Chapter 5: Reunion, Revelation, & Revolution Part 3

Guardians:

Ruby (Pokémon Adventures): The Charmer

Junko Konno (Zombie Land Saga): The Showa (Zombie) Idol

Linhardt von Hevring (Fire Emblem: Three Houses): The Sleepy Crest Scholar

Bucky Barnes (Marvel Cinematic Universe): The Veteran Sergeant

Blaze The Cat (Sonic The Hedgehog): The Fire Princess

Yamcha (Dragon Ball): The Wolf Fang Fist

Komaru Naegi (Danganronpa): The Hopeful Heart

Sapphire Birch (Pokémon Adventures): The Conqueror

Michiru Kagemori (BNA: Brand New Animal): The Shapeshifting Beast Girl

Masaomi Kida (Durarara!): The Casanova

Scott Lang/Ant-Man (Marvel Cinematic Universe): The Ex-Thief

Ponzu (Hunter X Hunter): The Queen Bee

Ashe (Fire Emblem: Three Houses): The Arrow of Justice

Waluigi (Super Mario Bros.): The Cheating Trickster

Stan Marsh/Toolshed and Wendy Testaburger/Call Girl (South Park): The Power Couple

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit (Disney/Disney's Epic Mickey): The Forgotten King

Zetsubou Members:

Monaca Towa (Danganronpa): The Li'l Ultimate Homeroom

Ultron (Marvel Cinematic Universe): The Rogue A.I.

General Tao (Dragon Ball): The Mercenary

Agatha (Pokémon Adventures): The Elder

Dr. Eggman Nega (Sonic The Hedgehog): The Mad Scientist

Big Bad Pete, Petetronic, Small Pete, & Pete Pan (Disney's Epic Mickey): The Brutes

?

Third-Person POV

Ortensia knocked on the metal shutter door to the Gag Factory, bouncing excitedly with anticipation.

"Okay, we're ready if you're ready! Let's see how you look in your new duds, sweeties!"

Insert Song: Hall of Fame (Pokémon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire)

Out first were the Pokédex Holders from the Hoenn region, Ruby & Sapphire! Ruby was in an outfit similar to his contest getup; dark sparkly pants, red jacket with boots to match, a special Mega Bracelet on his wrist, and surprisingly enough his hat was removed to show off his hair (with red and yellow feather accessories) and his scar from the childhood Salamence attack.

Sapphire was back to a classic look, similar to her original outfits. A blue bandana atop her head, sleeveless blue top with black shorts underneath, with tennis shoes and gloves perfect for her to move around easily in. Pokéballs with all their team members were lined up on their belts, each of them well fed and raring to go.

"I felt a little nostalgic so I thought your old outfit would be the best choice for you, what do you think?" Ruby asked her.

Sapphire tightened her bandana and adjusted her bag on her waist, "They're great, got me thinkin' of good times we had. Yer lookin' pretty spiffy too, but can ya even move around in that fancy getup?"

Ruby confidently smiled, "Of course I can, I even made it so that all of them would still look fantastic if they manage to get dirty. Both stylish and conflict-ready."

Up next were Michiru, Komaru, and Masaomi!

The tanuki beast girl donned a red sports jacket that's zipped open to reveal a blue basketball jersey with shorts and sneakers to match.

The Hacking Gun toting sister to Makoto was wearing a fashionable vest over a green t-shirt and jean shorts.

Masaomi tied a yellow bandana around his neck to go along with a black jacket over a white long sleeve shirt and comfortable jeans.

"I'm ready to go! Gonna make Anima City proud today!" A hyped Michiru pumped her fists in the air.

"Hm…" Masaomi is caught checking out his bandana by Michiru, but he just immediately turns away from her when he notices her looking.

Komaru waves over to Gremlin Gus as she checks out her new look, "Not too shabby, huh Gus? I feel like those models who get to show off new clothes to buy at a mall!"

The mustachioed gremlin chuckled at the girl's attempt at striking good poses, "Very stylish, Ms. Naegi! Almost like a modern day Belle, if I were to give an example."

Out came Oswald to join in on that conversation. He was dressed in attire similar to that of King Mickey's from Kingdom Hearts, albeit with the red coloring replaced with blue, the lack of any shoes, and no keyblade of course.

"Eh, she's okay. Got more of a Eilonwy vibe from her personally…"

"Who?" Komaru tilted her head in confusion.

"Exactly." Oswald bluntly stated.

"Ooooh, Hunny Bunny you're looking so handsome! And Komaru, sweetie, don't take what he says seriously, you look wonderful!" Ortensia came over and adjusted her husband's jacket to look less wrinkly.

Komaru smiled genuinely after hearing the good compliments before turning tosee our Marvel Cinematic Universe stars show up: Bucky & Scott.

The former's outfit has a black overcoat with bits of red, as well as combat boots and a domino mask to match. (Based on the "Night Watch" outfit from that terrible Avengers game).

Lang's outfit included a lot more red on the body of his new suit, and the black was more spread out to the shoulders, gloves, hips and boots. Additionally, his new helmet had more pronounced antennae on the front of it and slightly more bulky steel knee pads (making it look more like his modern comic outfit).

They begin to stretch their limbs to check how well they can move around in these new threads, as the next Guardians loudly proclaims his arrival.

"Wa-ha-ha! Wah-nderful!"

The purple menace himself, Waluigi was wearing a gear build from Mario Strikers Battle League (my own build actually when I played the game). The Cannon Visor hat (with his logo of course) to reveal his surprisingly luscious hair, Turbo Gloves that glow from his wrists to his knuckles, the Cannon Plate atop his chest, and Trick Boots for those technical movements on the battlefield. A selection of armor pieces that focuses on speed and technique, although there are much better setups out there.

Ponzu's outfit traded the pink-sh salmon sweater for a almost full pink getup with the exceptions being dark blue sleeves and shoes (inspired by the 1999 anime adaption of Hunter X Hunter). However that's not where it ends! Combined with her previous chemical stinger gauntlets from her time as Team Zetsubou's minion, she gained gloves that can shoot out a sticky honey-like substance to trap opponents. Her long sea green hair was tied up in a ponytail and her wings were also tuned up to be more hornet speed, rather than the slower honeybee.

"It's… very impressive. I can honestly see myself wearing this outfit even outside of battle."

"Yeah, looking good! I would have gone for more yellow and black to go more with the bee theming, although that would just remind me of my partner and I don't feel like being homesick right now. " Scott told her.

"A bit too on the nose for me, but I am grateful for not having to wear the same old clothes. Thank you, Ruby." Ponzu grins towards the Contest Champion.

He reciprocates and provides a quick wink as well, just for extra charm.

Blaze came out basically in her Olympic Winter Games outfit (a purple tailcoat with gold accents, plus white leggings and purple boots), while Stan & Wendy were in slightly upgraded versions of their hero outfits. Nothing more to speak of here, aside from the fact that they weren't easily pierced by Monokuma claws or even bullets.

"Whoa… kickass! Look at all these tools on my belt, can't wait to show the guys back home!" Stan says as he takes out a screwdriver.

Wendy does the same for a smartphone, "And these are even more powerful than any phones on the market! Suck it, Steve Jobs!"

Blaze puts a hand to her head, as if she were a disappointed mother hearing her children use new curse words they learned.

"Oh my…"

"We've ought to teach these children to use less vulgar language. It's not right for them to use it at such a young age…" Ashe shakes his head as he and Linhardt walk out.

They were wearing uniforms straight out of Fire Emblem: Three Hopes. Ashe was in a blue archer garb with a bow & quiver on his back and a metal covering on his chest like the future knight he wished to be. Linhardt's hair was also tied back (though in a small bun rather than a ponytail), and he dusted off his long green and blue mage robe that has a holder for his magic tomes.

"I doubt they'd listen to you. Wherever they're from, it seems like having a dirty mouth is commonplace. I'd preferably choose to avoid going there." Linhardt remarks.

Yamcha stepped out in almost like a mashup of two of his looks, the classic desert bandit and the modern martial artist. Taking the white and gray color scheme of the latter, and adding it to the classic sleeveless look alongside the bandana used in the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai.

"Hey, Junko? Don't be shy, come out so they can all see you!" Yamcha calls out to the zombie girl.

She answered quickly, "Just give me a few more seconds please!".

"Haven't got all day, so make it snappy Zombie Gal!" Oswald said as he tapped his foot impatiently.

Those seconds passed and right as her white boots hit the pavement, everyone was staring. She was used to the attention during performances, though this felt a tad bit embarrassing in front of those she called friends.

Ruby spoke up immediately, "Absolutely beautiful! I recalled you talking about that one concert you had, the one where you performed passionately with that friend with the yellow flowers in her hair? I did my best to recreate the outfit from your description, what do you think?"

"Ruby… it's astonishing how marvelous of a job you've done. It's almost an exact match, but it feels like such a unique take that it's breathtaking. You're too talented, Ruby, thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Junko's current apparel is based on the Franchouchou outfit worn when they performed Gekkou Survive. A headband atop her floofy hair, a dancing dress with white stripes on top of black, and a skirt that's white and gray like her boots. An idol that's ready to smash some bots.

Ashe decided to share his opinions as well, "I almost look like a true knight in this, phenomenal work!"

"Not bad, kid! I'm getting some nostalgia just looking at my new duds!" Yamcha admired himself in a nearby window.

"You guys did really well on this suit, dodging's gonna be a lot easier since I don't feel like I'm wearing a clunky motorcycle suit. Still, how did you all manage to make this? It took years for Hank Pym to perfect the science of both the suit and the particle to even use it!" Scott questioned as he checked his new suit.

Ruby walked up to explain, "Like I said, the Mad Doctor had a hand in the practicality of it. Of course he needed the use of your old suit to see how it worked and—"

"Wait wait wait wait, you let that nutcase fiddle around with the Ant-Man suit?!" Scott realizes and panics.

"Y-Yeah?" Ruby replies, not knowing the implications.

That's when Bucky stepped in, "That kind of technology in the wrong hands would cause a lot of damage. A common occurrence where we're from, which is why I took your old suit back along with the extra Pym Particles that the doc made for himself."

"Hooooo, another crisis averted. Thanks, Sergeant." Scott wiped sweat off of his forehead as he sighed in relief.

"Where are my precious Mad Molecules?! " The Mad Doctor's voice could be heard from inside the factory.

Bucky quickly handed them to Scott who put them in his back pocket for safe keeping. The White Wolf then turned to Ruby and gave him a serious look.

"Look kid, we appreciate the new gear, but think things through longer before even more problems pop up and need to be dealt with. We've had plenty of screwups because someone didn't think of the consequences of their actions. Try to learn from this."

"Hey! He didn't know that—"

Sapphire tried to defend her crush, but Ruby put his hand up to stop her.

"Of course, I'll be sure not to be too hasty next time. My apologies."

Ruby's head lowered as he reflected on his actions, with Sapphire briefly glaring at the man with the metal arm before they all gathered up as a group once more.

"We're all suited up, we've eaten and gotten plenty of rest…" Blaze began addressing everyone.

"Plenty? I still needed about an hour or three." Linhardt interrupted, but Blaze ignored him.

"... And we've all gotten the chance to get familiar with one another. Now is the time where we decide which of us will go to certain locations."

Oswald stepped up to the plate, "Mickeyjunk Mountain is just north of here, I spent a lotta time on that big junkpile so I'll take care of it easily. No problemo!"

"Waluigi will take Bog Easy, so that he will have the most easy time! Genius, wa-ha-ha!" Waluigi laughed as the Lucky Rabbit rolled his solid black eyes.

"That ain't what the name means, but sure, knock yourself out Mustache Man."

Scott looked at the map and made his decision, "I don't think the suit can handle being in the swamp, so I'm gonna go with Gremlin Village. Sounds like a nice place if that's where this guy is from."

Gus gives him a thumbs up in reply, "Of course, it's a wonderful little neighborhood with plenty of my fellow Gremlins there to show you hospitality. Just tell them I sent you!"

"A buncha robot pirates sound like a breath of fresh air compared to the amount of plain Monkumas we've been fighting. I'll take Ventureland!" Yamcha chooses his path.

A lightbulb went off in Sapphire's head before she chose where to go.

"That Bog Easy place sounds like the perfect place for that creepy Agatha-lady to be! Probably in that spooky mansion with how much she uses ghost-types. I need to take her down after what she did to our home!"

"G-G-Ghosts? Eh… Waluigi will just go fight pirates instead."

"Right, we have to also consider which of those generals will be controlling the areas we visit. I'll head to Ventureland as well." Bucky told the Guardians.

Soon enough four teams were confirmed to be heading to their specific locations.

Bog Easy: Linhardt, Sapphire, Junko, Ruby

Gremlin Village: Scott, Ashe, Blaze, Stan & Wendy

Ventureland: Yamcha, Bucky, Ponzu, Waluigi

Mickeyjunk Mountain: Oswald, Michiru, Komaru, Masaomi

The mountain climbing crew went towards the newly reconstructed entrance to Mickeyjunk, while the other groups went over to Mean Street first to get to the projectors leading to where they needed to go. Once they all shut down the generators used to mass produce the Monokuma units, they can head straight to Dark Beauty Castle and finish this. However, within the castle walls…. Something had begun to grow.

"Many thanks for retrieving me from my imprisonment, Ms. Towa! I knew it wouldn't be long until you needed my brilliance…"

Eggman Nega had been returned to their headquarters after having been located by the Nanokumas. His ropes were cut and the good doctor stretched his round body that was tied together for a while.

Monaca just pouted, "Hmph! You're just lucky we need all hands on deck to fight those meanies. Oooh! Before you head off to go beat 'em up, I need a little help with the last phase of the plan…"

She turned and pointed at Mickey's heart, a green Chaos Emerald, and then at Ultron's fully completed body. Nega smiled at the project he was about to work on.

"Ah, so my extraction machine worked? I knew it would… and it gathered the remains of that Shadow Blot creature too, correct?"

"Yuppers, now let's make a masterpiece…" Monaca's grin turned sinister as she whipped out Yen Sid's magic paintbrush.

Eggman Nega began to cackle, "Indeed… increase Phantom Ruby energy into the body little by little as well, I'm going to need some juice to keep this heart beating after I perform this transplant. Oh-ho-ho-ho-ho-ho!"

"Huff… huff… how long is this path up the mountain? I think my legs are about to start cramping." Masaomi complained.

The older cartoon rabbit led the three anime teens up Mickeyjunk mountain, much to his dismay.

Oswald sighed, "This is the safest path I could take, since the main one got wrecked in an earthquake. Just follow my lead and we'll be there in no time!"

"Yeesh! I think that statue just looked at me, ugh this place gives me the creeps." Komaru gets chills after seeing some unsettling giant merchandise.

Suddenly Oswald's long ears heard something and he halted the group from proceeding.

"Wait!"

"What is it?" Michiru questioned before all four of them felt the mountain rumble.

The teenagers and the rabbit look up to see an avalanche of Mickey merchandise rushing down the slopes to greet its guests.

"HOLY SHIT, MOVE NOW!" Kida yelled as he booked it out of there.

As Komaru ran she felt the need to bring up something bothering her, "Why did you put all this junk up on this mountain anyways?!"

"It was out of spite for my brother, but now that I'm over that, I'm too lazy to move THOUSANDS OF MEMORABILIA off a mountain! Excuse me for not wanting to waste my budget on that!" Oswald ran as fast as his toon legs could carry him.

"It's getting closer! We're not gonna make it!" Masaomi panted heavily.

Thinking of no other option, Michiru grit her teeth and used her stretchy arms to pull everyone close to her.

"HOLD ON TIGHT!" She told them as her tail grew large and began to shine brightly.

"What in the…" Oswald began to say before he and the others were engulfed by the tanuki girl's tail.

CRASH! BOOM! BANG!

The avalanche passed over them, as Michiru continued to shield them all from the falling merchandise. It soon passed and her tail shape shifted back into its normal size. All four of them looked around to check for any more falling toys or similar items before breathing a sigh of relief.

"Now can we rest?" Masaomi flopped to the ground after all that sprinting.

"Ugh, teenagers. I'm hoping my kids never grow up and end up as lazy as you. C'mon, there's still plenty of mountain left to climb." Oswald grumbles to himself.

Unfortunately for them, one last thing fell from above and landed behind them. It was the head of the very first Mickey costume used at Disneyland, specifically the one where its face had a lot of holes.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Komaru screamed at the sight of the ugly head and fainted.

Oswald sighed as he dragged Komaru by the ahoge up the mountain and the other two quickly followed to avoid looking into the mascot's staring eyes.

Michiru then walked up to Masaomi to ask him something, "So… I was just wondering, what was up with you earlier? There's not much you've been telling us about yourself, and it's got me worried."

Masaomi tried to play it off cool, "Me? No of course not… ugh, I'm not a very good liar. Much better at making good jokes than hiding secrets, hah."

Michiru decided to tease him a bit, "Even then you suck at that too, ha ha."

Masaomi lowered his eyebrows in response, "Hey, my jokes don't suck, they rule! Hm, the way you saw right through me kind of reminds me of… never mind, I guess I can tell you since you just saved our asses."

"Good, so… what's got you down?" Michiru asked.

"First off… I guess I should mention I was the leader of a gang in Ikebukuro. Called ourselves the Yellow Scarves." Masaomi began.

Michiru's eyebrows went up as she now noticed the significance of the bandanna.

"We just used it as a way to mess around and have fun in the city, getting into fights and all that. All that changed when we ran into a bunch of jerks called the Blue Squares."

The tanuki girl interrupted the story briefly, "Blue Squares? Yellow Scarves I get, but do they have square-shaped patterns on their clothes or have square-shaped accessories?"

Kida softly chuckled at that, "Nah, they sure did act like a bunch of squares though, ha ha. It really was rough having to deal with them so I decided to take some advice from… an information broker. It… got worse after that. People important to me got hurt. Don't think I want to explain what else happened, even wearing this right now is giving me some bad memories. Sorry about being so mopey, let's keep going."

After he finished his story he stayed quiet as the two of them slowly began to catch up with Oswald and Komaru. Soon enough Masaomi felt something on his back, briefly stopping him in his tracks.

It was Michiru giving him a hug, holding him for a few minutes as the blonde boy regained his smile.

"Ha, thanks."

Ponzu glanced towards the sky above her, noticing how odd the weather had suddenly gotten. She lowered her goggles to get a closer look and audibly gasped.

"What do you see?" Bucky asked her.

"Wah? Waluigi only sees rain clouds, nothing else!" Waluigi looks at the sky and comes to his own conclusions.

Ponzu shook her head, "That's where you're wrong. Those clouds aren't normal, they look much darker than any storm clouds. It looks like pure black smog or smoke, but I'm getting a sense that there's more to it…"

"If it is something to worry about, we better get this done first before taking care of it. One thing at a time, alright?" Yamcha tells her as the young woman puts her goggles back up, while still looking at the strange cloud formation above Dark Beauty Castle.

They entered Tortooga, a town where toon pirates were free to be their rowdy selves. Pillaging, thievery, or just straight up mischief was everywhere our group of four saw. As soon as they found a bar where plenty of those scallywags were drinking until they passed out, a rotund pirate got tossed out the window and landed right in front of them.

"Argh, I'm finished with the lot of you! I'm going home to see my darling Henrietta! You landlubbers better watch yourselves if you head in there, they're REALLY bad eggs!"

The pirate stormed off after being kicked out of the bar as the four of them looked at each other in a mix of confusion and concern.

"Waluigi will handle this, I am a really bad egg too!" The lanky man pushed past his allies and right into the bar.

"I think we all know what's going to happen, how long do you think he lasts?" Bucky asked the other two.

Ponzu began counting the seconds, "5… 4… 3… 2… 1… 0. Huh, I figured he would be thrown out the window by now. What's he doing in there?"

"I'll go check, wait here." Barnes said as he opened the door.

"Sure thing, Buck-aneer! Ha ha." Yamcha saluted him after making that pun, as Ponzu groaned in response.

When he walked in Bucky saw Waluigi joining in on sea shanties and having pints of rum with scoundrels just like him. The White Wolf raised an eyebrow as he ushered Yamcha and Ponzu to make their way in too.

"Wa-ho, wa-ho, a pirate's life for me!" Waluigi sings as Ponzu grabs the rum away from him before he could take another sip.

"Can't have you drunk off your ass before fighting robot pirates. Take this more seriously, please?"

"Wah…" Waluigi's mustache drooped down as his fun was ruined.

"Don't get too down on yourself, pal. You managed to earn these guys' trust so we can ask about the Monokuma generator!" Yamcha pat Waluigi on the back in reassurance.

"You bilge rats be looking for that demonic contraption that creates mechanical menaces, aye?"

A pirate with an eyepatch and a red bandana overheard them as he took a swig of his rum.

"Uh,argh! Do ye know where to find it… matey?" Yamcha said in bad pirate talk that made the others cringe.

"Aye, that would be on Skull Island. Those scurvy dogs, Team Zetsubou rebuilt the machine after it had been destroyed by that paintbrush swinging mouse." The pirate summarized.

"And how can we get to Skull Island?" Ponzu asked.

The pirate sat up and walked out the bar, taking out his cutlass in order to point in the direction they needed to go: another projector screen.

"Be warned, landlubbers, the former enemy of our late Captain Hook is floundering about the island. Pete Pan be his name, and he's also got the assistance of his other bulbous doppelgängers Small Pete and Petetronic. Those rapscallions and their basher machines can send you straight to Davy Jones's Locker if ye ain't careful."

"Right, thanks for your help, scurvy dog. We'll take it from here." Bucky told the pirate.

The pirate just slowly made his way back to the bar, "Be sure to tell Pan that Gentleman Starky sends his regards when ye keelhaul him."

Yamcha did not like the sound of that, "No no no, we won't do anything like that to 'em. Right guys?"

Bucky shrugged, "Depends on how I'm feeling after the fight."

"Aye, and don't be afraid to stop by for another round, Waluigi. Your stories be mighty interesting, lad." Starkey said to the purple man.

"Aye aye, wa-ha-ha!" Waluigi replied with joy at the acceptance.

Unfortunately, Ponzu grabbed him by the point ear and dragged him to the projector, "Come on… there'll be plenty of more time for drinks afterwards."

"Wah… no fair!" Waluigi shouts in frustration.

Miles away from the Guardians back on Mean Street, some new players have entered the game to play a small role in assisting them.

A blue star-shaped portal appeared in the middle of the square, a gust of wind blowing wildly as out stepped our four newcomers.

"Hpmh, are we sure that this is the correct location? There doesn't seem to be anything worthwhile in this dilapidated theme park." A serious voice speaks in a doubtful tone.

A younger voice answered, "Of course! My portals take me exactly where I need to go… usually. That's what he told me!"

The voice of the man she was referring to answered next, "That I did, but if this turns out to be the wrong universe, then I don't want to hear you blaming me."

Then came the voice of a chuunibyou, "We shall see, Doctor. For now let us begin our expedition into this wretched dimension of childish rides and revolting preservative meals. That castle is likely where our foes await, let us push onwards towards that hellish structure!"

"... I only understood a fraction of that, yet that castle might be the likeliest place to find the next Chaos Emerald if it's here." The serious voice shook his head in annoyance.

"Very well, let's see if you sent us to the right place, America."

Doctor Stephen Strange has arrived, with America Chavez, Gundham Tanaka, and Shadow the Hedgehog in tow.

Once again we've got another birthday for one of our characters! Happy birthday to The Conqueror, Sapphire! Moving forward, it was difficult coming up with what each of our Guardians would wear to the final conflict, so my apologies if the outfit showcase dragged a bit. Now with multiple areas of the park to visit, it's time to take an idea from Fred from Scooby Doo. "Let's split up, gang!" Looking forward to coming up with some good character moments with the groups I put together. Also Monaca's preparing our final boss, so look forward to that as well as Strange and a few others entering the fray! Don't worry about them stealing any spotlight from our Guardians though, they're just here to fill out small roles and connect this story to the end of Nexus. Thanks for reading, peeps, comment if y'all want to say anything at all (be polite though) and I'll see you in Part 4! - Renegade Braveheart