RPG OtakuBoards Survivor: Game On! <PG>

[JJ]

[Color=DarkBlue]?Yeah, this is comfortable. The white does look slimming, no?? Ada asked CJ who was still muttering about his outfit.

?Yeah, whateva. Look, we need ta be getting? on wid dis? yo readin? meh?? CJ said, pointing to the now formed portal.

?Sounds like a good idea.? Samus said, adjusting the hat that she picked out on her visor.

Ling Xaiyou didn?t say anything, but instead bounced along behind the foursome as they entered the shining portal. At first, they noticed the very familiar white shine of transportation, but quickly were set down in front of a dark and damp forest, which seemed to guard the castle standing in the middle of it.

?Aw hell naw.? CJ staring into the forest. ?In der it be dark. I ain?t scared o de dark o nodin?, but man.?

?I know what you mean, for once.? Ada said, shivering.

?Well, let?s go already!? Ling Xiayou said, creeping into the forest.

?Ling Xiayou! Wait. Before you head in we need to?? Ada started to say as Ling Xiayou?s scream echoed across the entire forest.

The other three rushed into the forest to see her hanging in a net that was barely above the ground, but at the same time, it had entrapped her totally in the net. She squirmed and even tried slicing it with her knife, but nothing seemed to be working. Ada sighed and looked around.

The only obvious answer was looking like someone climbing up the tree and trying to hack into the rope keeping the net hanging. Ada did not even bother asking the other two, due to Samus?s armor and CJ?s new ?outfit?.

She took the knife that she had borrowed from Ling Xiayou and began the not-too-difficult ascend. In about ten minutes, Ada had reached the point in which the net was hanging. She removed the knife from in between her teeth and began to saw at it, smiling as it began to give.

With a snap the rope split in half and an opening was made, giving Ling Xiayou an exit. She quickly scrambled out and sighed.

?That?s definitely not my list of things I have to do again before the next tournament.? She said, brushing her outfit off.

?I wouldn?t want to try it all.? Samus said, chuckling.

?OK, from here out, we need to really pay attention to our surroundings. Samus, anything you see that?s out of order or seems not right, say something. CJ keep an eye out for any hostile life forms. Ling Xiayou you sneak up to that next clearing and see if there?s anything. We?ll be right behind you.? Ada said.

?Whoa, someone?s getting? a bit bossy, no?? CJ said, crossing his arms.

?Hey, whether or not we live rests on my shoulders at this point. I don?t think arguing with me is your best bet.? Ada said, crossing her arms right back, ?Besides, I was just taking initiative, if anyone else has a better plan, now would be the time to make your opinion known.?

CJ was about to open his mouth when a lurching in the forest brought their attention to his backside. In a cloud of dust, the group could not see exactly what was coming, but one thing was certain. It was a very large group of somethings.[/color]

[Solo Tremaine]

[COLOR=#503F86]"Which are you going to take?" Krystal asked Fox as the two of them stared into the depths of the caskets which held their slightly less-than-desirable attires.

"I don't know..." Fox bared his teeth in an anxious grimace. Lara had already taken the role of Hunter, and he wasn't particularly confident with his swordsmanship. He'd used a Beam Sword way back when a whole group of people had been brought together for the Smash bros Melee- an interdimensional sparring match puppeteered by a race of deadly giant hands.

"Well, I'm good with a staff," Krystal began. "Perhaps I should take the Wizard's role?"

Fox said nothing, but continued to wrack his brains for solutions.

Krystal looked at him for a few seconds. She knew he could use her staff proficiently enough (if a little wastefully), perhaps if he had the potential to use magic items so weel them maybe he'd be better off in that role, if he chose it. But then, she quite fancied seeing him in a suit of armour.

"Bard, eh?" she mused, inspecting the cavalier-style hat in the cart.

"Can you play a harp?" Fox asked, genuinely puzzled.

Krystal blushed and kept her eyes fixed on the clothes inside the cart. "When I was eight I was in a concert at one of the ceremonies on Cerinia... it didn't have a huge audience, but I practiced like crazy on an instrument similar to it. I haven't had a chance top play it on ages..."

"This isn't really about [i]chances[/i], Krystal. If there's something you know you can do, then I'd choose what you're best at. We can't afford to lose at this stage."

Krystal looked to Fox, who was counter-looking with quite an intensity. She blushed further, and thrust her gaze back into the basket.

"I know I can do it," she said firmly. With that, she plunged her hand into the cart and pulled the Bard's gaudy uniform from its dusty woodwork, then ran behind a screen to get changed.

The costume itself was a colour combination of red, white and a violently eye-damaging shade of red on the demicloak and leather thigh-length bucket boots. Krystal had to stare at the CPU's flowing walls for a few seconds after wrestling with them to regain her eyesight. After everything was in place, the clothes sucked themselves in to a comfortable fit. Grinning widely, she placed her hat on and strode free from the chamber, her excited expression meeting Lara's smile of approval.

"Are we ready?" Krystal beamed.[/COLOR]

[KKC]

[size=1][color=darkorange]Fox watched Krystal run off to change and left him to deside on his own role that he would play. He rumaged through the costumes and at last came between the choice of Wizard or Knight. They already had a hunter, so maybe the magic role would be okay.

Fox pulled the dark blue costume out of the basket, gaging on some big dust bunnies that came with it. It looked like a dress for an extreamly obese lady.

"Nice dress..." Shadow snickered from where he and pac-man were standing.

"Like I would wear something like this." Fox retorted and tossed the robe back into the basket. He reached down for the knights costume and pulled it out.

The knight's costume consisted of a black long sleeved shirt, tunic, pants and new leather boots. There was also a silver metal chest plate and plates that went over the arms and legs and there were leather gloves with metal lined on top of the fingers. Last, was a large helmet that was similar to the one Fox used to wears when he was younger.

Fox quickly dashed behind a certain and through on the costume. At first the helmet wouldn't fit, but after he tried to ram it over his head two holes appeared where his ears were. He looked at himself in a mirror that seemed to be floating in midair. "I look shnazzy." Fox thought to himself as the armoured Fox in the mirror smiled back at him.

"He Fox, I think you forgot something." Fox peared around the curtain and saw Lara standing over the basket full of clothes.

Fox clanked over in his new attire and looked into the basket. He made an ear to ear smile as he pulled out a large sheathered sword and a beautiful shield. He pulled the sword out, which was much better than the beam sabers used in SSB. The hilt was a swirl of black and silver that twisted up into an eagle with it's wings out stretched. The swords was a shining silver and had marks runing along the blade. Fox put it back into it's scabbard and put it on his back along with the shield.

"Are we ready?" Krystal asked, beaming in her new bard clothes.

"Ready when you are." Fox smiled and gave her a quick wink. [/size][/color]

[Doukeshi]

[SIZE=1]Seeing that all the members of the [COLOR=Blue]Adventurers[/COLOR] were finally ready, the CPU immediatley teleported them to their destination, a blinding flash of light engulfing them.

When the light had dissapaited the four stood silently still, wary at their new surroundings. They appeared to have been transported to what seemed to be a dusty plateau, giving a grand view of the land they needed to traverse. The sky was unclouded and blue and the bright sunlight shone clear across the hills, valleys and forests that stretched far out across the horizon. It looked idyllic indeed with a simple, cursory glance. Upon further inspection, however, it seemed that the glorious nature was overcast by a large, shadowy mountain, which loomed in the distance.

A light breeze picked up across the plateau, sending swirls of dust dancing in the air. It also served to rustle the Adventurers clothes and hair in a heroic and daring fashion.

Lara tugged at her green tunic and looked across at the large mountain that dominated the skyline.
[B]
"Well isn't this cliché." [/B] She murmered, hefting her bow across her shoulder. Glancing about her team she gave an affectionate smile. What a motley crew they made. Still, this was to be their last adventure together as Adventurers and that meant something to her, even if it didn't mean anything to anyone else.

[I]Well, if its cliché Mog wants, its cliche he's gonna get.[/I]

[B]"Okay guys. It looks like that"[/B] She pointed in the direction of the mountain, [B]"is to be our destination."[/B] She stood on the edge of the cliff and struck her most heroic and daring pose. [B]"We are Adventurers and this is what we do everyday! Are we going to let some weedy Legends or punk Bravers beat us to the punch?!"[/B]

A chorus of [I]'hell no' [/I] and [I]'no way's [/I] echoed out across the valley. Lara grinned and shook her fist, the fire of adrenaline coursing through her veins.

[B]"Well then!" [/B] Lara yelled in exhilaration, [B]"Lets go rescue that princess!" [/B] [/SIZE]

[Sakura]

[COLOR=Navy]Yuna looked around, they were on a large range of mountains. Everywhere they looked was mountains, and after that was fog. Yuna hefted her shield and sword and voiced that they should get moving since it looked like it would be a long hike up and down slopes.

The group traversed down the large mountain they were situated on, it was the largest in the range so it made them feel a tiny bit better that they wouldn't have to climb any mountains of it's size, but the others were only a little bit shorter.

Mario noticed something and alerted the group.

[B]"There's a rapid-a at the base of the-a mountain."[/B] he told them, pointing out the path of rushing water.

[B]"Is there a way around it?"[/B] Sora asked, peering down.

[B]"I don't think so, it looks like it cuts straight through the mountain range."[/B] Yuna answered.

[B]"Well, we'll just have to wait until we get there to figure out a plan."[/B] Kuja pronounced.

They all continued on their way down until they were face to face with the problem. The rapid was deep and fast, spray was hitting them until they were quite wet, it didn't affect Yuna as much since she was wearing metal, but the others all wore cloth.

[B]"Can you do anything with your magic, Kuja?"[/B] Yuna questioned.

[B]"I'm not sure. Let's see..."[/B] Kuja flourished his hands and threw them forward at the water. [B]"Blizzaga!"[/B]

There was a crackling and the rapids were frozen into ice.

[B]"Hurry, I don't know how long it'll last."[/B] Kuja told them.

Sora nimbly ran across, being light footed as a thief. Mario slid across on his belly like he used to in his own world. Yuna let Kuja go across first which he did so quickly. Yuna started making her way across but it started to crack, the spell was running out, and it didn't help that she was wearing heavy armour. She ran, shaking the ice, then the next foot she put down, broke the surface and she plunged beneath the water. She held her breath, the current wasn't as strong against her because of the added weight. She sunk down to the bottom, which was a long way down, and pushed up, bursting through the surface and into the air, but she was too far from the other side where the group was waiting. Kuja cast another Blizzaga spell and she hit the ice hard, making a large crack. Yuna quickly got up and ran across.

Yuna trembled, she was cold from being underwater. Her teeth chattered a little but they continued on, up and down the next few mountains. By the time they reached the other side of the range, their legs felt like jelly from all the climbing. Yuna had long ago sheathed her sword and covered the sheath with her shield [I][Like how Link carries his sword and shield][/I]

They walked across a grassy plain and slowly the grass disappeared, leaving them on a plateau. They peeked over the edge and saw a large canyon. Yuna turned to Kuja again.

[B]"Do you have Float?"[/B] Yuna asked.

[B]"No, I'm a Wizard, ask the Healer."[/B] he said, looking at Mario.

[B]"I-a have the-a Float."[/B] Mario answered. [B]"You-a want to get across-a the canyon with-a Float? You-a crazy?"[/B]

[B]"I'm not sure it would last the distance."[/B] Sora commented.

[B]"Then....what about everyone runs and jumps, then you cast float to boost them higher in the air, if it runs out before they get to the end then give them another."[/B] Yuna input.

[B]"It may work."[/B] Kuja was thinking.

[B]"I'll go first. I'm currently the heaviest, and it's my idea so if it doesn't work I'll get hurt."[/B] Yuna nodded.

Mario stood at the edge, waiting. Yuna was a distance away, she ran as fast as she could in the armour, gathering speed. Her foot hit the edge and she pushed herself off as far as she could, soaring through the sky she windmilled her arms and cycled her legs, trying to get farther. She felt herself falling.

[B]"NOW!"[/B]

[B]"Float-a!"[/B]

Yuna was pushed back up into the air and it sailed her across to the other side. She landed and got up, signalling she was ok.

Kuja went next, soaring through the sky, spinning his tail like a propeller, he got quite far before he needed the Float. He landed safely beside Yuna, she helped him up and they waited for Sora. Sora did it easily, being light helped as he ran, giving him a lot of speed and momentum for when he jumped. He reached the same distance as Kuja but higher, and he came down softly next to Kuja. Mario came last, he used a long jump at the edge, which propelled him further than everyone else before he used Float to land him safely with the others.

[B]"I wonder how many other obstacles we'll face before we even get to the tower."[/B] Yuna thought out loud.

[B]"I dunno, but I hope there aren't too many or we'll be too tired to slay the dragon."[/B] Sora grinned.

[B]"Here-a here."[/B] Mario tipped his hat.

[B]"I agree."[/B] Kuja sighed.

[B]"Come on, team, we can totally do this, we're Legends! We have to go on quests, kill monsters and rescue people all the time!"[/B] Yuna cheered.

[B]"Look out Princess, here we come!"[/B] Sora got into the spirit, full of enthusiasm.[/COLOR]

[Desbreko]

Samus grimaced as she awkwardly nocked an arrow to the bow strapped to her arm cannon. Not only was she having to use one of the most primitive missile weapons known to man, but her power suit was making things even more difficult. And she had a bad feeling about the larger-than-usual blip on her radar that was headed their way. Raising her bow in its direction, she tried to aim as best she could.

"Here it comes," Ada said as she backed away, letting CJ and Xiaoyu take the front line.

A loud grunt echoed through the trees as the hulking beast lumbered into view. It was a forest ogre and it had a hungry stare fixed on CJ. Drool ran down its chops as it raised the large club in its hands.

Xiaoyu giggled as she traced its gaze over to CJ. "I think it likes your costume!"

CJ took a step back. "You gots to be kiddin' me. That one big ass mutha #$%@&!"

"This is not the time," Samus said sternly as she loosed an arrow. It shot wide of the ogre's arm, lodging in a tree. Uttering a curse under her breath, she nocked a second arrow as fast as she could while the ogre continued to advance.

Knives drawn, Xiaoyu dashed forward to attack. She drove one of her daggers deep into the ogre's ribs while slashing the other across its chest, causing the monster to roar in pain. Bringing its club down in response, the ogre caught her before she could dodge, sending her flying off to the side. Hitting a tree, Xiaoyu slumped unconscious at its base.

"Ling Xiaoyu!" Ada called, trying to rouse the girl. She scowled when Xiaoyu showed no response, then began chanting a healing spell.

Another arrow whizzed through the air, this time embedding itself in the ogre's club. CJ, at this point, was having serious doubts about Samus' marksmanship. "Yo, da arrows supposed to be hittin' da ogre, ya know."

"Can it," Samus said darkly, "or else do something yourself."

Taking that as his cue, CJ stepped forward with harp in hand. "Yo' ready fo' dis, bitch?" Striking the harp, he brought forth a horrible discord while rhyming line after line of obscenities and oaths. Everything stopped -- Samus, Ada, the now-revived Xiaoyu, the ogre, everything -- after CJ finished his "song."

Coming back to her senses, Ada gave a shout. "Xiaoyu, stab it in the back!"

Darting around behind the ogre as it was still dazed from the overload of obscenities, Xiaoyu leapt up and stabbed the hulking monster in the back of the neck. Falling forward, it crashed to the ground without uttering a sound. "Yeah! Take that!"

"Wait," Ada said, puzzled. "Did the dagger in the neck kill it, or CJ?"

"I don't know," Samus said with a grim expression lurking behind her visor. "But this isn't going to work." She pulled the bow off her arm cannon, and a few moments later, her ship flashed into the sky. Jumping up to it, she disappeared below the hatch. A minute later she reappeared, sans power suit, with the green tunic now hanging over her [url=http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/9710/mzmending30xr.png][u]blue body suit[/u][/url]. Dropping nimbly back to the ground, she retrieved the bow as the ship again disappeared.

CJ nearly earned himself another slap. "Damn, bi--" Ada's raised hand stopped him short. "Er, you lookin' fine."

"Thank you," Samus replied with a roll of her eyes. "Shall we continue?"

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]The Blue Team carefully made their way down from the plateau. As they passed a rock outcropping halfway down the plateau, a road came into view. Previously it had been hidden from sight, situated underneath the ledge that the outcropping was on, and as soon as they saw it Fox started swearing.

"Are you telling me that I spent the last half an hour inching my way down this damn [I]mountain[/I] with five tonnes of metal on my shoulders, boiling in this infernal heat, when there is a damn road here?"

He leapt down from the ledge, and sat down in the narrow shade provided by the ledge. Tucking his helmet under his arm, he wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

"Damn it's hot"

The others settled down on either side of him, unanimously agreeing to a rest break. Even though his costume was loose-fitting and light, Crash found himself sweating profusely. This was not a fun task. As Lara offered the water canteen around, a thunderous galloping was heard coming down the road. Scrambling to their feet, the team rushed into the middle of the road. Perhaps they could get a lift, or some form of travel to get them off this dusty plateau and into the lush valleys between them and the plains, and further beyond that, the mountain.

An out of control horse came flying around the bend, attatched to a mysterious black coach. There was no driver, but a wild, leaping and screaming fiddle could be heard. The crazed horse shied at the site of the Adventurers blocking the road, and turned towards the edge of the cliff. It crashed right through the flimsy wooden barricade, and soared out through the air, arcing towards the ground many metres below.

Lara and Crash moved towards the edge, peeking over the top.

A flaming wheel rolled out of the wreckage. There always had to be clichés, as Lara had mentioned earlier.

The fiddle had stopped.

Sighing, the Adventurers turned their backs on the burning wreckage, and continued to mak their way down the road.[/size]

[Raiyuu]

[color=Purple][font=Trebuchet MS]Xiaoyu had taken to the treetops, scouting ahead of the team, bouncing and flitting from branch to branch, quiet and nearly invisible against the foliage.

She was properly excited for the first time in the game. Beating up the nasty ogre had given her the adrenaline rush she'd been craving since they first teleported to Liberty Tower. Sure, she'd got KO'd, but she'd been KO'd before, and those times there hadn't been a party healer like Ada about. A big, happy grin was plastered across her face.

[b]"You do not want to continue your pursuit of Princess Zelda," [/b]said a voice by her ear. [b]"There is great danger."

[/b]She dived forward and performed a handspring off a branch, landing facing backwards and leaning against the trunk of and ancient oak. She hadn't even heard the figure approach. He was standing on the branch she'd just left, a tall, slender figure in a green robe similar to hers. He held a bow like Samus'.

[b]"Ooooh!" [/b]squee'd Xiaoyu, pointing. [b]"Your ears are all pointy!"

"Indeed," [/b]replied the elf solemnly.

[b]"But you're wrong," [/b]she continued, wrinkling her nose in confusion, [b]"we DO want to rescue the princess."

"I don't think you understand," [/b]he said patiently, raising his bow and nocking an arrow to point at Xiaoyu, [b]"you do NOT want to continue - OOF!"

[/b]He was interrupted by the heel of Xiaoyu's hand slamming into his solar plexus. There was a shower of yellow firework sparks and the slim figure folded in half, flying backwards and exploding through the trunk of the tree. Splinters flew in all directions.

Suddenly there were elves everywhere, melting out of the greenery.

[b]"Ling Xiaoyu!" [/b]Ada's voice carried from further back the forest path. [b]"What's going on?"

"An' whatchoo doin' hurlin' pussy-boys in dresses at me?" [/b]yelled CJ angrily. [b]"Jus' cos I's wearin' a tutu -"

"In the trees, guys!" [/b]she yelled back, ducking low to avoid arrows. From her crouched stance, she pinwheeled, sweeping out another bowman's legs. He plummeted to the ground. [b]"Um ... a little help?"[/b]
[/font][/color]

[Outlaw]

[COLOR=DarkRed]"Oh $#!^" CJ called out, shocked by the sudden arrival of this elf army. His companions each had similar reactions of shock. However, it didn't take long for them to huddle together and prepare for a fight.

"Samus, how fast can you fire that thing?" Ada asked, gesturing towards her bow and arrow.

"Probobly not as fast as a hundred freakin elfs," she responded, realising her newly aquired archery skills were no match for those of trained elven warriors.

"Dang, why didn't anyone choose to be a wizard!?" Xaioyu cried out. "Than we could just tourch all these funny ears." The entire team fell silent for a few moments, pondering both what they could do to get out of this situation, and the fact that Ling had just made an intellegent point.

"Aite, I gots it, but I don't think dis hur madoline *&@#s gonna cut it. You Ada, you gots any pump up spells?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?" She responded.

"Gimmie a powa boost!" He called back. Ada nodded and quickly cast a Might spell on CJ, hoping he had the right idea. However, being a bard and relying on song, rather than upping his physical strength, the might spell caused a microphone to appear in his hand, replacing the mandolin. While the others looked on in suprise and confusion, CJ simply smiled and took a step toward the elven horde. Raising the microphone to his lips, he called out, "Yo, forrest folk an all dat $#!^, get ready for dis!" and he began to sing.

[I]Pack it up, pack it in
Let me begin
I came to win
Battle me that's a sin
I won't tear the sack up
Punk you'd better back up
Try and play the role and the whole crew will act up
Get up, stand up, come on!
Come on, throw your hands up
If you've got the feeling jump across the ceiling
Muggs is a funk fest, someone's talking junk
Yo, I'll bust em in the eye
And then I'll take the punks home
Feel it, funk it
Amps it are junking
And I got more rhymes than there's cops that are dunking
Donuts shop
Sure 'nuff I got props from the kids on the Hill
Plus my mom and my pops
I came to get down
I came to get down
So get out your seats and jump around
Jump around, Jump around, Jump around
Jump up Jump up and get down.
Jump Jump Jump Everybody Jump Jump Jump...[/I]

As the continued to yell jump, the song had an amazing effect. Every one of a elves had lowered their bows and were now jumping with all their might from tree branch to tree branch. And with hundreds of elves jumping as hard is they could, it didn't take long for the trees to topple, dropping the elfs to the ground, and pinning them under branches and leeves.

"Damn, it actually worked," CJ stated with a smirk, obviously proud of himself. He turned back to the rest of his team to find Samus and Ada looking on with their jaws dropped and Xaioyu Ling jumping around just like the elfs, singing along with the chorus.

"Uh, yeah, Jump Jump Ju.......hey, what happened to the music?" she asked with a frown.[/COLOR]

[Doukeshi]

[SIZE=1]Lara dusted herself off and clambered up onto the road, grimacing as she glanced over the flaming wreckage of the carriage. Turning back to her companions she frowned.

[B]"Is it worth me asking what the hell that was?" [/B] A series of shrugs met her query and one by one the Adventurers made their way up onto the road beside Lara, accompanied by Lara's mutters of [I]"bloody fantasy games[/I][I]".[/I] The road was lined on one side by a thick forest, whoes depths, in true fantastic fashion were deep dark and foreboding. On the other side lay the hazardous mountain plateau from which they had just descended. Heaving a sigh of resignation Lara began walking slowly towards the tree-line.

[B]"Wait!" [/B] Krystal waved her hands at the others as they turned to follow Lara. Glancing back over her shoulder Lara raised an eyebrow.

[B]"What is it? This is the only way we can go." [/B] Lara indicated the forest with a wave of her gloved hand. Krystal shook her head frantically.

[B]"No, look here. Its a sign post!" [/B] They all looked in the direction Krystal was indicating. There indeed, haphazardly situated on the side of the road, stood a worn, yet mostly legible sign-post, with arrows detailing destinations. Blinking in surprise Lara made her way over to the sign, squinting as she rubbed her hand of the grimy surface.

[I][B]North ---> The Bottomless Pit of Everlasting Pain via Northern Darkwood
East ---> The Frigid Steppes of Perpetual Monotony
South ---> Lake Viscera via Ruin City
West ---> Bowsers Evil Lair via Western Darkwood and the Pungent Swamps[/B][/I]

Lara snorted slightly as she read the inscriptions.

[B]"You know...somehow I get the feeling we should be heading west." [/B] Fox looked at her askance, hefting his sword up over his shoulder.

[B]"You don't say. Though I must admit the Pungent Swamps do sound rather lovely don't they."[/B] At this Krystal laughed, flicking Fox's nose as she walked past.

[B]"I don't know, I hear Lake Viscera is lovely this time of year."

"No no, the night spots in Ruin City are second to none..."[/B]

Several more jokes of similar ilk followed before Lara halted the proceedings with an exhasperated shout.

[B]"People, as much as I would like to discuss our future holiday plans here I do think that we have a princess to rescue and a dragon to slay."[/B] Fox looked sheepish as he scuffed the dirst with an iron clad foot.

[B]"Right..."[/B]

[B]"It says here the route to Bowsers castle lies West...through the forest. So that is where we are headed."[/B] And with that Lara strode forward towards the tree-line once more, scouting in front while Krystal and Crash came up behind, with Fox taking the rear, his iron suit clanking noisily as he walked.[/SIZE]

[Ellerby]

[color=#333333]The Legends walked swiftly across the grassy plains towards where they thought the castle was. Mario hoped to high heavens that they were going the right way. He sure they were but.. there was always that chance. He examined the [url=http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/7922/mariowhm2dm.png]long robe[/url] he was wearing.

It was white with red diamonds stretching across his belly. His hat was also white with a singular white diamond.Although he was still getting used to being a 'healer' and having magic. He enjoyed every minute of it.

It was a long silence when Sora perked up. "Is that it?!" he said.

Yuna and the others peered their eyes forward and barely made out a faint outline of a giant castle above the horizon.

"I-..I think so.." Yuna said. Suddenly she smiled and looked at her comrades. "I think we're gonna win this!" he yelped.

The four friends jumped and charged forward feeling a burst of inspiration. Soon enough they slowed and eventually were walking again because of tireness. They only had so much agility to spare.

They continued trotting along when Mario caught Kuja fiddling with his large straw hat. Kuja saw him looking at him and smirked.

"What? It's ruining my hair."

Mario laughed.[/COLOR]

[Kitty]

[COLOR=#006aaf][SIZE=1]Sora was growing more and more confident as the Emerald Tower came closer and closer. After all, what did he have to be worried about? He had rescued princesses before. Seven, in fact. And all at the same time, too. But as he thought, he began paying less and less attention to his teammates and where he was going.

When he'd finally stopped to take a breather (after all, walking/running for who knows how far can really take it out of your feet), he called out, [b]"Hey guys! Hold up one second!"[/b] Sliding down against a tree he had randomly found, he took of his shoes and stretched his legs for a moment before putting them back on and standing back up again. He looked up, expecting to see everyone waiting for him, but there was nobody there.

[b]"Um.. Guys?"[/b]

Sora's confidence was quickly melting away. He was alone, and a forest had sprung up out of nowhere.

[i]"I wondered why there was a tree in the middle of a field.."[/i] he thought for a moment.

But no matter how freaked he was, he wasn't going to show it. Riku would never have let him live it down, and Sora wasn't going to relax even if he wasn't there anymore. He took a deep breath and grabbed one of the daggers that hung from his many straps and started out running. He could barely see the tip of Emerald Tower (or it looked like the tip of Emerald Tower, anyway), but it was good enough for him. He would run that way until he couldn't run anymore.

Sora leapt through bushes, jumped from branches, and swung around tree trunks on his way. The path had disappeared long ago, but he hadn't expected it to stay long anyway -- that would've been too easy. There was still no sign to where the rest of his team had disappeared to. Hopefully, they hadn't been split up. That way, if he ran into one, he ran into them all. But he wasn't sure.

As he was speeding through the foliage, Sora heard someone shouting. He couldn't make it out, but he thought for sure he recognized the voice as Yuna's.

[b]"Yuna? ... Yuna, is that you?"[/b] he called back. He paused, waiting for the voice to echo back.

[b]"Sora? I'm over here!"[/b]

Following the sound of Yuna's calling, he managed to jump through the trees and literally run into her. Her armor kept her from feeling any of the impact, but had landed Sora on the ground. She held out a hand with an apologetic face on and a slightly embarrassed look on her face and helped him back up. He dusted himself off while telling her to think nothing of it.

[b]"So, you got split up, too? I stopped for maybe ten seconds and you were all gone,"[/b] he sighed.

[b]"Yeah. The trees kinda just.. appeared. They weren't in the distance or anything, or not that I noticed anyway. Then, I took a second to rest from walking with this heavy armor on, and you were all gone,"[/b] Yuna explained. Sora nodded, though he still had no idea what was going on. But since they both had experienced the same thing, it was almost a sure guess that Kuja and Mario were stranded in some other part of the magically appearing forest as well.

[b]"Leave it to Mog to cheat us out of our goal again,"[/b] Sora sighed. And they had been doing so well, too. The four of them had made it almost to the Emerald Tower when the trees decided to show up. Mog was a clever little fellow, creating all these weird obstacles for the Legends.

[b]"Don't worry Sora. We'll get to the tower. C'mon. This time, don't look away for a second, or you could be rearranged by the trees like last time,"[/b] Yuna encouraged. Sora nodded. [b]"We'll outsmart this challenge, and the next one after that!"[/b]

And with that, the two ran off in search of their other two teammates.[/SIZE][/COLOR]

[Ezekiel]

[COLOR=Indigo]Kuja fiddled with his damnable floppy hat as he walked across the field. His gaze was cast skyward as he fidgeted and grumbled. He'd already modified his outfit, much to Mog's dismay, and now had a wonderful dress to do his mission in. He'd cut sluts in both sides to expose his legs and a while had been burned through the middle for back and stomach showing purposes. He liked it...but this hat!

[B]"Stupid...damned...gack!"[/B] he smacked into a tree trunk and promptly fell over, shaking his head to clear the dizziness. Where the heck did a tree come from, this was an open field!

He snarled and stood up, whirling on his heel and to see, to his dismay; to see that he was surrounded by trees. And leaves. And thorns. And other menacing...nature things.

His shrugged and used Float to levitate above tree level before blasting off a Firaga, decimating a large area of trees around him. He planned to go on doing this until her cleared a suitable path. Much to his dismay, however, he quickly saw the trees re-sprouting from the burnt ground.

His eyes widened as they shot up with a creaking noise, even taller and healthy than they'd been before.

[B]"Damn you Mother Nature!"[/B] Kuja cursed, muttering as he dodged a tree shooting up right next to him. He?d have to do this the hard way. He hated that.[/COLOR]

[Raiyuu]

[color=Purple][font=Trebuchet MS]The Bravers of the Red Sword must have been an imposing sight for the elf, as he lay pinned under a tree trunk, staring upwards into the four faces.

[b]"Now, is there anything we should know about this Ruby Tower? Any tricks we need to get in, traps to avoid?" [/b]enquired Samus stonily.

A breeze blew by. Off in the distance, towards the tower, a bell could be heard tolling one.

[b]"He's all clammed up," [/b]complained Xiaoyu.

Samus raised her bow, nocking an arrow to point right between the unfortunate elf's eyes. [b]"Tell us or you're dead."

[/b]He went cross-eyed trying to look at the arrow point, but stayed stubbornly silent.

Ada settled the point of her left stiletto heel against the trapped creature's throat. [b]"Like the lady said, pointy."

[/b]He gulped, but his loyalty to his masters must have been strong, because he kept his mouth shut.

CJ raised his mandolin, grinning from ear to ear. [b]"You spill, or I's goin' [i]freestyle [/i]on yo' ass."

[/b]The elf's eyes widened. He made a little strangled noise in his throat.

[b]"No?" [/b]CJ's grin managed to spread even wider. [b]"Fine wit me."[/b] He struck another grating dischord and started rhymin'. One four-letter word in particular seemed prevalent...

[b]"Aww, c'mon, pointy-ears!" [/b]insisted Xiaoyu, kneeling down to bring her eyes as level with his as they could be around Samus' arrow and Ada's heel. [b]"Or we'll just have to have [i]fun [/i]with you."

[/b]The elf's brow wrinkled as he tried to work out the slightly obscure threat, and then his eyes seemed to pop out of their sockets as Xiaoyu started furiously tickling his tummy. Tears welled up in his eyes, and he tried desperately to thrash and escape; futile, considering he was pinned under a tree, with a high heel at his throat and an arrow point tickling his forehead.

[b]"Tickle tickle tickle!"

"Okay! All right! You win!" [/b]squealed the elf. [b]"You win! Just ... stop ... tickling ... me!"

[/b]Xiaoyu reluctantly stopped her assault.

[b]"There are no more hazards between you and the Ruby Tower," [/b]he said, panting, [b]"and the password 'Muffin' will get you past the gate guards. They aren't too bright. Once inside, you'll have to pass the Winding Staircase of One Thousand Spiky Traps, where [/b][/font][/color][color=Purple][font=Trebuchet MS][b]every third step is booby-trapped[/b][/font][/color][color=Purple][font=Trebuchet MS][b]. And even then, you'll have to defeat the princess's almighty guardians!"

"Ah yes," [/b]said Ada dryly, [b]"Bubble and Bobble ... I think I'm going to faint with terror."[/b]
[/font][/color]

[Ellerby]

[color=#333333]Mario had been peacefully walking along when he stopped and took off his hat to wipe his forehead. He removed his hand which was obscuring his view away from his face and looked around, bedazzled.

Everywhere, including right infront of him, were trees. Large, oak, healthy trunks of bark and leaves. He scratched his head, confused.

"Eh.. What-a in the world?" he said. He put his hat back on and quickly realized his comrades had vanished from sight. [i]Oh no![/i] he thought. That's when he heard a large crackling explosion and swiftly turned his head towards the sound. He ran towards it, hoping it was a fellow teammember. It was.

Kuja slowly drifted back to the ground and smirked at Mario. They were both happy to see eachother.

"Damned trees. They just keep sprouting back!" he said to Mario. The short plumber rubbed his chin and thought for a moment.

"I have an-a-dea!" he yelped. "You-a use Firaga again and than follow my lead." he said.

Kuja shrugged and yelled [i]Firaga[/i] just before a large swamp of flames engulfed part of the forest around them. At that instant, Mario jumped and yelled..

"Slow!" he said. All of the sudden, the trees weren't growing so fast. They were very slowly, growing at about the speed of a snail moving.

Mario gathered some more energy and concentrated hard. He put his hand in the air and cast another few spells.

"Sneakaga! Invisibaga!" he shouted. All of the sudden, Mario and Kuja both disappeared in thin air.

...

"What'd you do?!" yelped the confused Wizard.

"I-a casted Sneak and Invisible on us. We make no sound while we-a move and are-a.. invisible. Look around you-a."

Kuja went silent for a second and than spoke. "The trees are gone. They can't see or hear us so they don't know we're hear. Look! To the right!

Mario glanced to the east and saw a clump of trees.

"That must be where the others are-a!" he said. He managed to find Kuja's hand and held it tight. "We are-a invisible, we can't afford-a to be seperated." And with that, they ran towards the small forest growing.[/COLOR]

[Solo Tremaine]

[color=#503f86]Krystal trudged alongside Crash down the muddy trail leading them (apparently) West towards Bowser's Evil Lair. She plucked a few strings on her small harp idly; the strings seemed to glow when plucked, and depending on the sequence of notes she played, they would increase or fade in intensity; an obvious sign of the harp's enchanted magic coming into play.

She guessed that each different note she could start a piece on would cast a different spell; she'd have to pluck the strings in the right sequence in order to get the strings glowing at their best and bring about the most powerful incantations.

Which reminded her... was there an activation song, or could she get away with just the music? She didn't particularly fancy singing [i]songs[/i], although continued notes would be alright. It's not like she had ever had an inclination to follow Peppy to any of his karaoke bars...

Suddenly, Crash spoke.

"You know, Lake Viscera doesn't sound too bad a name..."

Krystal coughed politely. "Viscera, as in eviscerate, maybe?"

"Oh..."

"Shh!"

Lara's harsh warning stunned them to a halt. Behind them, Krystal could hear Fox struggling with his armour.

Ahead of them lay a long wooden bridge laid with rotten-looking planks, flanked by ancient support ropes. Below them the canyon it crossed descended into an eerie mist, illuminated only by the dim light seeping through the clouds above them.

Lara pulled one of her arrows from her quiver and hurled it ahead. The point sunk into one of the planks of wood, leaving the projectile pointing out at a fifty-degree angle. They watched, and waited.

"Looks safe enough," Krystal hazarded, ready to step forwards. Lara outstretched an arm to block her as the piece of wood tore in two, sending the arrow plummetting into the abyss.

"This wood will only support us for so long," the Hunter said in a grave and militant tone, taking it upon herself to act as leader for this situation. "We'll need to be quick getting across. Any ideas?"

Krystal scratched her neck in thought.

"Well... if we went in pairs, either one of us could help the other up if a plank broke. Or we could go in single file at regular intervals to help distribute the weight across the entire bridge."

Lara assessed the quality of the bridge with her eyes, then turned to the other three.

"I think you should go first, Krystal. You're the lightest, so you should be able to tell us if one of the planks is unstable. I'll follow with Fox, so I can grab him if he falls through. Then Crash should follow on. You should easily be able to watch our steps for a safe journey, right?"

Crash nodded affirmatively.

With a determined chorus of "Right!", the four Adventurers began their crossing. Krystal placed her steps with utmost care, watching planks for signs of decay. She could feel a strong wind rising up the canyon which began tilting the bridge at difficult angles; typically clicheed.

At the end of the bridge, she saw a small, shadowy figure with a spiny green shell fiddling around with a paintbrush. It looked at Krystal for a fleeting moment, then vanished into the bushes beyond.

"Say," she called back apprehensively. "Bowser doesn't have any kids, does he?"[/color]

[JJ]

[Color=DarkBlue]?It figures. Bubble and Bobble probably don?t have a brain between the two of them.? Ada said sighing.

?Very true. All they do is play with bubbles that pop when lined up.? Samus said, chuckling.

?At the same time, what was keeping the elf so silent?? Ling Xiayou asked.

?Who knows, but we gotta keep goin? yo. We gotta save the little.. thing before she dies.? CJ said, seeming to want to say something else.

?Yeah, he does have a point.? Samus said, shouldering her bow.

?Let?s keep going, OK?? Ada said, pointing to the tower.

?Yay! We?re finally off to fight the dragons!? Ling Xiayou shouted, starting to bounce.

Ada pointed once more and the foursome headed off. As if magic, they took another step and stood at the base of the tower. They looked around in confusion and saw a fleeing shape from a castle window.

?That could have been one of two people.? Ada said

?Zelda or someone sent to move us along from Mog?? Ling Xiayou asked.

?I?m betting on the latter.? Samus said, adjusting her hair.

?Let?s go aight?? CJ said, knocking on the door.

?[B]WHAT?S THE PASSWORD?[/B]? A booming voice announced.

?Muffin.? Everyone said in unison.

?Hurry up and enter before the heroes get here.? The same voice whispered as the door cracked.

They opened the door wider and gasped at the site unfolding before them. The guards were a pair of Mobblins. They were blue and looked like overgrown pigs with pointy sticks and nose rings. Ada sighed, Samus notched her bow, Ling Xiayou pulled out a knife, and CJ whipped out his harp.

They ignored the weapons and pointed them in the direction of the stairs. They didn?t say another word, so they group moved forward.

Ada looked up the staircase and sighed. It looked normal enough. It was entirely stone and narrowed as it got towards the next floor. She hoped it really wasn?t a thousand steps, but she had no choice, so she gathered up her wits and started up the steps.

?Ada you stupid bit?? CJ started as Ada stepped on the third step.

A huge boxing glove shot out and knocked Ada backwards. She landed on CJ and knocked the breath out of him. She dusted her self off and stepped on CJ?s leg for good measure.

?That?s for what you almost said.? She said, posh.

?Samus, I think you?d better lead.? Ada said, scratching her head. ?I forgot what step we need to avoid.?

Samus nodded and start to ascend, with Ling Xiayou behind her, CJ behind her, and Ada bringing up the rear. The end was nearing for the Bravers.[/color]

[KKC]

[size=1][color=darkorange]Fox twitched as the board under his feet shook from the gust of wind. Maybe he should have gone with wizard, despite the flowing robe and Shadow's taunting. It was better than falling into a bottomless pit.

"Say, Bowser doesn't have any kids, does he?" Krystal asked, as she haulted for a moment, watching something that was on the other side of the bridge.

"Let's discuss it when were all safely on the other side. I don't this thing will hold Fox much longer." Lara blurted out, eager to get onto the stable ground that was half a bridge away.

After what Lara said, Fox felt all the fur on his body stand up. He couldn't help but pear down over the side of the bridge and see the mist that led to nothing.

"Fox, I think it might help if you started to walk." Crash pointed out from behind, giving Lara a push who bumped into Fox.

He gulped and took a step. His legs felt like jello and thr view of Krystal and the bridge started to spin in front of him. Fox picked up his other foot to go on, but his vision seemed to swirl and he felt himself start to fall sideways.

"Fox!" Lara snatched the strap to his chest plate and heaved him back up right.

"Don't you watch TV?" Crash commented, "They always say "Don't look down" when it come to height issues."

Fox just managed to nod his head, and focused his eyes on the blue form on Krystal.

"If I don't get through this alive-" Fox was cut off as the board beneath him snapped in two, sending him spinning down into the white mist below.[/size][/color]

[Doukeshi]

[SIZE=1][B]"Fuck!"[/B]

Seeing the iron clad Fox drop suddenly through the cracked planks Lara dove forward grabbing at the straps holding on his chest plate. The weight of the knight jerked her off her feet, her already unsteady purchase now non existant has she fell face forward on the bridge. Fox's piercing yells only further antagonised the situation as Lara hung gamely on to him, the boards of the bridge creaking loudly in -protest. The only thing preventing Lara and Fox from an almost certain death at the bottom of the chasm was a few rickety steps and an already fraying hand rope that lara had entwined her foot through.

Gritting her teeth against the pain in her arms Lara tried hefting Fox back up onto the bridge only to immediatley desist under the creaking protests of the swaying bridge.

[B]"Damnit Fox McCloud, how much do you weigh!" [/B] Fox looked up at Lara, unbridled panic clear in his wide white eyes. Any comment on the knights part was suddenly cut off as an ominous splintering sound pierced the air. Lara tensed, her breath caught in her throat. Barely having time to bellow out a hasty curse before she too found herself swinging in mid air, her sudden descent halted by Crash as he lunged for her booted foot.

Crash cryed out as his arms wrenched, the strain of holding up Lara [I]and [/I] Fox being almost too much. Lara looked down at the panic stricken knight, wincing as the sun glinted off his armour into her eyes.

[B]"Fox you have to lose that armour, its dead weight!" [/B] Lara yelled, all to aware of how close to being dead weight themselves they all were at this very moment. Fox nodded frantically and began fumbling with the buckles on his boots and grieves. Crash grunted above them, attempting to wrap his feet more firmly around the rope supports.

[B]"Krystal we could do with a hand here, do something!"[/B][/SIZE]

[Sakura]

[COLOR=Navy]Yuna and Sora rushed through the maze of trees, they were constantly changing so they had to move fast. Yuna saw the path in front of them starting close, she tugged on Sora's arm to make them move faster, and they launched themselves through the gap with an almighty leap, tumbling to the ground on the other side as the gap closed.

For a while they saw smoke and flames, guessing that Kuja was getting frustrated and was trying to burn it down. Yuna got up, helping Sora up. They were trapped in, while they had fallen, all the other paths had closed up around them. Yuna pulled her sword out from the sheth on her back. She brought it back with ease and sliced through a row of trees in the direction she remembered the fire coming from. The trees were sliced down, she shouted for Sora to go, jumping in after him as the forest regrew quickly.

[B]"These stupid trees are getting on my nerves."[/B] Yuna ground out. She spun her sword above her head and stabbed it into the ground. [B]"Bio!"[/B] she cried, using her Dark Knight technique. A green tinge spread out around the area, spreading from the area where her sword was.

[B]"The poison should slow down the growth a little, but not by much until it fully sinks into the roots."[/B] Yuna told Sora.

She sliced through another wall, letting him through, running around the place since it wasn't enclosed. Yuna tripped, falling on her face. She looked at her feet and saw a thick root wrapped around her left ankle. Yuna groaned and struggled, her sword had fallen out of her grip and was currently sitting just out of reach. Sora used one of his daggers to saw through the root. Yuna crawled away from it and pulled the parts off her ankle, picking up her sword and hoisting it to rest on her right shoulder like what Auron used to do.

[B]"There-a you are."[/B] a familiar Italian accent said with relief.

[B]"Who's there?"[/B] Yuna whirled, brandishing her blade.

[B]"It's us, Kuja and Mario."[/B]

[B]"Where are you?"[/B] Sora asked, he had two daggers in hand.

[B]"Oops, sorry I-a forgot"[/B] Mario chuckled as he and Kuja appeared seemingly out of no where.

Yuna and Sora sighed and brought down their weapons.

[B]"We've been looking for you."[/B] Yuna said.

[B]"So have we, this just sprouted out of no where."[/B] Kuja replied with a wave, indicating the maze they were in.

[B]"Let's find our way out, fast."[/B] Sora commented.

[B]"Good-a idea."[/B]

The group stuck together, Yuna and Kuja took turns to remove blockages in front of them, Mario cast Slow so it made the trees' regrowth slower, added with the poison from Yuna's Bio. Eventually they reached the other side. They were very relieved and happy to be able to see sunlight and the sky again since the maze had reached up to the top, forming a roof. They watched as the forests shrank back down into the ground, waiting to trap the next group of people that happened upon it.

Yuna looked around and they noticed they stood in front of the Emerald Tower, their goal. It was huge, and they assumed it had many stairs to climb to reach the top. They all weren't extremely pleased that Bahamut was the dragon that they had to fight, especially Kuja and Yuna since they [I]knew[/I] about him and his awesome power. The swallowed heavily and walked up to the front where there was a bridge, but no guards on the other side.

They cautiously started across the bridge, ready for anything that would jump out at them. They weren't surprised when a troll jumped onto the bridge in front of them.

[B]"To pass this bridge you must first give me the correct answer to this puzzle."[/B] he grinned.

[B]"A troll under a bridge? How original."[/B] Yuna said sarcastically, rolling her eyes. [B]"Well? Give us the puzzle then."[/B]

[B]"Four young people are walking through the forest at night. Among them, they have one lantern to light their way. It's a thick forest, and the trail they're on isn't very well tread. The four companions follow the trail to an old wooden bridge over a large chasm. There's no way to get across the chasm without crossing the bridge.

The bridge itself isn't in the greatest of shape, either. The four figure that it can only hold two of them at once, and no more. What's more, the bridge is missing some boards, so the two who are crossing will have to have the lantern. They can't all cross at the same rate though. The first person, Sora can cross the bridge in one minute. Kuja can cross it in two. Mario can cross in five minutes, and Yuna can cross in ten.

Finally, it's getting really late, and the four young people don't want to be out in the middle of the forest much longer. What's the shortest amount of time they can cross the bridge? Here are some clues: If two people are crossing together, they travel at the slower person's time. No throwing the lantern across the chasm - you might lose it. No funny tactics either - the only way across the chasm is the bridge. The fastest time is a prime number."[/B] he challenged, they were all wondering how he knew their names, but put it behind them, instead working on the puzzle.

Yuna started working on it quickly, returning to the previous side of the bridge they had come from and started scratching the information into the dirt. The others came over and watched her work, adding their own input of what they thought. Originally she thought of using Sora to ferry the lantern back and forth, but tried to come up with another solution. She finally made her final mark and stood up, hoping she had the right answer.

[B]"Sora and Kuja cross with the lantern first, making 2 minutes. Sora crosses back, bringing the lantern, adding 1 minute, making it 3 minutes total. Mario and Yuna cross, taking the lantern back adding 10 minutes, 13 total. Kuja takes the lantern back to Adam, adding another 2 minutes, 15 total. Finally Kuja and Sora recross, joining their friends putting in another 2 minutes, making it as 17 minutes total."[/B] Yuna called out.

The troll frowned angrily, he had hoped for a good meal, it had been too long since humans had been over the bridge. He grumbled unhappily and slipped back under the bridge. Yuna cheered happily, they'd done it, they'd solved the puzzle. They continued across to the other side of the bridge finally.

All that was beside the entrace were two statues of a dragon, each wielding a sword. They walked forward and suddenly the statues held their sword to the side, creating a cross and preventing them from entering the threshold. The heads moved to look at them.

[B]"What is your business here."[/B] they said in unison.

The group looked at each other, they had faced stranger things than talking statues but it was still weird.

[B]"We've come to rescue the Princess."[/B] Yuna spoke.

[B]"I am afraid we cannot allow you to do so, nor may we allow you to precede any further. Please return to where you came from."[/B]

[B]"We won't turn around, we [I]have[/I] to save the Princess and slay the dragon."[/B] Sora told them.

The eyes of the statues glowed red and they narrowed as they became more lifelike by the second.

[B]"Slay the dragon?!"[/B] they hissed angrily.

[B]"Did I say slay? I-I meant talk, yeah, have a nice chat with him."[/B] he laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head.

[B]"Nice going, Sora."[/B] Kuja rolled his eyes.

Yuna sighed heavily, they had just been challenged mentally, and it looked as if they were just about to be tested physically. The dragons got up from their crouched positions on their pedestals, stepping down and wielding their swords. They watched as the two stone creatures were flooded with colour, becoming a deep green all over with a white underbelly.

The green team leapt backwards with whatever skill they had, Yuna used a back handspring, crouching in a position that would be ready to take part in battle, she slipped her shield from her back and positioned it in her left hand, her sword grasped tightly in her right.

The dragons rushed forward, and they charged against them. Kuja and Mario put some distance between them and the angry dragons, ready to provide help. Yuna slashed at them, shocked when it made good contact, only to not leave a scratch, instead made a sound as if she had hit....stone.

[B]"Demi!"[/B] Yuna called, a black orb grew around the dragons, shrinking down.

She was hoping it hurt them in some way. She looked over at Sora, he was slicing with his daggers but they were as effective as her blade. Yuna looked over at Mario.

[B]"Give me a boost!"[/B] she called.

Mario waved his hands. [B]"Might-a"[/B]

Yuna rushed up and did a wild sword dance, her blade became a blur as she whirled, there was a groan of pain and she stopped suddenly, she had caused damage. She inspected the creature and saw a slice across his white underbelly. Yuna retreated.

[B]"That's it, they're only sensitive on the white underbelly."[/B] she called across to Sora.

She saw that Kuja looked as if he was about to cast a spell to help.

[B]"Kuja, save your magic for Bahamut, you'll need it."[/B] Yuna told him. He nodded and brought his hands down again.

He nodded and dodged a swing, shoving a dagger into the white section. It roared and flailed it's limbs attacking Sora. Yuna move swiftly, she made a upward diagonal cut across the underbelly and plunged her sword in, twisting it. The dragon fought and struggled before it fell lifeless, the very point of her sword had pierced through the whole body and stuck out of his back. Yuna pulled it out and looked over at Sora who was cleaning his daggers.

[B]"Let's go guys, we still have to save that Princess."[/B] Sora said.

Yuna put away her weapons and picked up the swords that the dragons had been using and gave one to Kuja and the other to Mario.

[B]"Hold onto these so you can protect yourself and fight, even if your magic runs out."[/B] Yuna nodded.

The two mages accepted the weapons and tucked them away as they entered the tower, fearing what waited for them at the top.[/COLOR]

[Baron Samedi]

[size=1]Crash began to sweat as he felt himself being pulled closer to the edge. He felt his grip on Lara's ankle begin to slip, as he fought for a sturdy foothold. His feet found something stronger to wrap around, which they promptly enveloped.

"Crash, watch it, you almost tripped me over!" Krystal yelled, as she kicked Crash's feet off. Grabbing them, this time with her hands, she lay flat on the ground to distribute their combined weight across as much of the bridge as possible. She had been having difficulty carrying her harp in the crook of her arm, so she had carelessly thrust her arm between two of the strings to save her having to hold onto it. As she lay stretched out on the bridge, the wind picked up, and before her eyes three of the strings began to hum. They glowed softly, and the weight of the three people before her began to lessen. A sudden gust caused the harp to glow even brighter for an instant, and with a tug, Krystal hauled back on Crash, who was now at least two-thirds lighter to pull. With a yelp Lara and Fox were dragged back onto the bridge.

Lara turned around, still lying flat out on the bridge.

"Good work, muscles" she jibed to Krystal. Krystal blushed, pleased with herself, and her new magic harp.

The Adventurers progressed slowly along the bridge, with only one more tense moment where Lara's foot broke through a rotten board to disturb their journey.

On the other side of the canyon, the Adventurers found a campsite which had obviously just recently been evacuated. Racing down the path leading out of the campsite, the group came to a T-junction. Up ahead was a signpost. It had three available options. Bowserz Carsel, Bigg Gap and Kooppa Villej. Crash triumphantly pointed at the signpost, and began walking in the direction of 'Bowserz Carsel'. The others began to follow him, but stopped when they saw Krystal reach out and gently touch the writing on the signpost. Her touch came away damp.

"Guys, the signpost has been freshly painted.... that's not the right way. It must be down the Koopa Village road that we need to go."

For confirmation, Lara picked up a handful of grass from the ground, and wiped it across the sign. Underneath they saw that indeed, the two sides had been switched.

"Good spotting Krystal" remarked Fox.[/size]

[Raiyuu]

[b][color=Purple][font=Trebuchet MS]"Do you think they made the staircase extra difficult to make up for Bubble and Bobble's puniness?" [/font][/color][/b][color=Purple][font=Trebuchet MS]asked Ada rhetorically, kicking another Mobblin in the face.

Simply jumping over the booby-trapped third steps had proved to be not enough. The perspective of the tower was weirdly skewed, and it hadn't been obvious from the floor, but the steps got much [i]larger[/i] as the Bravers progressed closer to the landing. Xiaoyu, acting as vanguard, was a little over halfway up, and was already having to jump and grab the edge in order to climb to the next step.

Just to make things extra fun, a little door in the wall by the staircase's foot was popping open every thirty seconds and disgorging ugly blue Mobblins, which would climb up after the team and harass them from the rear.

By general group consensus, Xiaoyu and Samus were pushing ahead, neutralising traps. Xiaoyu was nimble enough to alight on a booby-trapped stair and quickly spring off it before whatever spiky device of painfulness it was rigged with skewered her; Samus was able to fire off arrows, setting off movement-triggered traps harmlessly.

Ada and CJ acted as a rearguard, booting Mobblins, [i]kabong[/i]-ing them with the mandolin or just shoving them onto the nearest booby-trap.

Xiaoyu crouched and sprang, grabbing the lip of the next step with her fingertips and hauling herself up. As soon as her full weight was on the stair, a hatch to her right swung open and a hail of (presumably poisoned) darts puffed out. She ducked, pressing herself to the floor, as they whooshed over her head.

[b]"This one's clear!" [/b]she called down to Samus, who was aiming an arrow upwards to hit the step three above Xiaoyu. The blonde-haired woman nodded.

Xiaoyu turned to start cimbing the step in front of her. But, crouching and jumping, she discovered she just couldn't reach the lip to haul herself up.

[b]"Um ... guys? We might need a change of tactics! Human pyramid, anyone?"[/b]
[/font][/color]

[Outlaw]

[COLOR=DarkRed]"Aw na," CJ replied while ka-bonging his mandolin over the head of another oversized swine. "There gots to be a betta way than dat." Obviously, CJ was not to happy about the idea of a human pyramid.

"If only I still had my weapons, I could have grapling hooked my way up there," Ada moaned as she looked out for more attackers. "But I had to leave them all back at the CPU."

"Yeah, and if I had my armor, I could have just double jumped up there," Samus added to the list of woulda-coulda=shouldas.

"Hey, dats it!" CJ yelled as he began to dance around, finishing by putting his mandoline away, than bringing it back out.

"What are you doing?" asked Ada, befuddled by Carl's jig.

"Super jump cheat sucka. Now step back, I is about to pull some superman *&^#." With that, CJ took a running start at the next step and lept in the air with all his might. He flew through the air in his best Jordan pose, sticking out his tounge as he flew higher and higher and SPLAT! slammed into the side of the stair. "!@#$%^&*##$%!@*&^%! that hurt! Why da hell didn't that work?" CJ complained as he slid down the side of the wall.

"Because there's no cheating in the Zelda games," replied Samus smuggly, "Only the occational glitch."

"Well why didn't ya say so?" he asked, still rubbing the bruse which covered his face.

Xaioyu Ling pipped in, "we all though it would be better if you found out for yourself," giggling the whole time she said it. This flew Carl Johnson in a fit of rag, as he began shouting out profanities left and right.

"Alright, alright, lets calm down everyone," said Ada, attempting to take control of the situation. "So, do we have any ideas that would actually work without making us extremely vulnerable to an attack from those pig things?" But nobody had any ideas. For a few minutes, they all stold in silence, pondering their predicament. During that time, a number of Mobblins had attacked, but most couldn't reach the step the Bravers stould on, their puddgy little arms to short for this type of climbing.

"#$%^, this sucks. I bets I could tink betta if I had some fooood," CJ complained about their current situation.

"Your a video game character. What the hell do you need food for?" Samus asked, baffled by his request.

"Hey, not alla us get our strength back from glowin crap ya find by blowin up crates an #$%^. In ma game, I gotta eat, so here I gotta eat. Ya hurd?"

"Oh, here! Eat this," Xaioyu Ling said with a smile as she pulled out one of the red mushrooms she had found back in Mario world.

"What? Were did you get that?" Ada asked with a look of shock on her face.

"Ummmmm, I really liked the taste of them, so I grabbed a couple before we left. They wouldnta help us anyways, cause Mr. Dante didn't eat any."

"Ling, don't you get it? With that mushroom, you could double your size, and have no trouble at all making it up these stairs, and you can help us up too." Samus stated, explaining to Ling a plan she, CJ, and Ada all seemed to realize as soon as she took out the mushroom With a bright smile and a nod, Xaioyu Ling popped the mushroom in her mouth and proceeded to grow to double her original height. With Xaioyu's new found gigantism, the team made short work of the rest of the staircase, dodging traps and beating back Mobblins. By the time they reached the top of the stair case, the stairs had returned to their normal height, and so had Ling thanks to an erant arrow to the rear cortesy of Samus.

"Sorry again about the whole shooting you in the butt thing," Samus apologized as they reached the top stair.

"Its okay, being that big was kinda fun, but I couldn't jump around, and my neck was getting soar from looking down at you guys," Ling responded with a smile and a V hand sign.

"Aight, cut da jabbin and let get ta work," CJ interjected as the team prepared to enter the lair of Bubble and Bobble. Dun Dun Duuuuuuuuuhhuhhhuhhhhn[/COLOR]

[JJ]

[Color=DarkBlue]Ada smiled at Ling Xiayou. She had a really shapr mind if you really looked closely. Brining a mushroom was a stroke of pure genius and was just the thing they needed to get to the top of the tower. Now they stood in front of the door with Bobble and Bubble?s picture on it. No one said a word until CJ interrupted.

?So we goin? in or what?? He said.

?I?m ready.? Samus said.

?Let?s go!? Ling Xiayou cheered.

?Alright, here we go.? Ada said, pushing the door open.

The greeting site was something none of them were ever going to forget. Bubble and Bobble sat next to a throne and Zelda was stroking their heads. Both had their eyes closed and seemed to be enjoying it. Zelda?s back was to the Bravers, so she called out.

?Link! It took you long enough! I called for you almost a month ago and you decide to show up just now? Look, these two sweet dragons were supposed to be your opponents, but now, we can just go home. It?s not going to matter anyway. I just need to get back so I can make a?? She trailed off.

Zelda flipped around in her chair and gasped. These, idiotically dressed people were not Link. Why were they there?

?You, one of the white cloth, who are you?? Zelda asked, her tone and accent changing.

?We?re travelers sent by Mog to rescue you from the evil Bubble and Bobble.? Ada said, snickering.

?Well, I won?t be needing rescuing from the likes of you.? Zelda said posh.

?Link ain?t comin yo. He?s been d.e.l.e.t.e.d.? CJ said, spelling it out.

?How could Link be deleted? Real people aren?t just deleted.? Zelda said, sticking her chest out.

[I]?Oh great, she thinks this is real life.?[/I] Ada thought, sighing.

?Look, just come down so we can win this challenge and hopefully not have to vote C..someone out of the group.? Ada said, blushing at her error.

CJ looked like he was going to say something, but Samus elbowed him. Zelda looked to the group once more and raised her hand.

?I have magic beyond your wildest dreams. Along with these two blockheads, I will beat you all into a pulp and then you will tell me where Link is.? She said, dropping her hand. ?If by whatever chance, you can get to me on the top of the pillar in time, I shall go quietly with you. Until then, you?re dead meat.?

At this, Zelda?s platform quickly shot upwards and a set of stairs leading into the tower popped up.

?Don?t worry. The stairs are safe. It?s the landings you?ll need to watch out for!? Zelda called down. ?But the challenge starts now!?

Zelda threw her hands in the air and a bow appeared in her hands. She then notched an arrow and shot it off. It landed in between the foursome and light erupted from it. Ada stood up and casted a quick spell to bring her seeing back. She then did the same for the others and pointed in the direction of the pillar.

?Ling Xiayou, you do have enough mushrooms for everyone, no?? Ada asked.

?Yeah, I think so.? She said, digging around in her pocket.

Three mushrooms fell on the ground and everyone quickly shot up to join Ling Xiayou. It was then that Ada realized that there were also steps going around the tower. They were bigger so Ada pointed to them and everyone moved.

It was then the first wave of Din?s Fire hit. It shook the entire pillar and they felt the waves of heat. Ada quickly spoke the words of a heat-reducing spell, but Zelda?s power quickly overpowered it.

?Keep going! Bubble and Bobble can?t be far behind and I bet Zelda?s given them?? Ada started but never finished.

Bubble and Bobble stood under them with two cannons. They fired them off and two multi-colored bubbles flew towards the group. Samus quickly fired off two arrows and popped them while the others kept going.

Ada watched as Ling Xiayou began to start moving faster, while Samus was moving slower and popping bubbles. Ada wanted to call out to Ling Xiayou, but a stary bubble slammed into the tower, causing her to stumble. Ada looked back to see that Samus was OK and had started popping again. She looked ahead to see both CJ and Ling Xiayou gone. She motioned to Samus and then two of them picked up the pace.

Ada noticed CJ bent over and she then looked a little the side. Ling Xiayou was hanging onto his hand and she was screaming. Due to the shock that went through Ada and Samus, another bubble slammed into the tower under Ling Xiayou, causing her to yell out. Ada quickly snapped out of it.

?Samus, destroy those bubbles. I?m going to help CJ.? Ada said, stooping down.

She measured up the situation and acted. She thrust her other hand outwards and yelled down, ?Grab my hand with you other hand. Between the two of us, CJ and I will pull you up!?

Ling Xiayou quickly pulled her hand up and all three of them linked. Ada and CJ started to move backwards slowly, when Zelda let off another round of Din?s Fire. The ground shaking caused Ada and CJ to fly into the wall, pulling Ling Xiayou with them.

?You OK Ling Xiayou? Need a heal?? Ada asked, dusting herself off.

?Nope, I?m good. Thanks for the save.? Ling Xiayou replied, smiling.

?There?s no time for pleasantries! We still need to reach Zelda!? Samus shouted, shooting another pair of bubbles.

Everyone stood up and began to run. The final stretch was in reach.[/color]

[Solo Tremaine]

[color=#503f86]It was like being in a weird CG rendition of a classic Western... starring two anthropomorphic foxes, a bandicoot, a very unorthadox archeologist... and turtles. Hundreds of turtles. This time they were fully rendered, and giving the group of Adventurers very xenophobic looks as they strode through the village.

"Don't pay any attention," Lara cautioned. "They aren't essential to the mission, and we're running out of time."

Crash frowned. They'd walked halfway through the small village and he'd already managed to swipe six wallets, a pair of detachable wings and a tennis racket. He was enjoying his Thief attributes, and hoped he'd get another chance to show them off before long.

Krystal inspected her harp- the strings she'd plunged her arm through were loose now, and instead of making a pleasant '[i]thrum[/i]' upon plucking, they'd been reduced to more of a '[i]plop[/i]'. They still glowed a bit, but not nearly as brightly as they had before.

Up on the mountainside they could see the eerie silhouette of Bowser's Castle, a sinister-looking structure with the grizzly reptilian's face plastered all over it. Either his architect fancied him, or he was an incredibly narcissistic dinosaur.

As they left the village, a sigh of relief was breathed by both the Adventurers and the villagers. the koopas continued with whatever they were doing before the group arrived, and the Adventurers hurried ahead, Crash hoping nobody would notice their missing change before they were well out of sight. Their pace slowed as they neared the castle, each one looking out for potential threats.

As it happened Bowser's Castle was surrounded by a massive moat of lava, from which giant fire geysers burst, illuminating the valley and providing a very hot shower for anyone who dangered to venture too close.

The castle itself was a fairly disproportionate building, with towers stretching right up into the sky, the highest of which had a pink light shining from its solitary window. Shy Guys circled around it like drones, doing nothing except fly dilligently in circles around their charge.

Lara's Hunter eyes scanned the castle from top to bottom. Aside from the Shy Guys at the top, the only guards appeared to be two burly-looking goombas either side of the portcullis. They didn't hold spears or anything. They just sat there, looking miserable.

Fox readied his sword in anticipation. He'd been looking forward to this.

Crash pulled a knife from his belt pouch. It wasn't much, but it was a weapon.

"Right," Lara began. I think we should-"

"LET'S GO!" Crash yelled, thundering ahead across the drawbridge. Fox followed on with an enthusiastic yell, while Lara and Krystal trailed behind, Lara drawing her bow.

Crash grapped hold of the first goombas and threw it into the lava, where it sunk beneath the surface and disappeared. He turned round to see Fox's sword crashing down on the second Goomba's head, flattening it into oblivion and sending out a shower of gold coins. The bandicoot eagerly scooped them up and shoved them into his pouch.

"Thief habits!" he cackled, noticing Fox's puzzled expression.

Suddenly, the portcullis shot open and an army of goombas marched out, each looking as miserable as the last, all of them with murderous intent in their fungusy eyes. The iron gate clattered shut behind them.

"[i]Right![/i]" Fox yelled, twirling his sword with glee before launching himself into a frenzy of sword slashes and wild armoured punches.

Krystal stepped away from the main fray, plucking the strings on her harp as quickly as she could. They began glowing with a high intensity, a deep huming noise slowly becoming louder with each note she played. Before she knew what she was saying, her mouth opened.

"Eternal Blessing!" she yelled. A white glow appeared in the air, then covered the Adventurers' weapons. Lara felt her arms strengthening as her arrow split a goomba clean in two and crashed into the wall; their combat stats had increased. Not much further now...[/color]