Private/Closed Bootleg Brothers 6

[comic]

MASTER CHIEF​

At the announcement, Kalmiya folded her hands behind her back and glanced toward the side at her spartan companion, her lips tugged to the side to give the impression she was thinking about something. "He seems eager..."

Chief didn't reply immediately, simply staring ahead. His AI bounced on her feet slightly for a moment. "What could he be so eager for? He set all of this up, yet now it seems like he can't wait for it to end. I don't think he's even paying attention to it."

She turned her head fully to look at 117. "What do you think?"

His orange visor glinted as he glanced at her, before he looked back toward Reala, then toward the display awaiting Lucario and Audrey to kick off their match. "He's a friend."

"But friends can't be trusted implicitly, right? You taught me that," Kalmiya insisted. The Chief gave a subtle nod, recognizing her words, but in truth, he didn't know what they could do even if Master Hand was planning something. It didn't have to be devious... despite how used to such turn of events were to the spartan. However...

Master Chief turned back toward Reala, the platform shuddering a little beneath them with the shifting of his heavy boots. "Your boss," John began. "Can he determine what Master Hand is doing?"​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reala


The hand wanted it over with fast? Fine by him. Just meant he could go back to Nightmare sooner than expected. The AI companion to his side seemed bothered by it though, which Reala was content ignoring until Chief sought his own attention.

"Master Wizeman." He corrected. "My master can see into all planes in which visitors reside. This place is a crude, artificial imitation of those realms. That and whatever makes up this...deception of a domain seems to be limiting interference. I'm sure you have felt it.

It was true that the place had been balancing the power levels of those that arrived, artificially limiting those that would otherwise be unstoppable powerhouses. Reala grimaced at the surroundings, disgusted at what he was witnessing.

"Whatever that hand has planned, my master and his legions will endure. Surely he isn't daft enough to toy with that Nexus again." He then tilted his head, pondering before pointing a hooked claw at Chief. "Aren't you something of an ambassador for the tool?"

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
The pokemon exited his gateway. Both he and the Kraggling changed back to normal, then shared a fistbump in celebration of their victory. Lucario made his way towards the shop, looking at the new selection. His eyes landed on the Wrath of Ares.
Wrath...it was something the pokemon struggled with in its mega form. He had been able to control himself better as he won, but he couldn't afford to get complacent. Perhaps...this item would help train himself.
As he dropped his tokens, Lucario looked up at the leaderboard. Seeing his opponent's name made the distance Lucario had gone begin to sink in. After a loss, he had somehow gotten so close to winning it all. It was strangely empowering, but the loss kept him humble. The aura pokemon took his item and turned towards the lobby. The Wrath of Ares came in the form a helmet, which looked uncomfortable for the pokemon's unique body shape. But to his surprise, the helmet seemed to morph as to fit perfectly on his head, even providing holes for his ears and aura sensors.
Lucario turned from the shop and made his way towards the lobby. His past opponents have been rather difficult to talk to, but he'd still like to meet the only other person in the loser's bracket.

Magolor
The egg tilted his head as Spamton relayed his plan. All he had to do was insert the disc somewhere?
"Well that sounds easy peasy!" Magolor replied with what sounded like excitement. "Just put your faith in me, and I'll do it lickety-split!"

 

[comic]

MASTER CHIEF​

"A protector," it was Chief's turn to correct. "It's gone, now."

"We still don't know where Master Hand got it," Kalmiya added. "If he made it, or got it from something even more powerful than him. If he can create realms that weaken even you, Reala, and the Nexus could overpower Master Hand... what does that say about the potential of another one? Or of somebody who made the original?

"We're not going to try and start a witch hunt, but... well, you weren't there for it. The Nexus brought about a lot of bad, not just on its own, but it attracted it too. We're just... well, maybe it's just me, but I'm afraid that Master Hand is either playing with something else just as dangerous, if not moreso... or he's planning a surprise party. I haven't even met Crazy Hand, I didn't even know he existed until today. There's so much we don't know about what's going on around here and well..." Kalmiya paused, glancing toward Chief. "It's our job to keep innocent people safe, to the best of our abilities. Are you sure Master Wizeman can't track Master Hand's location?"
​

SPAMTON​

"[That's A Wonderful Idea!]" Spamton beamed, before he placed his hand down upon the disc in Magolor's hand, and before the eggs very eyes... the puppet began to disappear, from his shoes up to his head, it was like he was being erased as he downloaded himself onto the disc, and once he was gone...

The booth grew cold, empty, and colorless, leaving Magolor floating in a blank room all alone.​

 

[Captain Cardboard]

The Jotun Sisters

Dagr blinked, coming to in the lobby. The Princess slowly got back to her feet, and Sun-Wing flew back onto her shoulders. The leaderboard, and Master Hand's following announcement, made her situation clear. She had lost her match. Dagr felt the familiar pang of frustration and anger welling up in her. It wasn't losing to Audrey that truly made her feel this way. The Hero had been a wonderful opponent. A strong fighter, with cool tricks and techniques, an awesome weapon, and the perfect arrogant personality that let Dagr focus on going all out. It was the fact that Audrey had already lost an earlier fight to Nótt. And losing to someone who had already lost to Nótt, well. It was practically like Dagr was losing a fight against her sister, yet again. Dagr looked back up to the leaderboard. Nótt had won her fight as well, meaning she would be moving on to the finals. Just like back home.

Letting out a breath, Nótt found herself back in the lobby. Looking over, she gave a smile to Kassandra.
"Well done, dear. That was the most intense fight I've found myself in. We must speak some more later, but I've got to hurry if I want to get an item from the store." Nótt said, and quickly ran off.

Dagr shook her head, and forced herself to smile.
"Well then, The Hero! That was an awesome... fight..." Dagr trailed off when she found Audrey had already ran off. But someone else was already there. Nótt stood next to her sister, watching Dagr with a smug smile.
"I can't say I'm surprised, sister." Nótt said. "Once again, I'm ahead of you."
Dagr scowled, crossing her arms.
"Only because you got voted back in. You were eliminated before I was." Dagr said. Nótt chuckled.
"And yet, I am going to the finals, and you are not. It's a good thing that Master Hand extended the invitation to me as well, otherwise who knows what would have happened? Certainly not you getting any further." Nótt said. She walked away, waving to her sister. "Farewell, sister! Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be able to catch up to my skills one day."
Nótt laughed, walking away. Dagr's grip on her ax tightened, and she threw down the weapon in anger with a clatter.

Quickly running to the store, Nótt nearly ran into the person walking out of it. Lucario, one of the final contestants. Her face fell as she recognized the item he was currently wearing. The Wrath of Ares, an item clearly from Kass, and one that Nótt had wanted.
"Ah, my apologies." Nótt said to the Pokemon. "Lucario, right? You've done very well in the tournament to make it this far."

Dagr watched Nótt walk away, before sighing and picking back up her ax. What the hell was she supposed to do now? Dagr looked around the plaza, trying to pick out a familiar face.
"Pit? Rinku?" Dagr said. But the Princess was unable to spot the angel or the demon. "Jevil?"


Eitri

"As do I. Tell me, how does your-" Eitri stopped when Masaru spoke up, mentioning how they should focus on the problem at hand. Eitri nodded, and looked back to Zed.
"He's right. Lead on, Zed." Eitri said, gesturing for the royal to take the lead for their next course of action.


The Dungeon Crawlers

The boulder smashed into Yami Bakura, sending the dark spirit sprawling across the ground. The rumbling in the tomb grew more instense, as the cracks in the walls widened to reveal a shadowy, purple void beyond it. In the shadows, a massive creature could be seen moving around.
"W-what's happening?!" Ryo Bakura exclaimed. Yami Bakura screamed, and the creature unleashed a thunderous roar at the same time.
"THIS... IS NOT.... THE END!!!" Yami Bakura roared. A bright light flashed out from Yami Bakura, enveloping everything and everyone in an incredible light.

In the card graveyard, the Reaper let out another howl as it closed in on Rex Raptor. It quickly gained on the teen, swiping its scythe back and forth menacingly. And just when it was about to reach him...

Slowly, everyone blinked awake in the lobby. Bakura groaned, rubbing his head.
"Oh my..." He yawned, and looked around sleepily. "What's... going on?"

 

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

"Huh..." Pit listened intently, still noting how Byleth didn't want him listening to Sothis. "Y'know, I've been doing a little studying of my own recently. My reading skills have never been better!" He replied, seemingly quite proud as he ate the last of his shortcake. Byleth's change of subject got his attention back, the angel thinking as he chewed.

"Well, if he really was down to some super bad guy stuff, I wouldn't be against fighting him." Pit said, stroking his chin. "I don't get why he'd do that sorta thing, but having some answers would be nice, at least." He added.

"I agree. You'd need a good plan of attack in the first place, too. I doubt much gets past him, especially in an event like this."
​

ZedΩ
​

Masaru acted to remind everyone of their goal, and at Eitri's behest, the Golden Trillion thought on their next move.

"It appears our friend Magolor has been taking a while. Perhaps it is time for some recon."

As he spoke, Zed's head turned towards the onlooking Layla, who gave the prince a nod. The albino girl closed her eyes, holding out an arm. After a few moments, a faint light appeared next to Zed, and in a flash of light, the personification of Layla's Septima appeared. Luxia, the Djinn.

"Heyy. What's up?" She asked, her tone carefree, only briefly casting a glance toward Masaru and Eitri. Her gaze narrowed slightly at the sight of the latter, but her smile remained.

"You remember Magolor, correct? He should be somewhere down in the lobby alongside Spamton. Could you go check what they are up to?"

"Oh, that guy?" Luxia sighed with a stretch. "Sure, just for you."

The Djinn vanished in another flash of light, before she reappeared down in the lobby. She drifted towards the various shops, gold and violet sparkles trailing behind her as she began her search. Zed looked on with a smile, watching as the Septima headed deeper into the alleys, out of sight for the moment. With her ability to easily detect a Septima, he was confident he could track down a different type of energy source with enough time.
​

Kirin
​

Yami Bakura continued to lash out, the tomb cracking apart more and more. A creature Kirin couldn't quite make out lurked in the void beyond, letting out a powerful roar with each scream of the dark spirit. The priestess was certain – that thing out there was his true form, or something of the sort. Much more like what she'd expected going into this.

Kirin readied her blade, Septima flowing into a set of talismans she'd already procured, a bright light engulfing the room...

...and the next thing she knew, she was... back in the lobby? She felt a little groggy, similarly to waking up from a long nap, but as she slowly became more alert, it was clear she was truly in her own body, back at that bench. Slowly, she looked around, finding the others to be similarly waking up. Even Rex, which was a relief given his apparent destruction when she'd arrived.

The Battle Priestess' peacock green eyes shifted towards Ryo Bakura as he yawned, the Adept slowly rising to her feet.

"I... think we did it," she remarked, moving a little closer to the boy, looking to examine his necklace. "How do you feel?"
​

Gunvolt
​

With the Red Dragoon whizzing past him, the Azure Striker found himself picking up the pace as he followed after his opponent. Reala's bout with the Kats had just concluded, the result of the battle something that Gunvolt had anticipated – as a champion, the Nightmaren was a force to be reckoned with. Not anyone could come out on top against them, though the drive to challenge one was definitely admirable.

Dart jumped right into the ring, Gunvolt following suit shortly afterward. The ring was fairly large, allowing either fighter to dash around and attack comfortably, though not enough to make long-range combat clearly viable. It would've been the preferred conditions for Gunvolt's usual fighting style, but given the rules they'd set for their fight, as well as his own desire to learn from the battle, he couldn't complain.

Near their arena, two brawlers fought on in their own ring, locked inside a bubble of swirling crimson energy. Gunvolt could feel large amounts of Septimal energy emanating from it – it was an Adept's doing. After a moment, a booming thud resounded, and a man in crimson armor was sent flying through the bubble and into the lobby, the self-imposed barrier shattering like glass. When it fell apart, it revealed a short anthropomorphic echidna standing within, stretching his sore joints after what seemed like a grueling duel. The red warrior briefly cast a glance at Dart and Gunvolt, before he exited the area with a huff, following after his defeated opponent.

Gunvolt raised a brow at the culmination of the duel, wondering just how long they'd been going at it – before his focus returned to Dart. They were both ready.

"Alright," the Azure Striker spoke, brandishing his pistol in his right hand, a small pulse of electricity bursting from his body. "Let's give it our all."

With those words, Gunvolt opened fire on the dragoon, a series of sky-blue bolts flying through the air at their target. Regardless of Dart's reaction, the Adept would swiftly follow up with a swipe of his left arm, a blast of azure lightning arcing out towards his opponent at high speeds.​

 

[Gamingfan]

Magolor
The egg watched the salesman evaporate in front of his eyes with a mixture of amusement and curiosity. As Spamton disappeared, so too did the colors surrounding Magolor, leaving him in a blank, dead room.
"Well that was a thing." Magolor said again. He looked at himself in the disc's reflection, thinking for a moment before nodding to himself.
"Now, time to get outta here."
Soon after the words left his mouth, a staircase dropped in out of nowhere. With little options available, Magolor floated up it to find the lobby on the other side.
"That's convenient." Magolor said. He glanced back and sure enough, the stairs had vanished as if they had never existed.
Yellow orbs flicked to the right, catching sight of gold sparkles. It was Zed's ghost friend-Magolor couldn't recall catching her name-apparently looking for something.
A mischievous smile found its way into Magolor's face as he sunk into a star-shaped portal below. As Luxia looked for Magolor, the prankster would float just behind her, vanishing whenever she looked back. Once he got close enough...
"Watcha looking for?" he would ask, directly beside Luxia.

Ryuji
"Holy shit! She won!"
Ryuji unleashed a huge "Whoop!" upon seeing Kassandra's fall. It had been a close match, but the princess managed to pull through!
The phantom thief quickly rushed from the stands to congratulate Nótt, but she rushed by with barely a glance, confusing the teen.
"Huh? What's she hauling ass for?"
Figuring Nótt was just eager for her next fight, Ryuji attempted to follow behind her, but she moved fast. He soon lost track of the princess, and stood alone in the lobby. Ryuji wandered aimlessly, looking around for his friend until bumping into someone.
"Aw, crap." Ryuji's apology was cut short once he got a good look at who it was. "Sorry...huh?"
Blue hair, amazing figure, this person looked a lot like...
"Aren't you Nótt's sister?" Ryuji asked the girl.

Lucario
The aura pokemon came to a sudden stop as the winner of the Winner Bracket appeared in front of him. There was a wave of disappointment as her eyes laid on him, though Lucario could tell it wasn't directly aimed at him.
"Thank you. I can scarcely believe it myself." Lucario accepted the compliment, before repaying it in kind. "Having won your bracket, you've done extremely well. If we fight, it would be a honor."
The Kraggling just looked at the princess with wide eyes.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Byleth

At the mention of Pit studying and increasing his reading skill, Byleth's small smile returned once more.
"I'm glad to hear that your reading is getting better. Perhaps later, we'll have some lessons..." Byleth paused and shook her head. "Ah. I think it's too early to talk of fighting Master Hand. Perhaps there is a way to resolve this without fighting. I know we were able to come out victorious in that World of Light fiasco, but still. I wouldn't like to fight him again."

With everyone's deserts finished, Byleth watched Master Hand appear once more. The Professor's eyes narrowed. Was he... rushing? Master Hand didn't seem as though he was the type to rush. Byleth looked back to Kirby and Pit.
"Do you think any of the champions of these Bootleg tournaments could know more about Master Hand?" Byleth asked Pit and Kirby.


Eitri

The Sage watched Luxia, noting her expression subtly change when she saw the sage. Eitri smiled smugly, giving Luxia a small wave as she flew away.
"So Layla was also with the two of you during that Spamton situation." Eitri said. "When you said her Septima had the ability of long distance reconnaissance, I didn't expect something like that. How does her ability work, exactly?"


Dagr

The Princess began to head towards the Regular Burger. Perhaps she could just drown her sorrows in food and drink as she waited for the tournament to end. But as she made her way through the lobby, a familiar figure bumped into her.
"Hey! Watch where you're-" Ryuji's quick apology gave Dagr pause, and the Princess sighed and waved to the Phantom Thief. "It's alright."
The skull guy then asked if she was Nótt's sister. Dagr frowned again and crossed her arms while Sun-Wing glared down at Ryuji from Dagr's shoulders.
"Yeah. I'm Dagr." The Princess said. "I remember you. We met at the very start of the tournament. You ended up fighting my sister, right?"


Nótt

The Princess did a double take at the small creature accompanying Lucario. It was very much like one of the other competitors. The shop item it left behind? Moon-Wing eyed the Kraggling, watching the bug-like creature hungrily. Turning her attention back to Lucario, she noted that the creature never moved its mouth when it spoke. It was as if his voice was speaking directly in her mind. Most unusual.
"I look forward to it. That is, if you are able to defeat Audrey." Nótt said. She paused, looking Lucario up and down once more, and began to play with a strand of her hair.

"Lucario, dear." Nótt said. "Could I ask you a favor? I don't suppose you would be interested in trading that Wrath of Ares item for something else? I was hoping to use it myself."
Nótt gave Lucario a winning smile.
"I would be quite grateful."

 

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

"It's hard to say," Palutena replied first. "These tournaments may be separate from his biggest events, but it's possible that one or more of the champions have hung out around him for a little while. Though given his seemingly busy schedule, I'm not so sure he'd be the type to spend much quality time with anyone."

"Right now he's looking REAL busy, actually." Pit noted, glancing up at the spot in the lobby where Master Hand had appeared earlier. "Normally he'd probably stick around and give commentary, or banter, or something. He said something about a bug, didn't he?"

"Think he's still giving an earful to that boy who tried to impersonate you?"
​

"Maybe. It was kinda flattering, though. Could've used some extra details."

ZedΩ
​

Zed gave Eitri a nod in response to her initial remark.

"Layla's Septima, The Djinn, is quite a special one. She's the first Adept to possess it according to our records, though it shares some similarities with another Septima, The Muse. The Djinn is capable of resonating with Adepts, bringing forth various powers using the power of song. Additionally, she can appear over long distances to scout areas and pinpoint energy signatures. As you can imagine, it made her a reliable ally during our battle against Spamton." He explained.

"The Djinn is a powerful Septima – so powerful, in fact, that Layla is unable to completely control it. This has caused it to manifest as a seemingly separate cybernetic avatar with a will of her own, a very rare occurrence. That manifestation is the woman you saw just now, Luxia. You could call her an extension of Layla's spirit, in a way."
​

Luxia
​

The Djinn spent a good moment searching. While she was happy to help out Zed with this task, tracking down something other than a Septima was something she wasn't very experienced with. She had a rough idea of Magolor's location, at least.

Suddenly, she had a feeling she was being watched. Luxia looked over her shoulder, spotting no one, and when she scanned the establishments around her, the Septima couldn't find the source. Until...

"Watcha looking for?"

The familiar voice came from directly beside her, nearly making Luxia jump as she whirled around on the spot. Her red eyes locked onto Magolor, and she gave the prankster a playful pout.

"Well, aren't you a real comedian," she huffed. "You're the man of the hour among our little group up there, y'know. Sounds like they've been waiting you to return for a while now. Whaddya say we head back?"​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reala

"My master's armies have not yet conquered this plane of existence. But, we can tell if the hand is in the same level as we are. And all I can say is that he's no longer here in this...fabrication of reality."

Saying that, Reala got a sinister idea. Flexing his talons, opening up a palm to Master Chief and his assisting AI.

"However...we can expand his domain. All that is required is the Ideya of visitors. Once Ideya starts to be collected, My master's domain will expand. The more, the better. How about it, care to have Ideya taken from you?"

Due to Master Hand's rules about fighting in the plaza, he couldn't just TAKE everyone's Ideya by force like he wanted to. Consent wasn't fighting.





Rinku

At this point, Rinku had zipped off to follow Dart to the new battle zone. Finally he'd get to see what this blonde haired fashion disaster had in store. Sure, collateral damage would unfortunately be minimized, so they likely wouldn't go all out, but at least it would be a good taste to see what was in store.

"Give 'em hell Dart, you know I would~" He chuckled, levitating down for a front row seat of the action.




Peppermint / Chai / Rex Raptor


Ignoring Chai's antics and insistence to fight this puppet robot thing, Peppermint looked off to the side, catching movement in the corner of her eye. It wasn't just a glitch in 808's eyes though, as it seemed that the unconscious bodies had begun to stir. Ears twitching alert, 808 jumped off of Chai and pranced towards the awaking group when-

"AHHHHHH!"

Rex flipped awake, hand clutching his chest. He had a series of heavy breaths, eyes darting all around him. I was about to be I dunno, killed AGAIN by that reaper guy, now I'm here! There's no cemetery, no reaper guy...but where are-

Turning around, he saw the group, along with Kirin, getting roused from their slumber as well. Seemed as though all of this was starting to be over with. He took a sigh of relief, collapsing back down on the ground.

"Finally...out of that place."

"Welcome back to the land of the living."

Peppermint greeted the previously unconscious lot, making their way towards Bakura. Gesturing towards the pale haired boy, she looked into his eyes, giving him a second to adjust.

"Hey - Hey. You okay there? What happened to you, kid?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Bakura

The teen looked drowsily over to 808 and Kirin. He stared at the robot cat for a moment before he recalled how it was that it was able to speak. He smiled at 808.
"Oh, that's right. Hello Pepperment." Bakura said. He yawned again. "I just had the strangest dream. You were there, Kirin. And so was Nephthys, and Rex Raptor, and..."

The white haired boy's voice trailed off as he looked around, and found that nearly everyone around him were the same people he had just been fighting alongside. The only ones missing were the skeleton and the swamp creature. Bakura's face went pale, and he quickly stood up.
"Oh my god." He whispered. He looked to Kirin in a panic. "I didn't mean to... The dream, I... And those monsters, I..."
The teen's breathing quickened as he began to panic. It wasn't a dream? Had he really, somehow nearly sent these people to their deaths, or worse?!

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
Unnerved by Moon-Wing's glare, the Kraggling scurried behind Lucario's leg.
Meanwhile the aura pokemon showed little reaction to the smile. He did seem to think about Nott's offer, though only for a second before shaking his head slightly.
"I am sorry." He replied straightforwardly. "I had chosen this item because it appeared most suited for my training and ability. No other item has caught my interest as of now."

Magolor
His prank was a success, and the face Luxia made had Magolor in stitches
"Sorry, sorry!" He apologized between giggles. "I would've come faster, but things got weird."
Luckily Luxia seemed to be a good sport, and Magolor happily nodded at the offer.
"Lead the way!" he asked. As he would follow along, Magolor gave a curious glance at Luxia.
"What-slash-who are you, anyway?" He asked. "Some kinda solid hologram?"
Magolor took a educated guess, remembering something similar in Susie's technology. He wanted to incorporate it into Merry Magoland, but she refused to share for some reason.

Kirby
Finishing his cake, Kirby stacked his plate on yet another pillar of plates. Somehow they were balanced perfectly, as if the puffball had gotten used to stacking plates.
The Star Warrior perked up when Byleth mentioned Champions. He knew a champion!
"Ganvol!" He chirped proudly, as if answering a quiz. The blonde was strong, so maybe he would have the answers!

Ryuji
"I knew it!" Ryuji grinned, oblivious to Dagr's frown.
"She's 'effing strong! But me and William gave her the ol' one-two and bam! Ryuji comes out on top!"
As Ryuji proudly boasted about his victory, he did mock swings of his Mjolnir, conveniently forgetting the near and then immediate loss the round after.

 

[comic]

NEPHTHYS​

And suddenly...

It was over.

Her scarlet eyes opened, and she quickly took in her surroundings, seated upon her knees in front of a stirring Bakura. A gray-skinned woman stood nearby, alongside Chai and his feline companion. And the others, who had been called in for aid, awoke as well. Kirin, and Rex... Marshtomp and Sans weren't anywhere nearby.

The gardevoir hovered upward until she was at her usual height, Kirin moving in to aid the boy. With Rex's more sudden awakening compared to the others, Nephthys gave him a mere nod in thanks for his help. He was at least alright, she had been admittedly worried there for a bit.

Turning, the gardevoir began to hover away. She'd done as asked, and the other concerned individuals could take it from there.
​

MASTER CHIEF​

"No," John said simply. Reala had already told him what he needed to know. He wasn't about to trade one villain for another - not if he could help it, again.

"You have noticed that we're the type to protect people, right?" Kalmiya asked the nightmaren. "Helping out Wizeman seems, well... unwise, not to mention counter-productive!"

Chief inwardly admitted he'd had his own suspicions regarding Master Hand in the past. Introducing the Nexus into things had been a vast oversight and it had overpowered the host. Then there had been that event... the robot creature. Gunvolt didn't seem to recall it, and possibly Reala didn't either. Was it the spartan's connection to the Nexus that prevented his mind from being erased when time was reversed? And why hadn't Master Hand appeared sooner? Was it because he couldn't, or because of whatever else had captivated his attention?
​

DART​

And so the stage was set. Dart and Gunvolt entered the ring, with Rinku providing his biased encouragement, the arena looked over by others, including Dart's family and closest friends. This was what he'd been waiting for, personally. Finding a tough opponent had been the fun of this tournament, but after his test from Gunvolt beforehand... he'd been itching for a second go of things.

Gunvolt opened the fight, firing from his weapon. Dart recognized it, and with a flash of flames, Heat Blade scored through the bolts before he let go of the weapon with his right hand, letting it move away and instead-

CRACK!

White-blue electricity sparked against flickering yellow flames, Gunvolt's left hook colliding with Dart's open palm. Flames lashed out against the Adept while lightning crackled against the Dragoon, before Dart made to yank Gunvolt in a downward motion by the arm while raising his knee to slug it into the Azure Striker's gut, before extending his leg fully into a powerful kick to send Gunvolt flying backward.

Immediately, Dart slashed his sword once horizontally, casting a gash of flames forward, before slashing diagonally twice to the same effect.​

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Nótt

Nótt's smile faded, and she stopped playing with her hair. She considered Lucario for a moment.
"Polite and well spoken. I can't even be mad at the refusal." Nótt said, half to herself. Her smile returned. "Well, it was worth a try."
Earlier, Nótt had seen Audrey leaving the store. Which meant that out of the remaining contestants, Nótt was the only one who needed to buy and item. Which meant she could take all the time she needed, as long as she bought it during the fight.

"I do not wish to hold you for any longer than is necessary. I'll be cheering for you in your next fight." Nótt said. The Princess walked past Lucario towards the coin shop, and waved to the Pokemon.
"Farewell! Give Audrey my regards!"

Nótt stepped into the coin store, and began to look around. There were not many choices left. And with only 5 coins, Nótt would be limited to a single item choice. Nothing currently in the shop really caught her eye. The Champion Sword and the Spirit of the Red-Eyes Dragoon were the one she was most interested in at the moment. But then there were the items that would be revealed after Audrey and Lucario's fight. Then again, if the pattern would continue, it would likely be worth 6 coins. To expensive for her. Nótt thought some more, before shaking her head. There was no rush now, she would simply decide later.

The Princess stepped back out of the shop, and looked around the lobby. The real question is, what should she do now. Should she consider meeting up with Zed and the others, to assist with the Spamton situation? Master Hand did say he was busy, but it would still be a risk of him noticing she was gone. In a situation like this where many people's eyes were on her, perhaps the best way Nótt could help the others would be to not draw any attention to them. So she would just have to keep playing it normal.

Nótt walked into the middle of the plaza, taking a seat at one of the tables and getting ready to watch Audrey and Lucario's fight. She'd use this opportunity to rest up and study her potential opponents.


Dagr

Dagr's frown grew as Ryuji spoke on his victory against Nótt. Usually, she would have been cheered up hearing from the opponent that beat her sister. But right now, it felt more like Ryuji was somehow rubbing Dagr's loss, and her sister's continued success in the tournament, in her face. Even the demonstration of Ryuji's neat weapon failed to impress the princess. Dagr glared at Ryuji, keeping her arms crossed and leaning against the wall of a nearby building.
"Okay." Dagr said. "So what, you're here to brag that you beat my sister or something? Good for you, I guess."


Byleth

The Professor looked to Kirby curiously. While her time in Super Smash Brothers had given her some handle on Kirby's unique language, there was still quite a lot she didn't fully understand. It seemed that the pink puffball had some familiarity with one if the champions.
"Ganvol..." Byleth echoed quietly. The Professor looked around the lobby once more. Both Nótt and Dagr were back in the lobby, and while the Princesses were distracted in their own conversations, it could be difficult to speak with the Champions without being detected by the women.

Byleth thought for a moment, then looked to Pit.
"Pit." Byleth said. "You've been acquainted with Princess Dagr. Do you trust me?"

 

[ArmedBlue]

Kirin
​

"Whoa, hey, deep breaths," Kirin said, crouching down in front of Bakura. "All of that stuff was sorta real, yeah, but it's okay now. Everyone's safe, from the looks of it. "

Her gaze shifted from Bakura to the necklace he wore, though she wasn't able to pick up any energy coming from it. Was the threat really gone? Or was it too faint for her to notice?

Turning around for a moment, she motioned for Irnane to come inspect it herself, given she'd been able to detect the magic within in the first place. As she did so, the Battle Priestess caught a glance of Neph silently floating away.

"Neph," she called out to the Gardevoir. "Where are you going? Do you know what was going on in there?"​

Pit
​

"Ganvol?"

Yet another new person. Pit assumed it was one of the champions from the other tournaments, though he couldn't put a face to the name. Before he could ask more on the matter, Byleth called his name, bringing up his previous talks with Dagr. Were they from the same world?

"Do you trust me?"

"Sure! What's up?"​

Luxia
​

The Djinn gave Magolor a nod, and the two began to float back up to the stands. Upon the traveler's question, Luxia's position shifted, the tan woman now floating on her back, hands crossed behind her head.

"Oh, lil' old me? Name's Luxia. You remember Layla, right? The cute little girl in the rabbit-eared hoodie? Well, I'm her Septima, a bit of an unique psychic power, not a solid hologram. Though I guess my body's sorta cybernetic, so let's say you're half right."

As they rose higher and higher, she suddenly recalled something.

"You gave Zed a lotta support when we were dealing with that Spamton guy, didn't you? Owe ya big time for that one." the Djinn winked. "It's not often I say that, so you should feel proud~"​

Gunvolt
​

Flame and lightning clashed wildly as Gunvolt's fist met Dart's palm. Dart rushing into melee range was no big surprise – not only was it where the dragoon was at his deadliest, but it limited the Adept's own options. Gunvolt aimed his pistol towards Dart, firing a short burst of bolts while Flashfield quickly deployed, a field of electricity engulfing both fighters to double as additional defense and offense for the Azure Striker.

Suddenly, his opponent pulled down – and a knee found its way into Gunvolt's abdomen, knocking the air out of him. As the leg extended to kick him away, there was a brief pulse of electromagnetic waves, the Air Hop shifting the Azure Striker to instead be launched diagonally upward. Gashes of flame followed after him, and an Air Dash quickly propelled Gunvolt forward to avoid them, placing him up in the air above Dart. Gunvolt's Flashfield retracted as he looked down at his foe, smirking despite the hit he took.

"Good one!"

There was a brief flash of electricity – and in the blink of an eye, a bolt of lightning crashed down onto Gunvolt's position, striking the area above and below him with power as impressive as Crashbolt's speed.​

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Byleth

The angel was eager to help, just as expected. Her expression remained emotionless as she explained.
"It is not for me to explain why or how, but it would be bad if either of the Jotun Princesses discovered that I was here." Byleth said. The sickly green halo around Byleth's head pulsed slightly. "While Kirby and I speak to the champions, could you accompany Princess Dagr? Distract her, so she does not notice me."

Seeing that Kirby had stacked the plates, Byleth gathered up the silverware and placed it on top.
"As for Princess Nótt, I should be able to evade her detection. If my guess is correct, she will either be distracted watching the next fight, or... distracted by something else." Byleth was referring to the Spamton Event, but not that Pit or Kirby would be aware of it.
"Hopefully, I should be able to explain more of this to you soon..." Byleth said to Pit.

 

[comic]

NEPHTHYS​

At Kirin's call, the gardevoir turned toward her. It was a simple question for a loaded answer, much of which Nephthys still didn't know a lot on herself. She could infer and guess, and probably get pretty close to the truth, but in reality, she really didn't know exactly what had transpired.

<He asked me to help him, to stop his condition of blacking out. So I did, and I got others like you to help me. Whatever that entity was, and what he truly wanted, I don't know. I simply did as I was asked.>

As the gardevoir replied, Irnane crouched down to sense with her magic attunement any residual powers within the amulet at Kirin's request.
​

​

DART​

It was like Dart remembered, the Azure Striker was fast and loaded with power. His attacks were as precise as they were large, and the dragoon was reminded of Haschel. His grandfather fought in a very similar way, just with a stronger emphasis on martial arts. Dart had sparred with him plenty of times, and that experience could aid just as well as the original battle with Gunvolt.

Residual electricity crackled over the red warrior, though he didn't seem all too bothered by it, shrugging off the Flashfield like he did most attacks, instead grinning broadly as he pulled out an orb. Gunvolt didn't offer much room to reply, as Crashbolt suddenly thundered down, shattering the orb and pummeling the dragoon into the ring's surface.

He didn't remember THAT one from last time.

A few lingering crackles sparked off of the armor, but in a blink, Dart pulled his legs up to his chest and his hands by his head before he launched himself back up to his feet, just as the orb's effects took place. Burnout, as a sudden geyser of flames erupted from the center of the ring, spewing red hot magma into the air in a plume. The higher Gunvolt was, the more likely he'd be hit and set aflame by Burnout's effects.

Under the pretense he'd force Gunvolt back down, Dart would charge in with a rush attack, leading with a flurry of blows from Heat Blade, intending on landing an uppercut slash to activate Burning Rush.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Peppermint / 808 / Rex Raptor



808 nodded their head, the woman in charge of the machine gals to hear Bakura was fine. "You are good, dude. Just keep calm. The important thing here is that you snapped out of it and came out alright. Though I do want to know, what were you experiencing in there? From the looks of it-"

"Hey, what gives?!"

Interrupting this recovery period, Rex stomped over to Bakura, shaking a fist at him. The Dino duelist grit his teeth and was visibly fuming.

"Kidnap all of us and try to kill us? I was being chased by the grim reaper, man. THE GRIM REAPER. Now that you don't have all your toys defending you, I say we jump the guy!"



Reala


"Mm. Fine, have it your way."

Reala closed his hand, talons retracting and he cocked a knowing smile at them. He wasn't going to argue against their morals, as a wall of stone wouldn't be swayed by his words. Crossing his arms he shrugged it off, looking away from the two.

"You speak as though my master and I wish to do harm unto visitors. That couldn't be further from the truth. Visitors are an important part of our life cycle. In a way, I we can't live without them."

 

[Gamingfan]

Ryuji
Ryuji display began to slow down as the teen just began noticing the glare of Dagr's face. Her irritated accusation finally clued him in, causing Ryuji to freeze.
"....What?" he asked.
Oh shit, he really was doing that. The teen sudden went limp, muttering another apology
"Uh...sorry"
There was an awkward silence, until Ryuji suddenly remembered something.
"Wait, I thought you guys hated each other?" Ryuji asked, failing to read the room again.

Magolor
As they floated higher, Magolor listened intently to Luxia's explanation, nodding in understanding. He was close, but the reality seemed more complicated...and interesting. Magolor was tempted to ask further, but Luxia's compliment made the egg switch gears.
"Hee Hee! I am pretty great." He coolly accepted the compliment before returning the wink. "But I can admit that Spammy would've been a nightmare without you or Zed. So don't worry about it!"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Bakura

At Kirin's urging, Bakura slowed his breathing. Unconsciously, his hand moved to the Millennium Ring, and he gripped the necklace tightly. The cool metal of the ring was comforting somehow, and helped him focus. Everyone that was around here did seem safe, except...
"What about that swamp monster? Or that skeleton?" Bakura asked, trying see if he could spot Sans or Marshtomp somewhere nearby.

Before he could really focus, a woman Bakura didn't recognize moved in closer. The teen stared at Irnane in surprise. Just like many others here, the woman looked like she had emerged straight from a Duel Monster card.
"Um... Hello..." Bakura said nervously. As she got closer to his necklace, he turned away slightly to move the Millennium item further away.

808 spoke up, but before she could finish, another voice spoke up. Rex Raptor, enraged, was storming over to Bakura. The teen scrambled to his feet and backtracked quickly, trying to stay away from the angry duelist.
"I, I'm sorry!" Bakura exclaimed, his panic swiftly returning. "I didn't know!"
Bakura looked to Nephthys desperately.
"Please, I didn't know that would happen! Wh-whatever all that was, I... I didn't know!" Bakura said. "Please, you have to believe me!"


Dagr

The Princess didn't say anything to Ryuji's apology. At the silence, Dagr was about to turn and walk away when the thief spoke up again. Dagr's scowl grew, and she stepped closer to Ryuji. Both her and her eagle stared down at Ryuji through narrowed eyes.
"Is that what this is about?" Dagr said. "Did my sister send you? It just wasn't enough for her to brag that she's still in the tournament while I'm eliminated? She just had to rub it in that she can be beaten, just not by me, huh?"

Dagr grabbed Ryuji's jacket, her eyes shining with rage.
"Listen, kid. I'm a little pissed off right now. So I suggest you scram, before disobey Master Hand and break your face." Dagr snarled. The Princess let go of Ryuji's jacket and stormed off towards the Regular Burger.

 

[Fraseandchico]

Audrey Redheart
​

Audrey was actually fairly interested when she realised GV was going to fight one of the losers of the tournament, but Master Hand spoke up. Seemed that Nótt lady, from back in the first round, got a free ticket to the finals while Audrey and some weird...dog thing, fought it out.

"Tch, the privilege of being the Champs' favourite." Audrey claimed, before pausing. Well, now it seemed rather...silly, to watch GV's little spar with the match looming over her head. Still, she did wish to speak to him.

Eventually, she steeled herself, deciding to go with whatever came her way. Luckily, upon arriving to watch (And attempting to remain slightly hidden), she spotted someone else from the tournament watching, levitating. Quickly darting over, she spoke up to Rinku.
"Hey, you- Rinku, was it? Whenever these two are done, give Gunvolt a message; Redheart wants to talk later. Got it?" Not even waiting for an answer, Audrey turned on her heel with head held high as she walked back.

Soon after Nott had disappeared from Lucario's view, Audrey entered it instead, sword carried on shoulder.
"Would say sorry that took so long, but you won't mind." Audrey said rather matter-of-factly. "You probably guessed, but name's Audrey Redheart, The Hero. You gotta be uh..." She took a glance to double check the names. "Lucario, was it?" She almost muttered in questioning how this thing got so far, only stopping in confusion at the sight of some sort of strange creature next to Lucario. Well, weirder.

"Whatever, ready to get your butt whooped?"
Crude, maybe cruel, but confident.

Masaru Takahara
​

Masaru listened once more, taking the time to nod a quick 'Thanks' to Luxia as the Djinn vanished at Zed's command, and letting the pair talk about how Layla's powers worked.

"Huh, so...A spirit, huh?" He noted once Zed finished explaining the Djinn's powers and how Luxia was manifested due to Layla not being able to control the power. "I've only met a couple ghostly beings in my world, but they were pretty different. For one, they couldn't speak, and two...Uh, actually, think I'll leave it at one."

Maybe don't explain why I know I hit one with physical attacks...

"Still, power of song? Sounds pretty specific, you're sure it doesn't come out in other forms? Like drawing or anything?"

(What Masaru was unaware of, was just how common it was, having power in singing - Even one of his own world (Worlds?) had such a power.)

 

[Gamingfan]

Ryuji
Dagr whirled around, murder in her eyes. Her ranting caught Ryuji off guard, causing him to back away a little and wave his hands defensively.
"What? No! That's not wh-up!"
Dagr gripped his jacket and held the phantom thief aloft. Even having won against her sister, the anger in Dagr's eyes left Ryuji too terrified to struggle. He tried to reason with the princess.

"H-Holy crap! Just wai-"

"Listen kid." she snarled.

"Listening." he whimpered.

"I'm a little pissed off right now."

"I get that, bu-"

" So I suggest you scram,"

"Just let me-"

"-before I disobey Master Hand and break your face!"

"Hear me ou-!" but Ryuji couldn't get a sentence in before Dagr dropped him, leaving the phantom thief to flop on the floor.
Ryuji remained still, having accepted his new life as Regular Burger's welcome mat while he processed what the eff just happened.

Lucario
Not gracefully accepted his negative, and left the pokemon alone. Lucario bowed as thanks and prepared to move on before his opponent appeared before him. She spoke to him without a hint of respect, and Lucario blinked in surprise at the amount of spite packed into her being. Nevertheless, his reply showed no signs of offense.
"...I am ready to fight, yes."

 

[ArmedBlue]

Kirin
​

Neph, as it turned out, didn't know much more than the others did – just that Bakura had asked for help on some blackout issue. The evil counterpart of the boy could definitely have been the source of it, but Kirin didn't have very much to go off of outside of that gut feeling. Turning back towards the boy, she noted his apparent protectiveness of the necklace when Irnane approached. Right, he didn't know her at all.

"Don't worry, she just–"

"Hey, what gives?!"

Before she could offer an explanation, Rex Raptor waltzed up to the white-haired boy, ranting about being chased by the Grim Reaper of all things, clearly not very amused. The mention of the Grim Reaper reminded Kirin of BB again, but she quickly shoved that thought aside, using her pewter staff to separate the two boys before stepping in the middle herself.

"Knock it off, Rex. It wasn't his fault," the Battle Priestess interjected. "From what Irnane figured out with her magic, that necklace Bakura's wearing had some sort of ancient dark magic inside it. It was probably that evil version of Bakura or the weird huge monster we saw in there, if I had to guess."​

Pit
​

"Distract Dagr for you guys? Alright, got it. Been meaning to talk with her anyway, actually. See ya in a bit!"

With his assignment given, Pit stood up, walking away from the table and towards Dagr – before he went wide-eyed as he watched her nearly punch the lunch money out of a blond guy in a skull mask. The jotun princess quickly left for Regular Burger, leaving a stunned Skull alone on the ground. Come to think of it, that mask looked an awful lot like the one he'd picked up from the item shop. The angel made a quick stop by Ryuji.

"Whoa, you alright? I'm not sure what happened, but uh... I hope Dagr didn't mean it?" Pit said, shrugging hesitantly. "Sorry, I gotta go check on her right now. Talk to you later!"

Following the brief exchange, Pit resumed his dash after Dagr, calling out from afar.

"Hey! Dagr!" He called, struggling to catch up to her longer stride. "What's going on?!"​

ZedΩ
​

"Her power is certainly rather unique," Zed admitted. "As far as our research and historical data shows, however, song is the channel through which her ability appears to manifest. Although, it appears Luxia is quite talented at dancing, as well. Perhaps it is one of the traits that sets her Septima apart from The Muse..."

While the Golden Trillion pondered on that potential variable, the very Djinn they spoke of arrived, Magolor in tow. Luxia stopped to the right of Zed, looking toward him as she flipped onto her feet.

"Here's your guy."

"Wonderful. Well done as always, Luxia." He replied, before he turned his focus to Magolor. "Well? What were you able to learn?"​

Gunvolt
​

Crashbolt was a clean hit – but Dart sprung back into action in no time, a flaming inferno shooting upward at the Azure Striker. With his Flashfield no longer active, Gunvolt began to descend much faster, feeling the intense heat wash over him as he fell away, blobs of magma falling all around him. Three whizzed by before a fourth grazed his right leg, and while it began to burn supernaturally, GV's New Model Protect Armor appeared to hold up just fine.

Dart rose up to meet him, his blade flashing with scarlet flame with each swing, but Gunvolt had the speed to match, twisting and turning with shocking agility to narrowly avoid several blows. His hand surged with azure lightning as he moved – before one of the dragoon's swings connected. A bright explosion suddenly rang out, blasting the Azure Striker backward, though he'd managed to unleash a Dragonsphere upon his opponent just in time, the large orb of electricity crackling fiercely to quickly rack up damage on Dart.​

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Dagr

Dagr entered into the Regular Burger, sitting down at the bar.
"Mead. Now." She ordered the bartender. Sun-Wing jumped off Dagr's shoulders, landing on the bar. The eagle gave Dagr a concerned look, but the Princess just shook her head. She looked up to the screens in the restaurant, but the next fight hadn't started yet.

"Hey! Dagr!" A familiar voice called out. Dagr glanced over to see Pit entering the Regular Burger. "What's going on?!"
At the sight of the angel, Dagr managed a forced smile and rested her head on her hand.
"Hey, Pit." Dagr said. "You saw that, huh? Sorry, I promise I'm not usually that sore of a loser..."

 

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

As Dagr gave her reply, the angel approached the bar, jumping onto the seat beside her.

"I mean, it's alright. Getting knocked out of the tournament is a bummer, so feeling upset and stuff makes sense if you ask me. Least all the food and drinks around here make it easier to handle, right? A bunch of shortcakes sure were good for me, heh." Pit commented, nudging the jotun lightly with his elbow, trying to cheer her up a little.

"Still, though, if you don't mind me asking... What was that all about? Did that guy say something real mean?"​

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Dagr

The Princess' small smile grew at Pit's food comment and nudging, and a glass of mead was slid into her hand.
"That's true, for sure. Good food and drink to wash away the bitterness of loss. And the company isn't too bad either. I should have suspected you had a sweet tooth." Dagr said to Pit. At his second question, Dagr sighed and shook her head.

"No, he just... ugh." Dagr hesitated. "It was just the last straw, I guess. I lost my match, which was annoying but fine. Audrey was kind of a jerk about it, but that's not unusual. The more embarrassing thing was that she had already lost to Nótt, so I lost to someone my sister was able to beat. So that sucked. And then, my sister won her match. Which meant she was still in the tournament, even though she had been eliminated!"

Dagr sighed again and took a long drink from her mead.
"I just thought I finally gotten ahead of her in something, you know?" Dagr said as she put her drink down. "But instead, she's saved by luck and gets to go on to the finals. Hell, she's on track to win this thing. So of course, after her fight she has to brag that she's still in the tournament and I'm not."

Dagr leaned back in her seat, and looked up at the ceiling of the restaurant.
"I guess I'm still a pretty weak Princess, because that managed to get under my skin. And when I try to get away and get some food and drink, who shows up but Skullboy. Bragging about how he was able to easily beat my sister. I saw that he was hanging out with my sister before, quite a lot. She probably sent him over to me, knowing it was upset me even more. I was tired of it, so I let him know that." Dagr shrugged and took another drink from her mead.

 

[Gamingfan]

Magolor
"Hello Hellooo!" Magolor greeted as he arrived. "Sorry I didn't come sooner. Got a bit occupied."
At Zed's request, Magolor nodded.
"Not as much as I'd like," The egg replied with a shrug. "...but he said some weird stuff."
The mage began to recount the time he had spent with Spamton.
~~~
"...He told me to insert this disc somewhere, then handed it over and vanished...maybe. I think..."
Magolor examined the disc again, feeling it's weight in his hand.
"I think this disc is Spamton now." The egg shook his head before looking at the group inquisitively.
"He said I'll know when I find the green vines. Any of you know a place like that?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Eitri

Luxia returned, with Magolor in tow. Eitri took the opportunity to take a closer look at Luxia, glancing from the summoned Septima to Layla and trying to see any connection between the two. As Luxia spoke, did Layla react in any way? Did the child know what her Septima was doing?

However. Eitri's curiosity in Luxia and Layla was interrupted by Magalor, describing his encounter with Spamton. Truly, a series of strange and unusual events.
"Wait, sorry, Spamton? Dimension Games? What?" Eitri feigned confusion, looking to Masaru and Zed, before chuckling and waving to Magolor. "Sorry, sorry. Zed and Masaru already filled me in."

The sage stepped closer to Magolor, taking a closer look at the disc he held. Looking the device over, she turned to the group.
"What is a 'disc'? It seems like you all are familiar with it..." Eitri said.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

Pit felt increasingly bad for the princess the more she explained.

"Yeah, that DOES sound awful..." was his initial response. "Honestly, I'm not sure what the deal is with these votes getting people back into the tournament. Once is already a little weird, but twice? Master Hand sure is running things weird this time around. Seems a bit unfair, y'know?" He added, putting both hands on the bar as he watched Dagr drink more of her mead.

"Does sound like you and your sis don't get along so peachy, huh. She sounds kinda mean. Plus, feeling like you're being overshadowed sucks, so totally get you there." Pit commented, and he glanced back at his wings for a moment before looking at Dagr again. "Not like I really got siblings, anyway. Sure, there's this edgy copy of me running around back home, and we don't always get along either, but I dunno if it's really the same. Rivalry aside, what's it like?"

As he spoke, he eyed the glass of mead the jotun held. That stuff wasn't his thing, but maybe he could pick up something of his own.

"Phew, I'm getting thirsty. Think they got a Drink of the Gods here?"

With those words, a bottle-shaped glass with a hole in its center suddenly slid into the angel's open palm. He stared wide-eyed for a moment, the glass filled with a pink liquid, two wing-like adornments on the sides. Pit took a sip of the drink, immediately feeling refreshed.

"Ahh, that hits the spot."​

ZedΩ
​

Magolor's description of the events left Zed quite surprised. An unknown business partner had been aiding Spamton with his "deal" earlier, and had now vanished on him. That left Magolor as his new partner, and the entrustment of a mysterious CD to the traveler, who seemed partially convinced that the salesman himself had transformed into the storage device. A plan to become "Big" and witness "Heaven"...

Eitri appeared unfamiliar with the disc – of course, her world likely didn't contain such technology. The prince moved closer as well, clearing his throat.

"A disc serves as a device in which information can be stored to later be retrieved by a compatible tool. They are rather obsolete in my time, but some do continue to use them. As for a place to insert it, it may be a location in his own world. Or, hm..." Zed paused, considering an alternative for a moment.

"He seems to not remember our earlier battle. If we are to assume he employed this same technique prior to the attack, the target could very well be hidden somewhere in this realm."

"Even if it is..." Luxia spoke up. "It's not like we'd help him do all that stuff again, right? Doing just what that guy wants is probably just asking for trouble, if you ask me."​

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Dagr

The Princess drained the rest of her drink, placing it back on the bar and listening to Pit. She looked down at her empty glass, thinking back to her time with her sister.
"It used to be a lot better." Dagr finally said. "We used to do everything together. Play, train, explore the castle and the kingdom. Whenever I got in to trouble, Nótt was always there to turn on the charm and get me out of it. She was strong, and brave, and kind, and smart. There was nothing I wouldn't do for her, and I knew she felt the same about me."

Dagr sighed and shook her head.
"But those days are gone. Ever since..." Dagr stopped herself, chuckled, and looked back to Pit. "Well, I've already talked about it this much. Might as well keep going."
When Dagr looked back to her glass, she found it was already refilled with mead. Taking another long drink, she continued speaking.
"A few years back my sis and I became old enough to take the throne, should my mother ever pass away or wish to relinquish it. So my mom calls us into the throne room, and tells us our people's tradition to determine who is the next in line for the throne."

Dagr rested her head on her hand, and stared at the back wall.
"It's important that the queen is strong in all senses of the word, but especially physically. So she ordered us to fight." Dagr shook her head. "I didn't want to. I didn't care about inheriting the throne, and I was more than happy to let Nótt have it. I tried to forfeit the match, but my mother wouldn't allow it. She forced us to fight."

Dagr chuckled dryly and shook her head.
"Sorry, did I say 'us'? I meant to say 'me'. Because Nótt didn't hesitate in the slightest. There was no hesitation, no protest. Nothing." Dagr said. "I couldn't even bring myself to fight back then. Mother didn't stop the fight until Nótt had broken my arm."

Dagr's grip on her glass tightened, and she quickly downed the rest of her mead. She slammed the glass back onto the bar.
"After everything we've done together, Nótt just sided with mother without even the smallest protest. She made it clear how important getting that throne was to her."

Suddenly, the glass mug shattered in Dagr's hand. The jotun cursed, quickly dropping the remains of the cup and sweeping the glass shards aside.
"Ah, damn. Anyway... I'm over trying to be sisters with her now. She wants that throne so much? No way I'm going to just let her have it. I'll beat her, and become a better queen than she could ever dream." Dagr said. She looked back to Pit, then shook her head.

"Sorry, I've just been going on and on about myself." Dagr said. "What was that you said earlier, about having an edgy copy?"


Eitri

"Hm... I see..." Eitri said. The sage looked at the disc once more. Something this small stored data? How? There appeared to be nothing magical about it. The metal eye on her Grim Brokkr detached itself, scanning the CD. She'd have to take a deeper look at the information later.
"So, Spamton wants you to insert this disc in a specific place. I've spent my time up here in the stands, I haven't noticed a place like that." Eitri said.

The Sage considered the situation for another moment, and Ótr spoke up.
"If that thing is the problem, then why don't we just break it?" Ótr asked. Eitri rolled her eyes.
"We've been over that before, Ótr. The same problem we had when Spamton was still a creature." Eitri said. She looked to the group. "If disc works as you say, maybe we could try to find a device that could read it, instead of bringing it to this vine place. Maybe that could give us some more clues, give us more to work with to figure out what to do."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

808 / Chai / Rex


Rex's hands twitched in the clutching motion as he was separated by Kirin, since he was mid grabbing at Bakura. He scowled, forced to hear Kirin out as she talked of how it wasn't his fault. Narrowing his eyes, he locked them on the necklace that they were referring to.

"Even if that was true, which I don't believe, why aren't we throwing that thing away and smashing it up?? What's with all this standing and yappin'?!"

Rex was out for blood, or at least recompense from what he experienced in there. Weevil would have been up for the same if- wait. Where was Weevil? Wasn't he with him when he fell under? Bah, he was probably around here somewhere.

"Soooo...I'm lacking all of the context." Chai whistled. "Like, what did this pale kid do?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." Peppermint hushed him, turning to the Japanese teen. "Hey hey, it's alright. Listen, it'll be fine. Bakura, what exactly happened? Is Kirin right about some kind of...dark...version of you? Or a monster?"

 

[Fraseandchico]

Audrey Redheart
​

Audrey noticeably winced at Lucario's telepathy, seemingly caught off guard.
"Hey, stay away from my brain, got it?!" She growled, clearly misunderstanding what this was.
You don't get to know it. Stay away!

With a huff, she stepped towards the gates.
"Pff, whatever - Guess I can't fault you for being that annoying." Audrey shook her head, a rather smug smirk appearing on her face again after it momentarily disappeared, and finally walked into the archway.

"Please Select a Stage." That voice again. Sounding more like her every time, to Redheart.

"Tch, I'll leave this one up to you, Luca," Clearly not bothering to remember the full name. "You'll need the home field advantage to even get a chance to win."

Masaru Takahara
​

When Luxia returned with Magolor, Masaru waved a quick hello before listening. And trying to pretend he also knew what a disc was, by not asking. Thankfully, Eitri asked, so he didn't have to.

"I mean, I don't get it much. But it's probably a good idea to go somewhere aside that we could read it. You reckon there's a chance, say, someone could read his mind if he's really in there or anything?" He wondered outloud.

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Ryo Bakura

The teen continued rubbing his necklace nervously. At least nobody was willing to let Raptor jump him, yet. He thought back, trying to remember everything that happened.
"I... I was heading to get some food, when I saw Nephthys. I saw her fight, so I knew she had psychic powers. I that maybe she could use them to see what was... if there was anything wrong with me." The teen said. "She decided to help me. Told me to meditate. To focus."

Bakura closed his eyes, gripping the Millennium Ring tightly.
"The next thing I knew, I was in a strange room. It was familiar, but I hadn't been there before." Bakura said. He shook his head. "Nepthys was there. So was some sort of swamp creature, and a Duel Monster. She told me not to worry, that I was dreaming. And then she walked through a wall. I tried to wait, or go back to sleep, like she said. But I couldn't. So eventually, I followed her."

The teen's brow furrowed as he recounted the tale.
"Then I was in a strange tomb. Nephthys was fighting someone. Someone that looked like me! But they weren't me. It was like am evil version of me." Bakura said. "Rex Raptor was there, too. So was a skeleton, in a hoodie. Then during the fight, you showed up too Kirin." Bakura said to the Priestess. "Nephthys and Kirin were able to defeat that evil me, and a big monster showed up. And then... we were back here."

Bakura shook his head and looked back to 808.
"The whole thing feels like it was just some crazy dream." Bakura said.


Byleth

To the Professor's surprise, Pit agreed to help without hesitation. She watched as he ran off, following Dagr into the Regular Burger Restaurant. Her hands tightened into fists, and for a moment it appeared like Byleth was about to call out to Pit. The green halo pulsed, and the moment passed. With a sigh, Byleth sat up and looked to Kirby.
"Let's go, Kirby." Byleth said. The Professor pulled her cape closer, and walked over to the Champions.

The Champions had made their way over to the sparring arena, and were watching an ongoing fight. The blue-clothed champion, going toe-to-toe with the defeated competitor, Dart. There were other competitors there, watching the fight. The demon child, Rinku and the strange jester spirit, NiGHTS. Now that she was closer to the champions, Byleth could get a better look at them. The first was an incredibly tall man in strange green armor. It reminded Byleth of the type of armor Samus wore, minus the cannon arm. The second champion was a strange, jester like individual. Byleth had never seen anyone like it, besides NiGHTS.
"Excuse me." Byleth said to Master Chief and Reala, her face expressionless. "May I speak with you?"

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
Audrey suddenly backed off, growling at the mon. Lucario gave a small bow as a apology.
"I am sorry. Aura is our form of comm-" but Audrey wasn't listening. She simply shook his head dismissively and walked off.
It seemed everyone here was confident, almost insufferably so. Lucario hoped Nott wouldn't be same.
Entering his own gateway, Lucario already knew what his stage choice was. It had to be something fitting for the final battle of this bracket.
"Lumiose Conference." He confirmed to the machine.
The environment shifted, warping until the two fighters were left in a massive stadium, the stands packed with cheering spectators. They were on opposite ends of a huge and plain arena. In the middle, a hologram displayed a roulette of environments. It spun round and round, until it came to a sudden stop and showed off an icon of a mountain.
The arena opened up, and from it rose a different platform. It simulated a huge stone mountain, with a waterfall flowing down and creating a shallow lake in the middle of the arena. Smaller, though still big mountains also littered the arena.
For the first time in this tournament, Lucario spoke out loud, saying his name in classic pokemon fashion. He was wishing Audrey luck. Lucario knew she wouldn't be able to understand, but he had her distaste for telepathy in mind.
When she was ready, Lucario would strike first with an aura sphere! The ball of energy quickly travelled across the arena towards Audrey. Meanwhile, the Kraggling immediately got into position on Lucario's shoulder.

Magolor
Magolor laughed.
"Hee Hee! That's pretty crazy! These are super-old in my world! Only the ancients used them."
Noticing Luxia's concern's and Eitri's offer, Magolor shook his hand calmly.
"No, I definitely don't feel like going through that again. But I am curious how Spamton managed to pull this off. Wherever this place is, it should have something useful. And after that...well, I hope Spammy won't be too mad if I insert this somewhere else."

Kirby
Kirby yelled out a quick "bai!" as Pit dashed off, eager to help. Kirby wasn't entirely sure what Byleth wanted, but he was happy to help too.
Yet Byleth herself didn't look happy. The puffball expression dampened as he looked at the Professor, but she quickly turned and sat up.
For a second, Kirby faintly recalled Pit saying Byleth was in trouble, but soon forgot as he hurried behind her.

When they made it to the arena, Byleth beelined it towards the champions, both unfamiliar to the puffball. Where was Gunvolt?
Despite that, Kirby happily greeted both characters. With Byleth doing most of the talking, Kirby opted to watch the fight. It was an intense spar, and the amount of effort both fighters exerted made Kirby hungry. It was difficult to follow them at first, but once Kirby's eyes caught up they brightened with recognition.
"Ganvol!" Kirby repeated, louder and happier, as he leaned forward and cheered hard for his past opponent!

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Peppermint / Rex Raptor / Chai


Peppermint put a paw to their cat's biomechanial chin, digesting this information. It was...a lot. Evil dopplegangers? Mind monsters? Mental mazes? There was nothing scientific about all of this, she definitely out of her element. Having to adapt to the whacky worlds of the characters she's been exposed to, she had to find some sort of solution outside the confines of her own reasoning.

"Well kid, that's quite the story. I wish I had some sort of technical explanation for you, but I did scans and analysis while you were under and nothing came up as out of the ordinary - well, except that."

She gestured towards the millennium ring around his neck. Rex rolled his eyes as this whole ordeal was trying his patience, glaring daggers at Kirin, who wouldn't let him pass. Peppermint continued.

"I tried to wake you up but that trinket there reacted, started to shine. Though if my scans are correct, there's no technology in it for it to make any sort of shine. I'm thinking that your little doppelgänger business is coming from this. Are you able to take it off? Think you need to return it to wherever you found it..."

"Or if you don't want it anymore, just give it to me!" Chai gestured to himself with his thumb. "I'll be happy to smash it myself if it's causing all this fuss!"



Reala


Reala moved an eye to their corner, glancing at Byleth before averting his gaze just as quick as he gave it. He seemed dismissive towards her, not turning his body away from the brawl between Dart and Gunvolt.

"What would the likes of a visitor want?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Bakura

Ryo listened to what Peppermint was saying. He looked to the Millennium Ring, and smiled sadly.
"... This was a gift from my father." Bakura said. "He bought it on one of his trips to Egypt. It was something that was supposed to bring good luck."
Bakura's hand tightened around the ring.
"I know it's silly to think that a little necklace could have the power to bring luck, but still. It's... important to me. But if you really think that it's what's causing these strange things..."

Bakura looked to the group, his sad smile remaining. Still, there was a bit of hope.
"Could I have a second opinion?" Bakura asked Kirin.


Byleth

If Byleth was offended by Reala's personality, the mercenary didn't show it. Her face expressionless as ever, she stepped closer to the champions. She too watched the fight, noting as Kirby began to cheer on 'Gunvol'.
"What do you know of Master Hand." Byleth asked Reala. "Who is he?"

 

[comic]

DART​

In the eruption, both men skid backward. Dart braced a leg behind him, coming to a stop at the edge of the ring as a sphere of electrical energy tried to barrel into him. The mercenary’s blade hummed red before he jammed it forward, impaling the dragonsphere – before it erupted, overloaded from within by counter-energy, flames licking outward after the blast.

With a dash, Dart closed the distance again, leading with a series of rapid slashes against Gunvolt, immediately following that up with a high-knee leap, aiming to jump up with his knee in an upward momentum to smash it into either Gunvolt’s face, should he remain level, or his gut should he rise.
​

​

NEPHTHYS​

Rex’s outburst wasn’t unexpected, pretty much the opposite – it was consistent with what she had seen of him so far. Bakura got freaked out by it, however, and turned to the gardevoir for support, claiming he didn’t know that any of that stuff would happen. She already knew that, of course, it had already been established.

Kirin tried to diffuse any heightening emotions, all of which were amplified to Nephthys, her empathy horn picking up on even the subtlest of feelings from those around. Chai and Peppermint’s confusion led to a question, which begot an explanation from the boy. Chai wanted to smash it, and Bakura didn’t want that, asking for a second opinion. This was where the gardevoir gave her input again.

<What’s done is done. We all stand here, and our opponent has nothing to show for it but a black eye and a bruised ego. That amulet you wear, it is his domain, have no doubt. He is not gone, just pushed back. If you want to be rid of him, you will dispose of your father’s gift and train your mind.>

Then again, it was possible the dark spirit had already latched onto the boy himself, and the amulet was little more than a trinket – or even the catalyst for sealing others, as he’d been trying to perform on the gardevoir.
​

​

MASTER CHIEF​

Whatever the spartan thought or felt about Reala’s words, in defense of his and Wizeman’s relationship to ‘visitors,’ nothing was shown beyond the reflection of his golden visor. When another individual (John recognized this one – he’d done his own research on Master Hand’s other tournaments, and was thus distantly familiar with many of its contestants) approached, Byleth, she offered a question of some confusing merit.

She was already familiar with Master Hand in ways that many certainly wouldn’t be, given this was the same Byleth from those tournaments. The likelihood of them bearing roughly the same amount of knowledge on the glove was high. Reala probably couldn’t say anything that Byleth didn’t already know, and vice versa.

“Seems to me like Master Hand is making friends wherever he goes…” Kalmiya muttered in mock secrecy, barely covering the side of her mouth with one hand to mutter that line to Chief.

Byleth’s question of Master Hand’s identity was particularly perplexing. Her attitude didn’t match the dossier Kalmiya had compiled, either, meaning this probably was an alternate Byleth to the one who’d already dealt with the disembodied glove.

John chose not to respond to Byleth. Her attention had fallen squarely on Reala as it stood, and the spartan preferred to know her angle first.​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reala


Byleth continued to bother him, Reala attempting to ignore it at first. When he was asked who Master Hand was, the crimson jester eyed her once more. Deliberating, he turned to face her, cocking a thin smile as he did so. It was an odd change of demeanor than when she first addressed him.

"And dear visitor, what would you do for this information? Surely you don't expect everything in this world of yours to be free?"

There was no rule explicitly stated from Master hand than a non-contestant couldn't harm a guest. This in mind made Reala especially emboldened, taking a talon and reaching toward her collarbone.

"You seem to have...oh? An unusually amount of courage in there. I'll tell you what I know in exchange for that courage. What do you say?"

 

[Fraseandchico]

Audrey Redheart
​

Masked by her confidence, Audrey whistled a little as Lucario's choice came into view. A stadium, the two combatants set to opposing ends as the arena was formed.

"Gotta admit, good taste. Big stadium, pretty much anyone can watch." Audrey shouted across to Lucario, blade raising high to the sky. Lucario called something back, seeming to shout...Well, Lucario, which caused Audrey to pause for a second. "Huh? Weird."

As soon as she was prepared, as if Lucario was waiting for it, an energy sphere shot out right at Audrey from Lucario's palms - And she smirked. Swinging her sword as it came closer, her blade slammed into the aura sphere, reflecting it into the ground! "Gotcha!"

Now, it was her turn. Dashing forward, it took her a moment - ensuring to keep her blade up to reflect any similar long ranged attempts -, to reach the middle of the stage, jumping over the lake and acting as a small blur in mid-air to get past it. As soon as she could get close enough, Audrey would attempt to slash straight at Lucario, across the head.

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
Audrey's sword batted away Lucario's aura sphere, prompting a curious look on the mon. A weapon that could redirect energy?
The swordswoman leapt forward, crossing the arena rather quickly. Lucario helped close the distance. While he wouldn't speak to Audrey, her aura was still perfectly visible. As she got close, she reared her blade, and Lucario realized where she was aiming.
Audrey swung wide, barely shaving off a few hairs off Lucario as he ducked under the swing. As he passed her, Lucario would grip onto her scarf and twirl the girl round before throwing her towards a rocky wall!