Notes for the Competitors
-The Apex Legends characters come from when the Arsenal Season takes place.
-For the Trollhunter characters, imagine that the time reversal thing never happened.
-Total Drama Island 2023 has canonically taken place 15 years after Total Drama Island. Because of the supposed drastic age differences between the two generations, imagine the two seasons be closer.
-The Dragon Prince Characters are from directly after Part 3, after they've defeated Viren and his army of corrupted soldiers.
-The characters from Tekken were taken before the story of Tekken 8.
-Aloy is from directly after the Forbidden West DLC; The Burning Shores
Tokuking45: I am unfortunately ditching the crossposting idea. All of my works will be exclusively for from now on.
After everyone has arrived from the now-deactivated interdimensional portal, the group turns to the Golden Voice in anticipation of the stated event.
"Okay, can you get us unstuck now? This is more uncomfortable than it looks." Gwen tried to wriggle away from the gum once more.
In a flash, the gum sticking Gwen and Owen together disappear to who knows where.
"Okay, now that everyone is here, what the heck are we gonna do in this… Steel Ball Run?" Talon asked.
"Allow me to explain. As you can see, I am not a physical being. I have simply taken the form of a flash of light to speak to you." The Golden Voice exclaimed. "You folks have already deduced that you are all from different universes, and I am the one who has brought you into this alternate plane of existence."
"So in layman's terms, you are a reality bender." Cartmen deduced. "Cool! Can I have a KFC bucket?!"
"This isn't the time for food, fatass." Kenny insulted.
"Hold on, did you say plane of existence? This looks incredibly similar to a beach. Even the gravity feels normal." Priya questioned.
"That is because I have formed this pocket dimension into something most of you are familiar with." The Golden Voice stated.
"This looks a lot like San Diego beach. On the West Coast." Carmen stated.
"And that it is. Or more specifically, this is a replica of 1890s America." The Golden Voice explained. "This will be your playing field for this competition of utmost grandeur."
"So, what's the shtick here? An elimination game? A tournament? Just spit it out already." Lili tried to hasten the explanation.
"I'm glad you asked. The Steel Ball Run will be a horse race from the West Coast of San Diego, California all the way to the island of Manhattan, New York." The Golden Voice explained.
"Oh come on. A horse race across the entire North American continent?" Scout exclaimed. "That would take entire days to traverse, let alone weeks!"
"Hold on. A horse race? That seems mundane, doesn't it?" Wendy asked. "Don't get me wrong, I expected something more into the category of 'grand' with the abilities you possess."
"Doesn't seem mundane when it's across the ENTIRE American continent!" Cartman exclaimed.
"Yeah, while I don't agree with Cartman, this seems too mundane of a competition of your caliber, Golden Light." Kyle stated.
"Is there a catch to this race that you're not telling us?" Callum asked.
"Well, there's the fact that you all come from different backgrounds." The Golden Light stated. "But I can assure you, there is a special element at play. It will be revealed once the time calls for it."
"Hmm. So, what is the structure of this race?" Wattson asked.
"Well, this race spans across nine stages, with a checkpoint between each stage." The Golden Voice explains. "The first checkpoint is not far from here. A total of one and a half kilometers."
"And does the placement of each stage play into a point system of sorts?" Lynn asked.
"There will be nothing of the sort. However, if you manage to reach a checkpoint before anybody else, you gain a one hour time bonus that will be used on the final stage." The Golden Voice stated. "For example, if someone arrives at the finish line before someone with a single time bonus, the latter will have an hour to reach the finish line to win it all."
"Win what, exactly?" Meg asked.
"For those that place within the Top 5, they will be awarded with the fortune from your universe." The Golden Voice added.
"And for the absolute winner?" Josee asked.
"As for the true winner that strives through the thick and thin, their predetermined fate will change for the better." The Golden Voice states. "I was able to drag you from your universes, and I am able to change your fate in it."
"Change predetermined fates?" Aloy was intrigued by this prospect.
"Hmm, well I don't need that. I'll just get within the Top 5. I've got a lot of loans to pay back." Paul stated.
"There is a second element as well." The Golden Voice added. "And that is the fact that combat is enabled."
That final statement surprised a lot of them there. Combat is enabled in a horse race of all things? The thought didn't stick with them well.
"Um… can you elaborate what you mean by that?" Marinette asked.
"You can fight each other to prevent other competitors from getting far into the race. Even when push comes to shove, killing your competition is also an option." The Golden Voice explained.
"You mean we can kill in this game?" Owen asked.
"Yes. And those that do get killed are eliminated completely from the race and will watch the rest of the race from a special suite-like area." The Golden Voice stated.
"How can you be so sure we don't truly die?" Cartman asked.
Suddenly, a heavy metal anvil manifests above Kenny and falls on top of him, driving him into the sand and killing him.
"Oh my god! They killed Kenny!" Stan exclaimed.
"You bastard!" Kyle added.
Just as suddenly, a glowing blue orb appears from Kenny's corpse and flies to the center of the group.
"Screw you guys! Why do I have to be the one to get killed?!" Kenny exclaimed.
"Whoa! That's gnarly." Ronnie exclaimed.
"Kenny?! Are you okay?!" Kyle asked.
"What does it look like? I got crushed by a fucking anvil." Kenny stated. "At least I don't feel anything at the moment."
"Wow. Not what I was expecting." Gwen commented.
"Yes. Your soul will be preserved in this orb. Said orb will send you to the Spectator's Suite where you shall stay until the race is over." The Golden Voice.
"Okay, that's cool and all, but it would be nice if I were back in my body again." Kenny complained.
Kenny's orb glows a blue flash, and his body manifests once more, without any scratches.
"So, when's the race gonna start?" Inspector Gadget asked.
"It will start within an hour. You can wait in that town over there to gather supplies. You can also take the time to meet up with familiar faces and form alliances." The Golden Voice stated as the group saw the town not too far away. "See you all in an hour."
The Golden Voice then disappeared, leaving the fifty competitors to their own accord. Seeing no way out of this, they decide to move on with this competition and head to the town in the distance.
"I'll get to the supplies first!" Scout sprinted away from the sandy beach.
"Oh no you don't!" Josee exclaimed.
"Not if I beat you to the punch!" Steve exclaimed.
As the three begin to sprint towards the town, Octane takes out a small syringe filled with a green substance and injects himself.
"Who-ho-hoo! Yepa!" Octane felt the adrenaline coarse through his veins.
Octane sprinted faster than the former three, and not long after, he passed by them due to his insane speed.
"He injected himself with an adrenaline shot?" Asuka exclaimed.
"Cool! I want one!" Cartman exclaimed.
"Guys, gather here." Gwen called out to her friends and TD alumni. "Do any of you have an idea on how to approach this?"
"Yeah, do any of you guys know how to ride horses?" Priya asked.
Everyone within the group nodded their heads in agreement.
"We know the general basics, but competitive horseback riding is kinda out of our reach." Owen stated.
"Well, I'm sure that's not a problem. Usually, speed and control is pretty much miniscule if it's transcontinental like this race." Millie commented.
"So, is this an official team?" Gwen asked.
"Eh, I'm going alone. No offence, but I just wanna tackle this race on my own." MacArthur commented.
"Hmm, if you wish." Priya stated. "But I'm kinda interested about the combat schtick."
"Why's that?" Izzy asked.
"Do you notice how a lot of the people are just normal people?" Priya asked. "If there was a combat element, maybe they'd use a lot more people with special abilities."
"Yeah, you're right." Owen also noticed the detail.
"The Golden Voice also mentioned a special element in the race. If I were to analyse the way he spoke, I'd say that element will complement the combat factor of this race." Millie stated.
"Hmm. So are we gonna do this race or not?" Izzy smiled.
"Ooh! A four-leafed clover!" Inspector Gadget exclaimed in awe.
"I don't think that will help in the race, Uncle Gadget." Penny raised an eyebrow at this.
"I'm thinking we should get an alliance going. We have three people here, so we need two more for any of us to make it into the Top 5" Talon stated.
"You?! In the Top 5?! Hah!" Penny laughed at the prospect. "You'd better be out of your mind to think of something like that."
"So, what do you think we should do?" Steve asked. "Got any Trollhunter magic you think can help us here?"
"I don't really know. Other than my combat ability and the Amulet, I don't really have things that might help with transport." Jim noted. "Even if Claire were here, she wouldn't know exactly what 1890s America would look like."
"So even with our full squad, we won't be able to breeze through this easily." Steve sighed. "I hope you know horseback riding."
"Same thing to you." Jim chuckled.
"Did you guys say you were looking for a team?" Marinette approached the two. "I'm guessing not a lot of us know competitive horse riding."
"Yeah, I guess. It's pretty weird though. Why gather people who don't know competitive horse riding for a horse race?" Jim asked.
"That confuses me as well. I've never done horse racing. Let alone transcontinental." Marinette commented.
"Well I guess we should learn how to navigate." Jim stated.
"So, what do you bring to the table?" Steve asked. "The Golden Voice said something about you being a Parisian vigilante."
"Not exactly a vigilante. Since you guys are from another universe, I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you." Marinette stated. "I'm actually a superhero named Ladybug. And I've done a lot of fighting."
"Really, eh? I guess we do need fighters against some of the people here." Steve smirked.
"I'm guessing Jim is what you call the Trollhunter. I'm interested with what you have in store." Marinette commented.
"Good. Glad to have you on the team." Jim says.
1 Hour Later…
The competitors have scoured the entire town for supplies the past hour, and almost all of them have at least a single bag of items. As the competitors try to search for more stuff, a loud horn noise blared throughout the town that caught everyone's attention.
"The time is up! The horses have appeared on the south edge of the town!" The Golden Voice announced. "Everyone gather to the south side of the town! The race will be starting within one minute."
"Oh shit! It's starting already?!" Cartman exclaimed.
"It's Vectoring time!" Vector yelled.
Come on, bozo!" Scout hurried up.
And that's it. The second chapter is similar to last time. Only this time, I've just refined some dialogue and set up alliances to make the race interesting.