Tora & Poppi
Level 7 Tora (84/60) and Level 6 Poppi (23/60)
Location: the End
Word Count: 1376
Tora held on for dear life with one Mech Arm and bashed at the dragon's pitch-black scales with the other. Acting more out of impulse than intelligence, he was surprised to see that his weapon's metal fist was leaving dents in the leviathan's armor, and even more surprised to see them repair themselves a moment later. The wounds left by various other sources, from the Primid firing squad to various spells to balls of rot and fire, fared no better. As the Ender Dragon passed by the obsidian towers, more streaks of light reached out to latch onto it, quickly undoing any damage dealt. Though the lack of any concrete measurement of the beast's vitality made it difficult to confirm, the correlation was hard to miss, and after avoiding their enemy's acidic bombing run a number of onlookers saw it, too.
Kamek slowly recognized the healing function of the end crystals first, and his discovery informed the actions of his striker. Though unable to speak, Quiet communicated the conclusion well enough to any onlookers by rounding on the gem floating nearby and jamming her knife into its glassy surface. Her target abruptly and loudly detonated, exploding like a bundle of TNT. Kamek and company took a two-hit combo of bursting flame plus the wallop of the pressure wave. The old koopa, however, fought through the pain to shout his findings to the others. His allies either repositioned or renewed their attack, but with nine more crystals remaining, the Ender Dragon took no damage -even from the charged shot- that was not swiftly undone.
Soon after the Courier deduced the more vital of the end crystal's two functions, and he wasted no time going after the nearest spire. From the ground he couldn't see the arcane stone atop it, but even in the midst of drug-induced delirium he could hazard a pretty solid guess. Even with a high-caliber sniper rifle, however, he could not pierce multiple meters of ultra-hard stone. His bullet got a few feet in, leaving a web of obsidian cracks in its wake, before its momentum came to a dead stop. Some of the obsidian blocks shattered, but in a shocking turn those that weren't completely destroyed unmistakably and instantly restored themselves a moment later. This material, it would appear, was unlike anything he'd ever seen before.
By now Tora recognized very well the ferocious report of Michael's rifle, which never failed to herald a payload of withering force. He expected the Ender Dragon to answer that thunderclap with a bellow of pain, thrashing in the sky, but it only wheeled around for another pass at the island. “Meh?” His barrage of attacks concluded with nothing gained but some focus to use for arts, he watched as the Ace Cadet clambered his way over to speak some sense. Tough as it was to hear him over the roaring air, Tora got the memo—better to deal some damage where it would be felt. Meanwhile, their teammates could deal with whatever appeared to be undoing their attacks. Using his Mech Arms the Nopon hurried after the Cadet up the monster's back, his muscles already burning from exertion.
Down below, Geralt quickly grasped the plan and put his new powers to use by leaving a bomb atop one of the towers to detonate after he retreated to a safe distance. Though tough to reach, the end crystals boasted no durability to speak of, and blew up easily. Link began his own ascent, not nearly as fast as the Witcher's but far more remarkable, for he somehow managed to scale the tower's sheer, shiny surface with nothing but his bare hands. Meanwhile Linkle followed in Geralt's example, nimbly slinging her own bombs to take out a third end crystal. Sectonia, determined not to be outdone, sent forth her rings of light to destroy even more. Since she assailed them from long range, however, a good few of her rings missed, and while she did get one the varying heights of the towers prevented a multi-kill. Worse still, one of the crystals she targeted turned out to be protected by a cage of iron bars, which took the ring's punishment heroically and then restored themselves the next moment just as 6's obsidian had.
Sectonia need not trouble herself with the caged crystal however; Hat Kid leaped to the rescue. The plucky girl used Junior's flying clown car as a grappling point to send herself skyward, sprinted up the sheer surface of the tower, and backflipped off the iron lattice to switch hats and whip up a potent brew midair. Her hurled vial shattered against the cage, blowing up in a cloud of colorful smoke with enough force to bleed through the bars and strike the crystal. It detonated as the kid sailed over Junior's head, her intrepid stunt an incredible success.
Soon after, Banjo and Kazooie crested another spire. The pair pivoted midair to allow Kazooie to execute a daring dive attack, heedless of Kamek's warning. It took just one blow from her beak to shatter the crystal, and that blow set off a point-blank explosion that hammered the pair in brutal fashion. Heavily wounded, and with Kazooie unconscious, Banjo had only a moment to try and grasp the edge of the tower before plummeting over the edge and toward the ground below. Donnie demolished the crystal of an adjacent tower in far safer fashion by raining down artillery from a distance.
By the time Fox returned from his own brief trip up and down a spire, leaving four out of the ten crystals in operation, the dragon arrived. She flew low to the ground at high speed, her wings extended and her head down spewing acid. Her flight created a front of air before her and a river of acid behind, and she tore through the center of the battlefield like an ebony hurricane. The wall of air she pushed along slammed into all those remaining on inside the circle of towers, be they on the ground or within fifty feet of it. The turbulence alone could fling climbers from towers and disrupt low-power flying machines. This time the force and follow-through of the Ender Dragon's onslaught would carry anyone caught up in it toward and over the edge of the island, provided they didn't crack against one of the towers first or escape via an ability.
Both Peach and Euden had attempted to avoid the dragon by breaking to opposite sides, but neither escaped the wind front. The princess pulled out her parasol, got caught up in the currents, and flew sky-high. The prince couldn't shapeshift again, and so hurtled, yelling, across the ground. He struggled to bring his sword around and plunge it into the end stone, but in the utter chaos he couldn't get a sense of his position. He could only swing wildly, up until the point his sword happened to hit the ground hard enough to jar it from his grip. A moment later he tumbled out into open space. The Ender Dragon passed overhead, and he began to fall.
After a moment the dragon whipped around, turning on a dime in an impressive feat of maneuverability to face the island once again. The move cut its speed, but it also wrenched Tora and Poppi -lacking the security of the clutch claw- loose from her back. By this time the artificial blade boasted an abundance of experience catching her rotund masterpon as he freefell, but doing so meant she couldn't turn her attention down below. She plucked Tora from the height of his arc and zoomed back toward the battle below. The Ender Dragon flew above the island slowly, seeking individual targets to blast and swipe at rather than just belting out acid on a bombing run. Bowser caught her eyes first, and she hovered over to lay in some pain. Tora and Poppi approached from behind. Even if it was still being healed, Tora figured he might be able to outpace the regeneration, and if not he could at least stockpile power for a Blade Combo. “Poppi, switch wind core!” he called. “If get level three, can seal blowdown!” He let loose a barrage of missiles, peppering the leviathan's back and wings.
Tenaciously observant, Sakura weathered the string of blows until Ryu went for an overhead, at which point she made her move. She threw out a low quick and quickly transitioned into a unique shoryuken, tailored in her own style. Her fist detonated against him jubilantly, and he flew upward. “Hmgh!” he grunted, getting a feeling of what else lay in store. His opponent ran beneath him to take advantage of his lack of in-air recovery with a mirrored sparking uppercut. The martial artist felt that one, but he was far from defeat, or even from losing his composure. He spotted Sakura coming in for another helping as he hit the ground and bounced to his feet. It seemed she wouldn't be relenting for a moment, utilizing a blistering offense to avoid giving him the chance to think. In a situation like this, fresh off a fair hammering and faced with an exuberant ball of energy bearing down on him, a man would have to be crazy to do anything but block.
Or wise.
As Sakura rushed in to throw him Ryu crouched down and intercepted her with a speedy light kick. From there the rhythm of the combo flowed, beat for beat, as easy and natural as his heart. His leg muscles brought him back up to deliver a standing medium kick, and without so much as setting it down he gathered himself into a chamber before sending a fully-fledged donkey kick Sakura's way. 'Excessive punishment' it might be to some, but this girl was asking to be given as good as she gave. Besides, anything less would no doubt be taken as an insult. Ryu's countless hours of practice kept his form perfect as he then transitioned into a tatsumaki senpukyaku, obliging Sakura to come face to face with the might of his hurricane kick. He spun through the air like a top, his extended foot leaving a trail behind it as he carved through the air. It would only hit once, unlike his friend Ken's multi-hitting variant technique, but it could not be taken likely.
“Do not expect to trick me twice,” Ryu declared as Sakura slid clear. He maintained his stance, but continued to speak. “You've improved. Show me what you've learned from other worlds!”
He couched his hands and began to gather energy. A brilliant blue light swirled around him, focusing into a sphere between his hands. “Shinku...” Sakura would know this move, a formidable technique among their more-or-less shared arsenal. This much stronger hadoken packed a lot more punch than its typical counterpart, but it carried the same limitations. Still...there seemed to be an awful lot of energy around Ryu.
“HADOKEN!”
Ryu thrust his hands forward, and instead of a fireball a
frothing beam of power blasted forth. It reached from the ground to above the man's height vertically, and the same horizontally. Its sapphire blaze blinding, it covered the distance between the fighters in an instant, only failing to hit Sakura if she preemptively dodged. In such a case, however, Ryu exerted some effort to move the beam in her direction, tracking the girl's movement.
The sight of the Doom Slayer using a skateboard to grind across one of the chains leading to the courthouse left the others completely baffled. “Nyow there's something you don't see everyday!” Nadia laughed, the least affected, while Nero could only stare with his mouth ajar. After a few moments interspersed with disbelieving blinks, he accepted reality for what it was and let out a deep exhale. Then, shaking his head, he turned to climb the stairs to the courthouse door.
An unsettling wind flowed from within the place, seeping out through those great, cracked-open doors. The strange, whistling vapor raked across the skin, chilling the flesh despite the heat of the molten lava only a few hundred feet away. It helped the devil hunter and his crew quickly put the unusual sight behind them, and brace for the fight that undoubtedly lay ahead. Nero laid a hand on the door and pushed it gently, peering inside. What he saw made his face tighten. “Well, we got the right place.” Foregoing subtlety, he pushed the door open and sauntered inside.
His footsteps echoed off the stone floor, though not so loudly as V's cane as he followed right behind. They moved quickly through what was once no doubt a lobby, but could now never be mistaken for anything but a prison. Iron bars lined the walls, holding ranks and ranks of withered captives as they shuffled inward toward...whatever might lay in this fell building's center. The intruders proceeded down the hallway, fighting through the deathly wind, and in only a few moments arrived at the courtroom.
While places of law often favored at least facades of classical design, hearkening back to the authority and civility of the ancient democracies, this room look almost air-lifted from a polis of the Greeks, or perhaps from their underworld. Of circular design, and featuring tiers of columns and arches reaching up the stories, it was as ghastly as it was magnificent. Flaming braziers provided light, though the air sweeping across the floor was cold. In the center towered a monstrous judge, his visage grim, plucking with his tendrils the pitiable and eerily human things that emerged from the arches around him. He seized one despite its protests and brought it close to his wrinkled face, sniffing deeply. “Ah...” he rumbled, his voice gravelly, deep, and oddly cultured. “Suicide.” As it wailed, he cast the victim down a pit that lay at the bottom of the stairs leading down from the room's entrance. Then, his eyeless face fell on the intruders. “Who comes into my house of pain?”
“Housekeeping,” Nero called, drawing the Blue Rose to aim at the judge's face. “We're here to take out the trash.”
“Hmmmm...” the monster grunted. “Then I, King Minos, will judge you...accordingly.”
Warning! Miniboss discovered!
He leaned back, and Nero started shooting. V rode around the pit on Shadow, with Griffon opening fire, and Nadia leaped over it. She sprinted toward Minos as he doubled over, and a wave of fog rolled out from his mouth. Thinking quickly, she leaped over it, stretching her legs apart with her muscle fibers for maximum air. She landed on Minos' face and stabbed it with her tail over and over again. Far more quickly than she expected, the judged reached up and clenched his fist around her, making her eyes bug out. “Buh!?” The next moment he slammed her into the ground before him, then brought his fist up to pulverize her. Shadow burst up from the ground and extended a tree of spikes from his back, which pierced the fist as it came down.
Nadia used the chance to scoot out of the way. “C'mon, Fortune,” Nero called as he ran up, swinging at one of Minos' tentacles. “These things don't mess around.” Still a little squeezed, Nadia took a moment to catch her breath before circling around. All the while, Pandemonica stood by the door, watching with a bored expression.
