Fox had gotten exactly what he bargained for when an exact third of the Demon Lord’s auxiliary force began to swarm the gutsy pilot, bringing down the forest around him in their wake with every fierce swing of their lances. He ran, jumped, flipped, ducked, slid, rolled, vaulted, saulted, pivoted, sidestepped, and exercised all manner of evasive maneuver under, over, and around the crashing timber in a concurrent effort to dodge the murderous metal of the winged maidens that brought it about. It was only natural that he was specifically tasked with leading the valkyries on as he did. Out of the entire team, he was likely the most capable of outrunning them. In the midst of the action, the pilot managed a glimpse upward to see Naija and Mario overhead making their way to Odin, which the bogey squadron tailing him must have failed to notice, so the distraction seemed to be working to some extent. That said, there was no guarantee that he could keep it up forever, nor did he have any intention of doing so. He had to act to reduce some of the pressure he was under if he hoped to be of any real help.

Fox swiftly dipped down into his stride when he felt the whipping air of sharp steel as it clipped the fur from the back of his neck, hurriedly weaving to the left around the next tree ahead of him that he would use to cover his approach. As the frontmost valkyrie cleaved away his cover, Fox would use the opening to counter with a rising tornado kick, hoping to catch the flying aggressor by her jaw. Hit or miss, his momentum would carry him upward onto the freshly upheaved log as it tumbled precariously through the air, and he would begin running along it in the opposite direction against the traffic of airborne warrior women. He fired on one passing at his right, then the left, jumping from the falling pillar of severed wood and twisting over the valkyrie as he did. The idea was to catch at least two targets in a line and take them out simultaneously, so he pulsed his reflector to stall his position while within the proximity of the current one before bypassing her - and hopefully another valkyrie or two - with his Illusion. The attempt, if successful, would place him on the other side of another foe for a follow-up attack, which would consist of a reverse kick to the back (intended to send one enemy into the other) and a four round burst from his blaster to finish.

The entire aerial exchange, from log run to descent, would take place roughly within the space of five seconds. At which point he would have to return to the ground to stay mobile lest get caught at a disadvantage. He would try to keep the action within moderate distance of Odin and his remaining entourage so as not to lose track of the big picture, but also because neither him nor his allies could afford to be without backup at a moment’s notice.

Quina hauled himself, or herself, out from behind the boulder to join in the rather doomed assault, swallowing down any fears about whether or not this was a sensible thing to do. From a few steps behind the Valkyries, Quina could see the arrows flying and, shortly thereafter, the terrible cost of this mistaken attempt to attack headfirst. As the two of them fell, exploding into a constellation of purple stars, Quina continued onward, carried forwards more by inertia than any dedication to his or her duty.

Forwards, and on further still. Quina was running away, further away from the castle that loomed over the forest, away from the Valkyries that sought shelter behind what little cover there was left. Between the fire and the arrows, safe places to hide were in short supply, and sticking around here wasn't going to end well. The plan, if there could be said to be anything even close to one in Quina's mind, was to continue to distract them, and keep them from getting in the way of whatever was going on in the castle. However, it would need some acting to really sell the whole thing.

"Ha! Quina not scared! Quina deliver message! Stupid flutterthings! Quina win! Ha!"

So Quina ran, fork held ready to swat aside any poor fairy that got in Quina's way, laughing about how victory was hers. Hopefully the other Valkyries would take advantage of this to beat a hasty retreat, find the rest of Team One and eventually come to the rescue. Hopefully the fairies would give chase, and they wouldn't return back to defend the castle. Like every plan that Quina came up with, hope featured quite heavily.

WC: 311

---

Just as the team's firepower came crashing down upon the Pooka, none other than the Shadow Knight himself stepped from the abyss and protected the Pooka, giving her orders to protect Gwendolyn at all costs. Hapu looked stoically up at Oswald; certainly the knight was a dangerous foe, and yet Hapu conceded that there was something noble in the way he faced down Brigan. She noted the fact that the High Horsepower attack stunned Oswald long enough for Brigan to land a hit.

Evidently, Brigan and Oswald both felt very strongly towards the demon lord Odin; however, overhearing their conversation, Hapu confirmed the heroes' status as a mere means to an end for the barbaric general, and evidently Brigan intended to dispatch them before day's end. So the general's poor character was not just a minor flaw; indeed, it would perhaps spell doom for this world. Hapu had no intention of allowing Mudsdale to become glue. This was no time to voice suspicions, however; the ring needed attending to, and while Luigi and James were battling Oswald, Samus and she were to search the castle for the princess. A good plan; this would assure Luigi more time to assess Brigan's motives while the other half of the team actually retrieved the ring.

"As you wish," Hapu called to Luigi. Samus was already preparing to take off. Hapu hiked up her baggy pants and dashed to her mount.

"Mudsdale, follow Samus," Hapu said, climbing on her horse. The Pokémon wasn't fast, but it was enough to keep up with Samus. Mudsdale broke into a gallop, its tired eyes focusing on Samus's back. "We will have to secure the ring as quickly as possible," Hapu stated. "Doing so will give us ample time to formulate an effective plan, especially considering the troubling statements the Shadow Knight made on the subject of our ally."

Mario grinned in amusement when he startled Naija, but he didn’t snicker or giggle. Her command was for him to stall Demon Lord Odin and that had been his plan from the start. Mario was full of himself at times…okay, all the time but he wasn’t stupid to take on the equivalent of a god alone.

“No problemo,” Mario returned, gripping the boulder eagerly. Taking down bastards was his specialty!

What he hadn’t expected was the swinging and bumpy ride. Mario had actually hoped that Naija would have had a good…mind arm? Brain arm? And would use her mental strength to send him after Odin, but she instead had chosen the squirrel route. When she found her favored targeting position, the swinging and crazy directions the boulder darted in made Mario’s face flash green.

I’m startin’ to think this was a bad idea. I dunno who’s gonna try to kill me more, Fish Girl or the demon lord, Mario thought.

He had to hold onto the boulder for dear life. It would have been a disaster if she had launched the rock and he wasn’t on it due to motion sickness. Clenching his eyes tightly closed, Mario prayed as he tried to take his mind off his churning guts:

Please just throw me. Please! Make it stop! Just make it stop!

Fish Girl sang a different tune and like a rocket, Mario had gotten his wish. The boulder shot straight into the air. Mario bore his teeth as the wind tore at his eyes, causing tears to trail and tried to peel his lips apart. His cheeks rippled and his body shook from the velocity fighting gravity.

I hope my moustache doesn’t rip off! Mario mentally panicked. That would have been worse than death. If only the other champions knew how much manliness was required to grow the perfect stache.

Mario’s brows crashed together with determination as the boulder approached the Demon Lord. If he deflected, dodged, or even caught the rock, then he was going to be in for a surprise. The plumber made sure to hide right behind it so that the Demon Lord wouldn’t even see him coming. The only problem he would have to deal with afterwards was the other twenty Valkyries.

---

The Valkyries hadn’t expected their leader to run. They glanced back, watching the cowardly hero flee the enemy. It was absolutely disgraceful. True warriors fought to their last breath and died in battle! The Valkyries were furious and hadn’t done what Quina hoped they would—mainly because they weren’t commanded to. They instead looked across at each other from their cover before cursing silently and frowning at the ground. The three Valkyries gripped their psyphers and like the last two who had died before them, they sprang out from their cover and charged the enemy on battle cries. The least they could do was buy the coward time to escape. The archers didn’t shoot for they already knew the three brave Valkyries were dead. Balls of fire dropped from the trees and detonated on contact with the earth. Quina would hear the explosion. The Valkyries were incinerated in the inferno, purple stars floating about the swirling flames.

The archers charged around the blaze and started chasing after Quina like hounds hunting a fox. The enchanter lowered to the ground and followed behind the archers, and as soon as they were clear of the fire, all nine fairies took to the skies to swiftly pursue the fork-wielding chef. Arrows started to rain upon Quina and the enchantress was beginning to wield another spell until two red diamond-shaped crystals shot from the forest canopy on black chains. The crystals stabbed the enchantress like knives, the fairy’s mouth falling open in shock before she burst into phozons. The sudden death of the enchantress caused the nine archers to immediately stop. They hovered over the trees as the crystals swiftly disappeared beneath the tree line. The archers shot arrows into the boughs where they had seen them disappear and the crystals reached out of the woods to claim another fairy. The phozons of the two deceased beings darted into the trees as though sucked out of the sky by a vacuum.

The archers realized that they couldn’t see the enemy and immediately dropped to the forest floor. A red figure darted over Quina’s head until it flipped down from the trees in front of him/her. Landing in a crouch with black chains about her waist and red psypher crystals to her left and right was a red-hooded woman. She stood and turned to face Quina, her amethyst eyes assessing the thing that she just so happened to…save? Did she? The woman resembled a belly dancer that wore thigh-high stockings, her lengthy blonde locks pooled about her shoulders.

“A toad with a fork…I’ve never seen such a thing,” said Velvet. Her eyes motioned passed Quina at the seven remaining fairies. “You can’t outrun them. Their only purpose is to destroy any who near the Abandoned Castle. You’re better off killing them. Why carry that fork if you don’t even know how to use it?”

The woman was cold, but she was trying to be somewhat helpful. The creature was alone and ugly…she felt sorry for it. At the same time, Quina reminded her of when her lover was turned into a Pooka. She learned then that appearances didn’t matter.

---

Total Enemies: 7
Minions: 7 – Ringford Fairies
Location: Fighting Quina Quin and his/her 0/5 Valkyrie soldiers.
New Companion: Velvet



The green man was first to boldly face him, swiftly taking the steps toward him. Oswald glared at Luigi and the rest of his team, watching as the remaining team members seemed to take a backseat. His team was dividing, which meant they were given other orders. General Brigan made no motion to come at him as vigorously as Luigi. Of course not. Not when there were others who could do it for him.

The shadow knight was breed on the battlefield, having served in countless battles with Ringford and Ragnival. He was the adopted son of Prince Melvin, creator of the Shadow Knights; the slayer of the King of Dragons, Wagner, and the all-knowing dragon, Hindel. Most importantly, he was the prideful husband of Odin’s daughter Gwendolyn. The woman who he was risking his very life to protect. Brigan’s champions were fools if they thought they were going to get by him so easily.

Oswald did not entertain Luigi’s attacks. He remained just out of his hammer's reach, stepping backwards as he continued to keep an eye on his surroundings. He knew where Luigi was and he knew where General Brigan was. There were more warriors he had to look out for but the flaw in their leader’s plan was that they would have to scale the stairwell to reach Gwendolyn’s chamber, which made Oswald’s job too easy.

As he expected, which was why he kept the known opponents where he could see them, a shot was fired at him from above. On a blur of black flames, the red psypher rose next to the shadow knight’s head and with his blade, Belderiver, deflected the round at Luigi. The other units were storming the stairwell only adding to his targeting. He wouldn’t even have to lift a finger. He would use their own teammate’s firepower against them. Each shot the sniper fired at him, Oswald directed the first three at Luigi.

The following shots Oswald deflected at Samus and Hapu. At this time, if the Guardian wasn’t on the second floor, then his exact location after jumping down from the rafters needed to be clearer. Using him and his relentless, tactless shooting to pick at his teammates gave the shadow knight the advantage. Oswald wasn’t sure if Luigi’s wooden hammer was sturdy enough to deflect the energy the Guardian was firing or even the other defenseless members on the stairwell. Whichever one fell, flinched, or even attempted to try and save the other, Oswald intended to follow up with a deadly slash from his soul-sapping blade. However, he hadn’t got that chance when the stairwell suddenly jerked beneath his feet. The Shadow Knight gasped in fright as he staggered, having lost his balance.

General Brigan was leisurely marching up the stairs with a malicious grin stretched on his face and his red eyes gleaming with an evil darker than Queen Odette, ruler of the Netherworld and the dead in Erion. He wouldn’t have cared if Team Two perished trying to stop Oswald. The general knew that whatever damage they managed to inflict on the fighter would only soften him up for when he would destroy him himself. If the heroes died fighting Oswald, then they weren’t worth the trouble. Weaklings; pawns; that’s all they were in the end.





The legendary pilot had a nightmare of corrupted soldiers chasing him. Surrounded by wild, vicious screams, the tainted Valkyries were feral and vicious, but they didn’t seem to have as much tact as they once did before the virus. Fox’s counter assault was successful. The tornado kick struck the Valkyrie that had been on his tail in the chin, snapping her head back and sending her into a complete back flip. As he scaled the severed tree, the Valkyries were in mid-brake, trying to stop and whirl around before two caught Fox’s blaster to the face. The two Valkyries burst into purple stars as opposed to falling to the ground. Fox would be the second to witness death in Erion, and if Naija was close enough, she would be the third. Beings that died in Erion did not leave a corpse, but phozons. Two more Valkyries fell victim to the Fox’s wily tricks and the Valkyrie who had been kicked in the face earlier hissed in anger. She did not pursue the Fox on the ground but remained airborne, flying overhead. She removed from her belt a vial that she tossed on the ground ahead of the Fox and erupting vertically from the earth, uprooting trees in a whirlwind of powerful gusts was a large tornado. If the tornado was able to rip Fox into the sky, then he would be at the mercy of the remaining five Valkyries.

The sixth Valkyrie who had been trailing behind the group had been dropped to the earth by the stealthy siren (Naija) who had been secretly following. Her armor had been ripped off and without her wings, the warrior helplessly crashed down to the forest floor.

Meanwhile, the boulder Naija had lobbed at the Demon Lord was seen out of the corner of his black helm’s eye. His red eyes narrowed at the swiftly approaching object and with one strong flap from his tiny wings, he banked right flipping to the right and then belly up to watch the boulder soar over him. What he hadn’t been expecting was for an overgrown human with a hammer to be dropping toward him. His eyes flashed a bright red in surprise before the hammer slammed against his iron helm like a church bell—and even rang like one too. The nineteen pursuing Valkyries screeched in rage as Odin tumbled from the sky. When his cherub wings temporarily gave out, his heavy armor sent him crashing to the earth like a mighty weight. The Demon Lord’s flight to the Abandoned Castle was successfully delayed…but for how long?

Phozons Present: 4 (if these weren't collected in the last post) now currently, 8 Total: 12 - if the previous 4 weren't already harvested

---

Total Enemies: 25
Minions: 25 – Black Valkyeries
Location: Airborne
---5 - after Fox; 1 - grounded; 19 with Odin.

Boss: Demon Lord Odin
Location: Grounded

This GM post reveals the results of team decisions/consequences.


Keep track of your word count XP. Overall XP will be awarded at the end of every battle. This does not include Battle XP. That will be totaled at the end of the mission and gifted out.



Try to write your posts without quoting other characters. When I put people's posts in the word counter, I erase the quotes of other characters, and that seems to lower the word count depriving players of XP. So try to write without it. When XP isn't initiated, then using other character quotes doesn't matter.


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

Team One Order: Slayer, Quina

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

Team Three Order: Naija, Fox, Mario

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

Naija had control her elation to avoided giving a cheer and giving away her position as the hapless Valkyrie hit the dirt, her plan had worked perfectly as she bounded off into the woods armor in tow. She paused to inspect her prize, a pair of dark wings on a kind of belt, a bunch of armor and finally a pair of boots with little winglets on them. After a few adjustments (Naija had made armor out of giant enemy crabs and a jellyfish king before, making someone else's belt and boots fit was a sintch) she put on her new wing belt and steering boots while storing the ill-fitting helmet in the Treasures part of her inventory. The Mugen Virus infected wings that promptly magically bonded to her nervous system. Naija threw up in a bush as the untested vaccine and the Virus battled against each other for her body and sanity, but after several long moments the pain and nausea passed, the wings having turned from pitch black to a royal purple. Not exactly the sky blue of the general’s Valkyries but it was probably a sign that she was OK, she did not think she had gotten any kind of megalomania from it, nor any world destroying desires. Naija decided she was fine and then, with a few failed attempts, got the wings working and gently lifted off to go see how their plant was doing.


Down in the little patch of dirt, clear of all the fighting, the Napple seed quietly gobbled up the 12 Phozons of the 18 it required, the life force the corrupted Valkyrie’s had dropped upon their deaths was being absorbed and converted into future Napples. Doing the math there were about (30*2) 60 more Phozons available in the remaining Valkyries and an unknown amount in the Demon Lord Odin. Even without Odin that was enough to get all 3 napple (18*3 = 54) seeds grown, so with that in mind she planted the other two out here where she could dash out and get them later without them being trampled in the fighting.

With her new mobility she flapped up to the canopy to get a better read on the situation, while she had been fiddling around with inventory management a loud crash had been heard somewhere off near where she had tossed Mario and looking over that way the Demon Lord was no longer in the sky and his escorting Valkyries were descending like a mob of crows towards the presumed crash site. In the other direction where additional blaster fire had been heard suddenly erupted a large swirling calamity tearing the woods apart and Naija could see fox, his kiting route obstructed by the sudden appearance of the land-borne whirlpool.

She used her newfound speed to dash down into the cover of the woods once more, emerging seconds later with a large log in tow, before soaring in an arch round behind the tornado that was trapping Fox between it and his pursuers. Swooping daringly close to the vortex, riding the raging air currents to accelerate herself and the log she then was catapulted by the storm currents, soaring at an immense speed over fox's head directly at the center of cluster of 4 Valkyries still near the ground. Nimbly dodged in-between the Valkyries to avoid hitting them with her body/wings as the log came careening along behind her, hopefully smashing the lightly armored infected ladies to bits as they both passed directly through the center of their formation. Having hopefully given fox an opening to break out from the Valkyries encirclement, either by killing or panicking them, she would fly on back towards where Mario would inevitably need help, her new wings carrying her swiftly as she used the log behind her to shield herself from any retaliatory blows.

The terrible explosion, the sound of fighting, the thud-thud-thud of arrows crashing into the branches of the trees, none of this caused Quina to stop running. Things blowing up, people fighitng, and getting shot at were regular enough occurrences that they barely registered, but the lady that leaped down from her caused Quina to come crashing to a halt. Just as Velvet studied Quina, Quina studied her - she was, well, pretty, if potentially quite malnourished. By the time she'd started talking, Quina had already placed Velvet into the category of "Not Food".

"Kill them? Am distraction, but," Quina gripped the fork a little tighter, following Velvet's gaze towards the direction of the remaining enemies, who were surely hot on their heels, "it difficult, is Quina to fight? Maybe am lost. Maybe they are for fighting. And Quina know how to use fork and Quina not a to-"

Quina paused, and turned to give one last look over Velvet, trying to judge her intentions in all of this. Quina had little recollection of her being in the team to which she, or he, was assigned, but then Quina couldn't honestly recall quite what the person who had sent them out on this mission looked like. Having been separated from the chain of command for all of fifteen minutes, if that, Quina was a bit lost. The thin, pretty lady with the cascade of blonde hair was, probably, on their side of all this. She could be trusted, right?

It took quite a while for these thoughts to be processed, so that "one last look" took quite a while, and would probably have continued on indefinetly. Fortunately, a potential eternity of Quina staring blankly at Velvet was interrupted by some new thought, and Quina's face contorted to give a little smile.

"Quina show you. Quina will eat fairy."

And, with that, Quina charged head first in the direction that she had just been running from. It didn't matter whether or not she, or he, would take a few arrows on the way - what was important, right now, was dispelling the notion that Quina knew how to use a fork from a complete stranger who he, or she, had met in the woods a minute ago. Quina had absolutely no idea where the fairies were, but he (or she) would launch himself (or herself) with reckless abandon at the first of them he, or she, saw.

As each round was deflected, James found himself more and more frustrated. It seemed that no matter how he variated his firing pattern or changed his firing position, the Shadow Knight was able to both perceive and block rounds that moved faster than any spell or arrow he would likely have encountered before. "There's gotta be someway around that Traveler forsaken sword, Charger! Find it!" Exhausting another cylinder of rounds, he reloaded again, though not bothering to fire in case he put his team mates in further danger. Charger was silent, likely running firing vectors and likely deflection paths, leaving the Guardian to try and find a work around. Samus and Hapu wouldn't be able to get around Oswald as things were and his giving the Shadow Knight bullets to reflect at his team was making it worse.

Suddenly, a grenade charge indicator popped up next to the Guardian's ammo indicator at the same time Charger's white face, as it appeared in the HUD when he wasn't physically manifested, appeared in the top right corner of the HUD. "We have access to the Voidwall Grenade again. I don't know what requirement we fulfilled to get it, but we have it." James didn't respond, instead allowing the familiar touch of the Light to appear in his hand, the cylinder that was the Voidwall Grenade appearing in a purple light a moment later. James grinned behind his helmet as it did so, but then frowned.

"Can we confirm that the only person the flames will hurt is Oswald, and should the need arise, Brigan? And that I'm the only other person that the detonation would hurt?" Charger's picture rotates around his eye for a moment, and then a response comes forth.

"Yes, we can. Everything operates as it should. All you need to do is throw." James nodded and Charger's face disappeared before the Nightstalker rounded the corner, letting the grenade go sailing just as Oswald was knocked to the ground by the sudden shaking of the ground beneath him. Disappearing back around the pillar, James holsters the Imago Loop and pulls his knife free of it's sheath, standing still. "You realize how suicidal that is right? We don't have the Razelighter or the Bolt-Caster, which only reduces your odds." James shrugs, waiting for some kind of reaction from the hopefully burning Shadow Knight.

"Well, we both knew I'd have to do something crazy eventually." As he stood there, waiting for an opening, he silently wished that he'd spent more time with the Blade Dancers. They were deadly with a knife, and while he had much training from them to thank for what skill he did have, he was still better with the Razelighter than the small blade that all Hunters carried on them. Simply put, if he had to try and face down the Shadow Knight in melee, he'd feel more comfortable doing it with one of his own swords. All the same, he radioed Samus.

{I want to apologize for the ballistic rounds you just had fly at you. I was unaware that he would deflect them like that.}

Even if he was staying on the defensive, Luigi had quickly found himself hard pressed; The few short strikes he had made to get the knight's attention had been easily avoided, but it was Oswald's ability to deflect projectiles that he had underestimated and it had the potential to cost not just himself but the rest of the team dearly. He didn't even make the attempt to block the bullets, deciding very quickly that dodging was the better part of valor... Even if this did mean that he was forced to dance away from Oswald in order to ensure that he wasn't struck by one of his teams own projectiles.

So focused he was on dodging that when the ground started to shake, he quickly found himself on his ass on the ground. He quickly rolled to the side through out of the very real possibility that Oswald would either deflect another bullet or attempt to strike him down while he was on the ground and wished to try and avoid such a fate. As much as he hoped that Samus, Hapu and Amaterasu were alright, he needed to focus on the situation in front of him... and if he had believed things were going badly before, he was horrified to discover just how cutely naive he had once been.

Brigan was on the move... away from the battle and towards the staircase, clearly interested more in trying to secure the girl and the ring for himself then he was about fighting Oswald. He shouldn't have been surprised by this clear act of betrayal, but once again he seemed to have underestimated Brigan's vile nature... if only because he was prepared to abandon the fight to try and secure the prize for himself without beating Oswald into the ground first. Luigi had been banking on Brigan's hatred of Oswald to keep him in the fight and clearly it had been a bad investment on his part.

Pushing himself back to his feet, he brought his hammer up defensively as his mind raced with plans and possibilities. Oswald or Brigan on their own were an enemy that might have taken the whole team to try and take down at once; When he had split the team he had done so knowing that defeating Oswald wasn't the goal, rather to keep him busy. He had also been factoring in Brigan's support in the battle. Without Brigan, holding Oswald just wasn't doable between himself, James and Edward; Worse still, Brigan was now going to have to be dealt with as well. He suspected that Brigan getting a hold of the ring was just as bad as what would happen if Odin got it.

Luigi was forced to face a cold, harsh truth; In the event that they somehow managed to overcome both Oswald and Brigan without losing anyone, odds were good that Odin would have arrived and they would simply not be in any condition to stop or escape him with the girl. This was a losing situation and something had to change. Eyeing the Shadow Knight himself, Luigi's eyes widened as he suddenly figured out what he could do to change the situation...

Spying the grey canister that one of his teammates had thrown at the knight, Luigi run forwards as fast as he kind, drawing his hammer back to hopefully knock the ball away and protect the knight... and if possible, redirect it into Brigan's back. "We've been lied to! Oswald is NOT our enemy! Take that traitorous giant backstabbing snake down!" He shouted, hoping to redirect James and Edward's wrath from the Shadow Knight to Brigan... and in turn, hopefully Oswald's wrath from them onto Brigan as well.

He was taking another gamble and while such things hadn't worked out for them so far, this one was a bit more educated then the prior ones. From what he had seen earlier when he had protected the bunny girl, Oswald was a lot more honorable a person then Brigan (which wasn't really saying much but still) and seemed much more inclined to fight the giant bastard then the giant bastard was inclined to fight him; Maybe they could reason with him and get both the girl and the ring to safety, but even if that wasn't the case taking Brigan out of the picture was a solid step in the right direction... and in theory keep Oswald distracted from the girls while they carried their mission out.

Without any inclination to experiment with his fractured hand's durability any further, Slayer felt it wise to take a step back and observe the situation. His own endeavor had, of course, distracted him from taking into account the firstfruits of his allies' efforts against Oswald, but now that he got the chance to get a serious look, Slayer wondered if he had in fact missed anything at all. Despite the repetitious sound of gunfire ringing in his ears, the gentleman discovered that the Shadow Knight was anything but bullet-ridden. In a display of uncanny precision, Oswald completely diverted the substantial kinetic and energetic forces intended by the soldiers to end his life, and not just to harmlessly spark against the floor. Slayer, though fully understanding the lack of forethought evident in a plan that involved melee fighters attacking at the same time as the gunslingers, and how this result was to be expected, could not help but let out an admiring, ”Hmm!” The lad had a keen eye and a steady hand.

They did not prevent Oswald from succumbing to Slayer's tactic, however. A sudden shift beneath the warrior's feet left him off balance, in a perfect position for a decisive blow from whoever was still standing. Flexing his hand, which tingled as it regenerated, Slayer wiped some fallen stone dust from his monocle-deprived eye. He would have expected Brigan, unflappable colossus that he was, to shrug off the reflected rounds and pulverize Oswald on the spot, but instead the brute lumbered right up the stairway, presumably toward the objected purported to be on the second floor. ”Well, that complicates things. One can admire being goal-driven, but at the expense of one's allies? Most reprehensible.” Without a follow-up attack to keep Oswald pinned down, on the defensive, or otherwise on his toes, the vampire imagined that he could easily get up and resume fighting as before, albeit without a wall of meat to keep him from singling out the less physically formidable heroes who'd closed to fisticuffs range.

A bright light arced through the air, floating like tennis ball over Slayer's impeccable hairdo. He guessed that it had been lobbed just as Oswald had fallen and Brigan began to move, but its travel time prevented it from instantly taking advantage of the opportunity he'd wrecked his hand to provide. A fragmentation grenade could easily punctuate the knight, and an incendiary grenade could cook him in his own armor, but Slayer doubted it would be so simple. Oswald had already proven himself quick-footed, and his demonstration with Belderiver confirmed for Slayer that he'd honed his movements to such a degree that no split second would be wasted.

However, Oswald didn't get the chance to prove him right. Luigi, having recovered from his own tumble, batted the grenade away before it could hit its mark. The sight made Slayer's mustache twitch. What was the man thinking? The next second, of course, Luigi belted out exactly that, and his words brought a sagacious look to Slayer's face. Not being in a position to act on the 'command' -Luigi was not, after all, his leader- he decided to do the next best thing: talk. ”Well now, what a change of pace! Have you considered that our shadowy friend here may not agree to your truce? Even so, while it's true we don't know what we're doing, we could at least pick a side and commit to it, not flop about willy-nilly.” He shrugged, and in order to grow close enough to Oswald to avoid raising his voice unduly, he advanced across the stone floor and a way up the stairs. With his pipe held close to his lips, he addressed the knight whom he'd approached. ”That said, I never liked that odorous ogre of a man, and if we must still work out our differences, it would be far better to do battle with words. Sharp wits locked in a speedy repartee—that is a duel between dignified men. Heroes must, after all, find out and do what is right.” Should the fight not end as suddenly as it started, however, Slayer was ready to chomp down on his pipe and blow a cloud of smoke over Oswald's position. No matter how keen the eye, a stinging haze would prevent him from dealing with gunfire.

As the bounty hunter continues using all of the might she could muster to run as fast as her legs can take her, she suddenly hears the zooming shots of gunfire coming from behind her, followed by several ballistic explosions. Samus grunts as she flinched slightly. She quickly hold her arm out in front of her to shield her visor from any rogue debris. This unfortunately slowed her down just a tad bit, but she still kept running at a steady pace. As she continued sprinting, she got a radio call coming from James Varrock, apologizing about the rounds that were deflected by the Shadow Knight.

"{It's fine, over.}" Samus answers with a calm expression, "{Just try and not to unintentionally kill us in the process.}"

It ended on a more sarcastic note, but Samus got the message through. Just then, General Brigan went zooming past her and the others. But something seemed off about him. His eyes were red... like blood-red, and glowing to with a vile grin that ultimately casted an ominous chill down her spine. Something about this whole mission wasn't right. She knew something was up from te beginning, but didn't mention anything. And the look General Brigan had while rushing up the stairs seemed to clarify many things. Suddenly, she can hear the faint call of Luigi from back at the battlefield, stating that the General had lied to them, and that he is the real enemy here, followed by a ball of light zooming past her.

The bounty hunter was no stranger to betrayal. She had been betrayed by many people, lead into various traps from autocratic space bureaucrats, to shady job clients. This was simply no different. After all, she never really liked the General anyways, besides carrying that horn of his was already insulting as is. Perhaps if she wasn't warned she might've continued to go as planned. But this job, the one she was working right now, is much different. This is a dimension-saving job, not some little assassination or petty shooting-up Metroids or Ridley. To help the enemy in a job like this is to help the destruction on a totally dimensional scale, causing casualties by the millions if not billions. Samus can be greedy and desperate for credits at times, but never would want to sacrifice a world in achieving it.

With a sliding halt, Samus screeched to a stop as she follows Brigan's movements up the stairs. She glances quickly at the heroes behind her.

"Change of plans," she simply states back as she looks up at the General marching up, not saying anything more.

Using her arm cannon, she points it at his general area. But instead of firing several shots at him, the cannon began to vibrate and shake rapidly. In the middle of the barrel, a charged ball of plasma energy hums to life as it gathers as much energy as it could muster. A charged shot was about to fire, and as soon as Samus locked onto him, she jerked slightly above him she fired. The ball of plasma quickly exits the barrel of the gun as it rapidly approaches him at an impressive speed. Yet this blast wasn't simply directed at him... it was to knock down the last bits of stairs that lead to where the Pooka was headed. To hit that portion of the stairs, would ultimately cut him off from his victim with a bang. This should do the trick...

As the resonance of mallet-struck metal rang loudly over the forest canopy, leaves shook and wood cracked audibly in sync with a quaking thud as the environment gave way under the Demon Lord - clearly signalling his fall to the earth. Mario seemed to be performing as one would expect, which comes as no surprise given his routine experience dealing with big guys like him, but this wasn’t exactly the same. The boss before them was empowered to an unknown degree beyond his usual state (whatever that was), AND he brought backup. It was past time that the rest of the squad got in on the main battle with the red bro, but Fox would first have to shake the force he had on him before he could make his way over there to split more of the problem between them; a task which would suddenly prove more difficult.

Without warning, a violent maelstrom burst forth from a jar of arcane contents as it shattered not thirty yards ahead of him, effectively cutting him off from his taken path. His eyes widened at the very sight as he skid to an abrupt stop just outside of the twister’s effective radius, but still too close to pull away from it in a timely manner. Had he known what the lobbed vial withheld, he might have made an effort to dive under it and reflect it back, but even if he had seen it coming, it would have been impossible for him to conceive of anyone keeping weaponized weather anomalies in their front pocket; let alone intuit the use of such here. Though, in spite of Fox’s lack of practical expertise in magic and its workings, it didn’t come as much of a surprise to him, but the fact remained that he was left in a position of being unable to do much of anything about it.

Stuck between the natural force that stood in his way and the dwindled squadron of corrupted valkyries that were closing in, Fox had little to nothing in the way of clear options, and he was already struggling to resist being dragged directly into the cyclone without having to keep the fight going all the while. With that being the case, a more drastic solution was in order: to stop resisting. After sparing a quick look over his shoulder at what was coming for him, the daring pilot turned and lightly skipped backwards towards the whirlwind, stalling with his reflector as he reached the outer edge so as not to end up within its epicenter. The idea was that it would slingshot him to the other side, and even if he didn’t completely escape it, it would at least put his obstacle between him and his aggressors and force them to work through the turbulence.

As the winds carried him about, he caught the sight of what looked like a valkyrie incoming. He swiftly twisted horizontally over them as they passed and planted himself feet-first against the debris that followed, promptly drawing his weapon as he made contact. He would then realize that the person he was about to mistakenly fire at was in fact their leader, Naija, who seemed to be sporting… a pair of valkyrie wings? When did she get those… and HOW? For an amphibian who’s never even so much as learned to walk to suddenly take flight was a peculiar occurrence indeed, but it may very well have been just what he needed to circumvent his present predicament. Fox was kept stabilized by way of centrifugal force against the log Naija was towing, and as they began to wrap around the tornado, he trained his iron sights on the highest valkyrie (presumably, the one who threw the bottle) and rapidly opened fire once more.

Provided she didn’t go down after that, Fox would then follow up his blaster volley with an upward somersault kick to her chest before descending to turn his attention on her now scattered sisters. Either way, he would have to dismount the soaring lumber, as the trajectory and speed at which they were going made it slightly more than obvious that Naija had no intention of hanging on to it. Besides, it’s not as if Fox was honestly expecting a free ride to the real battle anyways. Just as well that she used it as she did, for it would ideally leave him with an opportune opening to dispatch what was left of the diverted enemy units.

Fox dropped down on the rearmost valkyrie with a drill kick to the abdomen to put her on her back and under his feet. He would then spring off of her into a reverse half twist over the next one behind him and attempt catch her by her head with her own spear with the intention of throwing her downward over his head and (hopefully) disarming/killing her in the process. If he managed to succeed in doing that, he would whirl the thefted polearm to both sides in striking motion as he came back down while striking the third valkyrie, and he would advance with a rising swipe and an outward spinning slash to the fourth to place him behind her. Once he made it to the back of the line he would finish off his assault with an Illusion coupled with a thrust from the spear to strike through all of them in one move.

He would not bother to look back as he hastily made off toward Mario’s location, for it was already clear that he hadn’t time left to spare away from the main fight any longer - especially if this encounter was any indication. Fortunately, the plumber had managed to incapacitate Odin, if only for a moment, and Naija was already fast approaching to assist. Fox would have to be sure to thank her later for bailing him out, as well as commending her on her performance in the field in general, but the congratulations and expressions of gratitude would obviously have to wait until after they had completed their mission. In regards to which, Fox was hoping in the back of his mind that the other teams were faring well on their ends.

WC: 354

---

Two words could describe the way this fight was going: absolute disaster.

In dismay, Hapu realized that this was literally an uphill battle, for she in the chaos of the skirmish she and Samus had been ordered in the wrong direction. “Mudsdale, stop!” Hapu called. Soon after, Hapu saw the shots Oswald had deflected towards her. In this state, she and Mudsdale would not be able to dodge out of the way, unless...

"Mudsdale, come back!” Hapu stated, leaping off the horse and diving out of the way of the shots while simultaneously pulling out Mudsdale's Poké Ball. In a red flash, Mudsdale scattered into light and retreated to the Poké Ball, which Hapu thenclutched close to her. She rolled on the ground, grunting a bit as she broke her fall. She then stood up, dusting her knees off. Her body ached a bit, but she's had to deal with rougher.

She turned to her teammates. “It does not appear that projectile weaponry is an effective strategy,” she pointed out. “Our shots simply will return towards us.

Then, Luigi gave the orders to strike at Brigan.

Hapu, of course, did not hold a high opinion of the giant anyhow. As a Pokémon trainer, Hapu was from a world that valued the virtue of honor, especially in battle. And if this ogre of a man saw characters like Luigi as mere pawns, means to an end, well... The rules certainly have changed.

“Then we engage him on our own terms,” Hapu said in response.

Hapu ran towards the stairwell, and after Samus fired off her round at Brigan, Hapu tossed her Poké Ball and Mudsdale appeared, sailing through the air.

"High Horsepower," she instructed, pointing to the treacherous Brigan. It was a gamble indeed; were the horse's strike not to work, she might end up with a dead Pokémon, which meant that she would be dead weight for the rest of what little time would remain for her in this squad. Mudsdale landed with a thud, then galloped up the stairs, before turning around and launching both its legs towards the backs of Brigan's knees.

---

Velvet quirked a fine brow at Quina and her/his mannerisms. The toad didn’t know what he/she was talking about and she had no idea why he/she had been near the Abandoned Castle in the first place. The Witch of Elrit hadn’t been aligned to Ringford or Raganival despite her sister Gwendolyn being a part of the latter. The strange toad made her curious. She wanted to learn more about her/his purpose here in the woods. As Quina declared she would prove Velvet wrong by eating the fairies, and then went charging off wildly into battle without a pinch of strategy, the witch rolled her amethyst eyes and sighed.

What a buffoon, she thought.

Gripping her chains, Velvet followed after Quina. The creature she figured to be suicidal or stupid. He/she charged right in without thought. The witch frowned a little in frustration at Quina’s tactics, but she would help her/him if she must. The only possible way she could think to do so was to leap onto the toad’s shoulders. The witch’s hood and skirt rippled in the breeze of Quina’s sprint as she rode on her/his shoulders feeling no heavier than the absurd clothing already on the toad’s back. The archers were taking cover beyond the trees, and while Velvet had every urge to abandon Quina to skewer them, she knew that her actions would be for naught if the fairies managed to kill her new steed. What a bother. Velvet used her chained psyphers as a shield for Quina, knocking away any arrow that soared toward her/him.

Four of the closest fairies started to run and retreat toward the farther other three as Quina and Velvet drew close. Velvet snapped her chain at the back of the closest runner’s legs. The fairy screamed as she felt the stinging pain of her flesh splinting open. She collapsed face-first in the grass and scrambled to recover her bow. She rolled over onto her back with a desperate arrow nocked and aimed at Quina to loose it at the dreadful fork-wielding creature.

---

Total Enemies: 7
Minions: 7 – Ringford Fairies
Location: Fighting Quina Quin and Velvet.
New Companion: Velvet



The green plumber as agile as he was was not so agile to be able to dodge a bullet. He suspected a threatening motion and reacted naturally, his body recoiling defensively at a split second and catching the bullet in his shoulder. The evasive maneuvers he executed to avoid any further rounds after that had been successful. If he had chosen to block the rounds with his power hammer, then the dense wood might have been a better sacrifice than his own body. Weapons and tools were always repairable.

The round directed at Samus struck her armored chest. The damage she sustained would be minimal due to her teammate not having the damage to significantly penetrate her defense. The round would have left an annoying hole in her armor, and a small bruise where it had penetrated.

Hapu had time to see her team was taking fire and successfully evaded the situation before she too would have suffered.

Oswald’s eyes were wide when he saw a strange sphere of light soar toward him. He didn’t know what it was, but it terrified him to have caught him in a most vulnerable position. The green plumber shocked him. Even after taking a hit, he swiftly advanced on him with his hammer not to attack him as he had feared, but he deflected the light aside.

General Brigan halted on the steps, the grin that had been on his face slowly dropping into uncertainty as the grenade flew toward him.



Purple flames swelled and billowed about the general, the blast sending tremors throughout the castle. Oswald was kneeling, his lips parted in confusion. Why had Luigi saved him from that? Whatever magic that was? The green plumber then explained:

We’ve been lied to! Oswald is NOT our enemy! Take that traitorous giant backstabbing snake down!

The pillows of smoke and swelling void energy burst as General Brigan stepped through it. Purple energy scattered like wisps about his extended arm, his hammer dropping just above Luigi’s head. Oswald’s body combusted in black fire as he blurred into Luigi, the flames capturing him and swiftly moving him back to the bottom of the staircase. The hammer shattered the top of the steps, leaving a cracked crater in the floor. The general was red-faced and teeth gritted in fury.

“Traitors! Is this the help I get?” General Brigan growled.

The charged shot from Samus struck General Brigan in the chest and seemed to blink out as though it were absorbed by some uncanny shield. The kick Mudsdale gave to the back of the general’s knees did nothing to cause him to bend. He appeared to be…invincible. The general laughed at their lousy attempts as he raised his horn before his lips.

“You weak fools can’t kill me,” he declared. “I will bring this entire castle down in flames!”

Oswald had Belderiver against Luigi’s throat and his gauntleted hand twisted into his collar. The Shadow Knight’s red eyes were shrunk in fury and pale face contorted in a mixture of anger and fear. It seemed at first that Oswald had saved Luigi from Brigan, but then the tables had turned to have the knight at his throat. He had him pinned beneath him, his hands shaking in adrenaline and various emotions the predominant one being rage!

“Command your units to stop chasing Myris (the Pooka) and to stay away from my wife or I will kill you and every single one of your soldiers as Brigan does!” Oswald growled. “If any of your units attempt to attack me before I get your answer, my blade will take your life and soul! Do you understand? Call them off and I will tell you how we can defeat Brigan!”

Brigan drank deeply from his horn and tilted his head back. He spat a stream of fire at the ceiling of the castle and inferno spread like flames. It expanded like a fiery blanket, touching wall to wall before it dripped in a blazing rain. Flames engulfed any tapestry in the castle, the dust, the cobwebs, and the furniture. The oxygen in the chamber would soon be depleted if the fire wasn’t doused or the team remained where they were.

Oxygen depletion in 2 turns (if nothing is done).





The five Valkyries had been hovering like vultures, waiting for the cyclone to snatch the fox up. When it had, the one who Fox had scorned grinned wickedly before raising her spear with every intention to dive into the cyclone and seek out her revenge. The sudden gust of Naija’s swift passing sent the Valkyrie whirling. As Naija banked around the cyclone, riding its swirling currents, the Valkyrie hadn’t seen the fox’s acrobatic performance or the searing-hot beam from his blaster that split her head right between the eyes. The Valkyrie popped into phozons along with the four others who had been startled by Naija quickly darting around them. They had been watching her flee and hadn’t noticed the log that smashed into them. The whiplash had been so powerful that their spines were instantly shattered causing the four final warriors to erupt into phozons.

Meanwhile, the landing had been more than rough with Odin’s massive form crashing like a meteor into the earth. It had been the numerous bone-chilling screams of the enraged black Valkyries that had awoke Mario from his temporary daze. As much as he wanted to imagine the battle had been a dream, this wasn’t Dreamland. Mario had been lying next to Odin, his body having shrunk back down to size from absorbing the impact of the fall. Patting the dusty earth, his hand found his hammer and with a grunt of effort, he forced himself to his feet. He had to run. The Valkyries were swirling over his head like a black cloud. Shouldering his hammer, Mario attempted to sprint to get as far away from Odin and his servants as possible.

The unit of nineteen followed him closely. Mario glanced over his shoulder and couldn’t help but feel slow. Luigi had always been the faster one between them, and Mario just the hefty one more suitable for breaking skulls. If only he could fly, he would have shot out of there like Superman. In the distance, he saw another strange flying being. Mario frowned at first, wondering if it was a Valkyrie who intended to intercept him, but the Valkyrie was blue and had a giant log floating behind her. Blue…fish girl!? When could she fly? He was relieved to see her regardless until a sudden pain shot through his back and made every organ in his abdomen clench.

Mario’s next pant left him in a burst of blood as he slowed in his run to peer down at the blue crystal that was protruding from his stomach. He dropped his hammer, leaning his weight upon it as he turned to see the swarm rushing toward him. Baring his teeth as blood dripped from his lips, his blue eyes shrunk ferally. Mario bellowed at Naija:

“STAY BACK!”

The black Valks passed over him like a screeching wave. Six Valkyries were whacked from the swarm, flipping and twisting in the sky from the bone-shattering smacks of Mario’s hammer. With his weakened state and their armor, he had only managed to stun them. As the wave cleared, the black swarm curved like a crescent upward into the sky. They left behind a red plumber whose clothes were ripped and torn, flesh slashed and split open by numerous cuts from their psypher weapons with three spears protruding from his back. The plumber was hunched over on his knees, hand still stubbornly clenching his hammer. His hat was missing.

The red garment had been snatched up by the Valkyries who greedily fought over it like a prize. They tugged and pulled on the material until one Valkyrie smacked the other, the victor now wearing Mario’s cap. Wearing it like a commander’s crown or rank, the Valkyrie screeched and pointed down with her spear at Mario.

Mario was watching his life flash before his eyes. He could barely focus on what was real and what wasn’t anymore. The air was cool where his wounds seeped and he knew he was growing colder because…well…he had died many times but he usually had an extra man on him. Mario hissed in frustration. He went through all of this trouble to better himself just for his life to end after. Mario brought both of his hands to his hammer and shakily rose to his feet.

“Go!...I’ll buy you guys some time,” Mario rasped. “Tell them he’s coming!”

He knew he was a lost cause and if Naija attempted to save him, then she’d only endanger herself for no reason. Mario couldn’t even find the strength to lift his hammer. The swarm was looping around again and he bore his teeth in preparation. He would beat them with his fists if he had to.

You better fuckin’ survive, little bro, Mario thought.

As the swarm came before him like a great blackness, they suddenly parted. An enormous, blue spiked ball that looked like an overgrown crystalized morning star descended over the red plumber, engulfing him in a blue light.

“Mama mia…” was the last awe-struck word that left Mario’s mouth before the giant psypher crushed him and caused the earth to collapse beneath its mighty weight. The colossal ball had a thick black chain that snaked all the way to the gargantuan hands of Odin who had recovered to his feet. He had caught four of his Valkyries in the attack, and whether he cared or not could not be deciphered through his black helm. Phozons rose about the spiked ball and with a jerk from his chain, the ball was retracted. He caught it against his palm and held it out like a demi-planet. The crystal glowed a bright blue and the phozons, including the unique batch that were red and not the usual purple, were sucked up into what was revealed to be Odin’s enormous psypher weapon, Balor [Reference].

The Demon Lord tucked the weapon away much like Mario would his hammer and crouched. Springing into the air, his tiny wings fluttered, carrying the godly boss back on his way in the direction of the Abandoned Castle. The Mario Valkyrie gazed up at her lord flying overhead and ordered her units to loyally follow as they had done before. Demon Lord Odin was once again on his way to the Abandoned Castle.

Demon Lord Odin’s Arrival in 3 turns

Team Three potential arrival (if turns aren’t wasted) 2 turns

Phozons Present for the Team: 10

Phozons stolen by Odin: 8 (not including Mario's)

---

Total Enemies: 17
Minions: 16 – Black Valkyries
Location: Airborne
1 - grounded; 15 with Odin.

Boss: Demon Lord Odin
Location: Airborne Again

Lost Teammate: Mario

This GM post reveals the results of team decisions/consequences.


Keep track of your word count XP. Overall XP will be awarded at the end of every battle. This does not include Battle XP. That will be totaled at the end of the mission and gifted out.



Try to write your posts without quoting other characters. When I put people's posts in the word counter, I erase the quotes of other characters, and that seems to lower the word count depriving players of XP. So try to write without it. When XP isn't initiated, then using other character quotes doesn't matter.


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

Team One Order: Slayer, Quina

Team Two Order: Luigi, James, Samus, Hapu

Team Three Order: Naija, Fox

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

Luigi panted somewhat after his shouting and the effort that had been required to move quickly enough to intercept the grenade... before gasping his surprise as he felt a great pain suddenly shoot through his shoulder. Reaching up to grasp at where the pain was, he turned to look at it... only to feel the blood drain from his face as he looked at the red that was on his glove and starting to soak into his shirt. How... how didn't he feel this before?

Standing still in complete shock, he would have been killed by the falling hammer if something hadn't grabbed him and teleported them away. He... couldn't quite explain what it felt like beyond the fact that he had felt uncomfortably warm... before blinking his eyes and finding himself on the cold stone floor, a piece of equally cold steel pressed against his throat as Oswald made his demands from a position of strength.

Gritting his teeth as pain pulsed through his body from his bleeding shoulder, Luigi closed his eyes as he tried to control his breathing in order to keep the panic down. He was quickly failing as he felt himself start to shake with fear. He wanted to go back to the mushroom kingdom and stay there where he never had to hear about this awful world ever again! Ever since he had arrived here it had been one horrible thing after another and he wasn't a strong enough leader to deal with it and he was going to die and he didn't want to!

His voice somewhat shaky with pain and fear, Luigi managed to choke out "F-fine! E-everyone focus down Brigan a-and we-we'll work out what happens after that!" It had been hard to get his voice loud enough to be heard, biting back a whimper as he finished. If nothing else, he would do what was right for the team... and the other guy whom he was fairly certain had been on team one. Why the hell was he here? At any rate, hopefully Oswald would be open to reason after the whole situation as they knew it was explained to him.

As Brigan set the place on fire, Luigi gulped a little as the heat hit him. It wouldn't be the first time he had been near fire or a source of intense heat and he knew first hand how dangerous it could get. "T-tell the others how to beat Brigan... an-and do you have a source of water or something that I can use to put out those fires? I... don't think I'll be much use fighting right now." He managed to get out with a bit more confidence then before.

The Phozons raced along ahead of Naija as she soared through the forest towards the Napple Seed, making for an rather beautiful if morbid display as the winged Mithalan giggled and did cartwheels in the air followed the glowing sparks. Naija caught herself laughing at the display and quickly shut this off in distaste, she hated that she did that, that she took joy in killing things. Certainly they were corrupt and dangerous and she was justified on putting them down, but to feel such catharsis from doing so was a demon she had wrestled with for a long time.

The Phozons were absorbed by the plant which, having collected the requisite amount of life force, bore two napples as fruit which she harvested as she flew by, the bind song plucking them as she had reaped so many of the wild plants of aquaria for cooking ingredients in the past. Then she weaved towards the forest towards where Odin and Mario had landed as the two napples where stored in her inventory.

Naija was not acquainted with the concept of fall damage as it was not a thing in her game and had not thought of the consequences of Mario falling back to earth. Thus she expected to have found the gigantic legend battling heroically against the Valkyries. Instead she saw in the distance was mario battered and bloody, the Valkyries swarming around him like carrion birds.

The plumber spotted her and called for her to stay back, but Naija completely ignored this demand, she had healing items, she could get him out of there and have him fixed right up. She redoubled her efforts, her new wings pounding as she zipped through the forest but the black and corrupted hord closed again, tearing at his flesh, the Mario who was relieved as they parted could barely stand, blood seeping from his many wounds. The plumber, sensing the end was near called out one last time for them to leave him to his fate, to go warn the others as he made a final stand.

No! She was almost there, she could still...

The mace falls, and the plumber is no more.

The order is give, the murder of crows leave.

And for what feels like an age Naija just stares. Lost.

Her only thought is a hazy confusion as to why she could smell the sea again.

That is until she hears the rapid pounding of footfalls coming through the woods towards her

She is shaken from her paralyzing shock as panic, shame, horror, guilt, misery and a million other emotions engulf her, swirling and wrestling for dominance of her psyche. It was all her fault, she had allowed him to go against the plan, to take them on the boss alone and just assumed from his confidence and legend status he could handle himself while she bailed out Fox. If only she had gone to him first, this wouldn't have happened. If only she had stood up to him in the first place! Naija despaired, for despite her life in the graveyard of civilisations, despite her violent bloody existence, she had never experienced the loss death brought first hand. For a moment, she considered giving up, what was the point, what was she even doing here, what could they even do against that monster.

But by the time Fox has arrived all here emotions had submitted to the oldest and strongest of them all. One that had seen here through so many dark places full of nightmares and abominations. A ceaseless, all consuming burning anger. Mario might have been kind of an ass, but despite the short amount of time they spent together Naija had actually cared about him. As with all times something she cared about was taken there was only one course of action. She would kill them, she would kill them all.

With here stolen wings she rose from the sorrowful collapse to the floor she had not realized she had taken. She slowly turns to the approaching Fox. Her fists are clenched, her breathing ragged and harsh, her eyes are hard and burning with anger and tears streak her face. Her original curious and carefully cheerful demeanor replaced by a barely contained rage and bloodlust.

”They killed him. That's not going to stop us, we are going to kill them all. but first we need the others”

She says flatly, struggling to contain her emotions as she flaps into the woods. The bind song can be heard once more, and though the notes have not changed they reverberate through the forest, imbued with with all her sorrow, and the woods sing in kind. She swears it will be the last break in her resolve before the monster is dead. She returns with another log.

”Hold on to this Fox, we’re going to fly to the abandoned castle”

This one was from a tree that had been split vertically down the center, so that there was a flat surface upon which Fox somehow managed to perch himself. She had expected him to cling to it for dear life, but it looked like he had done something like this before and so instead easily balanced on the object, weapon at the ready. There wasn’t time to ask when he had flown like that before, so she took off after the dark flock.

Najia, with fox in tow, flew in a long wid arch around the flock in order to stay out of range of whatever they might have to throw in retaliation till they were flying some distance ahead and straight towards the castle. Naija was relieved to find that the speed the enemy group where flying at was not anywhere close to how fast she could go with her Valkyrie wings. With this information and Fox’s dexterous balancing act she came up with a plan.

The plan relied on a few facts. First because of how the bind spell worked what she was carrying did not slow here down at all, thus she had the same flight speed as the Valkyries and could thus stay ahead of them indefinitely. Second, unless the valkyries had some hidden tricks up their sleeves they only had throwing weapons/vials as ranged attacks, she thought that if they had the ability to shoot they simply would have decimated the forest with fire upon the first attack. Thirdly, foxes laser pistol had a better range than thrown objects and the shots were very quick, thus they could safely and effectively fire on the valkyries from a distance further than they could retaliate. Finally, if she had missgudged the distance and they could attack her and fox, Naijas was from a place where all the wildlife had ranged attacks, dodging projectiles was her forte.

Thus the plan was to stay just ahead of the enemy and hopefully out of weapon range while Fox lay down a massive unending barrage of laser fire upon them, massacring them as they were unable to retaliate.

This gave the Valkyries 2 options, stick with their boss or give chase. Either way they could not catch the duo and thus would suffer attrition along the entire flight to the abandoned castle. If they stayed they would suffer more, if they chased they would be split off from their boss, letting the heroes deal with the army and him separately. She relayed most of this thinking to fox.

”Blast them fox, make those bastards pay for every mile!”

She soared on, checking over her shoulder for incoming, but mainly focusing on maintaining a constant speed and level flight path, letting fox get the best shots he can before the inevitable attempted response.

The winds of fortune did not, regrettably, conspire to give Slayer the amicable, conversational solution that for a moment he had held high hopes. In a tremendous splash of energy, the grenade of one of the soldiers engulfed the form of General Brigan, but a moment later the giant shouldered his way out of the dark maelstrom toward the green-clad plumber who'd dared to attack him. A flash of flame, almost too quick for even Slayer's eyes, carried Luigi to safety in the nick of time. No sooner had Oswald, who Slayer judged by his actions to be on the heroes' side, whisked him away than a ball of power cannoned into Brigan. Instead of burning through, however, it fizzled out. This sight caused Slayer to raise his eyebrows. No sell? Blocking could mitigate much of a blow, and evasion could render it harmless, but this appeared to be neither. Not even a smidgen of 'chip' damage appeared to bleed through whatever protection surrounded the great lout. Slayer observed as the heavy, rock-hard hooves of Mudsdale failed to bother him as well. No mere projectile immunity, then. This is some sort of advanced state. What could be causing it...?

As he wondered, the voice of Oswald interrupted his thoughts, and Slayer glanced at him to discover with some alarm that the shadow knight had not saved Luigi as a token of some newfound alliance against the greater evil. For the first time, Slayer's grip tightened around his tie. For some reason -one now deemed insipid and reprehensible by the gentleman who made it only moments ago- he'd expected that opposing one side of this fight meant allying with the other, but just as in his world, things were not so simple. Then again, Oswald's demand wasn't unreasonable—merely solidifying a supposed truce by calling off the pursuit of those he held dear, though Slayer couldn't say with any honesty that the pursuit ever truly began. This train of thought, too, was dashed when Brigan took a monstrous swig from his horn and breathed a colossal plume of fire across the room. In moments every remotely flammable thing in the room was alight, so much tinder for the roaring flame. It licked at Slayer's pant legs and coattails, threatening to consume him too, but the gentleman hurried to beat them out. When his gaze returned to Brigan, something in his eyes had changed. Their rich, mahogany brown had become harder than hardwood, and if they gleamed, it was not his characteristic gregarious twinkle but instead a shimmer of intent.

Around him, the situation had turned catastrophic, especially with the inferno draining the air of its oxygen, but it was with the same measured pace as always that he began to move forward. No rage clouded his face, but it held the tired look of a parent done entertaining the tomfoolery of his child as he slipped his pipe into his pocket. ”He was untouchable before he took his drink, so it is not some potion protecting him, but instead those shields upon his chest. Something so ludicrously impractical could only be useful by some magic property. Loathe as I am to render this buffoon more nude, I suggest we strip him of those shields.” The vampire polished and replaced his monocle as he drew close to melee range. The picture of dignity and cultured sophistication, he opposed General Brigan. Though the barbarian before him outmatched him in terms of height, Slayer stood far taller where it mattered. ”As for you...my mind is clear. It is time I perform my first act...”

He stretched out his arms to either side of his waist, flexing the fingers into fists and chambering his right hand. Rather than call his attack, he began immediately; his fist shot forward like a rocket, surrounded by purple fire, and its pull combined with his own leap sent him flying forward. He aimed for Brigan's upper-right shield, hoping to destroy it with the full force of his special Overdrive technique, Dead on Time. Slayer drove the bunker-busting punch home and exclaimed, ”As a hero!”

Out of the corner of his (or her) eye, Quina caught sight of an arrow and winced in anticipation of it finding it's mark somewhere in her, or his, shoulder. When a swinging chain sent the projectile spiralling off into a nearby tree, Quina finally noticed the passenger that she (or he) was carrying on her shoulders. Quina wasn't entirely sure why the stranger was helping, or even what her name was, but fighting was much like dining. You could fight, or dine, alone, but it was so much more fun with a friend.

So Quina fought with renewed vigour and glee, laughing happily as Velvet's strange weapon knocked one of the fairies to the ground. Like a cat playing with a wounded animal, Quina smiled as the injured fairy struggled through the grass and, when the poor warrior rolled over to face the Quina with weapon ready, Quina's little smile had turned into a huge grin. For a moment, Quina looked into the terrified eyes of the fairy, and then it happened, a blur of action. The fairy fired her arrow, and Quina brought down her fork down, points first, aiming for the chest of the fairy on the ground before her.

Quina was hungry, and wanted to prove herself - or himself - to this new friend. The pain of a single arrow wasn't going to get in the way of that, and as far as Quina was concerned, it was just so much easier to get hit in order to land a blow of his, or her, own. After all, food that was busy fighting back was food that wasn't busy trying to avoid a skewering from a giant fork.

"Food," Quina licked her, or his, lips and, thanks to the ridiculous length of Quina's tongue, most of his (or her) own face in the process.

As the Guardian prepared to move around the right side of the pillar and close with Oswald in an attempt to lock down the Shadow Knight's blade so that Samus and Hapu could make it up the stairs, Luigi called out for the team to shift targets, from the far more difficult to kill Oswald to the hopefully easier to kill Brigan. This brought James up short and had him remaining behind the pillar, drawing the Imago Loop after sheathing the knife. "So, you figure out what that interference is that's messing with your scans of Brigan yet?" Charger growled in annoyance, hearing the smugness in his Guardian's voice and knowing that he had likely figured out the source before the Ghost could.

"No, but I get the feeling you're about to tell me. How long have you know?" James grinned behind his helmet and looked out around the left side of the pillar he was taking cover behind to see how things looked. What he found wasn't promising and any smugness he'd have felt disappeared. Taking aim on Brigan, he fired three shots in quick succession at the giant and, having missed everything else thrown at him not even phase the giant man, couldn't help but let his jaw drop a little when the bullets had no effect as he breathed fire onto the roof of the entry hall. Taking cover again, James spoke fast while already furiously trying to figure out a way around the giant's magical protection.

"I figure he's got some kind of magic armor, something that doesn't require a whole lot of coverage, but protects his whole body all the same. Likely those four metal plates that you identified earlier." Charger was silent as the Nightstalker rolled away from a piece of falling flame, knowing full well that his cloak, a hard won reward from the Trials of Osiris, was flammable, though he'd never really had an issue with Solar Light setting it ablaze, so he questioned his own concern about it, but erred on the side of caution regardless. Finally, the Ghost spoke, a somewhat humbled tone to his voice.

"You know, with as improvisation prone as you are, and how focused you get on keeping us alive, I forget that you can be pretty intuitive. Sometimes more so than I am." James chuckled, firing a few more rounds at the General, even though he knew it was a fruitless endeavor, as he responded.

"It's not something I showcase often, so I can see why you forget. Don't worry, I won't do it often." Charger didn't respond, instead shifting his focus to watch how effective Slayer's attack was while James approached Oswald and Luigi slowly, his hand cannon held in a non-threatening position, though that could quickly change if it came down to it. Of course, James was still trying to figure out exactly what had happened while he was behind the pillar that Luigi was pinned with a sword to his throat, and decided that he'd ask about it after they'd sorted everything out, also making a mental note to apologize for the bullet hole the Italian man now had in his shoulder. "You know, typically when someone offers to help you, you don't put a sword to their throat. How about, instead of making demands that don't really need to be made, we kill the big bastard who no one likes?" Charger groaned at his partner's approach and materialized in front of Oswald, though several feet back, with him still holding Luigi in a rather perilous position.

"Excuse my Guardian, he is simply negotiating to the best of his abilities. We really are here to help Erion, but we need your trust first, if we can have it. Demon Lord Odin has been possessed by a virus that is attacking all of the System, something that makes him even stronger. If nothing else, allow one of our allies to get your wife out of here, in the event that Odin arrives before we can handle Brigan." James meanwhile, who had created another grenade and hurled it in Brigan's direction, was trying to work out a way to douse the flames that had now consumed the ceiling and most of the other flammable materials in the room. His own breathing would be unhampered thanks to both his helmet and armor, along with his shielding, which was all he wore when on the Moon after all, but he knew that Luigi and Hapu would need oxygen, and that meant the flames needed to be extinguished.

One of those times I wish we had a Sunbreaker or a Warlock with us... Sunbreakers had an understanding of Solar Light that even Sunsinger Warlocks didn't have, so they'd have a good idea of how to put the fire out quickly, but then Warlocks were know-it-alls, so they'd be able to put it out with time to spare, or at least more efficiently than a Sunbreaker Titan could. But wishful thinking wasn't going to help any of them, so he instead looked around for something to use. Of course, for a building made of stone, the Nightstalker found himself surprised at how much of it was made from flammable objects and materials and decided he'd suggest using metal for their next castle, which usually was both not flammable and had an incredibly high melting point, when this was said and done.

As the cannon blinks in steady confirmation, aiming the weapon Samus Aran unleashes the charged blast from the barrel, heading straight towards the General's chest. The collision wrapped up a rather large explosion that would blast him to utter pieces... or so one would think. What instead happened was something more anti-climatic. It just seemed to vaporize and simply blink out, as if the user had some shield on him. And to the bounty hunter's horror, it indeed seemed to be the case. Brigan didn't seem to be affected by the blast at all, let alone by the other weaponry that was thrown at him. He must have some kind of magical barrier protecting him, making him invulnerable to any attacks upon his life. Actually, he didn't seem just simply invulnerable... he seemed unkillable, invincible and unyielding.

As the general declares his so called 'immortality', Samus points his gun at the general in a defensive stance, to take advantage of any weak spot that he might show by pure chance. It seemed hopeless, but it was worth a gander. Yet while glaring into the eyes of her barbaric client, she stops to turn to where Luigi is. He was with Oswald... with his hand grasped around her ally's neck! Her eyes widened as she quickly points her gun at the Shadow Knight, her cannon beginning to hum as she prepares to fire at him.

"Let him go, Oswald!" the bounty hunter demands as she continues aiming at him directly in the head.

Yet before she could attempt to fire her weapon, Oswald began to explain his current terms and conditions of the matter in such brutal terms. If her team doesn't cut off the chase for the Pooka and to apparently stay away from his wife or they will all be killed in the same matter as their former employer. Simply call them off and he'll explain to the rest how to defeat Brigan. Samus had no choice but to comply with this order, lowering her gun slowly as she quickly cocks her head towards the General's direction. The barbarian giant drank from his horn, the same one she held earlier, and spat a stream of fire at the ceiling of the castle.



Within seconds, the entire castle was on fire, igniting the entire castle room like that of a scene from Hell. Nothing seemed to escape its fiery wrath, as it burned down the curtains, the entire ceiling, the carpets, the furniture, the walls... everything. Smoke began to cover the entire battlefield as fire rained down from the ceiling and onto everyone below. Samus' suit can resist the effects of the suffocating smoke and resist the fireballs that ran upon her armor for almost an indefinite amount of time, but it cannot be said with the rest of her allies. They were the ones vulnerable now, to both suffocation and being burned alive.

Time was running out. Luigi was just barely able to bark out the orders to hold Brigan off until a plan could be made with Oswald on how to eliminate him. The bounty hunter acknowledges the order and signals everyone with rapid movements of her free arm.

"You heard him!" she calls out to the others, "Concentrate all fire on his damn ass! Give him everything you got till we have a solid plan!"

And with that, Samus begins to fire her pellets at the General's head, in what seems to be a fool-hardy attempt in trying to hold the General off. Hopefully Luigi and Oswlad will be able to come up of a plan soon, otherwise everyone here will be dead, whether from the fire or from Brigan himself.