Private/Closed Bootleg Brothers 6

[Fraseandchico]

Audrey Redheart
​

When Lucario disappeared from sight, it only gave Audrey a split second to think before she felt a fist going to her back, slashing her blade in a spin backwards as sword and spike clashed to protect her. However, Lucario's speed meant he began to overwhelm, bruising and burning Audrey's skin... And then the uppercut came -

And Audrey stabbed her blade straight down - into Lucario's skull, and on a miss to pull her straight back onto the ground, thankful for it's weight.
"Always finished with an uppercut." She snarled, a darkened aura of a selfish destroyer on full display right in Lucario's face. "You aren't original - I'm the Hero, I don't lose." It sounded like more of a self-encouragement / insult than anything else, but...

There had been a talisman ready to come off her sword when it went to clash with steel-type fist.

Just then, Audrey pointed her blade up once on the ground, legs shaking before, with a loud FWOOSH! - Streaks of lightning came down, right on top of Lucario, through the falling rocks as if they weren't there. Paralyzing shocks of a divine kind. She'd freeze him up, then strike as he came down.

And with the yo-yo? It began to rev, pulling and cutting like a Chainsaw on the Mega Kraggling which had it trapped...

 

[Psymallard]

marshtomp
After the Bakura Fiasco, Marshtomp woke somewhere he hadn't fallen asleep. He wondered if it had all been a dream, but spotting Neph and the others grouped together, something told him that it was not. He took a step towards the group- and his eye was caught by one of the huge screens above, which displayed the battle of Lucario and Audrey!

Marshtomp stood for a moment, his brow furrowing as he struggled with the decision of what to do, before finally deciding. He could talk to the others later, but right now, he needed to support his friend! The water/ground type made a beeline for a portal as fast as his stubby little legs could take him, and he reappeared in the stands. The Mud Fish pushed his way to the front of the crowds, and when he made it, he was barely able to see over the railing. His buddy seemed to be in a rough spot!

"Marshtomp!"

The Pokémon cried, gifting all the support he was able to give in this fight. He knew how strong Lucario was- he could win! Marshtomp knew he could!

tabby
After entrusting Magolor with the rest of the mission, Tabby had retreated back to the stands and tried to enjoy the remainder of the tournament he'd come to watch. However, the robot couldn't shake his metaphorical nerves. He found himself tapping his foot as he watched the screen, his mind wondering to the Spamton issue.

In the plaza, there was another outburst- a blue-haired woman fighting something only she could see. Tabby was curious- and immediately wondered if the plotting puppet had something to do with it. He searched for the Darkner's energy signature, and, sure enough, it was present in the stands.

With the subtlety of a ninja, the tabled slipped and slunk through the crowd, until he was in view of the group. He'd pulled a hood over his tablet head, and taken a position behind one of Masaru's massive calves. Beneath his cloak, his hands rested on his SMGs, and he was ready to take action at a moment's notice.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Kirin
​

Peppermint left the decision to Bakura himself, and after a moment of reflection, he agreed to leave the cursed item with the Battle Priestess. He seemed slightly hesitant about the matter, which was understandable given the threat the Millennium Ring posed. Kirin nodded in return, offering Bakura a smile before he walked over to Peppermint, who still held the artifact in the cat's paws.

"I suppose that settles it, huh?" She remarked, grabbing the Millennium Ring from the robotic feline. "Don't worry, I promise to make sure this gets dealt with properly. No evil spirit is breaking out on my watch."​

Pit
​

Dagr's reaction was to head straight for her sister, something the angel probably should have seen coming. A stranger in a cloak suddenly appeared to block the way out for a moment, relenting after a threat from the princess, who bolted out towards Nótt and her apparent lover. Pit turned to the figure beside him, noting the reptilian eyes winking at him from beneath the hood. He awkwardly scratched at the back of his head.

"So... come here often?"

More commotion in the plaza caught his attention, and it didn't take a genius to know why. Pit peered his head out of the doorway, overhearing the conversation between the jotun sisters from afar.
​

"A pretend relationship to infiltrate their nation and steal their secrets?" Palutena noted. "Nótt seems pretty convinced he's moved on from that. How dreamy can one man be?"

"Talk about total lovebirds..." Pit said, watching as Dagr stormed away from the other two. With slight hesitation, he walked over to the younger twin, giving her a sheepish smile.

"Maybe another Drink of the Gods would be good?"

ZedΩ
​

Before the Golden Trillion could reply to Eitri's offer, the manifestation of Layla's Septima appeared. Or rather, it should have – in the Djinn's place was now none other than Spamton himself. Zed's brow furrowed further at this, mind racing to come up with ways out of this situation. To involve Layla in this once more... he'd been too reckless.

"Prince Zed..." Sistina called, eyeing Spamton and the rest of the incoming group cautiously. "What, pray tell, is the meaning of this?!"

"Hm..." Serpentine grumbled, opening her eyes. She turned to the prince. "Is this what's been troubling you for the last few rounds? It seems this... being has linked himself with Layla's consciousness in some form. I can't make out much more than that."

"...Yes, that is correct. Although she appears physically fine, we must find a way to free her." The leader of ATEMS finally replied, looking down at Layla, who remained dazed, before his gaze shifted to Spamton. His focus was entirely on saving Layla at this moment, and he figured he'd try the most direct route first. "Spamton, if you are able to, would you be so kind as to leave my friend's body?"

"Nn..."​

Gunvolt
​

Flamefield vanished with the Azure Striker's onslaught, prompting Dart to rush in as he had done before. Gunvolt stood firm, unleashing a barrage of darts in his foe's direction, watching carefully as the dragoon's blade trailed behind him. The moment the Adept was within reach, Dart slashed upward – and Gunvolt stepped aside in unison, pivoting to aim a roundhouse kick at the dragoon's torso.

Regardless of its effectiveness, the mercenary's slash had set off a secondary effect, summoning a brief tornado of flame to envelop Gunvolt. Fire seared against his body, the Azure Striker wincing momentarily, before electricity crackled all around him – and in an instant, another Crashbolt struck down around Gunvolt, acting to clear the tornado and deal additional damage upon Dart should he remain too close.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The NiGHTMARE


The slices Byleth cast towards the serpent like tail were met with a quick parry as the lance head of the tail dove in to intercept, the attack panging off the armor. It was quick to react unlike the beast it was previously attached to. With a flash of blue from near the tip of it's tail, a high pitched wispy voice was heard before armor starting to shoot across the remaining body of the creature, resembling that of the lance. It was sharp, rigid, and littered with segmented plates.

The mumbling of the weak voice was barely audible before the creature would leap forwards, sending its entire body towards Byketh to run her through. If it missed, it would carrying on the momentum of it's arched lunge and seep through the ground, repeating the same attack as it would emerge from the ground at the side!


"Would a farmhand destroy the crop he sows?" Wizeman refuted the claim. "The girl you care so much for shall not die, she shall bring Nightmare to a new age. This era that shall be ushered in has no place for an aggrandizing upstart."

The black hole would pulse, increasing its intensity as it's hue grew a darker shade of purple. At that point, two of the hands would disappear from Wizeman's side. Horizontally on either side of Sothis the hands materialized, thick blasts of blue energy firing off from the pupils in the palms of each hand. They were aiming to pelt her off her defensive stance and succumb to the dark pull.





Reala & NiGHTS


Reala's eyes flicked to the ex-weapon John had with him. The soldier's brief words already clarifying the situation quicker than he would have, Reala smirked and returned to face NiGHTS, content to ignore the AI's further objections.

NiGHTS tried to use this opportunity to get past Reala, dashing to the right of him, only for him to slink over to face them, strafing like a ghost. This play wasn't Reala's preferred method of stopping the purple jester, but if it made the traitor squirm, he'd gladly do this game of keep away.

It would seem like an oddly fluid dance in the sky, the siblings moving and evading, actions met with similar yet opposite reactions. NiGHTS would attempt to fly by him while Reala would intercept and keep pace, despite the effort. NiGHTS decided to shake things up, flying away from Reala, curving around the plaza. Reala, knowing exactly what his sibling was going to do, shot back towards Byleth. By the time NiGHTS had maneuvered in a semi circle in the area, they were stopped from reaching the professor by the crimson nightmaren, who swerved in the way before NiGHTS could get close enough.

Master Wizeman should have that so called god out of commission in no time. What's taking so long?

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Dagr

Stopping in front of a store labeled 'Regular Leatherworking', Dagr sighed. She stared up at the ceiling glumly, watching as Jevil flew in circles with his projectiles flying around him. At the sound of familiar footsteps, Dagr looked over to see Pit had approached. Dagr groaned, and went back to watching Jevil.
"Not really." Dagr said. "I can't just go and drown my sorrows every time. That's not healthy."

As Pit walked away, Nótt smiled at Ótr and gave his hand a loving squeeze. Ótr nodded nervously to the Princess, watching Dagr for a moment. With her prince in hand, Nótt led Ótr back to the bench she had been sitting at before. The strange commotion now at the back of her mind. She sat at the bench, resting her head on Ótr as she watched the fight between Audrey and Lucario continue.

Dagr sighed again, and turned her attention to Pit.
"What do I do, Pit?" Dagr said. "She won't listen to me, and I'm not strong enough to knock some sense in to her. Even if I wanted to give it a shot right now, I can't. Unless I want to end up like that bug brat."
Dagr rubbed her forehead, groaning.
"I can't do anything about it right now... So I might as well just... ignore it, I guess." Dagr said. She watched as her sister kicked her feet happily, observing the fight along with Ótr. Dagr scowled and looked away.
"Gah, I can't even look at them. I need to let off some steam." Dagr said. Once more, the Princess began to walk towards the sparring arena.


Eitri

The Sage stepped back as Spamton materialized before she could scan Layla. The child appeared to be incapacitated at the appearance of the digital being.
"Incredible..." Eitri muttered to herself. But she stayed silent, allowing Zed and the others who had interacted with Spamton earlier to take the lead in this situation.


Byleth & Sothis

The beast changed once more, the tail becoming armored and segmented. Voices began to murmur, seeming to come from the beast itself. Despite the fight, Byleth found herself curious and tried to focus on what the voices were saying. Then the snake attacked! Byleth parried the lunge with her sword, stepping back and to the side to allow the beast to move past her. It dove into the ground, and on instinct Byleth spun to face it as it re-emerged from the other side of her.

The Sword of the Creator began to crackle with red energy as Byleth exhaled. She met the beast's lunge with a slash of her own! The red energy surrounding the blade enhanced its cutting power, and Byleth attempted to slash right through the monster and its heavy armor!


Sothis gritted her teeth as the black hole slowly pulled her in. But what was more intruiging to the goddess was what Wizeman spoke of. He wasn't looking to kill Byleth? Then perhaps...

Two of the hands around Wizeman vanished, and the goddess knew what they were going to be used for. They appeared next to Sothis, and Sothis acted. The goddess stopped resisting the pull of the black hole, instead using to her advantage. She blasted around the ball of nothingness in a sharp orbit, cloaking herself in energy and attempting to ram into Wizeman, like he had done to her before!

Then you are a fool! Sothis said. Or perhaps your powers of observation is not as powerful as you thought. That mortal and I are linked! It is because of me that she is alive today. You sever that tie, and your Ideya is lost!

 

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

"Right," Pit agreed with Dagr's refusal, his gaze following hers to land on the spinning Jevil high above them. He was pulling off some pretty impressive orbits, he had to admit.

The jotun princess spoke up again, voicing her feeling of powerlessness regarding her sister's rekindled romance. No amount of talking would do the trick, and the rules in place prevented fighting in the lobby. Pit's solution would have been to eat away until he felt better, but he had a feeling that wouldn't keep Dagr's mind off things. Instead, he followed after his friend, noting that they were headed for the sparring area. He recalled seeing Byleth somewhere around there earlier. If he wanted to keep Dagr busy, sparring was his best bet – he just had to distract her enough for her not to notice the professor.

"Guess we'll deal with that later. What do you say we do a little fighting at the sparring ring? Some good old friendly duels have helped me relax in the past. Trust me, Super Smash Brothers is all about that, and it's a lotta fun! C'mon!"

He dashed past the jotun with a sudden burst of speed, hoping for her to increase her own pace as well. If they got to the ring fast enough, maybe she wouldn't notice Byleth around there?​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The NiGHTMARE


CRASH!

The sword of the creator slashed straight on with the incoming serpentine foe. It's shell buckled, cracks forming outside of the epicenter as the main spot struck seemed to shatter way. The spot struck, the a bit southern of the tip of the tail revealed a secret underneath.

The familiar black oozing body was present, but inside of it was small spherical area. Inside of the sphere, an embryonic entity floated in the fluids. It appeared to be the true representation of Miklan, the weak whispered voice of being heard louder without the armor to muffle it.

"...I'll kill you...I'llkillyou I'llkillyou I'llkillyou..."

Suddenly a flash of blue would pulse out, the tip of the lance sparking in the azure aura. It looked shocking to the touch, a small blue Ideya appearing to orbit around embryo Miklan.

**Sword breaker - Active
**Defiant Avoid - Active

Energized and ready to seize the moment, the lance tail shot out with renewed vitality. It would lay piercing scorpion like blows, trying it's best to break Byleth's Blade with heavy set attacks and eventually try and pierce straight through her when it would fail on her!


...

Sothis would find herself ramming right into the energy barrier Wizeman had up. The multicolored barrier rippled like a crystallized rainbow, keeping Byleth from touching the lord of Nightmare.

"Feeble attempts to persuade me to spare the existence you cling to. Nothing can prevent your annihilation."

Suddenly, the hands that controlled the black hole would stop, grasping either corner of it and dragging it outwards. The black hole turning a bright cyan as it would soon eclipse a wide area, including directly in front of Wizeman where Sothis had smashed into.

The cyan sphere was translucent, and could be easily passed into...but this seemed one way. As a golden frame on the bottom and top of the cyan circle, this quickly constructed a sophisticated looking prison, golden chains shooting from it to anchor to nearby stars. An Ideya Palace. Originally created by Wizeman to hold large stores of Ideya, he found that locking NiGHTS away in these Palaces to be quite effective.

The golden chains appeared identical to those Reala had used earlier against the two street smart rogues in the plaza. The golden chains would suddenly pulsated black as dark inscriptions would line each inch of metal. Suddenly, a black tar like ooze. would start to pour in the Ideya Palace. Liquified nothingness. The void in which Wizeman used to eliminate his own worthless creations. Touching the fluid would begin to erase those in contact with it until they were but a mere memory.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Dagr

The Princess looked back to Pit and smiled. The angel was speaking her language. He really was a sweet guy. She was about to reply, when Pit put on a burst of speed and sprinted past her! Instantly, Dagr's competitive spirit was fired up.
"Wha- Hey!" Dagr exclaimed playfully, running after Pit. She chuckled and ran after Pit. The angel was surprisingly fast, and Dagr really had to push herself to catch up to him. So intent she was on catching up to Pit that the Princess didn't notice Byleth slowly encircling an invisible foe. Dagr didn't see it. But someone else did.

On her shoulders, Sun-Wing suddenly screeched and beat his wings. Dagr paused, looking up to her eagle in confusion.
"Sun-Wing?" Dagr asked. The eagle gestured, and Dagr finally saw them. Byleth, in the flesh. Dagr's eyes widened with surprise, and her mouth fell open in shock. "What the... is that...?"

As Dagr watched, Byleth suddenly and swiftly began backtracking. It was as if the Professor was being assaulted by a swift and powerful foe, one that drove the warrior back with every blow! A wince of pain and drawing back of her shoulder indicated a strike there, but no blood flowed nor wound was created! Another injury to the leg with the same result, then another across her chest! Dagr looked around in confusion. The champion Master Hand and his fairy friend watched impassively, and nearby Dagr spotted NiGHTS and Reala doing some strange aerial dance.
"H-Hey! Pit!" Dagr called over to the angel, and stepped closer. There were others nearby as well, as Dagr spotted a strange pink puffball creature wearing Byleth's cloak.
"NiGHTS! What's happening?!" Dagr called up to the Nightmaren.


Sothis & Byleth

The goddess reeled back from her failed attack. That was what she got for trying to mimic Wizeman, she supposed. She should have stuck to her own material. The pull from the black hole stopped, and Wizeman unleashed his new attack. Sothis shot away from Wizeman, conjuring a magic shield to protect herself. But the sphere instead expanded past her, enveloping her and transforming. Golden chains surrounded her, trapping her within a cage. She scowled at Wizeman.

I speak the truth. Whether you want to believe me or not, it will not change it. Sothis said. The goddess looked around her cage and scoffed. Do you really think something like this can hold me?
The black goo began to drip from the chains, and Sothis frowned. She floated upwards, hovering above the goo as it pooled beneath her. She winced as some fell onto her cloak, and watched in surprise as that part of her cloak dissolved into nothingness.

Sothis glared at Wizeman, before once more vanishing. She slipped through time once more, moving her time to before she was trapped within the Palace. Appearing where she had been resisting the pull of the black hole, she extended a hand towards Wizeman and focused. Time energy swirled around Wizeman as Sothis focused her power. She attempted to manipulate the time of Wizeman's magical protective barrier, bringing it back to a time where it had been broken by one of her attacks. With her other hand, she quickly gestured towards Wizeman. Sothis grimaced, focusing hard as she used up a great deal of energy in her temporal assault. More energies swirled around the Nightmare Lord, attempting to condense and detonate in another Sublime Surge attack!


The monster's form had changed once more! The armor broke apart, revealing gooey inside and strange glowing spherical area. But the beast began its assault once more! The breaking of its outer shell appeared to rejuvenate the beast, as it attacked with greater speed and power. In fact, its skill reminded Byleth of the special techniques of many Paladins and Pegasus Knights! Byleth found herself driven back by the monster's powerful attacks and hateful aura. Her defenses faltered as an attack got through, a glancing slash against her shoulder. Byleth gasped for breath, desperately trying to fend off the monster's hateful assault. Then another glancing blow, a small cut to her thigh!

With one powerful attack, the beast managed to break Byleth's guard completely! The Professor staggered back in surprise, and the monster delivered a powerful slash across her torso. No, she couldn't allow this! She had to use her

DIVINE PULSE

Or so she tried. But there was nothing. It was as if Byleth was cut off from those energies. Or perhaps, they were in use elsewhere. Byleth had to rely on herself.

Behind Byleth, a glowing symbol appeared. It would take shape in both the dream world and the real one, an unusual, tangled, intricate symbol.

As this symbol appeared, red energy crackled around the Sword of the Creator once more. The weapon extended into its whip form, and began to whip and whirl around Byleth at extreme speed! As if it had a mind of its own, the weapon slashed at the nightmaren in an incredible storm of attacks! Empowered by Byleth's latent magical powers and her Crest of Flame, it rained a series of powerful and precise slashes across the monster. It was none other than the Sword of the Creator's signature Combat Art. The Ruptured Heaven.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The NiGHTMARE


Fragments of yellow and white rained as the attacks shaved off many fragments of Ideya from Byleth. One serious gash later and the tail had snapped another Ideya from its owner: The Green Ideya of Growth. With it taken, resolutions would waver and development would be repressed. Self improvement and broadening was handicapped.

With this recent change, the ripples in the sky began to appear visual to Byleth. The distorted space being noticed - the form of Wizeman suspended above. It seemed he lacked color, being a black silhouette in the horizon. Stars dotted the sphere like the battle with Sothis. Color was slowly creeping onto his form though, a snail's pace of palette restoring that inched across his giant form.

Miklan was heard laughing in weak hushed tones as they absorbed the Ideya, coiling back up for a follow up attack. However, a symbol appeared before it, causing it to hesitate. This hesitation was quickly punished as burning whip slashes encircled the beast. blow after blow, battered armor broke off the creature left and right, it's black fleshy body sliced and gashed all over the place.

As the attack reached its end, streams of black fluid poured out of many portions of the creature, the aching tail not appearing able to move any longer. It looked as if it would fall over and collapse at any moment. Thats when a green Ideya materialized around Miklan's embryonic form.

**Miracle - Active

It appeared despite the damage, it clung on to life. Thats when the lance tip and the orb that carried the embryo were fired from the tail like a ballista, leaving the failing tail to liquify on the spot. The lance tip spun like a drill in the air, flying at alarming speeds. It would provide it's final attack - drilling into Byleth until the job was done!

"nonono...die...must die...!"



.....




"Silence. Can't you see that even now that this little distraction is finally coming to a close?"

Wizeman's eyes shifted to Byleth, color close to completion on one of the hands. Stretching out two of the hands slowly towards Byleth, they'd approach like looming shadows. While not close yet, one of them would eventually reach out to pluck out her Red Ideya right from her chest!

Sothis's combo was well underway, the remaining hands flicking over at one another as the barrier dispersed. Time tricks. She was doing it again. She no doubt sought to somehow exploit this. One hand gripped the southern chain of the nearly filled Ideya Palace. As it did so, it began to transmute the Palace, the northern chains becoming ornaments as the covering of the prison went down, the southern chain becoming a golden rod. The Palace was now a Chalice.

As the Sublime Surge began to appear, he whipped the filled chalice across the cosmos sky around him like an angered king, the liquid nothingness spilling into the space the sublime surge was starting to occupy, unbinding it before it could come to fruition. He wouldn't be denied!



NiGHTS & Reala



No matter how much NiGHTS tried to get through to Byleth, Reala would match it or play goalie, preventing them from reaching her. From the look of her signs of pain, it was getting to a boiling point. Reala was their twin, they knew their tactics already, had the same mobility. This keep away game was getting to NiGHTS, who could at least get the satisfaction of slinging blows at Reala in a typical fight. Thats when Dagr entered the scene.

"NiGHTS! What's happening?!" Dagr called up to the Nightmaren.

"Dagr!" NiGHTS exclaimed. "She is suffering a forced nightmare, and Reala and his bogus boss Wizeman is involved!"

"Bogus? Come now NiGHTS, is that any way to refer to your creator? Tsk tsk, you ought to show some respect."

"That's enough Reala, you better get out of my way or you are gonna regret it!"

"Oh?" Reala titled his head, amused by the prospect. "And how are you going to go about that, exactly?"

NiGHTS yelled out in frustration, drawing their arm back and swinging a punch towards Reala. The crimson striped jester stood still, awaiting the attack as their sharp restore like eyes stared back at NiGHTS. As the lunch slowed down and halted an inch from Reala's face, the hostile nightmaren smugly scoffed at their sibling.

"Of course."

Reala would extend his claws and swipe at NiGHTS, who would lean back fall down with gravity, course corrected a few feet away from the clawed clown.

"Dagr, I can't get close to her. But you can! If you can get her over to me, maybe I can snap her out of this!"

 

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

"H-Hey! Pit!"

At Dagr's call, the angel slowed down slightly, looking behind him – to spot Dagr looking elsewhere, having stopped in place. The sound of a whip cracking followed, and the jotun stepped closer.

"...Uh oh."

Pit sprinted back towards Dagr, stopping nearby her as he looked toward the area in front of the sparring arena's entrance. While he did expect to find Byleth there, her attitude caught him off guard. The professor swung her Sword of the Creator wildly around her, seemingly attacking nothing in particular, nearly striking those around her. NiGHTS and Reala hung high above, while one of the champions, Master Chief, watched from afar. He didn't see the 'Ganvol' champion Kirby mentioned anywhere, though the pink puffball himself stood around nearby, trying to help.

For a moment, Pit wondered if this was what Sothis had warned them about earlier. NiGHTS quickly cleared up that this was a forced nightmare, and that if Byleth could be brought over to the purple nightmaren, there was a chance to fix things. The angel thought for a moment, still feeling somewhat bad for letting the professor be spotted by Dagr like this – but it was clear she was in a lot of trouble. Dagr had already found out, so there was nothing he could do about that. What he had to do now was help his friend.

"We'll help you out! Lady Palutena, any ideas?"

"Master Hand's rules state that fighting in the plaza will eliminate the aggressor, so fighting anyone directly is out of the question. Byleth could accidentally hit you if you get too close, so you'll have to wait for the right moment if you want to get her closer. Why don't you try keeping Reala away from NiGHTS in the meantime?"
​

"Got it!" Pit nodded, turning towards Dagr for a moment. "I'll try to stop Reala from getting in the way, so you focus on getting Byleth over to NiGHTS, alright?"

With that, the angel's wings flashed blue as he took off, soaring past NiGHTS and stopping in front of their sibling, sticking his tongue out mockingly. He stood at the ready, prepared to match Reala's movements and keep them away from their twin.

"You're not getting past me!"​

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Dagr

The Princess nodded to NiGHTS as Pit took to the air. Dagr turned her focus towards Byleth, watching her release the powerful attack. That technique had to be the legendary Ruptured Sky attack, and any other time Dagr would have loved to simply observe the move in action. But now wasn't the time to be fangirling over special moves. Her focus moved to the sickly green halo that hovered around the Professor's head. There was no mistaking what it was. Another thing to remember for later. The Princess then shifted her attention to Byleth's eyes. They were strange, unfocused, as if she was half asleep. Whatever this Nightmare was doing, clearly Byleth couldn't see into the real world. Dagr slung her ax across her back, crouching as she readied to move.

Byleth finished her attack, and winds whipped around Dagr. With a burst of speed, the Princess blasted towards Byleth with her Tempest Step technique! She tackled Byleth like a linebacker. Even in her dream state, Byleth still reacted. She threw an elbow strike at Dagr's head, but the awkward angle prevented anything more than a glancing blow.
"NiGHTS!" Dagr called out, spinning and throwing Byleth up towards the Nightmaren! As Byleth flew into the air, she swung her sword. The whip blade lashed out, striking a spot near Dagr.


Byleth & Sothis

Byleth's sword returned to its normal form, and Byleth lowered her weapon, gasping for breath. The monster was in a terrible state, oozing and falling apart. But despite its grievous wounds, the monster still stood! The Professor took a step back, slowly raising her sword, when the end of the tail suddenly shot towards her! A projectile attack, with everything behind it. One that she would be just too slow to block-

An invisible force slammed into Byleth, grabbing her and moving her out of the way of the monster's attack! Instinctively, Byleth threw a blind elbow strike, but felt it merely as a glancing blow. As she struggled in the grip of this invisible creature, she was suddenly spun around and flung into the air! Byleth twisted in mid-air, and spotted the orb-tip of the creature. She swung her sword, the whip blade flying down towards the monster and attempting to pierce the embryo and put an end to the beast!


Wizeman flung the liquid nothingness, completely absorbing Sothis' Sublime Surge. Out of the corner of her eye, Sothis spotted a pair of hands slowly making their way towards Byleth. She continued focusing on using her time energies to disperse the barrier, still reverting its time even though the barrier was already gone. Despite her energy expenditure and the situation she was in, Sothis smirked at Wizeman.

A series of reverse explosions detonated in front of Wizeman without warning, the X pattern that last broke his barrier! Sothis finally released her hold on Wizeman's barrier, breathing heavily and extending her arms to her sides.
Sirus! Sothis commanded. Once more, the area around Wizeman took the form of a starry night sky. This area was much larger then last time, even including the two hands that were slowly making their way towards Byleth. Just as before, the stars began to explode around Wizeman and his hands in a series of supernova explosions!

 

[Gamingfan]

Mega Lucario

Mega Lucario swiftly threw his head to the side, causing Audrey's blade to miss and strike his fist. Both fighters were locked against each other, the Wrath of Aeres allowing Lucario to keep up with the sword's power. Yet as he felt the power wane, Lucario knew he had to press his advantage.
"- I'm the Hero, I don't lose." Audrey spat, her words punctuated by a swelling of aura. She swung her blade up, summoning a storm of thunderbolts that destroyed the rockslide. Lucario used Extreme Speed, disappearing right in front of Audrey's narrowed eyes. He was going for her back, a classic villain move!
"What did I just say?" she growled, swinging round and slashing behind herself. But to her surprise, she hit nothing bit air Lucario ran a full circle around her, reappearing in the same spot and striking with a swift punch!
The Hero grunted as she was sent back. As she recovered from the blow, Audrey gripped her weapon with both hands. When Lucario approached, the bolts reached the floor, pelting Lucario's position. His Extreme Speed kept him just fast enough to spin away from each strike, but as Lucario attempted to rush Audrey again, he was met with a wide slash of her sword.
Mega Lucario flipped back, looking for an opportunity to strike again, but between the storm and Audrey's attacks, he was forced fully on the evasive.
"HA! Hahaha! Run all you want, Luca!" The Hero laughed, even as she watched the pokemon dance around her attacks, "Soon as your fire runs out, you're dead!"
Mega Lucario's pupils shrunk as he locked in on Audrey. He would end this now. The pokemon suddenly turned, as if preparing to run. Seeing this, The Hero immediately fired another bolt of lightning at the aura pokemon before he could retreat, but it was a bait!
As she summoned lightning into her sword, Audrey's eyes widened as Lucario spun round, sidestepping the bolt and rushing The Hero!
Mega Lucario leapt forward, roaring as he threw a full-power Force Palm into Audrey's gut! The Hero belted out a cry as she felt her ribs crack, going from pain into rage as she swung her blade into Lucario's side!
The attacks sent both fighters into opposite directions, with Lucario crashing into the other rock wall while Audrey rolled where the destroyed wall was.
The crowd fell completely silent, waiting with bated breath to see the victor of the loser's bracket. Audrey laid motionless, while Lucario was impossible to see due to being covered by rubble. Then the crowd murmured as they saw Audrey twitch, and cheered as she slowly arose!
Audrey slowly picked herself up, wincing as she felt her movement marred by paralysis caused by the force palm. The Hero's grimace turned into a grin, as she basked in the audience's cheering.
Lucario meanwhile was still alive, somehow managing to stay whole thanks the the Wrath of Ares, yet the rubble kept him pinned down. The pokemon could hear the faint sounds of cheering, leading him to believe Audrey had managed to survive the clash. Lucario attempted to rise again, but Ares's strength had left him. He was stuck, and likely to be considered unable to battle soon.
Lucario hadn't intended to win this tournament. Instead he wanted to find his limits, and learn how to overcome them. Yet knowing that he would lose to someone with such a poisoned aura....he couldn't help but feel sickened.
The faint sound of pebbles falling brought Lucario back to reality. A familiar aura was close by and...digging through the rocks? The pile pinning Lucario down grew unstable, and as fell apart enough for Lucario to see out, he realized who it was.
The Kraggling! It looked incredibly banged up after it's scuffle with Audrey's yo-yo, but was alive still. Even better, it had enough strength to push some rocks off Lucario, relieving the burden off of the aura pokemon. The cheers became clearer, and Lucario recognized one familiar voice.
The little Marshstomp.
Lucario pushed himself up with renewed vigor as the Kraggling shoved off a few more rocks and hopped on his shoulder. The crowd suddenly silenced again, causing Audrey to grow confused.
"What? HEY! What are you all...looking...at..."
Audrey watched in horror as she saw Mega Lucario rise again. How? Her sword hit him directly! He should be dead!
...Wait, her sword!
Audrey looked around frantically, realizing she had dropped it after the clash. Her eyes swept the arena until they landed on the weapon, which had embedded itself into a rock near the edge of the arena.
Both fighters looked at the sword, then at each other, before booking it towards the weapon. Though she was a little closer to it, the cursed paralysis kept Audrey slower than Lucario. Desperately, Audrey attempted to dash to close the gap, but her muscles locked up, and the girl fell to the floor as Lucario grabbed the hilt of the sword. The aura pokemon pulled the weapon from the rock, and tossed it over the edge.
"No!" Audrey cried, futilely reaching from the sword. The Hero's fists balled up in rage, before she threw out the Demon's Yo-Yo to tear Lucario apart. Seeing the danger, the Kraggling leapt towards the bladed yo-yo, struggling as the yo-yo threatened to rip it apart. But by then it was too late. Mega Lucario raised his arm, swirling with aura. Without a word, Lucario brought down a max-power Reversal-
Right beside Audrey.
As the attack hit the floor, the force released a shockwave strong enough to launch Audrey over the edge. Audrey tried to dash back, but the paralysis took effect, and all she could do was struggle in the air as locked eyes with Mega Lucario, who silently watched her reunite with her sword.

Winner: Lucario

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

NiGHTS and Reala


NiGHTS looked on excitedly as Pit and Dagr's teamwork began. Dagr preparing for an opening and the lunging at Byleth while Pit was quick to intercept and copy Reala's own tactic (to the crimson jester's annoyance).

"Tch. The visitor thinks itself to be wisening up." He snarled.

Reala boosted straight up, aiming to turn around the air and plummet straight toward towards where Byleth was. Meanwhile, NiGHTS took the window of opportunity that they could.

"Thanks everyone! I'll try to get her out!"

That's when NiGHTS flew in close, their hand coming right to Byleth's forehead. A white light shone for a quick second before NiGHTS vanished entirely.



The NiGHTMARE


The now helpless creature gave a last high pitched gasp upon Byleth's finishing blow, quivering and shaking before the hate filled nightmaren went limp. Doing so, nightmare Miklan vanished in a field of yellow light, the Ideya that was once lost gradually floating back towards Byleth. The battle was won!

...Half of it anyway.

Wizeman himself remained, his color now fully restored and the conflict between him and Sothis becoming wholly viewable. As a hand was about to grip Byleth, a fierce series of explosions emerged. The hand recoiled, and Wizeman who had been unprotected from the blast gave a guttural groan, the sigil around his back shattering, the backdrop of the cosmos with it. The God had been hurt.

"My patience has met its end."

A reverberation was felt around, rippling across the nightmarish reality they found themselves in. Golden spears shot out from across the 'sky', each one flying down and impaling Wizeman. The golden spears finding themselves lodged in his collar and upper body in an organized manner. They pulsated with an ominous glow, like a pattern of a heartbeat as Wizeman appeared to be getting bolstered by the moment.

"It seems a mere second level nightmaren could not bypass the rules of this world, the world of hosts and fabricated battles. I say this game has run its course. Once this dream space is unmade, I'll simply pluck the Red Ideya from the remains thereof."

The golden spears began to charge, the realm quaking with every pulse of the spears. Wizeman was planning to kill Sothis and turn Byleth Comatose in his next move. At this point, a voice yelled out.

"Hey! I found you!"

While they hadn't really interacted Byleth would recognize the appearance of NiGHTS from matches earlier on in the tournament. They offered an outstretched hand to the professor as the appeared seemingly out of nowhere.

"We finally got to you! Here, take my hand and we can get out of here!"

"NiGHTS...My worthless creation."

NiGHTS tried their best to stay confident in the face of their maker. They were here to save the visitor, not to face angst of the past after all. Focusing on that, NiGHTS gave smile to Byleth.

"Come on, we got no time to waste!"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Byleth & Sothis

Byleth dropped back to the ground as her sword retracted. Expecting to find the monster somehow still coming after her, she turned to defend herself and found instead three orbs. White, Blue, Green. Instinctively, Byleth extended a hand to the orbs. They rushed towards her, disappearing once they touched her, and Byleth felt the mental fog within her mind dissipate. The distracting lewd thoughts, the memory gaps, and the apathy all vanished. Before her now was an even bigger threat. The massive creature that seemed to take up the sky. Byleth looked up to Wizeman, falling back to a defensive position.

"Hey! I found you!"

Suddenly appearing next to Byleth was NiGHTS, one of the competitors from the tournament. One with strange powers, whos appearance was remarkably similar to Reala's. They offered their hand, urging Byleth to take it. The Professor hesitated.
Byleth! Now is the time! Sothis called out, flying down towards Byleth and NiGHTS. I do not know if I shall be able to hold this next attack!
Byleth nodded, and took NiGHTS' hand!


Dagr

NiGHTS' vanished before Dagr's eyes, seeming to fly inside Byleth. The Professor landed on her feet, so Dagr turned her attention towards Reala.
"Go, Sun-Wing! Help Pit!" Dagr commanded. Sun-Wing launched itself off Dagr's back, flying over and hovering above Byleth. Should Reala somehow make their way past Pit, they would find Sun-Wing obstinately in their way, using their body to shield Byleth if necessary!


Ryo Bakura

Kirin's answers seemed to satisfy Peppermint. Bakura returned Kirin's smile with a nervous smile and nod, rubbing his hands as he watched the relic transfer from one competitor to another.
"I suppose that does settle it..." Bakura said. Looking back up at the leaderboards and the fights, the white haired teen found that the tournament was nearly over! There was only one fight left now, the humanoid wolf-creature against the Valkyrie-like giantess.
"I'm sorry. It looks like the tournament's almost done. I didn't mean to distract you all from watching the fights." Bakura found himself apologizing again.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

The NiGHTMARE


NiGHTS gripped tightly to Byleth's hand, a white aura surrounding the pair. Wizeman had prepared to finished them off, the golden spears infusing the elder god nearly finished charging his wiping attack. NiGHTS closed their eyes, letting the space between dream and reality fade as they pulled the professor though to the waking world. And in a hazy spell...


The Plaza


...Byleth woke. Material, not dream. NiGHTS was beside them, letting go of their hand. Taking a relieved breath, the Jester tilted their head toward the visitor they helped rescue.

"Phew, that was a real doozy. Hope the nightmares weren't too harsh on you?" They gave a wink.

"Tch...!"

Reala was getting ready to dive bomb past pit and rake NiGHTS out of his victim's mind before they had retrieved them from their prison. Of course. NiGHTS sticking their nose into matters that need not concern them. Grimacing at the revelation, he paused in the air, right before a certain hand quickly rushed on the scene with alarming speed.

"-And enough of that!"

Snapping his fingers, NiGHTS, Reala, and Sothis would feel some kind of invisible force imparted on them. Not a weight, nor did it seem invasive, but a presence.

"That should do it. Last thing we need is a repeat of these gods incidents. I'm making an addendum to the rules - No using dream spaces or using gods to cause an uprising. If I were any other host everyone involved would be booted from this place! But I'm a benevolent one, so count your lucky stars this time."

Thats when he would point his finger at Reala. "Oh, and one more attempt like this and somebody is going to Crazy Hand's basement!"

Thats when the roster board changed, Audrey's name blotting out in red upon her defeat. This seemed to draw Master Hand's attention. Without bothering a goodbye to the group, he whisked away to the center of the Plaza, warping Lucario and Audrey out from their match, Lucario placed closer to the hand.

"Excellent battle! Gonna be honest, I didn't think a rep that should be in a certain other triple A fighting game franchise would make it this far in the bootleg bros tournament. Congratulations! You are the king of the losers!"

Confetti fired off from seemingly nowhere, multicolored 'L' shapes raining down around Lucario.

"And as the king of the losers, you have the right to fight the king of the winners! Nótt has been waiting for you to finish up for some time now, let's get you two paired up so we can start the finals! All the stands are gonna be watching this one, so make sure to make it a show!"

With that, Master Hand warped out. He seemed to have more energy for this one, oddly, compared to his last address. But now it was off to the final matchup. The bracket updating to show all the other names disappearing except those two. Nott and Lucario.




Peppermint & Chai & Rex Raptor


"Hardly, I'm only here cause the idiot with the guitar came along."

"Hey!"

Peppermint nudged the white haired teen with 808's feline elbow, a small smile on the cat's face.

"Go on then, don't do anything I would do, okay? Take care of yourself back home."

"I'm going first!"

Rex stomped past the pair, pushing them aside. With a huff, he turned back and pointed at Bakura with a disgruntled look on his face.

"When we fought in that weird mind thing it completely unfair! When we get back home, we are having a proper duel, and I'll crush ya like the weakling you are! Nyeh-heh-heh!"

With that, Rex left in a hurry. Peppermint just shaking her head and shrugging as the teen ran back to his own world.

"...And do me a favor and don't lose to that guy."

 

[comic]

SPAMTON​

This wasn’t the plan in the slightest. He was to be tethered to an empty vessel, a pilot free of strings… instead, he’d been subjected to this floaty form, tied to a young Lightner. This was Magolor’s fault, he’s tricked the salesman into…

…Into…

No, he could use this.

Spamton was nothing if not a resolute opportunist, and this was an opportunity.

“Spamton, if you are able to, would be so kind as to leave my friend’s body?”

At Zed’s question, the puppet tapped a finger to his chin, pink and yellow lenses glimmering with a light reminiscent of the Septima’s being. He took a moment to answer, appearing to be deep in thought.

Whatever this unique fusion had delivered was a degree intoxicating to Spamton. He could feel something… different. Strange. Unique. Had Magolor guessed this was a better option than the power of NEO? There was only one way to find out.

“CAN A CAN OF CANNED [Cans] LEAVE THE CAN?” Spamton clacked his fingers together, drifting eye-level with the Golden Trillion. “NOT WITHOUT A A A A-”

Like a true djinn, he was ‘trapped,’ likely a lie, but Spamton lacked the interest or motivation to vacate his new position just yet. Not when there was opportunity to be found. If the road led to his desired destination, then he would walk it.

“LOOKS LIKE YOU LIGHTNERS ARE [Sniffing] WITH [Glue]!”
​

DART​

With a deft kick, Dart was knocked back a few steps, canceling his momentum, though Gunvolt remained caught up by the firenado regardless. Taking advantage of the brief moment, the dragoon held back his sword and powered his energy into it. Heat Blade began to hum with energy, but the firenado was dispersed by another crashbolt, freeing the adept.

With a few tags still placed on the mercenary, he charged forth, ignoring their potential in favor of his strategy. Closing the distance, par for the course, Dart suddenly pivoted by pushing off his forward foot, pushing him to the side. Onto his other foot he landed, similarly kicking off of it to complete a zig-zag trajectory, likely dodging some damage outside of the tags on his chest.

With the second push-off, he was upon Gunvolt with a full-force shoulder-charge, using hi heavily-armored left shoulder to lead. Whether or not contact was made, Dart would pivot again, this time into a spin with an upward slash, Heat Blade now humming white with power, and a directed wave of volatile energy would roll out of it like a crushing tsunami of blistering heat, distorting the air around it with intensity.

Immediately, Dart would conclude his offensive by launching himself at Gunvolt once more, kicking off the ground with as much strength as he could to turn the dragoon into a missile, using his own hard head as a bludgeoning weapon to smash into the adept.
​

MASTER CHIEF​

“Chief, there has to be something we can do,” Kalmiya urged. Her desire to end conflict, to do the ‘right thing,’ was on clear display. Valiant and noble as the Spartan was, her defender, he knew what the artificial intelligence herself didn’t – or rather, what she refused to accept.

“There isn’t,” John said, watching NiGHTS try and fail to intervene, Reala preventing them from interfering with Byleth. “We’ll act once we’re able.”

Kalmiya pursed her lips, clearly not happy with the answer, but she didn’t object to her guardian’s wisdom. Intelligent as she was, experience and wisdom were much more difficult to replicate artificially, and were things she lacked compared to him.

Yet others were stepping in, NiGHTS had disappeared, and again, she looked toward the Chief. “What about what NiGHTS said? If they can snap her out of it…”

“Then they will.”

“And why can’t we help?”

The spartan was silent. Kalmiya narrowed her eyes. ‘Can’t’ and ‘won’t’ were how he’d described Reala’s disposition on the situation, but could the Chief be in a similar position? What wasn’t he telling her? She knew he’d had private discussions with Master Hand, and of course there was his time in the Nexus. John hadn’t spoken of his time within it, but he’d always seemed different after.

Like a wounded animal that refused to accept the care and help of others.

Regardless of how the Chief felt, he did take notice of her non-verbal response to his silence, and his stoicism faltered subtly for a split second.

“…If they can, then we’ll help.”

It was good enough for the A.I. for now, she supposed. The spartan and her would look for signs of proof that Byleth could be freed, and if proven true, would act accordingly. That was at least better than accepting uselessness and doing nothing.

And an ending came quickly, in the form of NiGHTS appearing again, pulling Byleth from her stupor. It was over as quickly as it came, and while Kalmiya was disappointed at her and the Chief’s lack of involvement, the spartan knew he wouldn’t have altered, or even sped up, the conclusion.
​

NEPHTHYS​

As the announcements came around, it was revealed that Lucario had won the Loser’s Bracket. That was… impressive. When this tournament began, the gardevoir had acknowledged it as a worthwhile challenger, but far from champion material. Should he prevail in the following fight, he would be crowned more than ‘king of the losers,’ as Master Hand put it.

After losing both of her battles, one after the other, Nephthys had doubts that any Pokémon could come this far. Being proven wrong was something this place had made her rapidly used to.

In the far end of the lobby, almost out of the way, was the gateway that led home. A single portal that would send any realm walker back to their point of origin. Nephthys struggled with goodbye’s, her departure from her own trainer was proof of that. She hated goodbye’s, so didn’t bother with them.

Yet she couldn’t yet step through the gate, back to her world.

Her crimson eyes gazed at the portal for several long moments. She was eager to return, to alter her course and make things right, yet she did want to say goodbye… without saying goodbye.

She sensed a strong emotional presence nearing her, and her psyche deduced the identity. None other than Rex Raptor. The gardevoir turned slowly to see him approaching, barely even trying to contain his frustration.

Making a quick decision, Nephthys would wordlessly hold out a card toward him once he was near enough. A single glance would tell it wasn’t a card Rex was used to. Something Neph had found in the Regular Shop – it sold far more than tournament items, as it was full of trinkets. When the gardevoir had seen this card, she thought of her once-opponent.

It was a Pokémon card of Tyrantrum, a species Neph was unfamiliar with, but she still had a large world to explore.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rex Raptor


That pasty creep better be in for an extinction level beatdown when we get back! I ain't gonna take that whole dream thing lying down. When he see what the true power of my dinos can do he'll beg for me to take it easy on him! I can just see him whimpering to his friends all like 'Yugi come save meee' when my Red Eyes-

He was interrupted from his vengeful daydreaming when Gardevoir swung something in front of him. He winced for a second, expecting it to be a kind of surprise attack, only to open his eyes and see it was a...card. Not a duel monsters one, that's for sure. It looked like it belong to a different card game entirely, definitely not onesde by Industrial illusions.

...Still, despite it being worthless in the competitive duel monsters scene, he did look at the card art for a good while, the dinosaur on the card looking ferocious with a mighty jaw. Maybe if he won this tournament, he'd show this off to Pegasus and make it a real duel monster!

Plucking it from her grasp and taking a hard look at it, he figured 'lady Rex' had no idea what sort of card game he was playing, like an out of touch grandma giving a gift to their grandchildren. Even so, Rex snickered, putting it in his shirt pocket.

"Heh, he can chill with the rest of my Cretaceous carnivores for now." He put off cooley. "What's this sentimentality about? Dont tell me your getting soft Lady Rex."






Rinku



"Boo, go for the nads!"

Rinku teased, a bucket of popcorn in his possession. The two had been holding out pretty good considering the restrictions of the fight. For a previous winner, Gunvolt was doing great but...Rinku was wondering when things would get serious. Was made Gunvolt the winner last time around? What made him the apex of a whole roster of characters?

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Byleth & Sothis

And she was back in the plaza. Byleth blinked, slowly looking around. This... was less than ideal. The green halo, unaffected by all the action, continued to float lazily around Byleth's head. It appeared she had moved around quite a bit. From the gouges and scratches in the ground and nearby walls, Byleth could tell that every move she had done in the dream, she had done in the real world. But her fight hadn't attracted much attention. Master Chief and Reala were nearby, as was Kirby. The puffball was wearing her cloak. He must have been the one affecting her in the dream. There were two others nearby as well. Pit, and Princess Dagr. Unfortunate.

Just as in the dream world, NiGHTS was holding her hand and floating next to her. The Professor gave NiGHTS a small nod in response to the Nightmaren's question.
"Thank you." She said quietly.
Ah... Pit... Sothis said. That fight had taken a lot out of the goddess, and once more Sothis fell into slumber.

With a snap, Master Hand showed up. Byleth stared at the host, but whatever he did, Byleth did not feel the effects of it. She wanted to speak out, to ask why he hadn't done anything or interfered. But she decided against it. In his usual grand fashion, Master Hand went on to announce the final round of fighters. Byleth took the opportunity. While everyone was distracted, the Professor attempted to slink back into the shadowy alleyways of the nearby stores.


Dagr

Before Sun-Wing needed to interfere, NiGHTS reappeared! The faraway look in Byleth's eyes faded, and she relaxed. She was back in the land of the living.
"Hey, way to go NiGHTS!" Dagr said, walking over to the Nightmaren. "This tournament has shown me some crazy stuff, but flying into someone's brain is a new one for me."
Speaking of the tournament, Master Hand appeared! He announced the continuation to the final round, and Dagr was once again confronted with the fact that it was her sister that was a finalist. Dagr scowled at the screen, staring at the name of her sister.
"Damn... At this rate, I'm not gonna have time for a sparring match." Dagr muttered, crossing her arms. Sun-Wing soared around the group, finally landing on Dagr's shoulders.

Wait, what was she doing thinking about sparring?! There were more important things happening right now! Dagr turned, but found that Byleth had vanished! She looked around, panicked.
"What- Hey! Where'd she go?!" Dagr said.


Nótt

The fight between Lucario and Audrey finished, with Lucario being the victor. An interesting conclusion, to be sure. Nótt would have preferred Audrey to be the victor. She had fought the 'Hero' before, and even if their encounter had been brief, there was still a familiarity there that Nótt wouldn't have with Lucario. The Princess smiled at Ótr and squeezed the prince's hand.
"It appears it is my turn. Wish me luck, dear." Nótt said. The Prince managed a smile in return, nodding to Nótt.
"Good luck, princess. I'll see you soon." Ótr said. Nótt giggled happily, and strode towards the entrance to the arena.

As she approached the gateway, Nótt paused. She thought for a moment, before deciding to walk over towards Lucario and Audrey.
"Well done, both of you. A splendid battle." Nótt said to the pair. The Princess looked smugly to Audrey. "Of course, in my eyes the winner was always clear. A good attempt dear, but not good enough."


Bakura

Bakura knelt down to 808, watching the robot cat closely as Peppermint encouraged him. He stared for a moment, before smiling and shaking his head.
"This has been the strangest day I've ever had." Bakura said. "Talking to someone through a robot cat, rock monsters, shadow priestesses..."
Before Bakura could finish his thought, Rex Raptor jumped in. Bakura jumped back to his feet, ready to run should Raptor try to go on the attack. But instead, the duelist just promised to crush him in a duel.
"A-ah, okay..." Bakura said as Raptor ran off. He watched Nephthys approach Raptor, but turned his attention back to Peppermint.

"...And do me a favor and don't lose to that guy." Peppermint said. Bakura chuckled nervously, scratching his head.
"I don't know about that. He's a pro, I just collect the cards I like." Bakura said. "Plus, uh... I've never met him before this. I don't know if we even go to the same school, much less are from the same city."
Bakura watched Raptor speaking with Neph a moment more.
"... All the same, I think I might just stay here to watch the last fight." Bakura said. "Whatever this tournament is, I don't think I'm going to see anything like it ever again. So I'd like to catch a little bit of it, at least while I'm still conscious. Is it, um... all right if I hang out with you?"


Eitri & Moon-Wing

Eitri slowly walked around Spamton and Layla, eyeing the artificial Septima-being with awe and curiosity.
"Incredible..." The sage muttered, rubbing her chin. Unsurprisingly, Spamton did not appear to be in a rush to leave his current form.
“CAN A CAN OF CANNED [Cans] LEAVE THE CAN?” Spamton clacked his fingers together, drifting eye-level with the Golden Trillion. “NOT WITHOUT A A A A-”
The spam seemed to glitch and repeat itself, and Eitri filled in the end of the sentance.
"A can opener?" Eitri asked. As she walked around Spamton, the metal eye detached itself from her magical weapon and floated alongside her. It emitted a red light, attempting to scan Spamton to gain data on the creature.


On his perch, Moon-Wing shuffled nervously. The time for Nótt's match was fast approaching, and Layla's condition was still poor. She was surrounded by many allies, but Moon-Wing still did not trust whatever this dvegar witch was doing.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Kirin
​

With the Millennium Ring now in her possession, the Battle Priestess was quick to store it within one of the pouches attached to her waist. The situation had resolved just in time for the final match of the tournament to kick in – the finalist of the Winner's Bracket, Nótt, against the finalist of the Loser's Bracket, Lucario. In all honesty, she'd been so preoccupied with dealing with the evil spirit that she'd almost forgotten about the bracket, but now that it was about to draw to a close, she could feel the familiar excitement building within her once more. Bakura swiftly apologized from dragging everyone's attention away from the main event, to which Kirin turned to face the boy with a smile.

"Hey, don't worry about it," she replied. "Just glad we were able to help you out here. Plus, getting to witness a big final fight before going back home isn't a bad bonus if you ask me. You guys gonna stick around to watch?"

Rex Raptor clearly wasn't interested, as he quickly stormed off towards the gateway that would lead him home – though not before Neph handed him a card of some sort, one the priestess didn't recognize. It certainly wasn't the kind Rex, Bakura, or Weevil used in their fights. Maybe she had a similar sort of thing in her own world?​

Pit
​

Everyone's combined efforts were enough for NiGHTS to do their thing, vanishing upon contact with Byleth in a flash of white light – and after a moment, they reappeared, the professor back to normal. Seeing this, the angel dropped back down to the ground, watching as Master Hand finally acted to reprimand those involved, making additions to the rules for good measure. At the same time, the tournament finally seemed to be coming to an end, an announcement marking the start of the final match.

For a brief moment, the angel heard Sothis' voice once more, but before he or Palutena could respond, the goddess fell asleep once more. That whole mess had probably tired her out, Pit figured. He turned his focus to Dagr, who was understandably frustrated at the reminder of her sister's success, before the angel drew closer at the mention of the sparring match.

"Hey, I bet if we hurry, we can get one good fight in before the finals are over!" he suggested. His friend appeared to be focused on something else, however, the younger jotun princess whirling around seemingly in search of Byleth.

"What- Hey! Where'd she go?!"

"What do you mean? She's right–"

He turned around as well, and found nothing.

"...there?"
​

"Byleth got away remarkably fast." Palutena noted. "Guess she didn't like all the attention. I wonder if she got any of the information she wanted out of the champions..."

ZedΩ
​

As much as he hoped it would be otherwise, Spamton's answer was a no. There went the easiest option.

"Dang, y'all..." Grazie huffed, looking up at Spamton in utter confusion. "This guy's runnin' his mouth, but I ain't gettin' a thing he says, I tell ya what. That jus' me?"

The results of Eitri's scan were, understandably, slightly limited. Spamton's presence made it difficult to pinpoint things with full precision, but it was fairly clear that the salesman's form was not just electronic, but psychic in nature as well. Small waves of the mixed energy rippled from him in short intervals, and attempts to decode their structure yielded a faint, broken-up melody as a result, no doubt thanks to the properties of the Djinn Septima. Still, the link wasn't perfect – the power would flicker and wane every once in a while, though whether that was due to the clash of energies involved or even Layla herself attempting to fight back was hard to discern.

Zed placed a finger of his own to his chin, thinking of potential solutions to this situation. Nothing he knew of in this area would directly help them remove Spamton, and as far as he knew, those who'd interacted with the salesman could not offer much in the way of dealing with him. If he truly was intertwined with Layla, and therefore her Septima, then perhaps the answer lied in...

"In that case..." Zed muttered, glancing up at Spamton once more. "It may be best if we return to our own world soon."

"Prince Zed?" Sistina questioned. "What do you mean?"

"I'm afraid we have little means of handling this situation here. If we return home and handle things through ATEMS' research arm, we may be able to better understand Layla's current condition, and how to bring her back to normal – without outright erasing Spamton, ideally. Preventing unnecessary risks will be key here, as you can imagine. If a "can opener" is what we need, then our technology regarding Septima and other promising abilities may be our answer."​

Gunvolt
​

The Adept's earlier response to his opponent's attack had created some distance between them, and as the firenado dissipated at the hands of Crashbolt, the Azure Striker's Flashfield deployed once more. Homing streams of electricity arced out towards Dart, slugging into his body, yet he carried out his plan regardless. The dragoon rushed in again, zipping to the side to avoid a swift kick from Gunvolt, who was quick to leap backward in order to gain distance once more.

Dart's response was quick, leading with a shoulder charge that nearly caught up to the Azure Striker in a flash. Gunvolt's left arm reared back as his opponent pivoted into a spin, slashing up to unleash the power he'd built up, a powerful wave of energy and heat flowing out – and it was immediately met with a Dragonsphere from the Adept, the two attacks clashing as flame and electricity surged outward wildly.

However, it became clear Dart's own attack carried more power than Gunvolt's Skill, the weakened wave finally punching through to slug into the young man's chest. Gunvolt's protective Solid Geist Locket on top of his deployed Flashfield acted to reduce the damage significantly, though the Azure Striker still flew backward a short distance, and Dart was immediately upon him with an unexpected head bash.

Yet despite the blow, Gunvolt remained focused. Electromagnetic waves rippled beneath him as the dragoon neared, Gunvolt flipping backward with an Air Hop to narrowly soar above his opponent's head, making to grab at his back in the same motion. Regardless of whether he managed to grasp Dart, the Azure Striker was already channeling his counterattack.

"Electroshock!"

In unison with Gunvolt's clamor, a wild blast of electricity burst from the Adept's body, unleashing a sudden mix of lightning and kinetic energy in a wide area around him, acting to both engulf Dart and blast him away with formidable power.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

NiGHTS & Reala


Dagr made their appearance, who was nearby Pit, Kirby, and other onlookers as well, it seemed the scene that Reala caused certainly attracted a lot of attention. Trying to assure a bit, NiGHTS laughed, turning to Dagr.

"Visitor's minds are so unique, it's fun to visit them!" NiGHTS responded. "Though this time wasn't exactly under the best of circumstances though. I rather it be for pleasure than for work, you know?"

"What- Hey! Where'd she go?!"

Pit spoke up. "What do you mean? She's right–"

It would seem she wasted no time making herself scarce, evacuating the scene immediately yet stealthily. This made NiGHTS immediately think of Reala, the jester flipping to where the crimson nightmaren was, catching the glimpse of them turning to black mist.

"So they are off too...hmph! Must be embarrassed about being beaten in front of everyone. Serves them right!"

Nodding their head with a smirk of satisfaction, NiGHTS set their attention on Pit and Dagr, who had both helped try to handle the nightmare situation the best they could. Seeing as the dust had begun to settle and that none of them had a match coming up, the Rebel dream creature put their hand to their chin, floating upside down next to them.

"So, what are you two off to do next? Hope that all didn't spoil the mood."






Peppermint / Chai


The two duelists didn't know each other? Well now it seemed to be the case. Technically couldn't Bakura just say no and not have to duel him at all? What a strange world the two came from. Either way, the techie couldn't blame him for not being in a rush to return back to where they came from. With additional assurance by Kirin, Peppermint nodded their head.

"Sure, I've known you more as an unconscious body than your own guy so far. Suppose it would be good for you to get something out of this other than a poor sleeping schedule."

"Gotta say though, not being in the spotlight bites." Chai spoke up, arms behind his head. "You can bet that when we get home though we can set that straight."

"Chai. You live on my couch. Get over yourself."

The feline jumped on Bakura's shoulder, tail curling behind his neck. The surprisingly lightweight machine gestured towards the stands.

"Why don't we get a good seat then? If this really is the final fight then we might as well get a good view for once."

 

[Fraseandchico]

Audrey Redheart
​

When it was over, Audrey had lost.
Wait, what?
She lost? Again? AGAIN?!
All she had was the chance to grip her sword once returned to the lobby. When Master Hand congratulated Lucario on his victory that he had ripped from Audrey's hands. Ignoring her entirely.

The crowd had cheered for Lucario. She felt it even when Audrey blanked out everything but her sight.
'King of the Losers' was what Lucario got called as. What did that make her?
Then Nòtt approached them both to...talk to them. The smug brat didn't even say Audrey's name, just how the winner had 'always been clear'. Treating her loss as guaranteed.
Didn't even use names. Victory snatched from her yet again, leaving Audrey a nobody in the eyes around her once again. This was not the straw that broke the camel's back, that back had broken long ago.

"At least use my name if you're mocking me, smug brat." Audrey snarled out at Nótt, clenching her fists in an effort to not make a physical scene. "You know how screwed you are, right?" An instant later, Audrey decided to jump ship, letting out a small laugh. At least, she could make Nótt feel pathetic in return for the mockery. "I mean, Lucario - that was your name, wasn't it? - here may have won by luck, but he defeated me. You may have 'fought' me, but you only had a chance 'cuz your lightning rod boy-toy was there. You'd have been dead at first glance without him. Besides, how could you even think you have a chance after losing just as much as me way sooner, and only being in this still because Master Hand doesn't know his basic numbers? Heh, you might as well go forfeit now before you break something on the way into the arena, you big ol' loser."
For Lucario, a small aura of anger and anguish was barely hidden beneath a thin line of pettiness.
It hurt to admit to losing so much. Stung like the sun to know she was still only going to be a small footnote for this tourney, just like her last one - to be a Nobody when all she wanted was to be Someone. "So how about you go cut yourself open if you're gonna run up to me and treat me with that stupid smug smile - Before I do it myself."

So she'd at least manipulated something if she could, and made her stance clear. Moments later, she decided to push past Nótt, shrugging without another word.

Audrey had someone to talk to, anyway. For now, to wait for him, she stood next to the one she ordered the favor of prior, Rinku. The Hero snatched some of his popcorn and began to watch the spar too.

Masaru Takahara
​

Perhaps due to himself, or the obvious distraction of Spamton, Masaru was unaware of the hiding Tabby. Instead, he listened to Spamton's response to Zed's question about leaving the kid, letting Eitri and Zed speak before him.

"Uh...you're absolutely sure about taking him back to your world? What if...y'know." Masaru didn't want to say it, but he was a little concerned about what Spamton might do.
"Besides that, what if you can't bring the kid back because she's attached to him now? I've seen stuff about other worldly travel before, long story, and that took magic that, seconds after it faded, sent me right back where I was beforehand." It was a relatively simple explanation, a tone that showed that Masaru hadn't been sure how to explain his views and worries about this, clearly out of his depth in that regard.

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
Lucario versus Nott.
The final matchup was up.
This was it.

Before Lucario could turn away from the screen, his soon to be opponent approached. Nótt leaned over Audrey, taunting The Hero with a smug smile on her face.
The Hero's aura took a dark hue, flaring up as if to protect Audrey as she snarled at Nott. Though Lucario remained silent during their spat, the aura pokemon did a slight bow when Audrey turned to leave
"It was a close battle." Lucario said, without inflection. "You were a thrilling opponent, Audrey."
As The Hero stormed off out of sight, Lucario turned towards his final challenger and got straight to the point.
"Shall we battle?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Dagr

The Princess expanded her search, scanning the nearby areas in the hope of catching sight of Byleth. But there was nothing, no sight of that black armor or green hair.
"So, what are you two off to do next? Hope that all didn't spoil the mood." NiGHTS said.
"Hey, I bet if we hurry, we can get one good fight in before the finals are over!" Pit spoke up. Dagr turned and put a hand on Pit's shoulder, looking to the angel with a serious expression on her face.
"Forget the fights Pit, that woman needs our help." Dagr said. At a mere glance from Dagr, Sun-Wing hopped to the Princess' wrist before jumping into the air.

"Find Byleth!" Dagr ordered. She turned her attention back to Pit. "NiGHTS, Pit. That woman is in serious trouble. This tournament could be our only chance to free her, we have to find her before she goes back to wherever she came from!"


Nótt

Clearly, Nótt's taunting had riled up Audrey. Nótt's smug smile never left her face as she watched the Hero rant and rave. When Audrey attempted to push past Nótt, the Princess stood like a brick wall and was not moved. In a flash, Nótt grabbed Audrey's arm. While she was still smiling, it did not reach her eyes.
"All of that noise." Nótt said. "And yet, it does not change the fact. You, dear, are a loser. And even in the unlikely circumstance that I should lose this match, I will forever be superior to the likes of you."
Nótt released Audrey, and gave the hero a cheerful smile.
"Enjoy the rest of the tournament, dear!"

She turned her attention to Lucario.
"Shall we battle?" The Pokemon asked in its psychic manner.
"But of course!" Nótt purred. The Princess offered her arm to the Pokemon, so that they should walk together to the portal. "Your battle was an incredible display of strength and skill. Most impressive! I am most curious. In my world, we do not have a people or creatures like yourself. It may be a rude question, but... What manner of being are you?"


Bakura

To Bakura's surprise, the robot cat jumped onto him and sat on his shoulders. It still surprised the teen how soft and light it was, for being a robot. He smiled at Peppermint and Chai's banter, it reminding Bakura of the way some of his classmates spoke to each other.
"...getting to witness a big final fight before going back home isn't a bad bonus if you ask me. You guys gonna stick around to watch?" Kirin asked. Bakura nodded, smiling to the battle priestess.
"Yeah! You should come with us. I mean, if that's okay with everyone." Bakura said, glancing to 808 and Chai as he walked towards the stands. As he did, Bakura found his curiosity growing about his new friends.
"You said your organization had experience with strange artifacts. Have you ever dealt with those things?" Bakura asked Kirin.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Kirin
​

The priestess began to walk alongside Bakura, making their way towards the stands.

"I've got some experience, but since my role as a Battle Priestess is a more active one, special artifacts are usually left to other members of Shadow Yakumo. The organization's typically well-equipped to deal with supernatural artifacts, and they've even got a hand in crafting sealing devices called Glaives out of things like mythical blades and magical relics. Making them is pretty tough, but they're really effective at suppressing the powers of even Adepts like me. I've got a feeling the amulet you gave me can be handled by a Glaive or two if we can't manage to banish that spirit."

She put a finger to her chin as she spoke, being reminded of another spiritual incident.

"Come to think of it, I've also dealt with the basis of Glaives, which are called Binding Brands. They're four ancient swords that were once created to boost Japan's spiritual defenses. A certain group of Adepts managed to remove them temporarily a few weeks back, and it turns out the power within them can be used for some powerful transformations – ones I had to fight against firsthand. Thankfully, we managed to retrieve them and put each Binding Brand back in place before any issues could pop up."

Her explanation concluded, she turned toward Bakura, thinking back to what he'd told everyone regarding his acquisition of the Millennium Ring.

"You said your father bought that ring on a trip to Egypt, right? I wonder how that thing got written off as a good luck charm... Do you know anything about where he got it? Maybe the merchant was actually some kind of shady cultist or something?"​

Pit
​

At NiGHTS' question, Pit was about to double down on his plan for a sparring match – but Dagr quickly interjected with clear urgency, ordering her metallic eagle to find Byleth before she explained the situation to the angel and nightmaren. The professor was in trouble, and she needed to be freed before it was too late... wait, hadn't he heard this before?

The angel's eyes went wide as he recalled the reason he'd searched out Byleth in the first place. Sothis had mentioned the exact same thing earlier, with the added indication of how to free the woman from whatever was ailing her.

"That's right!" he replied. "Sothis told Lady Palutena and I that we needed to free her through a fight. Byleth kept dismissing that when we talked earlier, but... agh, I should've dragged her along to the ring anyway!"

He peered into one of the nearby alleyways as he spoke, before he turned back towards Dagr.

"Dagr, do you know exactly what's got her in trouble right now!?"​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

NiGHTS


"Free her? What are you talking about? Didn't we just do that?"

NiGHTS tilted their head in confusion. Didn't they rescue her from the whole Reala/Wizeman fiasco? Did she require further saving? This wasn't something they expected. Maybe it was the reason Reala decided to pounce in the first place? Whatever the case, the purple nightmaren was left in the dark.



Reala


"Tch. What a hindrance."

Reala rematerialized, away from the other victors on a rooftop adjacent to the diner. His claws were practically digging to his crossed arms as the grimacing nightmaren looked on.

Our element of surprise has been used and now that self proclaimed 'host' has made things even more difficult. I don't believe I can usurp its control now...all because that NiGHTS decided to interfere again. Don't they see that that old glove would throw everyone here away if he got even a hint of boredom? This uncertain future doesn't bode well with me.

Leaving plans in the hands of others that weren't his master wasn't something he did. In fact, it was against his values to even consider that. However, due to Wizeman being suppressed and Reala remaining on his own under heavy restriction, they begrudgingly searched for alternative solutions.



Rinku


The demon whistled as Gunvolt's electroshock rang out around them. This fight was definitely more fast paced than the typical, at least he could keep up with Dart. And here Rinku was thinking that he was the only one that could keep up with the dragon dude.

While he was intently watching the fight, a familiar figure approached, finding themselves right next to Rinku. The demon looked at them, Audrey, in the comer of his eye. After a moment, she snatched some popcorn and began to munch down aggressively. This little action made him chuckle.

"I recognize that stench of failure." He joked. "Take it you aren't a dog person?"

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
The princess raised her arm, looking at Lucario with expectation. He looked between her and her arm for a second, before reading Nott's aura and nodding in understanding. The pokemon had never led his opponent to a battle like this, but walked with Nott out of respect for the other finalist. Upon her question, Lucario responded without a hint of anger. If he had been offended, he certainly didn't show it.
"Generally, my kind are called Pokemon. My specific species of Pokemon is known as Lucario. We are known for our ability to see and manipulate aura." Lucario answered, as to-the-point as usual.
"...If I may, I would like to return your question. You resemble humans in my world, but your aura and abilities differ greatly. Are these abilities natural in your world?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Dagr

The Princess scanned the alleyways, grimacing. She picked one at random, beginning to jog as she searched for any sign of Byleth.
"It's a nasty spell. Dark Magic." Dagr responded to Pit and NiGHTS. "It's called a Magical Contract. An enchantment special to royalty, or powerful mages. It allows you to enslave someone that has been defeated in battle. They're totally under your will, doing whatever you command while still keeping their intelligence and wits about them."

At an intersection, Dagr paused and looked all around.
"There's a way to free people who are in a Contract, though. If they're defeated in battle, the Contract ends and the one trapped by it is free. But I don't know how the hell we're gonna be able to do that here, with Master Hand watching." Dagr said. "There's another option. The Magical Contract can be dispelled by the person who cast it. So if we find them... I don't know."
Dagr growled.
"Gah, this is a lot harder when I can't just punch my problems..." Dagr said. A thought came to the Princess, and she looked back to Pit in confusion. "I'm sorry, did you say you spoke with Byleth before? You know her?"


Byleth paused, catching her breath. She looked over her shoulder and ducked into one of the stores, Regular Magecraft. The Professor glimpsed Sun-Wing flying around. Just as she suspected, Dagr recognized what she was under and was coming after her. Which meant Pit was likely after her as well, and possibly NiGHTS. She had to lose them, it was only a matter of time before Dagr would make the connection back to Eitri...



Nótt

Much to Nótt's pleasure, Lucario appeared to pick up on her que and began to escort the Princess to the arena. He answered her question, and inadvertent or not, revealed another piece of information that was helpful to the Princess. Lucario could see auras. If those were like the auras of her own world, it meant that hiding or blinding the Pokemon would not be an effective course of action... Nótt made a mental note of that.
"Ah, you are quite observant!" Nótt said. "My abilities are indeed natural. If I appear different from humans, it is because I am. While my people may look similar, we are what you would called 'Jotnar'. Like humans, but stronger, faster, tougher. We live longer as well." Nótt said.

The two reached the gate, and Nótt stopped just before it. She frowned, looking around.
"Where is that bird of mine..." Nótt muttered. Putting fingers to her mouth, Nótt let out a piercing whistle. Up in the stands, Moon-Wing looked up from his perch over the Spamton crew. The eagle shifted nervously once more, before looking down to Layla with an almost apologetic expression. With powerful wing-beats, Moon-Wing glided down into the plaza and landed on Nótt's shoulders.

Nótt smiled to Lucario, giving his arm a squeeze as she stepped away.
"Good luck, dear. You're going to need it." Nótt said, and stepped into the gateway.

Once again, Nótt was greeted by the familiar white void of pre-stage choice battle area.
"Castle Barnstokkr, throne room." Nótt commanded.


Nótt stepped through the gate, and Ótr scowled with disgust. The prince wiped his hand on his cloak, slowly looking around plaza.
"The things I do for Niðavellir..." He muttered. With that, the prince headed towards the stairs to the stands.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

Pit sprinted after the jotun princess as she spoke, motioning for NiGHTS to follow. What Dagr said lined up with Sothis' words earlier – though clarifying that Byleth was entirely under the control of whoever had defeated her in battle. She then turned back at the angel, clearly confused.

"I'm sorry, did you say you spoke with Byleth before? You know her?"

"Yeah, I do! She's actually been part of those Super Smash Brothers tournaments I've told you about. Well, just the latest one – but we're still pretty good friends!" he explained. "Byleth was acting a bit weird earlier, but man, I didn't think it'd be something this bad. At least her soul isn't getting consumed or something..."

Being further reminded of his previous Chaos Kin encounter, Pit thought back to what Dagr said about freeing Byleth. A battle was one way, sure, but finding whoever had put the spell on her...

"Ooh, didn't she say she was working for someone before? Her name was... uh..."

"Eitri," Palutena confirmed.

"Eitri, that's right! Thanks, Lady Palutena. And I think Sothis said to be careful with this Eitri person, too. If she was able to put this Magical Contract on Byleth, it's pretty easy to see why. Do you know anyone by that name, Dagr?"​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

NiGHTS


"Always the control game, is it? Now that won't do."

NiGHTS shook her head, hands crossed. Seemed like there was always some other party vying for control of someone else. So Byleth and Reala was controlled vs the controlled? This was getting out of hand.

"So all we have to do is find the person that's pulling all the strings? Is that it? Since we can't exactly fight them directly here this makes it all the weirder."

Taking flight to be parallel with Dagr's winged aid, NiGHTS scanned the area, looking around for Byleth. Surely she couldn't have left that fast, so she should be somewhat nearby? Even then, it's not like they could just scoop her up and take her. This was going to get complicated.

"At least you got my back, right Sun-Wing?"

 

[comic]

NEPHTHYS​

<Not soft,> the gardevoir folded her arms. <I just have perspective, now.>

She turned from him, hovering towards the gateway before giving pause, glancing back. <Goodbye, Raptor. Keep things entertaining, you won't have me to pull you into random brain battles.>
​

​

SPAMTON​

Back to their world, that's where Zed wanted to take the salesman.

Spamton grinned back at those gathered around him. How exciting... maybe this new world would have the tools and insight to solving the puppet's dilemma. Take back the dark, from the light.

"GREAT [IKEA]!" Spamton encouraged, still clacking his fingers together, talking over Masaru. "THE SOONER WE [Deliver With Free Shipping!], THE BETTER! WHAT'RE WE WAITING FOR-FOr-FOr-FOR [Four Eyes]?"
​

​

DART​

"ELECTROSHOCK!"

A burst of kinetic energy and electricity sent Dart spiraling away. Twisting like a cat, he rebalanced himself, gripping Heat Blade tightly and-

His landed on solid ground, outside of the ring.

"Oh, shoot!" the dragoon chuckled, rubbing the back of his head in mild embarrassment. "Guess you win!"

Leaping back into the ring, he held on arm out to Gunvolt. "Hope we get to keep sparring like that, and I hope the next one's real soon! You're a good fighter, Gunvolt!"​

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
"Ah." was all Lucario said in response. He seemed to take a second, in deep thought even as Nott unleashed a piercing whistle right beside him. It was a Moon-Wing's arrival that brought Lucario back from his thoughts, and the pokemon nodded as Nott entered the gateway.
Lucario took another moment, and a deep breath, before stepping in.
Lucario found himself in the white void, likely for the final time.
"...Spear Pillar, please." Lucario confirmed his choice.
And so it began. The arena morphed into a mix of both combatant's stages. Though mostly resembling Barnstokkr, the marble was pure white, and the tapestries were depicting Palkia and Dialga, both in their Origin Formes. Instead of walls, the arena was littered with pillars that held up the ceiling. Both fighters weren't aware of it, but the environment heavily resembled the Temple of Sinnoh, before it was reduced to it's present state.
Lucario had only a second to be mystified at his surroundings before a sense of danger washed over him. The aura pokemon's head snapped to its source. Who else but the Jotun Princess, exuding a sickeningly dark aura that screamed of peril, wanting to push Lucario back.
Yet Lucario stood his ground, seeing past the menace and focusing on Nott's true aura.
"You carry an intimidating presence. " Lucario spoke bluntly. "But I will not hold back, and I hope you do the same."
Lucario bowed, then fluidly transitioned into a fighting stance balanced on one foot. "May we have a good battle."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Dagr & Sun-Wing

NiGHTS was quick to lend their assistance, taking to the air with Sun-Wing as Dagr and Pit made their way through the maze of alleyways.
"She was in Super Smash Brothers?! You knew her before?!" Dagr exclaimed. But what Pit said next was an even bigger shock to the Princess. She stopped, roughly grabbing Pit by the shoulder and looking into his eyes.
"Eitri? Are you sure?" Dagr said.

The Princess' frown deepened as she stepped back, running a hand through her hair.
"Aw man... I really didn't want to believe it." Dagr said, half to herself. "Those scout's reports... They really were true."
Dagr snapped out of her thoughts. She looked out across the plaza.
"Yeah. I know who Eitri is." Dagr said grimly.

Above Dagr and Pit, Sun-Wing soared over the plaza. The eagle was quickly joined by NiGHTS, which the eagle regarded with a cautious eye. This Ljósálfar was like no creature the eagle had ever met before. And while they seemed good natured, its unusualness was enough to give the eagle some caution. So it merely focused on watching for Byleth.

"Hey, Sun-Wing! NiGHTS!" Dagr called up to the flying pair. "Keep an eye on the portal, make sure Byleth doesn't try to leave the plaza! We're gonna follow a lead!"
Dagr turned and walked into the plaza.
"There is one Eitri I know of. She's the current Sage of Niðavellir, just a kid, but like every sage, incredibly skilled in the arcane arts." Dagr said. "Niðavellir is the neighboring country to my kingdom. And, it just so happens to be kingdom that Ótr is the prince of. You know. My sister's ex boyfriend."

Dagr finally spotted who she was looking for. Ótr, taking the first step onto the stairway that lead up to the stands.
"Hey! Ótr!" Dagr called out, pointing to the prince. "Stop!"
The Prince paused, spotting Dagr and Pit as they approached. His eyes widened for a moment, but he did stop. He kept his hand on his sword, watching carefully as Dagr and Pit drew closer.
"Princess Dagr." Ótr said. "I was just heading to the stands, to get a better view of your sister's fight..."

"Don't give me any of that." Dagr snarled. "Don't play games with me, Ótr. I saw Byleth."
Ótr's cautious expression turned to one of confusion, and he looked from Dagr to Pit.
"Byleth? From Fodlan? She's here?" The Prince asked.
"She's here alright. Here under a magical contract, one placed by Eitri. Your Sage." Dagr said.
"Excuse me?!" Ótr exclaimed angrily. "What are you talking about?! You dare insinuate that that we, the dvegar, those that were slaves themselves to your people, are using Magical Contracts?!"
"Pit and I saw her ourselves, under a Magical Contract. And Pit here heard she was working under Eitri." Dagr said.
"Eitri is but a child!" Ótr said. "Granted, she is the sage. But do you really believe a child could perform a Magical Contract?"

Ótr looked around the plaza.
"You speak of Byleth. Where is she then? Surely the Professor of Fodlan will be able to set this record straight, if she is even here. Unless there is no Professor. Perhaps this is instead Jotnar aggression, hm?" Ótr asked, stepping towards Dagr and Pit. "My people have been trying for peace with yours, but do not think we have been blind. Our scouts have been aware of your reinforcements of the border. We have given your kingdom one of our most holy artifacts to show our devotion to peace, what possible reason could you have for these troop amassments?"

Ótr pointed to Dagr.
"Consider your position very carefully, Princess..." Ótr said.


Byleth

Byleth stayed in the shadows of Regular Magecraft, keeping careful watch out the windows as she considered her next move.
"Well well, Professor. It's quite the pickle you're in." A voice spoke.
"Show yourself!" Byleth said, drawing her sword. From the store, a figure emerged. The same purple cloaked woman that had run into Dagr and Pit earlier. Byleth lowered her sword, then sheathed it and resumed her watch for her pursuers.

"Why Professor, I thought you would be happy to see me." The woman said. Her reptilian eyes glowed from beneath her hood. "I come bearing a plan for your liberation. Listen to me..."

Moments later, the purple cloaked woman departed from the Regular Magecraft shop. She swiftly walked towards the stairs that lead to the stands.


Nótt

The arena took form around the fighters as Lucario made his choice for the field. Thanks to the choice of the Pokemon, Castle Barnstokkr appeared to be in ruins. Its once vaulted halls and ceiling were now in a state of destruction, with crumbled pillars and broken walls. Banners still hung, but they depicted strange creatures, the likes of which Nótt didn't recognize. But these changes to the throne room mattered little to the Princess. What was more interesting to Nótt was her gear. Or rather, lack of it. All the shop items she had acquired throughout the tournament were gone. No TNT, no sword, nothing. This battle would be decided on whatever skills and weapons the fighters had brought from their own worlds. A pity, Nótt had enjoyed the power of the Crimson Stone. But alas, this was likely for the best. No items for her meant no items for Lucario either. While Nótt enjoyed fights she knew she could win, a straight fight was also quite enjoyable to the Jotnar Princess.

Nótt activated her Attack/Speed Menace ability, not holding back from the start of the match. Her form changed, growing larger and appearing to be made of a dark, shadowy energy. Even so, Lucario appeared to be unaffected by the negative aura. Her lance, Hrímfaxi, glowed its blue aura, doubling the power she received from her own aura ability.

"Yes..." Nótt hissed, twirling her lance. "Do your best, Pokemon! Let us give these fine people a most enjoyable battle!"
On her shoulders, Moon-Wing raised its wings and screeched to Lucario in defiance.

3...

2...

1...

FIGHT!


The moment the countdown concluded, Nótt and Moon-Wing sprung into action! Moon-Wing fired energy beams from its eyes at Lucario as Nótt charged the Pokemon. The energy beams would not deal damage to the Pokemon, instead lowering his attack power and speed temporarily. As Nótt charged towards Lucario, she brandished her lance at the Pokemon. Blue bolts of energy fired from the spear towards Lucario!

 

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

As it turned out, Dagr did know an Eitri – and she was clearly not happy about the revelation. According to her, this Sage of Niðavellir was surely affiliated with Ótr, the man they'd seen with Nótt moments earlier. What Dagr had said about the man earlier had already given Pit a rather bad impression of him, but the idea that someone under his rule was putting a friend in danger didn't sit well with the angel.

Before long, the jotun princess had rushed over to the prince's position, Pit following close behind. His eyes darted between each royal as they traded words and accusations, some of which was new to the angel. Dvegar being once enslaved by jotun, troops being amassed at their borders... He really needed to catch up on his Fire Emblem lore.

"All that stuff in your world doesn't matter right now!" Pit interjected, frowning at the prince. "Who cares if this Eitri's just a kid? We're sure she's the one that's controlling Byleth against her will, and I don't wanna let a friend suffer again like that. Just tell us where Eitri is so we can free Byleth!"​

ZedΩ
​

"...I'm aware there are risks involved," Zed admitted, turning to face Masaru even as Spamton spoke over him. "But we must try regardless. As things stand, I see little alternative – though your input is much appreciated. Through our team's combined efforts, it will be a matter of time until we reach a solution..."

His head swiveled toward the little girl, who still appeared to be half-conscious.

"For Layla's sake."

"You are beginning to sound like a certain someone, my lord," Prado remarked, looking at the Golden Trillion with a soft smile. "Do my little kitten's lectures continue to inspire you, Sir Zed?"

The leader of ATEMS let out a light chuckle in response, despite the seriousness of the situation. "I suppose so." He replied, peering down into the lobby for a moment. "If ATEMS alone cannot accomplish this task, then her help will surely come in handy." Turning back to the rest of the group, he sighed.

"Am I correct to assume you all understand and are okay with this course of action?"​

Gunvolt
​

Dart was flung away from the Azure Striker, the latter dropping back down onto the ring, lightning no longer coursing along his body. That Electroshock had emptied out all his EP – but it seemed to have been just enough to push the dragoon out of bounds. By their stipulations, the match was over. The second champion had won.

His former opponent leapt back into the ring, offering Gunvolt a hand, which the Adept promptly took with a smile. "Likewise. Even in a more contained fight like this, you were really strong. I feel like I learned a lot, too. Next time, let's make our fight a big one – push the limits a bit, y'know?"

Following his words to the dragoon, he looked to his left, now realizing they'd had a couple of spectators for their battle. There was Rinku, the young boy that had been eliminated alongside Dart earlier, and...

"Audrey...?"​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rex Raptor

This felt different than adoring fans, yet different than a hot chick hitting on him. He couldn't put his finger on the word. But he liked it. After Neph's words, the turned to go into the gateway, the antsy Rex breaking out into a sprint.

"Ey, who said you get to end all this on your terms?!"

Cutting in front on her, his shoes skirted on the ground

"Next time you see this face he's gonna be a WORLD champion, you'll be too shocked for words! Nyeh-heh-heh! You gotta do something big not to get completely overshadowed by me! Unless your a fan of eating my dust!"

It was a crude and less direct way for Rex to say he wished her the best in the future, though you wouldn't catch Rex admitting to that intention. He flipped to face the gateway, pausing to give a snicker at her before running into the portal, his bushy mop of hair bobbing up and down behind him.

And like that, he was gone.



NiGHTS

"Watching a gate? Suppose that makes sense."

NiGHTS turned to their airborne companion, giving them a little pat on the head before fluttering over with a trail of sparkles towards the exit point. It didn't seem like anyone related to the incident was close to it. Crossing their arms and titling their head, NiGHTS fought off some thoughts about this whole debacle.

When I signed up for this thing with ol' blue, I figured it would be a good spirited competition, but the more this goes on the more other motives are showing. Cant a competition be a competition without any thing else to muddle it up? Thought it was Just Wizeman and Reala up to their usual stunts, but it's seems there just many more wanting to take advantage of it all.

That hand even said they sent someone to be tortured by that crazy hand fellow over doing something sneaky? Not to mention other things I haven't seen due to being in matches. There really should have been something in play to stop all this.

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
As the countdown commenced, Lucario took note of Nott's own stance, finding it strangely familiar. Lucario realized Taskmaster had taken a similar stance during their battle, fighting with a perfect imitation of the Jotun Princess's style.
The countdown finished, and Nott attacked first. Moon-Wing fired twin beams from its eyes, and Lucario fell backward, catching himself and rebounding back to his feet as the beams sailed overhead. Lucario brought his arms up, aura building up as Nott brandished her lance and fired blasts of energy. Lucario struck these bolts with his fists, deleting them with a good one-two punch. Though his aura protected his hands from the blasts, each clash pushed the aura pokemon back. Until the pokemon leaned forward and swung an arm up, summoning a column of aura against Nott!

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Dagr & Sun-Wing

Ótr stood resolute, glaring at Pit.
"And I will not lead you to her." Ótr said. "Eitri is our Sage of Nidavellier. I refuse to put her at risk, bringing the pair of you two her with these wild and terrible accusations. I say again, what proof do you have that Eitri has done this terrible thing?"
The Prince shook his head.
"I don't know what this Jotnar has told you, angel. The Sage is an important position among my people. There is only ever one Sage at a time, who are magically chosen as a child, and hold that position until their death. I will not allow the two of you to see her. Besides, I am the Prince of Nidavellier. I believe I would know if our Sage was using a Magical Contract." Ótr scoffed.

As he was speaking, the purple cloaked woman walked past the trio and headed up the stairs. Ótr glanced at her for a moment, but turned his attention back to Dagr and Pit.
"Now, unless you have some proof that Eitri has done this, there is nothing more I wish to say to the likes of you. Good day, Princess." Ótr said. The Prince turned and headed up to the stands.

Sun-Wing snapped its beak at NiGHTS when the Nightmaren petted the eagle, but otherwise just glared at the fighter. It soared over to the gate, perching on top of it and keeping a sharp eye out. Aside from keeping a lookout for Byleth, Sun-Wing also gave the occasional glance to NiGHTS. Something was clearly troubling the creature....


Eitri

The Sage listened carefully to all the parties as they spoke. She shook her head, turning towards Zed.
"It's not the course of action that I would suggest..." Eitri said. "We are here, at the crossroads of many worlds. There are those here that may be able to provide assistance in ways not possible in your own world."
The Sage closed her eyes, recollecting everything she had seen in the tournament thus far.
"My scans revealed that this presence of Spamton is a combination of many things. Psionic energies, electrical energies, music. There are many in this tournament that have powers similar that could assist. Take for instance the fighter, Chai. His abilities appear to be based in a combination of electronics and music. The Pokemon, Gardevoir, is skilled in Psionic powers. And the battle Priestess, Kirin. Her powers, while appearing different, still appear to be similar to that of yourself and Grazie. Any three of those could provide valuable assistance."

Eitri opened her eyes.
"Then there is the possibility of involving Master Hand. At this point, Spamton has invaded an innocent person. While odds are low that he may actually assist, there is still a chance he may help should we explain the situation." Eitri said. She looked to Spamton.
"I also find this creature's desire to enter your world concerning." Eitri said. "Who knows what effects he may have? Species introduced from other parts of the world have the capability of wrecking entire ecosystems, what greater damage could a creature cause from another world altogether?"


Bakura

The teen listened with great interest as Kirin told the story of her past adventures, dealing with the powerful magical artifacts of her own world.
"Wow... Incredible..." Bakura said.
"You said your father bought that ring on a trip to Egypt, right? I wonder how that thing got written off as a good luck charm... Do you know anything about where he got it? Maybe the merchant was actually some kind of shady cultist or something?" Kirin asked. At the mention of the ring, Bakura instinctively went to touch where it usually was. But of course, it was still gone. The teen frowned, looking away as the group finally reached the stands at the top of the stairs.

"I... I don't know." Bakura said quietly. "He just... said I was destined to have it. That's all. I wasn't there, I never saw anything."
Even though he had just given the Millennium Ring away, after all the trouble it caused, Bakura already found himself missing the charm.
Shaking his head, Bakura tried to change the subject.
"So, um... Peppermint, Chai. You two said you were trying to 'smash up an evil corp'?" Bakura asked the robot cat on his shoulders. "What was that about?"


Nótt

The Pokemon moved with incredible speed and athleticism, falling back to dodge Moon-Wing's eye beams and jumping right back to his feet. With his bare hands (paws?) cloaked in a blue energy, the Pokemon was able to punch through Nótt's energy attacks. The Princess closed the distance when Lucario launched another attack, calling forth a pillar of that same blue energy. Moon-Wing extended a wing, shielding Nótt from the energy attack. At the same time, runes appeared on the wings of the eagle. A purple energy field appeared around Moon-Wing and Nótt for but a moment, blocking more of the Lucario's attack that Moon-Wing wasn't able to reach.

"Impressive!" The Nótt exclaimed.
The Princess attacked Lucario with a flurry of blows. Her lance twirled and swung as she unleashed a barrage of attacks. Stabs and slashes, as well as strikes from the opposite end of the lance as Nótt attempted to drive Lucario back!

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
To Lucario's surprise, Moon-Wing erected a barrier around itself and the princess, which shielded them from his attack without any sign of strain. Nott immediately took advantage of his opening, swinging her weapon wildly. Lucario barely had enough time to pull back as Nott's first strike left a shallow wound on his torso. Quickly regaining his bearings, Lucario dodged and weaved between Nott's attacks, finding a steady rhythm in her moves thanks to previous experience in Taskmaster. Yet Nott's spear and size meant her reach was far greater, and Lucario found himself steadily losing ground as he looked for an opening.
He found one as Nott stabbed forward. Lucario turned in time with the attack, gripping the handle as it passed and using Nott's steady hand to pull himself forward, unleashing a kick into the princess as he did! Whether it landed or Moon-Wing intervened, Lucario would immediately follow it up with a flip kick from his other foot, releasing the spear and flipping back to create distance.
"You as well." Lucario replied. "Both of you."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Peppermint & Chai


Peppermint frowned at Bakura's line of questioning, looking to the side for a moment. The feline blinked a couple times, their ear twitching before they sighed, shrugging a paw away from him.

"Well, that's a long story I rather not get into-"

"What's so long about it??" Chai interrupted. "All there is to it is that there's this big mega corp called Vandelay industries, right? They are kind of a big deal, making tech, robots, and cool as hell arms like the one you see right here."

Swerving the hand on the swivel in his wrist, the metallic fingers flexed and clicked with every movement. Pointing at it, Chai continued.

"Thought it was cool, I got one. Turns out though, this was all some kind of trick. Who would have thought getting free high end tech from a corporation had a catch to it? Turns out they put a chip in our heads when we got these upgrades that allows them to controls us with a signal if they wanted to. They call it Spectra. Rather over the top evil business practice, I know, but that's why we are putting a stop to them!"

He put his hands on his hips, proud of the picture that he painted about his story, As if he was actually proud of his heroic dialogue. Peppermint shook their head cybernetic cat's head, dragging a paw down their face.

"That is certainly the Chai way of explaining it..." She bemoaned. "There is way more to it than that. While I don't want to go too deep in the details, I've been trying to take them down for a while due to their unethical business practices. They want me gone, and I want Vandelay restored back to how their founder would have wanted it - Roxanne Vandelay."

"Still can't say I've heard of her. But I'm sure she was at least better than Kale."

"At least...?? Chai, she pioneered sciences, gave help to the needy, healthcare without charge, she solved pollution! How could you even-"

Peppermint stopped herself, realized that she was still talking to Chai. Realizing it wasn't going to get through his head she just let it go. Sighing, she turned back to Bakura.

"In any case, now it's just up to me and the class clown over there to take it down."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Nótt

First blood had gone to her! While Lucario skillfully dodged a majority of Nótt's attacks, one still managed to get through. Despite the shallow cut, Nótt was encouraged by her success. The Pokemon did not take the assualt lying down. Lucario's first kick took Nótt by surprise, landing a clean blow against her side. As the Pokemon followed up with a kick flip, Nótt managed to move back slightly and block the attack with her gauntlet. Lucario continued, backflipping away, and as he did so Moon-Wing went on the offense. The Jotun Eagle once again fired its eye beams at Lucario as Nótt pressed forward, not wanting to give the Pokemon any rest.

Nótt continued her assault, changing to a series of piercing attacks to take full advantage of the distance her lance gave her. If Lucario was not careful, he would find himself backed into one of the many ruined pillars that were strewn about the battlefield.
"These attacks" Nótt called out to Lucario, half out of interest, half an attempt to distract the Pokemon. "Is this energy the aura you speak of?"


Bakura

Bakura listened intently as Peppermint and Chai spoke of their own tales. Just the pair of them, against a massive megacorporation? Both of them seemed strong and smart, but still... The more tales that Bakura heard about these competitors, the more he wondered why it was he was able to come here in the first place. No, that wasn't it... It wasn't him that decided to come here, to join this tournament. It was the ring.

"Just the two of you?" Bakura said, voicing some of his thoughts. "That sounds, well... Incredibly difficult. In my world there's a fair share of massive corporations, but it sounds like this Vandeley Industries is larger than even KaibaCorp or Industrial Illusions. It seems like your world has more advanced technology too. Just two people going against an entire organization like that."
Bakura shook his head.

The group reached an open space in the stands, and Bakura sat down to watch the match.
"Do you really think you can pull it off?" Bakura asked Peppermint and Chai.

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
The first hit landed on Nott's side, while the flip just missed. As Lucario flipped back, Moon-Wing fired another beam from its eyes, aiming where he landed Without many options, Lucario gritted his teeth as the beam passed by him. It dealt no damage, but felt as if it took his energy with it, leaving the pokemon feeling a little weaker.
Nott stabbed her lance forward, and though Lucario managed to block it with his arm spikes, he did not have the strength to hold his ground, causing the pokemon to be blown back.
The aura pokemon skipped across the floor, rolling briefly before planting both feet and rising up right in front of a pillar, as Nott intended.
"..Yes...though I've never seen a human manipulate energy like you." He replied, hand on the pillar as if to support himself.
The princess charged forward, her weapon outstretched to run through the steel type! As she did, Lucario would activate ExtremeSpeed to counteract Moon-Wing's influence, and swiftly pull himself up the pillar! He would rise and cling to the pillar just as Nott would strike, leaving the princess to stab into the marble! Lucario would immediately bolt over the two, punishing Moon-Wing with a rough strike of his knee as he passed!