RPG World Tournament Chapter 3: Wishes of the Stars

Cosmetor: Hello again, readers. Sorry about the delay. This is the official start of the tournament itself, and it's going to be a lot longer than Malapa's instant win. I hope you enjoy it more than the previous chapters. The fighters in this chapter are Mario, Mallow and Geno of Team Mario, and Alis, Odin and Lutz of Team Alis. In addition to the fight itself, we find out a bit of Geno's past, and have some inter-team relations.

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Geno was in the lounge playing a card game against Lutz using tarot cards. Lutz had many cards in front of him, while Geno only had a few.

Lutz: And my Magician card uses the Ten of Staves.

Geno put the rest of his cards in his discard pile.

Geno: Looks like you win again, Lutz. Hey, did you here the announcement?

Lutz: Yes I did. It seems we will have to fight each other.

Geno: Yeah, I kind of have mixed feelings about it. A part of me wants to see how much you've progressed, but another part of me doesn't want to fight such an old friend.

Lutz glared at Geno.

Geno: Huh? No, no, I didn't mean OLD friend! Just that we've been friends for a long time!

Lutz: I understand.

Geno: Uh... so what are Alis and Odin like?

Lutz: They are interesting companions. How is life in the Star Road?

Geno: It's nice, but pretty dull. Most of the people there are the same. They're all Warrior-of-Justice types.

Lutz: And so are you.

Geno let out a small laugh at this statement.

Geno: Yeah, I guess you're right.

Lutz: What do you think of Malapa?

Geno: No idea. He's really hard to read. But I'm not worried about him. It's Ari I'm worried about.

Lutz: Yes, I sense incredible dark magic within him.

Geno: So what kind of new spells did you learn?

Lutz: You will see them all when I fight your team. You?

Geno: Oh, they're pretty much the same as my old ones.

Lutz: I must practice. Goodbye.

Lutz teleported away.

Geno: Guess I'd better clean up these cards.

Geno collected all of the tarot cards on the table and began to put them together into a deck. As he did so, one of the spectators-the taoist adept Zhuzhen-approached him.

Zhuzhen: Nice game, but why didn't you use your Queen of Gold?

Geno thought about the card game he had been playing with Lutz, then realized what Zhuzhen meant. Sighing, he put the deck of cards in his hat and went back to Team Mario's hotel room.

He entered the room to be greeted by a blast of cold air. The inside of the room was at a near-freezing temperature. Geno glaced around the room, and noticed Mario and Mallow talking. Mallow was visibly frightened of something.

Mario: It's not worth worrying about, Mallow. You're too hard on yourself.

Mallow: But I just don't know if I can do it. What if I mess up and hit you guys by mistake?

Mario: Trust me, you're skilled enough to beat them. You never hit us when we were fighting Smithy, and won't do it while were fighting Alis.

Mallow: Are you really sure?

Mario: Of course I am! If we all try our hardest, then I know we can win!

Mallow: Okay, I'll try.

Geno could definitely detect some doubt in Mallow's voice. He knew Mallow wasn't entirely convinced. Mario suddenly turned and noticed Geno.

Mario: Oh, sorry Geno. I didn't hear you come in!

Geno: Hello, Mario. Do you have a strategy for today's match figured out?

Mario: Not really. We don't know anything about Alis, Odin or Lutz, so I don't know what to do.

Geno:(thinking) Do I tell him what I know? Mario and I are friends, but I don't want to betray Lutz... (talking) I know about Lutz.

Mario: Really?

Geno: Yes. He's the magic user of the group. He has moderately powerful fire magic and healing powers, but he can't use healing magic in battle. He also has telepathic magic, but it's only useful for communication. I don't know what other powers he has, though.

Mario: Wow. How do you know so much about Lutz?

Geno: We were good friends before I came to the Star Road.

Mallow: Wait, BEFORE you came to the Star Road?

Geno was surprised by this statement and appeared nervous.

Geno: Well, that is, er, now is not the time.

Becoming much more nervous, Geno quickly walked out the door.

Mario: Well, THAT certainly raised more questions than it answered.

Mallow: Yeah, like DID THAT SHADOW JUST MOVE!?

One of the shadows seemed to jump in surprise at Mallow's sudden outburst and vanished into the wall.

Mario: Come to think of it, that thing looked more like a hole than a shadow.

Mallow: I'm gonna find out what it is!

Mallow jumped to his feet and walked out the door. Mario slumped back in his chair and sighed.

Mario: Well look how this has turned out. I'm about to fight a team I know almost nothing about and my teammates are both out on their own little adventures- Geno doing Shigs-knows-what and Mallow off chasing down a shadow monster that might not even exist! And to top it off, Geno is "good friends" with the enemy's strongest mage and Mallow just had to pick now to have self-esteem problems! How are we supposed to get anywhere NOW?

The shadow creature Mallow was chasing had leapt off the wall and taken the form of a human. Surprisingly, Mallow was doing a good job of keeping up with him.

Mallow: Come back here! I'll chase you forever if I have to!

Mallow was slowly gaining on the monster, when it suddenly leapt into another wall. Mallow tried to catch it, but found himself going THROUGH the wall and landing in the room belonging to the Blue Rogues, where Aika was changing her clothes.

Aika: AUGH! YOU PERVERT!

Aika threw a boomerang at Mallow that was at least half as big as he was. Scared witless, Mallow ran back to Team Mario's room as fast as he could, screaming in fear the whole way.

Mario was snapped out of his thoughts by Mallow very loudly slamming the door to their room.

Mario: Geez, Mallow, what happened to you?

Mallow: I tried to chase that shadow monster but it jumped off the wall and into another one so I tried to jump at it and grab it but I ended up going through the wall for some reason.

Mario: Well, it's a good thing you came back when you did. Our next match is starting in ten minutes.

Mallow: Ten minutes?

Mallow took a ten-minute nap on the ground.

Team Mario were the first people in the ring. Or they would be, if Eric wasn't showing off his swordsmanship in the middle.

Master Hand: Hello, greetings, konichiwa, bonjuor, salutations! The fighters are all here! That means you can stop dancing, Eric.

Eric leapt into the stands and sat down.

Master Hand: Before I start the match, I want to take this time to introduce the contestants. First, we have Team Mario with Mario, Mallow, and Geno.

The display screen showed a picture of Mario.

Master Hand: Mario. Savior of the Mushroom Kingdom. A man who needs no introduction. But I'll do one anyway. Starting off as a construction worker with the alias "Jumpman", Mario quickly became known for his heroics. One of his more recent quests was to repair the Star Road ater a giant sword flew down from outer space and shattered it. I'm sure you all know about his jumping. He also has the power to create fire out of thin air. His weapons of choice are his trusty hammer and the powerful Lazy Shell, a giant red winged turtle shell. He uses his awesome strength to clear a path through any challenge!

The picture changed to a very cloudlike creature with thin white arms and puffy pants.

Master Hand: Mallow is the prince of the cloud island Nimbus Land. Abandoned in a pond as a baby, he was raised by frogs and thought he was a tadpole for most of his life. He teamed up with Mario while trying to buy cricket pie for his adoptive father, Frogfucious, and learned of his past when their journey took them to Nimbus Land. Despite being seperated from the sky, Mallow retained a special connection with the weather, and can wield it as a weapon along with his Ribbit Stick and Sonic Cymbals.

The picture changed to one of a human-sized marionette wearing a blue cape, a blue hat and brown boots.

Master Hand: And lastly, we have Geno, the Star Road guardian who possessed the body of a doll in order to help Mario and Mallow repair the Star Road after it had been shattered. Doesn't look like much, right? Well, appearances can be decieving, for this warrior's frail arms conceal a very lethal weapon, twin star-shooting gatling guns! And that's not the only thing they can shoot, because when the Star Gun doesn't work, Geno unleashes the Geno Beam, Whirl, or even the amazing Geno Flash! This star-powered gun master is a welcome addition to any team.

Geno's picture vanished from the screen.

Master Hand: And facing this group is Team Alis's Alis, Odin, and Lutz!

The screen displayed a young woman with red hair wearing a pink coat, white pants, and grayish-blue armor.

Master Hand: This is Alis, hero of the Algo solar system. She deposed the tyrant Lassic, who was under the control of a mysterious dark force. Her quest was started when Lassic's robotic police force killed her brother. Throughout her adventure she obtained her Laconian Sword and Shield, which are very powerful and nearly indestructible. For other occasions, she has a few magic tricks up her sleeve!

The screen changed to a muscular blonde man wearing a red jumpsuit with silvery armor.

Master Hand: Now we have Alis's friend Odin, whom she found petrified in a cave. He had been attacked by a Medusa and frozen in the cave for quite a while. Unlike Alis, Odin has no magic powers, but he makes up for that with brute strength, both his own and that of his Laconian Axe and Armor as well as his Mirror Shield and Laser Gun.

The screen showed a person of unknown gender with blue hair wearing a white robe.

Master Hand: Lutz is an Esper wizard who had been living in a cave on the desert planet Motavia for Shigs-knows-how-long until the Governor decided that Alis needed some Esper Magic on her side. Lutz uses a magic wand when forced into physical combat, but relies mainly on the awesome magic powers passed down by a great Esper wizard of past ages, along with the Frad Mantle. Lutz has a spell for almost any occasion, something that Alis's team really needs.

The display screen changes to show pictures of both teams with the word Versus between them.

Round 1

Match 1

Team Mario(Mario, Mallow, Geno from Super Mario RPG)

VERSUS

Team Alis(Alis, Odin, Lutz from Phantasy Star)

3

2

1

FIGHT!

Mallow immediately raised his hands into the air, summoning a thunderstorm in order to catch his opponents by surprise. All three members of Team Alis were damaged slightly, but quickly recovered. Alis tried to cut Mallow in half while Lutz fired two fireballs at Mario and Odin charged at Geno.

Geno: This is too easy.

Geno fired both his Star Guns at Odin. To his surprise, they both exploded, taking his arms with them. Mallow noticed and created a rainstorm over Geno which somehow healed his arms.

Odin: Guess your arm cannons have a few bugs in them. Probably termites.

Odin stopped running and tried to hit Geno with a blast from his laser gun. It also exploded for some reason.

Geno: You're not too good yourself.

Geno's right arm turned into a black rod. Geno slowly gathered energy in it, forming a ball of light at the tip. Odin, seeing an opportunity, started to run at Geno again. Geno finished charging his attack and pointed the rod on his hand at Odin, firing a huge blue-white beam. Odin reacted quickly, raising his Mirror Shield and stopping the attack completely without even slowing down.

Odin: Here's my specialty!

Odin raised his giant axe over his head, ready to cleave Geno on two. But before he could swing, Geno waved his arm and launched a whirling orange energy disc at Odin which cut him in half so quickly he died before he even knew he was dying.

Meanwhile, Mario had dodged Lutz's fireballs by jumping into the air. As he fell, he directed his fall toward Lutz.

Lutz: Good idea.

Lutz raised his had into the air and released a stream of electricity from it. Mario, being in midair, was unable to dodge. The electric ray hit him dead-on.

Lutz: But not that good.

Mario: I s h o u l d h a v e s e e n t h a t c o m i n g!

Lutz: You should have, but you didn't.

Mario suddenly retaliated by launching a barrage of fireballs at Lutz. Lutz raised a shield of magical energy, which, while forcing him to stop his electric beam, nullified all of the fireballs as well as a whirling disc from Geno, who had just then noticed the battle. Mario immediately fell down. Right on Lutz's head.

Mario: I wasn't expecting that to happen, but I like it!

Mallow and Alis stopped fighting with their staff and sword to aid their friends. Mallow did this by summoning a pillar of focused lightning from the sky aimed directly at Lutz. It bounced off Lutz's still-active shield. Alis created a magical rope around Mario while Lutz recovered froh Mario's jump attack by eating a hamburger. Alis then attacked Mario with her Laconia Sword, scoring a direct hit and cutting him in half.

Alis: Now the score's even.

Both groups ran away from each other to discuss how the battle was going so far.

Mallow: They killed Mario! How are we supposed to win now!?

Geno: It's not as bad as you think. Without Odin, their team lacks physical power.

Mallow: We're not doing so well in that area either! You lost your guns!

Geno: Yes, but you still have your staff and cymbals.

Mallow: What good will they do?

Geno: Here's one way.

Geno raised his hands and created a bunch of red arrows around Mallow. The arows flew upwards along his body, increasing his strength and toughness dramatically.

Mallow: Yeah, I forgot about that!

Geno: Good, we can catch them off-guard now.

Mallow took Geno's advice and ran toward Team Alis. He began to attack them with a staff that had a tip shaped like a frog's head. He was doing very well due to Geno's strength boost. After a fairly short time, he managed to knock both of them into a corner.

Geno: I think this is a good time to finish them.

Geno transformed into a giant cannon aimed at Alis and Lutz.

Mallow: I'm ready!

Mallow raised his hands into the air, summoning not lightning, but a star from the heavens. The star crashed into his opponents, bouncing up and falling again after each hit. The star eventually bounced away just in time to avoid a blast from Geno which erupted into a gigantic swirl of star power and then exploded. Alis and Lutz were nowhere to be found when the smoke cleared.

Master Hand: What an amazing finishing blow! Team Mario wins!

Geno transformed back into a doll. The dead fighters were all revived.

Lutz: An impressive display of force, Geno. What do you call that attack?

Geno: Geno Flash. Works every time.

Lutz: It's certainly better than anything I have.

Geno: It certainly is.

Odin: You lousy cheater! You sabotaged my gun!

Geno: My Star Guns were tampered with as well. Why would I destroy my own guns?

Odin: Er... good point. But I still want to know who did it!

Alis: Your friends are very skilled, Mario. I'm glad your homeworld has such powerful protectors.

Mario: Same here.

Master Hand: I'm glad you're all getting along, but the arena is closed now.

Mario: What do you mean "closed"?

Master Hand: You've been here for too long after your fight.

All of the fighters leave the arena abruptly.

Master Hand: I'd like to take a moment to remind everyone of the current standings.

The display screen changed again.

Winners

Team Mario(Mario, Geno, Mallow from Super Mario RPG)

Losers

Team Alis(Alis, Odin, Lutz from Phantasy Star)

Remaining Fighters

Team Launcher(Mag, Linear, Gre from Evolution)

Team Psi(Ness, Paula, Jeff from Earthbound)

Team Disney(Sora, Donald, Goofy from Kingdom Hearts)

Team Crono(Crono, Marle, Lucca from Crono Trigger)

Dragon Knights(Ryu, Nina, Cray from Breath of Fire 4)

The Exorcists(Yuri, Alice, Zhuzhen from Shadow Hearts)

Baron's Heroes(Cecil, Edge, Rosa from Final Fantasy 4)

Warriors of Twilight(Kite, BlackRose, Mistral from .Hack/INFECTION)

Yuna's Guardians(Tidus, Wakka, Yuna from Final Fantasy 10)

Radical Dreamers(Serge, Kid, Guile from Chrono Cross)

Team Junior(Kotemon, Renamon, Patamon from Digimon World 3)

Liberation Army(Tir, Cleo, Pahn from Suikoden)

The ARMs(Ashley, Lilka, Brad from Wild ARMs 2)

Team Lumina(Musashi from Brave Fencer Musashi and Rue, Mint from Threads of Fate)

Team Gobli(Gobli, Mark, Neko from RPG Maker)

Team Valkyrie(Lenneth, Arngrim, Jelanda from Valkyrie Profile)

Team Seru(Vahn, Noa, Gala from Legend of Legaia)

Team Atlamilla(Max, Monica, Steve from Dark Cloud 2)

Team Xeno(Fei, Elly Citan from Xenogears)

Magic Knights(Hikaru, Umi, Fuu from Magic Knight Rayearth)

Blue Rogues(Vyse, Aika, Fina from Skies of Arcadia)

Team Chocobo(Chocobo, Mog, Shiroma from Chocobo's Dungeon 2)

Team Dragoon(Dart, Shana, Lavitz from Legend of Dragoon)

Team Avalanche(Cloud, Barrett, Tifa from Final Fantasy 7)

Team SeeD(Squall, Riona, Quistis from Final Fantasy 8)

Team Stan(Ari, Rosalyn, Kisling from Okage:Shadow King)

Team Arcana(Rooks, Sylph, Teefa from Arcana)

Team Djinn(Isaac, Garet, Mia from Golden Sun)

Legion of Warriors(Kombat Machine, Patriot, Pyro from Electronica)

Team Loners(Benjamin from Final Fantasy Mystic Quest, Alucard from Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and Malapa from *classified*)

Master Hand: And the next match will be Team Xeno Versus the Blue Rogues! Goodbye, everyone!

A whie later, Mario was talking to Geno in the lounge.

Mario: So what did you mean earlier?

Geno: I used to be an esper like Lutz. When I went to the Star Road I did a few heroics and the Stars offered to let me stay and protect them. Needless to say, I accepted.

Mario: Why didn't you tell us?

Geno: I didn't think it was that important.

Mario: Oh. How do you think the next match will turn out?

Geno: No idea.

Mario: I think the Blue Rogues are up to something.

Geno: Probably. Want to get some sleep?

Mario: Yeah, I'm pretty worn out.

They went back to Team Mario's room to sleep for the night, while a familiar person watched from the shadows.

Malapa: The sorceress and her friends did better than I had expected. She may upset my plan. I'll keep an eye on her.

Malapa transformed into an orb of light and flew away.

Round 1

Match 2

Team Xeno(Fei, Elly, Citan from Xenogears)

VERSUS

Blue Rogues(Vyse, Aika, Fina from Skies of Arcadia)

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Cosmetor: It looks like the tournament and the plot are really getting started! Who sabotaged Geno's and Odin's guns? And what was with that shadow monster? Find out more next chapter!