---

General Brigan saw several gestures made toward a man covered in…some sort of armor @Aether Spawn. It was nothing the Ragnival general had ever seen before, and he was hardly jealous. The giant grunted and a lopsided grin cracked on his face.

“Your leader hides his face, ha!” he scoffed until a whimpering, timid voice quivered up to his ears. The general frowned before a heavy shadow fell over Luigi. The hulk had bent over until his ear hovered above the plumber’s head as he listened to his question, “What is this squeaking I hear?”

General Brigan turned his head until his big, rosy nose was inches from Luigi’s face. His glowing red eyes gazed upon the strange looking man before a sudden burst of mirth blasted him on a breath of stale alcohol.

“HA! And what have you brought with you to defeat the Demon Lord Odin? Do you even know of his power? His fists are like comets and his strength shatters the earth. He flies upon the black wings of a devil and moves across the battlefield like a phantom. Supernovas shoot from his eyes…and this was all before he went mad. He’s much more powerful now. Why do you care how Odin travels puny one? You look like you would piss your pants before you raise a sword.”

There was a sensation that bothered Mario when he saw the general get in his little brother’s face. It was easy to confuse who was the oldest between him and his brother. Luigi lucked out on being taller than him and people often thought he was the oldest. As much as Mario disliked it when Luigi got in the way of his and Samus’s “true love,” he didn’t hate his brother. Frankly, he didn’t like when other characters tried to bully his bro.

Mario’s hands clenched tightly into large and angry fists. He apologized to Naija, “I will be right back.”

Drawing his Power Hammer from what appeared to be some pocket dimension in his overall pocket, Mario marched over to General Brigan and stepped between him and Luigi. The general’s nose was smashed against the red plumber’s puffed out chest as Mario looked him in his blazing eyes, his manly mustache bristling with anger as he threatened, “If you don’t get outta my brother’s face with your rotten breath…”

General Brigan’s crooked teeth came together in a heavy frown before he rose like a tower back into a straight posture. He wanted to crush the brothers beneath his hammer right there and then, but he refrained. He didn’t want to get on the heroes’ bad side so soon. A grin flashed on the general’s face as though he tried to play off what had happened.

“Make your choices now. We don’t have all day here,” General Brigan demanded.

Team decisions were made using decidermachine.com.

Demon Lord Odin Fight – Team Three

Shadow Knight Oswald Fight – Team One

Abandoned Castle – Team Two

Team Leaders are encouraged to take charge at this time (especially with our squad leader currently indisposed until Friday).


Keep track of your word count XP. Overall XP will be awarded at the end of every battle.


If a player is inactive for more than 3 days, then the player can be skipped over on the 4th day.

Team One Order: Crash, Hunter, Ezio, Slayer, Quina

Team Two Order: Edward, Luigi, James, Samus, Amaterasu, Hapu

Team Three Order: Naija, Fox, Gordon, Garrett, Mario

Be sure to re-read the scenario rules found here. Good luck!

Naija watched in horror as Brigan the hulking general spluttered all over Luigi while belittling him. Before she could do anything rash, like try to smash Brigan's brains out with a rock, Mario sprung into action.

“I will be right back.”

Stomping over to his brother Mario gave perhaps the first indication of why he was a hero Naija had seen, placing himself right in the way of the massive general, hammer at the ready. Naija leaped into the air into one of the nearby trees quickly singing the notes C-D-E to cast the bind song on the rock she was sitting on, towing it behind her as she ascended, ready to strike if things got ugly

“If you don’t get outta my brother’s face with your rotten breath…”

“Yeah, you leave him alone!” she called in support,

Brigan stood up in response to the plumbers bold action, much to her relief.

“Make your choices now. We don’t have all day here,”

”“You know what, I bet this Deomonlord your think is so tough is something we can handle with just four of us, heck I have probably fought more dangerous starfish than what you described””

Admittedly Naija hadn’t understood half his metaphors but those starfish where huge, shot barrages of stars, were really fast and hurt like hell when they got to close so it might have been an apt comparison. She didn’t care, she was mad and wanted to take that anger out on something that wouldn’t cause problems to the team, as picking a fight with the general would surely be disastrous.

“Fox, Gordon, Mario, come on, we’re gonna stop that demon lord from ever reaching that castle.”

She leaps away from tree to tree with great bounds, the path of her travel seen by the shaking of the trees and disturbed wild life as the rock sailed along behind her.

Then the shaking stops, turns and comes back. She reappears on another branch and, trying to maintain her composure, asks.

“Um, so where is he then?”

Fox hadn’t the attention to spare for proper introductions once the absurdly disproportionate goliath, Brigan, came stomping out of the treeline and began snapping exposition and condescending soliloquy at the gathering of ”warriors”, as he so sarcastically put it. It was clear that he already didn’t care for any of them, and the feeling was mutual. Barely two minutes into the conversation he was already imposing threats on Luigi, which, of course, Mario was having none of. Not that he really needed protecting, for he was arguably every bit as capable as his older brother, if not sometimes moreso, despite what his timid nature would suggest. Either way, it would be apparent to anyone familiar with the Bros. that the vainglorious general may regret clashing hammers with them.

Naija abruptly followed in leaping to the younger brother’s defense, telekinetically upheaving the large boulder she was previously standing on and readying it for use as a weapon. Unbeknownst to her or Mario, Fox had been a mental step ahead of both of them from the time the giant made his entrance, with his right hand at his side hovering patiently, discretely over his blaster should the immediate need for it rise so soon. Fortunately, Brigan wisely eased off, but not without impatiently demanding that the teams assign themselves a role and get started. Third Leader Naija replied boldly with an eager desire to confront the Demon Lord that the general described in such grandiose (and hopefully hyperbolic) detail as she called to the team to follow her straight into the fray. If nothing else, she at least exhibited the bravado of a leader.

“Fox, Gordon, Mario, come on, we’re gonna stop that demon lord from ever reaching that castle.”

As their leader quickly made off into the woods, Fox took two running steps and performed a deftly transitional leap into a midair dash, disappearing into the deep cover of the forest in an almost ninjatic fashion as the air rang with a sharp, metallic echo and the autumn-strewn leaves kicked up behind him. He would have no trouble closing the gap made by the amphibian’s sudden head start. As they made their way, the vulpine would be keeping his head on a tight swivel, looking out for any imminent threats that might otherwise surprise them.

Luigi tried his best to hide the fact that he was shaking at first; Even if he wasn't as well known for being brave like Mario, he knew that he was still considered a major player throughout the realms and universes of the video game world and thus he couldn't look frightened or weak in front of the other, somewhat younger heroes. He had to set an example after all...

That would be a lot easier if Brigan wasn't so big... and looked like he knew how to throw his bulk around to crush anything smaller then him with relative ease. But the worst part of it was his breath; He didn't know what the hell the big man was drinking, but it was absolutely overwhelming! He was pretty sure that if the man could fit into a room that had paint on the walls, his breath was strong enough to cause the paint to melt.

Turning his face away to try and shield his eyes from the burning sensation (trying to block out the smell was a lost cause) while fighting the urge to throw up, Luigi coughed into a fist before turning back to face the giant again now that he wasn't breathing on him... only to blink a little as he saw Mario stand up for him, ready to fight to try and protect him from the giant brute...

As much as he might get mad at his brother, he could always count on him to have his back in a tight spot. While he didn't go so far as to draw his own hammer out, Luigi put aside his own fears in order to return the favor and be ready to support his older brother in the event things went south...

Thankfully, they didn't.

Placing a hand on Mario's shoulder, Luigi offered him a small smile as he said "Thank you brother." before watching as his team started to gather together to go off and fight the 'Demon King'. Gulping a little, he decided to offer some advice to them in order to prevent them from doing something stupid and getting themselves killed. "Try and focus on breaking his mood of transport! Worst case scenario, he has to walk the rest of the way. Best case, it makes him so mad that he chases are you and you can lure him in a completely different direction."

---

Listening to the others part of his team, Crash relayed gibberish to Aku for him to reply."That would be a wise idea Slayer, there is no telling what lurks before us so if you so willing desire then please scout ahead," Aku stated to the man. Crash looked at Quina who had seemingly begun to take out a bunch of leftover food. Crash gave a perplexed look on what the creature could possibly make with such an odd assortment of food but didn't object to its antics.

Before more could be said the giant had begun to belittle one of the plumber doe, if Crash remembered correctly the one called Luigi. Mario shortly went to his brother's side, which got the italian plumber a few points from the orange marsupial now viewing the man as perhaps not being just an egotistical loud-mouth. As swiftly as the confrontation had begun, it ended with the giant stating for the heroes to choose the tasks that each team would handle. The first team leader to speak up was the fish lady Nanji who choose to go for the head of the evil in this world itself, the Demon Lord. He would give them the best of luck since from what the giant had said, it wasn't going to be an easy fight but they were all heroes so they would somehow overcome. This left two choices. With exploring never being a big part of Crash's style he quickly make up his mind.

"We will find the Shadow Knight Oswald and stop him," Aku relayed for Crash ",It seemed our chance of rest shall be put on hold to seek this man out and stop him from aiding the Demon Lord Odin."

While he waited for Buck to respond, James noticed a subtle shaking moving towards the group and frowned, drawing his Imago Loop free of it's holster and pulling the hammer back as he turned to face the direction it was coming from. After several more seconds, in which the shaking only grew stronger and the sounds of branches snapping and breaking beginning to accompany it, several women in winged armor with helmets not too different from his own came into view. The sight of them caused the Guardian to wonder what other differences he would see between his world and others, but hardly had time to consider it before a hulking giant of a man, or an actual giant as the case was, came into sight, wielding a hammer in one hand and an archaic cup in the other.

His size reminded James of facing down the giant Ogres of the Hive, with their giant singular eye, grotesque hunger for the Light, and immense size and strength. If the Nightstalker had to guess, he imagined downing this General Brigan would be about as simple, as he didn't know many creatures that didn't fall over dead after a few rounds to the head. Except for the Vex, but those obnoxious bots were another topic for when he had free time to think about it better. He followed the giant's motions as he indicated first who he himself was, then who's castle he had been scoping in on in the distance. "If this Demon Lord guy is near as big as Brigan, I don't know that anyone without experience fighting giants like him would do well." Charger sighed, still listening to the general as he outlined the obstacles in the heroes way and called for the leader of their group.

"Regardless, it may not even be our concern. Now pay attention, we need to weigh in and give our thoughts on where we should go." Sighing and returning his full attention to the happenings in front of him, he watched as Brigan verbally assaulted Luigi for asking a couple of questions. Though others were already leaping to the Italian's defense, James leveled his own hand cannon in case the point wasn't driven home nearly enough, though the giant had wisely backed off when confronted by so many and redirected them back to the issue at hand and who would take each task.

James opened his mouth to suggest that his team take on the Demon Lord, but the fish girl, Naija he thought he'd heard her say her name was, took that task for her own team. So then he began to suggest that his team should take on the Shadow Knight, as he sounded like no slouch either, but once more was beaten to it by someone else, this time Crash, the orange creature. And that left only the Abandoned Castle where the Princess was. Welp, that's a new one for me... Turning to his team mates and their leader, he finally spoke.

"Well, since both big baddies are taken, it looks like that leaves just the Princess and the Ring for us. I can take Luigi and Samus to scout ahead, maybe intercept any ambushes that may be waiting. Plus I can get a couple of seeds going that way."

As she watched General Brigan mock poor Luigi, she considered standing up for the little guy. She really felt bad for him. While he's certainly isn't the strongest fighter here in the group, but what he lacks in strength, he roars with determination and loyalty. He knows how to fight regardless, as shown in the Food Fight back at the Mess Hall, but can also be a little bit of a coward at times. Then again, she wouldn't blame him. He's in the presence of a giant warrior, with quite the nasty attitude coming from him. Again, Samus has fought large alien creatures before, like that of Kraid, the enormous reptillian Space Pirate Leader, Emperor Ing, the bizarre-looking nightmarish creature and leader of the Ing race, and of course Mother Brain along with others to follow. Certainly if anything, Brigan is much larger than Bowser, at least in his regular size.

But before the bounty hunter was going to lay the cannon on him, Mario came to his brother's aid. Despite how rude and vulgar Mario can be, if there's anything he cared in the world on such a deep personal note, that would have to be for his brother. Samus highly respected of this brotherly, despite Mario trying, and perhaps will still try, to be flirtatious to her anyways, as well as the fact how he must be rather "jealous" for his brother even being near her. Either way, Mario's threats made the giant back off from him and his brother, stating that one should never underestimate Mario. Especially when it happens to be towards his younger brother.

The General begins to wait for everyone to make their choices on the matter at hand. The first to suggest something major in the group came from James Varrock. Unfortunately, both battles were unfortunately taken by the others, leaving them to deal with the Abandoned Castle scenario. It was a bit of a bummer for Samus, as she wanted to kick some major ass and participate in some major action, but regardless she didn't mind going on a run anyways. It can be considered as a warm up task. After all, perhaps there may be a fight going on there as well, so there's no way in telling.

"Well, since both big baddies are taken, it looks like that leaves just the Princess and the Ring for us. I can take Luigi and Samus to scout ahead, maybe intercept any ambushes that may be waiting. Plus I can get a couple of seeds going that way."

"I agree." Samus replies confidently with a firm nod, "We'll report back to you and Buck directly through my comm-link once we've scouted the entire perimeter. That way we don't have to run all the way back to you guys. We'll just need one or two of those nuts just in case we get into a tight situation."

She then walks towards her partner Luigi and puts a firm hand on his shoulder, patting him.

"Shall we depart?" she simply asks with a light smile.

---

Ammy wagged her tail and barked at James, Samus, and Luigi to wish them well on their perilous scouting mission. She didn't normally bother with that sort of thing, preferring to just run into the dungeon and bash her head into any problems she came across, but Ammy was nothing if not good at doing as she was told and if they wanted her to stay put for just a little while she could do that. The sleeping princess, and whatever treasure was waiting for them in that castle, wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon. Besides, if they managed to cultivate some of that yummy looking fruit before they called back the all clear so much the better.

She looked back over at Hapu's giant horse and went over to join him. If the other team got in trouble, which was practically inevitable in this kind of work, they'd need to Rapidly race off to help. She had no doubt that they would be able to catch up to the scout team in moments, so she curled up on the ground and kept one eye open in case of trouble.

---

Hapu admittedly felt a twinge of distaste for Brigan, especially after witnessing his cruel, patronizing attitude towards Luigi. And yet she had to commend Luigi's courage in approaching such a foreboding general, and the family bond Mario had with his brother... perhaps the haughty hero was more golden than his behavior showed. Hapu felt reassured by this.

The tasks were split amongst the three squads, and Hapu learned that the team she was on was to head to the abandoned castle to check upon the princess and the ring. Luigi, Samus, and James would set off to scout the location first, leaving Amaterasu and Hapu to stand guard.

Mudsdale looked down at Amaterasu as the wolf curled next to its mud-caked hooves. The horse gave a short neigh. Hapu, on the other hand, said, "Mudsdale and I shall stay with..." She thought for a second. "We shall stay with Amaterasu, and if any trouble arises, we will be on our way." She gave James, Samus, and Luigi a nod. Mudsdale snorted.

“If there are no objections or alternative suggestions to us staying here, then I wish you luck on your reconnaissance,” Hapu said.

She then saddled up on Mudsdale and proceeded to start patrolling. Mudsdale trotted through a twenty-five yard radius, shifting its head left and right in order to spot any trouble. Hapu herself kept a diligent eye on the area between the trees; growing up on the untamed Poni Island, Hapu had to quickly learn to be vigilant among nature.

“Do you see anything, friend?” Hapu asked, stroking Mudsdale’s nuzzle.

The horse looked back and shook its head.

“Perhaps that is a good sign. Or perhaps it is an ambush.” Hapu shrugged. “It’s difficult to determine our situation in such a foreign land. But hopefully Luigi, Samus, and James return all right.”

While awaiting a reply from the bandicoot boss of Team One, Slayer received a request from Quina to fetch mushrooms should his scouting foray be approved. The naivety of such a side-mission in a matter of possibly trans-dimensional importance made a wry smile appear on his face, and in a noncommittal fashion the vampire replied, ”I shall keep an eye out. My expertise in horticulture is limited, however, so I cannot make any promises.” How would one even begin classifying the 'best' mushrooms? Filthy things neither plant nor animal, known to spring from dirt whilst spreading a web of tendrils underground, did not tickle a gentleman's fancy.

His eyes returned to the swollen behemoth known as Brigan just as a mocking leer overtook the giant's features. In an exhibition of exceptional rudeness, he shoved himself into the face of the timid, green-clad plumber whose name Slayer remembered to be Luigi, and without any restraint the general proceeded to ridicule the poor man. Though composed as ever on the outside, Slayer ground his teeth, and his frown contained enough severity to give children nightmares. Anyone whose focus lay somewhere besides the confrontation before them might notice the almost monstrous anger barely concealed beneath the vampire's dignified facade. In addition, Brigan's colorful and ominous depiction of Odin did not seem to concern him in the slightest. ”The barbarity!” he murmured in a low tone. ”On what grounds does this uncivilized mountain of meat make sport of heroes sent to help him? This is the basest, most repugnant sort of behavior I could imagine.” Since Mario took action, though, Slayer felt no need to step in, and instead turned up his nose at the reek of the warrior's foul breath. Only a moment later, Crash gave his assignment along with the others. It appeared that his team would be tasked with the defeat of the infamous Shadow Knight Oswald—whoever that was. All the same it wouldn't be the first time that the gentleman tussled with someone in armor, so the physical challenge did not concern him. The crux of the battle would be figuring out what magical tricks this Oswald had up his metal sleeves.

Slayer glanced at the other teams of heroes, most already on the move. If the forces did not intend on staying the night after all, then scouting ahead served no real purpose. No matter. The voices of Giving a shrug, he remarked, ”Team Two is already planning to explore the perimeter. No doubt they'll go about it faster than I, so instead I'll set my sights on the end of our road. I will await you all at the Abandoned Castle, though I encourage you not to linger unnecessarily. From what I gather, time is of the essence. In fact, it may be wiser if we all depart together as soon as possible. There is no telling what we may encounter. Moreover, we will need to reach the Castle and at the very least distract our shadowy foe while Team Two pursues their objective within. Shall we?” Not waiting for a reply, since he'd already been given leave to scout ahead, Slayer turned to leave. He walked at a brisk pace, but nothing that could be called undignified...or speedy. Into the murky woods he strode, puffing his pipe.

Garrett grinned as he pulled a bag of gold out of a drawer in the home he was currently robbing. His assumptions were right when he first arrived; this place did have a lot of loot to steal. He had gotten the treatment from Mordin and the other scientists, and figured he'd pass some time with a bit of thieving... Next thing he knew he was on his seventh house and showed no sign of stopping.

"Hehehe, I'm gonna be walking away from this whole ordeal with my pockets filled to the brim with gold and gems..." He said to himself, picking up a broach from a nightstand. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Garrett spotted the clock... And froze in terror. He was late. Very, very, VERY late.

He panicked, looking around for an exit before running to the window, opening it, then slipping out. He climbed down the face of the apartments before reaching the ground and sprinting to the portal (or whatever it was that would take him to the Kingdom of Erion).

---

"Man, I am never going to get used to traveling by portal..." Garrett muttered to himself, before getting up and looking around. Yep, he was in Raganival alright. Yet his group and any of the others were nowhere in sight. He sighed, scratched his neck, then began to wander around. After a bit of walking around the forest, he found his group.

Fox and Naija were up in the trees, most likely scouting ahead. Garrett gave a quick nod to Mario and Gordon, who were (probably) still on ground level. "Sorry I'm late. Got a little bit... distracted on my way to the teleporter." For clarity, Garrett showed the group some of the loot he had swiped from the apartment.

After another few quick glances around, Garrett said to the group: "So what exactly are we doing? I was a bit zoned out when the big guy with the weird haircut was giving his speech."

Even with Quina's very limited understanding of cause and effect, he (or she) had expected there to be some sort of retaliation from the giant man that was barking orders. Once the General seemed to let the whole event slide without punching Mario back, or even saying a word about it, Quina relaxed a little and went back to looking over the food she (or he) had brought along from the castle. The meringue and the crushed banana could surely be salvaged into a passable dessert, the cheese and bread would serve as a-

Then Quina heard Crash's orders, relayed to the team by the mask with feathers arrayed along the top of it. Hurriedly, Quina stuffed her (or his) mouth with all the food that would have otherwise gone into some kind of wretched culinary concoction had Crash given the order to set up camp. There would, Quina considered briefly, be more opportunities to eat. Forests and castles and the like always had things to eat. Watching the Grey Man - the Slayer - begin his march into the unknown, Quina gave a glance over to Crash, trying to work out who to follow. Didn't the Grey Man say something about departing together? Something about lingering unnecessarily?

"Quina stick with Orange and Mask, right? Like bodyguard! Keep Orange and Mask safe until we get to Oswald," Quina began, sidling up such that he (or she) stood adjacent to Crash, with one hand firmly gripped around the massive fork that the Qu preferred to use as a weapon, "then we bop the Oswald. Do not worry Little Orange. Quina help."

Quina attempted to give Crash a reassuring smile. It was not particularly reassuring. Tactics and strategic thinking weren't exactly Quina's strong points, but keeping the Team Leader safe and his morale high felt like the right thing to do for the time being.

"Wonder what an Oswald look like. Wonder what an Oswald taste like too."

Mario had been still staring the general down when he felt Luigi’s hand on his shoulder. He slowly pried his eyes from the big man, lowering his hammer and turning around to face Luigi.

Thank you brother.

Mario smiled and returned the gesture, resting his hand on Luigi’s shoulder. “No problem. You really gotta stop lettin’ bullies push you around. You’re stronger than you think. I don’t trust anyone else to have my back, and so far, no one else has but you.”

Mario dropped his hand and looked over at his brother’s team just as he (Luigi) did to see Team Two gather in preparation for moving out. He saw his own team excitedly take to the trees.

Try and focus on breaking his mode of transport! Worst case scenario, he to walk the rest of the way. Best case, it makes him so mad that he chases you and you can lure him in a completely different direction.

“Don’t worry; we’ll figure somethin’ out and slow the guy down. Good luck on your end.”

Mario then locked Luigi in a brotherly hug. His strong arms crossed behind his back and he leaned back to lift the taller brother a little off his feet before he released him. Mario grinned at Luigi and held up a determined fist as he declared, “We’ll be back before you know it!”

The red plumber then turned, shouldered his hammer, and quickly ran in the direction he saw Naija and Fox disappear in. When Naija suddenly returned, Mario screeched to a halt and nearly face-planted in disbelief when she admitted to just blindly running off into the forest without a clue where the castle was…and she was their leader…A tear bead descended down the side of Mario’s head before he pointed toward the castle in the distance. The trees seemed to curve around it like a half-border. Typical of most 2D-style games.

“It’s that big gloomy castle in the distance! You know, the one surrounded by darkness?” Mario informed.

It was a good thing Fish Girl had returned too because the thief had showed up late as ever.

So what exactly are we doing? I was a bit zoned out when the big guy with the weird haircut was giving his speech.

Mario smirked and happily informed the thief, “You’re just in time. Our team is going to destroy a demon lord. Keep up!”

Mario then resumed following after Fox into the woods.

---

General Brigan had been listening to the planning of the teams and sneered when he saw them trying to strategize without him. What? Did they think he was just going to stand around and trust that they’d complete their missions? The general stomped toward Crash, Samus and James. He bent over a little so he could see them passed his godly pecs and ordered, “Team One and Two will be following me. Shadow Knight Oswald guards the Abandoned Castle. Team One will have to distract him while me and Team Two sneak into the castle.”

It might have been hard to believe that such a monstrously huge man could sneak anywhere. He straightened and added, “My units will aid Team One with Oswald. Do not underestimate him. He is the strongest soldier in the Ringford Army, grandson to King Gallon, wielder of the red psypher blade! Your mission will end if he defeats you. All of Raganival will be destroyed! (no pressure )”

General Brigan marched passed the three, his five Vaklyries trotting closely behind him. He stomped in the direction of the Abandoned Castle, bringing his horn to his lips as he slurped down its contents.

“We will see how strong these Platform knights are,” General Brigan muttered.

---

Neither the sun or moon shined on the castle. There wasn’t a single star or cloud in the sky. An opaque darkness covered the atmosphere as though the evil radiating from the castle polluted it. There were massive pillars scattered throughout the interior, which made for perfect cover; however, the halls were so large that even a pebble could have been heard skipping through them.

The Demon Lord Odin was no quieter than General Brigan when it came to walking. His very steps shook the castle, echoing throughout the corridors, making it difficult to sense what floor or what room he was actually in. His castle appeared to be without a guard. Could they all have defected to General Brigan’s army? Or were they all waiting in ambush? It was uncertain.

---

The abandoned castle was a silhouette in the distance. It was half a mile away and General Brigan did not approach any further. He scratched his crotch with his hammer as he informed to the two teams, “Team Two shouldn’t go any further. We don’t want to be the ones to draw Oswald’s attention.”

General Brigan thrusted his hammer in the castle’s direction and ordered Team One as though they were apart of his army, “Go and distract him already and hope he doesn’t already know we’re here!”

Team decisions were made using decidermachine.com.

Demon Lord Odin Fight – Team Three

Shadow Knight Oswald Fight – Team One

Abandoned Castle – Team Two

Team Leaders are encouraged to take charge at this time (especially with our squad leader currently indisposed until Friday).


Keep track of your word count XP. Overall XP will be awarded at the end of every battle.


If a player is inactive for more than 3 days, then the player can be skipped over on the 4th day.

Team One Order: Crash, Slayer, Quina

Team Two Order: Luigi, James, Samus, Amaterasu, Hapu

Team Three Order: Naija, Fox, Garrett, Mario

Be sure to re-read the scenario rules found here. Good luck!

As much as Mario pissed him off at times, part of being family was that either you found a way to forgive them or you never talked to them again. Luigi smiled as he wrapped his arms around his twin and returned the hug, his confidence soaring high above the worries and doubts that were trying to wrangle it back down. As the two brothers parted (possibly for the last time as a dark and morbid thought crossed Luigi's mind before he could banish it back to the depths that it came), he smirked playfully as he called out "Good luck Brother... I would ask you not to do something stupid but it's you..."

Playful teasing aside, Luigi turned to take stock of his own team. Samus was always a welcome sight and he had already mentally labeled her as his second in command. She was the one he knew best out of all of them and he knew that she had the skills to back it up. Still, while he didn't know the other three as well, he was going to have to find out what kinds of skills that they

Of course, that conversation was forcefully put on hold as Brigan made his announcement that he was coming with them. At first Luigi was confused as to why the General would insist on joining the rescue mission along with his team when his skills might be better used elsewhere... but then it dawned on him; Their team was the only one not going up against a named opponent of this world. Did that mean that the General was a coward?... and a prideful one at that if the manner of his boasting earlier was anything to go by.

He needed the brute off of his team... and slowly an idea came to him while they were walking. In the mean time through, he politely asked his team "Forgive me, but apart from Samus I'm not completely clear on the types of skills each of you brings to the table... so I'm making her second in command for this mission. If you could give me a brief rundown of what skills you have I can figure out how best the set the team up..."

As they came to a stop and Team 1 was preparing to break off, Luigi decided to try and do his team a solid and lose the giant. "Forgive me for any disrespect that my brother showed you earlier General Brigan. From what I've heard of you, you are a warrior of legendary prowess... It seems almost a waste of your talents to sneak around the castle like a thief in the night while the other team and your brave and beautiful warrior maidens earn the glory of fighting and possibly defeating one of the greatest warriors this world has to offer... after all, if even you are afraid of fighting Oswald..." He made sure to say this loud enough that the giant would be able to hear him due to their height difference... and by complete accident in hearing range of not only both teams, but also the winged warriors that had come here with the General himself.

Naija blushed and then tried to save face, because in hindsight that was obvious where they were going and in her anger she had forgotten part of the general's speech and simply rushed off into the woods. She had forgotten that this is not Aquaria, wandering around will not eventually lead you to where you need to go as the surface is massive the way not barred constantly by stone, darkness or strong currents. The network of submerged cave systems that is Aquaria are quite constricting in comparison to this world, when it came to places you could go, various environmental hazards made the exploitable area even smaller till she had the right abilities.

“I mean where is he and by extension are you going? The abandoned castle you called it but where is that in relation to the massive castle? I would like to know in case he has already left or so we can maybe lay an ambush when he does. Also so we can meet up with you all after we are done”

all she could see surrounding the demon lord's castle was mountains and forest, no other castle in sight

She half listened for the answer that the brute might give when she noticed noticed Garrett had apparently finally arrived.

“Oh hi there Garrett, you're with me, we’re going to stop a Mugen Virus infected Demon lord from reaching a castle so this lot can rescue a princess inside it and restore this world using a cauldron and a ring. Something along those lines anyway, try to keep up, meet us at the outskirts so we can see what we are up against”

Naija headed back off into the wood after her team mates, initially plowing through the tree line but after giving up after the rock kept getting stuck and went back to ground leaping. She would hop, the rock sailing after her in the air, when she landed the rock would be repealed from simply colliding with her by the verse and sail round her, smashing into the ground with a large thump, then she would leap again and the whole process repeats. As a result Naijas approach sounded more of that of a giant like the general than a petite fish girl. It was fortunate nobody was on watch at the castle when they arrived but the impacts did leave a trial for her team to follow.

She stopped where the tree line thinned out near the castle, deposited the rock and hopped up into the tallest available tree to take a look out on the castle, Naija stared in awe at the massive structure for a few moments, having never seen such a large freestanding building before. The darkness though was perhaps not as odd to Naija as it would have been to the others, as she not use to seeing the sky, apart from when at the vail where the waters were warmed by the tropical sun and the frozen vial some way off from that. The ever plesent gloom was familiar, as if she was surrounded by the ocean once more, but it was still relatively unpleasant, reminding her of the monstrosities that inhabited the darkest places in Aquaria’s depths. What she saw of the castle after she had taken in the atmosphere worried her, not a guard in sight yet the castle shook at a regular rate, presumably with the demon lord’s earth shaking steps. In Naija’s experience it was odd indeed for any structure not to be infested with hostile creatures so the lack of any at first glance was an oddity. Though perhaps they were inside, hiding in wait, or at their lord's side.

Naija poked her head out the bottom of the foliage.

“up here you three gentlemen, come take a look at what we are up against so we can make a bit of a plan ”

She scrambled back up into the branches and found somewhere they could all have a hidden view of the castle and sit and talk. Waiting for her team to arrive she laid out what ideas she had had on their way here

“So how do we want to do this? Out task is specifically to delay the Demon king so we don’t necessarily need to fight him straight up. We could piss him off and lead him on a chase around his castle. Steal his helmet or something. If we want to fight him we could see if we can find what exit he will be leaving by and ambush him as he heads for the other castle. Or of course we can just find him and beat the crap out of him. Also I am kind of worried about the lack of any visible guards or the fact that we don’t exactly know where our target is, though I suppose we can simply follow the thumping footsteps on that second point.”

Not the most sophisticated plans, but they needed to find him before they could make a more concrete plan involving what terrain was available.

“Any suggestions would be appreciated, also what you think your roll in any upcoming combat will be so we don’t trip over one another in our first battle. Until I um, remember, some of my other spells I am going to be stuck with bashing people with that rock and using the bind song to tear people's armor and weapons off them.”

She leaned back against a branch and awaited her compatriots opinions. She was slightly less concerned about Mario’s presence now, after he had stood up for his more handsome brother. Who was now Squad leader it seemed, she hoped he would be able to command the respect of everyone even with the unfortunate episode with the General, she hoped he would be alright even with the big bastard around. Then there was the dark and snarky Garrett, she was slightly concerned as to what he had been up to that made it take so long to arrive, hopefully he would not be distracted so again. She would have to stay on task herself, she had a tendency to take her time in dungeons, exploring every nook and cranny for treasures, but there was time constraints on this mission and she would need to avoid that for the time being. Finally there was Fox, who was a furred creature of few words, but at least he seemed eager to get down to business.

All in all she was rather excited to get going. Adventure awaited and though she was rather disappointed in herself to admit it, she had missed the intrigue that exploring a new dangerous location brought.

Watching Mario and Luigi, James smiled slightly behind his helmet as he turned away, holstering the Imago Loop and waiting for a plan of action to be determined. Being stuck rescuing a Princess, well, it wasn't something the Nightstalker was familiar with. In all his battles against the enemies of The Last City, it was all about survival and intel. And even then, the intel runs ended up becoming battles of survival; something that the Nightstalker wasn't going to complain about, since the more heads there were to bust, the more fun it was. But saving a princess...he'd never met royalty before unless you counted Oryx, and the Taken King was not the kind of royalty you ever WANTED to meet if you could help it. When Brigan announced he'd be leading the way to the Abandoned Castle rather than leading the charge against one of their rather powerful foes, James couldn't help but frown. "So I'm really not liking the vibe I'm getting off this guy. You find anything out of the ordinary yet?"

Charger didn't answer right away, presumably still watching the general, but when he did, he seemed disturbed. "No, nothing yet, but I don't like that our contact is insisting on putting himself in a position that could bring the Demon King's wrath down on him. Your instincts are most definitely correct, something about this is not right." James didn't respond as his partner knew his response, but when Luigi came back to them and asked for a run down of their abilities, the Guardian sighed in defeat.

"Well, normally I'd have access to a Voidwall grenade, smoke bomb, double jump, and my Shadowshot, amongst other abilities, along with a heavy weapon, but after leaving the Cosmodrome, I've only got Charger, my hand cannon, my sniper rifle, and a single jump. All that said, I'm still a nimble bastard with a penchant for putting bullets in an enemy's head on the first trigger pull." The trip after was relatively silent, and James maintained a consistent swivel as they walked, the Imago Loop free of it's holster and held at the ready for when some beastie eventually jumped out at them.

However, the presence of the General must have scared any beasts likely to attack them away and they reached the site of their mission without incident. Upon arrival, Brigan suggested that team two wait while Team one went and got the Shadow Knight's attention with the help of his valkyries, a plan that James didn't argue with. The vibe he got off the giant made him feel more confident about besting him the less back up he had if it came to that. Luigi attempted to redirect the General to a the other team and James took the opportunity to approach their leader and speak with him quietly so only he and his teammates could hear. "Luigi, I think it might be better if he stays with us. I don't trust him and if he decides to stab us in the back, that would leave team three to dangerous enemies two deal with."

Coming up on the edge of the forest, where the treeline ended at a cliffside overlooking the castle, Fox would arrive quite a few seconds ahead of the rest of his team. In his haste he failed to notice that he had passed Naija until she came practically stomping in with the giant stone she was hauling and dropped it right next to him. He inched himself closer to the ledge near where he was standing and took a knee, passing a reconnoitering gaze toward the grand palace that lay before the heroes in the near distance.

What appeared as if it would normally give off a distinct air of celestial radiance had been reduced to something unnatural and ominous. The very atmosphere surrounding the castle was stripped bare of color, and the sky was utterly devoid of any and all astral bodies that would otherwise illuminate everything beneath it. Even the depths of space weren’t this dark, yet everything in sight was somehow still clearly discernable, which only served to add another layer of unsettling artifice to the scene. The openings of the castle, of which there were plenty, where large enough to reveal the great halls within, but there was no visible sign of the Demon Lord himself… or anyone else for that matter; just the faint, reverberating tremors that may or may not signify his presence there.

“Something’s not right...” Fox uttered aloud to no one in particular. “If he’s supposed to be on his way to the other castle, why would he still be here?”

Indeed, something seemed suspiciously wrong with this situation, but exactly what that was remained unclear. All he knew was that their only “trusted” contact in this world just happened to be General Bastard, whose story already wasn’t adding up in Fox’s head, and what “deal” with the Seven was he so casually referring to earlier? Everything about that guy reeked - and not just to the senses - but at the possible expense of jeopardizing the mission (and by extension, this entire world), he knew he couldn’t afford to jump to such drastic conclusions at this point with any hope of acting on them before knowing for sure if there was really any illegitimacy to their objective. For now, he would have to reluctantly follow through in order to see for himself. Though, it still begged to question why the king hadn’t left by now… unless…

“Up here, you three gentlemen. Come take a look at what we are up against so we can make a bit of a plan.”

Fox took as many lateral running steps up the side of the tree as he could manage before propelling himself backwards feet-first onto another tree, and then again at an upward angle, grabbing hold of the first branch he could reach and, in the same motion, swinging up onto the next highest one, placing himself at level with their leader.

“So how do we want to do this? Our task is specifically to delay the Demon king so we don’t necessarily need to fight him straight up. We could piss him off and lead him on a chase around his castle. Steal his helmet or something. If we want to fight him we could see if we can find what exit he will be leaving by and ambush him as he heads for the other castle. Or of course we can just find him and beat the crap out of him. Also I am kind of worried about the lack of any visible guards or the fact that we don’t exactly know where our target is, though I suppose we can simply follow the thumping footsteps on that second point. Any suggestions would be appreciated, also what you think your roll in any upcoming combat will be so we don’t trip over one another in our first battle. Until I um, remember, some of my other spells I am going to be stuck with bashing people with that rock and using the bind song to tear people's armor and weapons off them.”

The vulpine thought for no longer than a second or two before offering his own input.

“Something tells me Odin is already expecting us, so I doubt we’ll be getting the drop on him. We should assume that there’s a fight waiting for us inside, and it probably won’t be a fair one. I would place a safe bet on him having reinforcements; they always do,” he conjectured, specifically recalling his past experience with the Aparoid Queen.

“Mario,” he said, addressing the plumber directly, “we’ll likely need you up front on Odin. Out of all of us, you’ll stand the best chance at holding him back. How you want to go about that is up to you. Meet him at the the front door if you want. Just don't let him get past you.”

Turning his attention back to Naija, he explained, “You and I will go in through the side entrances to cover him in case of an ambush. Delegate the battle as you see fit from that point. I’ll be taking care of the reinforcements as well as directly assisting Mario with the Demon Lord as I can.”

“Garrett, right?” Fox inquired, gesturing to the hooded man. “You’ll be running the perimeter making sure no one’s at our flanks and covering the exits in case Odin tries to escape. Try to find and exploit any weaknesses you can pinpoint in his defenses. Relay whatever information you have on that to the rest of us, if possible. This may go without saying, but don't let him - or anyone else - notice you doing any of it. You need to be able to control the backline uninterrupted.”

“Our best bet is to keep the Demon Lord where we can see him,” he reaffirmed while pointing to the castle. “We’ll take him down if we can, but our main priority is containment. If he gets out into the open we may never be able to catch up to him. The other teams are counting on us to keep exactly that from happening, so we can’t allow ourselves to let him become their problem.”

Fox by no means fancied himself a strategist or a tactician, but it was the best he could offer at the moment. Of course, he almost forgot that he was merely suggesting this before somewhat awkwardly readdressing Naija, the one who was actually in charge.

“U-Unless anyone else has a better idea,” he offered, dialing back his assertive tone. “It’s your call. Either way, you should be quick about whatever decision you make.”

The anthropomorph then turned away, staring off intently into the distance in the presumed direction of the others.

“I get the feeling time’s not a luxury we can afford.”

Samus nods as she follows the General to the abandoned castle ahead. She hears that the castle may be guarded by some boss character, the Shadow Knight Oswald, prompting a slight smirk on her face. Looks like she'll be fighting something after all. And major too. As she follows the general with Team 1 and 2, Luigi happens to speak up at the situation at hand.

"Forgive me, but apart from Samus I'm not completely clear on the types of skills each of you brings to the table... so I'm making her second in command for this mission. If you could give me a brief rundown of what skills you have I can figure out how best the set the team up..."

The bounty hunter can only guess at some of the abilities their team possess. They have a rather odd-looking crew on their hands. Certainly way different compared to the teams she's been on in her home universe. But it didn't matter. They are all strong in their own individual ways. Varrock was the first to speak on his powers.

"Well, normally I'd have access to a Voidwall grenade, smoke bomb, double jump, and my Shadowshot, amongst other abilities, along with a heavy weapon, but after leaving the Cosmodrome, I've only got Charger, my hand cannon, my sniper rifle, and a single jump. All that said, I'm still a nimble bastard with a penchant for putting bullets in an enemy's head on the first trigger pull."

Typical. The user was simply an average, if one of the more elite, forces of his world. He has to tow all those weapons behind him, or what he has currently. Samus was somewhat glad that her arm cannon can store all of these beams in her possession... that is, until now. Again, most of her beams were gone, with even her missiles being the only remaining homing projectiles. No super missiles or even bombs were at her disposal yet. She wonders how to reupgrade herself, but regardless she's still a very dangerous woman in battle.

"Must be a little difficult in carrying those weapons, huh?" Samus responds as she loads her cannon, making a faint vrm sound, "I kinda feel sorry for you. My arsenal is stored through here. Like you, most of my more powerful beams, missiles, and bombs are not available, but I can still fire plasma pellets and regular missiles from it."

As Luigi attempts to lose the general, even Samus felt something a little of about this situation. She could be wrong, but even her own teammates seem to be feeling the same way. What the green brother is trying to do is something very ballsy, but again, she can't strum him down for it. Vorrock explains that he should stay with them for protection, even if he turns out to be a traitor. And while they were weakened, they weren't vulnerable in any which way.

"With him or not," the bounty hunter whispers in, "We need to get inside and help the other team. We are still fully capable for serious combat ourselves. Let's see where this goes..."

Garrett cast a few glances at his companions. He knew of Mario and Fox's adventures and had briefly spoken to Naija in the Reception Hall, but aside that he didn't really know much about them. 'Just as well,' he thought, 'that way we can just get this over with and I can go back to The City with all this loot without missing them.' Still, he let his mind linger to his thoughts on them...

Regarding Mario, he thought he was an egotistical ass. Garrett, despite his snarky and selfish nature, didn't really develop an ego. In his line of work, having a huge ego would get you killed. Still, he seemed to care about his brother Luigi, which was a minor saving grace. Though he didn't have a family himself (the closest thing being Basso, though he was more of a friend than a brother), Mario's love for his brother won him some brownie points from Garrett.

Regarding Fox, he figured that the guy was a bit too straight-laced for his tastes. Too calm and collected from what he had seen so far; maybe a few sarcastic jabs will get him to crack, or he might even send a few back. Garrett hoped so, as, in his opinion, it was always a good time for a snarking match. Still, he seemed like a good guy with good intentions, which Garrett didn't mind at all.

As for Naija... Well, she was a different story. He didn't share too many words with her in the dining hall so he didn't know much about her, though she seemed to be rather kind from what he heard in their brief introduction. Kindness wasn't exactly something highly valued or even existent in The City, but still, compared to the people he's used to working with, she was a nice change of pace.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as Fox went into a filibuster, planning out what everyone will do despite not being the leader. He gave Garrett a task that Garrett figured would be a cakewalk for himself, what with his rather... Unique set of talents. "Do it without being seen? Sounds easy enough. Might even pickpocket something off the people in there for myse- I mean us. Yeah, us." He replied, awkwardly correcting himself. He was part of a team now, and he would need to remember that.

When Fox had finished and addressed Naija rather awkwardly, Garrett stifled a laugh. He figured Fox's plan would work well, and it kept him away from frontal assault so that was a plus. Still, Naija was the leader, so it was still her call. All Garrett could do was hope that she agreed with Fox's assessment of the situation, so he could avoid any injuries and also so the two wouldn't argue over it. But hey, at least an argument would be something interesting to watch.

With a sigh, Garrett leaned against a tree and waited for Naija's rebuttal or acceptance of the plan.