After repeatedly rushing Luigi to finish that dang latte and getting ready, they set off for the strange, "Wood Man Stage" Billy had holed up in.
Wood Man Stage…
"I hate this place," Complained Arris, "it's so… leafy. There's too many animals!"
"I see you're no outside person." Mick picked up a stick, "Oh, I like the inside too. But, every once in a while, I like to "leaf" the house and go outside."
"Uhh... what?"
Mick stopped laughing to frown at Arris. "You don't like my dad jokes?"
"No. And maybe don't ever joke again."
Mick sighed. "Fine. Back to the drawing board, then."
The passing of an MVP ship shook them.
"Oh. Right on time!" Chirped Billy, "They're gonna loooooove my new plan! And you guys are the ones getting left behind, this time!"
"Oh c- wait, WHAT?!"
Billy chuckled as he shoved a sack over a strange cyborg animal and hopped down a portal, which closed shortly after.
"NO-...he's gone."
They panicked for exactly 7 seconds before Billy returned. "Oh, I'm back. Now, who's coming?"
A drone flew past.
"That's a war drone, guys, get ready!" Commanded Billy.
The drone flew around them.
"It doesn't seem to be attacking…"
Billy put a mechanical hand on Marco's shoulder. "Listen, girl, that's a war tactic right there, it's either a distraction, or it's a war drone, preparing to kill us before the agents even arrive. It's armed, clearly, so that unmanned aerial vehicle is gonna engage soon."
Behind them…
Simon walked behind them, actually not even trying to be sneaky. "That drone's really not attacking? I thought it would have mauled us by now," Deadpanned Simon, "I wonder what's wrong with it."
"Yeah, S… something is wrong with it…"
Simon messed around back there for exactly 7 minutes. "You guys are actually stupid."
"Why would you say that? I told you, it's a war ta-" Billy frowned. "Oh. It WAS a distraction."
Mick and Leader sat in the corner, handcuffed.
Billy screamed as the drone flew right in and hit him on the back of the head. "HEY! OW! Whoever's flying that, I'm going to concuss you with that controller!"
Whilst Billy swung aimlessly at the drone attacking him, Simon relentlessly battled Marco and Arris.
At the end, Arris found herself pinned to the wall by her shirt, pinned to the wall by exactly 3 knives, and Marco just gave up. And then attacked Simon again. And THEN she gave up, when he pinned her to the same wall with his whole sword.
"Dude. Have you SERIOUSLY been chasing that drone the whole time?"
Billy whirled to face Simon and put all of his hands down.
"No. I've been pursuing the drone."
"That literally means the same thing. How do you call yourself a genius?"
"Oh, come on! I don't even call myself a genius."
"D..Did you just call yourself stupid?"
"Yes, I did. I am a great distraction."
Simon turned. Arris and Marco weren't even trying to remove themselves from the wall.
"Wait, a distraction for WHAT?!"
Billy shrugged. "I was relying on my colleagues to do something cool. They're letdowns."
"YOU were relying on someone?!"
Everyone turned in fear. The MVP superior stood behind them. His suit was a mess, mysterious gunk on his mask, he was a mess. "I have weird space creature junk on me, I've literally 1v1'd a maniacal serial killer who arrived out of the blue and nearly got my arms torn off, I had to endure the torn-apart remnants of my assistant on the ground in my office and the remnants of several teams and I had to resist the urge to beat that man's head in with my own fists...It's been SUCH a day, you know."
"Uhh.. Not MY probl-"
Alpha threw Simon aside with a strangely powerful amount of force and marched up to Billy.
"So YOU'RE the little motherhugger that's been causing us so much trouble, eh?"
"What's it to ya?"
Alpha smirked. "Out of you whole bunch, who would you say has the best arm strength?"
"Ooh, ooh, me!" Cried Marco, "Me!"
"I wasn't talking to you."
Billy smirked. "Why do you ask about arm strength, hm?"
"Let's make a deal. I'm mad. VERY mad. So, you and all of your cronies can arm wrestle me. If any of them win, you do your bidding. If I beat all of them, you beat it as fast as you can, before I snap every limb you own into 8ths. How's about it?"
"Ok. You're gonna lose, you know that?"
Alpha smirked. "Whatever."
A different MVP dressed as the assistant walked in and set up a small, foldable table.
Alpha sat down and put out his hand. "...best of luck."
Right as the round began, Billy's mechanical arm hit the table. "Wait, WHAT?! You cheated! AGAIN! That's unrealistic!"
Alpha held still for a second as Billy pushed against Alpha's hand for a few seconds.
Alpha slammed Billy's hand again. "Wanna rematch?"
"HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?!"
"Because I do sit ups every Thursday?"
"THAT'S NOT EVEN FOR ARM STRENGTH!"
"You know how you have to put your arms above your head as you go up and down? Crap hurts, man…"
"Yes, but it doesn't just make you that powerful!"
"Yes it does. Who's next?"
"NO. None of you step up."
Marco and Arris exchanged glances. "We kinda can't."
Billy leaned in. "I don't know what the heck you did, but I'm going to get to the bottom of this!"
"There isn't a bottom to get to pal, you're just gonna end up searching endlessly. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take these guys out of here and you're gonna get out as well before I break your bones- here, I'll start. 10."
"Wait, what?"
"9. I am giving you time to run before I sic them on you- 8."
"Jeez, I didn't know you were that mad, I'll just get out of here now…"
"7. Better hurry. 5."
"HEY! You just skipped six!"
"So? 3."
"YOU Sk-"
"No, my bad, I was talking to THE 3. 3."
"Were you talking about the agent again?"
"No. 2."
Billy tossed a portal bomb under himself and then one at the rejected.
"Bet he knew what was best for them, right?"
Alpha slowly turned to face them. "We need to talk."
At Alpha's base…
"This guy decided to jump in while I was working. Was strong enough to tear apart several agents. Several teams, at that. Nearly killed me. I had to beat him up."
A masked man in a dirty cloak sat in the corner of his cell. He gave everyone a weird gaze as they passed by.
"Of course, I wish I would have killed him. Little turn tore apart everyone who defied him. Yet, it intrigues me. What's under the mask?"
The man waved.
"You look like something I've seen before. A mask. I've seen that mask somewhere…" Simon started naming things. "Was it Dedede? No, his mask had horns… I've seen that before, like in a fever dream, or something…"
The man tilted his head as they all gathered in front of the cell. He shook. Alpha opened the cell for a millisecond, to throw a draw-erase board in.
"There. You wanted to see them, there they are. What did you want?"
He grabbed the marker and pulled off the cap, so slowly.
He wrote slowly. VERY slowly.
When he finished, a single sentence read, "We have unfinished business."
Alpha sighed. "That's what he wrote before he asked to see you. It's getting REALLY annoying."
Alpha sat down. "Eventually, you'll talk, dude. What IS your deal?"
The man pointed to that same message, threw his hands up and wrote something else.
"One of you."
"One of us? One of us WHAT? Is one of us going to die?"
He shook his head.
"You've done enough, have you not? Are YOU gonna kill one of us?"
He shook his head again. He pointed. He pointed at 3.
Simon backed away.
"Me?" 3 scoffed, incredulously, "I'm not going to-"
The man put down the draw-erase board. Another message.
"She does it."
3 turned. Everyone had moved. Even Alpha.
"What? Just because he says I'm weird, you believe him? This is probably just a scheme!"
"Possessed." Coughed Amber.
"I'm not possessed, I'm fi-"
Everyone flinched as the lights flickered and the masked man stood right there, at the cell edge, holding the board.
"You and I have unfinished business."
3 frowned. "And just WHO are you?!"
The masked man wrote something, sat the board down, and went back to his little corner.
Alpha dragged the board out. "He's back…? What does that mean? Is Omega back? Do I need to kick him in the back again?"
Everyone exchanged glances. In their heads, they all envisioned someone from their last endeavor against Gamma who didn't make it out. Mostly just remembering one person… one person.
Name: Alph
Age: 22
Height: 5' 3'
Weight: 127 (I think Alpha measured it in pounds but he says he didn't)
Alias(es): Alph, A, (Simon) Al.
Species: Koppaite
Gender: Male(Another thing Alpha hasn't confirmed with us yet but we call him a he)
Preferred weapons: Taser, bombs, surveillance drones, violence drones.
Ranged Weapon Score: 180%
Self-Defense Score: 120%
Blade and Knife Score: 58%
Blunt Weapon Score: 75%
I would call him my son and not ever regret it. He looks too harmless to be classified as dangerous. You'd be surprised. He really isn't dangerous, unless he has to be. If you make him resort to violence, he's likely to end up standing over a knocked-out you. Still the most adorable thing I've ever seen. I wonder why Alpha wanted HIM drafted. Was it because of the wraith indecent?