Thaum: Coliseum, cage 3

‘Well of course nobody would cheer for the Blobfish Avengers’, Lute thought in an uncharacteristic burst of disloyalty. He wasn’t oblivious to the blank stares the audience gave them, although at least they received a semblance of applause from a biased portion of the viewers, a.k.a Robin and some of her fellow Red Parasols. If cheering for somebody when everybody else didn’t isn’t called friendship, then he didn’t know what would be. His lips twitched up into a wry smile as the memory faded away and he was pulled back into the unseemly present, the return complete with his face almost being baptized in wolf spit.

Great way to complete half the day.

Lute and Aria were at first determined to sweep in and whack at some wolves all by themselves, but a quick glance around showed that the two of them separated was going to be more beneficial rather than the both of them working out tandem attacks; after all, the blobfish murderer and Syed didn’t look so great (Lute didn’t waste a second thinking about Moira’s prowess; he’d bet a sack of potatoes that she was swell).

The virtuoso didn’t have the chance to verbally express his opinion since their super fantastic duo charge was broken when a wolf decided to blindside his partner, although thank the gods that Moira swung that great big sword of hers around and saved Aria. In that instance, the two of them decided to split; he nodded while Aria winked (let it not be said that Lute was already immune to such winks; he still turned pink before flying towards the two cornered men).

Okay, quick analysis of the situation: the blobfish murderer looked confused as hell (and worse, he was holding his sword out like it was the flaming stick of salvation), Syed was (probably) quaking in his boots; they were both being harassed by a wolf who was inching closer and closer. From the corner of his eye Lute could see another beast make a beeline towards the two, having had identified them as easy pickings, and he switched his hold on the sword to reverse grip, with the back of his sword in front. This is exactly why he chose a short blade.

“The lunger’s closest, and you should dispose of it before it mauls that dude.”
“I know, Delilah.”
“Just saying. You tend to prioritize things in the wrong order.”

Lute rolled his eyes and swept his sword upwards in a powerful upward slash. The lunging wolf fell to the ground. “And stay down. Please,” He muttered before paying attention to the other wolf, which was now baring its teeth and advancing at him. He could see Syed inching towards a plain bat which was quite near the wolf earlier on. “Hey Delilah, tell me if something’s going at me from behind, okay?” Lute stage-whispered before trying to change his grip again, except he wasn’t really good at quick switching so he almost ended up slashing his own arm. Good news though; Syed had picked up his bad. Bad news? None.

Yet.

Lute’s eyes flickered towards the dark-skinned mage’s own, and it was almost as if they read each other’s thoughts (“Or maybe you were just hallucinating,” His familiar snorted). Just as Syed raised his bat up over his head to hit the wolf (on the butt?), Lucien let out a battle cry of some sort, swung his sword, let go of said sword (and boy did it fly), which eventually hit the wolf by the face. Lute almost pitied the animal when it whined and dropped down, although the pity was replaced by panic as he realized the sword was still spinning around. He watched as the sword hit the wall of the cage beside him before falling down on the ground, and then gave the man a thumbs up. “That was great! Where did you learn to swing like that?”

The pack’s number’s have considerably thinned down thanks to their team’s efforts, and only two wolves remained. The alpha and another one, and Lute was pretty sure Moira and Aria could deal with those on their own.

Still, where’s the timer? The screen was blank and people didn’t seem that excited.

Lute narrowed his eyes (this was suspicious) and then walked to both Syed and Lucien. “You two alright? Neither of you got bitten, right?” He asked as he handed back Lucien’s sword.

Thaum: Coliseum

"HEY!"

Aria whipped around to see a wolf lunge at her from behind. Before she could attempt to block the incoming blow the beast was knocked away by a heavy blow from Moira.

"Think we need to thin 'em out a bit before you get any grand ideas, love!"

She glanced at Lute and in the split second their eyes a sort of understanding was reached between the two and they split, but not before she took the chance to send a wink the virtuoso’s way before he flew off to the rescue of the two cornered men, ears tinted pink. Looks like the theatrics would hve to wait- for now, it was time for business.

With a short huff of laughter she turned in time to see Moira snag a wolf from the air and throw it across the cage. She paused momentarily, gaping at this feat of strength before darting forwards when a large grizzled wolf tackled the woman against the walls of the cage with a deafening rattle.

A sharp pain piercing his backside caused the wolf to snarl and snap around, sharp teeth glinting in the bright lights of the coliseum and momentarily ignoring the woman in front of him to focus instead on the steel knife embedded into his flesh. The beast let out another screech as a flash of metal pierced his foreleg before he could react, wobbling back as Aria landed next to Moira.

“You alright?” She gave the Berserker a quick scan, noting the lack of gaping wounds with a relieved nod before turning back at where the now injured wolf had now been joined with his friend that Moira had sent flying earlier, both snarling viciously with eyes glinting. “We can’t have you missing your date with mister muscle man because of a few mutts now, can we?” Aria drew another knife from her belt, noting with displeasure that there were only four left including the one in her hand.

From the corner of her eye she could see that Lute had managed to take down the wolf threatening poor Syed and Lucy. So the guys had managed to beat Moira and her to successfully taking down a wolf? Now that just wasn’t right.

“Do you want the big one or the smaller one?” She asked with a grin, readying to strike another time. “I think it’s about time we ended this, don’t you think?”

Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens (Group A)

They actually managed to capture it.

Xan had been expecting more resistance, but as soon as they got the net over it's head, the giant leech gave up, just like that. Estelle high-fived everyone while the others rejoiced. "Indeed, this is a good catch." She placed a hand on the prankster's head and ruffled the girl's hair. "Nice call, hero." Xan beamed, she was growing attached to the Pride. They were all good people.

“Wait, where’s Don?”

"He ran into the forest. I'm sure he'll be alri--" Before she could even finish her sentence a loud scream echoed throughout the garden. No doubt, it was Don. Dylan ran into the forest and Xan turned to look at the others. "Maybe we'll find bigger bugs?" The girl shrugged then followed after the matter artist. Another ridiculously large spider jumped off a branch, it hung in midair due to it's web and focused it's many eyes on the pride. Not long after another spider dangled in mid air just a few centimeters away from Dylan's face.

It had to be as big as a tiny cat. Xan recoiled a little bit, eyes focusing on the several twitching legs.

Meanwhile, Don's shouting awakened one of the largest bugs in the garden. It crawled out of a nearby cave and let out a grunt. It looked like a cross between a spider and a millipede and an alien...

Another scream echoed through the woods. "He went into the black zone..." Xan tapped Dylan on the shoulder then pointed towards a swampy looking area by a black flag. The girl dashed on ahead but stopped dead in her tracks.



"What on earth was that." It was the biggest bug they had seen so far. It was as big as bear. "Don...maybe you should step back quietly."

Someone stepped on a twig and before they knew it the giant creature launched itself at the nearest living creature...Don.

Meanwhile, Isaac rode on Kapi's back, enjoying the Capybara's company.



Thaum: Colosseum (Group B)

He wasn't planning to send his sword flying...it kind of slipped out of his hands.

Lute seemed to think he had done it on purpose though, so Lucien gave the guy a nervous grin and a thumbs up. "Syed!" He called out excitedly, "we're not dying today, nope!" He watched as the wolf whimpered and tucked tail...that had been completely accidental, but he'd take what he could get.

Lute walked towards them and handed him his sword. "Thanks, Lute, yeah?" Lucien gave the guy a ridiculously huge grin and a gaze fueled with respect. There were only two wolves left and Moira and Aria were handling them just fine. He let out a relieved sigh..."This isn't so bad."

The screen had been dead moments ago but this time it flared to life.

"Good afternoon Thaum! You've just witness the trail round! Nobody is dead yet," the host laughed. "All the teams except the Blobfish Avengers have dealt with their wolves. Soon the real competition will begin. Blobfish Avengers, give us a real fight to remember! You have two minutes until disqualification."

Lucien stared at both Lute and Syed. "Real competition?"



Meanwhile, Jeff had seated himself behind both Selan and Aria.

The giant gladiator cupped both hands around his mouth and screamed as he cheered for the Blobfish Avengers (mainly Moira). He tapped both Amy and Selan on the shoulder then gave them a toothy grin. "Those are your friends in there, yeah? Are you a group of travelling warriors? You guys look like an odd bunch, really diverse, and that woman with the sword, do you reckon I'm her type?" The gladiator let out a hearty laugh then waited for a response.

"To be honest most of you don't look like the type of people for Colosseums." He shook his head at the cornered men though cheered when the boy with white hair and the lanky blue haired man managed to each put down a wolf. They were in last place at the moment, but it was progress. Maybe the blobfish avengers had it in them? He clapped his hands and let out a thunderous roar.

Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens (Group A)

Trixie reveled in the success of her stupid plan, especially after Xandra ruffled her hair and dubbed her a hero. Any celebration was cut short however, as another scream resounded further down the path - a voice that could only belong to Don. With a sigh, Dylan suggested to split - they needed to keep an eye on their catch, but Don could not be trusted wandering out there alone in the creepy, buggy wildlife.

The prankster still held her tiny net against the molten leech monster all the while, her eyes mesmerized by its bubbling, goopy remainders. "Uhhh. I'll, uh. I'll stay here. To make sure no one takes our points, cuz that'd be cheating. And... uh... I dunno guys, I'm not good at pep talks."

Seeing that Xandra took off after Dylan as well, Trixie motioned for the remaining two girls to go after them, exaggerating her eyes and head movements. "It's coo' guys, I got this. Just, uh, just come back here when Superbro's safe and sound? Or, or, or call for me if you guys find anything bigger!" If either of the two girls offered to stay behind with her, Trixie would continue to roll around her head like a loony and beg them to go on - after all, they're just a bunch of bugs, how bad could they be? It's totally not like the leech monster tried to melt them with acid spit or anything.

Trixie watched as the others charged off out of sight, before returning her attention to the subdued leech. She puffed her cheeks and repositioned her feet for an even firmer stance. "Down, boy! Down. S, stay. Staaay. ... Staaaaaaay..."

---

Thaum: Colosseum (Group B)

Something sticky tapped her shoulder - Amy turned to see mister macho sitting right behind them. With a shudder the cleric pulled away from Jeff, her twitching hand threatening to slap the gladiator across his bitch face if he tried touching her one more time. If anything she was more startled the monster of a man wasn't down in the ring with them, but she didn't bother to ask about it.

"Guilders, not traveling warriors," Amy said sharply, listening as well to the announcer's voice in the background. Of course their team was falling behind all the others. Of course. She wasn't even going to bother thinking how they would fare in a 'real' competition if they flustered around like this already. Her chin rested back in her palm, though she diverted her eyes from the battlefield. After what happened in Weir months ago, she still wasn't quite comfortable yet watching them dismantle wolves again. "Most of us are magic users. With that banned, I'm not too surprised to see things turning out the way they are."

Thaum: Colosseum
Blood splashed. Two left.

The voiceover announced something about a time limit, and Moira shouted some variety of expletive after, swinging but ultimately unwilling to reach thanks to her partner. And while both Lucien and Lute were speaking, Syed found himself staring numbly at the blood on the floor.

Why?

Why was he even doing this?

He remembered way back when, comforting Lisette back at that cafe. Her distress after the events of Wier. And yet here they were. The other competitors had actually finished the job already, and this was apparently just the trial run.

"No," he finally responded to Lute.

He looked up to the crowds. They weren't just mocking and jeering a bad preformance. They were calling for blood. And in the middle of it all sat Amy and Selan, as eye-catching as ever even in a crowd like this, with that bulky guy Moira was flirting with behind them. While Selan was fortunate enough to have not been concious back then, Amy was there. She saw it all back then. Even at this distance, he could about make out that their expressions. They summed everything up perfectly.

He'd had it. The atmosphere, the crowds, the announcer, the other contestants. The remaining wolves as they snarled and growled. The blood on the floor. The fact that this was the first round, and after this there'll be even more. Which will probably kill him. No. This wasn't a case of not letting his friends down anymore. This was his morality. His life. And probably Lucien's as well.

"I'm done."

He threw his bat back to the floor and strode forward. It was time to take charge of the class.

With one fluid movement, he swiftly gestured with his hands and threw his right up towards the ceiling. Suddenly the cage was filled with masses of bright, electrical energy as he threw it right at the metal above them, electrifying the cage. The two wolves weren't touching the cage, and the pair of them flinched at the thing which belonged high in the skies as far as they were concerned being way too close.



Moira turned, her eyes wide with fury. "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" Moira screamed, although she kept her stance ready to react if the wolves did. "Magic ain't allowed, dumbass!" She nudged her head towards Aria so she wouldn't take her hands off her sword. "We got this!"

Syed clenched his fists at his sides, wearing that unfitting stern look he sometimes had if you pissed him off enough. She was pretty sure the last time she saw him looking like that was after they ate at the old lady's house back at Fenaru. "No. Isn't it obvious? I'm ending this. I quit."

Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens

Don’s pompadour skyrocketed into the air in alarm, as from out of nowhere an even bigger, more terrifyingly nightmarish creature appeared from in front of it. Acidic saliva dripped from its maw, hissing and dissolving the ground the with small wisps of steam arising from the fallen puddles as it took step after step out of its cave, its body never seemed to end.

“Ahh! Ahh!! Ahh!!!” The colour in Don’s face had departed, and he could do absolutely nothing but stare in horror as the bug began to climb and tower over him, its massive bulky form eclipsing the sun, washing shadow all over him. He was going to die. He was just… going to die. That thing looked so freaky, man!

It’s maw stretched open wide, and vicious roar rumbling up from within, its sharp jagged teeth exposed for all to see. One of its front legs rose into the air, preparing to skewer Don straight through his chest, and the man was powerless to move, to escape…!

“Save meeeeeee~!!” He screamed.

The foot swung down, and the claw at the end of it shot deftly through the air, right towards where Don once was. Emphasis on the once, because luckily for him he had been rescued in the nick of time, snatched off his feet by an unlikely saviour and sent in a rolling tumble to the side, surprising both him and the gargantuan Millipiderlen.

“Oof!” Pain racked the back of Don’s head, and he grunted as he bore the pain, gingerly opening his eyes to…

To scream yet again.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”

It was the giant spider that had been chasing him! The giant spider that scared the crap out of him before, now having tackled him and ready to eat him and… and… nuzzle its face against Don’s cheek? The bug was… the bug just wanted a cuddle?!

The Millipiderlen let loose another unholy roar, and the spider atop of Don jumped back off, landing on its eight lanky stick legs to skitter in front of Don, its eight blinking eyes focusing its sight on the bigger, stronger bug with fierce determination. And Don… Don could only watch in disbelief. It… it wanted to protect him…?



“Don!” From the rustling of bushes and leaves, out emerged Estelle and the rest of the Pride into the clearing, who all skidded to a halt at the sheer size and terror of the cave dwelling beast before them. He was so… so…!

“BIG!” Estelle yelled, twirling and brandishing her bug catching pole turned spear into her arms, excited that she could actually fight this time after Trixie managed to beat the leech without her help. A fierce grin stretched across the swordswoman’s face. “With this guy we’ll easily win the competition!!”

Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens

Lisette barreled out of the bushes behind Estelle and immediately wanted to retreat again. Not one giant bug, but two!

Upon seeing the giant spider, Kapi let out a small sniff -- a sniffle, if you will -- in remembrance of his fallen spider adversary back at the ruins.

"Uhh, are the bugs fighting each other?" Lisette asked, scratching the side of her jaw with her index finger. "Well, okay, let's hurry and catch this one then!" she called, brandishing her net. The end of the net glowed green with a faint magical aura. She decided to use Trixie's approach in subdueing the giant insect... that is, if she could get close enough. This bug was even scarier-looking than the last one!

---

Thaum: Coliseum

Selan bristled when Jeff tapped her shoulder, but turned around to face him nonetheless. She wasn't as averse to being touched as the cleric seated next to her was, but the feel of a sticky, sweaty palm on her shoulder was probably a universally unpleasant feeling.

Jeff was right, though; they weren't the coliseum types. None of them were, judging by the way it was set up and the opponents they had to face. It was a good thing Lisette had opted for bugs, because there was no doubt in her mind that the archer would be wailing at the thought of fighting wolves for sport.

"Yes, it's as she says, we're Guilders." Selan replied, backing up Amy's response. "As for being Moira's type... ah..."

She looked Jeff's torso up and down. Moira liked strong, confident men like Largo, didn't she? For some reason, Selan had a feeling that Moira would be attracted to someone with a lot of scars, also. Or perhaps Selan was simply thinking of things she herself liked...

"... Sure." Selan smiled, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. She turned to face the screen again, blowing out a puff of air between her lips. What else could she say?

As soon as she turned around again, her vision was nothing but a bright, electric blue.

"Ah...!" Selan exclaimed, shielding her eyes from the sudden bright light. "That was Syed... They'll be disqualified, won't they?"

Thaum: Bugtanical Garden (Group A)

Before the giant alien looking bug could get to Don he was tackled out of the way by a giant spider?

Xan's first instinct was to take a step forward and slide into an offensive stance, but instead of trying to eat the man the spider wanted to defend him from the giant bug. Estelle and Lisette wasted no time and suggested they go for the bug. It was the biggest one they had seen so far and if they managed to catch the thing, there was a big chance they would actually win.

"Hey Dylan," she stared at the tiny net then at the bear-sized bug. "Do you think you can draw up a bigger net?"

The giant insect launched itself at the spider, the insects duked it out for a bit before the smaller spider was tackled and sent flying. It crashed right into Dylan.

The giant millipede-spider-alien hybrid got on its hind legs and threw it's head back, mouth wide open. It turned towards Estelle and Lisette and let out a ferocious hiss. It sent a gooey green substance flying towards the guilders. Then it fell onto both legs.

"Look out!" Xan rushed towards them armed with a net.

The bug coiled itself as if it were a spring then launched itself at both guilders. It was much faster than the leech.





Thaum: Colosseum (Group B)

"No. Isn't it obvious? I'm ending this. I quit."

A bright light stunned both the wolves and the audience. There was silence followed by the announcer's voice.

"The Blobfish Avengers are disqualified for the use of magic. The games will resume after they exit the arena. There will be a momentary break, please hang on to your seats ladies and gentlemen." The other gladiators paused and some looked visibly annoyed.

"Oi!" One of the audience rose to his feet and threw his hands to the side. "What is this, we paid good tickets for this."

Jeff scratched his head and frowned at the man. "It'll just be a moment, friend. I suggest you sit down."

"Hell no! First we're given this joke of a performance and now they're halting the game. What the hell, if anything you better shut up." The man threw a punch and Jeff dodged. He struck an angry middle aged man in the face and the other guy through another punch.

Before anyone could do anything a full blown riot had started.

The gladiators on duty tried to calm the crowd but it would no longer work. Jeff turned to look at both guilders. "It might be a good idea to take your friends and leave now--" a punch caught him in the cheek and he staggered back, sandwiching an angry teen between him and a wall.

Lucien eyed the stunned wolves then the rampaging crowd. "T-This is pretty bad."

The guy who was operating the cage doors was being harassed by a bunch of angry viewers. They knocked him out with a punch then slammed down on a panel full of buttons. The cage's doors flew open letting out not only the contestants but the monsters as well.

Someone let out a screech. "Giant scorpion!" Sure enough the giant insect began barreling towards the audience.

Jeff cursed. "I'm going to take it out, see if you can get your friends and maybe some of the others to safety."

Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens

What was he looking at? There was a giant spider protecting his big bro from an even bigger, badder bug? What? Why? “Huh?”

"Hey Dylan," Xan said as she stared at the tiny net then at the bear-sized bug. "Do you think you can draw up a bigger net?"

“The net!” He yelped, spinning around and staring down the path they had come. He had been so concerned about Don that he had completely spaced out - they had caught the leech with his construct. Taking a deep breath, he quickly threw out his senses, searching for the net he had created. But no, he had gone too far out of range and the construct had faded away. “Trixie!” he called, hoping that the leech wouldn’t attack her, but he was suddenly knocked to the ground by a surprise weight.

Tumbling to the ground, Dylan came to a stop and was face to face with the spider. “Heh, heh, easy now,” he said to the creature in his calmest voice. The spider stared at him with is many eyes, before leaning down and rubbing it’s cheek against Dylan’s face. “Well, you’re affectionate.” Dylan let out a weak chuckle as the spider scuttled away, freeing the matter artist to sit up and sketch, drawing an even bigger net than before.

It was a strange construct for him. It’s simplicity made it easier - no moving parts to account for - but the sheer size of it put it at the uppermost of Dylan’s limitations. The net appeared at his feet, and he eyed the spider curiously. If he could get up there and drop the net from above...

“Mind giving me a lift?” he asked as he gathered up the net. The spider hesitated for just a moment, then let the artist climb on his back, net trailing behind. “Up we go!” The spider lurched forward, climbing up the trees around the millipiderien as Dylan clung on for dear life.

Thaum: Coliseum

The bars everywhere retracted and the teams looked at each other in panic, and the Blobfish Avengers were treated to more than a few accusing glares before the other warriors tried to rush out of the arena. Unfortunately, the exit was blocked by the angry mob, so going that way was obviously not an option for Lute and Co.

“Welp, looks like you guys got a standing ovation,” Delilah muttered wryly as she scanned the coliseum for other points of entry. Lute clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth before eyeing the wolves, both of whom seemed confused rather than bloodthirsty now. “Hey Dellie, can you imitate a wolf?” He asked; the familiar stirred at the oddity of his question but nodded nonetheless. “Just to warn you, I sound wolf, but I don’t speak wolf. Got it?”

“Wasn’t asking if you took canine language classes,” Lute murmured to himself before stalking towards the two animals, his sword now tucked away so that he would seem more friendly than menacing. As expected, the creatures bristled at his approach; the alpha even stood up and snarled at him. "Calm and gentle won’t do it with that pal,” Delilah sighed.

Before he had even opened his mouth, a loud threatening snarl burst from out of nowhere, the sound directed at the two wolves. Their ears flattened against their skull and their tails swished in the middle of their legs at the double timber. “Would it kill you to cooperate sometimes?” Lute snapped, crossing his arms over his chest as the creatures now folded themselves down on the floor in an act of obedience. “I wasn’t aiming to dominate them; I was pretty much trying to herd them back to the cage!” He wrung his hands in frustration. Delilah waved her hand and remained silent now, of all times.

Lute could feel his face turning red, this time in frustration.

Having lost his first option, he decided to walk backwards to the nearest corral, snapping his fingers and calling out to the wolves as if they were common household pets. After a few minutes (which felt like eternity), Lute had made two decisions to last for a lifetime; one, he was never going to the Coliseum again, and two, he was going to pay beast masters even greater respect from this day onwards. When the animals were inside he hacked at the gears, and the door swung down and trapped the wolves. A pair of beasties down.

A quick glance at the source of the uproar in the audience told him that yep, a pair of beasties down, a giant scorpion and company left.

“Okay. Okay, okay, okay. Hey guys!” Lute’s eyes were oh-so-wide when he returned to the group, his gaze running from Aria to the outraged Moira, before gesturing at the beasts running amok. “Let’s go put that thing down? Before it stings anyone to death? Miss Moira, are you alright? Aria? Blobfish dude? Syed?” After finishing his haphazard scan of his teammates, the virtuoso turned towards the wide walls covering the arena. “How do we get out of the stage, though?”

---

Robin was herding some of the audience out of the Coliseum, although she couldn’t manage the bigger warriors who insisted on fighting some of the creatures. “Oh well, fine! Your funeral!” She exclaimed, exasperated, before heading back to the central line of the stone seats, pushing her way through the throng of panicked spectators. What a great way to end a disqualification, yeah?

She reached Selan and Amy. “Jeff, you can’t take that thing down by yourself! I had Lil call Ruana. Don’t try anything drastic, hey? I am not stitching up your mangled hand again, you hear me, big boy?” After that particular bit of chastisement, she turned towards the cleric and the songstress. “Maybe we should get you two out? Do any of you know the healing arts because we’ve got a room full of wounded back there,” She jerked her thumb towards the back of the Coliseum where people were being wheeled in left and right.

The scorpion ambled over the seats, inching closer to the four of them.

“Or you could fight this thing with that fool Jeff. Just make a decision, please?” Robin turned away as another group of thugs rallied against/with (seriously, in this fray, she wasn’t sure which) Jeff and headed towards the temporary medic camp.

Thaum: Colloseum
They were disqualified. Chaos ensued.

"You just had to, didn't you?!" Moira bellowed over the mayhem. Ironically enough, their cage seemed to be one of the few places the mobs hadn't gotten to yet. No wonder the wolves didn't make a run for it. She strode back to him, grabbing his throat and pinning him against the cage walls. "NICE JOB BREAKING IT, ASSHOLE!"

Syed didn't respond. There was hardly much point when she was throttling him. So despite his hands grasping instinctively against hers to try and loosen her grip, he locked his eyes with hers. Eyes which were no longer their usual dark brown, but instead glowing a bright yellow.

Yep, electrifying himself the trick, she pretty much threw him back into the bars to release him. He wished the electricity didn't cause her grip to tighten for a split second though. He bent over double to cough.

They were interrupted by a loud snarl far too close to home, and the pair of them span on edge. Was that Lute? The wolves looked just as suprised by it as they were. And the bloke was talking to himself again. Moira was pretty certain at this point that the boy was completely insane. As he was busy hearding the wolves back inside, both Moira and Syed took the opportunity to change back into their proper armour and robes as quickly as they could. It'll be a hassle to carry them around.

"I'm fine," Moira snarled, her grip on her greatsword tightening. "I don't know, throw you up it or somethin'?"

"I'm still alive, if that's what you mean. But we need to move now." Syed finally spoke, his voice slightly raspy. He outstretched one arm to point... where a mob was heading straight towards the cage. They were the reason they had gotten so riled up after all. "Like, now. Where's Amy and Selan?!"

"Shit!"

They ran, making a quick turn as soon as they left their cage to try and get as much distance as they could. As much as their actions just confirmed to Syed that he was right to quit, it was best to avoid getting involved with them at all. There was that giant scorpion though, and Lute was right. It wouldn't be right to leave them alone with it. They were guilders after all. It felt pretty hypocritical to attack it straight away, but unlike the other creatures so far the thing was going for the crowds.

"Fuck it, can't we just get the thing back down here?" Moira growled once they got to one of the walls. She span to face the oncoming mob, to defend if nessessary. Damnit!

"I got it." Syed was looking up, his gestures a lot slower and more calculated than his usual. Electricity was buzzing around his body, but that wasn't the purpose of his spell...

They heard a thunk overhead, surrounded by the alarming sound of something clicking very fast. Moira barely had the time to look back before the feet of an extending ladder hit the floor with a bang. Well, she supposed it made sense for there to be ladders to get in and out of the arena if you needed to be quick about it. Looked like Syed had used his magic to release the metallic catch on one of them.

Alright, looked like they were going to it after all.

"Come on then!" Moira bellowed. The bound pair waited for the others to climb first before going up themselves.

Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens

"Look out!" Xan cried, running towards them

"Whoa, whoa, waah!!" Lisette screeched, dancing backwards to avoid the blobs of goo descending upon them. When she looked back, the giant millipede had compacted itself, then immediately launched itself forward.

"Estelle!" she cried, impulsively reaching out to tackle her friend out of harm's way.

She grabbed onto something and wrapped her arms around it, and was immediately whipped sideways, causing her to drop the net; Estelle had already dived out of the way in the opposite direction, meaning that Lisette was now clinging onto the very end of its thick tail.

This is scary this is scary this is scary--

"Lemme go!" Lisette cried, clenching her eyes shut. Her palms were pressed against its tough exoskeleton, and she channeled a small amount of magical energy into her hands.

The force was similar to a beesting, and the millipede reared its tail upwards as if in pain, flicking Lisette off like one would, well, a bug. She somehow managed to land on the heels of her boots, pinwheeling her arms and falling onto her rear end.

The millipede was close to Dylan and the spider's position, but just needed one more push...

---

Thaum: Coliseum

Pandemonium broke out, and Selan was at a loss as to what to do or where to go. Fists, swords, axes, and whatever was available was being flung and flailed about. Even Jeff was quickly swept up in it, and a well-placed punch staggered him backwards in mid-sentence.

To add to the confusion, it seemed as though the beasts being used for the battles were somehow released, and before Selan could even blink, a giant scorpion scuttled forward, whipping its tail dangerously in the air. The audience members caught in its path were taken by surprise, and those who were uninjured quickly refocused their energy and their anger toward the massive beast.

“Jeff, you can’t take that thing down by yourself!" Robin called, walking briskly towards them. "I had Lil call Ruana. Don’t try anything drastic, hey? I am not stitching up your mangled hand again, you hear me, big boy? Maybe we should get you two out? Do any of you know the healing arts because we’ve got a room full of wounded back there,” She jerked her thumb towards the back of the Coliseum where people were being wheeled in left and right.

"Amy, can you try and help those people?" Selan asked cautiously, knowing that Amy hadn't been required to tend to so many people at one time since they started travelling together. "And I'll see what I can do out here," she said to Robin, who raised an eyebrow. Pick any one person out of the coliseum and they would easily outweigh and overpower the delicate-looking songstress, and many of the largest spectators were having trouble keeping the beasts at bay.

Selan retreated back a few rows to keep away from the fighting. She took a deep breath and began singing an aria, intending to imbue the surrounding people with increased strength that would aid them in subdueing the loose monsters. Initially, it appeared to be an ideal situation, for her magic seemingly had no effect on non-humans. But the new problem was that the din created by the shouting, screaming, and growling by both man and beast alike as well as the clanging of swords against the scorpion's exoskeleton made it impossible for those furthest to hear her. As loud and clear as her voice was, it was simply lost in all of the chaos.

"It's no use, I'd have to be right next to the scorpion for anyone to hear me," she called over to Robin.

Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens

Estelle had dived to the side to avoid the wayward flying belch of bubbling green saliva in the nick of time, the ground being left with a sizeable steaming hole. As soon as she rolled out of her dive and back onto her feet, she immediately spun around with concern locked onto her eyes towards Lisette, hoping and praying she had managed to avoid the attack as well. And indeed she had, managing to somehow, impossibly enough latch onto the giant insect’s tail and be shaken back and forth like a ragdoll, until a precise magical strike from the nature archer’s fingertips caused the beast to howl out in pain.

Estelle grinned.

“Looks like this is my turn!” Swift footsteps dashed towards the towering bug, with a low crouch propelling enough power in the red haired swordwoman’s leg to jump as high as she could, her net reared back behind her head as tightly as she possibly could. As the Millipiderlen turned to glare at her after recovering its balance from Lisette’s attack, its maw opened wide and a vicious roar erupted from deep within. At the same time as it lunged forward to strike, its sharp mandibles aiming to crush and devour her, Estelle’s arm swung out, and the wooden net with it. Despite the staff’s fragility, the force of Estelle’s swing done the job it needed, and the Millipiderlen’s head was shot diagonally downwards from the sheer force of the blow, crashing into the ground. A gust of leaves was swept up into the air to gently waft back down to the ground.

“Go, Don! Xan!” Estelle cheered as she plummeted back to the ground, her eyes trained on both Don and Xan who were already in the process of running towards the large insect’s head. Both of their own nets swung from the center outwards, slamming the poor Millipiderlen’s head off the ground and backwards, to sail towards the ground directly underneath Dylan and the affectionate giant spider, and their awaiting net trap. Despite the Millipiderlen’s size and terrifying appearance, against the Pride it was… horribly outmatched.

Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens

Despite the terrifying sensation of hanging nearly sideways as he clung to the spider’s back, Dylan forced himself to keep his eyes open and looking down at the battle below him. He watched, as the spider moved into place, Lisette’s brave attack that sent the millipiderien into the way of Estelle. He let out a whoop, gathering the net in one arm as Don and Xan did the rest, steering the insect right into his waiting trap.

“Now!” he screamed as he loosed his grip, holding on with just his legs, before throwing the net out in wide sweep. The net flew from his hands, hovering for a split second in the air as he prayed his aim was true, before fluttering down and covering the millipiderien. “Don, Xan, Estelle, hold the net down!” he instructed before his whole world lurched.

Falling forward, he clung to the spider as it leapt to the ground. “Oh Aislin!”

Thaum: Bugtanical Garden (Group A)

Dylan was riding a spider? Well, these people never ceased to amaze her.

Estelle and Lisette managed to dodge the insects attack and the latter was sent flying. Thankfully, no one was hurt. Their leader leaped into the air and gave the bug a good blow to the head, knocking it down. They had been given an opening.

Don and Xan made their attack and Dylan dropped a net on the giant bug.

"If this doesn't win...I'll be amazed. This place must be full of weird bugs." The metallurgist stepped down on one side of the net. Their catch wouldn't be going anywhere that easily. "How do we bring it back though?" She made a face at the mass of twitching legs. The giant millipiderien wriggled and hissed and to be honest she didn't want to carry the thing. It looked like it could bite, hard.

Before Xan could say more the spider popped up in front of them as if offering to transport the milipederien back to the red zone. "Don, I think you've made a bro. Thank you." The mettalurgist let out a chuckle and watched as the spider hefted the larger insect onto its back.

"We have a bit more time until the competition ends." The pride followed the spider back into the red zone and eventually caught site of both the giant leech and Trixie. The milepederian trumped their former catch in both size and ferocity. They still had a good hour before the competition ended. The pride could take the opportunity to relax, explore or catch even more bugs, or they could return to the lobby for snacks but they'd have to return their nets.



Thaum: Colosseum (Group B)

“Let’s go put that thing down? Before it stings anyone to death? Miss Moira, are you alright? Aria? Blobfish dude? Syed?”

Everything just went to hell. The giant scorpion was trying to make its way out of the arena and people were duking it out while some tried to escape. Lucien gave Lute a nervous grin before eyeing the giant bug. He didn't want to go anywhere near it... "Well, we could try following the scorpion out of the arena, yeah?" It didn't feel like a good suggestion and it probably wasn't.

Syed managed to get them a ladder and the summoner grinned. "Or we can follow Syed." He chirped before climbing after the duo.

When they reached the seats, things got even worse. Fist fights erupted left and right and an agitated looking couple turned towards them. "You're the Blobfish Avengers!" As soon as he yelled that several others turned to look at the guilders. Lucien forced a chuckle, "Um, do you want our autographs?"

"You guys sucked!" A woman yelled as she brandished around a piece of wood.

The summoner backed up into an angry looking old guy who yelled about seeing better shows. The old guy waved his cane around and hit Moira in the back by accident. Well, good luck to him! He continued yelling, oblivious to what he had done.



"Don't worry 'bout me Robin. I've seen worse." He gave her a toothy grin.

The gladiator held onto the sword by his waist then waited for both women to make a decision. If they wanted to help him out, he wouldn't say no. He needed all the help he could get, especially with the raging crowd. The black haired woman offered to help and when she began singing Jeff felt like he could fight for days without sleep. "Aah, so you're a bard? Good, good."

"It's no use, I'd have to be right next to the scorpion for anyone to hear me,"

Jeff looked at Robin then at Selan. "Hey Robin, think you can bring the cleric to the injured?" He looked at Selan. "I can take you to the scorpion and cover for you." He unsheathed his hulk of a sword then charged into the crowd. Jeff swung his sword around rather intimidatingly and managed to keep most of the brawlers away from both him and Selan as he made his way towards the lower seats he saw the Blobfish Avengers and paused.

The audience looked upset but he pushed one of them away and the rest just seemed to back off. He had been champion in this arena five times in a row and most of Thaum's people knew that messing with Jeff would be a bad idea.

"Blobfish Avengers, your friend and I need your help." He jabbed a finger in the scorpion's direction and grinned. "This'll be fun, aye?"

"Fun..." Lucien imagined guts splattered across the arena and laughed nervously. "If we live, yeah."

Jeff gave them a thumbs up then raced down the steps. "Oh trust me, I don't let my comrades die."

Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens (Group A)

"Took ya guys long enough!" Trixie called out to the incoming Pride members as she heard their footsteps come her way. They were not immediately in sight however, as she was, as it seemed, trapped underneath the enormous leech monster. Which pinned her to the ground with its lower torso, and had its head raised above her as if ready to dive in at any second.

But Trixie was calm, giggling even. "Dylan's big net kind of poofed into thin air, but that's okay. This mister leech monster knew he stood no chance against the powers of the Wondergirl! So instead of running away he decided to play wrassling instead. I'm not good at wrassling though, so he wins." (The poor girl meant wrestling.)

The leech let out a monstrous cry as it whipped its head to see the Pride's newest members: a giant spider and an even bigger, captured milepederian. Thick, green, and bubbling saliva continued to droop from the leech's wide mouth, splattering beside Trixie, before it skittered off the prankster and back into hiding.

"Awww you guys scared him." Once free, Trixie stretched while still lying on the floor, before standing herself up and dusting off the remaining saliva splatters on her clothes. "Oh, it's not poison or melty or anything. It's just oopy-goopy green saliva. Totally harmle--! What's... what's that."

---

Thaum: Colosseum (Group B)

Amy only turned her attention back to the arena upon hearing the crackling of electric sparks. Light flooded the cage, and the Blobfish Avengers' disqualification was announced. Then hell broke loose - first behind the two ladies, then on the arena front as well with the influx of hungry creatures. Including an enormous scorpion flying right their way. Luckily Robin escorted Amy in time before she could get caught in the ruckus; as much as the cleric intended to avoid any magical assertion at all that day, rolling her eyes when Robin and Selan made their requests, she'd much take doing her job over death by scorpion.

Whatever awkward dashing Amy pulled off came to a slow halt as she noticed the amount of people grossly injured, both able-bodied and wimpy. Her jaw dropped open - "What the fuck, you expect me to heal a bunch of burly men I've never met before? Just tell them to rub some dirt on it and get their asses back out there!" - but she remained speechless instead. There were a couple of other medics already assisting, but no one else who knew any healing arts nearly as impressive as what the cleric could muster.

She grit her teeth. After removing her gem from her clutch, she pressed it between her palms and held her hands close to her forehead - a signal of prayer. As she muttered, the four people closest to her were enveloped in a golden, warm glow. Their vitality was instantly restored, if not improved even, though their wounds would worsen if they were to charge back into battle with their newfound energy. Then Amy worked on a small healing spell for the next four, and continued to do this until everyone there received clerical assistance. The entire time she prayed the words "Gods, I better be reimbursed for this." and other similar quotes in a language unheard of in these parts.

Thaum: Coliseum

Lute followed everyone out of the arena via the ladder, wondering why he didn’t get the idea to look around for one earlier. He decided that he was a bad decision-maker in times of panic and shrugged the thoughts away, readying his sword for combat. Unfortunately they were immediately surrounded by a group of enraged spectators. All of them seemed to want to skin the Blobfish Avengers for a ‘performance’ gone awry, but if anything, Lute thought that their decision to hurt them before taking care of the beasts running amok was waaay stupid. Plus their voices were giving him a freaking headache.

“Shush, will you!?” He snapped once again and held his hand out as if to push someone away. Everyone standing directly in front of him lost their voice. An oddly satisfied expression ran over Lute’s face before he turned away to listen to Jeff.

“What!?” Lute tilted his head to the right as if he was listening to someone, and at once he shot an interested glance towards Selan. “She could? Really? Okay, I’ll get on it. Calm down, geez,” He muttered to himself, looking quite cross again, before shoving people away to make a path towards the songstress. Summing it up, this situation was ideal for him: more noise meant more power for the virtuoso.

“Hey, excuse me!” He waved at Selan, hoping to catch her attention. Unfortunately a muscular dude was in the way so he was pretty much sandwiched between said guy and another dude, right near the underarm. Gods. “You…. Sing, right? I can help! Ack, get off me!” Lute brought his hands together and swung at the brawler, prying himself loose and falling on the floor when the man moved away.

Thaum: Coliseum

After climbing up the ladder after everyone else and into the stands, their little group was immediately surrounded by upset spectators. Truthfully Aria didn’t quite blame them- their performance in the cage had been rather lackluster even before being cut short by Syed’s impromptu display of electrical fireworks.

Before the crowd could jump them or take out their frustrations in some other physical and no doubt painful way they were forced to back off when Jeff thankfully arrived.

"Blobfish Avengers, your friend and I need your help."

Gods, their team name just sounded lamer and lamer each time someone said it.

Aria turned around to look in the direction in which Jeff had motioned to, only to see the giant scorpion send a few men flying with its tail.
"Oh trust me, I don't let my comrades die."

She blinked before moving to the side. As much as his words were reassuring, she wasn’t sure how much she would enjoy facing that particular monster head on. If they were going to go and try to subdue it she could stay back and throw knives at it-

“Eek!”

As Jeff ran down the stairs towards the scorpion, he had taken the chance to somehow scoop her and Syed up and was now running pell-mell down the stairs with the two guilders under his arms.

"FOR GLORY AND HONOOOR!"

She winced at the volume of the man’s battle cry, realizing the futility of trying to escape this macho man’s clutches and instead mentally prepping herself for their impending doom. She turned her head to face Syed with a dry smile, voice conversational and shaking with each stride Jeff took down the stairs.

“If I die here I think I’d like to have dahlias at my funeral. They’ve always been my favorite flower, and would add quite a nice touch of color to a somber occasion, don’t you think?

Thaum: Colloseum
“If I die here I think I’d like to have dahlias at my funeral. They’ve always been my favorite flower, and would add quite a nice touch of color to a somber occasion, don’t you think?"

"Um, yeah they are pretty ni- no wait what?!" Syed wasn't entirely sure if she was joking or not, so he gave a bit of a feeble laugh. He continued to try and wiggle himself out of Jeff's grip, all long legs and pointy elbows making him a poor passenger. "Jeff, you're not going to use us as bait or something... are you?"

Moira meanwhile was busy falling down the stairs after them. Literally. She wasn't used to being the one being pulled by their bond. An angry ball of swears and curses barrelling after them.

Luckily they weren't bait, they got dropped back down when they got to the... oh. Moira came to a stop beside them pretty much black and blue from her tumble. "Fuck you guys..." she muttered, staggering slightly. "Really, fuck you guys."

This thing was a lot bigger up close. Her eyes darted from the thing itself and it's reared tail lashing out, to the various fighters taking the thing on already. Boy they were doing shit.

"It's got joints, you idiots! I bet you're the sort of people who aim for someone's shield!" she bellowed, unsheathing her sword. Then without another word she charged forward with a yell, sword raised. With a powerful swing she aimed for a pair of it's legs on one side. She wasn't expecting to cut, but she was sure expecting to knock the fucker over.

Syed as always was forced to follow after her, although he kept his hands up ready to support anyone who needed him with his magic.

"GO!" Moira bellowed to the others.

Thaum: Bugtanical Gardens

"We have a bit more time until the competition ends." Xandra pointed out as they walked back to the red zone just in time for Trixie to be freed from being trapped underneath the enormous leech.

"Awww you guys scared him."

"Looks like it liked you, Trixie!" Lisette giggled, although she was secretly relieved to see it go. "Are you alright?"

Lisette looked toward the other zones, and she could the silhouettes of other massive bugs in the distance, moving through the trees. Several dejected, dusty, saliva-covered participants were also dragging themselves toward the exit, having returned their nets early.

"Umm... I think we probably got enough points to place... Hopefully...?" she shrugged, clasping her hands behind her back. For all her talk about liking bugs, she'd had her fill already. They were just too big!

Kapi and Isaac trotted along behind the others. Kapi seemed to forget that Isaac had hitched a ride and toppled over to lie down, only to cause both of the small animals to tumble over each other instead.

---

Thaum: Coliseum

Jeff helpfully cleared a path for Selan, allowing her to simply follow behind him. With the massive bodies surrounding her, all she could really see was the tail of the giant scorpion twitching high in the air. As they neared the scorpion, the fighting seemed to get increasingly more out of control, complete with even a giant iron boomerang hurtling through the air and bouncing off the scorpion's hard tail.

Before taking off, he brought her close enough for her to be able to see Lucien and Lute, who had used the ladder to reach the spectator area. Likewise, there was no missing the songstress, as she was the only woman wearing robes of the whitest white. She and Lute walked towards each other, but the poor man was forced to wriggle out from between two brawlers, throwing himself to the floor. Selan rushed to his side, offering him a hand and gently pulling him up.

"Yes," she replied to his question, looking him over to check that he was okay. "But what do you mean 'you can help'?"

"Aaargh! Watch out, it's gonna...!"

A wave of shouts erupted as the scorpion brought its tail down in the middle of a group of people, and when they scattered in all different directions, an enormously muscular man was left standing at the point of impact. The tail was deeply embedded in his heavy wooden shield, and he cursed the bug while simultaneously trying to shake it free. The scorpion instead whipped the shield out of his hands and flung it off its tail in another direction, while scanning for another cluster to target.

"There's no time..." Selan murmured, her already-pale face draining of color as the scorpion briefly looked in their direction before rotating to face another. "I don't know how well this will work, but if you can help then please do."

The songstress took a deep breath, and began belting out a louder, more high-pitched version of her aria, meant to invigorate and strengthen those who hear it. It wasn't going to be pretty for the men and women who were fighting each other, but it would certainly aid in the fights against the beasts and creatures scattered around the arena.