Double

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Word Count: 928
Level 10 Roxas: 86/100
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 88/100

Spire 04 ~ Orca Space Complex

Roxas had kept pretty quiet ever since his team among the Seekers had rejoined the others. Truth be told, the Nobody was still plenty embarrassed about his blunder in the Security Room with Vauban. Thankfully, nobody had asked that team for specific details about what happened back there. But even then, there was still some evidence of the singes in his clothes from all those electric shocks he suffered, even if the injuries themselves had all been healed up by now.

Roxas tilted his head as he observed Eve’s demonstration for how to use the Hypertube. Surfing on a blade was certainly unorthodox, and yet somehow even that was something Roxas was vaguely familiar with seeing. Thinking back on it, there were definitely a lot of crazy feats of skill between all the various Keyblade Wielders and Organization Members when they fought at the Keyblade Graveyard. And yes, Keyblade surfing had been one of those feats at certain points.

And so, taking a page out of Sora’s and Ventus’ playbooks, Roxas decided he would use the Hypertube in exactly the same way Eve had demonstrated. He summoned Oblivion to his hand and tucked the Keyblade under his boots as he jumped into the Hypertube. ”Wh-Whoa!” Roxas cried as he struggled to balance himself. This was definitely more Ventus’ thing, that was for sure. But the Nobody was determined to successfully mimic his fellow Keyblade Wielder’s style as he slowly and surely figured out how to maintain balance and control. Flow Motion helped a lot in that department, too.

Roxas was starting to get the hang of this by the time the obstacles started to become a problem. Thankfully, he’d had enough experience with Flow Motion to get himself through them. Dodging the debris and storage containers were a simple enough matter. The Naytibas were a bit more involved, requiring Roxas to occasionally slash through them with his other Keyblade or shoot through them with his RockGun. But overall it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle.

At one point a whole cluster of Naytibas tried to get in his way. Roxas responded by leaping off his Keyblade and using Flow Motion to launch himself from droid to droid, slashing through them with Keyblade strikes until the Nobody emerged on the other side of cluster where he safely put Oblivion back under his feet again to resume his transit through the Hypertube.

Honestly, slowing himself down at the end was probably the hardest part about Roxas’ transit through the Hypertube. He didn’t manage to skid himself to a slowdown but had to tumble forward to keep himself from faceplanting on the ground on the other end once he was actually out. Not seeing any Naytibas around, the Nobody breathed a sigh of relief.

Sandalphon suggested some tasks that needed doing, but Roxas was still feeling pretty down about his failure in the Security Room. A short break like the archangel had mentioned would probably do him some good right now. As such, Roxas found himself a spot to sit down and let his Pokemon out of their Poke Balls to stretch their muscles.

Scamp stuck near to Roxas, resting his head on his trainer’s lap while Turbo took advantage of the open space to drive herself around in circles and figure-eights for some exercise. Larxene just did some mock practice attacks with Titan as if anticipating some battle that might be coming. And then there was Shocker, who buzzed around playfully before noticing that Roxas had gotten the Catalogue out of his pack and was looking at its pages.

”Wanna try it out?” Roxas asked the Rotom, who buzzed with approval. ”Okay, how about… this one?” Roxas asked, holding up the Catalogue with its pages open to a certain picture. Shocker looked at it quizzically before literally flying into the page with an eager buzzing. Moments later, the Ghost type emerged from the Catalogue sporting a whole different form that made him take the shape of a floating toaster oven sporting a red line aura.

”Heat Form…” Roxas murmured to himself, using his Rotom Phone’s Pokedex to look up information on Shocker’s current form, ”Fire Blast instead of Blizzard, from the looks of it. Sounds good to me. Oh, that reminds me.” Roxas fished for the Swift TM from his bag, ”Interested in learning a new move?”

Shocker buzzed excitedly, clearly eager to try out a new move. Roxas nodded and booted up the Technical Machine. ”Let’s see… uh oh, looks like you’ll need to forget one of your current moves to make room for Swift. But which one…?” Roxas looked over Shocker’s current moves thoughtfully. He certainly didn’t want to lose Electro Ball or Fire Blast since those were Shocker’s hardest hitting attacks. So that left Double Team and Confuse Ray. Giving it some thought, Roxas realized that Turbo also possessed a means to confuse opponents, so most likely Shocker wouldn’t be missing much by forgetting how to use Confuse Ray.

Shocker’s Updated Moveset

Electro Ball
Double Team
Confuse Ray -> Swift
Blizzard -> Fire Blast

”One, two, and… done.” Roxas said, ”Let’s see the new move, Shocker. Try to use Swift!” The Rotom nodded and with a buzz fired off a small volley of yellow star energy projectiles into the air. ”Nice! Now you’ll have a neutral option in case we’re battling something that Fire and Electricity won’t work against!” As for the Technical Machine, Roxas now noticed that it was cracked and broken apart. ”Guess that Poke Mart guy wasn’t kidding about them being one-time use…”

---

Word Count: 514
Level 8 Ganondorf: 31/80
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 32/80

Spire 04 ~ Orca Space Complex

Ganondorf grunted when he saw how the Hypertube actually worked. Frankly, the warlord wasn’t particularly interested in trying to play a balancing act on the blade of his sword. So that made his decision for him, the Gerudo would be riding in the stagecoach. He figured it would probably be more comfortable anyway. Of course, he couldn’t possibly have known how incorrect that assumption would turn out to be.

While riding through the Hypertube, Ganondorf had to cling to the meshes of the stagecoach’s inner wall like everyone else inside. And if that wasn’t enough, the ride became bumpy and jostled their extra equipment around, including some of the spare weapons that he himself had helped gather. But luckily for Ganondorf, he did have at least one unique advantage for riding out this trip.

He was able to use the tentacles on his back to serve as extra limbs to steady himself against the stagecoach walls as well bat away objects that bounced or were thrown his way without needing to loosen his grip on the meshes. So this made the trip substantially easier for him to sit through than it otherwise would have been. But it did nothing for the Gerudo King’s mood as he seethed with irritation and annoyance.

Needless to say, Ganondorf was glad to get out of the blasted stagecoach as he climbed out with grunt and harumph. ”Hmph, bah…” He muttered to himself. Despite looking otherwise fine due to the advantages his back tentacles afforded him during the ride, he clearly didn’t look like he was in a pleasant mood for it. He grunted a sigh in response to Sandalphon’s instructions to the Seekers and the tasks that needed doing.

He more or less assumed he was about the only one capable of clearing away the vehicles to open a path. Thanks to Sectonia’s minions and his own Moblins, Ganondorf didn’t have to work alone. But even so, there was still some debris that only he was strong enough to move out of the way. What it all amounted to was that Ganondorf was not able to find time for a break like some of the others had. He did take a moment to scarf down his second and last slab of meat so that he could more speedily recover from the damage he’d taken from Belial earlier. But otherwise Ganondorf’s time was spent almost entirely on helping clear the path.

Belial was something else he was seething about. Ganondorf had hoped for an opportunity to try infecting the Naytiba with his new powers but unfortunately the fight had ended in a way that prevented him from being able to. Part of him was actually hoping Belial would show up and strike again. Not only so that Ganondorf could finish what he started, but also so he could finally have a chance to try infecting something into becoming a new minion.

So far, Ganondorf had little chance to use any of his new powers. And the King of Evil was almost itching for an opportunity to finally change that.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Word Count: 714
Level 6 Captain Falcon: 48/60
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 49/60

Esaka, Low Tier ~ Breakers Dojo

Everything from last night until now was something of a haze. With the destruction of the motel, it became necessary for all the Seekers to find alternative shelters for the night. And for Captain Falcon, that meant a tired walk back into the Low Tier so he could pay the Breakers Dojo a visit. It was the only place he knew of that he could go to. Luckily for him, Sawamura was still present when Cap arrived and was able to let him in and help prepare a cot to sleep on. Everyone else at the Dojo had already left for the night, however.

Now it was morning, and the F-Zero pilot sat on a floor mat in front of a table with Sawamura. The sensei acquired a modest breakfast of rice omelets and a few dumplings that he then shared with Falcon. And this was also the primary opportunity for him to explain what had happened last night as they ate.

“Hmm, troubling.” Sawamura said, sipping on a cup of tea, “While it’s true that G-Corp are the ones responsible for manufacturing those robots, they are not the only company in Esaka that uses them.”

That came as a surprise to Falcon, who paused mid bite an omelet. ”So then… there’s no guarantee that Mishima is behind the raid?” Falcon had thought for certain the attack was some form of retaliation for Nadia’s earlier thefts. Now he wasn’t so certain.

“Correct.” Sawamura confirmed with a nod. “They are also used by Howard Connection among other… organizations. Though if I may speak plainly…” he paused, “...Howard Connection is the one most relevant to your team and the KOF for reasons you may have already guessed.”

”Geese.” Falcon said somberly, eliciting a nod of confirmation from Sawamura. Terry had mentioned the name several times, he recalled, but Cap didn’t know the full story. Maybe it would be pertinent of him to hear it from Terry later when they got the opportunity. Falcon quickly finished the last of his meal and stood up. ”I need to get back with the others. Thank you for letting me stay the night, sensei.”

“Of course.” Sawamura said with a nod, “Just… be careful, Captain. Sometimes these tournaments have a habit of being more than what they seem.”

Cap nodded and then departed from the dojo. He figured the other Seekers had already met up for breakfast by now, and he had a feeling they would have already split up again by the time he tried to link up with them. It might just be better if he started for the Pools now since he at least would be guaranteed to find Terry and Amaterasu there. The walk also gave the bounty hunter some extra time to process the attack last night and the words of advice that Sawamura had offered him earlier.

”More than what they seem…” Falcon murmured to himself, echoing Sawamura’s words. ”You don’t know the half of it, Sensei.” Naturally, Sawamura knew nothing about Galeem, Moebius, or the connection the Four Kings had to those things. But it still impressed him that Sawamura would be able to sense something being off enough to offer a word of warning like that. Maybe some folks in the World of Light could be more… perceptive of things than Galeem gave them credit for? Or maybe these tournaments were simply that rampant with corruption?

In any case, it all only served to steel the Captain’s resolve further to fight his way through this thing and take out at least one of the Four Kings. This obviously wasn’t just about competing anymore.

When he finally made it to the Pools, Falcon spotted Terry’s burly form waving him over and jogged the rest of the way to where his teammates were, ”Sorry I didn’t show for breakfast.” He told Terry and Ammy apologetically, ”Spent the night at the Breakers Dojo and Sawamura invited me to have breakfast with him. Didn’t want to turn him down and look rude, you know?”

Cap took a look for himself at the board containing the Team Names and brackets, seeing for himself who their first opponent was going to be. ”Team MUGEN, huh?” Cap said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. ”What do you know about ‘em, Terry?”

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Word Count: 1,133
Level 6 Captain Falcon: 46/60
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 48/60

Esaka, Middle Tier ~ Banishing Flats

When he retired to his allocated room at Banishing Flats, Captain Falcon didn’t waste much time before he flopped into the bed, finally allowing himself to feel tired and exhausted after the sparring and working out he’d been doing that evening. Tomorrow was the start of the King Of Fighters, and the F-Zero pilot had to admit to himself that he really had no idea what he was getting himself into. He was no stranger to fighting tournaments, as past experiences with the other Smashers proved. But this was nothing like the often-times chaotic matches between himself and other Smashers before one of them eventually went on to challenge Master Hand. Instead, this tournament was much more rigidly structured with rules and regulations. And it revolved around bouts between 3-man teams, something else the Captain was not abundantly familiar with.

Still, as intimidating as the prospect of leading a tournament team was, Cap couldn’t let himself be scared off that easily. Tournaments like this were just another form of competition, something he himself had always excelled at. Between that and knowing that he had a former KOF champion on his team in Terry, the Captain finally let himself relax and eventually fell asleep.

Somewhere in Subspace

A gigantic sphere of darkness hovered over a vast ocean like a void, as though the very space and matter that had once been there was erased and replaced with this sphere instead. And then, a structure protruded forth from it. Its main feature was a massive laser cannon that soon fired a shot that created another destruction sphere in the distance. Two vaguely familiar figures stood on a command deck, watching with grimaces on their faces as a vessel approached from the direction the cannon had just fired in.

The vaguely familiar airship flew full speed ahead, forced to take evasive action when it came under heavy fire from many turrets that spring to life around the massive cannon. It wasn’t evasive enough and the airship began to explode and fall. But from its ashes, a slew of vaguely familiar ships flew forth - including Captain Falcon’s own Falcon Flyer. Much more evasive than the big airship cruiser, they were much more effective at dodging enemy fire while a very small vessel piloted by a familiar pink blob managed to slice through the huge cannon and destroy it.

Afterward, the ships all flew into the void. Inside the void, there was a maze of various areas ripped from around the map. And at the center of it, Captain Falcon stood with a cast of familiar faces as a ethereal being descended toward them. Whatever he was, he looked humanoid save for the glowing blue skin and seemingly incorporeal and rainbow-colored butterfly wings he sported. He showed no visible response or emotion toward those who were challenging his invasion of their world. He kept his arms protectively around his torso, then gave his wings an ominous flap.

A pulse of white light rapidly expanded out from the being’s body that enveloped the whole space of the room in seconds. Every challenger present was struck down and reduced to a life-sized trophy of their image. Captain Falcon was struck too, unable to resist the attack as his body stiffened into his iconic pose and became trapped in trophy form.

Esaka, Middle Tier ~ Banishing Flats

Captain Falon awoke with a jolt in his bed. That was an intense dream… or memory, maybe. Sometimes it was difficult to keep all these things straight. More importantly his ears caught wind of ominous beeping that resulted in a muscular robot literally bursting through his door. And before the Captain had time to react, the Jack-5 had armlocked its target and slammed Falcon against the wall before flinging him into the opposite wall across the room. Then the robot lunged agan and fired off its patented Piston Gun at the still-winded bounty hunter.

Falcon was surprised and winded, to say the least. But much to the confusion of the Jack-5’s sensors, he was also completely unharmed. He was lucky to have his Mint Condition boon or those last few seconds would have been a lot more painful. Instead, Falcon grimaced as he managed to catch an incoming follow up punch from the robot and then pushed himself off the collapsed wall he’d been thrown into. ”Ryuugeki Ken!” He thrusted his palms forward and caught the Jack-5 with a point blank blast of fiery chi.

The Jack-5 slid back from the impact, but apart from some singes it still looked like it was raring to go. Fine by Cap, he cracked his knuckles and entered his stance, ”Show me your moves!” He taunted, initiating combat with the apparent robot enforcer.

The Jack-5 was strong as all get-out, as its earlier throws and Piston Gun attack clearly indicated. But Cap quickly realized that a lot of the robot’s raw power was at the cost of speed and agility. And this was something he easily took advantage of. The F-Zero pilot’s superior speed meant he could duck and weave around the heavy punches and haymakers that the Jack-5 tried to throw at him while striking back with quick lightning infused jabs wherever he could find the openings. But honestly, Captain Falcon couldn’t even tell how effective his strikes were. The Jack-5 was a mechanical robot, and could just keep fighting and fighting without worrying about things like stamina and fatigue. So that meant Cap probably wanted to avoid a drawn out fight if he could.

But that was when he heard Pit’s voice on the linkpearl. And all of a sudden, any notion the bounty hunter had of winning this fight conventionally went out the window. Instead he needed to get out of this building and do it ASAP. Of course, simply disengaging from the Jack-5 was easier said than done. So the fact that Falcon now had a ticking clock to race against only intensified the pressure of the moment. But luckily, Cap was exactly the sort of fighter who could thrive under pressure.

At the first opening he could, Cap grabbed a hold of the Jack-5 and put everything he had into hoisting the robot over his head and into the nearby window that led outside. And then, without any more time to think about what he was doing, Cap sprinted for the window himself and jumped. Both him and the Jack-5 plummeted to the ground below. But where Captain Falcon had jumped freely and was able to tumble safely to his feet, the Jack-5 slammed on the ground flat on its back. As it was slowly trying to get back on its feet, the bounty hunter turned and sprinted to put as much distance as he could between himself and the building.

BOOM!

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Word Count: 845 (+829 for Roxas)
Level 8 Ganondorf: 20/80
Level 10 Roxas: 78/100
Exp Gained: +2 (+2 Roxas)
NEW EXP Balance--- 22/80, 82/100

Frozen Highlands
Gründachdorf -> The Midnight Walk

The small medieval-esque town didn’t offer a whole lot. There were some places and amenities to see but none that really stood out to Roxas as he was looking around. That is until he saw the dim glow of a certain red roof. It was sort of an outdoor kiosk or rest stop, and the white logo on the center of the roof was unmistakably the shape of a Poke Ball. Roxas jogged toward what he quickly figured out was a Pokemon Center, albeit one with limited facilities due to its size. It was only manned by two individuals. One was a young guy standing behind the blue section of the counter, and the other was a pink-haired nurse attending the red section of the counter that contained the same kind of machine Roxas saw Rui use to heal Pokemon with back at the adoption center in Port Meridia.

“Hi there!” Said the Nurse with a chipper smile, “Are your Pokemon in need of treatment?”

Now that he thought about it, Roxas’ Pokemon did use up a lot of energy battling those Wild Pokemon earlier. And Larxene was still weakened somewhat from when he captured her as well. ”Sure, how much do I owe you?”

“Oh no.” the Nurse replied with a bright smile, “Pokemon Center healing services are free for everyone. May I see your Pokemon for a moment?”

Surprised, Roxas handed over his five Poke Balls, which the Nurse slotted into the machine. The screen showed images of the Pokemons’ appearances that then flashed for a couple of moments with pulsing green plus signs as a short little chime went off.

“There you go, all better.” the Nurse said, returning the Pokemon back to Roxas. “If you need supplies, talk to my colleague over here. Our inventory selection is limited out here, but we at least offer the basics - Potions, Antidotes, Paralyze Heals, and - of course - Poke Balls.”

“Well, did you want to buy any supplies?” the guy chimed in. “We accept both zenny and League Points as currency here. You can also use the TM Machine here if you need it.”

”Um… what are those?” Roxas asked, not knowing about either League Points or TMs.

“You almost have a full Pokemon Team and you’ve never used those before?” the guy asked, somewhat surprised, “Well, it’s simple really. League Points are a form of currency that is accepted for purchasing supplies at Poke Marts if you don’t have regular money. This machine is called a Technical Machine Machine, or TM Machine. TMs, Technical Machines, are small disks that contain the data for a specified move that you can use to teach it to a Pokemon as long as that Pokemon is compatible. The TM Machine is used to craft TMs utilizing materials you’ve no doubt been collecting from defeating Pokemon in the wild.”

Roxas blinked. It was true, he did collect some materials that Wild Pokemon had been dropping. ”So that’s what they’re used for?” He asked, ”How does it work?”

“Here, I’ll show you.” The Poke Mart clerk approached the green counter where the machine sat and booted it up, “You just scroll through this screen like on a Rotom Phone to select a TM you want to print. Then you just deposit the correct materials and the TM is printed for you. In exchange for a small fee of League Points of course.” The attendant demonstrated by inserting some unfamiliar Pokemon materials and choosing a selection. With a bzzt, the machine then spat out a gray colored disk. “And there you have it. Why don’t you keep this TM as a free sample? It’s TM032, and it teaches the move Swift. It’s pretty compatible with just about any Pokemon, so feel free to teach it to one of your Pokemon if you feel like it. And to help get you started, I’ll transfer 500 League Points to your Rotom Phone. Spend it wisely.”

Roxas did a quick look at the Poke Mart’s inventory, but didn’t find anything he felt like he needed. “Since you have a Rotom…” the clerk said, setting a peculiar magazine on the counter and sliding it forward, “...I’d be happy to sell you this Catalogue for 50 League Points.”

”Catalogue?” Roxas asked, somewhat confused.

“It's an item you can use repeatedly on Rotom to help them change forms on the fly.” He explained, “Very helpful for a trainer who’s raising one, like you are.”

”Really?” Roxas said, then nodded eagerly. ”You got a deal, I’ll take it.”

The clerk grinned and completed the LP transfer, “All yours. Hope you get good use out of it. And good luck in your travels, Trainer.” Both attendants waved Roxas off as he departed with his new items in tow.

Items Obtained

League Points: 500 -> 450 (50 spent)
Catalogue
TM032 Swift

Roxas quickly caught back up with the stagecoach as it was departing for the next area on their route.

---

For the first couple legs of the trek, both Roxas and Ganondorf remained mostly stationary. His size and lack of aerial mobility forced the Gerudo King to spend a chunk of time seated within the stagecoach, where he had overheard snippets of conversation that he barely paid any attention to. Roxas, while also lacking aerial mobility, had opted to ride on top of the stagecoach rather than inside it. This at least gave him the vantage to take shots with his RockGun if needed, and be able to spring into action at a moment's notice.

For a while things seemed to be well enough in hand. But they did go a bit sideways when Mokou investigated a swampy body of water that then produced a big aquatic creature, its head around the same size as the stagecoach. Ganondorf clicked his tongue when he heard commotion outside. When he poked his head out to look, the head of the monster reminded him vaguely of the feral River Zoras in Hyrule - although he doubted this was the same thing. Atop the stagecoach, Roxas quickly cast Tailwind and Aeroga on himself. Then he watched in horror as the monster’s hand managed to grab Mokou in the sky. Then he vanished from view.

Barely a moment later, Roxas reappeared right next to the Leviathan’s hand where he tagged it with his StepSword and carried his aerial momentum into a flurry of Keyblade strikes on the hand and wrist to weaken its grip on Mokou so she could break free. ”Wind!” The Nobody was quick to chant, casting a protective Aeroga on Mokou that would halve the damage she took from future attacks for the next 18 seconds. Meanwhile, Ganondorf had pulled his larger frame up onto the Stagecoach roof. His hand snagged one of Mokou’s feathers that had been fluttering around in the air from her previous attacks.

Just like before, the feather ignited him only to proc his Flash Fire ability. ”Burn!” The Warlord barked his warcry as he summoned the Acidic Crystal Spear to his hand. He Bullet Jumped from the stagecoach and jumped again in midair to come plunging down onto the Leviathan’s head with his Warlock Kick. Once he was holding onto it, Ganondorf inhaled and treated the Leviathan to a boosted fire breath attack.

As the Leviathan’s head was trying to buck the Gerudo from it, its hand was trying in vain to snatch Roxas as it previously did to Mokou. But the Nobody was fast, generating a set of virtual cubes to launch himself between using Flow Motion as a way to stay on the move and prove too fast for the lumbering hand to grab. Of course, none of this went noticed. The Leviathan flashed its Eyes of the Storm, resulting in both Roxas and Ganondorf feeling somewhat strange as they were marked by the fishfolk boss.

Then with another movement, the Leviathan performed its Tidal Surge. The hand slapped the water and the head thrashed, generating dangerous waves and sprays of water around it. Ganondorf had no choice to Bullet Jump off the Leviathan’s head back toward the stability of the stagecoach while Roxas was fortunate that his Aeroga was still active to blunt a lot of the damage he would have otherwise suffered. He nevertheless was thrown back to the marshy shore where he staggered back to his feet, not yet ready to give up on this fight. Despite their determination, both Seekers had in fact been marked with a Stress token.

Roxas generated a line of virtual cubes that he could launch to in order to regroup with the stagecoach. As he made it back, Ganondorf had summoned a squad of Moblin Archers behind the stagecoach to shoot volleys of fire arrows at the Leviathan. As much as the warlord’s pride may have wanted him to keep fighting and finish off the Leviathan, he also knew this thing wasn’t actually their target and was simply in the way. So perhaps the prudent thing to do was to merely distract the behemoth long enough for the stagecoach to pass through the area.

The Moblins seemed to be doing the trick for now, managing to draw the Leviathan’s Baleful Gaze toward them. But it still remained to be seen if this alone was going to be enough of a distraction for the stagecoach to finish passing through the area. To that end, both Ganondorf and Roxas kept their guard up, unwilling to leave this to chance. Ganondorf in particular summoned Blast Hornet to take to the sky and let off its Search Strike, reasoning that it would also draw attention away from the stagecoach and hopefully dispel before it could be hit by retaliation.

Said retaliation came in the form of the Leviathan performing Eye of the Storm, marking several Moblins with its baleful gaze. So it seemed to have turned its attention away from the Stagecoach after all. But now that they’d encountered something like this, neither Roxas nor Ganondorf were willing to relax their guard again through the remainder of this trek.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Word Count: 688
Level 5 Captain Falcon: 91/50
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 92/50

Forbidden Kingdom ~ Esaka’s Lower Tier

”Robert…?” Captain Falcon was confused for a moment at Terry’s question. And then it suddenly hit him. He meant Robert Garcia, the fighter whose spirit the Captain had won from the Orb Machine all the way back in Carnival Town. Evidently the bruiser knew him, likely because they came from the same world. And that was when Falcon also realized that this was going to be a little hard to explain. But for Terry’s sake, he had to do it as best as he could.

”So you know him?” Cap followed up his question. ”Well, to answer your question…” The bounty hunter paused, wanting to make sure he chose his words carefully and phrased what he was about to say in the least confusing way that he could. ”...I’ve fused with his spirit.” Cap already knew this was going to require further elucidation. And so he didn’t even wait for a response before he continued speaking.

”In this world, when we die, we leave behind a spirit.” Cap said, taking a breath to prepare himself for what was going to be a fairly lengthy explanation. ”They look like spheres, grapefruit sized, and they bear our image inside of them. When you collect a spirit, you can do one of three things with them - Fuse, Spiritbind, or Crush. If you crush a spirit, it will turn into an item or set of items usually associated with the identity of the spirit in question. Spiritbinding is a process where you have a brief word with the spirit, and they become something called a Striker that you can then summon to help you in fights. But you’re only allowed to have two Strikers at a time for reasons I’ll explain later.”

Captain Falcon continued, ”Fusion is exactly what it sounds like. You essentially consume the spirit by pressing it to your head or hugging it against your chest. The former option lets you learn a skill from that spirit and then your outfit changes color to reflect the fusion. The latter option lets you learn one of that spirit’s powers, and will also change your bodily appearance to reflect the spirit you’ve fused with. From then on you can start learning and mastering other skills and powers from that spirit the more you fight and train. That’s why I know Robert’s techniques - because I fused with his spirit about a week ago and have been fighting with his skills alongside my own ever since then.”

Now for the tough part. ”And something else you should know, Terry. Our time in this world is… limited. None of us can last longer than 10 years maximum before we’re… I guess ‘reset’ by the system Galeem created and reappear in its world, Galeeming once again. That’s why Pit knew you when we first got here. There was a… previous version of you that he met before who died. And you are the resulting next iteration of Terry Bogard in this world. So even though I have no doubt that Robert Garcia is around in Esaka somewhere, the spirit of him I fused with was very likely a previous incarnation of him in this twisted system that Galeem created. And that brings me back to Strikers. You’re technically allowed to have as many active as you want, but it’s not recommended. Anymore than two will shave years off your overall 10 year limit, essentially shortening your lifespan in the World of Light.”

Cap took a deep breath, his explanation now more or less complete. ”I get that this is a lot of information to process. So it’s okay if it takes time for it all to set in and start making sense. It’s a process all of us had to go through when we were de-storied and freed from Galeem’s control.” But the Captain offered a small smile and thumbs up, ”But not to worry. I’ll keep showing you the ropes about Spirits as we go along. I’ve got your back, buddy.”

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Word Count: 361
Level 8 Ganondorf: 19/80
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 20/80

Frozen Highland ~ Midnight Walk

After returning from the radio station with Ace and now Tenna in tow, Ganondorf decided to scarf down a second bowl of stew. A man his size needed plenty to keep up his energy, and the warlord wanted to make sure his biomass had fully regenerated. But after that it was time to get on the move again. The procession of Seekers continued their way through the Midnight Walk, eventually reaching the snowfield. In this, Ganondorf was fortunate to be as tall as he was, since that meant the deep snow didn’t bother him like it would anyone else. And besides, no amount of snow would be nearly as frustrating to deal with as the Timefall had been, or especially some of the dirtier locations of the Under which still made the Gerudo groan at the thought of returning to.

What did bother him was the obnoxious monkeys throwing darts and generally showing that they were going to be a nuisance. Ganondorf grumbled to himself, convinced he was going to have to waste his energy on monkeys of all things. Even Roxas had started casting buffs in anticipation of a fight. But then the Seekers collectively elected to give the monkeys a wide berth and simply avoid them altogether. Normally Ganondorf would have scoffed at the idea of avoiding a battle. But for these monkeys, he decided he was going to make an exception. They probably would have been a waste of energy to deal with anyway.

Although Ganondorf wasn’t content to leave things to chance. He summoned a squad of Moblins to take potshots at the monkeys with their fire arrows while the stagecoach gave its wide berth. A security caution more than anything else. Otherwise, Ganondorf let himself be content to simply keep pace with the stagecoach and follow its lead for now. At this point the warlord was becoming increasingly eager to reach Edinbourgh, where Ace had said Consul L remained as well as the Flame Clock she was custodian of.

”Hmph, how much farther until we reach Edinbourgh?” Ganondorf grunted, asking no one in particular, although Sandalphon would certainly be the best equipped to answer the question.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Word Count: 564
Level 5 Captain Falcon: 90/50
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 91/50

Forbidden Kingdom ~ Esaka’s Lower Tier

Captain Falcon was naturally planning to join the rest of the Seekers at the Banishin’ Flats. But he wanted to make a short pit stop before he headed in. So rather than head straight for the Flats, he the bounty hunter made a detour back toward the Breakers Dojo. He wanted to check in real quick and let Sensei Sawamura know that his search for a KOF team had gone well. When he got there, he found both Sawamura and Lee. But they weren’t alone, and were joined by two others whom the Captain didn’t remember seeing at the dojo the first time he visited.

One of them was a young man about the same age as Lee. His gi looked similar to Sawamura’s, but it was blazing red and had two yellow stripes on each end of the blackbelt. He also looked like he had a small scar on his upper right right cheek, just below the eye. Despite that, he seemed to carry himself with a friendly enough demeanor. The other one was a a young woman, probably also around the same age as Lee. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a tight ponytail. She wore a sleeveless denim cutoff jacket over what appeared to be a red leotard. Her hands and forearms were wrapped in white bandages, and she wore red/white combat boots on her feet with tall socks poking up to cover her shins.

Lee and Sawamura introduced them as Sho and Tia. Both were friends of Lee, although Lee seemed to insist that ‘friend’ was a bit of a strong word, clearly preferring to think of them as rivals. Evidently Sho and Lee had previously been rivals in something called the FIST Tournament, which had gone defunct in favor of the World Warrior, King of the Iron Fist, Mortal Kombat, and KOF tournaments. And it was here they told the Captain that the three of them were going to enter the KOF as Team Breakers. Sho casually remarked that this was a bit of a surprise, since Lee had previously preferred fighting in the World Warrior tournament where he could go solo. “Hmm… I bet he’s just looking for an excuse to fight you again, Captain.” Sho had teasingly said, causing Lee to bristle with a denial that didn’t sound very convincing.

”Well, may the best team win, then.” Cap said, holding out a hand which Sho eagerly shook.

After departing from the Dojo, Cap finally made his way to the Banishing Flats. He was a little bit late, though from the looks of it Ms. Fortunate had also apparently arrived late as well. And he was just in time to catch the explanation of how things worked in the World of Light to Terry. ”Don’t worry about identifying the Consuls too much.” Cap said as he sat down and clapped the hat-wearing bruiser on the back. ”And to answer your question, Roland, the Consuls do seem to have a habit of wearing helmets that cover their faces. I’m guessing that’s how they mask their red eyes.”

”Oh, by the way, Terry.” Cap said, ”I just swung by the Breakers Dojo and they’re entering their own team into the KOF - Team Breakers. I guess I made an impression on Lee, since he insisted on entering the KOF instead of the World Warrior like he usually does.”

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Word Count: 2,342
Level 10 Roxas: 75/100
Exp Gained: +3
NEW EXP Balance--- 78/100

Frozen Highland ~ Midnight Walk

Roxas hung around the stagecoach at least for a little while after he and Ganondorf brought back the seeds and vegetubes. Like many of the Seekers, Roxas helped himself to a bowl of stew from the pot that was simmering, grateful for something warm to eat in this cold environment. He released his Pokemon from their respective Poke Balls, as he usually did during downtime such as this. But doing so also gave the Nobody a startling reminder. He didn’t have anything to feed his Pokemon. Well, that simply wasn’t going to do.

”Okay, guys.” Roxas reassured his Pokemon, giving Scamp an affectionate pat on the head. ”Here’s what we’ll do. There’s some wooded areas around so if we go looking, I’m sure we’ll find some berries out there we can gather. Sound good?” His Pokemon all offered eager noises of agreement. ”Okay then, let’s go berry hunting!” So after Roxas finished his bowl of stew he set out on his own into the Midnight Walk with just his beloved Pokemon keeping him company.

The Midnight Walk itself was pretty much as it had been since the Seekers had begun traveling through it. Occasional pine forests, rocky outcrops, and - of course - the ever present snowfields. Roxas trudged along, and at one point even hitched a ride on Turbo for greater expediency. He decided he needed to focus his searches on the pine forests, figuring that those were the most likely places he would find berries growing. And he did find some occasional shrubberies, one a group of four each containing either 2 Oran Berries or 2 Rawst Berries. That gave him four each right off the bat, which Roxas thought was a pretty good start to his berry hunting side quest.

But the Nobody wasn’t always that fortunate. Other shrubs or berry trees found were in smaller clusters or even just growing individually. At one point Roxas counted 8 Oran Berries and 8 Rawst Berries in total in his Berry Pouch. That was plenty for feeding one or two Pokemon. But Roxas had four to feed, and he was also thinking Geralt might appreciate some Berries being brought back for Tirn as well. ”Guess we’ve just gotta keep foraging.”

But Berries weren’t the only things Roxas was coming across. In his search for Berries that Pokemon liked to eat, he naturally found himself seeing wild Pokemon as well. Mostly Snover and Snorunt, but also the occasional Cubchoo as well. Roxas mostly tried not to agitate the Cubchoo, afraid there might be a Mama or Papa Beartic around that might get aggressive at anyone that threatened their young. But he did allow himself to occasionally battle against the Snover and Snorunt, mostly relying on Scamp’s Fire Fang to make quick work of them. As he did, Roxas noticed they were leaving little bits of them behind after fleeing. Snovers were leaving behind little berries that Roxas assumed was growing within their natural leaves, and Snorunts were leaving behind little tufts of their fur. He wasn’t sure what purpose they served, if any, but something in Roxas’s gut told him they could be of use somewhere down the road.

As such, after defeating 2 of each, Roxas found himself with 4 Snover Berries and 4 tufts of Snorunt Fur that he put in his bag, using the TM Pocket since the Nobody did not possess any Technical Machines at this time. This also made him momentarily distracted from his Berry Hunting, resulting in Roxas only getting 2 Orans and 2 Rawsts that he added to his Berry Pouch. That was 20 total, and so Roxas decided to take a break and split his berries up among his Pokemon.

”Let’s look around a little deeper in the forest before we head back.” Roxas told his Pokemon as they eagerly ate their food. When he explored deeper in the Pine Forest, Roxas started finding pig-like Swinub and snowflake-shaped Cryogonal in addition to the Snovers and Snorunts. The Cubchoos were also a bit more common as well, resulting in Roxas finally deciding to risk battling a few of them. He still let himself rely on Scamp’s Fire Fang but he also called out Turbo to give the Boltund a bit of relief from the battling.

Similarly to the Snorunts, the Swinub and Cubchoo left behind tufts of their hair when they fled and Roxas pocketed 2 of them in his TM Pocket. Meanwhile, the Cryogonal left behind a couple of shavings of their ice. But before Roxas could forage any berries from a nearby pair of trees he was walking toward, he heard rustling and saw a shadow dart around between pine trees. It was moving too fast and differently to be like any of the Pokemon he had encountered already. And whatever it was, it apparently had its sights set on the berries that Roxas was about to forage.

”On your toes, Scamp!” Roxas said sharply as Scamp’s muscles tensed and he growled a bit in anticipation. ”We’ve got company!” And that’s when a black bipedal creature darted from its hiding place and lunged for Scamp. Roxas scrambled for his Rotom Phone to identify the attacker. ”A Sneasel… a Dark and Ice type…” Roxas observed, but the biggest thing he noticed was the lack of glowing red eyes. This Sneasel was not gleaming.

”Dodge and use Nuzzle!” Roxas commanded. Scamp did as ordered and dodged the Sneasel’s claw attack. But when he went to counter with Nuzzle, the dark Pokemon proved too fast and managed to dodge as well. Then it appeared to sharpen its claws, probably a preparation for a future attack. ”Watch those claws, Scamp!”

As predicted, the Sneasel swiped at Scamp again. But this time the attack managed to hit. And it was now that Roxas’s Rotom Phone was able to identify that the moves Sneasel used were Hone Claws followed by Metal Claw. Hone Claws raised both Attack and Accuracy, while Metal Claw carried a small chance to also raise the user’s Attack when it lands. Meaning this could potentially snowball into a disaster if Roxas wasn’t careful. ”Don’t let him scare you, Scamp!” Roxas called, ”Use Nuzzle again!” Roxas couldn’t afford to let this Sneasel take advantage of its Speed. And thankfully, Scamp was also just about equally fast. The Nuzzle managed to connect this time, inflicting Sneasel with Paralysis.

That would certainly help matters. In response, the Sneasel’s eyes glinted and it used Hone Claws yet again. Not it was definitely trying to set itself up for a devastating sweep. Roxas had to nip this at the bud before it was too late. Using Fire Fang would deal a lot of damage, but unfortunately Scamp had used up a lot of his PP for that move battling other Wild Pokemon. Just as well, the Nobody’s goal was to weaken the Sneasel, not defeat it outright. ”Use Bite!” Scamp lunged and snapped his jaws against the Wild Pokemon.

Sneasel, being a Dark type, wasn’t too terribly affected by a Dark type move such as Bite. But Scamp’s Strong Jaw made his biting attacks noticeably more powerful. As such, the Dark/Ice type almost flinched in surprise at how hard the Bite managed to hit it. Static ran along its body to indicate the Paralysis, but Roxas was about to learn that the status ailment wouldn’t necessarily matter. Miraculously, the Sneasel managed to move through its halved speed and still attack with blinding speed. This time it created sharpened shards of Ice that it flung at Scamp like kunai or shuriken. And the attack was too fast for Scamp to dodge, resulting in the Boltund taking yet another hit.

”How is that possible?” Roxas asked, frantically looking to his Rotom Phone for answers. ”Ice Shard?” He learned that the move Ice Shard was fast enough to always attack first, regardless of the Pokemon’s speed. A phenomenon known as “priority moves” according to the Pokedex App. That just meant that Sneasel had a way to overcome being slowed by Paralysis. Still, the status would continue to occasionally prevent it from moving at all, so Roxas wasn’t completely out of luck.

As such, Scamp and the Sneasel traded blows yet again. Sneasel’s Ice Shard hit its mark, but Scamp fought through the hit and countered with another Strong Jaw-powered Bite. Sneasel had to be getting weaker by now, but so was Scamp. If Scamp could just land one more Bite, then maybe that would do it. And this time, Sneasel’s Paralysis got the better of it, keeping it locked in place for this moment. ”Now’s your chance, Scamp! Bite!” Roxas called without hesitation. The Boltund growled and barked as he lunged and snapped his jaws once more. The hit was clean, and Sneasel was finally looking like it was standing on its last legs.

”My turn now.” Roxas said, ”Let’s see how well those Balls we made work.” He chose one of the 4 Great Balls he brought with him and gave it a throw. The blue-and-white ball arced through the air in a curved trajectory before bouncing off of the Sneasel’s body and drawing it into its open maw before snapping back shut. And then, the waiting game happened. One shake. Two shakes. Three. Roxas tensed but his muscles relaxed when he heard the click as the ball’s red light shut itself off. Confirmed capture.

New Pokemon

Species: Sneasel
Gender: Female
Held Item: Razor Claw - increases Critical Hit rate
Lv: 30
Ability: Pickpocket - Allows the user to steal an opponent’s held item when attacked by a move that makes physical contact.
Moveset

• Ice Shard (40 base power, physical attack, Ice-type, attacks with priority +1, allowing it to always go first regardless of the user’s or opponent’s speed)
• Feint Attack (60 base power, physical attack, Dark-type, this bypasses Accuracy buffs and Debuffs and always lands without fail)
• Metal Claw (50 base power, 95 Accuracy, Steel-type, has small chance to increase user’s Attack by 1 stage)
• Hone Claws (N/A base power, status move, Dark-type, increases user’s Attack and Accuracy by 1 stage)

”Great job, Scamp. I knew I could count on you.” Roxas said, petting the Boltund’s head before he went ahead and released Sneasel from her Great Ball. ”Welcome to the team.” Roxas said, then used his Rotom Phone to scan her for details, including the fact that she had been holding an item called a Razor Claw which slightly increased her chance of landing a critical hit. ”You’re a girl, huh? I’m Roxas, and these are my Pokemon. We’re a lot like you, different from other people. You can sense something different about yourself, can’t you? I’m guessing that’s why you were being aggressive.”

The Sneasel looked dismissive at first, as if trying to remain aloof. But Roxas could see the flicker of a falter in her expression. He’d hit the nail on the head, even if the Sneasel didn’t outwardly admit it. ”It’s okay, you’re with friends now. You don’t have to be alone anymore.” Roxas assured the Dark/Ice type. ”You know… the way you fight reminds me of someone I used to know.” That made the Sneasel tilt her head with curiosity. ”She was someone I used to… work with I guess. She wasn’t exactly the nicest person but the way she could move and fight was a lot like you. How would you feel about the name… Larxene?” The Sneasel looked like she was thinking about before eventually nodding her head with approval.

”Alright, then!” Roxas said, offering his fist for a bump, ”Welcome to the team, Larxene.” The Sneasel hesitated only for a moment before bumping her fist against his in return. A new friendship had been forged. Larxene helped Roxas harvest the berries from the tree they had just been battling over. And after giving an Oran Berry to both Larxene and Scamp to help them recover from the battle, Roxas was left with one Oran Berry and 3 Rawst Berries. He and his new Sneasel friend found another tree containing 2 more Oran Berries, and Roxas figured that was all they needed.

”Great job, guys.” Roxas praised his Pokemon, ”Managed to get you all fed up, and with a handful left over we can share with Geralt and Tirn back at the stagecoach.” Between that and the new Pokemon Roxas had made friends with, he’d definitely call this a good haul for a side quest. And now, he decided, it was time to get back with the rest of the Seekers.

Roxas’ Current Haul

Rawst Berry x3 (will be given to Geralt)
Oran Berry x2 (will be given to Geralt)
Snover Berry x4
Snorunt Fur x4
Swinub Hair x2
Cubchoo Fur x2
Cryogonal Ice x2
Sneasel Claw x2
Razor Claw (held by Larxene)

Eventually Roxas made his way back to the stagecoach where he saw it had been outfitted with a lightning rod attachment while he was away, providing some power for at least one of the Vegetubes that he and Ganondorf had scavenged. He also caught a glimpse of the Creature Chamber that Edward had brought back, and wondered if this was something those materials the wild Pokemon dropped could be used for. But for now he decided to table his curiosity because it wasn’t too long before the journey resumed. Thankfully Roxas was able to take a brief moment first to give the Berries he brought back with him to Geralt so he feed them to Tirn later.

And unfortunately, when they reached a field of deep snow, the stagecoach became under attack by monkeys of all things. Surprisingly well-armed monkeys at that. ”Here we go again.” Roxas murmured to himself. Acting fast, Roxas instinctively began casting Tailwind and Aeroga on various Seekers around him. He wasn’t sure he’d have enough time to buff everyone with both, but he did at least try to focus on giving Tailwind to slower allies and Aeroga to some of the more fragile or squishy allies.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Word Count: 1,596
Level 8 Ganondorf: 2/80
Level 10 Roxas: 72/100
Exp Gained: +3
NEW EXP Balance--- 5/80, 75/100

Frozen Highlands ~ Krat Zoo / Botanical Garden

It was very fortunate for Ganondorf that his Flash Fire was active when Mokou’s explosion went off or it would have dealt a great deal of damage to the warlord. What wasn’t so fortunate was his Phantom Steed’s lack of immunity to fire damage. The phantom horse was caught by the blast and dispelled by it, forcing Ganondorf to abandon it early. And worst of all, he wasn’t close enough to the alligator to land on its back like he originally planned. But things only went on for a half a minute longer before the giant beast finally fell. ”Good riddance.”

Roxas was much better off for his part. He wasn’t near enough for the blast to affect him. But it was also clear that Titan and Shocker’s efforts were not as effective as he hoped they’d be. That left him with little room to act other than to watch the beast fall and offer Curaga healing to any Seeker that needed it afterward. Not much in the way of contribution, but at least it was something.

Roxas and Ganondorf both entered the Botanical Garden alongside the stagecoach and other Seekers. And once again, the group almost immediately began splitting off to cover ground. Ganondorf noted that Sandalphon was putting together a strike team party to deal with the Puppetmaster of Death. Normally he would relish the chance to fight a strong opponent, but this time Ganondorf stayed out of it. And Roxas was never the sort to enjoy fighting so in this instance the Nobody decided maybe he’d contribute more by attending to some other objective.

In truth it was a coincidence that the two of them found themselves exploring together once again. Neither spoke for a while, not having been much for conversation with one another. But they dealt with the occasional Arche Puppet just fine, nonetheless. Ganondorf’s raw strength made it easy for him to keep Puppets pinned so that Roxas could go for more surgical strikes against their flanks, either with his Keyblade or with one of his Pokemon such as Scamp or Titan.

Eventually the pair of Seekers found a door leading into another unexplored part of the Botanical Garden. The sign above read “Seed Storage”. ”Seeds? Don’t we need something like this for the Area Guardian?”

”Mistletoe.” Ganondorf confirmed with a short nod. He tried the door and found it to be locked tight. ”Tch, figures.” But that was when Roxas stepped up.

”Leave this to me.” He said, summoning one of his Keyblades. With a small flourish and tap of the blade on the door, the locks clicked themselves free and the door opened for them. Once again, locked chests and doors were nothing for someone chosen by the Keyblade.

”Hmph.” Ganondorf grunted with approval as he stepped inside, ”Suppose it stands to reason that a weapon called a Keyblade would be enchanted for opening locks.” He commented, filing the information away in his mind for later.

Upon entering, the two found shelves lining the walls with storage containers bearing labels of various plant species, scientifically labeled but with their common layman names added in brackets. Plants ranged from flowers, to toxic weeds, and even fruits and vegetables. But storage containers were not the only objects in the room. There were also portable tube-like devices labeled as Vegetubes, that according to their instructions were able to act as portable gardens for growing seeds.

But unfortunately, the Seed Storage Room was not unguarded. Sprouting up from a large planter pot in the central most part of the room was what could only be described as a sentient plant woman. She was a bit sickly looking - probably a result of whatever experimentation was going on in this zoo - but otherwise she likely would have been seen as quite a beauty to look at. But while she did indeed look sickly, she did not look like any of the Carcasses. It was possible she was still alive, albeit seemingly feralized as a result of whatever she’d been previously subjected to.

Due to her plant body, Ganondorf almost decided to let loose a stream of draconic fire breath on the Siren but second guessed himself instead. She may very well be vulnerable to flames due to her nature, but obviously the rest of the plants and seeds in the room could also burn should the fire spread and go out of control. And Ganondorf did not want to risk losing access to mistletoe because of a miscalculated fire attack. ”Don’t use flames.” He told Roxas next to him.

Roxas had called out Scamp from his Poke Ball, having initially intended to use a combination of Fire Fang and Firaga Spells. But he paused at Ganondorf’s words, ”Why not?” He asked, but then looked around and remembered the seeds surrounding them before answering his own question. ”Oh, right… yeah.” But he didn’t let himself be deterred as he pointed a finger forward, ”Scamp - use Nuzzle!”

As the Boltund bounded forward at high speed to obey his trainer, Ganondorf’s grip on his spear tightened before he dispelled the weapon from his hands and drew Litania and the Acidic Curved Greatsword that Roxas had previously given him. ”Time to clip some hedges.” He grunted as he strode forward.

Scamp’s speed allowed it to quickly close the distance and get off his attack before the Siren could react. Nuzzle did minimal damage, but inflicted Paralysis. That would hopefully keep the Siren’s attacks sluggish while Ganondorf brought the raw damage. Speaking of which, only now did the Siren manage to attack, summoning thorny pillars beneath the advancing warlord’s feet that nearly knocked him off his footing. So while Ganondorf was forced to cut his way through the thorny barrier, Roxas vanished on the spot.

”Tag!” Roxas shouted as he reappeared behind the Siren and tagged her with his StepSword. It damaged her a bit, but Roxas was more concerned about it allowing him to close the distance and bypass the thorns that Ganondorf was hacking away at. ”Scamp, return!” Roxas called, narrowly managing to recall his Pokemon before the Siren could attack with a singular thorny pillar. Rather than switch to another Pokemon, Roxas instead unloaded a flurry of Keyblade strikes before a protective barrier of thorny pillars forced him to back off momentarily.

And now Ganondorf cut his way through the thorns, ”That won’t stop me!” He bellowed as he resumed his lunge toward the siren as her thorny barrier subsided. Finally the Gerudo’s blades found their mark, hacking into the Water Lily Siren’s plant body like a machete through thick jungle vines. Ganondorf’s Acidic Greatsword bit into the Siren’s with venomous acid bites on each swing, adding to the building damage against the plant enemy. But the Siren still had tricks to use.

She used her powers to make various seeds nearby rapidly grow into semi-sentient minions that attacked the two Seekers. While Roxas fought off a pair venus flytrap minions, Ganondorf whirled around and sliced a lunging watermelon in two before snatching one of the halves in midair and taking a big satisfying bite out of it. ”Delicious.” He taunted, appreciating the chance for a bite of fresh food to help his biomass regeneration along.

Here was where Roxas had an idea. ”Shocker!” He shouted, calling the Rotom from its Poke Ball. The siren was a plant, so that made Roxas wonder if an ice attack would be effective if the logic he’d learned from training Pokemon held up. And Ice was much less risky toward the seeds in the room as a bonus point. ”Use Blizzard!” The Rotom gave its electronic cry as it unleashed a torrent of wind and snow on the Water Lily Siren.

As the snow formed on spots around her body, the Seekers couldn’t really tell how effective the ice-type attack was. But it was hurting her regardless of whether or not she was elementally weak to the attack. And Ganondorf was keen to continue his onslaught with his Greatswords, letting the Acidic strikes from his curved greatsword continue to add a biting edge to the damage he was stacking on top of Shocker’s Blizzard.

Whether it was by the Blizzard or Ganondorf’s blades, the Water Lily Siren shrieked and cried out as she slowly began to whither and eventually die off, leaving behind her spirit for Ganondorf to bottle and save for later. ”Now that that’s out of the way…” he gestured around the room. ”Look for the mistletoe. And I’m thinking the rest of the fruit and vegetable seeds should be sent back to the Avenger with those tubes. Could help them with their foot shortage problem.”

Roxas nodded, already beginning to read different storage container labels in search of Mistletoe. ”Halo? Good news. Me and Ganondorf found a seed storage room that might have mistletoe in it. And it’s got lots of fruit and vegetable seeds and portable Vegetube devices for growing them. Should we bring them back to you to send them back up to the Avenger?”

Meanwhile, Ganondorf was the one who found the mistletoe seeds and indicated to Roxas that he found them. ”That’s the main objective dealt with.” He said as he then summoned a squad of Moblins to help haul containers of other seeds as well as the Vegetubes back to the stagecoach. Sandalphon could send them back to the Avenger immediately or hold onto them for now and send them later. Either way, the Seekers had just inherited a nice method for replenishing their fruit and vegetable stockpile.

World of Light: the Endless Now (The Ultimate Videogame Crossover)

Word Count: 1,124
Level 10 Roxas: 70/100
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 72/100

Frozen Highland ~ Krat Zoo

”And I’m Roxas.” The Nobody piped up, mirroring Heismay by introducing himself to Mokou, who went on to clarify that she was a lot older than she looked. After that it was Heismay who kept the conversation going by offering to let Mokou accompany them. Roxas had no problem with that, and just nodded his agreement before they set out to rendezvous with the stagecoach.

Along the way, Mokou addressed him briefly about his ability with magic. ”Oh, uh, thanks.” He replied. Roxas was not a mage or wizard by any stretch. Spells just happened to be one of the things he could occasionally draw upon with his Keyblades for extra help in a fight. A Keyblade Wielder that was more dedicatedly focused on magic? That was more Aqua’s wheelhouse than his own. Still, he wasn’t about to snub a compliment.

Roxas found himself returning to the Stagecoach around the same time Mokou did, meaning he caught Edward’s compliment about their good work. ”Thanks.” He told the general, ”That thing was no walk in the park, but we dealt with it together.” Speaking of the monster in question, Roxas was still holding onto its Spirit and gave the tactician a quick glimpse at what it was they were fighting earlier. ”Pretty nasty, huh?”

After that he settled into the stagecoach, in the seat across from where Mokou had sat down briefly. Since he had a moment, he decided to go ahead and do something with the Spirit he was carrying. There was no way Roxas was going to fuse with it, that was for sure. And ever since he learned about the toll having extra strikers meant for one’s time limit? He was kinda antsy about spiritbinding now too. That left one option. ”Guess I’m turning you into an item, then. Good riddance.” He said, with a shudder at the end. He donned the nearby Crown of Avarice onto his head and then clamped his gauntleted hands around the spirit in order to crush it.

Item Obtained

Acidic Curved Greatswprd
A curved sword blade made by the Alchemists while researching Carcass body fluids. It was designed to spray acidic body fluid over the blade at regular intervals. The Alchemists took notice of the fact that Carcass body fluids had an acidic quality. After extensive research, they devised a weapon that dug into one's body like a viper's fang and inflicted continuous damage. Best wielded with a mix of strength and dexterity. The application and severity of its Decay status effects increase with arcane/advance/luck

”Mmph! Geez!” Roxas groaned when the oversized sword was suddenly crushing his lap. ”This thing’s… heavy!” Roxas managed to wriggle his way out from under the weapon’s weight but it was way too heavy for him to lift. ”Well, now what do I do with it? Hmm…” The Nobody rubbed his chin in thought before he caught sight of Ganondorf passing by the stagecoach.

”Hey!” Roxas called out to him, trying to flag the warlord down. ”You think you could help me with a heavy sword in here?”

Ganondorf was about to ignore the boy outright. But when the Keyblade Wielder mentioned a large sword, that at least was enough to pique his curiosity. The Gerudo shifted his pace to walk alongside the stagecoach so he could peer in at the weapon in question. ”Hm, not bad. You offering it to me or something?”

”I mean… if you want it, sure.” Roxas replied, ”Mostly I just need help moving it, it’s too heavy for me.”

Ganondorf grunted a gruff reply but leaned into the stagecoach regardless. Naturally he was able to lift the weapon easily and pulled it outside the coach to get a better look at it. After a few moments he gave a grunt of approval and a nod of acknowledgement to Roxas before he continued on his way.

”Phew, finally.” Roxas said, relieved to not have the sword burdening him anymore. ”At least someone can put it to use.” Any further thoughts were interrupted when the stagecoach suddenly lurched and rocked about from being attacked. ”That’s probably not good.” He said as he spring from his seat and hopped outside to see what the commotion was.

No, no it was definitely not good. It turned out there was a massive alligator living in the nearby body of icy water. ”Geez, who even put these animals in this Zoo, anyway?” Roxas asked with an exasperated tone of sarcasm. Obviously he wasn’t privy to the bits and pieces of the Zoo’s history that others like Edward and Sandalphon had been discovering.

That just left Roxas with figuring out his plan of attack. A monster that size with those scales would probably not feel his Keyblades or StepSword very much. And definitely not the RockGun either, most likely. What to do… what to do… Roxas snapped his fingers and grabbed one of his Poke Balls. ”Looks like another job for you, Turbo!” He decided, releasing the Revavroom and hopping on to ride closer to the shore of the water the alligator was swimming in. ”Use Screech!”

Upon the command, Turbo began revving her engines until they produced an earplitting screech of a noise. That would sharply lower the alligator’s defense, and maybe make it a bit more susceptible to others’ attacks. Roxas watched some of the others go on the move, and was especially worried when Geralt took a spill. But thankfully Blazermate was able to go in for the rescue. Then he saw the Ace Cadet literally skate on the water toward it and managed to harpoon it with claws attached to a chain. ”Careful, Ace!” He shouted to his fellow Seeker.

Roxas had to think. What did he have that could be of help here? The RockGun was his only projectile weapon, and neither of his Strikers offered much to the current situation either. Then Roxas remembered a particular move one of his Pokemon knew. But would that work here? Well, it was better than doing nothing! ”Titan!” Roxas called as he released his Golett from its Poke Ball. The ghost Pokemon struck a flexing pose in preparation to enter the fray.

”Titan, I need you to use Curse!” Roxas called, hoping against everything that this would work. Titan obeyed the command and conjured a giant ghostly nail that proceeded to lung back and stab it. It was a hard hit, taking Titan to half health. But if it worked, then the alligator would find itself on a ticking clock to its inevitable downfall. Curse status would reduce the monster’s health by 25% of its total every ten seconds. Roxas just hoped that that the move had worked, and that his friend could last through the countdown if it did.

---

Word Count: 806
Level 8 Ganondorf: 0/80
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 2/80

Frozen Highland ~ Krat Zoo

When he departed from the stagecoach, Ganondorf looked around at the new area the Seekers were passing through. The first thing that caught his eye was the food court. In all honesty, the warlord hadn’t yet fully regenerated since his earlier tussle with the elephant carcass. If there was any food to be found in that area, then maybe he could eat some of it to top himself off?

When he got closer to the food court, Ganondorf was able to see that most of the food looked old and probably spoiled. He didn’t exactly know if the Gravemind’s spirit distinguished between good food and spoiled food. Judging by what he saw of it in the Qliphoth Tree, though? Ganondorf would probably guess that it didn’t. Still, that also meant the prospect of eating rotten food, which Ganondorf knew very well would still taste like death even if it was safe for him to consume.

In the end, he took two slabs of meat that he found in the staff center, but didn’t eat them. Instead he would hold onto them in case he needed an emergency bit of healing for some reason. He really hoped he wouldn’t need them, though, as the Gerudo could already imagine how terrible they tasted. Unfortunately, Ganondorf didn’t stick around long enough to realize a missing viking was hiding here, but that would end up being Mokou’s discovery later on.

When he was walking near the stagecoach again, Ganondorf was flagged down by Roxas and given a new greatsword. Apparently the boy must have gotten from another spirit. After he pulled away from the stagecoach with the new weapon in hand, Ganondorf gave it a few test swings. Seemed to work well enough. And upon closer inspection the weapon appeared to have some kind of mechanism that let it splash acid with its swings. Well that would certainly make for some rather painful damage to deal against enemies.

Part of him wanted to open another portal back to the Avenger to store one of his greatswords, but Ganondorf found himself unable to decide which one to send back. Litania had a useful enchantment, but the Sword of the Six Sages was a holy weapon that the Gerudo didn’t want in anyone else’s hands but his own. So for the time being, Ganondorf would just have to carry three swords instead of two, and made a mental note that he needed a place to privately store things once he was back aboard the Avenger.

All other thoughts were interrupted when something emerged from the water of the flooded exhibit. A giant alligator of all things. Massive enough to have trees growing on its back, in fact. ”Ha! Well, then! Maybe something will be a challenge after all!” The warlord laughed, brandishing his newly acquired Acidic Crystal Spear.

Of course, the monster was out in the water, and Ganondorf would be a fool to try and battle it there. But he wasn’t about to sit on the sidelines either. First, Ganondorf summoned a squad of Moblin Archers to loose volleys of fire arrows from the safety of the land. He doubted they’d do much damage to the creature, but something was better than nothing. Then, Ganondorf focused his dark magic and summoned the Phantom Steed that he then proceeded to mount.

Ganondorf’s Phantom Steed galloped him through the air and over the water at around the same time the Ace Cadet was making his attack run. There was also a curious rain of flaming feathers as well. Not that Ganondorf had to worry about such a thing thanks to his Ceruledge spirit’s Flash Fire ability. In fact, Ganondorf reached out a hand and deliberately snatched one of the falling feathers and let it ignite on him. But rather than harm him, it instead only made Ganondorf’s body flare up with a fiery aura that indicated that Flash Fire was now active and would be buffing all fire damage he dealt by 50%.

”BURN!” Ganondorf roared as his Steed loped over the Alligator’s head just before he inhaled a mighty breath. When he exhaled, Ganondorf breathed a powerful gout of fire that swept down over the monster’s face. He knew his steed wouldn’t remain active forever. So Ganondorf planned to keep his horse nearby the monster in the air until it was about to dispel so he could be within Bullet Jump range to make it to the alligator’s back. But for now, he just made a few galloping passes while spewing boosted fire breaths at the massive creature.

What Ganondorf did not know was that those two slabs of meat he picked up from the food court were originally intended for the alligator itself. Which meant that the alligator may very well smell the meat on him now that he was close.