Lugubrious

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

Dead Zone Hinterlands - Witch’s Nose

Harry’s @Eviledd1984 Amaterasu’s @DracoLunaris Chosen Undead’s @Simple Unicycle Level 11 Big Band (22/110)
Word Count: 1760

All things considered, Kit handled the revelations he received from Band pretty well. Maybe he was no stranger to crazy situations like this, or maybe he was simply made of sterner stuff than the average man, but he managed to take the news in stride and adjust his view of the big picture without losing sight of the present. He wasn’t even freaking out about all the futuristic technology around him. Band gave a nod of respect to the knight for his character and composure after he stated his intent to carry on with the mission. “Right on.”

The detective did not expect Harry, meanwhile, to be on the verge of tears. Though given his hyper-emotional behavior during the short time he’d known Harry so far, maybe Band should have anticipated such a reaction. That said, the fate of his friend seemed to impact him a lot more than the nature of the World of Light itself, since Harry began to rattle off practical questions about the mission right away. Unfortunately Band didn’t have the answers, and even if he did, he didn’t want to put Heismay and Amaterasu any more on edge. There was no telling how much Galeem’s influence impacted their cognition, and what reaction they might have if unintelligible information hit their mental blockers again and again.

For now, his ragtag team needed to focus on reaching Witch’s Nose, and while Kit and Harry grappled with their new reality, the others had already forged ahead. The lake ahead of them had a decent current thanks to the waterfall that fed it from the southeast and the rivers flowing down the mountain, and it carried enough debris that an agile adventurer could get cut across the water rather than go around. This mostly took the form of logs washed downstream, maybe from a lumber mill, but there were also wooden pallets, broad-backed turtles and, despite the altitude and climate, lily pads. Amaterasu had found herself a big one that made crossing the lake a breeze, and hopping around seemed like the easiest thing in the world for Heismay, but the going would be tougher for Harry and Kit. And impossible for Band. He doubted any of the debris could even remotely hold his weight, and that was if he didn’t just tumble right off to begin with. Luckily, he had an alternative he could make use of now that he was out in the open.

“I must go. My planet needs me.” Band jumped up into the air and reconfigured his lower half into an array of rocket thrusters fueled by sound energy. “Just kiddin’. See y’all on the other side.”

Band rocketed over the lake, taking the chance to appreciate the mountainous scenery. Though still rather close to the Dead Zone, this area was remarkably beautiful, with a natural majesty that could just about take his breath away. Unfortunately, he couldn’t admire it for long. His thrusters weren’t designed for sustained flight, so Band steered himself toward the top of the cliffs by the waterfall on the lake’s far side. Heismay was almost there already, hopping up the rock wall like a flea. He climbed up just a few moments after Band touched down, and the sight of the big man seemed to surprise him. “Well. You certainly made good time.”

“Thanks.” Band settled down in order to give his mechanical body a break. “You ain’t the flyin’ type?”

Heismay pursed his lips as he thought for a moment. “I suppose I cannot blame you for not knowing in this country, where Elda are curiously common, since Eugief being able to fly is a misconception even in Euchronia. Although we are excellent jumpers, we can only glide in the air.”

“Gotcha, sorry. Didn’t mean to offend or nothin’,” Band offered an apologetic smile.

His new acquaintance shook his head, unbothered. “Think nothing of it. Where I’m from, discrimination by tribe is woefully commonplace. Even if not as many bat an eye at a Eugief in this land, it is hard to see things in a different light.”

Band nodded, his expression solemn. “It ain’t exactly rare where I’m from, either. As if havin’ humans, ferals, dagonians, elves, and gigans wasn’t enough, plenty o’ humans are happy makin’ divisions amongst ‘emselves, too.” He shrugged. “Folks have it hard everywhere, I guess. Me though, I think it’s what’s inside that counts.”

Heismay sat beside him, watching as the others made their way toward them. “I was surprised, but grateful, that you heard me out. For many my word carries little weight, to say nothing of what I actually claimed.” He narrowed his eyes. “I’m well aware how preposterous my claims must seem. I am but a disgraceful hermit, after all, and unworthy of warmth or trust. I only ask that you and your friends approach the situation with an open mind and draw your own conclusions. Sometimes, a monstrous face may hide a heart of gold, and sometimes monsters hide their true faces behind masks that everyone trusts.”

“Uh huh.” That was the second time Heismay alluded to monsters hiding their faces. Band wondered if this was merely cynicism borne from the Eugief’s experiences, or in reference to specific people. If there really was some hidden darkness in Martira, it warranted investigation, and based on the misinformation provided by Morris, Band knew where he’d want to start.

Once the others caught up, they proceeded toward the mountain. Thanks to Heismay, they found the cave entrance nestled within the surrounding landscape and pushed inside, leaving the daylight behind one step at a time. The already-cool air chilled down considerably within the rough and uneven tunnel, and the sounds of birdsong atop the waterfall’s rumble gave way to an eerie silence interrupted by the occasional echoed drip. If not for glowing mushrooms and the little lantern on Kit’s belt, it would be pretty much impossible for anybody but Heismay to see, but for Eugief at least echolocation would suffice even in total darkness. Fortunately, it wasn’t too long before the warm light of a lamp could be seen up ahead, marking the point at which the tunnel gave way to a huge and unusual cavern beneath the mountain.

Built in the middle of the cavern, and into the surrounding walls, were rickety wooden houses of wooden planks and nails, connected by similarly slipshod bridges, held together with the help of an abundance of huge, thick ropes. If not for the drawings sprawled across the sides of these dwellings, it would have looked like an elaborate bandit hideout to Big Band, but those images of shapes, plants, animals, and foods were more reminiscent of classroom walls in kindergarten. It was an odd and unnerving juxtaposition against the rows of stalactites and stalagmites that surrounded those houses like fangs.

So, this was where the culprit behind the Martira kidnappings kept her prizes? Band narrowed his eyes, scanning every inch of the cavern he could. The warm light shining from inside the towering structures suggested that they were occupied, but he couldn’t see any security. Slowly, he began to approach the central tower, working his way up along the spiral pathway to the right. Right away he passed beneath a length of rope, at which point he noticed that it wasn’t rope but huge, thick strands of red yarn, strung out and woven together in such a way that brought to mind impossibly large spiderwebs. “Hm…” Unlike Harry in the mansion, he elected to not announce his presence. Heismay had referred to the abductor as a ‘she’ but had neglected to mention anything else about her, and Band had a bad feeling about this.

Heismay was less wary, but even he kept his voice down. “The children should be inside. Let’s go and check on them.”

Moments later, the team reached the wooden bridge that led to the door of the main house. Band tested it carefully, but it seemed able to hold his weight, just barely. Just to be safe he stayed behind while the others creaked across, looking and listening. He could hear faint whispers from inside the building, but it was too far away to see much through the cracked-open windows. For the first time, he wondered if this could all be some kind of trap.

After crossing the bridge, Heismay reached up and rapped on the door with his knuckles. He seemed somewhat nervous. “Hello? Anyone home?”

A number of muffled, indistinguishable voices could be heard inside the building, as well as excited footsteps. Seconds later, a small voice replied from within. “W-who is it?”

Heismay cleared his throat. “Ahem. It’s…Heismay. I’m a friend of Molly. And…I have guests. Who want to make sure you’re alright.”

Molly? Band thought.

The door swung outward, revealing over a dozen children. Though a little dirty, and dressed in patched-together clothing, none seemed to be hurt or starving at a glance. Instead, they seemed excited to have visitors. They all started talking at once, instantly overwhelming Heismay, and a moment later he found himself pulled inside. Kit, Harry, and Amaterasu were invited in as well, the kids oohing and aahing over the knight’s armor and Harry’s appearance, while a dozen grubby mitts went to stroke Amaterasu at once. Seeing all this, Band let out his breath and made his way over the bridge to follow the others with his gentlest face and voice in use.

“You’re so big!” A little boy admired Band as he tugged him inside by the hem of his trench coat. “Not as big as Molly, though!”

Band’s eyebrows went up. “O-oh yeah? Sounds like a real big lady…” Once inside, Band saw that the first floor of the house was essentially a big living room. There were pillows, blankets, and toys strewn everywhere, with shelves full of thin, highly illustrated books and jars of cookies or fruit. All the walls were covered by colorful blotches of paint or crayon. Against all odds, it seemed to Band like kids were being taken care of here. Of course, that only raised more questions, and he suspected that the others had their fair share too. He could only be sure of one thing: that Molly, someone evidently even bigger than he was, wasn’t here yet, and that his team should do their best to figure things out before she arrived.

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

Paved Wilderness - Scorched Gorge

Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (105/150) and Chucho the Polterpup
Roland’s @Archmage MC Therion’s @Yankee
Word Count: 1141

Finally back in the somewhat soggy seat of her purloined dune buggy, Nadia followed her new biker buddies back from the hydroelectric facility to Scorched Gorge. The trio found Piper and Chucho exactly where they left them, although the trucker’s hiccups suggested that she’d helped herself to some booze in the others’ absence. Though seemingly concerned for her, Chucho happily floated right on over when his owner pulled up in her formerly lost vehicle, then inserted his ghostly head beneath her arm to be stroked . “Aww, who’s a good boy?” Scratching behind a ghost’s ears still felt a little weird, but if her polterpup enjoyed it, Nadia wasn’t one to object. “We were only left, like twenty minutes aghost. Heehee~” Chuco rolled over onto her lap, so she started scratching his tummy, which made him kick his leg.

Behind her, Caesar single-handedly pulled the salvage cube out of the buggy’s trunk and threw it toward the Steeltusk. It slid to a stop next to the much larger salvage sphere retrieved from the gorge by Nadia. “We’ll be takin’ this! Thanks for bringin’ it over. One for you and one for me, eh?”

“Hey, boss.” Lighter tapped her on the shoulder, then nodded toward the refinery. “Check it out.”

Caesar glanced over, and Nadia stuck her head out her car’s window to catch a glimpse as well. Smoke wasn’t just pouring out of the building’s chimneys, but its windows and doors as well. Her eyes were drawn to movement inside the garage through which her fellow Seekers entered. Though the refinery was too far away for even a sharp-eyed feral like her to make out the individuals, there was no mistaking the trophy truck that Roland and Therion rode in on. While she didn’t recognize the bike that preceded it, both Caesar and Lighter did. “Burnice!” Caesar sounded surprised. “What was she…” Her eyes widened as she witnessed the flames spreading throughout the refinery. “Uh oh…”

Piper sighed, sounding much less surprised. “Oh no. Burnice started another fire? Must be a Tuesday.”

As Nadia and Chucho climbed out onto the buggy for a better look, Caesar jumped on her bike and took off to meet Burnice halfway. Seemingly perturbed, Lighter just stood by for now, keeping an eye out. “No sign of Lucy, though.” He watched as the two girls rendezvoused, then returned to the Steeltusk together, with Roland’s truck figuratively in tow. Only once they grew close did Nadia realize that three strangers -two wild western folks and a fuzzy blue fellow- were hitching a ride as well.

Another minute later, the two teams reunited. While the Sons of Calydon caught up, Nadia got the scoop from her fellow Seekers, which promptly shattered the laid-back afternoon mood. Nadia listened to their sordid tale of snackrifice with her brows scrunched up and her lips furrowed, and when their story concluded, she gave a shrug. “Yeesh. Well…even if you couldn’t save everyone, at least you ex-snack-ted revenge.” The others might not appreciate her attempts to lighten the mood, but they had to be used to it by now. Grass grows, birds fly, sun shines, and Ms. Fortune laughs through the pain. It would be nice if the team could go one solitary afternoon without finding something horrible, though. At least her arm had already turned back to normal, and she wasn’t planning to tell either Roland or Therion about it. What they didn’t know wouldn’t hurt them.

The two teams quickly made arrangements. Caesar called off the treasure hunt, loading up the Steeltusk not just with her salvage, but with the civilians as well. “We’ll getcha to Blazewood, safe and sound,” she told the three with a winning smile, trying to make them feel comfortable. As the resident bartender, Burnice quickly mixed the captives up some free drinks, as well as Roland and Therion if they wanted one. Once they were ready to go she, Caesar, and Lighter mounted up. “Alright, let’s go. And keep an eye out for Lucy, everyone!” With that, all that remained for the Seekers and the Sons of Calydon was the long drive back.

All things considered, the trip back was mercifully uneventful. As much as she wanted to snooze, Nadia did intend to return the buggy she stole, and Chucho helped keep her focused with occasional sharp-toothed nips. About two-thirds of the way back the Seekers bid the Sons of Calydon farewell and parted ways, the former headed to Hammerhead while the latter were bound for Blazewood. After what felt like hours, the gas station’s iconic sign loomed in the distance, and the tired team rolled to a stop in the parking lot. Much to her frustration, the engineer Nadia stole from was already gone, apparently in another vehicle he’d somehow made on the spot. Groaning, Nadia enlisted the others to help bring her salvage sphere to the Ficsit depot. After a brief inspection from the pioneer on duty, it was accepted and the reward paid out. Whether here or at other depots around the Paved Wilderness, the compensation offered to scavengers’ for their hard work would be the same. Of course, the scavengers didn’t need to turn in everything they found, but Nadia hadn’t come across any firearms herself with which to replace her lost handguns.

Scavenger Hunt Rewards

Reward is per item. Moderately damaged items accepted at 80% value

• Salvage Sphere (Small): 6,500Ƶ
• Salvage Cube (Small): 7,500Ƶ
• Salvage Sphere (Large): 13,000Ƶ
• Salvage Cube (Large): 15,000Ƶ
• Unopened “Power Tool” Cache: 10,000Ƶ
• Individual ”Power Tool” (Gun): 2,000Ƶ
• Participation: EXP needed for next level * .25 (rounded up)

One at a time, the groups of Seekers spread around the Paved Wilderness returned. Tora, Poppi, and Lulubi hung around Hammerhead for a while, bussing their allies to and from the Avenger as needed in the Armadillos. The Ace Cadet and the youngsters (plus Geralt) had wrapped up their business ahead of schedule, so they could return at their leisure. Nero and Nico brought Pit back aboard the Minotaurus, then left him with a message for the Lost Numbers: that Nero wouldn’t be returning for the time being, but instead heading out west with his old friend toward a medieval city called Brightvale to investigate the Theater of War. Sandalphon relayed the news, then coordinated the remaining pickups as needed. When Edward returned, he found a portable fission station set up outside the Avenger by Deadman, able to return him to normal by removing his unwanted spirits. Celica’s Skell would be transported into the Avenger’s cargo bay for repairs, a prospect which excited both Tora and Lulubi, despite the pink nopon’s attempt to hide it.

Accounting for everyone and getting them aboard the Avenger was a slow process, so by the time everyone was back and the ship could finally take off, over four hours had passed in the Paved Wilderness, and it was only about thirty minutes until the meeting.

The Avenger - Tuesday Evening Skies

Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (105/150) Lvl 8 Sandalphon (31/80) Lvl 5 Grimm (7/50)
Junior, Rika, & Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate, Sectonia, & Roland’s @Archmage MC Geralt, Zenkichi & Edelgard’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Ace Cadet, Pit, Primrose & Therion’s @Yankee Juri’s @Zoey Boey Roxas, Ganondorf, & Captain Falcon’s @Double
Word Count:

As always, Sandalphon arrived ahead of time. Although privy to a great deal of information, and not always to her benefit, she was still completely in the dark about the identity of the Lost Numbers’ enigmatic commander. Both Commander Nelson of the Centinels and Vandham of the Alcamoth Mercenaries were recent additions, after all, and while Hope served a pivotal role as the Avenger’s AI, it couldn’t be called a leader. Especially since the Lost Numbers were more like townsfolk than a military force, she couldn’t help but be curious about who was really in charge of this motley crew.

The archangel considered herself fortunate that Zenkichi was early to the meeting as well, though now the sight of him left her with strong mixed feelings. Having already mostly drafted what to say, she needed to talk with him, but this wasn’t the time or the place. Given the proposed schedule of meeting followed by dinner followed by the memorial, it would be an eventful night, but she could probably catch him alone once in a few hours. For now, Sandalphon stuck to basic pleasantries. “Hello again,” she greeted him. “I must say, I am impressed that after this morning, you managed to spend your afternoon off in an active warzone. According to my statistics, most humans of your age would prefer an afternoon nap instead. Your stamina is remarkable. Perhaps worthy of further study.” She managed a thin smile. “I understand that several Seekers discovered caches of guns out in the field today. I don’t suppose anyone requisitioned an ammo-dependent precision magical firearm?”

"Hey Sandalphon." Zenkichi replied, taking a moment to process what Sandalphon said. If he didn't know her better, he might have thought that was an innuendo. Hell, with her more human side, it could be. A soft blush betrayed his thoughts, but he continued.

"As for the guns, I'm not quite sure how magical most of them were, but I did wind up with a few things. Among those a rocket launcher..." he half-grumbled, completely unsure as to what the heck he was going to do with that. "I know Edward and Juri got a pretty big stash, you could certainly check in with them to see if they'd be willing to trade or donate it. We also got a big chunk of weapons from when we rescued Celica."

“I see, thank you.” Sandalphon felt rather hesitant to ask Juri anything, so she made a mental note to inquire with Edward later. Much to do tonight.

Others were filtering into the Bridge quickly by then. Both Seekers and Lost Numbers were in attendance, and as much as Nadia wanted to continue snoozing after getting back from her arid excursion, even she had dragged herself up here with Chucho and Blazermate’s help. Of course, nobody was forced to be here so anyone who felt like it could abstain, but enough people either cared about meeting the Lost Numbers’ commander or cared about the team’s next destination to attend. At six o’ clock on the dot, it was time to begin.

The door to the commander’s quarters, both electronically and mechanically locked until now, slid open, and silence quickly filled the room. A moment later, a robot in black stepped through and down the stairs. With a peaked cap, long coat, and a three-pronged eye that shone a bright yellow-orange, he definitely looked the part of a captain, but Sandalphon had not expected another machine. After all the time she spent in Midgar, having a machine in charge of real peoples’ lives -especially ones as precious as the Lost Numbers- intrigued her.

After a moment the robot came to a stop, the light of the hologlobe reflecting off his metal body. “Good evening, Seekers of Light” he greeted everyone, his voice a scratchy monotone. “I’m sure you’re all quite puzzled as to why the ‘commander’ would only appear now, over a week into our partnership. Please allow me to to disillusion you: I am the de facto commander in name only. I have no military experience, nor combat ability. But I think that you’ll agree that my story is an interesting one, and by its end you should understand how it pertains to our mission.”

He clasped his hands behind him, adjusting his gaze upward. “It begins with my introduction. An easy feat for most. Not so much for me. It would be a lie, for instance, to say I am Simon Jarrett, an easygoing bookstore employee from Toronto, Canada. But Simon Jarrett did live, once. After being injured in a car crash, he volunteered for a comprehensive brain scan in the hopes that it would aid in its recovery. It did not, and he died less than two months later. But that scan, housed in a machine body, appeared in the World of Light over one hundred years ago. Spawned, just as you all were, with a finite ten-year lifespan. Simon Two. Simon Two would eventually, in a misguided attempt to preserve himself, subject himself to a scan much like the original did. Of course, he failed, and Simon Three was born. Spirits are, after all, just data, and data can be copied. Moreover, Simon Three would not be crushed by the inexorable wheel of time. A creation of this world, a bonafide Lost Number, he would continue to copy himself from vessel to vessel as they lost power, aged, or were destroyed.”

He nodded. “And so I stand here today. A ghost. An echo. I…am not Simon Jarrett. I am merely an iteration. I have no name, and I cannot die, for I was never alive. But I can bear witness, and keep accounts. An observer, watching and recording across countless years and lives. I have seen that while spirits are just copied data, every copy must ultimately come from somewhere. Somewhere in this world is a storehouse where the ‘master copy’ of every storied individual is kept. The fabled Source. Every individual, of course, but the Lost Numbers, whose existences are products of this world, never recorded in the Source.”

“And that,” he continued, “Is where I come in. I manage the Avenger’s Data Bank, meticulously maintained and backed up. In it, I chronicle every facet of every Lost Number. Every characteristic, every action, every memory. So that even though generations of Lost Numbers have come and gone, their lives -their stories- are etched into the fabric of existence. So that one day, when the Source is ultimately found, their data -their ‘spirits’- may be seeded into the restored worlds. So that one day those seeds will grow and bear fruit, and that they will have true lives of their own.

After a moment, he adjusted his gaze downward. “At least, that is my hope. Our hope. Right now, though, the mission of all Lost Numbers is to aid you, Seekers of Light, in your quest for Galeem and its guardians. I hope you will do so without fear for the Lost Numbers, for this world won’t be the end of their stories. Nor yours.”

He stepped down the stairs and leaned onto the hologlobe table with both hands. “So, while I am pleased to meet you and amenable to questioning, the primary goal of this meeting is twofold: to determine a true leader for this campaign, and to determine its next destination. I believe that Miss Sandalphon is up to date on the latest intelligence.”

The archangel nodded, summoning helpful light screens as she spoke. “Right now, we have six general regions left to explore on this continent. The Twilight Forest, the Theater of War, the Frozen Highlands, the Forbidden Kingdom, Empty Space, and the City That Never Was. As I understand it, this campaign has seen great success previously by dividing in half to handle two regions at once. Right now, my personal recommendation is for the Frozen Highlands and the Forbidden Kingdom. Thanks to the efforts of the Ace Cadet, Big Band, Wonder Red, Albedo, Mewtwo, and Linkle, we know the fatal weakness of the Frozen Highlands guardian, Baldur. They obtained this information from Moebius L, who traded it for her life, but her associate Moebius N is still at large. Destroying this guardian means tracking him down across the entire region, so our best expeditioners would be needed.”

She directed everyone’s attention east of the Frozen Highlands. “Additionally, the Meridi-at-han contingent led by Goldlewis Dickinson determined that one city in the Forbidden Kingdom is the most likely candidate for housing the Guardian. Esaka, the Tiered City. My intel indicates that it is a hotspot for martial artists of all kinds. For this locale, I would recommend dispatching expert duelists.”

Sandalphon dismissed her screens and crossed her arms. “These are only my humble recommendations, however, and I urge everyone to reach their own conclusions. All team members present are entitled to their votes both for destination and whomever they believe would be worthy of a leadership role. The floor is now open for discussion, as well.”

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

Dead Zone Hinterlands - Curien Mansion

Harry’s @Eviledd1984 Amaterasu’s @DracoLunaris Chosen Undead’s @Simple Unicycle Level 11 Big Band (19/110)
Word Count: 1411

With no semblance of either rhyme or reason beyond the ghoulish specters at their back to drive them forward, the explorers scrambled through the labyrinthine Curien Mansion in a mad dash for freedom. They dashed and blundered through dozens of rooms, passing by other monstrous maze denizens like clowns, slimes, and bedsheet ghosts so fast that they barely even registered the intrusion. Without the agility or athleticism of Heismay, Amaterasu, or Kit, Band and Harry in particular smacked into plenty of walls, doors, and furniture as they hauled ass, running fast enough that they almost threw themselves into pits more than once. With so much cumbersome loot on his person, Harry would doubtlessly be doomed by his greed unless he ditched a few items, especially once a coilhead joined the pursuit, its feet tip-tapping behind the team with terrifying speed.

With Heismay and Amaterasu in the lead, they reached the library before the others, but while Heismay managed to slip through the wolf wound up waylaid by a book-hurling poltergeist. Luckily she managed to turn the tables on the ghostly miscreant and escape, but she left behind quite a mess for Kit, Band, and Harry the next moment. Band spotted the specter, but didn’t register the threat -what would books do to him, after all?- until he remembered that one hit against either Kit or Harry would trigger Galeem’s influence and doom them with a forced fight. “Aw, hell!” He slowed down just for a moment, but his mind kept racing. There was no way to block for even one man, let alone both, without screwing himself in the process. He could only think of one solution.

“Sorry, buddy!” He launched forward toward Kit with a burst of speed, then slammed a Brass Knuckle into his armored back. The knight went flying through the library and into the next room. Then Band rounded on Harry, who was still bleeding from his gnome encounter, and launched a Friend Heart right at him. The moment it made contact, he grabbed Harry in his bell and flung him after Kit. He had stopped only a brief moment, but it was enough for the team’s pursuers to catch up. The coilhead slammed through the door, then stopped cold beneath Band’s glare, blocking the doorway for the other specters. Band backpedaled through the other library door as fast as he could, then slammed the door shut and locked it behind him. “No time to explain!” he yelled, shooting a Friend Heart at Kit as well. This was a bad time to restore his acquaintances’ memories, but right now they had bigger things to worry about. “Go, go, go!”

A moment later, the three reached a familiar obstacle: the hallway divided by a pitch-black pit, with only one plank spanning it. Heismay and Amaterasu were already on the other side, and for the others it was dangerous but doable, but for Band it was outright impossible. Just after he slowed to a stop, he heard a door explode behind him, and grit his teeth. There was only one thing he could do, and luckily the situation had generated plenty of dramatic tension. “Gang way!” He hopped into the air, deploying massive bits of instrumentation until he resembled a giant French horn. “Super…sonic!” Band burst forward in a bassy blockbuster, rocketing across the gap, down the hallway, and straight through the wall. It blew apart, and Band shot out into the open air from the mansion’s second story. With a trail blazed, the others could follow him out and down into the courtyard below.

A moment after Band burst from the house, the top hatch of the atom popped open, and Stein emerged to stare at the Seekers with eyebrows raised. “Hot damn! Thought you all bit the dust. Who’s that?” He gave Heismay a quizzical look, then glanced back at the mob of zombies streaming from the mansion. “Oops, one sec.” He ducked back down, and the next moment the Atom’s neon-green laser blazed forth to obliterate the shambling dead in one sweep. Their ashes joined the dunes arrayed around the Atom, suggesting that Stein and Tesset had been dealing with zombies since the others left. “Ah, nevermind, we gotta go!” With that the Atom began to reverse across the courtyard, building up its momentum until it could turn around and smash through the perimeter wall again. Band and the others hustled after it, leaving the dead -and the shadows peering through the second-story hole through the sunlight- in their dust.

Several minutes later, the procession came to a stop a safe distance from Curien Mansion on the wooded slope by the river. Heismay and Amaterasu were in pretty good condition, but Band and his pipes were wheezing–his chassis wasn’t built for locomotion like this! As he and the others recovered, Heismay double checked everyone and gave an approving nod. “Looks like everyone made it out in one piece. Well done.” He seemed especially appreciative of Amaterasu. “And you impressed me perhaps most of all. What a magnificent creature you are.”

Having climbed out from the Atom, Stein hit the ground nearby. “So, what did I miss?” Despite his sunglasses, it was easy to discern that he was keeping his eyes on the group’s newest member, who seemed hesitant to answer.

“This is Heismay,” Band stated matter-of-factly. “He ain’t the one who’s been takin’ kids, I don’t think. Said he does know who’s takin’ ‘em though, and that we oughta go and get the full story ourselves.” He straightened up. “Speakin’ of. Where we headin’?”

The Eugief cleared his throat and pointed up the mountainside with a wing. “Up there.” Above some rocky, river-carved canyons towered a distinctive pointy peak. “Witch’s Nose. We’re looking for a cave beneath it. Follow me.”

Band glanced at Kit and Harry. “Easy, fellas. I’ll tell ya everythin’ in a minute.”

Heismay led the way farther up the slope along the river. It turned out that the river flowed down the mountain from a small mountainside lake surrounded by tall rocky cliffs and pine trees, itself fed by picturesque waterfalls. After the dingy, claustrophobic confines of Curien Mansion, the natural landscape was an especially beautiful sight, but getting across it to Witch’s Nose would be difficult. Band could see several possible routes both across the lake and up the bluffs on the other side, but it would be tricky going, especially if the team ran afoul of any critters in the area.

At the same time, though, traversing the area would be a simple yet tedious enough task that there would be plenty of time for small talk. While Heismay could easily reach his destination by himself, he seemed willing to slow down and stay close to the others, which gave Band a chance to try and get to know the mystery man better. Before that, though, he needed to follow up on his friend hearts from earlier.

“Kudos to y’all for not freakin’ out back there,” he told Harry and Kit. “Sorry to do that, but if anyone’s attacked while they’re still under, they’ll be forced to fight, and that woulda cooked y’all’s goose back there.” Band took a deep breath. “So, this is the World of Light. A messed-up patchwork world made of bits an’ pieces from every other world, includin’ yours and mine. You probably remember what happened now; Galeem went and wiped it all away. But that ain’t the end of the story. I’m with a group called the Lost Numbers, and we’re fightin’ back. If we’re gonna set thing straight, we gotta fight Galeem itself, which means takin’ out all the guardians it’s got in our way.” He shrugged. “But that’s all big-picture stuff. Right now, I’m just tryin’ to get to the bottom of what’s goin’ on in Martira. Once we’re done, I can call our ride to pick us up. So just focus on what’s straight ahead, ‘kay? One step at a time.”

That meant getting around -or across- the mountain lake, and finding the cave entrance Heismay described. Heismay himself seemed both troubled and perplexed by everything Band said, as if things weren’t fully sinking in. Nevertheless, he kept his thoughts to himself for now, and jumped onto the first floating log to start making his way forward.

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

Paved Wilderness - Scorched Gorge

Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (66/150) and Chucho the Polterpup
Roland’s @Archmage MC Therion’s @Yankee
Word Count: 1257

Following the somewhat ominous moment spent staring at the refinery, Nadia continued to chill out with her new friends in the Steeltusk’s shade. It turned out that Piper, Caesar, and Lighter -alongside their friends Burnice and Lucy, for whom this trio was waiting- were all part of a biker gang called the Sons of Calydon, which Nadia thought odd considering that all but one of them were female. They based their operations in a cliffside town called Blazewood northeast of Hammerhead, and unlike the cutthroat vagabonds and crazed psychos common to other gangs in the Paved Wilderness, the Sons of Calydon seemed to be dedicated do-gooders. Though primarily concerned with the wellbeing of various shantytown communities and homesteads around the central yellow-grass plain, they roved all over the Wilderness performing odd jobs and competing in high-octane races. The way they spoke about one another gave Nadia a strong ‘found family’ vibe, reminding her a little of the Fishbone Gang. While being part of a big organization had its perks, she couldn’t deny that she missed having a small, tight-knit gang to run with, back when things weren’t so terribly complicated.

Eventually, the conversation turned back toward today’s trending topic: the Ficsit scavenger hunt. Still no closer to cashing in her salvage sphere than before, Nadia bemoaned the loss of her dune buggy. Her goal was to angle the others into offering to let her use their truck to haul the cargo, but to her surprise Piper had another idea. “So, you didn’t find your ride in the water down there?” she drawled, leaning sleepily atop her elbow on the Steeltusk’s bar counter.

Nadia shook her head. “Nah. Last I saw it, my buggy went over the waterfall. Darn thing could be anywhere. I guess I could wander around tryin’ to find where it went, but I don’t really know what I’m ‘dune’ out here, heh…”

Yawning, Piper shrugged. “I mean, there’s only the one river ‘round these parts, but suit yourself…”

“Huh?” Nadia blinked. “D’you know where it lets out?”

“Sure. See that bridge over there?” The little girl pointed toward a part of the highway about a mile away, past the refinery.

Nadia squinted. Through the heatwaves she could barely see what looked like a bridge. “It’s over there?” She perked up suddenly.

“Well, what’re we waitin’ for!?” Caesar chugged the last of her cola, then jumped down to the ground. “Let’s go find your ride!” She swung her leg over her bike, then beckoned for Nadia to join her. “C’mon, get on!”

With a grin Nadia leaped down after her and joined Caesar on her bike. Lighter followed them, pushing up his sunglasses. “As the boss’s bodyguard, I’ll be going, too.” Caesar protested, pointing out that she could handle herself, but Lighter ignored her with a smile and threw a questioning glance at Piper. The truck driver shook her head. He shrugged and revved up his own bike. “Alright, let’s go.”

"Don't go drinking and driving!" Nadia waved at Piper. "It's whiskey business!"

The souped-up motorcycles of the Sons of Calydon made short work of the short ride. It was empty and uneventful, even as they rode by the refinery. Nadia checked it out as the trio passed it, but she spotted neither Therion nor Roland. Only the sight of an open garage door suggested anyone had been there at all. She shrugged, trusting in the guys to deal with whatever trouble they might run into, and settled in for the rest of the ride. After another couple minutes, the three reached a shallow chasm with a river running through the bottom. There were no signs of Nadia’s buggy, so Caesar took her bike offroad to head downstream with Lighter right behind her. Another minute of rougher driving brought them to a steep crater in the red rock, home to a small lake and an overgrown, abandoned hydroelectric power plant. There, half-submerged but right side up, they found Nadia’s lost dune buggy, washed all the way down here by the current. A curved slope around the basin’s edge, meant no doubt for plant workers, provided access to the waterside.

Unfortunately, as an oasis, this spot had attracted some wildlife. Atop the central control point sat a big watermelon bugsnak shaped like a huge, bloated tick. Much smaller snax that looked like scooped melon balls roamed the area, but none looked remotely as threatening as the big one. With the buggy in the water close by, there was no chance of getting it out without the giant Mewon noticing. Nadia groaned. “Ah, crap. I don’t wanna fight, I’m way too tired for this…”

“In that case, watch and learn!” Caesar lowered her kickstand and set off at a jog, eager for a brawl. “C’mon, Lighter!”

“Coming.” Looking very unsurprised, her bodyguard went after her.

Their commitment made Nadia feel bad, and with a sigh she got off her butt to follow them. The Mewon spotted the intruders right away and let out a rumbling bellow of challenge. Nadia readied her daggers, Lighter hefted a modified brass knuckle with an engine fixture, and Caesar unsheathed her short sword. With the afternoon sun glinting off her shield’s golden spikes, she clanged her weapons together. “That’s right! Gimme the best you got!”

“Allow me!” Lighter charged forward, his weapon aflame. He dipped and dodged around the Mewon as he applied a barrage of punches and kicks to hammer the striped rind and soften the big snak up. Caesar slashed away at its face and legs to get its attention, soaking its bashes and charges with well-timed parries. Nadia lent a hand from farther back by throwing her daggers to reduce the beast’s defense, so it wasn’t long before Lighter powered up with a Morale Burst. “Now we’re cooking!” His fists became blazing blurs in a lightning-fast barrage of punches. Nadia watched, impressed, as he finished with a fiery uppercut.

The Mewon bellowed in rage, glinted gold, and pulled in its legs to throw itself forward in a corkscrew charge. Caesar threw herself in harm’s way, shield up. Even as Nadia flinched away, she held firm and tanked the blow, then struck her own shield from behind to launch a reverberating shockwave. That jolt stunned the beast, so Lighter jumped in for a chain attack, first launching up and then crashing down like a meteor. Sensing her moment, Nadia tagged in. “Fur-serker Purr-age!” she cried, laying on the hurt with seven quick lunging slashes.

Finally, Caesar finished the chain. She flipped over the others to bring her spinning shield down on the Mewon’s noggin. “Courage is POWER!” The cleaving blow scattered the watermelon snak into giant, sweet-smelling pieces, and when the echo faded the crater lake was quiet.

Nadia sheathed her knives with a sigh. “Sweet moves, you guys! All for little ol’ me, too! I don’t know how to thank you.”

“Haha, don’t thank us yet!” Caesar jumped down into the water, which came up to her thighs, to fish out the three-foot salvage cube she’d seen earlier. “Once we get your dune buggy outta the drink, you’re hauling this thing back to the Steeltusk!”

The catgirl chuckled and splashed down alongside her, followed by Lighter. “Alright, alright, that’s fair. Guess I’ll cube my enthusiasm for now.” After stuffing the cube into the buggy’s trunk, the three got busy pushing the car to the lakeshore.

Paved Wilderness - Highertower

Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate and Sectonia’s @Archmage MC Zenkichi’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Juri’s @Zoey Boey

After Zenkichi, Blazermate, Edward and the giant archer brought the firefight to a close, the Seekers were left in relative peace. Now, the wreckage of several vehicles on the route to Celica’s foxhole stood as a warning to other combatants, effectively warding them off by virtue of both physical obstruction and the intimidation factor. Messing with something -or someone- that could leave such heavy ordnance in such a sorry state was beyond every faction’s pay grade, at least for now. It wouldn’t be long before the turn of the Flame Clock brought around new generations of soldiers with no idea how destructive Celica’s Skell could be, eager to try their luck.

Still, despite the lull in the Seekers’ battle, the other factions’ fight around Highertower raged on in its ceaseless ebb and flow, and with their actions the newcomers sent out ripples that quickly became waves. With the New Conglomerate’s Vanguard-class Titan and accompanying platoon demolished, the blue-and-yellow faction had no choice but to pull back and consolidate its remaining forces around the Fuel Depot. With the mercenaries Hightertower thrown into flux by the payload detonation earlier as well, the psychos -led by Junkrat and Roadhog- had managed to assume complete control over the battlefield’s central facility. Once they got their own payloads to safety, the bandit legion set its eyes on the weakened NC soldiers as they retreated to stem the bleeding. The Fuel Depot’s defenders quickly found themselves pincered between a frontal assault from the psychos and an ambush by the marauding Kroad from behind, each alien gunslinger packing custom Blutonium weapons. While it would be even harder to push into that area for a while, it was safe to say that the NC wouldn’t be troubling the Seekers any time soon.

That made it a very good time to make a break for it, especially with Celica safe and their ill-gotten gains from the cargo container retrieved. The only question was how best the heroes could make their escape. Once contacted by Zenkichi, Sandalphon quickly bent her mind to the task. It didn’t take an engineer to tell that Celica’s once-proud Skell was practically inoperable and wouldn’t be driving -or walking- anywhere anytime soon, especially without attracting unwanted attention. Still, it had demonstrated its worth as a weapon of war and was well worth retrieval alongside its pilot. Zenkichi suggested using fultons. Maybe as a joke? Sandalphon couldn’t quite tell. Those devices could lift impressively large loads when correctly distributed and balanced, but there was one big problem with his plan: the Avenger was not currently airborne, but still at Wind’s Gasp. It wouldn’t be too long a flight to Highertower as the crow flies, but the time it would take the ship to take off and fly there was time that Edward’s contingent didn’t have. There was no telling what could happen to the Skell if fultoned up way ahead of time, either, making that option foolhardy at best.

Sandalphon pursed her lips as she leaned on the Comm Center desk, thinking. “I’ve received confirmation that the items sent by Edward and Juri have arrived. We’re preparing the salvage for delivery to the Hammerhead Ficsit depot via Armadillo. Can the mech be sent to the Avenger through the same method?” That seemed a little too convenient to Sandalphon, so she wasn’t terribly optimistic, but it warranted suggestion regardless. “If not, you may need to use Edward’s portals to transport everyone to a safe -or at least defensible- location to await fulton extraction. It will take a few minutes to make the necessary preparations but I can request Hope to make ready for takeoff.”

By this time, the underground third of the Highertower battlefield was beginning to get noisy. From where they were in the open third the Seekers couldn’t see what was happening, but given how valuable the contents of their payloads had been, the psychos were probably making the most of their newfound resources. The window for escape was closing; if the Seekers and their new acquaintance wanted to ditch this warzone, they’d need to act fast.

Paved Wilderness - Outback Outpost

Junior and Rika’s @DracoLunaris Geralt’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Roxas’ @Double

Leaving the untamed (and in some cases, totally alien) wilderness behind brought the kids and their chaperone to a more ordinary stretch of savannah, though plenty of interesting wildlife could still be found here and there. Kangaroos, koalas, dingos, wombats, emus, and platypi were all harder to find than balaharas or tonglegrops, but they were far less dangerous, leading to a wide-open and scenic countryside. To the north the terrain got darker and rockier, with the derricks scattered across the inky oilfields like burned-out trunks after a forest fire, and beyond them lay the high ridges and gorges of Oilwell Basin, but it would take much longer to get there on foot than the team had available.

The distances involved for travel around here led the four Seekers and their critter companions along a dirt road to the only real point of interest in the area: a derelict waypoint that had at some point been a bustling truck stop. Perhaps its builders thought that a location near the region’s primary source of crude oil would make sourcing its fuel easy, but that remote location had helped Hammerhead leave its competitor in the dust. Either way, not even a name remained painted on its faded walls to identify it now. More than likely, it had served as a temporary base for a rotating cast of squatters, bandits, and other miscreants since its downfall. What few vehicles the Seekers could see sat broken down and looted as they baked in the afternoon sun, never to run again.

Today, though, the outpost was occupied. A squad of five kitted-out operators were holed up inside, and when their lookout spotted incoming tangos through the cameras they set up, they quickly began to establish fortifications like metal sheets to reinforce interior walls and wooden barricades to block windows. Alibi set up proximity detectors and deceptive holograms that would ping their attackers, Ela laid down barbed wire and sticky Grzmot concussion mines, Valkyrie stuck a durable Black Eye camera in the compound’s main hall, Jager readied his Active Defense System to destroy incoming projectiles, and Wamai deployed Mag-Nets to attract and then detonate enemy gadgets. All loaded their weapons and hunkered down as Wamai’s voice resounded from the compound’s loudspeaker.

“Attention, unidentified force. If you’re here for our salvage, you should turn back, now. Any attempt to enter the outpost will be met with lethal force.” To show that the operators meant business, a spray of gunfire peppered the ground close by. It was almost impossible to tell which window it came from at a glance.

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

Dead Zone Hinterlands - Curien Mansion

Harry’s @Eviledd1984 Amaterasu’s @DracoLunaris Chosen Undead’s @Simple Unicycle Level 11 Big Band (32/110)
Word Count: 1764

With how dark and cramped these halls were, neither Kit nor Band could fight at full strength, and any skirmish was bound to favor their unknown assailants. When it came to tackling the spider, their best bet was Band supporting from behind, rather than block off his comrade completely behind his bulky frame. Even with that tactic in mind, though, neither were quite prepared for the Bunker Spider when it scuttled from the shadows. Featuring far more than eight legs, the monstrous thing reminded the detective more of a house centipede than a spider, but there was no mistaking those nightmarish fangs–especially when they punctured Kit’s cuirass. Band moved fast to intervene and crumple the beast’s exoskeleton beneath the strength of his Brass Knuckles, allowing the Chosen Undead to retake control of the fight and finish the thing off. It was a brief but vicious exchange of blows, and despite his hardened nerves and body of steel, Band’s heart was pumping from the experience.

When thanked, Band shook his head. He didn’t need the knight doubting himself right now. “Nah, it ain’t nothin’. No need to go round pledgin’ fealty, either. I’m just happy to help.” Really, the two had gotten lucky, and not just for the fact that the spider didn’t seem to be venomous. With how volatile fights in tight spaces could be, it would be terribly easy to accidentally clip Kit with a strike and aggro him, given his gleaming nature. Band had missed his chance now that the knight had healed himself with an Estus flask, but he’d need to use a Friend Heart to free him the first chance he got. In a place like this, with any number of unknown horrors lurking around every corner, being able to flee would be the difference between life and death. “Those things are spirits, by the way. You got the right idea hangin’ on to ‘em, but I’ll tell ya what they do later. C’mon, let’s boogie before anythin’ else shows up.”

The two pushed forward through the hall with the fewest intact spider webs, reasoning that Harry would have torn through any in his path during his abduction. After so many delays, the pressure was on to find both their other allies and Heismay, so the atmosphere was tense. At the same time, Amaterasu was working her way back along the distinctive scent trail Harry sent, with the man himself shuffling along behind her. With the covetous bug satiated -for now- by his peace offering, it left Harry to his own devices. Naturally, he’d broken a couple of the valuables stuffed into his clothes while brawling with the gnomes, which turned out to be very fragile. None took more than a single hit to shatter like porcelain from either him or Amaterasu. Even picking one up and dropping it was enough to take it out. With that easy -and perhaps cathartic- run-in out of the way, they could seek out the other half of their team as well.

After about thirty seconds, the two pairs converged in a strange room. It was square, and decently sized, with black and white checkered tiles and a variety of cupboards and cabinets along the wall. It also seemed impossibly tall, with at least five stories between the intruders and the vaulted ceiling, with a narrow perimeter staircase winding upward one long flight at a time. It was difficult to gauge, though, since the only light in here came from a single bulb that dangled directly over a ten foot square pit in the center, its wire stretching up into the darkness. When the opposite door creaked open a moment after he stepped inside, Band readied himself for another fight, only to identify Amaterasu in the fitful glow of that lonesome bulb. “Aha! Found ya.” He let out the breath he’d been subconsciously holding. “Y’all in one piece still? Good. We been runnin’ into all kinds of creepy crawlies in here. And still no sign of…!”

Just then, the doors of the room’s cupboard and cabinets flew open. Out leaped at least a dozen human skulls, with tiny skeletal limbs, red glowing eyes, and implanted sticks of dynamite. “Oh damn.” Overwhelmed, Band whirled toward the nearest ones, trying to put together a plan. These targets were plentiful and small, and there was no telling whether or not they’d explode when hit. With that pit in the middle of the room, the team couldn’t assume a back-to-back formation, which meant they could easily be blindsided. As he watched, one of the skulls did a spin to light its fuses, then charged.

Then something happened. A whitish blur shot down from a high vantage point and struck the sizzling skull. It soared through the air, little legs flailing, and plummeted down into the pit. It happened so fast that it left Band blinking, confused. The next moment, though, it happened again, with another skull lighting its fuse and being summarily disposed of. The same blur streaked across the room again and again, handling the little bombs two or three at a time. Finally, when the last four lit up at about the same time, the white streak zigzagged around to capture all four before it came to a sudden stop in the room's center. The Seekers’ savior seemed to be a white-furred, batlike creature with big ruby-red eyes, small but strong enough enough to hang from the cord with one clawed hand while the other held the four struggling skulls by their fuses.

“This place is dangerous,” he warned the awestruck onlookers, his stern voice colored by a provincial French accent. “Full of all manner of disgraceful creatures. You should return from whence you came.” With that, he dropped the hissing skulls into the pit. They exploded violently, and when the flashes ceased, the batlike fellow was gone.

Band narrowed his eyes, thinking. For a while now, it felt like he was being watched, and now this stranger -the first intellectual being his team found in here- had swooped in from the shadows to save them. It wasn’t much of a stretch to imagine that the bat, stealthy and swift, had not just heard Harry the moment he first yelled out for Heismay but also been following the intruders ever since. Trusting in his intuition, Band decided to go out on a limb.

“Heismay? That you?” His voice echoed through the upper reaches of the room, and it garnered no response. “I know you can hear me. Look. The militia sent us after your head. Said you’ve been kidnappin’ kids. But I think there’s more to this story, and not just ‘cause you saved our butts just now.” Band searched the darkness as he spoke. “Morris told us there’d be no monsters here today on account o’ the sandflash, but that clearly ain’t the case. He said he saw you climbin’ into town late at night, but why would he catch ya climbin’ when you can move like that? Somehow didn’t mention you’re a little bat fella neither. And how’s a little guy like you steal kids bigger than you are, too? It don’t add up.”

A moment of eerie silence passed. Then Heismay’s voice echoed back down, giving no hints as to where its source might be. “I am many things, not all of them good, but I am not a kidnapper.” His voice was filled with indignant venom, as if the very idea of him doing such a thing seared his soul. “The world out there is filled with loss and pain, and I could not abide its cruelty. I thought it better to live here in solitude than in the embers of hell. At least the monsters here do not hide their true faces!”

Sensing Heismay’s pain, Band tried to read into his words. “So the village is hidin’ somethin’. It sounds like we won’t find the lost kids up here.”

“Indeed, you will not,” Heismay confirmed knowingly. “But you won’t find them in Martira, either. I don’t know what was happening down there, but I do know who put a stop to it, and I believe she has the childrens’ best interests in heart.”

Band raised an eyebrow. “So you know who’s been stealin’ ‘em?”

“Not stealing them. Saving them. From a terrible fate,” Heismay corrected him insistently.

“Oh?” Band had expected a second layer to the story, but a third? Now we’re talking. “And who might that be?”

For another moment, silence reigned. Then Heismay replied, hesitant. “I’ve gathered that you’re all outsiders to Martira. Genuinely concerned for the children, and able to understand that not everything might be as it seems. If I take you to her, and you see that the children are safe, will you promise to leave her in peace?”

“If this friend o’ yours stole the kids away to keep ‘em safe, then all we gotta do is fix whatever’s goin’ on in Martira so they can go back home safe and sound.” He squinted. “Assumin’ she lets ‘em.”

“She will,” Heismay told him. “She’s been taking good care of them. Once the problem is dealt with, she’ll bring them back.”

“If that’s how it is, then you have my word,” Band told him. “But if it ain’t, it ain’t just your ass, ya hear?”

“Very well.” The shadows stirred, and Heismay appeared. In full view, he seemed laughably small, but Band saw the sword slung across his back. “Then let’s go.”

As if in response, the lightbulb -and all other sources of light in the mansion- went dark. Band looked up sharply. “What just happened?”

Heismay’s eyes narrowed in the gloom. “The house doesn’t want to give us up.” He took off at a run, waving at the others to follow him. “Hurry!”

A creak issued from the doors behind the team, through which Amaterasu and Harry had come. A peek backward over Band’s shoulder gave him a terrifying glimpse at a shadowy figure with white glowing eyes and a huge ghost swaddled in a pitch-black robe. Something deep inside him told him to not try fighting these things. Instead, the detective burst forward in a stream of sound. “Don’t gotta tell me twice!”

Behind him, the masked ghost let out a harrowing shriek. With Heismay to lead the way, it was time for the intruders to run for their lives.

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

Paved Wilderness - Scorched Gorge

Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (63/150) and Chucho the Polterpup
Roland’s @Archmage MC Therion’s @Yankee
Word Count: 967

Although very annoyed at herself for forgetting all about her Harbor Demon striker and doing all that hard labor by herself instead, Nadia managed to get over it pretty fast. What’s done is done, after all, and if nothing else it might make for a funny story later. Plus, how mad could she be when she’d pulled off that ingenious Bunger wrangling idea so perfectly? Rather than bemoan her silliness, Nadia set her mind to her next task: getting the salvage sphere she’d extracted from Scorched Gorge to the people that’d pay her for it. This time, unfortunately, no bright ideas or forgotten abilities would bail her out. Without a vehicle to her name, much less one capable of hauling cargo, the task of transporting her salvage to a Ficsit depot made her previous Sisyphean struggle look like child’s play. This time, Ms Fortune would need help.

Hoping that nobody else would come along and spot her hard-earned loot, Nadia and Chucho left the sphere, retracing their earlier steps. Steeltusk was still sitting right where she last saw it by the road but this time the flashy red-and-black eighteen wheeler wasn’t alone. At some point while Nadia had been exploring the canyons, two bikers had pulled up next to the truck on their custom hogs and seemed to be lounging around, enjoying a late lunch. Both were darkly-dressed and sported desaturated green hair, but the solidly-built girl featured flashy gold ornaments all over her outfit and bike, while everything about the lean guy from his scarf to his shades to his leather jacket screamed ‘cool dude’. The newcomers had just been given cold drinks from the Steeltusk’s onboard bar by Piper, and as Nadia approached, her ear twitched at the familiar sound of crack and hiss from a frosty can in the truck driver’s hand.

Nadia hid her right arm behind her and waved with her left. “Hey!”

“Hey yourself!” The girl with the ‘king’ necklace grinned good-naturedly, her voice naturally somewhat booming. “You must be the cat thiren Piper told me about! Find any treasure?”

Cat thiren? Nadia could only assume that must be these folks’ version of a feral. “A little! Dunno how I’m gonna get it home, though!”

That seemed to make the girl crack up. “Ahahaha! You’re the act now, questions later type too, huh? Kitty after my own heart! The name’s Caesar, nice to meetcha! And this is Lighter!” She gestured at her companion. “Say hi, Lighter!”

“Hi, Lighter,” the guy replied with a smirk, giving Nadia a little two-finger salute.

“Nice to meetcha guys! You can call me Ms. Fortune.” Nadia couldn’t help but smile at Caesar’s earnestness. Coming to a stop, she crossed her arms to admire her reflection in the shiny gold hubcap on Caesar’s bike. “Wow, this is ‘wheelie’ cool! I’d love to ride a motorcycle someday, but I bet it’d make me ‘two tired’!”

The puns left Caesar cackling, but she seemed distracted by something on Nadia’s person. “Dude, what happened to your arm?”

Realizing what she’d done, Nadia’s brows shot up as she uncrossed her arms and hid her right behind her. “Oh, uh…”

“Probably ate some bugsnax,” Piper drawled from her barstool, sounding tired.

With the cat out of the bag, Nadia brought out her reconstituted arm reluctantly. “Oh, was that what that was? Eheh…” She grimaced. “Don’t suppose, uh, you guys know if there’s any cure for this? I’ve got plenty of meat on my bones as-is!”

Lighter inhaled through his teeth, shaking his head. “Fraid not. In fact, the infection slowly spreads, bit by bit, changing you inside and out, ‘til all that’s left of you is one big burger.” He held up his own half-eaten double decker. “Like this guy. Poor Jeffrey…”

Nadia’s jaw dropped, her eyes as wide as saucers.

Immediately, Caesar burst out laughing, and even Lighter couldn’t keep himself from chuckling. “You’re such a jerk!” She punched Lighter’s shoulder with more force than one might expect, but he seemed to brush it off. Then Caesar held up placating hands toward Nadia. “Relax, he’s just joking. It’ll wear off in, like, an hour.”

“Ask her how she knows,” Piper muttered, to which Caesar just shrugged.

Nadia emptied her lungs in a huge sigh of relief, her ears drooping. “Sheesh! And here I thought my jokes were bad.” She looked up at Piper, eying Steeltusk’s bar. “I could use a drink, if you guys don’t mind. Been dyin’ out here in the heat.

“Yeah, whatever you want, Fortune! My treat!” Caesar clapped a hand around Nadia’s shoulder with a big smile, very chummy already. “You tipped us off about the scavenger hunt, after all! Soon as Burnice and Lucy get here, we’re off. Gonna be livin’ like kings before the night is over!”

Quite powerless to resist Caesar’s strength or charm, Nadia allowed herself to be steered toward the bar. “Thanks! A rum and coke would be purr-fect!” She started rooting around for the ingredients, her tail swishing back and forth above the counter. “So, you’ve got more friends comin’?”

“Uh huh.” Piper narrowed her eyes as she looked up and down the nearby highway. “They’re running late, in fact. Should’ve been here already.”

Lighter pushed up his sunglasses. “Maybe Burnice started another fire, and Lucy’s having to bail her out.”

“Maybe.” Caesar plopped down on a barstool with a sigh, looking unconvinced. “No word from ‘em is strange though. I got a bad feeling.”

Nadia sat down a moment later with her drink, sipping it as she looked out across the wilderness. Nothing in the area seemed suspect, other than that refinery, maybe. “Hmm…”

Paved Wilderness - Highertower

Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate and Sectonia’s @Archmage MC Zenkichi’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Juri’s @Zoey Boey

High above the battlefield, at the top of Highertower, the simple but identifiable nod of Edward’s drone was taken as confirmation by the giant archer. In the midst of all the chaos unfolding down below, he seemed pleased to have found a friend, no matter how small and mute. “I help anytime,” he rumbled, taking hold of his longbow. From that point forward, as long as the drone remained within the giant’s lofty line of sight, it would shoot down piercing shafts the size of spears to skewer any foes foolish enough to attack the friendly drone.

While Zenkichi fought his way toward Celica to make contact, the ever-dutiful Blazermate in tow, word got back to the commanding officer of the New Conglomerate squad he’d slaughtered about the detective’s intercession. Within the fuel depot, a sharp-eyed sergeant pursed his lips in bitter annoyance. “That emplacement has been a thorn in our side since we’ve gotten here, and the moment we’re finally about to wear it down, reinforcements arrive? Tsk, tsk, tsk.” He turned to a subordinate. “Time to send in some backup of our own. Deploy the other Vanguard.” The woman saluted and scurried away, leaving the captain to monitor the map overview.

Less than a minute after Zenkichi reached Celica and her Skell, a booming noise resounded above their position. The next moment, a huge object crashed down nearby, narrowly missing Bunker 4. Before the dust even cleared, the fallen object began to move. Through the haze stomped a huge Vanguard-class Titan, over two stories tall and decked out in New Conglomerate colors. Its hatch popped open just long enough for Corporal LaRue to make visual contact. “There you are.” The hatch snapped shut, and the Vanguard lifted its immense Predator Cannon, big enough to make a nearby Heavy stare down at his Sasha in disappointment. As the minigun spun up, the mech’s loudspeakers made sure the Corporal was heard. “Time to flush you out, mon amie!”

By breaching the central building by way of a rooftop extending out from the rock the facility was built into, Edward and Juri were insulated from the firefight and vehicular skirmishes going on outside, but that facility itself was by no means secure. Though the psychos were holding onto it, the structure’s position on the battlefield meant it would be continuously besieged from both sides by mercenaries and soldiers hoping to cross the area on foot without getting sniped or run over outside. As a result the facility was hotly contested, with each close-quarters encounter in these halls unpredictable and explosive in its own way, especially if someone on a Ghost or Misha tried to drive through the central atrium from the open northern warzone to the underground southern warzone or vice versa.

The sudden arrival of Edward and Juri had put a stop to an NC incursion within this facility, but the moment of peace they earned was short-lived. While the tactician focused his attention on his scouts elsewhere, a Demoknight kitted out with the Chargin’ Targe, Claidheamh Mòr, and Broadband Bonnet charged up a flight of stairs on the opposite side of the central atrium. “HAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!” He banked off the top of the stairs and went flying, arcing through the air like a comet. He slammed shield-first into the wall scarcely two feet from Juri with a deafening clang, stunning him for just a moment as he hefted his bloodstained greatsword.

In that moment, though, a metal hook latched around the Demoknight’s waist and yanked him backward. “Ach!”

He flew a good twenty feet straight toward a spot where a hulking masked psycho and singed maniac had set up shop. The instant the Demoknight got caught in Junkrat’s bear trap, he set off his landmine and Roadhog fired his shotgun. Together, both were enough to gib the Scotsman despite his innate explosive resistance, and Junkrat cackled wildly. “Hahahahahaha! Forty-four! Or…wuzzat forty-five, mate?” Roadhog just shrugged and crammed another fistful of scrap metal into his shotgun. Shrugging, Junkrat scowled at the newcomers, then shouted over his shoulder at the psychos pushing their payload into the underground zone for extraction. “Oi! Get a move on, you lot! Things just got a lot spicier in here! Heeheehee!” With that, he and Roadhog opened fire again, their deadly combination of traps, crowd control, lobbed grenades, and airburst shrapnel a recipe for disaster if any mercenaries, soldiers, or Seekers tried to push in on them unprepared.

Outside, the battle continued to unfold unpredictably, proving that nobody was totally safe. For the most part Sectonia had little to worry about, though one Scout in particular seemed incapable of leaving her alone. Very fast and agile, he would climb the Highertower and then use his Sandman to smack baseballs at anyone he could see, including Sectonia. Though he missed often, he seemingly found a new baseball every ten seconds, and a successful hit would leave his victim stunned--a dangerous proposition for anyone in the air. If he provoked someone into coming after him, his strategy was to slurp down some Bonk! Atomic Punch to become untouchable, then corner his assailant and wipe him out with a Grand Slam taunt for the one-hit kill.

Still, that Scout was ultimately just an annoyance, and could be ignored. The bigger problem was when a firefight at the outdoor battlefield's central oasis went south for a Heavy-Medic combo skirmishing with a squad of psychos. Just after the Heavy went down due mostly to his usage of the Brass Beast, a Wasp appeared out of thin air on the metal helipad that extended out over Empty Space, and the medic jumped in. "Time to practice medicine!" A moment later the highly mobile VTOL aircraft was aloft, its mountain machine guns and missile launchers making mincemeat of the psychos. "The healing is not as good as the hurting!" It wasn't long until the Medic, drunk with power, spotted Sectonia and flew over to fight for dominion over the Highertower's airspace.

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

Dead Zone Hinterlands - Curien Mansion

Harry’s @Eviledd1984 Amaterasu’s @DracoLunaris Chosen Undead’s @Simple Unicycle Level 11 Big Band (29/110)
Word Count: 969

Though Band had been more machine than man for a long time now, enough of his original self remained that a chill still ran down his spine at the sight of the mannequin. It stood half-visible in the doorway as motionless as a statue, but the bob of its coil betrayed the abrupt cessation of remarkable speed. The metallic twang of its spring, an intensely unnatural sound, did not help matters either. Even a tempered veteran who’d witnessed all manner of human atrocities in the underbelly of New Meridian, who’d fought countless undead abominations during his storied career at the ASG Labs and with the Seekers, could be taken by surprise. Band’s only consolation was the fact that this new aberration had, for some reason, stopped in its tracks the moment he laid eyes on it, frozen like a deer in the headlights.

Why it didn’t move Band couldn’t say, but the fact that it did gave him a chance to breathe and compose himself. His eyes narrowed and his brows tightened as he assessed the situation. With no time to waste, he had to tackle this problem head-on, and in the best way he knew how: with brute force. “Thought you’d pull one on me, didja?” He threw open his coat, deploying a giant mechanical arm. “AHAAY!” He cannoned forward and drove his Brass Knuckles through the doorframe to hit the still figure center-mass. Wood splintered and flew in all directions, but Band’s momentum stopped cold. Despite his jaw-dropping pneumatic strength, the mannequin did not budge. Only its head moved at all, rocking gently back and forth from the blow, the stare of its eyeless sockets derisive as Band withdrew his fist and confirmed that the only damage he’d done was to himself.

“Hmph!” The detective snorted, stepping back. “Guess it ain’t much of a horror flick if the monster goes down easy, huh?” As he considered his options, he began to edge around the coilhead. It didn’t move until he decided to test it by looking away. Even a quick flick was enough to make it turn toward him, its head bobbing as it froze once more. With that thing in his way, he’d have to go the long way around the huge pit to get where he needed to go. Unless…

Band waltzed up to the coilhead and deployed two halves of a giant brass bell. They slammed together around the creature, and with his line of sight cut off, it became mobile again. Unfortunately, it seemed unable to break free of the bell, so after giving the monster a solid ringing for good measure, Band swung the bell out over the pit. The coilhead dropped through the open bottom and disappeared into the darkness below. After putting the bell halves away, Band gave the abyss a curt nod and continued on, not eager to be here when all the other critters that heard his bell’s chime showed up.

After exiting the room with the pit, he passed through a T-shaped junction with a handful of padlocked cabinets, past a bathroom with candles arranged around an eerie portrait, and into a multi-story living room with a confusing, U-shaped layout. It occurred to Band while stomping up and then down the stairs that at no point could this mansion have ever been a livable space; it seemed more like a dolled-up maze than anything, and unfortunately for him, the labyrinth had served its purpose. He was lost, with no clue which direction would lead him closer to his allies. Spotting something, he quieted his breathing and pulled to the side to let a six-legged, stitched-together homunculus crawl past, then pushed through the door it came through as stealthily as he could.

On the other side lay a small square courtyard, with an empty chicken coop, a tree, and a couple gravestones, hemmed in by stone walls on all sides. Overhead hung the starry night sky, which was damning evidence for this mansion being its own magical space, but the bigger surprise was the presence of another humanoid right in front of him. “Gah!” Only after readying himself for combat did the surprised detective realize that the knight he was looking at was Kit. “Oh, it’s you!” A sigh of relief issued from him. “There y’are, I been lookin’ all over. Where’s the wolf?”

As it turned out, unfortunately, Kit and Amaterasu had been separated, and without the wolf’s nose to guide him the warrior had been wandering the mansion as blindly as Band had for the last few minutes. “Well, we got each other at least. Better stick together.” The two went back the way Kit came to try another route. Down a different hallway hung a number of spider webs, as large and thick as blankets, and their owner was on the move. A zombie had wandered into its strands, and the moment it detected a vibration the Bunker Spider pounced. It paralyzed the corpse with its venomous bite, then strung it up in a cocoon, still struggling feebly. Band eyed the least web-strewn passage dubiously. “Our friends coulda gone that way, but I don’t like my chances of squeezin’ through there,” he whispered. He couldn’t see the full spider anymore now that it had crawled up into the rafters, but the tip of one of its legs on a web told him it was still there. “Tell ya what. If ya wanna try fightin’ it, I’ll back ya up. Or, I could try bustin’ through that locked door back in that courtyard. No tellin’ what we’d find though. Or what’d find us.” The choice of how best to proceed was Kit’s.

Deeper in the mansion, Amaterasu had managed to track Harry down, and though there weren’t any more monsters in the study where the ghost dropped him off, the detective was still in a predicament. Everything he’d stuffed into his pockets and clothes was valuable, but it was also impractically shaped, not to mention fragile. The simple act of moving without breaking anything would be a challenge, and as if his outfit wasn’t loud enough, all the clinking and clacking of his purloined goods would make the man into a walking windchime. Still, he somehow managed to shuffle back up the stairs from the basement study and into the lounge above it with only minor losses, at which point he and Amaterasu were confronted by two doors to choose from.

Amaterasu knew which one to go through to retrace her path, of course, but before she could lead Harry through, a squat creature emerged from a tiny air vent on one wall. With antennae, four wings, and red compound eyes, it was definitely the source of the insect scent she smelled earlier, and it was definitely interested in Harry. It did not attack, but it scuttled around him, fixated on its clothes. The greedy gleam in its eyes suggested that it wanted something, and if not satiated with an offering of loot, the bug would take wing and attack, at which point the detective could definitely bid the rest of his ill-gotten gains goodbye–if not his life alongside them.

That wasn’t all, though. A few moments after the bug’s arrival, the door Amaterasu had been planning to go through creaked open, and through the gap issues a gang of killer gnomes to sink their little pickaxes into whatever intruders they could.

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

Paved Wilderness - Scorched Gorge

Lvl 15 Ms Fortune (61/150) and Chucho the Polterpup
Word Count: 1170

After climbing back down the rocky spire, Nadia left her prize where it fell and set off at a brisk jaunt through the branching canyons, her polterpup an ephemeral presence behind her. Scorched Gorge wasn’t that big an area, all told, so even while steering clear of the resident bugsnax, it didn’t take the feral that long to find what she was looking for. Most of these red stone ravines were bordered by cliff walls, either tiered or sheer from bottom to top, but at one end of the broadest valley the terrain sloped upward, becoming a gravelly hill where slow erosion had at some point caused a miniature landslide. Even now rivulets of water trickled down amidst the pebbles, their paths forked like lightning but reunited at the bottom of the gorge to feed a shallow creek that flowed back toward the pools near the central spire. If Nadia could roll her salvage out of this place anywhere, it would be there.

Of course, getting it there was no easy task. Though Nadia’s fusions had filled her out and softened her up somewhat, her physique still featured plenty of lean muscle, which unfortunately did not lend itself to feats of raw strength. Sure, the salvage clump might be spherical in shape, but being just shorter than her, it was unconscionably heavy. Worse still, the feral wasn’t at full strength after exhausting so much energy this morning. Only by pushing against the sphere with all her strength, and also expelling blood behind her for extra thrust, could she get it rolling. Even then, she was at the mercy of any little rock or groove that happened to be in her way, so the road to her destination was by no means straight. Shaking her head, Nadia took a deep breath. “There’s gotta be easier money out there than this.” With no alternatives in sight, though, she hung up her jacket on a nearby cactus and got to work.

Swaddled by the dusty air and midday heat, with not even an errant breeze to relieve her, Nadia toiled away. It was hot, stifling work, and naturally it left her sweating like a big. She decided right away to take breaks every few minutes, which involved her jumping in labyrinth’s central pool, sapphire blue and mercifully cool. Bit by bit, she made progress, and after twenty minutes or so she reached the gravel slope with her salvage. At that point, her philosophy to ‘cross that bridge when we come to it’ came back around to bite her, since it quickly became apparent that her meager strength would not be enough to get her sphere up that hill.

Nadia tried hitting the sphere with her strongest attacks, but even if she could send it flying, it would only bounce and roll back to the bottom. Standing on top to roll it like those thugs in Mafia town did with giant meats didn’t work either, so pushing was her only option. “Hrrrrrrgh! Hrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!” No dice. She even tried slashing her own shoulders to better use her blood jets like rear thrusters, but while that seemed promising for a second or two, the only thing it accomplished was making her dizzy. “Oogh…maybe…that wasn’t the brightest idea…” She staggered over to a patch of shade, sat down with Chucho beside her, and pulled the Ripened Heart from its pouch to boost her blood replenishment. As the artifact worked its magic, she stared at the hill, then let out a heavy sigh and stroked Chucho’s head. “The hell am I gonna do…?”

Her ear flicked at a familiar and unwelcome sound. “Bunger, bunger, bunger!” She glanced over to see one two of those grotesque burger-beetles tussling over territory. They charged, locked fry-horns in a bid to wrestle one another to the ground or toss them overhead, then did it again. Nadia’s skin crawled just looking at those freaks, now that she knew what consumption of their flesh could do. Her right arm was still disfigured, and every minute that passed by made her more and more worried that the affliction might be permanent. Better to ditch it and get a mechanical replacement than live with that indignity, she thought. As she continued to watch the BBQ Bungers clash, however, her thoughts turned back toward them, and the hotsauce plants nearby. After another moment, her eyebrows shot up, and she snapped her bacon-fingers. “I got it!”

An excited energy sped her on her way as Nadia moved to put her latest and greatest idea into action. First, she ransacked the nearby sauce-plants, using her jacket as a makeshift container to carry as many as possible. As long as the ‘bottles’ were still in one piece, the Bungers didn’t seem to care. Next, she climbed up to one of the rope suspension bridges spanning one of the Scorched Gorge’s many canyons and cut sections of rope with her claws. By knotting them together, she created two lasses connected to a loop that she tightened around the salvage sphere. Then, with everything ready, she baited the Bungers. One at a time she lobbed sauce bottles where she wanted them to go, leading the greedy bugsnax straight to her setup. Once both were lapping away at hotsauce she’d splattered at the base of the slope, the dextrous catgirl slipped the lassos around them, then positioned herself halfway up the hill, giggling gleefully.

She turned around, cleared her throat, and yelled down at the Bungers as loudly as she could. “Hey, frysores! Yeah, I’m talkin’ about you, grease flunkies! Your buns are soggy, your cheese is moldy, and your beef is ground ‘cause it tastes just like dirt! Bunger? Hah! More like…” She paused, drawing a blank. “...Dunger! Yeah! Screw you guys!”

The bugsnax reacted predictably, charging straight toward Nadia with everything they had. The ropes went taut, and the Bungers began to drag the salvage behind them. Nadia continued to taunt, berate, and generally agitate them until they’d pulled their load all the way to the top, at which point their speed really picked up. The feral was ready, though, and as the bugsnax barreled toward her with the sphere in tow, she called upon her newest striker. “Well? ‘Water’ you waiting for!?” The huge abyssal Harbor Water Demon manifested behind her, lifted her enormous clawed mitts into the air, and brought them down on the Bungers to reduce both to paste in one fatal instant.

“Hah! Now that’s what I call a smash burger! I’m a fur-reakin’ genius!” Panting, Nadia looked up at the Harbor Demon and saluted her with a smile as she disappeared. Then she froze, her face aghast, the sight of her striker’s huge hands and immense strength freshly imprinted on her mind. She stared back down at the gravelly slope and all the way she came, hauling that heavy load, then clapped both hands to her head in despair. “DAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!”

Paved Wilderness - Highertower

Edward’s @DracoLunaris Blazermate and Sectonia’s @Archmage MC Zenkichi’s @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN Juri’s @Zoey Boey

From their vantage points either in the sky itself or atop the Forerunner pylon that hovered weightlessly above the oasis, both Sectonia and Edward could get a much better lay of the land in order to properly direct the Seekers’ efforts, even if some of their allies were already in the action. Broadly speaking, it all lay atop a cliff overlooking Empty Space, a breathtakingly vast pit occupying the center of the continent. This void was so broad that nobody here could actually see the other side, just a distant horizon where a black-brown gradient gave way to blue. Neither could they see the pit’s depths if they peered over the edge, just a starry darkness like the night sky itself. As absurdly tall as Highertower was, it would certainly not reach the bottom if toppled into it. Huge structures and landforms, like asteroids and miniature planets, floated out in the distance both above and below the horizon, unburdened by gravity, but it still held sway for anything -or anyone- that tumbled over the precipice.

The primary point of interest was the Highertower compound, hemmed in on all sides by the slim, slipshod faded wood or rusted sheet metal buildings of Red Valley Mining and Blu Industries, to the point where no land vehicle could gain entry. On the opposite side of the central boulders from the tower, a multi-tiered shack hung precariously over the edge of Empty Space, ready to fall and take whoever happened to be taking cover inside with it at a moment’s notice. Pieces of the Ficsit freighter, some large enough to cave in the surrounding buildings, were scattered around, their contents looted and packed onto payloads. Hastily arranged tracks criss-crossed the area, meant to convey the carts to wherever the people currently in control of them wanted them, but with all of the possible exits uphill nobody was making much progress, though.

Of course, there was more to the battlefield than the compound. It formed only one extremity of a battlefield that could roughly be divided into thirds: an outdoor battlefield, an underground battlefield, and a central facility built into the mountain that divided them. Roughly rectangular, that facility offered both an indoor path between the Highertower compound and the fuel depot opposite it, and a route between the open and enclosed sides of the battlefield, both converging at a central atrium where an an alien artifact regarded the surrounding bloodshed in stolid silence. Much wider and conducive to vehicular warfare than its underground counterpart, the outdoor battlefield sported not only a glittering oasis in the middle, but a handful of sunken structures that served as bunkers for anyone skittering across through the war zone on foot.

It was the outdoor battlefield that Zenkichi and Blazermate had taken their Prowler on a joyride through so far, and while Antler reinforcements from Sectonia helped a little, their assistance wouldn’t go as far as the bug queen hoped. Lacking mobility, Antlers were easy targets, not just for vehicles but for any of the dozen-plus fighters ferreted away in a foxhole somewhere on the battlefield, where they laid low looking to pick off easy targets or make a break for the next bit of cover. One could never know if the rock formation or bunker one just drove past had a soldier with a rocket or grenade launcher hiding in it, after all. As a result, the whole area was one big mess, with blurred and constantly changing battle lines. The longer an observer like Edward looked, though, the better he could define the teams.

Naturally, the Psychos were the easiest to identify. ‘Ramshackle but dangerous’ described not just their weapons, but their vehicles like the Rollerhog and Treadmaker, reclaimed from the junkyard and weaponized by acts of unmedicated ingenuity. While many of the crazed raiders were little more than lackeys, a few were racking up impressive kill counts, like a musclebound maniac with an explosive scrap saw, and a dynamic duo that hooked foes into deadly traps. The psychos had the strongest presence throughout the central complex, and their salvage extraction route seemed to be underground, with five payloads stalled in the underground battlefield.

The faction with the best hold of Highertower itself was the Mercenaries. With a versatile arsenal, the well-armed mercs -each more numerous than it might appear- worked as a cohesive team when outsiders were involved, but could resort to color-coordinated infighting just as easily, making it difficult for either sub-faction to make off with any of the four payloads. Aside from highly-mobile scouts and soldiers, the mercs could seldom be found out in the open, since they had the least vehicular options. That said, they could still field a surprise or two in a pinch. Moreover, they seemed to have the easiest access to plentiful explosives, which would be much more effective against Edward’s golems than bullets were.

Lastly, the fuel depot opposite Highertower seemed to be the stronghold for the third faction, a conglomerate of more futuristic Troopers in blue and yellow, which could field a handful of different vehicles like tanks and aircraft. With their exit so far away, though, only three payloads were in their possession, and any interference left them rolling back down the hill into the open. This came not just from the Psychos, but smaller bands of freelancers also trying to muscle their way into the mix, like militaristic soldiers with various gadgets and alien gunslingers with excessively customized firearms.

With all of these factors in play, disposable minions would get disposed of quickly, and Zenkichi and Blazermate would find themselves in hot water if they stayed out in the open for too long.

Edward’s drone saw all this, and a good deal more as it ascended alongside the tower. There were random people fighting on or just climbing it, though these grew more sparse past the nearby cliffs that fighters could jump to or from. Higher up, it spotted some people just sitting there taking a break, watching the chaos unfold from above, to the point where some nominal enemies had reached a temporary truce. At the very top of the tower, the drone found a giant archer clothes in chains, rags, and a metal helmet. He turned his head to peer at the drone, seemingly curious. “Friend?”

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

Dead Zone Hinterlands - Curien Mansion

Harry’s @Eviledd1984 Amaterasu’s @DracoLunaris Chosen Undead’s @Simple Unicycle Level 11 Big Band (27/110)
Word Count: 1653

Given the sheer scale of this overwhelming eerie mansion, and the fact that this place had already coughed up one multi-armed abomination, Big Band was pleased as punch when the surprise knight ventured his name and offered to lend his help. No longer a stranger, and having already proven his skill, Kit received an appreciative nod of acceptance. “Glad to have ya. The name’s Big Band, and this…” He laid down a giant brass arm on Harry’s shoulder as gently as he could. “Is the Icebreaker.” He pronounced the nickname with a certain amount of dramatic gravitas, just shy of being satirical. Having a codename of his own, he couldn’t get too facetious without throwing a brick in a glass house.

Half-turning around, Band quickly took stock of the team. With Kit on board alongside the Icebreaker, the wolf, Stein, and himself, the team was up to just shy of a half-dozen members, which was about as good a posse as Band could hope for. “With all five of us on the job, those kids’ll be back to their mommas and poppas by sundown. Long as we ain’t barkin’ up the wrong tree, that is.” Stein’s Metal Attacker had made one hell of a racket, as well. Without backup to secure a perimeter around the mansion, Band could only hope that they hadn’t already scared Heismay off.

The squad proceeded into the foyer. Thanks to the Atom, the towering bookshelves had sustained some damage, with wooden shrapnel and shredded pages scattered all over. Between the rows, Band identified four doorways leading further into the mansion’s ground floor, one on each side wall and two on the back wall, all symmetrical. All were closed, and while he couldn’t tell if they were locked, he knew they’d be even easier to unlock than the front gate if they were. Band had just taken his first step onto the central stairs to check the upper level, prompting a loud creak of protest when the wood shouldered his weight, when Harry belted out an announcement. After wincing, Band’s face gave way to bemusement at the other detective’s real name. Obviously he hadn’t given his away either, but as far as he was concerned Big Band was his true identity, and the only name anyone needed to know. Was Harry’s earlier introduction just grandstanding…?

Regardless of what Harry said, though, only a resounding silence followed his declaration. Band couldn’t say he was surprised; what kind of kidnapper would show his face to talk things over. “Psh,” he muttered after a moment. “So much for the Icebreaker, eh?” That said, he did have to admit that Harry had well and truly broken the ice. The problem with that was that breaking the ice was an ultimatum, and the next step after that was either sink, or swim. “Well, if he didn’t hear us comin’ before, he definitely heard us now.”

Unlike the humans, who had yet to see or hear any more clues or threats, Amaterasu was close to experiencing sensory overload. Even just this foyer was a smorgasbord of smells, criss-crossing one another in confusing scent trails leading mostly between the various doors or up and down the stairs. She could detect the odors of a couple animals, such as frog, bat, and insect -that last one much heavier than she’d expect for such a small creature- as well as the rotten stink of zombies, but there were plenty of scents like nothing she’d ever smelled before, most of them bad. Through all the olfactory noise she could detect at least one human other than the ones she’d entered with, though. It was unfamiliar, male, and musty with age. It came from upstairs, sporadically enough to make her wonder if its source had fallen down those steps, then slowly, methodically led through the door on the right.

While Amaterasu nosed around, Band checked in with Stein, who’d stopped close to the entrance of the foyer with arms crossed. “You’re comin’ with, right?”

The conductor shook his head. “Don’t wanna leave Tesset alone, even if she’s got Atom and Mr. Mug.” He glanced back to see his girl and her little bear companion wave, prompting him to wave back at them. “Don’t want Heismay to slip around you and escape out the front, either. I’ll cover the entrance and make sure nothin’ gets in or out. Just yell if you need me.”

As the two spoke, Amaterasu’s keen ears picked up a different sound: the patter of very light feet, accompanied by quickened breathing, coming from the left-hand upstairs door. It was soft enough that none of the others could hear it, but it was quickly getting louder. The next moment it crossed the threshold, but the door itself didn’t open, even after the sound of footsteps continued inside the foyer. A series of quick, barely-audible creaks issued from the stairs, but neither the wolf nor the men could see anyone, and nobody noticed anything amiss until Harry -still waiting for a response from Heismay- suddenly lifted into the air.

Still turned back, Band didn’t realize what was happening until Harry made a sound, at which point the detective was already being hauled away. Lifted and grasped by unseen arms, he flew backward up the stairs, powerless to resist. “What!? Hey!” Band charged up the stairs, his legs taking the steps two at a time, but his mechanical frame was much too slow. Before he even reached the halfway point, Harry had slammed through the left upstairs door and disappeared into the mansion. “Hold on!” he yelled as the man’s voice faded from sight, hoping that Kit and Amaterasu could give better chase. “We’re comin’ after you!”

For Harry, of course, the experience was more than a little terrifying. The thing carrying him moved like the wind, fast as an Olympian sprinter, and while his captor could hold him, it seemed completely incorporeal otherwise. The detective had been kidnapped by a ghost. He could do little more than pull his arms and legs in to avoid painful collisions with walls, furniture, and doorframes as they rushed by. The whole time he could hear the thing in his ears, chuckling oafishly like a child who’d just stolen some sweets. “Huhuh! Huhuh! Huhuh! Huhuh!”

It would be difficult, but still possible, to keep track of the rooms as he got carried through them. He passed through a living room with a roaring fireplace, a dining room, a kitchen, a large bedroom with floating beds, and various halls before being rushed down a set of stairs. One narrow corridor later, his captor took a right and charged down another set of stairs into the mansion’s basement. At that point, though, the wild ride came to an end. The ghost slowed down and released Harry, at which point it filled the room with heavy, labored panting, so intense that it might as well be asthmatic. After a few seconds the gasping grew fainter, as if the ghost were staggering away to rest, and Harry was left to his own devices.

He’d been deposited in some sort of study, just one room with an adjoining bathroom, so the only way out was the way he came from. There was nothing getting in his way, but one look around was enough to realize that this place was loaded with valuables. The shelves and tables in here featured several jade plates and cups, a golden pocketwatch, an expertly made ocarina, and what looked like a diamond the size of his fist. It also featured a black-and-gold vase almost as tall as he was, a huge painting of a skull, and a ticking grandfather clock that all must be worth a fortune, if they could only be extracted from here in one piece.

Elsewhere in the mansion, the others were still giving chase. With no idea where in this posh labyrinth Harry had been taken, Band and Kit had no choice but to follow Amaterasu and trust in her nose as she pursued the faint but unforgettable pong of Harry that lingered in the very air. Bringing up the rear, Band thundered through a living room, pausing only to avoid a blinking landmine, then turned left and pushed through a narrow hallway. It opened up a moment later, making Band think he could gain some speed with a musical slide, but the next second he ground to a halt instead, stopping just short of a yawning, pitch-black pit that divided the rectangular room in two. A single plank of wood stretched across the chasm, easy for Amaterasu to patter across and carefully traversable for Kit, but Band didn’t think for one second that the plank would bear his weight. “Damn.” The ceiling in here was too low for him to rocket across, and one double jump was nowhere near enough to clear the gap. The hell is this house? He shook his head, nose wrinkled, and called after the others. “Y’all go ahead. I’ll find another way!”

With a frustrated grunt he turned back the way he came, stopping at the four-way intersection bordering the living room. That gave him two options, but one looked like some kind of sauna, so he opted for the cobweb-covered hallway instead. It led him through a two-story library with a staircase leading up to the mansion’s third floor, and right after that Band stopped on the precipice of a large square room with another huge pit, this one in the center. He edged his way around it to the door on the left, took a few steps into a bedroom, and realized it was a dead end. “Damn it!” He turned to retrace his steps and try the next door in the room with the pit, then froze at the sight of a pale mannequin figure half-visible in the shadowy doorway, motionless except for the twanging bob of its coil.

Meanwhile, Amaterasu and Kit reached a kitchen with golden goblets on the counter that gleamed in the glow of the dangling overhead lights. Unfortunately, this kitchen was occupied. Hidden at first behind the counter, a freaky frog hopped into view, spotted the newcomers, then pulled out bloody cleavers with a smile. While the wolf could sprint out of danger, it would be much harder for Kit to avoid the chef’s flailing leap, and harder still to not get turned around by the encounter.

Umbra Rose Condos

I've more or less been waiting for either of the people my character was with to be posted for, or for the scene to move on via GM. If this is the end of the road though, I do want to say it was a fun concept and I enjoyed playing my character with you guys.