[center][h3]Same Old Story - No Further Steps[/h3]
The Koopa Troop’s [@DracoLunaris], Primrose and Therion’s [@Yankee], Sectonia’s [@Archmage MC], Ganondorf’s [@Double], Ms. Fortune
[b]Word Count:[/b] 3855 (+4)[/center]

Robin hit the ground hard, and a vast, unnatural creaking noise issued from its body, as if the earth itself were groaning. The awful sound subsided after a moment, but the archangel continued to writhe feebly. Beside it lay its book, splayed open but still intact, though the same couldn’t be said for its horn. Its ten-diamond halo hung empty, listless, and faded. Robin was dying.

[b][i]”THIS ISN'T HAPPENING,”[/i][/b] it wailed after a moment. Badly wounded and thoroughly exhausted, Robin could do little but raise a desperate, imploring hand upward, though unfathomable amounts of earth separated it from the sky. [b][i]”LORD OF LIGHT. WHY AM I HERE? JUST TO SUFFER, FOR YOUR DISTANT AMUSEMENT? HAVE PITY ON ME.”[/i][/b] Robin grit its teeth, and the pages of its tome began to turn. [b][i]”GIVE ME ONE. MORE. CHANCE!”[/i][/b]

Robin used Treat, giving itself the random buff Multitarget.

Robin used Fairy Dust.

In that moment, the eyes of every Seeker began to droop. Even the warframes seemed to short out. Everything grew hazy; the darkness closed in. Their limbs, heavy as stone, could not be lifted, and their heads lolled as they sank to the ground.

[hr]

Then their eyes opened again, and for a moment it seemed as if nothing had changed. Around them towered the underground chamber’s pillars, and over them hung the darkness of its vaulted ceiling. The Seekers could see one another as they stirred. In the air above them, however, hung weightless motes of faint, soft light. Each an intricate, unique circular pattern. The walls of this room seemed to be overgrown with quietly whispering roots, their wood inscribed with barely-perceptible spirals and rings. And the flowers. All around them, the long-dead, withered flowers that they crunched underfoot by the dozen in their struggles against Ten Piedad and Robin Goodfellow were not just alive, but in full bloom. These [url=https://i.imgur.com/7ZTiowA.png]lumenflowers[/url] were even larger than sunflowers, but with milk-white petals, and centers as pitch-black as the inky night.

“Whuh?” Nadia’s head popped up from inside a cluster of lumenflowers, held up by her hand. She looked both angry and bewildered. “Where is…where am I now!?” After seeing her friends, the rest of her appeared and she replaced her head on her shoulders. “You guys too? I’m still dreaming, so…I guess you’re not real, either? Unless we’re all sharing a dream somehow, in which case, hoo boy…”

[color=D34C25]"That seems to be the case..."[/color] Primrose replied, picking herself up once more. When she had felt the now familiar pull of sleep due to Robin's spell, she had expected a third round with Simeon. This was entirely different, but she could tell that she was dreaming too.

Off in the distance, the surreal flowerbed stirred. From them rose the unmistakable shape of a being that should’ve been dead. Robin assumed its full height without a scratch on its body or anything in its hands. It took a deep breath, then held its right hand upward.

Nadia swallowed. “Uh oh.”

Immediately, the room began to shake. Cracks opened in the walls, letting in peach-colored light. After a moment they broke apart and fell away in immense, jagged slabs, and as they crumbled they revealed a boundless sky of gentle clouds and floating islands, interspersed by enormous floating symbols like snowflake dreamcatchers, no two quite alike. The ceiling floated away above the Seekers. Wherever they’d been taken, they were clearly not underground any more.

White motes began to coalesce above Robin, gathering into a storm that slowly spiraled downward like a tornado to its outstretched hand. [i][b]“EVEN IF THIS IS IT,”[/b][/i] the archangel murmured. [i][b]“THE PITIFUL SUM OF MY EXISTENCE…”[/b][/i] The light of dreams slammed together in its palm, and in Robin’s grasp it became an [url=https://i.imgur.com/KKrZICY.png]ethereal sword[/url] that the archangel held half in front of its face with both hands. [i][b]“I WILL NOT GIVE IT UP.”[/b][/i]

[center][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lP2-68Y0onM&ab_channel=JoelBaylisMusic[/youtube][/center]

One of the first responses to this was a cry of [color=SpringGreen]”Esuna!”[/color] followed by one of [color=SpringGreen]”Oh come on!”[/color] as the cure spell failed to awaken Jr’s target from within the dream.

[color=797979]”Hmph!”[/color] grunted Ganondorf. He’d had just about as much as he could stand of this Robin Goodfellow, [color=797979]”Asleep or awake, it makes no difference!”[/color] he declared, brandishing his twin greatswords and pointing one of them at Robin in a threatening manner, [color=797979]”Victory will be mine!”[/color] and he charged forward in order to continue his relentless assault of twin sword attacks against Robin.

[color=92278f]”Ugh, not this again. I suppose it makes sense this happens considering we need an item from this creature...”[/color] Sectonia said, annoyed as she began to throw out her homing spell shots.

Wielding its dream nail in both hands, Robin swung it well before Ganondorf got into range. Its ethereal edge created a shadowy lightwave that flew through the air in a dazzling diagonal arc. It cleaved through the lumenflowers in its way as it surged forth, threatening everyone in its path, and in its wake Robin launched a second lightwave at the opposite diagonal angle. Ganondorf had to halt his advance altogether just so he could jump aside in time to avoid being cleaved by them.

Behind him, Bowser, Jr and Rika had a bit of a better go of it, good at jumping as they where, the pair leapt over the center of each diagonal arch, either one after the other like hurdles in Bowser, and his sons’ case, or all in one go with the featherfall launched Rika. Kamek meanwhile just floated over the problem entirely.

“Oboy.” Already not planning to go toe-to-toe with Robin now that it had a giant sword, Nadia took off in a run to circle away from the huge lightwaves and around the archangel for a flanking maneuver. By ducking down to dart along on all fours, she kept a low enough profile to use the lumenflowers for cover, though with Robin mowing down the flowerbed her cover wouldn’t last for long. “This is NOT my idea of a dream battle.”

“It’s probably really boring from the outside.” Jesse said, Levitating to get into the left ‘quadrant’ of the light waves, going over one and under the other. Doing the usual, she found a big rock in the chamber and chucked it at Robin before following up with Grip shots towards his weird face. For a brief moment Robin held up its dream nail inorder to protect itself, but the stone fragments and the bullets that followed still pitted its body.

It might have been the feeling of dreaming, or seeing that Robin was on his last legs, but Primrose did not immediately go on the attack this time. She avoided the dark waves produced by Robin's sword, then stood her ground. It was the final push, and with everyone here, conscious, and fighting together, she decided to empower the Seekers so that they might get this done all the quicker. She started with Lion Dance and flowed into the Peacock Strut, increasing the offensive capabilities of her allies.

Therion was more than nimble enough to get out of harm's way as well. Once he did, he summoned the ever reliable junicorn to use it as cover to slip into the dwindling flower patch the same as Ms. Fortune. The striker rolled forward, firing its lance at Robin once it came to a stop. The rose-red horn impaled the archangel’s shoulder, then disintegrated after delivering its piercing payload, leaving the junicorn to fade out and start its countdown. Its master had already decided his next move, he just had to get a little closer in order to carry it out.

Ganondorf spotted Robin holding his weapon in a defensive manner and knew he couldn’t waste any time. He lunged forward and attempted his assault on Robin once again. Hopefully with less distance to cover and Robin’s momentary distraction he could catch the archangel unaware and snag him in a flurry of sword slashes. The archangel’s stance had hardly been a big commitment, though, and Robin turned while stepping away to perform a revolving wide slash. [b][i]”HAH!”[/i][/b] Ganondorf refused to be deterred this time. He held both blades vertically with their tips planted into the ground so they could absorb the brunt of the attack to minimize its damage. Then he went back on the attack. Only now he was close enough that he could clash his blades with Robin’s weapon and hopefully stop it from conjuring anymore lightwaves. His guard certainly blunted the blow, but it hardly stopped Robin in its tracks. After the sweep failed to connect, the archangel lifted its giant dream nail to bring it down on top of Ganondorf. [b][i]RRRAH![/i][/b] Ganondorf had no other option at this point. He pushed himself into a backward leap to avoid the nail. But that of course meant he now had to lunge back into melee range. Thankfully his allies chose that time to jump in and give him a much-needed moment to breathe.

The troops were hot on his heels, but rather than rush in to do their own thing like they had in a lot of the awake half of the fight, Jr was in a position to organize their tactics from the get go, commanding the squad to focus on pulling off a [color=SpringGreen]”Elemental combo! Water and metal, then a shocker!”[/color] which they followed his lead in doing. Jr started out by peppering the titan with numerous metal spikes shot from his wrist while Bowser sprayed him with water from his cannons and Kamek used his Crimson Rod to rain down bloody harm. Then once they’d sufficiently soaked and lightning-rodded their foe, Rika unleashed a swarm of electrical fireflies from her gauntlet hangers and sent them forward as she also summoned her Ichor queen striker inorder to have her unleash a lightning bolt, timing it so they’d both deliver their electrical payload at the same time as Mimi (riding her trainer’s shoulder) hit Robin with an electro ball. 

Nadia hadn’t been expecting the Troop to actually coordinate much of anything, let alone elemental reactions. More than anything else, though, those seemed to be what all the powers she’d gained from her fusions lent themselves to. “Hey, wait up!” While Ganondorf bought the others precious time by risking his life in close quarters with Robin Goodfellow, Nadia’s flanking maneuver brought her close enough to strike. First, she leaped out of the bed of lumenflowers to slice at the archangel’s hip with her claws. As the iron spikes flew in, she got the great idea to double jump directly into one’s path. The piercing pain elicited a gasp, but it also caused a Conducted reaction, and the Multitarget that gave her boosted her attacks’ range with bursts of blood. When the others’ plan unfolded, she could reapply more instances of wet to keep the pain train rolling with even more procs of electro-charged.

Of course, being close to Robin meant dealing with its massive, dangerous melee attacks, and Nadia wasn’t the only one in that predicament. Having had a second to breathe and to think, Ganondorf sprang back into action. He tried summoning Blastocyst so that it would drop directly down onto Robin Goodfellow from above - primarily to ensure Robin was momentarily distracted as it lashed out against the giant glob with its ethereal blade. Then he lunged forward to put himself back into direct battle against the archangel, [color=797979]”I’m getting sick of you! DIE!”[/color] he hacked at Robin with a handful of swings then followed that up with unleashing whatever dark explosion he’d managed to build up since the last time he used the attack.

About the same time, Therion made his move and used Shackle Foe. Now that Robin had been forced to take a more direct approach to combat instead of just defending himself and casting, Therion could tell that the archangel's attacks would be difficult to contend with. Anyone backed into a corner would fight ferociously, and the same seemed to be true now. Therion's skill would lower Robin's offensive power, for what it was worth, and he got out of the way quickly when he noted Ganondorf's imminent explosion.

Ganondorf’s barrage met with resistance as the much bigger archangel fought back, trading blows, but Shackle Foe made sure that the red-haired warlord could take it until he let loose with a devastating ender, against which Robin had no reply. The entity reeled for a moment, its arms flailing as it strove to regain its balance. 

Choosing to be daring, Therion darted right back in toward Robin. In his periphery he could see several other Seekers doing the same to capitalize on the opening Ganondorf had made. With a burst of speed Therion beat them there, stacking another debuff onto Robin with Armor Corrosive to lower his defense. Then Therion skirted around the archangel, slashing Robin's sides as he made way for his allies. His fellow thief dashed in on his heels, hardened claws at the ready. Nadia raked through the unnatural skin of Robin’s leg twice in quick succession, then chained into a moonlight-empowered Charge that carried her through and past her target in a jagged streak of yellow and silver. Her starting point meant that she ended up a ways behind him, out of melee range but not out of throwing range. She turned and hurled Athame at Robin’s back, and while she wasn’t a good enough knife-thrower to sink its blade, it still further debilitated the archangel’s defense on hit.

Once Robin got unbalanced, Sectonia saw a bit of an interesting scheme brewing. Seeing the debuff Therion was putting on him, she decided to hit him with Slow to make his counter attack quite the easy affair to dodge, before following up with her void globules. Might as well let those in melee take the brunt of the hits, but she could make their job easier at the very least.

All too quickly Robin planted a hoof and regained its poise, seizing the hilt of its dream nail with both hands. If its foes had it right where they wanted it, it was time to shake things up. [b][i]”RAAAAAAAGH!”[/i][/b] Robin rampaged across the arena, swinging the dream nail as it advanced to clear out its melee attackers, then close in on and scatter the shooters.

While Robin was unbalanced, Primrose had moved into the steps of yet another dance - the speed enhancing Panther Dance. It was finished not a moment too soon, an aid to help the party evade Robin's rampage. Primrose herself took no evasive action, instead using the speed boost to swiftly transition from dancing to bringing her weapon up in front of her. She attempted to parry the archangel's swing and found that even with an attack debuff he was still quite powerful. Unlikely to overpower him, she cast a Vengeful Spirit to burst in and through Robin, and in turn his rampage cast her aside.

Ganondorf had to dive out of the way of the archangel’s rampage. This was getting ridiculous. How much more could this thing possibly have in it? Surely it had to be on its last legs by now. The problem was, the Seekers were getting close to their last legs as well. Where was a Bottled Fairy when you needed one? Reluctantly, the warlord retrieved one of the potions on his person and smashed it against himself. The splash healing potions weren't as strong as the instant health potion he drank earlier, but at least it was [i]some[/i] healing to get rid of the injuries and damage Ganondorf had been taking.

[color=797979]”I grow tired of this.”[/color] he muttered, channeling his dark magic into summoning his Phantom. Once it appeared, Ganondorf grabbed the Phantom’s hand and let it lift him up. After a quick spin around, the Phantom was able to throw Ganondorf toward Robin, allowing him to come down onto the archangel from above. He attacked - not with his swords - but with his Warlock Kick. The kick wasn’t as strong as the Warlock Punch, but it was faster and less telegraphed in exchange. Ganondorf could then follow that opening move by again going head to head against Robin with his twin greatswords. The archangel was getting on the Gerudo’s last nerve and he was determined to kill the bastard once and for all.

The king of evil was joined in his self made projectile attack by Rika, who crossed the last of her hurled distance on the back of a vaultbreaker punch. To follow this slammed her hull claws forwards, as well as firing her rigging disruption cannons, both generating recoil to push her back and away from their foe a bit rather than landing right at his feet.

As for the troop, while Kamek had floated well above sword range as a matter of practice, and from up there continued to harry their foe with what little mana he had remaining, the other three had been in harm's way. At least for a moment till Bowser tossed his children out of it anyway, and left only himself in the way of the rampage. As a result of taking the brunt of it, he was down, but not out, as Jr (who had been the one to hurl Rika after Robin at her request) rushed to his side, helping him stand and using some of his dwindling mana reserves to cast [color=SpringGreen]”cure!”[/color] on his papa to get him off of death’s door.

Ganondorf’s intercession prevented Robin taking advantage of the state its frenzied advance left Bowser in, as the shadow-shrouded Warlock Kick smashing into its check took all its attention. Giving the archangel no time to breath, the warlord pressed his advantage with a savage offense, supported by a flurry of dark magic from Sectonia and constant gunfire from Jesse. Robin brought down its dream nail again and again, but Ganondorf did not relent, deftly evading or blocking the blows as his swordblades bit deep. As the rest of the close-quarters fighters closed in to join their furious frontrunner, Robin saw only one option. It inverted its grip on its dream nail, holding the ethereal weapon downward as the fantastical colors gathered around the blade. Then it plunged the weapon downward, creating a column of prismatic power around its body that was breathtaking to behold. Ganondorf, Nadia, and the others were forced to leap clear, lest they be consumed by the unnatural radiance.

Jesse lifted her gun at the sight of the massive column of energy, and switched to Pierce. She began to charge up a round of Pierce. “I’d like to tell you all a story about a dream my brother had once, if you don’t mind.” Jesse said, projecting her voice. She was talking to the Seekers and Robin both. 

That deadly x on the end of her barrel formed once again, and a little bead of lead began to vibrate and heat up the obsidian-like rocks that made up her gun. 

“See, my brother went to a dark place, and there was a dark man there. His name was Mr. Door.” She says the name, amused. She did some mental math and lined up the shot on where she estimated Robin’s head was behind the pillar. She figured that after all the punishment he had taken, it was time for the Seekers to start going for the finishing blow. For her part, she was targeting his head.

“And he told my brother that there are many worlds, side by side, on top of each other, some inside of others. In one world, there’s a writer who writes a story about a cop.” Jesse said, shutting one eye. The barrier fell, and Jesse had a clear shot. Right between the eyes.

 “In another world, [i]the cop was real.[/i]” The superheated psychic bullet shot out like a cannon, aiming to punch a hole in Robin’s 2D head. 

[color=92278f]”Ack”[/color] Sectonia reflexivity said at the bright column of light laid out before her. She was further away than the melee fighters, so she was just blinded by it, not in any real  danger. Still, she noticed that robin wasn’t moving, and she’d make use of that assuming her spell could go through. 

Using her own bit of light magic, she summoned her large rings of light and fired them at Robin, in an attempt to use the light buzzsaw rings to cut through his own light pillar. [color=92278f]”I am tired of this dream world. Vanish.”[/color] Sectonia said.

Despite the lightshow, the Seekers’ target wasn’t moving, and the director’s aim was true. Her shot cleaved through the light of dreams, then through the archangel’s self-image, and Sectonia’s spell followed suit. In an instant the pillar of light died, and Robin froze in a stricken position, eyes wide. After a moment a flood of white particles began to spew from its wounds, the same ethereal, radially symmetric patterns that floated throughout this dream world. Its body thrashed limply as it floated there, like a balloon losing its air through a rupture, and the voice that echoed through the field of unreal flowers rang loud and clear with notes of despair.

[b][i]”NOOOOOOOOOOO! THIS CAN’T BE IT!’[/i][/b] Robin howled. [b][i]”I HAVE NOTHING TO WAKE UP TO. I DON’T WANT TO DISAPPEAR!”[/i][/b]

Then its body exploded into light, and when the light faded, not the faintest trace remained.

But then a new light began to shine.

Throughout the battle, the floating garden island had been rising through the fathomless expanse of colorful clouds. Now, its upward journey -as frenetic as the pace of the fight itself- finally slowed, coming to an end as it crested the sea of orange clouds to come to a rest beneath a gentle, sunset-orange sky. Motes of light floated calmly here, and the fluffy clouds were piled together like scenic hills. Up through the clouds reached curved stony spires, pointed like ribs or horns, and they framed the gathering glow that now bid the Seekers to turn and look. At first, it looked like the sun itself, brilliant and orange as it would be at dawn or dusk. Yet somehow it seemed far closer. Closer to the dreaming Seekers than they could have possibly managed, closer than it ever should be, and blindingly -searingly- bright.

[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/msES7fu.png[/img][/center]

In moments, the all-consumed splendor of that light had burned everything away, and when all that remained was white, it slowly faded to darkness.