00 - Prologue - New Game Start

[Maelys Arkana]

As the Mushroom Kingdom decays and falls into despair, many of its inhabitants struggle to find ways to combat the creeping haze that now spread across the land. Seeping from the tower built for their new overlord, the haze is slow to take root, but once it has, it turns the mind into its own enemy, taking its host and decaying their mind. Family would turn on each other, neighbors would take to the street in a mindless rage, soldiers turning their weapon on any who cross their path... Such a chaotic mess, all while the rest cower in their homes, or what shelter they could find.

But in these dark times, even the cowardly can find the strength to stand up. Of the few areas that remain mostly untouched by this haze, one stood verily protected, fueled by the very hope that someone or something might save them. But even this bastion of hope would not last forever, for every day that hope dwindled further and further, and the venerable Star Hill slowly lost its luster, the large stars that dot its landscape dimming more and more. The game was not up, however, as one brave toad had managed to sneak his way across the outlands, arriving at the dimmed Star Hill. It is here that this game takes a turn toward interesting. The toad made his way into the hills, a very important thing on his mind...

---

Just a little further, just a little further. Having narrowly escaped the last patrol, Toad was notably unnerved, eager to reach his destination and get this over with. Persisting purely on adrenaline, he continued running, faster than he'd ever run before. Soon enough, meteorite-pocked hills would appear within his view. He was close, very close. But alas, fate was not on his side today. A small group of Koopas was passing by, and one of them would turn, spotting the wayward denizen. Upon realizing he was spotted, Toad let out a frightened squeak and kept running.

Seconds later he would arrive at Star Hill, the large stars looming over the vast cluster of hills. With the Koopas still a ways off, Toad gathered up his courage and ran up the hill, stopping at one of the great stars. "Please please please! Someone, anyone, please bring someone to help us!" As his pursuers started closing the distance, the large star would begin to glow faintly, just a bit at first. The second time, it would grow brighter, regaining some of its lost power.

Out of nowhere, a small star would fall from the sky to land right on Toad's head, taking him by surprise and knocking him to the ground. The star would get up and prepare to introduce itself when the bigger, less mobile star would shine once more, illuminating the small area around them. In a flash, a figure would materialize before them in a brilliant flash of light. Soon after, another figure would appear, followed by another. The Koopa patrol watched as these newcomers appeared out of thin air, and prepared themselves before rushing toward the small group of people, intent on capturing or, if they resist, killing them.

---

The Star Road has answered Toad's wish, the wish of all Mushroom Kingdom denizens - for help to arrive. The power of the stars has summoned individuals from across time and space, pulling them willingly or no through the rift, bringing them to this point on Star Hill. Here you stand, faced with a small group of eight armored Koopas, rushing toward you and ready to attack. What will you do? How will you act? the choice is yours...

[Captain Pigtails]

A little girl appeared.

Quite possibly not the picture of some hero-savior of Toad dreams. Sure, they had managed to get very lucky with short humans before but... she wasn't even human. Green tunics and shining armor were the garb of heroes, but could the same be said of yellow pleated skirts and modern t-shirts?

That wasn't really the point of things, one supposed. Summoning heroes was playing gacha, right? You get what you get and you don't get upset!

Well the little girl they plucked from wherever she was before hadn't got the memo. Being upset seemed to be exactly where she was getting. Tears filled her eyes as she desperately scanned the area. What was she looking for?

"Captain!?"

Her Captain. Who didn't really seem to be nearby. Instead, just a bunch of scary looking monsters that seemed to be rushing right toward her. Their violent nature filled the air.. and it wasn't even just theirs. Fear. She couldn't move her hand without feeling it. Really feeling it.

"HELP!" She shrieked!

...

"Wha?"

Another figured appeared, taking the shape of an older girl with bright pink hair. Her name was Serra and to be honest, she wanted to complain about lots of things at this moment. Being spirited away was an experience that she found quite unpleasant, and all sorts of things were annoying about it now that it was done. There really was an endless amount of things she could complain about right now.

But a kid was whining for help.. and..

Serra glanced around and took stock of the situation. Strange, grotesque looking.. things seemed to be charging up a hill they were standing on. The kid was looking up at Serra with pleading sort of eyes. 'Please save me, lady Serra!' kind of eyes.

Ugh.

"Just.. just watch out, okay? Kick them if they get close." She tried to stand defensively in between the kid and the other group. If one of them got too close she would try to smack it with a Shine spell... the numbers were enough to make her already feel nervous.

She kinda hoped the kid might know something more useful than kicking and biting but.. she knew she shouldn't expect that. She didn't know much better at that age.

Sunny's OOC Thoughts: "Traveling by star wasn't fun, I didn't even remember it! And I got a real good memory! I wish I could.. and where's the Captain!? Does she know what these funny turtles are? Please don't eat me, funny turtles!"

[Koi Koi]

Flux, the continuous change and shifting of energy in the world. In the case of aetherical magic, it refers to the shift in the aether flow in the environment before and after a spell is cast. Each spell releases a different amount of flux, influencing its potency over time. Ever shifting, ever changing, it is a symbol of the entropy that not even magic can escape. No matter how much "energy" is created through aetherical spellcraft, no matter how much we seem to reverse the flow of entropy, flux remains in this universe. Increasing steadily, decomposing and reestablishing itself. A show of how not even magic is above the laws of the world, and how even with spells humans can never surpass the gods.

Eliza never truly believed that latter half, though. More of this religious nonsense that tried to oppose automancy regardless. Flux was an element as much as fire or aether is. Something that holds qualities opposite of aether, but can be harnessed for magic just as any other. Automancy is a sign of that, and if she could push herself just a little further, there may be a breakthrough on reversing the flow of flux. It was part of her main goals as a research mage, though she wishes she was not alone in this field of study.

Though, now that she was in this foreign land, with flux enveloping her entire body, she had to question it. What was the cause of this? Dimensional travel? Forbidden and impossible by all means, there's just no way there's enough energy to enrich an aether field. She's experimented with it multiple times with her automantric sigils, but it's impossible. Has the flow of time and space been tampered with? Is this what it means to toy with the idea of flux magic? She wanted time to take this in. Time to indulge herself into the peaceful silence of the area. See this multicoloured aftereffect of magic continue to enfold itself around her as she enfolded her thoughts, tempering her will as she had always done for her studies. As she has always operated...

except there's the sound of SOMEBODY SCREAMING WHAT EVEN IS THIS. Even when she's transported to the gods knows where, she can't ever seem to find time to be alone for her meditation! Who was it? A young child? And... a priestess? What a pain, but what were they screaming about? As terrifying as an unknown environment is, there's no immediate... threat..
 
"Oh, of course there's a threat," she muttered to herself as she raised a hand forward. With a quick flourish of the hands and a long breath outward, a circle of light formed at her fingertips. The circle was accompanied by a larger circle in front of it, and one larger still. Creating a conal integral of light, which immediately compressed itself into a singular magic seal suspended in midair. The outer circle went from a singular line to a string of words as the smaller inner circles began to expand and contract in synchronized motion. The whole sigil resembled the aortic pump of a heart, emptily pushing forward flux, waiting for a spell to come forth. Eliza hadn't decided what she was going to upgrade via her automantric seal, however. She needed more time to assess the situation. 

The researcher turned to Serra, the only other competent that she could scout out, and inquired briefly, "Are these our only enemies?" She paused, looking at the oncoming foes through her automantric seal before continuing, "Then we'll settle this quickly." 

She would love to study this world more, but there was work to be done.

[Maxi Wesker]

[ BGM: Into a Unsettling Atmosphere ]

From above, three bright stars descended from the eerie sky and crashed down in the center of an undetermined battle between humans and creatures in knightly armor. As the stars landed, each of them materialized into three powerful figures.

The proud and powerful Makai vampire, Demitri Maximoff.

The knowledgeable, mysterious, and infinitely cunning researcher, Albert Wesker.

And last but not least, a rebel superhuman with a gifted ancient power from a fallen legend, Maxi.

Each of the three were unaware of the situation at hand, but as the slight breeze of the gentle winds blew passed the vampire 's manly face, he began to quietly smell a familiar scent and smirked. It was the smell of human that excited the vampire as he looked back and noticed the women behind him, especially the scared little girl, with he demonic instinct ready to take action. However, before Demitri could begin his feast for blood, a hand was placed on his muscular shoulder. It was Wesker stopping Demitri from harming the women...but that's strange, Wesker didn't care for anyone but himself.

Demitri snarled at the man in shades and said, "You dare interfere with my hunger human...unless of course you would like to..." the vampire was interrupted as the researcher has spoken over him. "I believe we have more pressing matters to attend to, perhaps these vermin in armor can prove to be a better delight than mere humans?" Wesker smiled as the vampire pushed the researcher's hand away and said, "Interrupt me again zombie and I'll drain your lifeless corpse until there's nothing left of you." Wesker only lifted an eyebrow wondering how the Makai vampire already knew of his reborn superhuman body, but the other started to become very annoyed with their conversation as he only stood their with his hands in his pockets. "If you're both done talkin' these fairy tale creatures are gettin' pretty close and I'm not one to just surrender so..."

Bored of the ridiculous situation itself, Maxi turned his hand into a green substance and created a trident before he jumped and threw it down towards the group of knights. Whether the trident made an impact or not, its power would splash to the ground with rising gunk causing some of the knights to be knocked into midair, leaving them wide open for another attack. Demitri and Wesker would simply observe the enemies before them.

[Teki]

A Surprise Welcoming Party!

Among the others, a young woman appeared, a girl in her late teens, whose immediate reaction was to go wide-eyed and hold her head. A sudden dizziness had hit her, a strange feeling of moving incredibly fast and then suddenly stopping almost making her want to vomit. Her clothing was strange; ill-fitting blue jeans, an aged tan backpack, and an overly large light purple hoodie with a few holes were visible on her, showing hints of a pink shirt underneath. One would think her a schoolchild from a poor family, one that was walking through a storm, judging from the fact that she was wet, though thankfully, not sopping wet.

As soon as the dizziness faded, she pulled the hood off and turned, gasping as she saw the armored… turtles coming at her? She blinked in deep confusion, momentarily offput by the apparent turtles running towards her. But things clicked, and the confusion turned into fear.

“Knights of the Sun?!”

She looked around, studying the other people around her for just a split second before running to the caped man that was standing next to the one in sunglasses, hiding behind him – he was a pretty big man, he could protect her! At least for a few moments… that was all she needed. Fear twisted her breathing, making her gasp and pant in desperation as she hung behind the two. Knights of the Sun were not good, not for her… she didn’t want to go away, be locked up… going to jail was very very bad! ‘Please,’ she pleaded to the men, despite the fact that her thoughts couldn’t be heard, ‘Just protect me long enough to find a way out!’

The pinkette didn’t even realize that at least one of them would be able to tell she reeked of blood. She was in a strange area, and scared, clinging to the backpack she had twisted to her front, as if something inside it was her security as she gathered her bearings and looked for escape routes… how was she to know one of them would have enhanced senses?

[Captain Pigtails]

Just when hope seemed lost, Sunny had indeed seen a pink haired figure appear in a flash of light and come to her rescue. Not her Captain at all.. rather than the rough edges (and core) of her Captain, there was an approachable.. almost maternal quality to this pink haired girl that had appeared. Like a big sister. The girl in question might mention, if she could be made aware of these thoughts, that she's a heavenly and beautiful sister with a different sort of meaning behind the word. Still, a sister any which way you slice it.

"T-Thank y--" she started, quite intent on being the polite child, but then more appeared and ruined such politeness. Then more.. and more.

It was all a bit much for Sunny, who was quite sure that even more random strangers might appear now and somehow none of them were Captain. Which was quite unfair! Also about half the ones that showed up were like, scarier than the turtles!? Why!?

"Thanks!" she chirped, standing defensively behind both women, although moving herself to stand a bit more behind Eliza. The tone the pretty lady had sounded so sure of herself and it was really comforting to her. Once she was sufficiently protected by her big sisters though she allowed herself a second or to to truly take in her surroundings.

"The air has got lotsa spirits in it.." she said, softly. "They feel scared.." She gulped dramatically. "Really REALLY scared."

Then she glanced at the other four that arrived, mostly the three men. "They look scary, and.. and not the fun kind of scary. D-do you know them?" Speaking to both pretty ladies and neither in particular.

Serra didn't though, was the fast answer. "They seem to be on our side, I'm sure they'll make themselves useful!" Such a statement made with an air of authority befitting her station, of course. 

OOC: "Whaddya mean by that Grub, fun kinda scary? Huh?" "Oh? Um.. like the crew.. and you Captain!" .. .."Owwie Captain! You don't gotta hit me! ;v;"

[Aphelionquasar]

With the destruction of the Access Ark, Popstar and by extension Dreamland had returned back to their natural pristine states. Peace once again settled over Popstar. At least for now. Admittedly, he did not understand the workings of the technology that had transformed organic life into synthetic, nor would he ever claim to, but he was not nearly so optimistic that the destruction of Star Dream had freed the planet entirely of the influence of Haltmann Works. He had dispatched the Meta-Knights to scrounge for any remaining traces of the Mega Corporation remaining on Popstar. If any refuse remained behind, it might still a pose a threat... none of them were familiar enough with this technology to fully assess the potential danger even pieces might possess. Disposing and dissembling the remnants would be the safest policy towards Haltmann Works technology. It was possible that they might even obtain spare parts for the Halberd, which was once again in need of repair after its... assimilation. Kirby had not been kind to the battleship, though the young Star Warrior undoubtedly had no idea the number of hours that him and his crew had sunk into rebuilding the ship let alone the resources. Scouring Popstar for the remains of its... robotization, as some of his crew had begun to call the phenomenon had proven difficult, fortunately not a piece of the super structure had been found. He had taken to the ground. There was no reason to take a risk and call off the search simply because the initial results were negative from the air. The forests around Dreamland in particular could be dense, Whispy Wood’s energy ran thoroughly through the land encouraging the overgrowth of trees. The canopy was thick enough that any remnant could have been easily missed by the passes above and... ‘Dear Champion, you need not bury the truth in reason.’ She hummed in his mind, his gaze flickering upward instead of resting on the two who had chosen to accompany him to check the area. There was a soft laugh as he shook his head as if to refute her, but, she already knew, she always did, ‘They suspect already. You did come back with rockets attached to the dimensional cape.’ Did he now? It was a haze. That is the moments after he had broken away from the mother computer and had overridden his “programming”. ‘Yes, you did, dear champion. It caused quite a bit of alarm at the time.’ At least he had thought he had hidden certain facts from his crew, there was no need for them to be burdened with the entire tale, not when there was no doubt another threat to prepare for. His personal welfare did not supersede that of his crew... and he would have to admit he was a poor commander if he had shown that recent events had perhaps rattled him ever so slightly. ... Trudging silently through the woods, he deigned it time to catch up with his subordinates before moving onto the next thick wooded sector of this woods. At first he thought it was his mind playing tricks on him, or Galaxia trying to subtly coax him into talking more, yet, it was not a tug at him. Not his conscious at least. No, it was a physical feeling, one that was unfortunately a bit too familiar for his tastes. It was gentle at first this force trying to tug him through the flow of physical space, but strengthened as he refused to simply slip through. Perhaps if he did not possess the dimensional cape, he would have gone almost willingly, but, he recognized the feeling of being torn from this dimension. It was a rather... memorable experience. Could he have fought it more? Yes, but he let go, the pull was getting stronger, the gap wider. Last time, the rip in space had become wide enough to take with him a docked, empty Halberd and so he stopped fighting the force that had deigned it an appropriate time to steal him once more from his... “home”. That was a poor decision the first time around and in the past, this sort of phenomenon had always landed him in battle one way or another. So, he simply let the force take him, lest some of his unwitting men and innocents be caught in the mess he had managed to get himself caught in. “Sir...? Were are ya? We’re all ready ta move onta the next area.” A teal knight holding a blade looked around the dense forest holding a sword, waiting all patiently for a response. A response that he didn’t receive. “S’alright?” Another, shorter knight queried at the teal one. An attempt at comfort. “Think the lord done and buggered off on us ‘gain. Haven’t seen him ‘round.” There was a pause between the two of them as the shorter one shook his head, causing a clattering sound to ring out on the account of his face mask hitting his breast plate, “Ow umilatin.” Sheathing the blade, the teal knight managed to suppress a sigh, “Yew can say that ‘gain. Could have gotten mighty far too with ‘hem wings and all that. Could have told us.” It wasn’t as if their Knight Lord was easy to spot on a good day and so the awkward silence continued. The stouter knight tugged at the taller teal knight, “Yeah, guess we bettah get back. He’s run off ‘fore without a word plenty. Mayhaps someone saw a something.” Except, before, there wasn’t much out there that they knew of that could challenge the Knight Lord, those days were long behind both of them. Especially after the last attack, but, none of them pushed about it. “Wachya mean?” Gesturing towards the trail both of them had used, “Ain’t that what yew meant by draggin’ me ‘long here? Get back to ta ship?” It was fitting for a Star Warrior to arrive as a star. It was almost amusing, having recognized the shape that he had taken upon entrance into this new world if not for the fact that he was pressed into a combative situation immediately upon his arrival. He had more or less expected this to occur. Past experiences in entering other dimensions had taught him to expect a fight, particularly when he had been presented with no choice in the matter. He did not know what these creatures were called, these... strange shelled creatures before him clad in armor and wielding lances, but, he did know of the long limbed beings who were threatened. He had asked a time ago about them, one of his companions for a short time, two of them were both of their ilk. It was another dimension, perhaps not the same as this, but these beings were called beorc... though truth be told he was unable to understand his other companion well enough to verify this... they spoke two completely different tongues. It did not matter, these strangely familiar shelled creatures were threatening an unarmed... youth and a female of the species. ‘Disgraceful, are these bandits without any honor?’ Galaxia mirrored his thoughts, though he disagreed. The armor was too well taken care of for these shelled creatures to be mere bandits. The thought only served to make this entire encounter more distasteful. Yet, it seems he was not the only one who thought so, more... beorc came to the aid of their unarmed companions, though out of the corner of his eye, one, a smaller one had fled. A child perhaps, though he could not tell, he was only extrapolating off what he had been told about the beorc as a whole. Knocking the cape he had wrapped around himself in the midst of transport to keep it from catching on physical space, Galaxia phased in... she was not pleased by such a display either. Halt their advance, that was the first priority, they could not engage innocents in meaningless combat if these creatures could not reach them. Lifting Galaxia aloft, he resonated with the blade focusing on their matching distaste for the scene unfolding before them and transferred his energy into the tip of the blade. It was true, he was reacting to the scene before him, but, this was no instinct. By releasing the energy, the crescent wasn’t fully formed, and ignited the air around it and cutting in front of these troopers that had deigned it acceptable to involve those unable to defend themselves. It was debatable if these creatures were worthy of their armor at all, yet... they had chosen this fight and as “warriors” they would be aware that they had bet their lives. If not, then they were merely cowards. Dashing forward, there was a moment where his eyes gleamed white.

1464 WELL I TRIED. NOT BAD FOR BEING HOPED UP ON PAIN KILLERS HUH? Also sorry if I messed anyone up, I probably didn't even know it

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Maelys Arkana]

As the troop drew closer, one of the newcomers prepared what could be assumed to be a weapon, and then more threatening individuals show up. This didn't bode well for the koopas, giving them reason to slow to a halt, rethinking their methods. Opponents continued to manifest from nothingness, how would they be able to capture all these people? If they kept showing up, the koopa troop would be outnumbered quick. The presumed leader of this patrol would suddenly step forward, hop a few times, and point toward Toad and the newcomers. Brandishing his spear, he would charge once more, three of his koopas following suit, raising their spears at the ready.

The other half of the troop would remain behind, two of the koopas withdrawing into their shells. Without a word, the two standing koops would deliver a hefty kick each, sending their curled up kin careening toward the opponents. As the green trident slammed into the ground just in front of the leader koopa, it would detonate in a brilliant burst of a strange green gunk, the detonation throwing the koopas into the air. Though hurt greatly, the leader would withdraw into his shell while airborne.

The small, sword-wielding opponent would launch its own projectile, this one igniting the air around it, giving it a trail of flames as it collided with one of the spinning shells, sending it back the other way. The shell would instead slam into the koopa that had kicked it, stunning both of them and knocking them both onto their backs. The remaining spinning shell would continue its path, aimed at the pink haired priestess.

[Koi Koi]

Ignore the others, she would normally think to herself. She's familiar with the field of battle, and for someone who specialized in longer ranged artillery fire, the matters of the other soldiers meant little as long as she hit her own mark. Though, this was the most unusual battlefield she had the dishonor of being on. She turned her eyes to the others, scanning the area for any abnormal threats. And lo and behold, all of them registered as abnormal. Swathing with unusual aether registers, some steeped in it as her own body was steeped in attuned aether. Most of these readings were likely due to the flux patterns that had taken herself here, but a particular number of these bodies read as... threatening.

Those three men that came in together, for instance. No sign of real magic, no magical experience in the two. But the third one registered a color not unlike attunement. But no, not with any one of the five basic senses like how standard attunement worked. Attunement was due to high magic concentrations in a child during their upbringing, causing one of their senses to become high synchronized with magic. It's a form of synesthesia, in sort. For Eliza's case, magic has become closely interlinked with her sense of sight. She recalls Koi, a brutish casino dealer whose body activated magic upon strong senses of touch - physical pain, in short. But this person... magic was steeped in every fiber of their body. To Eliza this was not just an aura of magic surrounding one of their sensory organs. She literally could not see the physical body of this man, only the interweaving threads of aether that enveloped the very cells.

It was worse than that as well. A second person also seemed to hold this property. A young girl, apparently, but with the same blinding aura. Were they of the same dimension? This second one also ran to the three men, apparently pleading with them. Then yes, those two magic-enfused people were together. What an unusual opportunity for research this was! Were these two monsters that had gained higher intelligence? Demons? Gods? She had scoffed at the concept of gods before, or at least the idea of gods walking among men in the past. Perhaps it was her skepticism of the older fields of magic, but she saw magic as a more natural force that was part of the world itself, not some hypothetical gift from some hypothetical otherworldly being. Why would a god interact with mortals? Who would even believe they would talk with someone like her? Certainly not Eliza. And yet it was tempting enough to consider it. If gods were from another dimension, wouldn't it be possible to meet with a god here? If she could document proper evidence of this, this could become a scientific breakthrough in her home nation! Perhaps this little journey out of her original world could be considered a research trip. Yes, that's what this is. 

Another opportunity for science.

Oh, but there's another person here. How mysterious, short yet with a mask and... and oh. She stopped her previous spell preparations and gawked at this mysterious swordsman and that... glorious weapon. What was that? Enchanted, but not with inscriptions. No sign of aether crystals, and yet it produced such a glorious aura of aether that it looked nearly... like solid gold.. She had never seen such a magnificent aura from a piece of steel. Was it even steel? Perhaps, no, she couldn't even begin to guess. Any hypothesis on her end would only be an insult to the weapon itself. No Zein administrator would be able to produce such a fine blade. And it could cast an aetherical projectile! Or at least she thought it registered as aether. But at the same time, even the spell itself carried an equivalent metallic sheen to it, as if the spell itself was but a second blade born purely from the aura of the first! What a glorious spell, who crafted it? Was it inscribed into the weapon, or perhaps this swordsman was also knowledgeable in magic? She had to know. She had to take this one to study as well. Gods, demons, monsters, and now a beautiful weapon! So much to study, so little time! Especially with the fi-

Bugger it all, she forgot about the threats! Turtles, it looks like. Basic monsters, even a low tier hunter would be able to clean these up quickly so she could go back to admiring- STUDYING that sword. Such a nice sword. She should invest herself into getting a weapon herself. But then again...

What better weapon was there than the life of another?

She took in a deep breath, holding her hands out in prayer, and then into a martial stance. She raised her arms, her hands making a circle in front of her mouth as she exhaled, aetherical smoke billowing out and concentrating itself in front of Eliza's hands. It was as if she was making a bubble, the smoke spinning and growing in size until it created the aetherical wisp. She smiled at the sight of another wonderful creation, a pure white that retained the most basic form of sentience. Oh, but this wasn't the end of her magic show. 

"Now go, child of life's breath. Grow from the nothingness you were born from." She chanted, pushing the wisp forward into the aetherical seal she had created before. Upon sensing the presence of an automantric creation, the seal began to pulsate and dilate, allowing the wisp to pass through the circle. As it did, the edges of the circle closed in, vacuuming the smoke from the wisp and solidifying it, creating a blinding light as the center of the wisp slowly took form into...

Professor! What do you need me for this time?

The automantric fairy. Eliza smiled at the sight of it, as should any parent upon seeing their child for the first time in weeks. No time for pleasantries this time, we had work to do. Eliza pointed to the oncoming turtle shell, and as expected of her aetherical protege, the fairy immediately took to her work. Chatty as always, of course.

Aww, you called me just to knock a shell over? I know the Professor's got a bad kick, but I thought I'd be more useful to you than that! Well, not a problem! Aetherical Volley Rank 2, go~!

The fairy extended arms to both sides, summoning spheres of automantric energy as big as herself before thrusting her hands forward, sending both orbs toward the shell. Eliza herself also pointed towards the shell, mimicking the fairy's motion. No, the orbs would not attack the shell itself. Likely that shell would merely deflect the weaker volleys. However, that's why she has used the fairy for its rank 2 volleys. If the two shots were to collide with each other in FRONT of the shell... the explosion resulting from the collision would likely be enough to send that shell flying. And... of course! These stupid creatures haven't learned how to curve their own attacks.

Aaand, detonate!

The orbs, though slow, would meet its mark, merging with each other right in front of the shell to create a powerful aetherical bomb, sending an explosion reverberating through the area. Eliza turned back towards Serra and the younger child, making sure they were safe before stepping forward towards the rest of the monsters threatening them. Let's clear this quickly so she could finally get to some more interesting studies.

[Maxi Wesker]

With Maxi able to hit his mark, the little knights, including their supposed leader, were knocked into the air defenseless. The leader had withdrew into his shell to defend himself, but the superhuman, still airborne, only showed a smirk on his face as if he was excited about something. Maxi hasn't really shown this expression of excitement in a very good while, what could possibly be running through this guy's mind...that was a mystery.

[ BGM: Fun Times like a Carnival Ride! ]

"Heh..." Maxi let out a slight chuckle before he dashed towards the leader's shell, leaving a green afterimage before he teleported away from the human eye. Wesker simply stood there and stayed quiet seeing as this battle to be meaningless, but when he witnessed Maxi's power he'd only analyze the man's actions. It was a strange power indeed, but Wesker thought nothing more but an intrigue, possibly might even be able to study it more and learn from it...but the real question was, why were they even brought into this world. The researcher was in the middle of finalizing his Uroboros project so that he can achieve his goals to become a god....however, he wasn't aware of another world present.

Before Wesker could think on it any further, he saw Maxi reappear behind the shelled knight supposedly coming up with a plan. "Yo shades?! quit standin' there and show me what ya GOT!" Maxi yelled as his foot started to spark with electricity, and as he focused his eye sights on the other airborne knights, he swung his foot and would kick the shell. If his sudden attack succeeds, the shell would be covered with lightning hitting each of the flying knights knocking them away before the shell flies its way towards Wesker.

"Hmmm, I don't have time for these interferences" Wesker said as he straighten up his sunglasses. As the shell had gotten closer, the superhuman researcher moved his body back before he pushed both his palms forward, destroying the knight's armor completely with his superhuman strength. The force of the physical attack blasted the creature away as it would hit the already stunned knights away from the group's presence.

[ BGM: Blood Thirsty Encounter ]

Meanwhile, Demitri's observations was put to and end when a girl had approached them and stayed behind the vampire, cowering. Demitri placed his hand over his head out of the annoyance of weak humans, but not before he sensed something about her....blood. He turned to the little girl with curiosity as he analyzed her closely and started to smell her...indeed, she reeked of human blood. He'd grab her the back of her coat and teleport to the quiet skies while carrying her. Now that their surroundings were silenced, he'd ask, "There is no game more entertaining than that which risks your very life, so tell me...why is it that you cower behind me, are you afraid you're death will be swift?" He then noticed her back, what was she protecting...it was obvious, more blood, but her cowardice was truly disappointing. "Your blood is even weaker than you! I will not let it stain my lips! Demitri was already ready to give up, but he knew she had potential, he's just waiting for it as he teleported them back down to the ground and let's her go.

[Captain Pigtails]

The fear was so thick in the air that you could just about feel it.

Such a phrase could probably be said for most of the newcomers, but for Sunny it was all to really real. The world she saw before her was filled with a thick red smog, a steam of anger and fear. She had to try to close herself off, but often no matter how hard she tried.. the spirits would mingle with her. Become part of her. The smoke touching her skin and then..

It was hers.

"I'm scared." She said, clutching her chest. An odd gesture for someone without a heart to be sure. "I'm really scared." Her voice sounding so fragile and hurt.


Our pink haired priestess for her part, was a tad distracted and wasn't able to notice the child's distress. A flaming turtle demon sort of took priority in these sorts of moments, but she was pleased when Eliza handled the situation.. all without Serra having to lift a finger. An expert maneuver if she could say so herself. And there she was, ready to heal a wound at a moment's notice. Everyone doing exactly what they should.

Really she was just happy to see that the situation was under control, and to have already found someone dependa--

And.. there she went. Right into the fray, which to be honest was honestly the last place she wanted to be.

"Oh, come on!" she whined loudly. She didn't think it was necessary for them to toddle off to the front lines. Leave that to the strange boys, right? For a moment she thought about just sticking put, but.. standing here with just the kid was not what she wanted at all though.. and it left her no other choice. "Wait for us! I can heal you, you know? You can pay me back later, don't worry!" she squealed, not noticing Sunny's fears and instead just grabbing the child's arm firmly and tugging her along.

[Teki]

Whatever this place was, it was a mountain, and that meant getting down was going to be hard. Why was she even here?! She was just looking for shelter from the rain, and then dizziness…!

A soft gasp came out of her as the sound of battle, interrupting her thoughts. The Knights were being fought off by… nearly everyone! Why would they fight a heroic organization…? Were they criminals…? Why were the Knights even here, anyway?! Did she somehow get teleported to their base? None of this made any sense at all!

She was staring at the ground as her mind desperately tried to figure something, anything out, but then the ground was suddenly gone! She went wide-eyed, immediately trying to reach back, grab the man that had taken her, but quickly grabbed her backpack again, unable to decide whether to cling to him for safety or cling to the thing almost as precious as her own life. “Are you crazy?!” she yelled, fear filling her voice, “I can’t fly!” She struggled, trying to break free and escape from the man – not realizing that it could very well spell her doom – but she paused at the mention of a single word. She looked back at him, a strange and new look in her eye. What did he know of blood? Why did he even mention it… oh god, could he tell?! Her arms weakened in shock for a moment, and her backpack slipped through her fingers. Before she could yell or grasp for it, she was back on ground level.

“NO! NONONONONOOOO!”

Luzia yelled as she looked up, holding her head and squeezing her hair in panic. She made a desperate attempt to catch the backpack, but she was off by a not small distance, gasping in pain and fear as the backpack hit the ground, something bursting within and staining her satchel red. “AUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!” She whirled, glaring at the brawny man that took her up. “Blood is really hard to get; it took me forever to get that! Why did you even do that?!”

She grit her teeth, hissing softly under her breath. Now she was mad; her eyes kept darting to the battle, but, for the moment, it seemed like a non-issue. It made her uncomfortable – and yet, excited her at the same time – but the others seemed to be taking care of it for now. She was more concerned with the… asshole that ruined her container!

[Deleted]

Deep within the recesses of the Dimensional Bypass, the very connecting point that houses portals to thousands of different dimensions all within the Omniverse, a lone spaceship could be seen zooming by. Within this spaceship, you could see computers and all sorts of high tech machines making this ship run. Monitors showing the course the ship was on, as well as every dimensional portal that was passed by. Sitting in the captains chair with hand on the control panel was a young female scientist.  

This woman was none other than Silvia Hoshikawa. A scientist and hero from her own world, Silvia was born in long line of scientific geniuses who in their own way made breakthroughs that helped advanced the Planet Earth technologically. With each Hoshikawa born, the world moved further in further into the age of the future. In Silvia's free time she would also use her technologhy namely her power suit to defend this world from evil that endangers it. In the current state of how things are in Silvia's world, technological advancement had reached it's absolute pinnacle with no further way to improve. The planet itself was in an age of peace and prosperity. While she was over joyed to see what she had brought to this world by her own influence, she felt a feeling of emptiness inside knowing there was nothing left to do. There was nothing further she could do with her research that hadn't been done already... No excitement... No thrills... Just nothing at all.

During Silvia's research however, she had always had a suspicion that there could be other worlds, dimensions, as well as universes outside her own. It quickly became her goal to see the truth for herself which ultimately lead her to the assembly of her ship. With nothing left for her in this world, she eventually used her finished ship to rip open a spacial rift to take her to the Dimensional Bypass. It was there she discovered she was right all along. Thousands among thousands of portals leading to other worlds unlike anything she had ever seen before. This was exactly what she needed for her research. As a scientist she had a deep curiosity about other worlds outside her own, and now she could finally see what she'd been missing. In addition to all the action and excitement that came with it. She could use her knowledge of futuristic technology to complete influence other worlds. This truly was everything she could ever dream of.

Throughout the last year, she had been dimension hopping world to world. She had seen horrors no human being should ever have to witness... she has saved dimensions... In this one year, her journeys had made her truly feel alive as a scientist once more..

One year later, here is Silvia still dimension hopping. But it was on this day as she was zooming through the bypass that Silvia heard a voice call out to her...

"Please please please! Someone, anyone, please bring someone to help us!"

The starship came to a halt all of the sudden upon the voice calling out. Confused by the source of this voice, Silvia began to look around. "What is that voice..? Someone is calling for help..." Immediately the scientist began quickly typing on the ships control system before her before calling out, "Computer, do a analysis of where the voice is coming from. Someone is in some serious danger!"

ANALYZING ANALYZING!

The scan then showed the portal not too far from her ship's current position. Suddenly the portal began to glow with a bright light. Something about the glow of this light almost seemed like out of desperation it was calling for Silvia to enter.

"Looks like it's time for me to save the day once again" the scientist said with a chuckle and a cocky grin. With a few quick clicks on the keyboard, she sent the ship flying full speed into the light of the portal. For a few brief moment, it was too bright to even see anything. When the light finally subsided her ship had made it through overlooking the troubled Mushroom Kingdom from the skies above.

 "Hmm, can't say I've ever been here before... Let's just check the computer's data bases for any possible map data." As the ship's computer was scanning for any potential map data, the purple haired scientist piloted the ship to make a landing in the nearest possible location. However as the landing was being made, the gorgeous sight of Star Hill glimmering from below. All those stars glittering from the suns rays shining down from above... it was truly a miraculous sight to behold. 

"Amazing.... truly amazing indeed..." Silvia remarked. The ship lowered closer and closer to the foot of Star Hill. Within moments the landing gear pulled out as the ship safely made a landing. Before she left she looked back at her monitor which was done doing an area scan for map data. The map of the entire region was on screen now. The computer had the words "Mushroom Kingdom" on it. As soon as the map data was acquired, it was already being uploaded to the visor of the girl's power suit.

"So this is the Mushroom Kingdom eh? Wish I had time to enjoy the scenery but I have work to do." 


Out of the chair went the scientist as the cockpit opened allowing Silvia to exit. Carefully she made her way out and down the ladder to the ground.  Her feet connect with the ground as she looks ahead at the glimmering Star Hill. 

"Welp.... somewhere in this world... Someone is in dire need of my help. I must save them before it's too late."

Silvia reached for a small button on the side part of her ship. With a click the giant ship dematerialized and then materialized into a small capsule. Catching it in her hand, this capsule was now put into her inventory.

"Alright... let's do this!"

In that moment seeing the glimmering Star Hill, knowing that somewhere out there there's a person in dire need of help, filled Silvia with determination.

[Aphelionquasar]

It did not go unnoted that these creatures, despite being clad in armor, had withdrawn into their shells as he dashed towards the group that had lagged behind their comrades. Likewise, it was not an act born of panic or fear, there was coordination in their movements. Although he had not believed that these shelled creatures were outlaws from the beginning, this coordination had implied a certain level of skill and training that did not necessarily lend itself to banditry. Or perhaps what was more telling... was that there was a certain level of trust involved in utilizing your comrade’s bodies as projectile weapons which the lagging group deftly demonstrated. There was a certain level of coordination to function as a group of outlaws, but, trust did not often factor into the equation for the pursuit was wholly centered on the individual. Their movement did not suggest such a focus on the individual which ran counter to the prevailing ideology that often tended to drive bandits, profiting for me and only me. ‘It is worse to me that they sully the honor of a solider rather than have lost sight of common decency and to greed. They are unworthy of the designation of knight if they wear such a decorated title.’ There was a mental huff that Galaxia let out as she glowed slightly, indignant as it became clearer that this outfit had some degree of basic combat training though... which they had deigned to use against unarmed combatants. These creatures might as well have been bandits, this was unacceptable behavior even if these actions were only the result of orders. The actions that they had taken did not display the level of skill required from a knight nor did their actions show any dignity. It was likewise unacceptable that he could not intercept the second shell projectile in time flying towards the same noncombatants. Begrudgingly he had to give these creatures some credit, chaos had more or less erupted around them. They had not fled as a javelin of green energy decimated the forward group, or perhaps that merely because they were merely unable to do so. The efforts of a... beorc female had allowed him to carry through to the back line, the immediate threat to the noncombatants neutralized for now as the advance of the front line was effectively stopped. The leader may have identified itself... and while there was a certain wisdom in removing the head of this outfit first, it seemed that one of the beorc had a similar idea with how to dispatch this disgraceful bunch. No, a certain opportunity had presented itself. There had been a collision between two of these... foot soldiers, the shell had been knocked back and both were stunned. He did not use Galaxia, no, instead he utilized the momentum of his dash earlier, kicking out at one of the stunned creatures in an attempt to target the final standing foot soldier who looked upon the field with shock. They had used each other as weapons, it should be just as effective. Kipping up from the slip, he transferred the last remaining energy from the kick to send the second prone creature up in the air. That and it was a silent insult. He had kicked these creature while they were helpless... and he refused to sully Galaxia out of spite towards these foot soldiers and their collective actions. That would be the only show of disgust towards them... nothing more needed to be said, though it served another purpose... to help clear out the back group. ‘It is not often that you are so affected, yet it does not mean that your frustration should be unleashed on these creatures. It is ill befitting.’ The low hum of electrical energy was mirrored her response, though perhaps her annoyance was compounded by the maneuver which had placed her pointed edges close to the ground. She might not have entirely approved, her chiding clear in her tone, but he would not drag this out longer than it need be. As the now stunned airborn creature fell back down towards the earth, he jumped to meet the foot solider with the sharp end of his blade, slashing four times in rapid sucession. The strikes were perhaps not as neat nor as precise as they should have been considering the pride he took in his art. As ill befitting as these subpar display of swordsman ship were to one with his experience with a blade, he had been distracted by the appearance of what could only be described as a gunship hovering above the battlefield in a fashion the could only be described as lazily. ‘It seems that this fight is not yet done dear champion.’ Assuredly the appearance of a gunship could complicate matters. Yes, this pitiful display, this fight might not be finished so quickly.... His eyes flashed a bright green before darkened to that of a deep forest color. Personal experience dictated told him that this ship was not friendly, he rarely was that fortunate. They risked discovery. No, they might have already have been found, it was a possibility that he could not ignore even if he did not fully understand the situation that he had found himself in. There might have been more to this simple skirmish. Shaking his head slightly, he steeled himself, conveying to these beorc his current suspicions, “A gunship has appeared, be on guard. Reinforcements may be arriving soon.” With air support, it would be difficult to conceal themselves for long and he could not rely on fickle luck. He could not identify the craft from a single glance, it was unfamiliar to him though long had it been since he had ventured into space. The designs could have changed as did the allegiances of the makers, yet, he’d much rather be proven wrong in presuming that the drifting ship was not friendly. It would be top priority to remove the non-combatants from combat if his presumption was indeed correct. He could be wrong, admittedly, he was not working on much, but it did not seem that Beorc possessed the capability of flight. It would be difficult for them to escape the gaze of a gunship. Of course whether or not they’d take him seriously was another problem entirely. Though he had harbored a certain disgust towards these creatures, he had not been so base as to use them for sport. It left a sour taste in his mouth, and there was no reason for them to extend any trust towards him even if they could verify the phenomena with their own eyes! In this case, it was better to raise the possibility. Would that mean... that this strange unit of creatures was in fact a detachment of scouts? Naturally, the answer would reveal itself in time, there was no sense worrying over the outcome any more, not while in the midst of a fight. Finishing off this detachment took priority if only to ease the removal of innocents from a possible larger battle in the near future. Once he might have thought that this was paranoia... except in his personal experience and as of late, often even the simplest situation would without vigilance worsen inevitably. Nothing was ever solved simply, it was the nature of the beast.

1224 Meta Knight Points: 2 He's a bit paranoid about the whole space ship thing. Last time things were falling  out of the sky it turned all organic life in to synthetic life. Of course he is pretty easy to ignore. Paranoia is fun kids!

MADE BY VEL OF GS + ADOXOGRAPHY 2.0

[Kismet]

A desperate star-flung cry rang across the void, and from the twinkling multitude of worlds came the reply. Heroes, villains, and all shades and hues between - the wish took them all. They came unwittingly, unknowingly, and unwillingly, but still they came. Came to answer a wish upon a star.

But they did not come alone.

"Please!" the voice in the dark cried. It was small; weak and afraid and trembling with fright. In the void's infinite blackness, such a tiny voice would surely have been lost on its own. But it shimmered with starlight, and the plea stole through the darkness. "Please please! Someone, anyone! Please bring someone to help us!" it cried.

"Anyone?"answered a voice. In the darkness, it came from nowhere and everywhere. "Well now, that does seem ill-advised. But who am I to judge? Answering prayers is a principle duty, after all."

And so Hades, Lord of the Underworld, spread his gaze across the cosmos and followed the tiny plea to its source. Unseen and unfelt he watched the events on the hill unfold, content, for now, to wait and observe.

Unlike the others, Hades had not been summoned. He was not some simple attendant to be beckoned to another's destiny, oh no. It was more...that Hades had seen that the light in the fridge was on, and sauntered over to see if there was anything worth eating.