[center][h3]Tora & Poppi[/h3]
Level 7 Tora (66/70) and Level 7 Poppi (65/60)
[b]Location:[/b] the End
[b]Word Count:[/b] 1139[/center]

[center][hider=For Tora]New Power acquired:
[b]Rapid Recovery[/b]
While he and his party are out of combat (defined as nobody having the 'aggro' of any enemy), Tora heals 20% of his vitality every second.[/hider][/center]

Through the dust and darkness there descended a metal angel, her arm outstretched, offering salvation to the Nopon on the verge of death. “Blaze-Blade!” Tora just about burst into tears of relief as his friend's healing pumped into him, quickly bringing him back from the brink. Given his impressive vitality it would take a bit for even her concentrated, single-target recovery to get him back into top shape, but he already felt fighting-fit. More than that, he felt like a hero. He's single-wingedly braved the daunting might of the dragon and tanked three brutal blows—a little Nopon like him, weathering that monster's strength! And it was a good thing too, since the Ender Dragon appeared less than eager to relent. After shaking loose the last driblets of her acid blast, she turned to pursue the inventor and crush him for good.

Tora rounded on the leviathan, flanked by Poppi and Blazermate. This time he doubted the angry, badly wounded dragon would try to smash just one hero flat, no matter how much one provoked her ire. As the Ace Cadet could tell, the Ender Dragon was raging. But Tora saw he would have to go it nearly alone. He spotted the others hurrying over, the last of the enderman horde taken off their hands by various minions. Between them and the end of the fight writhed the Ender Dragon's heavy, rock-hard tail, more than enough to to strike a careless hero down on its own. Both Donnie and Geralt took a solid but non-critical hit as they attempted to approach, the raw damage mitigated by their evasive abilities. The others, however, got through, and they put into motion plans to put the Ender Dragon to rest once and for all. Tora knew how he could help, too. He just needed a little more juice.

First to arrive was Sectonia, and the bee queen brought a couple troops with her. Fox flung a momentum-assisted Cadet, surrounded in laser fire, to smash against the dragon's crown. Banjo and Kazooie's Beak Bomb made for the second hit in the heroes' sky-high train of pain, and Fox's explosive Illusion Burst the third. After each hit the dragon reactively swung her head back to attack, only for the next beat in the heroes' killer groove to hit her head-on. Explosive vials softened her cranium up for an even more explosive Power Geyser, and in any other combo that blast would have capped it off, but this one was to end with a bang. A familiar princess sprang from the tower where she landed, popped her parasol for a boost upward, and cruised close enough to meet the Ender Dragon face to face. In her hand she held the [url=https://banner2.cleanpng.com/20180418/shq/kisspng-destiny-rise-of-iron-destiny-2-destiny-the-taken-destiny-5ad6e42a209cf2.9096319215240325541336.jpg]revolver[/url] of Mr. Grimm, and with clenched teeth she pulled the trigger to unleash a screaming soul blast that utterly destroyed the dragon's eye.

Of course, the others weren't wasting this opportunity. The Ace Cadet raced down as Linkle's cold spread up, and as the latter encased the distracted leviathan in ice the former cut her up. Wielding his friend's gun, Daxter dumped a withering load of root rot into the miserable beast, and Cuphead cleaned her clock with his magnificent beam. Tora, meanwhile, rocket-jumped using the Mech Arms' missiles to get close enough to beat up the dragon's chest, doing a pittance in terms of damage but charging his all-important meter. When Bowser took to the air, Tora knew it was time to get busy, and Poppi confirmed with a resolute nod that their store had maxed out. “Now, Poppi QT!” he called, passing his weapons. “Lay the hurting down!”

“Enemy cannot escape from Poppi,” the blade affirmed. She received the Mech Arms and jumped up so Tora could give her a boost. A little power from her remaining thruster got her all the height she needed. “Should prepare for total beatdown!”

The Mech Arms' silos stretched wide, and from each launched a dozen missiles at once. The wind-infused rockets looped, curled, and spiraled through the air, acquiring their target, then converged en mass on the Ender Dragon's chest. They lodged into the scales like porcupine quills, and for just a second sat there, primed and ready. Poppi landed beside Tora, and they posed together. “Noponic Destruction!”

All at once the rockets detonated, sending shards of scale and end stone spinning. Though no great shakes in terms of damage, it at least applied Seal Blowdown. This far into the fight, Tora didn't know if it would come in useful, but a level three blade combo constituted the most damage he could do. After that, he and Poppi stepped back to watch the show—for Bowser was coming down. His shadow covered the Ender Dragon, and the impact that followed was nothing short of bloodcurdling.

An immense cracking noise resounded across the island. Though the Ender Dragon had tried to move forward out of the way, the injuries that left her head a barely-functional wreck and her frozen rear half prevented her from avoiding the Koopa King's gigantic splash. Her tail broke off completely, and her back and legs were destroyed. Her hollow hit the air, a true siren's song. Yet still she struggled, clawing the ground as she pulled forward out from under Bowser's bulk. Visibly she was breaking down. Odd light leaked out from her flesh. All the energy that remained within her was gathering for a death knell, a majestic move recognizable to the Cadet as the hallmark of Elder Dragons: the Supernova. But this would be the end of her, an ability of desperation, beautiful only in its terrifying power. An indescribable [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrcts1swc_c]noise[/url] filled the End as she collapsed in on herself in an awesome lightshow, until for just a split second all sound had given way to portentous silence.

Then the dragon exploded, the blast itself smaller than the levithan in life, but with a pressure wave that raced across the End at supersonic speeds. Everyone got smacked, but it didn't hurt that badly, and not one soul moved an inch backward. Somehow, the Ender Dragon's death knell amounted to little more than a firm thwack. For a moment Tora stood in shock, but his insight allowed him to piece together what happened quickly.

“Meheheheheheh!” he laughed, rolling on the ground. All the stress flooded out of his body as he guffawed. Poppi fell into a sitting position herself, no less relieved.

After limping over, Peach glanced at him, confused and a little annoyed. “What are you laughing at?”

Tora wiped a tear from his eye and explained. “Meheheh...that big boom...was mostly push power. Probably to throw everyone into pillars or off island. But Tora had Poppi Seal Blowdown, so big boom couldn't knock friends back!”

A large spirit descended not far away, an orb of roiling, oily black leaking out traces purple from within. Though it didn't bear the explicit image of the boss, that confirmation was unnecessary at this point. The Ender Dragon was dead.

[hider=Results!]
[b]Party:[/b] Ace Cadet, Banjo and Kazooie, Blazermate, Bowser, Bowser Jr, Courier 6, Cuphead, Donovan Lee, Fox, Geralt, Hat Kid, Jak and Daxter, Kamek, Linkle, Sectonia, Tora and Poppi
[b]Encounter Reward:[/b] 20 EXP
29x Enderman spirits, 1x Ender Dragon spirit[/hider]

[center][h3]Lumbridge[/h3]
[b]Location:[/b] Land of Adventure
[@Zoey Boey][/center]

Curly Brace nodded, full of understanding. As a veteran adventurer -or more accurately, adventurers' caretaker- of Lumbridge, she'd seen plenty of new faces come and go. Some didn't care about or didn't even seem to notice the incredible cultural mishmash going on here, but this Sakura needed some help. The machine lent her shoulder for Ryu to lean on, and together with his admirer she helped him toward the guild castle. Ever the tough nut, Ryu did not allow himself to be dead weight, and the trip went smoothly as a result. She used her leftover mental capacity to think about who might be able to get Sakura up to speed. While Ryu clearly knew the basics and boasted a talent for figuring people out, this girl needed someone well-traveled, who could tell her a thing or two about the state of the world. But everyone from that special adventuring group had...ah, not quite. Somewhere in town a few of them had stayed behind.

After leaving Ryu in the care of the [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/elderscrolls/images/1/10/Class_creation_healer.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20120310214157]guild healer[/url] and the company of whatever questers happened to be idle in the guild at the time, Curly led her new acquaintance throughout Lumbridge. Seldom did she manage a full dozen steps without greeting a familiar face. She waved to [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/p__/images/0/07/Hero_SSBU.png/revision/latest?cb=20191108140332&path-prefix=protagonist]Eleven[/url], exchanged pleasantries with [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/super-smash-bros-ideas/images/6/6b/Mina.png/revision/latest?cb=20190429225234]Mina[/url], and knelt down to hug a cucco being chased by a [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/hmwikia/images/b/bc/Rick_FoMT.png/revision/latest?cb=20140912082149]kid in glasses[/url], and saluted the vigilant [url=https://gamepedia.cursecdn.com/darkestdungeon_gamepedia/thumb/d/d6/Hound_Master.png/790px-Hound_Master.png?version=1dc1c482a834720f950c29c5716f177e]Houndmaster[/url]. Once back on course, she headed for the smithy, figuring that the heroes might have gone there. “Hey!” she called out, strolling through the door. The sturdy stone brick building foregoing a proper storefront for a down-to-earth look at everyday business, featured racks of smtihing tools and medieval weapons alike that shone in the firelight. “Ramonaaa! You there?”

A red-haired dancer lady, seated by the door, pointed deeper into the forge. “They're working on my keyblade.” Once inside it took just a moment to find the [url=https://iamafk.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/flames-of-reflection-summon-banner.jpg]smithy sisters[/url] hard at work on a project. The weapon they appeared to be upgrading looked like a rod coated in flowers; how it held up under the duress of blacksmithing was anyone's guess. It certainly didn't look like a blade, but it did bear some resemblance to a key, at least. 

The youngest sister spotted the visitors almost immediately, and she made her discovery known. “Hey, it's Curly! And...someone new! I think?”

Rena smiled, a little apologetically. “Pardon us, we do meet a lot of people. How can we help?”

“Have you seen anyone from that amazing adventuring team around?” Curly asked, her hands clasped in front of her. “We wanted to ask them for help.”

A vigorous shake of Ramona's head sent her enormous head of blonde hair swishing side to side. “Can't say we have. Did you check the new shop?”

Curly lit up as if remembering something. “Not yet! I was just headed that way when I saw Sakura here, actually.” She turned to her new friend. “Let's go and see!”

The new 'shop' turned out to be easy to find; it featured a whole herd of townsfolk crowded around. At the center of it all, behind his merchant's cart, stood a pig in overalls. “Steeeeeyep right up 'n have yerselves a ganda at theeeee finest produce in the Land of Adventure!” he oinked in a bassy, twangy voice. “Grown with tender love 'n care out in mah humble home, the beautyful Hamlet, these vittles satisfy like no otha!” A couple other pigs milled around, talking to the townsfolk. They did not appear to be locals, but somehow they fit right in, speaking to the people with a comfortable, self-satisfied ease. 

Though the pigs caught her attention, Curly was more interested in a few of the onlookers. She spotted a middle-aged [url=http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131010193523/gtawiki/images/6/6d/MichaelDeSanta-GTA5.png]man[/url] talking to a vaguely familiar [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/6/63/Persona_5_Hero.png/revision/latest?cb=20160505182242]boy[/url] with fluffy black hair. She led Sakura his way, and once she got her chance, she greeted the guy with a wave. “Hey there. You're with that crew that came in yesterday, right? My friend here has a few questions for you.” Without so much as a warning, Curly surrendered the floor to Sakura. Although uninvolved, the boy in uniform remained nearby in silence, although he possessed a certain charm that made him seem trustworthy.

[center][h3]Dead Zone[/h3]
[@EvilEdd1984][/center]

[hider=Results!]
[b]Party:[/b] [@EvilEdd1984]'s Doom Slayer
[b]Encounter Reward:[/b] 10 EXP
4x Fading Necromorph Spirit, 1x Rat King Spirit, 1x King Minos spirit (claimed by Pandemonica)[/hider]

An acrid smell stung Nero's nostrils. Grumbling, he rolled down the window and looked out at the ravaged streets. “You have to do that in here?” Nico smirked as he tried to fan her cigarette smoke away. “It already smells like ass.”

“That's you,” she shot back.

Leaning out the window, he took a deep breath, trying to clear out the funk. Instead he got a potent whiff of decay despite the rushing air, and he looked ahead. Moving bodies dotted the road in front of Nico's van, some embroiled in conflict with one another. Nero narrowed his eyes at the monsters The demons he knew from his own Qliphoth misadventures as Empusa fought back against zombies. As the van got closer, the devil hunter could see that the shambling corpses had been overtaken by the parasites he'd seen earlier, both to a [url=https://zombiepidia.weebly.com/uploads/5/2/1/9/52190991/3987621.jpg?249]great degree[/url] and in great quantities. “Nico?”

She had already started to accelerate. “Hold yer tits, I see 'em.”

She maneuvered the van back and forth, but it didn't take long for thins to get choppy. After just over a second she hit a flood dead-on, barely making an effort to avoid it. Its juices and wriggling bits splattered over the windshield, although the van's wipers proved much stronger than they looked. Another one disappeared beneath the vehicle's tire, causing the whole thing to jerk abruptly, and a third right after brought the machine into two wheels.

As the van came down, the devil hunter rolled his shoulders and leaned out the window again, reaching into his coat. “Hey, you have to hit every single bump in the road?” Nico just chuckled, causing Nero to sigh. “Gonna ruin my groove.” He squeezed the trigger of the Blue Rose, blasting twin rounds into an Empusa just ahead. The Flood beside it blew apart the next moment, and its brethren turned to face the incoming threat. Nero fired again and again, pausing deliberately between each shot. On the driver's side, a Flood grabbed on and clambered up toward Nico, its grotesque claws reaching for her. Without looking she pulled out her cigarette and jammed it into the monster's head. The stink of burning rot filled the air and the monster fell away. All the while, the Doom Slayer could poke out of other windows or hang out the side door to take shots of his own.

Ahead, wreckage blocked the road. Monsters crawled across piled up cars and debris. Nero paused, a knowing smile creeping across his face. Nico nodded, and laid on the gas. Just before impact she wrenched the wheel sideways, hard enough for the van to ride up on just two tires and ramp off a totaled fourdoor and into the air. Time seemed to slow down as Nero flew out of the passenger's window, sprang away from the vehicle, and laid waste with repeated shots in every direction. In the back, Pandemonica panicked, flipped upside down amid flying objects by the barrel roll of the airborn car. Yowling all the while, Nadia's parts bounced around the interior. V remained in his seat, totally unfazed as he read on. Nico kept her cool, diverting her eyes from the road ahead just long enough to catch a cigarette in her mouth. On the outside, Nero circumnavigated the vehicle, ventilating the demons and Flood one after another. He slipped back in just as one of the other cars blew apart, lighting the entire street up with the explosion. Another second more and the van touched down, speeding away, leaving a scene of destruction behind. Pandemonica lay face on the ground against the van's rear, and Nadia in pieces. “That was...awesome...” she wheezed.