Yankee

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

Making Do

3423 words (+4 XP/Rapport)
Lvl 15 Geralt (140/140) -> (144/150) 410 % OL Charged (Lvl 3)
Edward Portsmith: Level 8 (20 cells) (1 level up stored) //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (59/80)
Ace - Level: 9 - Total EXP: 447/90

Edward agreed with Sandalphon’s request for drones to keep watch, promptly dispelling his enchantments and the regular golems, recharging his mana fuel cells , and then setting about making as many drones as they could support. This, as it turned out, was forty of the things (which was to say, twenty pairs of two).

As he was doing this, the Snoruyo finally caught up, along with, surprisingly, the SomnaDrix, which had been created at the same time as the sheildrix but more or less lost in the shuffle to get moving after. It had, apparently, been following them at a distance this whole time, and only now caught up.

Edward supposed it was his responsibility now as well, which very much heightened the need for pal-spheres. Thus, rather than have the drones sit idle, he had them fan out into the woods to both preemptively detect any threats, as well as to see if he could track down any of the ore needed to make the portable capture/transport devices.

While the Dreadnought had been securing their lodgings, Ace and Geralt had been seeking to find a way to actually enjoy them.

Unfortunately for the pair of hunters, they had not been able to track down the bevy of beverages they’d hoped to find. The basement level of the lodge was definitely large enough to house a wine cellar, but the section of the area that seemed like it would have led to one had been cleaned out. It was regrettable, but at least they had not come back up to the main level entirely empty handed, even if it was only a [url=
bottle[/url] they found. Factoring out the White Team members that didn’t (or couldn’t) drink or were too young, it was just about enough for everyone else to have a glass to take the edge off if they were so inclined.

While they’d been looking, Heismay had brought up some coal and pointed out the dry logs to the pair so at the very least they carried those upstairs along with the bottle of wine. Once the house started warming up and everyone started really settling in, there was little else to do but relax and, maybe, indulge. Perhaps even experiment in the kitchen since those with the more advanced metabolisms were really feeling the day’s diet of rations, stew, and the breakfast the Lost Numbers had been able to provide for them.

Regardless if they decided to try their hand at cooking something or not, some would be headed to the kitchen anyway since that’s where the wine glasses were presumably stored. It was just outside of it that Ace waved Edward over to join himself and Geralt, figuring that with one of the group’s most stressful roles in carriage navigator that the dreadnought might appreciate a glass.

…though since food was still very much on the monster hunter’s mind, he did ask both men with a half-hopeful, half-teasing smile, "so either of you handy with a frying pan?"

Geralt hummed, opening one of his many pouches and retrieving the four strips of horker meat that he'd received earlier from defeating the walrus-like beasts. Unwrapping them from the thin strip of cloth they'd been stored in, he turned to the others. “Had to cook plenty with all sorts of instruments. We just…need to figure out how this place works. Got a bit of meat, we can use a splash of wine to help season it. Won't be much, but it's better than just the stew. We’ll save a piece for Ganondorf, as well. He needs it just as much as we do.”

”I’m sure I could manage something. Using the open flame if nothing else” Edward said. The general had gone up and down in terms of status and access to cooks over the years, but had always made attempts to keep such essential skills fresh. He’d seen one too many a leader become entirely detached from the way the people they ruled lived as a result of being waited on hand and foot.

The Ace Cadet was happy to hear that the both of them seemed willing and able to try their hand at making something. Ace himself could handle something basic, though it would be the most straightforward and simple of dishes if they had left it up to him.

”There’s enough wild berries and cherries in the woods to make a very basic sauce I suppose, or a desert. Other than it's just giant spiders out there, which is something of a gamble” Edward added.

There was always someone in an army who thought cooking up monsters was a good idea. Unless they had the gut of a goblin, this often ended poorly. On the other hand there was that one time during a diplomatic meeting with a goblin arch druid where they’d been served vampire spider black pudding that had been spiced with the creature's own venom. He was fairly sure it had not been a poisoning attempt due to how good it had tasted.

Of course the one for whom monsters were just a part of daily life and whose culture was well used to eating parts of them seemed to misinterpret the gamble comment, saying with a confident smile and a dismissive wave of his hand, "nah, shouldn't be that hard to find out if they're venomous. The real problem is getting a good chunk before it turns to ashes... maybe a leg or two would be doable! I never tried one myself, but I heard they taste almost like carapaceons."

Testing that claim out definitely intrigued Ace.

”Still, there seems to be some of that Paldium out there as well, along with silver, so it might be worth investigating for those and spider samples at some point”

"Your drones can see all that?" Ace questioned, impressed. They had to have better visibility than a human, with the dark and snow both just getting stronger.

”I’ve made a lot of them to make up for all the environmental issues. A good thing too, given that half a dozen have gotten caught in spiderwebs already” Edward replied, before massaging a temple. The sheer volume of information coming in was a lot, even for him. Various subordinates and scrying devices were generally used to reduce the strain, but without an empire, he was having to parse it all with his own mind.

The hunter also agreed that gathering some more supplies would be worthwhile, and for that he didn't hesitate to volunteer. He was perhaps one of the better suited Seekers for it. "If the weather doesn't let up it'll be better to go sooner than later, right? I don't mind grabbing some things and bringing them back," he said. "Especially if your drones can lead me right to them. Might need to borrow one of the creatures though."

”By all means. Most are presently outside grazing or resting” Edward replied to the request for a creature, and then adding that ”I can forge a replacement for one of the ones that has become spiderbait that can act as your guide” with regards to the drone.

"Yeah? Radalos. I'll be back in a cold-snap! Make sure to save me some!"

Geralt nodded at the plan, focusing on getting the strips of meat into the frying pan and glaring at the stove, trying to figure it out. “Little dials down here, must control some kind of output…” he muttered, turning one. A slight hissing noise drew his attention, then his eyes widened as his nose picked up a scent and he quickly turned the dial to off. “Gas. Huh.”

"Flammable gas, perhaps?” Edward speculated, leaning in with intrigue to inspect the mechanism.

It was indeed a device meant to simulate cooking over an open fire, though with far more control over the flames. Beside the knobs that roughly corresponded to the location of the coiled burners on the stove top was a little indicator with the word 'ignite' written on it, each on the far end of the markings around each one that was unmarked but implied a scale of power from low to high. It would be good not to blow the lodge's kitchen up if they could help it.

“Assume so. Says ‘ignite’ at the far end from off, as well. Convenient.” Geralt said, leaning down to inspect the mechanism. “Well, let's see if it still works. If not, I can use Igni to light the gas. Carefully.” He added, spinning the dial around to the ‘ignite’ position, prompting a series of clicks to sound as the ignitor activated, lighting the gas. “Huh. Still works.” Admittedly a bit surprised, Geralt turned the gas back off, nodding. “Give Ace a bit to collect a few things. No point in cooking it long enough to make leather. Now that we know it works, should be easy enough to work it later.”

Stepping away from the stove, Geralt turned his head to Edward. “So, Ace and I were talking about our own worlds earlier, though I've seen his before, believe it or not. Was curious to what yours was like.” The Witcher asked, said curiosity evident in his tone.

"I can believe it” he replied, pondering for a moment, before beginning to both answer the question and explain why "My home world floats, along with many others, within a greater realm known as the astral sea. Think of these worlds as islands, or continents, and the astral sea as, well, the sea. Complete with sea monsters and sea madness. In the time before I was born, great works were done to seal the gates that connected these worlds in order to prevent travel between them. Recently, however, this was undone, and a great deal of chaos has resulted, to put things simply”

"The nature of my world, then, is rather different, pre and post this event. But I suppose what I think puts it apart from many is the level of magic? Especially after the worlds were rejoined, and magic flowed more freely. Rulers both great and terrible use it to gain some small semblance of godhood, and then wield it to transform the land, fuel industry, empower their armies and smite their enemies from afar. At the same time monsters roam the land or rise from the abyss, which must be driven back into the dark with sword and sorcery”

“Hm. A confluence of worlds, connected by an ocean of sorts. Have to wonder if mine isn’t in there somewhere.” he murmured, looking over the kitchen, rifling through cabinets and finding an old container of salt. “Doesn’t go bad, at least…” he said, looking into it and making sure there was nothing in the container itself other than salt.

Meanwhile Ace had slipped out of the lodge, still warmly dressed in his anti-cold gear. As promised one of Edward's fresh drones floated near him, ready to lead the way through the darkening forest. He'd nabbed a few little things from the house, like a few cloth bags and an empty wicker laundry basket, in order to tie them to his chosen pack creature - though he did wonder if filling a bag and then putting that bag in his backpack would actually work to save space in the thing.

As for the creature he ended up picking, after eyeing the bulbous snoruyo, the serpentine chillnath, and the strangely crocodillian somnadrix, he ended up simply going with one of the shieldrix whose body was better adapted both to hauling and moving through a forest. Plus not that he knew how the creature chamber actually worked, but he assumed it would take less resources to replace a shieldrix rather than one of the bigger creatures, not that he intended to let anything happen to it in the first place. With extra baggage strapped on he led the hybrid away from the resting herd. Man, monster, and machine strode into the trees, none of them particularly worried even with the worsening weather.

With Edward's drone network in place and Ace's own scoutflies always tuned to scent out anything dangerous in the immediate area, the impromptu forest shopping trip was pretty safe. Rarely would he see any foot-long spiderling, as they tended to shy away from anything larger than themselves on top of blending in with the snow. Much easier to see were the berries Edward had mentioned, their color standing out against the snow and trees, some orange and some red. The other plants were harder to spot, lillies and lichen that seemed less edible and more experimental, but even so Ace gathered whatever he was directed towards - even the tar of pine trees, which he could take in one of the canisters attached to his pack. Food and light weight things like this he took a lot of, though he tried not to leave any bush or shrub totally bare of its fruits.

After idly feeding the shieldrix some of the winter cherries they moved on, needing to go further out and deeper in for the ore deposits that stuck out from ground. The more crystalline paldium looked like chunks of strong ice, the only difference being its deep blue color. In comparison the silver veins were more difficult to find, taking the longest as it needed to be partially dug out of the snow. Normally something like a reindrix wouldn't be well suited to help gather tough things like ore and stone, but with a shieldon's armored head piece it needed only to bash the deposits with its steel a few times before pieces of them broke away and made it easier to Ace to take over. Eventually he ended up with several chunks of both, part of which he loaded the bags on the creature with and part he just carried himself. Recalling that the recipe to make a Pal Sphere was as simple as combining the paldium with pieces of wood and stone, he made sure to take some random sticks and rocks back too.

The route he'd taken through the forest had been sort of roundabout to hit as many of the resources as possible, and by the time the ore was packed up his trail had already been covered in snow. It would be a different route back to the lodge then, more of a straight shot there. It was on the return trip that the lantern-like cage affixed to his chest shifted from green to red. The hunter paused, bringing a hand up to rest on the shieldrix's flat muzzle to halt its steps as well. A few scoutflies scattered out into the air before coming together and hovering lightly a few yards away, their glow illuminating ice crystals arranged in a semi-tunnel pattern within a dense clump of trees. It was a web, and resting on the edge was a giant wooly spider.

It didn't react to the scoutflies even when one flew too close and got itself stuck to the frosty web. Maybe the vibrations were too small for a temnoceran of this size to notice, or -being an ambush predator rather than one that relied on its webs as Ace suspected- it simply didn't care, trying to weather the snow showers like any other forest native.

Ace could easily avoid it and continue on, but he lingered there. If the drone got close enough, its creator could probably see that he was thinking about something while he stared at it. Looks like its alone, not a surprise though. If we just swing a little wider it probably won't even notice us, but... Edward did say a sample of the spiders would be good to get. Since stealth was not the Cadet's forte, he doubted getting the sample would be as simple as sneaking up and plucking a few of its white hairs. Just one's fine, right? Crack the trochanter, twist, done!

He looked at the shieldrix, who looked back at him when he spoke lowly to it, informing the beast, "we'll just get one, then we'll go back. Stay here for now." before unsheathing his sword.

---

...eventually the door to the abandoned lodge opened once more, the outdoor light doused with a few random flicks of the light switches just inside the entryway. There was a brief gust of frigid air that dispersed through the house, but it was quickly melted away by the still blazing fireplaces. The inedible items Ace had procured had been dropped off in the stagecoach, including a little silk harvested from the spider's web. The man himself shuffled through the house and back towards the kitchen, stopping only to reach down and pet the mysterious little dog that had shown up (he had no clue how it had evaded him and Geralt earlier, but it seemed friendly) before it went to bother someone else. The red head showed up in the doorway with a bevy of fruits and flowers, a shimmery spider spirit, as well as a very large segmented limb covered in a hairy exoskeleton resting against his shoulder.

"I'm back!" he proudly declared. "And I made out like a Gypceros!"

"That’s good, because we might have had a slight incident here” Edward paused his scrubbing of the sink to reply, before explaining "I’m not sure if it's the unfamiliar equipment, some fusion downside, or the meat itself, but the results were not particularly edible”

The dreadnought looked rather distinctly pale after having taste tested Geralt’s cooking, while the man himself and the offending meal were nowhere to be seen.

"Apparently the man has quite the resistance to poisons, which includes the, ah, results of his attempt”

Ace blinked in surprise, setting the new ingredients down on one of the counters. He definitely hadn't expected to hear anything like that after getting back. "Really? I dunno if I should be happy or disappointed that I missed it!"

"It was certainly an experience”

He went over to Edward to get a better look at what remained of the cooking mishap. There was definitely a lingering bitter smell around the stove. After offering to take over part of the clean up, he asked, "anything left over? 'cause otherwise we'll get to try eating temnoceran after all."

"Fortunately the pan didn’t fit all the strips, so there’s some to spare, but it isn’t much” Edward replied, before with a sigh, saying "Let’s take a look at that spider meat then, and see if we have anything to work with”

The wooly spider was technically venomous, but its anatomy was similar to most worlds' tarantulas rather than the monstrous spiders of some - which was to say that its venom did not extend to its legs in order to be applied via its hairs or anything like that. Working with the assumption that if it allegedly tasted like a crustacean it should be prepared like one, Ace removed as many of these hairs from the leg as possible until all that remained was the hard shell - which the two men then folded and threw into a pot to boil. At the same time what remained of the horker meat was divided up into slightly smaller portions. Not all that confident that he could make any sort of sauce reduction out of the fruits, Ace left Edward to work that out while he gave the steaks a simple sear. Once the spider seemed finished they fished it out to cool down a little before gently cracking the exoskeleton and working it open. The inside really was much like one huge crab leg: a semi-continuous piece of pale meat wrapped around thin cartilage.

"Weirdest surf and turf ever," the Cadet joked as he pulled chunks of the spider meat from the shell.

When all the pieces were finished all that was left was to assemble it on some plates, though the presentation didn't really matter to the men so much as if it was edible, especially after Geralt's attempt had left Edward somewhat haunted. Thankfully this time it had come out pretty alright for two amateur chefs. The horker meat was fatty and flavorful with a beef-like taste despite the fishy smell, and in comparison the wooly spider had a juicy and earthy taste even with its crab-like texture. The few seasonings and fruit-based sauce gave it a little something extra.

It was far from a feast, but there were plates enough for a few other Seekers as well if the smell drew curious noses toward the kitchen.

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

To the Pools Again

wordcount: 2395 (+3) (+3 rapport)
Location: Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s Low Tier
Bowser Jr: Level 15 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(303/150)
Rika: Level 12 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(139/110)
Pit - Level: 8 - Total EXP: 314/80
_{@DracoLunaris}

While they were riding back up to the pools, Jr got a head start on their plan of being more productive over the afternoon by looking up G-corp online to get a basic idea of who in the world the seekers had managed to upset. Basic information wasn’t hard to find, their head honcho had only just been declared public enemy number one after all, and the fan forum he’d been uploading fight recordings too had a thread going where more gossipy information could be found.

”So. G-corp. Used to be a ‘biotech’ company till its ‘board’ tried to kill the boss (for some reason) and then he killed them instead and turned it into a military tech company that does ‘robots, genetic engineering, and animal experimentation’ apparently. Those Jack bots that attacked as well as ‘Gigas supersoldiers’ are their most notable ‘weapons’ looks like” Jr read out from the helpful notes Seek had been making as they browsed.

”For what military? There’s no war here, that’s what makes it a kinda weird place. Shinjuku was chill too but that’s seeing as it's got those hollows where all the fighting and dying happens” was Rika’s immediate question, to which Jr shrugged. That hadn’t been public info, or part of the rumor mill.

”Must be somewhere else. People in this town don’t really care about stuff outside of it” Jr speculated

"Maybe they were selling their robots to places like Midgar?" Pit guessed, looking in the vague direction of that city. He wasn't entirely sure they ever really found out where all those machines that were attacking the city were coming from, and Esaka wasn't that far away in the grand scheme of things. He really had no idea about the rest of it though.

Regardless, Pit had no qualms with the siblings looking into the bounty. It sounded like this guy and his company were pretty bad even before the bombing - who experimented on poor little animals of all things?! It would do Esaka good to be rid of it in the angel's opinion, and if anyone was going to do it and claim the reward then it was definitely going to be the Seekers.

"What else did you find?"

”Also looks like there’s a list of extra targets for taking down” Jr then added, showing them a list of ‘associates and accomplices’ that included names like Julia Chang, Nina Williams, Bruce Irvin, Sergi Dragunov, Brian Fury, Sergi Dragunov, Azucena Ortiz, Marshall Law, and Lucky Chloe all of which were basically meaningless without context.

It was a list that Pit didn't bother committing to memory, giving it only a glance. If he happened to see any of those people and remembered then he would apprehend them, but he had other things to occupy his thoughts with at the moment.

”Doesn’t look like there’s been any big attempts to go after them yet at any rate”

"Make sense, the announcement was only a little while ago," Pit said. By that time the lift had come to a stop at the next tier level, and the trio stepped into the Pools once more. "If you wanna get a head start, why don't you take someone with you guys?"

”Who? Isn’t everyone basically busy doing fighting stuff? I don’t think anyone’s been knocked out yet” Jr asked, briefly glancing at Seek’s list to confirm this was the case.

”That Therion guy was betting on matches, not fighting in them, right?” Rika recalled, trying to think through the list to see who was and wasn’t there, with the issue being that they hadn’t interacted directly very much with any of the members not on Seek’s list.

Pit opened his mouth to list off suggestions, but ended up closing it and furrowing his brows a moment later. Was the majority of the Gold Team really competing in the various tournament series? He could have sworn there were more earlier on that had been dubious about it or had said they weren't planning to fight, but he hadn't actually done the math until now. There was Junior and Rika who'd missed sign ups while in Shinjuku, Primrose and Therion who'd declined to fight, and... well, not counting Juri who'd definitely have free time from being disqualified if she missed her Loser's Bracket bout, that was it.

"Huh," Pit said, a little surprised. Even Big Band who'd cautioned against getting too caught up in the tournaments had signed up, and that was before they knew for sure that the Guardian(s) was even related to them.

He scratched his head. "I guess it is just him, and Primrose. Unless someone got done really early today, or decides to drop out or something."

If the latter actually happened he wouldn’t blame anyone for doing so, though he would be kind of disappointed.

”Oh right, her too” Rika agreed, ”and I guess they were pretty good in the Under. Right? I think?”

”Yeah we, uh, really didn't have much to do with them, huh? They just kinda seemed too…” Jr began to say, but ended up just waving a hand as he failed to find the words to describe the vague sense that Sandalphon might have added to her theory of thematic resonance before settling uncertainly on ”diffrent?”

”Still… It could work?” Rika replied, before adding ”Maybe they’re even looking into it already?”

Pit shrugged at that. He didn't know the Orsterrans much better after all.

"No clue. I haven't seen them since this morning either, but I'm sure they're around somewhere."

Since he was pretty sure that the two royal siblings could probably weasel their way out of any (more) trouble they ran into, Pit wasn't too concerned with if whether they wanted to form a posse or stick with just working as a dynamic duo. The angel himself would have to catch up with Primrose later anyway to see if she'd been able to find Ms. Fortune, and as for Therion, well, he wasn't really sure. Leaving the thief to his own devices seemed alright.

"Guess you can decide if you want back up during my match! I'm going all out from the start, so it might end up really one-sided," Pit said, throwing a couple of punches and one karate chop into the air. "if the other guy doesn't put up much fight and it gets boring, I don't mind if you guys leave early since we know how it's gonna end anyway!"

”I mean, we can also just call people while you’re fighting, right?” Rika pointed out, entirely unaware of how this would be considered rather rude by the other spectators. Not that they were expecting many of those.

”Probubly more productive than running around looking for em I guess, yeah” Jr agreed

If there did end up being any audience members they most certainly would give Rika the stink eye. After momentarily forgetting about the convenient magi-tech Pit unconvincingly said, "uh, yeah, that works! I was just gonna say that too!"

As they crossed into the Mortal Kombat section of the Pools and checked one of the boards for the exact location of Pit's next match up, they found that they had to pass under a stone archway connected to a columned tunnel. The only light source was what natural light from above shone in from glass-less window openings, eventually leading to a more dim area of the tier. This section was a little more well suited for the vibe of this particular tournament, a darker stage with decrepit masonry and ominous warning signs right out of a gothic novella. Part of the stone floor had flooded, making the boundary between the stage itself and the deeper water that would result in a ring out murky. There was however a clear divide between the stage and a small, slightly more raised viewing area from which spectators could safely oversee those battling in M-21, The Grove.

Though there was a small sign posted there too, easy to miss, which read: warning splash zone.

”Is this really it? Yeesh” Jr complained, while Rika stepped onto the water itself, intending to use it as a shortcut to get the spectator stand, before turning and asking Pit ”want a lift?”

"Sure," he replied with a nod. He hadn't gotten a chance to skate over water yet (or in this case tag along with someone doing it), and it seemed like it was pretty fun. Plus they'd gotten to the area just early enough that they might be the first there, besides a sleeping yokai. Pit had to agree with Junior; being so dank and out of the way it hardly made for the right battleground for a proper spectacle.

Oh well. It was his last scheduled match for the day, and like he'd mentioned earlier he didn't see it being that much of a challenge. He didn't know anything about his opponent besides the name, but now that he had plenty of time and energy he was confident that it was going to be a piece of cake.

He went over to Rika, pausing as he thought about how a 'lift' would work for just a moment before just asking. "How?"

In response the now rather short ship girl reached both oversized gauntlet hands forward, grasped Pit by the waist, and then hoisted him up over her head with a ”hup!”

She then almost immediately stumbled, but managed to catch her balance, complaining ”Ergh, I hate being less tall!” before beginning to skate across the water towards the arena proper.

As this was going on, Jr did little to hide his sniggering. It wouldn't have been as an embarrassing experience if not for that.

Rika's strength combined with Pit's light weight made it a pretty quick trek though all things considered, and when she set him down on the arena's stone he crossed his arms and fluffed out his wings. He sent the Koopa prince a weak glare before telling the boy's sister, "um, thanks, but next time could you not pick me up like a Pikmin?"

”Like a what?” Rika asked with a head tilt.

"A Pikmin?" he repeated, then paused for a moment. "Oh, right. Since you and Bowser Junior are always together I forgot you weren't always around. They're like veggie aliens from Hot-cocoa-tay-"

Hocotate.

"-that's what I said! But anyway they carry stuff around and-" also forgetting the rest of what Lady Palutena and Viridi had said about them, Pit sighed lightly. "-actually, never mind."

”Um… Ok?” Rika replied uncertainly and un-tilting her head, before agreeing ”Well I guess I’ll carry you like something else next time? It's just trickier to do that now that I’m sm-not as big is all”

”Yeah. Do a princess carry next time!” Jr teased mockingly, having followed them over the water thanks to his copying of shipgirl tech, before Rika asked ”Why’d you find that funny anyway? I carry you around sometimes”

”In piggybacks! Those are different!”

"Definitely different. Also I'm not a princess!"

It wasn’t long after they began discussing the least awkward way to carry someone that Pit's kameo partner emerged from the tunnel. Ashrah nodded at the three Seekers as she approached, leaping the distance between the walkway and the kombat stage gracefully. She landed with a light splash, most of the arena that wasn't made of broken stone fixtures covered in at least an inch or two of water. It wouldn't be long before the match's start, so in preparation she summoned her kris.

Pit smiled at her. "Ready for another win? Let's do this!"

Ashrah nodded once more, letting a small smile of her own form on her face. "Yes, let's."

That was the koopa kids queue to head on over to the spectator stands, Rika offering them a wave and a ”Good luck” of parting while Jr gave a thumbs up and a ”Kick their butts!” for his.

When their opponents arrived with only a few minutes to spare, both angel and demon turned their attention to the entryway before the rival duo could even be spotted, as though they sensed something. Ashrah narrowed her eyes and tightened her grip on her sword. Finally an eerie blue wraith appeared, its face twisted into an oni mask and something like a spectral heart caged in ghostly wisps inside of its body. Upon seeing its competition, Omen sneered. Behind him, a deathly pallid warrior adorned in chains and a mask shuffled in.

Pit and Ashrah had already taken their spots on the far side of the stage, leaving Omen and his possessed puppet to take the opposite. As the golden winds of the Heavenly Principles began to swirl again, the demonic entity held out one claw.

"Woe to those who stand against me, for I am his herald and the sign of things to come. I. Am. Omen!"

Masks & Magic: The Awakening

There we go, sorry again for the wait!

(also just realized half the characters' names start with C lol)

Masks & Magic: The Awakening

^{_________________________________________________}

He'd expected this. Or something like this, at any rate. A trial to weed out the weak from the strong. Even if the 'Order of the Lake' claimed differently, even if they didn't sort their recruits by marketability and allegedly wanted valor over vigor, it wouldn't change the fact that they wouldn't have any need for feeble heroes. It was exactly why the beginning of the recruits' assessment, as the commander had put it, was not a lengthy interview or an essay or a hypothetical trolley discussion... but this, a physical test.

While both of his hands were stuffed into his pockets Cade clenched and unclenched his fists, feeling the knuckles in his right pop from an old break. This assessment was something he was prepared for. He'd looked into this guild, and even if the specifics of their recruitment process weren't made public there were plenty of others from different guilds that were. He knew it wouldn't be that much different. Cade was fit, focused, determined. It was going to be a piece of cake.

'You will act as a team.'

Except for that part. That was the kicker, because really? A team? With this mess? Hell, some of them weren't even taking this seriously - did they want to join the guild or not? He had to wonder if they'd flunked out of other guilds or just Awakened like, yesterday. That giant long haired guy seemed to the only stranger with common sense, but then again look at how he was dressed. Like some vintage comic book character!

It was a little irksome, being expected to work together with all of them. Cade was sure his annoyance was showing on his face, so he breathed in deep through his nose, held it in.

"I don't know what you find so funny about this," he said with his exhale, icy eyes sweeping over lunch girl, hooded lady, and beach bum.

It was quite clear that Cade was not here for fun. He stood stiffly to one side of the group, dressed as he usually was nowadays in long pants and coat, none of his skin showing save for his pale face. He flicked his head up lightly, shifting his multi-colored bangs. All the better to look down his nose at the other recruits.

While other questions were asked, practical and stupid ones, Cade glanced at the only person in the room he actually could rely on in a team. Her bright red hair was unmissable, but there was also the fact that she stood not far away from him. When their eyes met, a silent message was communicated to CC. We've got this. There was no way Cade was letting anyone else beat him in this trial, sure that the proctors would be taking individual skill into account far more than stated, and if it was teamwork they wanted then he need not look further than his own family.

Once everyone was finished Cade looked back at the group that would be grading their performances - Hensley, Brandt, and Redd. Figures he vaguely knew the faces of but little else besides what scant information he could find online amid the rumors. He flexed his fingers one more time before drawing his hands from his coat. He flashed them a smile, one tighter and sharper than he'd meant for, and finally asked his own question. "Can we get started already?"

Masks & Magic: The Awakening

Same here, I got started on it and hopefully shouldn't be too much longer, though sorry for the delay!

test ☄ res 𒀱

What makes a champion?

Are they born with innate talent?
Do they find some spark of genius already buried within themselves?
Are they molded only by the hands of masters?

Or are they formed from intense pressure and the blazing heat of their hearts?
Something from nothing; coal to diamond.

Aoikaze Comprehensive High School, known by its nickname「Aosou」is a private school that's been undergoing some interesting changes. Among the many options in Niigata City it was not an unpopular choice for scholarly pursuits, so a new administration's choice to pour funds into new and improved sports programs instead of intellectual ones naturally drew many critics. But it worked. Special tuition rates for fledgling athletes drew more student applicants, raised the level of their sports clubs, and earned more donations from families and neighborhood locals. Now, the school can begin to boast success stories for a broader variety of graduates. The likes of Aosou's physical clubs like judo, soccer, and more are on their way to becoming fairly formidable in their prefecture.

...all except their baseball club, which still struggles to find its footing. Is the competition from other schools just too fierce, is there no more drive to be found among Aoikaze Sougou's student body? Maybe the next generation of students -of players- will finally set that spark to catch... and become the first to bring Koushien's championship flag into snow country.

____________________________________________________________________

Lately, I've been craving a sports anime RP of some kind. Of the handful of sports I'm most familiar with, I think a classic baseball story sounds like it'll be pretty fun and more simple to do in a play-by-post RP format. Oh, and I'm bullying @Sloth into being my co-GM and moral support.

This is not a just a baseball RP - it is important to note this is also an anime RP. Along with the aesthetic, it will come with all of the shenanigans and tropes one can expect from an anime RP. What's that? You're asking about super powers a la Prince of Tennis and other similar sports anime series? Hmm, I prefer a story that's a little more grounded, but maybe we can work something small in~

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⚾ "Do I have to know the rules of baseball to join this RP?"

Not at all! We can simplify them for anyone unsure, though I recommend playing a character that's a novice and learning alongside them!

⚾ "What kind of character can I play?"

A highschool student living in Japan will be what we need the most of, but team managers, faculty advisors, coaches, and the like are also applicable. For students any school year is fine, and the school is co-ed. Typically high school sports clubs are separated by sex, but if it's more fun for people we can go with a co-ed team too! Players giving their characters weird or special quirks is totally cool. Applying with more than one character is fine as well!

⚾ "Does my character have to be from Niigata?"

Nope! They just have to attend school (or work) there. Actually we can swap cities or regions no problem if people prefer, though it will just be home base - the cast will travel for practice and tournaments. Characters can be transfer students from elsewhere, exchange students from other countries, or have different ancestries. Almost anything goes!

⚾ "I want to play as the team's pitcher!"

Whoa whoa whoa! That's good, you know what you want for your character! But that character will have to work to get there. When the RP starts, characters will show off their skills and compete for the positions they want. If that position is being fought over and your character doesn't end up getting it at first, please don't despair. Your character just gained a rival to grow and compete with. All stories need some drama, so keep fighting for your spot! ...in-character!

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I have a general plan for story progression, including breaking down the RP into arcs and chapters and a completely optional and very simple dice system to add some element of tension for us as writers.

I'll explain more if this gets past the interest check stage. I'd love to hear expectations, opinions, feedback, and of course any ideas from people so we can all work together to make a really fun story!

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A relatively simple character sheet is best, I think. We'll learn all about each character in play after all. The below is what I've come up with using my planned characters as examples. However, feel free to use any sort of format you want and include any additional information you like. If you want to play a second or third year character, go ahead and give them a position and such on the team if you want to - but they will still have to compete to keep their spot at the story's beginning and beyond! That goes for GM characters too!

If you want to play faculty or a team manager instead or in addition to, you can switch up the sections on your sheet for more relevant info. You don't have to stick to the same information I used, but if you feel more comfortable copying my sheets then that works too!

A list of a few roles to think about

Nothing listed here are character roles that absolutely need to be filled, they are more like suggestions and examples of the kinds of people you would expect to see in life and in anime tropes for a story like this. Of course I would like to have actual characters for each position on a baseball team (so 9 characters split over however many people join the RP), but otherwise NPCs can fill whatever roles we want. I also expect that characters that play on the team will see more 'RP action' than non-players.

Starting with non-players, some examples are...

• Coaches (head and assistant)
  • Normally also teachers at the school.
• Club advisors
  • School faculty (normally teachers as well) that assist with managerial tasks and student relationships with the school.
• Student managers
  • As it says on the tin, club members that take on more secretarial or managerial role. May or may not participate in practices.
• Parent representatives
  • A tertiary role, helps organize things like fundraisers, collects from families to purchase food and player equipment, etc.

And for the team, the stars of the RP...

• Team captain
  • A third year player, voted on by the team. Can be any position on the team, of course.
• Vice captain(s)
  • May be appointed by captain to help out, but not official.
• Starting position players
  • Pitcher
  • Catcher
  • First Base
  • Second Base
  • Third Base
  • Shortstop
  • Left Field
  • Center Field
  • Right Field
• Non-starters
  • Those on the bench ready to support and sub in when needed. Pinch hitters, relief pitchers, base coaches, and the like.

___________________________________________________________

Chikami Toyoda 樋田 近美 School Year: First Year Gender: Male (he/him) Height: 178 cm | Weight: 68 kg Home Town: Sado, Niigata Prefecture About: Don't you think 'opened yourself up to better opportunities' sounds better than 'ran away'? Chikami certainly does. Friendly, accommodating, and just a little cagey about his past, Chikami came to the mainland for one simple reason: to try and spend some time in the sun after living beneath a metaphorical shadow for so long. Might as well play the sport he loves while he does it. Aosou was one of the more affordable options in Niigata that featured a dorm, but he is pretty sure that he would have been able to thrive anywhere so long as he put his mind to it. Oh yes, being positive all the time takes work and some serious brain power!

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Current Position: n/a	Jersey Number: n/a	Batting Order: n/a
/	Throws: Right | Bats: Left	\

(Chikami is a club member but has not made the team yet. Some first year character information will start n/a)

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___________________________________________________________

Atsumu Satou 佐藤 侑 School Year: Third Year Gender: Male (he/him) Height: 183 cm | Weight: 76 kg Home Town: Niigata, Niigata Prefecture About: Fellow students will tell you that in class, Atsumu is polite and attentive - a model student who isn't hard to talk to even if he keeps mostly to himself. However the members of the baseball club will tell you a much different story. On the field, Atsumu is a ruthless taskmaster with a cruel tongue whose ire is the stuff of nightmares for his underclassmen. As a vice captain he does his best to keep the club members in line and in shape, especially any would-be pitchers which he revels in taking down a few notches. He works hard at everything he does. The rumors that he actually does have a heart somewhere in his chest? Definitely exaggerated!

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Current Position: Catcher	Jersey Number: 2	Batting Order: Sixth ____
/	Throws: Right | Bats: Right	\

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___________________________________________________________

Hikari Noujima 能島 光凜 Alma Mater: UCSD Gender: Female (she/her) Height: 170 cm | Weight: ♥♥ kg Home Town: Sanjou, Niigata Prefecture About: Hikari was just one of many kids who grew up loving the sport. She stuck with hard ball throughout her school years, though she did swap to soft ball in college. Turned out adapting to it was just easier than trying to worm her way onto the men's team on top of navigating her life as an international student in a new country. Wouldn't trade the experience for anything, though. With spontaneous adventure complete and diploma in hand she got crazy lucky to arrive back in Japan at the same time a school in the next city over put out a few job postings. She isn't sure the school's board are in their right minds, but... "Coach Noujima" has got a great ring to it, huh?

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Current Role: Coach*	Tenure: Brand New	Teaches: n/a . . . . .
/	Throws: Right | Bats: Right	\

(*depending on other character applications, Noujima will be either an assistant or head coach)

⤫ 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 ⤬

𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 - it's morning

𝚕𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 - New York City: The Rookery

𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 - everyone

Some Numbers were more pleasant than others, but all of them kept Orwell's attention. They were glad that they'd come - not that they'd actually had a choice in the matter, not if they wanted to keep dearest O'Brien in the organization's good graces. It wouldn't do to be too naughty and skip out on such a momentous event in person, even if they'd have been able to see it all remotely in one way or another. No, Orwell was glad they were here and getting to learn all of their sibling's little quirks first hand. Their was a sort of satisfied look on their face that contrasted with the spark of something else in their eerie eyes. Longing, perhaps? Or simply the hunger that all Numbers felt in one way or another?

Either way, it appeared Orwell was in a fine mood even when O'Brien's eye twitched every so slightly at Valentine's crassness. And when the Archbishop arrived to greet everyone and lead the way up to the war room, Nine and its handler were among those at the front of the pack. Even so Orwell kept watch on the group at large, their demeanor making it seem like this was a casual stroll, thumbs hooked into their trouser pockets and all.

As they all slipped inside the war room, O'Brien moved forward to let the rest in knowing that Orwell would be on his heels. He elected to stand, though Orwell had claimed a chair and dragged halfway towards the wall before plopping themselves down into it. They pulled one foot up to rest on the edge of the seat, folding their arms on top of their knee and nestling their chin in there. The general gave everyone in the room a rundown on recent events, and the Archbishop laid out his wishes for a response from his Numbers.

Throughout it all Orwell's countenance hadn't changed from the one they wore downstairs, as if none of what they were hearing surprised them. Rather than the hologram their gaze -physical and not- was focused on their 'family' and those currently in charge of their siblings. Watching, analyzing, recording expressions and reactions.

How interesting.

Even those that didn't appear to be paying attention at all piqued Nine's notice. Without turning their head, Orwell's eyes flicked to O'Brien at their side. The man stood there dispassionately, his hands clasped together behind his back. He did not look back at Orwell, just staring ahead at the footage that both he and his assignment had already seen.

He did not volunteer Nine for either mission. Nine, too, did not speak up. They already knew where they were needed. Their eyes flickered back to the room at large before coming to rest on Pequod, a strange little smile budding on their lips. "Oho~?"

Seekers Beyond - Foreword

I think I'mma lock Yuma in, and will be getting to work on a CS as soon as my other posting obligations are finished.

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

After Match Commentary

Word Count: 2581 (+3) (+3 rapport)
Location: Forbidden Kingdom - Esaka’s Pools Tier
Bowser Jr: Level 15 EXP: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(296/150)
Rika: Level 12 EXP: /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////(132/110)
Pit - Level: 8 - Total EXP: 311/80

With one quick leap from the wooden stage to the stone lip that circled the waters of the Pools, Pit and his partner were back on more solid ground. Since the early matches didn't draw many spectators once those that had been curiously lingering around dispersed it left only Bowser Jr., Rika, and Zeus alone to receive the victorious pair. Ashrah nodded to them while Pit grinned at all three, holding his palm up for a high five.

"Easy peasy," he boasted.

The god raised a gauntlet and and wiggled the fingers on it, electricity sparking between them as he gave an ‘are you sure about that grin’ only to laugh as Rika took Pit up on the offer with her own gauntlet, the oversized metal hand dwarfing the angel’s much daintier one. Jr joined in on the merriment with a laugh of his own, and then gave his sister a thumbs up and a ”you’re fine” when she got confused about the laughter.

Although after a moment Pit’s smile became sort of sheepish as he turned to Junior. "I definitely wouldn't mind some healing, though? That gold wind isn't as much of a pick-me-up as it looks."

”Wait for real it didn’t fix you up? Yeesh. I mean what if you’d actually been left messed up for the next fight that’d be so lame” Jr replied as he carefully moved clawed toes under his paint brush that had been resting on the ground, before kicking it up and catching it. Then with a ”Cure!” the angel was left right as rain once more. He clenched and unclenched his fists a couple of times as though making sure of it before chirping a 'thank you.' To be honest he wasn't sure if the Heavenly Principles had actually healed the little damage he'd taken during the match, just not what he'd gone into it with, or if it had only given him a jolt of stamina.

“Cupid’ll help you out with that if you head back to the Dojo,” Zeus noted, before asking, “so, Pit my boy, who’re your friends?"

Rika, rather than introduce herself, instead echoed ”Yeah. Who?” putting all the onus on the angel to do the round of introductions it seemed - which he didn’t mind at all.

He started with the Koopa Kingdom's newest princess, gesturing towards her with a flourish. "This is Rika! She's not competing this time but she's really tough, especially on the water!

"And this is her brother Bowser Jr.! He's good at a lot of stuff! We've known each other for a while now." Besides Captain Falcon, the young Koopa was probably his oldest friend within the group. Despite that, the introduction was still pretty short since there was still more to go.

"Ashrah's my kameo partner," he said next, gesturing to the demoness this time who nodded her head in greeting. "We just met yesterday but she taught me all about how the tournaments work!"

Finally he flitted over to Zeus himself and presented the big man with both hands for the benefit of the other three. "Aaaand this is Zeus! He's a god, and he recruited me and Amaterasu for his dojo so that we could enter!"

As an aside Pit whispered to the siblings something about him being 'one of the good Zeus-es' before he smiled at the god again. "Thanks for coming to watch! Don't worry, I'm gonna bring Fight of Gods all the way to the finals! Were you gonna go watch Amaterasu too?"

“Amaterasu’s got Amaterasu covered,” the god replied, which got a ‘huh?’ from both the kids. The god laughed at that, but didn’t give any explanation, instead going on. “Truth be told though, I don’t think she’ll have much luck. The mugen dojo never get close to winning, we know there’d be a riot if they did given how cheap some of their fighters are considered, but they’re still a killer of the pools.”

In response to this statement, there came a beep in jr’s phone, prompting the prince to check it with a "Hmmm?" and for him to then go "Ha, shows what you know, because her team won!" after reading the update Seek (a sentient AI personal assistant) had created regarding the current status of the seeker’s wins and losses.

This info he turned around to show the others, prompting Zeus to ask Pit “these all friends of yours?” his tone quietly impressed given that (almost) uninterrupted sea of wins on display.

After making a noise not unlike an old man impressed with his grandson's latest piece of technology, Pit nodded. With a wide smile he declared, "basically, yep! I never doubted any of them for a second!"

...well, maybe a couple of the newest comers, but he wasn't about to admit that out loud.

After peering over his shoulder to look at the small screen Ashrah stood up straight once more. There was a satisfied look on her face, glad that she'd thrown her lot in with this group even in a small way. She'd had a good feeling about Pit from the start, and that extended to his ensemble now.

"A good shake up is just what this city needs," she said, glancing at Zeus. The god's eyes were still clouded over with reddish light, so trying to speak in depth with him would be moot... though perhaps that could be fixed soon. She'd discuss it with her partner and fellow dojo members later. For now, she turned back to Pit.

"I'll go and find Sareena, I'm sure she's won her match by now. Our next one will be held this afternoon, the location posted the same way the first one was. If you have need of me before then, feel free to call."

"Oh, sure! And same to you!" the angel replied. Ashrah tipped her head to him and the others, a polite gesture before departing. As she left she donned the wide-brimmed hat and veil she'd been carrying with her, still with a small cut taken out of it.

With a little time to kill and nothing particularly pressing that needed to get done, Pit peeked at Junior's phone and the incoming tourney results once more. "That's really handy, you gotta teach me how to see that too."

"Seek found it for me" Jr said, pointing out a little kid in a horned hat looking figure hanging out in the corner of the screen. Said figure looked Pit dead in the eyes, before smiling and waving up out of the screen while Jr explained "They’re a ‘NetNavi’ who Rika got over Shinjuku, n can do all kinds of stuff"

”Also they’re people. It's a bit weird but, hey, they’re with us now so it’s fine” Rika added, before asking the little AI ”so where’d you find those lists?”

The answer turned out to be a fansite of some kind being updated by a diligent team of enthusiasts that Seek had helpfully trimmed down to just the relevant matches.

Pit waved back at Seek, not totally getting it at first until Rika explained that Navis were people.

"Oooh and they live in the phone! That's cool," he said. He imagined they could zip around over different electronics like a cartoon, but even just being some kind of seeking assistant seemed really helpful.

They looked over the site with opinion polls and somewhat heated forum discussion (a familiar green haired avatar among the posters), Pit slower than the rest until they'd had their fill.

"Makes me kinda want to check out the other fights!"

"That could be fun" Jr agreed, before beginning to say "Looks like the closest fight coming up is-" only to be interrupted by Zeus who declared that it was “Right here and right now!”

Indeed, even as the kids looked up from their phones they could see that a fresh set of fighters had arrived to have their turn on the stage. One was a guitar axe wielding, motorcycle wheel footed metal head, and the other a... Actually, it was really hard to tell what the guy was going for. Like many fighters he was unarmed, but even more than that he was unclothed, sporting no more than a pointed pink face mask and a pair of white briefs!

”I think I get why no one else showed up for this” Rika commented without a hint of concern for the feelings of the two fighters she was loudly judging.

"Hey come on, the lady is kinda cool" Jr retorted as he raised his phone up to record the match for the fansite’s incredibly piecemeal database of first round fights.

"Out of the two of them she's definitely the one I'd be rooting for," Pit said, joining the peanut gallery. He'd crossed his arms and tilted his head, his brows furrowed. Honestly he felt kind of lucky to get the opponent he had now.

After squaring up the two unusual fighters didn't waste much time getting down to business. For the most part. Neither seemed to be taking the first round very seriously whether because it was their gimmick (in the man's case) or because they weren't the type to take anything serious in the first place (as was the case for the woman). The masked man went at it with fists flailing when he wasn't in a tauntingly casual neutral stance, while the painted lady proved her prosthesis was fully functional, zipping one-legged around the raft as her spiked wheel threatened to chew up her opponent. Despite the silly appearances this fight was a fair bit more brutal than Pit's had been as both competitors preferred melee, and Svet was clearly looking to take some limbs off with her bladed guitar.

After some back and forth it ended with the masked man getting tossed overboard, though before the briefs-wearer pulled himself back up out of the water completely Zeus wrapped one large arm around the three young spectators with him, spinning them around so their backs were to the stage instead. The god watched on with an appraising look on his face before distracting the group with a grin and a suggestion. "A fine first round, but I believe our very own Sif is in the next section over if you all want to see a really invigorating match!"

Pit nodded. Of course he'd support the dojo that supported him. "Oh yeah, and I wanna go see Hakan too! His family owns a gym in the Mid Tier, I think I saw his name when I was looking at the World Warrior bracket earlier! And if any of the Seekers are still fighting we can go cheer for them!"

"Could be more fun than this, so sure" Rika replied, having not really been into that fight anyway. It had been both too silly and yet also far closer to an actual battle than Pit’s had been (despite the high caliber weapons that had been thrown around in it) and so she wasn’t really a fan. She was definitely more enthused about combat sports that were more sport than combat, she was finding.

Jr briefly considered complaining about not being able to finish the recording of the match, but really hadn’t been into it either. Besides, he’d now missed the start due to the big man turning them away anyway, so he gave a less enthusiastic "Yeah alright" in reply. He still uploaded what he had, but as expected mainly got complaints about not getting the full thing.

They shuffled off, leaving the ludicrous battle behind them and looking very much like the god of thunder was chaperoning the three of them as they walked around the Pools. In the Tekken area they indeed found Lady Sif, her kickboxing style of combat made elegant by her poise and the adornments on her outfit. When she noticed Zeus in between rounds she made sure to smile and wave, especially when she noted the koopa's phone camera turned on the stage.

Given each match was no longer than a couple of minutes each, the tour continued. The Pools matches might be boring for locals, but true fighting enthusiasts and newcomers that were into that sort of thing were sure to find enjoyment even in amateur matches. Of course not all matches in the Pools were fought between amateurs, since even storied fighters had to get through them from time to time. In the World Warrior section the group found that Sakura's match had already concluded (in record time even as one spectator mentioned to them), but they did see the man Pit had mentioned. He was boisterous but respectful, and completely covered in oil for some reason. After winning his match he turned to the group across the water and waved with both arms, a broad grin on his face. Pit let out a cheerful whoop and waved back in congratulations while Zeus applauded the wrestler.

There were duds too, but during the down times the kids could still mess around on their phones so it wasn't like they were bored for long. Contact numbers were finally exchanged, and Pit had been inquiring if Seek could jump to other phones when they entered the King of Fighters section. With six fighters in three matches almost side by side and all taking place at the same time, this area of the Pools was definitely the most exciting even if it had the least amount of people watching, though it seemed like Team Seekers of Fight had already finished up as well.

It was also definitely the hardest to watch given the amount of action going on, which really put Jr’s amature camera-koopaship to the test. With a bit of on the fly tinkering however, they got it linked up to Rika’s scout planes, allowing them to get some of the best (of the worst) recordings of KoF matches on the little fan community he, or rather now they, were now in.

That Rika had come up with the idea, or rather that she’d started watching via planes before the idea of using them to record, was a pretty good indication that she was getting into this, even if the girl herself wasn’t the most expressive of said enjoyment. It had not, she’d admitted when asked, been the worst way to spend the morning.

Masks & Magic: The Awakening

I'm back and I'll be working on a post this week!