"Fascinating! Well, I'm Lupin."

He bends down to eye level with Luna, giving her a curious stare. "You need some help?"

Luna pauses. Finally, someone can understand her! Luna felt like her heart was beating out of happiness.

|Y-Yeah... But, how can you understand me? I thought all humans can only hear Pokémon speak their names... I met one who understood me fine though...|

Lupin taps his ear and snickers. "Well, that's all I was hearing, but then I put this on."

He stands up straight and stretches. "So, how can I help you, little miss?"

Luna tilts her head a bit, hearing Lupin address her as such.

|Just call me Luna, i-instead of that... I'm not really familiar with human speech. A-Anyways, is there a town or something nearby?|

"Of course! Just follow me. And stick close so the sand doesn't make you lose me."

Lupin leads the way to Chrysos, a minor city in Lourent which is near the capital city of Aurum.

This city happens to be where Chihiro Rokuhiro ended up en route to taking Cecilia to Aurum, where he parted ways with her in search of a lead as to his own problems. The sandstorms ensured he couldn't venture out of the desert yet.

Chihiro's out and about wearing a poncho anyway, because he can't be bothered to go inside. He sees Lupin and Luna arrive, but quickly ducks out of sight before either of them notice him.

Edited by KiriK on May 5th 2024 at 9:30:04 AM

|Thank you... I suppose I should tell you more about myself... I was born on a ship in the middle of a ocean, with my mother, a light brown Seraphido with small bells on her tail and blue eyes. My father was a pure white Ninetales according to my mother. Also according to my mother, he was targeted by humans due to his white fur. Which, I don't understand... I didn't get to talk to them both that much. For some reason, my father wasn't there when I hatched. Anyways, there was a storm and my mother told me to jump into the sea and escape, knowing that I wouldn't like it to spend my entire life in a cage. I did as she was told and I woke in this land somewhere... According to my Appraise skill, Seraphido are "known for the instruments that it carries on its tail. The sounds that are produced by them were given holy significance by humans. They were almost hunted to extinction. People once believed that Seraphido was a holy being sent by Arceus and were treated as gods or protectors." Which, I don't really understand... Anyways, yeah... I'm currently trying to search for my mother and my father as well. But so far, no luck... I really want to see them someday though...|

Luna explained her story to Lupin as they trek through the desert. Luna, still being young, dosn't unfortunately understand the concept of death. Eventually arriving in Chrysos.

Chrysos

|Is this it? My HP and PP is low at the moment, though I used each of my moves once. Is there any food and water around here so I can regain my strength?|

Lupin scratches his head, doing his best to follow along. It's all very tragic. The Appraise skill sounds useful, though...

—

"Uh...Well, you just missed a door that appears once a week for food. And the water supplies have been drying out lately."

He snickers as he ducks into a building, beckoning Luna inside. "Lucky for you, I always come prepared."

Edited by KiriK on May 5th 2024 at 9:49:36 AM

|A door that appears once a week? That’s a new one... And there's no water? What's going on around here? Anyways, what do you have?|

Luna enters the building.

The room inside is dark. On a table sits a laptop, in one corner there is a suspiciously large tank of water with some cups, and in another are multiple stacks of rations.

"A perfect little hidey-hole. Built to outlast any bad weather." Lupin pours some water into a cup for Luna, then goes to his computer.

|H-How did you? How did you get all this?|

Luna stares at the hideout, wondering if is this Lupin actually lives at.

|You live here Lupin?|

Luna drinks the water that was on the upper half of the cup. Soon, she stops, as she can't drink anymore as she can't reach the water anymore.

|Uh, Lupin? I can't reach the water anymore. And, I can't really open the food...|

"It's a trade secret. And no, this is just one base of operations."

The mystery deepens.

"Oh, lemme get that for you." Lupin refills the water along with filling a few more cups, then grabs an MRE pack off the stack, rips it open, and sets it down.

Then he gets back to his computer. "Right now, a friend of mine is fighting in a tournament somewhere far away, so I'm keeping an eye on him, while also looking into the oncoming drought. Where there's a problem to be solved, there's profit to be made!"

The raven-haired woman is genuinely fascinated when she witnesses what Godzilla does with the powerup she sent his way. She stands and watches for a moment, then realizes that not only is the Machinedramon shooting at her, the projectiles it's shooting can actually reach her.

"...Well, in for a credit..."

With her left hand, she pulls an excessively large revolver of some sort out of her robe, quickly adjusting a dial on the side, then closing one eye to look down the scope. She needs a bit of time to figure out the trajectories, but once she has it, she rapidly begins eliminating energy blasts with machine-like precision, her handgun firing thin lasers with just enough power to pierce the incoming projectiles and collapse them safely.

She's just not fast enough to get everything, though. A couple of the energy blasts slip by her defenses, one impacting her to minimal effect, the other then impacting her a moment later to the much great effect of sending her flying. She crashes through the concrete side of a building, scattering rubble around the floor outside and inside, laying on the second story floor while staring up at the roof. She doesn't seem that injured, though she did bang her head on something solid and the landing winded her. Luckily, she had a tight grip, so she didn't lose her staff or gun.

"Ow..."

She rests for a while, but pushes herself back up to her feet soon enough, seeing as she should fully see things through. She surveys the battlefield from her different vantage, considering things. Evidently, this distance isn't safe to be at... Time to reevaluate things from another angle.

"Empowerment - Wings."

She taps herself with the crystalline end of her staff, ethereal wings of orange-gold energy manifesting on her back, then she leaps out from the building and takes flight. Those wing constructs have some serious mobility in them, letting her quickly fly over the battlefield, giving her a sky-based view of what's happening. Hopefully, she also has better odds at dodging whatever attacks are thrown her way later on, and some ability to retaliate more directly... As for her rough location, she's somewhere above the big G himself, having the logic that if she's not in his line of sight, there won't be a risk of distracting him with a zippy glowy thing to look at.

Maybe others could try communicating with her now that she's closer. Or just keep watch and let her figure out a style on her own.

|Thanks.|

Luna begins to eat the food. It tastes bad. Luna wishes that she has something else to eat. She just took a few bites before returning to drinking the water.

I never thought an egg with cheese would taste awful!

Luna lays down on the floor, resting.

Luna's HP and PP has been fully restored!

Hub Centralis

Sure you jestin'.

The Explorers, and specially Lulú, have distrust towards Malzeno's words... But after seeing him deflect some attacks going for them, they began to see him as an ally.

Thanks to Malzeno, the group arrived to the balloon.

Alright then, Maxi and me will go inside to repair. You three, stay around. Unless I call for somebody, don't enter the basket. Understood?

The group nods. The Bunny and Maxi hop into the balloon basket.

Alright Maxi, pass me the thread and the giant needle...

Pucci listened carefully to what Xander said. He’s not wrong, the priest realized, in most ways.

But as he thought, he remembered that day. Over half a year ago now, but still more vivid in his mind than yesterday. He recalled the feeling of weight, utter weight crushing down upon his shoulders, the weight of dozens of corpses that he should’ve just been another one of. But he wasn’t. And he recalled how it felt, the blood and guts slathering against his clothes as he pulled himself along, gasping for breath and feeling the hot iron-laden taste of blood in his mouth, not all of it his. He recalled clawing himself through the mound of corpses, not knowing which way was up and which way was down, until at last he felt the cool air hit his hand, and he remembered the exact moment the realization had struck, that though he was free of the darkness he still could not find the light.

I should’ve died that day…but I didn’t. I have to believe it was for a purpose.

Xander wasn’t wrong—he intended to embrace death. But he wasn’t ready yet. He felt it in his soul…he wouldn’t run from death, there was no reason to run from death, because somehow he knew that it wouldn’t come for him, not yet. There was something he needed to do, something that he just didn’t know yet.

And there it was again—he didn’t know. He was in the dark again, still as shrouded by black confusion as that day. He feared his entire life would be spent in the dark, and he heard a small voice crying out that it would be better for this ceaseless night to end sooner than later, so he may find himself in the warm embrace of whatever awaited beyond this life.

King Xander, you’re more right than you know. The thought went unspoken. But you misunderstand my meaning. I don’t intend to lay down and let it take me. When my enemies—the enemies of my friends—cry out and I hear their swords cutting through the air, I’ll fight. Even as I bleed I’ll fight. Only when I feel it, feel that different voice calling my name and its hands on my shoulder—warm, not cold—will I relax and lay down and die; it is Death I intend to embrace, not those who would presume to bring it. But rather than any of this, he offered only a grave smile and said:    "You’re right, I guess."   

Pucci was silent a moment longer, clearing his thoughts and his head.    "Thank you, Your Majesty, for hearing what I would say. I’m grateful of all you’ve done and said, truly."   

Edited by ISZATSO on May 6th 2024 at 12:33:17 PM

Raex

Previous

The templar stepped back, gritting his teeth and raising his arms to block the oncoming blow, intense sparks flying between the two as Narktus's Ultima blade began burrowing into Raex's armor. The pain was excruciating for the moments it lasted until reality broke apart before Raex, unfolding into an infinite void he had never seen or fathomed, incomparable to even closing his eyes. The darkness beyond measure, but beyond that, a sudden freedom fluttered forth from the depths of Raex's being.

Strength was among that freedom, a sudden invigoration of power Raex had no mind to dream of, nor did he desire it. Additionally, Raex felt something that had been caging his mind suddenly slip away, without a trace, so fleeting in the trace it left the templar could not identify it. In his mind for a few moments, Raex steps away from Narktus, inspecting himself, his muttered words echoing through the void.

"What is this?"

His tone was a combination of emotions, but namely a mingled curiosity, slowly drowned out by a wave of disgust. Raex did not desire the power granted to him, moreover, he wanted nothing to do with it. The disgust shifted to a blanket of rage, encompassing Raex's soul in a burning, golden inferno of divine fury. Opening the palm of his left hand, Raex plunges his hand through his armor and into his flesh, a river of blood erupting, pouring into the infinite blackness.

Flesh squelched and Raex grunted as his hand explored his innards, searching for a physical 'infection' where there was none, but he believed it so. Clenching his fist down upon this abnormality as tightly as he could manage, the templar rips it from his chest, a shining, pear-like orb, effervescent amidst its surface, covered in blood between his fingers. A beautiful object, the Arena's gift of power to the templar forced to physical form.

Champion's Gravetender - Dark Souls III

Yet as his quaking gaze moved to his hand, Raex could see naught but a disgusting parasite, a false aid forced upon him by his opponent. The templar's strength abandons him, the orb dropping to his feet, but no further, as it rolls across nothing to tap his boot. Raex nearly falls to his knees, until golden light surrounds him, closing his wounds and replenishing his lost crimson.

He rises back to full form, his gaze of retribution settling squarely on Narktus.

"I WILL NOT BE VIOLATED BY YOUR SUPPOSED 'GIFT' OF POWER!"

Raex shouted with impunity, raising a leg to smash the heart-sized pearl to dust, the swathing auras of wasted power permeating amidst the void until it faded to nothing, like the void between the combatants.

"I WOULD NOT DARE DESECRATE MY COVENANT BY ACCEPTING SUCH ROTTEN FRUIT!"

Even as the Arena's buff had left Raex, whatever cage had been inflicted by the dimensional nexus upon his mind dissipating seemed to have leveled the playing field regardless, his divine aura suddenly flaring brighter than it had yet, a boisterous invitation of challenge to Narktus from the templar.

Raex's fury was unlike few other players within the Arena, a swathing aura pouring from every fiber of his being both external and internal, strong enough to attract the attention of any beings that feed from it, even across dimensions.

Great Plateau

"W-woah! Can you NOT?!"

The white-haired male nearly stumbles back as Laios grips his shoulders, before forcing the bigger man off of him with a somewhat surprising strength despite his limber frame.

"I haven't seen anyone here, sheesh!"

He quickly backs up, gripping his 'staff' a bit tighter while holding it a bit higher up than before. Of course, it being just a branch, it'd be... a lot less intimidating than he wants it to be.

"Do you normally try and grab people like that?! Or do you just need to calm down?"

The man shoots a pointed glare at Laios. Seems he Hates Being Touched. He sighs and adjusts his grip on his staff.

"What a way to wake up..."

He shakes his head as if focusing, before setting his staff in the crook of his arm and placing two fingers on his wrist, a bit like he's checking his pulse.

"Appraise."

Information flickers across his mind. Not as any sort of words, but for the sake of everyone who actually has to read this, that's how it'll show.

Name: Myras Ecantia Helgane
Species: Unidentified (Appraisal magic too weak.)
LF (Life Force): Med
MS (Mana Stores): High
MO (Magical Output Capacity): Full
No effects detected.

He puts his hand back down and holds the long branch back in his hand. He pulls his hood back over his head with a sigh.

Whatever hit me before I ended up here drained my energy more than it did actual damage...

Great Plateau

Laios stagges back, calming down a bit. His friends and allies aren't here. "I'm sorry... I was just a bit panicked."

He moves over to begin putting on his proper armor, saying "I doubt you know where we are either..."

He sighs. "Great, now I'm out here in the middle of who knows where, and everyone else might still be in the dungeon..."

He finally puts on his armor, before sitting down, a grumble running through his stomach.

Mission: Pursue the Giant Monster

Machinedramon is a very different beast from Skullgreymon. The latter, while powerful, was literally getting thrown around. Machimedramon, on the other hand, has been specifically noted to be one of, if not the strongest Digimon of the Digital World.

... well, those sources may be a bit outdated all things concerned. But it's still very much up there with the best of them, and it's about to show it.

A few reflected Godzilla bullet beam sprays (courtesy of Desghidora) strike Machinedramon, and while it flinches, its armored body seems to take little to no damage.

The Pyroclastic Shot hits it too, but its reaction doesn't differ from the previous attack. Same for the Crimson Flame Breath attack. It seems that all of a sudden this thing became an actual threat on the same standing as the other beings here.

However, it responds to Titanslayer charging in, suddenly raising its other arm (the one with the clawed hand) to block the incoming lance strike. Why would it bother trying to defend against that and nothing else?

It then tries to violently swing its arm around, trying to knock Titanslayer out of the air when it comes in for that shield bash.

And then, with little to zero warning time, one of the cannons on its back suddenly aims right at the Titanslayer while the other aims at Godzilla, its original target. Energy charges up within, and within seconds it launches the Giga Cannon shots, firing superdreadnought-class energy waves from its two cannons. One wave goes for Titanslayer (point-blank too) and the other goes for Godzilla.

—

About half a town further away, Etemon gets out of some new debris, even spitting out some rocks before gnashing his teeth and jumping up and down angrily like he's throwing a tantrum (because he is).

   "I can't keep makin' a fool of myself like this! Ah, I gotta find somethin' easier to beat, like some cardboard boxes or somethin'!"   

Yes he canonically said the second half of this very line in the official show at one point so I am legally obligated to have him say it here.

Edited by DevilPsyco on May 6th 2024 at 10:24:55 AM

Pica-Verse

Previous

"... Right." Sora jumps down to the others and shows them the remote Goyo dropped.

"Is that what he used to cripple the heroes?"

"Seems like it."

Makai

Previous

"I just want my pizzeria to stay in business!" Peppino laments as he gets on his feet. "And your boss said he'd pay me if I did this, so... here we are!"

He tries to sock The Mountain clean in the face.

Confluence of Fates

Welp, so much for getting to use Powder Vortex and blow up Soulstealer in a massive dust explosion.

Reyna hisses as she runs for cover. She's at her fucking limit.

Astil

"I can't say I know too much about what's going on, but I'll do what I can. We'll solve this mystery and put Seth to rest for good."

Xion ponders.

Roxas looks over. "Something on your mind?"

"I'm just wondering about what could be behind this."
Xion whispers to Iris, "Do the Navitus artifacts have the power to resurrect people?"

Mission: Pursue the Giant Monster

Godzilla gets raked by the deflected orbital laser. He roars angrily as the Pyroclastic Shot and Machinedramon's Giga Cannon both blast him.

But then he just charges through the mighty attacks. While his and Desghidorah's speeds relative to size might normally be comparable, Godzilla has received a speed power-up, so he gets right in Desghidorah's faces in seconds, then slide-steps behind it to stomp on its tail, bear-hug it from behind, and pin it down.

Malzeno stabs and slashes at Desghidorah's heads with his wings one after another, finishing with a diving X-slash at the middle head. Obviously, if Godzilla manages to keep Desghidorah in place, these are far more likely to connect.

Narktus vs. Raex

Narktus' eyes narrow. Raex may be rejecting a power-up, but his anger and hate are emanating off of him. Still, with his guard raised, Narktus makes an attempt to talk the knight down.

"Cease, now. There is another enemy I banished, but your blind rage will lure him to us. If he finds us, all your anger and determination will only increase his own and make him stronger.
"The harder you fight, the more power he will have over you. Or he will simply take your anger and leave you a husk, devoid of motivation."

Next

Game

Delilah's eyes narrow as she processes Lolbit's information. Perhaps this does not have to be the end after all. She just needs the time to come up with a plan.

—

There is nothing left to do here but mourn Lolbit. After saying goodbye to the machine she never thought she'd feel bad for, Charlie heads off alongside Emma and the rest of the party. There's one more minion of the Dead King left to go.

As the party enters the forest, their surroundings get covered in a glitchy mess. The glitches blanket the environment all at once...then spread onto them, covering their bodies and filling their vision. The screen on the TV is also covered in visual noise.

Once everyone can see again, they find themselves right back in the forest, exactly where they were before everything went to Techno Hell. But something feels different. The world around them feels more polished, more real than before. And Emma has switched back in.

—

On the outside, the game has changed from a top-down JRPG to a fully 3D action RPG. And what's more, it seems to be in a boss intro cutscene.

—

"Whatever just happened, the game must be getting really unstable," Charlie mutters as the party follows behind Jax, who's shoving aside tree branches in their path.

"The quicker we're out of here the better, eggs are on me when we make it!!"

Emma shudders. "I don't like this."

"Well... we're almost out now, s-so we should keep going. It's only two more bosses, right?", Evan says, trying his best to encourage Emma (and himself).

Gregory, meanwhile, nearly gets smacked by a tree branch.

"I don't think it'll be that easy, but I really hope it will be."

"If anything, I will graciously speed things up as much as possible with my cards.", Noah smirks. "They made that last boss a joke. Maybe we'll get lucky a second time."

The camera cuts in front of the party to show their reactions as it zooms out to reveal a sudden change from forest to swamp, with a clearing in said swamp, and a series of wooden bridges over the deep center of the wetland.

Gregory gasps. "This is the same layout as the catwalk above Monty's Gator Golf!"

Charlie also gasps. "Which means we're probably gonna have to fight..."

On the bridge furthest from the party, a ring of squares, lines and numbers forms on the ground and casts more rings upward, all spinning around like a summoning circle, before in a pillar of light and a column of hexagons, none other than Data Monty emerges.

"Did someone say 'encore'?" He tips his sunglasses.

Killing Two Birds

The battle begins...and it's not turn-based. Not even ATB like El Mirage's fight.

They're live. The usual inputs have been replaced with a Kingdom Hearts-style command menu, letting the players input basic combos, cast special abilities as Magic, use Items, or access a fourth menu with different options for everyone (Charge for Charlie, Switch for Emma/Victoria, Ultimate for Jax, Summon for Gregory).

And they'll need these options, because Data Monty roars and lunges across the bridges to grab Emma. He leaps up into the air and spins, putting her in a flying death roll before hurling her down at the ground, where the impact makes an explosion that threatens the rest of the party.

—

Delilah holds the left stick in a direction and starts mashing Y. It's the dodge roll input on Nintendo Switch versions of Kingdom Hearts, which she knows, and she also knows Charlie needs to get the hell out of there ASAP. Fortunately, it works, guiding Charlie onto a bridge distinct from the one Data Monty rushed down and far enough away to avoid the explosion.

Cassie quickly navigates to Jax's items and commands him to use the Group Potion. If he gets caught in the explosion, he won't be able to use it until he's back on his feet, but she's mashing that button.

Edited by KiriK on May 12th 2024 at 9:42:48 AM

Mission: Pursue the Giant Monster

Desghidorah lets out a roar of pain as Godzilla stomps its tail before grabbing it, the Super Darkness Monster glaring balefully at him only to then get swatted in its faces by Malzeno. Magma pours from the earth and over the Ghidorah spawn who Malzeno might notice is injured but grinning in a (familiar to Big G) sadistic manner. Godzilla might notice a temperature buildup, which the U-801's recon MS detect all the way at the coast.

"The three headed one's temperature is spiking! I'd suggest keeping back." they relay to the others who have radios as Desghidorah roars at the skies. This is the last warning before its body glows and erupts in a massive explosion of thermal energy as it uses its second most powerful attack, Raging Sky Burst.

Regardless of who it hits, Desghidorah is left staggered after using it due to needing to recharge.

Oh and I forgot Albaz' fire attack but assume it did not as much as previous attacks since Desghidorah is pretty fireproof.

Edited by shroobot3000 on May 6th 2024 at 12:41:55 PM

Sylvie pockets her TemPad, her lip curling into a confident smirk.

"I'm a Loki variant who's been jumping from timeline to timeline ever since I was a child, all while running rings around an organization that polices time itself. I like to think that's made me strong and unpredictable enough to take her down," she assures Areui.

Loki raises an eyebrow when Xion whispers something in Iris' ear, though he figures Iris would likely pass it on to Thor later.

"Everyone has their theory, girl. What is certain about our mysterious enemy, however, is that he has absolutely no idea what kind of wrath he's brought down upon his head," he chimes in.

Thor offers Roxas a grateful nod.

"Thank you, my friend. May we send the usurper screaming to Hel before he can cause G.E.M. irreparable harm," he says.

Astil

Areui looks at Sylvie with surprise, but then amusement.

"Really? ... don't let the Divine Guardians hear that, some of them would throw a fit.", he laughs.

"Areui! Have some respect for the guardians, they stand above us! And unlike the Gods, they never did anything to you.", Kirue scolds, looking serious.

"Hey, relax, I'm just saying how they'd react. They wouldn't be able to do a thing anyway, they've got no authority in this world.", Areui shrugs and smirks teasingly. Kirue grumbles but lets it go. Now's not the time for squabbling with his sometimes still-immature younger brother.

Iris turns to look at Xion and ponders. Do they?

... wait, no. She remembers what she knows about Pandora. The entire reason there even was metal to steal and use to create that Assassin cyber suit is because Pandora tried to use the staff on a deceased friend in the hopes of reviving him. And it had failed.

"No, they can't. They shouldn't be able to at least.", she whispers back.

"We'll be able to find out what's behind this once we make it to G.E.M.", Yazur says. "Wracking our brains about it over and over is only gonna make us all more tense."

He smiles.

"I say we try to plan for some preventive measures for the most likely candidates in case it's one of them, and if our guesses are wrong, we'll have to improvise on the spot. If not, we'll already be prepared."

"Not a bad plan. What are your guesses?"

"It cannot be demons. Ovarr is the only remaining one in our world and he has no reason or motive to want to possess Seth's body.", Kirue brings up. "Not to mention that, since Seth has been dead for about two years now, his body would have been half-decomposed, meaning that whoever's behind this has to have the ability to restore a body to its proper state. I highly doubt even Linda would look at a zombie and decide to obey its orders."

Game

The Black Chip vanishes upon being picked up by Jax, now active as a passive buff instead of being an equippable item.

Evan looks up at Jax, eyes bright but sad.

"I just wish nobody had to sacrifice anything at all..."

Gregory is about to try to say something to help cheer him up too, but then the autotravel kicks in. They would soon reach the forest and witness the game changing around them.

—

"Whoa, what happened to the game!? This'd be so wicked if Evan, Charlie and the others weren't stuck in the game.", Cassidy says.

"I've never seen a game like this one before.", Sam mutters, speaking softly so the in-game characters still can't hear him.

"Oh, we have plenty of 3D-style games at the Mega Pizzaplex." , Roxy says.

"Once this whole ordeal is finally behind us, we'll take you all there so you can try them all out for yourselves!" , Glamrock Chica says.

"I won't be able to go until I have an Illusion Disc to make myself look normal again.", Mike says. "But let's just focus on getting everyone out before making plans for anything else."

"Yeah, I don't trust this one bit.", Grape says. He's hoping that Glitchtrap may shed some light, but the soul virus is being annoyingly silent.

"Why does he only ever shut up when I want him to talk?"

—

Cue the forest turning into a swamp, with everyone's appropriate reactions to it all. And then Data Monty shows up.

—

"YEEEEAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! ROCK AND ROLL, BABY! Finally a boss I can get behind!" , Monty cheerfully shouts upon seeing himself in the game... which earns him a smack from Roxy, one hard enough to knock his sunglasses clean off.

"What was THAT for!?"

"You're cheering for the minion that's trying to KILL them, you chump!"

"... oh, yeah."

Monty looks conflicted about this for a few seconds. However, all of a sudden he slams his fists on the couch so hard that it's a miracle the people in it don't go flying. Or that the couch is still in one piece (though it's definitely damaged). Needless to say the other Glamrocks, Grape, Cassidy and Sam are briefly scared shitless.

"ALRIGHT, LITTLE GUYS! KICK THAT OTHER ME'S METAL BEHIND! IF THAT LITTLE SQUIRT GREGORY WAS ABLE TO BEAT ME ON HIS OWN, ALL OF YOU LOSING TO HIM WOULD BE AN INSULT! WIN, OR ELSE!"

Roxy crosses her arms and shows him an unamused glare. Monty looks back at her, still angry but also shrugging.

"What? I'm trying to encourage them!"

"... I guess we should just take it as it is and focus on the fight." , Glamrock Bonnie says. The other Glamrocks agree.

"Superstars, be very, very careful... I know you've fought that Data Monty before, but who knows what the Dead King did to him to make him stronger." , Glamrock Freddy says, anxious but hopeful.

—

The battle begins, and it not being turn based trips Gregory and Evan up immensely. Emma gets grabbed before either can make any sense of this new way of fighting and the explosion hits them both, sending both of them flying back and hitting the ground hard. Gregory, at least having experience with modern games, snaps back to it the fastest. Partly thanks to Grape adapting fast in a similar manner.

Grape has Gregory move around while he navigates the menu. He finds that Call-on-Freddy isn't in the Magic menu with most of Gregory's skills, but is one of only two abilities in his Summon menu (the other being Mimic Ball). Between that and a visible Summon Gauge (which is thankfully full), he concludes Call-on-Freddy must be a special version for this fight, so he selects it.

The game briefly glitches as the blurb 'RARE EVENT ACTIVATED' appears. Gregory briefly panics. Not that corrupted Data Freddy again! Data Monty is already gonna be tough enough, they can't afford to fight a miniboss too!

But that's not what happens. Instead a fully rendered version of Glamrock Freddy◊ spawns behind Gregory. Gregory moves literally an inch as he turns to look, upon which this Data Glamrock Freddy suddenly seems to disappear into the ether before reappearing behind Data Monty and attempting to grab him by his jaws. If successful, he'll try to vault Data Monty over his head, warp the both of them a few meters to the right, and then slam him down violently there.

Ladies, gentlemen and everyone in between... Quantum Freddy has been born.

There's a battery meter visible above Quantum Freddy's head, not unlike the meter Gregory can see when he's hiding in Freddy's chest cavity. From the moment Quantum Freddy started attacking, that meter started to slowly dwindle down. Seems like this may be a temporary thing. Let's hope they can make as much use out of this as possible.

Looking over Evan's newest move, Cassidy decides it may not be worth the risk. It's named 'Dangerous Thoughts', and it will double Evan's stats. However, he'll also get the Berserk status, meaning he'll start attacking mindlessly. And until they know how Data Monty fights, that's a risk she can't just take.

For now she just clicks the 'Attack' button over the 'Magic' button, not 100% sure where every attack went. However, in the new game system this forcefully translates to a combo attack. Evan will automatically attempt to land his weak regular attack. But if successful, he'll then automatically follow up with Jumpscare and then Bite to finish it off. He actually has the potential to do some damage with his regular attack now.

Sam tries to make Emma use Quick Heal, figuring she'll be in dire need of extra health.

Lastly, Noah draws a card. This time it's a monster card.

"I summon Gradius◊, in Attack Mode!"

The Jet Fighter card materializes on the field and flies up high above said battlefield, seemingly out of reach of Data Monty. But we'll have to see.

Gradius opens fire on Data Monty from above, but it's not an especially strong card, so it may not do that much damage. Still, every bit helps, right?

As for the Group Potion, let's hope Jax gets a chance to use it, because they did not get a chance to heal after the Buff Helpy fight, meaning they're still damaged.

Edited by DevilPsyco on May 14th 2024 at 11:01:22 AM

Astil

Xion nods.

Roxas thinks out loud. "Xehanort could put his heart in other people's bodies to take control of them. He's dead and gone, but something like that could've happened to Seth if someone else knew how to do it."

"It's possible Seth learned some awful secret in the afterlife that motivated him to do these things when he came back. Knowledge that completely changes you..."

"Of course it's possible that it's not Seth at all, just an elaborate disguise, but who would have the ability and the motive to pretend to be a guy who's been dead for years?"

Chrysos - THE DROUGHT

You know who likes it out in the desert? Groudon.

You know who doesn't like living in a desert? Anyone who has to exist within a few miles of a sunbathing Groudon.

As Lupin has deduced from his sleuthing, a wild Groudon has taken up residence in a place full of sandstone ruins, close enough for the harsh sunlight to dry up surrounding waters, creating the very drought its Ability is named after.

Naturally, no one in Chrysos has the means to defeat or drive off the Groudon, so there's nothing anyone can do about it. That doesn't stop Lupin from calling together a meeting of townsfolk to discuss how to outlast the crisis.

He stands out in the middle of town. "Come one, come all! Let your voices be heard!"

If you were interested in the Drought event, now's the time to get involved.

Sword Tournament

Kills:

• Vergil: 1 (Ganondorf)
• Apothea: 1 (Sawdust)
• Odio: 1 (Corrin, point redistributed to Okksbad)

Deaths:

• Ganondorf: 1 (Vergil)
• Sawdust: 1 (Apothea)
• Corrin: Not counted due to being killed by an illegal move (Odio)

DQ:

• Odio

—

Ganondorf emerges to see Guts and Apothea's clash, with Guts seemingly on the back foot. Suddenly, he makes a bold decision in this free-for-all.

He jumps up onto the roof and slashes at Apothea from the side in a surprise attack, hoping to create an opening for his fellow big muscular man to capitalize on and take her down.

—

Vergil is staggered by F!Shez's Wrath Strike, while his doppelganger takes M!Shez's slash and disperses into blue energy.

   "Damn it!"    he snaps. He drops out of Sin Devil Trigger form and starts dashing away, looking for a better opportunity.

Blade catches his eye for doing basically the exact same move he was trying to do just now, but she's surrounded by other enemies, so he sets that thought aside.

—

Sam is too busy blocking Waterfowl Dance to the best of his ability to stop Liana, but luckily his power suit covers his neck, so he survives the hit—and a few slashes he fails to block. He does a spin slash to attack Liana and William.

—

Goemon is already backing away from Blade while she's ranting about freaks and how much she hates them, meaning he's out of the danger zone by the time she actually uses her attack.

"I think you drastically overestimate how much anyone here cares about anyone else's powers or lack thereof," he mutters, his voice clear but potentially not heard over the constant din of combat. He runs back in, past Adam and toward Blade, coming down at her with a jump slash.

—

   "..Vergil."   

Dante-W looks down at Dante-B losing his cool. He puts the Devil Sword Dante over his shoulder.

   "Hey, man, there's no shame in being outclassed. It's a tournament, right? All in good fun."   

He powers down to his normal Devil Trigger, which is still more demonic than Donte's, but to less extreme a degree.    "You and I are alike and different in other ways, no doubt. But trust me, you don't wanna try to set yourself apart by being stronger. That's how Vergil ended up the way he did. Just enjoy the moment."   

Then he cleaves down to finish off Donte. Assuming he succeeds, he looks around and scoffs,    "Finally,"    before heading for Nelo Angelo's position. Otherwise, he just keeps slashing up and down.

Edited by KiriK on May 6th 2024 at 7:18:48 AM

Chrysos - The Drought

Luna lays down beside Lupin, not really sure what he called this meeting for. Still, she was still hungry, starving actually, since that omlette she had was awful. Like, easily the worst thing she had so far. Luna wanted to leave, wanting to look for food, but she knew it was dangerous to be by herself when she dosn't know much about the area. So, she just stuck close by to Lupin.

|Uh, Lupin? What are you yelling at? Did anything happen or something while I was resting?|