Character Scramble 16 Round 2: Rockin' Rockin'

[u/OddDirective]

Round 2: Rockin’ Rockin’

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Bracket

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DAY 4

The mission the Game Master gives this week is simple and also quite complex. “Topple the ruler of the A-East arena. You have three hours. Fail, and face erasure.” They aren’t being so forthcoming with information on what that means, so that’s a challenge your Players will have to overcome. Another hurdle is actually gaining access; there’s something in the way of getting in the actual arena, be it knowledge on the target or a situation set up by the Game Master preventing access to the arena. This leads into a scramble to get the multiple things needed to resolve this, but with some outside assistance (hint: your Reaper), your team could get past it quicker than others.

(Some examples of obstacles and situations preventing access: Separate clues to the identity of the ruler or what is meant by ‘the arena’, a techie that needs specific items to go on with the scheduled show tonight, a gourmand Support Reaper manning the barrier to the way in that needs ingredients, a Resident Evil-style lock puzzle, a heist-type setup for a specific back entrance, or having to cure certain people of Noise infestation so they can open the doors.)

Whatever way they get through it, the team reaches the inside of the arena to face off against the ruler of the arena- and their target meets them on stage. It’s a battle under the lights, and the amps are turned all the way to 11. It’s time to play!

The enemy team can factor into this in a couple ways- obviously, if a member of the enemy team is the ruler of A-East, that’s one way to do it, but they could be individuals keeping you from obtaining the things you need to get in, or they could be a rival team trying to take down the boss before your team can. Whatever the case, they’re going up against you at some point in this round, so prepare to face off!

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Scramble Rules

Let ‘Em Know Who You Are: Every participant this season received four characters on their team, but many of them might not be a household name. To aid with readability, please give a brief introduction and summary of your characters, with enough information so the average reader can get excited for your team before starting.

This World Ends With You: Your writeup will depict a scenario where your team succeeds. Even if your team has a one in a million chance of overcoming the odds, show what they’d need to do to come out on top against the challenge in front of them!

Everybody Has Their Own World: Writers are allowed to make changes to their characters in their narrative to fit their story, such as allowing power stealers to gain more powers, teaching martial artists new techniques, or having characters gradually grow in strength between rounds. However, you are not beholden to following what your opponent is doing. When facing another team, you are only required to write their characters as they were submitted. This is to help with ease of research, and make things more fun for both sides.

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Round Rules

Setting: This round’s original setting is A-East, in particular a music venue or other performance arena, which in the original games is in a more seedy area. The main thrust of the setting is a showy place for a ‘boss fight’, so any location with a stage would work excellently. With regards to getting there, however, there is a possibility your Players would have to search far and wide, in other locations around the city. If you can’t conceive of it another way, think of it like a fetch quest.

Key Points: The main idea of the round is the following. Your Players must enter into an arena of some description or renown, and defeat a single enemy there. That being said, there is a multi-part obstacle keeping them from getting in, which the Players and Reaper have to resolve on the way. After overcoming this, the team enters into the arena and faces off against the enemy or enemies there. The enemy team must oppose them at some point, but it can be during the multi-part obstacle and/or at the arena.

Post Limit: For this round, writers will be limited to 6 posts, or 60k characters. While it is fine to go a little bit over, anything that far surpasses this limit will be automatically disqualified. This limit does not include intro posts, or analysis of the matchup.

Due Date: Writeups will be due at 11:59 PM CST on Monday, October 31st. That’s about two weeks. At that point, the thread will be locked, and voting will go up for a few days afterwards.

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Flavor Suggestions

peaceful day: Your Players participated in at least one other day before this, though they didn’t run into any trouble in terms of teams opposing them. Or maybe they did! Whatever happened that day is up to you, and you can describe it if you want; just be mindful of the space you’re working with and that you need to complete the round.

The One Star: Your team’s goal is to defeat one specific enemy- in the original game, it was a bat Noise boss fight, and another monster certainly would fit the description. That being said, there is also the option of making it a member of the enemy team, either a Player or their Reaper, which of course seems sensible. There’s also a third option of making it a different character entirely. Who or what the ruler is is totally up to you.

Kill the Itch: While the mission doesn’t specify lethality, this might be the first time your team has fought directly against the enemy team members, and erasure can be introduced by having to erase the other Players on the enemy side. How would your team react to them being the cause of others’ nonexistence- or would they try to take them down nonlethally? Would they not even fight the enemy team, for fear of erasing them? Or, alternatively, would they be a bit too enthusiastic about eliminating the competition?

[u/Kiryu2012]

“Anyone else find it a bit disconcerting the way he said ‘face erasure’?” Hector asked way too casually for someone in his situation to be behaving.

“And he means it,” Merlin noted grimly. “If we don’t manage to win this, we’re gone for good. And that includes me.” The wizard looked upon his group for a moment as they were gathered around one another, fully aware of the gravity of the situation at hand. “We all need to do our best to win, even if it means ending the lives of our opposing team.”

“That bastard will pay for making us all suffer like this,” Zelgius stated coldly, referring to Discord of course as he clenched his fist tightly. “I’ll do everything in my power to see this to the end to put a stop to his torturous game.”

“If it means getting payback on this guy for using us like characters in an adventure game, then count us in,” Sam responded, Max nodding along in approval.

“Yeah, let’s put the old coot in his place,” Hector added confidently. “Nothing like taking down corrupt people of power.”

“Now you’re speaking my language,” Max replied to the wereboar with an eager grin.

Merlin had given a smile all the while, pleased to hear just how determined his team was about this. Maybe they would be able to get out of this after all. “Thank you all, really. With that kinda mindset, nobody can take us down.” The more the wizard spoke, the more he himself became confident.

With that moment of self-hype accomplished, the group made their way out from the surprisingly large parking lot, one with sporadically placed vehicles that were very much abandoned; not merely vacant, but aged, withered, as though they’d been where they stood for some time now.

At any rate, traversing the asphalt-carpeted ground was of no issue to anyone on the team. What did prove to be the issue, however, was the entrance leading to the inside of the concert. This almost immediately became clear to the group for a few reasons.

Firstly, they weren’t the only ones there.

Whether they’d arrived, or perhaps been brought, here to this establishment sooner than they or at the same time was anyone’s guess. Whatever the case, the new group that had also emerged from the parking lot around that moment had already become aware of them. Comparatively speaking, the majority of this new team seemed more normal looking than our protagonists, given the fact that the majority of them were human, or at least looked human.

“Hey, you punks here for this ruler guy too?”

It was funny, then, when it was the one representative who was in fact not human who was the first to speak to them. More specifically, she looked to be some sort of fish woman, red haired and blue scaled, athletic in build (not to mention well endowed), and wearing an eye patch.

“Pretty much,” Sam answered as he eyed the fish lady and her squad. “I’m guessing you guys were brought here by that Discord fellow, too.”

“Yeah, actually,” she answered, bearing her pointed teeth in irritation, clearly in regards to everyone’s current situation. “Said we’d be getting erased if we don’t win. He told you guys the same thing, huh?”

“Pretty much,” Merlin confirmed, standing beside Sam. “The name’s Merlin, and these are my cohorts, Sam, Max, Hector, and Zelgius.”

“Call me Undyne,” the fish woman responded with a toothy grin, giving Merlin a firm handshake as Sam and Max studied her.

“What do you think about having her join us, Sam?” Max commented. “She looks like the kinda woman to pick her teeth with crooks’ bones!”

“Take it easy, Max,” Sam replied. “You don’t even like girls.”

“I don’t?”

“These fellas are Big Boss, Omori, and Marco,” Undyne continued all the while, referring to her comrades in arms as they greeted our protagonists. Big Boss being the older man wearing an eye patch and an attire that screamed top secret government shenanigans, Marco being the man with the streak of red hair, and Omori being the young boy. The last bit of that visual info certainly didn’t go unnoticed by our gang of makeshift teammates.

“Even children are being forced into this game of torture?” Zelgius noted, looking upon Omori in sympathy, the latter only able to silently stare back in sorrow.

“Which is why we need to put a stop to this while we still can,” Big Boss replied, studying our team for a moment. “Never seen folks like you before. Think you’ve got what it takes to stop Discord?”

“You bet!” Max answered confidently. “I became a vampire recently, so I should definitely be able to beat him given the chance!”

“A vampire?” Marco wondered aloud as he and Big Boss looked upon the lagomorph-like creature with newfound caution. “Can’t say I've had the best experiences with them. Though I've never met any vampire rabbits before." He turned his gaze over to Sam at this. "You sure you guys got him under control?"

"If by 'under control', you mean 'keeping him from feasting on anyone we know or care about', then yes," Sam nonchalantly answered.

"Yeah, that's totally not disconcerting at all," Marco sarcastically replied.

"And what about you?" Big Boss asked Hector as he eyed the wereboar as though he were wondering if he was on drugs of some kind. "I've seen a lot in my days, but never a talking boar."

"I’m a wereboar to be more exact," Hector replied with a smirk. "I know some magic, and my brother's spirit can help me out in a brawl."

"Wereboar. Right." Big Boss was rather calm about the concept of conversing with a therianthropic suid. "Discord’s really bringing in everyone for this game of his."

"Trust me, I’m still having a hard time processing it all myself," Zelgius said with an exhausted expression.

“Well folks, I’m afraid pleasantries aren’t going to be possible here,” Merlin spoke up, grabbing the attention of both teams as the wizard addressed everyone present. “We all know what’s to happen here. Only one team is expected to win, and thus live.”

“So we’ll all do this as one big team!” Undyne asserted. “He can’t erase any of us if we win together!”

“Fighting together instead of each other,” the wizard noted with a smirk. “Could be possible, although knowing Discord, he’d probably be anticipating such a loophole.”

“To hell with what Discord says.” Hector spoke up as he moved beside Merlin. “We’re all in this together. Ain’t no way we’re gonna let anyone here get erased.”

Unable to help but chuckle, Merlin looked to his teammate with a smile. “Yeah, you’re right. Let’s this show on the road and show Discord what we can do.”

Such a sentiment certainly seemed to be shared by the rest of the now larger group, as they began approaching the entryway to the concert, or should they say arena, within. But, see, they wouldn’t exactly be able to just walk right in no problem.

This is where the second reason that the entrance would be of issue came in.

A man stood before the doors of the entryway, dressed in black, cleanshaven, and his eyes hidden behind black sunglasses. All things considered, he looked as though he’d just walked right out of a secret government operation, or maybe the White House. His stonefaced expression remained unchanged as the myriad of folk stopped before him, seeing right away that he was the obstacle they were going to have to surpass.

“Step aside buddy,” Sam said to the agent-looking guy. “Freelance police.”

“Just a moment, sir,” the man replied in a calm monotonous tone, before bringing up his hand to activate what seemed to be a radio comm earpiece. “Daddy, this is Super Ball. Possible situation at the front door. Talking dog and…err…rabbit? Trying to gain access to the arena. Please advise, over.”

“Super Ball?” Max wondered aloud in surprise.

“Yeah, that’s a negative on the access permissions, sir,” Super Ball said as he looked back at the group. “I’ll have to ask you and your friends to step away from the concert.”

“Doggy Daddy, this is Loose Cannon,” Max began as he glared at the man in black. “Request permission to pants this goon, over.”

“Before we try physical violence, Max,” Sam responded. “Let’s try dazzling the man with our razor sharp wit and labyrinthine logical conundrums.”

“Ah, emotional violence! Good plan.”

“Are they really serious?” Undyne deadpanned as she and the others watched on dumbfounded.

“Trust me,” Merlin answered with a grin. “We’re seeing geniuses at work here.”

“I’m not sure you know what a genius is,” Zelgius just commented.

“Let us in, pal,” Sam stated to Super Ball all the while. “We’re freelance police, here to get everyone back to the living world!”

“I thought we were here to defeat the ruler of this area by any means necessary,” Max blurted out.

“I was going to wait to mention that part, Max.”

“Either way, sir,” Super Ball responded. “You can’t get inside. Orders.”

“Seriously, Jack, let us in,” Sam continued. “It’s a dimensional emergency."

“No can do, sir.”

“Hmm,” Sam turned back to Max. “It’s going to be tougher than I thought to trick this goon into letting us in.”

“I heard that, sir. And it’s going to be impossible.”

“Hey, no fair! You’re not supposed to listen to casual asides!”

“It’s in the job description, sir. ‘Report all stage whispers, soliloquies, and casual asides to the proper authorities’.”

“Curse them!” Max exclaimed. “They thought of everything!”

“Finest security force in the world, sir.”

“Don’t you get bored guarding this door?” Sam inquired to Super Ball.

“It’s a rewarding job, sir,” the agent man answered in his still monotonous voice. “Doing my part. Keeping the ruler safe.”

“Hey Super Ball,” Max said with a not so innocent smile. “I’d like you to smell these two handkerchiefs and tell me which one smells more like chloroform.”

“Not now, Max,” Sam dissuaded the lagomorph.

“We’re going to be here for a while, aren’t we?” Big Boss casually noted, Omori and Hector already just sitting down and relaxing all the while as Undyne mentally facepalmed.

“Patience is a virtue,” Merlin replied, still keeping up his smile.

[u/Kiryu2012 → u/Kiryu2012]

“How can you still have any patience with this?” Zelgius asked in exasperation.

“Is that all you do?” Sam asked Super Ball, still keeping up his verbal attempts to get past the agent. “Guard this door?”

“That’s my primary assignment, sir,” Super Ball answered.

“I’m thinking of a number between 1 and 100,” Max said with a toothy grin. “Try to guess it while I drop increasingly heavy weights near your head.”

“What’s your secondary assignment?” Sam asked, completely disregarding Max’s thinly veiled threat of violence.

“Varies,” Super Ball replied, also ignoring Max. “Receptionist. Maintenance. Light groundswork. Public relations.”

“Public relations?”

“I’m a people person, sir.”

“Okay, this is going way too long,” Undyne said, rather fed up by this point as she stomped her way over to Super Ball, pushing aside Sam and Max whilst brandishing her bright blue spear. Max approved of such a weapon with a grin.

“Listen up, pal,” Undyne snarled, angrily poking Super Ball in the chest with her spear as she spoke. “You step aside and let us pass, or you’re gonna know how it feels to have your liver get skewered!”

“No can do, ma’am,” the agent calmly responded, not having flinched even remotely from the monster’s threatening demeanor. “I’m not stepping aside for anyone.”

"Alright, that's it!" Undyne shouted, rearing back her arm as she clutched her spear tightly. "Ngahhh!" Hurling her Spear of Justice forth, the monstergirl aimed for Super Ball’s chest, ready to pierce straight through his heart to allow her allies to move on-

The spear bounced right off the agent, unceremoniously clattering to the ground.

“Well that was a ripoff,” Hector commented.

Undyne’s eye twitched slightly as she stared down at her spear in surprise at what just happened.

“Nice try, ma’am,” Super Ball calmly said. “But violence isn’t going to help you get anywhere.”

“Wanna bet?!” Pulling out several more spears, where nobody could guess, the redhead started hurling the pointed polearms at her target, Super Ball’s stonefaced expression unchanging as each and every one of the spears pinged off of him with nothing to show for it. Even then, Undyne just kept chucking spear after spear with such speed as to form a blur, a pile of the weapons already growing at her feet.

“So you’re invulnerable as well?” Sam nonchalantly asked as Undyne kept up her futile spear tossing.

“Affirmative, sir,” Super Ball answered, not flinching from the barrage of pointed polearms pinging off his chest. “A nice benefit provided when working this job.”

“And here I was hoping I could just drain his blood and make it easier for us,” Max commented.

“I don’t understand anything anymore,” Zelgius groaned with a facepalm.

“So what if you’re invincible?!” Undyne yelled undaunted as she brought a halt to her futile spear tossing. “It doesn’t matter if I toss you outta here!” Crouching down, the fish lady wrapped her arms around Super Ball in a tight bearhug, before straining to lift him upwards in a vicious suplex, just as she’d done with boulders just because she could.

Imagine her surprise when, in spite of the strength she was applying, she couldn’t lift the man for even a bit.

“No can do, ma’am,” Super Ball just said as Undyne looked at him in shock. “You’re not allowed to move me from this spot.”

Snarling, Undyne redoubled her efforts, her muscles straining as she heaved and pulled with all her might. And yet, even as the concrete ground beneath her cratered and shattered from the amount of force she was using, Super Ball would not budge in the slightest. It was though he was nailed to the ground, and no matter of strength on Undyne’s part would prove capable of moving him.

“So now what do we do?” Hector wondered aloud as he and the others watched Undyne’s admirable, but futile, effort.

“Brute force clearly isn’t an option,” Big Boss noted as he pondered over whatever available ideas they could use. “And talking to the guy hasn’t done much to help. We could try seeing if Merlin can use his magic to somehow transport him away from here long enough for us to get inside-”

Sam and Max clearly had their own idea, however, as they proceeded to approach a nearby phone booth (where did that come from?) and access the telephone within. Sam proceeded to dial up a number on the phone, waiting as the telltale ringing of another nearby phone that just so happened to be positioned on the wall besides the door.

The sound grabbing his attention, Super Ball turned away from Undyne, making the fish woman collapse to the ground as she felt like she was gonna have a hernia. The agent proceeded to pick up the phone, bringing it to his ear as Undyne watched on in bafflement. “Hello?”

“Hello, please hold,” Sam said on the other end of the line.

“Roger that, sir,” Super Ball just said as the dog left the phone laying down.

“Our phone bill is gonna be through the roof,” Max commented.

“It’s okay Max,” Sam replied. “I’ve been paying our bills with your college fund.”

“Hello?” Super Ball calmly inquired, still on the phone. “Is anyone there?”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Undyne said in disbelief as she stood back up.

“Geniuses at work,” Merlin just said with a smile and a wink, making Undyne and Zelgius groan in exasperation.

“Let’s just get out of here,” the Black Knight pleaded, as the group, now unimpeded, quickly went through the doors of the entryway, passing through while Super Ball remained on the phone.

“Ah, I see you’ve managed to get past my agent.”

The group of misfits saw at once just what kind of a concert they’d walked into. Firstly, it was big; over several hundred meters wide and long, it could accommodate a significantly greater numbers of fans than what most concerts in the living world would be able to accomplish. Not only that, but the stage itself was massive in comparison to what would constitute as the typical case for the living world. Such a stage was so large in width that it clearly wasn’t meant to hold merely a band.

As a matter of fact, the several dozen meter tall walls comprised of thick concrete and reinforced walls that rose up to seemingly contain the colossal concert (which in retrospect was perhaps why nobody in the group was able to look into the establishment beforehand) helped to establish the truth of this setting.

This was no concert. It was an arena.

And the baritone voice that greeted the group as they entered the arena indisputably belonged to the ruler, who stood upon the stage with his arms folded over his chest. Evidently, he’d been anticipating their arrival. At a glance, it was clear the being was of some royal status; for a split second, Undyne thought he resembled some twisted version of Asgore Dreemurr. A tall, armored being, with purple skin and plates of ivory armor covering his wrists and shins. His red cape flapped lightly in the breeze, and his long tail flicked about behind him. The sunlight gleamed off the pointed horns rising from his armored head.

"I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that you're the so-called ruler of this place," Merlin stated as he eyed the entity in question.

"But of course," the ruler confirmed, speaking with an air of calm confidence; he did not convey any threats through his words or tone, merely with his presence. "You may know me as King Cold. And I can see you lot have decided to join forces against me."

"That's right!" Undyne shouted as she clenched her spear in her hand. "We're all gonna take you down together!"

"Yeah, you can't beat all of us at once!" Hector added, the vague form of his brother's spirit behind him to emphasize his point.

"Such confidence," King Cold commented, the alien retaining his smile all the while. "If you’re so sure of yourselves, then come and prove your worth."

The challenge had been given, and so it would be answered.

Naturally, Undyne and Max were the first to initiate combat, with the former tossing a succession of spears and the latter whipping out his handgun and opening fire with a slew of bullets. King Cold, though, remained undaunted by the projectiles launched his way; his arms staying folded, the alien king swatted aside both the polearms and the lead shots with his tail, sending each and every one of the projectiles piercing instead through the walls surrounding the arena. Hector came charging forth all the while, Zelgius and Undyne running side by side with the wereboar as they made the valiant effort to close the several 100 meter distance.

Bearing a, well, cold grin, Cold raised up his right arm, his finger pointed forward as he launched a thin purple beam of energy from his fingertip. Flying at bullet speed, the projectile lanced into the concrete ground, leaving a clean hole in its wake as Hector had been forced to dodge to the side to avoid it. Promptly did King Cold begin spamming his Death Beam, the trio of Hector, Undyne, and Zelgius being forced to dodge or block each one of the incoming shots as they charged. At one point, Hector’s brother, Vincent, tore up a large chunk of concrete from the ground, before chucking it at Cold with the same ease as a football player tossing the ball. The only response given by the alien was for him to spread open his raised hand to launch a thicker beam of violet energy that plowed into the incoming debris, blasting it apart in a fiery explosion.

This proved to be just the distraction the group needed, Undyne springing through the air in a mighty leap and clearing the remainder of the several meter distance in seconds. King Cold kept his smirk on as the fish woman swung her spear towards him in a wide arch, bringing up his arm to block the incoming blow. His smirk would swiftly fade, however, when both the attack seemingly phased right through him without harm, and he found himself unable to move where he stood, practically rooted in place.

“What?!” Now Cold was beginning to grow angered by this change of events as Undyne grinned.

[u/Kiryu2012 → u/Kiryu2012]

“Normally I’d give you a chance to defend yourself, but you don’t deserve such mercy!” Immediately, spears came flying in from all directions, Cold forced to raise up his forearms to open fire with a barrage of Death Beams from his fingers. Many of the airborne projectiles went up in small explosions as the thin lasers pierced straight through them, though a few managed to find their mark as they lanced into his form. Even with his armor to protect him, Cold winced in pain as the pointed tips managed to puncture his hide with the aid of their ability to harm his soul directly. Even still, it was far from enough, trickles of purple blood oozing from the minor cuts inflicted by the spears.

His eyes narrowed, King Cold swiftly fired away at Undyne herself, even as several more spears managed to prick his body and draw more blood. Although the monster managed to swat aside and deflect several of the beams, the redhead took multiple shots to the head and torso that forced her off her feet. Free to move again, Cold shot forward in a blur, burying his knee into her gut and sending her flying away in a shockwave. Undyne would collide with a wall on the opposite end of the arena, breaking down a section of the concrete and metal to form a hole.

His sword ablaze with dark energy, Zelgius gave a battle cry as he swung his blade with a warrior’s determination. King Cold managed to block the incoming slash with his forearm, grinning even as his armor cracked from the force of the impact. His smile wouldn't last long, though, as a hard blow to the face courtesy of Vector’s spirit jerked his gaze to the right. Pulling back his sword, Zelgius lunged forward as he stabbed the tip of his blade into the alien’s left thigh. Purple blood spurted outwards from the wound, prompting Cold to deliver a hard punch to Zelgius’ chest. A shockwave rang out through the air as the Black Knight too was sent flying away, a spurt of blood escaping his mouth. Just like Undyne, he too collided with a distant wall, forming a large hole on impact.

Hector charged forward at Cold, only for the latter to deliver an overhead strike with both fists, not only cratering the wereboar into the stage, composed of metal and wood, but making the whole stage shake and wobble from the force of the blow. Vector landed another blow to Cold that briefly staggered him, followed by another, with Cold swinging with his fist only to strike empty air. Big Boss and Marco opened fire upon him at that moment, the former utilizing his M1911A1 and the latter his uzi. Even as the storm of bullets pinged off his armored form, Cold swiftly raised up his hand, moving quickly as he caught each and every bullet launched his way before it could make contact. Before either Big Boss or Marco could fall back, Cold launched an energy beam from his palm, blowing up the ground at their feet and sending them both flying.

“Ngahhh!” Sprinting back into the fray, Undyne jumped at Cold once more, her spear raised overhead as she aimed to bring it down upon the alien. Snarling, King Cold caught the incoming spear in his hand as he held the weapon and Undyne back at bay. Jumping out from the crater he’d formed, Hector ran at Cold, ramming him hard in the side and making him briefly buckle. With the wereboar aiding her, Undyne managed to force her spear down to stan Cold in the shoulder, blood flowing as the polearm punctured his flesh and soul.

Angered, Cold kicked Undyne away through a wall, just as Hector swung his tusks at him, gashing him across the chest in a spray of sparks. The alien gripped the suid by the neck, planting several punches to his chest before kicking him through another wall and littering the terrain with rubble. At that time, Sam and Max joined in the range game, shooting away at Cold even with the knowledge that their bullets would either be deflected or caught by the alien or merely bounce right off his body.

“Let’s see you survive this one!” Merlin shouted, bringing his staff forward as he let loose with a pillar of energy surging his way towards Cold. Quickly, the alien turned as he shot his hand forth, retaliating with his own energy beam to meet Merlin’s attack dead on. Both beams would collide with a big shockwave that tore apart the ground, struggling to overcome one another as both opponents strained to keep up their attack. Undyne would hurl spears at King Cold, whilst Marco and Big Boss as well as the freelance police opened fire upon him with their guns. Hector managed to close the distance to allow his brother’s spirit to try strangling the alien, struggling to crush his throat.

Even in spite of everyone’s efforts, King Cold would not allow Merlin’s beam to overtake his own. As such, the only result that could be made was a fiery explosion from the orb of energy that had been rapidly building up thanks to the beam clash. The shockwave of fire and magic tore apart the land, sending everyone flying as the arena was blasted asunder. It was as though a missile barrage had been fired upon the establishment.

As the smoke wafted skywards and the flames crackled wherever there was material that had the misfortune of not being flame-resistant, the group of protagonists all collectively began rising from the rubble. With the air clearing slowly, it became increasingly more clear to see that the arena had been reduced to nothing more than a huge crater. Metal and concrete now littered the land as little more than rubble, melted or pulverized by the force of the explosion.

“There goes the neighborhood,” Sam commented as he and Max scoured the landscape for any sign of King Cold.

“How much you wanna bet that chilly guy got vaporized by that blast?” Max inquired.

“Why did you have to go and jinx it, little buddy?” Sam merely responded.

“You little pests!”

King Cold’s enraged voice shouted from above the gathering group, pulling their attention skywards as the being in question hovered in midair above the desecrated remains of his arena. Though he’d survived the blast much like them, he wasn’t in the best condition; his cape was burned away, his armor cracked and split open, and one of his horns was broken off at the tip. Gone was the previous calm demeanor he’d put on. Now, all that was left was unbridled anger.

“Nobody makes a fool of me and gets away with it!” Whipping his hands outwards, Cold began opening fire with a barrage of Death Beams from his fingertips, sending a cascade of thin lasers raining down upon the cast. At once was everybody forced to play defensively, jumping and dodging aside the hailstorm of death fired their way.

Undyne glared venomously at King Cold as she sidestepped yet another Death Beam that sliced through the desecrated concrete everyone stood upon. Her spear brandished once more, the monster was feeling particularly ANGRY as she rushed towards the hovering alien, her form engulfed by an orange-red gradient. This little effect was courtesy of Omori, the young one managing to empower his teammate even as he was forced to backpedal from the thin piercing lasers. Springing through the air, even as several of Cold’s Death Beams scored hits across her body and arms, the redhead gave a hard swat with her spear, catching King Cold by surprise with both the attack actually landing and the strength behind it.

Launched into the ground in an explosion of concrete and metal, Cold found himself arising in a crater just as he was beset upon by the rest of the group. Big Boss struck him across the body with several punches and kicks, Hector rammed and kicked the alien whilst his brother’s spirit gave hard blows to the temple and body to further stagger him, and Merlin sent in multiple flower copies of his allies to further distract Cold.

“I’ve got an idea, but it’s a risky one,” Marco said to Zelgius, pulling out a flask filled with blood as the knight looked to him in confusion. Before the Black Knight could question what he was doing, Marco suddenly dabbed him on the back with a splatter of his own crimson life essence, the red fluids blending in well with the armor’s naturally red coloration.

“Did you just season him?” Max inquired as he stared at Zelgius with a disconcertingly predatory gaze, Marco merely rolling his eyes in response as the knight was bewildered by this.

“What are you even planning here?” He asked in shock, unnerved by the way Max was eyeing him

“Just trust me on this,” Marco explained, before chucking the flask at Cold’s feet whilst the latter was busy both eradicating the flower copies and trading hits with Big Boss, Hector, and Undyne. “You’re going to be teleported to his position. Use that chance wisely.”

Though he was understandably confused, Zelgius just nodded in reply, mentally bracing himself as his sword went ablaze with black energy once more.

“The magic is me. The blood is me. Even apart, it is connected.” Marco began chanting as he closed his eyes, drowning out the sounds of war going on around him. “The magic is me. The blood is me. Even apart, it is connected.”

“Even apart, it is connected.”

Sam and Max watched on in keen interest as Zelgius found himself disappearing in a blip of red light. Not quite the same as Discord’s teleportation, but at least the knight was starting to get used to it either way.

Bellowing in anger, King Cold sent Hector flying with a punch, before kicking away Undyne and firing a Death Beam into Big Boss’ chest, launching him off his feet. Standing beside Merlin, Omori focused his efforts on Cold, enshrouding the alien in a similar reddish light as with Undyne to make his ANGER overtake him. Right at that moment, Zelgius appeared from behind Cold, a battlecry escaping him as he swung downwards.

The agonized scream that followed practically shook the air.

Stumbling forward, King Cold fell to his hands and knees, trembling for a moment.

The bisected portion of his tail wriggled and spasmed on the ground, spraying purple blood.

[u/Kiryu2012 → u/Kiryu2012]

“You piece of shit!” Cold howled in blind fury, wheeling around as Zelgius tried launching at him for another attack. Faster on the draw, the alien surged towards his armored foe, decking him across the face with a wild punch and launching him off his feet. Quickly, Cold grabbed onto the flying knight’s leg, before slamming him down and cratering him into the ground. Zelgius was beset by a barrage of punches from Cold, burying him further and further into the concrete terrain as the alien king had lost practically all reasoning by this point.

“That could’ve gone better,” Marco just said as he watched the beatdown commence.

“At least you did something,” Merlin consolidated, bringing his staff forward again as he focused on the raging Cold. With the alien distracted, the wizard incubus let loose with another beam of energy from his staff’s tip, surging across the destroyed terrain as the rest of the group paused in the middle of running to Zelgius’ aid. So blinded by his anger, Cold didn’t notice in time before getting a rather painful reminder of the fact that Merlin was still a present threat as the beam plowed fullforce into his back. Howling aloud as he was launched off his feet, King Cold was sent flying into a distant building, crashing through the concrete walls and leaving a huge hole in his wake.

His head spinning as blood flowed down his face, Zelgius rolled over onto his chest and proceeded to prop himself up to his hands and knees. Undyne and Hector were by his side, helping the knight up before Max came running by. The trio looked over towards the rabbity creature…

…Just in time to see him scarfing down Cold’s severed tail as though he’d hadn’t eaten in weeks.

“Wha-what the hell are you doing?!” Undyne exclaimed in shock, Zelgius looking rather pale and feeling as though he might faint.

“...Can I have a bite?” Hector nonchalantly asked, though his question fell on deaf ears as Max devoured nearly the whole portion of the detached limb.

“Max, I already told you not to eat the crime evidence,” Sam spoke as he approached his little buddy. “We’re still not done subduing this guy.”

“It was calling to me, Sam!” Max retorted, his mouth coated in purple blood. “I just had to try it! It’s like nothing I’ve ever tasted!”

“In that case, I better make a note to do space travel more often.”

Undyne and Zelgius just looked at each other in bewilderment.

An eruption of fire and debris flew outwards from the desecrated building as King Cold burst through its walls, surging back into the fray as he stretched out his arm. “I am two hundred and ten percent done!”

With a bloodlusted roar, the alien king fired a purple energy beam from his palm, aiming towards the gathered protagonists as he was hellbent on ending them. Everyone each braced themselves for impact: Merlin raised up his spear again, Sam, Marco, and Big Boss all had their guns out, Undyne held his spear ready for a throw, Omori hid begin Hector who stood tall with his brother’s spirit by his side.

But Max?

Max was already acting.

Another purple beam came flying forth, colliding with Cold’s own discharged attack to create an explosion that surged through the air, forcing the alien to bring himself to a halt. “What?!”

“Check it out, Sam, I’m an alien too!” Max declared this loudly, and with no small degree of excitement, as he now stood surrounded by a violet aura of power. Armor covered his body, a long lizard like tail lashing about eagerly behind him, with a set of horns sprouted from his head. Everyone stared at Max’s new transformation mostly in shock, Sam, Merlin, and Hector moreso proud of the lagomorph’s achievement. King Cold, meanwhile, was especially flabbergasted as he stared at Max.

“You…you look just like…” For just a moment, King Cold saw his own son Frieza standing in Max’s spot.

“Well done, Max,” Sam congratulated. “You’ve successfully become the ultimate lifeform. What are you going to do now?”

“First thing’s first…” Max grinned eagerly as he faced down Cold. “Take care of our assignment.”

Before anyone could say anything, Max launched from the ground, rocketing through the air as Cold braced himself for impact. Though the alien raised up his arms in defense, Max landed a hard kick to his gut, launching him backwards through the air. Zooming after his airborne opponent, the alien/rabbit hybrid brought his fist slamming into Cold’s cranium and sending him crashing through the top half of a nearby building. Concrete and metal rained down to the streets below as Cold crashed into the street, tearing it asunder and digging a deep trench in his wake.

Launching back into the air, Cold met Max in a clash as their punches collided with one another with such force as to create a shockwave that shook buildings and shattered glass windows. Bellowing in hatred, Cold swung his leg around to kick Max in the head, giving him a taste of his own medicine as he was sent careening into a building, caving the structure inwards and sending it crashing down into a pile of concrete debris. Cold wasted no time as he fired an energy beam from his hand, striking the rubble to create a massive explosion. Even then, Max flew back out from the flames as he plowed into Cold’s abdomen, smashing the alien through a series of buildings one after the other as they traded blows with one another.

“Shouldn’t we help?” Marco asked Merlin as they and the rest of the group watched the brawl going on.

“Nah,” Merlin replied. “Max’s got it under control.”

“No, I mean, should we help King Cold? Even he doesn’t deserve this.”

“Word of advice,” Sam said to Marco. “It’s best to be on Max’s good side if you’re not me.”

“Definitely banging…” Hector quietly commented as he eyed Sam suspiciously.

Another clash of fists created another shockwave as Max and King Cold kept up their battle. Springing forward, the rabbity creature clamped his jaws shut around the alien’s arm, bringing out a pained cry from him as Max pulled his head away, tearing away a chunk of purple flesh. Enraged, Cold fired away with a succession of Death Beams, Max bringing up his arms to defend himself as the lasers lanced against his armor, creating a succession of explosions. Seeing the ineffectiveness of his assault, Cold tried launching a larger beam from his palm, only for Max to dive downwards, letting the beam instead blast through a building and blow up the top portion of it.

Flying up before Cold could react, Max kicked him hard in the gut again, sending him flying back and striking the top of a building hard enough to tear it apart in an explosion of rubble and dust. King Cold had nary any time to recover, before Max slammed into him, sending both fighters crashing through every floor of the tall building, tearing it apart from the inside and bringing it crashing down as a wave of dust blew everywhere.

From within the newly formed pile of rubble, a purple glow emanated from within, right before an explosion blasted it asunder from inside as King Cold was sent flying away. A purple beam of power was tearing into his chest, blasting away his armor as he crashed into yet another building, causing yet another explosion as the skyscraper-like structure crashed down upon the streets. This beam was courtesy of Max, the vampiric hybrid having fired said attack from his toothy jaws, never losing his grin throughout the battle.

Pushing himself up to his hands and knees, King Cold panted heavily, struggling to rise as his body was wracked with pain. Blood flowed from his wounds, further weakening the alien throughout the battle and draining him of his strength. Max, meanwhile, was in better condition; though Cold got his licks in, it was clear that Max was better off in comparison to the ruler. This fight’s outcome had already been decided the moment it began. The question was, did King Cold know this?

“Y’know, this doesn’t have to end in death,” Max stated way too casually for a situation like this as he landed down before Cold and began approaching him. “You could always surrender and go into hiding, start a new life with a stolen identity. Wouldn’t be nearly as humiliating, and you’d still be, well, alive.”

“N-never…” Despite his wounds, Cold managed to force himself to his feet, drawing out the remainder of his power as a purple aura engulfed him. “I’ll never give up to the likes of you! Stealing my power for your own, insulting my people with your newfound form! You and your friends will all die by my hands, no matter what it takes!”

“Well, so much for trying this peacefully,” Max commented with a shrug.

Howling as the raw power flowing from him formed a crater in the street he stood upon, Cold launched himself at Max, his fists raised above him as he aimed to deliver an overhead strike. But the smaller rabbity creature made no effort to try and dodge or escape such an incoming attack.

No, his grin unwavering, Max merely put up his dukes and braced himself.

Swinging downwards, King Cold slammed his fists upon Max’s raised forelimbs, the kinetic force wrought with the impact creating a powerful shockwave that stretched out for several hundred meters. A massive crater roughly the size of the former arena was formed almost immediately within the street they stood on, a few buildings toppling over as they fell within the crater. Even further away from the immediate area, buildings quivered and shook as though in terror, with even a few smaller structures collapsing on the spot.

But Max remained standing, even as King Cold strained to overpower his smaller opponent. Even as the alien ruler applied as much strength into his own two hands, the lagomorph began to push back, moving forward with a step. His eyes widening in shock, Cold felt himself being slowly but surely pushed backwards by Max, unable to hold his ground as the small mammal/alien hybrid vampire continued walking forward and gaining ground.

[u/Kiryu2012 → u/Kiryu2012]

His toothy grin never once dropping, Max raised his arm to place his hand on King Cold’s chest, the ruler looking down in horror as he saw right away what the smaller fighter was planning.

“Wai-”

Cold would never get a chance to finish his sentence, for Max fired an energy beam pointblank into his chest.

A howling scream escaped the ruler, as the beam tore through his torso, before erupting out his back in a burst of charred flesh and viscera, the blood evaporated from the sheer heat. Cold was blasted off his feet, the purple beam dissipating to leave the alien now resembling the result of a twisted donut joke. Purple blood spurting from his open mouth, the alien king’s trip ended with a crash as he plowed into yet another building, and yet again would there be another addition to the list of destroyed structures as the tall construction would be crushed into rubble upon impact.

Even with the gaping hole through his body, King Cold still strained to rise, coughing up more blood as Max stood tall. “Thanks for this one, Merlin!” The lagomorph shouted, before taking a pose as he cupped his hands together.

“Ka…me…”

A blue ball of light began forming. The gang watched on in awe as Merlin smiled.

“Ha…me..”

Terrified by this point, King Cold struggled to stand and run, but it was already over.

“Ha!!!”

Shooting his hands forward, Max fired a massive beam of cerulean energy, tearing apart the land before him as his Kamehameha surged onwards. King Cold let out a choked scream that was abruptly cut short, as the beam engulfed his body in a bright explosion.

The energy given off by the attack could be seen for miles.

As the smoke cleared, everyone could see the massive trench burned into the ground by Max’s attack. Not a trace of King Cold remained; such overwhelming power had effectively vaporized him. Smoke coated the air as it rose upwards, choking the sky.

 A flash of purple briefly played, as Max returned back to his normal form. Well, as normal a form as a rabbity creature thingy like him could have, at the very least.

“Alright!” Undyne cheered as she and the rest of the group ran up to Max. “That was awesome!”

“I knew you had it in you, Max,” Sam said with pride as he rested his hand on Max’s back.

“Thanks, Sam. And y’know, I’ve got something for you to celebrate this victory.” Before Sam could inquire on what, the rabbit swiftly jumped up and bit him in the neck, dropping back down with a grin. “Now we both can be vampire cops.” The small lagomorph looked towards his other teammates. “I can make you guys into vampi-”

“No thanks,” Zelgius quickly interrupted, backpedaling away from Max.

“I don’t think you can, since I’m already a therianthrope,” Hector casually noted.

“Well…” Merlin seemed to consider Max’s offer for a moment.

“You crack me up, little buddy,” Sam just said, rather okay with his newfound vampirism.

Everyone’s cheerful disposition was soured, however, by the sound of slow clapping from behind them.

Well, technically, it was clapping, but with completely random sounds at each interval, like a frog’s croak, a cat’s meow, and so on. Regardless, everybody knew who it was as they turned to see Discord smiling at them.

“Well done, gang,” the draconequus began, amused by the protagonists’ angered looks. “The ruler has been vanquished. And since Max was the one to deal the final blow, his team technically is the winner…” At once, everyone on both teams stood in outrage; some of them, including Undyne and Max, looked fully prepared to try and throw down with the draconequus.

“However,” Discord continued, catching everyone off guard. “You have all chosen to join forces against a common enemy, and it was your teamwork that ultimately allowed you to win in the first place. For that, I’d say you’re all technical winners this time around.”

“You mean you won’t erase us?” Undyne asked in shock.

“You’ll all live,” the Spirit of Chaos confirmed, though there was still that wicked gleam in his eye. “Can’t wait to see if you can manage this again next time…” The chimera suddenly seemingly lost his previous malicious energy as he gave a shrug. “Oh well, that’s for the future to decide. Now, have fun and enjoy yourselves. I’d say you lot earned it.”

It was a nice reprieve for our gang to not be suddenly teleported away, for it was instead Discord who vanished in a flash of light as he left the scene. Turning towards the other team, our heroes were pleased with this change of events, Max and Undyne giving each other a thumbs up for their victory.

Maybe, just maybe, they’d be able to get out of this after all.