@Lugubrious @thedman @Stekkmen

As Roadhog got up without a word and headed off into battle, Din felt a little snubbed that he had brushed off her concern, and wondered if maybe he remembered being peppered with crossbow bolts by her and Ratchet. Perhaps it was just his personality, as she, and she presumed the others, had no memory of the time they were being mind controlled. As Linkle ran forward to support Minako, Linkle suggested that Din hold back and protect Michael, whose position was vital, but exposed, to which Din agreed. She found herself with Michael, the Centurion Agoston, and the hooded figure known as the Master of Masters, who had given her a keyblade. As long as no enemies broke away from the fight to come at the group, they were relatively safe.

Still, Din had noticed the Gem of Winter light up on her Rod, and figured this was as good a time to test its power as any. Standing a little away from the group, she swung the Rod, her mind thinking of the frigid season. A small sparkling white stream of magic lobbed from the end of the Rod as she swung it and landed on a patch of grass, frosting it over instantly. Back on Holodrum, as the Oracle of Seasons, Din could change the season of the entire island to Winter. It made sense that here, with so many competing environments, her dominion of the seasons would be limited. Still, this would be useful, and Din repeatedly cast the spell of Winter to spread a semi-circular line of frozen ground between Michael's position and the raging battle. If any stray enemies came their way, the terrain should provide their advance with some difficulty, allowing herself and Agoston to attack before they got any closer.

She turned to Michael, Agoston, and the Master of Masters. Since this whole thing started, they haven't had a proper rest to just sit down and get to know each other, and if they did, more bombastic personalities, like Bowser's, tended to take over. Din was usually no slouch when it came to striking up a conversation with strangers, but what do you talk about when the people you were trying to talk to came from completely different worlds? "I miss my home," Din said suddenly, "But it's comforting to know that you've got people watching your back."

With two groups split off to fight their separate battles, a trio remained on the hill that overlooked the Scrapyard, though Michael's sniper perch was not far off. Though the war raged on in the background, this spot carried with it a touch of calm, of being detached from the struggle. For his part, the Master of Masters could only admit to himself his relief at not being part of the dangerous-looking tussles. In the lull, his companion Din, the new wielder of Charm Equinox, found her voice. Her statement evoked a vigorous nodding from the hooded man. “Yes, of course! One's fate is decided by the company one keeps, after all. When I first began to teach, and chose my apprentices, I knew the fellowship to be the source of their strength. Bonds -the connecting of hearts- can be said to be what hearts are for, after all.” He gave a sigh. “Still, you can't get too comfortable. When they learned of a traitor among them, they allowed mistrust to tear those bonds to pieces. Here's hoping this group turns out better, huh?”

The way the Master of Masters spoke was odd, perhaps indicating he knew something he did not intend to share. When he changed the subject the next moment, as he looked out across the Scrapyard, any suspicions on the part of Din or Agoston might be stoked, or allayed. “I tell ya, this is one crazy war. Last time I foresaw a war, it was fought with Keyblades and magic, not these...scary death machines. It was terrible to see, of course...just nightmarish, but still, this is something else.” Leaning forward, he discovered something fast approaching. “Oh, would you look at that. A welcome party!”

A moment later the sound of metal feet scraping metal ground reached the three up the hill. A pack of the bipedal omnic raptor-bots, eight strong, dashed their way. Heedless of any peril, they rushed right into Din's wintry defense, where they slipped and slid on the frost. The magic traveled up some of their limbs, chilling their servos and circuitry to slow them further, but eventually the machines began to adjust. By the time they did, however, the three sword-fighters had rallied with Michael to answer them. The Master of Masters pointed his keyblade at the incoming bots. “Let's say hello!”



At the front of the battle, the rabbids' guaranteed status effects plus Ratchet's new firepower tore the wave of bots to shreds, leaving a gooey, sparking mess behind. The Buckler clanged his weapons together again with an affirming grunt, and the two smaller goons around him -not part of the chaos in the backline- echoed it with jubilant cries of victory and more than a little bit of dancing.

Not far off, Bowser made his entrance in the nick of time. His makeshift shield took the hefty blow meant for Roadhog, crumpling underneath the Smasher's impressive brute strength, and the force of the collision left both parties reeling. In the next moment, Zer0 blew in like the wind, surgically striking the hat atop the giant rabbid's head to send it sailing out of harm's way. No sane man would have attempted to insert a 50-caliber bullet through the ridiculous melee, with Roadhog and Bowser potential collateral damage if it went off the mark by mere inches, but from the distance another eardrum-pounding blast signaled Michael's shot. Both the Australian and the Koopa King could feel sharp air current as the bullet whizzed by, but by a miracle it found a home in the Smasher's belly. The creature did not even get the chance to gasp its last, turning to ash from the point where the lead blew a hole through its guts. Its dissolving halves split down the middle and slapped against the ground, picking up dust, and a large, confused spirit was left behind.

The panicked pairs of Ziggies and Hoppers did not miss this happening, and this time they understood a directed threat rather than a terrifying unknown. Screaming, they scrambled from the ramshackle shelter they'd commandeered during the ambush and threw themselves behind the safety of the Buckler, whose shield they seemed totally confident in. While another wave of robots loomed on the horizon, the Buckler turned to face the group of heroes, shield raised and shotgun leveled. A meter or so to the right of where it stood, about halfway between the rabbids and the wrecked robots, Bowser's rumpled and dirtied hat now lay upended. From the inside, Kirby poked out, not just alive but awake. The nearby Buckler kept his focus, defensive and suspicious, on the hero party, not noticing the nearby junk hill where the final wave of robots was setting up. Hardhat-sporting bots labored at immobile sentry turrets, building them up while shield-bearing omnics with cannons stood in front. The Buckler began to back up, trying to protect his group as they retreated toward more cover -it being a few fallen blocks scattered around the base of a high, precarious stack- but he wouldn't reach it before the robots finished their setup. In moments, the rabbids would be reduced to mincemeat, with Kirby caught in the crossfire.

Yet, a lucky break came at that very opportune moment. The Courier's slapped-together shutdown signal, hastily wired on an unfamiliar and incredible network, would not last long, but it went to work. All the Omnic's internal resources were rerouted to battling the dangerous signal, leaving their bodies stalled--including those protecting the robo-engineers' turrets. As the energy barriers fell, the soon-to-be-complete sentries became vincible.

---

A lucky disk sheared through the chain bound for Geno's neck, lopping it off into a painful but aimless length of interconnected metal rings. With it either taken or dealt with, and Mario's arsenal further restricted, the doll gave up mobility to focus on offense. A barrage of short laser blasts targeted his enemy, who brought up what remained of his second flail to block them. He did not account for the extra discs, dismissed as harmless once they failed to hit him, and two of them struck him from behind. They ripped into Mario's back, slicing into clothes and flesh; yet, they expended their energy and dissipated before penetrating too far. The pain did manage to stagger him, and with his guard down one laser hit him in the forehead. It sent his hat flying, which another laser put a hole in a split second later.

Whether because of the hurt, the damage done to his hat, or just as part of another strategy, Mario jerked into action. Reaching behind his back, he instantly produced a yellow cape and furled it around himself with one hand. Two laser blasts struck it and reflected back at Geno. The returned attack provided extra cover, and a moment later, Mario revealed what his other hand had been up to. He stepped forward, planting a leg in the ground with a great stomp, and released a great blast of fire. Whatever it hit on the way, it proceeded to blow straight through the cell wall, sending rubble into the hallway, and into the cell on its opposite side. Its door fell to flaming pieces, and from the darkness, a curious face emerged. It's owner spotted both Geno and Mario, but only recognized the latter. So that the newcomer could see, Mario pointed at his wooden opponent, inviting Donkey Kong to join the fight.

---

Geno threw the light disks at his opponent in just the knick of time. One of his disks was successful in cutting through the chained flail that was bound straight for his neck. However, while the doll was still hit by the painful loose chain - striking his left arm - any concentrated strength locked within it was lost. He definitely saved himself from loosing an arm. Having now taken care of the immediate threat, it was time for Geno to go on the offensive as he fires a volley of beam attacks from his arm cannon. Mario was forced to go on the defensive as he raised the remnants of his flail to shield himself from fire, but consequently - to the star warrior's good will - made himself completely vulnerable to the light disks that were boomeranging back towards him.

The double disks both made their mark on the plumber, slicing deep into the opponent's back. While they didn't have enough power to penetrate him fully, they were more than enough to make him loose his guard. And in a stroke of both accuracy and luck, one of Geno's shots succeeded in hitting his forehead, causing his iconic "M" hat to fly off before another shot placed a hole straight in the middle of it. The star warrior continued to give all that he had - regretting every second of it - as it seemed that he finally had gained the upper hand in this brawl. He only hoped that this would end soon.

Yet this battle was far from over. Not even close for that matter. For when Geno saw his old friend's eyes for a brief second, he saw nothing but cold-blooded rage. His heart sunk deep into his wooden chest - knowing that what he did was only ticking him off. His opponent would reach behind his back to reveal a bright yellow cape, and with a single swipe, he furled it around him and deflected two of Geno's shots. Not expecting it, the doll's slowness to react caused the first shot to scrap his right side, however giving him the sudden jolt to dodge the second one that whizzed straight by his head. He clenched his lightly-burnt side before looking upon Mario's counter attack.

However, it wasn't what he expected to see at all, as he witnessed the creation of a great wall of fire that hurdled straight towards him. Knowing full well of the dire consequences in getting hit - especially of someone being consisted of wood - Geno narrowly dodged the great flame by madly staging to the left. The flame wall ruthlessly stormed through everything that was in its way, even being powerful enough to break the wall that lead to another cell next to it. The star warrior quickly got up as he found himself inwrapped in a field of smoke and debris which emanated from the blast. He considered taking advantage of the situation and hide within the cover of the next room, until he saw another familiar face emerge from the darkness.



Geno had met Donkey Kong in person long ago, but he never expected to find him here in all places. Then again, he knew he heard something familiar about those cries when he was patrolling the sewers. Perhaps it would've been better if he had checked it out first after all - at least to know what he got himself into. Too late for that. And with Mario coaxing the big ape to join the battle, the doll knew that he was out-matched. Sure the big ape was slow, but with strength infamous for breaking infinite amounts of barrels effortlessly - and even punching a moon straight out of orbit, according to one rumor - and with Mario making it up with his speed, battling the duo 2v1 in his current state is an unwise endeavor. The doll looked over to the ape with a non-threatening outlook, although considering how the ape felt more familiar to the corrupted plumber than to him, he figured that it would prove worthless against him. There was only one thing he could do now...

"DK..." Geno motioned slowly with his arms in the air, "I know what it looks like, but trust me. As an old friend of his..."

He'd pause for a brief second before he gleamed at him with eyes of utter regret.



And before letting the two veterans decide on what to do, the star warrior's thrusters sprung to life as he made a mad dash towards the cell's exit. Whilst he quickly moved forward, he seemed to have obliviously passed the barred exit that lead to the ground floor of the castle, as he proceeded into the dark catacombs of the dungeon. One would think that Geno's panic had made him loose sense of direction and logic, but the doll had other plans. He wasn't going to let his old friends rot within their madness inside such a dank and depressing location. Not just yet.

Not until he at least attempts to find something that may free them.

And he's going to explore the entire dungeon until he finds something valuable or bust out with nothing. Geno knew full well that it's a foolish endeavor - a suicide mission for that matter - and he normally wouldn't do it for anyone else. But these two were an exception. An exception he was willing to undertake...

Even with his life on the line.

Blazermate was a bit surprised at how... ineffective these robots had been. Not only were they mostly ignoring her behind cover, they weren't doing enough damage to her allies to offset her healing through either her allies innate tankiness, or the bots lack of damage or accuracy. But considering they were all mostly just letting her sit behind a scrap pile and heal, well, apparently these robots didn't understand what a healer was. If only she was in a medabot tournament...

All during this fight, it seemed so far that not many took damage. The first was Ratchet, who got shot once and was promptly patched up. Second was the Courier, who needed the most focus as he was getting shot a few times, but seemed to not care all that much. Then Bowser, who Blazermate gave a bit of healing to, but it seemed like his tanky hide really didn't need it as anything that didn't hit his head seemed to deflect off him. Although seeing him use a car door as a shield was pretty comical and got a chuckle out of her.

As the Rabbids lost one of their more powerful members to what seemed to be Michael's shot, the rabbids retreated behind the one of them that had a shield as smarter looking rabbids came over the hill and started to set up turrets of some kind. And the worst part was that Kirby was inbetween this firefight that was about to start. "Guys, I don't think I can heal kirby through that level of firepower, someone do something!" Blazermate said, putting her healing beam on whoever was going to rescue Kirby, making sure to stay in cover against the sentries that were going up. They seemed far more threatening than these Rabbid things.

Success! The kings intervention gave his allies an opening to deal with the kirby-napper as the hat was dislodged from the Smasher’s head and moments later a well placed shot, on that narrowly avoided striking either of the other large targets in the melee, reduced it to ashes. As he recovered from his clash with the now defeated smasher the king glanced first to his hat, relieved that Kirby was in fact inside it. A glance in the opposite direction, prompted by Blazermate, revealed less fortuitous news, namely a final set of robotic opposition. The king promptly realized that his initial analysis of the forces in the junkyard had been incredibly wrong. The robots were in fact working together, omnic shield bots lining up to protect a set of engi bots that where rapidly assembling smaller versions of one of the turrets guarding the previously seen distant menacing figure who they themselves resembled. The Rabbids meanwhile where cowering before him, as they well should, but they and kirby where both exposed to fire, and the king was unsure as to the odds of him successfully extracting the pink puffball from their and the bot’s line of fire. Unable to formulate any particularly good/complex plan under pressure the king fell back on two old faithful problem slivers. Intimidation and aggression.

“PROTECT MY HAT AND YOU GET TO LIVE” he roared at the Rabbids before charging up the hill at the bot’s rapidly forming entrenched position, steel toed boots pounding across the asphalt of the pit stop. though they had been temporarily stalled by the hack cannon fire soon began to pour down from the omics as they attempted to slow the charging juggernaut's advance. The king grunted in pain as the first volley of shells struck him, the explosions searing body and face guarding hand. Bowser was slowed slightly by this volley, and if they were capable of emotion the bot’s might have been heartened by this, along with the knowledge that their elevated position and the king’s weight might make ascending the junkpile under fire next to impossible. Sadly for them when he reached the foot of their fortification the lizard tyrant did not climb but instead leaped high into the air over the second wave of cannonfire before crashing down halfway up the hill-side. Where his foot impacted there was an almighty crunch as his wight crumpled metal like paper along with an electrical zapping sound as a slow moving ring shaped shockwave emanated from the impact sight. Right after the king threw the remains of the warrior car straight at the shield wall, the impact with the barriers throwing off the aim of the closest bots. Before he could lose footing due to a junk avalanche or the bots could work out how dangerous the energy shock wave the king cleared the rest of the way up the hill with a second leap, arriving right as the sentries were completed. They immediately locked onto the incoming colossus but their knock-back effect was not enough to halt his impact in the middle of their formation.

Those caught at his immediate landing sight where crushed by his bulk, those right next to it found out what the energy ring did as a second ring emanated from his new landing site, striking a small number the nearby engineer bots. The struck targets convulsed wildly as the electrical ring zapped them before moving on, passing though the foes as if they where not there. The slow speed of the ring meant that those further away had plenty of time to respond after seeing the fate of their comrades, and the remainder of the bots mostly managed to make a short hop over the shock wave. The sentries however where unable to do this and one by one their gun’s when silent as the ring struck them. The omnics at the front then had to deal with the initial shockwave, taht ws only now cresting the top of the hill, and the second one almost simultaneously and a number of them were paralyzed. Those that were not had their formation broken by needing to turn to keep track of the attack on their rear, shields turned inwards or unaligned as they tried to watch their back and block the front-line simultaneously.

The King did not stand idle as his impacts rocked the bot’s world and a number of bots and disable sentries were engulfed in flame as he took advantage of the chaos he had created. However though he had created an opening and disrupted their formation their focus was now on him and Bowser was not in the best of shape thanks to the beating they had leveled against him during his change. Pistol and shotgun fire from the engineers joined the cannons, as did the chirping of a few repaired sentries. This firepower drove the king off of the hill, his majesty turning tail and retreating at a right angle to the direction he had come his shelled back protecting his wounded front as he drew their fire, hoping that his disruption of their lines would give his minions all the opening they needed to inflict some serious damage or get to a better position.

---

Everything seemed to be going well, the robot ninja got the pink puff ball off of the giant rabbits head and then the rabbit itself was put down, now it the only things left were the oth--... Even just thinking things were going well was a jinx! More robots yet again showed themselves, although these ones were much nastier looking than the previous ones, attempting to set up a defensive line before some of them just crapped out. Ratchet looked over the battlefield for the source but didn't dwell too much on it. Blazermate called out about Kirby's predicament and Ratchet quickly zoned in on where the poor puff was stuck. Oh yeah that wasn't good; he needed to go fetch Kirby right away! "I'm on it!" Ratchet called out, switching out his bombbuilder for his wrench.

As the Lombax broke from cover he heard Bowser yell a command, seemingly at the insane rabbits before Bowser himself barreled towards the defenseless turrets that were still under construction and just started causing havoc, making literal shock-waves and breathing torrents of flame onto the enemy. Ratchet saw it as a great distraction that he could capitalize on. Adjusting his wrench so it opened up a little wider Ratchet sprinted towards Bowser's giant hat, wrench held out to the side so he could scoop up the hat without having to slow down. Without Bowser distraction, Ratchet was pretty sure he'd have been turned into paste right now by all those turrets. Sure he was pretty agile but with that many guns shooting at once you just got to the point where you couldn't dodge anymore.

Ratchet slid past the hat which housed the little pink puff and snatched it up with his wrench, the hat sitting snugly in its teeth. Ratchet never stopped moving, pulling a full 180 so he could take Kirby back to Blazermate so she could assist him if he'd suffered any damage. He smiled at the star warrior giving him a nod "I gotcha little guy. You're going to be alright." Now all that was left was to get back to cover, but Ratchet wasn't sure if he was going to make it back behind cover unscathed. Bowser was a big scary monster. In fact the more Ratchet watched him torch robots the more he was reminded of a blargian snagglebeast, but even so the big guy couldn't soak up all the attention. Especially considering Ratchet was rescuing Kirby, whom for some reason attracted the attention of Galeem's forces like a moth to a flame.

---

---

Roadhog didn't have enough time to respond to the incoming giant brute rabbit and thought he was going to get pinned. Then, he noticed that the large lizard managed to block the brute's charge attack. Before Roadhog could even respond, he felt someone using him as a launching pad in order to retreat the hat. Suddenly, he heard the same gunshot from earlier and felt the wind from the bullet before it hit its target. The hat landed on the dirt ground as the turrets were getting to fire upon the group and everyone else caught in the middle and more omnics showed up. The lizard screamed out orders to protect his hat as he was going to distract the turret and engineer. Roadhog was impressed by the lizard's abilities while destroying countless omnics in the process.

That was when the little animal decided to retreat the hat and the pink creature that was inside it. Roadhog also realized that it was a perfect time to catch the engineer off guard. He ran towards the opposite direction while firing at the omnics to ensure that nothing was going to distract him. And he got to a clear spot with nothing blocking the view of the turret and engineer. It was when that he put away his gun and pulled out the chain. Roadhog spun it a few times in the hopes that it would go far enough that he would get caught in the hook. Then, he threw it as hard as he could and got ready to pull it towards him.

---

NEW POWER: Chain Hook - Roadhog hurls his chain at a target. If it catches someone, then it yanks them into close range.

---

The Courier kept his guard up now that the formerly friendly rabbids had gone, well, rabid. Thankfully none of them seemed to have directed their attention toward him, and all the robots in the immediate vicinity had been taken out through a combination of the rabbid’s unique status weapons and the bomb thrower the Courier had given to Ratchet. Everything seemed to be coming up great, as even the hulking smasher rabbid was taken out safely through a complex series of actions carried out by Zer0, King Bowser, the big chain guy, and the sniper perched up atop the hill. Kirby had been removed from the equation, but he, as well as the hat he resided within, still remained behind enemy lines. That is, if they remained enemies. After the second shot taken by the sniper, the rabbids seemed to recognize where it came from, that it was from a single specific person and not the group as a whole turning on them. Coupled with Bowser’s declaration, they just might wind up singing a new tune.

Speaking of new tunes, the song that had been playing on his Pip-Boy, Johnny Guitar, suddenly spiked in volume. That’s how the Courier recognized that his plan was working. All across the battlefield the Omnics seized up, ceasing all movement as his shutdown signal invaded their processors. It hadn’t been as effective as he would’ve liked as none of the robots actually shut down, but they all gave pause. They all were working together in a linked effort to combat the invading signal. That gave the group the biggest opening they had had since laying eyes on the Scrapyard, as approximately half the robots just completely stalled out. Giggling a bit, the Courier cranked up the volume on his radio. The song that played not just through his own arm-mounted computer, but now also through the speakers of every single Omnic robot in the area, went up. If that wasn’t a clear enough indicator to his allies, he didn’t know what else would be. Still, best to let them all know himself, just in case any of them were particularly slow.

”My shutdown signal got through!” he cried out loud as he could for everyone to hear. ”All the robots of the make designation Omnic are in standby mode while they try to fight off my signal! Blast’em, shoot’em, tear’em up, I don’t give a fuck just do what you do best everyone!” A few of his companions acted quickly. Ratchet used his natural agility to bound deeper into enemy ground and snag the white hat up with his wrench, which the Courier just noticed now had a fully conscious Kirby peeking out of it. Meanwhile, the Koopa King was busy tearing through the Omnics that had been set up to defend the turrets being built by those engineer robots, as well as the engineer bots themselves. Really, he was just causing indiscriminate carnage to everything getting setup on that hill, which the Courier could respect. The king could no doubt best a deathclaw in claw to claw combat, which was certainly saying something. Unfortunately even the large turtle-dragon monarch could be overwhelmed by sheer firepower, causing him to turn tail and run. The Courier felt a bit disappointed. Thankfully Bowser’s slack was taken up by the large man with the chain, who destroyed some of the Omnics in standby, before unleashing that giant chain.

The Courier didn’t like being left behind. Dammit, he was the one who liked to charge in head first, giving no shits about the danger! Ah well, at least his tactic provided a critical opportunity for his allies. He checked the status on his Pip-Boy and saw that the Omnics were about fifty percent through patching out his signal. Right then, best to keep it going as long as possible, but that mean he had to be completely useless in all this mess! 6 began taking a few potshots at the turrets and engineers up top with his magnum revolver. At this distance, firing uphill, most wouldn’t be capable of making the shots. Courier 6 was not most people. Courier 6 was the badass that always ensured he delivered the message. Right now that message was a .44 caliber round of hot lead.

Bang! Bang! Bang! The powerful handgun shots peppered the turrets and engineers from afar, but as far as he could tell they didn’t leave much of a mark. Damn, accuracy wasn’t the only thing to suffer from this distance. Power also went down, which normally wouldn’t have been a problem but when the target is naturally made up of thick metal armor as the entirety of their body, well, that posed a problem. The Courier grit his teeth and narrowed his eyes. Damn, looked like he was just gonna have to sit here being useless after all… At least until the signal was patched out. Until then everyone could enjoy the sweet, soothing sounds of Johnny Guitar blasting through all the Omnics’ speakers.

---

Zer0 took the time to carefully observe the situation. Ratchet had taken off with Kirby, Bowser had been a fool, the fat new guy was charging in with a chain that was ridiculously long, and half the robots had gone still. Looks like the Courier's little plan had worked. Zer0, not one to waste an opportunity, quickly stealthed and moved to flank the now exposed turrets and remains bots.

Almost lovingly he pulled up his sniper, taking aim, and fired. His bullet ripped forth through the stationary turrets before he fired several more times in the span of a few seconds to tear into the engineers as well.

With that done he moved to flank them from behind. Unsheathing his sword he moved forward, stabbing it up through the back of one of the robots so that the tip extended from it's head. Quickly pulling it out, he began moving quickly, low to the ground to give less of a target, and began his rampage through the back ranks of any surviving mechs that hadn't gone down from his b0re the other's gunfire.

---

Looking through his scope, Michael noted with grim satisfaction that his shot had hit its mark. The rabbids moved back into cover, and Kirby was soon pulled away from the battlefield. Meanwhile, the robots seemed to be taking advantage of the rabbids' sudden retreat, and Michael swore under his breath as he saw them set up what looked like gun turrets. If they were allowed to continue, those turrets would likely tear the group to shreds. Fortunately, whatever the Courier was doing seemed to be working, as a good deal of the robots were disabled.

Looking up from his scope, he saw that the landscape in front of his position had been frozen, and he looked over to Din. Magic? Ah, fuck it, why not. Due to his earplugs, he couldn't fully hear what she and the Master were talking about, but he figured it could wait. Looking back to the battlefield, he noticed that some of the robots were making a beeline for him, but were slipping on the ice on their way up. With the enemy turrets setting up ahead, he couldn't afford to switch targets. Reaching into his suit pocket, he retrieved his Mini Uzi, then turned to face Din. "Here, catch!" He threw the weapon in her direction. "Keep these guys off me. I need to deal with the turrets."

Peering through his scope again, he watched as Bowser went ahead to attack the robots, then as the new guy went ahead and threw a giant chain at the enemies. The Courier fired off a few shots, and then Zer0 went and sniped a good deal of the robots. He observed the battlefield through his scope, trying to identify any high-value targets, but he couldn't find anyone or anything that stood out. Instead, he decided to focus on one of the surviving turrets. Breathing in, he steadied his aim, preparing to fire another shot. He pulled the trigger, once again creating a loud BOOM! that could be heard from a distance. He was confident that the .50 caliber round would destroy the turret, and if he was lucky, even hit some sort of explosives and cause a chain reaction.

Minako almost didn't hear Linkle's voice over her own pain and suffering. Running was... a bit of a mistake, as Minako soon found out, quickly finding her legs seizing up to become lead blocks attached to stumps. Michael's heavy rifle was Hell on her strained heart, practically giving her a mini heart attack. Could she really be so out of shape?

No doubt Tora and Linkle could tell the team leader was dying, yet pushed on in spite of this, not wanting to be a burden or a bother. After all, she was the one who pursued this path, they chose to follow. Keeping that in mind, she forced herself to steady her breathing and remain focused on the path ahead, despite how much her body told her not to.

Eventually, however, the path began to deviate in difficulty, the junk making things rather problematic to traverse. Minako, like Tora, was also pretty out of breath, thankful they were far enough away from the battlefield to slow their pace. "That sounds... pretty terrible..." Responses came between heavy breaths of air, her lungs unable to fill quite as completely as they used to. It was like she had become afflicted with some kind of asthma, making said gasps shallow rather than fulfilling, though this did help in keeping her stresses undercover, somewhat. "You should... be more careful. Running off alone will get you hurt again... Trust me, I know. And... I also knew someone would want to follow." There was an earnest smile flashed Linkle's way, although there seemed to be a story behind it. Before she could ask, however, Tora made an introduction of his own, which helped Minako come to a realization.

She kept eye contact with the Nopon as long as she could, continuing to speak as she did so, knowing full well she had an advantage just in being human. Whenever her eyes got tired, she would simply turn her head to the left or right while maintaining full eye contact with Tora. This way her eyes could partially lubricate as they stared, giving her an edge he would not otherwise be able to mimic. Unless he had a trick up his own sleeve, Minako was confident she could win their little showdown.

"Oh? Well, I only hope I can be half as brainy as you then, Tora. I'm afraid I'm... not as strong as I used to be, but I remember how to fight, so I won't be helpless. My name is Minako Arisato, from Tatsumi Port Island. It's good to meet you, Tora, and Miss... Linkle, right?" At this point if Tora hadn't already submitted, the redhead would break contact and give it to Linkle, so no introductions were left out. After all, everyone else looked so wildly different - if Linkle was the only girl around her age, the summoner seriously hoped they could get along.

Either way, the trio had to get moving, in case anyone decided to follow them. The path opened up to the hairpin of the racetrack, creating a lot of wide open spaces with less cover. "We should be careful. Lets survey the fl- area, before we head up." Old habits died hard, or so it would seem.

Minako found cover by a large pile of scrap, close to the little green rabbid, eyeing the situation cautiously. No doubt the robot up above was dangerous, what with all the defeated surrounding him. Her eyebrows raised a little when she noticed that some of the bodies on the ground were robot, though quickly realised that things weren't as simple as 'Team Robo vs Team Rabbit', if Blazermate was anything to go by. This was a foreign world with foreign foes, not everything was supposed to make sense, especially if so many realities truly collided. The little green rabbid seemingly noticed her, warning her to stay back, which had Minako sceptical, if it weren't for all of his allies also in hiding. Heeding its advice the summoner ducked back, finding a gap in the scrap to peak through, watching the robot with intensity.

"We should be careful... If it's anything like the robot I used to know, he could be really something..."

"He he he, nobodies ever called me 'Miss' before." Linkle replied, bashfully scratching her nose. Even the young kids of the village only ever called her things like 'weirdo' and 'cuckoo lady.' "Ehhhh, just call me Linkle. No need for formalities between heroes, after all."

Still, she felt like her and Tora had made the right call. Minako was a hero all right, just being here with the rest of them was proof enough of that, but maybe she wasn't the physical sort of hero judging by how shook up and out of breath she was. She was the sort of hero that benefited from having a one woman army and a shield bearer between her and the enemy.

Despite this it only seemed natural to fall in line behind her, letting her set the pace and lead the way. When Minako took cover Linkle fell in naturally beside her. She pointed to the rabbit dressed in hero colors that had waved them all down. "See, I knew it. Look on his hat. L, for leader."

The boss of the rabbits had been waiting down here to ambush them, but had gotten ambushed himself by a bunch of robots. Then those robots themselves had been ambushed by...another robot? A scary looking robot. It looked kind of like a stalfos version of the other robots, like if you ripped open the ones up where they'd come from and took a peek you'd find that thing inside.

She took a quick glance out of cover to look over the piles of scrap metal that used to be enemies. "The rabbits didn't do all that." She said. "If their little guns could make holes like those I'd be worse off than those robots. Tora, do you know if your shield is made of sturdior stuff than that. We might be able to get closer if we all huddle up."

She remembered the rabbits before, stomping their feet and waiting, and wondered whether the scary robot was doing something similar. She reached into the pile of scrap they were using for cover and ripped off a side mirror that was dangling by a thread. Then she threw it up and out of cover.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Tora took cover alongside his allies. Man, that redheaded girl could stare! As promised, he'd greeted her gaze unflinchingly, holding it as long as she did--which was saying something for a human. How did she keep looking at him without blinking, while his own peepers grew uncomfortably dry? Regardless, he hoped -and indeed thought- that she took his pledge to heart. Further thoughts about their dynamic could wait, however, since a potentially problematic situation lay before them. Linkle suggested advancing using his shield as cover, and after a couple final blinks, he nodded as best he could without a neck. "Hm, yes, Tora shield can take whatever. Very durable. If somehow enemy get through, only Tora take damage so long as friends crouch behind." Before he could move out, however, the girl grabbed something off a nearby wreck and tossed it up. What was she doing...?

With the way things were turning out, the situation could quickly become out of hand. They had to have a plan and watch over one-another, otherwise the three of them would be torn apart in the crossfire. One of them, at the very least, could become seriously injured, and considering the types of weapons that were being used by the robots, both herself and Linkle could be in trouble. It was hard to tell what Tora was made of, let alone what he even was, but if he was anything like a Persona then he should be fine. Pretty soon she felt a few ideas coming to mind, though getting back into swing of things would be slow, especially with her body so out of shape.

"If that's the leader then it's a good idea to get rid of him quickly. Linkle, if you're confident, you could manoeuvre around and take him and his friends by surprise. Use the junk to your advantage to keep out of danger, move quickly, be our surveyor. Tora and I will have to play defensively and avoid damage as much as possible, but keep their attention. We don't have a healer, so we have to be extremely careful." Admittedly Minako didn't know much when it came to combat situations without healing supplies. Whenever they entered Tartarus the group always had a dedicated healer, even on the very first entry. And even then, they always had backup items for when things got especially brutal. This would be a learning experience for her too, though if Tora's shield was as tough as he said it was, then they might be able to make it through. "That said, we shouldn't be passive. We'll have to keep thinking on our toes, but keep safe."

"You want us to fight them?" Linkle asked asked. "They warned us about the robot."

During their brief exchange, the three heroes had been waiting, trusting something to happen. When nothing came for the first few seconds, they didn't notice; only when a half-minute slipped by did they notice that the object tossed up by Linkle lay on the ground nearby, undisturbed by any sudden attack. When Tora, sturdiest of the trio, poked his furry head out from cover to take a peak, the mysterious and intimidating machine had disappeared. For a moment, the Nopon scanned the area, but once he felt sure that the unknown automaton was gone he felt more than a little foolish. “Is...is gone? No strange robot?”

The green-clothed rabbid popped up and took a good look around as well. He couldn't seem to spot any danger either. With a shrug, he stood up, gave a brisk wave, and started in the direction of the castle. For his part, Tora remained more wary. While it appeared that no danger confronted his group for the time being, he didn't like this at all. What devious peril lay in wait for them? Still, no matter the danger, he needed to keep moving forward. Shield at the ready, he moved out in pursuit of the unusual rabbid, navigating past confused rabbids around the hairpin turn in the race track and toward the castle.



Prompt failed.

To the Master of Master’s dismay, neither of his standing allies responded to his battle-ready quip, but that dismay paled in comparison to what he was to feel moments later. He stood his ground as the Slicers approached, breaking free of Din’s icy grip, and tightened his hold on his keyblade. Michael, focused on the much more intense battle farther off, did not deign to stand, though he did toss the dancer a weapon the Master doubted she could use. However, neither Agoston nor Din seemed all that eager to fight, and as the Slicers came within a few feet the Master called, his voice a touch panicked, “Hey, any day now, kids!”

They did not react in time. A Slicer heedlessly threw itself into Agoston, bowling the armored man over with its weight despite its small size. It clambered onto him, took a brief moment to orient its head down, and released a bright orange laser straight into his cuirass. The metal began to heat instantly; it was a matter of seconds before the beam would melt through and start burning flesh instead. Meanwhile, one of the two Slicers attacking Din executed a spin attack to knock away her weapon, before both closed in to unleash close-range laser attacks of their own. Three converged on the Master of Masters, and while he swung his blade with grace and poise, he swung to keep them away rather than put them down. What attacks he did land did not incapacitate the Slicers in one hit, which meant that a dedicated assault on one of them would put him at the mercy of the other two. Held at bay, he was powerless to stop the last Slicer from trotting over to where Michael lay and preparing to fire its laser into his ribs.



The Courier’s electronic attack provided just the opening his allies needed to save the imperiled Kirby. Bowser leaped into the fray with Blazermate in tow, racking up more than his fair share of wounds as he crashed into the enemy ranks. His lightning rings staggered the bots where they hit, and his flames melted their circuits, but even with Blazermate’s healing the farther-away enemies managed enough sustained fire to push him back. His departure, however, did not even delay the inevitable, for he left enough chaos in is wake to leave the robots wide open for his allies. Ratchet raced in first, his eyes not on the enemies but on their would-be target. An on-the-fly adjustment to his wrench and deft maneuver allowed him to snag Kirby’s hat from where it fell, eliciting a surprised, ”Poyo?” from within. When the puff saw Ratchet’s face, however, he gave a wide smile.

Despite the happy reunion, they weren’t out of danger just yet. When Bowser retreated, some of the farther turrets sought a closer lock-on target, and three of the sentries gave an affirmative beep as their sensors homed in on the two remaining fighters. At the same time, another zeroed in on Blazermate’s back, ready to riddle her chassis with steel shot.

In the nick of time, their comrades came to their aid with covering fire, shots ringing out to the tune of the Courier’s hacked-in music. A few scrap shots from Roadhog as he advanced turned the bots’ attention his way, and Zer0’s sniper rifle penetrated the turrets’ armor where the gunslinger’s pistol failed, taking out the sentries before Roadhog took too much punishment. One robo-engineer, as a last ditch attempt, pulled out a handheld radio device and aimed it at Ratchet’s back as he fled. Its sentry deployed a laser sight and tracked where the bot aimed, its controls overridden by the Wrangler’s signal. Before the bot could hammer down the instrument’s big red button, a hook sailed in from Roadhog and unceremoniously yanked the machine to certain doom. The sentry powered down for a moment as the Wrangler fell, and a moment later burst into shrapnel thanks to Michael. The remaining machines fell soon after, their flank demolished by Zer0’s advance and what was left of their front taking a barrage of fire from the rabbid troop. In the span of only a few moments, the fight was over.



Spirits littered the battlefield: on the rabbids side, the Smasher and Supporter spirits remained ripe for the taking, while the bots sported a greater variety. Nulltroopers, Eradicators, and Slicers could be found from the omnics, while the more humanoid bots sported heavy, scout, soldier, and engineer varieties. However, the spirits born from robots flickered in an odd fashion, fickle and unhealthy compared to those of the rabbids. The rabbids still alive, meanwhile, gave the heroes a wide berth, moving as a tight unit in the direction of the Scrapyard’s center. Their departure left its right portion squarely in the heroes’ hands, possibly all the way up to the moat that surrounded Peach’s Castle.

---

Geno did well not to hinge his survival on Donkey Kong’s understanding and subsequent allegiance. Though the ape may have remembered a faint allusion to Geno, he knew his old rival and long-time friend far better. Moreover, neither he nor anyone else bearing the scarlet eyes of Galeem’s touch seemed to be self-aware. Instead, DK understood wounds on his friend’s body, and an intruder he was urged to oppose. Rather than stand and take the brutal slug that would have been the Kong’s first instinct, the doll fired his jets to shoot off in the opposite direction, disengaging from both enemies at a speed that barely allowed him to avoid crashing into dungeon walls.

From there, knowing himself outclassed or at least at great risk, Geno sought an edge. He flew by a number of cells, not daring to blast any doors down should his fireworks give rise to further opposition. One doorway at the end of a hall, however, looked different from the others. In fact, it bore no door, only a musty dark leading into the unknown. Determined to explore every option, Geno sped into the aperture, and after another second or two reached the end of the corridor, where a door stood ajar. It could be barred from the inside, its solid metal perhaps not strong enough to prevent the distantly-pursuing powerhouses from pounding through, but a closed door meant that they might not find him.

Yet once again, Geno might find himself out of the frying pan and into the fire. On the other side of the barred door lay a well-lit laboratory, its copious shelves stacked with books, alchemical equipment, and potions, and its desks piled high with recipes, spell scrolls, and theorems. On one wall, a brilliant green fire blazed beneath a bubbling kettle that gave forth pungent vapors of all colors. In the middle of the stone bricks stood a table, on which Geno could see young purple dragon thoroughly restrained. Over the bound, faintly struggling test subject stood a strangely menacing robed koopa with swirly glasses and pronounced buckteeth, moments away from prodding the dragon with a wicked-looking knife dripping with gruesome green fluid.

Bowser's simple plan ended up going perfectly as his brawn and the Courier's brain combined to create chaos within the enemy ranks that left the bots wide open to a attack by the rest of the team. They pounced on the opportunity and their combined might scraping every last robot with relative ease. They were so efficient that bowser didn't even have to retreat very far before the firepower chasing him was silenced, a which point he turned and stomped back up the hill. The king took a moment to scoop up all the slightly sickly looking robot souls, transporting them by piling them up between his crossed arms and his belly, before returning down to the pit-stop proper, at which point he dumped them all unceremoniously into the spiritual mess they had made there so that everyone could prouse all of the loot they had acquired at their leisure. By the time he had done this it was likely the crossroads group where either dead or had been saved, so he paid them little mind. For himself the king initially tested out crushing an Eradicator, wondering what affect the robots and how it would affect the quality of the equipment they produced when compared to the rabbids. Then he turned his attention to the rest of the group.

“YOU GOT MY HAT BACK. AND KIRBY’S SAFE. GOOD JOB” The king congratulated Ratchet. The rabbids were lucky they had skuled off before he returned or the king would have followed up on his implied death threat. As it was the day as theirs and kirby was back among them once more. However, it seemed that until the kirbster was up and about again they’d need to pay closer attention to him than they had in their first fight. “HMMM. MAYBE THAT STRIKER THING THE HOODED GUY MENTIONED” the king pondered loudly before fishing the jar of hammer bro souls out of a pocket and emptying the pair into a claw. “ALRIGHT YOU LAZY GOONS” the king yelled at the two sprites “IT’S TIME TO QUIT FREELOADING, SO GET UP AND SERVE YOUR KING!” he ordered them, focusing his attention squarely on the pair, his face scrunching up in concentration as he did so, to try and form a connection.

Eighty-six percent. Eighty-nine percent. Ninety-four percent. That’s when the Courier pulled the plug from where he had jacked into the Omnic robot. Any more time, and the robots would have been able to initiate a counter hack, get into his Pip-Boy, and that wouldn’t have been good. Ever since he got it from Doc Mitchell back in Goodsprings, it felt like a part of him. No good at all.Thankfully everyone else was able to use that time well, initiating a well fought attack on the remaining robots in the area, and Ratchet even recovered Kirby! As far as the Courier was concerned, this was a well earned victory.

”You’ve been decommissioned. Yeehaw.” Without further ceremony the Courier planted a bullet into the barely functional Omnic’s processor, shutting the robot down for good. From what he could tell of the coding he inspected, the things had actual personalities. He didn’t want to leave the thing functional only to come back later with a grudge. Benny made that mistake with him, after all.

King Bowser came back in short order, having collected a ton of the spirits from up the hill on his way back down. Robots and rabbids alike floated about in a large cluster, and damn that was an impressive evidence of the carnage they wrought in this scrapyard. Yet there was more carnage, more death and destruction, to be had. War never changes, and all that, but more specifically the top of the hill everyone had originally come from was still in immediate danger. The Courier spotted Michael, the sniper, and that cloaked guy getting attacked by more robots while the half naked woman and the centurion stood there. Dammit!

The Courier had half a mind to let those robots do away with Michael since the man had nearly ruined the Courier’s plan to appeal to the rabbids. Hell, they might have remained as allies, given the circumstances, so in that regards Michael did ruin the plan! Alas, that would have been wrong, and the Courier didn’t need any more bad karma. He holstered his magnum in order to pull out the Ratslayer and took aim at the bot that appeared to be charging a laser on Michael. Time slowed down to an unnoticeable crawl. VATS was now active. Let’s see, this one seems to be a Slicer model, if the data from that Nulltrooper I hacked is accurate. Different model, so I don’t know where the central processor is. The body is small though, and largely unarmored if I can believe my eyes. No head, just a main body, legs, and a laser. Chance to hit main chassis: 93%. Left leg: 61%. Right leg:19%. What about that laser weapon? Weapon: 76%.

The Courier queued up three shots hoping that one or more would lead to critical damage, two for the laser gun and one for the main chassis, and let the trigger finger fall. Bang! Bang! Bang! Courier 6 didn’t even stop to see if the shots hit their marks, he just slung the rifle over his shoulder and went running straight up the hill. As he passed by the cluster of spirits Bowser had collected, he randomly grabbed two of them (for for each hand) and crushed them within his grip. He hadn’t had the time to look and see that he had grabbed the spirits of an Omnic eradicator and a Team Fortress soldier robot, nor plan for whatever sort of loot they might transform into, but he hoped they’d be of use as he stormed up the hill.

@Lugubrious @thedman @Stekkmen @ProPro

Din heard the Master's quip, but Michael handed her a weapon that looked like a crossbow, but without the bow part. As the approaching machines got caught in her ice trap, Din attempted to fire upon them with the weapon she had just received. The trigger was stuck. Puzzled, Din looked the weapon over in confusion, unsure why it wasn't working. Did it need a bolt? Where was the string? What Din didn't know was that guns had a 'safety', but in her moment of preoccupation in getting the thing to work, the team had lost their advantage, the machines moving out of the ice. Hearing the master call out for help, Din looked up, realizing that they were already best upon. One slicer knocked the currently useless uzi from her hands, but she used the momentum and her dancer's instincts to fall to the ground and roll to safety, nimbly picking up her two other weapons, the Rod of Ages and her keyblade, Charm Equinox. Righting herself she looked around. The Master of Masters seemed to be successfully defending himself from his attackers for the time being, whereas Agoston had been pounced on. Still, Michael seemed to be in the most compromising position, but then shots rang out from the direction of the larger group, hitting the slicer attacking Michael, and Din could see the man in the leather hat running their way. Din felt that helping Agoston seemed like the next best course of action, but leaving the two attacking her unoccupied might spell trouble, especially if they attacked Michael or ganged up on the master of masters. In the end, she decided to trust Agoston, who seemed to be a seasoned warrior, to handle his opponent. Turning to the two she had just rolled away from, she cast the spell of winter beneath their feet and made to strike them with the keyblade, attempting to rain blows down upon them with both rod and blade and dancing her way out of their strikes.

@Delta44@Lugubrious

---

"Huh? He's gone?" Linkle aid, sticking her head out of cover and surveying the area. Sure enough no terrifying stalphos robot was anywhere to be seen, but even still Linkle couln't help but let out a grumble of frustration. "He's not gone. Someone's played this game with me before. He wants to play hide and seek." This was the same as that time in the forest, except that weird imp thing had been more talkative and he'd had her compass.

But where ever the stalphos bot was, he wasn't around here. Tora and the green rabbit proved that by not getting shot by the thing. Those little guys were braver than her, and loads braver than all the rabbits that were still in hiding.

She turned around and offered a hand to Minako. "C'mon, let's see where that hero rabbit is headed in such a hurry. Who knows, it might be where they were taking Kirby?" It would feel so good to foil an enemy plan by beating them to the punch, even if she wasn't really sure whether the rabbits counted as enemies anymore. Sure they were all dark and had taken Kirby, but she'd never been in a battle where the enemy did anything other than attack relentlessly or flee the field in terror.

With the combined efforts of Roadhog, the Courier, Bowser, Ratchet, and the rest of the party with Blazermate's healing, everyone was able to come out of the fight only slightly damaged. Having such beefy boys really helped Blazermate, especially when one of them was keeping an eye out for her with that hook of his. Plus they made excellent heal targets, and she was sure they appreciated the ability to just keep on rampaging. She did feel sad though, after all, she was known as a combat medic back home, but here all she could do was hide and heal thanks to the lack of weapons at her disposal and her flight armor nowhere to be seen. Meanwhile Michael, Ratchet and all the other weapon users almost made her a bit jealous. But at least Kirby was safe.

Collecting the spoils, Bowser scooped up all the spirits from the robots in the area and deposited them in a pile before looking at a few spirits of his own. Blazermate didn't get what he was talking about, but she walked over to the pile anyway and decided she might as well get some kind of weapons to use. Picking up an Engineer and Heavy bot spirits, she crushed them in her hands in the hopes of something fairly decent. Seeing commotion back where their allies were, the courier ran back instead of chasing the retreating rabbids. Blazermate followed suit, making sure to be wherever the battle was in case someone needed healing.

A few of the weaker omnics seemed to be harassing all of blazermate's ranged allies. Since her weapons hadn't coalesed into anything usable yet, she focused on healing whoever the slicers were focusing, that being Michael and the Master. Those bots did very little to Bowser and roadhog, so she was sure they could handle it before she got in melee range to crush them.

---

A nigh-silent whistle of wind blew by as whatever that robot was disappeared, which caused the teen to poke her head out from behind the rubble. Though, with Tora stepping out beside her, it made her looking secretive rather pointless. Despite that, she was cautious - Aigis wouldn't have missed Linkle throwing over that hunk of metal. True, she was far more advanced from the looks of things, but that mainly came down to her advancements in being human. For all they knew, that robot was far better at being a robot. Robots operate using numbers and statistics.

Which meant he saw something that they didn't, more important than all of them.

If that was the case, things could quickly get out of hand. She wasn't sure why, but staying in the junkyard gave the redhead a bad feeling, like whenever the Reaper was around. Linkle's aid was much appreciated, helping Minako to her feet again, and she gave a nod in agreement. "Agreed, we're headed there anyway. I also don't like the fact that robot just up and left. Best we leave too." She quickly waved Linkle to follow, as Minako took off only just behind Tora, thankfully able to keep pace due to his body not exactly being built for speed. While she was cautious of the other Rabbids they were leaving behind, so long as they didn't attack the party then they could be left behind.

---

Ratchet looked down after hearing a "Poyo?" come from inside Bowser's hat. Looking into it Ratchet would be greeted by an awake Kirby smiling at him, "Just hold on little guy." Ratchet dived behind cover not noticing the laser pointer that had been trailed on him. Shortly after Ratchet was safe behind a pile of scrap the sounds of combat died down, it looked like the battle was over. Ratchet sighed in relief as he eased Kirby out of Bowser's hat. "There you go little guy, safe and sound."

Then came Bowser's congratulations on saving Kirby and the hat, "All in a days work." Ratchet said puffing his chest out proudly. Though admittedly this victory didn't feel as satisfying without Clank. Ratchet couldn't let this get to him so much; he'd been separated from Clank many times before and every time they had reunited and saved the day, this time would be no different. Looking over at the pink puff Ratchet crouched down to be more leveled with Kirby. "So you're the one that saved all us right? And that's why the glorified disco-ball isn't a fan of you right?" He jumped as more shots were fired off. Looked like the Cowboy was going to help the others on the hill finish off a few remaining robots, Ratchet felt like they'd be able to handle it. "Do you have any idea where that thing is keeping people?"

---

The battle was finally over. As the last enemies fell and spirits were collected, Michael was glad that it was over. Finally, he could sit down, take a deep breath, and-

Wait a second.

In his peripheral vision, Michael could see a skinny, metal leg. Looking up, he saw the omnic Slicer, charging its laser down at him. In that brief moment, time seemed to stop, and Michael took a moment to contemplate his life choices. Oh. Shit. SHIT!

Before the Slicer could shoot a gaping hole in his chest, it was hit by gunfire from below, staggering it. With a sudden rush of adrenaline, Michael rolled on his side, getting out of the omnic's line of fire before pulling himself up. As he got onto his feet, he instinctively reached into his coat pocket for his Uzi, only to find it wasn't there. His heart skipped a beat as felt the empty holster, before remembering what he had done with the weapon.

Turning around, he could see his allies engaged in combat, with the Centurion getting hit with lasers, and the Master fighting in melee combat with the omnics. He turned to see Din attempting to pull the trigger on his Uzi, but nothing happened. Before long, one of the robots launched a spin attack to knock the gun out of her hand. Fuck! I forgot about the safety! In his haste, he hadn't considered the fact that Din likely had never used a gun before, and would have no idea on how to operate it. Now, whatever advantage that it would have provided was null, and with his rifle far too bulky to use in close range, Michael was left unarmed and surrounded by enemies.

Before he could make any moves, the Slicer from before charged at him. He couldn't tell if its weapon was still working, and he didn't want to find out. As the omnic got close, Michael kicked it in the turret, sending it reeling back. With the few seconds that the kick had bought him, he ran in the opposite direction, retrieving his Uzi from the ground. Flicking the safety off, he hardly bothered aiming as he pointed it in the direction of the Slicer and pulled down on the trigger, releasing a volley of 9mm fire at the omnic.

---

Geno was right to run for it, as he narrowly avoided in becoming brutally slammed by Donkey Kong's fist like a wooden crate. He knew that like Mario, the great ape was utterly oblivious to the reality of his situation. It was already a hopeless gesture, for nothing that the doll could say would change his mind. Besides, even if he wasn't possessed, DK would've most likely attempted to clobber him anyways just for the fact that he knew Mario far better than a simple puppet made of wood - let alone after viewing the wounds that the former sustained. It was tough luck.

Now Geno was completely out-matched and on the run through the dark twining catacomb. He could hear the quick tapping of the plumber's shoes and the thunderous thumping of meaty limbs and heavy breathing close behind and they were slowly getting closer and closer per turn. Their unusual speed caused great concern for the puppet using only his thrusters to move effortlessly through the air. But the puppet was committed to stay in the line of danger - not before he can hopefully free, or at worse eliminate, one of his old friends. And this stubborn wooden puppet would do anything just to make it happen.

But if Geno was going to engage the two veterans, he was going to need some backup. Surely there would be other prisoners located down here other than Donkey Kong that are - hopefully - not influenced by the seraphim. But even then, a good weapon or a powerful item would already make things better, even if it's just by a margin. Of course, the doll wasn't going to barge into any old cell, especially with the two hot on his heels. And he certainly didn't want to cause further opposition if whatever room he broke into contained another possessed fighter. Yet as Geno sped to the end of the vestibule, he noticed the door being slightly agape. It certainly looked slightly more welcoming than the countless of closed ones he flew past - and one he wasn't going to let slip by. Once the puppet deactivated his thrusters, he scuttled through the doorway and quickly closed the door as quietly as he could. But before Geno could continue down the hall, he noticed a button that once pushed was able to bar the doorway with metal bars.

A crude defense against the two powerhouses, but with the closed door in place, Geno should be out of sight for the time being.



And that's when he noticed the predicament he was in. The puppet found himself in a well-lit, yet ominous, laboratory, filled with giant shelves stuffed with dusty, moldy, books, as well as a plethora of alchemical equipment, and potions, and its desks piled high with papers containing various recipes, spell scrolls, and theorems. It definitely gave the vibe of one of those story-book, mad-scientist, labs. He noticed the vile green fire that torched the walls of one wall, along with a bubbling kettle that emitted a vile concoction of vile-looking vapors. Geno figured that whoever worked here to be a completely sick individual.

And when he looked a little further towards a stone table in the middle of the room, he would lay eyes on the owner. It was a buck-toothed magikoopa - a creature he recognized with the likes of advisor Kamek and Kammy, as well as the little known witch known as Kamella - who was tormenting what appeared to be a young purple dragon while wielding a vile looking bone-dagger. Geno recognized that the restrained victim also had the same scarlet eyes like the opponents outside, which was definitely a good thing in his case.

Yet despite this, the puppet didn't exactly trust what the magikoopa was going to do to him. And just before it could prod the young dragon with the dagger, Geno quickly shot down the scientist with a single blast of his cannon. The puppet then glanced down at the weapon that the scientist had dropped and cautiously picked it up. He had no idea what this bone dagger would do if it touched the dragon, but he could only assume the worse. He initially believed this green fluid seemed to signify something regarding poison or corrosive acid. Yet it was only a guess at this point.

The puppet looks back at the possessed dragon, who was presumably squirming around to get himself free. For a brief moment, Geno felt sorry for the creature's predicament - yet as the eyes told him, if he freed him now, he would surely attempt to kill him. He then proceeds to look back down at the fiendish bone dagger, trying to figure out what this thing could possibly do once it pierced through him.

There was only one way to find out.

He began to feel somewhat sick inside as he approached the purple dragon with the dagger in hand. In his eyes, he believed he was going to kill the helpless thing, who was completely unaware of the real situation at hand. Tarnished and beaten, the victim deserved to finally be put to rest. He will have to finish what the magikoopa started - whether it would be for the better or worse.

Once upon him, Geno looked down with a solemn expression.

"This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you..." Geno said regrettably as he proceeded to stick the blade right into the dragon's side.

He felt like he was going to regret this dearly...