Super Smash Quest - Story - Chapter 263: Mysteries of the Mushroom King
Date: April 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, 2006.
Metal Man (GM): *WARP* The Questers vanish, and then reappear... in none other than the same room. Except... it is all wavey. The sky is full of... static. Aetos revive with his next life.
Julian: "...This is the underworld?"
Charles: "As you can see, it's not the Dark World."
Julian: "I was expectin' more... y'know, fire. And brimstone... Not static..."
Aetos: "...What the hell just happened? Why did I lose a life?!"
Metal Man (GM): Instead of fire and brimstone, there is a massive valley, with upside-down buildings stuck in the ground.
Julian: "Hypnosis. We had to beat it out of you."
Metal Man (GM): A single path weaves through the valley of weirdness.
Charles: "Kuja had lied to us. The Mushroom King does exist."
Aetos: "That makes no sense. You would have just taken me back to the HQ if I had an ailment..."
Charles: "The vampire made it so we couldn't do that."
Metal Man (GM): Kitchen appliances fly in the air above; weird tunes play.
Aribar shakes his head and wonders what's going on...
Julian: "Because you would have killed everyone there..."
Aribar: "So... Err... What are we supposed to do?"
Julian: "It's like the X-Zone, but less... Follow the path?"
Charles: "Indeed we shall." *goes down the path of darkness to the valley.*
Aetos looks at his Magitek Necklace, for any... special reactions.
Metal Man (GM): No reactions. It is functioning normally. The path appears to be paved with beads; it feels funny under everyone's feet.
Charles is untrusting of this path.
Julian: *Path followin'!*
Metal Man (GM): The Questers walk down the hill, and things begin to come in focus... through it hurts their eyes.
Julian: *Has sunglasses on.*
Metal Man (GM): There is a massive palace... like the Taj Mahal... except it is upside-down. And made out of what appears to be... corrupted sprite graphics?
Aribar frowns and follows Julian, sheathing Moonlight as he heads down the hill.
Aetos: *Has sharp eyes...*
Metal Man (GM): The brightness irritates Aetos even more. This is an optical illusion sort of place.
Aribar squints and holds his arm up to block the light...
Julian: "...It IS the underworld! Everything's upside down!"
Metal Man (GM): The path goes upwards, then twists upside-down, and into the palace.
Aetos: "Agh! My eyes, what the heck!?"
Charles does a split-second of panicking, and then gains composure as fast. "I got a bit surprised when the path turned like that."
Aetos shakes his head at the trivial pathway, and attempts to take a shortcut via jumping to the entrace of the building from where they stand.
Metal Man (GM): So then. The Questers reach the foot of where it arcs around. What do they do? -- Aetos leaps at it. BOING! He leaps up, hit his head on the path, then flips around mid-air and lands on his butt. He's upside down to everyone else, now.
Aetos: *Nulled!*
Aribar blinks at Aetos and decides to just walk into the building...
Julian: "...And physics don't apply either." *just keeps walking on the path.*
Metal Man (GM): Aribar walks in, without a problem. As does Julian.
Aetos flaps his wings jauntily as he walks in.
Charles trusts the path to not do to him like Aetos did. He walks on the path.
Metal Man (GM): The Questers are inside... what there is is impossible.
Aetos can't see anything because it's not possible to see it!? o.o
Metal Man (GM): The entire place is flickering. like corrupted video game sprites. there is nothing but garbled gibberish that resembles trees in pots in this hallway. There is garbled-looking TV-shaped ones, too. And, dead ahead, a door. The only solid thing here.
Aribar: "Gah... This place is hurtin' my eyes... "
Aetos blinks and pokes one of the tree-shaped gibberish sticks.
Charles: "I've had nightmares of glitches. Merely looking at them makes me a bit freaked out."
Metal Man (GM): It reacts like a tree, but also is glitchy. It makes the sound... of water splashing.
Charles walks to the door.
Aetos: "Oooh."
Julian: *Just ignores the sprites and heads for the door.*
Metal Man (GM): The Questers reach the door. It has a knob, but the knob looks... weird. They could turn it, though. The Questers notice stairs off to the left.
Charles: "E Li Three would have a field day here."
Metal Man (GM): They are glitchy-looking, too; and they twist around mid-air.
Aribar just lets the others lead, no idea what they're doing here... Well, supposed to do here.
Julian: "I ain't trustin' those stairs..." *turns the knob.*
Metal Man (GM): The knob turns.
Julian: *Opens the door.*
Charles goes to the side of the door, not wanting to know what happens if it happens. opens.
Metal Man (GM): The door... hisses like a snake as it opens. Inside, there is... a glitched-up looking bunch of chairs around a glitchy-table thing. The chairs suddenly float up and fly out of the door at high speeds.
Charles peeks around the door to see all of this. He moves back, seeing... Them.
Julian briefly thinks .oO(Snakes?) before being bombarded by chairs.
Metal Man (GM): Julian and Aribar leap away from the flying chairs.
Julian: "JESUS CHRIST!" *Julian quickly dives and rolls to the side, away from the chairs of doom.*
Aetos: "..."
Metal Man (GM): Oh, right. Aetos takes damage
Aribar: "Gah!"
Metal Man (GM): The chairs continue flying on out. However, the room sounds like it's about to do something else. The Questers hear the sound of someone yodelling.
Julian quickly gets up and closes the door.
Metal Man (GM): *SLAM* The door shuts. Just in time, as the Questers hear a whole orchestra slam into the other side of the door. Guess that leaves the stairs!
Charles: "...Did I just hear the tuba?"
Aribar shudders at the crash of the instruments. "Upstairs it is... "
Aetos: "You trust going up a set of stairs in here?..."
Julian: "...Stairs anyone?" *heads up.* "Nothin' else to do..."
Aribar follows Julian.
Aetos watches them go up.
Metal Man (GM): The Questers walk up the stairs, and reach the very top. What unfolds there is bizarre. There are glitchified versions of past Questers walking down and fighting four somewhat different versions of Aribar. Then, a glitchified man attacks them, and laser beams start shooting up from the floor and into outer space.
Julian: "..."
Metal Man (GM): When all is said and done, the Questers have a wide-open room, which is completely empty, save for some consoles inset into the wall on the other side.
Aetos: "...Did I miss something?"
Metal Man (GM): The stuff stops happening, too.
Julian: "Nah, you're fine..." *Checks out those consoles...*
Charles checks another console.
Aribar walks over to one of the consoles and looks it over.
Metal Man (GM): The consoles... they display something other than gibberish. There are... Eggman empire logos. And there is something else: A picture of Nintendus, and an array of satellites ready to blow it up. The countdown timer, though, is moving backwards.
Charles: "This... is from the past."
Metal Man (GM): Written atop it is "Nintendus Destruction Program 2.102." There's a variety of buttons, of course.
Julian: "No foolin'..."
Metal Man: "Destroy Nintendus Re-align satellites" and "Self-destruct."
Julian: "Aetos, go stand over there." *geusters to another corner of the room.*
Aetos skips over to the corner.
Metal Man (GM): Each console has the same buttons.
Aribar: "From the past? Hm. I don't remember this... "
Charles: "Either way, Ol' Ivo wouldn't be here OR be able to destroy Nintendus with satellites."
Julian: "Yeah, you'd think Kuja'd do somethin' about blowin' up his own planet if he knew about it, ya? 'Cause he knows everything apparently..."
Aribar hrms and thinks a bit... "Ah... Right, now I remember this place... Sort of."
Julian: "What, you been here before?"
Charles: "Unless, this is a different Nintendus."
Aetos looks at the console from the corner, using his sharp eyes. He counts the buttons and looks for everything remotely shiny.
Julian: "'Dis tha Underworld. 'Course it's a different Nintendus!"
Metal Man (GM): There are... 3 buttons,a keyboard, and a mouse. All the buttons are a red color.
Charles attempts to use his console.
Aribar: "No, I haven't been here before. I just remembered when in the past this was. Details are still a bit fuzzy in my head."
Metal Man (GM): The mouse moves. The controls react.
Aetos slowly and *silently* creeps over to the console.
Metal Man (GM): Move. Sure. Charles hears nothing; Julian hears Aetos. Aribar also hears nothing.
Julian: *Points without even looking up.* "Aetos, get yo' punk *censored.* back over there before I do somthin' about it."
Aetos frowns and treds back to his corner.
Charles: "Good hearing."
Metal Man (GM): The consoles are usable... but what purpose do they serve here? Clearly, they function, but what they describe is not real.
Charles looks through the console's system of archives.
Aribar looks about to see if there are any other exits or things of interest.
Metal Man (GM): Charles clicks stuff, but gets nothing.
Julian: "Lemee try..."
Charles stops viewing.
Metal Man (GM): Aribar sees that there's no real exit, but he could leap out through the skylight in the ceiling. Julian activates the deathrays. The virtual image of Nintendus explodes (But not the console) The screen flashes. "Mission completed."
Aribar looks over to Julian's console as the screen flashes. "What the heck did you do?"
Aetos watches Aribar look around, and notices the skylight as well. "Ooo..."
Charles: "What was that all about?"
Aetos walks under it and stares out it.
Julian: "...I hope not what I think I did."
Metal Man (GM): It is possible to see the static in the sky.
Julian: "If I did... well, atleast that took out Kuja, right?"
Aribar: "And all of Nintendus... "
Charles: "We don't even know what it triggered."
Metal Man (GM): The console flashes again; it shows... a desktop.
Julian: "But still, Kuja's gone."
Charles: "It might've done nothing more than a simulation."
Metal Man (GM): The Questers could probably use the console for other things now.
Aetos: "It's probably a game guys, God."
Julian: "And that cleared up..." *'Nother check.*
Charles checks up on Julian. "Anything you found?"
Aribar walks over to Julian's console to look at what he's doing instead of looking over at him from the middle of the room.
Metal Man (GM): Julian types, and gets a whole lot of information...
Julian: "Hellz yeah..."
Metal Man (GM): Mostly mantras of Eggman and plans to take over Nintendus. Maps of how he would rebuild after destroying everything on the face of the world.
Aetos: "I got an idea! I'm gunna save the world as Superman!" He makes a leap out the sunroof.
Charles looks to Aetos. Curious of what he's looking at, he looks up at the skylight.
Julian: "...If he dies, I ain't pickin' him up."
Charles: "Ditto."
Aetos jumps with all his power.
Aribar: "What on Whaller are you doing?"
Metal Man (GM): Aetos leaps on out the roof... and flips upside down, and lands on the bottom... of a ship. Which phases into view.
Charles: "He's found a path."
Julian: "...The hell."
Metal Man (GM): The Archelago I. It has the Apocalypse Group insignia on it, but is looking somewhat faded.
Julian: "Charles, need a ride?"
Charles: "Now wait a damn minute... Ari, you recognize that ship? That be Denon's original ship if I'm not mistaken."
Aetos looks left and right, then shrugs, walking along the bottom of the ship, upside down... looking for an entrance.
Aribar frowns and looks at the ship... "Yes. Apocalypse Group's ship."
Charles checks another console and searches through it.
Metal Man (GM): Charles finds more Eggman data. Stuck in with it is something about a King. Aetos fails to find an entrance, while Charles stares at the data. He can view the 'King' entry if he wants.
Charles eye twitches, signaling the King. He views the entry of the 'King.'
Julian: "...Charles? You there? You gonna jump up to the ship or you want a ride?"
Metal Man (GM): There is...
Charles: "I'll be in a moment."
Metal Man (GM): MUSHROOM KING. So-called 'Ruler'; data based on rumors.
Charles: "I find rumors of data on the Mushroom King." *reads through it.*
Metal Man (GM): He supposedly lives in the X-zone, where I, Dr. Robotnik, was once trapped. I saw him only once, but he had a great castle, hidden around various places from the past.
Julian: "You do?"
Metal Man (GM): After walking through the original Quester Hunter castle, and some places I had formerly been to, I found his lair. Unfortunately, it was protected by a strange beast which not even the Master Egg could destroy.
Aribar: "Why are you people obessed with the Mushroom Kingdom?"
Metal Man (GM): It ends there. So then. The ship appears to be the only way ahead, for now.
Charles: "That is our mission, Aribar. We are to find the location of a tranmission we got from a very hidden individual known as the "Mushroom King." *reads out loud all the information he just read.*
Julian: "An' apparently, he DOES exist. Contrary to what we were told."
Aribar: "I see... "
Charles: "The Master Egg couldn't even destroy this said beast? Looks like we got a challenge ahead of us, gentlemen."
Aribar: "And you were in Hyrule looking for a Mushroom King instead of the Mushroom Kingdom?"
Dex: "...bzt."
Metal Man (GM): That's odd. Dexes don't talk. Except when asked in some way.
Julian: "It said to look for holy triangles or some *censored.* Where else you gonna find holy triangles but Hyrule?"
Aetos keeps searching for a passage, pulling out his Dex and staring at it.
Charles: "Ivan gave us this clue. 'search for holy triangles and wind up in the underworld instead if he was in trouble.'"
Metal Man (GM): It's a message of some sort... the Mushroom King.
Aribar takes out his Smash Dex. "Eh?"
Aetos: "Yes, Oh great Shroomie?"
Mushroom King: "...C... o...m... e."
Julian: *pulls out the dex.* "...Come where?"
Charles takes out his dex as well.
Metal Man (GM): The voice sorta echoes, and then the message cuts, repeats, and does so three more times before stopping.
Aetos: "Dex, can you tell me what direction that came from?"
Charles: "Only one way to go."
Dex: "It came from above your current location."
Charles walks towards the direction of the skylight.
Aetos looks up back toward the skylight and everyone.
Aribar looks up to the skylight and wonders how difficult it'll be to jump up there...
Metal Man (GM): There they are, down below, as far as Aetos can see.
Charles: "Julian, if you would do the honors?"
Metal Man (GM): The skylight's rather high up; it took all three jumps for Aetos to get up there.
Aetos: "Do you mean Below?"
Aribar: "There's no way I can jump up there... Okay... Rephrase: No way I can jump to you."
Charles: "Julian could throw us up there."
Julian: "...I ain't gonna throw you. I can fly you up there if you grab onto my arms though."
Aribar: "I've a good, if painful, idea to get myself up there... "
Charles: "If that is what you wish."
Metal Man (GM): The ship sits up above.
Charles holds onto Julian's arms.
Aribar takes out the Wand of Wonder and tells the others to stand back before leaping into the air. At the apex of his jump the elf fires a Terrorbolt at the ground beneath him, hopefully propelling him upward... (Aribardoken!)
Aetos shrugs and makes one more search for an entrance.
Julian: "...Whatever man..." *Julian jumps up, and takes off towards the Ship.*
Metal Man (GM): Aetos realizes he can walk right up the sides and open up a thing on the side. Julian, Aribar, and Charles quickly join Aetos.
Aetos: "It's almost like I've got magnet boots on..."
Metal Man (GM): The ship is a massive thing, made of black steel.
Aetos walks up the side.
Julian: *powers down the Rocket Boots as he touches down.* "Aetos! Find anything yet?"
Charles lets go of the arms of Jewels.
Metal Man (GM): Aetos walks on ahead and up the side, to what looks like an easily openable door on the side. It's right near the bridge. Convenient!
Charles looks around for Aetos.
Aribar heads towards Aetos, feeling a bit woozy after casting Terrorbolt.
Julian: "Good." *follows the button-pressing madealge and opens the door.*
Metal Man (GM): There is Aetos walking on up the side of the ship--and Julian opens the door he walked to.
Charles heads for Aetos, the door, near and bridge and whatever.
Metal Man (GM): It is possible to hop right into the bridge, here, though there's quite a scene going on in there.
Charles goes to walk on the side---a very creepy feeling---and opens the door to go through.
Aetos shrugs and hops in.
Aribar looks inside to see what is happening.
Metal Man (GM): There is...
Julian: *Walks on in.*
Metal Man (GM): Denon. He looks a lot more alive here than when the Questers last saw him. But not just him... A wolf-like man wearing a mask is here, too. Meier Link stands nearby, with his sword. Aribar... another ARIBAR standing next to the Wolf-like man.
Charles: .oO(Please don't respond to our presence, please don't respond to our presence.)
Metal Man (GM): Ivo Robotnik is here too. And so is... a weird thing that looks like Samus, but isn't. SA-X2.
Aribar looks at the Aribar... he checks if the Aribar is holding the Sword of Darkness.
Metal Man (GM): Metal Sonic is also there. Yup. That Aribar has the sword of Darkness.
Charles whispers silently, "Let's say nothing, do nothing, and just silently walk away from here."
Julian: "..."
Metal Man (GM): They stare at something which obviously isn't happening.
Denon: "Look at that pathetic man run. Has he ever seen a force this large before?"
Aetos: "Hi guys! Missed me?"
Eldorado: "Yeah. That time he destroyed your Quest Hunters."
Julian: *whispering.* "So this is the Underworld..."
Aetos walks up to them.
Julian: "..."
Denon: "...What the... who are you people?"
Julian: *OUT THE SHIP.*
Eldorado: "It's the Questers!"
Aribar switches to Moonlight and follows Aetos.
Charles: "...Is it me, or is Aetos being the new Skyhigh?"
Aetos: "Arrooo! I'm an Eagle!"
Aribar: "What? You can't possibly be here! ...Is that myself? Piffle."
Robotnik: "Ignore Toad Town! We must slaughter the Questers!"
Aetos: "OOH! Toad Town?! Which one?"
Julian: *Has quietly ducked out the ship before he was noticed, hopefully...*
Metal Man (GM): Julian escapes. Aribar and Aetos walks up to the Apocalypse Group people, and Charles watches, out of sight. WTF BATTLE: Questers vs. Apocalypse Group.
Aetos examines any consoles with big buttons.
Metal Man (GM): There are... all sorts of big buttons. Weapons everywhere.
Aribar frowns and wonders what exactly he's going to do... "
Aetos: "Well? Which Toad Town is it?"
Denon: "Toad Town 1. How I loathe Toad Town 1."
Aribar: "Aribar, lay down that evil blade. Of course, knowing myself, you won't listen, huh?"
Charles: .oO(I wonder if they know I'm here.)
Aetos: "Can I destroy it? Please please please please please???"
Julian: *ducks his head back in.* *whispers.* "Psst... Charles, you gonna watch or get out here?"
Charles: *whispers.* "I would, but I'm outta sight. Besides, this is a rare opportunity to see a train wreck."
Denon: "Toad Town 1's destruction must be put off. You have to be killed first!"
Julian: *whipsers.* "What the hell do you think is goin' on in Aetos' mind? Did that conk on the head cross some wires?"
Robotnik: "Curse you!"
Charles: *Whispers.* "I think it did. But... seeing an idiot and Ari face a past group of riffraff? This is going to be fun to watch."
Julian: *whispers.* "Can the Dex record?"
Dex: "Affirmative."
Charles smiles and begins watching.
SAX2: "Maximum destruction mode activate. KILL. CRUSH. DESTROY."
Julian: *whispers.* "Sweet. Record this battle... but keep on the down-low, clear?"
Metal Man (GM): SA-X2 aims the missile launcher at Aetos and opens fire.
Dex: "Affirmative."
Charles gets out his dex and records this for future entertainment.
Aetos sticks his tongue out at the Samus-copy.
Julian: *whispers.* "...Hey, you think the Smithy fusion way back mighta had somethin' to do with it?"
Metal Man (GM): Weird stuff happens. SA-X2 aims, and gets ready to fire... but the arm cannon glitchifies. It turns into polygons, and is then reformed. Upgraded, even.
Charles: "Nah. Possibly from being hit by Skyhigh one too many times."
Aetos: "Hey, neat job,.. Lady in a suit thingy!"
Aribar frowns at the upgrade. "Not neat... Deadly!"
Julian: *whispers.* "Aetos only fought him twice. Couldn'ta been that."
Charles: "He could've been hit a helluva lotta times."
Metal Man (GM): It fires four times. BAM! BAM! BAM! CRIT! At Aetos, like I said.
Aetos: "Ooh, a shiny hedgehog! Can I have it, Robotnik?"
Metal Sonic: "I remember fighting you... in... the future? This... makes no sense. I must restore reality by killing you."
Robotnik: "He doesn't listen to me anymore."
Aribar: "Umm... Ummm... Metal Sonic's weak against electricity, Denon's a ghost... Eldorado's Wolfman I think and I don't know his weakness... "
Aetos: "Aww... Huh? Hey, as long as he doesn't go haywire and wants to kill you, eh?"
Metal Man (GM): Metal Sonic locks into a fighting pose... and slides across the floor at Aribar.
Julian: *whispers.* "So who ya got for killing Aetos first?"
Aribar tries to think of any more weaknesses or facts of his former allies, but can think of none.
Charles: "Denon. Wait... maybe Aribar."
Metal Man (GM): *ZOOM* Damage if that hit.
Aribar then attempts to leap over the hedgehog, only to get nailed... Hard.
Eldorado: "How dare you reveal my true identity! You shall die for this betrayal!"
Evil Aribar: "It wasn't me!" .oO(Idea!)
Aetos: "Aribar, we've got the power of disfunctional reality in our grasp... take it and use it!"
Denon: "You cannot possibly defeat the Apocalypse Group."
Aetos: "Well, it would take a lot of brain power to render you non-existant in here."
Aribar decides to do just what Aetos said... He attempts to will his clothing and sword to look like the past Aribar's.
Charles: "...Julian, what Aetos just said is just too easy to make a joke at his expense."
Julian: "Wha?"
Metal Man (GM): Aribar looks just like him. Can't say Aribar feels his old self's power, though.
Robotnik: "Isn't that great. Now I can't tell them apart!"
Aribar rushes towards his clone and unleashes a slash with his transformed sword.
Metal Man (GM): He is hit... he seems rather weak compared to Aribar now.
Evil Aribar: "Piffle!"
Metal Man (GM): He skids backwards into a wall.
Aetos: "That's the ticket, Aribar!"
Robotnik: "Gah! Aribar! Channel the darkness of the sword and kill the other Aribar!"
Charles: "Aribar wailing on himself. Jeez, that's gotta suck."
Aetos: "I don't know if this is the X-zone or not, but when you start seeing pixelated trees and warships coming out of thin air, it's good enough."
Robotnik: "X... Zone?"
Aetos: "Yes, you know what that is."
Eldorado: "Fool! I control alll; there is no such thing!"
Denon: "No, I control all. Sit down, Eldorado."
Aetos glares at the wolf thing, stomps on up to it... takes a deeeeep breath, and puffs a huge ball of wind at him.
Charles: "Yes, sit Wolfman, sit. Good Maverick Hunter."
Metal Man (GM): He's hit by it.
Eldorado: "These... demons... they do not come from reality."
Julian: "...Huh, these guys seem weaker than they should be... Wanna jump in?"
Eldorado: "We must unleash the shadow temple on them!"
Metal Man (GM): He's knocked backwards; his phoney mask falls off.
Charles: "Yeah. You go first."
Robotnik: "You'll pay for hitting Aribar, Aribar! Why... I should make an army out of you and your clones... nonetheless! I will kill you before you can even hit me!"
Metal Man (GM): He pulls out a giant looking raygun.
Julian: "Hmmm... Dex, scan Eggman. Text only..."
Aetos: "Ooo... I want one."
Metal Man (GM): He then rabidly shoots at the normal Aribar.
Dex: *Text of 'DING'* 'ROBOTNIK. HP: 0/290. STR: 10. END: 10. AGI: 20.'
Aribar's act didn't work... He's blasted all four times and is beginning to think that he should have been more careful and brought up his protections.
Dex: 'MNT: 30. RAY SHOOT: Fast2x, +Acc4x, d20+13 60. End of data'
Aribar: "You're shooting the wrong person, you fool!"
Denon: "...I really do hate intruders. Perhaps I should throw you around a little."
Julian: *Scans the rest of 'em and compares the data...*
Metal Man (GM): Aribar tries to resist the psychic energy, but instead is thrown into a wall, taking damage.
Aribar: "Gah!"
Eldorado: "I'll kill you with my Quester-controlling remote!"
Metal Man (GM): He presses a button on a weird-looking fighter remote. Nothing happens.
Eldorado: "Grrrr... you'll just have to take some smacking instead."
Metal Man (GM): He runs up to Aetos, and goes to smack him around.
Aetos raspberries Wolfy. *Barely smacked but still.*
Evil Aribar: "Piffle... jerks are ruining my plans."
Aetos: "Hey! Ow!! kinda!!"
Metal Man (GM): He brandishes the sword of darkness.
Evil Aribar: "...Dark... Energy... WAVE!!!!"
Aetos: "Eeek..."
Aribar: .oO(Hey, I couldn't do that... May not be as weak as I thought.)
Aetos watches the Aribars... unimpressed.
Metal Man (GM): A big ol' wave of energy washes at both of you. Both too low... Aribar gets hit by its overwhelming power.
Aribar is thrown back against the wall, severely injured by the dark attack.
Metal Man (GM): SA-X2 fires a bunch of missiles at Aribar.
Aetos: "HEY THERE... Say, is that Aribar a vampire?" *Asking Wolf.*
Charles: "I think you better intervene Julian."
Eldorado: "What? I don't know."
Aribar rolls away, only being caught by one missile.
Metal Man (GM): Metal Sonic flies at Aetos.
Aetos: "YOU CAN FLY?!" *SMACK.*
Julian: "Hold up..." *still comparing stats...*
Aribar sends a weak barrage of Magic Missiles at his clone. They're probably the last chance he has at influencing this match before he's knocked unconsious.
Metal Man (GM): He moves like a slow version of Aribar.
Charles: "You done comparing, Jewels?"
Julian: "Charles, check this out." *holds up the Dex to Charles.* "These guys are all weak. If you an' me jump in, they won't stand a chance."
Aribar: *The elf then rushes over to his clone and stabs him quickly.*
Metal Man (GM): Hit.
Charles looks at it. "They are definitely powerful, but very poor endurance. So go in there and charge right in there!"
Julian: "Exactly. If you 'n me concentrate on one enemy at a time, they'll drop like flies."
Aetos: "Anyways... Gimme that Ray Gun!" he shuts his eyes and immediately enters a deep trance... you'd wonder what just happened. His soul reaches out to Robotnik and into his mind... he looks through Robotnik's past and present... everything... searching for something. *Mimicking Robotnik.*
Julian: "So you gonna help me or not?"
Metal Man (GM): Robotnik's mind makes a big barrier around itself, blocking Aetos out. He's pretty smart.
Charles: "I will."
Aetos: "Hmm. I need some time, for you, fatty."
Julian: "As an act of trust, you go in first."
Robotnik: "I think not." *Shoots at Aetos.*
Julian: "Concentrate on Evil Aribar first."
Charles: "When the Dark Aribar moves, we go in."
Metal Man (GM): Denon tries to throw Aetos this time.
Julian: "Right..."
Metal Man (GM): *WHOOSH* Aetos flies into a wall. Eldorado, aka Wolfman, runs up and tries to smack Aribar.
Evil Aribar: "...DARK... ENERGY... WAVE!!!"
Aribar is hit, but his electrical aura returns the favor with an electrical zap of Electricity daamge.
Metal Man (GM): Eldorado is taking tons'a electrical damage.
Eldorado: "Owww!!!"
Aribar is decimated by the wave...
Metal Man (GM): Damage to both Aetos and Aribar again. That guy's the toughest of the group, easily. Maybe because of the sword he's holding.
Charles speaks to Apocalypse group.
Metal Man (GM): They turn, and stare at Charles.
Charles: "My, my, my. Aren't you riffraff tired of picking on Questers?"
Denon: "Who the hell are you?"
Charles walks forward.
Aetos: "Gasp! Not you! Please don't hurt us again!" *flinches as Charles nears.*
Evil Aribar: "It's Locos! ...Nothing to fear."
Julian: "Maybe you'd like to run with the big dawgs now!" *Julian enters aswell.*
Metal Man (GM): They look at Locos and... scoff.
Charles: "Wrong, Aribar."
Metal Sonic: "Average Quester detected. Diagnosis: Meh."
Charles: "I was formerly Locos. I was the ally to the machine known as Smithy. They call me, Charles Magellean."
SA-X2: "Nothing more than some puny reinforcements."
Julian: "Take out evil Aribar first!" *Julian rears back, gathers a buttload of energy into his fist, and SLAMS It at Evil Aribar for a KO PUNCH!*
Metal Man (GM): Hit.
Julian: *KNOCK OUT!*
SA-X2: "Kill the powerful one."
Metal Man (GM): SA-X2 fires missiles at Julian.
Julian: *Missiled!*
Metal Man (GM): As for Shadow Aribar, he's embedded in one of the walls. Metal Sonic flies at Julian as well.
Charles: "That takes care of Aribar for a while. Who's next, Julian?"
Julian swiftly moves to the side as Metal Sonic rockets past. "Next target's Denon! But go ahead and finish off Aribar!"
Charles: "Very well." *walks towards the evil ari and proceeds with a kick to his lower side.*
Metal Man (GM): KICK. That hit.
Charles proceeds with a jab to his face.
Metal Man (GM): He dies; turns into gibberish pixels and disintegrates.
Charles doesn't then. Charles then creaks his neck.
Julian: "NOW go for Denon!"
Charles turns to Denon. "Leader of the Apocalypse Group. You're next."
Aetos sighs.
Denon: "You can never kill me!"
Charles: "We'll see about that!" throws a powerful jab to Denon's face.
Metal Man (GM): Hit.
Aetos holds the One-Winged Angel upright, closing his eyes. He smirks and notes, "I really suck at this."... he points it out toward "Ro'butt'nik. It carries him through the air, straight into him.
Metal Man (GM): Aribar, being dead, misses his turn for this round. Hit. Aetos stabs Robotnik good.
Charles turns to Ivo. "Dr. Robotnik, I presume. I've had dealings with your uncle, Ivan. He doesn't seem too proud of you."
Aetos soars through him, then he moves in reverse and starts drilling Robotnik... as Charles chats with him...
Robotnik: "That's utter nonsense. I don't have an uncle! OW!"
Metal Man (GM): Hit.
Charles: "My mistake. I took you for someone else."
Aetos performs the same move as before, reversing once more drilling through Robotnik...
Metal Man (GM): Hit.
Aetos halts on the backside of Ivo, then turns around, and makes a clean sweep that makes the air surrounding him shimmer with bright lights.
Metal Man (GM): He barely dodges that. He's nearly dead, though. Robotnik takes aim at Julian.
Robotnik: "For... the Eggman Empire!"
Aetos: "...After I make you bleed from your ears, you want to kill HIM?"
Denon: "This is for targeting me."
Metal Man (GM): He moves his hand...
Aetos hmph's at Robotnik and turns away from him, ashamed.
Robotnik: "It is but common strategy. If we gang up on one person, that person will die faster!"
Aetos: "Hmm... what if I told you... GIMME YOUR GUN NEXT TIME AND YOU WON'T GET BEAT DOWN WITH A KEY."
Metal Man (GM): Julian ties and fails, and is thrown into a wall.
Charles: "His gun only exists with him, Aetos."
Aetos: "Not if I mimicked it."
Julian: *Laser'd, but still goin' strong.* "You ain't never gonna take me do-" *FLUNG.*
Eldorado: "Eat this, fool."
Metal Man (GM): Eldorado runs up to Julian and tries to smack him.
Julian: *Hits the wall, then gets Smacked. He pulls himself off the wall, then shakes twice to clear himself up.* "You'se weak!" *Julian removes his Fedora and launches it at Denon with a Hat Trick!* *Julian runs towards Robonik, grabbing his hat as it flies back, rears back, and Snap Jab's him right in the nose!*
Metal Man (GM): Hit. Robotnik turns into junk pixels and vanishes.
Charles: "And thus, the Eggman Empire comes to an end."
Aetos: "..."
Julian: *PACHOW! The jab shoves the cartilage straight into Eggman's brain!* "2 down!"
Aetos growls at Julian. "You better hope I get something good from the other guys."
Julian: "What? You wanna win this battle or not?"
Metal Man (GM): HP: 196/320. SA-X2 sprays Julian with missiles.
Aetos: "YES, but I want to take something from it too! I was going to take his ray gun to use for the rest of this mission!"
Metal Man (GM): Metal Sonic flies into Julian.
Julian: "It's pixelated! Nothin' there! Nothin' to pick up!"
Metal Man (GM): We all know that misses.
Julian sidesteps and watches Metal Sonic fly past him again. "Man, you ain't to good at this. Maybe you oughta' leave."
Charles: "The Apocalypse members fall one by one..." *falls on his back. He spins furiously, like a turtle spinning, and spins right next to Denon, as he spontaneously stops and thrusts both legs at the demon of the past.*
Metal Man (GM): Yup. Hit.
Charles does a handstand, springs upwards, and stands on his feet again.
Metal Man (GM): Aribar is revived.
Aribar groans as he rises from the floor and looks over the battlefield. His clone is down, and it seems as if people are picking on Denon. The elf decides to do that as well by blasting him with a Magic Missile and ending his turn.
Metal Man (GM): He's... overkilledededed. *BOOM* He turns to gibberish too.
Charles: "And thus, the leader dies in glorious battle."
Aetos enters his meditative state once more, and this time reaches his soul into the mind of Eldorado. He searches for something to use.
Metal Man (GM): Aetos mimics Eldorado... a remote appears in Aetos' hand. Useless Remote: Adds +1 to damage when used.
Aetos: "Score. Buttons."
Charles: "Still wanted Ivo's gun?"
Julian: "Too bad, he's gone."
Aetos glares at Charles, then shifts his eyes to Julian, his eyes emit a tiny yet violant storm of wind. Aetos then points the remote at Julian and presses random buttons.
Metal Man (GM): Nothing happens.
Aetos shrugs and throws it at Julian.
Metal Man (GM): Umm... okay...
Charles: "When Wolfman used that, did you honestly think it a mimicked remote would also prove useful?"
Metal Man (GM): Damage if it hits.
Julian: "What the hell you doi-"*BONK.*
Aetos: "Vengeance!! Vengeance!!"
Metal Man (GM): Aaand... that's it for Aetos' turn.
Julian: "...Alright, just for that, I'm kickin' your *censored* once we get back."
Aetos: ;_;
Eldorado: "You fool! You don't throw it. ...you smack it! Like this!"
Metal Man (GM): He runs up and smacks at Julian with it.
Aribar: "You already killed 'im once..."
Aetos: "Oohhhhh..."
Julian: "I'ma do it again!"
Aetos: "Julian killed me?"
Julian: "Don't even think about stoppin me!" *BONK'D!*
Charles: "...Wolf, how did you do that?"
Eldorado: "I smacked him, using my immense physical strength."
Julian: "That's it! You're goin' down!" *Julian charges El Dorado, rearing back and gathering a bit of energy, going for a KO PUNCH!*
Aribar: "Err... After this battle we'll tell you about it... "
Charles: "So then, Julian... who's the next target?"
Julian: "That Samus lookin' thing."
Charles: "You just insulted the X parasite, you know that."
Julian: "Screw it, it's already firing at me."
Metal Man (GM): Hit. He... flies out the window.
Julian: "... Pa-CHOW, *censored.*! Whatchu think about that, huh?!"
Charles: "...Damn, Jewels! Did he tick you off THAT much?"
Eldorado: "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!" *PLINK.*
Julian: "Nah, that was just a good angle."
Charles: "Four down, two to go. You two still feel up to it?"
SA-X2: "You will not defeat me. DIE."
Metal Man (GM): It fires at Julian with more missiles. Metal Sonic flies at Julian... again. *WHIFF.*
Julian: *After more missiling, Julian's lookin' beat up... but not beat up enough to sidestep.*
Charles: "Hhaallldoooo." *looks to SA-X2.*
Julian puts his hands on his knees and supports himself, breathing heavily... "Next round... is recovery..."
Charles: "Boot To The Head." *Whooosh.*
Metal Man (GM): SMACKA.
Charles has already given Boot to the head the moment the whoosh sound is heard.
Metal Man (GM): Hitzah.
Charles falls on the ground, spins around on his back at breaking speeds, stops when his legs are in front of SA-X2, and thrusts them.
Metal Man (GM): Miss. SA-X dodges it.
Julian: "...Friggin' rippin' me off, man..."
SA-X2: "You cannot hit me that easily."
Charles: "At least you fail to grasp Tae Kwan Leep." *handstands, thrusts, babuages, and gets back on his feet.*
Julian: "Tha's a rip-off too!"
Aribar decides to try and put an end to Metal Sonic by sending an electrical storm over it.
SA-X2: "It doesn't matter when you die."
Metal Man (GM): Metal Sonic avoids; SA-X2 hit.
Charles: "...Look on the bright side. Your aiming hasn't gotten worse." *chuckles a bit.*
Aetos lets out a sigh, holding the Keyblade up high, then does a cross slash. Orbs of light rapidly fire off of the tip of it as it moves downward, carried by wind.
Metal Man (GM): He is hit; a gash forms, but then is rapidly refilled by silvery stuff.
Metal Sonic: "You forget, fools; I have never been defeated. Not even Robotnik could beat me."
Aetos: "Then go leap off the ship. And that's an ORDER soldier!!!"
Charles: "...Does Pseudo-cube Bazooka ring a bell?"
Metal Sonic: "You know this time is before then, Charles. Why do you think I would know about the future?"
Charles: "The facts have been switched in the timeline."
Aetos: "...How did you know this time is before then? How did you know what time he's talking about?"
Metal Sonic: "This is the X-zone. I know it."
Aetos: "So it IS..."
Metal Sonic: "By the destruction of Nintendus in the future, and the death of the Apocalypse Group happening earlier... I become ruler of the planet instead. In this timeline, of course. You don't really belong in it."
Julian quickly reaches into his back pocket and pulls out two PEZ Dispensers with a Max Shroom and Royal Syrup bottle as heads. Julian quickly dispensers a tablet from each, downs 'em, and returns the dispeners to his back pocket.* "Like a really sweet apple..." *FULL HEALTH AND SP. ALSO TURN END.*
Charles: "All this time, we thought this was an underworld."
Aetos: "...We did?"
Julian: "...Wait, what?"
Aetos: "Did you not hear my monologue to Aribar?!"
Aribar blinks...
Aetos: "You WERE hiding over there, watching... So you must have!" *Points to the entrance.*
Metal Man (GM): SA-X2 attacks Julian with more missiles.
Charles: "I could not confirm your beliefs until this one said it himself."
Metal Man (GM): Metal Sonic does the same effect as the SA-X2 gun. He morphs a bit, and then looks at the Questers.
Metal Sonic: "As much as I would love to destroy you here, I will wait for another time. You may challenge me at will... later."
Metal Man (GM): He points his hand at SA-X2, and a giant beam comes out of it.
SA-X2: "!!!!"
Metal Man (GM): *BOOOOM* SA-X2 disintegrates. Metal Sonic then warps out. The whole ship begins to disintegrate around the Questers.
Aribar: "Uhh... Now what?"
Charles: "We embrace falling."
Aetos: "Now now. What are the effects of a neutral chaos emerald, when imprisoned within a chaotic world?" He pulls out the white emerald and looks for any differences it has right now, based on it on Nintendus... while they are about to go voom.
Metal Man (GM): It looks normal to Aetos.
Aetos: "Astounding. This thing has so much integrity."
Metal Man (GM): *TSEER!* The ship suddenly dissappears, and the Questers reappear in front of some sort of castle... a mushroom kingdom castle. However... the doors are locked... and a monstrosity sits in front of it.
Charles: "This is it. The beast that not even the Master Egg could defeat. We are in fight for our lives."
Aetos blinks, and waves with the hand he's holding the emerald in.
Aribar: "Looks like that Mushroom King's palace... What's that?" *Looks at the monstrosity.*
Metal Man (GM): A giant four-sided cube, with the words "OMG DAY" written on it, a bunch of explosions floating around it, a green pepper, and some weird looking Megaman character with a feather in its hat stands in your way.
Julian: "Big deal."
Metal Man (GM): Oh. And some weird-looking vampire dude is stuck inside it.
Aetos: "YAM GOD?"
Julian: "...What the HELL IS THIS?!"
Charles: "A creature of the X-zone."
Metal Man (GM): It screams at the Questers... in the note of G-flat.
Aetos: "I love it."
Julian: "It's a goddamn abomination!"
Metal Man (GM): The Questers' minds are flooded with the name of... whatever the heck this is.
Aetos: "I wanna hug it and squeeze it and love it all over."
Metal Man (GM): JOKERCUBE.
Aribar: "... We can't fight this... "
Julian: "...Jokercube? Where's the Joker?"
Metal Man (GM): It pivots and spins mid-air, blocking the way into the palace. There is the ruins of the Master Egg nearby.
Aetos: "Aw, it got scrambled."
Metal Man (GM): The ruins appear to be full of green peppers, words that spell out "PhOr", and it's on fire.
Julian: "...Ph0r?"
Charles: "Aetos, The Master Egg was something as powerful as a building and twice the endurance."
Aetos: "Humph... I've got more than twice the endurance of a building..."
Charles: "If we can topple this... then the X-zone will be that less threatening."
Julian: "...Dex, think you can scan this thing?"
Metal Man (GM): http://www.smbhq.com/users/ssb_rpg/OMG.png <--The Jokercube.
Dex: "Scanning enemy information. Stand by."
Charles: "I wonder where Arc is."
Julian: "Who?"
Aetos: "Azure."
Charles: "When I was banished here by the magitek replica of Smithy, I was battling some Cactuar in New York City. There, I met overseer of the X-zone, Arc."
Julian: "...I'm not following."
Charles: "It was my first time in the X-zone, and it was during that trip that I first met Danish Dan, and find out where Skyhigh was all this time. I met Sephiroth when in an upside-down town, and found the first seven pages of Sardis Mongul's journal. Near the end of my journey, I was greeted by a being that called himself 'Arc'."
Dex: "...DING!"
Charles: "That was the only time I met the 'ruler' of this plane of existance."
Aribar: "Can this Arc help us get past this thing?"
Dex: "JOKERCUBE. HP: 0/5000. SP: 0/500. STR: 50. END: 50. AGI: 50. MNT: 50. Attacks: Beam of Green Peppers: d20+20, +Magical6x. PhOrStOrM: Area Effect. d20+32, (AGI) Ray of Fire: d20+26, +Acc3x, +Magical3x. Jokerbeam: d20+20, 2d70 damage. +Random, +Magical5x. Doublemint Crusher: d20+20, +Magical6x."
Charles reads the info of the dex.
Dex: "This strange abomination defies reality by having the powers of a perfect God while appearing to be a mess. It is this being which corrupted the past memories which the X-zone was displaying for you."
Julian: "...Holy *censored.*."
Dex: "It is probably the only reason the Mushroom King survived Kuja's purge, as even Kuja would have a hard time trying to kill it. Its only weakness is its relative lack of experience, compared to other Godlike figures. That, and only one attack deals the full potential of damage. It refuses to dodge anything, perhaps because it can't see. It also has no armor. End of Entry."
Julian: "Looks like we're screwed."
Charles: "...We could REALLY use the help of him, but I have no idea how to get in contact with Arc."
Metal Man (GM): The strange, freakish thing continues patrolling the front of the door. It seems relatively idiotic, despite having godlike mental ability.
Aribar: "We can't brute force it... I've suffered alot of damage and my repitore of spells is fast fading."
Charles: "In a head-on assault, we would have a high chance of being defeated."
Julian: "Alright..." *scans the landscape for somethin' that might help...*
Metal Man (GM): There is a blank nothingness out in the distance. The Jokercube and the palace are the only things here.
Julian: "...What about the Emeralds? "
Charles: "For some reason, the thrill of entering this plane just sorta... faded away from me. I just don't have the dedication like I used to to anaylze the X-zone. You have yours, Ari has the yellow one, and Aetos has the white one." analyze.
Aetos: "Well, Aribar... Are ya afraid?"
Julian: "And you have?"
Charles: "Nothing."
Aribar: "More like I think this is impossible."
Charles: "Since it isn't a true god, I'd consider it nigh-impossible."
Metal Man (GM): Make sure to think outside the box... cube... thing...
Aetos: "I wonder if we can roll it."
Julian: "Alright... we can't run from this thing... We could use the Emeralds... Anyone else got ideas?"
Aetos: "I mean, we could probably pick it up and roll it with our minds... but it would take all of us."
Charles: "We could sing to it. How about this. We just ask it if we can go in."
Aetos: "Go right ahead."
Julian: "You try that. You're the diplomat."
Aribar: "... It's just stupid and crazy and logical enough to work."
Charles walks closer to the Jokercube... the mere sight of it just... bleh.
Metal Man (GM): Charles walks up to it. It doesn't react at all. In fact, it keeps on patrolling... even though Charles is close enough to... poke it.
Charles walks around it to the castle door.
Aetos: "I bet I could jump it."
Metal Man (GM): Nope; it moves back and forth.
Julian: "..."
Aetos attempts to leap over the cube to the door.
Metal Man (GM): Charles walks right up to the door without ever being harmed.
Charles goes to walk inside.
Metal Man (GM): Charles walks right inside.
Julian: "Charles, you're a genius..." *Sneakily sneaks his way past the Jokercube and follows Chalres.*
Metal Man (GM): Aetos leaps up... up... and up! But now he must land... Julian walks right inside as well.
Aribar decides to follow the others... The normal way. Not the Aetos way.
Metal Man (GM): Aetos lands right on in front of the door. Aribar follows on in. Even Aetos manages to avoid provoking the Jokercube. The Questers walk right in. The Mushroom king is sitting right there.
Aetos shrugs. "How did jumping over it take longer than walking around it?.. sigh."
Mushroom King: "...What brings you here to my hideout?"
Charles: "Something just told me that it was like a test of E Li Three's. You are the Mushroom King?"
Julian: "You sent us a message."
Charles: "We are the Questers. We got a message that told your castle was under attack."
Aribar lets the others talk... He's just along for the ride at this point.
Mushroom King: "...I didn't send you any messages. But you were tricky enough to get here, so I might as well reward you. What do you want? Limos? Big bucks? Nuclear missiles?"
Aetos: "I'll take any... crystals?"
Charles: "Your... Majesty. Perhaps we should give you the current events on what is happening to Nintendus."
Mushroom King: "What kind of... 'crystals' do you want?"
Charles: "He speaks of an X-zone Crystal."
Julian: "Coins?"
Mushroom King: "It's yours. Here."
Metal Man (GM): He tosses a box with one genuine Magitek crystal to Aetos.
Mushroom King: "...Coins? Here you go."
Aetos cheers, bows, and waits.
Metal Man (GM): He hurls a bag of an extra 10,000 coins to Julian.
Mushroom King: "I know about what's going on. But the thing is, I never really ruled anything!"
Julian: "Yeah!" *catches it, and adds it to his back pocket collection.*
Mushroom King: "I just challenged people to stump me at questions. You must have me confused with some guy named... King Mushroom."
Julian: "...Say, you any good at fixin' lightsabers?"
Mushroom King: "Yes, but I already gave you your one present. Unless that other guy wants your lightsaber fixed."
Charles: "...There's four of us."
Julian: "...We only get one? Damn... Can I exchange it?"
Mushroom King: "Too late."
Aribar hrms, wondering what to do. The elf takes out his dex and decides to ask it a question. "Dex, does the Deku Tree of Hyrule still stand?"
Julian: "DAMN!"
Dex: "Barely. He is assaulted by old age and the wrath of Kuja's will."
Aribar: "I see... "
Charles: "Mushroom King, who is this King Mushroom you speak of?"
Aribar: "Then my present will be to have Julian's lightsaber fixed."
Charles: "Is he the one that actually sent the distress signal?"
Mushroom King: "An ancient king, who founded the Mushroom Kingdom... and... how could a 100-year-old dead guy send distress signals? I shall fix it, then."
Julian: "...Whoa man, Really? Day-mn, I owe ya..."
Metal Man (GM): He flicks his hand out, and zaps Julian's lightsaber... it is fixed.
Julian: "...Okay then..."
Metal Man (GM): I should say... recharged. Same diff.
Mushroom King: "So then. What do you want?" *Points at Charles.*
Aribar: "No problem. I'd rather... Earn the reward I seek I guess I could say."
Charles chuckles a bit. "Well, I should ask how we can get out of here first before I give my request."
Mushroom King: "No problem. It's a bit unorthodox, but I have a specially designed sink with a drain that goes back to the real realm you guys live in."
Aetos: "What? Is it two ways??"
Aribar: "How... Err... Convenient?"
Mushroom King: "Sadly, no. Otherwise I'd be full of jerks asking for favors. Everyone who wishes to talk to me has to go through a series of periless tests."
Charles: "You seem similar to E Li Three."
Mushroom King: "Most of them die or flee before they get here... that foolish Eggman nearly killed himself fighting the deaf and blind Jokercube. I'm his X-zone counterpart."
Charles jaw drops straight to the ground.
Julian: "..."
Mushroom King: "I also respond to letters." *Takes out a bag of letters and starts flipping through them, writing up responses.*
Julian: "Whoa..."
Aetos: "What? Is it two ways??"
Charles: "...'Dethrone the Mushroom King.'"
Aetos chuckles.
Mushroom King: "Yes. You didn't think I was real, did you?"
Julian: "Nope..."
Mushroom King: "Well, that's only a half-truth. I live here."
Charles: "Somehow, I thought you were more... smug."
Julian: "What's the other half?"
Aetos: "And, here is only a vague sense of reality."
Mushroom King: "I'm more smug when there aren't people who can punch me if I insult them."
Charles: "Sooo true."
Mushroom King: "Especially people who outsmarted the Jokercube. Yech. I could never beat you."
Aetos: "So, who might it have been who sent us those distress signals?.. Was Metal just dislexic?"
Charles: "Well, our experience with your counterpart taught us think... of alternatives."
Mushroom King: "That was Kuja. He wanted to kill you. He failed. Then you people decided, of all things, to go looking for me."
Julian: "We had nuttin' better to do. "
Charles: "'Look for the holy triangles and find a way to the underworld in case he is in trouble.' That was the clue Ivan Robotnik gave us to find you. We really thought you were in trouble."
Mushroom King: "I hid that with that old, intelligent guy for anyone who wanted to try out my obstacle course. But, being old, he probably got it messed up and thought it was an emergency thing."
Aetos: "So, is Meier Link part of your obstacle course, or with Kuja?..."
Mushroom King: "Nah, the obstacle course started here. It was a coincidence you landed in this realm."
Aetos: "Lovely."
Julian: "...So now what?"
Charles: "You three can return to Nintendus."
Aribar: "I suppose we go home and declare this wild goose chase over... You're not coming with us?"
Charles: "...I have a special request to ask of the Mushroom King."
Mushroom King: "Hey. You. Charley. You can't live with me, it costs too much to import food for myself as it is. Too many dead pizza men. Unless... you don't want them to hear your request, or something."
Charles: "It will take me a while to come up with the request. But when I get back, you know it will be something good."
Mushroom King: "Oh? Well, I guess I can give you time to think. But I'm still not sharing my pizza with you. It costs 300 coins each try, and the pizzamen often get killed by the Jokercube."
Charles: "I can deliver pizza for you if you truly want it that badly."
Aetos: "...Are the men made of pizza?"
Mushroom King: "You'd have to relive the old memories over and over again. No. I order from Mach Pizza, back in your dimension, from the past. When there weren't business-hating demigods."
Aetos: "Well, how did they get to the X-zone freely back then?"
Charles: "Ari, Julian. You two better go. Aetos seems to be occupied."
Mushroom King: "...It's a closely kept secret, which you'd have to do this whole ridiculous quest over to wish from me."
Julian: "...So we just gon' leave you here? When you comin' back?"
Charles: "Shortly. Now go! Aribar is itching to leave."
Aetos: "Hmm... is there a way to do this quest over? ."
Mushroom King: "In about a month, enter the X-zone again and think about me."
Aetos: "Roger that."
Mushroom King: "That is all you need to do."
Julian: "A'ight..."
Aetos walks to the sink, turns and bows to the king, and climbs inside it.
Metal Man (GM): *Warp pipe noise.* Aetos vanishes.
Aribar: "See you later then... " *The elf follows Aetos, thinking up an idea to deal with Meier Link.*
Metal Man (GM): +10,000 coins to him, and Aribar, who also vanishes.
Julian: "So... I'm out... Hurry up, Charles." *exuent.*
Metal Man (GM):Julian vanishes too. +10,000 more coins to him.
Mushroom King: "So then. I'll be waiting."
Charles: "These questions are important. They involve the evil that presides over Nintendus. What is the goal of The Void now that he is terrorizing the planet again?"
Mushroom King: "Is that your... final question?"
Charles: "No. I see. We only get so many questions per trip."
Mushroom King: "I'll give you three, since information isn't coins... or power... but that's it. So. You want three answers, one to each question?"
Charles: "Then I will give you my request. My request has to be something that will help tip the balance in our favor..."
Mushroom King: "Okay, but don't expect any miracles."
Charles thinks of the great mythical axe. He shakes his head, not wanting that as his request. "As you are well aware, me and Ivan are trying to find the DNA of those who have successfully hidden from Kuja and his cohorts for the past ten years. It took me weeks to find one, and he slipped out of my hands before I was going to ask him a few questions."
Mushroom King: "Well, I happen to have avoided Kuja. Why not have my signature instead?"
Charles: "Either that, or allow me to come here straight to here only to ask you no more than two questions per rare visit. Whichever you grant, I shall accept."
Mushroom King: "I grant you my signature." *He pulls a disc out of thin air.* "This disc shall remain usable for as long as it is relevant; when it breaks, Kuja's reign has ended."
Charles: "Will this allow Ivan the vital item he needs for his tracker? I meant if it is. Pardon, my speaking skills have slipped lately."
Mushroom King: "Of course. It will be the final key in his puzzle."
Charles: "I thank you. This is one of the main reasons why I came for you, if no one else."
Mushroom King: "Well, now you have it. You are free to go home."
Charles takes it. "One day, I shall return with an even greater request. Until then, I will pray for you that one day you will get a pizza." *bows before the cocky dude and goes to the drain. He leaves the X-zone and returns to Nintendus.*
Julian: *Wating for Charles.* "So what'd you get?"
Charles holds up a disc.
Julian: "...And it'd be..."
Charles: "The final key to one puzzle piece. It is the Mushroom King's signature."
Julian: "What's the puzzle?"
Charles: "That is something even I don't know. All I do know is that it will allow Ivan to find us people not loyal to Kuja. In turn, it will help us find allies."
Julian: "So now we got Mushroom King's location?"
Aetos shakes his head. "I don't think I trust Ivan. He just seems rather shaky."
Charles: "No, but more of a life signature. A sort of beacon that allows us to differentiate between those who are with Kuja and those who are hiding from him."
Aribar: "I don't think we've a choice but to trust... " *The elf blinks and looks around, wondering where they're at.*
Julian: "...So we know where he is."
Metal Man (GM): The Questers are right outside their headquarters. Convenient.
Charles: "Yes. All we have to do is succeed in his obstacle course again, we can get requests... next month."
Julian: "Coo'. So you gonna go give it to Ivan?"
Charles: "The problem is getting to the X-zone when the time passes." *smiles.* "Definitely." *goes inside immediately.*
Charles looks around for Ivan while still avoiding Vladimir.
Julian: "...Aetos, remember what I said earlier?"
Aetos: "About what?"
Aribar hrms. With the mission seemingly finished the elf decides to head inside and to Metal.
Charles: "Ivan... oh Ivan!"
Julian: "About kickin' your *censored.* after the Remote incident."
Aetos: "Ok, do it."
Julian: "With gusto. Meet me in the arena in 10 minutes."
Charles is now at Ivan's office. "I did it. I finally did it, Professor Ivan!"
Aetos walks that way.
Julian: "What? You 'fraid of an ***whoopin'?"
Metal Man (GM): Everyone is at da' headquarters, which, until now, has never really been re-explored. We have outselves the center of operations, Metal's room, aka the Big room. Here, he files paperwork and addresses new missions. The door immediately north is the R&R, where people come to relax. Now featuring a holographic television projector. The entryway is in a hallway to the left/West of the R&R. It has one hallway that goes up/down, and another which goes East/West. Those two intersect at the entryway and the door on R&R. Down the hallway is some labs. Firstly, where Oak's should be. Secondly, where Dr. Light's should be. Two other rooms sit, equally unused, and those are even unfinished. The whole other side of the hallway are holorooms, just recently fixed. And down the north/south hallway, to the left some more, is the huge warp room. In fact, gimme a second. I want to draw this out.
Metal Man (GM): There's some indeterminate space that is in the middle of all of this; it hasn't quite been assigned yet. The second floor hasn't been built, so all you have is what I spoke of... BESIDES one major something. That something being... the Stadium itself, and the focus of this intermission. Ivan's soldiers soon became bored living here, and also Ivan himself was depressed that the Stadium had been destroyed. So, they spent their efforts making it larger, bigger... better. 10 floors tall, and rather large in diameter, it is connected by a hallway on the right side of R&R, and will also be connected to a room South of the Big Room. And this is where we cut in. Aetos and Julian have been... errr... less than friendly, and are right outside R&R. Meanwhile, Metal sits inside his office, the big Room, and continues tirelessly filing papers. Charles is... well. Wherever he wants to be.
Metal Man looks over a big stack of papers. "How I hate busywork. Why do I even need papers, anyway? We violate the law just by existing." Metal Man then hurls around a bunch of papers, and procures a dusty logbook.
Julian, figuring he's got a few minutes before the match, enters R&R and tries out the new TV to see if anything's on it but propaganda.
Metal Man: "This here... this is the only thing left of my old possessions."
Metal Man (GM): Julian turns on the TV.
Kuja Tribal: (TV) "The Questers are your enemy. The Questers are evil. The Questers are imperfect. Kill them on sight! Death to the liberty-hating Questers!"
Julian: *click.*
Metal Man (GM): It repeats that over and over. *Click.* Next channel.
Zess T: "Today, on Zess T's cooking kitchen, we cook... what? French Fries are now Kuja fries? Who thought of that? ...Grrr... all right. KUJA Fries. I don't even know what French means, but Kuja Fries just don't sound the same. Now, we take some... KUJA... brand potatoes... ...This is ridiculous. Anyway, and you... chop them into fry shapes."
Julian: .oO(Surprise after surprise.) *click.*
Charles had an encounter with Vladimir. Charles had to be as unresponsive as possible so not to give Vladimir the satisfaction of a reply. After meeting with the rude man, he travels down the hallway on the west hallway to Ivan's room. *Knock knock knock.*
Metal Man (GM): The Toad chops the potatoes angrily as Julian changes the channel.
???: "Today, on Who wants to be kicked in the Shin by Kuja, we have... Rip Cheato!"
Julian: .oO(Who?)
Rip Cheato: "The answers are: Five, a thousand grams of salt, and eighteen flowers. I win."
???: "What? Nobody is supposed to win! I didn't even tell you the answers!"
Julian: *Click.*
Metal Man (GM): Julian changes the channel.
Kain: (TV) "Bow down to my almighty powers! For I am... your unwavering God!"
Metal Man (GM): Wow. That's a STRANGE channel.
Julian: "...Who the hell is this joker?"
Metal Man (GM): Then Julian realizes it's some weird science fiction show.
Julian: "Psh. Sci-fi." *Click.*
Metal Man (GM): There is some guy in a bad costume sending stuff which is an obvious ripoff of Star Wars stuff after equally lame people in costumes as Julian changes the channel. Julian gets back to the same Kuja channel.
Kuja Tribal: (TV) "The Questers are your eater of non-Kuja brand mayonnaise!"
Julian: "Mph..." *checks the channel listing.*
Metal Man (GM): That's it. All the other channels were taken out by Kuja when they said anything remotely anti-Kuja.
Azure enters the room, looking at them watch the tv contraption. Kuja seemed to be at the helm of control on this device as well.
Metal Man (GM): Zess T remains on because the money she makes can be embezzled by Kuja. And, of course, old movies work too. As do lame game shows. But... Kuja hates entertainment, mostly. He prefers building gigantic cities and blowing stuff up.
Metal Man reads through his old dusty book, neglecting various outdated patents on Quester-brand stuff.
Julian: "...How this planet hasn't dissolved into a bubblin' pot of rebellion is beyond me..." *Cooking's better than nothing. CLICK.*
Metal Man (GM): Charles walks on out and reaches the temporary office of Ivan; he knocks on the doors, and winds up waiting about 6 minutes before it opens.
Ivan Robotnik: "Sorry, sorry. I was busy dealing with some calculations."
Metal Man (GM): Meanwhile, Julian watches the cooking show. He sees Zess T seething at various things Kuja named after himself.
Charles smiles while looking at Ivan. Charles then holds up the disc containing Mushroom King's signature.
Ivan Robotnik: "And... that is?"
Charles: "This is what you require for the tracking device."
Ivan Robotnik: "Most excellent. It should plug right in, in fact... how did you know the format?"
Charles: "You just told me."
Metal Man (GM): He pulls out a DNA scanner device. The same one, in fact. It has a slot on the back to hook a CD into.
Ivan Robotnik: "Let's see what's on it."
Charles handeths Ivan the disc.
Metal Man (GM): He takes it, and plugs it in; the disk spins, and the map of Nintendus lights up. One dot appears to be moving constantly around the map. Ivan points at it, immediately.
Charles rubs his chin.
Ivan Robotnik: "THAT is Sardis Mongul, in case you didn't already know. He appears to be moving too fast for Kuja to sense him."
Charles: "Speaking of Sardis, I owe you a journal to be lent."
Ivan Robotnik: "The rest... I have to... yes?"
Charles pulls out the journal. He hands it to the professor.
Metal Man (GM): He takes it, and reads through it rapidly.
Ivan Robotnik: "...You should have given me this sooner. There is no question about it..."
Charles: "Seems it has either given you answers or even more questions. Which one?"
Ivan Robotnik: "...This is the closest thing you can get to my opposite. This person clearly creates what I try to prevent... Answers, yes. The Void and his accompanying phenomena seemed to be man-made."
Charles: "You're..."
Ivan Robotnik: "This is the man here. Sardis Mongul. He did it, against his own will, but he did it. Only he would know how to end it."
Charles: "...not kidding."
Ivan Robotnik: "Kidding? No... this is a piece I've been wanting for... quite a while. I always found a way to slow down this monstrous thing, but... it appears this man has powers beyond our own... ..I don't know if he wants good or evil, though. He seems crazy."
Charles: "We briefly meet him after returning from Turion... but that was it."
Ivan Robotnik: "He... is the key. I think. I won't jump much further, but this journal indicates he's trying to do something... ...How did you get this?"
Charles: "When the Solarian replica of Smithy and Grodus attacked me on my homeworld, they used a barbell like device that banished me and the entire moon into the X-zone. I was greeted by a man named Sephiroth in an upside down known as Sardis Mongul. I found the first seven pages in the journal. After leaving the X-zone by a being names Arc, the Questers and I gradually found page after page in several locale. A couple days ago, the eighteenth page appeared on my head. I'm not sure how he feels about the shield I made."
Ivan Robotnik: "Hmmm... he seems to want to warn you... but of what? He already told you that he knew quite a bit..."
Charles: "Sardis wants to meet with the Questers and warn of us of what Kuja is up to."
Ivan Robotnik: "I will leave that part up to you. I am afraid if we tried to interfere or meet him, he would probably become dissuaded..."
Charles nods.
Metal Man (GM): He finishes reading it, and gives it back.
Ivan Robotnik: "I shall begin writing software to interpret the signals we have... they're encoded so that Kuja can't find them."
Charles: "Now about this tracking system. How long do you think it'll take to ---thank you *takes it back.*---- take to find other non-loyal Kuja beings?"
Metal Man (GM): He points at the screenl there's dots scattered thinly; they have weird hieroglyphic-like things on them.
Ivan Robotnik: "About a day or two. After the next big match."
Charles: "...I wonder where The Enigmatic Man is. I will meet with you later, Ivan."
Ivan Robotnik: "Indeed."
Charles: "...Also, I've... never formally apologized for ...accusing you of being The Void when it first attacked. I'm sorry." *walks out of the office.*
Ivan Robotnik: "...It's okay. The Void has long desired my knowledge, but I had not the insanity of Gerald, and am too mature to sink to the level of Ivo. I shall see you... again."
Metal Man (GM): Charles exits, on that note. it is possible to almost hear Metal reading things to himself. He seems obsessed with something or other. Which is odd, he was previously shiftless and quiet.
Charles passes by his office. "Reading things as usual, Illian?"
Metal Man: "Something... more. I lost something... I can't seem to find it." *He searches around.*
Charles: "Perhaps I can help you."
Metal Man: "Well... I'm not exactly sure what it is. I just feel as if somebody stole something from me." *looks at the mounds of paper. "It certainly wasn't any of this garbage."*
Charles: "While you look for it, you could look at this. I believe it's time you knew of what Sardis has been recording and sending to us." *shows the journal.*
Metal Man looks at the journal. "Ah yes, him. Too bad I don't know much about him."
Charles gives Metal it so he can read through it. "What interested me was the latest page he sent."
Metal Man takes the book, and reads it quickly, and quietly, mumbling at it. He finishes reading the book. "Hmmm... such a confusing book. Reminds me of my own journal."
Charles takes the book back. "What do you think Kuja is holding back?"
Metal Man: "Well, he's probably holding back himself. He sends his phonies at us instead of actually using his powers."
Charles: "I see. I'll see you later."