[center][h3]Tora and Poppi[/h3]
[b]Level 6 Tora[/b] - (11/60) EXP and [b]Level 5 Poppi[/b] - (19/50) EXP
[b]Location:[/b] Devil's Casino, Inkwell Isle
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1787[/center]

Poppi nodded to the Ace Cadet's question, as might have Tora if he had any neck to speak of. Both knew that might not be the case if not for Gneidxick's discretion, however. The Courier really had some guts to just volunteer their spirits like that. Tora got the impression that the man loved gambling as much as any other vice, but no matter how talented he might be, such a move reeked of irresponsibility. In this world, the rules were different. Completely unforeseeable abilities lurked around every corner. If they wanted to save the day, heroes couldn't afford to brazenly rely on whatever tricks got them through in their own worlds. Of course, Tora doubted that 6 cared much for saving the day. During the trip so far his mentions of payment, typically from Bowser, did not go ignored. Being a greedy Nopon himself, Tora could relate, but this was different. The stakes were higher. This world needed heroes.

6 got his dues and the group began to split up. Given the language used by Gneidxick, who didn't even seem to want his casino's newest patrons dead, the driver-and-blade pair felt pretty confident about handling one of his bozos all on their own. Tora waddled off toward one nobody went to yet, but Poppi remembered something important and knelt to entreat her Croagunk. “Hello, little brog,” she said, getting its attention. The change of scenery seemed to distress the Pokemon, putting it on edge. Poppi beckoned to it emphatically. “Come with Poppi and Masterpon. Help beat up goons, work out frustration.” It neither seemed to fully trust nor understand, but in this alien place any familiarity was preferable to none, so the little monster followed the Nopon and Blade toward the portal. Tora led the way, pausing at the threshold to decide which foot to enter first with. It took him a moment, during which his face lit up with excitement at something, and then he plunged in.

The three stepped out onto what appeared to be a racetrack. Tora's first thought went to cars, but the dilapidated track appeared to be a checkered wooden board, bordered with a mere railing, and surrounded by both dead trees and grass. With a start Tora noticed the ghosts floating around among the weeds and in and elevated stands, spectators for the event soon to begin. Bizarrely, beyond the grass and trees were cave walls lit up in hellish hues of red and orange, as if the entire venue took place deep inside the bowels of the earth. “Meh...” Tora breathed, wondering just what he got into, before finding out just a couple seconds later.

A loud clattering noise forced Tora and Poppi to look up, and together they spotted their enemy. A large [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/cuphead/images/5/58/PhearLap.png/revision/latest?cb=20171029132351]skeletal horse[/url] in a bright green visor and red bow tie sat in some sort of floating craft, not too unlike Bowser Jr's clown car. As they watched, a hole opened in the ground nearby, and Gneidxick sprung out with a starter's pistol in his hand and a grin on his face. “Ladies and gentlemen, we're off to the races!” he exclaimed. “Ready, set, go!”

Tora and Poppi readied themselves as he fired the pistol, and straightaway normal-sized skeletal horses sprang from the ground with brightly-uniformed skeleton jockeys on their backs to race down the track. Their bone-hard hooves threatened to wallop and trample the intruders, but Poppi had other ideas, and Tora knew just what to do. He jumped toward his partner as she boosted into the air, hesitating only long enough for the wide-eyed Croagunk to jump on. She managed to jet up and out of the way just in time to avoid the sepulchral stampede, but Phear Lap looked more than pleased for his challengers to have entered his domain. Immediately he started backing up, his hovercraft bucking like a wild bronco, and when Poppi flew toward him he ejected a blue gift from his ribcage. The present hovered through the air, using the ribbons in its bow like helicopter blades. Tora positioned himself on Poppi's upper back, holding on with his little arms while his wings reached forward on either side of his head, Mech Arms equipped. The first gift the pair evaded easily, but soon after they passed it the present exploded with the sound of ricocheting bullet into a hail of golden and pink horseshoes that flew out in every direction. They smacked the three challengers across the back, hurting a fair bit, but they kept moving forward. Soon they got in range, and Tora opened wide the Mech Arms' missile pods to start firing rocket after rocket at Phear Lap. After realizing what was going on, Croagunk started using Mud Slap, hurling globs of mud at the retreating skeleton. One by one the projectiles exploded against his bony body, but Phear Lap rode on, undeterred. 

Tora kept at it until something surged upward from the track below, forcing Poppi to evade. They veered out of the way as a cyan-cloaked ghost flew upward. Both partners looked down. Below galloped an endless parade of calcium-rich horses and jockeys, but after every handful of jockeys, there came a horse with a ghost on its back. As they watched, one such specter springboarded off its mount and shot straight up at them. Poppi expertly maneuvered away, but at that moment an unnoticed gift launched by Phear Lap exploded, showering the challengers with painful horseshoes once again. “Ow, meh!” Tora exclaimed. “That going to leave bruise. Flying hard enough without pesky minions jumping around. Poppi, let's seal reinforcements.”

“Roger, roger!” A series of sharp clicks came from Poppi, and a dark aura flared to life momentarily around her core and weapons. “Hold on.” Tora complied, and Croagunk learned to as the artificial blade rocketed forward, her thrusters set to max. Phear Lap yanked a roll of dollar bills from his ride to use as a makeshift club, but before he could so much as raise it Poppi hurled Tora at him like an oversized dodgeball. 

The Nopon his the skeleton in the face, dropped onto the flying machine's rim, and faced Phear Lap down with Mech Arms at the ready. “Okay, Nopon boxing time!” He threw out some body blows, one, two, then ducked as the bone horse swung his bill roll horizontally. Another few punches landed before Phear Lap swung again, this time adding a follow-up second swing that clocked Tora in the noggin. Shaking off the blow he kept at it, hitting until he needed to swerve right to avoid a hand smash. Meanwhile Poppi and her passenger Croagunk faced off against marauding ghosts, dodging and attacking until Tora gave her the signal. “Okay, juice stored! Let 'er rip!”

He tossed Poppi the Mech Arms, and she caught them before reading one large rocket each. “Poppi Missile!” she called, darting forward to audaciously bomb her enemy. Phear Lap reeled back, his skull spinning on its vertebrae, and Tora took back the Mech Arms to start the routine of gathering energy again. The racehorse attacked with newfound vigor, forcing the rotund engineer to his limit. Jab, jab, hook, uppercut, duck, jab, jab, duck, duck, hook, hook, hook, dodge right, dodge left, double hit. Poppi kept an eye on her masterpon, watching but not taking action until Phear Lap slammed both arms on his flying machine to make it rock back and forth, putting Tora off balance. With enough opening created, the horse manifested another exploding present point-blank to blast Tora away, but Poppi was ready. 

She channeled her ether into him to create a shield around him, withstanding the blast easily, and Tora delivered an uppercut to Phear's jaw in recompense. The Mech Arms then sailed Poppi's way. “Now, Poppi! Round two!”

Poppi snatched the weapons from the air as she sprang forward into action. “Behold power of Poppi!” A spinning punch smashed into Phear's jaw, sending chips flying. Croagunk jumped forward and jabbed Phear in the nose with his poisonous orange finger before leaping back to grab Poppi, who then finished with a darkness-infused uppercut. It exploded in a burst of black and purple energy, throwing both Pear and his ride backward. Tora grabbed hold of the flying machine as it span vertically, completing two whole rotations before evening out. A moment later the gauntlets fell into his hands, and not a moment too soon.

The ghosts renewed their assault, and Phear struck back with a vengeance. He rained down blows on Tora, but the Nopon had a plan. Putting no effort at all into defense, he put everything he had into a constant barrage of punches all over his foe, barking constantly as he did. “Mehmehmehmehmehmehmehmeh!” Bruises, cuts, and welts covered him, but still he fought on, trusting in pure constitution while Poppi dealt with the spirits. Croagunk clung to her, flinging Mud Slaps mostly in vain. Tora finished the barrage by readying the Mech Arms and unleashing a nebulous blast. “Pow-pow Cannon!” Phear Lap clattered his teeth, dazed, and Tora stopped panting long enough to pass the Mech Arms one more time. “Here finale! All power to weapons!”

This time Poppi said nothing, instead zooming forward to equip the Mech Arms and hold them up. Ether energy flooded through her, and when she opened her weapons' missile pods, countless dark missiles shot out in a torrent that swept Phear Lap away. He fell to the ground in a spiral, catching himself just above the track, and. With a chatter he thrust a finger at the wear challengers as they approached, a command for his racers to take them down. But nobody came. Baffled, Phear looked around, but not so much as a single jockey appeared to help him. As he looked this way and that, confused, Croagunk leaped from Poppi to use Astonish as it fell, striking Phear with a startling sound. It proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back, as the horse fell back in [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/cuphead/images/a/a4/Skelehorsedead.png/revision/latest/top-crop/width/300/height/300?cb=20171217230828]defeat[/url], sobbing with his money clutched in his hands. He looked as though he'd lost his life savings in a horse race, and certainly not in any condition to fight. Tora and Poppi landed about fifty feet in front of him, wondering if the brief but fierce brawl was theirs. “Whew, meh! That fun fight,” Tora said. Poppi, having had to put up with constant annoying ghost attacks, was unconvinced. Croaguk looked pretty pleased with himself, though. With the track clear and Phear beaten, Tora turned around to head back toward the portal, but not before giving the racehorse a wave. “See later! Next time, bet on Tora and Poppi!” he laughed before heading through, his friends in tow.

[center][h3]Koopa Troop[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Devil's Casino, Inkwell Isle[/center]

Father and son stepped out into a white void crisscrossed and layered by vast arrangements of white and black dominoes. However visually striking their new surroundings, they did not get long to admire it. The ground beneath them, a rather narrow bridge of white dominoes laid side by side, started to move. Behind the koopas was a wall of spikes, an ever-present threat lurking behind them to skewer them should they not mind their pace. Every few dominoes as well came one with spikes on the top, requiring a hop to get over unless skewered feet ranked on their priority list. By itself the conveyer belt provided a danger if not a real problem, but the real problem wasted no time in presenting itself.

A swing descended from above to stop over where the domino conveyer began. Atop it sat a domino with arms and legs, its upper half sporting a male face and its lower half featuring a female one, complete with skirt and heels. “Pip!” the top shouted, to which the bottom added, “And Dot!” Together, in one uncanny voice, they said, “We're gonna have some fun!”

Pip raised his hat as if to greet the challengers, but beneath was a domino bird, with one eye on each half and a beak in the middle between its wings. It flew out with an angry tweet, trying to smack Bowser or his son and force them toward the spikes. A moment later, Pip leaned back as the living domino almost split in half, revealing a [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/cuphead/images/5/52/Pip_and_Dot_attacking.png/revision/latest?cb=20180316163946]fanged mouth[/url] that spat out a glowing dodecahedron. It shot around, completely uninterruptible as it bounced off various dominoes, threatening to smack the koopas into peril.

[center][h3]Courier 6 and Geralt[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Devil's Casino, Inkwell Isle[/center]

The living glasses eyed 6 as he approached. “Wha? ...Who're you?” the shortest one slurred, full of rum and as red-nosed as one could get. 

His much taller companion fluttered her eyelashes at the newcomer. “Heeeey there, darlin'.” She hiccuped, the stem of her martini glass wobbling precariously.

The biggest of the three scowled at him. “Hey,” he growled, his voice full of whiskey. “If you ain't...ain't gonna party, you ain't welcome 'ere!”

“Yeah!” the little guy agreed. “Have a...have a drink!”

He lost his footing and flopped down, face-first, in 6's direction. A tide of rum surged from him, rolling over the tablecloth to slam into 6. Rummy stood back up afterward, albeit anything but steady, and rocked back and forth on his feet. A second or two later, Geralt appeared from the portal, and after getting over his shock he chucked a grapeshot bomb at the Tipsy Troop. It exploded in their midst, blasting all three with a clearly painful wallop, but their glass did not just up and shatter. In reply Martini straightened up, trying to focus, and after a brief moment her olive divided in half. The second half flew up, sprouted purple wings and a red eye, and started flapping around and shooting eyes. Whiskey's eyes became spirals as he shot a beam of liquor upward to fall straight down toward the Witcher like a pillar of light.

[center][h3]Ace Cadet and Linkle[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Devil's Casino, Inkwell Isle[/center]

The situation changed with stunning rapidity, but after Gneidxick revealed himself and explained, the heroes' task became clear. More fighting would be in order, and though things didn't seem anywhere near as dire as they had last night or even in Paved Wilderness, Peach treated the highroller to an icy glare. After the Courier's forced rejection, everyone took the hint to get on with the game, and dispersed toward the various portals. Peach took a chance to steady and look over Hat Kid, but found no sign of injury. Whatever their nonsensical means of conveyance, they appeared to take no injury from the fall. When she looked up Peach saw Ace Cadet motioning at her, which she took to be a sort of beckoning wave. She nodded and hustled after him, following into the poker chip portal with her shotgun at the ready.

After stepped across the two emerged. Instantly they were assaulted by hot, sooty air, feeling it, tasting it, breathing it in. They stood on a giant ashtray, about thirty feet across, that stood just a short way above a blazing inferno. Around the fiery arena swung a shifting, smoky miasma of well-dressed casino patrons, placidly watching the proceedings, and a hefty jump across open air stood another ashtray tower. In its ashes rested a giant head shaped like a cigar butt, complete with comedic long nose, waxed mustache, and teeth as yellow as his eyes. From above an oversized arm reached down, the purple suit sleeve implying it to be Gneidxick's, and in his hand he held a lighter. Mr. Wheezy leaned forward for Gneidxick to light him, causing the gray top of his head to flare up, and after Gneidxick removed his arm the [url=https://pm1.narvii.com/6751/83bf9de9cbaff0547f93e830ba0351b519aa8ce0v2_hq.jpg]living cigar[/url] grinned. “You folks,” he said, his voice a dry, gravelly grumble. “Look like you could use a light!”

He cackled as the flames turned up a notch. Cigarettes with bat wings, horns, and leering eyes flew up from the fire below, swooping lazily around the arena. Wheezy, meanwhile, puffed up his cheeks before releasing the first of many crescent fireballs, which span through the air in an unpredictable arc. Peach let off a scatterblaster shot at the cigar, but the distance rendered it ineffective, and the next moment she had to take a dive into the ash to avoid the fireball as it wheeled toward her.

At that moment Linkle appeared, having arrived to the Devil's Casino as the first of the heroes' reinforcements and chosen a fight to join. She arrived just in time to take a flame wheel almost full in the face, and the cigarette bats fluttered over to give her a proper greeting.

[center][h3]Nero[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Argent Tower, Dead Zone[/center]

The survivors' mad rush to the tower fending off ambush after ambush, from all sorts of monsters and from just about every direction conceivable, staying ahead of the ravenous, unstoppable horde. Each fighter made every second count, every swung and every spent round of ammunition; with the stakes high and a gruesome death -more than likely followed by grotesque undeath- only ever a few seconds away, nobody could afford to give anything less than their all. Nero made the most of the Blue Rose's unlimited ammunition, blasting monster after monster as they reared their ugly heads, and his tidy handiwork allowed him a brief window every so often to glance back. There came the horde, terrifying and inexorable as ever, but he spotted something else, too.

He saw his companions at work, and what he saw invariably made him proud of those who'd accompanied him into this hell. From his vantage point atop Nico's van Jak rained a brutal fusillade of projectiles on the encroaching zombies and demons, cycling through mode after mode as he strove to protect his friends. The portly dragon also occupying the roof watched with wide eyes, not minding in the least that his hero used his corpulence to help deaden his morph gun's recoil. Ratchet and Donnie together manned a vehicle, usual-looking but still recognizable as a bike, and between them wreaked havoc on the speedier among the group's pursuers. With attached blade, projected ki, or overwhelming arsenal they carved up the monsters, helping to ensure the survivors could proceed safely. Joker kept the skies clear with his gun and the aid of his persona. Blazermate's converted undead fought tooth and claw alongside the defenders to fend off attacks coming from the side. They proved an invaluable asset; by lunging at incoming fiends and grabbing hold, they kept them still for a single well-aimed shot or slice from a defender to lay that particular threat to rest. Of course, Ghalt's shotguns typically vaporized the friendly undead as well, but there were plenty more where they came from.

Nero refocused, eyes on the prize. Not far now. The tower loomed ahead, a four-sided technological monolith with imposingly spiky battlements at the top, reaching up toward where the tower lights lit up a whirling centrifuge of dark clouds in red. 
[center][img]https://i.gyazo.com/2f73aab82bbcd9ad3ea8c8fa1504fd0f.png[/img][/center]

As he and Howard led the survivors nearer, they simultaneously noticed the carnage. Strewn all around the base of the tower were countless carcasses, most mutilated beyond all recognition. The pavement itself was slick with murky fluids. Nero took a deep breath and pushed on, readying the  Red Queen. Ahead stood the main door, a giant sliding affair that lay barely ajar. The van had stopped close to the entrance, its riders and passengers disembarked. He couldn't see much within the building, but he could see something gleam as it moved. It stepped through the atmosphere, menacingly slow, and the devil hunter slid to a stop.

To call him a man would have been to do him no justice, but what else could it be but a man, beneath that heavy green armor, and featureless helmet? Yet danger seemed to radiate off him, hitting the survivors in the face like an overpowering odor. Maybe it was the gore that drenched his gloves and boots, or the shotgun held in his right hand, or just his deafening, inhuman silence. The group stopped cold, suddenly caught between a rock and a hard place, only about ten seconds ahead of the horde.

Nero said nothing. He couldn't think of a damned thing to say. But the big man started to move. He walked forward with a purpose in his stride, no sign of overt hostility. Nero and Howard stepped to the side, letting him by, and the survivors got out of his way. The horde approached, and the stranger picked up speed. He materialized a rocket launcher into his hand, leveled the end at the shrieking throng, and [url=https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/e38b6b89-974b-4a45-8b9c-4215103a2aa9/ddn4ze3-28a30eeb-909d-4b19-aa2a-c6c268f86a28.png/v1/fill/w_728,h_1097,strp/doom_eternal_doom_slayer_03_by_enriksd8_ddn4ze3-pre.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTU4MCIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2UzOGI2Yjg5LTk3NGItNGE0NS04YjljLTQyMTUxMDNhMmFhOVwvZGRuNHplMy0yOGEzMGVlYi05MDlkLTRiMTktYWEyYS1jNmMyNjhmODZhMjgucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEwNDkifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.36LStsLBShCGPIL_nJiNepmKMpNzsGzNLvYiPbr6Qtc]he[/url] fired.

Flame blossomed in the night. An entire swath of the horde blew to bits. The armored man said nothing, already making his next move. Two more rockets flew out to enact devastation before he switched to a LMG. Excessively large rounds ripped through the ranks of zombies and demons, blowing chunks out of the stronger ones before blasting them apart, too. He finished with a salvo of mini-missiles from an attachment on the weapon before stepping forward to confront an Antenora personally. A shotgun blast at the last second messed it up and sent it flying, but he caught it out of the air, pulled it back toward him, and punched clean through its midsection with a hook. More zombies raced toward him, but he used another gun to shower the horde with balls of electricity, then charged forward to rip an electrocuted [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/doom/images/6/6f/HELL_RAZOR.png/revision/latest?cb=20160528024615]hell razer[/url] a new one. A red arremer swooped down, attempting to pick him up, but the man proved heavier than it expected and pulled it down instead to tear off its wings. Whenever he got hands-on with a kill, various packets spilled out of the fresh corpse, replenishing his health, armor, and ammunition. He disappeared into the horde, but the slaughter continued, decimating monsters by the dozen. When Nero heard the roar of a chainsaw, he couldn't help but last. “Well, I guess he's got it covered,” he said, trying to break the ice. “Let's go in.”

Howard nodded, exhaling heavily. One man stood where nobody else could have, turning the tide against an entire horde on his own. Out there were bloodthirsty bugs, reapers, mechanical monstrosities, ghosts, and countless kinds of zombies, all the stuff of nightmares. But [i]he[/i] was worse. “Yeah, let's. C'mon everyone, get inside!”

In a few moments the survivors all crammed inside. Nico managed to squeeze her van through the entrance, after which she pulled it up alongside the door as a barricade. It didn't seem so crazy that the man from before could finish with the horde and come wandering back, so V stayed behind as a lookout, but everyone else could breath a sigh of relief. They were safe.

“Blazermate, let's get a new teleporter up and running,” Howard said. “And if there's any way we can decrease the cooldown, do it.” Survivors stood by, collectively exhausted and hurt but ready to escape. 

Nero waved to Donnie. “Hey, start disinfecting people. Don't wanna send any plague bombs to...uh, whatever place is on the other side.”