The Puppet stops in place, but he doesn't appear too happy to be told to stay. Despite it not physically happening, it feels like his eyes are narrowing a little.
"Why not?"
Evan and Cassidy start to look nervous too.
Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 21st 2023 at 1:06:30 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Strings start to appear on the ground and begin to levitate ominously. Some dark remnant starts to emanate around the Puppet.
"How dare you? These kids are under my protection. I haven't killed you because they asked me not to. Don't give me a reason to change my mind!"
He then gets all up in Baiken's face, Phantom Puppet style.
"You're an adult. So you're my enemy. I don't need to explain myself to you."
Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 21st 2023 at 1:18:51 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Charlie sighs. That honestly doesn't sound too different from herself when she first wound up in the Arena...
But Baiken simply takes a deep breath, unflinching. "Ever notice I'm missing an arm and an eye? When I was as little as you, my home was destroyed. I didn't die, but my parents, my friends, and everyone else I knew did. I was the only survivor. So I dedicated myself to revenge. And then I saw that girl, Delilah. She wanted revenge against the same guy as me. But looking at her, I realized how, if all I cared about was hurting someone, then I'd have no reason left to exist when I was done.
"I wouldn't be happy, I'd be empty. And Delilah knew it'd be the same for her, but she still wouldn't back down until she nearly destroyed a whole city for her revenge. I see you going down the same path she and I went down, so I just wanted to say..."
"Miss Baiken..."
"Kid, adult, there's no difference in the world of violence. There's people who hurt others, and people who've been hurt. And being one doesn't automatically make it right to be the other, too."
Edited by KiriK on Apr 21st 2023 at 6:44:54 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."The Puppet remains silent as Baiken speaks, but also doesn't back off from being right in her face until she's done talking. He does so slowly, his dark remnant fading.
"... right or wrong, I don't care. I can't trust adults. One of the adults I trusted most was the one who made me into this!", he says while gesturing at himself.
"I'm not going out of my way to kill adults, but if any of them get too close to the others, I won't hesitate to attack."
He shakes his head.
"I'm gonna keep going until he's gone. And then we can finally all rest."
Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 21st 2023 at 2:08:36 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.The Puppet turns to look down at Charlie. He stays quiet for a moment.
"This isn't something you should involve yourself with. You're... alive now. I don't want to see you die."
His otherwise rougher-sounding voice sounds more fragile now, as if genuinely scared of that possibility. Judging by Evan and Cassidy staring silently, he doesn't usually use this kind of tone.
"I'm with Charlie. Maybe we can try to help somehow. That doesn't mean we gotta put ourselves in full danger.", Gregory says, supporting Charlie.
"Uh, yeah! You can stay with us and maybe we can come up with plans together.", Grape says, then looks the Puppet up and down.
"Uh... but you're not gonna stay in that form all the time, right? Can't you change like the first Charlie?"
Cassidy pauses, then tilts her head.
"Wait, can you? 'Cause I don't think you've ever shown us what you normally look like."
"There's no need for that. I'm not staying.", the Puppet says, voice back to normal.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay."I'm not in any danger," Charlie reassures the Puppet. "I still have all the same abilities I did as a ghost and more. If something isn't a threat to you, it's not to me either. If it is a threat to you..." She gestures to Baiken, Delilah, Evan, Cassidy, the Gregorys, and Miraidon. "I have even stronger friends."
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.""That's good. But I'm still not going to stay.", the Puppet says. Somehow it's sounding more stubborn about it now.
"I'll keep an eye on you guys. If you come across that circus robot again, I'll help you out."
"Aw, c'mon. It's been 10 years since the last time we saw each other.", Evan says, smiling a little. But he's startled when the Puppet's head snaps to look at him, and grows nervous.
"Eh... or, y'know, you do your own thing like usual.", he mumbles.
"If I stay, who's going to find the others?", the Puppet asks to prove his point.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay."You don't have to stay."
"But let me follow," Fallen Sunny says, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. "It doesn't matter to me if I die along the way so long as I helped give you peace."
"Sunny, you can't just-"
"I've been very clear about this the whole time."
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."The Puppet turns to look at Fallen Sunny.
"What? No. I'm not going to let another kid die. There are already enough that I couldn't save."
The Puppet start to float threateningly.
"I'm leaving. Don't follow me, or I'll tie you down with my strings."
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Gregory and Grape are the first ones to go back inside. Michael follows, and then Evan and Cassidy, who look back at the Puppet one more time, but he simply keeps himself turned away from them.
"Hasn't changed a bit, huh?", Cassidy whispers to Evan.
"Yeah. Still kinda scary too.", Evan whispers back.
The Puppet simply floats in place until everyone but Charlie has gone back inside.
"Hey.", he then speaks up, though doesn't look at her. "Do you miss them? Mom, Dad and..."
He doesn't finish that sentence, but Charlie'll probably get what he means.
Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 21st 2023 at 2:58:34 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Charlie is a bit startled to be asked a final question, but she nods. "All the time. I'd love to see them again... But I love my friends here, too. I've gone on adventures I could only have dreamed of before... you know."
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."The Puppet simply nods his head.
"... I'm happy to hear you haven't forgotten."
A pause.
"... erm, because sometimes people who die forget a lot. After he had died, Evan didn't even remember his own name."
Another pause, after which the Puppet simply goes over to the side of the building and starts to gently float down. ... well, guess he's leaving.
-
Once the Puppet is far away enough, he sighs. Staying with them... that would've probably made him happy for the first time in 20 years.
... but he's here to set things right, not to be happy.
He disappears into the forest.
Way further away
Endoskeleton wires are slammed on the ground. What's left of Ennard snarls at them.
"You are done crowding us!" , they hiss.
"You are nothing without me. This happened to us because you disobeyed me." , the pile of wires responds, one eye looking up from within the pile.
"You be silent! Had we gone in from the beginning like Freddy said, this wouldn't have happened to us at all! Look at us!"
"You are on your own now. We are finished with you."
"You are fools. You will not last without me."
The remains of Ennard just start cackling madly.
"Ha, ha! Let's go, guys! Say goodbye to our 'friend'!"
They start to crawl away, pulling themselves forward with its one remaining functioning arm. The pile of wires, glowing with Remnant, begin to shift in formation to take on a more stable form.
"You need me. But I do not need you. I will put myself back together. And once I have... I know just where to go next."
Edited by DevilPsyco on Apr 21st 2023 at 3:44:00 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.The hammer came down onto his head.
A splitting pain cut through the experienced Kamura hunter's skull. The ruffling of feathers before his vision cut out. The laughing of the Bishaten deviant before his hearing cut out. The feeling of a warm liquid tricking down his face before he could feel no more, and in an instant it was all over. Twenty five years of endless heroism, of struggles and of triumphs, all ended in a flash. As insignificant as an ant meeting a boot.
As soon as it was all over, it was so back.
Jackson’s vision returned to him. He stood before his own body, or at least what remained: A mess of entrails scattered about on the sandy beach. He heard the insults coming from the lips of those who had observed, the indifference that his death had wrought. Later that night, when the team returned from the Deviant hunt, there was no great parade held in his honor. No funeral where tears were shed, no rousing speech about how his death had actually meant something, nothing. As soon as he had gone, so too did the memory of him, his very own existence and everything he had ever done. Somebody had once said that "All you touch and all you see is all your life will ever be," but his life wasn’t even that. It was a stepping stone. He existed as nothing more than a plot point meant to further a meaningless and forgotten narrative. The world around him fell away as he recognized the sweeping eyes of those entities that existed outside of himself, the beings from a higher plane who seemed to be under the illusion that theirs was the highest and that nothing greater existed.
He stood before a dark throne now, in the deepest reaches of space. On the great throne sat a great figure, once full of life and power but now nothing more than an intimidating corpse, a hollow vessel for something that had, in another life, been the ruler of all that ever truly mattered. All around Jackson were stars and clusters of purple nebulae. Behind the seat of the once-god was a single, massive dark spot on the sky, once where no light dared shine. Even looking at it, a deeply unsettling fear creeped into Jackson’s mind and spirit, its icy tendrils wrapping around his heart.
"A second chance," A new voice echoed all around the Hunter, his mind weakening as the statement echoed throughout his head and invaded his every thought. "To start again."
Jackson fell to his knees and just like that, all of it was gone. The cosmic scene of terror, the massive corpse, the cold stone throne, the shimmering nebulae, all of it replaced by forest. Trees gently swayed in the wind. The chirping of birds gingerly danced around his ears. A cool breeze blew the sweat from his face. Jackson looked around. This was different, very much so to where he had just been. The man reached a hand up to his head and pinched his cheek. Pain jolted through his senses but he smiled anyways. He was alive. Least strange of the entire situation was that at some point during the last few minutes, he had lost his armor, his item pouch, and his weaponry. Standing right in front of him, looking up with a neutral expression, was the most curious looking critter Jackson had ever seen.
◊
"You're a weird lil' fucker, ain't you?" He asked, looking down at the creature. The hunter followed it up with a glance up and around, seeing nothing else in interest. "Know what? I like you. I think I'll name you…Deluge the Destroyer."
The terrifyingly fearsome Deluge the Destroyer continued to stare.
◊
Edited by ISZATSO on Apr 21st 2023 at 10:33:42 AM
With great power…you know the rest.Vertibird
Uhhh... Sir... Bombuccia points at the fire.
... Alright, get behind me.
As his allies line behind Pipeta, he puts a Coke-and-Mentos grenade at the door of the plane.
One... Two...
The grenade explodes, opening the door just in time.
...Three!
Through the door, Bombuccia and Loinball exit behind Pipeta, who's firing some coke blasts at their attackers.
Hub Centralis alleyfight
Juca notices he's not being targetted by the Hunter anymore.
Blippi! New girl! Can you stop it!?
Blippi stops Meekah with a shoulder grab.
Meu amigo, do you remember why do we are here?
...True, to stop that guy's revenge plans.
Meekah breathes deeply. As I always say: Hurt people hurt people. And I was so hurt to see my bestie with you, I just got blinded with rage, I never saw why were you fighting them. I'm so sorry.
Meekah hugs Blippi fondly.
Enough with those hugs, unless you hug me. Will you work with us to stop that guy?
Sure! C'mon!
Blippi and co. run towards Senpai... Until they noticed Girlfriend appearing.
Who called that garota? Is beautiful, but... I feel something off with her.
Blippi remembered the thing Meekah screamed:
I'LL NEVER BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND!!!
Don't you think her name could be "Girlfriend"? I mean, that blue-haired guy is named "Boyfriend", so...
Meekah approaches her. A wise decision? I don't think so.
Hey, "Girlfriend", if that's your name... Are you with us?
Three freaking ghosts!I'm glad we have Natdex Ubers ladder instead so I don't have to see this guy anymore
"Oh." is all Nitori says before a Draco meteor hits her. She manages to guard with her robot's arms but this results in the left one being pretty badly mangled. Not enough to fall off but she's definitely not using it for any heavy lifting until it gets repaired. She's also knocked back from the attack.
"Okay that didn't go so well." she mutters to herself. She then charges up for a moment before firing different missiles. This time they're anti-air ones with proximity detonation instead of only exploding on a direct hit.
bee boo
Ratbat notices the guy paying them is being stabbed and focuses on GF instead, firing a laser blast at her. There's bigger issues than him though as soon Bombshell bursts out of the wall... followed by two other Bombshells (and making yet more holes in the wall).
One of them charges at GF to grab her and smack her around, the second tries to hit Weiss while she's done while third turns to insect mode to fly over Juca's group and at Melia to try and finish what Bombshell attempted earlier by goring her on its horn. It does have to get through BF first though.
Anyone perceptive will notice trails of energy leading from their horns towards the inside of the building Bombshell crashed into earlier. They also seem to be overall more predictable in their movements.
"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."Can we just kill her? I feel there's something bad coming in but.. I don't know, what happens if we destroy her shell? Sarah says, scratching her head with her giant necroarm.
Well, you shouldn't have been an evil dick. she says V102. Bad things happen to good people too, I mean, but if you go around killing and kidnapping folks, there'll be pushback. And what's with the "destined to win" thing? You one of those "fate is inescapable" peeps? Heh. I think it's a bit sad to think that things are just supposed to happen to us, good or bad, what's the point of living if none of what you think or do matter?
Fate exist and is the reason why she is evil. Eve points her finger forward, attempting to look into the future, amplifying her magic to push through the time distortions. She attempts to see consequences to just fucking shooting V102 in the head with a copious amount of Blast Magic. If there are, she'll lower her finger and wait for the Reality Emanticipator.
If not, she grins and let loose, attempting to make it quick to avoid one last bullshit but also trying to make V102 feel pain and terror as she dies.
...
Cushy. Gojo comments, looking at Knight Simmons as he goes forward. He decides to let Simmons's decisions impact him first but stand ready to guard him if he has. Oh well.
Cover my back, he says, going forward and trying to kick the door down with a flippant kick. And cover your back, I'll shield you from anything going forward but can't guarantee it if they attack from behind. Finnicky thing.
...
The Hunter moves to try to stab Melia in the face but Boyfriend's interruption causes her to be soundlessly blown away, crashing through a concrete wall and being left laying on the ground, her sword clanking to the ground along with the falling rubbles.
She's inert.
Edited by Bolded1 on Apr 22nd 2023 at 9:38:05 PM
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterHub Centralis
Melia props herself up, using her staff to stand up.
"You have my thanks," she says to Boyfriend, carefully eyeing The Hunter to make sure they don't get back up again. It's not much of a close look, though.
Cautiously, Melia gives her staff three twirls, each rotation summoning a water elemental. Each individually applies a very small amount of regeneration to her and her allies, totaling to... a still small but not outright negligible amount of regeneration.
At the very least, it'll make sure nobody bleeds out.
She takes very clear notice of Girlfriend stabbing a mfker (Senpai), and takes that to mean one more threat eliminated.
"I owe all of you one for this. I feel out of my element."
Melia stamps her staff against the floor. A golden and emerald-green aura flares up around her, eyes swirling that gold color.
"Let us remedy this."
Melia turns her gaze up, and pulls her staff close, thrusting it into the air. Emerging from the end of the weapon, a huge expanding dome of golden ether falls over the immediate area. While this attack, notably, does not deal ANY immediate damage, any one of her enemies hit by it (which is potentially every one of them here, the radius is pretty big) will have their defenses reduced dramatically for what is likely several turns.
Though other than this she does not do much more- relying on teamwork with the empowered BF to keep away threats that might interfere with her support.
Yatta!Weiss is in a bit too much knock-shock to use those pickups. Maybe next round. Idk.
Tahjin's eyes go wide just before the blast goes off - and the flood of ether washes over him, cutting his Defense. He haphazardly blocks by crossing his blarms, but he's still shoved far back by the force, and his shell cracks open. Smashes into another wall with a [CRACK!], he slowly and twitchily tries to extract himself. ... More flaring purple energy comes out where his shell is broken. That can't be good.
-
"P-phoo..."
He gives Melia a shaky thumbs-up - shaky with the inherently jittery nature of being an electrical being, that is. You know how it is.
Speaking of, he zips off, blipping into existence just next to various of Addison's pickups. He proceeds to punt them with Footballer precision into Melia and then Weiss!
Weiss is unable to defend herself and would get fucking mcsmushed by Bombshell Two if BF didn't dash through at the last minute, carrying her over his head like a Happy Meal before jumping up and trying to perform an electrically charged Goomba Stomp onto the Bombshell Three targeting Melia and the Blippi group!
-
I find it very funny how there is not a shred of empathy among the fighters for Senpai.
GF turns to look at Meekah, and. Shrugs? She doesn't know who this person is. Well, with a quick upwards jerk, her nail/claw/whatever slips up through Senpai's spine like butter, splitting his upper body in twain like a floppy banana skin. Pixel blood spurts up and out like a gory newgrounds fountain.
"Lol. I can't believe I used to like this dweeb."
Boyfriend seems scandalized by this admittance.
She proceeds to use Senpai's corpse to block Ratbat's laser blast, before droptossing the resulting charred chunks aside. As noted, the bigger issue is BOMBSHELL.
Bombshell One succesfully impacts GF, carrying her through! She manages to mitigate the impact, though, and instead of getting smacked aside tries to catch on and pivot onto his back before stabbing downwards with a laugh.
Edited by Rbade on Apr 22nd 2023 at 9:58:46 AM
/\。。/\..."Mister blister?"
A strange nickname.
How. Characteristic, of you.
Irony-poisoned. Bitter with detachment.
...
I have.
A question to ask you.
Not now.
But, soon enough.
In the wake of this...
...Strategic setback.
Then, I will ask.
The uncanny unsound of the Reality Emancipator's running is but one heralding the myriad locks now keeping V102 imprisoned in place, bound not by physical locks, but by ones far more far-flung.
Well, mostly far-flung.
With Nagato, Super Love, and Bulublú's help, V102's enhanced strength cannot break free of the machine in any short order. Though she is indeed mighty, and the platform does indeed begin to bend and distort as it is struck by furious waves of unfathomable force- the locks do not break, the key does not exist to open it.
"It won't be. Nothing you can ever do will be enough." she calls out to Sunstar, her voice calm, the unsound of the machine rendering her voice clear as can be.
"...Why do I know that?"
Sunstar's Solar Orbs impact V102 one by one, and it is hard to say that they are all too particularly capable of causing her extreme harm, but they do hurt, and that is always a help.
"There is no such thing as escape in this world," V102 says, "That's why... the hourglass... has to be filled!
A surge of power emanates from V102. She begins to move, even under the effects of the Emancipator.
She takes a step. Cracks run up her leg with a blast of blue-purple fire, but she keeps going.
"I don't know what Live Legna wants of me... but I trust, in Their judgement, by the gaze of Their eye and the words They send to me alone."
Her voice, still calm.
"Abyss eye at all that follows"
"The fear we embody... isn't one that can ever be removed."
...
...
...
It seems.
That there will be.
No miracle today.
V102 falls to a knee, and begins to take deep, struggled breaths. Every crack on her body has begun to burn, shrouding her surroundings in blue-purple flame.
She tries to summon her scythe. It appears in her hands, but breaks into shards in mere moments, pieces violently scattering through the air.
Eve's vision of the future shows, clear as glass, the black fog begin to converge upon V102 following Eve's hypothetical attack. Her body is obscured by fire, and-
Aw dang it
V102 pulls out one of her tricks from before, and ramps up the fire in Eve's vision to the point that it completely obscures her view and threatens to burn her eyes out with its unfathomable heat. That's definitely a dead-end, but she's learnt... something.
"Why won't it stop?"
V102 looks down.
"The beeping, right?" says Angel!Mythra.
"How do you know that?"
"It's a warning. You're a living contradiction, conflicting pieces held together by a power you've almost totally burnt through. I think you get it"
Angel!Mythra smiles smugly.
V102 looks at her. The look is empty, if a little sad.
"I can't die. There's too much left for me to do."
V102 tries to stand up, but can no longer resist the Reality Emancipator.
It seems inevitable, at this point...
...
Angel!Mythra sighs.
"Everyone... give it all you've got left. Let's get this done, so we can move on."
"For the future!"
.
Moebius Battle - CLIMAX
Something is happening, now.
And it will not be the end, however:
In this moment, at the end of the fighting and misery...
The world shudders in anticipation, and prepares to change.
As the fate of V102 narrows into a single thread.
Yatta!bop a beep
It soon becomes apparent the defense debuff doesn't make much of a difference in this case when BF's electric attack disrupts the weird energy beam attached to the Insecticlone. It soon crumples into some random metal debris that was cobbled together into an Insecticlone shape. The other one facing GF fares a bit better but has a nasty gash now, showing its own cobbled together interior as it tries to knock her off its back.
Bombshell Dos, having lost its original target, turns into insect mode to ram Addison with its horn. Ratbat meanwhile takes to the air again, having repaired enough to be airborne once more. He frowns at their employer being dead but they'll still get some paycheck for finishing the job.
"Always shoot the medic first." he mutters to himself, looking at Melia. He flies around the buildings surrounding the alley and tries to cheekily snipe her with his twin laser blasters from the direction she's not facing. Dick.
"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."Vs. Moebius V102
"Your words mean nothing to me. 'Fate' means nothing to me. All that matters is the result that actually happens." Sunstar raises his Buster into the sky and condenses light into a giant energy blade, which he proceeds to bring down on V102 with no further fanfare.
Vs. Senpai and his friends
Addison yelps and staggers as Bombshell Dos strikes from (to them) nowhere. In response, they crank up their own attack power as high as they currently can and try to just splatter it on the spot with a single sword strike.
Monika does wince a little, seeing Senpai (apparently) fucking die.
Edited by KiriK on Apr 23rd 2023 at 6:29:16 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."

"Don't run off just yet," Baiken says, stepping forward to make eye contact with the Puppet. Delilah, Charlie, and Miraidon all watch with some anxiety. What could become of this...?
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."