---

Ever since the first heroic team charged off into the multiverse in order to save one universe from destruction, heroes have been appearing left and right. While The Council was engrossed in trying to stay on top of the research and development of new technologies and vaccines, current events, and planning for the next course of action, they were falling behind with catering to the new influx of saviors. The academy was created to prepare the new recruits for what was in store for them. They couldn’t just accept them and throw them into combat. They had already made that mistake with the first group and they were still recovering from it. The loss of Mario was devastating for the Mushroom Kingdom, and they were still trying to recover his remains.

They should send a thief to steal from a thief, The Prince thought. The Prince was seated on a strange console with levers and buttons. He had no idea what it did or how important it was. All it did was make for a comfortable seat as he waited for the new batch of heroes to meet him at the portals. They were currently getting their booster shots—the vaccines that would protect them from the virus. The scientists were constantly developing stronger doses with every unique sample the heroes brought back with them.

Once the two groups gathered around, The Prince rested his hands upon the console and hopped down. He stood before the gathering with his hands on his hips and a playful smile curling his lips. For a moment, his blue eyes rolled over the various faces. They had a very motley crew, and they seemed to get more and more colorful.

“Welcome to Platform City. I am surprised every day when so many of you decide to leave your worlds behind to answer the call. I suppose I shouldn’t be. You all are heroes after all. You all have been divided into groups, and your team leaders have been confirmed. While we have told you where you will be going, we cannot tell you what is already there. That is why you all must believe in each other and do your best to learn each other’s strengths and weaknesses,” he explained. “Your teamwork will keep you all alive.”

Holding out his arms to his left and right, The Prince further explained, “There are portals to my left and right. I will explain the mission for both. For the portal on the left, the Colossus team. You will be traveling to The Forbidden Lands. There is an ancient evil named Dormin there who we believe may be the very origin of the virus. We can’t say for sure, but he must know something about it. We don’t believe he will just openly tell you his secrets without favors. Learn what you can from him, but don’t be fooled. He is a deceiver. I want everyone to return here alive. When you are ready, the first group may enter the portal to be transported to The Forbidden Lands.”





Universe: Sony
World: Team Ico

Setting: The Forbidden Lands. Our heroes arrive before an ancient stone bridge that spans over a dramatic landscape of plains and canyons with enclosed and cut-off environments ranging from deserts to clefts with tall geysers, dark forests, and murky crevasses. At the end of the bridge is The Shrine of Worship, a gigantic structure in the middle of the lands. The temple's main hall is lined with sixteen stone idols, and at the end of the hall is a stone altar.

Story: The story in this world has already happened, but the ancient evil Dormin is no longer sealed as he once was. He is free, but how? Who freed him? There are many questions to ask and Dormin has many answers, but will he tell you? And if so, at what cost?

Mission: Learn the secrets of the Mugen Virus from Dormin and learn who freed him.

Special Weapons/Abilities Available: Yes

XP Event: Yes

Special Items Available: Yes

Start Items offered: None



Teams were generated using the decider machine.

Team One: Shantae, Piper, and Mr. President.

Team Two: Bentley, Delsin Rowe, and Tiz.

Team Leader names are in bold.


1. XP. The GM will reward your team with XP after battles with minions, bosses, etc. The only XP you will keep track of is word count. Understand, the GM will monitor your numbers to make sure your math is correct and that you’re not giving your character too much or too little. So be sure to use a calculator and double check all calculations. You are an adult responsible for keeping track of your overall XP. If you fail to do this and nothing adds up, then it is not the GM's problem.
2. P.O.. During missions, there will be a posting order that you all will need to follow. Each team has its own P.O., but if one team gets ahead of another team, then this rule may change to put everyone on the same P.O. Otherwise, one or two teams may be waiting on another team to catch up. So be mindful of your posting speed. Some of us have lives and work for a living.
3. Items. If there are any special items to be discovered, the GM may hint to these in a GM post. Be sure to pay attention or you may miss out on an opportunity for a special item. Sometimes though, the items are given directly to players after completing boss battles or in-game tasks.
4. Special Abilities/Weapons. If you want to acquire a Special Weapon or a Special Ability from the Shadow of the Colossus universe, then you must sacrifice earning a General Ability to do so. You can only choose to get either one Special Weapon or one Special Ability. You cannot acquire both. For as long as you are leveling up in this universe, you have an option to acquire a special weapon or ability from that universe. If you leave the universe to return to Platform City, then you can no longer do this.
5. Enemies. The GM will be controlling all of the enemies to include the minions. The GM will wait for all teams to post before writing one complete response post. This way, the GM can better keep track of actions.
6. Figure it Out. You guys will have to figure out how to beat the bosses. Hints will be revealed in the writing, but it’ll be up to you guys to figure it out. If you can’t figure it out, do not get frustrated. There are 6 brains on this mission. Someone will figure it out and be able to help out the entire team. The GM character will not help you.

You do not have to write out your characters going to floor 49 for vaccines if you do not want to. Even if you do write it out, do not post to any NPCs, assuming the GM will write a response to you because the GM won't. All teams are required to report directly to The Forbidden Lands before the bridge. All heroes will emerge together before the bridge. You can see a picture of it in the images provided. The GM will make another post to initiate the beginning of XP generation as soon as all characters are gathered in the same area.

---

As the first group departed to the world of Shadow of the Colossus, The Prince turned back to the second group and indicated the portal on the right. "The Lich King team will take this portal here on my right. You'll be traveling to Azeroth's frozen northern continent of Northrend, where the Lich King, Arthas, resides. We have reason to believe that he's been supplying a rare metal only found in Northrend to the people responsible for the Mugen outbreak, a metal which fuses well naturally with the virus, not to mention we think he's traded these shipments for an infection of himself, granting him more power."

As he speaks, a man in red, evil looking armor approached, causing The Prince to pause and glance over. "Ah, Darion Mograine. I'm glad you were able to make it. If it's alright with you, I'll let you fill the group in on what to expect in that frigid northern hell hole." Standing from his seat on the console, The Prince makes his way out of the room while the armored figure, who The Prince had called Darion Mograine, appraised the group in front of him.

"I've seen weaker looking groups than this and they survived Northrend. Right then, as The Prince said, I'm Darion Mograine, what he didn't say is I'm the Highlord of the Ebon Knights. Who they are, well, isn't important right now. What is important is your arrival point, Valiance Keep in the Borean Tundra. Do me a favor and don't piss off the Keep Commander, hm?" He turned towards the portal and pauses before glancing back. "Oh, and the outer wall is under siege by ravenous Undead, so don't leave unless it's in a group greater than one."





Universe: Blizzard
World: Azeroth

Setting: Northrend. The Frozen north continent of the lush and vibrant world of Azeroth and home to the Lich King and his armies of Undead. Our heroes arrive just as the campaign to put a stop to Arthas' reign begins, the Wrathgate watched but untaken and the Dragonblight at the mercy of the undead Dracolichs Arthas raises to serve him. They arrive in Valiance Keep, where all new arrivals to Northrend who seek to aid the Alliance efforts arrive to receive assignments and pick up any gear fitting the environment.

Story: Arthas has set in motion his plans to first conquer the rest of Northrend and then all of Azeroth. The Horde, Alliance, Argent Hand, and Kirin Tor, alongside the islands existing factions, seek to put an end to the Lich King once and for all. They may be willing to help you find out what the Saronite has to do with the virus, but you'll first need to help them.

Mission: Find the source of the Saronite, figure out it's relation to the Virus, and put down an infected Arthas before he infects all of Azeroth.

Special Weapons/Abilities Available: Yes

XP Event: Yes

Special Items Available: Yes

Start Items offered: 100 gold pieces upon arrival



Post order generated using the decider machine.

Team One: Rubick, Cole Phelps, Blue, Constantina, Vent

Team Leader name is in bold.


1. XP. The GM will reward your team with XP after battles with minions, bosses, etc. The only XP you will keep track of is word count. Understand, the GM will monitor your numbers to make sure your math is correct and that you’re not giving your character too much or too little. So be sure to use a calculator and double check all calculations. You are an adult responsible for keeping track of your overall XP. If you fail to do this and nothing adds up, then it is not the GM's problem.
2. P.O.. During missions, there will be a posting order that you all will need to follow. Everyone has three days to post before being skipped, but if we get too far in without any posts from one person, I will add an extra day to the wait. But please try to not make us wait for long. I understand some of us have lives and work for a living, I'm one of them, but do keep your writing hobby in mind.
3. Items. If there are any special items to be discovered, the GM may hint to these in a GM post. Be sure to pay attention or you may miss out on an opportunity for a special item. Sometimes though, the items are given directly to players after completing boss battles or in-game tasks.
4. Special Abilities/Weapons. If you want to acquire a Special Weapon or a Special Ability from the WoW universe, then you must sacrifice earning a General Ability to do so. You can only choose to get either one Special Weapon or one Special Ability. You cannot acquire both. For as long as you are leveling up in this universe, you have an option to acquire a special weapon or ability from that universe. If you leave the universe to return to Platform City, then you can no longer do this.
5. Enemies. The GM will be controlling all of the enemies to include the minions. The GM will wait for all authors to post before writing one complete response post. This way, the GM can better keep track of actions.
6. Figure it Out. You guys will have to figure out how to beat the bosses. Hints will be revealed in the writing, but it’ll be up to you guys to figure it out. If you can’t figure it out, do not get frustrated. There are 6 brains on this mission. Someone will figure it out and be able to help out the entire team. The GM character will not help you.

You do not have to write out your characters going to floor 49 for vaccines if you do not want to. Even if you do write it out, do not post to any NPCs, assuming the GM will write a response to you because the GM won't. All characters are required to report directly to Valiance Keep before the general Borean Tundra. All heroes will emerge together in the keep. You can see a picture of it in the images provided. The GM will make another post to initiate the beginning of XP generation as soon as all characters are gathered in the same area.

"I got a bad feeling about this..."

The mentally superior turtle named Bentley hadn't taken a vaccine for many years, though he was not a stranger to taking one. Hey, someone with as many allergies as him were bound to take one or more sooner or later in his turtle-life, but he was used to taking them himself; staying under the radar and away from the Police and Carmelita and all that. At first he was hesitant to taking a vaccine he hadn't tested himself, but he realized the immense danger he put himself in after being explained the severity of the Mugen Virus. So swallowing hard and looking away, he accepted the vaccine with a quiet whimper, hoping it wasn't a bad idea.

Next part of the overlaying PLAN - oh he missed saying that word; Plan. Something to work his big brain on - was to report to another one of the leaders of Tetris Castle, one that Bentley had a vague memory of in the back of his mind, stored beside the countless Tetris battles he'd done over the years. The Prince sat in a large console, quite fancy actually and something Bentley certainly would like to look at, but that was for later. The Prince briefed them on their mission - That was an odd feeling, to be told what to do instead of being the teller.

The green mastermind-turtle pulled out what could be best described as a green tablet with the texture of a turtle shell, typing away at it with determined concentration as he took notes of what The Prince told them; Step One, travel to the dimenson known as "The Forbidden Lands". Step Two, locate the entitiy known as "Dormin", and step Three, gather as much information as possible from him about the Virus. Ah, a three-step plan, that felt right. Though from previous ventures, this was certain to get complicated fast.

"We'll do our very best, Your Royal Highness...wait, am I the leader?" Bentley first told the Prince, though the realization that he was going to be the leader of one of the two teams, well...Bentley swallowed hard again. It had been a while since he had been in out in the field, but if their lives depended on him, he was sure to do his best. Bentley turned around his wheelchair and looked at the team, or Gang as he'd most likely call them, giving them a good look over.

"Nice to see new faces here. Oh hi Shantae, thanks for earlier today." Bentley said to the two groups going into the Forbidden Lands, recognizing one of member he'd met in the tavern. The rest, however, were all strangers to him. All were humanoids, except one was a fully functioning robot! Cool! Bentley coughed a bit, straightening himself in the wheelchair and trying to appear more confident. "I'm Bentley, good to meet you. Looks like I'm one of the leaders on this heist...mission, sorry, old habit. Back in my own reality, I was the brains behind the schemes of the famous Cooper Gang. I'm not the muscle of the Gang as it were, but I can crack any code or security system faster than the theoretical speed of light!"

If and when the rest of the team had also given their introductions to the Gang, Bentley hesitantly entered the portal leading to the Forbidden Lands. Not that he was scared of portals, he had travelled through time after all! It was what lay on the other side that scared him. Poor turtle. Once safely on the other side, Bentley the Brain immediately felt the massive openness of the world mounting on his shell. It was just like Canada, Australia and pre-historic Earth all combined. And in front of the turtle rested a long, long bridge and a very tall tower.

"Roll me up in photons and call me Einstein." Bentley had rarely seen such tall a structure before, and took no time to activate the highly advanced piece of technology that was known as the Binocucom, in order to get a better look at the tower, or whatever the structure was. A shrine? "Be weary, Gang. I have a bad feeling about this."

The quick wail of a shrill voice would fill the halls of the 49th floor as Rubick received his immunization shot. The stinging sensation was an experience that he hadn’t quite felt before, or rather, that he could remember. Since leaving the dangerous yet familiar battlefields of his world, the Grand Magus has been having a difficult time remembering the various memories that comprise his life. Can one even claim to be a mage if the only spell left in their arsenal is a neophyte’s warmup routine? This he pondered as Rubick made his way to the briefing room, now physically and mentally inconvenienced before their mission even began. Once he had arrived to his destination, Rubick recognized that the people here were certainly new to him though none struck him weirder than those that he had fought against and alongside with in his own previous adventures. After all, it would be hard to top an assassin constantly phasing out of reality or her future spectral-self who time traveled to end their shared existence.

His highness, The Prince, had graciously explained the two tasks that awaited the new batch of heroes while Rubick was lost deep in his thoughts, only paying bare minimum attention. However, the scent of their guest speaker snapped him back to the present reality at hand. "Mhm. Nostalgic. Have I ever been to Northrend?" he pondered out loud after taking a deeper whiff. There was something definitely familiar about it. Before the Darion even ended his briefing, Rubick had already started walking towards the portal leading to his assigned destination.

“Right. Let’s get to it, shall we?” he would say facing his team before jumping in to the portal without a second thought. If brief contact with a native of Azeroth rouses his locked memories, then surely total immersion would break open this seal.

Just as the evening was setting in an antique and haphazardly maintained royalist spaceforce cargo hauler came in for landing in one of the spaceports on the city's outskirts. Not made for planetary landings, the steam powered ship creaked and groaned in protest as it was gingerly set down by its pilot. Standing just behind that pilot was the captain of the ship, Piper Faraday.

“An excellent landing Wonkey”

“Thank you Captain. I’ll be honest t’was a bit touch and go. Never had a chance to land on a planet before af’er all. You make sure to tell me all about what it's like down there when you get back, ya hear” responded the pilot, who’s legless body was welded to a chair dangling before the wheel of the ship.

“I’ll do just that, so don’t you worry” she assured him

Piper bade farewell to wonky and climbed down the ladder at the far end of the bridge that lead to the level that featured the crew quarters and main airlock. There the rest of the small ships crew was gathered.

“Alright gentlemen, the rest of you get shore leave while I go deal with this council business.” she addressed them, referring to the message they had received earlier that day. “Enjoy yourselves, but please, try not to start any trouble” With that said she opened up the hatch leading to the outside and stepped out into platform city, a chorus of aye ayes following her followed by the resuming of discussion of plans that would definitely get the bot’s into trouble, just as the Captain knew they would.

After a brief walk through the strange city the she arrived at Tetris castle. Piper wasn’t one for architecture, but she had to admit the castle was impressive, dwarfing even the royal palace/space station of the red queen that she and her crew had stormed some time ago. Hopefully this once contained no ancient threats to accidentally unleash. She was lead through the grand halls by a small creature of some kind that seemed to be wearing a green mophead as a hat. She liked its style.

After receiving something called a vaccine from one of the fleshy scientists who specialised in robots Piper joined the others for their briefing. What she heard left her somewhat pensive. It was clear that the council had very little information for them to go on because they were the ones who where going to be doing the scouting into the unknown to rectify that situation. This wasn't her first time going into a fight with an ancient evil however, the hive mind Vectron that had slept behind the moon certainly fell into that category, so hopefully that would prepare her for the trials to come. She was also a little disappointed to have not been chosen as a leader but if the the green shelled creature’s introduction was anything to go by, then a lot of them where leaders and strategists back home.

“Don’t worry about it Bently. Heists are definitely my style. Smugglings my trade but its my crew’s scraping of undead pirates, voltbots and the royal space force that make us renowned back home. So if you need any gunslinging done” The steam bot patted her belt of antique firearms with her left hand “I’m your gal”

Once everyone was doen chatting Piper made her way through the portal to the forbidden lands, wondering briefly why they were called that before the place came into view. The temple and great bridge might have been impressive to the space farer mear hours ago, but they were mostly comparable to the architecture of platform city and the tetris castle. The vast landscape surrounding them however was a sight to behold. Piper, who had grown up eching out a living on and around the shattered and fragmented remains of steamworld, wasn't sure she had ever seen so much land all in one piece before. While the bot marveled at the sight of it all something had clearly spooked Bentley, and his warning brought her focus sharply back to the mission.

“mmm. Sure is peaceful looking for a place that's supposed to have an ancient evil lurking around” she commented, drawing her blacksmith sniper from its holster before detaching the scope and it to take a closer look at the temple and surrounding landscape without pointing a gun around.

Platform City sure wasn't Los Angeles, and Tetris Castle sure wasn't the Central Police Station of L.A. Cole Phelps, the star turned to the black sheep, then turned to the martyr of a conspiracy that was never fully exposed, remembered vividly the city he left behind. A city of wonders, of the modern American world with too many dark secrets to sweep under any carpet. It was dark, but it was still an awe to the observer. But as Cole walked through the streets of Platform City, on his way to what he was told was Tetris Castle for a vaccine, he knew that L.A. might dim in comparison. Not go dark, but just dim. It was like pulled out of an overly-funded Mark Bishop movie with all the money spent on the background.

And yet he knew awfully well that this world had nothing to do with his own. Not directly, and neither did he. Perhaps later?

Detective Phelps took the vaccine with ease. He was a former marine, he had been through much worse in base-camp, and from the talks before and during his walk to what he was told would the briefing, the vaccine was seriously needed. Or perhaps he needed a drink, because when he finally rendevouzed with what he could only assume was his team, he wasn't sure if this was a really big joke, a Hollywood Halloween-party, or if this universe was just that...otherly. First of all it was the Prince dressed in Middle Eastern clothing, then the large knight in not-so-shining armor and the one who looked like a wizard...

No seriously, was he the only normal man in the room?

Cole Phelps had to chuckle though, 'cause it was just too amusing. If he was going to get used to it, better do it fast. He remained quiet, yet observant as the briefing began, switched hands and ended. All the while he took notes in his notebook, plenty of experience telling him that it could be important later. Their mission was to find the source of a metal called "Saronite", finding out if and what connection it had to the Mugen-virus that was so dangerous, and stop some deadly Lich called Arthas. "Sounds like plot pulled straight out of a Pulp-magazine." Phelps had to comment, looking up from his notes at Darion Mograine with a polite smile. "I'll take that as a compliment, Sir."

Then the Wizard spoke up, adressing what was to be believed to be the team on this mission and giving them a very brief talk. Phelps didn't have much time to say anything before Rubick jumped into the portal, making him stand awkwardly before the others as he had expected to introduce himself like the other team had. Pocketing his note book and pen, he looked to the others in the team and gave a quick nod. "Cole Phelps, detective. Call me Phelps if needed."

And with that, he too entered the portal.

"Ow! Could've at least warned me..."

Delsin rubbed his upper arm from where the needle had jabbed into it. The vaccination was necessary, of course, from what he'd heard, but then again all this multiverse business was even newer to him than his powers. He was simply dressed for his mission; beanie, his jacket, jeans and shoes, with his chain wrapped around his right arm. As the rest of the teams geared up for their missions, he joined his teammates: an anthropomorphic turtle in a wheelchair and another young man. The turtle introduced himself as Bentley, and Delsin decided to follow suit.

"Delsin Rowe. Where I come from, I'm kind of a big deal. Saved my city from some psycho woman who was imprisoning people like me to "cure" us, whatever that was worth. Oh, and I can turn into smoke."

As he stepped through the portal to join the rest of the team, he marvelled at the open space of the Forbidden Lands. He let the length of heavy-duty chain unfurl a little from his arm and gripped it in his hand, ready to use it as a whip in case anything decided to pop out and attack them.

"Bad feeling's right. I've got your back, Bentley."

“Ow ow ow…” He knew that committing himself to a new cause would be a little painful, but no one said anything about freaking shots being involved! And it still hurt too! Probably because most of his injuries could be whisked away at the swig of a potion so he never felt much pain in general, but upon coming to Platform City, he’s been forced to relinquish almost everything he knew about his past home. Oh how he missed Norende, especially after finally getting the place back to normal too. The silverish brunette grumbled quietly to himself as he hurriedly made his way to the 49th floor, where he’d been taking a part of a mission along with a few other newbies. Let’s just hope they were nice…

Everyone seemed to arrive within minutes of each other, there being at least ten of them in total. And despite the rather intimidating Prince in some… thing - Tiz had no clue how to describe the contraption in front of him so he simply ignored it for now - the boy’s eyes lingered on the two most out of place out of the group.
Is that a robot? It looks so sleek compared to what I’ve seen… wait, should i even call it and it? Them? Ahhh, this is weird… And why the heck is that turtle so friggin’ huge? And taking notes?! Should I be taking notes too? Aw man, I think it’s too late anyways...

...Let’s just say Tiz wasn’t fully mentally there, but he did manage to catch everything he needed. They’d be gathering information. It didn’t seem too hard, but he couldn’t be so sure since it would be in a different place and the stakes would be so much higher. When assigned their groups, Tiz wasn’t quite sure what to think since he didn’t know anyone’s name. He was definitely sure that he didn’t want to be paired up with both the robot and the giant turtle; he’d probably be eaten alive...or used as a fuel source or something.

As everyone seemed to shuffle into their groups, it looked like Tiz’s wish came true, but despite being in the same group as the very two people - is a robot even a person? - they split again, with him ending up with a shady looking guy and the giant turtle. Honestly hearing the creature talk was even weirder than seeing him, but of course, the boy kept these thoughts to himself and smiled faintly at his introduction. Once the shady boy continued in the line of introductions, it was clear to him that they both had done something pretty cool and special back in their worlds. Could he say that his deeds were just as commendable?
“Nice to meet you Bentley, I sure your brain can make up for my lack of one, haha. And Delsin, was it? That’s a pretty unique name and ability.” His smile turned into a grin as he looked to the others and waved politely. “I’m Tiz Arrior, but everyone just calls me Tiz back home. It’s nice to meet you all and hope we can get along.” His introduction was a lot shorter than the others but he didn’t really have anything else to say about himself, not that they’d understand so what was the point?

Once it was time, Tiz made his way into the portal curiously which would be taking them to their destination. He wasn’t quite sure what he was expecting, but as his feet took their first few steps on foreign land, the boy couldn’t help but let out a gasp of surprise.
“Holy crap, look at that bridge!” He shouted while pointing, taking a few steps forward as if that would give him a better angle of the scenery or something. He had quickly turned back to Bentley at his comment. “Roll up what and call you who?” He questioned before he scooted himself a bit closer to the group, head in almost an everlasting tilt.

Standing with the group before the prince was a man wearing a black and purple, futuristic suit. Sunglasses hid his eyes, obscuring the dread that made his face droop. “I can’t believe I’m doing this again,” Boss muttered under his breath while The Prince gave his speech.

Well, if you hadn’t failed Christmas… Kenzie began.

His brows crashed together over his shades. “Don’t you fuckin’ blame me for that. I didn’t fail Christmas. Christmas failed me! Who knew that one guy was gonna up and bail, and shit?”

You mean Reuben? I thought you two had a bromance.

“No way! That son of a bitch betrayed me. He was supposed to stay by my side and he ran off like a pussy!”

Watch your language Boss. This game isn’t rated M for Mature.

Tilting his head back, Mr. President sighed dramatically. He should have been in Charlie Squad or even Delta! Yeah! He was good enough to be Delta. Everyone else just keeps holding him back! His obscured blue eyes shifted to the Femme Bot. Her again. Shit. He just had to be paired with her. He didn’t trust her one bit.

“They put that red b-” He closed his eyes, lips pursing as he held back a curse word. “That red tin can on my mission.” He was already calling the mission his.

Boss, you have to let go of the past. Why don’t you learn from your mistakes? You were pretty harsh last time. Your team would have led a revolt eventually. It’s no wonder Reuben abandoned you.

“Leave Reuben out of this Kenzie!”

Excuse me, I didn’t know you two were married.

Boss glared over at Piper. He was not looking forward to working with her again. When he found out that she was on his team…again…a hand rose to his face. His thumb and index finger pinched the corners of his eyes. “This game is trying to piss me off.”

Deep breaths Boss. Remember, try to be nicer.

“Fuck that!”

While the group exchanged introductions, once they were allowed to go through the portal, Mr. President clenched his fists and marched right on through. The world flashed white before his eyes, and he fluttered them to clear them of the glare (good thing he brought sunglasses). Boss’s eyes widened as he gazed about at the extensive landscape. His lips parted in awe.

“Are we in New Zealand?” he wondered aloud.

Of course not dummy!

Wiping the enraptured look from his face, the Boss finally faced the group and rested his hands upon his hips. He tried not to look exasperated, irritable, frustrated, and maybe a pinch angry…he failed. “All right. Those who are on my team. I’m gonna keep this short. I am the President of the United States, the greatest fucking country in the world and the universe whether it be a video game or real. I am the leader of the Third Street Saints—a gang. That’s right. You can call me Boss. I’m not hard to work with. I like to keep things simple. If you do what I say, then maybe you’ll make it home alive. If you go running off in pursuit of some strange demonic voice, then I can’t protect you and our mission will fail. So just follow directions capisce?”

The boss pointed over to the bridge at the temple. “Now because that’s the only structure I can see within a mile, and it’s literally in front of us, I think we can all agree that we need to go there. So let’s go.”

Mr. President whirled and started for the bridge.

I can just feel the love and joy already, Kenzie muttered sarcastically.

“Shut up Kenzie,” Boss grumbled.

---

Once the group decided to make their way across the bridge, they would find that a gust beat against their bodies as they crossed the narrow rock path. The bridge felt as though it went on forever, but eventually the temple neared and within, lining the walls, were statues of various beasts. At the end of the grand foyer, where the light shined through man-made windows was a mysterious altar. After approaching and inspecting it, an eerie presence settled over the chamber. No matter what universe the heroes originated, the presence was palpable like a sheet and teased the sixth sense. It was an uncomfortable tension. A voice distorted with that of a man and a woman spoke from the ceiling; the walls; the very air:



The voice spoke in a foreign language unlike any found in their dimensions and somehow, the group understood.

After he and Squirtle received a booster shot, while The Prince gave them their mission brief, Blue was zipping up a puffy light blue coat and pulling a wool hat with ear flaps down over his blonde-head. He then peered down at a blue turtle who was gazing up at him curiously. A wide grin expanded on Blue’s face. “Don’t worry buddy, I didn’t forget about you,” he reassured his Pokemon.

Squirtle smiled and raised his claws. “Squirtle!”

Shrugging his backpack from his shoulders, Blue set it upon the floor and unzipped it. He dunked a hand within and rummaged around for the child-sized clothes he received from Rosalina. He pulled out a small bubble coat and snow beanie, and held them up in each of his hands for Squirtle to see. “See!”

Squirtle waved his claws in the air and danced, “Squirtle; Squirtle!”

Blue set down the hat and unzipped the coat to begin dressing his Pokemon. “The doctors said that the place where we’re going is going to be cold, so we need to keep warm.”

He pulled the hat down over Squirtle’s head and then rested his hands upon his hips as he proudly observed the fit. Squirtle peered down at his coat, turning left and right, and then gazed up at his hat. “Squirtle!”

“Yeah; it looks good on you buddy!”

Blue zipped up his backpack and rose to his feet. Shouldering his bag, he glanced at the group, his eyes wide with curiosity. Everyone was so different. The guy in the suit looked the most normal and would probably be someone he could relate to most. He watched Cole remove a notebook and seemed to be taking notes. Blue’s brows shot upwards and he started patting his pockets for stationary that he knew didn’t exist. He then turned to Squirtle and asked nervously, “Do you remember the docs saying we may need to take notes?”

Squirtle gave the trainer a blank expression and then shrugged his shoulders, raising his claws as he shook his head: “Squirtle, squirtle…”

Blue puffed his cheeks and pouted. Well, I hope he didn’t say anything too important. Regardless, my team has my back!

Everyone suddenly started vanishing into the portal after some creepy armor guy. “Yuh!? Already?” He turned to his Pokemon. “Come on Squirtle! Let’s not get left behind!”

“Squirtle!”

The Pokemon and his trainer quickly dashed through the portal only to appear on the other side. Immediately, Blue’s face felt chilled. His teeth clenched as he felt the shiver dart up and down his spine. “Great Gyarados it’s cold!”

Squirtle crossed his arms and shivered, “Squirtle!”

Gazing at his Pokemon, Blue reached down to his belt, plucking one of the condensed Pokeballs. Pushing the button, the ball swelled in his hand and he pointed it at Squirtle. “Here, Squirtle. Keep warm inside your Pokeball.”

A red laser shot out from the ball to zap the Pokemon. The turtle shrank within the beam’s light and retracted with it back inside the ball. Condensing the ball, Blue attached it to his belt and grasped the straps of his bag. “I wish I brought more warm things to wear! Brr!”

It had been quite some time since she last donned her armor and she was suffering because of it. What had once been a perfectly fitted by the greatest of armored that had escaped the fall of the empire now felt like a battered coffin. Its magnificence had been dented and repaired far too many times and the luxurious lifestyle she had lived after her uncle had become Pantokrator had left the armor a bit of a tight fit. She spent most of her marched through the streets of platform city towards the castle grumbling under her breath about being out on the front lines again, this time with no servants or army. Just her and her Lictor ax.

Still, it wasn't all bad. The city itself was a sight to behold, vast and full of strange and wondrous things that put even her home of Sceleria to shame, and that was a place that was capital of a whole world where the divine graced the earth with their presence and where waited on hand and foot by the dead. Here it seemed they were waited on by a strange little creature with blue robes and amop of bright green hair. The strange little fellow met her at the castle gates and brought her up to the 49th floor, where, after a brief altercation with a scientist over what vaccines where she joined the others for their briefing. They where mostly human almost all of of whom where not wearing any armor. There Two turtle like creatures which wasn’t that odd. She was sure she’d seen some people like them back home. One was some kind of elven dancer. Finally there was a bronze golem of some kind. All in all they were an interesting bunch.

They were given a briefing by a handsome prince who outlined the threat of a Lich King who was making deals with plague spreaders. With the threat made clear Constantina began to take this more seriously, standing up a little straighter and banishing any hint of frustration from her face. She had been concerned that this had just been some fool’s errand to get her out the house, but this was clearly a very important matter. The Law’s of Death had been broken and there was an undead king who needed to be brought to justice at the end of her executioner's axe.

Their leader/guide in this endeavor was also taking someone to take seriously, a man clad in thick and ornate plate armor. Perhaps a little too ornate. She could appreciate a good skull motif but he was maybe taking things a tad to far in her opinion, because skull symbols were quite literally everywhere on his armor. He introduced himself as Highlord of the Ebon Knights, proceeded to be cagey about who they were, which was a little worrying, and then informed them of the existence of undead hordes besieging their destination which spurred her to action.

”Then there is no time to waste. Let us go forth and smite these lawbreaking un-dead"

She said, hefting her ax up from where it had been resting against her side and following the others through the portal.

Vent was still sour over the way their attempts to aid Skyrim had gone, but simply let it go. Agonizing over the past never did anyone any good, a lesson he had learned after Giro's death at the hands of Serpent. So instead he opted to simply prepare for the next mission, refamiliarizing himself with the skills that came with his recently reacquired Models PX and HX. When the call came, he moved, accepting his placing as team leader with little more than a nod. The Prince's briefings were succinct and bare bone, but they sufficed, though he couldn't help but feel a touch sorry for the group leaving with the man who called himself Mister President. The man had no business leading anyone with his lack of...well, lots of things really. Instead of worrying about them, however, he turned to focus on his team.

He was dealing with a man with a wizard's hat, a long coat and kid with a blue...Is that a turtle? Shaking his head, he followed their armored guide through the portal to find himself in the place he had called Valiance Keep. All around them bustled soldiers and conscripts alike, many heading to a courtyard to receive their gear and gold. Turning to the group, he indicates where the normal looking people were going. "Each of you have 100 gold pieces waiting for you. I'm going to check in with the commander and see how things fair here. Please, in the name of all things unholy, don't cause trouble."

And with that, he was gone, crossing a ship of strange design, as it seemed to be steam powered. Turning to his team, Vent smiled warmly. "Right, well, everyone else seemed to introduce themselves, so I'll introduce myself. I'm Vent, a Mega Man. I'm also your team leader for this venture. I'm open to suggestions and ideas, but if I make a decision, that's final. Looking forwards to working with you all." And with that, he turned to get his gold, since after all, he had no clue how things worked here and having some gear from the local area would be good.

With the two teams eventually coming through the portal and at the rendevouz, Bentley shot each member of his temporary Gang a curious yet friendly look. He was analizing them, as best as he could analize a major character from their respective universes in the short amount of time they had. His own team consisted of a tall humanoid man like most of the others, wearing a beanie, jacket and jeans; Delsin Rowe, who Bentley would call Delsin. The chain around his arm looked dangerous enough, but he could also turn himself into smoke? Sort of like the Guru? "Not the best time for introductions, but good to meet you. Sounds like you can get places most others can. And don't tell me you know of The Countessa? Sure sounds like her..."

Then it was the other member of his team, Tiz Arrior. This warrior...wait, was that a pun?! Bentley noticed that he looked rather average, and that he didn't say anything of what he could do. Why? He sounded optimistic around the company of him and Delsin, and Bentley didn't want to push the issue, not now. "Welcome to the Gang, Tiz! I'm sure we'll get along yes, let us just stick together. Do you have a weapon, by the way?" Bentely dared asked at the very least. The master-planner turtle turned back to his binocucom to look at the bridge and tower when he heard Tiz's comment about...well, what Bentley had said and he didn't understand. "Remind me to explain the wonders of quantum physics later, Tiz."

Soon the other team had gathered as well, with their leader, "The President" adressing them all. Another member of a gang, like he and Piper. And what a temper he had, like Muggshot but with worse words! It didn't take long for President to tell them to move across the bridge, and was off. Bentley gave a quick look of disbelief, they hadn't properly scouted it out yet! Not that he could ascertain much from his prelimenary look, and so he adressed his own team. "All right gang, looks like we're on the move. Follow me, and keep your wits about you. I don't like the silence..."

Things didn't improve much for Bentley on the inside of the temple, with the whole places giving him the spooks. The gusts of wind on the outside, the statues of various beasts, the altar at the end of the grand foyer. Bentley rolled his wheelchair towards it, his head and eyes moving back and forth in search of danger or clues. And he sure found both with the sense of dread that washed over him and his analythical mind! And the voice...it spoke to them.

"Eh...yes. We are but...humble visitors from a far-off land. We come in peace." Bentley said in a nasally nervous voice, his hands clutched together as he tried to figure out where the voice came from. But he was one of the leaders, and so he kept speaking. "We come looking for a...for the one known as "Dormin", and seek answers to a virus...a sickness. Do you, unseen entitiy, know anything of such nature?"

---

After Darion and Vent left, the group had a chance to look around and realized that the people, primarily the soldiers, hustling about them weren't all human. Some could be recognized as Dwarves and Gnomes, industrious members of the Alliance who specialized in forge mastery and technology respectively. Most of the Gnomes all manned some kind of, for the setting they were in, advanced contraption. The Dwarves were seen running around in mail and cloaks with rifles as well as heavy armor with weapons ranging from swords and shields to heavy hammers.

Two blue skinned races walked amongst the others, on with hooves and digitigrade legs, wearing ornate armor and carrying either bows or crystalline hammers while the other carried swords and bows and daggers. While they gawked however, a human male in silver armor with a large hammer on his back, medium length brown hair and a brown beard and mustache approach them. "You're the ones that came in with Highlord Darion, right? Well get moving, we have a war to win! Go get your gold so you can get your supplies! Hurry it up, on the double!"

However, as the group is rushed in Vent's direction, one of them notices something strange occur on the ship floating in the water as a robed and hooded individual vanished into the hold. Something definitely wasn't right, though no one seemed to notice.



Post Order: Rubick, Cole Phelps, Blue, Constantina, Vent

“Looks clear” Piper announced after having a good ol look around with her scope. Too clear perhaps, there did not appear to be any life in the area whatsoever other than the plants. She reattached the scope to her sniper pistol as the others introduced themselves. To those that where polite she responded:

“Good to meet you Delsin. Tiz”

She simply rolled her eyes at Boss’s agorgant introduction and then set off towards the large building along with the others. She hung back with the other team as they walked because the less time spent in the company of the boss the better. Bentley was leading the pair of humans who had introduced themselves earlier who were dressed in what she judged to be far more casual clothing than the Boss, which gave her hope they were more her kind of scoundrel than they were the Boss’s. If they even where scoundrels. Based on the gang memberships of her, the boss and Bentley, Piper would not put it past this counsel to have sent all of their less upstanding volunteers together into the dark without support, information or guidance like the other team had gotten because they were less concerned with their safety. Perhaps they had decided that the criminals could go clear the path for a more upstanding team to follow. That was maybe a bit paranoid, they were trying to save the whole of reality after all, but Piper had low expectations of those who held power and authority.

Together they crossed the incredibly long bridge, during which piper tried to engage in some mostly superfluous smalltalk with the other team mostly to pass the time. After what seemed like an age they entered the temple. Intinaly the inside seemed as empty as the outside, filled with statues strange creatures and little else. With on hand on her holstered carrio pistol Piper stepped away to inspect one of the statue more closely, only to be taken aback when an unseen pa system to them. The fact that spoke in an unknown yet understandable language which, along with the duality of the voice, made her adjust her identification of the source of the voice from intercom to magic mumbo jumbo.

Bentley was the one who spoke up in response and he did so very diplomatically all things considered. Piper might have added her own words to his in other circumstances, but currently she had a far more important task. As bentley carefully chose his words she marched over to the Boss and raised a single finger to his lips and shushed him in a preemptive and probably vain attempt to stop him saying something brass and confrontational that would ruin their chances of opening a dialogue.

“We both know you're not good at making friends” she whispered “So don’t screw this up with that abrasive mouth of yours”

She’d much rather not make enemies with the mystery voice till it presented a head to shoot off.

"Jesus H Christ, my guy, way to assert your dominance. Whatever, it's not like you're the weirdest person in the room."

Delsin muttered to himself as the aptly named Boss took charge and gave the order to cross the bridge to the temple structure ahead of them. A plan that literally anyone else could've come up with, but hey if someone wanted to be in charge, he'd let them. As the group made their way across the bridge, Delsin slowed his steps to fully appreciate the breeze that blew across the stone, feeling the cold cut through his jacket and vest. He idly held a hand up and let a few thin ribbons of smoke stream from the tips of his fingers, before stopping as Bentley and Tiz passed him by.

The group approached the temple rather quickly, and a voice that spoke from all around them addressed them. As Bentley conversed with whatever it was that spoke to them, Delsin stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked around, turning around slowly on the spot as he took in the temple around them, and the grassy fields that extended for miles in every direction except up.

"Jeez...how big is this damn place? Feels like you could get lost just by walkin' the other way..." Delsin muttered to himself as he took in all the wide open space for the second time in as many minutes as it'd took them to walk across the stone bridge. He adjusted his beanie on his head as a rogue gust of wind threatened to blow it off and he sighed.

What had he gotten himself into?

When it came to Tiz introducing himself to the group, he seemed to be met with a few questionable glances as well as pleasant responses in return, some of which coming from the two people...robot and turtle to be exact, he was suppose to be afraid of. Definitely not as bad as he thought they were going to be, all of them actually, as he gave everyone in his group a polite but slightly awkward grin. His attention quickly moved to the leader of his group as he seemed to wonder if he had any weapon. Of course, that would be important to mention, especially since he looked to be one of the most normal out of the others.
“Oh, right. No need to fear, I got a dagger and this little thing right here that lets me use other skills, magic, and stuff.” Tiz hummed as he pulled out what looked like an orange and purple stone and held it out in front of the other two to get a look before putting it back for safe keeping. He knew he'd have to get back into the swing of things, but once he did, he'd be able to show what he could really do. Unfortunately, this didn't include anything outside of the realm of common sense for him, seeing as Tiz could only nod dumbly at yet another big word Bentley threw in his face like quantumphysics; or was it actually two?

Before anything else could be said among the three, Tiz and practically everyone else's attention was moved to Boss as he introduced himself. He didn't quite know where the United States was, nor what a President even meant, so he simply followed along with what he was saying since everyone else didn't seem seem to have a problem, bar Bentley, with it. However, Tiz still wanted to be in the loop somehow.
"So, is the President like a Headmaster for a school? Or a King?" He asked out loud for anyone willing to answer, as he ended up falling in step, well in step and wheel, with the giant turtle.

Once they got across the bridge, Tiz was really wishing he had the Dark Knight or Valkyrie class outfits on him. Just something to keep the gust of winds that assaulted his body and made the walk across the bridge almost intolerable from affecting him too much. And while it was cool to see the bridge looked to be never ending when they first started walking, the silverish brown boy just wanted it to END. Thankfully, it eventually did, and he was instead greeted with something a bit less cold and much more on the intricate and cool side of things; that being the temple. Like before, curiosity seemed to get the better of the young Freelancer as he started to wander away once again, stopping every now and then at the statues that lined the walls as he waited for the other's to catch up. They eventually made their way to some kind of altar, one that had Tiz hang back with the others for once. He didn't have great experiences with places like this, so it only made sense; he did make sure to have Bentley in his sights in case he was needed.
“Hm, I don't know if anything's he--” Before Tiz had a chance to finish what he had on his mind, a sense of dread overcame him like a thick miasma. For a second he found it hard to breathe, but once he got use to the feeling, Tiz was now looking for the source, one that probably wasn't human. Thankfully Bentley chose to speak up and address the being that all of them just so happened to understand, even taking a spot ext to the other and folding his arms, awaiting some kind of answer.

Boss was focused on crossing the bridge when one of the members of his group asked what a president was. Immediately, he stopped and gazed back at Tiz, gazing upon the boy with a raised brow. Was he serious?

Now, now, Boss; you are traveling with characters from different universes. America probably doesn’t even exist in their world, Kinzie reminded.

He relaxed. “Oh yeah that’s right.”

As he resumed walking, he told Tiz: “A president is like a king. The President of the United States rules over a democracy. The president is voted into office by the people. I won by a landslide. It’s not every day a president hotwires a nuclear bomb to have it explode in space rather than wipe out an entire nation of kickass people.”

“Settle down there buddy. I think you’ve stroked your ego raw,” Kinzie warned.

Boss continued across the bridge with a big and egotistical grin on his face. When they entered the temple, he glanced to his left and right at the colossal statues that lined the walls. “What is this the Red Keep?”

When they reached the altar, and there was nothing, Boss turned in a 360. Spreading his arms, he exclaimed, “What is this? A yoga simulator or some shit?”

As soon as the “demonic voice” started talking, Boss felt every hair on his body raise as he was suddenly assaulted by chills. “No…” he breathed. Not this shit again. He felt the horrid deja vu returning and before he could say anything, the red robot bitch had pressed her cold metallic finger against his lips.

We both know you’re not good at making friends…so don’t screw this up with that abrasive mouth of yours.

“I like her,” Kinzie said.

Boss’s face flushed with anger. As much as he wanted to say something, he didn’t. Scowling, he closed his eyes as he took a deflating breath, and then turned his back to Piper.

“Oh shit! Oh shit! Boss got whipped!” a different voice came over his communicator.

Boss blinked in surprise. “Pierce?”

“Yeah baby! She made you her bitch!”

Boss narrowed his eyes. “Pierce, shut the fuck up and put Kinzie back on.”

“She left to heat up some hot pockets so you’re stuck with me! What’s goin’ on here?”

Boss’s hand clapped against his face. This mission was going to be absolutely horrible.

"What the fuck!? There's a turtle in a wheel chair!"

---

---

Teams were generated using the decider machine.

Team One: Shantae, Piper, and Mr. President.

Team Two: Bentley, Delsin Rowe, and Tiz.

Team Leader names are in bold.

GM Note: This is where the team should divide. They should discuss who wants to go where and which colossi they wish to take on first. Dormin is free to be further consulted; however, Dormin will not answer the initial questions asked related to the plot. Make wise decisions! Now is time for preparation.