[center][h3]Tora & Poppi[/h3]
Level 8 Tora (6/80) and Level 7 Poppi (52/70)
[b]Location:[/b] Eryth Sea
[b]Word Count:[/b] 2246[/center]

The newcomers took in the sights offered by the grand foyer of Smash City Alcamoth, and wasted no time interacting with the locals. Zelda bowed her head when the Cadet thanked her, gracefully implying he wand the others were welcome. When Sectonia mentioned the presence of renowned individuals, she laughed off the perceived complement politely. “You're too kind. Here, we all stand at the same level as fighters.” Bowser greeted her as well, and took notice of the purple-clad plumber sulking off to the side. Since he was too far away to participate in the conversation and showed no interest in getting closer, Zelda took the responsibility of responding for him. “Oh, Mr. Waluigi isn't a fighter. More of a...hanger-on.” A look of concern passed over her face, befitting of a regrettably situation that occurred on her watch. “Most everyone tries to be nice to him, but he is rather on the surly side. He acts as though he wants attention, but when he gets it, he dismisses it as though he doesn't need it.”

Her attention was taken up by Cuphead, who introduced himself in gallant fashion. Smiling, Zelda offered a courteous curtsy in return. “How do you do, Mr. Headdicus.”

Tora burst out laughing. “Pfff! Cup-Cup just being theatrical. No need stand on ceremony, new friend Zelda!” Poppi nodded as she stepped forward, offering Zelda her hand. The machine and the princess shook, completing the gesture of friendship. As interesting as Zelda seemed, the two couldn't monopolize her time, so they stepped back to give the others a chance to speak. Tora looked up to Poppi. “Lots of pretty faces all of sudden! Tora might need Poppi to keep her masterpon in check!” he joked.

The artificial blade nodded, her face solemn. “Poppi will employ fist liberally.” Tora's smile faded, and he swallowed nervously.

Meanwhile, Isabelle flushed when Daxter pet her, embarrassed. “Oh, goodness! Why, s-stop it, you! I have important business to take care of!“ Clearing her throat, she shuffled her papers to try and put her thoughts in order. “Anyway, the meeting is scheduled for just over an hour from now. We don't have a meeting room, so this spot will work.” She raised her little voice so everyone could hear. “Please come back in an hour, folks! Pretty much everyone in Alcamoth will be coming, so look forward to it! Until then, feel free to tour the place, and say hello to the locals.”

[hr]

A quarter-hour later, the Nopon and his ether-fueled companion found themselves seated in a restaurant tucked away in an alcove on the second floor. Its cozy brick interior and the [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7X3lkSr6e64]cheery tune[/url] playing in the background gave it a wonderfully cozy feeling, but Tora was far more interested in the wonderful smells drifting out of the kitchen. A minute after the pair seated themselves, a [url=https://www.mariowiki.com/images/1/1a/Mona_Gold.png]girl[/url] in a red dress and white coat came out to welcome them. “Hiya!” she said. “Welcome to Monas' Pizza and Pasta! I'm Mona. Well, the original, at least. What can I do ya for?”

Realizing he had been looking more at the pizzeria than at the menu before him, Tora panicked. “Oh! Meh, meh...” he quickly scanned the listings. “Um, what is pepperoni?”

Mona laughed. “That's a good one.” She quickly realized from the Nopon's blank stare that he was serious. “Oh. Well, they're these li'l salty sausage slices, dude.”

Tora's eyes practically bugged out. “Meh!? That sound super yummy-lovely! Want pepperoni pizza, please!”

Nodding, Mona wrote it down before she glanced at Poppi. “And...anything for you?”

Poppi shook her head. “No, thank you. Poppi just enjoy smells of food with olfactory sensors.”

“O-kay...” Clapping her notepad under her arm, Mona smiled warmly. “Well then, we'll get that out for you in just a few minutes. Thank you!”

The pair settled in to wait. Scarcely had Tora sipped his water than he heard a racket from the back of the restaurant. He looked over through the brick archway offering a look at the kitchen to see a [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/p__/images/a/a6/Morgana_%28Original%29.png/revision/latest/top-crop/width/360/height/450?cb=20180115035815&path-prefix=protagonist]black cat[/url] standing on a stool with his little arms crossed. With a grin, the cat posed, and in a burst of blue flames a [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/f/fd/S06_chara8igscs.png/revision/latest?cb=20170612164631]masked spirit[/url] appeared behind him, much to Tora's amazement. 

“Show 'em your might, Zorro!” the cat commanded. Brandishing a roller, the spirit bent down and started rolling a glob of pizza dough, flattening it one stroke at a time. Zorro worked at feverish intensity while the cat looked on, pleased, until Mona walked over with an annoyed look on her face.

“Stop trying to impress the customers, Mona!” Mona scolded, flashing Tora and Poppi an apologetic look. “That Zorro of yours is too rough with the dough. The pizza needs a human touch!”

Looking guilty, the other Mona banished his spirit and took hold of the roller himself. “Well, I [i]am[/i] a human,” the cat muttered. “So that won't be a problem.”

Highly entertained, Tora looked over at a neighboring table to where a [url=https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/d9d32430-8bb9-4c0d-a8d4-0a7d557c2cef/dcg3cmh-b711eb45-2032-417a-8ffb-9a06db007139.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOiIsImlzcyI6InVybjphcHA6Iiwib2JqIjpbW3sicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvZDlkMzI0MzAtOGJiOS00YzBkLWE4ZDQtMGE3ZDU1N2MyY2VmXC9kY2czY21oLWI3MTFlYjQ1LTIwMzItNDE3YS04ZmZiLTlhMDZkYjAwNzEzOS5wbmcifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6ZmlsZS5kb3dubG9hZCJdfQ.-eMcEge3oAiC7nMCOnrtWRm0A1vsiKfPbXAsv3X7xbs]little girl[/url] was sitting, a book in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other. “Meheheh! Is Smash City always like this?”

She sighed. “Pretty much.”

Chuckling, Tora turned back around to get cozy in his chair and await a late lunch. Poppi rested with her head in her hands on the table, relaxing with a smile on her face.

[hr]

By the time the appointed hour came about and the heroes returned to the atrium, a prodigious assembly had gathered. A huge variety of people of all shapes and sizes stood in a rough circle around Isabelle's desk, by which a large crate had been placed for Peach to stand on. Tora got Poppi to pick him up and hold him over her head so that he could see above the crowd and get a look at who was in attendance. In addition to everyone he came here with, from the oldest of compatriots like Linkle and Blazermate to the newest arrivals like Sakura and Mym, there appeared to be quite the variety hailing from Smash City itself. He could see a [url=https://cdn.bulbagarden.net/upload/thumb/0/0d/025Pikachu.png/1200px-025Pikachu.png]pokemon[/url], a [url=https://pm1.narvii.com/6320/7946f5d13fda9a06dc876a93db0024c8c2dc70e7_00.jpg]robot[/url], [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/shovelknight/images/b/b8/Shovel_Knight_Treasure_Trove.png/revision/latest?cb=20180901211211]a knight[/url], a [url=https://www.mariowiki.com/images/thumb/0/06/DiddyKong2.png/1200px-DiddyKong2.png]monkey[/url], an [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda/images/2/25/Midna_%28Hyrule_Warriors%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20140612034301]imp[/url], and humans of all varieties from [url=https://www.ssbwiki.com/images/thumb/5/57/Chrom_SSBU.png/1200px-Chrom_SSBU.png]swordfighter[/url] to [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/characterprofile/images/3/3e/Terry_Bogard.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20160928150041]big fistfighter[/url] to [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/evolutionworlds/images/e/e5/Mag.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20120110064535]big-fist fighter[/url], just to name a few. Above it all floated an imposing, alien [url=https://www.ssbwiki.com/images/thumb/d/de/Mewtwo_SSBU.png/250px-Mewtwo_SSBU.png]figure[/url] with a stern look on its face. When Peach took the crate, the general hubbub came to a stop, and the speech began.

“Hello to you all, and thank you for welcoming me here,” the biker chick began. “I am Princess Peach.” She allowed a moment of chatter to pass. “I'm here to tell you the truth of this world, in which you all have been locked away, unknowing and complacent, until today.” She spread out her arms, her voice growing heavy. “With an army of master hands under his control, Galeem sought to create a new world. The fighters and their countless stories came to an end as light consumed them. Thus, the universe was crushed in the hands of Galeem.” She cast her mind back to that cliff, the annihilation that occurred there. She could see the same horror in the eyes of her audience as they began to remember. “Those who fought the light were devoured,” she continued. “The others lost their bodies and became spirits. Only one survived. Through him, a star of hope twinkled faintly as the dust settles on a new world.”

She looked between the gathered faces. “I can see that it's coming back to you. You're realizing it now. This world is not our own. It is a tapestry woven from the threads of countless worlds by Galeem, who even now floats over his masterpiece in idle splendor.” Her finger extended toward the sky, pointing out through the window of the atrium. Far, far away, a glimmer of multicolored light shone in the distant sky. “My team and I are taking him down. To defeat him, we need to first defeat his thirteen champions whose essence protects him. We've been busy. Only eleven remain.” She crossed her arms. “Still, we have a massive task ahead of us. Our fight is across the entire continent, and moving as one unit we've made progress, but slowly. What we can do is limited by our numbers and by our resources. That's why I've come here to speak to you. Will you help me save the world?”

A chorus of cheers went up from the crowd. Everyone seemed to know the score, deep in the backs of their minds. They just needed someone to point them in the right direction. The cacophony went on for a few moments before a grunt issued through the assembly's collective mind. They looked up to see Mewtwo, floating above the crowd with an air of authority. The pokemon nodded its assent.

Peach manifested a relieved smile. “Good. In that case, we'll start immediately.”

Another fountain of noise spilled forth, but amid the general enthusiasm a singular brawny arm went up. Peach gestured for quiet and pointed out its owner. “Yes?”

“Yeah, so that's a great idea 'n all, and I'm down fer it completely, but 'ow exactly didja plan to do this?” The [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/xenoblade/images/b/b2/XC2-Vandham-Artwork.png/revision/latest?cb=20171112192945]absolute titan[/url] of a man questioned. “Were we all gonna plow around in one giant army? That just ain't practical, miss.”

Peach stared at him, defensive but curious. “You sound like you have a better idea in mind.”

“That's right,” the man said. “Y'see, back in...!”

“Vandhaaaaaaaaaaam!” Tora wailed, jumping out of Poppi's hands straight for him. The man held out his arms and caught the Nopon like a beach ball, allowing Tora to hold him close. “So happy see you again! We thought you dead, meh!”

Vandham grinned, embarrassed. “Not yet, mate. But, uh, maybe save the tearful reunion for later, huh? This ain't the best time.” Wiping his eyes, the Nopon nodded, and Vandham set him down. “Anyway,” he said, clearing his through. “Back in my world, I ran a little outfit called the Garfont Mercenaries. We deployed small teams best suited for the job on missions all across the world, solvin' problems and rakin' in rewards. If ya like, I can handle organization. Could be ready fer duty as soon as tamarra.”

Impressed, Peach agreed. “That would work very well. Work smarter, not harder, right?” With that neatly taken care of, she thought to the immediate future. The heroes would be moving out again before long, and they needed direction. “Kamek, the map,” she said, and the magikoopa approached to hand her a large rolled-up paper. She unrolled it with his help and let it hang, turning back and forth so that everyone could see. “This is a map of the world. By our best guess, we're on the very edge of the black zone by the desert, which was the End and is now the Eryth Sea, looking from above. That means that the 'Sandswept Sky' is the nearest area. We also have a link to a fortified building in the Dead Zone, and a way to get to an island off the coast of the Edge of the Blue.”

Mewtwo's telepathic voice resounded outward. “If you intend to brave the desert, make for the mountain on the other side. There is something there that fits the title of a champion of Galeem. I can show you after this.”

Peach nodded. “In that case, let's make preparations. Isabelle, if I may ask, please put together a roster of everyone present. Please prioritize my team, and mark down where they intend to go. Team, let her know your intentions. Everyone else should be marked as 'awaiting deployment.'”

The dog looked eager to begin. “Yes, ma'am!”

Vandham spoke up again. “Sounds like the first job of the Alcamoth Mercenaries if to scout the country. I'll draw up plans on the double.”

A short ways away from the main group, a familiarly unknown [url=https://www.khwiki.com/images/d/da/Master_of_Masters_KHXBC.png]visage[/url] casually leaned against a tree as he looked on. “Boy howdy, this is something else,” he remarked, his voice expressive and charismatic. “Just about brings a tear to the eye.” The black-hooded figure put a gloved hand into the darkness of his hood as if to wipe away said tears, but nothing in that shadow could be seen. He raised an arm and waved at Peach. “Hey, pretty in pink! Aren't you forgetting something?”

Peach's eyes went wide. “Oh, Master of Masters? How did you get here?”

He pantomimed painting something. “Through a magical graffiti door, of course! How else?”

With no answer to that, Peach answered his question with a question. “What am I forgetting, then?”

“Spirits, doy!” the mystery man declared before addressing the gathered fighters. “So here's the crib notes. If you beat enemies in this world, they leave behind spirits you can use to make equipment or fuse with, granting totally radical new powers. If you're curious, see me after this and I'll give ya the deets.”

The princess retook the spotlight. “Thank you. Alright then, people,” she called out over the excited chatter. “We have a plan. We have the manpower to fight on many fronts. And we have the will to beat this World of Light. Now steel yourselves, and prepare to save the worlds.” Another round of cheers went up. Tora joined in, bouncing up and down, and even Poppi waved her arms. Everyone could feel the energy and determination in the air. With this many heroes, there was no way they could lose.

[center][h3]Joker[/h3]
[@Gentlemanvaultboy][@ProPro][/center]

It wasn't until Ren stepped inside the guild castle and got a whiff of the aromas wafting over from the in-house snack bar that he realized how hungry he was. “Oogh. I could really go for a bite to eat.” Restraining himself from tripping over himself to get there, he took a moment to scope out the guild hall. It housed what seemed like an average number of adventurers, all going about their business in unconcerned normalcy. They relaxed at tables, chatted with their fellows, and group around the quests board to figure out how to spend their afternoons. A colorful array of characters occupied the place, but looks alone weren't enough to make any judgments on, so instead of take stock Ren sank back against the wall by the main entrance to look out for a few faces in particular.

He ended up finding the object of his search at the snack bar after all. A [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/megamitensei/images/1/13/P5RRyujiSakamoto.png/revision/latest?cb=20190726142102]Japanese teenager[/url] with spiky hair dyed yellow and a school uniform sloppily draped over casual clothes hunched over a bowl of fries. “Aha.” Waving at Link, Ren started over. “Let's see if my friend over there found anything.”

The hungry student spotted Ren as he sat down and greeted him with toothy grin. “Yo, what's up?” His eyes lingered on Link. “Who's this guy?” After Link introduced himself, he nodded and stuck out his hands. “Hey, I'm Ryuji.” He didn't waste time getting back to his friend, however. “So, check this out. I found this dude named Franklin, and he actually knew something about cars. Apparently he and a bunch of other people came here in, like, a caravan, including this huge-ass monster truck.”

Ren remembered the huge, dark shape sitting at the edge of town when he arrived from the Dead Zone and nodded.

“Apparently they got most of their vehicles from a scrapyard outside of Peach's Castle. Like from Mario! Ain't that cool?” Now that he was excited, there wasn't any stopping Ryuji. “The monster truck came from this wasteland area they drove through, when they fought a bunch of other people with cars, which is like the coolest thing ever. I can't believe I was stuck in some time paradox in that nightmare city while people were havin' frickin' motor battles! Anyway, they stopped at a mechanic with all kinds of cars and stuff that's just a ways north of here. Called Hummer...Hammer-something.” He leaned on the counter. “So how's that, huh? Even Morgana would have to admit I'm a real credit to the Phant-”

He took a nudge in the ribs from Ren, who cut in over what he was going to say. “Yes, yes, you did well. As it happens, I figured out what's going on in this world, and what we need to do to stop it.”

Ryuji's jaw dropped. “For real?”

Ren nodded. “This is a cognitive world like Mementos, full of shadows. The source of the distortion -the treasure- is an entity calling itself the Lord of Light. It keeps the shadows suppressed and oblivious.”

The puzzle pieces were clicking into place. “Ohhhhh, I get it...just like with the...the Holy...”

“Just like that,” his friend confirmed quickly. “In order to face it, we need to defeat thirteen guardians hidden around the world. Once we do, we can take it on directly.”

“Aw, yeah! We're back in business!” Ryuji all but yelled, drawing a few looks. Flushing slightly, he settled back down, and in an urgent whisper said, “So, we just gotta find Ann...I mean, Panther, and track down these guardians. If these are all shadows, we can take whatever vehicle we need, right?” He scratched his head. “Wait, how are we gonna find these anyway?”

“There's a group already going around doing this,” Ren told him, inclining his head at Link. “This guy was with them before ending up back here. They seem to know what they're doing, so we just need to follow them.”

Ryuji furrowed his brows. “Wait, there are shadows trying to change things? Now I'm confused.”

“Get used to it.”

After a few seconds more, the sound of heavy tramping feet reached the three through the guild hall's door. They looked over to find a strange man standing in the threshold. Huge and menacing, he bore the fans, claws, horns, tail, and wings of a black dragon. Link could not avoid making the connection, but the others just watched as the strange fellow started through the hall. A little turtle with a bandanna and a slimy blue pompadour followed behind him, and so did a hunter with red hair. Getting his friend's attention with a sharp nod, Ren got up from the snack bar to follow, taking a handful of fries with him. Ryuji took the entire bowl as he followed suit.

The pair listened as the stranger stopped to greet a robot of some kind. Apparently they knew one another, and when the robot mentioned the winged cowboy getting a dragon spirit, Ren's face turned to one of mild surprise. He looked to Link for confirmation. Meanwhile, the Courier spoke to the guildmarm to collect a reward for completing the hunt. The guildmarm seemed taken aback, both by her client's appearance and its implication. “Wow! You guys really did it! Now the entire Land of Adventure will be open for exploration! And of course, Lumbridge will be open to you. You're now our top adventurers, after all. We don't have any grand coffers of gold to offer you, but you can always count on this town for a warm meal, a place to stay, and whatever tinkering you might need.” She pulled down the contract card marked 'Fight to the Bitter End' and marked it completed. As if on queue, the sound of a crowd cheering filled the guild hall, and confetti burst out from hidden contraptions. Most of the adventurers present started clapping and cheering, replacing the recorded sounds with their own.

Ren waited for the party to subside, watching for the Courier to emerge from the crowd. When he did, he whispered to Ryuji. “Find Ann, now,” before hurrying toward the gunslinger. “Greetings. It sounds like you're part of the group that's tackling Galeem's bosses. If it isn't too much trouble, my friends and I would like to join you. Perhaps you know him already?” He indicated Link. “For the distance involved, you got here quite quickly. Do you have a way to return to the main group?”

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

Of all the monsters the Slayer fought so far, the Hierophant was uniquely agile, and uniquely problematic. His shotgun rounds rebounded off its scaly hide, and the pellets that did make it into through the brief windows into its ribcage were so few as to render the damage meager. When the Slayer closed in to handle the situation personally, however, the Hierophant slunk out of his grasp and lanced his armor with its trident. The two covered ground aggressively, with the man bulling forward in frustration and the wily fishman evading him. Bit by bit, the fearsome prongs of the monster's trident gouged deeper and deeper, diminishing the Slayer's armor. It didn't take long for the metal points to start doing real damage, but the man's anger made him faster. He made the Hierophant scrabble to maintain its distance, taking potshots when he could until his ammunition ran dry.

Snarling, the creature ran and leaped over a lava river, clearing the bubbling lava with ease. Though too far across for the Slayer's standard jump to make it, the edges of the chasm maintained some of the debris from when a city street ran through hear. A lightpole hung over it at a precarious angle, its beam horizontal enough to serve as a monkey bar. Thinking itself safe from the Slayer for now, the Hierophant waved around its trident and thrust it toward him. A shoal of demonic fish leaped from the lava moat toward him, trying to sink their vicious teeth into his armor before they burnt out.

At the same time, an even more mobile throwdown was in progress between Nero and Bathin. The devil hunter quickly learned that his fleet-footed adversary could dash fast enough to create whirlwinds after taking a hurricane punch to the shoulder. “Gah!” He grunted as he tumbled backward. Cackling, Bathin extended his snake tail, and from the serpent's mouth fired a purple laser. It missed initially, but the snake quickly adjusted the aim to rake Nero across the abdomen with the beam. Gritting his teeth, Nero pulled out the Blue Rose and nailed the demon right in the visor with a pair of bullets, but Bathin learned quickly, too. He zipped to the side the avoid shot after shot, then wound up for another lunge punch. Nero replied by swapping arms, and when Bathin zoomed forward this time, Nero thrust his Overture arm forward to meet him. A hand-shaped thunderburst expanded outward, flooring Bathin and sliding him over the rubble. He slipped off the edge of the lava moat, twisted in midair, and landed on his feet on the other side. 

He found no safety there. Nero had already prepared a follow-up, so even though Bathin unleashed his tail-beam once again, the devil hunter plowed through it with Hard Way to deliver a massive jumping slash. “Right there!” With Bathin on the ground, he inelegantly pounded away with the Red Queen, smashing downward again and again. The repeated clash of his blade against the road echoed across the area, drawing the eyes of various demons. [i]CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG![/i] Finally, he turned the blade to drive the point in, then pulled it upward to send Bathin flying. Bleeding bright yellow ichor, the demon righted himself as he sailed through the air and sent out his targeting beam. It bounced off the walls of the valley-shaped battlefield in a massive zig-zag, and the next second Bathin sped along it at nearly the speed of light. Nero took two hits and got spun around before he backflipped up onto higher ground, leaving Bathin to complete his return trip.

As he landed, he spotted V sliding backward nearby and almost fall over the lip to the danger zone below. Nero glanced over his shoulder to see Griffon and the hat-wearing stranger from earlier tangling with a [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/darksiders/images/f/f4/Sloth_Throne_Screenshot.png/revision/latest?cb=20170506074720]grotesque insect[/url] with a staff. Even though he appeared to be sitting idle atop a filthy throne held up by a number of crabs, he clearly possessed his own measure of power. He conjured an orb of scum and hurled it at the stranger, against whom it exploded on contact. “Bug problem?” Nero teased.

“Stronger than he looks,” V assured him. “If you're free, I could use some firepower.”

Nero looked back over to see Bathin climb a nearby ledge. “Hold him still and it's a deal.”

“Got it.” 

The two switched places, with Nero running for the bug while V called Shadow to deal with Bathin. Nero sent forth a Wire Snatch to grab onto the insect's throne and fly in. Sloth's staff swung toward him to crush him mid-flight, but a well-placed shot from the stranger's pistol blew a chunk out of the monster's spindly wrist and sent the staff's head on a low path. Nero landed on Sloth's oversized belly. “Hi there.” He primed his Overture Arm and held it up to ram it down.

“Really, this is too much effort...” Sloth proclaimed.

Nero planted the arm, turning it into an attached explosive, and jumped off. He turned in the air to see Shadow clamp a vice-jaw shut on Bathin's tail, and with a smile lunged downward into a Payline. The Red Queen's tip plunged into Bathin's chest and Nero carried him through, straight to the bottom of the valley and the lava river flowing there. He dunked Bathin in the molten rock, who screamed shrilly as he struggled. One hand went up to put out another tracer beam, just as V expected. “Shadow—fence him in.” The demon cat transformed, sinking into the battlefield before a forest of scattered black spikes arose. They cropped up in the exact path of the tracer, redirecting it again and again. When Bathin took off, desperate to escape the searing lava, he zipped between the spikes like a pinball until his journey came to an abrupt end in a head-on collision with the Exploder placed on Sloth.

Bathin's eyes went wide as he reeled, his head spinning. “What?”

Sloth's were dull. “Oh, bother.”

V smiled, smug as a bug. “Checkmate.”

The bomb went off in magnificent fashion, annihilating Bathin and blowing Sloth through his throne. Laying where he fell, the bug summoned more crabs to dig up beneath him and carry him away. Nero, meanwhile, went after Bathin's spirit, which took him to the opposite edge of the battlefield. The Slayer could tidy up the mess, he figured. He clambered up onto the road and found himself in a dusty, half-destroyed food shop, maybe a deli. A look back confirmed Nico's van on the other side of the valley-shaped pit. It also made him aware of someone sitting at one of the tables overlooking the battlefield. Someone with a red longcoat and a crop of white hair.

Nero's brows went up. “Dante?”

The figure turned around, laying one arm on the chair back. Nero's brows dropped back down again. [i]Not Dante.[/i] For starters, she was a woman, one with sunglasses, black-tipped white horns, and a spiked red hairband. Beneath the coat she wore a red suit vest and black tie over a black undershirt, and her cuffs and ears bore silver, fly-shaped pins. And she had freckles. An apology was on the tip of his tongue when the woman greeted him. “Hey, kid! That was awesome!”

Nero froze, his mouth hung open. His eyes drifted down to the [url=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/devilmaycry/images/2/26/DMC5_Devil_Sword_Sparda.png/revision/latest?cb=20181028111324]weapon[/url] propped up against the table. [i]Sparda?[/i] But not just anyone could wield that thing. He glanced at the woman again and went out on a limb. “...Trish?”

“Uh, no. It's me, Dante!” The woman stood up from the table, faced him fully, and put her hands on her hips. Nero became aware how much taller he was than her, but he didn't move “Yeah, yeah, I know. Crazy, huh? So here's the thing.” She held her hands up as though she were painting a picture with words. “So there I was, woke up with this horrible migraine. I smack around a couple Nobodies, grab the Sparda, then start walkin' around. Nothing but dead-ass zombies, far as the eye can see. Until I find these two ladies. Both with red eyes, suits, horns, white hair, and beating the hell out of each other. So I jump in to try and defuse the situation, you know, and they come at me. Like, really come at me. So I mopped 'em up, and when I did, I see these colorful little lights.” She shrugged and crossed her arms. “So I think, aw sweet, new weapons. When I tried to pick them up, this happens.”

Nero continued to look dumbfounded, as if he couldn't deal with this world's nonsense. “You don't say.”

“I do say,” Dante confirmed for him.

“So how's that working out for you?”

“Mostly negative,” the [url=https://i.redd.it/icttt97zi3351.jpg]five-sixths demon[/url] admitted. “My eyesight got worse, for one. I got a new Devil Trigger, but it kinda sucks. And getting used to all...this.” She indicated herself broadly before cracking a smile. “But hey, I can still whip demons like nobody's business, and it's a blast. So I'm good. How've you been?”

Nero seated himself at the table to watch the carnage unfold below with the Doom Slayer. “Would you believe things have been better? Here, lemme fill you in.”