[center][h3]Same Old Story - the Third Turn[/h3]
The Koopa Troop’s [@DracoLunaris], Primrose and Therion’s [@Yankee], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC], Ganondorf’s [@Double], Ms. Fortune
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2992 (+3)[/center]

By the time Sectonia got thrown through the air, Nadia was close enough to act. “Enough already!” she cried, pumping out blood to create a Hydro Mimic of a familiar, greatsword-wielding berserker. “Just call it a knight!” Her Artorias mimic leaped forward with his trademark somersault to bring down a heavy slash on Robin’s stomach area. The feral slid to a stop beneath it and hyperextended both legs in an upward kick that blew through the mimic’s back, covering Robin’s chest in her own blood. Her Charge turned her into a lightning tiger that blitzed through the archangel and burst through his back. Lightning reacted with hydro to form electro-charged, and as the sparks flew she twisted around to execute Battery by way of a Curtain Shredder drop slash. “It’s curtains!” The respectable burst of damage made Robin stagger forward for a brief moment, after which he unceremoniously raised one leg and kicked Nadia in the stomach. “MEOWCH!” As she stumbled back, two more of the diamonds in Robin’s halo lit up for a total of four.

Bowser, who had been in the middle of picking himself up, promptly went  [color=FD0000]”Gah!”[/color] as the sleeping form of Sectonia came flying at him and promptly floored him again. He grumbled in complaint, and promptly hauled her off of himself so he could actually get up while complaining about this being no time for beauty sleep.

Once he was up he turned as he heard a call of [color=DeepSkyBlue]”Sire! Throw her over here,”[/color] from Kamek, who was gesturing at two of his toady minions.

Rather than question how they were going to carry the big bee, the king simply did this without a thought, hauling the queen up and then hurling her in the intended direction. Her large form should have squished the floating minions like bugs, had Kamek not thrust out his wand, chanted [color=DeepSkyBlue]”compound eyes, transportable size!”[/color] and cast a shrinkification spell on her as she flew, resulting in a much smaller and more portable bee who the pair caught with ease, and proceed to transport her the same way others had Jr. 

[hider=Jr’s Dream - Stage Two]
[color=SpringGreen]”Owwww!”[/color] Jr complained as he rubbed his freshly stomped face  [color=SpringGreen]”What you do that for! We’re on the same team right now!”[/color] 

[color=ed1c24][b]"Not’a so"[/b][/color] the plumber who had performed a little spin before landing to now face Jr’s again replied, before declaring [color=ed1c24][b]"Im-a take you down!"[/b][/color] and then running forwards to give the prince another stomp.

This time, hearing the run up and the following [color=ed1c24][b]"Hup!"[/b][/color] the prince ducked, bringing his spikes up defensively, wrestling in the plumber landing right on them with a cry of pain.

[color=SpringGreen]”That’s what you get for messing with me!”[/color] Jr shouted, before popping out of his shell and starting to demand [color=SpringGreen]”Now stop this before-”[/color] getting confused when he found the plumber lying motionless on the ground [color=SpringGreen]”huh?”[/color] 

The prince poked him a few times, giving a very confused [color=SpringGreen]”Mario?”[/color] not understanding that the hero had died in a single hit. Before he could understand this however, a familiar silhouette jumped up onto one of the walls of the arena, only this one was wearing white and red instead of blue and red. 

[color=ed1c24][b]"It’sa me!"[/b][/color] declared mario number 2, this one empowered by a fire flower, before he started bouncing around and hucking flaming balls at the very confused prince.
[/hider]

With the queen being transported after Jr, and thus out of the room and into the middle of a pile of drybones acting as a unliving walls, the two koopas nodded at each other and then focused back on the fight. They were joined in this focus by Rika, who had got her gauntlets back on at last, and who promptly noted the obvious yet awful truth which was [color=Aqua]”So is it just going to keep knocking people out?”[/color]

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”It seems so, so speed is of the essence”[/color] the mage assessed, before declaring [color=DeepSkyBlue]”So let’s pull everything out of the bag”[/color] 

His first step to this was summoning all of his strikers. Quiet and then end promptly opened fire on the titan with their rifles of the lethal and nonlethal variety, while the small green knife armed lizard that was the tonberry started slowly waddling after Robin, with no hope of reaching his evasive form.

[color=DeepSkyBlue]”Ah, do you mind delivering that for me?”[/color] the mage asked, which got a nod from Rika, who just assumed this was a good idea rather than questioning what the little creature could do. She promptly scooped the striker up in ome massive hand and held it under one arm before dashing forwards.

Not towards Robin directly however, but towards Bowser, at whom she shouted [color=Aqua]”Give me a boost!”[/color] before firing her grapple at him, and rapidly closing the gap. The king was momentarily confused, but caught on just in time, putting both hands together so she could step into them, before hurling her through the air towards their foe in a team jump maneuver.

Maneuvering thrusters flared as she jetted forwards, followed by her grappling to Robin himself. She winched forwards, launching a distracting swarm of flashing electrical motes as she flew to throw off her foe’s accuracy as she approached, and then should she get in close enough, hold the tonberry striker up to his form so it could stab him. Robin wasn’t stupid, though. Once Rika grappled onto its arm, its gaze turned on the incoming threat, and even she deployed some firefly-like distractions, Robin could tell where she was coming from by tracing her grapple line. It yanked its arm to throw off Rika’s timing, then lashed out with a giant backhand.

In danger, she released the grapple, then fired her rigging disruption cannons to blast herself back with the recoil, while also squeezing her featherfall rune to fire her upwards and out of immediate danger. Unable to be delivered, the tonberry fell to the ground, transferring a little damage to Kamek. Since it hadn’t attacked yet though, it continued to stay active, now much closer to its target. 

Rika’s retreat would be covered by Bowser, who, after punching his shell to smash it and give himself an attack and speed boost at the cost of armor, rushed in to take another swing at their foe. As he tried to deliver another leg beat down, he’d summon Marie Korbel, former skullgirl, to raise a wall of skeletons behind Robin to restrict his movements, before blasting him with a volley of flaming skulls.

Once it was clear that Kamek had a handle on defending their sleeping comrades, Primrose left him to it. She could cast her magic while aiding in said defense, but that wasn't what she wanted to do. She needed to go on the attack more aggressively, not just to put a stop to the mule-headed menace as quickly as possible but to release the frustrated tension that she'd built up since its appearance. Though there were better uses for her skills, and allies that she could help out in battle, her sights were set squarely on the archangel.

She moved in, avoiding the battles with Oberon and Titania when they got too close. She collected her lance from where it had fallen and rushed towards Robin. When she used her Ravaging Confession again to teleport behind the angel, she expected him to see her coming and avoid the back attack. She used it anyway to get in close that much sooner, risking retaliation to use her Rites of Termination and summon a large, shadowy lance down on top of Robin.

[hider=Sectonia’s Dream - Stage One]
Unlike Jr. who had a clearly defined nemesis, Sectonia wasn’t as fortunate. As she slept her dream had her in roughly the same room, but fighting a shadow that seemed to shift between a blob and someone wielding a hammer. The star warrior of pop star, who would have been a thorn in her side in her plans of conquest.

Being an enemy Sectonia didn’t know made fighting this apparition strange. While she could strike at it, either her magic would hit or the apparition would morph out of the way dodging the hit entirely as its nebulous shape changed. And not having a voice, it was completely silent, short of how it moved. 

It was frustrating that even its attacks were amorphous, coming in for a swing of its hammer, only to have that hammer move around her sword guard and hit her with a fist. Being asleep was something she really, really didn’t like in this case, but beating this apparition was the way to wake up? So annoying, she’d blast that creature when she was out of this…[/hider]

From nearby came the angry roar of a newly-enraged Ganondorf. The radiation damage had largely ceased by now, but the man was wildly swinging his swords around himself as a result of the confusion he was inflicted with. But now that, too, was wearing off. The Gerudo King was livid, practically seeing red as he set his sights squarely on Oberon. Unfortunately for the summoned warrior, Ganondorf was far more than just a mere bruiser. He summoned a fresh squad of Moblin archers and ordered them to open fire on Oberon. Then he summoned Riptor who immediately used her Mortar attack to lob a fireball at him, then vanished afterward as was the norm for Strikers. But the angry Ganondorf was far from done. He summoned Phantom Ganon and ordered him to float forward and begin hurling dark energy balls at Oberon as well. The warframe got moving, taking advantage of the various projectiles’ slow travel time to run out of their paths.

And then Ganondorf finally re-brandished his swords, [color=797979]”DIE!”[/color] he roared as he charged forward in a dead sprint. The fire that Oberon was surrounded by did little to deter Ganondorf. Whatever radiation damage he suffered from getting close to Oberon was a price he was willing to pay. He lunged for Oberon and went for any and all openings to strike as he could possibly get. In this instance that wasn’t especially hard, thanks to the near constant cover fire the Gerudo King was given by his servants’ ranged attacks. Ganondorf’s attacks were aggressive and fueled by his own sheer rage. The building power in his Swords of Darkness was also proving to be a key factor in how he was hitting harder and with greater strength than previously.

For his part, Oberon fought defensively, bullet-jumping around his Hallowed Ground at high speed to keep his foes from pinning him down and let the radiation damage pile up. Ganondorf wasn’t veiling his anger at all, and if he’d gotten this mad after taking only a couple hits, Oberon was happy to exploit his blind fury. Rather than fight the warlord head-on he attacked mid-jump and with slam attacks, taking a couple sideswipes but avoiding much of Ganondorf’s fury while the green flames burned.

At one point while trading blows with Oberon, Ganondorf slammed his right hand sword into the ground, tip first. Then he tightened his hand into a fist and went for a powerful Warlock Punch directly at Oberon’s front. The attack was telegraphed enough for Oberon to raise his shield to absorb the blow, but Ganondorf did not rescind his attack. Instead Ganondorf’s Triforce shined with power and he just pressed the attack in an attempt to force through Oberon’s guard as well as his flames and at least knock him down if nothing else. No warframe worth his salt would ever stick around for such a laughably telegraphed attack, however. Rather than get in front of Ganondorf and wait for the Warlock Punch to hit his guard, Oberon slid away through the flames and switched weapons. His ivory-white Sybaris was a lever-action rifle with a two-round burst fire, and Oberon squeezed off shots whether sliding, running, or bullet jumping. Though he looked like a sturdy warrior, Oberon was still first and foremost, a ninja.

Although one that was hopefully still susceptible to an ambush. A white, black, and dusty blue blur shot towards Oberon from the room's shadows; Therion in his beast form, now appearing in battle himself since his striker's time had run out. In his jaws was the Kamura blade, with which he sought to cut a chunk out of the warframe. After the initial surprise attack, the thief's strategy defaulted to his familiar hit and run - trying to anticipate where Oberon would run to avoid Ganondorf, then intercepting him.

While Ganondorf dueled with Oberon and the others battled with Robin, that left Jesse to face Titania. When she dodged her second rock Jesse shifted behind a pillar to avoid the sniper shot, and moved out of cover to avoid the follow up grenade. During that time her Service Weapon reappeared in her hand. Going easy on the Paranatural powers to let her Energy recharge, she switched to Spin. Jesse opened up on Titania as she ran, aiming with one hand, spraying a large volume of bullets for her to avoid. Then she slid behind a fallen rock pillar and switched to Grip, putting out more accurate, more damaging shots at a semi-automatic rate of fire. Jesse would try to navigate to where she could put a pillar or some kind of debris between herself and Titania on a relatively short notice, staying on her feet instead of floating around like she usually did. All that would do would leave her more exposed to fire. 

The shootout between the two quickly picked up in both speed and intensity, becoming a high-octane shootout and a race to see whether Jesse or Titania could pick the other gunslinger off first. Though the FBC director had seldom been truly threatened by her fights throughout the World of Light thus far, she quickly realized that this enemy would give her a run for her money. Titania moved at blistering speeds, not just bullet-jumping and aim gliding through the air much faster than Jesse herself could hover, but changing direction on a dime. This made the warframe hard to hit, even with the sheer output of Spin–and that firing mode’s innate spread didn’t help, either. Even when Jesse switched to Grip for crucial accuracy, the shots she landed exposed a new problem: the fact that Jesse wasn’t the only one around with a rechargeable personal shield. If the redhead didn’t place her shots consistently, Titania’s energy shield would just refill itself. Worse still, the warframe stole her strategy of hiding behind the underground chamber’s many columns to give her shields that exact opportunity. Both sharpshooters could do this; the difference was that Titania could also use those moments to shoot at the Seekers fighting Robin Goodfellow, her Corinth shotgun blindsiding them with chunks of damage. Still, Titania wasn’t going to settle for a stalemate with Jesse for long. She kept an eye on Robin, waiting for an opportunity.

At this point, Robin definitely needed her help. After Nadia opened it up with a flurry of attacks, her allies followed suit. Knowing the sting of Bowser’s blows, the archangel tried to backpedal away from him, only to run into a wall of bones brought forth by the Koopa King’s Marie striker. Taken by surprise, Robin got battered by the former Skullgirl’s fusillade of skulls. Primrose surged forward in the wake of the skeletal tide, and this time Robin stepped forward to give the dancer a bone-crushing kick. Instead she vanished and reappeared behind its back, a shadowy slash to his ankles both boosting her critical chance and precipitating a cross-shaped spear of darkness from above. The Dark Lance both pierced its eldritch form and continued to release bursts of pitch-black miasma for a short time, keeping the archangel occupied long enough for Primrose’s friend to lend a hand.

“Tagging in!” White hair streaming behind her, Nadia leaped in after Primrose brought down the Dark Lance to keep the combo going. She flew in and sunk her claws into Robin’s arm, using her momentum to swing around it like a gymnast’s high bar. On the third revolution she let go and flew upward, avoiding Robin’s angry thrash just in time, then airdashed toward his head on jets of blood. She landed a quick three-hit air combo, leaped away, and detached her head to launch toward the archangel with Cat Spike. “Service with a smile!” Her long hair hardened as her head flew, becoming a huge buzz saw that sliced into her target’s chest. As it lost momentum, New Moon activated on the final hit for a burst of damage, and both feral and head fell away. “Saw right through you!”

There. Turning away from Jesse, Titania extended her hand toward Kamek and cast Lantern. A swarm of razorflies immediately coated the magikoopa’s body, creating an irresistible floating beacon. The eyes of every Seeker present were riveted to that spot, and anyone drawn to Kamek within the next ten seconds would also fall victim to the razorflies’ eventual detonation. In quick succession, three things happened. First, Oberon cast Renewal, releasing waves of nature’s power to restore health to himself and Robin, who was within its range. The next second, Robin cast Fairy Dust, instantly plunging Nadia into sleep. Finally, Robin cast Night Mare. A dark presence manifested around all three sleepers, and when horrific eyes stared out from that abysmal miasma, all of them took a chunk of unavoidable damage. As the archangel laughed, two more diamonds appeared in its halo. Six out of ten.