[center][h3]Return of None[/h3] Lvl 14 Ms Fortune (123/140), Midna, Edelgard, Lvl 4 [color=1f66b2]Captain Falcon[/color] [b]Word Count:[/b] 3606 (+4) [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdBxJ3jqqik[/youtube][/center] At this point in his “smashing” career, Captain Falcon had long since learned how to just shrug and roll with the punches. Going from some decaying church to a pristine-looking hotel? Eh, he’d seen weirder, especially while traversing the Great Maze in times past. His previous partner no longer in the room with him despite them using the same vein exit? Odd, but at least the Captain wasn’t alone in this new room. Floating monster with eyes around its body? At least it wasn’t oozing with blood and pus like his previous opponents were. [color=Aquamarine]”Knew we couldn’t trust that guy!”[/color] Minda declared, revealing her presence as she stepped out of Emily’s shadow, having tagged along and then waited to choose her moment. That moment specifically was when her ride got left within close proximity of the giant shadow being thanks to Nadia’s impressive backflip away from the shadows, and so the Princess launched right into her defence before the monstrosity could strike. A large portal opened, out of which her darknut, scaled up to giant sized, lunged out of, driving its shield into the foe to try and drive it back, while the princess herself slammed her shadowhand forwards, open palmed, to try and add to the knockback. Despite the fact that her target floated, puppet-like, in the air, it did not so much fly back as yield ground, wheeling away to resume its ominous stance in the very center of the open area. Though powerful, neither strike left a visible mark on the meme’s body, their physical damage seemingly resisted. “Emily, stay back! We’ll handle this!” Nadia urged from the backlines, ignoring the soldier’s protest as she pulled her behind the bar. Edelgard, who had until a few moments ago been wiping herself dry with a towel, pulled up her shield to block the raking of golden claws. [color=crimson]”Bizarre sort of beast…We shall fell it nonetheless.”[/color] Hefting Aymr, she charged to attack, though when her axe struck, the beast did not recoil or react in the way she expected. It seemed rather nonplussed by the blow, and retaliated with a lunging thrust of its feathered arm, shrouded in violet and extended like a bladed tonfa. It did not commit to an assault, however, and no sooner had it dealt its blow than it spiralled backward, momentarily evanescing into a vortex before it rematerialized in its chosen place. Having somersaulted off the bartop when Midna and her summon moved to drive the specter back, Nadia dashed forward and slid to a stop at Edelgard’s side. Her eyes were narrowed at Something Unto Death as she bounced back and forth in her typical stance, trying to size the thing up. Already she could tell that this was no savage aggressor like the guardian had been, but a calculating predator that could strike out or pull back as it deemed fit, biding its time. Though something of a predator herself, Nadia played by a different tune: that the early bird got the worm. “Shock and claw!” The feral burst forward as a bolt of yellow lightning, using Charge to close the distance. Rather than follow up with Battery like usual, though, she performed a short hop into a near-instant [url=https://i.imgur.com/3PWIfKn.png]cross slash[/url] to slice at the specter’s eye. When she connected she linked into Footloose, first with a lackadaisical [url=https://i.imgur.com/Tkz3eoX.png]double kick[/url] and then with a [url=https://i.imgur.com/RTr039g.png]flying knee[/url], but not even tacking on her [url=https://i.imgur.com/6Ci15oO.png]El Gato[/url] axe kick made the memory zone meme falter. Instead it recoiled slightly and emitted a painless pulse that pushed Nadia back, and as she slid backward upon landing it rose into the air. From there it rose into a circle, the eyes on its wing aglow, and launched a dozen violet flechettes into the team with [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/houkai-star-rail/images/7/7c/Memory_Zone_Meme_Something_Unto_Death_Sunken_Rain.gif/revision/latest?cb=20240701112616]Sunken Rain[/url]. Minda’s darknut was called out again, at its usual size, and its shield snapped open, projecting an energy barrier that absorbed many of the shots, but ultimately shattered under the barrage, letting a few slip through. The Princess herself stayed safe behind the undead knight itself, charging a blade with lighting in preparation to attack. Having watched the opening moves of his current teammates, the bounty hunter took note of the creature’s ability to shrug off their strikes. Unfortunately, he lacked any other viable weapon outside of just throwing his own punches and kicks. But maybe the fourth time was the charm? The Captain dead-sprinted from his standing location toward the monster in question and used his strong legs to launch himself into a high leap. [color=1f66b2]”Falcon Kick!”[/color] He announced as his body launched back downward with a flying kick engulfed in flames. He also tried to follow that with a [color=1f66b2]”Ryuugeki Ken!”[/color] Cap attempted to blast the creature with a close range burst of fiery chi from his palms before his hang-time in the air ran out. Unlike palm and claw, his flames had a noticeable effect, evidenced by the fiery cracks that briefly flared along Something Unto Death’s body, and the ethereal hiss it gave. Nevertheless, Falcon found himself shunted backward the next moment. Behind him, Midna stepped onto the flat of her darknut’s sword and was then promptly catapulted forwards by the undead inorder to follow up the captain’s strike. Her nightsky ripper flashed as she flew past the floating creature’s head, calling a bolt of lightning down on-top of it, before she used her shadow hand to grab its tail, using it to channel her momentum into a swing that flipped her up behind and over it. With two hands she drove the blade into its back in a diving plunge, sparking more lighting, before delivering a quick pair of slashes with her serrated knife and royal war fan. Rather than keep trying to stay up there, she attempted to run along its neck, dragging the tip of her scimitar along it as she did, trailing electric crackles. Instead the meme disappeared beneath her feet, flickering out of existence just long enough to menace her from above. Before it could strike back, however, Midna reeled herself to her beast legion that she’d left back where she’d started this attack run. Edelgard blocked as the dark flechettes came in, and though Midna’s Darknut blocked most of them, one that broke through hit the Flame Emperor, its magical nature bypassing much of the protection her armor gave her, though not all. Grunting, she retaliated with a Fire spell, the ball of flames quickly launching towards the floating monster. Nadia sped after the fireball on all fours, following the trail it blazed. Though not always the sharpest tool in the head, the feral had good instincts, and based on what she saw when the Captain took action she had a good feeling about Edelgard’s fireball. Sure enough, it burst against Something Unto Death with more power than one might expect, and fiery fractures spread from the impact point. Unfortunately, the Fiber Upper that Nadia then launched into the same spot had no such effect. Of course, the catgirl snapped up to her hyper-extended feet anyway. While her last fight’s peaceful resolution left her without any flames of her own, she could still help in her own way. Using Fluffy Soft, Nadia transformed her right arm and slashed at the specter with the claws of a white tiger, which cut its defense by 5%, then [url=https://i.imgur.com/39cCzb6.png]spiked[/url] her head down just before the pulse pushed her back. As Nadia slid back into position, Something Unto Death attacked with a faint wail. It lunged forward with Funeral Kiss, easily piercing clean through the feral’s belly and out through her back. When it wrenched the blade out, the wound turned out to be quite narrow, but it was enough to make Nadia’s body falter, and her ears flapped wildly as she yowled. Then the meme [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/houkai-star-rail/images/2/25/Memory_Zone_Meme_Something_Unto_Death_Fading_Radiance.gif/revision/latest?cb=20240701112538]brandished its blade[/url], its tail feathers floating free as they opened baleful purple eyes. [color=Aquamarine]”Not liking the looks of that”[/color] Midna commented, before promptly stepping into a shadow and flicking herself to the back of the room, out of whatever that gaze was. There she ditched the serrated knife, one handed sword and fan, and then flow motion lept up while taunting that [color=Aquamarine]”but you won’t like this either”[/color] as she slashed her Sharpened Volcano Fragment out of the twilight realm and nicked its tail with it, setting the foe ablaze. Then she landed beneath it and experimentally fanned the flames as she retreated, experimenting to see if she could get a reaction similar to the one flames had, based on a very minor one her single shash had previously caused. Green cracks followed the orange ones, but that wasn’t all that she achieved. One set of eyes shone red, their pupils crossed-through circles. The sun sinks, in dying light. As Nadia composed herself, she could see that Something Unto Death was up to something, and while she couldn’t tell what, she figured it needed to be stopped. Her body couldn’t charge it all that well right now, but she could do more than rush enemies down. Still on her knee, she reached into a pouch, pulled out the Bait Launcher, and fired it at her foe. A tiger appeared that swatted the meme with heavy claws, but it held firm. Then two sets of eyes shone red. The sun sinks, dusk arrives. As Nadia's tiger attacked, Edelgard unleashed a Nosferatu spell, the light magic exploding against Something Unto Death and returning half of the damage dealt to Edelgard as healing. Her magic, and the attacks from Midna and Captain Falcon, seemed to have great effect against the monster. While fire was the immediate assumption, she wondered if other magic would work equally well. Midna, for her part, decided her best move was to get out of the way of the incoming firepower, the princess leaping and then power sliding to the side so that she would not get caught in any kind of crossfire. Edelgard’s light magic burst against the meme, but through the smoke the last pair of eyes shone red; Losing Eventide Light had been triggered. All six eyes gleamed with unadulterated, paralyzing menace, instantly freezing the Seekers in fear, and a veil of darkness spread over the battlefield. Something Unto Death slid backward into the gloom, its eyes the last to fade, before a crimson spotlight shone down on Edelgard. The shadow of death loomed over her, its bladed arm a guillotine, then descended. The sun sinks, night falls. With a scream Edelgard’s soul was severed from her body, which slumped to the ground as a [url=https://i.imgur.com/o9sVVCn.png]Sombrous Sepulcher[/url] took form at the memory zone meme’s side, the woman’s ghostly visage projected from its lidless eye. Then, having returned to its original spot, Something Unto Death powered itself up with [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/houkai-star-rail/images/e/ec/Memory_Zone_Meme_Something_Unto_Death_Harrowing_Obituary.gif/revision/latest?cb=20240701112604]Biting Obituary[/url], ready for the three foes that remained. [color=Aquamarine]”Goddesses what did it-?”[/color] Midna started to ask as she spun around from where she’d been frozen in her getting clear of the incoming spell barrage, only to gasp [color=Aquamarine]”No”[/color] as she saw the slumped over Edelgard. [color=1f66b2]”What the-?””[/color] Falcon exclaimed when he found himself frozen and unable to move for an unsettling amount of time. He was just about to go on the attack again when he was forced to watch in abject horror as one of his teammates was seemingly cut down in a single attack. Even after he could move again, he found himself hesitating for a fraction of a moment. Were they fighting this thing on borrowed time? If that was the case then not a single one of them could afford to waste attacks or leave things to chance. They had to take this thing out and they had to do it [i]fast[/i]! [color=1f66b2]”Fire, huh?”[/color] Falcon muttered to himself while he observed the attacks and tactics of his teammates momentarily. He’d first noticed the cracks during his own initial strike, then noticed them crop again each time someone used a fire attack. A different color appeared for wind, from the looks of it, but Falcon had no wind-based moves. But he did plenty of the former. He had one Power Gauge stock in reserve from the last fight against the carcasses. And he could only think of one way to use it. [color=1f66b2]”Let’s turn up the heat!”[/color] Cap suddenly declared as he channeled chi down his arms and into his hands. [color=1f66b2]”You want fire? I’ve got plenty to spare! Haoh Shoukou Ken!”[/color] He planted his feet and thrust his palms forward, aiming them in the meme’s direction. Then a blazing ball of flame surged forth and shot toward Something Unto Death. But he wasn’t done there, [color=1f66b2]”Ryuugeki Sen!”[/color] Falcon shouted as he continued to throw chi-infused punches and kicks resulting in a volley of four flaming disks that accompanied the larger fireball. Even after the paralysis induced by the six-eyed sunset wore off, Nadia remained frozen in place, her body near where Edelgard fell and her head not so far from her foe. Her initial and instinctual panic at being inexplicably restrained had given way to horror as she watched her ally cut down before her eyes, but especially after that strange totem took shape, something else had consumed her: confusion. “It can’t be that easy,” she muttered, her tone almost angry. No matter how nightmarish Something Unto Death seemed, it couldn’t possibly be able to instantly kill someone–a feat that not even the Orphan or the Radiance could achieve. As something a conniving fiend herself, she became increasingly convinced that there had to be some sort of trick to this. From her head’s current position, she could see the Sombrous Sepulcher clearly, as well as the ghostly image of a sleeping Edelgard projected above its eye. Maybe the meme hadn’t so much killed her as trapped her. When she felt Falcon’s fire in close proximity, the heat helped galvanize Nadia into action. She willed her body to circle around the battlefield while the Captain let loose, then used Charge to zip straight through both Something Unto Death and the totem. Much to her excitement, she felt something give, so once it rematerialized she had her body wheel around to nail the sepulcher with Battery as well. Thanks to her attacks, two of the totem’s eye-feathers had broken, and only three remained. Unfortunately, the monster’s pulse pushed her and Falcon back the next moment, leaving her head and body far apart. “I think we can bring her back!” she called, flapping her ears. “Hit that grave thing! Shouldn’t take tomb-any more!” [color=Aquamarine]”On it!”[/color] Minda called out, in response to this, running in as the other two were blown back. With her shadow hand, she reached up, grabbed the totem, and then squeezed it with crushing force, before using that grip to haul herself up towards it, blades at the ready. [color=Aquamarine]”Let!”[/color] Both feet kicked into it, dragon claws digging into the surface for purchase [color=Aquamarine]”Her!”[/color] The Sharpened Volcano fragment hacked down, igniting the totem, yet Minda ignored the flickering flames licking at her and kept up her assault [color=Aquamarine]”GO!”[/color] She plunged her nightsky ripper into it, unloading its remaining charge [color=Aquamarine]”Lethergolethergolethergo!”[/color] she demanded in rapid fire, each one of the demands punctuated by her war fan slashing back and forth across the totem, each accompanying gust of wind growing stronger and stronger. Her assault came to an end when Something Unto Death whirled around in another Sunken Rain, and a volley of violet lances shot down. The giant barbs forced the Seekers to flee to safety or hunker down on defense, lest they get skewered; Nadia, unable to properly orient herself with her head so far away, opted to block and take chip damage. By that point, though, the damage to the Sombrous Sepulcher had already been done. After its feathers fell apart in rapid succession, the totem itself cracked apart, and Edelgard’s ghost made a break for it. Something Unto Death lunged at Midna before she could even open her mouth to cheer/taunt, a brutal Funeral Kiss her reward, but even as its blade bit deep Edelgard popped up only a few feet away, half-health but ready to exact her vengeance. Eyes blazing with fury, Edelgard immediately unleashed a Nosferatu, the holy attack sapping some lost vitality back. [color=crimson]”Thank you for freeing me from that prison.”[/color] She said to the others, before pausing to channel a Heal spell and bring herself much closer to full. [color=crimson]”That was…most unpleasant.”[/color] Her incantation turned out to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. Once Nosferatu made contact, the yellow cracks that spread across Something Unto Death suddenly burst open with a loud snapping sound. Shards of red, green, and yellow energy flew far and wide as some sort of invisible shell around the meme shattered, and the monster dropped out of the air to the ground. Nadia knew a vulnerable enemy when she saw one, and her face lit up with glee. “You got it! It’s Edel-guard-broken!” No doubt the others knew just as well as she did that it was time to throw caution in the wide and beat this thing down in an all-out offense. The feral started by pulling out her Free Lemonade to douse the specter with sweet acid, then jumped to deliver a Fluffy Soft [url=https://i.imgur.com/6v8mJKU.png]divekick[/url] and lower its defense. “Yellow…and goodbye!” At that point Nadia went for broke, every ounce of dramatic tension spent to split up and turn her body parts into meme-seeking missiles. “Gonna rocket inside out!” Her parts arced around for slash after slash, leaving trails of blood in the air, before all slamming together in a [url=https://i.imgur.com/3mRQPxz.png]visceral explosion[/url]. Realizing that Edelgard was not actually gone and could still be saved was quite a relief, albeit one Falcon didn’t outwardly show. It meant they weren’t nearly as screwed as he initially feared. But what was really a morale boost was seeing Something Unto Death drop to ground after the Flame Emperor’s retaliatory spell. And just like Nadia, Cap knew a vulnerable opponent when he saw one. The bounty hunter wasted no time as he sprinted toward the downed meme. He jumped up as he neared and came back down while he winded up his fist. [color=1f66b2]”FALCON… PUUUUUUNCH!”[/color] He practically screamed. It wasn’t often he was given an opening for a full powered Falcon Punch. And Cap had no intention of squandering this one. Edelgard, for her part, rushed forward and unleashed a Flickering Flower, Aymr flashing across the meme’s body over and over, culminating in a final, heavy overhead slash meant to stun the enemy even further. [color=crimson]”You will not get away with your insolence so easily.”[/color] She haughtily taunted. Midna meanwhile wasn’t in much of a state to rush on over, the princess hauling herself up onto her feet and leaning against the bar, having been launched into the back wall by the Funeral Kiss. Her Breastplate of Valor had prevented her from being impaled like Missfortune had, but the stomach she was clutching was still riddled with bruises, and her weapons were scattered all over the floor. Still, she was entirely capable of striking from there. [color=Aquamarine]”Rotten soul stealing Poe faced- urgh”[/color] she complained, even as she raised her shadow hand up above her head, charging and charging a [url=https://i.imgur.com/qe0IN6l.png]massive ball of dark magic[/url]. Once suitably large, she tosses it lightly, and then with a warning shout of [color=Aquamarine]”Get clear!”[/color] promptly spiking the twilight volley-bomb across the hall towards the fallen foe. It would phase right through anyone in the way till it collided with the floor, engulfing the foe and then detonated in an explosion that was the same size of the sphere. Though typically strong enough to be weakness broken several times in the first half of a fight, Something Unto Death wasn’t ready for the sheer amount of punishment these Seekers could put out. Their combined efforts chewed through its vitality, but if they thought that their all-out assault ought to be enough to put the meme down for good, they would wind up disappointed. As the motes of turquoise magic from Midna’s volley-bomb dissipated, Something Unto Death rose off the ground once more. It bundled itself up as its tailfeather-eyes began to move, each pair opening in turn, then opened up again with a [url=https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/houkai-star-rail/images/e/e9/Memory_Zone_Meme_Something_Unto_Death_Go_Into_That_Good_Night.gif/revision/latest?cb=20240701112553]flourish[/url]. Its shadow spread across the hollow, and red eyes gleamed in the darkness.