The Hawkmoths VS LoRI - Act 2

Arena Crowd [Pocket Dimension] – 2:15 PM

“For those of you just tuning in on the West Coast or internationally, Emily’s mastery of Lightning clenched the first round in her favor. There will be a brief recess before the next location spin.” Announcements rang out across the arena as the majority of attendees rushed to either the bathroom or the concessions area. Someone simply going by ‘Ryder’ on a betting app had changed the percentages chances so much that some attendees couldn’t resist the temptation of placing a potential high payout bet at the small stall towards the fringes of concessions. All this movement gave the Hawkmoths a chance to reunite within one of the ‘Friends and Family’ areas.

“I hope that everyone is unharmed.” Zach did his best to wipe off the spray on pink paint that had ended up on his armor. “Someone spray painted their hair pink during the fight. Who would bring spray paint to a…” Lilith shook the marble inside of a grey spray paint can. Her face was done up in Zey-inspired war paint. “It must be a custom that is lost on me.”

“Whatever a hooligan is sounds a lot like Orc ritualist. Let’s all get painted up.” She offered to spay Bean’s wings until the moth blew the can away using a gust of wind. “Suit yourself.” She sprayed paint from a smaller can onto her tongue. “That leaves more for me.”

“I can’t believe that Nia let her ego prevent us from checking in on Zeydaan between rounds.” Ashley did her best to channel a remote viewing portal of Zey’s current state. “Who agreed to the one visitor per round break rule?”

“You can blame Dwayne for that.” DM leaned down from the seats above to make his presence clear. “It’s the same reason our seats are positioned right near yours.” The Hawkmoths turned around to find DM and a few figures they hadn’t met before. One resembled a humanoid energy construct and the other was a mini-gun wielding red Zaku-looking mechon. “You haven’t been properly introduced. These are Mobile Chaos, MC for short, and my wife, Flames.”

Zach slowly realized that Flames’ mini-gun was inches from his head. “It’s nice to see that your wife has such a presence. Is there a reason she hasn’t come out of the powered armor?”

“His wife possesses the machine.” Alvis concluded scans of the machinery. “It’s apparently called a Koubu. There was a massive sacrifice of drag…” Alvis caught himself before giving Ashley reason to dislike another female LoRI member. “dragged souls from the unwilling. That’s typically used in elder god summoning rituals.”

“Ahem.” Flames placed her hand on her waist. “Mark here subverted that sacrifice to keep those cultists from weaponizing the Tree of Life against Paris. That energy had to go somewhere and why not go to bringing back his loving wife?” She showed off a grenade pin on her ring finger. “I had White Bird resize the ring for my current measurements.”

Ashley lightly slapped Zach. “Why haven’t you taken me to Paris yet?” Even across dimensions, the allure of Paris is eternal. “The killer koubu has a bigger ring than mine!”

“I know. You’d think we’d have done it by now.” Zach sounded embarrassed. “We’ll do it next trip.”

“Then Tibet!” Ashley added to Zach’s guilt list.

“When’s Jell-O Doc Manhattan going to say anything?” Lilith poked MC to garner a reaction. “We found Bean’s conversation partner!” Both MC and Bean were offended at the insinuation.

“I was meditating.” MC feigned blinking his eyes to ‘wake up’. The solid masses in the positions of eyes gave the illusion that he was looking even when dissociating. “DM, our hypothesis was correct. I didn’t expect their Ace equivalent to be a sentient microwave.”

“Woah, we never mentioned Ford to you!” Zach felt unnerved that MC had unearthed something rather ‘insane’ in their group’s closet. “Whatever you’re doing, stop it.” He attempted to discreetly alter the energy frequency for his armor.

DM glanced down at a watch on his left forearm. “Look at the time! I’m needed on stage shortly. I’m sure that all of you will get along well.” Event staff showing up gave the perfect cover for DM’s exit.

“So…” Ashley sensed Zach’s increasing discomfort. “What else is in the depths of my husband’s mind?”

Waiting Area – Zeydaan’s Section – 2:23 PM

A male exec from the network made his way into the waiting area thanks to all of the confusion around how the automatic healing worked. Paramedics and doctors were flabbergasted that Zey was walking around after how intense the injuries looked in the battle. Vanessa did her best to give a crash course to Dr. Voss within the ‘visitor area’ just outside of Zey’s recuperation station. The exec barged his way into the visitor area. “Hey!” He interrupted the discussion. “Why did we call the round short if they can heal this quick?”

Dr. Sarah Voss attempted to process the new information flowing into her brain. “Mr. Moore, the instant healing came from the end of the round. We can’t simply give a competitor a major advantage to prolong the fights.”

“Bullshit. Let’s ask the wizard wolf directly.” Mr. Moore opened the door and entered Zeydaan’s domain. He walked up to Zey from behind and tapped on the wolf on the tail. “I’ll be frank: we need this to go three rounds.” Zey stopped their stretching to face the uninvited visitor. “What is it going to take for that to happen?”

“I overheard your conversation, ‘Frank’.” It was pretty hard not to hear the exec’s loud voice. “That stage was pretty compact and didn’t allow for anything beyond a duel. Emily hit hard and fast…” The wolf shifted into a female dragon shape. “I didn’t even have a chance to use Isabella that round.” Perhaps that was for the best given what the LoRI had mentioned Emily’s state of mind as she embodies Lightning. “Starting us on more even footing would give me a better chance to adapt to her style.”

“Yeah, I getcha.” ‘Frank’ looked around to make sure that the LoRI assets in the medical staff couldn’t see him go for an object in a bag. “Let’s just say that a sponsor would like to see you have a small boost.” Isabella could smell Grey’s preferred cigarette smoke from the bag. “I figured this was one of the props for Sonic.” He pulled out a Chaos Emerald for the dragon to see. “It’s yours if it will get the desired results. Maybe this dragon form coulda won you that round.”

“Do you think so little of me that I need to cheat?” Isabella’s tone became indignant. “I’m going to tell you what you’ll do.” She stuffed the culet of the Chaos Emerald into Mr. Moore’s mouth to silence him. “Roll two stages because I would prefer to avoid being boxed in again. Also, if Emily agrees to it, we’ll try to sync starting forms ahead of actual combat. The more time I have to strategize against Emily, the more likely I am to figure out how to handle her.” The shift from rage to planning involuntarily reverted Iseabella to Zeydaan. “Your attempted bribe did give me an idea. I’ll do it on my own terms rather than yours.”

Stage Select Venue – 2:32 PM

“Welcome back to those of you who had to endure twenty minutes of ads.” Claire removed the ‘Toy Town’ segment from the spinner and replaced it with one simply marked ‘SPIN AGAIN’. “We would have done this crossing out process during the break if not for the people betting on the replacement for used region pieces.” Several loud groans emitted from the audience. She held the microphone up to DM. “Mark, will you be spinning this time?”

A production assistant handed a note to DM for him to read. “I was just informed that the Network wants us to do two spins. Apparently, the lines between some of these biomes are loose enough that there can be stage blurring.” He feigned surprised. “I wonder who might handle the second spin.” The arena lights shone on someone standing in the rafters. Most in attendance were confused by the significance of the reveal. “Commentary, that’s your cue.”

Ripley dropped her chili dog to turn the commentary mics back on. “Could it be him?” Mission Impossible music played through the arena. “Yes! It’s Ethan Hunt himself: Tom Cruise.” Drones got into position to give the audience a clearer view of the action legend. “What sort of death-defying stunt will he perform this time? Bungee jumping into a volcano? Removingthe mattress tag in a store? Showing NFL footage without express permission? Tom Cruise descended from the rafters down towards the stage below. The use of lighting made the metallic cabling intentionally visible. “He’s still got it like he did in 1996.”

“That’s probably older than many of the viewers at home, chica.” Sombra spoke with a full mouth. “Now I feel old having said that.”

Claire unfurled the ‘shilling note’ stuffed into her dress while Tom Cruise was lowered. “To see Mr. Cruise in more action like this, go see Mission Impossible: Final Reckoning opening in theaters in 2025. I heard from one of the stunt team members that he secretly played a part in that Paris Olympics opening parkour event.”

“He likely felt guilty after that production fiasco at Disneyland Paris.” DM lied through his teeth. “We’ll let our special guest have the first spin.” Tom Cruise came to rest at a position where he spun while still dangling from the wire. “Any predictions on the result from precogs?”

“Dunno. I thought you were the guy with access to psychics.” Tom Cruise released himself from the harness. The spinner came to its resting point as he looked for the result. “Inkopolis Outskirts are the starting location and…” He spun the spinner again. “we’ll see what the other is shortly.” Tom Cruise and DM stared daggers at one another. “It’s funny that you mention the production of The Tripods because I wasn’t even attached to that until the TMZ rumors started. My agent claimed there was a guy who looked like me who flew over to Paris on my account. Mark, have you ever done stunt double work?” The two males were the same height despite the split in species. “I haven’t been able to track down that impersonator. I was wondering if you had any leads.”

“Boys, the spinner stopped mid-speech.” Claire directed a drone camera past the feud towards the result. “The second location will be Summertown Mall.”

“That’s shore to be a fresh blend.” Marie chimed in on commentary. “Inklings are so fashion-focused that a vintage mall would fit right in.”

“There’s one last thing I need to say.” Tom Cruise took the microphone from Claire. “Whoever was flying that F-35E earlier can be my wingman anytime. Who knows? If the Navy clears it, she might be allowed to perform in the next Top Gun project.” Hidden cameras in the commentary booth activated to show Ripley’s reaction. “Let’s see the legal team try to strike it down now that I’ve said it in public, Ripley.”

“Come on, she already knows Tom Cruise?” Claire facepalmed just outside of the drones’ camera view. “Of course she does. She somehow knows EVERYONE.” She mumbled away from the mic range.

“Tom, next you’re going to tell them who really played the part of the hypersonic jet in that movie.” Ripley blushed uncontrollably. “The feed is running on Nickelodeon. We can’t talk about my control surfaces around kids.”

Meanwhile, in Emily’s Part of the Waiting Area…

“How does she know so many public figures if she rarely left the compound before 2019?” Emily watched the live feed on a monitor within a recuperation stall. Her victory in the first round meant that her amenities were quite stark to prevent any unfair momentum heading into the next round. Lightning was such an instinctual transformation that Emily had barely strained herself beyond energy burnt for theatrics. “Zeydaan doesn’t know what they’re talking about. I don’t have that Butterfly Syndrome thing.” She looked into a mirror; several of her forms were looking back at her. “The audience wants a show and method acting gives the best results.”

“Professor Rees?” Sarah knocked on the stall door. “Zeydaan sends a proposal to make the most of the selected starting venue. Are you interested or should I say that you were busy?”

“Come in, Sarah. What’s the proposal?” Emily turned away from the mirror to not startle her doctor. Sarah knew a lot about Emily’s process, but some things would need to remain downplayed if there was a chance of additional notes ending up on her psyche report. “Did I do any permanent damage to Zey?”

“Nah, they were instantly healed upon removal from the stage. Their witch friend told me that it is a mechanic from Smash Bros. baked into the reality. SES is planning to extensively study the venue following the end of public activities.” Sarah adjusted her glasses. “The Network wants Round 2 to go long or there be a guarantee of a Round 3. Zeydaan turned down a major advantage in the next round because they considered the proposal to be an underestimation of their abilities.” Sarah received a text from Vanessa, the in-between for the specifics. “The proposal is simple: you both assume Inkling forms in the stadium to make the opening location a truly equal turf war.”

“You’re putting me in quite the strange position, Sarah.” Emily raised a finger to her chin. “If we were in true combat, all I’d need to do is become some type of character or Pokemon capable of continuous water generation.” She shifted into an anthro Vaporeon to prove a point. “If I did that, the chatter around the event would be the copypasta about this form alongside accusations that I’m a sore winner for ending the fight too quickly. At the same time, if I throw the round, Zey will take offense that I’m not trying my hardest.” She tapped her finger. “I’ll honor that proposal. Tell the production crew to make sure that the Inkling feed introduces me as an inkling with a ‘cool haircut’ as opposed to an octoling. Squids are still pretty paranoid about the term.”

“May… May I pet you?” Sarah felt compelled to pet the Vaporeon before her. Emily’s nodding gave the vet permission to stroke her. “What’s keeping you from introducing more cuties like this into the world?”

“Sarah, we mainstreamed anthros, aliens, multiple realities, implications of time-travel and cosmic incursions in less than a decade. We need to keep a few things just for us.” Emily let Sarah pet her around the fin collar. “If people are willing to get into fights over Pokemon cards, imagine what would happen if Eevee was real.”

“Am I interrupting something?” Zeydaan walked by the opened door. “I wanted to see if you’d take my offer.”

“Yeah, I’ll honor the proposal.” Emily shifted back into her base form. “I was letting off some of my tension.”

“I figured that you’d lean towards an Espeon or an Umbreon.” Zey changed into a Sylveon anthro. “I’ll see you out on the stage, Emily. Maybe this form will convince the idols to smuggle in a number of Splatsville ink weapons.” They left for the dressing rooms reserved for Off the Hook and Deep Cut.

Live Broadcast – 2:45 PM

Emily and Zeydaan made their way back to the main stage through a trapdoor that opened just beyond the camera range. “Our combatants have returned for Round 2.” Patrick Stewart hyped up the crowd. A rack of ink-based weapons was positioned in clear view on the stage. “There was an agreement made in the back that the initial transformations will happen in this arena. Isn’t that right?” He held the microphone out for Zey to reply.

“Yes, that’s correct.” Zey took a standard Splattershot from the rack. “The r-eel question is what weapon will my opponent pick?” Emily eagerly took a customized E-liter 4K charger that included a scope. “Don’t th-ink that a Squid Beacon will be able to find me, Em.”

“Who said anything about me needing squid beacons?” Emily checked the balance on her charger. “If you were trying to intimidate me, you picked the wrong weapon. The Japanese smurf players would use the base equipment.”

“Save this animosity for the stage, you two.” Patrick Stewart, now wearing a raincoat, took position between Zey and Em. “Remember that the cameras are rolling. We wouldn’t want another ‘nip slip’ to happen.” He pointed towards Justin Timberlake in the stage-side seating. “Justin, please go to your designated FCC booth now.” The skit distracted the camera enough for Emily and Zey to get ready for their public transformations.

“It’s about time that we freshen up the place, Em.” Zey swayed their hips in an exaggerated manner. The dreaded ‘Eff-See-See’ had esoteric rules about clothing. The changes started in Zey’s outfit so that there wouldn’t be a moment that could be confused for intentional nudity. Purple fabric took on a decidedly plainer mix of a white t-shirt with obvious branding and a pair of black biking shorts. Unused mass from the outfit congealed into pink and purple tennis shoes around Zey’s feet. Not wanting to sacrifice hearing clarity in a 1v1 against a charger, Zey opted for their head accessory to be contact lenses. The wolf lost a few centimeters in height to bring them down to the average Inkling height [short of five feet/1.5 meters]. “It’s your turn!” Zey’s voice already was already distorted enough to sport the pitch and accent of a female Inkling. “Woomy!”

“My attire is going to take inspiration from one of my closest friends behind the scenes. Asuna, this one’s for you.” Emily’s callout left all but one of her friends confused. Good, no one was expecting what Emily had in mind. Her striped outfit discolored into much simpler shades of white and blue with only a small trace of blue remaining along the fringes. Material adjustments altered the dress into a modified maid’s outfit prominently marked by ‘02’ on the white leggings. Black heels meant that she’d probably cling to a sniping nest in the field. She positioned her glasses upward to create her head accessory. What looked to be a basic maid’s headband actually also included a projected halo effect. She curtseyed to the audience. “I’m ready for cleaning and clearing, audience.”

“You know that the jellyfish handle all the cleaning, right?” Zey watched Emily’s proportions adjust to match theirs. The maid outfit put enough emphasis on Emily’s bust that now the audience cheered for it. “That’s not really keeping in the spirit of Splatoon.”

“You don’t see the idols lugging around ink bottles.” Emily’s skin began to darken from her normal shade to something beyond just a tan. Her green eyes took on a decidedly golden shade. Black and purple ink drenched her hair as she undid the ponytail. “I’ve been Marie, Pearl and Shiver so many times that I can’t fathom requiring ink storage assistance.”

The implication that an ink tank was the inkling equivalent to ‘training wheels’ sent Zey into an inkling tantrum. “The standard tank is part of the rules!” Orange ink oozed from out of their pores and onto the fur. “Idle is right! You don’t have higher than a C rank in Inkopolis or Splatsville!” Zey performed one of the more elusive emotes from the Splatsville season catalogs. Centripetal force from the spin dissolved much of Zey’s remaining fur. “Let’s see Ms. Idle Maid pull off that unlock.” Zey’s inkling hair settled against their back. “Sea my record for yourshells! Search for Inku’s public record!” Zey used the last bit of their transformation magic to draw on Inku’s inkling ‘mask’ over their eyes. Inku was ready to school the octo-faker across from her. “Woomy!”

“Ranks are temporary while Super Sea Snails are a sign of true impact on Inkling culture.” Emily had a crew member show off a locker full of vintage sea snails going back to Splatoon 1. “I was there to help decide that Marie is best squid, determine Anarchy Vs. Order AND I had an inkling with ‘cool hair’ back in the Splatoon 2 era!” Octopus suckers emerged from her hair. “You inklings without cool hair th-ink you’re so special because of the Great Zapfish!” Her voice distorted to have an octoling accent. “It is true that Karin K. [easier than typing ‘Kar-ink’] doesn’t have many public records, I’ll give you that. What she does have is impact and I’m not just talk-ink about my anti-materiel rifle.” Dina, as Asuna, waved from the crowd. Yes, that was all the support Karin needed. “I’ll blow you away in one shot, Inku! Veemo!”

“You have it there, viewers.” Ripley commentated over the muted feed. Inku and Karin had begun to fling enough Inkling slurs at one another that the mics had to be cut off. “Security is escorting Inku and Karin K. into the Inkopolis Outskirts right now. Finally, we will find out the victor between Inkling and… another inkling sporting a cool haircut.” Karin’s ‘just let it grow out’ hair wasn’t exactly a haircut. “Marie, who are you favoring in this matchup?”

“I didn’t have a chance to smell either combatant.” Marie sniffled. “I do retain my dairy on Agent 4, if that’s applicable.”

“Why do you have a diary about some Inkling who helped you once?” Sombra raised an eyebrow.“Not going to lie, kinda creepy.”

“It’s to refine combat strategies.” Marie dropped a few candid Polaroids from the diary. “As a charger main, I feel that Karin’s main move will be creating distance between her and Inku.” She kicked the photos under the desk. “Do we know if special weapons are in play?”

Ripley read from a tablet logged into a shared document where the rules were being written in real-time. “Inku and Karin are allowed to use special weapons ONCE every five minutes. Let’s bring up their potential attacks on the screen.” An overlay showed a Trizooka weapon and a giant octopus. “I wonder if Inku is going to regret picking a starting weapon over something that can counter a kraken.”

“Trizooka offers better suppressing fire than you give it credit for.” Marie, the only actual ink weapon expert on the panel, corrected Ripley. “Ink gets three shots to hit compared to Karin’s single surge. What will be interesting to sea is if the customized charger is able to destroy Inku’s cover.”

“Yes, she did specify an anti-materiel rifle.” Ripley anticipated audience confusion. “For those of you worrying, Karin doesn’t have an anti-matter weapon. Materiel refers to military equipment or supplies. In other words, that thing is firing projectiles hard enough to destroy vehicle engines or reinforced concrete.” Security buzzed her that the combatants were ready. “We join Inku and Karin in Round 2!”

Inkopolis Outskirts – 3:00 PM

Karin leaned out from behind cover to examine the battlefield. She and Inku had been placed in a dilapidated industrial zone dating back to sometime prior to the Great Turf War [over one hundred years ago]. Apart from some discarded candy wrappers and faded ancient idol posters, there were no signs of either Inkling or Octoling trying to claim this turf. Debris from a collapsed ceiling made it quite difficult for her to find Inku. A rusting hulk of a container crane offered the highest vantage point. However, the state of the metal left Karin nervous even to approach the construct. She instead opted to climb up a pile of containers without using ink to accelerate the process.

Inku found herself hiding in an overturned pipe across the zone. She knew that Karin possessed the absolute scouting advantage once the fog of turf war was breached. Debris could only facilitate one guerilla ambush on Karin’s likely location. Someone in production had made adjustments to the drone between rounds since they now possessed a variant of Sombra’s cloaking technology. “There goes the easy spotter method.” Inku pouted. She dropped to the ground in squid form to crawl towards a section of concrete cover. Glints from Karin’s scope and ink reflected off a mirrored metal wall. “Target spotted.” Inku resumed her kid form behind cover. How would she close the distance?

“Inku has spotted Karin’s traces first.” Marie commented on the arena and television feed. “In a dedicated chargers duel, this would likely be the end. Alas, the massive discrepancy in range forces Inku to either wait for the Trizooka or take the gamble of a rush. We don’t even know if the container Karin is standing on is inkphilic.”

Karin caught a glimpse of orange ink using the same surface Inku had. Neglecting any commentary, Karin started the charging process on her weapon. Minute adjustments to the pressure gauges should make the projectile hit the intended range, but calculating exact trajectory using ink was almost pointless. She pulled the trigger. Dark purple ink spun like a drill towards Inku’s cover. Concrete exploded in all directions. “Where’s the ink splat?” The massive cloud of dust lingering in the air made it impossible for Karin to spot Inku’s splat. “Likely negative impact.”

Inku caught her breath behind a compromised pillar. Karin’s shot might as well have been a special weapon on its own. Toxic mist remained around the location of impact. There was only one clear option now and Inku took it.

“What the shell?” Karin observed Inku running serpentine towards the exit from the building. An ‘out of range’ warning flashed on the charger’s scope. “You can’t do that!” Karin attempted to take off in pursuit before remembering her fashionable heels. Not wanting to lose any more time, she quick-fired a line of ink, swam through it in octo form and continued the chase in that form.

Back in the commentary booth, Marie was trying to make sense of the strategy. “If Inku leaves the stage, that should give Karin the win UNLESS…” She flipped through a book of turf war rules. “If a combatant leaves, the fight is considered null and not a victory for those remaining.”

“Meaning?” Sombra had to put the drones into high-speed mode to follow the chase. “A lot of people here and at home don’t want a screwy finish.”

“The rules for the event say that victory only comes from incapacitating OR making your opponent tap out.” Ripley referred to her tablet again as the judges panicked. “Inku isn’t tapping if she’s moving onto the secondary location. Perhaps this strategy is to tire Emily and frustrate her.”

“It’s frustrating for me, chica.” Sombra had to simultaneously hack the cameras inside and outside of the mall to catch up to the action around the building. “If this was a foot race, Inku would be the winner. She’s entering the parking lot now.”

“Do we know if those cars are live?” Ripley’s question was quickly answered. Another shot from Karin’s charger exploded a Ford Pinto in the parking lot. “Woah! I didn’t expect that.”

Back on the battlefield, Inku felt the rush associated with having access to her special weapon. Acting instinctively, she pulled out the trizooka. Trying to fire for range only resulted in the three massive ink bursts forming a ‘moat of splat’ around her. She realized that the different launch profile was tied to the original vintage inkzooka. Smoke and flame from the ravaged cars triggered the HVAC systems along the sides of the mall. Seeing all those grates gave her an idea on how to enter the building.

“You’re not the only one with a special.” Karin assumed her kraken form in a line of splat that cut through most of the parking lot. Michael Bay would be proud of the needless destruction leading into product placement. Her frenzy came to a sudden stop at the entrance. Someone in production staff had forgotten to remove the chains from the entrance. The charger corrected that error. Without a word, she knew the weapon was truly empty and it wasn’t as though she could viably turn back to recover ink. She tossed the spent charger behind a decorative plant in the entry plaza.

Inku swam through the air ducts hoping to find a drop point inside of a store that might offer an advantage. Her eyes lit up at the sight of a toy store through one of the grates. She descended into the colorful environment, grabbed a fresh ‘Super Soaker’ from the shelves and tore the weapon from its package. She had never heard of the brand before. Ink from her hand flowed into the toy’s translucent yellow tank. On her way out of the door, she dropped the weapon. A much larger Super Soaker was on display: the MONSTER XL. It sported multiple nozzles, had a dedicated bipod and even the tank on it was large enough to double as an inkling’s primary ink tank. Some squid had even etched ‘BFS9000’ onto the weapon. She dropped to her knees in admiration… This was peak woomy.

“Inku, where are you?” Karin, now brandishing a janitor’s rolling bucket and mop, prowled the tiled landscape of the food court. Many restaurants that were from before her time or her childhood littered the area. Even more surprising were the 80’s-era prices. “Focus on the fight, Karin. This place is probably like Pleasure Island or worse.” Elevator chimes echoed throughout. Inku emerged from the elevator carrying a weapon that was more than half her size. “I thought the MONSTER XL was recalled.”

“I did the major pumping in the elevator.” Inku turned the blaster in Karin’s general direction. She pulled the trigger… Nothing happened. She discovered that the pumping threshold was 100 pumps, not 10. “Just stay there!” Frantic pumping resumed.

Desperate times called for desperate measures. Karin mopped the path ahead of the rolling bucket as if she was part of a curling team [A big sport among Inklings]. No point in counting Inku’s pumps because Karin needed the cleanest route possible. She finished the mopping, jumped into the ink-filled bucket and used the mop to push off the bucket like a gondolier. She slid across the tile the instant before Inku pulled the trigger. A torrent of orange ink coated the food court. Karin whistled from a position behind Inku to gloat about her survival. Both cephalopods went to act on the proximity until realizing they were both completely dry. Inku had a whole food court to reload ink from; Karin didn’t. Karin ran off into a novelty restaurant simply marked ‘PIZZA WORLD and Rentals’. Perhaps she could fashion some armor from things in the kitchen.

Zey snapped out from the Inku psyche long enough to assess their situation. The Monster XL would prove almost useless in a confined location because the pumping time was a complete liability. Reluctantly, the inkling discarded the weapon. A keytar positioned in the front window of a music store gave Inku-Zey an idea.

“Venus will be pissed later.” Inku-Zey pulled the instrument from the display. “She thinks that she’s the best when…” Inku’s eyes became artificial framing over advanced scanner technology. “I’m the best.” Her voice distorted again towards something of the animatronic variety. “Karin can run all she wants… I’ll see wherever she tries to hide.” The metallic endoskeleton stretched the inkling skin to its limits. Orange bled into a gnarly shade of purple. Surging nearly a foot in height strained the inkling skin enough that Roxanne Wolf emerged from it like a cocoon. She placed Inku’s husk onto a mannequin out of a twisted form of respect. Many of the television feeds cut to a replay of the Monster XL firing during this ritual. “Where are you, Em?” Roxanne’s eyes glowed brightly. There was a lifeform moving within the Pizza World building.

Pizza World – 3:24 PM

Roxanne entered the dimly-lit dining area of the novelty pizzeria. Varieties of the ‘Fun Time’ animatronics were positioned on stage and in the booths watching the stage. “I know you’re in the building, Em.” She taunted her unseen enemy. “You’ll make it a lot easier if you come out to face me.” Ticking clocks echoed from tinny speakers. Automated show elements activated for the 3:25 PM ‘Linner’ [not quite lunch/too early for dinner] celebration. Annoyed, Roxanne switched optical settings to ignore the other lesser animatronics performance. “You’ll need to do more than the Mediocre Melodies to take me by surprise.” Headlights flashed from the employee area near the kitchen. “Did Afton make a new animatronic?” Nope, it was the BMW M3 from another part of the mall. Karin dropped a brick onto the gas pedal.

The speeding car forced Roxanne to divert all energy towards dashing out of the way. She landed on the floor without even her tail suffering tire burn. Karin had rolled out from the car onto the stage. Roxanne helplessly watched Karin take her pick of animatronic from the stage. There wasn’t even energy to spare for her to scream. Circus Baby’s eyes changed from show mode to ‘night mode’ as Karin’s octo form crawled into the animatronic’s empty ice cream maker compartment. “Looks like something bad happened.” Baby gloated over Roxanne. “Your systems should be restored in five minutes. Unfortunately, my plans will last three minutes.”

“Emily, you’re going too far!” Zey shouted telepathically. “Explosions and weaponized cars don’t belong in a shapeshifter duel! I know you can hear me.”

“Hush now.” Emily replied in Baby’s inner voice. “I would hate to disappoint the audience.” She bowed towards the crowd in the restaurant. “It’s taking a lot of focus to not drag you into the scooping room or gouge your eyes out. The Superstar Finale awaits us!” Baby dragged Roxanne towards the restaurant’s internal elevator to the ‘Freddy in Space’ lounge and bar. “You’ll soon be able to add skydiver to your list of professions, Roxanne.”

“What a cunning move from Emily.” Marie filled the dead air that came from watching animatronics in an elevator. “Forcing Zey to use all their energy has left the wolf helpless. Emily has the opportunity to end it all here! What do you make of that skydiving line, Ripley?”

“I have a hunch that Roxanne is going to be flying down from the highest level of the mall to the lowest point. Sombra, can even the most resilient omnics survive a six story fall?”

“Only if they’re milspec or better.” Sombra had all cameras rolling to capture the potential impact zones. “We don’t know what metal and composites Zey opted to use for construction.”

Baby dragged Roxanne to a glass hand railing that was sized for the average human adult. Her much larger stature allowed Baby to rest Roxanne head-first on the railing for a horrifying span of several seconds. Roxanne’s extremities began to move in protest. “True despair is letting you know that you weren’t fast enough, Roxy. I always wanted to give the cameras tape delay if this goes poorly for you.” Baby threw Roxanne over the railing. The animatronic wolf flailed in the air. “Ciao.” Baby waved. Roxanne slammed into a sunglasses kiosk on the ground level.

“Holy ****.” Ripley’s swear was narrowly bleeped. Roxanne wasn’t moving from her impact crater. “Will somebody stop the match?” Baby loomed above watching the event crew checking Roxanne’s body. Things were so worrying that Melanie Woods had to teleport in to check Zey’s mental state. “Ok, I’m hearing from Melanie that Zey is still capable of thought. The malfunctions we’re witnessing are reversible upon the end of the match. I can’t imagine Zey wanting to continue.”

“Zeydaan?” Melanie turned Roxanne over. “Do you want to continue fighting?” She asked the question verbally and telepathically.

“YES.” Roxanne screamed in a bloodcurdling scream. She stood up from the destroyed kiosk thanks to assistance from the other crew members. “I’m going to transform… Get out of here.”

“Thanks for the warning.” Melanie teleported herself and the other crew members away. Now that the human guests were away, Zeydaan had another card to play. They reverted to their base form to start. Baby didn’t appear worried in the slightest.

“What could Zey possibly use against Circus Baby? She’s built like a tank and has the high ground.” Ripley hyped up the viewers. The wolf pulled out a plain pair of white gloves from a pocket. “They appear to be putting on gloves. I can’t think of a talking animal cartoon character that could easily thwart a robot.” Zey’s intention became a lot clearer from the black cuffs, red bracers and golden bangles. “Yeah, Shadow the Hedgehog would make a difference.”

Zey shifted all of the mass from their clothing down to make Shadow’s rocket skates. Whatever didn’t go into making the shoes themselves became the unseen propellant source for the thrusters. A massive scowl appeared on their face. Jet black began to dominate their fur. Baby’s confidence had begun to melt into dread. Shadow was on a whole other level and she knew it. Mass relocation sent Zey’s tail to their head like a massive ponytail. The tail bloomed into quad upturned quills framing a central quill. White chest hair formed from the muzzle fur falling off Zey’s face. A black and red streak ran up the pillars to where the meddling animatronic stood. Shadow the Hedgehog made sure that the drones caught his good side at the peak of his dash towards Baby. One homing attack impact was all it took to eject Karin from the animatronic towards the floor so far below. “Now you see how it feels.” He turned to watch for a splat. “Where did she go?”

A breeze of rose petals flanking a red mass blew past Shadow. Ruby Rose, in her initial design, materialized across from the hedgehog. “Great, one of those fangirls. Hot Topic is on the fourth floor.” Shadow disregarded the threat that Ruby might pose. He turned his back to her simply to test her.

“Fangirl?” Ruby used her semblance to burst in front of Shadow. “I’ll have you know that I’m a huntress!” She unfurled Crescent Rose from its rifle state. “I challenge you to a…” Shadow kicked her right in the stomach. Emily deserved that for all of the cheap shots she had made. “…fight.” Shadow deftly dodged or countered any offense Ruby tried to land.

Back in the Commentary Booth

“Marie, they need you for the musical performance before Round 3.” DM held up a piece of paper that simply read ‘cut the commentary feed’. Ripley and the others obliged the request while Marie left her seat at the desk. “Off the record, I had a panicked phone call from Dwayne moments ago. I’m expected to reassure the viewers that Emily is fighting as an inexperienced version of Ruby. If things escalate from there…” He placed his 1911 onto the commentary desk just outside of camera range. “It wouldn’t be my first time fighting a Shadow variant.”

“El Presidente is that shaken?” Sombra picked up on the unspoken tension. She had hardened their neural link network apart from a little backdoor she left for herself. “We’ve faced worse than a fast entity capable of teleporting behind people.”

“The wider public still only knows about Black Adam from the Christmas incident. It took several combatants to finally put down Adam Taurus for good.” DM lit a cigarette in flagrant disregard of the ‘No Smoking’ sign. “Ripley, you know the script to cover for your sister and her ‘friends’.” The lights on the microphones turned back on because the surprise commercial break ended. “Welcome back to the thick of Round 2. I’m Dark Matter, substituting for Marie, to cover the rest of this fight. A quick clarification to the audience that conflicting schedules mean that Emily hasn’t had much chance to study Ruby’s combat style.”

“We saw in the first round that Emily’s mastery of Lightning let her dominate Zeydaan’s rather shaky use of Sephiroth.” Ripley spun the uncertainty into ‘sports talk’ banter. “She probably wanted to pay tribute to one of her peers, yet underestimated how natural Shadow is in Zey’s hands.” Shadow threw Ruby into the Hot Topic location over the course of their fight moving throughout the mall. “Shadow is treating her like a marketable plush!”

Hot Topic Location

Ruby crawled out from a barrel of Invader Zim merch located in the middle of the store. Using a scythe in a mall had proven to be a pretty bad idea. When she had a chance to strike, Shadow either moved out of the way OR the blade got caught on something during the wide swing. Shadow stood at the store’s entrance in a menacing manner. Desperate for breathing room, Ruby threw a Gir plush at Shadow. Naturally, the hedgehog caught the toy. All the commotion was enough to trigger the toy’s ‘voice box’. “I’m going to sing the Doom song now! Doom, doom, doom, doom.”

“Heh, thanks for the suggestion.” Shadow put down the toy. Grimm-like tendrils emerged from Shadow’s back. “Behold! Doom Morph power!” Teenage angst sucked out from the store itself to power the further transformation. All the edge being sucked out left the store as what it really was all along: a Claire’s location. [The fashion store, not Emily’s elder daughter] “I am Shadow the Hedgehog. The bender of this reality! This is who I am!”

Ruby petal burst blindly out from the store. She found herself gliding backwards towards a snack corner on a lower level. Could it be? Yes, there WAS a whole display of cookies waiting for her. Rationally, she knew this wasn’t a time for cookies. At the same time, the Ruby urge for cookies is impossible to resist!

“Why is Ruby stuffing her face in the middle of a battle?” Ripley tilted her head in confusion. “I get the commitment to character, but this only gives Shadow more time to accumulate mass.”

“You should have seen her at the North Pole.” DM faked a jovial tone. He was simultaneously popping industrial diamonds into the opening in his left hand. His anti-matter was anticarbon-based and diamonds had become the most efficient way to reload the ready supply. “It was all magical and whimsical after carving through the demons, Grimm horde and killer robots to stop the omnic production.”

“DM, if you were in the fight, what would you be doing right now?” Sombra cheekily grinned. “Just floating a potential cuz the fighters are busy eating.”

DM slightly mouthed an obscenity to Sombra. “I’d make the most of the environment if I was in either fighter’s shoes. Shock and awe attacks are only so effective in a venue like a mall. Maybe I’d drop a freight elevator on an opponent or use the flammable materials in the hibachi restaurant that is RIGHT BEHIND you, Ruby. Put that cookie down and grab the propane tank the camera sees.”

“Hm?” Ruby stopped biting from a cookie larger than her own head. The restaurant behind her, THE RED HERRING, had a propane tank in full view. Yes, she could make this work. She tossed the cookie into her hood for later, disconnected the propane tank from the grill and made sure the seal was closed tight. “Shadow, I’ve got something for you to sample.” A massive doom squid creature was levitating less than ten meters away. Shadow approached Ruby, she hurled the tank and the improvised projectile was caught again. “Gotcha this time!” Ruby flung Cresent Rose towards the tank. Something sharp enough on the scythe pierced the tank enough for the container to burst. Shadow corruption painted the floor below. There was no sign of Zeydaan anywhere.

“Did I overdo it?” Ruby leaned over the railing to view the corruption below. A tentacle emerged from the corruption, grabbed her and drained Ruby’s energy from her. Emily narrowly managed to whip her ponytail hard enough to escape from the tentacle. She retreated to a deeper position in the snack corner beyond Zey’s reach. In a taunting gesture, the tentacle did its best to mimic the ‘come on’ finger gesture. “I’ll show you!” Emily lurched forward dramatically. “Boo-yah!!!!!” She hadn’t transformed into Pearl Houzuki like she intended.

“Emily appears to have failed a transformation.” DM eyed his gun. “That’s going to count against her pool of forms to pull from. Ripley, is it possible that Zey caused a status effect?”

“I suffered from shapeshifting paralysis when I was younger, Mark. Emily is probably feeling a mixture of anxiety and exhaustion from how much she has done in this round so far. She can’t pin Zeydaan for the win because the floor is…” A drone was able to take in the construct forming underneath the corruption. “It appears that an area between regions is growing under the mall. “

“Is Emily obligated to fight Zey in this new stage?” Sombra asked genuinely. “Do we do a count out on Zey?”

“We didn’t expect to see a combatant create a new stage on their own.” DM was moments away from intervening. “We’ll leave it up to Emily. She wouldn’t want to leave the viewers with such an inconclusive ending.”

Emily silently attempted a few other forms for anything that might work. “At least I only blew the non-combat forms this time.” She strolled through the damaged mall for inspiration that might resolve her performance issue. ‘Vengeance is Mine’ began to play through the mall’s intercom system. “Shadow is going to turn the whole stage into Radical Highway if I don’t fight back.” That stage required high speed and advanced mobility that none of the animatronics could ever hope to achieve. “Ruby was one of my fastest forms. Zey has to know that I’m at a massive disadvantage now.”

Shadow’s ‘edge drain’ from the mall left very few stores untouched. Even the sporting goods store that had signs bragging about guns and knives for a Dawn of the Dead situation had been reduced to a selection of junior fishing rods and Nerf balls. A sign written in Kanji beckoned Emily towards a small import shop located in the fringes of the mall. Shadow had wiped out the majority of ‘mall ninja’ stalls along the way to Little Japan. “If there’s a henshin device, I might be able to get over the hurdle.” Emily reassured herself that this gamble would work. “Maybe Washu if the place only has harem manga to pull from.”

Inside of the store was a female mannequin sporting spandex leggings, a Japanese Air Self Defense Force jacket, two morphers from Sentai and ski goggles tinted to mirror the ‘Rising Sun’ flag. Emily stood in a deliberate position to obscure the pursuing camera drone’s view of the inspiration. “Yes, that will do nicely.” Emily pulled the morphers from the mannequin’s wrists. “Whoever prepped this mannequin confused the various series.” She placed the device with a small keypad on her left forearm and the Y2K aesthetic one on her right. “Here goes nothing. 3! 3! 5! INSTALL!” She ran back towards the spreading corruption.

“It would appear that Emily has acquired the henshin devices from Power Rangers in Space and Power Rangers Time Force for a bit of confidence. She must be planning to use adrenaline for a ‘MORPHIN TIME’ surge. There’s nothing like charging into unknown territory for that boosted access to transformation power!”

“Chica, you sound ridiculous.” Sombra held back a laugh. “I doubt that Emily would…” Emily dove into the corruption puddle. “Ok, she actually did.”

Radical Highway – 4:03 PM

Emily found herself positioned in a position perfectly between the two stages. Her decision to combo the Chrono Changer gave her limited access to freezing time to allow for an uninterrupted transformation. Her boots flattened into the future hybrid between Crocs and Vans, leggings took on a yellowish orange tint and her striped dress became a fitted leather jacket. Her glasses became stylized ballistic goggles to make the transformation all the more obvious. “What should I use for the rest?” She mulled in a bad Cockney impression. Taking a cue from Zey, she used her redundant hair to form a pair of pulse pistols. A chronal accelerator formed from one of the morphers; the only one formed matching gauntlets on both arms. Tracer emerged from the time bubble onto the hovering highway. “Cheers, luvs! The cavalry’s here!” She saluted towards the cameras behind her. “Try to keep up.” She blinked into a dash.

The road before Tracer twisted into an unearthly facsimile of San Francisco’s roads. The threat of emerging tendrils from the ground compelled her to keep moving. “The simulator betas are harder than this.” Tracer took the initiative to grind on a rail paralleling her path. Timing her blinks properly got her through an iconic Sonic loop on the first try. “You can do this, Tracer.” She accidentally said near one of the drones sporting a microphone.

“Show of hands.” Ripley held an impromptu poll in the commentary booth. “How many of us have grind plates on right now?” She noticed that both of her co-commentators had made their way towards the stage. “The others were inspired to hold a sudden grinding contest in the other room. I’ll be flying solo for the rest of the round.”

Meanwhile, in the Crowd…

“I’m the real Pyra!” Pyra shouted at another identical Pyra. The other Pyra simply drank from a Thermos.

“Zeydaan wasn’t exaggerating about how many impersonators want to be me in this dimension.” The other Pyra took a bit of food from Pyra’s snack board. “I don’t understand your insecurity if you can cook better than I do.”

Ashley gasped. “Pyra, you take that back!” Both Pyra’s perked up. “Pyra, please become Mythra to make this conversation easier.” The other Pyra shifted into Mythra on command. “Mythra, you’re the best cook in our circle. I would much prefer if we could avoid Lilith handling meals again.”

“I wasn’t putting myself down, dumbass.” Mythra stole more from Pyra’s snack board to hand out among the Hawkmoths who needed to eat. “If Mark is in the commentary booth and…” She tugged at Pyra’s cheek. “that isn’t a mask. Who the Hell are you?”

“I won a raffle where Emily would transform the winner into their waifu of choice.” Pyra did a small twirl. “Here I am! Pyra the Sous Chef. I’m planning to go to France through a friend’s restaurant in Quebec next Spring.” Bean placed an improvised chef’s hat onto Pyra to make it easier for all involved. “Thanks?” She didn’t get a response from the moth. “Does your friend talk?”

“Bean? Nah, not really.” Mythra reverted to Pyra now that a distinction was clear. “What is this France place I’ve heard so much about?”

“You can save girly time for laters.” Lilith gulped down the snacks in her mouth. “Who is going to snap Zey outta the Butterfly Syndrome?” Bean cracked their knuckles. “Woah, Zey isn’t that gone.”

“The LoRI members have been amassing around the stage ever since Zeydaan became Shadow. I overheard one of them mentioning fears that Grimm were appearing.” Alvis made MC and Flames’ absences apparent to the others. “The upside is that we can finally bring in the other invited guests.” Bowser and a goat holding a microwave appeared in the empty seats. “We said that we’d get you in, Bowser.”

“This beats pirated interdimensional cable.” Bowser put up his feet at the expense of Lilith and Zach’s comfort. “You’re lucky that you didn’t bring me in from the parking lot. Ha ha ha ha ha.” He laughed watching the video feed from Radical Highway. “Wait. But that stage is…”

“Em doesn’t know that, does she?” Lilith loved the fear brewing in the audience.

“They’re doing it! Holy shit, Isabella’s doing the home turf special!”Bowser cheered. Suddenly, portions of the road became falling platforms. Doom construct jets few past Tracer.

“What the Hells does that mean?” Mythra soon realized what the others already knew. “THEY’RE THE STAGE?”

The planes crisscrossed overhead and bombs indiscriminately destroyed parts of the road. Tracer could barely catch her breath after three consecutive spirals that also required her to dodge oncoming cannon fire. “Oi, where are you, Zey?” The platform Tracer was standing on began to tilt downwards. Shadow appeared at the bottom of the pit below her. Platforms moved into position for a jousting duel… running down a building. Tracer needed to employ every trick she could think of to continue touching the surface on her way down. Shadow, in contrast, rocketed effortlessly up towards her. Blink. She readied the pistols. She missed. Rewind. Where did Shadow go? A kick to the back sent her into the abyss. “No! I can’t do that again! I…”

Tracer found herself on the ground underneath Shadow’s right shoe. He held one of Tracer’s pulse pistols in apparent victory. The slightest sign of resistance caused the world around them to instantly become abyss again. “What was it that you wanted to say, fake hero?” Shadow rubbed the sole of the shoe against Tracer’s body. “Even I don’t know how deep the pits are.” Tracer tapped out. “Good girl.”

“Zeydaan wins the round.” Ripley announced to the crowd. DM and the others stormed the pocket dimension. The audience watched a silent feed from the pocket dimension. Rikka froze Shadow in place long enough for the medical staff to evacuate Emily from the battlefield. Emily’s shattered glasses dropped onto the stage during the commotion. A silent argument between multiple LoRI members and a reverted Zeydaan led to a hardcoded commercial break from the Network.

“Emily? Can you hear me?” Claire had been assigned to be the ‘familiar face’ that Emily saw when she came to. “The judges will call it now if you aren’t able to respond.” She fidgeted with her keys. The day would become exponentially more volatile if the viewing audience believed that a reality-distorter had killed Emily. “Mom, I’ve been told to impersonate you if Zey hurt you hard enough. Please say something.”

“Did I look good when things were still in my control?” Emily strained to ask.

“Yeah, that stage transformation trick was bullshit. I would have killed Zey over that.” Claire replied quite bluntly. “Still might do that if it comes down to it.”

“And that’s what we call acting.” Emily stood up from the stretcher. “Now Zeydaan can’t use Shadow again AND thinks that they have a certain advantage over me.”

“Mom, Zey absolutely demolished you the moment they became Shadow. Ruby and Tracer are some of your favorite forms to use around the house for fun.”

“Exactly, luv.” Emily did a bad Tracer impersonation. “I knew that nothing I could do that round would make a difference against Shadow.” She put on a replacement pair of glasses. “That means I’ve saved the best for the grand finale.” An orange portal opened behind them. “Stephen, it is about time for that favor you owe me.”