The battle between Naija and the mage honestly made Cloud glad he had swapped. The girl seemed like a strong opponent—someone completely out of his league. While the two dueled, he watched until his attention was drawn to several characters standing around the prize table and not looking at all too happy. There was James, Steve, Moneybags, and Shantae. Cloud frowned softly, growing a little suspicious, and his suspicions were answered by a sudden bang that made him jump in startle. His wide, Mako-green eyes were directed to the far wall of the arena that cracked and spit fragments and dust. Soon a good chunk of the wall was sent hurling across the room, smashing into innocents only to crack somewhere off in the back. The behemoth that stepped through the hole in the wall had the ex-SOLDIER immediately reaching for his buster sword.
As the beast started bellowing orders, the flood of clumsy creatures that charged into the arena hadn’t been expected. They terrorized several spectators, slapping them across the room with their clubs. The green goblins were swarming the arena like a small army. Cloud only hoped that Naija and Lux had decided to postpone their fight for another time when the Smash Arena wasn’t getting terrorized. Grasping the hilt of his buster sword, the swordsman ran along the edge of the ring. When he reached a corner, he swung his buster sword upwards, the strength of the swing lifting him into the air. He then brought the blade down in a strong chomp that split several unfortunate Gnorcs who happened to be beneath the blade when he landed in half. Rising from his crouched position, Cloud proceeded to expertly swing his blade in vertical cuts, the breeze of his swing startling a few spectators who were inches from getting cut—but Cloud wouldn’t have allowed for such a thing to happen.
“Get out of here!” Cloud shouted to the non-combatants as he leapt into the air, twisted, and brought his blade down on another Gnorc.
“Oh no! It’s Gnasty Gnorc and his goons!” Sparx exclaimed. He then scowled up at Moneybags. “You traitorous bear! You were working for Gnasty? How could you!”
Moneybags carelessly smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Money is money! Tooda-loo!”
As soon as the bear turned to run, Steve Fox cocked back his right arm, his muscles swelling as a swirl of visible energy appeared before his knuckles. He launched his fist forward like a cannon, his fist burying into the fat gut of the bear. Moneybags gasped as he folded in half over Steve’s fist before the force of the punch sent him flying over the heads of several Gnorcs who even comically stopped to follow the bear’s direction of travel with the turn of their heads.
CRASH!
Moneybags unfurled across one of the fighting stages, his limbs sprawled and mouth hanging open in an unconscious daze. Steve retracted his fist with a frown and blew on his knuckles as though blowing the smoke from the end of a pistol.
“I hate sleeze balls like’im. Gnasty Gnorc, eh? Nobody mucks up my arena,” the blonde boxer growled before he leapt off the prize platform to tackle a gang of Gnorcs.
You look like you’d have more fun flying free.
Sparx gazed at Steve and frowned in frustration. “Get me out of here!”
I got this, mate.
As the gunman smashed the lock on the cage, Sparx immediately darted into the air and sighed in relief once he was able to stretch his yellow body out. He had no time to relax for as soon as he turned around, he noticed the blue creature darting amongst all the Gnorcs.
“It’s an egg stealer!” he informed the group and seemed like he would make a handy expert on all the Spyro villains. “I don’t know what it’s doing here. There are no dragon eggs here. But they tend to take anything valuable. They are pretty fast, so don’t take them lightly. They’ve outrun me and Spyro plenty of times!”
As James’s void wall grenade went off, several green bodies flew into the air on a scream before plopping upon the floor, smashing tables and chairs. The blue egg stealer stopped when the round pierced the floor right in front of it. It stared at James with its white, ghostly-eyes and then from the darkness of its face, a large toothy grin appeared.
“Heheheheh!” it laughed malevolently before it darted off in a blue blur, using several Gnorcs as cover from the gunman’s fire as it arched in a wide curve to the right in an attempt to reach the prize table.
Gnasty Gnorc had an ugly frown on his already ugly face. He saw that his men were falling like flies against the gunmen. What sort of weapon was it? It looked like it was shooting peas. The void wall grenade had been a magic spell. Glancing around, he noticed that there were other characters disposing of his goons, a blonde warrior wielding an enormous sword, a block man with a wooden blade, a classy man with some serious fighting moves, the gunman, and a boxer who was pummeling one of his Gnorc’s faces like a speed bag.
Go, Sparx! Get out of here!
The dragonfly looked to Shantae with concern. The heroes seemed to be holding up well, but what if he needed to find them again? They had to help him save Spyro. Watching the egg stealer blur around the room made him nervous and so the dragonfly yelled to Shantae, “I’ll buzz off for now. Meet me again at The Save Point Inn!” The dragonfly quickly took off, darting his way out of the Arena.
Sparx has left the Arena.
Gnasty Gnorc noticed the half-genie involve herself and seeing that another person, a magician of some sort (Robin) also joined the fight made the giant Gnorc’s eyes turn red.
“DAMN IT! I’LL HANDLE THESE GOONS MYSELF!” he bellowed. Gnasty Gnorc started huffing and puffing and his body started to swell. “IT’S TIME TO GET NASTY!”
The Gnorc leader started to mutate. Black protrusions started to surface from beneath his skin. His lips vanished as jagged teeth appeared in their place and his tucks grew taller and thicker. The Gnorc’s grotesque transformation could only be the result of another enemy exposed to the M-virus. Crossing his muscular arms, the black protrusions flared and with a strong flex, they fired from his skin in all directions, moving like the speed of a gun. His surviving Gnorc minions caught in the attack and pierced by the protrusions would fall over with a scream before they would writhe and similarly mutate, rising again not as the weak and stupid creatures the group had dealt with a moment ago. Any hero caught in the path of the protrusions and who hadn’t taken the vaccine yet were at risk of being infected by the incurable virus (hint).
XP Initiated!
GM Note: From here on out, all players will be required to keep track of their word count. XP will be awarded every GM post. Be sure to check the XP hider to see how much XP your character earned. Remember to keep your CSes updated. I have seen players slack in keeping their XP up-to-date and they have lost XP points because of it. I didn't take the XP away from them, they just didn't keep track of the XP on their own. It is YOUR responsibility if you want your character to level.
P.O.
If a player is inactive for more than 3 days without letting the GMs know of any delays, then the player can be skipped over on the 4th day. If a player does not wish to post, then they can Mention the GM and let the GM know he or she "Passes" on his or her turn.
P.O.: Steve, James, Slayer, Robin, Shantae, Naija, Fox, and Cloud.
Steve eyed the Gnorcs as they ran around the room. He didn't want to move too far from Shantae, partially because he didn't know how strong she was and didn't want to leave her alone and partially because he didn't want to get surrounded with no escape. When any Gnorc got close enough, Steve swung a wooden sword at its midsection as hard as he could. When he saw Sparx floating above, he jumped back, listening to the dragonfly. He heard something about a thief who was really fast. He then got the immediate idea to began building a barrier around the prize table. He put his sword away in favor of cobblestone blocks and began building a basic hut around the table, sometimes asking anyone too close to step away. "The Save Point Inn. Got it." he replied with a nod to Sparx as the dragonfly flew off. He built fast and, upon running out of cobblestone, had to switch to basic wood. While building, he had seen their transformations but was far enough away that he didn't have to worry about getting infected, although he didn't even know what was going on.
"What is this?" he asked Shantae, continuing his build, despite having already pushed the thief away a handful of times. "What are they doing?" He pulled out a sword to swing at the thief again, nearly falling off the wall he built as he did. "Shantae!" he called to her. "Help!" He had the thief pinned but was obviously having trouble holding him.
James grew more and more frustrated as the blue robed bastard kept using various Gnorcs for cover from his shots. Even a VoidWall grenade hadn't been sufficient to put a stop to the creature. However, as Sparx flew away, calling out for them to meet him at the Save Point Inn, the big green ugly the Dragonfly had identified as Gnasty Gnorc grew annoyed with the ease with which the various heroes were stopping his minions and declared he'd handle it himself. At first, the Nightstalker was unconcerned, since the big nasty was just a giant version of his minions. And then he started to change and the Guardian blanched behind his helmet. Even as the transformation happened, he radioed the castle. {Guile, this is James Varrock in the Smash Arena. We have an M-Virus infected villain attacking us right now. Coordinates attached, send reinforcements.}
Instructing Charger to loop the message until they got a response, James had just pulled out his sniper rifle when the giant Gnorc sent out the virus carrying protrusions and he reacted, tackling the robed man with the book near him as one of the protrusions flew through the space he'd just occupied. Retrieving his rifle before sitting up, he looked to the man. "Either get the others out of here who haven't been vaccinated or get them where these M-Virus infected freaks can't reach them while they continue to help. This fight's just not safe for everyone anymore." As if to emphasize his point, one of the stronger minion Gnorcs attacks James while he's distracted. The blow is deflected by his shielding and he follows it up by slamming his knife into it's head before quickly pulling it free and slicing across his gut, dropping it. "Go!"
He stores his sniper once more and rolls away from another super Gnorc, as he was calling them, drawing the Loop and firing three shots into it. Each one met it's mark, but it only fell after a fourth was fired into it as well. Double Jumping out of the middle of a group that had attempted to surround him, he drops a Voidwall grenade into the middle of them and lets them burn as he lands on a slightly elevated position that allows him to observe. The gentleman, fish girl and Fox from their mission to Odin's Sphere were all putting up a hell of a fight, but it had become more difficult as the minions had grown stronger. He opened a channel to Fox like with that fat, ugly dude from the diner. {Fox, this is Varrock. There are heroes here with no vaccination. What do we do with 'em? They won't want to leave innocents with no protection.}
Slayer Level 3 Day 2 Location: In-house Smash Arena Word Count: 1034 Experience: |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| (27/30)
From the head honcho of the meatheaded mooks there issued a guttural shout of rage, forcing Slayer to remove his shoe from the unconscious form of a gnorc and look his way. The moment his body began to change, expanding outward in bursts of uncontrolled growth, the gentleman was reminded of the grotesque transformation of Odin in the place of twilight, Erion. Murky spikes split Gnasty Gnorc's skin, and his comedic face twisted into a fearsome, warlike visage of savagery. This creature, far from the laughably-proportioned goon who'd stood there seconds ago, was a brutish monstrosity with a killer's crocodilian eyes. Slayer watched, newly apprehensive, as the beast flexed. The torsion of his muscles launched the black spikes in all direction with explosive force, and like a flechette gun the shards of corruption lodged in the bodies of everyone in the vicinity.
”By Jove!” Having sidelined himself from the gnorc warchief thus far to focus on eliminating the small fry, Slayer happened to be far enough away that he had enough time to react to what he saw. Normally he would not have thought twice about blocking with his mantle or a puff of smoke from his pipe, but having blasted forth from a monster festering with the dreaded M-Virus, these black spines set off alarm bells in his head. Reaching down, the vampire scooped up the knocked-out gnorc he'd been dealing with prior and held him up as a living shield. Not a moment too soon, the impromptu defense was pierced by spikes. The two impacts shocked the mook into wakefulness, but his consciousness was short lived as he, too, began a violent and disturbing transformation. It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on, and Slayer nipped the new problem in the bud by unleashing a devastating left cross to obliterate the gnorc's spinal column before it could change.
As the hideous, twitching body slumped out of his grip to the floor, Slayer glanced around. The collective efforts of the heroes had vastly thinned out the gnorc horde, but it appeared that those remained had undergone similar changes to their master. Mutated by the M-Virus, they resembled undead more than miniature ogres, and Slayer suspected both their strength and durability had increased greatly. ”Repulsive curs. This is the virus in action, mm?” With a moment of peace before the transformed wretches converged upon him, the gentleman considered his options. There are enough heroes here to put this thing down, if Odin was any indication. Things are more complicated now, however. We must contain the virus, keep these things from leaving the arena, but there are civilians around as well. One of the vile little beasts lunged at him, claws extended, but Slayer blinked out of the way. An elbow to its back caused severe damage and sent the miscreant skidding along the ground; Slayer's musings proceeded without interruption. More troublesome is how this happened in the first place. Seeds of corruption in the hub of heroes...conspiracy, perhaps? If not, those in charge must be more scrupulous about who can enter. If the infection is running rampant, there has been an egregious oversight.
Another rabid gnorc assaulted him. He ducked back out of the way, employing his signature Dandy Step, and dismissed the mongrel with a Pile Bunker. Though more tenacious and dangerous in this state, the gnorcs were still idiotic and predictable, albeit in different ways. They could be disposed of as before, Slayer decided, so long as the heroes took care. It was a different story for the horde's repugnant master. No longer was he an inconvenience to scratch off the list once his cannon fodder was wiped out; now Gnasty Gnorc was no doubt a deadly foe, not just for his capacity to harm, but his newfound ability to infect. Any fight against him would also be a test to determine the limits of the heroes' vaccine. Avoiding a physical engagement until a safer way to kill him -like bringing down the ceiling on him- would be the better option, but Slayer's options were limited. In addition, he bet that Gnasty would come after the heroes rather than standing by while his 'army' got decimated. It was a precarious situation, but there wasn't much time to ponder it. Slayer needed to act.
He walked forward with purpose, headed straight for the virus-suffused boss of the gnorcs. The nearest minions charged him, their numbers preventing him from putting them down as easily as he had their precursors. Three leaped at him at once, and without flinching the gentleman teleported forward beneath them. With their would-be victim vanished, the three ripped into mere air and landed in a heap, allowing Slayer to pivot and punt them away with a wide roundhouse kick. While his back was turned, two more approached him from either side, and in response he hopped into the air. There he span, both legs extended in a revolving twirl kick, strong enough to knock both gnorcs back but not so powerful as to incapacitate them. Skipping forward, he executed a slide kick into the ankles of the nearest one, dropping it to the ground and into the perfect position for a definitive heel to the skull. By that time the other had returned, jumping onto the gentleman from behind. Its limbs ensnared him like the coils of a snake, but the instant before it could dig its fangs in, Slayer disappeared again. "Mediocre!" The question of where he went was answered a second later when both of the vampire's feet slammed into his attacker's back from above, smashing it into the floor to explode in a plume of pinkish fire.
With that, and a bit more walking, he stood somewhat closer to Gnasty Gnorc, though still well out off attacking range. "Let's see what you're made of, shall we?" Slayer then attacked the floor, striking it repeatedly until a large enough fissure had formed for him to reach down and pry a chunk of the ground out with his hands. The gentleman utilized his massive strength to tear the slab free, then a Pile Bunker to reduce it to a barrage of heavy, jagged stones hurling Gnasty's way.
Robin Level: 1 Day/Time: Day Two Location: Platform City - Smash Arena
Robin seemed to be doing ok. Thankfully, the enemeis didn't seem to be any different from Bridgands. It was the innocent bystandards that made it slightly more difficult but nothing Robin hasn't planned around before.
But he knew the rules changed when the big green leader decided to join the fray. But much to Robins shock and horror, it was when he transformed that he knew he made a grave tatical error.
For one, what happened was what Robin was warned about. But he made the assumption that checking this area within Platform City limits mean't that encountering that "Virus" were low at best so he didn't go to Tetris Castle to be vaccinated. He had wanted to compete here too just to see why other "Vets" of the smash tournament were here so he tried to cut time by not going to the castle.
Now, that decision was going to most likely cost him as not only did the green brute mutate, he began spreading the virus though spikes he instantly shot out of his body to it's remaning minions.
"DOWN!", Robin roared as he just hit the ground soon enough just before one of those spikes passed just above where he was standing.
As he got up, he knew he had to do something. Even more so with the innocent bystandards still here.
"Either get the others out of here who haven't been vaccinated or get them where these M-Virus infected freaks can't reach them while they continue to help. This fight's just not safe for everyone anymore. Go!"
Hearing this from one of the fighters, Robin yelled, "Everyone! Lead the bystandards to me! I'll escort them out! Those who aren't vaccinated, no heroic's! Just assist me with clearing the arena out!"
Robin then launched a thunder tome attack at a nearby Groc but as he figured, it's mutated form gave it more endurance. It got knocked down by the electrical attack but started getting back up.
Robin needed to get this done...and fast before he became one of them as well.
Gnasty Gnorc. Well, the name did seem to fit the monstrosity in front of her.
Shantae turned her attention back to Moneybags to see him try to flee the arena, only for him to meet Steve's fist and be sent flying. It was sort of satisfying to see him get what he deserved. The half-genie hero was also relieved to see that Sparx left the arena successfully, and kept in mind that she needed to go to the Save Point Inn to check on him later, once this skirmish was all over.
However, things seemed to take a turn for the worse when Gnasty Gnorc transformed into an uglier brute than any of the monsters or Barons she faced before. She called to Steve, who was busy building a hut around the table, "Steve! Take cover, now!" before he shot the missiles at the heroes. She practiced what she preached and knocked the prize table over, sending all of the prizes to the ground, and used it as additional cover. As of right now, she didn't exactly put a lot of faith in Steve's building skills.
She may not know what those protrusions did, but it didn't take a genius like her Uncle to figure out that you wouldn't want to be hit by them. After the attack seemed to be done, she peeked over the table and saw that the minions who were hit had mutated and turned into more of little monsters themselves. She was ready to leap above the table and start the fight, when she noticed that Steve was more occupied with the thief. With the way she saw it, there was no point in fighting the thief now. Sparx was gone and safe from said thief. They didn't really need the prizes that were offered, did they? She told him, "Don't worry about that now! We've got bigger fish to fry right now!"
She noticed that a gentlemanly figure had gone up to face Gnasty Gnorc himself. Was he going to be okay? She wanted to go up there and help him fight the giant, but she also noticed another figure calling for everyone to help him lead the bystanders out of the arena. Of course the half genie hero wasn't going to ignore the innocent people here either. So she decided to follow that order and lead the bystanders to him. After that, she'll go and face Gnasty Gnorc as well.
She called to the man who called out the order "Got it!" She then spotted the closest bystanders, and hurried over to them. If any of the minions got in her way, she would have hit them with a hair whip in an attempt to knock them down and out of the way, or just simply jump over them. Once she reached the bystanders she told them, "Come on! You gotta get out of here! Follow me!" Then she would have led the bystanders to Robin, attacking any of the minions who came close in order to attack her or the bystanders.
level: 4 day/time: day 2 Location: Smash Arena word count: 607 metions: @Lugubrious Slayer
Naija’s mage duel with the young Demacian sorceress was brought to an abrupt halt when the wall exploded and a swarm of ugly looking brutes stormed in. Naija herself reacted too slowly to the sudden appearance of hostiles, having wanted to not turn her back to her opponent for fear of a cheap shot, and was promptly knocked to the floor by a small amount of flying masonry, leaving her stunned for the initial part of the fight. Her position of being face down on the arena floor did however mean that she was spared from the barrage of black spines, as they whizzed harmlessly above her head.
Najia regained consciousness and turned around, revealing a sight of unfolding chaos and carnage. The ruins of the wall had crushed people beneath it and hideous creatures, twisted like the valkyries had been, were doing battle with the heros. But what Ninja noticed most of all was the state of the prize table that seemed to be the focus of the small darting blue creature that James was having a hard time shooting down. She gasped as she realized/assumed what they were after.
”The Phoenix down!”
It might have been a little arrogant for her to assume that the thing she wanted most in the room was the same as what the attackers wanted, but she now at least knew what her priority was in this fight. She leaped from the floor of the arena and onto one of the ropes surrounding it, using that as a springboard to launch herself up and over the panicked people and monstrous mooks, soaring through the air towards the table.
As she rose she channeled energy and then, at the highest point of her arching leap, performed a somersault and then released the stored energy, causing a volley of 6 charged energy shots that soared towards Gnasty Gnorc, streaking over the heads of the Minions to bring their fury to bear upon the monstrous master. The 6 streaking shots joined Slayers stone barrage as it sailed towards the creature, she hoped the mix of blunt impacts and searing energy would overwhelm their foe's defenses.
As she began to fall she aimed towards one of said minions who was approaching the prize table, unleashing a barrage of smaller shots from her hands that punched and blasted the brute. Naija landed on top of it’s smoking body with a flying kick, softening her landing as a result. After shutting off the flow of energy to her hands and quelling the fires that had burned there she jumped off of the mutant back towards the table. She landed landed briefly in a handstand position before it, one hand over the small magical feather and the other over the keys to the mystery vehicle. Grasping these two items she made one final short jump, this time powered by her weaker arms, and landed in a crouched position behind the table where Shantae had been hiding.
”I got the things”
She announced to the others, taking a moment to slip the pointed end of the feather into the hole on the key that would normally affix it to a key ring, making a singular, throw-able package of the items in case they needed to play keep-away with them. The pair of items were then slipped between her cleavage for safe keeping, protected from harm by her black scale swimsuit.
With the items secured and her back to some cover she reignited her hands and began to indiscriminately fire homing projectiles up into the air over the table, the shots curving through the air as they left her burning hands, seeking out the nearest hostiles and raining down like a barrage of furious flaming fists onto the horde of grunts, indiscriminately bombarding them and making approaching the table an endurance battle against the torrent of energy projectiles.
A mere moment after making his last move and tagging Luigi in, the other side of the arena began to tremor with concussive force, drawing Fox’s attention away from the fight that hopefully found its way to a prompt halt. Violently bursting forth from the wall was a comically proportioned, oversized beast bellowing orders from the opening where solid concrete used to be as his minions--smaller, dumber, weaker, inferior versions of himself brandishing appropriately primitive weaponry--flooded into the already crowded underground establishment by the hundreds. They immediately went to work knocking down and trampling over every hapless civilian in their way at their master’s command. Such narrow, oblivious indiscretion wouldn’t stand, and if he came expecting he would get his way at the careless expense of the innocent, he was due to be sorely disappointed by a full house of heroes ready to prove him wrong.
Fox jumped back from the arena, holding onto the top rope as he dropped down and planted a foot to the side of its base. He pulled the rope just a little tight before releasing his leverage to launch himself into a high arc over the invading horde, coming almost within reach of the ceiling at the height of his trajectory. As he started to descend, so too did a hail of rapid laser fire upon the ranks of the unsuspecting ogrelings. He forcefully landed feet-first on the face of one of the unsuspecting minions, using them as an improvised sandboard on which to slide along the ground while he gunned down several score of its allies in every direction. He dismounted the gnorc with a fading corkscrew kick to send it bowling into more behind it, followed by three shots for good measure.
Fox hit the ground striking, transferring his momentum into a wheel kick that struck the nearest by gnorc across the head with force enough to lethally dispatch such an inadequate creature, and that wouldn’t stop there. The next gnorc behind him took three blindingly quick strikes to the torso and the muzzle of a sidearm to the chin along with a single laser shot through its head before being toppled by a missed club strike to the face. Fox ducked under the blow that was meant for him, swept the attacker’s legs out from under it, and carried it into the air with a flurry of kicks that ended with one to send it crashing into an encroaching assemblage of its comrades. Even by the standards of most trash mobs, the heroes’ opposition was unusually fragile and pathetic, as at least one or more of them went down with every shot and hit. Though, their numbers weren’t depleting as fast as the Fox would have liked. He was about to find himself surrounded, which, in this case, would have been more of a mild inconvenience than a threat, but he didn’t want to waste any more time on them than he had to.
Fox doubled back with a butterfly kick that drove one unfortunate gnorc’s head violently crashing to the pavement. He then led into two consecutive scissor kicks to break up the forming encirclement and proceeded with a double front kick to the chest of one gnorc to push himself up and over the head of another. He completed his inversion with a hard twist to send himself skyward, snapping the aforementioned gnorc’s neck in the process. This entered the pilot into a full nine-hundred degree spin as he let fly a relentless volley of omnidirectional blaster fire that penetrated head, torso, and appendage on virtually every invader within his vicinity, leveling them by the dozens before touching the ground again. There couldn’t have been more than a handful left standing amongst them after that, and thankfully so, because little did he know, Fox was about to have a greater sense of appreciation for his own good work in reducing his share of the enemy forces as quickly as he did.
Gnasty caught the mercenary’s attention when he started undergoing spontaneous mutation. Sickening black energy and the gross distortion of his already absurd features pointed to the worst: he was an m-virus host, and by the looks of it, he was intent on sharing that with everyone else. The sable spines that lined his form rattled with tension, clearly ready to burst out like shrapnel, so Fox dodged toward the closest of Gnasty’s minions, deflected its club swing, and pivoted around it to shield himself behind its fat frame. Luckily, he didn’t decide to use his reflector instead. Better that he didn’t rely on it when he didn’t need to at the risk of redirecting the infectious projectiles into stray evacuees and causing undue casualties. The remaining gnorcs, however, weren’t so lucky. What were once merely dull toad-like creatures inadvisably conscripted against the ranks of veteran heroes were now feral, demonic, ghoulish shells forcibly stripped of their sentience by the will of some malevolent parasite like the valkyries from before. At that point, ending them was a mercy to which Fox would willfully oblige. He kicked out the left knee on gnorc that took the hit for him shot it in the back of the skull before it could completely turn. Afterwards, he began delivering strikes and shots in unison to every infected gnorc that came his way, as they came. It was then that Varrock called to his attention the matter of what to do about the still susceptible heroes and the bystanders they were looking after.
“Then they can lead them out,” he answered after knocking down the last straggler in his way. “Right now their job is to get the civilians and themselves to safety.” As he continued giving his order, Fox looked to his right and put a red beam through the forehead of a downed m-gnorc as it tried stand back up. “Get up top and cover their exit. Make sure nothing leaves behind them,” he issued to the sniper, knowing he was the best equipped and suited among them to do exactly that. Those who remained would need his help.
He took off toward the rest of his team, leaping forward at an angle and using Fire to charge through a line of feral minions that stood between them and their master, and before the flames that surrounded him could completely dissipate, he spun in Gnasty’s direction and whipped out his sidearm to deliver three impact shots to his face. It certainly wouldn’t be enough to kill him, but perhaps it would at least stun, push back, or even topple the top-heavy gnorc leader. Either way, it should buy those that were staying a moment to regroup--and time to escape for those that weren’t. He didn’t expect that he would find Robin there among them, but he wasn’t exactly surprised. Naturally, without having to be told to, he was already on top of crowd control duty, rallying together the unvaccinated members of their company to clear out the civilian population along with themselves. Their host, however, opted to make himself an exception to this by joining in on the fight, which he probably started doing before the situation escalated.
“Go. We’ve got this,” he offered reassuringly to the British boxer, hoping he wouldn’t protest or take offense to the otherwise reasonable request. With that, he was left with Naija, Cloud, and Slayer at his side, with Varrock on lookout, so he could confidently trust that their gathered battle party would be more than enough to bring down the corrupted boss. Fox couldn’t help noticing something rather… peculiar about the beast’s transformation earlier; something obvious, really. It occurred to him that it was perhaps worth sharing with the council’s science and research division later, as the information may prove vital in the future. For now, they needed simply to focus on putting him down first. Fox took his position and stood ready for battle… for which Slayer would make the opening move.
Level: 1 Day/Time: Day Two, Noon Location: Smash Arena Tag: Everyone (Mention: Fox) Word Count: 503
Cloud halted his next swing when the loud blare of the Gnorc leader thundered throughout the arena. The nasty was having a tantrum, huffing and puffing like an overgrown child until the blonde warrior realized that there was much more to it. Gnasty Gnorc underwent a hideous mutation, transforming into an even greater threat. When the brute crossed his massive arms, Cloud saw his scaly protrusions flare outwards. The ex-SOLDIER’s eyes snapped over to Steve who had the throat of a Gnorc minion clenched in his right fist, while his left was cocked back but unmoving. The confused boxer was frowning at the larger Gnorc and didn’t seem to understand that he was in danger.
The blonde lunged toward Steve, his hand outstretched in his dive. The boxer was turning his head defensively, a single blue eye passing over his shoulder when he felt the swordsman’s hand clench about his shirt. Cloud’s bodyweight crashed into him, causing the two to tumble as Gnasty started firing off his black scabs. Cloud held his large buster sword before them. The scabs pinged off the colossal blade, unintentionally ricocheting away from the two fighters as they collapsed in a heap on the ground. The Gnorc Steve had had a hold of went squealing and rolling across the floor. The swordsman was prone across the boxer, shielding him with his body while his buster sword rested next to them like a slab of cover.
When the fire subsided, Cloud released Steve’s shirt and pressed his hand into the floor next to the boxer’s head. Both men were avoiding eye-contact for regardless if the stunt had been a necessary save, it didn’t spare the awkwardness. The grunting and wild snarling of a Gnorc who had a black spade-shaped scale implanted in its warty behind drew the attention of Cloud and Steve as they watched the creature roll and writhe on the ground. Gnorcs were flailing about on the ground, mutating into creatures that were no longer silly and harmless in appearance but vicious and nightmarish.
The ex-SOLDIER quickly rose to his feet, hefting his great sword. His blonde brows converged on his forehead over blue-green eyes that gleamed with DETERMINATION. He gazed at the twitching, snarling, and drooling uglies that were rising off the floor in a circle around him and Steve like weeds. Fox managed to burn through a row of them, while shooting at the biggest of the uglies. He told Steve to leave, and Cloud couldn’t agree more. It wasn’t because he didn’t think Steve could handle himself but that the boxer hadn’t been vaccinated like the rest of them. He expected the Brit to protest and so added, “If those scales had struck you, you would be looking just like them. I agree with Fox. Leave this to us. We’ll try not to make too much of a mess.”
Cloud raised his blade upon his shoulders and walked over to join the group of protagonists who were about to get nasty with Gnasty Gnorc.
Guile was seated in the Council Room, having been awakened from his sleep by the Mugen alert. He was wearing an army-green T-shirt that was looking like a smedium stretched over his bulk, black basketball shorts, and flip flops. He was rubbing at his eyes, gazing at a white glowing map of Platform City. There were oscillating waves on a graph above the city, measuring the threat level. It seemed to be growing by the second.
What are you clowns doing there? Guile mentally grumbled. It was 2 o’clock in the morning. It was odd seeing some goody-goody heroes get involved in underground fighting. Then again, he remembered how several of them were formerly addicted to the Smash.
…We have an M-Virus infected villain attacking us right now. Coordinates attached, send reinforcements.
Guile tapped a few touch buttons on the console table and downloaded the coordinates sent by Varrock. A red spot appeared on the map, showing the heroes literally underground. Perhaps in the subway system somewhere. No surprise there. Guile tapped the red spot, and the hologram zoomed in showing several red dots—like fleas—sprouting around the large one that he figured was the queen. A weighted scowl creased the lines heavily on Guile’s face. He pressed a button and responded to the Nightstalker, “Listen closely Varrock; and be sure to relay this to the rest of you yahoos keepin’ me up at night. You guys can’t let that thing escape. If it reaches the surface, it could infect the whole town. We don’t have a cure for it yet, so if the situation requires you to take a life that ain’t the enemies’s, but the person’s infected, then you must do what needs to be done to protect this city. Understand? If they’re innocent, but infected, yes, I am telling you to not spare anyone.”
“The reinforcements I’m gonna send are gonna be creatin’ a checkpoint at each of the possible exits. Nothin’ will go in and nothin’ will come out without a thorough check or neutralization. That’s all I’m givin’ you. So you champs better not fail me.”
Minecraft Steve was struggling with the Egg Stealer. The block man tried to pin the energetic creature down, but its blurring movements, even when squirming were enough to allow the thief to slip free of the block man’s clutches. In a streak of blue, the thief seemingly fled the main area…in the direction of where Shantae and Robin had taken the survivors. In the dark tunnel of the Subway, several of the survivors were complaining and fussing about how they didn’t get to claim the money from their bets and how they had wasted their money. The tunnels were nearly pitch-black without proper lighting. A few of the survivors were using lamp apps on their phones.
Hehehehe….
“What the fuck was that?”
“That sounded creepy…”
Hehehehe…
“Where is it coming from!?”
“Who’s fuckin’ around!? Stop that shit!”
The shrill giggle had then suddenly dropped into an ominous depth.
There was a pair of white gleaming eyes and a wide toothy smile, appearing like a Cheshire cat in the dark. One of the survivors screamed in terror as they were suddenly snatched up and stuffed into a black sack that had spiraling rows of triangular teeth descending into what appeared to be a bottomless bag.
“FUCK! RUN!” the stampede of screaming and panicking survivors spurred a wave of chaos and disarray. The crowd would trample the heroes if they were not careful.
Hahahaha!
Rock, energy, and gunfire sent the hulking Gnasty Gnorc flying backwards and making a second hole through the concrete wall. The brute was buried in a pile of rumble as he laid there seemingly defeated, but his barreled-chest trembled with laughter. Sitting upwards, the rubble tumbled away revealing the creature with hardly a scratch from such petty attacks.
“Is that all you got?” Gnasty chuckled. He rose from the rubble as rocks from the shattered flooring tumbled from his shoulders and clattered down his scales. He clicked his teeth, his eyes momentarily burning red. “Let’s see how much virus you can handle.”
Gnasty crossed his arms before his chest and his scales once again splayed before firing like machine-gun fire into the gathered group. The Gnorc didn’t relent this time. He fired scale after regenerating scale. His green, slimy blood starting to spill and drip from the sores expanding from his flesh from him excreting so much virus. The minion Gnorcs who were still alive received several inoculations. The scales protruded from their bodies like quills, and the viral overdose caused their bodies to grotesquely warp. Screaming in what sounded like pain and distress, the creatures swelled and their bones cracked. Limbs budded spontaneously from their bodies that fattened and oozed across the floor in a horrific, mutating blob; and if the heroes attempted to take cover, these crawling monstrosities would try to grab hold of them in their claws, tentacles, and teeth to assimilate them.
XP Initiated!
GM Note: From here on out, all players will be required to keep track of their word count. XP will be awarded every GM post. Be sure to check the XP hider to see how much XP your character earned. Remember to keep your CSes updated. I have seen players slack in keeping their XP up-to-date and they have lost XP points because of it. I didn't take the XP away from them, they just didn't keep track of the XP on their own. It is YOUR responsibility if you want your character to level.
P.O.
If a player is inactive for more than 3 days without letting the GMs know of any delays, then the player can be skipped over on the 4th day. If a player does not wish to post, then they can Mention the GM and let the GM know he or she "Passes" on his or her turn.
P.O.: Steve, James, Slayer, Robin, Shantae, Naija, Fox, and Cloud.
Boss: Gnasty Gnorc Health Status: Green Location: Main Arena Chamber Characters Directly Affected: Fox, James, Naija, Slayer, Cloud, and Steve
Boss: Egg Snatcher, to Body Snatcher Health Status: Green Location: Subway tunnel chasing survivors Characters Directly Affected: Shantae and Robin
Total Enemies: 6 Minions: 4 - Mutant Horror Goblins
{Copy that, Fox. Stay in one piece down there.} Looking for a better vantage point, James begins to climb the seats to get up higher. While the position wasn't as unreachable as he would have liked, he would still be able to check his surroundings often enough that he could defend himself, not to mention Charger always had his back. As he climbed, Guile got back to him with orders for the group as a whole. They were to perform as much containment as elimination, and, despite it not sitting too well with the Nightstalker, eliminate any infected bystanders due to lack of a cure. Opening a channel to all those with some form of communication on them, James relays the information. {Just got word back from Guile. We're to contain this as well as eliminate it. We're also to put down anyone who's infected, we don't have a cure for it and I guess he doesn't want to risk an escape. The only reinforcements we're getting are checkpoints at all the subway entrances, no one else is coming in.}
Sliding into a prone position at the top of the arena, James holstered the Imago Loop and pulled the Stillpiercer off his back, scoping up on the guy in the robe in time to pick off a Gnorc that was sneaking up on him, shifting targets to try and help finish off the Egg-stealer just in time for it to slip free of the block man's grip and take off into the tunnels after the survivors. Shit... He fired three more rounds into three different super Gnorcs, their heads becoming mush, before he replaced his sniper onto his back and stood, drawing the Imago Loop and leaping towards the subway tunnel the Egg-stealer had run down. Then the Gnasty Gnorc spoke up and James was forced to dive for cover as more spines flew through the air and while the Guardian was definitely vaccinated, he had no desire to test just how potent that vaccination was.
Now the Nightstalker was torn, because he didn't want to abandon the group fighting Gnasty Gnorc, but he also wasn't sure he wanted to leave the unvaccinated heroes to deal with the Egg-stealer on the off chance that it was also infected. Then he had an idea, even as he spotted what the surviving Gnorcs had become. "Oh dear, you're going to do it again, aren't you?" James smiled at his partner's foresight, since this wasn't the first time he'd been faced with a choice similar to this.
"Damn straight." Summoning a Voidwall Grenade, he tosses it at the four abominations that were previously Gnorcs, knowing that the Void flames would be little more than a time buyer. Holstering the hand cannon, he draws the Stillpiercer and looks around the corner of his cover as he scopes up. Taking a moment to aim, he finds his target, Gnasty Gnorcs left eye, and fires before quickly ducking back behind cover. Replacing his rifle on his back, he draws his hand cannon again and sprints for the tunnel, grabbing the block man and dragging him along as he darts from cover piece to cover piece. {Fox, I'm heading into the tunnels, where that blue robed freak went. I don't know if it's been infected or not, but we can't risk it. Holler if you need my help.}
Eventually reaching the tunnel, he gets inside just in time to witness the survivors panicking and running down the tunnel, threatening to run the purple haired girl and the robed guy down. "Alright, block man, you stay here, keep panicking people from going back into that arena. It's REAL dangerous for those without a vaccination to be in there, and I don't want to have to shoot an infected civilian." Spotting the grin and glowing eyes, James takes aim and fires three shots at where he thinks the body would be in relation before calling out to the other two. "You two! Keep moving the survivors away! I'll deal with the laughing jack ass here!"
Slayer Level 4 Day 2 Location: In-house Smash Arena Word Count: 561 Experience: |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| (0/40)
The sight of Gnasty Gnorc's putrescent, mutated form shouldering back into the arena through the second hole he'd made, harmed little if at all, bade Slayer to stroke his whiskers. ”Hardly worse for wear,” he spoke aloud. A sudden shot from Varrock's Stillpiercer, not too far away from him, sent his stylish hair astir, and the gentleman watched the bolt of effulgent purple speed toward Gnasty's head. After making his bold first move, however, the soldier opted to retreat at high speed. Of course, Slayer could not have failed to notice the smoky ghast in pursuit of the survivors, but it still rubbed him the wrong way that he would just up and run like that, leaving the hulking monstrosity for the others to deal with. No matter. With Fox and Naija present, as well as the greatsword-wielding young man who'd already proven himself a force to be reckoned with in the short time Slayer had known of him, the vampire felt sure they could overcome this challenge. Virulent and powerful though this beast was, it was no Odin. When the mutant slung another salvo of scales, far longer than the last, Slayer took great pains to teleport while diving to the side, moving him enough distance to separate himself from the group that Gnasty targeted.
”With no obvious weakspot,” he told them as he began to move forward, “It might behoove us to make our own. Let us concentrate our efforts on a single part of him -say, the side of his middle, where there are no scales- and seek its obliteration; anythin' less will not surpass his regeneration.” But who would bell the cat? Slayer supposed he'd try. In his path, however, were four malformed things overflowing with teeth and eyes they seemed too eager to share. Furthermore, they appeared to be ablaze. To Slayer the answer was obvious. To advance on any enemy present would be to stride headlong into the unknown once again, courageous but foolhardy. He would wait for them to extend themselves and strike back once he was sure of himself. Despite himself, the gentleman smiled. What an exciting experience, to test himself once again!
As if by magic, something clicked in his mind. Into his hazy collection spilled the memories of four attacks, forgotten until now and begging for use. The sudden recollection widened Slayer's grin further. ”This may get rough.” As one, the four Mutant Horror Goblins directed their sludgy masses toward the man who practically offered himself up. Still burning but seemingly undeterred, the two closest heaved themselves toward Slayer as he sauntered too close.
The vampire jumped, performing a somersault. ”Helter-skelter!” he cried, extending both legs down in a hefty double slam enveloped in its own purple flames. He struck down in the center of the four abominations, and beneath his feet the ground exploded. Spread thin but not destroyed, the wailing blobs flopped in all different directions, dispersing them and leaving the path to Gnasty Gnorc clear.
This time, he would wait for Gnasty to strike and react based upon it. If he attempted a ranged attack, a section of floor, torn loose, would serve as a shield. If the hideous giant tried to smite him with brute strength, a Dandy Step would spare him the blow and lead into a searing Crosswise Heel. That technique's first flip kick would send him up into the air, his heel making impact with Gnasty's jaw to stun him if everything went to plan, and his follow-up upside-down roundhouse kick should then make the first dent into the rotter's unarmored ribs.
Robin was doing his best to escort the innocents through the dark tunnels. Things had gotten chaotic back there.
While the hero's in the arena acknowledged his presence, most seemed to had decided to stay behind even with the threat of the virus back in the arena. Though one female seemed to had followed him. Shante was it? That was the name Robin remembered seeing on the scoreboard of sorts.
At any rate, things were going smoothly till a new threat made itself known...and even in the dark, Robin watched the creature laugh and snatch one or two victim up and placed them in what looked liked a demonic sack of all things.
"No!", Robin roared but was immedately forced aside from the rest of the paniked bystandards that were trying to run away.
Robin knew now though that he had lost all control of the situation as he simply kept himself pinned to the side of the tunnel while the civilians began running ahead. This wasn't exactly leading an army of trained soldiers. These were civilians that were not accustomed to combat and deadly situations. Even if Robin had tried to calm everyone down, that "being", whatever it was, had free reign on his victims. Worse, it seemed that he was using the darkness to his advantage.
Which gave Robin an idea.
Then, perhaps for the better, one of the other fighters showed up in the tunnel...from what he remembered on the score card, his name was James.
"Shante right? Name's Robin! Get the rest of the civilians out of here and top side! I'm going to help stop this thing here!", Robin called. Still holding his thunder tome and heal staff, Robin began focusing the healing energies into the heal staff to at least illuminate the area while doing the same with the thunder tome. If someone got hurt, he'd also be ready for that too.
"Your James right? I'll light up the area as much as possible and heal you. Just don't get reckless. He's aready "taken" victims in that bag of his!", Robin warned.
He then lauched a thunder attack at the monster to see how it's react to his attack.
Everything was dark. If it hadn't been for the sound of the bystanders' and one other warrior's footsteps, Shantae would have thought she was alone. Thankfully her eyes adjusted quickly to the darkness as they continued on, but she couldn't see very far. She wished she had a torch with her to light the way for the others. Her eyes widened when she heard the sound of the egg thief's laughter. What was the thief doing here? Why was it coming after them? Shantae thought it would be more interested in the treasures on the table. Shantae could tell that the laughter was enough to send the bystanders into a bit of a fright. Even the half genie hero herself felt nervous from the laughter. Sweat began to bead at her palms. But before she could even think of doing something about the thief, the laughter became malicious, and it appeared. It took one of the bystanders and stuffed them into a demonic sack with teeth! Shantae gasped at the moment, and she immediately moved away from the thing and out of the way of the stampeding crowd, almost pressing herself against the wall.
She looked to the thief...no, the monster and thought about her plan now. If she fought it, then it might give the bystanders time to run away. But...she only has her hair as a means of an attack. She could easily see it now: She uses her hair, it grabs her ponytail, and drags her into the demonic sack, before she could even say “Ret-2-Go!”. That plan was a definite no-go. If she died here, then she wouldn't be able to help anyone, let alone help Sparx and his dragon world. She knew that Uncle Mimic, Skye, and Bolo would want her to come back alive!
Before she could even consider her surroundings and possibly using any sort of boulder or rock to attack the thief, a man wearing strange armor she didn't recognize, appeared and tried to fire at the thief monster with his weapon. She heard his words and she nodded. She looked to the other warrior, who introduced himself as Robin, told her to get the bystanders away. She started "But--!" She then sighed and said "Alright. I'll come back and help as soon as everyone is out. Be careful, both of you!"
There was no point in arguing over it. Besides, the bystanders lives are more important right now. She followed behind the bystanders and made sure that none of them were getting lost. If anyone strayed from the crowd, she ran up to them and got them back to the crowd. She also made sure to keep a vigilant eye in front of the crowd and behind them in case the thief was pursuing them and in case there were any obstacles in front of the crowd. The last time she helped a friend out of the area, there were a lot of obstacles, and some required patience in order to get past them.
level: 4 day/time: day 2 Location: Smash Arena word count: 1,133
Naija peaked her head over the table she had been hiding behind and felt a rush of exhilaration and victory as she saw that the brute had been slammed through the wall by their combined assault, only for those feelings to be torn away when he emerged relatively unscathed.
”oh come on!”
Naija threw her hands up in the air, exasperated, only to notice the spines forming on the Gnock’s arms.
”eep!”
She just barely managed to duck her head back down behind her defensive cover in time in order to avoid the second barrage of spikes sent flying by the big brute around the room. Some of the a multitude of spines lodged themselves firmly in the prize table, making it look like a bed of nails. The majority of the spikes however crashed into his already mutated minions. Naija was initially bemused as to why this would help their foe, the goblins were already infected after all, but after the a few moments it became stomach wrenchingly clear. She gasped in horror and fear as the Gnorcs began to melt into disgusting blobs of oozing flesh, innumerable eyes, grasping tentacles and voracious mouths. They reminded her a little of the corrupt rot cores she had destroyed in the Mithalas cathedral, though these were more melty grabby gluttons rather than pulsating laser batteries.
On thing was for sure, she did not want to be sitting still with those lunging grasping globs about. They did not look like the type to be phased by regular blasting and so Naija made plans to become mobile again. First she dispelled energy from, her skin turning back to the soft blue-green from it’s previous gray, her eyes ceased to glow and within her the ever present smoldering fury dulled. It was a but brief respite however, but a momentary revisiting of Naija’s true self before battle was rejoined.
She leapt up over her barricade and with her natural form’s connection to the verse, sung the bind song in order to drag her improvised barricade along with her. Hopping onward towards her melee ranged allies she sung the 3 pitch perfect descending notes that shifted her back into energy form. As her hands and eyes flared back to their burning state, so to did the the accompanying destructive tendencies. The vile squirming abominations would make excellent targets for her smiting. All she needed was a strategy.
“Let us concentrate our efforts on a single part of him -say, the side of his middle, where there are no scales- and seek its obliteration; anythin' less will not surpass his regeneration.”
That would do for a strategy.
”Will do Slayer”
She followed his lead as he charged the blobs and watched in amazement as he drew them in, only to hit them all with an explosion that resulted from him delivering a flying double kick to the floor, blasting the loathsome lumpy leviathans away from himself and leaving an opening for the rest of them to strike their master directly. This was an opportunity Naija took as she leapt past where Slayer was holding his ground and tried to cycle round to their enemy's left, unarmed, side. Her plan was to harry that side, forcing him to turn to try and strike her, in doing leaving him unable to protect his other side with his arm as he turned it to face Slayer. If he instead tried to get slayer, then she could continue to blast his left side with impunity, hopefully doing some major damage in the process.
Doing this brought her closer to one of the goo goblins and so while she was charging her attack for Gnorc she deftly hoped and weaved out of the way of his minions grasping tendrils and snapping jaws, the prize table ramming into its pursuing extremities after she had dodged them, before she and the table, now guarding her rear with it’s spike covered rear, bounced onwards to the wall beyond. There she leaped up onto the wall, stuck to it for a moment as the table slammed into it below her, dislodging some of the spines. Then, just as the Mutant caught up with her, wall jumped up over the blob, hopefully causing it to slam into the wall as Naija rolled in mid air once more before unleashing her 6 charged energy shots. These sailed towards Gnock in 6 separate arch, making it hard to block them all as they homed in on the left side of his waist.
She landed deftly behind the pursuing mutant in the area of carnage left near the two holes blasted in the walls, the table hitting the ground hard once again, shedding the remainder of it’s perforating spines.
”Hay, you blobfish faced sea urchin.”
The beast extracted itself from the wall and sloshed it’s entire bulk at her, something she deftly leaped out of the way of, giving the beast a face full of table once more aswell of a brief flurry of smaller energy shots indiscriminately launched at every eye she could see on the slimy mass.
”For someone who said they were going to handle this themselves, you sure have been doing a lot of standing around gormlessly while we mess up your mooks.”
Teeth, tendrils and tongues all lashed out in unison at her and Naija launched herself back out of the way again, this time bombarding Gnock himself with a smattering of shots, into a slightly further away area of the stands where the seating was still intact, hampering the flesh slime’s advance as it’s attacks scattered furniture about. Naija herself landed graceful on one of the unmolested seats and began to charge another attack, the table slamming into the ones further back.
”Not feeling comfortable walking on those new freaky legs you got or has dosing up on the virus simply left you weak at the knees?”
The beast tried again to assail her and this time she hopped directly over it, dragging the table and a collection of chairs caught in front of it with her, the chairs pelting the the beast as she let loose another hextuple energy barrage upon it. Then she landed in between the battered blob and Gnock to complete her taunt.
”bet if you tried to take even a step you'd trip over yourself, ya lumbering manatee”
She blew a raspberry at him for good measure. She wasn’t taking this nearly as seriously as she should be, but the energy inside her was fuling her vicious enjoyment of getting to let loose and blast some monsters. It was the first time she had done this in years and while she was no doubt going to feel bad about it later, right now she felt almost giddy from the adrenaline high she was on.
The heroes hadn’t but a few seconds to spare between putting Gnasty through a wall and having to resume battle with him. It was around this time that Varrock relayed orders from HQ (for those who could hear him) to contain and neutralize any and all infected, even if that meant taking out civilians. The idea didn’t sit well with Fox. At no point in his life or career had there ever been a situation in which civilian casualties were acceptable or necessary, let alone would they be condoned or endorsed, and he had no intention of changing that now. If him and the others could help it, it wouldn’t come to that, but he knew that in the worst case they wouldn’t be able to stop the blockade from acting on orders. Fox didn’t respond, but instead retrained his focus on the rising Gnorc leader, whom he would have no qualms about dispatching for the sake of those he carelessly endangered.
Once more, Gnasty discharged yet another sustained, omnidirectional barrage of infectious scales that grew back in place as quickly as they could be propelled. Fox quick-dashed behind the unoccupied announcer’s table for use as cover, his after images taking the shape of unseen evasive maneuvers. The remaining minions, again, weren’t so quick or lucky to avoid the mutagenic volley. It seemed that not even the already infected were immune the virus’s effects, as it further corrupted and distorted their forms, reducing them to something shapeless and somehow even more horrific. Varrock joined the fray for just long enough to throw down a suppressive wall of purple flame onto the malformed creatures, but took off no sooner than he could drop in to assist the retreating heroes in the tunnels.
“Copy. We’ll hold them here,” replied Fox to the nightstalker, taking no issue with the action. Slayer suggested a simple, yet sensible plan of attack whilst advancing at a dignified pace. After drawing the enemy's collective attention, he vanished and reappeared over the smaller abominations and brought down fiery heals on what would otherwise be their heads. Adding the gentleman’s own shade of purple to the colored blaze laid down by Varrock would (hopefully) suffice in clearing the way to the Gnorc leader. Fox rushed headlong through the fires with the rest of his team at his side/back, eager to make good on their opening. Where Naija would circle to Gnasty’s left, unarmed side, Fox would take the right, firing 2-3 distracting impact shots at the boss’s face. He would then attempt to slide under the anticipated club strike while also trying to mount the end of the weapon in the same motion. If successful, he would resume fire with rapid shots until Gnasty attempted to throw him from the oversized cudgel, which Fox would follow through with rather than resisting. Ideally, this should send him flying towards the ring, which he would use to his advantage.
Fox dash into top rope just before coming into contact with it to force it farther back and create more tension. The improvised slingshot shot the vulpine back the way he came from with visibly more force--enough so to register visibly as a faint pressure wave. He twisted and rolled forward, placing his feet first in a drilling motion in the split second that it would take for him to reach his target: Gnasty’s exposed ribcage. With Naija at his left and Slayer in front to be preoccupied with, this left to chance the possibility that he would leave his right side momentarily unguarded, and while it may not be enough on its own to bring the hulking M-Gnorc down, it should at least help to weaken him on one side. A connected strike from Fox would bring his momentum to a sudden near-halt as he forcefully drove as far into the Gnorc’s side as he possibly could before springing off and boosting upward onto the overhead lighting to optimally reposition in preparation for imminent retaliation, whatever that might entail.
Level: 2 Day/Time: Day Two, Noon Location: Smash Arena Tag: Everyone Word Count: 760
Cloud used the only improvised shield he had, slamming his Buster Sword into the ground and kneeling to take cover behind it. He could hear the scales pinging off the other side of his blade. The Gnorcs began to make a sound that was unlike the sound they normally made, and Cloud turned his head, peering up passed the shoulders of his sword at the beasts the bubbled and billowed into amalgams of flesh and body parts. The moaning creatures started to stretch their elongating limbs toward the heroes until James was quick to react. As a pink tentacle appendage was reaching toward Cloud’s face, the ex-SOLDIER leaned back as far as he could without leaning passed the cover provided by his blade. The void wall grenade detonated, bathing the screeching creatures in purple flames. It caused the Mutant Horror to retract its tentacle with an agonized screech.
James further provided fire, utilizing his sniper rifle to nail Gnasty in his eye. The shot would inevitably stop the infectious scale barrage and Cloud wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. The swordsman swiftly stood to his feet, the floor beneath his boots erupting in oscillating magical power as he faced the monstrous Gnorc and cast Ice. The ice spell would briefly freeze Gnasty Gnorc long enough to allow his veteran teammates to get in some free hits.
The underground then shook, causing Cloud to stumble a little in surprise when the dapper gentleman, Slayer, scattered the Mutant Horrors in an explosive landing. Cloud’s large mako-green eyes regarded the man for a moment. Slayer was apparently more than what he appeared to be. He couldn’t have been human as much as his suit made him seem. With Naija and Fox jumping in to take down Gnasty Gnorc, Cloud figured he would do his part staying out of the veterans’ way and making sure pests like the Mutant Horrors didn’t distract the heroes from completing the mission.
Cloud grasped the hilt of his Buster Sword and pulled the blade from the concrete floor. He twirled it like a windmill before him and then crossed it over and under in an infinite symbol, warming up his arm. The ex-SOLDIER faced the Mutant Horror that had tried to assimilate him. The creature was still burning from the void energy, but new cells were still emerging from the ones that weren’t being incinerated, causing the horror to continue to bud new parts.
“You’re not gonna make this easy, huh?” Cloud muttered.
His other hand joined his grip on the hilt as he held his great sword in the direction of the mutant menace.
“I guess I’ll be the trash man. Someone’s gotta clean up this mess.”
Cloud lunged at the beast, sweeping his blade upwards in a vertical cut up its center. The creature was divided for a moment, but pink ropes of flesh started to latch onto the diverging pieces, drawing them back together like pulled thread. Cloud turned, his sword rising to 12 o’clock before its counterclockwise sweep toward the ground. He brought the blade down and around to slash the creature horizontally, causing the Mutant Horror to diverge in opposite directions before it once again started to heal. The beast grew frustrated, screaming angrily as it thrust its many tentacles at Cloud.
The ex-SOLDIER jumped backward away from the extending limbs, and swiftly dashed to the right, running a circle around the beast much similar to how Naija was circling her own enemy. The limbs were trying to follow, retracting into its body like the eyes of a snail before shooting out to try and grab the blonde swordsman. Cloud took one hand off his blade and clenched his fist as fire erupted beneath his feet. Bolt!
A lance of lightning fired down from the ceiling, materializing out of nowhere to impale the Mutant Horror, causing its gelatinous body to convulse. The lightning sped up its incineration, the creature was beginning to turn black. Bolt! Cloud cast the attack again. The mutant’s body was becoming stiff and burnt—unable to move. Cloud stopped running, no longer needing to. He faced the Mutant Horror and focused for a final time, using the rest of his mana.
“BOLT!”
The third strike turned the creature completely black as it froze in a crispy and smoking statue, the void energy extinguishing. A few beads of sweat had collected on Cloud’s face as his chest rose and fell with deep breaths. If I had to cast another lightning spell… Cloud mused. What a pain that would have been.
Things took a drastic turn for Gnasty as soon as the Nightstalker was able to shoot out his left eye. The orb popped with a spurt of green blood. The scale barrage immediately ceased as Gnasty dropped his club and roared in pain. He brought his hands to his face as he screamed his agony for the entire room and perhaps the evacuees in the tunnel to hear until in a flash of white, a frosty plume rolled off his form that was suddenly encased in ice. Three shots from Fox’s gun pelted against the ice encasing Gnasty’s face. His meaty hands were in the way, however. The six energy balls that slammed into Gnasty’s waist shattered the ice around him and caused the Gnorc to stagger about in a brain-freeze daze. The ogre grunted and saw only a blur of Fox that he wildly and clumsily swung his massive fists at. Fox’s slingshot drill of a retaliation cracked a few ribs and knocked the gargantuan beast back. As he collapsed toward the floor, a few more shots from Naija struck him as he shook the underground with his landing.
Gnasty Gnorc was sprawled on his back coughing up dark-green blood and growling in his pain. His ribs realigned and his left eye billowed back into existence, causing his eyelid to swell outwards. The Gnorc coughed up a few more spurts of blood that sprayed from between his tusks and drenched his chin. His red eyes then finally opened, staring furiously up at the ceiling as Naija mouthed her childish taunts. The heroes were stronger than what had been reported. They also were more organized than what the reports had stated they would be. His units were decimated. The mission was a failure, and if he stayed, he would only get killed.
In that moment, the Gnorc did what he knew how to do best. It was his ultimate technique and last resort method. Sitting upwards, the colossus rolled to the side, rose to his feet, and ran. The speed that the Gnorc ran defied any logic, law, and theory for a creature of his size. Desperately, the Gnasty charged back through the hole he had come from with his army and ran toward the subway tracks that would take him back to the surface.
The mission was a gnorcing failure. The boss is gonna kill me, Gnasty thought. Behind him, red lights started to flash, causing the ogre to slow in his run and glance back up the subway tunnel. He saw two railroad crossing signs suddenly behind him with their red and white guard posts lowered. “What the…” he muttered. Wasn’t the underground metro abandoned? There shouldn’t have been a train. A row of flames appeared along the rails and a distant howl of a train started to grow louder and louder. If Gnasty’s green face could grow pale, it would have as he heard a train but didn’t see it. The ghost train manifested at the last minute, the skeletal face of the Doom Train appearing as it cast its crimson lights on Gnasty Gnorc.
“NO!-”
The Gnorc hadn’t a chance to scream as the train from hell plowed through him, bursting his body into green chunks of meat. It was that time of year again, Halloween was coming to Platform City and along with it came the Doom Train to transport a few lucky warriors to fight one of the Halloween Lords!
The Body Snatcher was grinning away at the panicking civilians and the tantalizing fear they oozed that just made him giggle. The muzzle flash of James’s Imago Loop was able to briefly light up the tunnel to reveal the much larger and grizzly creature that stood hunched over in the tunnel, its black Grinch-like fingers clinging to a sack with vicious teeth. The creature recoiled from the light and the rounds that struck its face. A low and pained grunt was heard from the creature, but once the area was no longer illuminated, its dark giggle could be heard swirling in the darkness:
Hahahaha!
The creature seemed unharmed and a wet slurping noise could be heard as it reached its hand into its monster bag. The light Robin tried to provide to clear the darkness of the tunnel was no illumination spell, flashlight, or torch. It was bright enough to light his individual area, but when he lobbed a thunder spell at the creature, the tunnel lit up from the spell. The Body Snatcher attempted to hide behind its bag when the thunder spell fried the sack, causing it to squirm and screech as though it were alive. The Body Snatcher dropped the sack, its once grin seen more as a frown in the darkness. The creature fled from Robin and James in the direction of the fleeing civilians and Shantae.
While it was on the ground, the bag started to move and soon a hand outstretched from within it. One of the survivors that had been swallowed by the bag crawled out covered in a sticky film that resembled drool with black-colored wounds all over his body instead of red - the color blood normally was. The man was pale and weak, he continued to try and drag himself from the sack begging: “Please…he-help me…help me please.”
It was clear that the man was infected as what resembled black worms slid about beneath his skin. “I don’t wanna die…”
He coughed black mucus on the ground and trembled as the virus continued to crawl wildly beneath his flesh, causing his muscles to swell and shrink as though threatening to mutate him.
Meanwhile, as the first survivors started to climb the steps to the surface, a blockade of several Platform City Soldiers were surrounding the subway entrance. They were all Green Army Men. As soon as the first survivor emerged, smiling in relief upon seeing the army, the green soldiers took aim.
“I’m saved! Please, you got to help us! There’s a monster. There’s a mo-”
“Fire!” the green Army officer ordered.
The soldiers fired, the civilian shook as red blood burst from his T-shirt as human meat and scraps of clothing strewn the pavement. The survivor fell dead, frightening a group of other survivors who had been climbing the steps to turn tail and force their way back down into the subway.
“GET BACK! GET BACK!” the retreating survivors screamed.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING IDIOTS? THERE’S A MONSTER DOWN HERE!”
“THEY’RE SHOOTING US!”
“HEY! MOVE IT! WE NEED TO ESCAPE!”
The steps erupted in chaos with survivors trying to fight their way down and others trying to fight their way up. Innocents were being thrown down the stairs and trampled by survivors hastily trying to escape to the surface. The Body Snatcher had shrunk down to his more discreet form, the Egg Stealer and was trying to weave between the legs of the civilians in order to secretly escape.
XP Initiated!
GM Note: From here on out, all players will be required to keep track of their word count. XP will be awarded every GM post. Be sure to check the XP hider to see how much XP your character earned. Remember to keep your CSes updated. I have seen players slack in keeping their XP up-to-date and they have lost XP points because of it. I didn't take the XP away from them, they just didn't keep track of the XP on their own. It is YOUR responsibility if you want your character to level.
P.O.
If a player is inactive for more than 3 days without letting the GMs know of any delays, then the player can be skipped over on the 4th day. If a player does not wish to post, then they can Mention the GM and let the GM know he or she "Passes" on his or her turn.
P.O.: Steve, James, Slayer, Robin, Shantae, Naija, Fox, and Cloud.
Boss: Gnasty Gnorc Health Status:DEAD Location: Main Arena Chamber Characters Directly Affected: Fox, Naija, Slayer, Cloud, and Steve
Boss:Body Snatcher to Egg Snatcher Health Status: Amber Location: Subway tunnel chasing survivors Characters Directly Affected: Shantae, Robin, and James
Total Enemies: 4 Minions: 3 - Mutant Horror Goblins
Steve Word Count: 0 Assist: 5 XP Minions: 0 Total: 5 XP (You haven't been recording your XP. You need to recap and record your XP.)
James Word Count: 2 XP Assist: 0 Boss: 10 XP Minions: 0 Total: 12 XP Level up!
Slayer Word Count: 2 XP Assist: 0 Boss: 10 XP Minions: 0 Total: 12 XP
Robin Word Count: 1 Assist: 5 XP Boss: Pending Minions: 0 Total: 6 XP (You haven't been recording your XP. You may need to recap and record it.)
Shantae Word Count: 2 Assist: 5 XP Boss: Pending Minions: 0 Total: 7 XP
Naija Word Count: 3 XP Assist: 0 Boss: 10 XP Minions: 0 Total: 13 XP
Fox Word Count: 2 XP Assist: 0 Boss: 10 XP Minions: 0 Total: 12 XP
Cloud Word Count: 2 Assist: 5 XP Boss: 0 Minions: 2 XP Total: 9 XP
Steve stood after wrestling the thief. He drew his sword again as he began chasing it. Then it became corrupted or infected or whatever. He looked around quickly and grabbed a string before pulling wood from his inventory to make sticks and a crafting table. He soon held a bow. "Arrows." he began muttering to himself. "I need arrows." He quickly grabbed a few sharp things that could work as arrow heads before proceeding to attach them to sticks. He wouldn't get much range with them without feathers, though. He grabbed whatever he could attach to the arrows as feathers, ending up with only 5 total. "If only I could enchant infinity on this bow." he grumbled, running after the body snatcher. He heard a voice yelling towards him. "On it!" he called back with a sigh. With a frown, he began laying a 6 foot wall, preventing anyone from escaping back into the arena. He looked back and saw the other heroes seemed to have a handle on the Body Snatcher and took notice its bag wasn't in its hands. He forced himself through the crowd until he found the bag and what appeared to be a half mutated or half digested, or maybe a little of both, person crawling out. "Hey!" he called, trying to get the others' attention. "We got a problem here!" he quickly made a fence and a gate, allowing protection and safety for the uninfected. He ran further up, investigating the commotion further. He gasped at the scene with the soldiers. "Stop!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, jumping in front of the innocents. "These are innocent victims trying to escape!" as soon as the weapons were pointed at him, he dove and slammed a wood block down to hide behind.
