[center][hr][img]https://i.imgur.com/1Iu57Un.png[/img][img]https://i.imgur.com/L4GDi1Q.png[/img][hr][/center][center][hr][hider=D.O.A - Aimee Blackschleger][youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIDiNoRD69k[/youtube][/hider][hr][/center]

Lisa raised a fist.

[color=764820]”[i]Let’s burn this place to the [b]GROUND![/b][/i]”[/color] Lisa valiantly screamed. Then she turned her attention to the castle and whispered to Yoko, [color=764820]”.... Those Wayfinder thingies you lost are in there, [i]right?[/i]”[/color]

[color=fce420]”From my research,”[/color] Yoko paused to put the Dragon’s Wisdom back into her hip pouch, [color=fce420]”There’s an artifact storage deep in that castle.”[/color]

[color=764820]”Then why didn’t we spring our trap [i]there!?[/i]”[/color] Lisa whined.

[color=fce420]”The Disciple was already trying to break out so that ship has sailed,”[/color] Yoko shrugged. [color=fce420]”Besides, we’ll have less control if we break out up there.”[/color]

Suddenly, the staticy voice returned.

[i]…? ...?...?...?...Christ…?...?...?...Minutes to find…?...?... the Wayfinders.[/i] The voice sounded aggravated even though it popped in and out. [i]...?...?... Try not to die![/i]

[color=DC143C]"Well that doesn't sound good,"[/color] Saskia intoned. Minutes to find the Wayfinders? They couldn't teleport, so that was just impossible. Or perhaps that voice was saying something else. 

[color=e77fbf]"I've got everything!"[/color] Ella handed back Saskia's knife and Lisa's strangely sticky statue. She put the Ice Scepter back in its holster, then held up the magical orb towards Yoko. [color=e77fbf]"Any idea what this is and how to use it? We picked it up from these people who tried to kill us but couldn't figure it out!"[/color]

[color=DC143C]"... You couldn't have asked earlier?"[/color]

[color=e77fbf]"I forgot about it."[/color]

Yoko stared at it for a moment as the Yokai Killer glew brighter…

[color=fce420]”... I have no idea what that is,”[/color]

[i]...?...?...?... Sphere. Control…?...?... weather….?...?...?... Control rain. Summon…?...?...?...?...?...?... Emotions feed it. Anger and desperation amplify it…?...?...?...Unstable. Risk..?...?...?... Uncontrolled wielder loses the-...?...?...?... [b]CONTROL IT OR SUFFER.[/b][/i]

[color=764820]”Well, that’s handy! Thanks, weird voice!”[/color] Lisa said, waving into the air.

[color=e77fbf]”If it's anger it's useless to me!"[/color] Ella shrugged, putting it back in her massive backpack.

The Autoknights took position ahead, forming defensive lines wielding muskets, arrows, and hand-held cannons. 

[color=DC143C]"They've upgraded."[/color] Saskia narrowed their eyes at the hand held cannons. [color=DC143C]”Let's get rid of them."[/color]

Blood coated their body in a protective armour. They pursed their lips, letting off a few shots of sticky spit right towards the musket barrels. And missed. 

Ella brandished the Ice Scepter, aiming an icy blast at the cannons. Some were frozen, while other Autoknights took the ice blast for the cannon wielders. The Autoknights opened fire, unleashing s barrage of musket pellets, arrows, and cannonfire, too much for the four to handle.

Yoko took Ella’s side, and said, [color=fce420]”Pull out the Sphere,”[/color]

Ella pulled it back out without question, looking at Yoko, clearly waiting for an explanation.

[color=DC143C]"Hurry up,"[/color] Saskia hissed, flesh wings shoved out their back. They made them as large as possible, sacrificing sharp spikes for a brittle bone coating. They spread out - protecting the group from [i]some[/i] of the barrage, even as it hurt them.

[color=fce420]”Disciple…”[/color] Yoko sighed, [color=fce420]”... Picture your friends fornicating - [b][i]CONSENSUALLY[/i][/b] - with the Horse creatures.”[/color]

[color=e77fbf]"[i]Nooooo,[/i]"[/color] Ella wailed - though it seemed so was unable to [i]not[/i] picture it, her desperation immediately obvious. Rain started to pour down on their surroundings, and lightning crackled overhead. Thunder boomed. 

[color=DC143C]"Now hit them with it,"[/color] Saskia tried their best not to laugh- made easier by the arrows and musket pellets wedged in their bleeding wings. 

Ella grimaced, and a massive gust of wind suddenly battered the Autoknights, followed by lightning strikes at their location. The strikes ravaged their formations and threw aside their weapons and iron frames, utterly destroying them. Yoko grinned as she raised the Yokai Killer into the air, and valiantly shouted,

[color=fce420]”Forward, friends! Your second chance lies ahead- calling, waiting![/color] Yoko began as the Yokai Killer shined through the fog and rain, [color=fce420]”... [i]We will claim it [b]together![/b] As [b]Nakama![/b][/i]”[/color]

Yoko led the charge forward as the storm raged overhead, soaking the already grim Kingdom with torrents of rain. The Autoknights staggered underneath the onslaught of rain and thunder, making it easy for them to be felled by the Yokai Killer. Their heavy footsteps clattered in the streets as they struggled to regroup or visualize the group. However, they retreated towards the Castle.

A  guttural horn blasted from the direction of the retreating Autoknights. 

Yoko’s eyes darted towards the source of the sound, [color=fce420]”... That doesn’t sound good,”[/color] 

[color=764820]”Look for the white flag!”[/color] Lisa said, shaking rain from her hair, [color=764820]”Maybe we wrecked them too hard!”[/color]

[color=fce420]”I doubt it’s going to be that simple,”[/color] Yoko said.

The ground trembled. At first, it felt like the rumbling of the storm, but it grew more powerful and focused. Its silhouette was enormous through the fog and rain, several stories tall, emitting a cloud of boiling hot steam from its maw. Soon, it's [url=https://i.imgur.com/xkiwv54.jpeg]horrid body[/url] pierced through the veil of thunder and storms. It was intimidating with its rocky hide, mutated appearance, and the jagged, almost fungal, spiked growths along its back. It opened its maw, ripping cheek flesh and revealing teeth in places that were just impractical.

Then, it roared so loudly it broke the surrounding glass.

Lisa raised her hands as the ground shook for a moment; before stopping, she turned towards Ella and said, [color=764820]”... Put down the damn orb. I can’t summon spiders like this!”[/color]

[color=e77fbf]"I can just stop it!"[/color] Ella shouted, the rain ceasing - though not without one last lightning strike at the horrible creature. She still shoved the orb back in her bag. It was replaced by a fistful of brightly coloured bracelets she pulled over her wrists. The colour immediately started leeching from them, boosting her strength and magic. 

Lisa raised her hands, and a wave of spiders appeared like a carpet of chitin, surrounding the various surfaces. However, five glowing cocoons appeared, scattered across the battlefield in multiple places. Spider legs then splayed from her back...

Saskia grimaced, narrowing their eyes at the thing. But with the rain stopped they could use their blood… They pulled shattered, wounded wings back into their back, curling over at the excruciating pain that came with them being so damaged. But they’d done their job. 

As the broken bones from the wings snapped back into place inside them, Saskia raised their hand, shooting a blood bullet at the creature's eye -  a test shot. It knocks out its eye, but in a few moments, a sludge covers it, and it’s good as new as it kept marching. When it got close, it hunched forward and opened its maw, the skin around its mouth tearing, and there was that sickening crack of bones. It loudly gagged, coughing for a few moments before an utter [i]flood[/i] of black tar-like substance spewed forth from its jaws. When it hit the ground, it sizzled and eroded everything in its path as it utterly filled the street and came towards the four like a flood.

Lisa’s spider legs allowed her to climb an adjacent building quickly - however, most of her spider horde went down with it. Yoko lept into the air and landed on a tilted street light before leaping again on an adjacent building. Ella followed right behind Yoko’s path, glowing legs propelling her up. 

Saskia cursed, shoving themselves out of the way with a blood tendril. It hooked around a barely standing street light to pull them up, swinging onto the Lisa was on.

The static-y voice returned…

[i]...?...?...?... Stalling for...?...?...?... Creature….?...regenerate so much…?...?...?... Autoknights forming a defensive…?...?... castle…?... Eliminate it. Quickly.[/i]

[color=e77fbf]"Can we do Deathcrater?!"[/color] Ella shouted.

[color=DC143C]"On what floor- no! Just hit it!"[/color] Saskia grimaced, looking over at Lisa.  [color=DC143C]"Death Blow?"[/color]

[color=764820]”Yeah! Let’s ram it up his ass!’”[/color] Lisa pumped a fist into the air and summoned a large black spider.

Yoko grasped the Yokai Killer with both hands - one on the sheathe, and the other on the hilt -  leaning forward a bit. [color=fce420]”... I’ll draw it's attention.”[/color] Yoko began breathing in deeply for a few moments before she disappeared in a blur of motion. Moments later, she reappeared on the other side of the monster as a massive would on its abdomen. It rotted into a thick sludge as its intestines hit the ground, followed by a mixture of blood, stomach acid, and that corrosive sludge.

Its wounds began to regenerate as it quickly began to pivot towards Yoko.

Saskia began to forge a massive bone spear, concentrating fully on making it happen. It felt like she was pulling out her own spine - but what was a little pain? Exciting, if anything. When it was finished, she carefully loaded it into the spiders maw.

[color=764820]”... Yoko, take cover!”[/color] Lisa shouted, and Yoko disappeared in another blur of motion. Before the spear was launched at the monster and hit it in the side of the head before exploding into acidic fragments. It hit the ground, but for some reason it's dick unsheathed. It was pink and fleshy, long and girthy as a city bus with several growths with teeth and eyes on it. It oozed a little bit of green sludge from the tip as its thick, see-through, veins pulsed.

Ella started screaming. 

[color=fce420]”[i]It's dead, Disciple![/i]”[/color] Yoko cupped her hands together, [color=fce420]”...[b][i] WHY ARE YOU SCREAMING!?[/i][/b]”[/color]

[color=764820]”It just reminds her of her uncle!”[/color] Lisa shouted back.
[i]
…?...?...Stop, joking...?...that, Lis-...?...?[/i]

The voice said, before adding.

[i]…?...?... He was big but not [b]THAT[/b] big.[/i]

[color=e77fbf]"... How do you know that?"[/color] Ella whimpered.

[color=DC143C]"Oh my god, Ella, it hardly looks like a dick,"[/color] Saskia rolled their eyes, hand shooting out to cover Ella’s mouth to muffle the scream. [color=DC143C]"Come on, let’s go before they set up whatever defences the weird voice was talking about."[/color]

Ignoring the incredibly interesting, if somewhat grotesque, monster cock - as much as Saskia wanted to take a closer look - they started making their way towards the castle. Lisa followed behind them, clinging to the side of the building.

The acid bubbled against the rain for a few moments, as Yoko followed after them. Then she paused, looking at the creature for a moment. [color=fce420]”Wait!”[/color] Yoko shouted, [color=fce420]”... It's not dead!”[/color] Yoko reappeared by the group’s side in a motion blur.

The creature jerked itself back to life violently as the hole in the side of its head sealed. It climbed back to its feet, dick out, and roared, spraying the corrosive sludge into the air.

[color=DC143C]"Are you fucking with me,"[/color] Saskia swore. If that hadn't killed it… what would? They sighed, turning to the other three. [color=DC143C]"Well it was nice knowing you."[/color]

[color=e77fbf]"No way! We just… we just need to figure out what it's weak too. Maybe fire!"[/color] Ella said, before creating a massive, pink fireball in her hand. She lobbed it at the creature, and it streaked through the air before it slammed into the monster’s chest. Then, with a low, guttural snarl, it shrugged off the fire. The pink fire dissipated, leaving nothing but charred sludge rapidly regenerating into fresh flesh.

Lisa gave Ella the thumbs up.

[color=764820]”[i]... I think you hurt it’s feelings, Ella![/i]”[/color] Lisa said, as the ground shook with each step of the behemoth. Occasionally, it’s member would scrape against the ground.

[color=fce420]”We’re going to need a lot more fire than that,”[/color] Yoko pulled out some paper scraps, before turning to Saskia and Lisa. [color=fce420]”I’m going to boost Ella… keep the monster distracted.”[/color]

Lisa nodded.

[color=DC143C]"Sure, we'll give it a nice show,"[/color] Saskia chuckled lowly. They grimaced as they once again pushed wings out their back, still slightly ragged from the last encounter… but the muscular surface was there. Just a few broken bones… they could deal with that. [color=DC143C]"Let's get it's attention [I]away[/I] from here."[/color]

With a flap of their wings they launched themselves off the building, moving around the front of the monster towards the other side. They shot off a small blood bullet to get its attention, which might have well when a cotton ball. However, it turned around towards Saskia and sprayed a geyser of corrosive sludge.

Saskia coated themselves in blood armour and lightened their bones as they twisted themselves midair, wings pulling in to propel them out of the way. Some of the sludge hit their feet - it stung, but they ignored it.

[color=DC143C]"Keep spraying at me, you gross dicked bastard,"[/color] Saskia snorted as they kept moving. With her bones lightened she could move around incredibly quickly… and the weakness of them wouldn't be a problem if Yoko boosted Ella [I]quickly.[/I] The monster roared again, before it jumped through the air, trying to land on Saskia.

[color=DC143C]"Fuck me,"[/color] Saskia muttered as she spun to the side, half crashing into a building opposite her friends to avoid getting crushed by it.

[color=e77fbf]"[i][b]GET BURNED BY THE LIGHT OF FRIENDSHIP, CREATURE OF DARKNESS… DIE![/b][/i]"[/color]

Bombs of fire blasted into the monster. Massive fireball after fireball were thrown at it, before Ella switched to a continuous stream of super charged fire. It spread out wide and far, and with a final, deafening roar, the creature’s body collapsed, black sludge pouring from its orifices as the fire consumed it. Its regeneration faltered, then failed as the flames spread into its core.

Lisa ran over to Saskia and helped them to their feet while Yoko landed beside them, Yokai Killer in hand.

[color=fce420]”... They likely set up whatever defensive perimeter they had planned,”[/color] Yoko noted, [color=fce420]”It might just be just a little bit harder, but we are up to the task.”[/color]

Yoko sighed.

[color=fce420]”Let’s go.”[/color]

Yoko approached the castle, stepping over the leftover sludge that sizzled against the rain. As they marched towards the castle, there were zero Autoknights, and the residents of this city looked up at them in horror and astonishment. Yoko barely gave them more than an aside glance, while Lisa flipped them off every time they made eye contact. Eventually, they made it to the Castle, its gates dark and foreboding. However, a balcony hosted a [url=https://i.imgur.com/k3fqQCs.jpg]a morbidly obese figure wearing a crown[/url] that sat on a stone chair, with two Autoknights by her side, and held a [url=https://i.imgur.com/xBRzYHh.jpg]strange spear[/url] in her hands. Even though she wore the mask, they could just [i]feel[/i] her sneer.

“... So, you four are the ones that have been causing me so much trouble,” The King of the Pit's voice dripped with disdain, “You’ve destroyed my creations, ruined my defenses, and disgraced the sanctity of my city. Pathetic little insects, crawling into my domain thinking yourselves heroes. Do you think yourselves [i]righteous?[/i] Do you think tearing through my kingdom makes you savior? Oh no, you’re no better than I. Murderers. Destroyers. But unlike you, I have no delusions. My creations have a purpose. Yours? Nothing but chaos wrapped in self-righteous fury…” 

[color=fce420]”[i]... [b]Otten,[/b][/i]”[/color] Yoko spoke it less like their name and more like a command, as she quickly unsheathed the Yokai Killer.

Saskia rolled their eyes as this weirdo started going [i]on[/i] and [i]on[/i]. They raised a hand, blood forming in their palm before shooting right towards the King of the Pit’s neck. [color=DC143C]"You talk too much."[/color] It pierced right through, spraying blood as she screamed.
[h2]”... YOU BASTARDS WILL PAY FOR THAT!”[/h2]
The Autoknights by her side lifted her as the ground began to shake violently, knocking Lisa and Yoko off their feet. A nearby building, a mess of several different styles of architecture forming itself into some type of abomination of a square, collapsed into smoke and dust debris. A silhouette could vaguely be seen through the smoke.
Yoko’s jaw dropped.

[color=fce420]”... You can [i]not[/i] be serious,”[/color] Yoko groaned as she looked up at the towering figure that had to be the size of a skyscraper.

It took a step, and it shook the ground like an earthquake.

[color=764820]”Oooooooooh, boy,”[/color] Lisa awkwardly laughed. [color=764820]”... Where the fuck did they put that thing?!”[/color]

It took another step, and its [url=https://i.imgur.com/1x9o3b7.jpg]titanic figure[/url] came into view. They could feel the heat radiating off of it as it kept marching. The King of the Pit spoke one last time before she was carried off into the castle.

[h3]“... Your fate was sealed when you stepped foot here!”[/h3]