He was indeed knocked away, his weird double jump being on "cooldown" as it were. He rolls as he hits the ground and gets back into a standing position. He quickly tosses a Pukei-Pukei poison smoke grenade, aiming to both disorient his opponent as well as potentially status the Lunagaron. He followed that up by moving slightly to the side, so that if the Lunagaron simply leaped through he'd be in prime position to ambush it.

! POISON !

Upon poison being dispersed into the surrounding area, the Lunagaron let loose a violent roar and leapt forwards towards where it had last seen Sebastien to escape the cloud, though did not manage to do so before enough of it had entered his body to procure sickness.

When its jaws clamped shut around nothing save air, it wasted not a moment to react; digging front claws into the snowy dirt and using the momentum from the pounce to whip its body and tail around, aiming to hit the hunter like a wrecking ball should he be anywhere in the vicinity at the time.

Frozen Furry

Well that backfired. Sebastien ends up being body checked due to having tried to close in for a slash, sending him flying back. He recovers mid-air using his double jump to suddenly fly back towards the Lunagaron, disappearing from sight briefly until he slashes at the Fanged Wyvern (the invisibility wearing off regardless whether it hits). If he manages to, he works to get a few good hits in before backing off once more to avoid the retaliation.

Beach

Reiss decides to try and lead Sarah closer to the shoreline, away from Mark and Nick just staring at eachother after the latter notices her marital status.

"You're one skilled mage... Hmmm" With multiple powers in mind, he thinks it would be fairer if she was handicapped to the ground, but for the sake of fairness, he just nods along. "No teleportation, "

Amy overhears the conversation and comments from where the rest of the group is.

"Just so we're clear uh.. You're the only one here among us who can see Reiss at max speed, right?"

"Like I give a crap who cheats, He banters before looking over to Reiss, "Hey! If Sarah's got more tricks up her ass, just go faster okay!"

"Ready whenever you are!"

Pantheon

Green roars as her strategy seemed to work, but as the rain seemingly decides to coalesce in her general direction, she's bombarded with Siamo Zero's mere reformation and she's sent away while still holding into the platform. The shockwave added brings her down and counting but fortunately Spaghetti reminds her she's bad at math but with the digits on her hand she goes for the good ol' dash and smack (but shockingly faster)!

Hub Centralis

William tensely looks around but is relieved with the one-way entry and exit. "William Evergreen... Uh..." He thinks of a way to put it to Piovre without sounding completely alien to him, after nearly a solid half-minute of thinking he finally comes up with something.

"I've been on the run from this big space empire that wants to use me and my other half as a really big battery since I woke up. This place's really far from home, so they're stretching themselves thin but by the time one of us walks out, wanted posters describing me as that same thing's gonna show up. It's easier to bring in 3rd party assassins that way."

"Just so we're clear your friend and you don't have the cables inside you neatly organized right?" There's still that tinge of paranoia he can't let go of.

NOHR

Garon is getting his ass beat more or less. With him being pinned down by Subaru and punched through again by Ban, he's already in a bad enough spot, but then Nicole slash him over a hundred times and he ends up even further pinned down, seemingly up for grabs for Pucci and Jeridan's Whitesnakes. So, why is he just laughing his lungs out as the attacks crash against him, each leaving a visible impact on his body? Even with Bolverk and Siegfried down on the ground?

   SUCH CHILDISH RAGE!!! HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHA!    As he speaks, his D 4 C appears to Pucci and Jeridan, attempting to grab their arms to crush them within its grasp. And such a task may be easier for this D 4 C, with its enormous build compared to the original, with suitably enhanced strength, speed and resistance. Likewise, it has glowing red eyes, bigger than the original's, with a dull grey color scheme and droopy ears, instead of Valentine's more colorful, thinner substitute, like an early-Jo Jo stand.

Not that Pucci would really identify the differences now but anyway. D 4 C's presence goes beyond simply being there to Stand-Fight. Because Garon is currently fulfilling the conditions to use its dimensional abilities, being that he's being between two objects: the wooden floor of the damaged platform and Subaru's fist, amongst a lot of other things. So, one punch he's there, the other he's completely gone, before Ban can try to cast Snatch.

Luckily, Garon emerges right away, coming off Einherjar Camilla's back. Literally emerging from it, but not in a way evocative of Body Horror. She's just the spot he picked to come back to this dimension.    You're not my daughter, you horrible little artificial thing! So shut you trap!    He attempts to grab Einherjar Camilla's head on his way out and try tearing it off on his way to Siegfried, which he snatch first, by virtue of extending his arm forward to grab it.

There, the heroes might be tempted to get in his way, but there was a ploy of a sort to Garon standing there: he's been able to use D 4 C to cast Brynhildr on the position of Subaru, Ban, Nicole, Pucci, Einherjar Xander and Jeridan. Which is bound to be especially more powerful with everyone cluttered-up in front of him. Near instantly, a golden tree sprout from the ground at the feet of the heroes, attempting to trap the heroes in place in its damaging branches, keeping them clumped up together with its own gravity.

Then, with an horizontal swing of his sword, Garon focus Siegfried's energy into a different shape. Whereas Xander used it as a beam, Garon, by virtue of swinging the sword horizontally, is able to create a crescent-shaped energy slash in front of him, which he hurls forward at the group while they're trapped in Bryndhildr, with the energy detonating in a big black-and-red explosion... accompanied by Brynhildr's golden detonation, all of it large enough to engulf them all.

Of course, there's a disadvantage to it. And it's that Garon got hit a lot. Half his face is outright melted by now, distorted beyond human ability to recognize, with his other half pale and sagging, with his "eye" melting out of his socket to reveal a bright red orb behind it. His armor is also tattered greatly, having been blown off to reveal his true mud-like body. His right arm is basically a goopy mess in the shape of a clawed limbs, with his left leg being likewise.

Picking up Bolverk on the way over, Garon goes for the weakened Se'arah, grinning as he lifts his axe in anticipation.

Elsewhere, a few seconds before all this, Beruka grabs her headband and take it off, wrapping it around Corrin's stump. It's exceedingly poor first aid, she figures, but hey. Come, we have to help... we have to help them, right? She look the way of Nicole and the others but doesn't recognize them. The only person of interest here is Corrin, and she's sorrowful to find herself regressing further and further.

Y-yeah, he made a mistake leaving me with one hand! I'll just have to strangle him with that one! Corrin says, holding up his right hand. His dominant one, as luck would have it, but Garon was never an observant fellow. He drops his insincere smile after his "quip" though. B-beruka, you should head back. Your memories, they're going to be an hindrance to you. He figures Beruka would rather hear out the blunt truth. You've done a lot for us, please, you can rest back in the castle.

Beruka frowns, unsatisfied with the explanations. And also confused. What are they doing here? Why were they fighting in the middle of the Nohrian city? She glances at the drawing again. You've just lost a hand; Corrin. We're going through this together. Corrin looks dismayed at hearing the "Prince", but before he can comment on it, Beruka sees Einherjar Camilla's (probable) demise and the ground-shaking explosions. As well as a melted Garon's attack on Se'arah.

no no NO NO NO!

Thinking quickly, perhaps too quickly, Beruka grabs her Vallite Master Axe and leap to action. jumping over and, with her two mortal arms and exhaustion, lift her axe to block Garon's own monstrous blow. Both body and soul are willing, but the former is weak: as she blocks the attack, something in Beruka's break, and she freezes up, the ground cracking under her feet as blood spurts from her arms, knees, mouth and nose.

No NONONONONONONOOOO!

And then D 4 C plunges one of its fingers straight into her guts, Beruka's eyes widening before she kneels over, arms still raised as Garon glances in Corrin's reaction, the prince seizing up in horror. Then, he smiles at Se'arah, a black crescent appearing on his disgusting melted sludge of a face.

   I've finally figured you out. You're not a vigilante or a bandit. You're just a sucker. A load. Deadweight.   

Corrin's subsequent attack goes so fast as to imitate Subaru's in speed and ferocity, the young prince slamming his head into Garon's. The Corpse King falls over with a sickening laugh, watching as Corrin raises his stumped hand.    How precious! You're going to punch m-wurf    Corrin hit Garon in the face with his elbow, slamming his head into the wood. Then, his teeth grows sharper as he digs them into Garon's throat, attempting to desperately tear out as big of a chunk of as it as he can, crying Berserker Tears.    GYYYYARRGGHHHHHHHHHHH!   

Garon's amusement quickly fade from amusement to pained anger as he grabs Corrin and roll off back to his feet to slam him deep into the ground. There, he grabs Bolverk two handed, with D 4 C holding Siegfried, and raises it overhead for a predictable slam with it. A very predictable slam.

...

Elsewhere, Starscream actually lets out an unamused huff as he sees two fleshlings trying to match up to him in their own ways. In his own field of expertise.    Organic fools! I'm millions of years old! Your primitive ancestors were figuring out walking while I WAS DECIMATING THOUSANDS IN THE SKY OF TYGER PAX!    Starscream is furious enough as to bank back and charge for Frieza and Ms. Thingies, deciding to take them head-on.

When Frieza unleash his beams, Starscream scoffs before he proceed to dodge them all, sticking to his Alt-Mode as he starts to dodge each and every last beam with almost insulting ease, despite his size and how close he's getting. If those attacks had hit, he'd likely have been in bad shape. And a move like that would've been challenging to dodge for any Transformers. But Starscream, though lacking in many moral aspects, is finally in an area where he can put his mouth where the money is.

Likewise with Ms.Thingies's attacks, but Starscream uses his own lasers to blast his way out of those, although he likewise performs dynamic dodges, spinning, ducking, flying over projectiles, accelerating, decelerating. He dodges the Slag that way, huffing, since Mordecai is at least smart enough to keep himself "grounded".

It's almost like he has foresight of a sort but he doesn't. He's simply good and experienced at it, nevermind how he's quite literally built for that sort of aerial combat to start with. Needless to say, he make it to Figure Frieza with not much of a scratch on the fuselage. Transforming back to Robot Form halfway through, he spins and attempts to kick him further down back into Nohr. Regardless of success, he then transforms into a jet again and speed off towards Frieza, attempting to ram into his back as he goes flying.

   HAIL ME! HAIL STARSCREEEAAAMMMMMMMMMMM!!!    He fires off a laser point-blank, attempting to have it slam into Figure Frieza and carry him all the way to Castle Krakenburg, impacting the castle and punching through several of its stone bridges, triggering a powerful pink explosion at the bottom of it. For extra spite, assuming his maneuver worked, Starscream then fire several missiles at the castle, triggering a series of explosions that destroys all the bridges, either by collateral or direct impact.

The castle tumbles off with its structures destroyed, the massive stone building being sent screaming off into the depths of the holes in the middle of Windmire. But parts of it remain intact despite direct hits from Starscream's missiles. And it stays together even as it starts to fall...

Above, Starscream transforms again and stares at Ms. Thingies, glancing at her and gesturing at her to come his way. Then, he transforms into a plane again and start flying right at the platform, apparently planning to make everyone here eat missiles death. Which could be bad, hence, Ms. Thingies is going to have to stop Starscream, after he's demonstrated his skills at flying!

Further below, Cardboard get the last of the Shepherds inside My Castle, allowing Leah to close the portal. In the meantime, Sawdust, Salazar, Leo, Leah and Doleetle are putting up a valiant fight but Yammers is able to more efficiently saw them all down by manipulating the earth, earning the group some very valuable time, especially since Athos's light still filter through.

A very wise decision, young one! The mudmen clog up, trying to squeeze through cracks, and eating rounds from Salazar's Vallite Shotgun, which blow them apart. Still, he didn't really get a solid occasion to refill his gun, so while useful, he can't do that for very long.

However, they fought off enough mudmen that Athos decides to revise the situation.

Should one of you want to go and fight Garon, my spell should be ready to fight Garon soon. And I can carry you there with the use of a small gust of wind. My spell should be ready before the Mudmen can overwhelm these defenses.

Let me go! I'll assist them! My abilities are usefu, I mean GREAT TIGER's abilities are useful!

Still, there remain several. Such that this might be the group's last chance at going after Garon.

But yet, the mudmen, while near-mindless, can see...

...

Windmire Border

A near-mindless Zulo Beast wait by a pool, holding unto a corrupted astral dragon scale. It's two times bigger than the beast that had attacked the group in the dungeon, with a real Bolverk stolen from a dead Garon in its hands. It waits for "the signal", which should have been given earlier: while the heroes were busy, it would have invaded the castle to destroy it, with no one to stand in its way within it.

However, the signal has been delayed, since Garon was busy. And he still is, but he's keeping his cool. And remember his nameless trooper.

Thus, the Zulo Beast come to "life" with a roar, jumping into the pool and into the Astral Realm. Its destination?

Corrin's castle.

Edited by Bolded1 on Jun 27th 2023 at 9:00:51 PM

Hyrule Fields

Maxi and co. accept Morph Moth's ride, since they doesn't have ships or wings to fly.

Pantheon

After the attack is over, Ms. Grey exits from the cocoon... But she got out at the worst time: she got enthranced by the hurricane of "familiar" forms and shapes, and she didn't noticed the attacks coming at her!

...If weren't by the healing pasta, Ms. Grey would already be out for the count.

Nohr

I'll help to fight Garon! You keep an eye for more mud monsters! Shouted Cardboard. Sawdust nods, and her sister went with Garon group.

...

Meanwhile, '''Ms. Thingies is surprised because Starscream dodged every attack aimed at him.

It's time to use the imagination, whippersnapper!

She chases Starscream towards the platform, and attempts to crash the plane against him!...

...but shortly before the plane crash, Ms. Thingies leaps towards Starscream's head, and materializes a giant pinwheel, imbued with the power of the fire tome, with which she attempts to slice his head before he can do anything!

Nohr Rescue Mission (Garon)

Jeridan clicked his tongue in annoyance and backed off as soon as D 4 C appeared, knowing that as long as the DISC is not fully extracted, Garon is free to fight back with his Stand. Unfortunately, he was not able to avoid the sudden attack from the golden tree despite seeing the rabbit Stand using Brynhildr. A few branches pierced through his waist and his shoulder blades from behind, the pain so great that he needed to vocalize it.

The honorary agent greedily gasped in air to keep himself focused as he placed one leg against a branch just before forcibly kicking himself off of the tree, crashing into the floor indignantly before Garon launches the crescent attack. Using his Vallite spear as a cane, he propped himself onto his own two feet before gritting his teeth and recalled the terrifyingly effective strategy of the staffs in K Corp. Garon is not someone that can be defeated reasonably, so he will just have to return the favor.

Jeridan stood up straight and slammed the foot end of his spear into the ground as a suit of black bodysuit with blue armor plating appeared over his body, teeming with green light generated from the flowing fluid within its tubes. Without regard for his own safety, he immediately charged at Siegfried's crescent slash and blocked with not just his Vallite spear, but also his own body to prematurely detonate the attack.

Garon may wish to actually observe the situation before gloating, however. As the smoke clears, everyone present will be able to hear the sound of liquid circulating throughout a tube. The wounds on Jeridan's body recovered at a miraculous pace, closing almost as quickly as they are opened. Such is the power of K Corp's Helapoiesis serum, which can regenerate wounds rapidly and even restore entire limbs, and that's only what regular security guards can do. A K Corp Class 3 Staff, which is what Jeridan borrowed just now, has this serum constantly pumped throughout their body to maximize their combat effectiveness.

There is just one caveat, however. It can regenerate the body only as long as the brain is intact, not that Garon knows this.

The young man didn't wait for the smoke to clear, however, as he immediately charged towards Garon and used his spear to block Garon's slam attack before swinging his spear downward, aiming to cleave one of Garon's arms off. Then, he turned to look at Pucci expectantly. As far as Jeridan knows, D 4 C can bail Garon out of any death, which is why he believes it is crucial to remove the Stand first. Lastly, he tossed two Helapoiesis Ampules at Corrin with a free hand, expecting him to use it. The ampules has a sharp end that's very obviously used for injection. A single ampule would be enough to regenerate his hand.

Edited by cyzja922 on Jun 27th 2023 at 2:30:29 AM

Fumbling Cards

"Shit-", Ban snarls as Snatch proved ineffective. He looks around but notices too late where Garon emerged. Einherjar Camilla is in no position to repel Garon, and as such gets insta-killed, turning back into a card in the process.

Ban and Einherjar Xander are about to attack, but then a surprise Brynhildr pops up on their spots, damaging them both and keeping them trapped, followed by Garon making the freaking thing explode. Ban is still sorta fine thanks to his immortal body, but Einherjar Xander bites the dust and turns back into a card as well. Realizing the importance of the cards, Ban Snatches them with his powers before anything can happen to them.

Once Corrin starts going ham on Garon, Morgan finally gets back on his feet. Alarmed at Garon being about to attack, he attempts to melt through as much of Garon as possible with the evil dark magic of Grima's Truth. Despite how practically non-existent his bond with Beruka had been throughout this entire mission (justifiably so on Beruka's part to be fair), he still looks enraged by what happened.

As for Ban, he notices what happened to Beruka. Turning back to Garon furiously, he attempts to cast Snatch on him a second time. As he does so he notices Jeridan's wounds healing. Had he been a fellow immortal all this time? Or is it the power of that suit he donned?

Ban doesn't really care to be honest. Any advantage they have now is a welcome one.

—

Back at Base

Thanks to Nicole, Selena ends up in the pool. While initially confused and horrified, once she notices where the Shepherds are being brought to (as well as the glowing scale in her pocket), just enough of her memory shines through the haze to let her realize where she needs to go.

As such, she ends back up in the My Castle along with the Shepherds.

And so does Morgan's wyvern, who immediately flies towards Anna and Jake as the former brings out another Fortify staff to try and heal the Shepherds. Jake, meanwhile, puts some extra Einherjar cards into the wyvern's satchel, making sure to tie it closed so that no water can seep in and potentially damage the cards.

Once that's done, the wyvern will fly back into the water. It'll be fast enough that it won't cross paths with the Zulo Beast. Which is good for it, since it wouldn't win in a fight against it, but also bad in that now there'd be no warning for the people in the castle, not unless someone else traveling between the locations happens to see it coming.

—

If only they were real boys

Figure Freeza is extra pissed at his Ultimate Attack being dodged so easily.

   "Accursed tin can! I am the mighty LORD FREEZA-"   

Cue him getting kicked in the face and crashing back down into the ground. This would be very cathartic if he wasn't fighting on the heroes' side.

And then he gets extra-wrecked by getting slammed into by Starscream, then forcefully slammed through several parts of the castle before getting missile-nuked. Needless to say, this brutal beat-down nearly takes out Figure Freeza's entire health bar. The only reason it didn't do so completely is because Freeza, in general, is one tough piece of shit who just refuses to die easily. ... Kind of like Vegeta in that way.

He does at least lay low under the rubble until Starscream's attention is back on Mr. Thingies. And it's only once Starscream looks like he's about to nuke the battlefield again that he suddenly bursts out of it, charging back up at Starscream and attempting to rush through him. Yeah, he's attempting to ram into Starscream's chest or head and blast his way through to leave a gaping hole in his wake. Though if Ms. Thingies' attack on Starscream's head succeeds, Figure Freeza will adapt and aim for specifically Starscream's chest.

Whether or not Starscream's armor is too tough for that, he has no idea. And if this fails for any reason (whether it misses or isn't strong enough to do what it needs to do), Starscream will be able to land an immediate counterattack and take him out. At least the physical figure is still with Anna and Jake, so if Figure Freeza bites the dust here, he'll simply fade away into nothing and automatically return to the figure.

Einherjar Leo nods to Athos. He charges off towards Garon, trying to avoid the Mudmen on his way.

Morgan's wyvern now re-emerges as well, dropping the three cards on the battlefield. Einherjar F!Corrin, Einherjar Nyx and Einherjar Zola (of all people) emerge now. Einherjar Nyx and Einherjar Zola take one look at the Mudmen and begin casting dark magic at them to try to destroy them.

As for Einherjar F!Corrin, she starts charging after Einherjar Leo, trying to make her way towards Garon as well.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Jun 27th 2023 at 11:33:23 AM

Hyrule Field - > Astil

Time skipping ahead they reach the outside of Nitori's workshop where Nitori very reluctantly and begrudgingly lets the others in.

"Don't touch anything ok? Or you're paying double its price." she grouches as a hatch hidden in an unassuming hill of the swamps opens to let them inside. It looks very much like a schizo tech workshop. Some half built machines sit on workbenches and a second mech sits by the side of the hangar they landed in. A part of the hangar is open to the waters below while part of the workshop is also submerged, likely intentional since kappa are amphibious.

She pops out of her mech after laying Malzeno down on the floor.

"I'll go get some tools ready. Keep an eye on him." Nitori says as she walks off and hops into the submerged part.

Nohr

"pretty sure I'm older than you..." Yamame mumbles. As the offer is made she looks a bit nervous and somewhat dejected.

"I don't think I'd be much help against him really." Yamame admits. "If you really think you can handle yourself on your own though I think I'll go help with the wounded. Time goes differently in there anyway so I shouldn't take too long."

If Athos insists that she isn't needed here she'll do just that, using the warp gate to do so. She'll run up to the injured Shepherds and quickly use her power to check if they have any diseases, then simply have the viruses commit seppuku.

This does mean she bypasses the mud monster oop. But out of everyone there she's likely the most attuned with her natural senses so more likely to hear it coming.

Morph Moth - Astil

Nodding to Nitori, Morph Moth keeps an eye on Malzeno after chugging down an E-Tank to rehydrate herself. That poor Malzeno was attacked by those jerks, and if it weren't for her relative weakness, she could have stopped Laxin.

Nohr

"So long as we keep fighting, we should be able to Engage again after three exchanges of blows..."

Emblem Corrin winces. "If we survive that many."

—

Se'arah stares at Garon as he unleashes his retaliatory assault. She stares wide-eyed at Beruka's fall and Corrin's subsequent breakdown, feeling for the first time that Garon might be right about her.

No.

NO.

She raises Alondite to the sky, and with Rally Spectrum, she increases all of the stats of those fighting Garon by a pretty high amount. Then she waits for an opening to deliver her Critical Strike, Renegade Aether!

With teeth bared like a wild beast, she shouts, "You underestimated me!"

All the fire surrounding the battle with the Corpse King turns blue and gets sucked into Se'arah's blade, leaving the platform barren. She pulls Alondite back, then flies forward to impale... D4C, her divine gift allowing her to see the outline of Garon's Stand (yes the eye change mattered).

—

"Let's do something about that attitude!" Mordecai jeers. He throws a Kiss of Death grenade, which homes in on Starscream and attempts to stick to him, upon which it will slowly tear away at the spot it hits with a small but continuous series of explosions.

When it explodes for the last time after three seconds, it will send out healing streams to whichever ally is nearest Starscream, healing them for an amount equal to 30% of the total damage done to the Decepticon.

Scarlet Devil Mansion

Rumia-Refia conveniently doesn't notice the Flaming Espinas' eyes narrowing as she goes about her business.

   "Miss Daaaiii!"    she calls after finishing adding to her letter.    "Is there anything else I gotta do today?"   

Babey Mansion

N gets an idea. "This game's for four players. Why don't you two join us?"

Contrary to what Refia-Rumia might have come to expect of the Iron Maiden, she actually stands up and walks over, grabbing a controller. Once past the title screen, N selects Meta Knight, the Iron Maiden selects Bandana Waddle Dee, and Refia-Rumia, being player 1, is locked into Kirby.

If Ika decides to join, her options are between Green Kirby and King Dedede.

Edited by KiriK on Jun 27th 2023 at 6:46:47 AM

Caught by surprise, Nicole is trapped by the golden tree and subsequently blasted away by Garon's followup attack. She hits the ground hard, spitting out blood and hissing in pain.

"Shit... Well, I probably wasn't using those bones for much anyway," she remarks, stabbing the Dual Katana into the ground. "Just in case we don't make it outta this, Corrin, let me just say I'm glad I found ya in that cafe. Hope I've been a good enough ring bearer or whatever you call 'em."

Gripping Olympus' Wrath like a javelin, she launches the Zeus-forged blade straight towards Garon's head with all her considerable might before slowly struggling back to her feet, using the Dual Katana to support herself.

"A"

"WELL THE WAY I SEA IT I'M STRONGER AND HUNGRIER THAN YOU DE-GESO"

...

Ika pouts, but the allure of [kirbee] is too strong. He's the name you should know, after all.

She picks Grirby. I don't remember his name.

Subaru has another panic attack when Garon [disapear] while she's mid-beating-the-piss-out-of-him. Her fist slams into the platform, punching into the surface and staying there for a moment.

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NONONONONONONONO

trapped

boom

crack

KO

SDM

   "Hmm, well Lady Flandre wanted you to do some solo training in the training room."    Daiakuma hums as she recalls. Said training room, when Rumia-Refia gets there, is revealed to have a connected armory and visibly reinforced walls. There's what looks like a field you'd play a sport on (though it's unlikely anyone here plays basketball or something) and a few out of place suits of armor identical to many she'd have spotted dotting some of the hallways. If Rumia-Refia prods them she'll notice they're robots as well, these ones likely intended for training.

Babey Gaming

"Doubt it!" Refia-Rumia childishly replies before sitting down wherever N sat to play. She seems a little smug about getting to be player 1 and Pink Kirbo. She makes sure to start a new save since it's a new game to her. If prodded she'll just say it's for fun.

Oh and if Ika sits right next to her she'll give Ika a pout.

Edited by shroobot3000 on Jun 27th 2023 at 3:16:39 PM

EB

"I was thinking about hosting some combat-centric events here, like the Grand Opening that... kinda flopped. The problem is that the only first aid here is bandages, disinfectant, plasters and defibrillators, so the event participants would have to really hold back", Stefan explains. "So... would you help out with one or two events?"

I can bring people back easily, but I won’t sponsor blood matches, just to be clear.

   Hrmph.    Garon didn't slam. Mostly because he wanted to see what the others would do. As Jeridan jump to try to intercept the attack, Garon swing the axe at his back, having D 4 C kick the axe mid-way through to change its course at the last moment. Should he succeed, or should he not, his weapon comes down with absolutely crushing power, the likes of which make it unclear if Jeridan could've pulled it off even if Garon hadn't don anything to him. There, he let the axe get stuck in Jeridan, should it succeed.

It's hard to regenerate with metal stuck in the way, he figures. But if the healing factor can push the axe off, then it doesn't matter. Because he attempts to press his melting foot down his head, with the intent to press on it. Not solely because he knows precisely the kind of weakness that Jeridan has in store: aiming for the head is a natural instinct but also he wants to smother him in mud, aiming to choke him out if he can't actually destroy his head.

   I'm pleased to see less and less of you gnats scurrying about, good.    Garon pointedly doesn't drop his guard, allowing him to see Olympus's Wrath heading his way. Raising an eyebrow, he raises his hands and clap them together unto the sword with pitch-perfect precision. And by using D 4 C's powers, he's able to hurl it to a neighboring universe...

...

... Where it impales a random Iago.

...

...    I've no idea how you've secured these weapons, but with this power, they're absolutely no threat to me. You've worked to this for nothing.    Garon spreads his arms to the side, eyeing Yato and Jeridan. Corrin is barely getting to his knees, with Beruka neutralized and on her knees, laying there in quiet shock, with Se'arah likwise helpless.

And with Subaru neutralized, Nicole weakened... He only had Pucci, Ban and Morgan to worry about and what's that mo-

Grima's Truth wash over him in a destructive wave, one likely to hit Jeridan as well, and one that Corrin has to jump over to Beruka to intercept. Thankfully, only the outer edge of the blast radius hit him, but Corrin still grit his teeth as the purple flames of annihilation lick his back, burning off his armor there and burning his flesh below. He can't move for Jeridan, who would still be stuck under Garon...

... But Garon uses D 4 C once more. Using the cover of Grima's Truth with the wooden floor, he's able to use his Stand to slip away again, wary of letting himself hit by any more spell for too long. The flames do contribute to melting his face some more, and the nighmarish face of Gooron emerges from behind Morgan, extracting himself from the dimension and appearing behind him, towering over the tactician.

   I was your age when I got my first kill,    He says, attempting to backhand Morgan across the left cheek with about as much power as he can, just to be a dick.    But I doubt you'll live to be half my age, boy, haha!    Then, he turns to Nicole, since she appears to be weaker and wounded. Running at her with surprising speed, he attempts to punch her in the face with his mutated arm. And he has D 4 C ready to punch her should she try to dodge or intercept him. He means to hit her with great power, hurling her into the ground, at which point he attempts to grab the back of her head and run, grinding her face-first into the wood, lifting up many chunks of it as he does. With his other hand, he grabs a dead soldier's corpse, dragging it along as well.

   Hahahahahahahahahaha! Isn't the universe cruel?! You had such a fine team , all prepared to take me down and yet, they're all dying around you!    Snatch does work, but Garon answers to it by hurling Nicole at Ban with great speed, meaning to use her as a human missile. And Ban will need to intercept her, because she'll fly straight into the wall of fire if not. And into the rampaging MUDMEN below as well.

Then, Garon smirks as he toss the dead soldier's corpse over himself, using his Stand's powers to once again vanish completely. But he reappears very soon after, out of fear that his little ploy won't work. After all, all that wood has to come down. And, as he emerges from a chunk of wood above Ban by a good twenty feet, so does he.

Garon comes down at Ban and Nicole with a crushing stomp, his goofied face torn in half by a big creepy smile as a sort of cliff tears itself open on it. He comes down on Nicole and Ban with almost child-like glee. And, if he succeeds in his goal, he bends down and attempts to punch Ban through the face immediately thereafter. A grudge, perhaps? Regardless, once done, he attempts to stomp him too. But this time, for more than just choke him out.

With Jeridan, Garon knows he can just try to overcome his healing by crushing his head and such. Not because he knows it's specific weakness but because he figures there's a brain that need to work to get the Healing Factor going. But he's seen Ban regenerates from much more, especially through Anna's memories. So he's decided to try something more extreme. By warping him through time and space (mostly space), shoving him in between the ground and his foot to send him...

to a neighboring dimension. Where another group of heroes, including a Ban, are fighting Garon. Their circumstances appear to be just as desperate as the ones back at "home" though, although Ban is on the frontlines, watching as this world's Garon is making his way towards him. Seeing like half his counterpart suddenly emerge from the ground, though, get him to look his way.

A glimpse of the future? He says, with a wry smile. Then, all of a sudden, he's thrown back to Ban, his face looking like it's been caved in, with Garon being right in front of him, looking like he just got done throwing a punch. How? Our Ban probably doesn't care about that. What he'd care about would be that the other Ban is sent flying his way. And he'll immediately feel a kind of particularly unique nausea, even for his standards.

It's an instinctive kind of nausea but a thousand times worse, like Ban reflexively know that something is wrong and he should get out immediately. It's because Never the Selves Shall Meet. As discovered by that one soldier way earlier. And as not discovered by Beruka and her double even earlier. Not that Ban would be privy to it. But whatever force had shielded her is not shielding him.

The tips of their fingers almost touch as Ban crash near Ban. "Almost" because Ban's Snatch allowed him to have the strength to move just a bit, which is useful in this situation. Very useful. Since he'll see what will happen if they had touched: proximity alone start to make their fingers and flesh seemingly warp away. Not to a degree that Ban's regeneration can't fix, and it's only small chunks, but parts of his fingers and head start to either fly off his body as bizarres sponge-like rectangular chunks. Other parts have their flesh get grotesquely warped, stretching or collaping in on themselves and freezing as a sort of solid purple "ice".

   You went far to save these pests. Far farther than most,    Garon comments, his voice "broadcasting" around Ban.    Perhaps too far. Ohh, I wonder how your precious little healing is going to salvage this situation! Will you fuse together, perhaps?! Or will you curse at me in the form of a thousand tiny pieces of flesh?! Haha, I hope I'll get to see this before the universe collapse on us!   

With everyone seemingly scattered around him, and Ban on the verge of being telefragged, The Root World's Garon spread his arms to the side.    Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap!    He says. Not just because he wants to boast, but because he sees Se'arah readying herself for battle, grinning as he anticipates her desperate last charge at him. D 4 C appears before him, with its fists raised to punch her.

In the meantime, a few seconds ago, right behind her, Corrin lets go of Beruka, letting her roll off with a grunt as he himself get on his back, glaring up at the sky before rolling over to the side and smashing the ground on his right. He doesn't care that he does it with his stump. Fuck! FUCK! Why are you always being afflicted-why are we always being-why can't it... why can't it happen to Morgan? Or Gangrel?! Why do bad things need to happen to you?! It's as he said, it's like the universe hate us! And I think I'm about ready to return the favor!

... And then what? The universe doesn't care one bit about your hatred for it. Or Garon's, for that matter. It's... it's all a bunch of inert stars and dirt, Beruka replies, turning her head Corrin's way. The people in it, though, they'll suffer. It's them that you'll hate. So don't. You sometimes need to accept... that bad things will happen, for no good reasons, and they'll keep happening. It's a reality of life. We can't change it. She attempts to shrug, but can't, so she just stares at him.

... But I don't want to accept that, Corrin admits, staring off into the battle. He does look back at her, patting himself up to see if he has any elixir. I don't want to just suffer and accept it. We... we deserve to be happy, right? Can't it be the opposite? Can't good things happen one after the other?

Good things did happen, Beruka reassures him, forming a smile. I had a good time with you. I can't remember all of it but I can feel it. We were happy. And I never thought I would've been in my life but... you did, she glances at the group briefly, then back at him. Se'arah's Rally Spectrum goes off, a rainbow pillar igniting behind Corrin.... If I die here, you'll be sad, it's perfectly understandable. I can't tell you to not be angry or sad. But don't ever feel guilty, alright? And even if the bad moments are the hardest to forget... Keep in mind the good moments we've had together, right? You're a good person, Corrin. I'm sure you'll find a lot of people to be happy with. I love you. Corrin stares down at her, eyes watering, blood-and-mud filled lips quivering.

Once done, Beruka waits a bit and lay back down, with her hand on her wounds. ... I told you my piece. I didn't want to wait until you beat Garon, in case I die here. Go. Tear him apart. I'll beat Death back until it's forced to seize him first.

In the background, Se'arah goes off like a rocket, impaling D 4 C. Its eyes widen in shock as it gets dragged along the blade, Garon likewise being taken and dragged into the ground, screaming in pure shock as a glowing red hole carve itself out in the middle of his torso. Spitting out red-colored mud, he can only flail his arms uselessly, as D 4 C attempts to free itself by punching Alondite. But it's useless. And in his rage, Garon forget he could easily avoid the assault by just vanishing to another dimension!!

Garon and his stand both get slammed around like a ragdoll and flung into the air.    YOU BITCH! STOP THAT! STOP THAATTTT! STOP THHAAATTTTTTT!    And as the flames of the Renegade Aether engulfs him, causing him to scream in pain, Corrin get up, deciding to join the fight once more.

I don't know if I can keep up with it... The speed of a world without you in it... but I'll try. I love you too.

Beruka smiles, and so does Corrin after he glances back at her. Then, he speeds off towards Garon, unaware that help is coming, preparing himself to kill Garon if it's the last thing he'll do.

As for Garon, his flames-wreathed form returns to the platform, calming himself back to only moderate anger. He's fully devolved into Gooron, with only his furred cape around his massive shoulders.    I'll have to resort to another backup body! The gall on this wo-WHAT?!    An arm come off the wooden platform, blasting Garon with wind. Harmless wind, mind you, but it keeps Garon airborne and vulnerable to danger, unable to use D 4 C to save himself.

   Y... You!    he says, eyeing the PILLAR MAN WAMUU. Who used his bizarre flesh-warping power to dig his arm into the ground, extend it under Garon's location and blast him with tubes of wind coming off his knuckles.

You thought to do to the great Wamuu what much braver warriors couldn't, over thousands years? Idiotic, Wamuu says, keeping Garon in the air. Warriors! His powers allow him to evade attacks so long as he is crushed between two objects! Gouge him out or eviscerate him first! Our attacks are having an effect! Simply do not give him the ability to evade them!

Garon prepares to say something defiant back but Corrin slice his belly open with Yato twice with lightning-fast movements, carving a blue X over his belly, with the wound from Renegade Aether on the middle of Garon's stomach. The King can only yell in agony at this. And though he's able to crush Wamuu's hand by having a wounded D 4 C step on it, he's still left reeling, clutching his stomach as he steps backwards.

Let's do the time (and space) warp again!

"Oh crud, sorry!", Morgan calls out, not expecting that his allies would end up in the range of his attack. Oh gods, they're gonna hold this against him later, aren't they?

Wait, where did Garon go-

Alarmed, Morgan turns around, only to get backhanded across the face and knocked to the ground harshly. Garon's physical strength ensures that he's too dazed to get back up immediately. He's also visibly bruised and a part of the chin of his skull is most likely cracked. Had it not been for Snatch just now weakening Garon a bit, he might've lost his whole head instead.

Morgan's wyvern immediately lands near him once Garon's attention turns to Ban, trying to help the boy back up on his feet with its nose.

As for Ban, he does indeed catch Nicole, his own increased strength ensuring that neither of them would be hurt by the catch.

He quickly puts Nicole back down and before he even has a chance to say a single thing Garon tries to stomp on them. Quickly gathering his strength, Ban manages to catch and hold up Garon's foot without Ban and Nicole getting crushed.

That won't stop Ban from getting punched through the face as well though, as even if they weren't stomped Garon's foot did technically hit, so his follow-up attack goes through. Karma is cruel indeed. He then proceeds to get stomped hard as well. Rally Spectrum does activate, but that doesn't really prevent the stomp.

And then he gets fucking warped through space and time while still in the process of recovering. Well, the upper part of him does. This... is really, really bad for their team. Ban is essentially out of the fight for now, if not for good unless he can find his way back somehow.

-

In the alternate realm, Ban gets back up, face and ribs having regenerated. He glances around as he downs his Stamina Drink, as the insane amount of damage he's taken has drained him a lot. He now notices the strange circumstances he's in. He's now in seemingly another world, with his lower half stuck in the ground.

"... well shit. This looks bad-"

Cue the nausea beginning to affect him.

"Fuck, and it feels just as bad. Even hangovers don't feel like this."

Desperate to get out of the way, he literally tears his upper half off of the ground, leaving his stuck lower half to disintegrate on the other end. Thanks to the Stamina Drink, Ban's lower body already starts to regenerate as he crawls out of the way from his incoming counterpart. Which might not have been fast enough, so it's good that the alternate Ban did his own part in preventing them hitting each other.

Then the closeness starts to affect and destroy Ban's hands. When Ban realizes what would have happened if they had made contact, he feels very relieved that they managed to avoid that. Once his legs are back he immediately puts some significant distance between him and his counterpart, allowing for his hands to regenerate as well.

"Cheap son of a bitch. Scared to fight me head-on!?", Ban growls at Garon's voice when he hears it around him. He realizes he's basically trapped, and there's no way he'd find his way back across dimensions through the water, not on his own.

... He may have to rely on the last resort he'd planned the moment Nicole had told him this was an interdimensional mission back at the cafe. Though he doesn't like to use it one bit. Because he's gonna owe a certain someone a debt...

-

Back at Garon, F!Corrin now charges towards him as well, empowered by Rally Spectrum. Wielding a Yato herself, she aims to join her counterpart in an all-out blade assault, attempting to go for an upwards Yato Critical Hit slash right after her counterpart's attack on Garon.

Morgan and his wyvern are also empowered now (which helps in making him not feel the pain in his jaw as much). Morgan, realizing what his mistake was, decides that enough is enough and applies a capsule to Grima's Truth. This seems to have a strange effect on the tome, giving it an unseemly glow. But that's something Morgan will have to worry about later.

Hopping back onto his wyvern, he now channels his empowered Grima's Truth, but instead of letting it flow freely he attempts to pinpoint its strike Garon's limbs, aiming to literally have them melt into nothing.

EB

Stefan bites himself on the tongue. Right, obviously getting dismembered and dying is painful. And really avoidable when it comes to friendly competitions.

"It's not gonna be a blood sport, don't worry!"

He raises his hands and stays awkwardly silent. An outside observer would have to be crazy to see this interaction as event organization, let alone professional event organization - granted, it really isn't.

"So, uhh, I was thinking with starting with some kind of themed creator contest, like Ludum Dare, if you know what that is. I announce a theme, and then a bunch of participants work for... seventy-two hours or whatever is a suitable timeframe to create some kind of project, some kind of game for these Arenas. And afterwards we'd go through all the submissions to judge them. Do you gals want to join in on that?"

Nohr Rescue Mission (Garon)

Without a care for his own injuries, Jeridan continued to attack Garon with his spear until the latter swung his axe downward. Contrary to what he'd normally do, the young man reinforces his stance to let the axe shear through one of his arms just to keep launching attacks with the Vallite weapon using his other arm, gritting his teeth in agony during the process. It's only when Garon tried to stomp on him and trap him that he hopped back and away.

Jeridan wanted to go back in to land more attacks, but the magical wave from Grima's Truth posed a significant obstacle. The young man turned away from the destructive wave to protect his head with his spear, but the attack still washed over most of his body. Unable to contain his pain, he screamed as dark magic of the Fell Dragon managed to destroy half of his suit and ate his flesh away, leaving an awful burning sensation on his body.

When the attack is done, the honorary agent realize that he almost passed out from the dark wave. Cursing his own perceived incompetence, he struggled to get to his feet. The young man is very aware that he is no longer in a position to run in and attack, so he allowed the serum to be pumped throughout his body and allow it to do its work while he tried to get his breathing under control. The green fluid's effect looks absolutely miraculous, managing to restore his limb and his entire body (including the suit) in a matter of seconds.

It's only now that Jeridan has the time to process the words of Garon and the exchange between Corrin and Beruka. How can a person be so cruel? How can someone slaughter his own children and replace them like they're cattle? Perhaps... just perhaps... Garon is not a person, but a monster that needs to be-

"No. No no no no no. Don't you dare think that." The honorary agent lightly slapped himself across the face as he muttered to himself. This is exactly what a human being can do at their worst, even without all the mud mutation. You will make no excuses about what you've done, and you will face the consequences head on. You will kill a human, not a monster, and killing a human is not forgivable.

As he opened his eyes, Jeridan heard a faint whisper in the back of his mind. Turning around, he cautiously scanned his surroundings for a second only to find nothing. The honorary agent turned his attention back to the mad king, who is now suspended in midair. He considered stealing D 4 C again, but something Garon said raised a question in his mind.

Wait, what does he mean by resort? The young man's brain quickly went to work and let him recall that Garon didn't appear to be perfectly healed the first time he used D 4 C's ability to revive himself. If he can switch body with ease and is practically invincible, why does he sound so frustrated? The madman is a prideful one, so he most likely would have boasted about it by now to make us despair. Could it be...

...that he can't switch body perfectly?

It... actually makes sense. When he tried to steal Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Jeridan noticed that it looks very different from Valentine's blue one, meaning that it is not a perfect replica. Therefore, its abilities must be somewhat different as well. "Ohohohohoho...!" Jeridan chuckled. You gave me a real scare with that Stand reveal, but you'll die today, Garon.

With that in mind, Jeridan chugged the stamina potion that he saved from My Castle, before lunging forward and repeatedly thrusted the spear at the king's face and body to do as much damage as he can while his target is vulnerable. As long as they can keep up the offensive, they actually have a chance at taking down this madman!

Little does Jeridan know, a force that he is familiar with has already influenced his body. His more observant allies might notice a glimmering white shine underneath his cracked K Corp Class 3 Staff armored suit.

Edited by cyzja922 on Jun 28th 2023 at 1:46:11 AM

Nia shrugs.

"Eh. Might as'well."

Nohr, Hub Centralis, Glacial Rift

Nohr

As the platinum hand of D 4 C outstretched towards Pucci's own arm, the man's appendage sure to crush under the extreme might of a stand, he willed Whitesnake once more to save him. The Stand would come between the two with both arms reared back before slamming his fists together in a powerful blow, aiming to crush the enemy Stand's elbow between them.

Then Brunnhildr happened, and Pucci found himself twisted up in a tree of pain. He wiggled, he squirmed, he jerked and pushed and shoved, but the brambles only seemed to close in tighter. They dug into his skin and drew blood.

The crescent beam drew near. Now, it was Whitesnake that ripped and punched away at the wooden vines. Wound appeared on Pucci's hands and knuckles as the Stand did so, particularly large thorns penetrating his palms as the bramble started to wrap around his head. Crimson dripped down over his eyes and Pucci clenched his eyes shut as the Stand turned and used its own body to protect its user.

When the golden bush exploded, the body of the priest was thrown through the air, hitting the earth and nearly unmoving as Whitesnake disappeared. Only Pucci's chest rose and fell, the man unresponsive and unable to do much of anything.

____

Hub Centralis

Pucci had heard of renewable energy, but that seemed to be taking it too far.

   "Cables?"    The man tilted his head, assuming it to be a strange euphemism native to the English language that he had not yet heard.    "I don't…believe so, no. I'm—I think I'm still mostly carne, uh, flesh. Is…Neatly organized cables common for this space empire?"    Ah, flashbacks, flashbacks.

____

Glacial Rift

Taken aback by Sebastien's sudden disappearance, the monster hesitated before sniffing the air to locate its enemy through senses more than visible. By the time it had located him, however—

One more howl came from the Lunagaron as more flaming blades cut into its skin. It swiped claws at where the hunter had further damaged the beast, but all that occurred as a result was the whiff of talons as they swung thwarted through the air, never meeting their target.

A white, frosty mist built up within and around the beast’s maw. With a brief grunt, it leapt up into the sky and somersaulted over Sebastien, dropping lingering clouds of that same damaging, freezing mist onto the ground beneath and aiming for at least one of them to hit the man.

Glacial Rift

Sebastien didn't quite have the time to leap aside so he used his cape to block the frost, icicles forming on it. While this meant he didn't get damaged he had to take some time to quickly shake those off, lest they weigh him down. Consequently he doesn't have the time to do more than fire another crossbow bolt at the Lunagaron.

Taking this opportunity, the Lunagaron quickly exerted the necessary strength to hop forwards and shoulder-check Sebastien, sending a flurry of snow from the earth beneath her talons as she did so. Regardless of whether or not the attack connected, there she'd stand to regain her breath, sapped of stamina by the poison in her bloodstream and visibly showing its presence in her system in the form of a purple drool that splashed against the white snow.

Sebastien grunts as he gets Plesioth'd by the Lunagaron. He lands in a not so graceful manner but with the Lunagaron sapped of stamina, he has enough time to get back on his feet. He quickly yeets an explosive grenade at the Fanged Wyvern before running to close in with his dual blades again.