Elites Versus II/Endless Dread

Endless Dread is the main single-player campaign of Elites Versus II, accessible through the main menu, and sees the player using one of the three starter characters (Mario, Sackboy and Dovahkiin) to clear out the Disturbance brought on by Kiindred (the main antagonist), by taking parts in various battles to close 'Rifts' in a land brought together by Kiindred himself.
==Story==
===Intro Scene===
Upon starting the mode, a pre-rendered cutscene will play, showing a dark human-like figure suspended in the air, surrounded by light. The figure raises it's head, showing a single, yellow eye through a crack in it's head. The figure says something in a weird language, it's voice echoing across the empty surroundings. The only word clearly undrestood through the scene's subtitles is Kiindred. This same scene plays each time a playthrough of the mode is completed, with a new detail added each time.
The full scene, shown when every Character and Assist Core is unlocked, shows Kiindred floating in the air, and it's revealed that the message he speaks each time is actually a cry for help, with the following words:
"If you can hear this, I call out for your help. As you have unwittingly helped me before. My power is being used against me, against my home...and everyone else's. Including your own. Find me, find my corrupted Core, and destroy it. I will cease to be, but it is the only way. When you find me, be ready. I am Kiindred, and I need your help. We all do."
===Endings===
Endless Dread has a couple of different endings, depending on how much percentage of the map was cleared before accessing the final boss. The true ending is unlocked after clearing 100% of the Disturbance while having every Character and Assist Core unlocked, and equipping the unique "Shattered Core" Paraphernalia.
====Ending B====
After clearing enough Disturbance and defeating Kiindred, a short scene out, showing his crystal body shattering, leaving only a bright, yellow core behind. As the chosen player character approaches the Core to destroy it, a cutscene starts, showing the Core glowing purple and violently exploding, knocking back the player and destroying the arena completely. The Disturbance (shown through a purple fog) dissipates, letting the sun shine on the land once again.After the end credits, a short cutscene shows Kiindred reforming, opening his eye once more, indicating that he hasn't been defeated completely just yet.
====Ending A====
If the player manages to clear 100% of the Disturbance and defeats Kiindred's true form, a brief scene will play out: Kiindred turns back to his original form and drops to his knees, looks at the player's chosen character and only then disintegrates, but leaves behind a unique Paraphernalia (which players will later be able to equip) called "Shattered Core", with the description saying "Left behind by Kiindred, it seems to get brighter with each Core you collect..." and has no apparent effects. After approaching Kiindred's Core, the same cutscene of Ending B plays out, except for the Disturbance disappearing.
====Ending S====
When the player manages to clear 100% of the Disturbance and defeat Kiindred's true form with the "Shattered Core" equipped, a cutscene will start as soon as the battle ends. In the scene, Kiindred looks at the player's character before disintegrating and nods. The cutscene changes slightly depending on which character was chosen at this point, with each of the three characters having a unique way of destroying the corrupted Core after absorbing power from the Shattered Core:
Mario will charge up his fist with flames, leaping high into the air and crushing it with a punch.
Dovahkiin will stab his sword on the ground, punting his feet and using a powerful shout to shatter the Core.
Sackboy will jump on a bounce pad and happily bounce on the Core. After landing on it, he looks at it confused, thinking he would break it. After a moment, the Core will crack and shatter.
After the Core shatters, the character is knocked back into a portal (supposedly a portal to his homeworld), while the arena crumbles from the energy propagating from the explosion. The camera cuts to the land created by Kiindred, as bright purple cracks start appearing on the ground, slowly crumbling the floating island. Shortly after, it blows up in a bright purple explosion, leaving nothing behind. Kiindred is supposedly truly defeated, along with any trace of the Disturbance.
===Gameplay===
When booting up the mode, players are asked to choose one of 3 characters: Mario (from the Mario series), Sackboy (from the LittleBigPlanet series) and Dovahkiin (from the Elder Scrolls series), after which they'll be treated to the cutscene mentioned earlier.Afterwards, a hand-drawn map will appear, with purple fog covering it for the most part: that is the visual representation of the Disturbance players will have to clear to access the final boss and complete the mode. To clear the Disturbance, players must choose one of the challenges (called Rifts) from the right side of the screen and complete them. While not every presented challenge must be cleared in order to access the final boss, that is a requirement to further advance in the story (see Ending A). Clearing the Disturbance isn't the only reward player will get for clearing a challenge however, as that is also the only way to unlock Characters and Assist Cores, as well as Paraphernalias. One can see the reward each challenge will yield before accessing it, allowing players to evaluate what challenges are worth undertaking.
As suggested by the bottom right screen, players have a limited amount of lives, after which they'll be forced to start over, so picking your battles with care is a fundamental aspect of this mode. Recruiting more characters on your team is a prime way of saving Retries, as you'll switch to the next fighter in line when getting knocked out during a Rift challenge.
====Recruiting Characters====
When a Rift's rewards include a Character, that fighter will be added to the player's current team, allowing them to complete other Rifts with that character as well. Completing a Rift with a new character on your team will unlock that character in the other modes. Players can have a maximum of 4 additional fighters on their team, and recruiting additional characters will result in the game asking if they wish to replace one of their current team members with the new one.
====Recruiting Assist Cores====
Assist Cores are also a reward of certain Rifts, but unlike Characters, they have to be assigned to a fighter through the Manage Party menu. While there is no limit to how many Assists you can have in a single run, only the ones assigned to a character will be unlocked upon completing the run, meaning players can unlock a maximum of 5 per game.
===Rift Challenges===
There's a grand total of 100 Rift Challenges, a random selection of which will appear in each playthrough of Endless Dread.
Challenge 	Description 	Opponents	Stage
Metroid-Mania 	There is no getting lost with these fighters: they operate a map like no else! 	 	
Larger than life 	You're playing in the big leagues: defeat the biggest and heaviest fighters in the roster. 	 	
LittleBigParty 	Can you bring yourself to knock your way through 4 waves of angry Sackthings? Rest assured, they won't pull their punches! 	
 x12 	
Dragonborn 	Miraak seems even stronger than usual...he won't even flinch from your attacks in this battle. 	 	
It's-a-Me! 	Looks like someone had one too many Mega Mushrooms...knock some sense back into this super-sized Mario. 	 	
Blue Team 	The Blue Team is here! Do it...for the players! 	 	
Red Team 	The Red Team is here! Enter the fray and have a smashing good time. 	 	
Green Team 	The Green Team is here! Ready your X factor for this bout! 	 	
First night 	The night has settled...watch out for the mobs spawning in! 	
 x10 	
Brace! 	As if a pirate's life wasn't hard enough, now an enemy ship is determined to bring you down with a rainfall of cannonballs too. Take out your opponent and mind the constantly falling cannonballs. 	 	
Treasure run 	You reached the treasure's room, but it looks like someone has beat you to it: grab more relics than Chloe & Nadine in 2 minutes! 	 	
Molecules 	They might seem small, but they are mighty! Fight against a team of tiny-sized opponents. 	
x2
x2 	
The World Eater 	Wings black as night, and faster than anything you've ever seen: Alduin, the World Eater, is your opponent in this legendary battle. 	 	
Die, monster! 	Returned once again from his tomb, the evil Count Dracula awaits you in his castle. 	 	
Is it getting hot in here? 	Eve takes the stage for a fiery performance...be sure to give her a warm welcome! 	 	
Fiery Frolic 	This fun-loving dragon might not seem intimidating at first, but his projectiles are sure to terrify you to death! 	 	
The Failed Vessel 	Freed from it's chains, the Hollow Knight battles you against it's will. But if it has a will, how Hollow can it be? 	 	
The GOAT 	You're in for one hell of a time: the massive Icon of Sin is ready to unleash his devilish army against you. You know what to do: rip and tear! 	 	
Guts for dinner 	Bring out the bathing suit and your biggest weapon: time to go for a swim and hunt the legendary Lagiacrus! 	 	
The Titans 	The Three Legendary Birds of the Kanto region seem to have put their differences aside for this 3 on 1 battle. No Master Balls this time, you'll have to take them out the old-fashioned way. 	 	
Rise of the Giant 	The aptly named Giant was once an entrusted servant of the King. Key word here is "was", as testified by his skeletal remains. Nonetheless, he's still a fierce opponent, so be careful! 	 	
Deathmatch 	It's an Overwatch battle! No healers in sight sadly, so you're on your own. 	 	
Blind hunt 	FL4K prizes the hunt above anything else. Experience his tactics first-hand in this 1 on 1 fight against an invisible opponent. 	 	
Targeted 	Uh oh, looks like someone sent Edward after you! He's a deadly assassin, but if you can survive 30 seconds against him without getting hit, maybe you'll manage to escape him. 	 	
Clean getaway 	Niko is getting away! Defeat him before the stage reaches the end of the tour. 	 	
A cannon event 	Score 3 KOs using Bob-Omb's cannon. Watch your aim! 	 	
Rip and tear! 	Think you got what it takes to KO more demons than the Doom Slayer? You have 1 minute! 	 	
No smoking! 	Explosive hazards are bound to get Rico's attention. Knock him out before he can blow up the gas tank in the center! 	 	
Highest rank 	Your assignment: take down the legendary Groudon, only even bigger than usual. Quite the monster hunt indeed! 	 	
Flippin' out 	King Dice knows how to drive someone crazy. Can you keep him from flipping the platforms for 10 seconds? 	 	
Damsel in distress 	Despite what he keeps saying, Zote is in dire need of some protection. Protect him against the fearsome creatures he angered. 	
Ally 	
Impostors of Aether 	Look it's Orcane and the other Rivals! Wait, something's off here... 	 	
Summa blasphemia 	The only way to get a knockout is from the top, so ready your aerial attacks: you need to get 3 KOs! 	 	
Royal Rumble 	It's a 30 men Rumble! Or, better yet, a 30 John Cena Rumble. They have less health than usual, but it's still 30 opponents, so be careful! 	
x30 	
Hole in one 	Only KOs in the highlighted blast zone will count! 	 	
Trainer wants to battle! 	Ready for a good old fashioned battle? The trainer will send out his three Pokémons in order in this fight with Healthbars, that means no switching mid-battle! 	 	
Resurrection 	A group of warlocks trying to resurrect Ganondorf...this can't be good. Defeat all 3 of them in a minute, or you'll have to face a giant Ganondorf! 	 	
Opposites day 	It's Opposites Day, which means Atoi is extremely heavy in this battle. What kind of paper is that?! 	 	
Evil's bane 	The Master Sword is at full power: a single hit from Link's sword means the end for you! Watch out for the blade and stay out of range to get the best of him. 	 	
Cheater 	What the...Doom Slayer's guns have unlimited ammo? Must be a cheat. That's so lame of him. 	 	
That one's mine! 	Amara can be a touch competitive when it comes to taking out bandits. KO Roadhog before she does! 	 	
lortnoC ekaT 	Like looking through a mirror. Defeat Jesse (or maybe it's esseJ?) in a mirrored battle where controls are inverted. 	 	
Family reunion 	Time for a little Belmont family reunion, and apparently they have you mixed up for a Night Creature. Knock some sense into them! 	 	
Round of blood 	If you land a hit, you will heal a small amount, but beware: the same goes for your opponent! 	 	
In the heart of battle 	It's you against Ryu, 1 on 1 in a Healthbar battle. Get ready for a true street fight! 	 	
Cat and dog 	Some things just never change. You're caught in the middle of an age-old conflict: cat vs dog. 	 	
Who's the real monster? 	Good news: you're a giant! Bad news: an army of Felynes thinks you're a raging monster to hunt. 	
x12 	
Red hot match 	A brawl is surely brewing here. It's a Healthbar battle between you and Cuphead! 	 	
Get good 	You heard what she said. Prepare for a tough-as-nails battle against Hornet, protector of Hallownest. 	 	
Polluted waters 	Something poisoned the water here, and Orcane is now twice as deadly: all of his attacks will deal poison damage! 	 	
Creative flow 	Maxwell seems particularly inspired today: his Specials will spawn the best possible word every time, and his Down Special will not cause negative adjectives to activate. 	 	
Dance off, bro! 	The camera will take turns zooming in on you and Frida. Take advantage of this to show off your sick moves! 	 	
Feed the machine! 	Jake uses no half-measures when it comes to a fight, so he's bent on turning you into dog food with the Big Machine. Don't let him use his Revenge Attack on you, or it's gonna be it for you. 	 	
Elitemania! 	John Cena's throws seem to be even stronger than what they usually are. Watch out and...don't get grabbed? 	 	
Stay in the fairway! 	Ready for a King of the Hill game with Tiger Woods? 	 	
Dramatic finish 	End it with a bang: be the first to land a Revenge Attack! 	 	
Power outage 	Your Elite Status Bar won't increase in this battle! You'll have to rely on your attacks and nothing else! 	 	
Vigilantism 	Wanna play hero? Let these evil-doers face some justice! 	 	
Legendary wannabe 	Someone's playing pretend here...help out Groudon take out this giant poser! 	
Ally 	
Pick a card 	King Dice's playing tricks as usual. Make sure you take out ONLY the real one! 	 	
Wanted man 	Niko has been garnering some serious Heat...throughout the battle, he'll constantly have a 5-Star Wanted Level. 	 	
Freeze! 	Jesse has requested some backup, and Mei is more than glad to answer! 	 	
The Great King of Evil 	Forget Ganondorf...in this battle, you'll only face his demonic form: Ganon. Prepare for a tough fight! 	 	
The King of Fighting 	Ryu has brought some friends this time around! Grab your arcade stick and get fighting! 	 	
The star of the show...? 	It's him, it's Kirby! Or is it? 	 	
Indie-pendence Day 	When it comes to being self-made heroes, these fighters have no equals! 	 	
What makes you S.P.E.C.I.A.L. 	Feeling S.P.E.C.I.A.L.? You can only use your Special Attacks to win this challenge! 	 	
Seeing double 	Frida and Shantae quickly became friends over their shared love for dancing, so it's only natural Frida would inspire one of her attires from the half-genie hero! 	 	
Victory Royale 	It's a Battle Royale! Can you outlast 100 weaker opponents? 	
x100 	
Spicy Canines 	Chloe, Nadine and Crash have a lot more in common than they might realize. Nonetheless, they teamed up for this *naughty* challenge! 	 	
The guardian 	You dared set foot in the forbidden temple, and now you'll have to face the super-sized spirit that guards it against intruders like you! 	 	
Gotta catch 'em all! 	The Trainer got the wrong idea here...he's trying to catch FL4K's pets! Knock him out before he manages to defeat FL4K! 	
Ally 	
Brothers in arms 	There's nothing quite like a brotherly bond, and who better to show it than the Mario and the Cup brothers? 	
 & 
 & 	
Inner demons 	Even inside the purest souls, darkness always looms, ready to be unleashed. Defeat these shadowy counterparts! 	 	
Sonic speed 	Don't lose your footing in this fast paced battle, where fight speed is greatly increased. 	 	
Cloud District ticket 	Dovahkiin doesn't get to the Cloud District very often, so let's change that. KO him off the top Blast Zone 3 times to win! And to hopefully shut Nazeem up for good. 	 	
The Warrior, the thief and the mage	Is a party ever really complete without these three classes? Get ready to clear this dungeon from these adventurers! 	 	
Chain reaction 	Chain weapons have their charm, and these two know a thing or two about it. 	 	
I'm sorry, who? 	Get to know these fighters from the past, and learn to fear their moves! For this special occasion, they both deal twice as much damage! 	 	
Fireworks 	Three times the Rico, three times the explosions! Additionally, all their explosive attacks are much deadlier! 	 	
8-bit glory 	It's a throwback Rift challenge thanks to these staple fighters of the 8-bit era! Knock the pixels out of them! 	 	
Armor breaker 	Roadhog has taken one too many Hogdrogen breathers, and has now 100 points of armor. Can you take out this absolute unit of a tank? 	 	
Mario Kart Extreme 	Mario Karting has taken over Liberty City! Defeat the racers while the stage moves at twice the original speed. 	 	
The best bodyguard 	You need to take out that pesky Felyne, but Doom Slayer is here to stop you. You only need to KO Felyne to win! 	 	
Dawnguard protection service 	As a brand new member of the Dawnguard, your first duty is to protect innocent wanderers from those evil vampires. Don't let them KO poor Link! 	
Ally 	
Revenge contest 	Your Elite Status Bar is unlimited! Land more Revenge Attacks than your opponent in 20 seconds! 	 	
Tag you're it! 	Where did that Sticky Bomb come from?! It's gonna blow in 60 seconds, pass it to someone else, quick! 	 	
Desperate measures 	Revenge Attacks are not to be wasted: land one on all three opponents at once to win! 	 	
Parry maniac 	Can you get 10 Parries in a minute and a half? Test your skills against a Parry expert! 	 	
Triple threat 	You're used to fight Blastoise, Blaziken and Decidueye on their own, but this time, you'll have to face all 3 at once! 	 	
Zote the Almighty 	Bretta might have taken her imagination a bit too far this time: in this battle, Zote is giant, has Super Armor and deals twice the damage. 	 	
Revenge of the Heartless 	Sora might be all too familiar with these shadowy figures. Defeat an army of these Heartless imitators which can also call upon the Core of Sora himself! 	
x20 	
Triathlon 	Get ready for a lesson from three sport professionals: you'll have to score more KOs than them in 3 minutes! 	 	
King of the Castle 	Teach these so called kings what it means to rule in this King of the Hill styled match, where you'll get awarded points for staying on a designated platform. Your opponents are also blessed with the Core of King Dedede!	 	
Ruler of the seas 	Captain Kenway has pilfered everything the West Indies had to offer, and now plans to take over Medici's seas. Send him and his new crew back where they came from! 	 	
Elite Trinity 	The 3 standing stones of Elites Versus 2 are teaming up once more for this challenging 3 on 1 battle. Do you have what it takes? 	 	
Elite Veterans 	An all-out battle against the veterans of Elites Versus! 	 	
Elite Newcomers 	Give a warm welcome to the new fighters debuting in Elites Versus II! That's a LOT of newcomers... 	 	
Elite Cast 	Get ready: an intense battle against EVERY character of Elites Versus II. Brace yourself, cause this one's for the pros! 	 	
===Paraphernalia===
Paraphernalia are items players can unlock in the Endless Dread mode as rewards for completing Rift challenges, and they can be assigned to a character to receive bonuses of various kind. Below is a full list of these items.
Name 	Series 	Effect
Shattered Core 	Elites Versus 	Left behind by Kiindred, it seems to get brighter with each Core you collect...
Luigi's Hat 	Mario 	Allows for higher jumps and reduced traction.
Super Mushroom 	Mario 	Randomly become much bigger and resistant to knockback for a while.
Grabinators 	LittleBigPlanet 	Throws and command grabs have increased power.
Amulet of Talos 	The Elder Scrolls 	Special Attacks that require charging will reach max power in less time.
Soul Gem 	The Elder Scrolls 	Increases your attack power the more KOs you score.
Mehrunes Razor 	The Elder Scrolls 	Every hit has a 1% chance of dealing 150% damage (does not apply to bosses).
Eddy's Golden Gun 	Uncharted 	Dramatically increases the power of projectiles.
Paper Crown 	Tearaway 	Greatly reduces weight, but increases air speed dramatically.
Triforce of Courage 	The Legend of Zelda	Increases the damage of your Light Attacks.
Triforce of Wisdom 	The Legend of Zelda	Increases the damage of your Special Attacks.
Triforce of Power 	The Legend of Zelda	Increases the damage of your Heavy Attacks.
Caduceus Staff 	Overwatch 	Heals 30% after scoring a KO.
Radiation Suit 	Doom 	Prevents Poison damage.
Pinky's Shell 	Doom 	Deal minor damage when moving towards opponents.
Blur Sphere 	Doom 	Grants invisibility when moving slowly.
Zer0's Katana 	Borderlands 	Greatly increases damage dealt with swords.
Handsome Jack's Voice Modulator	Borderlands 	Replaces your character's voice with Handsome Jack's.
Apple of Eden 	Assassin's Creed 	Applies a random status effect to opponents after a successful throw.
Poisoned Blade 	Assassin's Creed 	Your attacks have a small chance of inflicting Poison damage.
Brass Knuckles 	Grand Theft Auto 	Greatly increases damage dealt with punches.
Rubber Duck 	Control 	Dodging distance is greatly increased. Also adds a quacking sounds to dodges.
Pierce Service Weapon 	Control 	Increased damage against armored opponents.
Vampire Killer 	Castlevania 	Attacks that use weapons will have a good chance of inflicting a Fire status effect.
Alucart Equipment 	Castlevania 	Improves the odds of luck-based moves.
Stopwatch 	Castlevania 	Heavy Attacks put opponents in a slow-motion state for a short time.
Parachute 	Just Cause 	Lowers fall speed when the jump button is held in the air.
Ryu's Headband 	Street Fighter 	All stats are increased dramatically until you take damage.
Blanka-Chan Toy 	Street Fighter 	Heavy Attacks have a chance of electrifying opponents, briefly stunning them.
Tranq Bomb 	Monster Hunter 	Projectiles have a chance of putting badly damaged opponents in a sleeping state for 3 seconds.
Coffee 	Cuphead 	Slowly fills the Elite Status Bar over time. Parrying, dealing or taking damage won't manually increase it.
Defender's Crest 	Hollow Knight 	Surrounds the player with an odour that slowly damages nearby opponents.
Fury of the Fallen 	Hollow Knight 	Dramatically increases damage when surpassing 100% damage received.
Wrastor's Feather 	Rivals of Aether 	Adds an extra jump.
Perpetva's Protection 	Blasphemous 	Grants stun immunity, but slightly increases damage taken.
Diamond Armor 	Minecraft 	Grants a little amount of Super Armor on all attacks.
Blaze Rod 	Minecraft 	Dramatically increases the power of Fire based attacks.
Gunpowder 	Minecraft 	Applies an explosive effect to projectiles and melee attacks.
Starite 	Scribblenauts 	Small chance of not consuming the Elite Status Bar when using it.
Hamm's Burger 	Bust-a-Groove 	Heals 5% of damage when taunting.
Lopez's Collar 	Dog's Life 	Reduces size, making you harder to hit but easier to launch.
Sonic's Shoes 	Sonic 	Greatly increases movement speed.
Giant Killer 	Dead Cells 	Increased damage against giant opponents.
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