Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

Raex

Previous

Raex pushed against Narktus in the brief blade-lock, not all too surprised the conqueror could keep up in not just speed. He narrowed his eyes, time slowing between the two as Raex's perceptions heightened to a previously alien level, but it could not save the templar from being struck by the Ultima blade. Raex's aura lingers before Narktus but begins moving back toward its source an instant later.

Careening through the air faster than human comprehension, Raex is struck by the first of Narktus's ki blasts, blast after blast crashing into the templar's armor, sundering the air and echoing shockwaves across the region. Shavings of Raex's armor are sheared off, atomized, or otherwise cast fast enough away that they'll never be recovered. Blood jets from the eyeholes in Raex's helmet, and if Narktus had Kryptonian hearing, he'd hear a few bones crack amidst the chaos.

Midway through the barrage, Raex's aura snaps back to him, and the templar shrugs off the next few ki blasts, clenching a tight fist to smack the last away. The ki blast careens straight into a far-off mountain, reducing it to rubble as Raex begins to slow down to comprehensible speed, the templar clutching his blade and hoisting it into the air.

The sun's glow intensifies, the corona slowly stretching outward, forming tendril-like appendages that suddenly all point in a singular direction. The corona grows luminous, unleashing solar beams that unify into one large streak of starlight that flies across the sky to Raex in a few moments. Smashing into Raex's blade with a high-pitched whine, the templar inspects his divinely glowing blade after the light dissipates.

Quickly falling to the ground, Raex attaches a golden tendril to the blade's pommel and tosses it back toward Narktus just before impact. Raex's blade yanks him forward, careening through the air like a shooting star, the templar's sword burying itself into the snowy field, away from Narktus.

Raex crashes to the ground next to it, the divine flame's presence of little consequence to the snow, yet the torrid heat was evident to Narktus. Yanking the blade from the dirt, Raex wastes no time in appearing on Narktus in less than an instant, his weapon not only carrying the intensified energy of a star, but its gravitational pull as well, attempting to yank Narktus into Raex's blade with a series of swift slashes at impossible speed.

Jax

Jax continues along with the group, eyeing Noah a little suspiciously as they continue. His floating chair is cool though. The Grandmaster at Arms seems more trustworthy of Noah as he continues to make himself useful, twirling his lamp overhead at the appearance of the party hat. Before he can leave a chiding remark at it, the world begins darkening, and a twisted abomination emerges from the shadow. Narrowing his eyes at the twisted Glamrock, Jax awaits a command.

Edited by KrampusTheTherapist on Mar 26th 2024 at 11:23:47 AM

Intrigue

"I guess that would make sense..."

Phoenix stumbles about for a bit before finally getting a stable stance in the air. She sighs.

"I wonder how far this all goes. It's gotta be more than just fire, right? Metalworking, inventing... I wonder."

She taps her chin a bit in thought.

Solopost - Magrasea II Virtual Environment

A series of explosions rings out as another group of Croque shells is blown into the air. Cue one amused-looking W,◊ and a slightly-annoyed Croque.

How do you keep doing that? I used to be able to scan for the things- now they aren't even showing up!"

W smirks even more.

"Simple! I put them in the places you can't scan, heheheh."

Croque is momentarily confused before reloading the simulation- the small town reappears where it stood. Then she realizes something.

"...those houses have lead piping. My usual scans can't penetrate lead pipes..."

W's smirk gets even bigger when Croque figures it out. Then she sticks a directional charge to Croque's body.

"...really?"

BANG

The resulting blast doesn't damage Croque, though it's more because that specific construct is her SM (Simulation Management) avatar, and... can't exactly take damage most of the time she's within this virtual space. W frowns at this.

"...it's more fun when I get to see you get blown apart, y'know."

"Yeah, yeah..."

Virtual environment shutting down...
Ejecting simulated avatars.

Jovian Moon - RI Base

"Someone's a sore looooooser..."

I am not. It's just that the virtual environment takes a large amount of power from my servers, and I needed them for other things.

W is smirking as she walks out of the simulation room- little more than rows upon rows of pods for accessing the virtual environment Croque had set up. Croque is floating alongside as little more than a holographic 'ghost' via a small drone. She's hiding a pout.

-who even does that?! You would need to cut the pipes open, shove the explosives inside, then seal the pipes back up, instead of just hiding them around the street..!

W gets an even wider grin on her face.

"I did it because I was facing you, circuits-for-brains. If I had gone the normal route, you would've avoided it, right? So why not switch it up if I know what's coming, hmm..?"

Croque just lets out an exasperated sigh and disappears from view, the drone she was using to project herself buzzing off somewhere.

DNC, Pucci,

Rally her guards? I pray she is finding safety, not fighting…if ever there was a time the realm needed its Queen, it’s now. Ladwin reflected inwardly, but said naught of it. He turned his attention to the pinned killer on the ground. "He speaks the Black Tongue of Mordor…then he must be an assassin, sent by the Enemy himself." The knight theorized.

Ladwin stepped forwards only half a pace, never straying far from his charge. "The lady speaks truth—"referring to Hange…or perhaps Taye—"—if you cannot communicate with us, we have reason to keep you alive. I doubt your master would send somebody to Al-Agadd who cannot understand our language.

Or perhaps he did, he reckoned, so that if he was caught, we wouldn’t be able to get any information from him. A cunning tactic, if not aggravating for us.

Taye’s saltwater ran across the stranger’s face, wiping dirt and grime from it. The water, blue when it poured from the skin, was a deep shade of black and brown from muck as it splashed against the stone floor beneath his head. What didn’t cling to his face or run off had gone into his mouth. His head tilted back, and he gargled…before spitting the water back at Taye. He grinned again. This time, there was a hint of crimson with the black of his teeth. Notably, the minnow was nowhere to be seen.

"Taukavausan fiukh! Goav anausan ma?" What he said in his wretched tongue was unknown to them, but a taunting tone is obvious to those who hear it. "Iav doeukn’av maavaver, mausan mubarum iuk come! Farav nalal, fooluk ro men!" Then, the assassin began to cough…and sputter…and choke. The same viscous black fluid the other stranger had vomited up in the hall began to spray out of his mouth in plumes of shadow, some even threatening to land on and stick to the faces of those nearest to the assassin.

"He’s…he’s choking! We can’t let him die, not yet—you!" Ladwin’s gaze shot to Medicine. "You said you’re a healer. Can you keep him alive?" Emilia looked away and stepped back from the dying man, stepping closer to the wall and trying to channel out the sounds of his slow and assuredly painful passing. Mia’s eyes remained affixed to him, he who only laughed hardest now that he faded from the world.

——

Pucci regarded Lukas’ question with some surprise. What did he do anymore, these days? He squinted to try and better make out the man’s face amidst the haze, but his glassy eyes saw naught but vague shapes and hints of colors. Who is this guy?

   "I…I walk, mainly. Not much else for me to do. Can hardly adventure if you can’t fight, much less see. Especially not a place like this."   

LIFE IS A BEACH

Azura hadn't reacted when Loki died, battered by attacks and consumed by the void. She hadn't reacted when Veilman had gotten "killed", his essence scattered beyond his ability to mend it anew. But that was because she internalized it well, knowing better than to lose her cool on a battlefield full of fighters that obviously didn't mind leveraging their numbers - formidable as they already were.

Inside, Azura was hurting at the losses. She hadn't known them well but they were still a part of the same group. As they departed into the great unknown, she could only hope they'd be restored back to her if she were to fare well in this battle. And by "faring well", she meant total extermination; Nothing left of their fighting spirits. A victory so thorough as to make the entire Arena swear to leave the Church alone.

Because Gor demanded nothing less.

A purple aura began flowing out of Azura as she leaned forward, eyes narrowing. Now was the time to lock in. A great dramatic preparation for the superb magic she was about to unleash and-oh, big bat! Azura's eyes widen in surprise as she also has to take a step back due to Flandre's rising, but she hold her ground nonetheless, grabbing the bat and getting it off her face. Reinforcement Magic II could shield her from anything too bad, but she made an habit of not wanting to get it.

Pulling her arm back and using her other arm to try to hold it in place, Azura try socking Karasu in the face to send it flying. Then, acting quickly, she hears a hissing sound behind her. And turn around just in time to snatch a hook out of the air, stopping it cold by combining her well-honed strength and magically-enhanced might together. Acting immediately, she let the magic flow into the grappling hook, infusing life within it in less than a second, transforming Icarus's grappling hook into a generic snake, boosted on Reinforcement Magic II that help it try and burrow its way into Icarus's body to tear a nasty hole through.

Life Magic + Reinforcement Magic II

If that happen, Azura doesn't let Icarus off. Pulling her arm, she try lifting him overhead by his own serpent-hook, swinging him overhead into one big meaty arc and trying to slam him right where Ovarr is attacking WHM.

As for the Tungsten Rod, Azura watch it coming and slap it away with a strong backhand, hurling it right back at Icarus.

Ovarr's attack is particularly fruitful. Having succeeded in slamming the Fiend away, Sarah's next priority should have been Mahito and Azura. But instead, she has to immediately focus on Ovarr. Being aware that he's not the type to let himself be talked out of doing something when he's actually pissed, Sarah ponders on trying to talk him down anyway... or intervening and tangling with someone whose physical strength could be troublesome to deal with.

She ultimately decide that the former case is the best. She trust in her strength more than her words when it come to Ovarr. And with a life on the line, especially in a fight like this, pausing wasn't going to contribute.

Get off him! Sarah shouts, rocketing to Ovarr to try to basically shove him off and drag him into the jungle below, atomizing a shitton of scenery and carving a long line into the ground. He was tricky with his tail, so Sarah tried to keep it in mind as she attempted to keep being on top of him. Whatever's happened to you, you gotta keep it for after the-

WHM nuke goes off, prompting Sarah to look surprised before turning around, getting off Ovarr to glance at the site. Having heard WHM's words from that far, Sarah blinks, not sure on if she should blame Ovarr or not. She decide that tackling him off WHM, whom he attacked, is drama enough for now. There were three hostiles left for them to handle, and though the explosion hadn't been discriminating, she wondered how many of her allies were up.

Glancing at Ovarr, Sarah pragmatically decide that, even if he wasn't under any form of mind control and acting out of petty pride, she couldn't alienate him. That elf is slinging magic around - we might need to take her out first.

Elsewhere, Sarah, WHM and Cittufeni's combined attack, with Bely's bullets on top of it, crack the side of The Fiend like an egg, magma and lava spouting forth from its side as it goes flying extremely hard, being almost shoved out of the world screaming and kicking. It flies through a shitton of endless sea before being shoved into the void. Combined with Tilra's void punch on its stomach, and its legs wind up connected to its torso by the barest of threads.

And then, in a blink, the damage is gone, bar the one on the Fiend's pride. It's raison d'être. Being smacked around like that, so shortly after having its energy stolen, has The Fiend truly pissed. And as it heads back as fast as it can, it end up wasting the entire time doing so. Had Emma not counted as sufficiently weakened for a refresh, perhaps, the Fiend would've became a powerless Evelyn again and dropped straight into the sea. Or even the void.

Instead, the screeching beast enter the world again, lifting up a colossal amount of waves as it can be seen -and heard- traveling back to the beach. It will be able to inflict some devastation before running out of its clock but still - it's unable to do any this round thanks to the group's efforts. And Emma's ice spikes, likely tossed with great precision on her part, are able to sap it's energy on top of that.

Not that it stops the Fiend, but it's a welcome boost, granted she prepare to handle Demonic Energy.

PRIDEFUL FIEND : 3/4

And as for someone else returning, like Croque or Artemis, Azura take a look at them and the returning Fiend. Thanks to being farther away from WHM, the nuke doesn't really affect her all that much. And she's able to get to work on further keeping out the rest of the party out of the bubble. For while she has been slinging Time and Space magic all day, there was yet an use to the old reliable.

The reason why she shaped her anti-teleportation barrier like that was because it was a useful "mold" for a more conventional barrier. One she can apply by mere thought to the battlefield, with the faintest of green taint as a hint of the condition changes. It's a tough barrier that she combined with Blast Magic to have lash out at "intruders" with an explosion that's as strong as their kinetic energy is, meaning that Croque and Artemis will both slam into the barrier and get blasted on top of it as further damage.

Of course, both could break through. And Azura's wide size for the initial anti-teleportation zone end up working against her: Sarah and Ovarr are still inside of it even if she successfully slam him away.

On top of that, there's the initial issue of Flandre trying to blast Mahito to death with a technique that's actually quite useful at bypassing his soul-induced invulnerability. Meteorika, who would have been giddy to see her trick work so well on Ovarr, can hardly delight in the mayhem when her very soul is being torn to shreds. Her form even reverts to Mahito, face twisted in agony as the screams of the damned escape from his throat. Parts of him even start vanishing entirely, scattering into red particles that fly off on their own before vanishing.

Azura is briefly confused at Meteorika's shape shifting but it doesn't matter - she act quickly while the others are reeling from the blast, attempting to stomp on Flandre's skull for the second time to interrupt her Destruction attack and bring her down to the ground. If she is successful, Mahito drops to the ground, his body burnt bacon aside from the eyes, twisted into a scowl of hatred and terror.

That was close.

   Enough!    Mahito get up, quickly putting his body back together. It was mostly an act - his soul had been greatly drained from the ordeal, and his body parts were shams meant to evoke him easily shrugging off the spell. When he was actually frailer than he'd ever been before. And as Azura stared at him, surprised by the true appearance of the great Pope, he angrily gestured at her.    Kill her! Kill them all! Gor is watching us!   

Azura locks in again. Questions for later. And she knew she might be stomping down on someone who could destroy her very essence, which is why Azura was adding more effort to it.

From her shoulder pads, Azura fired a swarm of blue flames, akin to Veilman's earlier barrage. There were about 100 of them, and as they came down, some more appeared. Some, green, were projectiles Azura could've shot in that particular direction in an alternate timeline, now brought to reality as existing projectiles. Others were existing blasts, copy-pasted with Space Magic to cover more angles. Some were existing projectiles that had been split in two to cover more space, sacrificing some power for speed and numbers;

Either way, there were a lot more projectiles coming down at the group in front of Azura, everyone was more or less targeted - Ovarr, Sarah, Cittufeni, Artemis, Croque, Emma, White-Haired Man (or what remained lol), Icarus, Bely. And some, about a few dozens of them, suddenly banked route to head for Tilra, being guided remotely by Azura to impact her.

They hit the ground with awesome impact, coming one after the other in rogue waves of explosive powers that slammed smoking craters into the ground.

BLAST MAGIC + DOUBLE MAGIC + TIME MAGIC + SPACE MAGIC + GRASP MAGIC

The effort of using so many different types of magic strained her but it was for the sake of Gor - she wouldn't back down. And her next spell was quite easy anyway, Azura forming a mere sword from the flowing flames in her pauldrons and then raising it to stab Flandre in the head with.

Edited by Bolded1 on Mar 25th 2024 at 9:27:20 AM

DNC

"I mean, depends. I don't know anything about this ooze stuff." Medicine replied, backpack opening up for several mechanical arms with tools to pop out. Su-san, the miniature doll also popped out and floated next to her. Medicine looked at Kana "First of all, I need you to get him on his side and tilt their head back."

He was drowning technically, so this should help. Albeit from some black ooze admittedly and not water so who knows. She got her tools out to quickly scan him to see what the fuck was going on under the hood here.

Intrigue

   "In my experience, the strongest abilities are vague and broad."    Yatagarasu said.

"Yeah. I control nuclear fusion but I can use it to blast thermal energy, summon miniature stars, black holes, power a reactor by myself, disarm stuff maybe though I haven't tried..." Okuu listed off on her fingers, trailing off as she remembered she only had one hand not occupied by a big gun. "You can probably do lots of stuff."

Cittufeni’s right arm sparked and crackled at the point on his bicep where it now ended; grey, synthetic “muscle” and sparkling wires that hummed a shade of blue jutted out, frazzled, from the tatter of steel skin. He treated the self-sustained injury with disregard at first, rising from the cloud of sand summoned when he crashed backwards into the beach after his attack. He didn’t need it to fight anyways, he had three other limbs and a good bit of Creation Power remaining.

Though his reserves were running low again..

Hesitant to ask Sarah to give him another jumpstart and take her away from the fight where she was needed more, Cittufeni glanced about himself, hoping for a new source of Creation Power that could serve him well. Then came the transformation, WHM’s sudden outburst of radiation. The clicking of geiger counters in his “mind” was like music to his ears, such particles and isotopes being absolutely rich in Creation Power. Moving swiftly towards the cloud rather than away, he stretched his left (and only) hand out, reaching into the cloud as a layering of some unknown black substance washed over his faux skin. The android absorbed some of the airborne material into himself, converting it swiftly into Creation Power. If all went well, this was all he’d need for the rest of the fight—WHM had just blessed him.

A new arm rapidly expanded from the remnants of old, fresh and brand-spankin’ new. He’d gotten only a few moments to wiggle his fingers and try it out before Azura’s hail of flame rained down upon them. Cittufeni was quick to analyze the situation: there was no way he’d be able to avoid all of the projectiles, or even escape their range on time…doubtless, he’d be hit by them. So…

If he was going to be hit, he might as well do it while hitting his attacker. Cittufeni sprung forwards, locking onto Azura. The first barrage exploded as he flew towards her, decimating much of his body and removing the new arm he’d earned just as soon as he’d gotten it in addition to both of his legs. There were various craters and holes littering his body, gaps in his chest through which the teal veil was visible, but Cittufeni continued ever-onwards. When he came to Azura, his effort at attacking was executed quickly: his left hand shot at her sword-wielding wrist, aiming to take it in a grip so tight it risked fracturing the bone, before trying to lift her overhead and smashing her down into the beach in one fluid movement, his own raw strength accompanied by the momentum he gained on his way over but not a drop of Creation Power—he’d need to spend that prudently, in case anything were to go horrifically wrong.

"Destroy it." Cittufeni gave the go-ahead to Flandre—was this what working in a team was like? The android could get used to the feeling..

Edited by ISZATSO on Mar 25th 2024 at 4:36:29 AM

Church

"You little shit."

It's the first word coming out of Icarus speakers since the beginning of the fight, ignoring his radio chatter, as he reacts to the grappling hook getting transformed. Azura doesn't get to swing him around, though - just as the transformation is reaching the base of the hook, it gets detached, carbon fiber, steel cords and PVC stabilizers getting sliced through and leaving the attachment bare. The rod getting slammed backwards he had likewise anticipated and loaded a second tungsten rod, while keeping the gun aimed at the exact same angle. When the second shot gets fired, the two rods collide, dispersing in a conical blast that envelops Icarus.

So his weapons were pretty much useless, save for strategic distractions. Great.

The robot has a single backup grappling hook, but that one needs some time until it's properly attached. For now, all it does is disperse a lot of coolant fluid in a protective shower around itself, which, after showering around himself for a couple of seconds, fires another burst of machine gun bullets at Azura. Hopefully the coolant is enough to protect against the fire projectiles.

Church Of Gor

Croque

The problem with warping is you can't slow down nearly as easily.

WHAM

Croque slams into the barrier, getting blasted back and then taking a bunch of flames to the chest... She can barely keep herself flying.

WARN: Fuel reserves low. (0:03:21 left)
Croque: run shellnukedestruct
WARNING: This operation is irreversible, and will cause heavy damage to the surrounding area! Are you sure? (y/n)
Croque: y
'I'm sorry, my friend. What is about to happen must be done.'
//!\\NUCLEAR SELF DESTRUCT INITIATED, PLEASE COMMENCE DISCONNECTION//!\\

Croque closes her eyes and smiles. She can't disconnect- this shell is running her Neural Cloud, at least here. All of the Originium in her reactor is dumped in at once and violently destabilized.

What happens next is a sight to see.

A bright flash envelops everywhere outside the barrier, followed by the deafening sound of a nuclear detonation- one made for the specific purpose of an explosion, no less. This blast happened right against the barrier, no less- something Croque had figured was good enough. What is left is a giant crater where some water used to be, though it's quickly filling back up... a massive wave, too.

Croque is nowhere to be seen. She was the bomb, and now she's... gone.

Artemis

A tight shell of material is summoned as Artemis is stuck in the ensuing nuclear detonation. When it finally stops, she wastes no time in heading straight through the barrier, aiming to ram straight through the part that Croque had just blown up against. She dodges and waves through the hail of fire coming at her afterward, though a few hit her- visibly making her recoil and charring some of her skin. She finally takes one bad hit to the wings and goes tumbling down- her form reverting as she does.

"O-ow..."

She holds up a shield to defend against the rest, each impact driving her deeper and deeper into the ground.

"Y-you think that'll stop me..?!"

Artemis grits her teeth, retaliating with a skyward burst of light that aims to vaporize the last of the comets headed her way. Then, her wings still basically burned off, she starts running towards the fight, Each stride kicking up sand high into the air. She leaps up and summons a silvery bow, drawing an arrow back and letting it fly...

...right for Azura. The arrow travels at supersonic speeds, though Artemis is fairly sure it'll just get blocked. But what was more important was the fact that once the arrow collided with something...

...it would explode into a large burst of anti-magic.

Edited by RainbyPlays on Mar 25th 2024 at 11:17:32 AM

Beach of Gor

Ovarr raises his claw to finish the WHM off, unaware of the explosion that's about to happen.

But he's then taken by surprise when Sarah gets to him. Too surprised to really try to bash her off of him as she drags him along the ground in fact, looking like he's confused as to why Sarah's attacking him all of a sudden.

Then WHM's nuke goes off, getting his attention as well as Sarah lets go of him. He slowly gets back up, though is on one knee at the moment due to being slightly dazed from the impact of Sarah's intervention.

It's Sarah's following words that suddenly make him question and realize the situation, the shock helping to weaken the magic put on his mind.

   "Did... did I..."   

His memories are his own again, and he realizes he was tricked into killing an ally. ... granted, WHM is potentially not actually dead dead, but Ovarr believes he is. It briefly makes Ovarr remember the battlefield where...

Where...

Ovarr's expression turns to rage once again. But this is different than before. His anger looks personal. Even more extreme than when he was afflicted with the status even. He violently slams his tail on the ground as he fully stands back up, eyes literally seeing red.

   "How fucking dare they..."   , he says, speaking in a worryingly cold but neutral tone of voice, contrasting the way he looks right now. His pupils shift to Sarah for a moment.

   "Sarah. I might die from this. If they turn me into their minion, or if they brainwash me again, steal my book and summon me with it to force me back on your side. If that's not an option, neutralize me. That's an order."   

Ovarr has no authority to order Sarah around. But the seriousness with which he says it is telling: he'd rather die than be allied with Gor and its Pillars.

Regardless, before Sarah can do or say anything, Ovarr coats his claws and wings in black lightning magic and starts soaring back towards the enemies, his fiery golden aura still active. In a state of righteous wrath, he doesn't stop for anything, not even when Azura's projectiles start falling down towards the battlefield. He dodges some, he gets hit by others, but at no point does he slow down at all, not even when the projectiles' explosions engulf him multiple times.

He flies towards the Fiend, despite the fact that it's about to unleash some sort of super attack. Though whether or not Ovarr has any way of knowing this... well, it doesn't matter.

When he gets to the Fiend, instead of attacking it directly, he'll attempt to, without stopping his flight, grab it by multiple of its necks and swing it around above himself while he continues to fly, now towards Mahito/Meteorika. If this works, he'll then brutally launch the Fiend towards Mahito/Meteorika, then follow up with bursts of Black Lightning, aiming to straight up vaporize Mahito/Meteorika for daring to make him strike down an ally.

If he, for whatever reason, cannot lift, swing or throw the Fiend around, he'll settle for lightning-punching it in one of its faces as a fly-by attack, then immediately moving on to Mahito/Meteorika and go for the Black Lightning bursts.

If Mahito/Meteorika isn't finished off by this (for any reason), Ovarr will then fly towards them as fast as he can and literally shove his battleaxe's blade through them. If successful, he'll then have it transform into a shield to quite literally tear them apart from the inside.

Considering the fact that Ovarr is still souped on on his stolen life energy (which he's still sapping from the Fiend since that tendril never got removed), this will hurt a ton if it succeeds. Maybe it'll even finish Mahito/Meteorika off, considering their apparent fragile state.

DNC

"Guess that clears up his opinion," Hange thought as the man under her knife began to choke. She still had no idea what his words meant, but they felt foul. It was terribly unnerving, some psychological effect she couldn't identify.

Was this what arena people called "Magic"?

Regardless, Hange backs up from the bile-spitting man with a surprised grunt, a look of disgust crossing her face that she quickly replaces with nonplussed neutrality. Torture was her game, first aid, although something she of course knew how to do... was not.

Her hand lingers around her holstered pistol. If "Magic" was involved here, there could be no telling what might happen next.

DNC

So this kingdom had an enemy named Mordor. She made a mental note to ask more about it later.

Taye was quick to step back to avoid the initial spit, and thus she was a healthy distance away when he begun to spew the viscious black fluid. Still, she instinctively held out an arm to gently push Kai away from what is now a fountain of nasty unknown liquid. According to the fearful, wide-eyed look on her face, the thoughts running through her head were 'nope', 'nu-uh' and more 'nope'.

After a brief moment of staring at the assassin, she produced a wooden walking stick of decent length, and handed it to Kai. "You... could push that guy onto his side. Maybe that'll help him puke away from us at least."

Her sword was still held defensively as she continued backing off. Dying in glorious battle was one thing, dying to icky sticky poison(?) was another. Another thought occured to Taye as she turned to face Kana.

"Do you think your... shapeshifting armor?... can guard you from the liquid?"

... Su-san is adorable.

Edited by Hotpizza on Mar 25th 2024 at 9:43:04 PM

DNC

Kai steps back from the puking man, shoving him onto the side using the walking stick provided to him. He isn't gentle with it- more of a stiff poke than anything.

"...I don't want to know what that stuff is."

He checks himself over, seeing that he got none of the black sludge on himself. He lets out a tense sigh as he keeps a distance from the man.

Okay, maybe this is worse than Husk cultists. At least those spoke English.

DNC

No, no it's part of me, sorry. It was true. That armor was part of her. And though she was essentially a dragon, she didn't want to catch that stuff. Maybe because she was a dragon? Luckily for her, the man and Taye had both given her "ammo" to help. And as he spat the water out, it froze in mid-air, Kana staring at it.

"Vallite" Dragons were connected to water, the way "Nohrians" and "Hoshidan" dragons were connected to the Earth and Sea. This was a situational advantage in those circumstances but she had liquid to work with. The goo was bad, that was true, but she could still use water as a floating shield to "block" the goo. And while Rainmaker had meant to teach her how to use water, he had been surprised to find her skills to be very commendable.

Still, she needed to focus. With the water having been in him, it wouldn't surprise her if it became more black goo than water at that point. Drawing a small bottle from her belt, Kana proceed to uncork it with her thumb before "slashing" the air in front of it with the bottle, carving a watery line in front of her. Then, and only then, does she slowly get up, moving in sync with Kai to keep him down.

The water moves near Kana to try and serve as a shield. And she nods dutifully to Medicine, moving to grab the back of the assassin's head by way of hair and pulling to tilt it back with one hand. With the other, she meant to press it against his left side, hoping to hold him down while he laid there.

Edited by Bolded1 on Mar 25th 2024 at 12:07:44 PM

Church

Karasu screeches angrily at being tossed but recovers mid-air, pivoting around to shout a sonic scream at Azura as he flies back in. Hopefully that along with Cittufeni's assault would keep Azura busy and from interrupting Flandre as she kept the pressure on, grinning manically as her eyes glowed purple like her aura. She brought her other arm up to grab Mahito by the shoulder just to be sure he won't escape.

Just as mentioned before, this will take a lot of energy out of her if it succeeds in totally destroying Mahito. She plans/hopes for Karasu to drag her away but hopes one of her fellows or even Sarah might step in instead.

She's going to eat so much blood after this fight.

Swoods

Meanwhile in a completely different Flan scene.

Clone Three raises Laevateinn into a guard, expecting a more normal attack. The rapid fire sword slash barrage is decidedly not normal. She manages to block a few strikes but just as many get past her, crippling her legs as she glares daggers at Blade.

"Rgh... you're pretty fast." she begrudgingly admits, then her expression turns into a manic grin. "But if I'm going down, you're coming with me!"

Using her wings to push herself off the ground, she dashes at Blade for one last desperation attack. Whether her ensuing slash connects or not, she expires. And like all clones she violently explodes into crystal projectiles upon death. Laevateinn remains for a brief moment before vanishing in a puff of smoke...

—

And reappearing in the hands of Clone Three seemingly when she respawns in a further off house, not too far from Ganondork. She narrows her eyes with contempt and sighs.

"Three always got tunnel vision." she huffed, inspecting the building. "Well, time to show them why I'm number One."

Edited by shroobot3000 on Mar 25th 2024 at 3:21:23 PM

Dungeons & Crawling

I don't think we should be going around killing people just because they doesn't talk our same language.

Joy said that, while jotting in his pocket notebook the phrases the puking woman says.

As for Grace, he just leave Medicine do their thing.

Pardon my schedule gap

Mouz and Zalade both raise a thumb-up, getting up to their feet. Luckily for Tarvek, the Spectator hadn't anticipated his agility, a costly mistake that allows him to punch it. And while it has a tough hide, the force of it still send the massive creature careening through the air, slamming into a few trees. Apparently hard enough that it wind up getting...

ah, shards in its enormous eye. Numerous shards. Othat had to have it hit hard given the way it wasn't afraid of ramming through trees beforehand.

The creature yells in abject pain and anger, still cognizant enough to try slamming its mass into Othar for what he's done. This leave Tarvek free to do something on his own. ...

Dojo

A knowing grin. A little smirk. He was toying with her, meant to freak her out for his next attack. Whatever odd shape it has, Beruka was ready for it. She'd just need to be ready to apply her energy t-

Mirrors.

Oh.

Beruka wasn't ready for them but she can tell that they won't wait for her to accept their existence before attacking. There's three paths of attacks but only one is real. And each time, Beruka would pay for defending the wrong area. So what'd she pick in a blink? Would she safeguard her guts but leave her legs unprotected ? Watch her footwork with her head left right for the taking? Protect her head and give him a way to her stomach with a flaming fist?

A flaming fi... oh, she'd noticed a peculiar detail with that one.

With whatever little time she had, Beruka remembered she'd felt heat when he had done his flaming fist attack on her last time. Immediately, somewhat hastily, she try to feel if there's any heat coming off that flaming fist attack. If not, she assume that one is false by default and discard the idea of the attack coming for her guts.

If she does feel some heat, Beruka assumes it can't just be an illusion : well, she trust that he could mess with her that much, but if he's just showing her attacks by targeting her eyes, it seems unlikely a simple illusion of a flame would emanate heat. So if there is heat, he's aiming for her guts. Beruka then steps forward, leaning to the right to dodge his fist and attempting to grab his shoulders with her hands before slamming her left knee into his guts. At which point, she raises her two arms overhead to slam them on his back, meaning to put him to the ground.

In that case, Beruka stands over Cardell, not making a move on her own.

If she doesn't feel heat, Beruka has two scenarios. His footing was off-pace, a jump seems unlikely, but he could be bluffing. And he's easily superhuman enough to pull one off anyway. Plus, the head? That's what she would target with an illusion like that.

Acting quickly, Beruka focus her cursed energy on her right arms and legs, in an attempt at covering her bases. Shooting her right arm to the side, perhaps falling for his trickery, she try grabbing the kick aimed for her leg, swnging her other arm forward almost immediately to try to nail him in the stomach with a powerful jab to the guts, one so quick as to almost have a little cone of air around it when it happens!

There was also the possibility Beruka was wrong. In which case, she is unable to correct herself in time and her reinforcement fails her, causing her to get hit.

Hub Centralis - Excelsus

I'd call Croque's exoskeleton more of a Powered Armor than a mech, but ok. (It's more like a Mini-Mecha, now that I think about it.) Anyway, big blades. Yikes.

"-oh come on."

Croque boosts between the oncoming blades, taking to the air before ejecting her suit's heatsinks, exposing them to the cool air as they hiss and cool off from being red hot. That was Mirage Burst's drawback- all the heat generated from the resulting teleportation and fabrication nearly overheated her suit.

Emergency cooling cycle active.
All weaponry systems disabled.

Operation Shutout is being airlifted out, as Croque isn't piloting the bigger mecha anymore.

Intrigue

"Hmm... That gives me an idea..."

She closes her eyes, visualizing a cannon coming together around her arm.

Click-clack.

In a flurry of assembling parts, she'd basically copied Okuu's cannon- though it was restructured to focus fire and not nuclear energy. Same difference.

"...I'm not gonna question where I got the parts from, but this works, I guess? What happens if I-"

FWATHOOOOOOOOOOOOM

I think they're both lucky Phoenix shot it at the forest.

A beacon of flame the same size as the one she had been emitting skyward earlier burst forth from the rod, completely atomizing the forest it was fired into and setting ablaze some of the nearby trees that didn't instantly turn to ash.

"Uh, oops."

Weathertop

Lucien is quick on his feet, stabilizing wounded and just helping with whatever happens to be asked of him. His ears pick up Ammeltunn's words, and he nods as they all head in.

"I'll stay here, if you'll have me. Leaving a place to possible peril isn't my style. Not with the Grove, not with the Inn, and not with this."

Church of Gor

Shheeeet, if the Fiend got back to them, that could be... bad.

Tilra navigates her options, and chooses practically immediately for personal reasons, to confront the Fiend yet again.

She uses Interstellar Overdrive again again to achieve the sort of speed she needs to make it back to the battlefield in a timely manner, rocketing through the air a blur of a blur invisible to the naked eye. She weaves through Azura's flames, twisting and turning through the air and delivering punches and kicks as needed to shatter apart the magic turned against her. A column-shaped wave of devastation forms from her descent back onto the ruinous beach.

She kicks off the glassed sand to rocket at the fiend, acting simultaneously with Ovarr to deliver whatever necessary punches, kicks, or stardust explosions are required for him to do as he must, burning through her exhaustion to stave off this monster's victory for as long as she can.

...Well, she does have a reserve of energy, but it's being reserved for a reason.

Return of the Son of Nothing - 5/8

Through their combined efforts—the instructions of Medicine mixed with the actions taken by Taye, Kai, and Kana—the tar-colored substance was expunged from his lungs, and the man found himself still very much alive, likely against his wishes. A suicidal ploy of some sort, no doubt, pre-planned out in the event that he was caught…which means he had important information. No matter what, the old knight thought to himself, they were going to get it.

The last of the muck came when Ladwin stepped forwards and delivered a sharp kick to his ribs.

He coughed, but no thick, black fluid came this time. It was gone, his body depleted of it entirely. The captive killer’s taunting smile was gone; in its place he frowned and hissed a curse in his language at those present.

"I’m not done with you yet. I hope your master had you used to four stone walls and a bucket, because that’s all you’ll have when we’re finished dealing with this attempt at an attack of yours." Ladwin said, looking down at the assassin and staring him in the eyes. The odds of him understanding a word he’d just spoken were…slim, to say the least, but he hoped his tone would get the message across. The knight looked up at the group. "I do not trust easy; sixty years of combat have taught me that trust in strangers is a surefire way to die with a knife between your shoulders…but so is working alone. One of you, I’ll need to come with me and deliver the princesses to safely. The others…there’s a jail in the keep, I’ll give you directions and—"

"No." The voice, feminine and regal, echoed off from the stairwell behind them. Ladwin didn’t even need to look to its source to recognize it; immediately, he dropped to his knee and bowed his head against his blade, its tip pressed firmly against the stone.

"Your Grace,"

Frilda approached, sheathing her crimson-tinted blade. The woman was drenched nearly head to toe in blood, her hair haggard and wild. There was a gash on her shoulder, and a cut just above her eyes.

"Mother!" The sisters shouted in near-perfect unison, rushing forwards to meet the Queen in an embrace. She took them with both arms, but spared only a moment of silence for a brief reunion before looking back to the knight.

"The situation is worse than we thought; the keep is lost. We must evacuate the castle, now."

"Mother, what’s happening?" Mia asked, voice trembling and eyes scared.

"The war has begun sooner than we thought…but you’ll be fine, girls. You’ll stay with your aunt until things have been resolved here—no more than a few months."

Lucas takes a sip, his slurping so smooth it's effectively silent, the only sign of he did it was the faint thud that came from putting his cup back down. He sees Pucci's wording, if a man did not want to adventure he would not bemoan his inability to do so.

"Are those the things you want to do?"

DNC

Now, while OOC I highly suspect that the timely arrival of the queen is, in fact, because she is a sussy imposter :jerma: , Hange is from a world where the idea of someone being magically disguised as someone else would be categorically preposterous, so as such, she has no such suspicions.

Rest assured knowing that if she could be suspicious, she would be.

Hange looks confused for a moment hearing the vaguely familiar sound of Frilda's voice. She looks confused for a split-second, lips parted in surprise, but gets serious quickly when her brain connects the dots. She mimics Ladwin's bow with a kneeling Survey Corps salute.

She stands back up as Frilda speaks, mind (and eye) drifting to the captured enemy foe.

"In an evacuation, he'll be a liability. But the information he might have on hand could be invaluable."

Her focus immediately shifts to Frilda when she catches word about a war.

"War? That would be, against the forces of Mordor? I see. Where does this passage lead to, if I might ask. And just how many people know it?"

DNC

Taye stowed her sword and bowed to Frilda. "Glad to see you alive," she beamed, though her expression was quick to change upon the mention of war. "Should we help evacuate other people who may still be within the castle?" Perhaps Frilda just meant present company, depending on what she meant by "the keep is lost", but that's why it's good to ask first.

Taye reached for the rope tied around Kai's waist, and pulled on a loose end. And pulled, and pulled, and pulled. An unusually long length of rope emerged from the waist-rope and coiled around her hands. The waist-rope itself remained unchanged & fastened around Kai, thank goodness. A while later, Taye's rope finally detached from Kai's, and she handed the newly-formed rope over to him. After all, a man who works with boats is good at rigging ropes.

"The assassin could be tied up while we deal with the situation. Who would be best to look after him?"

She wonders if she'll get to see more of the princesses later on, especially the redhead. But that's not exactly an urgent matter.

Edited by Hotpizza on Mar 26th 2024 at 10:02:56 PM

DNC

Kai takes the rope and gets to work, tying the would-be assassin up rather snugly.

"I doubt he'll be moving for a while."

He gives a polite bow to the Queen, before lowering his harpoon. He doesn't dare put it away yet- who knows what else might approach them? He looks around the hall afterwards before-

poof

The he is now a she. Specifically, Kaisui. Smaller than Kai, and also lacking in visible weaponry. Normally, she'd be taller, but this time she isn't. She is...

...smol.

"Though if he does try to move, I doubt he'd get very far, hmm?"

Nuclear flames burn brighter and stronger around the site where the white-haired man formerly stood, the psychic screaming growing louder and louder, then abruptly falling silent as something in the inferno changes. Multiple jets of atomic particles blast upwards, forming a ring of green rays of light, circling around and slowly drawing inwards with each rotation. When the rays meet the middle of that circle, pointing directly upwards as one unified torch illuminating the earth and sky, one final flare of energy blasts away the clouds of smoke and ash that this entire over-the-top display of power had been generating.

Then, the outpour of energy stops, and the result is revealed. Standing among radiation-soaked slag and still putting out enough heat to vaporize bits and pieces of debris, the white-haired man can be seen once again... Albeit he's not looking very white-haired anymore. More a combination of black and bright-green, the latter due to the quite frankly absurd amount of radioactive energy constantly being emitted by his body. He stands there for a few seconds, body visibly shaking. Then those near him would hear echoing laughter, of all things. Once again, it comes from inside their minds, - though there is a good reason, since look particularly closely and one might notice that his mouth has somehow melted shut.

The laughter ceases, and the man turns to lock his eyes onto the Fiend way off in the distance, then the much closer Mahito and Azura. Despite everything, he seems... excited.

   {This strength, this determination, surely worthy of praise! I, too, shall use all of mine. PREPARE.}   

Inexplicably, some kind of rotary drone with a television screen drifts down from above, proudly displaying some lines of text as follows:

• JACK ASHTON
  • Inferno Raging Against The End Of Days
    • Listen the title is a work in progress I'm happy to take suggestions

The drone then hurriedly flies out of the area to avoid being annihilated by any of the current smorgasbord of ridiculously powerful attacks. The white-haired man, now formally identified as Jack, quickly looks around the battlefield to see what he can attend to. Above him, THOR and Saitama are so high in the sky he straight up cannot see them anymore, though he does wonder how they're doing. Closer to the ground but still very far away, he watches Ovarr and Tilra race off to deal with the Fiend. They'll probably be able to keep it busy, right?

Of the two remaining targets, he sees that Mahito looks far more worn-down and is being aggressed more directly by his current comrades of happenstance. That leaves him one very particular option - Azura. And thankfully it seems like everyone else decided to fling ranged attacks her way (well okay Cittufeni got close, but he can absorb radioactive energy, so he'll be fine next to the closest thing to a living perpetual nuclear explosion, right?)... But she is also doing that back, which he should probably address first.

   {That would make for a really cool fireworks show.}   

He could stand there and just let the projectiles hit him, it would be incredibly funny to do that, but he can't just count on her attacks not being able to injure him in his current state. Jack rockets into action, his initial velocity shredding the ground he formerly stood on as he blitzes through the air, gouts of nuclear flame clearing a path through the barrage of missiles. Moving that fast also means he promptly crashes into the barrier of explodes-with-force-equal-to-the-incoming-kinetic-force-of-intruders...

Which results in the mother of all explosions turning a large patch of jungle several miles away into an equally-large patch of smouldering slag and debris, but surprisingly little damage on the man responsible. At least, that's how it looks at first - when he lands near Azura, the front half of his body needs a few seconds to mend itself, flesh visibly contorting to fit his regular features. He chuckles quietly, walking relatively slowly around her to a specific position.

   {Hitting me with my own momentum, good show, good show. A lesser man might have died from that. Now then, show me how you defend yourself.}   

Jack strikes the pose of a man about to throw a punch, though he politely waits for a few seconds to let Azura get something ready. Then he hurls that singular punch - and accompanying the punch is a burst of energy as wide as he is tall that carries on for literal miles. Checking the background, the way he's positioned himself deliberately put the Fiend in the line of fire as well, and maybe Mahito too if the trio's luck is so bad that they happen to all be in a line at the time of his attack.

Going by the fact that he does not throw another punch afterwards, even though there is visibly nothing stopping him, he genuinely does want to test Azura's defensive capabilities.

Edited by engie on Mar 26th 2024 at 5:15:27 AM

   "Rats you are, and as rats you all shall die. Insignificant, worthless, and crushed under my heel—"   

The air bent around the man’s fist as it sped for the side of his head. His stone eyes had hardly even locked on to the incoming punch before his own hand exploded from latency, palm driven into his attacker’s arm and decimating the bone within instantly. The limb fell uselessly to his side but still the man did not cease his attack, instead switching to a kick at his hips—that level of dedication was admirable to the Grey Man, at the very least. A shame it was restricted to a body as weak as his. The Grey Man’s other hand drove itself through the flesh-and-blood human’s chest, giving the wall behind him a new makeover with said flesh-and-blood. He squeezed, and the heart caught between his fingers popped.

The human’s limp body slid lifelessly from the Grey Man’s stone arm, splatting against the ground. He’d come looking for a fight, but if all these people were like this old fool…he’d need to look elsewhere.

His daughters charged first, bellowing screams of woe and anger. The Grey Man didn’t understand it, frankly: if they were so attached to their father, why sit by and allow him to die? Not that they would’ve been able to save him in any case, but still. A human might’ve quoted “shock” as the reason, but the Grey Man didn’t believe in shock. Shock, surprise, fear…none of them existed.

   "There is only weakness."   

A gust of wind wrapped itself around the left woman’s arm, and the right’s form was wreathed in electricity as she threw her fist. Their abilities, to be sure. He’d need to deal with the one on the left, first—her ability presented more of a threat to him than the other’s. His fingers pressed together, he swung his arm in a chop at her neck…and passed effortlessly through. Her head separated with a messy gush of red. She’d died so easily…were they all really going to be like this?

   "There is only weakness."   

He did not cease his motion anyways, only forming his hand into a fist just in time for the right woman’s hand to make contact. It bounced uselessly off his chin, the electricity fizzling and fading. He was of stone, after all. Her eyes went wide and her lips parted in shock mere moments before the Grey Man clobbered the side of her head with a hand still decorated by the blood of her father and sister.

   "There is only weakness."   

She tumbled away, rolling along the grass and coming to a stop beneath a tall, oaken tree. The Grey Man had nearly dismissed her for a corpse when her chest lifted. A sharp intake of breath shot into her lips, and weakly she lifted her eyes to him. She’d survived his hit. Would she be the one? Could she be strong enough to face him, could she challenge him, put his skill to the test? Could she finally satisfy the instrument of war?

The woman’s eyes fell. She gave her sigh of death and slumped over. Her chest was still. The Grey Man frowned.

   "All around me, there is only weakness. Is this not the Arena? Am I not destined to face a warrior of my caliber? Is there nobody in this wretched family, in all of your “Children of Man”, who can face me?"    He lamented with a scowl, crossing the park to the corpse and glaring down at it. What a disappointment.

"Frankly, they never were as good as people said they were."

The Grey Man wheeled around instantly, locking eyes with the newcomer behind him. He was a young man, with hair a strange mix of white and strawberry-red, half-and-half. He crouched over his slain father, a sizable blade in his right hand hoisted over his shoulders. "At least, not compared to me. I did most of the work…they just shared in the credit ‘cause they were there. Never really did anything, except get people away from the fights…still, though, they were family. Can’t say I won’t miss ‘em.” His right hand reached out, running over his father’s eyelids and closing them to give him dignity in death. The man sighed and hopped up, stuffing his hand into his pocket and pacing away from the corpse. His eyes were affixed upon the green earth. “If you wanted a good fight, you should’ve said so before you killed the lot. I’d have happily obliged.”

   "I was under the assumption humans had close bonds with their blood. You don’t seem to care. Strange."   

“What can I say?” The young man shrugged. He came to a stop at last, kicking a bit of dirt up as he turned towards the Gray Man and met his gaze. “I’m a strange guy.”

Suddenly, the human shot forwards. His weapon came down in a streak of silver but the Grey Man parried it aside with a push of his forearm, his other arm smashing into the man’s jaw. There was a pressure on his torso—glancing down, the Grey Man caught the sight of the human’s legs wrapped around him for but a moment as the latter rotated behind him, fueled by momentum and anchored to the stone man, pushing both hands against the grass and sending the Grey Man flying.

Before he could so much as return to the ground the young man was upon him again, slash after slash from the sword leaving cracks in his form. He lifted his blade overhead once more and swung it down. The Grey Man’s arms crossed into an X between steel and stone.

SIMPLE SKILL: GUARD

The attack was blocked, but still it shot the Grey Man back to the earth. He swung his legs below him and landed on his feet, an explosion of dirt bursting in a circle around him as his knees bent from the impact. The young man returned into sight with a graceful roll.

Huh.

“That good enough for you?” He chuckled with a grin.

   "Plenty can start a fight well…but what truly matters is how you continue it. A strong start means nothing if your strength wanes and you die after two minutes."   

“Not what I asked. I’ll say it again, rock-for-brains: that good enough for you?"

   "Are you asking if you’ve impressed me?"    The young man’s grin grew, and the Grey Man shook his head.    "Not yet."   

“Don’t worry. I will.”

In the blink of an eye they were at it again, grey and argent shimmering in the gold sunlight. The air itself seemed to heat up around them, the friction of their blows giving the scene an almost reddish tint. The cracks being left on his form were less harsh than the ones sustained during his airtime now that he was able to control his footing, but they were still present, and growing in number every second.

"You know…I couldn’t help…but notice…" The human huffed between attacks, a crazed look in his eyes. "That guard…that was…Willpower…wasn’t it..?"

   "Speaking in the midst of battle serves no purpose other than to distract you or your foe…and I am not so easily distracted. Say what you have to say, and be done with it."   

"Ha…I like…you." He giggled. "But anyways…I thought…only Children…Children of Man…knew how…to do that…unless…unless…" He slowed, ever so slightly. The Grey Man took advantage; it was his own fault he’d distracted himself by yapping endlessly. "You’re a Fomorian, aren’t you?" Were the last words to escape his lips before a stone fist ruined his perfectly white teeth, knocking him out of the park and into a nearby office building. Almost instantly the Grey Man was upon him again, but the young man had his sword leveled at the Fomorian’s torso. A long, drawn-out chuckle filled the silence. "I thought we killed your kind."

   "Not all of us."   

"Clearly." Keeping his blade ever-pointed at the Grey Man, the lad staggered back to his feet and wiped the blood from his chin with his thumb. "Well…on account of my ancestors…I shall finish the job. Let it be known, the last Fomorian was slain by—AUGH!!"

He collapsed forwards, but his Air Force Ones remained completely upright, the disembodied feet still bleeding inside them. "AUGHHHHH FUCK FUCK FUCK! WHAT THE F…AUGH!" He screamed, crawling away from the Grey Man. Confusion filled his mind and words, confusion at how exactly his fucking feet just gotten sliced off from behind…confusion the Fomorian did not share.

   "I had finally…found a foe…capable of matching me…and you cut off his feet."    The tranquil fury in his gravel voice was so palpable, you could almost reach out and grab it. He directed his gaze to Kain, the wretched little bat-creature-man sitting in the corner of the office and wearing a mischievous smirk on his disfigured lips as he shrugged.

   "Looked like you could use the help."   

   "If I ever, somehow, need your help…I will ask for it."   

   "But what is a friend for if you can’t—"   

"GODDDD FUCKK SOMEBODY KILL ME AAAAAGGGGHHHHHH IT HUURRRTSSSSSS-"

   "SHUT UP!"   

   "Silence!"    The commands came at the same time, and instantly the young man meekly fell quiet, bleeding out in polite silence as he waited for the two reluctant partners-in-vengeance to finish their bickering.

   "As I was saying—"   

   "Say no more."    His grey limbs were a blur as he reached for Kain’s head, crushing the malformed mass of flesh between his hands like a fruit. From the puddle of blood left behind sprung up Kain’s new body, but he hadn’t even managed to stand before the Grey Man stomped his skull into the floor.    "I’ve always wondered how long I must play at this before I can kill you."   

   "Oh, I can keep going for aaaaaaalllllllll of time, baby."    Kain’s newest reincarnation said, dropping from the ceiling.    "That’s the curse."   

The Grey Man ripped him in half.

This continued for a good few hours, until there was no color that existed in the office save RED, and the Grey Man was given the satisfaction he had come for.

Edited by ISZATSO on Mar 26th 2024 at 10:27:10 AM