~Hidden Palace Zone: Vs. Metal Marios & Shadow Mario~ Spoiler The Metal Mario that Yuuki was slashing at merely stood there as the sounds of the blade hit its outer shell, the machine looked at Yuuki before proceeding to pull out its hammer and fight her blade to hammer. The power of the Metal Marios growing as those targeted by Incendio punched the fireballs away and walked through Agumenti as the water evaporated upon contact with the fire emanating from their bodies. A pair rushed in and started to beat Harold down with about as much will and determination as the real Mario himself had. One was soon smacked away by a blast of fire before turning its head to see Bowser grinning with his arms crossed telling Harold. "Thanks for the save earlier, now we're even." The lone Metal Mario jerked its head and flew at Bowser preparing to fight him as the Koopa defended himself from an onslaught of punches that pushed him away. As the Metal Marios were scrambling about, Iffy and Compa stood back to back against one another with their weapons. The brunette looking at her friend asking. "Any idea on how we can handle these guys?" Compa blinked looking unsure. "Well, they're based on Mario...and Mario is like a flying brick on fire." Iffy sighed. "And most likely conventional firearms won't work on them, they have none of their internals exposed." Iffy turned to look at Aoi and Futaba who were at work trying to get data asking. "You two got anything?" Aoi looked at everyone. "Well, they were designed to emulate the same hot-blooded will and determination as the real Mario, their fighting style similar as well with a high resilience to most attacks." Peach glared at one of them. "So what? They're cold-hearted and lack the soul of the real deal." Futaba adjusted her glasses. "There is a flaw though, whomever designed the machines didn't give them an unlimited power cap." Everyone looked at her with Neptune asking. "A Unlimited...what?" Aoi sighed. "Essentially it means that the Metal Marios have a limiter on how much power they gain from their emulated will to fight. Mario explained to me that he and Luigi managed to one-shot one of these guys back home with their evolved states while running for it during the Purge." "Okay, but just one problem...none of us can push our power that far except for Peach." Blanc pointed out looking at the blonde before Makoto suggested. "Why not simply combine our attacks and aim them for their heads?" Aoi nodded. "That could possibly work...Mario said he punched it in the head." Kirby jumped in front of a Metal Mario goading it on as he shouted. "Hey, I'm right here!" The Metal Mario turned and fired a silver fireball at the pink puffball only for Kirby to open his mouth and inhale it into himself, he swallowed it causing a crown of fire to appear on his head. The Metal Mario got into a fighting stance before Kirby shouted. "Bowser, Tag-Team?" Bowser grinned cracking his knuckles and grabbed the Metal Mario and threw it at Kirby before opening his mouth and exhaling a stream of fire at the chrome warrior, Kirby opened his mouth and also exhaled a stream of fire on the other side. The two quickly formed fiery bows and shouted. "DOUBLE FIRE ARROW!" firing the burning arrows at the Metal Mario causing its head to explode as Bowser gave the body a body slam. Everyone else soon began to attack in tandem before Aoi activated his lightsaber seemingly ready to fight before Futaba started to grin like a maniac. Aoi looked at her asking. "What is it?" Futaba gave him a smile before asking as she pointed at the lightsaber. "Can I try that?" Aoi blinked before he handed it over and helped her hold it properly. "Just be very careful, I don't want you losing a limb." Futaba began to run in shouting. "And here comes a new challenger!" A Metal Mario looked at her before its head was sliced off by the young girl. The Metal Mario forces were in trouble as their numbers were dimishing thanks to the combined efforts of the group and Peach going into Pink-Gold Evolved State with the Forbidden Ringo Lockseed. One Metal Mario saw Peach and stood firm boosting its power to the point where its body was crackling with electricity and smoke was coming from it. It flew at Peach jittering about and crackling as if it was going to explode. Peach grabbed it by the head and smiled kissing it. "Good night, sweet prince..." before punching it and sending it right into the the battle between the Mario Bros. and Shadow Mario causing it to explode. "I hope they know what they're doing."
~Hidden Palace Zone: Boss Gauntlet Death Course~ Chaos would soon be forced out thanks to Harold's spellcasting and quickly received the damage inflicted by the combined firepower of Vulpix, Ryutaro, and the girls. Before Chaos could even get reoriented, he saw Luigi flying at it with fist ready as it crackled with green fire and electricity, green embers radiating as he transformed and slammed his fist right into the beast's head and directly to its brain sending it flying into the crystal that made it and exploded leaving the cyan and green crystal as merely a wireframe. A star on the door ahead began to glow brightly while Luigi grinned and struck a victory pose. Star Dream remarking. "This was surprising...even at his weakest, Chaos was no match." Ryuji looked around before commenting. "Seems like despite your story, he was weak!" Futaba rolled her eyes at Ryuji. "Just because he was a first boss doesn't mean that the rest are going to be trash." The Holo Defense API apparatus began to rotate switching out to a dark-blue and red crystal and opened up, the figure it began to create was one all too familiar...especially to Mario as it looked like a translucent blue version of him with red glowing eyes and a glowing gold and red core. Spoiler Memories of the Darkness Shadow Mario [Data] Mario and Luigi gasped as fire began to erupt from the abyss surrounding the arena giving the arena a burning feel and vibe. Shadow Mario slowly began to walk towards everyone before raising a gloved hand up in the air pointing. "I'm not alone this time..." Several silver diamonds began to float up from the flames and transform into chrome, metallic copies of Mario landing and surrounding the group from all sides. Cold-Hearted Machines Metal Mario [Data] Futaba looked at Ryuji again telling him loudly. "See, look at what we're fighting now!" Mario immediately transformed into his golden evolved state within a flash of light telling Harold and the girls. "Do not underestimate any of these guys, their powers are based on mine and Luigi's." Luigi got into a fighting position as he transformed into his own evolved state coating him in silver. "Shadow Mario is the strongest out of all these guys, leave him to us." The brothers soon flew at Shadow Mario ready to fight him one more time. The Metal Marios on the other hand rushed at everyone else emanating with silver fire ready to fight.
~Hidden Palace Zone: Mural Room~ Peach looked at Harold with determination in her blue eyes. "You're probably right, however considering that I was crucified by Astral and saved by Mario...I decided that I wouldn't end up like that again and fight myself. Looks like I made the right call back then..." Aoi then motioned for everyone to follow him as they went through the door at the end of the room. ~Hidden Palace Zone: Boss Gauntlet Death Course~ The room that the group would enter was rather brightly colored like a stained glass mural, a massive pearl-white platform in front of the group surrounded by a black abyss. The other side of the room had a technologically advanced seal in place with four stars on it glowing rainbow. On the glass, images of the seven Star Spirits could be seen along with pearl statues of them as well. Mario recognizing them as he said. "They're the same ones we saw after Luigi and I tried looking at Rosalina's other eye." Luigi nodded as he looked up above to see a painted illustration of Lady Etoille and the Relic akin to the Sistine Chapel before Star Dream explained. "I am going to give you all one chance to back out of this, if you step forward then there will be no turning back and the final trial will begin." Mario and the others continued walking onto the round platform as Mario said. "We didn't come this far to chicken out at the last second." Star Dream chuckled. "Good..." Once everyone was on the platform, the path from the previous room slid back into the wall trapping everyone on the platform, a statue of Lady Etoille would soon rise up from the back of the room holding something that looked like four colored cross-shaped crystals mixed with several black tablets with blue etchings on them. Final Trial Guardian Holo Defense API The apparatus flew out of the statue's hands and over the platform that everyone was on, a cyan and green crystal opened up and fired a beam at an empty spot on the floor quickly creating a creature that looked to be made of water, yet was around the same size as everyone else. A pair of lime-green eyes opened up and stared at everyone. Star Dream stating. "I hope you all have been paying attention..." Memories of a Tribe Long Ago Chaos [Data] Spoiler As everyone stood ready to fight, Iffy looked at everyone shouting. "Protect those unable to fight and our medics, let's give this big drip what for!" Bowser jumped in and fired a beam of firey energy at the water creature only for the creature to sink into the ground and rush at Bowser with the speed of a dolphin.
~Hidden Palace Zone: Mural Room~ "Rose, keep an eye on those two..." Aoi whispered to the white-haired woman before Futaba shouted. "Hey guys, these walls have a buuch of plot exposition on them. Come take a look!" Everyone soon gathered around the orange-haired girl and the picture she stood in front of depicting the simple design of a woman who held above her head a familiar star-shaped object, there was text below it in a foriegn language that made Yoshi ask. "But what does it say? None of us can read that language." Star Dream then spoke up. "That's because it is written in the ancient tongue of the Echid-" Futaba then interrupted Star Dream with a smirk as she had her phone in front of her. "Already got a translation right here..." and began to read aloud. "In the beginning, Lady Etoille created an object of immense power that would evolve the entire cosmos and also create a dangerous weapon for those with darkness in their hearts. This object would be referred to as the N-Force Relic or simply the Relic." The group soon moved onto the next mural, this one depicting a war between figures of black and white with the Relic in the middle of it. "The Relic would soon be fought over as the Dark Lord and Lady Etoille's forces fought for control of it. Lady Etoille would step in herself and seal the Dark Lord away using the Relic and became the first Harbinger of Providence in the process. However the peace wouldn't last..." The group moved over to the next mural, this one depicting various figures in black. "Even with the Dark Lord of the S-Types sealed away, other S-Types would try to fight Lady Etoille and her allies to gain control of the Relic. The battles would get to the point where action would need to be taken." The group kept moving over to the next mural, this one depicting the Relic as a shooting star along with two people in white. "Lady Etoille would decide to send the Relic away from her home to various places in order make sure the S-Types could not find it, to accomplish this task she would send both an Observer and a Witch along with the Relic to act as her envoys. The two keeping in contact with Lady Etoille and her seven Star Spirits in the process." The next mural would depict various people in white with the Relic over them glowing. "The Relic would evolve the various people on the worlds with it would inhabit, and as such every generation would have a Harbinger born from a selection of five people in order to fight against the S-Types under Lady Etoille's will and guidance.The Relic would eventually end up in a lonely planet, where it remained peacefully for generations, until one fateful day, an invasion of the planet caused the Relic to be relocated once more." The next mural depicted Earth with the Relic. "The Relic will soon end up on a blue planet, third from the sun. A world rich in beauty that matches Lady Etoille's eyes. She would start to come and visit this world often taking it all in and opening her mind." The next mural depicted Lady Etoille speaking with three human beings, two male, one female. "One night, Lady Etoille would meet with three young teenagers. She would tell them that her offspring would soon come to this blue world after the trio would see her Relic." The next mural depicted a black figure with a normal person. "Meanwhile one of the S-Types would later come in contact with a person who wishes to change the world for the better. This S-Type would ally with this man's ambition." The next mural depicts a white figure literally falling out of the sky near two people. "Lady Etoille's offspring will come falling out of the sky near the offspring of the three teenagers she had met before, their lives changing." The next mural had the normal figure and the black figure looking over the world. "The person's ambition will come to fruition thanks to the S-Type's allagance, however the S-Type would soon evolve itself." The next mural depicted the Relic split into three. "The Relic's power will end up split between the S-Type and the offspring of the three teenagers, the two blood-related as they end up fighting the S-Type time and time again like their parents have done before. Their fates intertwined with each other and those around them." The group would move onto the last mural in the room, the picture depicting two figures in white standing against a black figure with two large black hands. However Futaba raised an eyebrow. "Oh boy...yeah, looks like this is the end of the plot dump. I can't even get a translation for the last picture." Compa looked at Mario and Luigi before she said. "These murals...they were talking about us, all of us." Blanc nodded. "Yes, suddenly it all makes sense considering our mother fought Astral's forces back then with the others. But I'm surprised they knew all this back then...either that or Lady Etoille knew it and told the Echidnas." Rosalina blinked. "I wouldn't be sure considering the time difference, but Mom more than likely told them." Bowser shook his head. "Look, I doubt Lady Etoille could have known everything would have happened. I mean we all ended up together by chance...right?" Peach looked at everyone with a hand on her hip. "Fate or Chance regardless, we're all together in this. So let's go and kick some ass."
~Hidden Palace Zone: Anti-Gravity Float Course~ It took some time, but with Mario, Luigi, Harold, Aoi and the others working in tandem with one another, everyone was soon standing on the platform before the doorway with Rosalina arriving last after she knew everyone was here. The voice responded. "Excellent! Impressive showing from all of you, usually people tend to fail this part of the trials and give up." Mario spoke up. "Well, we're determined to get that ship and save the world. We cannot give in now." The voice then said. "I can attest to that, since you all have gotten this far...it is time I properly introduce myself...I am Star Dream, the onboard AI computer for the Lor Starcutter. That's the name of the ship housed here. For those who are transformed, feel free to disengage them...the next room is a small break before the last leg." Neptune immediately reverted back to her normal, loli self. "Oh good, cause we couldn't fly up here without help from the others." The others soon followed as they disengaged their transformations before the door opened and they all stepped through. ~Hidden Palace Zone: Mural Room~ The room that everyone would soon enter was a long corridor made of polished light-green stone that had various colors and markings on them, the walls were made of a flat blue rock with displays of various murals on them. However Mario and the others would soon stop in their tracks at the sight of Saphir and Olaf before Mario whispered to Aoi. "What's going on?" Aoi looked at Mario. "I'm not sure, but be very careful. I'll speak with Star Dream." Ram and Rom soon saw Olaf and squeed loudly. "It's a snowman!" The two young girls ran up to him before Blanc joined them, Aoi asking. "Star Dream, why are these people here if you told us people usually give up on the anti-gravity course?" Star Dream then explained. "These two were found at the entrance where I had initially scanned you all earlier, as such they were of no threat...however...an S-Type Intruder has appeared on this floor." Star Dream then summoned a screen in front of Aoi showing Astral dealing with the drones on the High-Speed Mach Course. Luigi looked at the screen too before remarking to Mario. "Mario, your plan seems to be working...Astral's here." Mario looked at the screen. "Yeah, that's Astral all right...although I thought it would be longer before it showed up..." Mario got to thinking before he asked. "Star Dream, I know it probably would be too much for me to ask...but can your security hold off Astral until we finish the last trial? I don't want to skip out just because of Astral and it wouldn't make us worthy of the reward in your eyes for not completing the final trial." Star Dream was quiet for a moment before explaining. "I can honor your request, Mario. My purpose was to handle the S-Types anyway. However this is the first time an Earthling has asked to continue the test until completion regardless of the oncoming threat. For now all of you take a breather and feel free to study the murals on the walls, knowledge is power after all."
~Hidden Palace Zone: Hi-Speed Mach Course~ Compa was surprised as she was suddenly lifted off the ground and carried along by magic down the pathway before telling him. "Thank you." Nearly everyone was now at the door as Mario, Luigi, and Peach came rolling in, Ryuji quickly sidestepped causing them to collide with the door and opening it slightly. The brothers and Peach were dizzy as Daisy pointed at them with her thumb. "Well, that's them...anyone left?" Everyone looked before Neptune asked. "Where's Bowser and the woman with the flower for an eye?" Everyone looked around before seeing Bowser barreling towards them, Rose on his back as multiple drones were in pursuit, Rose casually remarking. "This is starting to become really annoying..." Bowser jolted around and fired upon a couple with his fire breath but the duo were greatly outnumbered. Blanc readied her axe telling Bowser. "Hold on, I'm coming!" only for both Makoto and Ann to step forward focusing with Ann telling Blanc. "We'll get them, don't worry..." The pursing drones would soon be hit by a combinational attack of both fire and nuclear energy that the whole group would be sent through the door behind them and onto the next trial. ~Hidden Palace Zone: Entrance~ The aforementioned explosive sound despite coming from underground and muffled by the ground could somewhat be heard from the entryway, Astral who was hiding in the ground from Saphir and Olaf thought to itself. "What in the..." In the ensuing distraction, a pink diamond appeared, transformed into Kirby, seemingly ate the suitcase on the ground along with Saphir and Olaf before sinking through the floor with bulging cheeks. Astral got suspicious thinking. "There is no way that the boy can sink through the floor..." Astral then proceeded to follow "Kirby". ~Hidden Palace Zone: Anti-Gravity Float Course~ The room was seemingly just a large starry void with nearly no platform in sight other than the doorway which was ahead and above them, everyone was tumbling and floating about disoriented from the massive attack. Rose tried looking at Bowser and told him. "One of these days, you damn kids are going to kill me." Luigi was just regaining his orientation asking. "What happened? Did we just get smacked by an atomic bomb?" Akechi responded. "It's something like that..." Ann stuck her tongue out at Luigi. "Let's just say fire and nuclear energy are an explosive combination." Kirby was muffling something about being unable to see before pulling himself out from between Vert's chest. "I'm so sorry!" Vert laughed and hugged Kirby against her. "It's okay, you didn't mean to do that." Ryuji was staring at Kirby quietly thinking to himself before Yusuke calmly asked. "Now that we're past that door, how do you suppose we go through this room?" "Well, the computer did say that this room has no gravity..." Futaba started trying to swim in midair failing to make any major headway. "...and clearly we aren't adjusted to...well lack of gravity." Ryuji was still floating about looking at Vert and Kirby before Noire grabbed him by the ear telling him. "Eyes up on her face, please." Mario then recalled something and raised a finger. "Luigi!" Luigi looked at Mario as Mario asked. "Remember our last fight with Shadow Mario?" Luigi nodded. "Yeah, you and I had to re-enter Earth's atmosphere and crashed into the Gokai Galleon. Why bring it up?" Mario instantly transformed into his golden form. "Transform, I got an idea." Luigi nodded and did as his brother requested. Mario looked at everyone. "Listen, my brother and I have been in outer space before and had to deal with no gravity. We can get everyone to that door." Luigi then pointed out. "Mario, we got one problem. Last time we had to propel ourselves just to get to Earth from the Moon. We don't have a proper way of launching ourselves from here to the door and getting everyone over there." Rosalina looked at the two telling them. "Leave that to me..." focusing once again, the blonde brought forth her barrier. "...use my barrier to get up there." Luigi looked concerned. "But what about you?" Rosalina slowly smiled. "Don't worry about me Lui, my barrier can endure a lot." Aoi turned towards the brothers. "I know you're used to your powers, but I don't want you two overdoing it. After all we still have a gauntlet ahead and you two will be needed." Mario then suggested. "Well, why don't we get Aoi up there first and then people can launch towards him and he can use that magic thing he and C.C. know." Aoi facepalmed loudly on his helmet. "Mario, that magic thing is called the Force...however you're onto something." Mario gave him a thumbs up before floating over to Luigi and sat atop his shoulders, Luigi held onto his brother's legs as Mario grabbed Aoi and the three soon launched themselves using Rosalina's barrier as a wall. The trio were flying towards the door at high velocity before Aoi let himself go and landed on the platform. "Alright! Let's start getting folks over!" Mario and Luigi split off and launched themselves from the door and headed back down to the ground to pick up more people. ~Hidden Palace Zone: Unknown~ A large machine was casually sitting within the confines of a dark room, the only lighting being from itself and the screens around it with a heart-shape on the front of the machine in red lighting. There were also four hologram screens up in front of it. One display coming from the entrance where Saphir and Olaf were, one from where Mario and company were, one from the start of the High-Speed Mach Course, and the last screen from an unknown mural room as the Kirby copy rose up and spat out the suitcase, Saphir, and Olaf, the voice explaining to the two. "I apologize for the sudden and unplanned trip, but there is an S-Type intruder that I have detected to be a threat and have brought you two down here for safety reasons using one of my drones. Do not worry though, the room you are in is completely safe so feel free to relax until the others have arrived from the Anti-Gravity Float Course." The machine then noted the screen with the High-Speed Mach Course as Astral appeared thinking to itself. "I will deal with you, shortly."
~Hidden Palace Zone: High-Speed Mach Course~ The doors in front of the group soon opened revealing a multi-pathed labyrinth made from a type of emerald that glowed in various hues to rainbow and sparkled like a diamond in the sky within a mass of black void. "This is very trippy..." Kirby said before he inflated into a balloon and flew off down the course. Yoshi was soon about to follow when Haru quietly got onto his back. "I hope you don't mind." Yoshi blushed. "N-not at all!" and also started down the course. Iffy hopped on behind Makoto before turning to tell Compa. "You should go with Harold, that way you're not bogged down by your weapons." Compa nodded and walked over to Harold before telling him. "Guess I'm going with you then." As the others partnered up and started down the course, they would notice that at first the paths seemed empty of enemies with loops, paths requiring a grappling hook or high jumping prowess, corkscrews, launchers, small platforms, and the like shortly before various diamonds appeared in the middle of the air and began to form into various creatures that were the same colors as the course itself. Kirby's eyes widened in panic as a swarm of diamond-shaped drills were enclosing on his position, Uni seeing this aimed her rifle at the drills attempting to knock some out. Yoshi who could see this going on from the path he and Haru took was in a panic as well. "KIRBY, NO!" Haru quickly pulled out what appeared to be a grenade launcher and fired at the drills causing a massive explosion and Yoshi and Uni's eyes to shoot wide open. Kirby flew out unscathed by the explosion as Yoshi asked. "Where in the heck did you get a weapon like that from?!" Haru sheepishly looked at him. "Well, you see I come from a rich family and..." Yoshi sighed and kept going. One of the drills survived the explosion and started to try to go after Kirby again only for a grappling hook to stab it in mid-flight, Akira was on the other end of the line riding it with Morgana on his back. Morgana quickly climbed the line and got on top of the drill forcibly taking control of it and flew towards the end of the course. "Gee, looks like that guy wasn't kidding about trying to stop us." Mario remarked as he, Luigi, and Peach were all rolling down a hill together all clumped into a ball and dodging oncoming attacks from the flying drones and ended up flying off into the air getting some hang-time before landing on another downward slope. Rosalina and Futaba were the first to arrive before a large set of pearl doors with a smaller version of the Relic etched in the marble before them, this was followed by Aoi as he quickly made a pulling motion with his hand and brought Akechi over with a Force pull, then Iffy and Makoto, and slowly everyone was meeting at this doorway...however Bowser and Rose were falling behind.
~Hidden Palace Zone: Outside the Temple Entrance~ After finishing with helping the New World Order regain Shalour City for their cause, Astral had finally arrived outside the large, old temple. It looked down at the tracks it had been following to be sure that they stopped here before remarking. "They must be here, the tire tracks stop here and there are tracks heading inside...huh?" Astral's eye had zeroed in on a set of recently made footprints that were rounded and damp. "What in the world? It's like a sentient magic talking snowman just waltzed into the building and messed up my investigation.." Little did Astral know, was that it was being watched by a small green "Caterpie" that had seemingly been crawling on the outside entrance. Astral ignored it and started up the steps as it sunk into the ground seemingly sneaking inside without detection.
~Hidden Palace Zone~ The gears in Aoi's head were turning as he first looked at Harold, then at the others, and finally the transformed and floating Neptune and her siblings. Aoi clapped his hands together. "I believe Mr. Flamel might have given us the solution to our dilemma. Considering that the only thing disallowed is teleportation, I believe that speed will not be our top priority." This led to some confusion before Aoi continued. "The priority is everyone getting to the end of the course, so...most of us men, including myself could carry at least one person." Aoi then looked at Bowser. "Bowser, you're the biggest out of all of us, could you carry at least two people?" Bowser stood there in thought. "I probably could as long as I won't need my arms for other tasks." Kirby raised his little hand. "I could get some ice powers and try to freeze a path ahead." Aoi shook his head. "I know you can't carry anyone, but I dunno if any of us can walk on ice...although you can fly ahead." Rosalina floated off of the ground adding. "I could carry some people within my barrier and fly across." Aoi nodded. "Yes, that's true..." Aoi then looked at Futaba adding. "And you could help too with your abilities based on what my sister told me." The orange-haired girl smirked. "Of course." Blanc added. "I guess some of us can also fly one person...except for Ram and Rom, they're not big enough to carry a whole person." Makoto then looked at Aoi adding. "I could help as well." Everyone looked at the brunette before Peach asked. "You can?" The brunette focused as she closed her eyes, teal fire coming forth from her mask before what to be a motorcycle came forth in front of everyone surprising them with Ram shouting. "She can summon a motorcycle, that's so totally wicked!" This made Makoto sweatdrop as Akira explained. "That is her Persona, our group each have one." Ram merely said. "It's still totally wicked though." Aoi coughed. "Anyway...we have plenty of options on our hands. We should divide up and simply try to get to the end of the course."
~Hidden Palace Zone~ A drone soon floated near the group before showing a screen that had a long course that had slopes, loops, corkscrews, and stuff like that as the voice explained. "There will be three trials, the first trial is what I dub...the High-Speed Mach Course. This room consists of various routes that are catered towards your speed and your dexterity as you rush about the course. How you get around is up to you whether you run with your feet or use your natural abilities and powers as long as you make it to the end in one piece and don't resort to teleporting about." The screen then switched to a long empty corridor that looked to be in space as no walls, ceiling, or floor were present. "The second trial is what I dub...the Anti-Gravity Floatation Course, the objective of this trial will be to figure a way for all of you to get to the other end of the room without the presence of gravity....and before it is asked, yes you can breathe in this room. This is catered towards your teamwork and trust with one another" The screen switched to that of a hallway that had various murals on the walls that led to a large arena. "The last trial I deem...The Boss Gauntlet Death Course, in this test you will have to deal with four specialized bosses based on entities within my databanks, once you have done this you will have won your prize. The hallway prior to the arena will allow you to breathe and take a break before the last leg." "Geez, this is just like Honnouiji's Student Council all over again." Mario remarked hearing the last trial and recalling what he had done a while back before Neptune smirked. "Except this time we're all here together...well most of us anyway." Peach then added facing Mario. "Not to mention you're not fighting alone." Rom was hugging Ram looking a bit frightened as she asked. "Should we be worried about the third trial?" Blanc gently rubbed the little brunette girl's head. "It will be fine, don't worry too hard about it." As the group was talking, Aoi was looking at Harold rather suspiciously, his facial emotions obscured by his helmet as he thought on what Mario had said prior before looking at everyone and told them. "Alright, so since the Speed portion is first, we should probably try to keep up with one another in a line considering how fast some of us can possibly go." As Aoi explained that, Neptune transformed into her HDD form and stood at the ready followed by the rest of her sisters. Their forms being a bit distracting to some people as the walls of the elevator went into a psychedelic coloring, the voice wishing as the doors opened in front of them. "Good luck, my friends."
~Hidden Palace Zone~ "You are somewhat correct in your assumptions, however since this is a long elevator ride down I shall enlighten all of you." The voice said before another crystal like earlier lowered and activated turning the elevator into a vast ruins filled with various echidnas. "This place is the Hidden Palace and has been around for a few centuries, it was even around when I first came to this planet. The temple you are in was the original resting place for the prized possessions of the Echidnas...the seven Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald. Echidnas of course used to be quite numerous until one incident sent half of them into another dimension and the other half were wiped out by a water creature named Chaos." The hologram changed to that of the area burning in ruins with dead Echidnas everywhere and a large, green-eyed water serpent in the distance. "Chaos was enraged and used the power of the Emeralds after the echidnas tried to take the Emeralds to use against the other echidnas that were sent into another dimension, it was sealed back into the Master Emerald eventually and those few echidnas that remained took the emeralds out to a new resting place. Now this Hidden Palace is mainly a tourist stop although some people have tried to take the supposed treasure in here." "You said the place was around before you came here..." Akira started as the hologram vanished only for Mario to ask. "So how did you end up here then, Olmec?" The voice remained quiet for a moment before responding. "My name is not Olmec, as for how I got here...I came to Earth prior to the aforementioned incident with the echidnas being wiped out with a objective implanted by my creator to remain stationary until the next Harbinger of Providence appeared. I came with the Lor Starcutter and Lady Etoille herself instructed the Echidnas to hide myself and the Lor within the Hidden Palace until that fateful day. Until then I would monitor the area and create treasure to fool thieves and misdirect them from me." Rosalina stood still as she heard the explanation muttering. "Mom..." "I knew something was up when you all came in looking for an airship and began to have your breakfast on the upper floors, I also noticed Rosalina, Morgana, and someone else who looked familiar to me." The voice elaborated before Rosalina asked. "So, you came from Star Road?" The voice responded. "Yes, your mother also left a message for you...however it can wait." Mario then raised a finger. "Just one more question before you run down the rules, did you see a green-haired woman and her blonde girlfriend?" The voice responded. "Yes, I know the green-haired woman but...she looked different in my memory banks. Anyway...the rules is that all of you are to work together in order to get to the Inner Sanctum at the end, you're free to use your powers and abilities as you please but I will be sending my security drones out to try and prevent you from reaching the end. However, something concerns me that could make this an unfair challenge." "Unfair challenge? Like what exactly?" Vert asked before the voice explained. "Well, when all of you were in the middle of your breakfast. I took the liberty of scanning all of you and your equipment that you had on hand with my drones. When I got to the suitcase I detected a tracking device on one of the occupants within the suitcase and cross-referenced that with recent reports about an incident in Arendelle involving the supposed kidnapping of their royals. Now I am not a New World Order computer, but it would be a problem if they somehow got inside while you all are taking the challenge thus not making it a fair game." The sound of this made some people smirk as Morgana remarked. "Looks like we got ourselves a royal ransom on our hands." Aoi glared at the cat before telling him. "Don't get any bright ideas, if the New World Order has a tracking device then who knows what they will send to recover both Princess Anna and Queen Elsa." Mario then tightened a fist proclaiming. "Doesn't matter who they send, we'll make sure that these two don't get captured by the New World Order, cause clearly they didn't like the predicament they were in if they ran for it."
Only one once again. Name: Mr. Blobby Description: An S-Type created and born in the small English village of Crinkley Bottom after a crystal came into contact with a costume meant for a television show. Mr. Blobby was not considered to be fit for Astral's initial plans prior to the Purge due to Blobby's unpredictable nature and unusual abilities...mostly his nature moreso. Despite looking like a goofy polka-dotted blob, this S-Type can possibly be considered dangerous and also an asset to either the Rebellion or the New World Order. Faction (Rebel/New World Order/None): ??? Series Character is from: Noel's House Party Image: Spoiler [OOC: Cue the part where Stardustextreme kills me for this]
~Tower of Mastery: Vs. Astral~ After all the others had left, it was only the four women standing their ground against Astral. Robin looked Astral over before telling the others. "Well, we certainly shot ourselves in the foot deciding to take Astral on four to one." C.C. blinked. "Actually, no we haven't..." She then smirked. "Remember why Astral came here." Cynthia walked over and picked up a decent chunk of the wall that Amy blasted into before she said. "I know what my baby is thinking..." The blonde then threw the stone at Astral before the S-Type caught in with its magic. "Seriously? A champion tries to throw a rock at me?" Astral then flung it back at Cynthia only for the blonde to slam her head into it knocking it past Astral's head. Astral looked at her. "Then again, I don't recall you ever having wings either." Astral was then kicked back by Zone-Tan from behind sending it flying towards Robin who pulled out her sword and jabbed it into Astral's body grinning. Astral would then feel a surge of electricity surge through its body as one of Robin's hands were crackling with electricity and was going through the sword. Astral forced itself away, but still stood firm as C.C. chuckled. "Like it was said earlier, you're not going to find the Mario Brothers." She then dashed in and slashed at Astral's body with her lightsaber only for Astral to grab her head with its claws, eye glowing. Cynthia growled and flew at Astral shouting. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY GIRLFRIEND!" and slammed her armored foot so hard into Astral's head that it flew out of the entrance and outside near the tower. Astral skidded along the ground before stopping short of some familiar tracks. Astral looked down at the bootprints and tire tracks before it said to itself. "Interesting..." The four girls soon came out of the tower staring Astral down before it said. "It looks like I'm not going to need that information now..." Astral then quickly sunk through the ground leaving. Cynthia turned towards C.C. and looked her over with concern asking. "Are you okay? Did that mean Astral hurt you?" The green haired woman then leaned over and kissed Cynthia on the lips. "I'm fine, but Astral did exactly what I figured it'd do." Robin blinked. "Really? It killed two people that you knew." C.C. sighed. "Yes, I didn't expect that one. However if Astral was after Mario and Luigi, then it wouldn't go full power against all four of us. It would save that for Mario and Luigi." Zone-Tan rolled her eyes. "But wouldn't that mean that Astral would just simply go after them now?" C.C. nodded. "Yes, just like how Mario wanted it to go. Thus while we may lose the battle here, we will have saved many lives. That is important...now. Let's get to the others." The four then dashed away to catch up to Bellec and the others. ~Hidden Palace Zone~ Aoi looked at Ryotaro. "To be fair, these people wouldn't exactly have known that the Denliner was an option at the time." Mario sheepishly had a hand behind his head. "I don't even know what that is." Aoi began to return all the things back into the pokeball he had used earlier as he explained. "Alright, I will lead ahead. After all I have the map of the area so please don't wander off, who knows what kind of strange creatures are lurking in this place." And so the group started off heading deeper into the temple, the path ahead being rather quiet before they started to fly through various shuttle tubes that sent them all over the place before eventually arriving at an altar with a suspicious green gemstone on it. Compa raised an eyebrow before asking. "Isn't that the Master Emerald?" Neptune leaned over. "I dunno, looks like..." Neptune then fell into the Emerald shattering it instantly. Noire growled. "Great job, you klutz!" This caused the ground under them to shake as the platform they were on began to descend down into a clear shaft surrounded by water. As they descended...a loud, booming voice remarked. "Impressive, usually those who wander around on the upper floor either don't make it here or are killed by the security in the temple." Nepgear looked for the source of the voice before asking. "Who is this? Are you that Olmec relic? Is this secretly a set of Legends of the Hidden Temple?" The voice then responded. "No Earthling, this is not a game show. However there is a prize at the end...all you need to do is get past my puzzles and my security and all will be yours." Luigi then asked. "Is there an airship here?" The voice responded. "Yes, there is."
~Hidden Palace Zone~ "Well, I'll be...looks like Peppy and Sirius weren't the only staff to rebel against the New World Order." Kirby remarked as everyone saw Kimberly come out from the trunk. Once he saw them come back out, Mario stood up on the wooden seat and proclaimed. "Listen to what I have to say very closely everyone, our mission here is simple...we are here to locate a airship that's not under NWO control, a ship that we will use as our base against the NWO and especially the S-Types and Astral." Mario closed his eyes and tightened his fist proclaiming. "Right now nothing makes sense in this world, justice has been warped by the machinations of the NWO and their S-Type allies and heroism has been wiped clean for an equality that means absolutely NOTHING but lack of freedom. A world bound and gagged in an iron-fisted dictatorship that is blind to the possibility of the whole planet being wiped out!" The led to loud gasps as Mario continued. "I won't lie, Luigi and I saw what happened to Zordon's planet, we've seen Astral become more powerful than anything we've thrown at it in the past, and inturn we've seen the capabilities of the Rebellion in action already. People like them know what they are doing with countering Stormtroopers and Cybermen, some are even more tactfully more knowledgeable than myself in those cases." Mario then sternly looked at everyone. "Once we get that ship, our mission will be to help the Rebellion and deal with Astral's cronies, then we deal with Astral itself." After that rousing speech Luigi added. "We all may come different walks of life, whether we be students from Japan, people from other dimensions, Pokémon, S-Types against Astral's Idealology and the S-Types nature in general, and even people from around the world. But in the end the goal is the same...to reclaim our world and our future." After that was said, Ann looked at Mario and asked. "I know and understand what you're saying, but trying to defeat Astral itself? Look at us, most of us are just students. How do you think we're going to beat an all-powerful entity like Astral." Mario then looked at her before he said. "With some training, we could learn the 64 Techniques much like Peppy and his family used to do before, otherwise it isn't impossible to stop the S-Types...however, Luigi and I are the only ones who can stop Astral itself." Mario looked at Luigi before they brought out their transmitters. "We ended up touching the Relic within Nintendo High as an attempt to stop Astral from gaining its full power." Luigi then sighed. "We thought we were dead after being blasted back from all that power, however we learned that we had received part of the power of the Saint Relic itself." It was then that Ryuji asked. "If you two had the power this whole time to fry the S-Types, why didn't you use it in the last battle?" Mario looked at the blonde before bluntly telling him. "Using the power could be dangerous for those around us. Sure, we could have used it and wiped out the NWO and be done with it...but then we would have to deal with the cost of innocent people being caught in the crossfire." Luigi nodded. "The power is much akin to the Relic itself, thus Mario and I have direct responsibility to deal with Astral as it uses the power as well." Mario added. "We were also trying to keep this on the down low so Astral couldn't catch wind of us having survived our last encounter with it, but unfortunately Astral found out and that's how we came to the conclusion of heading away from Shalour City. So for our sake, I would like it if everyone here kept the knowledge of these transmitters a secret." ~Shalour City, France: Tower of Mastery~ The girls would soon arrive just as the plan was being made not knowing that someone was trailing behind them. C.C. looked at Bellec before telling him. "We'll be coming along with you, we can possibly meet up..." C.C. would be interrupted when a familiar voice asked. "Oh my, are we leaving so soon? I would have thought you'd stay and enjoy the French culture and cuisine." Everyone turned their heads to see Astral standing right behind all of them holding Sammy in its clawed grasp by her blonde head. Astral looked at Bellec before casually telling him. "Hello Commander, it seems we meet at last." Astral then looked at Korrina and Lydia. "Not to mention we have a Keyblade Master and her apprentice seemingly ready to sacrifice themselves thinking they can hold my friends back from getting their revenge." Astral then looked at everyone explaining. "Unfortunately I am not here to kill the Commander, the Keyblade Master, or her Apprentice." Astral tilted its head as he looked at C.C. asking. "I came for the whereabouts of Mario and Luigi, and don't go trying to be brave...or else the girl gets it." "Damn, it bloody got us alright..." C.C. thought as Sammy was struggling in Astral's grasp, it seemed like it was a standstill between the girls and Astral itself. Astral spoke up again. "I would also suggest that you do not lie either, I am aware that they were here earlier so you cannot trick me." The tension began to rise as Amy was on her toes, suddenly Sammy spoke up. "A-Astral..." Astral turned its head towards the young blonde. "Yes, what is it?" The blonde looked at it before she told Astral. "You can go straight to hell, even if you found them...they would stop you." Astral's eye widened in surprise. "Wow, look at what we got here everyone..." Astral's eye turned jet black. "...we have a martyr on our hands. Now tell me the proper answer, Ms. Pendleton." Sammy glared at Astral before she said. "I'd rather be dead than tell you." Astral laughed before grabbing Sammy's head and snapped her neck with a loud *crunch!* that rang through the tower. Astral merely discarded Sammy's body to the side as its eye returned to normal. "Looks like she got what she wished for..." The mere sound sent chills up spines as Astral said. "Now, let's try this again before I end up having to wipe the whole town out. Where are Mario and Luigi..." Amy looked furious as she rushed at Astral shouting. "You monster, you just killed my sister!" Astral stood there before firing one blast of energy and sending Amy into a wall bleeding to death. Astral remaking coldly. "Does anyone else wish to die today?" Kallen closed her eyes and tightened her fist, even though she wanted to fight. C.C. stepped forward sternly remarking. "Astral, you have been to many planets, you and your kind have caused destruction on scales that are impossible to measure. You all even came here and took over the world I call home, now you kill two people close to us...as if they were our own family." The green-haired woman brought out her lightsaber and turned it on, the silver light coming out. Robin, Cynthia and Zone-Tan stood beside her. Cynthia's wings coming forth as Zone-Tan remarked. "You and I may be the same species, Astral....but we're not the same. Looks like the Shittenou is about to bring you hell." Robin nodded. "If they're fighting, so am I." Cynthia chuckled. "Just like old times." Kai blinked asking. "What about us?" C.C. turned to face the redhead. "Go with Bellec and get to safety, all of you. We'll meet you there...and if Mario comes, we'll all rendezvous together." Astral chuckled. "Well, this is about to get interesting."
Reserving only one this time...cause OOC not be as active Name: Star Dream Description: An advanced A.I built from the dimension where Star Road lies, this is the onboard computer of a ship that also came from Star Road called the Lor Starcutter and his been around for the same amount of time as both the Relic and the Compass of Order and Chaos. Star Dream has various capabilities with few involving keeping databases on species from worlds it has been to even people and using its S-Type like Security Drones to keep intruders away from it. Faction (Rebel/New Word Order/None): None Series Character is from: Kirby Image: Spoiler
~Hidden Palace Zone~ "Well, considering that we were all in a cat that turned into a car with enough room to carry us. I wouldn't be surprised at the concept of someone living in their suitcase." Blanc remarked as they observed Harold go into his suitcase. Aoi looked at Blanc before he explained to her. "That is because he is a wizard and much like the Force, all magic is considered to be the same as being a conduit. However prior to the Purge, some Wizards of the world had their own society different from our own. Theirs was a bit old-fashioned and some pureblood families actually were very prideful and arrogant about their status until the New World Order took over and forced them to adapt to their warped delusion of equality and freedom. Thus Mr. Flamel here is probably holding a lot of baggage about his old life being taken away much like how we are fighting to get our future back." As Aoi, Rose, and Mario sat down with everyone else to eat breakfast. As they ate Compa asked. "What do you all think has been going on in the world recently?" Everyone shrugged as Luigi explained. "We really don't know, when you think about it some of us have been on Earth for a little over a week and some of us have been on the run for longer prior to meeting up with the Rebels in France. In other words we have been in the dark somewhat." Yoshi then remarked. "Still, you would think that Harold would know that we're not with the NWO." Akira then looked at Yoshi. "It's not about whether we're with the New World Order. To him, he has no idea what we intend to do." Mario then added. "Then once him and his buddy comes out, we just tell the honest truth." Everyone nodded and continued to eat. ~Shalour City, France: Tower of Mastery~ As the girls were discussing plans, Pyrrha could hear faint shouting in the distance getting louder. The blond stepped over and opened the door before she muttered. "The New World Order is coming?" Her eyes then shot open at the AT-ATs in the distance before turning around in shock panicing as she asked. "Kai? C.C? What if I were to tell you two that Serena came running up to the tower shouting that the New World Order was coming...and they had giant walking tanks with them?" This made the redhead and greenhaired girls step away from the rest of the group to look out the window before Kai muttered at the sight of the AT-ATs. "Craaaaap...." C.C. sighed. "Well, I knew they would return...but I didn't think they would bring those things with them." Kai looked up asking. "Do we have a plan to counter this?" C.C. shook her head. "No, we have no plan to counter those walkers. At best we can try to stall for time to get out. But we'll report to Bellec before we make the call." Kai nodded before the whole group left the room. ~Abandoned Japanese Military Base~ Jumpman and the others stood in the center with the others waiting to leave before Jumpman turned to face the Puppet telling him. "Keep an eye on the place while we are gone, once we return...we'll celebrate with a huge feast my friend." The Puppet nodded before sinking through the floor telling Jumpman and the others. "I will make sure to do that, my friend."
~Hidden Palace Zone~ Everyone looked at Harold merely blinking in surprise at his rant before Mario casually said. "Well...we got somebody out. It's that one guy from Gaston's party." Luigi facepalmed. "We can see that." Aoi then stepped forward to face Harold telling the Mario Bros. "Let me handle this, you two." Aoi stood firm and calmly explained. "First off, thanks for stating that you are a Conduit...it's gonna save trouble later, second...none of us were trying to get into your home, we were trying to actually get you out here. and third, my partner over here knows of a scanning technique that can bypass your charms...although it can't tell us whether or not people work for the Order since it's meant to find S-Types. By the way, there was more than one lifeform detected in the trunk." Mario then looked at Harold as he made the note about the group commenting. "No, none of us work for the NWO. At best most of us are Nintendo High students viewing the NWO as the bad guys while being allied with the Rebels. We're actually here trying to locate a ship when we found your trunk and figured we'd take it with us so that the NWO can't steal it." Aoi sighed. "Blunt, but to the point, what Mario said is true. We're in the middle of having breakfast right now before we head deeper into the Hidden Palace. We figured that it would probably be easier to get you out here so we won't have to drag your trunk along as a liability considering the strange security that this place has. Oh and speaking of which my name's Aoi Kazue, the woman with the flower in her eye is my partner Rose, this guy here's Mario..." Vert looked at Nico with a grin as she mentioned. "I hope we get a nice reward from this sidequest, teehee." Noire rolled her eyes as Futaba shouted. "Yeah, get some rare loot and rewards, even a new party member." Noire sighed as all of the gaming lingo was being thrown about just as Neptune handed her a plate of breakfast. "Here you go, just like at home." Noire smiled and patted Neptune on the head. "Thanks." and started to eat. "...and lastly these are Hermione, Nico, and Yuuki. They're a ranger team." Aoi explained after introducing everyone to Harold. ~Abandoned Japanese Military Base~ Once they were ready, Jumpman, Fujiko, Ruiji, Histoire, Compile, Deco, and Kamek all stood with the others ready to depart. The Puppet appearing behind Jumpman and Ruiji in a protective stance of sorts.
~Hidden Palace Zone~ "Looks can be very deceiving and anything or even anyone can not be what they seem to be." Peach calmly explained as she looked at Yuuki recalling the night at Gaston's party where Shadow Mario had made an appearance posing as the real Mario. "Although I wouldn't be sure on how there is life within that suitcase either unless it's by magic or by science." Aoi was busy working on frying bacon as he added in a deep voice. "It can be either or, doesn't matter as we still dunno the contents within despite using one of the sixty-four techniques to scan the area." Uni rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Peppy told us that Scan cannot directly tell who the person is." Aoi nodded. "Anyway, Rose and I had a job to do by our boss to procure an animatronic body. He didn't tell us why but he did say we would need help from a team of Rangers who were based on thieves..." Futaba interrupted him seemingly in glee as she asked. "Like the Neo Phoenix Feathermen?" Aoi blinked. "Yes...and much like the Rangers and Riders who used to populate the world prior to the Purge. We went to America after we found Hermione, Yuuki, Nico, and Ryotaro travelling via a train that went though dimensions or something like that and went to Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria...the base of the Purple Guy's forces. KOS-MOS had already been there incognito until we arrived and we began to go after the body. Once we got the body we handed it off to Fulgore and KOS-MOS before making a break for it...and now the Purple Guy knows what happened and reported it to Astral leading us here." As they were talking, working, and waiting for breakfast to be done, a lone gray bat S-Type seemingly made entirely of crystal detached itself from the ceiling and started to dive at Yoshi's head. Ryuji quickly noticed the bat moving and stood up pulling out a shotgun and fired one shot that collided with the bat knocking it to the ground. Blanc shouted in shock. "What the hell was that!?" The S-Type sparked and fidgeted about like it was having a seizure before collapsing. the bat then turned into a futuristic looking gray octahedron. Luigi slowly walked up to the octahedron and pulled out his S-Type radar noting that it wasn't giving details and mentioned. "I don't know what this is, but apparently it can mimic S-Types since the radar can't make heads or tails of it." Aoi then walked over and picked up the octahedron before his helmet started to download the information and a map of the entire Hidden Palace. "Luigi's right, according to my readings...this is an artificially made hologram of an S-Type...specifically a Batbot that could have acted and hurt us like the real thing." Yoshi sighed and looked at Ryuji. "Thanks for saving my life there." Ryuji nodded before Aoi mentioned. "Now that I think about it...this looks like tech I've seen at work." Morgana soon joined him and looked at the octahedron. "Yeah, it looks like something made from Star Road." Aoi looked at everyone. "Okay, listen up...I have a map of the area thanks to this...hologram S-Type whatever thing. After we eat, we will need to start moving inwards...who knows what else could be inside." Mario then pointed at the suitcase asking. "What about the suitcase?" Aoi then answered Mario bluntly. "We can't have Bowser lugging the thing around all over the palace, it's be a liability. So we're going to have to get the occupants out of there." Mario then walked over and knocked on the suitcase telling it. "Yoo-hoo, can you people inside come on out please?" Noire sighed. "I don't think Aoi meant getting them out by literally knocking."
~Monacar~ All of the people inside the vehicle were still sleeping despite the awkward discomfort of sleeping within a van, the sunlight carefully shining through the front windows and atop the sleeping Makoto's brunette head as she laid atop Akira's lap. This slumber would soon be interrupted when Morgana spoke up. "Hey everyone, we're here. Wake up." Everyone slowly and grogguly started to wake up and all pile out of the van only for their eyes to come face to face with a large temple that looked rather old with the gray stone and pictures of Echidnas enscribed on the outside walls. Aoi rubbed his eyes before he confirmed. "This is it, this is the entrance." "Wow, this place certainly looks ancient." Neptune said in awe before her stomach started to growl, the lilac-haired girl sheepishly asked. "Um, are we going to get any breakfast? I'm starving." Kirby looked around the area noting that there was nothing but a suitcase in miles before he said. "Well, I don't see an IHOP or somewhere we could get food quickly...just a suitcase." Aoi looked at the suitcase rather suspiciously before he asked Rose. "Rose, kindly scan that suitcase..." Rose sighed before focusing her mind and said. "Scan!" her eye closing as she looked aound the area before noticing something was up with the suitcase. She opened her eye and told Aoi. "There's life within that suitcase, however it's not of S-Type origin." The redhead stood rubbing his chin in thought before he said. "For now we will take the suitcase with us. Even though there is life within it, we do not know whether or not they are NWO or if they are Rebellion. Not to mention we can't let it fall into NWO hands." Nepgear then asked. "What about breakfast?" Aoi looked at Nepgear before he explained. "We'll figure that out once we get inside, after all there is a lot that will need to be explained regarding what happened with Rose and myself along with the new Ranger team." And so Bowser walked over to the unsuspected suitcase and easily picked it up over his shoulder. "Huh, feels light for a suitcase." Morgana turned back into a cat as everyone walked up the steps and into the temple. ~Hidden Palace Zone~ Spoiler After taking some stairs down, the group arrived in a vast underground cavern with the sounds of waterfalls in the back and sparkling gems providing ambient lighting along the tan flat-stone surface that they stood on. Aoi then said with a clap. "Okay, breakfast!" Aoi started to walk forward a bit before pulling out what appeared to be a regular Pokeball with blue in place of red. Yoshi's eyebrow raised. "A Pokemon?" Aoi pressed the button before a blue light emitted out from it and a picnic table, a propane grill/oven hybrid, and some metal coolers appeared before everyone. Futaba smirked as Mario asked. "Wait a minute, how did you..." Aoi then explained. "It's just a little modifcation I made to a standard Pokeball in order to handle long jobs where I would eventually get hungry. I made it to carry food, a table, and some method of cooking the food." Aoi then put on his Darth Vader helmet followed by putting on a white apron and a chef hat on top of the helmet. "Now, let's cook up some breakfast." Aoi looked at Yoshi. "You and the rest of the Cooking Club can help me out as well since we have a large group of people." Aoi then began to cook breakfast with the Nintendo High Cooking Club helping out. ~Outside Shalour City, France: Forest~ Astral, Inferno Obitus, and E. Tempura Wizard stood not far from the Stormtroopers with a band of S-Types behind them. Astral turned to face them all before addressing. "My fellow S-Types, heed my words closely. While we are working with and under command of the New World Order for this mission, our goal is still to deal with our enemies. I, myself am even under command of those here. You know who my enemies are so I won't bore you all with the details..but if someone gives you an order, then you obey that order unless it has to do with our enemies...you still follow my lead when it comes to them, understand?" The S-Types nodded before E. Tempura Wizard bowed. "The S-Types are at your command, Lord Astral." A blue-robed entity with a large hat rose up from the ground, his eyes being the only recognizable facial feature on his face as he bowed. "Lord Astral, I've come bearing a report in regards to something." Astral turned to face the S-Type. "Report, Mr. Dark." Mr. Dark stood up. "In my recon of the city over the past week I've noticed a very strange set of tire tracks leaving the Tower and out of the city. In addition I found some footprints not far from where the vehicle left. Two sets of them were made by rounded boots." Astral looked at Mr. Dark with suspicion before he said. "Continue..." Mr. Dark nodded. "Apparently there were also signs of something else going on, but since I was keeping my distance in order to avoid being spotted I couldn't make it out." Astral responded. "I see, thanks for the report Mr. Dark." "Lord Astral, what does that mean?" Inferno Obitus asked before Astral answered. "It means that some of my enemies have retreated the area. Some of them may have stayed or split off much like with Afton's report about seeing Vector personal involved with a heist at his business made by some new Ranger team. Based on Mr. Dark's words it also implied that Mario and Luigi ran for it." Astral then looked up at the sky. "Somehow they knew I would be here for them, they won't escape me. Peon!" An Astral-S rose up next to Astral before Astral ordered. "Find Mario, Luigi, and their friends. Once you do that I will head right for them." The Astral-S hearing of its mission sunk through the ground. ~Shalour City, France: Tower of Mastery~ "Well, it took us a week...but it's finally done." Neru remarked as she wiped the sweat from her forehead and turned her view to the rest of the Rising Tide along with Hinoka and Camilla all clad in what looked to be a mixture of Stormtrooper armor and black latex catsuit materials, the Stormtrooper parts looked as though they had been remolded somewhat as Kallen's had additional armoring on her metal arm and Samus' was less bulky, the armor was also repainted into a dark-blue with a starry finish. Kairi sighed looking at the armor. "I hope this works..." Kallen then placed a hand on Kairi's shoulder. "Don't worry about it, these were speicifcally designed to accomidate us. I'm sure that the training you've had with Korrina won't affect anything." Kairi smirked and playfully jabbed Kallen on he cheek. "Yeah, you're right...if anything this armor will work well with my training." ~Abandoned Japanese Military Base~ Jumpman, Fujiko, and Ruiji were finishing final preperations before they would soon leave as Ruiji remarked. "Going out into the world, this will certainly be something." Fujiko looked at him sternly remarking. "Don't forget, this isn't a food trip. We're still wanted and thus we will need to be ready to fight." Jumpman blinked quietly remarking. "I'd be a bit more concerned with the younger ones coming along with us." Ruiji then explained. "You heard Connor, they'll get trained when we arrive at our first destination...so don't worry about it."
OOC: I got permission to use the characters from Daniel and Chelsea. ~Shalour City, France: Tower of Mastery~ "I hope so too, Mr. Bellec." Luigi said before nodding at Korrina and left the room. Once he left, he sighed and told himself. "Well, Let's-a go..." ~Tower of Mastery: Outside~ Some time had passed and Mario, Luigi, Akira, and the rest were standing outside the tower. Bowser scratching his head as he asked. "So, let me get this straight. We're going to drive out in a van that the talking cat can turn into somehow to this Hidden Palace that Cynthia and her girlfriend went to all to try to get a ship?" Akira nodded. "Pretty much the simple version of it, yes." Bowser blinked. "Kind of a gamble we're taking here." Peach then looked at Bowser. "A gamble which will get Astral away from here, Mario and Luigi both thought hard on this considering the lives at risk." Morgana smirked before jumping into the air and with a *poof!* transformed into a van themed around his coloring. Noire was stunned at the sight of the van before Neptune playfully jabbed her sister in the shoulder. "Don't try to make sense of it, it just works." Neptune's quote would soon be interrupted when Akechi pointed out. "Actually, he's a conduit much like the rest of us." Neptune looked at Akechi with a glare as she said. "I didn't ask for a complicated answer." Compa then pointed out. "Well, I'm not a conduit and yet I managed to use a few of the Techniques...same for Iffy." Before the discussion could get further complicated, C.C came walking out with Futaba beside her. The green haired woman walked up to Mario and Luigi before placing her hands on their heads. "The girls and I wish you good luck on your mission, hopefully your quest will benefit you." Luigi looked at her. "I just hope you guys remain safe." C.C. chuckled before playfully remarking with a bit of an English accent. "Oh, don't worry about us. We survived the bloody Purge. We will be fine." The doors on the van soon opened before Mario stepped inside shouting. "Hey, it's roomy in here!" Blanc looked at the sheer number of people present and then the size of the van before she stepped inside muttering. "No way are we all going to fit in here." Of course Blanc's eyes shot open as soon as she stepped inside for there was a bigger space inside, the others getting into the van as Vert remarked. "Bigger on the inside, Blanc." Once everyone was inside they waved at C.C. and drove off into the night. ~Denliner~ "Seems like you are ready, we shall proceed then." Aoi remarked seeing the three girls dressed up for the heist ahead. ~Hurricane, Utah: Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria~ Time passed before there was a loud explosion as Aoi, Rose, Hermione, Nico, Yuuki, and Ryotaro came scrambling out of the back of the building with a hoarde of S-Types scrambling after them. The S-Types stopped and parted a the Purple Guy stepped forward rubbing his chin. "Interesting, so the thieves that entered my place of business were being assisted by enemies of Lord Astral itself." Rose pointed her blade at the Purple Guy's face. "Blah blah blah, S-Type says what?" The Purple Guy then said. "What?" only to realize he fell for it and got angry, a dark, shadowy bear appearing behind him as he said coldly. "You're going to the grave, abomination..." Aoi looked at Rose before shouting. "Get us out of here!" Rose grabbed Aoi as he grabbed the others before she sunk through the floor with everyone in tow. Once they left the Purple Guy walked back inside the building and picked up the phone calling the Police. "Hello, this is William Afton, I want to report a theft at my place of business...yes I'll hold." ~European Roads: Monacar~ And so the group was heading down the road being careful of any patrols before Mario said. "Well, we got a while before we get to Scotland..." Before a conversation could start Rose came through the floor with Aoi and the others in tow. Aoi falling flat onto the floor in a daze dressed in his gear. He soon noted the familiar people around him before he said. "Oh, hey there everyone." This was met with a casual. "Hello Aoi." Rose was cursing to herself about the Purple Guy before Nepgear saw the three Rangers and asked. "Um, who are those Rangers?" Aoi blinked and undid his helmet. "Oh these three girls are a new team that formed recently. Wilhelm wanted their help in taking an animatronic body from the Purple Guy." Nepgear nodded. "Oh, I see...but then where's the body?" Aoi then explained. "Fulgore and KOS-MOS took the body to Wilhelm while the S-Types were distracted. Speaking of which...where are we?" Futaba smirked. "Welllllll, we're in a van heading towards the Hidden Palace to try to get a ship and to get Astral after us." Aoi nodded. "I see, I knew C.C. and her girlfriend had visited there because Cynthia has interest in that old historical stuff. They say a bunch of Echidnas built the place originally before a majority of the race died out."
