Leaderboard

After meeting up with everyone, Jun looked over to Kyouko as Melissa pointed out that she had a bat. "Oh, did we have a bat in our room? None of us are really baseball players though, but..." Jun tried to remember if they had any such thing in their room. Shrugging, the girl simply smiled and gave a sleeve covered thumbs up towards her roommate. "Well, where she got it doesn't really matter. What matters is, that it suits you perfectly! Good choice of weapon Koko!" It was then that Gabby made her suggestion about what to do. Jun took a moment to process what it was Gabby was saying. It wasn't as though it was hard to understand. In fact, the girl couldn't have been more clear. However, it took Jun a moment to realize there was no eccentricities in the way Gabby spoke to decipher through that it more tripped her up then anything else. However, as a moment of silence and thinking on the plan they had, the girl had a wide smile grow on her face as she started to burst out laughing. "That's a pretty risky plan you've got there, Princess." She seemed to crack herself up even further before settling saying, "well, it's not like we have anything better to try right? And maybe they can even help tell us what's going on if, like bones can talk or something. So sure, let's show these monsters your imperial charisma or something or other, Gabby! Koko!" She looked to her roommate saying, "we need to get there first, so be sure to take the lead! You're the one with the attack points right now." The girl pointed to Kyouko's bat, before cracking up at her own bad joke.

Golett knew who it was: number six-one-five-six-five. It knew it was destined to one day join the ranks of the Elite Guard, which was why the Great Ones had forged it of different clay than its brethren, to denote its status and quality. What it didn’t know was why it had been put into stasis. Why had it been shut down without a warning? How long had it been deactivated? What had reactivated it? The society of the Great Ones had been the pinnacle of prosperity. This… this foreign world was anything but prosperous. It appeared the station had been abandoned; the walls were cracked, the pillars broken, and an inches thick layer of grime, cobwebs, and dust had been allowed to dirty the once pristine walls. The few humans that it had encountered since awakening were strange as well. Though they looked like the Great Ones, they adorned themselves in all manner of strange clothing, and they gestured and jeered in a brutish language whenever it allowed them to notice it. Some of them even attempted to engage it in combat. They would release Pokémon from their spherical containment devices and bark what it could only assume were commands at their domesticated creatures, but compared to the warriors of the past these Pokémon were easily defeated. They would usually retreat once it defeated the Pokémon. That was what it had come to expect… until it met the Loud One. The Loud One was a human who had arrived the day before. The Loud One had released his dream-eating tapir and began indiscriminately battling with any Pokémon that approached. Golett had been passing by when it found itself the subject of one such attack, but the dream-eating tapir was no match for its Shadow Punch. It had believed that would be that—until the Loud One had charged at it and attempted to punch it. Golett subdued the rampaging human with a restrained strike to a critical weak point located just beneath center mass. It proved to be super-effective. The Loud One was silenced, brought to his knees, and the Golett continued on its endless patrol of the station. Or so it should have gone, but the Loud One caught up to it after a time. The dream-eating tapir was on its feet again but the Loud One didn’t send it to fight Golett this time. Instead he stepped forward toward Golett, raising his hands in front of his face in a stance similar to that of a Hitmonchan. It appeared the Loud One wanted to fight. Golett was created to protect the Great Ones. They built it from clay, forged it for a divine purpose, and now a human wanted to fight. Was that alright? The Loud One wasn’t a Great One. The Great Ones had vanished. It had to find its own purpose now. Shadows surrounded Golett’s fist as it stepped toward the Loud One. The Loud One was different now. Prepared, probably, because he was nimble. He leaned out of Golett’s first swing, then surprised the golem by stepping forward, twisting his hips, and punching it in the face. It wasn’t particularly effective; humans were frail compared to Pokémon, and the Loud One was no exception to this, but it surprised Golett so much that it backpedaled. The Loud One shook the fist that he had delivered the punch with. “And Mom said I was hard-headed. Hurt myself more than I did you, huh?” he clenched his fist again and took his stance. “Now I really wanna catch ya. C’mon Tyson!” Golett tilted its head. It had no idea what the Loud One was saying but he was grinning now. Behind him, the dream-eating tapir had begun waving its arm around frantically, and a purple aura started to amass around its hands. What was it doing? Was it some kind of Psychic-type attack? The way the energy swirled was hypnotic, and Golett found itself suddenly getting tired. The last thing Golett saw before it collapsed was the Loud One rushing toward it with wide-open arms. Nate struggled to gently lower the Golett to the ground. “Man you’re heavy,” he groaned, after finally easing it onto the floor. He leaned back and stretched his arms into the air. “Good job on the hypnosis Ty! You timed it perfectly buddy.” Tyson the Drowzee wiggled his trunk and made a happy-sounding trumpet noise. Nate smiled at him and then flashed a double-thumbs up. “Job’s not done yet though. Remember what we talked about?” Tyson swung his trunk up and down in what Nate had come to know as a ‘yes’. “Good. Show it the same dream that you showed me, okay bud?” Another swing of the trunk. “Awesome. I’ll go wrap my hand up and keep a look out for any more wild Pokémon while ya do.” A bright tunnel. An arena filled with cheering humans. Family around it. The details of the picture were hazy and hard to pin down, like smoke, but the emotions behind them were vivid. Happiness. Love. Completion. A sense of accomplishment and belonging. It was a dream. Golett didn’t, couldn’t, fully understand it, but it knew the dream-eating tapir was responsible. Tyson. Nate. A voice it could understand. How? The language it knew had been lost to time. Tyson. Nate. Dream. Psychic tricks. The tapir was trying to communicate; that was the only explanation. Golett had no idea what it meant. Tyson and Nate? Names. Tyson. Nate. Us. The tapir apparently knew what Golett was thinking. Of course, it was probably feasting on its dreams. No. No eat. Share. Our dream. Your dream? Too? The tapir’s voice came through in a broken manner, but the dream shifted around Golett, changing to a field. It saw the Loud One and the tapir standing beside each other on a hill, punching in unison, and it was beside them too. Your dream? Travel? Yes? It all clicked into place. The tapir was asking it to join them on their travels. No! It had a duty to protect the station, a duty to serve the Great Ones, to protect them and their interests. But the station was abandoned and the Great Ones were gone. Golett thought of the emotions that had come with the first memory it had been shown. Family… It had lost its brothers. It had been lonely ever since it was reactivated. And the tapir hadn’t eaten its dreams (yet). Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to travel with them. Your dream? . . . . . . . . . . Yes. My dream. Your dream! Our dream! Welcome! Nate sighed and looked up at the sun as he made his way through the bazaar. Had he really only been in this town for three days? The first day he had lost to the Gemput City gym leader. Pretty embarrassingly too, Nate thought. I really ran in there with just Tyson and got him all beat up. His group had left him behind after that. Not that I really knew them. Not the type of people I wanna keep around anyways, if they’re so quick to ditch someone after one loss. He had spent the entirety of the second day chasing Cassius around the ruins. Which brought him to the present. He had gotten up at dawn to go for some early training with Cassius and Tyson. Cassius' right hook was already shaping up to be a lot more snappy, and Tyson had learned a new move from a technical machine that Nate was sure was going to be helpful in their rematch. Still. He was exhausted, and a little lonely after two days without any meaningful human interaction, which was probably why he immediately approached the girl playing piano on the street when he recognized her. “Hey there! That’s some nice music,” he said. “You probably don’t remember me but my name’s Nathan. We were on the same boat on the way over. You here to challenge the gym leader?”

The eye opened, the world coming into sharp focus for the first time. Unfamiliar, grey and blue and brown and white. Then, it picked up a sound. "Hey, Hiroko, are you ready? Can we roll?" The world came into sharp focus, revealing the face of a young woman with short, black hair and a black hat. A pin on it said "PRESS". "Yeah, just make sure you can see the crowd in the background", she replied. "Alright. Roll... now!" The woman gripped her microphone and put on a smile, before starting to recite to the camera: "Good morning Neo Domino, Hiroko Kirigami here with Neo Domino News Network. Today we're covering the massive protest march organized by Satisfaction in occasion of the ending of the qualifiers for the Fortune Cup, and as you can see behind us, the crowd that has gathered all along the Daedalus Bridge is absolutely immense. We don't have any specific numbers, but that is, regardless, an impressive show of support for these protests." She paused to let the crew focus on the crowd. It stretched from one end to the other of the Daedalus Bridge, and even longer behind. "Satisfaction has officially declared that their intention is to reach the Unity Stage, and occupy the entirety of Unity Square, to take advantage of media attention surrounding the last qualifiers of the Fortune Cup. Their demands remain the same: shutdown of the Momentum Grid, and requalification of the abandoned and decaying building of the city center. This morning, at almost the same time, both Satisfaction and Anthem have diffused to the press communications from their leaders, Kyoji Kurama and Vivian Craft. According to mr. Kurama, Satisfaction intends this protest to be fully peaceful, and that they will comply with the police's warning not to enter the stadium itself for safety reasons. Both leaders have expressed their intention to prevent clashes between the police and the movements, although, miss Craft has noted, she can't ask her supporters not to defend themselves if "someone" decided to commit some undue aggression... seems pretty self-absolutory to me, folks, but you know me already..." She smiled cheekily to the camera before continuing her diatribe. That's when... the connection suddenly cut. And the world was darkness once again. Names: "Kyoji Kurama" and "Vivian Craft" recorded. Attempting reconnection. Connection failed. Restarting connection. Connection failed. Restarting connection... Connection succesful. Live feed available. Connecting... The world came into focus once again. This time, it was the inside of a large stadium. The tribunes were absolutely crowded with spectators, and two people were racing on the track: one riding a three-wheeler with a bubble around its seating, and the second wearing a showy red and yellow costume with a couple of bizarre epaulettes. The stats displayed on the right of the video showed two names: Roxy and Blue, with their Life Points represented underneath, 1200 and 2000 respectively. Audio feed not found. Correcting. The audio suddenly cut back in, displaying the thunderous cheers and applause of those inside, as well as the crowd outside's protests. A voice from the loudspeakers suddenly cut in: "Oooouch, folks! This Battle Phase really didn't turn out how the wild rider of Center expected, did it? It seems the duel is almost decided. Unless Blazing Roxy pulls an ace from her sleeve, loss is guaranteed for her next turn!" The camera centered on one of the two riders, the dirty blonde riding the hoverboard, who despite her seemingly disadvantageous situation, was wearing a cocky grin. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, audience! Don’t blink or you’ll miss this one! I activate Battery Charger!” The hologram of the card materialized in the air, draining 500 of her remaining 1200 Life Points, represented by a massive spark going from Roxy to the device. Unfazed, she bent her knees to assume an aerodynamic position, speeding towards her opponent. “I’m calling back from the grave Batteryman 9 Volt, and I use its effect right away to add to my hand Batteryman Capacitor, and I immediately use its effect!” She discarded the card she had just added to her hand, and the duel disk produced three more. With a smirk, she grabbed them and showed their backs to her opponent. “Pick your poison, buddy”, she told him with a smirk. “The third one!”, came the reply from the duelist on the bubble bike, and Roxy smirked when he said that. “Thanks. I needed that one” She slapped the card on her Duel Disk and cheekily proclaimed: “I Summon Batteryman Resistance! And you know what comes next… I tune Batteryman 9 Volt with Batteryman Resistance!” A green ring of light formed in the sky above her, and 9 Volt disappeared in it, becoming a line of four twinkling lights. “The secret trick that leads to victory! Come down, Batteryman Memory Cell!” A giant chip with eyes, looking like a sort of electronic spider, appeared floating high above the track. The holographic display showed that it had 0 attack AND defense ratings. The rider in the bubble bike looked on it, worried about what its effect might be… “Now, dear audience… take a good look. I use the effect of the Batteryman Resistance I used to Synchro Summon Memory Cell. When I Synchro Summon a Thunder-type monster with it, it brings back one of the non-Tuners I used in face-down defense position. And I’ll need the little guy for the next trick.” The crowd roared when they realized what was coming next, recognizing one of Roxy’s oldest comeback tricks. “I know you’re a smart guy, Blue, so no doubt you noticed I haven’t used my Normal Summon yet. Well, I will now! I Summon Batteryman Manual, and use its effect immediately to change the position of my face-down 9-Volt!” Chants of “Shock him! Shock him!” resounded from the bleachers as a batteryman looking like a small dynamo appeared on the field, and turned its crank to make 9-Volt reappear. “Manual can negate 9-Volt’s effect to use it himself, even if it wasn’t just summoned, and then negate that of your Phantom Beast Dracossack. And I use that effect immediately to add Batteryman Fuel Cell to my hand, and summon it immediately thanks to its effect, because I still have Memory Cell on my field!” The combo was now in place, and Roxy had one last step to commit. “And now… I use Memory Cell’s effect. I tribute it, to add to my hand… SHORT CIRCUIT!” She dramatically drew the card and showed it to the public, making it erupt in a roar, then 9-Volt flew in front of her, placing itself on the track at an angle to act as a ramp. “You know what comes next! Hiyah!” She immediately turned to take the makeshift “ramp” created by her holographic monster, and flew high in the air before slamming Short Circuit on her disk. Fuel Cell shot a rain of small electric orbs, letting her bounce off of them, charging her with energy with every bounce, while her opponent tried to sway his bike to make it harder for her to aim. With a wild shout of “SHOOOORT CIRCUIT!”, she dived towards her opponent, sparks flying all over around her, until a giant explosion wiped out his entire field. “And now…”, Roxy proclaimed, emerging from the smoke, headed towards her opponent, “Fuel Cell! Finish him!”. The battle was over in a flash, when the lightning orbs in the sky above Blue rained down on his bike, forcing him to stop. "Aaaaaand it's over!”, the announcer proclaimed. “The match is over, with an astonishing comeback from the crowd's favourite, Blazing Roxy! And with this, the final match of today's Fortune Cup Qualifications has finally come to a close, and I must say, nobody expected it to end like this!" Sure I wish that idiot would shut up, Roxy muttered to herself as her board also came to a still. He's stealing my moment. "Remember, folks! After this match, all that's left for our winner is the Fortune Cup! From here, all of her road will be uphill, but I'm sure she's not scared of the challenge!" "That's right, folks!", interjected Roxy. "This whole cup's been rad, but I'm going back to the higher leagues. I've been there already, and this time I'll conquer them, ya'll see!" The announcer continued: "As you see, our winner is very sure of herself, people! In fact, I've heard sponsor offers have already started pouring in. They say that even Kaiba Corporation has offered-", but was cut off when Roxy interrupted his speculations: "I was still talking, shithead. So! As I said, I'm going to conquer the Fortune Cup. It ain't gonna be easy, I know. Everyone else at the Cup has went through the same qualifications I did. Some of the best duelists of this country will be runnin' for the title. But y'all know this has never stopped Blazin' Roxy. I won't be stopped this time. Not by the best duelists of this country, not even by the Anthem b****. Keep your eyes open, Neo Domino! Blazin' Roxy will conquer this city!" Her crude jab at Vivian was met with a mix of jeers and cheers, but it was enough. No more relevant information could be acquired, so the eye turned off once again. This time, it opened in a large, white room, where a small crowd was watching the screen placed directly under the eye’s point of view. Identification needed. Audio feed included. There were about twenty people in the room, all of them in Turbo Dueling gear, watching the screen intently. The participants of the previous qualifiers. All of them turned towards the door when another blond-haired woman made her entrance, but she wasn’t Roxy - facial recognition parameters were different, and she was wearing... armor. Shining armor lined with golden reliefs, and with a massive fleur-de-lis emblazoned in the center of the chestplate. The woman opened her mouth to talk, but before she could, another voice came from outside the eye’s viewing range. “Thank you for your patience, competitors. As the qualifiers are already over, I would normally announce who of you ended up in which bracket, and close the qualifiers officially. But today there is a special announcement I must make. See, one of the competitors has retreated from the race, and their place has been reassigned. The lady who has just graced her with her presence is madame Lydia Maupin, representative of the dueling circuit of Paris. She had initially intended to be only an observer in our Cup, but she has graciously accepted to fill in for the disappeared ms. Kotodara. Normally, we wouldn’t accept such an arrangement, but madame Maupin has already proven her valor by holding onto the championship in the European circuit for various years in a row already, so we gladly accepted her presence among you. I hope there will be no problems here”. The woman politely bowed in front of the incredulous room… and the speaker walked out.

A fic or series of mini-fics set in the Neo community based on superhero comics/cinema. The characters are the members, each having their own superpower (or not, depending on what they want.) This used to be in Misc, but I decided to make an official interest check thread in the writing section for more credibility. Thoughts? Opinions? Suggestions? Let me know.

Kazo was ecstatic. He was taught a new move! And not just any move from any teacher, but Draco Meteor from Zekrom! How cool was that?! There was so much many more things he wanted to learn from Zekrom, become a better chaser, but it seemed the final battle was upon them. The voices of Dialga and Palkia echoed in his head, and soon, he found himself transported onto a ship that flew. That was so cool! The ship itself seemed a bit crowded, as there was a lot of people on the ship. He thought he could see people he had seen earlier in his journey to. Unless his eyes were playing tricks on him, he thought he saw Dorian, and Melody. He would have to go talk to them at some point. However, they were being given a pep talk, one that came with a huge surprise. "I am honored to be standing before so many brave souls. My name is Azriel. Some of you know me as the former sheriff of Juyu. But I am also the Disciple of Arceus... I have watched this land for many years," "What?!" Kazo couldn't help but let that slip out, although he could have sworn he heard some other voices say something similar. But really, Old Man Azriel was a Disciple of Arceus?! What the hell?!" The rest of the speech went about as well as a person could expect, but Kazo still had to get over the shock he felt. Old Man Azriel? Really? Kazo really didn't know how to react to this. Kazo turned to see what Ari and Mac were doing, but they seemed to be talking to other people at the moment. That was fine, he supposed. He could go confirm if that was Dorian or Melody he saw--- "Well, well, well, I think I feel the presence of a real man!" A voice rang out from above, one that was far too familiar to him. Looking up, he could see a figure standing on top of the crow's nest, arms folded as a scarf blew in the wind. It was hard to see exactly what they looked like, but Kazo knew. The figure leapt off the nest and landed by the dragon, revealing themselves to be an Excadrill. "Way to stick the landing Sai," Kazo said with a wide smile. "Much better than usual," "Hey, had to do somethin' while I was out traveling," Sai joke, smacking Kazo playfully in the chest. "How have ya been, Kaz?" Denku didn't find a TM that gelled with him, so in the end, he didn't take one. He was happy with what he had now, and he didn't feel the need to change. He spent the next few days under the deck, sitting in the bed. His chest felt... odd. He wasn't sure if it was a sign that the healing was temporary or just something else all together, but he didn't want to risk the others seeing an episode. They knew he was sick, they didn't need to see it in action. The days still passed somewhat quickly, but it was peaceful... until Denku heard a booming pair of voices in his head. They asked for Chasers, for people willing to help... Denku's chest clenched again. He hoped, he prayed that he was there.... He went onto deck, which by now was completely covered in all sorts of people. He scanned the crowd... no one he knew seemed to be there. That was okay though. He wasn't sure he wanted to see the hotheaded bee or fiery bug right now anyways. The Captain was making a big speech, and there wasn't much interesting, expect that old man Azriel was the Disciple of Arceus. What the hell? Still, there wasn't much else that caught his attention. He instead decided to look around and try to see if by some miracle his brother was in the crowd. He quietly walked passed a lot of conversations, hearing a lot of interesting things, but nothing that really caught his attention. At the end of the day, the stories of the others didn't matter to him. He did, however, hear a sentence that did mean something to him. Someone said the name Kaz. He whipped his head over to the direction he heard it, seeing a Excadrill and a Gabite talking to each other. A name is a coincidence. The two species hanging out was also a coincidence... but both? There was only one thing it could be... Denku rushed over, taking off his mask as he ran. This had to be right, this had to be the moment he dreamed of for the past two years, nothing could take this from him, not a damn thing. "Kazo!" He called out, the only warning the Gabite would receive before the Pupitar latched onto him, arms wrapped around him in a giant hug. "Kazo... bro, I finally found you," He gritted his teeth, trying to suppress the the feelings swelling in his chest. He didn't want to break in front of everyone, he didn't want to show weakness here. But... "Denku?" Said Pupitar choked on a sob as he felt arms wrap around him, the feeble damn he built for his emotions crumbling in an instant. The strength left his knees as he slumped to the ground, tears flowing out of his eyes, the rock type becoming a sobbing pile of emotions. Kazo went down with him, just hugging his older brother close. He didn't think Denku would break down like this. Did his brother really miss him this much? He tightened the hug, letting his brother cry. Sai watched the two, before bending down and just wrapping his arms around both of them, the three just being one big huge pile. Finally, after a few minutes, Denku finally broke the hug, standing up, wiping his eyes and chuckling weakly. "So, can you tell that I missed you?" He asked. Kazo nodded, standing up as well. With a smile, Denku took his first good look at his brother in the first time in over ten years. "Huh... when the hell did you get taller than me?" He joked, realizing he only came up to his younger brother's shoulder. "More importantly, what the hell is this?" Sai asked jokingly, flipping up Kazo and Denku's capes. "I thought we all agreed scarves were super cool!" He flipped his scarf around, folding his arms. "Mom gave me this," Kazo supplied as Denku shrugged. "Cape was more practical," Denku explained. "Aaaah, you two got laaaame," Sai commented. Kazo suddenly snapped his fingers. "Oh yeah, there's some people I want you all to meet!" He said, smiling widely at the thought. "Oh, who are they? New members for the brotherhood?" Sai asked as he placed his hands on his hips. "Well... yeah," Kazo answered with a shrug. "Oh? Color me curious. Who?" Denku asked as he tried to regain a little bit of dignity. "Hey, Kazo!" Ari shouted. "I have somebody I want you to meet!" "Well, speak of the devil. That's one of them," Kazo said with a grin as he turned around to face the young lion. "Great timin' Ari! There's some people I want you to meet to!"

Don't click if you don't want to hear the same BGM The statue moved toward the altar, and then past it. Crashing into the wall, it stopped, turned, and headed for the large, stained-glass window in the center. The window showcased a large, serpentine figure that looked much alike to the statue, except rather than a uniform grayish-white, this figure shone in all the colors of the rainbow. Variegated spots of color appeared on the statue as it moved toward the window. At that moment, the first of the attacks hit the statue. A blast of Elwind that sliced the stone a fraction of an inch away from the mark. Cora's swing was next, and while she missed, her strength caused her blade to cut into the stone body of the effigy. Then Sienna's fireball came, flying not right at the mark, but close enough. As the symbol became slightly blurred through the flames, the statue let out a roar of pain. Still, it moved forward, pausing only when an arrow came whistling through the air to land in the exact center of the mark, cracking the stone. Its roar turned into a screech then, but it continued to stubbornly move forward, crashing through the stained-glass window with a tinkling sound. For a second, the hall was awash with all the hues of the rainbow as the window shattered into pieces, each individual shard sending out beams of color as light shone through them. The statue let out another roar as it saw Link and Edrick moving toward the flowers, but before it could do anything, multiple dark orbs flew at the cracked fragment of stone holding the symbol, disintegrating it into marble dust. Immediately afterward, almost as if somebody had blown out a candle, the blue light that had been keeping the statue together and the glowing blue tendril winked out of existence. Everybody standing nearby would be blown away from the magical backlash, but when they were able to look again, they would see that what had once been a powerful enemy was now nothing more than a regular stone statue. It lay motionless on the floor, surrounded by pieces of marble with various designs--a piece of its mouth here, a claw fragment there. The blue glow from the statue was gone, but everybody would be able to see that a single bouquet in the other room was glowing with that same blue color. Soon, however, the fire from the blanket engulfed the bouquet, the flowers blackening. Those who knew their flora would recognize them as roses, the only ones they had seen in this building. All the others were snapdragons, gladioli, hyacinths, or daffodils--native Histian flowers. As the roses went up in flames, the blue glow faded, and then brightened in one last magical backlash. This one stronger than the one before as everybody was blown off their feet, their eyes forced to close or risk blindness from the blue light. In the unsettling darkness that followed they would all hear a distinctly feminine voice. "You took much longer than I expected to deal with a mere imitation. Still, I will grant you this small victory." As the light faded and the group was able to open their eyes once more, the voice spoke again. "Do not think that this is the end. I am sure we shall meet again, Dragon seekers." The voice faded away then, too, till there was neither blue light nor sound to be seen or heard in the place. Catriona, who had lain paralyzed on the floor, felt feeling return to her legs then. She was the first to recover from the numbness, though the others soon would as well. Stumbling toward the flowers with a toddling, unsure gait, the lord looked at the bouquet, which had burned itself out. The flames had spread to the other bouquets, however, forming a giant bonfire that threatened to spread to the wooden furniture as well. "It is done. We should put out the fire." At that moment, shouts could be heard from the main room. The woman turned around in surprise, only to see three extra people in the building. While they were strangers to her, both Alois and Cora would recognize them at once. The first was a young woman with a sword standing near the front wooden bench. Her outfit was similar to Cora's, but she looked different in every other way, from her shock of strawberry blond hair to the naturally fierce expression on her face. However, she appeared more awed than fierce at the moment. "This...I'm back to normal?" she murmured. The second was an older man with a frown wearing fur-lined robes and a brass necklace. He had several frown lines on his forehead, but he, too, seemed more shocked than anything. "It is over, then. We are saved..." The third she could only catch a glimpse of before he was out the door, but the main thing that stood out to her was his bright, greedy eyes and the look of absolute paranoia and fear on his face before he left. Those who turned late to look would miss him entirely. Catriona frowned, ignoring the man's disappearance to focus on the other two as she entered the main hall. "How did you get in here?" she demanded, attempting to stand taller. "Who are you? Are you..." she trailed off, thinking. "You said it was over. Do you mean that you are...?" "Who do you think we are?! We're the animals who were helping you before, of course!" the woman interrupted. "Egad, for a princess, you sure are dumb. I thought they taught you to be smart in those fancy-pants palaces of yours." "Acantha!" the older man scolded. "I am sorry for that," he turned to the group, making what looked like an attempt as a smile but which came out as more of a grimace instead. "We are unused to receiving royalty in these parts." "It is fine," Catriona replied. She was used to such attitudes from her time in the Garou, after all. And it wasn't as if every member of the party treated her with all due decorum, either. Not that such things mattered that much while traveling on the road, even less when it came from somebody not even of Galtea. The man gave a short bow. "I am Dresogon, mayor of this village. You have my most humble thanks for breaking the curse inflicted upon us." His grimace smoothed itself out into a small smile that disappeared soon after. "We cannot do much to repay you, but feel free to stay for a celebratory feast before continuing on your journey. Though I suspect we villagers will be busy cleaning up this place for the rest of the day first," he cast a grim eye on his surroundings. It was only then that Catriona realized just how much of a mess they had made of the hall. The bonfire notwithstanding, the main hall was in shambles. Pieces of the statue lay scattered over the floor alongside colored glass shards. Multiple windows had been broken, as well as a couple of the benches near the front. The stone flooring and wall were cracked in places, namely where the statue had walked or where Citron and Peaches had crashed. Even a part of the vaulted ceiling was cracked from where Shiro had crashed into it. Scorch marks and nicks from missed attacks covered the room, and Alois had yet to pick up his hand axe which still lay fallen on the ground. The woman coughed, a little embarrassed. "My apologies. We will assist with that." "No, no, I couldn't let you do that, not after everything you did," the mayor shook his head. "Do not discount your own contributions," the princess argued. "Were it not for you or Cora, we would not have known where to go to break the curse." Acantha scowled at Catriona. "You're weird. What kind of princess volunteers to clean? Just accept our thanks, gads." She ignored the lord after that, approaching Cora and beginning to look her over. "Looks like you're in one piece, at least," she muttered, before turning to Alois and looking him over as well. "I suppose you're fine too? I'm not surprised. Stupid people tend to live longer for some reason." The woman glanced at the others then, her gaze lingering on Gunther for a second longer before turning away. "I'm not going to bother worrying about outsiders like you. You can drop over dead for all I care. Don't get the wrong idea just because the mayor's being nice. You just happened to break the spell. We would've figured it out ourselves eventually." She sniffed, "You should probably get yourselves looked at though, especially them, or you really will drop dead," she nodded toward Edrick and Citron. "There's one that looks like she's at that point already," she finished with a glance at Adel, before turning her head away with a huff. OOC

Big-Tusked Mammoth EARTH | Level 5 | [Beast/Effect] ATK/ 2000 | DEF/ 1000 Monsters your opponent control cannot be attack the turn they are Summoned. So I was trying out this guy in the Merfae archetype and had some good successes with it as it paired well with their passive play style by halting OTK-esque stragies with big boards while they do their stuff. Usually how I would get it is via Merfae_Cathy to search it and Merfae_Fenny to Special Summon it OR through Ninjitsu_Art_of_Transformation after Normal Summoing Ninja_Grandmaster_Hanzo (bc Merfae don't really need their Normal Summon except for things like Rescue Cat or Nimble Beaver). The thing it does best is prevent you from dying right away on less opportune hands, and it protects your key play smaller bodied stunners like Merfaes_of_the_Forest and Herald_of_the_Arc_Light from easily being ran over. Merfae of the Forest can also stop other monsters from attacking that have been on the field for longer than a turn they were Summoned. I definitely consider it a one of in Merfae. Discuss?

Okay! Maybe they were getting somewhere. Gabby guessed that she could talk to skeletons and Kyouko had a bat and that was basically halfway to a plan already. Maybe the skeletons knew. They were monsters, after all. They were a part of this. Or maybe skeletons couldn’t talk, what, with their lack of tongues and everything. But having more to work with would be useful. But unfortunately, speaking of monsters, the bathroom suddenly became significantly more crowded as three monstrous individuals sauntered their way into the restroom. Melissa shrunk back; she instinctively knew where this was going. What she didn’t expect, though, was the exact method of approach: hip-hop, and bad hip-hop at that. Not that she was, like, a connoisseur or anything like that. A few albums had been thrust upon her growing up in a “you like Christian stuff so here’s Christian Rap” sort of way and she’d really only listened to be polite. It wasn’t for her, that was all. But now the choices were either go on a date with… what? Or rap? Neither was great. Obviously, the latter was preferable, but expecting her to come up with something on the fly like that? Now please excuse me, I’m not much of a lyricist Something you can tell if you are being empiricist was really all she had in terms of cute rhymes to use. And they weren’t really that cute. But, fortunately, while Melissa was searching for follow-up rhymes (something with clouds? Cirruses?) Jun stepped forward. Really, all you want is a date? Well, that’s a problem ‘cause you’re just a bit late See our plans for today are already spoken for But we’re a great group of gals so I can see why you’d adore Much better than anything she could come up with. Who was even making a beat, though? It didn’t matter. Jun ended with a pretty good mic drop of “You can hit them now,” too, which, while Melissa wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of violence, these were extenuating circumstances. Through Kyouko, Melissa even felt a little bit of catharsis. She actually felt better than she had been before; they could actually do this. Do what, she wasn’t really sure yet, but it was a good feeling to have. The following sensation, of being grabbed by the arm and dragged out of the restroom was less nice. She didn’t exactly fight it, but it was still a feeling of being jerked around. But Gabby was the one doing the pulling, and Melissa trusted her to do what she thought was best. As soon as they were out, though, it almost went the other way around. “Should we… try to get help?” Gabby said. Now she was trusting her. What was Melissa’s answer? “Of course!” Well, she didn’t say “of course,” or at least not like that. It was more of a “We really should.” But, like, it really was a question with only one answer. And just because she didn’t know exactly how to go about it didn’t make it any less true. She glanced around like there was supposed to be anyone else around. There wasn’t. But when her gaze returned to Gabby, her eyes were wide and staring down the hall. When Melissa followed her gaze, she saw a large drudge of skeletons. And the skeletons were coming their way. Melissa didn’t scream. Her flight-or-fight response was stuck between running away and making sure no further harm came to the girls still in the bathroom. What if the skeletons went in there after she’d done nothing to stop them? But at the same time, they were skeletons! She’d already run from Mokey Mokey, what else was she going to do here? “Hold still. I’m going to try something.” Try what? What was there to try? Kyouko was the only one with a weapon, and she was a door and a trio of thugs away. What could they possibly- “Cease your movements, lowly servants of skull! You dare approach me, Gabriela Von Draculesti, in such a manner?” With these words David sharply rebuked his men and did not allow them to attack Saul. And Saul left the cave and went his way. -1 Samuel 24:7 (NIV) It worked! The skeletons -- the Skull Servants -- were hanging on Gabby’s every word, and she ordered (using some rather ambiguous language, Melissa couldn’t help but note) them into the restroom to help with the brawl inside. Though they were seemingly safe now, Melissa didn’t let herself exhale until all the skeletons had crossed the threshold to the restroom. There were one- no, two things to do now. The first was to hug Gabby. No words necessary there, just one long and tight until she’d managed to calm down for the other thing. The other thing was thinking about what just happened. Gabby had said she could control skull servants, and she did. But wasn’t that how duel space worked anyway? If you had a strong enough will and you were dueling, couldn’t you just create a space around you that was representative of you? And even if you weren't, isn’t that what summoned the beat Jun rapped to? Hadn’t been Hitomu’s application of duel space been one of the things that had brought Gabby and her together in the first place? Is that what Souji had been going on about when it came to getting used to duel space? An idea formed in Melissa’s head. It wasn’t even a “what do we do next?” idea, but one fully-formed and, while it probably couldn’t fix everything, it at least could help make things a little safer and a whole lot nicer. “I have an idea.” Yes, she had to say it out loud, first. That was step one. “It needs some duel disks maybe, and I don’t have mine on me, uh, the first hurdle is getting those, but then the only other thing we need is a whole bunch of people. Can you help me with that?”

The past few days had been a bit of a downer for Marie. She was glad to have saved the two legends, especially since they were Moltres's sisters, but she couldn't help but feel like she had still lost. The Lucario was far stronger than Allie had been and not only could Marie not hold her own against him, she couldn't even begin to understand him. Even if Marie thought Allie was being a bit of a jerk and dumb, she could still talk with the girl. But he was something else and something far scarier. She was nervous, thinking back on it, and even thought herself a bit foolish vowing to get stronger so that she could challenge him. Obviously, such a feat would be impossible. And if it were possible, then there'd be no way she could do so in such a short time to keep him from hurting anyone else. Yet still, she had vowed to do so. And no matter what, she didn't want to see anyone hurt so callously again. So, she would get as strong as she could. And her resolve bore fruit at that. Something within her had click, and she knew that she had obtained a power even greater then what she could use before. Was it enough? She couldn't say. But it was certainly a start. Needless to say, when the call went out from the legends to help fight against the Godslayers, Marie had answered along with the rest of her friends. After being pulled onto a boat - a boat in the sky! - Marie was suddenly overwhelmed by the number of people around her. Stepping back a bit, the girl looked around all of the unfamiliar and strange faces on the ship, before her eyes finally settled on someone. Someone very familiar. Her eyes going wide in surprise, the girl said, “Morgan?” As she had confirmed that’s who it was, excitedly, she ran over waving, “heeeey! Morgan!” Once she got close to the girl she said, “it’s been like, forever. What’re you doing here Morgan?” A familiar-looking Eevee gijinka jumped in place. “Ehh?!” her face went through a slightly comical transformation from shock to pleasant surprise. “Hey, wow, it really has been forever, hasn’t it? Or at least, it feels like it, heheh,” she grinned, her eyes closing slightly in the process. “And why am I here? Cuz, uhh…” she scratched her cheek, looking slightly to the side. “That’s cuz it sounded really, really cool!” she turned back to Marie and pumped her fists, stars shining in her eyes. “The others told me not to come, but how could I pass up an adventure like this?!” Marie looked concerned for a moment, but then simply laughed at the girl’s comment. “Well, you have to be sure to stay safe, after all, adventures like these are pretty dangerous. But, even if you couldn’t come with us before, I’m glad you’re here with us now.” Bright-eyed the girl said, “I mean, it’s been a lot of trouble since we left Northshore, but also kind of fun and really exciting! We met all kinds of new people and even a few new legends. Some were a bit scarier than Moltres was, though.” “Wow, really?!” Morgan turned even more starry-eyed than before, if that were possible. “You gotta tell me all about it! And then, and then, I have some things to tell you too!” she waved her arms in the air energetically. “Oh, well, see, one of them was like this giant bird thing. She was named Yveltal, she wasn’t very nice and she made me feel not nice in general too. She also wanted to fight us all, so we did, and she decided to leave us alone. So that was nice. And then - and then, we met this guy named Heatran. He was a big goofball though.He kept talking about how strong he was and stuff, and acted like a bit of a meanie but he was actually really nice deep down. Even if we had to fight him too. Something about a volcano erupting. Well, I’ll probably go visit him later once this is all done with this anyway.” As the girl rambled about the legends she met, she said, “oh, wait. Sorry, I didn’t really explain anything. But it’s been a long journey.” “That’s all right, it sounds super cool anyway!” the Eevee replied. “Wow, I almost wish I had went with you all now.” She smiled. “But, but, I had a bit of an adventure myself! See, there was this bad cactus guy attacking this legendary named Kyo…” she screwed up her expression as she thought. “Kyo...whatever! That’s not important! He was attacking her, but these other people came and fought him! And they were Chasers too! There was a really nice lady in a hat, a mischievous-looking electric guy, a powerful girl in pink, and a guy with horns on his head! The last one was super cool. He kept getting knocked down, but then he kept getting back up again!” she shouted. “Actually, wait a second...that girl in pink...that’s her!” she pointed dramatically at Fiona, who had been talking earlier. “Wait...does that mean...I wonder if the others are here too?” “Whoooa,” Marie said in awe at both the girl’s tale, as well as noticing that there was someone else here who fought a Godslayer. Thinking back on it, it made sense that anybody here could have fought one, but the girl was a bit star struck thinking about how many strong people were here. Looking at the girl, she said, “I bet they are! And there’s probably loads of other cool people here too!” Marie’s excitement started to lower, though, as she thought more on the topic. “Oh, right, Morgan. That cactus guy, he was probably a Godslayer. Those nasty bully people that want to hurt others. They’re really scary and strong, and you really shouldn’t be fighting any of them. But there’s one. A Lucario. He’s the scariest of them all, so make sure to avoid him at all costs.” “A Godslayer? Yeah, I heard those three up there,” Morgan nodded toward the helm of the ship, “and the voice in my head talking about them, but they never explained what they were. All I know is that they’re bad and…” she gulped, “that this is a fight for Adarid’s future.” Her expression turned serious. “I guess, that’s really why I came. I learned, during that fight, how helpless I am against bad guys. If those people weren’t there, Northshore would’ve been destroyed…” she shook her head. “Well, it didn’t happen! But it gave me a goal to work toward! I’m gonna be super strong and awesome like those people were.” She puffed out her chest, “I’ve actually been practicing. Running laps and stuff like that. I might not be able to do much, but if I can at least do something, then that’s still something, right? Better than sitting around thinking it’s somebody else’s business,” she grumbled out the last sentence, glaring down at the ground. “I just don’t understand my parents!” the girl exploded. “How can they decide to just do nothing when the whole continent is in trouble?!” Marie nodded along with the girl’s frustrations.”Sounds like they’ll need some stern talking to once this is all done. After all, treat others how you want to be treated is like, the most basic lesson right? So if you wanted someone to save you, then you have to be willing to save them, right?” Smiling she said, “but, I’ve gotten a lot stronger too since we last met. In fact, I feel like I can do even more than ever before. So, let’s go show those nasty bullies a thing or two and save your home, Morgan!” The girl went to give her friend a high five. “Yeah, see? You totally get me!” Morgan brightened. “Sitting back and doing nothing is totally and seriously lame!” She returned the high five. “Yeah, let’s! I want to see how strong you got too, Marie!” The Eevee beamed. “Wait...speaking of...you look different,” she tilted her head to the side, squinting her eyes. “Did you get taller? Your hair looks different too. Wait…” she bopped her fists together in realization. “I know, I know, I know! You evolved, right? Wow, that’s so amazing! How was it? Did it hurt? Did you get taller all at once or was it little by little? Do you feel any different now?!” The girl had gone back to her usual energetic self. The girl blinked for a moment, forgetting that she had evolved as well, before letting out a laugh saying, “well, it just happened all at once and without warning really. But now, I’m all stronger and even more of an adult than I already was! And and and, I know that Popplios or Brionnes can evolve again! I don’t know when it’ll hit me though, but I’m not nearly as strong or as adult as I possibly could be yet!” “Oh wow, that sounds really awesome! All at once, like one second you’re this, and the next second, whoosh bam, you’re that!” the Eevee waved her arms around for emphasis. “And you’re not even done yet?! So you’re gonna become even more adult than you are now?! No fair, I can only evolve once!” she puffed out her cheeks. “But I’ve heard I can choose what to evolve into, so that’s cool, I guess…” she kicked a pebble that was somehow on the wooden deck. “Still dunno what I wanna be, though.” She thought for a bit, getting more excited. “But, anyway, I wonder what your final form is gonna be?! Do you think you’ll be like a super mature business-looking type? Or maybe an elegant beauty? Or, wait wait wait, what about a mysterious yet cool and awesome lady?!” Marie looked dreamily into the air saying, “I don’t know for sure, I’ve never seen a Primarina myself. But, I heard my mom was really pretty and elegant and stuff! She was also a great singer too, so I’ll probably be one too!” “A Primarina? I’ve never heard of that...but I haven’t heard of a lot of gijinka!” Morgan laughed with some embarrassment. “But a singer huh? And a really pretty and elegant one? That’s awesome,” the normal type sighed. “Well, once you evolve, you gotta come to Northshore and show me! I wanna hear you sing too, then! And maybe by then, I’ll have evolved too, so that’ll be doubly awesome! Whaddaya say, whaddaya say? Promise?” the girl held out her pinky. Smiling, Marie said, “absolutely! And I can’t wait to see what kind of Eevee you evolve into Morgan.” Locking pinkies with the girl she said, “it’s a promise!”

In the end, Zekrom was able to teach Ari a fire-type move. And it was a really, really cool one too! He decided he would forget about trying to improve his Take Down, because this move was so much better! He could've gotten rid of Ember, but if he wanted to try to start a campfire or something, the new move was a bit overkill. Zekrom called it Fusion Flare, and it apparently could do double damage if Fusion Bolt had been used just before, and vice versa. Which meant that, he and Mac could really do some damage together! Kazo had learned something cool too. A move that was even more powerful than theirs normally, summoning a giant burning rocks that rained down from the sky like the world was ending or something. Ari just knew that, with this, any Godslayers would be quaking in their boots from their awesome power! They'd stayed with Zekrom a little longer, but but it wasn't long before they were summoned to what would Ari knew would be the final battle. He was a little nervous being on a big ship like this, especially because there was water underneath and everything. But he wasn't the only one that looked nervous about it. He saw at least two other fire types who both looked less than comfortable with the situation, so it wasn't just him being a scaredy-Litleo or anything. Before he could think too much about the water, though, he was distracted by a gijinka wearing...well, not much at all. Aside from that, the thick feather boa she wore and the bones she had stuck in her hair were what stood out about her. "'Ey, what's a little tyke like you doin' here?" she asked. "Um...well, you see--" "You're not much more than a bite, I'd say. Those Godslayers would swallow up a mouthful like you in a heartbeat." "E-eh? But, you know, I'm super--" "Go back home, tyke. I could eat something like you for breakfast." Ari puffed out his chest in anger. He wasn't a little kid anymore! He was an adult, and he would show this woman just how much of an adult he was! A good kick in the shin would do it. Just as he was about to kick her, though, two other gijinka came barreling through, one riding piggyback on the other's shoulders. "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaahh! Get out! Get out! Get outta here! Whoo!" "Wh-What?! What's with you two?! Forget it, I'm outta here," the woman scowled, walking away. "Knew I should've listened to my horoscope. Beware a chance encounter with a crazy Watchog and Pignite." "I love it! Bowling for buzzards!" the Pignite shouted. "Not that we can find too many of them, but--" "Gets 'em every time," the Watchog, who was riding on the other's shoulders, laughed. Immediately afterward he did a backflip off of the fire type, landing squarely on his feet. "You all right, kid?" the Pignite asked. "Yeah, are you--jeez, it's a lion! Run, Baa, move it!" the Watchog shouted, pulling on his friend's ears. "Hey, Tim, it's just a little lion. Look at him. He's so cute, and all alone! Can we keep him?" "Baa, are you nuts?! His mom's probably not too far away, and you're talking about keeping him?" Ari drooped a little at that. Mom... How long had it been since he'd seen her? "No, she's not here...who are you two anyway? "Well, I'm Tim, and this is Baa," the Watchog put his arm around his friend. "Together, we form the Timbaa team! Cuz everybody shouts Timbaa when we come through! Ahhhhhhha ha haaa! Oh, I crack myself up every time!" When the others just stared at him, he cleared his throat. "Ha ha hum...ahem. So, what's your name? Simba?" "Huh? No, I'm Ari." "Dang, I'm usually a good guesser." "Ariel?!" At that, Ari lifted his head. When was the last time he'd heard somebody call him that? Standing across from him was a beautiful female Pyroar wearing a long, fur-lined coat. While she looked a little more sad and worn than he remembered her being, he recognized her at once. "M-Mom...?" "Ariel!" she repeated, running across the deck toward him. Ari was also running, and before he knew it, he was in her arms, hugging her close like they used to. Back then, he had always found it stifling and annoying, especially when she would brush his hair in front of his friends. But now, he didn't care. Because he was with his mom! "Mom, Mom, Mommy..." Ari couldn't stop himself from chanting that same word over and over. "Mom..." "Oh, Ariel, you're alive..." she breathed. "I'm so glad to see you." "See? Told you he had a mother. Who's the brains in this outfit?" Tim muttered in the background. "Uhhh..." Baa trailed off. "My point exactly. Jeez, I'm fried. Let's get out of here and find some shade." The two left then, but neither mother nor son noticed their departure. "You've grown so much, Ariel. If only your father could see this," Ari's mother whispered, her eyes glistening. "Mom..." Ari murmured. "Mom, you don't have to tell me. I know. I know where my father is right now." The woman paused, and for a second, it looked like she would burst into tears, but instead, she took a deep breath, giving him a soft smile. "I should have known. You are his son, after all." She stroked his hair. "I'll have to tell Zago to stop looking for you. Now that you're back, safe and sound." "Mooom! I don't need any looking after. I've been doing just fine by myself, see?" he paused. "Weeell, I was traveling with a couple others. Oh, oh! I should introduce you to them! Mac, and Kazo! Kazo especially is super cool and awesome! He's...he's like a big brother," he looked down shyly. "He is my big brother." "Really?" the woman's eyes gentled. "In that case, I have to meet him, and Mac too, and give the both of them my thanks for taking care of my little boy." "But I'm not a little boy anymore, Mom!" "Oh Ariel...you'll always be my little boy." However, as he began walking around the deck with his mother, looking for the others, he overheard something strange. "My friends and I took down two at Mioter--a Hydreigon named Kah and a strange robotic gijinka. They were difficult, but manageable. But I don’t think they were actual Godslayers now, if what you’re saying is true." "Huh? Kah? A Godslayer?!" Ari looked around, but he couldn't see who had spoken. "What?!" He began looking for for Kazo more urgently. He had to tell him! He had to tell him...that Kah was either going to be their enemy...or she was already dead. Eventually, he did catch sight of Kazo, but it looked like he was with some other people too. Ari didn't worry about that though. "Hey, Kazo!" he shouted. "I have somebody I want you to meet!" -- Easter had, in the end, chosen not to use any TMs on himself. He was pretty satisfied with his current selection of moves as was. He did consider Hidden Power, hand hovering over the disc for a while, but in the end, he took his hand back. It was too much of a gamble to sacrifice a move he knew worked well for one that could very well end up being useless for him. Things had been pretty mild afterward. The group had spent a few more days on-board the S.S. Showdown. Apanie the Wash Rotom went out of her way to avoid him at first, but on the third day she suddenly greeted him as they passed each other in the hallway. He wasn't sure what had changed, but he decided not to look a gift Ponyta in the mouth. He hadn't been doing much to endear himself to her on the ship, in fact he had been leaving her alone, something that, on second thought, felt a bit odd. Oh. Yeah. Before, he would've been challenging her to fight every second of every day, wouldn't he? Strong opponents were strong opponents, after all, and she was definitely a strong opponent. He had won, but just winning once was never enough for him before. A single win didn't mean anything. It could be a lucky fluke. No, he had to win multiple times before it meant anything. Except, now, it somehow...didn't matter as much anymore. Now, he had other things to worry about. Dora, for instance, or the strange, melancholy looks Brooke would get on her face sometimes. Or Denku's illness. The Sylveon wouldn't admit it, but he was worried about the guy. The Pupitar didn't seem the type to tell anybody if he got worse, so there was a very likely chance he'd walk in on him having a fit or something. Which wouldn't be good. It doesn't matter how strong you are if you can't even save those who need your help. He had realized that in Deku, and later in Merm, after meeting Dora's mother. At first, he thought the solution to that was getting stronger, but now he wasn't so sure. Rather than putting all of one's effort into getting stronger, maybe it was better to spend time with others while one still could. If he had realized that sooner, maybe things would be different now. He might have saved that Eevee, might have noticed Fawkes's insecurity. There were many things he could have done. He had beaten down and slaughtered multiple gijinka on his path to power. While he wasn't sure if he regretted that or not, he did regret not being able to save the few he had met and cared about. Perhaps I should look into healing and support more, he thought. It was a strange thought, especially for him, but it was one he had considered more and more lately. He didn't use Wish or his special move Cosmic Shield much except against strong opponents. Maybe if I had used them more, I would've been able to save them... It wasn't good to constantly look at the what-ifs of various matters, but it wasn't as if he had gone past the point of no return either. It was always good to keep his options open. And so, when he did spar on the ship--this time with Edna, who was eager to volunteer herself--it was less fighting and more defending, to the Rotom's chagrin. He was fairly confident in his offensive prowess, but he wanted to be sure that he could protect himself and others too. He never used a live person, though, just in case he failed. He borrowed sparring dummies to use as "people to protect" instead. Sometimes he failed, sometimes he succeeded, but he was happy to see that slowly, the ratio of failure to success was shrinking. One day, after sparring, Dora had wanted to see the crow's nest, and so he let her sit on his shoulders as he climbed up the rigging all the way to the top. There, he pointed out all the different crew members, who looked a lot smaller from up there. Dora had laughed and wanted to bounce off his shoulders, but he had managed to catch her in time before she fell off. No way was he risking her falling. Brooke wouldn't be the only one furious with him if that happened. He would be furious with himself, too. It was as he was telling the Wooper about the time he had almost fallen off himself as a new sailor, that he noticed Apanie staring up at the two of them with a strange expression on her face. It was after that that she finally started greeting him like she did the others when she saw him, though her greetings were usually in the form of a silent nod. Still, it was better than outright avoidance. And then, just as he started to relax, he heard the voices of the lords of time and space in his mind. As soon as he heard that bit about a vessel that could reach Mioter, he grew suspicious, and...yep, he was right. It was the S.S. Showdown they were referring to. Not long afterward, a bunch of gijinka appeared on deck. Easter was surprised that the ship didn't start to fall a bit from the sudden extra weight, but this ship was a marvel in multiple ways. Most of the gijinka, Easter didn't recognize, though he recognized a couple. The main one that stood out to him was Vita, the Charizard he could never beat in the Adarid Arena. But that made sense. She was the champion. A little excited despite himself, he approached her with a smile. "Hey, Vita, it's good to see you again. How have you been doing? Still the undefeated champion?" The girl was standing with her hands on her hips. Looking around at all the other Gijinka around her. Seemingly sizing them up. When she saw Easter she took a moment to recognize him then hesitated. "In a sense. I did lose a fight unfortunately. To one of those Godslayers. It’s shameful but I had to be saved." The Sylveon felt his mouth open a little in shock. "Really? You, beaten? Sounds like those Godslayers are a bigger deal than I thought." He rubbed his chin in thought. "My friends and I took down two at Mioter--a Hydreigon named Kah and a strange robotic gijinka. They were difficult, but manageable. But I don’t think they were actual Godslayers now, if what you’re saying is true." He thought for a bit. "Well, all of us working together like this increases our chances, at least." "Or maybe I’ve just gotten rusty. Not many people as strong as you come around these days." Vita gave Easter a small smile. "But losing did do one good thing. It made me realize there’s still more to do. I think I get why you decided to travel around so much." "A slump? That’s too bad," the fairy type clicked his tongue. "I remember, back then it seemed like everybody was challenging the Arena." He grew pensive for a bit. "Times are changing, I guess. Not sure if that’s good or bad, though." He smiled back. "Guess I’ve changed a bit myself. Back then I would’ve seen it as a huge disappointment, for sure." His eyes found Dora automatically. "Without traveling, I wouldn’t have learned what I’ve learned...about myself, and about what’s truly important to live. So I suppose it was good for me that way." He turned back to Vita. "Maybe you should go on a journey yourself. Put down that champion belt and have yourself a champion time traveling instead!" he grinned. Vita laughed. "W-well, when you put it like that I suppose I have to try. Guess travel really brings out the philosopher in a guy. But, hey, think once this is all done people will want an Arena still anyway? Seems like things are starting to go in another direction after all...Isn’t that what this is about?" "Haha, suppose you’re right there," Easter laughed, then quickly turned serious. "And maybe. Maybe not. Can’t really say for sure. But I do think that there will always be gijinka who want to hone their skills. Whether that be through the Arena or something else." He smiled. "And even if the Arena closes, it doesn’t mean that there won’t be things for you and the other regulars to do. Life’s full of change, but we all manage to muddle through somehow." His gaze sharpened. There was something off about how the fire type was acting...actually, it reminded him of how Brooke acted in the bubble. "Also, Captain may be an incorrigible flirt, but he runs a tight ship. I doubt you’ll have to worry about us crashing or anything--unless something really bad happens," he amended. Yeah. He was never the best at reassurances. "Ah, no, of course not. Why would I be worried about it crashing, I have wings and all." Vita said, though she didn’t seem convinced by even her own words. She closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. "Whatever happens after this guess all we have to do now is fight our hardest." "True," Easter didn’t argue the point. She had her pride, after all, though it was interesting to learn that the person who he had admired for so long had her own weaknesses. "And that’s for sure. I’m looking forward to fighting alongside you. It was good seeing you again." Giving her one last nod, he walked away, catching sight of somebody else. "Oh hey, Nine, is that you?" -- Adarid City had been a welcome rest from a long journey. Though the city looked like it had seen better days itself. While Randy had been practicing a new move and Nani and Marie had been...being themselves, Keanu had been busy getting used to his new evolution. For one thing, his tail was super heavy. The balance was all off compared to how it used to be, and he just couldn't understand how other Raichu dragged it along behind them. Actually, his mother seemed to carry it along effortlessly. For another thing, he now had this strange, inexorable wariness against Randy and Nani. Nani he could understand, but Randy! Mr. Tony the Tiger, the Furball Goofball, etc. There was absolutely nothing to be afraid of when it came to him, save for getting dragged into a fight. So just why exactly did he feel the way he did? And then, there were his new psychic powers. He knew, theoretically, that Raichu had psychic powers, but knowing it and experiencing it for himself were two different things. Eventually, Keanu found out that the faint whispers he'd sometimes hear were not in fact, spoken out loud, but heard through his psychic powers. Either that, or he was going lolo, but he preferred the other option. And then, once, when he was stressed, he'd actually pushed back his friends once, except he didn't actually push them, they were just pushed back. Marie had been pushed the farthest, but Randy hadn't been pushed at all, and that had reinforced the fear he'd felt at the back of his mind. That the tiger was a threat--except no, he wasn't. And then, once, he'd accidentally levitated a pancake to his mouth just as he'd been picking up a fork to eat it. And ended up getting a faceful of pancake for his troubles. On the bright side, he finally learned how Raichu carried their tails. They levitated them. So the pancake incident was good for something in the end. Which was another thing. He really, really liked pancakes now. He already had before, but he liked them even more now. He felt like, if he ate any more, he'd probably turn into a giant pancake, but that, thankfully, didn't happen. Probably because of all the walking they were doing. Keanu was in great shape, and he looked even better than he did before, with his new tan and curls and sea-blue eyes. He had had to throw away his old clothes since they didn't fit quite right anymore and ended up walking around topless until he was able to buy new clothes in the city. As a surfer though, he was used to that, so he didn't pay it much mind. It would've been better if there were some cute wahine around though. He wondered if that was why Randy was training so hard with his new move, so he could show it off to any wahine if he met them, but knowing that training-obsessed tiger, it was probably just so he could win the next fight against that Lucario or whoever else they came across. Keanu could understand that though. It bothered him too, that he'd not been able to do anything. Not that much, because he had always known he had never been much of a fighter, but a little bit. Enough to get him to train. As he did so, memories that had been long forgotten, buried in the back of his mind, came to the fore. Maybe it was his new psychic powers, but a lot of his memories were crystal clear now. Including something his brother had said...and that Randy had also said. He was sure, if the two had ever met, they'd have gotten along swimmingly. "Go with your gut...even if it's not akamai." Akamai, or smart. Before, he had never understood that. Now, he thought he did. It wasn't akamai to keep traveling with these lolo buggahs, Keanu knew that. If he had any brains, he'd have long left them behind, and would never have been almost lost his life all those times. But, if he'd had any brains, he wouldn't have entered his home city at all, wouldn't have risked his life to convince his ohana to leave with him. He should've known that would be a futile gesture, but he did it anyway. Just like he tried to convince his companions--no, ohana--to avoid fights. Why fight those Godslayers, those legendaries, when they were so above their level? Randy came the closest, but even he had been effortlessly outmatched by that Lucario. So why was he still here? And why, oh why, when he heard Dialga and Palkia's voices in his head, that they needed gijinka to fight for Adarid's future, when he saw the others' expressions--except for Nani's, for obvious reasons--did he do what he did? Suppose I gotta go too. I have to make sure my ohana doesn't die on me doing something stupid again. In the end, he answered his own question. There were choke, or a lot of gijinka on the ship. Way too many for Keanu to count. He was also unprepared for the onslaught of new whispers--vague thoughts and feelings he had to work to ignore. His face tense, he glanced around, and sure enough, his ohana was all here. Randy, Marie, and Nani even. He was a little surprised by the last one, but not as surprised as he thought he'd be. The Mimikyu was another common-sense type like him, but she had also stuck around through all those tough fights. There had to be a reason for that. Speaking of Nani, as Randy and Marie left to go socialize with a couple of gijinka that they, and Keanu too, recognized, the ghost type turned to him. "Makes you wonder what these legends have in store for us after this, doesn't it?" "It sure does," Keanu replied, putting his arms behind his head in a relaxed manner. He was finally getting the whispers under control now. It had helped that he was somewhat used to it from walking around Adarid City. "Maybe they'll give us all a belt, like they do in wrestling," he chuckled, before growing serious. "Maybe...they'll be able to send us home." His face grew pensive. "But, you know...do you think, even if we return...there will be anything left of it?" He'd been thinking about that for a while now. "I don't want to admit it, but, do you think it's for the best that...we stay here? In Adarid?"

One-Puncher EARTH Level 4 [Warrior/Effect] 1800/1000 If this Normal Summoned/Set card battles a Special Summoned monster, during Damage Calculation: You can reveal any monster(s) in your hand, and if you do, this card gains their combined ATK during Damage Calculation only. - - - - - You can see how you could push the boost on this one. There's plenty of 4k and 5k monsters out there from the Main Deck so you can probably push 24,000 ATK or stuff. Thought about halving damage but looking at how stuff like the Utopia Double combo doesn't, I figure nowadays it shouldn't be as huge of an issue as it once was. Still, what are the opinions on this kind of thing?

With things being set in stone and Kiyoko's mission being laid out before her, the girl looked to the others of her team as it seemed that they would need to split up now. With Natsumi following alongside her, the two of them followed Mr. Grayshoe to the convenience store they had visited earlier. Kiyoko's expression became immediately displeased as Mr. Grayshoe explained what they were doing, though more so at herself then anything else. To think that the enemy had been right under their noses this whole time, and she had simply remained ignorant of it. After briefly mentally admonishing herself, though, the girl merely nodded at the man's request saying, "understood." Though she had walked alongside Natsumi at first, the girl decided to go check a different place. While her roommate was inspecting the oven, she would go into the walk-in fridge that was just next to it. After all, their chances of finding something were great if they inspected the opposites of hot and cold at once! Moving into the fridge proper, the girl noticed that there was nothing more to it then a bunch of cases of bottles of beverages she didn't know with all kinds of names that just confused her. Though that had appeared to be all there was at a surface glance, Kiyoko didn't want to simply look only at the surface again. And so she went to inspect the boxes and their contents, seeing if beverages were really all they had to offer. Looking at one box in particular, the girl found its contents to be empty, bar one sheet of paper. Curiously, the girl took it out and examined the paper. It seemed to be a note, or rather, two notes written by different people. "The 8 button broke, so just use 3 and 5 to make 8." Underneath it, the second note was written, clearly by a different and messier writer. "Fine, but fix it soon. Even in the future nothing works." The girl didn't quite know what the exchange meant, but it had referrenced a button - something Mr. Grayshoe had alerted them to look out for. Proud with her findings, the girl left the fridge looking to the other two and presenting the paper. "I have found something of interest."

“I’ve got this, I’ve got this…” Terry murmured to herself, doing her best to swallow her nerves as she hesitated, one hand over her deck. “...I draw.” She nodded, closing her eyes as she dropped her hand onto the deck, sliding out the last card. A spell card, an important one; it could either save her, or… She could lose off of it. But there was only one way to find out. “I play one-day-of-peace. This is another card that allows us each to draw one card, but unlike dark-world-dealings, this one is a bit more cautious.” She explained, nodding. “Neither of us can take battle damage until the beginning of my next turn, which is… Handy, as it allows me to summon a Generaider from my deck; this is one you’ve seen before, as I would like to summon another Hela, in defense position.” She continued, walking through her thought-process as the monster appeared alongside the iron giant. “I… Want, deep down,” she paused, laughing. “To summon one of my babies; one of the demons of the void, destructive beasts that could break down your field with raw-fire-power… But…” She took in a deep breath, staring at her field - then her opponents. “...That’s not going to help me much here. Sure, I could get higher attack than you could hope to deal with-- But something tells me that giving you more and more cards into your hand, and making you throw away more and more cards while you have the superior board-state, is only going to give you more and more power. So…” She trailed off, pulling a par of cards from her extra-deck, and glancing between the two of them, ultimately putting one of them back. “I overlay the Generaider Bosses of Iron and Doom, to XYZ summon Number 9: Dyson Sphere!” She announced, as symbols along the floor lit up around the two monsters, engulfing them in light. In a flash, their spirits burst from the light, intertwining into a single being near the ceiling of the room, a large space-station, looming over Terry’s field, as she gave a quick nod. “Because every evil-genius needs a hideout.” She grinned to herself, smiling. “And with that, I end my turn, warrior of light.” Hana stared blankly at Terry. “Huh? Oh, so, so uh...you summoned a Monster, and played a protection spell, got it!” Hana nodded to herself as she drew a third card, making her total now three. She saw the card she drew and did a happy little squirm. “Oh, it’s this one! Watch this, this is gonna be a fun turn! First I gotta remove three of my Fish from the grave and….boom, look! Hunger of the Deep Sea!” A large, ancient looking, fish rose up from underneath the water on the field. Its eyes flashing with a fierce gaze as it settled into position. “It’s attack is equal to uhh...1000 for each Fish in my grave! Which is...uhhh...one, oh wait!” She then removed the last of Shark Ceaser’s materials for a third Shark Counter. “2000!” The Attack further increased by another 200 due to her Field. “Aaand now, spell time! Fish and Kicks! With the power of my banished Fish I can banish one of your cards and I choooose, that space base!” A trio of flickering fish rose up from the spell and circled the Dyson Sphere before dragging it down into the depths. Hana let out a sigh as she realized that was all she could do now. “I guess no point in attacking now, so it’s your turn!” As the space-station was torn apart by the fish in the depths, Terry couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief, drawing a card. “Gonna be honest: wasn’t sure it’d work so easily.” She laughed, rubbing the back of her head. “Now then, that means I’m statistically safe to do… This.” She nodded, her evil-grin coming back, as did her energy. Gosh, thinking ahead really makes you feel like a real final boss! “I play my second, and final copy of Loptr, Shadow of the Generaider Boss.” She explained, the sly, white-robed priest from before once-again taking to the field. “However… I’m not going to be quite so complacent, or slow this time!” She exclaimed, flexing her hand outwards towards Loptr. “It’s time to take the initiative! Loptr, show your true colors! Bring forth your master: Frodi, Generaider Boss of Swords!” Once again, the Robed Priest gave a quick bow as he was engulfed by flames.... “Halt!” Hana called out. “I’m about to use a trap that’ll make you go ‘oh no’. Or rather, Oh Fish!" She then activated one of her traps and the card took effect. “When you use an effect I can shuffle a banished fish back into my deck...this one, and then stop that effect and blow up your Monster!” “Sorry, but I’ll have to interrupt that interruption, with my own interruption!” Terry smiled, snapping her fingers as a trap-card on her own-side flipped upwards. “Generaider Boss Room! When you activate a card in response to one of my Generaider effects, it allows me to discard a card,” she paused, throwing away what appeared to be a Dark World Dealings. “And changes your card’s effect to:” She paused, clearing her throat. “Each Player Draws One Card”. She finished, with just an extra heaping of smug. “Gasp, it was I who was made to go ‘oh no’!” Hana said with a smile. “Exactly! Cower in fear, Warrior of Light!” Terry grinned. “As your draw, allows me to summon another beast from my deck, in defense position! Naglfar, Generaider Boss of Fire! Join Frodi as she comes forth, my generals!” She exclaimed, cackling as the flames created by Loptr grew in intensity, only to be snuffed out in their place by visible gusts of wind. Landing in the center of the smoldering symbols was a winged archangel, a massive great sword firmly within her grasp as she stood at attention, staring the enemy field down. Meanwhile, just behind her, a bull-headed demon seemed to claw its way up from the ground; skin burning with coals as each breath it let out produced steam… “But we’re not done yet! No, sirree!” Terry cried out, practically bouncing up and down in her spot as she pulled a card from her Extra-Deck. “Because, with their union, Blade and Fire combine to summon my highest general, and their God!” Terry announced, clearing her throat again. “From the depths of nothingness, from the caverns of the void, comes a creature far more terrifying than anything seen before! Come forth, Jormungandr! Generaider Boss of Eternity, The Abyss, and All Things Evil!” She announced, as what appeared to be a black spirit shot forth from her card as she played it. The spirit first entered into Naglfar, tearing the burning bull apart from within, before wrapping its snake-like body around his waist, and tearing through Frodi’s armour; pulling the two monsters together until they were overlaid in an XYZ summon. A black-beam of energy enveloped the two monsters as the spirit was given form from their flesh, black scales giving way to red spikes as the world-eating serpent came into view, it’s master posing behind it. “And now, I activate his effect! By discarding one material from him - Naglfar, in this case - I can force us both to draw! And while I can’t summon off of this draw this turn, instead, you must make a devilishly evil choice!” She explained, sliding the card she herself drew - another copy of Dovelgus - under Jormungandr as it coiled higher and higher upon itself. “You must choose a card from your hand, or field, to attach to Jormungandr as material; a sacrifice to the serpent who consumes all.” Hana blinked a few times as she tried to process all that information. She looked at her field and remembered, again, she had a trap card that she, again, forgot what it was. “Well, I dunno what this one is, so might as well choose this trap!” She paused as she realized she had no idea how Terry was supposed to get the card. So, without a care in the world, she took the trap out and ran right through the holograms to hand over the card and run back to her position. The card, as it would naturally, went under Jormungandr; allowing the serpent to coil up higher upon itself; though, those who were watching, would notice as the massive serpent not only made sure not to get run into by the fishy lass, but also made careful motions as to not accidentally hit her, even if it wasn’t a physical hologram. “And with that…” She glanced at Jormungandr’s attack stat, now a nice three-thousand. “I end my turn.” “Wow, I have so many cards to play with now!” Hana said, still all smiles, as she drew her fourth card into her hand. “But don’t get too carried away, Hana! As we’re just getting started!” Terry interrupted, grinning. “I activate Jormungandr’s effect again, as it’s a quick effect! I discard another material, this time, the original Frodi, to have us both draw a card and attach a card of our choice to Jormy!” Terry concluded, sliding another card from her hand - a trap card, Dark Bribe it looked like, under the snake-creature’s card. “So tell me, Hana, what shall you sacrifice this time?” Hana drew her card and her smile widened as she saw the particular spell. Then she grabbed one of the other cards, Salvage, from her hand and once again ran through the field to give it to Terry. Placing the card under the Serpent, Terry did her best to contain herself to little hops in place, before coughing just a bit. “A-Anyways, lets go! You should know the drill by now! You drew, so welcome another generaider from the crew!” She nodded, a heavenly chorus chiming in as a copy of the archangel from before swept down beside Jormungandr, three fae-like swarms appearing around them. “And back to you!” “Your guy is very strong, but still not as strong as my Shark, and things are about to get even bigger soon! I will activate this spell, Sushi Chef!” In front of the girl appeared a man in a chef outfit, holding two large knives. “I can discard up to 3 Fish from my hand and gain 1000 Life for each. And it happens that you’ve given me three of them!” The girl sent the cards to the Graveyard and her life total increased by 3000. As she did her stomach growled and she winced. “Gotta get this done fast so I can eat...Anyway, if three cards are discarded I get to draw a card!” She picked up the card and immediately set the Monster down. “Rage of the Deep Sea! Which also increased in Attack by how many Fish are in the grave...only 500 though.” Both Rage and Hunger’s attack stat increased in a surge. Leaving Hunger with 5200 and Rage with 2700. “And now, Caesar, attack!” “Go ahead! Attack Jormungandr!” Terry announced, cackling. “But first, let me activate Generaider Boss Bite!” She paused, flipping the card over. Red eyes engulfed the world-consuming serpent, as it peered down from it’s towering coils. “Targeting two of my three tokens, and Frodi, I sacrifice them; to attach three monsters from my graveyard to Jormungandr,” she explained, both the destroyed Hela’s and the first Frodi moving from the graveyard to the snake. “Bringing Jormungandr’s total up to seven materials.” She explained, the serpent's spikes oozing a red liquid as it began to move in place; constantly moving and coiling around itself, digging holes into the ground as it did so. Hana squinted at the numbers. Glancing between it and the Monsters on her field. Taking much more time than she should have she slowly nodded. “It’s bigger.” She said, her tone much more solemn than the statement needed. “I guess. I suppose….that’s the end of my turn then. Sorry fish, no food for you this turn!”

Nine had been waiting for the moment. As Cresselia had told them a task would be given to them, he had been on edge waiting for it to happen. And then the day hit when they were told. When they were summoned by the legends Nine didn't hesitate to answer. And so he was pulled in - the familiar sweeping sensation that had happened when Jirachi had teleported them to Juyu. Only this time, instead of ending up in a city, Nine had suddenly ended up some place he wasn't quite expecting. On board a ship. In the air. Surrounded by more people than he could count. As their attention was called to the helm, Nine saw the man known as Captain, with two familiar faces on either side of him. There was a strange sense of relief knowing that Fiona was here, that she was both safe and that he wasn't going to have to fight her, as well as some awe at Azriel's presence. All the same, the situation was dire. And the plan was simple. Nine knew that he would have to square off against the godslayers again, and was glad that they were taking offensive to them. He had met a lot, and there were some he was hoping not to see again, as well as those he knew he still had something to settle with. And then there was the matter of who their leader could be. Who had the power to think they would be able to fell Arceus, as well as keep every one of the godslayers in a state of fear. Yet still, this was not the time for those questions. This was his time to catch up, the last time he would be able to. And so he went to go find the people who were on board here. Though, looking to Lok, Nine patted the boy on the back and said, "looks like someone's safe and sound after all. Go get her tiger." With a smirk on his face, Nine left to go find the first of the people he wished to catch up with. Seeing the sheriff of Juyu herself standing amidst the group, Nine walked over to her with a friendly smile on his face. "Well, well, well. Seeing a sheriff outside her town is quite the rare sight. Hasn't been all that long, but it feels like forever since we last met. So, how was life as a chaser?" "It was frustrating. These foes were far more elusive than I thought. It seems they have finally been pushed to the edge, if this is any indication." Scratching the back of his head, Nine said, "I see. Wouldn't know. I never went searching out for them, but they always seemed to be right where I was. Which was right where a legend was." With a small joking tone he said, "well, maybe they were just too afraid to face you." Heather didn't seem to react much to the compliment. "I tracked one down but they ran before I could finish them off." Looking to Nine she followed with, "we're not going to let them escape this time." Nodding, the Houndoom said, "absolutely. I let two go, hoping they'd figure something else out but...well." Sticking out his hand to shake, he'll say, "let's bring them to justice to Sheriff." She grips Nine's hand in a nearly bone-crunching handshake, and nods. "Yes." She hesitates. "Is Kayla with you?" Nine winced in pain briefly as the girl gripped his hand, slowly returning his expression back to normal to answer her question. "Oh, yeah. She was a great help too with our journeys. But, I'm sure she's waiting for you to be alone to say something." Looking nowhere specific, and with a cheery voice, Nine said, "isn't that right Deputy?" Pulling his hand back and giving a salute to the woman he said, "see you on the battlefield Heather." Walking away, Nine saw out of the corner of his eye the deputy of Juyu appear next to her Sheriff. Smiling, and with a small chuckle, Nine looked around only to see a very surprising familiar face to him. Jovially, he walked over to Trevor the Flygon, saying, "now you. It's been way too long!" Patting Trevor on the shoulder, he followed, "and here I thought you were a scholar, not a fighter." Looking towards the unfamiliar man who just finished speaking with his friend, the chaser asked, "new friend?" As soon as Nine spoke he muttered, "oh no another one." However, realizing who it was, the Flygon let out a sigh and then shrugged. "I didn't want to be here but..." He shrugged again. "And no, not...not really, just. Someone who was in Trailsau recently." "I see. Everything still fine at the homestead?" He gives Nine a strange look. "Is it ever?" Nine let out a laugh saying, "well, you got me there. But honestly. The world outside it. Between the godslayers and legends, the usual brawl seems pretty mundane in comparison." "I wouldn't know." He said, scratching at the back of his head. "I guess it's going fine, then." "Glad to hear. Sorry I couldn't send more letters about what I saw, but time was precious and money was tight. But, when this is all over and we get back home, I got some stories to share with you." Thinking more on it, the man had a mischievous smirk on his face as he knew something that would definitely excite the scholar. "Like, one about a legend you probably didn't even know of." Trevor's eyes suddenly lit up with interest as he leaned in. "What do you mean? Where have you been?" "All over. But, Alpha and Omega, you know that place. Turns out, it's not supposed to look all gray. And it was actually the work of someone who worked alongside Dialga and Palkia." Trevor leaned in even closer, shaking a bit as he tried to contain himself. "I need you to tell me everything." Then he paused and looked around, realizing how many people were around, and backed away with his eyes on the deck. Nine let out a laugh again saying, "hahaha! Yep. Everything's still fine. Don't worry Trevor. When this is all done, I'll tell you about it. About this whole journey I've been on. So make sure you come back to listen." Nine will put out his hand to shake with the Flygon. He let out a sigh. "Yeah I guess I have to deal with this first." Though he didn't seem all too concerned about his chances and gave a brief shake. With that done with, Nine made his way across the ship, to notice one more person aboard. Someone who had a much more imposing presence then everyone else, most others giving him a wide berth as a result. Looking at the man, Nine said, "yep, the aura around you people is definitely different then normal folk. Hey there, Kushiel." He turned and gazes down at Nine ominously. "Greetings, chaser. Have you business with me?" "Ah, well, not really. Just..." The chaser had gotten flustered around the man, though not out of fear of the man. "I just thought I'd catch you up to speed. I've met a bunch of legends, and godslayers and made it back alive and in one piece. All the legends are safe too, well except for...you probably heard about Jirachi. But, well, I figured I'd just let you know that I met him. The third disciple." He frowns. "And what did you think of the evil one?" Nine furrows his brow as he thinks. "He was certainly strong. Oppressively so. But well...he was twisted. He and his legend were unnatural, and beyond reason. I don't think I could ever understand someone like that." As he thinks a bit more on it, remembering one of the first things he heard from Raphael, he suddenly got annoyed as he said, "oh yeah. He was also a cheater!" "Remember this. The strong do not care if their foe fights unfairly. For their strength will prevail." He then grows silent and just when Nine thinks he's not going to speak again, "There are only two who could hope to understand that one's mind." "Two?" "Myself, and the Disciple of Arceus." Nine looked over to Azriel, thinking for a moment, before saying. "I see. Well, you all must've been through a lot back in the day." Though he had known all three of the disciples, and though they had seemed to know each other, Nine didn't know much of anything about them. Though they were different, and though they may have even been at odds, he couldn't help but wonder about the lives they used to lead. All the same, Nine had more to ask of the disciple. With less seriousness in his voice then before, the chaser said, "but, well, I guess this brings me to my other question. And probably the main reason I wanted to talk to you..." "Speak." he rumbled. "Ah, well. When I first met you, I was awed by your strength. By your experience and the title you bore. And you found me lacking in resolve. And maybe as a chaser too. So...I know compared to you, or Azriel or even the other one I don't measure up but...well..." Nine scratched his head, clearly embarrassed by what he is about to ask. "How about now? Do you think I'm someone worthy enough of becoming a Disciple?" He stares down at Nine for a few moments. "I would find you still lacking." Then a pause. "However, most do not share my philosophy. To many you would be considered...adequate." Nine stared at the man, breathless for a moment before having a wide smile on his face, eyes shining. Giving a small bow he said, "thank you sir." Standing back up, a clear spring in his step, he'll say, "then until then. I'll go down there and fight with everything I have. I'll make it back out. And when it's all over, I'll become a Disciple that you can respect. Until then," unsurprisingly Nine brought out his hand to shake. "It'll be an honor fighting alongside you, Kushiel." He looked at Nine's hand before tapping it with his own. "Our enemies will know fear." Clenching his hand back into a fist, with clearly renewed vigor, Nine began to walk elsewhere onto the ship.

Team Showdown - Skuldafn After many hours of continuous binge eating, Taiga was almost full. Conversing with the dragons after passing their trial was alright, but it would be time to head back to base soon. With their gifts from the Legends, the fight against the godslayers would be all but a wash. "I feel like I could take on the whole world!" Taiga roared, as she raised a mug into the air, splashing some ale on her face by accident. "Gah! It's in my eye!" After some flailing, a familiar voice spoke in unison, aimed at her mind. "We are Dialga and Palkia, Lords of Time and Space," "Yeah, yeah I remember! Get on with it then!" Taiga rattled her fist to the sky. "And we have an urgent message. Mioter has fallen. Minutes ago those you know as Godslayers waged an all out attack on the city from the island below. The leaders of the city was forced to use their great Psychic power to teleport it away and have since crash landed in the water. As we send this message our fellow Legendaries are racing to the island to do battle with the Godslayers. This is a call to arms to all those who can fight. We cannot send you there directly but we can bring you to one who can. Answer our call and you will be moved across the land to a vessel that can reach the island. There is no shame in refusing. Just know this is to be the final fight for Adarid's future. If you are ready, brace yourselves." Taiga rubbed the nape of her neck. Just moments ago she was raring to dig her fangs into some Godslayer, but the moment was literally at hand. She closed her eyes, and took a chunk out of some meat. Chewing it in a hurry, she slammed her mug onto the table and shot up like a weed. "BRING IT, YA BOZOS!" She looked to Scarlet and Isole respectively. "I better see you two when I get there!" And in that instant, Taiga was whisked away with nothing but darkness surrounding her. She slid across the ground at a breakneck pace, only to be led into a dazzling light. Upon reaching the other side, she could feel wood beneath her bare feet. She stomped on it, the deck feeling all too familiar. "No way." She shot her head around to be met with a face she wished she wouldn't see again. That damn Pidgeot. Team Showdown - S.S. Showdown "So, that sure was a thing. I'm sure you all heard that lovely little message so I'll get to the point. Welcome aboard the S.S. Showdown, this is your Captain speaking. Seems we've got a bit of a job to do and not much time to prepare. This ship is heading full speed to Mioter, or rather where Mioter was, right now. Where we're to have a confrontation with those bastards that have been screwing things up left and right. I don't know about you but I'm kinda pissed to have this shoved on me so I plan on venting it on those Godslayers. It'll take a bit yet to reach there so rest up while you can I doubt we'll have much time once we reach our destination. Before that, though, I have a couple people here who'd like to speak." "Uh...what...?" Taiga asked in disbelief, now noticing that the ship was in the air. "What the hell is a Mioter?" "I am honored to be standing before so many brave souls. My name is Azriel. Some of you know me as the former sheriff of Juyu. But I am also the Disciple of Arceus... I have watched this land for many years. Unable to intervene due to the terms of my status. However the Godslayers attack isn't just a random occurrence. Moments before it happened I sensed the return of Arceus for just a brief moment. This is their attempt to distract from the fact they now have the creator god within their reach. We must stop them quickly else all life will cease to exist. I know it is much to ask but I hope you to all lend me your strength as we fight this grave threat." "Huh?!" "I'm Fiona. Ah, er. I am...I used to be...I used to work with the Godslayers. B-but I left and was found by this ship's crew. I...have information that will help. The Godslayers' base is located deep underground. The only entrance is a device that is near the center of the island. It will bring people down into the base. But it's not so simple. Once inside the only way to travel from room to room are teleportation pads. It...it takes time for these to be set to travel between rooms so it's likely that before they attacked they set it up to make it difficult for people to attack. But it's the only way to reach the heart of the base where the leader will be." "WHAT!? WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!?" "So there you have it. A lot to take in I'm sure but if you're here it means you're willing to fight and that's really all that matters. I'd love to say we have an in depth plan but there wasn't much time for that and we aren't sure what we're up against besides that it has enough power to shoot a city out of the sky. So here's the plan for what it's worth. We land and we fight. We fight our way to the center of the island. We have no idea how much time we have so don't wait for long once you find this device. Even if it's only a dozen strong once you get there you'll have to head down. Everyone who doesn't get there will fight alongside the Legends and wait for a chance to follow behind." He took a long pause as he looked across the crowd. "Well, that's that. Get what rest you can. And in case I don't get a chance to say it later....good luck. This may be the end but this fight is only just beginning." Taiga almost threw up, but whether it was from this sudden revelation or being so high up in the air was up for debate. Her head swirled, as she aimed her attention at Captain. "You mean...to tell me...*Ulp*," she swallowed down whatever tried to force its way up, "You were workin' with the Legends this whole time?!" Her head swayed from side to side, dizziness and confusion setting in. However, she found her footing, and twisted her foot for more stability. "Whatever, you know what...." She smacked a fist into her hand. "A straight fight is the only thing that really got through to me. The best offense, is a good offense! Fufufufufu!"

The Perfect Storm The Bow that Split the Sky "Time to begin the experiment!"

here is a post for your convenience

If one can make Isolde,_Two_Tales_of_the_Noble_Knights without needing the Normal Summon that this guy would use up... Isolde could use the search effect to search out Gate_Guardian and the likes to offer more attack boost.... You could also randomly run The_Melody_of_Awakening_Dragon to search any of the Rainbow Dragons to get extra set of 4000 ATK to further increase its lethalty. Though there is a lot of factors that have to play out for this thing to OTK (e.g. it needed to be Normal/Set, your opponent needing Special Summoned monster, going 1st/2nd, having just enough combined ATK in hand, etc.) , it would definitely be hilarious to pull off. XD

Renewed Core of Koa`ki Meiru [Spell] This card is always treated as "Iron Core of Koa`ki Meiru". If sent to the GY by a "Koa`ki Meiru" or "Core" card: You can target 1 card on the field; destroy it. While this card is banished: You can shuffle it into the Deck, and if you do, draw 1 card for each "Koa`ki Meiru" monster you control with a different Type. During your Draw Phase: You can banish this card from your GY. - - - - - - - Notes: -Yes, if you run this at 3, you can't run the original Iron Core. -I Know Koa`ki Rocks are good, but I wanna support Urknight, Bergzak, Maximus, Rooklord, Crusader, and the other single tech kinds. It wants you to run different Types and Maximus and Rooklord can both setup the stage for the multi-draw effect, and it going back to the deck means support can keep searching it (it has a bunch of cards that can search it up, but never recycle, and much less so if banished). -Core Overclock and Core Transport Unit have more of a purpose now because everything else in the archetype will only discard this card on your End Phase, and if you want to capitalize on the destruction effect triggering, this is your best bet. You either get +1500 ATK on all your monsters for the turn or search another copy of this card to further do things (none of these effects are hard OPT).

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness

That works as a sort of anti-Ra/Kaiju/Nibiru/Lava Golem hand trap, so long as the monster is not a nomi. Then you could even say the monster "returns" as a slap on the face of those kinds of cards xD I like how it is a fish. Not all hand traps should be lolis xD and Fish-Types have their own Monster Reincarnation. Whitefish Salvage to retrieve it every turn and we start getting the return of arsenal for Coelacanth haha.

Reigknight Reigner / OCG Name: Reigknight Howitzer ( リ イグナイト・ ハウイツァー ) FIRE ✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪✪ (Level 9) [Warrior/Effect] ATK/3100 DEF/2600 Cannot be Normal Summon/Set. Must be Special Summoned (from your hand) by there being 4 or more Pendulum Monsters face-up in your Extra Deck. If this card is Special Summoned: You can target up to 3 face-up Pendulum Monsters in your Extra Deck with different Levels; add them to your hand. You can only use this effect of "Reigknight Reigner" once per turn. Once per turn, when a Spell/Trap Card or monster effect is activated (Quick Effect): You can destroy 1 card you control who shares the same card type (Monster,Spell, Trap), and if you do, negate the activation and then destroy it. Support To: Design Notes: Edit Log: