RPG Don't Shoot The Goombas

[Xra]

[COLOR=blue]"What happened to you guys?"[/COLOR] Sonic asked his 2 partners.

[COLOR=orangered]"When you were caught in the bonus stge trap they sprang for you, they easily broke through our defenses, so we were forced to get out of there."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]"But how did you find me?[/COLOR]

[COLOR=sandybrown]"There's nothing I can't do, or trck down in your case. So, where should we go Sonic?"[/COLOR]

[COLOR=blue]"Everyone's meeting at the 16-bit festival we'll go there."[/COLOR]

And so, they flew through the skies untill they reached the mushroom kingdom.....

[Charles]

As Cage finishes his sentence, a man dressed like a Secret Service agent runs onstage. There are four of these men at the foot of the stage, and one on each end. Who knows when some nostalgic extremist might try and attack the speaker at a "Next Gen" Convention?

The guard whispers something into Cage?s ear, which causes Cage to gasp, but then sigh in relief. He asks the guard a pair of questions, all the while with his hand on the main microphone. The guard leaves the stage, and Cage leans down to Sonya Blade and relays to her whatever news the guard has brought to him. Sonya has similar reactions to it. Cage finishes talking to his female associate while the crowd buzzes with worry at whatever this news could be. It rises to a clamor before Cage wipes his brow with his handkerchief, adjusts his tie, and stands before the podium again. He composes himself and begins to speak.

The crowd gasps collectively, then begins loud chattering again. Cage raises his hand for silence.

"Everyone, I have an announcement to make," he says "It's very dramatic, I think. My close colleague, Jax Briggs, has defeated--[i]yes[/i] [b]defeated[/b] Little Mac! Now isn't that something! Super news indeed!

[center][img]http://therob578.250free.com/punchout.jpg[/img][/center]

Cage takes a sip of water while the crowd applauds and whistles enthusiastically.

"Yes, yes, very neat," he says, "This is just further proof of our superiority in the world of gaming. It is our kind that has defeated the likes of Shang Tsung and Shao Kahn time and time again and it's our kind that once put an end to those super bad guys during the "Project Gamer" ordeal. You know it folks, I kid you not!"

Scattered groupings of women shriek with delight, and call out Johnny's name.

"We love you Johnny," they say. They say "We're your number one fans!"

He says, "And now we will win this war. I mean, what can [i]they[/i] do? [i]Jump[/i] on us? Jump on our heads! Give me a break! Really!"

The crowd is popping beyond all sanity at this point, and Cage stops, raising his arms. He screams ?I ain?t the only one up in here! Give it up for the demon slayer, Dante! Let?s get this staaaaarrrtttteeeed!?

Johnny, surrounded by security, fights through the crowd, who bump the guards to a point where they almost crush the martial arts icon they've sworn to protect. A clearing is seen up ahead. The crowd is particularly raucous around this clearing. Cage's entourage finally elbows its way into the clearing, and who do we see, but Sony's own Parappa the Rapper.

Cage smiles, revealing two beautiful rows of bleached teeth.

"Seriously, do you have a house?" Cage says, elbowing the small dog boy in his side playfully, "An apartment? A shack? Please tell me you at least live in a box in that alley out there. It doesn't really matter, since I, Johnny Cage, seem to be the only person who knows how to capitalize on a lucrative video game contract. You're here for another handout aren't you?"

Embarrassed, but not deterred. Parappa tugs down on his red hat and tries to speak. But, Cage continues.

"Oh, where are my manners," he says "I shouldn't speak of the well, well, you know, the less fortunate. After all, I could be one, one day!"

Parappa begins to search through his pockets nervously.

"Oh, I'm so sorry to bother you Mr. Cage," he says, "but I forgot the lyrics to that singing telegram you wanted me to perform for Pac-Man."

"Sorry man," Cage says, "I'm kinda in the middle of something. I have to get out of here or these fans are going to go crazy! It looks like you won't be taking Sunny Funny on that date after all. What wonderful compensation you would have received for that performance!"

They finally make it outside. A black limousine pulls up to the front entrance, and a chauffeur wearing a black suit, gray vest and red tie, hops out to open the door for Cage.

[i]"Please[/i]," Parappa begs, tugging at Cage's dry cleaned pant legs, "please give me another chance! Just one more chance!"

Cage glances at his watch, as if to avoid Parappa's puppy dog eyes. If Cage were to go over the words with the aspiring rapper right now, the fledgling mascot would undoubtedly be able to pull off an Academy Award winning performance and move the classic gaming characters into signing a treaty. Because he's such a generous guy, and wants to avoid violent conflict, he agrees to go over the telegram with Parappa just [i]one[/i] more time, so he better remember it.

Cage adjusts his glasses, pushing them further up the bridge of his nose and begins to dance and rap.

"Repeat after me," he says.

[i]It's time to pass the torch and stay in the past
Give modern day games the chance to shine at last
Agree to surrender to the almighty Johnny Cage
Allow this great actor to take center stage![/i]

Cage goes on for about thirty seconds, busting out things that probably are physically impossible, but since this is a work of fiction, they make perfect sense. After his piece, he folds his arms and nods to Parappa to try and outdo him.

Parappa then gets absurdly contorted with his motions for his set, moving incredibly well for a dog of his young age--but not quite up to the standards of one--Johnny Cage. He begins to repeat the lines to the best of his ability.

[i]It's--time to pass the torch--and stay in the past
Give modern day games--chance to shine--last
Agree to surrender--the almighty Johnny Cage
Allow this great actor--take--stage![/i]

[center][b]Bad[/b][/center]

A camera has now fought its way through the crowd that has gathered around the two. The crowd moves with the rhythms.

Johnny begins his next verse.

[i]Johnny's got the charisma
He's got the looks
He uses words
That come straight outta big fat books
He's like Joe Chin, only he'll always win
If you guys don't surrender to him
It will be a sin
Your games belong in the bargain bin
Give up, give up.[/i]

After Cage is done, he and Parappa walk up to one other and start up at the same time--repeating the song, much to the delight of the onlookers.

[center][b]Cool[/b][/center]

[center][u]The Next Morning[/u][/center]

Cage wakes up with a start, and almost soils himself when he sees someone standing at the foot of his bed. It is only the suit he has set up to wear today to impress Lara Croft and show that he is a perfectly fine gentleman already.

It is a nice suit. Black knee-length coat, black pants, white stiff-collar shirt, blood red vest, black tie. It has set Cage back about $1500. Boy, was it worth it! He dons it again, and it fits a little loose. Cage has lost some weight since he doesn't have people to bring him food any more. He walks downstairs, rehearsing his victory speech for the imminent reporters and Ms. Croft. He expects today to be the day that the war ends.

He tries several postures, the courtly Middle Ages pose, the flourish of the Baroque, the stiffness of the 1790s, and finally the laid back 2003 pose. He settles on just sitting on the anteroom bench and waiting.

His hair is slicked back, he has his finest cufflinks on, which are as old as the house he lives in, and valued at $350 each. His shoes are shined to perfection. He picks off a speck of dust.

Last night he had heard the upsetting news that Duke Nukem has failed to infiltrate the Mushroom Kingdom incognito--with the elaborate disguise that he, himself, had custom tailored for Duke by Hollywood's finest costume designers.

[center][img]http://otakuboards.com/attachment.php?postid=407386[/img][/center]

Because of culture shock, Duke mistakenly said to Princess Daisy, "Shake it baby," and had thrown a crumpled wad of bills at her. If it had not been for this mistake, Cage is sure that the Mushroom Kingdom would belong to the "Next Gens" right now, at this very moment.

But, Cage is not inconsolable. He's just fine! He's better than fine!

Cage pulls a sheet of paper out of a nearby drawer and holds it up.

[center][img]http://therob578.250free.com/marioiswanted.jpg[/img][/center]

What drastic measures he has resorted to--sending the Resident Evil Nemesis to the Mushroom Kingdom. You know, to hunt Mario All-[b]S.T.A.R.S.[/b] Cage had, in fact, a terribly difficult time relating to the monster, because he, himself is a [i]star[/i] and the Nemesis loves hunting S.T.A.R.S.

Things turned out well regardless, he thinks. The monster accepted the wanted poster willingly, only muttering "[b][i]S.T.A.R.S.[/b][/i].

Cage calms down, puts the paper away, and looks square at his reflection in the mirror.

Come to think of it, he's never been a two dimensional character. He's always been three dimensional and well rounded! He's not like them at all.

[The Vampire: Ed]

Kain's throne room is filled with the sound of plastic clicks echoing off the walls. A vampire soldier stands in front of Kain sweating, and shaking uncontrollably. The soldier celebrates as a loud click is heard, Kain looks down upon his fooshball table realizing he had been defeated by his own soldier. However, no one would ever know. The soldier clams down as he sees Kain staring a hole through him, then begins to claim his victory was pure luck.

"You're right, it was luck." Kain said as he stabbed his vampire soldier in the face with the Soul Reaver, and laughed evilly as he watched him fall to the floor convulsing. "Bad luck."

"Your secret is safe with me." A voice called out as Kain looked over towards the shadows, the Hitman, from The Hitman games, appeared from the darkness peeling an apple with his pocket knife.

"Very good. Even with my keen senses I was unable to detect you -- And, this better stay a secret. Kain never looses at fooshball!" Kain said sd he pulled the Soul Reaver from his vampire soldier's skull. "Well, you are here. So it is safe to assume you received my package, but why are you here? Shouldn't you be doing your job?"

"Job? What job? You just sent me this letter, and I wanted to know why? What kinda job could I possibly get from your fan letter to Steve Urkel?" The Hitman said looking confused as he hands Kain the letter.

"What? I-oops-I sent this by mistake. Here's the real letter." Kain said as he handed the Hitman a letter and a small picture.

The letter read: [i]Dear Mr. Hitman,

I have a small problem that needs to be ironed out. It seems my ghost gang is being eaten repeatedly by a large yellow ball calling itself Pac-man. I will pay you fifty-thousand dollars in gold bars if you take this problem off of my hands.

Your friend,
Kain[/i]

"I see. So you want me to kill Pac-man? All right, I'll take the job. Just be ready with my payment." The Hitman replied as he left the room leaving Kain with a sly grin upon his face. Suddenly, Kain feels a nudging at his right foot. Looking down Kain see a large yellow rat immediately jumping onto his thrown screeching like a little girl. Kain clams down looking at the large yellow rat return a stare of it's own, it's large black eyes even manage to make Kain "Aww.." at it's cuteness. Stepping down from his thrown Kain slowly picks the rat up suprisingl smiling at it.

"Such a cute little thing aren't you?" Kain said as he rubbed it's head, but suddenly it screamed back at him.

"PIKACHU!!!" It's little voice bellowed as a bolt of electricity shot forth shocking Kain, and knocking him off his feet. The large yellow rat, obviously know as a Pikachu, just smiled at Kain and repeated itself. "Pika-Pikachu."

"You son of a..." Kain muttered as he got back to his feet slowly, but still shaking from the electricity pulsing through his system. Kain quickly grabs the Pikachu suffering through it's shocking touch to shove it's head into his mouth and bite down. It's annoying calls of "Pikachu" were silenced, and it's voltage died down. Kain tossed the headless Pikachu away wiping his mouth clean with his right hand. "Stupid little rat."

[Shy]

[color=darkblue]During Ulala's extensive interview of Mario I snuck out onto the castle courtyard for a short break. Koopa Troopas were carrying around decorations for the 16-Bit Festival, while a pair of Lakitus adjusted a large banner over the drawbridge. It was a nice day in the Mushroom Kingdom, but I couldn't help but think of how unfortunate it was that not everyone in the gaming world could enjoy it.

I heard a faint buzzing noise from aboce, and quickly grew nervous. What if we were under attack from an airship? Before I could alert those dragons at the Bust-A-Move cannon a small round object fell from the sky and crashed onto my head (Not a surprise, since my head is 80% of my body.)

"Ouch!" I screamed, "What was that?"

"Sorry," said a small voice coming from a nearbye bush. Upon closer inspection I realized that the round object was really a Koopa shell. I slowly picked it up and tossed it into the bush.

[size=3][center][b]Bonk![/b][/center][/size]

"Ow!" the voice said.

"Oops," I said, "Is that turtle shell yours?" From my vantage point I could spot the familiar colors of a Paratroopa. A moment later it talked out carrying it's shell, flight goggles and a leather pouch.

"Thanks a bunch," the Paratroopa said, "I was delivering mail to the Mushroom Kingdom when something landed on my head, sending me and my shell in completely opposite directions. My name is Parakarry."

There was an awkward pause between us. This is the longest period of time I had ever spent with a minion before. Someone such as myself tends to swallow these sorts of people in large numbers, rather than make an idle chat. For the next 30 minutes or so we had a very nice conversation. It turns out that he delivered mail all over the Mushroom Kingdom, and had a special package for me. Little did I know that his small box would change the entire course of the war...[/color]

[Solo Tremaine]

Fox watched the lift intently. There'd been no sound or movement from it for a few minutes now. What was he doing?

He leaned closer to the lift. A gleam of pulsating red light caught his eye through a slit in the lift wall. It had been cut open. He'd escaped and Fox hadn't seen.

Cursing loudly, he slammed his feet into the wall panel next to him and leapt onto the floor. From the other side, the lift doors were completely shredded.

Not stopping to think how much he was going to have to pay to replace them, he snifed the air, and ran in the direction of the burnt metal smell.

Sprinting down the corridors, he heard some dull scraping noises. His ears twitched as he tried to locate the direction of the sound.

Left.

As he continued across the ship the sounds grew louder, as did the evil grunts of the Next-gen. he was tryin to hack through the security door to the bridge.

His sword slammed into the thick metal, leaving huge gouges in it. The sword sliced through the air with sickening ease and crashed into the control panel, which fizzed, sparked and exploded.

The doors stayed shut.

Fox drew his blaster and pointed it straight at the Next-Gan's head.

"Freeze!" he yelled.

The Next-Gen jumped and gave Fox a steely glare.

"Pitiful fool." it sneered, the massive sowrd twitching slightly.

Fox pulled the trigger and a red laser blast shot into the end of the blade, knocking it onto the floor.

Sephiroth snapped up the opportunity. He lunged at Fox, casting the blaster from his hand and holding him to the floor in a vice-like grip. Fox struggled to kick him off, but the Next-Gen was far too tall.

The ship shook again- they'd entered the Mushroom Kingdom.

As the Next-Gen's hands tightened around his neck, Fox heard something in the background- a light clicking noise.

Suddenly, another blaster shot screamed through the air, singing Sephiroth's hair. He dropped Fox and leapt forwards, twisting in the air to view his assailant.

Falco grinned. "Didn't think I'd let you have all the fun, did you?"

Two against one now. And soon to be more against one- The Princess' Castle was only over the top of the next mountain range.

Fox picked up his blaster and pointed it at Sephiroth. There was nowhere for him to run now.

[Xra]

[COLOR=sandybrown]"Uh Oh, I forgot the landing gear!"[/COLOR] Tails said with a horrified look on his face.

Right then, Sonic heard something comming from a distance.[COLOR=blue]"Tails, we may not have to. I suggest you turn this thing around and try to hover a bit."[/COLOR]

[COLOR=orangered]"Something tells me you're getting ready for something big."[/COLOR] Knuckles looked at Sonic a little serious.

[COLOR=blue]"Trust me Knuckles this will be big. Back when I was trapped, I overheard something that had to do with the 16-bit festival. This may mean the end, or a turning point in the war. Whatever it is, we must be ready to take action."[/COLOR] Then Sonic jumped out the plane. [COLOR=blue]"Go get the chaos emeralds, I have to have a talk with an old friend."[/COLOR]

[Domon]

[COLOR=darkred][i]Sephiroth cursed under his breath, with his sword away from him he was defenseless and open to another shot from one of those damn lasers. He had one magic spell that could stop these fools in their tracks, the Gravity spell. He stood utterly still while the fox faced creature picked up his sword and looked at it. As Fox was doing this Sephiroth could feel the blood screaming through his veins, no one touched his sword. No one except him.[/i]

"Heh, so this guy is the intruder? He looks too much of a pretty boy to be a threat." [i]Chortled Falco. Obviously he and his crewmates had no idea who Sephiroth was and they were going to find out the hard way. The black-clad man focused the last bit of his magic power into this one spell.[/i]

"Gravity!" [i]The man muttered/shouted.[/i]

"What did he say?" [i]Falco said quizzically.[/i]

[i]But before Fox could answer the two were pulled down onto the floor of the ship while Sephiroth stood looking over them, he picked up his Mursame and a blaster just to be safe and just to taunt the Fox faced alien who appeared to be the captain he took the point of the sword and drove it downward into the bird faced creature's abdomen. Falco's eyes widened in pain as the sword passed through his body easily and then pulled out leaving him to lay in a pool of his own blood. [/i]

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" [i]Fox howled out in anger as the man withdrew his sword and wiped the blood off grinning and then bolted down the corridor towards the bridge.[/i][/COLOR]

[Solo Tremaine]

Fox ripped his red scarf from his neck and crammed it into Falco's wound.

"Hold on, Falco. I'll get you to the medical bay." he said, his voice tinted with panic.

Falco nodded weakly and groaned as Fox hauled him onto his shoulder. For evolving from a race of creatures meant to fly, Falco was surprisingly heavy.

Carefully, but as quickly as possible, Fox carried Falco to the sick bay where he laid him on a gurney and pushed him over to ROB, who was waiting patiently.

"ROB, he's been stabbed." Fox said urgently.

"Affermative." ROB's metallic, monotone voice boomed. Gadgets started appearing from the robot's midriff and immediately began working on Falco. He should be safe now.

At least, Fox dearly hoped so. Clenching his fist, anraged by the cruelty of the Next-Gen, he ran back to the upper deck.
* * *
The Great Fox was coming closer to a suitable landing site now. About 2 kilometeres from the castle was a clearing in the forest with several massive wooden-looking mushrooms in it.

Needless to say, the villagers of the Mushroom Kingdom didn't look to happy at the thought of a starship landing on their houses, and quickly ran outside to shoo the Great Fox away.

Quickly relocating to an area of grass some way behind the castle, the Great Fox landed extremely noisily, blowing away several trees with its engines and crushing more with its hull.

Inside, the alarms stopped as the engines ran down.

Sephiroth looked around him. The walls didn't seem that thick. Drawing back his sword, he slammed it through the metal beside him. It took some reaching, but eventually he could see a crack of daylight. Ripping the metal further apart with his bear hands, he looked outside. It was a completely different planet.

The trees below looked safe enough to jump on. But even if they weren't, he'd survive. he could survive anything. Moreso than those pathetic 16-bit creations. As he left to jump out, he heard something behind him.

A flash of red fizzed into the wall beside him- he darted round to see Fox holding the smoking blaster, growling with rage.

"I should kill you where you stand!" he roared.

"But you can't. You can't kill me." Sephiroth mocked.

"There is always a way." Fox hissed, pulling the trigger.

Quick as a flash, Sephiroth dived through the hole and landed deftly in the trees outside. Looking back up at the spaceship he'd left, he gave a piercing laugh and disappeared.

Fox punched the wall in frustration. He'e let him get away. He should have pulled the trigger sooner. but that was the thing about being good- ruthlessness didn't come naturally. It didn't seem right to just kill him. But he was so close...

Shoving the blaster into its holster, he turned back down the corridor.

Yes, those cakes were looking very nice right now.

[Break]

[color=669900]"What brings you here to the Mushroom Kingdom, Makar?" asked Samus, as Makar was about to sit down on the table.

"Oh. I had an adventure like this before.. but there weren't so many people. I just wanted to get away from the Forest Haven for a while."

"Forest Haven?"

"Mmhmm," Makar nodded, "An island in a place called the Great Sea. It's very scary to venture out even past my little island, let alone to this place."

Samus chuckled to herself so that Makar couldn't hear. Compared to all of her missions, his 'adventure' seemed like nothing. She might as well just ask him what it was anyway.

"What was this adventure you went on?" She asked, "It couldn't have been that bad."

Makar looked down, and made a quiet humming sound. "It was.. in a temple. It was big and scary.. lots of monsters were trying to get me," he hummed again, "But then I could leave, after the Great Sea was safe from evil."

"Heh, looks like I was wrong about you." Samus smiled.

There was a small silence, in which Makar shifted around, uncomfortable.

"Why have you come here, I thought this festival wasn't for Next-Gens?" Makar asked slowly, looking up at Samus' visor.

"You think I'm a Next-Gen?" Samus laughed. The little creature was so cute, with the curious look it always gave.

"You're.. you're not? But you're so tall, and that armour too.."

"No, you've no need to worry," she smiled, "Anyway, I've come here for business."

Makar cocked his head, "...Business?"

"Yeah. To help Mario defend the Mushroom Kingdom against the Next Gens... I expect him to pay!" Samus laughed at her own little joke.

"You're going to kill Mario?!" Makar replied, shocked.

Samus laughed and shook her head. If she would be defending the lives of things like the little Korok before her, then she would definately help Mario to protect his Kingdom.[/color]

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]"Mario and I are old friends," Samus said. Indeed, she could remember back to the 8-bit era when she and Mario had just been starting out. A lot had changed since then, but the Nintendo triad of Mario, Link, and Samus remained strong.

"Oh . . . that's good." Makar sounded relieved.

All of a sudden, a the roar of engines and screams from the crowd could be heard. Samus jumped up from her chair and turned towards the sound of the engine roar just in time to see the Great Fox crash down behind the castle.

"Samus, we have a problem," the text read out on her visor.

Samus switched off the helmet microphone. "I can see that! Get out of there, Adam!" She watched as the ship lifted off and flew up to hover out away from the Great Fox; she was also liking the new autopilot upgrade that let Adam pilot the ship without her.

Makar looked a little shocked. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," Samus replied. "I'm going to find out, though. You might want to stay here." Yelling for the crowd to make way, she dashed through the horde of people. As she ran faster and faster, her Speed Booster finally kicked in and she practically flew over the ground. Then she saw a black caped man slice his way out of the ship. Only one man could do that, she thought.

"Sephiroth." She knew all about this cold blooded next-gen character, and she also knew she couldn't let him get to the crowds of people, or else there would be a mass slaughtering. Going from her Speed Booster dash to a dead stop instantly by crouching, she stood up as she flashed white, and then leapt at the man. Flying straight through the air in her Shinespark move, she flashed over the distance to the Great Fox even faster than her Speed Booster could take her.

Sephiroth leapt to the side, barely avoiding Samus' flying shoulder-block as she slammed into the hull of the Great Fox, leaving a dent in the hull. Sephiroth turned and swung the Masamune at Samus as she turned towards him. The sword scraped along her armor, but didn't penetrate, and the small gash quickly smoothed over as the Fusion Suit used some of it's energy reserves to mend the damage. Sephiroth's eyes widened; excepting Cloud, he had never seen anything that was able to withstand his Masamune.

Samus grimaced; that cut had taken a whole Energy Tank to repair, and it had [i]hurt.[/i] She readied her Missile Launcher and prepared to fire, pointing her Arm Cannon at Sephiroth at point blank range. "Oof!" But then something knocked into her back, causing her to fire the Super Missile at the ground in front of the man's feet. The ground shook with the force of the missile and a cloud of smoke obscured her view for a moment.

"What the?" Fox yelled as he jumped through the gap in the hull and knocked into Samus. She went into a crouch as Fox bounced off her and onto the ground, and aimed back up as the smoke cleared. . . . But Sephiroth was already away and running towards the crowd. Muttering a curse, she charged up her Wave Beam and ran after him; she didn't dare use the more powerful, enemy-piercing Plasma Beam in such a crowd, for even if she hit Sephiroth the beam would continue on to hit innocent bystanders.[/color]

[Domon]

[COLOR=darkred][i]Sephiroth ran through the crowd making sure to pass through the heavily clustered areas of people, most of them were screaming for no reason and some were screaming as they saw who was running past them. His trenchcoat fluttering behind him he ran as fast as he could go.[/i]

"Stupid ignorant people, getting in my way. Hmph." [i]The man thought coldy as he ran smack into someone and kept running, he wanted to face this person with the suit but not here, he wouldn't be able to move as freely. Of course there still was the matter of the fact that the laser wielding fox was also after him.[/i]

"Heh, I seem to attract a lot of attention." [i]The man sniggered as he continued through the crowd. Suddenly he came to an abrubt stop and looked up, there was a huge stone castle in front of him. And then there was a clearing, he chose the clearing and ran for it.

As soon as he came upon the clearing he saw the oddly colored person running towards him and the fox faced alien nearing him. He quickly drew his Mursame and took an offensive position. Things would definetly get fun.[/i][/COLOR]

[Semjaza]

Bang and Mary's flight had, for the most part, been very uneventful. The only point of interest was an argument between two of the bizarre looking mushroom people over a bag of airline peanuts. He had already lost sight of the karate guy... mostly because of his day dreams involving the time he'd rather be spending at the beach he had been at just yesterday. The Mushroom Kingdom was a very long way from home.

The plane was almost at its destination according to the pilot's recent annoucement. Bang sighed and looked out the plane's side window. The area itself looked rather peaceful. Mostly rolling hills and plains dotted by small houses. He could make out a large castle in the distance, with a rather bright red roof. He assumed it was their final destination, since afterall, they had been invited to this festival by one of the Princess's personal servants.

A short time later, the plane finally pulled into the airport. People emptied out of it rather quickly, and Mary grabbed Bang's hand and pulled him in the general direction of the baggage claim. Mary was far more excited than Bang was to be here, as this was not her first visit. She was childhood friends with Princess Toadstool (who she referred to as Peach), although Bang wasn't so sure that the Princess even really remembered who Mary was. It had been a really long time.

They hurried past the various gift shops, one of which caught Bang's eye. It looked an awful lot like the stores back home where he got his various supplies on his last mission. He didn't get much more than a glance at it though, as Mary kept pulling him.

They finally arrived at the baggage claim, and Bang grabbed the one suitcase he bothered to bring with. Mary, for whatever reason, brought several bags despite them only staying a few days. Bang didn't bother to argue it though since this was his vacation time. He didn't want to deal with such trivial things.

They made their way to the exit, dodging all the mushroom-hatted people who were running around. Bang walked through the automatic sliding doors, and was blinded by the sudden brigtness. It had been nearly 20 hours since either of them had been in the sunlight. As his eyes adjusted Bang could hear the screaming and running of crowds of people in every direction. He cursed under his breath. His vacation was already ruined, and they had only been here for 15 minutes.

He felt someone touch his shoulder. It was Mary. "Bang, a representive from the castle is here to bring us to our room... We should hurry up before we get lost in the confusion."

Bang just stood there, staring into the crowds of people scurrying about the area. His thoughts were conflicted; he wanted to know what was going on, but at the same time he didn't want to get involved. This was his vacation, and he would be damned if this one was messed up just like the last.

The representative shook Bang's hand and introduced himself as Captain Falcon. Bang looked him up and down a few times... [i]He sure is dressed weird... We're not in a race. And hat the hell is up with those gold nipple guards.[/i] He kept these thoughts to himself and loaded up the back of the vehicle. Captain Falcon hurried them in, obviously concerned about the events happening all around them.

"Make sure you buckle your seatbelts, it's quite a ride." Captain Falcon said as he laughed to himself. Just as Bang clicked his into place, the vehicle shifted into gear and they took off at a high rate of speed. Mary was obviously enjoying herself, listening intently as Captain Falcon explained that his racer was even faster and told short stories about his adventures in Mute City. Bang was not amused... his thoughts were still on what was going on outside.

As the sped off, he watched the crowds outside. He saw a fox and someone in a metallic suit arguing as a cloud of dust and smoke settled around them. The person in the suit looked an awful lot like the Samus character he had read about back home, but there was something different about her. He didn't recognize the fox.

They kept on, nearing the area where the crowds seemed to be running from. He could see a lone figure walking towards the castle... With Samus and the fox close behind. They had apparently resolved their argument and were bent on stopping the man who had since unsheathed his blade.

"Who is that guy?" Bang asked.

"Sephiroth." replied Captain Falcon rather calmly, given the situation. "The matter will probably be resolved shortly. Let's just worry about getting you to the castle's quarters right now."

Bang leaned back into his seat as they neared the fight. Sephiroth looked toward their vehicle and locked eyes with Bang for a brief time. It sent a slight shiver down his spine, and he turned away... Captain Falcon kept on driving, leaving the fight between Sephiroth, Samus and the fox in the distance behind them.

[Guest Zeh]

[color=9999cc]OOC: Domon, Sephiroth's sword is called the 'Masamune' ;)[/color]

I marched into Mushroom Kingdom. Usually being quite calm, the people seemed to be extra excited about something. At first i thought it might of been because the 16-bit Festival was about... Then i looked again. Fear. I could see fear in their eyes.

What would cause a bunch of peace-loving mushroom-people to be afraid? Luigi hopped off my back, and thanked me for bringing him this far, i guess he had his own business to attend to. I personally wanted to know what the disturbance was about. The most obvious place to go would be Mushroom Kingdom. The most important thing now though, was to get something to eat. I s'pose nothing too wrong could happen with all our favorite gaming hero's about.

Fruit. I wanted some fruit. Since my latest adventure with Mario, i've had a strange thing for any type of fruit. They didn't care much for payment here, and i was offered a variety of it, for nothing. I looked around for a table, it didn't seem any were totally free. There was one table however, with a strange shaped greeny thing sitting on it. It looked like a... plant?

[Domon]

[COLOR=darkred]OOC: oops. Sorry about that, got it confused with the one Cloud uses. ^_^;;
-------------------------------------------------------------------
[i]Sephiroth stood in the clearing, he'd eyed the car that had zipped by at a rather fast rate but had turned his attention back to the fox faced creature and the human (from what he was guessing by looking at it.) as they circled around him. The fox faced alien's eyes flickered with malice and hatred. It would make things all the more fun killing him as he rushed valintly into death's open arms to avenge his fallen comrade. Although, this oddly armored person posed more of a challenge, it was either very stupid or it must have a lot of guts. Well, it did regenerate after getting a good hit from Sephiroth's Masamune which kind of worried him. He snickered meanacingly.[/i]

"You fools think you can defeat me!? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! You'll pay with your very lives for your stupidity!" [i]Sephiroth yelled as he took on an offensive positon and swung his sword with one hand at fox face who narrowly missed the deadly blade and all Sephiroth hit was air.

While this was happening Samus brought her arm cannon up aimed and fired off a shot square in Sephiroth's back, but the shot only made him stumble and then he turned his attention to her directly.[/i]

"What the hell!? I just hit the guy square in the back! He at least should be down on the ground if not dead!"

[i]Sephiroth's questions about this thing were answered, it was a woman. He was taken aback just a little but he didn't show any emotion except an evil smirk on his face, she would die first. Sephiroth would make sure to kill her like that brat Aeris, with a stab right through her heart, that is, if he could pierce that armor with his Masamune. In answer to his doubts his sword glinted and therefore the sliver-haired man dashed forward and brought his sword up in a diagonal slash starting at Samus' hip and going along to her armpit. If it didn't pierce the armor and kill her then it did some serious damage.

Samus cursed under her breath as she wasn't fast enough to dodge this guy's attack, her punishment was the deep gash. Thankfully her armor had been thick enough but still it hurt like heck; it hurt enough for her to fall to one knee and support herself with her arm cannon. All she was able to do while the suit regenerated was gasp for breath from the pain and dodge the best she could, but she was a little late because as she looked up she saw the Masamune coming right for her again, except it was for her heart this time.[/i][/COLOR]

[Shy]

[color=darkblue][list]
[*]A massive war between current and classic gaming characters has begun.
[*]The 16-Bit Festival is being held at Princess Peach's castle in the mushroom kingdom, drawing a large number of classic characters.
[*]Johnny Cage transforms into 3D polygons and joins the Next-Gens.
[*]The crew of the Great Fox received an unexpected visitor when Sephiroth began a direct assault on the ship. During the course of the battle The Great Fox crashed near Peach's Castle.
[*]Samus entered the battle against Sephiroth.
[*]The Hitman has been hired by Kain to kill Pac-Man.
[*]Professor E.Gad and Mario are inside of the castle.
[*]Makar is near the battle against Sephiroth with Yoshi, but has been advised by Samus to stay clear of it.
[*]Bang and Mary are being driven around town by none other than Captain Falcon.
[*]Sonic has instructed Knuckles to gather the Chaos Emeralds while he meets up with Pac-Man.
[*]Pikachu is in the castle with Princess Peach, who is upset by the lack of attention Mario is giving her.
[*]Pac-Man has received a mysterious package from Parakarry.
[*]S.T.A.R.S. are after Mario.
[/list]
I hope this helps anyone who is a little confused by the plot, including myself.

-Shy :)[/color]

Edit: If there is anything wrong with this recap, please PM me about it rather than including it in the body of your post. Thank you.

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]Samus saw the stab coming at her, and knew that her armor wouldn't be able to protect her this time. She was low on energy, and she doubted she would be able to survive a stab at her heart even at full. Acting by pure reflex, she morphed into a ball and rolled back a ways, the Masamune flashing by overhead.

"What?" Sephiroth said in shock; yet another surprise by this armored foe. And then it became all too clear that he had made a vital mistake as Samus came out of the ball into a crouch, her Arm Cannon pointing straight at his head. He saw the fire light deep in the barrel, then the Super Missile emerging, it's green-tipped warhead flying straight at his forehead. Time seemed to move in slow motion as the missile hit him, the force of the projectile blowing him back through the air. And then it all went black as he hit the ground, flat on his back. . . .

Samus stood up from her crouch, her Arm Cannon smoking. Looking down, she saw a small trickle of blood running down Sephiroth's forehead--and that was it. No other mark was on him, but the force of the explosion seemed to have knocked him out cold.

"Nice shot," the text on her visor said.

Samus grimaced, turning away from her fallen opponent. "Adam, come land over here. I need to recharge my suit." Walking a short distance away, she waited as her gunship landed and then climbed up through the hatch. She would let Mario do what he would with Sephiroth; he didn't look to be going anywhere for a few hours. Plugging her Arm Cannon into a socket in the wall of the ship, she waited for her Energy and Missile Tanks to refill, looking out at the crowd gathering about the fight scene. She would have to discuss payment for her capture of Sephiroth later, once all the exitement died down.[/color]

[size=1][b][color=darkblue]My last post has been edited in accordance with the problems you brought up. -Shy[/b][/color][/size]

[Shy]

[color=darkblue]Before I could receive my package another Goomba ran towards me with a small piece of paper in his mouth.

"Mister Pac!" He shouted,"I have something important to show you!" Parakarry must have wandred off during this time, because when I turned around he had disappeared. I shrugged it off, and continued chatting with this Goomba.

"S.H.E.L.L. has uncovered some startling information. Accoridng to our sources an assassin has entered the Mushroom Kingdom, and you are his target."

The Goomba handed me the slip of paper in his mouth. I wiped it off on the grass for a little while, since it was soggy with the Goomba's spit.

"What exactly do we have here?" I asked.

"We believe that he is a bald, white male disguised as a Koopa Troopa."[/color]
[center][IMG]http://www.otakuboards.com/attachment.php?postid=408232[/IMG][/center]
[size=1][i]Artist's Rendering[/i][/size]

[color=darkblue]He quickly gave me a recamp of the procedure that we should take. The Sephiroth battle was being taken care of as we spoke, while the 16-Bit Festival was still on schedule.

"Don't worry Mister Pac," the Goomba said, "You will be completely safe once you get inside the castle."[/color]

[Solo Tremaine]

Fox seethed as he watched over the unconscious Next-Gen. He was so close to pulling the trigger, to blasting this cold-hearted creature's brain to smithereens.

The blaster shook in his hand slightly. But his shot probably wouldn't do any good. It took Samus one of her Super Missiles just to knock him unconscious. His blaster wouldn't do a thing, save for singe a few hairs. That was hardly a justice for his team-mate's severe injury. At least, he hoped it would stay an injury.

With the Great Fox having crash-landed ROB wouldn't be operating at his full capacity, and that could affect his operating on Falco.

As long as he stayed alive, that was all that mattered. This war had already caused Krystal to disappear, he didn't want to lose another of his friends.

He hoped Samus would hurry. If Sephiroth could withstand a blast that big, the chances are that he'd not be knocked out for that long...

[Break]

[color=669900]Despite her personality, Makar couldn't help but feel intimidated by Samus, especially after seeing the display of her power in the fight against the man with the long, silver hair. He began to wonder who that man was, and why they were fighting, even though this was meant to be a happy festiv--

--Suddenly, something sticky pushed into his back, but he didn't fall forward, but was sharply pulled from his perch at the table and into a dark, wet place.

So scared, he accidently span the leaves on his head, making them hit the side of whatever he was in. This caused the whole place to shake and make a strange gurgling sound. Makar squealed and shut his eyes, he never did like small, dark spaces.

Finally, he felt himself being propelled out of whatever he was in. It felt like being shot out of a Deku Flower, so by instinct he began to hover stationary above the ground. He opened his eyes and looked down to see what he had been in.

It was like.. a horse, but it only stood on two legs, was green and actually looked more like a dinosaur. Aside from the things he'd seen in the Wind Temple with Link, this was the strangest thing he'd ever seen.

He didn't notice that he had been hovering for that long, so the leaves on his head started to get weak and he fell, all the way down to the ground again. But he didn't land on the ground, he found himself sitting on top of the dinosaur-monster. "Yoshi!" it said happily to him..[/color]

[Domon]

[COLOR=darkred][i]Darkness, everything was submerged in darkness. This was all Sephiroth saw when he slept and dreamt darkness. If not that then he dreamed of ruling the world and all obeying him.

Then, there was light, a very small glimmer at first and then as he opened his eyes he realized he was laying on his back still in the clearing. That woman was gone but off to the side Sephiroth could see a large purple gunship sitting there, obviously the woman was in there watching him. But the Fox alien was another question. Sephiroth looked around but couldn't see him. He would sit up but with that ship sitting there he didn't think he should. That's when he felt himself being picked up roughly by the armpits and he was being drug off, he tried to raise his head but his body was numb with pain, he may survive anything but Sephiroth did feel pain. As he was drug along he saw the fox's feet and the point of his Masamune along with him. And then darkness overtook him again.

This time the light came in full blast and Sephiroth awoke to a glimmer of light eminating from a dungeon cell window. Sephiroth attempted to stand up but he got so far as to sit up on his knees before collapsing back down onto his stomach, like he thought before, he may be strong but being hit point blank by a missle is gonna do some damage, mainly to his ability to stand up. Sephiroth managed to crawl over to the wall and sit up against it and fell back into a deep sleep of darkness.

Fox sat outside of the castle twirling his blaster wondering what was going on with Flaco. Hopefully he would make it through the surgery. He then stopped twirling the blaster and gripped the handle in a vice grip, pointed it at a nearby table favor and fired at it knocking it off the table but not before blowing it into a million pieces. He sighed, if only he had pulled the trigger when he had the opprotunity to against Sephiroth. He cursed under his breath, he felt so weak compared against that man. He was pure evil, no. He was evil itself that's all Fox could come to conclude about Sephiroth.[/i][/COLOR]

[Desbreko]

[color=indigo]Samus watched as the Mushroom Kingdom troops dragged Sephiroth off to the castle dungeon. She was sure Mario would be pleased at having captured one of the next-gens. Perhaps he could exhange him for Sonic the Hedgehog, who she knew had also recently been captured. Whatever happened, though, she was expecting compensation for her part in the capture.

With the recharging of her suit finished, she unplugged her Arm Cannon and stepped back over to the ship's hatch. Dropping back down, she witnissed Fox shoot something off of one of the nearby tables. He looked like he was about to burst with anger. "Adam, go ahead and move back over by the Great Fox," she told the computer. "I'm going to get some information."

"Be careful," the text read. "Fox doesn't look like he's in the mood to talk."

"I know," Samus said grimly as the gunship lifted off. Switching on the helmet microphone, she walked over to Fox. "What happened?"

Fox whirled around at the voice behind him, his blaster in hand and pointed out in front of him. His face had a look of pure hatred on it, fire burning in his eyes. Not hatred directed at Samus, she knew, but at Sephiroth, by the way Fox had looked at him as he was being dragged away.

Samus just stood there, looking coolly at Fox. She glanced down at the blaster pointing at her, then looked back up at Fox and repeated her question. "What happened?"

Fox slowly lowered his blaster, gazing up at the green visor of Samus' helmet. He could just barely see her eyes behind the sheen of the visor. They didn't look cold or uncaring as he had expected from her calm, serious voice, however. They looked . . . somber. As if Samus knew exactly how he was feeling.

And indeed she did know. The images of her as a little girl watching as the Space Pirates mercilessly slaughtered everyone she knew on the small earth colony of K-2L were forever emblazoned upon her memory. She was the lone survivor of that attack, only narrowly escaping death when the Chozo had come and caused the Pirates to flee. From that point on, however, Samus had never been the same. She was taken in and trained by the Chozo, and was given a mechanical exoskeleton infused with Chozo blood; her original Power Suit. Now her suit and body had been infused with the cells of a Metroid, another Chozo designed weapon meant to be used for peace. The name Metroid meant "invincible warrior," but nevertheless, they had been defeated when they were discovered by the Space Pirates and turned into weapons. Defeated by herself, Samus Aran; she thought it ironic that a species that she had all but wiped out had saved her life twice now. Samus wondered if she, now the product of the Chozos' two greatest weapons combined together, was the true Metroid--the invincible warrior. Yes, with all her experience, she knew all together too well the kind of pain and anger Fox was feeling at the moment.

Fox gritted his teeth, mumbling out a few words. "Sephiroth . . . Falco . . . shot him . . . the chance. . . ."

It wasn't much, but Samus was able to piece together what had happened. Fox turned around again, firing his blaster at something else on the table. Before it could reach it's target, however, the red bolt of energy curved around and was sucked into the growing ball of energy that was building on the tip of Samus' Arm Cannon. The Charge Beam could attract many kinds of energy, to be used in powering the large blast.

"Destroying things doesn't help," Samus said as she let the ball of energy dissipate, and then walked away. It was obvious she wasn't going to get anything else out of Fox while he was in his current mood.[/color]

[James]

Mario made sure the door was locked. He was standing in the middle of the Guest Bedroom of Toadstool Castle, with a ring of soap bubbles surrounding his body. He bounced over to the wardrobe and pulled the doors open. Voila! Ten sets of overalls in perfect condition, and a small pile of red caps sitting on a shelf above. Mario quickly dried himself off with a towel and slipped into the overalls. He carefully fastened the cap and buffed the "M" with his collar.

The room itself was definitely fit for a King. Of course, everything was pink, as per the Princess's tastes. Even the little laptop on the desk in the corner was pink, with the Princess's official logo on the cover. Mario decided to sit down and download a progress report from NES, the 16-Bit Intelligence Satellite.

The Mushroom OS booted up immediately (thanks to its handy cartridge format) and Mario connected to the network. This took some time, as the network was rather slow, thanks to the 16-Bit world's narrowband-only policy. Finally, a small window popped up. Mushroom Instant Messenger. Mario's list of contacts was extensive; he even had Wario listed on his buddy list.

[i][color=green]>BLOOP!<[/color][/i]

[b][color=blue]Toad64xtreme:[/b][/color] [color=green][size=1]Hey Mario! How'z it going?[/color][/size]
[b][color=red]SuperMario128:[/b][/color] [color=red]Pretty good, Toad. Just finished having a bath. What's going on?[/color]
[b][color=blue]Toad64xtreme:[/b][/color] [color=green][size=1]I got some good newz 4 ya!![/color][/size]
[b][color=red]SuperMario128:[/b][/color] [color=red]Oh? What is it?[/color]
[b][color=blue]Toad64xtreme:[/b][/color] [color=green][size=1]I heard that they captured Sephiroth! U know...that next-gen w/ the long white hair!!!![/color][/size]
[b][color=red]SuperMario128:[/b][/color] [color=red]Yeah, I know who he is. They captured him, huh? Where is he?[/color]
[b][color=blue]Toad64xtreme:[/b][/color] [color=green][size=1]I heard that he'z in the dungeon right now. u should go and c if u can get some info from him.[/color][/size]
[b][color=red]SuperMario128:[/b][/color] [color=red]Hmm...maybe I will. Thanks Toad. See ya later![/color]
[b][color=blue]Toad664xtreme:[/b][/color] [color=green][size=1]No worriez Mario! u da man!! C YA!![/color][/size]

And with that, Toad signed off. Mario closed the laptop and switched it off.

[color=red]"Right, I've just got to do it,"[/color] he said to himself quietly.

After questioning Sephiroth, Mario knew he'd have to get a group of 16-Bit characters together to lead some sort of attack on next-gen turf. It wouldn't be easy, but if nothing was done about the situation, the 16-Bit world would be a sitting duck.

[Queen Asuka]

[color=hotpink][size=1]During the disturbance with Sephiroth, Princess Toadstool had leapt from her seat on her throne and made her way to the balcony. There she watched in horror the whole ordeal and finally saw that the unconscious Sephiroth was led away into the dungeons beneath the castle. They weren't used very often and it made her very nervous that he was in there. Pikachu had ran off for a bit, but had returned after talking to many members of the Mushroom Kingdom. Now the little creature was walking with Princess Toadstool down the corridors towards her bedroom.

"They're all in a frenzy, your Highness. They don't think the 16-bit Festival will go on," Pikachu said.

Peach sighed deeply. "We have to have this festival. It's what everyone needs right now. I nice leisurely escape. Besides, we have many guests that have traveled long distances to get here."

Pikachu looked up at her. "I saw a couple being escorted to their rooms earlier. They were scheduled to meet up with your for dinner..."

Peach stopped and her eyes got wide. "That's RIGHT! Dinner tonight...all the guests are going to be served...it's supposed to be a grand event!"

Just then, she saw Mario walking down the corridor ahead of her, turning a corner. By the looks of it, he was heading down to the dungeons.

"Mario!" she called out, completely forgetting about dinner. He turned to look at her.

"Where are you going?" she asked. [/color][/size]

[Kei]

[color=royalblue]"Don't-a you worry about it, Peach. Just-a checking on a few things." Mario replied.

"You're not lying to me, are you? Just so you won't worry me?"

"Of course not! I would-a never do such a thing."

Pikachu noticed that Mario's face tinged red slightly at that last remark.

"Well, all right, then."

Mario tugged his hat quickly to Peach and continued on to the dungeons. Pikachu looked scornfully after him.

[i]"I don't think Mario was being entirely truthful...."[/i] Pikachu thought. He then turned to the Princess and bowed quickly. "I'm going to go give Mario a hand, Your Majesty."

"Oh, all right. Be careful, then. But before you go, answer me this. How are you talking?"

"Oh. Well, with this little trinket here." Pikachu said holding up a small locket.

"Where'd you get it?"

"Uh....Found it. Have to go if I'm gonna catch that plumber! Goodbye, Princess!"

And Pikachu dashed off out the door after Mario.

"Now I have a feeling they're both hiding something..."[/color]

[Solo Tremaine]

Fox shoved the blaster into the holster and started skuling around the castle. It was very nice-looking, with lots of gold stars and mushrooms with eyes watching you wherever you went, but he wasn't in a mood for taking it in.

He wandered into the gardens, where most of the festival was still being prepared. There were huge amounts of mushrooms floating across the ground. Some were green and white, some red and white. Either way, Fox was going to be sure to try and avoid them.

The people of the Mushroom Kingdom were doing their best to set everything up properly: putting up banners, stalls selling flowers, mushrooms and strange flashing stars which bounced erratically around in their containers. He was sure he could hear a racetrack nearby.

Curious, he wandere up to a red mushroom and poked it. It disappeared. Suddenly, a strange noise like a cross between a trumpet and a gurgling plughole filled his ears. He could feel himself rocketing towards the sky.

"OI!"

Fox opened his eyes. He must have been at least twice as tall as he was before. The mushroom shaped vendor below shook his fists angrily.

"Sorry." Fox boomed. "What was that?"

"Who cares what it was? You haven't paid for it."

[i]"Stingy, these folk are."[/i] he thought. Those mini-games over to one side were sure to be pretty expensive, too.

"But I didn't want to take your ridiculous mushroom." Fox ran his fingers through his fur, trying deperately to resist the urge to squish the very small Mushroom person into consomme.

"I can give you another mushroom to make you small again, but it'll cost you." the red-faced vendor shouted up.

"Fine. Fox reached into his pocket and threw some coins at him. They crashed into the ground (again, twice the size).

Siging, the vendor tossed Fox another mushroom. It was a purple one this time. As soon as it touched him, it vanished, and a reverse of the noise he heard earlier filled his ears. He felt everything around him getting bigger...

He opened his eyes again. From way above him, the vendor looked down.

"Hmm. That doesn't usually happen..." he boomed.

Fox cursed under his breath and walked off, being careful not to trip over the blades of grass on his way.