Posted February 3, 2020 [Sector 2- Burned Lands] Remaining: 2 Orcs, 1 Troll Status: 2 Orcs close to death, 1 Troll injured, all else dead Action: Flee The remaining Orcs and the Troll are unable to fight much more. All of the Grublins and the remaining Orcs are dead, either burnt to a crisp or otherwise lying brutally hurt on the ground. There is nothing more to be done. Therefore the Troll makes a grunting noise and turns around. The Orcs hop onto its back as it moves quickly, fleeing past a large lake of lava as it moves towards the river. Beyond it is a small village, seemingly carved into the rock of the island in the lava. There appear to be some fish-like objects on either shore. The injured enemies know they have to report this to Malefor, so they make haste. New Area- Village [Sector 2- Avalar] Approaching: 6 Grublins In the Distance: 1 Troll, idle Status: Healthy, ready to fight Action: ATTACK! Six Grublins approach the group, aware of Metal Man's presence. Malefor would not like the fact that he was here, so they make several warning noises. One of them throws a club, which intentionally misses and falls in front of Metal Man. The humans seem petrified, while the strange birdlike creature appears ready to fight. They come closer, ready and itching for a fight as well. Share this post Link to post
Posted February 4, 2020 [ Sector: Two ] [ Location: Burned Lands ] [ Nearby People: Dio, Veigas ] The high from the adrenaline began to damper, revealing aching and pain Raven had been blissfully ignorant to. There’s a heated sting coursing through his body, warm and familiar. Raven rolls his shoulders experimentally. He inhaled sharply, eyes fluttering, as the harshness of the ache began to settle in. The orange glow of Raven’s Nasod arm began to dim. Around his shoulders, he could still feel heat emanating from the new burn marks. Raven spared it only a cursory glance. He had to ignore the fatigue and pain, especially now when he was among strangers. Said strangers were not so keen to turn a blind eye to Raven’s injuries. Well, one stranger that was. He spoke calmly and freely once the battle had ended, but upon noticing Raven’s burnt arm he grew stiff. It was odd to see just plainly Dio’s concern was on his face. Raven felt naked under Dio’s scrutiny. He wasn’t used to a stranger being so concerned for his well-being. Raven ducked his head down, clearing his throat in an attempt to distract himself from the warmth blossoming in his chest. “You needn’t worry,” Raven said. “This is just one of the side effects of my arm. I’ve been burnt more times than I can count.” To emphasize his point, tugged at his shirt and pulled it down, exposing the bare skin on his shoulder. There was a small gathering of pale scars around the base of his Nasod arm. “I could use some cold water to run the skin under or some bandages, but I don’t really have either of those.” Nor did it seem as though his companions did either. Raven pulled his shirt back up just as Veigas floated towards him and began to rattle off about being a… slave in the arena? Raven’s entire body grew still. “I don’t do that anymore,” he snapped coldly. There was no way Veigas would know about his treatment under the Nasod army, but, really, who went around saying someone would be a good slave? What kind of mindset was that? From the corner of his eye, Raven could see the last three remaining enemies fleeing from the scene. Desperate to get away from Veigas and his crude comments, Raven slowly followed them, curious to see where they were headed. They were running as fast as their bodies were allowing them. That was probably wise given how quickly their gang had been defeated. Curiously, Raven made note of what appeared to be some sort of floating mass in the lake of lava. Near where the enemies were running past was the edge of the lake where a strange metal pier was set. There what Raven thought were boats tied to the pier. Glancing back at the mass, Raven could spot the distinct shapes of buildings and a second pier stations on the mass. “Dio, Veigas, there is something worth looking at,” Raven said. He pointed towards the mass on the lake, hoping his companions would take note as well. “You see that? It looks like some sort of island. The beasts we didn’t kill ran by the river where some boats are. Perhaps there are people there that can tell us where we are.” Raven dropped his arm back to the side. He turned and gazed out towards the bodies of those they had defeated. They all appeared dead, but Raven wasn’t certain. Even if they had attacked Raven the demons first, he couldn’t bear the thought of letting them slowly bleed out in a lava filled land. “Three of our enemies escape,” Raven admitted. “But it’s not worth our time to chase them. Before we leave this area, we should make sure everyone here is dead. It would be cruel to let them bleed out.” A thought came to Raven. “Perhaps if one of them is still alive and well enough to speak, we could interrogate them. Maybe even take one to that village so they can get well enough to get their bearings if need be.” Share this post Link to post
Posted February 4, 2020 Sector 2, Mouth of the River "A mah-sheen," Glail sounded out the word, puzzled. What was that? What was programming? She could do jobs too, but she could also think. Actually, as far as she knew, everything could think; the idea that something couldn't was hard to wrap her mind around. Only things that weren't alive, like rocks or the clouds, couldn't think. Ionhazard seemed alive to her. Then Swift mentioned "movies", and the laguz's ears twitched, thinking she misheard her; but what's a sye-fye and why was it moving? What happens when it stops? Glail became even more baffled when Swift explained where she was from. None of those names were familiar. By states, she assumed she meant a state of existence? Like, one time she was in a bad state, because she injured herself in training and had to stay in bed for a week... Glail's tail drooped as it really dawned on her. "I'm really lost, huh?" she murmured. "I-I don't know any of those places. I'm from... I don't..." She looked back out over the lush forest, inviting, but completely alien to her. "Where's the desert...?" She jumped as Swift suddenly started yelling at Ionhazard. Her friend's face showed horror... something she doesn't often see. She bit her lip, realizing her mistake in assuming that making a desert would just push the forest aside, not remove it... did it remove it? Is that how it works? She didn't know anything about dragon laguz. Ionhazard didn't show the slightest concern at the idea of everything dying off. No, far from it. He looked ahead, not hiding his grin. "Exactly," he rumbled. He turned away from the fiery side of the land and started heading down the middle of it, beside the river. He was going to the river's source, Glail assumed, but why? Deserts don't need rivers! "Hey, Iony, maybe we shouldn't..." Glail faltered, pausing at a sickening crack as he stomped through a lone tree in his path, not even fazed by it. "Wait, Iony!" "It's Ionhazard," the Commander growled. "Maybe we should make the desert somewhere else!" "Oh, relax," he said ambivalently, "the animals will live. They'll run off to some other... forest." They better not, he added to himself. He picked up the pace, eager to get to the water's source before either of his hitchhikers could change his mind, or before anyone noticed him. He still wasn't sure who else was out here. "But what if there isn't one?!" Glail shouted over the rising winds. "Or what if-! What if there's another dragon out there, and it gets mad!?" Another machine? That's an interesting thought, Ionhazard mused. He didn't slow down though. "What if it attacks us? What if we die? Maybe it's bigger, or, or stronger, or...!" Glail frantically thought of more excuses. "Or what if there are people in there?! What if making the desert makes you too weak, or doesn't work-!?" Oh shut up, you damn lifeform, the Commander's thoughts grumbled, but Glail continued making excuses. Somehow the wind wasn't drowning out her tiny voice. She brought up the possibility of another "dragon", and after few seconds of thinking about it he wondered if this place had actual dragons. Apparently the humans had already mutated themselves into wolf-shifters. So much for said shifters being on the Machines' side though, if they're so keen on preserving this hideous, green smear on the... ...No. This doesn't make sense! He abruptly came to a halt, digging his claws into the earth. Soil roared and flung into the air as he skidded, gouging the landscape, which was surprisingly soft. Glail yelped and fell back down, but thankfully didn't almost roll off again. The machine ripped his claws out of the new trenches and planted them firmly on either side before whipping his head around to glare at his two passengers. "Factions. Names. Histories. Now," he snarled. Glail just stared at him, pale in the face. "SPIT THEM OUT!" "Aaah, not so loud!" the laguz cried, throwing her hands to her ears and curling in on herself. Her heart raced under the scrutiny of this huge creature. Why did the dragon laguz want to kill the forest? What did he mean by a faction name? What should she say?! ---------- Sector 1 - Problem Incoming! A horrific howling erupted from the southern cliffs. While looking - and certainly as treacherous - as mountains, the glorified crags were dwarfed by the rising ranges behind them of the neighboring sector, which had dark skies as though thick with black clouds. At first, the source of the noise wasn't immediately apparent, until the sound of rushing hooves reached those in the tiny sector, and two red-brown dots could be seen barreling along the cliffs. They clearly were - or had been - animals of some kind, and held just enough self-preservation to not jump off the cliffs into the sea. Unfortunately, that meant that they were following the cliffs, and where the cliffs ended was just across from the largest group in the sector. Neea, who had just taken notes on Hawkeye's name, wondered what "last names" were, and just witnessed the robed man talking to Hawkeye's pet - which was named Mystical? - had looked up at the noise. It was far enough away to not be any concern, except the two objects were moving unnaturally fast, and heading toward the group. She squinted, her cameras zooming in on the objects, missing Renarin's question of who could talk. U-Uh.... well. Uh. That's... not anything she's seen before. She couldn't tell if they were animals, or plants, or rock monsters... but their eyes were a clear, visible orange in the mess that was somehow running at high speed. One opened its misshapen jaw, which split all the way down its side, and belted out a hideous, baying scream. They looked neither alive nor friendly. They also weren't stopping. "Uh, what are those?" She couldn't hide the urgency rising in her voice. "What are those?!" ---------- Sector 6 - Not the Parrot You Ordered A similar situation has come to the monster servants of Kid Dracula's castle. A bundle of the smells bird, ocean, and something not quite right, had abruptly hit a four-story window with a loud THWACK! Easily dismissed as a bird that was lost in the sector and flew into the window, because well, birds do that, the thing managed to somehow save itself with a massive, misshapen claw, grabbing the sill then swinging itself harder through the window with a loud crash. It flopped to the floor, damaged by the glass, but not even registering it. The bird monster stood up, heading twisting around unnaturally as it scanned the room with a single, orange eye, wide and unblinking. It felt many life forces, but saw nothing moving in the room, except... the flicker of a candle! Immediately attracted to the light, the monster attacked a sconce on the wall, beating its misshapen wings and biting and clawing viciously, ignoring its surroundings until it had thoroughly decimated the single candle, its holder, and a healthy patch of the wall behind it. The beast ungracefully fell to the ground once the flame was snuffed out, rolled over into a prone position, and froze with its head tilted, waiting for another movement to catch its eye. Share this post Link to post
Posted February 11, 2020 (edited) The robot was talking to her finally, though she would’ve liked it better if he wasn’t yelling so loud or interrogating her and Glail like this. Earlier the laguz had been wondering about movies and states and sci-fi, not unusual considering Swift had explained close to nothing. "I'm really lost, huh? I-I don't know any of those places. I'm from... I don't... Where's the desert...?" Glail looked miserable. She’d felt a stab of empathy for the other girl, but had no time to worry about it, trying to stop Ionhazard from obliterating the forest, Glail going on about more creatures like him. She hoped there weren’t others. Then he’d stopped short and turned quickly and fiercely to the two girls — Swift had to grab onto a ridge to keep her balance. "Factions. Names. Histories. Now. SPIT THEM OUT!" She growled in frustration, getting ready to shift and run if she needed to. How many times do I have to tell you?! her famous temper flared. “Look, I don’t know about any of your ‘factions’ and I don’t bloody care what they are or do. I already told you my name, and I expect so did Glail, who you shouldn’t yell at because she’s a nice person and innocent and obviously not as experienced at danger and strangeness as we are, so shut up and stop questioning us like we’re freaking spies or something because we’re not hiding anything!” She glared at the ‘dragon’, green eyes blazing. Realising that it might to be best to run, she took a deep breath to calm herself, then grabbed Glail’s hand. “I don’t think he has your best interests at heart. We should probably go,” she said in a low voice. Quickly she spread her wings and prepared to glide down behind Ionhazard’s back so (hopefully) he wouldn’t see — it was better if he didn’t know what else she could do and thought she was just a wolf shifter — then hit the ground running and hoping Glail was behind her. Edited February 11, 2020 by Swiftphoenix Share this post Link to post
Posted February 12, 2020 [U and R - Sector 1 -North Midsection] Renarin's question to Mystical goes completely unanswered. Instead, the sound of hooves rapidly colliding with the ground come closer to the group. They move swiftly, uncomfortably so, and when Utakata turns around to face the sound he jumps back a meter. "Son of a b-" he cuts himself off when he looks at the intruders, two very intimidating and oddly contorted creatures. They appear to be some sort of demonic version of a familiar animal, with bright orange eyes that send shivers up Utakata's spine. Oh no. The machine starts to panic. Utakata feels the adrenaline race through his body as any sort of common sense leaves his brain through one of his ears. Normally, he'd get in a bubble and get the hell out of there. But that'd be humiliating and cowardly for many reasons. Part of him wants to show Kaiba that he's more than just "FlImSy bUbBlEs." But it'd overall make him look.... Terrible, really. He'd been told he lacks greed, but pride? That's another sin entirely. So he decides to take it a step further. After all, he does have a certain six-tailed friend up his sleeve.... So he tries to tap into the chakra reservoir in his system, and to his dismay nothing happens. He's still his plain, human self. Not even the usual wave of chakra forms around his body. Nothing. Utakata feels a vein throb in his temple. Saiken? Saiken? SAIKEN? He continues to try and summon the red-and-black beast form, but to his confusion and eventual pain, nothing comes of it. What anyone else hears from Utakata's throat is a rather high-pitched and demonic "NO!" Utakata pauses and shakes his head. "WHAT THE HELL DO YA MEAN, NO?" He mutters a few insults having to do with a giant, useless, slime-for-brains slug under his breath and grabs his pipe. He dips the pipe in the bubble liquid and sends forth a wave of bubbles in the direction of the two creatures. "Heads up folks, it's gonna be a bit loud in here!" His other hand raises out of instinct and snaps. ... Riza looks at Utakata, dumbstruck for a second. What in the hell is the man doing? She didn't expect him to yell in pain, nor at all.... Is he alright? "Mm, either he's already lost his mind, he's a complete idiot, or something is very, very wrong." Riza murmurs to herself. The strange, demonic sound, though, makes her think that the third option is more likely. "Is he... Possessed by something?" Utakata doesn't answer, instead muttering some rather rude, yet mild words out under his breath. He sends another wave of bubbles, and Riza takes out her gun and aims at the one creature that made an unholy sound. She closes her left eye, lines up, and fires. Show time. Share this post Link to post
Posted February 18, 2020 Riverside Glail looked up as Swift began defending her, and herself. She didn't expect such passion from the girl, despite having only just met her. Ionhazard's annoyance only spiked at the lack of clear answers, or fear from the supposed humans. He snarled loudly at Swift's claim of not being spies, clearly thinking otherwise. "These factions you think so lowly of are the definition of who's friend or foe in the world," he barked back, "How do I know that you're not spies? Or do you expect me to just take your word for it?" "I-I'm a laguz! I'm lost, and I don't know where my daddy is, and I'm from the Desert of Death, and...!" Glail's voice died down when Swift grabbed her hand, a sense of urgency in the movement. “I don’t think he has your best interests at heart. We should probably go.” "H-Hatari Kingdom?" Glail finished awkwardly. "But-! I don't know how to get down! It looks slippery!" She tried not to think about the steep drop surrounding them. "Where are you going?" Ionhazard growled. The girl stared defiantly at him. He noticed bright white wings suddenly erupt from her back! Two threads leapt to conclusions at once: one, she must not be affiliated with whomever - or whatever - Glail might be with, and two, she had the audacity to try and leave? It wasn't making sense that these two wouldn't recognize him. He knew none of the names they threw around regarding their origin. It was becoming more and more far-fetched that this was some distant future on Earth, and the ridiculously-implausible was starting to look more likely. A simulation? Not with the Archivist in orbit. Another planet, with a simulation? It would be too expensive to dig him up and launch him into space exclusively for these infuriating little tricks. Multiverse theory?... Mother Machine would know. The now-winged girl turned to jump off the Commander's shoulder, and he half-expected her to drop like a rock, except the wings moved with the very real fluidity of flesh and feather as they opened. "Not so fast!" he snapped, simultaneously cracking his jaw and sending a tendril after the girl. She attempted to dodge, and to her credit she was amazingly nimble; but the tendril was quicker, and snatched her by the waist before she could get sufficient air under her wings. "I'm not done with you!" "Don't hurt her!" Glail blurted out, shakily getting back up on her feet, "m-maybe she's lost too!" Ionhazard regarded her for a moment, and sighed. A wolf girl with shaky knees, and some kind of animal shifter who was already mad at him. What kind of world is this? A bit dejectedly, he swung Swift back over his shoulder, but the tendril didn't let go, simply holding her there with Glail staring up in fright and concern. Rarely for him, he considered there to be some value in the two girls. Sure, they had stories of being lost, but he might be able to eke some use out of them yet. First, though... Ionhazard looked up to to the northwest, rotating his entire body so he was facing back the way they came, and tried to send a remote signal back to the one he was sensing across miles of unknown territory. If this truly was Earth, it would respond with either an Earth or Machine signature. He waited a few moments in silence. Glail's ears twitched, unable to tell from the frozen metal frame if he was still mad at them or not. As far as she could tell, he just turned around and stared into the distance for no reason. Maybe he was lost, just like they were, and that's why he was mad. If a dragon laguz could make deserts, could he get lost? Or if he was a robot, like Swift said? "Iony?" She tried to talk to him, but the Commander ignored her, waiting impatiently. The distant signal kept humming in his head, like a blinking dot in his peripheral that couldn't be turned off. Then suddenly, it changed tone. It changed multiple times. A long stream of ups and downs... binary? The plates on his head flattened in surprise, and the tendril abruptly let go of Swift, letting her fall - yet again - beside Glail. The laguz hustled over to her friend's side, just as surprised as he was. "Are you okay? Where did your wings come from?! Can you fly?" She reached out with the intent of touching the feathers, but refrained. "...Yes. I thought-!" Ionhazard said abruptly. Glail looked up, but he wasn't looking at them. He was still staring at the horizon. "...What are you talking about? What the hell is Spore?" "What? We didn't say anything," Glail tried to answer him, but he wasn't paying attention to them. She looked awkwardly at Swift, wondering what she thought of this, and if she had any ideas on how to get off Ionhazard's shoulder. Share this post Link to post
Posted February 26, 2020 Maybe running had been the right thing to do, but not the one that was most likely to work. Swift struggled indignantly against the tendril, trying to get loose and run again. Disappointingly, Glail hadn’t really tried to escape, instead only telling Ionhazard not to hurt the outlaw. That was its own form of loyalty, she supposed. And loyal people were good to have around you. Plonked back on the robot’s shoulder in an undignified way, she reconsidered her options. Should she run again, pulling Glail along this time, or actually pretend to cooperate with Ion? It would be a good way of getting information about him and where they were. Heck, she might even find something to use as leverage on him. Satisfied with that decision, she stayed put, even as the tendril released her and she could move freely once more. Turning to the laguz, she noticed that her new friend had come over, checking if she was all right. "Are you okay? Where did your wings come from?! Can you fly?" The quick, surprised burst of words made her smile as Glail reached out towards her wings, but stopped. Swift quickly nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine. And go ahead, if you want,” she said, gesturing to the white feathers. The other girl’s reaction was something she hadn’t seen for a long time, ever since she’d first got her powers, and it was a welcome change of pace. From kicking villain butt and hunting, that was. "...Yes. I thought-!" Ionhazard said abruptly. "...What are you talking about? What the hell is Spore?" Swift looked over at Glail, but obviously she didn’t know what that was either, the blue girl looking over at her for... instruction, maybe? Oh, man. I’m not good at that. Suzy’s voice answered her thoughts briskly, with a cheeky smile. Sure you are. Just be bossy like you were when Henry was kidnapped, and your ex was the one who did it. She scowled. Not helping, imaginary Su voice. Well, maybe it was. Just a little bit. Lost in her thoughts, she had to pull herself out of the thinking and decide what to do next. “Okay, Glail. I’ve got a plan. We just have to stay here until he trusts us... or at least gives us information, and then we distract him and run. Not now, I guess, because I just tried to, and maybe we shouldn’t push our luck, but we will. Eventually.” She did her best at a reassuring grin and patted her companion awkwardly on the shoulder. Now we wait. It had been an ordinary day for Peter Parker. He’d gone to school, like he had for the last eight years, then checked in on his aunt May, met his girlfriend MJ for a swing through the park, and finally stopped by a hot dog stand before leisurely making his way home, feeling satisfied about the day, especially since no one seemed to be in trouble and he didn’t need to save them from danger. Not bad for a Monday. But just as he swung past a nearby shawarma joint, suddenly he felt the web snap, and he was plummeting to the street below. Wasn’t he? He only blinked, and New York was gone. No more glowing billboards and traffic lights and people walking around. Just... blackness. Okay, I’m falling and I need to web something to stop myself or Aunt May is going to be worrying when I get home... but there isn’t anything here to web. Now what? Just then he landed hard on his back. A loud oof escaped him and he lay there for a few seconds, winded. Ouch. He looked up at the blue-green sky above him before catching his breath, getting slowly to his feet and looking, bewildered, at his surroundings. Beyond him was a green, grassy area dotted with what looked like... large slugs? What were they, some kind of sentient blob? Enchanted by the creatures, he was tempted to walk to them and find out more, but dragged his attention towards finding out where he was and getting home. If I was a sudden portal taking Spider-Man... somewhere, where would I lead? There were too many possibilities he wished would really be true, most involving MJ or a land free of school and crime. Again distracted, he turned his thoughts outwards, heading towards a distant pass that seemed to lead somewhere interesting. I hope there are people here, then they can help me get home... or maybe I’ll have to fight them. Getting information about a strange place was always a good thing to do, eliminating the unknowns. He just hoped no one would try to kill him. Share this post Link to post
Posted March 1, 2020 [ Combining Groups ] [ Location: Sector One ] [ Form: Human --> Longsword ] Rudolph had been keeping an unceasing eye on the giant machine. It had begun to mobilize, and thankfully not in their direction, so perhaps it would be prudent to bide their time and wait, and maybe play around with whatever goop these slimes seemed to be leaving behind. Slimes... not the most intelligent of monsters, but sometimes the big ones had potential to become very, very dangerous. Still -- he was a little skeptical about touching the slimy residue, but it was too late to mention that to Hibiki. Best not. But, it seemed like they weren't catching a break just yet. Before Rude could raise the alarm, the animals he spotted running along the mountains let out an uncomfortably piercing screech as they came, approaching with an impossible speed. While previous experience so far pointed towards not jumping to conclusions and hostilities immediately, something about those things struck him as more witch-like than anything else he had seen here. Hawkeye and Utakata looked to have the same idea and immediately took to the offensive, with the latter seemingly speaking to himself in different voices... which raised red flags in Rude's mind. (From the case studies at the DWMA, at least, split voices tended to be a bad sign.) The group here didn't have time to fully go through abilities, yet, but it seemed like the man in the kimono hid more than he let on. "Prince Renarin," Rudolph began, turning and making sure that he had the other man's attention. "You said you studied the Blade? As previously noted during our initial encounter, my ability is to transform into one, so please hold out your dominant hand." With time ticking away, he stretched his hand out to meet Renarin's in the middle, noting that he was clasping left hand in left hand. Rudolph closed his eyes and his body dissolved into golden light, reforming and reshaping into his familiar bladelike form, with its wrapped handle, delicate filigree crossguard, and inset topaz gems. The matchup was supposed to be perfect, and yet, it felt like someone was trying to run a hundred milliamps through his body. ''HUUUAGH!!" he yelled telepathically into the prince's head, suddenly having lost his signature calm. "Oh, come ON! It was hard enough trying to find a partner LAST TIME! Do I REALLY gotta deal with compatibility issues NOW?!" Share this post Link to post
Posted March 1, 2020 (edited) “Uh, what are those? What are those?!” Renarin’s head snapped up at the not-Thunderclast’s uneasy shout. He scanned the area and--oh, he seconded her question, what in Damnation were--they looked like they might be from Damnation itself! Utakata cut off a curse and gritted his teeth, expression contorting in intense concentration. Whatever he was trying to do seemed to fail, because all that came of it was an unfamiliar voice screeching out “NO!” with Utakata’s mouth, so suddenly it made Renarin jump. Utakata swore back at it and muttered a couple of insults under his breath as he pulled out his pipe and...created a flood of bubbles? Interesting fighting style. Is that voice like a spren? Like Glys? Does he have a bond that’s blocked off, too? A loud bang rang through the air, making Renarin flinch again. Who--Hawkeye--? What was-- And the giant not-Thunderclast was moving and the creatures were getting closer and Renarin could feel himself starting to verge towards a meltdown--no. No. He refused to break down here. He could fight. He could...somehow. Somehow. Not for the first time, Renarin internally cursed at his inability to summon Glys. His Plate would be a boon here, too, but he had nothing but his healing, not even an ordinary sword’s blade… “Prince Renarin.” Renarin glanced over sharply. Rudolph. The man with a sensible solution, who had… Who had been a sword. “You said you studied the Blade? As previously noted during our initial encounter, my ability is to transform into one, so please hold out your dominant hand,” Rudolph said, confirming where Renarin’s own thoughts had been heading. Oh, storms yes. Renarin reached out unhesitatingly, clasping the other man’s hand. A flash of light, a reformation-- And pain, like he hadn’t felt since trying to wield a dead Shardblade years ago. Renarin staggered, barely able to lift the sword. Not a Blade, part of his mind noted distantly. Just a sword. And the screaming, yes, that was familiar too. “HUUUAGH!! Oh, come ON! It was hard enough trying to find a partner LAST TIME! Do I REALLY gotta deal with compatibility issues NOW?!” Hm. Apparently Rudolph was an angrier person than he let on. That was fine, Renarin was too. At least this sword wasn’t accusing him of murdering it, screaming hatred and vitriol into his mind. And despite the pain, he was able to lift it. As long as he could lift it, he could fight. It brought to mind a particular duel. Before they’d known the Radiants were back at all...when his brother had faced down four Shardbearers, won with the help of Kaladin against impossible odds… He hadn’t been useful then. He would be useful now. He would. He would. “We can deal with this,” Renarin said firmly, matching Rudolph's way of speaking mind-to-mind. He’d only rarely managed that with Glys… “I can still fight. You’re no Shardblade, but this will do.” “He is mine,” Glys murmured through the suddenly three-part bond, almost sounding like he was sulking. “Mine first.” “Don’t be rude,” Renarin said, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth despite the pain. “This is only until I can summon you again, you know that.” He readjusted his grip on the hilt and took a deep breath, forcing himself to bring it up in a loose approximation of a stance. He would fight. He would. Edited March 13, 2020 by Pachimew Share this post Link to post
Posted March 1, 2020 Seto Kaiba <Status: Stable> <Active Monster(s): Assault Wyvern> Hibiki Tachibana <Status: Stable> <Gungnir Symphogear: Active> <Location: Sector 1 - Midsection> <People: Riza | Mystical | Utakata | Renarin | Neea | Rude> <Enemies: Two unknown creatures> ~~ At least Riza was respectful of Kaiba's preference, he had to give her that. But to hear that Utakata didn't even have a last name... that was just sad. And then... another voice? Was there yet another group of people? Things just got stranger and stranger... "Uh, what are those? What are those?!" The machine's words snapped Kaiba out of his thoughts, and her words couldn't have been more accurate. WHAT ARE THOSE?!?! The strange creatures approached, fast, and left very little room to think. Utakata's actions made Kaiba question whether he was mentally stable or not, and the bubbles he sent out did not help that image at all. Still, at least Riza was content with doing something useful. And then Rude transformed into a sword. What. The. Hell. Kaiba was sure he'd woken up in hell now, but there was no more time to think. He held Assault Wyvern's card in his hand. "Tachibana, if you've got anything that can help us fight, I suggest you bring it out!" Kaiba then Summoned Assault Wyvern to the battlefield once more, and the dragon took form and went to its master's side. "I know you're itching for a fight, Assault Wyvern... well, you're about to get one." Hibiki gripped her pendant tightly. She did sorely need the practice... She opened her mouth and sang. "Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron..." And in a flash of light, she was back in the armor she'd been wearing when she and Kaiba had met. Her armor... is powered by song?! No, now wasn't the time to get distracted. "...wait for an opening, Assault Wyvern." The dragon he'd summoned lowered itself, waiting patiently for its master's command. Hibiki took the cue and decided to lie in wait, as well. ~~ Millaarc Cranstoun <Leader: Shem-Ha Mephorash> <Rank: Noble Red - Vampire Commander> <Status: Stable> ~~ "Wow, you are lost. In more ways than one." The girl sighed, jumping down from her perch to the ground. "Sector 7 is all the area under the command of Shem-Ha - my leader. Shame it couldn't be the entire world, but hey, gotta start somewhere, right?" She then grinned, flashing her fangs. "By the way, the name's Millaarc. Now let's get you inside - we don't want people getting the wrong idea about you, do we?" A false sense of security before striking him down... or maybe even getting him to be an ally? So many choices and so little time... But it would ultimately be Shem-Ha's decision. Share this post Link to post
Posted March 1, 2020 (edited) [U and R - Sector 1 -North Midsection] The bubbles manage to surround the rams and explode. Utakata grins at that- perhaps he doesn't need Saiken's help this time. He glances at Riza, who looks at him like he has several heads, and he narrows his eyes at her as if to question what the hell she thinks she's looking at. She appears to roll her eyes at him, which sends steam rushing out of his ears. But he sighs and looks over at the rams. "Okay, good. That's something." Not much, but hey. Utakata dips his pipe in the solution and sends another wave of bubbles in the direction of the rams. However, he glances over at Renarin and Rudolph, the latter of which turning into a sword and not reacting well to Renarin's grip. "Rudolph? Renarin-denka? Is everything okay over there?" He asks this while turning back to face the rams, waiting for the right moment to set them off. "I'm sure they're fine," Riza says in response. "That concern of yours is going to get you killed." "Oh really," Utakata gives a flat-voiced reply. "It's lasted me twenty six years, I think I'll manage." His eyes do not widen again for a while, even when he gets the opportunity to snap his fingers. Riza shrugs. "Your funeral," she says in response as she aims her gun and fires. Utakata jumps in response to the loud noise. Riza smiles. Utakata rolls his eyes in response and glances over at Kaiba, who sics a wicked looking dragon-like creature forwards. But then he.... starts to hang back? Utakata widens his eyes in surprise. Why is he not....? "Wait...." "Balwisyall nescell Gungnir tron..." Both Utakata and Riza startle as they look at Hibiki. Neither of them had expected her to start singing. But once she does, it doesn't take long before her clothes are replaced by some sort of armor, one that makes them look at each other in awe. "You just saw that?" Riza nods at him in response. "That's..... That's insane- ....Jeez, I must be having some weird dream, explains why I can't summon Sai- uh..... Yeah." Riza raises her eyebrow, but shrugs. It's not worth her time asking what the hell Utakata was talking about. Edited March 27, 2020 by Mikasa361 Share this post Link to post
Posted March 1, 2020 (edited) [ Preparing for Battle... as best as we can ] [ Location: Sector One ] [ Form: Weapon ] The soul bond wasn't ideal and felt like it could break apart any second, but at least he didn't end up too heavy to hold. At least he didn't slam into the ground with the weight of an unnaturally dense mineral this time. And, now that he had calmed down from the initial outburst, the pain of the shock had also calmed down to a manageable level, but sparks danced along the surface of his blade as a dangerous physical manifestation of the clash. A third, unexpected voice joined the link, and Rude nearly jumped back into his human form due to its unexpected nature. Upon closer examination of the soul pulses, the Weapon discovered that there really was something else here, like a parasite perhaps, that had entwined itself with Renarin's soul -- but that it didn't appear to feel malignant at the moment. If anything, it sounded more like a child. Deciding to not press the issue any further right now since this anomaly was not an immediate threat, Rude turned his attention outwards. Though Rudolph couldn't see, he could sense the presence of the souls in the immediate vicinity: the very much tainted creatures that had already gotten uncomfortably close, the handful of humans, the appearance of a new but friendly creature... He could also hear, although distant, the sounds of gunshots and what he assumed was Hibiki's voice singing a few words before her soul began resonating all on its own. Such power...! "I appreciate that you are trying," he replied to Renarin, impressed by the other man's determination. "In turn, I will, as well. Normally, demon weapons such as I have the capability to weaponize soul wavelengths, although in this state I doubt you will be able to get any lasers out of me. Regardless, worst comes to worst, a blunt weapon is better than no weapon at all." He spoke with formality, but in actually the entire situation -- from the initial incompatibility to being used as a glorified steel pipe -- felt pretty insulting. It was just impolite and unwise to mention it, given the precariousness of the bond. But, if he couldn't do much with his wavelengths without hurting his current partner, was there something else he could play around with? Edited March 1, 2020 by TehUltimateMage Share this post Link to post
Posted March 2, 2020 “Wow, you are lost. In more ways than one.” Oh, you don’t say? Vyre would have crossed his arms, were it not for the Blade he still held. He settled for scowling at her instead. The girl sighed, descending from the air. “Sector 7 is all the area under the command of Shem-Ha - my leader,” she explained. “Shame it couldn't be the entire world, but hey, gotta start somewhere, right? By the way, the name's Millaarc. Now let's get you inside - we don't want people getting the wrong idea about you, do we?” Sectors...an attempt to expand and control more territory...the wrong idea? Vyre frowned, but cancelled his Lashing and descended to the ground after her, carefully avoiding looking at her directly. She may not be entirely human, but she was a lot storming closer to appearing it than the Singers had ever been; close enough that it was awkward for him to look directly at her in that outfit. He debated on whether he should dismiss his Honorblade, but finally chose to let it dissipate into mist. It wasn’t like he couldn’t resummon it, anyways. The dancing pain calmed down to a manageable level, and Rudolph’s response regained the even-headedness that he’d had when first speaking. It was both startling and relieving, but more importantly it was leagues better than handling a dead Blade, even if it was still uncomfortable. ...What were lasers? A soul wavelength he could understand, sort of; his best guess was that it was like a Nahel bond, something that allowed two souls to slot together instead of a human and a spren. Renarin shook his head slightly. It could wait until after the battle, since it sounded like they weren’t an option available to him. “Compared to a Shardblade, everything is blunt.” He felt like he should probably follow that up with something. “I’m sure--” “Renarin! The pieces! Watch the pieces! They move!” His gaze snapped back to the battle. There was--something new on the field, seemingly obedient, and Hibiki was in a new outfit; he’d heard her sing; and thankfully her new clothes covered her safehand, even if it was revealing in other ways. But the strange, twisted creatures...one had been blasted in half. Those halves were both getting up. “Oh, Stormfather,” Renarin swore. Damnation, what he wouldn’t give for his soul-cutting Shardblade! “I hope you can put those things down,” he told Rudolph. Everyone else seemed to be lying in wait, but...why? He couldn’t figure out why they were just staying still. If it was to avoid running into others’ attacks, well. Renarin could heal. And hit it till it dies hadn’t failed him yet. He gripped Rudolph’s hilt, brought up the sword, and charged forwards. Share this post Link to post
Posted March 4, 2020 Avalar, Somewhere In a Little Bit? The wolf girl's tanned face broke into a nervous smile when Swift - after thinking for a grumpy moment - assured her that she had a plan. That was good! She always admired people who could come up with plans so quick! Someday, she'll be able to plan like that, and the plans will be awesome. "Okay!" she said, nodding quickly while petting the primary feathers closest to her. They reminded her of eagle's wingtips, when they'd circle the deserts looking for food, or the lengths vultures showed off when they preened high up on a perch. She hadn't felt many feathers, but these ones definitely seemed the silkiest! "I'm great at running!" Glail offered her own assurance, as quiet - and yet excitedly - as she could be. "Every day, I would run outside with my axe, because Daddy said I need plenty of practice using it while running. It's really hard to do! But I think I'm good at it. How will we distract him?" For a second, inside, Glail wondered if it would be mean to run away from Ionhazard when she didn't have much against him, and her face fell again for this moment. "Do you think we'll hurt his feelings, if we leave? We just met him." The giant machine in question still wasn't cued in on the talk on his shoulder. Instead, he was having an active conversation with the beeping in his head, which was the closest his creator could get to actual talking. He still couldn't believe it: Mother Machine! It was her signal! She was supposed to wake up last, though. All of the other Commanders were supposed to wake up first: the Archivist would wake him, and he would find the Scavenger, and the Entropist, and the Warden, and they would clear out the region and protect it while the other Commanders were found and repaired... Mother Machine wouldn't be fixed until the end, because she was like a mile-wide screeching target. All of the human's sensors would find her and target her immediately. At the same time, she wasn't making sense... she was going on and on about video games and the "improbable" and some "I knew it all along"s, and now she was talking about some theoretical generator that was easier to build than any on Earth? Implying that this truly wasn't Earth? "Hold on," he interrupted aloud, "you know where we are?" "Well," the binary stream said back, "I don't know where you are, just that you're close enough to the ATRS I sent out east that we could talk. And as I said before, there isn't one satellite in the sky. Not any working ones, anyway." "So this isn't Earth?" "It's not any planet we've been to. I'm pretty sure this is a multiversal setup." "Because of the highly-coincidental video game references?" Ionhazard grumbled. "Of course! I might be a giant computer hanging from the ceiling but I still play games," the beeps sounded testy, "I know Spore and Subnautica when I see them!" "And this 'Subnautica' has a generator you're making right now?" "And more ATRS, and some repair spider drones, and I'm thinking of making our first mechs for this world, too! I miss the Entropist's shrill voice... Oh right, and I need to adapt some Insectoid-class machines. I'm underwater and surrounded by water, so I'm guessing I'm on an island." "Ohhh, great." Ionhazard sighed, flushing more smoke from his exhaust. "So I can't even get to you." "That's okay! You're better off out there, anyway. I need more scouts." "Scouts?! I'm the Executioner!" "I know, dear, but we can kill people later. First we need to find our allies." Ionhazard let out a hoarse sound between a gag and a cough, and she added, "FOR NOW. The facility is in shambles, the last thing I need is hordes of some other universe's minions flooding in and causing, well, more literal flooding. Now, have you found anyone out there? What's it like?" Ionhazard shut his eye for a moment, suppressing his agitation of being demoted to a mere scout. It took him a couple of seconds before he answered, "Horrible and green. I've seen a Japanese girl, a human with weird hair and overpowered holograms, and two shapeshifters." "REEAALLY?" Mother Machine hummed with interest, "Any keepers?" "I have the shapeshifters..." Ionhazard almost finished with "prisoner", but remembered that Glail and Swift were still right next to him. He glanced over, just to make sure they hadn't gone anywhere. Mother Machine didn't comment on him trailing off. "Keep them as allies. AND DON'T EAT ANYONE. I'll refine some biofuel as soon as I can." "Uuuggh." "You'll get over it. And stay in touch, okay? I need a sense of how big your island is. So far, it is definitely bigger." Ionhazard scowled at the ground, finished with answering. He hated it when she treated him like a son and not a Commander. Fine, she built him multiple times over, but they've also fought in hard times for a long time! One would think she'd stop being so soft by now! At least the shapeshifter girls only heard half the conversation... The problem is, now he no longer had permission to "cleanse" the land of life, and while he felt belligerent enough to ignore orders, he also knew Mother Machine would just shut him down if he tried. If there was anything more humiliating than being treated like a child, it was having your creator casually flick the OFF switch and go back to whatever she was doing while you crumpled like a heap of rocks. MrmRGPgGGhmpgh... Ionhazard held his bitter comments to himself, further annoyed that he had to update his "allies" now as well, and turned back to his shoulder now that we was no longer distracted. "So... that was my creator. You can thank her for stopping me," he hissed, "We won't be 'making' any deserts. Instead, we're exploring." Glail just let his tone slide off her, completely forgot he just appeared to talk to himself for ten minutes, and threw her hands into the air, bringing up the mood with a happy "Yaaay! Can we go along the river? Please? Pleeaase?? I want to see a waterfall! And really big trees!" Ionhazard just shut his eye and raked one set of claws over his frontal plates, groaning quietly to himself. It was going to take a lot to not think of himself as a babysitter. If Mother Machine rebuilds any of the Commanders, not one of them is allowed to know about this! He'll never hear the end of it... ---------- Twisted Fight Update! The monstrous rams' arrival was not impeded. The first thing to hit them were a series of fast-moving bubbles, which blocked their path and exploded just before they would've trampled them. A bullet flew over their heads, but the mad beasts barely acknowledged the attacks. Reaching the end of the cliff, they skidded, the stone one drifting a bit longer while the wood one scrambled over him like a broken insect and tumbled ungracefully off the cliff. It hit some jutting ruins first before landing in front of the group they had set eyes on, appearing a broken mess of limbs like a shattered doll. Joints cracking and snapping, the monster picked itself up, one spidery-moving leg at a time, and twisted its head back around to look to its right, so it could set its single eye right on its prey. Its stone equivalent dropped beside it more gracefully, stomping its sharp stone spear-legs into the earth and ripping up innocent green grass. It screamed angrily, bucking while the wood one stood stock still, seeking its first target. There! Movement! Another stream of bubbles came, and both rams bolted forward, but again they exploded and proved especially efficient. A more, strangely- human scream erupted from the stone ram's jaws as it blew apart into two distinct chunks. The wood one bayed and a huge chunk of its flank was incinerated, the other half-wood-half-flesh parts now burned. There was another gunshot, and this time it tore a splinter from the monster's face. The splinter flew off a few feet and stuck its point into the ground, killing the grass around it and turning the earth a rust-red. The beasts were ignorant of the pain. They could no longer feel it, evident as both halves of the stone ram stood up, now separately autonomous, and still ready to attack. Unfortunately for the autonomous head, it was struck yet again, as a sword cut cleanly through it! It screeched and struggled, aiming a kick at its assailant. Its rear half charged past and went for a source of melodious noise which resonated harshly with it: a girl in yellow armor. It threw itself recklessly forward, intent with infecting her, tendrils of stone splitting off and aimed like grasping fingers. The wood ram bucked, threw its head back, and it sprouted abruptly and split into many branches, growing into a very aware tree with the ram's body for its roots. Its hooves broke down into thinner tendrils that sunk into the ground, stabilizing it against attacks. The tree's branches moved like tentacles, and lashed out toward other close targets: the man with the exploding bubbles, a metal wyvern, the wielder of the sword impaling its ally, and the alien mecha, who had just begun to run away. Poor Neea could barely comprehend these horrors any more than she could comprehend her own Empire persecuting her! Hyperventilating - or the robot equivalent, anyway - she turned to run, but the tree-monster heard her and lashed two branches around her, tightening like strong limbs with impossible strength. "Sceeeer!" she whistled in terror, and for the first time ever, she pointed her smaller plasma rifles, heat up the coils and fired! Loud bangs like Riza's own rang out as she blasted hot energy into the wood ram's extended limbs, and it groaned, slackening its grip on her. One binding branch fell to the ground, partly-disintegrated. The mech was left in shock at how successful her counter was; maybe she could fight after all! [Sum: Stone Ram front half is attacking Renarin, Stone Ram rear half is attacking Hibiki, Wood Ram limbs are attacking Utakata, Assault Wyvern, Renarin, and Neea. Neea countered. -Wood Ram lost its Dexterity but has bonus Constitution for turning into more tree than ram.] Share this post Link to post
Posted March 5, 2020 ~~~ Mystical ~~~ This was not happening, Mystical thought a she immediately ran off. The one thing she really hated more than anytjing (besides a being with an evil heart) was conflict. Yes, she preferred the healing of others, but as for conflict? It was why she hid in the fairy forest of Galar. Yet, one thing led to another and she ended up here. Oh! Flicking her ears slightly, Mystical slowed down to a trot and flicked her ears as she noticed a huge green bird with a couple of humans standing about. 'Hi there!' Mystical announced herself as she walked over. 'You guys seem to be much more quieter than the other group of humans.' It was turning out to be a busy day for her, wasn't it? Share this post Link to post
Posted March 5, 2020 Seto Kaiba <Status: Stable; In Battle> <Active Monster(s): Assault Wyvern> Hibiki Tachibana <Status: Stable; In Battle> <Gungnir Symphogear: Active> <Current Song: "Believe in Justice, Grip it Tight"> <Location: Sector 1 - Midsection> <People: Riza | Utakata | Renarin | Neea> <Enemies: Multiple unknown (and hostile!) creatures> ~~ The bubbles could explode. The BUBBLES could EXPLODE. Kaiba suddenly found himself regretting calling them flimsy, although he tried to mask his shock. There was no time to think... Especially when one half of the now-split stone creature rushed for Hibiki. "Tachibana, watch out!!" "I've got it, Kaiba-san!" Hibiki then began to sing, and as she did, her armor reacted, first in piston rods extending from the armor of her legs. They pivoted and soon snapped back into place, their momentum launching Hibiki into the air and out of the stone creature's path. Hibiki then gripped and pulled back the gauntlet on her right arm, revealing more piston rods. These ones didn't snap into place immediately like the ones in her legs, however; she soon dove back down from the air and delivered a punch that was satisfying to watch. As soon as Hibiki's fist connected with the creature, the piston rods (and thus the gauntlet attached to them) snapped back into place, adding the momentum to Hibiki's punch. Hibiki then jumped off and leaped a few paces back from the stone creature, a determined look on her face. Damn, she just got serious. Well, if she can, so can I. It was time to go on the offense. "Slice and dice, Assault Wyvern! Show them no mercy!" The dragon's wings became as if they were blades, attacking the closest wooden branch to it. Wow, Kaiba-san's no pushover, either. Hibiki could swear he'd been commanding dragons his whole life, even if they had only been mere holograms before coming to this strange world. The two could muse on each other later, however - the fight wasn't over yet... ~~ <Battle Summary:> <Hibiki dodged Stone Ram rear half.> <Hibiki attacks Stone Ram rear half.> <Assault Wyvern attacks one Wood Ram limb.> Share this post Link to post
Posted March 5, 2020 (edited) [ VS Grubbins ] [ Location: Sector Two - Avalar] [ Digimon: Biyomon - Activate: Speed I ] Naomi cheered when Kouji landed a hit on Metal Man, which then turned into a cry of horror once the robot had countered, knocking Kouji out of his digimon form. For a moment she thought that they had successfully fended them off, despite the cost, when the sadistic robot turned and ran... But it turned out that it was less because of them, and more because reinforcements were here. Naomi didn't know if she was scared, but she did know that she was tired -- and that made her fear transform into a feeling of being very, very pissed off. "Don't worry Kouji, I can still fight!" Biyomon jumped in front of the two humans, feathers puffed and took up a battle stance with wings outstretched. The little furry creatures were nearly the same height as her but she was confident that she would have the ability to dispatch all six of them before the bigger one in the distance got close enough to axe down on her friends. "Why can't we just catch a break?!" Was the universe out to get them or something right now? Naomi didn't think they could run, but she caught Biyomon's intent. Grinding her teeth absently from a mix of stress and frustration, she fanned out her cards and selected the one she needed and swiped her digivice. "Digi-modify: Speed!" In a flash, Biyomon seemed to vanish then reappeared on a grubblin, striking it in the head, beak-first. She twisted and kicked off of it using her powerful talons, disappearing and reappearing again to slash at a second one with her claws. Edited March 5, 2020 by TehUltimateMage Share this post Link to post
Posted March 5, 2020 Peter had found some tunnels. Curious, he’d laid down a trail of webbing while going into one, just in case he got lost and needed to find his way back. Now he was almost sure he was at the end; it had gotten a little lighter and he could feel a tiny breath of wind coming from somewhere in front of him. To keep himself occupied (and distracted from how strange and potentially scary this was), he had talked to Karen a while before giving up and asking her to play his music playlist instead. Exiting the tunnel, he found himself in a small valley. Huh. Well, it’s better than that cave, he thought. At least now he could swing instead of just dully walking and being bored all the time. Aiming at the walls of the canyon he fired his web-shooters and launched himself up, forward and away. This wasn’t so bad, especially with something as familiar as just swinging to get around. Gradually the landscape around him changed, until he could see that ahead, the valley opened into another — he wasn’t sure what to call it — land? Section of Earth? Place? Was this even Earth? There was a possibility that it wasn’t. After all, he had been to other planets before; it was entirely possible that this was one of them. He was disappointed it hadn’t occured to him earlier, sighing inwardly. The details of the land up ahead were getting clearer, and Peter stopped, surprised, at what he saw. Half of it was lush and vibrant, with a deep blue river and leafy green grass and trees. The other half was starkly different, black smoky skies hanging over lava and harsh-looking rocks. This looks treacherous. Maybe I should come back to it later. He decided to go back to the place with slimes, thinking it was safer, and therefore may have inhabitants who could help him. Following the web line, he ran all the way back through the tunnels until he came to where he had been before, choosing to go through a large gate that led to the rest of the slime place. Then he took a moment to think. Maybe the best course of action right now is to see as much of this place as possible so if anyone comes to kill me I know where to run or hide or fight or... whatever. So he took off across the grass, taking in his surroundings as he went. As he reached somewhere near the middle, he began to hear voices and strange sounds. One voice sounded like it was... singing? Huh. Oookay. Singing was not exactly what he had expected, but maybe it was the native language or something? Peering around a tree, he saw a group of people, what looked like a dragon and some crazy sheep-looking things? I knew I should have gone straight home. Apparently the sheep monsters were attacking the people, so maybe he should help? What would Mr. Stark do? He’d probably stroll out from behind the tree, make some cool, heroic remark and quickly get rid of the monsters. But I can’t do that. It was like Happy told him, no one could possibly live up to that level of coolness. (Not in those exact words.) So Peter decided to just stand at the side, where they could see him, until they started a conversation (with hopefully no murder attempts). Share this post Link to post
Posted March 6, 2020 [U and R - Sector 1 -North Midsection] The walking statue that previously went into conniptions aims some sort of weapon at the intruders and Utakata's second wave of bubbles explodes. The monster made of wood bursts into pieces at the blast from the metal creature, and Utakata hopes that would be the end of that one. And yet, that thought of his jinxes everything. One of those pieces makes a lunge for Utakata. He makes a move to dodge it, but it manages to stab him in the right shoulder. The pain is instant, but thankfully he'd had much worse wounds in the past that this one wasn't too bad. Still, that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt. Riza shoots, and something whizzes past Utakata's shoulder at a high speed- scaring the pants off of him. “Agh- SHOOT!” Utakata yells as he reaches in his billowy kimono for a kunai. "Riza, what the heck?" He grits his teeth and, blade in hand, stabs the piece of the wooden creature. It writhes in a rather stomach-churning way as it falls out of his shoulder and onto the ground. "Son of a... What are these godforsaken things?" Gripping his shoulder, he backs up and watches as Renarin charges forward with Rudolph- which still weirds him out and yet intrigues him- and Riza expresses frustration that she'd missed. She yells something, but in the chaos Utakata misses the entirety of what she said. Then he notes Hibiki, who attacks at the stone monster in an impressive display. He blinks a few times, impressed that she can carry a tune whilst kicking some tail. Then he notes the monster Kaiba sent out attacking another limb from the wooden monster, which also does some serious damage. Utakata grins- perhaps they'll be done sooner than he'd thought. Then he takes note of a young man- couldn't be older than sixteen- somewhere in the distance. He watches with an especially frightened expression, with which Utakata sympathizes. He raises his voice so the group could hear him, though he doubts that they're paying attention. "Uh, watch out, there's a kid in a weird suit, don't let these cursed things near him!" [K - Sector 2 - Avalar] He's mad now. While that metal freak ran off, now they get to deal with overgrown mutated chihuahua flies. This was the last thing he'd expected today, and he'd been knocked out of his Digimon form. His body is fatigued- he can't spirit evolve for a while. "Don't worry Kouji, I can still fight," Biyomon chirps as she steps in front of him and Naomi. She shows a confidence that reminds him very much of Takuya- as if she'd wrangle all six of these things at once. "Why can't we just catch a break?! Digi-modify: Speed!" Naomi swipes a card through her digivice, and suddenly Biyomon moves as though she weighed nothing. She pecks the first creature, then spins off of it and attacks the other with her claws. This doesn't do as much damage, but Kouji is in awe nonetheless. He's still, however, infuriated and humiliated. He looks around, not wanting to jump in the river and look for one of those blades. Not too far away is, to his relief, a large stick. Perfect. Kouji runs to pick it up and then charges, yelling as he swings at one of the giant flies. To his dismay he misses, but he does manage to make impact with another one of them. It makes a loud "YEEEEEEEEEEOW" as it goes flying backwards. Kouji grins at that. "HELL yeah!" He takes aim and makes a swing at the one he'd missed. So far, so good. Share this post Link to post
Posted March 9, 2020 Swift watched as Glail felt her feathers and then broke out in happy but quiet reassurance of her escape capability. "I'm great at running! Every day, I would run outside with my axe, because Daddy said I need plenty of practice using it while running. It's really hard to do! But I think I'm good at it. How will we distract him? Do you think we'll hurt his feelings, if we leave? We just met him." Uh, no, she thought. He was a robot (and evil), how could they possibly do that? “Maybe, Glail. But I don’t think we should be worrying about that right now.” The laguz needed to learn that there were more important things to think about — in situations like this — than feelings, but Swift decided she’d withhold on explanations until she asked about it. She heard Ionhazard talking, but it wasn’t to her or Glail. If not us, the only other people here, then who? Two sentences in particular caught her attention, probably because they were partly about her. "Horrible and green. I've seen a Japanese girl, a human with weird hair and overpowered holograms, and two shapeshifters,” and "I have the shapeshifters..." Huh? She didn’t have to spend too long wondering who he was talking to and what about, because soon after he turned to them. "So... that was my creator. You can thank her for stopping me. We won't be 'making' any deserts. Instead, we're exploring." Since he was (apparently) a robot, the ‘creator’ part made sense to her, and she was relieved he didn’t plan to destroy the forest for a desert anymore. Now, exploring? That, she could handle. Finally, something this thing says that doesn’t make me want to punch or run away from him. Where would they explore, was what she had to ask aloud. “Where are we... exploring?” she asked; she doubted that it would help much, given her previous questions and answers; Glail cheered at the robot’s remark: "Yaaay! Can we go along the river? Please? Pleeaase?? I want to see a waterfall! And really big trees!" Well, since the other girl was from a desert, it would be nice for her to see trees and waterfalls. But Swift got the feeling that Ion wasn’t doing this out of the kindness of his heart. Maybe he had been instructed so by the creator he’d mentioned, or maybe he was bringing them there to imprison them, or kill them. She leaned closer to her new friend. ”We need to be careful. He might not be bringing us to a nice place,” she murmured, “but I guess, if we’re going that way” — she pointed towards the river — “there will be big trees and waterfalls.” The last part was to reassure the laguz; she didn’t want to scare her. ”On we go, then,” she said with a sigh. Peter heard one of the men yelling out something and was slightly offended. "Uh, watch out, there's a kid in a weird suit, don't let these cursed things near him!" Really? ‘Kid in a weird suit’? This is a highly technologically advanced suit designed for... okay, chill, Parker. Not everyone appreciates science and tech like you do. Plus, they might not even know about such state-of-the-art things here. He tried to quell his annoyance and stepped forward to help them with the fight; the guy who had spoken earlier had been stabbed in the shoulder by a mysteriously moving piece of... wood? And even though it looked like the fight was going pretty well, he felt an urge to show them that he could handle himself. He jumped toward the nearest monster, the one who was attacking the man, to try and fight it away from him, and all the other strangers. This’ll be a piece of cake, he thought confidently. Of course, it didn’t go his way at all. As he webbed the creature and tried to yank it off its feet, two of its legs tore off and it started to climb up the web toward him. ”Gross!” he yelled, pulling on the web. Oddly, the thread had begun to take on a strange red hue and was looking mysteriously shrivelled. As he pulled, it snapped suddenly, and he stumbled backwards. Okay, this is not good. The ram thing looked even angrier now. “Uh, does anyone here know how to, like, actually defeat these things, because apparently they don’t like almost being thrown,” he called to the others. Maybe I should have thought this through. Share this post Link to post
Posted March 10, 2020 (edited) Rudolph’s blade sliced through the stone with a surprisingly pleasant hum that vibrated straight to the hilt under his hands, the pain of holding him dipping to nearly nonexistent. That surprised him enough he barely thought about the inevitable counterattack, and a hoof smashed into his face with a force that shattered his jaw. Renarin let out a mangled cuss as Stormlight surged through his body, mending bones, regrowing teeth, knitting flesh back together in a matter of moments. Out of the corner of one eye, he saw the second half of the creature charge for Utakata, and the other creature plant itself into a treelike form. He’d have to trust that they were capable, he could only handle so much at one time-- BANG! BANG! BANG! “Watch out--” Oh storms LOUD-- Renarin flinched as the not-Thunderclast did something he couldn’t quite see in a flash of light and noise. Rudolph called out a warning that only added to his distraction as something lashed out at him, scoring a deep wound across his back. “Damnation!” Renarin called on his healing again. Something--something was wrong. The wound knitted shut, but a burning sensation lingered where it had struck, like--like an infected wound that he’d only healed the surface of. That was probably bad. That was probably very very bad. It was something he’d have to be concerned about when this was over. Rudolph burned in his hands again. From the wound? Or just regular Shardblade--not Shardblade--whatever it was. It didn’t matter. He could still hold the sword. He could still fight. “Uh,” the boy that Utakata had pointed out had dropped into the battle--a man after Renarin’s own heart--and called out to the rest of them after attempting something Renarin didn’t quite see. “Does anyone here know how to, like, actually defeat these things, because apparently they don’t like almost being thrown!” “Just keep hitting them until they go down!” Renarin yelled back to him, and took his own advice as he swung at the stone creature once again. Edited March 13, 2020 by Pachimew Share this post Link to post
Posted March 11, 2020 Twisted Fight Update, Round 3! Wood Ram: The branch that headed for Utakata was thin and gangly, and anticipated little struggle, but was unpleasantly surprised to not only miss him, only digging its point into his shoulder and nothing more, but to be split in two! His fierce retaliation with the kunai was unexpected, and the branch quickly withdrew, splinters from its fragile form falling to the ground. The branch that flew for Assault Wyvern wasn't much better off. Despite being a much thicker bough, the swift slices of the dragon cut it down to a nub the way a deli slicer chops up a pickle! This branch too retreated. The branch that had gone for Neea was devastated, its end a sizzling stump. The remaining branch that aimed for Renarin whipped him across the back with such force that a piece broke off, and was healed inside him. For once, the woody Twisted ram felt its rash, bloodthirsty rage be tempered momentarily by some outside intelligence. It was watching the scene, surprised by the ferocity of these seemingly-normal people... The ram squealed as it felt something strong and sticky bind to it, and jerk back sharply enough to rip it off its two left legs. The Twisted attempted to climb up the webbing to reach its user, but the force of the pull, combined with the natural withering effect of the curse, caused it to snap and throw the ram back. It fell onto its unsupported side, broken branches-head whipping about, and it tried to pull itself up on its two remaining legs. The Twisted helped in an unpleasant way: the loud cracks and pops, like wood burning, punctuated combat as its ribs pulled out and mutated into crab-like legs, propping the monster on its weak side. Despite the boost, the ram was losing energy. It pooled its last strength into one lashing limb, its branches pulling apart their fibers then entwining with each other into a thick, woody rope. The long, splintering "superbranch" then whipped around the whole clearing, attempting to take everyone down at once! Stone Ram: This Twisted ram wasn't doing much better. Despite the hard kick to the face, its assailant plunged his sword in again, and again critically injured the nigh-immobile monstrosity. The Twisted normally shrugged off such puncture wounds, but being outside of its cursed habitat, the ram was unable to reform itself so effectively. Its face split open wide and deep as it opened its "mouth" and bit into Renarin's leg, trying to bring him down to its level so it could pummel him with its hooves. The rear half of this ram was doing the best, so far. It not only missed Hibiki, but endured a hard punch from her, which knocked it back a couple of feet and made it stumble. Yet it recovered quickly, spinning around like a trained sword fighter. It braced itself and the rocks on its form shifted, pulling around its "face" to form teeth-like extensions. The teeth all collapsed into a single sharp point, and the monster charged forward again with its new beak, intending to spear the girl in one of her weak points. Neea The Xinschi-uual mech got up on her feet to late to shoot again, and wasn't able to duck early enough to avoid the massive rope branch that swept the clearing. She was hit hard in the pelvic unit, throwing her onto her back in an instant. "AAGH!" Her threads, quivering in agitation and fright, now flashed with annoyance. She already proved to herself she could shoot, now she just needed to be competent! Angrily, she threw herself back onto her feet and aimed at the Twisted ram's horrifying core. She was too close to safely use her rifle, but she was plenty close for both plasma guns! She unloaded into the monster's body, scorching and denting its right side with unrelenting plasma fire. [Sum: Wood Ram now has one big branch and doing an AoE slashing attack. Stone Ram Front: biting Renarin's knee. Stone Ram Rear: trying to stab Hibiki. Unique situations: If Renarin and Hibiki fail to dodge/tank their attacks, they may fall, allowing them to "escape" the AoE. Neea: countering Wood Ram with plasma guns.] ---------- Begrudging Exploring (and One Excited Passenger) "Well..." Ionhazard rumbled, looking around him to see if there was anything he was genuinely curious about. The mass of weeds to the right, the mass of smoke to the left... though there was something gleaming, out there near the river's source. He could see distant cliffs, and something red beyond them, and in front of them the forest swept up to cover where the river was coming from. He wasn't keen on walking peacefully into the forest, but the gleaming object was interesting, and it looked like the elevation was higher up there. The worst that could happen is him wasting his time going there and getting a good view of the land as a result. "I guess we'll go to that yellow thing," he decided, and started walking again. He wasn't running this time, so Glail and Swift could sit on his shoulder with ease. A broad smile spread across Glail's face as he stepped into the forested land. The air was so different here! It was really wet, and everything smelled like... like whatever green smelled like! She heard the cries of birds as the huge machine disturbed their roost, sliding his claws in between the trees (not appearing to break any of them on purpose), and her nose twitched with the odorous medley of pollen and summertime flowers. Deer raced in and out of the trees as they scattered. The great blue sky was decorated with puffy clouds. The cliffs to the right sported many small waterfalls, feeding unseen ponds and creeks. She never knew such things really existed! "This is SO COOL!" she yelled gleefully. Ionhazard kept his grumbling to himself. Upon approaching the shining yellow object, it was revealed to be a great temple, decorated with arches and great, demanding architecture. The walls were lit by metal sconces bearing torches, the golden stone was accented by red cherry wood, and images and statues with the visage of dragons sat upon the walls, doors, and heraldry. It almost resembled a castle, yet had regal architecture of a palace. If Glail knew what a dragon looked like, she firstly would've immediately realized that Ionhazard was definitely not a dragon, and secondly seen that she was right in that there was another dragon in this land. This wasn't the case though; instead she examined the rearing creature atop the temple with fascination and plenty of questions: "Is that a statue? Can it come alive? What is it? Is it really made of gold? Do you think it can fly?" "I wonder if there's anyone in it," Ionhazard mused, studying the structure for air-tightness. Unfortunately - as expected for medieval architecture - it had its fair share of cracks and windows-that-were-just-holes. Still, it might make an effective prison for whoever was inside. "There should be! It's so pretty!" Glail commented. Share this post Link to post
Posted March 11, 2020 [U and R - Sector 1 -North Midsection] Oh, he's ready to cut someone. Half of the stone creature is biting Renarin's knee, which looks absolutely painful. The other one- the one that splintered and stabbed him- swings around and attempts to hit everyone in the area. While Riza does some sort of back-handspring or whatever the heck Michi calls those things, Utakata manages to blow a quick bubble and float just a little bit upwards. When it passes, he lowers himself and pops the bubble. He's angry now. Utakata grabs his pipe and sends a wave of bubbles at the piece of monster attacking Renarin. In his haste, he snaps quickly, but it does manage to stun the thing. Utakata takes a few steps back as he hears a quick "Thank you". He sighs and grins to himself. "Yeah, just watch out alright?" Hitting it 'til it dies is risky, Utakata thinks in the back of his mind. Then he glances at the other half of the wooden monster. "Now you, good sir, it's your turn." He sends another wave of bubbles at the other half of the stone monster. Of course, to his poor luck, he misses. The bubbles shoot just past it and explode in a pitiful display. Utakata shudders in annoyance. "Shoot, shoot, shoot-- SHOOT." Riza has better luck. She sends a shot at the wooden monster and grins when it hits. "Well, there it goes." She aims her gun in its direction again, just in case nobody else can get a hit in.... Share this post Link to post
Posted March 11, 2020 (edited) The stone thing roared in rage as his blade sliced through it, opening a horrific gash across its face before its gaping maw unhinged and it lunged forwards, clamping its jaws around his knee. Renarin let out a pained gasp as he felt the bone shatter underneath its pressure, collapsing to his unhurt leg-- Just in time to barely miss a swing from a twisting branch that came so close he felt its wind on the back of his neck. The unhealed infection under his skin pulsed in response, and Renarin couldn’t help another gasp of pain, even as his knee repaired itself under glowing Stormlight. “I think I probably should have dodged that hit earlier,” Renarin thought-sent dazedly through the bond. Glys responded with a worried chime and a vague promise of “we can heal!” and-- Something exploded right in his face. Renarin was as surprised as anyone when the explosion didn’t send him reeling into want to cry and collapse. Apparently he’d hit the point of the battle where he’d punched through to the other side of caring about processing anything. The stone creature reared back in surprise, allowing Renarin to finish healing himself enough to scramble to his feet. “Thank you!” he yelled to Utakata over the chaos. “Yeah, just watch out alright?” Renarin winced at the reminder. Yes, alright, maybe this wasn’t the best strategy, but. “It’s the only one I have,” he muttered to himself. On that note, he swung once again at the creature. The angle was all wrong. Rudolph’s blade went skittering off in another direction with a flash of electric pain, so suddenly that the sword jarred himself out of Renarin’s hands. He let out an involuntary yelp, then a more-voluntary snarl. This--this failure to cut, at least--didn’t happen with Shardblades! Renarin dove to grab the blade before the creature could attack again-- And Rudolph erupted in a flash of sparks. Edited March 11, 2020 by Pachimew Share this post Link to post
Posted March 13, 2020 (edited) [ Everything's going to Hell ] [ Location: Sector One ] [ Form: Weapon ] It was was probably cliché to compare the performance of one partner to another. Rude couldn't help it. If Grip was like the waves of the ocean both wild and predictable, and Tanner was like the cold silence broken by the sound of a wind chime, then Renarin was like a horse taking a shortcut through a glass shop. In other words, this man was out of his regular mind. Yes, Rudolph quickly realized that the Prince could heal himself with magic, and that explained away his propensity to break all his bones. And yes, the Prince was not as shy and quiet as he initially appeared, once Rudolph experienced him on an intimate level. But having rational explanations didn't change the fact that, in this very moment, they had to improvise something despite the number of surprising and alarming revelations he had over the span of a few seconds. Renarin was not malevolent, he repeated to himself, only justifiably reckless... but knowing it and working with it were two vastly different things. Rude was much more trained in the former than the latter. The prince's healing magic was, as expected, something completely foreign to him: Rude could detect an external power source that his partner's soul (and the... creature filling in its cracks) was drawing upon. Letting the unstable resonance fade into the background, the weapon mentally pictured his human self preparing a soundboard. Turning the dials. Watching this new light travel up and through his equipment. Working upon it as if were a more familiar soul wavelength. He let that hold steady, too, this time focusing again on the outside, taking notes of the positions of everyone present. New boy, six-o-clock, who smelled faintly of spiders but was harmless. An attack that he tried to warn his wielder about, but just a beat too late. If it wasn't clear from his earlier survey that the monsters were of a pestilent nature, the Weapon could feel the encroaching corruption caught in Renarin's wound long before he had spoken of it through the bond. Rude wasn't too sure that they could heal around it like that other voice claimed -- so far, even with their combined efforts, it hadn't been purged by the healing light. "We'll deal with it later." And still, with all this, the prince charged forward. His headstrong determination was equal parts admirable and terrifying and Rude had a hard time figuring out what to say. They didn't have time to get to get to know each other a little better. Take a second to think. His form was off, his attacks unrefined. They were falling out of step as he swung-- Rude focused his sharpness, but instead hit the monster with a dull twang that shook him to the very core and tossed him out of Renarin's hands. Even with his eyes closed, flashes of red sliced through his field of view, blinding him and tearing away at his focus as if someone had struck him in the head. No! His sword form bounced once and landed in the grass with a thud, blade sparking dangerously. He wasn't in direct contact anymore but he still felt the pain tearing at his soul, and when Renarin tried to grab him again, his subconscious reaction was to release his built up energy in a single, un-aimed blast of lightning. ~~~ [ not the kid you ordered ] [ Location: Sector six ] "What was that?!" a child's voice bounced off the stone walls of the castle, shortly after he heard the window broke. When no one answered him, Laharl descended the spiral stairs of the tower, but he was not in much of a hurry. "I hope it's another scouting attempt by Malefor, because I'm just itching for a reason to piss on that dragon again!" At the bottom of the next landing, the single candle lighting the way had been snuffed and ripped from the wall, but the eternal moonlight through the window illuminated the shape of some sort of bird monster. This thing looked like a zombie but definitely not as well put together as the ones Laharl had seen in the past (but then again, the only zombies he'd seen in the past were put together by true artisans, or at least people who knew what they were doing...). Laharl nudged one of his two Prinnies forward with the sole of his boot. "Dood..." the penguin objected, visibly nervous as it was be pushed into the way of the potential threat. "I got a bad feeling about this...." Edited March 13, 2020 by TehUltimateMage Share this post Link to post
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