An Ordinary Oddball
Mina Parker
"H-Here we go again, I g-guess..." Mina trailed off, though she squared her shoulders resolutely and started wading into the fray once more. This time, she hung back just to see what the offensive capacities of the soldiers were, relying on her dust and earth armor to take hits for her before she turned the ground underfoot springy and used it to launch herself forward in order to attack. Any ally that stepped where she stepped could still make use of that effect, but if she saw a Phantom Soldier try to do the same, she would do her best to wave a hand in their direction and dispel the boost, instead transmuting the ground into quicksand to trap the enemy. "I...I think I'm g-getting the hang of th-this!"
Edited by JumpingFruit on Nov 28th 2021 at 4:35:43 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Surrounded by weirdoes
"Ok, but if you need the guy to be punched in national tv, don't doubt to call" Pablo said, just taking a second to stop.
Looking at the new brigade, he cracked his knuckles for a second before jumping into the fray again.
"Lion Fist" He called, to start swinging again. Properly done, he'd gain some claws and an extra power behind this.
"Anyone up for some teamwork?" He called.
Edited by Blueace on Nov 27th 2021 at 11:30:06 AM
Wake me up at your own risk.
Vs Phantom Soldiers
As Mina launched herself forward, she conveniently moved underneath the swing of one of the Phantom Soldiers, her sheer speed, resilience and strength resulting in her tearing the Phantom Soldier apart - its two halves disincorporating behind her. She punched one of the soldiers against the wall, and as she landed she would find herself surrounded briefly by three of them...
At least until Pablo rushed in - bright gold mana sheathing his fingers in five long, curving blades in the style of a big cat's claw. The claw ripped right through first the rod of one of the Phantom Soldiers - followed right by the soldier itself. The phantasmal thing simply slid in half shortly after its weapon did, disincorporating not long after.
Before long, Mina's phone would start faintly ringing, though it was hardly noticeable in the din of combat...
Fwomph
Training Day
Heather was about to launch herself into the second round of fighting before she realized the outright tepid response to her words.
"Oh come on! Not one of you going all 'I got that reference'? I thought you guys were Tabletop Club, how do you miss a—... Oh no, did Tom only run D&D with you guys!?"
Then Heather lept into the fray with her sword.
"Tell you what, when we've got significant safe downtime I am going to run a Shadowrun campaign with you guys. Someone remind me at some point so I don't shuffle the idea into my pipedream basket mkay?"
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
An Ordinary Oddball
Mina Parker
"Ah...w-wow!" Mina wondered at her newfound power, and where it had suddenly come from. She had no real frame of reference ever since the fight with the Weather Wizard, but she wanted to think that she had gotten stronger, or, failing that, more creative with her magic casting. Using her connection with the earth, she sensed the vibrations from more Phantom Soldiers approaching and quickly danced out of the way. "Uh...t-time out! Time o-out! I gotta take th-this call!"
Sidelining herself in a rush and heading for the door, Mina took the call, giving a tentative "H-Hello?" to the other person on the end.
Edited by JumpingFruit on Dec 1st 2021 at 6:06:57 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
The Light That Blinds
Jayden
"Paranormal investigation!" Jayden yelled to Heather, continuing to wildly swing his sword. "Big difference!"
He couldn't help but wince a little at Mina's phone call. Is this gonna be a thing this entire session? Admittedly, the thought was mildly funny, but right now, there wasn't time to laugh.
Later, though...yeah, he would probably laugh.
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
Surrounded by weirdoes
"I got dragged into the bunch due to supernatural messes" Pablo commented, his hands feeling warm. "So you'll have to forgive me for being ignorant of many things"
For the moment, he stood in front of Mina at least until the time out was given. He'll just try to avoid injuries for the moment.
Wake me up at your own risk.
As soon as Mina was out the door and taking the call, she would see that it was her "brother" Bryce calling. Though it seemed there was another call that happened to be waiting behind the call from him. Bryce seemed to be calling using the home phone from Mina's house, "Hey, Mina? The girl I've been going out with said she got some bad vibes around the hills out in the east. I was hoping to look around and see if there was anything going on over there. Do you happen to know if anything...weird's up in the eastern hills?"
He did seem concerned about the girl he was going out with now. On the other side of the phone, Bryce was seated by her, comforting her after the experience she had up there with whatever it was that happened. She was wrapped up in a blanket and keeping right by his side.
With Heather and Jayden attacking as well, before long the remaining Phantom Soldiers were done and dust - with Pablo keeping them off of Mina's trail. On Jayden's part it seemed like he might be developing much more of an affinity for these Fiendbonder powers the more he used them. Shaping and reshaping his new sword, calling it out as if second nature.
Edited by NickTheSwing on Dec 1st 2021 at 9:27:30 AM
An Ordinary Oddball
Mina Parker
"Yeah, I j-just looked that p-place up, it s-seems like th-there's something very old and very w-weird buried in th-the ground in those h-hills," Mina confirmed once she was clear and outside the training building. "Most p-people would think that th-the place is h-haunted, though. I d-dunno with what kinda b-bad influences, but if y-you do plan on g-going there, be s-safe, okay?" Her voice was the very picture of innocent sisterly concern.
Her blood chilled as intrusive thoughts began slithering their way in. If the Zanackt Ley Lines were so powerful as to be able to repel ordinary non-mana-sensitive poeple, then the hills were probably the best place for a secret magical duel. She then cast her mind back to the deal she had made with Varancain. Could this finally be her chance? And lastly, did these cruel, scheming thoughts really belong to Mina, or was her sense of vengenace overriding her good sense more and more completely lately?
Edited by JumpingFruit on Dec 5th 2021 at 5:30:35 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Surrounded by weirdoes
Pablo leaned back as things ended.
"Well, if all else fails, at least it feels like I get a good work out of all this" He quipped, flexing a bit.
"Not bad for a muscle head" He joked.
Wake me up at your own risk.
Fwomph
Training Day
"We formed Investigation Club after I met y'all in the Tabletop Club room remember? I was there because of sanctions or some shit... Wait, was everyone just there because of Tom memorial?"
Heather dismissed her sword and then immediately forgetting she did so, she attempted to lean on said sword and stumbled forward.
"Yeah combat's a helluva way to stay in shape, and I think I'm ready for Round Three if you lot are. Might swap to Lady in White for this."
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
The Light That Blinds
Jayden
Well...there were some good sides to this training.
Too bad the circumstances had left him completely unenthused over them.
"When do we get a break?" he mumbled, mostly to himself as he started absently shaping the sword, trying to see how far he could push it. Maybe he could make it shoot beams like in the Zelda games...
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
Training and Calls
As Jayden, Heather and Pablo finished off the rest of the Phantom Soldiers, covering for Mina's call, Matthew applauded them. "Very nice, very nice work. You covered for your teammate without even a question, and you've developed quite some aplomb for your magics of choice. As soon as Mina's done in there and ready to go, we can start the next round. Make sure you've stretched before moving on to the next round."
Meanwhile with Mina and her phone call(s)...
"Okay, I'll see about looking into it in the coming days," Bryce said with a tone of concern, "If it can mess with this girl's day, I worry what else it might be able to do. I'll be prepping for the hike up there. See you later, Mina!" And with that, the phone call ended...and the next one came in.
This was however from Xander.
Surrounded by weirdoes
Pablo just started stretching to spend the time. At the very least, he needed to check a few things. He could see if he could close or open the mana flow at will. There are still things he wanted to do as a more or less normal human.
"Whatever you say, Coach" He said, with a nod.
"This mood, and I'd just wonder if there is some gossip to, I dunno, lighten the mood"
Wake me up at your own risk.
Fwomph
Training Day
"Alright. Sounds like a good a time as any to put the Heartbreaker away for a moment and practice with Lady in White."
Heather gave a little yawn as she slipped off the shades and fetched her hat.
"Hey guys mind if I let myself get hit a little? I want to figure out how durable I am in this Totem and hey better to test it out here rather than overstretch my limits during the mission itself."
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
Training Goes On
"Well, if Mina's busy..." Matthew contemplated, and decided it wouldn't be fair to the rest if they had to wait. So he loaded up the Phantom Soldiers again, and looked over at the students as the phantoms slowly began to rematerialize. He announced, "This time I'm amping the difficulty of this encounter a bit. I've been pretty impressed with what you've all been able to accomplish so far. Just let me know if this is a little too far too fast, okay? At any time I can just unsummon these guys."
This time it seemed like the Phantom Soldiers were a deal more refined and capable. They didn't lag or drag their limbs quite so much if at all. Instead, they seemed to wield their rod-like weapons with a deliberate purpose. The programming governing them of a higher grade this time.
Two of them seemed to move forward and shifted the posture on their weapons of choice. A degree more planning this time than the last few times.
"You guys ready?" Matthew asked.
An Ordinary Oddball
Mina Parker
Oh dear god, not another one, Mina could not help thinking as she picked up the call from Xander. Somehow, as if her old timidity had returned to her, her palms began to sweat and her hands began to shake as she answered the phone again. "Y-Yes Xander, it's Mina, wh-what is it?" she tried to ask as politely and calmly as she could.
Edited by JumpingFruit on Dec 11th 2021 at 11:14:45 AM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Surrounded by weirdoes
Pablo looked at Heather with a shrug, "Whatever you want, I guess" He said.
Might as well divide the crews to give her the chance. Mr. Bogard, don't fail me now
"POWER WAVE!" He yelled, punching the ground. Done properly, he'd give her enough space to at least take a few shots.
Wake me up at your own risk.
Mina's Call
"I was just wondering..." Xander stated as he leaned back against one of the trees just outside of school, his legs kicking in the air as he balanced on the tree branch, "If you'd be up to go see a movie or hang out with me at the roller blade rink. Just thought before I went out that I should ask if you'd be up for it." It sounded like Xander was very eagerly anticipating a chance to do something more normal with Mina - well, before more normal stuff became more rare than usual.
Xander did remember that Carter told him that his dad was expecting him to do some things today...and for his part, Xander told him that if Carter for whatever reason wanted those things done, he could do them. He remembered Carter fuming a bit and walking off.
He did see how that one wanted to move up a bit further...and honestly, that he considered responsibility badgering how to do it just seemed amusing.
Training
This time rather than remain stock still, the Phantom Soldiers scattered from their positions and took on the team from various scattered positions - avoiding the resulting explosion that Pablo's punch on the ground sent rippling through toward them - the concurrent explosions flying up the wall about six feet.
Two of them approached Heather, two of them went for Pablo, another two went toward Jayden and the last went for James.
It was clear that this time things would be quite a bit different.
Fwomph
Training Day
"Alrighty!"
Heather stepped up, claws crackling into being however once she had strode into the fray she stood there, leaving herself open.
"Come on holograms, give me a solid hit. Let's see how invincible I am. And then I'll kill you with these sweet-ass claws, okay?"
It's clearly a case of backroom political albumizing.
The Light That Blinds
Jayden
"GAH!"
Jayden's sword extended as long as he could make it, and he just started flailing. His arm flapped frantically, hopefully cutting the soldiers up and keeping them from horrifically injuring him.
...I should probably learn better technique, huh.
"Kept me waiting, haven’t you? Tch. No matter. Dawdle all you’d like. In the end, your defeat remains inevitable."
Surrounded by weirdoes
Pablo jumped at his feet, and faced the two left to fight him. He seemed to be getting more heated up as things went on, so he just felt like attacking.
"Drill Kick!" He yelled, rushing forward to skewer one of them.
Too bad he is fighting two...
Wake me up at your own risk.
An Ordinary Oddball
Mina Parker
"Ah..." Mina trailed off, not knowing what to say. She wasn't all that experienced with first dates either. She guessed that it was one thing that her brother had already started learning about. It humanized him more in her eyes, oddly enough. "F-First date, huh...O-Okay! Sure! I'll d-do it! My b-brother's even out for t-today. Just—what do you h-have in m-mind? I'm not too g-good at this whole b-business..."
Never before had she been so abrupt. Was it the butterflies in her stomach or something more? Still, she was blushing furiously outside of the training center door hoping that nobody passed by, saw her, and came to ask her what was happening. That would have made her instantly turn into a puddle of goo and sink into the nearest crack in the concrete, perhaps even literally.
Edited by JumpingFruit on Dec 19th 2021 at 12:17:46 PM
I wear the skin of the Elder Things, having come unto my own.
Seeing the phantom approach him, James conjured a javelin in his hand and threw it at his assailant. As it left his hand, he fabricated another in its place. He wasn't sure how much abuse these things could take but it wasn't likely it would go down without a fight.
Training Day
"Eron Stuckhart is presently under investigation by some of my friends in the Association," Matthew announced, deciding to make sure they didn't get any idea of a field trip. There were already way too many fronts in this, and he couldn't risk his apprentices here getting injured in an altercation with any forces Stuckhart might have up his sleeve. "We'll handle him. You guys just focus on the Umbrals in front of you, and keep that factor of Stuckhart's presence in mind going forward."
There were just too many questions so far, and not enough clues to go on before making a move. He couldn't knowing that risk the Investigation Club's lives on a dangerous mission like that. They were inexperienced, and it was just...wrong.
"Alright, leveling things up a bit," Matthew stated, "Let's get things up in intensity a bit."
The next round of Phantom Soldiers that appeared walked out with less of a slumped over gait, stepping mechanically but more soldierly, wielding their staves with focus instead of so tepidly. They seemed to await the command to start the next round.
"Alright, begin." And with that the Phantom Soldiers began to move toward the teens at a more expedient pace than their earlier brethren.