Hub Centralis - Church of Gor
While Azura is nuking rats and getting punched in Hyrule, the Church of Gor has decided to go ahead and organize a big party for the more skeptical/neutral/unconvinced citizens of Hub Centralis, with the goal of providing merry entertainment for believers and non-believers alike, but also genuine information on the church's deeply-held beliefs and definitely (unironically) unevil business.
So far, things are pretty civil. People can hang in around the Church and can eat, drink responsibly, chat and learn about the Church. If they want to know more, they can then enter the Church and learn more about it, albeit they'll have to leave some of that partying fire and their goblet behind. As security stands Saitama, who's deemed as strong enough that no one within the Arena could defeat him by Meteorika. However, she isn't foolish enough to blatantly put him forward like that, so he looks like a generic security guard, dressed in a surprisingly modern-looking uniform.
All of them are Sorcerers who do not need a gun, for Meteorika believe the guns could spoil the mood of the party. Instead, they have ceremonial-looking swords held in their sheaths. And if someone is unbothered by it and decide to attack anyway, well, Saitama can make the average Church of Gor guard look really strong, so it's a win-win.
It has been decided that the demon-infested Evelyne would be taking over DJ duty. Her awful smell made it hard for her to cook stuff, guard or generally interact with people but she could play some classical-sounding music really well using an instrument. She hung around in her own within an isolated booth at the top of the Church, with mics and all to carry on her melody across the church.
She herself just required a feast of cupcakes and soda with her at all times, which Meteorika obliged.
The Man Whose Face Is Veiled is much closer to the crowd, and is the one who's running the show with delivering the food to everyone involved. His flaming head barely bothers people around Hub Centralis, since it'd be weird to be prejudiced in a dimensional nexus, and it showcase much-needed diversity in how things are ran. He chat away with customers while making them crêpes or whatever else they need, having enough material at hand to feed a crowd and more.
You might think that I, a being of pure flame, can't cook because I've got no taste but... those sugaries treats? They transcend taste buds, man.
Careful, I know where the nearest garden hose is at. Gojo answers Unveiled Man, watching the Faltine, in his flame-proof kitchen uniform, work on making him the best crêpe ever.
Azura... is not here. She's off fighting in Hyrule to give the Church more cred. She's probably going to be sad at missing out on an occasion to be diplomatic but her feelings are very scarcely considered by her leader anyhow.
As for Loki, he's also on security. Because the Arena is a ridiculously dangerous place if anything. And Meteorika is already handling the diplomacies, along with a few of her cohorts. Those people, who are beyond mere exhaustion, go around the crowd, guide people around the church, overall ask them if they're good. Boring work, but needed. She isn't doing all this to make people happy.
But she get to shake a lot of hands. And no matter how short her discussions are with people, everyone feel like the Grand Pope just gave them about an hour worth of her precious time to talk their worries away.
Meanwhile, Loki is dressed in a black suit with a wavy tie. His red hair has been cut and slicked way back, with a pair of red sunglasses on his young yet weary face. Particularly, the God of Lies has seen fit to not conceal the massive X-shaped scars running over his eyes, although said eyes are masked by his glasses anyway. He stands around the crowd, not talking to people much, or doing so with an illusion if approached.
He looks stern. And is not in a joking mood anyway. Because he has to manage the telepathy field that everyone in the Church security or Pillars use to communicate, while fending off attempts at hijacking, infiltrating or sabotaging it, while reacting to people around him, while moving to see more physical means of infiltration/aggression, while looking out to see if the guards are the same as before, or is one is the same size and shape as the hour before, or speak with the same accent...
im bored
You had ypur fun sneaking off to fight those Time-Patrollers. Your purpose is to shut up and watch. So do so right now. Loki answers Saitama, his tone caustic. He did feel some light pleasure as Saitama grunted. His spine just tingled in that particular way it did whenever he pissed off someone stronger than him. Because he could then trick them into ripping out said spine, only to discover it was theirs instead.
But of course, such urges were ill-appreciated by Meteorika, who was on the canal right now, so Loki suppressed them easily, neatly.
Any troubles with the distribution, Veilman?
No. Hey, want one, by the way? Satoru seemed to like his.
No. That cholesterol could bury Thor. And besides...
Loki huffs, feeling something in the air. As if the crowd had more in it than clueless faces and one very powerful but oblivious sorcerer.
It seems we'll have special people to introduce to our beloved Church soon.
Sweet.
...
POACHERS FUCK OFF
Megumi sits quietly during the whole ride. It's a bit eerie how silent and still he can be for long periods of time. He stands like a statue, yet shiver appropriately when he feels like his stillness could give the game away. That, and for the entire trip, his hands are held together in a peculiar shape, as he prepares to use his technique at any moment in case of a surprise.
His nerves hold when Luin is about ready to be inspected: Megumi glances her way with his eye but then nod very slightly and look down again when the situation defuses itself.
By the time they make it, Megumi stops joining his hands together, so as to look properly helpless, but is still ready to pounce when needed. He glances at his comrades, desiring to stand close to at least one or two before his distraction.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterCrummy Games
Kaon is finally forced to back off now, moving back as his puncture "wounds" from the chains earlier close up. He still lost precious Energon though, some of the blue fuel on the ground and staining Mark and his chains.
This gives Kaon an idea, as he concentrates electricity into a lightning ball that he then throws at Mark to try and set the flammable fuel on fire to burn the guy up.
"That was a pointless encounter with a pointless person."Main!Artemis - Travel
After the talk at the Shell in Onyxis, Artemis was... a bit away from anywhere else. Technically, she could teleport- but that required her to use a lot of magic, and she didn't need anyone sensing that. Instead...
...the Endfarer's Ark was turned into a futuristic-looking off-road vehicle as she traveled out of Onyxis and towards her intended destination- Hub Centralis. Once she's out of Onyxis, she changes her Ark back to its normal floating ship form, albeit smaller than usual. Eventually, she ends up at...
Hub Centralis - Church Gathering
Her Ark quickly disappears before her clothes change to look baseline modern- A white shirt and jeans. Her suppression bands turn invisible as she looks unassuming to the normal eye- and most forms of magic sensing, her bands and aura control giving away little-to-no energy.
One might ask what the heck a dimensional traveler is doing at a totally-not-evil-totally-good church gathering. The answer is simple.
"So this is where their main place is. Huh."
She moves throughout the streets, generally just blending in for the moment. She occasionally stops to linger by the Church itself- genuinely curious as she never got an explanation on what they worked for.
Currently, she's sitting on some steps, eating from that infinite bowl of dumplings she had.
aeiou: the secondColosseum Infiltration
Seliph and Joe emerge from the carriage. For a guy who fights primarily using two power fists, the latter had a surprising amount of other weapons to offload on Petra, many of them homemade.
Seliph, not being an unarmed brawler, stays at the rear for now. If they have to fight each other, he looks enough like a prissy prince that it would be easy to sell Joe knocking him out in a single punch.
—
Siege
Marth and Reyna mount up on Thundertalon without complaint, the latter giving him some scritches where she guesses a Torridcless would like them.
Reprium
Raoh swirls his hands in a circle, gathering red energy around his fists, before thrusting them forward in a concentrated energy wave akin to a Kamehameha!
Celestial King's Assault
Void
"I would never knowingly associate with Live Legna."
Narktus sighs. "I don't know if it's worth it. But nothing is gained without risk."
He creates a wall of stardust in their paths. Instead of exploding like usual, it entangles, each particle holding a subject in place with gravity like a full-fledged star. Expecting Angel to get through it anyway, he uses his exemption from his own power to get through it first and ahead of her, ready to intercept.
Church Party
I wanna show off some cool music so here's a remix of Graze the Roof from Plants vs. Zombies
Asuka notices the Man Whose Face is (not) Veiled. Along with a bunch of others but for some reason the guy with the flaming head really sticks out to him.
"That man over there is making crêpes."
Rafal pushes through the masses, shoving aside people in his way without so much as an 'excuse me', until he reaches the Man in question.
"How much for a crêpe?" he growls. Asuka simply teleports up to them.
The twin Grimas of Halloween are around enjoying their own sweets when they pick up on Rafal's fell presence and watch him doing his thing.
The Fall Reincarnation rubs his chin. "It appears we are not the only Fell Dragons with a sweet tooth."
"Quiet, you. I smell dumplings." The Fall Vessel hovers into the air and toward Artemis not like a cartoon character smelling a pie in their sleep, it's totally different.
Edited by KiriK on Sep 20th 2023 at 7:46:31 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."M2R1
Trainer gently accepts the Caterple - with significantly more care than one would expect from, well, Trainer.
"Thanks..."
the child when he sad
Lear STROLLS onto the field as he is wont to do, not content to communicate through the loudspeakers.
"Firstly! Wow. Just... wow."
"Secondly, congratulations, Katre. Yadda yadda, notification should be up on your Poryphone to select an upgrade for your next match."
Dragon Gear (Bracelets + phys, Bandanas + spec, Pins + HP and Spe) (you could select a type other than Dragon but with only one mon why would you); 6EX (raise stats slightly and activate extra Sync Move effect; Max Move Level (raise all move BP); or Lucky Skill (roll for an extra passive - i will help you with this in DMs)
M5R1
Nick (Sygna Suit): ☆☆☆☆☆
Partner: Dumpster
Type: Steel
Weakness: Ground
Role: Physical Strike
Move 1: Heavy Slam () Steel-type, BP 132-158, MG 3, ACC 100, Targets 1, Physical
Move 2: Gunk Shot (Has a 30% chance to leave the target Poisoned.) Poison-type, BP 194-232, MG 4, ACC 80, Targets 1, Physical
Move 3: Obstruct (The user takes up a defensive posture. Using this move again will make the user leave this defensive posture. No other actions can be taken when in this defensive posture. Nullifies an attack move that targets the user while it is in this defensive posture, then the user leaves the defensive posture. If the move was a physical attack move, lowers the Defense of the attacker that used it by 2 stat ranks.) Dark-type, MG 2, MP 2, Status
Move 4 (Cheer): Big Dumpy (Lowers the user's Speed by 3 stat ranks. Raises the user's attack and Defense by 3 stat ranks.) MP 1
Passive 1: Superduper Effective 5 (Powers up Super Effective hits by 50%.)
Passive 2: Sharp Entry 3 (Raises the user's CHR by 3 stat ranks when entering battle.)
Passive 3: Ally Poisons: Badly Poisoned (If an opposing unit is Poisoned by a unit on the ally team, the opposing unit is Badly Poisoned instead.)
Sync Move: Damage Dumper Wrecker Crash (Does Super Effective damage against targets that are weak to Poison-type attacks.) Steel-type, BP 200-240, Physical
Rei: ☆☆☆☆☆
Partner: Typhlosion-Hisuan (Dilbert)
Type: Fire
Weakness: Ghost
Role: Special Strike
Move 1: Flamethrower (Has a 10% chance to Burn the target.) Fire-type, BP 47-56, MG 2, ACC 100, Targets 1, Special
Move 2: Quick Attack () Normal-type, BP 94-112, Quick Move, ACC 100, Targets 1, MP 3, Physical
Move 3 (Item): Ball of Mud (Makes the target flinch.) ACC 95, Targets 1, MP 2
Move 4 (Cheer): Scourge of Old! (Lowers the user's HP by 75%. Raises the user's Attack by 6, and Critical Hit Rate and Speed by 3 stat ranks.) MP 1
Passive 1: Demoralize 2 (Lowers the Attack of the opponent team after the user's Sync Move.)
Passive 2: Danger Dodge 3 (Raises the user's Evasion by 3 stat ranks the first time its HP drops to 50% or below.)
Passive 3: Adrenaline 2 (Lowers the ally Sync Count by 2 the user's Sync Move is used.)
Sync Move: Kill-Them-All Hellfire (Is Super Effective against targets that do not have a Theme Type of Poison, Steel, Fire, Dragon, Forbidden, Nuclear, or ???) Fire-type, BP 200-250, Special
oh yeah uh
rei totally learned English during the training period
Formatting Complete
"KILL" he almost immediately barks, sending Dilbert hurtling to slam into the Dumpster at mach speed with Quick Attack.
M7R1
The blow sends Infernape reeling, but also knocks the last remnants of Flinch right out of them. They immediately lunge back with a mcnasty pair of one-two Fire Punches - sun boosted, too, ohwo.
in pokemas, the base crit rate is around 12% - Infernape is at +2 Crit, so their crit chance is around 80%. your call if it does
2 turns left of sun.
Edited by Rbade on Sep 20th 2023 at 5:56:46 AM
/\。。/\Centralis - Gathering
Artemis is still munching down on that infinite bowl of dumplings. She spies the Fall Vessel floating towards her and simply continues eating, waiting for them to get closer despite being able to talk at any distance. She wants to seem 'normal' right now, after all. Not that Hub Centralis is normal by any means."-wait a second... ooooh. I think I still have the things to make some."
Artemis focuses for a moment before having a plate of macaroons appear beside her. The joy of being able to accelerate a pocket dimension to instantly produce food. She sets the bowl of dumplings to the side- which will stop producing more as the bowl itself is normal, Artemis just keeps making more -and moves to toss a macaroon into her mouth.
"So good... i'm so glad I can still taste things..."
Maybe if Artemis wasn't focused on food she'd realize magically appearing food isn't normal, despite her trying to be normal, but...
aeiou: the secondM7R1
One Fire Punch misses, but the other one hits, and it's a critical hit! ... Which probably makes up for the miss.
Kangaskhan staggers back a bit, shaking its head.
"That wasn't a Fighting Type move. Is she trying to make me lower my guard, or does she not have any?", Umezou ponders. The thought that this is strictly a weather-based set doesn't seem to occur to him. You'd think a Gym Leader would come to the conclusion more easily.
"Return!"
As Umezou doesn't have a lot of other options, he orders Kangashkan to do the same thing as last time, and as such it rushes for Infernape again.
Edited by DevilPsyco on Sep 20th 2023 at 3:09:51 PM
In the year 202X, all is devastation... Soon, any last shred of hope had by the saintliest optimist shall die and decay.The Man look up at Rafal, and can instantly see there's something strong within him. Being that he just chatted with Gojo, however, he doesn't let that influence him. And he can't smirk, but he can sort of lean forward and tilt his head to the side, amused.
It's free! It wouldn't be nice to put a price on a favor, isn't it? Just don't take it to the Church itself and we're good! What's it gonna be on top of that too? He says, still getting ready to whip up some more ingredients. He steps back, widening his arms to reveal that he's got a lot of stuff to decorate one's crêpe with: jam from various fruits, sugar, nutella, some honey... Probably not that healthy but Rafal probably wasn't going to fine dining before this.
I don't think this kind of stuff is bad in small doses BUT we recommend you avoid putting in too much ingredients and engage in regular activity while eating fruits!
... We don't sell fruits though. Sorry!
As for Artemis, Loki indeed notices that, being someone with especially sharp senses. He also notices the Grimas but doesn't act on it yet.
Someone with powers being around is expected. And the Grimas aren't a threat so long as they're kept in mind before they can truly go all-out. But still, Loki's a bit intrigued by Artemis's power. And as such, he scoots closer, his own godly aura very well-suppressed.
This could be bad. They're undermining our grasp on the nourishment market here
what
don't worry about it
Edited by Bolded1 on Sep 20th 2023 at 3:26:54 PM
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitter"I will have that 'Nutella' spread."
Asuka magics up a drink for himself. He notices the other powerful beings present, and by extension Loki who is also watching them, and heads over to the latter. "So, what is happening here?"
The Fall Vessel points down at Artemis from above. "You. Give me your sweet treats."
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Artemis looks up at the Fall Vessel and hums to herself.
"-y'know, the term 'sweets' is a bit broad... But ok."
In the span of five seconds, Artemis has created a nice spread of sweets to pick from- more normal things like ice cream, funnel cakes, fried dough, actual cake, more macaroons, cinnamon rolls, chocolate, EVERYTHING. as well as a lot of different treats you'd find from other universes. All of this fits on an oversized plate. That's about the size of a semi-truck tire.
"Ta-da! Sweets."
Artemis then turns around to look at Loki and actually falters for a moment before calming herself again.
"...ah, it's you again, eh? Hi."
Edited by RainbyPlays on Sep 20th 2023 at 9:41:41 AM
aeiou: the secondGood choice. And I'm not saying it because I'm contractually obligated to praise your decisions!
Veiled Man start to work on the crêpe. He doesn't need to use his flames much, and he make a point of "legitimately" making the sugar-overdose. He sort of enjoy it, you see, and he prefers some short efforts over an effortlessly "win". Plus most NP Cs are still normies enough that they might find magical crêpes unnatural, somehow.
So what brought you here? Was it the crêpes? He makes a grab for a wooden tool...
And in the meantime,
Loki sees Artemis's feast going down. He could boil it down to being part of the festivities but it's unlikely the Fell Dragon will share what she sees as hers, which could upset the people nearby. And it's not like newer folks will come in, since they're far into the crowd.
With the potential of angering the Fell Dragon also there, Loki attempts to erect a casual illusion over the feast. But it doesn't conceal the presence of the feast via invisibility so much as it creates two fields to ward off people: a noisy crowd, over where the concealed feast is, and a passive effect to cause people to not want to go there by virtue of thinking it's boring.
It's not enough to make people not notice. They should not care about going there.
That said, Loki finds himself grimacing inwardly. Because Artemis caused Meteorika to punish him mostly. And also because he knows Grima will probably ask for more. It's a band-aid solution but he can quietly move people over to her at least.
When Asuka comes over, Loki glances at Meteorika's way. She's making her way over, but is still discussing with others. He fix his sleeves and nods, not bothering with an illusion that he knows would be superfluous.
Summer is ending very soon. We're making a party to enjoy the heat while we can and introduce people to the Word Of Gor, he says, matter-of-factly. We want to bask in these celebrations with believers and non-believers alike but we wouldn't mind if a few of the latter decide to become the former after seeing our ideals up close, which they might not have otherwise.
... But I suspect the free crêpes are enticing too. He smirks. Because he is a co-founder of the idea.
Although if you want some, I'm not the one with the chef hat.
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterM5R1
The Heavy Slam blows the battler back with a resounding impact, making Dilbert and Rei snarl. Barking a command, Dilbert rushes in, flashing around slightly quicker than the eye can see to combo with two more Quick Attacks.
M7R1
Infernape manages to barely scrape past the Return, the blow missing by less than inches, and getting into close combat (not Close Combat) with Kangaskhan.
"AROUW!"
"HIT 'EM!"
Infernape goes for one last sun-boosted uppercut (not a Sky Uppercut) of a Fire Punch!
The harsh sunlight faded.
Edited by Rbade on Sep 20th 2023 at 7:01:37 AM
/\。。/\"Gimme the Dragon Bracelets," Katre decides.
Rafal tries to maintain a stoic front, but pauses to wipe drool from his mouth as Veilman is making the crêpe. "I was dragged along by a man calling himself Asuka R. Kreutz. He is currently mingling with one of this event's other hosts. Now, I have an exceptional taste for sweetness, so this had better not disappoint."
Asuka nods to Loki. "Ah, perfect. I was looking for just the thing to introduce a new friend to this world. He seems to be hitting it off with your chef."
Loki is in luck. The Fall Vessel is awed by Artemis' spread, and the Fall Reincarnation soon catches up and is just as amazed.
After they snap out of it, the Fall Vessel grins at Artemis. "I like you." She and her male counterpart proceed to dig in.
Edited by KiriK on Sep 20th 2023 at 9:07:54 AM
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Artemis watches as the duo digs in, before remembering something she has to do once a day. She summons a coin of glimmering diamond, accented with gold and silver from her Vault and puts it in her mouth before swallowing it. It's instantly converted into mana to fuel her magic-dependent body. She turns back toward Loki.
"So this is basically proselytizing your religion... I'd assume."
She occasionally looks back at the spread of sweets, hoping nothing's ran out yet.
aeiou: the secondso like
yeah, Dumpster can't do anything else that turn
but it sure is funny both how red Rei's face gets and the way that Dilbert slams to a stop upon smashing into the Obstruct field face-first. bruh his face all flat. -2 Defense.
Rei lets loose an indecipherable stream of what is most likely profanity, proccing his Cheer - Scourge of Old! Stats buff! And. And. HP plummets.
Edited by Rbade on Sep 20th 2023 at 7:56:02 AM
/\。。/\Tilra VS Sarah
Tilra's eyes widen the second before Sarah's foot impacts her face, gritting her teeth as the impact shatters her nose and sends her flying through the miniature not-planet. Flecks of blood float out into space as she drifts in zero-gravity, distastefully countering each blow Sarah attempts to land with one of her own, using her Glaive's sharp end to corral her attacks into either missing or colliding with the impenetrable weapon's pole.
She doesn't look to be regenerating at all. It might not be something she's even capable of.
Which would explain the caution. If every hit she takes is as permanent as it would be on a human, she has to be careful not to take those hits, especially against someone as endlessly durable as Sarah.
Responding to this status quo's likelyhood to lean, another bubble of emerald-green energy expands from Tilra's core, crossing the whole solar system in just a few short seconds. Like before, this is harmless, but...
Something's growing. Tilra's core crystal is glowing brighter than before, and there's a pressure to her presence where there wasn't a moment ago.
She's preparing something.
And it can't be anything good.
6 Turns left.
Angel VS Narktus
"I see. If that is your fight, then I will stop this before anyone else is put in danger!"
Angel breaks- nay, honest-to-goodness shatters her way through Narktus's stardust barrier, her sword appearing in her hands and then in a vast field of Angel's hands as they all flash-step past Narktus at once, blending into a streak of crisscrossing lights that all snap at once as they cut his position from countless directions.
Every Angel vanishes except one, the real Angel in a field of shadows, as she turns around with a shout of "Monado Buster!"
The blade of the Aegis Sword extends out forever, supercharged into an emerald-green blade of absolute sharpness. She swings this weapon for Narktus, and anything brought against its cutting edge will be sliced through. Like Gram, the weapon's edge breaks through that which is unfair, but unlike Gram, it cuts through everything else, too.
The closest thing to a silver lining is that, relatively speaking, you could call this swing "slower" than Angel's usual.
Ether drifts from the fringes of Angel's form.
...She's not fighting at her full power, not even by the standards she should be restricted to with only one Fearless Sword. The damage Narktus dealt to her core was severe enough to limit her abilities.
Outside of what's in view, Angel is fighting another silent battle. Whoever controls the Phenomenon Phase Shift is the ruler of fate- this is the conflict that defined the battle against Zanza, and then later, Z, so very long ago in her world's far-flung history.
Angel is against its use, but she is not so foolish as to keep herself from using a valuable resource with so much on the line.
...Unfortunately, things aren't that simple. Already, another force has taken control of this phenomena, and is attempting to use it to rig this battle against her. She can cancel that out, but she cannot weaponize the Phenomenon Phase Shift against Narktus, either.
Edited by Whoma on Sep 21st 2023 at 9:34:04 AM
Yatta!Poacher Camp — THE CAULDRON
Luin stared outside the gates at the howling masses. There were all different species in that crowd—shirtless, bestial creatures with predatorial mouths, long fangs, and spikes growing from their shoulders and forearms. Some were human, others were great, green mountains of dumb muscles whooping and hollering. A small amount of the crowd consisted of a species akin to a humanoid lion, and the rest were simply an assortment of various species too small in number to note of any importance.
Then she turned her ears to the guards, chatting as they left through a back entrance and took the wagon with them while ensuring that none of the captives tried anything goofalicious.
"Keep an eye on the sky," One recommended to the other. "That Rathian could be anywhere, come back at any time."
"Can’t believe they let something like that escape. Who was on guard duty?"
"Probably Jerry," He groaned.
"Fucking Jerry. He should’ve died at childbirth, in my opinion." Their conversation faded away as the doors slammed shut behind them, and Luin turned again to face the gates as they creaked open. Reluctantly, she came out onto the field, perhaps followed by the others or perhaps not, should they have chosen to attempt to remain within the chambers.
Jeering took over the cheers of the crowd, and the contestants would find themselves needing to duck more than a few thrown objects. Against the arena walls were racks bearing all sorts of medieval style weaponry—swords, daggers, flails, spears, glaives, and clubs, as well as some slightly more modern advancements like flintlocks and repeaters. Luin approached one and took from it a blade, feeling for the weight of the broadsword as she awaited whatever was to come, anticipating the fireworks of the main event.
From the sky descended a mighty and brutish wyvern,
a feminine figure on its back. The bulky beast was met with thunderous applause as it landed on the backmost bleachers, hooked talons grappling onto the walls as it unleashed a mighty burst of flame into the air with an earth-shaking roar. The Bazelgeuse then looked down into the crowd and a wicked expression crossed its face, as though it understood that these people were cheering for him and delighted in it.
And why would they not? Luin had heard tales of the General’s mount, the feared Baltaos, the Blackened Sky. The wyvern to end all wyverns, the one who could reduce cities to ash and the beast that had slain ancient dragons far greater in size than itself. And that was saying a lot—even now, Luin’s heart sunk just staring the creature. At nearly two hundred feet in size, it far exceeded any other Bazelgeuse she had even heard of.
From the mighty wyvern’s back dropped the General herself,
◊ disappearing from view behind massive pillars before appearing in a special seating box overlooking the entire coliseum. She spared the crowd a still wave, maintaining the position for nearly a minute as the endless cheers echoed from the spectators. At last she sat, the Poacher Captain known as Cpt. Gedos standing at her side as well as a ten foot and heavily armored barbaric beast of green skin.
Grimgor Ironhide, she instantly came to recognize him as. The Ork’s exploits were legendary.
The woman began to doubt. Could they truly pull this off? The cards seemed so greatly stacked against them and with such a roster as their opposition, there seemed no possible way they could win.
Luin needed to breathe and remind herself that everything would be fine—the siege would begin and as it did, it’d wipe out the majority of their forces. Then they’d only have to deal with the survivors.
Easier said than done.
The General began to spoke and instantly the chattering hordes were quelled. Though her voice was soft as a whisper it was carried across the entire coliseum with ease, as not a single sound dared to rise above it.
"Fighters," She began. "That is what we are. We fight for different reasons, yes; some of us seek to pay a debt in blood long past due, some of us chase fortune and fame, some of us wish to see a better, less dangerous world, and others…" The woman’s head turned to face the slobbering Orks in the crowd. Grimgor’s head turned as well and he smiled with pride at his people. "Others simply chase the heart-pumping glory of a good fight." The orks specifically exploded into cheer upon their species being referenced by this ‘umie they had come to respect, though the sound died down after only a few seconds and the General continued. "But it doesn’t matter what brought you here. What matters, is that you are here! You stand here with us today! You fight against the cruel laws of nature, and you leave in the absence of shattered rules something far better: the seeds of civilization! Sapient dominion, a world where decisions are made by those capable of thought, not a plant or an animal! Society hates us—they ridicule us, because they’re scared! Scared to admit we’re right, scared of the debt they will owe us when we usher in this new, better world!" Cheers. "You’ve worked hard these past weeks! As we speak our operations in the Arena expand! Mainland Estraole, Reprium, Astil, all of them are now home to new chapters!" The cheering intensified and Luin’s heart sunk even further. This was news to her—she was too late. Already the Poachers had grown, like a tumor burying its claws deep in a host and going malignant. "Know what I think? I think you all are in need of a much-deserved break! Well, consider this your break! Watch the games! Yell, eat, laugh! Drink! But not too much, because tomorrow…" The General leaned back and even beneath her mask the grin upon her face grew prevalent.
"Tomorrow, the real work begins. Tomorrow, the new world, begins!"
——
Khars’Li and Petra were the last to board the Bird Wyvern, while Beeji simply sunk into the sand. Seeing as neither of the two who remained reacted in any way to this, it could be concluded this was "normal" behavior for her.
The Toridcless turned to face Mona and spread its wings, flapping for a moment before taking to the sky. But before it flew away…
Talons clutched onto the Lunagaron’s back. The grip was weak (yet sturdy) enough that the claws would fail to penetrate Mona’s thick shell, resulting in almost no pain at all. After this it finally set out into the clouds, flying so high in them that only stark white surrounded the bird.
"Now would be a good time," Began the Lizardman, "To disclose about oneself. Who are you, what specifically are you good at?"
——
Culling Games
Scorpion leapt backwards but didn’t quite escape Mark’s chains unscathed. New tears opened in his gi and gashes in his flesh from which blood dribbled down. The man’s eyes focused on the incoming chain and, reacting with a swiftness and precision that denoted training for this exact situation, he leaned away from the thrown object and reached to grab hold of the actual chain area of it. He looked back at Mark with an expression that seemed almost resentful that the man would even attempt an attack like that against him, before his own Spear erupted from his flaming palm towards Mark where, if it made contact, he’d force him into close range and meet the man with a downwards slash of his katana.
"Get the fuck over here, bitch!"
——
Gaismagorm
Scorpion (at another point in time ig lol) was blinded temporarily by the Gaismagorm’s explosion. He seethed as he stumbled back, vowing to join the battle and take his revenge. You know, whenever he was able to see again.
The Terrarian did not get off as easily. In fact, if the two were holding a getting-off contest, he’d have erectile dysfunction. The man exploded backwards, his armor badly cracked and his HP at exactly half a heart. In his frenzied rage, the man roared out and turned his Minishark’s barrels to Altzaira, unleashing a hail of bullets at the poor fellow.
Edited by ISZATSO on Sep 20th 2023 at 12:52:36 PM
With great power…you know the rest.Altzaira staggers back from the sheer force of the explosion, but she thankfully managed to stop herself on time to avoid its main effects and her resistance is too high to be stunned for long. She quickly recovers and utilizes several self-buffing Martial Arts.
"As vile as this filthy thing is, it seems like I have no choice but to start taking it seriously. Grand Ability Boost. Greater Evasion. Grand Reinforce Hide. Strengthen Per-"
In the middle of her preparations, she sees Gaismagorm emerge from the inferno like a bat out of hell... headed straight for her. Not necessarily the ideal outcome of Dirge of Dread, she must admit... but all things considered, not an unwelcome one either. If it keeps the heat off the fragile creatures surrounding her - and gives her a much welcome challenge, that's just fine by her.
Speaking of them, there's also a barrage of bullets from a former ally, the impact of which is thankfully mostly absorbed by her armored hide, though they do leave dents. The Swordmaster Dragon Lord growls in exasperation.
"MARTIAL ART: FLOW ACCELERATION!"
From Altzaira's perspective, time seems to slow down to a crawl. Gaismagorm's attack, which should have been by all means fast and vicious enough to overwhelm even her, now seems almost sluggish, allowing her to avoid the hand (and the rest of the Terrarian's barrage) at speeds defying the human eye.
"If my roar does not instill fear in you, worm, then I suppose I'll just have to teach you to fear me the hard way! MARTIAL ART: SOARING EDGE!"
Altzaira leaps into the air with great force, simultaneously swinging her halberd upwards to deliver a cleaving uppercut across the god-beast's ugly face.
"MARTIAL ART: CRUSHING BASH!"
She follows this up by aiming a violent slam from the wing-shaped shield on her left arm at Gaismagorm's skull, packing enough power to create a shockwave from its impact point. A direct impact from this would probably have turned a lesser being to bloody mush, but against this fiend, it'll be fortunate if it at least stuns it for a moment.
She's chaining together Martial Arts, including the physically exhausting Flow Acceleration, like it's nothing. If a human had attempted such a feat, they would probably have been dead or incapacitated from the strain by now, but the only indication that Altzaira is so much as winded is a heavy, hissing exhalation that follows the shield bash.
Edited by Arachnos on Sep 21st 2023 at 10:32:39 AM
Well, if he wants to, and only if he wants to, the church would be quite happy to provide him with new discoveries and paths. Loki says, glancing at Artemis's little ritual. For no nefarious reason, of course, and he turns to Asuka soon enough.
... He does seem to have a sweet tooth, doesn't he? I'm sure our chef will be happy to indulge him in conversation and some free crêpes. Loki look to the side and is happy to see Meteorika coming over, having freed herself from her crowd to meet up with Asuka. She also noticed Artemis, whom she nods to, but she decides to wait a bit later to address her.
Ah, hello! I do not know if a fortunate wind carried you within our abode, but we're glad to see you nonetheless! I am Meteorika. "Head" of this Church of Gor, although I naturally still am subordinate to Them. Of course. Meteorika bows, and Loki look aside, having something of a bad feeling going down. Were the Dullard From Asgard and that sorry excuse of a Loki about to try something? No, they seemed too generically good to do that with civilians around.
He couldn't help but notice that the guards seemed to be scattering a little around them. Which no one on the crowd noticed or dismissed as simply them covering more ground.
Meanwhile, Veilman starts to work on his crêpe, "nodding" in agreement. I do like a worthy challenge!
He spreads the batter on a hot greased pant, with one careful ladle at a time, then grab the wooden ustensil and use it to spread the batter around the pan with delicate yet rapid movements. It cooks golden, the pale mixture becoming somewhat more solid as it tinges itself with a golden golden color. He flips it once to make that way on both side, then grab the nutella and carefully pour it on the middle of the crêpe. With his other hand, he then spread the nutella and, when satisfied, fold the crêpe neatly, putting it into a little white cornet for Rafal to grab on when eating.
Not that he'd need, probably, but hey.
He then further wrap it up in a sheet of paper, leaving the upper half of the crêpe untouched, and hand it over to Rafal.
It's funny once you get the hang of it, really.
...
Meanwhile, Space shakes as Sarah strikes at Tilra. Failing to make headway, she jumps back and once again use her powers to create holographic doubles, which run over towards Tilra. A foolish tactic, because Tilra will be able to easily see who's who. And it's the fourth Sarah in a row, who attempts to hit her with a quick jab.
The other Sarahs will phase through Tilra. Being mere holograms, Tilra won't be able to disperse them with conventional attacks -but let's be fair, she has a lot of unconventional attacks- but they won't be able to attack her either...
Until they do, turning around and blasting at her back with lightning bolts infused with tiny portions of the Necrosword each, black sparks trailing over the blue bolt.
Sarah can make her own beams or bolts at any range, as demonstrated early on in her fight with Byleth. So she can make her "clones" shoot them by proxy. Those bolts probably won't do a lot of damage, because Tilra can eat Sarah's punches and keep going for more -broken nose or not, that's an impressive feat-, but Sarah hopes that this can surprise/unsettle Tilra enough for Sarah to briefly accelerates, as she attempts to jab her in the stomach multiples times.
Should she succeed, she then attempts to grab her by the arms, meaning to grab a hold of her to make her next attacks harder to dodge. It's a lot, maybe, but she knows that she's not dodging what Tilra is about to do. Because Tilra will follow her... or because, simply, Sarah would look like a coward, hopping out of that far an area.
No, she's going to crush that attack before it can occur!
Sarah rears her head back, preparing to deliver an headbutt.
...
Megumi grabs a generic sword. He'd flourish it if he could but it'd probably hurt the "slave" image.
The young man already has a weapon in his shadow but as he figures out, if an ally loses their weapon or just need it, he can give it to them. And as for himself, while this weapon is no Cursed Tool, he can use it as plan B.
He stays silent, only raising an eyebrow at the guard's dialogue. Were these guys just stupid overall? It's not like their leader was that much better, mind you, but whatever fury he had, he kept it concealed behind a poker face.
The Sorcerer does glance at his allies, as if wondering if they won't be able to keep their cool as easily.
Edited by Bolded1 on Sep 21st 2023 at 5:27:51 PM
Nautolan picture belongs to Bonesmarinated on twitterRafal takes the crêpe in hand, neatly holding the cornet. After a small bite, his eyes widen, and he promptly procures a handful of gold coins. "I...feel...I owe you now," he hesitantly says. "So take it. Consider it...a donation to your church."
He waits until Veilman takes the gold, refusing to take 'no' for an answer, before he continues eating his crêpe, making sure to eat slowly and daintily savor it, unlike the Fall Dragons who are voraciously packing down Artemis' sweets.
Asuka bows back to Meteorika. "It is a pleasure to meet you."
He sips his drink as he follows Loki's gaze. What could the deity be thinking...?
Somewhere in the crowd, spacetime cracks and breaks, but it's nothing to worry about, just the Hatchling getting Ret Goned. They did leave behind a crêpe that has splattered on the ground, making a bit of a mess.
"A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to."Artemis nods back to Meteorika before letting out a small sigh. She notes Loki's expression. She also pauses to mentally check her magic levels. Now that she's out of Onyxis, her mana seems to replenish at a better rate- still not at the rate she could siphon using World Barrier, but close enough.
She occasionally tops off the pile of sweets as she listens to the conversation, as a selection of what could be called 'UI menus' appear only to her. Mostly just a report of what she has stored in her personal dimension... She's going to need more baking supplies after this, isn't she?
aeiou: the second

After Mark's been shocked again, he tries to push Kaon away but shoved back in via Scorpion's dropkick. Rigorously convulsing, he tries to front kick Kaon away whilst stumbling and begins rapidly flailing his chains
in all directions to ward and lash them away.
"Shit I thought he was on my side??"
He follows up by using the built up momentum to shoot the chains towards scorpion so he can reel him in for his own flaming dropkick.
"Hooh that fucked a nerve or billion"
Edited by BoniniBanana on Sep 20th 2023 at 7:28:52 PM
real