Double

World of Light

Word Count: 1,076
Level 5 Captain Falcon: 28/10
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 30/10

Carnival Town ~ Big Blue

The first thing Captain Falcon did was not immediately activate the fulton he was given. After all, Midna had offered to try and use her portal abilities as a workaround for his Blue Falcon. As such, he led the Twilight Princess to the garages of the Big Blue racetrack where his F-Zero machine was parked. He raised his eyebrow with intrigue after watching her do her thing. Seemed like a really useful ability. Not something he suspected would get heavy use in a combat scenario, but the utility of it was certainly undeniable. He just hoped that they’d be able to arrange something for the Blue Falcon on the Avenger later, since the hangar was technically supposed to be for air vehicles only. But he figured he could cross that bridge when he got to it.

As Midna deployed her fulton and the Captain was about to do the same for his own, something delayed him briefly. Samurai Goroh, one of Falcon’s long-time rivals had apparently now arrived at Big Blue and had caught wind of Falcon having to drop out of the grand prix race. If he knew Goroh, then Cap knew he’d be none-to-happy about this and probably accuse him of being too scared to face him in a race. Cap just sighed, honestly not having enough time to explain everything to the former bandit, not that it would have done any good anyway. So Falcon tried to keep the interaction as brief as possible and instead just wished Goroh luck in the race and then yanked on the fulton chord before the man had any time to protest or stop him.

The Avenger

As for the method of transportation back to the ship? Balloons were certainly not on Captain Falcon’s bingo card, that was for sure. In fact the Captain found himself hanging in midair for a time until he was finally brought on board in the ship’s hangar bay. Speaking of the hangar, it certainly looked like it had room enough to house the Blue Falcon, so surely he could work something out with these Lost Number people. But that would need to wait, because for the time being everyone was more interested in putting their spirits to use and that meant getting a tour of the ship’s Spirit Chamber.

Once in the Spirit Chamber, Cap was able to get a firsthand look at exactly how these spirits worked. Not only could they be turned into summonable strikers or fused with, but it looked like it was able to undo those as well and return you to your normal looks and abilities. Alright, so this all seemed like a way to make tweaks and adjustments so you weren’t stuck with whatever initial result you got. That was good, he guessed. It also clearly meant he had nothing to really fear from fusing, so he saw no reason not to give it a try.

But there were others who wanted to use the Resonator and so Cap decided to wait his turn and turn his attention to his other two spirits while he waited. Apparently this worked by trying to make some kind of mental connection with the spirit in question as a way to request that they become your strikers. At least that was how Falcon had interpreted it. As for these two spirits in question, they looked rather soldier-like. Well, the archer girl looked that way. The other man on the other hand looked more like he meant business. Either way both of these two looked like they'd had plenty of their share of combat before and so becoming strikers probably wouldn’t be that much of a stretch for them.

For Captain Falcon

New striker spiritbound:
Bianca
An archer who can shoot a lightning arrow every 5s, or empower her arrows with Red, Yellow, or Blue Orbs (increasing her cooldown by 10s). Red Orb arrows penetrate enemies, dealing physical and lightning damage. Yellow Orb arrows create lightning fields for 5s that slow and damage enemies within. Blue Orb arrows explode and push enemies away, then empower the next Red or Yellow Orb arrow to deal additional lightning damage. If 3 Red Orb arrows are used in a row, the next Blue Orb arrow will additionally remove the extra cooldown from using Red Orb arrows 6 times

New striker spiritbound:
Tyr
A fierce and remorseless striker with a 25s cooldown. He can slash with his floating greatswords, either repeatedly at close range or by standing his ground and throwing them. A sword can also be commanded to spin, then moved around. The swords deal additional fire-aspected damage and increase targets' fire vulnerability slightly

When the spirits seemed to vanish, Cap took that to mean that it was a success. He’d have to teach himself how to actually use them a bit later, because doing so right here in this crowded room was a recipe for disaster. He heard mention of a room specifically intended for practice and training so he figured he could pay that area a visit later on. And then there was the martial artist’s spirit. Judging by his choice of wardrobe, the guy looked like he’d clash heavily with Falcon’s own looks. That gave Falcon another idea that he implemented by applying the 3-piece suit costume he’d purchased earlier. A sharply dressed guy like this spirit would probably blend pretty well with the formal attire. And this would also give the added benefit of letting Falcon keep his F-Zero suit unchanged.

With the formal suit on and his helmet temporarily set aside, the Captain finally took his turn with the Resonator. Just as he’d seen others do before him, Cap slotted the spirit into the Resonator and stepped into its chamber.

For Captain Falcon

Spirit Consumed: Robert Garcia
The host’s chiseled jawline has become slightly sharper and narrower. His brown parted hair has darkened to a blacker shade and is now slicked back. A mustache and goatee are now sported on his upper lip and chin. The formal costume is now slightly less formal. The jacket is gone entirely and the white shirt has been replaced by one that is a more vibrant royal blue and is a bit more opened at the top in a more casual dress style. The black vest remains largely the same, but now sports a silver pocket chain on the right side. His pants have become white, and the dress gloves are now black and more like those of a biker. This spirit confers the ability Special Moves, giving him Ryuugeki Sen and Gen'ei Kyaku. Ryuugeki Sen allows him to briefly gather and then throw chi in the form of a short-range, disc-shaped flare. He can do this with an arm to throw it high, or with a leg to throw it low. Gen'ei Kyaku is a barrage of kicks in place, thrown fast enough to leave afterimages. This spirit also confers the Weakness Less Fast Than Falcon, decreasing the host's running speed to a more reasonable (but still superhuman) level.

The Captain looked himself over when he stepped out of the Resonator. It was about what he expected, and his suspicion that Robert’s spirit would match better with the dress suit was practically spot on. He scratched his chin a bit when the newfound facial hair made it itch. That was also something he was expecting. Falcon never thought he was that good at pulling off facial hair like this, although the changes from Robert did have a way of making it work. But at the end of the day, Cap would always prefer a clean shave. As such, he’d probably give himself a quick shave later on after he was done settling in. For now, the Captain gave a few quick kicks with his legs. Yeah, it definitely felt like his kicks were faster and more precise than before, probably because of Robert’s fighting style. He wasn’t sure how that would impact his own fighting style, and so Falcon made a mental note to ask someone for a sparring session later so he could test the water and figure things out.

But that appeared to conclude his business with the Spirits for the time being. Falcon switched back to his F-Zero Suit and also made sure to put his helmet on. After looking at himself again he concluded that, yeah, the facial hair really didn’t work for him - especially with the helmet on. So the first thing he’d do is finish settling in, then give himself a shave. After that, maybe a meal and then a sparring session assuming he could convince anyone to join him for one.

World of Light

Word Count: 1,138
Level 6 Ganondorf: 42/60
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 44/60

The Avenger

The last thing Ganondorf had expected was to be lifted up by balloons of all things. He’d thought surely they possessed some kind of portal or warp, but balloons? That meant he was hanging there thousands of feet in the air until it was eventually his turn to be transferred into the large ship’s hangar. That was certainly… an experience. Not exactly a pleasant one, either. But he was just going to have to get used to it if he expected to continue using whatever facilities this vessel offered. Which, given its size, had to be quite a few. It was effectively a flying fortress in that regard, even if Ganondorf had no understanding of any of the technology behind it.

There were certainly a lot of explanations to listen to. The exact inner workings of this flying vessel were mostly lost on Ganondorf. This sort of technological environment may as well have been totally alien to the Warlord. From his perspective, the advanced machines may as well have just been another form of magic as far as his understanding was concerned. Either way, he could plainly see what the various devices and machines could do for him and was certainly interested in making use of them.

The first thing Ganondorf wanted to do was use the machine that would separate his Spirits from him. He had no intention of getting rid of them all by any means, but he was cognizant of the fact that he had a few that just weren’t getting much use anymore in their current form and could probably find a better use in some other way. When it was his turn he stepped into the respec machine and waited for it to do its thing. It wasn’t often he found himself in a position of stripping himself of power that he’d gained, but he knew he'd be able to regain it all momentarily once he sorted through his spirits. With that out of the way, it was time to finally start doing something with his newly acquired spirits. As instructed, Ganondorf inserted the spirits of Oberon, Artorias, Ceruledge, and Volga into the Resonator before stepping inside it himself.

Ganondorf Redone

Spirits Lost: Igos du Ikana
Strikers Lost: Duke of Flies, Blastocyst
Powers Lost: Violet Flare
Skills Lost: None
Weaknesses Lost: Mirror Sheen

Fusions: Oberon Prime, Artorias, Ceruledge, and Volga

Powers Gained
Psycho Cut: Allows the user to concentrate and launch a blade of psychic energy. On hit it deals psi/mental damage and applies a minor slow and defense down for 3s. The mental energy required leaves the host unable to focus enough for another Psycho Cut for 6.5s.

Skills Gained
Dragon-style Spear Mastery: Enables a style of polearm combat suited for large numbers of enemies, using quick sweeping strikes with the shaft to clump enemies together for dispatch via plunges and thrusts.

Weaknesses Gained
Spirit is Weak: Makes the host vulnerable to other ghost/astral-type moves.
Quantity Over Quality: Decreases the host's damage and stagger to single target elite enemies by 10%.

Personality: Ganondorf’s personality remains largely the same. His attitude is still a bit dark and gloomy as per Artorias, but otherwise nothing else has changed much. Oh, and his speech pattern is no longer as flowery as it previously was.

Appearance: Ganondorf has, for the most part, retained his original physique and facial features. The plates of his armor now possess some slight dragon-themed shapes to them. In addition, their color has become something more akin to a mix of violet and purple. His right hand gauntlet now possesses a retractable claw/talon-like weapon that matches up with the newfound dragon motif. His helmet also becomes more vaguely shaped like a dragon head, its wingtips morphing into horns that protrude from the back and curve their way forward. The helmet also has an exaggerated horsetail that resembles a long tongue of purple flame.

Ganondorf inspected himself and eventually offered the changes a nod of approval. It was definitely preferable to be closer to his original build than to be so tall as he was before. It was intimidating to be sure, but he was also certain it would have become a nuisance eventually when it came time to enter through shorter doors or portals. But this was all just the beginning of what Ganondorf wanted to do. The next thing he did was pick up the spirits he had removed earlier. They’d served their purpose and even did it well when it was needed. But now they needed to serve a different purpose. But for this, Ganondorf would have to do a little… negotiating.

He approached Sectonia, knowing full well he wasn’t exactly her favorite person. He’d managed to sneak a use of her Crown of Avarice before but he knew he wouldn’t be able to get away with that again. This time he’d have to make her an offer. And the offer was pretty simple. He’d use the Crown to crush three spirits in his possession and she would be allowed to keep one of her choosing as a payment. The deal was struck and so Ganondorf donned the crown and proceeded to crush the spirits of Blastocyst, Duke of Flies, and Igos du Ikana.

For Ganondorf

Items obtained:
Sheet Music - Elegy of Emptiness
An ancient scroll containing a series of notes, so ominous that just touching it is enough to make one feel uneasy. If these notes are played on an instrument, the player will 'cast off' one of their spirits as a shell, leaving it as a statue in place and disabling all attributes related to that spirit. All shells can be restored by playing the notes in reverse. These shells act as indestructible turrets that use their powers automatically, but they cannot move
Stem Cells
Increases max HP and projectile speed, but also leaves a few bulbous clumps of deep red tissue across the host's body

The Queen elected to keep the fly familiar, which in turn left Ganondorf with the Sheet Music and the Stem Cells. The stem cells he let drop to the floor. He remembered his time down in the Basement and recalled that items such as this would automatically be used as soon they were touched, and this didn’t look like something he wanted to use on himself. But that was fine, because it would play into what he wanted to do next. Before that he took a moment to read the Sheet Music. It was a song that was not familiar to him, but the notes did remind him of that annoying hero and his precious Ocarina. So he had a feeling this song had some kind of magic power to it, but the question was, what? Unfortunately, Ganondorf had no musical ability of his own, at least for the time being, so for now the song would just have to be kept in the back pocket.

And now Ganondorf used his magic and summoned Phantom Ganon. He had not been using the Phantom as often as he used to, and so he decided perhaps it was in need of some additional power. When the Phantom Appeared, Ganondorf took the spirits of Guido and Boris and thrust them into the figure’s chest in order to fuse it with them.

For Phantom Ganon

Spirits consumed:
Guido the Persistent and Boris
The rider is now fully armored in slightly yellowed, engraved silver plate, with a heavy crimson cape. Both horse and rider are shrouded in red ribbons, with paper scripts stamped to their armor with seals of red wax. The eyes within their metal masks are empty. The Guido spirit confers the ability N Corp's Nail, granting the summon a giant black nail half-wrapped in crimson cloth to be wielded in his off hand. When it lands an attack, it inflicts Bleed, and at less than 50% HP the Bleed is twice as bad. This spirit also confers the weakness Hammer of the One Who Grips, making it so that when the summon is defeated, the summoner loses 45 mana/energy. The Boris spirit confers the ability Ripping Bear, which allows the summon to empower himself with a red aura that makes his next attack ignore invincibility. This spirit also confers the Weakness End of Service, which disables the summon if the summoner has no money

When the fusion finished taking effect, Ganondorf then pointed to the stem cells on the floor in order for Phantom Ganon to pick it up. They instantly vanished into him as expected, resulting in the Phantom becoming a bit sturdier and his projectiles a bit faster, but also produced some bulbous clumps of red tissue in a few spots around his body. It wasn’t entirely savory, but the red cape and the armor did at least make it less noticeable to a certain extent, not that such a thing would be a bother to either the warlord or his phantom. After that the Phantom was dismissed and it vanished back into the dimension that it was summoned from.

Ganondorf now had 4 remaining Spirits. They were random spirits he had acquired from the Orb Machine that were still in their capsules. He suspected the capsules somehow slowed or prevented the spirits from fading which was why they could be kept in that machine until they were awarded to someone with a rift token. As much as he usually craved power, Ganondorf had to also admit he was curious about that spirit merchant who was mentioned earlier - Vulgrim was his name. He wasn’t here presently, but was claimed to be able to offer knowledge or other useful items of interest in exchange for spirits. That intrigued the Warlord enough to hold onto his remaining spirits so that he could potentially use them for Vulgrim’s services once the merchant in question had returned.

And that, finally, concluded Ganondorf’s overall business with the Spirit Chamber. And while others might have wanted to find rest or food, not so with Ganondorf. He instead wanted to test the new powers he had gained. Only a fool would go into real battle without first testing any new powers or skills they learned, after all.

World of Light

Word Count: 601
Level 8 Roxas: 61/80
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 62/80

The Avenger

When it was time to leave, Roxas yanked his fulton chord, not surely sure what it was going to do. So when he was suddenly yanked up high into the sky by a pair of balloons, it nearly made him yelp in surprise. It was a good thing Scamp was still in his Poke Ball, or this would probably be scaring the poor Yamper to death. But after some time literally hanging in the air, Roxas was picked up and transferred back into the Avenger’s hangar bay. Not exactly a fun way to come and go, but if it meant having a mobile base like this? Who was he to complain about it?

Once onboard, Roxas didn’t immediately go with everyone to the Spirit Chamber. Instead he made a pit stop to his quarters so he could drop off his backpack and change back into his monochrome outfit. Since he was about to do at least one fusion, he didn’t want it to affect any of his casual clothes or outfits. Then let Scamp out of his Poke Ball so he could run and stretch his and legs. After this, the two of them went scampering through the corridors until they found their way into the Spirit Chamber.

Roxas had gotten there in time to see Nadia accidentally reset herself with that Orb thing she carried. That sight actually served as a big relief for him. The Nobody had had his fears and reservations about the idea of fusing from the start, but now he was learning that it could actually be undone if he wanted to do that! That definitely alleviated whatever worries Roxas still had about the concept, and so now he felt completely okay with the idea of fusing as long as he knew he could go back to “normal” later.

Roxas didn’t get a chance to use the Resonator right away. While he waited for his chance, he decided to go ahead and do something with his existing Strikers and the Spirits he intended to turn into Strikers along with them. First thing he did was spirit bind with the random ghost girls he got the Orb Machine.

For Roxas

New striker spiritbound:
Kayano
An elusive and eerie beauty that confounds enemies until it's time for the deathblow, possessing a long cooldown. She can use her ghostly power to instantly swap the position of her host and a selected teammate, or create a spectral geyser from the ground to deal dark and water damage in an area. However, if she's summoned while the host is on the frontlines of a fight, she will immediately shift the host to the backlines while shifting everyone behind him forward, boosting their attack in the process.

New striker spiritbound:
Poltergeist
Though a harmless bedsheet ghost at first glance, the presence of multiple entities beneath the sheet are an ominous foretent to their powerful abilities. Poltergeist can use Prank to deal a burst of moderate psi/mental damage with 30% resistance penetration, or Whispering Words to deal a stronger burst of psi/mental damage. Finally, after some time spent fighting they can use The Sun Is Not Gentle, granting the host Taunt, Defense Up, Healing Up, and Stealth for 10 seconds. Poltergeist has a 25s cooldown.

Of course, it was after this that he learned about the apparent tax that having too many Spirits had on the person. But luckily they had the dugout machine that they could store extra strikers in to be swapped out later. As such, Roxas went ahead and put Fortune and Burn Rooster into the dugout, figuring it was only fair to give the two of them a break as well let the two new strikers have a chance to show what they could do. It was around this time that he was able to get his chance to use the Resonator.

”Like… this?” Roxas asked as he slotted in the spirit he wanted to fuse with, garnering a nod of confirmation from Deadman. After that, Roxas left Scamp waiting on the outside and stepped into the Resonator. After it did its thing, he stepped back out again.

For Roxas

Spirit Consumed: Ramza Beoulve
The host's outfit is no longer monochrome. The white/silver parts - specifically the gauntlets and shoes - are now a light sky blue color. In addition, the host’s shoulders now sport round armored pauldrons of the same sky blue color. His hair has shortened a bit, but he has a thin ponytail that retains the hair’s previous length. This spirit confers the ability Mettle, giving him three techniques from the Squire job: Tailwind, which boosts an ally's speed, Chant, which sacrifices HP to restore twice as much to an ally, and Steel, which boosts an ally's bravery. This spirit confers the weakness Squire Specifications, giving the host anti-proficiency with shields and weapons that aren't small to medium blades.

Scamp was a little confused at first, but after a moment he realized it was still Roxas and was quick to happily lick at his face. ”Haha, yep. It’s still me, buddy.” Roxas said to him with a grin. And with all this now done, Roxas was essentially finished and could go find himself something else to occupy his time with. Maybe he could squeeze in a nap or get something to eat for himself and scamp?

Amalgam - Hour of X

Sorry for that delay, but I have now rectified it by posting.

Amalgam - Hour of X

S P E L L B I N D E R

---

What. A. Month. That was approximately how long it had been since Zack first made it to New Gotham City. And no sooner had he found the Teen Titan X, he got called here to a whole other city to join Titan X. From what he understood, Titan X was apparently the “main” team while the Teen Titan X had been some kind of… offshoot, he supposed? This was like trying out for a minor league baseball team only to be immediately signed on by the Dodgers or the Red Sox. So uh… no pressure, right?

Unfortunately that was exactly what the magician was feeling right now. Some of these people had been working together for some time already. They’d clearly begun to form their friendships and rapport with one another. Could jokingly slag one another off without any worries that any feelings would be legitimately hurt. And then… There was Zack. Standing there in the corner of the lobby with his hands jammed into the pockets of his gray hoodie with a big backpack slung over his back because he’d literally just moved into town and hadn’t even had time to unpack or anything yet. And it definitely didn’t help that he clearly looked like the youngest person in the room. So basically it was all the pressure of starting a new job and being the new kid in school all rolled up into one! Yay!

He was initially startled by the big machine guy’s entrance. Who in the world would go out of their way to make such a loud entrance? Oh… right… A magician like him would, wouldn’t he? But that was all stage and theater! He’d never do something like that in casual conversation. He’d never have the guts to do anything that flashy unless he was suited up and wearing his mask. Was it weird that he would feel so… naked without it?

Thinking back on it… Why wasn’t Spiderboy here? Pete had been the one to point him in this team’s direction initially, but for some reason declined to ever join it himself? Seemed a little hypocritical, now that Zack thought about it. Or maybe it was Dr. Strangefate’s idea? During lessons he did occasionally insist that Zack pursue some kind of social life rather than dedicate all his time to learning and practice. Maybe he’d been the one to put Spiderboy up to sending Zack here? Well either way, Zack was here now and if the choice was between Jumphaven and going back to his family drama, well… he was choosing Jumphaven every single time.

And then the Tower was attacked. Night Vision gave the call to arms, and everyone leaped into action. Everyone, that is, except for Zack. At least at first. After a moment’s hesitation he snapped out of it and clapped his hands together as he began to chant. ”Emitwohs... S'ti!” He spun around with a dramatic flair as his clothes transmogrified into his suit and he transformed into Spellbinder.

But after that he, well, hesitated again. If he’d been on his own he could have jumped into some kind of strategy involving some big conjuration or something. But for the moment he was a bit afraid of getting in someone else’s way and stepping on their toes. But if nothing else he could spin this as him simply observing and waiting for an opening if anyone asked him. But it didn’t hurt to start prepping a spell. He clapped his gloved hands together and began to focus and channel his arcane energy. If he did spot an opening, he’d suddenly chant out ”Evoba morf htaed!” and conjure a heavy shipping container above the Herald of Cyotakk’s head so that gravity could do the rest and drop it on top of him.

Amalgam - Hour of X

SPELLBINDER

DC/Marvel Characters Used:
Zachary Zatara + Scarlet Witch

Name:
Zachary "Zack" Maximoff

Alias:
Spellbinder

Age:
18

Powers
Magic: Zack's meta-mutant power effectively converts what is normally stage magic into real magic. This typically manifests as conjuring objects into existence or transmogrifying existing objects into other objects of a similar size. The larger the object, the greater amount of concentration and control is required to successfully perform the spell. He can also achieve other illusory effects such as temporarily cloaking himself with invisibility or disguising himself as another person of a similar height and build, with the only caveat being that these illusions will not fool things such as infrared detection or bio-metric scanners. He's also capable of hurling bolts of magical energy from his hands, but they are relatively weak compared to other heroes with more dedicated energy blast powers mostly due his own lack of experience.

Prestidigitation: In addition to real magic, Zack is an accomplished stage magician and is thus well-practiced in various sleight of hand acts. These can range from conjuring up a bouquet of flowers to a small flock of doves from out of his cape or hat. Probably the most practical of these skills is an ability to pickpocket items as well as reverse-pickpocket them, ie placing them into another's pocket without being caught or noticed.

Chaos Magic: This is a dangerous extension of magical energy projection. It can allow for bigger and more destructive blasts of magic that is sometimes also elemental in nature such as fire or lighting. There also appears to be an element of probability manipulation to this magic that can allow it to "randomly" break or destroy structures. This is what gives the magic it's chaotic element and why it is referred to as Chaos Magic. But it comes with a rather extreme caveat. Chaos Magic, by its very name and nature, is dangerous and even unpredictable. It also has an unseen cost to it that eats away at the mind and soul of a person who channels it too heavily and too often, which can be seen through sometimes-grotesque changes to their eyes and facial features until they eventually become a soulless husk with none of their humanity remaining.

Weaknesses:
All the magic in the world doesn't change the fact that Zack can be stabbed to death by blades or shot to death by bullets no differently than any non-meta person.

Team Affiliation:
Teen Titan X

Personality:
Awkward, introverted, quiet, but also confident and charming. If that sounds paradoxical it's because it is. The charm and confidence only ever come into play when the mask goes on and it's time to use magic and fight bad guys. Outside of that and especially during social interaction? Forget about it, whatever confidence and charm he has as a superhero just isn't there when it comes having normal conversations with people, especially those of the female persuasion.

Appearance:
Zack is a mostly lean teenager with dark green eyes and dark brown hair. His hair in particular is kept cut short in the back and sides, while the top and bangs are allowed to be a little bit longer and parted largely toward his right. On the surface he wears the uniform of a flashy stage magician - a black waistcoat over a black/red vest piece, white dress gloves, white long-sleeved dress shirt and red cravat around his neck. Over his shoulders hangs a black cape with a silky red inner lining. On his lower body he wears formal black dress pants that match his waistcoat and black leather dress shoes on his feet. He also wears a black, silk top hat with a scarlet red hat band rapped around it's base in addition to a red domino mask. Underneath this uniform he wears a layer of compressed spandex, dark grey in color that serves to keep his blood circulation well-regulated as well act as an additional layer of warmth for cold weather. The spandex material is also tough enough to act as minor protection against knives and other similarly sized bladed weapons.

BRIEF Bio:
He was the forbidden child of two feuding families of stage magicians. Zachary was related to both the Zataras and the Maximoffs, but after a meta-mutant power kicked in that made him more than a simple stage magician both families wanted him for their own agendas. Choosing not to deal with the drama he sought out others like him on the road while adventuring across the states. Zachary crossed paths with Spiderboy and later Doctor Strangefate. After a few lessons in the arcane and supernatural from the helmeted Sorcerer Supreme, Zachary sought out the Teen Titan X down south in New Gotham. Now, it's brought him further north to Jumphaven.

Supporting Cast/Characters:
The Zataras - A secretive family of magicians from his paternal side.
The Maximoffs - A secretive family of magicians from his maternal side.
Spiderboy - The first meta Zack ever met and befriended.
Dr. Strangefate - Zack's mentor of sorts in the ways of magic and sorcery.

Amalgam Universe Notes:
Zack does indeed incorporate backwards-speech into his spellcasting. It's a gimmick utilized by The Zataras as part of their magic act. It isn't actually necessary for casting spells, but Zack often uses it anyway out of habit.

World of Light

Word Count: 667
Level 8 Roxas: 60/80
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 61/80

Ballyhoo’s Big Top

Given the number of people who were trying to get their turn at the Orb Machine, needless to say that Roxas had to wait a bit for his turn to come up. So instead of immediately lining up for the Orb Machine, Roxas instead decided to spend a couple of his tokens elsewhere. They mentioned cosmetic prizes before the games started so maybe Roxas could get something interesting there. He’d been mostly changing back and forth between his now-modified Organization coat and his Twilight Town outfit, so maybe he could use some other clothes to wear once and awhile too?

And there didn’t seem to be any lack of options for clothing pieces and even full suited costumes! Roxas ended up spending 3 of his 6 rift tokens on these prizes. In the end, he walked away with a school uniform for some place called Naranja Academy, a set of sporty-looking clothes were described as being used for challenging Pokemon Gyms, and finally a simple tropical outfit that contained a comfy light blue tank top with black shorts and a pair of sandals - oh and also sunglasses. Apparently the last outfit was supposedly from Alola, where Roxas remembered Professor Koa’s parents originating from. As for the first two outfits, Roxas had never heard of Naranja Academy but according to the costume’s description it was apparently a school for Pokemon Trainers. He’d also never heard of Galar, but the name of that region was familiar to him since his Pokedex mentioned it being the home region of Yampers like Scamp.

Well, with half of his tokens now used up, Roxas figured it would be smart to hold onto the last 3 for the Orb Machine. Speaking of which, by now Roxas was finally able to get a turn at it. ”Let’s see, so I just put in the tokens and pull, right?” He asked as he inserted all three of his remaining tokens. Then reached for the crank and gave it a pull. Like it had done for others, the Orb Machine proceeded to spit out a trio of spirits that Roxas then examined more closely.

The first one was a pale woman that looked like she was covered in spots by these strange paper tags. He didn’t understand the symbols written on them, but they did look remarkably like some of the language used in the signs all over Seiran back in Midgar. The second one appeared to be a girl or woman who was literally just dressed like a bedsheet ghost. What kind of power could a spirit like this have? The only way to know would be to use it and find out. But for now there was still the third spirit to look at.

This one was a bit different. It was a boy around his own age. He also wore what looked like a mix of chainmail and plate armor. The armored plates looked like a teal green color, while the mail sections looked to be a darker hue, possibly black or a dark gray. Roxas also had a weird feeling that he’d seen this boy before. But, wait, no, that couldn’t be. He was sure this was the first time he was seeing someone like this, but then… Why the weird feeling of familiarity? He shrugged and wrote it off as his imagination.

And that was all of Roxas’ tokens now spent. While waiting for his turn at the Orb Machine, Roxas overheard Dawn coming in and speaking with Sandalphon. It sounded like that Consul Z guy was on the hunt for them again and they were gonna have to get out of Carnival Town pretty quick to avoid him catching up to them. That was a shame, since Roxas was kinda hoping to give the kart racing a try. But avoiding that Consult was more important so Roxas would just have to hope he’d get a chance to come back and try out more games and attractions later.

---

Word Count: 688
Level 6 Ganondorf: 41/60
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 42/60

Ballyhoo’s Big Top

Finally, the farcical games were over. And Ganondorf had managed to walk away with a decent bounty of rift tokens to boot. Now the only thing to do was claim the real prize. The only reason he’d even bothered to suffer through those games was so that he could claim some spirits from the Orb Machine and further expand his power. And so to that end he went straight to the Orb Machine and remained there in order to get his chance to use it. He cared nothing at all about clothes and costumes, and instead intended to spend every last token on more spirits.

When he eventually did get his turn, Ganondorf wasted no time. He’d seen how others had used the machine so he had a decent idea of how this thing worked. And so the warlord inserted all eight of his rift tokens and then reached up to give the crank a pull. Then he just smirked and waited for the machine to do its thing. One after another, the Orb Machine spewed out spirits until Ganondorf had a total of no less than eight in his possession. Now he would have to actually examine them to try and get an idea of what power they might possess.

Three of them were modern soldiers wielding technological weapons that Ganondorf wasn’t overly familiar with. He’d seen guns and blasters before thanks to his experience with the original Smashers, but never bothered to familiarize himself with them. Still, spirits like these could prove to be useful strikers so he certainly wouldn’t be throwing them away. One of the spirits was a strange one, appearing to be a woman in a red coat wielding some kind of black and white cutting device. He couldn’t imagine what kind of power this spirit had, or if it would even interest him. But still, a spirit was a spirit so leaving it behind was not something he was about to do. If nothing else he could potentially trade this spirit for another that one of the others had? Two of the other spirits appeared to be men in armor wielding some kind of blade weapons that didn’t look immediately familiar. Ah, these spirits certainly looked like the sort that would interest him. He’d have to consider what to do with them, since they could be useful as strikers or fusion material.

But the last two were what truly caught his eye. One was an armored warrior in red wielding a spear. Something about him seemed vaguely familiar to Ganondorf in some way and yet he could not put his finger on why. It gave him a feeling of deja vu similar to what he felt when he found his twin greatswords in Castle Holograd. Could this man have been from the same world of Hyrule as himself, perhaps? And the other spirit simply looked like a fierce creature in general, with its ghostly blue armor and apparent blades that replaced its hands. He recognized it as a Pokemon, having seen plenty in his time with other original Smashers. But he did not know which specific Pokemon this was. There were so many of them, Ganondorf couldn’t possibly be expected to be able to recall them all at any given time.

”Hmm, excellent.” Ganondorf said at the conclusion of his examination. Yes, these spirits were quite the bounty, he concluded. But then a strange woman entered the tent and told everyone that Consul Z was apparently on his way there and that the Seekers needed to depart as soon as possible to evade his wrath.

”Run? Why?” Ganondorf questioned, ”We hath felled four of their number already. Why should we fear one more?” It was clear he preferred to fight instead of run. Even Bowser appeared to also agree that they should just simply fight. But it was also clear they were likely going to be outvoted on this matter.

”Bah, fine!” Ganondorf relented in the end. ”Have it thy way. But know this: Thou cannot evade the Consuls forever. We shall inevitably have to fight them sooner or later.”

World of Light

Word Count: 1,010
Level 5 Captain Falcon: 26/10
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 28/10

Ballyhoo’s Big Top

The freshly de-storied Captain Falcon re-entered the big top with his eleven rift tokens in tow. Now that he thought about it, Cap wasn’t sure he really needed that many tokens all to himself. As such, he found himself willing to hand a few out to others who asked for one. Of course he didn’t just give all of them away, having kept a handful for his own use. Speaking of which, the line for the Orb Machine was all but gone now that most of the Seekers had had their chance to spend rift tokens on it.

”So… this thing will give me spirits that will make me stronger?” He said to himself as he eyed the gacha machine up and down. ”Well, may as well give it a whirl.” Cap said as he fished out a rift token from his pocket and popped it into the coin slot to activate the machine and pulled the crank. As advertised, the Orb Machine spat out what Captain Falcon assumed as a spirit. The person depicted appeared to be a young woman with long blonde hair wearing some kind of blue and white dress or uniform, he couldn’t tell exactly what the outfit was. She also appeared to be holding some kind of hi-tech looking recurve bow in her hand. So she was some kind of archer? So did that mean he could also become an archer like her? Falcon wasn’t sure he liked the idea of having to rely on weapons, but maybe there was some other use for these spirits besides combining with them.

Falcon shrugged and inserted a second coin and then pulled the crank again. As before, the Orb Machine produced a spirit that Cap held up and examined closely. This one was a man with short brown hair, dressed in some kind of business uniform. And his depiction showed him wielding an assortment of electrified blades and other weapons. Like with the first spirit, Cap wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to become reliant on weapons. But not only that, this fellow didn’t look like a very nice sort. In fact he looked almost downright villainous. How comfortable would Cap be in relying on power like that? Then again, he’d fought alongside other villains before so he supposed this wouldn’t be that different of a situation.

”Hmm, well, third time’s the charm I guess.” Cap said with a shrug. He popped in a third token and pulled the crank. The spirit he got this time featured a sharply dressed martial arts fighter sporting a goatee and dark ponytail hair. This one made Falcon nod his head in approval. Now this was more like it. A strong looking fighter capable of throwing punches and kicks with the best of them, that sounded like the kind of spirit Cap could get behind using. He’d have to make sure to ask how to use these things later since he forgot to get the details from Pit earlier.

But with only two remaining rift tokens, Cap decided not to spend them on the Orb Machine. Instead, since he knew he was about to depart on a mission, he thought it might be pertinent to check out some of the clothing items he could trade them for. After all, a spare set of clothes or two certainly couldn’t hurt to have around. He ended up buying two “costumes” which when not worn took on the appearance of a neatly packed bundle of clothes. One of them was a formal-looking 3 piece suit, black in color with white dress gloves to cover the hands. There was no headgear to this suit so his helmet and visor remained in place. This sort of thing wasn’t Cap’s usual style, but that said, having a nice suit he could change into could come in handy in the event that he needed to get into some formal event or establishment with a dress code. The second “costume” was a generic white martial arts dogi with a black belt. The outfit also replaced Cap’s gloves with white bandages tightly taped around his hands and knuckles, in addition to a white headband that replaced his helmet and was tied around his forehead. This, he figured, would be perfect for training and sparring sessions.

And with that, the last of Cap’s tokens were now spent. Sure, a few of them were given out to others. But he figured it was just as important to help the others get stronger as it was to get stronger himself. So he thought of it as an investment of sorts. Of course, now he needed to figure out what to do about the Blue Falcon. Pit mentioned they had a ship that could possibly house the machine, but he didn’t mention anything about where that ship was docked - if it even was at all.

So the only thing to do was ask about it. He recalled there being a woman who had informed the others that they needed to return to the ship because of a threat that was potentially on its way here. So Falcon figured she might be the person to ask about his F-Zero Machine. What he learned was a bit disappointing. Their ship, the Avenger, did indeed have a hanger bay with room enough for the Blue Falcon. But she said it was for air vehicles only, since they had no intention of landing the ship due to a lack of available time. They had a system in place for transporting people and objects back up the vessel, but that system was limited to a maximum of 500 pounds, which the Blue Falcon obviously exceeded.

Well, that was a shame. Falcon didn’t much like the idea of having to leave his beloved racing machine behind. But it didn’t look like he was going to have a choice. Well, he’d just have to make sure it was properly locked down where it was and hope he’d get a chance to come and retrieve it at a later date.

World of Light

Pit vs Captain Falcon

Word Count: 2,931
Exp: +3
Level 5 Captain Falcon: 23/10 - > 26/10
Pit - Level: 5 - Total EXP: 266/50

After the games were done and Dawn informed everyone to get ready to head back to the Avenger, nearly everyone went right to the big gachapon machine with spirits inside. Of course some drifted over to the prize exchange or the food counter (which is where Pit initially stopped at, refueling after all the games with a bag of peanuts), but there was still a line forming. And Pit wasn’t really one to stand in a line.

Cutting wasn’t an option (that’d just be rude), and since he wasn’t interested in a new haircut or outfit Pit glanced around for any type of distraction while he waited for the crowd to thin. His eyes skimmed over all of the Seekers, and when they found Captain Falcon he remembered the fighting that had happened right before the last game.

Oh yeah! He’s still Galeem-ified. Pit squinted at the man, making sure to check for the light in his eyes behind the visor. That had to be remedied if they wanted the Captain to come with them. Though Pit wasn’t privy to the Underground Team’s chat about recruiting the F-Zero pilot, he figured it was a given that they would. Scarfing down the last of his snack, Pit waved at the man while he approached him.

"Hey Captain Falcon! You remember me, right?" he asked first. He knew sometimes the Gleaming had spotty memories. Unfortunately for him, Falcon was one of those cases of a spotty memory. Instead he merely assumed that Pit was simply a fan he might have interacted with at some past event.

”I always do my best to remember my fans.” He responded, attempting to be nice about this. Pit’s near ever-present smile turned into a slight grimace at the reply.

"Well, whatever, it’s fine. Anyway, I’ve still got some energy left to burn. Do you wanna spar? I bet we could find a good place and it’ll be just like a Smash match!"

”I’m not sure what ‘Smash’ means,” Cap said with a clueless look, ”But what the heck, why not? Haven’t got to stretch my fighting muscles in a while, so they could probably use a good workout.”

"Alright! Let's go! Be right back guys!" Pit called out to the other Seekers before he nodded at Captain Falcon. He led the way out of Ballyhoo's Big Top, head on a swivel. It was hard to tell how much time had passed while they were playing the minigames, especially since Carnival Town was just as lively then as it had been when they started.

There was a stadium in the city, but judging from the fanfare and balloons over the top it was already in use. The two of them had to make due with a mostly empty courtyard a little ways from the tent. Dutifully Pit tried to shoo away any onlookers, though most were glad to get back to a livelier section of town anyway. The angel did a couple stretches, then turned to face his soon-to-be opponent. He bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Ready?"

Falcon was stretching his rotator cuffs for a moment when this was asked. Then he shifted into cracking his gloved knuckles simultaneously with his neck, after which he performed a lightning fast kata of punches followed by a high-sweeping kick before making a “come on over” gesture with his right hand.

”Show me your moves!”

Despite the seeming invitation to strike first, Cap instead launched into a blistering sprint toward the angel that quickly and seamlessly transitioned into a ”Falcon Kick!” that propelled him forward in a fiery sliding kick that left a blazing trail of flame in his wake.

One advantage that Pit had over the man was that while Captain Falcon didn't remember him, he remembered the Captain. You didn't easily forget the first time you were blasted head on by a Falcon Punch, that was for sure. So for Pit, the pilot's arsenal of moves was a known factor - and his opening a familiar one.

Pit grinned as he deftly dodged the kick, sweeping himself just out of the fire's range so that he could quickly retaliate. The Palutena Bow came to his hand and he flicked the bladed weapon forward into a rapid spin, a divine buzzsaw headed right for the Captain's side.

It wasn’t hard to predict a retaliation after the opening attack was dodged. So Falcon prepared for it by defensively holding up his arms, which of course conjured a reddish pink bubble around his body that shielded him from the buzzsaw attack. Or at least it would until the bubble popped, which was why Falcon only shielded for a split second before he dodge-rolled past his attacker so he could then launch forward with an attempted Raptor Boost aiming to throw a fiery uppercut at the angel’s rear flank.

Pit pivoted, reversing the spin of the bow so that it acted as a makeshift defense. Fist struck the metallic gold, and then the two combatants broke apart as Pit jumped backward aided by a flap of his wings, putting some much needed distance between them.

When Pit brought the bow up into a firing stance, it was clear what he was about to do. Light coalesced into arrow form near instantly, and then shot straight for the pilot - followed up by a few more for good measure.

Falcon pivoted his upper body to dodge the first arrow. For the next couple he once again shielded himself, so that the reddish bubble would absorb the shots. But it shrank over time and with each shot it took, and so before it could reach a breaking point Falcon canceled his guard and took the last arrow in his left shoulder. For a fraction of a moment he reached a gloved over to the spot at which he was hit. Something about that show felt… familiar somehow. Had he fought something like this before? But then the red glow of his eyes flared up underneath his visor as he shrugged it off.

Then Falcon leaped up into the air, flames beginning to build around him again. ”Falcon Kick!” He called out as he diagonally shot back downward toward Pit. This was a pretty telegraphed attack that the Captain anticipated would be easily dodged, and so its primary purpose was to close the distance again and force Pit back into close range combat. The instant he hit the ground, Cap launched into a forward smash that took the form of a double roundhouse kick.

And Pit played right into his hands - almost. He dodged backward to avoid the first fiery kick, but not far enough to avoid the follow-up. His eyes widened, but he did have a shield of his own. In a blink his bow was gone and the Guardian Orbitars appeared between the two fighters. Falcon's feet crashed hard against the shield, driving Pit back slightly while locking him in place, lest he drop it too early.

Just as fast as usual! Pit thought. Then he burst right from his Orbitars into his Upperdash Arm, hoping to take Falcon by surprise with an aggressive follow up and send him flying, putting some space between them that way instead of with a riskier movement - though the Arm was risky in and of itself.

The Captain was lucky in this particular instance, because his shield had regenerated just enough for him to quickly put up his arms and tank the incoming Upperdash Arm. Seeing an opportunity to strike back, Falcon wasted no time in delivering punishment. But fortunately for Pit, Cap’s idea of a punishment was to use his infamous signature attack. ”Falcon…” he said as he winded up his fiery fist. ”...PUUUUNCH!” His baritone voice roared as he threw the fiery punch that produced its signature flames in the shape of a falcon. The punch was strong. Damn strong. Infamous for a reason, in fact. But the wind-up also made it telegraphed and more possible for Pit to avoid it and then proceed to punish the punisher.

Since Falcon had opted to block instead of dodge when the Arm struck Pit could pull it back without issue, though he was a little put out that his plan hadn't worked. The point blank punch that the pilot attempted next spooked Pit into backing off instead of following up, having been hit by it one too many times in casual matches before. He hopped backwards once, twice, three times until only the heat of the fire bird surrounding Falcon's fist could reach him.

"Close one!" he said, willing his bow back into his hand. He'd pinged the man with an arrow, so he knew that Captain Falcon was playing for keeps now. It was about time he did the same. His goal was to free Falcon from Galeem, so he could go all out knowing that he wouldn't be making a mistake like last time. Any damage he did would be swiftly undone. Of course he actually had to get a few good hits in, or at least one strong clean one.

"Round two!" he shouted, breaking the bow into dual swords. He dashed forward, the blades overlapped in front of him for some semblance of defense until he was close enough for a cross chop. Then he transitioned into a flurry of slashes and jabs, keeping Falcon at blade's length.

The Angel’s blades may have kept Falcon from getting in any good punches, but he could still kick just fine. After all, Falcon was still taller than Pit and thus his longer legs still had enough reach to match up with the dual swords. Mostly. Falcon Kick aside, the Captain wasn’t exactly a kicking specialist. So he knew had to try something sooner or later. That eventually came in the form of him dodge-rolling past an incoming slash from Pit’s blades, so that he ended up standing back to back against him. That was when Cap whirled around with a sweeping kick before launching himself at Pit with a ”Knee of Justice!” that - as its name implied - was an electrified knee smash aimed at the angel’s head.

For all of Falcon’s strength and speed, as usual his showmanship proved to be the fatal flaw in his fighting style. His apparent compulsion to call out his attacks made them increasingly predictable to any opponent who fought against him for a long enough period of time. And it was that which saved Pit from the head blow. He ducked, practically letting himself drop to the ground in order to avoid it as soon as he heard Falcon start to speak the name of his move. At that point he could leverage his own, shorter height. He rolled and pressed his palms to the stone floor of the courtyard, shooting up feet first in a handstand kick.

Falcon’s response was to shield against the kick. But the bubble was pretty shrunk down and had not regenerated as much since the last time he used it. That miscalculation resulted in Cap suffering a catastrophic shield break. The bubble blew up on him, throwing him right to the ground. He struggled back to his feet but was still in a dizzy and stunned state. That meant he couldn’t immediately retaliate - and worse - was totally vulnerable to whatever follow up Pit wanted to punish him with.

The angel continued up, tucked while still airborne and then found himself looking down at Captain Falcon. Got him!

He came back to ground with a double slash, slicing down from Falcon's shoulders. Back on his feet, he pressed the attack with a series of quick strikes. While Cap was dazed he had to work in as much damage as possible, and he did so with flashes of blue and gold. For the flurry's finisher he made an overhead cut, brought the hilts of his swords together and swung the now single blade in a lateral slash.

The next thing Pit did was press a hand to his chest and pull the friend heart out, practically in a rush to throw it into his sparring partner. And so close, there was no way he could miss! And the heart did its job as intended. The angel watched as all the damage he dealt to the Captain was washed away in an instant. But it wasn’t just the damage that disappeared. Indeed, the muteness in the man’s colors also washed away in addition to the red glow that tinted his eyes underneath his visor.

As Falcon pushed himself to his feet, he rubbed his chin with gloved fingers. Clearly the memories were beginning to flood back to him. ”I… I’ve fought you before, haven’t I… Pit?” He asked, rhetorically. He remembered it all beginning with himself and eleven others, plus a giant white-gloved hand. But then he remembered more fighters showing up, along with a second giant hand. Then vague memories of invaders from another dimension surfaced alongside the appearance of more fighters still. The last stand against Galeem proved to be the most “recent” thing he recalled.

”That thing, with the army of Master Hands? Did it really do this to me and my memories?” He figured he knew the answer to that question already, but asked anyway for confirmation’s sake.

The boy let out a sigh of relief, though it was quickly replaced by a wide, toothy smile. That had gone great - now just to get Cap up to speed.

"Yeah," Pit said in answer to both of the man's questions. "Galeem. When it beat us, it brainwashed everyone... everywhere! It somehow made a whole new world out of a bunch of pieces of other ones, which is where we are right now."

As if Falcon needed more proof, he pointed behind both of them into the sky where the shining second sun was nearly always visible. And without giving him more than a moment to come to term with all this, Pit went on.

"But we're fighting back against it! Trying to fix everything it did one boss at a time. Y'know, typical hero stuff." Pit clenched his fists and brought them up on either side of him in excitement, adding, "And with you helping us it'll be that much easier!"

”Ah, so you do need my help, then.” Cap said, his stern expression lacking any of the usual sportiness it typically contained. There was a time and a place for that sort of thing, and this clearly wasn’t it. But something about all of this was still nagging at him, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. At least not until he felt the rift tokens in his pocket, anyway.

”Hold on a minute.” Cap suddenly said, pulling out one of his rift tokens and then glancing back at the Tent they both exited from. ”Those ‘Character Orbs’... don’t tell me Galeem is responsible for that as well?”

Pit blinked in surprise. Cap caught on quick, didn't he? "Oh, yeah, they're..." He trailed off for a moment, his brain whirring as he thought about how he could explain. While there were a number of other people who'd be better at giving the newly freed Captain Falcon a rundown, Pit gave it his best shot. "...like copies of people's souls. We even call them spirits. I haven't used any yet, but they can make you stronger in a bunch of different ways."

After a beat he added, "But they aren't like actual ghosts or anything!"

”’Stronger’...” Cap repeated with his gloved hand clenching into a fist. Normally he’d just remain staunchly confident in his own skill and ability. But clearly that hadn’t worked the previous time he recalled facing Galeem. He might have to swallow his pride and add the strength of these ‘spirits’ to his own if he wanted to make sure things went differently the next time he had to fight that villain.

And then he suddenly smiled, ”Then it looks like I’ll have to put my racing on hold again, because we’ve got work to do.” he put the rift token back into his pocket with the others and turned back toward the tent. He competed hard to earn his tokens, so he may as well spend a few of them. But he turned back to Pit, ”You coming?” He didn’t like having to abandon the upcoming F-Zero Race at Big Blue, but obviously saving the world and stopping the bad guy was more important than a Grand Prix Race.

Although, now that he thought about it. ”By the way, my Blue Falcon is parked at the Big Blue racetrack over the harbor. I’d hate to abandon it there…”

With Captain Falcon's confirmation that he was officially joining the team, Pit returned his smile with a bright one of his own. He let out a celebratory whoop, joining Falcon to head to the big top once more. Tough and reliable, the angel was sure he'd make a good addition.

As for the iconic vehicle, Pit wasn't sure. "Maybe you can take it with you? The Lost Numbers - you'll meet them - have this huge flying ship. It could probably fit your machine inside, but I dunno how you'd get it up there."

Dawn had explained the 'fulton' system to him and half of the other Seekers already, but whether it would work on something like the Blue Falcon he had no idea. Thankfully Dawn herself had come down to pick them up, so they could find out pretty quickly.

World of Light

Word Count: 377
Level 5 Captain Falcon: 18/10
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 19/10

Witch One?

Captain Falcon certainly could not condone Ganondorf’s actions. He might have been of a mind to teach the man a lesson. But that would have disrupted the game and possibly ruined everyone’s enjoyment. That and he would have wasted his entire ninety seconds that he was supposed to use to hide. And who knows? Maybe by some miracle, the man’s strategy would pay off in some way? So he decided to live and let live on this occasion and was now on the hunt for a hiding spot.

Even if he sprinted at top speed, his limited time wouldn’t afford the Captain much in the way of exploratory opportunities. Instead he could really only look for the first place he thought might be suitable. That search brought him to the village tavern. It was empty, of course, not a customer or even a bartender in sight. As such, Falcon didn’t feel too bad when he slid over the tavern bar onto the side with all the mugs and taps. He crouched down behind the counter, even having just enough time to snatch a mug and partly fill it from one of the nearby taps. Not a full drink obviously, just a single shot if nothing else. And also not something he normally partook in, but this being a virtual world he figured it didn’t actually matter anyway.

After that he used his mimic veil to disguise himself. While sitting and hunched over, he could make himself small enough to look like just another barrel of ale among a literal wall of them sitting behind the counter of the bar. Even if one of the seekers did suspect someone hiding here, they’d have to take a huge gamble and hope they poke the right barrel without wasting too many attempts on poking the wrong one.

In the end, Cap couldn’t think of a more solid strategy than this. Well, maybe he could under a longer time limit, but given the circumstances he was confident this was the best choice he could have made. Now all he could do was sit and wait to see if it panned out or not.

---

Word Count: 495
Level 8 Roxas: 55/80
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 56/80

Witch One?

”Sheesh, what’s his problem?” Roxas asked himself under his own breath as he quickly tried to do what little exploration he could to find a hiding space. He figured some of the Seekers overall could be temperamental, but Ganondorf was apparently in a tier all his own. It was a wonder he was even agreeable enough to fight alongside them in the first place. Oh well, there was no time to think or worry about that stuff now.

Unlike Falcon, Roxas could search the town a little bit more thoroughly. With Flow Motion he could find quick routes across rooftops that would have taken a lot longer to get through on the ground level, even for someone as fast as the Captain. This meant that Roxas could find what he hoped would be a more remote hiding spot. That search eventually brought Roxas to, of all places, the stockades. A sort of jailhouse situated within what was likely supposed to be a barracks for guards. And the locked up jail cells gave him what he thought was a pretty clever idea.

Roxas grabbed the cell keys from the warden’s spot nearby and used it to make sure all the cells were locked shut. Then he tossed the keys between the bars of one cell and left them lying on the floor inside. This would make it harder for any seeker to open these jail cells since the keys themselves were locked inside one of said cells. After that Roxas used his Keyblade to make quick work of one of the other cells so that it would unlock and open for him, and once inside he shut the cell door and proceeded to use his Keyblade to lock it back. A very handy trick of the Keyblade that Roxas rarely ever found himself making strategic use of like this.

Once inside he used his mimic veil to disguise himself as bedding on the floor, which for this particular jail meant a rectangular pile of hay with a ragged blanket draped over it. Since the keys were in another cell, any seeker that came inside would assume that a hider had to have locked themselves in that cell and couldn’t possibly be in any other cell. So if Roxas was guessing right, that meant there was little chance anyone would suspect him in the cell that he DID choose to hide himself in. The only drawback here was the lack of a proper exit plan. But then again, if he'd set his hiding spot up correctly then he wouldn't necessarily need one. Or so he believed.

Of course, maybe he was overthinking this a tad bit? Nah, and besides, it was way too late to go back on this plan now.