Mall Fight Gaiden

Mall Fight Gaiden: Malloween Spooktacular was a spin-off thread, later decided to be the events directly following Mall Fight 9. Because of this, some early elements of the thread are non-canon, though for the most part it is official Alpha timeline canon.

The thread was started by Salt, however it eventually gained more structure and became an anthology thread with different arcs run by different players. Each arc represents one day in the week between Tox's death and Salt's 23rd birthday (with the exception of Llam Thgif, which is in an alternate universe, and the post Chapter 8 content).

Gaiden is also the final Alpha Timeline thread before the forum domain switch.

Fighters

 * Knife-28
 * Trilby
 * Salt
 * Waffles
 * Marcel (cameo)
 * RaN
 * Sigma

NPCs

 * Kimmy Hed
 * Karoli
 * Schmidt
 * Noah Zallot

Costumes
Since this was originally a Halloween thread, the Fighters spent much of it in costume or otherwise disguised.
 * Salt: Emil (NieR), A Coconut, Gattsu, Waffles From The Universe Where He's Salt
 * Trilby: Griffith, Waffles Who's Been On The Run For Tax Evasion Since 1773 And Doesn't Know Any American History After That Point, Haru Okumura, Simo Häyhä, City of Dis Sports Club Uniform, Suburban Camouflage
 * Waffles: 30-Under-30 Media Luminary Griffin McElroy, Car Dealer, Agent Matt Crystal
 * Knife: Blues Brother, Australian Waffles
 * Saber: Blues Brother, Female Australian Waffles
 * Eldri: Eldritch Abomination Pony Waffles
 * RaN: A Murderer, Max Stirner

Chapter 0.5: Breakfast at Karoli's
After failing to find anyone in the Mall to get candy from, aside from Kimmy Hed, the Fighters decide to track down Karoli and Schmidt. After tracking them down, Karoli tells the Fighters she doesn't have any candy, but she does have leftover fish and rice. The Fighters attempt to have a regular dinner, which is cut short by Trilby starting a fight with Salt. Eventually, Karoli starts asking the group about the Mall and its infiniteness, as well as Tox.

Chapter 1: Tournament of Waffles
After the Fighters leave Karoli's home, they wander around the Mall aimlessly, first stealing a car (which is sent flying off into the sky with a headless Trilby at the wheel) and then looting a candy store. Meanwhile, Waffles is attacked by a mysterious figure. Subsequently, a PA announcement claims the First Annual Waffles Bowl is beginning soon. The Fighters head to the arena, signing up as a variety of fake Waffleses, and win their bouts against the various Waffles counterparts.

After her first round, Salt begins investigating the tournament, at the prompting of Waffles Who Will Give Ominous Foreshadowing And Will Mysteriously Die Before He Can Explain What It All Means (who is killed in the middle of the conversation). Salt finds a Waffles tied up in a locker, who tells her that President Waffles is behind the Tournament, however before she can confront him he flees into a secret tunnel. After following the President down, Salt finds Alpha Waffles tied up and forced to watch various videos, while Trilby learns that President Waffles plans to create a so called "Perfect Waffles".

Eventually, the Fighters confront President Waffles and his cohorts, the Citadel of Waffles. They activate the conditioning on Waffles, in order to distract the Fighters while the President steals Respawn Matrix plans. Before he can escape with the plans, however, Salt shoots him and stains the diagrams. The Fighters then kill Alpha Waffles, resetting his conditioning, as the Corroboree of Knifes show up just in time to fail at confronting the Waffleses.

Chapter 2: H.E.R.O.
Shortly after the defeat of the Citadel, a teenage necromancer, Carrie Lugosi approached Salt, claiming she was looking for someone: Tox. After revealing Tox doesn't exist any more, Salt took Carrie to see Hel, where she learned that Carrie was in possession of Black Soul. A brief confrontation with Carrie and her subservient souls ended with Salt and Trilby interrogating the youth. They learned she was a student at the Manhattan School of Necromancy, but before they could go any further the mysterious Headmaster arrived.

The Headmaster revealed she was looking for a way to bring people back from non-existence, thus her interest in Tox. She also implied the Fighters new her, however each one of them failed to recall who she could be. With no other leads, they contact Noah Zallot, who informs them her name is Stephanie Odinson. Moments later, the Fighters get a letter revealing Stephanie has kidnapped Kasey. Waffles takes the group to Manhattan in his new Humvee, landing in front of the school building. Stephanie leads the Fighters into the school, and shows them the inky form of the person she wants to bring back; ████. Knife and Salt free the still-unstable form from his containment cell, causing him to go berserk and attack.

Salt summons a gashadokuro to fight the now giant inky mass, while the school falls towards Manhattan. Eventually, ████ impacts with the ground, pinned in place with a giant katana. The Fighters, joined by Marcel for a brief moment, kick the oversized sword deeper in, finally destroying the monster and leaving a large monument in the middle of 34th Street.

After the Fighters return to the MFO, they decide to hold a funeral for Tox. After the service in the Mall's Gardens, they split up, with Salt briefly returning to Helheim.

Chapter 3: Father Knows Best
Elsewhere, a woman with a metal eyepatch and a raven known as Memory visits Noah. She hands him an envelope, for him to deliver to 'her'.

Back in the Mall, Salt has received the letter, which she allows Trilby to open. The letter reveals that Salt's father, Kwon Su-jae, has been found by the Found Families Registry of the Omniverse. Moments later, Salt gets a text telling her that Su-jae was last seen in The Sleepy Nier in on Foreshadowin. Trilby reads the message, then invites Salt out for pizza. Moments after they drive out into space, Salt realises Trilby's true intentions but is unable to resist.

The Fighters arrive on Foreshadowin, just outside a small family pizzeria. They enter, to order food and ask the locals for information on Su-jae. As soon as they enter, Trilby is assaulted by the cashier, and so decides to speak with a group of FGC bikers in the corner rather than the staff. The Fighters learn that Su-jae is in town, staying in the Sleepy Nier named after the video game protagonist, and track down his room.

While Salt and Trilby are in the middle of investigating, Su-jae returns. After Trilby reveals Salt is his daughter, Su-jae kicks them out, however moments later he apologises and asks if Salt is Kwon Su-jin. After confirming she is, Su-jae's demeanor changes, and he invites the Fighters out for drinks. Waffles threatens him if he turns out to be evil, then asks about Salt's mother, who is revealed to be dead. Su-jae asks the Fighters for assistance in retrieving a family heirloom from a nearby tomb, which they agree to despite Waffles' belief that the knife is cursed.

After a brief journey into the empty mausoleum, the group locates the knife, which Salt pricks her finger on. Shortly after the group parts ways, Waffles returns to Su-jae's room to confront him. There, he finds Su-jae doubled over and bleeding heavily. He attempts to explain his motives, a belief in some higher calling, while Trilby attempts first aid. Waffles drags Salt away as Su-jae drops the knife, leaving him alone with Trilby. He explains his work with his wife was about surpassing the gods, and his beliefs were renewed when 'someone' became Hel. Finally, he announces that the world will see Loki again, before vanishing.

After telling this to Salt and Waffles, and attempting to comfort Salt, Trilby leaves to go back to the pizzeria and Salt respawns in the Mall. Shortly after, Salt gets a call from Noah, explaining that the Found Families Registry shut down five years ago and the information came from elsewhere.

Chapter 4: Knife Day For A White Wedding
The next day, Waffles returns, having spent six months traveling through space-time to get back to the Mall from Foreshadowin. He explains he got caught up in a gang war between the Romulack crime family, the Naddddack Empire and the Neo-McElroy Brothers. At the mention of the Romulacks, Knife panics and hides when someone knocks on the door. The figure is none other than Karmakc Romulack, leader of the Septon 4 crime family, who invites Waffles to a family dinner.

However, when he hears mention of Knife, Karmakc's attitude changes. He confronts Knife about a woman named Sysinya, then tazes him and has a pair of goons carry him out. Karmakc explains to Waffles that Knife was promised to his daughter, Sysinya, but fled before the wedding. Salt convinced Karmakc to hire her as the wedding planner, and extend the invitation to include Trilby as well.

As Karmakc's space limo arrives on Septon 4, Trilby attempts to break Knife out, but ends up getting caught herself. Sysinya takes Knife and Trilby up to her room, while Salt and Waffles begin brawling throughout the house. Meanwhile, Trilby and Sysinya's manservant Geoff are brought to Sysinya's room to help her prepare for the wedding, where Trilby attempts another escape attempt.

Hours later, the wedding begins, with Trilby playing Knife down the aisle (held at gunpoint by Karmakc). When he reaches the altar, Waffles grabs him by the ankles and throws him into space, where a tractor beam pulls him into a ship. Down on Septon 4, the Fighters start a brawl with the Romulack guests. Marcel arrives, aiding the Fighters, while Felix aims the tractor beam at the estate for them to escape.

Chapter 5: Mega Milk Run
After leaving the Romulack manor in ruins, the Fighters return to the Mall. Salt begins drinking, while Trilby goes to fiddle with antique radios. She ends up tuning in to a broadcast from someone in Pre-Neo-Florida, which prompts the Fighters to investigate. The group steals a car, driving off towards Florida, with Trilby in disguise due to her inherited ban from the state.

After a brief stop for pizzas, the Fighters reach the Florida border. Trilby reveals that her family is banned from the state due to her grandmother cursing all the televisions in Palm Beach County. However, her disguise and Waffles' misdirection prevents the guard from enforcing the ban. A short while later, when the Fighters are passing by the World's Largest Coffee Stain, Trilby accidentally veers off the road and hits an elected official with the car. She and Waffles panic, leading to the death of two coffee merchants and a large 'crude coffee' spill.

The Fighters eventually reach Pre-Neo-Florida, a futuristic and heavily corporatised city state. A gator ramen vendor directs them to Detective Dan Danson, the only person in the city who uses radios. When they reach his home, however, the Fighters only find an intimidating figure. At Salt's suggestion, they decide to investigate a strip club to try and track down the detective. There, they find the nephew of Jimmy Fuckshoes, and the man from the detective agency attacks.

After a brief scuffle, in which Jimmy is shot, the goon lets slip he works for the water company. The Fighters return to the office, where Salt finds a clue directing her to the park. Knife, meanwhile, finds a note hidden in a fake bullet. The group splits up, with Salt and Sigma investigating the park, which is filled with glowing neon gas. Both clues direct the Fighters to a chemical plant. They find the detective chained up in the plant, and free him after an altercation with super-fast goons and some furries.

Dan, Trilby and Knife head to an office building where they confront the mysterious Mr. Johnson, who reveals his plan to take over the Mall and turn it into an anarcho-capitalist McEmpire. The trio defeat his hired mercenaries, prompting Mr. Johnson to flee. However, Trilby shoots his helicopter down somewhere in the distance. The Fighters regroup in the strip club, where Trilby kills herself in order to respawn without any cyberware.

Meanwhile, on Foreshadowin, Mr. Johnson wakes up from a coma, and discusses his plans with the McSpy.

Chapter 6: Ten Little Fighters
A day after the Fighters return from Pre-Neo-Florida, a strange man makes an announcement over the PA. The man, Nick Sposition, tells the Fighters to head to the Radioshack 2, where he is waiting with a shuttle. The shuttle takes the Fighters away to a spa and resort, where a number of other guests are waiting for their arrival. After the Fighters make their introductions, the resort's owner, Maxwell Pluto greets the party.

Waffles, in an attempt to confirm his suspicions about Pluto, disguises himself as a spy and begins investigating the resort. Before he can find anything, however, Nick's dead body is discovered in the casino. Trilby takes over interrogating the guests, while Waffles searches Pluto's room. There, he discovers a number of emails on Nick's laptop, indicating his involvement in hired killings, and follows up by investigating another guest, Ken Coster. Meanwhile, Trilby reviews the security footage and performs a more thorough search of the casino.

Eventually, the Fighters piece together the details of the case, and discover Raymond S. Luth was the culprit. Trilby threatens him with the unloaded murder weapon, causing him to slip up and reveal he knows it's empty. When pressed, Ray breaks down and confesses that he killed Nick to avenge his wife. The case now closed, the Fighters leave. As they fly away, Max Pluto makes a phone call to Mr. Johnson.

Chapter 7: Family Matters With Sister Sister
The day after the Fighters return from the resort, a new PA announcement tells them to come to the MFO, where they find a preteen girl waiting. She introduces herself as the Masked X, and asks to hire the Fighters. According to her, a doomsday cult, led by Sister, is stockpiling weapons in the Kholat Mountains. After giving the Fighters some time to prepare, Masked X flies them out to the mountains.

The Fighters start making their way up the mountainside, however after their first encounter with the cultists they demand more details. Masked X explains she's from an alternate timeline, in which the Fighters took over major world factions and turned on each other in a bloody civil war. She then unmasks herself, and introduces herself as Hyun-jae, the daughter of Salt and Sister. Moments later, Sister shows up, forcing the Fighters to flee and killing Knife repeatedly. On Hyun-jae's ship, the young girl goes into more detail about the alternate "Mall War" timeline.

When the Fighters return to the Mall, however, they discover the cultists and Sister, still holding Knife hostage, awaiting them. Sister forces the Fighters to have dinner with her, and tells them her plan; she wants to take them to the Mall War timeline to fight their alternate selves to the death. After defeating the alternate Knife, Waffles and Trilby, the spirit of Tox appears in the arena. As Tox speaks to the Fighters through Waffles, the alternate Salt crushes both of them with a gashadokuro hand, killing Waffles while he is unable to respawn.

During the final round, against the alternate Salt, Knife uses his Knight of Mind powers to reset her personality to its state before Sister's influence. Alt-Salt surrenders, offering her own life to save Hyun-jae, however instead of Sister it is Hyun-jae herself who takes her mother's life. Hyun-jae reveals she orchestrated the events leading to this fight in order to remove her opposition, prompting Trilby to send the alternate timeline's sun supernova. As the post-apocalyptic Earth is destroyed, the Alpha Fighters return home.

In an attempt to resurrect Waffles, the Fighters head to Trilby's Hell, where a demon named Indira is waiting to assault Trilby. She explains that Hell has ground to a halt without its ruler, and that souls are vanishing somehow. While Trilby gets confined to an office, Salt, Sven and Indira investigate a meeting hall in a higher Circle, where they discover a Shinto priest. The trio learn that the priest found Trilby's EarthVenture character sheet, and thus learned she worships Amaterasu. He and a friend from Limbo started the church, converting a number of Hell's denizens to a pagan religion, which puts them under the divine jurisdiction of Izanami.

The Fighters, sans Trilby but with her secretary, Genevieve, return to the Mall. There, they host a small funeral for Waffles, and discuss the possibility of a world where they have normal lives.

retpahC llaM: Llam Thgif
In the Llam, 82-Efink and Yblirt are fending off an invasion of Cheeseburger Spiders from another planet. In order to try and halt the attack, Efink distracts the spiders, while Yblirt uses a set of crystal balls to locate the source. She shoots one of the crystal balls into Tlas' head, giving her a psychic vision of a Moxian mothership overhead. Yblirt promptly launches herself into orbit, using a drill made of air to destroy the ship.

Eventually, only one cheeseburger spider remains. Yblirt kills it, causing it to send her a psychic message, stating that the spiders were only looking for a new home. Back in the Mall, Knife asserts that a Mall where the Fighters have normal lives is probably impossible.

Chapter 8: 23
Salt checks her watch, noting that the time just ticked over to 12:01, making it her 23rd birthday. In an attempt to cheer her up, Vivi and Knife plan a small party. Meanwhile, Salt heads to a therapy appointment. On the way there, she discovers a gift from Trilby; a shovel-care kit and a signed copy of the Prose Edda. When Salt returns from her appointment, the remaining Fighters take her to the party, really just a building stocked with food and drinks as wells as some balloons.

Near the end of the night, Salt heads out of the Mall to visit her mother's grave. When she returns to the Mall, she gets a text from her sister. However, when she checks the time on her phone she notices it has stopped. After confirming with Trilby that this is happening elsewhere, and after Knife fails to fix time with magic, the Fighters investigate. A voice tells them to head up to the HPOTM, where they find a mysterious child-like figure made of darkness.

After a few questions, the Fighters determine the being, which they name Ziggy, stopped time in a panic when they arrived in the Mall. In order to help Ziggy leave, they head into the sub-basements to flip the breakers and turn of the lights briefly. As thanks, Ziggy resurrects Waffles, before departing from the Mall and restoring time to normal. The news that he died, albeit temporarily causes Waffles to panic, and he departs from the Mall to be with his family.

Chapter 9: The Bi Leading The Blind
Shortly after Waffles leaves, the Mall's doorbell rings. Trilby and Salt answer it, only to find a group of trick-or-treaters. They hand out candy, but mere moments after the kids depart, a group of real zombies steals the sweets. Knife kills one of them, allowing the Fighters to confirm it was a real zombie, rather than a costumed teen. Salt attempts to use necromancy to control and destroy the zombies, however they seem to be protected.

Trilby and Salt follow the horde down into Montréal, where Salt tracks them with necromantic senses. Meanwhile, Knife questions locals to also find the source. When they reach a graveyard on the edge of the town, the Fighters witness the zombies placing the candy in a small bowl, attached to a pulley system built on a tree branch. The system transports the candy up and towards the tree trunk, on the other side of the graveyard wall.

Salt and Trilby hear the sounds of suburban activity on the other side of the wall, and head around to find the tree. There, they determine that the only undecorated house is the cause, and Salt breaks the door down. Inside they find a pair of Celtic pagans with a hatred of Halloween, who threaten them with guns. The two Fighters back off, and sneak around the back of the house, where they find a tree with a treehouse.

Salt and Trilby discover the pagan's young son, clearly responsible for the zombie horde, eating stolen candy. Salt threatens to seduce his mother to get him to stop abusing necromancy, then returns to the Mall alone, as Trilby has already left.

Epilogues
A number of epilogues are given to not only the Fighters by many of the NPC's that feature in the thread.