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Act One
Cross Burden

Chapter One
The Big N

In one cataclysmic event, a bright light shines from across the television screen. What do television viewers everywhere see? Well... That all depends. If they happen to be playing a game on a console, or handheld (we aren't picky), they see four strange, new characters suddenly emerge in their game. That's before everything just falls apart. The game crashes right before their eyes. Then the system reboots. Then... Ah well... It just gets fun from there. Random people are pulled into their television screen by some unseen force. Some arrive near Cross and his group, the four teens that mysteriously appeared. Some arrive in some unknown location. An unfortunate few wind up in a place where they are easily captured by evil forces.

What's going on?!

Well. Unbeknownst to pretty much everybody... The geniuses at Nintendo somehow managed to, well... A long and difficult story is going to be made short. All the Big N characters are real, no matter how often used they are. Gino being split into millions of tiny pieces has disrupted the Nintendo Universe. ...or is it Multiverse? In any event, those people pulled in find strange weapons by their side. At first glance, and even touch for that matter, they are light and rudimentary. Most of them are wood! They find within them the skill to use these weapons and another sleeping power. Those captured find themselves in cells or dungeons that easily absorb this sleeping power. Spells! Each also awaken with special skills that seem beneficial in some way. Each also seem to know how to use their natural or trained abilities from the real world to awaken an attack, defense, or special form to further aid themselves. Techniques!

What of the four teens? What happened to them when the systems crashed and all Nintendo broke out? Let's watch...

Chapter Start!

Cross slowly opens his eyes only to realize... There's something soft and warm laying across his body. Without thinking, he reaches out to see what it is before... Slap! He glues his attention on what in the world is on him at this point! ...only to see Marie. She's waving her fist in the air and has a snarl in her voice. He blinks. She'd landed on him in...whatever forced them into the world? Then that meant... Were Leo and Sarah here too? He looks over to see those two recovering. Unfortunately...they weren't in a similar situation. That meant he was probably dead meat... Then he cringes when he hears Marie spe...well...yell. "What are you doing you perv!" She leans in close in a threatening and rather menacing way. He covers his face, not knowing what to say exactly. "Trying to grope me?!"

"No! No!" He desperately pleads. Sarah looks over and blinks before rolling her eyes and shrugging. She makes sure to take a look around. Everybody looks okay. Their clothes and bodies are in tact. That's a good thing. As for herself, she's wearing one of her favorite one-piece dresses today. It's a simple blue. She has a turtleneck over it. Strange how she always seems to get cold if she's not wearing something like that...yet she's perfectly fine if her legs are exposed beneath her knees. She then notices something... She's holding a tennis racket. She didn't have that before. She swings it around a couple of times finding it quite comfortable. Now curious, she looks around.

Leo's looking rather befuddled at baseball bat he's holding. She has to giggle. He's wearing his t-shirt and blue jeans, as usual, with his sports cap on. He likes those Blue Jays. She blinks. He's not wearing his hat! Quickly, she checks her hair. She sighs in relief when her barrette is still there. She does love that pink hair holder with her waist-length, light-brown hair, almost almond. The next thing she notices is Leo picking up his baseball cap and place it over his black mat. Then she turns around and walks over to Cross and Marie. Hopefully to calm the overly anxious girl. After all, she's just flustered that she landed that way. Such a reserved little girl. Sarah giggles again.

As for Marie, she's wearing this jean dress that's not actually a dress. It reveals a lot of leg, but it is...or was a hot summer. Almost surprisingly, she has a thick, pink shirt on. Her raven hair is, as always, cut somewhere between tomboyish and shoulder length. Is she trying to look pretty and tough these days? Again. Sarah giggles. She grabs Marie by the neck back of her shirt, which immediately has her pretending to choke for air. "Now Marie." Sarah has such a sweet smile...but both Cross and Marie have this look of fear as they look at her. "Cross didn't mean nothin' by it. Besides...he'd do much worse if he'd actually tried to grope at'cha." Then she leans in close and whispers so only Marie could hear you. "...and ya know you'd be doin' the same."

Marie's face goes bright red as she stands in a huff and begins to walk away. Sarah smirks and offers a hand to Cross. He just kinda blinks at her for a moment before accepting. Then he notices her pointing. He looks where she's pointing and notices Marie just staring, dumbfounded, at a frying pan. Then he looks down. A bokken? "Why do I have a wooden sword...?" He just stares at it. The next thing he hears is Leo. "Prolly for the same reason the rest of us have weird things." He rests the bat on his shoulder. "They impress me as some weapons."

About this time, the commotion of their entrance has brought a crowd. There are little mushroom people everywhere. The four teens look at them with wide-eyed 'what the freak?' and have one thing to say. "Toads?" Then they hear a rather regal voice coming from just beyond the hill. "Oh no. They all have their individual names. They're the mushroom people." Then they look at the owner of the voice and their jaws drop. "I'm Princess Peach Toadstool. These are my friends, Luigi and Daisy. I'm oh so very pleased to meet you." She politely smiles before cutely tilting her head. Luigi tilts his head in a half solute. "Yo." Daisy, well. kind of repeats what Peach did but mirrored. "Hi-ee!"

The four teens just look at each other. Sarah is the first to speak. "Did some'n' poison us? 'cause it's like we trippin' on some sorta drugs here." Leo shakes his head. "I certainly hope not..."

That laughter peaks again. The temperature in his cell spikes just before he sees wisps of flame creep around from the next door cell. "I imagine 'this' is what separates you and me." Is that rather heavy, lizard-like tone coming from the next cell? Whatever the case may be, the temperature quickly returns to normal. It's as if the dungeon is absorbing the energy from the flames. The next sound is that of a tongue clicking roughly against the roof of someone's mouth. That same harsh tone rings out again. "Intriguing. Can you do anything with that staff?"







"Oh dear no." Peach claims shocked. "You haven't been poisoned or drugged!" She tries to regain her regal smile. Daisy is having a good snicker in the background before Luigi speaks up. "Deese kids are all we be gettin'? You'd think some'n' like'a Mario'd get a better rescue party." Peach looks over to him. "We don't know that he's actually in trouble. He's just been gone for a long time. Maybe they came because he can't do this alone." "...but...!" Marie exclaims before she realizes it. Heaving a sigh, she decides to continue. "What are we supposed to do? 'rescue'? Mario?! I mean... You guys are just a video game!"

The three supposed video game characters look at one another. Luigi rubs his brow as he tries to explain. "You'a see. To us, dis world is'a real. You comin' here is'a sign to us." Daisy chimes in with an every cheerful expression. "We just didn't quite expect to see kids. To top it off..." She pauses as she looks at Peach. A shake of her head beckons Daisy to go on. "...we've got reports of at least one more kid who turned up near Bowser's castle. It seems he was captured." Peach steps forward. "We can't seem to get anything on Bowser, though. This is something beyond him. If its anything like the Seven Stars incident..."

"Hold on!" Cross stops them right there. He's holding his hands up in a 'T' as if he were asking for a time-out. "You mean Legend of the Seven Stars? As in Mario RPG?" The three Nintendo characters look at each other in surprise. "You know of the Seven Stars?" Peach asks a bit bewildered. Cross looks at them like that was basic knowledge. "Of course! My favorite team was Mario, Peach, and Bowser." The three give him this kinda, 'Okay...' look. Peach sighs as she continues. "If you know about it, then there's no need to explain it. However. It was a dangerous situation, and any incident like it is beyond Bowser's power." Then Marie cries out again. "What are we supposed to do?! We can't fight!"

Cross, Leo, and Sarah all look at her. Leo sighs. "I, for one, know a thing or two about fighting. Cross has been taking karate or whatever since he was little." Sarah rolls her eyes. "Look here buster. Marie is jus' freakin' out is all." Peach nods her head. "We can talk more later. In my castle." Leo starts walking the opposite direction, though. "If it's all fine with you, I think I'll try my own way. No offense Cross, buddy. I just feel...I've gotta. Ya know?" Cross nods his head. "Yeah... See ya buddy." With that, Leo parts from the rest. Where he's going is a mystery. As for the rest, they're off to Castle Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom.

=If it's not one thing, it's another. There's one thing Benjamin does know. He was just playing Kid Icarus on the Virtual Console of his Wii. Now he's face planted and hearing voices not too far from where he is. First. He tastes dirt and moss in his mouth. He pushes himself up and begins spitting the rotten taste out of his mouth and trying to wipe it off with his sleeves... Second. He's wearing long sleeves...scratch that. He's wearing some sort of white robes! Wasn't he just in blue jean shorts and a tee-shirt? Third. Nobody was home...and he certainly isn't home anymore. Lightly sighing, he seats himself upright and tries to catch his bearings when he notices his hand brush up against something. He turns to look and sees...=

What's this old thing doing here?

=He remembers his brother playing with it and leaving it out. He'd just seen it as he selected the game he was playing on his Wii. In fact, he'd gotten up to put it away when...well... He can only think of one way to put it.=

The world was turned upside down...

=He pauses.=

...or the sky is falling.

"Wahahahahahaha!" With that unique laugh, Zeke instantly knew who was caged in the cell beside him. "I'll let'cha in on a little secret, kid. I'm usually the one in charge of this 'ere dungeon and castle, and my flames can't even bust us out!" He lets out a chuckle once more. "I'll let'cha in on somethin' else too, kid. I'm a lot stronger than you are!" Zeke had no doubt in his mind that what he said was true. Bowser was a final boss, and game-wise means that he's tough. The dark silhouette strode forward into the light just enough for Zeke to see him, he's a towering lizard with flowing red hair and a massive, spiked shell. "I'm Bowser, lord of this keep. If I 'adn't been ambushed, I'd've mopped the floor with those cretins!"

Smirking, Zeke put his hand in front of him to help hoist himself onto his feet. He grabbed his staff and then arched his back, so he stood tall. Bringing the staff into two hands, he silently creeped over towards Bowser and stuck his staff in front of Bowser's face.

"You may be stronger, as you say. However, I would be the more intelligent one. We all know that brawn isn't always better than brains. Plus, I have a staff." He said as he tapped his staff against the bars.

Then the black mage turned around and walked to the other side of his cell. He was examining the background and the dark shadows of the cells, in hopes of finding something that would aid him in his escape. His eyes silently scanned the impeding darkness, but something caught his eye...

A pair of beady eyes stared right at Zeke. Zeke squinted his eyes, and then he saw more pairs of eyes. Then he heard squeaking. Rats, he thought, and not too friendly looking.

"Tell you what, Bowsie. If you help me dispense of these rats, I'll help you escape. Unless you like being in this dungeon, I'd suggest you take me up on this offer." He muttered while he brought his staff forward.

"Hmph!" Yep. Insulting Bowser doesn't seem to go over too well. "Ya dun seem to know who ya messin' with, kid." He lets out a low growl that scares a few of the rats out of his cell. Their pretty dumb creatures, though. They come right back in before Bowser plugs one nostril and literally snorts a fireball on a rat to, well, instafry that thing. "If ya lucky, I dun just kill ya, brat." He snorts, no weird flames this time. "...but I'm feelin' mighty generous. If ya can free us, I might just consider letting ya off the hook for insultin' me." It's his way of asking for help. Leave it to the koopa king...

Zeke is confronted with 2 (level 1) rats and 1 (level 2) rat

Level 1: 8HP, 2 all stats
Level 2: 11HP, 2 all stats, +1 STR, DEF

All three manage to attack, but only the (level 2) lands a blow for 2HP.

Zeke: 23/25 HP
Level 1: 8/8 HP
Level 1: 8/8 HP
Level 2: 11/11 HP





Cross, Marie, and Sarah just stare at all the goomba. It's unbelievable... There are just so many of them! Peach immediately knows what to do. She pulls out her parasol. Daisy smirks at that and pulls out her golf club while Luigi gets his trusty ol' hammer. The first three goomba that approach get to learn their mistake the hard way. THEY GET PUMMELED INTO OBLIVION! The problem? There are more goomba than they can handle and several spill over to Cross, Marie, Sarah, and Benjamin.

Cross is confronted with 2 (level 1) goomba and 1 (level 2) goomba

Level 1: 7HP, 2 all stats
Level 2: 12HP, 2 all stats, +2 STR, +1 SPD

Benjamin is confronted with 2 (level 1) goomba and 1 (level 2) goomba

Level 1: 7HP, 2 all stats
Level 2: 12HP, 2 all stats, +2 STR, +1 AGI





Cross, being the fastest of the group, attacks the nearest goomba, which just so happens to be the (level 2). He notes the goomba manage to counter, but he does land a hit for 4HP, but he loses 1HP in the counter. The other goomba aren't close enough.

Cross: 39/40 HP
Level 2: 8/12 HP

Benjamin is a little slow, so the (level 2) gets a strike off first. It misses, but there are two more goomba close behind...

Benjamin: 33/33 HP
Level 2: 12/12 HP

=Benjamin manages to see the goomba first and respond in time to jump over it. In a slight huff, he tries to 'mightily' bring down his plastic lightsaber down on the goomba that just offended him. Well. That's the general plan. What in the world is a plastic lightsaber supposed to do, anyway?! He has a feeling, though...that the general strength of the Mushroom Kingdom people is going to gravely embarrass them...=

The larger rat's hair stood on end when the ball of electricity struck it. The rat looked ridiculous, with it's hair spiked due to the static. It began to hiss at Zeke, then lunged with it's mouth open. Zeke quickly caught the rat's mouth with his staff and threw it aside.

Again, Zeke's attention being focused on one enemy cost him. He felt a bite sink into his left calf, and then another on his right shoulder blade. Quickly he shook them off and then he staggered forward.

"Those bites didn't hurt as much as the larger rat's bite. So, I'll quickly take him out, then deal with the other two..."

Drawing forth the same spell he used a second ago, the electricity sparked all across his palm. Smiling, he leaned on his staff as he thrust his palm towards the larger rat.

"You're finished! Shock!" The electricity ball surged forth from his palm and headed towards the rat.

Zeke successfully kills his first enemy. This immediately frightens the other two rats, who were relying on the first. They go into a scared frenzy and begin hugging the walls as they scurry around. They'll be much harder to hit moving about the way they are, but such a state has got to weaken their defense.

Zeke: 21/25 HP, 40/50 MP
Level 1: 8/8 HP, fright max*
Level 1: 8/8 HP, fright max*
Level 2: pushing up daisies

*dodge is doubled but defense is reduced to zero





The moment Cross yells out, all six goombas center their attention on him. It doesn't hurt that Pray actually makes Benjamin less appealing a target to such weak-willed opponents. Cross reaches into his martial arts training to pull out a technique that should work well in this situation. "Keyline!" Using it for the first time, he maximizes upon it by lashing out five times. That's a lot of hurt as five goombas take base 18HP each. The (level 2) goombas keel over as three of the (level 1) goombas take dirt naps. That leaves one, very frightened goomba left, but it's not out yet. It manages to headbutt for 1HP.

Cross: 37/40 HP, 10/15 HP, 2/3 TP, STR+15, DEF+7
Benjamin: 31/33 HP, 4/6 SP, STR+3, DEF+4
Level 1: 7/7 HP, fright +2
Level 1: dead
Level 1: dead
Level 1: dead
Level 2: dead
Level 2: dead