Stan watched happily as customers continued to pour into his arcade, above and beyond his original expectations. While the initial video of Nightmare Moon vs. Zero.EXE (as it turned out Zero had become, amazing the things that could be shrugged off as coincidence by those in the know and well thought out planning by those who didn't) had, as anticipated, drawn massive crowds, Wily and the other sprites had been leaving him emails ever since, with suggestions on what could draw even more crowds, and sometimes even premade videos. Some were more fight scene demonstrations, others were more basic gameplay footage from different perspectives...and then there was the occasional 'crossover' videos, where characters from one game were shown in another.
This had drawn massive crowds, especially after one day where Fix-It-Felix Jr. showed a sign on the building at the title screen instead of Ralph smashing it. The sign read, "Racing Moony, be back tomorrow." To everyone's surprise and delight, Ralph could be found in Sugar Rush in his kart, Bull Dozer. That was a first time a character from one game left their game for a day to play in another, and in each case left a note where their character would be in their game, saying where they would be for the day.
While any other time, this might have led to players thinking a glitch was going on, two things prevented that. One, they'd already seen Nightmare Moon hopping between games on a regular basis, so they were used to the idea of crossover characters. Two, the graphics never glitched because - unlike when Turbo had tried to take over the other racing game - all the characters had been cross coded as 'unlockable' characters in the other games. This led to several complaints from players about how come certain characters - like Vanellope - never left their games.
Then Stan had the idea of publishing the arcade's "Lore" on the new website. Put together by Wily and patrolled by Zero.EXE and Nightmare Moon, there were never any virus or hacking problems, and the 'stories' of the characters gave depth to the arcade that had interest flooding in. This also led to the idea of posting 'sprite interviews' of the various characters, including a video where Vanellope explained why she couldn't leave her game.
By this point, Stan was very glad that - despite what people believed - he wasn't doing this all on his own. There was no way he would be able to handle it all. Thankfully, most of the emails received were questions addressed to specific sprites, and Stan could let the sprites answer their own mail.
However, the biggest event to come from all this came nearly a year after Nightmare Moon's final growth and Zero's evolution. A unique arcade cabinet had been made for the arcade, one that had the processing power to have 64 players play at a time across 32 screens, which could link up to larger displays or display individual battles. The cabinet was also hooked up to a massive monitor that would display the battles in much the same way. However, much to the surprise of the manufacturers, the cabinet was delivered uncoded, save for a copy of the Marvel vs Capcom 3 base code.
This was the Tournament cabinet, and once Wily and the other sprites had finished encoding the world within and the battle systems, Stan Litwak was able to throw open his arcade's first tournament battle...with nearly every sprite in the arcade as a playable character.
He had posted one small announcement about the Tournament - including the date it would be held, characters available to be selected from, and notification that every character could only be used once during each Tournament - on the site along with a registration form, and the limit of 64 players. Based on the number of sign up attempts, he already had a full waiting list for the next 37 tournaments. He was already arranging to have the Tournament matches recorded and rebroadcast online.
At first, the players were surprised when Nightmare Moon and Zero.EXE weren't available as playable characters during the first tournament. However, they were quickly distracted from that by the scenes of all the various characters leaping into battle. Stan was rather impressed at the ingenuity of the sprites in making the entire experience unique and entertaining, whether the customers were playing or observing.
(On the off chance the event drew a crowd, he had hired a caterer to provide snacks, covered by an entry fee. He was already redoing the plan for the second Tournament to be held outside, if the weather held, along with a lot more food.)
As the first Tournament came to a close, the winner - who had chosen a team of Ralph and Felix - was about to claim his crown...when things changed. The beautiful environment on the screen faded away, leaving behind a massive flat plain made up of 18 equally sized squares in a 3x6 pattern. The left 3x3 were red. The right 3x3 were blue. A blazing moon was the only light source.
A wicked chuckle filled the air. "So you think you have won, puny mortal?"
A lightning bolt struck from the moon into the center blue square, and Nightmare Moon unfolded her wings as she took shape.
"You are in my domain, now," she hissed. "Did you truly think you could claim victory here without besting me?"
To her side, a 'Jack In' animation occurred, solidifying into Zero.EXE as he swung his blade to one side.
"This...is my battleground," he proclaimed firmly.
"Prepare yourselves!" they shouted together.
On the screen, Ralph and Felix visibly gulped.
Instead of the usual 'Ready, Fight!' animation, a new message was shouted from the announcer voice.
"Battle Routine, Set!"
"Execute!" Ralph, Felix, Nightmare Moon, and Zero.EXE shouted together.
Several hours later, with the arcade finally closed, Stan downed some aspirin and cleaned his ears with some Q-tips. He made a mental note to invest in those new sound cancelling headphones to deal with the cheering. As he was relaxing, he turned to the screen. "So did you all have fun?" he asked.
"It was glorious!" Nightmare Moon proclaimed. "All of us fighting together like that...it is the most fun we have had in eons!" She blinked for a bit. "Eons? I...I meant to say years..."
"Don't worry about it, Moony," Ralph comforted, patting her on the back. "We know what you meant." Wincing, he rubbed his chest. "But next time, could you be more careful with your horn? It still stings where you gored me."
"I can fix it!" Felix shouted out, striking Ralph hard enough in the head with his hammer to floor him. "...oops?"
We can break it by accident.
Dat Battle Network reference.
Were theses sprites and games developed by a company like they are here? For example, did Capcom still make the Megaman games? Because if so, I can imagine people at the companies that own the rights to these games getting a bit annoyed when they hear of this arcade that is using their characters in unlicensed ways.
well, look who forgot to remove the damage code form his systems.
6279887
They've sent various messages.
The ones they got back convinced them to reconsider.
:D that last part is hulliouros please bring out the next chapter.
6279887 Still, it would be glorious.
Totally would want to see a game tournament like that. Probably run Samus and nightmare if I did that tournament. Great chapter and what would the battle fields be for an arcade wide fight game?
6279970
Fields based on every game.
6279975 Someone make that game, please!
Yes, how games should be. it doesnt matter the architecture, the display, the graphics. What matters is the characters, abilities, and stories.
I can only think of two games that use standard data formats because I havent looked at WADs etc.. Super Skidmarks, due to 3D models, did you know you can race cows, and Worms, where you can load any image as the battlefield, change the music, the samples, etc.
When Nightmare Moon and Zero appeared at first, I thought those were the Master Champions. Each player fought them, and if they won, fought the other? But that would mean to lose to win. Hmm, Ive got confused there. I know. Bed Time.
Dangit Felix, don't go wrecking Ralph on your new part time job.
... i.warosu.org/data/cgl/img/0069/83/1374287904379.png
Whenever I read this fic and I see everything going so well (to the point it's almost like reading about paradise) I immediately become terrified that something's going to destroy all of this.
6280080
BOOOOOO!
YOU SUCK!
And in other news, I love the direction that this series is going, already, the same, the prestige, and everything, I would have loved this kind of mass crossover game/event if it existed... Marvel vs Capcom and other series like that is just impressive.
I hope you milk this series a little longer, I'd like to see what the future brings.
I started reading this story but I stopped after 11 chapters and I want to start reading it again but a lot more chapters have been posted and I have a lot more stories I need to keep track of and read. I don't know what to do.
6280176
Simple enough. Each chapter is between a 10-20 min read. Just take the needed time and schedule it. If a story you enjoy more updates, read that chapter first, then read the next chapter of this fic.
So, they're basically just brushing off the shenanigans as ROM hacks. Clever.
6280280 The ultimate in ROM-hacking, the games hack themselves, eh? Hehehe good stuff.
6280175 You know, I think you are the first person... Actually wait. No, you are the second person to... Hmm... No, no, you are actually the first person to say something like this outright. Others have either told me to go sit in a corner or just gave a gun threat or something along the lines so this is refreshing albeit a kind of standard reaction. Thanks for the compliment though
Another enjoyable chapter. Great chapter.
"The beautiful environment on the screen faded away, leaving behind a massive flat plain made up of 18 equally sized squares in a 3x6 pattern.  The left 3x3 were red.  The right 3x3 were blue.  A blazing moon was the only light source."
YO. DUDE. I SAID THAT LAST TIME AS A SILLY SUGGESTION. AND THEN YOU DO IT.
THE CAPS LOCK HYPE IS REAL. THIS IS SOME WOOLIE LEVEL HYPE HERE. LET'S GO. BATTLE START!
...*cough* Sorry, Battle Network gets me super hyped now. Can't think of Shining Armor without MegaMan, that kinda hype.
So, we've offed all the (real) villains now and things seem to be winding down narratively speaking. Are we nearing the end of NMM's arc here?
I am most entertained. Also, it's gettin time for moony's morose migration to her former fabulous farm. I make the most perfectly sensible sentences, do i not?
.... DANG IT, I WANT TO SIGN UP FOR THIS GAME!!! I'D TEAM MEGAMAN AND SONIC TOGETHER!!!!! Those two were my favorite games back in the day. Blue Bomber and Blue Blur.
6279930 Did these messages involve Nightmare Moon popping up on their screens in her filly form begging them to reconsider???? And if they refused she shifted to her full form and put the fear of the moon in them????
6280360
... But I told you that you suck?
Look's like I'm going to have to improve upon my insults...
6280163
You have the best picture for this topic!
I wonder who won? I hope there was enough battle space. ...Enough space to get REKD by Zero.EXE and NMM! I CAN SEE IT NOW!
Loved the update!
Stan's probably rolling in money a la Gabe Newell.
I'll admit, this is the funniest thing I've read in a while. Have a Pinkie.
6280080
Get in the ing corner.
6280175 Imagine this with modern games/consoles with the Arcade.
This is coming to a close now, and I'm starting to really feel it. It might be selfish, but I really want to see this story just continue indefinitely. As far as I'm concerned, this story is perfect. Not a single scene has seemed forced, all the interactions are natural, and it's wonderful to see all of this world-building you're doing with Litwak. I could honestly read this forever and never get bored.
Ralph and NMM need to be balanced in importance a bit methinks.
6281244
Ah. Well then. Never mind.
Fuck it up Felix and Repair it Ralph
Considering what they did for Monnie, is there any reason they can't fix Vannelope?
Or the risk of damaging her game is too high?
Then, a few days later Stan looked up Nightmare Moon fanart... You know where I'm going with this.
lol, this was an awesome chapter!
Fantastically well done my friend! :D
lol, this was an awesome chapter!
Fantastically well done my friend! :D
6281203 in the movie he did the konami code, I just looked it up
6282941
In the actual scene, it read "B, A".
6282981 weird... when he inputs it it is konami, the buttons are
___________________
^
< > B A
\/
Weird.
6281712 If you remember the end of the movie, they could have fixed her right there. But she decided that she likes being a glitch, it's part of who she is. The teleport ability is pretty sweet too.
You know Tatsurou, I may just have to open up an arcade like this someday. I can code and build my own arcade cabinets, not to mention that my dad and grandpa both ran arcades back in the 80's. I'm morally obligated to make it happen now!
Please either make a list of the character's entering animations or have someone else do it. It would be awesome to see how the sprites made an entrance for themselves.
Have I mentioned that this story is completely made up of ALL OF MY YES!!!!.... If not... I have now...
Oh no...Nightmare may be nearing the end of her stay. Something tells me Zero's gonna take it the hardest, quite possibly forcing her into a winner takes all one on one.
And as the smoke clears, all that is left is a broken reploid upon his knees, screaming his appeal to heaven: "WHAT AM I FIGHTING FOR!!??"
6283231
In the movie they also show her going to other games.
So yeah, only reason her code isn't fixed is because the Author says so.
6285639 When did they show her in other games?
I am waiting for nightmare moon to encounter Luna :3