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Enter The Arena As Your Avatar -- The Spinoff!

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ArbiterOfTheBog Parasmagate from The Mortal Realms Since: Feb, 2022 Relationship Status: Cast away
Parasmagate
#394326: Mar 17th 2025 at 3:29:45 PM

Casper

-leans in as if stretching his arms, waving to the man with a seemingly nonchalant expression.

"Oh its perfectly fine as long as we can get to her interview on time. You know if that doesn't happen we'll just have to let Bright know we were held back by someone at the front desk and whoever Miquella is who by the way sounds like someone of a high status."

After his sarcasm dripped through he leaned back and continued his typical slouch to talk with Baz. Struggling not to make it look obvious, but giving Baz some words of... wisdom. We'll call it that.

"Could be mandatory... But it is odd isn't it? Let's just go through and hope they don't... you know. Have us tricked into following them to extract information."

Awawa
Bolded1 Fate, guide me from behind you!!!!!!!! Since: Mar, 2015
Fate, guide me
#394327: Mar 17th 2025 at 3:34:54 PM

Deathswheel

smiles a bit happily, head lowered to hide it, as she is specifically called out for her tragic backstory. Right! She had two of them. She puts her hands on her knees and get up, freezing in place at how smooth her movements feel. How many years had she been out of Energon? How many years had she been so weak? Her kind saw milennias go by as one human would see weeks, but living in the Mad Arena had given her... perspective on the passage of time.

Still, she appreciated the fact she could move freely, fastly and back of her own accord, taking the time to sit back down then sit up again before walking up. She'd retaken a bike altmode, making her look small and stupid next to some of the giants, but she didn't mind it too much.

   ... Which backstory do you want? I... have a very complicated history with factions. I wasn't even born on Cybertron to start with. I'm only a few thousand years old!   

Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter
shroobot3000 Witch of Scarlet Dreams from Behind you Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
Witch of Scarlet Dreams
#394328: Mar 17th 2025 at 4:24:31 PM

Pirates

Greed clapped while the poor Commando coughed, getting back on his with his comrades' help.

   "Marvelous performance, as well as a marvelous display of crowd control."    Greed said with a grin.    "I anticipate this to be a very profitable partnership."   


AUDITIONS

"Oh yeah, it was like the Siege of T'Muk. Except Roadbuster wasn't there to accidentally drop a skyscraper on an entire Decepticon battalion." Whirl recounts with an almost cheery expression on his singular optic as he recalls the affair. "Anyway she was more like if Strika was less ugly and had Megatron's old jet mode."

"As for what my fellow cyclops is plotting, beats me." Whirl shrugs, then looks to the other duo of Autobots. "Also you two are hired."

"...Uh, just like that?" Overshoot blinks.

"Yeah. You're the obligatory guy who has mentioned how close to retirement he is." Whirl explains, pointing at him then at Stiletto. "And she's the scary action girl with the knives."

"That seems like poor criteria..." Stiletto comments, not denying anything while Overshoot sputters.

"I am SO not the designated first dead guy." he mumbles.

"Also I remember you from the Nebulos Campaign. Stuck a knife right in Weirdwolf's optic from 50 paces away." Whirl adds on. "Nice."

"Let's not talk about Nebulos." Stiletto quickly locks that topic down and Whirl shrugs again.

"Gimme the most recent additions, wheelgirl." Whirl then says to Deathswheel, seemingly guessing her name but in reality just commenting on her kibble. "Thousand years? Sheesh you one of them M.T.Os? We had one of those but Predaking ate him."

Edited by shroobot3000 on Mar 18th 2025 at 9:30:53 PM

"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."
DevilPsyco from The Underworld (pretty deep down in the ground) Since: Jul, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
#394329: Mar 17th 2025 at 5:07:19 PM

G0lly

The Good Hunter may hear a ruckus coming from the left path. If they look there once they reach the crossing, they'll see Star Boy quite literally fencing with Scizors, the Beta Scizor, having created a rapier once again to combat the Glitch Pokemon's claws.

However, something big is glimmering further down the path ahead. It could be G0lly, or it could be a trap.

What choice will they make?

The poor confused Federation Troopers hit the ground, completely drained of their energy. Sylux wordlessly kicks them off of the platform and down the elevator shaft, then simply advances without a second thought.

"What-", one of the kids gasps in surprise when the two Lennas suddenly appear. One of them looks perplexed, the other looks wary...

At least until they also notice the War Bohrok, to which they both instantly start making a run for it in the opposite direction.

The War Bohrok makes an insectoid sound before blocking the blade with its gatling gun arm, following up by attempting to suddenly extend its neck and brutally head-bash Shadow Lenna back to Lenna.

The Maneater is struck and shrieks. It's completely caught off guard because what just happened!?

Furious, it starts screeching and leaping around wildly in an attempt to not give Morpho Knight any openings.

   "G0lly? So that's the name of what's responsible for me being here."   

A wicked grin forms on his face... or is it a mask?

   "I should thank them personally. They saved me from a dire fate. But before that... you seemed to be so... bothered by something. Do you worry about something?"   

He leans forward, his red eyes soul-piercing.

   "Would you like to see the future? Perhaps it will ease your worries."   

Edited by DevilPsyco on Mar 17th 2025 at 1:08:59 PM

In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
Bolded1 Fate, guide me from behind you!!!!!!!! Since: Mar, 2015
Fate, guide me
#394330: Mar 17th 2025 at 5:18:53 PM

POWER

dies

POWER

dies beneath a cruel pair of round yellow eyes, helplessly crushed by the might of a woman whose facade of humanity hides a monster worse than the literal Devil that Power was. And as she's scattered into Power-Mush, with her lower suddenly making way for drastically more air (also gore), her last thoughts are none. Because she died so fast as to be unable to even widen her eyes in shock.

And thus, she perishes, a victim of her own hubris in a way, thinking that the cruel march of fate could be averted, be it by strength or esoterism. Her only cold comfort is that-

Oh nevermind she's back. Power blinks as she finds herself floating upside down in mid-air, blinking once, then twice, then looking over at the blood left of her earlier life, which she licks up all over the ground in a quick movement, landing on the ground of all four, arms and legs bent like a frog. She died... But she's alive? That could only mean one thing.

"IM FUCKING INVINCIBLE" Power screams, leaning her upper body backwards and dramatically grabbing her face with one hand, outstretching the other hand at the sky. This summons the STARDUST GUARDIAN as Power uses her own blood from her previous life to coat her fists and feet, making herself wear spiky gloves and spiky high heels as she rushes forward in combat with her guardian STAN Ding by her side, her glowing aura illuminating the darkness left over by the exploding surface, Power herself flying through debris or punching them apart no matter how big they stood.

She try looking for Aura, and if she does, Power goes up right to her, grinning and laughing. As one would after apparently becoming immortal.

But it's not the reason.

HIHIHIHIH YOU BLOCKING ATTACKS NOW?! WITH TWO HANDS TOO!!! Power slams the ground, further creating chaos, but also trying to blast herself upwards while her guardian, if it could, would power through the smoke to try to nail Ana with a barrage of powerful punches, the shockwaves emanating from it dispelling the debris.

Power herself stops and puts her legs up so far, her knees reach her neck!

THAT MEANS IT GOTTA HURT IF I HIT YA! AND I'lL HIT YA MORE THAN YA DADDY DID! AIAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAYAYYAYAYAYAY! Power said, legs becoming blurs as she rained impossibly fast blows on Ana from above, each "miss" punching in a massive tunnel, digging in kilometers deep into the soil. Her intent was to stab Ana's head full of clingy holes with her heels, but also to just...

kick her

Glitchhunting

The Good Hunter turns to Star Boy's conflict and then to the glowing thing. Oooo, shiny thingy! And Star Boy was someone who could handle himself, on top of the fact that he had a hunt of his own to handle.

The Good Hunter raised their right hand to Star Boy, doing the "OK" sign, then pumping their fist up in encouragement, before running off to the shiny thing.

Edited by Bolded1 on Mar 17th 2025 at 1:38:41 PM

Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter
ArbiterOfTheBog Parasmagate from The Mortal Realms Since: Feb, 2022 Relationship Status: Cast away
Parasmagate
#394331: Mar 17th 2025 at 8:03:48 PM

Space: 384,400 kilometers away from Arena's Surface

The arena is no stranger to foriegn artifacts crashing against towards its surface. Wreckage of starfarers, orbital stations, asteroids, humanoid aliens, energon cubes, it could all be named. Might even be a handful of dead gods. One particular satellite spun in orbit around the arena, tailing behind its moon. How long it had been here was... unknown. It was the remains of a Retribution-Class Imperial Battleship, that in its prime would have been quite the sight. Nearly 5 Kilometers long, these trireme-esque vessels were lined in the typical armoured prow and the distinctive multiple-tube plasma engines that mark them as products of the Martian orbital shipyards. Its bridge would have been adorned wirh a great golden ornament, a citadel-sized aquilla to demonstrate its might.

...but now?

It was in pieces. A shell. Damage had come from within the vessel, though leading to the aquilla, the the bridge was notably ruined. Coiled in darkness, the many moons of the arena shielded it from the light. That was until it moved. A living cloak unwrapping itself from the centerpiece of the vessel, slinging across the ruined bridge with languid motions. Four massive, flat arms with sharp claws at the end dragged whatever this entity was across the scarred bridge. Undisturbed by the darkness, several gold and teal veins running through its frame briefly illuminated the bridge as it pulled itself toward the glimpse of light from one of the Arena's many stars.

Its eyes gleamed a visage of the world for but a moment.

It could recognize unnaturally design when it saw it. Its formation was chaotic and lacked any of the features their garden worlds had procured. At least from its simple glimpse, before a moon obscured its view. It hated that it could not recall how long it had been, itself. How long it had been here? How long it had been awake? Why did it know so much but felt... so wrong?

The War never ended. It could feel that at least. It felt along its face, a almost draconic, snarling visage with great fangs locked in a permanent grimace. It's snout ended in a sharp blade, somehow in perfect shape. Two eyes.. though they lacked any lids. This was... a partial truth. The appearance it held a flanderization. What it couldn't recall about itself it could recall of the enemy... of its kin.

Psyrens had joined in... it saw the face of the Lord of Murder, and they fought. They would have thought forever had the blade of that Lord of Excess hadn't speared its spine-

Did it have a spine? It just recalled fighting, then screaming, then falling. Then nothing. Murmurs. An uncomfortably long blur. An uncomfortably odd hunger. Tip-of-the-tongue made Jamais vu.

The War never ended. The screaming of Gauss and the chimes of star-plasma. Melodic siren calls and mad feral keening. Commands. Feet moving up and down again. The sound of hover drives... the sound of souls hissing as they burned up. The long silence between the arming of suns. the orders, the speeches. The sound of metal feet and claws. The flashes brighter than sunlight. When flames casted shadows. The earth cracking beneath them.

Oh. My.

The War Never ended.

The creature's arms fused together wirh zipper like attachments, forming great broad wings that the creature somehow could use in these conditions. It created lift for itself, and suddenely found itself flying from the bridge and towards the moon. It had remembered flying before. Not too dissimilar to this moment even. Oh how rich. It need not worry of suffocation in the vacuum, and the thin exosphere of the moon did not change that either. Before it passed from this main and careened towards-

180,000 Kilometers From the Arena Surface

Satellites all across the arena were pinging with information. A massive body, 50 meters in its dimensions heading towards the Onyxis area. It at first careened normally, at a pace not too different from a shuttle entering orbit. But what would startle observers is the appearance from the ground level.

The sight of a teal and gold fireball shooting across the day sky. Behind it dragged a wondrous spectrum of light, the coattails of a comet. Curiously, whatever was above the arena pinged it. A sort of bloop that travelled across the arena. A gentle rolling. A faint breeze.

And it had decided it needed more energy. Chaos had been here before. Things it didnt identify that wished to eat away at this world nested under the watching eyes of others. Strange forces that it could tell reveled in violence stalked along the outskirts.

It was gonna need something.

...Warp drives. It seemed odd it knew what those were, but in a sudden burst of speed, it felt the intense need to throw itself at such a hub of energy.

Esche

The city had always had to deal with the aftermath of Hub Centralis's problems, and hearing reports a massive piece of sky debris was heading their way, the city responded naturally with how they deal with said issues.

With brute efficiency.

Towers rose from the city's walled perimeter and revealed their Anti-air firing systems. A message was sent towards the ufo, since well, the Council in-charge did not need a controversy revolving around shooting down a crashing civilian vessel. Ships launched from platforms deeper in the city, on standby to ensure thered be no ambush.

Sooner then later a decision would be made, and those seconds were being counted down with tensity. No reply, but their sensors detected something about this anonaly. The thing about ready to crash into them had no pulse, but was producing... heat? The thermals didn't lie, the thing coming down onto the city had the signature of a fusion reactor going super-critical. Even if it was a civilian or colony vessel, it posed a threat. Evacuation went into effect immediately as they gave permission to blast it kingdom come.

The turrets fired, hull-splitter rockets and plasma shots collided with the foriegn flying object. The hovering fighters began to unload their payload as well, barrages hitting it as a constant wall of flashing lights and exhaust trails.

The object however, seemed unfazed, and returned the ongoing fire with something of its own. The entity created a series of lights around its front, readying a series of lines into one unified formation.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1000068857.jpg

As the sigil lit, the missiles and plasma shots seemed to, hit some sort of invisible barrier. The entity shoulder checked a wall as it descended, smashing through the fortifications with a powerful blow that send a Shockwave across the city and surrounding environment.

Debris erupted, coalescing into flaming piles that released great plumes of smoke. The momentum of this entity did not stop as it slammed itself further into the city. The plume of destruction erupted around it, as buildings smashed into by the landing entity leaned forward and crashed into their neighbors opposite of them, cables snapping and moving across the air like deadly whips. Smoke continued to rise...

Edited by ArbiterOfTheBog on Mar 17th 2025 at 10:16:30 AM

Awawa
ISZATSO The Web-Slinger from Queens Since: Apr, 2020 Relationship Status: All is for my lord
The Web-Slinger
#394332: Mar 17th 2025 at 8:28:51 PM

EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT READY FOR THE DAY…

Previous

Bog Biter

Scoobert

Bolded

Bonini

Noah

Situation III II

Kain watched Macta disappear into the crumbled haven, not lifting a finger to stop her. Humanity. What did they stand for? Their greatest folly lay in their greatest strength: the human spirit. It drove them, yet so too did it hinder them. Made them feel invincible, blind to the one true inevitability in life: the lack thereof.

With a sneer and a chuckle, Death stood from the bloody couch and disappeared. He’d decided to wait his turn after all.

Situation III

Inside was bloody chaos. In those precious few moments as Ethan exhaled, Lily returned quickly to the fray, jumping over Mehmet as he was thrown at her by the Emperor. She hoped he was okay, of course, but to glance back now in this battle would seal her fate. So she kept her eyes on the man, swiping past him with Lun in hand, the blade shearing cleanly through his flesh…

…but though his eyes gushed blood, his brain, evidently, remained intact.

Yet before we proceed any further here, we’d ought check in on the distant corner of the room, where found Ricky to suppress Lucaera’s ZONE with his own. Inside the scarlet-tinted sphere, a fierce clash of colors raged. An epileptic kaleidoscope gave image to the war between Ricky and Lucaera, fought with their minds and souls as their bodies served only as collateral in this deadly gamble. But Ricky, while a prodigy in this regard and this regard only, could only stand up against a Vril-Ya, unchallenged masters in their craft, for so long. The kaleidoscope grew smaller, and smaller, and smaller, as Ricky’s defense waned. It shrunk at last to only the borders of his flesh, and then failed altogether, and Ricky was engulfed in the bleeding red atmosphere of Lucaera’s ZONE and left entirely to her mercy, of which she had none.

A cry left his lips just before his head was inverted and his skin was twisted inside out, a half-formed word, "Li—" that drew Lily’s gaze to it. Her mouth dropped as her eyes settled upon his body. Dead. And there had been her mistake.

Blindness clearly wasn’t enough to stop Yakub from reaching out and grasping Lily while she was still gripped by shock, grasp tightening around her leg. She bit her tongue to keep from screaming; in its absence the crack of bone was deafening. There was a scream, though, but it came not from Lily, and it wasn’t one of pain. Rather, Liam’s howl was filled with rage, rage and exhaustion at always being the helpless bystander. What could he possibly do against Yakub? Nothing. But Liam was so far beyond the point of caring. "Don’t fucking touch her!"

He joined the fight at last, drawing sparse attention from the thing who’d killed him earlier today.    "You?"    The dismissiveness in his voice outweighed any hint of shock, and Liam was only cast further into fury. He lunged at Yakub with his steel staff, though the rod managed only to bounce harmlessly off the side of the Last Emperor’s head. Liam wasted no time in following up, though, thrusting the end of it at the gash left behind by Lily before it could close. He grasped the tip just as it was about to pierce the wound, though, and with a single, destructive thought, the staff was undone. Yakub cast Lily aside before chopping an already bloodstained hand cleanly through Liam’s arm and kicked him away.

Yet, while Liam was mid-flight, something most curious occurred. Less through conscious thought and more direct instinct, the jade wires of Emerald Lariat snuck from the end of his arm and raced to the severed limb. They dug under the skin before snapping the arm back to him, reuniting it with Liam. The wires took the form of stitches, their glow fading; and by the time Liam landed, utterly unconscious, they were gone entirely. It was as though nothing had happened.

This stole Yakub’s attention. One of the Great Truths…and in the hands of this wastrel, no less. But just as he started to make for the boy, Ethan roared, and roots stronger than any material otherwise found on Earth snaked around his ankles, forcing him to his knees as vines twisted around his arms. While he was bound to the floor, bramble shot from the debris and into his body, as though to further entrap him. One jagged branch had come only inches away from impaling his brain and would have, had he not angled his head just enough.

   "I will not—"    He hissed lowly, the insanity sustained from years of isolation sneaking into his voice more and more with every word as he struggled and feared, for the first time, that he simply was not strong enough to deal with this.    "By children, by mortals, you won’t…"   

Lily crawled grunting away, to Liam, saw his chest rise and fall and gasped her relief. Libby was quick to his side and helped Lily up as the student placed both hands on her shattered leg, channeling her vril into it in an effort to repair the broken bonds just enough to deliver her through the rest of this battle.

[[evil:"You cannot bind me again..! I will…"

Mehmet limped away, leaning against Conner for support, as the pair watched in bated silence to see if, like a desperate animal caught in a snare, he would die there, or somehow escape, as did every other student in that room who had been too fearful to join the battle.

   "You…cannot—!"    The madman’s ramblings were cut short as Macta’s staff pulverized his head, skull, brain, face and all. He was silenced instantly. A cleft jaw hung limply from the visceral mass that remained as his body slumped into the roots, limp. A collective sigh filled the room. It was over. Yet…

Lily’s heart thrummed still in her chest. The hairs along her arm remained on edge. And so too would Ethan, the pair the only in the room so attuned to vril as they were, feel that same overwhelming sense of dread that Yakub had permeated when he was alive. He wasn’t dead yet. It wasn’t his brain, she realized. The Vril-Ya had purposefully misled them regarding that single point that, upon striking, would decide the fight. And if it wasn’t his head, it has to be—

His heart was ejected from his chest and rocketed across the room. Lily lunged to catch it, to end this now, but it slipped through her grasp and into Lucaera’s ZONE. Some foolish student made the mistake of following into it. Lily reached to stop him, but it was too late; the moment the nameless lad stepped into the scarlet sphere he fell to pieces, red ribbons that once were human strewn over the floor. Lily, Conner, Mehmet, and Libby could do naught but watch as around this heart grew a fleshy carapace with a tumorous mouth and exposed, dangling lungs squeezing out Yakub’s words:    "''Lucaera…now…we…"   

save your breath, master yakub. Her mummified arms cracked as they moved for the first time in millennia, enveloping what little of Yakub’s body had regrown and pulling them into her embrace. soon, we will become one, as always we were meant to be. The room was subject to a brilliant flash against which Lily flinched, shielding her eyes. When again her hand lowered, neither of the Vril-Ya remained.

"No…NO! FUCK! He fucking got away, he got away again, God damn it!"

Situation IV — Luin

Twelve seats and half a tank. It’d be cutting things close, for sure, and a total evacuation would require some trips, but the only hope of the crowd of civilians atop the roof lay in that shuttle. So, Luin nodded, yet could do nothing to rid herself of the grim expression which plagued her features, the growing sense that the night’s worse had still yet to come. Every single person on top of that building understood their role it seemed: orders were given and positions were taken up, and as Luin herded the civilians into the shuttle, their grand stalling began.

The evacuation took place somewhere over half an hour, the rooftop population getting lower with every return trip the shuttle made, bringing them outside the city to safety. In that time, Venti, Avdol, and Alison blew apart the ascending hordes, leaving nothing for those that came after to even climb on. The constant stream of Max Elephant’s water jets kept the undead down, never relenting as it flayed rotting skin from putrid flesh, and putrid flesh from softened bone. Mark had opted to get down and dirty, actively swinging into the writhing corpse-mountains growing alongside the building’s walls and cut into them like a knife through butter.

Megumi and Nick both congregated by Luin, who was doing her best to keep the civilians placated and calm as each one waited for their ticket out of this nightmare. She addressed the former first with a thankful nod, grateful for all he’d done thus far. But the night’s far from over. Next she answered Nick’s query, after a quiet moment of inwards contemplation. Did DIO have anything, somehow, to do with Annihilation Nergigante? She perused her memories of the last hour or so, her encounter with the vampire and every word he’d said, still burned into her head clear as day. There was nothing to suggest a connection between the two other than, what had he said, Purity and Malice? Greater powers than even I converge here tonight, at the corpse of a Dead God beneath it, and woe to all those caught in their crossfire. When again she spoke, it was with her findings: "No, I don’t think so. The Annihilation Nergigante is…supposed to be here tonight, but…well, I think DIO knows about it, but it doesn’t know about him.

Diligent effort made the prospect of seeing dawn something more than just a forlorn dream. The shuttle returned to pick up the final three civilians, and Luin glanced around at everyone else, the six others who’d helped stay the undead while the pilot did his work: Alison, Venti, Nick, Mark, Avdol, and Megumi. It’s rare, she thought, you come across so many people, so willing to help. She felt a thing she hadn’t felt since Landslide and Lutemis both had been stolen away by the Poachers, since first she spilled the blood not of a monster, but of another human: Luin felt her hope in people healed. And over the edge, at the feet of the building below — well, it might just have been wishful thinking, but the hordes of undead seemed almost thinned.

The job’s not done yet.

"I’m not leaving." She turned to them all, lifting her voice and speaking as loud as she could without yelling. But the woman did nothing to halt emotion as it seeped into her words. "My fiancée is down there, still. In the city somewhere. And so is everyone still breathing. There’s still people to save, and I don’t plan on resting until I’ve helped as many of them as I can. If you wanna hop on that shuttle, if you’re ready to leave…I don’t blame you. Really, I don’t. But if you feel, like me, that you’ve still got work to do…follow me. We’ll be the light. The night is dark, but it doesn’t need to be hopeless." Then, in the silence succeeding her speech, she cleared her throat almost awkwardly, as though embarrassed of the emotion she’d chosen not to hold back. Rather than wait to see who left and who remained, Luin only turned away and drew Lannéadrom from her hip as she hurried for the door to the stairwell, descending into the building’s depths…

Situation IV — Aelun

Aelun accepted Amy’s help up, returning to his feet and regarding—with apparent curiosity—as the scrapes he’d earned during the fall simply vanished. It seemed, to him, he’d made the right choice with her. "Doubtf—" His answer to her was made invalid as a giant hand offered an answer of its own, grabbing Thorn and yanking her away as we caught up to the present.

Aelun veered away from a zombie’s club, grappling its wrist with his free hand and yanking it closer to cut through both arms, before kicking it bsck down the stairwell and taking some of its undead companions with it, though that on its own wouldn’t be nearly enough to stave off the onslaught. He could afford only a momentary glance upwards, as Vel'Koz spherified a number of undead, subjecting them to extreme pressure before they exploded outwards, blood and guts splattered across the stairwell. The good news was it actually made it even more difficult for the undead approaching from below, slipping and sliding over the viscera of their brethren, though on the other hand…

Aelun made a sound somewhere between a hiss and sigh, trying his best to wipe the new paint job off his formerly all-silver-and-white armor but managing only to spread the dark red blotches. His boiling anger thrummed silently against his skull. The king put the emotion to good use though, hacking away at the undead coming up the stairs side-by-side with Amy while Vel’Koz and Sebastien continued to handle the numbers descending upon them, the quartet stacking corpses both above and below the landing like I stack bands every night.

Walk through the doorway on the landing and into the hallway just outside and we’ll find our fifth member, locked in combat.

Tarkus’ eyes widened in obvious surprise—betraying the intelligence that yet remained behind them—as she surfed his severed fingers towards him. That same wounded hand flung up in front of his face to block the fingers, the ham-sized slabs of rancid meat smacking off his pale and peeling palm. Moving his palm might just have been the best move Tarkus could’ve made in his unlife, because if it hadn’t been for that, Thorn’s violently rapid succession of saber strikes that tore this very hand to shreds might’ve been against his head.

As it was, though, Tarkus had gotten off easy: strips of hand and fingers dropped to the ground, revealing his head just as Sebastien’s bolt screamed down the hallway and exploded against his eye, spraying a stream of blood and hemoglobin over the area before it. Tarkus writhed, smashing the walls around it to bits; eventually he demolished the floor beneath so utterly that it simply dropped out, and the almost impossibly huge undead with it, smashing through the floor below as well and disappeared into the darkness of the building. Thorn was almost certain to see the brute again, but for right now, the numbers of undead in the stairwell outside was beginning to border on overwhelming. For just a moment, though, a path opened up in the stairs above. But like the alignment of planets, their opportunity would persist for only a lone, transient second before it was closed forever, and the walls of undead moved in on both sides.

If ever they wanted to get to the roof, they’d now need to make a break for it.

…IT CANNOT ALWAYS BE NIGHT.

With great power…you know the rest.
RainbyPlays fae being from yes Since: Nov, 2019 Relationship Status: Hiding
fae being
#394333: Mar 17th 2025 at 9:08:34 PM

Esche

"Whaaaaat the fuuuuuuuck..."

One Henka Arashi had been sitting around in a police office (apparently you needed a pilot's license to fly in this airspace?? how stupid.) when she heard, felt, and sensed something happening all at once.

First, her mesh network alerted her to a sudden shift in the city's ATC radio. Then, the fact that the city was rapidly shifting into defense mode and starting evacuation.

Of course, being so sure of herself, she didn't evacuate. Instead, she tracked the progress of the object-

"Wait, fuck, it's headed for the wall I should probably move-"

The sound of metal and rock falling around her cut off her thoughts, the very building she was in being unfortunate enough to suddenly be bore down upon by another one.

She throws herself to the side, hover jets implanted in her feet kicking in just before the rubble would have crushed her completely.

"AVIRIS! Where's my fucking hardsuit??"

<You do need to request these sorts of things, Lady Arashi! It's still up in orbit- it'll take some time to get to you planetside->

"Well it'd be FUCKING NICE TO HAVE IT LIKE A WHOLE 20 SECONDS AGO!"

...silence, but there was a notification that her suit was being deployed. Good enough for her.

She was skating along on her integrated hover-jets, heading (unlike ALMOST EVERYONE ELSE) towards the rampaging anomaly. At some point, her suit landed from an orbital pod and she quickly snagged it and put the bulky pack on her back.

Slowly but surely, it hissed, clicked, and split open to turn into a bulky set of military-grade powered armor, though it certainly wasn't as big as some power armor people may picture- rather, it barely made her any bigger, instead having invested in thick plating and extensions of some of her gear, like her inbuilt hover-jets. Basically, think Iron Man (or in this case War Machine I suppose) but a proper, void-proof spacesuit.

"If some unholy TITAN creation followed me here I'm gonna be pissed..."

<If it were a TITAN creation, it would have gone for you specifically, Lady Arashi.>

"...yes. Very helpful information, AVIRIS."

Her suit's weapons were still stored away- as were her own inbuilt ones. It had been a bit since she had actually fought, both psionically and physically- though she did run through her usual combat sims every day, so she hoped she was keeping herself sharp. She followed along with the trail of destruction, twin boosters on her back propelling her forward faster than her air-skating alone.

"We got ANY info on this thing?"

<None, I'm afraid. Cameras show it shrugging off the city defenses with some sort of unnatural ability- though it seemed to be different than your recorded repulsion ability when under the influence of the strain.>

Henka let out a heavy sigh, tapping both her hands to her armored legs and retrieving her dual printer-SMGs from their hidden carrying spots that had opened upon her armor.

"...this is gonna fucking suck."

aeiou: the second
ArbiterOfTheBog Parasmagate from The Mortal Realms Since: Feb, 2022 Relationship Status: Cast away
Parasmagate
#394334: Mar 17th 2025 at 10:14:25 PM

Cairo-Venti

The North Wall? Alright. Venti honed in his archer's eye and aimed for each undead with... way too much speed.

Each anemo bolt notched and the string pulled back to full draw length before being fired in less than two seconds each.

Each anemo bolt landing in the skull of the undead and down their spine, breaking the skull and severing through spinal bile.

As Mark went on the offense he suddenely changed to his lyre, strumming the artifact as it suddenely reverberated with gales, wind surrounding mark like a shield that drove his blows to be more and more severe, blocking vile claws as he became even more of a whirlwind.

Venti looked to Luin with surprise that this woman actually had in real time acquired a second wind in her. He listened to her about her fiance, playing his lyre so those who struck in close quarters could actually have the wind's blessing. He nodded to her with a grin, immediately stepping to her side as he hyped himself up.

"Great! I'm pretty sure theyre gonna be looking for you too! And I think someone else is trying to come up here... so let's give em hell Luin! Hope you're ready, because I think there are more horrors down there."


Cairo-Vel'Koz

   "Our immediate reaction to the enemy is too reactionary. A proactive approach might be more fitting."   

The Void Entity's three smaller brow eyes looked to the stairs the undead were pouring from, hatching the tentacles nightmare a solution.

The main eye began to fire up, Vel'koz lookijg yo the stairs and seemingly coordinating some sort of trajectory, his carapace stretching to prepare for his next plan. His allies were too focused on things he deemed unnecessary, though upon further analysis, their close-range reactionary nature was ideal. Sébastien was doing something that benefitted from his allies being the shields. But the shields were also in the line of fire for more powerful strokes.

   "Clearing out the terrain. Creating optimal path. Do not stand in the way."   

The central eye bursted with violet energy, searing through the undead heading from the bridge. While the bolt travelled up the stairs, it would randomly change direction, as if accounting for... another party. The void bolt left a visible rift in the staircase, before Vel'koz's eye seemingly activated again with a flash of violet light. Zombies along the railings or edge of the searing bolt wrre suddenely drawn towards the rift as if it were a vacuum, their bodies flattening out and reinforced by their own bone material to create a new and improved set of steps.

   "I find their elbows obscene."   

Edited by ArbiterOfTheBog on Mar 18th 2025 at 11:11:24 AM

Awawa
Hotpizza (Searching for Spock)
#394335: Mar 18th 2025 at 12:45:53 AM

Taye. Her name, that was all she was certain of.

Everything else was a blur. Not too long ago, she woke up in the middle of a wide open place, empty except for an old motorcycle next to her. Trying to recall her past only led to faint, yet numerous and conflicting memories. She was the queen of a medieval kingdom... no, he was piloting a giant mecha... no, she was being electro-tortured in a prison... no, he...

Even without fancy sensors, it was difficult not to see an unusually colorful fireball shooting across the sky like a comet. For a moment, her mind recalled (or imagined?) zipping through the vast expanse of space. As if she came from there. But wasn't she made on Earth-

The shockwave hit her, send her tumbling across the ground. There's something huge going down, and here she was, daydreaming like she had nothing better to do. Acting on instinct, she hopped onto her(?) motorcycle, and sped off towards

Esche

That was a strange thing to do, seeing a humongous thing crash into a city and deciding to check it out, as if he had a death wish. Not that he could help it - big dangerous events just drew him in, like a moth to a flame. It was in character, as was him phrasing it that way.

Meanwhile, the blond man approached the crumbing city on the beaten-up motorcycle. For a vehicle that seemed out of shape, Taye was surprisingly mobile in it, weaving between debris and evacuees as if he's done similar before.

He was dressed equal parts sharply and messily. Shades that on first look appeared to be purely for fashion. High-waisted leather pants pulled over a fitted but slightly unbuttoned shirt, all underneath a trench coat that flapped in the wind. Held in holsters on his hips, two things: a simple-looking longsword with a thick hilt, and a strange gun best described as a mix of a modern pistol and a bulky bolter. Just beneath his oufit, he wore armor - a mix of leather and metal, more of the former than the latter, but armor nevertheless.

Taye could only hope his equipment was sufficient for current events, even if barely. Just what happened here?

Edited by Hotpizza on Mar 18th 2025 at 9:48:39 AM

Rbade [PASIO] from Woodstocks Since: May, 2015 Relationship Status: Non-Canon
[PASIO]
#394336: Mar 18th 2025 at 2:45:18 AM

CHARLIE.ULTRA

[fortunate], raised evasion and Sing's abysmal base accuracy a missed move maketh as it skits back and away.

!
"Swords Dance!"

Hearing the call of its commander, the aerocada suddenly stops a mid-range distance from its opp and begins the [process], raising its arms as it begins the maneuver...
Ninjask's Attack sharply rose!

TP: 8/9
TL: 9/9 - [SYNC MOVE READY]

/\。。/\
IchigoMontoya (Don’t ask) Relationship Status: Not caught up in your love affair
#394337: Mar 18th 2025 at 9:29:50 AM

Chromia nods, rolling with Whirl's way too cheerful recollection of what sounded to her like a devastating battle.

"That bad, huh? Are any other Autobots here - Optimus, Ultra Magnus, Elita - or is it just everyone in this room?"

Air Raid considers asking Stiletto and Overshot for details about this fight with Weirdwolf on Nebulos, but decides against it. Instead, he shifts his gaze to Deathswheel.

"Velocitron, then? You sure got the look of one of Override's racers."

BoniniBanana Fortunate Sun I from real Since: Aug, 2021 Relationship Status: RelationshipOutOfBoundsException: 1
Fortunate Sun I
#394338: Mar 18th 2025 at 10:09:43 AM

Esche

Fortunately the crash landing had made an Empyrreich remote base gone asunder. Mainly its communication tower. Their main ship from much farther away spectates but identifies that the presence of chaos/warp energy means ruling Emma out entirely. They've detected that kind of energy signature before but have yet to clear with higher command on using her for experimentation.

Thankfully they don't have to give her extra in hazard pay for this as they can just relegate that task to some contractors who can procure corpses from the site or whose corpses can be procured if anything goes wrong.

These gray market jobs do have their regulars, though.

The duo of a heavily armored man and a hag beyond her years who still wants some piece of the pie, Flint and Alda, are sent to investigate the crash site. Two drones fly behind them, primed to shoot. On one drone, bullets; the other, documentation.

"What are you doing here? Thought Kaiser booked you for the week."

"Yours ain't the only blue haired rookie itchin for a sample o' that stuff y'know? Says I took so much to the system to nullify the crazy energy. To that a' say, he's the—"

Flint looks down, shakes his head, then moves forward.

"Walk woman."

"To work, I see!"

They begin surveying the area, maybe other people are still around, if so, they have to deal with them before pulling out their energy siphons — their inefficient batteries can trip surrounding energy sensors when filled. There's another armored individual and some individual from a motorcycle approaching, they take their glances before moving on, focused on that shipwreck.

Edited by BoniniBanana on Mar 19th 2025 at 1:15:23 AM

real
shroobot3000 Witch of Scarlet Dreams from Behind you Since: Apr, 2014 Relationship Status: You can be my wingman any time
Witch of Scarlet Dreams
#394339: Mar 18th 2025 at 10:54:02 AM

Bogbiter's cool new event, Esche

The crash at Esche attracted the attention of two other factions, both alike in malice but otherwise wildly different.

Boss Mekstompa observed it from a distance, dropping the 'umie he was crushing as he did so. Now that, that looked like it would get a lot of attention. And a lot of attention would mean a lot of grots gathering together. Which meant a proppa fite and lots of gubbinz to loot.

   "Boyz! Get da trukks ready! Look loike we gots a new destination!"    he announced, quickly smacking the nearest git to get to work.

Elsewhere. The Decepticons also noticed the crash, as well as detecting unusual energy readings from it. Curious to research this unknown xenotech, Shockwave has a unit dispatched to investigate. Thus emerges from a Groundbridge portal in the city outskirts Leader-1 (distinguished by his grey colorscheme from his fellows) and a squad of Omnicon troopers.


Cairo Mairo Mario

Sebastien didn't need to be told twice. The moment Vel'Koz makes them a path he grabs Glimmer and starts using his old Mekansm abilities to enhance his mobility and aid his exfiltration. Which is to say he skedaddles real fast.

"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."
ISZATSO The Web-Slinger from Queens Since: Apr, 2020 Relationship Status: All is for my lord
The Web-Slinger
#394340: Mar 18th 2025 at 1:23:03 PM

In a mountain lair, some dozen miles outside the city limits, dwelled Malleus Magni.

His pale head turned sharply up from the writhing cultist bound to his worktable and at the screaming alarms on the other side of the chamber. Outside the blackened mountain, something was awry. Silently, the Warsmith rose from his work and left it behind, making instead for his personal armory. In moments his armor was done and he clanked to his weapons, practically tearing them from the wall. Groaning clanks filled his ear as the lift brought him ever closer to the hangar, where waited his shuttle, already prepared. The great doors above opened, mountain wind howling in as Malleus departed for the city.

Kid, something’s going on in Onyxis. Need you to check it out for me.

Mark’s head lifted from his arms, snapping awake. Below them, on his desk, homework lay undone. "I’m…busy." He lied. "Can’t A.D.A deal with it?"

It’d take too long to gather them; this is a developing situation and I need someone on top of it quickly. His earpiece informed him. You’re the best fit for the task.

"Alright, Cecil." He huffed, getting up and reaching under his bed for the outfit. "Send me the location, I’ll be right there."

I won’t need to. Get to Esche, you’ll see it for yourself.

"Mom!" Mark called from the top of the stairs. "I’m going to Onyxis!"

“Try to be back by dinner, honey!”

In an eye’s blink, the costume was on. The mask slipped over his head, and Invincible rocketed from the open window, into the great pale blue.

Esche

The hero arrived before the sound of him did, a roar announcing his arrival only after the fact. Eager to get this done with and get home, Invincible hovered above the trailing crater left in the wake of this outer-space visitor, quizzically glancing over it. No time to waste here; he quickly circled around to one of the more residential-looking buildings into which the entity had crashed and put all his superpowered weight against it, aiming to right the sleek, milky-colored edifice for which Esche was so uniquely known as best he could. Once it had been stabilized enough that those still remaining within who hadn’t heeded the city’s evacuation orders in time could heed it now, Invincible flew down a little bit further to the winding road of ruin’s end to find the entity itself and lowered himself to the ground as he stepped forwards, observing the surrounding destruction with arms at his hips. "Most outer space debris we get just makes a little crater in a field somewhere. You seem intent on being as much of a problem as possible."

Somewhere much further above, over even the news helicopters and drones, a faint dot circled the scene. Within his shuttle, Malleus observed the situation below through camera screens and LRAD feeds.

Edited by ISZATSO on Mar 18th 2025 at 4:28:31 AM

With great power…you know the rest.
KiriK The Grey Pilgrim from across time and space Since: Mar, 2015 Relationship Status: Singularity
The Grey Pilgrim
#394341: Mar 18th 2025 at 2:56:02 PM

Untold Loss

There is no Aura for Ana to punch. There is nothing but an arm, which disperses as soon as Ana has moved on from its attack.

He still does not regenerate into anything solid enough to whale on. Instead, his presence takes all the earth and debris thrown around by Ana and telekinetically throws it back at her, attempting to encase her in it and immobilize her.


G0lly

Shadow Lenna goes hurtling back, but melts into the floor before she can collide with her fleshy counterpart, returning to Lenna's shadow.

"Go. Go!" Lenna shouts to the kids, tossing a bomb at the War Bohrok.

Morpho Knight's eldritch mind is not cowed by the Maneater's ferocity, but it does seem unable to find a moment to strike. It's not in a defensive stance...

Collector Samus folds her arms as she studies Karzahni's masked face.

   "All I really care about is not being alone in this empty place. Or at least having more company than things that want me dead."   

Another explosion.

   "Gah, what the hell is that?"   

Edited by KiriK on Mar 18th 2025 at 5:02:44 AM

"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."
Bolded1 Fate, guide me from behind you!!!!!!!! Since: Mar, 2015
Fate, guide me
#394342: Mar 18th 2025 at 3:24:56 PM

Cairo Tragedy

Megumi Fushiguro - Rooftop

Megumi is very appreciate of Nick, Mark and Venti's help but he has to concede that it'd all be much more stressful without the pilot. They can load up people inside and help with returns trips too! He'd volunteer Nue, but it'd only be useful for one passenger, it'd be a waste of Megumi's Cursed Energy and he's already busy spraying down, a manoeuver that, unflashy as it might be, seems to work out at slowly thinning out the herd, both the one crawling around the building and the one on top of it.

Megumi smiles slightly at seeing this, slightly because he knows that things can get always get worse. But seeing Nick, Mark, Venti and that pilot all cooperating together with him and Luin warms his usually reserved heart. He'd have fought with all his might regardless, and he knows that the tides of fate are capricious and unconcerned with the balance between good and evil...

But sometimes, it feels good fighting with others against a clear unambiguious evil. And he slowly thank each of them as he sees less undead being swept off the building and into the street below, with his fellow defenders apparently likewise seeing enough of a lull in the chaos to gather around Luin, who seems likewise warmed-up by the efforts around her. Megumi, however, can only note that she seems better. He doesn't know her enough that well to know her deeper thoughts.

But perhaps something that was lost seeing the Poachers into action was reignited by the efforts deployed by all those strangers to thwart the tides of yet another apocalypse. And Megumi nodded as she spoke of finding her fiancé somewhere down the city. He raised an eyebrow at this, seeing this as a manoeuver bound for... hazaphardness, but he remembered that he probably could handle himself too, if she fell for him. And it was always an occasion to help more people.

Megumi was a Sorcerer, he had powers, they didn't for the most part. If anyone was left to help, he had to help them, that was how it was. He nodded, making his intent clear, and drew his knife. He'd summon his Shikigamis, but it might make too crowded a space. And he could handle himself up close, so he chose to stay. You're right. He says, in response to her speech. It's up to us to remind DIO why he spent an entire year crawling about in the dark.

As the group prepared to move, Megumi drew his knife, still wet with Scorpion's Blood (which he remedied by slipping the flat of the blade down his arm), the young man turned to Luin. Erm... Congratulations, by the way. I'm very happy for you.

Sith Lady Thorn Bambozine

Was notably less relaxed

As Tarkus's hand fell apart before her might, Thorn drew back, doing an instinctive flourish as she witnessed the undead. Is that intelligence I see in your eyes? Obviously you haven't put it to good use, seeing fit to isolate me! She snarls, readying herself for further action. But she doesn't need to, for her brief duel is interrupted right as she had settled the score.

Being grabbed by Tarkus had squeezed her bones and organs together disagreeably, you see, and though she stood strong, a lesser woman would have been crushed to death. So as far as Thorn saw it, they'd merely been made even. And Sebastian came and ruined it with his bolt of light, striking the massive undead with such force as to cause him to flail about, Thorn casually jumping backwards to avoid his movements.

Thorn? There's movements upstairs. They're trying to come down. I don't know why. There's a ship they could take to evacuate and all...

Looking for survivors, I'd bet. The fools. As Tarkus falls, Thorn wait it out and use the Force to precisely levitate a few debris, trying to make sure he can't grab one of them. She then bows forward, legs bending forward before she zips forwards like a flash, leaping from one debris to the other to reach the ceiling of the next room, which she attempts to breach using her lightsaber, swinging it in a wide range and then trying to force push the ceiling away to form a hole which to jump through into the floor.

Looking around for Zombies, Thorn proceed to run up to the stairs to the floor leading down below, raising her hand into a gloved fist and gathering power to start breaking apart these stairs. Should the group fail to get to her floor in time, Thorn will spread cracks all over it, canalizing the Force to crush the stairs before flinging her hand downwards to destroy them, with enough force to maybe destroys the stairs down below and bury the undead.

But also, making it difficult for the undead below to gain access to their floor now.

You're quick. That'll serve you well, when we'll be at the top, with nowhere left to run. She says to whoever make it first, head lowered, a sinister grin on her face.

Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter
DevilPsyco from The Underworld (pretty deep down in the ground) Since: Jul, 2014 Relationship Status: In another castle
#394343: Mar 18th 2025 at 4:24:06 PM

G0lly

The Good Hunter... made the correct decision, because the shining thing is G0lly's monitor.

"Oh, the first one to find us!", the Child chuckles. "Better get as much damage in as you can, because in about five seconds we're changing spots!"

"I never knew this game could be so exciting!" , G0lly proclaims.

"I'm learning a lot!"

"What an exciting opportunity for all of us, don't you think?"

Star Boy continues to fence with Scizors, though the boy doesn't seem to be taking it fully seriously, just giggling excitedly as he keeps pace with the Beta Pokemon, who just seems to get angrier the longer it takes. Star Boy took notice of the Good Hunter and their 'OK' handsign, to which Star Boy had given a thumbs up back.

The iron bug then stops for a moment, using Agility and Swords Dance. With Star Boy being unaware of Pokemon moves, he presumes it's just some kinda dance.

Oh no.

Sylux moves forward into the room beyond the elevator, and to their surprise, they find a giant boss monitor.

"See anything familiar?"

They're startled for a moment. P03? But the boss monitor is inactive. And regardless, P03 should be in 'boss mode' right now, shouldn't he?

...

Sylux's eyes narrow behind their helmet. Combined with what the Child said about P03 earlier, some pieces are beginning to click in their head.

...

They wonder...

The two boys hide behind the corner while the bomb goes off near the War Bohrok, the explosion dealing big damage and blasting it back.

However, its fall is broken as it curls up into a ball in mid-air (with its firearms sticking out the side like spikes), allowing it to roll once it lands. It follows up by rolling right towards Lenna with the intent to bash into her.

The Maneater tries to catch Morpho Knight off guard by lunging without warning.

Karzahni seems surprised that she doesn't care about seeing the future. A low chuckle escapes him.

   "Well then... I'll accompany you until I know why I was brought here. You don't happen to know, do you?"   

He looks into the hall of the nearby split, now seeing the kids round the corner. Since the boys are peeking back at the Lennas and the War Bohrok, they haven't noticed either Collector Samus or Karzahni.

   "Oh look... more company."   , Karzahni points out.

Edited by DevilPsyco on Mar 18th 2025 at 12:24:40 PM

In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.
Bolded1 Fate, guide me from behind you!!!!!!!! Since: Mar, 2015
Fate, guide me
#394344: Mar 18th 2025 at 4:58:27 PM

Glitchunting

The Good Hunter hears it out. Five seconds. It had five seconds to strike. Normally, it'd mean quickly separating the Burial Blade to land more attacks quicker but the Good Hunter realize it's only the beginning of a fun game. And though they know that its very likely they'd fail to kill gOlly with that, they decide to prioritize a bit of fun over deadpan efficiency.

Winding up with a scythe strike, they grab the weapon both-handed as they spin on their right axis, bending the entire body forward as they raise their weapon high to the sky, unwittingly forming a shape akin to a crescent moon in the sky before they suddenly run forward, dragging the weapon along the ground and creating a shower of sparks, or whatever's the equivalent of sparks in such a bizarre and unruly realm.

Then, they swing the weapon upwards so hard they fling themselves up in the sky, which prompt them to blink and, after one second of hesitation, at the last moment, come down with a kick.

Faint cackling emanates.

Baz

The deskboy nods, understanding the request. Denying a demigod audience would be suicide in any other way, but Miquella the Kind bore that name well. And as such, he bows, offering Baz a little badge. Here you go. We may provide one to your...

No.

Baz blinks. A bit too abrupt of a reply. She glances at Casper and squeezes his hand, hoping he isn't hurt.

No offense, but I'd like to do this... alone. I can't have you running around me all the time like you're my dad, right? itdmakeourelationweird She says, smiling sweetly to show him she means no harm.

She turns to the desk clerk. S-sorry for interrupting you!

It's no problem! He laughs.

Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter
ArbiterOfTheBog Parasmagate from The Mortal Realms Since: Feb, 2022 Relationship Status: Cast away
Parasmagate
#394345: Mar 18th 2025 at 5:26:17 PM

Esche

Mark's words attract it seemingly, the creature looking to him. That expression, a gnarled expression of fury but devoid of any actual... malice. An impression of rage. The Empyrriech drones caught its attention.

"ꅏꃅꂦ ꍏꋪꍟ ꌩꂦꀎ?"

["Who are you?"]

It spoke without opening its mouth, a choir booming as its eyes becoming a constant set of colorful waves crashing agsinst the iris. The massive forelimbs it glided upon unzipped, the sound unmistakable as it raked its claws against the stone. It grabbed one of the drones with a sudden snatch, it's forelimbs casting shadows over Taye and Henka.

"ꚲ𖣠ꚶ𖦪 ꛃ𖣠𖦪ꚳ𖤀 ꛈꕷ ꛈꛘ 𖤀𖤬ꛘꚽ𖤟𖦪. ꛈ 𖤀ꛈ𖤀 ꛘ𖣠𖢧 𖦪𖤟𖤬ꚳꛈꛉ𖤟 ꛈ𖢧 ꛃ𖤬ꕷ ꕷ𖣠 𖤀𖤟ꛘꕷ𖤟ꚳꚲ ㄗ𖣠ㄗꚶꚳ𖤬𖢧𖤟𖤀. 𖢧ꛅ𖣠ꚶꚽꛅ𖢧 ꛈ𖢧 𖢑𖤬𖤰𖤟ꕷ ꕷ𖤟ꛘꕷ𖤟. ꚲ𖣠ꚶ ꛘ𖤟𖤟𖤀 𖤬 ꛃ𖤬𖦪𖤀𖤟ꛘ. ꛕꚶꚳ𖢧ꛈꚴ𖤬𖢧𖤟 𖢧ꛅ𖤟 ꘘ𖤬ꚳꚳ𖤟ꛘ ꛅ𖤟𖦪𖤟. 𖣠ꛘꛕ𖤟 𖢧ꛅ𖤟 ㄗ𖣠ꛃ𖤟𖦪 ꛈ ꕷ𖤟𖤬𖦪ꛕꛅ ꛅ𖤬ꕷ ꔪ𖤟𖤟ꛘ 𖤬ꛕꚩꚶꛈ𖦪𖤟𖤀."

["Your world is in danger. I did not realize it was densely populated. Though it makes sense. You need a warden. To cultivate the fallen here. Once the power I search has been acquired"]

Though upon seeing the Omnicons there was a sudden pause in the creature's motions. It let out a low rumble, indiscernable in intent. But Shockwave's retinue could sense it's attention directed upon them. The gold and blue flashing veins thrumned across its body as it dragged itself a few meters closer.

"...ㄗ𖣠𖢧𖤟ꛘ𖢧ꛈ𖤬ꚳ. 𖢧ꛅ𖤟 ㄗ𖣠𖢧𖤟ꛘ𖢧ꛈ𖤬ꚳ 𖢧𖣠 ꛃ𖤬ꚽ𖤟 ꛃ𖤬𖦪. 𖢧𖣠 𖦪𖤬ꚽ𖤟, 𖢧𖣠 𖤀𖤟ꕷ𖢧𖦪𖣠ꚲ. 𖢧𖣠 ꚲ𖤟𖤬𖦪ꛘ. ꛘ𖤟ꚴ𖤟𖦪 𖢧𖣠 ꔪ𖤟 ꕷ𖤬𖢧𖤟𖤀. 𖢧ꛅ𖤬𖢧 ꚶꚽꚳꚲ ㄗ𖣠𖢧𖤟ꛘ𖢧ꛈ𖤬ꚳ."

["...Potential. The potential to wage war. To rage, to destroy. To yearn. Never to be sated. That ugly potential."]

A sigil appeared above its head as it held the Empyrriech drone towards its face, sapping the machine of its energy. And yet, those monitors on the main ship from a considerable distance, were suddenely filled with am image of the entity's eye.

They had found not wreckage, but something far more destructive and personable.

"ꚲ𖣠ꚶ 𖤰ꛈꚳꚳ ꘘ𖣠𖦪 𖢧ꛅ𖤟 𖦪ꛈꚽꛅ𖢧 𖢧𖣠 𖤰ꛈꚳꚳ? ꛃꛅ𖣠 ꚽ𖤬ꚴ𖤟 ꚲ𖣠ꚶ 𖢧ꛅ𖤟 𖦪ꛈꚽꛅ𖢧 𖢧𖣠 𖤀𖤟𖤬ꚳ 𖤬 ㄗ𖤬ꛈꛘ ꕷ𖣠 𖤀𖤟𖤟ㄗ?"

["You kill for the right to kill? You have you the right to deal a pain so deep?"]

It stared back at them in the vessel, it's voice ringing through the vessel, and those before it. There was a low hum as its tail wrapped around another vessel, and everyone present could see as the lights of the building went out, and the glass turning into dust. Energy travelled up it's spine and limbs as it began to heat up. The observation drone within its clutches beginning to not only melt, but be integrated into its claws, something Flint and Alda could see in, perfect detail.

"𖤀𖣠ꛘ'𖢧 ꚲ𖣠ꚶ 𖤰ꛘ𖣠ꛃ 𖢧ꛅ𖤬𖢧 ㄗ𖤬ꛈꛘ ꚲ𖣠ꚶ ꕷ𖣠ꛃ ꛈꕷ ㄗ𖤬ꛈꛘ ꚲ𖣠ꚶ 𖦪𖤟𖤬ㄗ?"

["Time to drink your blood over where you stand. Your life now is in my hand."]

The entity glared at the Omnicons with the same sigil above its head, looking deep into the Omnicons' internal mechanics, hissing as it took in data. Mark could see the creature glance to him, than look back to one of the crushed buildings. It clawed at its exterior, speaking up as pieces of the building melted into its body, seemingly being worked on within its fleshy interior.

"𖢧ꛈ𖢑𖤟 𖢧𖣠 𖤀𖦪ꛈꛘ𖤰 ꚲ𖣠ꚶ𖦪 ꔪꚳ𖣠𖣠𖤀 𖣠ꚴ𖤟𖦪 ꛃꛅ𖤟𖦪𖤟 ꚲ𖣠ꚶ ꕷ𖢧𖤬ꛘ𖤀. ꚲ𖣠ꚶ𖦪 ꚳꛈꘘ𖤟 ꛘ𖣠ꛃ ꛈꕷ ꛈꛘ 𖢑ꚲ ꛅ𖤬ꛘ𖤀-"

["Time to drink your blood over where you stand. Your life now is in my hand."]

It used its other pair of arms to illuminate more lights around its head, shifting the other symbol into something more...

Familiar to the arena.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/1000068906.jpg

The sound of gears clicking into place could be heard as on the creature's shoulders, sharp cut, toothed cannons appeared. It's head briefly turned into a heatshield, as it suddenely blasted at the location of the onnicrons worh a force not too dissimilar to Krakatoa, the sudden clap deafening and the wave of heat from such a explosion incinerate the street and buildings on the way of the blast into boiling liquid.

"𖢧ꛅ𖤟𖦪𖤟 ꛈꕷ ꛘ𖣠 𖤀ꛈꕷꛕꛅ𖤬𖦪ꚽ𖤟 ꛈꛘ 𖢧ꛅ𖤟 ꛃ𖤬𖦪."

["There is no discharge in the war."]

Edited by ArbiterOfTheBog on Mar 18th 2025 at 5:40:42 AM

Awawa
ArbiterOfTheBog Parasmagate from The Mortal Realms Since: Feb, 2022 Relationship Status: Cast away
Parasmagate
#394346: Mar 18th 2025 at 5:53:11 PM

Casper

He looked at her a tad startled. He wasn't gonna follow her into the interview room. He knew what not to do? God. Was he that clingy? He took a step back and raised his hand to rub the back of his head, forcinf a smile as he closed his eyes abashedly.

"Of course of course... You're gonna do fine."

He looked to the guy with a grin before his face went stoic. He looked around for a chair, and if one was provided, sat down while staring at the desk.

Awawa
RainbyPlays fae being from yes Since: Nov, 2019 Relationship Status: Hiding
fae being
#394347: Mar 18th 2025 at 7:13:26 PM

Esche

"What tHE FUCK??"

Henka momentarily stopped moving as she just stared at... whatever the hell this thing was.

...

Memories she had long thought buried fought their way to the surface.

Of the Fall. Of the TITANs and their creations.

Of the infection that had crawled its way into her head and made her like this.

But she couldn't afford to freeze up now.

"...hey, AVIRIS. What's the chance this thing tears apart my armor if I get close."

<You asking that means you already know. Should you get within its melee range and become a target, your armor might not last at all.>

With a sigh, she switched on her hardsuit's loudspeaker.

"Now, I'm gonna be honest. I dunno what the FUCK you're saying. But I really don't care. You remind me of something horrible from my own world, and you're clearly not here for peace given you've just torn up a ton of the city."

She holsters her SMGs, staring up at the towering being. Then, she kicked off from the ground, her suit's thruster suite turning on and sending her skyward.

From orbit, a pod slowed itself down near her, dispensing a large addon to her suit that looked like a mobile artillery piece crossed with some missile launchers.

"Also, I'm just in a piss-poor mood already. So I'm gonna take it out on the thing wrecking the city so I can look like some kinda hero."

With that, she lifted her arms and commanded her back-mounted guns to ready themselves.

And then, with her arms expanding open to reveal two laser rifles, and the aperture of the massive, back-mounted cannon starting to glow from the heat, she fired.

Brilliant lances of light screamed out from her form as she did, and at the same time she reached her mind out- grunting with effort as she pushed her psionics beyond what was normal, to take a strong psionic stab at the creature's mind... if it had a biological one, at least.

"Grrh- I can hear it screaming again..."

What she kept locked in her mind begged to be let out- to revel in the fight and the bloodshed -every time she used her psionics. It was just a matter of how long she could keep her mind under her own control...

Mission: Analyze

The mention of nuclear energy makes Croque's head snap up.

"...much of humanity has had a habit of using nuclear material to make their power generators and doomsday weaponry. Would explain why it's still standing..."

She's quiet for a few moments.

"...surely anyone in a place like this wouldn't have tried to make normal nuclear weapons, right..? I would presume that's the one thing the Arena can't easily revert. Mostly in terms of radioactive fallout and radiation in general."

Cairo

Situation III

Ethan is breathing heavily, but his eyes widen and his hands reach for something just as Yakub's heart frees itself from its corpse once more-

And then, in an instant, the one Ethan had fought so hard to put down (again) had escaped once more.

The red of blood flecked with the gold of ichor seeped from his eyes like tears. It also came from many other places upon his body, having pushed himself so far that his body had started to tear itself apart.

"...dammit..."

Is all he got out before collapsing, Macta swooping in to catch him in her arms. She looked worried, for once.

"His body is torn and his soul is exhausted. Why, my liege, must you always push yourself so far..?"

Ethan's breathing was shallow, but Macta was already working to bandage his wounds using some sort of wrapping from her bag.

Situation IV

The past 30 minutes had been rather loud for the aforementioned pilot. Mostly due to the engines of the shuttle, but, at the end, due to the incessant beeping and the large FUEL LOW warning that had been blinking for a while now. When the last were evacuated, he hopped out, shaking his head.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the bird's nearly out of fuel. It's only got one trip left, and I ain't leaving until I can be sure all of you get out safely, too."

A grin slowly crosses his face as he listens to Luin speak.

"'ey, I know the feeling all too well. If you're headed down into the pits of Chaos, then I guess I am too."

From the cargo component of the shuttle, he grabbed a twin-barreled hulk of steel that seemed like it would better work mounted on some sort of vehicle, and hefted it up onto his shoulder.

...that can't be normal human strength. But he definitely looks normal enough.

As they head down, the man hefts the oversized gun into his hands- and he raises it with no hesitation when another presence makes itself known.

That mostly being Thorn, to whom he cracks a small smile at.

"Woah there, miss. So long as we're both on the side of the living, I think it's a bad time to start trading blows. Besides, I don't want ta' have to turn anyone inside-out today."

Edited by RainbyPlays on Mar 18th 2025 at 10:25:30 AM

aeiou: the second
ISZATSO The Web-Slinger from Queens Since: Apr, 2020 Relationship Status: All is for my lord
The Web-Slinger
#394348: Mar 18th 2025 at 7:30:10 PM

When he arrived upon the scene, the next thing Invincible noticed—after delivering his brief line—was the presence of other, very familiar figures. His fists tightened as his gaze met the Decepticons, a phantom pain hissing through his body. The injuries from that early autumn day in Hub Centralis began to flare up again, lacking physical scars yet their presence still in his mind. But before he could consider what to do with them, his attention was returned to the reason for his being here in the first place.

From the start, Mark was doubtful of anything the entity had to say, though not ignorant. A warden? And cultivating the fallen; Mark had a faint idea of what he meant by this, yet not enough to take any true form. But more concerningly was this thing’s mention of a search for power, and in his earpiece, Cecil Stedman said what the hero was already thinking: Whatever this thing is or it’s talking about, we can’t let it get stronger. It’s taken enough lives already. Do what you need to stop it, I’m dispatching squads to get everyone out of the city that isn’t already.

But in this time, the entity had done just that, growing up its form with the ruined remnants of a shattered structure. Then, from it fired a deadly blast, aimed directly at the Decepticons off to the side. I could’ve stopped that, Invincible realized with a start. The gears had given away its intent, there’d been time enough to drive himself into it and throw off its aim just enough, so why hadn’t he? None of these particular Decepticons he recognized from the Attack on Hub Centralis, none of them immediately implicit, so why did he assume their lives ought to be forfeit for that? Why hadn’t he moved to save them, as he might’ve even a criminal?

But there was no time now to deliberate his subconscious philosophy. Invincible crouched and frowned, raising his fists before exploding at the entity, moving to drive himself into it more as a test of its strength than an actual attack, to see how far back he was able to push it.

With great power…you know the rest.
BombonBombin Nightmare lord from Across time and space Since: Jan, 2021 Relationship Status: In love with love
Nightmare lord
#394349: Mar 18th 2025 at 8:50:16 PM

PMT

Darn!

Seeing her desperate "plan" failing, Painty orders Smeargle one more time to Close Combat the seemingly still asleep turtle, to buff her defenses and get ready her own Sync move.

Edited by BombonBombin on Mar 18th 2025 at 9:51:07 AM

Three freaking ghosts!
ISZATSO The Web-Slinger from Queens Since: Apr, 2020 Relationship Status: All is for my lord
The Web-Slinger
#394350: Mar 18th 2025 at 10:43:28 PM

”Ow.”

“Well maybe if you stopped moving…” Jennifer’s grip fastened around Arad’s arm. She lifted the needle in her fingers and slipped it between her lips, holding it there while she lifted a hand to the lone lamp casting a golden halo onto the table among the dark kitchen, adjusting that and then the glasses on her ears. “…this wouldn’t hurt so much.”

Arad gave his wiseass smirk, white teeth glistening at the border of his world. “Well maybe if you didn’t prick me so much, I wouldn’t be mov—ow!

“Speaking of pricks…”

“You don’t mean that.” Jennifer had only a sigh to offer him in response as she returned her focus to the half-stitched arm on the wood between them. Arad’s lips shrunk but did not fall; a gentle smile which reminded her why she loved this stupid man that promised his days of battle were long behind him, and then ran off and got into fights. “Come on. Give me a kiss.”

“I’ll give you a kiss when I’m done.” Again she pushed her glasses back up over her nose, returning that hand quickly to work. For a moment, just a moment, she paused. Was it worth saying, this thing on her mind? No. Not now. She glanced up briefly. Arad was staring at her across the table. “What?”

“Your eyes,” he whispered softly, as though to himself, and Jennifer reneged on everything. She had to tell him, here and now, before he ran off again and didn’t come back next time.

“You can’t keep doing this.”

Arad bowed his head. “I know.”

No,” Jennifer leaned forward, “you don’t, Arad. You can’t keep doing this. You promised. Not just me, but your child. Think about Pearl—

“I am,” he said. In his tone was found no aggression, no counter, not even argument. He seemed to know he was in the wrong, Jennifer noted, yet he fought against her anyways. Why are men so difficult? “Every time I step out of that door, become Umbra, I think about Pearl. I try to remember if I kissed her on the head and told her how much I love her, because I don’t know if I’ll come back. And you. I love you more than life, Jennifer. But I can’t just—” He sighed heavily, bringing his voice back down. Jennifer did not interrupt. “I look around, and I see your face in every mother and Pearl’s in every child. But I don’t see me anywhere but myself. There’s so much in this world that hurts, so much evil, and I can’t just turn a blind eye to it. I have to help, Jennifer, where I can. Otherwise I’m just the Reaper of the Origin System. I’m just the man who killed his way to peace.”

“But you’re not. Maybe that’s who you were, but this place…it’s a second chance. You’re Arad. Husband. Father.”

“You’re right, Jen. This place is a second chance, but that’s why it needs to be protected—“

So leave the protecting to the protectors! You don’t need to be a hero to everyone, Arad. Just to us.

“I wish,” he lowered his head, “that I could. But my nature…” His eyes lifted, weary and guilty, to his wife. “I’m a warrior, Jen. It’s all I’ve ever been.”

You’re not. Those were the words ready to spill from her mouth, those words and so much more, because he was so much more, and it broke her heart that he couldn’t see it. But they never came. Arad heard it before she did, angling his head to the hallway. Jennifer followed his gaze and saw Pearl standing there, teddy in hand. Behind her stood her guardian Umbra, bearing the marks still of whatever trouble he and Arad had found earlier that day. Among the meager scratches and cuts decorating his form was the deep gash in the Warframe’s arm.

“Are you arguing?” She asked tiredly, rubbing into her eyes.

“Just talking, stardust.” He drew away, stitches unfinished. “And you should be in bed.”

“You didn’t tuck me in.” She noted quietly as Arad crossed the kitchen and lifted her into his arms. A wince crossed his face.

“Sorry, stardust. Something came up, I got…busy. But I’m back now, and I’ll always be back, whenever I’m gone. Remember that. Come on, let’s get you back to bed.”

Another lie.

You’re not. Jennifer hadn’t said those two words to her husband that night, and forever would she regret it. Maybe it might’ve changed something in his mind, shifted something so he never left that day. Probably not, but maybe. Those words only came to mind again some two months later, standing over his headstone. That time she let the words pour like a deluge of blood from her, and hoped that somehow he heard.

Edited by ISZATSO on Mar 18th 2025 at 1:55:43 PM

With great power…you know the rest.

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