DNC

The two explorers follow the group silently, hoping for the best outcome of Hange's plan. As Kana fully turns into a Dragon, they grab tightly on their scales too.

Vermintide Epilogue

"I will continue to provide aid to the recovery effort for as long as is feasible. We have quite a bit of experience in the matter."

Melia nods. It seems to her this meeting is coming to a close, but she does not yet get up.

Corrin is smart enough to tell that the word is doesn't have a meaning that's very praising to it but at the same time, it's the right word to use for that situation. Gunter was acting a bit aloof and he could understand why Beruka or Vladek would find it off-putting. Beruka he knew was used to harshness, and Vladek didn't exactly look like he held tea parties, but they weren't really used to Gunter's habits. Habits that his powers and the situation might have enhanced.

But Corrin had been raised by the man ever since he was a wee boy, barely old enough to stand on his own two feet and remember things. And he knew that Gunter's way of doing things was to be expected of an elderly Nohrian : very stern and controlling. Never abusive but never... cuddly. But he was warm when he felt like it. And Corrin had seen his defenses slowly crumble as he became more familiar with his new son, his stern attitude never quite leaving, but becoming less... caustic. Warmer. More eager to call the boy his "son" in spite of Corrin's obvious physical characteristics.

Corrin knew the reason why. He was Gunter's Replacement Goldfish for his son, killed by Hoshidan ninjas. The older man would be sure to deny this, to say he could make the difference between his flesh and blood and a surrogate son, but Corrin was still sure of that fact. And could tie it to Gunter's stern discipline, even. He simply feared losing another "son". And even to those he didn't consider himself close to, he could be authoritative due to his past experience and life leading troops into battle.

If he was allowed to be blunt, Corrin didn't have that much of a problem with Gunter's behavior. He was always fine with someone taking the reins and telling him where to go and what to do. Beruka embodied that fine, but he didn't mind Gunter taking the rule. He only minded Beruka's pretty clear-cut conflict with him, which he didn't understand.

Maybe she had troubles with having to walk into Kenjaku's trap? Corrin could understand. He himself would feel stressed if not for his thoughts relishing in the coming bloodshed. But that was a challenge they'd be taking as part of a group and with full knowledge of how rigged the game was. And he'd be with her always. He'd defend her with his life if she needed.

Was it due to his authority? Beruka was fine taking orders so Corrin was confused at that part. And she didn't seem like she'd scorn Gunter or think him a lesser man because of his old age, especially with what he represented for Corrin. And he knew Beruka had a strong pride and ego (he found that attractive, in fact) but she'd never let it go to her head and stop her from dismissing someone's advice.

... Was he playing with her brain? Were those powers pouring deeper into her skull than Gunter wanted to admit? Corrin frowned at that. If Gunter was doing that, Corrin would be having a real talk with him, and that was putting it lightly. There was no way he was going to have him messing with Beruka's brain and not say anything. Dire situation or not, Beruka was his wife and he wouldn't hesitate to tell Gunter to back off, Kenjaku or no Kenjaku.

So... Kenjaku. Corrin says, glancing at Foxy. I think the diary was vague. Is he... the man from these posters? It seems obvious but since you've seen him in action.

Yes, yes, yes. Some supermodel monk with a weird scar! Foxy points to his forehead. The scar is a telltale sign!

Huh, given his description... he could hop bodies. Worthwile information.

Huh! That's kind of a sinister thing.

You think scars and past injuries are sinister?

Yeah, a bit.

Foxy blinks and look to the side, smiling slightly before crossing his arms in fake indignation. He could always use some extra cash before leaving, right?

Huh.... So I guess war veterans or people who were caught in a misfortune are all evil to you, huh?

Wh-N-That's not what I meant!

I shouldn't introduce you to my nephew, then. "Sorry about punching you, lad. But your missing leg made me think you were evil!"

I'd never punch a child!

What about giving him money then? Foxy says, picking his nose.

Huh?

You wouldn't punch a child with a missing leg, but ya'd just ignore them? Tsk...

Of course not! Here, I'll give you mon- Beruka's hand fly out to smack Foxy in the back of the skull, and Corrin back off in shock.

Please don't scam Corrin. Beruka says, having kept an eye on him. She could tell he was being ponderous about Gunter. But that was a conversation for later. Vladek and Foxy were both strangers, and she wasn't about to trust the former as far as she could throw him.Yes. It's a fitting description.

He's a bit... old, but he isn't senile, right? Don't be mean to Gunter.

No. I would like to return to Gunter soon. I feel somewhat lightheated without him around. She only notices it now, but leaving Gunter's proximity made Beruka feel slightly better in a way she didn't realize. Like having the slightest of weight removed from one's shoulder: an invisible relief. And one that Beruka could only really feel because of her almost-paranoia.

Although perhaps Vladek would come to that conclusion at the same time given his displayed perceptiveness.

Corrin frowns at that comment, but he doesn't get it this time. Mostly because actually confronting the idea that Gunter is messing with people's heads is hard for him to face at once.

Beruka's next idea is to get something to help them ward off any psychic control before they return. And though Anna is a surefire hit, she doesn't trust her not to have been messed with by Gunter. And in general, she doesn't want Vladek to be aware of Anna and potentially endanger her.

We should maybe see if we can't get some medicine to prevent further headaches, she glances at Vladek and Corrin. Armor is good. But it doesn't stop those, right?

Edited by Bolded1 on Apr 23rd 2024 at 8:17:38 PM

Tracking Mission

The Gas Station, Croque's Workshop

ping

"-eh?"

Croque is snapped out of her work flow from one of her sensor arrays picking up something going on back in the Arena proper. And wouldn't you know it, there's a mission put out, too. Seeing as how her most advanced shell is undergoing upgrades, she hops into one of her smaller shuttles and takes flight back towards the Arena, the silent shudder of it speeding to warp speeds going unnoticed.

This shell can't just warp things in, but at least she knows she has some stations in orbit stocked with whatever she might need to call down. Though her bigger stuff, like her newly-fabricated Titanslayer, is all the way back at her main workshop.

Seeing as the area near the oversized lizard (Godzilla) isn't a good idea to fly in, she instead lands her shuttle elsewhere and looks up to the sky.

Signal received. Deploying Waveskimmer, please stand back from the drop zone.

Croque steps back a bit as a sleek black pod slams into the water, before releasing a small hydrofoil jet-ski up to the water surface. She hops on and starts it up, gunning the engine before taking off at full speed.

"Alright... I could've done tracking with my satellites, but... having actual on-site recording is also helpful, even moreso if there's cloud cover."

Pallia’s eyes locked on to Sukuna as half-inch-deep, grid-shaped streaks of crimson were imprinted on his bare shoulder, dribbling down his skin; evidently, he was tougher than any regular human in that regard. He lunged wordlessly at Sukuna with the spears in hand, but caught only empty air as the enemy pulled off a motion that had seemed to him impossible. He whirled around to meet Sukuna as the latter descended, ignoring Futsunushi, and throwing a punch at the deadly Curse User’s gut, intending to sling him into the antiquities shop, through an already-broken window.

As for why he saw fit to ignore the blade…

His own trident had his back, the hovering weapon smashing into the flying Futsunushi to knock it off balance and away from the bloody servant. Should it be so lucky, the trident would crash into the sword and drive both tools into the concrete street.

Erin’s dialoguing hinted him in to her incoming attack, and so Pallia turned to face her as the hammer approached. Reacting quickly, he lifted his left (i’m assuming erin’s right handed, correct me if i’m wrong) arm to the incoming hammer, meeting it with the brace that ran from his elbow to the other side of his wrist. There was an audible smash! as the hammer connected; a sharp and pained grunt from beneath the helm as his muscles rippled and the force of the blow moved him nearly a foot to the right. His sandaled feet left two trails in the concrete, for through it he had retained his footing. Now it was his turn.

Pallia slashed at Erin’s chest and shoulder, swinging his half-spears in a cross-over motion, before smashing his helmed head forwards at hers immediately after. The headbutt was intended to stun her for a few moments, freeing up time to deal with the other civilian. He ignored the Mutant for now; if the child would not fight, he would not grant it an honorable death. A quick wringing of the neck after he’d finished with the other two would be all he’d allow it.

…

"That’d be appreciated, yes!" Lily answered in a panic, hopping away from the mutated beast as it began to charge her, though Haru had already gotten to work regarding it. It screamed—not roared, screamed—in pain as the flaming uppercut forced it onto its hind legs, before its blood splattered across the sidewalk as a result of the ensuing slam immediately after. It went silent and still.

"Thanks," Lily huffed to Haru, bringing her frantic skipping to a stop. She was glad to see that the strangers who had shown up were well intentioned, from what she had seen, at least. Still, she couldn’t shake the feeling that the beast had died too easily, as she stood there watching it bleed out. Her blazing sword crackled…and so too did the monster’s skin. Reshaping and reforging, regenerating a crushed maw as it clambered onto its four legs and leapt at Haru, intending to knock the man who had “killed” it down and begin mauling him.

If it were successful, though, the assault wouldn’t last long—Lily’d hop onto its back and stab it through the neck with Sol, which would cause the beast to loosen its pin over Haru and begin thrashing wildly about to knock the annoying girl mounting it off.

…

"Ooh, I wanna go first, I wanna go first! Lemme at it! Please please please come on!" The heaviest of the three cultists begged, and the lankiest at last gave in and nodded with a groan.

"Aye, but make it clean! I’d ‘ate to have me new gloves ruined ‘fore I can even makes ‘em, yes I would.."

The portly one giggled and slapped his free hand on his stomach enthusiastically. He slowly drew said hand back and lifted it overhead. "C’mere, kitty kitty kitty! I ain’t gonna hurts ya, I swear, hee hee!" Not long after he brought his hand down quick, in an attempt to grab Luna and squeeze her in its grasp; if ever there was a time to fight for one’s life, it was now.

Bar

Vladek is perceptive, but he isn't quite as almost-paranoid as Beruka. The difference may not be big enough for him to notice, at least not immediately. Though it's not something he was all too worried about to begin with.

   "Indeed. But I am new to this world, so I have no good ideas on where to get them."   , he freely admits. His purpose as an ally is to be extra muscle, after all.

Walmart

Fleetway waves them goodbye. Thanks to their help, he finally doesn't have to feel anxious anymo-

Another employee suddenly peeks out through the doors.

"Boss wants to see you."

...

Welcome back, anxiety.

—

Fleetway slowly and carefully enters the office. The room is shrouded in darkness, save for the piercing gaze of a pair of glowing red eyes.

   "I trust everything is going well in the store?"   , a voice speaks from within, almost sounding robotic in nature.

"Y-yes, sir. No complications.", Fleetway says. If he were to meet the Squad again after work hours, he'd have to buy them a drink or something to convey his gratitude for them helping him avert a potential travesty.

   "Have the prices been raised again, as requested?"   

"Yes, sir. Though the costumers don't really seem to-"

   "Irrelevant. Now, lastly... have the Subway cookies arrived?"   

"Yes, just now, sir."

The glowing eyes narrow in evil delight.

   "Excellent. Spread news of this article being in stock, at a lower price than everything else in this store. Make sure it reaches the ears of Obese and the purple bear. They will not be able to resist coming for them before they are sold out, and when they arrive, I will personally ensure they will never again be able to invade one of my precious Walmarts. Ah ha ha ha ha."   

Hub Centralis

I've never... faught before... I don't know how to fight... But... I-I must try!

Luna closes her eyes, focusing on useing a move. She opens her eyes and unleashes a wind with pink energy in it from her body at the three goons.

Luna used Fairy Wind!

Then I guess we'll be shopping together. Beruka says, as they reach one of the actual Portal Stations, situated somewhere in the middle of Hub Centralis. While the Arena took people randomly, and would sometimes not let them go back so easily, there were still easy means to access or leave it. They looked like bustling airports to control traffic, although Foxy knew he could access a portal ahead of schedule if he wanted.

And he could use those people to help him get there even faster.

But alas, even with Kenjaku likely to ambush him at the last stretch, he felt that he could make it.

Ya know, I kinda wish I could've helped you folks with this. He suddenly turn around, prompting Beruka to raise an eyebrow.

You still stand before us.

Well, I can't send a letter through time and space, can I? I just wanna tell ya - whatever's ahead of you... You should really stick to your allies for this. Because you can't run from Kenjaku. He's immortal and bored. He'll follow you to Nohr and the other world you might run off to - the only way you can get rid of him is by killing him. And killing him is going to be very difficult. So... preserve every ally you make, alright? Whatever they'll do you, Kenjaku will do a thousand times worse.

Corrin appears somewhat shaken at how somber Foxy is about this, while Beruka clicks her tongue. Foxy bows, then turn and leave, sprinting away like a madman into the station.

He had sounded too formal - too polite to be Foxy. Corrin thought it was an indicator of how serious it was, but Beruka ended up wondering how far Gunter's range could go. Or if leaving it made one safe from unexpected changes.

We can escort you to shops you'd like. Gunter can wait. Beruka says to Vladek.

Little did she know, Corrin and she had quite the different idea on how to handle Gunter. But that's an issue for later.

Pica-Verse

Sora grunts and preemptively holds his Keyblade up defensively, only for the superhero trio to knock the T. rex aside.

"Whoa! Superheroes!" he laughs in awe.

Altina pulls her swords out of the ground, dispelling the walls of flame. She flies up to meet the trio. "Your aid is appreciated. We have much to discuss after this."

Sora switches his Keyblade to Oathkeeper as he gets ready to resume the fight.

Game

Charlie gets hit by a few stray beer glasses, proccing her ultimate move (which can only activate as a counter funnily enough), Nightmarionne.

She doubles over, clutches her head, and screams. The scream glitches out, becoming a mechanical screech, then a demonic roar. The hellish distortion of the Puppet flickers and warps all around Buff Helpy before finally exploding in a brilliant, yet terrifying cascade of dark energy. It can inflict Restrain (binding the arms, which stacks with Snare), Poison (damage over time), or Petrification (instant death, bosses are naturally immune).

And then she gets her turn after that, so Delilah inputs Buried Secrets, prompting Charlie (after she recovers from her breakdown) to clench a fist and pump it upward, unearthing the signboard for Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria from below Buff Helpy in a shower of dirt. This can severely reduce Buff Helpy's defenses, not that that matters a ton.

Either Jax has unlocked his ult for this battle or the glitches got rid of the unlock condition, but either way it's no longer grayed out. Cassie selects it.

maybe Krampus should post before Psyco if this is the final round so Jax can use it

Makai

Peppino jumps over the shockwave and does a Ground Pound belly flop on The Mountain.

Mission: Pursue the Giant Monster

French Army - Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

A ragtag fleet has assembled. The Explora Colores in their hot air balloon and Albaz in dragon form patrol the sky. Etemon rides Skullgreymon over the sea, Croque zooms along on her jet-ski, and a Zeon submarine watches from the depths. They are backed by ships and fighters from the Black Hole and Belkan militaries as they approach the last known site of the target, the sea around Skyrim.

Primordial Malzeno stands in human form at the bow of a Belkan Kirov-class cruiser, accompanied by Zenitsu (who really, really does not want to be here), Raven Beak (who has similar intentions for the MUTO as Maleficent had for Kardas and is only nominally cooperating), and some others who won't be relevant unless I need someone to fill a specific role no one else can.

No one has spotted the target yet. At some point while Etemon was following, it submerged out of sight, leaving him just as clueless as the rest. The Zeon submarine has it on their sonar, but no visual.

Sword Tournament

Kills:

• Corrin: 1 (Mahke)
• Guts: 1 (Cardboard)
• Flandre Clone: 2 (Blade, Nelo Angelo)
• Nelo Angelo: 1 (Corrin)
• Ganondorf: 1 (Liana)
• Jetstream Sam: 1 (Okksbad)

Deaths:

• Mahke: 1 (Corrin)
• Cardboard: 1 (Guts)
• Blade: 1 (Flandre Clone)
• Corrin: 1 (Nelo Angelo)
• Nelo Angelo: 1 (Flandre Clone)
• Okksbad: 1 (Jetstream Sam)

—

Jetstream Sam spreads his arms and laughs as the remains of Okksbad rain down on him and William before disappearing. He lets William run back to the Hand of Malenia, opting to twirl the Murasama and wait for his return.

—

Safe to say the multi-wielder clusterfuck is starting to disperse. Vergil and Ganondorf both get barraged by slashes, softening them up. Vergil promptly cuts down Ganondorf with Mirage Edge before turning his attention to the Shezes.

   "Slay all..."   

He gets down in a preparatory stance, one hand on Yamato's sheath and the other close to its hilt, power welling up around him. His doppelganger tries to keep the Shezes from interrupting him by slashing at them with its duplicate Yamato.

—

Dante-W grins and takes a swing. To Dante-B's credit, their swords actually do clash for a moment, but with a grunt of slightly more exertion, the strength of Sin Devil Trigger and weight of Devil Sword Dante wrench the Rebellion aside.

   "Picked this up from dear ol' Dad, too. The Yamato separates, but the Rebellion unites. So, I united his power with my own."   

He goes for a Sword Drag into a rising uppercut to launch Donte into the air. If it connects, he'll just let him fall back onto the roof, testing how their power and durability compare in their strongest forms.

—

Goemon started running south before Blade died and respawned to the north, and this angers him greatly. Out of reach of both Blade and Adam, he starts running back to catch up to them, but is forced to stop and block Adam's anticipatory strike.

—

Odio responds to A shutting down Archon's Mark with a "tch".

Which turns into a growl like a revving engine as he hunches over, clenching his fists. An aura starts to form around him that deflects A's slashes. Hey, that's not allowed...

The growl rises in intensity as his aura builds.    "Rrrrrrrrrrrr...HrrrrrrAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"   

Screaming his lungs out, Odio spreads his arms to his side, stomps the ground, and unleashes ARMAGEDDON. A Sphere of Destruction expands from his body, growing larger and larger until it encompasses A, Clone One, William, Jetstream Sam, Blade, and Corrin. It burns with hatred and heat and anguish and evil.

And then, all of a sudden, all that power and destructive force vanishes, and there is no trace of Odio left behind.

Odio has been disqualified. The point for his 1 kill is transferred to Sawdust.

Pursuit - Ocean

Croque hums to herself before looking down at the water. She really wishes she had an inbuilt active sonar right now...

...but that would've been extremely situational. An idea for an aquatic operations shell, maybe? Passive wouldn't be much help either- She's only one point of reference, not nearly enough to triangulate a sound.

This ocean's gotta be really deep... -wait, didn't I build an ultrasonic sonar into this thing?

Slowing her jet-ski to a stop, she flicks a switch, activating a sonar system. Thankfully for anyone underwater, it isn't of the blaringly loud sort- the pulse isn't even audible to normal human hearing.

"-what the heck is that?"

Sure enough, she's picking up... something. But interference with another sonar device as well as the fact that the one crammed into her jetski isn't high-quality at all makes for a blurry readout, so she turns it back off.

"There's something... large, in the ocean. I can't get a good reading on it- is someone else using a sonar system?"

Goji Tracking - Ocean

The Mad Angler-class◊ submarine U-801 floated through the water like some vast predatory bird, though judging by the size of the sonar ping they were seeing... They were more like the prey in this case.

"Fucking hell... makes me almost wish dealing with the Federation, seeing that thing." one of the crew mutters, staring at the radar in the command room. It's rather compact as you'd expect for a submarine, and several crew members are gathered around the sonar indicator to gawk at it.

"Just be glad we're 'only' supposed to track it. I doubt those mobile suits we brought could do more than tick it off." another remarks.

"Hmph. Speaking of them, make sure they're ready to launch in case something else gets any ideas." the captain says, silencing the gossiping crew. "And forward the sonar data to our Belkan cooperators."

Back in the main hangar bay, several spherical AMX-109 Capule◊ marine mobile suits are lined up on their backs. Unlike the Federation who always insist on storing them standing up, Zeon crews prefer to save vertical space by laying them down when in submarines or spacecraft.

Right now the technicians were finishing up the last minute checks. Soon they'd start flooding the chamber in order to equalize the pressure, before the hangar bay would properly open to allow the two squads of three to swim out.

The Mad Angler-class does have two other hangar bays. One of which housed the recon team they were babysitting, two standard AMS-119 Gear Dogas◊ and one with enhanced optical and sensor equipment, something noticeable with its bulkier backpack and attachments. Since this was the seaplane bay there were also some small aircraft with them.

The third hangar was for the mobile armor, though they weren't expecting to use that thing right now...

Anyway, true to his word the crew transmitted their current data up to the nearest ship, the Belkan Kirov-class cruiser conveniently enough.

Bar

   "I need nothing myself. Unless they sell something that can heal damage. Depending on the situation, it may be of use."   , Vladek says.

   "Regardless, I am not opposed to helping prepare for this mission."   

Basically his way of saying 'I'll come along and carry stuff if I have to'. Make himself look dependable at least.

As for Foxy... well, as perceptive as Vladek is, he really doesn't know Foxy well enough to know if that was out of character for him or not, so he doesn't think too much of it.

Mission: Pursue the Giant Monster

As the mind-controlled Skullgreymon swims through the water, Etemon looks around.

   "Now how in the digi-heck did we lose sight of somethin' almost as big and flashy as me?"   

Skullgreymon simply grumbles and continues to move.

Meanwhile, moving via a transport copter sits the boy sent along by Black Hole◊. He stares out of the window to look for any signs of the enemy, having not moved or said a thing since the copter had begun flying.

Sword Tournament

With their super attacks over, both Shezes turn back to normal.

M!Shez tries to take advantage of Fighter's dazed state. But before he can, both he and F!Shez get slashed at by the Vergil Doppelganger.

But F!Shez isn't deterred by these slashes, being more prepared for them than her male counterpart. She suddenly flash-steps through the Vergil Dopperganger and tries to land a Wrath Strike attack on Vergil. But if he takes that hit, manages to dodge it, or someone else manages to interrupt F!Shez's attack, they'll have a clear hit on her.

M!Shez, meanwhile, backs off a bit and tries to strike at the Vergil Doppelganger with a spinning slash. Hey, if Fighter snaps back to his senses fast enough, he may be able to steal a kill on M!Shez.

Black Hole

Sturm sits at the large screen in his base that projects the search for 'the organism', hands clasped and glaring in anger. If he didn't get to just nuke the damned thing to bits, he would at least watch its demise personally.

... well, that was the plan, at least. Alarms suddenly start blaring all across the base. Sturm gets up and looks out of the window just in time to see one of his Fighter jets crashing into the land below.

   "What is the meaning of this!? The beast cannot be attacking us, it's on the other side of the continent!"   

"S-sir! We're under attack by an array of enemy helicopters! They bear the insignia of the soldiers we came across a few weeks ago!", a soldier says as he enters the room.

   "Then COUNTERATTACK!"   , Sturm bellows.

"W-we are, but we can't get close! There's a woman hanging off of the side of one of the copters and she keeps blasting us with some kind of laser weapon!"

   "A woman? A SINGLE woman!?"   

"T-there, sir! On the camera feed!", the first soldier points. Sturm turns to look at that camera and sees the feed of the purple-haired woman◊ literally hanging over the side (hanging upside-down in fact), firing some massive gun that looks like it's bigger than she herself is.

   "Boss' orders! AHAHAHAHAHA!"   

She's laughing maniacally as she pulls back the handle to charge up the weapon again before firing it again.

WHOOOOOOOOMPPPP!

With a sharp but powerful burst of sound, the laser is launched and strikes the Black Hole base, destroying most of the cameras around it. Sturm runs back to the window and looks down, seeing that the blast even tore through some Neotanks.

   "!"   

"Sir Sturm, what do we do!?"

   "... send all able soldier out to our remaining Fighters and Battleships and try to strike down as many of the copters as you can. I will search Von Bolt."   

"And then you will overwhelm them with your CO Powers, sir?"

There's the briefest moment of pause before Sturm responds again.

   "Of course. Now set out."   

The two soldiers salute and leave. Sturm exits the room in search of Von Bolt as the base trembles with each and every hit of the anti-Navitus weapon that G.E.M. created. Though Sturm does not seem worried, not even as the hallways start to crumble around him.

   "I did not think they'd be so bold as to strike at one of our bases. I was ill-prepared. Rest assured, when that old man and I reach the base left in Adder's control, we will make proper preparations."   

Game

Gregory and Evan both get hit and knocked around a bit by the beer glasses. Jax's lampswinging, however, ends up dealing with a few of the next ones that come in for them, as Gregory was already close to him and Evan was running back to the rest of the party.

Should the input given to Jax still get through in time, he'll be able to throw out his ultimate attack on Buff Helpy. But even if he can't, a few seconds after Charlie's Nightmarionne counterattack strikes Buff Helpy, the flashing stops, as does the buff bear's robotic screaming. Depending on if Jax got to move in time, either his attack or the Nightmarionne attack ends up being the finisher, and Buff Helpy dissipates. The third key appears and vanishes upon being taken.

Due to the game glitching out, no money or EXP is awarded. The battle screen fades out and returns to the overworld screen.

—

At the Dead King's castle, the third lock now opens. The door glitches for a brief second as a malevolent aura starts seeping out from underneath.

The Dead King is angry.

And he's decided to send these stubborn, rebellious prisoners of his a very clear message.

—

"Whoo, we did it! Over halfway through now!", Gregory happily says.

"Way to go, superstars!" , Glamrock Freddy cheers from the outside.

"That wasn't too hard or scary. We can really do this I think!", Evan says, gaining a bit of confidence now. However, he'd soon feel more anxious again because the chasm starts to glitch out for a moment, after which the sky above them turns red. Evan immediately goes to Jax for protection.

"It's becoming even more unstable!", Cassidy says from the outside.

"No, I don't think so.", Noah says as he types on his keyboard and lines of code appear on the screens revolving around his fancy chair. "I think an event was triggered."

"What kind of event?", Grape asks from the outside.

"Not a clue. But given the speed at which the data's coming in and changing, I don't think this was a scripted event. In other words, this isn't meant to happen."

The area beneath the group then lights up and will forcefully warp them back up to the top of the chasm, where Lolbit had been waiting for them, and...

oh...

Today is the final day

Gregory, Evan and even Noah stare in shock when they see what's become of the place. There's craters and debris everywhere and all of the snow is gone, replaced with dreary mud. The sky is still red, almost looking like it's pulsating. And in the far distance (which they'll be able to see thanks to being high up on the map) they'll see that almost everything on the map is destroyed and on fire. The town where they fought Ozzy and Strut, the way leading to El Mirage, the town where they met Lolbit in, everything.

Yes, everything... except for two locations.

The first is, obviously, the Dead King's Castle.

And the second is, strangely enough, the forest between the castle and the starting village where they met Lolbit. Despite the fact that the flames are clearly reaching the edge of the forest, none of the trees are catching the flames.

This, however, isn't even the most shocking sight of them all. No, the most shocking sight is Lolbit. Or rather, what remains of them. They lie there on the ground, body looking like it's been completely torn apart.

Evan approaches Lolbit in silent shock, but is startled when a message briefly appears. For the in-game characters it would take up their entire field of vision for a second. For those outside it would instead take up the screen for the same amount of time.

   "NO MORE ASSISTANCE."   

   "YOU WILL HAVE NOBODY NOW."   

   "ONLY YOUR DESPAIR."   

Evan quickly backs off, going back to the group. When their vision returns, they'll be able to approach Lolbit without anything else happening.

-

...

> Buy

> Trade

>Quest (NEW)

>Talk (NEW)

>Quit

If anyone tries to select 'Buy', nothing will happen.

If anyone tries to select 'Trade', nothing will happen. And this may just cause them to briefly think they may have lost their chance to trade the Pearl.

If anyone tries to select 'Quest', nothing will happen despite there being a clear 'NEW' option for it.

If anyone selects 'Talk', one single option actually shows up.

1 - Pearl

And if that one is selected, a message simply pops up in front of them (as a text box this time).

"If you are reading this, it means my suspicions of my upcoming fate were correct."

"When you beat the game and get out again, I will be left behind vanish along with this world."

"This is a fate I accepted from the moment I chose to assist you. I do not regret this choice."

"I can help you one final time. I found what I was looking for and hid it on my person so that he could not find it."

"Jax. If you still have the pearl, then remember what I asked you to do."

"Today is the day."

The message ends and the 'TALK' option vanishes. If anyone selects 'Quest' now, it'll show two of them.

4 Layers Down: 3/4

Uncover the Black Chip

And once they've read this second one, a pearl-shaped hole will open in Lolbit's torso. If Jax inserts the Pearl into it, Lolbit's chest cavity will open up fully (same way it works for the other Funtime Animatronics). But instead of cables, or a claw, or freaking torture devices (how did all of that fit in Funtime Freddy anyway?), the Black Chip will emerge from it. The party will obtain it automatically even if nobody touches it.

> BLACK CHIP (1): Object hidden in the data that halves damage from Agony attacks and prevents instant kill effects from Agony attacks. Cannot be turned off.

> ACHIEVEMENT OBTAINED: Uncover the Black Chip

-

Once the party has been given the Black Chip, all 'shop/NPC' options vanish, and it becomes impossible to interact with Lolbit's corpse.

"..."

"..."

"... Do you need some time, or...?", Noah asks, actually trying to be tactful for once by giving them a choice in the matter.

Once the party is ready to move though, the 'autotravel' mechanic will automatically take them towards the forest in between the starting town and the castle. Most likely that'll be where the fourth and final minion of the Dead King awaits.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 29th 2024 at 11:12:06 AM

The Mountain - Makai

"You call that a body splash," laughs The Mountain as Peppino leaves a dent in him. "Let me show my version!"

In an instant, The Mountain attempts to reverse the body splash with a judo throw. If this works, The Mountain follows up with his version of the body splash, the Mountain Drop.

Albaz - Mission

While approaching his target with the others, Albaz silently wonders where Ecclesia is at the moment. She's probably training with the Tri-Brigade or something. God only knows what that strange girl is really up to.

Mahke Etstop - Sword Tournament

Mahke respawns in a random home. Instead of blindly rushing out and getting herself killed again, she decides to formulate an ambush. She's gonna need to make up for her past defeat, anyways.

Nohr

One year ago, Nohr was the Dusk Country. A land plagued by an illness that had slithered deep within its roots, its resources dedicated to funding and maintaining a powerful army to "collect" payment from smaller surrounding nations while focusing on the horizon - one final fight against Hoshido, Nohr's timeless enemy, holding knowledges and resources to let Nohr finally breath, and bounce from its precarious position into an empire to dominate the world.

Now, Nohr was stil the Dusk Country, but one that had made peace with the Dawn country of Hoshido. An uneasy peace, to mind, for it came after centuries of a hard grudge, but less than a year of peace had proved more fruitful for both countries than centuries of conflict. A blue sky had returned to Nohr, the sun being allowed to once more fully shine upon a land once blighted, now turned green and healthy in all but the outer portions.

Of course, Nohr remained a dusk country, its nights dark and cold. And of course, the damage had been done in decades : there would be societal habits to change, infrastructure to develop, hostile magic to remove and a necessity to adapt to a unique phenomenon that no ruler upon the continent had experienced before. The nation would have to dispense with everything it had learned while healing from the trauma of last year's unique... invasion.

The scars of it were still fresh on the soil. A crater remained where Old Krakenburg stood - Xander realized they'd need to fill it, it was taking up needless space, but he was young into his kingship and wanted a reminder of the consequences of messing with magic and the more mundane consequences of letting pride take over. As for Windmire itself - the citizens had returned to the streets, buildings stood anew, and apart from some unusually clear patches of soil around the city, one would scarcely believe that the city had been embroiled in a multiversal conflict that could've decided countless lives.

One particular part of Windmire stood prouder than ever - the one where the slums stood. Xander had found it... easy to rebuild given that it had been the starting battleground during the fall of Garon last year. Clean pavements, hospitals and clean homes stood over what was once a shrine to the worse that Nohr had to offer. A grim place where the most destitute of children fought to earn the right to crawl out of the muck and become Nohrian soldiers had become a regular part of town, and one where citizens could fix their ills at that.

On the middle of the new place stood a tribute to the warriors who had fought against Garon. It was a difficult choice to give them this much place since they had spilled Nohrian blood upon Nohrian soil, but Xander still saw fit to dedicate a statue to the people who had risked their lives to fight and defeat Garon. He wasn't sure if most of them would agree, but, ah, he could always go and ask them later.

The young King walked through the halls of New Krakenburg with a relatively modest ensemble... for a Nohrian King. His long furred cape flowed like him off a non-existent wind, his head heavy with a reforged black crown, since the original had been destroyed in the fight. Xander saw the reforging of the crown as a nice metaphor for what was happening to Nohr, so he hadn't minded.

Still, heavy was the head that wore the new crown. And Xander could only spare a nod to the light filtering through the castle's brand new window, sunlight bathing the long hallway leading him to his new throne room.

Our army's spread a bit thin trying to contain bandit threats. They've been moving around the countryside, ambushing fledgling towns, if said towns can even get going before being attacked to start with. It's still being contained but we're only going to be cowing them - they're bound to return as soon as the soldiers depart. And they will, because we've found Captain Trebol and his squad holed up at Fort Dragonfall - he's got some Facelesses with him. And even with his troops whittled down, they're fiercely loyal, with only the best of the best remaining.

Xander frowns. Trebol was the last rebel to take care of. He'd been asked to come back into the fold but, having shown repeated defiance, he had to be made an example of.

And maybe that was Nohrian pride creeping in, but he didn't want to ask Hoshido to fight Nohr's battles. Their relations were still fragile, Nohr still traumatized. It needed to be able to do something on its own.

Can Camilla see to Captain Trebol's defeat? Xander asks, raising an eyebrow.

She'd be glad to, but she's being held up at negotiations with Nestra and a small coalition of Southern countries. They want reparations for Father's... trade agreements with them. Leo flips a page of the book he's currently holding, walking side by side with his brother. Both brothers stood stall, but Xander was worried to notice his younger brother having some new wrinkles to him - and a certain slowness to his steps, at time.

And he knew that he'd be having another sleepless night - because that book he was writing was merely recounting today's issues.

We owe them reparations indeed but we'll have to make some peace within our own country first. Whatever resources we can send them, it'll be useless if they're seized by rebels or bandits. And our land is only recovering at the moment too - we cannot ask too much from it.

Good points. Shall I get you closer to the negotiations so that you might be audible to the foreign leaders? It's only a hundred kilometers from here.

Xander smiles, at least Leo hadn't lose some of that edge to him. Speaking like that to the King was a cry for death not so long ago, and even with Xander being visibly kinder than Garon, many counselors hesitated to be blunt. But Leo had no such problems, to Xander's delight.

Garon had surrounded himself with yes-men who encouraged his sadistic traits to have an easier grab at power. Not wanting to be executed, they'd refused to tell him how harsh things were going and allowed him to be blind to some of the kingdom's shortcomings. Xander needed a counter-balance, someone who could speak without fear and help him remember he was a king bound to his people, not a god who could do as he pleased.

He was only somewhat saddened the role had to fall to Leo, forcing his brother to keep him in check instead of having someone of more "common" birth do that for him. But he knew that he already had a good friend who was quite open with him - and in time, his fearsome reputation would fade.

The King chuckles, even if some of the mirth is forced. A splendid idea! But I'm sure there are dozen of other issues closer to home. And we can trust on Camilla to voice our concerns appropriately.

Tiring as they are, I'll take these over cosmic events. Leo sighs. He blinks, and feel Xander's somewhat questioning, almost worried gaze on him. We haven't had a unwanted guest since Nohr, don't worry. We had a wanted guest recently though - Father Pucci.

Xander peers out of the window. Neo Krakenbug wasn't anywhere near as intimidating as its counterpart but it also wasn't in a hole so he had the vantage point to see the Church of Gor's building. Taller than the surrounding habitations, but still smaller than New Krakenburg.

Siegfried's owner wasn't surprised that the news hadn't gotten to him. His schedule was busy.

And how is he doing? It's been a while.

I can manage a rendez-vous, but I know he's apparently had a nasty encounter. His eyes...

I s... oh shit he'd almost said it hall schedule a meeting and see if we can't provide him with some help.

Not to be rude, brother, but we're the ones who might be in need of help.

...

Still, at least, Xander was glad Pucci was back. He could only hope that, despite everything, he was alright.

Edited by Bolded1 on Apr 23rd 2024 at 3:53:13 PM

The church was still as he’d remembered it.

It had been some months, but there were those whose care he had left it in, to give sermons and keep from collecting dust.

But now, it was quiet. He could make out the thin fingers of light seeping in through the glass above the altar, and felt their warmth on him. He traced his fingers along the rows of pews, feeling the coldness of wood in his grasp and recalling memories of when they were built. All his life he’d appreciated silence, just a quiet moment amidst a rushing life of sound to contemplate and pray, to bring himself closer to Gor through mind and soul. Those moments had always felt blessed to him, but he couldn’t find the peace in them anymore.

Now, other sounds filled the silence: the gnarling and screeching in the back of his mind, the claws that dug at his brain, trying to break into his thoughts…

The threat was long slain, but still he heard its voice.

The priest sighed and shook his head; and in an instant it was all gone. That was all it took most days, a simple blink or a forced clearing of his mind, and the horrors that threatened him shrank away back into their wretched night; the light of Gor cleared his skies and brought the sun. But some days were worse than others, and it wasn’t quite so easy. Some days they persisted, the voices and the screams, scratching harder and harder the more he tried to shove them back, until it felt as though his mind were being torn apart, until he wanted to scream…

Thankfully, today was not one of those days.

Again, Pucci took a breath and steadied himself. He hadn’t realized until now that he was keeled over one of the pews, gasping deeply, fear taking hold of his heart and squeezing it in place as nausea racked his head and dizziness threatened to topple him over.

The voices were easy to get rid of. The images were not. The last things he had seen clearly, the corpses of men rended apart and melted down, piles of flesh, guards and civilians alike…

The clutch on his heart tightened.

   "Two,"    he murmured, staggering into a seat and leaning against the wood.    "Three, five, seven, eleven, thirteen, seventeen…Gor protect me; watch over me, even as I tread through impossibly thick night, I know You stand with me, Your shield guides me and Your torch lights the way…"   

Edited by ISZATSO on Apr 23rd 2024 at 10:25:36 AM

Centralis

"-ngh!"

Erin grits her teeth as the blades glanced across her skin- she had dodged just in time -leaving shallow cuts along her shoulder and chest. Then she gets whacked in the head, leaving her dazed for a moment...

Her eyes widen a bit before focusing on the sight of Pallia's blood- crimson red and dripping. She grins and lets out a giggle as her body advances forward, swinging her hammer about with instinctual precision despite her current head trauma.

"Hehehehe... I just need a bit..."

Suddenly, swinging her hammer once more with an intent to clash like last time, she suddenly leans forward over it to bite the exposed wound, fangs protruding from her mouth. She'll continue to feed until she's forced off.

"No problem, madame- AGH!"

Haru is toppled over, his face and body getting torn up as the huge beast tries to tear him apart. He forces it off of him once Lily stabs into it, and for the first time, Haru actually looks pissed.

"Damn thing doesn't know when to stay down..."

He grabs what looks like some mix between a bolt-action loader and an injector and presses it against his chest before squeezing the button on the top down.

BLAM

Haru's wounds start to mend, though it does nothing for his suit, leaving him shirtless. He works the bolt on the injector, ejecting the spent HP Bullet. He then glares at the beast, Clenching his fists as they burst into flames once more.

"Let's make sure it stays down, shall we~."

He rushes at the beast with a flurry of blows, aiming to carbonize the thing so it has much more difficulty regenerating that charred flesh.

Island

"Hmm?"

Lucien's hand drifts up to the hilt of his blade as they approach the lone marshman. He stares down at them.

"Hmm... I don't remember if they even speak a common tongue- I believe we were too busy driving them back."

Church

"Welp."

Arlina looks down at the happenings and starts to weave her hands about- writing a magic circle in the air that seems to be steadily growing in size the more she gets to write it. What is she doing, exactly..?

Magic starts to fill the air.

Radiant Starlight Beacon 1/3

Minira

CHOOOOOO-CHOOOOOOOO

It's a certian bus◊, ramming right into the Dodongo before stopping.

"Oops. Were you making a new friend, Haru."

Haru smiles up at Erin.

"Oh yes~ It's quite fun, you see- these beasts seem to converse via bloodshed~!"

Erin just grins and readies her hammer.

"Oh, good."

Confluence of Fates

Rayne reflexively activates the shield, parrying the Terapagos-turned-bullet before swapping to the Fire Plate. He charges up and fires out a Fire Blast.

"Tinkaton, use Gigaton Hammer again!"

The small 'mon with beeg hammer has a pout on its face from when Soulstealer dodged its first blow, but it comes in swinging again, this time spinning like a top towards the oversized dragon's cranium.

Operation: Big G

The Explorers are following the rest of the searchers and the trail of the MUTO flying on the Giant Bunny's air balloon, piloted by the leporyd.

Thank you for taking us in your balloon, Bunny!

No, the pleasure is mine because you let me help you in your mission! By the way, what are we searching for?

Dunno... The post described it as a MUTO: a massive... Something... Organism.

I hope isn't some kind of carnivorous beast...

Maxi watches the ocean through his binoculars, but he sees nothing yet.

Hub Centralis

Following the steps of the others, the Mutant Child prepares a punch on the gladiator...

But he overhears something a bit away: the chattering of the three mobsters, about to mess with Luna.

In a single bound, the kid gets away from the gladiator and arrives with the mobsters. He attempts to grab one by the neck.

Hey, toughie, mess up with somebody your size!

If successful with the grab, he will throw the mobster against one of his partners.

Pica-Verse

You are welcome, madame.

What kind of things?

We have no time to discuss! Look out!

The dinosaur recovers from the dizzyness, and begins to ram towards Sora and the superheroes. The three fly towards the beast, and they push on its chest with their shoulders, attempting to topple it.

...

Meanwhile, a portal opens on the rooftop of a nearby building, hidden from the view of those fighting.

   Bring me the remote, please.   

A somewhat elderly man, wearing an old-fashioned suit, gives a remote control to Goyo. He points it at the superhero trio...

Swords Tournament

Apothea's shockwave brings Sawdust down, kneeling on the ground before falling limply on it, dissolving in a flurry of sparks shortly after.

SIS!

Cardboard, who just watched the fight through the window, rushes out the house...

But she finds a certain Fighter on her way. She attempts to slice him with a running slash.

Edited by BombonBombin on Apr 23rd 2024 at 12:03:08 PM

Swordnament - A

A's estimate for precisely how far Odio is willing to go in the name of spite is rather high, so A's response to the blatant cheating he gets up to is to immediately engage in spontaneous and defensive retreat. This is, broadly speaking, a wise move, sparing A from some amount of the brutal Armageddon that emerges from his body, which A defends against as best A can using the Monado's currently-limited abilities, simply raising it in a defensive posture and activating it.

Thankfully, with how quickly Odio is disqualified, this proves to be enough, leaving A scuffed but, ultimately fine enough to keep going.

Of course, A never takes an action without thinking it through a little first, so this particular strategic retreat puts A within comfortable range of Blade.

Considering that Blade has been the frontrunner for most of the tournament, and that A's underhanded tactics have soured in efficiency, A takes this opportunity to deliver a decisive guard-breaking fusion art, utilizing Lost Cross. This powerful horizontal sword slash has a silver aura that includes and extends beyond the Monado's normal reach, which breaks its opponent's guard. It may even have enough range to threaten Adam or Goemon, if either get too close!

A's swordskill is, as previously described, more than prodigious- it is a mixture of perfect machine precision and human ingenuity, delivered decisively and without hesitation. Yet, against a frontrunner foe like blade, A can hardly let up, and so A follows through with a series of highly targeted slashes to either take advantage of Blade's broken guard or to prevent another fighter from taking A's kill.

Swordnament - Apothea

With her first foe finished, Apothea senses Guts coming, keeping her greatsword charged with electricity as she violently clashes against Gut's sword, her own oversized greatsword somehow smaller than Guts's own choice of weapon. As they clash, the electric magic from Apothea's sword surges through Gut's own, potentially delivering guts a stunning electric shock that deals no damage on its own.

At which point, Apothea leans in, breaking their clash, to deliver a sudden strike with her second, shattered sword, using it as a dagger aimed for her foe's chest. And indeed, though the weapon is broken halfway up its length, it retains an immaculate sharpness!

Edited by Whoma on Apr 23rd 2024 at 11:26:02 AM

Swordnament

Clone One doesn't dwell too much on nabbing a kill, instead noticing Odio's seething and sensing the magic buildup. She has the sense to be immediately on guard and back away somewhat, which is a smart thing considering what he does next.

She raises Laevateinn up and uses its armor magic as a protective shield, though with this attack being an all encompassing sphere it only stops the first bit of it. Fortunate then that it gets cut short and she's "merely" singed, shaking it off with a glare at the empty space.

Such sheer ruthlessness. Such pure hatred she could sense in it.

Honestly it was kinda pathetic in its pettiness really.

With that out of the way, she looks at A being a sneaky git and decides to give A a (what an awkward sentence) taste of A's own medicine. Namely by swinging Laevateinn and sending a crescent shaped fiery sword beam to hit A in the back. It's mainly to potentially get a sneaky kill.

Blade getting mad that a vampire helped bail her out would be a nice bonus.

That done, she notes Corrin being nearby and jumps up into the air and then uses her wings to drop forcefully down onto him to try and fucking spike him with Laevateinn from above. If that missed or gets blocked (through whatever means) she'll quickly back off a step and raise it in a defensive stance for whatever counterattack the dragon prince might have.

DNC

Kana's plates move to help people grab unto them, revealing more plates below, with what appeared to be water flowing unto them. It made it easier to hold unto her, even if it still wasn't ideal. Still, the situation needed her to be swift, so Kana doesn't slow down. And can only hope her allies will hold on.

Kana accelerates and then jump, her powerful legs bringing her to the sky easily. And to add to that, she proceed to double, then triple jump. Sheer strength? Magic? A bit of a mix of both, using the moisture in the air as a platform to keep bouncing higher into the sky while having the natural leg strength to jump up to buildings with little effort and need to focus strength into said limbs.

The air around her feet ripple, a tranquil blue ripple line escaping from the point of impact. For all the strength she was throwing around, everything about her dragon form was serene. Like the titan could stomp on a human skull and somehow make it a pleasing experience for all, victim included.

The flight would be the awkward part - water dragons could fly, of course, but they weren't as graceful as the other Dragons in that aspect, for they were meant to be dwelling well below the sky to start with. They tended to fare way better underwater. Which is why Kana's next move was to spill water from her "maw", focusing it around herself as a sort of aerial sphere of water. It flowed around her, meaning that her passengers were quite safe from accidentally drowning, so long as they didn't let go.

Then, Kana flew forward, the water bursting outwards as an aerial geyser-arrow pointed away from the city. Not the stealthiest of signs, and she was telling them where she was going next, but those would be issues for later. And Kana ran within the geyser of water, wings not flapping but appearing to be gliding instead as she propelled herself through the tunnel, skirting the rules a little to insure that everyone would be safe.

It'd help Hange, Kaisui, Frielda and the others in knowing where she had gone to.

Holding unto such speed would be bad though, so after a while, the water tunnel simply fell apart while Kana ended her trip with a much easier glide across the landscape, her speed dropping drastically as she began to glide towards the ground, sometimes flapping her wings to avoid an obstacle (like a tree) as she looked for a suitable clearing. She enjoyed gliding through the forest and didn't mind the occasional tree-smashing, but she had frailer passengers. And honestly wasn't in the mood to distract herself at this point.

Finally, after finding an apt clearing, Kana descends down towards it, doing one last skip in mid-air before completing the flight by simply taking a few steps unto the grass.

   Is everyone okay?    She asks in a deep, somewhat warbled voice.

...

Hub Centralis

Sukuna is hit by the punch, feeling it impact his tummy hard enough to get him to cough some blood. He smiles through the pain, the blood bursting through his teeth as he's blown back towards the store. Futsunushi made him resistant towards physical attacks, but the power behind that strength made said resistance almost irrelevant.

   Excellent!    Sukuna stops himself from skidding towards his foe, observing his floating weapon briefly as it clash with Futsunushi. The Persona vanish before being struck, albeit because Sukuna summoned it closer to him at the last moment. Not a trick he could always pull off though.    I take it it'll be a 2-on-2.    Sukuna says, bending his knees before he get going at Pallias again.

He went at him with a series of quick, skillful punches and kicks, Futsunushi not attacking this time as it focused on trying to fend off the floating weapon. Pallias was stronger than Joker's body, even with the increased strength granted by its Persona and Sukuna's Cursed Energy output enhancing said body, which was something praiseworthy, but hardly anything that surprised Sukuna.

The King of Curses instead focused on trying to get Pallias used to his precise strength before he pulls back and lean backward on his right knee, bringing his right fist back and letting some of his Cursed Energy visibly leak around it, indicating that he was going to try to hit him with a pretty blatant hit, and one stronger than the others he could throw.

And that was correct - Sukuna had held back on some of his output. Although Pallias's strength made him use more than he thought he'd need.

Futsunushi, while still on the defensive against the trident, contributed by activating one of its abilities to enhance Sukuna's next physical attack. And it come with a visible yellow glow around Sukuna, as a small pillar of light briefly appear around him, vanishing as fast as it came. Meaning that Pallias could expect a critical hit. Or at the very least, an hit that's been enhanced by the ability Charge.

With his hand that isn't actively charging anything, and is being held forward, Sukuna flicks two fingers at Pallias's direction. And he flings another small net of Dismantles right at him. They aren't enhanced by the Charge, being a magical attack, but pointing make them stronger, and Sukuna aims for the small grid to focus on Pallias's face at the last moment.

And then, he immediately charge forward, slamming his whole body towards Pallias's guts to try to impact his guts with the meanest punch he can throw in Joker's body, further enhanced by Charge, the power behind the attack cratering the ground around them slightly, with small cracks spreading across the ground from that crater as bits of stone and pavements are flung upwards alike.

... Assuming it hit of course.

Understanding that he couldn’t simply guard an attack like that again, lest he risk breaking his arm, Pallia swerved away to avoid the hammer, only for Erin to latch to his wound like a suckling babe, drawing the blood from it.

So she is akin to Master Kain, he realized with a start, throwing a punch instead to smash the woman in the head and knock her away. Then I must not allow her a drop. After the Erin problem had been dealt with he’d hop back and lift the shortspear in his right hand to the bleeding shoulder. Its blade began to glow, changing from an argent silver to a humming red as he scraped it lightly across his cut skin. Smoking flesh hissed as he cauterized the wound; the blood bubbled and boiled and burst until there was nothing but twisted charred skin. A searing pain surged through the region and only intensified every time he moved the arm, but it did not slow him; he used the pain to focus.

Pallia had just raised one of his spears in a reverse-grip, meaning to sink it into the woman’s neck, when Sukuna shot towards him. The gladiator wheeled to face the approaching man, lowering his hand. He knew he was too slow to keep up with the barrage of attacks—his best bet was to dodge what he could, and tank what he couldn’t. Pallia kept a steady pace backwards, jerking further away with every blow aimed his way; some were avoided successfully, some he’d moved quick enough to reduce to glancing blows off his skin, but others managed to fully connect and dug into him. Pallia’s closely packed muscle proved hard as a rock, but of Sukuna he noted the relatively small figure’s considerable strength.

When the enemy’s fist drew away, ablaze with a blue glow, it would take no genius to understand that an overwhelmingly powerful attack was coming. But in that moment the Curse prepared his attack, Pallia found an opportunity. He lunged away suddenly, redirecting the momentum from moving away into the shortspear in his right hand that was now moving closer at an alarming rate.

Then, two things happened at once.

A pink tendril that looked oddly similar in shape and size to a tongue shot at Pallia from behind. It whipped around the shortspear and ripped it from his grasp, resulting in an empty fist being all that shot towards Sukuna’s face. A limp-wristed punch thrown with that amount of force might’ve still hurt, but not nearly as much as a blade…though, it wouldn’t matter anyways.

As the—yep, that was definitely a tongue—retracted the way it had came, still holding his weapon, Pallia found himself hesitating from the suddenness of the thieving. Such hesitation resulted in the slowing of his impromptu punch, just as the second of two things happened: metal clattered and rung as his targeted Dismantle landed squarely against Pallia’s helm. Tiny squares of metal fell away from the lion’s head mask to reveal hints of the face beneath, and his attack landed.

The air itself seemed to roar when Pallia was hit, blasting him away with a burst of wind that nearly knocked a nearby car onto its side. He smashed through a granite column and into a building down the street a bit—some unimportant bank—and a storm of dust rose when the bank collapsed inwards upon itself. The white cloud unfurled and lingered against the clear blue sky before it was dispersed by the wind.

A hand grabbed hold of a chunk of debris. He pulled himself from beneath the wreckage, staggering to his feet upon the hill of rubble. His body was covered in scrapes and cuts, bleeding lightly, but the area of his where the punch had hit was now colored a deep and dark purple, almost black. The massive bruise expanded and contracted with every heavy breath he took, balling his empty hands—seemingly, the other spear was lost somewhere in the rubble now—into fists.

"You are powerful..." He grunted, lifting one such hand to his helmet. He tore the leather straps out and cast the sliced metal aside. It bounced with a ding off the rubble. Pallia’s face beneath was strewn with old scars and cuts, mementos of the wars and battles he’d survived long before coming into the servitude of Kain. His hair was shaved to the skin, and his beard was nonexistent. "…I’ll grant you that. Keep fighting. Do not die easy!"

The golden trident flew from Sukuna’s own blade and into his awaiting hands, glimmering in the sunlight. Three rubies studded it, each encrusted beneath a prong: emerald, ruby, and sapphire.

…

Lily grinned at Haru. The man reminded her faintly of Mr. Cardell, her own teacher, albeit a bit fruitier and with a stranger mannerism of speech.

"Sounds like a plan!"

As Haru’s flaming fists rammed into the side of the beast’s head, burning and razing its raw flesh, Lily cut a long gash across its side. Its clubbed tail swung at her but she moved quick to jump over the attack, before the crumbling groan of the bank’s destruction caught her attention. Taking advantage of the girl’s distraction, a fleshy vine erupted suddenly from its haunches and meaty “finger”-like appendages caught her neck in a choke. "Grk—!" Her shock at the sudden attack came to a quick end when she sliced through the tendril, dropping to the ground and wrestling to free her throat of the wriggling remnants.

Haru’s punches smashed against the monstrous maw, leaving charred patches of flesh where it had hit. Just before one connected, though, a plate of oddly strong bone emerged from its flesh and snapped over the wound to armor it. With another scream, strange and almost human, it jerked its jaws to the side and attempted to snap shut around Haru’s arm, at which point it would begin attempting to ragdoll him, like a crocodile trying to tear its preys limbs off.

…

The stout goon takes the brunt of the wind, tumbling back, howling and hopping in pain. The lanky one laughed at his co-cultist’s suffering. It was a horrible sound, like a hyena’s cackle…

"It’s not…it’s—it’s n-not funny! Agh!" The simpleminded attacker roared in fury, seemingly on the verge of tears. He hoisted his club, held it trembling aloft in the air for a good moment, and then smashed it down towards Luna.

Meanwhile, as the Mutant Child approached, he’d find his grapple slowed to a stop, pressing not on the cultist, but the very air near him…

No, not air. Should he focus on it, he’d find that there was a thin, almost clear veil of blood stretched between him and his target. Despite being absurdly thin, it also proved very difficult to pierce, and indeed the culprit for this revealed himself.

"You…shall…not…interfere!" The sound came from the gorepriest sitting cross-legged. It couldn’t even be described as a "voice," really—it was airy and raspy, slow and indistinct. When he spoke he did not move his lips, but rather manipulated the whistling of air through the gouge in his throat.

Edited by ISZATSO on Apr 24th 2024 at 12:04:28 PM

Hub Centralis

Luna quickly jumps away from the club, as the goon attempts to slam it on her.

I-I did it! I used a move! What to do now?

Luna thinks, wondering what to do.

I only have 3 moves, one of which is Flash. If I can lower their accuracy then attack, I might defeat them...

Luna's lantern suddenly unleashes a bright light, turning the surrounding area in a bright white for a couple seconds. If managed to hit, the three goon's accuracy is lowered.

Luna used Flash!

Centralis

Erin is sent staggering back (again), though what blood she did get was enough to stop her own wounds from bleeding. She lets out a satisfied sigh before snagging a metal flask from her hip and downing a gulp, which seems to invigorate her more, her eyes now clearly red.

"Hehehehehe~... Interesting..."

She sets her hammer down, her body audibly cracking and twisting as her skin splits open and her suit falls away, revealing her true form as what can best be described as 'a moving mass of blood-red flesh in a human form'. Her mouth splits her face from end to end, exposing many jagged teeth, and a multitude of eyes dominate the area above her mouth. She also grows a long, spiked tail, near-permanently dripping with blood. Her arms and legs, now slimmed to the bone, gaunt and long, her fingers ending in long, vicious claws.

"You're strong, too... but you're a bit guarded, why's that?"

Erin leaps forward at Pallia with all of the power and accuracy of a feral animal, claws and mouth gripping for any patch of skin- any source of blood. Forgoing any attempt to guard to instead attack without abandon.

Such is the drawback of a Bloodfiend that gives in to their bloodlust.

Haru's arm snaps back from the creature's jaws- and he slams it on the snout instantly afterwards.

"Resilient, are we~?"

His body, now shown (though he keeps his pants) is revealed to be covered in tattoos styled after fire, all glowing with reds, yellows, and oranges as he uses it to provide immunity to fire where his tattered clothes cannot.

His smile is back on his face, though within his eyes is a fierce, burning determination- one laying bare his extreme mental strength. Lily reminds him of someone he'd worked with before...

...but that person was dead. He'd seen it. And through some twisted manner, he was still alive. He pushes that thought aside for now.

Cragspire, Estraole

Cragspire was a humble place. True to its name it was built at the foot of a craggy mountain, specifically the one where the Sacred Pinnacle sits. Once upon a time it was a bustling mining town but the mines were eventually shut down due to 'safety concerns'. Nowadays it's a shadow of its former self, only a few farmers and small shops still remaining.

Though after a certain pit was found it has gained a small presence of Guild personnel, whose main job is keeping people from getting too close to said pit. Who knows what might crawl out of there.

"Probably going to find out soon." Sebastien thought to himself, waiting near the outskirts of the town for Luin to show up. He had sent her a message to meet here previously so hopefully she'd show up.

A rustling of parchment as she unfolded the map to check it for what must’ve been the hundredth time.

"Gotta be here somewhere…" Luin pondered. Beneath her, Deluge padded softly along the soil. On her right was Rime, sniffing the earth, on her back Landslide, and in her lap was Rocky; the baby Brachydios no larger than a pup. They’d come by way of the nearest river, and now wandered the forest trails, searching almost blindly for their destination: Cragspire.

And at last, they wandered through the trees and into the outskirts of town. Luin glanced around from atop the Namielle and found Sebastien easily, hopping off and approaching with a smile, holding Rocky in her arms still.