2013.07.03 - The Brave and the Teamed Up

It's hot and humid this afternoon in Lower Metropilis. Even with the sporadic rainshowers that have been coming by, a lot of people have been avoiding going out. The nasty weather isn't enough to deter the determined video gamer. One such gamer has ventured out to the mega-Gamestop located in the city. But misfortune has struck...

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T HAVE MY PREORDER BONUS!?" comes before the screaming starts. Now anyone coming to the store will be...treated...errr...forced to see the sight of an overweight villain slicing through displays and parts of the store with what appears to be a four-bladed light saber.

Fandral's back in Midgard for the moment, but it's not a long stop by any means. It's a business side-trip, and the Asgardian Swordsman rarely pays heed to that which his brother does. What cares he for the goings on of the mortals now? The sounds of fury, however, does gain his attention, and entering the airconditioned store, he stares at the mayhem before him. "Cease thy damaging!"

Vorpal was going 'off the clock' from his patrol, deciding on a late lunch break before he went back traipsing across building. His target is that little Greek restaurant near the corner- what with the weather and all, he figures it won't be packed. The glowing, purple umbrella he has created for himself draws enough attention as it is, then there's the fur and the costume.

As he walks in front of the store, his ear picks up the screaming and he turns around to look at the store proper.

He's still a beginner hero, but he's seen his share of things. He's gone face to face with the Joker, he has entered the body of an 8-story tall god of the dead, he's battled aliens with Green Lantern.

This, however?

"What on earth is wrong with him?"

He sees a familiar face- Fandral- going into the store, and he follows. "Yes! Cease thy--er--- that."

Miles is actually in the store, shopping... or, rather, browsing for games he wants to save up his allowance for. He looks quickly over to the front as he hears the shout and then the screams, peeking out for just a moment before vanishing. Camouflage makes it really easy to make quick costume changes! Soon, The Spider is appearing on the ceiling above the overweight villain, though any opening comment he had is interrupted by Fandral's opening, so instead he says, "Yeah, I'd do what he says."

Control Freak, still weilding his weapon wheels about, his attacks on the shelf of the latest football games interrupted. He squints at Fandral and Vorpal before laughing. "Oh look, bad cosplay," he taunts, pointing at them both. When the Spider draws his attention, Control Freak jumps back. He's surprisingly nimble for a big guy. "What's with you wanna be heroes? Here!" he reaches into his coat...and whips out a remote control? "Deal with the real thing!" he cackles, pointing the remote at a far shelf and pressing a button. A beam is fired off towards the games there and the discs glow and shake. Suddenly there's three new beings in the store...

A young blond man dressed in green weilding an impressive sword...

A short man in overalls and a bright red hat...

And...a small pink blob thing.

The swordsman raises his shield and advances towards Fandral. The hated man leaps at Miles and swings a fist. And the blob thing...waves at Vorpal and exclaims 'Hiiii~!'.

Sorcery?

Fandral watches as the little things are seemingly formed from nothing, and one looks- like him? Well, not quite. He's much more dashing and debonair-

Oh forget it.

Now, the sword is drawn, and it's a nasty looking thing that has seen very recent use. Of course, it's been cleaned, but it's got that unnatural clean sheen to it. Not 'showroom fresh', but 'it's well used and loved' look.

"Thou art a coward for thou to send thy minions.. weak! Come and fight!" Though, the Swordsman of the Warriors Three does advance, giving warning, ready to block any attack, "Fight me at thy peril."

The cat is a player. Er, gamer, that is. He knows this motley crue...crew.

"....really? REALLY?"

Fandral gets Link, the spider gets Mario... and he gets...

"This is rather insulting." he snarls, "Two can play that game."

The cat concentrates and creates an illusion. Tall, Dark and Wheezy, seven feet tall with a glowing red lightsaber appears out of the shadows. Imposing steps heading towards the villain, lightsaber rising for a strike.

Vorpal narrows his eyes and puts his hands on his hips, looking at the pink... thing. "...I'm giving you one chance to back away. Your last game was terrible."

The Spider jumps back, flipping in the air to land on his feet the next aisle over as Mario jumps at him. "Hey, Mario. Sorry for killing you so many times over the years. Seriously, I was trying to keep you alive. Most of the time." Then, he leaps towards Mario with a kick, "But I'm a lot better at jumping these days."

Yes, they're certain popular Nintendo characters. The starts of the Super Mario Brothers, Legend of Zelda, and Kirby series specifically. Link swings his blade at Fandral with a 'Yaaaah!'.

Kirby wobbles his way over to Vorpal and looks at him curiously. Apparently he doesn't understand the cat's words since he's unfazed. The blob makes a little noise as it looks Vorpal over...and then things get weird. Kirby's mouth opens wide and the suction begins. Vorpal will find himself pulled right off his feet and into fluffy pink darkness. Thankfully it doesn't last long before Vorpal will find himself forced back into the store. Kirby's in front of him now, sporting a purple cat-eat hat. He hops and turns to face Vorpal, ready to fight now.

Mario lands after he misses his punch and turns to face the Spider. The kick knocks the plumber back and he quickly shakes his head. Giving a frustrated noise, Mario launches a fireball at the Spider that bounces along the floor towards him.

Control Freak laughs, both at Vorpal and the illusion. "You want to talk about weak, you Renn-Fair Reject? Look at this fake Vader," he says, slashing at the illusion with his four-bladed sword.

Fandral sweeps his sword around with ease, using the fact that the green clad looking elfin thing's sword looks a great deal longer and unwieldly. So, stepping in, he pushes back with the sweep, and sets his foot down to take the creature off-balance and off its feet. "Fake.. what? Nonsense escapes thy lips. Thou speakest yet thou sayest nothing."

After undergoing THAT, now Vorpal can say his life experiences are complete. When he emerges from Kirby (God, may he never have to say that again), The Coontrol Freak's laughter catches his ear and he looks over his shoulder.

 focusing quickly, he materializes a large, glowing anvil over the Control Freak as he slashes at Faux Vader, and lets it drop, attempting to give him a wallop.

He turns his attention to VorpKirby now. He realizes that his abilities had been copied (hey, he played those games enough)... so now the trick was to exploit his weakness. So, first things first, was to see what VorpKirby was going to do.

The Spider jumps to the ceiling again as the fireball flies at him, "Right, fireball Mario. At least it's not Catsuit Mario." He jumps down at Mario again, but this time trying to simply land a touch with a finger, sao he can apply his venom sting.

Link's sword isn't as unwieldly as it may look. It's one of those tricky magic weapons. It doesn't stop Fandral from avoiding the slash though. The attack doesn't have quite the intended effect though, Link stumbling back a few steps rather than falling. If one looks closely they may see a little glowing red heart fall away from Link's body and fade into nothingness. His eyes narrow and the sword is sheathed temporarily...long enough for Link to send a boomerang flying through the air at Fandral.

Kirby bobs a few times as it waits for Vorpal to do something. When the cat doesn't attack, Kirby moves in. Little pink hands go back...and draw an oversized hammer which is promptly swung at Vorpal.

Mario tosses more fireballs after the Spider. Oddly enough they just 'plik' out of existance when they hit something other than him rather than setting the store aflame. When the finger connects with Mario's nose, the plumber gets shocked. With a somewhat comical noise of pain, he gets knocked back and then just pops out of existance in a flash of red light.

Control Freak gets lucky tonight. On the upswing from his attack, two of the blades of his weapon are in just the right position to slice that anvil in half as it falls towards him. Of course when he notices the sneaky attack, Control Freak turns an angry glare Vorpal's way. "Hey! What kinda hero are you?! That coulda killed me!"

Still, having Link fall back isn't a bad thing. It allows for yet another swing. For a swordsman, arm's length is exactly where an enemy should be for a proper attack, and for defending, either outside that area, or deep within.. upclose and personal. Fandral likes 'up close and personal'. It doesn't tend to allow for any real grandiose movements. That is not the case now, however, as his opponent changes tactics.

The Swordsman does as well, and pulls a dagger from his boot and throws it at Control Freak, aiming for the hilt of that rather strange sword he wields. And if he hits a hand, well-

Oops?

Right, and a sword-wielding elf, a fireball-tossing plumber and a FRICKING PINK CANNIBAL weren't going to kill them?

"Aw, whatsa matter, Poopsie? Can't take an anvil? The Joker could-- then again, he's not a never-was like you!"

As Kirby swings that hammer, the cat smirks and erects a glowing, floating shield to stand in the way of the blow and quickly drops down to the ground on one hand, kicking with both legs towards the little pink puff in the hopes of sending it against the wall.

The Spider looks quickly towards Fandral and says, "Be careful, he'll have a bow and bombs too!" Then he vanishes, and camouflaged makes his way behind the lightsaber-wielding villain. If he can get close, he tries to grab the villain from behind and throw him.

The initial boomerang attack flies past Fandral but as it's that type of weapon, it comes back around to strike him in the back and knock him towards Link. Link who's lunging forward to strike the swordsman with his shield.

Kibry's hammer vanishes into a little 'blip' of stars after the strike and the blob is confused. The kick sends it flying against the wall though and it flattens again the wall before slumping to the floor. The hat falls off it's head and turns into a large glowing star shape that starts bouncing around though. Kirby's down for the moment though but not defeated.

"Clearly you're just ignorant to have never heard of the great and powerful Control Freak!" the villain declares. He lets out a rather girly yell when the dagger sends his sword flying and breaks it in half. The blades vanish as the weapon starts fading away into red light. "Hey! What's the big id-whoa!" and Control Freak goes flying. Arms and legs flail as he tries to stop himself only for him to crash through a display. On impact, he accidentall presses the button on his remote and two more games get blasted.

There's a dull, deep moan as a rotting corpse starts lumbering its way towards the Spider. It seems like it knows where he is even when he's cloaked. Arms outstretched, it shufflers his way with blood-stained teeth eager to sink into him.

Sparks jump off adorable little orange cheeks as a yellow rodent hops onto a shelf. "Chuuu!" it growls, looking at Fandral fighting Link.

It seems Vorpal just can't catch a break today. At least this time something doesn't try to eat him...but there is another pink puffball headed his way. Big eyes, little limbs, and it's rolling at him fast with a cry of "PUFF!"


 * Whoof*

The strike from behind, the boom-a-rang, brings the large Asgardian forward, and as the shield is brought to bear at him, the swordsman swings his sword to the outside, ready to slice that arm that wields the shield.

What? Bow and bombs too? Bow, well.. they're easy to defeat. One needs distance for that!

But, with Control Freak being hit, Fandral lets out a cheer.. only to have it die upon his lips. "What, more sorcery?" This means, then, that all bets are off. The villain must be slain. "...JIGGLYPUFF? Enough with the goddamn purple theme here!" The cat snarls and manifests a large, glowing flamingo croquet mallet. He Sidesteps, teleporting out of the rolling Puff's way and appearing behind it. He swings the flamingo in a strong stroke, attempting to send the spinning puff towards the Control Freak.

The Spider's mask hides it, but his eyes widen as he sees the zombie and he quickly leaps back to the ceiling. No jokes this time, he seems a bit freaked. "Why couldn't I get the pokemon?" After a quick moment of thought, he jumps towards another aisle, leading the zombie to try to lead it into getting in Pikachu's way.

Link's arm remains firmly attached to his body but something else happens. As the blade slides, Link pops out of existance with a flash of red light and afew little glowing red hearts fading away. The Pikachu meanwhile hops to another shelf and sends a few bolts of electricity flying Fandral's way. Thor might like this little guy.

Thankfully enough, Jigglypuff has poor aim. The mallet connects and the puff goes flying. It hits the wall and pops into a flash of red light. Kirby's back up though and swinging a cutter-blade Vorpal's way!

The zombie is pretty slow thankfully. It turns as Miles leaps away, moaning again as it tries to follow him. It may take awhile to get it in the way of the speedy electric rodent.

Control Freak groans as he picks himself up from the pile of display boxes he'd been thrown into. "Alright, who did that?!" he demands. Of course when he sees the battle going on now, he grins. "I can just keep bringing more and more out to overwhelm you little wannabes!"

Pikachu.. what in the world is that thing? Fandral has no time to take pleasure in the defeat of his adversary, sadly, before the little bolts come his way.

"What art thou? I should catch thee and deliver thee to my Pri-- my King as a gift.." and in the next moment, the Swordsman leaps up to grab the creature from the back.

Blue eyes look towards Control Freak, however, and calls out, "Thy sorcery will see an end.." and if he's gotten a grab on the little yellow creature, heaves it towards Control Freak with a snap of the wrist.

The cat narrows his eyes as blood pours from a wound made by the cutter blade. He turned around too late when he heard the swing. Now he had a cut on his shoulder, and his mood was quickly fouling."Thanks for letting me know."

The cat grins and suddenly becomes invisible. In two Sidesteps, has zapped away from Kirby and approaches the Control Freak. He focuses and creates an illusion of himself, teleporting out of thin air ahead of the Control Freak and grinning. "None of your minions... just you and me, you sad excuse of a villain!" the illusion says, while the invisible Vorpal angles to the side. His idea is to have the Freak attack his illusion... and when he does, he will attack from behind.

The Spider, of course, knows how to kill a zombie. But, bringing himself to do it, to something that looks that real, isn't really an option. "Good, not Left 4 Dead," he says to himself in relief as he sees how slow the zombie is. And.. he leaves it behind, instead jumping to apply a flying kick to Control Freak.

Poor zombie. It has no hope of keeping up with the Spider. It's not giving up though, slowly shuffling along and looking to do to him what Kirby did to Vorpal.

Pikachu immediately starts scratching and flailing, jolts of electricity zapping at Fandral once it's grabbed.

Control Freak backs away from the fake Vorpal. "Stay back! Or face my Dragon-Style!" he demands. There's not much time for Vorpal to attack though since...INCOMMING PIKACHU! The little yellow rodent connects with Control Freak's head and sends him stumbling back...which puts him in prime position for the Spider's kick to miss Control Freak...but shatter his remote control. Almost instantly the summoned characters vanish into flashes of red light as Control Freak tumbles to the floor dazed and defeared.

Fandral does get zapped, and there is some wincing through the jolts. It helps, however, with the heaving of the small, strange creature. After it's thrown, the Swordsman begins to rub his shoulder muscle, his arms.. and swears softly. "Now I know how the Allfather felt when controling his son.." Thor.. and all those bolts!

"Is he--" Done? The shriek sounds familiar- a girlish scream of defeat! "He is vanquished?"

"He is, indeed, Vaniquished." The fake Vorpal disappears, and Vorpal appears where he was before, materializing a rather large flamingo club in his hands. "Move and I'll save the Queen of Hearts the trouble of asking for your head." He says, and grins at The Spider "Great job, Spidey... well... another Spidey." He was dating a Spidey himself. They were crawling all over the city. "And of course... Fandral." the cat says, bowing to him a little. They'd only had a cursory introduction in Asgard, but who could forget him? "If you don't mind, I'll call it in for the BSA. I'm registered, so I can stay behind and get this creep behind bars."

The Spider lands on the far side of where the Control Freak was, looking around and lets out a breath as the illusions are gone. He looks to Fandral and says, "Thanks. I'm The Spider," he adds. He's almost definitely the newest of the Spideys, given he lacks even a proper costume yet. "So, how do you go about doing that? Getting registered, I mean?"

"You're dispicable," Control Freak grunts before passing out. The day is won...for now.

Unnoticed by the heroes, something edges its way out off the remains of Control Freak's remote. A computer chip with a strange red mark on it. A mark that looks almost like a face. A face that smiles and with a small spark, the chip coats away to slide under a door and return another time and place.

Fandral finally sheathes his sword, and inclines his head in a brief bow. "Well met once again.." and he turns to the.. Spider? "Well met.. and well fought, lads." But now?

"I must needs depart. I have need to locate a few things for my King that can only be found here." Mocha. Real chocolate. "If thou will.." and here, he offers the pair something of a salute- hand to his chest, and a brief bow, before he turns upon his heel and strides out, leaving the store in its ruin behind him.

"You'd think we had never met before, not even a greet." The cat smirks, and turns his attention to the Spider. "here, take my card..." he says, offering it to the Spider. "Call me up and I'll tell you everything you need to know about the process and how to do it." He says after calling in Control Freak for the BSA. His card is a simple white card with purple writing:

V O R P A L ~Cheshire Cat~

Keith O'neil

555-531-0437

"You don't want to be here when the cops arrive. At least, not as an unregistered. They tend to get fussy." He smiles.

The Spider takes the card, looking at it, and then nods and says, "Yeah, I've noticed. Especially with Spiders. I bet they all read the Bugle. Cool to meet you!" And then he's vanishing from sight. He'll pickup his civilian clothes while camouflaged and then slip out.