Double

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

Word Count: 941
Level 11 Roxas: 63/110
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 65/110

College of Winterhold - Archmage’s Quarters

”Ugh…” Roxas groaned as he came to his feet, ”Someone get the number of that runaway wormhole?” He mumbled dryly to himself. He heard a small whine nearby and went to give Scamp some comforting pets, ”You okay buddy?” He asked, and after the moment the Boltund calmed down and began to sniff around the unfamiliar surroundings. Meanwhile Roxas patted himself down, counting off his Poke Balls. 1… 2… 3… 4, good they were all still with him.

Wherever this was, it looked… well, magical. A few shelves contained books and scrolls as well as what looked like an obviously magical staff. A display case contained a dagger of some kind and Roxas also saw a pair of boots that might have been enchanted too but he lacked the ability to tell whether or not they were. Should he take them? They did probably belong to someone and whoever they were probably wouldn’t be happy about it. And nearby there was a garden of some kind growing all kinds of weird plants and mushrooms. This whole room was practically screaming “wizard” at him. But eventually he noticed the painter standing near the garden. Since there was no one else here, Roxas had to hope he could answer his questions.

”Excuse me, um, sir?” Roxas said, trying to mind his manners and not make himself seem threatening, ”I’m kinda lost… can you tell me where this is?””

Somehow, even though the other man had clearly seen Roxas already, he managed to be taken by surprise. Or maybe he'd just been cooped up in wherever-this-was long enough to be supercharged with nervous energy. "OH! Hey. Hi. Sorry. This is Winterhold College. The Archmage Quarters, specifically. But I need help too. I feel like I'm going mad..."

He took a deep breath. "I...I'm Frederic. Fred's fine, though. This is going to sound crazy, I know... but ever since I made THAT painting... my life has been turned upside down." He shook his head vigorously, squeezing his eyes shut. "My paintings have come to life. I made a series of portraits... but they escaped their canvases. They are prowling around the college. They are plotting something. I KNOW they are. I can hear their thoughts in my head. It's driving me insane." His voice became increasingly despondent, as if he were fraying at the edges. "Please, can't you do something about them? Any of them, even just one. Here, here."

Frederic dug in his pocket, then handed Roxas what looked like a fancy black doorstop with gold edges. "The layout in here isn't right. Always changing. When a door closes, it'll open somewhere else. Unless you keep it open with this."

Roxas tilted his head in curiosity. Magic paintings were not the strangest things he'd ever encountered. But paintings that plotted and that the painter could hear in their head? Admittedly that part was pretty weird. Still, he wasn't mean enough to just ditch the guy and not at least try to help him.

”Sure, I can try. Um, my name is Roxas.” Roxas answered, accepting the doorstop. ”So rooms really just change a lot? Man, how's anyone supposed to get around without being late all the time?” Meanwhile Scamp sniffed at the doorstep and then leaned forward to sniff curiously at Frederic.

”What should I do when I find one of those paintings?” Roxas asked, ”You want me to, like, destroy them or something? Do you know if there's any in here right now?”

Frederic looked around nervously. "No...I don't think there are. But keep an eye out. Chances are, they'll be hiding somewhere. From the voices. They can hear them, too. And we all want the same thing. Please, don't listen to them...destroy them."

”Got it.” Roxas said, ”Find the paintings, destroy them, and don't listen to them. Thanks for the tip about the doors!” After that Roxas decided to go open a door. If none of Fred's paintings were in this room, then he wanted to try checking another room for them.

”C’mon, Scamp.” Roxas said, patting his leg for Scamp to follow. Together they approached the door and Roxas pushed it. It was heavy, almost too heavy, but the Nobody managed to get it open.

The Kitchen

Roxas blinked at what was on the other side. ”Is this a… kitchen?” He asked, almost recoiling when he spotted the carved up hog, ”Ugh, or maybe it’s a butcher shop?” Regardless, he quickly knelt down and shoved the doorstop underneath the open door. From what Fred said, if he let the door close then it would lead to another room the next time it opened. Of course, Roxas only had that one doorstop. So he’d have to get creative if he wanted to figure out how to keep other doors open.

”Eyes peeled, Scamp.” He told his Pokemon, ”If you smell something, let me know.”

He shuddered at the sight of the bloodstains on the floor. Hopefully that was from a butchered animal and not from… a person. The rest of the room was pretty normal as far as kitchens go. Lots of shelves, cabinets, and pretty much all the necessary cooking and eating implements. He also noticed three other sets of doors besides the one he came through. One was straight across the room on the opposite side. The other two were on balcony levels that could be accessed by climbing up steep metal slat-stairs. But the most relieving thing Roxas spotted was a familiar figure.

”Geralt!” He called, already starting to jog over to where the Witcher was standing, Scamp bounding behind him at his heels. ”Have you seen anyone else?”

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

Word Count: 1,133
Level 9 Ganondorf: 23/90
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 25/90

College of Winterhold - Library of Negated Words

Ganondorf grunted and grumbled as he pushed himself to his feet, his mood very much not improved by his sudden change in location. He didn’t know how or why he had been brought here, but whoever or whatever was responsible was about to learn the hard way that he was not one who could be contained. And it didn’t take the warlord long to notice that he was not alone in this library. In addition to the somber watchman, there were two headless abominations seemingly living in the upper reaches of the library.

Ganondorf rumbled a low sigh of exasperation. Somehow it always seemed to be him that ended up having to deal with such abominable creatures. In fact this stirred a memory or two of The Under that he would rather have forgotten about, ”Tch, fine.” He finally said to himself in a curt tone, having no doubt that the headless monsters would provide no real challenge to him.

Reaching the headless chamberlains would require climbing a series of ladders scattered at the edges of the floor levels, and after ascending the first the warlord quickly started to see what it was he was dealing with. Once he started climbing, the lower of the two chamberlains conjured floating heads that began flying down toward Ganondorf, likely intending to crash into him and force him to fall. But they had no idea that Ganondorf was well-equipped to stop their imminent collision. Without even needing to release his grip on the ladder, his four back tentacles grew out and lashed at the heads to swat them aside and seemingly kill them with ease. They retracted into Ganondorf’s back once again when he reached the first upper floor.

Once on the first upper level, Ganondorf drew his swords - Litania and the Acidic Curved Greatsword and advanced toward the first headless chamberlain. It continued to try to send heads at the warlord, but between his blades and his back tentacles not a single one was able to deter him from reaching the abomination. The acidic bite of one sword and the blessed prayer of the other one made quick work of the headless chamberlain as Ganondorf managed to hack and slash it down with relative simplicity. It seemed as though the creature was better suited to obstructing an attacker they climbed toward it then fighting directly.

And then Ganondorfed sheathed his weapons and mounted the next ladder to climb higher. As before, the second headless chamberlain sent flying heads down to try and knock Ganondorf from the ladder. But once again his back-tentacles proved to be rather effective at swatting them away, both on the ladder and on the upper level itself once Ganondorf began his advance toward the chamberlain. The second headless chamberlain proved no more difficult to neutralize than its brother on the lower level, and Ganondorf stood victorious in the end.

As he descended back to the ground level, Ganondorf scooped up both their spirits and tucked them away. He could do something with them later. For now, the priority was figuring out where he was and how to get out. And there was a watchman down below who he assumed could tell him these things.

”You there.” Ganondorf said to the watchman after he was on the bottom level once again, ”I need to know where I am, and how to leave.”

When confronted by Ganondorf, the watchman just seemed to stare past him, if there were indeed any eyes within his shrouded head to stare. After a brief moment, though, Diosdado replied in a low, raspy voice, as if whispering. "...The Library of Negated Words." Slowly, he turned the brim of his hat toward a set of double doors. "A way out...of the Library...but not of...Winterhold. How to leave...I know not...I merely keep...the keys."

He flinched, then bowed his head. "The sound...does not cease. It creeps on these...forgotten walls, and no one....can determine its origin...or its obscure destiny. For the love of the High Wills...silence it...for I have long yearned for it."

From the reply, Ganondorf assumed he must be inside the structure they saw on the outside. But the watchman's word about not knowing how to actually get out of the building was concerning. Ganondorf should have guessed it wouldn't be as simple as just going through the door. When were they ever that lucky? That meant Ganondorf would have to try another room and hope some other clue about getting out would present itself there.

But there was also the second thing the watchman spoke of. The sound that he described, which Ganondorf had not heard a single bit of thus far. Was he simply crazy and imagining things? Or was there more to this Library than meets the eye? ”If I were going to silence that sound, how might I go about finding it?”

Diosdado continued to glare at the floor. "Look," he replied. "Listen. As you wander...not in this Library, but in another room, somewhere..." After a moment, his head slowly rose. "Silence that noisome sound, and I will part with whichever key you need."

”Then I’ll try to return when I’m finished.” Ganondorf said. He couldn’t make promises since it sounded like wandering these rooms was going to involve a bit of luck, but that wouldn’t stop him from keeping his ears open for whatever that sound the watchman wanted silenced. And a choice of any key from his collection could prove useful in navigating this place. With no other business to attend to in the library, Ganondorf approached double doors and pushed them open.

The Pool

This room wasn’t as big as the library. It was small, and square. Its only real feature was the pool of clean water in the center of it, bearing steps that led down into the water should one wish to swim or bathe, presumably. The only items of note were a bucket, a shovel, and a rope of connected objects that the warlord presumed were flotation devices intended for use in the pool. But then the other important thing he noticed was that the other set of doors in this room appeared to have been opened already. Beyond them he could see a glimpse of a tall stone auditorium housing a large floating spherical crystal that he could clearly sense a great deal of magic emanating from.

”Hmph, now where to begin…” Ganondorf murmured. He glanced around the pool but he kept drawing his gaze toward the next room over. Something about the sphere was very… tempting to him. And he had half a mind to ignore the pool room and investigate that instead. Eventually his temptation and curiosity got the better of him, and the Gerudo crossed over through the open doors into the auditorium room.

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

Word Count: 573
Level 6 Captain Falcon: 91/60
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 92/60

Esaka’s Low Tier, The Breakers Dojo

“What do you mean, ‘missing’?” asked Sho Kamui.

Captain Falcon had returned to the Breakers Dojo for the night. Once there he’d shared with Sawamura and Team Breakers what had happened that day regarding Terry going missing. And while Lee remained stoic, Sho and Tia showed their concern. Sawamura stayed silent for now, taking in the info and simply processing it.

”It happened after our match,” Falcon said, leaving out all the details pertaining to the UN and the G-Corp investigation. ”He just… went radio silent, and wasn’t replying. And I couldn’t find him at the Fatal Fury Dojo either.”

“Wait,” Tia chimed in, “so if he’s actually gone, then your team…” she trailed off.

“...will get DQ’d from the Tournament.” Lee said, finishing the thought for her.

“But isn’t there a rule that allows an emergency sub-in?” Sho pointed out.

”Yeah,” Falcon confirmed, ”that’s allowed. I’ve even found a pair of fighters who want to take his spot, but…”

“But what?” Lee asked, “You’re down a teammate, and was lucky enough to find a quick replacement. Why the hesitation?”

”They’re only 15.” Falcon said with some trepidation, ”Kids, essentially.”

There was a pause between all of them at that revelation. It was Sawamura who eventually broke the silence, “You’d be surprised how young some prominent fighters can be.”

“True.” Sho said optimistically, “And it’s not like the KoF matches are allowed to be lethal, right?”

Under most normal circumstances they’d be right. But the Captain obviously knew some details that they were not privy to concerning the Four Kings and what he assumed was likely waiting for the Seekers at the end of the Tournament. The twins weren’t like himself or the other Seekers. They wouldn’t be regenerated by the system put in place by Galeem. They only had one shot. If something happened to them, that was it - Game Over. Not an easy thing for Falcon to have to carry on his conscience.

And yet Bart and Marg were insistent on fighting anyway. From that perspective, he had to admire the courage and guts the two had. Which was also why he couldn’t just turn them away. Not after how much trouble they went to to prove they wanted to do this. And not the least of which because Falcon had no other options for how to replace Terry on the KoF team.

”I guess you’ve got a point.” The F-Zero Pilot finally admitted.

---

The next morning, Falcon was back out on the streets of the Low Tier when he heard the call from Band and Roland’s subsequent reply. ”I’ll be there.” The Captain quickly chimed in. Since he was already in the Lower Tier it wouldn’t take him long at all to get to the address that Roland specified.

Once there, he got himself a coffee and a rice omelet. Nothing fancy, but it got the job done. He greeted Pit and Amaterasu when they arrived, too. He waved the wolf goddess over so he let her know where they were set to meet the twins before the day’s matches were supposed to begin.

”We’ll have a tougher time knowing what we’re up against without Terry.” He admitted but quickly added, ”But I’ve got faith in us. As long as we’re not out of the Tournament, then as far as I’m concerned we’ve still got just as good of a shot as ever at making it to Rugal.”

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

Word Count: 565
Level 9 Ganondorf: 22/90
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 23/90

Alpine Climb - Drill Baby Drill

The ambush had really soured Ganondorf’s mood. He spent the prep time hovering near the stagecoach to guard its contents. One of the vegetubes in there contained the one thing that could single-handedly solve his healing problems, and he’d be damned before he let something unfortunate happen to that Napberry. And if that meant the warlord had to start personally guarding stagecoach himself, then so be it.

When the drilling itself commenced, Ganondorf’s mood didn’t exactly improve. The noise was rather grating, and so was having to deal with the occasional glyphid, terminid or other insectoid along the way. No problem for himself, obviously, but still an annoying nuisance nonetheless. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Roxas looked less bothered. The Nobody appeared to be using this as a method to let his Pokemon do some battling in order to get them more experience and grow stronger.

If Ganondorf had one of those kinds of pet creatures he could be doing the same. But alas, he still only had the raw paldium he found and not any of the necessary materials to turn it into Pal Spheres. It would have to wait for another time, unfortunately. Eventually, thankfully, they managed to breach the surface which meant fresh air again. Ganondorf hadn’t been in these caves for as long as he was stuck down in the Under but he had to admit it was starting to give him some unpleasant memories of that place. So finally being able to breathe the air again would be just the thing to improve his mood.

Or, at least, it would have.

It didn’t take the warlord long to notice that the path was no longer able to accommodate the stagecoach. And this was all the more confirmed when Sandalphon managed to come out and announce that they’d be continuing on foot. ”She can’t be serious.” Ganondorf grumbled. After all the trouble of getting this blasted stagecoach up here they were going to abandon it just like that? And what of the vegetubes? The mistletoe they needed was already prepared, yes, but that was not the only function the machines served. They were almost singularly responsible for them being able to sustain their food supply. And then there was his napberry.

On one hand, the vegetubes and the supplies associated with them would be safe aboard the Avenger. On the other hand, it meant that Ganondorf would have to jump through an extra hoop to get ahold of his napberry supply when it was ready to be harvested. ”Fine, but nobody aboard the Avenger had better mess with my napberries.” He obviously ended up recruiting Edward’s help to send the vegetubes back to the armory along with the instructions about what they were and how they could be used to mitigate the ship’s current food shortage. And Ganondorf made sure to include explicit instructions to never let the napberries run out, as they were far too useful as an alternative source of healing.

”Well, there goes our self-sustaining food supply.” He grumbled after the vegetubes were sent, ”Looks like it’s back to feeding ourselves the old fashioned way.” And he knew that meant hunting and trading where possible. Thankfully the hunting part was just up the Ace Cadet’s alley, so Ganondorf figured between him and a few others it wouldn’t be too much of a chore.

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

Word Count: 401
Level 6 Captain Falcon: 90/60
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 91/60

Esaka’s High Tier, The High Rollers Club

For the entire time the Seekers were in the casino, Captain Falcon had not actually participated in any of the games. Gambling was never his cup of tea, as it were. So instead he simply sampled the occasional hors d’oeuvres tray or the occasional glass of a non-alcoholic champagne - as he wasn’t there to let himself get drunk either. Rather, he spent his time watching and observing the Bogard twins as they bounced between game tables and racked up their winnings.

From this - as well as recalling what he saw of them during the fight against Abigail - the Captain was able to more or less piece together what he believed their fighting style amounted to. In the simplest terms, he guessed it was based around some form gambling archetype for the purposes of building up gold that they could then later spend to use their stronger techniques or special moves. It was probably similar to something like the Power Gauge or Super Meter, but functioned a bit more on luck instead. And so Falcon essentially pegged the twins’ fighting style to be one based around high risk and high reward. The only thing that worried him was having them face large opponents such as Abigail - given the trouble the bruiser had given them earlier.

And speaking of trouble, Falcon also spotted the appearance of the two individuals that Band had pegged as the head honchos around here. Casino bosses were often known to take issue with guests winning too often - whether those wins were legitimate or not. But this was more than that. Cap knew a crime boss when he saw one and these Big people may as well have been wearing neon signs that told the world that they were giving orders to the local criminal element. And that, Falcon knew, was only going to mean even more trouble.

As such, he didn’t hesitate to set his glass aside on a passerby tray before making his way over to put himself between the kids and the Bigs, ”What seems to be the problem here?” Falcon asked the man, trying to de-escalate first in the hopes of avoiding a fight. He wasn’t sure how well he or the other Seekers could talk down these two but it was worth at least trying before the fists started flying. ”Surely we can settle this like adults, can’t we?”

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

Young Money vs The Mad Gear Motorhead

Ms Fortune, Captain Falcon, and Bartholomew/Marguerite Bogard
Word Count: 3195 (+4)

With a sputtering engine noise, the hulking Abigail pulled a massive arm back and then swung it forward in a massive left cross, aimed downward at the pipsqueaks before him. For the giant it might have been just a medium punch, but for the Bogard twins it looked like an unstoppable force of nature, a massive fist big enough to use either of their heads as a speed bag. That made evasion their top priority, but as they split to either side with a brisk dodge, the very unthreatened Abigail followed up on his whiffed punch with a big step to close the distance toward one of them, his target chosen at random. After he planted his foot in front of Marg, he lashed out with the other with a huge kick. Nadia winced reflexively, not at all sure that the teenager could take it.

Instead of striking the girl’s head, though, it collided with the hidden amber barrier around her, bringing the grid of interlocking triangles back into view. As Marg flinched, a half-dozen fragments broke off her shield. Taking the form of golden diamonds, they bounced away like rolled dice and scattered around the battlefield, where they floated just above the ground in a tantalizing collectable manner. When Marg tallied them up, she seemed more disappointed than afraid. “One short!”

From atop the scrapped SWAT van Nadia stared at the little gems, mesmerized by what looked like precious dropped change, and she wasn’t the only one they distracted. Still not really concerned about his foes, Abigail glanced down at the glittery goodies too, only for Bart to dart forward and snatch three of them up. He nimbly ducked backward when the behemoth grasped at him, then clasped the crystals in his fist, crushing them to gain their amber power. As golden cracks appeared in his arm, the young man dropped to one knee to strike the ground. A familiar exclamation punctuated the impact.

“Power Wave!”

The golden cracks flowed down his arm and across the junkyard’s red dirt like an earthquake’s faultline. It traveled toward the confused Abigail quickly, and when it reached beneath him the amber energy erupted, cannoning three paydirt shardshots into Abigail from below. He let out an odd screech like a braking vehicle’s tires, as much in surprise as in pain. Then the earth practically shook as Abigail jumped into the air. Nadia watched, alarmed, as he thrust out both legs in a colossal dropkick. Gritting his teeth, Bart sidestepped just enough to turn the devastating impact into a glancing blow that sent four shards tumbling across the ground.

While her brother fled from Abigail’s wrath, Marg made her move and swooped in to gather as many shrapnel gems as she could. In so doing she unwittingly placed her back toward Abigail, who rounded on her with a flailing backhand. The blow shattered her shield and almost bowled Marg over, but her shield’s destruction dropped two extra gems dropped in front of her, and scooping them up brought her total to eight. As Abigail’s enormous shadow fell over her, the girl looked over her shoulder and snapped her fingers. “All in!”

A dozen feet overhead, a horizontal window into another dimension opened up, and from it tumbled a cascade of manhole-sized golden poker chips. They slammed down on Abigail’s head and brawny shoulders in an opulent deluge, battering him until the opening slammed shut a few seconds later. Nadia couldn’t help but laugh, delighted, as the giant sputtered in anger. “Wow, your power is literally money? That’s rich!”

The breakout of a fight was the kind of noise that wasn’t easily missed. But Captain Falcon was prepared at first to write it off as a particularly spirited sparring match between two members of the Fatal Fury Dojo. That is until he heard the familiar exclamation of ‘Power Wave’. That stopped the bounty hunter in his tracks and made him look back toward the dojo that he was in the process of putting behind him.

”Isn’t that the name of one of Terry’s-”

Cap’s question was cut off by his surprise at what he saw. A big SWAT vehicle near a big, nasty-looking bruiser of some kind. And it looked like he was trying to take down a pair of kids! But even that wasn’t the most shocking thing to catch the Captain’s eye. Another familiar-looking someone was standing on top of the van. He wouldn’t have recognized her at first until she blurted out one of her trademark puns.

”Ms Fortune?” Falcon blurted out himself, but didn’t exactly give himself any time to fully process the scene before breaking into a heated sprint.

At the sound of her name, Nadia immediately turned to look in the direction of the callout’s source, confirming that Falcon’s guess was right on the money. “Car-ap!” She froze like a deer in headlights, searching frantically for an escape route.

But Falcon wasn’t making a run at Nadia. Instead the F-Zero pilot made a big leap clear over the SWAT vehicle and past where Nadia was watching the fight. Sure, the Seekers had been trying to find the feral, but Falcon wasn’t about to stand by while a big bruiser tried to attack the kids.

”FALCON KICK!”

Cap’s voice rang sharply from his mid-air position as his body quickly corrected itself into a flaming fiery kick threatening to slam into Abigail from above like a meteor dropping out of the sky.

By the time Falcon rushed into action, Abigail had launched a new offensive against the twins. He stooped to slap the ground, entering a sort of trackstarter stance, then thundered forward with Nitro Charge. “Vrrrrroom, vrrrrroom!”

Bart held his ground in front of the giant to cover his sister as she retreated to replenish her shield with Cornerstone Deluxe, firing off the few golden gems he’d collected in the form of a close-range shotgun blast. “Crack Shoot!” It was nothing like the move he’d taken the name from, although it did cleave closer to the meaning of the words involved. Unfortunately for Bart, Abigail’s Nitro Charge soaked the shardshots without flinching.

If not for Falcon’s sudden appearance, his Dynamite Punch might have crashed through Bart’s shield and sent him flying. Instead the Captain’s fiery boot struck Abigail’s upper back. “Ow!” The blow almost doubled him over, but Falcon bounced off the next moment. It would take more than that to fell this musclebound titan. He turned around as Falcon landed a short distance away, a snarl on his face as Galeem’s influence took over. “Hey!”

“What’re you doing?” Bart barked, waving the Captain away.

A new shimmering amber shield took shape around Marg as she tapped into her Cornerstone shard’s power. “This is our fight!” she yelled at Falcon.

”Your fight?” Falcon repeated, and now noticed the fact that neither of the kids were gleaming like Abigail was. Unfortunately for all of them, he lacked any context and there wasn’t any time for that to be shared right now. ”Did you two start this fight?”

None of it made sense. On one hand, Abigail looked like the clear aggressor. But on the other hand, the kids were making it crystal clear that they didn’t want any help, which made it seem as though they started the fight or at the very least wanted this fight to happen. Either way, Galeem’s influence made resolving this peacefully impossible.

”90 seconds.” Cap finally said, ”I’ll give you that long to win this fight yourselves before I step in again. Same time limit as the tournament matches. If you really insist that you handle it then that shou-!”

In the middle of Falcon’s speech, the giant hooligan interrupted him with EX Abigail Punch. Surrounded in orange energy, he hammered the captain with ten absurdly fast uppercuts, launched like the pistons of an engine. “VUVUVUVUVUVUVUV VEE EIGHT!” Abigail finished the brutal special move with a monumental upward clap to send Falcon flying.

Now mostly hidden behind an idle excavator, Nadia winced at the sight of her fellow Seeker sailing away. This was no time for conversation, and now that they had a third party involved, things were practically guaranteed to get out of hand. The twins needed to take charge of the situation. They charged together, yelling at their target in sync. “Hey, ugly! Don’t forget about us!”

“Rrrgh?” With a grunt Abigail pivoted around, forcing the kids to stop short to avoid his flailing hammer-fist. Unfortunately for them, with no ambergold they’d need their foe to keep chipping their shields to create golden gems for the pair to collect and use. If either lost their shield and took an unmitigated hit from this meathead, it might be curtains. Theirs was a tricky and dangerous gameplan, one very foreign to the formulas that governed Esaka’s fights. Nevertheless, the blonde twins seemed determined to prove themselves, so the dance of death continued. Though she put on a brave face, Nadia couldn’t help but worry and wonder if, like Captain Falcon, she ought to intercede. Regardless of what the kids wanted, the lives of Lost Numbers were not replaceable.

Before she could come to a decision, things went wrong. In trying to launch a coordinated attack, Bart and Marg wound up point-blank against Abigail. Having stacked amber shields with Cornerstone Deluxe, they reasoned that they could take whatever the giant dished out, but any grappler worth his salt had an answer for opponents overconfident in their defense. He reached out and snatched them, his massive mitts passing right through the shields, and grabbed them. Unceremoniously he hurled them straight upward, several stories into the air, and as they fell screaming Abigail revved up his arm for an immense open-handed slap. The heavy bash instantly shattered Bart’s shield and sent him careening into Marg, which broke her barrier two. The twins tumbled away into the red dust, coming to rest in a heap against a pile of junk.

“Ugh…” Bart groaned, instinctively reaching for the shining stone inlaid in his tie clasp. “No way we gotta up the ante in our first fight, right?”

Marg mirrored his gesture as she picked herself up. In front of them Abigail stomped closer, sputtering in anticipation like an idle engine. “Whatever it takes. We don’t fold that easily…”

Meanwhile Falcon was pushing himself back to his feet from the bit of wreckage he had landed in. Despite taking the brutal special move unmitigated, the Captain had nary a scratch on him and wasn’t even so much as winded. There were no Heavenly Principles active at this time and therefore his invincibility from Mint Condition had prevented any actual damage from occurring. Of course, that effect was now worn off.

”Now that was just plain rude.” He muttered as he dusted himself off and looked in time to see the twins’ shields be completely broken by Abigail. He did say 90 seconds, but frankly Abigail had successfully gotten him feeling rather nettled. Granted, it was entirely because of Galeem’s influence and his own decision to spend a moment too long talking, but still. That, and seeing the twins get their shields broken so quickly made it clear they may have gotten in over their heads a bit.

So with a quick sprint, Falcon practically launched himself back into the fight. Only this time he wasn’t going to allow himself to let up, ”Raptor Boost!” He called sharply as he tried to surprise Abigail from behind with a flame-wrapped uppercut of his own that would launch the hulking bruiser upward if it fully connected. But then Falcon tried to jump up after his opening and somersault forward into a downward double heel kick intended to send Abigail slamming back onto the ground. It was none other than Captain Falcon’s patented ”Heel of Shame!”

This time the bounty hunter didn’t bother with any chatter. Instead he dropped into stance and readied himself for whatever retaliation Abigail tried to unleash next.

Now fully focused on the Captain, Abigail knelt to slap the ground, then push forward Nitro Charge. He closed in on his target, his armored command run more dangerous than its somewhat comical appearance might suggest, but well before he reached Falcon he tucked forward in order to perform a massive front-flip. Abigail essentially flopped forward onto his back, his momentum and great weight bringing his legs down in an ungainly but destructive variation on Falcon’s own heel drop.

From afar the twins just watched for a moment, furious at the man’s interference but in need of a moment to breathe and decide what they’d do next.

Luckily for the bounty hunter, Falcon didn’t have to think too hard on how to respond. Clearly Abigail was monstrously strong and tough, but that sort of build pretty much always came at the cost of speed. And that was something that the Captain had in spades that he could take advantage of. As soon as Abigail was off the ground, Falcon tumbled straight forward. The idea was to slip underneath Abigail’s momentum while the bruiser was in the air performing his front flip and then to end up behind where he landed.

So after his forward dive roll, Captain Falcon instantly whirled around and began pelting Abigail with a flurry of blindingly fast forward kicks, ”Gen’ei Kyaku!” At this point it became clear that this fight would almost certainly end up being a pattern of Falcon nimbly dodging Abigail’s more sluggish form and essentially chipping away with attacks that were lightning fast but not super strong. Falcon would have to build up his Power Gauge some more if he wanted to use his hardest hitting techniques. Either that or risk winding up for a Falcon Punch which was probably ill-advised at this stage.

After the last kick of his Gen’ei Kyaku, Falcon tried to follow up with a close range blast of fiery chi from his palms, ”Ryuugeki Ken!” If he could stall a bit longer he'd have a Power Gauge stock he could use for something bigger, either that or the twins might have a way to capitalize on Abigail currently being focused on him. Whichever happened to come first.

The fireball scattered against Abigail’s block, the sparks and embers billowing aside to reveal his scowling mug. He bent and slapped the ground as if to use Nitro Charge point-blank, only to roll backward in an attempt to bait out an attack from Falcon. “Reverse!” he yelled. Then he unleashed a Nitro Charge for real, this one EX-supercharged and aglow with latent power. Even his footsteps were strong enough to cause damage and hitstun as the juggernaut chased Falcon down. “Gugugug gugugug gugugug!”

At the same time, the Bogard twins had hatched a plan. Even if they couldn’t dissuade the Captain’s interference, they could still scheme to steal the win by landing a decisive final blow, and they didn’t need their forebears’ full power to do it. Instead, the two made the most of Abigail being distracted to bash their amber shields against one another. Each impact dropped a couple shattered shards of golden earth power, and it didn’t take long for both to nab seven, their collective lucky number.

Falcon lunged forward half a step, his arm winding up for a Falcon Punch for just a split second before he pivoted into a backflip that he then turned into a run. He’d seen Abigail perform a Nitro Charge before, right before his initial intervention. So it wasn’t impossible to guess what the bruiser’s bent knee stance likely entailed. He was also fortunate that he was a much faster runner than Abigail, or avoiding the Charge would be markedly more difficult to do.

At that moment Bart and Marg stole the show, raising a mirrored hand in tandem to snap their fingers. “Shot loaded right!” they chorused. Overhead, a trapdoor to the poker chip dimension pulled open, and down came a deluge of giant chips. Falcon could probably hustle out of the way, but for Abigail there was no escape from the concussive downpour. Fourteen times the falling chips bludgeoned him, and no matter how thick the giant’s skull was, that was just too much punishment to take on top of the damage he’d received already. With a guttural groan, like a diesel engine all out of fuel, Abigail slumped to the ground.

“We did it!” The twins high-fived, still elated by their win despite Falcon’s interference. Of course, anyone with more experience in Esaka could predict that Abigail would recover in a few moments, alight with anger and ready for round two.

The last thing Falcon expected was a literal downpour of poker chips from the sky. He actually had to do a full Raptor Boost to dive ahead as far as he could to avoid getting caught in it. And behind him it sounded like Abigail wasn’t nearly so fortunate. But as the twins celebrated, the Captain turned his helmeted head to look in the direction of where Abigail was practically buried in poker chips. He wasn’t quite so celebratory yet.

”We need to get out of here!” He said with an urgent tone. Bruisers like Abigail were always known for their stubborn tenacity. And Falcon could hazard a guess that the hulking man wasn’t going to stay down for long. And if they stuck around for round two, they’d be dealing with an even meaner and angrier Abigail than they had been already. There was also the matter of Bart seemingly knowing how to use one of Terry’s signature moves. He wanted to talk to them about that as soon as they had a minute to actually breathe.

”Come with me and I’ll tell you what I know about Terry.” Cap added, hoping that would be convincing enough as he took a wild guess that they might be looking for Terry the same as he was. He also made a point to look to where he remembered seeing Nadia standing, hoping the feral hadn’t run off during the chaos. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the feral anywhere.

“Ms Fortune? Fortuuuuuune?” The twins’ own impulse to find their self-proclaimed tour guide was tempered by the urgency in Falcon’s voice and the name he somehow knew to drop for them. Terry was, after all, just the person the two wanted to find. With neither a reappearance nor a response from Nadia, and Abigail beginning to come to his senses, the two made a split second-decision.

“You know Terry?” Bart questioned, eliciting a nod.

“Okay, we’re in,” Marg decided. She didn’t think Ms Fortune had just abandoned the siblings, since she seemed to disappear the moment Falcon arrived. Whether he was an enemy she wanted to avoid or a friend she could entrust the kids with, hopefully she’d show up again soon. The twins turned to dash after Falcon as he hastily led them away.

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

Word Count: 248
Level 11 Roxas: 56/110
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 57/110

Alpine Climb - Base Camp

Roxas was practically shivering when he reached the end of his climb and found himself entering an open cave area where the stagecoach was already waiting. Even with his coat, the winds outside made the air even colder, and he was definitely feeling that. Most of the others were getting to work setting up camp, but Roxas found himself needing a moment to warm back up before doing anything else. So he sat near where the campfire had been built and rubbed his arms together and against his chest.

”N-Note to self,” the Nobody said dryly through chattering teeth, ”Climbing the mountain on the outside… is n-not so hot of an idea. Literally.”

But before he could get too distracted, Roxas at least remembered to also release his Pokemon from their balls. He figured they could all use a chance to get out and stretch their muscles a bit. Larxene and Shocker were quick to take off to explore the immediate surroundings, restless and somewhat mischievous as they were. While Titan and Turbo were content to find a spot they could settle down in for the night.

And as for Scamp, the Boltund immediately noticed his trainer shivering and nuzzled up against Roxas in the hopes of helping him get warm.

”T-Thanks buddy.” Roxas said gratefully as his Pokemon snuggled against him, ”That helps a ton.” He added, his hands absently giving Scamp some gentle scritches behind the ears, eliciting a happy tail thump from the electric dog.

---

Word Count: 308
Level 6 Captain Falcon: 85/60
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 86/60

Esaka’s Middle Tier, Fatal Fury Dojo

Captain Falcon was about to depart the Fatal Fury dojo when a voice stopped him, “You said you’re looking for Terry?” The Bounty Hunter turned and saw a Korean Martial Artist wearing a white gi with blue accents, though the belt was still unmistakably black.

”Do you know where he is?” Falcon asked, almost getting his hopes up a little bit.

“Not lately,” the Korean fighter answered apologetically, “but he’s a friend of mine. So if he’s missing, that’s got me worried too. Name’s Kim, by the way. Kim Kaphwan.”

”Call me Captain Falcon.” the Captain responded, ”You mentioned being a friend of Terry’s?”

“Sort of.” Kim replied coyly, “It’s a bit complicated. Spar with me for a moment and I’ll explain.”

The two took positions in one of the many training circles and began lightly trading punches and kicks. As they did so, Falcon learned that Kim met Terry in South Town when he traveled there to fight Wolfgang Krauser. He fought a brief match with Terry there and the two were good friends ever since, though that was also mixed with a healthy dose of rivalry between the two as well.

“Anyway, I told Terry if he ever needed my help he could always call me. Although I think he probably preferred asking Andy and Joe instead of a ‘rival’ like me, you know? I guess it’s kind of a pride thing. The point is, if Terry’s gone MIA, then I want to help find him if I can.”

”Much appreciated.” Falcon said, their sparring having come to stop by this point, ”But I’d hate to make you risk missing a match on our account.”

“Nah.” Kim said, said shaking his head. “It’s fine. Team Korea’s already wrapped up our matches for the morning so I’ve got some time to kill before my next big match.”

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

Guest Starring: Edward & Sectonia

Word Count: 1,078
Level 9 Ganondorf: 18/90
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 19/90

Alpine Climb - Base Camp

When at last Ganondorf finally linked back up with the stagecoach, he wasted no time. He summoned his Moblins and set them to work helping Sectonia’s antlers set up what would be the Seekers’ camp for the night. With that being done, Ganondorf was finally left with a little bit of spare time to go over what he found during his climb. He recounted the 15 crystal fragments he mined to make sure they were all accounted for before checking on the mystery berry he picked up as well.

”As I thought.” Ganondorf grunted with a sigh, ”I don’t have the knowledge to appraise these things myself.”

As he milled about the camp while the moblins and antlers set it up, Ganondorf held one of the crystalline fragments he found during his ascent in the caverns. At a glance it looked like a precious gemstone of some kind, which would give it selling value. But was there more to it? Unfortunately Ganondorf was not that familiar with ores and gems. However, he was fairly certain another member of the Seekers would be more capable of properly appraising these fragments given his usual work in constructing golems and other devices.

"A moment, Edward?" The Gerudo asked the tactician when there was a spare moment. He held out the fragment for Edward to take and look at, "I found an ore vein that produced a bit over a dozen of those fragments when I had it mined. Can you see any value or use in them by any chance?"

”Hmmm, let me see” Edward said as he received the fragment and raised it up to a quizzical eye. He turned it to and fro for a moment, before rummaging around a pouch and retrieving the pal-sphere containing his Rendrix and comparing the two.

”Thought so” he said, before handing back the shard and explaining that it was ”Paladium, most likely. We've got a few low grade spheres made of it, but higher grade metals would, apparently, make better ones, so it's worth keeping hold of. Or selling, if you'd rather not join in with all the monster taming going on"

"Ah," Ganondorf said, his interest piqued further, "I had been considering taming a beast for my own use, actually. Do you know what other materials are required for crafting these Pal Spheres, as you call them?"

”Quite simply wood, stone and metal. The higher quality the better. The shards seem to contain all of the magical properties, the rest are for reinforcing the device against escape attempts during the capture process” Edward replied after checking a note in his journal he had made on the topic.

”Well then,” Ganondorf said with an approving nod, ”Perhaps we should plan a material gathering excursion some time soon?” He suggested, but was obviously willing to put that idea on hold so the Seekers could sleep. So with that he took his leave of Edward, still having another thing he wanted to do while the Seekers were all still gathered.

Those Paldium Fragments he found were not the only things Ganondorf was curious about. After concluding his exchange with Edward, the warlord now had another object that piqued his interest. He'd spent enough time around his two mothers to know a potentially potent plant or alchemical ingredient when he saw one, but Ganondorf was never one to spend hours pouring over a cauldron or alchemist stations like his twin mothers had done. But there were a few Seekers much more capable of identifying the abilities of the berry he held in his hand. At first he tried asking Roxas, wondering if it was related to Pokemon, but the Nobody's Poke Dex came up short.

If only Kamek were still around, Ganondorf thought to himself. But there was no use lamenting the absence of the old Magikoopa. That left the warlord with but one option. And while he and the insect queen had often been wary of one of another, he still knew good and well that she was more than able to provide him the appraisal he needed, he would simply have to offer something in return for it. "Do you have a moment, Sectonia?" The Gerudo asked when he was able to catch the queen in a free moment, "I found something rather... intriguing during my climb." He offered up the single moon-shaped berry for the bee to get a closer look at, "It's the only one of its kind that I found during my entire climb, so it must be quite rare. I can detect it has magical properties but I lack the knowledge to properly identify it. I believe I still have a few Emeralds leftover from our time in the Under, they're yours if you're willing to help me. Or perhaps you'd prefer a share of these berries after I've more of them grown in the vegitube?"

Sectonia took a look over the berry, noting that it fit with what Ganondorf had become pretty well due to the aforementioned inability to be healed by outside sources according to Blazermate. "They seem to be enchanted. They put you to sleep for a short time, but heal you afterwards from what I can tell, and it's not a small amount." Sectonia said.

That news made Ganondorf’s lips curl into smirk, ”Excellent.” He said, looking quite pleased with what his find had turned out to be. As promised, he offered Sectonia his four remaining Emeralds for services rendered, ”Many thanks, your majesty. As promised, when more of this berry can be grown a share of them will be yours if you want them.”

Quite satisfied with his interactions, Ganondorf carefully put the Napberry back away in the pouch he was holding it in. That left only one person he wanted to find now. And he was certain that the archangel would be in or around the stagecoach, resting or overseeing the campsite setup. Either way, it wouldn’t be hard for the warlord to find Sandalphon.

”I found a rather… interesting bit of flora during my climb.” He told the archangel, letting her see the Napberry. ”Puts the eater to sleep for a short time, but renders them healed and satiated when they awaken. Could be just the workaround I need for my… little problem. I only found one, though. Hence why I’d like to petition for it be put inside that vegitube device we found at the zoo.”

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

Word Count: 768
Level 11 Roxas: 54/110
Exp Gained: +2
NEW EXP Balance--- 56/110

The Midnight Walk - Alpine Climb

For Roxas, the choice for his climb up the mountain was clear. He decided to take an exterior route. Between flow motion and his virtual cubes, he was pretty confident he could climb the exterior without issue. The only real threat he was going to face was the wind, which could be fairly powerful alongside the sheer cliff walls of the Alpine exterior. But Roxas didn’t have to think for very long before realizing he had a good answer for that as well.

As such, the Nobody sprang into his climb with all the speed and agility that Flow Motion gave him. Platforming and launching from ledge to ledge was pretty easy, especially at the lower altitude. And when he needed to shield himself from the wind, Roxas could slip into footholds with rocky outcroppings that shielded him from being blown off the mountain wall by the blasts of frigid wind. And on occasion, Roxas could produce small walls of virtual cubes that could also shield him from the wind as well, so really the climb itself wasn’t the challenging part. At least, not as much.

The actual challenging part came when Roxas spotted a familiar-looking chunk of blue ore along a part of the cliff face he was currently ascending. ”Tumblestone?! Here?” The Nobody exclaimed to himself in surprise. Sure enough, it was indeed Tumblestone Ore - Sky Tumblestone Ore to be exact. Roxas recalled that Dr. Yu could make use that to make Feather Balls back on the Avenger. And he had to admit he was feeling like he and Junior were starting to scrape for Poke Balls to use. So that helped inform the Nobody’s decision.

”Shocker!” Roxas called, releasing his Frost-Rotom from its Poke Ball, ”See that Tumblestone Ore? Can you get it for us? Try that new move I taught you!”

“Ro-to-to-to!” The Frost-Rotom shook excitedly before flying right up to the blue ore. With minimal focus, it used its new Swift move to fire off a small volley of yellow stars composed of Normal-type energy that destroyed the ore and allowed Shocker to quickly collect the chunks of Sky Tumblestone it produced before they could plummet out of reach. After that Shocker brought the Sky Tumblestone chunks back to Roxas who pocketed them in his Trainer Bag before continuing his climb up the mountainside after he recalled the Pokeman back to its Ball.

And that ended up becoming the real challenge of Roxas’ climb. The climb itself was relatively simple for him. But it became more complicated whenever he would spot more Sky Tumblestone ore that he would then use one of his Pokemon to collect. Sure, he could ignore the ore and just focus on the climb. But he also knew these Tumblestones would be a good help later on when it came time to make more Poke Balls. For the second formation of ore that Roxas found, he actually released Larxene from her Ball, ”Think you can grab that ore for us?”

The Sneasel smirked before giving a confident nod. And then, with almost the same ease as Roxas himself, she parkoured over to the ore like an Ice-type ninja and destroyed it with a quick Metal Claw attack. She deftly swiped the Sky Tumblestones from the air before they could fall and then deftly brought the spoils back to her trainer. ”Good job.” Roxas praised her, then tucked Larxene safely away back into her Poke Ball so he could resume climbing.

A few more hundred feet and two more bits of Tumblestone later, Roxas was making some pretty decent time with his climb despite the distractions. Between Shocker and Larxene, the Sky Tumblestone wasn’t too difficult to reach - although there was one chunk that Roxas ended up deciding to ignore because it was simply too risky to go for it as it was in the middle of a precarious spot being blasted by wind. And besides, Roxas was pretty sure he’d gathered a decent number of Sky Tumblestones by now and he didn’t want to let himself get too distracted.

Items Received

Sky Tumblestones x10

The higher Roxas climbed, the more he needed to focus on finding his allies. The sooner he could regroup with the others, the better. As much as he wanted to keep gathering lots of Tumblestone for later, the Nobody knew there was a more pressing objective he needed to focus on overall. But at least his climb gave him some good spoils to use later.

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

Word Count: 667
Level 9 Ganondorf: 17/90
Exp Gained: +1
NEW EXP Balance--- 18/90

The Midnight Walk - Alpine Climb

Moon Mountain. As Ganondorf understood it, this mountain marked the end of another leg of their trek through the Frozen Highlands. Their target remained the same - Baldur. And now, as Sandalphon had reported, the Seekers possessed the substance they needed to finally bring him to heel. And now the next step was to ascend this very mountain. A few of the Seekers were naturally able to fly up ahead. They would make a good scouting party, Ganondorf wagered.

A few of the more agile Seekers followed their ascent along the exterior of the mountain, and while Ganondorf was confident he could probably make a similar climb himself, he spotted something else that caught his eye instead - a cavern entrance. Intrigued by it, Ganondorf decided to try his luck with ascending the mountain through its interior paths.

Despite the safety from the wind outside, the interior caves were still smitten with bitter cold. Probably the first things that caught the warlord’s eyes were the many formations that looked to be made of raw ice. Even just going near them, he could feel dangerously cold temperatures that would certainly harm him if he touched them directly. And so he made a note to himself to avoid those ice formations. Nevertheless, the Gerudo began his exploration.

For the first chunk of his climb, Ganondorf was mostly focused on finding paths that led up. And that occasionally required him to navigate around the dangerous ice formations. And sometimes, he’d have to dodge occasional stalactites that would fall from the ceilings above. If it wasn’t one danger it was another one. Thankfully, his Bullet Jump made at least some of the required platforming much more doable than it otherwise would have been. But it was during the second chunk of his climb that something peculiar caught Ganondorf’s eye. He spotted what looked like pink particles, clearly magical in nature that appeared to be coming out of a dark recess tucked away in a corner of the cavern he was climbing through.

When he followed the particles, Ganondorf eventually found a peculiar-looking berry shaped like a purple crescent moon. It was a lone berry growing on a little sprout and was no-doubt the source of the pink particles. Ganondorf could sense that this berry was magical in nature, but he lacked the expertise or ability to properly identify it. Still, if there was one thing he had learned from his adoptive mothers, it was that magical plants often made for the most potent ingredients for a variety of uses. And so the Warlord plucked the moon-shaped berry from the sprout and pocketed it for later.

For Ganondorf

Napberry x1

After securing the berry, Ganondorf continued his climb through the Alpine’s interior. Sometime during the third leg of Ganondorf’s climb, he spotted something else that caught his eye. It wasn’t pink particles this time. Rather it was a small rock formation containing what looked like some kind of blue ore veins. Next to the rock was a fragment of what looked like a small crystal or diamond. That alone would have monetary value, and judging by the discarded pickaxes nearby, this blue ore was obviously useful or valuable to someone. His curiosity piqued, Ganondorf summoned his Moblins and had them use the discarded pickaxes to mine away at was left of the ore vein.

For Ganondorf

Paldium Fragments x15

Once the crystals were secured, Ganondorf dismissed the Moblins he summoned. He figured they wouldn’t be able to make this climb as well as he could, and he didn’t want anything to be dead weight. And so Ganondorf continued his climb solo. By this point he’d climbed a good distance up the Alpines. As such he began to keep an eye out for any of the other Seekers so he could regroup with them and put up some kind of base camp for the night.