Once the three have reached a certain room on the 77th floor, Vi unstraps her hextech gauntlets from her back and sets them aside, then plops into the nearest chair. Red Hood and Bucky, meanwhile, opt for a couch.

As Gunter explains the situation, Red Hood thinks back to what he had learned from Killer Moth. Or rather, Wriggle translating for Killer Moth on account of the latter having transformed into Charaxes at the time.

"So, Geto's just this Kenjaku thing's alias/host body. Explains the giant stitch in his head."

As each of the three read through the diary, Bucky looks noticeably surprised at the mention of one Captain America.

"Wait... he got Steve?"

He shakes his head, figuring Kenjaku probably hadn't killed and resurrected the Steve he knew as his personal undead lackey.

Jason, meanwhile, notices that Katana of all people was among those killed and resurrected to serve as Kenjaku's minion. While he wasn't personally close with Tatsu, he knew she was a staunch ally of Batman's and even led his team of Outsiders.

"Like I needed another reason to send him off to hell," he mutters under his breath.

Vi, having noticed the two men's reactions, quietly sighs with relief when she notices that nobody she knew had been turned into one of Kenjaku's zombies.

"We're gonna mess up Kenjaku's experiment from the inside, right?" Red Hood asks. "Quick question: if he's just a brain driving around in Geto's body, how many bullets will it take to splatter him across a wall? Just wondering."

"Any reason you didn't go looking for everyone else who helped overthrow that Garon guy?" Vi inquires, seeing Pucci was here. "Sounds to me like they could stomp Kenjaku's ass."

As for Bucky, he goes to get himself something to drink.

Edited by IchigoMontoya on Apr 15th 2024 at 3:55:05 AM

Empire Arms Hotel

Pyre doesn't allow the memories to invade her mind- she doesn't trust anything of the sort. Instead, she just watches. It doesn't get much of a reaction out of her (as she isn't paying attention to the screen, just the words)...

...but the diary, on the other hand... would've. But Pyre can't read. Well, at least not that well- she knows enough to read some basic things from advertisements. In fact, she just followed the paper because she recognized the word 'adventure' in it.

"So we're fighting a really strong... whatever those moving small brain thingies I've seen are. If all it can do is just summon some ghosts, can't we just blow it up?"

At this, Pyre sparks a small flame between her fingers, though she quickly puts it back out.

"Or do your old bones not grasp the concept of big explosions? It's worked for me."

One of these days that mouth of hers is gonna get her into big trouble... Wait, she's already had that happen once.

"Also, why's the book got so many small lines of symbols in it? Where's the pictures?"

...Pyre, you're a goddamn idiot.

Island

Lucien gazes towards the corpses and tracks.

"There was a scuffle here. Marshmen and our target. The cuts on the Marshmen's bodies are clean- whatever blade it used to do such a thing would be as sharp as the sword I carry."

He sends Amber off to fly in the direction of the tracks.

"The tracks are not consistent. It's clear the beast jumped or flew, of which I cannot tell, but it can clearly do something of the sort."

Confluence of Fates

"-Koraidon, NO!!!"

With a pained cry, Rayne's 'mon falls to the ground, fainted. He quickly returns them to their ball. He grabs another.

"Let's go, Tinkaton!"

Out comes the Hammer Pokemon. Oh hey, look, a bird dragon. This should go well.

"-use Gigaton Hammer!"

Tinkaton leaps up, heaving her hammer over her head before slamming it down onto Soulstealer's head. Rayne redeploys his cannon, swapping the plate for the Fairy Plate. A pale light gathers on the end of the Arceus Cannon, before it fires a Moonblast at Soulstealer.

Joy’s flute calmed the warg, brought it into a slightly less crazed state, but before it could make a more calculated act than wild swings of its claws, Kana’s Yato cut through its torso and smashed into the stone below, while Hange’s paper-thin blades plunges into its neck, and the warg died with a final gurgle, sinking to the ground lifelessly. To seal the deal, Kana’s axe lopped the head off. It bounced uselessly away, rolling to a stop.

Meanwhile, a battle raged on Emilia’s back. Medicine’s purity fought the evilness festering on the wound, but no victor could be decided, and both sides seemed locked in a stalemate…it wasn’t spreading anymore, at least, but the princess’ pain was only made worse. She hissed in pain as Ladwin turned, facing the wall now clear of threats now that the wulg had been slain.

Meanwhile, Kaisui’s biological railgun tore through the ceiling, rubble and debris collapsing inwards and coming dangerously close to crushing Frilda if she hadn’t been pulled away by Taye. She grabbed a straggler by the collar and opened his throat, staggering away from the roof and giving a thankful nod to Taye. She kept her sword unsheathed and walked by Ladwin, pressing a hand to the ever-more pale Emilia forehead as she passed, but keeping her eyes focused on the corridor ahead, littered with the bodies of the assassins. "Let’s get going. We can’t waste any—" There was a gnashing of teeth as she passed the severed warg’s head and a shout of sudden pain. The Queen instantly drove her blade downwards, cutting into the dark-haired creature’s head with its fangs sunken into her ankle and striking its brain.

"Your Grace—!"

"I’m fine," Frilda kicked the now truly-dead head away, revealing the bleeding wounds it left on her leg. "I’m fine. Accursed Mordorian magic.." She took one step and nearly collapsed forwards, paused, and hissed as she put pressure back on the foot. She stood still a few moments, as though testing her balance, before limping forwards and out towards the corridor. With the hall behind them a landslide of shattered stone and a neutralized threat ahead of them dead and headless on the ground, it seemed the coast was clear…..until came the pattering of footsteps on stone once more, approaching from the left hall.

Edited by ISZATSO on Apr 15th 2024 at 7:53:32 AM

DNC

As the battle drew to a close, Hange stood upon the lifeless body of the Warg and suppressed a cry of victory, instead choosing a more low-key deranged cackle as she stood over their battleground.

The fighting wasn't over yet! But she was alive another moment, and wasn't that worth celebrating?

Still though. Frilda was injured, and Emilia...

"She's almost definitely a dead woman," Hange thought, "I definitely can't tell them that, especially with how little I know about the poison involved, but this rate of damage bodes very poorly."

"As much as I'd love to stick around and examine these remains, I have to agree." Hange then said out-loud, "Every second we waste is another second a larger force gets to catch up with us, and our pace hasn't exactly been consistent."

As she prepared to hop off the dead Warg, though, there came a new sound, the pattering of footsteps, and she was left to wield her now much duller carving blades so as to conserve what few of them she had. Hange certainly felt ready, but admittedly, this was getting a little tiring.

"Well, speaking of! We're not off the hook just yet."

Edited by Whoma on Apr 15th 2024 at 5:00:59 AM

DNC

Taye lets out a sigh of relief as Frilda was narrowly pulled out of death by falling rocks... only to jump when the queen's chomped by a wolf that should've stayed dead. Seeing her wounds and how she struggled to even walk, she is most certainly not fine.

"I don't like this horror movie. Can someone who's physically strong-" Taye looks between Kaisui and Kana- "pick up Frilda? We need to move now, and quick! Focus on getting to safety!"

Taye yanks on the prisoner's rope as she starts heading for the exit, though she makes sure to be in the middle of the group & that no one falls behind.

Edited by Hotpizza on Apr 16th 2024 at 12:11:20 AM

Onyxis Beach

Luna stares off into space, thinking to herself.

I should check my stats...

>STATUS

Nickname: Luna

Species: Rabright

Type: Fairy

Tera Type: Fairy

Level: 1

Held Item: None

Gender: Female

Nature: Timid

Ability: Illuminate

Moves: Fairy Wind, Flash, Dazzling Gleam

HP: 12

Attack: 4

Defense: 5

Special Attack: 6

Special Defense: 5

Speed: 6

What's this "Tera Type" thing? I'm Level 1... I need to get stronger somehow... I don't know if they're any weak enemies around here...

Luna closes her status. She suddenly notices the snow at her paws. Luna was surprised by this, as she haven't seen snow before. But her mother wasn't there to explain what the soft white flakes of ice really were. All Luna know that it was pretty, but cold.

I don't know what this is... But, it looks pretty, like my fur... I wonder if...

Luna took a small bite of the snow. As it melted in her mouth, Luna realized that it was made of water.

I won't get thirsty if I have this around. But, my coat isn't made for cold areas... I should find a warm place, but not to hot...

Luna begins walking away from the beach. As she prepares to enter unknown land, Luna turns around and looks back at Ogerpan, Luin and Blue, giving them a nod.

Goodbye for now...

With that, Luna set out into unknown land, not knowing what's ahead...

Onyxis

Luna was walking slowly through the vicious snow, the wind howling as snow came down upon her. A blizzard, which was normal around Onyxis, struck. Luna didn't know which way was which, as the blizzard greatly hindered her vision. All she knows, is she must keep walking.

Edited by ThatBlindGamer on Apr 15th 2024 at 7:29:43 AM

Onyxis

Mason was trudging through a blizzard, seemingly unaffected by the cold, with his dog Eski by his side. Suddenly, Eski lets out a bark and sniffs the air.

"-hmm? What is it, girl?"

She starts to walk in a direction, and Mason follows. Eventually, they come across Luna. Eski lets out another yap, and almost bounds for the rabbit-looking 'mon before Mason stops her.

"Woah, girl. We don't want to scare it away. It could be hurt... poor thing's been out in the cold for too long, I think."

Mason's innate druidic power lets him understand any and all animals, no matter what language they speak. Though they have to actually have a language for Mason to understand more than just the feelings behind it.

"You alright, little thing?"

He carefully reaches out a hand, kneeling down to not be as tall as before, as to not scare Luna away.

Onyxis

Luna paused, looking up at Mason. She's shocked that a person can understand her. Luna can hear human language, but doesn't understand what it means.

"I-I'm a-alright... I-It's just this wind a-and all this white stuff... I-I don't e-even know w-where I'm going..."

Luna's teeth was chattering as she was speaking with him. She was afraid a little bit, but not as much as the blizzard, which being Level 1, she's weak.

"I-Is t-there any p-place or something n-near here t-that's warm?"

I'm strongly starting to get tired, but why?

Any text seen with pink color text, |such as this| means Luna is talking in Pokémon Speak. Italics with pink text means Luna is thinking. Luna can hear people talk, but not understand it.

Edited by ThatBlindGamer on Apr 15th 2024 at 9:40:28 AM

Onyxis

"Well, my cabin isn't anywhere near here, but at the very least we should find a cave."

Mason conjures up a sled from some roots on the ground. Hitching Eski to it, he takes Luna in his arms as they speed off towards a cave Mason had seen earlier.

"...getting stuck in a snowstorm... you don't look built for the cold. How'd you end up all the way out here? Did you get lost?"

Wind whips past, almost drowning out the sounds of Eski's pants as she pulls the small sled along behind her. Mason makes an effort to shield Luna from the cold, his very presence seeming to ebb some of the chill within her bones, to an extent.

DNC

"There's more?!"

Kaisui, now being smaller in size because of firing the railgun, elects to pick up Frilda over her head and take off at a dead run with the rest, somehow retaining a good grip despite her horrendously inefficient carrying method.

"What I wouldn't give to have a Shin'en with legs right now..."

"It's a long story... But, there was this storm out at sea and me and my mother were on a cargo ship. My mother suddenly sensed the storm and she told me to escape by jumping out the window and into the water. I did so and I awoken here... I'm currently trying to look for my mother... All I saw was just pieces of wreckage from the ship, so I thought she was... D-dead... But, I feel like she isn't..."

Luna's ears droop sadly as she narrates her story.

"So, I started out looking for her. And soon, I ran into you..."

Onyxis

Mason feels a pang of sadness as Luna recounts her story. He clutches her closer to his chest.

"...I'm not sure how much help me or Eski can be. But for now, I can at least offer shelter- I'll see about getting us to my cabin once this storm passes."

Soon enough, they slow to a stop inside of a small cave. Mason concentrates for a moment, roots growing to form a door and some lighting. The sled returns to the earth, leaving Eski to slowly wander up and gently nudge Luna before-

SLURP

-licking her right across the face. Eski's tail is wagging, as if proud of herself. Mason looks ever-so-slightly amused.

"...sorry about my dog. She likes meeting new people and animals. Which... well, usually happens to be a giant lick to the face."

As Mason rolls out a small mat, Eski moves to lay down beside him, nudging his hand gently before falling asleep.

"-ah, how rude of me to not introduce myself... I'm Mason. Mason Parke."

He smiles at Luna, his face a perfect picture of peace and kindness, while somehow not looking ignorant. A look of a man that has seen the world and chose to keep being happy.

Edited by RainbyPlays on Apr 15th 2024 at 11:11:04 AM

Luna couldn't help but feel happy inside. She's glad that a human have helped her out.

"I'm Luna, a Rabright, which is a Pokémon. Nice to meet you. I haven't interacted with a human before... A-Anyways, where is your cabin? Is it somewhere nearby?"

Luna is hopeing his cabin is somewhere that isn't cold, if there is such a place around here, that is.

Edited by ThatBlindGamer on Apr 15th 2024 at 10:17:24 AM

Solopost

Timeloops were funny things. Taye could open her eyes and find herself the pilot of a sci-fi spaceship, or a university student in a dormitory, or a superhero facing off a supervillain.

Or in this case, a medieval princess watching hundreds of soldiers flood the castle. Fully armored & bearing the emblem of a tyrant king, the soldiers plunged their swords into hapless civilians and cackled in glee. A horde of these soldiers descended upon 'her' mother - unarmored & unprepared, the mother's head soon joined the pools of blood that soaked the ground. Next thing she knew, sharp pain stung her nerves as a soldier's blade pierced her heart. She crumbled to the ground, air & blood leaving her lungs as tears filled her eyes. All faded to black...

... only to blink back into existence. She stood upright, completely unhurt, but still in the middle of chaos. The soldier who killed (was going to kill) her stood mere meters away, finishing off a civilian. Upon spotting her, he made a mad dash in her direction, his sword swinging wildly at her. She jumped out of the way to narrowly avoid it, then ran for her life. She desperately searched for an exit, weaving between murderous soldiers and dying civilians, until she found-

-that her assailant had caught up and driven a sword through her throat. It hurt so much, all she could do was drop to her knees and pass out again...

As her vision returned, she's back in the same spot. Unharmed, with the same soldier dashing towards her. This time, she turned the other way, and spotted a large goblet lying next to a corpse. She grabbed the goblet and swung it behind herself, knocking the sword out of the soldier's hands just in time. While he was confused, she slipped away into the crowd.

...

But this was only the start of her journey. When the castle was usurped, the tyrant king sent scouts all over the country, hunting her down wherever she went. Yet, since her mother died, the princess was now the queen, and it was up to her to reclaim her homeland.

So she◊ set off on a long perilous journey to gather allies. To not only take back her castle, but also protect it from relentless enemies. She fought armies' worth of the tyrant's soldiers, the ruthless leader of a mercenary camp, a giant minotaur automaton, a mind-controlled dragon capable of destroying kingdoms, an evil empress with lightning magic fuelled by the lifeforce of her loyal subjects & powerful enough to take on two dragons, and much more.

The quest stretched from months to years, and the battles kept coming. Taye felt every bit of pain from gaping wounds, dragon's fire, or death itself. Even when she finally defeated the biggest threats to the kingdom, it was not long before she was right back at an earlier time. When the castle was flooded with the tyrant's soldiers, her mother beheaded and the civilians slaughtered. Despite her newfound knowledge, history refused to change, instead forcing her through ceaseless trauma over and over.

Over time, Taye grew proficient in combat. Used to pain, she developed endurance and could keep fighting for god knows how long. She learned how to use all manners of weapons - bows, flails, halberds, peculiar double-bladed swords. She easily slipped any blade into gaps in full plate, taking out armored troops swiftly.

But it all came at a price.

Edited by Hotpizza on Apr 16th 2024 at 5:12:05 PM

DNC: Rocks fall, nobody die

The explorers got a last fright from the Warg before hearing the footsteps.

We must go ASAP.

They follow the group.

Debriefing session

Hmm... I'd prefer not to-

Inject us with your knowledge, please!

Loinball had decided for the group. The images were clear and nitid, and both Loinball and Zamba got some laughs out of the chibis.

Zamba knows about that kind of explainations: he travels across time to explain about the History of his country.

When it was time to read the diaries, Loinball was the only one of the group to not read them.

Boring! I'm not gonna read those texts.

After the briefing ended, Rosita and Zamba asked for talking:

I do have a question: Do you know where to find that Nightsong the diary mentions? It seems like she would help us against Kenjaku.

And what about the Netherstones?

DNC

Medicine winces at Frilda being bitten, just another injury she'll need to take care of later. She trusted someone else to help her move, while Medicine herself stuck with Emilia. She considered giving her more painkillers but considering this is likely a result of clashing magics it probably wouldn't help her discomfort. At least she's stable-ish for now.

She does make sure to be ready to spray a cloud of toxic gas at anyone trying to pursue them as they make a break for it though.

An office building

Sam Fischer is an ordinary man. He works a thirty-hour job doing accounting work for one of the many real estate agencies here in Centralis. He lives in company with one of his corporate coworkers, and you could, for all intents and purposes, use him as a typical example of a privileged cis-het white man - if not for the soul-crushing paperwork that occupy his working hours and make that privilege, to him, feel like a disadvantage. When growing up, he has had dreams of getting wealthy through hard work - today, all those dreams are dashed and given up on.

The housing market in Centralis is chaotic, due to the massive flows of immigration and emigration caused by the Arena's multiversal connections - and not, at last, due to the city's frequent (ab)use as a battlefield. Recent events have shaken the town and caused plenty of people - including Sam himself - to wish to leave the Arena entirely, in favor of a safer universe. And in times of economic crisis like these, a lot of companies have started laying off workers.

These are the thoughts going through Sam's mind when he sees a letter on his desk this morning, calling him to his boss's office.

One hour later, and Sam is seen standing in front of his office. He looks out of his breath, tired, and mentally beaten - but, somehow, also relieved. Out here, he gets handed a flyer.

Empire Arms Hotel, 77th floor

Several minutes after the meeting had begun, a man in a white shirt, red tie and black pants, carrying a black suitcase, finally arrives. He looks slightly embarassed, but gives a smile anyways.

"Sorry for being late! I would've come sooner, but I needed to gather some belongings back and home... Can I still apply for this?" He raises the flyer that he'd been handed onto the street into the air.

Hotel and Apartment

Save

• Birthright, Conquest and Revelations

At the hotel, Ravenos has flown up to perch on the projector to not get in the way of the others, transmitting info to “Pyra” and Ui for them to log and analyse, and scanning the wired computer to obtain usage history (hey, it’s born FROM collective usage history and acts like a hard drive/Cloud drive for that).

Meanwhile back at “Pyra”’s apartment, Ui broadcasts Ravenos’s POV on a Google Meets tab while logging the diary and spoken stuff into Text History for a more in depth reread later. “Pyra” themselves is experimenting with creating a clone to sync up with so that they can simultaneously go to school and on the quest (after they fully decide whether to join or not, that is). Attempts haven’t been too successful yet, maybe they can get some cherries.

Moving over to Ui in their room, “Pyra” opens Text History, learns about the ancient evil and is now aware that this is a BIG adventure with many risks ahead of them. Skimming through the diary (they can always access Text History to reread it in detail as reading material during the journey if any), “Pyra” now focuses on a few things: Reorganising Inventory, new combat UI if any, and continue with creating functional clones for syncing (“Pyra”’s still a bit wary about actually using their Save-Load often, finding it more useful as a last-ditch button).

Church

Luckily for Arlina, Emma's absorption still has an extremely limited range so removing Cittufeni before she could reach him is a much larger blow to her plans that was only further bolstered. Jack only sees a thousand yard stare from Emma — now realizing that his attack foiled a good chunk of her plan — before she grabs him in the neck and positions him behind Tilra's body (or positions herself in case Jack doesn't exactly agree to getting grabbed)

"You fight for NOTHING."

"You serve me ZERO purpose."

In spite of her rage, her objectives and pecking order that she planned out instilled themselves deep into her subconscious. Banking on this opportunity to make make Tilra a target above all else.

"I should kill you right here right NOW."

Emma obliges Jack's request and unleashes an infinitesimal amount of what she's stockpiled. Her handgun barely even resembles a firearm at this point, it's just a series of floating white cubes that shape themselves into the silhouette of a gun in its attempts to shape her might.

She shoots him square in his center with enough energy in the shot to turn the whole atmosphere of the space they reside in into a nuclear bomb — not in its yield, but in every single surrounding particle smashing into one another, causing a daisy chain of fusion reactions that instantaneously spread throughout the air — a catalyst for a self-perpetuating cycle of ignition that remains active while there are still present elements to fuse.

Theoretical Maximum limit: 99.9%

From a single trigger pull, everything goes white for a brief moment no matter where an individual was, as if viewing the core of a newborn star for a second until the sky returns to view in bright white, forcing the world into a shadowless light. If Tilra doesn't wake up with a hammer and a space warping chain then the unmatched power of the fucking sun for a sec can probably tickle her eyelids back up.

Pucci

A single shot manages to take the dummy down. The gun itself has enough kick to floor them without costing Pucci much in the recoil and eardrum department.

"Good. That will only get better, but enemies often do not come alone."

The dropped dummies disappear. A group spawns, surrounding Pucci. They're all at varying distances and begin to casually walk forward to him. Notably, they're all armed with hatchets but will only swing when they're at an arm's length away from the priest.

The man taps into the communications of Croque's drone,

"I'm here to watch some fireworks." He says, sounding enthused whilst watching Metal Gear EXCELSUS try and then fail at taking out Croque in the sky — her mech is a bit too agile for this behemoth to hit accurately up close.

He spots the uplifting rubble and uses it for an easy ride to Metal Gear EXCELSUS' dome. Silently dashing for it and disappearing in a blur as he makes his way there.

"Let anything that god forsaken nation touch burn."

Once atop the gigantic tank, there's not much EXCELSUS can do to fight back.

Kado can feel the dimensions inside the dome but it only creates more questions than it answers. The dome's innerworkings feels completely empty, the cockpit's sticks and interface are shifting about but no one seems to be operating it at all.

Although, this realization might take some time to come to fruition, the only thing the mech can do is to crouch down then spring up high into the air. In an attempt to both swat Croque and knock Kado/Vincent off of it upon impact, it performs the most impractical helm splitter-like move it can do with its shortened blades and hurls itself down towards the earth.

It causes the earth to shake from the amount of weight slamming down, generating a small earthquake with even more structures crumbling.

MG EXCELSUS 28.2%

Edited by BoniniBanana on Apr 17th 2024 at 12:10:54 AM

DNC

How?! The decapitated head biting on the queen's ankle is definitely something Kana hadn't anticipated. And she kind of regret lopping it off now, although Kana's self-inflicted guilt trip is wisely delayed upon realizing that they need to move. With two wounded people now.

With Kaisui taking the lead to carry the wounded, Kana decide to use the Palace's halls to her advantage. She fully transforms her head into her dragon's form, and does the same for her torso, causing it to stretch and expand as the grey plates on her body come alive to form scales all over her body. This leave her ridiculously tiny -in comparison- legs responsible for carrying all that weight, with her tiny arms flapping about as well.

   Clear out on the sides, you guys!    Kana says, turning to the space where the assassins are emerging from. She doesn't take a deep breath nor does she inhale anything before she simply points her head forward and spit out a massive amount of water. Not under the form of a stone or metal-cutting water jet, but just a big burst of nothing but water, a shockwave breaking around Kana's mouth due to the sheer force of the liquid.

With the halls of the castle all around them, such a big mass of water will become like a crushing wave, capable of breaking bones and sending grown men and beasts ragdolling along the raging current. It also cause Kana herself to fly back with the sheer recoil of it, flinging herself backward past the group. This could buy them significant time, but she knew that their own magic or endurance would let them eventually swarm past it. So it was in their interest to keep running.

As Kana is flung back though, she briefly let herself slide on the floor, stuck in her potato-like form, before she flips backwards, sprouting out her wings, a sharp tail and elongating her limbs in mid-air to fully adopt her dragon form. Which looks a bit like a metal deer with how surprisingly slender and tall it is. It isn't different at all from Corrin's form - if perhaps a little bit more complex, with longer horns, a bigger "orb" on top of her long neck, and some motifs on her scale.

When she lands upon the floor, she doesn't even break it. As if she weighted nothing.

Kana start running ahead with her dragon form. Despite her size, she's very fast, but isn't looking to outpace the group so much as she want to barrel through an impromptu obstacle or be a ride if they need to fly. Her movements are graceful in that form, almost unwillingly so, given that she's otherwise on business.

Church

Tilra doesn't dream. It's not that she does it on purpose, simply that no part of her is equipped for it. Tilra is a form of being unlike any else.

Endlessly complex infinite potential. Precisely like her mother and her creator, in this case not yet fully realized but, it is still there. But she does not dream, because she does not know how.

It's the reason she's asleep at all. Tilra has the strength, but she does not know how to use it. Call it complacency, but battle, to her, has always been a fleeting and short novelty. Byproduct the way she lives, Tilra's problems are always either much too small or much too large for her.

Oops!

It's really coming back to bite her, isn't it?

Jack's sledgehammer breaks against her head, and fails to wake her up, burying her deeper in the rubble. If the aerodynamics of the hammer were insulting, that, perhaps, is endlessly more scathing. Just how ridiculously, astonishingly tough must she be? How frightening to see that his best effort, which he believed would be enough, did not even have a visible effect?

im stuff

There's a terrible sound of shattering and chains, and the space around Tilra rips apart by Arlina's generous hand. The rip-tearing sound and world-rending power is enough, and that is that in addition to the unmatched power of the sun turning things a brilliant shade of toasty, that finally stirs Tilra awake.

She blinks the sleep out of her eyes, squinting at the suddenly very bright light. No need to dust the rubble off with the world melting into nuclear fire around her. She hops to her feet, and summons her glaive, taking a stance with her left hand near the weapon's head and her right slid further down.

   .I never went to school.   

Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Complete) - 6/10

Already, Tilra is shimmering with an aura of faint white light.

...She has a headache, too. What, did someone hit her with a sledgehammer, or something?

Edited by Whoma on Apr 16th 2024 at 10:36:06 AM

Confluence of Fates

Terapagos seems to glance back at Rayne for a moment when the latter's Koraidon goes down. It seems to narrow its eyes a bit at Soulstealer.

All of a sudden it engulfs itself in Terastal energy and goes for a freaking charging body slam, aiming to strike Soulstealer in the gut and stun it so that the attacks of the others can hit their target. A potentially foolish thing to do, one would think, given Soulstealer's ability to steal Terastal energy. But Terapagos isn't dumb, it has a contingency plan in case Soulstealer gets its hands on it after this attack.

Because if it's at risk of having its energy stolen, that energy... will simply stop emanating from it as it transforms into a little turtle◊. When in this form, it can't fight much... but it also can't have its energy stolen.

Corrin’s voice struck a faint memory in Pucci’s mind…he knew it, but from where? It wasn’t until the young prince had addressed him by name that he finally recalled in full, and when he introduced himself, it confirmed the priest’s thoughts.    ”Prince Corrin. I’ve heard much about you during my stay in Nohr…though I don’t believe we formally met during that unpleasant bit of business. It’s good to know you’re well.”    But perhaps not safe, as he would soon learn. Pucci allowed himself to be guided to a seat, for it seemed rude to refuse a prince’s help, after all, but when offered food he only politely shook his head.    ”That won’t be necessary.”   

Pucci was hesitant at first regarding the concept of surrendering control of his thoughts to a strange man, especially one who he’d been led to by an even stranger man…but the presence of Corrin instilled faith in him. He felt the prince could be trusted, especially given all he’d heard of him. And besides, the priest was certain Gor would protect his mind from any harm or attempt at control.

He was surprised to see the presentation: not because it took place in his thoughts, but because of how clear it was. After months of shifting colors and whirling shapes, it felt a blessing to see something in full definition again…which made it all the sadder when he realized it was only temporary. In a few minutes the vision would be gone once more, and he’d be right back to where he was when he first walked through that door.

He regarded Kenjaku’s appearance and seizure of a piece of what remained from Garon’s massive corpse with horror. Was the old tyrant still ‘’alive?’’ No, Pucci shook his head. He couldn’t have been. But still, this “Kenjaku” figure was doing something with the corpse. He only wished he could, like, read the diaries.

Pucci raised his hand.    ”If we want to neutralize him without killing him…I have a method.”    He spoke blindly to a room of formless colors that flooded together into a cold gray. He did not know if anybody listened, could not see their eyes upon him, but spoke all the same.    ”With my Stand 「WHITESNAKE」 I can remove both a person’s abilities ‘’or’’ a property of them, and their memories…and when both are taken, the target enters a comatose state. If you do not yet have a strategy for dealing with avoiding Kenjaku’s death in order, might I suggest this?”   

”Great.” Khars’Li hissed. ”So it does fly. I was hoping those reports were just exaggeration…”

”Fire-breathing, agile, venomous, highly intelligent, armored…I guess we can just add “capable of flight” to the list. How the hell are we supposed to deal with this thing?”

”That’s what we’re here to figure out. Lucien, can you pick up a trail?”

And indeed there was one: one particular set of tracks led elsewhere, past the destroyed home and further into the swamp. They were marshmen, frenziedly place and spread inconsistently apart…the right foot seemed to drag. They led another sixty or so feet, out into a particularly odd section of the swamp. There were no trees and the sun shone clearly overhead, but the surface was somehow even darker there, almost pitch-black. It was thick and viscous, to the point where it ceased to be water, though that was hardly the most notable part.

What was were the skeletons.

It was a graveyard of monstrous corpses, half-submerged in the fluid and picked dry of any flesh, bone-white save for the darkness that dripped off of them. They had died standing upright, it seemed, and were varied in size. Some were small as wolves, others mammoth-sized and a few beyond even that.

”Tar.” Khars’li would note, should Lucien bring their attention there. Up ahead, in the middle of the tar pit, was the skeletal remains of some sort of two-legged wyvern, some seventy or eighty feet of length. Odd marking covered its form, and there were deep chasms in its skeleton where it had been deeply cut by something. ”I’m too heavy, but it should be safe for you guys, long as you move slow and careful. Go check that out; I’ll wait here and keep an eye out. Holler if you need me.”

Gunter knew he was dealing with a disordonnant bunch. Free souls who had various opinions and motives and goals. Thus, he's happy that most of them are cooperative about being given explanations. And he's unsurprised to see them ask questions that he's already covered in his debriefing.

But it's all okay. He knew that it'd happen. Sometimes, even having the explanation wired straight into your brain isn't enough.

Speaking of that, he glances at the fallen salaryman and nods. You are. But I can catch you up - I'll only need to send the information into your head. Don't worry, I'll do nothing that could hurt you or peer into your thoughts. He was also glad to have some more pertinent questions asked of him. Like on the Nightsong. And he was very happy to hear about Pucci's offer as well.

If agreed, Gunter gives the recap via a brief flicker of purple light and turn to the group, trying to be patient. Along the way, he sees Pyre mention Intellect Devourers. So she'd met them? She could also be from a world of walking brains but if she was from Faerun itself, then Gunter would have to prepare a few things.

Kenjaku can use Cursed Energy to significantly increase his strength, speed, durability and to manifest a Domain, allowing him to unleash a terrifying attack that cannot be avoided nor resisted in a large area around him. On top of that, parasiting the corpse of Geto has lended him the ability to summon Cursed Spirits. A lot of which would not be deterred by an explosion, he didn't like Pyre though, he had to think that.

And given her rude behavior, well, he knew what he could do to stack the odds against her if needed.

Kenjaku cannot be killed by bullets so easily. Not simply because of his skin's density or due to his ability to mend his damaged flesh, bones and organs, but because the destruction of Geto's body will unleash these spirits. All at once, they'll rampage and will cause uncontrollable damage, Gunter shakes his head. Puc-ah, Father Pucci's idea for disposing of him is correct. And I myself planned to disable him with an attack that would have disabled Kenjaku's control of Geto's body, trapping him within his skull and preventing him from striking back.

I appreciate your diligence and initiative, by the way, Gunter says, turning to Pucci. Disabling Kenjaku is what we need to do. Killing him will be a delicate process but should we disable him, then we'll have time aplenty to decide what to do. Oh, and, would you want me to send you the diary's content? It would be faster and easier than having it read out to you, I presume.

Pucci had lots of issues because of his blindness. And Gunter now knew of the devils who whispered in his ears as well. Out of everyone, he could tell that he and Corrin were weak links emotionally. And though there was genuine merits to his suggestion, making Gunter's praises far from unearned, the older man knew that building up Pucci's self-worth would be ideal for his plans.

For the group to work, he needed to tame some of them. A word with sinister implications, but one he intended benevolently. It wasn't his fault if Corrin and Pucci were nervous wrecks, wasn't it? He was solving a mess that Beruka and the Church respectively had to fix and couldn't or wouldn't. And besides, he didn't need the group as a whole tamed.

Just some of them, a core, could be made to keep the others united. He just needed to pinpoint the right personalities.

The Nightsong is located in the Shadowfell. As said in Gortash's diary. Come on now, the two of you have bothered to read it at least, haven't you? He says, glancing at Loinball. Idiot. But he could use idiots.

I've made some research. The Nightsong resides within the Shadowfell, the dark dimension of Shar. Shar is a primordial deity of darkness, oblivion and loss. Her powers are only matched by her pettiness and her desire to end all things, Gunter says, wagging his finger. Luckily for us, an even greater power would prevent her from taking direct action against us. Unluckily, Shar's indirect action is deadly on its own. We may need to gather more information, and stand somewhere where her influence is strong.

As for the Netherstones - they appear quite useless to us. They were merely pieces of a greater whole, unable to reunite and left as a trap by Kenjaku.

As I said, gathering help could result in our movements being easily noticed by Kenjaku. Furthermore, the warriors who toppled Garon are hard to find. For they were mostly a... ah, merryband gathered by fortune. And a lot of them were busy on their own worlds - worlds I dare not search for across the cosmic tapestry, lest I lose my way. As I said, I went to the Arena simply because a nexus of worlds would give me more answer than a single world.

Why not ambush him? Beruka shrugs, sitting on the couch after quietly letting Gunter expose away. We have the advantage of numbers. Why would we give it up by entering that world of his? With Corrin's orb-

That orb is the basis of my idea, yes I am not done- The orb will help us travel out of Kenjaku's universe as needed. It will be an escape route should things proceed... hazaphardly, he notes. Beruka, you are presumptuous to think that Kenjaku will be careless like Garon. Only by appealing to his ego can we get him to lower his guard. Otherwise, he will simply outwit and kill you subtle glance at Corrin, who tense up. Or vanish and wait out for decades. His host body is young. And with the cosmic tapestry all around him to explore, he can find more versions of that host.

My words may be harsh Shortly before Gunter began his speech, Corrin and Beruka pick up on the diary after being handed it by Bucky (on his way to the drink) and read it up. And my attitude aloof, but consider that Kenjaku is a grave threat. Who lacks in raw power, perhaps, but who has doomed plenty to his ambitions. We must be very careful and consider every option before engaging them, lest he escapes us or worse.

What is Azura doing... Corrin says, getting to the part where Gortash mentions his encounter with Azura and Morgan. Beruka's eyes are similarly wide open, and she covers her mouth in shock, Corrin looking disturbed.

How could they be alive? And how could Morgan be there when he was at Anna's place, last he checked?!

... Yes. I was also shocked. For whatever reasons, twisted specters of Azura and Morgan, your former allies, inhabit the cold halls of Moonrise Crypt. Furthermore, they are accompanied by undead soldiers, creatures of lava and Ketheric Thorm, an immortal aspotle of Myrkul, the god of the Dead. And we will need to defeat those if we want to win.

Doing this will require us to free Ketheric's prisoners, access his batch of stolen weaponry, find the Nightsong and then kill Ketheric. A task she will be eager to help with, you are correct to assume. And as for Morgan and Azura, they are beasts beyond human mercy, whom we will need to kill... although their empowered abilities may make that rather difficult.

Hence, I will be looking for more warriors to assist us when the time come. And hence, we will need to be prompt in going around Moonrise Crypt. I will need you to be disciplined and calm. Save your vengeance for until Ketheric is mortal again. I will use my new abilities to establish a psychic link that will help us communicate, as a way to coordinate all of you from afar.

This will be highly dangerous. I must outright implore the least patients amongst you to consider taking some self-control classes this instant, because a slight mistake will kill you. Gortash's team fell in less than an hour despite being prepared for it, after all.

Beruka still glares at Gunter, but also keep at Corrin's side, who appears to be considering his options.

As for the great rewards - I will scour the cosmic tapestry to find those for you if you need. I only need Kenjaku to be permanently neutralized. And only by completing the Moonrise Trials can we succeed.

Empire Arms Hotel

Pyre falls silent and crosses her arms. She doesn't like the look she's getting from Gunter. Despite how loud and seemingly-idiotic she is, she's a good judge of character- and she knows when someone doesn't like her. Or suspects her. Both of which she can see reflected in the old man's gaze. She briefly perks up at the mention of Gortash, and the Shadowfell.

Nightsong... I swear I heard it mentioned in passing... who was it? Oh yeah, Selune's daughter, that's right, I got to meet her once... She's... huh?

Then Ketheric comes up. Hooboy, does she ever have beef with a (version of) him. After all, he's the reason her parents are dead. Well, undead, left to roam those shadowy lands before a group of people came and lifted the curse. Even Selûne's blessing didn't keep them safe. Pyre's gaze flickers to her still-bandaged hand... Her parents were devout as they came, and she'd grown up to believe the same as them. She still had the tattoo they gave her, a symbol of their deity. Hidden under the bandage to avoid question, at least for now. To forever hold the Moonmaiden in your heart, they said. She still hoped that was true.

Heat radiates off Pyre as she thinks- though it's more like a very gentle warmth. She finally speaks, her voice more serious now.

"The Nightsong isn't a thing. It's a person. I've seen her once. A daughter of the Moonmaiden herself, and one of Shar's greatest enemies."

Pyre takes a deep breath. She's nervous. In front of all these people, who all seem more skilled than her... she can offer what little knowledge she has. She adjusts her grip.

"I know all of you probably see me as annoying at best... but I ask you take me with you. I... I can't stand and watch while my own god's daughter is suffering!"

Despite her small stature and generally beaten-down looks, there's a certain spark in her eye. Sure, she'd been generally rude before- she'd been through hell and was taking it out on others. That's the only way she knew how- she was barely an adult, for crying out loud. But if she could prove herself, maybe she could move forward.

Bucky, after retrieving a can of beer for himself, glances at Pyre after she makes her old man crack about Gunter.

"What's the deal with this sassy... lost child?"

Walking back to the group, he opens his mouth to tell the bratty little red goblin something along the lines of "respect your elders, kid", only for her to give her little speech before he can say anything. As such, the metal-armed super soldier just sort of quietly returns to his spot on the couch before cracking open his beer.

Red Hood sighs. He thought that if anyone was going to hit him with a "no killing" speech in this world, it would be another member of the Batfamily who somehow found their way here.

"Kenjaku's just the brain, though, right? We pluck him out of Geto's skull and I crush him under my boot, the body'll still be intact," Jason suggests, leaning forward slightly in his seat.

Vi shrugs.

"Whatever you say. I would've at least taken that girl with the lightning sword, though," she replies as she begins tinkering with her gauntlets.