DracoLunaris

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

Words: 878 (+2)
Edward Portsmith: Level 9 (22 cells) (2 level ups stored) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (3/90)
Location Frozen highlands - The Midnight Walk

Despite his general effort in trying to avoid such frivolities as desert while on campaign, Edward nonetheless found himself with a plate of christmas custard coated pudding in his hand, thrust into his hands by an elf who said it was to prevent any envy/temptation he might feel while watching the beasts devour their festive treats.

It was only after the elf in question had vanished back into the crowd that the niggling familiarity he’d felt had resolved itself. Clad in festive garb, it had been hard indeed to recognize Sundren of House Inioch, but it had most certainly been her. Indeed, the way she’d vanished really had been what clinched it, as despite her festive cheer she was in fact a Rogue Lord, master of court intrigue, propaganda and assassination.

She had also been princess of the Elven Court on his world, against which his Commonwealth had waged war. A war that the two of them had acted to end first separately and then in coordination, before finally helping forge the peace that had followed, during which she had become something of a friend.

She’d apparently been up to quite a bit more intrigue since they failed to stop the Shadowborn’s opening of the worldgates, namely manipulating the two major factions of Godir to positive ends. Between his trip through the astral sea, subsequent madness and his recovery from it, he’d never had a chance to catch up with her before Galeem’s light consumed them all.

Why in the worlds it had decided to put her here of all places was lost on him. Truly it was a waste of her talents in his eyes. Wll… other than her ability to organize and steer a party, ball or other event to her own ends perhaps, he supposed. Regardless, her other talents that would make it rather difficult to free her from the false god’s grasp without causing a commotion, given that out of the two of them she was far more apt at stubbly offing, or in this case harming and healing, someone than he was.

Still, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t consider how to go about it, but that was going to need to be a long-term plan for the night and next day, rather than something he could do right now.

Plus, if he kept standing here contemplatively staring after her rather than eating the damned desert she’d handed him, that would just make her suspicious. As such, he blinked away the lingering shock, and got stuck into the Christmas pudding, which he found perfectly to his liking.

Definitely here for her party planning ability, he decided, while enjoying the steamed treat. The woman was no doubt greasing wheels to keep everything running smoothly rather than enjoying herself, the poor selfless soul.

That or Christmas Village politics was a lot more cutthroat than it looked.

Sadly, though the pudding was both delicious and somewhat sentimental (the man finding himself half remembering an Academy party from his younger days), his slow and steady enjoyment of it meant that he was interrupted before he could finish it by the appearance of the feline of frost and its icy legions.

He set down his desert, stepped onto a table, and then took wing over the head of the retreating elven crowd, ascending to a rooftop from which he could assess the situation.

Could the seekers win? Yes. He’d sent the beasts to back up the seekers, and had the golems ready to ditch their festive decoration positions at a moment’s notice, which could hold back the frozen sear-troops just fine while the heroes saw to the cat king.

Could they avoid collateral damage to the village? Now that was more doubtful, as the wind-blasts from those Ty-Foos would be quite indiscriminate.

Thus upon hearing the cat's demands for veneration, he slipped off of the roof and made for the box of poke puffs, a reserve of which he’d deliberately held back so that the beasts could have treats in future. A joy he was, to his shame, about to rob them of.

He swiftly tried to re-wrap the package, thankful that he’d saved the paper, only to find ever so little success in this. Perhaps if he’d engaged in the gift wrapping earlier, he might have, but as such his amateur talents were not proving to be up to the task

To his rescue came Sundren, who took him entirely by surprise when she appeared beside him, feet ever so light on the snow, and said “here, let me. You’re already committing a sin of re-gifting, so it might as well be presentable“ before taking over.

In a flash a pair of wicked looking daggers and a suspiciously fast setting glue were used to chop and reseal the cardboard box itself, followed by a swift yet perfect application of salvaged wrapping paper.

”Oh, ah, thank you’re highness” Edward said as he had the box shoved into his hands, which got him a quirk of an eyebrow from the not-a princess-at-the-moment party planner before she set his slip-up aside and urged him forwards.

With the Dreadnought acting as gift carrier, the Rogue followed on from Layton’s own invitation to the festivities with a strong helping of flattery delivered in an ever so proper British accent.

“We have even set aside special gifts for one so grand at yourself, and are overjoyed that our faint hope for such a prestigious guest has been granted this day" she called up, before gesturing to Edward and continuing “please, accept this first of many offerings oh great Ice King”

The man in question nodded, and then with careful steps joined the professor to offer his own bribe to the party crasher, while internally wondering if the Rouge had had time to poison the treats while wrapping them.

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

wordcount: 549(+1) Location: Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s PoolsBowser Jr: Level 15 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(318/150)
Rika: Level 12 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(154/110)

”Awwwww come on! That’ll have broken something important for sure” Jr complained with regards to the hole ripped in their carefully preserved prize. Additional grousing would have to wait, however, as the bots inside elected to use this hole instead of the back door, clambering out of the hole, leaping off in amusing T pose jumps, and then lining up in formation, ready to fight.

The kids didn’t just stand there and watch them do this, and instead backed up a bit as they prepared to bring the pain. Pokeballs were tossed, tapes clicked off, and drones deployed while Jr called out for the team to ”Stay clear of em!”

As the jack bots came charging after Anji, Jr called out from the side (about 45 degrees round from the other ambushers where they’d semi-spit off from the rest of the group) ”Over her rust buckets! Eat this!” before the kids brought a thunderous opening salvo to the fight.

The prince himself raised up his paintbrush and pumped magical energy into Peeka the fluttermane, who unleashed a lifeform disintegration ray into the pack. The beam pierced all the jacks it hit, slowed them by 20% for one second, and if they were hit by the whole beam they’d be atomically deconstructed by a resistance ignoring burst of damage.

Besides this magic, Rika unleashed a more mechanical might. Her 9 drones all firing minigun’s worth of pistol rounds and accompanying mini rockets while her whale did the same alongside its own cannon fire and a triple volley of mouth spat bombs. The shipgirl herself meanwhile fired her palm rifle from one gauntleted hand while the other held her halberd under one armpit and fired off the double barreled cannons found on the butt of the polearm.

Surrounded by all this gunfire, the shipgirl found herself screaming at the top of her lungs alongside the cacophony, becoming one with the thunder

The pair’s summoned strikers (that they hadn’t had to use to flip the apc) had their sibling’s chosen powersource meanwhile, with Jr’s mechanical Kaw-man appearing behind them to fire spike missiles, while Rika’s towering Vespikan Ichor Queen raised her cleaver to the heavens as she charged it with magical power, before unleashing a lightning bolt over the kid’s head.

It was an absolute maelstrom of power, and it was a good thing indeed that Jr had warned the others while they’d been waiting that when he yelled to get/keep clear they really should heed that warning. This was especially true because there was very little accuracy involved in the onslaught, and the only real aiming going on was an attempt to not hit the retreating Anji in the process of all this.

As such, while the initial assault would likely play havoc with the synchronized formation charge of the Jacks, and make individual evasion within that formation a nightmare, if/when they broke formation and spread out it’d be much less effective.

This was, however, kind of the point, as it’d let the (short) Seekers and UN members fight more on their terms instead of giving the bots a chance to gang up on one person in particular.

Of course, it would probably also draw quite a lot of ire to the kids as well, but they could handle it.

Probably.

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

Words: 756 (+2) (+9)
Edward Portsmith: Level 9 (22 cells) (2 level ups stored) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (1/90)
Location Frozen highlands - The Midnight Walk

After spending the day lumber chopping, ornament hanging, and then hunched over a work bench toy creating Edward found himself in dire need of both a stretch and a rest. Servicing the former first, the man went for a slow trudge through the snow, though his military mind inevitably stamped a purpose onto this leisure and found him checking in on the stage coach and its bestial guards.

Said creatures had had a fine enough time, for the most part lazing and/or grazing the day away (indeed there wasn’t much foliage left around the coach at all now that hadn't ended up in one stomach or another) but, like him, looked like they could do with a stretch themselves.

Also a meaty meal, in the Somnacanth derived beast’s cases.

As a result, the man didn’t roll up to the festivities alone, but instead attended by a veritable herd of beasts, be they impossible, monstrous or pal-y. Such a force, he worried, might somewhat upset the festivities, but as it turned out that no small part of the elvish population conformed to the nature loving stereotype he was ever so aware of.

Between carnivorouse and herbiverouse steeds and reindreed galore, many an elf had brought their animal companion to join in the fun.

Admittedly none had brought a double digit count worth of animals along, but the seeker’s impossible creatures had been visibly present enough that they’d been taken into account when filling the animal feeding section.

There was even a seaweed and sushi selection specially prepared for the traffikrab. This, as it turned out, was a promised reward for putting up with the festive getup Edward had found the monster sulkily adorned in.

It turned out this wasn’t the only favoritism heaped upon the strange monster, as after a well deserved meal, it turned out there was a gift under the tree just for it.

As such, after it had ripped the wrapping to shreds with its claws, it ditched the santa hat and donned its new flashy cyber cone for all to see.

An examination of the note revealed that it had, apparently, been nicknamed Traffy by the anonymous gift giver. Or perhaps it knew the creature better than he did, given that he found the monster did indeed respond to that name.

for Traffy the Traffikrab

Cyber Cone: The ultimate defence against being run over on the information super-highway. Defensively it is nothing to write home about, reducing incoming electrical and astral damage by one and adds a whole 3% dodge chance, however offensively it adds a small but solid stab of lightning damage to all physical attacks.

Had the impossible creatures been capable of it, there might well have been some jealousy going on at this point. The thoroughbred Reindrix was certainly feeling some, though it squarely blamed Edward for this state of affairs, the man having kept the localised freezing hazard in its sphere all this time instead of letting it show off to the locals.

The fact that Edward had, as it turned out, received one of if not the biggest gifts under the tree (big enough to fit several envious elven children inside it) only threatened to add to the frosty pal’s ire.

The man himself had the good graces to feel a little embarrassed by this, muttering ”Well this is quite absurd, what in the world could this even be?” under his breath as he used a sword to methodically cut the paper so it could be removed in reusable sheets.

Within he found a very large cardboard box, which itself necessitated careful sword based opening. Once the seals were cut, and the lids spread open, it revealed a rainbow worth of treats that bemused Edward to no end. Sure he enjoyed the odd baked good, who didn’t, but he was by no means this much of a sweet tooth.

However when picked one up and examined the packaging he gave an ”ahhh, I see” as all became clear

He turned then, still holding the little cake, and asked the little audience of envious elf children in a cheerful tone ”Who here would like to help me with treating our animal friends with these pokepuffs?” which got a chorus of excited agreement.

That, then, was how Edward found himself operating his own impromptu bit of post meal entertainment, namely an animal interaction and feeding experience. It was, after all, the only way to actually make a dent in the 100 pokepuffs he’d received with any sort of efficiency.

---

wordcount: 291 (+1)
Location: Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s High Tier
Amaterasu: level 9 (1 level up stored) EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (57/90)

Amatarasu gave a bark of agreement to the general plan of doing something now that also wasn’t too drastic. Best, she agreed, that they use the cover of this little self promotion stunt to get their job done. Not that she intended to play fair, mind. If they did end up going on stage, she’d do what she could with her ink to bolster the power of their competitor, be it Terry or otherwise. This wasn’t the tournament after all, she didn’t need to play fair. Indeed, being semi-blatant in her aid might even further bolster their point, as what was stimulating drink when compared to a divine being backing up your punches?

Still, there were the Yokai to consider. They’d see through her meddling in a way the mortals would not, and that would need some managing.

The sight of the bear in the apron with his own rival coffee brand gave her an idea however. Sure, the yokai would know she was doing it, but if they were trying to point her out, maybe she could pull a fast one and get the mortals to be confused about which white furred being was responsible for their fighter’s supernatural performance.

Plus, besides all that low cunning, she was also genuinely curious as to the nature of the bear’s woes, and hoped that this little plan of hers to get the people to mistake her aid for his coffee might give him a boost. As such, her method of approach was fairly simple, the wolf padding through the crowd that Harry was stirring up and then sitting herself down next to the bear, to whom she directed a head tilt of enquiry and an impartial ear to listen to his troubles.

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

wordcount: 583 (+1)
Location: Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s Pools
Bowser Jr: Level 15 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(317/150)
Rika: Level 12 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(153/110)

Any heckling of Anji (the would be rotten as per the race only Rika and Jr had actually partaken in) was immediately thrown out the window when he rolled up in a pirate ship on wheels, because both kids were 100% on his and Darli’s side when it came to their opinion of this thing.

”That. Is. So. Awsome!” Jr yelled with delight at the sight of it, throwing his hands up in amazement and then wildly gesturing at the absurd(ly cool) vehicle.

His sister was a little more reserved in her appreciation, but her calling it ” super neat” was high praise indeed when coming from the mouth of the more reserved royal siblings.

As a result of this delight, the pair spend a fair amount of their ride over to the bamboo forest debating how they could acquire the vehicle from the UN. Theft was on the table, of course, but both had just enough sensibility between them to put that as a last resort to be done right before they skipped town. However with the less confrontational options of buying it (they were fairly broke after sponsoring Tora) or trading for it (none of the seeker’s vessels were really passenger carriers) mostly off of the table, they were going to need to come up with something clever.

As such, there were only really two possibilities, they thought. One, get a whole bunch of loot over the next few days, or, much faster, steal the apc instead of just completely wrecking it. If they did that, then they could either convince the UN to swap for it, or sell it for at least some of the cash they’d need to get their wonderful new ride.

This was easier said than done however, but the pair spent the latter half of the ride over coming up with a plan to do just that.

As such, with plans already all set upon arrival the intervening wait was incredibly boring, especially for Rika due to her unorthodox ambush spot. Once the apc began to churn through the mud however, the pair eagerly leapt into action.

First from the forest sprung Bowser Jr, footfalls hitting foliage and then sailing shoes surfing over the mud as he closed in. Once in range, he summoned the hand of Blodia to reach down and grab the tracks on one side of the vehicle, its fingers slipping through the mud as it did this move. It would then attempt to hoist the APC and flip it over onto its side.

It wasn’t alone in this.

From below Rika, in the form of the Beast, burst out of the ground where she had burrowed, horns ramming into the underside of the machine and legs scrambling and clawing at dirt and mud to try and find grip and force. Alongside her rose her twisted white whale that had dove deep into the solid before breaching. Finally Jr himself forged a shield of iron, wedged this under a track, and then with Olympian strength heaved with all his might (and minimal stature) to try and add just a bit more power to the combined efforts of the APC tipping team.

If that didn’t look to be enough, a more destructive Strikers could be brought in, namely a chainsaw slash from Kaw man and a clever strike from the Vespikan Ichor Queen, both delivered to the top of the vehicle’s side, to try and a brief bit of extra force to the hoist.

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

wordcount: 453 (+1)
Location: Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s High Tier
Amaterasu: level 9 (1 level up stored) EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (56/90)

Amaterasu, too, was glad that they had plans other than assasination. The divine wolf might have been ready to rip child kidnapping complicit town guard apart only two days ago, but that was before she remembered who she truly was, and this version of her wasn’t exactly eager to harm mortals like that.

Still, there was a connection between that desire and the hesitancy she’d had in her second bout to go all out against a tournament opponent, and she thought, hoped, that she could work out how to walk that line with a bit of practice gained here. The coffee magnate was somewhat deserving of divine judgment after all, Aaterasu just had to learn how to hand it out in a controlled manner.

The two Gigas bodyguards were a whole other matter, but she’d work out what their deal was by watching and waiting. Were they victims of the organisation's experiments, or willing beneficiaries of them? Right now she could not tell, but she hoped she’d be able to sniff out the truth before things came to blows.

Waiting was, overall, going to be her role here till things went off the rails. She wasn’t exactly able to get involved in the strategy talk. If she were to offer her opinion, however, she’d be all for Terry going up there right now and giving the coffee merchant a right good kicking, while being explicit that he was doing it because of her business’ association with G-Corp.

Sending a message needed people to receive it after all, because they wanted it to be known that associating with G-Corp was now bad for business.

That plan sort of required their local fighter to be on top of his game, which Harry’s cigar smoking wasn’t helping with it seemed. Sharp eyes and sensitive hearing were able to pick up on some kind of unease with the smoke that others might not manage.

She certainly didn’t like the habit either as it was playing hell with her sensitive nose. As such, when the detective next blew a ring of smoke, the Amaterasu swirled her divine brush and kicked up a brief wind that blew it right back into his face, as well as blowing out the flame smoldering at the end.

A little bit of karma never hurt anyone

Still, she wasn’t all stick, and so as a carrot also offered the detective a Pickled Turtle Neck from her stores to give him something to replace the cigar with, mouth occupation wise. He had missed lunch after all, and though it was an odd form of food, and smelled rather bitter, it was chock full of nutrients, and would give him a minute long stamina recharge boost to boot.

An Idiot's Dungeon Union

That Zogi’s plan worked for a second was a miracle. That it only worked for a second was disappointing but entirely unsurprising to the Oracle, who sighed with exasperation as the wretched boy rallied his lackeys and got them to charge in.

Credit to the goblin however, when things went south he didn’t hesitate to charge into the fray, though the Oracle supposed his proven ability to survive death likely added to his bravery.

That said, if this was to not end the exact same as the goblin’s last rushing in (namely near instant death), he’d need support, and so the Oracle urgently waved and pointed a small hand, trying to direct Kleine to send her copies in as well as a further distraction.

While doing so it distracted itself in turn, enough that when the rogue boy came leaping up at the Oracle’s ceiling protruding head it was taken entirely by surprise, the starry eye enlarging in shock moments before a blade sliced through it.

Fortunately, though the blade had parted the Oracle’s ‘flesh’ with ease, and left a gash all across its face, it seemed to have done absolutely nothing to the structural integrity of the being’s eye.

What was a knife in the face of a star, after all?

Well… It was disorientating for one to have a knife slashed through your face, and so while the oracle was hardly harmed, and its membrane already regenerating, there’d be no eyebeams till it regained its senses.

This didn’t stop it from praying “Oh fate, smite this scoundrel!" (it didn’t seem to speak or think from the face) and then rolling a 36 on a handful of tossed dice. Upon rolling this perfectly average result, the ceiling shuddered, cracked, then and a shower of small stones fell down from the ceiling and towards where the thief had landed after his big jump.

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

wordcount: 821 (+2)
Location: Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s Pools
Bowser Jr: Level 15 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(316/150)
Rika: Level 12 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(152/110)
Amaterasu: level 9 (1 level up stored) EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (55/90)

”aaaaand done!” Jr declared as he finished strapping his sister’s (washed) hands back into her gun gauntlets. He then glanced around and, after a moment of confusion, asked ”Wait everyone is still here!?”

”mmm hmm” Rika replied as she flexed the fingers on her mechanical gauntlets, before adding that ”guess they’ll have to catch up” as she slipped out of her seat.

Beside/behind her, and still in her chair, Amaterasu ruled her eyes at this impatience, impatience which had been caused mainly by the pair eating too fast. She herself had eaten at a slower, more dignified pace, and so was only just now finishing up.

As the kids started to leave, the prince paused, glanced in the general direction of the U.N. members (Darli, Dolores, and Anji) who were going to be taking part in mission A and asked ”You three got rides to get out to the jungle?”

Anji chuckled to himself, his smile hidden behind a fan. “Well, I have my methods, at least.”

“I’ve seen your methods, and they won’t be doing the rest of us much good,” Dolores clarified, pushing up her glasses. “We should take the company car. We have a reserved spot in the Low Tier’s public parking garage, not far from the northern gate. Let’s meet there in…shall we say, five minutes?” She glanced at Anji. “Since you have your methods, maybe you could fetch the car for us?”

The gentleman bowed politely. “My pleasure.” He produced a second fan, and with a flourish conjures a swarm of swirling blue butterflies. They coalesced into a cloud, upon which Anji seated himself, and a moment later he was flying away.

”Five minutes? Yeah can do that” Jr replied, before calling out to the others ”Last one there’s a rotten egg!” and then taking off at a run.

”Hey! Wait up!” his sister called out before running after him.

Amaterasu rolled her eyes at this as well, and did not follow. Instead she approached Terry to lend her support for not simply killing the two in town targets.

Arson could send the same message just fine.

Of course, communicating that would be a little tricky without Yayama’s help, but she’d make do with drawing the words “break not kill” in the air, by using wine as the ink for her celestial calligraphy.

---

Outside, the kids made perfect pace towards winning their own little improvised race. Jr, with a good headstart, made it to the edge of the mid tier first, but was slowed by a need to slide down the wall, claws leaving scratch marks as he did. This let his sister catch up by simply leaping off of it. The princess plummeted down to the water below and then landed atop it without a hint of strain from the impact.

She then took off, weaving between arenas and spectator stands as she surfed across the pool water, avoiding any issues with congestion on the walkways, maneuvering thrusters flaring to boost her speed or rapidly adjust her course. Her brother, of course, could do this too, using his Magma Rush dashes to match her maneuvering thruster maneuvers.

When it came to the drop from pools to low tier and here anyone watching might have expected Jr to fall further behind again due to their difference in decent speeds. They would have been wrong however. Instead of wall sliding Jr angled his approach to the edge towards the tallest of the lowtier buildings, and thus got to use it, and then its neighbors, to drop his altitude while keeping up his forward momentum this time, hopping from one rooftop to another with relative ease.

Rika followed suit, and then accelerated as bullet jumps and grappling hook slingshots let her speed up her own pace, the shipgirl pulling ahead despite her deceased stature and sea-legs being not exactly apt for running.

Falling behind, Jr slowed even further as he pulled up an armory screen and then summoned his clowncar, before racing through the skies after his sister. He gained on her, and then as she dropped down to ground level for the final stretch towards the exit gate, closed in with the added speed granted from a descending swoop.

Deployed go-cart tyres hit the street while Rika’s grapple latched onto a gatepost, causing both kids to launch forwards, crossing the finish line within a breath of each other.

By the time anyone (or likely, everyone) who didn’t want to compete caught up, they’d find the kids casually bickering about who won while sitting atop the metal attacker Kuebiko. They dropped the debate as soon as those others showed however, both to try and work out who’d lost, and was thus the rotten egg, and to remind the others of the small pile of vehicles found in the armory. This included several motorcycles, a four by four Warthog, a Prowler hover sled, the other a monowheel Chopper.

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

wordcount: 787 (+2) (ammy and rika +1 rapport)
Location: Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s Pools
Bowser Jr: Level 15 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(314/150)
Rika: Level 12 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(150/110)
Amaterasu: level 9 (1 level up stored) EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (53/90)

Amaterasu did her best to eat her serving of wings with dignity, but it was a bit tricky to eat at a human table when you had no hands. Still, she had picked the most easy to eat food. No knives or forks needed here, just tasty bite sized wings she could pluck from the plate one at a time.

This ease of eating let her take her time and enjoy the meal, while her sensitive ears stayed pricked and perked, listening out for any useful tidbits that might be dropped by the other diners who could actually discuss the plans.

One of the only bits of conversation directed at her came from a somewhat unlikely place given their early animosity. Namely, it came in the form of Rika asking "Wanna trade some of this for some of that?" while offering her a stick with half a dozen garlicky smelling prawns skewered onto it.

The wolf stared at her, then deliberately glanced from the stick the girl was holding to her paws and then back again, trying to communicate the obvious question of “how do you expect me to eat that exactly?” as doing so would be incredibly impractical.

The ship girl did not get this subtle cue unfortunately, and instead tilted her head and slowly asked "So is that a no orrrrr?" which was very unhelpful as it made a simple yes-no answer basically impossible. Still, with the girl looking increasingly sad at the prospect of not getting to indulge in her attempts to try as much of the menu as possible, the wolf mentally sighed and pushed her plate towards the girl.

The girl immediately brightened up with a little "yay" of delight before grabbing one of the wings and giving an "mmmm" followed by a "Tasty!" upon eating it.

When she tried to put the skewer onto the plate however, the divine wolf barked a ‘no’ at her, which confused the ship girl.

"Huh? Do you not want it?" she asked, to which Amaterasu responded by grabbing her plate with her jaws and carefully sliding it back her way.

Rika tried again by asking "You sure? They’re really good" but the wolf rejected her offer again. The shipgirl frowned but, after a bit of twiddling with the skewer, shrugged and said "Ok then. Thanks for the gift!" and gave Amaterasu just a tiny amount of Praise in the process.

A worthy trade, in the divine wolf’s eyes.

Once the two kids were close to finishing their food (or in RIka’s case, was done asking people for some of theirs) they slid back towards the business of the incoming explosive robot delivery.

"So, right, that map you got. Where's this armoured people carrier or whatever it was called gonna be traveling, N when's it gonna be doing that?" Jr asked, having guessed by the fact that there was time for lunch that this wasn't a particularly time constrained task. Rika also piped up to add her own question of "also any good ambush spots along the way?"

Anji directed the kids' attention toward a winding road on the map, which led up from the peninsula where the Tangled Shore was purported to be and up through the Forbidden Kingdom. Judging by the route, it not only had a north-south section that probably crossed paths with the route the kids took to Shinjuku via Kuebiko, but went east through the farming village that the Seekers fought Yokai in yesterday. That village would make for a good starting point. "As for ambush, perhaps you can make use of all the cover in the bamboo forest," Anji suggested.

"Long as we don’t get into any more fights with pandas or robots or whatever other stuffs itching for a fight in there" Jr (half jokingly) replied to the suggestion of using the bamboo as cover, to which Rika responded that "If we pick a spot early enough we can beat up whatever we need to beat up first and then block or ink the road"

Unfortunately, it seemed like the question if they’d have time for that didn’t have a clean answer.

"As for the exact time, we can't say exactly," Chevalier commented. "We don't have any agents in G-Corp, after all. But they'll want their reinforcements soon, so once you've enjoyed your lunch, you'd better get going." Evidently the French had a great deal of respect for mealtime.

That was certainly something both the kids and Amaterasu could respect as well. Still, the meal could only last so long, and they had both eaten before anyway. As such, it would soon enough be time to go.

For Amaterasu, this meant padding over to Terry to see which mission he was going to hit. For the kids, it‘d involve hitting the road once more, and hoping those coming along had the wheels to let them keep up with their driving pace.

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

wordcount: 1569 (+3)
Location: Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s Pools
Bowser Jr: Level 15 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(312/150)
Rika: Level 12 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(148/110)
Amaterasu: level 9 (1 level up stored) EXP: ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (51/90)

There were many important questions to be asked about this whole situation. Why could they suddenly understand other languages? Did bringing down a coffee shop really weaken G-Corp? Could these people really be trusted? What was a pop star?

All these and more, Amaterasu wanted to ask, but, alas, divine wolf was as much more body language than actual language, and so even here, under whatever effect had translated Chevalier’s words, she was left hoping others would ask them in turn.

This did not start out on a great foot, given that the first to be asked was by Rika, who, despite having been proactive in organizing the initial get together that had now moved here, began by asking ”So what’s good on this place’s menu?”

The girl had one of said menus very carefully held between a thumb and forefinger of a gauntlet, while her brother by her side was working at taking the other off (they were not going to miss the opportunity to have a second lunch). Given that he was the only one presently partaking in what was served, this question was naturally directed at Chevalier, having perched herself on the nearest available chair/table. The one beside her was saved for Jr via his duffel bag being sat on it, and his brush being leaned against it.

Contrary to what one might expect, Chevalier did not seem too put off by the question. “This is my first time here, so I can only say that their finest wine is…adequate. For the Middle Tier.” He lifted his glass and swirled the small amount of deep red liquid still inside. Then he lowered his glasses enough to scrutinize the children with a closer look. “Of course, wine is highly toxic to youngsters like yourselves. Technically you’re not permitted on the premises, but this is something of a special occasion, hm?”

”Coz we’re wrecking machines who’re gonna be wrecking machines, yeah?” Jr said (self aware enough to know that letting kids go fight killer robots was something a lot of people would balk at) as he finished securing the first of Rika’s gauntlets to her back and moved onto the other. Rika, in turn, passed the menu from gauntletted hand to the bare one, and flipped the menu over to try and escape the wine section of it.

Amaterasu, for three, was glad they weren't making a fuss about being denied wine, assuming they must have had at least some sensible parenting on the topic when really it was all down to their father’s annoyance with one drunken god that had led to their understanding that alcohol was a bad thing.

”So I guess I was right about them selling to people outside the city then? Given these are coming in from wherever this tangled shore place is” Rika then said, glancing up from the list of fancy sounding cheeses that made up a fair chunk of the rest of the menu.

This time, Anji replied to her with a knowing nod. “Indeed. We don’t have a comprehensive list of their business associates, but since shipments in travel often passed by Esaka, we know that they supplied the administration in Midgar to the east.” He continued to fan himself, shrugging. “Of course, we’re aware that Midgar has been abandoned, but rumors do circulate of a new faction that’s taken over the ruins. One with an even keener interest in machines.”

”Good luck too em, way the team who went there tell it, that city was a deathtrap and a half” Jr said as he finished freeing up his sister's hands, and hopped into a chair next to her. She in turn passed him the menu, before weaving her fingers together and stretching them.

”There was some kind of machine mind control thing that almost got Poppi right? Guess that’s gone?” she then remarked, to which Jr replied ”or whoever’s there thinks they can use it and is about to get burned bad”, following it up with a wicked little grin of amusement at that predicted misfortune.

Without any further knowledge on the subject, Anji could only give a noncommittal grunt and look away. Chevalier noted that the kids were still looking at the menu. “I ordered a Mediterranean Vegetable Flatbread,” he said idly. “And though the skewers sounded tempting, you two might enjoy their wings and fries. The cheese and charcuterie boards lose some of their charm without a wine pairing.”

”The variety seemed nice though” Rika said, as she pointed out an option that contained a selection of three cheeses and three meats for a rather extortionate amount of money.

”Probably a lot of it though, right?” Jr replied, incorrectly assuming the increased price was about volume and not fancyness, and pointing out that ”Don’t wanna be too full while fighting, right?”

Amatarasu couldn’t agree with that sentiment, but then she did have a spare stomach. Plis, if the kids were going to focus on this rather than useful questions, she might as well take advantage of that, she thought, loping up behind them and hopping up to awkwardly perch on the chair next to them. Rather than try and lean in to read, she just paused time and scrolled her canvas around so she could see the options, reading them all in the blink of the other’s eyes.

Once one the pair had finished deciding, ending on french fires and garlic shrimp skewer (Rika’s choice), did she lean in and nab the menu before it could be put back down. Awkwardly manipulating it with jaws and paws, she set it down in a way that Chevalier could see it. Then she traced a paw over the table, leaving behind a trail of zenny that formed an arrow pointing at the wings (one which contained the exact change to pay for it). The gentleman picked it up long enough for him to view it, then passed it to Anji, who left to relay the trio’s orders to the winery staff.

It was enough time for Terry to have come to his suggestion of who should do what missions, one which Jr responded by calling over ”Way ahead of you!” before turning back to the Frenchman and asking ”So what’s the delivery deal? They got trucks, or something more interesting to bring these bots over?”

“Armored personnel carrier,” Chevalier reported. “It’s none too fast, but it’ll be a tough nut to crack.”

”I’ve got a few big can openers on hand, shouldn’t be an issue” Jr replied, before catching himself before he accidentally cracked the building open by summoning one of his oversized mechanical strikers to demonstrate.

”Once we do get it open, what’s gonna be inside do you think? Other than the exploding bots I mean? Just some driver or do you think this’d be where their ‘super soldiers’ would show up” Rika asked, somewhat hoping that it would be. The longer it took for them to do so, the more super she imagined they’d be.

Chevalier took a moment to think. “A driver, yes. As for additional protection…although I cannot say for certain, I think it likely that G-Corp leadership would judge the Jack units sufficient to defend themselves. With limited forces still in Esaka, it would make sense to keep their Gigas units here to support their VIPs.” He stroked his beard. “Then again, perhaps Kazuya doesn’t need any help. If Gigas units are there, it would be to our overall advantage, even if it does further endanger Team A.”

”So they are kinda a big deal then” Rika asked rhetorically, having been right in her guess that they were pretty super, before actually asking ”What can they do? They, like, really good fist fighters or are they gonna shoot at us?”

Although the kids’ demand for specifics was beginning to reach the limits of Chevalier’s knowledge, he could shed some light on Gigas at least. “They’re just big brutes, albeit very effective ones. Strong, durable, hard to stagger.”

”Fist fighter then. Yeah, we can deal with that” Rika replied, before suggesting that they would ”probably wanna just draw em out and skirmish em all. Stay clear of the explosions, n out of reach of these big guys”

”Alright, looks like we’re good to go. Just point us at em and they’re good as in the scrapheap already” Jr added confidently, before adding the ever so little caveat of ”After lunch anyway”

Amatarasu could only hope they could indeed handle it. At least she’d learned a little about what she might run into when going after one of the ViPs. As for which one she’d be going after, she’d probably stick with her team. They’d all be free at the same time after all, so they might as well stick together for this too. In her opinion anyway.

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

2075 1,454 (+3)
Edward Portsmith: Level 8 (20 cells) (1 level up stored) //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (72/80)
Location Frozen highlands - The Midnight Walk

Edward somewhat disagreed with Sandalphon’s positioning suggestions, given that they would result in the window being either above the door or looking straight at his back, but he supposed if he was going to take one of those it’d be the latter. It at least meant that he could communicate more easily with those inside, given he could see and hear them, and the window could be placed just below head height rather than significantly above it had it been in the back, affording something of a view, even if it was less than a side on position would have given.

He hoped it would alleviate the impending carriage sickness a bit.

The launch ramps might have been remarkably smooth, supernaturally smooth even, in the arch of their launch, but it still moved empty stomachs in unpleasant ways to be launched into the air like them.

The sheep and rabbit stew could not cook fast enough (then again, maybe it was for the best they hadn’t just filled up on grub).

Sadly (for Edward anyway) it would likely not be wise to try and add seal to that mix, as the assorted sea creatures lounging on the beach had several among them that did not look mundane. Best to not chance finding out what they could do, in his opinion.

Well, not now anyway. Perhaps if the others showed interest in capturing or acquiring samples they might be added to their growing library of such things.

Either way, soon enough, they were out of the snowy sealscape and had moved into a less lively location.

”Nice of the locals to let us know their disposition at least” Edward commented sardonically, when they caught sight of the dangling corpse. No one with good intent would simply leave a body hanging up like that.

Still, it meant that if there was anything of value left in the mines, it was functionally theirs for the taking, which suited the Dreadnought just fine

---

Light and warmth returned to the mines for the first time in an age, but it was an infernal flame, one that smelled of sulfur and sin, and the only warmth it would bring the cursed kin of the mines would be brief indeed.

A little huddle of Tuques were the first group to learn this, after having proven themselves to be hostile when they’d attempted to swarm a drone that had peeked in on their hiding spot. Now a swarm came for them instead, as into the decrepit structure came pored three packs of inferno puppies.

Pintsized and scampering, they nonetheless laid into the equally small Frostbitten foes with gusto, delivering infernal nips that scorched these icy foes far more than they would many others. The little creatures bit and batted back at the pups, but were swiftly overwhelmed.

A few moments later, and the pack leaders, a pair of inferno steeds, entered, along with, at their rear, a squad of copper golems. The Chillanth also briefly craned its long neck into the room before swiftly growing disinterested and laying down outside as the harvesting team got to work.

The golems proceed to gather the spirits, and then surveyed the room for anything more valuable, coming up with a few broken hardhats and other damaged protective gear. It seemed like the building was for workers coming in to work, rather than somewhere where the mining equipment or extracted ores would be stored.

Back on the stagecoach, Edward resolved quite simply that he’d need to send the salvage squad deeper to find anything of value.

Resistance, naturally, increased.

---

A still somewhat humanoid Earmuff slammed its showshovel down onto an inferno puppy, annihilating it with the Stunning Cold blow, only to be torn apart by the burning bites of its fellows. They, in turn, had to flee as the frigid breath of a Triscarf washed towards them, the cold a deadly threat to these fiery beings. The scarf wrapped gangle of libs was in turn overwhelmed when one of the inferno steeds rushed in and unleashed its fire breath on it, melting frozen flesh and igniting its three name sake garments.

A Scarf (singular) charged forwards with a stumbling peg-legged gait, the massive icicle in place of its head threatening to to skewer the inferno steed, only for the Chillanth to lunge in, grab its flesh-ish arm, and to drag it to the side. The teeth themselves did minimal damage, but the searing enchantment made up for it, thawing the flesh enough for the beast to rip the limb off, antifreeze hued blood splattering the snow.

The Scarf stumbled and swayed, only to be set upon by an inferno puppy pack before it could recover, the tiny hellbeasts leaping onto it, digging burning fangs and claws into it. It slammed into the ground under their combined weight, and then expired moments later, causing the pups to fall into an ashy heap.

Elsewhere in the battle, the copper golems were too slow to evade the Frigid Breaths of a Trapper Hat and a Balaclava, leaving two in their midst frozen solid like statues, trapping the others in place by extension as the squad was unable to break formation. Too lost in the madness to take advantage of this however, the pair both closed in on the golems, and received searing speartips as a reward. The Balaclava managed to ram a stunning cold icicle shiv into one, ending its existence, but they were held back long enough for the inferno puppies could flank them to devastating effect.

With that, the last of the Frostbitten foes fell, and through the eyes of his troops, Edward got a better look at the treasure trove that he’d had them fight to secure, namely a tipped over minecart which had spilled glittering ores onto the ground.

These, along with the spirits were eagerly salvaged and then stashed in the inferno steed’s saddle bags for transport. What was really important (to Edward) however was that the tracks the cart had been traveling on lead down into the entrance of a mineshaft, one which surely must have been in use when this load was abandoned. If so, then within might be other loaded carts, or even the tools used to mine them, which would likely be worth more, weight wise, than the unprocessed minerals.

Thus, deeper the expedition force plunged, the Dreadnought pushing his luck in the hope of striking the motherload.

He gambled… poorly.

---

Pompom managed to catch the force off guard. Not because its approach was quiet, mind. Its many many boots thumping against the stone floor caused quite the racket as it approached the abandoned digsite that Edward had correctly predicted the existence of (and which the exploration force had been midway through looting when the cursed creature began its approach).

No, it was the fact that its front dozens of limbs were wearing incredibly soft mittens that muffled their pounding steps, meaning that the head of the many meters long millipede like Pompom rounded the corner a full second before the source of the noise it was making did.

That second was all it needed for it to unleash its Deep Cold before Edward could react. This was no breath, or strike. Instead the temperature within the entire chamber suddenly plummeted, smothering all in unstoppable, undogable. Unrelenting cold

Every single inferno puppy was snuffed out in an instant, the inferno steeds took catastrophic damage, and all but one of the remaining bronze golems froze solid. Only the Chillanth remained standing, ice typing letting it endure the icy aura. It retaliated by launching itself in a leap at Pompom, claws reaching out to rend into its side. The gashes were light however, as the frozen flesh endured, and only the searing enchantment of its knife like digits did much harm.

A dozen mitted gloves battered it in turn, low in individual harm but adding up together, before Pompom also unleashed its icy breath. This swept over the frost resistant impossible creature to little effect, but further damaged the two inferno steeds behind it.

The Chillanth bit into the foe in turn, but again, did little to harm it with its physical strike. Even flames that ignited on Pompm’s body as a result of the strike did near chip damage despite their type advantage. The oversized creature seemed to have an abundance of vitality that would need to be chewed through to bring it down.

At a distance, Edward saw that the writing was on the wall. Even if the Chillanth could win a long drawn out battle, his summoned troops would not be able to survive anywhere close to that long, which would leave him unable to command the impossible creature after its victory.

Thus he had the final unfrozen golem strike the ground with the butt of its spear in a one, two, one rhythm, which he had instructed the creatures to see as the signal to retreat and return to him. Then he sent the two inferno steeds forwards to the Chillanth time to do so, despite them holding onto the loot he’d sought to retrieve.

A moment later, the cold overwhelmed the area again, and he lost sight of the conflict as the last golem froze, and the inferno steeds too succumbed to the cold.

He could only hope his creation made it back safely. As he wired, he reported the situation to any of the other seekers who’d gone on the prowl, both regarding the nature of the threat, and the piles of resources now gathered in the room where his force had fallen.