Azazel's Temple
<I shall await results...>
As Beruka steps back out into the light of day, Azazel recedes back into the darkness from which he emerged...
Judicial Malpractice
"This hand of mine bursts with life! Its echoing pulse tells me to cleanse the world!"
Domon stomps the ground, launching his Gundam up after the Devil Gundam Junior.
"Purifying FINGER!"
Thrusting his hand forward, he fires a beam of blazing red ki wrapped in streams of soft blue light, aiming to interrupt or overpower the Mega Devil Flash, pierce into the Devil Gundam Junior, and start turning its whole form into plant life. If successful, it will also send out a pulse that blankets (the wreckage of) the Death Army mechs, turning them into more flora—and their pilots, if they haven't yet been completely eaten away into skeletal zombies, back into humans.
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Morgan
Morgan shivers a bit.
"Yeah, roaches are the worst. But centipedes are cool!", he agrees.
"So does that mean it's a yes on the trade?", he asks, smiling.
—
Dayspring Canyon
A good distance outside of Fort Dawnguard, Seiros stands guard. After what had almost happened to Morgan and Flayn, she volunteered to help keep watch in case Mistral and her minions dared return.
This distance away may seem counterproductive, but surely Sothis would know if any of them warped in too close to the fort for Seiros to see. She's standing out here to keep an eye on the entire area.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Fort Dawnguard
There's a bug on Morgan M's shoulder. The two might initially think it's a cockroach, since they were just talking about roaches.
But on closer inspection, it's a thanatophage.
Dayspring Canyon
Seiros can hear a rumbling approaching, moments before a familiar dragon comes crashing into the canyon.
It's her darker self. Her own dragon form, broken and driven mad. The Immaculate One. Fallen Rhea.
Her voice is a wail. Her stomping feet drag themselves.
She is tired.
Edited by KiriK on Apr 23rd 2025 at 2:31:09 PM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Morgan
Morgan probably smiles more widely than she'll have ever seen him smile before. It really helps show how genuinely happy he is right now.
He reaches out to give her the Thoron tome, but pauses for a moment when he notices something out of the corner of his eye. He glances at his shoulder and shrieks for a moment... but then calms down again, showing an embarrassed smile.
"O-oh! Hahaha, sorry. I saw a bug on my shoulder and for a second I thought it was a roach.", he chuckles, moving his hand to gently take it off of his shoulder, being careful and making sure not to harm it.
If successful he'll bring it into full view, and he was right, it's not actually a roach. No reason for ala-
Morgan's eyes go wide, his pupils shrinking. His face pales. His hand is shaking.
Dayspring Canyon
Upon hearing a suspicious sound, Seiros immediately turns to face it, sword drawn. However, what she sees falling to the ground is something she never could've guessed.
It's another version of herself. And something seems to be wrong with this one.
She lowers her weapon and sheathes it, then carefully approaches a little, but not too far yet. She can tell that her other self is unstable, and immediately going over to her might make her react in a volatile way.
"It... it is okay. Nobody here can hurt you. Can you see me right now? Do you recognize who I am?", she asks.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Filia
"Death may be my domain and I do loathe those who try to cheat me." she says, Filia potentially noticing how the world seems a lot heavier all of a sudden at the last bit of that sentence. As if gravity became stronger for a few moments before returning to normal. "But I also do not enjoy seeing entire people or species go extinct. Even those generally maligned such as yours."
Judicial Malpractice
The Graze fighting the Lion Pourpre does back off due to its damaged state, allowing it to get a shot off at the Devil Gundam Junior... At which point the other Graze (14) starts taking longer ranged pot shots. Oof.
This does mean it pulls a Vegeta though and interrupts the ongoing beam clash between Domon and the Devil Gundam, the latter letting out a pained metal screech as it begins suffering the effects of Domon's attack.
And then it jumps off the roof and lunges at Domon full speed with its thrusters at max, evidently going for one last ditch act of spite to take them both out, even as its arm becomes a tree!
—
Primary Objective: Rescue Mal
Bonus Objective: Devil Gundam Junior defeated before assimilating all Graze units
—
Allies:
Hiling Care - Hygogg: Attack/Bruiser
—
Back inside, Maul's Morbid Method of Murdering is Massively effective on the Meek Mooks. Basically he manages to take them out even if it cost him some bullet wounds. All that remains is a locked door to lightsaber through.
At which point he'd arrive well after the Medicine Vendor. Slowpoke.
Kana gives Mal a suspicious look, then shrugs and winks.
"So I'm guessing you're here to free us?" she opts to ask the Medicine Man.
Cairo Situation VII
Sebastien rather than try to catch the HUGE MAN that is Guts, had Brutus do it (who is in this scene still I was just lazy last round). The Brute Tigrex isn't super gentle but it's better than crash landing and places him back down on the ground.
Then he grabs a chunk of building and yeets it at Grimgor. At the same time, Sebastien meanwhile continues to experiment by readying his Ranger Mekansm stun dart and waiting for an opening to shoot it at Grimgor. On a normal target it will stun then temporarily mess with a target's senses.
But Grimgor wasn't exactly normal so who can say how effective it will be. Figuring out his foe's resistances though will be instrumental to defeating him.
Edited by shroobot3000 on Apr 23rd 2025 at 1:04:46 PM
"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."Morgan
Smiles and prepare to be handled the Thoron over before getting on a bug hunt. Then, suddenly, terror build over her stomach and shoot into her brain for no reason - until she identify it by glancing over at Morgan's shoulder to see a certain insect on it. One she wouldn't be happy to see in any scenario, much less this innocuous one, at the heart of their very base.
For the slightest of moments, she glances at Morgan with accusation in her eyes, then, upon looking at his own terror, conclude that he can't be acting and is as freaked out as she is.
She snatch the Thoron from his hands and try to squash the Thanatophage with it!
Judicial Malpractice
The Lion Pourpre react to the potshot by raising its "shielded" arm and kneeling, taking in some bullets. Lacking Maul's force push or force aiming, it fires back with its Vulcan Guns, aggressively approaching the Graze 14 while preparing to try to use its bulk and speed to slam it and its darksaber into its chest. And this time, it try cleaving it in half! No mercy!
The Zaku get closer to Maul's Lion Pourpre for assistance, flying over to its side and readying its up to take a pot shot at the DG Jr. However, it suddenly freezes as it does so, and its arms lower as it elects to apparently AFK and watch the fight, helping neither of its allies in a rather mean turnabout.
How rude!
Mal stands patient behind the bars, looking surprised to see the Medicine Vendor, eyes widened in surprised joy. It's you?! It's really you! You son of a bitch, I never thought I'd be happy to see you! He says, laughing happily.
He points at his fellow prisoner's cage first. Say, can you spare some of your wisdom in saving that Kana Shiro lady? She's-you're a real credit to your people, human! The Twi'Lek says, pumping his fists and turning around, as if he can't possibly contain his excitement.
He does flinch as Maul shoves his lightsaber into the metal door and begins melting his way through. Pain doesn't faze him, but he ends up regretting running into foes equipped with such... peskily limited technology.
Edited by Bolded1 on Apr 23rd 2025 at 9:48:15 PM
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterJudicial Malpractice
"...human?"
There was some humor in his voice as he moved the Red cape. and slipped it through the bars for Kana.
"Hold the cloth under the bars, than slip underneath the cape."
Once Kana did this she'd find herself able to actually slip out from the bars of the prison, as the Medicine Vendor looked to Mal.
"Can you run?"
As he asked, he handed them the red floral cape so they could slip out the bars as well.
AwawaJudicial Malpractice
As the Devil Gundam Junior rams into Burning Gundam, Domon cries out. He clenches his teeth and sets an autopilot command before ejecting from the rear of his Gundam and flying out in the Core Lander.
Burning Gundam digs its feet into the ground and pushes back against Devil Gundam Junior, fighting simply to keep it in place...until the Transflormation is complete.
Fort Dawnguard
An even greater chill will run down both Morgans' spines a moment before Morgan F can squash the bug.
A silhouette appears, leaning against a wall, arms folded.
"Morgans."
The Fell Tactician
◊ reaches and plucks the thanatophage out of Morgan M's hand, a smug smile on her face.
"Loptous' army is coming here again, and he has gained a secret weapon. Are you certain you two want to stand on the Neo Shepherds' side, in the face of overwhelming odds?"
Dayspring Canyon
"I...I...!"
The Immaculate One groans, thrashing her head before settling down, squinting through hazy eyes.
"You...are me. My past self... We met before. I remember...a battlefield...a town in the desert..."
Edited by KiriK on Apr 23rd 2025 at 3:00:49 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Centralis
Filia takes Thanatos' final words personally, recalling several times she's been close to death and scraped by, believing initially Thanatos is referring specifically to her. Counting herself lucky that death is not here to collect, Filia is satisfied with the explanation.
"Alright then, so what now? Are you going to follow me, or will it be that you'll always find the right time and place? I hesitate to ask just what you're capable of, and given your presence, I'm not sure I want to know."
Fort Dawnguard
The Thoron is snatched. Which is okay, he was gonna give it to her anyway.
But then the Fell Tactician makes herself known.
Morgan is practically frozen in place. Not only is a Grima here, but she looks very similar to his mother.
But it isn't her. And after a moment to gather his courage, this allows him to answer her instead of standing there like a shaking leaf.
"I-I've made up my mind!", he says. It's quick. It sounds nervous. But it's not uncertain. He does not, under any circumstances, want to betray them for Julius again.
Dayspring Canyon
Seiros' eyes widen. This is the same one as back then?
She then shows a gentle and patient smile.
"I remember you as well. May I approach? I can heal your wounds. You can rest here, and I'll watch over you. Maybe we could speak. Or I could sing Mother's song for you. Or maybe we sit here in silence. What do you say?"
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Morgan
's eyes widen and she protectively step in front of the other Morgan, which is a big sign of trust since she was thinking he might be working with the fucking Grima right in front of them how did she get here
Right here, right now, she assumes that any help they'll get will be limited, and ready herself to fire Thoron.
Y-you forgot to bring your bodyguards and that'll cost you, snake!
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterFort Dawnguard
"I'm not the same Grima. I don't need a bodyguard. Nor do I need a spell, or my true body. I could simply point my finger and a bolt of magic would strike you dead."
The Fell Tactician laughs evilly.
"Morgan, my dears..."
The purple flames and glowing red eyes suddenly vanish from her. Her eyes are now dull and vacant, almost dead, and her wicked composure is lost, replaced with a haggard limp.
"...my sweet, beautiful children...p...please..."
In a delirium, she reaches a hand to each Morgan's face, caressing their cheeks. She isn't either one's mother...and yet, the sense of familial love is real.
"you walk...a path of ruin...opposing grima is futile...please forget these people...and give up...it'll hurt less..."
Morgan M can probably tell from Grima's presence waning that this isn't just Grima pretending to be Robin. It is the real Robin, free of possession. The side of his mother he never got to meet.
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Fort Dawnguard
A lot of thoughts race through Morgan's mind right now. How did she get here? Why is she here? Isn't Sothis guarding the building? Did something happen to her? She wouldn't just let Grima in, right?
Each and every one of those questions instantly burns to ashes in his mind upon seeing what the Fell Tactician does next. To see her... let Robin come through.
When she caresses his cheek, that's when Morgan does fully freeze up. His mind is blank. He doesn't know what to think of this. Yet he still registers each and every word she says to him.
Despite that, he can't make a single sound. The only response his mind has is to accelerate his breathing, as if he's on the verge of a panic attack.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Morgan
's eyes widen in a mixture of shock and emotions. What, in the fresh hell, was going on? She can't help but be completly shocked as Robin reach for them, having, somehow, briefly broken free from Grima. The Thoron Morgan was ready to fire goes dead in her hands as she briefly let the tips of Robin's fingers touch her cheeks, backing off next in an instant as she try to get...
W-we've beaten the Grima that was infesting my father! And we've also beaten the second Grima! Da-Mom! Grima isn't invincible! We've learned that much from these encounters! Grima can be beaten! You can do it! You can keep pushing back!
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterFort Dawnguard
"you...won? not once, but twice? i...i..."
Robin's hands tremble. Tears well up in her eyes.
"i'm proud of you."
Then she doubles over, clutching her head, and screams. Grima's will takes over once more, as abruptly as it had left.
As the Fell Tactician regains control, she momentarily frowns, bothered by the reminder that the Shepherds have fought a Grima that didn't need backup or a dragon form to kill them, and won. But then her evil smirk returns.
"I didn't actually mean to convince you of anything with that."
Her leery gaze is like that of a woman about to feast.
"I simply wanted to taste your pain and stress."
She turns to leave, casually waving.
"I'll see you on the battlefield soon, with the Einherjar..."
She looks back over her shoulder at Morgan M.
"...and your real mother."
Oh shit. Not only is she going to be there in addition to Julius' Grima, they may have less time to prepare than they thought. And she never explained what secret weapon Julius has now.
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Fort Dawnguard
'"I'm proud of you"'
Were it not for what happens directly after Robin says that, it might've helped snap Morgan out of his state. But witnessing Robin being painfully taken over once again makes things worse.
He still can't get a single word or even sound out of his throat. At this point, some of the Fell Tactician's words don't register with him anymore either. But that final sentence...
"...and your real mother."
That sentence burns into his mind. His eyes begin to tear up.
"I... I...", he stammers, finally able to speak again even if he's still clearly on the edge of a nervous breakdown. It's bad enough that his body goes into fight or flight mode.
And in this case, it chooses flight.
He immediately runs away from them both, going into the nearest empty room, slamming the door shut, and closing the lock on it desperately, as if his life depends on it.
Once that's down, he slumps down against the door and buries his head into his arms. If the other Morgan chases him and tries to talk to him through the door... she'll hear that he's crying and breathing heavily.
He's having a panic attack for real, and he's too panicked to let anyone help him.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Judicial Malpractice
The Devil Gundam slowly turns into a plant, though out of one last bit of spite for both the earth and Domon it interrupts the process by self destructing; likely damaging the Burning Gundam but taking itself out.
Unseen during this is a small piece being sent flying into the horizon by the blast...
Graze 14 unfortunately keeps shooting, which might damage the Lion of Purple more but does mean it can't effectively block the lightsaber strike and gets taken out.
Unfortunately, the Federation then arrives. Two squads of GM III mobile suits and a single Byarlant Custom in the lead.
"Attention terrorists and escapees. You have one chance to surrender before we use lethal force." the Byarlant's pilot gruffly says out of his speakers. Time to split.
BONUS
As if to further inconvenience them, the Generation System's circuit lines appear again and dispense out a Zno team to block their exfil route.
—
Final Objective: Escape the Prison
—
Allies:
Hiling Care - Hygogg: Attack/Bruiser
—
Kana looks bemused at first and humors the weird fellow. Then she's through the bars and she's looking rather baffled.
"Err, thanks." she says, unsure how to process this blatant WIZARDRY.
They can also hear the Byarlant pilot's announcement here and see them through a window.
"Shit, of course the damn feddies show up now." Kana growls.
Filia
"I can't promise to be at your side at all times." Thanatos concedes. "But I will appear when you need my power, or my advice."
"As for my capabilities..." Filia can see a glint of red eyes under the cloak and a nearby car suddenly suffers existence failure as a massive amount of gravity abruptly pulls on it and compresses it into a flattened pile of junk metal. "My grandfather is the Primordial Chaos, so I have an affinity with a fundamental force of the universe. Gravity."
"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."Morgan
's eyes flare up in anger. And one can swear that her eyes briefly go red as she swing her arm forward, electricity flaring from her tome to trail around her arm and assemble in front of the palm of her hand, firing into Grima's back as a lightning laser with full intent to scorch her to bits.
The Asgardian Stonework withstand what would have punched through an entire castle worth of stones however, and Morgan lowers her tone not expecting to have done anything.
Attacking Grima had been pointless, but what couldn't be was helping Morgan.
Morgan? Morgan!
The young woman runs towards the location where she saw the other herself run off, aware that he'd taken it much more worse than her, naturally.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterFort Dawnguard
Just before the Thoron would have hit, the Fell Tactician stops walking and teleports away instead, letting the bolt streak through and smash the stone wall of the fort.
—
Council of the Ring
Sauron sits on a throne in a Slouch of Villainy as the Fell Tactician gives her report.
"You had a chance to fully break the boy's will, yet you chose not to take it."
"It's as I told them. All I wanted out of them was emotional suffering."
"You have grown soft, Grima."
Watching from the side, Sombron scoffs and smirks. Finally, it's her turn to squirm.
"The dragon who preceded you would not have let go of an opportunity to pluck valuable pawns right from the enemy nest. Your body has affected your mind adversely."
"...Tch."
"Hear me. You are not to do this again. Do not interact civilly with the Neo Shepherds unless we have something to gain from it."
The Fell Tactician bows. As she lowers her head and closes her eyes, her vision flashes to a young woman in Fort Dawnguard, and another in Julius' palace. Cousins whose fates are intertwined with Grima.
"I understand. And I do believe there will be something to gain..."
"Good. Dismissed."
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Fort Dawnguard
With the door locked, she can't get to him.
"G-go away.", he mutters in-between his crying from the other side. Since his muffled voice is still audible to her, the most she can do for him is talk to him through the closed door.
"S-she was right. My mother is a monster a-and so am I!"
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.Judicial Malpractice
The Lion Pourpre doesn't order or move. Its primitive AI only respond to danger, and so it simply... stares upwards.
The Zeku doesn't even bother staring back. It just stand still, as if struck by robotic PTSD. The Lion Pourpre look back at it, tilting its head, as if even it had the cognition necessary to acknowledge that something was wrong with its pal.
Much more important is what's going on with Mal, who lets himself be carted off his cell by the magic carpet. Unlike Kana, he doesn't even bother to get surprised, instead taking some quick steps towards the Medicine Vendor and demonstrating his gratitude for his freedom...
... With a punch to the face, a violent hook meant to slam the Vendor into the bars. At which point, Mal reached out for his shoulders and tried to flip him around before grabbing his collar with both hands and headbutting him so that the back of his head would slam against the metal bars. And then he'd try to push the Vendor towards himself to slam him into the cell again, before trying to push him deeper, as if his rage extended to the bars themselves.
WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU?! WHERE THE FUCK WERE YOU WHEN EZ NEEDED YOU?! WHY'D YOU SHOW UP FOR ME?! Mal yells to the Vendor's face. He shows his upper body mentioned way earlier is no joke : assuming the Vendor is of regular constitution, these punches will feel like a sledgehammer. Tears jut out of Mal's eyes as he yells, bits of saliva rocketing out of his maw into the Vendor's face.
And if Kana attempts to intervene, Mal ignores her. If she try to intervene more forcefully, he attempts to backhand her away.
SHE WAS TERRIFIED! INTO THE HANDS OF THAT DUROS FUCK AND YOU WEREN'T THERE! HOW DARE YOU FUCKING SHOW YOUR SMUG FACE TO ME AND NOT HELP HER! SHE'S OUT THERE! SUFFERING! AND YOU'RE NOT DOING SHIT! I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU! But before Mal can try to continue, Maul carves his way into the prison, lightly cracking his neck as he flick the door with his finger, making the round structure he cut into the metal come down.
Mal had ignored this, as he'd ignored the army coming in. But Maul snaps him out of his funk, even if he still hold unto the Vendor.
If you attempt to demonstrate your brand of gratitude to me next, please, do know that I wasn't ordered to bring you back in one conscious piece. The Zabrak threatens, giving Kana the slightest of side-eye. Looking at Mal though, his eyes widen slightly, and he cock his head to the side. As if recognizing him. A jolt that mere files couldn't awaken in Maul beforehand.
... I don't know what's going on. But if you're breaking me out, I'm going to... we're going to need to get to where they'd store our equipment and ammo. Or we're not going to be of much help. Mal says, jerking his thumb at Kana's way, over his shoulder.
DO AS HE SAYS. RECLAIM BONE'S PARTING GIFT. OR SUFFER PUNISHMENT.
Maul doesn't flinch as Dark Null's voice resonates down his chin. And he stops himself from thinking that Null is a foolish entity to put such a condition in the middle of the breakout.
Still, it was no time for talking.
Abominations crawl within this prison. Them or the guards will find us soon. Let us hurry towards this cache.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterJudicial Malpractice
He feels spittle leave his face with the haymaker, though he is still pushed into the bars. His head rings, his nose getting bloody as the Twi'lek continues to oand blows against him. At first there is just surprise on his face, but soon fox-like growls leave the vendor as he starts to bear his teeth again, as the man resists kicking or biting Mal. Part of him wants to scream back. How this loser always lashed at others for his own damn problems.
Mal felt something pressed against his stomach. Something cold, and metal. But not a blade. If Mal was to look down, they'd see a Broze Bowl, but in reality it was a dinner plate sized shōgo gong.
"I... deal with Mononoke. I deal with grudges... made into spirits."
He was still held up against the bars, his bruised and bloodied face still somehow ethereal and intense. His tone did mot sound pleading, it was factual. It was directed directly at Mal.
"It happened at the same time. But.. The talisman, is keeping her safe from some things..."
This is when he finally, having felt his own blood in his mouth long enough, pocketed the gong bowl and immediately grabbed him by the chin, even with Maul now in the room pushing back against Mal.
"So they're coming for you. Because of course they are."
Not wanting to hurt the already previously imprisoned, confused Mal, he still didn't like being talked down to by something in that moment, outside of his control. So elbowed him away, taking the red cloth back and pocketing it before glaring at Kana herself. And Maul could tell the Vendor was less than pleased with his presence here.
"My student is trying to get your daughter. I came here to get you. And if we are to hurry we must leave through the southwest corridors."
And with that the Medicine Vendor made his way out the room. No longer feeling the need to be quiet, the door he had kicked in was still on its hinges, so he simply flat-palmed it into the wall, looking to the three behind him. Before heading back through the halls he had snuck in through.
Edited by ArbiterOfTheBog on Apr 23rd 2025 at 3:30:23 AM
Awawa

"I guess I have something to work towards then.", Morgan chuckles. He's trying to act casual, but it's hard for him to hide just how relieved he is there's any hope at all. And he'd be willing to work as hard as he'd have to to make up for the things he'd done.
"... which brings me back to the start of this."
He takes a Thoron tome out of his cloak and offers it to her.
"If you really wanna trade for it, then... how about, once the Einherjar have been defeated, we go study some bugs together? ... uh, not roaches though. I don't like those. ... maybe that sounds a little weird, but it is technically a trade. You'd be trading a bit of your time!", Morgan chuckles.
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.