MULTI_MEDIA_MAN

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

Zenkichi Hasegawa

Paved Wilderness- Highertower
Lvl 9 Zenkichi (14/90) -> Lvl 9 (17/90)
Word count: 1,326 words

As yet another rocket flew past the Prowler, Zenkichi groaned as he dodged the vehicle to the side, sweat dripping from his brow. ”I’m starting to think this was a bad idea!” He called to Blazermate. ”I’m thinking we have to get in there. We’re too big a target on this thing.” Even with Antlers spawning in to distract the Psychos and the Mercenaries, they just seemed to keep coming.

”Alright, I’m getting us out of here.” He decided, pulling them back from this section of fighting. There was chaos all around them, so he still had to be careful in where it piloted the Prowler, but pulling a bit away from the Highertower at least meant that it was less densely packed with bullets and explosions. As the pair hovered along the edges of the battlefield, they saw more vehicles operated by the Psychos and NC troopers duking it out. The troopers had the edge in firepower and armor, but the Psychos had sheer insanity on their side. Their vehicles were neither practical nor sensible, rendering some of the more advanced tactics of the NC troopers moot.

This chaos was to the pair’s advantage, as they used the two factions’ focus on each other to avoid being targeted. An explosion from within the tower itself heralded Sectonia’s gambit with her fire antler, and the battlefield grew a bit quieter without the mercenaries holed up in their firing every which way. After a little while of evading danger, Zenkichi found a safe, quiet place to park the Prowler. If somebody found it later, that would suck pretty bad, but it made them a much larger target, especially when they got closer to the battle proper. And with the Engineer’s fully-upgraded turret guarding it, it would be fairly safe for a while. As they dismounted, a message from Sandalphon warning them of a distress call nearby.

”Valjean, Sukukaja.” He calmly ordered, his Persona granting the Phantom Thief an appreciable speed boost. With Blazermate’s speed matching from the medibeam, the pair were able to sprint from cover to cover easily for the minute of the buff’s duration. Ducking into one of the bunkers, Zenkichi ground to a halt as he saw a small group of blue and yellow-clad troopers forming up at the other end to make a break to another piece of cover.

“Hold one. Getting a warning that something just took out Charlie Squad’s Vanguard. They reported taking fire from the Northeast, then we lost them. Alright, change of plans. We’re heading that way to see if we can’t get eyes on and direct reinforcements.” The apparent leader of the group spoke loud and clear, completely oblivious to the pair hiding the entrance to the bunker.

Before they were able to move on, though, Zenkichi and Blazermate struck. Zenkichi activated Fury and popped out from behind cover with a pair of swings from Ragnell infused with Almighty energy, running in to hit the soldiers in melee before they fully recovered. He made it three-quarters of the way before a round of buckshot landed in his chest, sharply bleeding off his momentum, but the overheal from Blazermate’s medibeam kept him from feeling the pain too badly. He slammed Ragnell into the medic’s chest, knocking them back as bullets from the other soldiers started steadily draining his vitality. Deactivating Fury to slow the loss of life, Zenkichi turned to the others and hefted Ragnell, flames growing around the blade even as submachine gun shots and another round of buckshot hit him. Deciding he’d charged the attack enough, Zenkichi unleashed Eruption.

The explosion knocked the soldiers back, applying Hitch to all of them and hurting the already-wounded medic further. Zenkichi hurled Ragnell up, using Aether yet again to both heal himself and finish off the downed soldier, sending a wave of damage through the deathblow to the other Hitch-afflicted soldiers, who were still getting up even as Zenkichi targeted the next. Between the large blow from Eruption and the Hitch chip damage, the soldiers were on the backfoot, and they realized it. “Under attack from an unaffiliated assailant! Bunker 4, northeast exit! Need immediate backup!” The squad leader cried out, pulling out a frag grenade and throwing it between Blazermate and Zenkichi, who finished off one of the group’s light infantry, leaving only the squad leader and a second light infantry.

The grenade exploded a moment later, scoring Zenkichi’s back with shrapnel and dealing some light damage to Blazermate and him. “The hell’s this guy made of?!” The infantry called out, drawing his sidearm and firing a high-caliber shot into Zenkichi’s chest. The Phantom Thief grunted and slid back a centimeter. Another shot came, but Zenkichi tanked it with another grunt and raised Ragnell, stabbing the soldier and leaving him to dissolve into ash. Blazermate summoned Armstrong to charge the leader, bear hugging the man and crushing him violently before dropping him to the ground. He tried to catch his breath and stand, only for Armstrong to football punt him in the face, finishing the soldier off and turning him into yet another pile of ash.

Breathing heavily, Zenkichi rested his hands on his knees once his weapons dematerialized. ”Oh jeeze. That…took a lot out of me…” he groaned, giving Blazermate a thumb’s up when she kept her medibeam on him dutifully ”Ughh…thanks, Blazermate. You’re the best.” He sighed in relief. ”So, Northeast, huh? What are the odds that’s our tankbuster, huh?” Zenkichi mused, peeking his head out of the bunker.

The battle was raging around them. Rockets, streams of bullets, and the occasional energy projectile flew through the air, meaning that any random spot could be safe one moment, then a smoking crater the next. Still, if they were gonna find this person, they’d need to keep moving. He kept scanning the area, and found some orange a bit in the distance. ”That might be it…” he murmured, pointing at a large cargo cache with what looked like part of a strangely spread out vehicle hiding behind it. ”Yep, that’s it.” He chuckled. Did it really take a detective’s eye to spot that, or was it just because he knew what he was looking for, unlike those soldiers?

Regardless, it was time to make a break for it. The wreckage of the destroyed tank was off to the North, about a third of the way between them and the cargo, then from there the pair would have to dodge between a few smaller pieces of cover while not getting blown up. Thankfully, Zenkichi had a pocket healer, which made the whole ‘not dying’ part pretty easy, even when a passing vehicle turned its gun on them. When the pair hunkered down behind a large rock and didn’t attack, though, the vehicle found itself distracted by a minigun being fired at them from on the tower, Galeem’s influence forcing them to retaliate and leave Zenkichi and Blazermate alone.

From there, it was a matter of a hop, a skip, and a jump to the orange cargo crate, which Zenkichi ran up to before stopping to catch his breath. They’d kept the crate between them and that machine, so they would have to reveal themselves now. Just before they did, though, Zenkichi put his hand to his ear once again to contact Sandalphon. ”Sandalphon, Zenkichi again. Blazermate and I are about to make contact with what we believe is Celica. Stand by for an update. If things get ugly, can you please warn Edward, Juri, and Sectonia to keep an eye out for us so we don’t get blown up? I’m pretty sure this girl’s got a tank herself, or some kind of artillery piece.”

With that said, it was time to risk it all. He knocked on the cargo crate a few times, before sticking a hand out and waving. ”Uh, hey, Celica? We got your distress call. Please don’t blow me up.”

Short, sweet, and to the point.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

Zenkichi Hasegawa

Paved Wilderness- North-Northeastern Road
Lvl 9 Zenkichi (12/90) -> Lvl 9 (14/90)
Word count: 917 words

To say Zenkichi was disappointed in the situation with the Gears would be an understatement, but given the confusion surrounding the battle, along with the fact that Juri and Edward (he saw the drones) had decided to rob them, he couldn’t argue much. The trio decided not to bother with following them to fight Sweet Tooth, and proceeded onward to Hightower instead.

Zenkichi ditched his Chopper and instead took control of the Prowler hoversled, the damage to its front having ultimately been fairly minimal. It would need to be looked at when they returned to the Avenger, assuming he was able to keep the vehicle intact that long, but otherwise was still in working order. He offered the turret to Blazermate, the medibot readily accepting the position, if not the weapon. She was more focused on keeping him overhealed and charging her own weapons, at least on the ride there.

As they passed through the Oilwell Basin, Zenkichi got a good look at the environment around them. It was filled with some strange lifeforms, as well as what Zenkichi could have sworn was one of the weirder Pokemon, but he did not stop to get to know the locals. The Prowler sped along, hovering a scant few inches off the ground and performing remarkably well in the uneven terrain. Finally, though, they crested the hill and reached Hightower, a massive series of battles unfolding before them. ”Oooohhh that’s not great…” Zenkichi muttered, driving them closer and skirting the edge of the battlefield. The imposing figure of the Flame Clock loomed over the battlefield, and Zenkichi got a chill down his spine. Would a Consul show their face here.

Deciding to err on the side of caution, he lifted his fingers to his temple to contact Sandalphon. ”Sandalphon, this is Zenkichi with some good news and some bad news. Good news is, I’ve located a Flame Clock. Bad news is…I’ve located a Flame Clock, and there’s maybe five of us here. If a Consul shows up, we’re gonna need immediate extract. I’m still running on low, and I’m not sure where Juri and Edward ran off to. I’ll keep you updated. Zenkichi out.”

”Alright, with that out of the way…let’s figure out where we’re going here…” he muttered, driving slowly around a tank desperately fighting off a half-dozen light vehicles, turrets all spewing lead at the heavy vehicle’s armor while speeding around to avoid being blasted to bits by the high-explosive rounds that the armored vehicle was firing. It was apparently equipped with more than just that, however, as one shot from the main gun launch a spread of vicious shrapnel, catching one of the lighter vehicles off guard and turning it into a pile of scrap and Spirits.

Being very careful to avoid being turned into his own Spirit, Zenkichi found a quieter area to start an incursion into the pitched battle at the base of the tower. He eased the vehicle in, looking around and witnessing the Psychos going all out, launching hatchets, saw blades, and using all kinds of weapons to attack the mercenaries they were fighting. He even saw a couple throw themselves carelessly into the line of fire, primed grenades in their hands as they tackled their enemies, blowing themselves up in the process. So, be careful getting close to them, he made a mental note.

”Alright, let ‘er rip!” he called to Blazermate, who scrambled to put away her medigun and grab the turret, turning the weapon onto the Psychos and cutting a pair down with high-intensity plasma blasts before they even realized what was happening. The rest scattered, finding new cover from both the massive vehicle and their previous opponents, who took no chances on whether this new group would help or not, and immediately split to turn their weapons on the Prowler. Bullets and a couple of rockets flew their way as Zenkichi let out a quick ”oh, shit!” and pulled back on the controls of the Prowler, sending the hoversled jolting backwards and throwing off Blazermate’s aim.

”Looks like it’s a real Mexican standoff, now!” he joked as he pivoted around towards the better-armed mercenaries, silently directing Blazermate’s fire their way. She obliged, firing plasma blasts at the few open soldiers she could, the pair using the maneuverability of the Prowler to circle around spots of cover and hit their enemies from behind. After being directed to drive over a sinister-looking crack in the ground, Zenkichi piloted the Prowler over it, a red ghost appearing to chase down and detonate on one of the mercs. A familiar-looking beam of energy attached to another of the mercenaries as plasma burned away at him and his cover, and the grenade-launcher wielding Scotsman leapt from cover and began unloading everything he had their way.

Zenkichi had to bank hard to the right, throwing off Blazermate’s aim again, but he managed to evade the grenades coming downrange and get his gunner back into a good spot. She focused the medic hard, plasma burning right through his flimsy lab coat and sending him running screaming. The demoman yelled and rushed forward to pull aggro, but a Psycho tackled him to the ground and began hacking away with his saw blade machete.

”Yikes.” Zenkichi grimaced, a sigh of relief escaping him as a trio of Antlers joined the fray, Sectonia’s distant aid finally arriving. The Psychos split their forces further to attack them, however, which left Blazermate and Zenkichi facing down the squad of mercenaries.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

wordcount: 2686 (+3 exp)
Bowser Jr: Level 14 EXP: ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(281/140)
Rika: Level 10 EXP: ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(197/100)
Lvl 14 Geralt (114/140) -> (117/140)
Lvl 10 Roxas (7/100) -> (10/100)

”Oh hey, it's those banana tree lizards from the land of adventure” Jr called over to the whale riders as they sailed through the sands, pointing skywards to a small herd of Tropius soaring above them, before asking ”wonder what they’re doing out here?”

”My Pokedex says it’s called a… Tropius.” Roxas said, looking at the screen of his Rotom Phone.

“Could be migrating.” Geralt guessed, though he could do more than that, having little knowledge of Pokemon habits and biology.

Having been staring up at the flying plant dinos as well, Rika didn’t notice when they went over the rim of a perfectly circular pit with steep slopes of sand till it was too late. Initially, however, everything was fine, just an unexpected little dip, but then when the whale started to climb back up, it found the loose grains offered no grip to its supernatural sand swimming, causing it to start sliding backwards deeper into the pit and towards the center, where a faint glow could be seen.

”Huh? What’s going on?” Rika asked, as they slid down what Jr, who had halted at the edge of the pit, identified loudly as a ”Sand trap!”

“Dammit!” Geralt cursed, holding tightly to the whale even as he tried to see what it was that had laid the trap. It was well-hidden, though, so he gave that up in favor of keeping a grip on their summoned mount.

The whale sunk and sunk, and then when it got close, the glow in the center suddenly burst up as the Balahara that had dug the pit burst from the sand, lunging for the whale, prompting a shriek of alarm from Rika as she panic tapped her featherfall rune, launching her straight up into the air. The Balahara just barely missed her, but it had not been aiming for her, and instead plunged down onto the back of the whale, smashing its spine in the process and then crushing it beneath its weight.

”Again!” was Rika’s complaint as she double jumped, and then used her grapple to latch onto a nearby tree, and reel herself to it and, thus, to safety.

Knocked off the whale by the Balahara's impact, Geralt scrambled up the edge of the sand pit they'd tumbled into, only looking back to make sure the others had escaped as he escaped the trap.

As for Roxas, when they started to fall he generated a platform of virtual cubes that he could land on to avoid falling toward the waiting Balahara. ”What even is that thing?” He asked.

Below, the beast started to rip chunks out of the crippled whale while it was still alive. It seemed content to simply do so, till Jr launched a hail of iron knives and his Brionne a bubble beam at it in retaliation for the attack on his sister.

Unfortunately, the hastily forged knives simply shattered against its scales, and the beam of water failed to leave any lasting harm. Double unfortunately, the beast took issue with this, raising its head opening its maw, revealing its glowing interior, and promptly spitting a massive glob of water (large enough to engulf the Ace Cadet) at the prince and his mon, prompting both to duck into the car, and then to be blasted back as the water splashed into them, drenching them with a stamina regen reducing waterblight debuff.

The Balahara then turned this attack on Roxas and Geralt in turn, aiming, it seemed, to shoo off these morsels from its prize.

The glob of water was simple enough to dodge, though Geralt had trouble regaining solid footing in the sand when he landed hard. Assistant Manager would be too slow to fight here, so he transformed again into Ardor Blossom, hurling a fireball in retaliation at the monster.

”Reflect!” Roxas cried out, instinctively managing to recall and cast a protective Reflectga spell on himself. It conjured an omnidirectional shield around him that was only up for a second. But in that second the water glob collided with it and as a result the intended damage was reflected back at the Balahara instead.

While the first projectile got the Balahara’s attention as it scorched the tough armor notably but not significantly, the second reflected one very much caught the monster by surprise. Receiving a mouthful of its own spit was not something it could have ever expected, and though it was more confusing than it was damaging, the beast having to swallow gave the seekers a moment to act against it.

Rika did so by deploying her many drones. Two scout planes launched from her gauntlet’s hangers, the red baron drones from her back, all of them forming an arch of machines hovering over her head and arms. Col. Droneman joined them, floating up to the top of the formation, and deploying his solar panels, drinking in the sun, and activating his boon.

All at once all the drones and planes had a small gimbal turret mounted minigun spawn under their nose, except for one of the red baron drones which had an entire robot arm holding a handgun sprout from one side. With these, the ship girl immediately opened fire, resulting in an onslaught of 81 rounds being fired every single second at the Balahara.

Unfortunately, just like her brother’s knives, these small projectiles shattered or were deflected by the beast’s tough armor that seemed to have no real weak spots. The volley of mini-missiles fired from every drone in response to every 1/10 bullet impacts certainly had more of an impact however, though the damage to the armor was rather spread out.

Geralt took advantage of the Balahara's confusion to lob a few more fireballs at it, but he noticed that they didn't seem to be having much of an effect in its tough hide. “Hide’s too tough for weaker attacks! We need to hit it with something big!” He yelled to the others.

Roxas wasn’t faring much better with his Firaga spells. They didn’t appear to be doing much more damage than Geralt’s fireballs were. He switched it up and tried a Blizzaga instead that appeared to garner the same result. Then he switched up again and fired a couple of charged shots from his RockGun for the self-same result.

All this incoming fire very much convinced the Balahara that the smallfry were very much a threat, prompting it to lunge forwards into the sand, corkscrewing its body as it did so to drill into the sand of its own pit. Then the ground beneath Geralt began to suddenly stink down into a minute sand trap before the beast burst up from below. It rose up half its length, and then arched its form down towards Roxas’ floating platform, before burying back into the sand at a shallower arc, the land bulging as it passed beneath the Seekers and emerged atop a dune behind them.

There it lunged at Jr, who’d only just emptied his clown car, forcing the prince to deploy his clown car’s wheels and race back towards the rest of the seekers to avoid the attack, dashing between them as the Balahara bore down on them.

Geralt had too little time to react, and was tossed into the air by the Balahara's emergence, landing roughly in the sand with a grunt. He forced himself to his feet slowly, turning to find the Balahara atop the dune, preparing for them to attack. He transformed back to his normal Identity and quickly cast Quen on himself to protect from further attack.

Roxas ditched his platform just before the Balahara crashed into it. And while the cubes obviously did their touch damage, that too didn’t appear to phase the creature much. Roxas landed on the sand just outside of the pit and hurled his Keyblades down toward where the Balahara was. He was starting to wish he had his Fortune summon, thinking maybe her railgun shot would actually hurt this thing. But unfortunately she was still in storage and Roxas still only had Kayano and Poltergeist to work with. So he summoned Kayano and had her blast the beast from below with a geyser of dark water.

The water blast threw off the Balahara’s charge, causing it to stumble off course, and then to roll the side to get the spectral water off of it. The actual impact of the water seemed to have had little impact, but the darkness within it had caused some of the already damaged scales to blacken as it seeped into small gaps.

The striker also shuffled the seekers around, mainly by putting Roxas up in the tree Rika had grappled too, and shoving both royal children into the frontlines. It was only thanks to Balahara taking a sand bath that this didn’t have dire consequences, but a moment later it reared up, jaw opening up, preparing to deliver a face slam down on the pair.

Before it could however, Jr recovered from the confusion of his relocation just enough to panic summon Blodia, or rather its massive fist, which slammed into the side of the Balahara’s head, knocking the blow it had been attempting to deliver off course, and briefly leaving it stunned, face first in the sand. While Dazzle hit it with a blast of his disarming voice Rika took this opportunity to dash in (the accompanying tidal burst also doing little to the monster) and to then deliver one, two, and then a third (Kayano empowered) punch into the spot the giant robot’s fist had impacted with. As she struck gauntlet’s Denting Blows stacking up and then on the third blow triggered it, cracking some of the armor on the beast’s face on the final hit she delivered before backing off.

Roxas was momentarily taken aback by his sudden relocation, having forgotten about this aspect of Kayano. And so he saw his places had been switched with Rika, and that she and her brother had been forced into close range against the Balahara. ”Uh oh, forgot about that, uh…” His mind raced on what to do about this and an idea popped in his head, ”Wind!” He chanted, successfully recalling how to cast the Aeroga spell. A shielding whirlwind swirled around Jr’s body which would halve all incoming damage against him for the next 18 seconds. And then he cast the spell again, targeting Rika. She would benefit from the same shield of wind as well as the shield itself dealing minor wind-elemental touch damage to the Balahara while she was striking it.

Geralt was standing on the ridge, steel sword in hand as he recited the chant for one of his spells: “Oh divine spear, run mine enemy through! Holy Lance!” As he finished the chant, the telltale five spears of light appeared around the Balahara, the sixth hanging overhead like a sword of Damocles. Each launched itself into the monster, taking advantage of its stunning to inflict its massive damage.

Five of the spears punched into the beast’s dark water weakened armor, getting about half way in and then leaving bleeding holes after they dissipated. The sixth struck right into the patch of armor Rika had softened up, skewering all the way through one of the beast’s two lower jaws. It roared in pain as it staggered to its feet, but the skewered mouth part didn’t manage to close, leaving a third of the fleshy interior of its maw permanently weak and exposed.

”Yeah! We got it on the ropes now!” Jr cheered, only to make a panicked shout as it whipped around, slapping both him and his sister with its tail, and sending both tumbling backwards into the sand. Fortunately Roxas’ wind barriers softened this blow considerably, causing it to only pop Rika’s energy shield, and smash jr’s clown car’s ablative armor. It still left them concussed however, but rather than follow up on this, the beast kept facing away from them and began to hustle away on foot, now unable to burrow through sand thanks to its broken jaw, leaving six trails of blood as it did so.

“Go after it, or let it be?” Geralt asked, starting to slide down the sand to the others. “Your trip, your call.” He added, looking at Junior and Rika.

The answer which Rika at least had already decided on before being asked came in the form of the sand beside the Balahara before her white whale burst from it, having escaped the sandpit now that the beast that had dug it was no longer maintaining it. It was also in a terrible state, and yet by the will of its creator it still fell upon the monster that had tried to eat it with all the might it had left. A volley of three bombs was spat out of its mouth, colliding with the beast and tossing it to the side, before cannons roared, punching shells into its underbelly.

This was not quite enough to fell the beast, and so the whale fell upon it, biting at it while being clawed at and bit in inturn, two great monsters wrestling in the sand as the lifeblood rapidly drained out.

Well, until Jr picked himself up and cast ”Benediction!” upon the wounded whale, fully healing it and giving it the edge. After that it was all over, and with a last crushing bite the Balahara’s armor finally buckled and broke, allowing the whale to crush the life out of it, causing it to burst into ash in its maw.

”Finally” Rika sighed, as she called the whale back to them, delivering the spirit to them in the process, balanced atop the whale’s snout.

”Glad that’s over.” Roxas murmured, dispelling his Keyblades and using Flow Motion to parkour his way back onto the whale’s back. ”I feel a little bad taking down something that was just trying to eat, but… Self-defense, I guess.” He concluded with a shrug.

”Shouldn’t have messed with us!” Jr replied, the prince having hopped out to repair his clown car. Thanks to the new ablative armor tech, all this involved was him forging new armor plates out of his magic iron, before slapping them onto the outside of his vehicle, and then with a swipe of his paintbrush applying the machine’s ‘makeup’ at which point he was ready to go.

Rika merely nodded to the sentiment as she stepped up and retrieved the spoil of her vengeful whale attack, before asking ”Anyone? Or store it to make stuff with?”

“Store it. Ace might know the best way to use that thing. His folk make weapons and armor out of monsters I'd never dream of fighting.” Geralt advised once he climbed back atop the whale. “Any healing needed?” He followed up.

”Not me.” Roxas confirmed. ”I think the whale was the one who took most of the punishment here.”

”I’m good” Jr replied from his car (which had taken most of the beating and mostly rattled him and Dazzle around inside of it while it was knocked about) to which Rika added a ”Same” as she got them underway again, sailing deeper into the desert, and now keeping a closer eye on where they were avoiding to avoid any more sand traps.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

Zenkichi Hasegawa

Paved Wilderness- North-Northeastern Road
Lvl 9 Zenkichi (9/90) -> Lvl 9 (12/90)
Word count: 1,759 words

Getting a ride from Sectonia was…an experience. It wasn’t a terrible experience at all, and with Blazermate (and Juri, if she deigned to help) nearby, they’d be well-equipped if it came down to battle. For a while, the ride towards the crash site was fairly uneventful. Scrublands as far as the eye could see, filled with tall, yellow grasses and cacti. It reminded him of stories he’d heard of the Great Plains of America, hundreds of miles of wide-open space where scenes like this played out daily. While he certainly didn’t hate living in Japan, he would’ve loved to see it. This was a good substitute, he supposed.

Eventually, signs of civilization emerged, shacks and stores, an inn and a cafe. They flew past them all, intent on reaching their goal as quickly as possible. Not too long after the last shack was in their proverbial rear-view mirror, the terrain started to become more hostile. Plumes of gas emerged from bogs, and the ground became rockier and more solid.

Eventually, the group came around a bend, and before them was a massive landship engaged in battle. Its size reminded Zenkichi more of a naval vessel than a land vehicle, but it sped along the ground at a surprisingly fast pace nonetheless, all the while under attack by alien creatures. Zenkichi pointed at the attackers, calling out to Sectonia, ”Oh jeez, we oughta give those guys a hand. They might be able to give us a lift, too.” He added, in case Sectonia was of a more practical mindset.

Once she slowed down enough for him to safely dismount, Zenkichi hit the ground running, his Phantom Thief attire appearing on him as he watched the Choppers chase around the Mammoth, soon setting their sights on the smaller vehicles that deployed from within the landship. Their explosive shots tore up the ground as they rode around, and as one turned to realign its guns with its target, Zenkichi struck. He raised his revolvers as the Chopper bled off its momentum into its turn, firing one after the other into the side and back of the Locust pilot. Its initial reaction was a panicked jerking of the controls which led to a swiftly-corrected spinout, but the blood pouring from its side gave away its dilemma.

After a moment, the Chopper turned for Zenkichi, who quickly stowed his revolvers for Ragnell, throwing himself aside as the massive wheels of the vehicle nearly churned him into paste. He pushed off the ground, swinging the holy blade at the pilot, and the second beam of light connected, sending it into another tailspin. The undersized rear where the pilot sat was an obvious weak point, and while the oversized, armored wheels and forward-mounted guns were an obvious counter to that weak point, they weren’t enough to make the thing unstoppable by any means.

By the time the pilot got the Chopper under control again, Zenkichi had gotten close enough to fire a few more blasts from Ragnell, and a moment later, he was close enough to tackle the Locust right off the vehicle. Stronger than it looked, even bloody and battered from gunshots and holy energy blasts, the Locust pilot drew a brutal revolver and fired, striking Zenkichi in the gut. Staggered by the surprise blow, Zenkichi stumbled a step back, allowing the Locust pilot to close the gap and hit him in the face with the butt of its pistol, the loud smack of the metal on his skull ringing in his ears. As the Locust aimed to fire again, Zenkichi rallied and threw Ragnell into the air, evading the shot with Aether. As he came down, he could feel the vitality he regained from the blow, even as the follow up launched the Locust back, its formidable hide entirely ignored by the second blow.

It weakly raised its arm into the air, before the limb dropped limp as it dissolved into ash. Zenkichi quickly scooped up the humanoid creature’s Spirit, a quick flash of guilt running through him, before he shook it off and jumped on the Chopper. The controls were alien, but far from overly complex, so after a few moments of jerking around with the few things there we to manipulate, the vehicle got going again. He jerked forward in the strange hovorbike, before correcting his inputs and slowing to a steady pace, turning towards the hoversled that Armstrong had given a pummeling. Once the Striker had dissipated, it had returned to attacking the LAVs that had come from the Mammoth, leaving its back open to Zenkichi.

He carefully crept up on them, careful not to touch the very obviously-marked firing button. Whatever made this vehicle, did so with little estimation for its rider’s intelligence, which he appreciated right now. Having to parse some alien language would have been annoying. Once he got a good shot on the pilot of the sled, he pressed down the button, a salvo of explosive rounds slamming into the hoversled and its pilot, though most went slightly off-course due to a combination of his momentum and the recoil throwing his aim off in the unfamiliar vehicle.

He heard the Locust bandits grunting and yelling before the sled turned around, and Zenkichi threw it into reverse, keeping the massive wheels between him and his enemy as he continued firing, explosive rounds peppering the hull of the other vehicle. ”Could use a hand over here!” He called out, turning a little out of the way to try and dodge a few shots, but the turret operator was quick to pivot his aim, a few plasma bolts hitting him and the ground around him, causing Zenkichi to hiss in pain and jerk his arm, sending him into a short tailspin.

While the unpredictable maneuver saved him from further shots for a moment, it also left him facing the wrong way. The Prowler beared down on him, the turret ominously turning as the Locust grunted victoriously. Then, a line of sword crashed down directly in front of it, causing the forward momentum of the vehicle to suddenly become upward momentum as the lopsided vehicle tried to keep going forward but couldn’t. It flipped over in the air, landing on its top and bouncing, before rolling to a slow stop, pinning the Locust on the turret to the ground as the pilot and side passengers scrambled to get out from under the vehicle.

Zenkichi angled his Chopper to face them, holding down the fire button and using short taps of the controls to keep his aim relatively on point, the explosive cannons quickly mulching two of the Locust bandits, leaving behind only their ash and Spirits. The third managed to get enough distance that it could raise its assault rifle and fire off a few bursts of high-caliber shots at him, but the oversized wheels of the Chopper blocked all but a few rounds, which pinged off the sides or landed in the hard dirt behind him. Zenkichi turned his aim on the Locust, continuing to fire, when one of the Bloodmounts crashed into his vehicle, sending it careening out of control in a tailspin.

Dazed, Zenkichi grunted as a burst of fire from the surviving Locust found its mark, crashing into his shoulder and breaking his focus. He let go of the Chopper’s controls, abandoning the vehicle and dodging a swipe of the Bloodmount’s claws, summoning his revolvers. He only had a few shots left in each, but he quickly spun to the Locust bandit and fired everything he had, only a couple of shots landing before the Bloodmount was on him again.

Rather than flesh and scattered armor, however, its claws slammed into a massive sword, Zenkichi having favored the Greatsword Sandalphon had bought him over Ragnell. Its size and power made it somewhat better as a shield, even if its attacks came slower. He pivoted and stepped backwards, letting the Bloodmount push forward and lose its balance as it lunged towards where he had been a moment ago, leaving an opening for the massive lump of iron to cave its spine in. The Bloodmount proved tougher than that, however, and lashed out with a kick pushing Zenkichi back at the surprising force.

Remembering how quickly the earlier Locust fell to Aether, Zenkichi repeated the move, hurling his oversized Greatsword into the air and coming down on the Bloodmount like a meteor, healing a bit from the attack and shredding through its formidable hide with the second. It wasn’t enough to finish the mount off, but it had been weakened noticeably. Another lunging claw swipe was blocked with a fair amount of ease, and Zenkichi swung his sword, crushing one of the monster’s claws beneath its weight and breaking the bone. It tried to rise, then collapsed as the accumulated damage overwhelmed it, dissolving into ash. Zenkichi grabbed the thing’s Spirit, then looked to the overturned Prowler, where a group of Sectonia’s Antlers had eviscerated the last two Locust, one of which had returned to help its comrade escape being pinned beneath the vehicle while Zenkichi was busy with the Bloodmount. Nother pang of guilt slammed into Zenkichi at the empathetic action, but he sighed. Nobody said things would always be easy, and if these things were this intelligent, then they had chosen a life of banditry. And antisocial behavior like that was bound to earn you enemies in a world like this. They’d be back eventually, and the cycle would repeat anew.

Shoving off the existential dread of that, he approached the Antlions to offer his thanks and work with them to right the Prowler, the minions proving to be intelligent enough to offer their aid. He left the vehicle as it was, not wanting to risk friendly fire now that the battle was calming down more, the LAVs having made short work of the majority of the bandits while he and Sectonia had fought off the rest, with Blazermate’s support. Speaking of which, he sighed as he felt her medibeam land on him, giving the robot girl a thumb’s up. He’d been moving around a bit too much on the Chopper for her to have been able to safely follow before, even with the speed matching the healing gun gave. Besides, with his own natural bulk and self-healing, he was more than fine to fight a few grunts. It was Sectonia and the soldiers on the Mammoth who needed the most help, with the Queen being such a large target and the soldiers being fairly bog-standard human.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

Zenkichi Hasegawa

The Avenger -> Paved Wilderness- Hammerhead
Lvl 9 Zenkichi (4/90) +4 Collab XP -> Lvl 9 (9/90)
Word count: 456 words

As he, Sandalphon, Roland, and Captain Falcon filtered out from the Stolen Moments bar, Zenkichi made sure to make a stop to grab some water before the Avenger landed. They touched down in a scrublands of sorts, which wasn’t an environment Zenkichi was familiar with at all. He only managed to get in a few seconds of sightseeing, especially at the strange crescent-shaped mountain in the distance, before the Armadillos interrupted and triggered a flurry of activity. Once he took a seat onboard one of the ATVs, he kicked back for the ride.

Edelgard, however, chose to stay behind, looking over the map of the World of Light on the bridge. ”Enbarr…”” She muttered, eyes focused intently on the city’s name. ”I’ve spent too long away already. As much as this battle matters…so too do my people.”

Back at Hammerhead, Zenkichi hopped out of the Armadillo and took a good look around the place, letting out a low whistle at the refinery. That was an impressive piece of work, and must have kept these guys in business pretty darn well, he thought.

Nadia’s return from her chat with news of loot, though her cat burglar antics gave Zenkichi pause. ”Wait, I thought we were supposed to be the good guys…” He breathed quietly, not quite under his breath, but certainly not at full volume either. Still, it wasn’t like he couldn’t just return the equipment for the money. Regardless, he hustled over to the map board after her, using his height to get a good look over the others’ shoulders at the surrounding area.

Plenty of options to choose from, but that Hightower sounded the most promising to him, so Zenkichi set about finding a way to get there. From the looks of it, Roland was headed up that way with Therion, but he wasn’t about to ride in the bed of his pickup through that terrain, so that was out. He could try talking with that guy to get his own car, but his pockets weren’t exactly deep. When Sectonia made her decision on which way to go, he approached the odd Giant Bee Lady and swallowed, a little nervous.

”Hello, Sectonia. Your…majesty.” He belatedly added, remembering her claim to royalty from her world and her obsession with beauty. ”If it wouldn’t be too much a bother, would I be able to hitch a ride? I know you’ve helped carry some of us before, and I certainly wouldn’t hold you back in combat if it came to it, either. Dealing with low-level punks is sort of my specialty, leaving the big guys to the heavy hitters like you.” A little bit of flattery, but he wasn’t lying about culling the chaff being his specialty, either.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

Geralt of Rivia

The Avenger
Lvl 14 Geralt (109/140) -> Lvl 14 (111/140) 140% OL Charged (Lvl 1)
Word count: 825 words

Tora’s reaction to the barbed wire mines made Geralt’s eyebrows climb a little. A barbed wire mine sounded nasty, but what did Tora mean about turning three-hundred sixty degrees and walking away? That was just a full circle. Mentally shoving that question aside, he shrugged when Tora asked what he wanted to do with them. “Frankly, I’m a little bogged down by gear as it is. Was just planning to give them to you to tinker with or use them for scrap.”

The question of what to do with the Hateful Flesh was a more pressing one. “A handle would be fine. It’d let me use the damn thing like a regular weapon, too.” Tora’s resolve shone through when what happened to Goldlewis and Midna almost managed to get him down, but he bulled right through the pain and set himself onto doing something practical, both for the Lost Numbers and himself. It wasn’t too far from how he’d reacted to Poppi’s destruction at first, throwing himself into his work to try and help bring her back.

As far as donations went for the cause, Geralt shrugged and gestured to the mines. “Can always use those for parts. As far as money goes, my coinpurse is far from bursting, unfortunately. Might be able to spare a bit, but it’d be pocket change at most.”

Tora shrugged as best he could without discernible shoulders. "That fine, will take whatever can get. Now, give strange weapon here." While he rifled through his meager stock of spare parts for something that could serve as a suitable handle -taking a second on the way to ascertain the dimensions of Geralt's hand- Poppi grabbed the necessary tools. Despite his preference for metalworking, he ended up picking some scraps of bone he'd been messing around with the day before. After all the preparations had been made, affixing the new parts and modifying the Hateful Flesh took only a couple minutes. Once the sparks stopped flying, Poppi passed the weapon back to the Witcher, its appearance evidence that he'd managed to get creative. It looked a little less magical, though clusters of crimson nodules still pulsated inside the weapon, but it looked more symmetrical and easier to handle. "Since cleaver no good for stabby-stab anyway, Tora attach grips to both ends!" he explained. "Now, Ger-Ger can use both hands to carve with double force, meh. What think? Even with weird magic blade, am engineering mastermind, no?"

Poppi seemed eager to be rid of the thing. "Truly, masterpon genius almost frightening to behold..."

Looking over the cleaver, Geralt nodded. “Well, that’ll certainly be a lot more convenient to use in battle. Thanks for that, Tora. I’ll have to give it a try later on.” Lifting the Hateful Flesh and returning it to its eldritch resting spot inside of him, Geralt gave the Nopon and his Synthetic Blade grateful nods. “And good luck with your chore golem.” He added, giving Tora a pat on the shoulder and making his way out of the Proving Ground.

His business there concluded, Geralt stopped at a small map of the Avenger. First, he figured it was time for a proper meal. Most of the others had come here first, then split off, but Geralt had wanted to give Tora the news and see what he could do about the Orphan’s cleaver first and foremost. Once his belly was full, he made his way down to the Mysticenter.

The assorted magical research stations caught his eye, though he certainly couldn’t begin to fathom where to start. He had learned some magic thanks to his fusion with Flynn Scifo’s spirit, but how exactly he possessed that knowledge of some fairly advanced spellcraft was beyond him. Whether or not he could research the same and learn more magic was similarly outside of his grasp, but he was willing to try. The miniature shrines to various kinds of magic stood out, but none existed for Light, which the paladin he’d fused with seemed to specialize in.

He chose not to interrupt Mona’s scrying, instead spending his time looking at all of the ingredients and keeping a mental stock of them. Once he was finished, the Witcher took a minute to think over what he could make with those, before settling on an old classic he hadn’t managed to get his hands on here in the World of Light. Grabbing some spirits, a particular fungus, and the embryo of an insectoid monster, he was able to craft a potion of Thunderbolt. “If those damned Consuls keep showing their faces, I’ll be needing this and more.” He muttered, looking over his work.

It wasn’t his best potion by far, but the ingredients and time needed to refine his potions further were harder to come by, so this would have to suffice for now. His work completed, Geralt returned to looking over the spellcraft station, poring over every bit of magical knowledge he could.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

Geralt, Zenkichi, and Edelgard

The Final Hollow- Vs Gravemind -> The Avenger
Lvl 14 Geralt (106/140) -> Lvl 14 (109/140) 140% OL Charged (Lvl 1)
Lvl 9 Zenkichi (1/90) -> (4/90)
Lvl 4 Edelgard (36/40) -> Level 4 (39/40)
Word count: 1,816 words

Geralt dove to the ground, barely avoiding a hail of fireballs from Consul D, forcing himself to stand and scan the area for the next incoming attack. However, none came. D was merely…floating there, silently. For a moment, he snarled and seemed ready to attack with renewed vigor, but it seems he knew when he was beat. Though the consul could have stayed high above the battlefield and continued fighting, taking Seekers down, with both Consul A nowhere to be found (indicating he’d been slain), and the Gravemind similarly defeated, he would be overwhelmed with sheer numbers soon.

The vampire descended, offering a hollow congratulations and a warning that the next time would go even worse for the Seekers. Geralt scoffed, not necessarily taking the threat of a retreating man at face value, but it was no easy battle that they had one. Two of those who had entered would not be showing their faces again. Looking about the battlefield, specifically where the fight with A had occurred, Geralt noticed something: they had not even left Spirits behind. Sighing, his shoulders slumped a little. “Damn. Midna and Goldlewis.” Shaking his head, he turned to the newly-appeared Sandalphon.

Zenkichi and Edelgard, for their parts, had happily allowed Ganondorf to finish off the Gravemind, letting out the tension in their bodies as D left. The departing speech of the deceased Guardian left Zenkichi with the heebie-jeebies, and Edelgard frustrated. What would happen to the Guardians if they failed? Surely Galeem, or the Consuls (Zenkichi couldn’t quite remember how that worked) would just pick more? Though, that raised the question of why more Guardians didn’t simply spring up to make their work harder now? Did it take an accumulation of energy that took a while to gather?

Pushing away that line of thought, Zenkichi also turned to Sandalphon, though unlike Geralt her appearance brought an ill-timed smile to his face. The revelation that they would be escaping via Fulton made him cheer a little, though Edelgard looked uneasy. ”Oh, how I wish I could merely teleport to the ship…” She grumbled, striding forward and taking a pack for herself. ”Nonetheless, Sandalphon, I thank you for your timely intervention earlier, and for the assistance now. I refuse to stay in this damned place a second longer.” And true to her word, the Flame Emperor found herself a clear space, and activated her Fulton without reservation, the device yoinking her into the air mercilessly.

Geralt was more slow, looking about the battlefield somberly. “Don’t know what would’ve happened if you hadn’t gone and given yourselves up. It’s a damned shame. Don’t think we’ll be forgetting this anytime soon, either.” He saw Grimm carrying Goldlewis’ coffin, and walked up to the Neopteron. “Here. Let me.” Kneeling to take UMA’s coffin, Geralt grunted as he hefted the massive weight, then sighed as he realized it wasn’t as heavy as he expected. It wasn’t something he’d thought on much since coming to the World of Light, as people had taken on an even more varied assortment of forms than the Continent, but it was just another reminder that he wasn’t truly human. No normal man could heft this weight without looking like Goldlewis.

As he reached Sandalphon and the others, Geralt began wrapping the coffin’s chain about and through his armor, securing it to his body and ensuring it was on tight. It jostled much of his equipment and dug into some of the lesser-armored parts of his skin, but it would just be until this was over. Taking a Fulton pack, he nodded to Sandalphon and found an open spot to activate it, and within moments he was off.

Zenkichi was the last to take a Fulton, politely waiting behind the others, ushering them forward to take one if they seemed to be hesitant. When it was only him and Sandalphon left, he let his face fall, and he stepped forward not to take a Fulton, but to hug the archangel closely, his breath hitching for a moment. ”That…that was bad.” He admitted, swallowing a lump in his throat. ”I’m already running on empty like Midgar, but this time we’re coming back without a lot of people. I’m glad those cats managed to save a few of ‘em, but Goldlewis and Midna…shit.” Stepping back while still keeping a soft hold on Sandalphon’s arms, he gave the woman a broken smile. ”If anything happens to me while we’re out there…fighting bad guys and saving people…check on Akane every now and then for me? You don’t have to take her in, but I’d really feel better knowing somebody I can trust is helping out.” Closing his eyes with a sigh, Zenkichi carefully took the last Fulton pack and stepped back. ”See you on the ship.” He softly offered, before activating the pack.

---

As the Seekers awoke on board the Avenger, Geralt unlatched Goldlewis’s coffin from his body and carried it over to one of the walls nearby, setting it down carefully. “We’ll need to figure out what to do with this, now that he’s gone.” He announced dispassionately. It was not out of malice or a lack of care, but a blatant guarding of emotion. Walking over to Bracket Brace, he politely grabbed his fair share of snacks and drinks before addressing the assembled Seekers. “If anybody needs me, I’ll be visiting Tora and Poppi.” And with that, he turned and left to go find his Nopon ally and the restored Blade.

When she came to, Edelgard groaned and pushed herself to her feet, swaying slightly. ”Eugh. That was just as bad as the first time. No matter. Nobody need me.” Mirroring Geralt’s own exit with a dismissive twist, Edelgard quickly made her egress from the bay, but not without grabbing a snack and a bottle of water. Her destination, unsurprisingly, was the mess hall for lunch.

Zenkichi, finally, simply sat up and watched the others with a sigh. Part of him had hoped to see Midna and Goldlewis assembled with the other Seekers, but their absence reminded the detective of what had happened down there. Pain evident on his face, the Phantom Thief collected a shot of laudanum and downed it before grabbing a can of coffee and trudging off without a word in search of his daughter.

A few minutes later, the Witcher found himself inside the Proving Ground, looking at one of the first ‘friends’ he’d made in the Seekers. “Tora.” He greeted simply, approaching the Nopon and pulling out the mine traps he’d gained from the Keeper’s Spirit. “Not sure if there’s anything you can do with these, but I figured they were unique enough you might want to get a look. Not the only reason I came by, though.” He sighed, producing the Hateful Flesh from within himself. “One of those damned Consuls managed to cut the cord on this thing that connected it to me. Made me realize it’s a hell of a weak spot.”

Putting the cleaver down onto a table, he shook his head. “I’m not sure if you heard the news. Goldlewis and Midna…aren’t coming back. The Consuls had something we just…didn’t have an answer for. And they sacrificed themselves for us. We managed to kill two of the Consuls that met us there, as well as the Guardian, but…it cost us two of our own. I thought you ought to hear it from one of us. I know you’ve taken on a roll up here, but you’re still one of the Seekers as far as the rest of us are concerned. Much as that title makes me want to vomit sometimes. Seekers of Light makes me feel like some kind of proper knight.” Letting out a rueful chuckle, he shook his head.

“It’s only going to get worse from here on out. They tried to stop us in Midgar and the Under, and when they realized we were heading for the Dead Zone next, they pulled out all the stops. Get the feeling you’ll be busy going forward.”

---

In Akane and Zenkichi’s bunk room, the tired Phantom Thief sat on the his bed, slowly sipping coffee. Roxas had already come to collect his Pokemon, and the pair sat in silence. While she didn’t know exactly what had happened, Sandalphon and the others got really busy really quickly and started yelling about preparing for casualties. She’d been freaking out until one of the Lost Numbers had told her to get away from the Bridge, that her dad was still okay, and that they’d do everything they could. When Sandalphon herself teleported down to heal everybody, it had been a big load off her mind, but she was still visibly worried.

”So, uh…you remember Mr. Goldlewis and Midna, right? The former Secretary and that weird-looking floaty girl?” Zenkichi asked after a while. Receiving a nod in reply, he continued, head half-hanging. ”They, uh…they didn’t make it.”

“No!” Akane gasped, shooting to her feet and barely keeping a hold of Maru in the process. “What do you mean they didn’t make it!” She yelled, tears starting to form in her eyes. “You were supposed to keep them safe! You were all supposed to keep us safe!” She cried, breathing heavily. Zenkichi stood up, putting the coffee can down on a table, before stepping forward to wrap her in a hug.

”I know, Akane, I know. We…we did our best. If it makes it any better, it was their choice. They stared death in the face, and they made the choice to give themselves over to it instead of making the rest of us do it. I…I’m sorry. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t do that to you. Or to myself. I was selfish again.” Sniffling, Akane just hugged him tighter.

“NO! Don’t you dare die on me too!” She sobbed, clinging to Zenkichi as if he’d disappear if she let go. “You can’t leave me, too, dad!” It was a far cry from how she’d acted on the anniversary of Aoi’s death when he showed up with the other Phantom Thieves, but truth be told, it warmed Zenkichi’s heart a bit to know he hadn’t lost her after all.

”I’m not going anywhere, kid. Not if I have anything to say about it, and I’ve got plenty to say still.” He joked somewhat lamely, running a hand through her hair gently. They stayed like that for a few minutes, Maru rubbing against Akane’s legs while her and Zenkichi hugged, before the detective gently pulled away. ”We should probably get some lunch soon. I don’t know about you, but I worked up a hell of an appetite, and granola bars and fruit snacks wasn’t gonna cut it.” Earning a nod from his daughter, Zenkichi gave her a quick squeeze on the shoulder before he led the pair down to the Mess Hall, Maru returned to her pal Sphere.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

Geralt, Zenkichi, and Edelgard

The Final Hollow- Vs Gravemind
Lvl 14 Geralt (88/140) +6 +8 Collab XP -> Lvl 14 (106/140) 120% OL Charged (Lvl 1)
Lvl 8 Zenkichi (77/80) -> (1/90)
Lvl 4 Edelgard (32/40) -> Level 4 (36/40)
Word count: 1,049 words (2x2 exp)

New Ability for Zenkichi

Aether (Vanguard)- The user throws their weapon into the air, leaping to catch it before slamming down onto an enemy, following up with a backflipping slash to retreat from counter attack. The first hit restores the user's vitality equal to half the damage dealt, while the second blow ignores half of the target's defense.

Geralt could not even spare the energy to cast First Aid on anybody as they watched D’s supine form, laid low by Pit and Captain Falcon’s combo attack. As long as the Consul didn’t dissipate into light like Y had, he knew the vampire still lived. His suspicions were proven moments later as D rose once more, flying into the air. So, he truly had been toying with them? So confident in his success, and for once, Geralt wondered if this was where he would die. If this was to be it, then he would not go easily. He transformed into Ardor Blossom, hurling fireballs at the Consul, but there was not even the slightest shred of hope to deal damage- bats took many of the blows, and those they didn’t D simply dodged, while Geralt and the other Seekers were forced to dodge much more from the Consul. Where before he fought a battle, now D was carrying out an extermination. His spells scattered about the battlefield, blasts of energy and swarms of bats edging into the other fights, which until now had been rather self-contained.

Goldlewis’s sacrifice stopped Zenkichi dead in his tracks, even as the Gravemind’s body retreated to the hideous meteoroid above them. The Secretary of Absolute Defense himself…gone. Taken. No. Not taken. Sacrificed. Zenkichi closed his eyes and sighed, almost all the fight leaving his body. He took a deep breath, a single tear running down his cheek, as a voice within spoke to him. Is this the end of your rebellion, then? Will you give in to despair? Invisibly, within his own mindscape, chains constricted Zenkichi and Valjean, dragging them down. Was your will truly so conquerable, oh detective? This is hardly the first defeat you have faced. Outside his mindscape, Zenkichi dropped to his knees, prompting a scornful look from Edelgard.

”Get up, damn it! You can fall to pieces later, after this fight! And did the girl mean so little to you?! Ugh, fine. Wallow in self-pity for all I care.” Standing between Zenkichi and the two pieces of Gravemind, she slammed the flat of Aynr’s blade into her shield, relying on the symbol of her Imperial authority to try to draw their attention. She then hurled Aymr through the air with Returning Axe, following up with her last bouncing Fire spell, catching her axe and rushing in to clash with the Floodfested remnants as her spell launched off into the air, missing the rising chunk of Gravemind as it escaped the battlefield. ”Somebody attack that last piece!” Thankfully, Blazermate was already on it.

So, then, you choose surrender? To lay low down your sword and allow despair to take you? The voice asked, disappointment heavy in its voice. Is this what a man of justice does? Lays down and gives up when the battle grows difficult? Zenkichi grabbed his head with both hands, groaning in anguish. Remember your vow, Phantom Thief. You know what you have to do. Rising, Zenkichi stumbled, regaining his balance quickly as Valjean manifested behind him, largely transparent. ”Condemn the evil, and hunt them down!” He cried, hurling Ragnell into the air. He leapt forward, catching the holy blade before slamming down onto one of the Gravemind fragments, kicking off the ground in a backflip and slicing a deep furrow into it in retreat.

As Geralt dodged another pillar of light from D, he groaned in frustration. “We can’t do anything to this guy. But if we split off, he’s free to kill the others.” He grumbled quietly. His arrows and crossbow bolts were, like his fireballs as Ardor Blossom, simply blocked or dodged. There was nothing he could do to attack D, not enough time to cast a spell, and the Consul was too high up and too agile to attack through other means. Even if he could get a Grapeshot that high, it’d barely do anything, and Dimeritium would buy them a few seconds at most. He didn’t dare transform into the much more sluggish LCCB Assistant Manager, even if the weak pistol shots might be able to deal some light damage to the Consul. No, Geralt was well and truly out of ideas. All he could do was survive. Quen shimmered around him to shield him from blows, but it was taking all his focus and effort to avoid the onslaught of magic and summons that D was producing. “If anybody’s got any bright ideas, now’s the time!”

Edelgard slammed Aymr onto one of the Gravemind fragments, chopping into it with a series of slashes that left the abomination aflame. She slammed it with her shield, stepping around to give Zenkichi an opening, and he took it. Blocking an attack from the fragment he was fighting, he kicked off it, summoning Sosha to leap up and impale the thing from above, giving him time to relieve Edelgard and swap foes with her. He lashed out with Ragnell’s blasts of energy and she charged the one he’d been fighting, bowling it over with sheer momentum before jumping onto it and repeating Sosha’s maneuver from much closer, slamming Aymr’s blade into the thing over and over, leaving scorch marks and a deep axe wound which desperately tried to use biomass to close itself.

Zenkichi carved another line into the fragment he was attacking, the Hitch triggered by Hera’s boon further wounding the fragment Edelgard was now fighting. That boon was pretty useful now that he had more than one thing to fight at once. Feeling relatively tough thanks to all the healing he’d been getting and the re-established buff from Sandalphon’s Covenant, he activated Fury again, bathing himself in Almighty energy and cutting through the animated chunk of Guardian even more brutally. A crimson blade fell on the fragment Edelgard was carving to pieces, further destabilizing it and finally rendering it too unstable to maintain its form, and her next blow tore off a huge chunk of biomass. ”Finally!” Edelgard cried triumphantly, stomping off a chunk of flesh with her boot and chopping off yet another with a blow from Aymr, leaving behind an eviscerated, burning pile of rotting flesh as she joined Zenkichi. Between his enhanced attacks with Fury and Edelgard’s help, they made short work of the other one, destroying it as well.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

Zenkichi and Edelgard

The Final Hollow- Vs Gravemind
Lvl 8 Zenkichi (73/80) -> (77/80)
Lvl 4 Edelgard (28/40) -> Level 4 (32/40)
Word count: 821 words (2x2 exp)

Aymr hurtled through the air, carving a deep wound into the Flood Tank’s arm and leaving behind a half-attached, smoldering limb. It roared, pain beyond its senses, and trudged forward, scorch marks up and down its body and covered in deep axe wounds. Edelgard shook her head at the pathetic creature, quickly casting Nosferatu to put it out of its misery and regain some more of her lost vitality. As it crumbled to ash, she quickly scooped up the Spirit it left behind and rushed towards the Guardian, careful to avoid the lingering clouds of poison.

Zenkichi sighed when Sandalphon replied: the way forward was the most obvious, and quite possibly the biggest pain in the ass. ”I was worried you’d say that…” he complained in response. Thankfully, Ganondorf, freshly transformed and on full aggro, charged the Guardian and took out one of its heads in the process. Now that was more like it! Even with the vicious counter-attack he suffered, Ganon was still going, and Zenkichi had an idea. He was damn near running on fumes, but who better to give a Heat Riser than that guy? ”Valjean! One last time! Heat Riser!” He cried, the last of his energy going to grant Ganon the coveted omniboost. He would be stronger, hardier, and even faster now, and for a whole minute to boot.

Zenkichi’s shoulders slumped even as Edelgard ran by, his breath coming in deep and heavy. ”I will cover you! Take a step back to recoup yourself!” She called, rushing headlong to attack the Gravemind, a Fire spell flying at one of its remaining heads before ricocheting off into the other remaining head. Her aim with the spell wasn’t sufficient to target the weak points, but it was still damage. No, she was focused on the legs as prescribed by Sandalphon. She’d not wasted Flickering Flower on the Flood Tank, so she unleashed the skill on one of the Gravemind’s legs, her Crest of Seiros glowing as she did. The Gravemind did not take kindly to this attack, turning to crash down on her with its scythe. Knowing she could not evade, she hunkered behind her shield even as the colossal blow landed. The momentum crushed her utterly, and Edelgard felt the bark of the Qliphoth crack and splinter beneath her as her armored form smashed into it, leaving a crater nearly two inches deep in the hardened bark of the demon tree. Groaning, she struggled to move, let alone stand.

Seeing an ally in danger, Zenkichi forced himself forward, swinging Ragnell at the limb Edelgard had attacked, dodging and diving away from toxic grenades and starting to take the long way around clouds of gas that were being placed to form a defensive blockade between the Seekers and the Gravemind’s legs. It seemed the Gravemind had already cottoned on to their ideas, but Zenkichi didn’t back down. He still had a little bit of time left on his last buff from Sandalphon’s covenant, and he planned to use it. Taking a deep breath, he ran straight through a cloud, acid and poison lingering to him and slowly leeching away at his life.

Despite the stinging pain, Zenkichi barreled ahead, slashing into the leg before him with Ragnell. He could feel the hyper-dense flesh resisting each of his blows, and groaned. This would take forever. He had no more energy to call on Valjean, though he did have one thing he could do without his Persona. Lifting the holy blade up and charging, he felt the flames growing around him and his blade, intensifying every second. Even as the leg kicked out and slammed into his body, Zenkichi stood firm as the fire around him grew. Ragnell glowed as the blue flames intensified around him, and finally Zenkichi unleashed Eruption, a series of explosions ringing out around him and consuming the Gravemind’s leg.

Before the dust from the explosions even settled, a great creaking noise could be heard as the Gravemind slowly tried to maintain its balance with one leg missing a good chunk of its lower quarter. Eruption had dealt the finishing blow, removing a solid four feet and change of the limb. Gas and toxin grenades exploded in random bursts around the battlefield as the Gravemind seemed to panic, using its scythe to try and keep its balance, but the sudden loss of a limb was too much, and the Gravemind slowly fell, its long limbs splayed out awkwardly as it crashed into the ground. ”HELL YEAH!” Zenkichi shouted, before running over to Edelgard and offering her a hand up, which she took with a sigh. ”You good there?” He asked with concern.

”Hardly.” She replied with a harsh scoff. ”But slaying this monster shall do wonders for my mood, even if I fear my bones will ache for a year after this. Let us dispose of this ‘Guardian’ and be out of this goddess-forsaken place.”

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Smash Bros Crossover)

Zenkichi and Edelgard

The Qliphoth
Lvl 8 Zenkichi (69/80) -> (73/80)
Lvl 4 Edelgard (24/40) -> Level 4 (28/40)
Word count: 811 words (2x2 exp)

As Edelgard hacked away at the base of the Gravemind, she was quick to react to its transformation, jumping back as the colossal Floodform consolidated its flesh and began to retract. ”Now what is this?!” She cried out, hefting her shield in preparation for an attack.

Zenkichi, meanwhile, was busy handling the Flood tank form that had been so kindly dropped in by the Gravemind before its transformation. Each swing of Ragnell launched a blast of energy its way, but the monster was undeterred, barreling ahead with reckless abandon and swinging its trunk like limbs violently. He was forced to dodge the attack or be launched away, but the Tank form was quick to stop and turn once it had gone past him. It roared, turning and slamming its massive arm down with enough force to kick up a small cloud of dust and lingering spores. The light of Ragnell’s energy blasts illuminated it as Zenkichi circled around the tank form, calling out to Edelgard. ”Can you handle this thing? I can at least get some ranged hits out on the big guy!” While this earned a huff from the Flame Emperor, she nonetheless obliged.

As he and Edelgard switch targets, Zenkichi rolled to avoid a glob of deadly poison, standing up and pointing his target out for Valjean. ”Agneyastra!” Of all times, now wasn’t the time to hold back, though he could feel just that one attack taking a lot of his reserves of energy. Even as he took in a deep breath, the meteors crashed into the main body of the Gravemind, a few hitting some of its heads and dealing solid damage. He didn’t have too many more of those left in him, even as he felt the three protocols of Sandalphon’s covenant healing and reinforcing him.

Edelgard met the Tank form with a charge, Aymr flashing out with Returning Axe before she even reached the Flood form, already in her hand again by the time the two clashed. The crash of its mighty arm rattled her even through her shield and armor, though the Tank form suffered Doom for its efforts, cursing it to be harmed by a spectral crimson blade a second later. She hadn’t noticed this effect actively until now, given how hectic the battle had been, but Edelgard hummed when she saw it take place, cementing the notion in her mind that taking that boon had been a good idea.

She took the offensive, crashing into the Tank form shield-first and slamming Aymr’s blade into its shoulder before kicking off and circling around to target its larger arm. While others might go for the weaker side, Edelgard meant to dislodge the limb entirely, thus rendering the Flood nearly powerless. Though her target did not give her an easy job, lashing out violently and trying to run the Flame Emperor down any time she put distance between them for even a moment to breathe. The Gravemind’s new form made this all the more treacherous, as the toxin grenades it launched left fields of toxic gas behind to turn the battlefield into a place where not one inch was safe.

As Zenkichi hurled blasts of energy from Ragnell at the now mobile Gravemind, he was forced to take a more passive approach than earlier as two of the three heads nearly continuously belched out globs and grenades of spores and toxins. He’d found himself hit a few times by now, and while the stacking defensive buffs from Preservation Protocol and Ragnell’s magical protection had kept him relatively hale, each projectile still did a noticeable amount of damage. Stashing Ragnell for a moment, he drew his revolvers and fired them at the head firing the lingering toxic clouds, quickly replacing them with the holy sword when they clicked empty and running out of the impact zone of another blast.

As soon as he paused for a moment, he saw the utterly colossal scythe coming his way along the ground in a horizontal sweep, and he hefted Ragnell in time to block the attack, only for the sheer momentum to launch him a few dozen feet away, tumbling head over heels. ”Owww…” He groaned, body aching as he stood. ”This thing is crazy. Agneyastra looked like it barely budged it. The heads are an obvious weak point, but unless we can knock it down…” Now, that was an idea. Though he certainly didn’t know how the heck they’d pull that off. Bringing his finger to his ear, Zenkichi activated the communication glyph Sandalphon had given him. ”Sandalphon, you got any ideas on something we could use to knock this giant thing over? Its heads are the obvious weak point, but half of us can’t even get to them.” It was a long shot, but if they could pull it off…they could put some serious hurt on the Guardian.