Oz: Crossroad of Legends

While the two vampires held their discussion, John Doe returned to the circle after a talk with an assistant. He cleared his throat.

"Greetings", he said. He began to bow. "I am Joh-"

Wait... What's the point? I've already learned that there's not really anyone to hide my identity from.

John Doe stopped and removed his mask, putting it away. He bowed properly this time. "I am Joshua, humble egg smuggler... That is, I steal Pokemon eggs from an evil oppressive government, being part of a rebel army and all. What's a Pokemon?" He gestured his hand toward Ditto, Grinn the Gengar, Zoroark, Rotom, and Manaphy. "These are Pokemon. They are creatures from my world. People used to have them as pets in my world, or used to capture them using these devices called Pokeballs", he held up one in his hand, "to train and battle alongside. But since our new government, Nova, uses something called Starburst to remove all free will from Pokemon and make them obedient slaves, well you can imagine the amount of people like that have dropped.

Anyway, about myself... My past is... a long story and not too important... Well okay, I used to be a movie star way back when, so I can act. Basically, my role in my world is infiltration; slipping within enemy lines, sabotage, theft, all that stuff. I don't really have innate superpowers like a lot of you, but I have a lot of equipment that does that for me. For example", he held up his opera mask. "This mask is actually electronic, with night vision to see in the dark and thermal vision to see heat signatures. Additionally, this Protect-Generator creates a barrier in the form of either a wall or a dome that totally blocks almost anything thrown against it, though it breaks when under too much stress." He held the device in front of him and created a Protect wall. He then switched it off. "I also know martial arts, can fight with a knife, and I have a lot of smoke bombs to use.

And then there's this." He held up his circular Cosmic Drive. "With this, I can link my mind with my Pokemon; or any Pokemon I've formed a strong bond with, really. Although Pokemon can understand us just fine, they can't really speak our language themselves. With this, I can speak with them telepathically, so I can freely communicate with them. Furthermore, we can send complex thoughts and hold extended conversations in a fraction of the time it usually takes to talk orally. This device also has a setting to allow me to use some of their innate abilities, but I tend not to use that setting on the basis that I don't have a clue how to use those abilities and I would rather not endanger my life attempting to do so.

Speaking of which, I believe it is time for me to go over my Pokemon's abilities. Ditto?" The 'pink blob' as the soldier previously described it as moved forward and bowed to the audience. "Ditto has the unique ability to copy someone's genetic code and reshape its cell structure to transform into a replica of another creature." Ditto instantly transformed into a copy of Zoroark. "It can also copy their abilities." Ditto-as-Zoroark looked upward and breathed a Flamethrower into the air. "Pokemon tend to learn four attacks aside from innate abilities they were born with, and they can only use them a certain amount of times without the use of certain medicines." Joshua held up his Ether Anna gave him. "Ditto can only use these moves he copied 5 times, which is typically a lot less than usual. Also, Ditto cannot transform into other people; at least not entirely. Which is why..." Joshua bent down and lent Ditto his arm, which it slithered over and began pulling itself over Joshua's face. Choosing someone from the circle at random, Ditto transformed into the masked face of the other masked man over there. "...If it transforms into someone's face like this", continued Joshua, "it makes an effective disguise."

Ditto unwrapped itself from Joshua's face and fell to the ground. Grinn hovered to center stage. "Next, we have Grinn the Gengar. Grinn here is a ghost, which means punches and tackles go right through her without injury, and she can phase through objects. Additionally..." Grinn jumped into Joshua's shadow. "She can hide within my shadow. Which means that..." An simulation of an Ephesian soldier appeared and grabbed Joshua's suit. Joshua's shadow moved behind the soldier and Grinn jumped out of it and attacked the soldier with a Shadow Ball, causing it to fall and vanish in light. "She can stage ambushes, like that. I mentioned four moves that each Pokemon can have. For Grinn, they would be Shadow Ball..." Four Ephesian simulations appeared and stood in a line. Grinn threw a Shadow Ball at the first one and caused it to vanish. "...Thunderbolt..." Grinn used the stated move on the second simulation. "...Focus Blast..." Grinn focused and launched a blast at the third soldier; almost missing in the process. "...And Hypnosis, to force an enemy that looks at it to sleep." Grinn danced hypnotically in front of the last simulation. The simulation fell over and began snoring. The assistant manually dismissed that simulation.

Grinn grinned and hovered back as Zoroark took center stage. "This is Zoroark. His innate ability allows him control over the power of illusion." To demonstrate, a large number of Zoroark illusions appeared throughout the dome. Touching them would also cause one to feel like they touched something. "Although he can't hide any senses besides sight, he is capable of creating fake senses of touch, sight, and sound. Speaking of sight", Joshua seemingly faded out of view. "He can also make me appear invisible. However, all this only works on the naked eye. If seen through a machine, such as a camera, none of the illusions can be viewed." Three more simulations appeared as the illusion faded and everything returned to normal. "His four moves are Night Slash, which strikes weak points", Zoroark attacked a soldier through the chinks in his armor. "...Flamethrower..." Zoroark set the second soldier alight. "...Night Daze..." Zoroark became surrounded by a crimson aura as it jumped and hit the ground, causing a shockwave that hit the third soldier. "And Taunt... Taunt is difficult to explain. Basically, it sort of causes a target to only be able to perform offensive techniques. For example, if a mage wants to perform healing magic and is affected by Taunt, they will not be able to perform that magic."

Rotom zipped to center stage before Zoroark could even think about moving back. Three simulations of an Ephesian soldier appeared. "Now, for Rotom, another ghost. With his body made of plasma, he can possess any machine and operate them if he is able to... or make them blow up if he wants to do that instead. Now, I don't think--"

Rotom zipped right toward the side of the dome and seemingly possessed it. Sure enough, the Ephesian soldiers each blew up -- the last of them letting out a Wilhelm scream -- and Rotom projected a massive image of himself in the middle of the dome."

...How did you do that?

"Umm... The same way as usual?" said Rotom.

But that assistant over there said it was powered by basically this world's magic!

"Well, I AM taking control of this dome, aren't I? At least, I thought I could, so I tried it... and it worked!"

...Huh. Guess that's just how your operations transition to this world's rules...

"...Like so!" continued Joshua to his audience. "This way, he can disable monitoring equipment and take control of most appliances." Rotom created three Ephesian simulations and then zipped out of the dome controls, retaking Joshua's side. "His four moves are Thunderbolt..." Rotom demonstrated on a simulation. "...Shadow Ball..." Rotom demonstrated. "...Can use Double Team to create illusions of himself..." Rotom zipped around the third soldier and left a number of after-images in his wake. "...And Trick, to replace something he is holding with something a target is holding, and vice-versa." Rotom zipped at the soldier. He held up the soldier's virtual grenade as the soldier now carried a Soothe Bell. Rotom dropped the grenade and finished off the soldier with another Shadow Ball and retrieved his Soother Bell.

"And now... Manaphy." The Pokemon in question hovered excitedly to center stage. "This one is a good swimmer and is able to perform one technique in particular that I shall go into shortly. For now, I must demonstrate her four techniques in order." Two soldiers appeared. "The first is Water Pulse, which has the chance of Confusing a target." Manaphy demonstrated on a simulation. "Next is Ice Beam..." Manaphy demonstrated on the second soldier, which was lucky enough to freeze it in a block of ice before it vanished. "Finally, Acid Armor. It's difficult to tell what is happening, but she is melting her body for protection, which improves her physical defense." Manaphy demonstrated in front of the circle. "The fourth... Is Heart Swap.

For my next demonstration, however, I require a volunteer. You there", he pointed at the loud turtle/dragon/dinosaur thing that has been loud all day. "You would do nicely. You don't even have to move your body an inch from that spot. What do you say?"

"Finally, somebody who appreciates my greatness," Bowser roared with approval. " I don't even have to move, why I say strange dude 2.0 in a mask I think you would make a great minion someday, gwa ha ha" Bowser said in a triumphant tone.

"Excellent! Manaphy, Heart Swap!"

Manaphy twirled as her antennae glowed pink. Nothing appeared to have happened, until...

"My claws, my fangs, my beautiful shell, what have you done with them," 'Joshua' cried out because of his current situation. "Give them you back you monster, what can I do with these," he cried while staring at his hands.

"Yes", said 'Bowser' back in the circle of friendship. He was speaking in a less boisterous tone and using a more eloquent speaking pattern than usual, so you just knew it wasn't really him. "Using Heart Swap, our souls basically switch bodies. I am now in this body, and he's in my body. I cannot take control of one's abilities if I don't know how to use them, but I am still allowed a variety of options. For example, I can cause a sneak attack from someone the enemy doesn't expect. I may observe from an advantageous position. As a matter of fact, I could even commit suicide while in the other body, reverting to my own body at the last--

'Bowser' suddenly stopped mid-explanation. Joshua, back in his real body, finished it.

"...Second."

"My beautiful claws, and my gorgeous fangs, did you miss me?" Bowser asked staring lovingly at his gorgeous claws. "Next time loser find yourself another volunteer for your crazy magic show," Bowser huffed towards the masked freak.

...Manaphy, did something happen?

"I wasn't me!" said Manaphy. "You came back on your own!"

Then... does that mean there's a lot less time that Heart Swap takes effect for?

"Perhaps it is because they are outlanders", suggested Ditto. "Our presence here is somewhat magical in nature, wouldn't you agree?"

Hmm... Maybe we can ask a soldier volunteer to verify this theory later.

"...Anyway, our souls revert when either Manaphy manually returns our souls to normal, or enough time passes."

"Grumble Grumble always hated Blue and Pink, next time one of you losers can be his volunteer," Bowser growled towards the laughing Kammy and Kamek.

"At any event, I do believe that is all that I can share with you all."

Joshua and company bowed as they moved around the circle's circumference to return to their seat.

Anthea and Moran peaked around the corner. A large bang followed by gratuitous shaking gave Moran enough of an excuse to "go missing". He and Anthea looked as generic as anyone else in the castle.

Moran watched the people rebuilding the walls intently. "I will assist them" he said in a flawless impersonation of a totally generic soldier, before moving up to the wall to do just that. Meanwhile, Anthea quickly pilfered something to carry as she acted as a supervisor for the whole debacle. She also stopped off to teleport tag a few weapons in the armory and check on the guy who blew himself up, now safely tucked away in a dungeon (his cute star-shaped assistant seemed rather at a loss though so she left a map to the dungeon nearby for it to find). Somehow she needed him to sit still long enough to tell him about Joanna, but she a very strong feeling that she shouldn't leave Moran alone...

Then she saw him working in perfect harmony with the others, even while using completely foreign tools and dealing with materials too advanced for even her to understand, and she figured 5 minutes wouldn't hurt.

---

"Glinda's interested in the crashy-crashy boom guy. I'm here to talk to him."

Anthea walked at a (relative) snail's pace to Celeste cell, only to see him sitting cross-legged in the middle of the cell...apparently taking a nap.

"Hey," she called out. She rapped on the bars, "Hello? Anyone home? Get up! You hear me!"

(Celeste was too busy being inside a mind palace to notice.)

It was then she noticed somebody being led down the same cell block. Whoever it was, he didn't look like a Yuleian so...

"I'm going to guess you know him?" She called down to the approaching people.

"You have a visitor!" Anthea called into the cell, before standing aside but at attention.

Celeste's shoulders seemed to slump in a oh-what-is-it-now kind of way and he cracked open his eyes to see...a person.

"Well, you don't look familiar," he muttered before speaking up, "But since you know me, and this world seems to run on coincidence, you're probably that humble egg smuggler guy. And I'm imprisoned. What is this, like the third time?"

"Ah that mask," Celeste said as got up with a few stretches here and there, "Did I ever get around to putting a bioreader in that?...eh, whatever. Joshua Vega. I'll try to remember that."

He saw Manaphy, which brought back memories. He thought briefly about where Jirachi would be about now and figured that, if anything, the look-alike he arrived in this world with would provide company in his absence.

"Here as in this world, or here as in this cell? For the former, I blame Arceus. For the latter, I um...tried to figure out magic."

He looked over to the prison lock, made an exaggerated pointing gesture and declared "Alohomora." Nothing happened and he shrugged. "I haven't quite figured it out completely yet."

"I see. Thank you."

That's what Celeste said on the outside. On the inside he was fuming with possibilities. Rotom working on these machines made absolutely no sense in any of the models he'd been working on, and at this point even he couldn't fit any more parameters in his head...all the more reason to get out of this cell.

Anyways, company. Talking. Gotta handle that.

"Military base, " he continued, shaking his head slightly, rubbing his eyes, "I suppose we "outlanders" could be here due to a freak accident of some sort, but the fact is, out of the 6 billion people on Earth, the people here are us, military personnel. We're here to fight something...and that's where my wild guesses end. I'm sitting tight, although I would prefer to discuss things in a more cheery environment."

He looked over to the generic guard, who was as stoic as ever.

Anthea listened to Joshua's explanation. Hm...so they were supposed to have appeared here. There's no doubt in her mind that Ozma had something to do with Joanna's relocation.

Meanwhile, Celeste spoke up again. "I never got any cards. Odd. But then again it's probably because I dont have many allies."

He looked down the hall. "Speaking of which," he said as he smiled and saw Jirachi floating this way, accompanied by another generic looking soldier.

"Private Kupo I presume?" Anthea called out.

"Sir!" the other one called out, "I am to take this one to meet the other Outlanders!"

Anthea nodded and allowed Moran through, who popped the lock with a produced exact replica of the normal key. Jirachi waved at Manaphy while Celeste got up and turned to Joshua.

"Ah, that's convenient. I'll need to retrieve my jacket from Nelson first, but I suppose I'll meet everyone else in due time.

...yeah, there's a Nelson here too. Hopefully as friendly as any of ours."

(Really X you would deny these so call heros the chance to bask in my greatness. Fine fine geez so pushy you impatientness. Good better hurry up and post can't wait till scarey looking Peach with her chain chomp go then people can witness why I am so much better then everyone gwa ha ha.)


"I may not be able to switch bodies or have such interesting familiars but I will try," Alyssa said as she went towards the center of the circle. "My name is Alyssa Lockhart and I come from the Adena Empire," Alyssa stated. "Where I come from I am a Co-Captain of the palace knight watch along with my partner here," Alyssa said as Charlie joined her side. "My partner his name is Charlie, and he's been by side through thick and thin," Alyssa said while petting Charlie. "Yet, before I joined them I was a infamous criminal, who was a high ranking member in one of the most infamous mobs around," Alyssa said as she stared towards the ground. "Well I was a former mobster until I began to ask questions about my parents," Alyssa said in a solem tone. "I finally got my answer when, a guy who worked for Deo told me that my parents were killed because they wanted to leave, right before he stabbed me right the chest," Alyssa said. "Long story short I was given a choice either join the palace knight watch or rot in jail," Alyssa said

"As far as my abilities well let's just say I have a nickname where I come from and that would be Shiva," Aylsaa stated. "My fellow officers call me that because of abilities to use ice and water magic," Alyssa stated sheepishly. "First off let me show you a few things I can do," Alyssa motion towards one of the assistance.  Tha assistant generated a hologram of an enemy solider appear while Alyssa readied her blade. The first thing she did was channel a bit of ice magic through her sword as an iclcle appeared and impaled the hologram. As another hologram was generated Alyssa generated a couple of weapons a spear and throwing knife made of pure ice. Alyssa then hurled the knife right into the shoulder of the hologram at the point of impact not only did the knife stick but then the holograms shoulder became incased in solid ice. The same thing happened when Aylssa chucked a spear right through the chest of the hologram the only difference was the entire hologram became encased in ice. When Alyssa snapped her fingers the hologram shattered into little pieces. The third thing Alyssa did was showcase some of her water techniques against the same holograms that were generated. "Finally, I have one little thing to show you," Alyssa said as she took out the wings of scared ice. "Now by saying this one word I can show all of you something really special, Bankai," Alyassa said in a loud and commanding tone. When Alyssa said the word Bankai, the wings of scared light began to shine brightly until it radieted a bright light and engulfed Alyssa and the wings of sacred ice were both barely visible.


When the light faded, Alyssa had giant wings sporting from her back, her wings was like that of a dragon. Alyssa also had a giant tail also like that of an ice dragon. "In this form I am able to take flight like this," Alyssa said as she took to the air. "I can also launch beams of ice that freeze anything that touches," Alyssa stated as she launched a beam of ice where the tip of the beam appered to be that of a dragon head. "Also I am able to freely control the tail and if my wings or tail were ever damaged they would automatically repair themselves," Alyssa said as she took her sword and slashed out a bit of the tail. The tail would repair itself from where the sword struck. "Finally there are techniques I can use to control the very water in the air but for me to do something like that it would require tremendous energy, so for now I will cancel the current state I am in, because every second I am in this state it takes a toll on my body," Alyssa said as she canceled her current state. 

"So any questions?" Alyssa said as she took her seat.

"Gwa ha ha, its about time you losers see what a real hero can do," Bowser said he took the center of this worthless circle. "To tell all of you my whole name would be a waste of time, and frankly I don't think any of you could remember it," Bowser told the group of losers. "My name is Bowser, all mighty King of the Koopas but I am sure all of you already knew that seeing how I am the greatest king ever," Bowser told those losers rather dismissively. "Before I begin if I am going to do this demonstration right, I need you two to make yourself useful and play my theme" Bowser told those loser of a minion. "Sire are you sure?" Kamek questioned. "Yes, and the more you stand there like the morons you are, the longer you deny these people, such a great demonstration," Bowser sneered towards Kamek. "Why do I even bother?" Kamek sighed as both him and Kammy waved their wands, a drum set and trumpet appeared. "Hey dad can I help you out?" Bowser Jr asked. "Of course you can son, you have your guitar on you right?" Bowser asked. "Um yeah but what does that have to do with anything?" Bowser Jr asked confused.

"I need you to play it during my demonstration," Bowser told his son. "But I sorta of wanted to help you out," Bowser Jr sighed. "Son, you are helping me by playing my awesome theme you are giving these losers, an experience they would never experience in their worthless lives," Bowser told his son in a comforting(??) manner. "If you say so," Bowser Jr huffed towards his dad. "Your stupidness, maybe somebody else can play our instruments that way these hero's actually, have somebody who can explain your abilities," Kammy told Bowser. "Fine fine whatever if you two want to prove how worthless you are then get a couple of those losers to play your instruments," Bowser told Kammy rather dismissively. Kammy and Kamek waved their wands and a Boo and Magikoopa appeared to play Bowser's theme. "Where are we, I swear we were um guarding the palace?" Bob the Boo and Mike the Magikoopa said as they were removing their party hats. "Great you two are here play those instruments over there, these losers need to hear my awesome theme," Bowser roared towards Bob and Mike. "Told you the minions shouldn't have threw a party he would have found out," Bob said heading towards the drum set. "Shh it was probably by chance, he probably, still doesn't know what was going on," Mike said grabbing the trumpet.

"Is he always this boisterous?" Baron asked Mario. "Mama Mia," Mario said. "You should see him in our world, he's usually, worse," Starlow chimed in. "Can he do anything or is he just all talk?" Alyssa asked. "Despite his rather unique personality he does have his use," Starlow said. "Hey all you losers shut up over there," Bowser growled towards the losers who were talking. "To all of you inferior people in front of me, I have one word for you showtime," Bowser said as he finally began his demonstration.

The next person who took the center stage was Mario after Selen sat down. Mario and Starlow looked around and Mario told Starlow what sounded like gibberish to everyone but Starlow. "Okay we can do that," Starlow responded to Mario. Mario looked around towards the crowd and addressed them with a, "It's a me Mario,". "What we were talking about was during the demonstration, I will explain his moves while he performs," Starlow commented.

"First it seems we have some new people out there, my name is Starlow and this is Mario," Starlow said hovering next to Mario. "Mario and me both come from the Mushroom Kingdom," Starlow explained. "You see Mario is among one of the greatest heros from the Mushroom Kingdom," Starlow said as Mario let out an, "Oh Yeah!". " He also happens to be a plumber but that's of little importance," Starlow told the crowd as Mario waved his arms while saying woo woo woo. "Yet, whenever the kingdoms in trouble, usually by that one over there," Starlow said while hovering towards a mighty proud of himself Bowser. "Mario is the first person to show up and fix the situation at hand," Starlow continued while Mario gave a thumbs up pose.

"As for myself I am a star spirit," Starlow said about herself. "What, a star spirit job is to channel the wishes of the people from the Mushroom Kingdom," Starlow said in a matter of fact matter. "It may seem far fetched but we use that energy to do amazing things," Starlow said. "I am still a bit young so I can only do so, unlike some of the older more experienced star spirits who are capable of amazing feats," Starlow continued. "Well with that we are ready to begin," Starlow said as Mario produced his hammer.

"Let's a go," Mario said as he began to start with his demonstration. The first thing Mario requested was some platforms so he could demonstrate his jumping prowess. When the platforms appeared right next to Mario, he began to show off his different jumping moves which he has been doing for years. When Mario made it to the top of the of the platform, he reached into his pocket and pulled out what looked like a simple leaf. As soon as Mario made contacted with the leaf he disappeared for a brief second only to reappear as Tanooki Mario. "To those of you who think this is just a simple teddy bear suit, there are numerous things we would like to show you," Starlow said.

"The first off Mario can do is to use the tail to float down in essence increasing his jumping distance," Starlow said as Mario used the Tanooki tail to float to the ground. "The second thing Mario can use the tail to reflect projectiles," Starlow said as she asked the assistant to have an orb fire at Mario. The orb unleashed a burst of energy towards Mario who used his tail to reflect it right back at the orb. "Finally, the suit has one more function," Starlow said as Mario turned right into stone in front of everyone. "When Mario is in statue form he is invulnerable to any damage, but the thing is he can only take one hit and then he loses his suit," Starlow said as she asked the assistant to fire another orb right towards Mario. The orb made contact and Mario reverted to his former form but was unharmed.

"Now for Mario's offensive moves, first off Mario will use his Big Banga attack," Starlow commented as Mario began swinging his hammer really quickly. Mario at the last moment unleashed an explosion towards an empty area in the dome as an explosion happened in the empty area of the dome. "Theres more to that, Mario show them your finale," Starlow told Mario who made a swirling motions with his hands. As Mario finished the swirling motion a small vortex of flames formed, started growing bigger and bigger before it faded. "Now for his ultimate technique," Starlow said as Mario gave her a nod.

Mario raised his hands as a tiny ball of bright energy raised from it. Then as Mario began concentrating on the energy it grew bigger and more intense. Finally, at the last moment he threw the energy towards an empty section of the dome as an all impressive explosion of immense power began to radiate throughout the dome. "This my friends is Mario's ultima attack" Starlow said in amazement. "This isn't even his most powerful technique," Starlow said as Mario took out a toy robot.
"You see when Mario and his friends are threatened by a giant foe, I can use my ability to turn this simple toy into a giant," Starlow said of the toy robot. "Remember earlier how I said star spirits use wishes for our energy," Starlow said to the group with a wink. "Well when I gather the wishes of Mario and his friends, about wanting to fight back, I can turn their wishes into a beam that transforms this simple toy into a giant," Starlow said hovering above the toy. "Unfortunately, I can only use this in tandem with Prince Luma who still currently in card form," Starlow said slightly disappointed.

"That's all for now hope you enjoyed it," Starlow said as Mario twirled around and took off his cap. Afterwards Mario and Starlow took their seat.