---

Zer0 observed the wreckage of the enemy as he stood atop a mound of debris and dead robots, his sword slung over his shoulder as if he was posing. Was he posing? Yeah, he definitely was.

How had swiveled back towards where they had came, however, as chaos erupted by the sniper and healer. That wasn't acceptable! No sir, not at all.

You know what they say. A Vault Hunters work was never done. He'd need to go help out secure the position and the loot, but first he had something he needed to do.

He grabbed two random spirits after sheathing his sword, crushing one (eradicator) as he had seen the Courier do earlier. In his other hand (scout), however, an odd thought occurred as he wondered what else could be done with these strange things. Surely they weren't just loot boxes? Maybe they could be more than that.

He brought it up closer to his chest, trying to see if he couldn't insert it into his suit like an upgrade, when suddenly it just went in him. Not the suit, but straight in as if it had just became a part of him.

"This may have been a
Bad idea. What the fuck
Did that thing just do?"

Not long after resuming his trek through the left side of the Scrapyard, rendered rather uneventful by the mysterious machine's departure, Tora found himself engrossed in something belonging to his new friend. The green-wearing rabbid bore red eyes but no undue hostility, making the Nopon wonder exactly what Galeem's influence entailed. Did it mean weaker inhibitions, greater extremes of emotion, or what? Rather than these questions, he pondered Rabbid Luigi's device: a round instrument of many moving parts always held in orbit around the center. As Tora watched, the capped creature did a number of tricks with it, sending it up and down, around himself, apart and together. When he fired it, shooting harmlessly at the surrounding slag-heap, he confirmed the orb to be a weapon, but one of singularly little damage and high 'status chance' if Tora were to have to come up a phrase for it. More often than not, the doohickey triggered a second effect when fired, a gooey purple effect that seemed liable to leech the vitality from anything it found.

Still, though interesting the Bworb did not enrapture him for too long, mechanical marvel though it was. As the terrain changed slightly, manifesting a great many angular chunks of compacted scrap, Tora's mind wandered. After clambering over a stack of salvage, he swiped sweat from his forehead and sat down. “Mehmehmeh! Short break, please!” After a moment or two of breathing deeply, he surveyed the terrain ahead. The end was in sight; in fact, if the four misfits started out again, it could be less than a minute until they exited the salvage-yard and entered the danger zone imposed by the area's two guardians.

For the moment, however, he voiced a question he'd been thinking over. “Tora has been wondering. What kind of worlds are friends from, meh?” Passionate curiosity lit his features, and he listened eagerly to the girls' answers. Rabbid Luigi, on the other hand, couldn't do much more than shrug. When the others finished, whether asked himself or not, Tora closed his eyes and proudly spoke about his own home. “Tora come from Alrest, world of huge, endless cloud sea. All people live on titans, amazing creatures so giant they can support own ecosystems, giant cities, much more! In particular Tora live in Torigoth, biggest city on Gormott titan. Before coming here, though, traveled all over many titans with friends! Adventure of a lifetime, meh!”

By the time he wrapped up his explanation, he found himself well rested and ready to continue. The bunch proceeded out of the salvage-yard and toward the Scrapyard's terminus. From their side, they could see a giant, gray-blue vehicle looming over a hill on the left side, but Tora at least had no intention of troubling himself with its investigation. Instead, he focused on the task at hand: the two turrets and the hardhat-wearing man atop the arch just ahead. Just as before at the hairpin, he sidled into cover. “Mehmeh,” he muttered. “Will be nice when find enemies with fewer ranged weapons. All this hiding really impede game flow.” As a game designer himself, responsible for the surprise hit Tiger-Tiger, Tora felt qualified to bring its terms to real life metaphorically.

A commotion to the right drew his gaze. A couple of rabbids, both Ziggies and a hitherto-unencountered variety sporting strange chest-mounted miniguns rushed forward to attack the emplacement. Tora wondered if their presence meant the battle in the Scrapyard's middle had ended in the rabbids' favor, but if this group possessed a spark of military genius, he did not get the chance to find out.

With a couple beepers, the slimmer turret locked on to the incoming group. It began to fire immediately, its chainguns letting loose a torrent of fire, and at the same time it let fly a quartet of rockets that blasted the rabbids' formation apart. A moment later the heavier turret got to work, its larger chaingun spitting out a ridiculous amount of bullets that reduced the rabbids to ash one at a time. As the rabbid squad started to fall apart, Tora came to a realization. “Bunnits are distracting. This is good chance! Tora will take!”

He jumped out from behind his wooden block, pointed his shield at the turrets, and pressed a certain button. The middle of his shield opened up and spat out a melon-sized cannonball that sailed their way and exploded against the arch. Immediately, the heavy turret reoriented his way. “...MEHMEHMEH?!” Tora dove into cover, but this machine did not operate by line-of-sight. In a stunning show of object permanence, it fired full-force into the block, shredding it to pieces. The noise of bullets chewing through wood and the sight of splinters flying everywhere spurred Tora into action, running like his pants were on fire to the next block, and the next, until he was certain the turret couldn't know where he was.

Panting, the Nopon leaned against the block with his free wing. “Meh...meh...” he wheezed. “That one...much smarter...than would be led to...believe, meh.” A bit of movement caught his eye—a little yellow bird, flying around in a circle above his position. As he watched, it landed on the block he and the others hid behind. Was it his imagination, or was it looking right at him, with those strange red eyes...?

The next instant, Baston started firing once more, his fusillade targeting the very block behind which Tora took cover. “Meh!?” the Nopon cried, too shocked to move. “How they find Tora!?”



Following the fight's conclusion, the hero team reunited briefly around Bowser and his trove of spirits. While the abundance of colorful spirits delighted and enraptured the eyes, even if the lion's share of them were the dimmer, more fickle spirits left behind by machines, they could not afford to ooh and aah over them forever. Seeing trouble back at the pit stop where the Master of Masters' entourage had remained, the Courier lined up a number of shots against the marauding Slicers. Somehow the chassis shot missed its mark -the curse of probability- but those meant for the main weapon of Michael's assailant met their mark. They staggered the Omnic long enough for Michael to land a kick and rush for his weapon, but the battle was hardly won. 6 paused only to grab two machine spirits before racing their imperiled allies' way.

A number of his allies followed his example, a couple insofar as new equipment was concerned. Blazermate, Bowser, and Zer0 took spirits of their own, annihilating the rainbow-colored motes inside clenched fists. The prismatic vapors that surged out from between their fingers danced for a moment before taking form, their glowing lines becoming stencils for intricate shapes and then taking on solidity. Zer0, however, went a step further. The moment the robo-scout's spirit slipped inside him, an incredible energy filled him. It flowed through every circuit, pumped through every vein, and suffused every cell—not the pain of burning, or the shock of electrocution, but a pure influx of energizing vitality. To onlookers, it appeared as though his body softened, becoming malleable as liquid while maintaining its shape. A split second, his particles re-coalesced, but each with an essentially different aspect. The assassin didn't lose a part of himself, but had become something more than he had been.

Meanwhile, Bowser's attempts to connect to the Hammer Brothers bore fruit. There didn't seem to exist any set procedure for establishing as bond such as the one he desired; all that was required, it would appear, was a genuine heartfelt attempt. The glow surrounding the twin spirits intensified, brightening until they could not be seen as distinct, and after another moment the Hammer Brothers manifested. Though bearing slightly shimmering forms, they looked solid enough as their feet touched the ground, and together the pro koopas bowed to their master.



Kirby, briefly fascinated by the lightshow, returned to reality after a few moments to respond to Ratchet's question as best he could. Unfortunately, his best consisted of a nod, then a gesture involving him moving his little nub-arms in every direction. While not the most clear, the bottom line of his message could be pieced together. Everywhere. There seemed to be something else, though. For some reason, Kirby looked oddly interested in the Courier.



Even while under attack, the Master of Masters kept his wits about him, and in the corners of his eyes he could see his allies getting to work. Din, having shrugged off her hesitation, unleashed a wave of cold across the ground to halt her assailants in their tracks. With a clear opening created, she put all the might she could muster into a swing of her keyblade. Its unorthodox edge slammed into the rightmost Slicer horizontally, bashing it free of its icy binds and into its ally. Though freed, they could not mount a counterattack with chilled systems, leaving Din a chance to pelt them with strike after strike. Her nimble dancer's style kept her in a constant, elegant flow of motion, preventing them from locking on. Unable to use their lasers, they attempted to lash out with claws and tails, but what Din lacked in strength she more than made up for in finesse. Already compromised, they lay at her mercy.

Nearby, the situation of the Slicer facing Michael took a turn for the worse. With the surprise help from 6, the sharpshooter stunned the machine with a kick before retrieving his uzi, flipping off the safety that flummoxed Din, and riddled it with bullets. The gunfire proved more than enough to take it out. Its destruction meant that both Michael and Din could rest easy, but neither the Master nor poor Agoston shared their success...yet.

The Master of Masters did, after all, boast a great understanding about many things. An invisible smile spread across his hidden face and with a flourish he thrust his keyblade sky-high. “Gather!” Before him, the air coalesced into a whirlpool of energy and force, sucking in all three Slicers facing him as well as yanking off the one atop the Centurion. They tumbled helplessly in the vortex. More for fun than anything, its creator took a swing at one as it wheeled by and lopped off a lower leg with the blade. “Hah!” he laughed, emphatically pumping a fist. “Check it out, this cat's got claws!” Stepping back, he leveled the point of his weapon at the bunch and called out, “Fire!” to send a fireball into their midst. When the magnet effect ended a moment later, it deposited a pile of fried, struggling bots on the ground, ripe for someone else to finish off.

---

When struck by the laser, Kamek -ever a lightweight- flew backward with a yelp and smacked into a rickety old desk. The impact sent up a small cloud of dust and paper shreds, and the robed koopa did not rise from it. For the moment, Geno ran the shop, and he shut out all of the potential distractions lining the chamber's walls to focus on the captive at its center. Spyro's red eyes held great relief, and his face bore a look of gratitude, but as the moments slipped by and his apparent savior failed to rush to undo his bonds, Spyro's demeanor changed. A look of curiosity overcame him as Geno knelt to retrieve the fallen dagger, but incredulity replaced it soon after. The doll approached, knife in hand, his resolution told in his stiff, purposeful movements. “Hey, hey!” Spyro shouted, his voice high and desperate. “What are you doing? You're not going to just pick up where he left off, are you...? Come on...!” He tugged at his restraints harder, his hopes dashed and replaced by even greater terror. If he heard Geno's sympathetic proclamation, he didn't give any sign, but he reacted to the knife as it slid between his scales.

“Gaaah! Aaaahahagh!” Murky green spinal fluid seeped into the wound, carried through the bloodstream and throughout Spyro's system. The knife encountered more resistance, until the force Geno needed to apply to get it in broke the blade off in the wound. Moaning through gritted teeth, Spyro could do nothing as his eyes clouded over. Blindly, he attempted to attack with his claws and breath jets of fire, but his bindings prevented him from doing any harm.

Meanwhile, a figure stirred at the other end of the room. Rising from where he'd been dazed in the dust, Kamek shook his head to clear it. A keen eye would perceive nary a scratch on him; he'd been laid out by the force of the blast bashing him against the furniture rather than the laser itself, it being little more than pushing power against his magically-woven robe. “Intruders? In the castle?” he mumbled. Behind his glasses, he squinted. “He's...doing my test for me? Why, thank you! Still, I must inform the king immediately.” Kamek waved his wand and disappeared in a puff of smoke and magic shapes.

---

The moment the robo-scout's spirit slipped inside him, an incredible energy filled him. It flowed through every circuit, pumped through every vein, and suffused every cell—not the pain of burning, or the shock of electrocution, but a pure influx of energizing vitality. To onlookers, it appeared as though his body softened, becoming malleable as liquid while maintaining its shape. A split second, his particles re-coalesced, but each with an essentially different aspect. The assassin didn't lose a part of himself, but had become something more than he had been.

And it made him feel power.

He looked down, more curious than surprised at the changes to his legs. They looked... Kinda shitty, honestly. But they feel better, in a way, like there was more to them.

His visor lit up, not red but blue, with an emote as he looked across the way towards where the Courier had ran off to.

>:]

In a second he took off, running at a dead sprint. Nimbly he stepped around his slower allies, darting past them with far superior speed that had only increased in the last few moments. As he came upon the hill he jumped, launching himself higher than he ever had on his own before, and found himself jumping a second time in thin air! With deadly efficiency he drew his sniper, slamming in one of the rounds from the ammo case he'd gotten, and fired the shot into the pile left behind by the cloaked figure.

As his jump turned into downward momentum he drew his sword, disappearing from view. The only thing visible from his landing was the sudden flurry of strikes against the downed robots. He reappeared, his sword poking through the wreckage, with one foot on top of the pile and a hand on his hip.

"Turn to ash and die.
My sword cleaves, executing
Even Badasses."

---

As Geno looked down on the restrained dragon, he saw a face of relief wash over the captive figure. For a brief moment, the puppet believed that he might've not been under the allusion of the seraphim at all. Everything seemed like it was fairly normal, and for a brief few seconds, he thought that he might just let him set free. He felt pity for what he had to endure. But he'd trusted such eyes before - and they nearly costed with his life. Even if the poor dragon was indeed normal - even if those eyes of his were indeed his natural color - the puppet couldn't take anymore chances. And, something within his wooden frame called upon him to complete this assignment, despite his persona begging him not to do such a vile action.

He had to do this, whether he liked or not.

So when he slowly began to approach the purple creature with the knife in hand, he had to endure the high-pitched pleads for the great Star Warrior to stop.

“Hey, hey!”

Geno's wooden face began to cringe - his eyes squinting - as he continued on.

"What are you doing? You're not going to just pick up where he left off, are you...?"

He had no choice. The puppet began to walk even slower, as if delaying the inevitable, while he watched the young dragon squirm in absolute mortification. But there was no turning back now.

"Come on...!”

Now Geno was directly on top of him, where he could at last see the full picture of tarnishing the dragon against his own code. He tried to make himself look strong and soulless, but he would shed only a single star-tear - the only visible signification of utter regret that he'd let loose - while his insides began to scream for mercy at his conscious.

"This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you..." Geno said regrettably with a jerk in his voice as he carefully positioned the blade, "I hope you'll understand why. You will be freed too once all this is over... I promise."

Geno couldn't guarantee this to the captive creature, but it was the only thing he could do to comfort him. It didn't matter whether he heard him or not, only that the puppet believed that he'll eventually right this wrong doing. And if he failed, well, it'll indeed scar him one way or another.

And that's when he forced the blade right between the scales of the young dragon. He shut his eyes tightly and looked away as the purple creature began to howl in utter agony. The puppet couldn't bear to hear such a cry coming from what could've been an innocent creature. He could feel the creature struggle, feeling every swipe of his claws and the release of his fire breath just barely igniting his wooden exterior. He considered pulling the blade out, but he knew it was a pointless gesture of mercy now. The blade would then shift further in on its own, as Geno could hear the bubbling of the green fluid surge into the screaming victim.

And then, after one final push, the dagger broke off leaving the blade firmly inserted into the dragon's wound. It would be then that Geno would finally open his eyes and back away from the operating table. The doll witnessed absolute fury that ravaged through the dragon's body - his eyes clouded over as he struggled to break free of the restraints. It was an ugly sight to see what the beast had become, but Geno admitted to himself that it could've been much worse.



Suddenly, the doll heard a mumbling coming from the corner of the laboratory. He'd turn back to see the magikoopa getting up from the blast finally getting his bearings as he squinted towards the action taking place

“He's...doing my test for me? Why, thank you! Still, I must inform the king immediately.” he said before disappearing in a volley of smoke.

So that was indeed Kamek who commenced the experiment. But who did he mean by the "King"? Surely he didn't mean "His Awfulness", as he's already a part of the resistance group outside. Yet Geno should not waste his time thinking on the owner of this castle is as he quickly turned towards the struggling dragon. And that's when he finally realized how he can utilize the best advantage of this situation.

He might as well turn their experiment right upon the two veterans themselves.



Quickly, the puppet rushed towards the entrance of the laboratory, pushing aside everything as if making a clear path towards it. He slammed on the doorbell, opening the iron bars as they revealed the wooden creaking door underneath. He'd then turn towards the enraged dragon, who continued struggling, as he rose his arm cannon towards him. He spared no expensive of his fruitless words towards the dragon, knowing rather well that he'd not listen to what he had in mind. One by one, he shot away at the metal restraints, keeping his free hand to caress the door behind him. And once he finally shot the final restraint, Geno bolted out of the lab and issued a mad-dash towards his left - hopefully with the creature following him close behind.

All Geno had to do now is hope that he'd find one of the veterans first - preferably Mario - before he could find his own plan turned against him.

All he could do is pray to Star Road that all goes well.

The king grinned toothily as his orders to the sprites bore fruit, the two seemingly combining together as they began to glow intensely. The king release them from his grip and allowed them to drift to the floor, where they took on physical forms once more, this time fully coloured and free of Galeem’s influence.

“GAHAHA. EXCELLENT. RISE MY MINIONS AND GIVE ME YOUR NAMES”

The two righted themselves, the smaller one saluting after doing so. “I’m Mallet boss,” he responded, identifying himself “and this is Sledge” he concluded, indicating to his brother with his free hand who simply nodded in affirmation to this introduction.

“GOOD. GOOD. I HAVE AN IMPORTANT TASK FOR YOU BOTH. YOU’RE GONNA CARRY MY HAT FOR ME” Bowser indicated to kirby’s current transportation receptacle “BUT FIRST, PICK OUT SOME OF THESE SPIRITS AND CRUSH THEM IN YOUR FIST TO MAKE SOME EXTRA EQUIPMENT. YOU TWO ARE GOING TO GUARD KIRBY. THE WANNABE USURPER GALEEM’S FORCES WANT HIM, SO YOUR GOING TO STOP THEM.”

The pair nodded in response, “Another one boss?” the less hammer bro asked as he set about the task of picking out souls. Bowser made gave a disgruntled affirming noise as he scooped up the Rabbid Supporter’s soul to keep it from the bro’s scavenging “they never learn do they” he responded, picking up a slicer, engineer and scout sprite from the pile and crushing each in turn while his brother waited patiently for Mallet’s handy work to pay off.

“HA. NO. THEY DON’T” bowser said, before turning his attention outwards to the rest of the team. Some had run off back to the entrance to deal with a few of the small slicers and things looked to be well in hand. Instead of heading over the king flexed his left hand a few times, testing out the new gauntlet that he had mounted upon it. The gauntlet switched satisfyingly back and forth from being an energy buckler when his fist was closed tightly and a lethal energy claw somewhat like ones he had once played football wearing when it was open. Others had taken to the loot pile has he had and had ended up with a wide variety of equipment. Guns, ammo, small electronic devices and a digging tool, there was a whole host of things of varying usefulness and power, which meant that the king was unable to determine whether the faded souls where producing lower quality results or not. Their ninja also seems a lot more energetic after absorbing one, sprinting and hopping around like nobody’s business. Was that a good result or a mediocre one he wondered. After a few moments of thinking about it he shrugged to himself, mentally dismissing the topic, and instead turning his focus to where ratchet was talking to Kirby.

“YEAH, YOU WON’T BE GETTING MUCH OUT OF HIM. PRETTY TYPICAL THAT THE ONLY ONE OF US THAT AVOIDED THE BLAST DOESN'T TALK. OTHER THAN THE HOOD GUY WHO’S MORE THAN WILLING TO FILL IN FOR KIRBY WHEN IT COMES TO WORDS” he said after the pink blob was done miming. “ANWAY. KIRBY. I’VE GOT YOU SOME GUARDS” he informed their vip just as Sledge and Mallet arrived from their armament session to take charge of their duty. The larger brother grabbed hold of the hat and with an “alley-oop” picked it up while the smaller took on the duty of keeping watch. “THEY, AND ANY MORE OF THESE ‘STRIKERS’ I RECRUIT, ARE GOING TO MAKE SURE THIS WHOLE MESS DOESN'T HAPPEN AGAIN. RIGHT BOYS?”

“Yes boss” “Eyup”

“RIGHT. NOW THEN” Bowser rose from where he had been crouching slightly to speak with kirby and hollered at everyone, in the pitstop and entrance way allike. “WE’RE MOVING OUT, SO FINISH UP WITH SCRAPPING OVER THERE AND ITEMS OVER HERE AND LET’S KEEP MOVING.” He ordered, before heading off down through pitstop towards the area boss.

The king got a little ahead of everyone initially while his minions followed after, Kirby cargo well in hand, letting him have a quiet moment with the Rabbid supporter sprite so that, where it being unruly or disobedient, it wouldn't be so noticable. “OK LITTLE RABBIT. YOU WORKED FOR MY SON BEFORE, AND NOW YOUR GOING TO WORK FOR ME, BECAUSE I’M THE BIGGEST AND BADDEST GUY AROUND. GOT IT?”

Whether or not it worked, the king continued onwards along the right hand side path until they came into sight of the same scene that the right team had wandered into a little while ago after their sneaking session. Some way of to the left he could see a large vehicle that was perhaps the hq of the robots. Between him and it lay both the engineer and the central battlefield however, so any investigation could be left till later. He was still some way off when the rabbids where gunned down by the engineer’s turrets, the king mostly hearing rather than seeing the carnage that went down as a result: namly the sound of hails of bullets and rockets flying followed soon after by the subsequent panic/death Bwahs they had induced. The king picked up the pace at hearing the sounds of combat, but was unlikely to arrive before the left team had dealt with their current predicament.

Huff. Huff. Huff. The Courier ran as fast as his fleet feet could take up, heading back up the original hill they had started on. How had his shots landed? He honestly didn’t know. If the sniper was in trouble, then the rest of the group that had been guarding Michael was surely in trouble too, allies he couldn’t see much less protect from his vantage point down lower. He just had to hope things would be alright once he got up there, and that the spirits he had crushed would turn into something more useful for the situation.

The two objects solidified in his hands: some sort of purple box that didn’t appear to be immediately threatening or useful (and thus would need a bit of observation later, when no longer in the heat of the moment) and a pickaxe of all things. A pickaxe? Really? Really? That soldier robot turned into a god damn pickaxe?! Not a rifle or a machine gun or kevlar armor or Hell, even a combat knife,but a friggin’ pickaxe?! What, was that a repurposed mining robot?!

The Courier didn’t have the opportunity to muse on his apparent misfortune anymore, as just as his vision rose above the crest of the hill, the sight of the Master of Masters, the centurion, the dancer, and Michael came into full view. His shots had apparently done enough damage to that Omnic that Michael was able to recover, and finished the job himself. A large number of the robots were being handily defeated and frozen over by Din (did that rod of hers have a miniature cryolator installed?), and the Master… Well, he was having a grand ol’ time defying the laws of gravity, as 6 saw it. The centurion, however, had things in a much more difficult situation.

That’s when the party was crashed by none other than Zer0 and… Hey, did he look different? A sniper round tore through a bunch of downed robots, then the assassin vanished from sight, but his presence could still be seen by the sudden large gashes appearing in the robots clumped together by the Master’s power. Once Zer0 reappeared, spouting off one of his weird ass poems, the Courier couldn’t help but notice that his visor was a different color. And his legs, were they more mechanical now? ”What in tarnation happened to you?” he asked, almost completely forgetting about the centurion.

”Oh. Right. YEEHAW!” The Mojave courier moved in, pickaxe in hand, and took a wild swing at the Omnic that had pinned down the Roman legionnaire, hoping this weapon carried with it some sort of bonus effect or special traits. Alas, that did not seem to be the case as the metal slammed into the robot and pierced its hull with only minor effect. The Courier had more skill in hand to hand weapons like knuckle dusters and the power fist than he had with melee weapons. Factor in the odd shape of the pick and he wasn’t able to swing it with full strength, creating a rather sloppy technique with sloppy results. Still, it had at the very least the effect of knocking the robot off of Magnumus Agoston, even if it was still in perfect working order.

”Aw fuck this,” he sighed, pulling off his best Indiana Jones impression as he simply drew his magnum and placed a round straight into the Omnic’s processing center. ”Y’all owe me,” he commented to the Roman and Michael, before focusing his gaze on Michael specifically. ”And you owe me double for fucking up and shooting those rabbits when I convinced them to help us. I ought to feed you brahmin pie for that.”

Blazermate wasn't too far behind the Courier, who had let off a few shots. Although she noticed when she was in healing range that Din and the MoM were more control fighters, as they had either thrown robots in the air and crippled them, or froze whatever was nearby with ice. It was around this time that those spirits she had crushed coalesced into weapons for her. One was fairly simple, a taser sort of thing that looked like she had to fit onto her arm for it to work, with how wonky its trigger mechanism was. The other she felt like she'd just use and get rid of, a giant minigun. With it being very big and, frankly, heavier than herself, she had to hold it with both hands in an awkward fashion. And with it in her hands, there was no way she could heal anyone.

Zer0 had dashed up behind Blazermate and the Courier, taking out the robots the MoM had dealt with but with odd... robot legs? Well he was already a robot right? Although these legs looked a lot less sleek than what he had before. Either way, he had taken out the robots that were on fire, so Blazermate decided to use this minigun a bit to at least have some fun before she handed it off to someone else. Holding it akwardly, she pointed it at all the frozen bots around Din and opened fire. It took a second to spin up and actaully shoot, but it made scrap out of all the frozen robots as it fired. It didn't take much time at all to rip all the robots Din had frozen into scrap metal, and with the Courier dealing with the robot that had tackled the Centurion, Blazermate dropped her minigun and began to heal the downed man. "Hey, when you guys have had your fun back here, we should all get going forward. There was some massive firepower ahead of us, and I don't think I can heal Bowser through all that damage if we go at it head on." She said, making sure to get everyone up and going with all the omnics in the area dealt with.

---

While the omnics had caught the group by surprise, that surprise was soon lost as others moved in, and one by one, the robots fell. The robot that charged Michael fell to his bullets, and he took no time to finish off the robots that the Master of Masters had knocked to the ground. Zer0 showed up and killed a good portion of the downed omnics, and soon enough, almost all of the enemies had been dealt with, so Michael took a moment to catch his breath.

After taking said moment, he moved up, intent on helping out the Centurion with his omnic problem, where the courier was trying, and failing, to use a pickaxe of all things to kill the robot. Evidently, it wasn't very effective, and he took out his revolver and shot the thing instead. Soon after, he turned to face Michael, and addressed him. He frowned as he heard what he was saying to him.

"Well, if I fucked up, then why'd we win, huh?" He crossed his arms. "The way I see it, my plan worked perfectly. You distracted them long enough for me to take out the important targets, and get Kirby back before they inevitably betrayed us. So, thank you, and you're welcome." With that, he holstered his Uzi, and walked back to where his sniper was set up, taking a minute to fold up the bipod and put it back in its case, before slinging the case over his back again.

Everything about Michael rubbed 6 the wrong way, from his use of a reckless weapon endangering allies to the delusions that winners couldn’t fuck up in the process. Not to mention his indignant tone when talking to the Courier, the sort of smarmy “I know better than you” attitude that ultimately led to 6 killing Robert House to liberate New Vegas. He had half a mind to shoot Michael in the back then and there and remove the problem from the future, but then something off in the distance caught his eye.

A figure stood alone among the scrap wreckage, surrounded by the floating spirits of rabbid and robot alike. A muscular bipedal humanoid figure in armor, with a helmet completely obscuring its face. It seemed to be staring the Courier directly in the eye from a distance of about 200 meters away. Upon closer inspection, that piece of metal it was standing on… Looked a lot newer than the rest of the scrapyard by comparison. Nobody else happened to be looking in that direction at the time, so the Courier spoke up.

”What do you reckon his deal is?” 6 asked, gesturing to the lone figure. Just then, with a rippling of air distortion, the person vanished completely from sight as the spirits also timed out, leaving no trace as to his presence. The Courier never looked away, but just as any of his companions ceased paying attention to the area, the large hunk of metal began to rise up, then take off through the air. A spaceship! He thought intensely. Damn aliens! How many times were they going to plague the Courier in his lifetime?!

”Damn, it’s gone,” he muttered. That’s when the Courier turned back to Michael, though his intense anger had severely deflated from the strange encounter. ”We would’ve won with allies if you hadn’t fucked up. An army stands a better chance than a ragtag posse for this sort of mission, mole rat breath. And unless your world somehow doesn’t have the concept of air sheer your .50 cal anti-material rifle poses way more fucking risk than the benefits it gives when you’re shooting at people engaged in battle. If you want to wreck an oncoming army then that’s one thing, but it’s a god damn miracle you didn’t kill Kirby, or any of the rest of us, with those risky shots. I’d reconsider how you use it in the future, or you’ll find out why I’m sometimes called the Ghost of the Mojave.”

The Courier holstered his magnum, as well as strapped the pickaxe to his back, then turned away from Michael. He took two steps before stopping to give him one last piece of advice, back to the sniper’s face. ”And if you try to take me out first, just a warning. Bullets don’t work.” Yeah, that was suitably badass enough. Hell yeah! He kept up his walk, a large giddy smile spreading across his face. That definitely had to sound cool! Not too fast, don’t skip, can’t let him know that you’re happy. Ok, ok, breathe, calm down, yeeeeah. Let him stew on that for a bit.

The Courier came face to face with the Master of Masters, or as he only knew the guy, “black hooded weirdo,” seeing as he was not present for the Master’s introduction or explanation of various uses for the spirits. With a shrug and a noncommitted gesture, the Courier turned to catch up with King Bowser and the rest, while attempting to strike up a conversation. ”So, you’re an odd one. Kirby didn’t save you like he saved the rest of us, unless something happened I wasn’t aware of at your little camp site. What’s your story, and why aren’t you all crazed as a cazadore like everyone else we’ve seen so far?”

@Delta44@Lugubrious

---

While Tora wasn't enraptured by the rabbit heroes strange weapon for long, Linkle was very interested in it. It was basically some kind of bomb, but not one that she had ever heard of before. Not even in the legends had she ever heard of some kind of poison bomb. Not surprising, it was hardly what you could call a heroic weapon. Watching him play around with it with such child like energy and joy, though, she couldn't help but laugh. When they weren't shooting at you these guys were surprisingly endearing.

"I think I know what happened." She said after considering the situation. "Sometimes, when you find two groups of monsters fighting it out, if you start helping one side the other one will join your army out of gratitude. At least for a little bit. So I bet our friends started helping out the rabbits, and that made the whole group friendly." She nodded to herself and the long white ears on top of her hood drooped down in front of her face. She reached out and gripped one between her fingers. "Or maybe it'd because I'm wearing this?" She shrugged and flipped the ears back.

The three continued on after the rabbit until Tora called for a break. Linkle could keep going, but then again she couldn't remember a time when she'd been tired. The little guy then asked a question that she was surprised no one had asked yet, and Linkle jumped on it. "Oh, Hyrule is the best. It's full of lush green forests, beautiful clear rivers, fields where the breeze always blows just hard enough to keep you nice and cool. A paradise built by the godessess for any people who are willing to live with and cherish the land, from Lake Hylia to Death Mountain!" She threw out her arms to emphasize the great size of the Kingdome, then brought them back together. "At least, that's how grandma always described it. I'd never been out of the village before my first adventure and I didn't get to see a lot of the peaceful Hyrule. I ran into a lot of things my Grandma had never described before while on the road to the castle. There was this forest full of stalphos where an imp in a creepy mask stole my compass, an old temple in the middle of a lake, this big pit where I was fought this strange purple guy, and even this place where it was always sunset. Shadow people lived there, and one of them helped me rescue Princess Zelda from this insane shadow man."

She folded her arms and sighed sadly. "By the time I made it to the castle it was about to fall to the forces of darkness. I thought after I took care of that I could finally see the peaceful Hyrule grandma told me stories about, but then this all happened." She looked around, and seemed to suddenly realize that she had lost her some of her peppy, never say die energy. She smacked herself on the cheeks a few times and perked herself back up. "But that's okay! The reason Hyrule is so peaceful is that whenever disasters like this rear their ugly heads the Legendary Hero is always there to put everything right again. This time, that's me! So I'll just take my grand tour after we settle this mess."

---

Linkle couldn't help but agree with Tora's complaints about having to hide. She really starting to get sick of it. She watched from relative safety as the rabbit army was decimated by the two robots that flanked the helmeted man. It looked like her earlier idea had been right and that the other group had swung the battle in the rabbits favor and if it were up to her she would have been right up there with them, diving into the thick of it. Instead she was here, taking cover again.

Tora separated from her and Minako, spotting his chance to advance while the turrets were distracted with the rabbits and taking his shot. This had the unfortunate effect of attracting one of the turrets attention and it began harrying him as he tried to move from cover to comer.

But now they had a problem. One gun was focusing on Tora, the other was finishing off the rabbits. Neither was looking at them. She looked over the the heroic green rabbit that they had followed over here, and the poison puddles his weapon created. She looked back up at how close together all three of their enemies were. "Hey." She called to the rabbit while dispensing a bomb from her holstered crossbows. She held it out to him, pointed to the bomb in his hand, then jerked her thumb at the turret nest the engineer had set up. She waved her arm at him to come one, then vaulted her cover and started sprinting at the turrets hoping her would follow. She had to get him close enough before the rest of those rabbits were completely gone or, barring that, act as a distraction herself so he could float that whole area in poison purple too.

Unluckily the rabbit army didn't seem to be doing so hot as the turret fired it's missiles into the midst again, but that's when Linkle felt the turret come into sharp focus. There, she could see it! It was like a shield hovering over the top of the turret. It's big attack had left it vulnerable. She doubled her effort, spreading up as she came into range. She threw her bomb, but not just the one. She reached down and suspended another bomb from the crossbows, then another, and another, tossing a whole cluster of bombs primarily at the rocket shooting turret to try and do enough damage to knock it off kilter so she could move in for the kill before they refocused their attention on her.

---

So, they had a new friend now? Minako wasn't sure what to make of the Rabbid's decision-making. Perhaps he was just trying to save his own skin, maybe go along for the ride. Something about these creatures seemed very chaotic though, so she very much doubted he would attack them.
At least for now.
His weapon thing wasn't of much interest to her either. Things that were hard to comprehend could always be better understood at a later date, when less pressing matters were about. As it stood they were still separated from their group, and could consider their scouting almost complete. The fact they had gotten this far and not been jumped meant it was safe for the others to join them, assuming things took a turn for the worst on the open battlefield. But if the Aeon was with them, then they at least had the healer.

"Come on, we're almost done." It wasn't an order, and better suited as a gentle nudge to get the group moving. She set the pace for the four to move at, pushing herself in the process, though thankfully the human body was remarkably amazing at conserving stamina. The remainder of the path being clear put Minako's mind at ease, to which she let out an audible sigh of relief, thankful she didn't have to deal with anything on the way. But of course, there was still one last challenge which remained.

Before they could hop into that boat of pain and more pain, Tora's suggestion of rest got a nod of agreement from Minako. Thankfully this world wasn't like Tartarus, it wasn't going to make you impossibly tired just by being there, but fate hated her for some reason and decided to destroy her physical strength. Though she didn't say anything aloud, she was thankful they had the chance to rest, even if it meant delving into her past. It wouldn't hurt to share details of her own world, and it seemed remarkably dull next to Linkle's.

"Somehow the words paradise and Death Mountain don't feel like they should be in the same sentence." Her humour was still intact, at least, even if it was dulled considerably to how she used to act. Crimson eyes turned skyward for guidance to answer Tora's question, though it was surprisingly hard to get across how it really felt. If Linkle's was some kind of magical realm filled with wonder and fantasy, then describing a metropolitan area as 'normal' would be difficult. Maybe it would be best to hype it up as something otherworldly? It wouldn't be lying.
"I came from a country called 'Japan', on a planet called 'Earth'. Technology is very advanced, compared to your world, and people like that man in the suit are commonplace. I think we're a thousand years apart or two, but it depends on how closely your world can relate to my own's history. A hundred years ago there were two World Wars, wars that brought in such great armies and terrible weapons that, for the most part, nobody wants to have a third. Because of this, as well as the high numbers of people and inventions that allow people to talk to one-another across oceans instantly, peace has settled comfortably on most of the world."

There was a temporary silence as she gathered her thoughts on her own country, as well as her experiences in the world. "Japan is... very densely populated. Take the amount of people in your village, times it by several thousand, and it still won't reach anywhere near the most populated city centres. Because of this, we had to build up. Our buildings are tall, made of hard metals and concrete, and can fit many, many people inside. I lived in a place called Iwatodai, a port city with lots of tall buildings and lots of people. It was nice though, especially the view of the ocean at sunset, which would coat everything in sight in a beautiful golden colour. At night, however, a strange event happens between 12pm and 1am, in which the sky turns green, people turn into coffins, and a giant labyrinth towering above all else erupts from the ground. We call it the Dark Hour, and it's really hard to explain, but basically it's a cursed time of the night where monsters come out to feed on the apathetic nature of humanity. A group of friends of mine helped me defeat the Dark Hour, so now people don't have to worry about disappearing in the night, but I was taken by the light soon after. I just hope all that hard work was worth it."

As Minako came to realise she had been talking much too long, the redhead cleared her throat and let Tora speak. She listened attentively to make up for her speaking so long. "Sounds like it was pretty fun. Maybe if this collection of worlds really has everything, I can see some of these giant titans you're talking about." With everyone gaining a bit of an understanding on where they all came from, it gave them a bit more insight into each-other's history. Normally this would mean a social link level up, but in this strange world melding realities together, social links didn't exist, at least not yet. Maybe once she had her Persona...

---

Sliding into cover to avoid being shot at, Minako eyed the situation carefully. Seeing those turrets made her shudder, especially as they began blaring rounds at a rapid pace, but her heart was... mostly steady. She couldn't see any revolvers, so there was that. A rabbid group was being torn to shreds nearby, but hey, it wasn't their group. At least, not until Tora decided to poke his head out and get shot at...

"Jesus!" Through clenched teeth she kept low, though no bullets whirled over her head directly. Despite this, the cracking of air pressure was giving her a heart attack, so it wasn't all great. While the noppon was confident he could take a few hits, something told Minako that even the toughest she knew would be ruined by that level of firepower, so he was right to be terrified. She could only hope his shield would protect him from some of the damage - if the Aeon couldn't get to them in time to heal them, then she could always use her Soma. A waste of a Soma, but in this world, it may be worth it.

Yet the likelihood of using it rose by several times as Linkle ran out of cover, almost getting a shout out of Minako to get her to stop, but it was too late. While she didn't doubt Linkle's ability, running in front of an active minigun was tantamount to suicide! It made sense considering she didn't know just what a gun could do, but if Minako didn't act fast things would go to Hell at a breakneck pace. She had to do something!
Yet the sounds of gunfire overhead pressured Minako into stillness. Her legs begged her to push forward, but fear mandated this fight, and fear of death, not for herself but for those around her, left her unable to act. No matter how hard she tried, Minako was frozen by fear, the very same fear that gave her so much strength to begin with...

---

---

Roadhog watched in the distance while the lizard was picking up orbs that float across the battlefield. He was still confused about the whole thing. There wasn’t a moment of time to demand answers, but he didn’t know what to ask. So many questions that might not even provide him with an answer. Then, he watched as the lizard was screaming at the remaining rabbits. And somehow managed to convince them to join his side. It was an impressive task to accomplish because Roadhog thought he was a complete fool. Then, he heard shouting behind and saw that the two humans were arguing about something important.

One of them left with a huge grin on his face while leaving the other one behind in disbelief. Roadhog saw that he was approaching the man with a black hoody. While walking towards them, his mind started to wander around about the cowboy with that strange device on his arm. He looked like a Junker, but Roadhog would have recognized him by now, especially with the way he looked and acted. Even when he was standing besides him, Roadhog kept looking at the man figuring out who was he. Then, there was the black hoodie man.

He was a strange fellow compared to the others thanks to the hoodie; however, one of the creatures said that he was the one who “free him.” He had some questions regarding that and turned away from the cowboy to the cloaked man. “Early, something said that you freed me. How? Why?” Roadhog kept the question simple enough for a proper explanation. After everything that had happened, he deserved some answers.

---

Tora's surprise quickly turned to pain when Bastion's relentless barrage of bullets tore through his cover and into him. A number hit his shield, but many hit him directly, eliciting a agonized yelp as he was rolled away. Once the bullets pushed him far enough away that they lost their force and he came to a stop, he slumped over with a groan. Even with his great defense and ridiculous constitution, the omnic's chaingun inflicted brutal damage. The Nopon -left alone by Linkle's gambit and Minako's terror- might have given up the ghost then and there if he didn't grit his teeth, force a smile, and kept himself alive through force of will. Still, at the minimum level of vitality he could bear, Tora wouldn't be getting up anytime soon.

While this happened, Linkle and her new rabbid friend moved in from the side to assault the sentry nest. She took advantage of the diversion provided by the faltering rabbid squad and Tora to get into close range and assault the turrets with bombs, invariably targeting both because of their proximity. They detonated right on target, blasting the machines with force and fire. For a moment they reeled, their targeting off-kilter, but the goggle-wearing man nearby stepped out of the way of the incoming bombs before retaliating. He leveled a shotgun at Linkle, who hadn't prepared herself for a counterattack, and pulled the trigger to pepper her with buckshot. The rabbid, realizing things were quickly taking a turn for the worse, let out a pair of shots from his bworb. One hit either turret, inflicting a purple, bubbly effect to the tune of chilling rabbid laughter, but the machines had already recovered. The smaller one auto-targeted Linkle, and the other rotated manually to unleash its terrifying force upon both attackers; with a scream the green-capped rabbid threw himself into the moat to escape the turrets' wrath, and if Linkle too didn't make herself scarce in the moment left to her, she'd be taking an even more cruel bombardment than the one that felled Tora.

Regardless of where she was at the end of those few seconds, there ended up being no targets for the turrets to mow down. Without a moment's delay Bastion began to heal himself, using a tiny repair arm to undo the damage caused by Linkle's bombs, and the Engineer unceremoniously whacked his turret with a wrench to bring it back to peak condition. However, the vampiric status effect inflicted by the rabbid remained.

It was this situation, with one ally down, another paralyzed, and the last wounded, that Bowser and the others arrived to. A few block-stacks and junk piles existed for the giant turtle to hide behind, lest he be shot at too. For the moment, with no visible targets, the turrets stood idle; however, the yellow bird from earlier circled overhead, and after a few seconds flew down to perch atop Minako's cover. Bastion followed its movements, and understood the significance of where it landed. Once again, his chaingun's barrel began to spin up.





The arrival of backup from the right side made short work of the hindered robots. In a matter of seconds, the returning allies' efforts rendered the Slicers into spare parts. A moment of peace settled upon the part of the battlefield, possible given the depletion of both enemy forces. Their remainder, bruised and exhausted, littered the Scrapyard's center, but would provide little in the way of resistance to anyone pushing through it. Bowser and Blazermate stood ready to advance, with the former actually taking off following a brief exchange with his new Strikers, but not all was well. A vehement argument broke out between the Courier and Michael, concerning the sniper's influence in the skirmish off to the right. However, it did not take long for 6 to get distracted, and when the bemused Master of Masters followed his gaze he saw nothing.

With the group gearing up to move out again and take on the Scrapyard's principal challenge, the Master wanted to check in with Din and Agoston again, whose reticence worried him. Instead, he found himself met with the Courier and then Roadhog, both seeking answers. Something told the Master that everyone needed to get a move on, or something bad would happen. It would be difficult to make progress with these two in the way, however, and while one could be deflected, the other seemed less reasonable. “Y'know, it's a good question. But it's a long story, are ya sure ya wanna sit here and chat now, when some of our buddies might be getting ventilated? As for you, though, it's simple,” he turned to Roadhog to say. “I used my li'l ol' keyblade to break the light that bound your heart. And even if I'm not really the big-time, gung-ho hero type, you weren't yourself, I can't very well walk away from someone who I can restore.” He saw that Blazermate had finished healing the Centurion and decided to support her movement. After pointing a finger at the shell of Bowser in the distance, he started to walk. “Now, let's get going! We can talk more after, 'kay?”

As he spoke, Kirby appeared near 6, having squirmed free of Bowser's hat earlier. Evidently, the little guy felt well enough to walk, though it was hard to imagine he'd be able to brawl anytime soon. He wore a smile on his face as he looked up to the man and waved his stubby arms, trying to get his attention. Once he had it, the puff did something odd. He held his nubs over his body, then lifted them both straight up. When he did so, a bright pink heart appeared, which he held overhead. With an “Ey!” he tossed it, and it popped on the ground. After it vanished, Kirby pointed at 6, then tapped his own body again. While analogs between the human form and Kirby's were tenuous at best, a little inference might suggest that he had been touching his own heart.



Meanwhile, the Master of Masters hurried through the center of the Scrapyard after Bowser along with Blazermate. “Forgive me for saying,” he piped up, voice a bit strained by his efforts. “But you're an interesting one. The spirits I've seen belonging to machines appear faded, maybe 'cause they're non-living beings without conventional hearts, but yours is strong and bright. How did you come to be?” With a minute or so at his disposal until he reached the miniboss, he felt comfortable with a brisk conversation, despite his insistence on not talking about himself earlier.

---

The moment the last of Spyro's restraints shattered, he leaped off the table and for the door. His aspect was not one of rage, but of pain and desperation; while not blind, he appeared muddled, able to fixate solely on his abiding desire to get the hell out. As such, while he burst into the dungeon corridor at high speed, he did not swerve left to follow Geno.

In his clouded eyes, everything looked like another tormentor, and while a cornered beast would attack if forced to he would not seek an encounter. Instead Spyro took a right, spewing fire from his mouth as he sprinted across the mossy stone floor. His burning breath ignited other cell doors and whatever flammable objects he stumbled across, beginning to fill the dungeon with smoke. A smattering of coughs could be heard throughout the place, but Spyro paid them no heed. A whiff of fresh air greeted his nostrils, and followed it as fast as his legs could carry him.

He ran smack-dab into iron bars, the same sturdy gate that barred Geno's ascent earlier. Turning up the heat, Spyro wasted no time in melting through the lock, and with that out of the way the gate could simply be bulled open. On the young dragon's heels followed Donkey Kong, who hadn't ventured far from Mario's chamber and was now eager to be out of the smoke.

The ape's comrade, as it turned out, got farther in his pursuit of Geno, but now that meant more ground to cover before he could escape the acrid fumes stinging his lungs. Mario managed to make it back through the breach in his cell's back, then to limp through its actual door and catch sight of the staircase leading out, but no farther. His wounds, combined with the baleful smoke, stopped him short, and Mario fell to his knees in a fit of coughing. With a herculean effort, the plumber regained his feet just as Geno appeared on the scene. Mario span about to face his enemy, effectively blocking the exit. In this state, it seemed, he would rather finish the fight than save himself—or perhaps he thought himself doomed either way. “...Time-a to finish this.”

---

Ratchet let out a soft sigh as he got his answer from Kirby, seemed to be that people were being kept everywhere. So there wasn't any way for Ratchet to narrow down his search and try to speed up the process of saving Clank and the others. Unfortunate to say the least. Ratchet glanced back down at his bombbuilder to try and see where he'd put more ammo in, to his surprise the bar indicating his remaining shots had filled itself back up again. So the weapon was passively generating ammo? That was actually quite useful, though Ratchet still preferred breaking ammo boxes.

Ratchet looked up as the Master of Masters ran past him, it looked like it was time to get moving again. Ratchet started running, storing away the bombbuilder so he could run a little faster. Hopefully the bombbuilder still regenerated ammo while stashed away, it'd be pretty problematic if it didn't. Ratchet caught up to Blazer,Bowser and MM quickly enough to her the Master of Masters ask Blazermate about her spirit. Ratchet was interested in where this conversation would go. Ratchet himself knew plenty of robots just like Blazermate, full of personality and life. But perhaps robots in other worlds were simple husks like the hordes of battle bots Ratchet had seen over the years.

During the walk to the zone boss

It seemed that whatever luck dictated the results of item crushing was most certainly not on Mallet’s side. Not that he was complaining as he enjoyed the familiarity of the Necro Smasher. He tossed the wooden mallet up and down a few times to get a feel for the weight of it before storing it where his regular hammer based armaments lived. He’d been gotten a bit of an idea of their teams makeup in quite a short amount of time with just a few questions to his king and felt sure that he would find a use for it in using it to heal their robo healer with a good throw if she ever found herself in trouble. The Slice Cutter was not something he could really find a use for immediately, but as a tool it was still in the ballpark of the bro’s style so this too was stored. The sidearm however was just puny compared to hammers, in his bias opinion at least.

“Anyone wanna trade for or have this” he asked waving the pistol around, holding it by the barrel and offering in the handle to anyone who might want it (@Archmage MCthe pistol might be useful to Blazermate based on your comments on the items you got. Lightweight, one handed and easy to put away/take out.)

Bowser meanwhile got exactly what he asked for as the Rabbid soul solidified into a Striker. The bunny stood at attention and saluted to its new boss, it’s little emergency light bouncing mischievously behind it when it did so.

“GAH HA. GOOD. WHAT’S YOUR NAME?”

The response he got was a “Bwah ha!” which sounded tonally like it was a “(name) Sir!” But obviously lacked any meaning.

“AH. YOU DON’T TALK. FINE THEN I’LL CALL YOU… HEAL” the rabbit nodded sharply and mentally adjusted this name to Heel. “YOUR GOING TO WORK WITH THESE TWO TO PROTECT KIRBY. GOT IT?” Heel nodded crisply in response. “GOOD. BOYS” he turned to the two Hammer Bros and let Heel down off of his claw and down onto the ground. “MEET YOUR SUPPORT. KEEP HIM ALIVE AND HE’LL KEEP YOU ALIVE”

“yes sir” they answered, Mallet saluting while the encumbered Sledge merely nodded. Satisfied the king turned round and continued his march towards the mini boss.

As soon as Bowser had turned around the Rabbid rolled its eyes and immediately dropped all pretense of discipline, its military stance replaced with a casual slouch. It sauntered over to Mallet and Sledge while casually tossing an un-primed grenade up and down and leering at them. Suffice to say Mallet wasn't impressed. “Oh no you dont. Just because the boss ain't watching doesn't mean you get to slack off. Your gonna guard Kirby with us as ordered and don't you dare mess this up”

In response the rabbit simply cocked its head to one side, eyes starting up and away from Mallet to show its disdain, before this disrespectful expression was replaced briefly with one of confusion. He could not see this Kirby person, so he made theatrical show of looking for him, hand placed above his eyes as he looked to and fro. “He’s right here dummy.” Mallet responded to this, thumbing the hat before his attention snapped to it. The hat was empty. “What?” he asked as Heel came over and the two of them peered into the now empty hat. Heel promptly pick-pocketed the Slice Cutter off of the bro while they were next to each other just because he could. “He gone back to that cowboy” Sledge explained much to late after they had all got a good look in the empty hat. Mallet looked over to the slowpokes of the group which Kirby had indeed just joined while Heel fell into the hat after having peered to deeply into it, the Rabbid emitting a brief bwah of panic. Moments later a bout of laughter emerging from the hat after which he poked his head out and prepared to enjoy the ride.

Mallet quickly ran up to Bowser who was still forging on ahead. “Uh boss? Kirby just up and left”

“WHAT?! GAHHH.” the king turned back to them and was briefly panicked before he spotted the pink puff ball up and on his feet. He raised his arms in frustration at his cunning plan being a waste.
“BAH WHAT A WASTE”
He got over it relatively quickly though, snatching up his hat, pulling the Rabbid out of it and then plopping the headpiece back on his head. “ALRIGHT BOYS, LOOKS LIKE YOU AREN'T STUCK ON BABYSITTING DUTY ANY MORE. YOU GET TO SEE SOME ACTION INSTEAD”

The koopa’s where happy to hear this, pumping their hammers in the air in celebration, while the Rabbid supporter was far less enthused.

---

current time

When the team finally got to see what carnage was going on at the end of their rout it turned out to be pretty bad. Minako, Tora and Linkle where all in a terrible state and they were about to be worse with the single gunned turret targeting their hiding spot it’s barrel spinning up as it prepared to blow them all away. In the heat of the moment Bowser did something very dumb, he ignored the convenient cover and announced his presence to the turrets. First he grabbed his hat by the brim and with a quick flick of the wrist tossed it like a discus at Bastion, the hat bonking into its cannon and knocking it off course before it could gun down the left team. “HAY NERD!” he yelled at the engineer. Any follow up insults where drowned out by the responding hail of gunfire from the level three sentry. “GAH!” he roared, bringing his left hand up in front of his face once again. This time however it was not simply scaled knuckles absorbing fire but the Mecha Mitt’s energy buckler, the orange shield protecting his vulnerable face while he once again soaked damage with his armored body.

“HAHA. WEREN'T EXPECTING THAT WHERE YOU” he taunted, only to realize that he was unable to quickly advance to deal with the threats. The dule gunned turret might lack bastion’s raw firepower but it imposed a heavy knock back far greater than the tier one ones back at the pit stop. Despite this he began to trudge forwards painfully slowly, drawing fire and making cover closer to the engineer’s sentry nest easier to reach. Despite this there was still the danger of the engineer, stray bullets from the sentry and, of course, bastion.

As he did this his minions, who had sensibly taken the provide cover, entered the fray. Or tired to at least. The bros were about to charge out into the warzone when Heel grabbed Mallet’s hand to stop him. The bros turned their focus to the Rabbid as it pointed over at a piece of cover closer to the turrets, then pointed at Sledge, mimed the action of giving a boost followed by the sound of something sailing through the air before landing with a poof. Finally it pointed at Mallets hammer and made a tossing motion in the direction towards the turrets. Mallet looked at him, a confused and disapproving look on his face. “What are you on about bunny? We’re wasting time. Let's get out there and help the boss already you coward!”

Heel shook their head in disagreement, pointing their index fingers towards their throat and stabbing them in the direction of it repeatedly while making bullet noises, followed by a death noise as it lolled its tongue out of its mouth. Then it repeated the giving a boost motion and mimed a one hand sailing over the other which was once again making the same jabbing motion accompanied by gun noises.

“We. go over the bullets?” Mallet said hesitantly to which Heel nodded vigorously. “Alright. But you go first” Heel hesitated for a moment before nodding reluctantly. “Alright. Sledge, give him a boost!”

The bigger bro assumed the position, dropping his sledgehammer and cupping his hands together down low for Heel to step on. The Rabbid obliged, taking as much of a run up as their cover could allow before stepping onto the hand platform and being tossed into the air. Heel added his own jump to the momentum of the throw and in doing so turned a Rabbid toss into a team jump, the mad bunny sailing over the stray shots coming at them and the attention of their sentient foes before landing safely behind the closer cover. A few moments afterwards Mallet joined him and together the pair began to attack the engineers position with his worst nightmare. Indirect fire. Safe behind their block the Rabbid and hammer brow chucked grenades and hammers at the sentry nest, Malet aiming at where the sentry sat immobile while Heel spread his fire out, fishing for a lucky hit that caught both a turret and the engineer in the same blast.

---

Geno rushed out of the laboratory and issued a hard left in an attempt to lead the confused dragon to the enemy. Unfortunately, his prayers to Star Road remained bleak as the purple creature's noise resonated away from him. He went right instead of left - an unfortunate oversight. The doll believed that the blade he forcedly inserted into him had caused him to become extremely hostile and would allow him to become an ally in this fight. Turns out he was misfortunately incorrect in this assumption.

Once again, Geno was completely on his lonesome. He only hoped that the dragon could cause a distraction towards one of the veterans, preferably Donkey Kong as he was the heavy hitter, and perhaps that he'll find his way out of this dungeon in the end. Indeed the dragon's presence, along with his intense fire, began to fill the entire maze in a thick blanket of blackish smoke. To the inhabitants with functionable noses, they'd begin to panic as they desperately try to find their way out of the dungeon and towards the exit. Thankfully, the wooden doll need not to worry in dying of asphyxiation...

He'll just have to make sure he can avoid the fires if they come his way.

But Geno wasn't going to leave this place yet. He's already committed to getting his friend out of here - even in the corrupted state that he's in. Mario never left him in their ventures, so its only fitting that he does so now and repay the favor. He began to zip around the dungeon in all directions, paving through the smoke as he hastily searched for him. He looked everywhere, searching for clues such as open doors, footsteps, or his iconic italian voice, but there seemed to be no sign of him. Perhaps Mario had already made his escape and has fled the scene? It was definitely a possibility. But something within him believed that he wouldn't simply shrink out like a coward.

So once Geno began to approach the exit, there his old friend stood. The Star Warrior halted dead in his tracks upon seeing Mario blocking his entrance outwards. He was heavily battered and bruised from their initial confrontation, yet still had just a bit of energy left to spare. His determination undoubtedly over-shadowed his current condition. The plumber readied himself for their final confrontation, glaring down the doll while he rose his fists up.

“...Time-a to finish this.” Mario announced ominously.

For a brief second, the Star Warrior seemed to go back on his initial plan as he rose his arm cannon towards the plumber's face. From the sounds of things, Geno feared that Mario might be a lost cause after all. There seemed to be no other way in bringing him back to his old self, and even if there is indeed one way, he had no idea who to turn to. Yet that's when his conscious reminded him of the choice he took when he stabbed the helpless dragon in the lab. He was reminded of those helpless screams of pure terror and agony, as it became subjected to the power of the blade as a mindless monster. While he also sported those same glowing scarlet eyes, it seemed like he still held onto parts of his own mind. Could it be that Mario is in a similar predicament? And then he remembered the rag-tag group of freed souls that he found himself allying with - even consisting of the plumber's own nemesis no doubt! Maybe they found someone that knows how to revive these corrupted souls back into their own selves?

There must be other alternate options in how this could end.

Geno's arm cannon ceased as he looked straight into the eyes of his old friend.

"No.", he said confidently, "It will not end this way, Mario. I promised myself to get you out of here - no matter what happens. And I'll be sure to see it through till the end!"

Suddenly, Geno's power spiked by a significant margin. He could feel his inner joints and parts working faster than usual, giving him a boost in power. His thrusters gave one final push - utilizing all of the remaining fuel in his thrusters - as the star warrior rushed towards the plumber and colliding with his chest. As soon as he collided, Geno grabbed ahold of Mario's waist as they swiftly left the dungeon and ascended towards the ground floor of the castle. But at the speed and power that he was going, it seemed apparent that he'd crash through the castle roof and find himself soaring into the sky before all of his energy ran out and descend back to the ground below.

---

To be fair to Linkle something very much like this strategy had worked the last time she had been pinned down. But the turrets turned out much more durable, and the human up here was so much smarter than the rabbits. He'd taken cover himself while the bombs has raided down and whipped out a gun she didn't even think her had. Linkle turned to try and dive out of the way but weapon blasted and she felt hot pain bite into her entire left side and was thrown off balance herself.

As the two turrets turned their full attention on her she saw her rabbit friend break off and threw himself into the castle most. It was basically the only place you could go to slip out from under the barrels of those weapons.

Provided, of course, that you could swim away.

Which Linkle, unfortunately, was not confident that she could do. She knew how to kick her legs to keep her head above water, but between the cuckoo farm and the crossbow training she had never really had the opportunity to head down to the local pond to really practice.

So where did that leave her? If she dived after the rabbit hero she'd drown. Worse, it would mean abandoning her comrades to the wrath of these stupid robots. Linkle knew they weren't safe back there, what with how fast the big ones gun had been reading through Tora's cover when she had sprinted up here. But she couldn't run back to them fast enough to avoid being shot in the back. She could stand here and try to fight, but judging by the turtle shells earlier there was no way she was going to be able to damage anyone but the human and how much could she inflict before she got mowed down?

A simple question flashed it's way through Linkle's mind; was she supposed to die here?

No. Obviously not. Hyrule was still in danger so there was no way she could die right now. She was a hero.

So it was simple, really. She'd heard plenty of stories that ended in heroic last stands. She'd never heard one that ended with the hero drowning in a moat. She decided on taking the best of all three options.

Linkle sprinted right, following the rabbit into the crisp blue water. The shock of cool dampness hit her like tidal wave, but she didn't flail her arms or kick and thrash like an animal. Instead she kept one hand firmly grasping the shoreline so she could at least pull her head up out of the water to breath. As she stared down through water that was beautifully clear she could see an abundance of life swimming around the moat. Fish, a giant friendly looking dragon like creature, even things that she initially mistook for Zora lurking at the bottom. She stayed under for as long as her breath held out, looking everywhere for where the rabbit hero could have gone, then pulled herself up for a breath of air.

The new plan had been simple; use the shoreline itself as cover to harass the robots and the man so that they didn't turn their guns back on Minako and Tora while moving down the shoreline towards them. Then they could all back out and hopefully wait for reinforcements to arrive. She was luckily delighted to see that in the interval Bowser had already arrived and drawn the full attention of the enemy, blocking their bullets with a new piece of equipment Linkle decided she desperately needed a copy of if they were going to be battling more enemies like this. He wasn't alone either, as two other semi-familiar figures hurled an assortment of bombs and hammers at the enemy. Unfortunately now Bowser was caught in the same situation as they had been, having to advance into a hail of bullets.

She looked back to check on her group, and swallowed. Tora was flopped out on the ground in as bad a way as Kirby had been earlier today, exposed form anyone that might try to attack him. Linkle kicked herself. She hadn't even been fast enough to stop that big turret from doing that? Minako was nowhere to be seen, which she guessed was fortunate. She couldn't be sure.

She looked back at the man and his sentient guns. Bowser was here, which meant Blazermate couldn't be far behind. She could rescue Tora, but Tora would have to be alive for that. He couldn't just be left in the open. Michael would also be coming, and he had they big powerful gun to take the pressure off Bowser, who she was sure would tear those guys apart with his bare claws once he reached them.

Slowly, Linkle started using the shoreline to pull herself down the shore to war where Tora lay. If noting interrupted her progress she would pull herself out of the water when she got as close as possible to him and drag him to safety.

After that she would have to see in Minako had any ideas because it was clear that Linkle ideas were not going to work out against this enemy.

---

The utter obliteration the Bastion gave to Tora and his cover further wove fear into Minako's mind, prompting further stillness, as though breathing itself could give away her position. Seeing Tora so utterly destroyed by gunfire, barely alive from the looks of things, in spite of being so lively just moments ago... It was a pain Minako thought she'd never have to revisit. There was no doubt in her mind now:

This world? It was Hell.

She could almost chuckle, if not for the paralysis that had taken her over. Hell? After saving the world from destruction? What a downright insulting way to thank someone. What a genuinely brilliant f*ck you reality decided to deal her. Do it again. Do it again and watch your worst nightmares play out before your eyes, is what it was trying to get her to do. Do it again, because doing it once is not eno-

Gunshot! Hide!
She was holding her mouth now, suppressing a scream. It sounded like it came from Linkle's direction...

'No... No no no, no... No way...' Unable to even take a look beyond her cover, Minako was left to fear the worst. Gunfire drowned out any screams Linkle may have made, or any words she might try to communicate, leaving the red-haired teen with nothing but terror. Visibly, her whole body shook, yet beneath the surface a kind of revelation was being made. As her eyes turned up to meet the little yellow bird above, it took note of something else beyond, up in the sky: a majestic blue butterfly. It disappeared as soon as it had come, fading seemingly into the sky itself, yet something about it helped the teen's inner workings kick into gear. Suddenly, she didn't feel so scared anymore. Of death. Of anything. It was the realisation that she didn't need to care about others. She didn't even need to care about herself! If she was in Hell, what point was there to caring for imaginary creatures and stupid robots? What point was there to speaking with her fellow man, if they were all along for the ride anyway? This world would drive them all to insanity.

So, why not try to embrace it?

She knew just how edgy it sounded. Being the outgoing loner, it was practically a part of her being. Socially unfulfilled, most people her age would develop that kind of mindset. But in her case, when she was with S.E.E.S, there was an outlet. Several, in fact, both people and places. Her mental state would remain healthy due to the bonds she formed, and would never truly be alone. But in this new world, something had changed inside of her. An emptiness left behind from the old world, and the problems that came with it. The only way to deal with that emptiness, in her eyes, was to hide it. And the best way to hide it?
Embrace heartlessness.
Though the thought was subconscious, its affects were anything but, represented by her casually standing up and walking out of cover just as Bastion was finished repairing. Time was drawing to a crawl again, Minako hyperventilating, her eyes wide with something that wasn't quite terror nor desperation, but a mix. The six long barrels acted as her abyss, and as she stared the abyss stared back, tracking her body and preparing to fire. 'This is what you wanted, right? It'll be painless. And fast. And brutal. You deserve this, Minako. You deserve to die. It's all. Your. Fault.'

'Yet is it truly so?' Doubt echoed in her mind, taking the form of a small boy, whose blue eyes mirrored the layers of the ocean water. 'Don't you remember? No one can escape time, it delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes.'

While she couldn't see the little devil, he was somewhere. Maybe as a part of her mental landscape, or maybe as a part of reality only she could see. It felt... familiar. Yet distant. Like an echo of a memory on the verge of discovery, yet forgotten. 'It's actually quite funny. To think that you're the one who can't remember me, in spite of all we've been through.'
Bastion's minigun had finished spooling. He wasn't going to hesitate.
'Now isn't a great time, it seems like. But I'll give you a little hint: Put your gun to your head...

... and pull the trigger.'

Reflex kicked in like a starter pistol, and in a fashionable display of dexterity, her Evoker went from thigh to temple. There was no time to waste. Only enough room to say one word:
"PERSONA!"

A golden light filled her eyes, a sigh of unorthodox and cathartic pleasure, as the force from the gun knocked her head to the side. Yet, no blood came of it. Streams of blue wind and silver glass exited opposite the Evoker's gunshot, which fell loosely to her side, Bastion firing straight at the exposed team leader. The first of many, many rounds hit the silver glass forming in front of her, moulding into a shape as bullets were deflected by it. Not all were deflected. Several rounds hit her left arm and shoulder, and a few found their mark on her right side, though with the distance between them his inaccuracy played to her advantage. The silver glass and blue wind forged the shape of a humanoid, bearing coffins tied together with chains, as a resounding roar echoed far and wide.


His body, much larger than Minako's own, acted as a shield to protect her from the damage. Rounds that made contact would ricochet off, burying into the dirt or finding other materials to bounce off of. Some still tore their way through, but for the most part, her Persona was soaking up the damage. Yet, in her broken state of mind, Minako wasn't exactly going to be thinking through her actions. Mentally she wished him forward, to which Thanatos obliged, even if he was likely to fall to the barrage. She just wanted to cause that Bastion pain, and bury Thanatos' sword through his turret - there was always the option of summoning him again if he fell.

It was only as Thanatos rushed ahead that she noticed Bowser and his minions, too caught up in her own head to have heard his arrival. Maybe he'd be fine, so long as she kept the larger turret off of him. She refocused the gun to her temple again, ready to fire and summon her Persona should it fall.

Bowser was quite the charismatic giant turtle man wasn't he? Not only did he turn a rabbid to their side, but he was also a gentleman and gave Blazermate a weapon she could actually use! Sure it was only a simple 12 shot pistol, but it was better than just punching things. As for the rest of the party, this Roadhog guy was trying to piece things together, while Michael and the courier were fighting each other over different ideals. "You two really shouldn't fight. This world so far has shown that everything you do is the right call. Bowser talked an enemy into joining, or you can just crush/eat the spirits for their power. But if you two wanna have a macho clash, do it after we've gotten to the castle ok?" Blazermate said, moving over to her dropped minigun at half ammo and picking it up after putting her little gift from Bowser into one of her pouches on her waist.

After picking up her minigun and carrying it akwardly with one hand, Blazermate turned back to look at the courier. She noticed Kirby was up and about, and did some kind of weird motion. Something about it looked... familiar? Blazermate couldn't put a finger on the right word to use. Thankfully she didn't have to think about things much, as when the group was making a move to follow Bowser who had ran ahead after his new minions, the master of masters decided to ask her a question. It was a strange one, but she figured she'd indulge the man. "Aw, you have an interest in little me? Hehe. Well, I'm a medabot. I'm just a cute robot in a schoolgirl blazer that can heal and fight~. I guess I came from a school, but I'm not really sure~." She couldn't help but tease the man, he gave that kind of feeling. But she wasn't being too cryptic, she did go to a medabot school with her operator once upon a time.

-----------------------------------------

When the group caught up to Bowser and the rest of them, it looked like a crapshow. Finding cover, she dropped the minigun she had carried along as she looked over the battlefield. Minako and Bowser were keeping the attention of a... living person that looked like those robots in the hard hats she saw earlier and a giant minigun robot. Meanwhile Linkle wasn't looking hot, and Tora was out cold with wounds all over him, all gunshot wounds. "Seriously? You guys gotta stay with your medic!" Blazermate said, moving into range and into cover, healing Tora as he was in the most critical state. Thankfully he wasn't dead, but he sure wasn't in a good state.

Using her free hand, she drew her new pistol and analyzed the two beings on the hill that were shooting at Bowser and Minako's weird summon thing. The living hardhat guy didn't have anything in the way of weaknesses, neither did his gun, but they also weren't super sturdy. Meanwhile the minigun robot had a crippling weakpoint on its backside, but it kept that part as hidden as it could. "Hey guys, the big minigun robot has a weakside on its back. Shoot that!" Blazermate said to everyone as she took aim at the engineer and took accurate pistol shots at him, his gun totally ignoring her since it had Bowser as a target.

This pisto was such a nice gift. It was nice being able to heal and fight.

A gloved finger tapped a nigh-invisible chin in curious contemplation. “A school, huh? Well, it is sometimes said that we're the product of our education.” Explosions and gunshots rang out from ahead. Putting his keyblade on his shoulder, the Master of Masters thought better about his inquiry. “Hmm, well, I guess we'll have to get to the bottom of this later.”

By the time the Master of Masters reached the hot zone, the fight was in full swing. The rattling blare of gunfire from both machines filled the air, affecting the nerves of those not accustomed to it in more ways than one. Bowser and his minions, no strangers to battle, held the line as best they could. The Hammer Bros' signature weapons and the grenades of Heel pelted the turrets from a safe position, their throwers perhaps unaware that at any moment Bastion could aim his terrifying chaingun at their cover and lay waste to them, kept at bay only by the relative lack of threat posed.

Minako, however, took the stress in a different way. What she lacked in the strikers' gung-ho attitude she made up for in awareness, and over her came a chilling epiphany. With tremulous but undeterred conviction she strode out of hiding and into Bastion's field of view, prompting his weapon to swivel her way. There came a deadly, cold flash—not just from the Omnic's barrels, but from the muzzle of the girl's own weapon, aimed not at her foe but at herself. Her cry split the air, and the next moment a haunting figure in black took form before her from silver glass and blue wind. A confused bweep sounded out from Bastion as he found his rounds deflecting off the bizarre interloper. No matter how much he fired, his bullets evidenced no effect. He did, however, understand the sword in Thanatos' hand, and the distance between them both vertically and horizontally. Unlike the turret of his partner in crime, he could make judgments and act upon them. Bastion stopped shooting at Thanatos before the Persona sustained too much damage, and turned his chaingun elsewhere.



“Ah-ha-how, mehmeh!” The noise that issued from Tora as he approached told Blazermate that, despite the punishment taken, he retained not just his life but his consciousness, too. As her restorative powers scabbed over and then erased the wounds that blanketed him, he rolled over into a sitting position. Somehow, even with all the hurt he'd sustained, he still wore a smile. “Thanks, meh! Usually Nia do healing in one big burst, but this just as good. Machine must be crazy strong to do this to Tora.” He fell silent to avoid distracting Blazermate as she produced her new pistol to harry the enemy encampment, her patient's condition well enough that he didn't need her full concentration. At about the same time, Linkle appeared nearby, soaked from her stint in the river but not too much worse for wear. Tora gave her a wave

The Medabot's ability to split her focus, however, bore unintended consequences. Thanks to the position where Tora ended up relative to the rest of the fight, she caught a glimpse of Bastion's backside, and the vulnerable core hidden there. When she cried out her discovery for all to hear, the Omnic gave her his full attention. Though a soul-possessed being of circuits and steel like him, Blazermate was undoubtedly the enemy's medic, and the continued presence of someone who pointed out his weakspots and healed his foes could not be tolerated.

The new trajectory of his chaingun did not go unnoticed by either Blazermate or Tora. The Nopon's eyes widened, and his muscles sprang to action. “Look out!” Though not fully healed, he jumped to his feet, then threw himself in front of his friend. A split second later Bastion's fusillade struck it, threatening to push him off balance and finish him off for good.

Yet the barrage ended a moment later. A clicking sound came from where Bastion still stood. Out of ammo. Exasperation filled the robot. He could reload, of course, but it would take a moment and the enemies would no doubt seize their chance. What was with them, anyway?! His red eye glanced between Bowser, Tora, and Minako. Shield after shield after shield. They just refused to rush into the slaughter.

Beside him, the Engineer growled in frustration. Despite the turrets' firepower, they were grossly outnumbered, and their foes were exploiting their weaknesses. After shaking his head, he pulled out the handheld targeting device known as the Wrangler to override his sentry's auto-targeting. “You don't wanna play fair? Fine, I'll give ya a li'l somethin' t'think about.” Instead of pointing its laser sight at an enemy, he turned to the left, where one of the Scrapyard's many massive stacks of blocks and junk towered. A host of calculations ran through his head, and the Engineer squeezed the trigger. His sentry unleashed its rockets, blowing up just the right spot to send the tower teetering in the heroes' direction. After a moment it started to fall, threatening to crush Bowser, his strikers, and the Master of Masters.

Meanwhile, Bastion decided to make a play of his own rather than risk reloading. In a whirl of moving parts the turret transformed into a tank, his speakers blaring the bugle call of a cavalry charge. The barrel of his cannon aimed at Tora and his friends, poised to blast them into next week. The Nopon squeezed his eyes shut, preparing for the worst.

He did not notice a red energy streaming from the river behind him. It moved like a dark vapor through the air and wrapped around him, the Engineer, and the sentry. The next instant he released his shell, which struck Tora's shield dead-on. Yet, the blast that followed, instead of reducing Tora and his friends to smithereens, popped with barely the force of a Supporter's grenade. Tora's eyes flew open. “Meeeh?”

A burst of laughter prompted Bastion to spin around. Clinging to the shoreline was the green-wearing rabbid from earlier, from whose hand the red debilitating magic, Weaken, had come. Though it lacked the face to show it, Bastion surged with fury, and sent his next shot at the rabbid. His target disappeared, still laughing, in a fiery blast, since the Omnic's precious emotion meant that for another moment its back was turned to the Heroes.

The Engineer, cognizant of his partner getting distracted, dropped his Wrangler in dismay and rushed to pull out his shotgun again. The timing could have been worse; at the very moment he'd broken off to knock down the tower with his sentry, Bastion had turned about to vent his anger on the tricky rabbid. That meant, for only a few seconds, the heroes suffered no suppressing fire. He could only hope, as he struggled to prepare his firearm, that those moments weren't enough for them.

---

“Oof!” Mario cried as the doll dove into him head-on. Given Geno's earlier proclivity toward battle, a rocket-powered tackle had been about the last thing he expected. Now, the red-eyed plumber found himself being carried up the dungeon stairs at breakneck speeds. He leveraged his strength to pound Geno on the back with both fists, once, twice, but the forces at play meant he couldn't get a good shot in. The two boosted past Donkey Kong and his exaggerated face of surprise, then past Spyro, until they blasted straight into the solid wooden door at the top of the stairs. Used as a battering ram, Mario fell unconscious straight away, leaving him troublesome dead weight for Geno to try and manage as he hurtled out into the castle proper. The building's lavish interior, and its hordes of panicking Toads, did not distract him from the sunlight pouring in through a window near the great doors that marked the castle's front. Geno propelled himself through it as well, shattering the glass with a tremendous crash, and bringing both he and his cargo into the light of day once more.

Before him, across the great white stone bridge that spanned the moat, a scene of utter chaos awaited. A number of figures, some new and some bearing the faces of his friends, were locked in battle against the turrets that harried him earlier. One had changed itself into a tank, and as he watched the other shot a volley of rockets into a towering junk stack nearby, threatening to squash some of his allies. Geno could also clearly as the tank robot tore itself away from the enemy force to instead obliterate a rabbid at the river's edge, leaving himself open. All in all, Geno found himself confronted with a sensory overload, but also an unprecedented chance to act.