Well, need is a strong word. I'm already good enough to turn this mansion on its head, but let's be honest:

You can never have too much power.

Ring Man glances at the bag of Crushed Stars.

What do you have in mind?

I'll send you a PM responding to your proposals. For now, I'll just buy stuff, although Ring Man might-

WHADDYA MEAN YOU CAN'T REMEMBER!? I SPECIFICALLY NAMED MYSELF RING MAN IN THE CHAT.

I'm wearing a ring ON. MY. HEAD.

Ring Man walks right up to Adrian.

Is there any other confusion I can help you with?

Ring Man crosses his arms in front of his face as the bullets impact. As the last bullet falls, Ring Man pulls out his Driller again.

Cowards never win, though, because they eventually run out of things to hide behind.

>Fight: Ring Man rushes Adrina again.

Geez, what a pain. I was wrong: you're not tenacious; you're a coward.

>Item: First, Ring Man pulls out his Luxurious Pecan Pie and eats it quickly.

Fortunately, I inexplicably feel much more confident that I can shatter that armor, so this shouldn't take much longer.

>Fight: Ring Man whirs up the Ring Driller and slams it into Adrina.

>Fight: Ring Man approaches Adrina alongside NiceIce. As soon as Ice yanks off one of the stones, Ring Man whips his Driller into the spot it used to be and drills into/through the barrier.

Two more enemies advanced in, but as he was already in an offensive position, Knight decided to make the first move this time. Still no Knight Crush yet; he wasn't sure just how many battles he would have to fight before it became an absolute necessity to get serious.

(Assuming their standing shoulder-to-shoulder and not one behind the other) Knight Man wasted no time rushing in and slamming his body into the enemy on the left, shield-first. Whether that through him off-balance or knocked him over, Knight Man figured he had enough time to dispatch the second. Grabbing the enemy's face with his right hand, Knight Man brought his shield from the left and smashed the enemy's head into the side of the shield. Throwing the disabled enemy aside, Knight Man turned to Enemy 1 (assuming he's not disabled yet).

Do you still wish to fight?

OOC: Driller should have 39.6 units (44.6 - 5) and +1 XP

Tfw people refuse to die...

Ring Man glances down at NiceIce, recognizing him from their brief encounter on the second floor.

Don't get in the way, runt. This loli brat's a handful all on her own.

Speaking of which, I respect the perseverance, but as I've said before, you really shouldn't have threatened me. You're just making this more painful for yourself.

>Fight: Ring Man spins up his Ring Driller and bashes in into Adrina.

OOC: I think the water units should be 44.6; not trying to be picky, but ya never know when every unit might count. Speaking of which...

Breathing heavily, Ring Man walked up to Adrina with a menacing glare.
You risked your life the moment you threatened me, sweet pea. Say good night.

>>>>FIGHT: Ring Man overcharged his Ring Driller, feeding as much water into it as he could, and rammed into the pumpkin, boring straight through it into Adrina.

OOC: Driller needs +1 XP and minus however many units of Water.

You infused an IRON PUMPKIN with Starforce!? This is ASININE. I am DONE. Fight me like a not-coward!!!!

>Fight: Ring Man angrily lunges at Adrina with his drill (and most likely hitting the Pumpkin's shield in the process).

Knight Man readied his shield in his left hand and crouched. He didn't want to pull out his Knight Crush unless he absolutely needed to; he definitely didn't want to give that knave Bomb Man anything to pester him about. However, a true warrior should never underestimate an opponent he's unfamiliar with.

....Not even this one.

Knight Man muttered to his opponent, Good. I could use a warm-up before we begin the Matchups. (Space/Impact)

>Fight: Knight Man cautiously approaches the enemy, waiting for an opening. As soon as his enemy starts to shuffle, Knight Man advances swiftly, backhanding him with the shield and uppercutting with his right.

Despite the fact that he didn't want to exist today, Knight Man was actually subtly anxious about the Matchups. Ever since "Mr. X" had reprogrammed him to fight Mega Man and be an overall mindless tool of destruction, Knight Man had wanted to make a conscious effort to fight for what was just, what would help this world instead of hurt it, and the Matchups were his opportunity to show that conviction to the judges (and maybe even the world).

Knight Man took one more look at the picture on his nightstand, at first uneasy about why he couldn't remember who it was (or why it was there). However, the Matchups quickly took priority in his head and, grabbing his shield and equipping his armor to his exoskeleton (if that's a thing), Knight Man briskly walked towards towards the door to the Training Grounds near the Assembly Hall.

As the armor fell of and Adrian recoil ever so slightly, Ring Man noticed that the clothing underneath wasn't just normal clothing...That's Starforce he was sensing, and a lot of it. Ring Man knew just how quickly Starforce could turn the tide.

It's now or never.

>Fight: Ring Man slaps on his Ring Driller and drives it into the enemy.

That star takes nine hits?? Yea, nvm then.

>Fight: Ring Man throws another Ring Spread at Adrina.

EDIT: OOC: Don't forget to remove Cooked Fish from Ring Man's inventory btw.

Aw man, a Starforce? That's virtually cheating.

>Fight(x2): Ring Man fans out 4 rings in each hand and lets them fly, 4 of them aimed at the Starforce on Adrina's head, hoping to knock it off or even break it.

Oh, please, I'm not trying right now.

>Item: Ring Man quickly pulls his Cooked Fish out and eats it.

>Fight: Ring Man fans out another 4 rings and hurls them at Adrina, two of them aimed at her injured arm. You know what they say: kick them when they're down.

Ring Man kicks Adrina away, very perplexed as to how a kitchen knife cut through his armor. I guess this lady was more irritating than he thought at first. And that's saying something cuz he was pretty irritated.

>Fight: Alright, then, you wanna play hardball? No, let's play hardball!

Ring Man fans out 4 rings and tomahawks the spread at Adrina.

Wow, you are easily the snarkiest child I've ever met. Why Adrian would have anything to do with you is beyond me.

>Fight: Ring Man whips out a Shining, Shimmering, Splendid and flings it at Adrina.

Oh, I hate kids, by the way.

>Patronize: Ring Man waits for himself to stop laughing and takes a deep breath.
That's adorable, it really is, but I don't have a lot of patience left, cupcake, so how's about you just let Adrian free so we can both walk away happy?

>Question: Why does a brat like you even want him prisoner anyways?

First, it was the head of the Doc dummy that sprung out and bobbed from left to right. It slightly startled him at first, but it wasn't as creepy as it would've been if he hadn't been used to that Wily trick so many times over the years.

Second, the maniacal laugh he heard from the other end of the room moments before he turned reminded him of the cackle of a witch from a Disney movie. Like one of those high-pitched, cringy cackles that tells you the source is a tryhard villain.

So it was the actual person that caught him off-guard.

>Laugh: It's like a wannabe fantasy-novel hero meets a loli brat from a psychedelic rom-com anime, and after all that preparation and all the crap he's had to go through to reach Marceau, this is the apex of his journey. All of his emotion could no longer contain itself, and the most condescending laughter he could've managed busts out of his audio box.