you wanted a time out, you could have just asked." Dagr said. "Unfortunately, I'm not a fan of people who use their breaks to charge up super-attacks. So not cool, JJ."

Dagr walked out from underneath the other platform, the Wings of Fast Defense protecting her from a majority of the projeciles and Sun-Wings' wing acting like an umbrella for the rest of them. She did her best to ignore the creeping sensation of something terrible on its way shivering up her spine.

Sun-Wing fired more eye-beams at Jevil. At the same time, Dagr began throwing massive chunks of the platform that Jevil broke at the small jester, aiming to hit him and not wanting to give him any rest!


Nótt

Nótt moved to hit away the nunchuck before it could hit Moon-Wing, but the club seemed to avoid her attack. Instead, it lashed out to a nearby tree, and Taskmaster began to swing away.
"Oh no, dear! Not this time!" Nótt exclaimed. The Jotun Princess jumped off the roof of the temple, Moon-Wing beating its wings to give Nótt more distance on her jump. She landed on a nearby tree to pursue after Taskmaster. Nótt fired an energy beam from her lance, breaking the branch Taskmaster was swinging from. The Princess jumped out of the tree, running after Taskmaster and firing more energy beams from her lance at the assassin.


Yami Bakura

The dark spirit chuckled at Nephthys' rage. He could hear what she was saying to this creature, which she referred to as 'Marshtomp', but was unable to understand the new monster. Bakura drew another card. The Pot of Greed. Activating it on his duel disk, he drew two more cards.
"Hmf. Noobs." Yami Bakura said. "An important rule of dungeon crawls. Standing still for too long outside the safe zone is an opportunity for the monsters to strike!"

Bakura looked through the pieces he had in play on the board, and the other cards he had. He placed another piece on the board...
"And I know just the combination to send..."

In the labyrinth, a terrifying, ghostly howl rang out. Intense wind whipped through the chamber Neph and the Marshtomp were inside. The winds sent gold coins flying, and scattered treasure all about. The ghostly screams drew closer and closer, and suddenly a monster shot out of the north passageway! It was a sickly, dark green humanoid with no lower body. The monster was armed with a large scimitar and shield, and purple energy flowed off its head like hair. The intense winds seemed to flow off the monster, and it screamed down at Neph and Marshtomp.

"Well, Nephthys. Let's see how you handle my Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams, enhanced with my Blustering Winds magic card!" Yami Bakura said.

The massive ghost rushed down towards Neph, slashing at the psychic Pokemon with its sword. At the same time, pieces of treasure shot towards Marshtomp like shrapnel!


Weevil Underwood

"Hmph. That stupid Rinku. He thinks he can get away with that cheap victory? I should have won! That moron..." Weevil grumbled to himself, sitting at a table at the edge of the plaza, watching the other contestants. The duelist was thinking hard, trying to figure out how to get back at the demon kid. That, and imagining Rinku getting torn to pieces by little insects. Rinku waking up to bedbugs. Rinku buried up to his neck next to a fire ant colony. Heh, heh, heh...

As he thought about it, Weevil noticed something else. A familiar person appearing face-down outside the gate. Raptor! Weevil quickly looked up to the brackets, and let out a sigh of relief. The dino duelist had lost his duel. Thank goodness, if Raptor had won his match and Weevil had lost, Weevil would have never heard the end of it. Much less, lived it down. Still... perhaps there was use for his little rival. After all, they were from the same world. They wanted the same thing. If anyone would be able to help him get back in this tournament and get those rare cards for the winners, it would be Raptor.

Weevil jumped out of his seat and walked over to Rex. He nudged the kid with his foot.
"Hey! Raptor! Get up!" Weevil said to Rex.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rex Raptor


Defeat. How humiliating. Rex couldn't bother to get off the ground to which he was respawned, face planted onto the ground. He didn't even want to look at the roster to see his name removed from the tournament brackets. Nor did he want to see that maggot chomping grin of Weevil's to gloat about it.

"Hey! Raptor! Get up!"

Speak of the devil.

He lifted his head up. "Go away Weevil, can't you see I'm sulking?"

 

[Psymallard]

Taskmaster
His swing was cut unexpectedly short, but the Taskmaster still landed with the grace of a spider. He yanked his club free from the broken branch and reeled it in before the beams came. The assassin felt his speed return to him as he slid into the undergrowth, using it as cover as he ran perpendicular to Nótt's position. As she gave chase, he noticed that the princess was gaining on him with her longer, stronger legs. He looked back, and as he did, he appeared to trip. This was only a ploy to lower his foe's guard, however, and in a flash his other boot drove forward. His heel dug deep into the dirt, and the mercenary hurled himself back towards Nótt in a complete 180 that was noticeably quicker than he'd moved before. He swung his baton to bat away the outstretched lance before it could fire another beam. The weapon came back around as he moved in, attempting to strike Nótt herself this time. Yet, he knew that her defenses were solid, and so kept up the assault.

Taskmaster twisted and shifted his momentum upwards in a swift backflip, soaring over Moon-Wing. He attempted to strike both the bird and princess in their backs with individual strikes of the elongated club before he was to set foot on the ground.

Beam
The shark saw the sizeable object approaching fast, and instinctually twisted away, bringing his arms up to protect himself. The anvil hit him indirectly, but would leave some nasty bruises on Beam's forearms in a minute. He tumbled through the air before he managed to recover. The fiend dove into a set of railway tracks, held up by a cement bridge that stretched across one side of the map. There he waited for NiGHTS's next move, unable to apply pressure at the moment.

Marshtomp!
The Gardevoir dumped a lot of exposition onto the Marshtomp, which he followed... somewhat. Psychic Pokémon were a little confusing. However, since she asked for his help, he gladly accepted with a nod.

Before they could get going, though, a ghastly wail came from a dark hallway. A disgusting ghoul rocketed into the room, backed by howling winds that whipped up a storm of gold and treasure within the room. The Mud Fish moved towards his ally, bringing up his meaty arms to protect himself from the winds and flying treasure. The soft metals bounced off his tough skin with little damage, and as he endured, he let loose a low Growl, which dropped the Gross Ghost's physical strength by 450 points as it came for Neph!

 

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

Chai was pretty quick on his feet, smoothly managing to avoid most of Pit's arrows - though one managed to strike that robotic arm, damaging its integrity further. The rockstar suddenly stopped in his tracks, jamming out on his guitar as energy began to build up around him. The arrows that followed simply fizzled out against the azure energy, leaving Chai free to build up more and more. That definitely couldn't be good.

"Hey, who're you calling chicken wings?" Pit replied, a little offended, wanting to rush in - but Palutena stopped him in his tracks, still in control of his Power of Flight.

"Focus, Pit. He's about to use something big, and it could wipe you out if you get too close. Just keep the pressure on him!"

"Uh, got it!"

Seeing as his arrows weren't doing much, Pit opted to switch for something heavier-hitting that could potentially get past Chai's guard. His bow vanished in a flash of light, replaced by a large rectangular gun attached to his forearm: the EZ Cannon. It began to fire volatile volleys at a slow pace, when suddenly--

"HIBIKI!!!!"

A large, powerful wave of shockwaves and energy burst outward from Chai in an omnidirectional field, sending Pit's shots flying away before impacting Pit himself. The mix of concussive force and energy shot him down from the air, a trail of smoke following the angel as he crashed down, hitting the ground roughly. Burns and bruises covered his body, but his continued pained grunts and struggling indicated that he was still in the fight.

"Whew, that was... pretty good..."

As the angel lay there and the music began to fade slightly, a quiet metal clanking echoed behind Chai. A single metallic sphere bounced towards him, landing at his feet; one of the EZ Cannon's shots that had been blown upward earlier by the Hibiki! After a couple moments of landing, it would erupt in a bright explosion, releasing its volatile charge!​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

NiGHTS

A loud iron sound later, NiGHTS reformed back into their familiar jester shape, though a bit dazed from all the spinning. As they came to, Beam was diving in back into metallic railways.

Felt like a I got a good whopper in! And they are on the run, but they won't be for long. Better get ready for him to come back out.

Ready to get back into groove, NiGHTS flew up above the lava pit surrounded by bronze rail slabs, folding their arms behind their head and began to whistle. Lazing about in the air, it was obvious they weren't talking this fight seriously...or at least made it seem that way. They were actually taunting beam to make it seem like they didn't respect them as a fighter, which was sure to get under his skin.




Chai


"I say this battle is as good as won. How about you I've up now before I got to beat you up. Well, MORE that is."

clink

"Hm?"

Looking down at an object at his feet, Chai cocked his head at the spherical object. Wasn't that one of Pit's projectiles he used earlier? Chai gave a subtle snort before kicking it up like a soccer ball, catching it with his robotic index finger, spinning it around held slightly away from him.

"This little guy yours? Aw, looks like the little guy was a dud-"

KABOOM!

A bright burst of energy blasted out, pierces of metal flew everywhere as Chai's arm was broken at the elbow off! Chai was thrown through the air as his guitar flew in the other direction, scattering into a bunch of scrap metal as his magnetic powers were now severed.

He was sent tumbling over vaguely in Pit's direction, flopping over a few feet to his left, screws and metal bits showering the ground. Chai groaned, the sound of a severed metal hand clattering in front of him perking his eyes up.

"Again?! Why do I always lose my arm?! Not cool dude! Not cool!"

Chai made a 'Nyeh' sound as he kicked his foot up, his loose shoe flying off. It seemed his response to getting his arm blown up was...to throw his shoe. All the while, 808 got curious about the fight as both fighters were winding down, prancing forward from her watching place.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

"Sorry about that, heheh. It'll be fixed after this anyway."

Pit couldn't help but chuckle at Chai's dismay. If not for Palutena's guidance, he probably wouldn't have known to aim for the metal arm. He definitely got a bit lucky that his cannon shot had landed real close, though he could also chalk it up to that specific weapon's homing attributes.

"That arm was the source of your powers, right? Don't think you can do much fighting can be done in this state, heh. Owowow..."

He'd definitely taken a beating of his own back there. Massaging a few sore spots, Pit let out a sigh. Laying flat on the ground side by side like this felt right out of a movie. Guess it kind of fit the showmatch vibe of their fight.

"Still though, you gotta admit... That fight was straight up awesome."​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Chai


Stopping to ponder Pit's words, Chai's grimace of frustration at his situation began to transform into a subtle smirk before he let out a laugh, collapsing down on the ground.

"Ha! It was totally rockstar, wasn't it? Did you see how those claws of ours went all P'tang! Kabow! Like an action game? Not to mention-"

"Ahem. Chai."

Peppermint, controlling 808, pounced up on Chai's chest. She looked down at him, visually displeased.

"The match, Chai?"

"Oh...? Oh! Right. Yeah, that's good a finale as any. Angel boy wins this go round."

The field of the arena began to disappear, the angelic and mechanical attributes fading to leave Pit, Peppermint, and Chai in the room alone now. Peppermint, looking between the two, arched a brow.

"Uh...I won't have to drag the both of you out myself, will I?"

 

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

"I can still totally walk on my own, thank you very much!"

With a deep breath, Pit got himself back on his feet, wincing as he did so. Turning to face Chai, he held out a hand for the rockstar to grab, pulling his former opponent up as well. Placing an arm under Chai's own for mutual support, he began to walk towards the newly-opened gateway.

"Pheew, I'm real spent. Definitely gotta order triple at that burger place to get my energy back up."​

 

[Psymallard]

Beam!
The fiend was floating inside the structure, wracking his brain for solutions. He sensed that the jester had stopped moving near the middle of the arena, which was fine by him since the last confrontation had gone haywire. His brain only landed on one solution, which would be a bit of a gambit, but he had hardly any other option in an arena such as this.

Beam swam beneath the tracks, breached, and dove into the side of a building. He swam up said building to gain altitude and leap into the hallway system suspended in the air amongst the bronze platforms. Inside, he tumbled to the ground, his injuries making it difficult to make such jumps. As he was sprawled, a nearby zombie caught notice and quickly pounced- but the shark had sniffed out the undead beforehand. He counterattacked by chomping the creature's upper half off, and feasted on its corpse. Its blood was rancid, but Beam paid no mind. The blood healed his bruises, scrapes, and cuts, so that the shark was now in tip-top shape... just like his opponent.

Speaking of, it was at this point that Beam prepared to attack. He got on all fours and hurled himself through the wall. As he did, his phalanges fused, his whole body swelled, and skin turned a darker shade of navy as he took the full form of the Shark Devil. The massive beast soared through the air, once again gnashing at the nonchalant jester!

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Chai

Peppermint gave a nod of acknowledgement as Pit had things handled. He was good. Maybe there was a protagonist exchange store she could visit? The thought was enough for her to give a smile that betrayed her, until she switched 808 back in control of their body. Chai, being helped back to the archway, yawned, stretching their nub of a right arm until he heard Pit mention food.

"Wait, we have burgers here?! Nobody told me we had burgers here! In fact, I haven't explored this place at all, Cayguy brought me right to watch a cage match. I could use some grub!"




NiGHTS


Twiddling their thumbs behind their head, NiGHTS was wondering when the match was going to resume. This one sure liked hiding, but eh, that could wait. Let 'em hide. In their position, they'd have plenty of time to see a target leap out.

Peeking an eye out, they saw Beam was turning about to attack one more, juiced up and ready to go. NiGHTS snapped a finger, just like a magic trick, a blue masquerade mask appeared in their grip. With a slick movement, the mask slid right on. So as Beam approached, NiGHTS use their persons mask and transformed into that of a large Dolphin! Water critter vs water critter.

Dolphin NiGHTS did a front flip right as Beam came in, their tail fin enlarging to bat the shark down into the lava pit below.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Weevil Underwood

Weevil rolled his eyes. Talk about being a drama queen.
"Oh get up, dinobrain." Weevil growled. In this state, Raptor was more useless than a Kuriboh. This was a pain, he'd have to find a way to motivate the dinosaur duelist. Weevil scowled, letting out a 'tch'.
"Are you really going to let a loss like this get to you? I thought you were the runner up of regionals!"


Nótt

Such speed! Taskmaster knocked away the spearpoint. Nótt shifted her lance, blocking Taskmaster's attack with the center of the handle. In another surprising feat of athleticism, Taskmaster threw himself into a backflip and attempted to attack Nótt from behind. He struck Moon-Wing on it's back armor, and the bird squawked in surprise. Nótt used the butt of her lance to block Taskmaster's first attack before quickly turning and back stepping, focusing on blocking the assassin's barrage of attacks.

Facing down Taskmaster once again, Moon-Wing fired its eye-beams at the mercenary to weaken him and slow his attacks. Nótt would attempt to use this to take the advantage in their clash, going on the offensive. She attacked with powerful lance strikes at his chest and arms, before energy once again crackled around her weapon. With another lance strike, it was empowered with the energy of her Dragon Fang attack!

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rex Raptor

Now, Rex would never admit Weevil was right, but Weevil wasn't wrong about him feeling sorry about himself. Rex shook his head, sitting up on the ground and crossing hair arms, snorting stubbornly.

"Psht! As if you care. Ain't this the part you'd where you'd be laughing your glasses off? You sure are taking your time."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Weevil Underwood

Weevil's scowl deepened. The insect duelist crossed his arms and looked away.
"Well Raptor, I guess I'm just feeling sympathetic. Because like it or not, we're in the same boat." Weevil said. He clenched his fists in anger. "This is ridicious! A couple of pro duelists like us, taken out in the first elimination round like a couple of punks! It isn't right!"
I'll show that brat Rinku for crossing me! He'll have no idea what hit him!

"You! Raptor!" Weevil said. "Are you really gonna give up so easily, huh? You just gonna let that weird mutant freak walk all over you?!"

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rex Raptor


"Tch..."

Getting the guts to look up at the roster, he saw Warlock's name ascending and his dropping off. Taking a look at the confident expression of his mugshot aside the name, he felt his Dino blood boil. The Cretaceous King couldn't let this be the last word.

"Fine, it HAS been bugging me." Rex admitted, dusting himself off as he rose to his feet. "But what are we gonna do? Not like we can fight them, that was in the rules, remember?"

 

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

"You don't know about the food?! Aw man, you HAVE to check it out! I had one of those burgers before my fight with Fjorrd last round and it was AMAZING!"

Having found a mutual love for food, Pit quickened the pace a little, passing through the gateway. Just as expected, the damage to both fighters vanishing in an instant, Chai's arm in tip-top shape. Looking up at the tournament bracket, the angel watched as his name and photo moved further into the lower bracket, while Chai's dropped off into an 'Eliminated' list. He didn't pay it much more attention, though, His mind was on the grub.

"C'mon, let's go check it out! Just thinking about the place is making my mouth water!"

And just like that, the brown-haired angel ran off towards the Regular Burger, restaurant, leaving Chai to catch up to him. ​

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Weevil Underwood

"Well, that's where you're wrong my cretaceous companion." Weevil said. "The rules said that fighting in the plaza would result in elimination. We're already eliminated."
Weevil rubbed his chin.
"But I bet that floating hand wouldn't be to happy if we started fighting those losers still in the tournament... Hmm..." Weevil said. He slowly looked to the coin store, then back to Raptor with a grin.
"I don't remember a rule against stealing from the store, do you?" Weevil asked Raptor.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Chai


Arm getting repaired along with his bruises and bumps, Chai seemed rearing to go fill himself with the tastiest stuff this place had to offer, he nodded with anticipation towards Pit who lead the way to the food. Chai, licking his lips ran after him.

"Wooo! That's what I call a reward!"

Peppermint controlling 808, hopped out of the gateway, their feline nose twitching. Looking around at the previous competition, it seemed they weren't the first to finish. The two kids from earlier, Rex and Weevil were no doubt squabbling again, the anyones like Kassandra ran off to who knows where, Jeice took their loss rather hard, and...that kid Bakura...was on the ground?

"Hey...hey Chai. Come over here! CHAI!"

But alas, It seemed the power of the stomach surpassed that of the ear, and Chai was out of sight. Peppermint rolled 808's eyes and the black cat hopped over to the bench where he and...a humanoid being of some sort were. Both unconscious? That's not good...there was no fighting in the plaza, so what was this?

Their eyes turned blue as they scanned their bodies, looks for abnormalities, shaking Bakura's shoulder with her right paw as she did so.

"Hey, kid. You in there? Get up, you hear me?"




Rex Raptor


So no fighting Warlock? He knew it wouldn't be so easy. But then Weevil began to explain further, that they could affect things in a different way. Robbing a store? Was there a rule against it? ...

"Heh heh heh." A Cheshire grin crept across his face like a spider. "You mean you wanna steal from that cheeseball of a shopkeep?!"

He hated that guy anyway with his superior attitude, he wouldn't mind if he got some comeuppance!




Master Hand


In a calm abode, a gloved hand sat in a rocking chair, reading a book with a vinyl record playing playing calmly in the back of the room. Logs lit up a warming fire under a chimney as Master Hand flipped a page. Tapping with their index finger, Master Hand stopped, looking away from his book.

"For some reason, I sense that the rules are being stretched somehow..."

"Hm..."

"Hm......"

"But maybe...after this next chapter..."

 

[comic]

NEPHTHYS​

And so it began, first indicated by the wail before the creature itself appeared - though the gardevoir could detect its energy. Almost identical to the summoned monsters from Rex and Weevil, though with subtle differences to each summon. Marshtomp was quick to spring into action, using a growl as he moved defensively toward Neph. His support moves no doubt would come in handy here.

Raising a telekinetic barrier at her palm, the gardevoir raised her hand and "caught" the sword as it struck, before she propelled the energy backward to throw the ghost off. She had the "duel disk" that the other summoners used, but she had no idea how it worked. Maybe she could try and pull Bakura into this plane? Er- the actual one, not whatever this spirit was.

Well, she could probably wait to do that after this ghost was handled. No need to distract herself so thoroughly just yet.
​

​

IRNANE​

Her tongue stuck slightly out of her mouth as her quill dashed across the paper. So much happening, too little time, too much to write. All of these crazy fighters with crazy abilities and crazy victories... finishing her fight first had proven amazing in the long run, as it allowed her to observe the other fights, take notes, make observations. She was already getting new and unique ideas for how she could utilize her magic. Sure, that could be practiced in this tournament, but against Mehrunes Dagon? That was the ultimate goal.

However, something kept making her long, pointed ear twitch. A nearby conversation. She glanced up as Chai gave up his fight, and the dark elf quickly took note of this in her journal, before the voices made her ear twitch again. What really got her attention was the word; "stealing."

Irnane looked up from her writing, her gaze falling on the two boys that had fought one another most recently. Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood. Egotistical children, a bit bratty, and exceedingly arrogant. Curious that they could interact with one another for longer than a few moments without getting into a fight.

She blinked when she realized Weevil was undoubtedly attempting manipulation. Stealing from the store... he'd likely try to get Rex to do it, let him take the consequence of any action, and if it succeeds, he'd benefit the rewards. They had already been eliminated, the both of them, and while the Nerevarine was certain Regular Shopkeeper could handle the brats...

"There tends to be unspoken rules when in a civilized place," Irnane interrupted the boys' conversation. "Understanding them requires a degree of dignity."​

 

[Fraseandchico]

Audrey Redheart
​

"More chanting, huh?!" The Hero snarked as she heard Grazie. In that instant, Audrey darted down a stairway and spotted a clock-like interface over an arrow, with a platform lowering into the ground in front of it. She heard something rushing, the attack itself she had to guess, and decided to rush her plan ahead.

She jammed her blade into the interace, turning the place until the arrow turned around the opposite away, as if turning back the clock and speeding it up. She turned her head back, removing her blade just in time to see the sand pillars ripping through walls to reach her.
"Gr...now or never, huh!?" She added, summoning lightning into her blade once more held high. As soon as it was charged, she launched the lightning out, assuming it would do something.

She didn't get the chance to test this theory however, as the platform shot back up out the ground far quicker, the hightened speed (resulting in an increase in it's energy) being enough to prevent the drill-like pillars from reaching Audrey despite plenty of damage done - The Hero smirked at this, diving onto where the pillar would come out again. What Audrey hadn't considered, of course, was what would've happened if she was actually hit by that attack.

"Demon, huh...?" She mused, a slightly chuckle in her voice, and began to charge lightning into her sword again, letting it come down from high enough that Grazie would still be able to see it reach down from the heavens.

WHOOSH!
The platform came back up, or perhaps another platform exactly the same, it was hard to tell with the weirdness of an Overseer's realm, at thunderous speeds, launching Audrey high into the sky!
"I'LL SHOW YOU WHAT HAPPENS TO DEMONS ON MY WATCH!" She screamed out at Grazie, launching lightning out of the tip of her blade right at the Adept, charging more lightning as she began to descend, repeating the launch as soon as she could. After 4 blasts, she began to dive forward, ready to swing Grazie and cut not only her, but any physical attack launched at her, in twain.

 

[PaprusTeuton]

Jevil

As Dagr said that line, Jevil began to pout. The feeling of something terrible coming disappeared as Jevil simply turned into a devilsknife to avoid most of the attacks, and was hit by Sun-wing's beam attack normally. He then turned back into himself, still in the air, and still pouting. "Oh boo hoo, boo hoo, the little damsel doesn't like my style, style!"

The chaos completely died down. The diamond rain stopped and the air, instead of crackling with freedom, breathed calmly. The dark clouds remained, however. "I'm here to give fun, fun, joy, joy, and I can only give sadness!" He paused, pouting and thinking. Then, he had an idea!

"A-hah!" He cried suddenly. "I had an idea, idea! A genius plan has formed in my head-" and he summoned a Devilsknife and tossed it onto the ground in front of Dagr. It landed on it's side, not moving. "Go on, pick it up! Drop that big metal thing which slows you down and feel your own speed brought to the front!"

It was genuine. Dagr didn't feel any form of maliciousness behind it. Jevil was smiling like a madman- although he was usually doing that. the Devilsknife seemed to be pulling on her, compelling her to pick it up.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Weevil Underwood

"Shh! Quiet you dolt!" Weevil hushed Rex. But it was too late, someone had heard them. Weevil looked to Irnane and scowled. The strange woman with magic powers and weapons. She had beaten Dracula (someone that Weevil still couldn't believe was actually here. Wasn't he fictional?!), and some weird floating sword and shield.
"Shut your trap, bluey! No one asked you!" Weevil said, pointing to Irnane.

"Come on Raptor, let's get out of here." Weevil said, walking away from Irnane. He looked back to Raptor. "Way to go, dino-breath. Go and blab our plan to everyone, why don't you?!"


Bakura/The Dark Spirit

Back in the world of reality, the white hair teen laid unconscious. He didn't respond to 808's nudges and Peppermint's concerned voice, staying still. Even knocked out, Bakura had a look of discomfort on his face. His breathing was slow, but steady.

The dark spirit watched the game board intently. He noted the Marshtomps' technique, weakening the ghost's strength.
"Hm... A support-type, perhaps?" The dark spirit muttered. "Interesting. Another lesson for these noobs then. Be sure to guard your support players!"
The dark spirit moved the game piece for the Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams, placing it next to the Marshtomp.

In the battle, the Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams was repelled by Neph's psychic shield. It screeched angrily, before abruptly turning and flying towards the Marshtomp. The fierce winds whipping around the chamber faded. The spirit slashed at Marshtomp with it's accursed sword, looking to hack the Pokemon to pieces!


Dagr

"Aw, JJ. Don't beat yourself up, I'm having so much fun!" Dagr said. Then, Jevil did something interesting.

Dagr looked to the scythe that was tossed to the ground in front of her. One of Jevil's knives... It was a pretty cool weapon. Some sort of spiritual energies about it, or magics. It reminded Dagr of the legends of one of the powerful Arcane weapons, the Arcane Scythe known as Downfall. The Princess paused, looking back up to Jevil. The diamond rain had stopped. The creeping feeling of something terrible coming had faded. And while Dagr got the feeling that Jevil was being on the level with her... There was likely some catch to this. There always was.

"Hmm..." Dagr rubbed her chin, thinking a moment as she looked back to the scythe. As she thought, she chucked another piece of the platform at Jevil, but it was more of a distracted attack that wasn't super accurate.
"JJ, this is really sweet of you. A really cool weapon, and I did say I wanted one earlier... But it looks identical to the ones you were summoning before. How do I know it's not gonna just turn and stab me the moment I grab it?" Dagr asked. Even though she was voicing her doubts, as she spoke Dagr began unconsciously moving closer to the Devilknife. She looked down at the weapon at her feet.

"Ugh, gifts from the enemy. What to do, what to do..." Dagr grumbled. The Princess ran a hand through her hair, before throwing back her head and laughing.
"Yeah, sure, I'll bite! If it's a trap, why the hell not?! I'll follow your lead, JJ. Opening my heart to chaos!" The Jotun Princess kicked up the scythe, grabbing it in her left hand. The Princess spun pirouetted to build up momentum, then lobbed the scythe at Jevil! Dagr imbued the weapon with the power of her Dragon Fang attack, and an energy dragon rapidly formed around the twirling scythe. It flew through the air in a chaotic motion, zig-zagging back and forth but honing in on Jevil!

 

[Gamingfan]

Ryuji
"Damn." Ryuji cursed as his bullets pinged off Kragg. "That shell is tough."
The beetle rolled towards the phantom thief, who prepared for impact, only for Kragg to hop up. Ryuji eyes followed Kragg in confusion, before putting two and two together as Kragg reached out.
"Not this time!" boasted Ryuji. With a shout, the teen became engulfed in a golden light, keeping him on his feet even as Kragg elevated him by force. Kragg brought his horn down and Ryuji responded in kind, swinging his arm to seize the Wallrunner's horn. Using Kragg's momentum against him, Skull grunted with exertion as he would pull Kragg beside him and slam the bug headfirst into the pillar! The force would crack the pillar horribly, before it quickly got reduced to rubble as William followed up with a headbutt against the bug!

Magolor
The mage was sent spinning as the orb forced him away. Once he stopped himself though, he appeared deep in thought.
"Well, that sounds familiar. Well, questions for later." Magolor said with a shrug, turning to Dart, who asked to contunue their brawl.
"Oh alright. We've been here long enough. Besides-"
As he spoke Magolor started juggling three crystalline apples that appeared from seemingly nowhere.
"I have a feeling this will be a short fight."
With that, Magolor blasted every apple at Dart, each covered with different magic. One in freezing cold, another in magic lightning, and the last in a whipping bluster all poised to give Dart a good elemental bonk!

Alter
"So we're hiding now?" asked Alter Knight as she nocked another arrow, scanning the area for her foe.
For a second it appeared as if Kirin had fled, until Alter managed to see the speedy priestess zipping around and closing the gap fast. Alter pulled back the bowstring, but a sudden shift ruined her focus.
The building she was on was going down! Was this the priestess's doing? With few evasive options to take, Alter changed Libera back to sword form as she maintained balance on her piece of the rapidly crumbling restaurant. The fallen knight took Kirin head-on, swing her blade and meeting Kirin's own.
An interaction she quickly lost, the unanticipated power of Kirin knocking Alter back. The Knight tumbled like a ragdoll, bursting into and then out of another building before managing to stab Libera into the earth and stop herself, though not without skidding back a good couple feet.
Alter was dumbstruck. The priestess wasn't this strong before! How did-
Alter looked at Libera. The weapon was mostly intact, but the blow clearly did a number on the integrity evidenced by the notable chink taken out the blade. Alter Knight grit her teeth, coming to a decision. If Libera wouldn't work...then...
"Come to me, Champion Sword!"
At her call, a massive bolt of lightning, dazzling blue in color, struck the Knight. A unique sword, the same shade as the azure glow it emitted, was now in her grip. Finding no use for her shield, she kept it on her back, now dual-wielding both Libera and the Champion Sword. She swung both, releasing waves of mana towards the priestess, now far larger than before!

Lucario
M.O.D.O.K burst through the building, zipping past Lucario while laughing maniacally. Lucario tensed, preparing to follow the psychic, before a sudden shift in gravity diverted his focus. A psychic force was pulling him towards M.O.D.O.K the Man Mind, who was preparing something. Actually, many things. He was going all-out!
Lucario buckled down, gripping on his chunk of Stark Tower even as it slowly moved to his opponent. The lines of aura adorning his body shimmering as the energy welled up within him, before releasing in a powerful burst of speed. The pokemon became a rainbow tinted streak as it rebounded off the surrounding debris M.O.D.O.K pulled in. Soon after they were reduced to nothingness as his massive lasers soon followed.
The pokemon's agility was on full display as it twisted and turned, releasing sweeping waves of aura to eliminate a good number of missiles that got too close, all while keeping it's cold eyes on M.O.D.O.K.
But Lucario couldn't avoid all of M.O.D.O.K's barrage. There were too many lasers to take care of, and a good number seared into the pokemon. Yet Lucario's gaze was unmoving, even as much of his body became scorched and scarred. The pokemon seemed to be running on pure adrenaline at this point.
Soon M.O.D.O.K got tired of the range game, and charged at the pokemon. Lucario met the tackle head-on, bouncing off one more chunk of debris towards the head, taking in the surrounding aura. Lucario's roar of bloodlust mixed with M.O.D.O.K's insane laughter as it swung it's fist against the Man Mind's shield, the triple boost of Adaptability, Mega evolution, and the Prime serpents was sure to shatter it completely!
It wouldn't stop M.O.D.O.K yet, so Lucario would open his palm. Just as it would make contact with the Man Mind, Lucario would forcefully pump all the aura he could into the machine, rupturing him internally before blowing out on the other side!

 

[PaprusTeuton]

Jevil

Jevil dodged the first piece of platform easily. It wasn't accurate in the first place, and he only had to float aside a little. "But why would I do that? It'd just be very mean, mean." he asked in response to Dagr's question. "I only want to give you a taste of the true chaos, chaos!"

As Dagr pirouetted, she felt her wounds heal. Gashes closing, scrapes fading. Not everything healed, of course, but most of it was fine. Sun-wing was also healed to full. When she threw the scythe at Jevil with the Dragon Fang attack on it, he grinned manically. "Perfect, PERFECT! NOW THE TRUE GAMES CAN BEGIN!"

To counter the rapidly zig-zagging, dragon-infused scythe, Jevil decided to fight fire with fire and throw more scythes at it. The dragon-supported axe clashed against the others, which then spiraled around and clashed into it again and again. Jevil turned into a Devilsknife himself and joined the battle, which allowed them to finally overpower the scythe and and send it back to Dagr at high speeds.

Jevil turned back into himself. "Amazing, amazing! This 'Dagrsknife' is such fun to fight!" he cried, before despawning the other Devilsknives and summoning a large one in his own hand. He flew down towards Dagr at high speeds, scythe at the ready, prepared for more scythe-on-scythe battle!

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rex Raptor


Rex was going to defend his case from Weevil before the green garment geek pointed at Irnane. Rex returned a brief scowl at Weevil before focusing on the chick in front of him.

"Yeah, mind your own business, freak show!"

Snorting, He stuffed his hands into his pockets and left with Weevil, who instantly berated him about being too loud about the plan. Cringing with one eye, Rex barked back.

"How should I know that chick has super hearing?" He spat sarcastically. "Besides, she's still in this tournament, right? That means she can't start any fights. So she can't stop us, ain't that right?"




Peppermint


He was alive, but he didn't look good. Like he was in an involuntary slumber. Peppermint frowned as their eyes returned to their normal hue. It was almost as if dealing with a comatose patient, to which she was no doctor.

"You said you had these blips of unconsciousness before, that I can understand. But this...woman? Could it be spreading?"

Thankfully she was safe back at the hideout in case in was a spreading psionic disease or something. But the question remained: how was she going to get him up? Wouldn't the Hand do something about this?

"Well, here goes nothing."

Rubbing their paw beans together, blue electricity began to build up. If she was able to shock him, then maybe that could snap him out of this funk. Preparing a low enough voltage to where it wouldn't be hazardous, she places her paws on either pec of his, before giving off a discharge.

BZZZZT!