MULTI_MEDIA_MAN

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

Zenkichi Hasegawa

Lvl 8 Zenkichi - (3/80) -> Lvl 8 (5/80) (+1 Pending)

Word count: 936 words

As Zenkichi watched the circus, letting himself be taken in by the festivities, he gasped along with the other patrons when a ball of fire exploded against the top of the tent, before beginning to consume the tent. People screamed, launching out of their seats and scrambling towards the exits, crashing into each other and shoving each other about. Zenkichi stood with a sigh, grunting as somebody shoved past him.

”Jeeze…” He muttered, squaring his shoulders and entering the crowd, using his height to see what was going on ahead of everybody. The Grimm Troupe had all but abandoned the crowd, making Zenkichi roll his eyes. Bunch of jerks… he thought as the crowd managed to escape the tent, spreading out to a new horror: a trio of massive monsters attacking the city. A giant ape, a giant werewolf, and a giant crocodile on two legs. They were acting like stereotypical monsters, destroying buildings, killing people, and generally causing mayhem.

Well, he supposed it wasn’t super surprising that the city surrounded by a bunch of big monsters got attacked by a bunch of big monsters. It still sucked, though. The crocodile-looking one was closest to the tent, so Zenkichi took off after it, Phantom Thief attire appearing on him. He drew his newly-purchased weapon, the one that looked and felt more like it was just a giant club of iron, and leapt at Lizzie. Her massive size meant that he was more like a particularly annoying squirrel in relation, but the sheer bulk of his weapon, and the force he put behind it, meant it still did some damage. In return, he got a kick to the body, which launched him back, ragdolling as he tumbled head-over-heels into a wall, crashing through it and stopping on the other side of the ruined home he was now in.

”Oooowwwwww…” He groaned, forcing himself back up. Note to self: buff before attacking giant monsters. Probably defense in this case. It didn’t do him any good to die in two hits, after all. ”Alright, here goes. Restoration protocol, activate!” He cried as he stepped out of the home, Sandalphon’s Covenant transforming from Preservation Protocol to the aforementioned Restoration. ”Now, Valjean! Rakukaja!” The familiar feeling of a major defense buff eased some of Zenkichi’s worries, and the healing light that washed over him took quite a bit of the edge off.

Zenkichi ran in after her, pointing upwards at Valjean appeared once again. ”No holding back! One-Shot Kill!” He yelled, and Valjean obeyed, lashing out with its chains as a massive spectral bullet crashed into Lizzie, knocking her back a step. The healing that revitalized him from the Covenant felt nice, but the monster’s attention being pulled directly onto him most certainly did not. ”Uh oh…” He sighed, hefting his greatsword to try and mitigate some of the incoming damage.

Thankfully, between the obscene heft of the greatsword, and Rakukaja’s defense buff, he only found himself being pushed back by the punch, instead of launched away. A group of Sun Guard warriors ran past, using bows and a variety of anachronistically high-tech weapons to attack the monster. Huh, those were pretty cool, actually.

Returning his attention to Lizzie, Zenkichi decided to try one of his new moves. He dodged around her leg while she was distracted for a moment, and lifted the greatsword, power and flames coalescing around it as he charged. He let the flames build until they were almost impossible to see past, at which point he slammed his sword into the ground, cracking the stone and unleashing a chain of explosions around him, burning away a few of the scales on her heel.

Lizzie roared in response, reaching down to grab Zenkichi and attempt to crush him, most of the air forced from his body. He managed to gather just enough breath to utter a damage curse, however:

”Megi…dolaon!” As Lizzie squeezed tighter, practically screaming in his face to shut him up, Zenkichi smirked as a bolt of light crashed into Lizzie’s head, Megidolaon catching her off guard and causing her to drop him.

”Oooowwwwwww….that…that really freakin’ hurt…” He groaned as he staggered to his feet. Restoration Protocol had triggered too early to mitigate the damage from the fall, though it had still just about topped him up beforehand. His knees just didn’t enjoy that. A pair of Sun Guards rushed up to him, one helping him up, while the other fired what looked like an armless repeating crossbow up at the monster.

“Let’s go, sir! You’ve done enough!” The man yelled as he pulled Zenkichi up. “Duvad, we’re pulling back!” The man with the Rattler, apparently Duvad, turned back to nod, but both Zenkichi and the Sun Guard gaped in shock as the man was launched into a wall from a kick, crashing to the ground, groaning weakly. "DUVAD!!!!" He shouted, hauling Zenkichi to his feet before pulling him into a dead sprint, racing after the dying man. “No, Duvad! Stay with me!” He begged, grabbing his friend and desperately doing whatever he could to help.

Zenkichi, however, knew what to do. ”Rakukaja!” Staring directly at Duvad, the buff, followed by Sandalphon’s Restoration Protocol, washed over the man, and he gasped as his wounds were brought from imminently fatal to merely grievous, both guards looking at Zenkichi in shock. ”Get him out of here. I have a monster to fight.” He simply ordered, the Sun Guard nodding before carefully lifting Duvad and dragging him out of there.

“Sun go with you, hero. Kill that thing.” Followed Zenkichi as he ran back in, revolvers blazing at Lizzie.

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

Zenkichi Hasegawa

Lvl 8 Zenkichi - (2/80) -> Lvl 8 (3/80) (+1 Pending)

Word count: 303 words

Entering the grounds of the carnival, Zenkichi let out a whistle. ”Wow, this place is actually pretty big. Reminds me of stuff you’d see in a movie about America or something.” He ambled around, taking in the sights, the…giant bug sights. Okay, the whole carnival was ‘manned’ by anthropomorphic bugs, which was freaky as hell to be frank. The music being played by one of the really big guys was very much what he’d have expected from a carnival, even if the…instrument itself…was not, in any way, shape, or form. He gave Brumm an appreciative nod and moved on, passing by Divine’s fortune telling booth.

Shaking his head at the prospect, he moved on by, stopping by a stall to see what kind of food they offered.

Nope, that was food for bugs, on to the next one. Thankfully, this stall had some actual food fit for human consumption, and after a few minutes’ wait, Zenkichi found himself munching on a hot dog slathered with a number of condiments that he wasn’t entirely sure even came from Earth, but nonetheless tasted pretty damn good!

And so it was that Zenkichi enjoyed his time at the carnival until the main attraction was opened to the public, and he joined the throngs of people shuffling inside, paying the token entry fee to see the carnival. The place was still giving Zenkichi the heebie-jeebies, but he had a feeling that was intentional, so it didn’t actually bother him all that much. The little ghosty dudes holding up torches was a nice touch, he thought, even if they added quite a bit to that freaky atmosphere.

As the flaming dance show began, Zenkichi found his head bopping along to the music, a smile on his face as he let go and just enjoyed himself for once.

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

Edelgard von Hresvelg

Level 1 Edelgard (2/10) -> (4/10)

Word count: 1,176 words

Pit’s enthusiasm earned a nod from Edelgard, while Midna’s practical explanation of her abilities earned the Twilight Princess an appreciative look. She’d heard of the new ‘Twilight Guard’, a squad of angels that utilized the spoils of fallen corrupted (though clearly, as she could see, not haphazardly) to bolster their power. ”I will be sure not to get in your way, then.” She stated, wondering just how destructive those magics that Midna wielded truly were. The servants that she could summon seemed like they could be useful, though Edelgard wondered if they were up to the same level of combat that the angelic soldiers were. Likely not, but Midna would know how best to use the resources at her disposal.

While they were talking, another young man joined them, out of breath and apologetic. ”I see. Well, Roxas, I was just introducing myself to your other companions. I am Edelgard von Hresvelg, one of Lady Palutena’s Lieutenants. We were just discussing the tactical options available to us.”

Unfortunately for their ability to converse further, a shadow loomed above them, followed by the beating of gargantuan wings. This otherwise-ill portent heralded not an attack, but the arrival of a majestic and ferocious ally of all present: Ortho, the Griffin. Riding atop the elegant beast was Celia, Lady Palutena’s spymaster. Edelgard understood well the necessity of a good spymaster, but the nature of the job was fairly dark, which unsettled her some. Still, she greeted Celia and Ortho like she would any other ally of hers.

”Celia, Ortho. It is good to see you two. While I am honored, I will admit to some trepidation at treating Ortho as just another beast of burden. However, if Lady Palutena wills it…and Ortho consents, I would be happy to ride such a valiant Griffin to battle.” She gently stroked Ortho’s mane, and the Griffin huffed and adjusted himself to allow Edelgard to scratch an itch, making the Empress chuckle. ”Yes, I understand.”

She was interrupted by Palutena’s message, prompting a resolute nod and step up to Ortho’s saddle. ”Then, I suppose it is time to go.” As she settled in, Edelgard noticed the Seekers begin taking off rapidly, and hummed. At least they weren’t lollygagging. As she prepared to have Ortho take off, an embarrassed voice reached Edelgard’s ears, and she turned to see Roxas looking up at her awkwardly. Chuckling, she offered her hand.

”Of course. Those of us without wings certainly have our own difficulties in this army. I would be remiss to not offer my assistance. Climb aboard.” Once Roxas was safely onboard Ortho, the pair took off. The Black Eagle Strike Force surrounded them, flying in formation as they approached the Ivory Citadel. Monstrous enemies appeared in massive quantities to attack the invading angels. The Cadet and Compassion combos gave Edelgard’s own retinue the hardest time, their quick hit-and-run tactics allowing them to get by the Strike Force’s Feathershield vanguard and attack the more vulnerable rear units. Still, the Featherswords did valuable work, parrying attacks and destroying the attackers, while the Featherstaffs kept them alive through the opening salvo. Ortho even knocked a Catchet off-course, allowing a group of Featherbows to buffet it to death with a swarm of arrows. As they fought, massive bolts of corruption began spearing through the battle lines, skewering angels and corrupted alike.

”Black Eagle Strike Force!” Edelgard yelled, her voice carrying even in the heat of the battle. ”Carry forward to the Ivory Citadel! Our goal lies ahead!” Bolstered by her command, the strike force charged into the only openings they could see: the windows and balconies of the citadel. Free from the devastation wrought by the corrupted ballistae, Edelgard and her angels took a moment to breathe. Dismounting, she addressed the Strike Force ”Alright, everybody. We have but a moment before we rejoin the battle. Make it count.” Turning to Roxas, she nodded once. ”Good luck out there. You are free to remain with the Strike Force, or seek out and join your friends as you please.”

Moving from their rallying point, the Black Eagles charged towards one of the two spires, where the corruption was the heaviest. As they moved, numerous corrupted stood in their way, forming a wall to halt the angels’ advance. Edelgard finally took to the field of battle, eyes glowing with ferocity and fury. ”Black Eagles!” She cried, hefting Aymr. CHARGE! Her voice thundered, and her platoon responded, bellowing their own rallying cries as the battle lines clashed, corrupted falling like wheat before a scythe. The angels were not without their own casualties, but the Featherstaffs did their best to keep their forces hearty.

As Edelgard cleaved her way through the enemy lines, the cries of her allies at the rear caught her attention, as a group of Sycophants appeared as if from nowhere and cut down some of their healers. ”Dammit. Swords, Shields, split to cover the rear. I will deal with their leaders.” Edelgard’s voice dripped with venom, and her crests glowed with an ethereal light as each blow she struck reinvigorated her. She was in her element here, leading a battle party and destroying the forces of evil.

Blasts of magic and the clashes of blades around her nearly deafened Edelgard to the thundering footsteps of the enemy’s commander, Beloved, but she could certainly not have missed the massive shadow that the beast cast. ”And there it is!” She called to her troops, bashing aside a vengeful spirit that attempted to strike her, and destroying it with a single swing of Aymr. ”One of their damned commanders! I will lead you to victory, to glory, to peace! Cover my rear and when the area is secured, join me in battle!” She ordered, a series of assenting cheers rising in response, while the Black Eagles redoubled their efforts to cut down the corrupted forces while Edelgard calmly walked forward to challenge Beloved alone.

The marble golem paused for a moment, as if to question a single human challenging him, a massive hulking goliath with an ax larger than her body. Then, it hefted its weapon and slammed it down onto Edelgard, pausing once more in disbelief as the woman’s hefted shield deflected its blow, though not without a significant amount of force being transferred through the weapon and hurting Edelgard. ”I’ve faced worse than you.” She retorted dismissively, Aymr slamming into Beloved’s leg, a single blow chipping its marble body. ”You are far from invincible.” Keeping as close as she could, Edelgard summoned a fireball and launched it at Beloved’s face to force it to either dodge or block, giving her time to strike yet again with her ax.

Each blow chipped just a small bit from Beloved’s leg, but she was making progress nonetheless. As the battle behind them calmed, Edelgard felt healing magic wash over her as a few Featherstaffs and Feathershields joined her, the Featherswords throwing their all into keeping back the enemy reinforcements. Hefting Aymr once more, she threw her all into fighting the marble colossus before her.

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

Geralt of Rivia

Mafia Town

Lvl 14 Geralt (20/140) -> Lvl 14 (22/140) (+2 pending)

Word count: 1,168 words

As Geralt made his way downtown (literally, in Mafia Town’s case), an abundance of activity at the docks caught his eye. He’d heard somebody had caused a ruckus there the previous day, and from the descriptions he’d heard, it could be no other than the abandoned royal children, Junior and Rika. They’d attacked some of the mafia that watched over the dock and took ‘their cut’ of the incoming fish, leaving the rest to the sailors that had brought them in. Good on them.

Returning his attention to the present, Geralt’s eyes narrowed when he noticed just how…professional…the unloaders were being. That wasn’t the local Mafia’s incompetence at work, and Geralt diverted his path to get closer to the docks, watching them carefully from above. The men moved smoothly and quickly, bringing their haul of shark fins into a nearby storehouse. Why only the fins, Geralt had no idea. Perhaps they were of particular medicinal value?

Stalking closer, Geralt realized that they only had one lookout, and he was watching the sea. Idiots… he thought to himself, jumping down to land on the ground level of the dock, to the side of the storehouse. He calmly walked around the side, acting every bit as if he belonged here, and turned the corner before walking in the entrance.

Inside the storehouse was a hive of activity. The mysterious dock workers hugged the sides of the storehouse, bringing the product in as far away from the customers as they could be, keeping out of the way for whatever business was being conducted here, out of the public eye. Geralt’s eyes darted to and fro, and once he managed to catch an actual transaction taking place, he frowned. What kind of place gives you something for free, and gives you money on top of that? Gotta be something fishy going on here.

Knowing he would be caught if he didn’t play along, he joined the back of a line of people waiting to ‘purchase’ some pearls, listening carefully. “Alright, these are the pearls that you ordered, and this is your rebate.” The man running this stall said. “Count them if you like, but it’s all there. One dozen pearls, all at or above our guaranteed quality, and ninety pons back. You can’t beat our prices. One dozen pearls for 30 pons, total. You just have to pay the insurance deposit first, and when it all comes back okay, you get everything that you asked for.”

Geralt’s brow furrowed. That wasn’t an unheard of business model on the Continent, especially when it came to shipping goods to Skellige, but it was frowned upon by more honest merchants. If the ship was lost, investors would just come with bodyguards and take back their ‘deposits’ anyway. He supposed this area of the World of Light wasn’t devoid of danger, especially in the ocean, but something about this was bothering him. When the man who had just received his product passed Geralt by, something tugged at his gut. Whoever was in charge wasn’t running an honest operation, he just had to figure out what the catch was.

A few more people received their pearls and their ‘rebate’ of pons, and Geralt was near the front of the line, still thinking and trying to calmly observe his surroundings to see if he could catch anything off. The man in front of him had clearly ordered a massive haul, receiving ten dozen pearls and a bag of pons larger than he could carry. One of the workers, who had just offloaded his merchandise and was headed out to the ship to get more, was ordered to help carry the bag of pons, and when a few spilled out, Geralt was quick to act. Grabbing one of the fallen pons, he dextrously swapped it with one of his own before handing his own pon over to the worker with a nod. When the pair turned to leave, Geralt faced the man running the stall. “What’s the deposit for a dozen pearls?” The man looked at Geralt as if he were talking to an idiot.

“What, did you not hear it the half-a-dozen times I said it before you got up here? A hundred twenty pons for a dozen. Ten pons a pearl, and you get ninety pons back when the haul comes in. If the ship goes down, you’re out of luck. It hasn’t happened yet, but I have to warn you that it’s a possibility.” Geralt nodded, giving a dejected-looking shrug.

“I don’t have that kind of money on me right now, but I can try to scrounge it up, ask a friend. When will you be here next?” He asked, keeping the ruse going.

“The ship comes into port every few days. You’ll find us here, in the same spot. We can’t always be certain how the tides will go, or if the ship will fill early, so the schedule isn’t strict, but keep a careful eye out, and you’ll see us.” The man advised. “Now, if you aren’t able to make an order at this time, I do have to request that you not loiter. I have more customers to help. Good evening, sir.” He quickly transitioned to helping the next person in line, as Geralt left the storehouse, waiting until he was a good distance away before checking the pon he’d swapped.

Fake pons. Clever. Have to imagine they’re not all fake, though they’re giving far too many back for most to be real. Surprising that nobody’s caught on yet. If they have, wonder if they’re just killed or if they handle it some other way? Geralt’s musings took him to Bancho Sushi, where he had originally been heading.

Entering the restaurant, Geralt nodded when he saw that Nadia, the kids, and Juri were all there. Therion and Falcon must have been off doing their own things. He caught the tail end of Juri’s explanation of there being a giant bird nearby, and hummed. “Doubt that’s the same one we fought at Black Bay? Bird that size must move quite a bit, but ‘giant bird’ isn’t exactly descriptive or rare, I imagine.”

Shrugging, he got to his own information. “Found a counterfeiting ring. Fake pons.” To illustrate, he pulled out the fake pon he’d snatched, as well as one of his real ones. “Fake one is a little lighter, slightly different material. Smells differently, as well. They smell…wrong, somehow. Wrong the same way smoke does in fresh air. It’s not quite what we were going for, but I haven’t had quite as much time to really scope this area out. They’re at the docks right now, but aside from fraud and counterfeiting, I’m not sure if they’re up to anything truly shady. Might have to investigate further to tell, though, and they won’t be back for a few days after they go out again.”

It wasn’t a solid lead by any stretch of the imagination, but it was the only real one he’d gotten.

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

Geralt of Rivia, Featuring Sakura & Karin

Satisfactory -> Mafia Town

Lvl 14 Geralt (15/140) -> Lvl 14 (20/140) (+2 pending)

Word count: 4,278 words

Wednesday Morning

Having had a much happier reunion with Yen than their last (especially without the awkwardness of being female that he was half-worried he would have to deal with), Geralt was on his way to find Ciri, the Sorceress having followed him down in a Hellpod, though not without great reluctance. She still hadn’t recovered the ability to create portals, though making one to a completely unknown area would have been a difficult matter itself. Instead, the pair traveled to the outskirts of the Satisfactory, where Karin had instructed the survivors from Midgar to go.

The approach to the Satisfactory was a largely arid series of canyons and plateaus, though small rivers and oases did dot the landscape in sufficient number to make the place liveable. Small huts and stacks of logs, rudimentary clay bricks, and chunks of stone and metal surrounded the refinery, which fed ray materials not being used for construction of shelter to the main factory.

“Huh. Not even going to pretend I know what half of that’s for.” Geralt remarked, eyes wide at the massive scene before them.

“That…is…enormous!” Yennefer cried. “To think of the kind of marvels they must be able to produce with these machines! The sheer scale of output! I knew this world had some amazing things in it, Geralt, but this is…amazing.” Geralt was a little surprised by just how taken in by all this Yen was, but he took it in stride.

“It’s something, alright. Only makes sense they’d need something like this to keep a city as huge as Midgar running, I suppose. Have to make everything somewhere, and what better place than the middle of nowhere?” Geralt looked around, emphasizing the remote location of the factory, before shrugging. “Alright, nothing to it. Let’s start looking.”

It wasn’t long before they’d found somebody who had seen somebody going by Ciri’s rough description, though it had been a few hours since they had. Deciding that it might be better to just go straight to the people in charge, he described Sakura and Karin as best he could to Yen, who nodded impassively at the descriptions before raising an eyebrow. “Surrounding yourself with beautiful young women again, are we, Geralt? If I didn’t know better, I might be jealous.” She gave that sort-of laugh that she did sometimes, and Geralt smirked a little.

“Ah, but you do know better. Besides, I’m fairly certain Sakura isn’t even yet twenty. Younger still than Ciri by a few years.” He replied. “And I’m also fairly certain she could beat me in a fight if I tried anything.” Yen paused at that, thinking.

“Even Ciri would be hard-pressed to fight you without the full brunt of her power, and that would be if she could fully control it. That girl must be quite the fighter.” She remarked, humming. “I think I should like to meet her. And this Karin is her rival in their martial arts training? My, how interesting.”

“I wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side of their fists or feet, that’s for sure. But let’s see if they can help finding Ciri.”

---

Karin Kanzuki, if she did say so herself, was doing a stupendous job. She was back in red, and back in a position of leadership. While of course figures like Susie were back in Midgar itself, the actual refugees of Midgar needed a leader, and Karin had stepped up. It had been one of the most rewarding challenges of her career so far. It had only been a short while but her message combined with her take-charge attitude were enough to make people consider her. And the amount of force she and Sakura together could output were demonstration enough. There were many scattered factions trying to take advantage of the people, and during the first few hours of the chaos Sakura and Karin had mostly gone around rounding folks up and battering criminals and corrupt cops alike, all while trying to form a ‘council’ of anyone who wasn’t evil. Fortunately they had a lot to choose from.

The beginning chaos had settled down, and the two had turned their attention to the Satisfactory. It was an obvious choice to get production going to begin the construction of a real town. Karin had discovered that building and crafting were much easier here than they were in the real world. Within a few days she predicted they could have an entire town of shelter built up.

Karin was up on the roof, peering down through the sunroof to the factory floor down below. ”A little to the left….My left!” Karin shouted down.

Sakura was carrying some ridiculous machine on her back, and she set it down with a thud in a grunt. Some nearby workers applauded. Sakura grinned and waved at them, and suppressed a wince as she held the small of her back, looking up to Karin.

”How did I let you put me up to this? You’re telling me the best way to get this factory going is for you to shout at us on high while we carry around heavy machinery?” Sakura complained.

”Oh, no. You’re the only one carrying around heavy machinery, Sakura.” Karin replied coyly. ”And I have to stand up here to see the whole picture!”

”Wow!”

”No, but honestly! You’re strong, aren’t you? Can’t you do it?” Karin asked.

”Of course I can do it.” Sakura said.

”After we’re done setting up, you and I can go for a first-to-one hundred.” Karin said. Sakura’s eyes lit up.

”You think we’ll have time for that?!” She clutched her fists and bounced on her heels.

”We’ll make time.” Karin replied. Then her tone became sly once again. ”Besides, it won’t take me long to thrash you one hundred bouts in a row.” Then she switched tones once again. ”Could you bring that craft bench from outside in here? Right up against the North wall should do.”

”Oh, you’re so on.” Sakura sprinted out of the room. Meanwhile, Karin grappled hooked down from the roof and began connecting the Refinery to the rest of the conveyor belts. Then she hooked back up onto the roof and began pacing from sunroof to sunroof. She had a table set up there with sketches and papers held down by various trinkets and gadgets salvaged from Midgar, most not useful.

She called down to the workers below. ”Remember: Coal, then metal! None of us will be cold tonight if my name isn’t Karin Kanzuki!” She said, which got a cheer from the collected work force. Ah, it was good to be the queen. Karin looked out upon her kingdom of ramshackle huts, tents, shacks, and pre-existing warehouses. Soon, it would be a walled utopia of the people. Not just the massive factory itself, but the space around it, too. A bastion of freedom, under her complete, benevolent control! And Sakura…could be the mascot. Tomorrow, Karin would turn her attention to getting that large crane operational. There were some engineers she knew that could help with that…

“Karin!” Geralt’s voice boomed, his hands cupped to better direct his call directly up to his ally. “It’s Geralt, from the Seekers!” He added, since his appearance had drastically changed since they’d last met. Karin’s head snapped in Geralt’s direction, her golden hair sparkling in the sun with the movement.

Heads turned at the Witcher’s loud call, a few astute observers having picked up the ‘Seeker’ part and connecting it to what Karin had said last night. Whispers and murmurs picked up throughout the crowds as people slowed to see what was happening.

”Ah! So he has returned.” Like before she seemed to take his new appearance in stride. ”With company, no less. I suppose now is as good a time as any: take five, men!” She called down to the workers. Then she leapt from the roof and rappelled down to the ground, approaching.

Once Karin had made her way closer, Geralt introduced Yen. “This is Yennefer, my wife, and a powerful sorceress where we come from. I received…information…that Ciri was in Night City when Midgar fell, and had come here with the other refugees. We were wondering if you, or somebody you’ve been working with, could help us track her down among all the people here.”

Yen nodded, for her part. “After being separated, and reunited, then separated again, we just…need to see for ourselves that she’s okay.” She was keeping her composure well, but Geralt’s many years of experience with the woman told him that she was both frustrated at the situation, and excited to see Ciri again.

Karin nodded. ”Indeed. I suspect that-” Almost like she saw it coming, she pointed behind her as Sakura shouted, setting down the craft bench with a thump and sprinting over.

”Mister Geralt! You’re back already!” She said. She ran up and gave him a big hug.

”Oh! Oh oh oh!” She pulled back and began tapping him on the shoulders. Then she glanced over at Yen, gasped, pointed at her with her mouth in the shape of an ‘o’, and hopped in place, taking a few steps back.

”Yes! Okay! Guess who I saw!” She held her hands towards them. There was no time to answer the rhetorical question, though. ”It was Cirilla-san!”

”I said I knew who she was and she knew that I would only know because you told me. And I said you were just here and were probably coming back Mister Geralt. But some guys told us about some giant scorpions. And I said she would wait here in case you come back and I can go fight them, but I knew that was dumb.” Sakura stood up straighter and lowered her eyelids, adopting an exaggerated posture of Ciri.

”‘If you think I’m just going to sit around and wait for him to show up while there’s monsters to hunt, you’re sorely mistaken.’” She said, in a surprisingly accurate impression.

”And I was like, yeah I’m really sorely mistaken, and then she took off that way!” She pointed over a nearby hill. ”There’s some cliffs and a ravine over there where the giant scorpions are, and also a well. That’s why those guys saw the scorpion in the first place.” Sakura said, a little breathless.

Geralt huffed a short laugh at Sakura’s exuberance, but the news that Ciri was here, right now, and safe, meant a weight off his shoulders. He gave the Street Fighters a small smile and nodded. “Then, if you’ll excuse us, I think we have some scorpions to deal with. We can talk more when we get back.”

Yen gave the pair a nod, hanging back a few moments as Geralt turned to leave. “Thank you two for helping make sure he was safe. I know Geralt is more than capable of taking care of himself, but he’s had nothing but praise for your abilities as well. In this hostile land of Galeem’s designs, we all need all the help we can get.” Her piece said, she turned to join Geralt, the pair quickly walking in the direction Sakura pointed.

”Of- of course!” Sakura bowed again. She knew they would want to speed off to see Ciri as soon as possible, which is why Sakura’s intent was to waste no time telling them where she was. Karin simply nodded, holding her elbow with one hand and keeping the other by her face.

”Come. If they’re going to be slaying beasts we should not waste time in our own contributions.” Karin said, and the pair returned to their duties. Sakura kept looking over the hill, though, between actions. She knew they’d be back shortly!

It was by no means a long walk to find Ciri, and once they caught sight of their surrogate daughter dancing around a half-dozen [url=http://]i.imgur.com/WoLwcZk.png]Giant Scorpions[/url], both moved to assist. Geralt slid down the hill they were standing on, drawing his steel sword, while Yen more carefully descended it, a ball of fire springing to life above her shoulder and hurtling towards one of the scorpions.

The creature cried out in surprise, turning towards the approaching interlopers, while Ciri let out a gasp of surprise, then was forced to blink away when another scorpion nearly caught it with her claws. The trail of blue-green energy left in her wake had been confounding the scorpions since she’d began carving away at them, but they’d begun to ignore the light show after beginning to realize it was of no harm to them, nor was it prey that they could kill.

“Geralt?! Yennefer?!” She called out, confused but delighted. “You showed up much sooner than I anticipated! It’s only been a day!” Ciri’s sword flashed out, carving through and removing half the pincers of a scorpion that closed in, and she kicked the stinger that it sent hurtling after her aside as she dodged, spinning in a flourishing blow as she severed the offending appendage. “I know you’ve been busy, I could have waited a few more days!”

“Wasn’t gonna let that happen.” Geralt replied gruffly as he landed on a stable spot and stopped. He closed his eyes, concentrated, and lifted his sword aloft. A glyph of magical energy began to form beneath him, and after a few seconds he spoke again. “Light of the heavens, pierce my foes. Holy Lance!”

As he cried the name of his spell, the glyph disappeared from beneath him and several new glyphs appeared around one of the scorpions, five lances of holy energy rising from them, while a sixth hovered ominously above. The five lances, in sequence, crashed into the scorpion, catching a second one nearby in the explosion of energy that appeared as they landed, and the sixth crashed upon its target like a meteor from above, destroying the scorpion and scattering the ash of its body in an instant.

A wave of lethargy overcame Geralt momentarily, but he shook it off and dove into the battle while Yen and Ciri’s eyes bulged out of their heads in surprise, the latter being caught off guard and grabbed in the remaining pincer of the scorpion she’d mutilated, which violently slammed its destroyed pincer into her body. She grunted from the impact, but a fireball from Yen crashed into the scorpion’s back, finally finishing it off and freeing Ciri.

“When did you learn proper magic, Geralt!?” Ciri asked, parrying another stinger sent her way while Geralt stabbed into the back of one of the remaining scorpions, dancing out of the way of its stinger and carving a bloody furrow through its body.

“Fused with a few Spirits yesterday afternoon. You should see what else I can do.” He joked, backing off from the scorpion he’d wounded and taking a deep breath. That spell took a lot out of him, but he was already nearly fully recovered. Yen, for her part, rolled her eyes as a third fireball streaked from her and immolated the stinger of the scorpion Geralt had wounded, while Ciri attacked another.

“It might behoove you to show off your newfound abilities when our lives aren’t in peril, Geralt.” Yen chided, rolling her eyes with a fond half-smile. None of the three were truly in much danger, but it was a reminder to take the battle seriously and not showboat, which Geralt acknowledged with a cocked nod of the head.

“Fair enough. Finish off the scorpions, then we can all trade stories over a few ales. Sound good?” The ‘Yes’ he got in response from the two was enough for Geralt, and they refocused on finishing their quarry.

---

Carrying the Spirits of the scorpions back, Yen, Ciri, and Geralt chatted and swapped stories as they returned to the factory approach where they’d last seen Karin and Sakura, depositing the Spirits in a box that had been set aside for such things. Aside from venom or chitin, they couldn’t think of anything they’d get from mere scorpions, giant or not, and the trio had decided that they could better be put to use by the magical-seeming factory, perhaps used for building armors, high-end fashion, or antivenom.

Looking around for the pair of street fighters, Geralt called out to try to get their attention once more, though this time it resulted in far fewer heads turning. Seems they were already old news.

”Yay, you’re back!” Sakura called out, carrying a big box. She kept walking to set it down. Karin waved over her shoulder but was in the middle of a discussion with a foreman.

”One big happy family.” Sakura smiled. ”Galeem better watch out, huh?”

“Actually, we were talking while we were on our way back here.” Ciri said, smiling at Sakura, and looking around as she took a step closer to Sakura. “And I think I’d like to stay here. Helping people.” Geralt nodded behind her, a faint smile on his own face. Yen stepped forward as well, an arm around Ciri’s shoulder.

“And I might not understand how these machines work, but in our world I was an advisor to an emperor.” She left out how that emperor was Ciri’s father by blood, but that detail wasn’t entirely relevant. “I understand how kingdoms are run, and while this may not be a kingdom in any way I know, Geralt did mention that your world has a concept by which all people have a say in who manages the lands? I think I might be able to lend a hand in some fashion.”

Sakura’s eyes widened. ”Of- of course! We’d be so happy to have you?!” She ask-exclaimed. She turned over her shoulder at Karin, who had been tuned into two conversations at once.

”Are they staying?”

”It seems that way!” Sakura said. ”In a very democratic fashion!” She added a hint of tease to her voice.

”...Well, perhaps.” Karin put her conversation on hold and walked over. ”We’ve got a lot of work cut out for us. But more of this world should be liberated, and we can make that happen.”

”That’s even more great because I know where my parents are now thanks to that big speech and the internet! With emails and all that? With you two here I’ll be able to go meet them even sooner.” Sakura smiled. ”Today is a good day! How long will you be staying, Mister Geralt?” She asked. ”Lunch, at least?”

“A few days.” Geralt replied, smirking. “Figure I’d help out, see these two settle in, then call Sandalphon to bring our new ship around.” Yen rolled her eyes at that, but nodded.

“It flies. It’s not a ship, Geralt.” She said in exasperation, only for Geralt’s smirk to deepen.

“That’s what the people using it call it. An airship. It’s certainly not the sleek, small flying machines most people were using in Midgar.” He retorted, shrugging. “Either way, Yennefer, as well as the two of you, should be able to call for Sandalphon if anything happens. We’ll be here as soon as we can, at least those of us on the ship around that time. If C comes back, or anything else for that matter…” Geralt’s eyes widened as he remembered something, and his posture deflated somewhat.

“I…just remembered something. Last night, Sandalphon told us something, and then Bowser…went and did something stupid. Peach…was killed during the attack on Midgar. And when Bowser went back to her castle to find what he could, he found her.” Geralt paused for a moment, closing his eyes. He was still having trouble understanding it. “Peach is a Consul now. Consul P. I don’t know what Guardian she’ll be defending, or if she even can defend a Guardian, seeing that the last P was guarding the Guardian that the other team defeated, but she is not to be trusted. Not the same way, at least. Being who she is, part of me has to hope this is a plot to defeat them from the inside, but…you need to be aware. If she comes here, just be wary. She’s not the same Peach you knew.”

Karin narrowed her eyes, rubbing her chin in thought. Sakura’s eyes widened and she covered her mouth, briefly not looking at anything. ”That’s terrible!” She wasn’t even sure what to think. Peach died? But she wasn’t dead? And she was a Consul? ”Um…w-wow. At least she isn’t trapped in a giant monster body anymore.” Sakura said.

”I appreciate the word of warning. Interesting that such a thing is even possible. This is no doubt some kind of scheme to divide the cause of the Seekers.” For a moment Karin considered rejoining the war effort. But the people of Midgar needed her. They needed a place worth staying.

”The Consuls can act all kinds of ways. Be themselves. It’s not all bad, right? ” Sakura said with a nod. ”I hope she stops by.”

Geralt gave Sakura a small smile, nodding. “I understand. Hopefully, she’s still on our side, or at least not with the Consuls like the others are. I just wanted to warn you. For now, though, let’s all get to work. I can help move things around, or just work with Ciri keeping the surroundings safe. I suppose we’ll see what we need more of.”

---

With a few days having passed hard at work, the time finally came for Geralt to leave. With Sakura, Karin, Ciri, and Yen all gathered to say goodbye, they said their final words for a time.

“Be careful out there, Geralt. Between the Consuls, the Guardians, and everything else out there, you must take care of yourself.” Yen cautioned, pulling Geralt into a close hug. He squeezed her gently, smiling happily.

Ciri came around and hugged the both of them, smiling as well. “And keep in touch. Visit sometime, alright? We’ll miss you.”

”Quite. Give them a show.” Karin said, looking up from a digital pad. She had collected a loyal personal entourage already. ”The Seekers will always be welcome in Midgar. Return whenever you please, should you grow tired of the confines of aircraft.”

Sakura came in for a side hug. ”It was good to see you, Mister Geralt. It’s kinda hard to believe I’ve been at Midgar just as long as I was a Seeker. Time flies when you’re not constantly fighting for your life, huh?” She said dryly.

“Oh, that it does, Sakura.” Geralt replied, entirely seriously. “And every fight feels like it stretches on for weeks.” It was funny how that happened, but they just had to make due with the time they had together. “I’ll be sure the others know that they have a place here. Whether they want to take a break, or step away from the fight entirely, they all deserve that.” Giving everybody one last squeeze, the group hug broke apart, and Geralt stepped back to activate his Fulton. “Hopefully, you all only get to see this once.” He flatly remarked as the balloon activated and knocked him unconscious as it yanked him into the air for the Avenger to pick him up.

”Goodby-” Sakura blinked and flinched back, not at all expecting the method of his exit to be so violent. ”Wh-...was that supposed to happen?” She looked around at the others.

Yen sighed. “Yes, yes it was.” She shuddered involuntarily at the memory of when she had to do that.

---

Monday Morning

Geralt sighed, looking out over the strange Mafia Town. Back in the Deep Blue Seaside. At least this time there wasn’t an endless war going on that they had to solve. The place was lively, seemed happy, and had a seemingly endless supply of morally bankrupt mafia members to cause conflict. “What a place.” He sighed again.

Stepping away from his space high up in the town, he stalked around, looking for another fight to get involved in. In the few days he’d been here, Geralt had taken out his frustrations on the mafia more than a few times, but left before Juri could ever show up to help out her ‘allies’. He knew what she was doing, and approved of it even, but in order to keep the charade up, he had to seem like they were enemies and that he didn’t want to deal with her.

Overhearing the sound of a shopkeeper begging for more time to pay his pons, Geralt stuck around and waited for the inevitable. The mafia member slapped the shopkeeper before grabbing him and shaking him to get whatever pons he had on him. That was when Geralt came in, using his own monstrous strength to lift the mafia member, shaking him in return. “Thought you’d have learned by now.” He snarled menacingly. “These people aren’t your playthings to shake like dogs with a bone, looking to suck whatever you can out of them.”

Dropping the mafia stooge, Geralt stepped to the side when the man swung at him, knocking him unconscious with a single punch. Rifling through his pockets to find a sum of pons, Geralt tossed a dozen or so the shopkeeper’s way. “Next time they come around, tell ‘em you had a generous customer. I’ll be keeping the rest.” The shopkeeper nodded and ran off, closing the door of his shop behind him. Counting what was left, Geralt found himself with about ten more pons to his name. “Not bad.” He muttered, following the shopkeeper’s lead and making himself scarce, but not before dragging the unconscious mafia member and stashing him somewhere nearby, but out of sight. He’d wake up later.

Making himself scarce, Geralt headed to the restaurant he knew Nadia was working at. He could chat and catch up with her later tonight.

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

Zenkichi Hasegawa

Lvl 7 Zenkichi - (67/70) -> Lvl 8 (2/80) (+1 Pending)

Word count: 4,022 words

Wednesday Morning

As the Hellpod hurtled towards the outskirts of Shinjuku, Zenkichi wondered how exactly he would go about finding the kids, let alone what he’d do when he did. They’d sent a calling card to a friggin’ Consul, for crying out loud! He wasn’t sure if Joker was being an idiot or if they’d figured out some way to take J down, but after fighting Y, C, and Z, Zenkichi knew one thing: he wanted to be there to help. There was too much going on to rope the rest of the Seekers into this, especially since the goal was to avoid pissing off the Consuls, but he could at least lend a hand.

Thankfully, actually getting into the city wasn’t terribly difficult, and his current get-up was looked upon as little more than a curiosity or some kind of cosplay. While little bits and pieces here and there betrayed this Shinjuku as not his own, it still felt like the Japan he knew. Walking the streets, he took in the once-familiar sights, a sad smile on his face. Midgar had tainted his feelings a bit when it came to big cities. Part of him couldn’t help but be on guard for an Other incursion, despite the fact that he was far from Midgar itself.

---

After a couple hours of somewhat aimless wandering, Zenkichi caught sight of a familiar blond head of hair, and rapidly turned to follow after it. He stayed at a distance for a bit, before closing the gap between the two as Ryuji turned a corner, quietly calling out. ”Been a while, hasn’t it, Skull?” Stepping closer and holding out a hand to pat Ryuji on the shoulder, Zenkichi chuckled. ”Been looking for you guys.”

Ryuji, for his part, nearly had his eyeballs pop out of his head, before he shook it and laughed. “Way to go, gramps! For a second there I didn’t even know it was you. Oh, man, the others are gonna lose their shit when we show up at the hideout!” He laughed, slapping Zenkichi on the back, and jerked his head. “C’mon, follow me, I’ll show ya where we’re holed up!”

The boy led the way out of the bustling, crowded city center, away from prying eyes into a more laid-back neighborhood. Closed to vehicular traffic, Sixth Street boasted a mix of residential buildings and cute, colorful businesses like the music shop Bardic Needle and the toy store Box Galaxy, all stylized with a deliberate old-school aesthetic that encompassed everything from CRT television sets to pay phones to records. Of course, even peaceful neighborhoods weren’t always quiet, and today a handful of rabbids seemed to feuding -or perhaps just playing- with intelligent devices called bangboo, and together the two groups of rabbit-like mascots were getting into all sorts of antics. Outgoing as ever, Ryuji waved to and greeted plenty of local denizens, shopkeepers, and even bangboo, before finally steering Zenkichi over to what seemed to be the team’s hideout. In typical Ryuji fashion he hadn’t even managed to go the whole trek without mentioning the Phantom Thieves once at full volume, but after confirming that nobody seemed to be following him, Zenkichi ducked into his old team’s new base excited to see the youngsters once more.

Inside, Zenkichi found more than he bargained for. From the outside the entrance looked like a manhole, which wasn’t an inviting prospect, but when he climbed to the bottom of the stairs he discovered not sewers, but what appeared to be an underground fallout shelter with an even more retro look, styled after 1950’s America. It opened up into a large square lounge area with red-and-white checkered tiles with a lower section in the middle that resembled an old diner, with a small adjoining segment meant to look like a lawn between two houses, separated with a white picket fence from an image of the sea. Zenkichi saw a pool table, and even a few pinball machines, though whether they worked or not was anyone’s guess. While the whole place had clearly seen better days, it was large and well-stocked–not just with supplies, but with Phantom Thieves. They were spread out around one of the booths, and at the sound of footsteps they looked up from their discussion.

“Zenkichi?!” A young, casually-dressed woman with blonde pigtails sprang to her feet, hitting her knees on the table in the process. She winced, then hobbled over as fast as she could. As usual the black-furred Morgana trailed after her, big blue eyes wide, scrambling (rather like a cat, despite his frequent claims otherwise) over the back of a chair to take a running leap into Zenkichi’s arms just before Ann embraced him, and even Ryuji threw an arm over the detective’s shoulder. “It’s you! Thank goodness, we were so worried about you!”

Zenkichi caught Morgana with ease, hauling the totally-not-a-cat up onto his shoulder and out of squishing range from the hug with Ann. ”Yeah, I was pretty worried about you kids, too. Got a tip you were here and came running.”

“I knew he could do it! You’ve been fusing too, huh?” Morgana never passed up a chance to talk himself up. “Well, I’d recognize that old-man smell anywhere! It’s good to see you again, pops!”

Two more of their friends followed suit, showing a little more restraint as they left the table and headed over to receive the new arrival: a solemn-looking young man in white with dull blue hair, and a girl whose short brown hair contrasted deep red eyes. The former bowed formally. “Mr. Hasegawa, sir,” Yusuke greeted him, using all the honorifics he could. “Glad to have you back with us.”

Makoto, meanwhile, opted for a handshake and warm smile. The Shujin Academy class president almost always kept a stiff upper lip, but today she allowed her relief to shine through. “Hello and welcome to our humble hideout,” she told him. “It’s an old Hollow shelter, built to keep citizens safe from Ethereals and supplied with sedatives until rescue arrives, should a Hollow consume this area. Sixth Street’s been stable for a long time, so it’s never been used. Technically we’ve been squatting here…”

Ryuji shot her an incredulous look, as if to say, come on, for real?

“...Buuut we needed someplace to stay ‘til we’ve finished our mission,” Makoto admitted. “It was locked up tight when we found it, but the lock was electronic, so…”

She turned toward the last two Thieves at the table, her attention on the young, bespectacled redhead in particular. Though Futaba had looked up and waved to Zenkichi when she arrived, her attention quickly shifted back to her laptop computer, which she bent over like a shrimp. Next to her, a boy with scruffy black hair and glasses rose with his hands in his pockets, a grin on his face as he regarded the new arrival. “You came at the perfect time,” Joker declared. Each and every one of these teens appeared to be free from Galeem’s influence, creating a conspiratorial atmosphere. “We’ve almost got the whole gang back together. If you’ve still got some fight in you, we could use your help.”

Morgana sighed. “Yeah, ‘cause we still haven’t found Haru yet. We need all the firepower we can get!” Joker opened his mouth as if to say something, but fell silent with a sigh.

Zenkichi nodded at the knowledge that the Thieves were still missing their explosives expert, wondering where the girl could have wound up. ”So, heard you guys were working on taking down a Consul. So how’s that going?”

“C’mon over and see!” After Morgana leaped down and retraced his steps, Ryuji and Ann basically dragged Zenkichi with them, moving the group back toward the lounge’s tables. When he arrived, he found a map spread out across the surface, with a handful of pictures, playing cards, snipped-up newspapers, and writing utensils scattered around. “We’ve got a big…hyp! Day ahead of us!” Morgana explained as he clambered up onto the seat so that he could plant his paws on the table. “We went over it once already, but let’s break it down for Zenkichi so he’s all caught up!”

Ryuji scratched his head. “Uh, could we do the TLDR version this time?”

Almost everyone looked at Makoto immediately, which seemed to exasperate her somewhat, but she relented. “Sure…but first, you should tell us how your ‘solo mission’ went. Can we count on that proxy or not?”

“Oh yeah, totally!” Ryuji nodded vigorously. “I was on the way back from Random Play when I saw Zenkichi, so I kinda forgot, but yeah. Phaethon’s on board!”

Zenkichi looked between the other Phantom Thieves, bewilderment clear on his face.

Joker gave a nod of approval. “Good. For a minute there I thought we might really be flying blind.

“Ahem, the situation is this,” Makoto began after clearing her throat. “When Joker and the others first arrived here, they began investigating the city. In the course of their investigation, they found Futaba and I, and once we were freed we could join the Phantom Thieves in undertaking a new mission: stealing the heart of the city’s true ruler: J.” She took a breath, then continued. “She calls herself the ‘Consul’. This city has a mayor, but he’s just a puppet. That said, even though she holds all the power, she doesn’t rule. Instead, she conducts Killing Games, abducting handfuls of people -usually students our age- and trapping them in various locations where they’re forced to kill one another.”

“All just to savor their despair,” Futuba concluded grimly. Zenkichi shook his head sadly, his mouth a thin line. He knew the Consuls had to keep the blood flowing, but that felt needlessly sadistic.

Narrowing his eyes, Yusuke went into more detail. “Specifically, they’re trapped and informed that if they want to leave, they must murder one of the others. When someone is murdered, a trial is convened to figure out who did it. If the group chooses correctly, the murderer is then executed, but if they’re wrong they’re all executed, and the murderer goes free.” He pursed his lips. “Quite the grisly affair. No…if anything, ‘grisly’ is underselling it. It’s an evil, barbarous practice, and it cannot be allowed to continue.”

“Hence our mission,” Joker added. “Over the past week, we’ve been working our way closer to her. Since we’ve all been trapped in the Metaverse this whole time, it’s been a lot scarier than infiltrating a palace, but the end result is the same. We find our way in, then steal her heart. And as it happens.” He nodded his head at the paper clippings on the table. “We just sent our calling card yesterday.”

Zenkichi blinked when Joker said they were in the Metaverse. ”Uh, wait, huh? Metaverse? Huh, yeah I guess I could see why it would seem that way…” He muttered, frowning. ”So, what’s J’s jail like?” He asked, steamrolling over that potential landmine of a conversation. They could hash out the details later. For now, he wanted to get this Consul dealt with and get the kids the hell out of this place.

“Jail isn’t quite the right word, but she frequents one school in particular, Hope’s Peak Academy,” Makoto told him. “It’s enormous, more like several schools mashed together into one big labyrinth, and there are plenty of monsters scattered around.”

Ann smacked her hands together. “We’re planning to ambush her there today! She just started a new Killing Game, and since the calling card said we’d stop them once and for all, she’s definitely gonna be there.”

Zenkichi nodded, hands on the table, looking down at the map. ”So, what’s the plan? And who’s that person you mentioned before, Phaethon?” Name isn’t ringing any bells from…home.” He avoided saying ‘our world’, because he had a feeling that’d fly like a lead brick, and frankly, it did sound a little insane, now that he was thinking about it. Were they really in some bizarre amalgamation of worlds created by a wannabe god, or was this the Metaverse? But if it was the Metaverse, how were they stuck, and how did that explain Gleaming? His head was swimming just trying to parse all the possibilities.

Joker decided to answer that one. “Phaethon is a proxy, someone who’s skilled at navigating Hollows. Space is warped inside them, so we can’t navigate normally.”

His comment seemed to ruffle Futaba’s feathers. “Yeah, yeah. Just you wait until I get a grip on this proxy thing. I’ll blow Phaethon out of the water.”

Chuckling, Joker patted her on the head. “Of course. For now though, we need help, and Phaethon’s our age, so they want to stop J as bad as we do.”

“They’re the only reason we have a route in a place like a Hollow at all,” Makoto admitted. “They sync up to a special bangboo to lead us through. Have…you seen one yet, Zenkichi?”

Morgana crossed his arms, turning up his pink nose. For whatever reason he didn’t seem to like bangboos.

Zenkichi blinked and shook his head. ”I have never heard of either a Bangboo or a Hollow. Well, I’ve heard of a Hollow Child from where I was before this, but that is definitely not what you’re talking about.” He was trying to keep up, but beyond Hollows being some kind of extra-dimensional space, he didn’t get it at all, and said as much.

“Well, don’t worry about it!” Ryuji told him, shrugging. “I sure don’t! Just follow along behind Joker, same as always!”

Ann winced. “Well…you could probably stand to think a little harder than Ryuji.”

“Well, there’s the pot calling the kettle black! You don’t know anything about Hollows, either!” Ryuji accused her.

Not at all subtle, Ann attempted to deflect. “Pssh, yeah right. I totally know…”

“We’re getting a little lost in the weeds,” Yusuke interrupted. “But Ryuji, while inelegant, is not wrong. We need merely follow our valiant leader into the fray.”

Joker grinned. “Then I say it’s about time we get busy. You guys ready to steal another heart?”

”Yeah, let’s do this.” Zenkichi confirmed.

The Phantom Thieves were more than ready. Once everyone gathered their supplies and equipment for the final raid, it was time to move out.

---

“I…I can’t believe I did all these things…all just to live forever?” Moebius J panted, her eyes wide with guilt and self-loathing, as the collected Phantom Thieves stood before her, her heart successfully stolen.

“Good work.” Joker congratulated the others, a confident smile on his face, as he turned back towards their enemy. “There’s always a future. You’ll have to face the punishment for your crimes, but your life does not have to be defined by the worst of it. There is always hope.” J’s head sprung up, her eyes blazing.

“Hope?! Hope! You…you don’t know anything if you still think there’s hope! I…no. No. I refuse. I refuse to live like this. You can’t make me.” Joker turned to the others, confusion evident even behind his mask, and reached out his hand.

“J, listen to me-”

“No!” Standing up shakily, J stepped back, producing a knife and plunging it into her chest, piercing right through her armor, and removing it before rapidly plunging it into her own chest, over and over. As the Phantom Thieves rushed forward to stop her, she threw herself backwards, trying to crawl away. “I won’t…live with…this despair…” She murmured as she tried to escape, Zenkichi flipping her over and looking at the weight of a thousand lives in the eyes of Moebius J.

”So, this is it for you, right? Once a Moebius dies, you’re out of the system?” Joker and the others looked at Zenkichi like he was talking nonsense, but J just nodded, tears building in her eyes.

“And I wasted all that time. Working for Galeem…working…for the Endless Now. I just thought…I’d get to see so much despair…” her body wracked with a cough as she spit blood up, Zenkichi’s new outfit getting stained with crimson, as he frowned sadly at the girl in his arms. She looked as young as the kids were.

”I’m sorry we couldn’t save you, J. I’m sorry for what Galeem did to you.” J’s body shook with sad laughter, and she shook her head.

“I was like this before Galeem, before Moebius…before the Endless Now. He didn’t do anything to me. It was just…so…boring. Everything. Despair was the only thing that wasn’t boring.” Zenkichi’s eyes hardened a bit at the confession, but he shook his head and hugged J, much to everybody’s surprise.

”It’s terrible. It’s a terrible way to live.” He chided, gently stroking her hair while the other Phantom Thieves backed away, looking at each other in concern. ”But I understand. When life is so monotonous, so empty, all you look for is what excites you. I used to be the same way. But you hurt so many people doing that. And when you finally face what you did, it hurts so much. You didn’t have to do this, J. I know you didn’t.” Ann and Makoto looked at each other, realizing what Zenkichi meant, before pulling on Joker and Ryuji’s arms, trying to give Zenkichi privacy to face his demons.

“I…I had to…I couldn’t…I can’t…live with all that pain in me. I…I killed so many people just…for fun.” J cried, hugging Zenkichi as she faded into light.

Zenkichi sat there, on his knees, for a minute or so, before taking a deep breath and standing up, turning to the other Thieves. ”I…think I have some things I need to explain. About what happened. About where we are. Because, Joker…this isn’t the Metaverse.”

---

”I’m just saying, even if this is the same Demiurge we fought before, in a new form, these are real people around us, not Shadows. I worked with Shadows in Midgar, and they did the same normal thing they did in the Metaverse. Whatever Galeem is, we can’t be playing by the same rules we used to. I watched Konoe die, Joker. Saw his Spirit, whatever that is, and transformed it into his weapon.” With that, he summoned the Hero’s Saber, and a sad look crossed his face.

”It’s hard for me to believe, too. At the very least, the people around us are real. J was a person until they became a Moebius, and I barely understand just what that means. I’m in way over my head here, but…I think I should go back to the Avengers, and the other Seekers.” A wave of shock passed over the other Phantom Thieves.

“Gramps, no way! We just got you back!” Ryuji cried.

“Mr. Hasegawa, sir, I must implore you to reconsider.” Yusuke closed his eyes and frowned as he spoke, already knowing it was fruitless.

“But, Zenkichi-san! We work best as a team, and we still haven’t found Haru, either!” Ann begged, stomping her foot.

“If you think that’s best, Mister Hasegawa. I just hope you’ll keep in touch.” Makoto did not beg, nor did she try to convince Zenkichi to stay, but she did hope he wouldn’t just vanish like dust in the wind, and the unsure look on her face made his heart ache.

“Awww, come on gramps! You that eager to get rid of us?” Futaba whined.

“You will keep in touch, I hope? If so, I understand.” Joker was the calmest of the group about this, though like always, his motivations and innermost thoughts seemed a mystery to Zenkichi. “Keep us updated on how the war against the Guardians is going, and we’ll let you know if we could use a hand. Phantom Thief style, or Seeker style.” One thing was for sure, and that was that Joker was taking what he’d said seriously. They were in uncharted territory now, with other people having been dragged into the Metaverse, not just their shadows.

”Wouldn’t dream of keeping you in the dark, guys, don’t worry. I’m glad you’re all safe, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for Haru, too. Come on, guys, don’t make an old man cry.” He joked, holding his arms out for a hug, which Ann and Makoto all too happily obliged. Ryuji slung an arm over Zenkichi’s shoulder, pulling him down a little, and thumped his back.

“You keep yourself safe out there, gramps! We’ll do the same, don’t you worry! Ol’ Ryuji’s still got his tank thing going on!” Zenkichi laughed, and pushed the thuggish Phantom Thief with a heart of gold off.

”Yeah, I will. And I’ll let Akane know you guys are all alright, too. I know she misses you, but I couldn’t get her dragged into an attack on a Consul.”

“Of course.” Joker replied simply, nodding. “Regarding the Consuls, you said there are 26 of them? And that when threatened, they take on that more powerful form, that they call Moebius?”

Zenkichi nodded. ”Yeah. And, from what I heard about Peach…they can make somebody else one too. To replace the ones we kill.” Everybody’s face fell at that, the fresh memories (and Zenkichi’s bloodstained tunic to remind them even if they tried to forget) aching. ”If anything, changing their hearts would be the better way to go about it. As long as they’re not as messed up as J was, that is…” Rubbing the back of his neck, Zenkichi shrugged.

“Then we’ll likely keep doing that.” Joker said. “Is there anything else you need?” He asked simply. Zenkichi shook his head in response, smiling.

”Nope. We’re splitting up into a few groups, one of which is gonna be nearby. Meridi-at-Han. If you need me, I’ll be there for the next few days or so. Otherwise, just send me a message.” Holding up his cell phone, Zenkichi waggled it a bit. ”The internet should be spreading out more now, especially with Bridges free to spread out a bit from Midgar. Good luck, you crazy kids.”

“Good luck, Gramps!” “You too, Zenkichi!” “Yourself as well, Mr. Hasegawa.” “Good luck, Mr. Hasegawa.” “We don’t need luck, Gramps, we got me!” “You too.”

With one last round of hugs and handshakes, Zenkichi departed the shelter, waving goodbye to the friends and allies who’d helped him remember what it meant to be a hero.

---

Monday Morning

Meridi-at-Han was a much livelier place than Midgar or even most of Japan was, Zenkichi had concluded after only a few days there. He’d spent a couple of days on the Avenger after having been picked up, relaying the story of J’s demise and the safety of the Phantom Thieves to everybody he could, along with hanging out with Akane, talking with Sandalphon, and testing out some moves with his new weapons. That, and getting his tunic laundered.

One day had been spent relaxing, because Zenkichi was not nearly as young as most of the other Seekers, and Geralt had a half-dozen fusions and mutant metabolism to keep him sprightly. Zenkichi had poorly-done stretches and coffee. His bones ached from the high-octane adventure he’d been dragged into.

And, of course, he’d had to climb what felt like a mile of stairs just to get into the city. No rest for the wicked, it seemed. At least that had been Friday afternoon, and he’d managed to spend Saturday relaxing. Sunday had involved hunting a massive beast to help pay for his stay here and food. And now, Monday, he was finally doing what he was supposed to be: trying to gather information on Consuls and Guardians. He had phoned it in a bit the first few days because he’d already helped take down a Consul, but a new J would be back soon enough. He couldn’t rest on his laurels.

So, he wandered the streets, picking up rumors as he went, and any mention of the leader of Shinjuku was like a knife to the heart. Still, he kept his ‘patrols’ up, and heard of something really interesting: a circus was coming to town. Strange, but the World of Light was a strange place. With nothing else to go on, he figured he’d pay it a visit.

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

Edelgard von Hresvelg

Level 1 Edelgard (0/10) -> (2/10)

Word count: 757

Sunday Evening

As she finally returned to her private quarters after a difficult battle on one of the islands further afield from Skyworld, Edelgard sighed. Every battle was long and hard-fought, especially those farther on the periphery from the heart of Lady Palutena’s power. It wasn’t often she sent any of her Lieutenants as far as they had gone, especially given that the Corruption seemed to be fighting them harder and harder lately. But when she did, it was for good reason. Reports of strange, new Corrupted had been cropping up, and Edelgard had volunteered her unit to investigate.

Corrupted angels. Edelgard shuddered at the implications. Worse still was that there were two kinds. If it had only been the mockery simulacra that appeared, it would have been bad enough. To have their soldiers’ likeness imitated, insulted by those monsters. But no. No, the Corruption, whatever was at its heart, if it had some intelligence, that was, had taken actual angels. Soldiers of Lady Palutena’s Skyworld, and twisted them for its own disgusting ends. A new, hot burst of fury grew inside Edelgard’s chest, but she shook her head and took a deep breath. No need to get angry now. She and her unit had cut down more than their fair share of Corrupted. They were fighting this war, and fighting it damn well.

She sat upon her bed and rested her head in her hands. This war seemed to have no end, but even still, they would fight. They were the holy host of Lady Palutena. Her resolve burned deep in her heart. Edelgard would not let the people of Skyworld down. She was a warrior, and failure was not something she would tolerate, especially not from herself.

---

Monday Morning

As the assault force gathered, Edelgard stood before her platoon of angelic forces. ”Black Eagle Strike Force!” She called, and her angels stood at rapt attention. ”Today, we will fight in an all-out offensive gathered by our Lady Palutena! Today, we shall beat back the Corruption, and destroy its taint on her lands once and for all! We must be at our best today, and do Lady Palutena proud!” The assorted angelic soldiers all raised their weapons in the air and cheered, garnering a nod from Edelgard.

”You may rest and congregate amongst the others until it is time for us to move. At that time, I expect you all to return to formation and join me in our assault. Dismissed!” At her command, they separated into smaller groups, talking excitedly and nervously amongst themselves about the upcoming battle. She knew that many of these angels would not see the end of the day, and though that saddened her, it was the harsh reality of war. Their efforts would see it ended on this day, or at the very least, they would push the Corruption back further than it had been before. She had no doubts of Lady Palutena’s faith in them all, or in the necessity of this attack, as bloody as it would be for their forces.

As her own people congregated, Edelgard sought to do the same, looking for the recent additions to Lady Palutena’s forces, and her favored captain, Pit. She had been rather busy since their arrival, and had not been able to make time to properly greet them. If they were going to fight together, it was high time she did so. Approaching the group, and having missed Midna’s lament, she gave the Twilight Princess and her companions a nod.

”Hello. I don’t believe we’ve met yet. I am Edelgard Von Hresvelg, one of the Lieutenant’s of Lady Palutena’s forces, and leader of the Black Eagle Strike Force. I thought it prudent to introduce myself before the coming battle, so that we might familiarize ourselves with one another’s capabilities and battle tactics. I, personally, utilize a combination of physical and magical attacks, and have composed my platoon of a well-rounded group of soldiers to compliment that versatility. Should you require it, I am capable of performing basic healing with my magic as well, though I must warn you that I am limited by both quality and the quantity when it comes to healing magic.” Looking to the others, she gave a stilted smile and a curt nod.

”And Captain Pit. I’ve heard much about you from Lady Palutena. I look forward to seeing you live up to her praise.” The compliment was direct, but pointed and conditional, with a very subtle implication that failing to live up to that praise would have dire consequences.

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

Hello all! My three are posted, hyped for the Sequel Thread!

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

"Rivery Gerald"

Name: Geralt of Rivia, Gwynbleidd, “White Wolf”

Game Origin: The Witcher

Appearance: Geralt

The host is slightly taller than normal, thought not by much. His hair is a pale strawberry blond, and his armor is now a suit of half-plate, with his legs and arms covered by leather underneath the plates on his thighs and forearms. He looks a bit more youthful, though a tinge of madness still peaks through his bright, blue eyes. From the shoulders of his gear extend two half-capes of a slightly translucent white material that is mistakable for silk when dry. Personality-wise, Geralt is a bit conflicted. He seeks to do what is right, and while he does not agonize over following orders, he has a bit of a rebellious streak in him, and revels in a challenge.

As LCCB Assistant Manager, the host is adorned in riot gear, wielding a riot shield and a pistol. His orange-white hair is voluminous, flowing down to his hips.

As Ardor Blossom, the host has gained a noticeable amount of size, his skin has darkened and become hardened and scaly. His armor has transformed into a heavy tan jacket with a black undershirt, and he wears orange pants beneath it. His eyes are a bright orange, while his hair has become a darker orange. In this form, Geralt has rudimentary draconic wings that can be used to lengthen his jumps and buffet enemies with wind, but not fly. He has grown large horns on either side of his head, and his hands end in vicious claws. His demeanor is more dour and quicker to anger in this form.

Personality: Geralt is, for all intents and purposes, a mercenary, and thus he often comes across as aloof or uncaring. However, Geralt is a strong believer in equality among sentient creatures, as well as justice. He often betrays his contractors if he discovers that the monster he has been hired to slay is not a threat, or circumvents the details of his contracts to meet a non-violent resolution if one is possible. He is well-known throughout Skellige, the Northern Realms and the Nilfgaardian Empire as a fierce and loyal friend, willing to traverse through veritable nightmares for those he holds dearest. The Orphan of Kos left a deep wellspring of rage within Geralt, leaving him prone to bouts of rage. His personality is more calm and in control, much less inclined to fly off the handle into a rage with the fusion with Ishmael, but also more critical of allies. He seeks to do what is right, and while he does not agonize over following orders, he has a bit of a rebellious streak in him, and revels in a challenge.

Background: Born to a sorceress and a warrior, Geralt was brought to “Witcher School” as a young boy. After surviving the Witchers’ rite of passage, the Trial of the Grasses, Geralt voluntarily underwent a series of experimental mutations which killed all other subjects. He managed to survive these experiments, however, and became a Witcher unlike any other.

Geralt has fought all manner of creatures, from wyverns to kings to trolls and vampires. He was killed once, only to reappear years later with no recollection of his past, though he likely won’t be able to recreate this feat without a powerful sorceress at his side. Speaking of powerful sorceresses, Geralt has romanced two: Triss Merigold and Yennefer of Vengerberg. His fate was once sealed to Yennefer’s by a Djinn, but the two recently severed their magical bond and affirmed their love to be unbroken by the loss of that magical tether. His daughter figure, Cirilla, looks up to Yennefer as a mother, as well.

Job: Witcher

Specialty: Monster Slayer

Level: 14

Experience: 18/140

Abilities:

• Quen Sign (Witcher) - produces two types of shields capable of absorbing and dispersing large amounts of kinetic energy before explosively shattering, sending foes reeling. The first is passive and offers lesser protection, while the second requires an active concentration and is capable of weathering greater stress. Starter Power.
• Igni Sign (Witcher) - launches a burst of extremely hot flames, capable of bubbling flesh on contact, heating metal red-hot, and igniting flammable gasses in the air. It is a versatile Sign, capable of being used at varying levels of power. It can be used for mundane tasks such as lighting campfires, as well as in combat to damage enemy armor or light them aflame. If Geralt focuses his concentration, he can spout a continuous stream of fire to focus the damage on a specific area or target. Level up Power.
• Yrden Sign (Witcher) - places a magical trap with one of two configurations.
  The Area Trap slows enemies that enter a circle with a radius of approximately one and a half meters. Additionally, any spectral enemies within the trap are forced into a more corporeal form, increasing their vulnerability to damage from physical sources (such as bombs and silver swords). Lasts for twenty seconds.
  The Glyph of Warding places a Visible Glyph on the ground which actively attacks hostile creatures and can destroy airborne projectiles within a ten-yard radius. However, the glyph can only attack approximately three times per second, and its attacks are not particularly powerful. Lasts for fifteen seconds. Level up Power.
• Axii Sign (Witcher) - A simple, yet quite unbreakable but effective sign, Axii assails the foes mind and bends them to the user's will. In combat, the sign serves one of two purposes: stunning an opponent, or, when focused on more actively, controlling an opponent in combat. Stunning an enemy is as simple as making the sign, and the attack will overwhelm the enemy's mind and leave them too disoriented to coordinate themselves for a period of about seven seconds.
  
  Overriding an enemy's mind and controlling them is a much more difficult task. Typically impossible on more mentally resilient enemies (usually boss or mini-boss level), Axii nonetheless can wreak havoc on a group of foes if they're not expecting to have to fight one of their own. It also serves a second purpose of taking the heat off Geralt if he's surrounded. Oddly enough, many enemies seem to be even deadlier when being puppeted by the sign. Whether the effect of a removal of some inhibition, or even breaking the biological inhibitors that adrenaline deactivates (in humans, at least) is unknown. It's simply...known, that enemies controlled by Axii are deadlier than they would otherwise be.
  
  Outside of combat, Axii must be maintained much more actively to produce anything more than a simple command. However, Geralt can use the sign to give complex orders to an individual. Of course, if others see him doing this to their friend, it tends to go over poorly. A few peasants may have lost their teeth or their lives trying to fight Geralt when he foolishly used this sign with others witness to what he was doing. Others...wisely ran in the opposite direction. Level up power.
• Aard Sign (Witcher) - Force incarnated, Aard produces a roughly cone-shaped blast of concentrated telekinetic energy, capable of forcing even hearty wyverns to stumble. It's also been known to knock barriers aside, blow open locked doors (Or sometimes knock them right off the hinges!), and knock grown men clean off their feet.
  
  Creatively applied, Aard can also produce a smaller and somewhat less powerful circular blast of force around Geralt, typically only strong enough to force men to stumble or risk losing their footing, rather than knocking them down outright. Level up Power.
• Second Life (Witcher) - When Vitality reaches 0, you become temporarily invulnerable and regenerate 100% Vitality. The effect can only be triggered once every 180s. Level up Power.
• Eldritch Lightning (Orphaned God) - Allows the host to call forth waves of electricity with a scream. From the Orphan of Kos Spirit.
• Hateful Flesh (Orphaned God) - Allows to pull the Orphan’s cleaver from within himself at a moderate health cost. The heaviest of his three weapons, it possesses an edge of siderate, a mineral said to have fallen from the great beyond, and rather than men or monsters, it deals extra damage to eldritch and spectral enemies. The host can pull clumps of extremely volatile tissue from the cleaver, which can then be used as contact explosives. From the Orphan of Kos Spirit.
• Identity (LCCB Sinner) - allows the host to switch out his current set of weaponry, equipment, and proficiencies to a different loadout, with additional identities available via level investment. Spirits applied to an identity will only affect that identity. This comes with the identity LCCB Assistant Manager, which comes with a set of riot armor that resists blunt and explosive damage, a tall ballistic shield, a pistol that shoots tremor-inducing Quake Rounds, and associated skills.
  
  Identities:
  
  LCCB Assistant Manager - comes with a set of riot armor that resists blunt and explosive damage, a tall ballistic shield, a pistol that shoots tremor-inducing Quake Rounds, and associated skills.
  
  Ardor Blossom Star - An E.G.O. Identity. Replaces all equipment with and orange coat, orange-and-black-striped short dress, black leggings, and boots alongside flaming moth wings, granting the ability to lob explosive fireballs at enemies. The fireballs can cause Burn, and if he puts more power into them, he can launch more fireballs albeit with a random spread. If she strikes an enemy she burned, it will cause an explosion of three more explosive fireballs that fly in random directions.
• Ardor Blossom Identity Ability - Ground Shaker (Dark Dragon) - A powerful stomp that unleashes a wave of heavy dark explosions forward, although it must by charged by dealing damage. From Barbatos's Spirit.
• Ardor Blossom Identity Ability - Shuriken Shower (Ninja Dragon) - Summons a rain of 14 shadow-infused ninja stars in an area, though this must be charged by dealing damage. The 14th star deals 58% more damage, and this ability also energizes the host and nearby allies, decreasing stamina usage and boosting stamina regen. From Shinobi's Spirit
• Brain Eater (Psi General) - Allows Geralt to permanently copy psychic abilities via aggressive grappling of other psychics' heads. Only psychic abilities can be taken for his own. From Karen Travers Spirit
• Foul Legacy: Raging Tide (Fatui Harbinger) - Allows the host to enter a melee stance endowed with weapons of pure Hydro energy. This allows him to execute quick attacks with dual blades, or stronger attacks with a joined twinblade. All attacks in this stance apply the Wet status, and critical hits apply Riptide, which deal additional Hydro attacks when triggered. From Tartaglia's Spirit
• Demon Fang (Paladin) - Sends a cutting shockwave along the ground to deal unaspected slash damage. From Flynn Scifo's Spirit.
• Basic Spells (Paladin) - Grants two basic spells, First Aid and Luminant Scythe. Each spell requires two seconds of uninterrupted channeling to cast, and require about as much stamina as casting a Sign. First Aid heals an ally for 25% of their maximum HP, while Luminant Scythe summons two angled rings of light to surround an enemy, along with four orbs of light which all crash into an enemy, dealing medium holy-aspected damage.
• Advanced Artes (Paladin) - Grants two more advanced abilities, Guardian Field and Holy Lance. Each ability costs roughly the stamina required to cast two Signs in short order, slightly exhausting Geralt after use and requiring a period of roughly fifteen seconds before he uses any costly abilities again, otherwise he risks severe physical exhaustion and an even longer period before he can use abilities. Guardian Field creates a ten-foot diameter field of blue light around Geralt, which damages enemies and heals himself and all allies within for 10% of their maximum HP over a period of three seconds. Holy Lance requires five seconds of uninterrupted channel time, after which it summons six lances of holy light, five around the target and one above. The five lances rapidly crash into the target in succession, each stunlocking the target in place for about half a second, and the final lance strikes into the target with tremendous force, knocking them up and back.

Skills:

• Extreme Poison/Disease Resistance (Witcher) - Geralt is immune to all but the absolutely deadliest poisons, which allows him to utilize the Witchers’ deadly concoctions as medicine, where they would normally destroy a normal human’s body in minutes. Starter Strength.
• Superior Regeneration (Witcher) - While not enough to regenerate lost limbs, Geralt possesses regenerative abilities far beyond that of any human being. He can survive wounds that would be fatal to regular humans because he can simply heal them quickly enough to not die from them, and other, non-lethal wounds disappear significantly more quickly than they would for anybody without an absurdly powerful healing factor. Starter Strength.
• Encyclopedic Knowledge (Witcher) - Geralt’s mind is a trove of knowledge, owing to his advanced age, wealth of experience, and quick wit. He houses a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of the various potions, bombs, and oils he can create. He can easily and readily identify the ingredients to these, though they are not always readily available, of course. Along with that knowledge, Geralt also knows the names, appearances, behavioral patterns, and weaknesses of every type of monster to roam the Continent, though this knowledge is of less use against creatures he hasn't researched or fought, including humans. He can, of course, use this knowledge to approximate what may work against any monsters he comes up against. This knowledge is also useful in performing autopsies, though Geralt lacks the proper tools to perform all but the most basic autopsies. This knowledge also pertains to investigating and breaking curses, though those are often unique cases based as much on knowledge of the creature as they are knowledge of the personal circumstance. Level up Strength.
• Witcher Physiology (Witcher) - Geralt's mutations as a Witcher grant him a number of attributes that make him stand out from ordinary humans. His strength, reflexes, durability, speed, and endurance are enhanced well beyond that of the average person's. He is strong enough to stand toe-to-toe with a troll, fast enough to race a wolf, agile enough to dodge an arrow, and sturdy enough to...stand toe-to-toe with a troll. His nose rivals that of a bloodhound, allowing him to track scents he can get a good read on. Overall, a Witcher stands beyond an ordinary human in ways few can match. Level up Strength.
• Protective Instincts (Witcher) - Geralt's time in the maw has reawakened the instincts that once drove him to wage a war to rescue his daughter. When an ally of Geralt's is in danger (by his perception, so just fighting a few weak enemies wouldn't suffice as a trigger) or has been previously harmed by an enemy, Geralt is strongly motivated to protect or avenge them. He becomes faster, stronger, and more resilient (mentally and physically) when he is fighting directly on the behalf of or for the safety of others. Maw Strength.
• Famine (Maw Reward Skill) While hungry, gain speed boost and stamina regain that ramp up the hungrier you are. Maw Strength.
• Mutation Resistance (Witcher) - Owing to Geralt's history of taking (alchemically sanitized) monster parts into himself for power prior to Galeem's combining of the worlds, he has now gained a sort of resistance to the negative effects of Spirit Fusion. When Fusing with a Spirit, Geralt reduces the effects of any weakness they may impose. Fears become general aversions, and damage vulnerabilities are reduced in severity, for example. Level up Strength.
• Unrelenting Stamina (Witcher) - Owing to his Mutations and training as a Witcher, Geralt's stamina regenerates at a markedly increased rate. Signs can be cast more often, and summons can be called upon more frequently without over-taxing Geralt. Level up Strength.
• A Call Beyond (Orphaned God) - The Orphan of Kos has given Geralt an affinity for and insight into nightmarish things beyond mortal ken. From the Orphan of Kos Spirit.
• Monstrous Physique (Orphaned God) - The inhuman strength of the Orphan of Kos has suffused into Geralt, improving his already-impressive physical strength to levels far beyond human. This also improves his physical durability, allowing him to withstand more punishment. Level Up Strength from having the Orphan of Kos Spirit.

Weaknesses: Despite his manifold abilities, Geralt is still human. His enhanced healing still takes time to work on grievous wounds unless he makes use of his limited Swallow potions, and he still requires the staples of life: food, water, sleep, and air. After a period of heavy damage and healing, he’ll need to eat quite a bit to recover that energy. His signs, while powerful, drain his fabled stamina heartily; it can take a few seconds for him to recover his energy and willpower before utilizing another, which can leave him vulnerable to a quick opponent. Geralt is also often treated as a subhuman by those who hold such views; his mutations and inhuman abilities, along with the reputation of Witchers as cold-blooded killers, often leaves Geralt on the outskirts of society.

Fear of Starvation - Geralt's experience with starvation on the Maw was harrowing to the Witcher. Despite his outward nonchalance, losing consciousness mid-fight due to not eating enough has left a growing seed of doubt in his mind. Geralt becomes constantly way about having enough to eat, to the point that lacking some kind of reserve of food will result in him growing irritable, and arguing for a course of action that is more likely to allow access to food, or an opportunity to rest.

Combined with the Famine strength, Geralt becomes more and more manic as his speed increases and his hunger grows.

Geralt's potions provide the bare minimum level of comfort, as they are more supplements for his abilities than actual food. In a pinch, he will use them to satiate his fear rather than for their stated purpose, though that will ultimately result in him feeling even worse for wasting after a short while if he's not able to reach some kind of food for relief. Maw Weakness.

Rager - It it easier for Geralt to give into anger when fighting (or in general) and suffer compromised decision-making with no increase to combat ability. From the Orphan of Kos Spirit. (Somewhat mitigated due to the fusion with Ishmael)

Fatal Slash - The host takes more damage from unmitigated slash-type attacks. From Ishmael's Spirit.

Brain Crush - Puts Geralt into a special staggered state if enough brain damage is dealt in quick succession. From Karen Travers' Spirit.

Self-imposed Self-improvement - Makes Geralt much more inclined to choose the weapon he's least proficient with when starting a fight. From Tartaglia's Spirit.

Disaster Chef - Automatically ruins any food he cooks, making it downright toxic to those without sufficient poison resistance. From Flynn Scifo's Spirit.

Ardor Blossom Identity Weakness - Shapeshift Limit - Puts a timer on how long the host can remain in his Ardor Blossom Identity before reverting to default, incurring a cooldown before the host can become Ardor Blossom again. While this timer normally lasts 30s, taking damage decreases it according to the damage taken. From Barbatos's Spirit.

Ardor Blossom Identity Weakness - Light Bane - Increases the damage taken from the light element by 25%. From Shinobi's Spirit.

Spirits:

• Striker- Fizz: A playful trickster striking with an assassin’s dexterity, arriving in a flash and gone just as quickly. His quick flurry of trident attacks can cause bleeding, and he can also pull off a corkscrew dash attack. Benched.
• Striker- Judicator: An abominable monstrosity, made all the more horrific for its undeniably human element. Although borne of the lowest depths imaginable, a cursed amalgam of sea creature and doomed mariner, it bears an undeniably connection to the cosmos–specifically the constellation Libra. It is slow and not that strong physically, although it takes up a lot of space, and can be called on reasonably often. Its scales, however, can induce stress in targets in a wide area,pelt them with spectral fire, of grant healing through the act of flagellation. Active.
• Striker- Monsoon: A Striker that excels in hit-and-run assassination tactics with a medium cooldown. When summoned, he can perform a handful of attacks with his sais, separate into a magnetic tornado and then corkscrew forward, perform a leaping stab attack with high crit rate, throw a smoke bomb, or take a couple seconds to gather up loose metal into a large mass to hurl at a target (though taking too much damage during the charge will stop the move). He has the passive of auto-dodging slash damage and can therefore not transfer that type of damage to the host. Active.
• Striker- Zero: A Striker that excels in hit-and-run assassination tactics with a medium cooldown. When summoned, he can perform sweeping elemental slashes with his katanas, hitting once with each, while moving in a desired direction. He can also throw two handfuls of energy kunai, or unleash a dual-element spin slash to clear an area. He has a passive that lets him deal extra damage to an enemy's back. Benched.
• Fused- Orphan of Kos. Guardian of the Blue. Grants the Eldritch Lightning and Hateful Flesh Abilities, the A Call Beyond and Monstrous Physique Skills, along with the Rager Weakness.
• Fused- Ishmael. LCCB Sinner encounter in Arahabaki. Grants the Identity Ability, along with the Fatal Slash Weakness.
• Fused- Karen Travers. Major General of Midgar’s Other Suppression Force. Defeated during the battle against Consul C and Tycoon. Grants the Brain Eater Ability and the Brain Crush Weakness.
• Fused- Flynn Scifo. Paladin of Brave Vesperia. Spirit found inside a capsule machine. Grants the Demon Fang, Basic Spells, and Advanced Artes Abilities, along with the Disaster Chef Weakness.
• Fused- Tartaglia. One of the Eleven Fatu Harbingers. Spirit found inside a capsule machine. Grants the Foul Legacy: Raging Tide Ability, along with the Self-Imposed Self-Improvement Weakness.
• Fused (Ardor Blossom Identity)- Barbatos. A dragon forcefully fused with Aldred by a shadowy syndicate. Spirit found inside a capsule machine. Grants the Ground Shaker Ability, along with the Shapeshift Limit Weakness.
• Fused (Ardor Blossom Identity)- Shinobi. A ninja dragon, shrouded in mystery. Spirit found inside a capsule machine. Grants the Shuriken Shower Ability, along with the Light Bane Weakness.

Kindred Spirits: Yennefer of Vengerberg- Geralt’s True Love, once bound to him by Djinn, but affirmed as his lover once their freedom was taken back. A powerful and untamed sorceress, Yennefer is a force of nature to rival Geralt, a magical powerhouse who could destroy armies with her spells. She also serves as a surrogate mother to Ciri.

Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon- Geralt and Yennefer’s surrogate daughter, Heir Apparent to the Nilfgaardian Throne/Empress of Nilfgaard/Witcher, Source of Magic, Walker of Worlds, and many, many other things. Ciri is a gifted swordfighter, a natural magic-user capable of incredible yet unpredictable feats of magic, and nearly a Witcher in her own right. She lacks the mutations, but her magical abilities and the training Geralt gave her make her, in essence, her own kind of Witcher.

Zenkichi Hasegawa:

Persona 5 Strikers Spoilers Within

A man from a world wholly different from Geralt's, but facing a war much like the White Wolf's. After the death of his wife at the hands of a powerful politician, Zenkichi tossed aside his morals, his pride, and his sense of justice to protect his daughter, not realizing the pain he was causing her. When confronted with his misdeeds and the consequences they caused, he turned his back on the man he'd become, reaffirming his commitment to justice and awakening his Spirit of Rebellion, Valjean. A man just trying to do his job and protect his family, thrust into a war infinitely beyond his meager life, the final Phantom Thief, Wolf, accepts the call to greatness and fights for more than just himself.

Inventory: A Steel sword, a Silver sword, 4 [3] Dimeritium bombs (These block the usage of magic in an area for about 30 seconds), 4 [3] Grapeshot bombs (These detonate into a deadly blast of shrapnel). Hanged Man’s Venom (A blade oil containing a poison deadly to humans and humanoid creatures like elves, dwarves and such), Draconid oil (A blade oil which is poisonous to draconic creatures), and Cursed Oil (A blade oil poisonous to cursed beings, such as werewolves, berserkers, and Botchlings). A flask containing five [three] doses of Swallow (A potion which improves the healing of wounds and the body’s recovery from them), and another containing five [five] doses of Cat (A potion which grants sight even in total darkness, as well as an immunity to hypnotic effects for around half an hour). One hunting knife, with a smooth front edge and serrated back edge. A hand crossbow with 30 [29] small bolts (mostly for hunting, but the bolts are capable of harming humans with even light armor, due to the crossbow’s shockingly high draw weight). One 30-foot length of rope. Six chunks of salted pork rations. Geralt wears a suit of half-plate armor. It best protects against attacks from blades and claws. In addition to these, Geralt also carries the alchemical ingredients necessary to create two more batches of his oils, potions and bombs (One more for grapeshot). Finally, Geralt’s Wolf medallion acts as a magic detector, vibrating when in the presence of magic, to a scale equivalent to the strength of the magic present.

Bleed Amulet:reduces his exceptional poison resistance to merely fantastic levels, but makes it harder to cause him to bleed, and mystically increases his own ability to spill his enemy's blood.

Sword Primid Sticker (equipped), Primid Sticker (equipped), Beam Sword, 55 Gil, 475 Gold.

Steel Diver:A handheld torpedo launcher. The torpedoes don't seek, but they do shoot straight forward after a brief delay as if the air itself was water, and boat impressive stopping power despite limited ammunition. With 7 missiles.

ATG Missile Mark 1: A shoulder-mounted missile platform that has a 10% chance to fire a seeking missile at an enemy that is struck by the wearer's attack, when the attack makes contact. The missile deals 300% of the damage of the attack that triggers it. It does not inflict splash damage

Odysseus's Bow: Every fourth attack with this weapon triggers a chain lightning effect, damaging the target and up to 4 nearby enemies for roughly 2/3 of the bow's normal damage. With 50 [30] arrows.
One Pirate Paint Brush: An incredibly rare find. At first glance it seems to have no function, but if applied at the Fountain of Dreams, it can turn anyone into a pirate version of themselves

Geralt also has a plasma pistol from Tora, which can be recharged by electricity. This item was lost when Mirage returned to Limsa Lominscuttle via Palico and remains with him.

Monsoon's Katanas and Sai: A pair of sai with no special properties. Two katanas from Monsoon, one of which has innate fire damage, the other which possesses innate lightning damage.

Outfits: Easily equipable outfits, contained in vacuum-sealed plastic bags. One “Refined Noble’s Outfit”, one “Military BDU” outfit, and one “Semi-Formal Dress Outfit”.

Zenkichi Hasegawa/Wolf

Name: Zenkichi Hasegawa, “Wolf”

Game Origin: Persona 5 Strikers

Appearance: A tall, fit man, befitting his occupation as a Public Security Agent, Zenkichi tends to wear the same outfit whenever it is remotely appropriate: a black suit with jarringly out of place white sneakers. He keeps his black hair about shoulder-length, and wears a simple pair of square rimless glasses.

As Wolf, the Phantom Thief, Zenkichi’s appearance changes dramatically. He wears a black ankle-length tailcoat with black tassels at the end of the sleeves with a silverish-gray collar folded up at forehead-length with a large-brimmed fedora-based hat attached on the collar with a long swordfish-like point up at the front of the hat as the tailcoat has large 'V'-fashioned lapels. He also wears a high-collared jacket coat with silver accents with matching double bandolier belts and a matching holster belt where he can keep his firearm on the right side and puts the belt around his waist with another holster belt on the left side, with black pants and silverish-gray accented black winklepicker shoes.

Appearances:

Zenkichi Hasegawa

Wolf

The host's skin has gotten a little darker, and he has a slightly stronger brow, bigger nose, and much stubblier face. His hair is a little shorter and curls up in front. His build is slightly wider. His tie is gone, and his shirt is white instead of blue, with one more button undone. His jacket is less like a suit jacket and more like a coat, with yellow patches and a taller collar. His personality is a little less high-strung. The host has gotten taller, standing at about 6 feet, 4 inches tall, in addition to gaining some visible muscle mass. His skin has darkened further, and his hair has turned a dark blue while shortening to reach his ears. His suit has been replaced with a dark blue tunic and gray pants, and he has gained some armor pieces. His shoulders are covered by pauldrons, while his forearms and shins are protected by vambraces and greaves. Personality-wise, the host has become less bound by a sense of duty to order, and more inclined to follow his own personal ideals of honor and justice.

Personality: Zenkichi is, generally, a very straightforward person, even telling the Phantom Thieves outright that they were the prime suspects in the Jail Outbreak case he was investigating, and that he didn’t believe they were actually responsible, offering to work with them to catch the real culprits. He is an intelligent and shrewd individual with a strong sense of justice, risking his life and his career to protect his newfound allies.

His fraught relationship with his daughter and the death of his wife have caused his self-worth to falter, Zenkichi spent a long while keeping his head down, focusing on his job while quietly waiting for the opportunity to strike against those responsible for what he’d lost. His Persona, Valjean, represents the desire to live a moral life and seek justice against the evil that he had once lost sight of in his desperation to protect his daughter from forces beyond his reach. As Wolf, the Phantom Thief, Zenkichi is relentless in the pursuit of justice, tearing through enemies with heavy weapons and Almighty spells. He understands that the Monarchs the Phantom Thieves hunt have traumas which induced their situations, but he does not let that knowledge give him pause in seeking to bring them to justice.

As the bearer of the Apostle Arcana (Sometimes referred to as the Priest or the Hierophant), Zenkichi represents both fairness and compassion, bringing justice to evildoers, but not condemning them as lost causes as others might.

A little less high-strung due to fusing with Devinder Crousley's Spirit.

Background: A Public Security Agent from Tokyo, Zenkichi and his daughter Akane moved to Kyoto after the death of his wife, Aoi, at the hands of a drunk driver with political influence who blamed the accident on his secretary. This incident lead to the suicide of that secretary and a tense relationship between Zenkichi and Akane, as the former received threats against his daughter’s life. In a small twist of fate, the politician protecting the killer was Masayoshi Shido, the same man who had Joker, Zenkichi’s eventual ally, arrested for protecting a woman from sexual assault at his hands.

Zenkichi, in return, kept his head down, did his job, and entrusted his superior officer to one day, when she was powerful enough, get justice in his stead. This, however, enraged his daughter, who saw the lack of action as cowardice on his part. She became a fan of the Phantom Thieves for their strong sense of justice and unwillingness to back down in the face of a fight, while Zenkichi was tasked with investigating them after a new rash of heart-stealing incidents appeared to be occurring throughout Japan. Secretly the work of Akira Konoe and Kuon Ichinose to bring true justice to the world and understand the hearts of humanity, respectively, Zenkichi immediately saw the differences between the two cases and struck a deal with the Phantom Thieves. Providing them with police intelligence and assisting them in breaking the Monarchs' chains, Zenkichi eventually Awakened his own Persona, Valjean, when fighting to rescue the Thieves from his own daughter’s Jail, where the truth of his actions was laid bare to him: by refusing to fight for justice for his daughter’s sake, he allowed the family of the deceased secretary to suffer for crimes they did not commit. Re-affirming his belief in justice, Zenkichi and the Phantom Thieves put a stop to the re-emerging Demiurge, arrested those responsible, and used the opportunity to also bring the killer of Zenkichi’s wife to justice.

Bidding a fond farewell (for now) to the Phantom Thieves, Zenkichi and Akane were shortly thereafter brought to the World of Light, their memories of understanding and reconciliation twisted and robbed from them, though the loss of Aoi still remained, Zenkichi has regressed to a semi-awakened fighter for justice, searching to bring down a conspiracy he doesn’t fully understand at the heart of Midgar.

Job: Phantom Thief

Specialty: Bruiser- Among the Phantom Thieves, Zenkichi stands out as an offensive powerhouse, capable of both dealing out damage and taking hits. He is not quite as tanky as Ryuji, but he makes up for it by being both physically and magically stronger than he is. Combined with his lack of elemental weakness, unresistable Almighty magic, and some minor buffing and debuffing ability, Zenkichi is the best all-around fighter that the Thieves can field, barring Joker with an extremely powerful Persona.

Level: 7
Experience: 67/70

Abilities:

• Apostle Persona- Valjean (Phantom Thief)
  
  Valjean
  
  A Persona based off the protagonist of Les Misérables, Valjean represents Zenkichi’s desire to live a good and moral life after being granted a second chance. With no weaknesses and powerful offensive abilities, Valjean is a truly terrifying frontline combatant, as well as providing quality mid-range combat potential with Gun and Almighty skills, and a minor array of buffs and debuffs.
  
  Begins with the spell Megido, an Almighty spell that deals medium unresistable magic damage to enemies in a wide area, and the attack Triple Down, which deals light Gun damage to enemies in a wide area three times. Each “shot” of triple Down can miss or be dodged.
• Level 2 Ability: -Kaja Suite (Phantom Thief) - Zenkichi gains Tarukaja, Rakukaja, and Sukukaja, which can temporarily boost one ally's attack power, defense, or agility for a short period of time (roughly one minute). These buffs share a collective cooldown of one minute.
• Level 3 Ability: Fury (Phantom Thief) - A self buff for Zenkichi that increases his offensive capabilities in exchange for slowly draining his vitality. While Fury mode is active, Zenkichi's attack power and attack speed are increased, and each of his sword attacks lets out a small AoE shockwave in the direction of his sword swing. His Vampiric Strikes ability still works while Fury is active, but the vitality drain is typically faster than the absorption, unless Zenkichi is cleaving through a very large number of enemies, and even then it's usually only enough to roughly break even.
• Level 4 Ability: Offensive Improvement (Phantom Thief) - Zenkichi gains the attacks Deathbound and One-Shot Kill. Deathbound summons a swarm of hands from the ground to deal Medium Physical damage to a wide area two times, with each attack being dodgeable. One-Shot Kill deals Severe Gun damage to a narrow area, with a high chance of dealing Critical damage.
• Level 5 Ability: Megidola (Phantom Thief) - A powerful spell which deals Heavy unresistable Almighty magic damage to a wide area.
• Level 6 Ability: Heat Riser (Phantom Thief) - a superior buff skill that combines Tarukaja, Sukukaja, and Rakukaja, increasing the recipient's attack, defense, and speed for roughly 1 minute. Has a cooldown of roughly 3 minutes, separate from the individual buff skills.
• Level 7 Ability: Megidolaon (Phantom Thief) - The most powerful Almighty attack available to Zenkichi, Megidolaon summons a beam of energy that causes an explosion, which deals severe unresistable magic damage to a wide area, with a high chance of dealing critical damage.
• Free Ability (Tycoon Battle Reward): Agneyastra (Phantom Thief)- The most powerful physical attack Zenkichi can muster, Agneyastra deals medium physical damage, in the form of a swarm of meteorites, to a wide area three times, with a high chance of dealing critical damage. Each individual attack can be dodged.
• Sandalphon's Covenant (Covenant) - At the start of trials, inflicts the "Locked Sigil" debuff on the host for 300 seconds, but grants them the "Preservation Protocol" effect. The user can change which Protocol is active (Preservation, Restoration, or Purification) by announcing its name. These Protocols activate when a Skill is used and provide a defense buff, a health burst, and a status cleanse respectively. These effects will target himself if an offensive skill is used, or the target if a support skill is used. Locked Sigil's remaining time will be reduced by six seconds each time the user uses a Skill and by 18 seconds each time the user removes an affliction from an ally. When the Locked Sigil effect wears off, the user will be granted the "Sigil Released" effect instead. Sigil Released grants the user all three Protocols at once, marked by the appearance of a halo above the host’s head.
• Ike Fusion Ability: Eruption (Ranger) - Causes blue flames to build up on the host's sword when its held with both hands facing the ground. These flames continue to intensify over the course of a couple seconds, during which the host's stance is extremely difficult to break at all, until the blaze tops out. When the sword is finally plunged down, it unleashes pillars of flame that deal heavy damage and guard break. A longer charge boosts the size, damage, and number of eruptions.
• Tyrael Fusion Ability: Smite (Archangel)- Calls down a blast of the host's primary element in an area to deal damage. It leaves behind a field that boosts allies' movement speed by 25% for 2 seconds. The field itself lasts for 6 seconds, the same as the ability's cooldown, though it still takes a chunk of SP to use.

Skills:

• Combat Prowess (Phantom Thief) - Whether as Wolf or Zenkichi, he is a formidable foe. Boasting excellent strength thanks to his Persona, a robust health pool, and a lack of elemental weaknesses, Zenkichi Hasegawa is a great ally to have in battle, as well as a fearsome enemy.
• Investigator’s Eye (Phantom Thief) - As a Public Security Agent, both before and after the World of Light’s creation, Zenkichi is an excellent detective, catching things that others might miss and being able to piece together clues with ease.
• Vampiric Strikes (Phantom Thief) - Zenkichi has the ability to regenerate a small amount of life/health from each successful non-ability attack on an enemy.
• Paracryptozoologist (Paranormal Investigator) - Grants a degree of strong intuition about supernatural creatures, specifically figuring out their behaviors and attributes.

Weaknesses:

• Self-Doubt - After the death of his wife and the alienation of his daughter, Zenkichi’s sense of self-worth took a nosedive. Even his codename is representative of this: he chose the moniker of wolf to separate himself from the dog of the state he felt he had become. When it comes to taking care of his daughter or others, he’s quick to be hard on himself, perhaps more than is necessary.
• Ties to Akane - While not strictly a weakness per se, Zenkichi’s relationship with his daughter is…less than ideal, especially given that they will be working back to the state they were at when Galeem destroyed the worlds. She can see right through him, and he strives to be somebody she can be proud of, even if he stumbles along the way. He is willing to do anything to protect her, which is what landed him in his unfortunate situation in the first place- threats against her life caused him to keep his head down, try not to rock the boat, and just deal with the corruption staring him in the face. And, of course, she can be targeted to hurt him, though that comes with the risk of angering the wolf inside and winding up in a world of hurt.
• Sluggish Striker - While Zenkichi is the strongest Phantom Thief, the great size of his weapon also makes his attacks slower and easier to dodge. While his revolvers can mitigate this weakness somewhat, they also have a semi-limited ammo pool (regenerating when Valjean is re-summoned at the start of a fight) and take quite a while to reload during a fight.
• Ladlubber - He is much less good at swimming. From Devinder Crousley's Spirit.
• Weapon Trilemma: Sword - Decreases the host's accuracy against (but increases the damage taken from) enemies wielding polearms, including spears, lances, halberds, javelins, scythes, and so forth by 15%. From Ike’s Spirit.
• Mana Hungry - Increases the SP cost of all skills by approximately 10%. From Tyrael’s Spirit.

Spirits:

• Striker- Sosha
  A spear-wielding dragoon with a wind affinity, fiery spirit, and short cooldown. She can attack with her polearm, performing rapid stabs or a lunging stab, or perform a high jump followed up a plunging thrust that pierces defense to deal serious damage if she managed to land it. Additionally, she can be summoned to grab and carry her host prior to a landing, which will negate fall damage.
• Inherited- Devinder Crousley. A paranormal investigator and amateur cryptozoologist. Found on the corpse of one of Lady Nya’gai’s victims. Grants the Paracryptozoologist Ability, along with the Landlubber Weakness.
• Fused- Ike. Leader of the Greil Mercenaries and wielder of the Legendary blade, Ragnell. Grants the Eruption Ability, along with the Weapon Trilemma: Sword Weakness.
• Fused- Tyrael. Archangel of Justice, ally of the Horadrim against the Prime Evils. Grants the Smite Ability, along with the Mana Hungry Weakness.

Guest List: The Phantom Thieves- Zenkichi’s allies in taking down the Monarchs in the Metaverse, Zenkichi is separated from his young co-conspirators, and in this strange new world, would prefer to at least know what they’re up to, despite them having gone their separate ways after their last adventure.

Akane Hasegawa- Zenkichi’s daughter, and the singular most important person to him in the world after his wife’s death. Zenkichi threw aside his personal beliefs to try and protect her, though for a while he only succeeded in pushing her further away by doing so.

Hector of Ostia- Marquess of Ostia, wielder of the Lightning Axe Armads, and one of the Slayers of the Fire Dragon, Hector is a noble and stalwart warrior, and a proactive leader of his territory. He suffers no fools and is fiercely protective of his daughter, Lilina. However, Hector hides from many a dark secret- he is cursed to die in battle, rather than enjoy a peaceful end.

Inventory: Claymore (manifests with Valjean), Dual Revolvers (manifest fully loaded with Valjean each fight and can be reloaded once per fight, albeit slowly), cell phone, 2,000 Yen (currency). 530 Kins (Psionic Currency, Universal Pistol Ammo x4 (Any sidearm that can be wielded and fired in a single hand can accept ammunition from this miraculous pickup for a full refill), Memory Alloy x2 (can be sold or used to forge weapons), machine core x3

Closing Statement
A heavy greatsword of futuristic make. It's shorter than one might think but quite wide, capable of high destructive power if wielded with enough strength. Even its crossguard or the blunt back of its blade can deal substantial impact damage. Its weight makes it impractical to use for defense however. It deals bonus Dark damage and comes with the weapon skill Closer: After an ally attacks, an enemy with less than 30% health, increases combat readiness (a mix of dexterity and speed) of the wielder against that enemy by 35% and boosts perception for 20 seconds. Can only be activated once every 20 seconds

Hero's Sword
A long straight saber, almost like a kendo stick, with an elaborate white handguard. Its laser blade glows brilliantly as a breaking dawn, its vivid red a foreboding promise to any who lurk in the dark. Wielded with dexterity and righteous resolve, it inflicts concentrated heat damage, capable of stripping armor in order to reduce defense, and its range can be extended when slashing (and especially stabbing) at the expense of some SP/mana/energy

Greatsword
A coarse iron lump of an ultra greatsword. Mows down foes by utilizing its incredible weight.

Etiquette
A self-defense weapon adored by the leader of the Bastards. It can be disguised as an umbrella, but it bares its teeth in the moment of attack. Social dignity can be seen not only in the ballroom but also on the battlefield. The leader of the Bastards did not lose his poise on either stage. This one-handed rapier is best suited for dexterous hands, but its canopy can provide crucial protection as well

Vest of the Dead
A Protector that takes the form of an old-fashioned suit vest. It provides a surprising amount of defense but has no secondary bonuses

Can of Sham
A can of high quality Shamway ham, the number 1 maker of meat-like products. The lunch of champions. The recipe is top secret and better left undisclosed. Provides a little health when eaten. Can be used to make much tastier, heartier Sham Chowder

Ammo Box
A rusted metal tin that can be set down and opened to fully resupply long guns and handguns (no more than one apiece) for up to three people

Airhorn
A child's toy, serving as a reminder of Galeem's cruelty.

Outfits
Several easily-equipable outfits, contained in vacuum-sealed bags. One “Policeman’s uniform” and one “HAZMAT Suit.”

Bowler hat
A smart-looking hat that, nonetheless, doesn’t quite fit Zenkichi’s typical style.

Edelgard Brings the Fire!

Name: Edelgard von Hresvelg

Origin: Fire Emblem: Three Houses

Appearance:

Edelgard

Personality: Edelgard carries within her a deep wellspring of hatred for evil, brought about by the torture she endured under Those Who Slither in the Dark. However, her psyche is twisted deeply by that torture, and she is willing to commit atrocities in the name of destroying evil, fully aware of the irony in doing so. If she sees no better way, she will not hold back for the sake of her own morals or to keep her conscience clean. Edelgard will do anything for the ends that she seeks, which can easily rub others the wrong way.

She is not heartless, but she is more than willing to act the part for what she believes to be the greater good, going so far as to plunge her homeland into a years-long war to rid it of the influence of what she perceives to be evil organizations abusing their power for their own ends. When faced with the hypocrisy of her actions, Edelgard is not afraid to admit that such is the truth, but will not back down from her course of action nonetheless.

Ultimately, the trust and assistance of those closest to her are Edelgard’s greatest assets and most trusted treasures, as without those things, she has lived with nothing but enemies and terrible memories around her.

Socially, she can appear cold to those she is not close with, affecting a refined air befitting her status as Emperor. Secretly, she is simultaneously afraid to trust others, but desperate to find somebody worthy of such trust. If somebody irritates her, she has been known to, somewhat childishly, mockingly imitate them behind their backs. As a friend and ally, she is steadfast and loyal, willing to protect those closest to her at risk to herself, and showing a somewhat unexpected unwillingness to endanger those closest to her for her goals.

Background:

The Emperor Who Plunged a Land Into War

Once a student at the Garreg Mach Monastery Officers’ Academy, Edelgard was secretly working to undermine the Church of Seiros, the continent of Fodlan’s de facto religion, and the dragons that controlled it. Experimented on and forcibly implanted with a second Crest by a shadowy organization, Those Who Slither in the Dark, Edelgard had come to despise the society that the Church of Seiros upheld, and allied with that same shadowy organization to destroy it, albeit reluctantly.

Donning the identity of the Flame Emperor, she fought a shadow war against the Church of Seiros while attending the Academy at its heart and growing close to its newest professor, Byleth. When the time came, she invited her newfound confidant to witness her coronation as the Empress of the Adrestian Empire, which served as the final step in the setup of her plans. She also reveals to Byleth at this time that the Church of Seiros is secretly controlled by a race of immortal dragons who have used the power of the church to manipulate Fodlan to their ends, suppressing advancement and slaughtering dissenters, revealed to her by original copies of ancient tomes that the Imperial Palace held from ancient times.

After revealing herself as the Flame Emperor, Edelgard is able to convince Byleth and her class to join her, and together they attack the Church of Seiros and begin a war that would last years, with Byleth vanishing for five years after an attack from the Archbishop, Rhea.

After reuniting with her teacher, Edelgard is able to renew her offensive against the other nations of Fodlan, subsuming the Leicester Alliance and forcing its leader, Claude, into exile. From here, she defeats the army of the Holy Kingdom of Faerghus, slaying its king, Dimitri.

With the other nations of Fodlan crippled or under her control, Edelgard leads her army into battle against Rhea, who transforms into her dragon form and sets the city of Fhirdiad aflame to halt Edelgard’s advance. It is fruitless, however, and Rhea the Immaculate One is slain, putting an end to the Church of Seiros’ dominion over Fodlan. In the years that follow, Edelgard and her allies lead a shadow war against her previous allies who had once experimented on her, eventually destroying them and ushering in a shaky but hopeful order in a unified Fodlan. One month after the Adrestian Empire’s final victory, the Imperial City of Enbarr was consumed in a massive light, dragging it and all its residents to the World of Light.

In the Now: Edelgard serves as a Lieutenant in the armies of Skyworld, leading angelic strike forces against corrupted enemies, in an ironic twist of fate that once more has her serving under the command of religious authorities.

Job: Flame Emperor

Specialty: Physical Dreadnought with some magical ranged damage and healing.

Inventory: Steel shield, Emperor’s Armor, Short ax(es) (throwable, 25 uses) 3 doses of elixir (fully heals the user), Large Bouillon (can be sold for 5,000 zenny to the right dealer), Black Eagle Pendant

Lv: 1

EXP: 0/10

Abilities:

• Aymr - A false Heroes’ Relic made specifically for Edelgard, Aymr is an ax of tremendous power. In addition to dealing extra damage to draconic foes, it serves as a symbol of royal power: if Edelgard faces an enemy alone, it will have a demoralizing effect on them, reducing their attack and defense somewhat.
• Basic Magic - Edelgard can cast the basic spells Fire and Heal. Fire is a basic offensive spell that deals modest fire damage, and heal is a basic healing spell that restores roughly one-quarter of a target’s health. Each spell can be used ten times per combat.

Skills:

• Mighty Glacier - Edelgard is an archetypal example of the mighty glacier trope. Each swing of her ax can fell lesser enemies, and she can take dozens of blows from the same without so much as a scratch.
• Hammerspace - Through a clever series of pouches, straps, and a dash of magic from her advisors, Edelgard can carry significantly more than is immediately apparent on her, grabbing useful items and even weapons on her person from seemingly nowhere.
• Dual-Crest Bearer - Edelgard possesses two Crests, a Major Crest of Flames, and a Minor Crest of Serios. The Crest of Seiros grants her Abilities a small amount of additional power, while the Crest of Flames heals her for a small amount with each blow dealt to an opponent, and rarely shields her from an opponent’s counterattack.

Weaknesses:

• Heavy Armor - Edelgard’s armor, while useful in helping protect her from damage, is far from light. It slows her movement down noticeably, leaving her vulnerable to being chipped at by enemies with sufficient power or magic to harm her.
• Magic Vulnerability - While not quite as dramatic as her lack of speed in armor, Edelgard’s armor does little to protect her from magical attacks, forcing allies to engage and take the heat off of her if she is targeted by a magic user with any sort of long-ranged attacks.
• Weapon Trilemma: Axes - Decreases Edelgard’s accuracy against (and increases the damage taken from) enemies wielding swords and sword-like weapons by 15%.

Spirits: (Any spirits your character possesses should be listed here with their type)

• Spirit name - Type

Rapport: (You can keep track of your Rapport here. As you level up Rapports, consider linking the posts here and listing what they give you)

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate VG Crossover RP, reborn!)

I believe the typos are fixed and I have added some more to her personality.