[IC] Guild Versus the Heroes of 100!

[ImportantNobody]

An odd assortment of characters was slowly flickering into existence through swirling portals of energy scattered throughout the lush planet. For many it was a first time meeting one another as they observed not only each other but also their surroundings in an effort to get their bearings. It was a lot of information to process all at once, being heroes taken from their own world sent to fight with those from other worlds against a super villain known as Big Bad. Some of them were more cautious in their approach than others who were quick to rush over to any random newcomer in order to start enthusiastically explaining whatever plans they might have for the upcoming attack. Some didn’t discuss plans at all, but rather decided now would be a good time for small talk about how beautiful this planet was or something on that order.

It was clear that this was not yet a unified team. However, many of them did manage to agree upon grouping up at a nearby abandoned fortress in order to discuss how things should proceed from here. Unfortunately not all of the portals were exactly nearby. Some flickered barely within sight and possibly further beyond it. It was a seemingly minor hitch to the plan, but they were still pretty precise for teleporting multiple people from multiple points of origin to a single location.

What they didn’t know is that one of the portals happened to flicker up just far enough away so that….

“Hmm?” Big Bad muttered, opening his eyes from his near trance-like state. Had he sensed magical energy being cast just on the outskirts of his vision? He looked out of the open window of his palace. For just the briefest of moments he swore he could make out a portal closing up from within a far off rock formation. Could it be he was found out? He had little evidence to go by but the situation was far too dire to ignore. He felt something big was about to go down deep in his gut. He needed help…and fast. With an unusual pep in his step he raised himself from his chair and, moving so fast some would swear he teleported, vacated himself from the room.

Back at the abandoned fortress, a tall man concealed from head to toe in extravagant turquoise armor was one of the first to make it to the grounds just outside the gate. Taking a firm stance, he placed himself in front of it as if a statue, not budging as fellow heroes strolled up to him.

“Dude, you’re coming inside or what?” One of them questioned.

“Negative,” the armored man said. “I shall keep a lookout here in case some foul villain appears. Once everyone has arrived I shall join you in consultation.”

“Riiiiight, you do that,” The other replied, pondering about just who this guy was. Sure was something. With that the group that had been following him proceeded through the gate to check out the fortress.

[Drifting Pollen]

Life as a villain can be pretty rough sometimes. You're just minding your own business, conquering the universe, when all of a sudden a bunch of ungrateful scrubs show up saying they don't want to be crushed beneath your totalitarian heels as you ascend to godhood, and no sooner have you handed them their asses than another bunch of so-called 'heroes' shows up to annoy you still further. Over time, it starts to become a real problem.

There's an easy solution to all this, however. As those pathetic do-gooders love to proclaim: nothing is stronger than the power of friendsh- damn it, one can't just say that with a straight face. So call it, ehhh, 'mutually beneficial alliance?'

Point is, every competent villain (and the Big Bad was a competent villain indeed) makes sure to keep a list of stone-cold badasses on speed-dial. When the forces of good unite, evil unites right back at 'em! Take that, you overly generous pansies!

***

In a certain bustling city on a faraway world, a dark-haired teenager is startled awake by a sharp rapping at the door. With a yawn, he rouses himself, stumbles down the stairs, and cracks it open- only to stumble backwards with a sudden wail.

"B-big Martin?"

For indeed, standing there before him is a tall and lanky man in a white shirt and black suit coat, hissing felines streaming around his feet and perched up on his shoulders. Even as the intruder steps into the room, his furry vanguard spreads out, surrounding the terrified youngster.

"Good morning."

"Dude, we had a deal! No aggression between our sides until-"

Big Martin cuts him off with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry, I'm not here to fight. Just calling in a favor."

The teenager groans, but relaxes a little. "Geez, would it really have killed you to let me know in advance?" When no reply is forthcoming, he sighs resignedly. "All right, fine. What do you want?"

Smiling, the supervillain hands him a slip of paper. "Portal, these coordinates. I've a favor of my own to fulfill."

***

A few moments later, a glowing gateway opens in front of the abandoned fortress, and Big Martin steps out, accompanied by about a dozen small cats. His features are hidden, masked by the kitten currently climbing up his face, but he seems to be smiling. As the portal behind him snaps shut, he stretches out his arms, cracking his knuckles.

"All right, boys and girls! Let's flush these little mice out of their castle."

There's a shrill yowling in response, then man and cats alike charge towards the front gate and its turquoise guardian. A blatant and obvious assault by all accounts, but then he knows there will be other villains coming, and big distractions are a specialty of his.

[Doc Doctor]

"Why, WHY TOM? If I weren't immortal I'd not have even considered helping you with this. What's the point!?"

"You juuuust don't get it, do ya Ozzy, my boy? You can't do things half-assed. You gotta run the full mile, shoot for the stars, y'know?"

"This isn't shooting for the stars, it's dragging around a literal ton of interdimensional monster with a moving dolly. How'd you even find and capture it!? I thought you could only do stupid shit like materialize midgets and make poop sparkles or whatever. Also, don't call me Ozzy."

"The less you know the better, Ozzy. Some things just weren't made for simple folk like yourself to understand. It's beyond your puny compensation."

"Comprehension, not compensation, Tommy."

"Oh, well FUCK you too."

A strange pair, they were, a cat-eyed knight and a clean cut man in a white suit tugging a massive black cube roughly the size of a mini-cooper towards the fortress. It didn't look fun. The cube abruptly bucked hard to the side, and with a yelp Auz darted back to catch it and, wheezing with effort, shove it back onto the dolly before it unbalanced.

"Why didn't you at least tranquilize the damn thing before you put it in there!? Why didn't you rent a moving truck instead of just a $#@% dolly!? Goddamn you Tom, I'm so much older than you it's not even funny. This is more than disrespect for your elders, its nearly murder!"

"Quit whinin' son, we're almost there. And no, I couldn't just 'tranquilize the damn thing'. I found it in that box to start with, who knows how it wound up like that. You think I'd open that shit up and try to feed it some sedatives? Sweet corn on the cob, Ozzy, you could at least be thankin' me for findin' it before someone else did! Damn good thing I'm a wizard who knows about this kinda thing."

"You haven't said why you didn't rent a U-Haul though."

"Aaaaanyways, look! It's just over that bluff. We'll try to fix 'em ourselves, flush the freaks outa this dimension, and we'll only open the box as a last resort. I swear."

"I don't trust you Tom. I never trusted you."

"Then why're you helpin' me tote an eldritch abomination towards an army of meta-beings that emerged from a quantum tear near an abandoned fortress hundreds of miles from civilization?"

"......."

"Yeah, that's what I fuckin' thought, Ozzy."

"Go to hell."

[Lalliman]

In an alternate world, at the top floor of Spider Tower, Obadiah P. Spider stood before his control panel, using his many arms and eyes to manage several holographic displays at once. Monitoring stock prices, organizing extortions, approving memos, planning drug smuggling routes. A normal day for the head of Spider Corp.

Then suddenly, a phone rang. Not the normal phone – that one went through his secretary – but the red phone on his desk. The emergency phone.

He picked it up. “Obadiah here. … Hm-hm… Hm-hm… Bet yer britches I’ll be there!”

He promptly hung up again. That brief conversation was all he needed. One of his greatest business partners was in trouble, big trouble, the kind that would be ruinous to Spider Corp if left untreated. No application of bribery or armed goons was going to fix this. This was a job for the Spider himself.

“Candace, have the spider jet prepared! I’m heading to the Bermuda portal!” he called to his secretary, before grabbing his top hat and cane, and dashing out of his office.

***

Shortly after, a new portal manifested in the fields surrounding the abandoned fortress. From it emerged a lanky, four-armed man in a business suit, with the face of a giant furry spider. He looked around to see two other men approaching in the distance, hauling a big black box, while a third man was running for the nearby castle, with a bunch of critters at his heels. Was this the cat-summoner who had been listed as one of his allies?

That meant the fight was already starting! Wasting no more time, Obadiah removed the handle of his cane, revealing the slender blade inside. Sword in hand, he started charging towards the castle with great leaping strides, bouncing across the fields 30 feet at a time, aiming to join up with the cat-faced man.

[ImportantNobody]

If Anom was surprised by the sudden appearance of cat man, he didn’t show it through his armor. However, it was certainly abnormal for him to be assaulted in such a straight forward manner by such a non straightforward looking fellow. Had this secret hero meeting been discovered? Or perhaps this man was after him personally? It didn’t look like the attacker would stop to answer all of the questions that popped into his mind. For the time being he’d have to defend himself and hopefully take this man prisoner for questioning. And maybe the cats too? He didn’t know if he would have to arrest the cats, but better safe than sorrow. He’d do what he can.

In the time it would take the man to cross the distance between them he’d have a small eruption of light from a sudden hole on the armor of his left forearm. Within said light emerged a handle, which he gripped with his right gauntlet and drew out of seeming nothingness a broadsword apparently made out of the same material as his armor, polished turquoise gleaming in the sunlight. Although it would be large and unwieldy for a man of lesser stature, his 8 foot tall frame easily held it one handedly as if a toy. He held it out in front of him, feet firmly planted shoulder length apart. There was no way the cats could get past his armor, so he’d put most of his focus on what the man might be hiding up his sleeve. He was still prepared for the event that the cats might get a little too frisky, in which case he was already creating a countermeasure; a dagger point emerging from each of the holes on his arms, four on each one. He couldn’t control that many objects at once with any skill, but he could certainly have them fly up and strike any cat at point blank range should they try to climb onto his armor.

Behind the cat man he spotted another humanoid shape closing in. This one was…a spider in a suit? Peculiar, but very well. If that man proved to be a villain as well then he’d be similarly dealt with upon his approach.

[Drifting Pollen]

A knight with a sword, was it? Perfect choice of theme for someone defending a castle, although what drove the man to choose such obnoxiously colored armor Big Martin could only guess at. Even as he wondered at the fashion sense of this first enemy, however, the cat master also noted the danger posed by a big fucking sword, and slowed down on approach, coming to a halt several feet away from his enemy- just far enough to be sure he was of the sword's reach.

About half of his cats stopped with him, but five raced forwards as a group, quickly closing the remaining distance. They'd spaced themselves out, just enough that it'd be hard to strike at more than one at once with the blade.

Swift as they were, however, these weren't the main threat. Now that Big Martin had moved closer, something would become evident to the turquoise guardian: the man seemed to be producing some kind of wind about him. Not powerful enough to be of any hindrance, but it was as if all the air in the vicinity were being drawn towards the man with a kitten hanging off his face.

The supervillain drew back his right hand, as if about to unleash some terrible spell-

And then made a sudden underhand throwing motion with his left. As he did so, a cat materialized above his left hand, tensed and ready to pounce. As Big Martin threw it forwards it leaped out of his hand, combining its own strength with that of its master to launch itself straight towards Anom's visor, yowling loudly all the way.

If it met its target, it would cling to his helmet with its claws, using its body to block his visor and deny him vision. At the same time, the cats who had been advancing before would dash past the guardian's feet, taking advantage of the armored man's temporary distraction to slip around him.

[Lalliman]

Obadiah skidded to a halt a short distance away from the cat-man and the knight. The armoured guy was evidently their first opponent, but he was mighty big, and spiky. Obadiah didn't fancy being the first one to jump into melee range, not without testing the guy's mettle first. So instead of advancing further, he used two of his free hands to take off his top hat and to brace it with the opening forward, like a cannon.

With a resounding blap and a puff of smoke, a clot of thick white spiderwebs about the size of a volleyball shot forth from the opening of his hat, aimed for the knight's nearest arm. Aside from delivering a forceful wallop, the clump of webs would burst apart upon hit, and stick to anything it touches. Obadiah was hoping to constrict the knight's arm, or perhaps his weapon. After a brief delay, assuming nothing came to interrupt him, he would fire a second ball of webbing, to further entangle his target.

All the while, a steady trickle of small spiders started to flow from the many nooks and crannies of his clothing, pooling around his feet. Obadiah couldn't summon spiders at full speed while also focusing on his webbing, but he could summon some, and they would come in useful soon.

[Doc Doctor]

"Awww shit! Run, Ozzy! Ependus Fartassio!"

Tom pointed a finger at the obsidian cube, firing a burst of purple light at it before turning tail and sprinting towards the castle, arms flailing like a muppet. Auz turned in confusion, drawing his sword.

"The fuck are you doing- AWWWW NOOO SHIT ITS EATING ME ITS EATING ME YOU ASSHOOOOOOLE!!"

The cube suddenly split open and a hulking shape darted out, tackling Auz to the ground and tearing through his armor and bones like styrofoam. Tom yelled back some encouragement as he abandoned his ally.

"Don't sweat it, you're basically immortal! Just trust me son! Trust me! I decided we'll be needin' that thing!"

[ImportantNobody]

Anom didn’t make an effort to lash out at the cats just yet. They were small, swift, and so far hadn’t shown themselves to be of any threat to him anyways, and as such he felt no motivation in doing so. He disliked pointless cruelty, and killing them now would seem to be just that. Instead his sight remained focused on the man leading the cats.

“What is he up to?” He pondered just in time to have a cat thrown his way. He didn’t flinch or appear to panic when it managed to latch onto his helmet with it’s claws. How strong could this cat actually be? He reached up calmly yet swiftly with his left hand to grasp around it’s body and make a move to yank it off. While his vision was obscured he listened for any sign of movement from the man, his sword at the ready to lash out if he made an attempt to get close during this distraction, which was likely his goal. While he’d show mercy to the cats for the time being, if this villain made a move on him now he couldn’t accurately make any response that would ensure his foes safety while still dealing with the threat, so the man would have brought it on himself should he be gravely injured here.

He heard the little pitter patter of cat feet below him but they didn’t latch on, simply running past. Were they wild animals simply fleeing or sentient beings with a plan? Or perhaps controlled by him?

Thwap! He felt a sticky mass practically explode against his right gauntlet, fusing his hand to his blade from the feel of things. That weird man who was running onto the scene? Anom scowled inside his helmet, his left hand becoming more forceful to fling the cat off of him. Sure he might injure the cat far worse now, but he needed proper view of what was occurring or things could swiftly take a turn for the worse. In case another attack would come from more distance man he took a large step backwards with his right foot leading, hoping to throw off the aim of another shot, while the four daggers being created on his upper arms telekinetically flew off in the location where he knew the man was last.

[Drifting Pollen]

The cat hung on to Anom's helm with all its might, scratching and scrabbling and screaming in his face even as it was painfully pulled off. It couldn't fight him for long, but then it didn't need to. Before the turquoise guardian could get a good look around him, a mass of webs hit his right arm- and then four soft impacts, coming from behind.

The small squadron of cats that had dashed past Anom hadn't been fleeing, they'd been re-positioning themselves so they could catch him from behind! No sooner had he removed one cat from his helm than two more jumped up on his shoulders, one of them latching onto his visor and immediately blocking his vision again while the other screamed at the top of its lungs. Between them, they'd leave him more or less blind and deaf, unable to mount any effective assault.

Two more focused on the guardian's armored body. Their claws wouldn't do much against his plate, so they went for his joints, cramming their furry bodies into his armpits and hanging onto his arms, impeding his movement even further. The fifth and last of the pack stayed on the ground. As Anom stepped back to avoid further spiderwebs, he'd feel something small and fast slamming into his foot before it could come down, knocking it aside just enough to put him off balance and potentially send him sprawling. Mighty warrior or not, anyone who didn't watch their step could be tripped by an unseen cat!

As for Big Martin himself, he swiftly dropped into a crouch. It didn't look like those daggers were aimed at him, but he didn't have time to be sure, and so ducked down anyways. He was still rapidly gathering air, saving it rather than producing more cats, all to get ready for a big move to finish this enemy off- but before he could unleash it, one of the cats who'd stayed by him meowed loudly, drawing attention to something going on behind him.

Along with the spider-man, two other strange fellows had arrived, bringing with them a... god, what the hell was that abomination? Finishing move be damned, he didn't want to be in the thick of things when that monster got involved. Without further ado, the supervillain dashed off in roughly the same direction as Kentucky Tom, making himself scarce while his cats still hindered Anom, who hopefully looked more tasty than Big Martin did right now.

[Lalliman]

The second ball of webbing splattered against the wall of the castle, a small distance behind the knight. Obadiah hadn't expected him to move so suddenly, and sharpshooting wasn't his forte to begin with. When he prepared to adjust his aim and fire again, a more pressing concern presented itself, in the form of a bunch of flying daggers. The aim was sloppy, but the spread made it dangerous. Thankfully, Obadiah had more arms than just the ones holding his cannon-hat. With a quick hop to the right, he put himself out of the way of most of the daggers, leaving only one coming straight at him. There was a flash of silver and a metallic bing as he struck the final dagger out of the air with his cane sword, sending it scattering away.

"Now, where was I?" he said to himself as he resumed aim with his hat. Only to notice a big tear in the top of it, where one of the daggers had gone through. "Bastard." He was perhaps a bit rustier than he thought, and now his hat couldn't fire anymore. No matter. He tossed it aside and pulled three additional canes from the pockets of his vest, an act that would've seemed obviously impossible to a bystander. He flicked off the wooden sheaths, revealing the steel blades, and advanced towards the knight with a great leaping stride. He was still oblivious to the chaos unfolding behind him. Obadiah wasn't in the habit of paying too much attention to his greater surroundings. After all, his spider sense would warn him if something came close to threatening him.

With two great leaps, he landed in front of the cat-swarmed knight, brandishing all four of his swords. He contemplated for a brief moment. How does one hurt someone to heavily armoured? Armpits were usually a weak spot, but those were strangely enough obstructed by cats. Instead he went for something within easy reach, making a single lunging stab for the knight's left knee, hoping to jab the point of his sword into the grooves of his armour. At this point, it was more about gauging the strength of his armour than about delivering a serious wound.

[Doc Doctor]

Tom pointed at Anom as he tried to run past several yards to the knight's left, yelling out a spell. A white orb of magic shot out like a fastball towards the target's chest.

"HORNDOGGUMS HUMPRUMPUS!"

[ImportantNobody]

Anom’s heavy footfall was able to plant itself on the ground forcefully after the impact with the cat. Luckily for him his greave alone weighed more than it, so he just barely managed to remain standing now that he was able to brace himself with both feet on the ground. Any lesser man would have taken a tumble. The cat who had hit him would likely be the one falling here, having ran face first into metal. The impact, he imagined, could even have been fatal if it hit him poorly, but he couldn’t tell at all with all the racket at his face.

His right hand was glued to his weapon so in an attempt to remove the cat in his left armpit he couldn’t grab at it, but instead hammered the pommel of the makeshift sword down towards it’s general location. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly where the head would be so went for the likely location of it’s center of mass based on where the claws were digging onto his armor. The cat in his right armpit couldn’t be reached while he was doing this, so instead his left fist punched towards the cat on his right shoulder, the one meowing his ears off. It was really easy to pinpoint this one’s face, as one might imagine.

He felt a pressure stabbing against his left knee, causing it to buckle but his armor remained resolute for now. On the downside both of his legs were now slightly askew so he felt himself dangerously close to falling over. Perhaps that cat’s sacrifice hadn’t been in vain after all! His mind raced how to deal with this situation as more daggers began to form out of the holes in his armor. They would surely come in handy.

In all this mess he didn’t even notice the last attack hitting him, nor feel it when it had. He was now under a spell he didn't even know was upon him.

[Drifting Pollen]

Here's a term often used to describe people with extraordinary reaction times, those who respond to movement before their peers even register it. They have 'catlike reflexes.' Just a figure of speech, of course, but there is a kernel of truth in it. Namely, the fact that an alert cat can react to a threat really fucking fast, and has the speed and flexibility to make that reaction count.

Even blinded as he was, Anom's strikes were accurate enough to knock the cats away- if they had remained in place. Alas, the moment he began to strike, claws unhooked and small furry bodies jumped aside, the one under his armpit dropping back down to the ground while the one on his shoulder jumped straight over his head and onto his other shoulder, yowling all the way. These weren't mischievous house cats waiting to be picked up, but tiny warriors dead-set on impeding him as much as possible! He'd have to try harder than that to get them off him for good.

Unfortunately, the pesky critters were about to be the least of his worries.

With both sight and hearing under attack by the smaller cats, Anom likely wouldn't sense Big Martin's finishing move until a huge weight slammed into him from the left, suddenly bowling him over. Only the other villains would be able to glimpse what had happened just before. Since arriving, Big Martin had only created a single small cat, relying mainly on the few he'd brought with him while storing mass for something bigger, and now he brought that something out to play.

Once he was out of harm's way, the supervillain extended one hand towards the armored guardian, and at once something massive and orange appeared before him, already charging towards his intended target. Rows of dark stripes marked its sides, a legendary symbol of ferocity. If Anom could not defeat the common Felis catus, then how would he fare against a tiger?

The beast moved swiftly and surprisingly quietly for its size, rearing up as it reached its prey and using its wide paws and formidable weight to push the already unbalanced guardian to the ground. The cat on Anom's visor would leap away if and when the warrior fell, leaving the small aperture clear for Obadiah's swords while the tiger pinned its prey down and tore at his armor with its claws.

[Lalliman]

While Obadiah’s sword struck solid steel, forcing him to conclude that a frontal attack wasn’t going to work, his spider sense tingled at something behind him. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see a 500 pound tiger that wasn’t there before leaping past. This cat-man was certainly full of surprises. But Obadiah wasn’t one to look a gift tiger in the mouth.

He stood back for a moment as the tiger attempted to slam Anom to the ground. If it succeeded in toppling him, Obadiah would make a high jump, over the knight and the feline, to land near Anom’s head. The knight’s most obvious weakness: the single broad eye slit on the front of his helmet. Obadiah didn’t know what was underneath, but this was the easiest shot he was likely to get. Flipping one of his swords into a backwards grip, he would lift it up and plunge it down towards the knight’s face, aiming to stab him in the eye through the visor of his helmet.

[Doc Doctor]

@ImportantNobody

Auz was, of course, still getting killed by the Magna Pater. It looked like the damn thing had killed him three times already. As for Tom, the moment his spell hit Anom he immediately jerked a thumb over his shoulder and pointed at the Magna Pater.

That completed the circuit of the spell, and would force Anom to become sexually attracted to the horrific monster, to the point of being an immense distraction. He would totally WANT that cosmic horror, and want it hard.

[ImportantNobody]

Anom got a clear view of the battlefield in what seemed like long last as the small cat left as it was replaced by a far larger one he had never seen before. As annoying as the small one had been, he’d much prefer it to the newcomer, which had the strength to topple him and leave larger and larger gashes in his armor as it tore into him ferociously. He knew the armor wouldn’t hold forever based on the progress it was making. From his downed position he made an attempt to swing his sword towards it’s midsection should it not manage to pin his right arm down in time. Even if he couldn’t he readied the daggers generating in his arms to be used against. If his right arm was blocked, his left would turn his forearm to face under the tiger’s throat, dagger points facing up at it ready to fire in mere moments.

He tore his eyes away from this beast long enough to get a survey of his surrounds and that…that…absolutely beautiful monstrosity tearing at the villain over there. He had never seen such a thing before. What splendid musculature! What raw strength! He could stare at that dreamy thing for days, but this was interrupted all too soon by the spider man leaping next to his head and obstructing his splendid view of the thing.

“Out of the way you monster!” He shouted at the spider, flinching his head to the side just in time for the downward thrust to glance off his cheek. If the tiger didn’t stop him, he’d redirect his left forearm to face the spider and fire it towards his face. Why did this villain get in his way now of all times!

[Drifting Pollen]

Fueled by bestial fury, the tiger struck its prey again and again with its powerful forepaws, quickly ruining the armor surrounding Anom's torso. The smaller cats, meanwhile, lurked nearby and watched. When the armored hero moved to strike, one of them hissed in warning, and the tiger quickly swiped out with one paw, batting aside the sword-stroke with ease.

It'd be hard to ambush Big Martin or any of his cats. He could watch through their eyes, hear through their ears, and share information with each member of his furry army. Between them, they could see the battlefield from a huge variety of angles, and pick up details that any lone watcher might have missed.

One of these details just so happened to catch Big Martin's attention. By rights, the armored defender should have been focused on the beast right on top of him, but at the moment he seemed to be paying an odd amount of attention to the monstrosity some distance away. The latter seemed the more deadly of the two, to be sure, but something about the man's body language was wrong. Call it a hunch, perhaps. When fighting with and against individuals wielding unknown powers, every clue mattered.

He sent out a mental order to the tiger. Off!

The huge cat growled, somewhat annoyed, but complied, leaping off Anom and out of the way of his daggers. It crouched to one side, ready to leap back into action as soon as its master gave the word.

All of a sudden, Anom would be unimpeded once more- at least mostly. Some sticky web would still be gumming him up, and the armor on his chest would be all but ruined by now, but at least the cats seemed to have let him go for the moment.

As for Big Martin himself, a strange wind surrounded him once again. He was confident enough in their victory against this opponent by now, but this wouldn't be the only hero about, and he'd need more forces ready for when things inevitably escalated.

[Lalliman]

Steel screeched against steel as Obadiah missed his mark and merely scratched the knight's helmet. Squirmy bastard. His eye slit was a small enough target already, couldn't he just sit still for a second? A retry proved difficult when the knight fired another set of knives, at point-blank range this time. Reacting instinctively to the violent warnings of his spider sense, Obadiah awkwardly veered his upper body backwards by bending his knees, as if he were a trench-coat-wearing cyberpunk hero dodging bullets. Three of the knives whistled by closely overhead. The fourth would've sliced his mandibles, but was deflected with a bing by the two swords that he had defensively raised in front of his face.

What they don't tell you is that that Matrix dodge move wreaks havoc on your balance, assuming you're subject to the laws of physics. Instead of gracefully veering upwards after dodging, Obadiah stuck his other set of arms out behind himself, and awkwardly landed on the ground in a crab walk position. For a brief second his posture was more spider-like than ever, before he crawled a few feet away and pushed himself back up to stand upright.

That was when he finally noticed the carnage that was the Magna Pater, feasting upon Auz' supine form like a thrashing mass of flesh. Not only was its appearance obviously monstrous, but something about it seemed wrong. The Ethereal Web, the mystical force from which Obadiah drew his powers, seemed frayed and torn around it, as if it wanted nothing to do with the creature. "Dang y'all, who brought that thing in?" he couldn't help but exclaim to no one in particular.

Oddly enough, the knight was looking at it intently, and seemed to be attempting escape for the express reason of approaching the monster. Let him try, Obadiah figured, given that his attacks had been mostly fruitless against the knight anyways. If either of the two killed the other, it would probably improve the spider's survival chances either way. So Obadiah took a few steps back, to give the knight some space to rise, and awaited what would happen.