Nohr, Glacial Rift, Floating Islands

Nohr

While the armies and fighters rush into combat, Pucci backtracks and makes a tradeoff: Putting himself out of immediate danger, yet also putting himself into potential danger; if he were to be attacked right now, there’d be nobody in his immediate vicinity to come to his aid.

Not even Whitesnake, who was currently rushing towards Garon. But rather than aim for a head-on conflict (seeing as that went so well last time), the Stand approached from behind the muck-tyrant. It lifted a foot and drove it towards the back of Garon's knee, aiming to knock him onto his knees for even the briefest of moments, an act that would bring the back of the man's head to Whitesnake's shoulder height.

Where, if all else went as according to plan, the Stand would swiftly swipe a hand across Garon's occipital, fingers sinking into his mud-flesh and taking with them a disc. Stored upon this disk would be Garon's stand, the deadly D 4 C, separated from its user.

____

Glacial Rift

The Lunagaron let out a sound that seemed somewhere between a furious howl and a pained scream as Sebastien's weaponry plunged through her armor and into her back. The beast immediately began to violently thrash about, even slamming herself against trees and rolling across the snow like a dog harassed by fleas.

Which, I mean…

____

Flying Islands

Worsan stepped forwards, only to be halted by Boot's arm taking hold of his shoulder.

"I do not trust this human." He grumbled, and the salarian only responded with a roll of his eyes and a sigh.

"Look around you, Boot. Do you seriously see another choice?" The krogan hesitated, before nodding with an affirming grunt and stepping away. But before Worsan could step to the edge, Boot once again stopped the researcher. "Come on, Boot. How many—"

"No. I will go first. If the human is tricking us…You will survive, and I will not. You will find a cure for my people."

Worsan seemed taken aback by this, but still he allowed Boot to come closer to the edge than he. After all, he wasn't stupid enough to get into an argument with a krogan.

SDM

There's a pause before the robot suddenly rolls onto its feet and draws an energy sword (no not the Halo kind). It then leaps towards Rumia-Refia to slash at her. Instead of being actually injured or anything if she gets hit, it feels more like being slapped by a sword sized version of those prank zapper toys. Probably because this IS just training.

Babey Mansion

"I don't think trees have feelings." Refia-Rumia comments, despite coming from a place where that would be normal. Anyway in her typical childish manner she's going to keep playing and pretend she's not tired until exactly right after Ika throws in the towel.

Glacial Rift

Rather than try to stay on until his strength failed him, Sebastien left a little surprise before allowing the Lunagaron to throw him off. He doesn't land as gracefully as he planned, landing hard on his side, but the Fanged Wyvern probably can't take advantage of it either. Not with a timed explosive grenade stuck onto its back about to detonate.

Edited by shroobot3000 on Jun 29th 2023 at 1:57:31 PM

Feeling the change in weight upon her shoulders and the movement out of the corner of her eyes, the Lunagaron turned to Sebastien and lunged forwards with the intent of biting him in half only for an explosion to rock her body and leave her flailing helplessly on her side. Free hits, yum.

Like any good dual blades or Dual Blades user, Sebastien charges in to get those juicy free hits with plenty of slashing attacks. He does back off after getting a fair amount in, not wanting the Lunagaron to catch him off guard by swiping at him as it recovers.

When Lunagaron again rose, she did so just as Sebastien began to back away. The creature rose and looked the man dead in the eyes and blood dripped from her wounds, sliding down the shattered ice that dotted the Fanged Wyvern's form. It lowered its head, emitted a deep, guttural growl, and…

Dropped onto its side, where it lay motionless. All that followed was the slow and strenuous breaths of a creature gravely injured. To Sebastien's side limped Luin. The woman looked down on the creature with nothing but anger in her eyes, anger at the world for all that had happened to her and a need to take out all of that fury on this creature that had wounded her, but instead she only sighed and kneeled next to the Lunagaron. She drew a bloodied hand away from her injured abdomen and lay it on the side of the weary and battle-worn monster's head before standing once more and looking directly at the hunter who had helped her.

"You could kill it," She spoke in a low, sorrowful voice. "Or, I could show you another way."

"Another way?" Sebastien asked, curious. "Admittedly I'm not too inclined to kill it either way. I'm only here to deal with some Giaprey and their drome."

Edited by shroobot3000 on Jun 29th 2023 at 2:28:48 PM

Luin nodded, before stepping forwards and brandishing the thin steel gauntlet on her wrist, placed within it a dazzling blue stone gleaming with an intense light. She held it before the weakened Lunagaron's eyes, the colors flashing brightly with the sun's light reflecting off it until finally the monster's panicked, forceful gasping because a calmed and lax breathing. Once its entire attitude had changed, Luin procured a green liquid-filled vial from a pouch on her belt and stabbed it into the Fanged Wyvern's thick hide, injecting the contents. This seemed to stem the bleeding tide, with no new amount of crimson emerging from the legion of wounds.

The Rider backed away and the Lunagaron limped to its feet, glancing between the duo. Rather than attack with its newly regained strength, it bowed its head in an act of submission that recognized Sebastien and Luin both as being worthy of its respect.

"You said Giadrome?" The woman asked, looking to her ally. "They dead yet?"

"What did you do exactly?" Sebastien asked, even more curious now. He gave the Lunagaron a nod of acknowledgement before answering Luin's own question. "Well no, I had been on the way to where they were spotted when I ran into you."

"It's…complicated. But I tell you what," Luin allowed herself to grin, forgetting for a moment her current situation. "As thanks for saving my life, I'll help with your Giaproblem. Me and big blue here both. And I'll explain everything along the way."

"Very well. I'll lead the way." Sebastien says, taking the lead. Instead of using any fancy scoutflies or anything he does it the old fashioned way, following tracks and claw marks on trees as he goes along. Now's a good time for Luin to explain things, or maybe for the funny dog to show off.

The Lunagaron trotted along behind the duo, not quite tracking anything as he had no basis to track their new quarry with.

"It's called a Kinship Stone," Luin explained, glancing down at the gem on her wrist. Incredibly rare. To get one, in my tribe at least, you had to complete this whole trial. Ah…I still have my scars from that," She looked off into the distance with a faint smile, looking back fondly on those days before she arrived in the Arena, before she met the very being that would eventually prove to be her ultimate adversary.

"Something about the shine, the way the sun bounces off it, soothes creatures of lesser brainpower. It's especially effective when said creature is either weak or young. It's how I got Lutemis to work with me. That's the wyvern you saw with me a few weeks ago." Briefly, a glimpse of sadness crossed her face before she pushed her worries and concerns away, forcing herself to exist solely within this moment and nothing else. The past was the past—and she had Vulkaros searching for her tames. As of this minute, there was absolutely nothing she could do.

"That's what happened with the Lunagaron back there. They're normally vicious, so it had to have been really out of it for that to work so quickly. Speaking of…Most people would've killed it while it was down without a second thought. And I'll be honest…I thought about it. Taking my anger out on it. But I'm glad I didn't. And I'm glad you didn't, too." The Rider looked to Sebastien with a smile and a nod, not breaking her pace for a moment. "You're one of the good few, you know."

"I see, certainly the first time I hear about something like that." Sebastien admits as they walk along. He gives her a sympathetic look. "I know what it's like missing a partner. I hope you find them soon."

"Well, I couldn't really bring myself too." Sebastien sheepishly says. "I might be a monster hunter technically but the kind that goes after supernatural threats, actively malevolent ones at that. These are more like wild animals from my world than anything, it feels a bit wrong to hate an animal for simply acting on instinct."

"Course, we are going after a pack of Gias but they have been increasingly threatening a local, isolated community." Sebastien sighs. "Some suspect they've become man eaters or something, as a reason for their increased aggression."

"Culling a population is…Necessary, sometimes." Luin responded to Sebastien's point. "The very nature of society breeds conflict between society and nature. I try my best to understand these creatures, but I also understand that sometimes you just can't relocate or calm down a monster. Their minds are too bent, too disturbed by forces out of their control. You have to kill them." The woman thought aloud, clearly with a particular monster in mind. "I'm sorry, I'm…rambling." She shook her head.

"These things we're hunting, Giaprey, are from my world. Voracious pack predators. Never encountered one, but this Hunter that came through our village had encountered them before. They're a deadly bunch. Easy to write them off as a threat, but don't catch yourself underestimating them—less they catch you."

Nohr Rescue Mission (Carmen?)

After attacking Garon with his spear, Jeridan used the weapon to block the large swat, but was knocked back significantly while several parts of his K Corp armor was shattered. The young man tried to get back up as quickly as possible, but he was forced to throw himself to the side to avoid the subsequent punch from the mad king, which wasn't enough to fully avoid the barbarous strike.

The young man was bashed away, his body slamming against a nearby debris as he struggled to stand. Jeridan watched Corrin, Morgan, Einherjar F!Corrin, Se'arah, and Pucci all converging on and fighting against Garon as he stood still to recover his composure, the pain he suffered from previous injuries finally taking a toll on his mind. Everything seems to be slowing down for the honorary agent, who stared at the scene with wide eyes and not able to say a single word.

It's at this moment the gentle whisper from the back of his mind returned, now clearly audible. As a matter of fact, it almost radiates a strange warmth that causes his mind to relax. He is not only mutated beyond restoration, but also willing to murder his own children and supplant them with malicious copies. King Garon can be considered a monster in both body and mind, no one will blame you if you treat him as one. In fact, Corrin may even praise you for putting him down. Do you still consider him a human? Now, it feels like it is whispering directly into his ears.

"...yeah, I do. We both know that this is the worst a human can achieve. Garon wasn't always some sludge creature." Jeridan muttered to the warm voice inside his head. "If I let myself see him as a monster and put him down, who knows what else I'll start treat in the same way? No, I won't take the easy way out, because this is a slope I will not recover from. I'll face any and all consequences of my actions head on if possible."

Why do you insist on confronting your own mistakes? The voice questioned. You know it's not necessary to do so all the time.

"For self-improvement, of course." The young man asserted confidently. "I will take steps to minimize mistakes, but what you just proposed was an act of avoidance that will only lead me to running from facing my errors down the line."

You will never stop making mistakes, there will always be lapses in judgment or a momentary lack of focus that leads to disastrous results. The voice approached from a different angle with the same gentleness. Can you truly say that you have learned anything meaningful so far? You claim to want to face your mistakes head on, yet you still struggle to look at Finn in his eyes. You sought to improve yourself by negotiating with the PIL and learn from them, yet you hold doubt about whether they're actually teaching you something meaningful. You know they might’ve just been teaching you what they want you to know so they can use you as an attack dog.

"Don't you even go there." Jeridan's face twisted into a small frown as he continued with firm resolve and a tinge of anger. "I have spoken to Finn about this directly and taken responsibility by not using my powers to play god and change people's fate. I have sought out the PIL to learn how to use my powers and how to deal with the supernatural in a responsible and professional manner, and that is exactly what I got. It is true that I will always make mistakes, but that is inevitable when you experience new things, which is exactly what I plan to do using the Arena. Besides, I have learned, it is simply not apparent to me until I look at my past."

Perhaps they're simply buttering you up. The voice insisted patiently. Perhaps they seek trap you with their politics and regulations.

"Hmph, you really are a persistent conversationalist. I can't complain though, I'm similar in this regard." Jeridan can't help but bark out a laugh. "They haven't done anything that is considerably terrible yet, and I believe in innocence until proven guilty. Even if they betray my trust in the future, I will simply quit my position as honorary agent and escape. There are more ways to live than working under the PIL, I just need to find a new job in the Arena." Jeridan took a deep breath as his face relaxed into a neutral expression. "I might commit acts that are irredeemable before I can fully break free from them, but I will confront the consequences should these actions become reality."

"Haaahhh..." The young man sighed, feeling as if he just expelled a cloud of stress from his mouth as he started to voice his thoughts aloud. "Yes, even if my future is filled with obstacles, even if the path I walk is one covered in thorns, even if I am disheartened by my suffering... I will face my perils, improve myself, and continue onward."

Can you truly claim that? The warm voice persisted, but it seemed much weaker than before. One cannot face all obstacles in life alone, just as how one cannot topple a mountain without burning away.

"Hah, did you forget?" Jeridan laughed out of genuine amusement as the borrowed K Corp armor started to crack. "With the powers I have, there is no way I can be alone. Even when borrowing, I can still feel their essence resonating with my being, something that felt like it was emphasized just now... Huh, that's weird."

"Anyways, thanks for the talk, it was quite enlightening. I never would've found my resolve without your intervention, and now..." The honorary agent spoke as he stood up straight, prying the broken mask off of his face as he looked over to Garon and the war raging between the mudmen and the Nohrian-Hoshidan united army.

"I can face my future without hesitation."

Now, time continued at a normal pace from Jeridan's perspective, as the blue and gray armored suit shattered while white light momentarily radiated from his body. Mechanical components covered his body and eventually enveloped him, forming a cybernetic suit with a predominantly black color and pristine white armor plating with rainbow colored light radiating from his visors, fingertips, and the tips of his boots. The design of the helmet is reminiscent of his bandages, with horizontal stripes on the facial region and numerous thin, white appendages resembling ribbons dangling from the back of his head whose tip also displayed a variety of colors.

Several components covered his Vallite weapon, further empowering it and making the spearhead radiate a white light. Tapping the spear against the ground, Jeridan called forth what he instinctually know is a part of his ability. A mechanical gate appeared from thin air, and from it came several automatons whose exterior share a similar design as his armor.

"Go, assist the army and push back the mud creatures." The honorary agent's command was quickly obeyed, with the robots immediately rushing in to assist the united army in fighting against the mudmen, using energy blasters to push them back while nursing any wounded during the battle.

The young man turned to face Garon as he can't help but laugh as he saw Ban and another Deadly Sin joining the battle, as well as the famous Optimus Prime pushing back the cocky Decepticon scout leader. "You can never be assured of your victory until you actually win, Garon!"

"Now prepare yourself," Gripping the enhanced Vallite spear with both hands, Jeridan bolted towards the mad king with newfound speed, assisting Corrin in striking down the horrid man with a barrage of spear thrusts at his body. "because you will fall today!" He noted Pucci reaching to extract D 4 C with a smirk. Good, that will be one less nuisance to deal with.

Edited by cyzja922 on Apr 30th 2024 at 4:58:24 AM

Hyrule (not anymore?)

The four explorers hop off the ride.

Where do we are? Asked Maxi.

Pantheon

Unfortunately, the burning sun attack was too much for poor Ms. Grey, leaving her turned into a literal pile of ashes.

Nohr

Ms. Thingies encases herself into a fluffy barrier, avoiding being harmed more by Starscream throwing her against her allies.

Then, Optimus Prime arrives.

Don't tell me Nohr is in within yet another war...

But before she could get some answers, Starscream deploys his arsenal, and more mudmen appears.

I'll take care of them all. You, go with Garon.

Ms. Thingies casts again her fire spell on all the battlefield, hoping to set on fire the mudmen and Starscream.

Glacial Rift

"It's fine." Sebastien simply says to Luin after her rambling. "I see. I'll keep that in mind."

Soon they hear characteristic calls and chatter of raptorial wyverns of the 'prey family. In a clearing up ahead there's a pack of about 5 Giaprey. Two of them are chattering at each other while the other 3 take turns eating from a Popo corpse. None seem to have noticed them yet.

"Strange, where's the alpha?" Sebastien muses. "Though I suppose taking down the weaker members before it returns would be easier. On that note."

He then turns to Luin.

"Err, are you going to fight as well? You don't have a weapon so..." he coughs. "I could lend you one of mine if need be."

Exotic Battlegrounds

Stefan watches Eve leave and shrugs. Then he turns to Nia and Melia.

"There's three other terminals around here if you want to try creating your own arenas and they all work. The cafeteria", he points down the hallway to an area with seats, tables and wall-mounted screens, all of which are wrapped with caution tape, "currently doesn't serve food because nobody's delivering it. There's an armory if you want to create new kinds of weapons for yourself, and there's also an underground slash maintenance area where all the machines are, but you can't access those without being an EV employee. So yeah, make yourselves comfortable!"

Beat his ass

Garon's simple but efficient approach to dealing with problems prove inunsufficient here. Having thrown away the skills that had allowed him to better keep up with the group, Garon finds himself pressure from several different sources as Ban's surprise punch successfully hit him, causing him to be cast down to the ground in a heap. And then he's raised to the air by Merlin and Einherjar Leo, although he raises his own Brynhildr to fight back against the effect of the magic, yelling his heart out as a bigger golden tree impale Einherjar Leo's, causing the gravity to fail as he attempts to immediately blast Merlin and Leo with big fireballs.

GUYYSSSS!

   Absolutely nonsense! The universe will only bring you to your lowest point yet again! Just watch! You'll soon be facing overwhelming despair!   

But it did hold him up in the air for long enough to help Grima's Truth nearly blast true. And though Garon is able to pull off a last second dodge, the strike still punch a big burning hole through his shoulder. Groaning and lurching forward, Garon uses Brynhildr to summon Bolverk into his hand via gravity magic and raises his axe to block the next shot, drawing forth his own magic to survive the attack. Then, still using Bolverk as a shield, he goes to walk through Grima's Truth, the axe being brought to its melting point with every step.

GUYS LISTEN TO ME!!!

However, it holds on for long enough that he has the time to make it to Morgan, running through the beam by using his body to open up a big muddy hole for it to pass through. Thanks to this Logia-like trick, he's able to survive even after half his axe is reduced to melted fell slag, allowing him to reach Morgan before he try to stab his wyvern with the melted tip of the axe, likewise attempting to batter the book away from Morgan's hands.

Thank, me! Alright, let's get him! Corrin says in the meantime, deciding to intervene before Garon can nab a kill.

But before he can try to just kill Morgan, Pucci comes in with the knee breaker, hitting Garon's weakened limb and causing it to fall apart. Falling to his knees, he still has enough sense in him to swat at Pucci with a swing of his arm, but end up being attacked by Subaru, who make him literally fall to his knee... right before she judo-swing him into Corrin. And though it'd be like really useless against a mudman like Garon, he's solid enough that it works. And he's tossed right into the thankful prince, who plunges his new hand through his body, ripping out a big meaty chunk of it before he stabs at Garon with Yato, in conjunction with Jeridan, who likewise use his spear to punch many holes through Garon's body, causing him to look like a giant walking grey sponge of nothing.

YOU GUYS AIIEEE!

In frustration, Garon swing his limb at them, but Wamuu blast it back with wind, setting up Nicole for the "kill": slicing Garon in half. At this moment, this very key moment, Garon is perhaps at his closest to being defeated. And had it not been for his power, he would've been probably killed a few dozens time over by now. At this point, his narrow escape is the result of his rage temporarily being subdued by fear, making his rationality take over, as rational as he can be, anyway.

   T-thank you buuuarrghhhhh Nicole, you fool!    One half of Garon grab his other half and, instead of putting himself back together for what's very likely to be a doomed fight, Garon slams himself on the wooden floor with his liquid half on top of him, triggering D 4 C's power and allowing him to escape with a mocking laugh. Though angered, Corrin doesn't blame Nicole, since she couldn't predict that he'd be that hard to kill. After all, if he could survive being split in half, what would it take, by that point? Perhaps Garon ran on some level of... having "life" in him that could survive any form of damage, but he'd die if he were to get hit too much? He was evidently slowing down and showing more pain as the fight continued.

HO SHIITTTTT!! Foxy didn't just stand around to do nothing though. He, in fact, quickly applied his Noro Noro Beams to a wave of missiles, bullets and outright lasers coming their way, having intercepted the lasers by sheer luck. All of them were headed for the platform, too, courtesy of Starscream, who probably figured he could get some quick kills that way.

I CAN ONLY HOLD STUFF UP FOR 30 SECONDS! WE GOTTA LEG IT!

I'll extinguish those flames for those of you who can't fly! Corrin quickly transforms into his dragon form, keeping his upgrade from Valla, earned after slaying Anankos. Acting fast, with a jet of water, he easily extinguish the magical fire created by the Alternate Elise, allowing the group to exit the platform, or at least, the part of the group that couldn't have done it without fliers.

One of which he is himself, but well, he is a water dragon. So he can probably shut off some pesky flames, right?

As for Wamuu and Foxy, they flee his way. Beruka simply take to the sky, glancing about at people who could go her way. There's place for three.

Instead of immediately going back to the melee though, Corrin goes to the area below the platform. EVERYONE! THE PLATFORM'S GOING TO EXPLODE! WATCH OUT FOR THE DEBRIS! And it explodes indeed, tossing chunks of woods everywhere. Starscream luckily can't launch more projectiles for the time being: those were his last salvo before Merlin knocked him down. He's still far from the count but he glances up in baffled surprise, wondering what was happening. How was Prime in there? How could he be attacked out of nowhere?! HOW?!

Corrin quickly use his water power to blast off a large chunk of the wood debris though, at least insuring that only a few more people will need to contribute to shield the united army. Optimus also contributes, spreading his arms wide and letting the wood break over his tough metal hide. Mom! We... huh, I'm very glad about seeing you! I hope we'll have time to talk when this is over!

Me too, love!

Elsewhere, Beruka returns back to Athos and the others, the old wizard still charging up on his magic, appearing to be preparing a team-wiping move with it. He's in the backline though, so he's not in danger. Beruka! You're alive! Samsara cheers, seeing Beruka land nearby. The Malig Knight simply gives her a glare, not sure about her identity and confused about the whole proceeding.

I don't know you, don't talk to me; she says, eyeing the situation. We've lost track of Garon. It's going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack but I'll need some of you to come along and help me with it. They have no aerial defenses bar that... that... thing. We should be able to fly over them easily.

As she says that, a roar erupts from the middle of the Mudmen army, and a huge pillar of pure mud erupts from the middle of it, startling the group into looking its way. Within the pillar stands a very, very fucked-up Gooron, accompanied by a bunch of much smaller Garons, their face blank as Gooron start shoveling them into his body, quickly bringing them to the Root World with D 4 C before adding them to his mass, in a desperate bid to undo his injuries as received from the group.

But his injuries are so severe that even such a dire process, involving sacrificing dozens of alternate selves from other worlds, fail. Gooron's body mutates beyond his intention. Where he meant to keep his humanoid shape and restore his full strength, Garon's absorption cause him to scream in pain as his mud body is further defiled, growing massive wings as his face elongates into a toothy maw with a long snout and several empty eyes sockets. Some of those "teeth" are pushed all the way to the back of his head, forming a crown of a sort.

Garon's body elongates further, losing its humanoid form into a Draconic one; Most damningly, that massive body reveal a detail his original body didn't: a glowing red core of a sort, which was so small that he could tuck it away whenever he wanted before, now so massive that, even as he attempts to shove it back into his torso, it still glows to illuminate his big empty eyeholes.

   Oh, how cute! Little organic's got a T-cog too!   

   SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!!!!    Ms. Thingies's green flames soon cover the entire battlefield indeed, but unfortunately, they're not that useful against the Mudmen, who are still composed of invincible mud. Likewise, Starscream simply take to the air again, laughing tauntingly. Garon himself sees an opportunity in this: his mud "seize" the flames, corrupting the power of willpower and imagination into his own, of despair and destruction, Fell Flames similar enough to Morgan's.

The massive dragon uses his clumsy strength to his advantage, slamming his long, long spiked tail to the side and sweeping it forward, cleaving through the horde of Mudmen and causing them to lose cohesion to become a big pile of inert flaming sludge, which he toss at the group to drown them under tons of flaming magical mud. Needless to say, without some amount of interference from the group, a lot of Hoshidan and Nohrians are going to perish by the flames.

What's more. Once the sludge has landed, flaming mudmen start emerging from it, shambling towards the group, adding whatever Nohrian and Hoshidan they'll get to their army. Which is still growing out of the ground, as Garon start to rip big fat chunks of it near him. But if it could be more than mudmen emerging from it...

Garon is still using D 4 C. Even as a dragon, he's still got access to it. And he summons craploads of Nicoles, of Bans, of Puccis, of Se'arahs, of Merlins, of Corrins, of Wamuus and Morgans, most of them promptly raining over the group. But the more he sees the enemy army, the more he includes Ryomas, Mikotos, Berukas, Sumeragis, Takumis... Of course, creating more enemies would be unwise, so most of these doubles die by virtue of being melded together in mid-flight. What matters to Garon is that they'll still last long enough to hit their other selves on the way down.

Of course, Ban has first-hand experience with that power. So he could warn the group beforehand. Well, Ban and Jeridan. Whose automatons do help a lot in moving people out of the way, if so they choose. At the very least, their presence is a significant boon, with their bodies being too tough for the mudmen to destroy and their healing keeping many soldiers in the game.

I'm going to take care of that gray mass! Find a way to stop Garon from doing this! Corrin take to the air as a dragon, blasting at the mass of mud with his Water Breath, stripping off significant chunks of it by pulverizing it and the flames, but not at a fast enough rate that he'll take care of it himself. If the group has means of defending the warriors, getting them out of the way or just shielding them, they're invited to carry them out.

At this point, to move things along, Pucci and Jeridan can insert their explanations of their powers here. And while Starscream isn't ready to wait for them to do so, flying their way with full intent to exploit the chaos to just snipe them, a shape emerges out of nowhere, impacting into the Decepticon with enough time to hurl him off into the sky, literally blasting Starscream so far up into the air that he briefly becomes a twinkle in the sky...

It's PEPPINO TIME! Peppino Pizza Tower got over his nervousness and joined the fight, crash-landing into a bunch of Mudmen and starting a huge brawl, punching and kicking his way out like a karateka. What a lad!

It goes against my nature to carry you towards danger... but if you need so, I'll get you as close to Garon as possible, human. With the space freed around him, Optimus transform into a sweet fucking truck. It looks like it could cleave through the army of mudmen stationed between Garon and the good guys, but at the same time, Garon's "eyes" are turned their way, with full preparation to intercept the huge truck robot and his friends.

Optimus's optics and Samsara's "eyes" set themsleves on the flying variants. They need to stop Garon.

I can fly. We'll get over Garon while the others distract him and sweep that... Stand. I can have up to three people on Minerva with me too.

I'll get on! I really want to take my shot at him and get into the heart of things! Salazar says, holding up his shotgun.

W-well, if you keep him... busy I could paralyze him with the Noro-Noro beams! And I could do it even if you want to barge at him. But i'll need ample distraction.

Just settle fast, he's not going to be waiting for us.

Optimus doesn't object. It looks like he's ready to cause mayhem for Garon, either as the main course or as a distraction. But without the mean to hurt him, he might be outmatched in a fight!

We know what's up, so we'll assist you either way. But he's still gonna see Beruka leaving, so we'll need to really raise hell.

The others can either protect the Hoshidan-Nohrian army and help Corrin or assist Pucci or Jeridan in whatever they do. Be it the direct way or by trying to do a hit-and-run.

Edited by Bolded1 on Jun 30th 2023 at 11:58:50 AM

As Baiken makes camp, she can hear a rhythmic breathing from the larger chamber ahead, wind rushing in and out with every inhale and exhale.

Not long after, she can see a man rushing into the cave. Much like Zenitsu, he wears a Japanese-styled garb. His black hair is disheveled and wild, and his expression haggard. He seems tired and out of breath.

He clutches his head in horror. "Oh no... what am I to do? It's too late... It took him... gone... gone... the beast..."

Edited by Arachnos on Jun 30th 2023 at 6:31:58 AM

Nohr Rescue Mission (Garon)

Jeridan can't help but clicking his tongue in annoyance when Garon escaped again and now he has to get off the burning platform. Borrowing and hopping into a Sutherland Knightmare Frame equipped with a Float System◊, he took to the sky to avoid getting toasted to a crisp, occasionally using the machine's arms to swat away some burning debris.

Upon seeing Garon erupt in the midst of his mudmen army, the young man can't help but laugh a little at Starscream's little quip about transformations. The automatons quickly went to work, erecting energy barriers while using their bodies to shield the Nohrian-Hoshidan army soldiers to prevent them from being crushed by the flaming mud. As long as Jeridan is alive, they can be brought back any time. The robots that survive the mud wave will start firing their energy weapons at the new mudmen to blast them into small, harmless chunks.

"Be careful not to touch your alternate selves!" Jeridan used the Sutherland's loudspeaker to broadcast a message to his teammates. "Should they get close enough, they will be slowly pulled towards you. If they make contact, you will be obliterated from existence!" That's not precisely how D 4 C works, but alerting his allies of the danger is the most important thing.

Jeridan commanded the remaining deployed automatons to broadcast the same message to the Nohrian-Hoshidan army and move the people Garon is targeting out of the way. Without further delay, he flew the Knightmare Frame down to Pucci and Foxy and extended an arm, where the two can then climb onto its shoulder. "Come on, we must stop Garon from using his Stand." Should they climb onto the machine, the honorary agent would fly towards the dragon.

Edited by cyzja922 on Jul 1st 2023 at 12:30:32 PM

OH FUCK UH

She yells a frantic thank you while she's busy fucking booking it, slodging through Corrin's water. Touching down outside the platform she immediately rolls for cover, hunkering down and covering her face with her arms and knees as the platform detonates.

...

Then it starts raining people. People who die.
So. She's out of the fight. This massacre of a display courtesy of D4C is.
How is someone even supposed to process this.
Frankly, this is surrealy horrific in a manner nothing else so far has been.

Subaru punches her way into one of the buildings of the Slums, collapses against a wall, and starts to let out heaving sobs.

Merlin OP, plz nerf

Leo gets struck by Garon's fireball, though Merlin casts some kind of rune that makes the magic attack fizzle out into nothing upon touching it. A magic cancellation spell?

Morgan looks alarmed when Garon walks through the now enhanced power of Grima's Truth. It's probably pure adrenaline that let Garon tank this attack like this, but that doesn't really come up in Morgan's currently panicking mind.

Morgan's wyvern does come to aid him, but in turn gets stabbed in its wing for its efforts, letting out a painful screech.

"Nia!"

Due to his shock, Grima's Truth gets knocked out of his hands. Thankfully, before Garon can take advantage of this, Pucci intervenes, followed by others, allowing Morgan to try to guide his wyvern to a safer distance, as well as pick up his still ominously-glowing tome.

And then Starscream intervenes yet again.

Einherjar Leo grabs Einherjar F!Corrin and has his horse jump off of the platform. Thanks to the Einherjar's endurance, the horse manages to land without being hurt.

Morgan looks worried. His wyvern can't fly well right now, and he's not intending on leaving it behind. Ban suddenly grabs him, holding him under his arm like luggage, and jumps off though.

"W-wait! Ban! Nia's still up there!", he shouts as if in a frenzy.

"Yeah, yeah, keep your cool, kid. We're not abandoning your wyvern.", Ban says. And his words are truth, as Merlin flies up to it and teleports it down to the ground where Ban lands. A relieved Morgan is freed from Ban's grip and runs over to it, hugging its head.

"An adorable moment, but we must get some distance.", Merlin says. Ban, Morgan, his wyvern and the Einherjar of them now start running towards the clashing armies, whereas Merlin just straight up teleports towards them instantly.

-

Einherjar Nyx and Einherjar Zola are still helping fend off the Mudmen when the now grotesque and mutating Gooron appears there. When the now draconic being tries to bury them all under layers of deadly mud, Merlin acts.

"Endless Whirl!"

She creates a powerful wind vortex around the army. Once it has sufficient power she unleashes the winds, aiming to have as much mud as possible get sent flying towards empty parts of the battlefield, as well as towards Starscream. She can aim this, so if it succeeds she should not be able to accidentally hit her own allies with the redirected mud.

It probably won't get all of the mud, but at least a significant amount of it.

"Whoa.", Morgan mutters upon seeing magic of such a massive scale used. They were large enough to cover two converged armies. Ban grins.

"That's Merlin for ya. She's the greatest magician in all of Britannia. She can contend with even demons. Rest assured, you've seen nothing yet."

"Well, now Garon's wide open, and he even got an obvious weak spot. Let's... huh?"

The duplicates start showing up. While the Einherjar don't have doubles, Ban, Morgan and Merlin do. And that's worrying.

Ban immediately reacts as well.

"Jeridan is right, it almost happened to me! DO NOT TOUCH THEM!"

The way he shouts with such haste shows Merlin that this is no joke. Since the duplicates were summoned by a spell, she could have used Absolute Cancel on them to forcefully cancel the spell and send them back... but in order to use Absolute Cancel, she'd have to touch them. Which is not an option right now.

She'll have to go for Plan B.

"Chrono Coffin!"

Ban's eyes widen. The fact that Merlin is using a forbidden spell tells him that she's talking this seriously. Chrono Coffin starts to form in the sky, around the falling duplicates. If Merlin manages to successfully activate the spell, they will be temporarily frozen in time, unable to further descend and touch anyone. And if, only if, she manages to successfully pull this off, she then follows it up with-

"Enchant: Infinity!"

The air crackles around her as if briefly in the process of breaking. Infinity, Merlin's most powerful spell in her whole arsenal. A spell she rarely ever uses.

A purple orb forms around the Chrono Coffin. The Infinity orb will force Chrono Coffin to remain active permanently until Merlin chooses to dispel it. Yes, even if she gets killed, Infinity will keep Chrono Coffin active, which would keep it active forever unless Merlin were to be revived.

Infinity... a spell so terrifying that even the Demon Clan and Goddess Clan of her world are aware of it, to the point that they would do pretty much anything to have its caster on their side should they go to war. A spell so powerful that people in-universe refer to it as 'cheating'.

If successful, the currently present duplicates will all be halted. HOWEVER, ONLY the currently present duplicates. Any ones that come through after Infinity activates will not be affected by it, so the race to get to Gooron is still on.

Still, the four Einherjar and Morgan just stare in awe and shock while Ban smirks with glee.

"Now you've seen somethin' all right. Now let's go kick Garon's muddy ass!"

Einherjar Leo launches Brynhildr at Goorn, whereas Einherjar F!Corrin jumps off of her brother's horse and attempts to land a Dragon Fang strike with Yato. Einherjar Nyx and Einherjar Zola keep the Mudmen at bay.

Ban starts throwing rapid punches, aiming to try to break off as many mud-parts off of Gooron's body as possible.

And Morgan launches Grima's Truth one more time, trying to aim at the glowing red spot in Gooron's body.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Jun 30th 2023 at 12:23:33 PM

Nohr

Well that's all kinds of disturbing. Yamame will definitely drink a lot of sake after this to unsee that, maybe with Subaru since she seems like she needs it. At least there's none of her in that mess. Right now though she needs to focus again. Quickly moving up to the intercept the mud wave and mudmen, she uses her earth spider abilities to build bulwarks and barricades to help the others in stopping it from hitting the gathered armies.

Then she gets an idea, looking at her vallite spear. She makes sure she's somewhere the mudmen can't see then begins burrowing underground to start heading to where Garon is, hoping in his distracted state he won't notice her eventually emerge and get a cheap shot in. Next turn though, until then she's digging.

Edited by shroobot3000 on Jun 30th 2023 at 1:34:26 PM

Scarlet Devil Mansion

Rumia-Refia doesn't know the energy sword is like a training weapon, so she lets out a yelp as it comes bearing down on her. Even after it hits, she's still panicking.

Suddenly, half a dozen shadowy clawed arms spring forth from all over her body, all reaching out and grasping like those fucking Gloom Spawn from Tears of the Kingdom. The first one to grab the training bot will start viciously slamming it into the floor while the rest recede.

Babey Mansion

To give a generous estimate, by the time Ika collapses, they'll be about halfway through the fourth area, White Wafers. Assuming they don't try and collect every single Energy Sphere, which is up to Refia-Rumia as the first player. If they do, they'll probably have only just beaten Fatty Puffer, the third area's boss.

And it'll be nearing midnight.

Nohr

Se'arah jumps off the platform before it goes kaboom. As she's searching for Garon, she looks up at her falling counterparts. "Eugh."

Once she witnesses their fates and overhears Ban's warning, she uses one of her straight-line-dashes to zoom away from them. With little else she can do at the moment, she uses another Rally Spectrum to bolster her allies' combat abilities.

Mordecai hops into Optimus' cargo bed. "Wherever you drive, I'll shoot!"

RF!Anna just charges right into the thick of things, slashing around at surrounding mudmen.

Lost Knife Cave

Baiken isn't stupid, but she also isn't taking any chances. The moment she hears what the man has to say, she gets up and starts walking towards the inner chamber.

"Alright," she growls. "What's going on here?"

Scarlet Devil Mansion

The robot dodges a few before getting grabbed and slammed in the ground over and over. It doesn't seem to have much of a way to escape that but the moment she gives it any slack it will immediately leap into action again by charging at her or slashing at the arm holding it and then doing so. Despite the many dents in its armor.

Babey Mansion

Refia-Rumia isn't a NERD so unless one of the others pushes for it she doesn't grab every single Energy Sphere on their first run. The moment Ika eats shit she'll yawn and stand up.

"Okay, I'm sleepy now." she'll admit begrudgingly.

Edited by shroobot3000 on Jun 30th 2023 at 2:45:48 PM