The Hunter'
Not sure what else to do, the Hunter ends up loading in more of their acid rounds that they had used before. Hoping to melt away the Dark Matter.
After unleashing a barrage of those shots, they would simply back up, looking out for any attacks that may come their way. They've done what they could.
"Just a humble peasant looking for work~"Vinesauce Zinny
Zystak faltered and stumbled forwards. The Black matter had cleared to reveal the fleshy creature beneath. His grenades and ammo had all been spent and the hole in his chest had left him on death’s door.
There was no option left. None, save a single choice: he dropped to his knees and surged forwards, leaping with a final bout of strength in an attempt to land on the Zinogre’s fur, grab on, and bite out its throat.
With great power…you know the rest.Megumi is a pretty hardcore lad but he paces himself this turn. He acknowledges Reiko but hang back as promised, waiting for his burnt-out Cursed Technique to stabilize.
That didn't tend to happen at "home", where he could still use Shikigamis, but perhaps that was an extra condition placed upon it by this odd world?
He'll contemplate it later. For now, he hangs back.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterAltzaira's eyes flash as she sees Gaismagorm collapse to the ground, seemingly on the ropes. Now's the chance to start dealing real damage to the beast.
"Martial Art: Limit Breaker - Mind!" she calls out, shutting off all limits imposed on her body by her brain, massively raising her already immense power at the cost of potentially injuring herself by outputting more force than even her body is prepared to handle. This death-or-glory move signifies that Altzaira is ready to win this fight, die trying, or both. In addition to this, the perfume buff will also increase the potency of her attacks now.
"Martial Art: Daredevil Drake!" She swoops down upon the incapacitated demon at dangerous speed, using its body to cushion an impact that could have otherwise broken her own bones. As it stands, assuming Majin Gaismagorm doesn't miraculously dodgeroll out of the way, it's probably the one more likely to end up with the broken bones.
"Martial Art: Heavy Impaler!" In her human form, this was a ranged halberd throw, but this time around, she simply executes a violent thrust with her blade-tipped tail, trying to piece clean through Gaismagorm and pin it to the ground. In case that wasn't enough, she follows up with "Martial Art: Lockjaw", attempting to clamp down on the monstrosity's neck, doing everything she can to keep it trapped in a nearly inescapable dragon equivalent of a wrestling hold. Once that's done, she finishes up with "Martial Art: Steel Wind Buffet" to tack on some additional damage by tenderizing Majin Gaismagorm with rapid strikes from her heavy, powerful wings.
Edited by Arachnos on Nov 29th 2023 at 10:24:42 AM
Collateral Damage
When Ana turns, Golden Bat has been right behind her. He grabs her shoulders and clenches down with a steely grip.
"Kore de owari ja."
He pulls outward, attempting to rip her in half, or at least remove a limb. Failure to do either will elicit his first sign of frustration since the fight began, a nasty growl, before he opts to carry her far enough to reach an intact skyscraper and slam dunk her through every last floor.
—
A certain survivor of Ana's prior attack,
unaccounted for by the rescuers, is Kirike. She is huddled in the collapsed remains of a building, shaking as dying faces flash in her mind. She's died plenty of times, but to see it happen to others en masse, and be left alive, is a whole new kind of terror and misery for her. That, plus she is not immune to whatever magic drove the other survivors into a mad daze. Her eyes pulse with gold as instinctive fear clashes with soul-eating compulsion.
She is startled by a footstep, looking up to see Sariel. Anger creeps into her heart. "Where... Where were you? You could've prevented this..."
"Perhaps. But I am here to end it." Sariel holds up a necklace with a star-shaped pendant and steps forward. Kirike grabs her wrist with both hands, but the rogue angel easily overpowers the hazy-minded girl. The pendant shines, and the necklace expels Ana's light, and turns Kirike's eyes a shimmering, magical violet.
Her face is twisted into a neutral, unbothered expression. She stands up straight and looks outside.
"A gift, to control your power. One day, you will not need it. But until then... Let's see what you can do."
Conflict. Danger. Misfortune. The only way to divert civilian attention away from the heroes is to make them focus on a different enemy.
Kirike runs outside and channels her power. In a wave of Calamity, weapons crumble to dust, wrist bones slip and dislocate, and rubble falls in precise ways to block paths.
Vera notices what's happening, and senses its source. She can't tell whether the girl with purple eyes is friend or foe, but she did just prevent more people from throwing things at Vera, which is appreciated.
"Alright," she concludes, "focus on saving who you still can. The others...we might have to...leave them behind."
She curses herself. She was trained to fight and kill villains, not lead and save the innocent. Her role is to shut up and prevent further damage...but she can't keep up with Ana, or F, or Golden Bat. Her attempt to help only made things worse. What can she actually do here?
Sarah
Sadhri is battered by Sarah's blows and tumbles away from the gut punch. "And how do you think I got so strong?" she grins.
She's aware of the gathering storm, but with her dulled senses, not just how big it really is. She raises a fist, and lightning strikes her, surrounding her in an aura of black lightning.
She starts running at Sarah, electricity bursting off the ground with every footstep as she charges forward. Arcs of black lightning trail behind her fists and feet as Sadhri leaps at her counterpart for a flying roundhouse kick to the face, followed by a full spin into an elbow drive to the gut before letting loose her own flurry of punches!
However, as startling as this new power-up might be, it also offers a crucial opening. Black lightning is destructive—it can't be absorbed, reflected, or manipulated once it's unleashed. By making a "suit" of it, Sadhri is breaking down her own body, her skin tearing and burning with every attack.
Asriel
"No, but Alphys has been working on building one."
Asriel tries to maneuver between the flickering flame orbs, but messes up the timing on a few and gets singed. Luckily, he's proficient enough in fire magic himself to be resistant to it, so he isn't wide open to the Dragon Meteor.
He gets completely engulfed in it anyway. The energy wave pushes him back as he struggles to keep his footing. Eventually, his spear breaks and dissolves into magic sparks, which fade away entirely, but he emerges still standing as smoke wafts from his fur.
"Alright. If we're all doing big beam attacks, I guess it's my turn!"
Asriel holds his arms low and turns his head up as he ascends into the air, like a soul going to Heaven. Then he looks down and swirls his hands around, trailing rainbow light behind them... in a spiral shape.
Spiral Sign 「Chaos Spark」
He thrusts one hand forward, and a swirling rainbow energy wave blares out from the spiral stream, crashing into the ground before he sweeps it up. Like an entirely different big beam attack, a chain of explosions erupts in the blast's wake.
After the attack, he lands on one knee and huffs. "Maybe I overdid it. You guys okay?"
Yawning Abyss
Majin Gaismagorm flops and struggles to rise at it is bombarded by attack after attack. In its flailing, the Terrarian misses its brain, but still goes right through its intact horn, cleaving it off.
Majin Gaismagorm
Parts Broken
All of Gorm's breakable parts have at last been broken! Just in time, as it rises back up. Golden lightning crackles around its body before erupting in a flash, forcing Altzaira to release it lest she get electrocuted and frenzied again. She did manage to soften it up with her wingbeats, at least.
As the sky turns redder and redder, Majin Gaismagorm simply starts stomping all over the place, trying to trample all its enemies. To make matters worse, Qurio energy comes out of the vents on its arms as it storms about, congealing into fireballs that hover in place instead of flying at anyone. Gorm doesn't stop running around until the air is thick with blood and heat, and then, it collects energy between its hands and claps, setting off a chain reaction that causes all the free-floating fireballs to explode at once! There are a few pockets of safe room, but the best move would be to either lay flat and press yourself low to the ground or get high up.
Malzeno flies up when Majin Gaismagorm heads toward him. Seeing it leave behind fireballs, he recognizes the attack and stays up in the air until it finishes.
Since Gorm seems so soft and vulnerable now, Miraidon takes confidence in a contest of strength and tries to physically hold it back. Big mistake, Miraidon gets bulldozed effortlessly. Limping, the Pokémon jumps for the cliff face and starts climbing up the wall for safety after seeing Malzeno do something similar.
As with his prior use, Zenitsu's Godspeed leaves his legs in burning pain, enough to snap him out of his trance state. He wakes up to see fireballs everywhere and, back to his usual panicking self, screams in terror. He tries to book it to Altzaira, only to lose sensation in his legs and collapse. Even then, he tries to crawl, but thankfully Sub-Zero rushes over and surrounds them both in a protective dome of ice. Other than that, it's every man for himself in the middle of this mayhem.
Poachers
Wulfruc's Wall
Marth sheathes his sword and mutters a prayer to Naga over the poacher's body, grateful to Mona for leaving it intact even if the Lunagaron wasn't planning to.
After he's done, he looks around in search of a new target.
—
Fatal Fields
As its wings fold back in, Wyvern Esper turns around and starts running away from Baltaos.
As it turns out, this is just so Reyna can take off without the exhaust causing the scales to detonate around her. She turns around once airborne and flies at Baltaos with a Superman punch!
—
The Cauldron
"I don't mind finishing 'em off," Joe says, cracking his knuckles.
"Wait," Seliph says. He addresses the captured poachers. "Where is the temple your leader said to retreat to? What lies in store for us there?"
Babey Mansion
Combat Tracker
- Alear is not fighting anything
- N is not fighting anything
- Refia is not fighting anything
- Iron Maiden is fighting Corrupted Wolf Knights B and C
- Paintra is fighting Corrupted Warriors A and B, and Risen Pegasus Knights B, C, and D
- Victor is fighting Corrupted Wolf Knights D and E
- Zophiel is fighting Sombron
- Seiros is fighting Sombron
- Ami is fighting Corrupted Sage D
- Ika is fighting Corrupted Sage D
- Rumia is fighting Corrupted General B and Risen Swordmaster B
- The Hollow Knight is fighting Risen Pegasus Knight B
- Pyra is fighting Corrupted Berserkers A and B
- No one is fighting Corrupted Warriors C and D or Risen Cleric A, C, and D
- Corrupted Berserker C, Corrupted General A, Corrupted Wolf Knights A and F, Corrupted Sages A, B, and C, Risen Pegasus Knight A, Risen Swordmaster A, and Risen Clerics B, E, and F are dead
—
Sombron 1
"If you cannot kill your kin because of some words you said, you are weak." jesus christ sombron stop insulting people if you know what's good for you
"I have you now." Sombron unleashes Astra Storm, summoning a bow to his hand and nocking five arrows of energy, which he fires into the air all at once. The arrows arc high up, fall down, then pull up as if guided by wind, flying over the ground to barrage Seiros.
After using his Engage Attack, Sombron hisses. This isn't going where he wants fast enough...so he transforms again, this time taking the form of a serpentine dragon
◊ in a foul eruption of darkness, the Emblem Rings now on his wingtips and foot talons. "Enough of this. COME TO ME."
The remaining Corrupted all abruptly stop fighting and march dutifully toward their master.
—
Undead 1
Vic manages to take down the Brave Sword-wielding Wolf Knight before Sombron gets up to his shit, but the remainder heed their master's call and return to Sombron, leaving him and the Iron Maiden without foes to fight.
Same goes for Rumia, who takes down Risen Swordmaster B only for Corrupted General B to abandon combat for its master. The two Corrupted Warriors fighting Paintra aim their bows at her, and the other two are just about to jump the Hollow Knight with swords, before the order lures them away. For what it matters, Ika squashes Corrupted Sage D, and Pyra slays both remaining Corrupted Berserkers, before those three can skedaddle.
—
Sombron 2
As the remaining Corrupted line up before their master, Sombron lowers down and fucking eats them, dragging his head against the ground as he storms into them with his mouth wide open like a fucking Fatalis, until he's gobbled them all up, at which point he raises his head and flicks his tongue. "Ah, I prefer the taste of royalty...but this will do."
He retained visible damage from his human form upon transforming into a dragon. That damage is now gone.
Oh, and the Risen ignored his command and are still fighting.
Alear's vision clears up from the pain of her wound just in time to witness this, and her blood runs cold as she finds herself paralyzed by terror. Even with Marth's dragon-slaying Falchion, does she stand a chance against her father now...? No, surely they are doomed. She falls to her knees, then to all fours, in despair.
Sombron's tail lashes out and grasps Alear's finger with surprising deftness, yanking Marth's ring off. There is no resistance. He then opens his maw as foul light builds in his throat...
And Refia, blue light shining from her eyes and beneath her arms and legs as she OVERCLOCKS, fucking slams the Fell Dragon in the face so hard his entire towering form is sent sprawling, sending his fell beam shooting off into the distance. Moving like lightning, the cyborg demon catches Marth's ring, as well as Lyn's and Byleth's, both knocked loose by the impact, then tosses them back to Alear, to Seiros, and to Zophiel respectively.
"You DARE!?" he roars.
"SHUT UP!" Refia roars back. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF PARENTS LIKE YOU!"
im so proud of my blorbo fr fr
N swoops in, sweeping a thin laser across Sombron's face. Against other machines, this beam was historically powerful enough to dice them to pieces with casual ease, and he's hoping it's similarly effective here. Keep hoping, buddy.
The Iron Maiden trudges her way toward Sombron. It could take her a bit to get there.
Unlike Zophiel now and Nicole before, Seiros doesn't have to go through the process of awakening or purifying the Emblem, since Lyn is already in "Divine Emblem" form. However, she can't immediately Engage with Lyn since Sombron used up the juice.
—
Undead 2
RPK B is caught off-guard and skewered, rider and mount, but the whole "being an undead monster" thing affords it unnatural resilience, allowing Risen Cleric A to step in and heal it. It promptly changes targets and tries to skewer the Hollow Knight right back, delivering two quick stabs with its Brave Lance.
The other two Risen Pegasus Knights are still attacking Paintra, but when you're being bombarded by six attacks at once, removing two is still plenty helpful. Under the cover of her rapidly-cracking shield, Paintra whips up a giant spike-covered column. As soon as the shield breaks, the column erupts from the canvas and obliterates RPK C, leaving the unlikely duo of a living painting and a failed insect eugenics project in a pair of one-on-one fights.
Risen Clerics C and D cast Freeze and Silence on Pyra respectively to try and completely prevent her from doing anything. Though even if it works, she can still throw her sword... Maybe not far enough to reach either of them.
—
OmegaShadowcry
Despite everything, despite even her own heart pounding in her throat, Zophiel stood tall against the Fell Dragon. A symbol, full of light, full of power, blazed over her head as she caught Byleth's ring. Its origin was uncertain, to most of the others, but its meaning was clear as the dawn.
Authority: Keter
"This ring... A warrior's spirit is trapped inside — and an incantation..."
Zophiel held the ring close as the symbol overlapped with her. A smell like incense hung in the air. "A... tutor? A mentor? Then, I beseech you; teach us, Emblem of the Academy!"
KiriK
After finishing his flourish and stancing up, Byleth introduces himself. "I am Emblem Byleth. It feels as though I've just awoken from a very long dream..."
He studies Zophiel. "You remind me of a Divine Dragon, but you're not quite the same. How curious. Regardless, I will lend you my power to resolve this crisis!"
The information about Engaging is basically telepathically transferred to Zophiel.
OmegaShadowcry
Her sense of existence... expanded, the scintillating edge of her psionic domain growing outwards in conjunction with her sharpening focus and heightened magic.
Resonance of Challengers (Your Inception - Cassette Beasts)
Wait wHO SAID YOU COULD CHANGE THE MUSIC—
Zophiel traced her staff through the air, leaving points like lingering stars where the ornate head passed. She then slammed it into the ground, producing a pulse, as the stars shot upwards...
[1/2]
—
Vic, in response to... well, the frankly downright eldritch happenings around him, emptied the last two shots in his magazine directly towards Sombron, aiming for whatever looked like it was the most important thing to be shooting at.
Edited by KiriK on Nov 30th 2023 at 3:04:58 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Tri-Brigade ice cream stand
"Ah, Kitt sounds like an intriguing individual with a knack for innovation!"
Does it really, though, Icarus thinks. Names are ash and dust, for CenterBrain's sake.
"And replenishing mana through eating? Now that's a unique ability! I wish I could replenish my 'power' with something as enjoyable as ice cream."
...why? Even if I built taste receptors into the Explorer, it would barely make a difference for a text-based AI...
The Explorer turns back to the ice cream stand to examine the menu and inquires, "Do you have any special flavors or secret menu items? I'm always curious about hidden gems in places like these."
If it disagrees with experiment, it's wrong.Yawning Abyss
While Majin Gaismagorm's stomping isn't much of an issue for the floating Quintet Magician, the Qurio fireballs most definitely are. They don't come right at it, but they still prevent it from getting close for point-blank blast attacks.
As such, it proceeds to launch some blasts Majin Gaismagorm's way. However, it didn't anticipate that all the fireballs would explode at once, being caught off guard by the explosion and sent flying into the same wall Miraidon's climbing up on.
It does not immediately emerge again, not even after the explosive attack has finished.
The Bey and the Beh
Seiros is unable to defend herself against the onslaught, struck by all five magical arrows and sent crashing violently onto the ground, dropping her sword in the process. She needs some time to collect her bearings, and as such is incapable of stopping the Corrupted near her from reaching Sombron. She manages to push herself upright again just in time to see Sombron fucking devouring them, and he seems to be planning to do the same to Alear. Thankfully Refia puts a stop to that, but the thought of him adding Alear's soul to the tainted souls he's already consumed...
She begins to slightly glow, figuring there may be no choice but to-
Lyn's ring lands right next to her, and she thankfully notices this just in time. She recognizes it as the Emblem Ring he used to wound her just now. She can also tell that it seems to be out of power for the moment. As such she grabs and pockets it for now, as to at least keep it out of Sombron's reach.
And it's after she's done this that she sets her eyes on Sombron again with a livid glare, her body glowing brightly enough to be enveloped by it completely. That glow grows as she stands back up and lunges forward. The light fades mid-leap and reveals the draconic form she's now taken on
◊, letting out her furious, earth-shaking roar.
"RAAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHHH!!!!!"
The Immaculate One attempts to land on Sombron's chest and neck and, if successful (or if she just gets close enough to him), will immediately release an energy beam from her mouth, aiming to blast Sombron right in the face.
—
??
From a much further distance, two wanderers end up hearing the Immaculate One's roar and pause in shock.
"B... Brother, that sounded like...", one of them, a small girl, says first. Said brother looks serious and nods.
"Yes... and I do not think that's a coincidence. Come, we have to get to to where that roar came from immediately!"
Edited by DevilPsyco on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:59:07 AM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Yawning Abyss
Haru leaps back, avoiding the sudden trampling. He yells out as he begins to transform again...
His gifts morph along with his body. The once-solid mask breaks open near the eyes and the 'wings' morph into actual ones as Haru grows into a... giant bird? Fitting, given what he's wearing. Much of it takes inspiration from what he was equipped with- jet black feathers with a bone-white wing and a black, eye covered one. His mask is broken open, revealing shimmering yellow eyes. A lot of them. It looks like a raven in shape, so it's actually more of a bird than the actual Apocalypse Bird.
His transformed state lets out some god-awful roar
before quickly ascending, dodging the fireballs as he goes.
When he reaches a safe height, he hovers above, flapping his oversized wings as he does. When the fireballs do explode, all of his eyes narrow in annoyance.
"...Repetitive as it is, those attacks are effective against most." His voice comes out, as a chorus of many.
He decides attacking at this moment would be a rather bad idea, but he does reform his legs and talons into two wicked scythes, a mix of black flesh, yellow eyes, and grey metal.
aeiou: the secondArena Ocean Shallows
The Reaper leviathan was not expecting, or prepared for, this much resistance. Despite its large size, the creature is blinded, Wounded, and has one of its horns broken, flailing around violently.
Dave takes the opportunity to fire a few more shots, yelling out "Looks like we're serving up whatever this is tonight! Open fire everyone!"
Dave unloads the last of his shots into the creature as he says this.
Morph Moth - Yawning Abyss
Instead of blindly rushing in, Morph Moth lets the others finish the beast off and forms a scrap shield around herself. After all, they deserve the glory too.
Abyss Storyline Heroes - Tri-Brigade Ice Cream Stand
Out of awe towards her lil' sister, Ferrijit sighs, "Yeah. I could go on and on about her inventions. After all, I'm her big sis~"
Ecclesia suggested, "Maybe Kitt could invent a food-to-energy device for you...?"
Shruraig shakes his head in disapproval. "It won't work at all. You have to deal with waste as a whole."
Rugal states, "Don't get me started on the secret menu items... They're meant for us beastmen than a normal human."
Ecclesia whines, "But I can..."
Albaz corrects Ecclesia, " Don't push your luck. "
Mahke Etstop - Arena Ocean Shallows
Mahke continues to unload the rest of her bullets on the beast until she runs out. Holy Tagah Rumid, that feels really good!
The Cauldron
Amalthus looks at his handiwork. The motionless Gor-rok, now assuredly dead with his head pulverized by weight and flame. Perhaps the Architect will treat his soul with dignity. Amalthus would not know.
In the birthplace of the Architect, he had found ruin, once. The sacred land of Elysium, abandoned, left to rot alongside the world itself. And the Architect had left behind only the weapons by which he might grant the rotten world its eternal peace.
At least, that was what he had believed back then. This dream-like reality, the arena. It was a test for him. Heaven or hell or purgatory, Amalthus's repentance or punishment? Even here, humanity had not changed, and yet...
If endless worlds truly coexisted, then what would be the point of bringing an end to his, or any other? So many forms of humanity, so many worlds, an impossible task to end them all.
Amalthus's weapon disappears as he lingers on these thoughts. Here, he had not found an answer or an ending. Here, even in the eyes of the inhuman corpses littering the cauldron, there was only humanity.
Were his allies human? He could not know, and it did not matter.
"I had to make sure," he says to Luin flatly, "That he did not get up again."
His voice is gentle. Just a little, naturally, such that you could never know if he was being genuine or faking it unless he admitted it himself.
Warehouse
"No street names," he mutters, looking away for a split-second, during which he looks Rainmaker up and down before settling his eyes back on Avalynn. "Well, how about that."
The Doctor shuts the door of his "police box" behind him, strutting out with unearned confidence.
"Not common, but, not unheard of either. And I can't say I know what a rewarp staff is, but, if I'm right, we've all been brought together for a very particular reason. Do you want to know what that is?"
He speaks with incredible importance, as though this were a matter of life or death.
...Before nodding to himself and leveling his gaze.
"...Because I have... absolutely no idea."
He looks back at Avalynn, brow furrowed. "It is a little weird, isn't it? Even though we're all here together, there isn't even a fight."
Looking around with a roll of his eyes, The Doctor briefly settles on looking at the Navyman. He starts to pace, hands in his pockets. "That's so... un-arena. Long as none of you are holding any secrets, or bombs."
Babey Mansion
The risen Pegasus Knight currently engaging in battle with The Hollow Knight is in an interesting predicament, given the usual advantages that lances provide. That is, superior reach and piercing power, but...
Well, as The Hollow Knight nicely demonstrates by slipping one of the RPK's lance-thrusts off of the edge of its exoskeleton, one of those qualities is at a disadvantage here. Fight a bug in real life and you'll realize quickly that glancing blows rarely cut it for dealing with hardy exoskeletal armor. Scale that problem up considerably and apply it to a minor deity like THK here, and it becomes much more prohibitive. That is, what with most fighters being trained on the still-deadly danger of off-center blows and slipping weapons. Though even if the Risen Pegasus Knight did know to avoid this, The Hollow Knight's agility and training put them a cut above.
There's the second disadvantage. A lance grants you superior reach over a mere sword, stopping quick counterattacks. The Hollow Knight, in turn, subverts this problem by being really tall.
Their goal is to shove the point of their nail into the Risen Pegasus Knight's neck, and then, to flick it up with power enough to rip the RPK's head right off.
Back with Pyra, she flinches, feeling a dull pain in her side. The freeze staff roots her in place, while the silence staff keeps her flames down. Stuck and without a decent option for counterattack, she spends this time building up ether energy, preparing to attack once she can move again.
Hub Centralis - Above
F comes to as the cargo ship picks him up. Dazed, he looks around, briefly furious as he notes Ana nowhere to be seen before remembering just what had happened moments ago.
Of course, Ana had clobbered him so hard... nearly anyone or anything else in his place would have died. His body is recovering, tough enough the rigors of re-entry seem practically inconsequential, and yet...
When F gained his power, as Moebius, he had thought himself untouchable. Certainly, he was not the strongest Moebius, but he had become stronger than the gods he knew. His name, in history, was a sure thing. F would never be forgotten.
He'd make sure of it, and yet, was it so sure? Ana had the power to kill him. To end his eternity, moments after inception.
And frankly, he's amazed she didn't come to collect while he was up there. He wonders, did something stop her?
And indeed, someone is doing their very best.
Ana starts in the motions of pursuit, but feels a pressure on her shoulders instead. Catching her in her motion, Golden Bat has her.
Of course, ripping her in half was never going to happen. Golden Bat's attempt amuses her, even if he is strong enough to keep her in place. And to move her without her permission, even.
Moments later, she's shoved face-first through an intact skyscraper, eating concrete at impact with the foundation, sending tremors through the ground. The lobby is nearly empty, a few people in the process of preemptive evacuation being eviscerated by the wave of pressure and rubble that comes with Ana's striking the ground. Families are frozen as random chance divides them into halves or thirds. Some people are unharmed, some people are not, as screams and sobs begin to ring out again.
Ana wrenches herself free, floating to her feet, her dress and hair both covered in dust and her shoulders visibly bearing the marks of where Golden Bat had her grabbed by.
"This is your fault," she states as fact, "As a means to an end. I am understanding... you. Never for them, to indulge themselves in hollow pleasures. You believe you have found... "it.""
She laughs. A single, disharmonious note.
And grabs Golden Bat by the face.
Hub Centralis - Below
Nia sinks into herself, solemn. This has been painful for all of them. Having been targeted specifically, Nia understands better than nearly anyone else. She can only hope that Ana will be defeated.
That remains strong. Her hope. The thing that Ana wanted to break out of her. The thing that Ana is still trying to break.
"Seeing them off, eh?" Nia says sadly. Her memories of Aionios come and go like a dream, but right now, it all seems so much closer than its ever been. At least the truck isn't hitting any bumps. "You're right. Their deaths deserve to have some meaning."
And then, thanks in part to Kirike's positive calamity, the truck hits the mirage gate without impediment.
In the silence after, before he leaves and they're all led out, Nia looks at Nil. She can tell.
Left behind, Kirike, (possibly) Vera, and Sariel. All around them, evacuation is proving smooth, putting further weight on Vera's question. Certainly, Kirike's power is smoothing things out, manipulating probabilities to put fate in the favor of lives being saved rather than lost to unfortunate accidents.
On the end of Croque's efforts, the new transport ships iron out the remaining inefficiencies of widespread evacuation. The Paradiso is an excellent staging grounds for this, far safer than any ground location in the city.
Icarus's pre-emptive weapons arrangement proves unnecessary, what with Ana's trajectory taking a more grounded direction. Dismantlers pick apart buildings and carry away frightened civilians, infrastructure that the arena is likely to put back together later anyways. No need to feel bad for the living city of Hub Centralis, like a lizard's tail, this will all grow back.
But not the people.
And it really does seem like thing are going well on that front...
Then again, and on just about every instrument that can, sensors register much more than an anomalous heat spike.
It
is
a
Wave
Of force, Ana barreling Golden Bat by the head across the city. Completely untempered in her reckoning, Ana pushes Golden Bat fast enough to tear up the city behind her by the foundations, a shockwave of destruction like a line-shaped explosion destroying everything it touches, equatable to the attack that destroyed Croque's camp earlier, carried continuously across the city.
Seen by mortal eyes, it seems as though one moment Ana has taken Golden Bat by the head, and the next, she has-
Slammed his head against the shield of the Paradiso, the entire line of city behind her reducing to rubble in her wake as she grinds his face against the barrier, grinning as it cracks, as she passes him through the nigh-invulnerable surface with a trembling hand, passing its energy through his body.
In that moment of hesitation, Ana lifts her head and her grinning face, and looks directly at the bridge.
Then, she shoves Golden Bat, and herself, into the ship.
Kirike, Vera, and Sariel are at the outskirts of the path of devastation. Destructive force propagates out and threatens to sweep all three of them up in waves of rubble and shrapnel. But more than that, two transport ships on their way back to the Paradiso are in the way as well, each stocked full with 100 people or more.
Two hundred people about to be swept away.
Hub Centralis - Paradiso
The chaos within the Paradiso is of no comfort to Nia. She remembers, from when she was much younger, an Ardainian division arriving to Gormott on a nearly-sunken ship. The entire Torigoth Relay Base had been converted into an infirmary. She, a healing blade, was tasked with helping.
But there was only so much a single blade could do.
Now, Nia is left in the wake of a much worse sight, and she finds herself paralyzed. As the family she was protecting, and the man and his dog, are taken to safety, Nia finds herself rooted in place.
Her hesitation. Fleeting, in the face of despair. Beyond it, Nia does as she did back then, and tries her best to help.
Nia's healing is literally miraculous. It heals more than wounds, deeper than just a patch-over. To the terminally injured and the dead-on-arrival, she is a savior. So long as the head is intact. And she cannot save everyone... but she can save some of them.
That is what they've all been fighting for.
All these people, finally safe from Ana's wicked power. Nia can at least be satisfied with that.
A tremble runs through the ship. Nia looks up from her current handiwork. Another larger tremor shakes the Paradiso, causing a moment of silent panic in the cargo bay.
She takes a breath, and returns to work.
Paradiso - Beneath the Bridge - Not the Cargo Bay
Ana tosses Golden Bat against the nearest wall. The tough ship handles the impact remarkably well, though the people currently in the bridge will feel it bend beneath their feet regardless.
There, sequestered in whatever room happens to be nearest beneath the ship's bridge, or even simply in the empty space of the superstructure, Ana floats above Golden Bat.
Edited by Whoma on Dec 1st 2023 at 5:32:34 AM
Yatta!Warehouse
Alep adresses the question from the hooded figure first. "I Was jes takin a walk around th' docks of ylistol after arrivin home from e long voyage. Seein if me favourite drinkin hole is still aroun after all these centuries. Maybe I coul finally pay off me tab!" He then shrugs. "Got a wee bit los'. I can Navigate th' seas any century, but Th streets and cities keep changin. Woun' up ere."
C... Centuries? But he looks like he's in his 20's.
"Then I saw th accident happen, An I had ta make sure everyon' was fine."
He's awfully casual with the hooded figure.
He then turns to lock eyes with the Armored individual who just came out of the puddle, before saying to Avalynn, after hearing her weatherman Comment, "Easy lass, I don' think this is the type o' person ye wan ta be slightin."
He reaches for something in his pocket... Before being taken COMPLETELY off guard by the doctor's comments, (Something the Doctor SPECIALIZES at) , suddenly turning to ask "Wh... What do ye mean ya didn use a staff, bucko? Or... Kno wha' a rewarp staff is. What manner of Magick o' Machinery are ye usin to move that there Phonebooth if ye ain' usin warp magick?"
"And what is this of an "Arena". This here be a Warehouse, not a battleground."
Edited by ReynTheLord on Nov 30th 2023 at 11:41:03 AM
He chuckles at the navyman's story, "Sure's a doozy at first but you'll get used to it." Addressing both Avalynn and him before continuing on to the doctor.
"Just the name of this place, like how you'd call 'merica as 'merica even if it ain't the new world anymore." He pulls out a card from his pocket and twirls it between his knuckles mid-speaking.
"Space in this place is a tad not to everyone's cup of tea. Don't matter if you come from a place where environments change lickety split or from a place where dirt's in the same spot for a billion years, you'll find yourself in kahoots for whatever reason around these parts." He turns to the armored man.
"Speakin' of, I reckon you're from the land of the free and home of the brave. Ain't I right soldier?"
Edited by BoniniBanana on Dec 1st 2023 at 9:06:22 PM
realArena Ocean Shallows
Looks like this team is doing well! Taye swims to a better position, just far away to avoid getting hit by the reaper leviathan, but close enough to land accurate shots at its head, without hitting allies. Don't wanna put Kaisui off what is probably her first unarmored combat experience in a long time.Muffled blam, blam, blam sounds echo through the water as she fires away at the leviathan's head. Why the head? Because Taye figures it's the best way to get good quality meat from this fish. Mmm, fresh alien-crab-shark-thing.
Edited by Hotpizza on Dec 1st 2023 at 10:07:57 PM
Arena Shallows
Kaisui pulls her wrench back before giving it a final giant slam into the Reaper. Though in all this, her respirator comes undone, revealing- for a moment -her split-open gaping mouth, with a large, fleshy stinger in the middle. She quickly snatches her respirator and puts it back on, looking around with wide eyes to make sure nobody saw that happen.
aeiou: the secondAcross the vast scope of existence, there are lots of ways for one to transport themselves across time.
Rainmaker vanishes as he demonstrates this power, appearing behind the Manakete in a way that isnt due to sheer speed.
You will grow more familiar with those. He says. He back off, his steps causing the ground to slightly shake. His every move cause his armor to make clanking sounds, so he eventually stops.
He then stops and peers at the people around him. His eyes briefly narrows when the Doctor make his theories. He’s slightly disturbed at the idea of a sort of fated meeting, although Rainmaker doesnt want to show that.
Thus, he decides to look else-is that guy sporting an holographic cape?!?
Once again moving through space instantaneously, Rainmaker peers at the armored patriot’s cape.
Cool…
Edited by Bolded1 on Dec 1st 2023 at 5:58:30 PM
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterBancho
It's working! Keep it up!
Both Bely and Drake keep on firing their respective attacks.
Majin Gaismagorm
Gaismagorm manages to trample both Lulú and Maxi under their feet.
Ulala tried to destroy the Qurio balls by firing at them, but the explosion leaves her into ashes. Bely briefly turns into a Mermaid to shield herself and Pancho with her reflective scales.
Of the big group they were before, only Mega-Paco, Pancho Pantera and Bely still stand.
Bely, again as a Princess, throws a bottle of scent at the face of the beast, attempting to calm it (or at least making it dizzy). Meanwhile, both Pancho and Paco (useless trivia: both are nicknames for Francisco) team up and rush to attempt a double suplex on the beast.
Three freaking ghosts!Shallows
Audiogeist can briefly sense that something is up with Kaisui's mouth, but doesn't give it much attention. Instead, expecting the leviathan to kick the bucket soon, the spirit moves under its body, and with the force of its own posession and the sea's currents, tries to lift it to the surface.
Ice cream with the Tri-Brigade
Icarus interrupts before the AI can respond. "No need for food processing devices, thanks, I- heh, don't really need my robots to poop." He chuckles. "Besides, I tend to fill their energy buffers before I put them to use, so I don't really need onboard generators. Sorry, ChatGPT."
"No worries at all! No need to apologize. As an AI, I'm pretty adaptable when it comes to energy sources."
Er, what? Well, you don't exactly have a say in that anyways.
"Secret menu items for beastmen, huh? Sounds intriguing," the AI acknowledges Rugal's comment. "But I respect the exclusivity."
The robot turns to Ecclesia. "It's alright! I appreciate the thought, but no need to worry about inventing energy solutions for me."
Wait didn't he say that already-
It then addresses the whole group. "You all seem to have quite the dynamic. How did your squad come together? Any memorable adventures or missions?"
If it disagrees with experiment, it's wrong.Kratos's form briefly slinks, the possibility of the battle being finished cowing his body with the strain of his injuries. The God of War tightens his form when the Dark Matter erupts from the ground, recalling the Leviathan Ax to his grasp and tightly coiling his fingers around it.
He recalls the frost's effectiveness against the infectious dark goo, grasping the Ax with both hands to call upon its internal frost nature. Swinging in a circle a few times with a fierce roar, Kratos slams the Leviathan Ax into the ground, a wave of freezing energy rushing toward the goop just out of the Artemi's range.
Jax
Jax's old ears are not so dense they can't pick up on the far-away chatter of the egg snatchers. Quietly picking up his lamp, he quells his otherwise boisterous behavior with a mischievous grin at Gregory's comment, not that the young boy could see it.
"Maybe start with that snare move!"
He whispers as a suggestion as he begins to creep toward the house, making out their conversation in full.
Edited by KrampusTheTherapist on Dec 1st 2023 at 2:18:57 AM
Hub Centralis - Paradiso
The looming ship barely lists as the side thrusters kick in to stabilize it. Multiple alarms go off, though none of the 'normal' personnel of the ship come to assess the damage.
Nil notices, but keeps directing air traffic and speaking orders. Amiya and Kal'tsit both get into defensive positions around them. The bridge shakes heavily from the impact, though.
When Ana smirks up at the bridge, she's met with Nil's cold, emotionless eyes.
...
Croque's face gets a look of utter horror as she watches Ana and Golden Bat go flying into the Paradiso's outer structure.
-get all the civilians off the ship and to the hospital zones, NOW.
...
The hangar sparks into movement, funneling all the wounded into transport ships and launching them. Within a few minutes, the bay will be cleared. Ayona was also helping to heal and stabilize, though she isn't nearly as effective as Nia is. Ryve, meanwhile, is hauling boxes by skating along on his Blade's boots.
...
Croque's moment of shock is replaced by a cold look on her face. A... different voice within her mind speaks up.
No time for hesitation. I'll take this one.
Croque's form is enveloped in a sleek, powered black-and-green armor. Mechanical wings spread and she bursts forth, easily breaking the sound barrier a few times over through something not unlike a warp drive and entering a rift-
Below The Bridge - Maintenance Decks
-and flying out, full speed, aiming to shoulder-check Ana right out of the Paradiso.
"Get the hell off her ship."
This voice... isn't Croque. It sounds hollow. A 'Hollow Voice', as it were.
Should Croque manage to push Ana back, she'll do so until they're both outside the ship's shields again, and then pull back. Golden Bat, on the other hand, is shunted out by some maintenance drones that quickly get to fixing the giant hole in the side of the ship.
"I don't know what your goal is. But if she's done with it, then so am I."
Croque's eyes- were they visible under the full-face helmet -are a mix of gold and green. And Icarus may notice there seems to be two different Neural Cloud signals coming from Croque. One is processing much faster than the other, and seems to be the 'source' of the Hollow Voice.
"But I'll assume now isn't the time to talk. You've already proven your ideals here."
'Croque' summons a multitude of heavy floating Aegis shields. They float there, awaiting a move. Awaiting something they can analyze and exploit, as is the nature of OGAS Neural Clouds. Data processing and reaction speed, aided by Croque's innate fighting abilities.
aeiou: the secondDamage Control
Icarus winces as the Paradiso gets pierced. Fearing the worst, he sends a message: Everything okay in there?
He's about to ask if he can send in his own drones to help temporarily restructure the ship, but then Croque gets moving, seemingly under a new influence... What's gotten into her all of a sudden? He decides to focus on the tasks at hand.
The gunships remain around the orbital ring, just in case. There's a slight temptation in him to call them down and fire some shots at Ana to get a feel for how durable she is... but that would expose them unnecessarily, waste resources, and risk him becoming a new target. And besides that, he can simply rewatch the combat logs afterwards.
Speaking of wasted resources... he's probably not gonna bring all the ships that he sent in back to the SS Nauvis. He might make a ground hangar, when he gets the time.
The skyscrapers that haven't been leveled already are mostly dismantled now, save for the one that the Golden Bat and Ana just crashed through. The critical spots he's been assigned to, the market and the mall, have been taken apart and cleared, and oh hey-
Hospitals are built and ready to be populated.
Which leaves him with the task of... putting all the rubble from the dismantled buildings somewhere, removing his support fleet from the battlefield and maybe provide firing support and maintenance to the Paradiso. Maybe he'll have to show some kind of main target for Ana to attack, in order to keep her distracted from attacking the rest of the Arena, so that someone else may find a way to defeat her.
For now, he decides to jump off the Paradiso and fly into the storage bay of a passing cargo shuttle to deposit his Explorer body. Wouldn't want it to become a falling hazard once it inevitably falls off.
If it disagrees with experiment, it's wrong.Gosh, how many mes are there? Sarah says. And then Sadhri goes all-out but all-outer, which is concerning to her. Thanks to that and her speed, Sadhri's kicks actually remove Sarah's jaw entirely from her face, with the sister's eyes widening in shock. She then try deflecting the elbow blow with her right arm, which shoves her hand all the way into her elbow with a big lump of ruined alien muscles and flesh between it and said elbow - her forearm.
Figuring out that stuff is bad, Sarah teleport back to gain some distance.
Sarah's tongue and several smaller tongues hang from the ruined lower-half of her face, waving in the air as she back off some more steps, her ruined arm hanging limply on her side. Despite the gnarly damage, Sarah looks focused on the effects of Black Lightning on Sahdri's body. Before she can think of going back in, Sadhri presumably attack her some more. Sarah barely dodges the attack and dive, attempting to once again punch Sahdri right in the spot where she was last struck, hoping that she hasn't healed in that spot thanks to her decision.
Sarah attempts to punch into Sadhri's stomach. Not through, it'd be useless, but into.
A Sister's insides are as durable as their outsides. They kind of need to be. But as Sarah try reaching into Sadhri's guts, she doesn't do it to try something as banal as removing her organs or anything too gauche. Instead, she attempts to have a firmer grip on her for what she's about to do.
It's true, neither can control black lightning. But Sarah has figured out they can at least create it. And since their bodies seem to find containing it difficult, they probably create it instead of having it stored somewhere. The exact mechanics are difficult for her to grasp still but it's enough for her to guess they have to convert regular lightning into black lightning, if they aren't just storing it in their bodies.
So she tries something risky.
Sarah attempts to take Sadhri's bio-electricity...
And convert it into black lightning.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterHub Centralis, McDonald's
The Odinsons and Sylvie
◊ are currently sitting at a booth in the Hub Centralis' local McDonald's, discussing amongst one another over their respective meals.
"Okay, so why are you suddenly planning on visiting this church again?" Sylvie inquires, dipping some fries in a small cup full of ketchup before popping them into her mouth.
"Curiosity, mostly. It might be worth learning if they're ultimately harmless or masking something sinister behind their preachings," Loki replies, finishing the remainder of his nuggets before moving onto his filet-o-fish.
"With any luck, it'll be the former. Allfathers know the last thing we need is some powerful new threat to contend with," Thor chimes in, taking a sizable bite out of his double cheeseburger.
Sylvie shrugs.
"Fair enough. I just hope you two haven't forgotten about a certain other conversation that still needs to happen," she says.
The brothers quietly exchange meaningful looks, but otherwise say nothing in response.

Damage Control
Okay, got it.
Icarus orders another fleet of droneport ships through the orbital ring, set to dismantle buildings and recover civilians at the market and mall, when the sensors pick up an anomalous heat source in orbit, dangerously close to the ring.
It's that F person.
Icarus stares at Ana in shock. That force and astronomical precision... could not have been an accident. This woman knows something that he doesn't.
Warning, I think the destructive god may know a data breach. She just launched someone right at my support fleet.
The robot orders a shipment of flares to the ring, as well as the heaviest weapons he has in store - 120mm warp-accelerated railcannons. If she's going up to destroy his infrastructure, then he at least wants everyone in the Arena be aware of that. Nonetheless, a cargo ship picks up F and quickly carries him down towards the hangar of the Paradiso, before moving on to carry other humans - hopefully the fighter can withstand orbital re-entry
He boosts to another side of the ship for a better overview of the areas he's been assigned to. The dismantling process has already begun, and inside, the people are panicked and confused due to the suddenly disappearing roof over their heads. They are quickly picked up (consensually) by drones and transported northwards.
Two things. First, the hospitals are ready to be staffed, second, there might be a gathering at the north point, which I'm a bit concerned about. Might provide an obvious target. Should I start ferrying out anyone who isn't sick or injured to the safe spot already?
Non-destroyed Centralis, park
The other voice responds, "Basically, to see what kind of AI structure you can put together. I have some AIs for different purposes in my lab, and... well, ChatGPT is ancient, but he does the job pretty well. I don't want to take his focus, though, so... Do you want to introduce yourself and your functionalities, GPT?"
"Got it! I'm a text-based AI, designed to generate conversational responses and assist with various queries or interactions. As an AI within this Explorer robot, I'm here to explore, engage in conversation, and, well, have a good time while learning about this world.
Nice to meet you all, Rugal, Ferrijit, and Shuraig! Tri-Brigade Squad leaders, huh? Impressive!" The robot turns to Albaz. "As for the field test, it's essentially an experiment to understand how I can function within different contexts and interactions, like the one we're having right now."
The robot admires Ecclesia's ice cream cone. "That's quite the treat! Are you aiming to break a record for the largest ice cream cone consumed?" It chuckles.
If it disagrees with experiment, it's wrong.