Double

World of Light

Word Count: 990
Level 6 Ganondorf: 37/60
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 39/60

Witch One?

Ganondorf had indeed dozed off in his taxi toward the end of the Kooky Cabbies minigame. And to the surprise of absolutely no one, Captain Falcon stood atop the podium in first place. Of course he did. The Warlord didn’t recall much about Falcon in terms of the latter’s career as a racer, but he knew enough to know that he was the obvious favorite to win that minigame from the start. He sort of half-expected to see one of Bower’s Troop up there as well, given what he recalled about their occasional racing games they held in their world. But instead, he saw two of the men from the other half of the Seekers. Maybe Bowser’s own incompetence got the better of him in the end?

But it wasn’t the winners’ circle that proved to be interesting. No it was the two simultaneous fights happening between competitors as they were all brought back to the circus tent. One of which was between Nadia and the nasty girl Ganondorf had been lumped together with in a previous game. He had no interest in whatever their quarrel was but did note Nadia’s use of a Friend Heart against the latter. Were they really going to consider recruiting her? Well, if that was the case then she had better be able to back up her boasting with actual fighting skill. Only time would tell.

But the quarrel that actually caught the warlord’s attention was one being fought by the smart-mouthed Twilight Princess. He had no concern with Midna herself but he did give an almost insulted glare at the illusory opponent she fought against. Was that supposed to be… himself? That poor excuse of a pale imitation? Or perhaps it was simply another form of Phantom Ganon? Ganondorf chose to believe the latter because even a pale copy of him would NEVER be felled that easily.

Bah, it didn’t matter. Whatever the quarrel was, Ganondorf chose to ignore it. And besides, it was time for the next minigame to be selected. Something about witches needing to hide from a team of four designated to hunt them down. And when he realized he was not going to get to be one of the hunters, the warlord let out a growl under his breath. Him?! Running and hiding? Never!

”Damn that Ballyhoo!” He barked in his anger, ”If not for the promise of spoils I would raze thy blasted tent to ashes.” He threatened, not even bothering to try and hide his absolute contempt for these blasted minigames. Clearly whatever novelty or amusement these games might have offered to him had long since worn off. Now all he cared about was ending this farce once and for all.

”Why run and hide when I can easily crush those fools chosen to chase me?” Ganondorf moved not to hide but to instead make his stand against the seeker team, having no interest in playing this game the intended way. As he did, the witch hat slid off of his head and his boot callously crushed it into the ground without him even giving it a glance.

”Is he serious?” Captain Falcon asked, "That's not very sportsmanlike."

”Hey, it's just this last game then it'll be over, right?” Roxas suddenly asked, walking up and picking Ganondorf’s witch off the ground in an attempt to give it back and calm him down. Unfortunately, Roxas was in for a bit more than he bargained for when Ganondorf suddenly swung his arm around and knocked the Nobody back a distance until he landed flat on his rear end. He guessed there wasn't going to be any getting through to him at this point.

”I’m pretty sure that was a ‘no'.” said Falcon, even helping the grateful Roxas back to his feet. Then he sighed with disappointment, ”Well, we can’t force him to do something he doesn’t want to do. May as well not waste anymore of our time limit and get this game started.”

And just like that, Ganondorf stood alone at the spot the hiders had all spawned in at. Now that he was alone, Ganondorf used his time limit not to hide, but instead prepare defenses against what the rules described would be a fight slanted heavily in his enemies’ favor. He quickly summoned a squad of Moblin Archers and put them to work to gather nearby environmental objects that could be used for defensive purposes. Ganondorf was no fool, he had heard the description of the rules and one of those rules had stood out to him:

”If you poke something that isn’t a hider ten times, then you’re eliminated!

With time running short, Ganondorf sent the Moblin archers to spread out and hide in separate locations around the immediate area that they could take shots from. Their orders were to make sure they moved from location to location in between taking shots. This would either create the illusion of there being more than five of them, or it would also lead the four seekers on a wild goose chase that wouldn’t necessarily end with them finding Ganondorf.

Meanwhile, Ganondorf himself finally picked the witch hat back up. It served as a veil that could camouflage him, and he did at least want to give himself some element of surprise. So he used it to disguise himself as a horse-drawn cart that sat nearby and was hopefully unassuming. When he felt the time was right, he could spring an ambush of sorts. He wasn’t overly fond of relying on guerilla tactics like this but he was obviously not above using them in such a slanted scenario like this one.

World of Light

Word Count: 941
Level 5 Captain Falcon: 16/10
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 18/10

Kooky Cabbies II

”Good luck with your Doctor’s appointment, Mr. Perkins.” Captain Falcon cheerfully told elderly passenger as the man exited the cab. ”And have yourself a fine day!” He added, calling back to his waving passenger as he sped off back into another search for a fare.

“Thank you, Captain!” called the elderly man, but unfortunately it seemed Falcon was already away before he could hear that.

Unlike Roxas - who stuck to a specific area; or Ganondorf - who didn’t even bother to participate - the Captain had been zooming along the streets and roads of the entire island city. His sticking almost exclusively to red fares meant that his passengers were requesting locations all over the city, near and far. It also had the side effect of really racking up Cap’s earnings and overall standing on the minigame’s scoreboard, not to mention him almost never being in danger of running out of time. He really had become the driver to beat. But if his career in the Grand Prix taught him anything, it was that being ahead of the pack also came with having the largest target painted on your tail.

And Falcon certainly wasn’t wrong. Indeed, as the minigame marched on and more and more of the competitors were eliminated, those who remained seemed to become that much more focused and aggressive in their tactics. Some of them in fact began to outright single out the Captain in multiple attempts to sabotage him and eliminate him from the game. The most obvious of these perpetrators were Bowser and his son, Junior. Bowser’s modus operandi appeared to be the direct approach as he would often try ramming Falcon’s cab or running him off the road. And his experience from Kart racing made him a genuine threat in this regard. But these were tactics that Falcon had become all too familiar with thanks to his time here in Carnival Town racing against Morton and Lemmy Koopa, who often employed similar if not identical direct attack strategies against him. Some clever braking and creative steering was usually enough to avoid getting steamrolled by the king’s big car. ”All the muscle in the galaxy doesn’t mean much if you can’t actually hit anything with it, you know!” He called to Bowser briefly after managing to dodge one of his rams and then zooming away from him.

By contrast, Junior’s M.O. appeared to be a less direct approach. His smaller size meant he couldn’t be as liberal with ramming other drivers. So instead he appeared to use his oversized paint brush to literally paint sludgy hazards on the roads in his wake wherever he was driving. The obvious solution to this was to simply avoid driving the same roads and routes that Junior took. But that wasn’t always possible, as sometimes a requested destination was right in the thick of where Junior had laid some of his paint traps down. Avoiding those wasn’t always possible, and at times required Falcon to ease up on the gas to avoid losing control and spinning out. Aggressive driving was one thing but the Captain was certainly not fond of people utilizing actual weapons of any kind. It took something away from the skill element and made the game rely a bit more on chance as a result. Not exactly his cup of tea, as the Captain preferred to earn his trophies the old fashioned way. But nevertheless, he couldn’t control how others chose to play the game. But after a round of playing “dodge the goop” with Junior, Cap shot him with a concerned look. ”Best not overdo it with the traps. Wouldn’t want to accidentally fall into one yourself, now would you?” He warned the prince as he zoomed ahead to continue on toward his destination at the time.

And then there was the robotic girl, Blazermate. A classic example of yesterday’s teammates becoming today’s rivals. Although based on the interactions Cap had with her during Film Those Freaks, he hadn’t taken her for the sabotage type, and yet here they were. Then again, unlike the Koopas, she wasn’t exactly “targeting” Falcon in the strictest sense. Rather she was driving recklessly and that on occasion put her on a collision course with Cap and his blue taxi cab. He had to pull a handbrake maneuver to avoid getting sideswiped by her cab. ”Close, but no dice I’m afraid! Hahaha!” He told her, not even sure if she had been intentionally trying to take him out. Either way, the Captain kept on living to continue driving for the time being.

After this things seemed to quiet down a bit. It was probably because more competitors had run out the clock and thus there were fewer still on the road. In fact by Falcon’s count, there were only a small handful still driving. More and more he passed by cabs that weren’t moving or other competitors who were no longer in their cars, which signified to him that they’d been eliminated. There couldn’t have been much more than maybe three or four drivers left by now. Five, tops.

”Seems we’re at the final leg. Even my own timer is starting to get lower now.” He said to himself, noting that even he couldn’t keep his time going forever. He made course for another red fare, figuring he could maybe get one or two more done with his current time. Maybe three if he really pushed it. ”The checkered flag is growing nearer, folks. Time to see who claims it first!”

World of Light

Word Count: 3,069
Level 8 Roxas: 51/80
Exp Gained: +4
NEW EXP Balance--- 55/80

Kooky Cabbies II

After a bit of a rocky start with his first passenger, Roxas managed to find a bit of a groove to the minigame. Sure, he wasn’t doing as well as the likes of Zenkichi or Captain Falcon, but he was reasonably sure he was at least somewhere in the middle of the pack. He’d mostly been doing green and yellow fares, and so more than likely that was why his score remained relatively middling by comparison. He’d also stuck around the western and southern sections of the island city, mostly in and around Mixed Martial Park where he had initially begun the game at.

And then Roxas made the mistake of trying a red fare. ”Where to?” Roxas asked the NPC guy after picking him up.

“Pressure Point.” The guy said, “And step on it! I’ve got a hot date waiting for me so you better not make me late!”

Roxas swallowed hard. Pressure Point? That didn’t sound familiar, so it was obviously somewhere outside of the area he’d been sticking too. Little did he know that from where he currently was in Payback Square, Pressure Point was a decently long distance away on the northern tip of town. But the Nobody was undeterred and hit the gas anyway. This destination being a place he didn’t know, Roxas found himself relying on the compass arrow - which he hadn’t needed to rely on as much in previous fares after becoming a bit more familiar with that part of town.

North - past the ABS Tower and then Mixed Martial Park, then through Gainsville before making a hard right through Squared Circle Outlets before making a hard left past Backspin Courts and continuing north through Catbird Grove. After that it looked like a matter of following the road up to Pressure Point, which as its name suggested was the highest point of the cliff that could be found on this end of the island. Roxas had been speeding his way here to try and make good time like the passenger had asked him to. As he rounded the road circling the cliff’s edge, disaster struck.

Another cab came barrelling from the opposite direction, obviously one of the other Seekers taking part in the game. It looked like one of the Koopas, either Bowser or Junior. Although Roxas didn’t exactly get a chance to register who it was at the time. Either way, the Koopa’s reckless and aggressive driving put the two cabs on a collision course. Both swerved to miss each other, with Roxas swerving to the left while the other swerved right. But that was where the problem got even worse for Roxas. Roxas’ swerve took him right toward the cliff’s edge!

”OH NO!” The Nobody suddenly yelled when it became clear his car was about to go over the edge into the sea below. The Passenger was already gone, probably having ditched the ride when the two cabs nearly collided. That left Roxas to try and bail from the taxi before he inevitably went over the cliffside with it. He vaulted out from his driver’s seat and used Flow Motion to launch himself back up onto the edge of the cliff just as the tax began its nosedive toward the jagged rocks and seawater below.

”Phew, that was way too close.” Roxas said aloud to himself between gasps for air. And then something else hit him, ”Wait, does this mean I’m out of the running now? Ah, man…” He went from looking shaken to looking dejected and disappointed. Well, there was nothing to do now but start walking. Roxas jammed his hand into his pockets and began to hike back down the cliff road, hoping maybe he’d find something else to occupy his time with until the game was over.

With so many competitors around Grapital City, especially the main island, it didn’t take long for Roxas to find someone else up the creek without a paddle. On the main exterior road that circled the eastern coast around Trophy Heights, he spotted a motionless taxi cab, thoughtfully pulled over to the margin so that it wouldn’t obstruct anyone else headed this way. A couple dozen feet away, the unmistakable golden glow of Sandalphon’s halo shone softly in the shade of a tree, signaling where the archangel herself now calmly sat. After her rendezvous with Goldlewis she’d delivered her dozy but accommodating passenger to her destination on the south side of Haymaker Park, earning herself another precious few seconds, but the writing had been on the wall for a while. Now, just like in Connected Climbing Chaos, she had accepted her loss and decided to relax instead, enjoying the view of Low Key Key’s tropical beaches and sparkling shallows the next island over. Of course, this time she didn’t have anyone to keep her company, but when her keen eyes spotted Roxas, Sandalphon gave him a courteous wave.

”Oh, hey! Sandalphon!” He called out, returning the wave with one of his own before he shrugged and started jogging toward where she sat. He spoke again once he was actually closer and didn’t have to shout, ”You're out of the game, too?” He asked her, though noting that her cab appeared to still be there and intact. ”But you still have your car, right? You didn’t give up, did you?”

“I exhausted my allotted time. My manner of driving is ill-suited to the nature of this game,” Sandalphon admitted, her gaze settling on Roxas. “Am I to assume from your choice of words that you lost your car? Are you well?” She prepared herself to bring out her Aether Lance if the boy needed healing.

”We were being timed?” Roxas asked with a blink, having apparently not noticed that detail about this game. He knew there was an overall time limit to the game, but they were also being individually timed? ”Must have missed that part of the rules. I’m not hurt though, I think this game disables damage sort of like the climbing one did. As for my car?” He made a gesture with his flattened hand, slowly inching it forward before suddenly making it take a nosedive downward, complete with a “falling” whistle and exaggerated explosion sound effect. ”Nearly collided with one of the others and had to swerve to miss ‘em. Trouble is I swerved toward the edge of a cliff and… yeah…”

Sandalphon’s pupils blinked off, then on again. “Goodness. That…must be disappointing, yes?” Despite the flatness of her tone, she seemed earnest to offer Roxas her sympathy. “If it’s any consolation, it shouldn’t be long until this is over. By my estimation, the difficulty of the ‘trips’ continues to ramp up over time to ensure that the game does not last indefinitely.” As she spoke, she unwrapped a couple honey candies stored in her hip bag, then delicately placed them in her mouth. Her pupils became carets as she savored their flavor, and after a moment of consideration, she held out one for Roxas as well. “Here. Honey is the perfect food, packed with vital ingredients. As I understand it, sweet confectioneries also improve humans’ moods.”

”Thanks!” He said as he took the candy and immediately popped it into his mouth. Once he did that he went ahead and sat down nearby, even reclining back against the tree they were both sitting under.

Practically the second he seated himself, Sandalphon laid out her request. “We can still make effective use of this time, however. This would be a good opportunity to explain everything you can about Organization XIII. I wish to ascertain all that I can about this faction, both in terms of individual members and collective goals.”

”Oh right, you did say you wanted to ask me more details about that, huh?” He closed his eyes briefly and thought back to everything he knew about the Organization, and then he opened them again and was ready to talk. ”From what I understand, the current Organization has some new people in it that I don’t know, but I can tell you plenty about the old Organization from my world. But that’s gonna require some context.”

Sandalphon’s pupils became inverted triangles. “Understood, but please be sure to summarize non-critical details.”

”In my world, Light and Darkness play pivotal roles in maintaining the balance of the realms. In fact there’s two main realms, technically more but the most relevant ones here are the Realm of Light and Realm of Darkness. The Realm of Light is where most people live, it’s made up of a collection of worlds that used to all be one world before an event called the Keyblade War broke it up into smaller worlds. That’s where you’ll find cities and towns and stuff. And then there’s the Realm of Darkness, it’s kind of a wasteland devoid of any real life, and Light too for that matter. The only thing that lives in it are monsters called Heartless. They sometimes venture into the Realm of Light where they prey on people with strong Hearts and corrupt those Hearts until they become Heartless like themselves, I guess it’s sort of how they spread and reproduce. And worst of all, normal weapons can’t destroy them, only temporarily send them packing before they inevitably reappear in some other location. Only the Keyblade is capable of permanently destroying a Heartless and freeing the corrupt Heart held prisoner within them.”

So far, no mention of Organization XIII, so Sandalphon assumed this must be important background information. She nodded to encourage Roxas to continue, even if she was already impulsively thinking of ways she could have worded this explanation more succinctly.

Roxas continued, ”Heartless weren’t the only threat. Sometimes, when a person with a strong Heart becomes a Heartless, the shell left behind can continue to live and exist with a will of its own. Without the Heart they once had, they possess no emotions, only memories of what it was like to feel them. Because they lacked the core of who they used to be, these beings were named Nobodies. Organization XIII was a group of 13 powerful Nobodies working toward the same goal: restoring their Hearts and becoming whole again.”

The concept of a Nobody intrigued Sandalphon, since she too lacked emotions, but unlike these people she’d never possessed them to begin with. “Driven by that terrible emptiness,” she reasoned.

”Don’t feel too much sympathy,” Roxas warned, ”The Organization was willing to do anything and everything it took to achieve its goal, even hurt others. And in the end, their stated goal wasn’t even their true goal. The Leader was actually after an entirely selfish goal of his own and had been lying to and manipulating the other members of Organization XIII to reach that end. A former Keyblade Master named Xehanort sought to recreate the Keyblade War in order to summon the ultimate power: Kingdom Hearts. To that end, he willingly split himself into a Heartless and a Nobody so that they could be in multiple places at once to further that goal. His Nobody, taking the name Xemnas, founded Organization XIII and sought out other Nobodies that he could recruit for his cause. And I was one of them.”

Sandalphon’s brow furrowed slightly. This explanation, fraught with jargon from the boy’s world, took a little more of her brain’s processing power than she initially thought. Still, if her perceptive powers allowed her to handle simultaneous conversations, this shouldn’t be an issue. Based on his admission to being a Nobody, though, did Roxas lack emotions? He didn’t seem that way to her so far.

Roxas had paused, taking a breath. This was honestly the first time he’d ever tried to explain all this to someone, and only now was he realizing just how complicated and outright confusing it all probably sounded. ”Most of the original members left the Organization by the end. I was the first who did so. But others did sometime after that. In fact they ended up turning against it and Xehanort in the end and helped with his ultimate defeat, so I doubt many of them would have rejoined him in this world. But there’s some I could point to who might be around and playing some part in the current Organization.”

The archangel nodded. “By all means.” She looked around, hoping that the end of the game wouldn’t interrupt the conversation. Whether she did badly or the best drivers really were that good, though, there were no signs of wonderworld collapse just yet.

”First there’s Xehanort himself.” Roxas said. ”He’s a powerful Keyblade Master who embraced the Darkness in its entirety and learned how to use it to possess and take control of others. Then there’s his Heartless, who took the name Ansem. He’s probably one of the most powerful Heartless in existence, able to summon and control other Heartless - and even awaken the Darkness in others’ Hearts in order to make them do his bidding. And then there’s Xehanort’s Nobody, who took the name Xemnas. He’s the one who created the original Organization. He’s powerful in his own right, able to wield countless energy weapons he calls “void” blades. He can even summon massive volleys of them in projectile form to overwhelm his opponents.”

Abilities like those of Xemnas were nothing to sneeze at, certainly, but Sandalphon took particular note of what Roxas said about Xehanort ‘awakening Darkness’. If he could control or change others, that made him a threat on par with some of the demons she’d faced in the past. She couldn’t help but wonder–could he awaken ‘Darkness’ in anyone’s heart? The archangel would have liked to think that hers harbored no ‘Darkness’ to awaken.

”If you can believe it, Xehanort even managed to utilize time travel to recruit his younger self from the past. The younger Xehanort is still just an apprentice with the Keyblade, but his embracement of the Darkness still makes him a threat just the same. He’s a specialist with time magic, from what I remember. The last one I should bring up is Xigbar. That guy was always a complete mystery. No one ever knew who he was before the Organization, but I do know he was there with Xemnas as a founding member. He specializes in Space magic, can make himself float and teleport around while he shoots at you with his arrow guns. He doesn’t seem like much, but be careful around him. He wasn’t just a founding member, but he also worked with the original Xehanort years before the Organization was even founded. You can always bet he knows more than he lets on, so don’t let his playful and goofy subordinate act fool you, he’s just as dangerous as the rest of them.”

That seemed to conclude Roxas’ report, given the obvious differences in the Organization XIII roster in his world and this one. Sandalphon nodded. “Thank you for the information. With all that said, do you believe that the Nobodies’ ultimate goal is the same, that being Kingdom Hearts’? Do you know anything else about this power?”

”Well,” Roxas began, tilting his head thoughtfully. ”the thing with Kingdom Hearts is that it’s an ancient power that supposedly goes all the way back to the birth of the world, like a creation story, I guess. And so as far as I know nobody knew exactly what that power entailed, just that it was supposedly the source of all Light and the Heart of all worlds. But Xehanort believed he could use it to essentially rewrite reality, and create a world that he was convinced would be better than the one that already existed. So if he’s still around in this world, then I’m willing to bet that he thinks that Kingdom Hearts can undo what Galeem has done.”

For a moment, Sandalphon considered that in silence. Then she inhaled deeply through her nose. “If Kingdom Hearts possesses comparable power in this world, then I share your concern. Such power does not belong in the hands of those without love or sorrow. And choices like what would be best for everyone are not for mere men to make.”

She stared out at the wonderworld’s sea, thinking about Balan’s ability to create simulations like this one. The penguins on that icy mountain and the creatures of the Old World had all just been toys, created and deleted at his whim to play bit parts in the background of others’ enjoyment. The idea that someone could make and unmake the World of Light was no less terrifying. “Our next step, then, is to discern how Organization XIII plans to obtain Kingdom Hearts, and how assisting us accomplishes their goal.”

”Well, I can at least tell you how Xehanort originally tried to do it, by pitting 13 vessels of Darkness against 7 vessels of Light in battle. That was how he nearly managed to do it previously. Of course, for all I know the rules for that are different in this world.” Roxas remarked. After a short pause he felt the need to clarify a previous detail, ”I can tell you're curious, about the fact that I’m a Nobody. Well that fact was true, but I did leave out one detail. Nobodies don’t remain empty forever, they only start out that way, but they eventually come to regain their ability to feel over time. It was the biggest lie Xemnas ever told us, designed to keep us in line and ensure that we don’t go against the Organization’s goal or question our orders.”

Sandalphon’s pupils turned back to power symbols. “Hm. A transient state, then. So in truth, the root of the problem is not the Nobody phenomenon, but Xehanort. Or…Xemnas?” For a moment, her pupils became stress marks. “Nevermind, I believe I understand. Your assistance is greatly appreciated. I suspect when we conclude our time in Carnival Town, however, there will be an all-hands meeting to pool our knowledge, and…it may be prudent for you to explain again. For the others’ sake, of course.”

”You’re probably right.” Roxas said with a sigh. ”Sure makes me wish one or two of the others I knew were around. They’d probably do a much better job of explaining it all than me.” He added with a small laugh.

World of Light

Word Count: 419
Level 8 Roxas: 50/80
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 51/80

Kooky Cabbies

”Guess we didn’t do so well this time, huh?” Roxas asked, not exactly sounding surprised by their lack of placement in the final standings. This elicited a shrug from Falcon, who was standing next to him.

"We knew it would be a long shot, given the state of how our video turned out." Cap responded as he rested a gloved hand on the Nobody’s shoulder, not sounding discouraged in the slightest.

”That’s true.” Roxas admitted, ”Oh well, there’s always the next game.”

That next game - it turned out - was a driving-centric one Ballyhoo called Kooky Cabbies. They’d have to drive people around to their destinations in a taxi, while making good time and doing tricks and stunts along the way for good measure. Well, that was convenient for Roxas, since it looked like he was gonna get to put his driver’s license to use again, although he did wonder how different the taxi would handle compared to the supe’d up machine he’d constructed back in Twilight Town.

Well, it turned out to be not quite the same. Driving a full-fledged car was indeed a different thing from driving what was basically a go-kart. But the taxi itself at least handled similarly to the car Roxas had taken his driving test in, so at least he wasn’t going into this completely blind. He also found some appreciation in the subtle-yet-personalized look of his particular taxi cab. It retained the default yellow color, but had a pair of small plastic keyblade baubles shaped like Oblivion and Oathkeeper dangling from the rearview mirror and a vanity plate that read: TWILIGHT. Obviously in reference to Twilight Town.

Roxas had started near a place called Mixed Martial Park, and it didn’t take him long to spot a first customer, a medium level one whose intended destination was an unfamiliar shop down in Grapital Vista. Well thankfully Roxas’ cab had a device that pointed him in the direction he needed to go, so at least he wouldn’t get totally lost. And so he hit the gas and started driving. He attempted to narrowly weave his way through some traffic for stunt points, but that turned out more challenging than he anticipated when his passenger was also chatting him up along the way. That bit of distraction resulted in a wrong turn which lost Roxas a bit of time when he actually did reach the destination.

”Racing around is one thing, but doing it while chatting? This is gonna be tougher than I thought.”

---

Word Count: 309
Level 5 Captain Falcon: 15/10
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 16/10

Kooky Cabbies

A driving game? Ha! Captain Falcon thought to himself. Why not just give skip the formality and give me the trophy now? He thought this with a confident smile on his face. He’d never say it aloud, of course. Wouldn’t be very sporting. And besides, for all he knew one of these folks was also a skilled racer. But either way, it looked like this next game was going to have him at a distinct advantage. Driving and racing was practically what he lived for!

His taxi cab made Falcon feel right at home with its blue paint job, and racing stripes that were colored to make it reminiscent of the Blue Falcon. In addition, it also had his falcon icon on the hood with his racing number “07” underneath it, both painted in white. The taxi also had its own vanity plate that read “GPX CHAMP” in reference to his previous victories in the F-Zero Grand Prix.

Cap’s starting position in Grapital City was in Southpaw Junction on the southern end of town. And he immediately made a beeline for a high-level customer who wanted to go to a residence in Trophy Heights, all the way up on the northern end of town. Compared to the F-Zero tracks? This may as well have been a walk in the park for Falcon. He effortlessly weaved through traffic and even managed to powerslide his way around a turn he narrowly missed. And all the while he had little difficulty in maintaining a conversation with his passenger. Falcon had plenty of experience socializing with strangers thanks to media interviews and interactions with numerous fans across his career.

In fact, unless one or more of the other competitors decided to start targeting Falcon for interference at some point? He may very well have had this particular game in the bag.

---

Word Count: 426
Level 6 Ganondorf: 36/60
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 37/60

Kooky Cabbies

They… won? Ganondorf was clearly not expecting that game to end in any sort of victory for him, but he turned out to be entirely wrong. Had it really been because of what happened to Juri at the very end? Possibly. Ganondorf had little-to-no understanding of how the teams’ videos were ranked against one another, so all he could do was just shrug his shoulders and accept the win when he could take it.

Although the description of the next game left him utterly confused. What was a “cabbie” and what made them so… “kooky”? Driving passengers around? Driving as in… carts or carriages? Well, as it turned out, no, no it was not a cart nor a carriage. Or if it was, it apparently did not need any horses to pull it. But the warlord was so bewildered by this machine that he ended up spending several minutes just trying to make the cursed thing go forward. And when he finally did figure it out, it zoomed out of control and veered off the street into some nearby grass.

”Hmph.” Ganondorf grunted and harrumphed in frustration. Yet again he was thrown into a game where he was at a severe disadvantage. At this point he was practically convinced that Ballyhoo was doing this on purpose. Indeed, the warlord hardly even noticed the personalized look of the taxi he was sitting in. A dark, almost black paint job with gold and bronze stripes and a fuzzy bauble hanging from the rearview mirror that was shaped like the Triforce. His taxi also contained its own vanity plate that read “KG OF EVIL” in reference to his legendary title.

”Bah!” Ganondorf finally grunted, ”I know not why I should even bother.” He muttered to himself. At this point he was just sitting there, still parked where the taxi had stopped after it went off the street. He wasn’t sure where he even was, but he could see a beach of sorts in the distance. He couldn’t see it from where he was sitting, but there was also a sign that identified this location as Bold Coast. Ganondorf took a breath and then just leaned back against the seat of his taxi.

Maybe instead of trying to win this time, he should just take a nap or something? He’d won the previous game so he had a decent handful of rift tokens already, anyway. It’d certainly be less stressful and frustrating than trying to figure out how to make this blasted machine work at the very least.

World of Light

Film Those Freaks - What the Fac-tory II

Blazermate’s @Archmage MC, Roxas and Captain Falcon’s @Double, Level 13 Ms Fortune (153/130)
Word Count: 4,464
Exp: +5

Try as Falcon might, he couldn’t force his way out of the slime. He could only wait as he gradually passed through it, approaching its rear end. With its captive trapped inside its viscous body, the creature sped away from the stairs and into the underground Factory. The scenery passed the Captain by as an indistinguishable grayscale blur, making it almost impossible to keep track of the route, but after about ten total seconds he finally popped out. He tumbled across the floor as his abductor zoomed away into the gloom, and when he looked up, he found himself inside a dark, grim-looking labyrinth of metal and industry, alive with the noise of busy machines that masked the telltale sounds of unknown threats.

Back at the entrance, Nadia finally landed at the bottom of the massive spiral staircase with a grunt. Her method of dropping, embedding her claws into the wall to slow her fall, and then dropping again had spared her some fall damage, but combined with her fit of laughter her pursuit had gotten off to a slow start. And with how fast that slime moved, every second counted. By the time she stood up from her landing with her claws sharpened, she found no sign of Captain Falcon or which way his kidnapper might have taken him. “Well, crap,” the feral muttered with a frustrated smile. Her ears swiveled this way and that, but she couldn’t hear anything over the steady rumble of motors and gears. Maybe this factory wasn’t as dead as it looked, but if monsters swarmed Falcon while he and the others were separated, the team could very well lose its most famous member. “Looks like we’re capt-in for it now.”

”I know where Capt. went. We can go pick him up and get more footage along the way.” Blazermate said, pointing in the direction Falcon went.

Nadia peered in the direction Blazermate indicated. “Oh.” She stared down the dark corridor, squinting, and wondered how the medabot knew. She didn't waste time looking a gift horse in the mouth, though. “Lead the way then, I guess!” The feral bowed, gesturing for her companion to take point.

Blazermate led as best as she could, since while she saw which direction Falcon went, she wouldn’t know the oozes took corners or anything. With a strict time limit in play, the team moved quickly. Nadia had expected a scene of eerie silence and stillness, so an environment with lots of noisy machines with moving parts came as something of a relief, even if the distracting wheels and noises offered opportunities for unknown threats to sneak close. After only about thirty seconds, the Seekers rounded a corner and just about ran into their second creature: an ungainly humanoid snail, which turned to lurch toward Blazermate with sticky mitts outstretched.

Blazermate sidestepped the creature in the air with her superior mobility, but got a shot of it leaping at her as it moved around the corner. ”Ooh, jumpscare footage!” Blazermate said as the snail fell behind the group.

As that went down, Nadia just stood with her hands on her hips, an almost pitying smile on her face. “That wasn't much of a jump,” she remarked, chuckling as it struggled to get up. From her point of view, the mannish mollusc hadn't even gotten off the ground. “Or a scare for that matter. What's he gonna do, bore me to death?” She led the snailman around, letting it get almost close enough to grab her before slipping away. “Ooh! Oo-ooh! Almost got me there, champ!”

On the third time, though, she got careless. The snail grabbed her arm and stuck its mouth to it like a vacuum nozzle. This ignited Nadia’s phagophobia for a brief moment, making her jump hard enough that her arm detached on camera. Left frozen and wide-eyed, Nadia blinked a couple times, then tried to salvage the situation. “Aaaah, aaaaugh my arm, ow! Owwieeee!” She blasted out an absurd amount of blood from her bicep stump, then dramatically fell over. At that point she pretty much realized that this whole segment, comical overacting included, couldn't possibly be scary in the slightest, so just for good measure she blew herself up, body parts propelled by jets of blood in all directions.

Roxas was getting increasingly lost on what he should do. Nadia at least had something going for the camera, but he had no ideas of his own at the moment. This resulted in him just standing in what probably looked like dumbstruck fear or something. Although after Nadia had effectively “killed” herself off, and with Falcon nowhere around, Roxas knew he had to step up and do… something. So he led the snailman toward himself and then pretended to slip and fall from a puddle of Nadia’s blood. "No, no no nonono stay back!" Roxas begged as he frantically pushed himself back and away from the approaching snailman like someone who was about to become the next victim - and also hoping that Blazermate was getting some useful footage out of all this.

And that was when Falcon came almost literally blazing onto the scene. From his position further away he could hear Nadia’s scream and had evidently come running. He figured it was something they were filming, but it was best not to take chances. And besides, maybe their video could use some kind of moment of rescue for the sake of drama or something. "-PAAAAWNCH!" His voice boomed as his fiery fist made contact with the creature. It wasn’t a full punch, not by a long shot. Just enough to knock away the snailman and with just enough fiery flare to look nice and dramatic for the camera. He also made sure he was the one facing the camera so that anyone watching the video feed wouldn’t see what he was looking at.

"There’s, there’s too many of them!" He stammered. No, there weren't actually any other snailmen but he figured this little camera trick plus his acting could convince viewers that he was looking at an incoming swarm of them.

“Huh? Where!?” Nadia’s head twisted around, searching for the monsters Falcon reported. Though his escape from the speedy slime’s clutches relieved her, she could only imagine based on his sudden entrance that a pack of monsters were right on his heels. When she pulled herself back together and stood up, however, she couldn’t see much of anything. Her eyes narrowed at the Captain as he stood over the fallen snailman, trying to lead the camera away. “Wait, is this a bit…?” she muttered. Everyone seemed to be performing their own skits, without any planning or coordination with one another, and Nadia was just as guilty.

Then, with a jolt of surprise, the feral realized that something else had shown up–just not in the direction of Captain Falcon. It was big, about as tall as Ganondorf, so dark in color that for a moment she thought she’d been seeing things. It slid in near-silence from the darkness on a trunk like a caterpillar, its hulking torso endowed with two brawny arms and a head somewhere between a seven-eyed mutant and a skull. With Roxas so focused on his own bit, he did not notice the larve before it reached him, gripped him with massive fingers, and lifted him to throw at Blazermate.

"Look out, Blazermate!" Roxas managed to shout out as a warning. Only thing he could hope for was that she was quick enough not to let him crash into her. Instead of diving out of the way though, she caught Roxas and spun in the air with him a bit until she could get him back on the ground. Blazermate was mildly affected by the motion, but it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been for Roxas. She then descended with him as she got a good shot of the monster… Only to step on one of her purgatory cracks as she landed and sent out a ghost that screeched before it dove at the creature, exploding in a big bloody mess… all of which she recorded.

”Uh… Whoops.” Blazermate said as the blood cloud still lingered in the air, seeing what happened to the creature. It emerged from the cloud without visible injury to slide across the floor toward the team, intent on repeating its strategy. Between the bulky larva aggravated by Blazermate and the newly-recovered snailman still going for Falcon, the Seekers had a couple things to keep track of, but neither posed too much of a threat. Neither would be likely to grab someone again unless they allowed it. For a moment Nadia floundered, unsure. At this point, she really couldn’t tell if they’d managed to get anything scary on tape, and she wasn’t sure what to do next.

One thing was for sure, though: too much of anything was a bad thing. The team probably wouldn’t get anywhere wasting the rest of their tape on these two. “C’mon, let’s give ‘em the slip and try somewhere else!” she called, jogging toward Falcon. The Captain had just punched away the snailman a second time. And Roxas was now back on his feet again after the timely save from Blazermate.

"Yeah, let’s get outta here." Cap and Roxas both said at the same time, with Cap offering his trademark thumbs up. Both were getting a little weary of this particular scene and agreed that they should look around elsewhere.

”Well lets go people! We’ve gotta find something good. Right now I don’t know how scary our video is going to actually be…” Blazermate said, drifting above the other 3 like the video drone she was at this moment.

The four sprinted through the factory corridors, putting enough distance between themselves and their invertebrate pursuers that the monsters seemed to lose track of them. That left them with just the ambient clamor of spinning turbines and clanking gears. At one point Nadia got Blazermate to film her jumping into one of the wheels, which flung her across the room like a ragdoll in a decently funny -and painful- fashion. She proved less eager to try her luck with the laser walls, which started turning up to partially block hallways.

For Roxas, getting past those lasers was no challenge at all. Flow Motion made him spry enough to get through them without too much effort needed. Falcon, on other hand, would have a harder time of it. He was athletic, sure, but he was also taller and more broad-shouldered than the other members of his current team. But maybe he wouldn’t be completely up the creek, because Roxas was struck with an idea. "Let’s try this." He said as he channeled the necklace he wore in order to summon a structure of virtual cubes. They took the shape of a doorframe of sorts and he was hoping the glassy consistency of the blocks would allow them to reflect the lasers away and provide a safe passage for Falcon and Blazermate to duck through. "Just be careful not to touch the blocks!" Roxas warned. "Or they’ll damage you." Unfortunately, glass did not make a mirror in and of itself, so the lasers quickly started burning into the cubes. The others would need to move fast.

That, of course, was no problem for the Captain as he blazed on through the rapidly decaying virtual doorframe. Blazermate attached her healing beam onto the speedy Capt and flew right behind him, matching his pace perfectly with hers thanks to the speed matching properties of her medi beam.

Just after crawling beneath an array of the lasers, Nadia triggered an automatic door that slid open to reveal an open area of barred catwalks above labyrinthine rooms. “Ooh, in here!” She waved the others to follow her, difficult as that would be with the lasers. Then she turned to the new area itself. “Alright, we’re pretty deep in here. C’mon, factory! Give us all the freaks you got, bar none!”

”Your really tempting fate huh? Well, let's hope we don’t run into mis-fortune.” Blazermate said, trying to emulate Nadia.

Nadia grinned. “I’m right here, so if you run into me, you better pay a visit to the a-eye doctor!”

With the feral in the lead, the four set off into the new area, sticking between the high railings of the upper level to have a better view of their surroundings. They didn’t get far before a new sound overpowered the now-distant rumble of factory machines: a deep, guttural groan. A malformed mass floated through the shadows above, a hideous sea slug longer than a car and lighter than air. When it shook its body, viscous globules flew from its polyps, and wherever they landed a snailman arose from the ground near-instantly.

“Ee-yuck!” Nadia yowled, backdashing away from the fresh crop of molluscs. “Slugly son of a bitch! It’s just…spawning those things!” In no time at all, a half-dozen snailmen stood directly in front of the team, and more would arrive when those that landed below found a way up. “C’mon, let’s escargo somewhere else!”

When she turned to flee, however, she found another problem. A monster like a long-legged nightmare turtle climbed to the top of a ramp not far behind the Seekers, took one look at them, and opened its jagged maw to breathe out a stream of fire. The team was pincered on a barred bridge, with snails in front and flames to the rear. “Urk!” Nadia gritted her teeth in a smile. “Well isn’t this shell-alrious.”

"You just had to tempt fate." Roxas said to the feral in reference to her earlier callout.

Seeing this horror, Blazermate decided to get some good pictures of this new monster adn the ones before it, and soon found her Camera shutting off with a “out of film” error message, which she relayed. ”Hey guys uh, I’m out of film now. We should get going…” Blazermate said, letting everyone know they were out of film.

The Captain, on the other hand, was more concerned with solving their current dilemma. "Then I say it’s time we head back topside!" He decided. If they were indeed finished filming, then he had no reason to hold himself back anymore. He dashed up to the fire-breathing turtle monster, then suddenly went into a fiery sliding kick. "Falcon KICK!" his voice boomed as he was flying forward along the ground and into an incoming stream of fire breath. He figured if the turtle was the only thing blocking their path back, then all he had to do was knock it off the catwalk with a solid hit to its long legs - and that would give them a clear way outta there.

If nothing else this got him past the turtle and onto the other side of it. But in the Captain’s zeal to push through, he had forgotten about the lasers and the fact that he needed Roxas’ virtual cubes to slip past them in the first pass. In fact, his Falcon Kick had sent him careening right into the wall of lasers, which instantly knocked out all his hit points and rendered him as a lifeless prop imitating a dead body.

It happened so fast that Nadia didn’t even clock it, especially given her own exit strategy. Though neither slim nor small enough to squeeze through the catwalk bars, she could still use Charge to blitz through them in the form of a lightning bolt. Doing so put her at a safe distance from both the fire turtle and snail spawner, and from there her blood jets could take her the rest of the way. When the door slid open to admit her, she spotted Falcon’s body and cackled. “Hah, dumbass!” Then a laser clipped her head as she slid through and she dropped dead as well.

"Just us now," Roxas shouted up to Blazermate, "Cap cleared us a way so let’s get out the way we got in!" And he dashed forward while the fire turtle was still recovering from Cap’s Falcon Kick - with Blazermate in tow thanks to her medi beam. It wasn’t until he got through the sliding door that he spotted what happened to Nadia and Falcon. Both of them must have made a mistake with the lasers. But since he got them through the first time around, Roxas could easily just repeat the same tactic to get himself and Blazermate past them again.

Once on the other side he dismissed the virtual cubes and then set up a wall of them on his side of the lasers in a checkered pattern so that they would cover as much area as possible while still obstructing the way. Any pursuing snailmen or whatever would have to contend with the lasers and his wall of cubes if they wanted to give chase. From here he had to rely on Blazermate and hope she remembered the way out because he certainly didn’t.

Blazermate while being a robot didn’t have the same memory as one might think, but it was good enough at least. She would get confused at some split passageways as they retreated, but she had some context clues on where to go to get out, only tripping up on an upward stairwell that the slime had taken Falcon before. Still, she could guide Roxas out as they hadn’t been that deep into the factory, and it was laid out pretty…. Well it wasn’t intuitive, but it wasn’t maze like either.

Soon they were out of the factory and back out into the junkyard. That meant that the diving bell was just a stone’s throw away. Getting there shouldn’t have been hard, provided nothing else jumped out at them along the way. Meanwhile the diving bell - aka their ticket out of here - was just up ahead. With the whir of the machinery behind them, an eerie silence reigned, but the runners could already hear the sounds of whispers and skittering footsteps around them. They ran and didn’t look back.

And finally, at last, Roxas and Blazermate made it back to the diving bell. "Yes, we made it!" Roxas celebrated while he reached for the lever to activate the bell. The door swung closed and the diving bell began its ascent back up to the surface.

”Phew, these minigames are getting pretty ridiculous.” Blazermate said as they ascended. ”I wonder how the others did.”

---

Falcon seemed to jerk awake. It was almost like waking up from a nightmare, but given his surroundings he knew what had actually happened. He’d “died” down there, and as a result appeared to reawaken on the surface in this, what, medical shed or tent? Though even that seemed like a rather generous description, as the structure was pretty much empty. Clearly it was just a place for “killed” players to respawn at. Cap sighed, "All that effort and it was my own blunder that did me in." He said with a tone that sounded like he was disappointed in himself, which he was. But he still quickly followed that up with a short chuckle, "Just goes to show even I can make mistakes. Haha!" So even though it was kind of an embarrassing blunder, Cap was pretty clearly a good sport about the whole thing.

"Nothing to do but wait for the diving bell, I guess." He said as he stretched his muscles and walked back out to where the diving bell was currently suspended.

Just a few seconds into his trip, an anguished yowl resounded from the medical shed behind him. “Ahhh, maaaaan!” Nadia jogged up behind him a moment later, a wry smile on her face once she pulled off her helmet.

"Hm?" Cap looked over at her with intrigue, "Don’t tell me, you too?" He asked, shaking his head. It certainly would be a shame if they all got killed and lost their footage, but since neither Roxas nor Blazermate were reappearing he could only assume they must have made it past the lasers just fine. Hopefully. "Well… I guess we just wait, now."

The feral grinned at him, her eyebrow raised. “Well at least I didn’t, like, y’know die from running into lasers like you did, haha. How embarrassing that woulda been.” She nodded officiously. “Yeah, it was right after the lasers. Turns out there was this crazy monster just, uh, laying in wait back the way we came. Really big, lots of…teeth. Anyway, I pretty much had to sacrifice myself, y’know. For the mission and all. No big deal.” She shrugged off her heroics, turning her nose up with her eyes closed to make sure Falcon knew just how routine good deeds were for her.

Falcon and Nadia didn’t have to wait for too long before the diving bell came up with Roxas and Blazermate in toe, ”Go figure the environment was worse than the monsters!” Blazermate said as she saw Falcon and Nadia. ”I don’t know how you're supposed to make a scary movie from the stuff down there, it's more an attraction than anything as long as you don’t get zapped by lasers.”

“Or eaten by monsters!” Nadia added, before changing the subject just as quickly. “Well, nothing for it now. How do we show people the film, again? I don’t see any theaters around. Or moviegoers, for that matter.” It quickly became clear that as far as edits and uploads went, the cat burglar wouldn’t be any use at all.

”Uh, we probably plug the camera in somewhere and do some editing. I only know how to do the first part though. Brass had the editor.” Blazermate said, looking around to figure out what to do.

Eventually it was Falcon who spotted the machine sitting outside of the house and pointed to it. "I think this is it." He said, then lightly jogged over and inspected it a bit more closely, "Yep, there’s an input space for the camera, so just put it here and I guess this machine does the rest."

Finally, after some trial and error, the team delivered the disc to the big tv in the house’s living room. If seeing the silver screen miniaturized in someone’s home took Nadia by surprise, the sight of footage in color left her speechless. Floored by the technological marvel beyond her time, she barely even noticed the comments rolling on as the team’s video played through. Their upload began without an opening or establishing shot of any kind, with the first thing Blazermate recorded being the slime as it made a beeline for the group around the top of the Factory’s spiral staircase. “Wow, you totally just let it grab one of us, huh?” Nadia chuckled.

Huh? Did I miss the intro?
Who r these ppl?
Jelly right at the start, classic

Nadia watched with bated breath as the slime snatched Falcon, enjoying his distorted yell all over again. Once the Captain got whisked away, Blazermate panned over to record a second or two of the feral’s helpless guffawing.

Easy pickins
Wait wait wait was that captain falcon??
Wow, didn’t know he was on SpookTube
Ur laughing? Your friend got kidnapped by a jelly and ur laughing?
Catgirls rule!
so we’re just gonna NOT help him, then? with friends like these…

Next was the medabot’s footage of the snail, complete with commentary from both her and Nadia. The viewers didn’t seem too impressed, some even criticizing the team’s attempt to oversell the snailman’s scariness especially once Falcon burst into the scene, but Nadia’s bloody display got the conversation going.

Wow a snail, how original :sleepy:
Oh I guess he’s back already
That plot sure didn’t go anywhere
Holy **** thats a lot of blood
It got her arm!
No way snails can do that, I call ********
I think she’s dead!
Oh, thats gore. Gore of my comfort character
She exploded? Thats gotta be against TOS

After the brief encounter with the burly creature commenters called a ‘larva’, there came some establishing shots of the Factory depths, including the lasers. Those who noticed Nadia alive and well again in the footage shared their thoughts on the video’s nonsensical progression. It all culminated in the double encounter with the snail spawner and the fire monster in the maze, but the film ran out and the video cut off right before the action began, resulting in an anticlimactic cliffhanger. As a result, the upload ended on something of a sour note, and the amount of ad revenue earned did not impress.

Lol what a waste of time
This was honestly hilarious :cryinglaughing:
The **** is this editing style???
No way the real Falcon would star in something like this
yeah probably just cosplayer or something, didn’t look like he was wearing the right colors lol
I had a good laugh but it wasn’t very spooky
Cmon guys, it was funny at least. I hope they get another chance
It’s so over

Blazermate saw the comments and could only agree with them. ”this reminds me of a comedy movie I saw once. It was this thing with this masked machete zombie man in space.. Although we’re missing the sleeping bag.” Blazermate said, scratching her head. Guess she didn’t know how to make a scary movie, but then she was more into healing and playing games and fighting, not making movies. Still, it was kinda fun.

Nadia leaned back in the couch. “Uh…well, I’m not sure what that all means, but I had a good time.” She clasped together her hands and put on a show of excessive wholesomeness. “And thaaat’s what matters~”

"Looks like we made them laugh more than we made them scared…" Roxas chimed in with a shrug.

"We definitely oversold it." Falcon said, appearing to take the criticisms in stride, "And we didn’t film a proper intro or outro, either. Not everyone likes a cliffhanger ending, after all."

”Well, I don’t think some people on the other teams know how to even use a camera, so I know we didn’t get last. I don’t know how well in general we did though.” Blazermate said, feeling a bit bad about losing but overall being ok with it since it was just for fun.

Unless the bar was insanely low, Nadia did not feel good about the team’s performance based on the feedback. But once all the results were tallied, maybe they’d get lucky in the end. And so all that was left to do now was to wait for the minigame to be over so they could all see the final results.

Pokémon Kalos Chronicles: Superstars of Friendship Edition

"Wait, now hold on." Kaylan said. But Andre didn't exactly give him a chance to protest. Kaylan hadn't yet agreed to go on this little trip and as of right now he was still intending to decline. So he couldn't just let someone speak for him! "I never said I would-" He tried to protest, but Andre had already moved on and was on his way.

Kaylan followed along, for now anyway. He'd have to travel in the same direction as far as Santalune City anyway, so there was no harm in sticking around for the time being. Besides, he still needed an opportunity to formally turn down the invitation and the only way to do that was to not go anywhere and stay with the group. But this did get him thinking. And while the others might be more concerned with catching up, Kaylan had a thought of his own about all this.

"So why now, all of a sudden?" Kaylan asked out of the blue, "I wanted to do this years ago and ended up going it alone in the end because none of you wanted to come with me. So why the sudden interest in the Pokemon League?" He asked in an almost demanding tone. He didn't mean to sound demanding, but he was genuinely curious about this and wanted to get it out there now otherwise he was afraid he wouldn't be able to get a word in edgewise once all the chatting started.

He might have also sounded a bit bitter too, which was also unintentional. Out of all of them, he was the only one who actually did try to become a professional Pokemon Trainer. And of course he still remembered the sting of what happened to him in the end. And that probably bled into his current tone and mannerisms, even if he was desperately trying to keep that buried. But still, it just seemed strange to him that all of them suddenly wanted to go on a journey and become trainers despite showing no interest in doing so back when he originally wanted to do this.

"Besides," he finally said with some marginal reluctance in his voice, "I challenged the League already, what makes you think I wanna do it again."

World of Light

Film Those Freaks - What the Fac-tory I

Blazermate’s @Archmage MC, Roxas and Captain Falcon’s @Double, Level 13 Ms Fortune (150/130)
Word Count: 2849 (+3)

Blazermate wasn’t sure what to make of the area. She was surprised her helmet was shaped to work with her ponytails, even if she didn’t really need air. Sliding the visor up, she got a look at the area. Something about it was… wrong but considering they were going to find some horrific monsters, that made sense. ”Tell me about it. But he's enthusiastic and that's fun!” Blazermate said, giving her input on Nadia’s observation of Ballyhoo.

And while the sudden addition of a helmet didn’t look so strange for Roxas, for the Captain on the other hand? Well, now Falcon was comically wearing two helmets, since the one from the minigame had formed itself over his F-Zero helmet. So that was certainly a funny thing to look at. Not that the F-Zero Pilot was bothered by it. He was nothing if not able to roll with the punches and take things in stride. "No hard feelings." Cap said in agreement with Nadia’s comment about them now being on the same team. But he did shoot a look between her and Roxas, "But let’s try to play these games fairly from now on, are we clear?"

"Hehe… sorry…" Roxas said sheepishly, knowing good and well that he and Midna were the most disliked team in the previous game due to their frankly underhanded tactics, "But you got it, Captain. Fair and square from now on. I promise."

Pointing at the bell device, Nadia asked how it worked, with Blazermate scratching her head. ”It's a minigame, so it should be pretty simple. I’m more worried about the camera.” Blazermate said, walking over to pick up the camera they had to use. ”Hope this doesn’t get water logged. Uh…. Who wants to be the camera person? I’ll do it if no one else wants it.”

Nadia blinked at the medabot who’d just taken the camera out of her hands, then asked if anyone wanted it. It came across as a rather strange behavior, but the feral brushed it aside; at the end of the day, could a machine really understand what constituted normal or abnormal human behavior? “Looks like you just volunteered,” Nadia told her, crossing her arms. “I oughta be the action star anyway. Whatever these monsters are we’re dealing with, they can’t be scarier than the crap we dealt with in the Dead Zone. Those hordes were so big, I couldn’t zom-believe it.” Between that undead nightmare and Blue Team’s horrible night on Carcass Isle, she didn’t know which was worse. Then again, maybe the Maw had been the worst out of all of them, since she couldn’t fight back. As long as she had a fighting chance, there were no horrors she felt like she couldn’t overcome at this point. Of course, Blazermate had been by her side through all of that, and now they stood united once more.

The cat burglar glanced over at the diving bell. “No time like the purr-esent, right? Last one in’s a rotten egg!” Almost fully recovered, both physically and mentally, from her earlier loss of blood, Nadia took off running toward the vessel that would deliver the team to the darkness. If she noticed the shop board on the way, she gave no sign.

”Hey, but what about this uh, kiosk thing with all these weird deals on it? Don’t you wanna purr-ruse this one?” Blazermate said, trying her attempt at a pun. She hadn’t been around Nadia for a good while nor in a spot to relax, so now was the perfect time to play along. The kiosk Blazermate was pointing at being the sponsor kiosk.

“Huh???” Half-expecting an attempt to sabotage her race results, Nadia glanced over for only a moment, but she did in fact see some sort of standing doohickey. Being from an era long before the information age, she tended to filter stuff like this out, and only after a moment did she realize that yeah, there seemed to be more to that thing than initially met the eye. She slid to a stop in the grass, reasoning that she’d proven herself in one race today already, and trotted over. What she saw didn’t end up exciting her, though, and not just because she couldn’t really intuit what any of the devices were for.. “What, we have to use our rift tokens to get more doodads?” She laughed. “Well, you’ve gotta be doodaddlebrained to think I’d throw ‘em away like that! I earned ‘em fair and square, so I’m gonna get myself some purr-izes.” The feral shrugged, a teasing smirk on her face. “Of course, not everyone’s as slick as I am, so if you wanna shell out, feel free~”

"These, uh, “doodads” look like they could serve as important upgrades for our video equipment." Cap pointed out and then added. ”Then again, there may be something to be said about a deliberately low-quality video too. Could give it a certain vintage horror movie vibe that some viewers might enjoy over all that modern hi-definition gobbledegook."

"I think I get it." Roxas commented. "Twilight Town has something like that I think. It’s an outdoor film venue that shows these old-timey looking films, and people seem to love them."

"Exactly!" Falcon confirmed. "So let’s ask ourselves: Do we want a hyper-realistic modern HD video or a more old-school vintage horror experience?"

Nadia stared at him blankly. His words might as well be TV static–not that she’d know what that was. “...Beats me! Movies were like, invented within my lifetime I’m pretty sure. You guys can fritter your tokens away if you want, I’ll be over here!” She turned with a happy-go-lucky wave and resumed her trek toward the diving bell. “Figure it out quick though. There’s no time to waits!”

Blazermate looked at the stuff the sponsors were offering as she scrolled through the list, seeing a couple already taken. Still, seeing what these sponsors gave and what the rules were, Blazermate got an idea. ”Hey guys, I can fly, and I can keep my hand steady like these drone and tripod upgrades here, so we don’t need them. Seems that these sponsors offer better rewards but you gotta fill a condition. Like this soda company offering extra stuff for showing their product, or this weird one where we gotta dance with the monsters and such? Anyone see anything they wanna do? Otherwise I think we’ll have a leg up. We only have 1 medabot on the team after all.” Blazermate said, making a sound like she was sticking out her tongue, even though she had no mouth.

"Sounds like you can already do most of the things the sponsors are offering." Falcon concurred. "I suppose we can’t really know what style to go for until we actually see what it is we have to work with."

"Yeah, let's at least go have a peek at what it looks like down there." Roxas agreed, "Otherwise we’ll waste too much time overthinking it." Both of them in agreement, they went to join Nadia in the bell.

As they approached, though, they didn’t see the team’s resident thief inside the diving bell. Only once Blazermate, Roxas, and Falcon stepped inside did a noise bring their attention to the crank by the door, where Nadia’s detached arms were spinning the wheel with jets of blood. “Welcome aboard everyone!” The next moment Nadia herself dropped down from above, landing right on the big lever on the terminal at the diving bell’s back. Immediately the whole bell jerked, then began to descend. On the screen, her selected destination flashed: the Factory. “Let’s get this show on the road!” she roared over the rattling tumult.

"Bwah!" Roxas yelped. The last time he’d seen Nadia’s disembodied arms it nearly resulted in a tumble down a mountain, not to mention the grossness of them grabbing onto him. Falcon, on the other hand, was less surprised. But this did give him an idea.

"You know, this could be a great way for us to get some realistic bloody effects in our little movie." Cap suggested thoughtfully.

---

After about forty seconds, during which the excitement from Nadia’s surprise wore off and left her to sheepishly recollect her arms, the diving bell began to slow down. Then it stopped with a sudden jerk, suggesting that the vessel had come to rest. With no windows or portholes of any kind, the passengers could only wonder at what dark depths lay on the other side of that door, their expectations colored by what little they’d heard and inferred about it so far. No sounds whatsoever penetrated the steel hull to reach them from outside.

“Well, I never heard or felt a splash,” Nadia reasoned. “Here’s hoping we’re not underwater. Still, what an ‘immersive’ experience, nyeheh.” She rubbed her hands together, laid them on the crank, and gave it a creaky spin. Then the diving bell’s door swung open, revealing the Old World.

Most of it was pitch-black, a pure void even darker than a starless night sky. Warm light flooded out from within the diving bell, but it only got so far, illuminating a junkyard full of scrap metal strewn all over. Beyond, illuminated only by an inexplicable, dim, stark white glow, the four could see the titular Factory, a huge, dilapidated block of a building. It made for an ominous sight, made all the stranger by the fact that everything, from the smallest cog to the walls of the Factory to the ground itself, appeared to be completely grayscale, cross-hatched in black as if eroded by the darkness itself. For now, though, Nadia couldn’t see any monsters. Just a sprawling ruin, perfectly quiet and perfectly still.

The feral whistled. “Whew, spooky.” Though she’d reflexively flattened her ears in alarm, the big grin on her face suggested an excitement for the thrills ahead. “I can’t wait!”

"Hmm." Falcon hummed thoughtfully as he glanced around at the area, "Dark lighting… pretty good atmosphere…" he commented and then gave a thumbs up. "Perfect, but I wonder what this place’d look like through a grainy black-and-white filter?" he rubbed his chin and then shrugged. "Well, either way we’ve got our set. Now we just need our monsters…"

"Are those monsters supposed to be, like, real or something?" Roxas wondered, "Will we have to actually defend ourselves on film or whatever?"

"Excellent question." Cap replied. "I have no idea. We’ll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it."

“Filter? This place is already black and white, just like the movies I’ve seen. Pretty grainy too…” Though her eyes were keener than most, Nadia couldn’t detect any movement among the assorted odds and ends of the junkyard. Of course, that didn’t mean that nothing lurked in the darkness–just that its denizens were hidden. Or waiting deeper inside. After scanning the area, Nadia focused on the decrepit, boxy structure up ahead. “The creeps in question must be in there. Let’s take a looksie.” With her oxygen already starting to tick down, Nadia couldn’t afford to wait. Still, even if this was just a game, Nadia instinctively kept her voice down and her footsteps light.

”I don’t know… the gray background would make Nadia’s blood pop… that's such a weird sentence to say.” Blazermate said, shaking her head after having said something that made her out to be a psychopath. ”Uh…Right. I’ll keep scanning for some monsters. Maybe we’ll find a good one?”

"If I had to guess…" Cap mused, "...then I’d say our best bet’s going to be the factory itself." he said and then added, "I’ll take point." almost as if instinctively. But after a moment he paused. "Or maybe our resident ‘Action Star’ should…?" he asked with a gesture in Nadia’s direction. After all, if any of them wanted to be attacked by something, it had to be the one most capable of making it look real. And that was the one who could literally pull her own limbs off.

"Maybe we could scout it out first?" Roxas suggested with a shrug of his shoulders, "We do wanna save the bloodsplatter for the filming itself, right?"

"That works, too." Falcon agreed with a thumbs up. "Let’s just head into the factory for now and get a feel for what we’re up against." As such, he stuck with his original instinct to take point and head into the factory entrance first, although Roxas wasn’t far behind him.

The structure itself turned out to be smaller than it first appeared, little more than a big, hollow box, with nothing in it but scraps of rubble and machinery. However, a large square opening lay directly in its center, and within stood a large spiral staircase, each step at least a dozen feet long. The entire party could stand shoulder to shoulder and still descend comfortably, but the staircase went a long way down, leading deep into the true Factory–a labyrinthine underground structure.

As much as she wanted to take the plunge, Nadia instead took off her head and held it by her own hair out over the edge, peering down. “Long drop. Guess we’d better take the safe way down. What’s it they say about ‘stairing’ into the abyss…?”

While the feral spoke, Blazermate’s scanners finally picked up something. A yellowish gelatinous mass shaped somewhat like a tardigrade but as large as a sleeping bag, and moving as fast as a car. However, with no interest in her, it seemed to be zooming toward one of her teammates in particular. It didn’t make much noise, so the others hadn’t noticed it yet thanks to the muffling helmets and Nadia’s chatter. Blazermate found herself with a choice to make.

”Uh… hm….” Blazermate thought to herself as she saw the ooze. Granted she didn’t know how much damage it’d do if it grabbed someone, she was going to get quite the reaction. Flying up, she got a good picture of the ooze sneaking up on one of the party members and getting ready to grab them. If things got bad, she could zoom off and actually help them.

She didn’t have to wait long to get results. Just a couple seconds later, the slime slammed into Captain Falcon. Its gooey body deformed around him, and it got about halfway through before the man got stuck in the living jelly. At that point it shot off like a rocket, zipping down the stairs with such speed that none of the other team members really knew what hit them. The sudden scare made Nadia jump, her hairs standing on end, but the next moment her panicked yowl gave way to helpless laughter. While trapped in the gelatinous beast, Falcon’s voice got distorted in a way that just so happened tickled her funnybone immensely. Of course, she knew that an abduction was no laughing matter, and after taking a moment to compose herself Nadia jumped to bypass the stairs and make up for the slime’s head start.

Cap had gone to punch the gelatinous ooze by pure instinct. Of course, its slimy body made it a poor match for his fist, and the pilot was engulfed in it instead. Remembering that he would be on camera by now, Falcon started flailing his arms and feigning a struggle to escape. At one point he even put his hands on his own neck and gestured as if he was running out of air and on the verge of suffocating, just to ham it up for the video. But when the slime dragged him away and he became certain the camera wasn’t as focused on him, Cap dropped the act somewhat and began to look around for some kind of means to escape.

"Captain, noooo!" Roxas shouted out, also hamming it up a bit for the camera. Although he was quite a bit more genuinely concerned when the slime suddenly zoomed off with the captive Captain in tow. Looked like they were gonna have to pull a rescue while still selling this as a horror video.

Having got a good shot, Blazermate stopped recording and said. ”Ok, we’d better go get Capt.” pointing at which direction he went and zooming off.

“On my way!” Nadia’s voice echoed up from the spiral stairwell below.

Pokémon Kalos Chronicles: Superstars of Friendship Edition

With all the buzz and commotion at the airport, nobody was paying attention to the stranger walking into Vanville from Route 1 to the north. He was clad in a dark poncho, with its hood drawn in order to protect his eyes from the sunlight. This was someone who had traveled a long ways by foot, all way from the mountainous side of Eastern Kalos. Unlike most people he lacked any sort of Pokemon accompanying him and instead appeared to be truly by himself. This was in fact someone returning to his childhood home, as Kaylan had not been to Vanville since he left for Ninja Village all that time ago.

But it was the letter he held in his hand that spurred the former Pokemon Trainer into returning home. It was an invitation from one his old friends to go on a Pokemon Journey with him. Kaylan still had no idea what to make of this or how he was actually going to respond. He remembered Jiraiya wanting to come with him, but Kaylan had told the Greninja to remain in the village and continue training, unsure if he actually wanted to take another shot at the Kalos League yet or not.

He had to guess that Andre was arriving via the airport, hence all the buzz coming from that direction. Which meant that heading there probably wasn't going to be super helpful and he'd just find himself fighting crowds more than anything else. But what else was he going to do? Just sit at a picnic table somewhere and wait? What kind of friend would Kaylan be if he did that. So he kept on walking made his way toward the airport.

Yup, it was a scene alright. Crowds of Andre's fans were everywhere and Kaylan saw no sign of the actor in question. But he did see a trio of vaguely familiar faces he recognized as his other old friends. So he walked his way toward the sign-holding Siloh.

"Oh brother." Kaylan groaned when he finally spotted Andre's pink form. "We'll be sitting here all day if someone doesn't pull him away from the fans." And after a brief pause he rolled his eyes and started walking forward. If no one else was willing to, then fine, he'd be the one to pour the proverbial bucket of ice water onto this little parade if that's what it took. He pushed and weaved his way through the crowd of fans, inching his way closer to where Andre was standing and signing autographs.

"Hey, Mr. Big Shot!" Kaylan finally said when he was finally close enough to address him, "You planning to spend all day here? I didn't come all the way down from the mountains to watch you sign autographs, ya know."

World of Light

The Mountain Top Three

Wordcount: 5135 (+6)
Level 7 Therion (267/70) and Level 13 Ms Fortune (141/130)
Level 9 Midna (27/110) and Level 8 Roxas (36/80)
Captain Falcon and Roland

With several groups now making their way into the next leg of the minigame's course, those seriously vying for first place had to get a move on. If a team wanted to win they had to be fast, but careful. At this point it could be anyone's game, and one mistake would easily cost someone the top spot.

Mindful of the strong intervals of wind (especially because they'd just seen the Pit-Jr. pair get blasted back down into the mines by it), Nadia and Therion raced westward, kicking up snow behind them. It was the only path available, so the thieves endeavored to put as much ground between them and the next group as possible. Very quickly they came upon the next gap participants would have to jump across, one much wider than any before it. Nadia paused on the precipice, teeth gritted as she gauged the distance, wondering how the heck the two of them could make it. Before they could come up with a gameplan, the wind picked up again. Its buffeting threatened to push them out into the open air much sooner than anticipated, forcing them to hunker down against the snow so that their lower profiles would lead to less air pressure. As she crouched on all fours, Nadia looked back down the way she came, and with a jolt of surprise spotted two more competitors racing out of the mines: Roland and the celebrity newcomer, Captain Falcon.

To no one’s surprise it was Falcon racing out first between the two. He paused momentarily to get his bearings and to note the strong winds blowing in this area. In a way it almost reminded him of Death Wind, an F-Zero racetrack that was infamous for also having similarly hazardous windy sections. "C’mon, Roland!" He said to his partner with a follow-me gesture. "My instincts are telling me we’re at the home stretch, that checkered flag can still be ours yet!"

”I hope so, this isn’t that ‘mini’ for a ‘mini’ game.” Roland said, moving with a similar step to Falcon, although with less determination to win, more just wanting to get this done and over with.

“They’re coming!” Nadia hissed to her partner, and he hissed back, "I can see that." When this wind subsided in a couple seconds, it’d be only too easy for their opponents to reach this spot before the next squall. She’d spilled some blood on the path, especially the icy parts, but that wouldn’t hold them for long. The thieves needed a plan right now.

”That girl is using blood to stop us? What the heck? That's dangerous!” Roland said as they came up to where Nadia and Therion were, Roland was not phased by Nadia using her own blood to leave a trap for them, almost like he had seen people like this so often that this wasn’t anything new.

Justa bit behind them, Midna was far less exposed to this sort of thing, saying ”So that’s who’s been leaking everywhere even when no one can get hurt. What an unpleasant ability” to her companion as they finally saw the culprit of the bloody traps.

"Like we’re ones to talk." Roxas said cheekily.

Seeing Midna and Roxas in third place came as something of a shock to Nadia, since it meant that despite their earlier standings, she and Therion had actually been the first to escape from the Fishy Mines. Just what had happened to the frontrunners (not to mention the most blatant cheaters) to put them so far behind? Of course, they probably just fell, and the feral couldn’t afford to waste any more time wondering. If the thieves were in the lead, they needed to keep hold of it, and not allow excessive haste to be their undoing in the process. It was a tricky proposition, but these cat burglars were no strangers to doing the im-paw-sible.

As she waited for the wind to die, her eyes suddenly lit up. “Wait, I got it! We have to use the wind!” She and Therion had instinctively fortified themselves against the strong gust from behind when it threatened to push them into the pit just ahead, but it could also be the tailwind to speed them across.

"Seriously?" Therion seemed dubious to that plan, but with the gale so strong it might actually work. He sighed, getting ready to pounce. "Alright."

“No time to waste! Three two one!” Together the two leaped into the air, and with the wind at their backs they soared across the gap. The next second it petered out, and the two barely grabbed hold of the ledge on the opposite side to haul themselves up. At the same time, though, this stroke of luck meant that the others would need to wait for the next wind to follow in their footsteps–or find their own way up. Nadia sprayed blood from her wrists onto the ledge with a cheeky grin, then turned along with Therion to race up the left side to the second level of the windy heights. “Nothing purr-sonal!”

That of course, meant Cap and Roland had no choice but to get across the gap the old-fashioned way. Thankfully they’d become pretty well practiced by this point. But that spray of blood Nadia left behind was going to be making things hard. Even once they did reach that ledge there was a risk of slipping on it and plummeting back down the mountain. But then, maybe they didn’t necessarily need an intricate plan? "Let’s wait for a second or two." He suggested to Roland when they were preparing to make the last jump. It seemed unheard of for him of all people to want to stop and wait despite being this close to the end. But if his time in the F-Zero Grand Prix had taught him anything, it was that sometimes the optimal strategy really was to hit the brakes.

And Cap was proven right in this instance. In the time they took to reach this point, all it took was a moment of hesitation for them to feel the wind at their backs and so to use it to spring across to the other platform and clear over the blood the cat-thief had left behind.

As Midna and Roxas brought up the rear, the princess kept glancing up at the platforms above that the two teams ahead were already crossing, before coming up with an idea saying ”I think I've got one more trick for this now that we have the space. Follow my lead” to her partner. He nodded in response.

As they touched down on the large bit of land before the first wind assisted jump, the princess grabbed Roxas’s hand and pulled him to a stop at the same time as she opened a portal beneath them. They didn’t fall in however, as up from it rose her darknut, enlarged to great size, with them stood atop its shield. The princess then grabbed its sword just before the wide tip, the titan raising that blade up so that they were within shadow hand grabbing distance of the platforms above. With a grab, heave and reel, they shortcutted past a fair chunk of leaps and bounds, and put themselves mere steps behind Falcon and Roland on a shelf past a slope of ice.

Just above hung a wooden platform, suspended in the air by long ropes from above. With the wind just now dying down, it swung forward with Roland and Falcon atop it, allowing them to jump onto a ledge with an upward sign. Not far ahead of them, Nadia and Therion had just used that same break in the wind for a swing fling to the far side of the next big gap. As they clambered up, Nadia risked a look back, her head turning a full one hundred and eighty degrees to do so. “Gah! They’re gaining on us!”

Therion made it up first, pulling Nadia the rest of the way to her feet and spinning her head back around the right way. "Then let's get a move on!" The thieves crested a small cliff, making for the chunks of ice that would be the next obstacle.

"You can’t outrun us forever!" Falcon called forward. With the way things were going they’d be nipping at their heels in no time. He also spotted the chunks of ice up ahead. "Ice ahead!" he called back to Roland. "Looks like we’re gonna have to start watching our footing!" Roland gave a thumbs up, thinking of a few ways the pair of them could cheat as things got more difficult.

For Roxas and Midna’s part, much of the jumping could easily be circumvented thanks to the Nobody’s virtual cubes. And even the gusts of wind proved to be a nuisance to them more than anything. But as they progressed he began to notice the increased amount of snow and ice. That could wreck their day if they weren’t careful. Sure, he could give them non-icy blocks to step on but he’d have to risk the icy grounds in order to reuse his blocks in other spots. He just hoped he didn’t lose his footing and cost them the race, especially after getting this far. Given that ‘slippery’ had defined Midna’s existence for the past day or two thanks to a mod reducing her friction, she at least had no issue with that part of the problems facing them.

Halfway across the icy stretch, Nadia and Therion felt the wind pick up again. When Nadia tried to hunker down, though, the wind still pushed her backward, sliding her across the ice. In an instant the feral realized her foolishness, panicked, and tried to sprint forward against the wind in a mad dash for the other side–only to fall right on her face. “UGH!” "What the hell are you doing?!"

She and Therion began to pick up speed, headed straight for the pit behind them. Scrabbling on the ice with her teeth gritted, Nadia span around and extended her arms into the previous ledge in order to brace herself. That still left the other half of her, and her partner, bound to plummet over the edge. Therion slapped his hands against the ice, willing the gloves to catch. They weren't quite enough to hold both him and Ms. Fortune, so he dug out one half of the sickles the king of evil had gifted him. Its edge was both block and sharp, enough to at least slow their momentum to a gradual halt, though it had been much too close of a call. With Nadia’s extruded muscles rock-solid, she wouldn’t budge, but much to her chagrin the others could use her as a bridge to get across.

"Now!" Cap called to Roland, seeing the 1st place pair’s mishaps and recognizing it for the opportunity that it was. They sprang across the makeshift bridge -prompting an indignant yowl- and continued their way down the icy stretch on the other side. There they found the eastern mountainside, with a couple of wooden platforms that would allow them to reach the third level and head back to the west.

”Oh no you don’t!” Midna called over to the other team that where still on their feet as she tried to match their pace as best she could, but despite all her fusions, the princess was a mage at her core and simply couldn’t match their raw athleticism. Still, she at least had good grip as they hit the ice, dragon clawed feet digging in, and a shadow hand reaching up to grab the platform above for support and wind resistance.

”Up?” she asked her partner, seeing another vertical shortcut as they came up to the icy jump.

"Up." Roxas agreed with a nod. He gave them a pseudo staircase of virtual cubes to jump between that would ascend them upward.

Now finding themselves in third place, the thieves had to regroup. "Hold still," Therion bid his partner, getting to his feet on the ice and making the leap over her back to more solid ground. He helped haul Nadia up from there so they could make the jump again and do it right this time. They'd lost their lead, but not too much time, so they sprinted after Falcon and Roland once the wind allowed. Moving quickly, they reached the second platform just as the wind picked up, and Nadia made up for her blunder with an excellent swing the launched the two through the air to the next outcrop, where the next pair had just missed the swing. That left them in the somewhat awkward position of waiting for the wind to die together, but before Nadia could kick anyone’s ass for stepping on her, she spotted Roxas and Midna up ahead, along with something else. “Wait, that’s it! Right there!” Nadia yelped, pointing upward. Almost directly above the cheaters’ position was an outcrop with a huge checkered flag on it, visible for the first time. Nadia glanced back down at Roxas and Midna with a snarl on her lips, her heart pumping. “We can’t let ‘em win!”

"Hm?" Falcon paused a moment when he heard Ms. Fortune’s voice and looked up at where she pointed. "The finish line!" He called with some eagerness, definitely ready for this to be over but still feeling pumped regardless. Of course, he also spotted the blatant cheating being done by Roxas and Midna. "That’s how they’ve kept up with us?" It sure seemed pretty low to him. He’d been up against his fair share of overly aggressive or outright dirty competitors in the Grand Prix, but this kind of underhanded racing was the sort of thing only a villain like Black Shadow would do!

Therion couldn't agree more about preventing Midna and Roxas' win. He and Nadia had technically been cheating almost the entire time too, but their way hadn't made the game easier for themselves. And being so close the finish line, not running away with the win would leave a bruise on his ego for at least the rest of the day. "We need a way to drag them down," he said. Would his grappling hook work?

"Anything we can do?" Falcon suddenly asked, having backtracked a small distance in order to talk with this team. "I’ve prided myself on winning my races by the book. But I think I’ve had just about as much as I can stand of blatant cheating like that."

Roland summoned his shotgun from his gloves, but looked a bit awkward using it against what would be an ally. ”Got something I can shoot to slow them down with? I’d rather not actually shoot them. Could use something to get Midna’s hair all tangled, they seem to use that a lot.” Roland offered.

The offer to team up, if Therion was interpreting Falcon's words correctly, came as a surprise. He blinked at the taller man, and then his partner who had pulled out a gun from nowhere. "...I doubt that'd work. But if you've got something like a net, or a way to disable those blocks..."

He was just assuming that it was a spell of some kind, which in normal circumstances he would be able to deal with himself with his mana drain. Unfortunately it relied on dealing damage, so it wouldn't work here even if he wanted to attack the other team. "Whatever we think of, we better think it up fast."

“I’ve got it, here!” Nadia detached her arms, allowing them to fall at her feet. Expelling vital fluid from the stumps, she replaced them with mimicked blood arms, which she used to pick up her real arms and connect them stump-to stump, entangling her muscle fiber. It wasn’t a pleasant sensation, but there was no time to come up with a better idea. “One of you has to help meowt,” she declared, thrusting the improvised bolas at the others. The wind was beginning to peter out; they had to move now. “Whoever’s got the best aim. Once we jump on the swing and the wind takes it, hurl this right at ‘em. I’ll hand-le the rest.” Roland raised his hand, putting his gun away. He could use something like this… probably.

With no time to argue, the two pairs could only jump up onto the platform as it swung back toward them, then ride it out once the wind picked up. From there, with the wind at their back, they had a clear shot at the frontrunners. It was now or never. Roland grabbed the makeshift weapon and threw it when the time was right. While it wasn’t the first time he handled a flesh-like weapon, he still didn’t like the squishy sensation it gave off when used. The bolas hurtled through the air, whirling around to stabilize their flight path.

Once any part of the muscle fiber struck one of the frontrunners, the rest would wrap around them, restricting limbs and crippling mobility. Worse still, Nadia then wrung out her muscles like dirty dishrags, spraying blood all over her opponents. If it got in their eyes or on their hands, all the better. While all this hurt the feral quite a bit, she knew that seeing the cheaters fumble would more than make up for it.

"Ack, gross!" Roxas cried out when a pair of arms seemed to materialize out of nowhere and wrapped themselves around him. He struggled to break free but whoever this was they had a solid grip. And of course there was the matter of this making him lose his footing and start tumbling back down the shortcut they had just ascended from moments ago.

”Goddesses that’s horrid- ack” Midna croaked as the blinding blood prevented her from seeing her partners fall till it was too late. With 7 limbs failing as she fell however, one of them managed to snag a purchase, leaving her hanging from a cliff edge, with Roxas dangling from a rope below her. After a bit of blind scratching and tugging, Nadia’s arms fell away, both giving a cheeky peace sign as they plummeted down out of sight.

Roland watched all of this, and could only say to Nadia ”Are you a fleshwarp or something?” She clearly wasn’t a bloodfiend, so… well, he’d have a few questions for her later. ”Wait, this isn’t the time for this. After.” Roland said. Falcon didn’t say anything to any of that. It was unsettling to be sure, but at least the cheaters were finally brought to justice.

"I guess that’s it for our truce, then." He then grinned and said, "May the best team win!" Before pulling Roland along for what was sure to be the final sprint to the end.

Therion didn't feel the least bit bad about the blood and limb attack. Now some of the city team could get a little taste of what the under team had to go through in the Basement and beyond. And, he had already been planning to make a break away as soon as they were able to, so Falcon and Roland's sudden dash didn't take him by surprise. In fact, he was right behind them.

Although he was aware that he'd have to compensate for Nadia, given that she was down both arms and it would affect her balance, among more obvious issues. So he had to act as the first anchor, letting her swing and use only her legs to get them up to the next platform. They sailed across the gap and Therion clung to the side of the wall, bracing himself to hold Ms. Fortune's weight. "Go when you're ready. But if you don't do this, we're both going down."

“Guess I’d better do it then!” She was limber and athletic enough to swing like that, though it took a few tries to make it onto the boards, giving Falcon and Roland a bit of a lead on them. Once she was up, all she had to do was hold Therion's weight and he shimmied up the rope himself with practiced speed. The next snowy gale could see them across the gap to another ice patch, and the platform beyond, before she would even really need to put her mimicked blood arms to use.

Falcon and Roland had reached a crevice at this point and were already at work climbing up the wooden platforms that would take them to an overhang they would have to swing around. At this point they’d practically become a well-oiled machine. And what was more the finish line was just up ahead past a large gap they’d have to jump across via a swinging platform. They were so close that Falcon could practically taste it.

Faced with the western mountainside, the thieves had no choice but to quickly scramble up the wooden platforms, jumping the biggest gaps when the wind would let them. When they reached one suspended in the air, Nadia looked up into the crevice that Roland and Falcon were almost finished with. “This’ll be tough with these arms,” Nadia muttered as she waited for the wind. “Even if they’re almost as good as the real thing.” She paused, her eyebrows raised. “...Actually, that goes for just about everything I can mimic…”

Their chances weren't looking great at the moment, but they weren't out just yet. While thinking of how to move faster or otherwise get ahead, Therion glanced at his partner. "Yeah…?" he questioned, picking up that some thoughts were turning the cogs in her brain.

“I have an idea,” Nadia told him quickly. “It’s kinda cheating, but we’re thieves, aren’t we? Only fitting that we steal first place.”

He put on a small grin. "Couldn't have said it better myself."

The feral began to pump out a massive amount of blood, expending eighty percent of her total volume. As her blood began to take shape on the platform alongside her, she got dizzier and dizzier, sagging into Therion’s arms. “S-sorry,” she said, her breath slightly slurred. “You’re gonna…need to…carry me.” After another moment, though, her blood solidified into a huge Hydro Mimic of Bowser, which immediately grabbed Therion and lifted him like a baseball.

It was times like these that Therion really wished that Ms. Fortune would explain what she had in mind, at least so that he could try and refuse. Since he was scooped up he had no say in the matter though, and he did want to win. He had time to suck in a breath, hold it, and clutch Nadia tightly before the false king did his thing.

Without warning the Hydro Mimic hurled the two, throwing them up past the crevice challenge, through the cave opening, and past the ice with the arrow sign up to an isolated ledge, putting them just ahead of Roland and Falcon right as the wind picked up and the swing stretched out above them. Nadia began to recoup her lost blood, but it would still be a few seconds before she recovered from her costly maneuver.

Falcon shook his head, his expression clearly one of disappointment. After all the talk about putting a stop to the cheating, they immediately resort to cheating themselves? And here he thought that they’d finally get to actually enjoy a fair and square race. Clearly these other teams lacked the appreciation for fair play and sportsmanship that Cap possessed. A lesser man might have resorted to using some kind of attack against the other team while one of their members was clearly winded. But Falcon had his principles and he was determined to stand by them even if that meant finishing in second place. A stolen win was no true win at all in his book. Of course that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to still try his damnedest.

Therion looked between the swing and the approaching men. Crap, was he really expected to carry Nadia the rest of the way? Even with her blood literally outside of her body at the moment, decreasing her overall weight and making it just possible for him, he doubted he could make any jumps with her in his arms. It definitely wasn't something he could do for the long term in his current form.

...right, his current form. He could see the flag marking the end of the course clearly, and there were no sections where they would have to use the rope to swing themselves. It was a pure straight away marked only by ice and gaps. If that was the case, he could take on a different form.

Unfortunately he'd be forfeiting the lead again, but he didn't see any other options with Ms. Fortune as laid out as she was. While Falcon and Roland hopped onto the swing, Therion leaned in to tell his partner, "I'm dropping you for just a second, got it? Then hold on tight."

"Let’s go!" Cap called to Roland, "We can still show them that cheaters never prosper!" Roland could only nod, although when Falcon wasn’t looking at him, Roland could only roll his eyes at how crazy this whole thing had been escalating to, yet here it was, him and the new guy, just using good old fashioned teamwork and agility. And maybe a fire kick or two. If there was something the duo had over Nadia and Therion, it was their much greater natural speed.

They had that over Roxas and Midna too, but they at least had cheats in spades. Having clambered out of the drop, and seeing the gap that had been built up, recklessness was the only thing that would catch them up. As such, the darknut was summoned again, but this time, rather than raise them up, the pair stepped onto the end of its blade, before being catapulted forwards after the frontrunners.

It took a precious moment where the other pairs could get even further ahead, but then with a flash a large blue, white, and black furred wild cat stood where Therion had before. He flipped Ms. Fortune onto his back and leapt onto the swing when it next blew close to them, and then soared across the gap when it moved back the other way.

It was his thought that a beast's superior speed, strength, and agility would easily outpace a human's, even with a rider. And where Roland and Captain Falcon would have to contend with the ice, Therion's claws and paw pads afforded him much better traction. He blitzed over the last leg of the race, catching up with the favorites to win, and stretched his arms out as his tiger-like body leapt ahead to try and seize the win, if even only by a claw.

Roland had prepared himself for the ice though, and pulled out his idea to deal with them, although it only made him and Falcon unable to slip off. Summoning his weapons, he summoned a clawed gauntlet to grip things if needed, and a mace to use as a stabilizer as he skated across the ice. Falcon’s blistering sprint was generally enough to carry him across the ice. Of course, braking to a stop would be incredibly hard to do thanks to the slickness, but in his mind he would have reached the finish by that time so it wouldn’t matter at that point. As long as nothing tripped him up before that point, then he should be fine.

Impressed by Therion’s speed and strength in tiger form, Nadia had wanted to settle in for the ride while her blood slowly replenished, but as the thieves closed in on the finish line she saw Falcon and Roland a little too close for comfort. After coming this far, the feral wasn’t going to let her opponents steal back the win now. Holding on with her legs and just one arm, she reached into her belt and pulled out her Bait Launcher. “Sorry, bud…” she mumbled, taking aim. “But the steaks…are too high!”

She pulled the trigger, and sent a slab of meat flying toward her opponents. It wouldn’t deal damage, and neither would the giant, burly tiger it summoned on impact, but it was enough to throw the Fixer and the Captain off for the split second Therion needed. He pounced over the finish line with Nadia on his back, just a second ahead of the competition, and only a moment later Roxas and Midna followed behind. Each finish resulted in the booming blare of a horn, each mighty sound echoing across the mountain to let everyone know that a team had finished. Judging by the short interval between each one, the others could all infer just how close the race had been. But in the end, the cat burglars had won, with the speedy professionals in second, and the twilight tricksters in third.

Of course, Therion’s speed meant that the winners shot off the other end of the peak the next instant and entered freefall, followed by their rivals. At this point, though, Nadia didn’t even care. She yowled, half-cheering and half-screaming, all the way back down to the bottom.

Midna did manage to stop herself from falling off but, after a moment of thought, shrugged with two sets of shoulders and then swan dived into the abyss after them simply for the fun of it.

World of Light

Light and Shadow II

wordcount: 1,040 (+2) (+2 rapport per character)
Midna: level 9 EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (25/110) (+1 bonus pending)
Roxas: level 8 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (36/80)
^with
Warp Charges: 1

warp locations

Virgin Victory teleport room
Top of the Split mountain
Outside the Convent of Our Lady of the Charred Visage
Tostarena Town
S.O.U. Building
Seiran Clinic
Underground Roadway (Seiran Rebel Base Outskirts)
Below City of glass entrance (plate maintenance tunnel)
Vandelay Campus (Alleyway)
Arahabaki’s entrance
Deep Ground - the Source

Warp Charges: 1

”What in the goddess’ name was-” Minda cried out as something massive exploded back down in the penguin village, only for the curled up form of Rika to come crashing into view, and then tumbling right towards them. With a cry of ”Watch out!” the princess ummed her shadow hand and made to slap the incoming boat ball, knocking it away from them, yet the recoil still took its toll, causing her to stumble backwards towards the edge of the little platform they had been on.

Roxas had instinctively rolled to one side as an immediate reaction to Midna’s warning. By the time he was upright again, she was already stumbling backward. And so he planted his feet, grabbed a hold of the rope tethering them together and yanked it toward him. This would essentially stop her backward stumble and instead redirect her weight forward, ”I got’cha!” he reassured Midna. It probably wasn’t the most graceful way to save her from falling, but it worked nonetheless.

”What the heck was that about?” He asked, looking at the direction the boat ball had flown in from. ”Were attacking us or something?”

Midna made a little ”urk!” as her waist was yanked to a stop, arms pinwheeling for another moment before they spread out as she got her balance back. Then she let out a little sigh of relief and gave him a ”thanks” before stepping away from the edge, only to turn right back around and peering down to follow the flight of this Rika person as she bounced down down down into the depths.

”Not sure, but if she was she looks like she’s smacked herself with her own bowstring because she’s going all the way down to-” Mindwa was saying, only to be interrupted by the distant thud of Rika hitting the ground.

”-to the bottom” she concluded.

And it didn’t look like they were the only ones taking a tumble. Not long after came the flailing forms of Roland and Captain Falcon tumbling down from some place above. "Did you see that?" Roxas asked Midna and added, "If they’re falling down too that means we’re in the lead, right?" That was quite the encouraging development. And he was quick to generate some virtual cubes for them to reach their next platform with.

"Nothing’s stopping us now!" He cheered from the boosted morale.

The princess flashed him a confident grin as her dragon claws gripped the stone and then let her propel herself after him, even as, internally, she was a touch concerned about whatever it was that had knocked those two down a peg. A short time after this, Roxas was the first one to notice another team a bit further below them. It was Pit and Junior. Normally that wouldn’t have been so strange, except they were somehow using virtual cubes, too!

"Huh? How are they doing that?" Roxas questioned. "The Phantom Ruby I have is supposed to be the only one of its kind, so how…?" He squinted his eyes and was able to faintly make out the shape of the little creature responsible for conjuring their cubes. Was it a Pokemon? He couldn’t tell, but maybe the Rotom Phone the Professor gave him could tell him more? So he quickly fished out his silver and white Rotom Phone and held up to try and identify the Pokemon in question. "Mimikyu, Disguise Pokemon?" Roxas said as he read the entry for it. "So it has the power to mimic moves? Is that how they’re copying my virtual cubes? Guess we’ll just have to pick up the pace and not let them get past us."

”neat trick” Midna observed, before reaching out her shadow hand and pulling them up off of their own blocks to a higher ledge and saying it was a ”good thing we have two!”

They certainly needed it, because as they got higher and higher, the dirt walls of the mine were replaced with ice and snow thick walls, which, while it certainly indicated they might be approaching the exit, came with new challenges. Not actual ice, fortunately, but the amount of places to stand started dropping off dramatically, till at one point they found themselves practicing balancing on a pole. Or at least, that was what was needed. Midna nearly instantly crouched down to grab it with one of her many arms for support as she wobbled on the precarious foothold.

Weirdly enough, Roxas was kinda used to this sort of thing. Mostly because of his Flow Motion giving him so much unintended practice with it. But even so, it didn’t hurt to take precautions. And besides, Midna probably needed the extra footholds. So he gave them small virtual platforms to increase their breathing room with the jump distances. He still needed to stand on natural spots in order to instantiate his virtual cubes in other locations as they progressed, so it wasn’t always without an occasional awkward spot. But beyond that, his virtual cubes were almost making this too easy at times.

”We’re… not exactly playing fair, are we?” He only just now asked. But to be fair, several of the other teams had clearly resorted to underhanded tactics as well so it wasn’t like they were the only ones doing this.

Mida simply shrugged, saying ”You take every advantage you can get against your foes, because they’ll do the same” before, with perfect timing, slipping on a blood pool and ending up face an inch from the ground, held up on six spread out limbs.

”See what I mean?” she said as she hopped into a crouch and then stood herself back up.

”Guess so.” The Nobody responded with a shrug.

Still, it was hard to say that, when it came to cheating, they weren't the ones doing the most, and so the pair veritably blazed their way through the rest of the mines and then back out into the fresh open air. The very fresh air, as the wind began to whip through the rather open and airy section of the race. Perhaps the end now was in sight, somewhere up in the icy platforms above.

”Wind, huh?” Roxas said. ”At least we’re out of the dark, I guess.”