Private/Closed Bootleg Brothers 6

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

Aaand Byleth shot him down again. Dang, how was he supposed to help her out like this?

"Guess you'll have to play along for now."

Pit let out a sheepish chuckle at Byleth's warning, proceeding to follow her to the nearby table, a plate of shortcake in each hand. He took a seat across from Byleth, setting down yet another plate for himself and an extra one for Kirby next to him. As he listened to Byleth's words, it turned out she actually... wanted to have a talk with him?

"You've been in quite a few of Master Hand's tournaments, haven't you."

"Heh, yeah!"

"Do you or Palutena know why he hosts the tournaments?"

"Uh..." That question gave him pause. Pit thought about it for a moment, biting off half of his shortcake. "Well, I always thought he was the kinda guy to do things mostly out of fun. I think he's mentioned stuff like viewership or ratings a few times, too... But I dunno if it goes any further than that. He's usually a pretty cool guy – er, hand, from what I know."

"It's a rather strange way to use all that power he seems to have. Makes you wonder how he obtained it in the first place. Even for us gods, traveling to other universes is pretty much unheard of... And usually, someone with unrivaled power only ends up going mad or seeking to conquer everything."​

ZedΩ
​

"Indeed," Zed nodded. "Grazie is quite knowledgeable on minerals, construction materials, and architectural structures, though her true power lies in the might of her Sandstorm Septima. While each of the ATEMS Knights is very efficient in their respective fields, Layla's Septima should prove useful in our current situation."

Layla continued to stare down at them, almost as though communicating with Zed through an unseen connection.

"One of her Djinn's main strengths is her long-distance reconnaissance ability. In the past, we've put her to great use by scouting the lands for new recruits and keeping tabs on our country while we are away. I believe she should be able to track down Spamton without much trouble, slippery as he may be."​

 

[comic]

DART​

Dart’s eyelids fluttered over his eyes for a moment before he looked at Rinku in a mixture of confusion and uncertainty. “You think we can do that? Like- just challenge a champion? We aren’t even in the tournament anymore!”

That wasn’t to say the champs were, and Dart seemed painfully oblivious to the not-so-distant face-off between narcissists between the Kool Kats and Reala.

“Hm…” he stroked his chin in thought for a moment. “If I would, we’d need a bigger arena. I can’t go all-out in a ring, though I suppose being limited to a small space wouldn’t be unfun…”
​

​

IRNANE​

She listened passively to the conversation between Chai and 808 as she watched the unconscious individuals before her. The way their eyes moved beneath their lids was indication enough of lucid dreaming- or as Irnane had since deduced, of involvement on an astral level. The dark elf thought back on all of her reading through daedric tomes and scrolls. Everything she had learned… though admittedly, her knowledge was a little limited on certain princes. Of course she knew plenty of Azura, her own deity she worshiped.

Then there was Mehrunes Dagon, and Molag Bal, two daedric princes that frequently sought to conquer Nirn and had made infrequent attempts over the course of history and non-history. Of course she studied up on them, particularly Mehrunes Dagon, as he was an active threat to her realm, and the reason she had entered the tournament in the first place.

Following that, she knew enough about Nocturnal, Malacath, Boethia, Hermaeas Mora, Meridia, Clavicus Vile, and Sheogorath, as they frequently meddled in mortal affairs, enough to be widely known – and widely feared.

But the other princes, like Hircine, Ithelia, Jyggalag, Mephala, Namira, Peryite, Sanguine, and Vaermina held little knowledge in the nerevarine’s mind, and those were just the known Daedra Lords. There were likely more that had yet to be recorded and known. It was here that Irnane wished she knew a little more about Namira, the daedric prince of ancient darkness. That would befit the amulet more than Nocturnal.

Still, if whatever occurred within the amulet’s realm wasn’t resolved soon, the rest of them were put at risk of being called into it. If this was anything like a trick from Sheogorath, however… well, then the likelihood of the afflicted individuals actually fighting a darkness was slim. Sheogorath would trap them within the Shivering Isles; his realm. There, they would be subject to incomprehensible madness to the point their minds were shattered. All for the daedra’s amusement, of course. It wasn’t unlike him to use methods like these to ensnare the minds of mortal fools.

Irnane could be content with the fact that this wasn’t Sheogorath, or any Daedra Lord’s doing. The energy of the amulet was not of her world’s magic and power, a wholly different beast altogether. That didn’t mean it was any less deadly, but a daedric prince becoming involved in a place like this could be… extremely destructive.

Which was where Peppermint’s words caused the dunmer to turn her gaze upon the automaton feline. “Spambot?” she couldn’t recall hearing of that. “There’s something else happening as well?”​

 

[Psymallard]

Master of Tasks (and Helping Hand)
The kick whiffed entirely. Masters knew what would follow a dodge like that- especially with how the jackal had been fighting so far. His motion remained much the same, except right before he committed to the swing, he preemptively jerked the Scepter between him and his foe to intercept the high-speed attack!

It still sent him into the air, and as he struggled to recover, Taskmaster waved his staff to cause a pillar of sand to erupt from beneath his opponent to keep him busy. He landed gracefully, stood up straight, and then stared his opponent down.

"Now that was something. Keep it up; maybe I could use some of your moves in my next fight."

With a bit of distance between the two, the super soldier slid his shield onto his forearm. He'd been using the scepter almost exclusively so far, testing out some moves he got from Nótt, but he figured it was time to spice it up- to get somewhat more serious. With his nonshielded arm, he beckoned the Aura Pokémon to come get some, and activated his Knowledge is Power.

----

Meanwhile, the Kraggling was doing its best to shake off that heavy blow that it had been dealt. Once it had, it began running back into the fray... but it would take a while to do so.

Muddiest of Fishes
After knocking the monster down, Marshtomp turned around to follow up, only to be met with a kick to the face! It sent him flying back, and he tumbled a ways before coming to a halt. He was still kicking, but that direct hit had put him back into a pinch. With a groan, he got back up, but saw that Sans was taking care of the foe while he was reeling. To assist him in putting the hurt on her, he spat a Torrent-boosted Water Gun at the Empress Judge!

Koolest of Kats
Before the kultists even went on the offensive, Reala was already on the move. He completed a paraloop to bring an attack from earlier back into the fray.

"Tch."

Troy scowled in annoyance, and then performed an aerial cartwheel to land on the elastic ropes of the arena. The rubberbanding of the ropes aided in his ensuing leap to send him flying into the air again, where he flung the Soul Edge at his Nightmaren foe.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reala


The blazing sphere detonated at the side of the arena, onlookers witnessing a fiery burst of nightmaren energy come from it, rocking the stage. The opposing jester stood as Troy leaped up high, throwing his blade at him.

What good that did him last time. Visitors never learn.

Reala slashed with his claws in the air, snapping at Soul Edge, a high pitched pang resounding off from the clash, taking away all of the blade's momentum as it flipped it the air. That's when Reala batted it out of bounds behind him, separating it from its owner as it would hurl out of the fighting area.

It seems the visitor wasn't getting the message. It was time to make it more clear.

Reala burst forward, still driving much like NiGHTS was known to. Except they broke theirs off early, using it as a speed boost as they stretched their hand out. They'd snatch up Troy by the neck and aim to pin him against the corner pylon of the arena.

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
Lucario flipped back as Taskmaster just managed to block his attack. As he struggled to right himself, Taskmaster swung his shovel scepter up, and the floor underneath aura pokemon dipped down. Reading the man's intention, Lucario flipped back once more, narrowly avoiding the sand pillar. Sand particles showered over the pokemon.
As he shook off the sand, Lucario telepathically replied to Taskmaster. "I hope to learn from you as well."
Seeing the man's taunt, Lucario decided to humor him. The pokemon ran towards the man while gathering aura within his palms. The pokemon fired an aura sphere to the left, then another to the right, and both homed in on Tasky from their respective directions. Then the pokemon suddenly halted, both paws gathering aura once more as he locked in on Tasky.

Kirby
Now balancing multiple shortcakes on his person, Kirby happily followed his friends, listening to their conversation with curiosity.
Didn't Eitri ask the same thing? Kirby wondered what was the sudden interest in Master hand.
Placing down the cakes on his side of the table, Kirby joyfully got to eating, consuming cake after cake with one gulp. It was when he realized he was running low that the puffball began to take smaller bites and savor the food. As he did, Kirby began side-eyeing Byleth's halo. Now that he thought about it, it was weird. He wasn't sure if he liked it.

Magolor
The egg balanced the rod on one finger as he examined it. Even as someone who prided themselves on their resourcefulness, he found it difficult to justify buying this. Maybe as a weapon model?
"Limited indeed..." Magolor spoke casually. "What do you normally sell, then?"

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Nótt

The Princess continued to pursue the spartan. She had managed to disarm Kassandra of her dagger, but the woman had conjured another weapon. A trident. Why was that? Kassandra had produced the dagger out of nothingness, and it ate away at her lance every time the weapons clashed. She demonstrated her ability to recall her weapons, why conjure another weapon instead of sticking with her dagger and sword combination?

"Oh dear, don't be so hard on yourself!" Nótt said to Kassandra as they fought. "You're very skilled, and not to bad on the eyes yourself."
Despite her attempts to keep their fight in the castle, Nótt found their fight moving out into the wasteland.

"My apologies for my remarks. I am aware Moon-Wing will be back to normal once our fight ends. He was bred and trained for the sole purpose of fighting for me, defending me, even dying for me. But still, his death is not something I enjoy seeing. In fact, if this were reality, that may have been enough to make me lose my temper. A weakness I still need to work on, I suppose." Nótt said.

Kassandra wasn't just dodging and evading without purpose. After another evasion, it became clear to the Princess. Kassandra was trying to get somewhere. But where? They were leaving the castle behind, the battle between the spectral warriors raging within. Out here, it was a rocky wasteland. Did she know something about the battlefield Nótt didn't?

Their fight was leading them closer and closer to a cliff. Why was she going there? Kassandra would be backed against a wall, just as she was back in the castle. But falls didn't seem to affect the spartan. Either way.

In a sudden maneuver, Nótt struck her lance into the ground and flung an explosive Nitro Box at Kassandra! In the same moment, Nótt used her lance as a pole vault to launch herself to the opposite side of the warrior, aiming a powerful kick at Kassandra's head as she passed over.


Byleth

The Professor glanced down at Kirby, and was just about to suggest for the pink puffball to slow down his eating, when the managed to do it on his own. Byleth pushed a piece of her strawberry shortcake around with a fork, appearing to not be very hungry.

"That was my thoughts on Master Hand as well. A strangely powerful being, that put on these tournaments more for fun than for anything else." Byleth said. "This tournament has been strange for me to watch. It's more deadly than the Super Smash Brothers tournaments, isn't it. Here, fights can be to the death, rather than just until someone is ejected from the stage."

Byleth looked to Pit, then to Kirby.
"Would it seem strange to any of you if I said Master Hand has put on death games? An event where competitors are required to fight to the death?" Byleth asked the trio.


Eitri

The sage stared at Layla, taking in the girl's appearance as much as she could. Eitri smiled, and looked back to Zed.
"Power like the sun, power over the earth. Long distance reconnaissance. It sounds like the people from your world have many incredible, diverse abilities." Eitri said. The sage sighed and crossed her arms. "I wish we could simply sit down and speak. There are so many things I want to ask the two of you about. But they will have to wait, I suppose."



Dark Dungeon

The minigun continued firing, constantly moving to target Kirin, but the Battle Priestess was just to fast! Her slash to the underside of the vehicle sent sparks flying, and in a blur she was on top of Overdrive and stabbing through it with a metallic screech! The minigun stopped firing, and the engine revved once more before the monster exploded into pixels and vanished.

Empress Judge winced as she was suddenly struck by bones. The strange magic began to rapid sap her strength, but the warrior was quick to respond. She launched herself into a backflip, flying up and clinging onto the side of a pillar. With a powerful kick, the warrior monster sent the pillar falling towards Sans and Marshtomp! As she rode the pillar down, Marshtomp unleashed his powerful Water Gun attack! It struck the Empress Judge straight on, knocking her off the pillar and into a wall. With a shriek, the monster exploded into pixels once more!

Nephthys extended her telekinetic powers to attempt to rip up the tablet. But as she did, the tablet did not move. No, it wasn't that the tablet was unmovable. Nephthys could sense that the tablet was somehow absorbing the telekinetic energy she was using on it. So the Pokemon changed tactics, pulling rubble from the ground and floor to launch at Yami Bakura. The Dark Spirit's Armored Starfish moved with surprising agility, once more interposing itself between Neph's attack the duelist.

Yami Bakura scowled, drawing another card. He once more extended his hand towards Nephthys, tightening his grip.
"Fall!" Yami Bakura commanded. The pull from the tablet increased once more, and cracks began to form in the walls and floors of the tomb.
"I still have more tricks to use. Like this card-" Yami Bakura was suddenly cut off as the real Bakura charged him, attempting to tackle the spirit once more. Ryo Bakura let out a battle cry as he attempt to wrestle the dark version of himself!


The Card Graveyard

Even as Raptor beat a hasty retreat, he could hear the beings moans grow louder and louder. It had spotted him, and was giving chase! The creature rapidly pursued Raptor, and as it did, its form became more distinct in the mist. It was a figure in a dark black cloak. Its lower body was completely obscured, and for a face only two glowing eyes and a glowing mouth could be seen. But what was more fearsome was what it held. A massive, sharp scythe. It was a creature that Raptor likely recognized. The monster that guarded the card graveyard, the Reaper of the Cards!

 

[Psymallard]

Taskmaster
The assassin saw into the future due to MODOK's ability. Without even turning his head, he swung the scepter to meet and destroy each aura sphere. That's when his premonition ended, and Lucario began charging up another aura attack. In response to this, Taskmaster rushed forward, his cold stare never leaving Lucario's eyes. As he approached, he had the Sand Scepter in his right hamd, and his customized targe attached to his left forearm.

"Try it."

---

Meanwhile, the Kraggling was nearing the other two. Without any orders, he'd continue charging in recklessly!

Marshtomp
Just before being hit by the jet of water, the mighty Empress Judge launched a stone pillar at Sans and Marshtomp. With a yell, the mud fish charged in front of his skeleton friend, and with both fists, unleashed a mighty Rock Smash that shattered the pillar into two! The two pieces landed on either side of the duo.

"Marsh!"

Now that the Empress was taken care of (again), the Pokémon rushed forth as fast as his stubby legs would take him, and when he reached it, he'd try to pick up the Armored Starfish and toss it away from Bakura!

Kool Kats
The Soul Edge was deflected, but before it was cast away, Allison popped into its stead. With one of her legs still in blade form, she kicked at the foe, which met Reala's backhand. She still was knocked behind the Nightmaren, though not as far as she would've been otherwise. As Reala beelined towards Troy, that put him between the two Kool Kats, and without missing a beat, they unleashed their Soul Disruptor Wave! Where they came from, soul was made up of equal parts body and mind, so they hoped it'd have some sort of effect. The idea was to at least give Troy an opening to plant a kick on the first champion's face!

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rinku


"Mmm, we are eliminated, so I don't see why the hand would care. Ain't those two over there eliminated? And they look like they are fighting to me."

Remembering Dart's collateral damage fighting style, his recent opponent had a point. A wrestling ring wouldn't be enough to contain it if the city they fought in before was left in tatters.

"Who knows? They are big shots, maybe they can pull some strings. They don't look like their title comes with nothing."



808 / Chai


"Something else happening? More like something happened, from my understanding." Peppermint shrugged through 808. "Supposedly a fight broke out here involving some sort of...robot salesman? I wasn't here for it, so this is second hand Chai info."

"Hey, you are making it far less a deal than it was. Like, he started pumping out copies everywhere and converting people into copies of himself and such. And he had this whole god complex thing with karts and strings and stuff-"

"-Long story short, you had a fight." Peppermint cut him off. "And you said he was still around here? Why did you let them walk away?"

"I was going to finish the guy off if I weren't distracted by a whole bunch of stuff....honestly? Now that we are eliminated, I say we take care of him. What do you say, Irrate?"

Chai pointed a finger gun at Irnane, trying to recruit them into the Spamton stomping mob of one.


Rex Raptor

Aw crud. Whoever said don't fear the reaper obviously hasn't seen him!

It was fast. Alarmingly fast. Rex started to sprint as fast as he could, his hands waving frantically in front of him as his shoes rapidly kicked off the ground of this ghastly graveyard.

"You don't wanna reap me! I'm too famous to die!"



Reala


This was Soul Disruptor, wasn't it? Did they learn nothing? He had no soul, he existed to rid parts of souls from visitors. The void of soul. But since their opponent seemed to be idiotic enough to think it would work...why not humor it? Reala pretended to feel it's effects, cringing and halting, but this was a ploy. When Troy came up to kick him, Reala glinted, shooting a hand to grab his ankle before swiftly sweeping to hurl him like a sack of potatoes to slam on the ground.

"I say I'm entitled to more than my share for putting up with you, what do you think?"

Reala could see the Ideya in every visitor, fragments of their soul. Their blue Ideya seemed...damaged. It appears Jackle may have already visited them before. No matter. Looking at the green Ideya that bobbed inside of Troy, Reala smiled. That'll do. His free hand would raise before appearing to stab and phase through Troy's back. He'd grip this Ideya and reap it from the mentally ill man.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Kirin
​

Merciful Beheading proved powerful enough to dispose of Overdrive, the military vehicle bursting into pixels as Kirin fell to the ground, charging up another set of talismans. Coupled with the recent destruction of Empress Judge, Yami Bakura was left with just one monster on the field. Of course, that wouldn't be the case for long.

"I still have more tricks to use. Like this card-"

When Kirin turned to focus on the enemy, the dark spirit was suddenly tackled by the original Bakura! For all his tricks and traps, he still had some blind spots, it seemed. The Battle Priestess wasted little time in seizing the opening, tossing five talismans in a spread at the nearby Armored Starfish, before she launched another five in a short burst at Yami Bakura. It'd be a tough shot due to Ryo being right on top of him, but should the projectiles hit their mark, Kirin would swiftly Arc Chain to strike both the monster and its master in one move. If she could wear down the dark spirit enough and remain in close range, it would make her job of sealing the threat away much easier.​

Pit
​

"Well, you're not wrong," Pit replied to Byleth's initial comment on the brutality of the tournament. "I did get blown up in my first match. And a dagger to the head against that Taskmaster guy..."

Reminiscing on his earlier fights, the angel bit off a portion of his remaining shortcake, now just realizing how little of the food he actually had left, much like Kirby. It was when the professor mentioned death games that Pit's attention snapped back to the topic at hand, nearly choking on his shortcake.

"Sorry, did you just say death games?!" He said, clearly surprised. "I've never heard of him doing that sorta stuff!"

"Some humans have done similar things on occasion, particularly within certain cultures." Palutena remarked. "But Master Hand? Never struck me as the type."

"Yeah, the whole idea sounds bonkers. What would he even get out of making people fight to the death?"

"Could be a way to up the stakes. Byleth, where did you hear about this?"​

ZedΩ
​

Zed let out a chuckle, looking to Eitri with a smile.

"I agree. It would be a pleasure to tell you of my world's various Septima, as well as introduce you to the Knights. As a matter of fact, the ATEMS Knights are comprised entirely of highly talented women. Someone of your caliber would have no issues working with us, I'm certain."

His focus shifted to Eitri's gear, particularly the Grimm Brokkr resting nearby her.

"Learning about your world would be quite entertaining as well. Having seen that weapon of yours firsthand, I'm quite impressed by its power and versatility. Not only that, but those of your world also appear to wield some form of magic or psychic power, correct? I do wonder how it compares to the Septimal abilities that I am familiar with. Perhaps they have more in common than one would initially think."​

 

[comic]

SPAMTON​

“[Junkmail]!” the puppet exclaimed a little too joyfully. He didn’t further elaborate, simply staring back blankly at Magolor. However, the moment the egg would speak again, Spamton would interrupt him quite suddenly and loudly.

“SAY, YOU SEEM LIKE [Delicis Jellybean] AND I SEEM TO BE OUT OF THOSE. [Enclosed Is A List Of Targets] I MEAN WHAT? IGNORE THAT LAST PART. I WAS [Cutting A Deal] WITH A [Deal Cutter] BUT IT LOOKS LIKE HE’S [Cut Me Out Of The GODDAMN Deal]! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? I MEAN ICANTEVENICANTEVENICANTEVENICANTEVENICANTEVENICANTEVENCAAAAAAaaaaAaAaaa---”

Spamton rigorously shook his head before he leaned over the counter. “I HAD A [Big!] PLAN BEFORE I SHOWED UP OUT THERE! MAYBE YOU’LL BE THE [Dealbreaker] [Of A Lifetime!]... OR SEVERAL...”
​

KASSANDRA​

As the princess replied, they continued to push their battle to the cliff edge. The misthios knew the chances of Nótt trying to break this dance increased every second it went on, but she wasn’t expected one of those weird explosive boxes again. That hardly seemed to be something from the jotun’s arsenal – likely a store item, and if Kassandra had to deduce who’s… likely Ripper Roo. She didn’t get to see much from him, though, considering she forced him to suicide bomb at practically the beginning of the match.

But that gave the spartan an idea, even as the crate erupted against the trident she carried, forcing her back as her sandals dug into the dirt and rock.

Thanks to Eagle Vision, no amount of visual obscurity would prevent Kassandra from seeing where Nótt was at all times, and as the princes launched overhead, the misthios let the kick land – in favor of possibly getting her own attack in. Her head snapped back briefly on the kick, but in the same time, Kassandra had rammed the pointed end of the trident up to impale Nótt's exposed thigh as it made contact. The jotun would barely feel it, if at all, Kassandra knew that – but Nott wasn’t immune to losing functionality of a limb, no matter how little the pain affected her. Kass hoped, at least.

With the thrust upward, simultaneous to the kick, Kassandra would yank backward as she used her unique sandals to propel her backward at a sudden and breakneck speed, to yank the impaled spokes through the middle of Nótt's leg out of her heel, effectively reducing one leg to a mess of ribbons if the attack succeeded. The woman’s shin guard likely wouldn’t stop it by much, given the power and speed in which Kassandra had pulled back, out of the jotun’s range.

Following this, the misthios would spin the trident, every spin kicking up chunks of rock from the ground to spray at the woman in a stream of pellets to take advantage of her potentially momentary reaction to the last move, and to obscure her vision – risking blinding her with pebbles and debris if she didn’t shield her gaze, and no Moon-Wing was around to act as a shield.

“I don’t mind if you lose your temper,” Kassandra said. “In fact, I kind of want to see it.”

There she went flirting again, in her own unique way.
​

NEPHTHYS​

The dark pull was beginning to grow unbearable. Was she the only one experiencing such a thing? Her continued attacks weren’t letting her recover at the rate she would have preferred, and she found herself back on her both of her knees, breathing heavily from the strain of constant battle, and from the incessant tugging on her mind.

Thankfully, Marshtomp, Sans, Kirin, and even Ryo Bakura were able to intervene. Empress Judge was destroyed, and they were targeting the starfish and Yami Bakura directly, interrupting the dark spirit and closing in on him.

Her vision was beginning to blur, like she was suffering from a terrible migraine. With a strained look, she searched for the angelic man who’d empowered her duel disk earlier, if he had even remained. <What is… this pull…?> she asked.
​

DART​

“Hm…” once again, the mercenary was stroking his chin in thought. “You’ve got a point.”

He looked toward the fight between the Kool Kats and Reala, now that Rinku had called attention to it – and it only seemed to pump him up.

“Ahhh, alright,” he shook his arms, hopping between both feet for a moment. “I’ll do it, but first, I gotta go thank 808 for all her help. Go warm up Gunvolt’s chops for me, eh? Make sure nobody else challenges him first!”

With that, Dart ran off toward Irnane, Chai, and 808 (as well as the many still unconscious individuals).
​

IRNANE​

“What do you say, Irrate?”

“Irnane.”

The dunmer raised a brow at Chai’s finger guns, glancing toward the cat for a moment, then down to the gathered people. “I didn’t see anything,” she claimed in reference to Spambot. “It would feel irresponsible to abandon this issue in search of a fight.”

“Huh? Fight??” Their conversation was interrupted by the red armor-clad warrior running up to the group, coming to a skidding halt. The grin he bore seemed to be born from the word ‘fight’ exclusively. “I can’t right now I’m about to start another one!”

“Hm…” Irnane replied, giving the man a once-over. He was very… Chai-like, she gathered. No real need to elaborate on it much more. He had just been eliminated, yet he had not lost. A double elimination. Rare, she felt. At least in this tournament. None had happened until now. Was it possible for the final two contestants to both be disqualified the same way? Would that result in no victory? Or would whoever counted as third place to be given the championship title?

“Uh, anyway, just wanted to say thanks, 808!” Dart beamed at the mechanical feline. “You were a great help, and I loved the music! Thanks again! And stuff! Thanks! I gotta go now! Thank you!!” with that, he turned tail and began to sprint back from where he’d come.
​

AND GUEST STARRING…​

The conversation seemed to awaken something. In the booth just behind Pit, a strange grunt suddenly came out at Palutena’s question, and the horned helmet covered a mane of silver hair emerged from under the back rest – a towering figure already.

“Wait!”

Pit would be the first to recognize Fjorrd the Crusher, the Dragonborn who had stood in for an earlier match when the previous opponent had been ‘unavailable’ to do so. It would seem the nord had been lingering around the shops since then… presumably sleeping off his drunken state.

Though the large flagon of mead on his table seemed to indicate he had no intention of sobering up.

“I know this one!”

Fjorrd turned toward the group, his wild mane flying at the moment, coming a hair away from slapping Pit in the side of the head. “Dimension Games! I’ve heard about it… from a realm-jumper, called himself Leeyon of Kenn-Dee, was looking for help on somethin’ and he told me all about it!”​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Peppermint / Chai

Irnane didn't seem convinced of Chai's words. As she looked to Peppermint's cat, the controlled robot just rolled it's eyes, nonverbally gesturing to ignore him.

“It would feel irresponsible to abandon this issue in search of a fight.”

In response to this, Chai looked over to the unconscious batch of oddballs, swiftly kicking the greasy haired Dino enthusiast. When no response happened, Chai shrugged openly.

"Something tells me they ain't going anywhere."

Enter Dart, attracted by the word 'fight'. 808 had a dopey excited look on their face, sticking their tongue out and happily hopping over toward Dart, plodding along on all fours. After Dart gave his words, their eyes flickered blue, Peppermint assuming control again. Their expression changed to a knowing one, like that of an older sister.

"Yeah, not so shabby yourself. Pleasure working with ya. And... thanks for saving 808 back there."

Peppermint have a two finger salute, swiping from just above their eye. As Dart went back to where he came, Peppermint nodded and turned around, catching a flabbergasted looking Chai. Noting the silence, Peppermint had 808 stand up on twos, gesturing behind her.

"Nice kid. Not much of a thinker, but he does good by his word."

"You seem to love being his partner huh?"

"...Come again?"

Chai crossed his arms, turning his body away from the cat. He turned his head a bit with an outing expression "Peppermint, are you...cheating on me?"

808's eyes went half lidded, her mind rendering the stupidity of what escaped the unemployed nobody's mouth. So she jumped up on Chai's left shoulder and slapped him.

"Ow!"

"Focus, Chai."

"Geez, alright alright!" He huffed, rubbing his cheek. "Off to take on the spambot!"

"...Yeah. I'm out. Let me know how it goes though."

Peppermint had 808 hop off of his shoulders, walking over to the rest of the unconscious and sitting down. Switching her optics to a different mode to register heart rate, she noticed heightened levels amongst many of them, namely two- Bakura and the short one. But what could it mean?





Rinku


"Doing stuff for him? He's lucky I find this whole match idea entertaining. Hmm...buttering up and getting the fight to happen, eh? I can do that."

With that, Rinku slinked off, sliding through the path of the plaza, before eventually making it close to the winners. With a grin to himself, he put on a cordial face. Before sliding between Chief and Gunvolt.

"Howdy, fellas." He smirked, looking to the azure striker. "Rinku."

He held out a hand for him to shake, another one behind his back.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

"Huh?"

Pit turned to face the source of the familiar voice, spotting a certain drunken nord towering over him. Fjorrd approached the table, claiming to have heard the same story from a "Leeyon of Kenn-Dee", which surely got the angel's attention.

"Fjorrd! I had no idea you were still around! Sorry I didn't make it further than quarterfinals, hehe... But what'd this Leeyon guy tell you?"

"Judging by his current state, he might not be the most reliable narrator." Palutena noted with a slight snicker.

"Nahhh, it's totally fine. C'mon, let's hear about that Dimension Games thing!"​

Gunvolt
​

The battle between Reala and the Kats continued to rage on, each attack fast and swift as the fighters traded blows. Despite Troy and Allison's best efforts, the Nightmaren seemed to have the situation very much under control, reacting to his opponent's moves in a manner that mostly kept them on the backfoot. For a moment, it seemed as though the latest technique of the duo had left Reala vulnerable – but it only turned out to be a ruse, one that the champion of the first tournament was quick to turn in a devastating counterattack that could spell doom for the challengers.

"Howdy, fellas."

Gunvolt stepped away in an instant upon hearing the newcomer's voice, caught off guard by the sudden invasion of his personal space. Looking down, he recognized the boy before him. One of the stronger contestants around, given his progress in the tournament – though his looks were rather unassuming.

"Rinku." The young boy introduced himself, and the Azure Striker returned the handshake after a moment.

"Gunvolt," he replied. "I've seen parts of your fights. Your speed and dexterity are impressive. Handling your power and those yo-yos like that at the same time must have taken a while to master." Gunvolt remarked, before he remembered he hadn't actually been watching much of the current round. "You were supposed to fight Dart, right? Wonder how that went..."

The teen's blue eyes drifted up to the tournament bracket – and he was met with the sight of a double elimination.

"Huh," Gunvolt blinked. "pretty sure that's a first."

As he processed the surprise for a moment, the familiar (though unfamiliar to Rinku) form of Lola drifted closer, examining the S-Class demon closely.

"Gotta say, you're probably the youngest lookin' one here. How old are ya again?"​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Rinku


"Age is just a number sweetheart, no need to sweat the deets."

Sidestepping the question, Rinku took note that the pair didn't seem to outwardly despise the duo despite the behavior he expressed in a few of his matches. That's good, that means these guys just have been around the block. Although he was a bit disappointed that they didn't seem to catch his last match.

"Our fight was pretty great, just say I got exactly what that hand promised me coming here: a worthy challenge. Speaking of, I have a challenge for you, my protagonist vibey friend."

Winking at Gunvolt, he continued, wagging a finger in the air.

"Not from me. But someone has been itching to finish something with ya. Can you guess who he is? Not rocket science~"

That was the cue for Dart to show his face, Rinku snickering devilishly as he himself was curious to see how this would go. Seeing Dart beat someone else up or get beat up would sure to be a spectacle!

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
Lucario shoved his palms forward, complying with Taskmasters request. The huge mass of aura splintered into multiple aura spheres that swarmed around the man, rushing in from all angles
As they did, Lucario's sensed the approaching Kraggling. The pokemon quickly ran around Tasky and intercepted the bug, scooping it up with one arm.
"This man is clever. He won't be surprised easily." Lucario spoke to the Kraggling. As he ran around Taskmaster, Lucario placed the bug on his left shoulder band.
"Hold on tight. Your time will come." he gently told the bug.


Kirby
Fijord's loudly busted in as Kirby prepared for a mouthful of strawberry, causing it to fall off his fork. The puffball luckily had the reflexes to catch it midair, and munched on the piece proudly as he looked towards Fjorrd. The man was unfamiliar, but he and Pit seemed to know each other, so Kirby figured he was okay. He was about to go back to his cake before Fjorrd mentioned a familar name.
"Leeyon?" Kirby echoed, now paying rapt attention.

Magolor
Junkmail didn't really elaborate anything...
"I-" Magolor barely got a word out before Spamton began ranting again, this time mentioning "deals" a lot.
"Well!" Magolor replied cheerily. "I'm glad you have such high hopes for me! But haven't we spent too long here? If I'm gonna fulfill my promise, I have some people you'd like to meet in the lobby!"
"...again" he added mentally

 

[Psymallard]

Taskmaster and miniKragg
Taskmaster had expected a singular blast of aura, but what came instead was a storm of homing Aura Spheres. It was still manageable, but a frustrating thing to deal with. Masters dived forward towards a relatively unpopulated within the cluster, and swatted away a couple of the spheres that strayed too close with his shield and staff.

- - -

The Kraggling was suddenly scooped up, and given new orders. He stared back at his master with a determined look and then nodded.

- - -

When Taskmaster hit the ground, he rolled to his feet in one swift motion- something you could expect to see a master gymnast do. He immediately broke into a sprint, not towards Lucario, but away from him. He circled the mass of Aura Spheres, which had quickly changed their trajectory to chase Taskmaster. Now that they were all coming from the same direction, the assassin waved his staff to summon a wall of sand that hovered beside him as he went. The barrage of blasts bombarded the shield, but it regenerated nearly as fast. In the end, it outlasted the barrage. Having been running a circle in the opposite direction of Lucario, their paths inevitably caused them to head towards eachother- and the mercenary was looking to cut his foe off.

"Don't run away. You'd have better chances staying close."

As Taskmaster warned his opponent, he leapt at him, and swung the fancy shovel mightily. To follow it up, he came down with a forceful punch utilizing the sharp edge of his shield.

Koolur Then U
Troy wasn't expecting such a display from the Nightmaren- he had expected the Soul Disruptor Wave to have a lesser effect if any, but instead of stopping to question the display, he took the false opportunity that was presented. The serpentuous deceiver quickly dropped the act to counterstrike, and slammed the cult leader into the floor.

The narcissist, bleeding from the face, glared daggers at the Nightmaren. Reala had waited a moment before striking again, and they'd make sure it'd cost him. Allison turned back into a sword, and flew to Troy using Soul Tether. When Reala decided to finish Troy off, he was ready, and used his free leg to kick the attacking arm away. Immediately after, he retracted his trapped leg, caught the Soul Edge, and slashed at his would-be reaper's arm. This manuever would force Reala to either let go to save his own arm, or be bisected at the wrist.

Either way, if he was freed, his previously free leg would become enveloped in another Vortex Ball, acting like a wheel and spinning Troy around. Before completing a single rotation, the centrifugal force would pull him upright, and the Vortex Ball faded to leave the stubborn kultist back in a fighting stance. He spit blood at Reala's feet.

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reala


Right when he was on the edge of touching the Ideya of his opponent, they had made their move. Knocking back his attacked hand, they prepared to get rid of his second one with the blade he wished to throw away. But they were a fool to think he'd leave them with nothing gained on his end.

SLASH!

Upon letting go, his talons grew and scraped away at flesh before ripping off of Troy, streaks of crimson coating the claws. Aiming to cripple the mobility of that leg extensively, he corrected himself back upright, meeting Troy face to face once more. Pupils following the spit that landed down below them, Reala eyes his enemy, tilting his head.

"You are aware how this brawl has been going, yes? Why not accept defeat with whatever dignity you still cling to, visitor?"

At this point, he had an arm behind himself whilst the other gestured at Troy, trying to gather his attention. The hand behind him had begun to glow a dark color. As a result, a rift had begun to open up on the floor behind his opponent. While Troy would be still recovering and no doubt be taken in by the conversation, golden chains would shoot out to grab each of his four limbs, aiming to ensnare them and recall the chains to pin Troy to the ground.

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
Taskmaster danced through the spheres, the created a barrier with his staff. The shield was holding up well, so Lucario shifted the remaining the spheres to fly up and away from the sand barrier, joining together into the air. As aura pokemon and assassin quickly started closing the distance between them, Lucario surprisingly seemed to listen to Taskmaster's advice, giving a small nod in response.
"We shall see." he replied, genuinely curious.
The man leapt from above, swinging his staff overhead. Lucario sidestepped the attack, but Taskmaster wasn't one to be taken off guard easily. The man spun to swing his shield down over the pokemon. Lucario raised his arm in time with Masters, and there was a harsh clang as fist met shield, as if Lucario's arm had hardened into metal. The pokemon unleashed a counterattack with his other fist, firing a steel-hard punch with the force of a meteor! At the same time, the combined aura sphere dived down onto Tasky's position, wherever he moved.

 

[Psymallard]

TASKMASTER
Lucario met Taskmaster's attack with an iron fist- literally. The supersoldier quickly pushed himself off of it, creating enough distance to be safe from most counterattacks. Then, he quickly glanced up, and sure enough, he spotted the Aura Sphere coming down atop him. With a quick jab of the Shovel Scepter, he popped it, and then used his arm to shield his face from the blast. His durable suit took any remaining damage, and he landed on the sandy ground.

He was getting annoyed by those spheres. If the Pokémon wasn't going to give him a good fight without relying on magic, Masters might as well quit holding back. He put the Shovel Scepter to his back, where it was affixed by a loop of solid sand. Instead, he drew his signature sword in one hand, and pulled out one of his pistols in the hand that the shield was strapped to. And once again, he moved forward to engage with the enemy.

THE KOOLEST
The claws drew blood as they withdrew, but couldn't cut too deeply lest they be slowed down and not escape in time. Troy was still able to find his way to his feet, and although his eyes remained focused, he knew something was up. He tossed the Soul Edge up and shot his hand through the ring. That hand summoned a Vortex Ball, and began spinning the weapon at rapid speeds around his hand!

The kult leader closed his eyes, and the Soul Edge erupted into bright golden light. It had transformed into the Deathstar, a weapon of solid energy that represented the very best of the Kool Kats' destructive power. As it continued to spin around his hand, he positioned it behind him to tear through the incoming chains despite their durability. He reopened his eyes to sneer at Reala.

"Fool me once... If you all out of tricks, you shoulda just said so, you son of a bitch."

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reala


A new weapon into the fray. Annoying.

Oh well.

As they say, to remove a tough stain, a bit of elbow grease is required.

As the shattered chain links dissolved into nothingness, Reala decided to show off a new skill of his own. Doing a small Paraloop, a rift emerged but with different properties than the last. There was no black hole or gateway. Instead, a strong gravitational force was exerted all around, forcing everything closer towards it. Pulse after pulse getting more and more rapid as the gravitational force grew stronger towards the location.

Reala, unaffected by visitor concepts like gravity, flew back from it, generating heat from his hands. A second or two later, he flung two red orbs from his palms, the pair combining mid flight before they'd detonate wildly where the gravitational force would be.

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
The man was knocked back before Lucario could send out the second Meteor Mash. So instead, Lucario took the opportunity to glance at the Kraggling as Tasky dealt with his aura sphere.
"Are you alright? Still holding on?" he asked the bug.
Assume they were, Lucario would change stances, raising a leg up and shutting his eyes. Aura streamed out of him like a vapor, leaving faint, glowing blue lines on the black streaks he wore. The Lucarionite faintly glimmered, but the pokemon didn't change form...yet.
As Taskmaster ran towards the pokemon, Lucario retaliated with wide, sweeping strikes into the air. Waves of aura flowed out of his limbs and swept towards Taskmaster to impede his approach.
This battle was about to reach its peak.

 

[comic]

FJORRD​

The nord chuckled in his throat before he leaned a little over the back of the seat with a grin. "It's quite the tale! Let's see..."

"A beautiful grove, lush trees and grass broken only by the presence of strange creatures, monsters, and powerful people. Distant mountains and the tops of cities surround. Also, I think that guy was there," Fjorrd jabbed a thick finger in Kirby's direction as he set the scene. "Numbers count down, and the people are told to fight. To kill one another to make it out of this place! Nobody knows how they got here, why they're here... but they know how to get out, now."

The dragonborn appropriately moved his arms to engross the others in his deep-voiced storytelling - something he had practice with when raising his daughter. He was always a vivid and engaging teller of stories, though known to possibly embellish events.

"Leeyon of Kenn-Dee struggled to survive, having to do battle with these creatures in a fight for his life! But then he made allies, teaming up to survive the horrors of this sick game. Kerr Bei, the pink void. That guy," again, he pointed to Kirby. "Massa Rue, the greatest fighter. He was in this tournament, too. And Omega, the destroyer automaton. There were some others, but I don't remember who. Together, this unlikely band journeyed through the Dimension Games in their struggle to survive, and as their numbers dwindled, they found a way to escape. A barrier was closing around them, thick, scarlet, and angry as can be. It ate anything that touched it, consuming it into nothing more than dust! Enough power, and it could break - but only for a moment, and it would lash out in its pain, striking with lightning and thunder to destroy those who dared touch it! But our heroes, they managed to break through it, triumphantly escaping the Dimension Games without abiding by its rules! And the last thing they saw..."

Fjorrd dropped his voice in an almost conspiratorial manner. "Contact yourself, Master Hand. The host of this tournament."

With his tale concluded, Fjorrd leaned back and folded his arms with a hardy chuckle. "Leeyon wanted to find people to help him fight back against Master Hand! I declined, my days of adventuring to that scale are long gone, but... well, I wound up finding his target anyway!"

The nord really had no personal intention with interfering in either Leeyon or Master Hand's business. He was here for the fighting, and the booze happened to be a big bonus.
​

DART​

Beaming at 808, Dart fully departed. Rinku had warmed up Gunvolt for him with some introductions, and nobody else was chatting with the champs (the green armored man standing idly nearby the Azure Striker), the Red Warrior pelted his way toward Gunvolt and skid to a stop, grinning widely.

"Heya Gunvolt!" he greeted. "I see you've already met my good friend Rinku, he's a demon."

He was pretending as though he hadn't asked Rinku to talk to Gunvolt.
​

SPAMTON​

The salesman stared at the other for a long moment. "WHAT? WE WERE [Just There]"

Spamton scratched the side of his head before he ducked under the counter again, popping up quickly afterward and holding up what appeared to be a cd disc. "I BROUGHT YOU HERE TO [Discus] [Your Planned Early Retirement!] THIS HERE IS [In Place Of The Real Deal] KEYGEN! WITH THIS, I CAN BECOME [Big!] SO LONG AS IT COMES WITH A [Shot!]"​

 

[Psymallard]

Taskmaster
The Kraggling nodded, clutching onto Lucario's shoulder firmly.

---

Lucario intended to slow Taskmaster down, but found that would be easier said than done. With the agility of a spider, the copycat weaved between and leapt over the waves of aura. He neared closer still, and in the middle of a leap, fired his pistol twice- once at each of the Pokémon's knees. He counted on these rounds to get Lucario moving, so he could close in and deliver a slash aimed at the jackal's throat (and the Kraggling's face at the same time) before he could firmly plant his feet again.

Kool Kats
As Reala started his paraloop, Troy recognized this as bad news and backpedaled into the corner. Sure enough, it was a gravity well, and the narcissist snatched up the ropes with his free hand to prevent himself from being pulled in. His other hand continued sustaining the Vortex Ball that spun the Deathstar around. He watched Reala closely, who was devising a follow-up attack. The gravity well grew stronger, and Troy struggled to resist it.

With a grunt, the kult leader finally hurled the massless weapon, the Vortex Ball exploding to accelerate the weapon even further. As a tradeoff, Troy lost his hold on the ropes, and fell towards the center of the gravity well. He extruded a full-body Vortex Ball to shield him from any danger. The Deathstar, meanwhile, was on track to curve upwards, cut through the champion's fireball, and then continue to threaten the Nightmaren themself!

 

[ArmedBlue]

Pit
​

"Whoa..."

Pit stared wide-eyed as Fjorrd laid out the otherworldly story. A competition were people were forced to fight, much like Byleth had described earlier. This Leeyon of Kenn-Dee was one of the contestants, who managed to make a few allies and fought to escape the event, breaking the established rules. A mission that seemed near impossible, by the way the nord put it – but they'd succeeded.

And the biggest twist? Master Hand was apparently behind the whole thing.

"So Leeyon was looking for people to challenge Master Hand? Huh..."

"While the story sounds pretty out there, it looks like it lines up with what Byleth told us. As far as we know though, Master Hand hasn't really been attacked by anyone recently. Wonder if Leeyon is still looking for allies...?"

"Master Hand's like, crazy strong. It'd take a buncha powerful people to take that guy down." Pit said, before part of what Fjorrd had mentioned finally registered for him. The angel whirled around in his seat, now looking towards Kirby.

"Wait, you were there too?!"​

Gunvolt
​

Gunvolt raised a brow at Rinku's words. If someone wanted to challenge him directly, then it would surely be...

"Heya Gunvolt!" A certain dragoon greeted, causing the Adept to turn in his direction. "I see you've already met my good friend Rinku, he's a demon."

The Azure Striker glanced at Rinku for a moment, now making more of a connection between his abilities and demeanor. A carefree trickster, the likes of which he hadn't seen much before. GV had a hunch the Copen he knew would surely have a field day with this one, a feeling Lola also showed rather unsubtly as she slowly backed away from the demon. He could recall quite a few religious rants from the Adept Slayer.

"That's right," Gunvolt replied, focusing back on Dart with a smile. "Looks like you had an intense fight. Double eliminations are pretty much unheard of, y'know." He added, before his gaze narrowed.

"So... I take it you're here to challenge me?"​

 

[Shen: King of Digimon]

Reala

Undaunted by the incoming blade, he watched as the blade halted by the force of his gravity well, hurtling back toward's its master. All the while the fireball continued along it's trajectory, quickly catching with the insane pair's weapon, detonating wildly close by them as the gravitation pull suddenly collapse, sending a big kinetic force outwards, expelling everything outwards! This would send the Katz straight up, further discombobulating them.

"I've had my fill of this. It's been a spell dear visitor. Don't come back."

Crimson energy erupted from his hand, a singular pulsating red gateway appeared above the Katz, Reala's face sigil ingrained on it. The background faded in...to see what appeared to be asphalt and graffitied streets. It was Saint Sunny City! The familiar stomping ground of the pair awaited them as they would fly upwards.

 

[Gamingfan]

Kirby
Kirby took another bite of his cake.
That definitely was Leon. Fjorrd had said a lot of other things, but Kirby was mostly happy to hear Leon was doing fine. But fighting Master Hand?
Well, it wasn't like Kirby hadn't done so before. But these games seemed to work differently..
Pit suddenly whirled around, looking at Kirby with wide eyes. Kirby blinked at his question, surprised by Pit's confusion.
"Oh."
A moment later, Kirby happily nodded.
"Ya! Leeyon!"

Lucario
The assassin had impressive aim, but with the pokemon's legs moving fast and aura waves coming in, it difficult to get a clear shot. The first bullet missed, but the second sniped Lucario's leg. There was a small twitch in the pokemon's face, but his steel resistance meant the blow would hardly stop him. Instead the pokemon spun on his heel, using the momentum to deliver a forceful, aura-covered kick against Tasky sword!

 

[comic]

DART​

"You bet," the mercenary folded his arms. "I might be eliminated now, I was originally hoping to fight you again as equal champs, but... this'll have to do!"

Having been so unprepared in practically every sense of the word in their last fight, Dart was more than eager to try this again. Even if he was in a weakened state here, he could make up for it with a wider array of tools and abilities at his disposal.

"But a fight between us would be BIG, so..." Dart glanced over to where Reala and the Kool Kats still fought. "A ring might be too small. Alternatively, we could fight a little different..."

The dragoon chuckled. "A ring-out fight, maybe?"​

 

[ArmedBlue]

Gunvolt
​

"A ring-out fight, huh...?"

The proposal reminded the Azure Striker of some of the fights he'd managed to watch during his own tournament. While uncommon, some battles ended when one of the fighters was knocked off the stage. From what this tourney had displayed, it seemed that condition had been mostly abandoned since then. For a fight of their scale, though...

"Sounds good to me," Gunvolt nodded, before he leapt down from the champions' platform, landing in front of Dart. "Dunno about you, but nearly all the fights I've gone through have been to the death, so something like this should be a good way to mix things up. I'll need all the experience I can get, too."

With those words, the Adept gestured towards the sparring area.

"Ready when you are."​

 

[Psymallard]

Taskmaster
Lucario whirled around to fire a powerful kick, and though it successfully repelled the blade, it left the jackal woefully open. At the same time the kick made contact with the sword, the Taskmaster fired another round at Lucario's abdomen with the gun in his other hand. Immediately following the point-blank shot, Taskmaster charged forward and aimed to bash his furry foe with the face of his shield in an attempt to knock him off his feet.

Kool Kats
The crazy people soared through the portal, and the Deathstar reverted back to the Soul Edge as they did. The sword embedded itself in the asphalt, but Troy was able to catch his fall with a Vortex Ball. He looked back up at the portal in the sky with a grimace.

"I haven't laid foot upon ground outside the arena, you pinstriped freak! Get back yonder so I can kick your ass."

 

[Captain Cardboard]

Byleth

A new person approached. The warrior, Fjorrd. A last minute addition to the tournament, something that reminded Byleth of her own invitation to the Super Smash Brothers tournaments. More importantly, he knew the whole story of the Dimension Games. She stayed silent, watching and listening as Fjorrd spoke, staring at the Dragonborn through the sickly green halo that orbited her head. His story concluded, Byleth nodded.

"The story I've heard was the same. The one I am... working for, she is trying to find out more information about Master Hand and why he created that death game. She'll be glad to hear Leon is doing the same." Byleth said. "I don't know about fighting Master Hand. I'd like to hear his side of things first, but..."
Byleth trailed off, and went back to pushing around her strawberry shortcake. Finally, she offered the treat to Kirby.


Dark Dungeon

The Egyptian man scowled, his cloak billowing from this invisible force. It appears the magical power that was trying to draw Neph in was also affecting the spirit, albeit not as much.
"The Stone Tablet." The Egyptian man said to Neph. "It was used by my people to seal away monsters and souls. Bakura is trying to do the same to you. Resist it!"

As Ryo and the Dark Spirit wrestled, Marshtomp and Kirin destroyed the Armored Starfish together! The Dark Spirit's eyes widened, and he quickly kicked Ryo. The teen was pushed away just in time, and Kirin slashed the Dark Spirit across his chest. The Spirit cried out in pain, staggering back. At the same time, the draw from the Stone Tablet became much weaker.

The Dark Spirit breathed heavily, clutching his chest. From the wound, dark mist seeped out.
"You... PATHETIC... priestess." Yami Bakura snarled. He took another step back, to the wall. The tomb began to rumble, cracks began running up the walls and across the floor.

"You think... THIS... will stop me? You have no idea of my power, you insignificant little worm." Yami Bakura growled. Debris began to break from the ceiling, and it seemed like the tomb was beginning to collapse! Nephthys could feel whatever force was preventing her from escaping was no longer there.

 

[Gamingfan]

Lucario
Taskmaster blade was struck away, and the man pulled out his gun. Though he had assumed Lucario was left open, the pokemon could swiftly defend his stomach with his paws, and the bullet was deflected by the spikes.
Still not finished, Taskmaster shoved his shield forward for another bash. Lucario leaned forward and dropped his foot on the shield's face. With controlled grace, he stepped up and over the man as he rushed forward, taking advantage of his new position to release an aura sphere into the man's back!
When Lucario landed, he raised his arm band up. This battle has been going in circles. If he didn't go full power, this might never end.
Besides, Taskmaster was taking him seriously now. Perhaps he should as well.
The mega stone shimmered brightly, and the pokemon was covered in a cocoon of mega energy. It cracked, then shattered apart to reveal Mega Lucario! The pokemon's blood-red eyes were pinpricks, fully focused on his opponent. They sized him up, as a predator would their prey.

 

[Psymallard]

Taskmaster
Lucario managed the strength to leap over him, but Taskmaster was quick to spin around and bat away the Aura Sphere in the process. The supersoldier kept the pistol trained on his foe, yet didn't fire. Curiously, the gem on the jackal's wrist began to shimmer, and Masters wanted to see what was going to happen. Energy seeped out from the Pokémon, and he seemed to produce a cocoon of some sort of mineral. The shell didn't last, and was soon shattered entirely to make way for the awesome power of Mega Lucario.

"Well aren't you a beautiful butterfly."

Taskmaster fired a single round at his opponent's face to goad him into attacking.

 

[ArmedBlue]

Kirin
​

The priestess' blade cut into the dark spirit – and it appeared to be more effective than she thought. Yami Bakura reeled back, throwing out a few insults at Kirin, who stepped back as the whole tomb began to shake, gesturing for Ryo to get away.

"Dunno, looks like I already did a number on you," Kirin replied with a smirk, though she continued to create distance between them. "For a mighty evil spirit or whatever you are, it doesn't seem like you're all that strong. Taking you down's gonna be a breeze!"

As the Adept of Radiant Fetters continued to try and get under the dark spirit's skin, the rumbling worsened. Debris soon began to fall from the ceiling, a particular chunk forcing Kirin to leap backwards to avoid being crushed, though she threw a small burst of talismans at Yami Bakura to keep him busy. With an acrobatic flip, she landed nearby Neph and the strange Egyptian spirit.

"He's definitely about to do something big. Just a little more and I can seal him away!"​

Pit
​

Kirby had indeed been involved in the games, and Byleth's following comments confirmed Fjorrd's own story. Somewhere out there, this survivor was rallying a resistance of sorts to get back at Master Hand.

"Wait, is it Leeyon or Leon?" Pit asked, genuinely confused.

"At any rate, we still don't know exactly why Master Hand hosted those death games. Viewership and stakes are one thing, but I doubt his current events are lacking in popularity. Maybe he simply wanted to try out a new format? Hmm..."

"Plus, fighting Master Hand's not gonna be easy. He's pretty much final boss material, y'know." Pit added, before he turned towards Byleth. "Oh yeah, you said you were working for someone, right? I think Sothis mentioned an Eitri person earlier. Is that her?"​