[center][h3]Tora and Poppi[/h3]
[b]Level 6 Tora[/b] - (13/60) EXP and [b]Level 5 Poppi[/b] - (21/50) EXP 
[b]Location:[/b] Devil's Casino, Inkwell Isle
[b]Word Count:[/b] 680[/center]

Yet another table awaited Tora, Poppi, and Croagunk on the other side of the chip portal. This one, however, boasted a couple points of interest. Its cloth was red, its patrons were close enough to actually be leaning on the table in all their inhuman, skeletal glory -which instantly set the arrivals on edge- and it seemed to host a living stack of chips with a cowboy hat. “Weeeell, lookie here,” he drawled immediately and with gusto, as if waiting patiently the whole time just to say it. “You ain't lookin' too fresh. Betcha just got done with one o' mah buds, huh?”

He meant it as a taunt, but Tora looked nonplussed. “Mhm. Horsey boneypon look much tougher than you, though,” he remarked. Croagunk let out a high-frequency croaking noise that might have been a derisive giggle.

“Whah! N-no,” blustered [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/cuphead/images/d/d9/ChipsBettigan.png/revision/latest?cb=20171029132300]Chips Bettigan[/url], looking less than totally confident all of a sudden. “I'm waaaay tougher than that skinless bronco.” He composed himself, giving a self-assured smile and closing his eyes dismissively. “Like, leaps and bounds. He don't even compare.” 

“Uh huh,” Poppi said. She was looking down at him over her nose, which made for an impressive feet given Chips' height. After a moment her disinterested gaze abandoned him to scour the table, and together she and Tora exchanged a few hushed whispers. Then she turned back to address the minion once more. “In that case, Poppi can use full power. Ready, masterpon?”

Tora nodded, grinning. “Ready, Poppi!”

Chips' yellow eyes widened. “N-now, jus' hol' up one minute...”

“Go!” the pair shouted together as they launched into the air. Poppi boosted forward while Tora, with Croagunk in tow executed a explosive slam in front of himself with the Mech Arms to sent them soaring upward. Chips focused on the immediate threat presented by Poppi, hurling sections of his own body at her like tabletop-sized disks, but the Artificial Blade used her metal arms to strike each one with mechanical precision and strength. They ricocheted off her like hockey pucks and arced, one after another, back to rejoin Chips.

“What?!” the living stack exclaimed, baffled by someone striking back at him instead of dodging. He didn't realize that he'd forgotten all about Tora until the Nopon dropped from above, delivered punch after punch all the way down his body while the Croagunk atop him struck with a matching flurry of Poison Stings. “Ooh-ow-ooh-ow-ooh!” Chips gasped, glaring as Tora as he landed. “Why, you-!”

“Ready?” Tora asked Croagunk, completely ignoring their foe. The Pokemon nodded and crouched down, tensing its muscles, as it tried to copy Tora's motion. “Booming BUSTER!” The two rocketed upward with a flaming and poisonous uppercut respectively, flipping Chips into the air in an explosion of poker chips.

“Aaaaaaah!” he yelled, his component parts sailing up before dropping back down in a heap. Cheering, Tora offered Croagunk a high five. The Chips' chips, of course, levitated only a moment after hitting the ground. They moved to restack themselves, but Poppi was already prepared.

“Masterpon!” she called, boosting his way. She snatching him from where he stood, holding him tight, and flew into the air. After a quick loop to build up speed, she kicked her servos into overdrive in a huff of etheric steam and hurled her fuzzy inventor straight at Chips. He went forth like a ball from a cannon, screaming incoherently the whole time, and slammed into Chips' head  belly-first. His momentum barely slowed as he bashed straight through the stack, bounced off the table behind him, and finally off of the suit of one of the giant skeletons before rolling to a dazed stop amid a pile of senseless poker chips.

“Oh, masterpon!” Poppi said, rushing to his side. She knelt over him. “You didn't even land super-cool punch!”

Tora burbled unintelligibly.

Smiling, Poppi leaned forward to pick him up again. “Still, masterpon pretty cool. Beat plastic pancakes no time flat.” This time she carried him gently as she returned to the portal, and after giving Chips a couple farewell kicks , Croagunk followed behind.

[center][h3]Organization XIII Gneidxick[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Devil's Casino, Inkwell Isle[/center]

Not everyone, it seemed, was content to simply play along. In light of the pretty poor total for the three dice rolls, or maybe due to some other circumstance, the long-haired, rabbit-eared girl stayed behind to yell up at the highroller from atop his table. Unlike that irksome Courier fellow, she got straight to the point, leaving Gneidxick to ponder her proposition. He began his reply with a chuckle. “Hohoho, fight...me? Uh...” He paused, furrowing his brow in concentration, as if consulting some hidden reference. “Ain'tcha...wanna savor the time ya still got, instead of throwin' it away?” He let that simmer, falling silent until Linkle continued. “'Cause playin' around is what I do, doll. The dice roll, the fools play, and the house wins.” Something she said left him nearly as clueless as her, however. “Don't rib me, bread. I don't take no orders from hands. An' the only din I'm hearin' is a li'l snoot who don't know when to quit smackin' gums.”

Linkle might have taken the hint and gotten going if she didn't realize something else. When she mentioned that his eyes weren't red, Gneidxick sneered. “Yeah, what else is new? Ya got a point, or d'ya just want your friends doin' all the heavy liftin'?”

[center][h3]Michael and Franklin[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Devil's Casino, Inkwell Isle[/center]

The friends found themselves on a billiards table in a vast, empty space. Auroras snaked through the dark, and enormous billiard balls floated in the distance like planets and moons. A colossal billiards rack hung in that unusual sky, and ribbons of color meandered by the horizon like rivers on a map. One ball, however, hovered directly above the table and its many cues: the eight ball. After a moment of silence passed, two eyeballs and rows of teeth orbited in from behind the ball, forming a face that stared uncannily at the new arrivals. “That ain't a cue,” the entity rumbles, his eyes pointing at Michael's rifle and his voice a strangely resonant snarl. “You tryin' to hustle me?”

[url=https://pm1.narvii.com/6620/2fa5262e1316276ccd42078712ba1949fbeddf03_00.jpg]Mangosteen[/url] spread his mouth around his eight symbol, which slid open to reveal a brilliantly radiant psychedelic chaos of color. A similarly prismatic orb of light shot out at the intruders. At the same time, living chalks started to jump around the table, trying to come down on and stomp Franklin and Michael in the head.

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

Before picking another battle, Bowser and his son went ahead and annihilated the remainder of their spirit collection, including that of the reviled Thing from the Stars. Carrying all their loot would present another problem, but at least the risk of the spirits fading away and being lost no longer applied.

[center][hider=For the Koopas]You have acquired:
[b]Crystal Shards[/b] x12
[i]Cast off by the alien malignity, they are now less dangerous and more useful, yet still they carry a distant spark that serves well for magical purposes and keeps them intact.[/i]

and:
[b]100 Gold[/b] x 5
[i]Makes the world go 'round.[/i]

and:
[b][url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/amnesia/images/8/86/Sanitypotion_cutout.png/revision/latest?cb=20181201202609]Laudanum[/url][/b] x 2
[i]A potent narcotic capable of stimulating healing and calming the nerves.[/i]

and:
[b][url=https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Nzq9qzMllDebUTTWFEUZ9FwTIDa-lz3U2NK8u2V-AVAuxV9gpldY7OFJhVo9GzDoY6AxD90Ykn1GHMp5EY_1yQ=s400]Stone Hoe[/url][/b]
[i]An angular tool for tilling the earth. Not great, but better than wood.[/i]

and:
[b][url=https://tr.rbxcdn.com/28da3218db4b5d3de784d6038f55deef/420/420/Hat/Png]Summer Straw Hat[/url][/b]
[i]Can't beat the heat? Stay out of the fields![/i]

and:
[b][url=https://oldschool.runescape.wiki/images/0/06/Onion_seed_detail.png?34a78]Onion Seeds[/url][/b] x 3
[i]With a lot of preparation, attention, and hard work, you too can one day harvest a bumper crop of vegetables that can't even be eaten on their own.[/i]

and:
[b][url=https://tr.rbxcdn.com/8d71749bdef30dc5a00ef3f68bce35f5/420/420/Hat/Png]Scarecrow Head[/url][/b]
[i]Creepy headwear. Bonus intimidation versus corvids.[/i]

and:
[b][url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/darksouls/images/d/da/Spotted_Whip_%28DSIII%29.png/revision/latest/top-crop/width/360/height/450?cb=20160613011024]Spotted Whip[/url][/b]
[i]Force and technique make for a nasty crack. Long range and extremely painful against flesh, and handy for mobility and utility, but useless against armor of any kind.[/i]

and:
[b][url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/harvestmoonrunefactory/images/6/67/Shirt.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/40?cb=20140330001358]Shirt[/url][/b]
[i]A plain shirt to wear under clothes. It's  made from materials which absorb sweat well.[/i]

and:
[b][url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/scribblenauts/images/3/32/Starite-SU.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20130723045615]Starite[/url][/b]
[i]A bright, yellow-crystal that sparkles joyfully no matter the level of light. Some can be found, but most must be earned by doing good things. It's said that gathering enough can make someone's wish come true.[/i]

and:
[b][url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/gothamcityimposters/images/7/76/Ninja.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20120220180025]Ninja Smoke Bomb[/url][/b] (set of 3)
[i]A glass of ninja powder that releases a cloud of ninja smoke when shattered. The powder makes anything it settles over practically invisible for a short time.[/i]

and:
[b][url=https://gamepedia.cursecdn.com/darkestdungeon_gamepedia/6/6b/Thing_hide.png?version=39c225165ff8409b5106edad8b3ab558]Phase-shifting Hide[/url][/b]
[i]A malefic remnant of the revolting nightmare, since gone back to lurk among the farthest reaches of space. Holding it close reduces incoming stress by 15% if the holder is above 40% vitality, but halves incoming stress if the holder is below 40%[/i][/hider][/center]