[IC] A Hero Tale {Complete}

[Hatman1801]

Alvios had a poor vantage point from the ground, but it looked like Oz had forced the archer to start retreating from the roof. Good. Time to try and reach the landing point before him. He gathered more power in the blade in his hand, swinging behind him and releasing a blast with the intent of neutralizing the lightning attack following him. If that didn't cut it, maybe the debris would.

Alvios focused more power into the blade, letting the energy cover his whole arm, and gathered power in his feet, kicking forward with a Ki-infused lunging thrust...straight through the wall and the building separating him from the staircase. Dacer had both horizontal and vertical distance to travel. Launching himself up and over the wall to follow Oz would waste precious time when he could just pierce through what was ahead of him.

He just hoped that Jeff wouldn't be too upset with him putting a massive hole through the building.

[Necrophage]

Oz wasn't anticipating such an aggressive retreat. He crossed his arms in front of himself and pumped energy into his shield. The charged arrow exploded at near point blank range and blew him back as the unseen lightning arrow zipped at him from behind. He thought he was done with the arrow, completely unaware it was able to track him. It stuck him broad in the back of his right shoulder as he recovered from the explosion. He rolled through the air and skidded against the roof, finally landing on his hands and knees. The arrow had lost most of its initial momentum and being a tracking arrow that hand done a complete three-sixty it wasn't the prick that was lethal, it was the shock behind it. Oz's muscles spasmed as the electricity wracked his body. He was barely able to keep from falling flat on his chest atop the roof.

By usual Oswald stubbornness he fought the torturous arrow's effects and reached back to the arrow to wrench it free. His projected a shield around it to contain the energy before prying it out so that the constant amperage wouldn't weaken his grip. He held the contained arrow for a second, even shielded in his grip it seemed to want to turn on him again. Oz applied a surge of pressure and force onto it, pulverizing it.

The Fist of Kario knelt there longer than he would have liked but this was necessary. That shot took a lot out of him. At least he was in the clear for just this moment with the archer on the move. After a brief respite he forced himself back to his feet and glared at the sky. "I should probably try to do something about that." He pondered about the gathering storm. The unnatural clouds only grew. The arrows were likely used as lightning rods of a type. That would explain why the initial attack split partially into the sky. What could he do to fix it before nature took its course?

[tex]

Dacer flipped through the air, landing on top of a broken piece of the guild's exterior entrance way as Alvios burst out from underneath him. His ankle twisted, but otherwise, the archer managed keep his footing on the falling piece of shattered steel. He did his best to jump again, back towards the roof, with a bounding leap, but barely made it, grasping the edge of the roof with one hand and desperately trying to pull himself up before Alvios was able to spin around and capitalise on his loss of footing.

[Hatman1801]

"You're not going anywhere, archer. You think I taunted you out of sheer arrogance?" Alvios spun around, kicking off the ground with a burst of Ki, his sword aimed to impale Dacer through the thigh; he didn't know the assailant, and would rather incapacitate him to gather information before deciding to outright kill. He wasn't an obvious member of the Order after all.

Of course, 'not kill' and 'severely injure' were just far enough apart. The original three swords that Dacer dodged instead of destroyed before had made a roundabout, and were coming down from above for a multiple-angled pincer attack, aimed at his other limbs. Alvios could heal pretty much any non-lethal wound after all, so puncturing a limb or three would be fine. Maybe a kidney or something would be a pain, but manageable.

[Necrophage]

Screw nature. The archer needed to be stopped before any further harm happened. Oz stretched his wounded shoulder, grunting at the pangs of pain before outright ignoring them and moving towards the edge of the roof. He could hear the scuffle below as Alvios demolished another portion of the Guild in pursuit of their would-be assassin.

[tex]

Dacer spun his head around and dispelled his bow, raising one arm up towards the sky while the other clung to the ledge. The cloud above them crackled fiercely for half a second, and sent down a massive bolt of electricity towards Alvios, with the intent to halt him mid-way through his jump.

[Hatman1801]

Alvios was not deterred in the slightest. He went through with it, his sword driving itself through Dacer's leg as the lightning bolt crashed into him. His flesh was seared in places, but his wounds were immediately doused with regenerative Ki. The pain was tremendous, but missing out on a chance to cripple his enemy would be worth it. The assailant presumably used his last resort to defend himself against the attack, which meant he likely couldn't handle the consequences of it. Oz could follow through if the impaled leg didn't decide the victor.

Alvios landed on one knee, looking up to see how the archer responded to a blade through his leg muscles. He looked pretty strange, with patches of glowing Ki covering several parts of his body, and most of his shirt and jacket simply seared away, but he gave a painful smirk anyway. "Wonder which one of us hurts more right now..."

[tex]

Dacer's eyes flooded themselves with purple light. He didn't react to the pain at all, instead, pulling himself up, and kicking Alvios away from him as he flipped onto the roof, landing on both feet. His leg buckled slightly, but he seemed ready to continue fighting, re-summoning his bow and aiming it at Oz as he stood on one knee.

[Necrophage]

At this rate the assassin's leg would give out if more pressure were forced on him. Oz had the intention to do just that, quite literally. He stood his ground and kept his left arm raised to deflect attacks. With one step forward he fanned his right arm out, releasing a rippling wave of force and dazzling energy across the ground that spread wider as it traveled toward the archer. It ripped up chunks and layers of the roof as it rolled.

[tex]

Dacer rose his bow and fired a single Arrow at Oz, but immediately staggered forwards as both his legs gave out. His bow was de-summoned, and he fell forwards, with both his forearms on the ground. Suddenly, in a flash of black smoke however, Jeff and Bruce were tossed into the middle of the battle, on top of the roof, and Shaidra appeared at Dacer's side, crouched forwards as Jeff was launched towards Oz, and Bruce was launched towards Alvios. In the same moment, the wall of Jeff's guild, the west hall, it seemed, gave way, and revealed, Jenso, With mikey passed out in front of him, and Luke knocked aside, crouching behind a pile of rubble, created by the broken hover-platform.

[Jensoman]

Jenso's eyes widened as everyone appeared before him. He grit his teeth in pain, glaring at Shaidra. He felt a great deal of relief though, to see that everyone was alive, yet injured. He noticed that Oz was attacked by Dacer by an arrow and that Jeff flew at him. He was unable to act in time due to the distance, and instead began to channel some of his remaining flames from his feet into the ground. He didn't have much energy left after his fight with Mikey, but he didn't intend to stand by idly.

[Necrophage]

Oz angled his shield against the arrow, deflecting it into the roof. Much like his earlier deflection, crash noises ensued as the arrow broke through to the ground level before stopping.

In a plume of smoke Chaos had literally arrived. Or so Oz thought until Jeff sailed through the air at him. Wherever he just came from this was bad timing. Oz centered his focus on himself, increasing the value by which gravity affected him. With the boost to keep him on his feet, he braced himself and caught Jeff across the waste. With all the gentleness of a tank Oz dumped the wind sage on the ground and called out his avatar. "Atlas!"

The brilliant purple visage appeared above him as if floating in the air. Atlas was not massive like before however, it was the very size of Oz himself. The Fist of Kario cut his hand through the air, directing the visage forward. "After all this I won't let you leave so easily." Atlas didn't so much fly as it crashed against the roof that Shaidra and the archer stood upon, plowing all the way through to the courtyard below at an angle. Maybe if he disrupted their footing he could keep the Order member from fleeing with their assassin.

[Brucenorris007]

Bruce, though still intermittently dizzy due to his head injury, felt a rush of vigor at being surrounded by his element once again. He erected a curved, sloping structure between himself and Alvios before the two collided and he half rolled, half slid to the ground beside him.
Still in his Sage state, Bruce sensed everyone through the earth, getting at least a bearing on what was happening. He'd harbored no doubts that the others would be fine, but it was still gratifying to have confirmation.
A bit wearily, he stood, noticing that, unlike Zelriane, Shaidra had chosen to stay, and with her was an archer- Dacer, Bruce suspected.
"I" Bruce said, his voice husky with the fatigue from expending as much Ki as he had. His blade nonetheless appeared again in its sheath, and he flexed his fingers, the material used for his replicated hands returning to him. "Need a drink."

[tex]

Shaidra peered over at Jeff and Bruce quickly, before encasing herself and Dacer in an orb of Shadow. "Keep my little ragamuffin safe," She hissed, disappearing entirely, and leaving the trumps to sulk over their base camp. As Atlas smashed through the building, its structure began to crumble, giving way, and leaving a concave stone massacre in his wake. With those final actions, the entirety of the order had retreated. Finally.

"Bluh.... Blu-Blup! Data Analyzed~"

---

~ End Of Chapter 171 ~

[tex]

~ Chapter 172 ~

_{Tower Of Chaos 101: The Final War Table Conference}

A day passed. Everyone took their time to reorient themselves after the unexpected confrontation with nearly half of the order at their doorstep. Fortunately, Jeff's technology, paired with a nearly endless stream of robotic servants, was more than enough to repair the damages in less than 24 hours. It never would look or feel the same, but it was done. Alvios seemed to be back to his old self, perhaps even stronger with his naturally high Ki focus. Oswald and Luke fared similarly. Jenso Bruce and Jeff, despite their injuries, had made full recoveries with the aid of Alvios' touch, making the Order's attack on their home almost completely detrimental to their own well being. For all intents and purposes, Rajaka's plan failed miserably.

Everyone sat around the war table, with their individual Blups refusing to communicate any information to them. Jenso, Luke, Bruce and Ross on one side, Jeff, Alvios, and Oswald on the other. It was odd for Mikey to be late, but with recent events, it wasn't that awkward. He wheeled his into the war-room, slowly scooting past Jenso, Luke, Bruce, and Ross with a warm smile. Luke and Ross glance at him in terror, but the man didn't seem dissuaded at all. For the first time since this fiasco had begun, he seemed free of poisonous thoughts. Mikey parked his wheelchair at the head of the war table, and leaned forwards. "Well," He started, "That was pretty crazy, eh?"

[Jensoman]

Jenso frowned at Mikey as he noticed the wheelchair he sat within, somewhat regretting this particular outcome of their battle. He was glad Mikey was alive, but the fact that he was unable to walk anymore made him feel bad. He smiled none the less, not wanting to demotivate anyone within the room for the final fight. Spirit was something that everyone needed most of all right now, after all.

"Yeah, looks like we all held our own really well, huh? Just like I expected!" He stated confidently, not surprised in the least that his friends could handle themselves. "It's a shame that the Order managed to get away, though..." He muttered.

[Hatman1801]

Alvios gave his own solemn look at Mikey, before trying to lighten the situation himself as well. "Didn't think I'd have a wake-up call like that. At least this time I wasn't bedridden, and the healing process went smoothly for everyone. Still..." Alvios turnedfully to Mikey now, raising a brow. "They put unexpected effort into this attack from what I understand. Do you think they're just trying to keep tabs on our strength, or was this a full-on attempt to try and destroy us?"

[tex]

Mikey sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Well uh, yeah- No. I don't know. See, the thing about, uh.. Well.." Blup hopped off of Mikey's head and bowed. The little Blups in each person's hair began to speak in unison so that everyone could hear his tiny voice.

"After having his essence split by Jenso, Mikey is experiencing fits of delirium and unexpected droughts in his pre-frontal cortex-Bruuuu...Lup.. Unfortunately, his IQ and Ki reserves have fallen drastically, and as a result, he may not be able to offer insight on the current goings-on." Mikey cringed at the comments Blup made before closing his eyes and nodding reluctantly.

"Yeah... Yeah, what Blup said, sure."

"However, as I was once part of Mikey's energy, his thought processes and rationale have been preserved through me perfectly! Bluh, bluh!" The blup in Alvios' hair patted his head. "Considering my analysis, the only member who had put a great deal of effort into destroying their targets were Rajaka and Zelriane. Even then, the two of them displayed a peculiar trait, they had held back their power intentionally, likely, for amusement. But, thanks to the efforts of Bruce and Jeff, I was able to get data on both of them exerting more of their powers, albeit in short windows. I was also able to analyse the psychology of that relatively silent man, Zelriane, far more thoroughly." Blup paused and wobbled in place. "Blooo.. Looo... Rajaka's abilities have be confirmed as impossible to gauge. In his final Maneuver, he appeared to detonate an ability with enough power to significantly damage to fabric of Shaidra's very reality, which forced her to warp him out quickly. The power of that attack itself seemed like it would be impossible to evade or defend against, but it took him quite a bit of time to manifest, and completely immobilised him... Blahhh.."

"Zelriane exhibited a troublesome ability as well. In conjunction with his excessive speed, it seems he can alter the flow of time. During the use of this ability, I lost contact with my body on Bruce's head for half a second. At first I thought it might have been a technique that stops time entirely, but it seems to have a limited range, that being around his body. Still, with his already phenomenal speed, it might as well stop time for everyone." Blup stopped and turned his main body to Mikey, waving with a little stubby Arm. Mikey perked up and nodded in agreement.

"Oh, I guess that's how it is," He agreed, crossing his arms and nodding. He sighed and looked down at Blup. "This whole freakin' thing is starting to feel a little more ridiculous the more we delve into it. I'd say we don't have much time left, but," Mikey rose his fist and smiled. "I know you guys can probably stop them, even if they attack again!"

"Chance of success is currently 37.81322%."

"Ignore him," Mikey snorted. "Oh, uh. Where's Geode at?" Looking around, Mikey noticed Geode was nowhere to be seen. He was also absent from the battle that occurred the day before. "Tomorrow is the big day after all. We're going to prepare to assail the Tower. Shouldn't he be here too?"

[Brucenorris007]

Bruce, like the others, briefly eyed Mikey's wheelchair before diverting his attention. He had a mug full of strong drink and his most pleasing mixture, though he'd barely touched it out of respect for the gravity of the meeting. He also held a piece of wood in his hands, which he worked at with a whittling knife he'd forged out of his own Ki. The wood creation was small, though taking shape into what looked like some musical instrument.

He mulled over Shaidra's parting comment while also listening intently to Blup's analysis. He knew it wasn't really helpful to focus mental efforts on deciphering meaning from what she said, but for all the appearance of being infantile and animalistic- in the sense that she only attacked in response to provocation- she also didn't give the impression of doing things without reason. That included what she said.

Obviously Bruce couldn't have said for certain after only one experience that Zelriane's ability involved time manipulation, but the sheer level of shock to his system within a space of what had felt microseconds seemed inexplicable otherwise, even for a member of the Order.

He smiled a little at Mikey's dismissal of Blup's calculations for their success. His own feelings on the matter weren't much different.
"This group has come out of situations with similar odds against them. A little over one in three is hardly alarming." Bruce said.

He looked around the table, noticing that Geode was indeed absent. Strange, since Oswald was also present, and Bruce had no inkling where else he might be. Now that he was thinking about it...
"Has anyone seen Geode since the attack?" he asked.

[SuperFlash]

Jeff initially remained silent at first as everyone talked still contemplating the meaning behind yesterdays attack and overall purpose behind it. While in the end it was there victory, he couldnt help but wonder if perhaps it was merely ment to try and make them lose hope once again if not to downright kill him and Bruce while rubbing Dacer in there faces once more.
While recovering the day before the sage spent the time analizing the recordings Blup and his nanobots recorded of his and Bruces fight while having his robots and his scientist team help him develop counters for a next encounter and those ideas still kept constant cycle through his mind.
Jeff however was brought back to reality upon the question of Geode's location being brought up and thus proceeded to bring up a hologram of the entire guildhall into the center of the table.
"Yeah your right.. that's kinda weird.." The worries scientist spoke as he scanned through all of the rooms with no real result showing up on his location.
"Blup, your not picking up anything either right?" he then asked the blue blob that rested on his sholder as an uneasy feeling sloqly began to settle in his gut. He wanted to think otherwise, but perhaps this was the real reason of the attack all along.