[Mr. Game & Watch]

Through the doors of the Sunshine Stadium came Captain Falcon, bursting into the streets at full sprint. His countenance was stern, not the cheery boastful man that he was to entertain the crowd, but the serious bounty hunter that he once was. Seeing innocents hurt made his blood boil, letting the perpetrator who did it was an unacceptable concept, even if it meant pushing himself beyond the limits of what he could do. Caught unawares like that, he was a fool to be making such a public appearance when he knew there was such a dastardly operation going on in the Life Sphere. Make no mistake though, it was going to end, here and now, that’s what he promised to himself.

People were swarming out of the stadium like ants fleeing from their flooding colony. They were scurrying through the streets in a chaotic fashion, fearing that they might end up Trophy-Locked the same way that MC Ballyhoo had. The mass hysteria made it hard to focus, hard to pick one person out of the crowd of hundreds. It made Captain Falcon wish he had some of his police force buddies around to direct the insanity, but he was getting nothing from his walkie talkie. Was it damaged in the fight? Did someone hack the police comms to incite this type of chaos? All questions he didn’t have time to find the answers to. He was lucky to have Joe tailing behind him, in addition to whoever he managed to relay his message to.

Glowing with falcon energy, the Captain sprinted through the crowd, shouting “FALCON DASH!” making his presence known, and warning those in the path ahead. It worked somewhat, people squirming to get out of his way and allow him to press forward.

Captain Falcon followed the trajectory of Waluigi’s jump from the top of the coliseum, making a brief calculation in his head as he shoved his way through the streets. The hustle and bustle died down the further he got from the stadium, to the point that once he got to Rainbow Square, the people seemed to be calmly going about their business as if nothing had happened. Street vendors performed as usual, people were window shopping at fruit stalls, all was at peace.

Captain Falcon screeched to a halt, panting as he surveyed the area with a turning of his head. Could he have been wrong about Waluigi’s movements?

Right before self-doubt could settle in, the perpetrator leapt out from an alley across the way. Waluigi looked clearly distressed, head whipping every which way as if he was looking for his next means of escape, though notably he was lacking the Dark Cannon he was wielding back at the stadium. His scattered head movements eventually caused his eyes to cross paths with Captain Falcon’s, forcing him to double take. “WHEH! Stop chasing Waluigi!” he hollered before stumbling into a sprint.

Blasting off of his feet, Captain Falcon did the exact opposite of Waluigi’s wishes. Barreling toward the purple plumber, his sense of justice gave him a boost in speed, but it was no match for Waluigi’s fear of continued existence.

Waluigi dipped and dived, slinking away into the front door of a nearby building and slamming it behind him. Captain Falcon was close behind though, rushing toward the door and locking his grip around the handle. He pushed forth, but it wouldn’t budge. In a fit of rage, Captain Falcon continuously punched the door with his burning fists, ending the combo with a elbow smash, but it remained unharmed. “What is this-” he trailed off in confusion. His eyes peered down, inspecting the door more closely. Just underneath the handle was a logo with a grinning big chinned bald man’s head. Sigma Mart branded.

Captain Falcon’s head tilted up, noticing the sign that read ‘The Life Sphere’s Museum of Modern Art.’ More than that though, the building was three stories tall, no ground floor windows, but plenty on the second floor, easy access for athletic people like him. The roof probably had a vent, might give them an element of surprise, but it might slow them down enough to let Waluigi escape the building. Then again, it was a Sigma Mart door, it had specific strengths, thus specific weaknesses. Might have to wait for what his backup had to say.

[Jade Callisto]

Taking to the skies as Viewtiful Joe rode on his Six Machine he would move to catch up with Captain Falcon who was currently on foot and chasing after Waluigi. As he saw the chase happen in front of him he noticed that Waluigi went into a building of some sort before Captain Falcon stopped in front of it. Jumping down from his ride, Viewtiful Joe would move toward Captain Falcon with a concerned look on his face.

"Yo dude what is the matter? Did you find out where that guy went?" Joe would question his former opponent as he looked toward the door in front of him. "Need a lift? We can ride on my Six Machine toward the roof. That might work for our way in right?" Joe said as he offered his help to Captain Falcon with a grin.

This was odd though. Why would that mustached menace show up and try to ruin the fun of their match? Apparently he was aiming for Captain Falcon but it hit Ballyhoo instead. Whatever the case Joe would wait for any other backup they may or may not have had from the police department or otherwise. Here's hoping it went well.

[The Key of Destiny, Roxas]

A hooded figure walked out of a dark portal as he observed the post-crisis chaos of the Stadium, standing on one of the stadium walls. Well, according to the report he got by a strange moogle that received the call the culprit was being pursued in the direction of the Square. If they were really capable of sealing people in those trophy states he could not risk them hanging around. What if Xion and Axel became targets. He had faith in them but he also didn't want to risk losing them again all the same.

With a sprint Roxas would jump and glide to a nearby building before running along the rooftops. He noted a flying machine and two noteworthy figures in the crowd below. With a final sprint Roxas would jump down nearby the two discreetly, listening to them before he would make his approach. "An ally picked up your message and sent me," Roxas spoke as he removed his hood to look up at the building... True, it would be good to catch Waluigi unaware in case the building was a trap but if he had a getaway option... Why would such a strange door guard the entrance though? Was some heavy security for an art museum...

"... If we all went in through the roof it might be too slow. So at least one of us should keep his attention, right? I want to get a better view of the inside from the second floor," Roxas suggested as he went to climb up to the second floor. Vertical scaling like this was no issue for the person that just casually ran up a sky scraper. Besides, his Organization training did not really include vents oddly enough. Roxas flipped his hood back up with his movements to cover his head and face once more.

Roxas  HP: 170 Shield HP: 60 MP: 50

[Mr. Game & Watch]

As Viewtiful Joe arrived, Captain Falcon had a fist firmly planted on his chin, clearly catching him during an intense Falcon Think. His eyes glimmered, but his face scowled as his previous opponent approached him. “Ch’yes! Caught’em while he was on the run” he spoke as he slammed his fist into his open hand. “Right when I was on his tail, he slipped into this building. It’s tricked out with some big time security” he added, pointing to the door. “It’s gotta have a weak point, but by the time we find it, Waluigi might just jump on over to the next building.”

While they were swapping notes, a new hooded figure raced onto the scene. His identity was mostly a mystery to Captain Falcon, so how well he could trust his word on helping was a factor, especially when they didn’t know who Waluigi had as allies. They had a very dangerous convict on the loose though, so it wasn’t like he could afford to lose any form of backup, no matter how sketchy. It was times like these that he wished Officer Blewit was still on the force.

Regardless, the hooded man offered his insight on what was the best action forward, and Captain Falcon had to agree with his assessment. “Yes, we want to keep pressure on him, the longer he has to plot out his next move the harder it will be to catch him. If we have someone bust in through the roof though… they can get the drop on him! The roof should have some vents to access, but, not sure how well I’d fit into a vent” he explained as he looked down at his muscular body. His vision switched over to Joe quickly afterwards. “You though! You’re spry enough for that!”

The Police Chief turned back around to the building itself, catching sight of the hooded man scaling the side of the building immediately after stating his business. “Sounds like enough of a plan for me!” he stated excitedly as he leapt into the air, grabbing onto the awning and rebounding through the air. As he rocketed toward the second-floor window, he reeled his fist back, unleashing a mighty Falcon Punch against the glass. It shattered spectacularly, shards spraying every which way, but it merely bounced off the fabric of his suit.

Captain Falcon combat rolled through the opening he made into the building, tumbling along the fancily carpeted floor. His body smacked against the nearest wall, causing the paintings to wobble slightly on impact. He swiftly sprung to his feet and poked his head out the window. “See you on the inside!” he proclaimed triumphantly down to Viewtiful Joe. Whether he took the suggestion to spring through the vent or just tagged along through the opening he made didn’t make much of a difference to him, so long as they caught the perp, the means of it wouldn’t matter.

An alarm blared as soon as he was in the building, either thanks to the broken window or from something Waluigi had done during the short time he was left unwatched. In Captain Falcon’s experience, it was probably the former. Either way, it wasn’t the only noise in the area. Arising from down the hall was a rummaging sound, like someone was digging through a bin of metal knickknacks, likely from one of the open rooms over there. There was also a racket of some sort coming from the stairwell off to the side. By the sound of it, the source was downstairs on the first floor. A curious ear might think there was something big rolling down there.

Meanwhile, the roof seemed to be much calmer. Of course, the echoing alarm was still present up there, but outside of that, the only noise to be found was the streams of cold air filtering out from the ventilation shafts. The roof had three vents in total, each having the present reverbing sounds of what was being heard from the second floor, though not as clearly. Two of the vents seemed to be operating as normal, but one on the other end of the roof had a bit of smoke coming out from it. They all had the same easily tearable metal grates on them though.

[Jade Callisto]

As the newcomer with the black cloak came in Joe felt a little off about him but the police chief seemed eager to get in there an catch the criminal, something of which was not possible with them just standing around plotting what to do.

At the suggestion of Joe to go through the vents to the roof Joe would jump at the chance to do so as he took his Six Machine up toward the roof as it flew him to the top. Moving toward the vents Joe would easily fit inside due to his small stature and quick agility, so he would hop right in to get the jump on Waluigi. "Alright leave it to me!" he said before heading to the roof and through the vent.

Joe would wonder what was inside this place now as he went down the vent with ease, he could only hope that things would go well enough that he wouldn't need to use too much force. Though things often don't go as planned when it comes to criminals like this, still with how that weapon just locked in Ballyhoo into a trophy state things might get a little rough.

---

Viewtiful Joe: 

HP: 165/165

SHIELD: 55/55

STATUS: None

[Coolshaymin]

The hooded figure watched Captain Falcon propel himself through the window of the building... Well, that was an entrance alright. The hooded figure decided to pick up his pace with the alarm blaring, running up the wall in an Anime fashion before flipping into the window and landing with his hand to the ground and knelt low, looking around before standing up. He used his cloak to shield himself against the shards of glass, thankfully the cloak was made of some durable stuff. Well, they certainly played a massive distraction, that was for sure. There was no way he was not aware of them breaking in now.

The noise of the alarm did not make determining where Waluigi was in the building any easier. There was the sound of rolling downstairs...? Kind of hard to tell. Closer to them was the sound of rummaging. Was he trying to find something in this building?... Why would he do that if he was on the run though. "... Hm..." He did not have much to go on so Roxas decided after a brief moment to see what the digging around was about, looking into the empty rooms.

[Mr. Game & Watch]

Through the grate and into the catacombs of the metal tube, Viewtiful Joe would find the vent rather ordinary, if not a bit cramped. His journey through the air duct would prove to be fruitful in some sense. The further in he got, the heavier that the trail of smoke became. It was a musky smell, black in colour. Clearly, there was a fire somewhere in the facility. The question of where would quickly be answered, as an exit grate would quickly present itself to Joe.

Peeking out of the grate, Joe would find a room that was engulfed in fire, flames striding up the sides of the walls. In the center of it all, was Waluigi, bowing on the ground with his hands held behind his head. Standing before him was Samurai Goroh, his katana’s blade at Waluigi’s throat. They remained there, as if frozen in time. However, who knows how long that’ll be for, this may be Joe’s time to act before someone got killed.

That said, this scene was not the only thing that Joe would be alert to. Further down the vent, there was this massive echoing sound. It sounded like some big ball of mass was rolling along the floor of some tiled room, but perhaps that was something of lesser importance.

In the meantime, Roxas decided that the rummaging sound might be more important, and Captain Falcon couldn’t agree more! With his gripped fist raised in the air like a police officer with his pistol, Captain Falcon followed Roxas side by side, until they reached the location of the curious room. As they got near the opening to the room, the man raised a pausing hand at his partner, then quietly counted with his fingers. By the time he got to two though, he bolted right into the room, his flaming foot rocketing through the entryway.

In the middle of the room was a chest, a rather large shelled creature rummaging through its contents with major distress, flinging objects left and right. Anyone who visited SR388 would recognize this creature as an arachnus, which would become more apparent as it turned itself about, revealing its three-pronged maw. Its purple eyes expanded widely as it discovered that Captain Falcon’s furious foot was sailing directly toward him. In fear, the creature retracted into a ball and rolled out of harm’s way, causing the police chief’s foot to explode against the chest.

The creature smashed against an adjacent wall, exploding back into his regular form. Kneeling in position, the arachnus raised its mighty talons in surrender. “Ey, woah, woah, ey! Calm it down now.”

After performing a flip in the air, Captain Falcon landed back on his feet, one fist aflame while his other hand pointed in an accusatory manner toward the arachnus. “I know this guy! He’s a scavenger! He’s gotta be in league with Waluigi!”

“Who? What? No!” he refuted with clear confusion. “Listen, your crazy!” he added, pointing an accusatory finger back at Captain Falcon. His head suddenly turned to Roxas “you! You seem reasonable! Listen, I’m the security guard here, we got people crawling all over the place, I don’t even know what’s going on. Whole building’s on lockdown!”

Captain Falcon took an aggressive step forward, pointing harder. “Don’t listen to him, this is what he does! He’s a habitual liar!”

“Well, yes, that’s what I used to do. But, like, I seen the light, literally. Samus put a gun to my head, told me to change my ways, so here I am. And, for the record, as far as smugglers went, I was as honest as it got.”

And lo, the standoff remained, Captain Falcon ready to clobber the arachnus as soon as Roxas was.

[Coolshaymin]

Roxas watched as his partner sailed past him and aimed for a strange alien creature that was digging through a chest. It was easy to see the two were on fairly bad terms...  He looked between Captain Falcon and the Arachnus for a moment... This was quite the predicament they found themselves in... One side was pleading innocence and just being a worker here and Falcon was claiming he was a habitual liar that may be in league with who they after... This was a difficult thing to defuse and they were in kind of a hurry... But it's not like they can ignore this guy if the police chief is right.

... He just had to put his training to use... There was one thing he did notice though. If there was an emergency lockdown in progress and he was a guard... "... If you're a security guard then why are you looking through that chest instead of investigating or doing something about the lockdown? Your priorities seem to clash with your job," Roxas pointed out before summoning a black Keyblade known as Oblivion to his right hand and pointing it forward. "So, what are you looking for and why? Depending on your answer, we might have to take you in too," he added, hoping his darker looking weapon would put some pressure on. He stepped forward before looking into the chest as he got close to it to see how valuable or what kind of items were stored inside, not lowering his Keyblade.

Roxas HP: 170 Shield HP: 60 MP: 50

[Jade Callisto]

Joe moved onward as he managed to make his way through the grate and down into what seemed to be a room full of flames. Activating his helmet to cover his face because of this Joe would look a little imposing to some as he entered the room coated in flames. Inside the room Joe could see the perpetrator Waluigi looking about to be killed by a weird looking man with a sword. Using his Mach Speed to move right up to the two he would get right in between the two with his lack of height and held out his hands in a commanding presence.

"Whoa hold on there dude! We need to take Waluigi in alive, he's a wanted man." Joe said trying to calm the situation down. "I'm helping out the police with a dire situation and we are going take that guy into custody for his crimes. Stand aside and let me do my job." Joe ordered Samurai Goroh with his face still covered to protect his lungs from the smoke erupting around the area.

The flames were getting to be a lot though, he had to do something about those before things got worse. He did notice a weird crawling sound coming from the grate he had exited but this seemed to be a more dire situation right now. He couldn't let Waluigi be killed here, they needed him alive for answers later. How did he trophy lock Ballyhoo and what was his motive? Those questions and more are the reason they needed him alive right now.

---

Viewtiful Joe:

HP: 165/165

SHIELD: 55/55

STATUS: None

[Mr. Game & Watch]

The flames continued to rise, its flickering filling up the white noise of the room, though miraculously, there was no smoke accompanying it, perhaps it was being filtered out somehow. Regardless, the heat was all the same, as though they were within an oven, though neither Samurai Goroh or Waluigi seemed to be breaking a sweat.

The motion blur of Viewtiful Joe entering the room called Goroh to action, ready to slash at Waluigi with his katana. His attempts at assassinating the purple plumber were thwarted by Joe’s intervention, causing the muscular man to leap back in a disgruntled manner. The flames reflected off his tiny sunglasses and he merely sneered at Joe’s speech. “Heh! You have any idea what the Black Market’s crime lords are paying to get their hands on the Trophy Locker!?” he boasted, throwing his arms in the air. “Triple whatever Cadet Falcon pays. Now out of the way, pipsqueak, before I gut you like I’m about to do to him!” he blustered with a belly laugh.

With Viewtiful Joe now in front of Waluigi, he suddenly had far more courage than he did before, springing to his feet and aggressively pointing at Goroh. “Oh yeah!? How bout you try it, pork belly!” he taunted, assuring that he was firmly behind the comfort of Viewtiful Joe beforehand.

Goroh wore a pleased grimace. “With pleasure!” With that, he raised his katana skyward and rushed forth. His arm swung forward, a series of blitzing motions as his wrist whipped his sword about. It was like being attack by a blender and Viewtiful Joe was staring into the eye of the storm.

Like the true hero he was, Waluigi quickly dove out of harm’s way, leaving Joe to tend to his fate on his own.

Samurai Blitz: Samurai Goroh strikes his opponent three times in a consecutive motion. Each hit deals 16% damage, though each consecutive hit deals +3% more damage. DC to dodge is 12

Samurai Goroh
DC to hit is 13

---

Captain Falcon remained unconvinced by the tale the creature was spinning, his fists burning ever brighter with every second that passed. He was ready to cobbler the Arachnus without a second thought, but Roxas cut in just in time for his focus to be trained elsewhere. His steely gaze fell back to the chest he nearly falcon kicked into oblivion. Its fine wood finish was charred, its structure sunken in a bit as well, however, the treasures inside remained unharmed.

The chest’s contents were quite varied. There were a few paintings, the subject matter being… indecipherable. It had plenty of shapes and varieties of coloured splatters, but it didn’t look like anything. It did give off warm feeling and might be a good match for any room’s drapes. The rest were odd trinkets and sculptures, much like the paintings, had not distinguishing features that suggested they represented anything. The rest of the room was scattered with similar objects, likely flung from the creature’s claws only moments ago.

The Arachnus begun to rub his hands nervously. “Well… I needed to make sure everything was accounted for. I’m the only guy on duty” he answered eyes shifting about.

Captain Falcon’s frown furrowed further.

In that precise moment, the creature’s hands raised, hiding his face in a defensive manner. “Wait! Wait! Okay, I lied! I lied! I don’t work here, but everything else I said was true! Aw gods, just don’t tell Samus, I’ll do my time, I’ll do double community service, I don’t wanna die. They say she’s human, but there’s nothing but oblivion behind that visor. I can cooperate, remember how I helped fight those ghost bugs back in Zebes Depths?”

Captain Falcon placed his fist into his opposite palm. “You have until my knuckles crack.”

The Arachnus’ eyes darted back to Roxas, almost not wanting to see when his fate was sealed with Captain Falcon. “Like I said, I’m trying to go clean, but you can’t just sever ties with a guy like K. Rool. You gotta earn that, do something that’ll get on his good side. He wanted a painting… something called ‘The Grand Fin’ but all these stupid things look the same! He said I had to steal it today at this specific time, I don’t know why, but clearly it has something to do with whatever’s going on. I’m starting to think he might’ve sent me out here to get killed in the crossfire, there’s no way he cares about any of this junk.” He threw his hand at the chest of post-modern art.

Captain Falcon removed his hand from his fist and placed it onto his chin. He still seemed furious, but pensive. His triangular eyes flicked over to Roxas. “Something doesn’t smell right.”

The Arachnus’ hands flew up in a panicked defense once more. “I swear that’s the truth! I was a scavenger/smuggler, I don’t do hits” he blurted out in a panic.

“Not you” Captain Falcon replied sternly. “K. Rool’s been on our suspect list since day one of our investigation into trophy locking. All sorts of underground goons have been targeted by the Trophy Locker, but no one in K. Rool’s ranks. If this guy’s to be believed, there’s some big plan in motion and K. Rool’s in on it.”

“Waluigi’s our first priority… but if K. Rool’s interested in this ‘Grand Fin’ then it might be important. Not in itself, but to whatever is going on.” His gaze fell onto the Arachnus once more. “Where is it?”

The creature looked confused. “I haven’t found it… how would I know where it is?” he spoke in genuine befuddlement. Captain Falcon glare didn’t cease. The creature’s head lowered. “Right, uh, I checked the first floor, wasn’t there. I dunno if you’d want to go down there anyways, personal opinion. It’s not here, but there’s another art exhibit down the hall, that was supposed to be my next stop, but, uh, you guys happened.”

“What happened downstairs?”

“That purple guy is what happened. Soon as he got in, he messed up the place bad. I don’t know more than that, as soon as he came in, I turned tail out of there.”

Captain Falcon looked pensive again. “Hrm. Might be a better idea to check out the first floor for traces of Waluigi, he could still be down there.” His eyes flickered over to Roxas. “Thoughts?”

[Jade Callisto]

As Joe was holding out his arms to stop Samurai Goroh from killing the suspect, said suspect just taunted the samurai then dived out of the way to let Joe have to deal with him. This would prompt Joe to try to dodge out of the way of the sword slashes of which may or may not be easy to do given Joe's amazing speed. Still the fires were getting hotter and smoke was rising around him so he would have to deal with the samurai pretty quickly if he could catch up to Waluigi. 

Deciding instead to block the attacks with his Bubble Shield, Joe would take all three hits hard before it broke his bubble shield from the amount of force that was applied to it. 

55 - 16 x 3 = 7 - 10 (Activation Cost) = Broken Bubble Shield and 3% damage inflicted to Joe. 

"Ow! Okay you asked for it, now you're going to get it!" 

Joe then dashed towards Samurai Goroh to unleash a Red Hot Kick toward him. Moving through the flames with ease, Joe caught on fire but not because of the flames around, no it was because of his Red Hot Spirit that ignited him as he would be hurling toward Samurai Goroh with a flaming kick. 

STR Roll for Red Hot Kick: 

6LTuanRHp_1d20+2

Missing the first mark by what looked like it would have hit, Joe then would turn around then summon his Six Cannon to fire a large blast of laser energy right at Samurai Goroh from behind.

"C'mon Six Cannon!" Joe said as he summoned it before firing.

First though he would spend one of his VFX bars to increase the damage if it hits. 

~Action Spent on VFX to give an additional 1d8 to the existing damage of the next attack. 

DEX Roll for Go Go Six Cannon: Does 25% damage upon hit and 6% damage to Joe because of Recoil. 

p_1d20+5

(Nat 20! Rolling for Crit Confirm.)

p_1d20+5

(Very unlikely to Crit but double damage if it does work.)

Extra Damage Roll: 

p_1d8

Total damage is 33% to Samurai Goroh!

"Heh how do you like that?" Joe said with a smug grin after he took the recoil damage from the kickback of the Six Cannon. 

"Now cooperate and I won't have to get anymore rough with you." Joe said in a professional tone of voice as if acting out the part of a police officer. 

---

Viewitiful Joe:

HP: 156/165

VFX: 6/6 (Joe got back 1 VFX upon doing at least 25% damage to Samurai Goroh.)

SHIELD: Broken

STATUS: None
1d20+2·1d20+5·1d20+5·1d8

[Coolshaymin]

Roxas's face was obscured so the faces he was making could not be seen but now that he got him talking he could kind of get what Falcon was talking about... Still, he listened patiently after analyzing the stuff... Was just a bunch of junk to him. Still to be put on display means it means something to someone... Probably. He didn't get it though. "... Grand Fin?" Roxas repeated. "Yeah, something is definitely off... If K. Rool is involved then..." Roxas did some mental gymnastics for a moment as he tried his hardest deductive reasoning. Why would Trophy Lockers want some art?

"Hold on..." Roxas said after a moment in reaction to Falcon. "I have two possibilities. If these guys were all in league then someone has to be a diversion, right? Waluigi might be our priority but that is because he's trophy locking people, right? If he's told to do that like this guy then he's not actually the one we need, right? Important, sure but that might be the trap. Waluigi might be making noise so we follow it. On the other hand this guy might be the diversion but what does K. Roll get if Waluigi gets away? An announcer out of the way? But why protect Waluigi when it could lead back to him? It doesn't make sense..." he hypothesized.

"... Fortunately we have a way of doing both. The other guy probably doesn't have the information we do so he should still be pursuing Waluigi. If we trust him to buy us time we can check out the art exhibit. If not to find the art we can make sure K. Rool doesn't have an agent there already too," Roxas offered. "That way we can be prepared on both fronts. If there isn't anything suspicious we can hurry downstairs," he adds.

"... What do we do about him, though?" he adds, turning his head and cloaked face to Arachnus.

[Mr. Game & Watch]

Pulling back his katana, Samurai Goroh threw out his free hand, rolling his hand in a ‘c’mon’ motion as he did. Like a fat ballerina, he twirled out of the way as Viewtiful Joe rocketed forward with his Red Hot Kick. The mercenary laughed as he drummed a hand against his belly. “BAH HAH HA! Look at you, little Falcon Jr. Gonna cry?” he boasted some more as he twirled his katana through his fingers and then readied his combat stance.

Just as Joe came to a stand still and in the midst of summoning his Six Cannon, Goroh belted out a boisterous battle cry and charged at the little man. He reeled his blade back, readying for a wayward and possibly lethal strike. Before he could even hope to reach his foe though, Joe activated the Six Cannon, blinding the samurai in a flash of burning light. The beam from the Six Cannon struck Goroh directly in the gut, launching him backwards until his body slammed against the far wall. Upon contact, Goroh body exploded into several different pieces, his head in specific popping off like the cork on a shaken champagne bottle. It landed directly in front of Joe, the circuitry and wires coming out of his neck making it clear that his foe was actually an android.

If Joe were to investigate the body, he’d come to a similar conclusion. Nothing about this Samurai Goroh was real. More importantly, the burning wall that his body smacked against wasn’t real either. His metal wasn’t melting whatsoever, nor was it affected by the false flames. If Joe was even so curious, he could stick his hand into the simulated fire and not feel a thing.

With the short battle over, Joe would quickly notice that Waluigi was nowhere to be seen, but the room’s only door was wide open. Just outside the entrance, there was a sign pointing inward that read “The Amazing Fire Room” and in smaller font below it “By Anonymous.” Modernist art at its finest. From the hall outside, an echo of Waluigi’s signature laugh could be heard. Perhaps Joe should follow it.

---

As much as it was necessary, all this deliberation was making Captain Falcon antsy. His hands were pasted into fists and his leg muscles were twitching. This was the third time that he pursued this case in person, and he loathed the idea that the culprits could get away for the third time. But Roxas had a point. All this running around, it could just be a diversion. It was tough to look at the bigger picture, especially when Waluigi was so close to their grasp. He placed a fist to his chin. “If K. Rool’s the puppeteer, then yeah, Waluigi is disposable, but his modified Dark Cannon isn’t. It doesn’t matter what connections K. Rool has, he doesn’t have the ability to mass produce those things, not without some pretty high clearance into Samus’ Lab.”

Captain Falcon raised a fist, letting his fury release through a small fire from his hand. He sighed. “But you’re right. I’ve duked it out with Joe, he can handle Waluigi if he finds him. Whatever the case is with this painting, if K. Rool’s pining for it, it’s more than just a pretty picture. Its either worth a lot or it’s a piece of a puzzle we don’t know about” Captain Falcon thought allowed.

When asked about the Arachnus, he turned his head in unison with Roxas. The creature covered its mouth with one hand and attempted to throw his voice across the room “I say we let’em go.”

Captain Falcon’s face scrunched curiously. “That’s not a bad idea” he stated simply, pulling out what looked like a baton. He sauntered over to the creature and presented the item. “If you’re going to be heading back downstairs, you’ll need a weapon to defend yourself.”

The Arachnus took the object, gazing at it and scratching his head. “You want me to defend myself with a stick?”

“No, no, no. Hold it out like this” he instructed as he held his arms out in front of him.

With a confused countenance, the Arachnus mimicked the motions of the police chief, holding the rod out like the handlebars of a motorcycle. Just as he did, a set of plasma rings shot out from either end of the stick, ensnaring both his hands, then another set flew out to shackle his legs. As soon as he tried to take a step forward, he fell flat on his face. “You could’ve just handcuffed me, why’d you have to make me look like an idiot?” he groaned, face still flat against the ground.

“Because it makes you think about what you did” he lectured like a school teacher. Captain Falcon promptly turned away to the exit, looking back at Roxas. “We’ll come back for him, once all the other loose ends are taken care of.”

Speedily, the F-Zero racer sprinted down the hall, skidding to a stop as he reached the sign that pointed to the art exhibit that the Arachnus pointed out. As he reached for the door handle though, he heard the echoes of Waluigi’s laugh arising from the other end of the hall. Teeth clenched and eyes slanted, he was feeling that fury enter his body once more. He couldn’t let Waluigi get away, but if his job was to distract Captain Falcon from finding the Grand Fin, this is exactly how Waluigi would lure him. He Falcon Backhanded the door open, revealing the art exhibit, a room surprisingly bigger than the outside lead him to believe.

It was like walking into an auditorium or arena, the main section of the room was below them with the help of a ramp. It was as big as a stadium, with rows upon rows of walls structured in a maze-like fashion. Each wall was covered with artwork of various sizes and styles. Some were portraits, others were landscapes, but most were non-descript splashes of colour with no discernible meaning. There could be hundreds of paintings, the Grand Fin possibly being one of them.

“What was that?” a stray voice whispered from somewhere distant.

“I dunno, could be that bug guy, go tell’em to look downstairs again” another distinctly different voice uttered back.

“Why? There ain’t no paintings down there, the floor plan says so.”

“Cuz he’s funny when he squirms!”

By the sound of it, there were at least two other people in the exhibit, but even with Captain Falcon’s entrance, they didn’t seem bothered. Where there were exactly was anyone’s guess though. The way that the sound echoed made it seem like they could be practically anywhere down there, but perhaps a keen ear would be able to decipher where they were. However, having a bird’s eye view would make it very easy to scope them out, assuming either Captain Falcon or Roxas could fly or had a jetpack on them.

Stealth Check!:
The two hidden thieves might not be bothered right now, but if they hear or sense someone closing in on their position, they might not be as disregarding. You must succeed a DEX roll of 11 to remain off their radar.

They are a bit chatty though, so you might be able to creep up on them before they notice you. In addition to that, you want to keep an eye out for the Grand Fin. Make a Perception roll (WIS) to determine your positioning in the next Mod Post, in addition to deciphering what paintings are around you.

Conversely, if your character can fly or has any items that allow them to fly, they can circumvent the sneaking part and get the drop on the bad guys before they even know what hits them. The first attack you make will auto-crit.

[Coolshaymin]

"... Yeah, you have a point, forgot about that..." Roxas replied to Captain Falcon's assessment. "Well, if he can keep up with you he should be able to catch him. We can't miss our chance to stop what K. Rool is planning," Roxas nods. He watched the exchange between the ex-pirate and Falcon for a moment, stifling a laugh at the guy being duped. "Right, let's go," Roxas sprinted after Falcon keeping up as much as he could which was pretty good all things considered.



The somebody stood to the side of the exhibit door before Falcon just... backhanded it open... The chief sure loves his property damage. Regardless the presence of K. Rool's thugs signified they were onto something after all. Well, they could start looking while staying discreet. Or they could ask the problem or take them out so they can look freely... Or Falcon can just look while he takes the guys and distracts them but that'd shock him.

Roxas jumped into the air and quickly glided with swift speed towards them as his keyblades flew around him aiming to smack them both and send them reeling. He then caugth the keys and twirled them before declaring "Thunder," sending down bolts upon them from the ceiling to try and captilize on the surprise.

(Whirlwind Slash on both thugs, 52 damage)

zpzA082cp_1d20+2(Final Thundaga, 20% damage, 50% chance of Paralysis, targets Wis)

"Sorry, guys, didn't you hear? Museum's closed. I can show you the door if I need to," Roxas threatened as he landed and turned around, brandishing his Oblivion and Oathkeeper in a readied stance.

(Roxas wastes an action, restoring 10 MP)

Roxas HP: 170 Shield HP: 60 MP: 40

1d20+2

[Jade Callisto]

As Joe revved up for another attack he realized all too late that the Samurai Goroh he had just fought was a fake and along with it he also took notice of the fire in this room. All of this was fake, possibly some sort of exhibit for the museum he may or may not have stumbled into.

Of course he didn't know it was a museum at first but that wasn't going to stop him from tracking down Waluigi, who of that matter he could hear laughing coming from down the hall. "Get back here!" Joe demanded as he chased after the sound of the voice from the mustachioed man. "Okay where did he go now?" Joe said pondering out loud as he looked more for their suspect.  

---

Viewitiful Joe:

HP: 156/165

VFX: 6/6

SHIELD: Broken

STATUS: None