Shen: King of Digimon
Previously Shen: King of the Mist
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"Hmm...yes. I think it's about time." A familiar voice spoke in the blackness.
"Now that I'm back at the reigns...how about we get things back to normal? Let's see...got my list of prospects for the new, Not Nexus dependent tourney. Let's see if we can't scout them here."
...........
The Dino Duelist
"...Beat it, twerp."
"Aaaaagh!"
Thud
A teen in a red beanie, Rex Raptor, was flung out of his room, his duel monster cards being thrown out with him, littering the floor of the hallway. His back landing next to him, being flung by a tall blonde woman standing in the doorway. Rex adjusted himself, sitting up to meet her, careful not to sit on his cards.
"Hey, no fair! You cheated somehow, I know it!"
"Thanks again for the room Raptor~"
"Wait-"
ker-chuck
The door closed behind him, locking in a single deft movement. That just happened. A tall drink of water swindled him out of his room just like that. Licking his wounds, the short duelist had no choice but to grit his teeth and start shamefully picking up his cards that were scattered.
"I swear, that's the last time I make a bet with chicks..." he grumbled. "I'll show her. When we get where we are going, I'll stomp that lady down to size!"
What a way to start this championship. Bah, it's a good thing Weevil didn't see that, else he'd never let me live that down. At least I got a chance with her, that puny pest has no game! Ha! That makes me feel a bit better. ...Ah...I'll have to get new sleeping arrangements. Don't tell me I'll have to sleep with all the amateurs...
After packing up all his cards, he rose to his feet, turning around to go to the common rooms when he realized...the hall looked a bit different than before. Since when had it become all purple and swirly? Was this some kind of event or something? Even further...where were the walls?! His questions would only raise further when a voice echoed through the area.
"You have been chosen, prove yourself worthy to partake."
"Wha-? What is this? Some kind of thing to weed out the chumps from the champs?!"
That's when an odd device appeared in a flash of light, mounted to his wrist. It seems silver and blue, with red lights in the center of it. Rex was taken aback by it, recoiling at the sight.
"Ah! How did that happen- what is this thing?!"
"Clever, is it not?"
A vaguely British voice spoke from the other end of the void. Soon enough, a figure appeared, whirring out of the shadows on a suspended chair, hovering just a few feet off the ground. It was...a monkey? One with a strange hairdo and fancy get up.
"The proctor of this test crafted this device for you, letting you play your monsters without use of a dedicated arena." The cultured ape started. "Ingenious, really. How they can whip something up like this spontaneously."
"Uh...a monkey." Rex blinked. "I'm talking to a monkey."
"Ah! An introduction is in order. You may call me...Specter. And I'll be organizing your opponent this evening."
"...Starting to think that chick slipped me something."
"Weather you believe this to be truth or fiction won't matter for long. Either you come to your sense or fail, to Pipotron G!"
"Ehh? Who's Pip-"
CRASH!!
A thunderous boom was heard as a body mass landed down from above. A large, white and black furred ape with intricate jagged tattoos across it's body reared it's ugly head. It's white, soleless eyes stared back at Rex before it rose it's fists up to the air.
"RAAAAHHHHHH!!"
Rex winced as the loud gorilla cried out, shaking the room. It sure looked...real. Was that truly a duel monster?
So this guy is some kind of monkey duelist? That's so dumb! Like a monkey would ever know how to duel in a million years. It'll probably some kind of hologram Pegasus made to challenge newbies to weed them out before the tourney begins. Well, I ain't gonna be picked on so easy!
"Ha, oh yeah? Well that overgrown primate better watch out, cause he's about to set foot in the world of Titanic tyrants!!"
The duel disk activated as his deck was placed in the slot. Seconds later he drew his hand, Pipotron G stomping forth toward him. He eyed a good opening card, grinning devilishly as he placed it on the field.
"Megazowler! Mash that gorilla down into Dino Chow!"
An orange scaled triceratops appeared on the field, lined with spiked all along its spine and sides. Its front had two sword like spikes jutting out from it which emphasized it's hostile demeanor. Woah, that things looks way more real than usual...
Megazowler howled as it charged headlong, orange flames building up as it galloped toward Pipotron G. The giant enemy gorilla raised it's arms up, preparing for the dinosaur, so when impact came- it caught the dinosaur right on it's two horns!
"RAAAAHHHHH!" Pipotron G bellowed.
Pipotron G lifted Megazowler into the air by it's horns alone, leaving the helpless dinosaur to fight desperately to free with it's legs, to no avail. That's when Pipotron G would swing the dinosaur like an axe, slamming it into the ground! Dust and debris flew everywhere as the Dino crumbled to pieces. Rex growled, covering his head from the debris when one of the rocks that flew up and hit his cheek, a thin drop of blood dripping down his face.
"...!" Rex gasped. "Don't tell me these are actually-"
"Real? Ha, so you've finally come around." Specter amusingly spoke. "Yes. They and the danger here is quite real. So you better have more than that, human. Or else Pipotron G will make you part of the floor."
Beating their chest, Pipotron G gave a triumphant yet threatening howl over the crater that Megazowler was defeated in. If the danger was somehow real, he couldn't just stand around surprised!
"Tch! Ain't no way I'm gonna get crushed by some monkey." He snorted, drawing a card. "Trakadon! Mow down on that ape!"
As he played the card, a slender blue dinosaur appeared on the battlefield, lined with tiger stripes. The carnivore had rows of sharp teeth and dagger like talons. It seemed almost the size of Pipotron G, so it should be enough to do damage! It raced across the ground, flanking around to the side of the ape, snipping at their heels.
"GRR...RAAAHH!" G winced.
G swung a punch at Trakadon, though the swift Dino slid under it, taking a bite out of his back. It went on, Trakadon dodging blows and flanking, snip after snap, making Pipotron G more and more frustrated, red gashes forming on many parts of his body. Pipotron G went down on a knee after the Dino clamped it's jaws down on the joint, but as it did so, Pipotron G gripped the reptilian's neck, ripping him off of the knee, before squeezing and popping the dino's head right off it's body! It disintegrated in a flurry of polygons.
"Trakadon might have been downed, by dont think-"
"GRAH!"
"Eh-?"
Suddenly, Pipotron G interrupted his words, punching the ground right where he stood! He backed up just enough to avoid the brunt of the blow, but the force was so strong he was thrown up into the air by proximity! He hit the ground and tumbled back, coughing as the air was practically knocked out of his lungs.
"Hm? Did you think we would sit back and listen to that no doubt riveting dialogue?" Specter mused. "Im afraid this exercise is at an end. G? If we would be so kind as to wrap this up."
"Your right about one thing."
"Hm?"
"This thing IS over!"
When Pipotron G slung his punch towards him, a new monster appeared, one that wrapped around G's arm with its serpentine body. It's slender form tied it up, preventing it from reaching its master!
"Take a look at one of my star monsters! Serpent Night Dragon!!"
"Kreeeeeeeee!"
The dark azure dragon screeched to life, it's twin wings flapping as it's slender, scythe shaped beak was revealed when the wings flapped out of the way. Pipotron G growled in anger, reeling a second punch and flinging it towards the dragon. That's when the dragon pressed it's talons against the fist it was wrapped around before kicking off in a swift move, sending G's own arm in the way of the fist, the Pipotron hitting it directly!
"RAH-AAHHHH!!" It roared out in pain, grabbing its injured limb.
"Heh! Not the smartest monkey, is he?" Rex sneered. "Now I'll give 'em an attack that'll send 'em back to the Stone Age! Go Serpent Night Dragon, Nightmare Sonic Blast!"
"Kreeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
The slender dragon glared at it's target, it's body pulsing with an odd, black energy. That's when a flurry of shadows fired out of it. The shadows were shaped like spears or arrows, traveling along the ground. When they crossed over G's shadow, the giant ape took the attack! Arrow after arrow, spear after spear, flurries bombarded the monkey, the giant brute howling in pain.
"RAHHHH!!!!!"
The sizable simian collapsed to the ground, his body battered and spear / arrow wounds littering his body, despite not taking any on his physical body. Specter, was surprised, his eyes slightly wider than before, the back of his wrist moving to prop up his chin.
"What a development. To be honest, I had no faith in your abilities. But for a human, you preformed adequately. To knock down G like that is no small feat." Specter commented, his red irises moving to the side of his eyes. "Is that the same conclusion you reached, hand?"
Pipotron G struggled, getting back up to it's feet as a entity emerged from the shadows. A giant white gloved hand, appearing next to Specter, facing the Dino duelist.
"Is that a..." Rex started, shaking his head. "Nevermind...I have a feeling I should stop being surprised."
"Right..." the hand cleared his 'throat'. "Mai Valentine, is it?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...That is you, yes?"
"...You have got to be kidding me..." Rex twitched.
"Oh. Seems we have the wrong one. Guess we'll wipe his memories and go take the true candidate-"
"Not so fast." Specter closed his eyes. "I believe the talent scouting rules specifically state: 'whomever passes the test and comes out victorious or reasonably capable shall be accepted'. Whomever being the key word, it does not specify that they have to be the target of said test to pass it. I'm afraid it's against the rules to kick this one to the curb."
Master hand and Specter exchanged a look. Master hand's fingers curled up into a ball, as if he wanted to clobber the ape. But he was correct. Unfortunately. If he had brought in Atriox instead he was sure that he wouldn't call him out on the technicality...
"Thank You for that reminder. Specter. Master Hand grumbled. "Alright then. You...whoever you are, are formally granted to attend a tournament of grand scale-"
"Rex Raptor, buddy." Rex interrupted. "And if you haven't noticed, I'm already a guest of honor in my own tourney! I don't need whatever weird carnival show you guys got going on. I gotta get my trophy, AND my revenge. So buzz off!"
"I wasn't done. Raptor. What if I told you that you could receive the means to defeat your rival, and attain a better reward in this tournament, and return to the exact time that you were taken out of?"
"Eh...? You can do that...?" Rex blinked. "Well, returning me back...with even stronger cards to best that crazy chick? ...Huh...well that doesn't sound half bad..."
"Are you coming? Or should we leave you here?"
Rex Raptor laughed, a rising laughter that got louder as he got more confident in his position. Deactivating his duel disk, he looked up at the hand, a grin on his face.
"Line up my foes, and I'll stamp them to dust!!"
..............
The Child Demon
Rinku's Improved intro
"Hehehehe!"
The laughter was followed by a small figure shattering through a window, the glass fragments flying everywhere right after a pink explosion detonated behind him! Some kind of pearl colored gas was left behind. A woman screaming was heard soon afterwards. Clambering to the broken window, a lady stuck her head out, black marker having drawn all over face in all sorts of profane ways.
"Thiiiiiief!" She wailed.
The kid turned around mid air, pulling down an eyelid and sticking his tongue out at her, waving a pearl necklace out in front of her, before dropping down. She gasped and pointed down at him, yelling for the authorities as he slid down her elaborate roof tiles like a surfer. This is what he was looking for! The excitement! The thrill of the chase!
In the demon world, the weak didn't resist against the strong much, because they knew it was pointless. The big powerful took what they want, destroyed what they want, and the weak simply allowed it to happen. ...Talk about boring! What's the point in doing bad things if nobody is gonna call you out for it and do something about it?! But here...in the human world? Everyone was on everyone else for the smallest thing. So taking up this human disguise, he, Rinku, could have all the fun he could ever want! There were humans everywhere!
Leaping off of the mansion rooftop, Rinku leapt to another roof, and then another, hoping with an almost weightless fashion, laughing all the while as he saw cops attempt to catch up, and failing miserably. Some get crafty though sometimes, like right now there was a blockade ahead. Four cops with a makeshift barricade. They were getting faster about their responses! Nice!
"Stop there kid!" One yelled on their megaphone. "Give us what you stole and-"
"Nice try, Steve!" Rinku called him by name, leaping over him, pulling down the cop's hat over their eyes mid frontflip. "But you gotta get better than that if you wanna caaaatch meeeeee~"
"Argh! Run him off! Don't let him get away again!!"
Rinku laughed, winking at them as he dropped down into the crowd below. The bazar was packed today, which was all the better for him! The cops on the other hand struggled to get past all the buyers and traders. Rinku slid under a stall selling fresh apples, where he sat and softly giggled to himself. These guys were absolute chumps. They were looking in all the wrong places! Did they even see where he went? 12 different chases and they still didn't know how he picked a good old hiding spot! He shook his head as he reached his hand up and snatched an apple from the merchant's batch, sneaking it down below and taking a big bite out of it.
These guys are nice to mess around with, can do so much with these goons. Hmmm...wonder is there's higher difficulty ones around here though. Or maybe I can try to get captured and see how easy it would be to break out! Gotta try some more challenge runs...maybe try to escape capture without using my legs and only my hands?
Rinku told another bite out of his apple, cocking his head as he swallowed the sugary fruit. He'd have to think more on it. Simply plopping the pearl necklace where he sat, he left it there when he crawled out from the apple vendor's stall. The police going the opposite way than him now, he calmly walked down a different alleyway. Right as he took another bite of his apple, a set of boots were heard on the alleyway end behind him.
"..."
"..."
"Well? Ain't ya gonna read my rights or something?" Rinku spoke to them without turning around.
"...Demon." A man in green armor spoke.
"...Heh....heheheh..."
Someone knew he was a demon. He couldn't contain his laughter, which escaped his teeth as his eyes narrowed. At this moment he knew. Whoever was talking to him wasn't going to be making it out of this alive. Still not turning to face his foe, he gripped the apple tightly in his palm.
"You ain't like the rest of those mooks, are ya? You came here to kill me. Didn't you?"
"..."
"Hahaha, you don't gotta say anything. I know what you mean." Rinku chuckled, crushing the apple in his palm, allowing the pulp to trickle down. "But, before you die, I want to have a little fun first."
Rinku vanished in a second, the soldier, the Doomslayer, hoisting his super shotgun cautiously as he looked around for the boy. From above, the boy landed down right on top of the soldier's double barrels. He grinned right in his face before leaping straight off with surprising force, forcing the gun's aim down. Right as Doomslayer was getting back up from that disorientation, Rinku has already maneuvered around to his back, delivering a swift kick to his spine.
Doomslayer was shoved forward, nearly staggering to a knee. But he refused, slowly getting back up from the deceptively powerful hit he took. Rinku cocked his head in place as he levitated.
"Huh, I was hoping to paralyze you with that and watch you try and feel with your legs...looks like you are one tough cookie." Rinku applauded. "Alright tough guy, let's see how you-"
That's when Doomslayer rushed toward him like lightning, grabbing his ankle. That's when the slayer swung the boy like a club into the brick wall to his left. WHAM! there was a large crater in the wall now, where the boy now lay, seemingly unconscious or dead. The armor clad man investigated the crater, examining the boy's condition. He didn't appear to be breathing, and his eyes were closed firm shut. Right as he went to check the boy's pulse, Rinku's eyes snapped open, a grin forming on his face.
"Got ya!"
Rinku gripped Doomslayer's wrist with both of his hands, and with one move-
SNAP!
He twisted and broke the Slayer's wrist. He looked for some kind of reaction. Pain, agony. But there was none. Instead, the Slayer socked him with the fist attached to the broken wrist, despite its broken status. Rinku's grin faded instantly. This guy wasn't kidding around. Grunting, the boy planted his feet on the slayer's chest plate.
"I think your under the wrong impression!"
Rinku kicked with both of his feet, the force kicking Doomslayer far up into the air. The boy flew right up to meet him, his arms crossed.
"The world is my playground."
That's when he suddenly replicated into multiple instances of himself. Soon enough, over a dozen versions of Rinku were flying circles around him, taunting him and laughing. Doomslayer, who grew Increasingly annoyed, raised a new weapon: A chain gun. Specializing in wiping out numbers. He layed down the pain a storm of bullets rampaging out from the barrels and into the field of demons. But the bullets seemed to just phase through them, not actually dealing damage. With all of them bouncing around like this, it was hard to tell which one was the real one and which one as an instance he had already shot before... That's when one of the Rinkus, presumingly the real one flew up, stopping right at his visor.
"...And you aren't being a good playmate."
That's when he raised a finger and flicked against Doomslayer's forehead, knocking him down, working with gravity. The clones dispelled as Doomslayer hit the ground with a resounding boom. Knowing him, he wasn't dead. So he needed to keep the pressure on. Right when he was to dive after him, something stopped him. Or rather, someone.
"Hold it. That will do."
A giant gloved hand appeared, snapping itself into reality. The hand pointed at him, despite the little demon's puzzled expression. He began to introduce himself.
"I am Master Hand, and the display you just showed was enough to tell me you have what it takes. So I'm formally inviting you to-"
"So, that guy was your attack dog?" Rinku arched a brow, almost amused. "You brought a demon hunting human after me? You sure know how to pick 'em."
"Ahem. He had a purpose. He was to test to see if you were good enough to partake in a tournament of my design. One filled with many entertaining and strong fighters."
Rinku's attention was grabbed. The put his hands on his hips and looked the hand up and down. That's when he cautiously looked over his shoulder down at Doomslayer before gesturing to with his head at him.
"More entertaining than that guy?"
"How about you find out for yourself?"
Rinku laughed, impressed with the Hand's sales pitch. He was looking for stronger fights, fiercer challenges. This could be the perfect Avenue for exactly that. What perfect timing it was!
"Alright then, handy. Lead the way~"
..............
Future Rockstar
.
..
...
CRAAAAASH!
A large glass window shattered apart as a boy flew out of it, rather ungracefully. The scarf wearing youth flailed his limbs in the air as he took an uncontrolled landing, tumbling to the ground with a series of bangs and whacks. The boy lay dazed and confused, face planted into the ground while a black spherical drone floated around him.
"Learned your lesson about these famous shortcuts of yours yet, Chai?" The machine's speaker scolded, the voice of a girl on the other end.
"Mmmmrrph." Chai painfully replied, his face muffled by the ground it was stuck to.
"Ugh...well, get up and look alive." The drone's optics rolled, floating ahead of him.
Chai groaned, peeling himself off the floor, massaging his face with his non-robotic hand. Shaking his head of any remaining glass shards, he did a once over, looking at his appendages looking for injuries.
"Okay...arms are fine, legs...look to be in once piece." Chai commented. "Soooo that means my shortcut worked, peppermint!"
He stood up in a quick move, shooting finger guns toward the drone, 808, which just shook it's 'head' as it didn't even turn his way.
"Yes it did, but in typical Chai fashion, we are now lost." Peppermint said, examining the room they were in. "It's strange...I don't recall this room on the schematics of the building."
"Soo that means we are in a top secret room that Vandelay doesn't want us knowing about!"
"Or I just haven't updated my map. But it seems spacious in here. Why would they make such an open area in a tower? It doesn't make any sense."
"Hiiiiighly suspicious." Chai added, half listening. "Say, peppermint. Can you turn on the lights? I can't see anything."
"That's strange. It doesn't seem connected to any electric or power source. Just what are they-"
"Your trial begins now." A new voice boomed "Prove yourself."
The voice interrupted her, echoing across the room with a tone of authority. It wasn't any of Vandelay technologies's leadership. ...Could it be a new threat? A new robot they had developed to get rid of them? Whatever it was, Chai was ready for it! He held out his grabber stick, bolts, gears, and other metals magnetizing to it, forming a scrap guitar. Holding his new weapon defensively, he prepared for a fight.
Blue lights began to kick on, revealing the rest of the blank room, covered in black tiles. A figure stood on the opposite end. They weren't a robot at all. In fact, they were pure organic, with red fur and equally dreadlocks on either side of their head. They were an anthropomorphic echidna, crossing their arms with protruding spikes on their gloves. Chai blinked, taking this all in.
"Uhhh, peppermint. Is that like, a new mascot or something? Looks like Vandelay is reeeeeally trying too hard to appeal to the young crowd."
"What did you call me?" The mascot twitched. "Name's knuckles. I'm nobody's mascot. Remember that."
"I don't know what that thing is. Vandelay isn't an expert on organic fabrication, let alone something this uncanny." Peppermint spoke through 808. "Be on your guard Chai, I don't have any info."
"Thing...'Thing'?!"
Knuckles broke his composed demeanor, stomping on the ground, rumbling the room. He shook his fist in front of him, his face whipping up to glare at Chai, teeth bared.
"I'm Knuckles, of the echidnas! Guardian of the Master Emerald! I won't be labeled as some thing!"
Before the guitarist could say a quip to Peppermint, Knuckles rushed forward with surprising speed, leaping and hurling a corkscrew punch at Chai. The boy raised his guitar to match him, though vastly underestimated the echidna's power, being knocked back from the parry, skidding back until he hit the wall behind him.
"Oof! What is that guy made out of?!" Chai shouted out.
"I don't know, but we don't have time to mess around. Let's wrap this up, Chai."
"Yeah, alright." He agreed, looking back at Knuckles. "Alright ya looney toon, come and get some!"
Chai charged forward, sweeping his guitar from the left to smack Knuckles. However, Knuckles raised his fist, soaking the hit with his glove. So Chai struck again. And again. And again. Several slashes with his scrap guitar, Knuckles raising both of his hands, looking for an opening.
"Whats wrong, big boy? Too much for ya?" Chai taunted as he kept swinging away.
"Grrrr...I hate smart mouths!"
Knuckles gave a backhand to the next strike, forcing Chai to back up from the force. The red character spread his legs apart and raised a fist high into the air, smashing down on the black tiles, cracks spidering across it. Chai and 808's eyes grew wide when he did this.
"Ehh...?"
Knuckles grunted, pulling out a massive chunk out of the ground. It was the same color as the tile, and looked incredibly heavy. Knuckles raised the boulder over his head, it being roughly twice his size!
"It'll be hard, but I think you can evade this one, Chai." Peppermint observed. "He'll be predictable right before he throws it. If you time it right, then maybe- ...Chai?"
The feline looking drone noticed that Chai was missing. Swiveling around, he found the scarf toting boy, running the opposite direction, clambering towards the window he fell out of.
"Nope-nope-nope-nope!"
"...! Chai! Where you going??"
"Away from that thing!"
That's when knuckles flung the black boulder towards the pair. The drone, 808, flew up to the window Chai had almost climbed out of, pushing up on him to round the ledge right as the boulder struck the wall. So when it hit, the entire wall shattered apart! Chai was flung out, catching serious air time before noticing a conveyor rail above him. Getting an idea, he raised his robotic arm, aiming it up at the rail. He reversed the magnetic charge on his arm, magnetizing up towards the rail and gripping it. The impact on the rail jostled his MP3 in his chest, the device clicking on a new track.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T5dIrub_N9A (The Black Keys - Strange Times - Vinyl - HQ)
The guitar on the track rang out, the environment altering to the beat of the drums and the bass. Alarms blared to the rhythm, elevators raised and lowered along, and speedy conveyors started and stopped every few beats. Behind Chai, Knuckles yelled up from below.
"You aren't getting away that easy! Get back here!"
Knuckles jumped, gliding to a nearby rail. His shoes grinded against the rails, sparks flying up as he gained on Chai. Chai took that as his cue to make his escape. His metal arm slid down the rail as well, sparks flying off his robotic hand as he slew down the slick transport system. The chase was on!
*♪ ♫ Kings and sons, of God.
Travel on their way, from here. ♫♩*
"So! Recap. Big angry animal guy is strong, hates me, can glide, and can throw boulder twice his size. Oh yeah, and he's CHASING ME!"
"Yeah, this is why we don't take your shortcuts, Chai."
"Not the time!"
"Hey!" Knuckles yelled at him, sliding on the rail to his right. "The fight is right here! Coward!"
"...Coward? Who you callin' a coward!"
Chai took his guitar with his free hand, hurling it at a billboard ahead. The billboard was struck directly in its supports, plummeting down toward the right rail system.
"Ha! Good ol' Chai surprise attack!"
*♪♩Calming restless mobs
Easing all of their,
All of their fear ♫♬*
Knuckles braces himself before he was smashed by the billboard. Chai letting out a quick laugh before he leaped off his rail, landing on a ledge nearby. Putting his hands on his hips, he let out a whistle at his handiwork.
"Woooo! Pretty rockstar move, eh peppermint?"
BANG
Knuckles punched a hole straight through the billboard, glaring daggers at him. Chai kept his smile, but it quickly grew into a worried one, sweating as Knuckles fell off the rails, sprint toward him from a platform below.
♩♪ Strange times, are here. ♫♬
"Uhhhh peppermint?? A little help would be nice."
"While you were busy celebrating, I was hacking into the doors behind you."
Doors? Chai flipped behind him, seeing several rows of doors opening from a large building. He hadn't even noticed where he was. Huh. Convenient. Chai took that as his cue to rush into the opening. Sprinting down the hall, he looked to 808, who was floating next to him.
♩♪ Strange times, are here. ♫♬
"Say, this is nice and all. But how is this gonna help us beat that guy?"
"These doors don't just open one way." Peppermint slyly spoke. "These heavy doors should be able to trap that thing."
"Hey that's...actually really useful!"
"RAHH!"
Knuckles got up to the entrance to the building, sprinting down the hall towards him. 808 nodded it's head, 0's and 1's seen lighting up in her eyes, the heavy doors closing in. Knuckles picked up the pace, trying to beat the doors. One by one they were evaded. However, right as he was about to reach Chai, the last one closed on him.
KER-CHUNK
The door slammed shut. Banging was heard on the other side, but no headway was made on the door. Chai still had his guitar raised, just in case. But for now, it seemed pretty contained.
*♫♩Statue in the square.
Meant so much
When it first stood. ♪♫*
"That's Z shielding, Chai." Peppermint explained. "Only heavy weapons can make a dent through that."
"Oh? Well that's nifty. Think that'll hold him this time?"
Bang
"Well, he sure is trying, anyway." She remarked. "None of this makes any sense...*
BANG
Chai stepped back a bit. "Uh...that's getting louder."
"No way. He can't be THAT strong."
"Well obviously he is." Chai complained, readying himself. "If we can't contain him, we just gotta beat him!"
BANG!!
A big crack was made in the Z shielding wall. Yup. He was breaking through.
BANG!!!!!
A small hole was made in the wall, Knuckles's eyes seem on the other side as fragments of Z shielding were punched out. Knuckles, a bit out of breath revved up his fist punched for a final time.
*♫♬ People come from
Far and near
To bless them if,
Bless them if it would. ♫♬*
KER-PANK!
The door broke open, Z shielding chunks flying all over the place. Chai ducked when a rather large chunk sailed over him as the Echidna put his hands on his knees, catching his wind. The guitarist cocked a brow at this, Knuckles having a moment of weakness.
♩♪ Strange times, are here. ♫♬
"Oh? Getting a little tired there?" He asked.
"Tch! This...This is nothing! It'll take more than just a door to stop me!" Knuckles exhaled. "You...You finally done running?!"
"Yeah. Yeah I think so. You ready for me, big boy?"
♩♪ Strange times, are here. ♫♬
Knuckles elected not to respond. He punched his fists together, readying himself for his opponent. Meanwhile, Chai's guitar began to rattle. This didn't concern the echidna at first. That is, until the Z shielding fragments on the ground began to rattle too. That's when, piece by piece, small bits of Z shielding began to accumulate onto Chai's guitar weapon, fusing with plethoras of other scrap that began to pile on top of each other. Soon enough, Chai was no wielding a weapon twice his size, glowing red from the color of the dense Z shielding, electricity arching in around the top of the weapon.
"You might be great at punching things, guy..."
Knuckles backed up, beginning to sweat from the newly forged weapon in front of him. The weight of it seemed to be bringing Chai down substantially, but the boy walked slowly forward, the clamor of the scrap building up ringing across the hall.
"But I'm REALLY good at hitting things with a guitar."
Springing forward, he reeled back his massive weapon. Knuckles raised his hands to defend himself from the attack, but it wasn't going to help him.
WHAM!
That weapon smacked right into him, electrocuting him as well as giving him a heavy impact! The sound of a whip crack was heard as knuckles was blown back at lightning speeds, the scrap of the guitar, now shrapnel flying after him. Knuckles smashed right into the Z shielded wall behind him, making a Knuckles sized indention in it. Before the echidna could try to recover-
WHAP!
BANG!
SLASH!
CRUNCH!
All the shrapnel smashed into him all at once! All the destruction and breaking kicking up a cloud of dust and debris. Chai, folding his grabber back into the port on his wrist pumped his fists into the air.
"WOOOOO! Now that's a finishing move! Tell me you recorded that!"
"...Huh. So you wanted him to break apart the door so you could use the scraps as a weapon. I'm actually a little impressed."
"Oh. ...Yeah. That was totally the plan."
"...Chai. Look."
The drone gestured up with it's eyes. Chai followed suit, peering up. He couldn't really believe what he saw. A giant...hand? A gloved one. It appeared out of nowhere, floating above them. Was it a hologram of some kind? Or was it...something weird like knuckles?
"Excellent. You passed the test."
"That's the same voice from in the chamber..." Chai put two and two together. "What kind of test, exactly?"
"A test to see if you are worthy, to participate in a tournament of the ages-"
"Nah. Hard pass dude."
"...What?"
"Ya see, I'm already on a mission. To go shutdown that Spectra program thingie and stop Vandelay from using it. So if you'd excuse me-"
"Did I mention that there will be a great reward for the winner? And that the biggest crowd to have ever come together will be present?"
Biggest. Crowd? This had Chai's ear instantly. A rockstar would die to have the biggest crowd in history. With his new abilities...this could be just what he needed. But then again, he needed to make sure this was all good with peppermint.
"'Scuse me for a sec." He said to the hand."
"..."
Chai turned around, looking at 808. 808 rolled it's eyes, transforming into it's more robotic cat form compared to it's drone formed. The cat's eyes were half opened, seemed not impressed.
"No."
"But c'mooooon peppermint. You heard what he said! Biggest. Crowd. Ev. er."
"But that has nothing to do with shutting down Spectra. You know, our whole objective? Besides, what do we know about this guy? This is obviously a trap. A reminder he socked that red thing after you."
"Hmmm...this is true..." Chai nodded. "Buuuut, he did mention a reward. Maybe this reward could be our way to take down project spectra!"
"...You make the call Chai." The cat crossed its arms. "I'm staying out of this."
Chai got a glint in his eye. One peppermint knew too well. There was no stopping him. He was such an idiot. Chai flipped around, pointing to the hand.
"Count this guy 100% in!"
.......
Explosive Kangaroo
Boing Boing
"Hehehehehahahahohohohehe!"
Wumpa island echoed through the tree with the sound of incoherent laughter. A blue specimen with swirling eyes was seen, collecting sticks of dynamite, keeping them loosely clutched in his mouth. What a lovely day it was! So many big booms!
What the maddened roo didn't notice was that he was being watched. Sights aimed down towards him. Seconds later, a loud 'Ker-Thunk' sounds resonated through the tree line. A sphere like object bounced twice before being lodged in the dirt near ripper's feet. The roo cocked it's head at the object before-
BOOM!
"Waaaaaooooaoaaaah!"
The sphere detonated, throwing Ripper off the ground, dropping all the dynamite sticks in it's mouth! He landed face first into a mound of dirt, his legs sticking straight up out of it. The hostile that attacked walked forwards as Ripper attempted to dislodge himself using his feet to push up against the ground.
"Ha! Wasn't that a proper blast off??" An Australian voice spoke.
Ripper managed to pull his head out of the ground, shaking off the dirt in it's fur, before turning to the aggressor. Looked like some kinds of junker guy. Charred from gunpowder, with a mechanical arm and a peg leg. What was most noticeable though was the big gun he was carrying around.
"How was that, mate? You like my little beautie?!" They called out. "That was a Junkrat special, and I got plenty more of 'em!!"
Ker-Thunk!
Another detonator bomb was launched directly at Ripper! Junkrat's detonator charge bounced, tinking off the ground two times, ready to blow! Right before it could bounce a third time-
CHOMP
Ripper had bit the bomb, gripping it in between it's teeth! As he closed his mouth and swallowed, a boom was heard, his stomach and eyes expanding for a brief moment. Smoke then poured out from his ears as his eyes danced around chaotically. He just digested an explosion!
"Hehehehehehahahahahohohohahahehehe!"
"My my, what do we got here?" Junkrat wiped his brow. "What they feeding kangaroos round these parts-"
That's when roo lept into action...quite literally. He jumped to the trunk of one tree, bounced off it, pinged off another, next thing you knew, he slid right under junkrat's legs...with a lit stick of dynamite between his teeth!
.
BOOM!!
.
..
...
Cough cough
"Ooooooaaaaahehehehehehaha!"
"Eh? You call that a bomb? Ha! I've seen firecrackers stronger than that!"
Seems both were still standing...and in remarkable condition, considering the soot that covered them. Ripper cackled madly, saliva spitting out of it's mouth as it's tongue lapped out of it's own accord.
"This'll get ya!"
Launching another mine at ripper, the roo leaped out of the way, landing further ahead. As they landed, the ground they stepped on became hue of red. Junkrat's detonator went off, missing roo, so he just sent another one! Running after the blue creature.
Roo kept leaping and more and more ahead, creating more red surfaces as he went, dodging bombs as they came in.
"Oi! Stop dodging my bombs! I worked hard on these you know?? Stay still and take me razzle dazzle!"
boom...
...?
"What-"
Looking behind him, he saw all the red spaces on the floor detonating, one by one in rapid succession...in the same order they were jumped on! Looking down on the ground, he noticed he was stepping in one of those exact red spaces!
"Ah, hell-"
BOOM!!!
.
Junkrat was sent flying into the air, a stream of smoke tailing behind him. Ripper Roo saw this, and immediately howled in a fit of controllable laugher...not noticing that he too stopped on one of them.
BOOM SQUARED!!!
"Waaaaaaoooooo!!!!"
Ripper was sent flying in the same exact direction that Junkrat was sent too, landing in a clear blue river with a splash!
.
..
...
"Blehhhhh!!!"
Swimming to the surface, Ripper spat out a glob of water from their throat, treading water with their feet as Junkrat was nearby, just getting his bearings as well.
They looked at each other for a single moment, before both prepared their explosives to attack again! ...Only to realize that the water had ruined their bombs, making the rest of their arsenal total duds!
"Oi...ain't that a downer? Ugh!"
"Heheh...bleh blah!"
"...Say, my big footed friend, you hear something?"
Ripper lifted an ear as they floated along the river. Yup. He certainly did hear something. They both slowly looked ahead. It was a waterfall! A pretty huge one too, as they could see the distant trees below.
"Ahhhhh!" They both screamed in terror, clutching each other tight.
"It was nice knowing you, ya fuzzy freak, you!"
"Hehblehhhheh!"
"I know buddy, I know..." Junkrat gave a teary expression to the horizon. "Goodbye cruel world!!"
That's when they fell over the edge, catching airtime as they spiraled down into the depths below. But they didn't hit water. In fact, nothing wet at all. In fact, it was rather soft and dry. They opened their eyes, looking down. They were on a giant white hand!
"...What was that." Master hand inquired.
"Oi! I did just what you said, just got a bit...carried away s'all." Junkrat reasoned, getting to his feet.
"Carried away? That was a disaster! All you succeeded in doing was putting the both of you in the same situation!!"
"Blehhh?" The Kangaroo cocked his head, confused.
"Aw, come on handy." Junkrat pleaded. "Look at 'em! He's like me but almost as good looking! And fluffy! Can we keep him, pleeeeease???"
"...Okay, look." Master hand sighed addressing the the Kangaroo. "We are holding a tournament, one that will give a prize to the victor if you are to succeed."
"...Bleh...?"
"..."
"..."
"You may also use your explosives in the matches-"
"YEEEEEEWHOOOOO-!"
Ripper roo leaped into the air, positively ecstatic! That is, until he realized he leaped a little bit too far to the side, falling off Master Hand and into the chasm below. The hand gave a deep groan in response.
"There is one every tourney..."
...........
..........
"Hmm...yes. I think it's about time." A familiar voice spoke in the blackness.
"Now that I'm back at the reigns...how about we get things back to normal? Let's see...got my list of prospects for the new, Not Nexus dependent tourney. Let's see if we can't scout them here."
...........
The Dino Duelist
"...Beat it, twerp."
"Aaaaagh!"
Thud
A teen in a red beanie, Rex Raptor, was flung out of his room, his duel monster cards being thrown out with him, littering the floor of the hallway. His back landing next to him, being flung by a tall blonde woman standing in the doorway. Rex adjusted himself, sitting up to meet her, careful not to sit on his cards.
"Hey, no fair! You cheated somehow, I know it!"
"Thanks again for the room Raptor~"
"Wait-"
ker-chuck
The door closed behind him, locking in a single deft movement. That just happened. A tall drink of water swindled him out of his room just like that. Licking his wounds, the short duelist had no choice but to grit his teeth and start shamefully picking up his cards that were scattered.
"I swear, that's the last time I make a bet with chicks..." he grumbled. "I'll show her. When we get where we are going, I'll stomp that lady down to size!"
What a way to start this championship. Bah, it's a good thing Weevil didn't see that, else he'd never let me live that down. At least I got a chance with her, that puny pest has no game! Ha! That makes me feel a bit better. ...Ah...I'll have to get new sleeping arrangements. Don't tell me I'll have to sleep with all the amateurs...
After packing up all his cards, he rose to his feet, turning around to go to the common rooms when he realized...the hall looked a bit different than before. Since when had it become all purple and swirly? Was this some kind of event or something? Even further...where were the walls?! His questions would only raise further when a voice echoed through the area.
"You have been chosen, prove yourself worthy to partake."
"Wha-? What is this? Some kind of thing to weed out the chumps from the champs?!"
That's when an odd device appeared in a flash of light, mounted to his wrist. It seems silver and blue, with red lights in the center of it. Rex was taken aback by it, recoiling at the sight.
"Ah! How did that happen- what is this thing?!"
"Clever, is it not?"
A vaguely British voice spoke from the other end of the void. Soon enough, a figure appeared, whirring out of the shadows on a suspended chair, hovering just a few feet off the ground. It was...a monkey? One with a strange hairdo and fancy get up.
"The proctor of this test crafted this device for you, letting you play your monsters without use of a dedicated arena." The cultured ape started. "Ingenious, really. How they can whip something up like this spontaneously."
"Uh...a monkey." Rex blinked. "I'm talking to a monkey."
"Ah! An introduction is in order. You may call me...Specter. And I'll be organizing your opponent this evening."
"...Starting to think that chick slipped me something."
"Weather you believe this to be truth or fiction won't matter for long. Either you come to your sense or fail, to Pipotron G!"
"Ehh? Who's Pip-"
CRASH!!
A thunderous boom was heard as a body mass landed down from above. A large, white and black furred ape with intricate jagged tattoos across it's body reared it's ugly head. It's white, soleless eyes stared back at Rex before it rose it's fists up to the air.
"RAAAAHHHHHH!!"
Rex winced as the loud gorilla cried out, shaking the room. It sure looked...real. Was that truly a duel monster?
So this guy is some kind of monkey duelist? That's so dumb! Like a monkey would ever know how to duel in a million years. It'll probably some kind of hologram Pegasus made to challenge newbies to weed them out before the tourney begins. Well, I ain't gonna be picked on so easy!
"Ha, oh yeah? Well that overgrown primate better watch out, cause he's about to set foot in the world of Titanic tyrants!!"
The duel disk activated as his deck was placed in the slot. Seconds later he drew his hand, Pipotron G stomping forth toward him. He eyed a good opening card, grinning devilishly as he placed it on the field.
"Megazowler! Mash that gorilla down into Dino Chow!"
An orange scaled triceratops appeared on the field, lined with spiked all along its spine and sides. Its front had two sword like spikes jutting out from it which emphasized it's hostile demeanor. Woah, that things looks way more real than usual...
Megazowler howled as it charged headlong, orange flames building up as it galloped toward Pipotron G. The giant enemy gorilla raised it's arms up, preparing for the dinosaur, so when impact came- it caught the dinosaur right on it's two horns!
"RAAAAHHHHH!" Pipotron G bellowed.
Pipotron G lifted Megazowler into the air by it's horns alone, leaving the helpless dinosaur to fight desperately to free with it's legs, to no avail. That's when Pipotron G would swing the dinosaur like an axe, slamming it into the ground! Dust and debris flew everywhere as the Dino crumbled to pieces. Rex growled, covering his head from the debris when one of the rocks that flew up and hit his cheek, a thin drop of blood dripping down his face.
"...!" Rex gasped. "Don't tell me these are actually-"
"Real? Ha, so you've finally come around." Specter amusingly spoke. "Yes. They and the danger here is quite real. So you better have more than that, human. Or else Pipotron G will make you part of the floor."
Beating their chest, Pipotron G gave a triumphant yet threatening howl over the crater that Megazowler was defeated in. If the danger was somehow real, he couldn't just stand around surprised!
"Tch! Ain't no way I'm gonna get crushed by some monkey." He snorted, drawing a card. "Trakadon! Mow down on that ape!"
As he played the card, a slender blue dinosaur appeared on the battlefield, lined with tiger stripes. The carnivore had rows of sharp teeth and dagger like talons. It seemed almost the size of Pipotron G, so it should be enough to do damage! It raced across the ground, flanking around to the side of the ape, snipping at their heels.
"GRR...RAAAHH!" G winced.
G swung a punch at Trakadon, though the swift Dino slid under it, taking a bite out of his back. It went on, Trakadon dodging blows and flanking, snip after snap, making Pipotron G more and more frustrated, red gashes forming on many parts of his body. Pipotron G went down on a knee after the Dino clamped it's jaws down on the joint, but as it did so, Pipotron G gripped the reptilian's neck, ripping him off of the knee, before squeezing and popping the dino's head right off it's body! It disintegrated in a flurry of polygons.
"Trakadon might have been downed, by dont think-"
"GRAH!"
"Eh-?"
Suddenly, Pipotron G interrupted his words, punching the ground right where he stood! He backed up just enough to avoid the brunt of the blow, but the force was so strong he was thrown up into the air by proximity! He hit the ground and tumbled back, coughing as the air was practically knocked out of his lungs.
"Hm? Did you think we would sit back and listen to that no doubt riveting dialogue?" Specter mused. "Im afraid this exercise is at an end. G? If we would be so kind as to wrap this up."
"Your right about one thing."
"Hm?"
"This thing IS over!"
When Pipotron G slung his punch towards him, a new monster appeared, one that wrapped around G's arm with its serpentine body. It's slender form tied it up, preventing it from reaching its master!
"Take a look at one of my star monsters! Serpent Night Dragon!!"
"Kreeeeeeeee!"
The dark azure dragon screeched to life, it's twin wings flapping as it's slender, scythe shaped beak was revealed when the wings flapped out of the way. Pipotron G growled in anger, reeling a second punch and flinging it towards the dragon. That's when the dragon pressed it's talons against the fist it was wrapped around before kicking off in a swift move, sending G's own arm in the way of the fist, the Pipotron hitting it directly!
"RAH-AAHHHH!!" It roared out in pain, grabbing its injured limb.
"Heh! Not the smartest monkey, is he?" Rex sneered. "Now I'll give 'em an attack that'll send 'em back to the Stone Age! Go Serpent Night Dragon, Nightmare Sonic Blast!"
"Kreeeeeeeeeeeeee!"
The slender dragon glared at it's target, it's body pulsing with an odd, black energy. That's when a flurry of shadows fired out of it. The shadows were shaped like spears or arrows, traveling along the ground. When they crossed over G's shadow, the giant ape took the attack! Arrow after arrow, spear after spear, flurries bombarded the monkey, the giant brute howling in pain.
"RAHHHH!!!!!"
The sizable simian collapsed to the ground, his body battered and spear / arrow wounds littering his body, despite not taking any on his physical body. Specter, was surprised, his eyes slightly wider than before, the back of his wrist moving to prop up his chin.
"What a development. To be honest, I had no faith in your abilities. But for a human, you preformed adequately. To knock down G like that is no small feat." Specter commented, his red irises moving to the side of his eyes. "Is that the same conclusion you reached, hand?"
Pipotron G struggled, getting back up to it's feet as a entity emerged from the shadows. A giant white gloved hand, appearing next to Specter, facing the Dino duelist.
"Is that a..." Rex started, shaking his head. "Nevermind...I have a feeling I should stop being surprised."
"Right..." the hand cleared his 'throat'. "Mai Valentine, is it?"
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...That is you, yes?"
"...You have got to be kidding me..." Rex twitched.
"Oh. Seems we have the wrong one. Guess we'll wipe his memories and go take the true candidate-"
"Not so fast." Specter closed his eyes. "I believe the talent scouting rules specifically state: 'whomever passes the test and comes out victorious or reasonably capable shall be accepted'. Whomever being the key word, it does not specify that they have to be the target of said test to pass it. I'm afraid it's against the rules to kick this one to the curb."
Master hand and Specter exchanged a look. Master hand's fingers curled up into a ball, as if he wanted to clobber the ape. But he was correct. Unfortunately. If he had brought in Atriox instead he was sure that he wouldn't call him out on the technicality...
"Thank You for that reminder. Specter. Master Hand grumbled. "Alright then. You...whoever you are, are formally granted to attend a tournament of grand scale-"
"Rex Raptor, buddy." Rex interrupted. "And if you haven't noticed, I'm already a guest of honor in my own tourney! I don't need whatever weird carnival show you guys got going on. I gotta get my trophy, AND my revenge. So buzz off!"
"I wasn't done. Raptor. What if I told you that you could receive the means to defeat your rival, and attain a better reward in this tournament, and return to the exact time that you were taken out of?"
"Eh...? You can do that...?" Rex blinked. "Well, returning me back...with even stronger cards to best that crazy chick? ...Huh...well that doesn't sound half bad..."
"Are you coming? Or should we leave you here?"
Rex Raptor laughed, a rising laughter that got louder as he got more confident in his position. Deactivating his duel disk, he looked up at the hand, a grin on his face.
"Line up my foes, and I'll stamp them to dust!!"
..............
The Child Demon
Rinku's Improved intro
"Hehehehe!"
The laughter was followed by a small figure shattering through a window, the glass fragments flying everywhere right after a pink explosion detonated behind him! Some kind of pearl colored gas was left behind. A woman screaming was heard soon afterwards. Clambering to the broken window, a lady stuck her head out, black marker having drawn all over face in all sorts of profane ways.
"Thiiiiiief!" She wailed.
The kid turned around mid air, pulling down an eyelid and sticking his tongue out at her, waving a pearl necklace out in front of her, before dropping down. She gasped and pointed down at him, yelling for the authorities as he slid down her elaborate roof tiles like a surfer. This is what he was looking for! The excitement! The thrill of the chase!
In the demon world, the weak didn't resist against the strong much, because they knew it was pointless. The big powerful took what they want, destroyed what they want, and the weak simply allowed it to happen. ...Talk about boring! What's the point in doing bad things if nobody is gonna call you out for it and do something about it?! But here...in the human world? Everyone was on everyone else for the smallest thing. So taking up this human disguise, he, Rinku, could have all the fun he could ever want! There were humans everywhere!
Leaping off of the mansion rooftop, Rinku leapt to another roof, and then another, hoping with an almost weightless fashion, laughing all the while as he saw cops attempt to catch up, and failing miserably. Some get crafty though sometimes, like right now there was a blockade ahead. Four cops with a makeshift barricade. They were getting faster about their responses! Nice!
"Stop there kid!" One yelled on their megaphone. "Give us what you stole and-"
"Nice try, Steve!" Rinku called him by name, leaping over him, pulling down the cop's hat over their eyes mid frontflip. "But you gotta get better than that if you wanna caaaatch meeeeee~"
"Argh! Run him off! Don't let him get away again!!"
Rinku laughed, winking at them as he dropped down into the crowd below. The bazar was packed today, which was all the better for him! The cops on the other hand struggled to get past all the buyers and traders. Rinku slid under a stall selling fresh apples, where he sat and softly giggled to himself. These guys were absolute chumps. They were looking in all the wrong places! Did they even see where he went? 12 different chases and they still didn't know how he picked a good old hiding spot! He shook his head as he reached his hand up and snatched an apple from the merchant's batch, sneaking it down below and taking a big bite out of it.
These guys are nice to mess around with, can do so much with these goons. Hmmm...wonder is there's higher difficulty ones around here though. Or maybe I can try to get captured and see how easy it would be to break out! Gotta try some more challenge runs...maybe try to escape capture without using my legs and only my hands?
Rinku told another bite out of his apple, cocking his head as he swallowed the sugary fruit. He'd have to think more on it. Simply plopping the pearl necklace where he sat, he left it there when he crawled out from the apple vendor's stall. The police going the opposite way than him now, he calmly walked down a different alleyway. Right as he took another bite of his apple, a set of boots were heard on the alleyway end behind him.
"..."
"..."
"Well? Ain't ya gonna read my rights or something?" Rinku spoke to them without turning around.
"...Demon." A man in green armor spoke.
"...Heh....heheheh..."
Someone knew he was a demon. He couldn't contain his laughter, which escaped his teeth as his eyes narrowed. At this moment he knew. Whoever was talking to him wasn't going to be making it out of this alive. Still not turning to face his foe, he gripped the apple tightly in his palm.
"You ain't like the rest of those mooks, are ya? You came here to kill me. Didn't you?"
"..."
"Hahaha, you don't gotta say anything. I know what you mean." Rinku chuckled, crushing the apple in his palm, allowing the pulp to trickle down. "But, before you die, I want to have a little fun first."
Rinku vanished in a second, the soldier, the Doomslayer, hoisting his super shotgun cautiously as he looked around for the boy. From above, the boy landed down right on top of the soldier's double barrels. He grinned right in his face before leaping straight off with surprising force, forcing the gun's aim down. Right as Doomslayer was getting back up from that disorientation, Rinku has already maneuvered around to his back, delivering a swift kick to his spine.
Doomslayer was shoved forward, nearly staggering to a knee. But he refused, slowly getting back up from the deceptively powerful hit he took. Rinku cocked his head in place as he levitated.
"Huh, I was hoping to paralyze you with that and watch you try and feel with your legs...looks like you are one tough cookie." Rinku applauded. "Alright tough guy, let's see how you-"
That's when Doomslayer rushed toward him like lightning, grabbing his ankle. That's when the slayer swung the boy like a club into the brick wall to his left. WHAM! there was a large crater in the wall now, where the boy now lay, seemingly unconscious or dead. The armor clad man investigated the crater, examining the boy's condition. He didn't appear to be breathing, and his eyes were closed firm shut. Right as he went to check the boy's pulse, Rinku's eyes snapped open, a grin forming on his face.
"Got ya!"
Rinku gripped Doomslayer's wrist with both of his hands, and with one move-
SNAP!
He twisted and broke the Slayer's wrist. He looked for some kind of reaction. Pain, agony. But there was none. Instead, the Slayer socked him with the fist attached to the broken wrist, despite its broken status. Rinku's grin faded instantly. This guy wasn't kidding around. Grunting, the boy planted his feet on the slayer's chest plate.
"I think your under the wrong impression!"
Rinku kicked with both of his feet, the force kicking Doomslayer far up into the air. The boy flew right up to meet him, his arms crossed.
"The world is my playground."
That's when he suddenly replicated into multiple instances of himself. Soon enough, over a dozen versions of Rinku were flying circles around him, taunting him and laughing. Doomslayer, who grew Increasingly annoyed, raised a new weapon: A chain gun. Specializing in wiping out numbers. He layed down the pain a storm of bullets rampaging out from the barrels and into the field of demons. But the bullets seemed to just phase through them, not actually dealing damage. With all of them bouncing around like this, it was hard to tell which one was the real one and which one as an instance he had already shot before... That's when one of the Rinkus, presumingly the real one flew up, stopping right at his visor.
"...And you aren't being a good playmate."
That's when he raised a finger and flicked against Doomslayer's forehead, knocking him down, working with gravity. The clones dispelled as Doomslayer hit the ground with a resounding boom. Knowing him, he wasn't dead. So he needed to keep the pressure on. Right when he was to dive after him, something stopped him. Or rather, someone.
"Hold it. That will do."
A giant gloved hand appeared, snapping itself into reality. The hand pointed at him, despite the little demon's puzzled expression. He began to introduce himself.
"I am Master Hand, and the display you just showed was enough to tell me you have what it takes. So I'm formally inviting you to-"
"So, that guy was your attack dog?" Rinku arched a brow, almost amused. "You brought a demon hunting human after me? You sure know how to pick 'em."
"Ahem. He had a purpose. He was to test to see if you were good enough to partake in a tournament of my design. One filled with many entertaining and strong fighters."
Rinku's attention was grabbed. The put his hands on his hips and looked the hand up and down. That's when he cautiously looked over his shoulder down at Doomslayer before gesturing to with his head at him.
"More entertaining than that guy?"
"How about you find out for yourself?"
Rinku laughed, impressed with the Hand's sales pitch. He was looking for stronger fights, fiercer challenges. This could be the perfect Avenue for exactly that. What perfect timing it was!
"Alright then, handy. Lead the way~"
..............
Future Rockstar
.
..
...
CRAAAAASH!
A large glass window shattered apart as a boy flew out of it, rather ungracefully. The scarf wearing youth flailed his limbs in the air as he took an uncontrolled landing, tumbling to the ground with a series of bangs and whacks. The boy lay dazed and confused, face planted into the ground while a black spherical drone floated around him.
"Learned your lesson about these famous shortcuts of yours yet, Chai?" The machine's speaker scolded, the voice of a girl on the other end.
"Mmmmrrph." Chai painfully replied, his face muffled by the ground it was stuck to.
"Ugh...well, get up and look alive." The drone's optics rolled, floating ahead of him.
Chai groaned, peeling himself off the floor, massaging his face with his non-robotic hand. Shaking his head of any remaining glass shards, he did a once over, looking at his appendages looking for injuries.
"Okay...arms are fine, legs...look to be in once piece." Chai commented. "Soooo that means my shortcut worked, peppermint!"
He stood up in a quick move, shooting finger guns toward the drone, 808, which just shook it's 'head' as it didn't even turn his way.
"Yes it did, but in typical Chai fashion, we are now lost." Peppermint said, examining the room they were in. "It's strange...I don't recall this room on the schematics of the building."
"Soo that means we are in a top secret room that Vandelay doesn't want us knowing about!"
"Or I just haven't updated my map. But it seems spacious in here. Why would they make such an open area in a tower? It doesn't make any sense."
"Hiiiiighly suspicious." Chai added, half listening. "Say, peppermint. Can you turn on the lights? I can't see anything."
"That's strange. It doesn't seem connected to any electric or power source. Just what are they-"
"Your trial begins now." A new voice boomed "Prove yourself."
The voice interrupted her, echoing across the room with a tone of authority. It wasn't any of Vandelay technologies's leadership. ...Could it be a new threat? A new robot they had developed to get rid of them? Whatever it was, Chai was ready for it! He held out his grabber stick, bolts, gears, and other metals magnetizing to it, forming a scrap guitar. Holding his new weapon defensively, he prepared for a fight.
Blue lights began to kick on, revealing the rest of the blank room, covered in black tiles. A figure stood on the opposite end. They weren't a robot at all. In fact, they were pure organic, with red fur and equally dreadlocks on either side of their head. They were an anthropomorphic echidna, crossing their arms with protruding spikes on their gloves. Chai blinked, taking this all in.
"Uhhh, peppermint. Is that like, a new mascot or something? Looks like Vandelay is reeeeeally trying too hard to appeal to the young crowd."
"What did you call me?" The mascot twitched. "Name's knuckles. I'm nobody's mascot. Remember that."
"I don't know what that thing is. Vandelay isn't an expert on organic fabrication, let alone something this uncanny." Peppermint spoke through 808. "Be on your guard Chai, I don't have any info."
"Thing...'Thing'?!"
Knuckles broke his composed demeanor, stomping on the ground, rumbling the room. He shook his fist in front of him, his face whipping up to glare at Chai, teeth bared.
"I'm Knuckles, of the echidnas! Guardian of the Master Emerald! I won't be labeled as some thing!"
Before the guitarist could say a quip to Peppermint, Knuckles rushed forward with surprising speed, leaping and hurling a corkscrew punch at Chai. The boy raised his guitar to match him, though vastly underestimated the echidna's power, being knocked back from the parry, skidding back until he hit the wall behind him.
"Oof! What is that guy made out of?!" Chai shouted out.
"I don't know, but we don't have time to mess around. Let's wrap this up, Chai."
"Yeah, alright." He agreed, looking back at Knuckles. "Alright ya looney toon, come and get some!"
Chai charged forward, sweeping his guitar from the left to smack Knuckles. However, Knuckles raised his fist, soaking the hit with his glove. So Chai struck again. And again. And again. Several slashes with his scrap guitar, Knuckles raising both of his hands, looking for an opening.
"Whats wrong, big boy? Too much for ya?" Chai taunted as he kept swinging away.
"Grrrr...I hate smart mouths!"
Knuckles gave a backhand to the next strike, forcing Chai to back up from the force. The red character spread his legs apart and raised a fist high into the air, smashing down on the black tiles, cracks spidering across it. Chai and 808's eyes grew wide when he did this.
"Ehh...?"
Knuckles grunted, pulling out a massive chunk out of the ground. It was the same color as the tile, and looked incredibly heavy. Knuckles raised the boulder over his head, it being roughly twice his size!
"It'll be hard, but I think you can evade this one, Chai." Peppermint observed. "He'll be predictable right before he throws it. If you time it right, then maybe- ...Chai?"
The feline looking drone noticed that Chai was missing. Swiveling around, he found the scarf toting boy, running the opposite direction, clambering towards the window he fell out of.
"Nope-nope-nope-nope!"
"...! Chai! Where you going??"
"Away from that thing!"
That's when knuckles flung the black boulder towards the pair. The drone, 808, flew up to the window Chai had almost climbed out of, pushing up on him to round the ledge right as the boulder struck the wall. So when it hit, the entire wall shattered apart! Chai was flung out, catching serious air time before noticing a conveyor rail above him. Getting an idea, he raised his robotic arm, aiming it up at the rail. He reversed the magnetic charge on his arm, magnetizing up towards the rail and gripping it. The impact on the rail jostled his MP3 in his chest, the device clicking on a new track.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=T5dIrub_N9A (The Black Keys - Strange Times - Vinyl - HQ)
The guitar on the track rang out, the environment altering to the beat of the drums and the bass. Alarms blared to the rhythm, elevators raised and lowered along, and speedy conveyors started and stopped every few beats. Behind Chai, Knuckles yelled up from below.
"You aren't getting away that easy! Get back here!"
Knuckles jumped, gliding to a nearby rail. His shoes grinded against the rails, sparks flying up as he gained on Chai. Chai took that as his cue to make his escape. His metal arm slid down the rail as well, sparks flying off his robotic hand as he slew down the slick transport system. The chase was on!
*♪ ♫ Kings and sons, of God.
Travel on their way, from here. ♫♩*
"So! Recap. Big angry animal guy is strong, hates me, can glide, and can throw boulder twice his size. Oh yeah, and he's CHASING ME!"
"Yeah, this is why we don't take your shortcuts, Chai."
"Not the time!"
"Hey!" Knuckles yelled at him, sliding on the rail to his right. "The fight is right here! Coward!"
"...Coward? Who you callin' a coward!"
Chai took his guitar with his free hand, hurling it at a billboard ahead. The billboard was struck directly in its supports, plummeting down toward the right rail system.
"Ha! Good ol' Chai surprise attack!"
*♪♩Calming restless mobs
Easing all of their,
All of their fear ♫♬*
Knuckles braces himself before he was smashed by the billboard. Chai letting out a quick laugh before he leaped off his rail, landing on a ledge nearby. Putting his hands on his hips, he let out a whistle at his handiwork.
"Woooo! Pretty rockstar move, eh peppermint?"
BANG
Knuckles punched a hole straight through the billboard, glaring daggers at him. Chai kept his smile, but it quickly grew into a worried one, sweating as Knuckles fell off the rails, sprint toward him from a platform below.
♩♪ Strange times, are here. ♫♬
"Uhhhh peppermint?? A little help would be nice."
"While you were busy celebrating, I was hacking into the doors behind you."
Doors? Chai flipped behind him, seeing several rows of doors opening from a large building. He hadn't even noticed where he was. Huh. Convenient. Chai took that as his cue to rush into the opening. Sprinting down the hall, he looked to 808, who was floating next to him.
♩♪ Strange times, are here. ♫♬
"Say, this is nice and all. But how is this gonna help us beat that guy?"
"These doors don't just open one way." Peppermint slyly spoke. "These heavy doors should be able to trap that thing."
"Hey that's...actually really useful!"
"RAHH!"
Knuckles got up to the entrance to the building, sprinting down the hall towards him. 808 nodded it's head, 0's and 1's seen lighting up in her eyes, the heavy doors closing in. Knuckles picked up the pace, trying to beat the doors. One by one they were evaded. However, right as he was about to reach Chai, the last one closed on him.
KER-CHUNK
The door slammed shut. Banging was heard on the other side, but no headway was made on the door. Chai still had his guitar raised, just in case. But for now, it seemed pretty contained.
*♫♩Statue in the square.
Meant so much
When it first stood. ♪♫*
"That's Z shielding, Chai." Peppermint explained. "Only heavy weapons can make a dent through that."
"Oh? Well that's nifty. Think that'll hold him this time?"
Bang
"Well, he sure is trying, anyway." She remarked. "None of this makes any sense...*
BANG
Chai stepped back a bit. "Uh...that's getting louder."
"No way. He can't be THAT strong."
"Well obviously he is." Chai complained, readying himself. "If we can't contain him, we just gotta beat him!"
BANG!!
A big crack was made in the Z shielding wall. Yup. He was breaking through.
BANG!!!!!
A small hole was made in the wall, Knuckles's eyes seem on the other side as fragments of Z shielding were punched out. Knuckles, a bit out of breath revved up his fist punched for a final time.
*♫♬ People come from
Far and near
To bless them if,
Bless them if it would. ♫♬*
KER-PANK!
The door broke open, Z shielding chunks flying all over the place. Chai ducked when a rather large chunk sailed over him as the Echidna put his hands on his knees, catching his wind. The guitarist cocked a brow at this, Knuckles having a moment of weakness.
♩♪ Strange times, are here. ♫♬
"Oh? Getting a little tired there?" He asked.
"Tch! This...This is nothing! It'll take more than just a door to stop me!" Knuckles exhaled. "You...You finally done running?!"
"Yeah. Yeah I think so. You ready for me, big boy?"
♩♪ Strange times, are here. ♫♬
Knuckles elected not to respond. He punched his fists together, readying himself for his opponent. Meanwhile, Chai's guitar began to rattle. This didn't concern the echidna at first. That is, until the Z shielding fragments on the ground began to rattle too. That's when, piece by piece, small bits of Z shielding began to accumulate onto Chai's guitar weapon, fusing with plethoras of other scrap that began to pile on top of each other. Soon enough, Chai was no wielding a weapon twice his size, glowing red from the color of the dense Z shielding, electricity arching in around the top of the weapon.
"You might be great at punching things, guy..."
Knuckles backed up, beginning to sweat from the newly forged weapon in front of him. The weight of it seemed to be bringing Chai down substantially, but the boy walked slowly forward, the clamor of the scrap building up ringing across the hall.
"But I'm REALLY good at hitting things with a guitar."
Springing forward, he reeled back his massive weapon. Knuckles raised his hands to defend himself from the attack, but it wasn't going to help him.
WHAM!
That weapon smacked right into him, electrocuting him as well as giving him a heavy impact! The sound of a whip crack was heard as knuckles was blown back at lightning speeds, the scrap of the guitar, now shrapnel flying after him. Knuckles smashed right into the Z shielded wall behind him, making a Knuckles sized indention in it. Before the echidna could try to recover-
WHAP!
BANG!
SLASH!
CRUNCH!
All the shrapnel smashed into him all at once! All the destruction and breaking kicking up a cloud of dust and debris. Chai, folding his grabber back into the port on his wrist pumped his fists into the air.
"WOOOOO! Now that's a finishing move! Tell me you recorded that!"
"...Huh. So you wanted him to break apart the door so you could use the scraps as a weapon. I'm actually a little impressed."
"Oh. ...Yeah. That was totally the plan."
"...Chai. Look."
The drone gestured up with it's eyes. Chai followed suit, peering up. He couldn't really believe what he saw. A giant...hand? A gloved one. It appeared out of nowhere, floating above them. Was it a hologram of some kind? Or was it...something weird like knuckles?
"Excellent. You passed the test."
"That's the same voice from in the chamber..." Chai put two and two together. "What kind of test, exactly?"
"A test to see if you are worthy, to participate in a tournament of the ages-"
"Nah. Hard pass dude."
"...What?"
"Ya see, I'm already on a mission. To go shutdown that Spectra program thingie and stop Vandelay from using it. So if you'd excuse me-"
"Did I mention that there will be a great reward for the winner? And that the biggest crowd to have ever come together will be present?"
Biggest. Crowd? This had Chai's ear instantly. A rockstar would die to have the biggest crowd in history. With his new abilities...this could be just what he needed. But then again, he needed to make sure this was all good with peppermint.
"'Scuse me for a sec." He said to the hand."
"..."
Chai turned around, looking at 808. 808 rolled it's eyes, transforming into it's more robotic cat form compared to it's drone formed. The cat's eyes were half opened, seemed not impressed.
"No."
"But c'mooooon peppermint. You heard what he said! Biggest. Crowd. Ev. er."
"But that has nothing to do with shutting down Spectra. You know, our whole objective? Besides, what do we know about this guy? This is obviously a trap. A reminder he socked that red thing after you."
"Hmmm...this is true..." Chai nodded. "Buuuut, he did mention a reward. Maybe this reward could be our way to take down project spectra!"
"...You make the call Chai." The cat crossed its arms. "I'm staying out of this."
Chai got a glint in his eye. One peppermint knew too well. There was no stopping him. He was such an idiot. Chai flipped around, pointing to the hand.
"Count this guy 100% in!"
.......
Explosive Kangaroo
Boing Boing
"Hehehehehahahahohohohehe!"
Wumpa island echoed through the tree with the sound of incoherent laughter. A blue specimen with swirling eyes was seen, collecting sticks of dynamite, keeping them loosely clutched in his mouth. What a lovely day it was! So many big booms!
What the maddened roo didn't notice was that he was being watched. Sights aimed down towards him. Seconds later, a loud 'Ker-Thunk' sounds resonated through the tree line. A sphere like object bounced twice before being lodged in the dirt near ripper's feet. The roo cocked it's head at the object before-
BOOM!
"Waaaaaooooaoaaaah!"
The sphere detonated, throwing Ripper off the ground, dropping all the dynamite sticks in it's mouth! He landed face first into a mound of dirt, his legs sticking straight up out of it. The hostile that attacked walked forwards as Ripper attempted to dislodge himself using his feet to push up against the ground.
"Ha! Wasn't that a proper blast off??" An Australian voice spoke.
Ripper managed to pull his head out of the ground, shaking off the dirt in it's fur, before turning to the aggressor. Looked like some kinds of junker guy. Charred from gunpowder, with a mechanical arm and a peg leg. What was most noticeable though was the big gun he was carrying around.
"How was that, mate? You like my little beautie?!" They called out. "That was a Junkrat special, and I got plenty more of 'em!!"
Ker-Thunk!
Another detonator bomb was launched directly at Ripper! Junkrat's detonator charge bounced, tinking off the ground two times, ready to blow! Right before it could bounce a third time-
CHOMP
Ripper had bit the bomb, gripping it in between it's teeth! As he closed his mouth and swallowed, a boom was heard, his stomach and eyes expanding for a brief moment. Smoke then poured out from his ears as his eyes danced around chaotically. He just digested an explosion!
"Hehehehehehahahahahohohohahahehehe!"
"My my, what do we got here?" Junkrat wiped his brow. "What they feeding kangaroos round these parts-"
That's when roo lept into action...quite literally. He jumped to the trunk of one tree, bounced off it, pinged off another, next thing you knew, he slid right under junkrat's legs...with a lit stick of dynamite between his teeth!
.
BOOM!!
.
..
...
Cough cough
"Ooooooaaaaahehehehehehaha!"
"Eh? You call that a bomb? Ha! I've seen firecrackers stronger than that!"
Seems both were still standing...and in remarkable condition, considering the soot that covered them. Ripper cackled madly, saliva spitting out of it's mouth as it's tongue lapped out of it's own accord.
"This'll get ya!"
Launching another mine at ripper, the roo leaped out of the way, landing further ahead. As they landed, the ground they stepped on became hue of red. Junkrat's detonator went off, missing roo, so he just sent another one! Running after the blue creature.
Roo kept leaping and more and more ahead, creating more red surfaces as he went, dodging bombs as they came in.
"Oi! Stop dodging my bombs! I worked hard on these you know?? Stay still and take me razzle dazzle!"
boom...
...?
"What-"
Looking behind him, he saw all the red spaces on the floor detonating, one by one in rapid succession...in the same order they were jumped on! Looking down on the ground, he noticed he was stepping in one of those exact red spaces!
"Ah, hell-"
BOOM!!!
.
Junkrat was sent flying into the air, a stream of smoke tailing behind him. Ripper Roo saw this, and immediately howled in a fit of controllable laugher...not noticing that he too stopped on one of them.
BOOM SQUARED!!!
"Waaaaaaoooooo!!!!"
Ripper was sent flying in the same exact direction that Junkrat was sent too, landing in a clear blue river with a splash!
.
..
...
"Blehhhhh!!!"
Swimming to the surface, Ripper spat out a glob of water from their throat, treading water with their feet as Junkrat was nearby, just getting his bearings as well.
They looked at each other for a single moment, before both prepared their explosives to attack again! ...Only to realize that the water had ruined their bombs, making the rest of their arsenal total duds!
"Oi...ain't that a downer? Ugh!"
"Heheh...bleh blah!"
"...Say, my big footed friend, you hear something?"
Ripper lifted an ear as they floated along the river. Yup. He certainly did hear something. They both slowly looked ahead. It was a waterfall! A pretty huge one too, as they could see the distant trees below.
"Ahhhhh!" They both screamed in terror, clutching each other tight.
"It was nice knowing you, ya fuzzy freak, you!"
"Hehblehhhheh!"
"I know buddy, I know..." Junkrat gave a teary expression to the horizon. "Goodbye cruel world!!"
That's when they fell over the edge, catching airtime as they spiraled down into the depths below. But they didn't hit water. In fact, nothing wet at all. In fact, it was rather soft and dry. They opened their eyes, looking down. They were on a giant white hand!
"...What was that." Master hand inquired.
"Oi! I did just what you said, just got a bit...carried away s'all." Junkrat reasoned, getting to his feet.
"Carried away? That was a disaster! All you succeeded in doing was putting the both of you in the same situation!!"
"Blehhh?" The Kangaroo cocked his head, confused.
"Aw, come on handy." Junkrat pleaded. "Look at 'em! He's like me but almost as good looking! And fluffy! Can we keep him, pleeeeease???"
"...Okay, look." Master hand sighed addressing the the Kangaroo. "We are holding a tournament, one that will give a prize to the victor if you are to succeed."
"...Bleh...?"
"..."
"..."
"You may also use your explosives in the matches-"
"YEEEEEEWHOOOOO-!"
Ripper roo leaped into the air, positively ecstatic! That is, until he realized he leaped a little bit too far to the side, falling off Master Hand and into the chasm below. The hand gave a deep groan in response.
"There is one every tourney..."
